Earth Day Post

There are a lot of things going on this Earth Day around town, here’s just a few!

Down at the Grandin Village there will be a huge Earth Day celebration! From 11Am til 3Pm you can ride your bike, carpool or walk down and experience what this great neighborhood has to offer. Stands ranging from the Roanoke Natural Foods Co-Op to Ride Solutions to Blossom Raw Foods will be there. Also performing will be Another Roadside Attraction busking up and down the street for you musical pleasure! Get out today and get some sun!

Later on tonight at the Sanctuary at Five Points is a 16 Blocks Magazine sponsored benefit for the Japan tsunami/ earthquake relief fund. Starting at 6pm and featuring a ton of bands this event will offer music, raffles, a silent auction and more! There is a suggested $10 donation at the door and feel free to bring any donations for the relief fund.

Also happening tonight at the Bazaar is Marley Thorn with Just Marshall. The Rocky Mount band visits the Bazaar playing their blend of psychedelic pop music reminiscent of the Elephant 6 sound. Roanoke singer/songwriter (Nancy & 2 Meteors front man, drummer of the Missionaries and leader of icon Roanoke punk outfit the Makeout) Marshall Hicks will be playing a set of acoustic songs under his moniker Just Marshall. Come out to this tonight at 9pm! $5!

Some good ways to spend the end of February!

On Wednesday (2/23) Roanoke local band Savannah Shoulders is set to perform acoustically on WSLS 10 at 12pm in promotion of their debut full-length “Another Light”. The following night the band will be performing at Kirk Avenue Music Hall in support of their album as a part of the High School Night performance series. This show is set to start at 7pm and costs $5.

 

This Thursday (2/24) the Surf N Turf Grill on Grandin Rd. will be hosting its second poetry slam. The rules will apparently be the same as they were before. Best out of three rounds of turns wins $20. Head on down to the Grandin Village on Thursday at 9pm to check out and try your hand at the poetry slam.

 

On Friday (2/25) the Bazaar on Brandon Rd. will host the Watershed Conspiracy with the Riverbank Ramblers. With both bands hailing from Roanoke this will be an all local all roots revival show. The two bands tend to take old time music and put a punk feel to it making it a bit modern with respect to the traditional. Come on down to the Bazaar and check out these two great groups! Starts at 9pm and will cost you $3 at the door.

 

Also on Friday (2/25) Roanoke locals Nancy & 2 Meteors headline a ska show at JELP Studio. Playing on the bill will be Bedford ska-punk band That Band With the Fat Kids and Richmond’s own ska/reggae group Murphy’s Kids. This show will be a good one for those lovers of ska still out there! The show starts at 9pm and serves as the opening of the JELP Art Gallery on Kirk & 1st, downtown.

 

In Blacksburg on Friday (2/25) local favorite Nash Smith & the Ganges celebrate the release of their newest cassette tape! Playing with them will be fellow Blacksburgers Samantha Mulder and DJ May. This show is taking place at Champ’s in downtown Blacksburg at 9pm.

 

On Saturday (2/26) Lynchburg two-piece the Late Virginia Summers headlines the Bazaar on Brandon Rd. With them will be Charlottesville’s Manorlady along with Boone, NC band Easy Company. Also playing will be Roanoke local turned Boone resident and Personal Records member, Arte Povera. This should be a good show for those who like ambient folk influenced music that’s a bit experimental to boot! This show starts at 9pm and costs $5.

 

On Sunday (2/27) Nancy & 2 Meteors score the classic Fritz Lang film “Metropolis” live at Studio Roanoke. Nancy will be putting a different spin on the film venturing away from the film’s original score. Come out to see this it will be a great time for all! Starts at 8pm, don’t be late!

 

 

 

Join us next week as we give you the very busy list of Marginal Arts Festival activities going on around town as well as show, films and events that are happening in the area! Stay tuned!!!

Valentine’s Day Week & Weekend

This Tuesday (Feb. 8th) the downtown Roanoke Public Library will feature another installment of their series Emerging Artists, this time in collaboration with multimedia group “mediumless“. Mediumless is a collective of Lynchburg artists from different backgrounds ranging from photography to play writing. This event will take place on the Howery Mezzanine with Lynchburg instrumental surf rock band Alaska providing the music. The evening will showcase mediumless members Rhonda Glick, Jake Siner and John Gosslee. This event starts at 6pm costing you nothing and providing you with free refreshments!

