Late Night Pick: Bahamas

Bahamas, aka indie folk singer-songwriter Afie Jurvanen, will be on a Conan repeat tonight on TBS at 11 PM (repeat at 1 AM). You might find Bahamas pleasing to your ear if you like Wilco, Feist, or JJ Cale.

Dr. Dog, Dar Williams, Wino, Xiu Xiu, Fang Island, Mickey Hart, Drive-By Truckers tix on sale, Steve Vai

Gonna try to do the next two weeks in this one since I will be in the Outer Banks next week, which means no blog next week. I just heard the collective "Awwwwwwww" go up around the Richmond area. Thanks, guys. You like me! You really like me!

We start on Thursday night with alternative pop rockers Dr. Dog at The National. Tix are $20 in advance, $22 at the door. Doors open at 7, show starts at 8 with opener Cotton Jones. Here's Toby & Zach of Dr. Dog doing "Lonesome" at Pickathon 2012 whatever the hell that is:

Black Girls will be at Balliceaux Thursday night. Show starts at 10 and Madam Macadam will open. It's $5 to get in.

Tickets go on sale Friday at 10 AM for two Drive-By Truckers shows at The National on Friday, October 26 and Saturday, October 27. Get 'em early because they usually sell out. Just saw that you can buy tix on a pre-sale site HERE if you don't want to wait until they go on sale on Ticketmaster on Friday. I just bought my pair for the 10/27 show! Can't wait! DBT! DBT! DBT!

Folk songstress Dar Williams will be at Capital Ale House downtown on Saturday night. Advance tix are $25, day of show they'll be $30. Show starts at 9 with an opener tba. Dar has a new album out called "In the Time of Gods" so I'm sure you'll hear some stuff off of that. Here's her video for "As Cool As I Am":



Sunday night, guitar wiz Steve Vai will be at The National. Tix are $35 reserved seat orchestra / $30 reserved balcony / $30 reserved balcony / $25 GA standing floor. Doors open at 7, show starts at 8 and Beverly McClellan will open. Here's Steve playing "Tender Surrender" at the TEC Awards 2012 which are no doubt awards for guitar wonks:



If you are more in the mood for underground heavy metal on Sunday night, Strange Matter has a bill that will kick your ass, headlined by Wino & Conny Ochs. Tix are $8 in advance, $10 at the door. Doors open at 9, music starts at 10 with openers Josh Small and Dorthia Cottrell. Here's Wino and Conny rocking out but acoustic-like. The video kicks in around 0:17.



Tuesday night at Gallery 5, experimental rock group Xiu Xiu will perform. Tix are $8 in advance, $10 at the door. Doors open at 7. Dead Fame and Ghost Lotion will open. You might dig Xiu Xiu if you like The Cure, Devendra Banhart, Animal Collective or Joy Division. Here's their video for "Born to Suffer":



Hard rockin' Fang Island will play Strange Matter on Wednesday, August 29. It's $10 in advance, $12 at the door. Doors open at 7, show starts at 8 with openers Adebisi Shank (nice shout out to "Oz" there) and Sports Bar. Here's Fang Island on a cable access show in Chicago the other night being interviewed by a puppet named Ratso and then playing a song and rocking out with some kids:



Friday, August 31, No BS! Brass Band will be at The Camel. It'll be $7 to get in. The show starts at 9 with The Compass Rose Orchestra. Here they are doing "Thriller" a couple weeks ago. The video is dark but the sound is good:



Also Friday, August 31, chill reggae singer/songwriter Trevor Hall will be at Capital Ale House downtown. Tix are $13 in advance, $15 day of show. Show starts at 9 with Session Rockers. When not on the road, Trevor passionately spends his time in Allahabad, India working with the orphaned children of Yoga Vedanta Kutir. Over the past four years, Trevor has helped raise over $15,000 for these children by collecting donations from fans and friends at every tour stop. Here's Trevor's video for "Other Ways":



Finally, on Sunday, September 2, a show I'll be hitting at The National, Mickey Hart, drummer for the Grateful Dead, brings his band to town for some groovealicious world music and tasty Dead treats. Tix are $20 in advance, $25 at the door. No opener because the Mickey Hart Band will play two full sets, bitches! Doors open at 7, show starts at 8. Dave Schools, usually the bass player for Widespread Panic and a Richmond VA native, is playing bass in Mickey's band this tour. HERE is a short review of the show in Buffalo. Here's the band playing "Cut the Deck" in Denver in May:



Have a great weekend and week! I'll see you when I get back at the Mickey Hart Band show!

