Heart, Marc Cohn, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Late Night Pick: Divine Fits

It's kind of adult contemporary night in Richmond starting with the Wilson sisters and Heart at the Landmark Theater. I saw a fairly recent show by Heart too long ago on VH1 Classic and their voices still sound great so it should be a fun show. They seem to have moved past their late 80s - early 90s soft rock phase and are back with some stronger material. I'm not saying you won't hear "Alone" or "Never" because they were big hits. I'm just saying the newer stuff I heard was more reflective of their 70's style. In fact, they sound so good that Ann Wilson has been asked to sing the National Anthem at the Redskins - Cowboys Thanksgiving Day game. Shawn Colvin is opening so be sure to get there early to see her. Tix run $40 - $65 and the show starts at 7:30. Here's Heart doing the title track from their latest album, "Fanatic":


Over at the Virginia Room at the John Marshall Hotel tonight, you've got singer-songwriter Marc Cohn, best know for his hit "Walking In Memphis". He recently performed at the all-star "Love for Levon" concert honoring late member of The Band, Levon Helm. Tix for the show run $25 - $55. Doors open at 7 and the show opens with Rebecca Pidgeon. Here's Marc doing a song about when he was shot in 2005 during an attempted carjacking called "Live Out the String":


Finally, actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt is at The National with hitRECord. This isn't exactly a concert. Here's the explanation from the press release:

"Joseph Gordon-Levitt will serve as the unique show’s host for the evening, presenting short new short works of collaboratively made video, music and writing created by the hitRECord world-wide community of artists. Gordon-Levitt will also direct, and will be performing and interact ing with the live audiences in sketches, readings and musical moments — contributed by the hitRECord community. Of course, he’ll encourage audiences to record the proceedings on their cameras, phones and other portable RECording devices.


hitRECord’s technology partner, Sony Electronics, will provide the hitRECord team and some members of the live audience with Sony Alpha NEX cameras to ensure quality footage is captured of the live proceedings for future remixing. Show goers can upload their videos from the live event to hitRECord.org where the hitRECord community of 125,000+ artists will edit and remix the footage to create videos to be screened at future events!"

Tix are $15 for the balcony and $25 - 30 for orchestra. Check out the hitRECord web site up there for some ideas of what to expect. Doors open at 8, show starts at 9.

Tonight's Late Night Pick is indie rockers Divine Fits on Last Call with Carson Daly at 1:35 AM on NBC.

Dr. John, Blind Boys of Alabama, Late Night Pick: Ceremony

If you are looking for a show tonight, you can do no better than the Spirituals to Funk show with Dr. John and the gospel group, Blind Boys of Alabama. They'll be at the Carpenter Theatre and the show will start at 7:30 with tickets running from $34 to $42. The show will "explore the connections between jazz, blues and gospel". HERE is a preview of their show from a Grand Rapids MI blog. Here's Dr. John & the Blind Boys performing the Louis Armstrong classic "What a Wonderful World":


Tonight's Late Night Pick of the Night is SF punk group Ceremony tonight on Last Call with Carson Daly on NBC at 1:35 AM.

Late Night Pick: Alberta Cross

Alt-country band and band I have been digging lately, Alberta Cross, will be on Late Show with David Letterman tonight on CBS at 11:35 PM. If you interested in checking them out on the cheap, AmazonMP3 has their latest album, "Songs of Patience", on sale for just $5 this month.

Unknown Hinson, Dead Milkmen, Cult of Youth, Bio Ritmo, Taste the Local - W Broad Village Fest, Robbin Thompson

Crashed early last night and just couldn't wake myself up so we'll bang out the weekend's shows this AM. Look for another blog this weekend with the details on next week's shows.

We start tonight (Friday) with local Latin music band, Bio Ritmo, at Balliceaux. It's $10 to get in and the show starts at 10:30 PM.

Saturday out at West Broad Village, the faux community with the Whole Foods in it out in Short Pump, Taste the Local throws their West Village Festival. It'll run from noon to 7 and feature food from local restaurants, vendors, beers from ten of VA's finest breweries (including Legend, Hardywood, Starr Hill and Devil's Backbone) and music from local bands. Here's the schedule for the bands:

1. People's Blues of Richmond - 12 - 12:50
2. Big Payback: Tribute to James Brown - 1:15 - 2:15
3. 4Play - 2:45 - 3:45
4. Love Canon - 4:15 - 5:45

Saturday night at Kingdom, 80's Philly punk band, The Dead Milkmen, will perform. Loved these guys way back then, not just for the Philly connection, but for the sense of humor in their music. It's $20 to get in, doors will open at 6 PM. There are a bunch of other bands on the bill including The Bastards of Fate, The Mothball Fleet, Cheyenne, and Hold Tight. There aren't too many tickets so jump on this now if you are thinking of going. They'll be playing some new music tomorrow night but here is their classic "Punk Rock Girl" featuring Philly landmarks like the Eastern State Penitentiary and Zipperhead (the late, lamented punk rock store on South Street before all the chains moved in):


