Legwarmers Concerts: A Richmond Staple

If you’ve lived in Richmond for more than a year, then there’s no excuse for why you haven’t experienced Richmond’s favorite 80’s cover band/dance party, The Legwarmers.  They seem to come through town about 5 times a year…or perhaps whenever they’re short on cash, because they know they have a large, faithful fan base here in RVA.   

Their shows always sell out, it’s just a question of when.  This time (Friday February 15^th) they sold out the Tuesday before the show.  Sometimes it’s over a week before the show.  For a cover band to consistently sell out shows at all really says something doesn’t it?

Anyway, the most important things to remember (at least in my experience) when attending these shows and rocking out to the biggest hits from the 80’s are as follows:  1.  No 80’s outfit is too much.  Go all out.  I’ve never seen a person there who was not in some sort of 80’s gear, even if it’s people you can tell don’t like to dress up; and 2.  Unless you’re straightedge/recovering, DO NOT go to this show sober.  I made that mistake the first show I went to, and I knew I had a mistake almost immediately after walking onto the main floor (or what was once a floor…it was more like a giant puddle at that point).  If you do go sober, just be prepared to be overwhelmed by wasted people.  More so that at a normal concert. Trust me.

Most (if not all) shows are at The National (located at 708 E Broad St) and are well worth checking out…at least once a year…twice might be too exhausting :)

VCU Basketball Games: Something Every Richmonder Should Try Once…Now

So the reason “…Now” is in the title is because for many many many years, Virginia Commonwealth University basketball games were really nothing to see unless you were  a VCU student (even if you were a Richmonder, someone could’ve argued that University of Richmond games were worth seeing).  But ever since our historic run to the Final Four in 2011, each VCU home game has really become an exciting and entertaining event.

Despite the fact that I’ve been going to VCU since 2005, and even used to live up the street from the Verizon Wireless Siegel Center and therefore could’ve walked to the games and attended for free (yay for being a student right?), I still didn’t go to my first Rams men basketball game until December 2010.  I remember the month because I was just starting a new job, getting ready for New Years, and later (for a little while at least) I would become a die-hard Rams fan and defend myself in the RamNation forums against being a bandwagon fan (due to the Final Four run) by saying that I became loyal months before their NCAA tourney :)

Anyway, since the Final Four run, everything about the VCU Mens' Basketball program has only gotten better.  Watching our team play is exciting enough, with last season’s team consisting almost entirely of new players that are now exceeding expectations this season.   But there are so many more “players” involved that make game experiences so fun and awesome.

My defensiveness in the forums was due to not only loyal alumni (fans for 20-30 years) but also due to a real die-hard group of Ram fans known as The Rowdy Rams.  If you’re looking for a sit-down, quiet…relatively calm game experience, be sure to sit as far away from this group as you can.  These are the kids who deck themselves out in black and gold from head to toe and break their throats screaming chants, fight songs, and distractions during opponent free throws.  They are a big part of the show.  And they are the reinforcement your mind needs in case you ever start to doubt how proud you should be of our team or yourself for being a fan.

                        The most famous Rowdy Ram Fan, Pav.  Google him.

The cheerleaders are consistently spirited J lol but there’s not much to say about that.  And I mean no disrespect by that!  My best friend used to live with 2 of the team’s male cheerleaders so I hung out with them a bit and thought they were awesome (and mostly hilarious) and luved watching them on TV during the 2011 NCAA tournament.  They’ve since graduated.  But the squad is full of talent. 

 A welcome improvement comes from our dance team, the Gold Rush Dancers.  In the past I found it hard to watch their routines because they were so simple and repetitive.  As a former dancer, I would get frustrated that I hadn’t known about the dance team when I was younger, because not only was I confident that I would’ve made the team, I was almost positive that I would’ve become captain and helped choreograph the routines!  But this season, as a lot of their costumes grow tinier and tinier (much to the joy of male spectators) their talent shines through more and more, with more difficult and captivating dances.  I now cheer the dancers on during their half time routines (which is usually their longest performance of each game).

Our athletic band, The Peppas, became celebrities in the pep band world during the Final Four run, mostly due to their energy and offbeat characters.  Besides the infamous pep band leader who enjoys stripping down to a wife beater during games, students began to dress outlandishly in everything from American flag boxers to bikini tops.  They also lead the crowds in VCU’s most famous chants (like “You don’t want to go to waaaarrr, with the Raaaaams – don’t start no stuff won’t be no stuff” J My fav) and often come up with chants that the Rowdy Rams quickly follow.  And of course, they sound good!  So this season they continue their tradition of playing classic VCU songs as well as radio hits, dressing outlandishly, and bringing the energy to the STU.  My favorite addition so far this season is a stilts-wearing trombone player…like he’s on stilts the whole time pretty much.  Quite impressive.  Well done, sir. 

Some of The Peppas playing in the crowd - they surrounded the entire arena

The university and athletic department do everything they can with remaining time to keep the audience engaged during time outs.  They have different schools compete against each other in tug of wars or free throw shoot outs, they have selected fans come down and compete for prizes in “Minute to Win Its” and other random games, they honor servicemen, they drop prizes over the crowd, and whatever else they can think of.

