In other words, side- or-post projects of Creed and Days of the New and the  band that sings “She Hates Me.” I promise I’m not making this up.

Recap of the pop music recap:

May 31: The Wailers, Saunter, Pete & J, Jive Mother Mary
June 14: Cravin Melon, Pete Francis (Dispatch)
June 28: Carbon Leaf, Colourslide, Bill West & the Sunshine Kids
July 12: Alter Bridge, Tantric, The T’s, Cori Yarkin, Kennebec
July 26: Old 97s, Balsa Gliders, Richard Bacchus & Luckiest Girls
August 9: Bad Company’s Brian Howe (featuring a Bad Company Greatest Hits Show!), Jim Bianco
August 23: Puddle of Mudd, Eve 6, Saving Abel

Art stunts!

Les Savy Fav was all set to close out Troika in November, but the Brooklyn band, which includes Durham resident Harrison Haynes, had to cancel its Duke Coffeehouse gig at the last minute. Never fear: Les Savy Fav will play Nasher Museum of Art at 8 p.m. on July 12, the eve of Barkley L. Hendricks: Birth of the Cool’s close at Nasher. Tickets are $5-$10 and can be purchased here.

Get in your car now.

Sorry we’ve been tardy in tipping you to the new location for Earth’s show, but it’s tonight (Saturday, May 3) at 10 p.m. at Katmandu (the old Comet Lounge) with In the Year of the Pig. Tickets are $10. I’ll be there. Super-excited. Below, what we would have said in this week’s paper about Earth:

05.03 EARTH @ DOWNTOWN EVENT CENTER KATMANDU
The Bees Made Honey in the Lion’s Skull, the sixth studio album from Seattle band Earth, is one of the year’s best records and one of the best re-renderings of blues music one can fancy: Earth started as a drone metal band, letting glacial sheets of highly amplified guitar hum charge the air and braze the ear drums. Epic, innovative and proudly stubborn, Earth gave doom metal something from which to build and, to this day, aspire. After a nine year break, Earth returned in 2005, still moving slowly but substituting those magnificent monoliths for subdued, singular blues guitar lines, cutting through haze and floating sound up into arid revelry. Three years later—thanks to magnificent organ and piano additions and a rhythm section that’s heavy, quiet and graceful—architect Dylan Carlson has turned the pure sound into a purely brilliant band. Do yourself this favor. With the face-breaking In the Year of the Pig. 10 p.m. —Grayson Currin

Lots of good shows around the Triangle last week and weekend, but I haven’t been able to post much in the way of reviews due to a busy end to my semester. Check below for some brief recaps as well as videos (many of the videos we’ve uploaded to Scan’s YouTube channel are now available in high quality).

Third Eye Blind/The Roots @ Duke’s Last Day of Classes (04.23)
Duke’s annual Last Day of Classes event coincided with my last day of student teaching, and fortunately the rain subsided so the celebration could go on as planned. The Roots were a more than adequate replacement for the originally scheduled opener Lupe Fiasco, whose opening spot on Kanye West’s Glow In The Dark Tour interfered with the already booked LDOC show. Giving extended solos to guitarist “Captain” Kirk Douglas, new bass player Owen Biddle (who held his own in the wake of longtime bassist Hub’s departure), Tuba Gooding, Jr., and pretty much everyone else not named ?love, The Roots crew stretched their legs several times over the course of an hour-long set of hip-hop jams, including the classic Do You Want More???! cut “Mellow My Man.” The already tipsy crowd didn’t get fully into the set until a late run through of hit “The Seed (2.0).”

The crowd was much rowdier when Third Eye Blind started soon after. It was interesting to see frontman Stephan Jenkins, ever the drama queen, follow a set by such a showy live band. Their set wasn’t going to win over any undecideds in the crowd, but who in this college crowd hadn’t heard “Semi-Charmed Life” a decade ago? They stuck mostly to energetic versions of the singles and album favorites, along with a couple tracks from the long-awaited fourth album that Jenkins claimed would be finished after the current tour. Don’t hold your breath, especially considering the quality of the unfortunately titled “Non-Dairy Creamer.” I’ll go ahead and apologize for being part of an audience that Jenkins facetiously claimed inspired the new material.

Red Collar/Hammer No More The Fingers @ NCSU’s Smells Like Green Spirit (04.25)
Unlike the Duke show, this event (on State’s last day of classes) was sparsely attended, due in large part to the traditional Hillsborough Hike falling on the same night. Unfortunate, as Hammer No More The Fingers were on top of their game, blasting out their danceable, buzz-worthy post-punk to everyone within earshot. Here’s video of a couple that lead up to the closer O.R.G.Y.

