Screaming Females, Barenaked Ladies, Marilyn Monroe, Gillian Welch

I was hoping that title would get your attention.

Screaming Females will be at The Bike Lot on the Southside (512 E 8th St, Richmond, VA 23224, 804-232-8086) on Thursday.  No not a bunch of screaming females, though that may happen, but the punk pop band Screaming Females.  The band is generating lots of critical buzz lately.  They'll be on a bill with Zero Boys, Off With Their Heads, Ceremony, Screaming Females and Worn in Red.  Note that they are low on the bill so get there early if you want to catch them.  Doors open at 6 and the cover is $15.  This is the Screaming Females, "Wild", from their album "Castle Talk":

That show is part of the Best Friends Day 10 festival going on around town this weekend with all sorts of aggressive rock.  Here is the link to their web page: http://www.bestfriendsdayrva.com/.

On the complete other end of the rock spectrum is the goofball pop rock of Barenaked Ladies.  In Innsbrook's continuing quest to only book bands who don't have all their original members, the Ladies no longer have founding member and lead singer Steven Page in the band.  He left in 2009 after a number of personal issues.  Doors open at 6, show starts shortly thereafter with openers Jukebox the Ghost.  General admission tickets are $20 at the gate, Gold Circle Seating $40, Skybox $75.  Due to the heat on Thursday, they are letting you bring sealed bottles of plain water into the venue but no coolers.  Here is the Barenaked Ladies' performing "Every Subway Car" live on Canada Day last year.  In honor of Canada Day, everyone be real polite, drink a Moosehead and enjoy a country with no guns and medical care for everyone:


Friday night bring the dust bowl folk of Gillian Welch & David Rawlings to Groovin' in the Garden at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden.  Not sure if there will be an opener.  Gates open at 5:30.  General Admission Lawn tix are $25 in advance, $30 at the gate.  Here's Gillian and David doing one of my favorite songs of her's, "Time (The Revelator)" at the Cambridge Folk Fest in 2004.  If you want to skip the short interview go to the 1:00 mark.  Gotta follow the link HERE because they won't let me embed this one.  Click through.  It's worth it.  The song always gives me goosebumps.

The Beach Boys, or what's left of them, will be at Innsbrook on Saturday night.  Gates will open at 6 PM with an opener TBA.  General Admission- $21.50 in advance, $25 at the gate. Children 10 and under are free in GA.  Gold Circle Seating- $45 in advance only available.  VIP Skybox- $100 in advance online only.  Currently only Mike Love and Bruce Johnston from the classic lineup are in the touring band.  There is talk that they may get together with Brian Wilson and Al Jardine to do something for the band's 50th Anniversary.

I also never miss a chance when talking about the Beach Boys to bring up the strangest configuration of musicians and others I have ever seen on stage.  On July 4th 1985, the Beach Boys performed on JFK Parkway in Philly for a free show for the 4th in front of a few hundred thousand people.  This was also 9 days before Live Aid and many of the musicians who would play Live Aid were already in town.  The Oak Ridge Boys had already joined the BB for a rendition of the old doo-wop song "Come Go With Me".  Christopher Cross joined the band for "Good Vibrations" (tell me they couldn't have worked out a cool version of "Sailing" with BB on backing vocals).  Then out walks freakin' Jimmy Page to play guitar on a version of Little Richard's "Lucille" along with John Stamos (huh?) on drums.  I thought it might be a hallucination caused by too many wine coolers (hey, it was the 80's) but no, it was true.  Later on, we would get Joan Jett on guitar and vocals for "Barbara Ann" along with Mr. T on drums.  I pity the fool who don't like Mr. T on the skins!  HERE's the setlist and you can download it too, if you so desire.

Here's a track from the classic album "Pet Sounds", which once helped get me through a really crappy summer.  This is "God Only Knows", an absolutly beautiful song:


We've got time to check in with Best Music Scenes in Movies courtesy of Moviefone.  Here's the ravishing Marilyn Monroe in "Some Like it Hot" singing "I Wanna Be Loved By You" in a dress that's practically see through.  Hubba hubba!  What a gal!  As an added bonus, you get some classic Jack Lemmon & Tony Curtis.


Have a great weekend!

