Weekend Picks: RVA Field of Dreams Fest, Lucinda Williams, Toro Y Moi, Bully, Diamond Center, Southern Belles, Erin & the Wildfire

Welcome to the weekend of Joaquin! He's already messed up a bunch of festivals with the State Fair, Hogtober and the 2nd St. Festival all getting flat out canceled. Joaquin, you bastard! But let's find some stuff to do indoors this weekend, shall we?

The RVA Field of Dreams Fest was supposed to be out at The Diamond, but they have moved it indoors to the Altria Theater. Doors will open at 6:30. They'll still have the craft beer and the local cuisine and they'll still have a killer lineup of bands playing R&B, soul and blues. Leading off will be a band that started in RVA, The Congress. Hitting in the middle of the order is one my favorites, Black Joe Lewis and his brand of rocking soul blues. And batting cleanup is old-school soul singer Charles Bradley, who is backed by a band of young turks steeped in the music of Stax-Volt and Muscle Shoals. Tix are $100 for VIP, $45 for GA and a souvenir glass with 3 sampling tickets, and $35 for a non-tasting GA ticket. You can buy more sampling tickets or full-glass pours. Let's do one from Black Joe Lewis and one from Charles Bradley.






Southern Belles are at The Camel on Friday night and I believe this is their first show after their triumphant appearance at Lockn'. They put on a great show there and they had a really good crowd show up for being the Sunday opener. Tix are $7 in advance, $10 at the door. Doors open at 8 and music starts at 9 with Stop Light Observations.



There's a good early show to catch at Strange Matter if you want to happy hour with some indie rock. Bully headlines the show. Doors open at 5, it's $10 to get in, Heat & Dead Soft will open. You might dig Bully if you like Weezer, Wild Flag, Screaming Females, Breeders or Pixies. Here's their brand new video which just came out today (10/1). It's for the song "Too Tough":



Saturday at The National, Toro Y Moi will grace us with their presence. The more I hear from them, the more I like. They've got a fun, funky, pop-rock groove with some nice psychedelic flourishes. Tix are $18 in advance, $20 at the door. Astronauts, etc. will open at 8 PM, and doors open at 7. Check out "Lilly" from Toro Y Moi's new album, "What For?":



Charlottesville band Erin & the Wildfire are at The Camel Saturday night. Tix are $7 and you get two openers starting at 9 PM (doors open at 8) with Common Wealth and Big Mama Shakes. Erin & the Wildfire will be playing out at the Festy Experience in Roseland, VA next weekend and hopefully the weather will be kinder than this weekend. Here they are with their original, "Puzzles":



The Diamond Center, formerly based in RVA, now residents of Austin, return to their favorite city on Saturday for a show at Black Iris Music. Diamond Center will be regaling us with the gothic psychedelic garage rock on their new album, "Crystals for the Brass Empire". It's $6 in advance, $10 at the door, doors open at 8, music starts at 9 and BIG NO opens. Get there early if you want to get in because Black Iris is not that big. From their new album, here's Diamond Center's "Wax and Wane":

Sunday night, alt-country goddess Lucinda Williams is at The National. Tix are $25 in advance, $28 at the door, doors open at 6:30, show starts at 7:30 with openers Buick 6. Lucinda won the Americana Music Award for album of the year for her latest album "Down Where the Spirit Meets the Bone". Here she is at KEXP in February:



Have a great weekend! I'll leave you with this one from Bruce, which feels personal right now:



Tony Jordan

Charles Bradley, Passion Pit, Mary J Blige, Social Distortion, Darwin Deez, Atlas Genius, Andrew WK

We'll begin on Thursday night when party rocker and kids show host ("Destroy Build Destroy"), Andrew WK, plays Kingdom. Don't bring the kids to this one unless they are old enough to mosh. At least 5 years old. Tix are $15, doors open at 7 and openers are Strike the Chord and Burn and maybe some others too. Andrew will be "Armed only with a microphone, a keyboard and the will to survive". Here's Andrew doing "Get Ready to Die" last night (6/4) in Greensboro NC:



R&B/Soul (yes, that's with a capital S) diva Mary J. Blige will be at Richmond Coliseum Thursday night with Anthony Hamilton opening. Tix are $57 - $112, doors open at 7 and Jay Lamont will also be opening. Here's Mary's press blurb: "With a track record of eight multi-platinum albums, nine Grammy Awards® (plus a staggering 29 nominations) and four American Music Awards, Mary J. Blige is only getting started. “I know who I am and what I can do. With each album, it’s just me continuing to grow,” claims Mary J. Blige in a pure, unadulterated and empowering voice. That has been Mary J. Blige’s calling card ever since her 1992 multi-platinum debut album, What’s the 411? And in the ensuing years, the singer/songwriter’s musical strong suit has attracted an intensely loyal fan base—responsible for propelling worldwide sales of more than 50 million albums. Blige’s 10th and most recent studio album, “My Life II … The Journey Continues (Act 1)” was released in November 2011 and is the sequel to Blige’s 1994 classic My Life." Here's Mary J's latest, "Don't Mind":

