Live Music in Charlottesville

Members of The Weight Band standing outside in Charlottesville, Virginia.

March music comes in to Charlottesville like a pride of lions at the Jefferson Theater.

Starting on Friday, March 1 and going through Monday, March 4, the intrepid—and hardy—concertgoer can see Donna the Buffalo, The Weight Band, St. Paul & the Broken Bones, and GWAR over the course of four consecutive nights. If that schedule sounds intimidating, remember the adage: We train for this!

The four-night run begins with an Appalachian, zydeco, string band mash-up as Trumansburg, New York’s Donna the Buffalo makes yet another stampede through town. Charlottesville is a consistent stop for these jam band road warriors and the Herd—as DTB’s loyal fans are known—should be out in force.

The Empire State is represented the following evening as The Weight Band—which began in the Levon Helm Studios in Woodstock—brings the spirit of The Band to the Jefferson stage. Local heroes Koda and Marie of Chamomile & Whiskey are the openers.

Chamomile & Whiskey performing at The Jefferson Theater in Charlottesville.

We move south, to Birmingham, Alabama, for St. Paul & the Broken Bones on Sunday, March 3. This band’s revival tent R&B vibe is well-suited for a Sabbath day show, but this is a big tent where even the heathenish can get rock ‘n’ roll religion. I’ve seen them a couple of times and St. Paul, aka Paul Janeway, has a true soul shouter’s set of pipes and a stage show that James Brown would envy.

Speaking of stage shows, GWAR is bringing its sick crew of intergalactic (by way of RVA) alien monsters to the Jefferson on Monday, March 4. These Scumdogs of the Universe put on the wildest, bloodiest, funniest, raunchiest, heavy metalfest this side of Uranus. Even though late front man Dave Brockie, aka Oderus Urungus, has left this astral plane, the band still brings the full-on freak show. GWAR is like an insane art project run amok.

Disco Biscuits perform at The Jefferson in Charlottesville, Virginia

The pace at the Jefferson hardly lets up from there. Later in the month we get an evening with Dawes and Lucius (March 8), followed in quick succession by the Disco Biscuits (March 10), and Carbon Leaf (March 15).

I’ve been hearing a lot of buzz about Hermanos Gutiérrez, a sibling guitar duo whose intricate interplay evokes a mystical, shimmering Latin-tinged desertscape. Their latest album, Sonido Cosmico, was produced by Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys. They perform on Tuesday, March 19.