Friday, March 15
William Shatner documentary red carpet premiere at the Byrd Theatre
You know him, you love him. You can’t. Get. Enough of him. The original Mr. James Tiberius Kirk returns to Richmond for the premiere of the new documentary, “You Can Call Me Bill,” which is all about, you guessed it. The head honcho. The big cheese. Numero uno. William “Rocket Man” Shatner. Tickets start at $50 and range to $1,500 (we’re hoping that includes an actual trip into space with Shatner, but it probably doesn’t). Visit Galaxycon for more info. General admission time: 8 p.m. Go here for tix.
David Spade at Dominion Energy Center for the Performing Arts
Test those sarcasm knobs, make sure everything is working. The former “Just Shoot Me” and “SNL”-alum and movie actor from mainstream comedies like “Joe Dirt,” “Black Sheep” and “Tommy Boy” delivers his Catch Me Inside tour to Richmond. 8 p.m. Buh-bye.
Saturday, March 16
The Irish Festival at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church (Saturday and Sunday)
A time-honored fest that features a load of vendors, people, bands, beer and those all-important bagpipers. It benefits many local organizations including Child Savers, Richmond Hill, the Church Hill Association, Fulton Neighborhood Resource Center, Church Hill Boys and Girls Club and many more. Free to enter but suggested donation is $5. Runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. There’s free parking with a shuttle at 16th and East Broad Street, with drop-off at 24th and East Broad St. and 26th and East Broad St. The shuttles run all day, both days. Also, pets are not allowed, except for service dogs.
Municipal Waste with Ghoul, Necrot, Dead Heat, Public Acid
A powerful night of thrash and death metal at the National that should bring out the faithful. Familiar frontman, Tony Foresta, returns to his old stomping ground on the Brainsqueeze tour with three California bands. Also, don’t miss the North Carolina/Richmond-based Public Acid, whose latest record is a legit fire tornado, the kind that can melt you and your ride into the pavement and ruin the town’s groundwater supply for at least a decade. All-ages show. 6:30 p.m.
Wanda Sykes at Dominion Energy Center’s Carpenter Theater
Nominated for two Emmy awards last year, veteran comedian and actor Wanda Sykes brings her Please & Thank You tour to Richmond and will perform two shows at 5 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Visit here for ticket info.
Sunday, March 17
Loving, Fog Lake at Richmond Music Hall
Fluid. Spontaneous. The language that surrounds the dreamy folk of British Columbia-based musicians and longtime friends Jesse Henderson and David Parry – known together as Loving – could lull you into thinking their songs happen by accident. Even the title of the album the duo released in February, “Any Light,” sounds decidedly breezy. But make no mistake: There’s a gift for classic songcraft in every moment of “Any Light,” in addition to tasteful, enveloping arrangements whose warmth invites you in for the musical equivalent of a hot beverage. The duo, whose members met while on a temporary tree-planter job in Western Canada, will take the stage at Richmond Music Hall on Sunday. Fog Lake will also perform. Doors open at 7 p.m and music starts at 8 p.m. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased at thebroadberry.com. –Davy Jones
Oh, and because we can never resist posting this cult video from the 1970s whenever William Shatner’s name is mentioned …
Brent Baldwin (Style Weekly): Those leaked VHS tape copies of the “Rocket Man” cover from 1978. That’s such a quirky distillation of the ’70s for some of us. Do you remember what was going through your head during that interstellar performance?
William Shatner: “My recollection is that it was an in-house moment at a small award show [the 1978 Science Fiction Film Awards]. They asked me to do a number like that. I thought, ‘There are three rockets here: Rock it. Rocket!’ and then there was a third one, I can’t think of it now [We assume Rockette]. So I tried doing all three at once. It was just experimental and something for the immediate audience. Well somebody stole it, and it got out there, and it’s preceded me ever since.”
