Weekend Picks: Riverrock, Blues Traveler, Greensky Bluegrass, Ani DiFranco, Carbon Leaf's Ragtime Carnival, Avers, Iris DeMent, Beach Fossils

This is a crazy, busy weekend but it should be a lot of fun!

The big event is Dominion Riverrock which goes on all weekend down on Brown's Island. This combination of adventure sports (mud runs, mountain bikes, rock climbing, kayaking, slacklining, air dogs and paddleboarding) and music (see the schedule below) is always a blast. Bring the kids, bring your dog, watch the events and take in some great music. It's free to get in, too, and adult beverages and other food and drink are served. The music headliners this year are Greensky Bluegrass on Friday night, and Blues Traveler on Saturday night. Here's the full music schedule along with little Blues Traveler, the band that started the second wave of jam bands that included Phish, Widespread Panic, and Dave Matthews Band.

Friday, May 15

6:30 pm - 7:00 pm            PGrass

7:45 pm - 9:30 pm            Greensky Bluegrass

Saturday, May 16

1:00 pm - 1:45 pm            Manatree

2:15 pm - 3:00 pm            Sam Reed Syndicate

3:30 pm - 4:15 pm            Mighty Joshua and the Zion #5

4:45 pm - 5:45 pm            The Shack Band

6:15 pm - 7:15 pm            American Aquarium

7:45 pm - 9:30 pm            Blues Traveler

Sunday, May 17

1:00 pm - 2:00 pm            Houdan the Mystic

2:30 pm - 3:30 pm            The Flavor Project

4:00 pm - 5:00 pm            Major and the Monbacks

The other festival this weekend is Carbon Leaf's Ragtime Carnival at Pocahontas State Park on Friday and Saturday. You can get single day tickets (see the schedule below for prices) or a two-day pass for $35. You can also get a camping pass for the weekend, if you are so inclined. Here's the schedule along with some Carbon Leaf doing the song that gave the name to the festival.

Friday, May 15

Tickets $10.00 advance/$15 door (general admission only)

Doors 5:30pm

Main Stage

6:00pm - People's Blues of Richmond

8:15pm - Carbon Leaf (full set)

Acoustic Stage

7:30pm - Ben Daniels Band

Saturday, May 16

Tickets $25.00 advance/$30 door (general admission only)

Doors 10:45am

Main Stage

11:30am - Sons of Bill

1:00pm - Scythian

2:30pm - Red Wanting Blue

4:15pm - Jeff Daniels & the Ben Daniels Band

6:15pm - Trigger Hippy

8:15pm - Carbon Leaf (full set)

Acoustic Stage

11:00am - Carbon Leaf (acoustic set)

12:30pm - TBA

2:00pm -  Ian McFeron

3:45pm -  Marie Miller

5:30pm -  von Grey

7:30pm -  Mandolin Orange

Trongone Band will host a Riverrock after party at The Camel Friday night. Trongone Band will play their mix of originals (they'll have some new tunes ready for the show) and jam band/classic rock covers. It's $7 to get in. Doors will open at 8, music should start around 9 with openers Dalton Dash & Rooster Blood. I love when Trongone Band plays this one; the Grateful Dead's "New Speedway Boogie". Here's a great version from Gypsy Sally's in DC last Saturday night:

If you want something familiar but different, head to The National Friday night for Scott Bradlee's Postmodern Jukebox. Doors open at 7, show starts at 8 and there doesn't appear to be an opener. Tix are $20 for GA on the floor, $25 for a reserved seat in the balcony. The band became a sensation on YouTube with their versions of modern pop music done in the style of say, 20's jazz, New Orleans piano music, Motown or 60's surf music. Here they do Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance"in vintage 1920's style:



Cary St. Cafe showcases Mekong Xpress & The Get Fresh Horns on Friday night. The funk will be drippin'! That starts at 10 PM and it's FREE to get in! The Slank open the show. Here's Mekong taking you to the promised land with "Moses".



