RVA Shows You Must See This Week: December 31 – January 6
FEATURED SHOW
Wednesday, December 31, 7 PM
4th Annual Lakeside Tavern New Year’s Eve Extravaganza, feat. 40 Reps, For What It’s Worth, Shotclock, Emma Jean Oakley, DJ Metathetic @ Lakeside Tavern – $15
New Year’s Eve is always a big night for getting out and partying, letting the old year go and hoping for a better one to come. We all need that even more than usual after 2025 — a year that was hard for anyone with a soul and a conscience. Yours truly had such a hard year I finally had to admit I needed to be on medication to control my difficult brain chemistry, though I am at least relieved to say it helped a lot, and I really do expect next year to be better, even as we’re still in the midst of [gestures around] ALL THIS. If you’re looking for a reason to smile and sing along and dance and put aside the old year’s worries tonight as we welcome in 2026 with bells and drinks (just a soda for me, thanks), and you’re such a fan of music that it wouldn’t be New Years without bands rocking out onstage, then the place for you on this New Year’s Eve is Lakeside Tavern, where the Northside pop-punk crew is ready, willing, and able to bring you catchy melodies backed by strong guitars and gruff yet heartfelt choruses aplenty.
40 Reps are at the top of this particular bill, and this band has established themselves well in the city’s melodic punk scene, from their incredible 2023 debut LP Heads Up to the more recent follow-up single, “Time To Go.” The harsh edge to their vocals and the signature rhythm-guitar crunch make their incredible singalong choruses stick in your head that much harder, and folks who wish they could see Latterman or The Gaslight Anthem on this fine final evening of 2025 should definitely be pleased with what they’ll get from 40 Reps. As for Richmonders For What It’s Worth, they’ve got a more rocked-out edge with some emo elements that should hit hard for the fans of Quicksand or Sunny Day Real Estate out there, but their recent holiday-themed single “Krampus” is a definite banger and a step up from previous material that point the way toward good things to come from this band. Make sure you catch their set and see what they have in store for 2026! It’s looking promising, for sure.
Shotclock’s been a favorite for me for a few years now, and while they’re not the most prolific band in the city by any means, I admit I am always hungry for more, and a live performance is a good way to get that, at least for a brief time. Bandleader Pedro Aida’s ability to channel Down By Law-era Dave Smalley and the Smoking Popes results in some incredible pop-punk anthems with obvious passion encoded in their DNA. Do these folks have some new songs? We can only hope. But even if we just get them doing “Fucked” and “Can’t Explain,” their set’s gonna be a treat. So show up and pay close attention — you won’t regret it. Queer country artist Emma Jean Oakley will get things started on a bit of a different tip, but her twangy acoustic-driven tunes have a similar emotional core that’ll make them resonate well for the melodic punk fans in the house. And by the way, the live music portion of the evening will end around 11 pm, with DJ Metathetic taking over and finishing the evening spinning tunes, but you should stick around for the big countdown and the free champagne toast at midnight. Here’s to a better 2026 for all of us.
Wednesday, December 31, 8 PM
Celler Dwellers, Bucko, Back Up Kid @ The Camel – $18 in advance, $20 day of show (order tickets HERE)
There’s too many great shows happening around town tonight to stick with just one for the column, so let’s move on from a melodic punk NYE celebration to one centered around indie tunes from killer local groups. This will be the third year in a row of local indie jammers Celler Dwellers headlining the Camel’s New Year’s Eve gig, and this is an ideal setting in which to explore this group’s mix of party vibes and pensive moods. They’ve been releasing singles at a steady rate for the past several years now, and each one represents a bit of a vibe shift from the one before. Twangy guitars, driving tempos, and laid-back vocalization are all trademarks that hold steady throughout the discography, but some songs have more of an alt-electronica vibe, while others are more upbeat danceable rockers and still others are somewhat moody and country-tinged. How this will all add up to a cohesive set is a question this band answers differently every time, but regardless of how they choose to construct things on this fine evening, they’ll certainly take you from 2025 to 2026 in gorgeous musical fashion.