Tony Jordan

Lightning Bolt @ Gallery 5, Train @ Innsbrook, Late Night Pick: Polica

Tonight, hit machine Train will be at Innsbrook. General Admission in advance is $21.50, GA at the door is $25.  Gates open at 6 and Mat Kearney and Andy Grammer will open. They did a 47 minute show on Monday night after appearing on the Letterman show and you can check that out here:


At Gallery 5 tonight, experimental heavy rock band Lightning Bolt will be appearing along with openers Buck Gooter, Dumb Waiter and NAVI. Doors open at 7, show starts promptly at 7:30. Tix are $13 and if you didn't get them already, you better get there early because the pre-sale sold out and they will only have 25 tickets at the door. Here's Lighning Bolt's "13 Monsters":


Tonight on Jimmy Kimmel Live (who recently announced he'll be moving up to 11:35 PM to take on Letterman and Leno directly), check out alternative pop rock band Polica. For now, Jimmy Kimmel is on ABC and still at midnight. I've been digging this song lately from Polica. It's called "Lay Your Cards Out":

Matisyahu @ Innsbrook, Late Night Pick: A$AP Rocky

Tonight, Matisyahu, who burst onto the scene as a Hasidic reggae rapper but turned toward secular pop with his latest album, "Spark Seeker", will be at Innsbrook tonight. This will be a co-headlining bill with Dirty Heads. Moon Taxi will open the show a little after the doors open at 6 PM. No Gold Circle seats for this show. General Admission is $16.50 in advance and $20 at the gate. Here's Matisyahu performing "Sunshine" on Jimmy Kimmel Live a month ago:


Tonight on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, much buzzed about rapper A$AP Rocky will perform. Late Night is on at 12:35 AM on NBC.

Late Night Pick: Kendrick Lamar, Tennis, Kimbra, Gary Clark Jr.

Four, count 'em, four bands for the price of one tonight on a repeat (from March) of Last Call with Carson Daly on NBC at 1:35 AM. You'll get rapper Kendrick Lamar (at The National on 9/8), alt-pop band Tennis, jazz pop singer Kimbra (who will have a track on the soundtrack to the upcoming "Frankenweenie" movie along with Grace Potter with the Flaming Lips) and blues guitarist Gary Clark Jr. Here's Gary rocking out with Dave Matthews Band at the DMB show in VA Beach this summer:

Late Night Pick: Lee Fields & The Expressions; Favorite 1990s One-Hit Wonders

Tonight on Last Call with Carson Daly, check out retro soul, funk band Lee Fields and the Expressions. Last Call is on NBC at 1:35 AM.

For some Friday fun, check out the results of the Rolling Stone Readers' Poll for Favorite One-Hit Wonders of the 90's then rock around your office to "Flagpole Sitta" and "You Get What You Give". Though I think they missed "How Bizarre" by OMC. I always liked that one:

Late Night Pick: The Flaming Lips

Tonight, the wonderfully bizarre and psychedelic The Flaming Lips will be on The Colbert Report (he's on fire this week!) on Comeday Central at 11:30 PM. Their forthcoming album will be called "The Terror" and lead singer Wayne Coyne talked with Rolling Stone about it in THIS ARTICLE. Hopfully, they'll peform a track from it tonight.

Late Night Pick: Santigold; Trey Anastasio @ The National

Colbert Report is on a good run this week with alternative dance diva Santigold tonight at 11:30 PM on Comedy Central.

