The Triangle's music scene/market

[Redman84]

What is the parking situation like down there at Vol. 11? I think I'm gonna go check out a band down there tonight that has some songs I like (others are a little too extreme for my tastes). Do they have a lot or is it street parking? Never been before, so I have no idea.

[Jones_]

What is the parking situation like down there at Vol. 11? I think I'm gonna go check out a band down there tonight that has some songs I like (others are a little too extreme for my tastes). Do they have a lot or is it street parking? Never been before, so I have no idea.

[ncwebguy]

It sounds like they broke up and reformed a few times over the years, but Saturday's show is on the band's website.

I remeber wanting to go to a show at the Cradle in 1992 or 93, but it was during fall exams and I didn't have a car/way to get over there from Raleigh.

WKNC used to play "High Noon Helmet" one day a week (or maybe on weekdays?) for a while.

If I wasn't on call this week, I'd try to go.

Maywood is a road wide enough for big trucks, so there is enough room to park on both sides and still let traffic through. The nearby parking lots probably don't have "no towing" signs since it isn't really near anything, which should work in Volume 11's favor.

[DanRNC]

^Jeremy Chatelain, formerly of Chapel Hill's Cub Country, played bass on the new album.

[ChiefJoJo]

Grayson Currin penned an article about how medium-sized clubs are having a tougher time competing these days. Of course, he mentions Kings closing (and never seems to get the details correct), but also that 305 South closed in Durham, and Local 506 is having to make some adjustments to make ends meet.

He's dead on when with this analysis:

...the number of places to see a concert in the Triangle is higher than ever before, perhaps higher than it needs to be. A slew of bars and restaurants now set up speakers and let bands play, giving local listeners more choices but drawing them away from clubs that depend on music first and foremost.

I'm always amazed at how many bars have live music now. A band playing Sushi Blues or 42nd Street may not directly impact Slims, but I think it's definitely a chain reaction, and tends to dilute the better music venues.

[ncwebguy]

I'm sorry, but the cover band at 42nd Street Oyster Bar that gets the late 30s-50s crowd up and dancing isn't taking any money away from 506 or 305, to say nothing of mid-level Raleigh venues like the Lincoln Theater, the Pour House, Volume 11, and the Brewery that weren't mentioned in the article. To say nothing of the Cave, Ringside (do they book bands still?), etc. The customers (who are mostly not loyal enough to consider "fans") those bands attract don't "do" rock clubs. Venues like coffee shops, Hibernian, 42nd Street, etc. *expand* the market, which used to be a good thing and a sign of a "creative class". If anything, it is a chain reaction that drives more people to live music, and some may be willing to check out other acts once they get a taste of the experience.

Kings did a good job with "off" nights by booking DJs and hosting trivia, local/independent wrestling and circuses (bindlestiff sp?), movie nights, etc. Why can't they find a new venue? Are property owners not offereing a long enough lease to help them get established? All the rumors have proven to be unfounded, yet no one has said "well, this is why site x fell through."

Even the Cat's Cradle has moved several times over its lifetime. Its previous space is the Franklin Street Buffalo Wild Wings/BW3. How did the Franklin hotel signal a demise of downtown Chapel Hill but Ralph Lauren's Rugby (closed), Alexander Julian's store, and the high end eateries did not?

[urbanvb]

Raleigh is looking at possibly putting an amphitheater-type venue downtown.

link

[Justin6882]

WRAL: Downtown Amphitheater

[Jones_]

This site has been pegged as an ampitheater since day 1. It would be temporary in that 20 years from now when the CC needs to expand, the expansion goes on this block. Should have a similiar effect on downtown that a small college basketball arena would have had per the 1970's Odell plan (same plan that put the highway through Oakwood and made Western an expressway)

[Justin6882]

After watching the video it seems like the plan is a little more extensive than what was first thought. Not sure exactly what that means as I don't know what they wanted to do in the beginning, but its worth noting.

[ChiefJoJo]

You can see a big rendering with the tent cover on the window at the Urban Design Center on Fayetteville St (Hargett St side). The old Sir Walter Chevrolet buildings fronting McDowell St will come down once the RCC is complete (they are being used for staging & construction offices for Skanska, the contractor).

[ncwebguy]

As Jones says, this has been the plan all along, even before the new CC was approved by the Wake County BoC and Raleigh city council.

