In writing about Richmond, Virginia’s Iron Blossom Festival last year, I noted that despite the city’s prominence and relative wealth of entertainment options, it had never really played host to a proper, large-scale music festival in recent memory–that is, until Iron Blossom came along for its first iteration in 2023. Now settled into a more recognizable routine, the Iron Blossom Festival has pretty much codified what it’s all about: Sunshine, Indian summer celebration, a wide variety of booze options (check out our detailed RVA brewery guide), and omnipresent THC. Ah, and musical acts as well, which often fall somewhere in the matrix between Americana, jam band and indie rock. It’s the only festival in RVA that brings in bands that are otherwise large festival tour staples, like The Lumineers or Vampire Weekend, which makes a fine anchor for the end of summer and dawning of autumn in the Richmond music scene–a last hurrah for sundress season.
With that said, there are moments that Iron Blossom has seemed a bit on the snakebit side, forced to contend with unforeseen hurdles, including the heat-related illness of numerous guests in 2023, the cancelation of Hippo Campus in 2024 following a COVID-19 diagnosis, or the cancelation of Khruangbin’s set this weekend following the unfortunate back injury of bassist and frontwoman Laura Lee. Organizers must have been pleased to pencil in The Head and the Heart’s Jonathan Russell as a last-minute Saturday afternoon replacement … only to then be forced to close the festival grounds multiple times as unforecasted storms materialized spitefully above the venue. The result was an unmistakably wetter and squelchier Iron Blossom than we’ve seen in the past, but by the time that crowds were finally able to rejoin the action Saturday evening, the mood had turned increasingly ebullient, with revelers grateful for the chance to still enjoy a slate of headliners.
We were able to drop in on the festival for portions of both Saturday and Sunday’s lineups. Here’s our recap of some of the acts that caught our eye.
Butcher Brown
I was surprised to have not run across Richmond’s own Butcher Brown before, considering the five years I’ve spent living here and the fact that the decidedly eclectic jazz fusion quintet has been kicking it in Virginia since 2009, with 10 albums to their name. Embarrassingly, they were new to me, but their funk-tinged jazz stylings were the perfect way to welcome crowds back to the festival grounds; audiences hungry for musical experience after the repeated rain delays threatened to put a damper on the festival. Butcher Brown’s live sound is difficult to classify; a fluttering and virtuosic exploration of progressive jazz with flourishes of psychedelia appropriate for the festival audience. At times, their playing conjured the mental image of swaggering blaxploitation film classics; at others the avant-garde music of the likes of Kamasi Washington. They built an impressive head of steam with feverish saxophone solos, around the time when many who had fled the grounds during the rain were finally settling in for the evening. Their genre was likewise a welcome deviation from the festival’s somewhat crunchier Americana core demographic–Iron Blossom could probably afford to sprinkle in a few more acts in Butcher Brown’s orbit for the sake of sonic diversity.
The Teskey Brothers
The Teskey Brothers sound a lot like vintage Chicago blues, albeit by way of Australia. That fact actually became an odd consistency of this weekend at Iron Blossom: It was crawling with Australian acts, most of whom seem to come bearing Southern American accents, which is a bit of an overdone affectation if you’re asking us. Regardless, the Teskey Brothers–literal brothers Josh (vocals) and Sam (guitar) Teskey–revved up the crowd with a blend of soul and classic gospel, gently supported by horns and electric piano on tracks like “What Will Be” from 2023’s The Winding Way. This kind of smooth gospel delivery always sounds at home on a festival afternoon in our experience, and the occasional ripping harmonica solo is a nice bonus.
Dexter and the Moonrocks
Abilene, Texas’ Dexter and the Moonrocks came barreling onto the Iron Blossom stage like a house on fire, determined to inject a more intense edge into the proceedings with a sound they’ve previously referred to as “Western space grunge.” This was a notably more, errr … profane set, with a tone set by the band ambling up and immediately proclaiming “What’s up fuckers?!?” You couldn’t help but crack up at the hilariously direct song introductions, with one-liners ripped off in the vein of “This is a song about fucking aliens,” or “This song is about being a sad piece of shit.” Silly? Sure, but the band thankfully has the chops to back up their goofy stage presence on emotionally tinged rock numbers like “Where I Steer,” “Autopilot,” or amusingly titled new release “Sarahtonin.” Their set made for an excellent, harder-rocking palate cleanser on a day where Americana was often making the biggest impression, and they also probably win the award for the weekend’s best cover for taking on Green Day’s “Basket Case.” Clearly, they know what will play to a festival crowd, and this Iron Blossom squad was eager to jam to familiar pop punk after an afternoon of weather drama.
Vampire Weekend
Following directly in the wake of the cheerful profanity of Dexter and the Moonrocks, Ezra Koenig and his indie pop-rock stalwarts Vampire Weekend actually sounded a bit dainty in comparison on their opening classic “Holiday” … only to amusingly drop a giant banner behind the frontman, revealing the much larger full band. A cute touch that was right in line with the band’s iconic 2010s indie rock sensibilities, they were clad almost entirely in white, showing off their pristine pop flourishes through the expansive set. “Ice Cream Piano” and “Classical” (with its acrobatic piano flourishes), the first two tracks from last year’s Only God Was Above Us, both got warm receptions from a festival crowd that seemed up to date on the band’s most recent fifth LP, although you know a fair number of bodies in the audience were waiting to jam to the likes of “A-Punk” and “Oxford Comma,” which Koenig cued up in the final stretch, thankfully not feeling too obligatory.
