Thursday, January 24, 2008
Top tickets: Some of the week's best live music
Final fire benefit on Sunday
IO Jukebox
Courtesy photos
Bill Frisell
The Young Sinclairs
Doug Cheatwood and the Bastards of Fate
Madrone
Enter the Haggis
Palominos
CORRECTION: Frantic Recovery's CD release party is scheduled for Feb. 29, though some copies of the CD might be available at Friday's show at the Coffee Pot. Also, two members of the band have Muscular Dystrophy. Those facts were incorrect here.
Friday
POSTPONED *Bill Frisell Trio* POSTPONED
John Scofield and Vernon Reid call Frisell a peer, and he's collaborated with them both. He's performed with Norah Jones, Bono and Elvis Costello. But enough of his resume. If you like jazz, you have to check this out.
Frisell's playing is subtle, not overly showy, but very deep. He's a master at playing "outside," that is picking notes that aren't in the traditional scales we're all used to, but which make great sense musically. His latest record, a live outing called "east/west," includes a cover of "Shenandoah" that would make a great contender for the Virginia state song. Legislators: Are you listening? Other covers include Bob Dylan's "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall," Leadbelly's "Goodnight Irene" and Johnny Cash's "Tennessee Flat Top Box." All now have Frisell's strange musical stamp.
Bassist/guitarist/Grammy nominee Tony Scherr will be on bass and Kenny Wolleson is on drums.
Details: 8 p.m. Friday. Jefferson Center. $26, gold; $22, silver; $16, bronze. Students half off. 345-2550, jeffcenter.org, billfrisell.com.
Sunday
WROV's Don't Fret Benefit
With the Wading Girl, Madrone, Young Sinclairs, Doug Cheatwood and the Bastards of Fate, Ademption
This is the last of the scheduled fundraisers for Roanoke-based bands and musicians who lost equipment in a warehouse fire on Jan. 3. Bonus: It's an unintended showcase of the variety of cool music in this town. You've got your hard rock, your alt-pop, your post-psychedelia and your Doug Cheatwood and the Bastards of Fate, who at times defy categorization. The Bastards lost all their gear in the fire, which is a shame, because that gear included sampling machines that helped make the band so doggone interesting. They're down but not out, and still need your help.
Details: 8 p.m. Sunday. Martin's Downtown Bar & Grill 413 First St., Roanoke. $5. 985-6278, myspace.com/martinsdowntown, wrov.cc.
Tonight
Free! The Half Moon Band
For a couple of years now, the Half Moon guys have been slinging loose funk, good ska, Doors-style rock, and jam material with horns and the vocals of Adam Beason. Go to our MusicCast, music.roanoke.com, to hear Beason play a couple of tunes solo.
Details: 9 tonight. Awful Arthur's, 108 Campbell Ave., downtown Roanoke. Free. 344-2997, halfmoon.tv, myspace.com/awfularthursdowntown.
Friday
Enter the Haggis
If you like your hard rock mashed up with Celtic-style fiddle and bagpipes, this is your act. You'll hear rollicking rhythms, multi-part harmonies with a good bass singer, tight grooves courtesy of a really good drummer, and plenty of loud guitar.
Details: 9 p.m. Friday. Sun Music Hall, Floyd. $15, advance; $18, at the door. 745-7883, wintersuninc.net/thesun/events/haggis.htm, enterthehaggis.com.
Frantic Recovery
It's a CD release party for the band, whose "Blurred Faces" record will be available Feb. 29, according to its MySpace page. Strange timing, but whatever. Brothers Wilson (guitar, vocals) and Byron Long (drums) have multiple sclerosis and must use wheelchairs, but that doesn't stop them from cranking out a good batch of original tunes inspired by grunge, punk and other alternative music.
Details: 8 p.m. Friday. The Coffee Pot, 2902 Brambleton Ave., Roanoke. $5. myspace.com/coffeepotroadhouseinc, myspace.com/franticrecovery.
