ARTS Pick: Lotus

Wrapping up the spring leg of its Gilded Age tour with two C’ville shows, jamtronica five-piece group Lotus pairs classic rock sounds in the vein of The Allman Brothers Band and The Grateful Dead with modern dance beats. The Indiana-based band has built a vast underground following since its formation in 1999, becoming known for […]

Film review: The Longest Ride plays to short attention spans

The Longest Ride, like all Nicholas Sparks movies, is overlong, contrived and blatant in its pandering. Yet by being one of the most preposterous Sparks adaptations yet—a mishmash of pop-country neo-Americana with Barry Levinson-esque nostalgia and good old-fashioned sexy wish fulfillment—there is enjoyment (or at least begrudging respect) to be found in how openly and […]

ARTS Pick: Anyone’s Guess

Power rock trio Anyone’s Guess is currently based in Florida, but it’s a C’ville connection that shapes the band’s intensity. Frontwoman and former Bosnian refugee Sanja Jovanovic attended Charlottesville High School after assistance from the International Rescue Committee made it possible for her to come to America in 2002. Jovanovic made use of the local […]

ARTS Pick: Snoop Dogg

Fo shizzle Charlottes-vizzle. Rapper, producer, actor, activist and all around icon Snoop Dogg commands the stage with his smooth rhymes and patented swagger. Snoop’s catalog stretches over twenty years and thirteen albums, breaking through with hits like “Nuthin’ But A ‘G’ Thang,” “Gin & Juice,” “Drop It Like It’s Hot” and his most recent, “Peaches and […]

ARTS Pick: Sol Driven Train

Sol Driven Train’s musical psyche has been self-diagnosed with “sonic schizophrenia.” Citing influences from Paul Simon and John Prine, to New Orleans jazz, Caribbean island-rock and Afro-beat, the group has amassed a loyal fan base through its musical diversity. The band members first jammed together in their middle school music room, and formed a strong […]