Weekend Picks: Standing Rock benefit, George Thorogood, Little River Band, Greensky Bluegrass, Felice Brothers, The Congress, Perpetual Groove, Trongone Band

This weekend starts with some fun for something serious. On Thursday, there is a fundraiser for the #NoDAPL movement to show support for the movement at Standing Rock which is peacefully demonstrating to stop the construction of a massive oil pipeline. This will be a fundraiser for the Sacred Stone Camp and collecting supplies that are listed as needs on the website. They are currently preparing for winter so provisions and warm weather gear is needed. The event will be held at the Hofenheimer Bldg from 6 PM - 11 PM. It's free to get in but the donation bucket will be passed around all night so please be generous. There will also be a raffle. And there will be bands. Here's the lineup:

LOFT (indoor) 

6pm Cole Sullivan

7pm SwampTrees

8pm head upstairs for Antiphons and Lobo Marino 

10pm Rattlemouth 

ROOFTOP (outdoor)

6-8pm DJ OlNuBi and DJ Negrita spinning latin and disco boogie hits

8pm Antiphons solo set

9pm- Lobo Marino

10pm- Head downstairs for Rattlemouth

 Here's some Rattlemouth:

The Congress will be at The Broadberry Thursday night to celebrate the release of their new album, "The Game". Doors open at 8, show starts at 9 with Major & the Monbacks opening. Tix are $12 advance, $15 day of show. After this show, The Congress head to DC, Brooklyn, then out west and out of the country to conquer the world. This is "Farewell" from that upcoming album. Love the harmonies!



70's smooth rock band Little River Band will be kicking off The State Fair of Virginia on Friday. The show starts at 7 PM and is included with your admission to the fair. So load up on fried oreos, twinkies, turkey legs, pork bar-b-q and candy apples, then sit back and enjoy LRB's bevy of mellow hits. When I saw they were playing, "Lonesome Loser" immediately got stuck in my head and I walked around all day singing it. Now it's time for you to get it stuck in your head. You know you want to. Just click PLAY. "Have you heard about the...."

Local fun from psychedelic rock bands at The Camel on Friday night with Imaginary Sons, Clair Morgan, M.H. & His Orchestra, and Pete Curry. Tix are $6 advance, $8 day of show. Doors open at 8, show starts at 9. Here's Imaginary Sons in Jan. 2015:



Saturday, yours truly will be doing the 80's music show, Songs from the Big Hair, on WRIR-FM in Richmond from 3 - 5 PM. It'll be an 80's dance party as I'll be whipping out my 12".....singles. Yes, it was the age of short shorts on guys and big hair on girls. Tune in at 97.3 FM in the Richmond area or at wrir.org/listen.



It will be a dance party of a different kind at The National Saturday night when jam band Perpetual Groove take the stage. Tix are $19.50 advance, $23 day of show. Doors open at 7, show starts at 8 with McLovins. P Groove has a new EP, "Familiar Stare" out so you may hear some hits off of that. Here they are performing "Out Here":

The Trongone Band is at The Broadberry Saturday night. Tix are $12 advance, $15 day of show. Doors open at 9 and the show starts at 9 with opener Maradeen out of Nashville. The Trongones will have some new tunes, special guests and surprises for the show. It'll be a grand ol' time! Guitarist Andrew Trongone recently jammed with The Ron Holloway Band and Warren Haynes. Here's the results:



Blues man George Thorogood and the Destroyers are at Pocahontas State Park on Sunday evening. Gates open at 5:30 and the show opens with One Way Ryde. Tix are $25 for GA, $37 for Gold Circle. Growing up in the Philly area, George was our hometown boy and I saw him many times back in the day in venues big and small. His version of "One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer" from the closing night of the Bijou Theater in Philly in the late 70's ('79?) that was broadcast live on WMMR is still one of the greatest version of that songs ever and I still listen to that cassette and love it. It will be a sad day when that tape finally breaks. He's always a fun time and has a great rapport with the audience. Bring your drinkin' shoes because I think every one of his songs mentions alcohol in some way. Here's George doing the acoustic blues at radio station KOKZ in Iowa a few days ago playing some tunes and also a good interview about his influences and start.



Americana band The Felice Brothers are at The Camel Wednesday night (9/28). Tix are $15. Doors open at 7, show starts at 8 with opener Aaron Lee Tasjan. Here's The Felice Brothers performing live in June:



Newgrass band Greensky Bluegrass is at The National Wednesday. They take the traditional bluegrass instrumentation but put a new spin on it venturing into jam band, jazz, blues, rock and country. Definitely not your grandaddy's bluegrass. Tix are $18 advance, $23 day of show. Doors open at 7, show starts at 8. No opener is listed. You can check out a live stream of their new album, "Shouted, Written Down & Quoted" here on Pandora Premieres. Here they are playing "Burn Them" in an gorgeous setting near Telluride CO:



That'll do it. I hope to see you at the Standing Rock benefit on Thursday and the Trongone Band show on Saturday. This song popped up on my iPod today and it's still one of my all-time favorite Prince songs. It breaks my heart to think I'll never get to see him play live again.


