The electronic music age has given musicians tools like laptops and looping pedals so that being a one man band no longer means just strumming an acoustic guitar and singing into a microphone - although that still works too. It's still pretty impressive to see one person multitask on stage and it's an economical solution for the artists.
Saturday, February 2, Snug Harbor in Plaza-Midwood focuses on such solo acts as it celebrates another loner - the Groundhog - with "Me Myself & I Solo Festival: Celebrating the Solo Performer."
The concept was conceived by two solo artists, Lee Grutman of outrageous puppet-rock act (for lack of a better term - he combines dance music and stuffed animals) Your Fuzzy Friends and Robert Childers, who has done time in so many Charlotte bands (including 2013 Wolves and Overmountain Men) that I lost count years ago.
Both will perform solo along with Andy the Doorbum, Bo White, Human Pippi Armstrong, and Brandaddy Longlegs. What's more, the price of admission reflects the loner-theme as well. It's $1. 9 p.m. www.snugrock.com
Parts Stones, Skynyrd, Stooges, and vintage soul, this
blatantly Southern soul-punk outfit is busting out of Birmingham with its debut
album, “There’s a Bomb in Gilead.". Charlotte’s Temperance League, Hectorina, and
Modern Primitives make for a solid bill.
A Silent Film
8 p.m. Friday, February 1, The Fillmore, 1000 NC Music
Factory Blvd. $10.50. www.livenation.com
Before relocating to Arizona the Coldplay-esque Oxford, England combo had a modest hit with the single
“You Will Leave a Mark.” Its new album, “Sand & Snow,” traces its discovery
of America, while its music is being discovered through American ads, TV, and
SiriusXM.
Travis Tritt
8 p.m. Friday, February 1, Knight Theater, 430 S. Tryon St.
$34.50-$54.50. www.blumenthalarts.org
The country vet, who appears in the upcoming film “Brother’s
Keeper” (out in April), revisits the solo acoustic format of his successful
2011 tour. He'll reveal the stories behind his
songs and audiences can hear them in their raw, pre-recorded and
polished state.
Carrie Rodriguez
8 p.m. Saturday, February 2, Evening Muse, 3227 N. Davidson
St. $12-$15. www.eveningmuse.com
The Texas
fiddler-turned-singer-songwriter continues to stretch stylistically on her new
album, “Give Me All You Got" - which features standout tracks like the bluesy-rock “I Cry
For Love" - but she doesn't skimp on her trademark twang and acoustic instrumentation.
With rude, thick riffs this
psychedelic Heartland outfit’s new album, “Buffalo,” stomps in with the
rumbling of the thundering herd from which it takes its names. Topped with
growling vocals and bluesy riffs, the disc is as heavy as it is catchy - like Clutch
at its most distorted and rumbly.
After retiring from his bakery job at the age of 51, the
longtime blues hobbyist and his mean harmonica launched an award winning music
career as a member of Robert Jr. Lockwood’s band and then in the late `90s as a
band leader himself that has taken him around the world on tour. Nearing 80, he
maintains a sporadic performing schedule.
Meow Meow
7:30 p.m. Monday-Thursday, February 4-7, Stage Door Theater,
Corner of 5th and College Streets. $30. www.blumenthalarts.org
This Australian actress/singer won
the Edinburgh International Fringe Festival prize in 2011 for turning cabaret
topsy-turvy with an outrageous act with global appeal that draws on many eras
and locales from chansons (lyric-driven French songs) and 1930’s Shanghai show tunes to `80s new wave and
modern alt-rock.
Lindi Ortega
8 p.m. Tuesday, February 5, Evening Muse, 3227 N. Davidson
St. $10. www.eveningmuse.com
This country honey, who appeared on ABC’s “Nashville” and toured with
Social Distortion, is a throwback to vintage honky-tonk. Her "Cigarettes & Truckstops" made "Spin Magazine's" Top country albums of 2012, drawing on the barren desert and the Man in Black despite her Canadian roots.
Flogging Molly
7 p.m. Thursday, February 7, The Fillmore, 1000 NC Music
Factory Blvd. $37. www.livenation.com
This Irish-American act - on it's annual pre-St. Patty's Day Green 17 Tour - has carved out its place as one of the best live touring bands out there with its combination of rollicking pub-punk, heart-on-sleeve storytelling, and bouncing mix of traditional Celtic and rock instrumentation.
Soul Asylum
8 p.m. Thursday, February 7, Visulite, 1615 Elizabeth Ave.
