Weekend Picks: GWAR, Southern Belles, Big Something, Lady God, The Machine

This weekend is all about New Year's Eve. I've never been a huge "go out on NYE" fan., All the prices are doubled. There are a bunch of people out who get drunk twice a year (St. Pat's Day being the other) and use it as an excuse to get obnoxious. There are cops all over the place but you can't get a cab or Uber because so many other people don't want to drive (which I guess is a good thing). But when I do go out on NYE, it's to see a band. Bands usually pull out all the stops and give a little something extra for the occasion.

GWAR has always been a band that knows excess even on a normal night, let alone NYE, so who knows what they'll do at The National Thursday night. Tix are $30 in advance, $35 at the door. Doors open at 7, show starts at 7:30 with openers Kepone, Occultist, and Rocket Queen. Here's GWAR's "Penguin Attack". As always, this is not for the faint of heart or ear.



If you are looking for something a tad mellower on NYE, head to The Camel for the first of two shows with The Southern Belles. NYE has Jackass Flats opening. Doors open at 8. It's $25 in advance, $30 to get in. If you want to go NYE, get your tickets soon. They're going fast. New Year's Day has The Big Payback: James Brown Tribute opening. Tix for that one are $10 in advance, $12 at the door. Doors open at 8, show starts at 9. I'm sure there will be some mixing and matching with members of all the bands which should lead to some special musical moments. Also, this will be the last show for Belles drummer Raphael Katchinoff. He'll be joining The Congress in the new year. The band, not the DC institution. Though he couldn't do much worse in DC and we know he'd be a strong advocate for the legalization of marijuana. Here's the Belles in the rain at Mantrabash in September. Not the best camera shot, but the sound is good and you get a good glimpse of Raph's chops.



If you like your punk pop rock n' roll with a side of tacos and champagne, En Su Boca has the NYE for you! It's FREE to get in (a rarity on NYE). Doors open at 10 and the music starts at 11 with Lady God and Cherry Pits.

The Machine (Pink Floyd tribute band) turns on at The National on Friday. They'll be performing the "Wish You Were Here" album in it's entirety, along with other Floyd faves. Tix are $15 - $20 in advance, $18 - $23 at the door. Doors open at 6:30, show starts at 7:30 and no opener is listed. Here's The Machine doing "One Slip" from "Momentary Lapse of Reason":



Jam band Big Something is at The Broadberry on Saturday night. Doors open at 9:30, show starts at 10 with Shack Band opening. Tix are $10 in advance, $12 at the door. Big Something is a nominee for Sirius XM's Jam On channel's Best New Jam Band of 2015. Here they are this past July:



Gladys Night & the Pips member, William Guest, died at the age of 74 this week so let's do one from them. The Pips had the moves!



And, of course, heavy metal/hard rock pioneer, Lemmy Kilmister, of Motorhead and Hawkwind, passed away yesterday at the age of 70. Here's their classic, "Ace of Spades":



And let's do "Overkill" too:


Have a Happy 2016! It's gotta be better than 2015....

Tony Jordan

Weekend Picks: The Extravaganza, John Moreland, Guster, Hardywood Gingerbread Stout Release Party, Papadosio, STS9, Dead & Company webcast

Friday night, it's The Extravaganza! 15 bands spread out over three venues (Broadbrerry, Strange Matter, and En Su Boca). You can get tickets for Broadberry only for $20, Strange Matter only for $12, get a combo ticket for the two venues for $30 and you can get into En Su Boca for no additional cost if you buy one of those tickets. Here's the lineup:

THE BROADBERRY (2 stages)

5PM DOORS

5:30-6 - MANZARA

6:00-6:30 - THE TRILLIONS

6:30-7 - JEFFREY LEWIS & LOS BOLTS

7-7:30 - AVERS

7:30-8 - SUNFLOWER BEAN

8-8:45 - NO JOY

8:45-9:30 - LEE BAINS III & THE GLORY FIRES

9:30 - DIIV

STRANGE MATTER

10PM DOORS

10:30-10:50 - DAGGERING

11:00-11:20 - MUTWAWA

11:40-12:20 - AUTHOR & PUNISHER

12:40 - WOLF EYES

EN SU BOCA

10PM DOORS

11-11:30 - MANATREE

11:50-12:30 - SODA BOMB

12:50 - THE SNOWY OWLS

Highlights are Wolf Eyes (experimental/noise), No Joy (shoegaze/noise), Diiv (shoegaze),  Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires (southern/punk/roots rock) and Avers (psychedelic/garage). Let's do one from each.

You know the holidays are getting close when Hardywood has their Gingerbread Stout Release Party. Things get underway at 2 PM when they tap the kegs and let that sweet holiday nectar pour. There will be a bunch of food trucks out there for your culinary delight. And four bands playing. Neither the Hardywood site nor the Facebook event page gave the times or order of the bands but the bands usually start around 5, so just show up early and enjoy the stout and your favorite band will play eventually. The music is provided by The Milkstains (Surf-rock sock hop with a dash of Dinosaur Jr. = psychedelic-low-fi garage-rock grunge), Christi (rock n roll and scruffy punk), Atlantic Thrills (Fuzzy psychedelic riffs, reverb drenched surf anthems and raspy 50's inspired doo-wop ballads, out of Providence, RI!), and The Trillions (RVA shred pop). Here's The Milkstains new video, "Sink or Swim":

Psychedelic, progressive jam rock band Papadosio is at The National Saturday night. Tix are $17 in advance, $20 at the door. Doors open at 7, show starts at 8 with openers People's Blues of Richmond (who are opening for the VA and NC shows on the tour) and Third Nature. Here's "Epiphany" from Papadosio's new album, "Extras In a Movie":



If you'd rather jam at home on Saturday night, be sure to watch the live webcast of the Dead & Company HERE from Madison Square Garden starting at 7:30 PM. The Dead & Company consist of Grateful Dead members Bob Weir, Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann joined by John Mayer, Oteil Burbridge (Allman Brothers Band, Aquarium Rescue Unit) and Jeff Chimenti (various post-Grateful Dead bands). Here they are doing "Terrapin Station" on Halloween at MSG:

Ashland Coffee & Tea has alt-country singer/songwriter John Moreland on Saturday night. Tix are $15 in advance, $18 day of show. Show starts at 8 PM. Here's John performing "No Glory in Regret" for American Songwriter last week:



Sunday night at The National, jamtronica band STS9 will warp your head. Tix are $29.50 in advance, $33.00 day of show. Doors open at 6:30, show starts at 7:30.You can download a free track from each night of the tour HERE. Here's STS9's first set Halloween night at The Fillmore in Silver Spring, MD:

Alt-pop band Guster plays Monday night at The National. Tix are $23 in advance, $28 day of show. Doors open at 6:30, show starts at 7:30 with opener Port Harbour. You might dig Guster if you like Barenaked Ladies, BoDeans, Virginia Coalition, Wilco, Camper Van Beethoven, or Big Star. Here's "Endlessly"from their latest album "Evermotion":



That'll do it! Have a great weekend!  I'll leave you with Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds' version of the traditional tale of "Stagger Lee". This is very explicit and very bad ass.


Tony Jordan