Tag: Live Music

Charlottesville is one hell of a music town these days. With 60-plus shows weekly, we are starting to feel on par with the heralded scenes of Athens, Asheville—and at this rate, someday…Austin! We reached out to local players in music promotion and asked them to name a show that stood out in 2012.

Rodrigo y Gabriela at nTelos Wireless Pavilion (above)
“For musical excellence, it has to be Rodrigo y Gabriela with their backing band, C.U.B.A. [They have] a sound that takes you aback with a presence so unassuming. Both are magic on the guitar: simply amazing to watch the dexterity, precision, fluidity, grace and passion that flows from these two.”—Jackie Knight, Starr Hill Presents

“The duo of Rod y Gab occupy a space unlike any other band. They pulled off a stunning exploration of Cuban music with the addition of a back-up band. Their speed, virtuosity, vitality, and style took the crowd on quite an exhilarating journey.”—Ann Jones, LiveNation/Ticketmaster

Bruce Springsteen at the Obama for America Rally at the Pavilion
“The musical moment for me this year was hosting Bruce Springsteen at the Pavilion solo acoustic. Being able to see him up close and in an intimate environment was pretty special. He brought a lot of passion to the show even though it was a short set and just him. It also was special in that the show just came out of nowhere but our staff was able to pull it all together in just a couple of days.”—Kirby Hutto, Starr Hill Presents

Kris Kristofferson at The Paramount Theater
“Kris Kristofferson told us backstage after his solo acoustic show, ‘That was exactly what I needed…I connected with tonight’s audience and it felt great, like it’s supposed to.’”—Jason Williams, The Paramount Theater

The Wood Brothers at The Southern Café & Music Hall
“Engaging, authentic, and sincere is the best way I can describe The Wood Brothers’ performance back in March. The band had total control of the audience and would go from being upbeat androwdy during songs like ‘When I WasYoung’ and ‘Shoofly Pie’ to the point [where] you could hear a pin drop during songs like ‘Luckiest Man’ and ‘Postcards from Hell.’”—Justin Billcheck, Cerberus Productions

“Great band, great group of guys, great show, and way sold out. Not bad for a Sunday night in Charlottesville.”—Andy Gems, The Southern Café & Music Hall

tUnE-yArDs at The Jefferson
“Walking into the tUnE-yArDs at the Jefferson. I was really exited to see how in the world one of my favorite albums of the previous year was not only going to sound, but how could it even be achieved. It turned out that the DIY girl showed us all that the songs translate very well to the stage and can be incredibly danceable. Isn’t that why we go see live music? To see something we can’t do in our own garages and be truly impressed.”—Matthew Simon, The Paramount Theater

Hank Strauss Mackelmore & Ryan Lewis at The Jefferson Theater
“Before the show, I was as much of a non-fan as one could’ve been. At the show, I was awesomely proven wrong. From the moment Ryan Lewis ‘Spiderman-ed’ up onto our opera boxes and launched himself into a welcoming crowd of fans, all the way through the next few hours of hits from The Heist, it was a truly remarkable show in this town. I’ve still got the album on heavy rotation in my car.” —Collean Laney, The Jefferson Theater

Rubblebucket at The Southern Café & Music Hall
“Rubblebucket (IMO: Talking Heads meets Bjork plus horns) playing a sold out show on their first headlining play in the market and C’ville transplants the Founding Fathers (Chris Pandolfi and Andy Falco of The Infamous Stringdusters) making their grand premiere. This was one of our first Festy Presents shows and it was amazing to feel the vibe of a festival brought into a club experience.”—Michael Allenby, The Artist Farm
Roger Gupta

Kool and the Gang at John Paul Jones Arena
“I attended the Kool and the Gang concert at the John Paul Jones Arena recently in celebration of Charlottesville’s 250th birthday. What made it special was the outreach by the city to promote an event with the consideration of attracting a diverse audience, the true makeup of Charlottesville’s communities. It was the responsible thing to do.”—Ty Cooper, Lifeview Marketing

The nTelos Wireless Pavilion’s 2012 season
“In an environment of deep economic uncertainty, venues are still trying to recover, and earn back loyal cultural customers by offering diverse programming at low fees. The Pavilion hit it on the mark this year with sold out shows one after another—and, to boot—visits within one month from the leader of the free world (Obama), a leader of the religious world (His Holiness the Dalai Lama), and the “Boss” of the rock ‘n’ roll world (Bruce).”—Mary Beth Aungier, State Theater (Culpeper)

