RVA Shows You Must See This Week: December 18 – December 24
FEATURED SHOW
Friday, December 20, 6 PM
Deau Or Alive: The 4th Annual Deau Eyes Holiday Party, feat. Deau Eyes and a cast of thousands @ Hardywood – $15 in advance, $20 day of show (order tickets HERE)
This is it, folks — the last column before Christmas. If you’ve been with me on this journey for a while, you know that things get weird this time of year where live music is concerned. Bands are understandably not on tour. Even a lot of local bands are busy getting their affairs in order, wrapping presents and making plans to travel or spend the week with family. This may make things feel a little iffy when you’re just looking to go rock out on the last weekend before Christmas. Here’s the good news: there are always a bunch of holiday-themed shows being thrown by your favorite local acts in the weeks leading up to the big day. In fact, between Punks For Presents and stalwarts of yuletide celebration like J. Roddy Walston, Carbon Leaf, and Randazzo Bigband, there are so many perennial holiday extravaganzas that happen every year in this town, I can’t always even find the space for them all within this column!
It should therefore tell you something that I’m holding space for the fourth annual holiday party from local indie rock troubadour Deau Eyes. For one thing, I’m not at all sure I’ve covered any of the previous editions of this holiday shindig (if I have, mea culpa, but y’all can’t expect me to remember every show I’ve ever written about at this late date, can you?). For another, it just looks like it’s gonna be a blast. This year’s is subtitled “Deau Or Alive” and features a “Cowboy Christmas” theme. I’m not sure how that’ll factor into the Deau Eyes set that will be the centerpiece of this evening — are we gonna get a double dose of twang this time around? That would certainly be intriguing — but I can tell you that Ali is requesting we all show up in our cowboy hats, boots, and whatever western flair we can come up with, so get ready to get festive prairie-style!
What I can tell you about Deau Eyes’s set on this fine evening is that we can expect some excellent new tunes to be woven into the canvas of fan favorites; in particular, the new single “Nebulous” is an incredible spacefaring indie epic; meanwhile, the recently released Christmas single “When We Were The Kids” is the kind of sentimental holiday tune that will have you weeping into your eggnog, so be prepared for all the feels when they bust that one out. And of course, all the classics you love from the first two Deau Eyes albums are sure to be on the menu as well. And that’s not even to mention the many fun Christmas-themed activities that’ll be going on around the Hardywood campus over the course of the evening. Expect photo booths, arts & crafts, a big raffle, and some exclusive merch. And finally, most importantly, expect to dance your ass off and have a blast with some great music and great friends. After all, isn’t that what this holiday’s all about?
Wednesday, December 18, 6 PM
Deep Noise Nights, feat. Shoz, Piled_000, Saadia Rais, Bal Dukte, Tim Hawks @ Gallery 5 – $10 in advance, $12 at the door (order tickets HERE)
I mentioned that things get a little weird this close to Christmas, but I want to be clear: I’ve always enjoyed it when things start to get weird. That’s when you’re in the best position to make some fascinating new discoveries. And fascinating new discoveries are exactly what’s on offer this Wednesday night at Gallery 5, as we’re treated to a themed night of “deep noise.” Is this a genre in the world of experimental music that I just haven’t run across before now? It’s possible, but even if someone just made it up on the spot, it still makes a lot of sense as a potential genre tag for our evening’s headliner, the Harrisonburg-based noise artist Shoz. Their music is built atop a bed of found sounds and ambient field recordings, on which they layer delicate melodies and strange aural textures. The result, especially on their recent debut LP, Bind Belong, is a fascinating audio experience that makes you feel like you’ve wandered so deeply into a lovely Appalachian forest that you’ve somehow become one with it. But you brought your smartphone, so now there are weird technology glitches happening in the midst of your bucolic wonderland.
So yeah, like I said, it’s weird — but it’s the kind of weird you benefit from experiencing every now and then. So show up at Gallery 5 tonight and let Shoz widen your perception of the world. You’ll get to experience some fascinating local noise as well; in particular, Piled_000 is the most recent effort from Laura Marina, previously known from her work with Richmond Avant Improv Collective and Faucet, among others. Piled_000’s music is all atmospheric hums, quiet static, and ethereal melodies that barely rise above the ambient soundwaves. It’s a fascinating, immersive listening experience — one you won’t soon forget. I wasn’t able to locate too much evidence of what the three artists rounding out this bill actually sound like, but based on our top two performers, there’s definitely a theme at work here. Expect total sonic immersion throughout the evening, as all of these artists manipulate the sound of the world around you to put you into an entirely new headspace. Which is always a great way to spend a Wednesday night.
