Massachusetts metal band Shadows Fall roars into The Village. The band claims before “the so-called ‘New Wave of American Heavy Metal’ was even a ripple, Shadows Fall were there.” Emerging from Springfield in 1995, they have hit the heights of the heavy metal world: two Grammy nominations and even a tune on Guitar Hero. Joining the band for their Little Rock stop are Relapse Records artist and North Little Rock heavy metal outfit Rwake, Little Rock hardcore metal band A DarkEnd Era, and Arkansas hardcore metal outfit And the Angels Were Silent. The doors open at 6:30 p.m. with the music at 7:30 p.m. General admission tickets are $12 in advance and $15 at the door.
Atlanta band Gringo Star returns to Sticky Fingerz. The fuzzed-out guitar, psychedelic-fueled, stammering-garage-rock playing band are a favorite of local crowds. And while the ban’s debut album, All Y’All, is a catchy collection of garage rock gems, it is at the quartet’s live show where they shine, trading instruments and cranking out infectious rock. Conway folk rockers This Holy House and newish Little Rock indie rock band Catskill Kids are the opening acts, with the music starting at 9 p.m. Cover is $7 for the 21-and-up show.
Veara’s game is pop punk: infectious, fun-loving rhythms with terror-invoking drumming and razor-sharp guitar riffs. The Georgia foursome released What We Left Behind, an album that pays homage to New Found Glory and Blink 182 while breaking new ground, earlier this year. Now on tour, the act visits The Village. The opening acts are Michigan progressive post-hardcore act I Am Abomination, Hot Springs progressive rock act Stereo Sound and Little Rock rock band The Supporting Cast. Doors open at 7 p.m. with the music at 7:30 p.m. General admission tickets are $8 in advance and $10 at the door.
Neckbroke Entertainment and Downtown Music presents Synfest V. The two-day event kicks off Friday with a lineup featuring Between Crows & Thieves, Eddie and the Defiantz, Das Gift, A Plea For Mercy, Land of Mines, Wishtribe and Driven to Madness. Saturday night will include music from Evacuate the City, Bolt, Sh*tfire, Iron Ton, Knee Deep, Sychosys and A DarkEnd Era. Each band will play a 30-minute to 40-minute set. Doors open at 6 p.m. with the music at 7 p.m. both nights, and cover is $7 per day. Downtown Music will also feature door prizes and drink specials both nights, and the kitchen will be open.
Here’s Gringo Star with the title track to their All Y’All album:
The list of famous artists from Idaho is relatively short. In fact, really short. And Built to Spill are probably the Gem State’s biggest musical export. But after a summer spent opening for Kings of Leon (no word on what pigeons thought of Built to Spill), Built to Spill is headlining their own shows with their three-axe indie rock attack, including at stop at The Village. General admission tickets are $20 advance and $25 at the door with the doors opening at 7:30 p.m. and the music at 8:30 p.m.. The opening acts are fellow Idaho band Finn Riggins and central Arkansas’ own rockers Underclaire.
Los Angeles alternative metal act Otep, fronted by Otep Shamaya (You think they made that Otep name up?), returns to The Village with their Spectacular Massacre Tour, delivering a vicious right uppercut of their “Smash the Control Machine” music along with spoken word, poetry and nu metal sounds. Joining the band will be the dark, industrialized synthpop rock of Canada outfit The Birthday Massacre, Ohio metalcore band Beneath the Sky and Canadian death metal band The Agonist. Local support will be provided by Conway melodic death metal outfit Poisonwood. The doors open at 6:30 p.m. with the music starting at 7 p.m. General admission tickets are $15 advance and $19 at the door.
I hear Warbeast and immediately think of a blood-thirsty grizzly bear riding an angry great white shark. But Warbeast is also the name of the Dallas thrash metal act visiting The Village. And get this: The band isn’t even the headliner, that would be South Carolina death metal band Through the Eyes of the Dead. Joining the fun will be Tennessee death metal group Enfold Darkness, and North Carolina progressive death metal band Wrath and Rapture. Local support will be provided by El Dorado death metal band Once Exiled. The doors open at 6:30 p.m. with the music at 7 p.m. General admission tickets are $10 advance and $14 at the door.
The wait is over for fans of power pop rock trio The Reds, as the outfit releases their second Max Recordings effort: Welcome to Stifft Station. The spare rockers are holding a CD release party at White Water Tavern, being joined by Memphis rockers Dragoon, featuring guitarist and vocalist Bobby Matthews of Little Rock punk legends Trusty.