As for the other bands on the bill, they’ve got plenty of merits of their own to offer. Bucko has continued to build hype around the city’s music scene for the past year, and their loose, enthusiastic performances are only part of the equation — the fact that this indie-country hybrid ensemble writes so many incredible songs with sharp lyrical turns of phrase and melodic sweet spots aplenty is a big part of what makes them such a delight to see. It also makes their songs a delight to listen to even when you’re lazing around the living room, unshowered on a random afternoon. But where’s the fun in letting that be how you see 2025 off? Get cleaned up, put on something cute, and go party with Celler Dwellers and Bucko tonight. You’ll get a set from Back Up Kid as well, and these folks will fit well on this bill, with their folky indie sounds and meaningful musical moments, as demonstrated on their most recent EP, Soft Songs. They may be soft, but they hit hard when you hear ’em. Just what we all need to say farewell (or good riddance) to a long hard year.
Thursday, January 1, 7 PM
Selfish Act, Deluseur, Green Tips, Die Standing @ Bandito’s – $10 (order tickets HERE)
As is true of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, New Year’s Day is often the sort of day when you can’t expect any live music to be happening anywhere. People have an excess of partying to sleep off, and they know they’re going back to work tomorrow, so they tend to just take it easy. But if you’ve got plenty of energy left over by New Year’s evening, then I think you’ll be happy to know that this year, there’s actually something you can easily do with that! Scum City Entertainment is throwing a show over at Bandito’s, and it features Buffalo hardcore group Selfish Act. These folks have plenty of mosh rage and metallic riff fury to throw at us all, and if you’re already sick of 2026 or still need to blow off some lingering bad feelings from 2025 (if so, I know the feeling), this will be the perfect opportunity.
Expect plenty of hard-stomping riffage from Selfish Act when they hit the stage, and definitely expect similar from the three local bands who’ll act as warmup acts for this one. Deluseur is new to me, and this is because they’re a relatively new band, having only released two EPs thus far in their career. Heading down from the Appalachian peaks to visit raging heavyosity upon us all, these folks will bring a take-no-prisoners brand of slam (which is like moshcore crossed with death metal) to get everyone headbanging and stomping around the place. Richmonders Green Tips are the closest to straight-up punk on the bill, and you can expect plenty of fast three-chord action, but these folks bring a harder edge to their sound that betrays a love of classic crossover like mid-80s Agnostic Front and Corrosion Of Conformity albums. Their new EP is called Roofied By A Fed, too, so they’re clearly on the right side of the “ongoing authoritarian takeover” issue currently plaguing the US. Lynchburg-based band Die Standing will get this evening started, and while I haven’t heard anything they’ve done as yet, I expect harsh angry hardcore based on what I’ve heard about them. I can’t imagine they’ll let me down.
Friday, January 2, 9 PM
2026 First Friday Residency Kickoff feat. Box Factory, Snake Mountain Revival, Dropheads @ The Camel – $12 in advance, $15 day of show (order tickets HERE)
The year-long First Friday residencies the Camel established back when we first returned from lockdown conditions and started having live music again have been around for a few years by now, and this has spawned some pretty incredible years of live music. Ten Pound Snail’s endlessly creative psychedelic alt-prog sound really benefited from having the space to stretch out, and Erin & The Wildfire were able to draw from their extensive back catalog to ensure that no show had a setlist that resembled the one before or after. Now with Box Factory, The Camel has drawn in another band sure to benefit from the opportunity to play once a month for a full year at one of the best live music venues in the city — and perhaps the entire state. Box Factory, a dual-drummer sextet with a tendency toward psychedelic headtrips and borderline-jammy yet never cringe musical epics, will surely have a ton of great music to bring to us all over the next year, and their opening shot at this First Friday residency will likely just scratch the surface.
That doesn’t give you any excuse to miss it, though. As has been made abundantly clear by the band’s recently released Live At Mocha Mart LP, they have a ton of intriguing musical ideas in their quiver, and many fruitful musical tangents to explore. The fact that they can really push their own musical limits at this show, and every show that’s part of their residency, probably just means we’ll see even more musical exploration. And that’s always been abundant territory for the Box Factory folks. Come explore it with them! This time around, Virginia Beach musical explorers Snake Mountain Revival will be one of the two acts getting the evening started, and they’ll do so by offering up a set of heavy, moody, and occasionally spaced-out psychedelic hard rock. Richmonders Dropheads will get the evening kicked off with a set of tight, garage and classic-rock inspired rock n’ roll, featuring plenty of killer guitar riffs. Expect this one to move your body and shake your soul.
