Porcupine Tree review, Dominion RiverRock Fest, Grace Potter, Robert Randolph

The big Dominion RiverRock Festival weekend is here.  Grace Potter, Robert Randolph, soaring kayaks, flipping bikes, muddy runners and flying dogs.  But before we get to that, a quick review of the Porcupine Tree show.

Tuesday night at the National, rising progressive rock band, Porcupine Tree, played to an almost full house.  In their music, you could hear the entire history of prog rock, from Yes, Rush & Floyd to Tool & Nine Inch Nails.  This is a very precise band, led by singer/songwriter/guitarist, Steven Wilson, and featuring excellent musicianship from all the players.  This is a band that opens the show by playing the entire song cycle, "The Incident", which takes up the first CD of their latest release of the same name.  "The Incident" is highlighted by its 12 minute centerpiece, "Time Flies".  This is a band that uses arty videos to enhance the songs.  This is a band which I will definitely see again and will explore more of their alternately ambient and rocking music.

The opener for the show was BigElf, a band from LA that unashamedly plays 70s epic stoner metal, a la Deep Purple/Black Sabbath.  (They even played a little bit of Sabbath's "Sweet Leaf" by request before saying, "F**k 'Sweet Leaf'.  We don't have enough time.  We'll play it for you when we come back as a headliner."  It wasn't snotty though, it was pretty funny.)  They were a rocking blast, led by their scarecrow in a top hat lead singer/keyboarist, Damon Fox, and guitarist Ace Mark.  Damon Fox was very entertainig to watch as he was flanked by his vintage keyboards playing one with each hand, wailing like Dio or Ian Gillan.

Onto RiverRock.  Here is the entire schedule, then more on the musical headliners.

Friday, May 14


ADVENTURE SPORTS SCHEDULE

4 - 6pm: Event registration and athlete check-in

4 - 8pm: Vendor booths and interactive village open

6 - 7 p.m Filthy 5K Mud Run

6 - 7pm: Freestyle Bikes (Best Trick Qualifying)

6 - 7:30pm: Red Bull Canal Crashers (Qualifying)

6 - 7:30pm: Ultimate Air Dogs (Qualifying)

7 - 8pm: Freestyle Bikes (Best Trick Finals)

7:30 - 8pm: Ultimate Air Dogs (Catch It Finals)

MUSIC

6pm: Free Concert - The Congress

7:40pm: Free Concert - Grace Potter & the Nocturnals

Saturday, May 15

ADVENTURE SPORTS SCHEDULE

1 - 6pm: Event registration and athlete check-in

3 - 9pm: Vendor booths and interactive village open

3 - 6pm: Ultimate Air Dogs (Qualifying)

4 - 5:30p.m. Urban Assault Mountain Bike Race

4 - 6pm: Kayak Boatercross

5 - 6:30p.m. James River Scramble 10k Trail Run

6 - 7:30p.m. Ultimate Air Dogs (Fetch It Finals)

6:30 -7:30p.m. Freestyle Bikes (Slopestyle Qualifying)

7 - 8pm: Red Bull Canal Crashers (Finals)

7:30 - 8p.m. Ultimate Air Dogs (Finals)

7:30 -8:30p.m. Freestyle Bikes (Slopestyle Finals)

MUSIC

4pm: Free Concert - Beast Wellington

5:30pm: Free Concert - Antero

7:30pm: Free Concert - Farm Vegas

9pm: Free Concert - Robert Randolph & the Family Band

Don't miss the Ultimate Air Dogs.  This is a very entertaining event and the kids love it.  A lot of the kids like to gather at the end of the pool, hoping a dog will jump far enough and make a big enough splash so they get wet. 

As for the music, Friday night is Grace Potter & The Nocturnals with their blues/classic rock.  If you like Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Bonnie Raitt, or Janis Joplin, you won't want to miss them.  They were recently named one of Rolling Stone magazine's Top Bands to Watch of 2010 and they seem to making a big promo push for their new self-titled album.  They may be on the cusp of moving to the next level, so you may not get another chance to see them for free.  Here is their new single, "Tiny Light".


As an added bonus, here they are doing an acoustic version of their song, "Paris", in their hotel room last week:


Saturday night, blues/funk/gospel band, Robert Randolph & The Family Band will take the stage. I have not stated this since Stevie Ray Vaughn died and I do not say this lightly. Robert Randolph is the best guitarist I have seen since SRV died. You will be picking your jaw up off of the Brown's Island turf at least once during this show as you watch him wail on pedal steel guitar in between all the dancing you'll be doing. The band has a new album out called "We Walk This Road" so I'm sure we'll hear a few cuts off of that. If anyone is going, let's hook up because right now, I'm flying solo as this one starts too late (9 PM) to bring the kids. For those of you who know how to reach me, you know how to reach me. Here is the link (embedding is disabled) to his latest single, "Going In the Right Direction": click HERE.

