RVA Shows You Must See This Week: 8/2-8/8

 

FEATURED SHOW
Friday, August 4, 8 PM
Don’t Look Back Fest, feat. Clair Morgan, Navi, Keep, Smoke Break, Good Neighbor @ The Camel – $6 in advance/$8 day of show (order tickets HERE)
The kitchen fire that closed down Don’t Look Back a month or so ago has created some awful situations. For one thing, a whole bunch of people are out of work. For another, the restaurant is faced with some pretty significant costs–and a lengthy amount of renovation time–before they can reopen. And of course, none of us have been able to enjoy the best tacos in Richmond since–though, let’s face it, that’s a pretty minor problem in the grand scheme of things. Thankfully, the local musical community has banded together to try and help out those displaced by the fire and those without employment in its wake, and Friday night at The Camel is the perfect opportunity for you to help out with the cause, and to enjoy an excellent night of local music in the bargain!

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RVA Shows You Must See This Week: 7/26-8/1

FEATURED SHOW
Saturday, July 29, 8 PM
Ice Cream Support Group presents Ice Cream Anniversary Bash: Year One, feat. Dazeases, DJ Skrt Skrt, DJ Des, Mango X Jafar Flowers @ Strange Matter – $5
No contest on this one, folks–this is definitely the most important show happening in RVA this week, and it’s being brought to us by the most interesting artistic movement in town right now. Ice Cream Support Group is an organization put together by young people of color from the local LGBT community. Their interests are wide-ranging and multi-disciplinary, and they place a great deal of emphasis on helping people learn how to express themselves through mediums and with tools that may normally seem inaccessible. Really, though, if you know Ice Cream Support Group, it’s probably through their Ice Cream Social dance nights, which started about a year ago and have only gained momentum since.

RVA Shows You Must See This Week: 7/19-7/25

FEATURED SHOW
Friday, July 21 & Saturday, July 22, 6:30 PM (both days)
WRIR & The Commonwealth Of Notions Presents: Volume Seven
Day One: Sports Bar, Young Scum, Camp Howard, Saw Black, Magnus Lush, Buddy List, Piranha Rama
Day Two: Opin, Black Liquid, McKinley Dixon, Sammi Lanzetta, We Never, Hot Reader; plus closing Ice Cream Social dance party by Ice Cream Support Group @ Strange Matter – $7 each night
Richmond is so great. I’ve been doing this column for years now, and never had any trouble finding a ton of talent from this city to spotlight. And while this city may have had issues with sustaining a high-profile annual music festival dedicated to genres more underground-oriented than jazz and folk, a ton of smaller, more DIY-centric events have more than filled the void. This weekend, one of the longest-running local events of this nature celebrates its seventh year of existence with what just might be its most diverse and powerful bill yet! You’d be a fool to miss it.

RVA Shows You Must See This Week: 7/12-7/18

FEATURED SHOW
Sunday, July 16, 6 PM
Circa Survive, Citizen @ The Canal Club – $22 in advance/$25 day of show (order tickets HERE)
Over the past decade-plus, Circa Survive have risen to the level of mainstays and torchbearers where the “prog-emo” genre is concerned. Don’t get me wrong, I’m pretty skeptical of that genre tag in general, but it’s serviceable shorthand to describe bands who straddle the line between emo and metal, so I am guilty of using it from time to time. And few bands seem better suited for it than Circa Survive, a band driven by the unmistakable vocal timbres of Anthony Green and the complex interwoven guitar lines of Colin Frangicetto and Brendan Ekstrom. Steve Clifford’s drums are pretty outstanding too, now that I think of it… OK, let’s just put it out there–everyone in this band is super talented.

RVA Shows You Must See This Week: 7/5-7/11

FEATURED SHOW
Thursday, July 6, 7 PM
The Church @ The Broadberry – $27.50 in advance/$30 day of show (order tickets HERE)
This is thrilling and I am excited. The Church are coming to The Broadberry. It’s gonna rule. Now, before I go any further, I know what you’re thinking. “Drew, how is some British one-hit wonder from the days of John Hughes movie soundtracks in any way relevant in 2017?” Just know, if you really are thinking that, I am shaking my head at you. Because, you see, The Church are alternative rock pioneers who’ve existed for over 35 years, made some incredible albums, and had quite a few unforgettable songs that honestly put “Under The Milky Way” to shame. Oh, and by the way, they’re from Australia, you jerk!

