Weekend Picks: Lemuria, Tony Bennett, Hamaganza, No BS! Brass Band, Skip Castro Band, The Congress, Lady God, Chatham County Line

This is a busy weekend as many bands try to get in a few last shows so they can have some extra Christmas cash to buy gifts for their friends and family and/or they're doing charity gigs to help people out in the holiday season. Either way, it's a good time to get out, blow off a little holiday stress, sleep late because you're off from work or nothing is going on at work anyway, and enjoy some fine music.

We start with Americana/bluegrass band Chatham County Line on their Electric Holiday Tour and stopping at the Broadberry on Thursday. Doors open at 8, tix are $15 in advance, $17 at the door. They just completed a tour of Norway, Holland, Scotland, Ireland and England and got back in time for Thanksgiving. Here's "Category Stomp" from last year's Electric Holiday Tour:



The national treasure that is Tony Bennett is at Altria Theater Thursday. Tony's daughter, Antonia, will open the show with a set of jazz/pop standards. It will all get underway at 8 PM. Tickets run from $55 to $115. Tony's duet album with Lady Gaga was named one of the best albums of 2014 by the Boston Globe. They wrote, "Maybe it shouldn’t come as a surprise that two outsize Italian-American entertainers from New York would have such an easy chemistry together. It was still a shock to hear how well Bennett and Gaga blended on this album of jazz standards, reminding you that she’s a dexterous singer and he’s the ultimate master of understatement." Though Lady Gaga won't be at the show Thursday, here they are together at this year's lighting of the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree:

Over at The Camel, Trongone Band finish their December Thursday night residency. It's FREE to get in. The show starts at 8 with Mister F. Here's Trongone Band from the first week of the residency doing Little Feat's "Spanish Moon" with sax player Ron Holloway, who currently plays with Warren Haynes Band and has also played with Susan Tedeschi, Dizzy Gillespie, Gil Scott-Heron, and Root Boy Slim.

The annual Richmond tradition Hamaganza brings the weirdness to your holidays for 20 years now with two nights. The first is at Hardywood Brewery on Friday night starting at 6 PM. The second is at Cary St. Cafe on Saturday night starting at 10 PM. These shows benefit the Central VA Food Bank aka FeedMore. Admission is $10 or a ham. You never know what you will see at these shows but they are always MC'd by transvestite performer Dirtwoman who will lead the way through acts including Pete Lanzo, Blee Child, Chris Dovi, Kate Andrews, Rebecca Behrman, Jarrod Russell, J. Dean Owen, Mel Chase in the Hamaganza House band, with special appearances by Herschel Stratego, Iggy Plop and the Splooges, Diamond Heist -RVAs legendary Neil Diamond Tribute! The Perverted Puppet Players w/ the Cuttlefish, Female Arm Wrestlers, Jonathon the Juggler, The School of Rock, you may see some local news celebrities, whistlers, comedians and who knows what else. Just about anything goes.

New local band Lady God will be at Plant Zero Events and Arts Center as the musical guest for the new comedy showcase, RVA Central on Friday night. That will get underway at 7. No listing of cost but shouldn't be that much.

And that shouldn't go too late, because then Lady God heads over to Strange Matter to headline a show with SPORTS BAR and The Welcome Hips. The fun starts there at 9 PM on Friday when the doors open. It's just 5 dolla to get in. Here's Lady God rocking their power pop/surf sound last month at Sound of Music Studios:

Friday, No BS! Brass Band have their Annual Canned Food Drive show at The Broadberry. Doors open at 8 and the show starts with Gina Sobel and The Mighty Fine. You can get in for $8 if you bring a canned good or goods. You get in for $12 if you don't. Here's their latest video, "Git It Awn!" and they do:



If you head out to do a little last minute Christmas shopping Saturday morning (Saturday is the biggest shopping day of the year), why not wind down in the afternoon with a beer and some bluegrass-ish rock n' roll music with Flesh Mountain Boys and Adam Eubank at Cary St. Cafe. It's FREE to get in and starts at 2 PM. Here's a little promo for the show:



And here's the band at Cary St. Cafe last year:

Sunday night, it's blues rock/R&B/boogie-woogie galore at The Broadberry with The Skip Castro Band and The Nighthawks. It's $20 in advance, $25 at the door. Doors open at 7 and the show starts at 7:30. If you don't know Skip Castro Band, here's the press blurb:

It began a long time ago. 1978 to be exact. Four musicians, out of work at the same time got together because honestly, they liked to play music. Thus, the Skip Castro Band was born. A mutual love of rhythm 'n blues, swing, boogie woogie and rock 'n roll became the foundation.

