Monday, March 21, 2011

Hear Here: Week of March 21

This is a week of shows that I've been waiting on for quite some time now, lots of exciting stuff going on around the state yet again!  Between the ridiculously awesome hardcore show going on at the Local 506 on Wednesday with Off!, Trash Talk, and Double Negative to the 3 day music festival of Spazz Fest in Greenville, there's plenty of live goodness to go around this week.

Show of the week:
Night 2 of Spazzfest on Friday, March 25 w/ Lonnie Walker, Jack The Radio, Veelee, Cassis Orange, Railbird, Radio Control, The Rex Complex, Miking Mihrab

Wednesday, March 23
Off! w/ Trash Talk, Double Negative @ Local 506 in Chapel Hill, NC
$15
You don't usually see me talking much about hardcore shows going on, but this one seems too awesome to pass up.  Off! is the hardcore super group that features members from Black Flag, Circle Jerks, and Red Kross just to mention a few and quite frankly they live up to the hype that they've built up for themselves.  It's nice to see that they can still pack the same punch that they did decades ago in their previous bands.  Not to mention you've got one of the best hardcore bands on the scene today opening with Trash Talk and the local standouts, Double Negative.  A night full of energetic and aggressive punk music that's sure to provide for an absolutely awesome show.  One of this weeks don't miss shows!

Thursday, March 24
Local Band, Local Beer w/ I Was Totally Destroying It!, The Future Is Me @ Tir Na Nog in Raleigh, NC
I Was Totally Destroying It has a busy 2011 ahead of them, with two full length records planned for release the band is about to embark on a US tour and are kicking it off with a Local Band, Local Beer at Tir Na Nog.  I Was Totally Destroying it is a band that has evolved greatly in the past few years, I remember seeing them open for Conor Oberst & The Mystic Valley Band back in 2008 and hearing the band play now is something remarkable, they've taken the energy and creativity shown on stage and found the way to convey it perfectly through their music.  Fresh off of their first SXSW show, their tour kick-off show is going to be one to definitely check out, because you won't get the chance to see them again for a while.  Raleigh band The Future Is Me will be opening, bringing their driving anthemic rock tunes to the table as well.

Spazz Fest Night 1: Future Islands w/ Thank You, Motor Skills @ LIVE Nightclub in Greenville, NC
$8
Allow me to begin this by saying that the eastern parts of the state don't usually have as much exciting shows going on as the Triangle does, so when something great like Spazz Fest comes around it's always a treat.  This years festival (the 2nd of its kind) is also teaming up with the Screw Cancer team that organized a show for Justin Flythe of Lonnie Walker and helped raise funds for his cancer treatment.  Portions of Spazz Fest's proceeds will be going directly towards Justin Flythe to help in his payment of treatment.  So having stated that there's a great cause behind it, theres a lineup that's absolutely incredible.  The festival starts out at LIVE, a neat little private club in Greenville that has housed some awesome bands (I got to check out The Love Language there last year).  With night one headliners being the formerly Greenville based Future Islands, this is sure to be an amazingly energetic show.  Future Islands is bound to tear the roof off of the place, but don't overlook the great openers with Thank You (fellow Baltimore artist signed to Thrill Jockey) and Carrboro's Motor Skills.

Friday, March 25
Spazz Fest Night 2: Lonnie Walker, Jack The Radio, Veelee, Cassis Orange, Railbird, Radio Control, The Rex Complex, Miking Mihrab @ The Tipsy Teapot in Greenville, NC
$8
Night two of Spazz Fest is arguably the strongest, featuring local favorites Lonnie Walker and some of the fastest rising bands in the state with Veelee and Cassis Orange.  The night starts out with a Singer Songwriter Round Robin, a unique event that features some of the areas brightest talent gathering in a circle around the crowd and playing three songs a piece.  Featuring names like Brian Corum of Lonnie Walker and phenomenal songwriter Arielle Bryant, this is sure to be an exciting way to start the evening.  After that the night only gets better with the energetic pop of Cassis Orange, the raw and gritty rock sounds of Jack The Radio, and the always entertaining Lonnie Walker featuring the man of the hour Justin Flythe.  Not to mention it's being held at one of the coolest spots in all of Greenville, The Tipsy Teapot.  The Tipsy has an awesome environment, with one side lined up with book shelves and quaint little reading areas and the other side with a bar and the open space needed to fill the place with the excitement and energy that is sure to be there at Spazz Fest.

Butterflies (solo) w/ Wildegeeses @ Regulator Bookstore in Durham, NC
$5
A quiet little acoustic show in a bookstore featuring Josh Kimbrough of Butterflies?  What's not to enjoy?  Butterflies is a Trekky band who had one of our favorite releases of 2010 with their album "Residual Child", it's intelligent indie pop that's going to be incredibly interesting to hear at it's bare-bones sound with just an acoustic guitar.  The best part about it is that the interest in the full band isn't primarily focused on one sound, whether it be guitar, synth, etc. so this toned down sound will fit excellently with the songs.  Wildegeeses will be opening.

Saturday, March 26
Spazz Fest Night 3: The Love Language (solo), The Charming Youngsters, Creepoid, The Late Virginia Summers, Far Our Fangtooth, The Spooks, Awol One, Ceschi, Lamont Coal @ The Tipsy Teapot in Greenville, NC
$8
Night three of Spazz Fest will be a perfect way to close out the weekend for Spazz Fest.  A solo set from Stu of The Love Language caps off an already excellent evening filled with unique and talented artists.  The Charming Youngsters based out of Greenville is the other band I'm most excited to see for this night.  The Charming Youngsters are another band that's evolved over the past few years, and quite frankly they're one of the beacons of light in the Greenville scene.  We'll be filming the next Bottom String Session with The Charming Youngsters over Spazz Fest weekend, so that's another exciting bit to look out for.  Plus the dual set of Awol One and Ceschi is one that's sure to be amazing, two artists who are incredible lyricists who take their own spin on the hip-hop game.  Awol One has been on tracks with greats like KRS One and Atmosphere so getting the chance to see two artists as unique as Awol and Ceschi together is going to be something truly special.

Elephant 6 Holiday Surprise Tour @ Kings Barcade in Raleigh, NC
SOLD OUT
The Elephant 6 Collective is an enigmatic touring group and one that is full of members of some of the most influential bands of the past few decades.  Members of The Olivia Tremor Control and Neutral Milk Hotel (plus many others), will be teaming up to play the music of some of Elephant 6's most well known bands.  It's going to be a night full of surprises and good times, and with an already sold out crowd it's sure to be an energetic crowd as well.  No one's really sure of what to expect as of yet with this show, but all I can tell you is that it's sure to be awesome.

Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings w/ Countdown Quartet @ The Lincoln Theater in Raleigh, NC
$25 in advance/$28 day of
Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings are one of the most consistently amazing artists of our time, they're a band who has taken the funk and soul of yesteryears and fit it in seamlessly with the current generation.  The band has spear-headed the funk/soul revival in recent years and continue to lead the pack with sincere and heartfelt music that feels like it could have been right out of the 70's.  While this is one of the pricier shows you'll see me talking about I will stand firm by my stance that the show will be worth every dollar spent.  Very few things in this world are as great as seeing an incredible funk band perform live, and that is exactly what you're signing up for with this.  Don't miss this!

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