This week's hot concerts

Cracker

6 p.m. Friday, June 28, Fountain Plaza at NC Music Factory, 1000 NC Music Factory Blvd. $10. www.ncmusicfactory.com

Band leader David Lowery - who is doing double time touring with both Cracker and Camper Van Beethoven this summer - helps close out the Friday Live! concert series with modern rock classics like “Low,” “Teen Angst (What the World Needs Now)” and “Euro-Trash Girl.”

Charlotte 1960s Rock n’ Roll Reunion

8 p.m. Friday, June 28, Neighborhood Theatre, 511 E. 36^th St. $15. www.neighborhoodtheatre.com

Charlotte photographer Daniel Coston and the Mannish Boys’ Jacob Berger celebrate the release of their new book chronicling the NC rock scene during the 1960s by reuniting veteran artists the Good, the Bad & the Ugly, the Young Ages, Bobby Donaldson & the Ravens, and the Abbadons. G,B & U and the Abbadons play their first shows since 1994 and 1967, respectively.

Hated: A Tribute to GG Allin

8 p.m. Friday, June 28, Tremont, 400 W. Tremont Ave. $8. www.tremontmusichall.com

Some of the local musicians that knew the notorious punk figure, who spent time in Charlotte and recorded with our own Antiseen, pay musical tribute to him on the 20^th anniversary of his death. Featuring members of Antiseen, Biggy Stardust, the Chalkies, Self-Made Monsters and others.

Jeremy Davis/Jon Lindsay

9 p.m. Saturday, June 29, Queen City Q, 225 E. 6^th St. $ 5. www.clture.org

Two area songwriters (Davis as frontman for Elonzo and solo artist Lindsay) kick off Tangled Up in Q. The new monthly folk-rock series celebrates NC’s rich folk music history and is paired with another Carolina staple - BBQ.

NoDa Summer MusicFest

6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, June 29 and 30. Chop Shop, 311 E. 399 E. 35^th St. $10 single day/$15 two-day pass www.chopshopnoda.com

Forty acts offer a diverse sampling of the regional and local music scene during this pre-Independence Day bash which features Jonas Sees in Color and Chasing Pedestrians among Saturday’s acts. Sunday’s lineup includes Wicked Jones (see video), Through the Fallen, Lifecurse, Blu Avenue, Leviathan, and Eternal Mortality.

The Hussy

9 p.m. Monday, Thomas St. Tavern, 1218 Thomas Ave. Free. 704-376-1622.

Descriptions like “face-melting and trash” may not indicate the actual melody that seeps through the cloudy layer of distorted that surrounds this Wisconsin duo’s trippy psychedelic punk, which Patti Smith guitarist and writer Lenny Kaye recently dubbed one of the top 10 garage rock bands to watch.

Jason Isbell

7:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 3, Visulite, 1615 Elizabeth Ave. $16. www.visulite.com

The former Drive-By Trucker continues to prove his mettle as a stellar songwriter on his latest album, “Southeastern.” He’s joined by a dreamy duo with a playfully confounding name - Widowspeak - who sound like a folky American version of Mazzy Star.

Trapt

8 p.m. Wednesday, July 3, Amos’, 1423 S. Tryon St. $13-$15. www.ticketfly.com

A late entry following the `90s new rock trend, this California hard rock outfit expands its sound on 2012’s “Reborn” with synth and samples. The evolution isn’t a complete reinvention. The metallic emotionally charged feel and hooks remain intact.

Coca-Cola July 4^th Festival

3:30 p.m. Wednesday, 2 p.m. Thursday, July 3 and 4, US National Whitewater Center, Free/VIP Tickets $45-$75. www.usnwc.org

The Apache Relay and Keller Williams headline this 2-day celebration. Cory Chisel and Mountain Heart join Apache Relay Wednesday. Thursday Swear and Shake and Big Daddy Love open for Williams, who’ll be accompanied by his funk ensemble More Than a Little. 

Review: Fleetwood Mac at TWC Arena

Fleetwood Mac celebrated founder and drummer Mick Fleetwood’s 65th birthday Monday with several thousand fans at Time Warner Cable Arena. With no opening act, the core group - now all well into their sixties - opened the two and a half hour set with a bouncy “Second Hand News” and the harmony-driven “The Chain.”  

