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 […]

Album reviews: Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, Joe Pug, Ships Have Sailed

Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds Chasing Yesterday/Sour Mash Noel Gallagher’s stellar second solo effort, Chasing Yesterday, furthers the notion that Noel was the creative thrust behind Oasis (compared with the failure of Liam ’s band Beady Eye). Riff-heavy hook fests like “Lock all The Doors” demonstrate that Gallagher’s flair for rock ‘n’ roll dramatics hasn’t dwindled […]

ARTS Pick: Six Pack Songwriter Series

Founded in 2013 by Jason Burke, the quarterly Six Pack Songwriter Series hosts a lineup of native Virginia musicians with diverse acoustic styles and subject matter. This time around, the series takes the stage in a bigger venue and places past participants John Kelly, Justin Storer, Michael Coleman, Sue Harlow, Susan Munson and Thomas Gunn […]