Music Reviews
Where ya been? Putting faces to tunes at last
Published on Nov 14th, 2002
0 comments You know how there are some bands whose names just seem to pop up consistently every few years? Sometimes a band can be elusive. Maybe you showed up late to a festival and just missed their set, or...
Celluloid stars: Movies intensify the music
Published on Nov 7th, 2002
0 comments It wasn't an evening for the slight of attention span. For those who didn't know what was coming (i.e. the ones who fled upstairs), Saturday's show at Tokyo Rose wasn't the most fulfilling event of...
Save the awe for last
Published on Nov 7th, 2002
0 comments To most indie-rock fans, Calvin Johnson is regarded as a musical institution. Co-founder of K Records, former member of the seminal indie-rock group Beat Happening, later with the Halo Benders with...
Freak-Out: Hell-O-Ween XXX-Travaganza Tour
Published on Oct 31st, 2002
0 comments The Pitts, Jimmy and the Teasers, The Hillbilly Werewolf, and Old Man Mustin & the Teenage Abortionsat Tokyo RoseFriday, October 25 The basement of Tokyo Rose, with its blood-red walls and...
How do they do it? Three guys in suits rock all night
Published on Oct 31st, 2002
0 comments Souliveat Starr Hill Music HallSunday, October 27, 2002 The first time Soulive came to perform in Charlottesville, they were the new kids on the block. The trio of drums, guitar, and organ had just...
Folksy, bluesy, toe-tappy duo
Published on Oct 24th, 2002
0 comments If you remember 1205 West Main, or music reporting written under a fowl-based pseudonym, you know Stephen Barling. The first, an ill-fated building that once housed the Main Street Guitar and Drum...
Banjoman Bruce: His strings sing
Published on Oct 17th, 2002
0 comments Somehow through all my years of music listening and appreciation, the banjo has never really struck my fancy. However, the lack of intriguing musicentric events this past weekend left me with two...
Where's my Moog? Band raises dreams of glory
Published on Oct 17th, 2002
0 comments Until last Thursday, I hadn't been to Buddhist Biker Bar in about two years, so nostalgia, as well as the possibility of seeing a band I had never checked out before, was the main reason I found...
Change of heart: Miraculous musical biography
Published on Oct 10th, 2002
0 comments Stir one surrey in Missouri with one rooftop fiddler. Add whiskered adults in tights and trash heaps to bad taste. My concept of musicals used to focus solely on the caricatured ingredients;...
Free for all: Downtown tunes come cheap
Published on Oct 10th, 2002
0 comments Charlottesville likes free stuff. Maybe it's a flow-over from the Mecca of free stuff that is UVA, but on any given day you can probably get free food, drink, or see a show for the grand total of $0....
Gut reaction: Hardcore punks pack the house
Published on Oct 3rd, 2002
0 comments "The Intrinsic Virtues and Values of Death Metal," was a common topic of discussion between the ad hoc debate teams The Icarus Fallen (Me), and Mazor's Razors (my friend Brian) in the hallways of our...
Big vibe: 12-piece band spreads the love
Published on Sep 26th, 2002
0 comments It can't be easy keeping a 12-piece band together. Personality management, traveling long distances in close quarters, astronomical food and room expenses-­ these things can really cause a strain on...
Dancin' shoes: Polish `em up! Get ready to move
Published on Sep 26th, 2002
0 comments I've never really liked dancing. I've never learned one of those fad dances, like the Macarena or the Electric Slide (even in junior high). I don't really like dance music, for that matter; the usual...
Life-long love: Pianist's talent inspiring
Published on Sep 19th, 2002
0 comments I respect people who refuse to rust. When I come across those who have nurtured their talents for years with unwavering passion, balancing aspirations with a grounded pragmatism, my admiration grows...
WWJT? Getting down in our town
Published on Sep 12th, 2002
0 comments Charlottesville is a relatively conservative city. I'm sure some would disagree with that statement, considering our neighbor to the south is Lynchburg. Compared to Jerry Falwell's burg,...