Although 2012 marked the 35^th anniversary of its seminal “Rumours” album, the group seemed at its most reinvigorated playing new material like “Sad Angel” or celebrating its 1979 album “Tusk.” After noting how unconventional and confounding to record execs the 20-track double album was for its time, guitarist Lindsay Buckingham led the charge through “Not That Funny,” “Tusk,” “Sisters of the Moon,” and “Sara.”

The sprawling “Tusk” was met with a standing ovation. Even a member of the arena staff whose parents probably weren’t even in middle school when the album was released applauded and beamed as the lights went up and the crowd roared.

Stevie Nicks’ alto, which has long lacked the range she was capable of in her twenties and thirties, fared best on songs that favored her lower register. Songs like “Sara,” “Gypsy” and “Gold Dust Woman,” for instance, were more forgiving than her opening solo on “Dreams.” 

The petite singer defies nature by looking better at 65 than she did on her 2001 tour. As expected she donned shawls to depict characters like “Rhiannon.” She soared during “Stand Back” - the only hit representing any of the band members’ solo work. The `80s synthesizers brought the crowd to its feet.

The group seemed more relaxed and on its game than during its "Say You Will" Tour at Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre in 2004. That may have been due to the venue (it also played TWC Arena in 2009) and the scaled down production which featured a handful of projection screens, but the vibe was intimate for an arena show with the band members playing on the same level instead of having Fleetwood towering behind the rest of the group.

Buckingham was at the top of his game as well. Fleetwood called him the group’s mentor and inspiration while introducing the players during the encore. He’s right. Besides whipping out impressive classical and steel string guitar work on songs like his acoustic version of "Big Love" and scale climbing solos like "I'm So Afraid," Buckingham also oozed energy and charisma even when playing songs he's played hundreds of times. On "I'm So Afraid" - a heavier track written for Fleetwood Mac's 1975 self-titled album that's reminiscent of the bluesy work of the band under former guitarist Peter Green -  Buckingham's fingers wiggled all the way up the neck to the body and still managed to sound melodic instead of screechy.

While hits like "Never Going Back Again" and "Go Your Own Way" had the crowd singing along and on its feet, more intimate moments like Buckingham and Nicks' acoustic rendition of "Landslide" and an unearthed song, "Without You," that Nicks wrote when the couple was together in the early `70s before joining Fleetwood Mac. She told of how the song was lost for 35 years before she rediscovered it on YouTube. 

The group seemed happy to keep playing even after 2 hours and 19 songs. It returned twice with hits like "Don't Stop" and "Silver Spring" and the birthday boy's obligatory drum solo but there was the sense that its members could've outlasted fans long into the night. 

Tribute marks 20th anniversary of Allin's death

Twenty years ago this week Antiseen’s Jeff Clayton was in the studio when he received a call that his friend, notorious punk musician G.G. Allin, had died of an overdose. Clayton and members of Biggy Stardust, Self-Made Monsters, Dirty South Revolutionaries, the Chalkies, and Rapegoat pay tribute to Allin Friday at Tremont Music Hall with Hated: The Music of G.G. Allin.

In 1994 when I moved to Charlotte people in music circles were still talking about the time Allin spent here. I imagine the stories have trickled down to new generations of punk fans now.

“He would spend a week here after every one of his tours starting after the first time he got out of prison,” says Clayton whose band Antiseen backed Allin on the “Murder Junkies” album. “He was here a week before he died.”

Antiseen’s association with Allin began in the mid `80s when both acts were featured on a compilation double cassette release.

“We didn’t really think much about it until we saw an interview with him in ‘Maximum Rock n’ Roll.’ It didn’t have any crazy pictures, but hearing them talk about his shows. He was hitting on the same thing we did with that confrontational thing and maybe taking it further,” says Clayton of Allin’s controversial live shows which usually escalated in a near naked Allin defecating, smearing himself with feces, and belligerently inciting the crowd to riot or fight him - not a show for everyone. “He would always have magazines print his phone number in interviews. (Antiseen guitarist) Joe (Young) and I were talking - ‘We need to get him down here. We need to see this show.’”

Young called Allin and dared him to play Charlotte. They booked the building beside the Milestone Club which was then called The Church of Musical Awareness. Athens’ the Primates volunteered to back him.

“In the first 30 minutes everything we’d ever heard about happened,” recalls Clayton. “It was a blitzkrieg. Before you knew it, it was over. We had to make a hasty exit.”

