Dangerous Ponies by Sarah Green Photography

I had the pleasure to catch Philly’s own ‘rainbow-core, posi ‘pop’ act Dangerous Ponies two nights in a row this week. Monday, I had the luck of sharing a bill with the band in Arlington, VA at a groovy little joint called The Galaxy Hut, and was delighted to find out that they were to perform the following evening right here in Charlottesville at Twisted Branch Tea Bazaar. Delivering a sun-shiny, beatlesque brand of organic indie rock, Dangerous Ponies bring it all to the table. Although they are traveling with only 5 of their 8 members, the show was still quite effective, blending pop sensibility, solid musicianship and infectious melody with glitter, dancing, tambourines, face paint, heart-shaped guitars, sideways ponytails, you name it!

The band is on tour in support of their new EP ‘Doctor Ponie, Medicine Ponie’, and is working hard at bringing a dance party to a town near you.  In any given song, I caught bits of The Beatles, The Zombies, Tilly & the Wall, and much more. Lead singer and songwriter Chrissy had good things to say about our neck of the woods:

This has been one of my favorite shows so far. I was amazed at the amount of bands and shows and culture Charlottesville has, still maintaining it’s beautiful valley-town vibe, without being like a city.

Headlining on Tuesday night were local UVa indie-rockers, Pompadour, who also blend female-fronted vocals with dance able, chord-heavy indie rock. While I do not often see their name around, be assured that Pompadour made their presence known from Tea Bazaar’s stage last night. Be sure to check out both Dangerous Ponies AND Pompadour’s tunes online. Thanks to Jacob from Holy Smokes Booking for helping to bring great music to town. So I ask you all, ‘When is the last time a band made YOU want to dance?’

The weather is getting warmer, and this weekend is hotter. This should keep you busy this weekend:

• Fridays After Five: The Charlottesville Funk All Stars open for the Lee Boys performance at 5:30PM . From their website “The Lee Boys are one of America’s finest African-American sacred steel ensembles. This family group consists of three brothers, Alvin Lee (guitar), Derrick Lee and Keith Lee (vocals) along with their three nephews, Roosevelt Collier (pedal steel guitar), Alvin Cordy Jr. (7-string bass) and Earl Walker (drums). Each member began making music at the ages of 7 and 8 in the House of God church they attended in Perrine, FL. Here they underwent a rigorous course of training in a variety of musical instruments, including lap and pedal steel guitars. Born and raised in Miami, each of The Lee Boys grew up in the church where their father and grandfather, Rev. Robert E. Lee, was the pastor and a steel player himself.” They are also playing at the Outback Lodge at 10PM for $10.
• Sex And The City Party: For all of you wannabe New-yorkers still living in cville, you can almost live vicariously through the show’s best music at 216 on Friday night.
• Sex And The City Movie Premiere: This movie is only playing in one theater in all of Cville, Carmike 6 on Garden Blvd. You can watch this all weekend at 1:00, 1:30, 4:00, 7:00, 7:30, 10:00, 10:30. The Girl’s Night Out is organizing a move night for all you women out there.
• Bent Theatre Comedy Group: Performing in Lovingston, VA, at Rapunzel’s Coffee and Books from 8pm-10pm on Friday night.
• String of Pearls: Live Art’s new performance opens tonight at 8PM. Buy tickets here for $12 -$14. Catch the next show on Saturday night at 8PM as well
• Farmer’s Market: Saturday from 7AM-12PM you can catch the freshest produce, meat and poultry this side of the Mason Dixon.
• Crabtree Falls Hike: a moderate hike with 7 people attending so far
• Handgun Shooting: Saturday 2PM at Rivanna Rifle and Pistol Club. This will come in handy when you run for President and claim that you were born with an NRA license in your mouth.

What other happenings are going on this weekend?

You don’t have to drive to DC this weekend to catch Bob Mould and Richard Morel’s night of club music madness. BLOWOFF is one of the biggest gay dance parties going in DC (and growing in NY) and it’s here in C-Ville this weekend (Friday night at R2). It’s at 9:30 Club on Saturday. Expect house remixes, dance rock, and everything including the kitchen sink. If you want a lot of shirtless beefcake, though, I’m guessing you might have.