Over the next ten years, Skip Castro would become staples on the East Coast between Boston and Atlanta playing every bar, club, music hall, and college in between. All the while having a great time. Called one of the best party bands ever, Skip Castro brings the party every time they take the stage.

And who didn't they play with? Muddy Waters, Big Joe Turner, Bo Diddley, James Brown, Chuck Berry, James Cotton, Albert Collins, Stevie Ray Vaughn, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, George Thorogood and the Destroyers, the Nighthawks, the Kinks, Kenny Loggins and a host of others....

Fast forward 36 years and the same four guys are still playing together. Why?

Because even though they stopped playing full time 25 years ago, there's a unique groove and spirit that exists when Skip plays. They've played with other musicians but the greatest satisfaction comes when these four get together.

 And here they are playing at the State Theater in Falls Church a couple weeks ago:

Indie rockers from Buffalo, Lemuria, will be at Strange Matter Monday. Tix are $10 in advance, $12 day of show. If you buy in advance, you get a free 7" single! The doors open at 8. Prince (the band, not the artist formerly known as and now known again as Prince), Cross Eyed & Victory Party will open. Lemuria sold out their shows in Boston and Chicago, and had a number of shows moved to larger venues on this tour so if you want to go, get your tix now. Here's Lemuria talking about "Wise People":



Americana/alt-country band The Congress at at The Camel Tuesday night for a Christmas show with special guests The Southern Belles. Doors open at 8, it's $12 to get in, $10 in advance. The Congress are originally from RVA but reside in Denver now, but they're home for the holidays and want to rock. They've recently been opening for bands like Lake Street Dive and Hard Working Americans. Here's their latest, "Ain't It Easy":



Have a great weekend!

Tony Jordan

Weekly Picks: Charlie Wilson, Infamous Stringdusters, Papadosio, Skip Castro Band, The Nighthawks, Dark Star Orchestra, YARN, GWAR

The weekend between Christmas and New Year's is always a busy one. Everyone has time off which means those bands can play every night and this weekend is no exception.

Friday night, jamtronica band Papadosio comes to The National. Tix are $18 in advance, $23 at the door. Doors open at 8, show starts at 9 with openers EarthCry & Jimkata. EarthCry is a project from Papadosio's singer Anthony Throgmartin so get in there early if you want to check that out. Here's Papadosio doing "Dream Estate" in Ohio in November:



Over at the Canal Club on Friday, it's time for some old school blues-rock from Skip Castro Band and The Nighthawks. Doors will open at 8 and it's $15 in advance, $20 at the door. Here are the bands jamming together last year at The Jefferson Theater on the Chuck Berry classic "Little Queenie":

Saturday, bust out your tie-dye and head to The National for Grateful Dead tribute band, Dark Star Orchestra. Tix are $25 in advance, $30 day of show. Doors will open at 7 and the show will start at 8. Get there on time because there is no opener, just two fat sets from DSO. They may recreate the setlist from a classic Dead show, they may just make it up as they go along, but either way this is as good of a classic Dead show as you'll get. Since today (12/26) is St. Stephen Day, let's hear DSO doing the Dead classic by the same name:



Lead singer on some of The Gap Band's biggest hits ("Early in the Morning", "You Dropped a Bomb on Me", "Party Train") and a Grammy nominated solo artist, Charlie Wilson will be at The Landmark Theater on Saturday night. Tix range from $51 - $81. Doors open at 7, show starts at 8. No opener is listed, though it says the show is hosted by comedian Buckwylde. Here's Charlie telling you what his name is:



And here's Charlie with The Gap Band. Don't miss that train, people! This video is soooooooooooooo 80's!



