7 buzzworthy concerts coming to Charlotte in the next week

The former frontman and lead guitarist for major-label ’90s alt-rock band Athenaeum are still together, accompanying each other on solo material that resonates with that ’90s alt-pop crossover sound. Former Collapsis leader Garrigan’s voice is bluesier and soulful, while Kano’s still rings with pop charm that made them peers of bands like Toad the Wet Sprocket.

The Charleston, S.C. outfit ends a short pre-holiday East Coast tour in Charlotte. For its part, MooseKick (a play on the word music) makes driving funk and jam-rock punctuated by saxophone and vocals that capture the same soul as Counting Crows’ Adam Duritz, but add more grit to the delivery. With Southern rockers Vegabonds.

The Canadian DJ’s aggressive form of dubstep and trap-incorporating electronic music was coined “vomitstep,” which surprisingly hasn’t hurt his appeal. He’s risen from the Montreal scene to international stardom, touring Asia and hitting electronic festivals like Electric Forest in Michigan, EDC Las Vegas, Coachella and Lollapalooza in the past year. With Snails.

The first couple of The Milestone Club, Jonathan and Stephanie Hughes host this sexy Santa party via their electronic duo/alter-ego Sext Message, along with a cast of off-kilter variety-show players including Glitter Bomb Burlesque, Dylan Gilbert from Hectorina (he’s doing an electronic set), holiday karaoke roulette, and a dance party till the wee hours.

Hailing from just across the state line, the band is straddles country and rock – musically honky-tonk to its bones, with ripping rockabilly guitar licks and driving upbeat rhythms, but boasting the live approach of punk rockers. In fact, its demonstrative frontman comes off a bit like Jello Biafra-meets-David Byrne at a hootenanny. With Motel Glory.

The Charlotte rap duo of FredRock and Red Jesse ends its month-long residency with an eclectic lineup that includes local veteran Hectagons!, which bridges busy math and prog rock, avant garde jazz, and electronic music in a unique meeting-of-the-musical-minds (notably El Malpais’ Buck Boswell and Maschine-aided DJ/producer Justin Aswell).

Having recently exceeded its $25,000 Kickstarter goal to fund its first album in seven years, the jam band stalwart – which celebrated 20 years in 2017 – returns for a two-night engagement to warm up for NYE. This is the first of a two-night engagement (they also play Friday, Dec. 29); Urban Soil opens the first show, CBDB gives support to the second.

This story was originally published December 21, 2017 at 8:10 AM with the headline "7 buzzworthy concerts coming to Charlotte in the next week."