RVA Shows You Must See This Week: November 27 – December 3
FEATURED SHOW
Saturday, November 30, 7 PM
Kendall Street Company’s 9th Annual Turkey Jam, feat. Kendall Street Company, Doom Flamingo, South Hill Banks @ The National – $26 (order tickets HERE)
Folks, the holiday season is officially here. That means a lot of things in our overall lives, but one thing it particularly means where live music is concerned is that all of the annual holiday-centric concert events we hear about every year are getting in gear once again. We’ll have a lot to look forward to in and around Richmond this year, and over the next six weeks or so, this column will keep you updated on all the best of them. And we’ll start all of that off with what looks to be the best “annual event” show of this Thanksgiving weekend: Kendall Street Company’s ninth annual Turkey Jam.
If you don’t know Kendall Street Company, then you should certainly be introduced. They are a fun-loving quintet that got their start around a decade ago in Charlottesville, where all of them were attending UVA. Since then, they’ve been both prolific and musically wide-ranging, landing somewhere within the spectrum of jam bands with their genre-fluid mix of psychedelic rock, funk, jazz, and goofball novelty moments. Their chops make comparisons to bands like Pink Floyd and Phish fair, but between their constant genre-hopping and their tendency to infuse everything they do with a cheeky sense of humor, they’re probably a lot closer to Ween or Frank Zappa in approach. There’s probably a little bit of Les Claypool’s more wide-ranging explorations stirred in there as well. As for their prolific nature, well, they’ve released five albums since 2020, the most recent being 2023’s Separation95. And the only reason they didn’t release any albums this year is because they’ve been in the midst of a Singles Project that has seen them release a new single every month so far this year. The eleventh of those singles, an uptempo psychedelic rock n’ roller called “Billy Pilgrim,” was just released last week.
So yeah, the Kendall Street boys keep it moving, and the same will certainly be true of their performance at this Saturday’s Turkey Jam. They’ve definitely been known to liven up the proceedings at previous editions of this annual extravaganza with costumes, surprise guests, and silly dance routines — plus plenty of the standard Kendall Street Company sound that always keeps you guessing a little bit anyway. Whether you dig the whole jam-band vibe or just want to have a really fun post-Thanksgiving night out with some great music, this is definitely going to be a great time. Kendall Street Company will be joined on the Richmond version of this shindig by Charleston, SC synth-funk-pop crew Doom Flamingo, as well as 21st-century bluegrass/alt-country combo South Hill Banks, so the evening will feature plenty of variety, just like any good Thanksgiving celebration should. Give thanks for this one, and pass the gravy.
Wednesday, November 27, 7 PM
Glossing, Oh Devil, Xed Out @ The Camel – $10 in advance, $12 day of show (order tickets HERE)
It’s our last night in town before making the trek out to whatever Thanksgiving celebrations we’ll be partaking in this Thursday, and while some of us are looking forward to joyous reunions with kinfolks, others of us will definitely need to be steeling ourselves for some of the most awkward, judgment-heavy hours we’ll spend all year. To that end, a bracing jolt of excellent music is always a psychic fortification worth taking on — especially when you can enjoy it as part of your hometown musical community, where you are understood and accepted as you are. If all of that sounds like a welcome relief, I advise you to spend your Thanksgiving Eve at The Camel, enjoying the sounds of three excellent Richmond-based bands who know exactly what you’re going through.
Glossing are at the top of the bill, and this excellent shoegaze quintet has been one of the better new band to hit the scene in the post-lockdown era. They’ve only got one three-song EP out so far, but anyone who has seen them can tell you that there are plenty more great songs where those three came from. They’re apparently finishing up a new record, too, which is probably why they haven’t played out in a few months, so get stoked for new songs! Another great up-and-coming Richmond band is Oh Devil, a grunge-punk trio whose debut EP, Applause, definitely reminds me of Throwing Muses at points. These folks are sure to rock us all like a hurricane. Xed Out will do plenty of that on their own behalf, having integrated their anthemic emo-punk roar with an element of postpunk moodiness on their debut album, No More Blue Skies, which was released back in the spring. These folks will have you singing along with catchy choruses about leaving flowers for the Richmond vampire before you know it.
Thursday, November 28, time TBA (ask a mom)
Thanksgiving Dinner (Photo by Jed Owen on Unsplash) @ Your (blood or chosen) family’s place
Enjoy (or tolerate) some quality time with your family, or if you’re alone this year, take time for some self-care. And if dinner is running late, give the cooks in your family a break. Turkey dinner is harder than it looks, folks. Confidential to the New York Giants: if you can’t beat Dallas, at least make it look respectable. Please?