It's bluegrass night over at The Camel with YARN. It's $10 in advance, $12 at the door. Doors will open at 9 and James Justin & Company will open. It's still the holidays so here is YARN performing Ray Charles' "The Spirit of Christmas" from "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation":



If you've had enough of Christmas cheer and are ready for some bloody, mucous, and other bodily fluids sprayed mayhem, then by all means get thyself to the GWAR show at The National on Sunday night. Tix are $20 in advance, $25 at the door. Doors open at 7:30, show starts at 8:30 with openers Iron Reagan, Battlecross and Gritter. And if you haven't already signed it, please sign the petition asking the NFL to allow GWAR to play the halftime show at the 2015 Super Bowl. If middle America thought Janet Jackson's nipple was bad, wait'll they get a load of this:

The Infamous Stringdusters will settle into The National for two shows on 12/30 & 31. Doors open at 7 and the show starts at 8 each night. Tix on the 30th are $25 in advance, $30 at the door. Tix for the 31st are $35 in advance, $40 at the door because everything is more expensive on NYE. They have a really fantastic selection of openers for these shows. On Monday night, Larry Keel & Natural Bridge, Jesse Harper and No BS! Brass Band will open. On Tuesday night, Sons of Bill, Carl Anderson and Love Canon open. Expect lots of mixing, matching and jamming across bands. Here's the Stringdusters jamming out in a style of their very own on "Machines" at The Festy Experience in October:



No BS! Brass Band will throw a party of their own on NYE at The Camel. Doors will open at 8 and The Green Boys will open the show. Tix are $20. Here they are at The Camel doing their great cover of a Rush tune at The Camel in November:



Cary St. Cafe will throw a New Year's Party of their own with Grateful Dead tribute band, King Solomon's Marbles. It starts at 10 PM and for $10 you get in, get some party favors and a champagne toast at midnight. Couldn't find any new KSM video so this'll have to do. I remember watching this show on pay-per-view.

At Capital Ale House on NYE, The Big Payback - James Brown tribute, will get down and get funky. Doors open at 8, show starts at 9 and it's $15 in advance, $20 at the door to get in. Make sure you get a cab ride home so you can enjoy all those tasty, high ABV beers. Here they are at Cary St. Cafe in June 2012:



I'll leave you with this one which tells you all you need to know about pop-country in 2013:


Have a Happy New Year!

Tony Jordan

Lone Bellow, Joy Formidable, IO Echo, Skydog, Luray, Beer & Wine fests

We begin the weekend with Friday Cheers, this week with The Lone Bellow (8 PM 6:30 PM) and Radical Face (6:30 PM 8 PM). It's $5 to get in. Nice article on the folksy, Americana sound (with 3 part harmonies) of The Lone Bellow in today's Times-Dispatch. The Lone Bellow played at Strange Matter about a month ago and when they sang "Happy Birthday" to band member Kanene, well, something went awry. Her dad made the save but at the expense of his suede jacket. Hopefully, the band paid for the dry cleaning.



On a more musical note, here is Lone Bellow's latest video (just released yesterday) for "Bleeding Out":



Saturday is just cccrrrrraaaaazzzzyyyy with stuff to do. I can't recall a day that was more jam packed with events and bands.

If your kids (or you) like trains, you can head to either the Ashland/Hanover Visitor Center or Richmond's Staples Mill station to celebrate National Train Day. It'll run from 11 AM to 4 PM. There will be giveaways and activities at either place.

Beer or wine? Take your pick. There is a festival for whatever your libation desire might be.

Down at Historic Malvern in Midlothian, the 3rd Annual Virginia Hops & Barley Festival takes place from 1 PM to 8 PM. There will be 30 VA craft beers to sample. Tix are $15 in advance, $20 at the gate. Your admission gets you unlimited beer tastings. Here's the band lineup:

1:00-2:00 Triad

2:20-3:20 Jackass Flats

3:40-4:40 Southern Tide

5:00-6:15 The Atkinsons

6:35-8:00pm The Wrest w/Pat O'Brien

Out at Innsbrook Pavilion, winos, oops, sorry, oenophiles, can participate in the Central Virginia Wine Festival. That'll run from noon until 6 PM. Tix are $20 in advance, $25 at the gate and that gets you free wine tastings from all 16 wineries. Music will be provided by:

12:30 PM - 2 PM - School of Rock Short Pump

2:30 PM - 4 PM - 44 Diesel

4:30 PM - 6 PM - Big Enough

River City Blues Society of Virginia is throwing a party at Pocahontas State Park on Saturday and you are all invited. Parkfest Blues goes from 2 PM - 10 PM. Tickets are $45 at the gate and a portion of the net proceeds will benefit Special Olympics.  They don't have the schedule up on the website, but I believe this is the running order from where they have them on their home page:

1. Andrew Ali and Last Night's Blues Band
2. The Mike Lucci Band
3. Albert Castiglia (2012 Blues Music Awards (BMA) nominee)
4. The Nighthawks (2011 BMA Acoustic Album of the Year, though they will probably be rocking you electric)
5. Mikey Junior

If you are into really old music, and I mean music played on 78s, head to Steady Sounds Saturday afternoon from 3 PM to 4 PM where Grammy Award winning archivist/collector/producer Chris King will playing music from his collection of rare 78 rpm records. This will be the first time he has ever played some of these rare records in public. He'll also be displaying his collection of R. Crumb artwork from the covers of his compilations.

Starting at 4 PM at Hardywood Park Craft Brewery, it's the One Can Benefit Concert which will benefit Children, Incorporated, an "organization providing long-term assistance to underprivileged children in the United States and in 22 other countries. Working through established orphanages, schools and community centers, they help bring children out of poverty through sponsorship and other programs." It's free to get in and a portion of the proceeds from all food and beverage purchases goes to the charity. There is also a VIP Hour from 3 to 4 for $25 that gets you a private beer tour and heavy hors d'oeuvres. The band schedule is:

4:00pm - The Trongone Band

5:45pm - Beast Wellington

7:30pm - The New Belgians

At 8 PM at The National, alternative pop rockers The Joy Formidable will perform. Doors open at 7, show starts at 8 with openers IO Echo and Fort Lean. Make sure you get there early to see the atmospheric synth pop of IO Echo who have a good buzz around them. Joy Formidable is playing a bunch of festivals this summer including Austin City Limits, Bumbershoot, Forecastle, and Firefly (close by in Dover, DE). If you want to try to see them for free at The National, send an email to tixswin@gmail.com by 12 Noon Friday May 10th with the SUBJECT - JOY MUSIC.  One e-mail per person.  Please be sure to include your full name that appears on your ID for entry.  Ten WINNERS will be chosen and notified via email Friday afternoon by 5pm ! That comes from an email from The National so its the real deal. Here they are doing "Little Blimp":
 

Over at The Camel at 9 PM on Saturday, folksy Americana band Luray will appear along with Low Branches and Nick Coward & The Last Battle. Show starts at 9 and it's $5 to get in. Here they are playing "What Becomes":

Last but not least on Saturday, Allman Brothers tribute band, Skydog, will be at Capital Ale House. Doors will open at 8, show starts at 9, tix are $7 in advance, $10 day of show. Here they are doing "Statesboro Blues":



Before we leave, HERE are 9 Reasons George Harrison was the funniest Beatle. If you haven't seen the magnificent document on George Harrison, Living In the Material World, do so immediately.

I'll see you at Friday Cheers and then Skydog on Saturday. Have a great weekend!

Tony Jordan

Brown Sabbath, El Presidente, Papadosio, Keller Williams, The Machine, People's Blues of Richmond

Hope you got all the stuff you wanted for Christmas. Now onto the New Year with a few shows to take you there.

Thursday night, it's the hard rockin' blues of People's Blues of Richmond at The Camel. It's $5 to get in, show starts at 10 with openers, The District. This will be drummer Raphael Katchinoff's last show with PBR after 4 years. Nekoro Williams will be taking his place starting in 2013. PBR has over an hour of new material and they'll soon be releasing an EP and an album. So head to the show and say farewell to Raphael and check out some new tunes from the band. Here they are doing Robert Johnson's "Traveling Riverside Blues" at the Jewish Mother in Norfolk in September:



Lots going on Friday night, including blues rock at The Canal Club with Skip Castro Band and The Nighthawks. Doors open at 7, tix are $20 in advance, $23 at the door. Here's Skip Castro Band in another one from the Jewish Mother in July of this year:



Over at Strange Matter on Friday night it's a triple bill with Black Sabbath cover band, Brown Sabbath (midnight) , El Presidente (11 PM) and Iggy Plop and the Spooges (Iggy & The Stooges cover band, 10 PM). Doors open at 9 and it's $5 to get in. It's bassist E.T.'s birthday and he'll be playing with both Brown Sabbath and El Presidente so be sure to wish him a happy one and buy him some libations.

