The Dirty Projectors playing Chapel Hill this fall

After coming to the Triangle earlier this year to play the Red Hat Amphitheater supporting The National, indie favorites The Dirty Projectors will be coming back our way for a headlining show this fall.

They'll play Memorial Hall on UNC's campus on Saturday, October 5. Future Islands will open the show. Ticket information has not been made available yet, but typically students get first crack at tickets before it's opened up to the pubic. We'll keep you posted once we know more.

[Tickets for UNC students will go on sale on Tuesday, September 5 for $15 HERE. Tickets for UNC faculty and staff will be $20 and $35 for the general public but an on-sale date has not been announced and are on sale now.]

The National preps new album, announce summer tour

Photo by Kevin Norris

Indie rock heavyweights The National have announced that they will release a new album, the follow-up to 2010's High Violet, in May. They haven't released further details about the album but the band will be hitting the road in late spring/early summer to support it which will bring them back to Raleigh.

The band will play the Red Hat Amphitheater on Monday, June 10. Dirty Projectors will open. Tickets will go on sale at 10 a.m. on Friday, March 1 via the Progress Energy Center box office and Tickemaster.

Check out photos and a review of The National's show at Memorial Auditorium in October 2010 HERE.

Dirty Projectors wrap fall tour at Page Auditorium

All photos by Kevin Norris

New York sextet Dirty Projectors wrapped their current tour on Tuesday night at Page Auditorium on Duke's campus with a bombastic set of experimental pop.

Bright, spastic guitar riffs, staccato female vocals and a tight, groovy rhythm section dominated the night. The band's music feels improvised much of the time, but the group is so tight, it seems impossible that much of it is left to chance.

"Knotty Pine," the band's contribution to the Dark Was the Night compilation, was an early stand out in the set. They also played a few songs, "No Embrace" and "Beautiful Mother," from their recent collaboration with Bjork titled Mount Wittenberg Orca.

Duke Performances announces big shows for 2010-11 season

The first round of performers for Duke Performances 2010-11 season have just been announced and there are some great shows, a few of which we've already mentioned here. If you want to see the schedule without the exposition, you can jump to the bottom.

Things kick off with the big Megafaun, three-night "Sounds of the South" shows we spilled the beans on a few weeks ago. They will be joined by Richmond, VA-based big band Fight the Big Bull as well as special guests Justin Vernon of Bon Iver and Sharon Von Etten for what promises to be three amazing nights of music. Those shows are on September 17, 18 and 19.