RVA Shows You Must See This Week: May 27 – June 2
FEATURED SHOW
Saturday, May 30, 7 PM
Charged Up Fest III: Noah-O Birthday Concert, feat. Noah-O, Benny the Butcher, DJ L.E.S., Big No, Pro Dillinger, Bub Styles, LBE Hunt, hosted by Mike Street, music by DJ Banga @ The Broadberry – $50 (order tickets HERE)
In the modern era, hip hop generally lives and dies by the single. Album artists are a rare and delightful vintage — because after all, anyone can bang out a hot three-minute single. It’s the artists who put out excellent new albums year after year after year who will really stand the test of time. Around Richmond, the artist with the strongest claim to this sort of legacy circa 2026 is none other than Noah-O. Over the past dozen years, he’s released nearly as many albums, generally in collaboration with a particularly talented producer who helps to create a strong, unified sound for each album, so that you can track his creative evolution and hear a distinctive aspect of each new era. From his Dirty Rice albums with Fan Ran to Culture Shock, his pandemic-era collaboration with JL Hodges, up to the two Richmond Brave projects with Big No that he’s released in the past five years, Noah-O has kept this MO going and made some incredible music as part of it.
But with his brand new album, Heretic, he’s changing up the formula, bringing in over a dozen different producers to create a collection with a wide variety from track to track — including Richmond-based heavy hitters like Ant the Symbol, DJ Harrison, Ohbliv, and Mutant Academy affiliate Unlucky Bastards. And yet, with the classic Noah-O touch, Heretic still manages to hang together wonderfully. The laid-back yet supremely confident flow Noah-O always brings hits the spot perfectly atop every beat from every different producer — which is exactly how you know that this man’s headlining set at this show, capstone of the third annual Charged Up Fest, will be a tremendous display of lyrical power and musical skill. Charged Up Enterprise, its affiliated store, and its packed stable of incredible hip hop artists all came together around Noah-O, starting back when he burst onto the scene in 2010 with the viral hit “I Got It” and continuing in an unbroken legacy of music, business, and culture ever since. For all of those reasons, you should join Noah-O and his many friends and collaborators for this celebration of his birthday, the release of Heretic, and yet another amazing edition of Charged Up Fest, at the Broadberry Saturday night.
But listen — as incredible as those reasons are for showing up, there are more excellent ones. New York rapper Benny The Butcher of the Griselda collective will also be in the house. In an era when a lot of hip hop was going in more minimalist and experimental directions, Benny’s gangsta storytelling and gritty golden-age sound made his releases stand out, and he built up a cult following amongst serious hip hop heads over the past decade. It’s a rare treat for Richmonders to get a chance to see Benny perform live, so you’d really be blowing it not to make it out for this one. New York-based DJ L.E.S., best known for his extensive history of productions for Nas, will be in the house as well — an even bigger deal in light of the fact that he also contributed a production to Noah-O’s Heretic. There’ll be a coterie of Richmond hip hop superstars on this bill as well, from local mainstays like Big No and Pro Dillinger to 106.5 The Beat’s Mike Street on hosting duties. This will be a show for the ages — only fitting for such a momentous occasion. I shouldn’t even have to tell you not to miss it — but I will anyway. Don’t miss this show.
Wednesday, May 27, 8 PM
Master Boot Record, Arottenbit @ Richmond Music Hall at Capital Ale House – $25 (order tickets HERE)
I don’t generally pay too much attention to instrumental metal; the vocals tend to be of prime importance for me, so sometimes I don’t give bands without singers enough of a chance. Lately, though, I’ve been noticing a lot of intriguing developments in the world of instrumental metal, including some bands who seem to be pushing the whole genre forward as well as mixing in concepts that connect with some of the most interesting modern musical developments in genres like industrial, EDM, and even hyperpop. Don’t cringe away too quickly — I promise you traditional headbangers will still love Master Boot Record’s crunching riffs and blazing leads. That said, this group will also probably reach a lot of people who wouldn’t normally go check out the average headbanging metal band.
