Supporting music in Richmond since 2000 - "Oh, I used to be disgusted / And now I try to be amused / But since their wings have got rusted / You know, the angels wanna wear my red shoes / But when they told me 'bout their side of the bargain / That's when I knew that I could not refuse / And I won't get any older, now that angels wanna wear my red shoes" - Elvis Costello, “(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes”
Looks like all the musical action is tonight this week. I guess no one wants to go out on Saturday night and get too plastered and be all hungover for Mom on Sunday.
Friday Cheers tonight has Carolina Chocolate Drops. Tix are $5 and kids under 12 are free. Show starts at 6:30 with opener The Inflatables. Show ends around 9:30 so you can still get some sleep. Here's some info on the Drops that I cribbed from the Cheers email: "Their concerts, The New York Times declared, were "an
end-to-end display of excellence... They dip into styles of Southern black
music from the 1920s and '30s-string-band music, jug-band music, fife and drum,
early jazz--and beam their curiosity outward. They make short work of their
instructive mission and spend their energy on things that require it: flatfoot
dancing, jug playing, shouting." Some "WOW" facts about the
group:
• Their song, "Daughters
Lament" is on the Hunger Games movie soundtrack.
• They won a Grammy Award in 2010 for the
Best Traditional Folk Album
• They played as the group "Stankofa
Strings" at the 2005 National Folk Festival in RVA.
• They have opened for both Bob Dylan and
the Dave Matthews Band this year"
Here's Carolina Chocolate Drops doing the title cut from their new album, "Leaving Eden" live in an old church in New Orleans.
At Gallery 5 tonight, a showcase of local bands featuring Diamond Center (acoustic-ish), Jonathan Vassar & The Speckled Bird, David Shultz (solo), and Hope for Agoldensummer (from Athens GA). Doors are at 7:30, show starts at 8 and it's $7 to get in. If you need more info on the show, go to the Facebook event page HERE. Here's Diamond Center playing electrically and psychedelically at Lamplighter Lounge in Memphis:
Southern Belles will bring their cover, jam band groovified honky-tonk selves to Cary St. Cafe tonight. Show starts at 10 and cover is $5. Here's the Belles doing "Fried Fish" at Cary St. Cafe in January:
Black Girls will be at Balliceaux with Harrison Colby and The Zenith Mountain Band opening. Show will start at 10:30 and it's $5 to get in. This will be Black Girls last show in Richmond until June.
For all you winos, oh sorry, oenophile, the Central VA Wine Fest takes place on Saturday from noon to 6 out at Innsbrook. It should be a beautiful day to get drunk, oh sorry, let your palate sample the fine wines of Virginia. Go and get a good bottle of wine for your mama. Some good wine, not that box of Franzia you got her last year. Tix are $20 online and $25 at the gate.
If you want something a little more kid oriented, Henrico County has KidFest going on at Deep Run Park on Saturday from 1 - 4 and that's free. There will be games, arts & crafts, and music from local teen bands (OK, that may not sell you on going).
That's it. Have a great weekend and to all you moms out there, Happy Mother's Day!
Not usually the busiest of weekends as most people head to the barbecues and such for the Memorial Day weekend. But there is actually quite a bit going on this weekend.
Old Crow Medicine Show will get things started on Thursday at Groovin' In the Garden at Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens. Doors open at 5:30 and tix are $25. Old Crow Medicine Show hails from Nashville but are not a watered-down, top 40 country band. They are much more traditional and bluegrass based. Should be the perfect show under some perfect weather in the beautiful gardens tomorrow night. Here they are performing their song "Caroline". Old Crow Medicine Show - Caroline
Zac Brown Band plays at Friday Cheers for FREE on Brown's Island. I don't know much about them but they seem to be gaining some popularity on the Country charts which isn't necessarily a good thing. Here they are performing their #1 Country Hit, "Chicken Fried". I am picturing lots of drunk girls with big hair dancing around with arms raised when they play this on Friday night, beer in one hand, lit cigarette in the other.
If you are home this weekend, you can purchase the webcast of the Summer Camp Festival on iClips.net. It'll cost you $20 for a day pass or $30 for the whole weekend. The webcast starts Friday at 2:30 EDT and will feature moe. (all 3 days); Dark Star Orchestra; Toubab Krewe;, Lotus; Umphrey's McGee (all 3 days);, Les Claypool;, Sexy Bitches feat. Keller Williams, Rob, Vinnie & Al (from moe.), & Joel ( from Umphrey's); and Los Lobos.
Or you can take advantage of some of these free downloads:
- Coldplay has made their latest live "album", "Left Right Left Right Left", available for free on their website: http://www.coldplay.com/
- Style Weekly has a nice local music collection available for free at http://StyleWeekly.com/Music09. 18 tracks and you can find your new favorite local band.
At The National on Friday night, Robert Fleischman & The Sky perform with local band Horsehead opening. Tix are $13, doors open at 6, show at 7. Robert Fleischman was with Journey until they parted ways and Journey got some dude name Steve Perry to be their lead singer. Haven't heard of them since. Robert now lives here in Richmond and this will be the debut of his band. Here is what his MySpace page says:
"May 22, 2009 multi-platinum singer songwriter Robert Fleischman will be unveiling his new band The Sky at the National theatre in Richmond, Virginia. Upon his induction with Journey to the Hollywood Walk of Fame, his desire to perform live was inspired. After auditioning his native town of Los Angeles for musicians, Robert decided to look into a different circle of players. LA session drummer Andre LaBelle, who played with Robert in the past with KISS guitarist Vinnie Vincent, had relocated to Virginia. Robert soon discovered that Richmond was exploding with talent. Upon flying perspective players to Vegas for auditions, Robert decided to develop the band in Virginia. Holding down the rhythm is Andre LaBelle and Steve Barber. The guitars are provided by Stephan LaJaunie and Brady Cole. The sound these five musicians have created is an atmospheric chemistry with a driving punch that could be compared to the likes of Oasis, The Verve, or the more psychedelic sounds produced by The Cult and Bowie. The Sky is excited to debut this fresh material for the city of Richmond at this historical Theatre. "
The Felice Brothers play at The National on Saturday night. Their latest album "Yonder is The Clock" scored an 85 out of 100 on metacritic.com (Rotten Tomatoes for music) making it one of the top 9 rated albums this year. Doors open at 7, show starts at 8 and tix are $15. They are apparently gaining quite a buzz. Here is what their website reports happened at the SXSW conference:
"The Catskill boys are fresh off a couple of raucous (one was so packed the fire department had to come and make sure the crowd was under control) and well-received gigs at SXSW 2009. The Austin American Statesman wrote that their Friday afternoon appearance at the Dirty Dog “showcased the Felice Brothers’ recent artistic strides. Material from the forthcoming masterwork ‘Yonder is the Clock’ both torpedoed hearts and shook homes. Easy highlights like the scattershot country blues ‘Run, Chicken, Run’ and ‘Ambulance Man’ offered brilliant Southern Gothic narratives.” Metromix proclaimed the show “one of the day’s highlights,” and lauded the “gypsy brand of folk-rock, heavy on fiddle, accordion and lurid lyrics.” The Telegraph in London meanwhile deemed the Felice Brothers “the shining new lights of American roots music, a quintet of rabble rousers with a drunken surrealistic spin on jazz, folk, blues and country.” The journalist continued, “I saw them twice yesterday and would watch them twice again today.”
Here they are performing "Her Eyes Dart Round" in Raleigh NC on May 3.
Have a great Memorial Day weekend! Take a moment to remember those who gave their lives so we can enjoy the freedom to rock out, drink beer, live our lives and love our friends and family.
