RVA Shows You Must See This Week: May 3 – May 9
FEATURED SHOW
Saturday, May 6, 8 PM
Ninety Seven Memorial Show, feat. CEO.WAV, Flowr, Honeymoon, Icarus, Hunter Hollow, Lucid Dreamer, 2Livid, Ivsrevenge, Spyke, and many more @ The 4 Cyber Cafe – $5
It’s hard to age gracefully in the world of music, and I should know — it’s been a constant struggle for me. I’ve avoided the easy traps of aging that I’ve seen snag many of my peers: deciding that music is all garbage now, that the stuff kids are into must be worthless because you don’t get it, and that the truly golden era of music just happens to have been the era when you were in high school, or college. But this week, when I found the world of young Richmond musicians that operate under the names WEUP and W1TCHCR4FT, I found a new pitfall: the thought that I probably shouldn’t cover that scene because I don’t know enough about it. Thankfully, I came to my senses within a couple of minutes: aren’t I a journalist? Don’t I know how to do research?!?
What I found when I started digging into the music of W1TCHCR4FT leading lights like Flowr, Honeymoon, and CEO.WAV was a pretty strong connection to scenes like emo-rap and Soundcloud rap. Vaporous beats; guitar sounds borrowing equally from Linkin Park-ish alt-metal and underground emo stars like American Football; vocals that dabble in melodic choruses, tortured screamo howls, and downer-dosed mumbling, all within the same song. It’s not an unheard-of sound — if you’re thinking of XXXTentacion, Lil Uzi Vert, Lil Peep, and the like, you’re picking up what these guys are putting down. But there’s a significant variety between different performers within the crew: Honeymoon’s lachrymose vaporwave R&B, Lucid Dreamer’s goofy, frenetic electro-bounce, CEO.WAV’s relatively straightforward melodic hip hop, and Flowr’s moody alt-pop all stand out from those around them, and yet all feel like they’re part of the same musical movement.
There is one unfortunate note being struck in the midst of all this: this show is a memorial for Ninety Seven, one of the leading lights of the W1TCHCR4FT scene who died earlier this year at the too-young age of 25. I don’t know how he died, but I do know drugs are pretty big in this whole scene — I definitely heard people rap about doing heroin and opioids while researching this writeup — so I just hope the members of W1TCHCR4FT are staying safe out there. The deaths of people like Lil Peep and JuiceWRLD are tragedies we don’t need to replicate here in Richmond.
That being said, this show is sure to be a great way to spend your Saturday night. The footage I’ve seen online of WEUP/W1TCHCR4FT live shows, which often take place at 4 Cyber Cafe where this show is happening, looks wild, featuring tons of hyped-up kids going crazy and having fun. As someone who grew up going to hardcore shows where naked stagedives were somewhat common, I’m into this. And I definitely think this showcase of W1TCHCR4FT artists at 4 Cyber on Saturday will be well worth your time — regardless of how old you are.
Wednesday, May 3, 7 PM
.gif From God, Blind Girls, Heavenly Blue, Listless, Humanitarian Deficit @ Gallery 5 – $15 (order tickets HERE)
Tonight it’s a midweek treat at Gallery 5 for all you fans of metalcore, screamo, and any other form of music that is both heavy and passionate. Not only is .gif From God, who are still dominating the city’s heavy music scene with their incredible new EP, Digital Red, headlining this show, there are multiple screamo talents from elsewhere around the world coming to enlighten our fair city with their frantic rage. I’m not going to spend too much time on .gif From God in this writeup (if you need a quick crash course, go here), but we absolutely must discuss Australia’s Blind Girls, who are the real treat this lineup offers to Richmond’s heavy music fans. Celebrated in the screamo underground already, this group took things to the next level in fine fashion with the release of their long-awaited second album, The Weight Of Everything, last year. Considering that they’re from halfway around the globe, we’re really lucky to have them coming to Richmond tonight, and such a visit is not likely to happen again anytime soon. So you’re definitely going to want to be there.
