It’s a wild weekend here in town, folks.
This afternoon is a very impressive twofer of great music. Two local bands, the Astronomers and the recently resurrected Hill & Wood both play the Charlottesville Pavilion at Fridays after Five. Later, at the Jefferson Theater, rocks the Swedish band Dungen, whose members refuse to sing in English but speak in the international language of super-compressed psychedelia. Their new album Skit i allt—don’t ask me, I just write here—comes out on Tuesday. And if you see the girl with the Dungen tattoo tonight, give her my regards.
"Marken Låg Stilla," by Dungen.
Back in America, now. Patriot Day arrives tomorrow to commemorate the ninth anniversary of 9/11, and with it comes all manner of negative associations—ack! If only it were all fiction. Pretend it were so at Play On! Theatre‘s production of Yankee Tavern, running through September 26, which capitalizes on the culture of speculation that has gathered around the greatest tragedy perpetrated on American soil in the modern era.
If you’re looking to honor the fallen in a more conventional manner, local artist Aaron Fein has organized a peace vigil at 1pm tomorrow at the Free Speech Wall on the Downtown Mall; the release suggests that it’s a local response to a Florida pastor’s plan to host a Burn a Quran day. It’s a weird, weird world we live in, folks. On display will be 80 white flags from Fein’s ongoing project. (Pick up next week’s C-VILLE to hear more about what Fein’s been working on.)
Fein’s flags will be on display Saturday at the Free Speech wall.
Since it is such a weird world, there’s lots of good stories. Head over to Random Row Books on Sunday night to hear some of ’em from a friend, enemy, stranger—even your boss, as the case may be—as Secretly Y’all returns from vacation to begin a new season.
Saturday hosts an under-the-radar event that I’ve been excited about for some time: the Rivanna River All-Day Sing, hosted by a local group of shape note singers. The traditional style of singing is named for the way it’s transcribed, "with notes of varying shapes according to their location on the scale" that results in gorgeous, heartwrenching four-part harmony. (If you’ve ever seen Cold Mountain, that’s what all of that amazing choral music was.)
"I’m Going Home," from Cold Mountain.
What’re you up to this weekend?