Dan Deacon at The Jefferson Theater
“I knew before Dan Deacon and his ensemble arrived at the Jefferson in their freaky bio-diesel schoolbus that we were in for a special night. Not a concert. A high energy collective experience of sensory overload. You must follow his instructions when he asks. Not only [is he] an incredible arranger and musician right now, but when you are at the show, he is the world’s best MC. He creates and directs the party with us. Participation is mandatory and highly rewarding. He brings call and response to a place you never expected. The songs are crazy, intense, and much more accessible than you would ever imagine because of Dan and the connection he makes. If you were there, you know what I’m sayin’.”—Danny Shea, Starr Hill Presents

C’ville Knievel Vintage Bike Rally at Black Market Moto Saloon
“After living in Charlottesville for over 12 years, the greatest entertainment spectacle that I have witnessed was the Black Market Moto Saloon’s first annual C’ville Knievel Vintage Bike Rally. Starting at noon on a sunny June day with a Jinx roasted boar in the front lot, dozens of show quality vintage motorbikes and their fearless pilots gathered to enjoy circus performers, acrobats, a 12-piece marching band, surf guitar acts, psycho-billy rockers and more. The highlight of the evening was, of course, C-ville Knievel himself jumping through a ring of fire at midnight over a burning scale model Rotunda.”—Matteus Frankovich, Black Market Moto Saloon

The Abe Ovadia Trio at Fellini’s #9
“The most memorable concert this year was the Charlottesville Jazz Society’s B3 3 to 3 in July. What made it special was that every band that played from 3pm to 3am had someone play the B3 Hammond Organ. And the B3 they played was [Miss Lucy] the one that belonged to the late George Melvin. The musicians were amazing, and watching George’s brother sit all night and listen to every band and closely watch them play Miss Lucy, was touching and remarkable.”–Jacie Dunkle, Fellini’s #9

Ryu Goto at Cabell Hall
“We opened the 12-13 season with a 23-year-old Japanese-American violinist, Ryu Goto. He astonished and moved all of us with his effortless virtuosity and exquisite lyricism…I was filled with wonder at the artistry, humanity and modesty of this young man who is already distinguishing himself with an international career.”—Karen Pellón, Tuesday Evening Concert Series

To many, Charlottesville is still best-known as the birthplace of the Dave Matthews Band, and with good reason: It would be a very different town without the group’s legacy. But our city has always hosted a wide range of musicians, from could-be stars to hometown oddities to local living legends and an impressive roster of touring musicians.

“If you can go a week without wanting to see something coming through, then you need to reevaluate your standards. Or go to Brooklyn and see how far $20 gets you. Here, that gets you Borrowed Beams of Light and two beers. There, it just gets you a cab,” said local musician Tyler Magill.

The biggest movers-and-shakers in town are the John Paul Jones Arena, overseen by UVA, and the nTelos Wireless Pavilion, operated by Starr Hill Presents. “The Pavilion had a great year,” said its General Manager Kirby Hutto, “with more sold-out shows than ever, a great line-up of unexpected events, and the President, the Dalai Lama, and the Boss all gracing our stage.”

Headliners like Miranda Lambert, Jason Aldean, Bruce Springsteen, and Kool and the Gang made for a good year for the John Paul Jones Arena, too. General Manager Jason Pedone said, “Charlottesville remains a prominent tour stop thanks to the support of our community.”

Meanwhile, our Downtown theaters, like the Jefferson and the Paramount, bring in well-established artists with cross-generational appeal, from Lyle Lovett and Kris Kristofferson to Mogwai and Dan Deacon. “I think that the Arts & Economic Prosperity study showed us that even with a weaker economy, the arts still have a strong showing,” said Paramount Box Office Manager Matt Simon.

In addition to the popular alt-country and jam-band shows, which often draw sold-out crowds, the Jefferson Theater frequently books hip acts like tUnE-yArDs and Beach House, as well as tried and true indie favorites like Built to Spill and Dinosaur Jr,, due to the efforts of Starr Hill Presents’ Danny Shea. “Charlottesville and music get along nicely,” said Shea.

