Neko Case w/ Deer Tick

Knight Theater

Nov. 18, 2009

The Deal: Neko Case zips through 22 songs during Charlotte concert, brings along Deer Tick.

Wolfmother w/ Heartless Bastards, Thenewno2

The Fillmore Charlotte

Nov. 3, 2009

The Deal: Reformed Aussie band hits The Fillmore for hard-rockin' set, bringing along Heartless Bastards and Thenewno2.

If there was one can't-miss day at this year's Voodoo Festival, Saturday was it. I walked into City Park around 2 p.m. to catch the end of Dan Dyer's set on the Voodoo Stage and things got progressively better for the rest of the day.

Mates of State were on the PlayStation Stage dressed like The Captain and Tennille, after all, it was Halloween.

All kinds of people were in costumes - from the sexy to the sublime. Couch potatoes, Waldo, hot dogs, the blockheads from Gumby and plenty of zombies. There was an effort at the end of the night to set a record for the largest gathering of zombies.

Next up on the Voodoo Stage was MuteMath, who played a good mixture of their two albums. Drummer Darren King walked out on stage for his regular ritual of duct taping his headphones on.

Jewel w/ Meiko

The Knight Theater

Oct. 28, 2009

The Deal: Folker gone country artist Jewel brings along new sensation Meiko for acoustic/vocal showcase.

The Mars Volta

Oct. 22, 2009

The Fillmore

The Deal: Progressive rockers perform energetic hour-and-45-minute set for a crowd of roughly 700.

The Good: The band hit the stage and opened with "Inertiatic" and what seemed to be one never-ending song for nearly two hours after that. The music was fast, furious and non-stop for the duration as guitarist Omar Rodríguez-López picked, strummed and riffed his ass off.

Singer Cedric Bixler-Zavala hit every note and danced his ass off — kicking the microphone around, flipping the stand in the air, giving James Brown's footwork a run for its money and simply being one of the most entertaining frontmen in music these days.

The band seemed to hit its peak with the mellow "The Widow" toward the end of its set, as most in the crowd sang along. Bixler-Zavala only addressed the crowd once, mentioning the band's origins in At the Drive-In. "A lot of people weren't happy when we started this band," he told the crowd. "But life is about creating visions between the faithful and the morons."

The Bad: The small crowd. Though I might blame some of that on a strict photo policy that makes it difficult to show people what they're missing.

The Verdict: A visual and sonic experience that's hard to describe, and a definite "must see."

Setlist

Inertiatic

Goliath

Cotopaxi

Roulette

Viscera

Halo

Eunuchs

Ilvana

Teflon

Drunkship

Luciforms

The Widow

Wax Simulacra

Social Distortion

Amos' Southend

Oct. 21, 2009

The Deal: So Cal rockers make long-awaited return to the Carolinas.

The Good: Mike Ness and the boys hit the stage and opened up with "The Creeps" and never really let up from there. The nearly-packed venue was a mass of hands in the air, moshing, crowd surfing and singing along for the hour-and-a-half duration of the set.

Ness told the crowd at one point that he almost canceled the show recently. "I've been so sick recently I was this close to canceling. But it's better to have a sick bear than no bear at all." The band rifled through a number of early hits including "Sick Boy," "Mommie's Little Monster," "Bad Luck" and their cover the Johnny Cash classic, "Ring of Fire."

"Highway 101" and "Prison Bound" appeared on the setlist but were passed over... the latter was replaced by "99 to Life" during the encore. The encore also included a song I wasn't familiar with that included lyrics from a variety of oldies — starting off with "I don't know what I've been told" and including a verse from Chuck Berry's "Reelin' and a Rockin'."

Halfway through the set, Ness was enjoying the energy from the crowd and suggested that everyone in attendance take the next day off. "Who decided we should work five days and only get two off? That doesn't make sense," he told the crowd.

Of course they wrapped it all up with a massive sing-along to "Story of My Life." Ness told the crowd, "We've been doing this for 30 years and it's for two reasons. One - we're stubborn motherfuckers. Two - we love what we do."

The Bad: Amos' lighting. Sure, maybe I've been spoiled by the fantastic lighting at The Fillmore, but rumor has it that even the bands think it sucks at Amos'. If band members walk to the front of the stage, they're in the shadows. Hell, if they walk out from center stage, they're in the shadows. For all these big name bands, people want to see them. Dark works at Snug Harbor and the Milestone — people expect more at bigger venues.

The Verdict: Ness was clearly impressed by the turnout of fans at the show. "It's been a long time since we went to the Carolinas, but you can bet I'm

Setlist

Creeps

Another State of Mind

Mommie's Little Monster

Sick Boy

Don't Let Me Down

Ring of Fire

Bad Luck

Reach for the Sky

Can't Take It With You

Ball and Chain

Bakersfield

Nickles and Dimes

Sometimes I Do

Encore

Making Believe

99 to Life

Still Alive

? (Classic rock medley?)

Story of My Life