RTP-area local music and culture

[grady <grady AT ibiblio.org>]

Sunday, October 26
Maple Stave    (http://www.maplestave.com)
WXDU 88.7 FM, Durham

Maple Stave just released their third EP of dynamic, 
largely-instrumental um, math-rock. OK, I said it. All it really means 
is that drummer Evan Rowe leads the charge, and that songs can morph and 
flow through endlessly rotating chord changes without any external 
signal to the layperson as to when/how they'll shift. Count along at 
home: 4:00 p.m. 88.7 FM or wxdu.org.



Sunday, October 26
Used Kids    (http://www.myspace.com/usedkidsny)
Bull City Headquarters, Durham

Chaz says "Used Kids is a super group consisting of Nato and Danny from 
the Modern Machines, Mikey from the Ergs and Kate from Cheeky!!! 
PRE-FEST SHOW!!!"



Sunday, October 26
Simple    (http://www.myspace.com/httpwwwmyspacecomsimple)
Dry Heathens    (http://www.myspace.com/dryheathens)
Black River
Death to the Details    (http://www.reverbnation.com/deathtothedetails)
Pour House, Raleigh



Sunday, October 26
The Scaries    (http://www.novia.net/~matt/rock.html)
Amish Jihad    (http://www.myspace.com/amishjihad)
Reservoir, Carrboro

Yes, *the* Scaries, the long-running Chapel Hill pop-punk band who broke 
up 5 or so years ago. They're getting together to play The Fest in 
Gainesville, and this is a warmup show before they head down there.



Monday, October 27
Monotonix    (http://www.monotonix.com/)
Sir Arthur and His Royal Knights 
(http://mannsworld.blogspot.com/2007/08/sir-arthur-his-royal-knights.html)
Polar Bear Polar Bear
Pour House, Raleigh



Monday, October 27
Pretty Boy Thorson    (http://www.myspace.com/prettyboythorson)
Jokes & Jokes & Jokes    (http://www.myspace.com/jokesjokesjokes)
Movers and Shakers    (http://www.myspace.com/moversandshakers)
Cortez the Killer    (http://www.myspace.com/fightwasted)
Reservoir, Carrboro



Tuesday, October 28
Deerhoof    (http://deerhoof.killrockstars.com/)
Experimental Dental School    (http://www.experimentaldental.com/)
Flying    (http://www.flyingflyingflying.com)
Cat's Cradle, Carrboro



Tuesday, October 28
Black Skies    (http://blackskies.us/)
Aminal Music    (http://www.myspace.com/theaminalmusic)
Low Red Land    (http://www.myspace.com/lowredland)
The Cave, Chapel Hill



Tuesday, October 28
Tin Star
Crystal Antlers    (http://www.myspace.com/crystalantlers)
Local 506, Chapel Hill

Jamie from Tin Star sent this along about this show:

We (Durham-based Tin Star, www.myspace.com/tinstarnc) just got added to 
the Crystal Antlers bill at the Local 506 next Tues., Oct. 28. Yes! They 
are on Touch and Go Records, a label we love. Their recent album "EP" is 
on Pitchfork's "most read reviews" list and got one of the "best new 
releases" of 2008. Check it out: 
http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/news/144556-crystal-antlers-sign-to-touch-and-go



Wednesday, October 29
Durham Ukelele Orchestra 
(http://www.reverbnation.com/durhamukuleleorchestra)
Protean Mean    (http://www.proteanmean.com)
Yohimbe    (http://www.myspace.com/partywithyohimbe)
Marvell Building, Durham



Wednesday, October 29
Minus the Bear    (http://www.minusthebear.com/)
Annuals    (http://www.myspace.com/annuals)
Sylvie
Lincoln Theater, Raleigh

I have the new Annuals CD in my car, but every time I put it on, it 
reminds me too much of laid-back Dave Matthews-y frat-pop and not enough 
of the weird freak-pop of their first album, so I haven't been able to 
get all the way through it yet.



Wednesday, October 29
Kerbloki    (http://www.kerbloki.com/)
Juan Huevos    (http://www.myspace.com/juanhuevos)
Astronautalis    (http://www.myspace.com/astronautalis)
Bleubird    (http://www.myspace.com/bleubird)
Local 506, Chapel Hill



Thursday, October 30
Jay Reatard    (http://www.myspace.com/jayreatard)
Cola Freaks    (http://www.myspace.com/colafreaks)
Local 506, Chapel Hill

Jay Reatard is going through something of a career renaissance at this 
point, at the ripe old age of 28 . . . he's been a recording artist 
since he was 15, but somehow the breakup of his main bands (The Reatards 
and the Lost Sounds) and the release of his first proper "solo" album in 
2006 lit a fire under a whole new batch of fans. And his 2008 signing to 
Matador just doused the whole thing in gas & struck a spark to it.