So what’s this band’s deal? Well, they were started by an Italian musician who loved metal but also loved old video game soundtracks and the boot-up noises old-school computers make just as much. The musician (apparently his name is Victor Love, but you didn’t hear that from me) started out using synths and programmed drums to mix with his crunching guitar riffs to make really killer riff-laden instrumental metal records that would sorta make you feel like you were playing the best Sonic game your mom never let you buy. Having released a dozen albums in the first eight years of their existence, MBR recently followed those up with Realtime Execution, a live album that both documents the precision with which Victor Love augments his guitars with programming and synths in a live environment for maximum heavyosity and the fact that these songs, regardless of their basis in digitized music, sound incredibly alive and fleshed-out when you hear them played onstage. The MBR set at Richmond Music Hall tonight is sure to be every bit as vital and incredible as their latest LP, so whether you’re a hardcore headbanger or a dyed-in-the-wool chiptuner — or anywhere in between — head over and check this one out. And make sure you show up in time for the opening set by Arottenbit, a digital sludge metal powerhouse featuring brutal riffs played on a dumpstered Nintendo GameBoy from 1989. No, I’m not making that up. You’ll have to see this one to believe it.
Thursday, May 28, 7 pm
TV Battle Stations, Brand New Companion, Caroline Vain @ Gallery 5 – $10 in advance, $15 day of show (order tickets HERE)
Old-lady nonsense alert: Y’all, I’ve been listening to a lot of Uncle Tupelo lately. Specifically the first two records — the ones that came out when I was in high school and sounded like what you’d get if kids who grew up playing country standards on the front porch with their uncles after Sunday dinner discovered punk rock and wanted to do it but couldn’t help writing songs with country structures. That’s a sound that the “alt-country” genre got far away from pretty quickly, and by the time I started writing this column a dozen or so years ago, it had ossified into “Americana,” which generally sounded like boys with hipster mustaches cosplaying their Appalachian great-grandaddies. Which is fine if that’s your sort of thing, but damn, I’d much rather bands keep doing that punk-damaged country thing that the whole genre started off with.
All of that leads me to the dawn of a few different bands around Richmond in recent years who seem to have finally brought that style back — the most important being Bucko, a killer sextet whose punked-up twang is always delightful. TV Battle Stations has members in common with Bucko, as well as the backing band of local singer-songwriter Catie Lausten, and while they skew a bit more lovelorn than Bucko, there’s still a delightfully trashy punk aspect to the kind of chunky moody indie-country sound they crank out — maybe a bit more Wilco than Uncle Tupelo (Jeff Tweedy was in Uncle Tupelo before he started Wilco, in case you’re under 40 and don’t know that), but still very much bringing the same vibe. Idaho’s Brand New Companion are also along the same lines, though if anything I hear big dippers of the most delightfully sloppy songs from Exile On Main Street poured across the whole concoction as well. And of course the talented singer-songwriter Caroline Vain (who also plays guitar and violin) will get the night started on the proper note — slightly more sedate and moody, yet every bit as brilliant as the artists to come.
Friday, May 29, 8 PM
Cam Girl, Circle Breaker, Hagstone @ Bandito’s – $12 in advance, $15 day of show (order tickets HERE)
I’m very used to bands who give themselves names like “Cam Girl” being nothing more than cishet white dudes looking for a transgressive thrill. Thankfully, that’s not what we’re dealing with here at all — Cam Girl is led by actual transgender camgirl Lily Larceny, whose incredible vocals and salacious lyrics are the core element of what makes this Asheville-based cheese-metal punk powerhouse who they are. Cam Girl’s latest album, Flesh & Chrome, merges uptempo punk-based riffage with triumphant 80s metal guitar leads and Lily Larceny’s brilliant borderline-falsetto tones. Then they sing about shit like charming a demon to get a bigger ass (“Back Sabbath”), the glory of trans girls topping cis boys (“Girls… to the Top!!!”), or uh… isn’t it obvious what “I Want Your Rock” is about? If not, I’m not gonna explain it. As an unapologetic fan of the late 80s glam metal era, I have nothing but love for everything I’m hearing here, and I am delighted to contemplate the possibility of this notoriously energetic and rambunctious band appearing on the Bandito’s stage directly in front of me.