Saturday night, legendary Americana/folk singer Iris DeMent is at Tin Pan. Show starts at 8 PM and it's $35 to get in. Emmylou Harris said of Iris, "Her voice is extraordinary, there's nobody like her. Here's Iris' most famous song, "Our Town", with the aforementioned Emmylou Harris helping out on vocals:

The Southern Belles host the post-Riverrock party at The Camel on Saturday night. Tix are $7 in advance, $10 at the door. Doors open at 9, music starts at 10 with the Sam Reed Syndicate opening the show. Get there early to see Sam Reed. She's got a soulful voice that will knock you out. Here's the Belles at Rapture in C'ville last week:



Love Canon, the bluegrass band that plays hits from the '80's, will be at Broadberry Saturday night. It's $10 in advance, $12 at the door. Doors open at 8 and Notch 9 opens. Love Canon is stretching out their danger zone and will be doing a three date residency at Brooklyn Bowl in Brooklyn this summer. And they'll take you to the danger zone too:



Shack Band heads to Tobacco Company Saturday night after their appearance at Riverrock. They'll start at 9:30. Baltimore soul band, Bosley, will open the show. It'll be $10 to get in. Shack Band is right in the middle of a tour taking them from MD to GA. Here's a track from Shack Band's recent show at the US National White Water Center in Charlotte NC.

DJ to the jam band world, DJ Logic, will be at The Canal Club Saturday night. DJ Logic has played with Ratdog,, moe., String Cheese Incident, Medeski, Martin, and Wood, Warren Haynes, Mike Gordon and Stanley Jordan, but he'll be doing his own thing at this show. Tix are $10 in advance, $15 at the door. Doors open at 10 and Blaqtronic (featuring DJ Williams who isn't a DJ but is named like one) open the show and will undoubtedly join DJ Logic for some tunes.. Here's DJ Logic joining Marcus Miller at the Montreaux Jazz Festival in 2008:



Sunday, there is a free show at Hardywood with psychedelic garage pop band Avers (4:30 PM), "world circus folk" band Happy Lucky Combo (3:15 PM), and surf rock band Red Hot Lava Men (1 PM). Doors open at noon and this is a showcase for Bijou Film Center, who are a non-profit, independent art house cinema, cafe and film center coming soon to RVA's downtown arts and cultural district. There will also be beer and food trucks. Here's Avers playing "Girls with Headaches":



Righteous babe and folk singer/songwriter Ani DiFranco will be at The National on Monday night. Tix are $27.50 in advance, $30 at the door. Doors open at 7, show starts at 8 with That 1 Guy. The night before The National show, Ani will be in DC performing with The Blind Boys of Alabama at the Lincoln Theater for JusticeAid which benefits the Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project and Innocence Project New Orleans. The Innocence Project works to correct and prevent the conviction of innocent people. Here's Ani in March performing for KRVB in Boise:



Alt-indie-lo-fi-pop-rock band Beach Fossils are at Strange Matter Monday night. They are the early show so you can check them out and still get home and get some sleep for work in the AM. Did I just say that? Man, I'm getting old. The doors open at 6 PM. RVA's Sleepwalkers and Clair Morgan open. It's $12 to get in. Here's the Beach Fossils' "Adversity":



And that'll do it! See you at Riverrock, Trongone Band, Hardywood and Ani DiFranco. The music never stops!

I'll leave you with this "Tribute" from Tenacious D. See if you can spot Dave Grohl.



Tony Jordan

RiverRock, Galactic, Justin Townes Earle, Infamous Stringdusters, Dark Star Orchestra, Donna the Buffalo, Jerry Joseph, Jonny Lang, Willie Nelson

NOTE: Corrected night of Dark Star Orchestra show from Friday to THURSDAY. Thanks to Michael W. for noting the mistake and letting me know about it!

Big weekend starts Thursday with some bluegrass and some old school jams.  Bluegrass band The Infamous Stringdusters kick off the Groovin' in the Garden series this year. The show will be at the beautiful Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens. Tix are $20 in advance, $25 at the gate and kids 10 and under are free. Gates open at 5:30 and the music begins at 6 with Steep Canyon Rangers who have recently been playing with Steve Martin, though Steve is not expected to be at the show. The Stringdusters will be at Bonnaroo this year. Here they are performing "I Wonder" and "Y2K" in Portland OR in April:



Also, Friday THURSDAY night, Grateful Dead tribute band Dark Star Orchestra will perform in what should be a beautiful setting at Pocahontas State Park Amphitheater in Chesterfield. Tix are $16.50 in advance and $20 at the gate. Children 10 and under are free. There will also be a $5 fee per car charged at the park entrance but that fee is going to the park so that's cool. Gates open at 6, show starts at 6:30 with two 90 minute sets from DSO. Here's DSO doing "Scarlet Begonias > Fire On the Mountain" with former Grateful Dead member Donna Jean Godchaux on vocals at the Gathering of the Vibes in 2011:


Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Dominion Riverrock takes over Brown's Island for what is always a rockin' good time. There will be people mud runnin', dogs catchin' air and jumpin' in the water (my kids love this), freestyle BMXing, kayaking and rock climbing and, of course, great music. There are two stages this year and music will be going on the whole day, each day, Friday starting at 6:30, Saturday and Sunday starting at 1 PM. For the full schedule, click HERE. Headliner on Friday is great bluegrass with Keller Williams with the Travelin' McCourys coming on at 9 PM and going until 10:30. Headliners on Saturday will be Galactic (9 PM), bringin' the New Orleans funk and featuring Corey Glover of Living Colour on vocals, and JJ Grey and Mofro (r&b and roots rock n' roll at 7:30 PM). On Sunday, the festival closes with Allman Brothers tribute band, Skydog, starting at 4:00 PM. By the way, did I mention that the whole festival is FREE. Here's the first three songs of Galactic's set on April 18 in Nashville:



More bluesy, folksy jam bands at Kingdom on Friday night with Donna the Buffalo, Rattlemouth, and Men of Leisure. Show starts at 7 and it's $17 to get in. Here's the full set from Donna the Buffalo at the Virginia Key Grassroots Festival near Miami earlier this year:



Also, Friday, roots rocker Jerry Joseph and the Jackmorons will be at Capital Ale House downtown. Show starts at 10 PM and there does not appear to be an opener. Tix are $10 in advance, $13 day of show. The band has a new live concert DVD out. Here's a track from that:



Also on Friday, NO BS Brass Band will be at The Camel with Paul Wilson opening. It's $7 to get in and the show starts at 9 PM. Here's No BS doing "2 the day":



If you are at home at all this weekend, you can check out the live stream of the Hangout Music Fest from Gulf Shores, AL HERE on MySpace. Yes, that MySpace. They are still around and trying to make a comeback, I guess. I'm not sure if this is video or just audio. But you can't argue with the bands on the webstream including Jack White, String Cheese Incident, Umphrey's McGee (coming to Groovin' in the Garden this summer), Dispatch, Gogol Bordello, Michael Franti & Spearhead (coming to The National this summer), G. Love & Special Sauce, Dr. Dog, Dawes (coming to Friday Cheers this year), Alabama Shakes (also coming to Friday Cheers this year), Gary Clark Jr. and others. They had a schedule up earlier but it's not up now. Music starts at the festival at 12:30 PM ET on Friday, and 12:15 ET on Saturday and Sunday so check it out then.

Saturday, blues guitarist Jonnny Lang will be at The National. Tix are $35 reserved orchestra / $30 reserved balcony / $25 reserved balcony / $25 GA standing. Doors open at 7, show starts at 8 with opener Michael Williams Band. Jonny has been in the studio working on a new CD so maybe you'll hear some new tunes on Saturday night. Here's Jonny and his band acoustic with "I Believe":



Willie Nelson plays his rescheduled (from May 9) show at Innsbrook on Sunday night. Gates open at 6 and music starts with a tba opener around 6:30. Tix are $20 in advance, $25 at the gate for GA and $45 for Gold Circle. Children under 10 are free. Here's Willie doing "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain":



Tuesday night, Groovin' in the Garden continues with a great Americana triple bill of Justin Townes Earle, Tristen, & Todd Snider. The show is at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden. Gates open at 5:30, music starts around 6. Ticket prices are General Admission Lawn- $20 in advance, $25 at the gate. Children 10 and under are free.  General Reserve Seating- $35 in advance. Here's Justin on Letterman in February performing "Look the Other Way":



Have a great weekend!  I'll see you at RiverRock, hopefully both nights and maybe some other places too.

Tony Jordan

Flaming Lips, RiverRock, VibeFest, Social Distortion, Amos Lee, Danzig

Big busy weekend. The big event is Dominion RiverRock at Brown’s Island from 4 PM until 11 PM on Friday and 1 PM until 11 PM on Saturday. Besides the Ultimate Air Dogs (my kids’ favorite event), the Mud Run, Freestyle Bikes, Boulder Bash, and the Canal Crashers kayaks, they have a great lineup of music. Here is the music schedule:
Friday, May 13, 2011
6 p.m. - Josati
7:15 p.m. - Big Gigantic
9 p.m. - Perpetual Groove

Saturday, May 14, 2011
1 p.m. - The Bush League
2:30 p.m. - Psychobilly Cadillac
4 p.m. - William Walter & Tucker Rogers
5:30 p.m. - People's Blues of Richmond
7 p.m. - Jonathan Vassar & The Speckled Bird
9 p.m. - Yonder Mountain String Band

Unfortunately, between t-ball games and cookouts, I won’t be able to get down there Saturday. But I’ll be there on Friday for the jam band Perpetual Groove. Here they are deep in their set at the Black Water Music Festival in Suwanee GA last year:


And here is a little Yonder Mountain String Band if you are thinking about going on Saturday night. Here they are in playing “If Loving You Is Killing Me” in Santa Cruz in April of this year.