Friday, October 31
Jeff Hart
Broad Street Cafe, Durham

It's Jeff Hart's birthday, so he's playing a rockshow. Sez Jeff:

i am truly at a loss as to why it's been decades since i have had a gig 
or party to mark that my birthday is celebrated every halloween night at 
midnight. so with my first birthday party in 26 years, i have booked 3 
of my bands at broad st. cafe in durham.

my original band (i just play under my name now) is at 9pm. chris chamis 
(h-bombs, secret service, captured live studio owner) is our new drummer.

young neil and the damage done follows at 10:45pm

the hanks (my last party even pre-dated their inception in the late 
80s') is on around 11:45pm.

there's no cover, costumes are encouraged but not required. there are 
about a dozen draft beers on tap and broad street has expanded their 
menu to wood fired pizza.



Friday, October 31
Dexter Romweber    (http://www.dexterromweber.com)
Malamondos    (http://www.malamondos.com/)
Flat Tires
Gojira-X    (http://www.gojira-x.com/)
The Garage, Winston-Salem



Friday, October 31
Rat Jackson    (http://www.myspace.com/ratjacksonmusic)
Pink Flag    (http://www.myspace.com/pinkflagnc)
Jack Sprat Cafe, Chapel Hill

If you're feeling like braving the wilds of downtown Chapel Hill on 
Halloween, there'll actually be a great rock show on East Franklin, 
assuming you can cram yourself through the door.



Friday, October 31
Kapow! Music    (http://kapowmusic.net)
Sleeping in the Aviary
Western City
Nightlight, Chapel Hill



Friday, October 31
Twilighter    (http://twilighter.net/)
Stu Cole's Spectral Spasms
The Cave, Chapel Hill



Friday, October 31
Fanzig    (http://www.myspace.com/saintswilldo)
Reservoir, Carrboro



Friday, October 31
Straight 8s    (http://www.straight8s.com)
The Tremors    (http://www.tremorsrockabilly.com/)
Killer Filler    (http://www.myspace.com/killerfiller)
Slim's Downtown, Raleigh

It's a psychobilly freakout!



Saturday, November 1
Superchunk    (http://www.superchunk.com)
Bowerbirds    (http://www.bowerbirds.org)
Megafaun    (http://www.myspace.com/megafaun)
The dB's    (http://www.thedbsonline.net)
Billy Bragg    (http://billybragg.com/)
Graham Terrace, UNC, Chapel Hill

This is a [quiet] concert to celebrate the last day of early voting in 
NC. It's being held on Graham Terrace, which is immediately adjacent to 
Morehead Planetarium, the main early-voting site on the UNC end of 
Chapel Hill. The show starts at 9:00 AM (MORNING!) and runs until early 
voting cuts off at 1:00 PM.

In addition to a star-studded lineup of locals (Superchunk acoustic! 
dBs!), Billy Bragg, in town to play at Duke at night, has been added to 
the bill.

This is the lineup as I cut-n-pasted it the other day:

Billy Bragg
The dBs
Superchunk (acoustic)
Ivan Rosebud
Megafaun
I Was Totally Destroying It
Bowerbirds
Greg Humphreys
Regina Hexaphone
Portastatic

Updates will be posted at www.NCForChange.com.



Saturday, November 1
Billy Bragg    (http://billybragg.com/)
Page Auditorium, Durham

I was such a huge Billy Bragg fan in high school & college that it 
doesn't even bother me that I haven't paid much attention to him since 
then; I still have this core of fondness that I don't feel any need to 
re-examine. When "Mermaid Avenue" came out (10 years ago!), its offhand 
brilliance was just the thing to reinforce that fondness.

So I'm going into this show not so much with high expectations (I don't 
really have any, in fact), but with this sort of back-of-the-mind 
assumption that whatever it's like, it's bound to be interesting. Would 
be even without an enormously momentous political moment 3 days away, 
though that's bound to up the interestingness quotient.



Saturday, November 1
Viking Moses    (http://www.myspace.com/vikingmoses)
Jamie Stewart    (http://www.myspace.com/xiuxiuforlife)
Duke Coffeehouse, Durham

Jamie Stewart is the prime-mover behind Xiu Xiu.