Friday, November 29, 7 PM
Dreamwell, Fly Over States, Kantina, All You Have @ Cobra Cabana – $15
If you ask management, it’s Black Friday because it’s a big booming sales day that puts the account books in the black (i.e. profitable) for the year. If you ask the folks that work the sales floors, it’s Black Friday because it’s the suckiest day to work retail out of the entire year. Meanwhile, for the bands playing Cobra Cabana this Black Friday night, it’s probably just another of many days each year where black is the main color in their wardrobe. Rhode Island band Dreamwell straddle the line between harsh metallic screamo and moody, emotional post-rock, with the occasional outright melodic moment breaking through. 2023’s In My Saddest Dreams I Am Beside You lays it all on the line on songs like “Studying the Greats In Self-Immolation” and “It Will Hurt, and You Won’t Get To Be Surprised.” For folks who can equally appreciate Seeyouspacecowboy and Alcest, Dreamwell will definitely hit the spot, musically speaking.
Fly Over States, who come from Billings Montana of all places, are somewhat on the same page as Dreamwell, but on their latest EP, Ghosts, they keep the energy high and the riffage both melodic and punchy. There’s real emotion here, but the intensity is always at a high enough level to keep anyone from sinking into the depths of despair. I would say this band will definitely work for anyone who enjoyed the first Anxious LP, or who dug Killing The Dream in their more melodic moments. Richmonders Kantina will offer local support on the bill, dishing out raw, blackened screamo with metallic undertones that’ll get you moshing. This appears to be openers All You Have’s first show, but based on the lineup I’m pretty sure it’s the new band from some of the folks who previously brought you In Wolves Clothing, so I’m expecting Richmond-style screamo goodness from this one. Don’t let me down, y’all.
Saturday, November 30, 7 PM
Opin, Sweet Touch, Knifing Around @ Gallery 5 – $10 in advance, $15 at the door (order tickets HERE)
Unless I’ve missed one here or there, I feel like this Saturday night performance at Gallery 5 will be the first time Opin has played live in nearly a year. This is sort of on-brand at this point for the experimental indie-electronic trio, who have moved over the course of seven or so years from relatively conventional postpunk sonic explorations on their 2017 self-titled debut into more and more avant-garde musical spaces with every new release. 2022’s Hospital Street in particular was a wild excursion, bringing together a series of improvisational explorations that weren’t easily classified into any pre-existing category. They have returned to more song-based work in the years since, releasing two singles, 2023’s “Exit Check” and the brand new “Bodywork,” both of which feature lead vocals by keyboardist Tori Hovater and a synth-driven, beat-focused sound that is extremely danceable while retaining major elements of their more avant-garde material.
The big question, though, is how they will reproduce all of this live. Will they focus more on song structures, or take live jaunts into experimental improv territory? Will we hear new material from the long-rumored fourth album they’ve been working on? I don’t know the answers to any of these questions, but I do know that their recent singles have been incredible, so if you ask me, anything they want to do live is likely to be incredible. Electronic duo Sweet Touch, who have a strong grasp on soulful pop melodies, will offer their talents in support, keeping your feet moving and the beats uptempo. Finally, you will definitely want to arrive on time and catch Knifing Around’s opening set, because these folks just released a new EP, All Across The Nation, which shows them to be further expanding on their already-significant potential with some killer tunes that straddle the line between synth-driven punk and tropical funk grooves. VCR meets the Big Boys? Whatever it is, I’m into it.
Sunday, December 1, 8 PM
Beya, Theocles, Caroline Vain @ The Camel – $10 (order tickets HERE)
Let’s wrap up the holiday weekend by bringing things down a bit, shall we? We can easily do so by heading over to The Camel and checking out this show that brings three Virginia singer-songwriters to the stage to share their tunes with all comers. Beya is at the top of this bill, and this project of local musician Bella Salunga is a new up-and-comer on the scene. So far they’ve only released three singles, but the acoustic-driven folk-pop sound all of them showcase is lovely, and makes it clear why Beya are getting some attention around town lately.
Charlottesville resident Theocles has a fun-time shuffling acoustic sound that he is known to augment with loop pedals in order to create a fuller sound despite only being one guy up there. From song to song, there’s real variety, and he keeps things upbeat throughout his recently released album Roses, which leads one to believe that his set at The Camel this Sunday night will ofter a real pick-me-up. Caroline Vain, who opens this one up, is actually the artist I’m most familiar with on this bill, and she’s been hard at work around the Richmond scene in recent months, putting her acoustic alt-pop sound in the spotlight with positive results. If you haven’t heard what this lady has to offer, you definitely need to get to this show on time. And then stick around all night, because this one’s sure to be sweet from beginning to end.
