Before the handsome Scottish funnyman Craig Ferguson hosted the Late Late Show, he was a standup comic. And before he was a standup comic, he was a punk who played drums in a band called the Bastards from Hell. I can’t find any pictoral or video evidence to post below, which might be for the best, because he’ll be in full on brogued burred-out kneeslapper mode when he performs at the Paramount on Sunday. And that’s good enough. Tickets are (surprisingly) still available.
But if you are curious what happens to a punk who sticks with it, then, boy, does Saturday night have the concert for you. Ted Leo should be playing the John Paul Jones Arena by now, and yet tomorrow night finds the noted Jersey export with his big, red guitar, box of rock and ecstatic shrieks at The Southern. His output may be hit or miss, but his shows—it’s true—are great.
"Where Have All the Rude Boys Gone?"
After a slow summer we’re in the midst of a theater bonanza. A veritable brouhaha. Live Arts officially started its new season on Thursday night with The Dishwashers, which runs through the weekend. The play, by Maurice Paynch and directed by Amanda McRaven, is about a Wall Street scion who falls from grace to wash dishes in the very restaurants he used to frequent as a patron. Timely!
A play that was originally produced for the Wintergreen Summer Music Festival gets a new lease on life at the Hamner Theater, beginning last weekend. Local playwright Peter Coy adopted Imaginary Letters from a book by Juilliard professor Michael White, wherein a biographer travels to Vienna to write a biography of the recently-deceased Mozart from family accounts.
John Prine rolls through the Charlottesville Pavilion tomorrow night and is the sort of guy that young music fans ought to know but may not. He was a seminal figure in the Chicago folk revival in the 1970s, and went on to collaborate with Johnny Cash, Emmylou Harris and, later, Ben Harper. Beyond the details, he has always distinguished himself with a low-down growl and undeniable sense of humor.