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READ MORE ON GRAVITY • Gravity Lounge faces the music • Views from the stage |
Rather than attempt an authoritative list of every Gravity show that earned a profit or won our hearts, C-VILLE put together a collection of gigs from locals and Lounge newcomers—the performances that made Gravity Lounge’s reputation as a place to see music that was typically fantastic and always interesting. Or, the gigs that convinced us. Comment below to tell us about your own top Gravity Lounge moments.
June 26-27, 2003: Jan Smith Band opens Gravity Lounge with a “preview party” gig. The next night, Paul Curreri, not far removed from the release of his second album, Songs for Devon Sproule, shares the stage with his college roommate and co-performer Andy Friedman, and Greenwood Studio manager/Nickeltown musician Jeff Romano.
December 6, 2003: “Five-String Femmes” gives an early glimpse of some of the more commanding women in the local music scene across a number of genres. Performers include Richelle Claiborne, Sarah White, members of Clare Quilty, and Devon Sproule, who shared the Gravity stage with Curreri for the first time only weeks earlier.
February 9, 2004: Folk legend Jesse Winchester plays the first of a half-dozen gigs at Gravity Lounge with David Sickmen, a founding member of the Hackensaw Boys.
March 31, 2004: Roughly three years into a career still going strong, Sparky’s Flaw (now Parachute VA) performs at Gravity Lounge for the first time.
August 1 & 4, 2004: Gravity Lounge has already hosted nationally touring acts like Girlyman and The Kennedys, but these two dates showcase Gravity Lounge’s knack for snagging excellent session musicians and hype bands. Leon Russell, a rock vet that worked with the Rolling Stones and members of The Beatles, performs for the first time at Gravity. Three nights later, The Avett Brothers—who would eventually headline at Starr Hill Music Hall and open for Drive-By Truckers at the Charlottesville Pavilion—take the stage.
November 21, 2004: UVA Drama professor Doug Grissom’s play, Elvis People, opens for the first of three nights at Gravity Lounge, presented by Offstage Theatre.
January 16-17, 2005: A few more familiar names: Adam Smith, who performs currently with Invisible Hand, appears alongside the shortlived Charlottesville act Body for Karate. The next night, Peyton Tochterman plays his second gig at Gravity Lounge, alongside John D’earth, Pete Spaar and Andy Thacker. And one week later…
January 24, 2005: Odetta, the critically acclaimed, much-heralded blues singer and guitarist who was a creative muse for Bob Dylan among many others, performs.
April 14, 2005: Iris, a magazine created by UVA Women’s Center, celebrates its 50th issue at the venue.
October 15, 2005: Richelle Claiborne’s metal outfit, Soul Sledge, performs an acoustic gig. And makes the “girl power” of the Spice Girls look positively petite.
December 15, 2005: And, following the example of Soul Sledge, goth-metal act Bella Morte performs its first gig, an acoustic set, at the venue.
June 7, 2006: After cancelling an earlier gig, Fairport Convention, one of the bands credited with reviving folk music in England during the ’70s, performs as an acoustic trio. That’s star power, people.
March 17, 2007: Devon Sproule releases Keep Your Silver Shined, an album that Paste magazine calls “easily the most joyous” record of the year. A week later, Paul Curreri releases The Velvet Rut, an album that earns a five-star review from MOJO music magazine.
May 12, 2007: Local hip-hop duo Beetnix perform a special “unplugged” gig before a sold-out crowd.
November 8, 2007: Bob Mould, leader of the punk band Hüsker Dü, performs a solo gig to celebrate the release of a live concert DVD. (Mould is scheduled to perform at Gravity again on April 5. $20, 8pm.)
November 12, 2007: Brad Corrigan, singer and drummer for the band Dispatch, performs for the first time at Gravity. (He performed once more, and cancelled a third gig.) The gig came nearly five months after Dispatch performed three consecutive sold-out gigs at Madison Square Garden.
November 30, 2007: The annual King of My Living Room concert, started by songwriter Brady Earnhart, moves to Gravity Lounge after previous gigs at Old Cabell Hall and Live Arts. Fitting, in that many of the musicians involved—Curreri and Sproule, Jeff Romano, Danny Schmidt, Jan Smith, Lance Brenner and Joia Wood—performed at the venue regularly.
December 3, 2007: Dolores O’Riordan, lead singer for alt-rock act, The Cranberries, performs a free gig. Rumored to set an attendance record.
May 6, 2008: Mark Olson, a former member of alt-country standouts, The Jayhawks, performs alongside Sam Wilson and Shannon Worrell, a former member of September 67 whose return to live music came during Gravity’s fourth anniversary gig.
End of May 2008: The Prism—a longstanding coffeehouse and music venue that hosted a variety of folk, blues and jazz acts, later under the name “214 Community Arts Center”—shuts the doors to its home on Rugby Road. The Satellite Ballroom, located behind the former Plan 9 Records location on the Corner, closes within the same week.
August 9, 2008: Bonnie “Prince” Billy performs two sold-out gigs, back-to-back.
October 16, 2008: Girlyman, the three-person, highly harmonious Atlanta-based folk act that played its first gig at Gravity in December 2003, plays its 12th gig at the space.
October 20, 2008: Again, Gravity proves itself only a few degrees from Dylan as Maria Muldaur performs.
January 26, 2009: Alejandro Escovedo plays to a jam-packed house, joined by Sam Wilson.
