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Aretha Franklin
When it comes to R-E-S-P-E-C-T, Aretha Franklin gets it in spades. Whatever their charms, Tina Turner and Diana Ross are still looking up at Franklin. She melded gospel and soul with unmatched class, power and intensity. Franklin helped create the Muscle Shoals soul sound by exploring a grittier, more Southern realm. She's remained relevant for five decades, and it's hard to imagine any modern singer having such an impact. Franklin's the kind of treasure that should be put in a secure glass case for all to see; Benet's the type that gets tossed in the back yard. —Chris Parker
SOLD OUT
Info 919-688-3722, Tickets 919-680-2787Four Electric Ghosts
The Igbo people of Nigeria take their mmanwus, or masquerades, very seriously. For starters, they last for weeks or months. And, though they entertain villagers and celebrate successful harvests, they've also served as an early form of police, protecting communities and enforcing folkways. Finally, with masks fashioned to resemble dead townspeople, the tradition has an overtly spiritual dimension and is believed to permit the ghosts of elders to return to advise the living.
So there's a bit more than costumes and festive, facile camouflage to Mendi and Keith Obadike's multimedia mmanwu, Four Electric Ghosts. Through dance, video and an original score traversing funk, rock and rhythm & blues, four ghosts encounter the same mortal during their eternal walkabouts in the Land of the Dead. Lives—and afterlives—are changed as a result.
The creators are no strangers to the region: Keith's art degree is from NCCU, and Mendi got her doctorate at Duke. But since they left, they've achieved international recognition for their work. Four Electric Ghosts made the top 10 in Artforum's Best of 2009 list. Judge Vijay Iyer compared the piece to the works of Grace Jones, June Tyson, Laurie Anderson, TV on the Radio, Takashi Murakami and the Urban Bush Women. Interesting crew, no?
If you're after bleeding-edge performance, this "Loading Dock Series" date, in which the audience sits on Memorial Hall's stage, is limited to 160 people. —Byron Woods
SOLD OUT 919-843-3333Hippo Awards
4th annual event presented by The Monti honoring the best stories told in 2011, plus new story performances from Mike Wiley, Anita Woodley, Anna Blackshaw, Billy Sugarfix & Noah Rosenblatt-Farrell.
$20 919-929-2787www.themonti.org
Mary Rocap
Eric Benet
Talk about bringing a knife to a gun fight: Eric Benet represents the paring variety. He sings nicely with a tender lover-man falsetto, but he lacks the vocal presence of Maxwell or even Dave Hollister. As such, Benet offers an even lighter adult contemporary brand of R&B than that of the already watered-down '90s neo-soul ilk. His willowy vocals are besotted with affectation like he's pushing to make the finals of American Idol. Benet's handsome flash may be enough for some, but as musical meat goes, he's much more wing than breast. —Chris Parker
$34-54 919-560-3030Bleached, Black Belles, Boykiller
What happens when two notorious cut-ups trade in their signature squall for saccharine melodies? Apparently, they end up riding horses through the Mojave Desert and running across tombstones in high heels. Jennifer and Jessica Clavin—of Bleached, and formerly of Mika Miko—surprised everyone last summer when they emerged as a guitar-pop duo with the balmy singles "Think of You" and "Searching Through the Past," whose video finds the sisters engaging in the shenanigans mentioned above.
Jennifer had been spending time on the East Coast as an extra hand for pop goths Cold Cave. The experience helped refine her singing voice, which she had previously used to mostly grunt about turkey sandwiches and L.A. valley life. Jennifer soon moved back to her sunny home state of California to join forces with sister Jessie and their drummer of the week. (Jon Safley is locked in for this tour and the foreseeable future.) Jessie's guitar rumbles through each track with a jagged surf sound that could have been lifted from a Sonics song and anchors Jennifer's lyrics about unrequited love. Don't stamp them as a Best Coast spinoff, though; they're on a tip that's completely their own. Black Belles and Boykiller open. —Marissa G. Muller
$10 919-667-1100Grohg, Man Will Destroy Himself, Hog
When Grohg played its first show on Halloween Eve last year, the local buzz surrounding the band was perhaps heavier than its music; that had to do more with who was in the band than how it sounded, though. Since its debut, the band has replaced guitarists BJ Burton and Stu McLamb (of indie rock favorites The Love Language) with The Kickass' Andy Townsend and Craig Hilton of Here Lies... That's a pair that seems more suited for Grohg's tangled doom, which weaves flashes of technical death metal into a Godflesh-meets-Thou siege. Complementing the still-young headliner, Man Will Destroy Himself brings tarry scuzz-metal, while Hog offers a captivating set of prog-sludge informed by Baroness and Buzzov-en. —Bryan C. Reed
Free 919-833-7795The Third Expression
Bill Fox
www.brasasteakhouse.com
Wake County
Craig Woolard Band
MikeMickXer
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