Dating back to 2017, West African guitar virtuoso Mdou Moctar and his four-piece ensemble have crisscrossed North America again and again with their corker of a live performance, stopping only when it’s time to make another record. (2024’s Funeral for Justice is their most recent outing for Matador; special shoutout also to Takaat, the side band sans Moctar, who absolutely leveled Random Sample in West Nashville in the fall.) A lifelong Prince and Van Halen super-fan, the 42-year-old Moctar and his trusty left-handed Fender Strat have rocked Music City no less than half a dozen times, never playing the same show twice. This time it’s just him, supporting Funeral’s 2025 solo acoustic companion LP, the heavy-in-a-different-way Tears of Injustice. For those who love a fierce, screaming riff and appreciate electric guitar’s transporting powers in equal measure, a night of watching Moctar onstage, in any context, is not to be passed up.
8 p.m. at Drkmttr
1111 Dickerson Pike
