RVA Shows You Must See This Week: April 2 – April 8
FEATURED SHOW
Saturday, April 5, 8 PM
Dhemo, Cassidy Snider & The Wranglers, Night Idea @ The Camel – $10 in advance, $12 day of show (order tickets HERE)
I’ve been writing this column for something like 11 years now, so I think it’s safe to say that I love to do it. I have a lot of reasons to love it, too — I am very passionate about music, and it gives me an opportunity to immerse myself in it every week, and to nerd the fuck out about it to a hopefully appreciative audience. It helps me keep track of a music scene that’s too big and too wide-ranging to ever wrap my arms around, especially as my 40s come to a close and I just don’t have the energy to go out as much as I used to (which is not to say that you shouldn’t go to as many shows as possible — do as I say, not as I do). And it introduces me to new shit and gets me excited about things I haven’t encountered before, even now when I’m a solid 15 years beyond the age where research teams and Spotify wonks say I should have stopped checking out new music. Fuck that; I love finding new things to enjoy. And that’s what I did this week, when I checked out a few of the pre-release singles from the forthcoming album by Richmond musician Dhemo, whose new full-length, Chasing Smiles, drops this Friday.
Now I know what you RVA indie heads are saying, “You didn’t know Dhemo before now?” And you’re right — this is actually his third album, after 2020 debut To Be In Reverse and 2022 followup Spinning In Place. And listen, it’s not like I didn’t know Dhemo existed before now. I’m sure I’ve covered him in the column before, maybe even several times (I hope you don’t think I remember every one of the shows I’ve written about since starting this thing in 2014). But this is the first time I ever did a proper deep dive on his music. And I really dug what I heard. While I can’t listen to Chasing Smiles right now (as I write this, it won’t be out for two more days), he has released four advance singles from it since the start of 2025, and they’re all awesome. Dhemo’s got a sort of laid-back approach to the indie guitar genre he at least nominally fits into; there’s a funky, jazzy feel to his recent singles that are almost tropical in mood. It’s music to listen to on a Caribbean beach — or, if you’re stuck in Richmond, to blast out of your boombox while you sit on the porch drinking a margarita at 6 pm on a sunny Friday afternoon. It’s guaranteed to put a smile on your face, and god knows we need all of that we can get at this particular point in time.
This show at The Camel is happening on a Saturday night, not a Friday afternoon, but hey… close enough. Come on down and relax your body, mind, and soul while Dhemo lays out some super-catchy soulful tropicalia-infused indie tunes for you to tap your feet or shake your booty to. It’s guaranteed to be a good time. Cassidy Snider & The Wranglers will be along for the ride, bringing their own hard-to-pin-down genre hybrid that’s somewhere between old-time Appalachian folk music, classic country, and jazzy blues. And of course the evening will be rounded out by a performance from Night Idea, who in recent years have grown from being a talented math-rock quartet to adding trombone and violin, and moving in a decidedly more orchestral, layered direction. It’s going to be a night of bands whose sounds stretch across multiple genres, but all have in common the flawless ability to make you smile. See, shows like this are exactly why I love writing this column. Go to the Camel this Saturday night and experience those positive feelings for yourself.
Wednesday, April 2, 7 PM
Woman Crush Wednesday, feat. SirDr, Betsy From Mars, Charli Ra, Michelle Marquez @ The Camel – $10 in advance, $12 day of show (order tickets HERE)
It’s the beginning of another month, and you know what that means: it’s time for another installment of that long-running local showcase that’s always the first to bring you the new and overlooked sounds from talented folks based right here in Richmond, VA. I could, of course, only be talking about Woman Crush Wednesday, the showcase of up-and-coming sounds from female and LGBTQ artists run for over five years now by local singer-songwriter Bri Bevan. I never know quite what we’ll get from Woman Crush Wednesday from month to month, but I always find some new artists with delightful sounds to share, and this month is no exception. These folks are in a certain order on the flyer, but I’m just gonna jump around the bill, starting with Charli Ra, whose new single, “Portal,” was profiled right here at The Auricular only a few days ago. Fueled by a simultaneous fascination with the limitless cosmos and the microscopic world of sub-atomic particles, this track finds Charli Ra exploring a funky, psychedelic indie-soul sound — the sort of thing that’s sure to brighten up your Wednesday night when Charli Ra takes the stage at The Camel.
