Carrboro
Andrew Bird, St. Vincent
Cat’s CradleYou’ve likely noticed that what’s now loosely termed indie rock doesn’t sound or look much like it did just two decades ago. In some instances, of course, it’s grown more outbound (Animal Collective, Fuck Buttons) or grittier (Eat Skull, Skull Defekts) or more ugly (well, Yo La Tengo’s always looked that way). But a touring pair of independent music’s most substantial crossover stars, Andrew Bird and St. Vincent, look like models and movie stars, and they’re but two of many. Bird, for instance, sports sharp, high cheekbones and well-deep brown eyes, while St. Vincent’s Annie Clark wears her fair complexion and loose curls around hazel eyes that seem to long for you. The sounds suit the looks: Bird’s quixotic wordplay comes sweetly sung in twisting melodies and around vibrant fiddle swoops or whistled curios. A rhythm section that includes wizard Martin Dosh dances behind. It’s catchy but complex, a ruse for an ever-broadening audience. Clark’s soft voice slides steadily from a whisper to a confident clip, adding stability above her unpredictable guitar theatrics. Her band, which includes longtime (and, sadly, former) Chapel Hill violinist and bandleader Daniel Hart, is as capable of quiet as it isof bombast, tiding from the electric menace of “Black Rainbow” to the lithe grace of “The Bed” on a swell of ideas. Both bands share the bill tonight and tomorrow at 8:30 p.m. Tickets are sold out, but if you can’t finagle a ticket to a two-night stand, you’ve got confidence issues. Grayson Currin
Durham
Ford Transit
Richard White Lecture Hall, Duke UniversityLest you think this is a look at the decaying automobile industry, it’s actually a character study of the “Han Solo of the West Bank,” bus driver Rajai Khatib. Khatib drives a “Ford,” a refitted police vehicle that takes Palestinians from checkpoint to checkpoint during their crossings between the West Bank and Israel. The documentary-style feature offers a look into his dangerous life and over-the-top personality, while providing a glimpse into the situation in Palestine. The free screening takes place on East Campus at 7 p.m. and is followed by a discussion with professors Miriam Cooke and Nadia Yaqub. For more information, visit fvd.aas.duke.edu/screensociety. Zack Smith