Grateful Dead cover band, King Solomon's Marbles, will be at Cary St. Cafe on Friday night. Show starts at 10 and it's $7 to get in. If you'd like to hear and/or download KSM's full show from 12/4/12, go HERE.

Saturday night at The National, smoke 'em if you got 'em for The Machine: Pink Floyd Experience. They'll be doing two sets and doors open at 7 with the show starting around 8. Tix are $15 in advance, $18 at the door for General Admission and $20 in advance, $23 day of show for Reserved. You can head to The National's Facebook page and get your request in for the all request 1st set. Here they are performing "Welcome to the Machine" in Amsterdam in 2008:



Sunday night at The National, local boy Keller Williams returns to play two sets, one solo and one with More Than a Little. That 1 Guy will open the show. Tix are $18 in advance, $21 at the door. Doors open at 7, show starts at 8. More Than a Little is Keller's new six piece funk band.

New Year's Eve at The National, jamtronica band Papadosio will help you trip into 2013. Tix are $25 in advance, $30 at the door. Doors open at 8, show starts at 9 with openers Dopapod and Futexture. Here's Papadosio doing  "All I Knew" with Mike Rempel from Lotus:

Over at Cary St. Cafe on New Year's Eve, it's funk band Modern Groove Syndicate. Show starts at 9:30, cover is $10 and that includes champagne toast at midnight and party favors.

Here's Paste Magazine's second best video from 2012, the lovably quirky tUnE-YaRdS with "My Country":


Have a Happy New Year and I'll see ya in 2013!

Tony Jordan

The Nighthawks, John Oates, Watermelon Fest, Lollapalooza, Kanrocksas

Friday night at Canal Club, The Nighthawks, who just won the Blues Music Award for Acoustic Album of the Year, will perform with the Billy Price Band.  The Nighthawks and the Billy Price Band will play separately and together.  Doors open at 7:30, show starts at 9 with Blues Flash opening.  Tix are $20 in advance, $25 at the door.  Here are The Nighthawks putting their spin on the opening theme from "The Sopranos", "Woke Up This Morning":


Got two, count 'em two, festival webcasts going on this weekend.  The first is the Lollapalooza webcast on YouTube.  You can find it HERE.  It kicks off at 2:30 PM Friday, Saturday & Sunday.  Here is the schedule with times in Central time.

FRIDAY AUGUST 5TH
1:30 PM The Vaccines
1:45 PM TAB the Band
2:15 PM Delta Spirit
2:30 PM Grace Potter & The Nocturnals
3:00 PM Foster The People
3:30 PM Smith Westerns
4:00 PM White Lies
5:00 PM Two Door Cinema Club
5:30 PM Mountain Goats
6:30 PM Bright Eyes
7:15 PM The Kills
8:30 PM Coldplay

SATURDAY AUGUST 6TH
1:30 PM Grouplove
1:45 PM J. Roddy Walston & the Business
2:15 PM Walk the Moon
2:30 PM Fitz & The Tantrums
3:00 PM Black Lips
3:30 PM Mayer Hawthorne & The County
4:00 PM Death From Above 1979
4:30 PM Big Audio Dynamite
5:30 PM Local Natives
6:00 PM Ween
7:30 PM Beats Antique
8:00 PM My Morning Jacket

SUNDAY AUGUST 7TH
1:30 PM Imelda May
1:45 PM The Joy Formidable
2:15 PM Ryan Bingham & The Dead Horses
2:30 PM Noah and The Whale
3:00 PM The Pains of Being Pure At Heart
4:00 PM The Cars
4:15 PM Flogging Molly
5:00 PM Portugal The Man
5:15 PM Cage The Elephant
6:00 PM Arctic Monkeys
6:15 PM Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley &…
7:00 PM Explosions In The Sky
8:00 PM Foo Fighters

You can also check out the festival that has my vote for worst festival name of the year, Kanrocksas, on a webcast on iClips.  That'll be HERE.  They have not posted the schedule yet but the festival starts on Friday at 2:30 PM Eastern and on Saturday at 1:30 PM Eastern.  This one will feature headliners Eminem and Muse, plus over 20 additional acts including The Black Keys, A Perfect Circle, The Flaming Lips, Bassnectar, Kid Cudi, Ween and more.  I'll be flipping between the two festivals all weekend.

