The Rocket Summer – Celebrating 20 Years of Calendar Days

Dubbed “a master of creating anthems” by Paste Magazine and named byAlternative Press as “100 artists you need to know”, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter andproducer, Bryce Avary, better known as The Rocket Summer has been a musical forcesince exploding onto the scene as a teenager in the early 2000s. With several albums inhis growing discography debuting in top Billboard Alternative charts, Avary now returnswith the new ever evolved album, SHADOWKASTERS. Named by Rolling Stone as “SongsYou Need To Know”, SHADOWKASTERS evokes the sounds of what one might envisionthe walls of industrial clubs, UK dance punk halls and R&B thumping venues havereflected over decades, but with a mix and filtering unique to only Avary’s particularlens. Having performed at Glastonbury, Austin City Limits and Summer Sonic, embarkingon sold out headline tours around the world while sharing stages with artists such asParamore, Goo Goo Dolls, OneRepublic, Switchfoot, Third Eye Blind, All Time Low andmore, fans have flockedto Avary’s optimistic and exuberant song craft, polymathinstrumental live show, and the fan community it inspires-an atmosphere which can beheard captured on the live album, His Instruments and Your Voices. “We’re not talkingsimple acoustic solo stuffhere. The music Bryce makes as The Rocket Summer is lush,explosively catchy and artful power pop that hints at a new Brian Wilson or Prince in themaking. Keep an eye out on this one.-Austin City Limits .com”Website | Instagram | Twitter

Provoker

Beneath the smoke and mirrors of Provoker’s aching melodies is a spirit seeking clarity. On their forthcoming record Demon Compass, due October 13 this year via Swedish label YEAR0001, the California post-punk outfit turns inward for answers. Written while waiting for the release of the band’s esoteric yet pop-oriented debut Body Jumper, Provoker found themselves shifting their focus from projecting familiar, shadowy figures to embodying them — if only as a means of accessing the dregs of their internal world and confronting the demons that lurk even deeper.Website | Bandcamp | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube | TikTok

Royel Otis

After forming in 2019 and drip-feeding music into the world ever since, Royel Otis continue their rise to the top. Recently, they were nominated as Breakthrough Artist for the 2023 ARIA Awards, the recognition following a sold-out multiple-date national tour, a debut performance at Splendour in the Grass, and a rapturous sold out UK and European tour, including performances at Leeds and Reading Festival, Electric Picnic, Pukkelpop, End of the Road and more, all achieved in the first half of 2023 – and in support of their third EP, Sofa Kings. From cleaning up ‘Ones to Watch’ lists by the likes of Matt Wilkinson at Apple Music 1, NME, and the Daily Telegraph, breaking into the US Alternative radio chart top 40, to earning Spotify’s RADAR Artist recognition, and being featured in Vogue and GQ, Royel Otis only continue their ascending trajectory. Sofa King’s singles “Kool Aid”, “Sofa King”, “Going Kokomo” and “I Wanna Dance With You” were quick to receive international and local press adoration from Paper Mag, Purple Sneakers, NME, consistent airplay from BBC Radio 1, Apple Music 1 and the status of Triple J’s #1 Most Played track. Produced by Chris Collins and Royel Otis, the EP delivered visceral stories and quick wit atop blissful guitar-fuzzed haze, landing in major playlists such as Ultimate Indie, All New Indie, DOPAMINE and Today’s Indie Rock (including featuring on the cover). The record followed the band’s sophomore EP Bar ‘N Grill in 2022, which saw the pair grace the covers of global playlists including Indie Arrivals and Supersound, Apple Music’s Heaps Indie and more, amassing over 10 million streams, and garnered widespread playlisting support across Australian community radio, US college radio and BBC Radio 6. The band earned a slot in this year’s triple j’s Hottest 200 for “Oysters In My Pocket”. Meanwhile, earlier this year, they joined Groovin the Moo’s 2023 touring lineup and as supports on alt-j’s Australian tour. They are ready to end 2023 in sizzling style, as they sling “Fried Rice” ahead of their debut album, PRATTS & PAIN arriving early next year.Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube | Spotify | TikTok

The Brook & The Bluff

The Brook & The Bluff is perfectly poised between the past and the present, at an unexpected crossroads where indie rock and folk-rock have found new frontiers and possibilities online. Their new album Bluebeard feels like a modern classic, shaped by the past but very much of and for right now. The first song from the album titled “Long Limbs” is a song about the highs and lows of being in love and the work that goes into a relationship but also a reminder to just be present and let yourself be with someone that makes you happy.In recent years, The Brook & The Bluff’s incandescent harmonies, winning arrangements, and observational acumen have unexpectedly put them upon a different on-ramp for success: streaming stardom. They are now, by far, one of the most successful young bands at folk-rock’s amorphous contemporary edge, fusing the craft of the past with the ideas and avenues of the present.The Brook & The Bluff have already made a name for themselves on the live circuit playing electric sets at Bonnaroo, Hangout, Firefly and Wonderfront. Having previously toured with Mt Joy, Noah Kahan, Rainbow Kitten Surprise amongst others, this fall the band will embark on their most ambitious North American headline tour yet.Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Spotify | YouTube | TikTok

