Asheville. Unofficially.

Mumford & Sons at Asheville Civic Center

Read a review by Joe the intern over at Mountain Xpress.

I enjoyed the show much more than he did.

Grace Potter and the Nocturnals at Pisgah Brewing

Grace Potter and the Nocturnals played the grand opening of the outdoor stage at Pisgah Brewery on a beautiful Thursday night. What is better than great music, local organic beer, and free ice cream?

In-Store: Carolina Chocolate Drops

In things that don’t suck news, Carolina Chocolate Drops will be doing a few songs at Harvest Records this Friday afternoon at 3pm before their headlining appearance at The Orange Peel!

Goodbye Arizona, Hello Wages

Asheville has been lucky to play host to half of the band Arizona for the past few years. But it looks like the long distance relationship with the other two members in Brooklyn has taken its toll. Arizona announced a couple weeks ago that they are now on “indefinite hiatus” (we all know what that means).

We’re not going to mourn though for a few reason:

1.) They left us with a parting MGMT/Ace of Base mashup.

2.) Given all the drama surrounding the state of Arizona lately, it’s probably a good idea to distance yourself from the word.

3.) Nick, Alex, and James are all remaining here and have started a new band named Wages.

I got a preview of them when they opened for These United States a couple weeks ago and recommend checking out their new EP, in Sun.

They are also having a CD release show this Saturday at LAB (10pm $5). Just walk past all the people wearing Ed Hardy to the inconspicuous door in the very back. The room is actually quite pleasant with $3.50 LAB beers.

Photos: Brother Ali and Fashawn

I was a little worried when the show started. The Peel was empty. The opening group was a rap cliche (“Yo yo yo, where the bitches at?”) with a DJ who looked like the kids I went to Hebrew school with seems to spend more time smoking blunts than using this old Dell Latitude.

I began to wonder if I had the wrong idea of Rhymesayers, but after a break Brother Ali came out an introduced this 21-year-old phenom named Fashawn. The crowd swelled and moved to the stage and Fashawn proceeded to kill it. Lyrical, hard-working, honest, and brilliant.

Then Brother Ali took over the stage. He’s a self-described fat, bald, bearded, albino, Muslim rapper, but he transcended all those label. He was able to get the crowd moving like I’ve never seen in Asheville before, “There is not a concert. At a concert, there is a performer, an actor up here on stage. Out there is the audience and we don’t interact. But this isn’t that. This is a party and I came here to fucking party.”

I left around midnight, but the party was still going strong.

More photos after the jump…

Tonight: Open Doors Benefit with Reigning Sound

Asheville’s favorite garage rockers, Reigning Sound, are playing a benefit tonight at The Grey Eagle for Open Doors.

Open Doors of Asheville Inc. is a new not-for-profit that breaks the cycle of poverty by connecting local children with an active individualized support network and providing them with opportunities for higher level education.

Suttree will also lend their songs for this good cause.

Rock and roll benefit? Sign me up.

After the jump, photos from when Reigning Sound played the Actionfest awards ceremony, which was a story in and of itself.

Hockey, the band not the sport (I wonder how many times a day they hear that), is playing at The Grey Eagle tonight. Pitchfork nails it saying they sound like “the precise midpoint between the Strokes and LCD Soundsystem.” I’m not sure if they meant it in a good way or bad, but for $8 I’m tempted to check it out.

Looks like they are the only band playing tonight so you could definitely check it out and then do something else afterwards.

Tonight: Lost in the Trees

Lost in the Trees, a folk orchestra from Chapel Hill, is playing the Rocket Club tonight. From a quick listen they remind me of a film score to an quirky indie drama directed by Tim Burton that doesn’t actually exist. This promises to be an interesting show to say the least.

While the Rocket Club predictably has little information about the show, the dude on the phone said the show would start around 10pm and cost about $8.

Twee folk group Midtown Dickens from Durham will open.

Tonight: Justin Townes Earle

Despite the snow freakout, Justin Townes Earle and Dawn Landes will be playing The Grey Eagle tonight. Put on some long underwear and strap on your snow shoes. I think it’ll be an awesome intimate night of music.

Today: Urban Outfitters Grand Opening

Sure, Urban Outfitters rips off independent artists and is generally evil, but today is their grand opening and shouldn’t we all go and ~~support them~~ eat their free food and see some bands.