Saturday, January 3, 2 PM
Synthmas 5: Silent Night Holy Fuck Fest, feat. Permanent, Ships In The Night, Trapcry, The Treasury, Thieves of Shiloh, Brown Piss, Jaguardini, Stone Garden Jam Temple, Cold Toast, Reptile Tile, Stephanie, Chest Hair, Bodycon, THUMPR, Butterfly Closure @ Gallery 5 – $12 in advance, $15 day of show (order tickets HERE)
People behind the scenes of this one-day festival of electronic music are making some power moves, at least if it’s my attention they’re trying to attract. Calling your event “Silent Night Holy Fuck Fest”? OK, I’m listening. And then I see the full lineup of this particular event, and I’m listening even harder. Many different names that I know from the past decade-plus of following all genres of music made in Richmond and around Virginia have taught me that this is a veritable embarrassment of riches where local and regional talent in the genres of noise, electronic, and synth-based experimental music are concerned. The opportunity to see all of them in the space of eight to nine hours in one place, and to see them in a place as cool as Gallery 5, is one we won’t see come our way again anytime soon. So I recommend that all of you jump at the chance to be there all day this Saturday.
What will you get for your $12 ticket purchase? Let’s go through a small selection of the most noteworthy highlights. First, there’s electro-goth mood music with alluring vocals and hypnotic synth melodies from Charlottesville-based project Ships In The Night, which released one hell of an amazing melodic industrial LP, Protection Spells, this year on venerable electronic label Metropolis Records. We’ll also hear from long-running local solo noise project Thieves Of Shiloh, whose tense ambient explorations are perfect horror-film soundtrack fodder. Stephanie, the spooky retro-synth project from local filmmaker Ken Brisby, will give us a set, and Chaotic Noise Productions majordomo and incredibly brilliant and prolific creator Jason Hodges will give us a set from his harsh-as-fuck solo project, Brown Piss. Harrisonburg-based gothic synth-industrial pounders Jaguardini will give us a set of their Skinny Puppy-meets-Metric moody melodies. And of course Richmond’s beloved queer techno heartthrob Trapcry will be on hand to get everyone sweating. There’s a lot more happening on this bill too, but we only have so much space, and at this point you should know you’re getting all the bang for your buck that you could possibly want. Spend your Saturday at Gallery 5 enjoying a ton of amazing musical performances, and by the end of the night, you too will find yourself saying “holy fuck.”
Sunday, January 4, 7 PM
Dowrong, Good Shot Jansen, Fret Not Deer @ The Camel – $10 in advance, $12 day of show (order tickets HERE)
Oh here’s something fun — the indie rock band known as Dowrong are coming to Richmond to celebrate the recent release of their new album, Memento Mori. The Dowrong are from the town of Warrenton, Virginia, which is where I grew up, many many years ago. It’s funny to contemplate that my hometown could spawn a full-fledged indie/alternative band, considering that when I was growing up there in the late 70s and early 80s, it was a full-on country-music capital with a tractor dealership on the main drag. It’s been absorbed into that good old NoVA sprawl, though, and the music that it brings to life is a lot better, so hey… good for that town my grandparents don’t even live in anymore (they passed on quite some time ago). And good for the city of Richmond, Virginia, where all of us live now, that we get a visit from Warrenton’s own Dowrong, as they introduce us all to their sound on a lovely Sunday night in early January.
This band really is great, and you all are going to want to learn more about them immediately. That is, if you like catchy melodic rock tunes with solid guitars and intriguing, unexpected song constructions. These songs are accessible and easy to sink into but display a subtle talent and creativity that keeps them from ever getting boring or predictable. If you’re as unfamiliar with Dowrong as I am, this is a great chance for all of us to recognize the talent that lies elsewhere in our home state. Good Shot Jansen, a band that plays Richmond on a reasonably regular basis but are apparently also from up that same way, will be along as well. These folks have some pretty sweet rockin’ tunes that will pair well with what Dowrong bring to the table. Richmonders Fret Not Deer, whose name I really enjoy, will get this one started with some vaguely gazey indie tuneage. Come to this one and end your weekend with some good rockin’.