 

Also on Tuesday is another great show at the Bazaar! Roanoke locals the Situationist head the bill while Rochester, NY group Attic Abasement opens. This is a great pairing of bands and should not be missed!  Starting at 9pm this show only costs $5, perfect timing for those who are also attending the library event. Catch two shows in one day! While you’re at it take a look at Attic Abasement’s video for their song “A Werewolf” HERE. The above photo of the Situationist’s Geoff Conley was taken by Kent Moore.

 

Playing from February 9 til the 20th Studio Roanoke presents the New Testament. Written and directed by Kenley Smith this play serves as the third and final part in a trilogy of plays by Smith shown at Studio Roanoke. Containing adult language and brief nudity intended for mature audiences only. Dates and times are listed in the flier above, for contact info to reserve your seat call 540-343-3054 or order your ticket online HERE.

 

On Thursday (Feb. 10th) Grandin Village restaurant Surf N Turf Grill will host a poetry slam. Starting at 9pm this will be a competition… for poetry. Hey its $20 to whoever wins out of three rounds! So who cares, go tell some poetry and win some cash. That $20 could go toward a crabby paddie or a couple of nice tall pints from one of their many taps! Get there early to sign up and review the slam rules.

 

Also on Thursday is a show to be excited about… in Charlottesville. Blacksburg’s Wild Nothing is sharing the bill with L.A. group Abe Vigoda at the Trinity Irish Pub. Both bands were voted in the Top 50 albums of 2010 by Pitchfork. Opening the show will be Blacksburg’s Hoop Dreams featuring former members of Wild Nothing. Presented by Charlottesville based promotional group Holy Smokes. Doors open at 7:30pm.

 

 

On Friday (Feb. 11th) the Bazaar hosts two out of town acts. Richmond’s Ryan B. & the Dead Sea and Uncle Bengine & the Restraining Orders. Come out for a night of folk, roots and rock starting at 9pm and costing you $5!

 

Also at the Bazaar on Saturday (Feb. 12th) is Roanoke group the John Barry Conception. Opening for the guys will be South Carolinian singer/songwriter Julie Slonecki. This is sure to be quite the fun show featuring a Roanoke band you don’t get to see quite as much. Make sure to come out early in order to catch both acts! This show starts at 9pm and costs $5.

 

On Sunday (Feb. 13th) the Shadowbox is showing what some consider to be the definitive Jean-Luc Godard film. Breathless (A Bout de Souffle) is a film about a boy from Paris involved in a life of crime and a girl from America oblivious to his dark side. When she discovers what he’s been up to the relationship starts to crumble and turns to betrayal. Truly a masterpiece and one of the gems of the French New Wave film period! Make sure you make it out to see this one! Starting at 8pm and running til 9:30pm.

 

That same Sunday at Martin’s Downtown is the Illbotz CD release party! Celebrating their newest album titled “Pudding is Delicious” this show will feature Roanoke heavyweights the Bastards of Fate. Also playing will be Richmond pirate party band Craptain Jack & the Schmees. The Illbotz will be selling their new CDs, shirts, stickers, pudding and prison tattoos! Starting at 9pm, don’t miss it!

 

Some call him odd, others call him drunk but most call him Roanoke filmmaker Charles E. Cullen. Join the host of local public access show “Chicken Chat” as he presents to you the “Theatre of Doom”. Along with Cullen and company will be local magician/illusionist Nelson Oliver. Described as a “two hour decent into madness” don’t miss this show! Taking place this Sunday (Feb. 13th) at Studio Roanoke’s Guerrilla Playhouse at 8pm, $5!

 

 

Charlottesville radio station WTJU 91.1FM will be holding its annual week long fundraiser starting February 14th and running til February 20th. The “2011 WTJU Rock Marathon” will feature not only blocks of different genres of pop rock but will also give tribute to essential labels and artists throughout the decades. Also this week will feature a different Charlottesville area band playing live in studio every night! The bands playing live in studio will be Borrowed Beams of Light, Andrew Cedermark, Left & Right, Dzian!, Sarah White & the Pearls, Cosair and Invisible Hand.

 

On Valentine’s Day the Unicorn Stables Project present to you the “Valentine’s Day Art Extravaganza”! The evening will include classical Greek Mythology drawing of live models from 7:30-9pm and a party from 9pm til 11pm. Throughout the evening you can expect glitter, performance, crafts, contests, music, treats, love and dancing! Some fun activities include a toast with Bacchus, an anti-Valentine’s Day celebration in the “Hades Room”, body-building tips from Greek heroes and trying to score Aphrodite’s number. Music provided by DJ Joneski with visuals by Mateo Marquez. You can enjoy all of this for $3-$5 and your ID. Above flier art by Mateo Marquez.

 

We hope you all have a great Valentine’s Day and we’ll see you next week!