I'm headed out to see Radiohead in Charlotte this evening. Three of my favorite bands are playing tonight around town however. American Aquarium is playing at Slim's, their last local performace before they go on tour for a few months. The Everybodyfields are playing at Lincoln Theater, and The Old Ceremony is playing at the Cat's Cradle. I'm a huge fan of all three of these bands. If you're looking for something to do tonight any one of the three would be an excellent choice.

FRIDAY:

American Aquarium
Slim’s Downtown Distillery -227 S Wilmington St, Raleigh
(919)833-6557
10pm

The Everybodyfields
Lincoln Theater-126 E Cabarrus St, Raleigh
(919)821-4111
8pm
$12

The Old Ceremony
Cat’s Cradle – 300 E Main St, Carrboro
(919)967-9053
9:30
$10

SATURDAY:

George Clinton

If you’re looking for something to see tonight London based Bex Marshall is playing at The Pour House, opening for the band Hayseed Dixie. Bex sent me a copy of her CD “Kitchen table” a few weeks ago. She has a unique bluesy folk sound that is pretty awesome to listen to. The CD itself isn’t set to be released until the 20th of this month, but when it is it’s definitely worth an order.

Hayseed Dixie comes highly recommended as well. A friend of mine has been talking about this show for weeks now. Apparently the guys in the band are quite the characters and put on a pretty fun show.

Tickets are $8 in advance and $10 at the door. Doors open at 8pm, and the show starts at 10pm.

Raleigh Downtown Live has confirmed more bands for its 2008 concert series. The concerts are held in downtown Raleigh at Moore Square and are free to attend. All shows are held on Saturdays and run from 2pm to 11pm rain or shine.

Confirmed concerts dates for the Downtown Live 2008:
May 31 The Wailers, Saunter, Pete and J, Jive Mother Mary
June 14 Cravin Melon, Pete Francis of Dispatch
June 28 Carbon Leaf, Colourslide, Bill West & the Sunshine Kids
July 12 Alter Bridge, Tantric, The Ts, Kennebec, Cori Yarckin
July 26 Old 97s
August 9 Bad Company vocalist Brian Howe, Will Hoge, Jim Bianco
August 23 Puddle of Mudd, Eve 6, Rev Theory, Saving Abel

Kinetic Union Jazz Orchestra is the new name of the latest incarnation of Durham/Chapel Hill-based improv band Onomata, since drummer Ian Davis moved to Nebraska (that's right, NEBRASKA!). I asked bassist Brian Preston about the band.

David Oskardmay: What is the new lineup?

Brian Preston: Nathan Logan on drums, Marc Medwin on keyboards, Corey Sims on trumpet, accordian, ukelele and stuff, Todd Barbee on saxes and wx7 and Brian Preston on bass.

D: How did you come up with the new name?

B: We kicked ideas about for a while and Nathan brought this name up from a past idea he had but had not used and it has stuck with us. The "KUJO" moniker can be implied (as a reference to "Cujo" the book/movie by Stephen King) but it's not meant to be fierce, scary or creepy. We prefer rather more emphasis on the 'kinetic' implying movement and the unity of separate

North Carolina natives The Avett Brothers are coming to Cary’s Koka Booth Amphitheater July 26th. Tickets go on sale this Friday at 10am. The group has already sold 500 tickets to the event during a special pre-sale event. The Avett Brothers are releasing a new EP a few days before their appearance in Cary. The Second Gleam will have six new songs from the group, and follows the first Gleam which was released in 2006.

I am personally a huge Avett Brothers fan and have four of the 500 pre-sold tickets. If you've never seen them in concert it's truly a fantasic time. They're not selling any seats for the front of the ampitheater which I think should a vast improvement over their last few shows in the area. Both the art museum show last summer, and the groups show at Renyolds had a lot of seats at the front of the stage, which really isn't the Avett Brothers style.

Anyone else going to this show?