That’s far from the only other treat this bill has to offer, though. Heavenly Blue are also on the bill. This seven-member ensemble from Detroit came together after midwest screamo all-stars Youth Novel disbanded, and feature many of the same members, but with two vocalists and three guitarists in the lineup, they are definitely capable of covering a wider musical spectrum than any previous projects ever did. No recordings are out as yet, but live videos that have appeared online certainly whet my appetite with a strong dose of passionate, melody-driven screamo awesomeness. As for locals, we’ll be graced with a relatively rare and always essential performance from Listless, which features multiple members of .gif From God but takes a decidedly crustier musical approach and an undeniably more pissed off vocal approach that will leave you shaking even as you’re clamoring for more. Local up-and-comers Humanitarian Deficit will kick things off with some maniacal lo-fi rage. This whole evening’s gonna be outstanding.
Thursday, May 4, 8 PM
Meth Rats, Bruiser, Junkhead @ Bandito’s – $10
This one’s a Love Tiger Connection joint, and this local booking operation has been demonstrating their facility with booking the best in post-hardcore sounds in recent months. However, they’re clearly capable of branching out, and they prove exactly that with this three-band bill full of raging old-school hardcore punk. With a name like Meth Rats, you can be sure that the Baltimore quartet atop this bill has a strong tendency toward antisocial behavior, and that comes through with perfect clarity on their 2022 LP, Ultimate Culprit. Full of speedy sub-90-second blasts of ripping riffs, pounding rhythms, and wild vocal freakouts, this record is sure to thrill anyone who wishes there were more bands in the 2023 hardcore scene who sound like Poison Idea circa 1983. Name aside, I have no idea what sort of drug consumption these Balto boys are into, but with the kind of energy that comes through their music, they’ll be a pure shot of adrenaline straight into your veins.
Two relatively new local bands are on the bill in support of Meth Rats, and if you’re excited for the old-school fury Meth Rats will be bringing to Bandito’s, Bruiser will definitely thrill you as well. The barked-out vocals and tough midtempo riffage strikes a decidedly more 80s-NYC style vibe, and if you’re into bands like Sick Of It All or Agnostic Front, you’ll get a big kick out of these guys. As for Junkhead, a band who’ve clearly decided to redeem the idea of naming yourself after songs on Alice In Chains’ classic Dirt after it was besmirched by the existence of Godsmack, have a predictably more metallic musical approach. The only song they’ve released online so far also lasts upwards of three minutes, making them a bit more long-winded than the other bands on the bill. They use that extra time to get into some serious metallic breakdowns, the sort of thing that’s sure to remind you of Integrity’s classic early-90s era, maybe with some early Four Walls Falling vibes thrown in? All I know for sure is that you’ll want to mosh hard during these guys’ set. And there ain’t a damn thing wrong with that.
Friday, May 5, 9 PM
Wine Lips, Bone Machine, MK Vulture @ Fuzzy Cactus – $12 (order tickets HERE)
Well well. It’s been a fair minute since the show column made a trip up to Northside to take in an evening of music at Richmond’s 21st century home of rock n’ roll, Fuzzy Cactus. This is one of a few venues in this town who seem to slip shows right past me, no matter how unstinting my efforts at ferreting them out. However, they’ve been pushing this appearance by Toronto’s Wine Lips for a fair bit of time now, so thankfully it was impossible for me to miss. I didn’t know the band Wine Lips at all before this show was announced; my only previous musical association with the phrase was a Lydia Loveless song title. Of course, I, um, love Lydia Loveless, so I came in with positive expectations of this group. And once I heard their 2021 LP, Mushroom Death Sex Bummer Party, all of those expectations were fulfilled.
