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18
FRIDAY
Rock stars and other limelight addicts often strike Christlike poses, but folk-rocker Vic Chesnutt has the guts to portray Jesus as an oversleeping grouch. The tomb-dweller of “Stay Inside” reluctantly asks that the rock be rolled away because “I guess I’m through stewing/…my bedclothes have gone all funky.” A chorus suggests that the Son of God hole up a while longer, and he seems enamored of the idea: “I just wanted to bring folks together/But it seems that I am the biggest wedge.” This track from Chesnutt’s latest, Silver Lake, is a bit more elegant than a similar quote from Woody Allen’s Hannah and Her Sisters: “If Jesus came back and saw what’s going on in His name, He’d never stop throwing up.” Hear Chesnutt work musical miracles with his quirky, moody songs when he plays with Hem and the Life & Times at 9:30 p.m. on the Black Cat’s Mainstage, 1811 14th St. NW. $12. (202) 667-7960. (Pamela Murray Winters)