Rodrigo y Gabriela, Incubus, Il Divo and 3 can’t-miss concerts this week

Take your pick during this strong live week of music. There’s a tandem that’s unlike any other act and a pair of bands looking back at their finest albums. One is old school punk and the other a middle of the road ‘90s rock band. If you’re looking for some live Christmas music, there’s plenty of that on the menu as well.

1. Rodrigo y Gabriela

The details: Dec. 2, 7:30 p.m. Durham Performing Arts Center, 123 Vivian St., Durham. Tickets start at $39.50. 919-680-2787 or dpacnc.com

A half-decade gap between albums for a duo typically means that outside projects usurped time. However, that wasn’t so for Rodrigo y Gabriela. The dynamic Mexican acoustic guitar duo couldn’t find their songwriting groove, though the tandem had been prolific since forming in 2000.

“It was frustrating,” Gabriela Quintero said while calling from her studio in Zihuatanejo, Mexico. “We wrote a lot of music, and it sounded so much like the material that was on the last album (2014’s “9 Dead Alive”). It sounded like the songs we had written.”

Quintero and Rodrigo Sanchez struggled to write new material for two years until they loosened up. “We just decided to let ourselves be who we are,” Quintero said. “We stuck with what we do best, and once we relaxed, ideas and songs just flowed out of us.”

Within months, the pair wrote and recorded their latest album, the baroque “Mettavolution,” which is arguably their finest project since 2006’s eponymous release.

2. Incubus

The details: Dec. 5, 8 p.m. The Ritz, 2820 Industrial Drive, Raleigh. Sold out. 919-424-1400,www.ritzraleigh.com

Incubus is at the end of the 20th anniversary tour of “Make Yourself,” the band’s third studio album, which features such hits as “Pardon Me,” “Stellar” and “Drive.” “Make Yourself” was such a pivotal moment in our band, and we are beyond excited to reintroduce this album to our audience while also showcasing the many musical roads it ultimately let us down,” Incubus singer Brandon Boyd said in a statement.

3. Il Divo

The details: Nov. 29, 8 p.m. Durham Performing Arts Center, 123 Vivian St., Durham. Tickets start at $29.50. 919-680-2787 or dpacnc.com

Whenever Simon Cowell’s name is bandied about, the subject turns to pop acts. However, one of Cowell’s greatest success stories is Il Divo. Cowell helped assemble the classical-crossover group, which has had considerable success throughout the world. The group, which records opera standards and pop songs in a classical style, has sold more than 30 million albums. Expect an evening of Christmas classics.

4. Robert Earl Keen

The details: Dec. 4, 8 p.m. Carolina Theatre, 309 W. Morgan St., Durham. Tickets start at $39.50. 919-560-3030 or carolinatheatre.org

The Christmas classics will sound quite different when Keen delivers them. He has been crafting clever country for more than three decades. Keen is a solid songwriter, who is one of the finest live entertainers on the circuit with his amusing and unpredictable banter.

“There are people who are great, great musicians and they don’t know anything about the stage, and you couldn’t teach them what the stage is about,” Keen told Sacramento Press. “They just don’t feel it. Knowing the stage, that, to me, is an art in itself. If you can work the stage and you can add artistry, you have the potential to go from apprentice to master. There’s only a handful of people who are like that. I’m always struggling to be that.”

5. Agnostic Front

The details: Dec. 4, 9 p.m. Pour House, 224 S. Blount St., Raleigh. Tickets start at $18. 919-821-1120 or thepourhousemusichall.com

Agnostic Front is out behind its 35-year-old album, “Victim in Pain,” which is one of the greatest New York hardcore albums of all time. The tunes are edgy, visceral and have influenced a myriad of recording artists.

6. Laura Stevenson

The details: Dec. 4, 8 p.m. Cat’s Cradle, 300 E. Main St., Carrboro. The Avengers will open. Tickets start at $13. 919-967-9053 or catscradle.com

Stevenson is an emerging New York singer-songwriter, who crafts clever, insightful folk-rock.

This story was originally published November 26, 2019 at 9:35 AM with the headline "Rodrigo y Gabriela, Incubus, Il Divo and 3 can’t-miss concerts this week."