Thursday, Nov. 6
DURHAM CENTRAL PARK (Foster Street)
⇒ Future Kings of Nowhere (8:30 p.m.) FKON's Shayne O'Neill pulls elements from a long line of songwriters: He gathers Blake Schwartzenbach's emotional clarity and metaphorical whims, Elvis Costello's hooks and sarcasm, John Darnielle's detailing eye, and Billy Bragg's knack for pulling universal truths from small experiences. All sung, it's what makes his busker-punk project one of the area's best. —BR
The Pinhook (117 W. Main St.)
Juan Huevos (9:45 p.m.) Juan Huevos' electro-fueled hip-hop floats brash come-ons and boasts over clipped samples and taut beats, balanced—to Huevos' benefit—with wit and self-awareness. —BR
Broad Street Cafe (1116 Broad St.)
Shakermaker (10 p.m.) Shakermaker's cool-breeze pop rock stays fresh thanks to touches of bluegrass twang and AM Gold gleam, using restraint and harmony like capital. —BR
Friday, Nov. 7
Carolina Theatre (309 W. Morgan St.)
⇒ The Rosebuds (10:45 p.m.) Now four LPs into a career, The Rosebuds is more confident, more assured and just plain better than ever before. The still-fresh Life Like is an effective synthesis of everything the band's done to date—jangle, pop, disco, dance, rock, roll, smile and sulk. —BR
Bull McCabe's (427 W. Main St.)
⇒ The Wigg Report (11:55 p.m.) Equal parts Beat Happening, Violent Femmes and Agent Orange, the Bull City trio throws eager sax and male-female vocal interplay into its jittery acoustic punk. Scrappy and fine. —BR
Saturday, Nov. 8
The Pinhook (117 W. Main St.)
I Was Totally Destroying It (11 p.m.) In the year that's passed since IWTDI released its out-of-nowhere full-length gem, the band has grown its occasionally wiry, hook-laden power-pop into a full-bodied force of stadium-sized proportions. For more, see page 40. —BR
Duke Coffeehouse (Crowell Building, Duke University's East Campus)
⇒ Midtown Dickens (10:45 p.m.) A Midtown Dickens show is a front-porch parade, gallivanting from off-the-cuff humor to unexpected poignancy, both exuding the same best-friend intimicay. These days, expert more instruments, better playing and the same ragged charm. —BR
⇒ The Curtains of Night (10 p.m.) The monolithic riffage of the two-piece Curtains of Night offers a bigger and bolder bludgeon than most bands with twice the personnel. The duo's modal shifts turn blazing riffs into a monumental scorched earth campaign—an endlessly captivating, if deliberately paced, siege of burning amp-buzz and jagged rhythm. —BR
The Sirens Lounge (1803 W. Markham Blvd.)
Nathan Oliver (10:15 p.m.) The caffeinated soul of Nathan Oliver sings from the intersection of wistful crooning and manic howls, coming together in a settled, melodic way. —BR
Rat Jackson (8:30 p.m.) Booze and broads provide more than enough grist for the mill of Rat Jackson's tightly wound blues explosion. —BR
The Marvell Event Center (119 W. Main St.)
Dr. Powerful (9:45 p.m.) Dr. Powerful has more in common with Polvo than just drummer Eddie Watkins. It approaches rock head-on, warping guitars as an accent, not a focal point. —BR
Posts
