Lord Nelson - Fridays After Five

FRIDAYS AFTER FIVE - BUD LIGHT CONCERT SERIES

Lord Nelson - Dirty Funk n Roll - Free Show

A few years back, when brothers Kai and Bram Crowe-Getty launched Lord Nelson, it was an informal gathering of friends hanging out and jamming at field parties, in old houses and barns in rural Nelson Country, VA, on the outskirts of Charlottesville. Now, with a shift in gears from Americana to soul-fired New Southern Rock featuring greasy trombone, backbone bass and dirty south guitar and other explosive elements, the five-piece unit is hightailing it constantly up and down the East Coast and South to the tune of 150 shows a year – and heading West this year out to Colorado and New Mexico. If you spot their 15 passenger 2007 Ford Econoline heading towards you, train your eyes and ears on the “Tail Lights” –their latest rock-roaring track and lead single from their new full-length album Through the Night.

Like a lot of indie bands that show great initial potential but hit rough patches full of stops, starts and revolving doors until the perfect lineup solidifies, Lord Nelson went through a lot of changes on its way to becoming a force in indie rock. The Crowe-Getty Brothers began tapping into their deeper potential in 2015 when through various lineups they finally found a crew to take on the road. Their original Americana foundation shifted dramatically with the addition of trombonist and keyboardist Henry Jones, whose background included blues, soul and ska bands. Bram left the group in the summer of 2017 for other pursuits and was replaced behind the kit by Johnny (Parachute) Stubblefield. The current recording and touring lineup includes Jones, his brother Calloway Jones on guitar and bassist Andrew Hollifield.

In addition to releasing their debut album The County, they won the 2015 Rockn’ to Lockn’ Charlottesville battle of the bands and performed on the mainstage at the Lockn’ Festival. Written on the road while playing 100+ shows in 2016 and recorded between tours, Through the Night is an edgy and explosive, provocative yet infectious 10-track set that speaks to the late nights and long drives that took place as Lord Nelson evolved from local act to popular touring entity. “We recorded with producer Dave Stipe of Rockfish Music in a barn out in the foothills of the Blue Ridge,” Kai says. “Here, we crafted songs from various points in the road into a cohesive statement. The recording process was great and allowed us to bring in several friends to participate to lend their skills to the tracks.”

Onstage, Lord Nelson is all about making sure they bring their fans a high energy “Good Time” – a slow burning, lighthearted horn kissed track that references Tom Petty – and launching into anthem-like singalongs like the poignant yet ultimately optimistic “Second Chances.  Yet the band reaches even more powerful heights on the socially conscious tracks that perfectly capture the zeitgeist while offering their take on events very close to home. In the wake of Charlottesville deadly “Unite the Right” rally last August, Kai wrote the cleverly titled “Southern Discomfort” to express his surprise and dismay that his home region is the focal point for the emergence of latent racism, those showing their “true colors.” He’s optimistic that, “they say she’s going to rise again, but she ain’t coming back my friend.”

Henry Jones wrote the mid-tempo blues soul ballad “Safety Meeting” to reflect the chaos of the 2016 election and its polarized rhetoric – with pointed references to both white supremacy and the police shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO. At its heart the song is a call to “do something, but don’t just sit there and complain and keep fighting the powers that be.”  

“The scattered nature of the year we spent tracking this record reflected the changes in personnel within the band and the growing pains of expanding our goals,” says Kai. “Now we have a killer lineup ready to hit the road this summer and beyond. Through the Night is a massive group achievement created with a lot of contributions from our friends, like big tent thing, but the next project will be more of a live in the studio, streamlined recording by the core band.”  

The goal of the Sprint Pavilion is to provide a safe, enjoyable environment for all of our patrons, our performers, and our staff. With that in mind, beginning in 2018, we will enact new security procedures to make sure that prohibited or dangerous items are not brought into the venue. For all events, including Fridays After Five, patron points of entry will be limited and there will be a bag check for any packages brought inside the gates.  We encourage our patrons to travel light but, if you do have bags or packages with you, plan for the entry to take a few moments as our staff inspects the bags. We appreciate your patience so that we can all feel safe. Unfortunately, we do not offer any bag check so please familiarize yourself with our list of prohibited items and leave them at home.

For all ticketed events, we will be instituting a higher level of security. All patrons will be asked to walk through our metal detectors after emptying their pockets of any metal objects. Patrons may opt for a pat down inspection should they choose. We will have plenty of lines open and we hope that this procedure will flow smoothly and not delay your entrance to the venue. Should you bring bags with you to ticketed events, we will still need to inspect the parcel prior to you passing thru the metal detectors. Once again, we appreciate your patience as we work to ensure the safety of all of our patrons.