Thursday, November 19, 2015

This week's hot concerts



Ethan Bortnick
Friday 7:30 p.m., McGlohon Theatre, 345 N. College St., $29-$49, www.blumenthalarts.org  
The child prodigy pianist holds a Guinness World Record, has two PBS specials, sold out Vegas, and has helped raise $40 million for charity – and he’s only 14. The musical wunderkind delivers his Power of Music Tour, which incorporates a children’s choir and guest musicians, and features everything from standards to pop and jazz to his originals.
Chris Thile
Friday 8 p.m., Batte Center, Wingate University, 403 N. Camden Rd., Wingate, $42, www.carolinatixx.org
The versatile Grammy winning mandolin virtuoso of Nickel Creek, the Punch Brothers, and collaborations with YoY o Ma and Edgar Meyer will take over NPR’s “Prairie Home Companion” when Garrison Keillor retires in 2016. You can catch him flitting from genre to genre like the Justin Timberlake of new grass with a rare solo set.
Marshall Tucker Band
Friday 8 p.m., The Fillmore, 1000 NC Music Factory Blvd., $25, www.livenation.com  
The pride of Spartanburg returns for its annual CLT show following the release of its “Live in the UK 1976” album in October. With classics like “Can’t You See,” the original Southern rockers have teetered on the precipice of country and rock since before country-rock was big business and have weathered much turmoil under the leadership of frontman Doug Gray.
Futurebirds
Friday 9 p.m., Visulite, 1615 Elizabeth Ave., $15, www.visulite.com
This Athens’ outfit’s new album “Hotel Parties” turns up the psychedelia without abandoning its Americana and indie-rock roots. The album sounds like the folkier side of legendary Scottish fuzz-nuts Jesus and Mary Chain met Band of Horses in the studio, which is a good thing. It’s Southern and rootsy with jangly splashes of shoegazing Brit-pop.
Magnolia Collective
Saturday 9 p.m., Double Door, 1218 Charlottetown Ave., $8, www.doubledoorinn.com   
Recent concert posters touting this Chapel Hill act make use of Day of the Dead skull imagery and that’s a good visual representation of the band’s country-steeped, folk noir which sometimes travels musically across the border. It celebrates the release of its new album, “An Old Darkness Falls” with Charlotte’s Amigo and Landless.
Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons
Sunday 7:30 p.m., Belk Theater, 130 N. Tryon St., $70-$100, www.blumenthalarts.org
Although still eight years younger than Tony Bennett who recently wowed Charlotte, 81 isn’t too shabby for a “seasoned” performer like Frankie Valli. Having enjoyed a career renaissance thanks to the Tony winning hit “Jersey Boys” and a stint as an ill-fated gangster on “The Sopranos,” Valli is back crooning hits in that unmistakable falsetto.

Emily Kinney
Monday 8 p.m., Visulite, 1615 Elizabeth Ave., $14-$16, www.visulite.com
It’s been a year since her beloved “Walking Dead” character, Beth, was gunned down. Between roles on “The Flash,” “Masters of Sex,” and “The Knick,” the actress penned a remarkably witty acoustic-based pop album called “This is War.” She’s a fun lyricist whose sassy attitude, refreshing rhymes and word choice make for a heady good listen.
Gwar
Tuesday 8 p.m., Tremont, 400 W. Tremont Ave., $19-$24, www.tremontmusichall.com      
Gwar’s bow at Tremont before the club closes next month truly marks the end of an era for the beloved venue. The band has weathered an arrest, being banned from the city, and the death of its frontman, so it’s fitting it should get to say goodbye to a venue that’s prevailed through its own struggles and so often hosted the (fake) blood-spewing act.