Saturday night at the Capital Ale House, John Oates with no Hall will be at the Capital Ale House Downtown featuring songs from his new album of roots music (Mississippi Mile) that influenced him along with some Hall & Oates tunes I'm sure.  Doors open at 7, show starts at 8, tix are $25 in advance & $30 day of show.  Chris Bopst had a nice interview with John in the Times-Dispatch which you can check out HERE.  He also did an interview with Style Weekly which you can find HERE.  Here's John performing the title track from the album:


Sunday, you've got the big ol' Watermelon Fest in Carytown.  That'll run from 10 AM until 6 PM.  It's FREE.  There's music all over the place at that thing from local bands.  Hit up the web site if you are interested in seeing exactly who. 

Check out the blog entry below for a link to a very cool reggae documentary.

That's it for tonight.  Hope to see you this weekend at The Nighthawks show (if you're up for going to that, contact me) and maybe the Watermelon Fest.

Tony Jordan

Railroad Earth, Joanna Newsom, The Nighthawks, Jimmy Herring Band & more

If you are an Americana fan, you have a choice to make on Friday night.  Jamgrass band Railroad Earth will be at The National.  Tix are $22, doors open at 8 and the show starts at 9 with opener Cornmeal.  Here they are performing "Dandlion Wine" at the Greyfox Bluegrass Festival in 2010:


Also, on Friday, local Americana act, The Atkinsons, will be at Ashland Coffee & Tea.  The show starts at 8 and tix are $10 at the door.  They'll be releasing their second CD, "Mile Marker" in early 2011 so I'm sure you'll hear a few tunes from that.  Here they are performing "Out of Time" at The National on October 16, 2010:


Saturday night, Joanna Newsom, the other-worldly singer and harpist (that's right, harpist) will be at The National.  This is a Seated General Admission show.  Tix are $20 in advance, $25 at the door.  Doors open at 8, show starts at 9 with opener Neal Morgan.  Caught Joanna one day on "Later with Jools Holland" and I had to stop what I was doing and listen to her unique mesmerizing music.  Here is that performance, a song called "81".  (BTW, "Later with Jools Holland" is on Ovation network and I highly recommend this no-frills, eclectic show featuring four or five different artists on each show.) There may be a short ad before the video, but its a nice quality video so deal with it.


Allman Brothers tribute band Skydog will be at The Camel on Saturday with fellow tribute band Led Zepplica.  Show starts at 9 and its $7 to get in.  Here's Skydog doing "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed":


If your taste is more yacht rock tribute than jam rock tribute, check out Three Sheets To The Wind at The Republic on Saturday night.  Show starts at 9 PM and its FREE.

Here is the band performing the Stephen Bishop classic "On & On" in Palm Beach FL earlier this year, putting the yacht in yacht rock.


Blues rockers The Nighthawks will be at Shenanigans for an early show on Sunday night starting at 6:30.  There may be a cover charge which probably won't be too much but if you want to know call Shenanigans at 804-264-5010.  Here's The Nighthawks in Littleton CO in October:


Monday night, The Jimmy Herring Band will be at The Hat Factory.  Tix are $16 in advance, $20 day of show and the show starts at 7 with opener Barrelhouse.  Jimmy has played with just about every jam band starting with Aquarium Rescue Unit, then Phil Lesh & Friends and The Dead, Allman Brothers Band, and now Widespread Panic.  The rest of the band features a lot of jam rock vets with drummer Jeff Sipe (Aquarium Rescue Unit, Jazz is Dead, Shawn Lane), keyboardist Matt Slocum (Susan Tedeschi, Derek Trucks), and Neal Fountain on bass (Col Bruce Hampton, Alex Machacek).  They'll be playing stuff from their latest album along with covers of Led Zep, The Beatles, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Frank Zappa and others.  Here they are playing "Transients" in RI a few days ago:


That's the weekend and more.  Have a great one!

Tony Jordan