Clayton pulled his car around and Young quickly escorted Allin - covered only in a trench coat and his own filth - outside.

“We took off and I’m just kind of staring at him and we both just started laughing,” says Clayton “From that night on we were in close contact.”

The two exchanged letters while Allin was incarcerated for assault. Some of those letters are part of a new limited edition book, “My Prison Walls” (pictured above), which is set for release in August. The book includes “30 Days in the Hole” - Allin’s handwritten journal chronicling his first days in prison - as well as illustrations, art and prose by Allin and correspondence with his family and convicted serial killer John Wayne Gacy.

“They were looking for the envelopes he’d customize and mail from prison,” says Clayton of the publisher. “I sent a couple letters. I had a file in my file cabinet of them - this is when he was alive. I wasn’t even thinking he wasn’t going to be with us much longer.”

Despite Allin’s on stage persona, Clayton characterizes him as just another friend.

“When he was just hanging out with us he was just like any of our other friends. People got this misconception of him being this introverted, miserable person. He seemed to love life. He was always laughing, always wanting to hear jokes, tell jokes, play jokes on people. When it was time for him to go from Kevin (his real name) to G.G. he could flip that switch in a second. I’ve seen the switch get popped first hand. When he was in G.G. mode he was a different person,” he says.

Clayton disagrees with Allin being portrayed as a junkie.

“It wasn’t all drug and alcohol-fueled. People have the impression he was a junkie and he was not. He wasn’t even a full-time drug user. If you showed up with a handful of stuff he’d say, ‘Hey, sure,’” he adds.

The dichotomy of the real person versus the stage persona is one Clayton understands. The first time I saw Clayton he was dripping with blood on stage at The Ritz on Independence opening for the Ramones. I freaked out when I realized shopping at Repo Records where Clayton worked a few weeks later that the thick scar on his forehead meant that blood was real. Yet nearly 20 years later I know Clayton’s not a bleeding maniac all the time. It’s all part of the show.

“I understood it completely,” says Clayton who mimics professional wrestlers on stage by cutting himself and sometimes jumping through tack-covered, burning tables with his face covered in blood.

“We don’t incite the kind of interaction G.G. incited with his audience, but I could easily go into that if I was willing to. I have a little more at stake than G.G. did,” says Clayton who works a regular job and has three children in addition to still touring with his 30-year-old band. “G.G. literally carried everything he owned in a tiny suitcase and was ready to leave town in a moment’s notice. It’s not like he had to make arrangements. He’d just find a car going North, South, East or West.”

Although Allin threatened to commit suicide on stage - another reason his performances attracted gawkers no doubt - he died of an overdose after his most volatile performance.

“He wasn’t as much into self-abuse at that time as much as he was assaulting the audience. That show at the Gas Station (in Manhattan) was probably the most brutal show that happened. It spilled out into the street and people were having a riot out in front of that place. G.G. just walked away,” says Clayton. “G.G. just jumped in a cab wearing nothing but his jock strap and vest.”

Gay pride festival hits Salisbury Saturday

Gay rights isn’t just a city issue and Salisbury is stepping out to illustrate that this weekend with the Salisbury Pride Festival. With a population of around 33,000 the event is, according to organizers, the largest Pride Festival per capita in the world. 

The festival features a variety of drag and musical performers including Cierra Nichole, Justin Dionne, Ashley Joe Farmer Band, Caleb de Casper and the Foxy Jail Vixens, Lita Alexander Storm, Cinnamen, Laura Vella, Dakota Rain, the Charlotte Pride Band and others. It’s not just about entertainment though. Several speakers including V 101.9 FM’s Chirl Girl - a Salisbury native - will talk about equal rights, education, outreach, love and creating safe, accepting communities for all kinds of people.

I grew up in a relatively small town - big for West Virginia, maybe, but small compared to the rest of the world.  We had a kid at school that cross-dressed from seventh grade on. His willingness to put himself out there forced the rest of the student body to deal with transgender issues and acceptance early on. By the time I was in high school the issue had grown less controversial.

Caleb de Casper grew up in a small town in Georgia and had a similar experience. 

“Growing up in the South, being gay was seen as something that you needed to keep secret. If you were gay, you were automatically a bad person and influence,” he said via email. “I remember I had a boy who cross-dressed in my high school and to this day he is still one of my heroes. People treated him like a freak, but he didn't care. He was himself and thought everyone else could deal with it. While I am walking (through downtown Saturday), I will be thinking of him.”

