As a cynical 50-something who is more likely to win the Mega Millions than be impressed by a folk rock supergroup that he’s never listened to before, I have to admit I was quickly won over by Fantastic Cat. I was predisposed to poo-poo whatever the band was serving up. I disliked the dopey name […]
Monticello Friday 7/4 In these tense times, you have to wonder what the Fourth of July means to us in 2025. Independence from the English crown, sure, but with No Kings protests and a growing lack of faith in major political parties, the democratic intentions of the founding fathers may reverberate with added gravity—at least […]
The Jefferson Theater Thursday 6/19 You really have to hand it to someone who hit rock bottom multiple times across a career, yet consistently managed to dust off and get back to business. Aimee Mann weathered an early success comedown with ’80s outfit ‘Til Tuesday, stepped out on her own, and got the proverbial shaft from […]
The Paramount Theater 6/21–6/22 Man meets woman. Woman seduces man. Man leaves wife. Woman leaves man for a bullfighter. All hell breaks loose. It’s a story as old as—well, as old as 1845, when Prosper Mérimée wrote a novella about it. Thirty years later, French composer Georges Bizet enlisted librettists Henri Meilhac and Lodovic Halévy […]
Friday 5/23, Ace Biscuit & Barbecue Headlining a night of uncompromising sonics, self-described “minced-out billy gore” three-piece Septic Vomit unleashes its gross outtake on extreme metal-core at—where else?—a barbecue joint. Minute-long documentarian murder samples, overdriven detuned guitars, and blasting drums vie for conquest, clouding a vocal that brings new meaning to the word “guttural.” If […]
Thursday 5/16, The Paramount Theater For many rock musicians, the idea of being in a cover band is about as low as you can sink: You’re running through someone else’s songs over and over, impersonating their look while aping their playing style, and, worst of all, there’s the potential for disappointing audiences so familiar with […]
Saturday 5/3, IX Art Park Ships In The Night, the one-gal, electronic, smoke-and-mirrors synth project of Charlottesville’s own Alethea Leventhal, descends from the ethereal mists for what local fans will recognize as a performance wrapped in a thematic event. SITN has a recurring habit of playing all manner of spookily framed balls, proms, raves, and […]
April 26, The Jefferson Theater A famous musician named Paul McCartney once sang, “You’d think that people would’ve had enough of silly love songs / But I look around me and I see it isn’t so.” That was in 1976 and the co-founder of The Beatles was in a new band, Wings, with his wife […]
Friday 4/18, The Southern Cafe and Music Hall With the release of News of the Universe in 2024, guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter Shana Cleveland led her band, La Luz, to deeper levels of previously staked-out musical terrain. What began in 2012 as a surfy, twanged-out Seattle quartet with ‘60s girl-group leanings has evolved into a […]
Tuesday 4/15 & Wednesday 4/16, The Jefferson Theater Any music act that’s been writing, recording, and touring over the course of 40 years deserves respect. For Cowboy Junkies, the unwavering dedication to their craft equates to more than 20 studio records and countless other contributions to a pioneering style of what jerks like me in […]