The champ falls

By Shea Gibbs and Catie Ratliff When Champion Brewing Company announced on social media that June 30 would be its “last day of operations” just two weeks before the scheduled closure, the post’s comments—from both fans and company owner Hunter Smith— made it clear that “last day” referred to that of Champion’s Sixth Street brewpub. […]

Work Wear

Get ready for a night of head-banging with indie rockers Work Wear. The three-piece makes ’80s-inflected garage rock, and is known for enmeshing poetry readings, piercing guitar solos, and psych influences on songs like “Refrigerator Eyes” and “One Day Away.” Work Wear co-headlines with acts from New York—folk-rock power trio The Big Net, and “achy […]

Marina Abramović: The Artist Is Present

Delve into the life and work of Serbian conceptual and performance artist Marina Abramović at a screening of her retrospective, Marina Abramović: The Artist Is Present, presented as part of The Fralin Downtown film series. Abramović uses her own body as a vehicle to challenge, shock, and move audiences in performances that incorporate sound, video, […]

Winston Hodges

With his Southern charm and edgy wit, it’s hard not to laugh along with Winston Hodges. The comedian is from a small town outside of Farmville (he would know you if you were from there), and is known for his energetic takes on everything from growing up in a Christian home to working with children […]

Urinetown: The Musical

When you gotta go, you gotta go—unless a 20-year drought has led to a government ban on private toilets and a proliferation of paid public toilets owned and operated by a single megalomaniac company: the Urine Good Company. Such is life in Four County Players’ Urinetown: The Musical, a fast-paced comedic romp that follows a […]

Yolanda Rabun

Following her show-stopping success last summer as Nina Simone in No Fear and Blues Long Gone, Yolanda Rabun returns to the Virginia Theatre Festival for a special evening of stories and song. Backed by her band, Rabun takes audience members on a musical journey through jazz, blues, folk, pop, gospel, and more. The powerhouse vocalist, […]

Ark Of Mark

Jam out with fellow local rockers at a record release party for Ark Of Mark, the latest project of Charlottesville native Mark Coffman. The full-length record, Still Defined By You, fuses alternative rock, folk, and jazz, resulting in a unique sound that combines classical composure with improvised instrumental intermezzos. The songs, which were recorded inside […]

Who you gonna call?

The City of Charlottesville is attempting to control invasive plant species, and it’s brought in a highly specialized team to help consume the unwanted greens. The Goat Busters, an Afton-based herd of 50 goats, are currently munching away in a wooded area near the pool at Washington Park. The controlled ram-page should take one week, […]

August galleries

Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library 2450 Old Ivy Rd. Permanent exhibitions include “Flowerdew Hundred: Unearthing Virginia’s History” and “Declaring Independence: Creating and Recreating America’s Document.” Botanical Fare 421 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. “Familiar Scenes: Recent Landscapes in Oil” by Randy Baskerville. Through September 4.  Chroma Projects Inside Vault Virginia, Third St. SE. […]

In brief

Name changers The Albemarle County School Board will hold a meeting on August 10 to decide if four schools should keep their names. The public is invited to attend via an Albemarle schools livestream and make comments on the school board website. At a July 13 meeting, research was presented on the names of six […]