New shows announced at Toad's Place

The competition is heating up. After a memorable inaugural season, with hot shows by the likes of Gogol Bordello, Ween, High On Fire, Buddy Guy, and many others, Toad's Place Richmond is beginning to announce its fall line-up. There are still a few decent summer shows left to go: rap diva Foxy Brown appears on Saturday, July 26; The Old 97s play the next night, July 27; the geeky bass player from Phish, Mike Gordon plays on Tuesday, Aug. 5; and noted hip hop act, Mos Def performs on Thursday, Aug. 7.
Among the highlights of the fall season so far: funky jamband music from Galactic (Friday, Oct. 10), and demonic metal from Danzig and Dimmu Borgir (Mon. Oct. 13), and the ever raucous hillbilly punk of Rev. Horton Heat with Nashville Pussy (Fri. Nov. 7)
I just saw Steel Pulse the other night at The National. The crowd was great, but the music was just so-so. Pretty commercial reggae with the kind of bland synths I don't really appreciate. It will be interesting to see the kinds of acts that the National will be booking for this fall. I would have to say Toad's has the edge so far in terms of quality acts; while The National has the far superior venue.