MUSIC
SWEET HONEY IN THE ROCK
CAROLINA THEATRE, DURHAM
THURSDAY, DEC. 18
Sweet Honey in the Rock makes a timely visit to a dissatisfied Durham. This all-female, African-American a cappella franchise has combined music and activism for nearly 40 years, lending their prestige to humanitarian events and funneling profits into civil rights causes. While they likely won’t don “Black Lives Matter” T-shirts to march to Highway 147, the ensemble has long served as an inspiration and soundtrack for such necessary causes, gatherings and action. By celebrating the link between gospel and blues and African musical roots, Sweet Honey in the Rock connects listeners to an era when the spirit of music and the spirit of protest were the same. 8 p.m., $34–$87.75, 309 W. Morgan St., Durham, 919-560-3030, carolinatheatre.org. Chris Vitiello
CHATHAM COUNTY LINE
HAW RIVER BALLROOM, SAXAPAHAW
SATURDAY, DEC. 20
For more than a decade, Raleigh roots quartet Chatham County Line has celebrated the season by taking a special “Holiday Electric Tour” on the road. It’s a double misnomer, though, as the local quartet will first play a full acoustic setmostly culled from Dave Wilson and company’s six-album catalog of stellar Americana originals, with few if any Christmas cuts in sight. They’ll then plug in for a freewheeling second round, enlisting longtime pals Johnny Irion, Jay Brown and Zeke Hutchins to electrify both CCL songs and covers of the veteran outfit’s influences. Don’t be surprised to find them reaching beyond roots-rock, or by the rippling guitar licks of fiddle-and-mandolin man John Teer. If you can’t make it to Saxapahaw, the band also plays The Sunrise Theater in Southern Pines the night before. 8 p.m., $20–$22, 1711 Saxapahaw Bethlehem Church Rd., Saxapahaw, 336-525-2314, hawriverballroom.com. Spencer Griffith
THE WUSSES & THE BEAUTY OPERATORS
MOTORCO, DURHAM | SATURDAY, DEC. 20
It was supposed to be a one-off, just a passel of local rock dudes getting together and playing some Me Decade classics for a charity event. But somehow, where the Swans and Pavement tribute acts failed, the Wusses stuck. And why not? When you have songs by the likes of England Dan & John Ford Coley and Firefall at your disposal, you keep going. The soft-rock ’70s were never cool, but somehow these true believers take the most benign wing of the pop charts and render it weirdly revelatory. When they rip into Christopher Cross’s “Ride Like the Wind,” you may actually feel zephyrs. When their peers were going mental over Frampton Comes Alive and Live at Budokan, the members of the Wusses must have curled instead with Little River Band’s Diamantina Cocktail and the self-titled debut of Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds. In the opening spot, the Beauty Operators rock the blues with a wink and plenty of sass. (Disclosure: INDY Classified Sales Manager Leslie Land is a member of the Beauty Operators.) 9 p.m., $7–$10, 723 Rigsbee Ave., Durham, 919-901-0875, motorcomusic.com. David Klein
DANCE
TOMMY NOONAN AND CLINT LUTES: BROTHER BROTHER
THE CARRACK MODERN ART, DURHAM
THURSDAY, DEC. 18–SATURDAY, DEC. 20
Two men in black briefs jog in place, high-stepping, their athletic shoes rhythmically slapping the floor. One mounts the other’s back with a terrified expression. They roughhouse, with one administering to the other what was known in my schoolyard days as a “purple nurple.” They shove each other into corners and up walls. Now violent, now tender, they evoke Greco-Roman wrestlers who pause in their exertions to cradle each other like infants. Are these brothers at one or at odds? The question looms over Tommy Noonan and Clint Lutes’ 50-minute duet, a high-energy and physically daring piece, created overseas in 2009, which gets its stateside debut in this third show from Durham Independent Dance Artists. The playful, boyish façade seems to mask a deep, vulnerable sadness. The title’s doubling is pointedthe brother you love and the brother you hate can be the same person. To learn more about Noonan, DIDA and Brother Brother, see our article from last week at www.indyweek.com. As of press time, only the 5 p.m. Sat. show is not sold out. 8 p.m. Thurs.–Sat.; 5 p.m. Sat., $10, 111 W. Parrish St., 704-213-6666, www.thecarrack.org. Brian Howe
VISUAL ART
STAND UP, DURHAM! A WALK THROUGH FAIRY TALES
THE BAR DURHAM, DURHAM | THURSDAY, DEC. 18
For this benefit for the LGBTQ Center of Durham, a group of local photographers, writers and models banded together to combine words and images inspired by fashion and fairy talestwo worlds ripe for revisions of gender norms, but also for good old-fashioned romanceto create an original art calendar, which you can purchase at this debut and fundraiser. The process began with photographers and models collaborating to create and capture scenes focused on shoes. Then the writers each chose a picture and added text, resulting in modern takes on stories such as Beauty and the Beast and The Little Mermaid, with a haute couture twist. Fourteen framed images from the calendar will be on display, with prints also on sale; performances by the likes of Juno Star and Sara Bloo, from hooping to burlesque, add to the celebratory atmosphere. 6:30 p.m., free, 711 Rigsbee Ave., 919-956-2929, www.facebook.com/StandUpDurham. Brian Howe