De Casper welcomes others to join him Saturday as he walks through downtown Salisbury as a show of support for equal rights and the LGBT community following his afternoon set. 

He says he’ll also be thinking of the high school boyfriend who struggled with his sexuality.

“I suffered an immeasurable amount of pain during my adolescence trying to get him to realize he was who he was and that was something special. I don't want any young person to ever have to go through that. I will be thinking about that while I walk,” he says. “I will be thinking about all of the children who kill themselves because they are different - not just the gay ones. I will be thinking about all of the couples who were not allowed to be together while one of them died in a hospital. And I will be thinking about what else I can do to bring acceptance of all people to the entire world.”

As a teenager de Casper found comfort in making music. On his new EP he comes across as the lovechild of Amanda Palmer and “Glee.” He describes his music as goth dance-pop and there’s definitely a campy horror element to it, which I dig. Glam, horror, goth is an equation that equals “Fangorious” - the name of the EP. It’s an interesting combination. There's a little Elton John piano-pop spliced with the occasional rock guitar, dance beats, and a dark theatrical twist in the rock opera-vein of “Hedwig.” Based on the YouTube clips I’ve watched, there’s definitely a musical theater element to the show.

Pride kicks off at 11 a.m. Saturday. An after-party will be held at Cooper’s in downtown Salisbury, where the event takes place. For more information and a full schedule of acts click here.  

This week's hot concerts

Heart: 

7:30 p.m. Friday, June 21, Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre, 707 Pavilion Blvd. $17.$117.30. www.ticketmaster.com

The Wilson sisters’ affection for Led Zeppelin is well known, but on the Heartbreaker Tour they team with opening act Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Experience. The son of deceased Zep drummer John Bonham will join Heart for a Zeppelin honoring finale as well.

Ricky Skaggs

5 and 8 p.m. Saturday, June 22, Don Gibson Theatre, 318 S. Washington St., Shelby. $37-$42. www.etix.com

The Grammy winning country singer whose devoted the later part of his career to the traditional bluegrass and gospel that marked the early part of his career, returns to NC before the release of his autobiography in August.

Shooter Jennings: 

8 p.m. Saturday, June 22, Amos’, 1423 S. Tryon St. $15-$18. www.amossouthend.com

The recently married second generation country outlaw proves again there’s more than “son-of” (as in Waylon Jennings and Jessi Colter) to his version of country and rock with the new film and album, “The Other Life.”

The Broadway Dolls: 

8 p.m. Saturday, June 22, McGlohon Theater, 345 N. College St. $19.50-$39.50. www.blumenthalarts.org

These musical mavens put a new spin on Broadway - reinterpreting some of the tunes they sang on Broadway stages, mashing others with contemporary pop music, or giving pop smashes like Britney Spears’ “Toxic” a new glow as they hit on 50 stage favorites.

Robin and Linda Williams: 

8 p.m. Saturday, June 22, Joy Performance Center, 202 S. Railroad Ave. Kings Mountain. $20. www.ticketsnc.com

The Charlotte native and his wife are a folk-singing staple. With its traditional blend of folk, bluegrass, and gospel, the couple have been regulars on “Prairie Home Companion” since its inception. They return following 2012’s “These Dark Hills.”

Fleetwood Mac: 

7 p.m. Monday, June 24, Time Warner Cable Arena, 333 E. Trade St. $62.45-$159.30. www.ticketmaster.com

The veteran rock group celebrates the 35^th anniversary of its seminal “Rumours” album with its first tour since 2009 (still sans retired Christine McVie). Recent set lists promise the celebrated album will be heavily represented. Although don’t expect McVie-heavy `80s hits like “Hold On” or “Little Lies.”

Lord Huron/Escondido: 

8:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 25, Visulite, 1615 Elizabeth Ave. $10-$12. www.visulite.com

L.A.’s Lord Huron trades spots at high profile festivals and opening for Dave Matthews Band for an intimate headlining gig that showcases its pastoral psychedelic folk (think Blitzen Trapper or Band of Horses meet epic indie-rock). Nashville duo Escondido sound like Buddy and Julie Miller if they robbed a bank and headed for the desert.

