Good, Hard, Live music continues to make a stand in Charlottesville.
Something happened last Saturday night at Charlottesville’s Superfly Brewery. We’ve felt this building for a while now, and, in 2026, it continues. Maybe it’s because, as humans, we’ve needed this over the last year and we need it now more than ever. Maybe it’s because two of the three bands are from here and are building a real following. Maybe it’s because great live music draws us in, shakes something loose, and gives us a moment of release.
What’s happening is good, hard, live music is continuing to make a stand in Charlottesville. In a moment where everything feels heavy, divided, and uncertain, it’s cutting through the noise. It’s giving us release, connection, and a place to stand shoulder to shoulder and remember who we are.
At Superfly last Saturday, three bands filled the bill: Heaviside (Cville), Mend (DC), and Pinkish (Cville). The energy in the room was thick and heavy. I felt it in my bones from the second I walked in. This was gonna be just another kick ass night.
We’ve been to Superfly a lot over the last couple years. Most times it’s to catch music, but the team at Superfly Brewery has curated an atmosphere that welcomes us in anytime. The mood is chill and if live music isn’t cranking, some music is always on, unless a soccer match or another game is up on the big screen. The walls at Superfly are lined with pictures of bands and I can’t seem to not peruse them every time I’m there.
On Saturday, I specifically noticed the photo of Mike Campbell and the Dirty Knobs, mainly because I’m in the middle of devouring Campbell’s book Heartbreaker: A Memoir. For those of you who have lived under a rock for the last 50 years, or haven’t been alive for most of them, he’s the lead guitarist from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. It’s an incredible book, you should check it out.
Getting back to the point, or one of them, it’s that Superfly has carved out a really nice spot in the Cville music scene, especially by providing space for new and up and coming bands to do their thing.
We’ve written a bunch about Heaviside here over the last year. The boys played their first show at Superfly and were back again to deliver heavy post-hardcore riffs and melodic changes, as they never fail to do. Heaviside kicked the night off with five songs: Not Lost, Drawing Circles, Someone Else, Glass Tongues in its unique signature, and finishing with How We Fall, which ended with that big breakdown that puts the exclamation point at the end of the sentence and scratches the itch of a big, heavy, emotional finish.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I love these guys. John, Caleb, Andrew, and Christian are not only rock stars, they’re salt of the earth humans. Every time I see John he gives me a big hug and voices his appreciation of what we’re doing. That’s what it’s all about. Right now, we all need to give and get more hugs. And to put the icing on the cake, Caleb was wearing a Cville Soundcheck t-shirt. Fuckin-A.
After Heaviside, a new band to us, and to the world, roared into Superfly. Washington, DC based Mend describes themselves as an alt-rock band drawing from post-hardcore, pop punk, and emo, with a sound that moves from melody to dissonance. Mend is brand new, forming out of another project within the last year. They’re made up of David Colon-Margolies on guitar and co-lead vocals, Marty MacAllister on bass and co-vocals, and Kamran Hassan on guitar and vocals. They don’t yet have a permanent drummer with Marty having written and recorded all the drums for the band.
Mend belted out an eleven-song set. Yes, eleven songs. For a young band just getting started, they blew the roof off Superfly. Their sound complemented Heaviside perfectly and landed right in that sweet spot for me. Garden threw off some Saosin vibes that got the packed room moving. Around that point, their setlist included an intro, Swimming With a Heavy Stone, The Afterglow, Self Doubt, Let You Down, Not Quite Right, and Played Out. Then came Nutshell, an Alice in Chains cover, followed by Should Be Mine and Hostages.
Mend voiced their appreciation for what was happening in that room, saying what a welcome surprise it was. Clearly, they weren’t expecting to drive down 29 to a packed room full of that kind of energy. Welcome to Charlottesville, boys.
The tone and flow of the night was perfectly set to launch into the headliner, Pinkish. While Heaviside and Mend lean more into post-hardcore traits, big shifts from quiet to loud, clean to distorted, tension and release, Pinkish curates a pop punk sound built on bright, fast power chords with less dissonance, though it’s still there.
That said, Pinkish is more than pop punk. Their choruses are made to stick in your head, and they do. Yet their instruments tell a story, especially on a song like Saunter, which carries a brooding, guttural guitar riff that reminds me a lot of early Hole. Like Heaviside, we’ve covered Pinkish more than once on Cville Soundcheck, and there’s no limit to how much we’ll keep talking and writing about them. When they play, if we can be there, we will be.
As a reminder, Pinkish is Nina Chaplin on guitar and vocals, Ben Cook on bass, and Mac Outlaw on drums. Another three piece that can turn the volume up and knock you off your feet. Their nine-song set included Composure, Hearts of Palm, I Saw White, Put on the Queers, Poor Choice, Counterfeit, So Divine, The Math, and Saunter.
Let’s dive into So Divine.
Chorus:
I never thought I’d see a star as bright as you
You make my world spin around
We can do circles, I’m on my head and I feel fine
It still surrounds me
Let’s forget
Perpetuate the dark
Hold on
Let you shine
And it’s true, all night
So divine
That chorus is followed by a post-chorus groove from Nina’s guitar that grounds the message and hooks us in. It’s the epitome of what Pinkish brings, and I had that song stuck in my head, humming it when I woke up Sunday morning. The music is the anchor. From the start it makes you want to bang your head, then it lets you settle into the lyrics and their message of fighting off darkness to celebrate the light around us.
Circling back to where this started, there’s something in the air in Charlottesville and it's been building. Rock, metal, punk, post-hardcore bands are popping up all over, sometimes in a brewery, sometimes in an established venue like The Southern, sometimes in someone’s garage or basement. With the current state of the world and this country, we need it. Our kids need it. The bands need it. Our hearts and souls need it. Again, what’s happening is good, hard, live music is continuing to make a stand in Charlottesville.
Keep your eyes up and your ears open. You may need to be there for a friend (or a stranger), or you may just hear a fast power chord that draws you in. Either way, let’s keep this going. Let’s lift each other up. Let’s dance like no one is watching and, like John, with a hug or without lets let each other know we care, we appreciate, and we support.
-Bazz