Monday, January 5, 7 PM
Red Miata, Abbi Jean, Dogwood @ The Camel – $12 (order tickets HERE)
This show is a throwback for me, and not in any way you’re expecting. See, I first started writing live music previews as part of a mini-zine I used to do once a month in the mid-90s. Back then, there really wasn’t an internet to speak of; I’d have to save flyers people gave me at punk shows, and drive around to different clubs to take notes on the upcoming show calendars they’d post on their front doors. And here’s the best part — there might be a band playing a show that I had heard a whole bunch ABOUT, but had never actually heard. And I had to decide whether or not to cover the show based on rumors, and connections, and ex-member info (when I even had it)… and not much else. Now, 30 years later, I’m finding myself right back where I was in 1996 — deciding to cover a show based on what I’ve heard, and what connections the band has… but NOT based on how they sound. Because you see, I’ve never heard Harrisonburg band Red Miata. I can’t find any of their music available on the internet. I can’t even find any shaky iPhone-recorded videos that got posted to Instagram two years ago or whatever. They’re just not out there. I do know that the frontman, Owen Wilcox, has posted some videos of himself singing and playing acoustic guitar to Instagram… but that’s all I’ve got.
I’m telling you to go to this show anyway though. Because this is the last Red Miata show ever, and if anything ends up online, it’ll be after this show has come and gone. A lot of the time, when those posthumous recordings show up, you end up regretting the fact that you never saw the band. Worse yet, you end up looking back in 10 years and hearing from everyone else who was on the scene at the time about how great and important that band was… and you’ll never get another chance to hear them. Everyone else will know what you missed, but you won’t. Don’t put yourself in that situation with this Harrisonburg indie band that, despite being a band I’ve never heard, have enough of a buzz that they can headline their final Richmond performance (halfway across the state from their hometown). My basic guess is that this band does melodic indie rock with heartfelt lyrics and catchy melodies — good stuff, always, but even better when you know you’re having an experience that cannot be repeated. Go see the last Red Miata show at The Camel, and have that experience, instead of having to hear about it for years from people who made the right choice when you didn’t. Harrisonburg-based singer-songwriter Abbi Jean, whose brand new single, “Getting Older, No Closure,” has both an incredibly catchy chorus and some all-too-relatable lyrics, will open this one, along with Dogwood, about whom I know even less than I know about Red Miata. Whatever. Go to the show and catch the final seconds of a true cultural moment.
Tuesday, January 6, 7 PM
Missing Link, Nasty, Cross Of Disbelief, Private Hell, Heavens Die @ The Camel – $20 (order tickets HERE)
45 years after anyone originally used the term to apply to their music, this world still has a place for hardcore — and it always will. Richmond has always been a big hardcore town, and that’s a lot of why the best bands of the current moment come through here so often. Here’s one of them — Missing Link, a New York band who play tough, moshy hardcore on the brutal end of the spectrum. Featuring members of Internal Bleeding and Pain Of Truth, among others, this band blew everyone away in 2024 with their debut LP, Watch Me Bleed, then followed up this year with the even heavier and more to-the-point EP Miracle Smile. This is music to listen to when you do not want to be fucked with — a champion-level mean-mugging soundtrack — and definitely is going to get a lot of heavy moshing going on at The Camel this Tuesday night. Step into the pit, if you’re brave enough.
Belgians Nasty are on tour with Missing Link, and while their name sorta makes me think of glam metal bands that haunted the Sunset Strip back in the day, their music is pure filthy hardcore with gnarly vocals and brutal breakdowns, which mix well with their speedier moments of rage and all-out attack. Who knows how long it’ll be before these folks make it back here — so you definitely won’t want to miss them this time. As for Cross Of Disbelief, this fellow NYC band rounds out the tour package and definitely brings the most metallic sound of the three touring bands, being unafraid to bring the high-speed blast beats and sharp, metallic guitar riffs on occasion. That said, they still break it down with the best of them, and will definitely get folks moving when they take the Camel stage. Rounding out the bill for the evening are Shenandoah Valley metal ragers Heavens Die, who most recently released a two-song, 20-minute EP of spooky sludge called Dismal Waters Flow Unto The River, but are better known for their heavy, gloomy metallic hardcore sound on previous releases; and Richmond locals Private Hell, who just released a new EP called To Dust You Shall Return, which perfectly captures their bleak, metallic take on driving hardcore. Toughness, brutality, and plenty of opportunities to mosh it up — this one’s got everything you want from a hardcore show. You know what to do.
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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