This Week in Asheville: Sept. 23-29
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.
Kaleo
Iceland has a distinct history of exporting music that sounds otherworldly, but apparently Icelanders can also play a pretty incredible brand of blues rock that sounds as American as pickup trucks and football. —Jonny Leather
w/ Chance Peña
at Rabbit Rabbit
Tuesday, Sept. 24
Doors: 5:30pm / Show: 7pm
[blues rock]
more info
Etran de L’Aïr
In recent years, the rising stardom of desert blues stars such Mdou Moctar and Bombino in the U.S. has signaled a growing audience for the eclectic styles of Tuareg music currently being made throughout many parts of Northern Africa. Based out of Agadez — a city in Niger well known for its rich music history — this longtime family music collective (whose name translates to “Stars of the Aïr region”) has been creating some of the most wonderfully vibrant music being exported out of the region. It’s only a matter of time before the same fans who’ve embraced Mdou Moctar and Bombino fall in love with the sound of Etran de L’Aïr. —JL
w/ David Nance & Mowed Sound
at The Grey Eagle
Thursday, Sept. 26
Doors: 7pm / Show: 8pm|
[Tishoumaren, Tuareg Blues, psychedelic rock]
more info
Karina Rykman
As a mainstay in Marco Benevento’s band, the gifted bassist/vocalist enlivened pre-COVID-19-pandemic shows at The Grey Eagle and the Civic Center — for no less than Warren Haynes’ Christmas Jam. Now leading her own namesake ensemble, Rykman added a second Christmas Jam appearance last year and is poised for another bouncy, positive Asheville performance — her first at the South Slope venue. —Edwin Arnaudin
w/ Muscle Tough
at Eulogy
Friday, Sept. 27
Doors: 7pm / Show: 8pm
[rock, jam]
more info
Gong / David Cross Band
Formed all the way back in 1967 by Daevid Allen and Gilli Smyth, Gong is one of the great progenitors of prog rock and psychedelia. They were a bit too whimsical and out there for mainstream commercial success, but the group’s classic 1970s albums are often cited as an influence.
The band has evolved and reinvented over the decades since then — including a collaborative album with Japanese psych greats Acid Mothers Temple in 2004 — and Allen passed away in 2015, and Smyth in 2016, but the Gong name lives on. Former King Crimson violinist/keyboardist David Cross, who played on the legendary prog band’s Larks’ Tongues in Aspic and Starless and Bible Black, will join Gong on the bill to perform a set of King Crimson classics. —JL
at The Grey Eagle
Friday, Sept. 27
Doors: 7pm / Show: 8pm
[psychedelic rock, prog]
more info
Chromeo
OK, Asheville: I hope you’re prepared to dance, because the funky synth duo from NYC is going to have all of downtown gyrating on Saturday night. —JL
w/ The Midnight / Girl Ultra
at Rabbit Rabbit
Saturday, Sept. 28
Doors: 4:30pm / Show: 6pm
[synth funk, nu-disco]
more info
ADDITIONAL SHOWS HAPPENING THIS WEEK
Minorcan (Photo by Via Anderson)
🎤 = comedy; 🎭 = theater
Sept. 23: Victoria Canal at Grey Eagle
Sept. 23: Augustana at Salvage Station
Sept. 24: Electric Blue Yonder at Grey Eagle - Patio
Sept. 24: The Arcadian Wild at Grey Eagle
Sept. 24: Walker Rider / Chris Head / Walkhome / Lavender Blue at Static Age Records
Sept. 25: The Barons / Between Two Trees at Eulogy
Sept. 25: Kelli Baker Band Featuring Noé Socha at Grey Eagle
Sept. 25: Trashy Annie / Fifty Year Flood at The Odd
Sept. 25: Luminous Creatures at The One Stop
Sept. 25: The Crybabies / Jessie and the Jinx at Static Age Records
Sept. 26: Wheeland Brothers at Asheville Music Hall
Sept. 26: Andras Jones / Nigel Wearne at Citizen Vinyl
Sept. 26: 200 Stab Wounds at Eulogy
Sept. 26: Minorcan / Force Ghost / Hi Helens at Fleetwood’s
Sept. 26: Fern / Big Fur / Sons of Stars at Outpost
Sept. 26: Slice of Life Standup Comedy Contest at Pulp 🎤
Sept. 26: The Discs / Katie Sachs / Pink No Pink at The Odd
Sept. 26: Karen Morgan at Wortham Center for Performing Arts 🎤
Sept. 26: The Sound of Music at Asheville Community Theatre 🎭
Sept. 27: The Four Horsemen (Metallica Tribute) at Asheville Music Hall
Sept. 27: 40,20,10s / Stevie Tombstone at Citizen Vinyl
Sept. 27: Beware the Dangers of a Ghost Scorpion / Werewolf Hours / Why Why at Fleetwood’s
Sept. 27: The Knotty G’s at Jack of the Wood
Sept. 27: Jordan Smart at Grey Eagle - Patio
Sept. 27: The Knotty G’s at The One Stop
Sept. 27: Hunter Root at The One Stop
Sept. 27: Pinky Patel at The Orange Peel 🎤
Sept. 27: Saturnine / Kare / Feeling Format at Static Age Records
Sept. 27: The Sound of Music at Asheville Community Theatre 🎭
Sept. 28: The Darkside Experience at Asheville Music Hall
Sept. 28: Lyle De Vitry / Slow Packer at Citizen Vinyl
Sept. 28: Yesterdays Clothes / Paprika / Hotel Hugo at Fleetwood’s
Sept. 28: JD Clayton at Grey Eagle
Sept. 28: Swamptooth at Jack of the Wood
Sept. 28: Sgt. Splendor at The One Stop
Sept. 28: Human Nip / Hayley Renae at Outpost
Sept. 28: Kevin Daniel & The Bottom Line at Sierra Nevada
Sept. 28: Rickshaw Billie's Burger Patrol at Static Age Records
Sept. 28: The Sound of Music at Asheville Community Theatre 🎭
Sept. 29: Coral Moons / Aunt Vicki / Lurky Skunk at Asheville Music Hall
Sept. 29: Billy Jonas Band at Grey Eagle
Sept. 29: JD McPherson / Kate Clover at Grey Eagle
Sept. 29: Dirty Dead at Outpost
Sept. 29: WTF Festival: Whitney Mongé / Queen Bee & the Honey Lovers / The Maggie Valley Band / Kathryn O’Shea / Guitar Gabby / Elizabeth McCorvey / Hope Griffin Trio / Company Swing / Balm / Ovadya at Salvage Station
Sept. 29: Ka-pow at Sierra Nevada
Sept. 29: Becky Robinson at Wortham Center For Performing Arts 🎤
Sept. 29: The Sound of Music at Asheville Community Theatre 🎭
(Etran de L’Aïr photo by Abdoulmoumouni Hamid)
