I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that the Rockit Room reminds me of a kind of blue collar Bimbo’s Club 365. Stay with me here: both clubs are relatively remote—while also being in close proximity to great dim-sum; both have an amazing sound system with capable engineers (i.e. they’re great places to hear music and, I imagine, perform); and both clubs have bookers who are devoted to good, original music (a short note on the cover bands that play Bimbos- you can bet the farm that Toby don’t have anything to do with it).
J Thackery is no stranger to the Mission Creek festival. After years of booking the Make-Out Room, she was instrumental in bringing MCMF shows to the Richmond this year. Given the festival’s growth it seems only appropriate that venues in other areas of the city are in on the action. There’s even a show at the Li Po Lounge in Chinatown.
Photo by: Debra Zeller
Saturday’s bill at the Rockit Room was an all day affair. Early in the evening I caught the local band Love Is Chemicals and their dreamy guitar wash sounded great, especially through that swanky PA. At one point I closed my eyes and pictured a Disintegration-era Robert Smith fronting a band of whip-smart ne’r-do-wells from Hoboken.
Photo by: Monica
Later the Parson Red Heads– all eight of them- took the stage. Each has a different “Parsonâ€? character- example, drummer “Clicker Parsonâ€?- and wears all white with a red cravat. They do catchy folk rock that reminds me of two bygone bands who also came from LA: the Byrds and the Monkees. Their set had a ton of energy and at one point there were three band members devoted solely to the tambourine.
DJ Cactus closed the night with another typically genius set of songs. He might the only DJ in America who could play Elvis Costello into Lulu in dub reggae and have it make perfect sense.
