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.

Tift Merritt is coming home again

The lovely Tift Merritt is set to return to her former home for a big show in May. The just announced show will take place at the Fletcher Opera Theater at the Progress Energy Center in downtown Raleigh on May 1. Tickets for the show will go on sale this Friday, January 9 for $22 plus excruciating fees via everyone's least favorite ticket provider.

Merritt is also slated to play three days of Merlefest in April. She will plays sets on April 23, 24 and 25 including a set on the main stage (The Watson Stage) on Saturday, April 25 at 2:30 PM. Be sure to check out her set if you're there.

Merritt's latest album Another Country recently made the Americana Music Association's top albums of 2008. Check out out more on that in an earlier post.

Also, check out the awesome photo with this post. Merritt sang the national anthem before an Obama event in Charlotte during the campaign. She posted the photo on MySpace a while back.

Smashing Pumpkins include Raleigh in upcoming tour

Smashing Pumpkins have added one final date to their August tour and that date just happens to be in Raleigh. The band will play at the Memorial Auditorium at the Progress Energy Center on August 17. Tickets for the show will go on sale Saturday, July 26 at 10 a.m. via the ticket beast.

If you're going to the show to see the Pumpkins of old, you're probably out of luck. Check out my review of their show in Greensboro last November here to get an idea of what to expect. Who knows though, the band may take their back catalog more seriously on this tour.

The Pumpkins also plan to release a Gish box set sometime in future to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the band. A Gish anniversary tour is said to be in the works for early 2009.

In other Pumpkins news, Fender guitars recently announced that they have released a Billy Corgan signature stratocaster (specs here). He's holding his signature guitars in the photo above. So if you've been trying for years to capture that signature, high-gain sound, your prayers have been answered. It doesn't come cheap though. Sam Ash is selling the guitar for $1199.99 so start saving.

Here's the August tour dates:
8 - Davenport, IA - Adler Theatre
9 - Hammond, IN - The Venue
12 - Louisville, KY - Palace Theatre
13 - Knoxville, TN - Tennessee Theatre
15 - Charlotte, NC - Ovens Auditorium
16 - Charlottesville, VA - Charlottesville Pavillion
17 - Raleigh, NC - Memorial Auditorium
19 - Boca Raton, FL - Mizner Park Amphitheatre
20 - Clearwater, FL - Ruth Eckerd Hall