Raleigh
Joe Coffee, Richard Bacchus
The Pour HouseYou’ve got two chances to catch terrific New York quintet Joe Coffee this week, so don’t drop the ball: The Rev. Paul Bearer fronts Joe Coffee, and you may recognize his bludgeoning, brawny bellow and stocky frame from New York hardcore legends Sheer Terror. He rattles on about hard nights and trading angst for anger above a thick two-guitar/ drums/ bass stomp. It’s not as simple as it sounds, though, as the occasional Yaz cover, Nabokov allusion and misdirecting bridge, breakdown or intro consistently shocks these barnstormers. It’s like The Hold Steady on steroids, literary theatrics traded for elliptical barside grumbles. Longtime New York pal Richard Bacchus (once of D Generation) leads his N.C. act The Luckiest Girls in the bill’s middle spot, while The Ghost of Saturday Nite takes the opening spot both nights. The music starts at 9 p.m., and both gigs are free. You’ll be insulted and thrilled by Bearer, promise. Grayson Currin
Chapel Hill
To the House of Collateral Damage: Centuries of the Civilian Dead
Internationalist BooksIn a week with the current Israeli/ Palistinian conflict covering newsstands with stories of civilian death (“collateral damage” in diplomatic parlance), architect and poet William La Riche reminds us that noncombatant suffering is, sadly, nothing new. To the House of Collateral Damage: Centuries of the Civilian Dead is La Riche’s book-length epic poem about the pain of those unwitting souls who bear the brunt of military actions they did nothing to instigate. O. Henry Award-winner Shirley Hazzard called La Riche’s poem a “fragment … of life-giving beauty.” La Riche reads tonight at 7 p.m. Visit www.internationalistbooks.com for more information. Sam Wardle
