Raleigh
Coliseum, Strike Anywhere, Riverboat Gamblers
The BreweryParty punk, policy rock and Kentucky biker metal? Hmm. What this Brewery bill lacks in cohesion, it makes up for with Bluegrass State opening act Coliseum, whose Kurt Ballou-produced No Salvation was one of last year’s best roadhouse brawls. Think Motorhead, dirtbag D-beat and the skuzzy hardcore of Integrity. Meanwhile, the uppercard of Strike Anywhere and Riverboat Gamblers makes a bit more sense, if you’re able to accept that convinced hardcore politicos (remember 2001’s Change is a Sound?) and kickflippin’ Volcom kids are suitable bed partners (to be P.C. about it). Make sense of it all at 8 p.m. for $10, or jet after the opening awesomeness. Robbie Mackey

Chapel Hill
Hobex, Great Big Gone, Lynn Blakey and Ecki Heins
Cat’s CradleThis benefit for The Woods Charter School music department offers a well-rooted sampling of Triangle sounds. Reunited, Greg Humphrey’s Hobex spreads a little love for the high school halls with their Southern-bred flow soul music, while Great Big Gone (Brown Mountain Lights sans Jeff Hart) revs up the roots factor with a mix of back porch twang, western swing and Cajun crunch. Una Chica Lynn Blakey brushes her sweet and salty voice against new hubby Ecki Heins’ gentle fiddle sweeps and harmonies. Catch some good tunes for a great cause at 8 p.m. for $10. Kathy Justice

Raleigh
The Loners
Slim’sIt’s practically an act of defiance to play the primitive stomp as a guitar/drums duo these days: Digital bedroom pop is seemingly everywhere, and the passing fancy of the umpteenth “rock revival” is now burned to cinders. But neither the blessed Loners nor the local enthusiasts who get their soulful, angry punch-in-the-arm songs seem to care. Eddie Taylor and Chris Jones pare it down to the marrow, tempered with gutsy brio in Taylor’s cool vocal delivery, like some D Boon acolyte who has some duck-tailed greaser in him. Cause celebre: The Loners are also working on a new record, their first since their 2002 debut. That’s defiance as rebellious as Jerry Lee’s shocks of red hair. Openers The Sugarnew to Raleigh from Oregonsports a pedigree of Fireballs of Freedom and acid punkers Pure Decadence, wherein organist David “Roach” Simmons made garage punk X-rated with uninhibited talk of T&A. Music goes at 10 p.m. Chris Toenes

Raleigh
Grass: A Nation’s Battle for Life
N.C. Museum of ArtGrass: A Nation’s Battle for Life is perhaps most famous for its ethnographic directors, Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack, who would later grace the silver screen with the monster flick King Kong. But don’t be fooled by the wooly, ape-ish suit Cooper and Schoedsack eventually adopted: This epic travelogue, which follows the Bakhtari tribe of Persia (now Iran) on their two-month journey across Iran in search of green pastures and warm winds for their flocks, stands strong as a historical record of the Bakhtari’s culture and lifestyle as well as a beautifully crafted and compelling documentary. This film marks the beginning of the “Arabian Nights: Middle East on Film” segment of the NCMA’s Winter Film Series. Later films include Kabir Khan’s Kabul Express and Ghobadi’s A Time for Drunken Horses. Tonight’s film screens at 8 p.m. for $5. Kathy Justice