Richmond's big month for live music
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Illustration: Lindsey Bailey/Axios
August is shaping up to be one of the hottest months in live music in Richmond.
What's happening: Willie Nelson plays After Hours at Meadow Event Park tonight. George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic are at Altria Saturday, and Friday brings the mega show RVA Rapper's Delight: Celebrating 50 Years of Richmond Hip-Hop to the Hippodrome.
- The week kicked off with Jason Isbell and Lyle Lovett, who were both live in concert last night.
Why it matters: Richmond might never be a big enough town (or far enough away from D.C.) to land Pink, Taylor Swift or Beyonce, but we seem to be holding our own when it comes to (basically) everyone else.
What they're saying: "We'll take scorching hot days over quarantine any day! This summer has been busy and gives us hope for the future of … concerts at Brown's Island [and all of Richmond]," Lucas Fritz of the Broadberry Entertainment Group, which organized several of this month's shows, tells Axios.
Meanwhile, the Richmond Jazz Festival is back for the first time since 2019, Saturday and Sunday at Maymont with headliner Chaka Khan, and Richmond Music Week, with dozens of shows, is still running through Friday.
- If you're into cover bands (and who isn't?), this week you can catch Queen Flash: The Ultimate Queen Tribute at The Tin Pan Thursday or A Tribute to ABBA at After Hours, followed by Gathering Gloom: The Cure Tribute, Friday at the Canal Club.
Later this month, you can catch The Baseball Project (which includes half of the members of R.E.M.) at The Broadberry (Aug. 16), Richmond's own Fighting Gravity along with Cracker on Brown's Island on Saturday, Aug. 19, while Nelly is playing After Hours on Saturday, Aug. 12.
- And, of course, the inaugural Iron Blossom music fest with Lord Huron, Hozier, Noah Kahan is Aug. 26-27 at Bon Secours Training Center (tickets are almost sold out, per their Instagram).
Of note: Tickets are still available for all of the shows, and start times vary.
The bottom line: If your summer bucket list doesn't include catching a live show, it should. And you've got ample options to choose from.