For many, a chance to see an iconic musical legend like “The Boss” is an epic experience. But for me and other music-obsessed locals, the high quality music coming through Charlottesville’s smaller and medium-sized venues provide some of the most rewarding concert experiences. Sweaty spaces like the Twisted Branch Tea Bazaar and the Southern Café & Music Hall produced personal highlights from recent months, including swooning to the dreamy pop-rock of the Dum Dum Girls, having my conscious expanded by the restlessly experimental percussion of noise/jazz drummer Chris Corsano, and getting the punk itch scratched by art-rockers Magik Markers.

“For some dang reason, C’ville is the top stop for touring bands that come through Virginia,” said Erik DeLuca of the University’s graduate music composition department. “My buds in Richmond are always complaining about that. I never understood if this was a matter of convenience, or something to do with the community. Our venue palette is wonderful and unique.”

Sometimes it’s even possible to have a transcendent experience when you least expect it. I had never heard of Baltimore’s experimental groovers Horse Lords or Houston-based aggro-punks Female Demand before I saw each of them sonically destroy nearly-empty rooms on slow weeknights. Not even the opening acts stuck around for Female Demand—I was literally the sole audience member—but they’ve both rocketed to the top of my list of groups to watch in the future.

Corrigan Blanchfield, UVA undergrad and volunteer DJ at WTJU, said, “I’m wrapping up my third semester here, and the music scene has been a high point so far. I’m from Williamsburg, but being right in Charlottesville itself has made the impulsive show a weekly, rather than monthly, occurrence.”

Within striking distance
Charlottesville is also legendary for its local talent, with long-established institutions and newly formed groups constantly popping up in unlikely spots: art galleries like The Bridge, bars like Miller’s, and everything from house concerts to the aptly-named Garage. It seems like you can’t take two steps in Charlottesville without tripping over a musician.

Laura Galgano, co-owner of the Blue Moon Diner, books local and regional country, folk, bluegrass, and old-time acts five nights a week in the diner’s tiny bar area. “I love that the momentum and buzz is big enough to bring wonderful national acts to town, that you get to see (them) in a much more intimate setting than you would in a larger city,” she said. “But I also love that on any given night, you can see truly talented local and regional acts lighting up the stage at local restaurants and venues.”

One such example is Tyler Magill, who has played in dozens of bands over the past two decades, in addition to hosting a radio show, selling used records via the vintage store Low, and starring in The Parking Lot Movie. “We have two radio stations, WTJU and WNRN, that a city 50 times our size would kill for,” said Magill. “We have four [record stores] with substantial and deep music stock that is really well-curated. For a small, mid-Atlantic college town, we have an astonishing amount of culture.”

It’s also a town where talented people tend to stick around. Countless UVA students have made Charlottesville their home, earning Charlottesville the nicknames “the Hook” and “the Velvet Rut.” Sam Bush (class of ’09) now organizes gallery installations and live music acts at The Garage—a one-car garage on First Street, owned by Christ Episcopal Church. The Garage’s aesthetic caters to the young and the tastefully trendy, but one of the joys of the tiny, well-situated venue is that dozens of gawkers and passers-by end up joining the audience. “The Charlottesville music scene is a revolving door of sorts,” said Bush, “with a small, fixed cast of rotating characters and several new ones added each year. It’s the combination of the two—the new and the old—that keeps the music scene interesting.”

If you’ve spent enough time attending shows in Charlottesville, Cathy Monnes is hard to miss. She can be found front-and-center, in the audience at almost any heavy or experimental show in town. Over the years, Monnes has herself played in ensembles covering metal to jazz to gypsy music to new wave. And she’s taken the good with the bad. Monnes articulates some of the pain that comes with being a secondary market with transient talent.

“However sad you can get about people leaving town—like Dzian! or Corsair—or venues going down—like Tokyo Rose and the Pudhaus—there’s always more coming in, and even stuff that’s been here, but for whatever reason, you finally start really hearing it. There’s always someone doing something, like what Danny Shea did at the Satellite, like Matt at the Twisted Branch, Tyler [Magill’s] Broadcasting System on WTJU, Ryan DeRamus at Random Row, and Gary Funston [Charlottesville Jazz Society]. And there’s stuff over in that other world, UVA…classes you can audit and ensembles you can join.”

