Speed Street

[Nomanizan]

Is it me or does it seem like there are tons more people attending Speed Street today as compared to years past. Especially for a Thursday. I just came back from lunch and the streets uptown are packed with people.

BTW - I think I read that MC Hammer is going to perform? hehe That is hilarious!

I'm not a huge NASCAR fan but I do like that this event is growing!

[DigitalSky]

Crazy.. they had MC hammer on WBTV news earlier. lol.

I've attended the past 2 years, But I don't think I'm going this year.

[peaceloveunderstanding]

I had a fun time when I went there earlier today. I'm heading back up there for the festivities tonight. Good times...

[Charlotte_native]

I had a fun time when I went there earlier today. I'm heading back up there for the festivities tonight. Good times...

I could care less about NASCAR -- I don't hate it, just don't care -- but always am up for a good street party! GO center city!

[voyager12]

Definitely not my bag...but its a great yearly boost for Charlotte in terms of exposure. I went for the first time last year because as a new resident I was curious. It was so slampacked that saturday night you could not move an inch down Tryon there were so many people. I bit too close for comfort me. Nascar fans love it though so good for them and hopefully the new configuration will mean less or at least more manageable congestion.

[cltheel.sdl]

I hear that the traffic was horrendous this morning, some people had to wait up to an hour just to get into their parking deck. They need to change the traffic situation, but I'm going tommorrow night. Would it be better to park in a deck close in or a surface lot far out?

[peaceloveunderstanding]

I find that the Odell building (or is it the church next to it?) works best for parking at night, and since its even further away from the concerts this year, it should be all the better. They say it (the parking) costs money but I have never been there while they were collecting.

A word of advice, avoid Seventh Street Station at all costs!

[voyager12]

My friend works at BOA so we just went to his reserved spot. Use your friends wisely this weekend The lot was farther out and we walked in. I would reccomend that approach its usually nice weather and you are parked ahead of most of the mob.

[UptownGrrl]

REO SPEEDWAGON!!!

See full schedule, maps, parking, etc here

[monsoon]

Wonder if it will be this crowded? (from me archives)

And of course this is always a crowd pleaser. I think I read somewhere once that Charlotte had the highest per capita consumption of spam in the USA.

[Jerseyman4]

I think I read somewhere once that Charlotte had the highest per capita consumption of spam in the USA.

Althouhg this website is old, this un-official Spam fan website is pretty cool.

[redjeep77]

^ heck ya REO speedwagon...one of the all time greats

[reverbandwhiskey]

Good lord, I think that could very well be my own personal hell.

[cltheel.sdl]

I hear that crowds will be even greater this year, and for a Thursday, today's crowds were ridiculously huge.

[dubone]

By closing Church, they really killed traffic. There is no longer a good southbound street other than Church now that Brevard has been cropped by the arena. I wish they had made Speed Street use Brevard and Tryon, with Church and College remaining open.

[monsoon]

.....

BTW - I think I read that MC Hammer is going to perform? hehe That is hilarious!

.....

Yes. MC Hammer, parachute pants, crab dance and NASCAR, who would have ever thought? LOL

Yesterday I was at Rosedale in Huntersville and a bunch of team members from Joe Gibbs racing were at Yoshi's grill where the speciality is sushi. haha. It's not your daddy's NASCAR.

[Skyline49er]

Just got back from Speed Street. For a thursday night, it was packed. There was so many people there. I saw the 10 years and Sevendust concerts and they were awesome. I thought it was a little better this year since they moved alot of the festvities off of Tryon. I am definitely going tomorrow night as well to see Staind. Anybody else gonna go?

[Charlotte_native]

Just got back from Speed Street. For a thursday night, it was packed. There was so many people there. I saw the 10 years and Sevendust concerts and they were awesome. I thought it was a little better this year since they moved alot of the festvities off of Tryon. I am definitely going tomorrow night as well to see Staind. Anybody else gonna go?

Staind? What time?

[queensguy06]

I saw MC Hammer last night - what a trip. He didn't perform that long...I remember hearing one guy say "this concert was free and I still feel like I got ripped off." I go more for the people watching anyway...there are definitely some interesting characters out there. Last year the best was Styx - they were awesome.

As far as traffic goes, we were in and out in no time. If you are coming from 77 south of the city here is the best way to go. Get on 277 and get off at College. There is a surface lot right across from the convention center - it's $8 but you are one block from all the festivities. When you leave, just take College to 3rd and then hop on to 277 again. We didn't wait in any traffic at all.

[eastsider]

Just got back from Speed Street. For a thursday night, it was packed. There was so many people there. I saw the 10 years and Sevendust concerts and they were awesome. I thought it was a little better this year since they moved alot of the festvities off of Tryon. I am definitely going tomorrow night as well to see Staind. Anybody else gonna go?

Yep, I'm going. Saw Staind a few weeks ago at the Beale Street Fest in Memphis, they put on a great show. Definately worth checking out again, esp. if its free!

[fulcrumsf]

Iwent on Thursday, and I found it relly easy to get in, park, and get out. I drove down Stonewall to Graham going North, then took a left at 2nd, and parked for $5.00. We mostly stayed around the Miller and Budwieser stage which where located inbetween 2nd,3rd,Mint & Poplar. Even though the crowd was suposed to be larger, this particular part of Speed Street had a lot more room than last year. The Stages seemed bigger, and there was more standing and walking room. The miller stage was cool because it was where the propsed 3rd Ward park is, and had a great view of the city. I was just imagining what it would be like if and when the park gets built.

[UrbanCharlotte]

Anyone go last night, or see the crowds?

[cltheel.sdl]

I did! It was freaking crazy! So many people, it was really hard to walk, especially along Tryon and then within a couple blocks of each stage it was jam packed, you couldn't even move. There were so many people up there. I did get good parking though. I parked in the First Baptist Church lot, for FREE!! I'm always up for a good street bash. There were alot of intoxicated people up there though, so I wouldn't suggest bringing small children. And then there were the drunk hicks who kept looking up and down my gf, which pissed me off, but they knew they couldn't mess with my guns, so they ran away. lol. I saw Three Days Grace and they were really good, they crowd was really into it, so it was doubly cool. We were going to see Staind, but some of the people there were freaking out one of my friends, so we migrated to the Coca-Cola stage to see some country singer, who was pretty good, but I forget his name. There must have been at least 100,000 people up there. Insane!

I will post some pics once I get my camera film developed and get a picture CD.

[swh1972]

Speed Street was crazy last night...tons of people as cltheel mentioned.

I partook in the Twisted Sister show...I was never a huge fan when I was growing up, but I have a new found respect for these guys...they knew how to put on a show.

Did I mention that there were tons of people there?

[Skyline49er]

Anyone go last night, or see the crowds?

Yea, I was there last night(friday night). The Staind concert was amazingly full of people. The lead singer of Staind kept on saying that there was so many people. There was a sea of people from the Bud stage all the way back and into the street, it was crazy. There was an announcement before the concert that said friday nights crowd was the biggest crowd in the 11 year history of Speed Street.