Drunktastic Shows for 03/2010

Here are Mother’s Milk’s recommendations for local events in the month of March. If you like drinking in public, you’d be well-advised to check ’em out.

03/09/10 – The Fisticuffs, Pedals On Our Pirate Ships, Sundials @ McCormack’s Irish Pub
03/09/10 – Dropkick Murphy’s @ 930 Club (SOLD OUT)
03/10/10 – Boondock Saints (Movie) @ Capital Ale House
03/11/10 – They Might Be Giants, Jonathan Coulton @ The National
03/11/10 – Jet @ The Hat Factory
03/11/10 – WRIR Benefit featuring The Moonbees, Hot Lava, The Way of the Sun, Microjoy @ The Camel
03/11/10 – Strike Anywhere @ Plaza Bowl
03/12/10 – Jet, Andrew WK, Carbon Leaf @ 930 Club (FREE, but it’s at 8AM)
03/12/10 – Nyxe @ The Element Lounge
03/13/10 – Jimmy Catlett Group, The Dregs @ The Playing Field
03/13/10 – Black Liquid @ The Camel
03/13/10 – Black Cash & the Bad Trips @ Cary St. Cafe
03/13/10 – Bermuda Trianbles @ The Triple
03/15/10 – Megadeth, Exodus, Testament @ 930 Club (SOLD OUT)
03/15/10 – Good Luck @ The Camel
03/16/10 – Good Luck @ Black Cat
03/17/10 – St. Patrick’s Day (no bands as far as I know, but a damn good time) @ McCormack’s Irish Pub
03/20/10 – David Bazan (Pedro the Lion guy) @ Alley Katz
03/20/10 – Anvil, Misstallica @ 930 Club
03/21/10 – Ben Folds @ The National
03/22/10 – The Jim O’Ferrell Band @ The Camel
03/26/10 – A Good Natured Riot @ Capital Ale House
03/26/10 – Oregon Hill Funk All-Stars @ Bogart’s
03/27/10 – Oregon Hill Funk All-Stars @ Bogart’s
03/28/10 – Foxy Shazam @ Canal Club
03/29/10 – Wilco @ The National (SOLD OUT)
03/30/10 – Jello Biafra & the Guantanamo School of Medicine @ Black Cat
03/31/10 – Jello Biafra & the Guantanamo School of Medicine, Landmines @ Canal Club

Jesus. It appears that concert season has started, eh? This is going to take a while. Okay, first off, The Fisticuffs, Pedals On Our Pirate Ships, Sundials show at McCormack’s: Fucking A, Mac’s having shows again. All three bands kick ass, and since Dropkick Murphys are a.) in DC and b.) sold out, it’s the only game in town or out. I’ll be there – will you? Then comes a showing of Boondock Saints, which is just a mighty fine movie to get drunk to – especially with a crowd. If you’re into watching movies in bars, that will probably kick some serious ass. Thursday has They Might Be Giants and Jonathan Coulton at the National, thoroughly awesome geektastic music, as well as Jet at the Hat Factory (radio rock, but solid), the WRIR Benefit(lots of local bands, including bands featuring WRIR DJs) at the Camel, AND Strike Anywhere – local hardcore heroes – at Plaza Bowl. WTF? They shouldn’t have so much awesome shit happening on the same day. I will be at They Might Be Giants, but I should probably encourage everyone else to go the WRIR benefit. We need the money more than TMBG does.

