Gregg Allman, Whitey Morgan & the 78's, Magnificent Bastards, Robbin Thompson Band

Happy New Year!  I hope everyone has recovered from the holidays.

We start the new year off with a legend at The National.  A guy who suffered death and dissention within his band, alcohol and drug abuse and a marriage to Cher (who was kind of hot in the 70's during their 15 minute marriage and before 20 years of plastic surgery and those Bob Mackie creations she wears are fab-u-LOUS!).  Yes, I'm talking about Gregg Allman, now all cleaned up (at least at press time) and sounding good.  He'll be at The National on Tuesday night, tix are $35, doors open at 6:30, show starts at 7:30 with opener Barrelhouse.  Here's a little video where Gregg talks about the making of his latest album, "Low Country Blues", which I'm sure you'll hear some stuff from on Tuesday night:

Whitey Morgan & the 78's with special guest Wes Freed (who did the artwork above and also does the artwork for Drive-By Truckers) and his band The Magnificent Bastards will be at Shenanigans on Friday night.  The show starts at 8:30 with The Magnificent Bastards opening.
Here's one from The Magnificent Bastards:


And here's one from Whitey Morgan & The 78's doing a Dale Watson song about Billy Joe Shaver called "Where Do Ya Want It":


On Saturday night, The Robbin Thompson Band will be at The National. Tix are $20, doors open at 7, show starts at 8 and there is no opener listed so get there on time. Robbin Thompson was in Bruce Springsteen's first band, Steel Mill, and then found some fame as a solo artist in these parts most notably for the song "Sweet Virginia Breeze" and his work with Timothy B. Schmitt of the The Eagles. Here's a clip of the Robbin Thompson Band way back in 1981 doing "Broken Promises" complete with skinny tie:




If you are a fan of mashups, here are the 10 Best Mashups of 2010 as chosen by BuzzFeed.  My favorites are "Smells Like Rockin Robin" (Nirvana & Jackson 5) and "Imagine a Jump" (John Lennon & Van Halen). 

Finally, we continue our walk through the top 25 music videos of 2010 with a cool song about Tatooine (you will by strangly moved) and a great acommpanying video using paper cut-out animation to tell the story of the original Star Wars trilogy. 


Have a great weekend!

Tony Jordan

Zappa Plays Zappa, Skydog, January Allstars, Robbin Thompson

Thursday night brings Dweezil Zappa Plays Zappa to town at The Hat Factory. Tix are $35, doors open at 7:30 and the show starts at 8:30. There is no opener and if I recall correctly, they started right on time when they played here a year and a half ago. As a big fan of Zappa since I was introduced to his music one evening in South College dorm by Joe & Joe, who knew all the words to the "Sheik Yerbouti" album, I will be attending this show. Listening to Frank Zappa's music this week, I realized his songs are still as relevent as ever as we continue to deal with the same issues of race, politics and religion that he satirized during his time with us. Dweezil is a great guitar player in his own right (even playing with Frank on some songs. You'll see what I mean if you go to the show.) and he brings some fantastic musicians with him to carry the torch of Frank's music to new generations. Here's the drum solo and then "Apostrophe" from last week's show in Ft. Lauderdale:


Friday night, Allman Brothers Band tribute, Skydog, will be at The Canal Club with Tom Petty tribute band, The Hard Promises, so a good night of classic Southern rock here. Tix are $10 and doors open at 8, show starts at 9. I believe The Hard Promises is opening but I'm not completely sure and you'll want to see them both anyway so just get there when it starts. Couldn't find any videos of these bands so here is some prime Allmans from 9/10/73:


Also on Friday night, Pete Ragusa, former drummer from The Nighthawks (he just left the band after 35 years!), will be playing with The January Allstars (Pete Ragusa, Catfish Hodge, Tommy Lepson, Tom Principato and Steve Wolf) at Shenanigan's Eatery & Pub. Should be a fine night of blues rock. The show starts at 8:30 and there may be a cover charge. Here's the band doing "Two Turntables & a Microphone" almost exactly a year ago at Shenanigan's:


Saturday at The National, The Robbin Thompson Band (with all original members) will play. Robbin is a Richmond native who played with Bruce Springsteen in Steel Mill (before the E St. Band) and then had some solo success of his own. Tix are $20 in advance, $25 day of show, this is a reserved seat show, doors open at 7 and show starts at 8. There is no opener listed. Here's the band doing "Candy Apple Red" at their show at the NorVA last month:


If you are in a metal mood and want to do something good on Saturday, head down to The Hat Factory for the Benefit For Missing Metallica Fan Morgan Harrington. Morgan is the woman who disappeared after the October Metallica concert in Charlottesville. Tix are $15 which is a donation to the Harrington family to help them continue their search. Doors open at 8 PM with a candlelight vigil. Bands playing include Dangerous New Machine featuring ex-Stereomud, Fozzy, Stuck MoJo members (GA), Memory Fade (VA), Saint Diablo (VA), Whiplash (NJ), and At War (VA).

I'll leave you tonight with the "Skynet Symphonic" a music piece made up of nothing but sounds from "Terminator 2: Judgement Day". This guy also did a cool one of nothing but sounds from "Up" a few months ago.


Have a great weekend and I'll see at Zappa Plays Zappa!

Tony Jordan