The Veldt

Friday, October 1, 2021 | 6:30 pm

American Tobacco Campus

These outdoor concerts are free, no registration is needed, and masks are required. Bring a chair, a blanket, and visit pop-ups by Parker & Otis, Boricua Soul, and Mellow Mushroom for drinks and dinner. The amphitheater is the grassy area below the Lucky Strike water tower and parking is available in one of three nearby decks. Concerts are weather permitting, with notice of cancellation announced online and via social on the day of the event.

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Easy categorizations don’t work for Raleigh and New York-rooted indie rock progenitors The Veldt, but the band’s signature blend of shoegaze and soul situates its sonic and political project: a Black-led group — begun in and around Chapel Hill in 1986 by brothers Daniel and Danny Chavis — making unprecedented alt-pop-rock experiments in a predominately white field. (And turning this position into a broader critique — see their 2007 album White Music for Black People, released under the name Apollo Heights.) Now more widely lauded for influencing the spaced-out sounds of The Weeknd’s early efforts, The Veldt ensure each of their new recordings, performances, and critical mentions feel like a canonical rupture and an insistent refrain: We’ve always been here. 

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Current Duke Performances COVID-19 regulations

“... with the steady heartbeat rhythm and lulling vocals, The Veldt prove that they are still the masters of smooth sound.”