Keeping with the space theme, Betsy From Mars is also on the bill. I had a little trouble finding her music on the streaming sites because her previous releases have been under her government name, Betsy Podsiadlo, but that’s OK — the spaced-out feel permeates her ambient folk tunes, as showcased on her 2023 EP, To Be Loved By You. Quietly strummed mandolin, ambient keyboard textures, and striking, ethereal vocals construct a mesmerizing atmosphere that’ll be intriguing to sink into on Wednesday night. I know quite a bit less about SirDr, who seem to be new arrivals on the local scene but are a quartet that play what their instagram describes as “queer folk pop.” Color me intrigued; I expect some lovely acoustic sounds from these folks. I know the least about Michelle Marquez, who is opening this one up; Bri describes them as “sultry and smooth with great beats,” and I’ve come to trust Bri’s musical taste, so I think this artist is certainly worth showing up on time for. Make it happen, y’all — this month and every month.
Thursday, April 3, 7 PM
Jivebomb, Polarview, Collective Action, Jailbird @ Cobra Cabana – $15
OK, I’ve kept it chill with y’all so far — some tropical indie, some folky pop sounds, all that nice stuff. But if you’ve been reading this column for a while, you know I love that raw, loud, anti-social shit — and this is where that stuff shows up in a big way. Because Jivebomb is showing up at Cobra Cabana this Thursday night, and this Baltimore ensemble does not fuck around. On their brand new debut LP, Ethereal, they give you a total bait-and-switch, giving a light, airy name to a slab of musical concrete that proceeds to bash you into the ground for its entire running time without mercy. Roaring, guttural vocals, ripping thrash riffage, and absolutely pounding rhythms are the elements that make up this incredibly heavy slice of raw hardcore, and when you see Jivebomb live, you can expect all of that as well as a furious, energetic live performance that’ll have everyone diving into the pit. This shit is not for the weak, so prepare accordingly.
And now for something completely different: Polarview, who are joining Jivebomb on this trip to Richmond, have pretty much nothing in common with our headliners except for the fact that they’re also from Baltimore. Sure, their guitars have a subtle undercurrent of moody heaviness, but their main focus is on post-hardcore melodies of the sort that fans of Hum and Rival Schools are sure to be thrilled by. Their set is likely to be every bit as melodic as Jivebomb’s set will be heavy, but a surprising amount of people will enjoy both of these bands equally — god knows I do. The other two bands on this bill are both based here in Virginia, and Collective Action are much closer to the Jivebomb end of the spectrum. Their latest EP, Truth To Power, finds them dishing out some angry, powerful hardcore with a straightforward attack that manages to be heavy without being metal-influenced in any way. Expect the pit to get wild for these guys. Openers Jailbird go a bit more raw and old-school with their classic hardcore sound, but give away nothing in the energy department, and will surely get this one started with a bang. Come to this one prepared to move, because there’s no way you’ll be able to stand still for these bands.
Friday, April 4, 7 PM
Free Metal Friday, feat. Croatan (Photo by Hannah Locklear), Censored Image, Broadslab, Arteries Like Estuaries @ Another Round Bar & Grill – Free!
I’ve talked about the aforementioned Woman Crush Wednesday quite a few times in this column; however, I probably haven’t given as much attention to Free Metal Friday at Another Round Bar & Grill, which is how this Lakeside establishment celebrates First Friday every month. If I can blame anything, it’s that Fridays (and Saturdays) often have way too many shows going on, so it’s harder for something like this to grab my attention on a Friday night than it would on a Wednesday. That said, the stars have aligned this time around, because here I am, telling you to swing by Another Round Bar & Grill this Friday night, and save the cash you bring with you for drinks and snacks at the bar. I could say this show is cheap at twice the price, but actually, no matter how many times you multiply by zero you still get zero, so really, it’s cheap at infinite times the price. So you officially have no excuse for missing this one.
You’ll get some great metal sounds when you show up, too, and the band at the top of that list is Croatan. These guys come from the coastal areas of North Carolina and the southeastern end of Virginia, so the reference to the Lost Colony of Roanoke in their name is geographically appropriate. Sound-wise, Croatan dish out some powerful modern American thrash metal with some chugging death-metal undercurrents and occasional melodic flirtations swirled in. Last year’s Eyes Wide With Terror EP is a blazing slice of brutality that’s over way too quick. Fortunately, they’ll be able to give us all the metal we can handle and then some at Another Round this Friday night. Three other bands will fill this bill with some additional heavy sounds. The first of those, Maryland quartet Censored Image, are probably the least conventionally metallic, playing a heavy, chunky brand of post-grunge alt-rock that may not be brutal thrash but will likely find a fair few fans among the headbangers. North Carolinians Broadslab want us to know they play “hellacious Southern metal,” and in this case that translates into some sludgy stoner grooves that’ll surely thrill fans of Goatsnake and Fu Manchu. Openers Arteries Like Estuaries, who are from down around Hampton (just west of the bridge-tunnel), will get things started on a frantic note with their intense take on pedal-to-the-metal metalcore. I’m actually really intrigued by what these dudes have to offer, so make sure you show up on time and catch every note of their set. And then stick around for every note of the other three. Not only will this be a flawless night of metal excellence, but it’s free. Who can argue with that?
