Our friends, Astronomers will be kicking your weekend off with a Thursday night performance @ The Southern.  I can’t top this quote, so I will reprint verbatim:

“As the name suggests, Charlottesville quartet Astronomers favor an expansive, stargazing sound. Guitars circle like satellites through eccentric, chiming orbits. Though the bright, busy tones get exotic and ethereal enough to suggest shoe gazers, they’re much more restrained, grounded in a straightforwardly melodic sensibility like a less adventurous Muse or caged Doves. Front man Nate Bolling’s moody baritone croon could definitely find a home across the pond, but the jagged churn of tracks like “Or Maybe It’s Nothing” melds post-punk slash to an elegant Britpop sweep. For a relatively new band they’re remarkably assured, with an impressively fanciful sound.”
—Chris Parker, IndyWeek.com »Read More

Friday & Saturday the downtown mall will be welcoming the Holiday Craft Fair, an event which will draw over 30 vendors from across the region including Lostwoods Print, A Mystery In Common, Camp Quiet, Mi Scusi Handmade, Ultraviolet Vintage, Steve Vargo, Tea For Two, Allyson & Jeremy Mellberg-Taylor, Budala Pottery, Julia Dent & more.

Twisted Branch Tea Bazaar & The Souther will be playing hosts, with both being open December 4th from 3PM-10PM, with a late night dance party being held @ the Bazaar afterwards, with Lunatic and The Rascal (Thomas Dean and Adam Smith) spinning vinyl till all hours of the night, $3 to get in.

The Southern picks up in the morning at 10AM on December 5th, and will be open until 5PM for all of your custom holiday shopping needs.

It’s kind of like Etsy came to town, and it is free both days, all hours with proceeds to benefit the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank.  [Info]

At first glance, The Southern Cafe and Music Hall (located on the downtown mall where Gravity Lounge used to be) seems a bare and impersonal shadow of it’s former incarnation. The cozy darkness & vintage air are replaced by solid white paint and little decoration, but I was hesitant to judge, because surely the place is still being put together and broken in, right? »Read More

The Southern is definitely the hardest working music venue Charlottesville has seen in some time, and they are continuing this trend by bringing you Blind Pilot & The Low Anthem this evening.  BP is an intriguing indie pop group responsible for the recent full length album ‘3 Rounds and a Sound’, a critically acclaimed album, reviewed as “sincere and captivating, with vocal control and style to spare”, also “deep, clever guitar-driven tunes fleshed out with soaring horn arrangements”.  Opening for the likes of Gomez, Counting Crows, and The Decemberists, THIS is a band we will all be hearing much more from in the near future.  @ 8:00PM – $12 [Info] [Samples] [Photo Credits]

A quick photoset from the John Waters party at The Southern this past Friday (11/06/09).  Charlottesville Lady Arm Wrestlers were caught duking it out, and a few luchadoras were colorfully present.

With the opening of The Southern, and the soon to arrive revamped Jefferson, how can your local music venues continue to attract talented musicians if attendance often times is so low?   Many locals have probably not heard of these bands, although they have received quite a bit of critical acclaim nationally, and since they are mostly unheard of, how can they find fans locally?  Back in the day, I discovered a band that I still consider one of my top 5 hip hop groups of all time by accident on a first date.  I saw a 5 man Ska/Funk/Reggae jam band that switched instruments with each other in the middle of a song without missing a beat.  I checked out the Southern on Sunday night, hoping that I’d have another story to tell about another amazing band that few have heard of. »Read More

The bars and our commentary have been buzzing about the recent closure of iS Venue, as broken by Jeyon’s twitter account (and now moved to the Magnus Music site), and the subsequent notification that Si Tapas has shut it’s doors as well.  The music venue saddled with an always empty bar had taken the space over from previous dwellers Starr Hill, & Starr Hill Music, the duo which ran the show for 8 years.

There hasn’t been much public surprise regarding the closings, as Si had never quite captured the crowds attention, and iS had a lot of making up to do in order to keep the ball rolling for both businesses.  The Si food offerings certainly didn’t compare to our home grown tapas love child, Mas Tapas, even though they seem(ed) to have found solid footing in the Richmond area.  Interestingly enough, the businesses primary website for both locations, sitapas.com, is currently off line, which may mean the entire enterprise has called it quits.

Magnus Music, headed by Jeyon Falsini, had shows listed through November 21st on their site, isvenue.com, and we have received notification that at least the Basshound and Space Cadet 7 show has been moved to Rapture Restaurant on Friday, October 9, @ 9:00pm.  There is also rumor of other shows migrating to the freshly re-opened Southern location.

With so much local interest and talent, why is it exactly that so many venues have problems?  Satellite Ballroom, Gravity Lounge/The Southern, Starr Hill/Is Venue, TRAX.  Where is a good band to play nowadays?  [Photo Credits]

Friday’s after five is dead for anther year, temps are slowly dropping (ick).  Time to break out the single malt I’m thinking.  But there are always some indoor options out there, right?  Something to keep the blood flowing?  Laughing?

Friday:

Rev Soup (DT Mall) – Comedian Doug Powell, a DC comic will be playing his second show tonight @ 8:30PM – $5 [Info]
Paramount Theater – John Denver Tribute.  I listed it.  Say something. @ 8PM – $30-$41 [Info]
Escafe’ Presents – DJ Esc, dance party and all the only place for solid house music in town @ 11PM – Free [Info]
Live Arts – Glengarry Glen Ross is kicking off it’s 3 week run of the ABCs (sold out until the 23rd) @ 8:00PM – $14-$16 [Info]
The Southern – James McMurtry with Johny Burke (moved to Fry’s Spring) @ 8:00PM – $Tickets? [Info]
Veritas Vineyards – Little Freddie King & The Chickenhead Blues Band, enjoy Cajun food (for purchase) with your rhythm and blues. @ 7-11:00PM – $15 [Info] »Read More