Tangents Stories

Wyclef Jean at Neighborhood Theatre on August 10

So, I’m waiting for an hour for the show to begin. DJ keeps playing ... yawn. Opener plays a few songs ... okay. And then this dude comes out in total darkness and starts playing guitar. And it’s Wyclef playing “Gone Til November.” As an opener. The stage was set up for a full band, but over the next two hours, Wyclef played all of the instruments, all while playing Fugees songs, solo songs and whatever the heck came to his mind. ​Dude. Is. Insane. I mean, dang. Wyclef takes an Uber from the

Coconut Grove at Beantown on August 11

Oh my God! Has anyone else noticed that Beantown Tavern in Matthews has been booking bands? I’ve been so busy being the greatest wrestler ever seen (Sorry, Ric Flair. Get well soon so I can kick your ass again.), that I hadn’t been to any of Beantown’s shows. Well, damn! Coconut Grove played all of my favorite ’60s and ’70s classics, all while I drank, danced and ate lots of wings. I haven’t felt this manly since I took a chair upside Terry Funk’s head! Good times. And the concert was fun, too.

Peter Gray: The darkness between us

Peter Gray has made an album that he doesn’t intend to play live. And he’s okay with that. The Charlotte-based musician spent three years on “The Darkness Closes In” with no intention of taking its thickly-layered rhythms and stylistic whiplashes on the road. For Gray, the album was a chance to throw his ideas onto a larger canvas of sound, and for the record say what he wished to be said. After years of playing with Benji Hughes and many others, “The Darkness Closes In” signals that Gray can