Every Friday, we highlight three shows from great local performing artists that you can see this coming weekend.

Double Barrel Benefit Concert
Friday, February 7th at 8 PM at Cat’s Cradle

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I know we’re not allowed to root for that team in red down the way. But sports loyalties aside, NC State does feature one of the Triangle’s best music resources in WKNC, its student-run radio station. Turn the dial to 88.1 one day, and you’ll get the full range of indie rock. The next day, you’ll hear thrash metal or electronic dance music, and the day after that might bring Indian ragas or college a capella. It’s all meticulously chosen by enthusiastic young DJs, and broadcast out to the whole region.

But it’s not cheap to produce, especially since they keep ads to a minimum. So every year, WKNC hosts two benefit concerts (hence the “Double Barrel”), and our point of the Triangle is the beneficiary of the first one this weekend. Tonight at 8, the Cat’s Cradle hosts four front-line local bands, headed by Merge Records darlings The Love Language. They’re matched by high-energy Durham rockers Hammer No More The Fingers, with opening sets from Derek Torres’ psychedelic outfit T0W3RS and fuzzed-out indie Ghostt Bllonde. It’s a trip inside our fertile local rock scene, and it’s all for the cause of more great music on our airwaves.

NC Symphony: Capriccio Espagnol
Saturday, February 8th at 7:30 PM at Memorial Hall

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From the title of Saturday’s concert, you’d think that the North Carolina Symphony was playing an all-Spanish program. And you’d only be 2,000 miles off.

Instead, Capriccio Espagnol is an all-Russian affair, albeit one that kicks off with a piece based on Spanish themes. That piece comes from Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, the genius behind the better-known Scheherazade. He marshals Spanish folk tunes to create a charming orchestral suite. The show also features appearances from Tchaikovsky and Borodin, both melodists of the first rank. And the Symphony reaches into its own ranks for another Russian treasure, principal bassist Leonid Finkelshteyn, who’ll play a concerto by fellow ex-pat Serge Koussevitsky. All told, it’ll be a lush and ravishing trip east (though perhaps a bit further east than you’d expect).

The Chuckle And Chortle Comedy Show
Saturday, February 8th at 8:30 PM at the ArtsCenter

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The North Carolina Comedy Arts Festival is the proverbial elephant in the room, bringing some of the nation’s most talented stand-ups and sketch and improv groups to town for much of the next two weeks. And of course Chapelboro has you covered on that front.

But there’s another local comedy gem, and it’s one that’ll stick around after the festival is gone. Every month or two, comedian Michelle Maclay hosts a night to highlight all the talent our area has to offer, with top stand-ups vying for audience attention. There’s one exception this time around, as the hilarious Anna Suzuki visits from New York City. But the rest are all locally-grown, and excited to take the stage at the ArtsCenter.

So while that elephant’s in the room, don’t miss the very funny Chuckle and Chortle Comedy Show, a top-notch elephant alternative.

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