Thursday night, the 4 day live webcast of Warren Haynes' Mountain Jam Festival starts live from Hunter Mountain, NY. You can check it out HERE. Thursday starts at 8 PM ET with Rubblebucket and Primus (10 PM). Friday starts at 1 PM and will feature Avett Brothers (5:45 PM), and two sets from Widespread Panic (8 PM). Saturday starts at noon and features Michael Franti & Spearhead (3:30 PM), Gary Clark Jr. (5:15 PM, the future of blues guitar, don't miss him), the Lumineers (6:45 PM) and two sets from Gov't Mule (9 PM). Sunday, The Lone Bellow (who recently played Friday Cheers) kick things off at noon and Phil Lesh & Friends (featuring Warren, John Scofield, Joe Russo & Jeff Chimenti and probably Jackie Greene too since he plays at 4:30 PM) wrap things up with two sets starting at 6 PM. I know what I'll be doing when I'm home this weekend and that's watching this webcast. And, of course, Warren Haynes will probably play with every band.

Friday Cheers has the show I circled on my calendar the day they announced the schedule and that's with soul man, Charles Bradley. Charles struggled for years, making money as a James Brown tribute act and is finally getting his just due now that he's teamed up with a band of young bucks, similar to Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings (get well soon, Sharon!). This guy went to the SXSW conference this year and even with all the young bands there, he came out as the talk of the festival. I don't care if it rains (it keeps the party crowd down so we just get the music people and it's easier to get beer and Goatocado food), don't be a puss, put on your big boy or girl rain gear and go see this guy. If a thunderstorm cancels this one, I will personally kick Thor's ass. Charles will come on around 8, The Rootdowns start the show at 6:30 and it's just $10 to get in. Here he is performing "Love Bug Blues" at SXSW:

Over at The National Friday night, punk/indie rock icons, Social Distortion, will rock the place. Tix are $27.50 in advance, $32.50 day of show. Cheap Time and Dave Hause will open the show at 8 and doors open at 7. Here's "Gimme the Sweet and Lowdown" from their latest album, "Hard Times & Nursery Rhymes":



Wacky, indie, alternative singer/songwriter Darwin Deez is at Strange Matter on Saturday night. Tix are $10 in advance, $12 day of show. This is an early show with doors opening at 5 PM and openers are Crushed Out (FKA Boom Chick) and Herro Sugar. You might like Darwin if you like Beck, Fleetwood Mac, Napoleon Dynamite, Architecture in Helsinki, Phoenix, MGMT, Ra Ra Riot, or The Strokes. Here's his video for "You Can't Be My Girl". This is a great video!


The National (the band) has sold out The National (the venue) on Saturday night. I'm just lettin' you know in case some tickets open up or you win some or your friend says, "Hey, I've got an extra ticket for The National at the The National. You wanna go?" If tix open up, they'll be $30 in advance, $35 at the door. Doors open at 7, show starts at 8 with opener People Get Ready. Here they are performing "Graceless" on "The Colbert Report":

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Passion Pit (indie electronic pop)  will play two shows at The National (the venue), one on Sunday and one on Monday. Tix are $30 in advance, $35 day of show, doors open at 7 and show starts at 8 with Cults opening both nights. The Monday show is sold out. Here's "Carried Away", another pretty cool video:




Over at Strange Matter on Sunday night, Ugly Radio Rebellion will play the music of Frank Zappa with original Zappa band member, Ike Willis. Black Sabbath tribute band Brown Sabbath will open the show. Doors open at 8 and it's $10 to get in. This video features none of these people but does feature Frank Zappa performing "Montana" from the just released on DVD "A Token of His Extreme" and I like it:



Indie electronic band Atlas Genius will be at Canal Club next Wednesday (6/12). Tix are $10 in advance, $12 at the door. Doors open at 7 with opener Pacific Air and Haerts. Atlas Genius has been playing some pretty big clubs and festivals so it should be a treat, and perhaps the last time, you can catch them in a place the size of The Canal Club. Here they are performing on an "MTV Artist to Watch" show recently. The song is "Trojans":

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Have a great weekend! See you at Friday Cheers!

Tony Jordan