FEATURE SHOW
Saturday, May 18, 5 p.m.
Titus Andronicus, So So Glos, The Ar-Kaics @ Strange Matter - $14/All Ages
Some of the best quality punk rock with a smidgen of indie will be on display on Grace Street tonight. New Jersey’s Titus Andronicus will shower us with their sharp as a knife sound, which is sure to pack the room. So much in fact, that you should be careful--this sucker could sell out. This quintet has gained exemplary reviews of late, and their material on the XL Recordings label is a treasure if you ask me. They are a completely blue collar band that never disappoints.
Touring in support of Titus is the Brooklyn punk band So So Glos, and they could very well steal this show. This So So Glos have risen to stardom the old fashioned way, building a solid underage fan base through numerous DIY shows and DIY spirit. They're touring in support of their new LP, Blowout, which is so good that it will be a blowout when you see them. Richmond’s chaotic Ar-Kaics open with their enduring garage punk.
Wednesday, May 15, 10 p. m.
Broken Water, Whoa!, Canary Oh Canary, Hoax Hunters @ Strange Matter - $8/18+
It’s a good thing that when I write these show preview capsules no one reads [Hey now, I read them! -ed.], I start from the bottom--that would be the Tuesday night show--and work my way backwards to this Wednesday night preview. The point I’m trying to make here is I should have been a fireman. Sliding down a pole is way better than talking up great quality shows in our fair city. Wait, I kid, you don’t want me sliding down a pole. I think I’m better served by relinquishing the best Richmond has to offer in regards to live music. Take tonight at Strange Matter, for example. It’s a show worth three thumbs up. Tonight, I truly feel I have three thumbs. Broken Water is a force to be wrecking with. Out of Olympia, Washington, this Punky Brewster of a garage-gaze outfit with grunge roots is a flat out steal at $8. Obama is broken, but who cares, so is the water. And, that’s a great thing--we’ll just switch to seizure causing energy drinks all the kids are into these days.
Whoa! No, I mean the band Whoa! This divine group headed up by the lovely ladies Elizabeth Nall and Noelle Archibald is a blunt force trauma of experimentation towards their original style of the get down. What a sight for sore eyes I tell you. Whoa! is playing more shows of late, and we as a city on the verge of becoming a city, should be ecstatic. Whoa! is a powerhouse good time. Want more garage-gaze? Well, take in more of Canary oh Canary. And don’t forget Hoax Hunters! PJ Sykes, Tim Falen, and James O'Neill play the poignant rock and roll that sticks to your gut and wakes up beside you the next morning with a smile.
Thursday, May 16, 10 p.m.
The Catalyst, Meek is Murder (Photo by Maclyn Bean), Sea of Storms @ The Nile - $5/21+
Brooklyn’s--my lord, is every band from Brooklyn? Oh that’s right, they are. But, do they have the talent Richmond bands have? Anyway--Brooklyn’s Meek is Murder is in town. No, this isn’t that Smiths’ album - that was Meat is Murder. You vegans will appreciate that. Anybody know the score of the Squirrels game? Okay, Okay, I’m sorry, way off course here, and shit, we’re only on Thursday’s preview. Get ready for a wild ride my fair children. It’s been that kind of night.
Meek is Murder is a spellbinding DIY punk band touring in support of their new digital EP Into The Sun and Algorithms, which is on vinyl. From what I’m hearing right now, this band is that upper plateau kind of music I, you, and them must ingest. Try this show on for size, it’s a Thursday winner. I say this because the brutal noise rock of the Catalyst and those drunken captains known as Sea of Storms lend flabbergasting local support.
Thursday, May 16, 5:30 p.m.
Groovin’ in the Garden presents Iron & Wine, The Secret Sisters @ Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens– $30-50/All Ages
Iron & Wine aka Samuel Beam comes back to Richmond to perform his legendary form of indie folk rock. Beam attended art school at VCU, so he’ll know exactly how to rev up the engines of a Richmond crowd. His music is poetry and beautiful if those two ever made love. Iron & Wine is a renaissance fair of musicianship. He’ll whip out a violin, mandolin, banjo, or guitar to go along with his daunting voice that mesmerizes like a free parking spot around VCU’s Monroe Park campus
Secret Sisters are an alt. country tandem of bootnoodles to die for. So, grab yourself a nice spot on the hill and take in the excellence out there in Lakeside. You know it’s always bona fide in Lakeside.
Friday & Saturday, May 17 & 18, 7 p.m.
Dominion Riverrock Festival featuring Soulive, Lettuce (Friday); Anders Osborne, Toots & the Maytals (photo by Lee Abel) (Saturday) @ Brown’s Island– Free/All Ages
This year’s Riverrock Festival packs a punch as usual. Full of outdoor related foot races, obstacle courses, extreme biking, kayaking, and dogs diving after Frisbees into pools, this year’s festival could be the biggest yet. Event organizers have put together a fabulous two day lineup of free live music to coincide with the athletic activities. On Friday, the live music gets kicked off by the jazz funk trio out of New York, Soulive. Following Soulive will be the ever popular funk band out of Boston, Lettuce.