A collection of comics, including Chris Tucker’s brother Dexter Tucker, visit Robinson Center Music Hall for the Comedy Explosion 2010 tour. Other comics include Bo-P, Rodney Perry and Pierre. The laughs start at 8 p.m. with tickets $34.05, $44.35 and $49.50.
Jacksonville’s Dupree Park will rock as the Jacksonville Parks & Recreation sponsors its first ever Rock’n the Park. The music begins at noon and continues through 10 p.m. with a number of local, heavy rock bands, including Eddie and the Defiantz, Land of Mines, Fiatlux, Livid, Finding Jimmy Hoffa, Body Drop, Knee Deep, A Darkend Era, and Between Crows and Thieves. The best part? It’s free. Although donations will be accepted to benefit the Jacksonville Boys & Girls Club. Concession will be provided by Chili’s, and the event will be emceed by Big Rock 93.3 DJ Blake Woodson.
Here’s Warbeast in action with “Scorched Earth Policy”:
The electronica method of The Crystal Method is actually the duo of Ken Jordan and Scott Kirkland, two Las Vegas boys who founded the group in Los Angeles in the early ’90s. About 17 years later, the duo have made a name for themselves through their music work in commercials, TV shows, films and video games, along with their thumping-breaks-and-big-beat live show. The duo visit The Village on their Divided By Night Tour, and local support will be provided by a host of Little Rock’s best electronica artist, including Sleepy Genius, Justin Sane, Ewell, Paul Grass and Andy Sadler along with a Dub Room featuring Digital Love, Sleek, Wolf E Wolf and Stepchild. The music starts at 8 p.m. with tickets $20 advance and $25 at the door.
Introspective country, high-energy rock and Americana ballads come together with a visit from Fayetteville act Matt Stell & the Crashers at Sticky Fingerz. The band, led by central Arkansas native Stell, is as much Lynyrd Skynyrd as Willie Nelson on their debut album, The Sound & the Story. There’s no announced opening act, but the music will start at 9:30 p.m. with a $5 cover for the 21-and-up show.
Here’s The Crystal Method with their “Name of the Game”:
Kansas heavy rock band Seasons After, who are riding high on the success of their cover version of Gerard McMann’s “Cry Little Sister,” bring their mainstream rock to The Village with a bill that includes California punk-infused metal group 2Cents and Las Vegas heavy metal act Taking Dawn. Local support is supplied by Finding Jimmy Hoffa, a five piece concerned with creating hard-charging slices of heavy rock-flavored Southern grunge. The doors open at 6:30 p.m. with the music at 7 p.m. General admission tickets are $10 advance and $15 at the door.
Here’s Season After in action with “Cry Little Sister”:
The Point 94.1 and the Little Rock Zoo are on a “Mission from God.” What does that mean besides the obvious The Blues Brothers connection? We’re not quite sure. We do know that “Joliet” Jake Blues or the rest of the Blues Brothers band will not be appearing at the Zoo at noon as Sister Deborah reveals Point DJs Mike Kennedy and Sharpe Dunaway’s particular mission from God. Beyond the big reveal, expect free ice cream from Coleman Dairy, although you got to pay the regular Zoo admission to enter.
Former Deadboy & the Elephantmen lead singer, guitarist and songwriter Dax Riggs has a new solo album, Say Goodnight to the World, scheduled for release on Fat Possum Records on Aug. 3. But three days before the release of the album Riggs, known for his blistering melodic blues rock with a punkish gallop, will visit Juanita’s. Expect neo-blues rock crossed with sludge metal. (Riggs fronted Louisiana sludge band Acid Bath.) Tickets for the July 31 show are $10 with the music starting at 9 p.m. with Little Rock’s Badhand, a newish trio consisting of Aaron Copeland and former members of An Orangutan.
Luster is the Little Rock rock quartet that has existed for quite a while. Like six years a while. But since the start of 2010, the trio of guitarist Chris Hemphill, drummer Mark Gorbet and bassist Jeff Teague have been fronted by Amie Jo Bishop and her siren-impressing lungs. Expect a shot of rock when the band visits the Town Pump, headlining a show featuring another Little Rock rock band in Flash LaRue. The music starts at 9 p.m. with a $3 cover.
The Little Rock alternative rock act Kingsdown released their newest, self-titled album at Revolution Music Room in June. Now the band which delivers an energetic alternative rock sound built upon their faith and lyrics of love and hope, return, playing a show with progressive rockers The Unbearable Hand Fate Dealt and special guest Bobgoblin, a semi-legendary band formed in Denton, Texas, in 1993 who reform every once and awhile to play their version of punk meets New Wave. The doors open at 7 p.m. with the music at 8 p.m. Advance tickets are $7 for 21 and over, and $10 for 20 and under for the all-ages show.