Josh Ritter

7:30 p.m.  Wednesday, June 26, Knight Theater, 430 S. Tryon $24.50-$31.50. 704-372-1000.

On his latest album, “The Beast In Its Tracks,” Ritter gives his most personal reading recounting his bitter divorce, but the album isn’t a complete downer. Our hero finds new love and has since welcomed a baby girl. That joy shows through too. With Milk Carton Kids.

Gladys Knight/The O’Jays: 

7:30 p.m. Thursday, June 27, Belk Theater, 130 N. Tryon. $39.50-$99.50. www.blumenthalarts.org

These fellow Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame members kick off the PNC Bank Celebrity Series. Either could fill a concert revisiting numerous R&B, pop, and soul hits. Together this “Family Reunion” - as its billed - promises a night packed with classics.

SouthEnd Soul brings live music to my old block

SouthEnd Soul - a neighborhood block party that was originally scheduled for April - will take place Saturday, June 22, at the corner of Camden Rd. and Park Ave. That’s the lot across from Phat Burrito where the food trucks set up on Fridays. Food trucks will be out in full force and the event features live music from Elonzo, Ida Divine, the Hot Gates, the Business People, and Tanner Wayne. DJ Brad Pressley will DJ between sets. Camden Road will be closed and feature art, craft beer, and ping pong.

I managed a coffee shop and art gallery (the building you see in the picture that’s now Hot Sake) back when the original Art and Soul of SouthEnd arts festivals began. Those were crazy days for our normally quiet shop when I’d utter the phrase “we don’t make frouffy coffee drinks, but I can steam some milk” and my spiel on the advantages of organic, shade grown, fair trade coffee a million times (before it was trendy). 

I spent six days a week there for four years. I formed some of the best friendships of my life there and working there allowed my deceased father’s anxiety-ridden hound to spend the last years of her life in the company of a wonderful, welcoming group of people - not stuck at home in the crate that she’d spend all day escaping from while I was at work. I have fond memories of the space like when my boss lent us the shop for our wedding reception where we danced until the wee hours (or I did mostly) after all our guests were gone.

Back then the block wasn’t active enough to really sustain our shop for too long, but it has since blossomed - hence the reemergence of events like SouthEnd Soul. Many of the businesses that sprouted up around us remain (as do Phat Burrito and the Art League, which where there before us). The ones that came after brought new life to the neighborhood. 

I still get my hair cut and my framing done next door to our shop where close friends have their art studio on the second floor. I'll be there this weekend seeing old friends introducing my children to the 'hood and thinking about the ghost of my dog (yes, that’s an Edie Brickel reference) prowling the patio at Common Market while watching the Hot Gates' opening set.

The schedule looks like this: The Hot Gates at 5 p.m., the Business People at 6:15, Elonzo at 7:15, Tanner Wayne at 8:30 and Ida Divine clsoing things out at 9:15. The block party runs from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. and it’s free. Find out more here. (Photo courtesy of Historic SouthEnd).

Prince Rama presents weirdest show of the week

If you like your live music packaged with unique and unusual performance art and a fully realized crazy concept then Prince Rama's show at The Haunted Mill in Belmont Tuesday shouldn't be missed. The tour is in support of its 2012 twelve album "Top Ten Hits of the End of the World" and they're not kidding. 

The record was conceived as a compilation featuring songs by ten different bands that perished during the apocalypse. The soundtrack to that futuristic apocalypse features Prince Rama performing as groups described as cosmic disco, motorcycle rock, tribal goth, and ghost-modern glam (they all died, you see). If you're already saying, "Wha?" get a load of the some of the photos of the fictional bands its  come up with. At the top is Black Elk Speaks followed below by the Metaphysixxx, Guns of Dubai, and I.M.M.O.R.T.A.L.L.I.F.E. 

Last weekend the group premiered "Never Forever" - a film described as Now Age psych-opera - at the Moma PS1 Dome 2 at Rockaway Beach. The film, directed by Lily X. Wahrman stars Prince Rama and includes songs from "Top Ten Hits..." If the above trailer and photos don't pique your curiosity, well I'm not sure what could.

Prince Rama plays the all ages Puttluck XXI (potluck, putt-puttt and a show) at The Haunted Mill (6325 W. Wilkinson Blvd.) Tuesday, June 18 with Crop Graves and Yr Fuzzy Friends. Admission is $7. Click here for more information.