WEDNESDAY 6.11
Henry Rollins — Hank and band are in town along with Keith Morris, yet another ex-Black Flag vocalist, to do a big ol’ two-hour set of Black Flag tunes. Rollins has promised in print to lay the hammer down on this show, with a minimum of stage patter and other nonsense. The whole thing’s an effort to raise awareness for the West Memphis Three (www.wm3.org), as was Rollins’ all-star Black Flag covers album of last year, Rise Above. It won’t be like seeing the band with Greg Ginn and Co. back in the day, but I’ll bet it can still raise a hackle on the old timers and learn the young’uns all at the same time. Tremont Music Hall (Davis)
Reckless Kelly — This is country-rock that shakes the rafters and then lets the dust settle with soothing slide guitar. When the mandolin joins in, just try and keep that lump in the throat from pouncing out. It doesn’t matter whether there’s a steady stream of fermented hops and barley flowing your way; the music does the talking around here. There’s no reason the song “May Peace Find You Tonight,” from the new record Under the Table & Above the Sun (Sugarhill), can’t become a Dylanesque sing along tune. With Gigi Dover and Eric Lovell. Amos’ Southend (Shukla)
Verbena — Damn! What a day for fans of good old-fashioned straight-ahead alt.rock, eh? Yes, Magic City’s own Verbena — the pride of B-ham, Alabama — will be in town promoting their new CD La Musica Negra, the follow-up to 1999’s Dave Grohl-produced Into The Pink. A little more textured in scope than Pink, Negra‘s also a step up musically, with the Delta-fied arrangements matching the soul-selling/searching bent of the lyrics to a (tight-as-hell, three-quarter sleeve, babydoll concert) T. If this is what Southern rock has come to, we’re in good hands. Fat City (Davis)
THURSDAY 6.12
The Side — I came across these guys long ago, by accident really, when they were doing their thing at 23 Studio. From what I could tell outside the club, they were relatively good and a bit on the quirky side so no harm in checking them out, right? I wasn’t disappointed by any means but thoroughly entertained. Many moons later, James Baker and company have released a fine work called So Shines a Good Deed in a Weary World. The record is chock full of power chords with vocals that are melodic but a little off in places, but it works in a satisfying way. Not too sure if they’re ready for the size of the Visulite but these days not many locals are. So, do yourself a favor and help out the locals by checking out something a little different. Plus, you gotta appreciate a band with the web address thesideisawful.com. With Machine 7, another bunch of local fellas with plenty o’potential. Visulite Theatre (Farris)
FRIDAY 6.13
The Avett Brothers — Tonight’s the CD release party for the boys’ new one, A Carolina Jubilee, out now on Ramseur Records. It’s more of the same that made Country Was such a great ride — good lyrics, rough-hewn harmonies, a take-no-prisoners acoustic playing style — except that it sounds markedly more clear and cogent (see www.avettbrothers.com). Along for the ride will be the most excellent David Childers, along with his backing band/albatross, the incredible and inexplicable Modern Don Juans. See our story on the Avetts in this issue. Neighborhood Theatre (Davis)
Beaver Nelson — Any one of the players on for tonight is worth the price of admission — collectively, the gig is a bargain. So, rather than turning this into a full-fledged feature, I’ll just make a random plug for Beaver Nelson, who invariably stands above (literally), many other Texas song crafters. Nelson’s slight of hand has just enough wit and grit for tunes that persevere beyond the first few listens. Also on the bill are the incredible musical — and real life — couple Johnny Irion and Sarah Lee Guthrie. Rounding out the evening’s roster are Scrappy Jud Newcomb and Danielle Howle. Sylvia Theater, York (Shukla)
The Houston Brothers — Shite. Tonight’s also the CD release party for The Houston Brothers sophomore (but nowhere near sophomoric) self-titled release. One of the more coherent and moving “album albums” (i.e., you can listen to the whole thing without skipping a song) in quite some time, the record finally capitalizes on the potential the Brothers Faircloth showed on their last release, I Take Care Of You. Tonight’s show will also feature some special guests lending a helping hand, many of whom appear on the record. See our story on the Houston Brothers in this issue. The Steeple Lounge (Davis)
Lanterna — The nearly instrumental album, Sands, on Badman Recordings, doesn’t delegate moods as it goads the senses into a slow stroll or effects the toes to ease off the pedal while shifting into a trance-like cruise. Alas, repetition does kick in, but in short sets they create a backdrop that wouldn’t get in the way of a David Lynch flick. With Bibis. The Evening Muse (Shukla)
SATURDAY 6.14
Candye Kane — All right, let’s get the itchy hormonal response out of the way. I ain’t the only one hankering for a cozy stroll with a woman as healthy as Ms. Kane. The fact that she can belt out the blues while caressing the psyche of males, or applying a cheerleader kick between the thighs, is only the icing on the cake. We’re talking bigger than life blues from a woman who has seen life as an exotic performer and come out fighting as a tough gal. Double Door Inn (Shukla)
MONDAY 6.16
Norah Jones / Gillian Welch — What to do for an encore when you’ve won a cartload of Grammy awards for your debut release? Why, tour on that bitch and sell even more records! Thankfully, the record in question — Come Away With Me — is a nice amalgam of styles, and Jones’ voice is such that she sounds like a natural in all of them. Jones was the perfect Grammy nominee: the album had some standards to go along with Jones’ own songs. The reason it won probably has a lot to do with the fact you can’t tell the difference between the Hoagy Carmichael cuts and the Norah-penned tunes. / Gillian Welch’s new one, Soul Journey, continues what the songwriter does best — plaintive balladry and straight-up Appalachian (by way of California) instrumentation. Produced by husband/guitarist David Rawlings, it pretty much falls in line with her other releases, but there’s a bit more sun on this one — just as it seemed to be setting on past records, here it appears to rise. Ovens Auditorium (Davis)
TUESDAY 6.17
The White Stripes — If you haven’t heard of The White Stripes by now, you probably haven’t picked up Interview, Rolling Stone, Blender, Harp, Entertainment Weekly, No Depression, Sports Illustrated, or Popular Mechanics recently. The best part? Outside of one or two instances, Jack and Meg White haven’t changed a thing from when they were relative indie unknowns (well, there is some bass guitar on the new record). In fact, they even went the Nirvana, In Utero route and released a rather raw follow-up to their hit White Blood Cells, entitled Elephant. It’s well worth the hype, despite the fact it was recorded in only a few days with analog equipment on an eight-track recorder. The Union forever! With Whirlwind Heat. Grady Cole Center (Davis)
WEDNESDAY 6.18
Go Machine — Chapel Hill band deconstructs sound using ambient scapes and rhythm adjustments incorporating turntables, violin, computers, Theremin, doumbek, accordion and more. It works in a pop contortionist manner, while keeping melody in check. Damn intriguing. Fat City (Shukla)
This article appears in Jun 11-17, 2003.