The real highs here were on some of the material expanded for the festival stage–including a synth and violin freakout under black lights, with a traffic vest-wearing violinist spotlighted like a star going supernova in a dark void. We also got dual saxophones at one point, one slickly wielded by the multitalented Koenig, a reminder that this guy really could have probably thrived in any type of musical career he set his sights on. This was a more highly produced set, pleasantly bombastic and aware of its headlining status, determined to send crowds home happy after a Saturday that at one point felt like it might be in danger of being canceled entirely. Thank you, thunderstorms, for ultimately playing along and allowing us to scratch our indie rock itch.
The 502s
Florida’s The 502s are nominally an indie folk band, but “indie folk” doesn’t really do justice to the sheer, irrepressible energy that these guys bring to the stage. I’m not sure there was any band all weekend, in fact, that could compete with the intensity and enthusiasm of this “folk orchestra” as they swung into tracks like “Hey Julia.” With booming piano, horns and strings, they had the crowd going wild for tenor sax on songs like “Perfect Portrait of Young Love” or “Magdalene,” the entire band simultaneously bouncing and jumping with inexhaustible energy. The 502s are effectively making music to forget just how dour and depressing the current state of the world may be, standing out for their relentless positivity in the face of so much depressing bullshit. I’m thankful that we arrived in time to see them on Sunday afternoon; in fact they brought such uniquely up-tempo energy that most bands immediately following struggled to mirror it. They’re like festival candy; just a shot of happy adrenaline.
Watchhouse
Prolific, humble and ever-earnest, the music of Watchhouse has been a soulful bluegrass metronome of consistency since the early 2010s, remaining just as dependable following the name change from Mandolin Orange to their current iteration in 2021. Chapel Hill-based Andrew Marlin and Emily Frantz have the kind of voices that feel like they must have been karmically fated to end up together, supporting each tender passage on tracks like “In the Sun” from this year’s Rituals, their ninth album together.
This was perhaps the best-micced set of the weekend, preserving each resonant pluck of the guitar or crystalline mandolin note on a track like “Belly of the Beast” from 2021’s Watchhouse. They delivered a gently swaying, folky plea for understanding and compassion in their time on stage, a warm, comforting festival hug that as always benefits especially from Andrew Marlin’s delivery of what may be the bluegrass/Americana genre’s most soulful voice. A gently rapturous set, albeit one that allowed the energy level to calm down after the bombast of The 502s. Definitely “lazy festival afternoon” energy here, for being perched in the shade, sipping a beer.
The Paper Kites
Australia’s The Paper Kites take the cake this Iron Blossom for the most committedly eclectic set of tunes, even without a particularly long scheduled set to their name. They were just bouncing all over on seemingly every other track, from harmonica-rocking Americana, to slow-waltzing and tender numbers, to electric organ and classic blues sounds, to classic alternative rock, and all the way back to banjo! Suffice to say, their musical interests don’t rest in one place, and they wanted people to know it, another band where the “indie folk” label really speaks to iceberg theory–there are uncharted depths to their musical background that can’t be communicated in just 40 minutes on stage.
Highlights here including the rollicking blues jam of “Black & Thunder” from 2023’s At the Roadhouse, which evoked something like a vintage Grace Potter jam, or the same album’s outlaw epic “June’s Stolen Car,” which put me in mind of Ron Gallo’s “Young Lady, You’re Scaring Me.” The band’s secret weapon may be the vocals of keyboardist Christina Lacy, who occasionally steals the show from frontman Sam Bentley. A fantastic shorter set for festival fans who appreciate a bit of same-set diversity.
Rainbow Kitten Surprise
It’s been an eventful and trying few years for North Carolina’s Rainbow Kitten Surprise, but after canceling a year’s worth of touring in support of lead singer Ela Melo’s recovery from mental health struggles following her transition, and saying goodbye to longtime bassist Charlie Holt, they reemerged in 2024 with renewed focus on both recording and touring, releasing Love Hate Music Box in May. That has seemingly kicked off a fertile period of both performance and renewed writing, because the band just a few weeks ago announced another album due out this very Friday: Bones drops on Sept. 26, 2025, and Iron Blossom attendees got a few previews here and there from the indie/alternative rockers.
Rainbow Kitten Surprise is a joyous festival presence, with Melo’s saucy, unique vocal stylings backed by swaggering guitar and bass on tracks like “Fever Pitch” from 2018’s How To: Friend, Love, Freefall. “Painkillers,” from the same album, affirms their shared charisma and presence, focused through Melo like a glittering disco ball even as she bares her soul in confessional lines like “Try not to kill yourself today; think of all that you’d be missing.” There’s a real sense of joy here, a band that is now taking full advantage of their opportunity to be together after years where it was a notable struggle to do all the hard work that goes into being a group of creatives also trying to make a living. Now is their time to celebrate, and they’re clearly making the most of it.
Jim Vorel is Paste’s Movies editor and resident genre geek. You can follow him on Twitter or on Bluesky for more film writing.