Matt Northrup, a recent transplant from Greensboro, North Carolina, who moved to Charlottesville early this year and took over booking duties at the Tea Bazaar, is a notable newcomer who offers a fresh perspective. “There’s a pretty crazy local support structure in place here,” said Northrup. “That’s probably my favorite thing. I was really surprised that Charlottesville has its own local music blog (Nailgun), and that people actually use it as a source to figure out what’s going on in town. The C-VILLE also has a great eye for highlighting cool events that might slip by without much notice in other towns. It’s always surprising to check those places and see a giant, well-written article about some weirdo show I’ve set up.” Northrop has already made his own fans.

“Matt Northrup is booking fantastic shows,” said Magill. “I mean, really high-level stuff that wouldn’t be out of place in a big city. The Bridge, also. The Southern has the sound system that God would have, if God didn’t just listen to Windham Hill records all day.”

You don’t even need a prime location or a fancy sound system to put on a show; sometimes a living room, a tip jar, and a borrowed P.A. is enough. UVA undergrad Maurine Crouch has booked dozens of punk bands in her own living room, and has recently organized concerts in more “legitimate” venues like the Balkan Bistro. “Charlottesville’s fairly small, which means that it’s literally impossible to have a scene here that compares to a large city like D.C.,” said Crouch. “But folks just take that and roll with it. We have a fairly diverse scene, and mixed-genre shows are common, which gives everyone access to music that maybe isn’t ‘their music,’ but is still good. People are willing to come out to shows even if they haven’t heard of the band.”

Charlottesville is also a city that looks after its locals—to an extent. Bands that have stuck around for a few years can usually draw a reliably hard-partying crowd of friends and fans, provided they don’t play too often. “This place has a propensity to get loose,” said Adam Smith, who, in addition to being the versatile frontman for Invisible Hand and Great Dads, also juggles a handful of monthly DJ gigs at the C&O, Mono Loco, and Lynchburg’s Rivermont Pizza. “C’ville likes to get down. Although eventually, I guess your friends do get tired of hearing you play the same songs at every show, for four years in a row.”

But the party crowd is a two-edged sword. What works for Love Canon may not work for John D’earth.

“For us, it can be a bit difficult playing for a non-listening crowd,” Rick Olivarez (The Rick Oliverz Trio) said. “Performing for a crowd that’s drinking—they’re not always there to listen. But I’m not foolish enough to expect it to be a listening room. I mean, it’s a bar.”

Maurine Crouch added, “As someone who is straight-edge, I think it’s a bummer that people rely so much on alcohol at shows. I understand that some people like to have a drink or whatever, but I also think that the music should always come first.”

Belmont not Brooklyn
In recent years, localized neighborhood arguments over concert volume have led to a series of referendums and public debates about live music permits, at venues like Bel Rio, the Black Market Moto Saloon, and numerous establishments on the Corner. Musicians like Nicholas Liivak of Horsefang have expressed regret for a lack of available space for “beautiful and weird” shows, especially after the closing of DUST, a warehouse venue of questionable legality which hosted a variety of experimental, noise, metal, and techno concerts from 2004-2011.

That space is now occupied by the Moto Saloon, which has engaged in a widely publicized struggle to get the city to approve a special use permit for live music, a petition that was eventually denied in October. Critics have pointed out that Saloon owner Matteus Frankovich failed to file the proper paperwork before opening, but some local music fans are bemoaning the loss of another potential venue. “Things were looking up around here, for avant, hard, loud, and experimental music,” Liivak said. “The [permit] issue popped up, and artists—all over the country, not just in our hamlet—held their breath, and hoped to be playing shows there.”

“The most disappointing thing to me is how conservative this ‘nice’ place is,” Cathy Monnes said. “For a community that claims pride in culture and the arts, it shuts down the most out-there, interesting music places. I even recently witnessed a mellow band from Holland at The Garage get the quietus at maybe 10:30. You can’t use electronics outside on the Mall.”

The most obvious hole in Charlottesville’s musical tapestry is the lack of local hip-hop concerts. WNRN’s nightly show “The Boom Box” is a stellar contemporary example of successful rap programming, mixing mainstream hits with regional and underground singles, and serving as a pillar of the community to its listeners, with dozens of nightly call-ins and shout-outs.