Saturday’s music lineup is for the ages. That Swedish, by way of New Orleans, singer-songwriter, Anders Osborne, opens the free evening with his take on blues along with soulful r&b music. Headlining will be none other than the master of Jamaican rock steady music, Toots & the Maytals. This event is always one of the biggest events on the city’s calendar. If the weather is nice, and according to Jim “Slam” Duncan it will be, expect 30,000 folks over the weekend to make Brown’s Island their home.
Friday, May 17, 9 p. m.
Ashes Within, Savage Attack, Cousin Sleaze @ Wonderland - $5/21+
Brooklyn’s Ashes Within delivers the honest metal. Think Meshuggah or Fear Factory when you think of the absolute beat down Ashes Within will lay upon you. The brutality this quintet of sorcerers will unleash is stuff of Shockoe Bottom legend. Shoot, who needs a baseball stadium and senseless crime in the Bottom when you can get a dose of Ashes Within. You’ll cry bloody murder tonight in some way shape or form, that’s for certain.
The angst doesn’t end with just Ashes Within, checkout the ferociousness of fellow New Yorkers Cousin Sleaze. This metal is on point like a Technotronic dance step; the difference being the head banging. Quite uncontrollably I might add. Richmond’s Savage Attack, a blend of thrash and death metal, open this nightmare-on-ear-street.
Saturday, May 18, 10:30 p.m.
Juvenile, R.C.B.B., Trill Phil, DJ Sleep Ez @ Paradise Lounge– $25/21+
Well, well, well, look who’s back, its New Orleans rapper Juvenile. This southern rap legend is still doing it, and sounds better than ever. If you feel safe enough, then I recommend sliding on down to the Paradise Lounge to see this superstar, who by the way has become quite the actor. The men will get down, the ladies will holla, and all the while, Juvenile will have them bopping up in da club. So what do you say y’all, back dat thang up and arrive in style, and hear this wordsmith reign supreme. Also, special bonus here, word on the street is Juvenile will be performing his new smash hit “Picture Perfect,” so I’ll meet you on the dance floor. Local emcees Rich City Block Boys and my man Trill Phil open this delight at night.
Sunday, May 19, 3 p.m.
Free Metal Fest. featuring Seraph, My Enemies and I, Immoralist, Vice or Virtue, Dark Shores, No Ordinary Family, I Prayed for an Afterlife, I Am the Rapture, Greater Is He, With My Bare Hands, Beyond These Doors @ Kingdom– Free/All Ages
Free metal is the shit, and several local metal bands are convening for a free show this fine Sunday afternoon at Kingdom. Headlined by the raucous sounds of Seraph, this afternoon will be the real church for metal aficionados that absolutely need to bow down too. Let your long hair, if you have it, sway with the power chords of pure metal. All styles of metal will be featured – heavy, black, doom, death, thrash, etc. This show is a must see, and right in front of your very eyes you can see what the future of Richmond metal has in store for us.
Monday, May 20, 8 p.m.
Reggae Monday featuring Iron Lion @ The Camel– Free/18+
Reggae Monday is back at the Camel. Tonight they have brought in Harrisonburg’s Iron Lion. This is a quality taste of that throwback roots reggae we all know and love. There will be plenty of irie good vides, making it well worth dipping out on a Monday night. It’s free too, so for relaxing times, make it reggae Monday times! This preview is too short. Not really, this night is so good, there aren’t words. Oh my, that’s deep.
Tuesday, May 21, 10 p.m.
oOoOO, Mutwawa, Anduin, Hydrophonics, Negative Gemini @ Strange Matter - $12 advance - http://ooooorva.eventbrite.com / Door $15 / 18+
Looking for witch-house, shoegaze, chillwave along with synth-pop? Well look no further than San Francisco’s oOoOO, the stage moniker used by producer Chris Dexter Greenspan. Yes, it’s quite a peculiar name, but the music is sensational. Considered to be a pioneer in the combination of the aforementioned styles, oOoOO is a star amongst the beats that get us grooving in our shoes. oOoOO of late has been skirting the realms of r&b and 90s hip hop. Hence, his latest EP released last year Our Love is Hurting Us. This EP a journey through the universe of experimentation and the ever changing sounds around the soundscapes of raptures.
Richmond support comes in the form of those spiritual African beat studs, Mutwawa, the omnipresent noise and experimentation of Anduin. Also on board will be the glorious sounds of Hydrophonics and the eerily beautiful sounds from Negative Gemini, also known as Lindsey French. Her style is inspired by several genres including house, bounce, hard style, trance, dream pop, post punk, new wave, and hip-hop.
By John Lewis Morgan (onewayrichmond.com)