RVA Shows You Must See This Week: August 27 – September 2
FEATURED SHOW
Saturday, August 30, 8 PM
Prayer Group, Gloop, White Beast @ Bandito’s – $10
There’s something intrinsically enjoyable about a band with an easily misinterpreted name. That said, I don’t think anyone who showed up at the late 90s fastcore band Charles Bronson’s shows ever expected the star of Death Wish II to walk onto the stage. For the Richmond noise-rock quartet Prayer Group, mistaken identity is a more important concern. Indeed, their Instagram bio reads, “Please stop sending us prayer requests. We are a band.” Taking up that valuable space most bands use to tell you the name of their new record isn’t something you decide to do lightly. But let’s be real — Prayer Group don’t do anything lightly. This is a dark, heavy band — one that’s grabbed a fair bit of attention in the run-up to their new EP, Strawberry, which comes out the night before this Bandito’s shindig. It’s for good reason; Prayer Group’s music doesn’t just conjure an atmosphere but utilizes strong riffs and memorable hooks to embed itself into the folds of your brain and refuse to let go.
Their live performances are just as riveting — vocalist Matt Voegel rants and raves while staggering around intensely, leaning into the crowd with an air of dangerous unpredictability, even as the rest of his bandmates lock in and deliver their tunes with heightened velocity at maximum volume. You’ll be knocked back when these folks take the stage — and even if it’s a little frightening, you’ll love every minute of it. The best part of all this is that Strawberry isn’t just coming out on streaming or whatever — it’s an actual 10-inch vinyl release from Reptilian Records, and if we’re all in luck, they’ll have copies at the merch table after the set. Bring a few extra bucks so you can grab one for yourself; with such a rare format, I can’t imagine they’ve pressed very many, so you’ll want to get your copy as soon as possible!
Prayer Group are joined on this bill by Baltimore-based noise-rockers Gloop, who follow in the footsteps of fellow Baltimore noise-rock band Rid Of Me in aligning themselves with the Richmond quartet. Maybe the alliance is due to Prayer Group being signed to Reptilian, which is also based in Baltimore, but I’m not going to look too deeply into it; I’m just glad Prayer Group keep bringing excellent Baltimore bands to Richmond. Gloop bring a harsh, blown-out take on chaotic noise feedback-driven rock n’ roll, and if their latest EP, Tension, is any indication of the kind of wild insanity they’ll bring to stage, we can all expect an amazing set from these folks. Richmond’s favorite storming bass-drum noise duo, White Beast, will get the evening started off with some godheadSilo-inspired chaotic sludge noise. You’ll definitely sleep late on Sunday morning after taking in this raging extravaganza — but god knows we all need an excuse for that sort of thing every once in a while. This is about the best one you’re gonna find.
Wednesday, August 27, 7 PM
Lilac Kings, Letters To Part, Pulses, Followship @ Richmond Music Hall at Capital Ale House – $17 in advance, $20 day of show (order tickets HERE)
I have soft spots for a lot of different musical styles and genres, but one of the biggest ones is for emo. I don’t just like the bands everyone acknowledges are important, either — I’m kind of an emo crate-digger. I want to know about the bands who are on the come-up, the bands who aren’t quite breaking through to the top level of the genre but nonetheless have something worthwhile to offer. That’s a big part of why I’m always keeping an eye on The Canal Club’s show calendar — because when those bands come through Richmond, they tend to play at The Canal Club. Here’s a great example of exactly that phenomenon, as Oklahoma band Lilac Kings are not the best known band in the genre, but have consistently done great work over the past decade or so. They recently released their first LP since before the pandemic, The Weight Of Things, which finds the band collaborating with a number of other artists to produce a nuanced take on their classic melodic yet complex and technically precise emo sound. The album’s got just as many memorable hooks as career highlight Goodnight (2019), and offers Lilac Kings a chance to give some shine to some lesser-known artists.
While the song didn’t make it to The Weight Of Things, Lilac Kings have recently released a single that finds them collaborating with Richmond’s own Pulses, who not-so-coincidentally are playing this show as well. Whether or not they’ll come out to perform “Passing Out” with Lilac Kings is a question that won’t be answered until the night in question, but regardless, we can be sure we’ll get great sets from both the Lilac Kings and Pulses. The latter have a slightly heavier sound and are more likely to integrate screamed vocals at any given time, but the melodic hooks that are a hallmark of modern emo remain a big part of their sound, so if you dig that sort of thing and haven’t discovered this particular homegrown example, you’ll definitely want to catch their set. Florida band Letters To Part are on tour with Lilac Kings, and while their sound is still reasonably similar to that of their tourmates, it drifts across some invisible barrier from emo into melodic, atmospheric progressive rock at times. The spacier moments in their music never loses its ability to entrance you though. The evening begins with a set from locals Followship, whose latest EP, follow.zip, finds them exploring a slightly more digitized version of their Chiodos-style metallic yet melodic prog-emo-metalcore sound. Their set will get this one started on a high note — a note the evening will hold throughout.