$25. www.visulite.com
In October guitarist Dan Murphy left
the group leaving frontman Dave Pirner its lone founding member. Still, 2012's "Delayed Reaction" stands as its best recording since the `90s and deserves a solid listen.
It's funny (or not funny at all if you're a promoter) how things work out. Last summer there were two Billy Joel tributes scheduled in Charlotte for the same night. Later this month two a cappella groups (Pentatonix and Straight No Chaser) play two separate Charlotte venues on the very same night. While these are undoubtedly totally different shows, given the similarities I'd imagine there's no way to avoid splitting the audience. If it's timed just right sometimes you can take in both (which works out well if you're paying a sitter), but then you're paying admission to both too.
That won't be a problem for Frank Zappa fans this week when two Zappa tributes play Charlotte. Thursday, January 31, Detroit's Ugly Radio Rebellion plays the music of Frank Zappa for what I'm hearing will be a three-hour show (no opening act) at Amos' Southend. Admission is a mere $6 in advance, $8 day of show.
Next Tuesday, February 5, Zappa's son Dweezil (pictured above) brings his Zappa Plays Zappa tour back to Neighborhood Theatre. Tickets for that show are $28 to $30. So you can see both concerts for under $40.
I've seen Zappa Plays Zappa and interviewed Dweezil Zappa in 2008. He oozed enthusiasm about a project that makes him (and fans) feel close to his deceased father. His show uses video so audiences get the added treat of watching father and son playing together. While I'd love for him to play his own lone hit "My Guitar Wants to Kill Your Mama" (a ridiculous piece of late `80s pop culture trivia - my best friend had the cassette), Zappa Plays Zappa is a really sweet gesture for those of us that look for ways to feel close to our deceased loved ones. In a way it's for the same reason people go watch tributes to acts that we can no longer see live (the excellent Michael Jackson Who's Bad tribute draw really well in the wake of the King of Pop's passing, for instance).
While I haven't witnessed Ugly Radio Rebellion's set before, the trio has been recreating Zappa's catalog for over a decade, so it should have plenty of experience churning out marathon sets. Both acts certainly share a love of Zappa's music. It's not like stumbling over three chords at a sports bar. A lot more preparation has to go into recreating his complex tunes.
Myers Park grad Andrew Gillespie co-founded this quirky jam
rock act while at Virginia Tech. Now based in Richmond, the foursome is becoming
a staple on the festival circuit with its infectious energy, Southern organ and
guitar-fueled sing-alongs, and bright harmonies. It’s paired with local
reggae-roots party band Of Good Nature.
Shannon Whitworth
8 p.m. Saturday, January 26, Evening Muse, 3227 N. Davidson
St. $12-$14. 704-376-3737.
Whether bridging country, soul, and blues as a solo artist
or doing a sultry and jazzy classic duo album with Barrett Smith, Whitworth’s
dreamy alto channels artists like Rita Coolidge and Carly Simon with the more
contemporary drawl of a Southern steeped country singer.
The Marshall Tucker
Band
8 p.m. Saturday, January 26, Neighborhood Theatre, 511 E. 36th
St. $25-$35. 704-358-9298.
Possibly the first commercial outfit to completely blur the
line between pop and country - touring with classic rock peers while charting
country singles - Spartanburg’s favorite sons are long led by vocalist and sole
founding member Doug Gray who lost his original bandmates to retirement and
death. He and his longtime current band crank out staples like “Fire on the
Mountain,” “Heard It In a Love Song” and
“Can’t You See.”
Crowfield
8:30 p.m. Saturday, January 26, Visulite, 1615 Elizabeth
Ave. $12-$14. www.visulite.com
Neither burning out or fading away, Charleston’s Crowfield
is calling it quits after a banner year, three albums in six years, and being named
their hometown’s band of the year. This marks the group’s second to last show
and its first at Visulite after selling out the Evening Muse twice.
The Weeks/Junior
Astronomers
8:30 p.m. Sunday, January 27, Tremont, 400 W. Tremont Ave.
$8-$10. www.ticketfly.com
Call it the future sounds of the South - Charlotte’s own
Junior Astronomers team with Jackson, Mississippi’s the Weeks who signed with
Kings of Leon’s Serpent and Snakes label. A debut is due in April, but the latter’s
preliminary EP suggests literate lyrics, a Southern sound, and vocals that
bridge an edgier Counting Crows with early KOL and Springsteen.
