Virginia ABC Stores Reduce Hours
The Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority (ABC) will reduce operating hours at all of its stores statewide beginning Friday, March 27, due to the expanding nature of the COVID-19 outbreak. Like the reduced store hours already in place for 24 Virginia ABC...
NATO Staffer Tests Presumptive Positive in Norfolk
MARCH 22: A staff member at NATO’s Allied Command Transformation, headquartered in Norfolk, Virginia, has identified as “presumptive positive” on clinical grounds for the Coronavirus (COVID-19), marking the first potential case at the Command. The individual is in...
Utopian Visions and Harsh Realities
By Tom Robotham Much of the discussion about socialism…is entirely pointless, because of the failure to agree on terminology. ~ Theodore Roosevelt. In today’s political arena, no word is bandied about more carelessly than “socialism.” Diehard supporters...
The Future of Journalism
By Tom Robotham Recently I had the opportunity to moderate a panel discussion on the state of journalism. The event was timely. That very day, news had broken that The Virginian-Pilot building had been sold to a condo developer, and that longtime PBS news...
2020 Veer Music Awards Results
(Anthony Rosano & The Conqueroos, pictured with Bob Seger at Madison Square Garden, won the live performance and blues categories. Photo courtesy of the band.) By Jeff Maisey On Tuesday night, The Vanguard Brewpub in Hampton hosted the 2020 Veer Music Awards —...
Move Over 757, Here Comes the 948
The State Corporation Commission (SCC) announced today that the North American Numbering Plan Administrator (NANPA) has assigned a new area code to the Hampton Roads region. The new 948 area code will relieve the future exhaustion of phone numbers in Virginia’s 757...
The Trouble with The 757
By Tom Robotham When you hear the name Nashville, what comes to mind? It’s safe to say that “country music” would be a common response. How about New York? Broadway, perhaps, or Wall Street. Likewise, mention Los Angeles, and most people will think,...
Black History Year-round: Who Are we?
BY JOHN L. HORTON “A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.” — Marcus Garvery “Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we have been waiting for. We are the...
2020 Vision
By Tom Robotham If I had to choose one event of 2019 that symbolizes the year now winding down it would be the near-collapse of Notre Dame after a fire broke out in the cathedral last April. For me, and for millions of other people, it was a heartbreaking...
ANNOUNCEMENT: Veer Music Awards Photo Categories
Veer Music Awards: Photography Categories We are now accepting submissions in photography categories to be considered for nomination in the upcoming Veer Music Awards. Photography Categories: Live and Posed. Live photos are of a band/musician performing at a...
MUSIC: Back on the Road with Blackberry Smoke
(Blackberry Smoke brings its special blend of hard Southern rock to Portsmouth. Photo by Joe Lopez.) By Jim Morrison For Charlie Starr, the frontman of Blackberry Smoke, being off the road after two decades touring -- and making a living -- with his band was the...
THEATER PREVIEW: The Earth Remembers
(Puppets, including this giraffe, featured in Earth Remembers were built by Black Light Puppet Theatre.) A world premiere collaboration at Virginia Stage brings people and history together By Montague Gammon III A hip-hop history of Hampton Roads, a one hour song...
MUSIC: Styx Returns with Prog Rock Gem
(Styx: Chuck Panozzo, Ricky Phillips, Todd Sucherman, Tommy Shaw, James “JY” Young, Lawrence Gowan. Photo by Rick Diamond) By Jeff Maisey It may still be the best of times for classic rock band Styx. The group will perform August 10 inside Chartway Arena on the...
ART: Women Amplified
(April Bey, And I’m Calm, Calculated and Perfectly Aligned, 2020, Watercolor, drawing, acrylic paint, epoxy resin, hand-sewn African fabric, oil impasto, 40 x30 inches. Courtesy of the artist.) By Betsy DiJulio Virginia MOCA’s unabashed embrace of women-identifying...
ART: A Complete Picture of Alma Thomas
(Alma Thomas, Red Azaleas Singing and Dancing Rock and Roll Music) By Betsy DiJulio We have probably all said it: “That’s a Picassso,” or “That’s a Faith Ringgold.” But the work is not the artist and the artist is not the work. The work is the tip of the human...
REVIEW: Jae Sinnett Trio, “Altered Egos”
The Jae Sinnett Trio “Altered Egos” (J-Nett Music) Jazzman Jae Sinnett has a new studio recording, suburban home, and culinary video show. All are relevant here as Sinnett’s trio brings the house on “Altered Egos,” a 10-song album that’s absolutely cooking. ...
