Brooklyn meets Blacksburg

In a town where no actual dedicated music venues exist, bands have been under the mercy of bar owners, restaurant owners, basements and anyone who has access to an empty space where they can share their music with show-goers and music enthusiasts. “We need all the venues we can get”, says Bastards of Fate bassist Jason Wells, referring to the scarcity of venues in the area.

Ceritano’s first opened its doors to the public as a traditional Italian Restaurant by day, but lately it has also been providing a home for performances by local bands and touring bands at night. By creating one more option for bands to host their shows, Blacksburg has been quite grateful.

Even though there are fixed performance nights at several downtown bars such as Jazz night at the Cellar and Re:Fill at the Rivermill, punk bands have a difficult time finding places that will be able to handle their noisy amps. Having been to quite a few shows in Blacksburg, I have noticed a divide between punk bands and almost every other kind of bands, where it seems to be a lot harder for punk bands to find venues because there is never really a guarantee as to how many people will show up to watch us play.” Indeed there is no guarantee, but that might be because the public in Blacksburg has not yet been exposed to everything this town has to offer musically.

While many college students might be still hung up on the next Sublime cover band that plays regularly at a Sports bar because it seems like the next best thing to going to an actual live Sublime show, they might just be missing out on some original material that local and touring bands that don’t get the coverage they deserve are bringing to the table.

Two Brooklyn based bands are currently on tour and will be making their way into the streets in Blacksburg soon. The Gay Blades is an indie band that has recently played in the legendary South by Southwest Festival this past March in Austin, TX alongside very well-know performers such as the Buzzcocks, Balkan Beat Box and Kid Koala. As the plan is for most big festivals, the big names are usually only there for turnout, in hopes of helping music savvy fans to discover some hidden gems in the music industry. Noise rock band boy/girl is currently signed to New York-based label Ace Fu Records, also home to The Fatales, formerly of Blacksburg, VA. Virginia Tech alumni and drummer for boy/girl Lisa Cusak says that she is looking forward to visiting Blacksburg again on July 6th.

The last time these two bands came through Blacksburg was when they performed at the WUVT Alumni Homecoming show at the Haymarket Theater in Squires during the spring semester. Boy/girl vocalist Eric Stiner says, “It was awesome playing in Blacksburg. We showed up to the student center hung out a bit and all the kids seemed really cool. There was a really cool vibe... we love playing at universities. The indie rock scene is usually much more cohesive than in the cities we play. The show was in a tough spot during finals or something. We hope to get more people out this time around. “ Despite the weak welcome they received, they have both thankfully decided to try Blacksburg once again this summer.

The third band scheduled to play this event is actually from Roanoke, but the band seems to reach a consensus about their level of comfort in Blacksburg, “Blacksburg is our second home, we feel as though we get a lot support there.” Doug Cheatwood and the Bastards of Fate is a melodramatic pop band, notorious for their controversial stage antics involving styrofoam peanuts and flying pieces of fabric. Band bassist Jason Wells says that he is looking forward to playing with both Brooklyn bands and is interested in seeing what this mix of genres will offer, “we’re psyched to see some bands from Brooklyn.”

The Gay Blades and boy/girl will be performing with Roanoke band Doug Cheatwood and the Bastards of Fate at Ceritano’s in Blacksburg, VA on Friday, July 6th. Doors open at 7:30pm and admission is $3 per person at the door.

Note: This article has also been cross-published at Planet Blacksburg.