Clearly, hip-hop is popular in Charlottesville, and pulls a crowd as proven by the sold out A$AP Rocky and last year’s Snoop Dogg show. But apart from Top 40 tracks dropped by DJs on club nights at a bar, you’re not likely to hear rapping very often at any venue in Charlottesville.

“We need more hip-hop shows,” said Erik DeLuca. “During Audio September [at The Bridge], I put on a local hip-hop show, and that was amazing. The energy in the space during the concert is something this town would really enjoy, I think. The most important thing about this, is that the performers for this show were pretty much all high school students from [CHS]. We need to support these young artists.”

And for those who hunger for edgier acts that cling to big city’s ripped out hearts, there’s a notable absence. Where is Pussy Riot when you need them?

“For all the wonderful things we have come through town, we also seem to miss a lot,” Laura Galgano said. “The styles and types of shows that come through are limited to ‘safer,’ over ‘diverse’.” Still, every person I spoke to remained optimistic about Charlottesville’s musical future.

Crouch’s prescription: “More house shows, more punk, more women getting to the front if they wanna, more UVA students getting out of the UVA-bubble, more DIY spaces, more politics in music, more music in politics, more sense of ‘community,’ whatever that is. More young kids, and more adults too.”

Planning ahead for the second Tom Tom Founders Festival, organizer Paul Beyer said, “As I see it, the challenge is striving to build critical mass around more up-and-coming and diverse music. But it’s happening, especially as more UVA students are seeing the trek Downtown as doable.”

And then there’s the struggle to make this town a home base. The Stringdusters moved from Nashville, but can The Invisible Hand make it big from our seasonal college town?

Magill hopes that the coming year will see “some of those aforementioned local bands getting some national recognition, being able to be musicians full time. Eight people at a show ain’t enough, and how long local musicians will wanna play to eight people is anyone’s guess. We got some major-league talent in this town. Sometimes. Who’d have thought?”

It’s been more than two decades since Dave Matthews Band emerged from Charlottesville and forever altered the pop-rock landscape with rootsy jams highlighted by the juxtaposition of fiddle and sax. While small gigs at Trax and frat parties were the launch pad, the band belongs to the rest of the world now—with 37 million albums sold across the globe and more tickets moved than any other artist of the past decade. Since the opening of the John Paul Jones Arena, though, the band has been making it a point to bring it back to where it all began. DMB returns to the venue for two shows this weekend on Friday and Saturday (at press time tickets still remained for Friday). Whether or not you consider yourself one of the band’s devout disciples, here are five reasons to catch the hometown heroes.

New material
Back in September the band released Away from the World, its first new album in three years. It marked the DMB’s record-setting sixth number one debut album in a row on the Billboard charts, but more creatively significant, the effort reunited the group with producer Steve Lillywhite (U2, Peter Gabriel), who helmed DMB’s first three major label albums Under the Table and Dreaming, Crash, and Before These Crowded Streets.

While 2009’s Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King was a powerfully emotional tribute to late founding band member Leroi Moore, who passed away in 2008, the latest album brings the band back to some of the free-wheel jamming of the early days. The album’s last two tracks, “Snow Outside” and “Drunken Soldier,” which are attributed in the writing credits to all of the band’s now-seven touring members, feature soaring collective grooves that signify the current line-up is now collaborating in lockstep. The latter tune is a multi-part epic that clocks in at over nine minutes, starting with some playful freeform improv, before peaking with a patented growling Matthews chorus and finishing with a sly, breezy outro.

Lyrically, Matthews also has recovered much of his mojo. There certainly seems to have been an introspective reboot since the superficial sap of 2005’s Stand Up, as these days a world-weary 45-year-old Dave is pondering age, apathy, and fatherhood. In “The Riff” he sings, “Funny how time slips away, looking at the cracks creeping across my face,” before imagining himself trapped in his own coffin. Gone is the good-time stoner philosophizing of the early years (“Jimi Thing,” “Tripping Billies”). Now Matthews can find depth in giving one of his kids swimming lessons, recalled in the ukulele-and-falsetto-driven “Sweet.” Fortunately, though, getting older hasn’t curtailed Matthews’ occasional urge to be an unabashed horn dog, evidenced on the libido-lead, room-shaking funk number “Belly Belly Nice.” Many of these tunes have been put in regular rotation for the first time on the current winter tour.

New tradition
The shows this weekend will be the band’s seventh and eighth appearances at the John Paul Jones Arena. With three previous two-night stands since the arena opened back in 2006, the home stand has become a group tradition, and in accordance the shows have become celebratory throw downs. They’ve also become destination gigs for hardcore fans, looking to see the band members play just down the road from where they first formed back in the early ’90s. Many a traveling diehard can be spotted congregating at Miller’s before lunchtime on the show days, slugging brews and soaking in the lore of the local watering hold that incubated the band.

DMB’s last show in town on November 20, 2010, was a particular barnburner, as it was set to be the group’s final gig before an extended hiatus the following year. (Plans changed, and the group ended up hosting four multi-band mini-festivals across the country.) The show dipped into every area of the band’s repertoire from the rarely revisited country ballad “Long Black Veil” to a near-20-minute extension of the latter-era “Lying in the Hands of God.” By night’s end, the show had clocked in at just shy of four hours, and many fans on message boards declared it the longest performance in DMB history.

New members
This is a different band than the scrappy quintet that won over crowds at Trax back in the day and gradually built their way towards big stages around the world. With seven full-time touring members, the current incarnation of DMB has a much more muscular, multi-dimensional sound. In addition to the remaining core four of Matthews, bassist Stefan Lessard, drummer Carter Beauford, and violinist Boyd Tinsley, longtime collaborator and ace guitarist Tim Reynolds, best known for his work on early DMB studio albums and his acoustic duo shows with Matthews, now has a permanent spot on the roster. While during the acoustic shows he often overindulges in lengthy solos, Reynolds is largely used by the band to fill holes with swirling nimble-fingered runs and drive grooves with chunky electric riffs, often mimicking Matthews’ percussive rhythmic guitar work with complimentary distorted grit.

The void felt by the loss of Moore was undoubtedly much harder to replace—both an absence of musical voice and distinct presence in the band’s former five-headed personality. The solution became a two-piece horn section, which includes stalwart funk session trumpeter Rashawn Ross, whose resume boasts work with The Fugees, Maceo Parker and Stevie Wonder. Standing next to him is versatile sax man Jeff Coffin, who cut his chops for more than a decade exploring improvisational acrobatics as a member of jazz-fusion masters Bela Fleck and the Flecktones. The combo has added a powerful punch with soulful vigor to the brass side of the stage, a dynamic counterpoint to Tinsley’s energetic fiddle freakouts.

Old school jam sessions
DMB’s recent past shows at John Paul Jones Arena have yielded some on-stage reunions with familiar faces on the local music scene. During the second night of the two-night run in April 2009, trumpet wiz John D’earth showed up to jam on four tunes, including a reprised early version of old school fan favorite “Recently.” D’earth appeared on some of the band’s first recordings, and from the stage at the April show Matthews told a story about showing the lauded brass man some of the first songs he had written two decades prior.

Also, on the second night of the band’s November 2010 show stretch, longtime local guitar fixture Joe Lawlor, who works as the band’s live recording engineer, took the stage and delivered a scorching solo during “Rhyme and Reason.”

Local giveback
In “Gaucho,” a standout, serious-brow track from the band’s new album, the chorus declares, “We gotta do much more than believe if we want to see the world change.”

It’s no secret that selling 18 million tickets worldwide since inception results in deep pockets, and through the years the band has been admirably generous with its earnings. Less than two weeks ago, the group used its winter tour opener at the IZOD Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey, as a benefit for Hurricane Sandy recovery efforts. The band pledged $1 million to the cause and through its Bama Works Fund nonprofit funneled all proceeds from the show—both tickets sales and merchandise—to the Community Foundation of New Jersey. Since forming in 1999, Bama Works has also had significant local impact. Through the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation, the organization has given over 800 grants worth more than $15 million to a lengthy list of programs and nonprofits in the immediate area—ranging from the Blue Ridge Area Food bank and Boys & Girls Club of Central Virginia to the Piedmont Housing Alliance and Wintergreen Adaptive Skiing.