Tony Jordan

Karl Denson's Tiny Universe, Barenaked Ladies, Wailers, Brandi Carlile, Doors

Friday Cheers should be a funky good time this week with Karl Denson's Tiny Universe headlining and DJ Williams Projekt opening.  Show starts at 6:30 PM and there is a $2 entry fee.  Here's what the Cheers site had to say about Karl Denson's Tiny Universe: "From a pressure cooker of rhythm, Karl Denson's Tiny Universe brings forth the most delicious variety of grooves ever sampled by a listener’s feet. Led by Karl Denson, who over the past 15 years has collaborated with such luminaries as Lenny Kravitz and The Greyboy Allstars, the Tiny Universe creates a dynamic sound that defies categorization. The band members, Denson on vocals, tenor and alto sax and flute, guitarist Brian Jordan, bassist Chris Stillwell, keyboard player David Veith, trumpet player Chris Littlefield and drummer John Staten, have earned a reputation as kings of the unstoppable all-night show."  I just know that he gets a good groove going and you can dance to it and if you like Maceo Parker, P-Funk, or James Brown, you'll like KDTU.  Here's KDTU in Bloomington IN last year:


Out at Innsbrook on Friday night, Barenaked Ladies will bring their humorous pop to town.  Should be a fun show.  Gates open at 6, opener Serena Ryder comes on at 6:30 and the Ladies come on at 8.  Tix are $22 in advance and $25 at the gate and if you buy your ticket online, you'll also get a free download of the Ladies new album, "All In Good Time".  Here's the video for their latest single, "You Run Away":


The Mountain Jam festival from Hunter NY will be webcast live and for FREE on iclips.net.  This looks like a pretty good one.  Here is the webcast schedule.  I think the Levon Helm & Friends show that closes the webcast is a must-see.  Take a look at that lineup.

FRIDAY

3:00 - Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue
4:00 - Grace Potter and the Nocturnals
5:30 - Dr. Dog
6:45 - The Avett Brothers
8:15 - Toots & The Maytals
9:00 - Gov't Mule
1:00 - Les Claypool

SATURDAY

4:15 - Yonder Mountain String Band
5:30 - Dave Mason
6:45 - Lettuce
7:30 - Elmwood
7:45 - Drive-By Truckers
9:00 - Gov't Mule
1:00 - Dark Star Orchestra

SUNDAY

2:30 - Michael Franti & Spearhead
4:00 - Matisyahu
5:15 - ALO
6:15 - The Whigs
7:00 - The Bridge
7:30 - Levon Helm & Friends: Warren Haynes, Donald Fagen, Ray LaMontagne, Sam Bush, Steve Earle, Patterson & David Hood, Jackie Greene, Allison Moorer and more!

Saturday out at Innsbrook, smoke 'em if you got 'em (just not at Innsbrook because you'll get thrown out) because The Original Wailers featuring Al Anderson & Junior Marvin will bring the reggae to town.  Gates open at 6, tix are $12.50 in advance and $15 at the gate.  There is no opener listed on the Innsbrook site.  Here they are doing "Buffalo Soldier" a couple weeks ago in FL:


On Sunday on the 100 - 300 blocks of E Broad St in downtown Richmond will be the Broad Appetit festival.  "Admission to this foodie paradise is free and for just $3 per sample, the public can taste signature dishes from over 50+ of Richmond’s finest local restaurants, including fine dining, family-friendly, trendy and up-and-coming establishments. From 11 until 5 p.m. the 100-200-300 blocks of West Broad Street will serve up outstanding prepared food in addition to fresh Virginia produce, meats, cheeses, herbs, artisan breads and confections straight from local organic farms and specialty food providers. The event also will feature several of Virginia’s finest wineries and plenty of brews. In 2008, the event's inaugural year, we enjoyed a crowd of 7500 folks and last year the crowd of food-lovers grew to 18,000. We expect 25,000 to attend the 2010 festival."  There will also be some local bands providing the music but the real attraction here is the food.

Sunday night, Brandi Carlile brings her folk rock to The National.  Tix are $20, doors open at 7, show starts at 8, with openers Vienna Teng and Alex Wong.  There are reserved seats available for this show.  You'll like Brandi if you like Melissa Etheridge, KT Tunstall, Jeff Buckley, Sarah McLachlan or Indigo Girls.  Here's her latest single, "Dying Day":


Monday at The National, two of the three surviving members of The Doors, Ray Manzarek & Robbie Krieger, come in playing all original music.  Well, not really, and not surprisingly they'll be playing all the hits of The Doors.  Tix are $20 in advance, $25 day of show.  Doors (that's the venue doors) open at 7 PM and the show starts at 8 PM.  As of the time I'm writing this, Jim Morrison will not be able to make the show.  Some dude named Miljenko Matijevic will be the singer.  Here they are doing "Riders On The Storm" two days ago in NYC:


That's all for this weekend.  I'll be at home watching the Mountain Jam fest this weekend because my back is still killing me so I won't be able to hit up Friday Cheers.  Too bad because it will be a good one.  If you go, let me know how it is.

I'll leave you with the Psychedelic Furs doing "Love My Way".  Why?  Because its a damn fine song.


Have a great weekend!

Tony Jordan