For the true blue rock n’ roll fan, Wine Lips hits a number of high points. Their riffs hit various points along a spectrum from garage-rock energy to psychedelic trippiness and acid-blues heaviness. If you enjoy the recorded works of 60s legends like Blue Cheer every bit as much as you enjoy the best of modern guitar heroes like Ty Segall and John Dwyer (in both his Coachwhips and Oh Sees incarnations) you’re going to love what Wine Lips are bringing to Richmond when they pull into town this Friday night. They’ll be joined on this bill by a couple of different local groups. I can tell you that the first of those two, Bonemachine, are a noise-rock trio with some psychedelic inclinations who should appeal to those who appreciate both Dead Moon and the Jesus Lizard. Where MK Vulture are concerned, though, all I can tell you for sure is that they gave themselves a pretty great name. Considering the company they’re keeping on this bill, though, as well as how cool Fuzzy Cactus is in general, it seems like a safe bet to show up on time and find out for yourselves about these guys. So hey, go on and do that.
Saturday, May 6, 6 PM
The Callous Daoboys, Hazing Over, Pulses, Heavy Is the Head @ The Canal Club – $14 in advance, $16 day of show (order tickets HERE)
It would be fair to blame me for being slow on the uptake, but it took me a little while of knowing the band The Callous Daoboys before I figured out the pun encoded into their name. As a longtime NFL football fan, that’s particularly pathetic of me, but I’ll attempt to defend myself by saying that I was too busy enjoying the band’s unpredictable songs and heavy, chaotic sound to really try and puzzle out their name. You might be the sort of person who gets wary of any band who gives their band a jokey name and calls songs things like “Beautiful Dude Missile” and “The Elephant Man In The Room,” but any trepidation around the Callous Daoboys is entirely unwarranted. Yes, they have a keyboardist, and yes, they do integrate some unusual instruments into momentary interludes within their fast-moving, chaotic song structures… but Horse the Band they ain’t. There are some really strong songs here.
They initially proved this to the wider world back in 2019, when their breakthrough LP, Die On Mars, was issued. These days, The Callous Daoboys are touring to support that album’s 2022 followup, Celebrity Therapist, and they prove to skeptics on a regular basis they are the real deal. Hopefully you don’t need that proof; hopefully you picked up on this band’s brilliance years ago, just like I did. But if you need the slightest shred of convincing in order to partake of this cavalcade of brilliance happening Saturday night at The Canal Club, consider the fact that Hazing Over are also on the bill. Once known as a screamo band called Shin Guard, they reinvented themselves as a much heavier and more metallic project with their 2021 EP, Pestilence. The followup, Tunnel Vision, will be released this summer, and the advance release of the title track shows that this band has retained their undeniable crushing metal power without losing the intensity that won people over in their original incarnation. DC band Pulses, who take a technical yet danceable approach to metalcore, are also on the bill, and the whole thing is rounded out by the crushing tumult generated by Richmond locals Heavy Is The Head, whose No More Time EP might have disappeared into the year-end abyss due to its December 2022 release date, but is certainly worth a listen if you haven’t caught up to it yet. Show up on time for this one — you’ll find out.
Sunday, May 7, 8 PM
Hans Gruber & The Die Hards (Photo by Phil Lebo), Chupaskabra, GTI @ Bandito’s – $10
I gotta admit, when all I knew about Hans Gruber & The Die Hards was their action movie reference of a name, and the fact that their latest album is called With A Vengeance, I thought I knew what to expect from their music. I was expecting fast, hectic grindcore with tons of movie samples and furious breakdowns over which lines from 80s action movies would be screamed intensely. Yes, OK, I was expecting Graf Orlock. Imagine my surprise when I actually listened to Hans Gruber & The Die Hards and discovered the truth: that they’re a ska-punk band. And OK, I am officially convinced: we are now firmly within the fourth wave of ska. Or is it the fifth wave? I’m not sure I really care, but the important thing is that, 15 years after the last wave of ska crashed and burned, sending the modern suburban form of the genre into laughingstock territory for at least 15 years, ska has made a quiet resurgence over the past few years, and it is now officially BACK, y’all.