Saturday, April 5, 7 PM
Tentative Decisions, Ten Pound Snail, Strawberry Moon, Roughshod @ Cobra Cabana – $10
There’s a lot of great music coming out of this town right now, in all sorts of genres, and I gotta tell ya, I’m really glad I’m not the only one who knows it. In particular, Destructo Disk, the incredibly talented local punk band — and, more to the point, proprietors of local label Sockhead Records — know it too. I can tell, because within the last three months, they’ve released new records by two of the four bands on this incredibly stacked Saturday night lineup of all-Richmond bands. Our headliners, Tentative Decisions, are one of the two bands on this bill with a recent release on Sockhead, specifically their debut full-length, Public Access. This scrappy trio captures the nervousness, spaced-out arrangements, and hypnotic feel of many classic early-80s postpunk bands in their music, bringing to mind everyone from The Fall to the Bush Tetras to those early Scritti Politti singles from before they got a drum machine and ruined their sound (yeah, I said it). Their new album is an absolute delight, and their headlining set at Cobra Cabana this Saturday night will be as well.
This show is happening to mark a special occasion, specifically the birthday of Tentative Decisions drummer Bernadette Lothamer (the “Bernie” referenced on the flier above — Senator Sanders’s birthday is in September). They’ve gotten some very talented friends together to celebrate, and it only makes sense that a collection of Richmond bands this good would all hang together. For one thing, there’s fellow Sockhead artists Strawberry Moon, who are really about as buzzworthy a Richmond artist as you’re going to find right now, further cementing their grip on this city’s indie scene with their kickass new EP, Smoon. This just-released collection of tunes continues to take their hard-charging alt-punk sound to a higher level, and makes me feel like a real breakout for this group can’t help but be right around the corner. As for Ten Pound Snail, this psychedelic alt-rock trio has been blowing all of our minds with their technical prowess and songwriting chops for a few years now, and if anything they just keep getting better, so I’m definitely expecting good things from them as well — starting with their set at this show. Richmond rockers Roughshod are opening up the evening, and when a band this talented are the first ones to appear on the bill, you know you’ve got a hell of a show on your hands. These folks will kick off the evening with a great set of fuzz-guitar indie-rock tunes, and get everyone in the mood for a night of greatness. Hit it up — you’ll be glad you did.
Sunday, April 6, 7:30 PM
ARTMS @ Dominion Energy Center – $35.50 – $149.50 (order tickets HERE)
I may make no secret of the fact that I like the heavy shit, but I’ve never been the sort of person to let the strictures of genre hold me back from exploring and delighting in literally any type of music. And maybe now that I’ve said that you’ll be a little less surprised that I got into K-pop a little over a decade ago and had a period of about 18 months where I was totally obsessed. I haven’t kept up with it all that often in the ensuing years, and those of you who do follow K-pop will probably understand why — as a genre, it is full of twists and turns, and leaves you with a ton of different storylines to keep up with. You’re never gonna catch everything that’s going on, so it can be easier to just pull back and wait for something to grab your attention every now and then than to join any particular stan army. That’s how I’ve been rolling for a while, which is why I can’t really explain the drama that went on around the formation of ARTMS, a five-piece girl group that came together a few years ago, after the controversial dissolution of 11-member group Loona. Apparently their label had them under exploitative contracts, and they had to engage in legal action to get out of said contracts. In the wake of all that, some members of Loona went on to form Loossemble, and others started ARTMS.
Exploitative contracts have been a sad fact of pop music for as long as the form has existed, and they’re always terrible, so I’m glad ARTMS got free of what they were previously dealing with. But I’m so much more excited about the music they’ve made since forming in their current incarnation. Other than the inescapable (and incredibly talented) BTS, I’ve mostly missed what’s been going on in K-pop in recent years, but if ARTMS represents the state of the art, I’ve gotta tune back in more often. Their debut LP, <Dall>, is an incredible collection of lush and impossibly catchy dance-pop tunes that hit me every bit as hard as the classic 2NE1 and Hyuna tracks I fell for back in 2012 hit me back then. Tracks like “Candy Crush,” “Virtual Angel,” and “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to The Galaxy” are fucking brilliant, beautiful and danceable and emotional as hell, making me wanna get up and dance around my living room whenever I hear them. Seriously, if even a small minority of American pop music was able to hook me anywhere near as powerfully as this album does, I’d probably be the kind of overly exuberant pop girlie that saves up all year for T-Swift tickets or whatever. My standards for this sound are high, but ARTMS meets them all and then some, and if you too have a sweet tooth for pop hooks and love to dance the night away, you definitely owe it to yourself to spend Sunday night with ARTMS at the Dominion Energy Center. It’ll be a candy-sweet dance-pop blast.
