GIG OF THE WEEK

Oct. 20

Photo courtesy of Young God Records

SWANS @ TREMONT MUSIC HALL, CHARLOTTE

The Seer is the second album in a late-career resurgence by the iconoclastic American something-like-rock band Swans. The band, which somewhat famously and misleadingly emerged parallel to the New York no-wave scene in the early-80s, has long been a singular entity in the world of underground music. The band’s revered output still ranks among popular music’s most intense. But in the new era of Swans, which began with 2010′s My Father WIll Guide Me Up A Rope To The Sky, bandleader Michael Gira seemed to be bringing new dimension to the famously crushing band. Owing, perhaps, to the years he swapped Swans for the more folk-informed Angels of Light. The result brought more blues and Americana into Swans, haunting the music with wide-open, ominous passages that swelled into shore-blasting surges. The Seer, in promotion of which Swans are currently touring, might be the band’s most accessible record. It might also be the most challenging. Gira employs extreme dynamics and disorienting repetition. The album stretches close to two hours; two songs approach 30-minutes each. But, despite its uneven foundation, and its marathon duration, Gira and his band have captured something absolutely compelling, structured and even catchy enough to command attention, less by force of will than by invitation. A Hawk & A Hacksaw opens. —Bryan C. Reed

CALENDAR

Oct. 18

• Passion Pit @ Disco Rodeo, Raleigh
• Passion Pit (DJ set) @ Kings, Raleigh
• Kooley High @ Soapbox, Wilmington
• Indigo Girls @ McGlohon Theatre, Charlotte
• Organos w/ AroarA, Robes @ Tir Na Nog, Raleigh

Oct. 19

• Criaturas w/ Joint D≠, Nö Pöwer @ The Cave, Chapel Hill
• Vattnet Viskar @ Slim’s, Raleigh
• Des Ark @ Nightlight, Chapel Hill
• Passion Pit @ Music Farm, Charleston
• Henry Rollins @ Columbia Museum of Art, Columbia
• Pearl and the Beard @ The Grey Eagle, Asheville
• Father John Misty w/ La Sera, Jeffertitti’s Nile @ Cat’s Cradle, Carrboro
• The Be Good Tanyas @ Haw River Ballroom, Saxapahaw
• Milo Greene @ Local 506, Chapel Hill
• Le Weekend w/ Amor de Cosmos @ The Pinhook, Durham
• Indigo Girls @ DPAC, Durham
• Organos w/ AroarA, Blood Waves & Aaron Bachedler @ Krankie’s Coffee, Winston-Salem

Oct. 20

• The Weeknd @ The Fillmore, Charlotte
• Chatham County Line @ Neighborhood Theatre, Charlotte
• Henry Rollins @ The Lincoln Theatre, Raleigh
• Southern Culture on the Skids w/ Aqualads @ Visulite Theatre, Charlotte
• Langhorne Slim & The Law @ Cat’s Cradle, Carrboro
• Home Body @ The Nightlight, Chapel Hill
• Organos w/ AroarA, Ama Divers @ The Pinhook, Durham
• Fresh Roots Festival w/ Pierce Edens & The Dirty Work, Onward Soldiers, more @ Various Venues, Hillsborough

Oct. 21

• Afghan Whigs w/ Wussy @ Cat’s Cradle, Carrboro
• Generationals @ Local 506, Chapel Hill
• Turbo Fruits w/ Dignan Porch @ Duke Coffeehouse, Durham

Oct. 22

• Rufus Wainwright @ Carolina Theatre, Durham
• Horse Lords w/ Home of Easy Credit @ Nightlight, Chapel Hill
• Jonah Parzen-Johnson @ Staycation, Burlington
• Dent May @ Emerald Lounge, Asheville
• Streetlight Manifesto @ Orange Peel, Asheville
• GWAR w/ DevilDriver @ Amos’ Southend, Charlotte
• The Toasters @ New Brookland Tavern, Columbia
• Elk Attack w/ Heyrocco @ The Cave, Chapel Hill
• Luther @ Motorco, Durham

Oct. 23

• Mono @ Local 506, Carrboro
• Red Collar w/ Shores, The Mercators @ The Pinhook, Durham
• Jonah Parzen-Johnson w/ Heralding @ Apothecary, Asheville
• Alejandro Escovedo @ Visulite Theatre, Charlotte
• Generationals @ Grey Eagle, Asheville
• Toys That Kill @ Motorco, Durham
• Laura Stevenson @ The Milestone, Charlotte
• The Toasters @ Jack of the Wood, Asheville
• MV & EE @ Glenwood Coffee and Books, Greensboro
• Streetlight Manifesto @ Lincoln Theatre, Raleigh

Oct. 24

• The Home of Easy Credit @ Conundrum, Columbia
• Jonah Parzen-Johnson w/ Heralding @ CFBG’s, Greensboro
• The Psychedelic Furs w/ The Lemonheads @ Orange Peel, Asheville
• MV & EE @ Nightlight, Chapel Hill
• Delay w/ High Dive, Late Bloomer @ Lunchbox Records, Charlotte
• The Intelligence w/ King Tuff @ Duke Coffeehouse, Durham
• Lagwagon w/ Dead To Me @ Cat’s Cradle, Carrboro
• The Front Bottoms w/ Cheap Girls, Trepak @ The Pinhook, Durham
• Enabler w/ Former Thieves, Bone Dance @ One Unit Art Space, Columbia
• Poor Moon w/ Some Army, Ryan Gustafson @ Local 506, Chapel Hill