Have a great weekend!

Tony Jordan

North Mississippi Allstars Duo, David Grisman Sextet, Phish, Rock at the Mosque

Thursday night's Groovin' in the Garden at MAYMONT will feature the North Mississippi All-Stars Duo and the Felice Brothers.  Tix are $18 in advance, $23 at the gate.  Gates open at 5:30, show starts with the Felice Brothers around 6:30.  North Mississippi All-Stars Duo is brothers Luther Dickinson (guitar, formerly of Black Crowes) and Cody Dickinson (drums, percussion).  I wasn't sure how these guys would sound but I watched their performance on the Mountain Jam webcast and they were great.  Even though its just two guys they were really able to get a variety of different sounds on each song, often through the use of different instruments including Luther on a homemade guitar at one point and Cody playing the electric washboard.  Here's a nice segment from their show in NYC on 6/6/11:


Friday Cheers brings us the great David Grisman Sextet with local act The Hot Seats opening.  Tix are $5 at the gate and things get under way at Brown's Island at 6:30.  Here's what the Cheers site says about David Grisman, if you don't already know; "For nearly half a century, mandolinist/composer/bandleader/producer David Grisman has been a guiding force in the evolving world of acoustic music. His musical range is wide and deep — embracing many styles, genres and traditions.
An acoustic pioneer and innovator, David forged a unique personal artistic path, skillfully combining elements of the great American music/art forms — jazz and bluegrass with many international flavors and sensibilities to create his own distinctive idiom — “Dawg” music (the nickname given him by Jerry Garcia). In doing so, he’s inspired new generations of acoustic string musicians, while creating his own niche in contemporary music."
Here's the David Grisman Sextet with a couple guys from Punch Brothers joining them in NYC in April:


Sunday, I am off to see Phish at nTelos Pavilion in Portsmouth (not to be confused with nTelos Pavilion in Charlottesville.  Wait, that is confusing).  This is probably the smallest venue on the tour (7500 seats) and is the last show of this leg, before their Super Ball IX festival.  The show is sold out but if you're going, showtime is 7:30.  And if you're going, give me a call.  Maybe we can meet up.  Here is Phish doing "The Curtain With" in Camden NJ on 6/10/11 and its quite snazzy.  The last, oh, seven minutes or so feature some amazing guitar work by Trey Anastasio and band interplay:

Phish - 6/10/11 "The Curtain With" from Phish on Vimeo.

A few loose ends.  Wyatt sent along this cool site that tells the history of a number of rock shows in the 60's at The Mosque aka The Landmark Theater here in Richmond.  Lots of pics of newspaper ads and reviews.  I love the quote from the review of The Who playing there in '68: "As a display of the kind of music much of the younger generation enjoys more than any other, last night's program showed at least one thing: there is a definite style and direction to this hard rock music, and the groups who performed at the Mosque are serious about it.  If it weren't all so loud, though, the older generation might dig it more."  Here's the link: http://www.scottymoore.net/mosque.html.

Neil Young has a new album out called "A Treasure" which captures live performances with his country band, The International Harvesters, on their 1986 tour.  It got 4 out of 5 stars from Rolling Stone and you can listen to the whole album HERE.  Thanks to Joan for passing that one along.

I had to go back to May to find the last time we checked in with Moviefone's Best Music Scenes In Movies list.  This is #38 from the great Woody Allen film "Annie Hall".  I watched "Annie Hall" again recently and was reminded of what a great, heartbreaking movie it is and why it turned Diane Keaton into a star.  Her depiction of Annie is complex and subtle and she's beautiful, poignant, vulnerable and sexy, and you can't help but fall in love with her.  And she can sing:


In the Paste Magazine 25 Best Music Videos of 2010 we are up to (down to?) #3 and its good to see that we may complete this list before they come out with their 25 Best Music Videos of 2011.  I just heard this song again today and its the happiest blow-off song ever, now ain't that some s**t.  The song is fantastic and the video makes it better.  I still crack up when Cee-Lo is crying "Whyyyyy?  Whyyyy?".  Yes, turn up your speakers and dance, or turn them down and put on your headphones if you're at work or the kids are around, it's Cee-Lo Green's "F**k You".


And here's Prince's "Raspberry Beret" just because it reminds of this time of year:

Raspberry Beret - Prince by abelflexes

Don't forget to check back every weekday.  I'm trying to add new posts every day.  When I do post, I lget people know on Facebook.  I don't send emails out every day to my email list because I don't want to inundate those on the email list.

Have a great weekend! See you at the Phish show!

Tony Jordan

Old Crow Medicine Show, Free Downloads, Felice Brothers

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.





Local band David Shultz & The Skyline will be opening aat Friday Cheers starting at 6 PM and they get a nice write up in local blog, All Things Richmond. You can check it out here: http://allthingsrichmond.blogspot.com/2009/05/david-shutz-and-skyline-at-friday.html

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.

- 4 free classic Phish tracks are available for download at the Bonnaroo 365 site: http://bonnaroo.com/news/2009/04/22/bonnaroo-365-phish-clifford-ball.aspx.

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.

Tony Jordan