When you aren't at the RiverRock Fest this weekend, you can check out the free webcast from the first Hangout Music Festival in Gulf Shores, AL on iClips.  They haven't posted the schedule for the webcast yet but the festival starts at 12:15 PM Friday through Sunday so go to the iClips site then and see what's going on.  (UPDATE: 12:16 PM, FRIDAY:  The webcast starts at 4:30 PM on Friday & Saturday, and 4 PM on Sunday.  The direct link to the webcast is HERE.)  Here is who I hope they show.  Friday: Brett Dennen, North Mississippi Allstarts Duo, Robert Randolph, Black Crowes (tix go on sale this Friday at 10 AM for their show at the National on Nov 16), Girl Talk.  Saturday: A.A. Bondy, Ozomatli, Grace Potter & The Nocturnals (playing at 2:30 PM after playing for us till 9 PM or later the night before.  Ah, the glamorous rock & roll lifestyle.  Hope they get some sleep on the bus or plane.), Funky Meters, Rodrigo y Gabriela, The Roots, John Legend.  Sunday: Blind Boys of Alabama, Michael Franti & Spearhead (just announced a show at The National on August 29), Guster, Ben Harper & Relentless 7, Ray Lamontagne, Trey Anastasio & TAB.

A couple other shows of note:

Southern Culture on the Skids with The Hotdamns & Hamburger James at Plaza Bowl on Friday night.  Show starts at 8, tix are $10 in advance, $12 at the door.  SCOTS play crazy, white trash, rockabilly. 

Elizabeth Cook at Ashland Coffee & Tea on Wednesday night.  The show will start at 8 PM, tix are $15 in advance and $20 at the door.  Here's the blurb from the Ashland Coffee & Tea website: "Elizabeth Cook made her Grand Ole Opry debut on March 17, 2000, appearing repeatedly thereafter — a remarkable achievement considering that, at the time, she was an indie artist with no radio airplay. But such was the excitement generated by her clear, beautiful voice, strong songwriting ability, and live performances, all of which have drawn comparisons to younger, critically respected artists like Kelly Willis and legends such as Dolly Parton. Nanci Griffith has called her ”this generation’s Loretta Lynn”."

Alright, I'll leave you with this from the College Humor web site.  Its the ad for "Every Summer Music Festival You've Ever Been To".

Have a great weekend.  See you at RiverRock Fest.

Tony Jordan

Grace Potter & The Nocturnals, David Allen Coe, GWAR and more

A great night of music on Thursday. Grace Potter and the Nocturnals come to The National to open their fall tour. Tix are $15, doors open at 7 and show starts at 8 with opener Blues & Lasers. Blues & Lasers is Nocturnals' guitarist Scott Tournet's side project. GP & the N will start at 9, per their web site. I would love to attend this one but unfortunately a combination of travel for work and commitments my wife has at my kids' school will prevent that. I would like to see how the two most recent additions to the Nocturnals (Catherine Popper on bass and Benny Yurco on rhythm guitar) are fitting in with the band. If you like blues ala Bonnie Raitt, Janis Joplin, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers or Led Zeppelin, you should definitely check out Grace & The Nocturnals. In fact, Ms. Raitt called them "One of the most soulful new bands around.” Here is a little sampler of three songs from their show at The Pines a month or so ago. Vocals are a little low in the mix but otherwise good video:


Also on Thursday, at the Hat Factory, outlaw country great David Allen Coe comes in. Doors open at 7 and show starts at 8 with opener Rebel Son. Tix are $20 in advance and $25 day of show. He's written #1 hits for Tanya Tucker and Johnny Paycheck ("Take This Job and Shove It") but is perhaps better know for his own humorous and often raunchy songs. Here's DAC doing his song "If That Ain't Country":


Also on Thursday, Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band bring their rollicking gutbucket blues to Capital Ale House Downtown. The show starts at 9 and tix are $10 in advance, $12 at the door. If you like the Avett Brothers, Squirrel Nut Zippers, Muddy Waters, BB King, Dylan, or Neil Young, you may like the Big Damn Band. Here they are on the Warped Tour this year doing "Mama's Fried Potatoes":


More blues at Capital Ale House Downtown on Friday night with The Nighthawks. Show starts at 9:30 and tix are $12 in advance, $15 at the door. These guys play blues-rock just the way you like it. Here they are at a festival in Maryland in August doing the theme song from "The Sopranos" (Video is black for first five seconds. Be patient, man!):


If you are looking for something a bit more Halloweenish, check out horror rock band(and Richmond natives) GWAR. I don't know what that says about Richmond that GWAR was born and raised here, but somehow I like it. GWAR will be at The National. Tix are $18 in advance, $21 at the door, doors open at 7, show starts at 8 with openers The Red Chord and Blinded By Madness. Make sure you wear something you won't mind getting splattered with fake(?) blood and other random bodily fluids. Believe it or not, GWAR is celebrating 25 years of madness and mayhem and. led by lead singer, Oderus Urungus, have created their own demonic, alien alternate universe that you will be lucky to be a part of. Here is the first video off of their new "Lust In Space" CD, "Let Us Slay". Not for the timid:


On a completely different note, Sunday night, Sugar And Gold play at The Triple with James Husband. The Triple is at 3306 West Broad Street. Sugar And Gold play danceable psychedelic electronica indie rock. Figure that one out. Oh, hell just listen and see if you like it. Here they are kicking off the tour in their hometown of San Francisco:


The show at The Triple starts at 8. Amazing Ghost & Cubscout and the Rhinoceros will play before Sugar And Gold. James Husband (of Of Montreal) will play after Sugar And Gold.

That's all I got. I need to get some sleep because I've been up late the past two nights watchin' those fightin' Phils get one game away from the World Series. J-Roll rules!

I'll leave you with an oldie but a goodie suggested by Sarah via Vince (or was it Vince via Sarah), Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show with "At The Freaker's Ball":


Have a great weekend!

Tony Jordan