The Crane Wives

Kelsy Karter & The Heroines

Kelsy Karter & The Heroines is a four-piece Australian/British rock & roll band whose debut album Missing Person was critically acclaimed and a thrilling introduction to a truly singular musical mind. Like all of the most electrifying acts, the band’s frontwoman Kelsy Karter is an unapologetic singer/songwriter who invites the audience into a beautifully strange world of her own making, a fantasia that’s equal parts rock-and-roll grit and wildly theatrical grandeur. Rolling Stone Magazine called Kelsy a beacon for female rockstars. Fueled by her mesmerizing vocal work accompanied by dirty electric guitars, Kelsy Karter & The Heroines display intricate storytelling and uncompromising outlooks on life, love, and self-liberation. Despite the defiant spirit that shines through nearly every song, the music is vulnerable and cuts deep for any listener. Kelsy Karter, an Australian theatre kid, fronts the band while drummer Sebastian Boyse, guitarist Matt Peach and bassist Tommy Gent all grew up together in Derby, England. The band has spent the past few years touring the world as headliners, support and festivals, most recently in 2023 supporting Billy Idol across the US and Palaye Royale in EU. They are currently working on their second album which has been described by the band as an electric and emotional adventure. Their guitar-drenched sound steeps in elements of glam rock, punk and Britpop giving way to a sonic aesthetic both undeniably timeless and entirely of-the-moment..Website | Instagram | Spotify | YouTube | TikTok

Sheer Mag

Sheer Mag’s dizzying rise initiated in 2014, when the Philadelphia band self-released the first of three 7-inches and started playing the Northeastern DIY circuit. Ironically, the music stood apart because it sounded so familiar. Indebted to ‘70s arena rock, power-pop, and proto-metal, Sheer Mag’s songs reminded a lot of us of the music we grew up with, but maybe couldn’t relate to because it was big, brash, and unapologetically macho. Sheer Mag reclaimed some of that energy without perpetuating the toxicity. On their debut album, Need to Feel Your Love (2017), the band surveyed their contemporary political landscape through the lens of history. Singer Tina Halladay transported herself back to the 1969 Stonewall Riots, denounced redlining practices that undermine the popular vote, and paid homage to White Rose activist Sophie Scholl. On paper, it’s a mouthful, but accompanied by guitarist/lyricist Matt Palmer, guitarist Kyle Seely, and bassist/producer Hart Seely, those songs became hook-laden rallying cries. Two years later, Sheer Mag have returned with their sophomore album A Distant Call. They’re still writing about surviving our current hellscape, but this time around, the politics get extra-personal. The album verges on being a concept piece, and the protagonist resembles Halladay herself. The songs document a particularly alienating time in her life when she was laid off from a job. Broke and newly single, her father (with whom she had a fraught relationship) passed away, leaving her with more wounds than felt possible to heal. “We’ve been waiting to write these songs since we started the band and we were able to take these experiences and build a story out of them,” Halladay says. Palmer adds: “We don’t want people to be bogged down by pretension or theory. You don’t need to have read Das Kapital to know that capitalism is terrible. A Distant Call makes an argument for socialism on an anecdotal level. We’re talking about how late capitalism alienates and commodifies whatever is in its path without using the term ‘late capitalism.’” Palmer and Halladay’s new approach to lyricism extended to the recording process, too. Once the Seely brothers had laid down the tracks, Halladay recorded vocals with producer Arthur Rizk (Power Trip, Code Orange) as opposed to on an 8-track, which was the band’s preferred method on previous releases. A Distant Call opens with Halladay’s measured scream before “Steel Sharpens Steel” kicks in. It’s a prologue that foreshadows our protagonist’s journey from feeling down-and-out and destitute to self-actualization. “It’s a chain reaction/ When you turn the other cheek/ Remember if you’re looking for action/ And you’re feeling dull and weak,” Halladay snarls on the chorus, channeling Judas Priest over the boot-stomping rhythm section. The story really gets started on “Blood from a Stone,” when we learn that our protagonist’s SNAP application was declined, and she’s “living check-to-check.” It’s heavy power-pop so sleek it gleams. “We had some more soul and dance songs on the last record and we’ll probably return to that at some point,” Palmer says. “But on this record we wanted to focus on making straight-up rock music.” Website | Bandcamp

Abbey Road LIVE! – Family Matinee

“One of the world’s premier Beatles cover bands” -US News and World Report “unquestionably expert at what they do” -Indyweek You loved Beatles music when you were a kid. Now YOUR kids have a chance to experience the magic of the Beatles LIVE in concert! Abbey Road LIVE! is well known in the Southeast for their energetic concerts at clubs, theaters and festivals. This time, the focus will be on the kids. Expect fun classics such as “Octopus’ Garden”, “Yellow Submarine”, and “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds”. Does your child have a a favorite Beatles tune? Abbey Road LIVE! loves to take requests, and has often been known to invite kids on stage to sing along. This rare event will be big fun for the whole family! **Special FAMILY PACK ticket available – admits 4 people for just $35!** Website | Facebook | YouTube

Night! Night! Record Release Show

Night! Night!Sleazy Post-Hardcore from Chapel Hill.Bandcamp | InstagramWeird Godbrothers making musicmarc allen – guitarethan allen – drums BandcampScrapeNorth Carolina-based scrape straddles the industrial minimalism of guitar based noise expressionism with avant-punk experimentalism. Finding solace in sludge, doom, and grunge, scrape craft a kaleidoscopic view of reality within a complex biosphere of metal genres.Bandcamp

WXYC Decades Dance – Pump Up the Jam: an 80s Glam Rock Dance Party

UNC Students $5 with One Card$8 for non students Website

Genre: Concerts