Cindy Sheehan’s rally on Friday: I wanted to check it out. It was a relatively thin crowd.
Artini: Obvi. But I want to see more reviews! Thor and I could not possibly see it all.
This Means You at the Outback Lodge: I wasn’t there, I don’t know!
The mall on Saturday night: I wasn’t there either, I don’t know!
Polo at King Family Vineyards: Beautiful day for a polo match, but I wasn’t there either, so I don’t know!
I-64: I was there! Satellite radio sounds like a better idea every time I drive it…
Popularity: 1% [?]
Tagged as: Activities, Campaigns, Charlottesville, Downtown Mall, Music, Parties, Weekends
The mall on Saturday night: I wasn’t there either, I don’t know!
I was there, enjoying dinner with my parents (visiting from Richmond) and my grandma and cousin (visiting from Chicago). My grandma, a painter, fell in love with the Downtown Mall, saying it reminded her of her old artsy neighborhood in Chicago. Walking home, we ran into the Nice Jenkins loading into the Atomic Burrito, so we stopped and said hello. My grandma thought that was great, too. Huzzah, C-ville!
I was chilling outside at Miller’s when the Sheehan rally was going on. I had to laugh because shortly after the anti-war protesters marched by, a seemingly larger parade of war supporters passed. I didn’t go watch the whole thing go down, but I wasn’t sitting that far away and the energy failed to draw me in. If I hadn’t seen the people walk by or heard the lame folky protest music playing I probably wouldn’t have even known it was going on.
Well, I was at the Outback Lodge for the ThisMeansYou show, and it was great, per usual. The crowd didn’t seem to be quite as large as it usually is, but I’m not sure why. For those that have never been to the Outback Lodge to see music, I recommend it. While it is a bar, they actually have a stage and a sound system; it is designed to be a music venue. One can find nearly every genre of music, from reggae to jam bands to goth-industrial to bluegrass to metal. Its most popular nights are undoubtedly its metal nights since it is the only regular metal venue in town, with shows nearly every Saturday.
ThisMeansYou is a local band that plays at Outback generally once every 4-6 weeks. I suppose they can be classified as “progressive death metal,” but they happen to be a lot more melodic and musically talented than the average metal band. They were the headlining act, coming on around 12:30 AM after two openers: Horsefang and the Eli Cook Band, with each band bringing its own unique style, but each of them fairly heavy.
Horsefang is a local band that I had actually never seen or heard before. I got to Outback about halfway through their set, so I missed some stuff, but I was pretty impressed with what I heard. It was entirely instrumental, and if I had to assign them to a genre, it would be sludge metal, in the vain of Alice in Chains harder stuff or the Melvins more constructive music (a la Stoner Witch or Houdini).
Eli Cook was the real surprise here. Upon seeing him listed on the website I thought it must have been a typo. I knew that he was a blues guitarist, but my only experience with seeing him live had been him playing a solo acoustic set at Atomic Burrito more than a year ago. The Eli Cook BAND, though, is something entirely different. The blues influence was quite evident, but, boy, did they rock hard! I was certainly impressed enough with their performance to make it a point to go to their other shows in town. A further note: his drummer also plays for Bella Morte.
Then there was ThisMeansYou. I’ve seen nearly all of their Charlottesville shows since I’ve moved to down about a year and a half ago. They put on one of the most entertaining shows of any band that played or regularly plays here, and they generally draw a large following in town. We probably would have seen them play Friday After Five this summer if that UVA battle of the bands wasn’t rigged against them. While they were the most popular band that entered the competition, the promoter didn’t exactly want to scare off all the 30-something milfs who generally populate Friday After Five.
Their next show at Outback Lodge is August 11. Check it out!
[…] is that money going? To her California campaign or to anti-war stuff. I guess this time, the pro-war protesters won’t be present. Or will […]