It’s once again another Monday.  I hope you were able to stay dry this weekend.  The rain and storms put a damper on The 30th Annual Norfolk Jazz Festival.  Friday night was cut short and Saturday’s performances were canceled.  Hold on to that Saturday ticket because it will be honored at next year’s festival. 

I started out my weekend at The NorVA Friday night.  Kishi Bashi played a brilliant set as did his opener, The Aragona Project.  The show was put together at the last minute after previous headliner, Passion Pit, canceled the date and both Kishi and Aragona did not disappoint.  Getting an extended set, AP pleased the crowd with their modern beach sound and even debuted a new song.  In fact the song is so new that it doesn’t even have a title.  You can check it for yourself here:

It was also a proud moment in my short parental history.  This was the first concert for my little 3 year old rock star son, Carson.  He was so pumped all day about going, saying “Is it time to go to the rock’n'roll show daddy?” about 30 times.  He loved every second of it and didn’t want to leave when the show was over.  Don’t worry, son, there will be many shows in your future.

Saturday night, Katie Collett’s husband, Will, and I headed out in the rain to Farm Bureau Live to rock out to The Mötley Crüe and KISS show.  A show it definitely was.  There was some concern about whether or not the show would even go on because of the weather but a little lightning isn’t going to stop The God Of Thunder from performing.  If you’ve never seen KISS live, it’s always worth the price of admission.  The makeup, the pyro, the fake blood and Paul saying Virginia Beach about 30 times, it’s always a blast.  They did have to cut their set short due to the fact that it started late because of the weather and the 11p curfew but they certainly rocked every minute they had.  I will say I think Mötley had the overall better show.  It was really neck and neck but Tommy Lee’s roller coaster of the love might have just put them over the top.

At the show I ran into Seven Ten Oil’s Les Moseley and chatted with him for a bit and if you remember back in 2010 they won a battle to open up for KISS and this Saturday at The NorVA they will battle once again, this time for Buckcherry.  710 Oil, 180 Out, Dirty Rock, Gypside, One Among Us and Pillbuster will battle it out in rock’n'roll fashion.  The top two with the most votes from the audience will open up for Buckcherry at their NorVA show Saturday, August 18.  Tickets for the battle are just $10.  You can connect any members of the bands for tickets or you can hit up the Norfolk Jewish Mother or The NorVa box office.  All this week  I’ll be previewing each band to get you prepped and ready for the show.  Tomorrow I’ll showcase Gypside and One Among Us.  This is going to be a great showcase of local music, so you don’t want to miss it.