Thursday, August 28, 7 PM
Dave Davidson, Ryan Clackner, Kenny Grohowski, Alex Weber @ Reveler Experiences – $17.50 (order tickets HERE)
Back in the day, I used to read a website called Heavy Metal Bebop, which was all about the ways that the extremes of jazz and metal music are often closely aligned despite the genres being so different at first glance. The site when on hiatus a while back, but I had occasion to think of it again when I saw this show on Reveler’s events calendar a few days ago. While they do a variety of things, Reveler’s probably best known around town for hosting live jazz events — and this show is billed as a jazz/improv-themed performance by Dave Davidson and his quartet. What adds a new wrinkle is the fact that every musician on this bill is far better known for playing metal than they are for playing jazz. Davidson himself, for instance, is the singer-guitarist for the Boston-based technical death metal band Revocation. His collaborators at this gig are generally also known for their work within the metal genre — bassist Alex Weber is also in Revocation, drummer Kenny Grohowski is in Imperial Triumphant, and guitarist Ryan Clackner is in Stump Tail.
That said, all of these musicians also have connections to jazz. Clackner got his college degree in music, having grown up immersed in jazz. Grohowski’s played with John Zorn and many other jazz musicians. Alex Weber is just as immersed in jazz fundamentals as he is in metal. And Dave Davidson has never gotten away from occasional side trips into the world of jazz — a style of music he loved from an early age. But what happens when you get a quartet of musicians who you’d expect to come together to play extreme metal to instead join together for a free-improv jazz gig? Well, it’s hard to say in advance, but there are a few things to expect. For one thing, you can expect all of the players to draw upon all elements of their respective musical backgrounds in order to create the sounds they make at this Thursday night gig. For another, everything will be made up on the spot, with nothing planned in advance. This could mean long improvisational sections that wander through everything from classical guitar to metal shredding to jazz wails, all in the space of a few minutes. The only thing we can really know for sure about this performance, though, is that we’ll be seeing four players who have earned international fame for their prowess at their respective instruments. No matter which musical direction they choose to go during this show, the results are guaranteed to be well worth your time. And maybe they’ll help some of you understand how jazz and metal are really more alike than you’d expect.
Friday, August 29, 8 PM
The Octavias, Toward Space, It Is, Snake Mountain Revival @ Bandito’s – $10
It’s a weekend of record releases at Bandito’s; not only is Prayer Group celebrating the release of their new 10-inch EP there on Saturday, the night before will see Richmond’s own The Octavias celebrate the release of their debut LP, Love Songs For The Loveless at Bandito’s as well. The Octavias are a straight-ahead rock n’ roll trio who emerged from the local scene around the same time as we all emerged from our homes and started venturing back into public spaces after the devastation of the COVID pandemic, and the debut album they’ve put together sums up everything they’ve accomplished over the past several years of existence as a band. The tunes are catchy and fun, loud and raucous without being atonal or dissonant, and always feature the sort of hooks that’ll get ’em stuck in your head all day. In some ways they remind me of power pop and rock n’ roll bands of the late 70s, the ones that weren’t quite punk rock but were close to that first-wave punk sound. And of course they’re not afraid to steal an idea or two from the Velvet Underground, and that’s always a sign of quality.
So hey, come on down to Bandito’s this Friday night and get ready to rock out for The Octavias. Their set is sure to be a delightful romp of wild dancing and singalongs with big grins on everyone’s faces. And you’ll get much the same from the first of three local openers who are also on this bill — by which I mean Richmond garage-rockers Toward Space, who combine a raw in-your-face punk aesthetic with a strong artistic sense of creative outrage. This band is always a blast to see live, and they’re always coming up with new singalong anthems to get the whole room dancin’ and rockin’, so get stoked for plenty of that when they hit the Bandito’s stage. Richmonders It Is are also on this bill, and these folks bring a bit more of a funky vibe to their rock n’ roll anthems. They don’t go quite far enough to enter into jam-band territory, but they’re probably the band on this bill your String Cheese Incident-loving friend is most likely to enjoy. Virginia Beach-based rockers Snake Mountain Revival will round out this bill with a set of epic psychedelic tunes to get your third eye open and glowing. This one’s going to rock hard — prepare accordingly.
