Monophonics
Double Door Inn
May 17, 2012

While the group brings a retro Motown vibe to its albums, some of that is lost in the live setting - only in a good way. The band drops the retro and drives forward with spirit and soul. Where a studio version might be like a smooth excursion, the live rendition comes through like a roller coaster. Singer/keyboardist Kelly Finnigan was dripping with sweat after the first song and the entire band played with a these-are-the-coolest-songs-we've-ever-heard attitude - swaying, sweating and smiling.

Jonathan Wilson
Visulite Theatre
May 15, 2012

• Photo by Jeff Hahne

These days, Wilson and his heralded CD, Gentle Spirit, are making huge waves in Britain and Europe; here he counts numerous industry heavy hitters amongst his friends and collaborators. This night, though, the focus was squarely on Wilson's own patchouli-tinged mystic rock grooves.

He and his crack band (really, you can't compliment this outfit enough, individually or collectively) opened with a grooving "The Way I Feel." Things then heated up with "Rolling Universe," Wilson's incendiary guitar workout the match to our kindling. A wonderful extended version of "Natural Rhapsody" featured Charlotte jazz scene mainstay Ziad on guest saxophone (Wilson played as a teen with Ziad, so it was a nice student-pays-back-teacher sort of moment). Other notables include "Desert Raven" and the hallucinatory "Valley of the Silver Moon."

The second annual Carolina Rebellion hit Rockingham Speedway on May 5, 2012, for a long day of hard rock. Threats of rain didn't dampen what ended up being a hot, sunny day headlined by Korn and Shinedown and filled with some surprises and plenty of music.

Here are some thoughts and photos from this year's event:

* A LITTLE HELP FROM FRIENDS: The biggest story coming out of the day was the return of Korn guitarist Brian "Head" Welch. Welch left the band in 2005 after "finding Jesus," but when he was seen backstage early in the day, buzz quickly built up. He didn't appear on stage until Korn's last song when Welch reclaimed his space for "Blind" - the first single from the band's self-titled 1994 debut. "For a long time, this spotlight has been very lonely," singer Jonathan Davis told the crowd as he pointed to the right side of the stage. Welch walked out and performed like he never missed a day. With Welch currently fronting his own band, Love and Death, it remains to be seen where they go from here.

* ROCK, SCISSORS, PAPER TONGUES: Charlotte's Paper Tongues kicked things off on the Carolina Stage. While loud cheers rang out during the performance, they also got some heated feedback on the Carolina Rebellion Facebook page. Some wanted them cut out of the event feeling their pop sensibilities weren't a match for the rest of the day's heavier rock bands. All-in-all, they offered a solid warmup for the day and a local connection to the lineup.

Diplo
Neighborhood Theatre
April 5, 2012

Boom! Just as my interest began to wane late Thursday after stellar opening-act performances on Diplo's "One Night Only" tour stop at the Neighborhood Theatre, the man himself jolted me back to rave reality. The theater - specially gutted out to be dance-friendly - was abuzz with excitement (and possibly some excitement-inducing "helpers") as fans crushed forward for the headliner's free last-minute show.

• Jeff Hahne
• Diplo making his magic at the Neighborhood Theatre

Diplo, the production wunderkind who's brought his special brand of electronic dynamite to artists ranging from M.I.A. and Snoop Dogg to my personal favorite, Beck, seized the stage as foam glowsticks were hurled into the crowd. Hype men from the show's sponsors donned grotesque masks and went - as the youngin's like to say - totally HAM. (That's "hard as a mutherfucker, for those in need of a glossary.)

• Jeff Hahne
• Diplo, his glow girls and his (note the laptop bumper sticker) "awesome techno."

I was initially thrown off by the techno vibe, but couldn't help bouncing along with a crowd that seemed to be conducting its own orchestral movement with multicolored batons. It was fairly amazing to watch. After that "warm up," as Diplo called it, he launched into an hour-plus mix, throwing everything at the crowd from the buzzes and dings of PacMan to drumline-driven dance hall to Waka Flocka Flame to the Police. Diplo's creativity and complexity seem to know no bounds. But then, neither did the creativity of Diplo's strong supporting acts.

Van Hunt
Double Door Inn
April 5, 2012

"I really hate to say this, but some people here have been rude and talking through my entire set," he told the mostly seated crowd. "It's rude and it's disrespectful. It's distracting me and I'm forgetting words and chords. People paid money to come to see me and you're not helping. I'm going to play a few songs now, for the people who came to see me. I want to make it up to them, if that's ok."

Hunt took the next 20 minutes to shine like he hadn't had a chance to do yet on this rainy Charlotte night. His three-song solo set started with a tamed-down version of the soul-infused "Dust," off of his 2004 debut, Van Hunt. Hunt, a relatively static performer who remained stationary for much of the night, also kept his electric guitar riffs at bay while he focused on his vocals and tried to connect with each member of the audience.