Saturday, November 1
The Loners    (http://www.demonbeachrecords.com/loners.html)
The Ts    (http://www.myspace.com/thettttt)
Chip Robinson & the Heavy Outfit
Pour House, Raleigh

It's a night of straight-up romper-stomper rock-and-roll.



Saturday, November 1
DJs Mothersbrothers
Savage Knights    (http://www.retroactivedynamics.com)
Ultimate Optimist
Nightlight, Chapel Hill



Saturday, November 1
Bowerbirds    (http://www.bowerbirds.org)
Slim's Downtown, Raleigh

The Bowerbirds recently canceled a bunch of tour dates due to being 
freaking worn out by a whole bunch of earlier tour dates. I'm sure it's 
not news to most folks around here that indie-rock touring, with its 
minimalism in areas such as accommodation, transport, nutrition and 
sleep, is pretty grueling, but it bears repeating. Also bears repeating: 
these folks don't get work-provided healthcare. Not everyone in that 
situation has the intelligence or the luxury to say "woah, stop, we're 
killing ourselves with this pace."



Sunday, November 2
Deerhunter    (http://www.notownsound.net/deerhunter/)
Times New Viking    (http://www.timesnewviking.com/)
Cat's Cradle, Carrboro



Sunday, November 2
Bad Checks    (http://demonbeach.com/checks.htm)
Leadfoot    (http://www.leadfoot.net/)
Olympic Ass Kicking Team    (http://www.terryandersonrocks.com/)
Dirty Little Heaters    (http://www.myspace.com/thedirtylittleheaters)
Pour House, Raleigh

Reunions (or returns from long hiatuses, anyway) for '90s-era Raleigh 
hardrockers Leadfoot, and long-lived '80s-era punkabilly icons the Bad 
Checks (who've come and gone three or four times over the past 25 
years). Bad Checks are one of my favorite local bands of all time, and 
bassist Clif Mann spent most of their '90s and '00s downtime playing 
guitar for first Pipe and then The Ghost of Rock, so there's an extra 
boost, as if they needed one.

Current rock titans Dirty Little Heaters & Olympic Ass-Kicking Team 
round out the lineup.



Sunday, November 2
Bishop Allen    (http://www.bishopallen.com/)
Electric Owls    (http://www.myspace.com/electricowls)
An Horse    (http://www.myspace.com/anhorse)
Local 506, Chapel Hill

It's catching-up-with-the-bloggers night; between Deerhunter & Times New 
Viking at the Cradle, and An Horse at Local 506, you've got at least 
three bands whose blog-buzz has penetrated even my thick cocoon, though 
I haven't heard a note by any of 'em.



Sunday, November 2
The Howlies    (http://www.myspace.com/thehowlies)
Yarn
Slim's Downtown, Raleigh



Monday, November 3
Murs    (http://www.mursmusic.com/)
Kidz in the Hall    (http://www.kidzinthehall.com)
Cat's Cradle, Carrboro



Monday, November 3
usaisamonster    (http://www.loadrecords.com/bands/usaisamonster.html)
The Bronzed Chorus    (http://www.myspace.com/thebronzedchorus)
Bolmongani    (http://www.myspace.com/bolmongani)
The Werehouse, Winston-Salem



Monday, November 3
Drive-By Truckers    (http://www.drivebytruckers.com/)
The Hold Steady    (http://www.theholdsteady.com/)
Lincoln Theater, Raleigh

This is it, the thinking man's dude-rock extravaganza of the year, if 
not the decade. If you're going to this show, it's a safe bet that you 
not only already know it, but that you've been psyching up for weeks in 
advance as well. Your coworkers are probably getting tired of hearing 
the same five albums on repeat from over the cube wall, in fact.



Monday, November 3
Little Teeth    (http://www.myspace.com/littleteethmusic)
Pepi Ginsberg    (http://www.myspace.com/pepiginsberg)
Local 506, Chapel Hill

How do you know it's CMJ-time? When there are like six different shows 
by unknown outta-town bands on a Monday night.



Monday, November 3
Barn Burning    (http://www.barnburning.net/)
Sharks Come Cruising    (http://sharkscomecruising.com)
Reservoir, Carrboro



Monday, November 3
The King Canutes
Slim's Downtown, Raleigh

The King Canutes are the NYC-based band of Raleigh expat Richard Alwyn, 
aka Dick Luxury, who used to work the counter at Schoolkids in the '90s 
dressed immaculately in a series of impeccable suits, and who was one of 
the prime instigators of the long-running post-Valentines "Love 
Hangover" series of duet shows.



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