Following rules: Tabla music comes alive
Published on Sep 12th, 2002
0 comments  If you've heard classical Indian music, you've heard the tabla. The bayan (the larger left-hand drum– makes the "dwoop" sound) and a dayan (the smaller right-hand drum– responsible...
Getting hot: Hacks take New York
Published on Sep 5th, 2002
0 comments The tall shirtless kid with the freckles sized up the Hackensaw Boys pretty well: "Man, you know De La Soul's never had an opener like this before. That was awesome." That was the beauty of this...
Over the hill: Baby punks go for the devil
Published on Sep 5th, 2002
0 comments After years of close-calls, the one thing a member of the counter-culture like me fears most finally occurred. Last Friday, August 30, at the "Rock and Roll Will Kill You" show at Tokyo Rose, my...
My Dog Lucy: Genuine tunes, tight craft
Published on Aug 22nd, 2002
0 comments I would like all red-blooded American consumers out there who are taught to buy and sell with complete disregard for the consequences and repercussions to please join in this chant: Bigger is Better...
Vandyke Brown: Stop the 'Dyke
Published on Aug 22nd, 2002
0 comments Search for Vandyke Brown on Google, and you'll discover that, in addition to a Charlottesville band, it's a relatively cheap printing method. In the Vandyke Brown technique, ferric salts, household...
Beleza
Published on Aug 1st, 2002
0 comments By Mark Grabowski Beleza, Wednesday night regulars at Tokyo Rose, are a walking history lesson. Wednesday is often a stay-at-home evening, when folks reflect on the debauchery of Tuesday night and...
Slow Children at SERP House on Rugby Road
Published on Aug 1st, 2002
0 comments "I can't believe more people didn't leave"– M.C. Muffin.    So maybe they've played only two shows. So maybe they were both at M.C. Muffin's frat house. So what? Slow Children aren't...
Buttah at Orbit
Published on Jul 18th, 2002
0 comments By Damani Harrison The weather lately has got me all messed up. Monday I was suffering from a near-migraine type sinus headache caused by the changes in pressure and humidity. I figured I needed to...
Jim Waive at the Blue Moon Diner
Published on Jul 18th, 2002
0 comments By Amy Briggs The products of serious effort have a certain mystique. Well-written correspondence, elaborate tattoos, quilts, graffitied tableaux, log cabins, tended gardens, project cars in the...
Anomoanon at Tokyo Rose
Published on Jul 4th, 2002
0 comments   By Mark Grabowski We were all in a state of flux at Tokyo Rose last Thursday night. Pulling us down into the basement club was Anomoanon (I believe it rhymes with "phenomenon"), folk-rock at...
Claiborne & Company at Durty Nelly's, Friday, June 28
Published on Jul 4th, 2002
0 comments By Damani Harrison My first encounter with Richelle Claiborne was at the Live Arts production of The Wiz earlier this year in which Richelle played the role of the Scarecrow. Her mighty natural hair...
CD review: They Might Be Giants' No!
Published on Jun 27th, 2002
0 comments By Amy Briggs TV gives smarty-pants a bum rap. Limned as nerds and mad scientists, they are constantly lampooned as the guys into fogging up their thick glasses and singeing their hair, the ones who...
The Chocolate Workshop
Published on Jun 27th, 2002
0 comments By Damani Harrison About two months ago my man Clarence calls me up.“Yo, D,” he says, “how ‘bout coming out and kicking some rhymes at the Outback Lodge on Wednesday. Andy Rowland and Matt Ferguson...
Lot 6, The Kills, and Order of Dying Orchid
Published on Jun 20th, 2002
0 comments By Amy Briggs Overall, Wednesday night at Tokyo Rose ended up well worth the five dollars, once again. However, Lot 6, the opener from Boston, never quite ascended the 43 steps to memorable modern...
Graves Mountain Bluegrass Festival, May 31-June 2
Published on Jun 20th, 2002
0 comments By Tayloe Emery If the recent Graves Mountain Bluegrass Festival is any barometer of cool, then the Appalachian strip and the mountain music scene are due for a revival of epic proportions. For the...