Don’t miss the opener
Since DMB made the leap to headlining amphitheaters and arenas in the latter half of the ’90s, the group has impressively never been skimpy when it comes to bringing along quality opening acts. This upcoming run is no exception. Based out of Denver, Colorado, The Lumineers have spent much of the past year criss-crossing the country in front of sold out crowds, delivering high-energy live shows that blend acoustic-driven folk-rock with primal emotion. The band falls in line with the heartfelt, rough-around-the edges roots revival being spearheaded by The Avett Brothers and Mumford & Sons, specializing in infectiously melodic sing-along tunes, like the viral hit “Ho Hey” from their self-titled debut album that came out back in the spring. The Lumineers played the nTelos Wireless Pavilion back in August, opening for and nearly upstaging headliners Old Crow Medicine Show. Dave fans would be wise to resist shot-gunning that last Natty Light can in the parking lot in favor of getting inside in time to catch the opening set.

(VIDEO) You might have seen the members of Les Grosses Erreurs (The Big Mistakes) on the Downtown Mall over the past few days. The Cajun musicians are in Charlottesville from Lafayette, Louisiana, after a stop in Asheville. They’ll be busking and playing house shows until Monday. Here they play “I have a broken heart.” For more information about the band, contact them directly at lesgrosseserreurs@gmail.com.

 

Award-winning vocalist Natalie Cole has refreshed standards out of the Great American Songbook from Sinatra and her own father, Nat King Cole. With boundless vocal dexterity and a wealth of soulful emotion behind her lyrics, Cole is on tour supporting 2009’s Still Unforgettable, which harkens back to her ’91 Grammy Award for Album of the Year, Unforgettable…With Love. Few things about Natalie Cole have remained constant, but her passionate, sultry vocals continue to captivate.

Sunday 10/28 $39.50-500, 8pm. Paramount Theater, 215 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. 979-1333.

Making her papa proud: Natalie and Nat King Cole, “Unforgettable”

Country megastar Eric Church operates in threes. Hat, sunglasses, and stubble are his distinctive on-stage accoutrements. Blood, sweat, and beers are not only a lifestyle for the devout Church-goers who come to his concerts, but the name of his record-breaking arena tour. Chief, his recent platinum album, is his third studio output. Church seamlessly weaves country-fried rowdiness with a self-aware, smirking wit, and is just as comfortable penning chart-toppers like the emotive ode to youth “Springsteen,” as he is with the raucous “Drink In My Hand.”

Saturday 10/27 $35.50-45.50, 7:30pm. John Paul Jones Arena, 295 Massie Rd. 243-4960.

Milo Greene is not a real person—it’s the result of some friends who decided to throw together a band and then created a fictitious agent (Milo Greene) to help land gigs. These are humble beginnings, but with a debut album issued in July, an ongoing headlining tour, and last month’s “Conan” performance all on the resume, Milo Greene looks like an indie up-and-comer to be reckoned with.

Saturday 10/20 $10, 8pm. The Southern Café and Music Hall, 103 S. First St. 977-5590.

Easy Star All-Stars are a cover band of Jah-normous proportions, but instead of playing another act’s songs, it translates landmarks of pop music history. Over the last 10 years, Easy Star has aimed its roots-reggae lens at Pink Floyd, Radiohead, and The Beatles, releasing Dub Side Of The Moon, Radiodread (based on Radiohead’s OK Computer), and Easy Star’s Lonely Hearts Dub Band. Its latest work manages to up the ante, as the band pays tribute to the best-selling artist of all time with Thrillah. The Aggrolites open.

Friday 10/19 $18, 9pm. The Jefferson Theater, 110 E. Main St. Downtown Mall. 245-4980.

Reggae in space! Easy Star covers Dark Side of the Moon’s “Time.“

Jason Pollock (former guitarist for grunge hitmakers Seven Mary Three) and his eponymous band of Albemarle-area musicians, carve out songs that sound like Tom Petty got his chocolate in The Smithereens’ peanut butter—resulting in familiar, flavorful tunes. The Pollocks roll out a new album, Life Of The Stars, and it crackles with the energy of musicians who are long on chops playing live in a home studio.

Saturday, 10/13 No cover, 6:30pm. Plank Road Exchange, 6624 Plank Rd., Batesville. 823-2001.

Have a listen: Jason Pollack playing “All the Above” at WNRN