BEATLES COVERS | 1964: The Tribute
Sat. Feb. 4
8 p.m.
$34.50-$54.50
Charleston
Music Hall
Put together by Mark Benson, the John Lennon of the group, 1964 has been dubbed the “best Beatles tribute on Earth” by Rolling Stone — fitting since the band comes complete with shaggy haircuts and vintage VOX amps. Thanks to Mac Ruffing as Sir Paul McCartney, Tom Work as George Harrison, and Bobby Porter as Ringo, the band captures the look, sound, onstage banter, and overall presence of the Beatles, minus the army of girls screaming louder than the amps. As the name implies, 1964 attempts to recreate the Beatles at the height of Beatlemania and the British Invasion. That means nothing from Sgt. Pepper or Abbey Road will be in the mix. They keep their hair on the shorter side, the setlist less acid-inspired, and leave the flamboyant military uniforms at the dry cleaners. But what they lack in The White Album department, they make up for in the worlds of Help!, Please Please Me, and Revolver. The band’s been known to recreate “Day Tripper,” “Hard Day’s Night,” “Taxman,” and countless other tunes from the Beatles pre-1967 career. Many of the songs they perform are so similar to the original recordings that it’s hard not to wonder if an iPod is hooked up to the loudspeaker. —Heath Ellison SATURDAY
HIP-HOP | Cash Money vs. No Limit
DJ rDot and Black Dave
Sat. Feb. 4
9 p.m.
$10
Tin Roof
Anyone familiar with the dirty South hip-hop of the ’90s should know these two important rival labels, both with New Orleans ties: Cash Money Records (Lil Wayne, Turk, Mannie Fresh) and Master P’s No Limit Records (Snoop Dogg, Mystikal, Mia X). “Master P was one of the first hip-hop entrepreneurs people knew from the South — he was selling tapes out of his car and went on to create his own label and become a multibillionaire,” says Robie Howell, a.k.a. DJ rDot. “No Limit’s marketing is what got people’s attention — like 3D covers. They flaunted a lot, but it caught your eye. And it seemed like every week or two No Limit had a new album out.” During that prolific period, artists on both labels made their beef with one another known through their music — hence the idea for a Cash Money versus No Limit party this weekend. The plan is for DJs rDot and Black Dave to each rep one label — but that could change. “I love both so much, I can’t imagine having to limit myself to doing just one,” says Howell, who’s DJ’d locally for 12 years. As DJ rDot, he works a lot of weddings and at bars in need of a top-40 DJ. “But I’m a hip-hop head, and a lot of places don’t want a lot of hip-hop, so it’s great to get to go in and have a lot of fun with this show.” —Kelly Rae Smith SATURDAY
CLASSIC SOUL | Mike Quinn presents
The Motown Throwdown
Thurs. Feb. 2
9:30 p.m.
$8/adv.,
$10/door
Pour House
You can’t argue with Stevie Wonder. Whether it’s a dazzling string of mid-’60s Motown hit singles like “Fingertips, Pt. 2,” “Uptight,” and “Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours” or his boundary-breaking 1970s full-album triumphs Talking Book, Innervisions, and Songs in the Key of Life, Wonder was in his prime for a full two decades. Mike Quinn and friends will pay tribute this weekend with one full set of Stevie classics, picked from a miles-deep catalogue of greatness. And by extension, it should be noted that you can’t really argue with Motown Records in its prime, either. From the Supremes and the Four Tops to the Temptations, Marvin Gaye, and Gladys Knight, Motown’s formidable list of greats might just be the greatest record-label roster in history. It’s that group that Quinn and his ensemble (which includes Corey Stephens, Dave Grimm, and Manny Houston, among others) will cover in their second set. —Vincent Harris THURSDAY
FOLK | The Moon and You
Laura Jane Vincent, Jessica Lil P Pennell
Thurs. Feb. 2
9 p.m.
$5
Tin Roof
Melissa Hyman and Ryan Furstenberg, of Asheville’s husband-wife duo, the Moon and You, are simultaneously music and relationship goals. Melissa Hyman, a New York City native, is the daughter of a professional violinist, while Ryan, from the tobacco fields of North Carolina, was raised on country and rock. The two musicians formed their band in 2011 and married in 2015. Hyman and Furstenberg meld their respective backgrounds and musical influences in order to achieve a complex-yet-familiar Americana sound. Their dynamic tracks feature Melissa’s rich cello and Ryan’s warm guitar and banjo. Melissa and Ryan sing sincere, lyrically-driven songs with a sweet, folky twang. Though their tracks range in flavor from jazz to folk, bluegrass to pop, they have an altogether solid, dependable, and cohesive sound. In June of 2016, the Moon and You released A White Light That Sings, their first full-length album. Their sophomore release, Endless Maria, is due out in March. On this tour, the couple reunites with Dulci Ellenberger of Holy Ghost Tent Revival. In addition to plenty of onstage chemistry, expect a lot of three-part harmonies, electric guitar, hand percussion, floor tom, and cello.
—Caitlin Billard THURSDAY
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