The Darkness kicks off North American tour in Raleigh

All photos by Kevin Norris

On Friday night, over-the-top British rockers The Darkness kicked off their North American tour at Raleigh's Lincoln Theatre. Even though the band hadn't played shows in a few months, they were in top form, delighting the crowd with their infectious, tongue in cheek rock and a unitard-sporting, undeniably entertaining frontman.

After opening with "Every Inch of You" from the band's latest album Hot Cakes, the band rocked "Black Shuck" and "Growing on Me" from their breakthrough album Permission To Land, which would be played almost in its entirety by the end of the night.

Free Energy extends spring tour, coming to Chapel Hill

Photo by Dominic Neitz

Philadelphia power pop band Free Energy will play the Triangle tonight (March 28) at Kings in Raleigh, but the band have just extended their spring tour schedule, which will return them to the Triangle once again.

The band will play Local 506 in Chapel Hill on Thursday, May 2. Tickets are on sale now via Ticketfly for $8.

Check out the song "Street Survivor" from the band's new album Love Sign below.

The Darkness announces North American spring tour

Over-the-top British rockers The Darkness released their third full-length album Hot Cakes last August and the band will be coming to the States this spring in support of it.

The band will make a stop at the Lincoln Theatre in Raleigh on Friday, May 10. Free Energy will open. Tickets will go on sale on Saturday, March 9, via Etix for $22.

Check out the band's latest music video from Hot Cakes for the song "With a Woman below." Also check out a live performance of their crazy cover of Radiohead's "Street Spirit (Fade Out)" below too.

Free Energy announces spring tour, coming to Raleigh

Photo by Dominic Neitz

Philadelphia power pop band Free Energy finally released their sophomore album in January titled Love Sign and the band will hit the road this spring and will make a stop in the Triangle on their way back up from South By Southwest.

They'll play Kings Barcade in Raleigh on Thursday, March 28. Tickets are on sale now via Etix for $8.

Check out the music video for the song "Girls Want Rock" from Love Sign below.

Free Energy announces a few spring shows, coming to Durham

Philadelphia power pop band Free Energy are gearing up to release their sophomore album Love Sign soon, though no release date has been announced yet. The band will play a few shows next week and will return to the Triangle.

They'll play the Duke Coffeehouse in Durham on Saturday, April 21. Deleted Scenes and Cigarette will open. Tickets will be $5 at the door for the general public or free for Duke students.

Stream the new single "Electric Fever" from Love Sign below. Check out photos and a review of the band's set at a DejaFest in downtown Raleigh last summer HERE.

Free Energy & Wye Oak wait out rain, play Deja Fest

All photos by Kevin Norris

Rain may have thrown the schedule a bit out of whack during Saturday's Deja Fest in Raleigh, but both Free Energy and Wye Oak each still performed outside the Lincoln Theatre.

Philly's Free Energy blasted out a short set of infectious power pop. While most of the set was from the band's James Murphy produced debut album Stuck on Nothing, they showed off a new tune as well. The song is called "Hangin'" and will be released as a single in late summer according to the band.

Surfer Blood, Wye Oak, Free Energy, Hooray For Earth & more to play free Raleigh festival

The new Triangle media company deja Mi is sponsoring a free two-day mini-festival in at six venues in downtown Raleigh on July 22 and 23. It's called deja Fest and is being organized in cooperation with the Hopscotch Music Festival. It's really like a mini-Hopscotch.

The bands featured over the two nights include Hooray For Earth, Surfer Blood, Wye Oak, Active Child, Free Energy and many more, including a bunch of local bands.

The venues will be Tir Na Nog, The Pour House, Slim’s, Kings Barcade and Neptunes Parlour on Friday and then outside and inside Lincoln Theatre on Saturday. Check out the full schedule below.

Titus Andronicus & Free Energy team up for big tour, coming to Durham

Two of the most talked about up and coming bands around, Titus Andronicus and Free Energy, are teaming up for a month of dates in August and September. Both bands have been in the Triangle recently, Titus Andronicus in April (see the review here) and Free Energy in early June (see the review and photos here).

The bands will play the Duke Coffeehouse in Durham on Tuesday, Sept. 21. Details of the show have not been announced yet, as the coffeehouse is closed for the summer, but we'll keep you updated once new info emerges.

Check out the full tour schedule for the pair below.

Free Energy electrifies Local 506 with power-pop

Tuesday night was hot and humid and things were no different inside Local 506. A large crowd packed in to see a trio of quirky pop bands, Free Energy, Jukebox the Ghost and Miniature Tigers.

Miniature Tigers kicked things off, rolling through a short set of songs from their new album Fortress, due out on July 27, as well as a few tunes from their debut album Tell It To the Volcano.

Highlights included the new song "Goldskull," which features a solid groove punctuated with samples and a wispy melody. The "classic" songs "Cannibal Queen" and "Dino Damage" got the crowd moving which their carefree vibe and infectious melodies.

Free Energy announces new tour, playing Chapel Hill

The high energy, powerpop buzz band Free Energy from Philadelphia has announced a new round of U.S. dates that will bring the quintet to the Triangle. They will play Local 506 in Chapel Hill on Tuesday, June 1. Jukebox the Ghost will open the show. Ticket info is not available yet, but we'll keep you posted. Considering their rising stature, I predict this one will be a sell out.

Tickets for the show are available now via etix for $10. Miniature Tigers as been added to the bill as well.

Free Energy's debut album Stuck On Nothing was digitally released in March, but will finally get a physical release via Astralwerks/DFA Records on May 4. Check out a performance of the song "Free Energy" from the Late Show with David Letterman below. It's one of those songs that is just so fun that you can't help but smile when you hear it's Thin Lizzy-esque pop. You can download the song below too.