Live your fest life
18 ways to fill your fall festival schedule
ARTS Pick: Chamomile and Whiskey
Charlottesville’s Chamomile and Whiskey mixes an intoxicating blend of Irish, old-time and gypsy music into its own brand of Americana. Since releasing its debut album, Wandering Boots, in 2013, the band, revered for its live performances, has played venues and festivals all over the U.S. The highly anticipated hometown show is bound to be a […]
‘Cville Galaxy’ challenges the Guinness World Record
According to Guinness World Records, the world’s largest cardboard sculpture, a massive 33′ x 33′ cardboard castle built in April and decorated by art students, is located in D-Park mall in Kowloon, Hong Kong, China. But probably not for long. Matthew Slaats has plans for IX Art Park to take over that honor on September […]
ARTS Pick: Capitol Steps
In a presidential election cycle where the real candidates have flipped the script on civility, you’d think that political comedy troupe Capitol Steps would be hard-pressed to wring more humor from the headlines. However, the group, founded as a holiday party gag in 1981 by former Capitol Hill staffers, is determined not to be upstaged […]
The Innocents challenges the structure of faith
Director Anne Fontaine’s The Innocents takes place in Warsaw in December 1945, when much of the world was ecstatic at the conclusion of World War II, yet those most affected were too deeply traumatized to feel anything close to relief. And for many in the occupied territory of Poland, the horrors continued long after hostilities […]
PVCC’s ‘Yard Dreams’ installations take over Belmont Avenue
During the second weekend in September, members of the community will have the opportunity to view and contemplate art while enjoying the outdoors and mingling with neighbors in what local artist James Yates calls an “out of gallery” experience. “Yard Dreams” is a collective of installations in the front yards of select homes along Belmont […]
ARTS Pick: Atlas Gray
Was rock band Atlas Gray really formed as an effort to ward off an elephant stampede with a wall of sound? Despite the myth, Hartford, Connecticut’s power-soul five-piece deftly leads listeners on a fantastic exploration marked by signposts of jazz and funk, while navigating what the band deems an “emotional safari.” Since 2014, the group […]
ARTS Pick: Mighty Joshua
Through a fast-flowing, modern take on reggae, Richmond’s Mighty Joshua makes magical connections with his audience. The uplifting performer uses his art to fight HIV/AIDS and support children’s programs in Africa with a passion that’s resulted in garnering the official title of Virginia Reggae Ambassador. Vibe Riot opens. Free, 5pm Saturday, September 10. IX Art […]
Don’t Breathe is overcome with bad choices
No film is completely perfect, but it takes a special kind of wrongheadedness to make a decision that completely divorces an audience from enjoyment by being both morally repugnant and betraying its own narrative. This is the experience of watching Don’t Breathe, technical wunderkind Fede Alvarez’s follow-up to his promising remake of Evil Dead, which […]
Booking team Camp Ugly breaks through the velvet rope
In May 2015, housemates Judith Young and Will Mullany went to the Paramount Theater for a screening of Salad Days: A Decade of Punk in Washington, D.C. (1980-90). In the cushy theater seats, they watched how the early D.C. DIY scene unfolded, how now-legendary bands such as Bad Brains, Minor Threat, Government Issue and Fugazi […]