Saturday, August 30, 7 PM
Benign Impact, Soft Catch, Miracle Time, Sleep Paralysis Social Club @ Gallery 5 – $12 in advance, $15 day of show (order tickets HERE)
Maryland’s Benign Impact will end their first tour ever this Saturday night by coming through Richmond to stop over at Gallery 5. And even though they’re a pretty new band, at least in touring terms, you definitely shouldn’t overlook these folks. They’ve recently reconstituted a bit, having broken down from a four-piece to a duo before the release of their latest EP, a split with fellow Marylanders Gay Baseball. After the split brought the two bands closer together, Benign Impact added a member of Gay Baseball as their drummer, and a member of Benign Impact joined Gay Baseball to become their drummer — so now each band contains 2/3 of the other band’s members. It’s the trio lineup of Benign Impact that will hit Gallery 5 this Saturday night, and they’ll have a bushel of fuzzed-out yet ethereal alternative-rock songs to bring to us all. Benign Impact can’t properly be called shoegaze by any means, but they’ve definitely got some elements that remind me of the 90s American shoegaze scene that was rougher and noisier than its British counterpart. Think The Lilys, or Rocketship, maybe — only with a good bit more raw-nerve energy.
Benign Impact will be joined on this bill by Richmond’s own Soft Catch, a quartet that’s getting some decent attention around town. It’s well-deserved, too — the four-song Still Dreaming EP they released back in the spring of this year captures a powerful fuzz guitar sound that mixes perfectly with the ethereal vocals to land in prime modern shoegaze territory. And that’s some pretty well-trod ground in the year 2025, which is why it’s that much more impressive to see Soft Catch doing such a brilliant job of reinventing the sound to make it entirely their own. These boys are sure to move you with their live performance on Saturday — that is, if there’s any hope for your soul at all. Richmonders Miracle Time, who just released a new EP entitled Vs5, are smoother and more laid back, bringing in an almost tropical element to these beachy indie tunes. Maybe I’m crazy, but I’m hearing a bit of Vampire Weekend. And I’m not mad at it. Sleep Paralysis Social Club, who have quite the name, will get this evening started off with some jangly alt-rock of their own, pulling in elements from Guided By Voices and Built To Spill to start this evening on a rocking note. It’s all going to be quite lovely — you should definitely be there.
Sunday, August 31, 3:30 PM
Rebecca Porter Q&A and Roll With The Punches Listening Party @ Reveler Experiences – FREE!
Adding something extra to this week’s column since there’s a holiday weekend and some added free time for everyone. The Auricular is hosting (presenting?) a listening party and Q&A with Rebecca Porter over at Reveler Experiences this Sunday afternoon. Seeing that I’m on a big Reveler kick lately and this very publication is putting this on, then why not? But if you need more reasons than that, you should check out Porter’s new record, Roll With The Punches. Her uncompromising voice is front and center as she represents marginalized people and communities in her songs, which subvert modern expectations of the Americana sound but honor its working-class, everyman history. There’s a lot more nuance and subtlety going on here, but don’t take it from me. Make some time this Sunday afternoon to check out this special event and hear all about it for yourself.
Sunday, August 31, 7 PM
Machi!, Fret Not Deer, Gaffer, Pr<3gnancy Scare @ The Camel – $10 in advance, $12 day of show (order tickets HERE)
I really appreciate what the Camel does with their Staff Picks Sunday night residency series — taking a new band that the staff of the venue appreciate far more than it seems the rest of the city does, giving them a big boost, and hopefully introducing them to a whole new set of music fans who will then fall in love with their sound. Usually, by the time a band makes it far enough to get one of these residencies, I’ve already heard plenty about them. But Machi! was a new one this time around — a band so new I hadn’t really even heard them. Their melodic screamo sound ended up impressing me enough that I wrote about most of the shows that were part of their Staff Picks residency — a first, for me. Here’s another first: that obscure brand new band, who I still have only heard one song by, feel very well-known by the standards of the other bands they’re playing with on this Sunday show at The Camel. So this one is going to be a learning experience all around!