Free! David Simpkins
This former member of Blacksburg's Visible Shivers has followed a largely solo folk/Americana path ever since that band broke up in 2000. Simpkins is a good singer and decent guitar player, but he has become a songwriter foremost -- writing awards include FloydFest's best song competition in 2002, with "Big Soft Bed." Hear him perform it on a podcast: roanoke.com/entertainment/insideout/podcasts/wb/31958.
Details: 7 p.m. Friday. Third Street Coffeehouse at Trinity United Methodist Church, Third Street, Roanoke. Free, with any donations going to the night's performers. 309-4707, davidsimpkins.com
Ron Block
With Broken Wire and Sierra Hull
Alison Krauss and Union Station is so loaded with talent, it might be easy to miss the good work that Block is doing on banjo, guitar and harmony vocals. But he's a critically lauded recording artist on his own, with two CDs on the Rounder label. His latest, "DoorWay," was inspired by C.S. Lewis's "The Chronicles of Narnia," according to his online biography.
Details: 7 p.m. Friday. Blue Ridge Backroads Live at Rex Theater, Galax. (276) 236-0329. rextheatergalax.com, ronblock.com.
Saturday
Free! Palominos
If these guys sound as good live as they do on record, this might be the week's best show. Remember cowpunk -- Jason and the Scorchers, Lone Justice, et al? The Richmond-based Palominos pick up that torch and make it rock freaking hard, with some interesting neo-Southern rock touches. This band could easily get big, and this would be a good time to catch a show.
Details: 10 p.m. Saturday. Martin's Downtown Bar & Grill, 413 First St., Roanoke. Free. 985-6278, myspace.com/martinsdowntown, palominosmusic.com.
TK-421
Check out the winner of The Roanoke Times music poll's best album winner. If these guys were doing this music 20 years ago, they'd probably be huge. Fortunately, enough people like the smarter, more intense version of that era's metal music to afford TK a nice following. For fun, go to www.youtube.com/TK421Vid to see the band video-blogging about its forthcoming CD.
Details: 9:30 p.m. Saturday. Awful Arthur's, 1302 West Main St., Salem. $5. 387-1004, myspace.com/awfularthurssalem, tk-421.net.
Gasoline Alley
Members of Loud Clangin' and Bangin', The Kings, Leggz and Cimmaron gather to blow off your heads with hard rock from the '70s and '80s. As you know, we don't feature many cover bands on this page, but if you like AC/DC, Kiss, Ozzy Osbourne and Van Halen, these guys deliver it, hyper-speed guitar riffs and all.
Details: 9:30 p.m. Saturday. The Coffee Pot, 2902 Brambleton Ave., Roanoke. $5. 774-8256, myspace.com/coffeepotroadhouseinc, myspace.com/gasolinealleyband.
Sunday
Asylum Street Spankers
The Spankers just came off a couple of weeks doing their own off-Broadway revue, "What? And Give Up Show Biz?" in New York City's West Village. Here are a few words from The New York Times: "Dedicated to acoustic instrumentation, but mischievously unorthodox in every other way, this octet from Austin, Tex., is equal parts Betty Boop, the Marx Brothers and John Belushi, reveling in moony musical-saw solos as well as the most adolescent vulgarities." Details: 7:30 p.m. Sunday. Jefferson Center. $20. 345-2550, jeffcenter.org.
Tuesday
Battle of the Bands
There's nothing like a good old local band battle, and Attitudes is kicking off its extended showdown with at least two bands -- In the Dead of Night and All Kinds of Gravity. Winners of the April 18 final get cash and opening slots for larger touring acts.
Details: 8:30 p.m. Tuesday. Attitudes Bar and Cafe, 900 Prices Fork Road, Blacksburg. $5. 808-7561, attitudesbar.com.
Wednesday
Free! Jesse Ray Carter
Carter, an acolyte of John Hammond, is a young guy with a really good feel for solo acoustic blues. He's been playing with a backing band lately (he'll be at Blues BBQ with it on Friday), but here's a chance to hear his original songs and covers stripped down closer to their essence.
Details: 9 p.m. Wednesday. Blue 5 Restaurant, 312 Second St., Roanoke. Free. 904-5338, blue5restaurant.com, myspace.com/jesseraycarter.
