Two Nights At The Stadium

Usher and Chris Brown take Bank of America Stadium two nights running, Megan Moroney headlines the arena, and the amphitheaters stay packed from Truliant to Skyla all week.

The Marquee

Two of the biggest names in R&B are splitting a stadium for a whole weekend. Usher and Chris Brown headline Bank of America Stadium on Friday, July 17 and again on Saturday, July 18, the only Carolinas stop on the entire R&B Tour and one of just a handful of cities the run gives two nights. Usher has spent a career making crowds move and Chris Brown still builds a whole show around the dancing, so expect choreography, hits stacked on hits, and 70,000 people who will not sit down. If you buy one big night this summer, this is the one worth two.

Around The Neighborhoods

Uptown does not slow down once the stadium empties. Megan Moroney brings her country to Spectrum Center on Tuesday, July 14, an arena headline for a singer who was still an opener two summers ago. A few blocks south and a floor below street level, the veteran vocalist Patti Austin settles into Middle C Jazz for early and late sets on Friday, July 17.

The Music Factory carries the widest range of the week. Skyla Credit Union Amphitheatre runs three nights that share nothing but a stage, Wale on Thursday, July 16, the Oklahoma country of Turnpike Troubadours on Friday, July 17, and Lindsey Stirling with her dancing violin on Saturday, July 18. Inside the Fillmore, Silverstein reopen old wounds for the emo crowd on Tuesday, July 14, Freddie Gibbs brings his sharp Gary, Indiana rap on Wednesday, July 15, and T.I. closes the room out on Sunday, July 19. Down in the Underground, BabyChiefDoit takes the small stage on Saturday, July 18.

Out in University City, Truliant Amphitheater leans on the classics. Train run the hits on Tuesday, July 14, The Coral Reefer Band keep Jimmy Buffett's beach party going on Thursday, July 16, and Chicago push their horns through on Saturday, July 18.

The smaller rooms hold their own too. In South End, The Strike bring their big, danceable rock to Amos' Southend on Friday, July 17, while Ragie Ban plays the open air Music Yard the same night. Up in NoDa, SHEBAD close a late set at the Evening Muse, also Friday, July 17.

The Comedy Card

The comedy calendar runs deep. At Duckworth's in Uptown, Bobcat Goldthwait headlines Thursday, July 16 through Saturday, July 18, the unmistakable voice and the strange, sharp mind behind it back on a club stage. Earlier that week Alaire Thomas takes the same upstairs room on Wednesday, July 15. Over at the Comedy Zone in the Music Factory, James Austin Johnson closes Saturday, July 18, bringing the uncanny impressions that anchor Saturday Night Live's cold opens.

Next Week's Radar

The big rooms keep going into next week. Shinedown bring their arena rock to Spectrum Center on Sunday, July 26, and Lynyrd Skynyrd run the southern rock songbook at Truliant Amphitheater on Friday, July 24. Both are worth getting ahead of now.