Robbin Thompson will be at Ashland Coffee & Tea on Saturday night. Tix are $15 in advance, $20 the day of show. Show starts at 8. Robbin will have a new CD out early next year so I'm sure you'll hear some tidbits from that. Here's Robbin playing his song "Where You've Never Been" on the Chinese instrument called the zhong ruan:


Over at the Capital Ale House on Saturday night, gothic, funny, rockabilly act Unknown Hinson will scare you and rock you at the same time. Tix are $18 in advance, $20 day of show. Doors open at 8, show starts at 9. He released a new CD earlier this year called "Reloaded". Even though a lot of his tunes are pretty funny, they can flat out rock too. Here they are covering Hendrix's "Voodoo Chile":


Sunday night at Strange Matter, indie folk act Cult of Youth will perform along with Lost Tribe, Pharkamon, Buck Gooter and Mutwawa. Doors open at 8, music starts at 9, tix are $8 in advance, $10 at the door. Here's Cult of Youth doing "Cats":


That'll do it for Saturday and Sunday. Back this weekend with more on the coming week.

Tony Jordan

Jimmy Herring & Victor Wooten, PBR, Late Night Pick: Lianne La Havas

Tonight, jam band veterans Jimmy Herring and Victor Wooten play with their respective bands, and hopefully together, at The National. Tix are $30 Reserved Orchestra, $27.50 Reserved Balcony 1, $22.50 Reserved Balcony 2, $20 GA Standing. Doors open at 7, show starts at 8. Not sure who is opening so just get there on time. Victor Wooten is the bassist for Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, has won five Grammy awards, and "Bass Player of the Year" from Bass Player magazine three times. Jimmy Herring is currently playing guitar for Widespread Panic and has also played with what is generally regarded as the best version of Phil Lesh & Friends, as well as the Allman Brothers Band, Derek Trucks Band, The Other Ones, The Dead and Aquarium Rescue Unit.

Here's Victor Wooten performing "Amazing Grace":


And here is the Jimmy Herring Band doing The Beatles' "Within You Without You" a few days ago in Georgia:


Also tonight, People's Blues of Richmond will be at Republic. They'll get things under way there around 10 PM. The show is free if you are over 21 and $5 if you are under 21. Yesterday, PBR announced that they will have some big announcements coming soon. So I guess that's sort of a pre-announcement announcement. I suspect a new album and tour, but we shall see. Here's PBR playing at Camp Barefoot this year:


The Late Night Pick is British singer-songwriter Lianne La Havas on the Late Show with David Letterman tonight. That's on at 11:35 PM on CBS. Lianne has been named as a "Band to Watch" by Rolling Stone magazine and was also nominated for the big British Mercury award. Also, on the show Robin Williams and a top ten list presented by Homer Simpson. Sounds like a winning show.

More on the rest of the weekend tonight.

Tony Jordan

Late Night Pick: Cat Power

No, Cat Power is not a new political organization whose aim is to get cats the vote in time for the next election, Cat Power aka Chan Marshall is an indie rock singer-songwriter and she'll be on Conan tonight on TBS at 11 PM with a repeat at 1 AM. Cat Power just canceled her European tour yesterday due to health problems (she has a condition called angioedema) so hopefully she'll be alright to do the show and then get healthy.

Late Night shows pre-empted. Enjoy Alice Cooper.

All or most of the Late Night shows are pre-empted or in repeats because there is some election or something going on. So no Late Night Pick tonight. Instead, enjoy this video from Alice Cooper and if you haven't voted yet, VOTE!

Late Night Pick: Father John Misty

Tonight on Conan, watch Americana artist Father John Misty. You might dig FJM (as his friend's call him) if you like his former band, Fleet Foxes, or Nick Drake, Ryan Adams, Pete Seeger, Gram Parsons or Harry Nilsson. Conan is on TBS at 11 PM with a repeat at 1 AM.

Best Music of October, Late Night Pick: Regina Spektor

Metacritic had their monthly wrap-up of the most critically acclaimed new releases for the last month. Artists at or near the top include rapper Kendrick Lamar, R&B singer Miguel, alt-country singer/songwriter Jamey Johnson, electronica artist Flying Lotus, alt-country singer/songwriter Iris DeMent (returning with her first album of new material in 16 years!), rockabilly legend Wanda Jackson (coming to the Capital Ale House soon!), and more. Check out the full article HERE.

For late night, watch a repeat of Last Call with Carson Daly featuring singer-songwriter Regina Spektor. Last Call is on NBC at 1:35 AM. Here's Regina's new video for the song "How":

All-Star Benefit for Sandy Victims, Late Night Pick: David Byrne & St. Vincent

There will be an all-star benefit for victims of Hurricane Sandy on multiple networks tomorrow night at 8 PM. Springsteen, Sting, Bon Jovi, Christina Aguilera, Billy Joel and others will appear. Money raised goes to the American Red Cross. Details are HERE.

Tonight on the Colbert Report, catch David Byrne & St. Vincent. Colbert is on at 11:30 PM on Comedy Central and then a few repeats over the next 24 hours. Byrne & St. Vincent's recent show in Vancouver got a rave review.