Outdoor concert and movie series kicks off May 23
The North Carolina Museum of Art (NCMA) announces the 2015 summer schedule of outdoor concerts and movies. The summer performing arts series currently includes nine concerts, 22 movies, and several family-friendly performances.
Outdoor Concert Series
The concert series begins on May 23 with a performance by Brooklyn-based quartet Lake Street Dive, presented with Cat’s Cradle. The band draws on classic soul and R&B, jazz, and British invasion to create an exhilarating brand of pop. The unstoppable joy of their live shows is propelled by knock-your-socks-off vocals (courtesy of Rachael Price) and virtuosic instrumentals.
Seattle-based alt-country singer-songwriter Brandi Carlile makes her first NCMA appearance June 12. In anticipation of Carlile’s new album, The Firewatcher’s Daughter, a Boston Globe music critic called Carlile “the most arresting female voice in pop this side of Adele." This performance is presented with Cat’s Cradle.
On June 17 the NCMA welcomes Grammy-winning guitarist-singer-songwriter Gary Clark Jr. to the stage. Such is Clark’s talent that Rolling Stone magazine called him “the Chosen One,” and the New York Times suggested that he might be “the next Hendrix.” He opened for the Rolling Stones’ 50th-anniversary tour at Hyde Park, performed at the White House, and has played all of the major pop-music festivals and popular late-night talk shows.
Singer-songwriter Neko Case brings songs from her newest critically acclaimed album, The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight, The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You, to the Museum Park stage on June 19. All Music Guide describes this album as Case’s “most instantly gratifying work, perfectly encapsulating all of her personas, from the erudite, whiskey-shooting provocateur to the sweet and soulful small-town crooner.”
King Sunny Adé and His African Beats—along with 20 master musicians and percussionists—take the stage June 25 for what is sure to be one of the most unforgettable performances (and dance parties) of the summer. The legendary band leader, composer, and guitarist helped pave the way for many of the great Afro-pop bands of our times. Adé has been a bold innovator, adding guitars, percussion, keyboards, synthesizer, and even Hawaiian-style pedal steel.
French ensemble Paris Combo performs in the Museum Park on July 11. The charm and vocal power of chanteuse Belle du Berry, along with the superb musicianship of David Lewis (piano, trumpet), Potzi (Django-style guitar), and François Jeannin (percussion) make Paris Combo’s fun-loving mix of jazz, French pop, cabaret, gypsy, Latino, and Middle Eastern rhythms impossible to resist.
The NCMA welcomes Punch Brothers for a concert on July 16. The virtuosic quintet, featuring Chris Thile on mandolin, recently released a brilliant new album, The Phosphorescent Blues, produced by T Bone Burnett. The New Yorker writer Alec Wilkinson describes the music as “bluegrass played by musicians who have also been schooled in jazz, classical music, and rock and roll.”
The NCMA presents An Evening with The Mavericks on August 29. An incomparable roots-rock and country band with a Latin twist, the Mavericks have released two critically acclaimed albums since 2013, thrilling audiences with the rhythmic fervor and Latin influences that reflect their south Florida origins. Drawing on a mix of classic country, cow-punk, and standards, the band has a special talent for getting people to groove.
Family favorite Paperhand Puppet Intervention puts on three kid-friendly shows from September 11 through September 13. Fabricating fantastical worlds with the most ordinary of materials, Paperhand has been wowing audiences for nearly 15 years. Each year’s production is new and original, but all feature a cavalcade of giant puppets, stilt dancers, shadow puppets, and great live music.
An Evening with Dawes closes the season with a performance on September 25, presented with Cat’s Cradle. The young southern California folk-rock band featuring brothers Taylor and Griffin Goldsmith has been soaring since 2009. “Dawes plays it old school,” writes Scott Timberg in the Los Angeles Times. “The group’s music evokes the best of the classic canyon rock era of the ‘60s and ‘70s.”
Outdoor Movies
The NCMA’s outdoor movie season kicks off with a screening of Star Trek Into Darkness on May 30. This year’s summer movies include drama and comedy classics, such as Dazed and Confused, 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Sound of Music, Jaws, To Kill a Mockingbird, and The Big Lebowski (part of our Dude Abides Movie Party); 2015 award nominees and winners, such as Selma, The Imitation Game, Birdman, Boyhood, The Theory of Everything, Interstellar, and Pride; and family-friendly movies including Frozen, How to Train Your Dragon 2, and Big Hero 6.