In local news, tix for a performance by Phish guitartist Trey Anastasio and the Trey Anastasio Band at The National on October 23rd will go on sale August 23rd at noon. Ticket cost will be $39.50. Unfortunately (well, for me anyway), this is the same night Springsteen is in Charlottesville. Springsteen tours far less than Trey so Bruce trumps Trey for me. However, I may try and get tix for Trey anyway in case I don't get Bruce tix (they go on sale in Sept.). Figures that two shows in the area that I would really like to see take place on the same night.

Robert Earl Keen, Lynyrd Skynyrd, No BS! Brass Band, 808, Three Sheets to the Wind

Kind of a slow weekend as the national bands are taking time off after festival season and before fall tours. We do get Austin alt-country master songsmith Robert Earl Keen at The National on Wednesday night. Doors open at 7 and show starts at 8 with local outlaw country band Barstool Heroes so get there early. Tix are $30 Reserved Orchestra 1, $25 Reserved Orchestra 2, $20 Reserved Balcony, & $17.50 GA Standing Floor. The Dallas Observer voted REK's "Feeling Good Again" the #1 Best Texas Country/Red Dirt/Whatever I'ts Called song of the last 15 years. REK stopped by Southern Living to talk about biscuits and play the song recently:



Lynyrd Skynyrd comes to Innsbrook, supposedly for the last time, on Wednesday night. Gates open at 6 PM with an opener TBA. General admission tickets are Advance priced at $16.50, at the Gate $20; Gold Circle Seating tickets: Advance only: $45. Just an FYI, if you aren't a red stater, Lynyrd Skynyrd very much is now. They've recently played on Fox News, played Sean Hannity's Freedom Concert and will be appearing at the Republican National Convention. Here they are back in the day (1976 at Knebworth) playing their anti-gun song "Saturday Night Special". Wonder if they still play it.



If you are home Wednesday night, check out Jesse Malin on a webcast from TRI Studios starting at 9:30 PM ET. Jesse is an indie rock singer-songwriter and you might dig him if you like Neil Young, Tom Waits and Steve Earle. Ryan Adams, Bruce Springsteen, Jakob Dylan and Billie Joe Armstrong (Green Day) are all fans and have all helped him out with his albums.

A few local bands playing Thursday and Friday.

Thursday at The Republic, yacht rock cover band Three Sheets to the Wind will not harsh your mellow. The show starts at 9:30 and it's free to get in. Here's the title song from the poster above by the original artists

Also, Thursday night, No BS! Brass Band will be at Balliceaux. Show starts at 10 PM and it's FREE.

Friday night at The National, 808 will play. Doors open at 7, show starts at 8 with opener Craig Honeycutt of Everything. Tix are $12.50. Here's the press blurb for 808: "The idea behind the formation of 808 was to perform original arrangements of popular songs in a reggae and ska style alongside resurrected originals from Chris Leitch (vocals, keyboards, trombone) & David Triano (guitar), two of the principal songwriters from nineties rock mainstays Fighting Gravity. The band is filled out by Richmond jazz mainstay John Winn (vocals, saxophone, flute and just about any other instrument he can get his hands on) and the rock-steady rhythm section of Greg Hill (bass, vocals) and Keith Cable (drums, percussion). John and Chris front the band with powerful harmonies and "super-hero" horn lines while Dave, Greg, and Keith key the reggae feel of the band's music.

Members of the band have previously been a part of regionally successful bands such as Fighting Gravity, Groove Spot, The Fredds, Headstone Circus and Junkfood Buddha. The band's name -- 808 -- is a tribute to Bob Marley. Triano says that "in the middle of trying to name the band at rehearsal one night, we noticed the time on an old block-style digital clock: 8:08 or 'BOB,' and immediately knew that we had a name."

That's it for the weekend. If anything else comes up, stay tuned to Handful of Brains and I'll let you know. Have a great weekend!

Tony Jordan

Late Night Pick: Grizzly Bear

Tonight watch the brutally funny Colbert Report with special musical guest, indie rockers, Grizzly Bear. Grizzly Bear have a new album, "Shields" coming out Sept. 17. Methinks they'll play a song from it on the show tonight. Colbert Report is on at 11:30 PM on Comedy Central and then repeats a few times throughout the day.