Amy Ray/Heather
McEntire
8 p.m. Tuesday, January 29, Evening Muse, 3227 N. Davidson
St. $15. www.eveningmuse.com
The Indigo Girl works out new material in an intimate
solo/acoustic format with sometime collaborator McEntire (of the buzz-worthy
Chapel Hill trio Mount Moriah). Both play solo sets following Hiss Golden Messenger
as well as back each other up.
If you were a fan of late `90s lo-fi indie-rock then the
return of the once elusive Neutral Milk Hotel frontman/songwriter is a
must-see. Weirder than Wilco with fascinatingly curious lyrics, but still
anchored enough in tradition to remain accessible his Athens-based group’s 1998
record “In the Aeroplane Over the Sea” has escalated in popularity since its
release 15 years ago making many a critic’s best of lists.
Solas
7:30 p.m. Thursday, January 31, McGlohon Theatre, 345 N.
College St. $19.50-$29.50. 704-372-1000.
Band lead Seamus Egan uses his great great Uncle’s
tumultuous experience immigrating to the US in the early 1900s for lyrical
fodder on this Celtic act’s tenth album, “Shamrock City,” making the new
material in his band’s set rich in personal connection, juicy details, and
historical perspective.
There are always questions when a local or regional
band that seems - from the outside - to be on the cusp of some sort of success
calls it quits. Seeing bands I really dig call it quits when they have such potential has made me a little, we'll call it fan-shy. My favorite Charlotte band broke up a couple years ago and it
still smarts. Whenever I see those musicians out, I give them a hug and think
about the missed opportunities.
Charleston’s Crowfield is calling it quits with three shows. The first is at
The Handlebar in Greenville Friday. The second is at Charlotte’s Visulite Saturday,
January 25. It makes its final bow in Charleston March 15.
The group gave the industry a worthy shot and outlived better known bands with six years
and three albums - all produced by Rick Beato who has worked with
NeedtoBreathe, Trey Anastasio, and Shinedown. It was named Charleston’s best
band by "City Paper" in 2012, has toured extensiveley, and was selected to have its entire
catalog shopped to CBS’ music supervisor through a contest that pitted them
against hundreds of other acts
.
From the outside it looks like a terrible time to
throw in the towel, but according to frontman Tyler Meacham the split is
amicable.
“There isn't any juicy drama. All of us in the band
are still as good of friends. I can only speak for myself - but
personally I think what I wanted out of music has just changed since I
started the band. The goal then was to get in front of as many people
as I can with my music, get on the biggest stages, and live in a tour bus
playing music I'm infinitely proud of,” he wrote in an email. “Now, I think it is,
more simply, to make, release and perform music I'm infinitely proud of. I don't have that need to take over the world with my music, so to speak.
“There's a
lot of sacrifice that goes along with a pursuit as grand as taking over the
world with mid-tempo folky rock songs. I think I also came to the
understanding that you never 'make it' or 'fail' in this business.
Failing would have been to never move from Indiana to Charleston to at
least give it a try. In that sense, I'm beyond proud of what we did in
Crowfield - the places we went, the naive fearlessness in which we operated in
the early days, and the whole thrill of seeing people connect to our music,”
continues Meacham, who married in 2012 and plans to keep making music without
touring to the extent that he did with the band. Of going solo, he adds: “I
feel like I got to play with some of the best musicians out there - those being
the other guys in Crowfield. I can honestly say I was the least talented
person in that band. So, I wouldn't hesitate to call them to help me out.”
New Kids on the Block announced this morning on "The View" that the veteran boy band will launch "The Package" summer headlining tour following the April 2 release of its new album "10." The tour stops at Time Warner Cable Arena June 19. What's more the tour includes special guests 98 Degrees - on its first tour in 12 years - and Grammy winners Boyz II Men. All three groups performed a cappella on "The View."
Tickets for the June 19 concert go on sale February 2 at www.timewarnercablearena.com, www.ticketmaster.com, Ticketmaster outlets, Walmart stores, and the arena box office. You can also call 1-800-745-3000. American Express cardholders can purchase presale tickets starting Friday, January 25.
After splitting in 1994, NKOTB reformed in 2008 to much fanfare. It performed at TWC Arena with a little known Lady Gaga as its opening act in October 2008.
