Neutral Milk Hotel, Destroyer, Lambchop Playing Merge 25 Festival
Five years ago, when the estimable North Carolina indie Merge Records turned 20, it threw itself a big anniversary festival, and now it’s doing the same thing on its 25th anniversary. The Merge 25 festival will come to venues around the label’s research-triangle home 7/23-26: An opening-night show at Duke University’s Baldwin Auditorium, two nights of shows at Carrboro’s Cat’s Cradle, and a final outdoor show in Carrboro. The people at Merge haven’t yet announced the full lineup, but what they have is already impressive: Neutral Milk Hotel, Destroyer, Lambchop (performing Nixon in full), Wye Oak, Bob Mould, the Clientele, Caribou, the Rock*A*Teens, and Ex Hex. You’ll find more info on the festival here.