Thursday, December 19, 7 PM
Shagg Carpet, Tentative Decisions, Camp Werewolf, This Man May Die @ The Camel – $10 (order tickets HERE)
Punk rock is thriving in Richmond these days, and I for one am very glad to see it. It does my heart good to see so many bands out here putting a brand new spin on a classic street-level sound that has always been very close to my heart. Shagg Carpet and Tentative Decisions are two of the bands who’ve been doing the best job of carrying Richmond punk rock forward into a new era over the past year or so, and it’s always great to see them sharing the top of a bill populated exclusively by killer local bands. For the punks around town looking for a high note to carry them through the inevitably fraught holiday season, you really can’t ask for more than the lineup of this Thursday night banger at The Camel.
Shagg Carpet have distinguished themselves this year with a truly great debut, Bugged, on which they bash out catchy lo-fi punk rippers complete with trash synth melodies and scuzzy guitars duking it out with choruses that are catchier than you’d ever expect them to be. If you like the idea of Guided By Voices and Lost Sounds jamming together on early Devo outtakes, you’ll love what this band has to offer. As for Tentative Decisions, they just released their debut LP, Public Access, less than a week ago, and it finds them reaching a new level of throbbing postpunk menace and antsy nervous energy. This one’s got me rearranging my picks for best Richmond records of the year at the last possible minute, and if you haven’t heard it yet, you’ll definitely need to hit The Camel this Thursday night to get the full experience of what this trio has to offer. The evening will be rounded out by the emotion-driven melodies of Camp Werewolf and the bare-bones punk howl of This Man May Die, both of whom are local talents deserving of more attention than they’re getting at this point. Don’t miss this one.
Friday, December 20, 7 PM
Fontaine’s Birthday Party, feat. Stinking Lizaveta, Trapcry, VV @ Cobra Cabana – $10
I would love to think that by now everyone in Richmond knows Fontaine, and that she needs no introduction, but I’m well aware that new people find their way into the underground music scene every single day (and thank goodness for that), so I’ll go ahead and elaborate: the host of long-running WRIR radio show What The Fontaine?, Fontaine is a pillar of the local music community who has been present for all of the developments within the Richmond musical underground for so long that her radio show is frequently a treasure trove of forgotten local acts and entertaining lore. Plus, she always keeps the music selection as awesome as it is unpredictable. This city is a better place with her on our airwaves. That’s why I think we should all head over to Cobra Cabana this Friday night to wish Fontaine a very happy birthday, and let her know how much this city appreciates her.
With this being a party in celebration of Fontaine, you know the music on offer will be wide-ranging and incorporating the best from multiple genres and eras. This evening begins living up to that promise immediately, with the presence of Stinking Lizaveta at the top of the bill. This veteran instrumental math-metal trio may be from Philadelphia, but they’ve played plenty of shows in Richmond over the years, going back to the days when they shared multiple bills with Hell Mach 4 back in the late 90s. They’re still going as strong as ever, and they proved that with their ninth album, Anthems and Phantoms, released last year and containing a high level of heavy-noisy metallic rock grooves, of the sort that you’d expect from a musical legend like this one. Local fave Trapcry is also on the bill with some heavy-hitting queer techno-soul of the sort that’ll have you hitting the dance floor hard. And of course, noise-punk ragers VV will kick off the evening with some harsh, ripping tuneage of the sort we all love. This is going to be a wonderful evening of music in celebration of someone who makes this city a great place to be into music. Sounds pretty much perfect as far as I’m concerned.
Saturday, December 21, 7:30 PM
Prabir Trio, Danger Birds, Tiny Lights, Ionna @ Anytime Beer Co. – $12 (order tickets HERE)
Without any real touring acts coming through this week, we’re having the opportunity to focus on local artists who sometimes only get mentioned in terms of who they’re opening for. This show is a great opportunity to do exactly that with several groups from the Richmond indie scene, all of whom are gathering at a venue that is at least new to me (though I pay less attention than most to local beer companies, so your experience may be different). Anytime Beer Company is right over behind the McDonalds’ on Chamberlayne, so it’s actually not too far from my place up here on Northside. If you haven’t been by yet, this is the perfect night to do so; a night when you can catch a rad performance from the Prabir Trio, who’ve become a quartet in recent months but continue to make the kind of excellent Beatlesque indie power-pop that Prabir’s long been known for. The group’s newest LP, Long After The Empire, incorporates a larger influence from Prabir’s roots in India; not only did he write the songs in India, he even sings in Gujarati and Hindi as well as English.
