ARTS Pick: Haiku Slam

Slam poetry gets a lot more fast-paced—not to mention, a lot shorter—with the Southern Gothic Futurist Haiku Slam. Participants must keep their poems to 17 syllables, as required by the original Japanese art form. Reigning champ Raven Mack hosts and competes, going head-to-head with a contender for the crown in a haiku death match that’s […]

ARTS Pick: Hip Hop Showcase

The artists of Charlottesville are no strangers to creating in response to tragedy—sometimes with mournful works, sometimes with fierce ones. This is Our City Hip-Hop Showcase promises both, with a lineup of talented R&B artists from the city and surrounding areas. Though it starts the day before, the event is expected to spill over into […]

ARTS Pick: Halloween in August

You’ve heard of Christmas in July—now celebrate Halloween in August, and enjoy a serious night of monsters and music. The soundtrack is provided by the dark, appropriately creepy electronic music of Ships In The Night, along with deathrock/horror punk group The Brickbats (if these descriptors confuse you, think Misfits), and local acts Please Don’t Tell […]

UPDATED: Anniversary prep: City on lockdown

During the weekend of August 10-12, the anniversary of last summer’s violent and fatal clashes, the city will be on lockdown—and Governor Ralph Northam has already declared a proactive state of emergency. At an August 8 press conference attended by more than a dozen law enforcement and public safety officials, city spokesman Brian Wheeler said […]

Anniversary prep: City on lockdown

During the weekend of August 10-12, the anniversary of last summer’s violent and fatal clashes, the city will be on lockdown—or so it seems. Interim City Manager Mike Murphy today announced additional measures that will affect many people in the downtown Charlottesville area during the Unite the Right anniversary weekend, including closing city parks and […]

In brief: Bigfoot erotica, council infighting (again), white supremacist infighting and more

Bigfoot erotica Fifth District Democratic candidate Leslie Cockburn called opponent Denver Riggleman a devotee of “Bigfoot erotica” because of images of Bigfoot with a black bar over its genitals on Riggleman’s Instagram account. Riggleman, who co-authored a book on the legendary ape-like creature, said the images are a joke from his friends, and returned fire […]

ARTS Pick: Daniel Bachman

The music of Daniel Bachman is known as American primitive guitar, but some may consider that a misnomer. The complex, plucked arrangements distinctive to the Fredericksburg native are anything but simple. Many of his songs stretch past the 10-minute mark, and some are entirely instrumental. With any other musician, leaving your voice out of your […]

ARTS Pick: Sons of Bill

Overcoming injuries, battling “drinking issues” and months at a time on the road would change, possibly derail, most bands. But Sons of Bill put its collective heart on its sleeve and used these challenges to craft its newest album, Oh God Ma’am. Released in June, the record shows an increased maturity in the band’s sound, […]

ARTS Pick: Summer shorts

Founded in 2011, Gorilla Theater stresses the troupe’s efforts at comprehensive inclusion, and with Summer Shorts 2018, that quest includes UVA students. In this production, the theater’s core players work together with student performers and directors to put on shows ranging from the whimsical to the surreal to the intensely dramatic. Through Sunday, August 5. […]

ARTS Pick: Big country

Rob Cheatham is an ideal modern country artist—his twang echoes the sounds that currently dominate the genre, while his lyrics harken to the storytelling abilities of forebears like Willie Nelson or Merle Haggard and cover topics such as love, be it unrequited or shared, and hard drinking as a remedy for life’s ills. He shares […]