Ohio speed metal act Mobile Deathcamp brings their The Last Thrash Metal Fest to The Village along with Denver heavy metal group Iconocaust. Of note to local metalheads are the number of local band opening the show: Arkansas metal act A Trail of Sin, Conway melodic death metal outfit Poisonwood, Heber Springs death metal outfit ShadowVein, Arkansas doom and gloom black metal group Fallen Empire, Little Rock hardcore metal band A DarkEnd Era (formerly known as A Darkened Era) and Little Rock hardcore metal act Dying Breath. The doors open at 6 p.m. with headbanging at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $15 advance and $17 at the door.
The last time Eric Church came to Little Rock in September 2009 he was a country artist steadily building on the success of his debut country album and its three Top 20 hits by releasing his sophomore album Carolina. (He’s a North Carolina native.) It was a club date, before Carolina spawned the Top 10 country hits “Love Your Love the Most” and “Hell on the Heart.” Now Church returns to Little Rock, playing Riverfest Amphitheatre on an up-and-coming country artists bill presented by KSSN 96, including Georgia country singer/songwriter Luke Bryan, whose “Rain Is a Good Thing” topped the country charts earlier this year; Mr. “Boots On” country artist Randy Houser; and Whiskey Meyers, a Texas band that matches blues rock with Texas country. Gates open at 5:30 p.m. with the music at 6:30 p.m. Lawn seats are $25 advance and $29.50 day of show with reserved seats and general admission pit tickets $35. The amphitheatre box office opens 5 p.m. day of show. Whiskey Meyers will also play an after party at Revolution Music Room at 9 p.m. with cover $5 for the 18-and-up show, and free for the 21-and-over crowd with a Riverfest concert ticket.
New Orleans rap with No Limits/Young Money roots arrives at The Village with a visit from Curren$y, the rapper, who after making a name for himself with a series of mixtapes, just released his Pilot Talk, a 13-track collection of Southern rap produced (mostly) by Ski Beatz and featuring Mos Def and Snoop Dogg among others. Curren$y won’t be alone at The Village, with Kansas bred hip hop artist XV; the creators of “Whooty,” EDubb; and Houston hip hop artist Kevin Jack. Local support is offered by Arkansas hip hop artist Joe Average and Little Rock’s 4X4 Crew. The doors open at 7:30 p.m. with the music at 8 p.m. General admission tickets are $15 advance and $20 at the door.
Sticky Fingerz delivers a knockout dose of local music, with the triple shot of the hard-charging indie rock power trio The See; Sweet Eagle, the Little Rock rock ‘n’ roll outfit with Alan Disaster, frontman of defunct punk rock outfit Smoke Up Johnny, on vocals and members of Brother Andy & His Big Damn Mouth and American Princes; and the sweaty and loud rock ‘n’ roll of Wicked Good, just one of several of David Slade’s side projects. The music starts at 9:30 p.m. with cover $6 for the 21-and-up show.
Here’s Eric Church with “Love Your Love the Most”:
Here’s how New York indie electro folk artist Setting Sun describes their (really Gary Levitt and friends) music: “A psychedelic stew of electro-folk, pop, orchestral string backing with soft vocals and heavy drums,” The group’s fourth full-length release is the June album Fantasurreal, a collection of songs “that are urgently melodic and instantly classic.” The band visits Revolution Music Room. Opening the show will be Levitt’s cello player Quitzow with her electro pop musings. No cover has been listed for the show, but the music is listed to start at 8 p.m. for the all-ages show.
After a spring 2009 visit to central Arkansas opening for Nickelback at Verizon Arena Southern hard rock band Saving Abel, whose song “Addicted” from their debut album hit No. 2 on Billboard’s Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks, is returning for a headlining gig at The Village. The band’s sophomore release is the June album Miss America, which has spawned the Top 10 mainstream rock hit “Stupid Girl (Only In Hollywood).” Presented by 100.3 The Edge, one of the opening acts is We Are the Fallen, the Los Angeles band featuring central Arkansas natives John LeCompt, Ben Moody and Rocky Gray. We Are the Fallen is the trio along with American Idol season seven finalist Carly Smithson on vocals and bassist Marty O’Brien, a quintet that creates energetic yet darkly colored symphonic heavy rock. Additional openers include Southern hard rockers American Bang and New York bluesy, grunge-y rockers Sugar Red Drive. The doors open at 6:30 p.m. with the music at 7:30 p.m. General admission tickets are $21 advance and $25 at the door.
Here’s Setting Sun with their video to “No Devil Me No More”:
