Friday, July 30, 2010

Sara Bareilles announces fall tour, coming to Carrboro

Pop songstress Sara Bareilles is gearing up to release the follow-up to her hit album Little Voice, released in 2007. The new album is titled Kaleidoscope Heart and will be released on Sept. 7 via Epic Records.

After the album's release, she will hit the road for a few months in support of the album. The tour will bring her to the Cat's Cradle in Carrboro on Friday, Oct. 15. Greg Laswell and Holly Conlan will open the show. Tickets will go on sale on Friday, Aug. 6 via etix for $20.

Check out the music video for the catchy and slick first single, "King of Anything" below along with the full tour schedule.

Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears add Chapel Hill to fall tour

The funky soul sounds of Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears is touring the nation in August and September and the band has just added a Triangle stop to their schedule.

The band will play Local 506 in Chapel Hill on Sunday, Aug. 22. Tickets are on sale now via etix for $9.

Check out the video for the song "I'm Broke" from the band's debut album Tell 'Em What Your Name Is! below along with their current tour schedule.

Thursday, July 29, 2010

CocoRosie announces fall dates, coming to Carrboro

Sisters Sierra and Bianca Casady, better known as CocoRosie, just released their fourth album Grey Oceans via Sub Pop in May, and now they're preparing to hit the road on a North American tour in the fall.

The tour will bring the group to the Cat's Cradle on Monday, Sept. 20. Tickets will go on sale on Friday, July 30 via etix for $18.

Download the song "Lemonade" from the new album below where you'll also find the complete tour schedule.

Billy Sugarfix's Carousel brings quirky tunes, theremin to Duke Gardens

All photos by Kevin Norris
As the Music in the Gardens outdoor series kicked off their final show of the season Wednesday night, Duke Performances director Aaron Greenwald triumphantly remarked that they made it through an entire season without being hampered by rain. It truly is a miracle considering all the close calls and ominous weather reports of the summer, but it happened and we are grateful.

Billy Sugarfix's Carousel took the stage, immediately launching into their quirky set with "Take a Shower." The set continued with songs from Billy's latest album Summer Tempests as well as some newer songs including "If There's a Secret" from their new split 7" with Birds and Arrows.

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Superchunk to celebrate 'Majesty Shredding' release at Nasher Museum

Photo by Jason Arthurs
In lieu of a traditional album release party at the Cat's Cradle or another dark club to celebrate the release of the band's first album nine years, Majesty Shredding, Superchunk will be rocking a museum. The band will play the Nasher Museum of Art of Duke's campus in Durham on Thursday, Sept. 16, two days after the album is released.

The performance will compliment Nasher Museum's exhibit The Record: Contemporary Art and Vinyl which will feature a talk by visual artist Xaviera Simmons at 6 p.m., then Superchunk will perform at 8:30 p.m. There will be no opening band.

Tickets for the show go on sale on Tuesday Aug. 3 at the Duke box office or here. They will be $12 for the public and $6 for Duke Students or Nasher members.

Album Review: Versus - On The Ones and Threes

On The Ones and Threes is the first album from Versus in 10 years and the first that original drummer Ed Baluyut has played on in 14 years. 2010 marks the group’s twentieth year and the experience that comes with two decades of making music is apparent in this polished album.

Versus strike a balance between gritty rock and laid back pop. Often the edge of the guitar rhythms will be offset by lengthy vocal lines and strings. This balance has always been the core of the band’s sound and it’s expertly performed.

Throughout the record there is tension between the relaxed vibe and the impending doom that’s the topic of many of the lyrics. Bassist Fontaine Toups sings “Feelin’ so happy the end will come soon,” on “Scientists” and that pretty much sums it up.

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Stone Temple Pilots announce new dates, coming to Raleigh

Stone Temple Pilots just recently released their new, self-titled album in May, and have just announced some new dates in support of it. The tour will bring the quartet to the Downtown Raleigh Amphitheater rather late in the season, on Tuesday, Oct. 5.

Tickets for the show will go on sale Friday, July 30 at 10 a.m. here. The on sale date now says TBA. We'll keep you posted.

[UPDATE: Tickets will go on sale on Friday, Aug. 20 at 10 a.m. here for $26.50 to $46.50.]

Stream the surprisingly good and catchy song "Cinnamon" from the new album below. The rest of the album is fairly typical STP, but this track stands out.

[Thanks to David for the tip.]

Two rare Rosebuds tracks available ahead of Hopscotch

Raleigh duo The Rosebuds have been working on the fifth album which is tentatively due out in early 2011, but to start building buzz, the band have started releasing some free downloads of rare, tracks from the vault.

The first two songs, "The Secret Life of The Rosebuds," recorded during the sessions that became The Night of the Furies, and the band's dark cover of Bee Gees "Stayin' Alive" are available to download now via the Hopscotch Festival's website.

Photographer Tim Lytvinenko produced one of his still-frame music videos for the song which you can view below. It is consists of photos from the band's Cat's Cradle show in January 2009 with Megafaun and The Love Language. If you'd like to travel back in time with us, check out our review and photos of that show here.

Video: Superchunk cover The Cure's "In Between Days"

The Onion's AV Club has been conducting a really cool video series for a few months where they bring bands into their round room in Chicago to perform a song from a list of covers. As a band performs a song on the list it gets crossed off and with only a few songs left, Superchunk stopped by and performed a killer version of The Cure's "In Between Days." The band really made it their own. Check it out below.

We've been waiting for a while to see who will cover Superchunk's "Detroit Has a Skyline," which is on the list, but there has not been a taker so far. There have been some other great performances including The Clientele taking on M.I.A.'s "Paper Planes" and Wye Oak doing The Kinks' "Strangers." Check them all out here.

The Drums & Surfer Blood announce fall tour, coming to Chapel Hill

Two of the biggest buzz bands around, The Drums and Surfer Blood, are teaming up for a fall tour that will keep the two busy for about six weeks. The tour will bring them to Local 506 in Chapel Hill on Monday, Sept. 13. Tickets for the show will go on sale soon via etix for $13. The Young Friends are also on the bill.

Both The Drums self-titled release and Surfer Blood's debut Astro Coast made Amazon.com's list of the best albums of 2010 ...so far, coming in at 7 and 9 respectively. Needless to say, this will be a big show at the 506 and a likely sell out.

Check out the videos for "Best Friend" by The Drums and "Swim by Surer Blood below along with the complete tour schedule.

Monday, July 26, 2010

Asheville Moogfest line-up includes Jónsi, MGMT, Massive Attack & more

Here is a good reason to plan a trip out to lovely Asheville, NC this fall. New bands have just been added to the line-up of the second Moogfest in Asheville, named for Robert Moog, inventor of the Moog synthesizer who was a research professor of music at the University of Asheville and lived in the city until his death in 2005.

This year's event will be held on Oct. 29, 30 and 31, and will feature a fantastic line-up including MGMT, Massive Attack, Thievery Corporation, Big Boi, Jónsi and Caribou. More artists will be announced in the coming weeks, but that's a hell of a line-up already.

Tickets for the event will go on sale on Friday, Aug. 13. We'll keep you posted on new info as it is announced.

Stream Lost in the Trees revamped album 'All Alone in an Empty House'

With Lost in the Trees newly revamped and polished album All Alone in an Empty House due out on August 10 via Anti- Records, you can now stream the entire album if you head over to NPR's website. Not only that, we've got a download of "Walk Around the Lake" to share with you below.

The band are set to open for Neko Case at the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh on Thursday, August 19. Tickets are available here for $20.

They'll also play a free show atop the Wallace Parking Deck in Chapel Hill on Thursday, August 26 with The Physics of Meaning.

Check out the rest of Lost in the Trees' schedule below.

Friday, July 23, 2010

New music from The Clientele - "Jerry"

British quartet The Clientele just released a new full-length album last October titled Bonfires on the Heath, but they're not slowing down. On August 31, the band will release a new 8-song mini-album titled Minotaur via Merge Records as a limited run CD and digital download.

Download the fantastic, breezy song "Jerry" from Minotaur below. Check out photos and a review of the The Clientele's performance at the Cat's Cradle in February here.

Win tickets to Billy Sugarfix's Carousel at Duke Gardens

Summer is far from over but we have reached the last outdoor show in Duke's Music in the Gardens series. Next week's final installment will bring Billy Sugarfix's Carousel to the gardens.

To win a pair of tickets to the show, email us at trianglemusicblog at gmail dot com with "Billy Sugarfix tickets" in the subject line no later than noon on Monday, July 26. We will notify the winner that afternoon.

Tickets to the show are $10 or $5 for Duke students and employees and, as always, children 12 and under are free.

On sale today: Tons of new Carolina Theatre shows

Jeff Daniels
It's Friday, which means there are tickets that went on sale today, July 23 at 10 a.m.. This week, Durham's Carolina Theatre has a bunch of shows from their upcoming 2010-11 season going on sale including Jeff Daniels, Vienna Teng & Alex Wong, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Mavis Staples and The Max Weinberg Big Band. Check out the list below.

Carolina Theatre shows on sale
10.01.10 - Mavis Staples [Tickets]
10.02.10 - David Sanborn Trio [Tickets]
10.27.10 - Jeff Daniels [Tickets]
11.06.10 - Mike Birbiglia [Tickets]
11.11.10 - Shemekia Copeland [Tickets]
02.04.11 - The Max Weinberg Big Band [Tickets]
02.12.11 - Harlem Gospel Choir [Tickets]
02.22.11 - Hot Tuna [Tickets]
03.03.11 - Vienna Teng & Alex Wong [Tickets]
03.11.11 - Ladysmith Black Mambazo [Tickets]

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Max Indian brings power pop to Duke Gardens

All photos by Kevin Norris
It was another sticky summer evening on Wednesday, but that didn't keep local band Max Indian from lighting up Duke Gardens with their fantastic pop tunes.

The band, led by Carter Gaj and backed by members of the Drug Horse gang not only played Gaj's fantastic originals including "Free as the Wind," "Oughtaghettacamra" and "Whatever Goes Up," but hit some great covers including Squeeze's "Up the Junction" and The Traveling Wilburys' "Not Alone Anymore."

New music video from Birds and Arrows - "Pride of Lions"

Chapel Hill trio Birds and Arrows have just recently released a new 7" split single with Billy Sugarfix that features a new song titled "Pride of Lions." Sugarfix produced a music video of the song for the band which is quite bizarre and visually intriguing. I won't try to analyze or explain it just watch it below.

The band have a ton of local shows coming up including a free show in Chapel Hill at East 54 on Thursday, July 29. Check out the full Birds and Arrows schedule below the video.

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

New music from Embarrassing Fruits - "Long Distance Breakup Summer"

Chapel Hill band Embarrassing Fruits have just announced the details of their new album, Frontier Justice. The album will be released via Trekky Records on Sept. 21. in the label's signature packaging which includes a vinyl, CD and MP3 download all together.

The album will feature 14 tracks, with almost half written by bassist Lee Shaw instead of frontman Joe Norkus, who is said to add elements of his love of aggressive pop to the band's sound.

Download the song "Long Distance Breakup Summer" from the album below where you'll also see the full track list of Frontier Justice. Embarrassing Fruits will perform at The Cave in Chapel Hill on Aug. 28 with Gray Young.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Blonde Redhead announce fall tour, coming to Carrboro

New York trio Blonde Redhead are gearing up to release their eight album via 4AD Records on Sept. 14 titled Penny Sparkle. So of course, as is almost always the case, there's a tour that will follow the release.

The band will make a stop in Carrboro at the Cat's Cradle on Saturday, Oct. 30. Tickets for the show will go on sale Friday, July 23 via etix for $20.

Download the song "Here Sometimes" from the new album below where you'll also find the band's North America tour schedule.


$10 lawn tickets for one day only: Heart, Dukes of September, Santana, Barenaked Ladies & more

Due to lagging ticket sales for many summer shows, Live Nation is once again offering up a bunch of lawn seats for amphitheater shows in Raleigh and Charlotte for just $10. The deal is available today only, July 20, until 11:59 p.m. Check out the list below organized by venue.

Walnut Creek Amphitheater (Time Warner Cable Music Pavilion)
07.28.10 - Santana w/ Steve Winwood [Tickets]
08.03.10 - Mayhem Fest feat. Korn, Rob Zombie, Lamb of God & more [Tickets]
08.27.10 - Creed w/ Skillet & Theft [Tickets]

Downtown Raleigh Amphitheater
07.31.10 - Barenaked Ladies w/ Ben Kweller & Angel Taylor [Tickets]
08.09.10 - Goo Goo Dolls w/ Switchfoot & The Spill Canvas [Tickets]
08.14.10 - Heart w/ Erick Baker [Tickets]
08.17.10 - Maroon 5 w/ Kris Allen & VV Brown [Tickets]
08.28.10 - Dukes of September Tour feat. Donald Fagen, Michael McDonald & Boz Scaggs [Tickets]

Monday, July 19, 2010

Most 2010 N.C. State Fair performers announced

Autumn is quickly approaching and the North Carolina State Fair is just three months away. With that in mind, the organizers have announced most of the performers that will play Dorton Arena from Oct. 14-24.

For the most part, it's the usual stuff, Christian, Country and past American Idol contestants. But this time, they've tossed in an interesting wild card, local old time string band Carolina Chocolate Drops. The trio will play on Sunday, Oct. 17. Tickets are just $5 and will go on sale Monday, Aug. 2 here.

There are still three holes in the schedule that have not been announced yet and maybe we'll get lucky and something else cool will be announced, but obviously we're not holding our breath. Check out the current schedule below.

The Love Language dazzle sold out Cat's Cradle crowd

Saturday night belonged to The Love Language. Celebrating the release of their sophomore album Libraries, released on Tuesday, the band took the Cat's Cradle stage in front of a sold out crowd and played the show of their lives (so far).

Stu opened with a quick thank you to everyone who has supported the band over the past couple years and launched into a quick solo cover of The Zombies' "This Will Be Our Year," leading directly into "Horophones" and a non-stop barrage of sweet pop tunes.

The band were joined by two cellists and a violinist from Lost in the Trees for the song "Summer Dust," which propelled the song to soaring highs. They then tore through the dance-tastic tune "Heart To Tell."

Album Review: Dax Riggs - Say Goodnight to the World

Dax Riggs returns with Say Goodnight to the World, the second album he has released as a solo act. Riggs’ go to southern blues rock style is as tight as ever on this record, but his exploration of other styles continues to be uneven.

The heavy blues of “Say Goodnight to the World” is thick like 90 percent humidity and just as sweltering. Don’t be surprised if you’re sweating heading into the dry and dusty “I Hear Satan.”

This hot and grimy feel reaches its peak during Riggs’ cover of “Heartbreak Hotel.” He slows it down — maybe a tad too much — turning the song into a dirge. It’s dark, depressing and exactly the what you’d want to hear if you walked into a beaten up roadhouse somewhere between Memphis and New Orleans.

Win tickets to Max Indian at Duke Gardens

Max Indian will hit Duke Gardens on Wednesday for the next to last performance in Duke Performances' Music in the Gardens series.

To win a pair of tickets to the show, email us at trianglemusicblog at gmail dot com by 7 p.m. Monday (yes, that's today) with "Max Indian tickets" in the subject line.

Tickets to the show are $10 or $5 for Duke students and employees and, as always, children 12 and under are free.

Friday, July 16, 2010

New music from Ben Folds & Nick Hornby - "Levi Johnston's Blues"

We've mentioned the highly anticipated new album Lonely Avenue featuring the music of Ben Folds and the words of Nick Hornby a number of times before. As the release date slowly approaches, Sept. 28, we now have a track from the album to share with you.

Stream "Levi Johnston's Blues" from the album below and yes it's exactly what you think it is. It is Nick Hornby's take on the saga of Levi Johnston's life during the time when Sarah Palin was chosen as John McCain's running mate in the 2008 election. The lyrics of the chorus include actual passages from Levi Johnston's MySpace page which was deleted long ago. Enjoy.

Check out more details of Lonely Avenue here.

On sale today: Chatham County Line & MGMT

There are two big shows at the Progress Energy Center in downtown Raleigh going on sale today.

First is Chatham County Line's big show at the Fletcher Opera Theater on Friday, Aug. 20 will go on sale today, July 16 at 10 a.m. here for $21.

Second is the big MGMT concert at Memorial Auditorium on Wednesday, Nov. 3. Those tickets go on sale today, July 16 at 10 a.m. here for $36.

Counting Crows' 'Traveling Circus' simply doesn't work

Thursday night brought Counting Crows' "Traveling Circus & Medicine Show" tour to Cary's Koka Booth Amphitheatre, which frankly, was a big flop.

The idea of the tour is that instead of the supporting acts, Augustana and Notar, playing traditional opening sets, the night would be one big show, with band members joining in on each other's songs resulting in a harmonious and unique show. What we ended up with is a 24-song set completely lacking flow in which only ten of the songs are Counting Crows songs. The other 14 songs were either covers or songs by Augustana or Notar.

The curtain came up with all the members of Counting Crows, Augustana and Notar on stage. The crowd stood and grooved to the first six songs, starting with a cover of Van Morrison's "Caravan" and then their classic "Omaha." The crowd even stayed excited for the hip hop song "Stranger" by Notar, who put on a good show and was joined by Adam Duritz for the song.

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Avett Brothers to release new live album & DVD in October

When The Avett Brothers played their big hometown show in Charlotte at Bojangles Coliseum on Aug. 8, 2009, they recorded and filmed it. Now, the band are preparing to release a the show as a live CD and DVD titled Live, Volume 3.

It will be released on Oct. 5 and will be available as a CD, DVD or both, depending on what you prefer. It's available for pre-sale now via the band's website.

The DVD will also feature interviews with the band and fans, which will likely feature some of the same footage used in the band's video series during the lead up to the release of I and Love and You.

The Avetts have also just released a beautiful new video for the song "Head Full of Doubt / Road Full of Promise." Watch the video out below

Reunited Guided By Voices announce tour, coming to Carrboro

Indie rock legends, Guided By Voices, announced a few weeks back that they would reunite their classic 1992-1996 line-up for Matador Records' 21st birthday party in Las Vegas in October, and now they've announced a full tour to follow the party. The line-up, featuring Robert Pollard, Tobin Sprout, Mitch Mitchell, Greg Demos and Kevin Fennel, have not performed together in 14 years.

Among the dates is a show at the Cat's Cradle on Friday, Oct. 22. Tickets will go on sale tomorrow, Friday, July 15 via etix for $27. An opening act has not been announced yet.

[UPDATE: J. Mascis' new band Sweet Apple will open the show.]

Check out the classic video for "I Am a Scientist" from the band's 1994 album Bee Thousand below, which features the reunited line-up. You'll also find the full reunion tour dates below as well.

Kingsbury Manx bring dreamy rock to Duke Gardens

Another humid summer Wednesday evening brought another band to the lovely Duke Gardens in Durham. The Kingsbury Manx took the stage to share their dreamy music with a warm and attentive crowd.

The quartet played a set comprised mostly of mellow, spacey tunes accompanied by a cellist and violinist for a few songs at the beginning and end of the set. Occasionally, the distortion pedal was activated, adding some fuzzed out rock to proceedings, but for the most part, things remained mellow.

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Rogue Wave, Midlake & Peter Wolf Crier join forces for fall tour

Rogue Wave, Midlake and Peter Wolf Crier are joining forces for two and a half weeks this fall for a tour. They'll kick things off on Sept. 18 in Boulder, CO and will make their way south in October.

The trio will stop at the Cat's Cradle on Saturday, Oct. 2. Tickets will go on sale on Friday, July 16 via etix for $16.

Rogue Wave just released their latest album Permalight in March. Midlake's latest album The Courage of Others in February. Peter Wolf Crier's new album Inter-Be was released in May. Download a track from each of these albums below where you'll also find the full tour schedule.

Superchunk releasing remastered 'No Pocky,' 'On the Mouth'

With the band's first album in nine years due out in Sept., Superchunk are getting thing rolling a bit earlier by rereleasing two of their classic albums in August. Remastered versions of 1991's No Pocky For Kitty and 1993's On the Mouth will hit record stores on Aug. 17 on vinyl (with a download coupon) and CD (in cardboard, LP-style packaging).

The albums were remastered from the original 1/2" master tapes by Jason Ward at Chicago Mastering Company. The remasters sound fantastic. Download "Skip Steps 1 & 3" from No Pocky For Kitty Below and download both albums in their entirety here.

A month later after the remasters, on Sept. 14 to be exact, the band will release their new album Majesty Shredding. Check out more details here, but download the album's first single "Digging For Something" below, which is currently available on 7" vinyl (more details on the release here).

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Chatham County Line & Zeke Hutchins tear it up at Sadlack's Heroes

A sizable crowd including a few dogs came out for an afternoon show at Sadlack's in Raleigh today (July 13) in celebration of the release of their new album Wildwood, which you've heard us mention a lot lately.

The band played completely unamplified and were joined by drummer Zeke Hutchins on snare drum and various other percussion. Hutchins played drums the excellent drums you're hearing on Wildwood too.

Album Review: Crowded House - Intriguer

Crowded House show no signs of slowing since they decided to reform in late 2006. They're back with their sixth album, the second since reuniting, titled Intriguer.

The album is nothing less than what one would expect from Neil Finn. The songs shine with his complex, catchy melodies and the band brings them to life with dense, carefully structured arrangements.

Things get started with the explosive single "Saturday Sun." The intricate layers of "Falling Dove" move from a soft simple tune to an overdriven jaunt, reminiscent of solo McCartney. "Twice If You're Lucky" digs back into that classic, anthem-esque Crowded House sound, with a bright melody and a gigantic chorus.

Sea Wolf to embark on solo acoustic tour with Sera Cahoone & Patrick Park

Alex Brown Church, better known as the creative force behind Sea Wolf, will embark on a month long summer tour this September with singer-songwriters Sera Cahoone and Patrick Park.

The tour will bring the trio to the Nightlight in Chapel Hill on Thursday, Sept. 16. Tickets for the show are on sale now for $10 here. You'll want to get there early to hear Patrick Park, who is fantastic.

Sea Wolf's latest album is 2009's White Water, White Bloom (check out a review of the album here). Patrick Park just released his third full-length album Come What Will. Sera Cahoone's latest album is 2008's Only as the Day is Long. Check out mp3s from Sea Wolf and Patrick Park below along with the complete tour schedule.

Album Review: Keegan DeWitt - Nothing Shows

Keegan DeWitt, film composer and former touring member of Roman Candle, is following up his official debut record with the seven song EP, Nothing Shows. Written during his last tour, the EP captures a variety of different sounds, but really excels when DeWitt taps into his film scoring talents.

The centerpiece of the record is "Michel Bizot," a duet with Madi Diaz. From the violins to the melody, the song harkens back to a classic romantic cinema sound. It's gorgeous from beginning to end and doesn't feel in any way contrived. It'll bring back memories of your favorite romantic movie scenes.

Monday, July 12, 2010

MGMT announces new fall tour, coming to Raleigh

MGMT, who released their sophomore album Congratulations in April (check out a review here), show no signs of slowing down. They've been on tour since the album's release and have now added some new fall dates.

The new tour will bring the band to Raleigh's Memorial Auditorium on Wednesday, Nov. 3. Tickets for the show go on sale Friday, July 16 at 10 a.m. here for $36. Kuroma is slated to open.

The last time MGMT played the Triangle, they were at Local 506 in Chapel Hill in January 2008, just as their single "Time To Pretend" was breaking. Check out our old review of that show here.

Check out the music video for "Flash Delirium" from Congratulations below along with MGMT's tour schedule.

Album Review: The Love Language - Libraries

With the buzz surrounding The Love Language's lo-fi, self-titled debut, the bar was set very high for the greatly anticipated sophomore album. With seeming ease, even though it was a lot of work, Stuart McLamb managed to clear that bar with plenty of room to spare on Libraries.

From the opening moments of the lead-off track "Pedals," the music is elevated to new highs, with soaring strings and big arrangements filling the sonic landscape.

The breezy sway of "Summer Dust" is cinematic, conjuring up images of a lazy afternoon, green grass and sunshine. "Heart to Tell" is a pop masterpiece, with as catchy a chorus as you'll hear. The herky-jerky elements of "Antophobia" are reminiscent of classic Kinks.

Chatham County Line celebrates 'Wildwood' at Cat's Cradle

Saturday night brought a packed, rowdy crowd to the Cat's Cradle to celebrate the release of Chatham County Line's latest album Wildwood. The band triumphantly unfurled their trademark North Carolina flag across the back of the stage to big cheers from the crowd.

The show kicked off with the title track from the new album, followed by "Ghost of Woody Guthrie." The crowd was warmly receptive of the new songs, though the big cheers were reserved for the older tunes. They'll fall in love with the new songs after they've all had a chance to spin Wildwood.

Saturday, July 10, 2010

On sale today: Maroon 5 at Downtown Raleigh Amphitheater

We've got one on sale for you today. Maroon 5's show with Kris Allen and VV Brown at the Downtown Raleigh Amphitheater on Tuesday, Aug. 17 will go on sale today (July 10) at 10 a.m. here. Tickets range from $24.50 to $60.

Check out more info on the show from our original post, including some info about the band's new album, due out in September.

Friday, July 09, 2010

Full Duke Performances 2010-11 schedule revealed, more big shows

After the first round of Duke Performances events for the 2010-11 season were revealed a few weeks ago, we were already very impressed. Now there's even more good shows to share with you that the full schedule has been released.

First, New York duo The Books will bring their the new album The Way Out to the intimate Shaefer Lab Theater for two shows (at 8 p.m. and 10 p.m.) on Friday, Oct. 1.

Then, The American Beauty Project will perform at Page Auditorium on Friday, Oct. 15. The collective, which includes Ollabelle, Jim Lauderdale, David Mansfield, Catherine Russell and Aoife O’Donovan, will perform songs from The Grateful Dead's classic albums American Beauty and Workingman's Dead.

Win tickets to The Kingsbury Manx at Duke Gardens

It's hard to believe the season is already winding to a close for Music in the Gardens, but there are still three great shows left. The Kingsbury Manx will hit the lawn next Wednesday, July 14.

To win a pair of tickets to the show, email us at trianglemusicblog at gmail dot com no later than noon on Monday, July 12, with "Kingsbury Manx tickets" in the subject line. We will notify a randomly-drawn winner that afternoon.

Tickets to the show are $10 or $5 for Duke students and employees and, as always, children 12 and under are free.

On sale today: Pixies in Charlotte, Asheville & Demetri Martin in Raleigh

It's Friday, which means tickets go on sale today. Check out the details of the interesting on sales below.

First, tickets for the Pixies two North Carolina dates are officially on sale to the public today (July 9) at 10 a.m. Tickets for the Charlotte show on Thursday, Sept. 9 will be on sale here for $39 to $48. Tickets for the Asheville show on Sunday, Sept. 19 will be on sale here for $39 to $48.

Also, Demetri Martin tickets are available to the general public today (July 9) at 10 a.m. here for $32.75. A lot of tickets were likely grabbed during the pre-sale, which is over now, so grab your tickets before they're gone.

Thursday, July 08, 2010

Chatham County Line to celebrate 'Wildwood' release date in Raleigh

Following their big show at the Cat's Cradle on Saturday, July 10, Chatham County Line will celebrate the official release date of their new album Wildwood with a free out-of-store in-store in Raleigh.

To accommodate what will likely be a big mid-day crowd, Schoolkids Records has organized an outdoor in-store on Tuesday, July 13. It will take place on the patio at Sadlack's Heroes (which is right next door to Schoolkids) at 1 p.m.

It'll surely be crowded and the patio is fairly small, so be sure to get there early if you want to get a good spot.

[photo by Paul Bernhard]

Kooley High bring unabashed fun to Duke Gardens

On the hottest day so far this year, fans packed onto the lawn at Duke Gardens to experience the hip hop sounds of Kooley High.

The Raleigh group, most of which recently moved to Brooklyn, tore through a set with ease and charm like seasoned veterans who've been around for decades. They pulled out some new songs from their forthcoming debut album Eastern Standard Time, including the title track and "Betty Crocker."

Album Review: Saint Solitude - Journal of Retreat

Dup Crosson never intended for Saint Solitude to be his biggest project, but as bands he was in dissolved, he dove deeper and deeper into creating his own material under a new name. Saint Solitude began as a one-man-band, with Crosson taking charge of vocals and instrumental loops on the handful of EPs he has released in the past couple of years. He has since picked up a full band to join him as he tours in support of his most recent release, Journal of Retreat.

The album opens with the poppy "Soft Contact," which sets a smooth yet catchy pace for the album. Later comes "Dodger," a softer track that does well by breaking the album up a bit. After four songs of fairly standard indie pop/rock hooks, "Dodger" interrupts and slows things down for a few minutes . "Flocking Disaster" operates much in the same way as "Dodger" as it starts to bring the album to a close.

Wednesday, July 07, 2010

Cherry Bounce line-up revealed, Javelin, Bomba Estéreo & more

At the end of July, the Cherry Bounce Fest in downtown Raleigh will return for another year. It will run from July 29-31 and the final night will feature a fantastic line-up of bands on the outside stage in front of Raleigh Times Bar.

Javelin will headline the stage which will also feature performances by Bomba Estéreo, I Was Totally Destroying It, Lake Inferior, North Elementary, Jews & Catholics and one more act, still to be announced. Check out the full schedule with set times below. Get more details about the other events of the festival here.

Tuesday, July 06, 2010

Win tickets to The Love Language at Cat's Cradle

We're a mere week away from the release of The Love Lanuguage's sophomore album, Libraries, and along with it will come a CD release show at Cat's Cradle on Saturday, July 17.

If you've ever been to a Love Language show, you know it's a party unlike most others, so next weekend's show at Cat's Cradle should, by simple laws of reason, be nothing short of spectacular.

We're excited to be giving away not one but two pairs of tickets to next weekend's show, courtesy of the Cat's Cradle, and winning couldn't be easier. Email us at trianglemusicblog at gmail dot com no later than this Friday, July 9, at noon with "Love Language tickets" in the subject line. We will select two winners at random and notify them that afternoon.

But because not everyone can be a winner, tickets to the show are $8 adv/$10 day of and available through etix. The Light Pines and Shit Horse will open.

Demetri Martin announces new dates, coming to Raleigh

Funny man Demetri Martin, known for his quirky stand-up comedy that incorporates a wide variety of tools including guitar, glockenspiel, toy bells and piano. You may have seen his Comedy Central show Important Things or his old appearances as a youth correspondent on The Daily Show.

The comedian has just announced some new tour dates that will bring him to Raleigh's Memorial Auditorium on Saturday, Sept. 11. He'll likely take the stage around the same time that Public Enemy will be performing on the big stage in City Plaza.

Tickets for Martin's show go on sale Friday, July 9 at 10 a.m. here for $32.75.

[UPDATE: The venue pre-sale is happening through Thursday, July 9 at 10 p.m. here and the password is important.]

Album Review: Chatham County Line - Wildwood

On the group's fifth album, Wildwood, Chatham County Line decided to take a leap musically, and it paid off big time.

At the risk of upsetting fans of traditional bluegrass arrangements, the group expanding their sound to include drums, piano and other instruments on the songs, though they're used selectively to compliment the most appropriate songs.

While the new sonic elements are great and add greatly to album, what makes Wildwood the band's best release to date is the solid songwriting.