Weekend Picks: PVRIS, Aesop Rock, BRONCHO, Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors, KINGS, Fear of Music, Love on Tap: Benefit for VA Pride

The weekend starts Thursday night at Gallery5 with the RVA funk of KINGS, the psychedelic West African funk by way of Brooklyn of Super Yamba Band and the "Minimalist Appalachian Math Rock Live Looping Sound Explosion" of Dave Watkins. Doors open at 7, show starts at 8, tix are $5 advance, $7 at the door. Here's Super Yamba Band playing in Harlem in December:



Americana folk rock band Drew Holcomb & the Neighbors close out the season at Friday Cheers. It's $10 to get in. Be sure to get in early to see Major and the Monbacks at 6:30. Here's a chunk of the press blurb on DH&TN:

Since releasing their first album, 2005’s Washed In Blue, Drew & The Neighbors (Ellie Holcomb, Nathan Dugger, Rich Brinsfield) have established themselves as a formidable indie act, selling more than 75,000 records, playing more than 1,500 live dates, selling-out headline shows, and touring alongside such varied acts as The Avett Brothers, Ryan Adams, Los Lobos, NEEDTOBREATHE, Susan Tedeschi, North Mississippi Allstars, Marc Broussard, and more. Their songs have been used in countless television shows and commercials, most notably in TNT’s Emmy Award winning 2011 Christmas Day NBA Forever spot, which paired the song Live Forever with a mesmerizing montage of past and present NBA video footage.

Here's DH&TN performing "American Beauty":



Fear of Music: Talking Heads Tribute Band get all new wave on your ass at The Broadberry Friday night. This will be Fear of Music's last RVA show until September. Tix are $12 advance, $15 day of show, doors open at 8, show starts at 9 with The Slank opening. Here's the Talking Heads' "Burning Down the House". The long fade-out at the end of the song always reminds me of watching MTV late at night when I was in high school. And what's weird is that Fear of Music look exactly like the "cover band" in this video.



Electronic alternative pop rock band PVRIS comes to The National Saturday night. Tix are $15 advance, $18 day of show. Doors open at 7, show starts at 8. Joywave opens. You might dig PVRIS if you like Paramore, Chvrches, Florence & the Machine, From PVRIS, this is "My House":

At Hardywood on Sunday afternoon, celebrate the anniversary of the Supreme Court ruling on marriage equality with Love on Tap: A Benefit for Virginia Pride. The tasting room opens at noon, music starts at 2. There will be gourmet food vendors, a photo booth, and music from Trunk Show Band, presenting a Mix Tape of greatest hits from They Might Be Giants, Green Day, The Killers, Amy Winehouse, Fleetwood Mac, Heart, Paul Simon and David Bowie, Then, indie pop duo My Darling Fury plays. Finally, the disco punk of Toxic Moxie closes things out.

Strange Matter features BRONCHO on Sunday night. Winter and Big No open. Doors open at 9. $10 to get in. BRONCHO play indie garage punk alternative noise pop rock. Their new album, "Double Vanity" just came out. Here's Broncho's psychedelic track from that album, "Senora Borealis":



Alternative rapper Aesop Rock is at The National Monday. Tix are $18 in advance, $20 day of show. Homeboy Sandman opens the show at 8, doors open at 7. Press blurb please:

New York-born, San Francisco-based Aesop Rock (aka Ian Bavitz) is a critically acclaimed hip hop artist/producer, recognized for his dense and abstract word play. Between 1997-2007, he released five solo albums, three EPs, and a 45-minute piece of music designed for runners, commissioned by Nike. His lyrics have been published in the New York Times Best Seller Hip Hop Speaks to Children, by author/activist Professor Nikki Giovanni (Oct. 2008), as well as Yale University's Anthology of Rap (Nov. 2010). Aesop is also co-founder of900bats.com, a creative resource of arts, information, and oddities.

 Here's Aesop Rock performing on Late Show with Stephen Colbert last week backed up by Yo La Tengo:



That'll do it. Have a great weekend! I'll see you at Cheers.

I'm going to leave you with some more Suffers because they absolutely crushed it last week at Cheers. They did this song about a third of the way through the set and by the time they were done, they had the audience eating out of the palm of their hand.



Tony Jordan