Friday, August 14, 2015

This week's hot concerts

Florida Georgia Line/Thomas Rhett
Friday, 7 p.m., PNC Music Pavilion, 707 Pavilion Blvd., $30.75-$60.50, www.livenation.com    
Expect arena-ready genre hopping from the Anything Goes Tour, which reflects increasingly blurrier genre divisions indicative of today’s tattooed, open-minded generation of country fans. For his part Rhett promises a sophomore album reflective of the diverse FM radio he grew up on in September 25th’s “Tangled Up.”


Pride Festival
Saturday and Sunday  12:20 p.m. and 3 p.m., respectively. Wells Fargo Stage, on S. Tryon St. between Trade and Stonewall, Free, www.charlottepride.org 
Pride Week ends with a boom with two days of free entertainment uptown. R&B diva Estelle headlines Saturday. The Reason You Stayed, Henry River Honey, Christy Snow, Dust & Ashes, Shadina, and Messenger Down also play. Billy Gilman, who courageously came out despite his conservative country genre in November, shares headlining status with Trinity K Bonet and Yara Sofia from “RuPaul’s Drag Race” on Sunday.

Nashville Pussy/Valient Thorr
Saturday  8:30 p.m., Chop Shop, 399 E. 35th St., $12-$15, www.chopshopnoda.com  
If it’s old fashion Southern groove-metal you’re after, these two deliver on heavy rock n’ roll swagger, ripping guitar solos, and gallons of sweaty fun. Thorr, who play some of the biggest hard rock festivals in Europe, are arguably the most underrated hard rock band in the Carolinas, boast an incredibly kicking, intensely energetic live show. 


Lindi Ortega
Saturday  9 p.m., Double Door, 1218 Charlottetown Ave., $12-$15, www.doubledoorinn.com   
The wide umbrella of Americana is blessed with a stellar group of young feisty country-rock singer-songwriters that buck convention with smart, relatable songs with a progressive feminist slant. Ortega - along with Lydia Loveless and Lilly Hiatt - top that list. Ortega’s fourth album, “Faded Gloryville” was released last week  With Charlie King. 


Mans’ Jam Fundraiser with Balsam Range
Sunday  3 p.m., Amos’, 1423 S. Tryon St., $25, www.amossouthend.com  
The 2014 International Bluegrass Music Awards’ Entertainer and Vocal Group of the year received numerous nominations when the IBMAs were announced this week. It headlines this benefit in honor of Charlotte banker Williams “Mans” McLeod, who died from a brain tumor in 2012. The 3rd annual fundraiser benefits the National Brain Tumor Society and also features Chuck Johnson & Charlyhorse and the John Gaar Trio.


Trevor Hall
Sunday  8 p.m., Visulite, 1615 Elizabeth Ave., $17-$20, www.visulite.com      
Six days before his new album “Kala” drops, the Hilton Head-native circles home to the Carolinas to share his largely positive, spiritually enlightened reggae and world music-tinged acoustic rock. “Kala” is the final chapter in a trilogy of releases that follows the prolific songwriter’s global spiritual and physical journey.


Highly Suspect
Monday  8 p.m., Visulite, 1615 Elizabeth Ave., $15-$18, www.visulite.com    
Taking pages from the thick stoner blues-metal of Royal Blood, the soulful vocals and heavier side of Kings of Leon, and grunge and post-grunge `90s rock, this Brooklyn trio’s debut “Mister Asylum” looks like a 2015 breakout with accolades from Rolling Stone and the single, “Lydia,” scaling the rock charts.

Lyle Lovett & His Large Band
Wednesday  7:30 p.m., Knight Theater, 430 S. Tryon St., $20-$74.50/VIP $99.50, www.blumenthalarts.org
While rumors spread that he’s working on a new album for 2016 - his first since 2012’s “Release Me” which saw him part ways with notorious longtime label Curb Records (who’ve had less than amicable splits with Hank III and Tim McGraw) - the modern day Texas songwriting legend brings his 13 piece band for this “evening with.”


Lilly Hiatt
Thursday  8 p.m., Evening Muse, 3227 N. Davidson St., $8-$10, www.eveningmuse.com   
John Hiatt’s singer-songwriter daughter injects her inspired roots rock with the kind of indie-rock inspiration and inventiveness that comes from listening to bands like the Breeders and Liz Phair as a kid in the `90s. On her album “Royal Blue” she tells sometimes funny, heartbreaking stories with a soft spot for ironic honesty.