MUSIC

THE WAR ON DRUGS

HAW RIVER BALLROOM, SAXAPAHAW | FRIDAY, OCT. 17

It’s been a strangely bittersweet year for Philadelphia rock band The War on Drugs. In March, they released their third album, Lost in the Dream, a righteous heartland rock fantasy that set the melancholia of frontman Adam Granduciel free over a canvas of romantic guitars and reassuring rhythms. Critics united in a chorus of praise. The band landed a spot on The Late Show with David Letterman. Granduciel even found himself in US Weekly for dating Breaking Bad actress Krysten Ritter. But more fame means more problems, right? In September, the increasingly irascible songwriter Mark Kozelek blasted The War on Drugs onstage at a festival in Ottawa, because the sound of their set was bleeding into his. That led to Kozelek challenging The War on Drugs to join him onstage, proclaiming they’re the whitest band he’s ever encountered, and releasing the head-shaking single “War on Drugs: Suck My Cock.” But throughout it all, the Drugs have remained above the fray, choosing to focus on touring behind one of the year’s best rock records rather than bicker with a soft-voiced loudmouth. Good call. With Peter Matthew Bauer. 8 p.m., $20–$23, hawriverballroom.com, 336-525-2314, 1711 Saxapahaw Bethlehem Church Rd. Grayson Haver Currin

THURSDAY, OCT. 17 & WEDNESDAY, OCT. 22

Approaching its sixth anniversary, Durham’s The Pinhook boasts a deserved reputation as one of the most welcoming, inclusive clubs in the Triangle, as open to late-night dance parties as it is quiet evenings in. This week, two shows of the latter variety gather fine pairs of acoustic conjurers. The first bill, on Thursday, pairs two instrumentalists who seem like fresh-faced explorers. Since relocating to California from Chapel Hill, area rock-and-experimental veteran Chuck Johnson has issued two refined guitar albums, which play out like sets of ponderous postcard portraits and notes from exotic locales. Daniel Bachman, a recent arrival in Durham, grabs at will from hillbilly rags and transcontinental ragas, building a private lexicon of public plundering. On Wednesday, Ezekiel Graves, who sculpts the sounds of distant and permanent ache with six strings, splits a bill with Vermont’s Sam Moss, a songwriter adds tender singing to his spry strums and picks. Thurs. 9 p.m., $8. Wed. 8 p.m., $5. 117 W. Main St., 919-667-1100, thepinhook.com. Grayson Haver Currin

JULIAN LAGE & CHRIS ELDRIDGE

CAROLINA THEATRE, DURHAM | TUESDAY, OCT. 21

Some of the best-tasting cocktails cause you to furrow your brow when reading their contents on the menu. The same might happen with the mix of modern jazz, new music and bluegrass promised by guitarists Julian Lage and Chris Eldridge, but they balance the ingredients well. The pair’s new album, Avalon, crosses original instrumentals with earnest, rollicking takes on tunes from every chapter of the Great American Songbook. The jaw-dropping Eldridge, of the revered Punch Brothers, can fingerpick an acoustic guitar like it’s a banjo. Lage comes to Durham after a six-day residency at The Stone, the East Village harbor of jazz experimentalist and saxophonist John Zorn. He’s been playing with monsters like pianist Fred Hersch, drummer Kenny Wolleson and Zorn himself. Expect improvisational folk with a virtuosic twist. 8 p.m., $28–$50, 309 W. Morgan St., 919-506-3030, carolinatheatre.org. Chris Vitiello

CULTURE

TRINITY PARK HOME TOUR

TRINITY PARK, DURHAM | SUNDAY, OCT. 19

Trinity Park was established in the late-19th century, becoming a popular place for wealthy families to plant roots. But the neighborhood was not immune to nationwide urban decay in the 1960s, or the process, whether you call it gentrification or revitalization, that followed. It’s a fascinating lens through which to consider a changing Durham, and the biennial Trinity Park Home Tour gives local history buffs an intimate view of the neighborhood’s past. In addition to the home tour, there will be a free festival on Watts Street, where architects, home builders and landscape designers who have worked on homes in Trinity Park will set up booths for their services and goods alongside artists and sculptors. Food trucks and live music round out the festivities. Tickets for the tour may be purchased in advance at Morgan Imports, The Regulator Bookshop, Classic Treasures and online. 11 a.m.–5 p.m., $20, Watts St., trinitypark.org. Will Partin

THEATER

IF MY FEET HAVE LOST THE GROUND

MANBITES DOG THEATER, DURHAM

THURSDAY, OCT. 16–SATURDAY, NOV. 1

“Puppetry is a horribly dangerous thing,” playwright, director and puppet-master extraordinaire Torry Bend has noted. “It’s even more dangerous than theater, because it’s easier for puppetry to go really wrong.” Bend’s new production, produced by StreetSigns Center, is her last local show before she leaves Duke’s theater studies faculty for the University of Minnesota in the spring. It’s based in part on an earlier community-based project, Dear Stranger, in which Bend left a series of anonymous letters in public places. In a mélange of video, music, puppetry and theater, a far-too-frequent flyer finds something unexpected beneath her tray table: a beating heart, contained in a letter that bears a return address. What follows promises to be a parable for our disconnected times. Jon Haas’ video preview is at http://vimeo.com/108205681. 8:15 p.m. Thurs.–Sat. Oct. 16–Nov. 1 and Weds. Oct. 29; 2 p.m. Oct. 25, Oct. 26 and Nov. 1, $5–$20, 703 Foster St., 919-682-3343, www.manbitesdogtheater.org. Byron Woods

FILM

HOME MOVIE DAY

STATE ARCHIVES OF NORTH CAROLINA, RALEIGH

SATURDAY, OCT. 18

When my brother and I were kids, our grandfather liked to feed us cotton candy and soda until we were basically insane and then shoot Camcorder videos of us going nuts. He called it “The Brian and Andrew Show,” the title superimposed on each video in white block type. I still have some of them, the wavy VHS tracking now embalmed in .mov files. These are the kinds of cinematic relics you’ll discover when Home Movie Day, held annually at venues around the world, comes to the N.C. State Archives. You can bring in your own home movies in any archaic format8mm, 16mm, Super8, VHS and moreto share them with strangers and play Home Movie Day bingo for prizes. All the necessary equipment will be on hand, as will film archivists to run it and give preservation lessons. You can even get a free transfer courtesy of A/V Geeks Transfer Services, digitally capturing your celluloid memories before they crumble to dust. And who knows, maybe you’ll even catch a classic episode of “The Brian and Andrew Show.” 1–4 p.m., free, 109 E. Jones St., 919-247-7752, www.avgeeks.com/hmd.html. Brian Howe