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RALEIGH, N.C. — The North Carolina Museum of Art (NCMA) announces the 2018 summer schedule of outdoor concerts and movies. The 21st annual performing arts summer season includes concerts from recording artists ranging from local favorites Mandolin Orange and Brooklyn-based quartet Lake Street Dive to New Orleans’s Trombone Shorty and Swedish indie rockers First Aid Kit. The summer movies include Oscar nominees Lady Bird, The Shape of Water, and the blockbuster hit Black Panther.

Outdoor Concert Series

First Aid Kit with Jade Bird
Friday, June 8, 8 pm
$27–40
Celebrated for soaring, exquisite harmonies, the duo’s live performances moved Patti Smith and Emmylou Harris to tears. First Aid Kit now returns to the U.S. to debut an acclaimed fourth album, Ruins, which features REM guitarist Peter Buck and Wilco drummer Glenn Kotche. Backed by pedal steel, bass, keyboards, and guitar, First Aid Kit’s live shows transfix audiences with everything from lilting ballads to a head-banging Black Sabbath cover—and their tribute to the #MeToo Movement, “You Are the Problem Here.”

Shovels and Rope with Son Volt
Saturday, June 16, 8 pm
$27–40
Son Volt will open the June 16 Shovels and Rope show, presented with Cat’s Cradle. Alt-country pioneer Son Volt is the creation of singer-songwriter-guitarist Jay Farrar, who formed the band 25 years ago after the breakup of Uncle Tupelo, the band he cofounded with Jeff Tweedy of Wilco fame. Son Volt’s 1995 album Trace is a masterpiece and was expanded and remastered by Rhino Records for a 20th-anniversary reissue. The band recently released a fine album of classic blues called Notes of Blue.

Mandolin Orange with Charlie Parr
Saturday, June 23, 8 pm
$22.50–40 (sold out)
On June 23 Mandolin Orange hits the stage after Charlie Parr opens.The show is presented by Cat’s Cradle. The duo’s 2013 album, This Side of Jordan, was named by NPR Music as one of the year’s top 10 folk and Americana albums. Ever since they’ve been building a devoted following, performing on big stages at Bonnaroo and Colorado’s Red Rocks Amphitheater, and opening for the Avett Brothers’ 2017 New Year’s Eve show at PNC Arena. Their most recent release, Blindfaller, features a full-band sound and has garnered praise from critics throughout the land.

 Lake Street Dive
Thursday, July 12, 8 pm
$30–42
Brooklyn quartet Lake Street Dive returns to the Joesph M. Bryan, Jr., Theater in the Museum Park for a show presented with Cat’s Cradle July 12. They are back with a new album called Free Yourself Up. (It releases May 4 on the Nonesuch label.) The Boston-based quartet met as students at the New England Conservatory of Music, where they discovered a mutual love of jazz, R&B, rock, and pop and the ability to put it all together in one irresistible package.

An Evening with the Mavericks
Saturday, July 28, 8 pm
$29–40
On July 12 Cat’s Cradle and the NCMA present an Evening with the Mavericks. Led by the Miami-born “Caruso of country music,” Raul Malo, this roots-rock and country band with a Latin twist makes its second appearance at the NCMA. All Music Guide calls the band’s new Grammy-nominated album Brand New Day “a rich, thoroughly satisfying delight.” Rolling Stone says “Malo's glorious bellow has never sounded better,” and that the album “is another impeccable, lushly operatic set, suggesting that Malo really is the Roy Orbison of our time.”

Father John Misty with special guest Jenny Lewis
Wednesday, August 1, 8 pm
$28.80–45
Hitting the stage August 1 is Father John Misty with special guest Jenny Lewis, presented with Cat’s Cradle. In 2012, following a stint with indie folk rockers Fleet Foxes, Josh Tillman released the album Fear Fun — his eighth solo album but the first under the name Father John Misty — and it marked a notable departure in his austere style of writing. A review in Pitchfork said, “He's finally shaken that lonesome, somber tone, and these songs sound all the better for it: gregarious, engaging, even funny.” Tillman has released two more acclaimed albums as Father John Misty: I Love You Honeybear in 2015 and last year’s Pure Comedy, “a sprawling, incisive, exasperating, hilarious, and yes, petulant look at modern life.”