Monday, April 7, 6:30 PM
Fame On Fire, Halocene, Archetypes Collide @ The Canal Club – $22 in advance, $25 day of show (order tickets HERE)
We all know why we head for a show at The Canal Club on a Monday night, right? Because some band from the relatively popular end of the metalcore-emo-pop-punk extended universe is coming through town, and of course we can’t miss it. That’s what it always is, and this is no exception, as Fame On Fire are coming through town to hit the stage at The Canal Club and we’re all gonna want to be there. Now, some of you may know of Fame On Fire from their early days as a viral cover band, breaking the internet with versions of tracks by Adele, Linkin Park, Taylor Swift, Lip Pump, and more. Personally, I didn’t catch onto these guys until they were already making original music, and that definitely changed my opinion of their sound for the better. Honestly, they do a great job of writing catchy emo choruses, chugging metal breakdowns, and driving post-hardcore riffs — with, of course, that touch of post-Linkin Park nu metal that all bands under the age of 30 or so seem to bring in — and therefore I’m glad that I wasn’t just expecting them to be a novelty forever.
If you were expecting them to be a novelty forever, well, let me warn you — it wouldn’t be a good idea to go to this show expecting nothing more than a bunch of emo-themed covers of mainstream artists. I expect tunes like that to be, at most, a small part of Fame On Fire’s set. And I’m glad of that, too, because last year’s third LP, The Death Card, is full of well-constructed tunes that integrate the perfect mix of emo moodiness, melodic choruses, post-hardcore vibes, and metalcore crunch. These guys have a lot to offer even if every song they play is one they wrote themselves, and you’d be ripping yourself off if you slept on their original material and got salty because you waited all night for an Adele cover. Don’t sleep on these guys. Besides, you’ve got Halocene acting as direct support, and if you’ve got a hankering for metalcore covers of mainstream tunes, this Arizona married couple have more of those in their catalog than you can shake a stick at, as my mother would say (don’t ask me what it means). That way you can get that craving out of your system before Fame On Fire hits the stage, and appreciate their original tunes for the excellence they have to offer. The evening will begin with a set of catchy metalcore riffage from Arizona’s Archetypes Collide, which will be a good way to get your metalcore Monday at the Canal Club started. Get stoked for it.
Saturday, April 8, 6 PM
Chase Petra, Small Crush, Sorry Mom @ Richmond Music Hall at Capital Ale House – $20 (order tickets HERE)
I admit it: I didn’t know who Chase Petra was before I started researching this show. I looked into this band for the silliest (but, in hindsight, best) of reasons: I liked that their new LP is called Lullabies For Dogs. When I first listened, I thought Chase Petra was the name of a person, so yeah, I’m one of those “which one’s Pink?” type idiots. Get your jokes in now. Don’t worry, I googled and figured out that this is a Southern California-based trio, led by singer-guitarist Hunter Allen and featuring former Regrettes bassist Brooke Dickson. If you dug the Regrettes’ melodic punk sound and their open-hearted, socio-politically fueled lyrical approach, Chase Petra’s likely to grab your attention if they haven’t already; their sound mixes catchy, poppy punk riffs with emotional moments, powerful lyrics, and driving rhythms to create a memorable feel that’s likely to win over anyone who has loved the endeavors of Katie and Allison Crutchfield (Swearin, Waxahatchee, PS Eliot, etc).They even integrate some acoustic moments at points on their latest album — but thankfully never lose an ounce of their passion and musical power.
Chase Petra are joined on this tour by a couple of other talented bands. The first of these is Small Crush, a California quartet with an upbeat, jangling approach to tunes that might come off as pop-punk or as K Records-style indie rock, depending on your cultural background. Regardless of how you’ll categorize them, you’re sure to love what they’ve got to offer if you’ve appreciated anything the aforementioned Crutchfield sisters have done in their extensive careers, or if you like Cayetana, Tsunami, or Tiger Trap. The lineup is rounded out by the excellently-named Sorry Mom, a New York-based queer punk band whose most played tune on Apple Music is a hilariously catchy dance-punk romp called “I Fucked Your Mom.” Their eclectic sound takes them all over the map, from driving punk tunes to jangly pop-punk to, well, dance-punk tracks about hooking up with your mom. Anyway, all of it’s great. These guys will certainly get this show started off with a bang (pun definitely intended). From there, it’ll only get better. Come to the show and rock out.
Email me if you’ve got any tips for me about upcoming shows (that take place after the week this column covers -– this week’s column has obviously already been written): rvamustseeshows@gmail.com
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