2022 Spring & Summer Festival Guide
(The Parade of Nations is part of Norfolk NATO Festival on Saturday, April 30 at 10 AM in Downtown Norfolk) Compiled by Staff After two years enduring pandemic restrictions, things are back to normal and everyone’s ready to get back to enjoying life. Perhaps the best...
What You Should Know About NATO
(NATO Allied Command Transformation Chief of Staff Vice Admiral Guy Robinson of the United Kingdom’s Royal Navy is stationed in Norfolk, Virginia. Photo courtesy of NATO ACT) By Jeff Maisey With Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the horrific images of its murdered...
Big Honor for Dave McDonald
(Dave McDonald’s favorite racing distance is the 10K.) By Jeff Maisey Dave McDonald of Norfolk will be inducted into the Pittsburgh Running Hall of Fame on April 30 in conjunction with the Pittsburgh Marathon weekend. “It will be cool to return to Pittsburgh for this...
Scott Jackson Talks Tattoo
(Bagpipers are a fan-favorite during the Virginia International Tattoo. Pictured in the foreground is Pipe Major Peter Grant for the Royal Regiment of Scotland - 4 Scots. Photo courtesy of Virginia Arts Festival.) By Jeff Maisey An essential ingredient each year of...
Downtowner Jack Was One of a Kind
(Jack Armistead couldn't resist a photo with this historic marker in Flagstaff, Arizona) By Jeff Maisey News of the passing of John “Jack” Armistead was announced on Facebook. Reaction from friends and acquaintances in the comments space was of shock and sadness. ...
40 Years of Festevents in Norfolk
(Crawfish and corn are a popular menu item during Festevent’s Bayou Bon Vivant) By Jeff Maisey Forty years ago, Downtown Norfolk was a very different place that it is today. The waterfront property was either vacant or in derelict condition. The crime rate was high....
NEWS: Showtime at The Pavilion in Portsmouth
(Hip-hop group Three 6 Mafia opens the 2022 season at Atlantic Union Bank Pavilion) By Jeff Maisey Concerts are back — finally — in Portsmouth, and the 2022 season will be one to remember. After a couple years of dashed hopes due to a tear in the tent top roof...
Good Sense and Good Magic
By Tom Robotham And I go on believing in the possibility of love. – Pablo Neruda Twenty years ago, during my stint as editor of Port Folio Weekly, my friend Mike Pearson suggested that I get together with one of his colleagues at Old Dominion University—poet...
ESSAY: American Studies
By Tom Robotham Thirty-five years ago—10 years after I graduated from college—I decided to go back to school to pursue a master’s degree in American Studies. At the time I had no plans to become a teacher. My decision was motivated purely by a desire to gain a deeper...
ESSAY: The Sins of Our Fathers
By Tom Robotham I know a lot of people who’ve ordered ancestry test kits like 23andMe, but I’ve never felt compelled to do so, since I already know a great deal about my family history. My mother, especially, was interested in genealogy, and when I was still very...
Joyous Sounds of The War & Treaty
By Jim Morrison Death gave birth to Michael Trotter's songwriting. Trotter, one half of the husband and wife duo The War and Treaty, was serving in the U.S. Army in Iraq after the U.S. invasion in 2003. An IED killed his captain, a man he describes as the best of us. ...
In the Round with Every Brilliant Thing
(Kathryn Hunter-Williams) By Jerome Langston “Coming out of this pandemic, where it has been such an anxious, grinding two seasons, seemed like—that’s the piece I want to visit, as we are coming back together,” says Tom Quaintance, the Producing Artistic Director of...
Resilient Zydeco
(Terrance Simien will be a Bayou Bon Vivant highlight) By Jeff Maisey Earlier this year, Zydeco music great Terrance Simien and his band were in Henderson, Nevada for an educational engagement with his Creole4Kidz program that brings the sounds and instruments...
That Latin Jazz Groove Lives On
By Jerome Langston “Besides being influenced by his artistry, the thing I inherited from my father, and what I think my sons have inherited from me, is dissatisfaction,” says Arturo O’Farrill, acclaimed leader of the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra, about his father, the...
From Ballads to Rockers, Chicago Brings a Buffet of Styles
By Jeff Maisey Talk to anyone about the music of Chicago and you’ll hear reeled-off the song title of hit after hit — “Does Anybody Really Know What Time it Is?,” “Saturday in the Park,” “”Call on Me,” “If You Leave Me Now,” “Wishing You were Here,” “Baby, What a Big...
