Live music in Richmond this week

Richmond built its music scene in basements and never lost the attitude. It has outlasted every wave of city change: punk and hardcore in the 80s and 90s gave way to the current indie, hip-hop, and metal-leaning ecosystems, and the lineage still shows. The Broadberry on Broad Street is the city's anchor mid-major club: indie touring, hip-hop, alt, roots, and the occasional national act passing through. The National downtown is the bigger seated/standing room, 1,500 cap, that pulls touring acts that need a step up from club size.

The Camel covers the small-club indie and singer-songwriter slate; The Tin Pan in the West End handles seated Americana, jazz, and songwriter shows; Canal Club and Richmond Music Hall round out the mid-tier club circuit. Hardywood Park Craft Brewery has become a regular venue for outdoor shows and album-release events. The Hippodrome Theatre on Second Street is the historic Jackson Ward room. Black music history runs deep through the building, and it still hosts occasional bookings.

Richmond's musical character is hard to pin down because the city has so many simultaneous scenes. Punk and hardcore lineage threads through everything, but the working calendar spans indie, hip-hop, metal, jam, and a substantial Americana and soul contingent that draws from the wider Virginia and DC corridor. The pace is mid-week friendly: weeknight shows tend to be local-heavy with a tour stop or two threaded through. The Richmond feed on Rager covers the Broad Street strip and the West End rooms in one running list.