If you only go see one show at the Gravity Lounge all year, then tonight (07/09) is the night to be there as the genre-defying, all-acoustic, musical maniacs the Asylum Street Spankers from Austin, Texas once again visit Charlottesville.  I saw the band’s performance at Gravity last year and it remains one of the best shows that I’ve ever seen there (and I’ve seen quite a few).

Tonight’s show at the Gravity Lounge gets underway at 8pm (but I would get there a little earlier to get a good seat) and tickets are $15 at the door.  For a little more on the Asylum Street Spankers and to see a collection video performances from the band’s live shows….

————

Where to begin?  I was first turned on to this band back in the mid 90’s when a friend of friend lit me up on the band’s debut album Spanks for the Memories (which features the band’s original ten member line-up.  From that line-up only Wammo, who plays washboard, harmonica, and sings, and founding member Christina Mars, who plays ukelele, banjo, musical saw, and also sings, remain).  I’ve been a fan ever since.

And while over the years the band’s membership has been ever-changing, the two things that have remained a constant are the Spanker’s level of musical talent and their ability to amaze live audiences wherever they go.

As for what you can expect to hear at a live Asylum Street Spankers’ show, plan on hearing it all.  There really is no other band quite like them.  But you can expect to laugh, to hoot and holler, and be thoroughly entertained.  In the end I believe this says it best:

     “A whimsical collision between ragtime, two-step parlor dances, jazz, vaudeville,
      off-color blues, hip-hop swagger, country and western - that’s the kaleidoscopic
      musical universe of the Asylum Street Spankers, one of the single best live bands
      you’ll ever see.”
                                                                                                StrongWeek.com, Portland

Go see ‘em!

Winning the War on Drugs (from the Sideshow Fez DVD)

Got My Mojo Working (live in Dallas, TX/2008)

Violent Love (live in Chicago, IL/2008)

Harp Rumble (from the Sideshow Fez DVD)

[the performances from the Sideshow Fez DVD are from 2003 and feature members of the original line-up (including Guy Forsythe on the left) but you can almost bet you’ll hear these songs tonight in all their glory!]

Popularity: 26% [?]