Thursday, February 13, 2014

This week's hot concerts


Pat Metheny Unity Group
Friday  8 p.m., Knight Theater, 430 S. Tryon St., $39.50-$69.50, www.blumenthalarts.org  
Following this week’s release of the 20-time Grammy winning jazz-rock guitarist’s latest album “Kin,” he and his all-star quartet promise new material (which he says encompasses everything he’s done in his career) and old favorites from his 40-year career at its Knight debut.

Lettuce
Friday  9 p.m., Chop Shop, 399 E. 35th St. $22, www.chopshopnoda.com
There’s much more flavor to this veteran Boston funk band than the name implies. Having honed its chemistry on stage (with only a handful of releases in over 20 years), its core features members of Soulive, while other members have backed Dave Matthews, Britney Spears, and the Game on the road. 
 
Johnson Brother’s Annual Valentine’s Day Bash
Friday  10 p.m., Snug Harbor, 1228 Gordon St., $5, www.snugrock.com
The Johnsons have been raising money for RAIN (Regional AIDS Interfaith Network) for 22 years with this annual V-day concert - one of its rare yearly live shows. This year the group expands to eight members and welcomes veteran favorites Belmont Playboys with DJs Starseed, Godwin, and Jay Coop spinning between sets.

Chris Peigler Punk Party
Friday and Saturday  8 p.m. and 4 p.m., respectively, Tremont, 400 W. Tremont Ave. $7 and $10, www.tremontmusichall.com
Charlotte’s punk community pays tribute to one of its forefather’s with 17 bands across two days, including the reunions of the X-Periment and surviving members of Peigler’s My So-Called Band, as well as local punk staples Antiseen, Dirty South Revolutionaries, and South Side Punx.

Black Joe Lewis
Saturday  9 p.m., Visulite, 1615 Elizabeth Ave., $15, www.visulite.com
The adventurous Austin guitar wiz is like the second coming of Hendrix and Sly Stone with a retro soul center and a punk edge. He’s also a live force who delightfully kicks through genre walls with ease and attitude on his latest album, “Electric Slave.”

Casket Girls
Saturday  10 p.m., Snug Harbor, 1228 Gordon St., $7, www.snugrock.com
Named for New Orleans’ early equivalent to mail-order brides, this dreamy Savannah trio combines fuzzy `80s and `90s shoegazer and thick contemporary electronic bass sounds with Bananarama-style harmonies and Dum Dum Girls-like sing-songy melodies for a weird marriage that actually works.

Wink Keziah
Sunday  9 p.m., Double Door, 1218 Charlottetown Ave., $8, www.doubledoorinn.com
The Charlotte music stalwart can sound heartbreakingly pained on slower country ballads like “The Quiet Kind” and “Dead Man Walking,” but the twangy honky-tonk spirit is never far away on his new album “Cowbilly.”

Andrew Ripp
Tuesday  8 p.m., Evening Muse, 3227 N. Davidson St., $10, www.eveningmuse.com
On the new acoustic album “Simple” the up and coming Nashville singer-songwriter, who wrote hits for Ryan Cabrera and recently received national exposure on “House of Lies” and “Entertainment Tonight,” recreates the intimacy and starkness of his live shows. With Judah & the Lion.

Jonathan Wilson
Wednesday  8:30 p.m., Visulite, 1615 Elizabeth Ave., $12-$15, www.visulite.com
The Forest City-native and Muscadine co-founder is scheduled for US Festivals and a has a growing following in Europe. He makes excellent hypnotic, folk-rock in the laid back, `70s Laurel Canyon, desert-baked spirit of classic rock peers like Jackson Browne, Tom Petty, and Crosby, Stills & Nash (some of who he calls friends).