Fret Not, Deer have quite an odd name, though I do appreciate the pun aspect. From the tiny snippet of their music that I’ve found on social media, it seems that they do a fuzzy sort of lo-fi indie bedroom pop. They’ve only been around for about six months, so I suppose it’s no surprise that I don’t know any more than that, but in this day and age, it feels noteworthy. Gaffer have been around for a year rather than six months, and their scrappy, energetic take on alternative rock is a bit easier to track down online, but this youthful trio is still somewhat of a mystery to me. And of all the bands on this bill, I know the least about Pregnancy Scare — though they have played shows with some bands I like around town, so that has to count for something, right? Really, this whole show amounts to a throwback. When I started writing about local live music, you couldn’t stream songs over the internet at all, so unless you’d seen a band before, you had no idea what you were in for when you saw their name on a bill. It’s nice that we can all hear every band we might like to go see these days, but there was something fun and spontaneous about showing up at a club to see a bunch of bands you didn’t know much of anything about, and for one night of the month, it’ll be nice to get that back. Or at least, I think so. Whether you think I’m worth listening to is another point entirely — though if you don’t, I question why you’ve read this far into the column.
Monday, September 1, 7 PM
Reginald Cyntje & Mike Hawkins Trio @ Reveler Experiences – $12.50 (order tickets HERE)
There’s something kind of big happening under all our noses over at Reveler Experiences lately, and I for one am pretty excited about it. I first noticed this phenomenon back in the spring, when NYC jazz saxophone wunderkind Sarah Hanahan took a trip down to Richmond to play a gig at Reveler in which she was backed by Mike Hawkins and his trio. Not only did I write about that one, my wife and I went to the show, and it was a pure delight. Mike mentioned from stage that he’d been unsure whether he could get Sarah to come play in Richmond, but finally just decided to ask — and it had worked. Apparently he was encouraged by his success, because since then, he’s brought some other 21st century jazz luminaries into town to play at Reveler with he and his trio, and the shows have been great so far. This is the latest in this informal ongoing series, which brings trombone virtuoso Reginald Cyntje to Richmond to delight us all with his amazing horn.
Cyntje is not only a performer but a composer and educator, and he’s known far and wide in the jazz world for his love of Caribbean music. Growing up in the US Virgin Islands, he was immersed from a young age in the Virgin Islands-based musical form known as quelbe, and he went on to become a talented improvisational musician and bandleader in the jazz world. His music focuses on social justice and the struggles of life, and he was declared Washington City Paper’s Composer of the Year in 2015. He’s worked with everyone from The Duke Ellington Orchestra to Martha and the Vandellas to Amiri Baraka, so he has a wide variety of musical experience to draw from. The same can certainly be said of Mike Hawkins, a veteran Richmond jazz bassist who has played with a passel of jazz’s top talents, and seems to have the number of every good Richmond jazz musician in his rolodex. What will happen when these two world-class jazz artists come together, along with Mike Hawkins’s Trio? Good things — you can be sure of that. Things that will happen spontaneously, and disappear from the world as soon as the night ends. You won’t want to miss a minute of it, so get your tickets now. You have been warned.
Tuesday, September 2, 6 PM
Men I Trust, Strongboi @ Brown’s Island – $46.94-$59.56 (order tickets HERE)
Modern indie music, it seems, is all about vibes. Everyone loves the smooth lo-fi sounds of bedroom pop, and the retro moods of early-80s post-New Wave pop-rock hits. Can it be any surprise, therefore, that a vibe-heavy retro bedroom-pop ensemble like Men I Trust have grown big enough to headline a set at Brown’s Island? Well, perhaps, considering the circuitous route it took them to get here. The band’s current lineup was not always their configuration, and considering how important vocalist Emmanuelle Proulx is to their current sound, the fact that she didn’t join the band until their third album shows that their destiny was by no means assured.
Fortunately the stars aligned in just the right fashion to lead Men I Trust to create their delightful 2025 LP, Equus Caballus, on which they create lush sonic worlds that owe just as much to classic 80s Top 40 tunes by artists like Foreigner and Corey Hart as they do to more modern musical phenoms like The Weeknd, Haim, and Mac DeMarco. The vibes will be thick as they take the Brown’s Island stage on Tuesday night, so munch on a tasty treat beforehand and get ready to float away on a sea of sheer musical bliss. Strongboi, the musical project of South African singer-songwriter Alice Phoebe Lou, will also be on the bill, contributing their own brand of vibe-laden 80s retro pop songcraft. This will be a delightful evening all around — don’t miss a moment.
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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