The VCU mens’ basketball team has quickly become Richmond’s team, their pride, their staple.  We’ve lost our city’s hockey team, changed our city’s baseball team, and the talk of a VCU football team is growing stale.  If you want a great sports experience in our little city, then the VCU basketball games are an absolute MUST.

Here are some highlights from the games this year:

                                       Rodney gettin rowdy with the cheerleaders!

Restaurant Review: Black Sheep

As far as my experiences go, I wanted to title this post “Black Sheep:  Not Just For Brunch Anymore”, but that would be misleading.  The truth is I went there once for brunch years ago and had such a great experience that I only associated it with brunch from there on out.  What I ordered was delicious (to the point that I would think about it randomly throughout the week), the mimosa was served in an oversized “adult” kids cup (or so we called it), and it was so affordable.  Our group had a blast.  Definitely in the “Top 5 Brunches of All Time” list.  The idea of dinner didn’t even occur to me for months.  

                     My brunch obsession:  The Barn N Bay Breakfast Sandwich

But finally a few weekends ago, I got the chance to go check out Black Sheep on a Sunday night, versus a Sunday morning.

As we approached the small establishment at 901 W. Marshall Street, we noticed there wasn’t a mob of people waiting outside.  We didn’t have to wait for a table?  Well that was a welcome deviation from the usual brunch process.  

I ordered the Steak & Salad entrée, which was an 8 oz N.Y. strip steak with a “sauce vert” and came with a little arugula salad (duh, steak and salad) and roasted potatoes.  It was alright to be honest.  It wasn’t exactly cooked to perfection, but more than that I think I just don’t like strip steak.  I feel like there was more fat and gristle than meat :(  And those sides are so run-of-the-mill, there wasn’t much to make up for the steak not being awesome.  But the sauce was good! ...Yeah that’s all I got.

My friend ordered the “Saltimbocca! entrée” (I luv how the website is so excited about this dish!) which was described as “pork loin with prosciutto ham and sage in a marsala wine and tomato sauce”.  Now from that description, he thought was getting a slab of lamb with some sides, but it turned out to be served over pasta (which I guess if he knew what Isreali cous cous was, he would’ve known that).  He seemed pretty disappointed at first, but when I gave it a try, I told him he was silly!  It was a crazy combination of flavors.  I thought it was delicious, and I think after a little while he warmed up to it.

Black Sheep has a pretty good beer selection, and the wine selection is nothing special, but it’s still good.  So between our meals and the alcohol, we were too full for dessert.  I hate to say it, but in my opinion the whole experience was a bit underwhelming.  Our waitress wouldn’t even let us move from the table right in front of the door to a booth in the back (when it’s winter weather outside mind you) because she said she had to save it for a table of four….despite the fact that almost every couple there was sitting at a table for four.  The only thing that saved us was a man with a wheel chair came in who had to have a table versus a booth, so we pretty much had to move haha.  But I’m still going to go back and give dinner or at least lunch a try.  After all, Black Sheep is known for their battleship sandwiches.   And I’ve only seen those mammoth creations so far.  Still need to try one.

Ooooh Blingo

Sticky Rice has been a staple in the Richmond bar scene (and to a lesser degree, the sushi scene, believe it or not) for decades?  Besides great deal nights like Half Off Sushi night on Mondays, every Thursday night around 11:45 (sometimes midnight, sometimes 12:15, sometimes whenever) they host a little game called Blingo.

Blingo is essentially fast-paced bingo.  Not to be trite, but this ain’t your grandma’s bingo.  The host is on a mic in order to be heard over the bar noise, and they move so quickly that the more you drink the discounted vodka Redbulls and tallboys, the harder it is to keep up with everything called J At least for me.  But they still do all the classic bingo variations, like 5 in-a-row, 4 corners, inner circle, blackout (where you cover the entire board), and more. 

 

If 2 people win at the same time, there’s a challenge, which could be anything from going outside and being wrapped in toilet paper or doing push-ups (usually in warmer weather though, so don’t worry about this winter weather business) or stuffing marshmallows in your mouth and singing.  Unfortunately every time I’ve gotten a challenge it’s been food related and after my drinks I usually hate it and forfeit lol.  Which is a shame because they have some good prizes sometimes.  But most of the time it’s something delightfully tacky or funny.

 (That's a pack of 3 extensions cords and a Christmas mug full of candy..WOO!)

If you’re ever looking for something fun to do on a Thursday, especially before a three day weekend since it starts so late, go check out Blingo at Sticky Rice.  Just be sure to get there early since some nights it gets pretty packed! In my experience it’s been a random hit-or-miss on how many people are there.

Here are some photo highlights from my Blingo experiences.  Enjoy!

Hostess with the mostest giving a 5 person push-up challenge. Rare, but awesome.

 At the end of the night they used to give out a shot to their favorite table...it was always us.