A Special Evening with Kishi Bashi and Jake Shimabukuro
Friday, August 3, 7:30 pm
$27–40
Cat’s Cradle and the NCMA present a Special Evening with Kishi Bashi and Jake Shimabukuro on August 3. How often does a classical violinist win accolades for also sounding “synthtastic?” Seattle-born Kaoru Ishibashi ranks among the few. After studying film scoring at Berklee College of Music, he toured with Regina Spektor, Sondre Lerche, and Deerhoof. Soon he was layering Caribbean beatboxing and electronic looping with classical string arrangements. Ishibashi tours as a five-piece band under the pseudonym Kishi Bashi. Accompanying Ishibashi’s lustrous violin are percussion, electric guitar, keyboards, and Mike Savino’s electric, color-changing disco “banjotron.” The result is an unforgettable live show that flows from rollicking indie anthems to hushed acoustic numbers.

Paris Combo
Saturday, August 4, 8 pm
$27–40
Paris Combo performs Saturday, August 4. Six albums and two decades spent crisscrossing the globe have enabled Paris Combo to create a unique, cosmopolitan sound, establishing the band as one of the most piquant, intriguing groups on the international music scene. Fronted by the charismatic vocals of Belle du Berry, the combo has struck a chord with critics and audiences alike with their fun-loving mix of swinging gypsy jazz, cabaret, French pop, and Latino and Middle Eastern rhythms.

Trombone Shorty’s Voodoo Threauxdown Celebrating the Tercentennial of the City of New Orleans
Saturday, August 18, 6 pm
$43.20–65 (sold out)
Presented by Southern Comfort with Cat’s Cradle, Trombone Shorty’s Voodoo Threauxdown Celebrating the Tercentennial of the City of New Orleans takes place August 18. New Orleans celebrates its 300th anniversary in 2018. To celebrate his hometown's rich cultural heritage and the bright future of its music, Trombone Shorty has assembled an all-star lineup of Crescent City musicians to tour the nation as “Trombone Shorty’s Voodoo Threauxdown.” The revue brings the spirit and the sound of New Orleans to 27 cities from coast to coast in August and September. Headlined by Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, the touring street party also features Galactic, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, and New Breed Brass Band, plus special guest appearances by Big Easy legends Cyril Neville and Walter “Wolfman” Washington.

Paperhand Puppet Intervention presents In the Heart of the Fire
Friday, September 7, 7 pm
Saturday, September 8, 7 pm
Sunday, September 9, 7 pm
$8.50–17
Fabricating fantastical worlds with the most ordinary of materials, Paperhand Puppet Intervention has been wowing audiences for over 15 years. Each year’s production is new, and all feature giant puppets, stilt dancers, shadow puppets, and original live music. While suitable for all ages, the show carries a strong environmental message and some adult content.

Outdoor Movies

The NCMA’s outdoor movie season kicks off with a screening of the Oscar-nominated Lady Bird on June 9. This year’s summer movies include drama and comedy classics, such as Say Anything, The Post, The Big Sick, Darkest Hour, The Shape of Water, Yellow Submarine, and Get Out. Action films like Wonder Woman, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and the cult classic Night of the Living Dead will also be screened.

All outdoor movie tickets go on sale the Friday before each movie screening date. Tickets are on sale now for special movie and party combinations for the films Coco and Blank Panther.

Lady Bird
Saturday, June 9, 9 pm
Tickets on sale Friday, June 1

Say Anything
Friday, June 15, 9 pm
Tickets on sale Friday, June 8

Wonder Woman
Friday, June 22, 9 pm
Tickets on sale Friday, June 15

Darkest Hour
Friday, July 6, 9 pm
Tickets on sale Friday, June 29

The Post
Saturday, July 7, 9 pm
Tickets on sale Friday, June 29

Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Friday, July 13
Tickets on sale Friday, July 7

The Big Sick
Friday, July 27, 9 pm
Tickets on sale Friday, July 20

Night of the Living Dead
Friday, August 10, 9 pm
Tickets on sale Friday, August 3

Get Out
Saturday, August 11, 9 pm
Tickets on sale Friday, August 3

The Shape of Water
Saturday, August 25, 8:30 pm
Tickets on sale Friday, August 17

Yellow Submarine
Friday, August 31, 8:30 pm
Tickets on sale Friday, August 24

Coco Fiesta Fantastica
Saturday, September 1, 8:30 pm
Tickets on sale now

Wakanda Forever: Blank Panther Movie Party
Friday, September 28, 8 pm
Tickets on sale now

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 Ann and Jim Goodnight Museum Park. Parking is free.

The NCMA 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.

All polices for the summer concerts and movies are available online.

About the North Carolina Museum of Art:
The North Carolina Museum of Art’s permanent collection spans more than 5,000 years, from ancient Egypt to the present, making the institution one of the premier art museums in the South. The Museum’s collection provides educational, aesthetic, intellectual, and cultural experiences for the citizens of North Carolina and beyond. The 164-acre Museum Park showcases the connection between art and nature through site-specific works of environmental art. The Museum offers changing national touring exhibitions, classes, lectures, family activities, films, and concerts.