Aug. 8 – Aug. 14
Staff
From Kid Congo, Fred Armisen and Robert Earl Keen to Carytown Watermelon Fest, the Richmond Jazz and Music Fest, JamPacked Craft Beer and Music Fest (oh so many fests)
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Style Weekly
Thursday, Aug. 8

Shop Talk (from New York) with Serqet, MKVULTURE and Ìsa Moreno at Bandito’s Diablo Room

Check out “Terminal Freakout,” the first track on the new and mysterious (insofar as they haven’t posted yet to their Instagram wall) local band MKVULTURE’s new EP; it’s a bop and I’ll tell you that for free. Classic, loud-quiet dynamics with an anthemic chorus that brings to mind early Sonic Youth at its most tuneful. If you’re still not sold, this show marks the NY trio Shop Talk’s final stop of its summer tour and promises to find the band’s Radio Birdman meets power-pop confection extra tour-tight, if we’re talking shop. Serqet hasen’t released anything for awhile but the band’s live set continues to reach new psyched-out heights. Ìsa Moreno is a solo project from True Body singer, Isabel Moreno, so expect all killer/no filler on this bill, front to back. Doors are at 7 p.m. Tickets cost $10 and all shows here are 21 plus. –Tim Abbondelo

Friday, Aug. 9

Robert Earl Keen with Logan Vath at the National

The legendary, Houston, Texas-born Robert Earl Keen, one of country music’s most prolific songwriters, returns to play the hits plus some new songs from his latest release, “Western Chill,” which he recently described to the Fairfax County Times as his “laid-back opus … born from the nighttime sky.” 8 p.m. Tickets are available here.

The Richmond Jazz and Music Festival at Maymont

and The Mingus Awareness Project benefit concerts for ALS at three venues

(Both run Friday through Sunday.)

Read our preview story about the two biggest jazz-related events happening in Richmond this weekend; the first being the Richmond Jazz and Music Festival at Maymont featuring a variety of artists including Wyclef Jean, Ludacris, Snarky Puppy, St. Paul and the Broken Bones and a lot more. Also this weekend are three Mingus Awareness Project benefit concerts featuring local musicians such as Brian Jones Trio, No BS Brass, and Charles Owens at The Basement, Ember Music Hall, and Firehouse. For more info, read the story.

Kid Congo Powers, the Owners and Shawnis and the Shimmers at Fuzzy Cactus

This was rescheduled from last year after Powers broke his leg in a bike accident. Indeed, hunger is the best spice, and this show has possibly already sold out? We spoke with Powers earlier this week, and previously wrote about his memoir, “Some New Kind of Kick.” Support from the Owners plus Shawnis and co. guarantees this bill will make up for the delay. Doors are at 9 p.m. and tickets cost $15 (plus service charges in advance) and $20 at the door. All shows here are 21 and up. .—T.A.

Saturday, Aug. 10

Richmond Oddities and Curiosities Expo 2024 at Greater Richmond Convention Center (Also Aug. 11)

For lovers of the strange, unusual and the bizarre featuring hand-selected vendors, dealers, artists and small businesses. All items legal to own and sustainably sourced. Make sure to check out local business The Veiled Mirror, run by Olivia Lloyd and Kath Parker, who made our Best of Issue. The touring expo runs on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and on Sunday, Aug. 11 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The cost is $10 in advance or $15 day of, with kids 12 and under free. For more visit the national website here.

JamPacked Craft Beer and Music Festival feat. Greensky Bluegrass, Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country and more at Brown’s Island

Things are going to get jammy (and maybe clammy?) this weekend on Brown’s Island with featured artists Greensky Bluegrass, Kitchen Dwellers, Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country, Sicard Hollow and Kind Hearted Strangers. Lot of great breweries involved, including The Veil, Ardent Craft Ales and Hardywood Craft Ales. Lawn chairs and blankets are welcome but no pets except service animals. Gates open at 2:30 p.m. and the show starts at 3:30 p.m. For tickets and to learn more, visit the website here.

Fred Armisen: Comedy for Musicians but Everyone is Welcome at the National

One of the funniest parodists around, former punk rock drummer turned comedian/actor/writer Fred Armisen, known for his work on “Saturday Night Live” and “Portlandia,” as well as dozens of other TV shows and movies, brings his tour featuring music-themed comedy back to the National. Should be an informal, laid-back evening of laughs. Read our quick phone interview with Mr. Fred in our feature this week.

Queens of Country with Mackenzie Roark, Rebecca Porter and Ramona Martinez at the Camel

Three local queens bring all the twang and belt out the classics and hits of tomorrow. Doors at 8 p.m. and music at 9 p.m. $12 in advance and $15 at the door. Tickets available here.

Sunday, Aug. 11

The 42nd Annual Carytown Watermelon Festival

It’s a long-running summer tradition and one of the largest one-day festivals in the state. Come saunter through Carytown, get your juice stains on and listen to free live music, maybe stop by Babes. The fest is sponsored by Publix and there will be beer and mixed drinks for sale, provided by Brown Distributing and Tito’s Handmade Vodka. The festival starts at 10 a.m. and runs to 6 p.m. Free to attend, pay as you go for all that pink fruit and alcohol.

Monday, Aug. 12

The Courettes (from Denmark and Brazil) with Safe Sex and Cinema Hearts at Cobra Cabana

Who’s up for an international garage rock clinic to kickstart your work week? The Courettes are a dynamite, no-frills, female-fronted duo who are proving three albums in that they—as their forebears the Sonics would rave “have love, will travel.” If there’s any chance of hitting the dance floor under the summer sky on a Monday night to the sounds of savage rock ‘n’ roll skronk with retrofitted girl-group swagger, this is your ticket. Safe Sex sounds like standard-issue anemic funk, but stand to distinguish themselves here. While Cinema Hearts bring their surfy pop punk down the beltway from our nation’s capital. Doors are at 7 p.m. with a $10 cover. All ages. .—T.A.

Wednesday, Aug. 14

SPRGRS (from Granada, Spain) with Power Pants, Shawnis and the Shimmers, Tentative Decisions and BEER (from Charleston, South Carolina) at Cobra Cabana

Is it egg punk summer? Exciting bills continue to form around the nebulous, peppy-punk subgenre from near and far. High praise to Cobra’s open-air Cabana for hosting an Olympian onslaught of touring bands in recent months. Not to mention, they’re recently outfitted with a new hardscape for a more pro concert surface level-up (and while we’re gushing, they’re also armed with some of the best chicken and tofu “wings” in the city). Tentative Decisions are an outlier here—though kindred in spirit by the ramshackle sound of it—with a more UK DIY, ‘80s post-punk vibe. And while SPRGRS and BEER are textbook cases of this odd Devo-inspired, homespun movement, Power Pants and Shawnis and the Shimmers are doing more with it from a broader songwriting standpoint. Doors are at 6 p.m. with a $10 cover (that’s $2 per band). All ages.—T.A.