Red Collar followed with an intense set that drew the crowd ever closer, until “Used Guitars” had several extras on the makeshift stage, including WKNC Local Music Director/DJ Stevo joining in on vocals. This particularly blistering performance, featuring Evan Rowe of Maple Stave on a second drum kit, shows why Red Collar keep moving up my list of favorite local bands to see.

Mmhmm.

Independent Weekly Managing Editor Jennifer Strom saw Bruce Springsteen play Monday night in Greensboro. After watching Lou Reed play in Durham, I covered Barack Obama’s speech in Chapel Hill. We swapped essays on our swapped beats and, as it turns out, thoughts on our own ages. Here’s her report:

Just about the time Bruce Springsteen got a good sweat going Monday night in Greensboro, my stepson shouted into my ear: So far, he didn’t recognize any of the songs. Small wonder, I replied. Even though he’s a big fan—knows the greatest hits collection and The Rising by heart—at 16, he’s been alive less than half of Springsteen’s career.

I graduated high school in 1985, at the height of what some devotees consider the low of Springsteen’s career, the Born in the U.S.A. years. The album (the round flat thing made out of vinyl, with grooves) came with a fold-out poster of a denim-clad Springsteen leaning sexily against a wall. My older sister (she of the Born to Run generation) stole it. Somehow, it wound up on the wall behind my mother’s bedroom door.

Go figure. That’s the thing about Bruce, even today at 58. He’s omni-appealing. While there was plenty of male-pattern baldness in the Coliseum Monday night, there were lots of young fans, too. We all knew most of the words to the big hits, except of course “Badlands,” which no one ever knows except the chorus. (I committed to learning the verses after my last date with Bruce, at UNC’s Kenan Stadium in 2003, because mumbling through them made me feel inadequate, like I’d failed the Boss somehow.) We all wiped our eyes at the opening video tribute to E Street Band keyboardist Danny Federici, who died of cancer April 18. Later on in the night, Springsteen told funny stories about Federici’s mischief in their early days together, some 40 years ago. I suspect fresh grief drove the playlist somewhat, as Springsteen played lots of early work before skipping from “Back Roads” to “Meet Me at Mary’s Place” and most of the cuts off the current CD, Magic, without stopping anywhere near “Dancing in the Dark.” I didn’t get to hear too many of my personal coming-of-age anthems, but that mattered really, truly not at all.

There was a little political talk. “It’s been eight years of bad, bad magic,” he said, introducing the title track off the current album, which aims none too subtly at the Bush administration’s failings. He talked about rendition and the erosion of our Constitution.

We cheered. But mostly he sang, and played, and sweated. Just when you thought it was over, he kicked into the opening notes of another song. And they were all good—even the ones you didn’t know. —Jennifer Strom

New Raleigh pointed out earlier today that Downtown Event Center, the rock club occupying the third floor of the space at 14 West Martin St. in downtown Raleigh, has closed its doors. Owner Charles Norwood told the Independent Monday afternoon that he couldn’t confirm or deny the reports that the club was closing, just that “there are a couple of things that need to be worked out before I know what’s going on.” Norwood has been unavailable for comment since making that statement, but former D.E.C. booking manager Mike Dillon said Tuesday morning, referring to a show by band Earth scheduled for Saturday, May 3, that “I guess the show is kaput… The club is done. Death sentence. Kaput.” The space has experienced high turnover in the last several years: What was once Retail Bar has also been Martin Street Music Hall and Raleigh Music Hall since 2004.

The Independent scrapped its advance coverage of the Earth show on Tuesday morning, but Dillon and members of opening bands In the Year of the Pig and Des Ark have been scrambling to find a venue for Saturday’s show. They have found nothing yet, Dillon says members of Earth are willing to lower their guaranteed payment in order to find a show in the area. We’ll update you as we hear more.

For now, here’s my review of Earth’s track “Omens and Portents I: The Driver” for Paper Thin Walls, as well as an interview and mp3.

Skeeter in Europe.

“The public needs to realize that there are still a few of the true living legends around that are able to perform,” Will Beaty, who played drums behind Skeeter Brandon for years and served as his manager for the last several, told the Independent awhile back. “Once they are gone, they are gone forever.”

Calvin “Skeeter” Brandon has been gone for a month now, and Beaty still feels the loss every day. And he’s convinced that the public never did come to that realization he spoke of: “I thought Skeeter was special. I was honored to be his friend, bandmate, and manager. Often I would find myself, sweating my ass off playing the drums but at the same time having goosebumps. He was a special talent, a dying breed who deserved more recognition than he received.”

“What amazed me most about Skeeter was his ability to bounce back,” Beaty continues. “The band had taken to calling him the ‘Energizer Bluesman.’ Touring with Skeeter wasn’t the easiest of tasks. He required dialysis on every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, five hours sitting in a chair hooked up to a dialysis machine. Not a whole lot of fun for Skeeter, and a significant added challenge to planning a tour.