On Friday, there’s Andrew WK at eight in the morning – he’s totally awesomely kick-ass live; sort of a punk-rock Meatloaf, if you’re not familiar with him. You should be. Nyxe is doing a set at Element Lounge. I have no idea what her drum n’ bass sounds like, but she’s got quite a following in Florida, and I dated her for a few months, fourteen years ago, so she gets a shout-out. Saturday’s got Jimmy Catlett Group and The Dregs at the Playing Field – they are awesome; JCG is my favorite local straight-up rock band; sounds like everything awesome about 80s/90s pop-rock plus extra goodness unique to them, to me. Also, Black Liquid is playing the Camel – if you’re into hip-hop and getting drunk, he’s a good call. OMFG! Black Cash that day too? This is ridiculous. Black Cash is awesome – I’ll be at Jimmy Catlett because I missed him the last time he played Plaza Bowl, but fuck, man, if you like Johnny Cash, and you’d like to see him sort of channelled through a Nick Cave-vibe, then… well, then you have good taste, and you like Black Cash. This is so unfair. If you don’t go to at least ONE show on this day, you don’t like music. Bermuda Triangles are also on Saturday. They’re a CNP band, which probably tells you all you need to know. So that’s what, four good shows? We are truly blessed. And I’m annoyed I can’t go to all of them.

Megadeth is playing the 930 on the 15th, but it’s sold out so it doesn’t matter. Same day, only here in RVA, not sold out, and cheaper, is Good Luck at the Camel. Pop-punk goodness with kick-ass guitar-work; they are much beloved by Dan, so you hear them on Salad Days pretty regularly. I’ll be at that one too, prior to doing Mother’s Milk. They’re playing the next day in DC at the Black Cat. On St. Patrick’s Day, there is nowhere you want to be that isn’t McCormack’s Irish Pub. It’s the best bar in the city – I would argue, the state – every day of the year, but it transcends itself on St. Pat’s. On the 20th, the guy from Pedro the Lion is playing. Kinda whiny and he likes jesus, I think, but I hear well of him from tons of people, and he has a few songs I’ve played on the show before. Same day in DC? Sort of the opposite vibe, with Anvil and Misstallica, an all-girl Metallica tribute. Obviously, they’re both quite metal.

Ben Folds is playing the National on the 21st. Everyone knows Ben Folds, and thinks his single Brick was very pretty, right? Apparently, he is playing piano. The Jim O’Ferrell Band is playing the Camel on the 22nd. I am giving them a shout-out not because they’re particularly good – I’ve only heard one or two tracks, and they were decent, but they didn’t change my life – but because the first weekend they moved to RVA happened to be a fund-drive weekend. And they were really drunk and kept calling the station during my phone shift, requesting themselves. It was awesome and a bit sad, at the same time, but they had fun and so did I. They’re rock, and least one of them’s an Iraq War veteran, because they have a bunch of songs that deal with that.

On the 26th, you’ve got A Good Natured Riot at Capital Ale. They’re sort of bluegrass/country type stuff, if I recall correctly. I remember they kicked a lot of ass at the last fund drive, but uhmm… I was drinking, so I don’t remember them very well, now. I was surprised that I liked them as much as I did, at the time – I should probably see them again so I can firm up my conception of their sound. YOU, on the other hand, might want to see them just because they’re good. The Oregon Hill Funk All-Stars are playing that day and the following, at Bogart’s. They’re a rousing good time; feel-good funk that people would dance to in any city but Richmond, and sometimes even do here. On the 28th, Foxy Shazam‘s playing the Canal Club. I can’t remember where they’re from, but I saw them with Tubring and they were great. Glammy punky fun-times, and I recommend ’em.

Wilco is playing on the 29th. I know lots of people who like them, but I find them kinda mediocre, so I don’t mind at all that they’re sold out. Maybe you care. Maybe you have a friend at the National that can get you inside. More power to you, buddy. Last but not least, Jello Biafra & the Guantanamo School of Medicine (!!!!!!!) is playing the Black Cat on the 30th, and playing here in RVA at the Canal Club on the 31st. It’s Jello Biafra – a living legend, he’s sort of like punk rock’s Noam Chomsky. You may have heard of his former band, the Dead Kennedys. The other bands at the Canal Club show are also quite good; I think they’re all local, cuz’ I know all the names.

There ya have it. This month has a shit-ton of kick-ass shows.

MUST SEE SHOW: There are a bunch, but I have to go with Jello Biafra at the Canal Club. He hasn’t played this town since I moved here, I don’t think, and he really is a straight-up legend. If you miss that show, and you like punk-rock, you’re a dick.

— devlocke