Thursday, June 11, 2015

This week's hot concerts


GBH
Friday  8 p.m., Tremont, 400 W. Tremont Ave., $18-$20, www.tremontmusichall.com 
The street punk stalwart approaches the 40 year mark with the long running lineup of founders Colin Abrahall and Jock Blyth, drummer Scott Preece, and bassist Ross Lomas, who published a frank and refreshing look the band’s history with his 2013 autobiography. With California hardcore political street punks Total Chaos. 


Force MDs
Friday  9 p.m., Amos’, 1423 S. Tryon St., $35-$50, www.amossouthend.com   
The R&B vocal group’s 1985 ballad “Tender Love” - an early Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis-written hit from the “Krush Groove” soundtrack - was a Top 10 smash that perfectly captures the essence of `80s R&B. Like peers New Edition, the group, which is now a trio having lost three members in the `90s, bridges doo-wop and hip-hop.


Sun Bones
Friday  10 p.m., Crown Station, 1423 Elizabeth Ave., Free, www.crownstationpub.com  and Sunday  6 p.m., Tin Roof, 210 E. Trade St., Suite 286, Free, www.sunbones.com
This indie-rock four-piece from Tuscon, Ariz. emits the warmth of the desert with rich, layered vocal harmonies and sunbaked soul that bathes in psychedelia and quirky pop. It recalls the wacky invention of Talking Heads or Arcade Fire led by Roy Orbison and mines the unpredictability of Violent Femmes and Vampire Weekend.

Lana Del Rey
Saturday  7:30 p.m., PNC Music Pavilion, 707 Pavilion Blvd., $29-$79.50, www.livenation.com
The controversial, somewhat polarizing singer-songwriter and modern day lounge throwback treats fans to unreleased favorites, a couple of covers, and torchy tracks from her two smash albums and moves past the `60s glamour and uneven early performances on her headlining Endless Summer Tour. She’s joined by Grimes.

Summerland Tour
Saturday  7:30 p.m., Uptown Amphitheatre, 1000 NC Music Factory Blvd., $27.50-$42, www.livenation.com
Everclear’s Art Alexakis continues to celebrate `90s rock with this annual nostalgic summer tour that features hit-heavy sets from Everclear, Fuel, Toadies and American Hi-Fi - all of who continue to make new music and release new records that trade in the same post-grunge guitar rock that made them radio staples.



Flogging Molly/Gogol Bordello/Mariachi El Bronx
Monday  7 p.m., Uptown Amphitheatre, 1000 NC Music Factory Blvd., $29.50-$45, www.livenation.com  
Consider it a mini world music festival with the Irish-American folk-rock-meets-pub-punk of Flogging Molly, the Eastern European gypsy rock of NYC’s Gogol Bordello, and the Americanized Mariachi alter-ego of L.A. punk band the Bronx. All three are known as live powerhouses who don’t steer too closely to tradition.


Charlie Wilson
Wednesday  7 p.m., Bojangles’ Coliseum, 2700 E. Independence Blvd., $47.50-$85, www.ticketmaster.com 
The voice of the Gap Band ( “You Dropped the Bomb On Me”) overcame drug addiction and homelessness in 1995 and more recently prostate cancer to enjoy a big comeback for his work with Snoop Dogg and Kanye West (Wilson is all over “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy”), with big solo hits and BET’s 2013 Lifetime Achievement Award.


Hurray for the Riff Raff
Wednesday  8:15 p.m., Visulite, 1615 Elizabeth Ave., $14-$17, www.visulite.com  
Americana needs creative contrary women like Hurray for the Riff Raff’s frontwoman Alynda Lee Segarra, who brings knowing intelligence and a feminist wink to songs that hold a mirror to current American culture while embracing its traditions. The band returns with Clear Plastic Masks following this weekend’s Bonnaroo performance.

Anthony D’Amato
Thursday  7 p.m., US National Whitewater Center, 5000 Whitewater Center Pkwy, Free, www.usnwc.org 
The New Jersey-bred singer-songwriter is a burst of literary cool having studied with a poet professor at Princeton and worked as an NYC publicist. His musically uplifting, if somewhat lyrically dark songs, are what grab listeners attention and suggest he may be the most refreshing young songwriter since Josh Ritter.

The War on Drugs/the Everymen
Thursday  9 p.m., Amos’, 1423 S. Tryon St., $23-$25, www.amossouthend.com  
With its third album, “Lost in a Dream” embraced as one of 2014’s biggest indie-rock releases and a fixture on Sirius/XM, the Philadelphia folk-psych-rock sextet demonstrated what Fleetwood Mac or Springsteen might sound like as a young indie band now. Live force the Everymen brings theatrical big band presence as an opening act.