Visitor Information
The concert and movie schedule is available at ncartmuseum.org. Concerts and movies take place at the Joseph M. Bryan, Jr., Theater in the Museum Park. Doors open 90 minutes before concert and movie start time. Parking is free.
Iris restaurant offers eclectic summer fare during concerts. Concessions, including beer and wine, are available at movies. Visitors are also welcome to bring picnics (excluding alcohol). Nonalcoholic beverages, including water, must arrive in factory-sealed containers.
Children 6 and under are admitted free on the lawn. For Museum members, concert tickets are discounted and movies are free. Purchase tickets at ncartmuseum.org or by phone through the Museum Box Office at (919) 715-5923.
Concert and Movie Details
Lake Street Dive
Saturday, May 23, 8 pm
Tickets: $20–$30
Star Trek Into Darkness
aturday, May 30, 9 pm
Tickets: $5 for nonmembers
Dazed and Confused
Friday, June 5, 9 pm
Tickets: $5 for nonmembers
Frozen (sing-along version)
Saturday, June 6, 9 pm
Tickets: $5 for nonmembers
Brandi Carlile
Friday, June 12, 8 pm
Tickets: $32–$45
The Imitation Game
Saturday, June 13, 9 pm
Tickets: $5 for nonmembers
Gary Clark Jr.
Wednesday, June 17, 8 pm
Tickets: $29–$40
Neko Case
Friday, June 19, 8 pm<
Tickets: $26–$35
Chef (with food truck rodeo!)
Saturday, June 20, 9 pm
Tickets: $5 for nonmembers
King Sunny Adé and His African Beats
Thursday, June 25, 8 pm
Tickets: $26–$35
The Hundred-Foot Journey
Friday, June 26, 9 pm
Tickets: $5 for nonmembers
Birdma
Saturday, June 27, 9 pm
Tickets: $5 for nonmembers
How to Train Your Dragon 2
Friday, July 10, 9 pm
Tickets: $5 for nonmembers
Paris Combo
Saturday, July 11, 8 pm
Tickets: $29–$40
Punch Brothers
Thursday, July 16, 8 pm
Tickets: $29–$40
To Kill a Mockingbird
Friday, July 17, 9 pm
Tickets: $5 for nonmembers
Selma
Saturday, July 18, 9 pm
Tickets: $5 for nonmembers
The Theory of Everything
Friday, July 24, 9 pm
Tickets: $5 for nonmembers
Jaws (introduced by shark expert Dr. Charles “Pete” Peterson)
Saturday, July 25, 9 pm
Tickets: $5 for nonmembers
Pride
Friday, July 31, 9 pm
Tickets: $5 for nonmembers
The Book of Life
Saturday, August 1, 9 pm
Tickets: $5 for nonmembers
Big Hero 6
Friday, August 7, 9 pm
Tickets: $5 for nonmembers
Whiplash
Friday, August 14, 9 pm
Tickets: $5 for nonmembers
The Big Lebowski (third annual Dude Abides Movie Party)
Saturday, August 16, 9 pm
Tickets: $5 for nonmembers
2001: A Space Odyssey
Friday, August 21, 8:30 pm
Tickets: $5 for nonmembers
Interstellar
Saturday, August 22, 8:30 pm
Tickets: $5 for nonmembers
Boyhood
Friday, August 28, 8:30 pm
Tickets: $5 for nonmembers
An Evening with The Mavericks
Saturday, August 29, 8 pm
Tickets: $29–$40
Guardians of the Galaxy
Saturday, September 5, 8:30 pm
Tickets: $5 for nonmembers
Paperhand Puppet Intervention
Friday, September 11, 6:20 pm
Tickets: $8.50–$17
Paperhand Puppet Intervention
Saturday, September 12, 6:20 pm
Tickets: $8.50–$17
Paperhand Puppet Intervention
Sunday, September 13, 6:20 pm
Tickets: $8.50–$17
The Sound of Music
Saturday, September 19, 8 pm
Tickets: $5 for nonmembers
An Evening with Dawes
Friday, September 25, 8 pm
Tickets: $24–$35