So yeah, make your Friday night unforgettable by coming out to Bandito’s for this one. You’ll get a delightful bonus performance from a Richmond-based queer punk group with an equally metal but far harsher approach — by which I of course mean Circle Breaker, the Richmond trio who pull aspects of Discharge, Motorhead, Hellbastard, and Scum-era Napalm Death together into raging grind-crust anthems of unapologetic queerness. If Cam Girl finds a way to make pro-LGBTQ metal into a bunch of irreverent fun, Circle Breaker lets you know just how serious these issues really are — with the devastating power of their speedy crusty metalpunk riffage. Richmonders Hagstone get things started off with a sound that reminds me of bands I would have heard on a hard rock radio station in my dad’s Camaro back in the early 80s — the Scorpions, Judas Priest, Accept — but with slight elements of doom and punk snuck in likely as a result of the band members’ affiliation with more overtly punk acts like Serqet and Aghast. So yes, expect a lot of hard n’ heavy raging at this one — especially from a headlining band that is exactly who they seem to be.
Saturday, May 30, 7 PM
Amminal, Willowlaun, Gregory Darden @ Gallery 5 – $12 in advance, $15 day of show (order tickets HERE)
In a world where all too many musical acts are entirely predictable before you hear a single note of their music, I love it when I come across a band like Amminal — one that is, upon first listen, uncategorizable. On their self-titled full-length debut — the release of which this show is celebrating — the group moves from sound to sound as easily as they move from one song to the next, being led by band founder, guitarist, and chief songwriter Philip Murphy in whatever direction the muse is taking him at that moment. Sometimes latching onto a groove that feels very much like experimental instrumental rockers Grails, at other times they will sail off in an ambient acoustic direction that could remind a listener with a broad palette of Gastr Del Sol, while still another song will mix the psychedelic acid trips of King Crimson with the pastoral feel of Mojave 3.
Amminal’s reference points may be all over the place, but one thing no one can deny upon giving the band even the most cursory listen is that they are bursting with both talent and creativity. Murphy, who previously played with Broken Hips and Patrick Phelan, has recruited some high-powered musicians to fill out the group’s lineup, including drummer Pippin Barnett (Orthotonics, Zarove), bassist Adam Hopkins (Out Of Your Head Records and a ton of other amazing local jazz projects), guitarist Stephen Williams (Happy Lucky Combo, Zarove), and guitar/synth/banjo player Bryan Hoffa (Broken Hips, Bells On Trike). The resulting collaboration is a tremendous feat of musical exploration, unbounded by genre and guided only by a delight in exploring new sounds. Expect an impressive set from this collection of talented players. Openers Willowlaun (I see what y’all did there) and Gregory Darden will grace us with some ambient soundscapes to warm up the room for Amminal’s musical exhibition. Come on down and make yourself at home.
Sunday, May 31, 7 PM
The Minneapolis Uranium Club Band, K9, Hard Copy, Black Button @ Cobra Cabana – $15
We live in anxious times, so the fact that a band like The Minneapolis Uranium Club Band (who are apparently only called Uranium Club officially, but where’s the fun in that?) is on an upward trajectory can’t be seen as too surprising. Playing that classic brand of punk that is all nervous tension and caffeinated anxiety, this band pulls in influences like early Devo, Talking Heads, first-LP Feelies, and all the other usual suspects, then rolls it all up with more unusual influences that show up in moments like the horn sections and folk-influenced acoustic breaks that show up on their latest LP, 2024’s Infants Under The Bulb. Even at their funkiest, moodiest, and chillest, The Minneapolis Uranium Club Band always come off like profoundly nervous men, trying to hold themselves together as they declaim into microphones about their concerns relating to the world at large, shifting their feet and slashing at their guitars. Hopefully they’ll still cut loose live, because these songs really do lend themselves to dancing — the thing about nervous postpunk grooves is that they’re always funky in spite of themselves.
The three Richmond bands offering support on this bill are at varying levels of that same funky postpunk energy. K9, whose worst crime is that they do the “male lead singer plays guitar, female backing vocalist doesn’t play anything” thing, play some uptempo jangly indie-punk with a bit of melody stirred in, at times evoking early Wedding Present while at other times they’re closer to the early Modern Lovers. Definitely a fun listen, and they’re sure to get everyone dancing when they play at this one. Hard Copy, who have been around town for a few years at varying levels of activity, are not quite as hectic about their approach to the scratchy, funky guitar riffs of postpunk, instead landing somewhere in the neighborhood of the Fall’s classic early 80s sound, or maybe the first couple of Pere Ubu albums. Gotta love that. Black Button are the most straightforwardly punk rock band on this bill, crossing over into the hardcore realm by virtue of their harsh vocals and atonal three-chord riffing. This night will be full of nervous energy — show up and contribute your own.
