GIG OF THE WEEK

Oct. 25 & 27

Photo courtesy of GZA

GZA (PERFORMING LIQUID SWORDS) @ LINCOLN THEATRE, RALEIGH & MUSIC FARM, CHARLESTON

Whether you knock it out at his Moogfest appearance or at one of his two other dates in the Carolinas, seeing GZA — the justifiably annointed “Genius” of the Wu Tang Clan — perform Liquid Swords is an essential experience. The 1995 landmark sharpens the darker elements of Wu Tang’s aesthetic into an overwhelming display that’s among the most lethal and chilling in the collective’s canon. The beats — courtesy of RZA — are mesmerizing in their minimalism. Tight and grimy rock and soul samples paint a hard-eged urban winter, cold and affecting, a masters’ class in mood management. On this tour, GZA’s accompaniment will come from Sweet Waves, the beat project of Wavves’ Nathan Williams, and as GZA’s 2011 TV appearance with Wavves proved, Williams has a surprising knack for recreating the album’s menacing aesthetic. As if GZA playing his most famous effort front to back weren’t enough, this tour also boasts Killer Mike, the Atlanta MC whose R.A.P. Music has been one of the year’s most acclaimed rap records. With a voice as big and burly as his frame and a deceptively smooth flow, Killer Mike has the charisma to make uncompromising societal indictments supremely entertaining. —Jordan Lawrence

CALENDAR

Festival

• Oct. 26-27: Moogfest @ Various Venues, Asheville

Oct. 25

• Yardwork w/ Chemical Peel @ One Unit Art Space, Columbia
• Justice @ US Cellular Center, Asheville
• Chatham County Line @ Grey Eagle, Ashevill
• The Sea and Cake @ Cat’s Cradle, Carrboro
• MV & EE @ Tin Roof, Charleston
• Possum Jenkins @ Visulite Theatre, Charlotte
• Lagwagon w/ Dead To Me, The Flatliners, Useless ID @ Music Farm, Charleston
• Fenster @ Nightlight, Chapel Hill

Oct. 26

• T0W3RS (EP release) w/ Jenny Besetzt @ Nightlight, Chapel Hill
• Titus Andronicus w/ Spider Bags, Mac McCaughan @ Central Park, Durham
• Herb Deutsch @ Harvest Records, Asheville
• Dum Dum Girls @ Kings, Raleigh
• Titus Andronicus w/ Ceremony, The Catalyst @ CFBG’s, Greensboro
• Sharon Van Etten w/ Damien Jurado @ Cat’s Cradle, Carrboro
• Yardwork, Junior Astronomers @ Tremont Music Hall, Charlotte
• Unknown Hinson @ Grey Eagle, Asheville
• Margot & The Nuclear So-and-so’s @ Duke Coffeehouse, Durham

Oct. 27

• Southern Culture on the Skids w/ Mad Tea Party @ The Pinhook, Durham
• Hospitality w/ TEEN @ Local 506, Chapel Hill
• Weedeater @ Soapbox, Wilmington
• A.C. Newman w/ Mynabirds @ Motorco Music Hall, Raleigh
• Kathleen Edwards w/ Mandolin Orange @ Grey Eagle, Asheville
• The Old 97’s @ Cat’s Cradle, Carrboro
• Titus Andronicus w/ Ceremony @ One Unit Art Space, Columbia

Oct. 28

• Randy Travis @ DPAC, Durham
• Spider Bags w/ Dex Romweber Duo, Flesh Wounds, Boykiller @ Orange County Social Club, Carrboro
• Divine Fits w/ Cold Cave @ Lincoln Theatre, Raleigh
• Jim Lauderdale @ Grey Eagle, Asheville
• Diamond Rugs @ The Pinhook, Durham
• Jeffrey Lewis & The Junkyard @ Duke Coffeehouse, Durham
• A Place to Bury Strangers w/ Bleeding Rainbow @ Local 506, Chapel Hill
• Kathleen Edwards @ McGlohon Theatre, Charlotte

Oct. 29

• Propagandhi w/ Off With Their Heads, The Menzingers @ Music Farm, Charleston
• Aesop Rock @ Cat’s Cradle, Carrboro
• MXPX @ New Brookland Tavern, Columbia

Oct. 30

• Sic Alps @ Krankies Coffee, Winston-Salem
• Mark Sultan @ Motorco, Durham
• Propagandhi w/ Off With Their Heads, The Menzingers @ Greene Street, Greensboro
• Crooked Fingers w/ John Vanderslice @ Kings, Raleigh
• Freelance Whales @ Local 506, Chapel Hill
• Nouvelle Vague @ Cat’s Cradle, Carrboro
• Woods w/ Widowspeak @ The Grey Eagle, Asheville

Oct. 31

• Woods w/ Widowspeak @ Duke Coffeehouse, Durham
• Sic Alps @ Black Cat Burrito, Boone
• House of Fools @ The Blind Tiger, Greensboro
• MXPX @ The Milestone, Charlotte
• Heartless Bastards @ Haw River Ballroom, Saxapahaw
• Hammer No More The Fingers @ The Pinhook, Durham
• White Denim @ Visulite Theatre, Charlotte
• Mark Sultan @ The Get Down, Asheville