“….My own prefernces are for improvisation, for making it up as I go along. The idea of picking, of eliminating possibilities by deciding, that’s difficult for me.”

Maybe that’s been my issue looking at this upcoming week. After hitting up Santana, Zach Deputy, and Interpol last week, I realized I need a break. So this week, I’ve decided to just pick one show to see, but the idea of just picking one, of eliminating the possibilities of being influenced, experienced, engaged, and left changed by the creative worldly outlook of an artist, any artist, seems incredibly limiting and difficult for me.

On Wednesday we were supposed to get Erykah Badu at Chrysler Hall. Unfortunately, this would have been an amazing show, but it was got canceled.

Mr. Zombie (Photo | Matt & Alice Mitchell)

But what we do have on Wednesday is the Rockstar Mayhem Festival 2010, taking place at the Virginia Beach Amphitheater. This year it is being co-headlined by Korn and Rob Zombie, but includes 11 other acts as well, all of the metal genre. The festival will actually take place on 3 different stages starting at 2:15pm, with tickets starting at $36.90 for a lawn ticket, or if you get a 4 pack of lawn tickets, they’ll only run you $28.75/ticket.

Thursday night, we’ve got Of A Revolution (O.A.R.) with Citizen Cope opening at the nTelos Pavilion in Portsmouth. I have to admit, I’m a slightly biased supporter since these boys started playing music while attending high school in a neighboring Maryland town from the one I grew up in.  They went on to play together at Ohio State University, where they started to gain popularity simply by word of mouth and got big on the college tour circuit in the same way Dispatch, Guster, DMB, and countless others have. They’re a hard working band having released 7 studio and 5 live albums over the course of their 13 year career! They blend roots rock, jam, and reggae into their originals, along with covering bands such as U2, Billy Joel, Simon and Garfunkel, Dylan, Grateful Dead, and Bob Marley among others. This is a general admission show, with tickets going for 33 bones, and promises to be what outdoor summertime shows are all about.

Saturday night you’ve got two really great shows going on right in Ghent. First, at the Taphouse, you’ve got The Fustics traveling up from Wilmington, NC. They bring that Americana, roots sound and honest lyrics that could only come from spending so much time in a van bouncing bar to bar in the Carolina’s, Virginia, Tennessee, and Georgia. Down the street at the Boot the same night, you’ve got Virginia Beach natives, City Voices, and Norfolks, Over the Ocean. This is definitely the local indie show to be at this week.

In the spring of 2009, after 18 years, 5 studio albums, and 20 million records sold worldwide, the Counting Crows were dropped from Geffen Records. Not one to let the wind out of his sails, Adam Duritz just started his own label and created the Traveling Circus and Medicine Show tour, coming to nTelos Pavilion this Saturday night.  They bring fellow California based rock band Augustana, as well as Brooklyn rapper NOTAR (Mike Notar), who was recently signed to Duritz’s label, in support as “opening” acts. But this tour is different from the usual opening band set, followed by the headliners sets, in that all the musicians are sharing the stage, often swapping out players, sometimes all playing together, just mixing it up and having a good time. Recent shows have seen reworked originals, as well as a variety of unexpected covers, from the likes of Van Morrison, Bob Dylan, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and Woody Guthrie.  This is family friendly event, meaning you can bring the kids, with one child under 12 admitted free with each purchased adult lawn ticket ($26).  If nothing else, it sure will be interesting to see how they pull off this free form intermingling of bands over two sets of music, and on top of that, how they work a Brooklyn rapper into the mix?! For their ambition, I’m making this my show of the week.

Jerry. (Photo | jerrygarcia.com)

Which brings me back to the quote by Jerry Garcia that started this week’s Advisory. Jerome John “Jerry” Garcia would have been 68 this past Sunday, but passed away all too young at the age of 53, fifteen years ago next Monday, August 9th. Yesterday, I couldn’t help but realize that if not for him, so much of what I love in this world simply wouldn’t exist. So much of what defines me as a person, the music I listen to, my attitude towards life, my friendships, my creativity, my viewpoints. All of it. Garcia, collectively with the Grateful Dead, created three hour dreamscapes for people to experience, understand, and explore their surroundings and one another. All of it, the band, the music, and the audience intertwined on a spiritual journey, an escape, albeit for a short time, from the everyday reality to explore the world within. And on a much broader scale, this is the reason any of us go to shows at all, to be a part of something greater than ourselves, and to connect with one another in the shared landscape created by the musician, to witness a flower in their mind in full bloom. As Robert Hunter wrote, “Once in a while you get shown the light, in the strangest of places, if you look at it right.” And so I simply want to say thank you to the artist that did that for me, for teaching me why we go see live music at all.

“Magic is what we do. Music is the way we do it.”
- Jerry Garcia (1942-1995)

Other Shows of Interest:

Monday August 2nd
Death on Two Wheels/The Rocketboys/Seamonster @ 37th and Zen (Indie/Rock/Ambient)

Tuesday August 3rd
Mike Pinto/Jackmove/Burn the Radio @ H2O (Reggae/Ska/Surf)
Man Overboard @ Skate High (Pop/Punk)

Wednesday August 4th
Erykah Badu @ Chrysler Hall (Neo Soul/R&B)
Rockstar Mayhem Festival (Korn/Rob Zombie) @ Virginia Beach Amphitheater (Metal)

Thursday August 5th
O.A.R./ Citizen Cope @ nTelos Pavilion (Roots Rock/Alternative/Jamband)
Former Champions @ Doc Taylor’s Seaside Lounge (Rock/Electronic/Progressive)
Living Sacrifice/The Showdown @ Club Relevant (Metal)
Soulson and Co. @ 37th and Zen

Friday August 6th
Dave Cynar @ NorVA (Country)
The Apostles/ Born Loose/ Never Happen @ 37th and Zen

Saturday August 7th
The Legwarmers @ NorVa (80′s)
Counting Crows/Augustana @ nTelos Pavilion (Rock/Pop/Alternative)
Rookie of the Year @ Club Relevant (Indie/Emo/Pop)
City Voices/Over the Ocean @ The Boot (Rock/Alternative/Progressive)
The Fustics @ Taphouse (Americana/Rock/Indie)
Harwell Grice Band @ Music on Monarch Way (Bluegrass)

Sunday August 8th
Passafire/Thin Air Rising @ Jewish Mother (Reggae/Dub/Roots)
Anthony Hamilton/Jaheim/Kem/Raheem DeVaughn @ Virginia Beach Amphitheater (R&B/Soul/Hip-Hop)