RVA Shows You Must See This Week: 6/28-7/4

FEATURED SHOW
Friday, June 30, 8 PM
Forcefield Records X Anniversary Celebration Pt. 3, feat. Unholy Thoughts, Yautja, Chainshot, Helldream @ Strange Matter – $8 in advance/$10 day of show (order tickets HERE)
Forcefield Records continues to celebrate its decade in existence, and to do so with consistently awesome bills that deserve your attention, time, and money. So I feel compelled to point you towards the third 10-year anniversary bill they’ve curated for Strange Matter in the past few months or so, especially since it’s the most excellent one yet! 

RVA Shows You Must See This Week: 6/21-6/27

FEATURED SHOW
Saturday, June 24, 7 PM
Third Annual First Time’s The Charm, feat. Dad, Lula, Wow Qwn, Where’s Zach, The Circuits, Jade And Kiev, Lettie Nowhere, Amazing Friends, Synthdicate Slimez @ Strange Matter – $5
Elbow Room returns for the third year in a row with an event that’s done a great job over the past two years of injecting energy and vitality into a local music scene that, while always awesome, has a tendency to get a bit static if left to its own devices for too long. 

RVA Shows You Must See This Week: 6/14-6/20

FEATURED SHOW
Sunday, June 18, 7 PM
Fit For An Autopsy, Tombs, Moon Tooth @ Strange Matter – $15 (order tickets HERE)
Regarded by some as “the Lord’s day,” it’s only fitting that for denizens of the local metal scene, this Sunday night becomes the prime opportunity this week for a total metal overdose. This week’s featured show is only the first of two brutal metal shows happening this Sunday night, with start times staggered to allow diehard headbangers to hit both. Read about the second show below, but for now, it’s time that we discuss Fit For An Autopsy. 

RVA Shows You Must See This Week: 6/7-6/13

FEATURED SHOW
Tuesday, June 13, 7 PM
Lee Ranaldo, Steve Gunn, Meg Baird @ The Broadberry – $20 (order tickets HERE)
I am really stoked about this show. A confession for you, gentle reader: while I readily acknowledge the godlike greatness of Kim Gordon and the irreverent charm of Thurston Moore, Lee Ranaldo was always my favorite of Sonic Youth’s three singer/songwriters. He didn’t jump into the spotlight much, but if he had one song on a Sonic Youth album, it was guaranteed to be an absolute killer and the perfect mixtape pick. Look at the record: “Wish Fulfillment,” “Mote,” “Karen Revisited,” “Pipeline/Kill Time,” fucking “Eric’s Trip”… the man’s work speaks for itself.

RVA Shows You Must See This Week: 5/31-6/6

FEATURED SHOW
Saturday, June 3, 2 PM
A Good Day In RVA IV: The Fourthcoming, feat. McKinley Dixon & Friends, The You Go Girls, Majjin Boo, The Milkstains, Fat Spirit, Blush Face, VV, Positive No, Opin, Dharma Bombs, Wester Green, Magnus Lush, Anousheh, Gull @ Hardywood – Free!
I don’t really get out too much anymore, y’all. For a girl who writes a lot about live music, I spend most nights typing into this machine, then crashing before midnight so I can get to work by 8 AM the next morning. It’s a bummer, and one of the biggest reasons that it’s a bummer is all the new RVA bands I haven’t gotten a chance to see live yet. Fortunately, the Good Day RVA folks are back yet again with the fourth edition of their annual summer-kickoff showcase of outstanding local bands, offering the perfect opportunity for all of us to catch up on what we’ve been missing around town while munching on awesome food-truck snacks and quaffing tasty craft beer (or Coke Zero if you roll like I roll). And since this show is free, on a weekend, and over before 11 PM, I might actually make it out! That would be a nice change.