Fellow boy band 98 Degrees may not be quite the household name NKOTB is, but the multi-platinum selling group includes actor/reality star Nick Lachey and his "Dancing with the Stars'" Season 2 champ brother Drew Lachey (I'm hoping the group will include Nick's solo hit "What Left of Me" in its set). The group had its share of hit singles between 1997 and 2001.
Boyz II Men, who have visited Charlotte on occasion in recent years, is the most commercially successful R&B group of all time. The vocal quartet scored a string of number one ballads in the `90s - some of which set records for length of time at No. 1. It also collected four Grammy awards. It now tours as a trio.
A complete list of concert dates can be found here.
Christopher Cross’ concert
at Neighborhood Theatre Sunday night was unlike any show I’ve seen in that
the audience may or may not have been witnessing a public wooing. What the singer-songwriter said was his first Charlotte show
(although one reader emailed to say he thought he saw him play Ovens in the
`80s) was a very open, intimate set that even managed to tug the heartstrings
of the friend I brought with me who wasn’t even born when Cross had his biggest Grammy and Oscar winning hits.
She was drawn in not
only by the music but by the love story that some of us in the audience
fantasized was picking up after 30 or so years. From the stage Cross
was very open about the former girlfriend who inspired his second hit album “Another
Page” being in the audience. Midway through his nearly hour and a half set
he introduced a song he wrote for the “love of my life” that he left off that
particular album because it was too personal. Things felt very personal and real through that portion of the show. Through “Talking in My Sleep” and “Think of Laura” (which was written
about that girlfriend’s deceased best friend) it felt like he was singing just
for her. It could’ve been a scene from a movie. “Laura” was particularly
moving. Cross got choked up and it’s such a beautiful song. He certainly wasn’t
the only one.
Aside from the
imagined (or not) movie scale romance (although I decided I’m glad my husband
doesn’t write lyrics because I find the idea of him serenading me pretty embarrassing),
Cross and his five-piece band were a bunch of seasoned pros.
They opened the show
with “Never Be the Same” from his smash self-titled debut - the one that
garnered all those Grammys. He joked about a long career and nine albums - many
of which are out of print and only available at "garage sales and flea markets" -
before introducing his band.
He touched on his
latest album, “Doctor Faith” with “Hey Kid” and “Dreamers,” but most of the
material was culled from those first two hit albums which are likely what most
fans are familiar with. He also played his ode to Tina Fey’s “30 Rock”
character Liz Lemon ("Lemon's Theme" which you can watch on YouTube). He mentioned that Fey
told him that it was no coincidence the guy her character married earlier this
season shared Cross' name.
Cross was backed by a
drummer and percussionist, bassist Chazz Frichtel (who spent years working with
Michael McDonald), and
two keyboardists - one of which doubled as a mean sax soloist. Cross provided
the only guitar (which is pretty refreshing when you consider bands that travel
with so many guitars playing at once they all mush together). He's a subtle
player who can whip out a solo with ease.
“Walking in Avalon,” the title track to his 1998 album, straddled the line
between adult pop and smooth jazz beginning with a rippling bass solo and featuring percussion and sax solos. Cross mentioned the sexy song, which tells of an affair
with a free spirit, was banned at radio. I'm not sure if it was his mention of doing mushrooms or
his inferred profanity (he says “mmm…” but we all knew what luck rhymed with), that served as its death knell at radio, but it - along with “Kid” - was a highlight of the later era material.
Things truly escalated
for “Sailing.” The shakers and rain maker and the full band treatment helped recreate the beachy feel of the original recording (which undoubtedly helped coin the term "yacht rock") and Cross’ voice hasn’t faltered with time. He still hits the high notes.
“Best That You Can Do
(Arthur's Theme)” and “Ride Like the Wind” (with Frichtel handling
McDonald’s backing vocals superbly) ended the regular set with most of the crowd on its feet. The group returned
for “Say You’ll Be Mine” - the opening track of that 1979 smash. Cross ended the evening by stepping off the bus outside the theater to take pictures and sign
autographs for fans.
It was a really sweet and
special show from the stories he told to his connection with his now
Charlotte-based ex to the fans we met in the audience sharing their stories of
what his music meant to them.
With no opener we were
out of the Neighborhood Theatre by 9:30 and at Amos’ in time to see Hot Water
Music - a post-punk band from my post-college days who have returned with a
great new album. The polar opposite of Cross, but two good shows in one night perfectly timed. You can't beat that.
Courtney Devores has been writing about music and entertainment in Charlotte for 16 years and has been a regular contributor to The Charlotte Observer since 2003.
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