Real Estate This generically-named yet musically-astute pop outfit is adept in channeling the Pet Sounds vibes with other experimental pop of the era into downright spacey music. They unfold each song with a laid-back groove that blooms into pop draped in sunshine, usually subtle, occasionally somber, and often intriguing. Also on the bill: Bob Fields, the Spalding Grays and Neon Methods. Milestone (Shukla)
TUESDAY, JULY 14
The Offspring, Sum 41 There hasn’t been a time warp, and you aren’t having a dream – two of the late ’90s radio-friendly punk rock bands are coming to town. No one can forget those fly white guys and Canadian pranksters, especially since one of them committed the ultimate publicity stunt – dating Paris Hilton. If they can survive after that act, then they deserve to have their three-chord progressions heard. With Frank Turner. Uptown Amphitheatre (Webster)
SUNDAY, JULY 12
Toby Keith and Trace Adkins Despite “Honky Tonk Badonkadonk,” Trace Adkins is the real straight-talkin’ country troubadour here. He’s got a real-live, bourbon-aged classic country voice (in contrast to Keith, who’s got about a one-and-a-half octave growl which manages to sound even flatter), and, when he says stupid stuff in the media, it’s actually funny (See his recent appearance on Real Time With Bill Maher, when asked about cattle cloning: “Did cows stop fuckin’?”). Keith, of course, is the draw here, and he does the bad-ass with steel balls hanging from his trailer hitch schtick as good as anyone. However, a gimmick’s a gimmick, and while country music’s history is full of them, they’re usually in the form of a song, not a public persona. Being big and, er, rich is one thing – being remembered 20 years from now is another. Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre (Davis)
FRIDAY, JULY 10
Buckwheat Zydeco Front man Stanley “Buckwheat” Dural Jr. is celebrating the band’s 30th anniversary with a tour and new album, Lay Your Burden Down. The accordian-friendly zydeco is sure to get feet moving, but I have to give an honest warning – you never know how long it will last live. I caught the band in Chapel Hill a few years ago and it took 40 minutes to play just three songs. Just as the crowd was finally getting warmed up and their feet moving, the show was over. Yep, just three songs and 40 minutes. Hopefully, he’ll stick around a little longer this time. Visulite Theatre (Jeff Hahne)
Truckstop Preachers The Preachers boast enough countrified charm and respect for their elders (Hank Sr., Ernest Tubb, Buck Owens) that, were someone to pull a Resistol down over your eyes – and perhaps pour a couple-three Lone Stars down your gullet – you could conceivably believe you were at one of Willie Nelson’s old hell-bent-for-Spanish-leather Fourth of July Picnics. And fireworks they got: Singer Nate Palmer, boasting the best Carolina country voice this side of the Two Dollar Pistols’ John Howie Jr., is worth the price of admission by his lonesome. Double Door Inn (Timothy C. Davis)
By Sarah Coombes
This Friday, as in April 24, Strike City in the Epicentre is bringing in some special guests — Fall Out Boy. The group will be there to bowl, meet and greet fans and play Guitar Hero. Anyone who has played the game knows how sensitive the controls are… wonder how the bands do at their own songs! Rock‘N Bowl starts at 3:30 p.m. and might I suggest getting there early. Who knows, maybe 50 Cent and Ashlee Simpson will be there too … more random things have happened.
Holy Ghost Tent Revival Praise be, but somebody tell me when these banjo-fueled revivals have finally simmered down. Lest we be accused of party-pooping on this group of Greensboro jump-blues and ragtime partisans, we’re all in favor of the young’uns discovering music whose roots transcend, I dunno, The Strokes, but for anybody with some miles on ‘em we’ve jitterbugged ’round this maypole before (Squirrel Nut Zippers anyone?). Still, these cats do not lack for live energy, and last year’s studio debut, So Long I Screamed, had enough songwriting nuggets to suggest that once they tone down the shtick – several members are theater vets, and you can tell – good things await. With Philly’s Hoots & Hellmouth. The Evening Muse (John Schacht)
MDC The band’s debut 7″ (in 1981) was titled John Wayne Was a Nazi. The Cali blokes have since released and toured their toxically political hardcore and punk nuggets with a few periods of intermittent inactivity. MDC (Millions of Damn Cops, Multi-Death Corporation, Millions of Damn Christians, take your pick) have been spewing guitars-blasted, vocals-thrashed, lyrical bombast that still shakes the girders of gin joints around the world with nary a care for trends – musical, political or otherwise. Also on the bill are Embrace the Kill and Dirty South Revolutionaries. Milestone (Samir Shukla)
Watch John Wayne was a Nazi:
Earl Scruggs Sometimes you make the music, sometimes the music makes you. The 85-year-old Earl Scruggs, like former bandmate Bill Monroe, is one of those guys who has made music in his very own image, creating a genre from the ground up. Having basically invented three-finger bluegrass banjo (now called simply “Scruggs style” if it’s called anything at all), Scruggs melded jazz and blues into what was too often a hopelessly white (if white-hot) art form, and laid the groundwork for all the “newgrass” bands to come later. His picking has slowed a little bit over the years, but Scruggs has always taken good care of himself, so the drop-off is negligible. Besides, did anyone really complain that Babe Ruth didn’t hit the ball 500 feet toward the end of his career? No. They just came to see the legend hit one over the wall. Presented by The Neighborhood Theatre, Ovens Auditorium (Timothy C. Davis)
Eyes of the Elders CD Release The show may be listed as Eyes of the Elders, but it’s all Stump Dickens these days. After the departure of Josh Panda last year, the guys known as Uncle Fox and Bearcat joined forces with a live band. The guitar of Austin Hill is well known from his solo work and that with Humans, and he brings the same fire to Stump. Christina Swinger’s violin is also heavily showcased on the album and brings a classical, eerie and sometimes jazzy element to the groove. The band’s celebrating its new seven-song EP. Snug Harbor (Jeff Hahne)
See what you think:
Umphrey’s McGee You know they plan on “kicking out the jams,” so to speak, and sure there’ll be plenty of new stuff from the band’s January album, Mantis. The band, which was formed in Notre Dame, leans toward the prog-rock side of jam street. With plenty of albums – and Jammy Awards – it’s sure to be a long night. Neighborhood Theatre (Hahne)
The Shockwaves Sloppy is good. This Atlanta punk-and-garage combo stumbles and fumbles over the instruments but struts out rocking nonetheless. Last summer’s release Pankastroika is kooky on the spy movie theme tip, yet is decidedly cocky. The band is more punk than hardcore, and takes cues from both the West Coast (Dead Kennedys) and early Brit punk. Also on the bill: Southside Punx, Murder Media and IED. Milestone (Shukla)
The Stellas This young Rock Hill/Charlotte-based quartet do the power-alt-pop thing with agreeable enough aplomb. Consisting of bass player Josh Knight, vocalist/guitarist Adam Middleton, drummer Jacob Worden and newest Stella Shaun McFall, the Weezer-worshipping wee ones also seem to have cut their teeth on a solid stack vintage vinyl from the likes of The Kinks, The Zombies, and The Hollies, with a little Cobain and The Cars thrown in for roughage. With Nathan Morris & Joanna Lynne; No Second Troy & Last November. The Evening Muse (Timothy C. Davis)