It’s always cool to see a veteran artist taking things to a new level, and that’s definitely what we’re getting from Prabir and the rest of the Trio (quartet) this time around. It’s definitely gonna make for a killer set at Anytime Beer, one you won’t want to miss. You won’t want to miss Danger Birds, either; this quartet, which takes their name from a classic Neil Young tune, cranks up the grungy guitars and catchy choruses on their most recent single, “Drugs Inside Of Me,” while showing off a moodier, more melodic side of their sound on the B-side, “Die By My Own Hand.” You’ll catch both of these sides and more during their set, which is sure to be a crowd-pleaser. As for rockin’ local trio (for real this time) Tiny Lights, they’ve got an intriguing aesthetic that sorta reminds me of those early 80s Paisley Underground bands like Rain Parade and sorta makes me think of Television circa Marquee Moon. If you haven’t checked these folks out yet, they’ve got a lot to offer. The emotionally driven dance-pop of Ionna will get this one started, and put everyone in a festive mood. Tis the season, y’all.
Sunday, December 22, 4 PM
Pay Rent Holiday Event, feat. Pay Rent Brass Band, Corey Axt @ Get Tight Lounge – Free!
Everyone knows about No BS! Brass, but we’d all do well to remember that they aren’t the only game in town when it comes to brass bands. For example, there’s Pay Rent Brass Band, who describe themselves on Instagram as a “six-piece brass band just trying to pay the rent,” which is entirely fair, but also doesn’t give you any idea of just how great a time this band brings every single time they take a stage somewhere in Richmond. They particularly thrive at holidays — witness their incredible Halloween-themed set list from their performance at Get Tight Lounge two months ago. The Sunday before Christmas finds them returning to Get Tight for an even bigger holiday extravaganza, at which there will be all sorts of goodies: hot chocolate, eggnog, holiday movies, and even Santa Claus! This is a free event that’s fun for the whole family, and it’ll be over early, so you can get home and get the kids to bed.
But hey, let’s be real — you’re really here for the music, right? Well, there’ll be plenty of that at Get Tight Lounge this Sunday. Pay Rent Brass Band will be bringing two full sets of holiday awesomeness. These folks don’t really do original material, but with a set list full of everything from Smashing Pumpkins classics and slow jams from Miguel to tunes pulled from classic anime like Neon Genesis Evangelion, you never know exactly what you’ll get — but you know it’ll be great. I can’t imagine there won’t be a ton of Christmas tunes, both familiar classics and totally unpredictable left turns, all of which promises to be a blast. Local singer-songwriter Corey Axt will also be along to add to the festivities, and there’ll be food and drink specials of which to partake as well. Get into the Christmas spirit with this one — you won’t regret it.
Monday, December 23, 7 PM
Fear Of Music @ The Broadberry – $15 (order tickets HERE)
By this point in the week we’re so close to Christmas that most venues are starting to go dark, in preparation for that moment around the holiday times when no one’s even in town because they’ve all headed over the river and through the woods to Grandmother’s house, or whatever the case may be. However, The Broadberry’s sticking around for one last hurrah before the holiday season totally seizes upon us, and it involves Fear Of Music, the long-running Richmond-based Talking Heads tribute act that has been doing a Christmas Eve Eve show for a few years now. Talking Heads may not be a band that screams “holiday season” to you, but sometimes the best thing to do around the time of a holiday that’s achieved total cultural saturation is to step back and pretend it’s a random Tuesday in April, or something like that.
Fear Of Music have you covered where that’s concerned, bringing you all your fave Talking Heads tunes, perhaps even in the company of an oversized suit. So come on out to The Broadberry on December 23 and have the time of your life staying up late and hopefully avoiding any psycho killers out there. There isn’t much more to say than that; this one may not be a show you tell your grandkids about someday, but it will be a fun time on a night when most of us don’t have to get up for work in the morning (my condolences to the retail workers among us that this statement sadly doesn’t apply to), and sometimes that’s enough.
Tuesday, December 24, 11:45 PM
Santa Claus @ Your Chimney – Free (if you’re on the nice list)
Things always experience a bit of a lull toward the middle of the week, but this week in particular, it’s due to a much bigger and more important occasion. You know what I’m talking about, so we’ll just leave it there. Our next column will be delayed until Thursday the 26th, because I can promise you there won’t be any shows on Christmas night. Chill on your couch, watch some basketball, and we’ll see you in time for the day-after-Christmas sales.
Happy Holidays from Santabear, Jingles, Paul, Tom, Greta, and the rest of the crew here at RVA Must-See Shows.
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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