Monday, December 2, 5:30 PM
Crown Magnetar, Extortionist, Extermination Dismemberment, Larcenia Roe @ The Canal Club – $18 in advance, $20 day of show (order tickets HERE)
Serious neaviness is in the offing at the Canal Club this Monday night, as Crown Magnetar comes to town atop a full bill of brutality. Crown Magnetar recently followed up their breakthrough 2022 EP, Alone In Death, and their 2023 second LP, Everything Bleeds, with a new single called “Decapitation Ritual,” and if you aren’t sensing a trend in the song titles by now, let me just spell it out for you — these guys bring peak-level murderous hatred into every single note they play, for peak “banging your head with a scowl on your face” levels. Their music is often blindingly fast, full of double-bass fury and roaring growled vocals, and introducing a good amount of brutal breakdowns into the mix on a regular basis. When you google this band, you’ll get a lot of references to them being deathcore, but if you ask me, these guys care way more about the sort of high-speed intensity brought by death metal legends like Nile or Cryptopsy than they do about downtuned mosh riffs. So don’t be fooled; those of you who love the classic brutal death metal sound will find plenty to love here.
The three bands joining Crown Magnetar on this bill will bring plenty of brutality and heavyosity on their own, so if that’s your kind of thing, you won’t want to miss a moment. Extortionist are a bit closer to what you’d expect from deathcore, but the fact that 2024’s Devoid Of Love & Light is more focused on crushing heaviness than blinding speed takes nothing away from the brutality on offer. Indeed, the band offers some intriguing textures with their occasional clean-vocal interludes that add a dose of Alice In Chains at their most despairing, circa Dirt. The combination may be a bit surprising, but if anything, that’s part of why it works so well. As for Extermination Dismemberment, this band — which notably hails from the Eastern European country of Belarus, making them likely the only Belarusian band to play Richmond in 2024 — has a straightforward brutal slamming death metal sound that is full of guttural roars, low-end chugs, and moshtastic death riffage. This kind of thing can sometimes be a bit overwhelming, but just make sure your earplugs are in and start banging your head. The rest will take care of itself. Openers Larcenia Roe have the most technical stop-start song structures you’re likely to hear on this evening, and the most unhinged vocal approach by far, so you’ll definitely want to show up on time and catch the maniacal energy these guys are bringing to the death metal field. Really, this whole evening will be an exercise in headbanging skull-crushing brutality, and after a weekend at your folks’ house, that’s probably just what the doctor ordered, right? You know what to do.
Tuesday, December 3, 6:30 PM
A Shockoe Sessions Live! Christmas Show, feat. Jonathan Paige Brown Jr, Holy River, Ms. Jaylin Brown, Ant The Symbol & Mo, Weldon Hill with Commonwealth Concert Opera, Rein, Deau Eyes, Los Hermanos Alcranes, The Wayward Leaves, Rine, Vexine, Sweet Touch @ The Hippodrome – $25-$40 (order tickets HERE)
We started this column with a holiday show, so let’s wrap things up with another one! Coming right on the heels of Cyber Monday, this one will fill your Giving Tuesday with holiday cheer in the charitable spirit. This Shockoe Sessions Live shindig will go to benefit Richmond Animal League, who do all sorts of excellent work for the animal and animal-loving community here in Richmond. So if you’re looking for an easy way to do some charity donations this year, why not head over to this show? It’s for a good cause! What’s more, it’ll also provide you with a veritable smorgasbord of excellent sounds, all of which come from the Richmond area, and the totality of which will showcase the wide variety of musical excellence available within our local scene.
For example, both Jonathan Paige Brown Jr. and Ms. Jaylin Brown will be playing this one. These singer-songwriters both come from the same family, so if you’re familiar with one, the sheer talent the other brings to the table should be no surprise. Widely heralded within Richmond’s community of musicians, I still feel like both of these talents have potential to go a lot farther in their quest for world domination, so if you’re not on the bandwagon where they’re concerned, make sure you pay close attention to both of their sets at this event. You’ll also want to take specific note of what psychedelic folk wandering spirits Holy River have to offer; they’re sure to widen your headspace. And there are so many more amazing artists here — this show is jam packed with all sorts of talent, from local heavyweights like Deau Eyes and Ant The Symbol to lesser-known greats like Los Hermanos Alcranes and Rein. Plus so many more! I really don’t have the space to tell you all the amazingness you’ll encounter at this show, so there’s really only one remedy: click on the ticket link up there, buy your own, and make it out to this rare live show at The Hippodrome to immerse yourself in the amazingness that Shockoe Sessions Live and Richmond’s music scene have to offer.
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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