Monday, June 1, 7 PM
Elizabeth Wise @ Reveler Experiences – $15 (order tickets HERE)
This week it’s Reveler Experiences who saves us all from the early-week doldrums by giving us a great gig on a notoriously quiet night of the week. Reveler gives us a wailer of a gig this Monday, in fact, presenting wildly talented slide guitarist Elizabeth Wise fronting a band full of talented local players from all sorts of different genres. Wise’s back catalog shows that she can do everything from slide-driven classic blues tunes to acoustic folk-blues with an Appalachian flavor. This show will give her a particularly good opportunity to show off everything she’s got going on too, because she’ll be fronting an incredible band. Wise’s backing band at this show will include some players who’ll definitely be familiar to Reveler regulars, as well as fans of a variety of local artists.
Bassist Mike Hawkins leads the Sunday night jazz workshops at Reveler, and is also known for bringing in talented jazz players and joining with his own trio to give them a strong local backing group every time. Drummer Scott Milstead was the founding percussionist of Richmond legends Carbon Leaf, and has more recently been associated with groups like Big Holler and Afro-Zen All-Stars. Guitarist Charles Arthur is known for his work backing Slaid Cleaves, and has a longtime involvement with local institutions like WRIR and the University of Richmond’s music department. And trumpeter Bob Miller has certainly distinguished himself with his incredible work over the years with Bio Ritmo and more. The combination of Elizabeth Wise’s formidable talent and this incredible backing group will certainly make this one a Monday night lifesaver. Find a reason to be cheerful by getting the blues with Elizabeth Wise.
Tuesday, June 2, 7 PM
Fentanyl, Jealous God, Jailbird, Spicy Meatball @ The Camel – $10 in advance/$15 day of show (order tickets HERE)
Punk, especially hardcore punk, is a style of music that tends to stand on tradition. The structure and sound of bands within the genre are highly formalized to the point of minor differences in style, tempo, or approach dictate entire schools of thought within the community. So that all being said, while there are great new bands coming out of this genre lane on a regular basis, it’s relatively rare to see true innovation happen. San Francisco sextet Fentanyl might be the first innovation I’ve seen in the world of gritty, angry, confrontational hardcore punk in decades — the last band I can think of who approached things as differently from their peers as Fentanyl does was Fucked Up back in the mid-00s — and even if there have been other bands since then who pushed things that far, they’ve been few and far between. Safe to say, Fentanyl stands out.
This wild, chaotic band is known for their out-of-control live shows, but the difference between Fentanyl and the average hardcore punk band is just as apparent when you’re sitting around at home playing one of their records, like the tremendous Fentanyl II EP released earlier this year by Convulse Records. Its eight songs blast by in 12 minutes, which is relatively typical, but what stands out about them is the pairing of bashing drums and roaring guttural vocals with a wall of totally undistorted guitars — three of them, to be specific — playing the same thing at top volume with all the bright ringing of the chords coming through in crystal clarity. Instead of the usual hardcore punk heaviness, this brings out an unexpected undercurrent of melody within the furiously energetic morass of noise. It might put off the typical punk rocker, but it might also bring in your weird uncle who likes experimental music — the connections Fentanyl make with listeners are unpredictable, but always a delight. You can expect these folks to blow you away when they hit the Camel on a Tuesday night, and it’ll certainly not be much like any of the last couple dozen hardcore shows you’ve seen. The show will also feature three locals bringing their own excellent sound to the evening: raw, tough hardcore with delightfully monstrous vocals from Jealous God, burly riffs and clattering uptempo beats from old-school ragers Jailbird, and intense ripping hardcore with rockin’ breakdowns from up and comers Spicy Meatball. This weeknight of rage is truly essential — make sure you’re in attendance.
Email me if you’ve got any tips for me about upcoming shows (that take place after the week thi7b s column covers -– this week’s column has obviously already been written): rvamustseeshows@gmail.com
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