If you are more in the mood for gothic metal on Friday night, head to The National for Danzig. Tix are $25, doors open at 7 and the show starts at 8 with 2 Cents. Everybody knows “Mother” so instead I’m going with “Am I Demon”. Bang your heads, motherf**kers!


Also, Friday night, Johnny A. plays at the Capital Ale House Downtown. Johnny A plays blues & rock guitar in the styles of Les Paul, Wes Montgomery, Jeff Beck, Chet Atkins, and Jimi Hendrix. The show starts at 10 PM and tix are $15. Here’s Johnny performing “Oh Yeah” in April of this year:


If you are at home on Friday night, you can check out the webcast from Bob Weir (of the Grateful Dead) & Friends. And he has some pretty good friends: Rob Wasserman, Jay Lane, Jeff Chimenti, Steve Kimock, Robin Sylvester and a 4 piece Horn Section. The show starts at 10 PM ET from the Talampais Research Institute (http://www.tristudios.com/ ), which is a state of the art recording and video studio built by Bob Weir and, well, some other friends of his. The main performance space at TRI houses a Meyer Sound Constellation System - a revolutionary acoustic modeling technology which has the ability to dramatically change the acoustical properties of the room. With the touch of a button, an artist can instantly change the sonic environment from that of a small intimate club to sounding like a theater, an arena or even a cathedral. And the video will be in HD.

Saturday night Amos Lee will be at The National. Amos recently had the #1 album in America. Tix are $25. Doors open at 6:30 and the show starts at 7:30 with opener Sonia Leigh. You might like Amos if you like James Taylor, Norah Jones, Ben Harper, Willie Nelson, or Lucinda Williams. Here he is performing “Windows Are Rolled Down”.


Sunday out at The Meadows at The Boulders will be Vibefest featuring The Georgia Satellites, Janet Martin Band, The Taters, Susan Greenbaum and more. The event runs from noon until 6:30 PM and is $10 in advance, $15 at the gate. The event benefits The Positive Vibe Foundation, a non-profit organization preparing people with cognitive or physical disabilities for paid employment in the food service industry. Everybody knows “Keep Your Hands To Yourself” but here’s another good one from the Satellites, “Battleship Chains” as performed by them on Danish TV(?) in 1996:


Also Sunday, I’ll be hitting up the sold out Flaming Lips show (thanks to Wyatt for remembering me when an extra ticket came his way!) at The National. If any tickets do appear, they’ll be $40. Doors open at 7, show starts at 8 with opener The Ghost of A Saber Tooth Tiger. BTW, you may want to get there early as TGOASTT is a band featuring Sean Lennon and his girlfriend, Charlotte Kemp Muhl. If you can get a ticket to the Lips show, you really must go. It is a super psychedelic mind-blowing party with balloons, Wayne Coyne (lead singer) walking across the crowd in a hamster costume, confetti guns, artsy videos, people in costumes and the music is pretty wild and fine too, like a cross between punk rock and Pink Floyd. And they are about to step out on Broadway as I heard that their classic album, “Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots”, is being turned into a musical but I’m sure it won’t be your typical musical. “Typical” is not in the Lips vocabulary. Here they are performing “I Was Zapped By The Super Lucky Rainbow” which is typical of their warped humor:

And here is the Lips performing a medley of songs from The Who’s “Tommy” at the VH1 Tribute to The Who:


On Wednesday, The Wailers will be at Innsbrook. Tix are $12.50 in advance, $15 at the gate. Gates open at 6 and The Wailers will come on about 8. There is an opener which will be announced.

Also on Wednesday, Social Distortion will be at The National. Tix are $27.50 in advance, $32.50 day of show. Doors open at 7, show starts at 8 with openers Sharks and Chuck Ragan. Here’s Social Distortion performing “Don’t Drag Me Down” when they were at The National in 2009.


Blogger is still down (I’m writing this in Word to copy over to Blogger later) (NOTE: Blogger was down until about noon on Friday.  Sheesh!) and it’s late and I’ve got a busy weekend ahead so I am calling it a night. We’ll get back to our lists next week.

Have a great weekend! I’ll see you at RiverRock on Friday night for Perpetual Groove and Sunday night at The Flaming Lips!

Tony Jordan