An Album of Covers from Cowboys Junkies
By Jeff Maisey Cowboy Junkies have long been appreciated by fans for their version of cover songs they bring to the live concert stage. This spring, the alt-country band delivered a studio album of some of their and fans’ favorites. The record is titled “Songs of the...
Hamilton Star Celebrates Love and Dreams Come True
By Montague Gammon III She’s won awards, or been nominated for them, for Shakespeare and soap opera and songwriting and Off-Broadway, she’s been a Latina junkie stripper in the late 20th Century and the rapping socialite sister-in-law (and maybe secret love) of...
CLASSICAL: Sterling Elliott Takes Center Stage
(Cellist Sterling Elliott is from Newport News) By Montague Gammon III Hampton Roads natives who have gone on to excellence in some of the greatest musical venues of the world bring the achievements of two and a half centuries of musical innovators, rendered by the...
JAZZ: Stepping Out with Diana Krall
By Jim Morrison Diana Krall may be a marquee jazz singer today, but she grew up as a piano player, listening to her father's collection of 78s, never imagining more. “Oscar Peterson, Monty Alexander, and Bill Evans were the really important artists for me as a young...
Lucy Negro Redux: A Groundbreaking Ballet
By Jerome Langston The February 2019 world premiere at TPAC’s Polk Theater of Nashville Ballet’s Lucy Negro Redux, a provocative and illuminating work of contemporary ballet that embraces spoken word poetry, narration and a range of acoustic music, garnered...
The Grey Goose Turns 40
(The Grey Goose now serves brunch six days a week. Photo by Grey Goose ) By Marisa Marsey “That was really tasty,” said Phillip Epstein as he and his wife Dana exited The Grey Goose Tea Room in Downtown Hampton. “But I don’t need to go back again.” The year was 2007....
Mexican-Inspired for Cinco de Mayo
By Jeff Maisey Mexican lagers have been a favorite amongst local beer lovers, especially on Hampton Roads’ notoriously humid, hot days of spring and summer. Beer brands from South of the Border like Modelo, Dos Equis, Tecate, Cerveza Pacifico Clara have...
REVIEW: Crudo Nudo is a Delight
(A vegan’s dream come true dish. Photo courtesy of Crudo Nudo.) By Betsy DiJulio Sadly, I was late to the Crudo Nudo party. Until recently, I was under the mistaken impression that the storefront restaurant, open for four years, was charcuterie-heavy with little to...
DINING: Comforts of Ireland
(Robert McGregor Wallace, the general manager at Grace O’Malley’s, displays the house-made fish and chips. The Scotland native said, “That’s the real thing.”) Local pubs serve fish and chips and other traditional dishes By Jim Roberts There may be a friendly rivalry...
Chef Jae in Your Kitchen
(Jae Sinnett prepares everything from scratch in your kitchen. Photo by Mark Robbins By Jeff Maisey Let’s say you enjoy the good things in life and within your social circle are likeminded friends who equally appreciate the sounds of jazz, savor a select bottle of...
Twin Restaurant Weeks
(Restaurant Week is a great way to explore creative culinary creations at Mermaid Winery on Shore Drive. Photo courtesy of Mermaid Winery.) By Jeff Maisey Restaurant Weeks serve as a promotion for dining establishments during what would otherwise be a slow period and...
Benchtop Brewing Wins 2021 Golden Tap Award
(Benchtop Brewing celebrates its 3rd Golden Tap Award) Staff Report Norfolk’s Benchtop Brewing Company took home 10 medals and earned the most cumulative points to make it Veer Magazine’s 2021 Golden Tap Awards overall winner. Gold, silver and bronze medals were...
TRAVEL & DRINK: Sixteen Days in Belgium
(Wife and husband beer writers Diane Catanzaro and Chris Jones at Cafe Den Obelix in Hall, Belgium. Photo by Kate Keese.) By Diane Catanzaro and Chris Jones When you’re sitting there in your silk upholstered chair and thinking about your next beer-focused “Vayca,”...
Get a Taste of Smithfield at Red Point Taphouse
A welcoming sign in Smithfield: (L-R) Nick Hess, Julie Hess and Tim Ryan. Photo by Diane Catanzaro By Chris Jones and Diane Catanzaro Farm-to-table dining AND craft beer brewed on premises in a small-town historic building? Yes, please! If this sounds good to...
Prepare for 757 Battle of the Beers
The Garage Brewery won the last Battle of the Beers event. Photo by Eye of the Storm Photography courtesy of Beach Ambassadors. By Jeremy Bender More than 30 regional breweries will vie for this year’s 757 Battle of the Beers crown. The event is held on the grounds...