MUSIC REVIEWS: Every King & Commoner/Reptile Tile and more
Every King & Commoner “Pioneers! Oh, Pioneers!” (Self-Release) Look out! Every King & Commoner are back in a big way with their long-awaited, epic sounding album, “Pioneers! Oh, Pioneers!.” “Money” was the first track released to the public in the form of a...
ART: Work in Progress Impresses
(Jowarnise Caston, Tangled Roots) By Betsy DiJulio George’s Floyd’s death last summer, the resulting Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests and counterprotests, and the aftermath, which continues to reverberate, have been the catalysts for all kinds of conversations...
Re-Experiencing The Dark Side of the Moon
(Pink Floyd’s landmark album “The Dark Side of the Moon” remained on Billboard’s Top Album chart for 957 weeks.) By Jeff Maisey On July 1, Black Jacket Symphony — a full rock band with strings — will perform Pink Floyd’s landmark album “The Dark Side of the Moon” in...
MUSIC: Free Cracker Concert
(Cracker members Johnny Hickman and David Lowery rehearse. Photo by Bradford Jones) By Jeff Maisey Alt-country outfit Cracker will be one of the first national level concerts to hit Hampton Roads since the pandemic shut large event gatherings down, and best of all...
Craft Beer: Aug/Sept Releases & Seasonals
Compiled by Staff Each month we’ll turn you on to the scheduled new release and seasonal beers on tap at our regional breweries. Often there is some fanfare, party atmosphere connected to release dates at the brewery. O’Connor Brewing Company:...
FOOD REVIEW: Los Cuates Taqueria & Tienda
By Joe Lowrey Luis Sanchez is an energetic fellow. He scurries through the aisles at Los Cuates Taqueria, head on a swivel, soaking in every detail and checking out the action at the tables. From across the crowded room he sees the kitchen door swing open and catches...
Copper Fox Distillery Expands To Williamsburg
By Jim Roberts Aside from the pleasing assonance of the name “Copper Fox,” the Sperryville-based distillery draws its name from the metal its stills are made of and the fact that it was founded in the heart of the commonwealth’s fox-hunting region. “Foxes are pretty...
Grace O’Malley’s: Norfolk’s Irish Pub
By Jim Roberts Martin Marron is adamant that opening Grace O’Malley’s Irish Pub & Restaurant in downtown Norfolk is not the culmination of a life-long dream. “It was—years ago,” he said after giving a tour of the nearly finished surroundings (Official grand...
Virginia Beach Gordon Biersch Celebrates 10th Anniversary
By Jeff Maisey When Gordon Biersch opened its brewpub in Virginia Beach Town Center ten years ago, a much need void was filled for consumers looking for freshly brewed beer in the resort city. Since then, of course, a sea change has occurred and the craft beer craze...
Coastal Virginia Beer Trail Launched to Boost Tourism
By Jeremy Bender The Hampton Roads area craft breweries now have an official beer trail dubbed Coastal Virginia Beer Trail at COVAbeertrail.com. The site – with the tagline “Where craft beer and water meet – is designed largely as a tool for tourists and...
Rip Rap Brewing: 757’s Newest Brewery
Words by Diane Catanzaro and Chris Jones Photos by Chris Jones Living in the 757, we are all familiar with the Navy’s ubiquitous presence, but we may not be so “in the know” about America’s “fifth military service,” the Coast Guard. Created in 1790 by George...
Common Grounds Beer Festival
By Jeff Maisey There are so many craft beer festivals these days. Finding a way to stand out from the field is becoming increasing difficult. Enter a newly hatched festival scheduled for Saturday, May 14. It’s called Common Grounds, a collaborative brewers’ festival....
O’Connor Scores Bronze at World Beer Cup
By Jeff Maisey The Brewers Association held its World Beer Cup awards presentation on May 6 in Philadelphia, and Norfolk’s O’Connor Brewing Company took home a bronze trophy for its O’Connor Dry Irish Stout in the Classic Irish-style Dry Stout category. Nearly 6,600...
Commemorating 500th Anniversary of The Reinheitsgebot
By Jeff Maisey April 23 marks the 500th anniversary of the Reinheitsgebot, famously known as the German Purity Law regulating the ingredients used in the production of beer. Those ingredients, of course, are water, barley and hops. The original purpose was to prevent...
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