“Anyway, it was 2004. We had just wrapped up a three-week tour of Spain and had one more gig in Compiegne, France—Raleigh’s sister city. It wasn’t even a paying gig, but we felt it would be a good to see Paris and do little cultural exchange while we were in the neighborhood. Things in Spain had gone swimmingly, and Skeeter decided to celebrate. Bad Idea. We left the hotel in Vallodolid for a two-hour, stop-and-go drive to the Madrid airport. We got caught in traffic and were running late. After barely making the flight—which, of course, was one of the bumpiest I have ever experienced—we landed in Paris just in time for Skeeter to present the previous night’s dinner to our stewardess. After another hour drive to Compiegne ,we found ourselves in less than ideal accommodations.

“None of us thought Skeeter would be able to perform. He was feeling horrible and could barely talk. True to form, an hour before we were to begin, Skeeter was up and going. The performance went well, and we were relieved to be heading home the next day.”

Plans are still being made for a memorial show for Skeeter Brandon. We’ll share the details when they’re available. in the meantime, there’s one more request from Will Beaty: Don’t forget Skeeter Brandon’s funny side:

Ahh, shit.

Polvo will play the My Bloody Valentine-curated American version of ATP in New York in September. The first half of the line-up—Tortoise, meat Puppets, Built to Spill and Thurston Moore all doing albums, with appearances by Shellac, Low, Edan, Fuck Buttons, uhh My Bloody Valentine—is sort of insane. Tickets go on sale Friday, and only 3,000 people get in. Insane.

We’re about seven weeks away from the first concert of this year’s retro-loving Bud Light Downtown Live series, and we still haven’t seen an official announcement for this year’s complete line-up from presenters Deep South Entertainment or the Raleigh Convention Center. But four of the seven headliners have been named with very little fanfare on a second-tier page of the series’ Web site, and, alas, the joint looks like it continues to struggle growing up (or growing young, as it stands). Actually, this year is worse than last year, which is quite the feat.

Read ‘em and maybe moan:

May 31: The Wailers
June 14: Cravin Melon
June 28: Carbon Leaf
July 26: Old 97s
August 9: Bad Company’s Brian Howe
August 23: Eve 6

Pollstar also has L.A. songwriter Jim Bianco on the August 9 bill. Deep South co-founder Dave Rose says the complete line-up is forthcoming. Stay tuned.

UPDATE: Two more headliners have been added to the series. One more date remains open. Shit, is Vertical Horizon touring? Love those guys!!

Superchunk and The Arcade Fire will play two dates in North Carolina to support Barack Obama’s bid for the Democratic presidential nomination, Merge Records announced today.

Thursday, May 1: Greensboro, NC: Greensboro Coliseum Complex Pavilion Parking Lot
Friday, May 2: Carrboro, NC Carrboro Town Commons

Gates open at 1 p.m. for both events, and both shows start at 2 p.m. Tickets are free but required, as space is limited and admission is on a first-come, first-serve basis. Tickets will be available in Forsythe, Guilford, Randolph, Almanace, Orange, Durham and Wake counties during early voting hours starting Thursday, April 24. Only one ticket can be picked up per person. Both shows are all-ages.

Pick-up spots for Carrboro tickets (more locations to come):
Obama table outside UNC-Chapel Hill Planetarium
(250 E Franklin St, Chapel Hill, M-F: 8 a.m.-5 p.m.)

Balloons and Tunes
(208 W Main St, Carrboro, M-F: 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. & Saturday, April 26, 9 a.m.-1 p.m.)

Morning Times Café
(10 E Hargett St, Raleigh, M-F: 8:30 a.m. – 5 p.m & Saturday, April 26 10 a.m.-5 p.m.)

Obama table outside of the Old Durham Ball Park
(Corporation and Morris sts, Durham, M-Sat: 9 a.m.- 5:30 p.m.)

Pick-up spots for Greensboro tickets (more locations to come):
Obama for America Office
(8 West 3rd St, Winston-Salem, M-F 8 a.m.-5 p.m., Sat: 10 a.m.-1 p.m.)

Greensboro Coliseum, Northside of Pavilion Parking Lot
(1921 W Lee St, Greensboro, M-F: 10 a.m.-6:30 p.m., Sat: 10 a.m.-3 p.m.)

Obama table outside Shaw Building
(158 Worth St, Asheboro, M-F: 8 a.m.-5 p.m.)

Obama table outside Board of Elections office
(505 E Green Dr, High Point, M-F: 8 a.m.-5 p.m.)

Obama table outside Courthouse
(301 W Market St, Greensboro, M-F: 8 a.m.-5 p.m.)