Aug 6

Aug 6 This Week in Asheville: Aug. 5-11

Asheville’s wealth of live music offerings can leave concertgoers feeling overwhelmed when it comes to picking which shows to attend. But have no fear! The Asheville Stages staff is here to help with insights on the week’s most appealing options.

Asheville Comedy Festival

Celebrating its 16th year, Asheville Comedy Festival has a reputation for being one of the best comedy festivals in the country. Although Tom Segura’s headlining performance at ExploreAsheville.com Arena will undoubtedly be the biggest draw, the four showcases of lesser-known stand-ups happening Thursday-Saturday at the Wortham Center For Performing Arts should not go overlooked. The festival organizers have a knack for curating a lineup of some of the funniest folks you’ve yet to hear of. —Jonny Leather

Tom Segura
at ExploreAsheville.com Arena
Wednesday, August 7
Doors: 6:30pm / Show: 7:30pm

ACF Famous Showcase 1: Elyssa Phillips / Myke Herlihy / Wellington Ojukwu / Rahn Hortman / Phillip J Porter Jr / Elke Thoms / Charles Dawson / Chris Cyr / Jerry Hamedi

at Wortham Center For Performing Arts
Thursday, August 8
Show: 7:30pm

ACF Famous Showcase 2: Mike Keegan / Viengsouk Phommachanh / Travis Stevenson / Britt Migs / Alejandro Morales / Mia Wilson / Tyrone Burston / Emily Paige / Rahul Pandya

at Wortham Center For Performing Arts
Friday, August 9
Show: 7:30pm

ACF Famous Showcase 3: Brian Moote / Lace Larrabee / Reg Thomas / Hillary Heath / Nick Deez / Darryl Charles / Aaron Odom / Sally Ann Hall / Brian Parise

at Wortham Center For Performing Arts
Saturday, August 10
Show: 6:00pm

ACF Famous Showcase 4: Christian Escoto / Katie Novotny / Jenna Kim Jones / Iain Langlands / Paul Conyers / Jules Posner / Carlette Jennings / Kevin Hollingsworth / K.P. Anderson

at Wortham Center For Performing Arts
Saturday, August 10
Show: 8:30pm
[comedy]
more info

Aug. 8: Lindsey Stirling

Violinist. Vocalist. Songwriter. Dancer. …Comic book creator? Stirling can do it all, usually all at once (well, except the whole comic book thing, though it’s probably nevertheless on her mind). Backed by a similarly energetic band, her live show has earned acclaim across the globe for its theatrical nature, mixing the artist’s originals with such stirring covers as Led Zeppelin’s “Kashmir.” It’s sure to have the city’s biggest indoor venue moving to every infectious beat. Canadian indie pop band Walk Off the Earth opens. –Edwin Arnaudin

at Harrah's Cherokee Center ~ Asheville
Thursday, August 8
Doors: 7pm / Show: 8pm
[alt-rock]
more info

Cake

For locals who were the right age when “The Distance” hit airwaves in 1996, Rabbit Rabbit will be home to a wonderful nostalgia trip on Thursday night. The oddball Sacramento-based alt-rock quintet hasn’t released an album in well over a decade, and may not be remembered as fondly as some of its contemporaries, but funky off-kilter jams like “Frank Sinatra” and “Short Skirt / Long Jacket” should still make for a great time. —JL

at Rabbit Rabbit
Thursday, August 8
Doors: 5:30pm / Show: 7pm
[alt-rock]
more info

The Courettes

Until recently, I had never heard of this Denmark-based duo. I was just diligently putting together these event listings when I unassumingly clicked “play” on one of their videos and was instantly knocked on my ass by their fuzzed-out garage rock. With the band performing at the intimate Static Age Records, this is surely going to be special. —JL

w/ Cinema Hearts / Vudu Revival
at Static Age Records
Sunday, August 11
Doors: 8pm / Show: 8:30pm
[garage rock]
more info