And if that’s the case, I guess we can all admit that ska-punk is kinda fun, right? Especially when it’s done in the manner of Hans Gruber & The Die Hards, with goofy, snarky lyrics, dramatic cosplay conceits, and plenty of speed and energy flowing in from the punk side of the equation. This band’s gonna be taking over the Bandito’s Diablo Room with their peppy, horn-driven tunes, and I’m sure a lot of people — no matter what they might tell their jaded friends at the bar next week — will be watching, and maybe even skanking, with big smiles on their face. Don’t you want to be a part of that? Being cool is boring as fuck. This Hans Gruber & The Die Hards show is guaranteed to be the opposite of all that. Plus, they’re joined by local ska-punk revivalists Chupaskabra, who are such long-standing scene lifers that a bunch of them were in Richmond ska-punk bands the LAST time this wave hit. The whole thing will be kicked off by Richmond punks GTI, about whom I know only that they’re named after a really cool Volkswagen. Dig your checked blazer out of the mothballs, put on your creepers, and come skank at Bandito’s this Sunday night! You won’t be sorry.
Monday, May 8, 7:30 PM
Out Of Your Head Records presents Second Mondays, feat. McNeill/Hopkins/Clark Trio, Bouchard/Biller Duo @ Artspace Richmond – $10 suggested donation
You never quite know what you’re gonna get when local jazz standard-bearers Out Of Your Heads Records convene at Artspace Richmond for their monthly Second Mondays showcase. You can certainly expect at least a few things, though: improvisation, unusual pairings of musicians, and a commitment to take music in a new direction while remaining faithful to the fundamental tenets of jazz. You can also expect at least one of the two Richmond-based Out Of Your Heads masterminds, bassist Adam Hopkins and drummer Scott Clark, to be involved in the performance you see. This time around it’s both of them, and they’ll be joining up with pianist Michael McNeill. McNeill and Hopkins are both relatively recent arrivals to Richmond, and while they’ve played together in a variety of contexts, some of which included Clark, this is the first time they’ve ever performed together as a trio. And, with McNeill heading out on some out-of-town gigs this summer, it might be the last, at least for a while. Don’t you want to see what sort of sparks they capture when they all meet on the same stage? I know I do!
As for our other pairing, Sara Bouchard and Alan Biller, they do happen to be husband and wife. But more importantly, both are talented composers and performers in their own right. Bouchard started out as a painter, but came to Richmond about a decade ago to study sound art. Biller is a guitarist and bassist with a jazz background that saw him perform everywhere from the Dixieland Jazz Jubilee to Carnival Cruise Lines. These days, he’s reportedly “trying to make his guitar sound like anything but a guitar,” and has been working with wife Bouchard to mix electronic experiments and sounds generated by everyday objects into what they’re calling “improvised sonic environments.” To see how that plays out, you’ll have to show up for this one. But no matter what you get, you can be sure it’ll be entertainment unlike anything else you can see anywhere else in the city. And isn’t that the best part?
Tuesday, May 9, 7 PM
Mastodon, Gojira, Lorna Shore @ Virginia Credit Union Live – $50-60 (order tickets HERE)
For a band who’ve been around for over 20 years, Mastodon sure has kept things interesting. Moving from sludge-metal epics about Moby Dick in their early days, to progged-out albums that avoided screamed vocals and distortion almost entirely, to their continuing explorations on more recent albums, this band is always forging ahead, even when their fans don’t dig it. Most recent album Hushed And Grim certainly had its share of detractors, but it also had plenty of elements that should have pleased fans of every previous phase of their work, from the vocal melodies to the chunky distorted moments to the progressive, semi-epic song construction.
In 2023, Mastodon may not be the band for everyone. But if you’ve dealt with their musical twists and turns and remained onboard throughout, this is sure to be a rewarding show. This talented quartet will likely revisit many different phases of their career during this performance, and hopefully without the messy aspects that occasionally overshadowed their sound in earlier days. Plus they’ve got French metal legends Gojira with them, who will surely provide a set full of powerful, technical metal tunes in their own right. Lorna Shore rounds things out, with a set that should rely heavily on 2022 LP Pain Remains, on which they shift seamlessly from black-metallic blastbeat brutality to intense progressive epics. From first to last, this is a show built for the outdoor environment Virginia Credit Union Live provides. Head out there this Tuesday night, and soak it in.
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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