PBR (no, I’m not talking about the beer)

By VERONICA REARDON Your Weekend Columnist

This past Saturday I saw People’s Blues of Richmond (PBR), a band that happens to share an acronym with everyone’s favorite cheap beer.

I narrowly avoided not doing anything off campus this weekend for no good reason. But I ended up going out this past Saturday. Speaking of beer though, we are currently smack dab in the middle of Baltimore Beer Week, so if you’re of age you should definitely look into some of those events.

Anyhow, the show I went to this past weekend was at Metro Gallery, a Baltimore gathering place that I have somehow never visited. I think of it mostly as a music venue, with shows most weekends of varying music genres.

The artists featured were DJ Landis Expandis, Operation Dankstar and PBR. The first two are based in Baltimore, while PBR hails from Richmond, Va. PBR’s website emphasizes the emotional purpose of the band. Formed in a time of grief for the band members, a lot of their concept is to acknowledge suffering. According to their website, they’ve played with Gogol Bordello, which wins them some points in my book. Their live sound was super fun too! All of the featured artists had blues, rock and soul influences. DJ Landis Expandis played a lot of funk, while Operation Dankstar sounded more along the traditional lines of rock. People’s Blues of Richmond sounded like what the Black Keys would sound if they rocked a little harder.

Most of the people at the show were 20 or 30-somethings. There was definitely that old hippy couple there, the one you see at every show, standing in the middle of the crowd not quite looking lost but also not quite fitting in with the scene. It was fairly crowded but not packed. Dancing was great, especially up front; There was a group of mostly younger women that was really rocking out.

The show had a cover charge of $8 plus what you paid for drinks once you got in. Since the event was affiliated with Baltimore Beer Week, there were three featured beers. I tried one called Table For Two, a collaborative brew that Flying Dog and Brewer’s Art came up with together. I found it pretty good! I’d definitely get it again. (For future Beer Week events, visit baltimorebeerweekcom.)

I am not familiar with any of the bands Metro Gallery is hosting within the coming weeks, but if you don’t have any plans on a weekend, or if you do and you want out of them, you should check it out. It’s a fairly alright venue worth visiting at least once (especially if you like the sound of one of the bands playing), and it’s close to a lot of restaurants and bars in Station North.