Wednesday, Oct. 22
Redemption is either a metal band from Los Angeles or a Goth band from Salt Lake City. Or they could be some unknown species like that deer, thought to be extinct, discovered in a remote section of Sumatra. Which one it is might determine your choice of clothes and footwear, which nipple ring to put in and how dark an aspect you want to cultivate. Either way, The Golden Age, from Lincoln, Nebraska, opens this show at The Camel.
Thursday, Oct. 23
You have lots of good choices tonight. C'ville folkster Ellis Paul is at Ashland Coffee and Tea. You might know his songs from two Farrelly brothers films, "Me, Myself and Irene" and "Shallow Hal."
Over at The Camel, Mumpsy brings its carnivalesque pop songs to bear. Tripp is also on the bill, and they play North Kackalackee rock, you know, tuneful songs, guitars that crunch and just enough rock to not be pop. Jonathan Vassar and Evernew are also on the bill.
At the Slip's favorite institution, the Tobacco Company, Sister Sweet takes the stage with harmonies so sweet that blood-red tears will fall from your baby blue eyes.
The Triple is kicking a-- and taking names with their booking recently. If you haven't caught a show there, you should. This week's pick for best band name goes to The Ins and Outs, from right here in our own backyard. They are playing with Atlanta's Gringo Star, which is a stinker name, but a darn good band: Garage rock with plenty of polished chrome. The Color Kittens will also make an appearance.
Friday, Oct. 24
A night of hard choices. Blues master Chris Smither (note to Folk Festival Selection Committee -- why wasn't he invited?) is at Ashland Coffee and Tea.
The New York Deli is hosting WRIR's Fall Fund Drive Kick-Off Masquerade Party . Dress as a Wall Street banker and get bailed out.
Don't miss Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band (the sleeper pick of the week) at the Capital Ale House. This "big band" consists of only three people -- guitar, drums and washboard. They raise an unholy stink reeking of blues and desperation, and that inhabits a rusty double wide off an unpaved road.
Saturday, Oct. 25
In 1983, two very different bands came into existence from either end of our republic, Los Angeles and Vermont respectively. One is a ferocious punk band with a wicked, skewering sense of humor, and the other is a jam band that became the heir apparent to the Grateful Dead, complete with fans who followed them all over the country. So, here's your choice: NOFX at Toad's Place, which show should help purge a lot your righteous indignation about the current political and economic situation; Or Trey Anastasio of Phish solo at The National, who is sure to play a lot of long noodley guitar solos, and who might be a good choice for those who just want to alter their consciousness and forget it all.
Finally, at the Cultural Arts Center at Glen Allen, former member of the Byrds, Roger McGuinn, will be jangling his way through a set of his famous songs.
Sunday, Oct. 26
Look, rock shows are great. You can drink beer, inhale someone else's cigarette smoke, lose your hearing and check out some hot members of the other sex in relative safety. But let's face it, it isn't doing much to up your cultural literacy any. Seeing yet another band athwart their own rock star ambitions isn't exactly exercising your cerebral cortex. That's why we have opera. It's a fantastic opportunity to impress a date, get your good clothes out of mothballs and practice up on your Italian. Verdi's Il Trovatore is being staged at the Landmark Theater, a tale of war and revenge, where swords and hearts clash. Tragedy will no doubt ensue.
Over at The Triple, Rainbow Arabia plays dance music that sounds like it comes from the Middle East. Gandi and RVA's own Bermuda Triangles, who play psychelectronica, open the show.
Monday, Oct 27
Not the weirdest thing to appear out of Wasilla, Alaska, surely, but easily the most intelligent, is Portugal The Man. Wisely, they are now based in Portland, Oregon, which embraces their dramatic and cinematic approach to songwriting. Earl Greyhound, Wintersleep and Nobel are also on the bill, at The Canal Club.
Minus the Bear got its name from a joke -- What do you get if you subtract the bear from "BJ and the Bear?" Minus the bear you get … well you get the picture. That's what you need to know about the band from Seattle, where they know a thing or two about humor. They are appearing at The National with The Annuals and Sylvie.
Tuesday, Oct 28
These aren't your punk rock mamma's Misfits so be warned. No Glen Danzig, which means the sharp edges have been filed off. This is like near beer to the whiskey shot of former years, but if near beer is all you can handle these days, may heaven have mercy upon your once anarchic soul.