The access below McDowell to the CC's basement needs to be kept, so that block can never be "all park". The tent is a small investment that will more than pay for itself over then next 5-10 years while the Convention Center has time to see if/when it needs to expand.

When the CC expands westward, the amplitheater can move out to the Dix Mound where the dirt excavated for the CC was placed.

This means that Walnut Creek's days are numbered, which I'm ok with. Few hotels, restaurants, stores, and other facilities have been attracted to the area (including the I-40 corridor from the 440 split to US 70 intersection) despite the amplitheater, softball complex, etc. WCA can't even attract a naming sponsor any more... The city could get a decent price on a huge parcel not too far from downtown and I-40.

I hope this *supplements* Alive After Five and Downtown Raleigh Live shows in Moore Square and/or on F Street South, instead of replacing them.

[ChiefJoJo]

Here's the N&O's David Menconi's take.

If all goes according to plan, it will open summer 2009 with a capacity in the 3,000-to-5,000 range. Negotiations are underway for Live Nation to operate it and also pick up at least some of the construction costs.

With fewer and fewer acts capable of filling the Walnut Creeks of the world, a smaller venue makes a lot of sense (especially this one, which would cost a fraction of Walnut Creek's $13.5 million price tag). If the new place holds 5,000 people, it will be able to accommodate some of the pavilion-only shows that play Walnut Creek as well as many acts now playing Cary's 7,000-capacity Booth Amphitheatre. If the capacity is closer to 3,000, it might draw shows away from the similarly sized NC Museum of Art amphitheatre, or the 2,800-seat Durham Performing Arts Center set to open in December -- or even get some of the midsize acts that always seem to bypass the Triangle.

It's amazing when you think of the numbers of venues this area has or will shortly have. Outdoor: Walnut Creek, Booth, NCMA, Downtown. Indoors: RBC, Dean Dome, DPAC, PE Ctr, Carolina Theater. One would think somebody is going to lose out in all of this. Does the Dean Dome host concerts anymore, or does the RBC take them all now?

[DanRNC]

^The Dean Dome occasionally has concerts-mostly country though. Kenan does as well although the last one was Bruce Springsteen 3-4 years ago. Memorial Hall at UNC also has shows along with Page and Baldwin at Duke. Duke's performing arts series is about the most avant lineup you will see south of DC.

[Jones_]

^^ I saw Def Leppard/LA Guns in like 1987 or 88 and Motley Crue/Warrant in about 1989 at the Dean Dome

[ChiefJoJo]

^^ I saw Def Leppard/LA Guns in like 1987 or 88 and Motley Crue/Warrant in about 1989 at the Dean Dome

[ChiefJoJo]

I'm psyched for this.

[DanRNC]

In a music-related note, its good to see Volume 11 packing them in on Sundays. I have been to 2 shows on Sundays in the last month or so and the place was at capacity.

[ChiefJoJo]

Downtown Events Center has re-closed (is that a word?). Cue talk of Kings locating in that space...

I am exciting to see Wilco coming back to the area. They are playing Booth Amphitheater Aug 8. Tix still available. One of my favorite bands, The Helio Sequence is coming to Local 506 on May 29.

[ncwebguy]

The "Triangle's Arts weekly's website" (their words, not mine) may have been too busy covering the marijuana rally to notice or care, but there seemed to be good crowds on both days of Artsplosure this year. That event that brings in art vendors from all over the country, live music on several stages, events to get kids interested in art, and other activities over two days. Just because Apple Chill was shut down due to gang violence, and Durham's Centerfest is not what it used to be, doesn't mean that other major city in the Triangle packed it in and gave up.

Taking over Moore Square and three of the adjacent streets is nice, but hosting this in City Square/on F Street might give it new life and help expand. Though it may be "set in its ways" over its 20+ years, and Marbles really stepped up to the plate this year with a lot for kids to do in its open area.

I also got over to Martin Street Pizza, which seems to be close to opening. Bartender ads have been posted to craigslist in the last week! If I wasn't married, I might consider applying. The drawn letters have been replaced with the helvetica typeface similar to the NYC subway system used by Martin Street Music hall. It would be nice with Kings above and Alibi below, but who knows if that will ever happen.

[JeffC]

Why of course the Independent doesn't need to cover events in Raleigh because everyone knows Raleigh doesn't have an arts scene... .

Yet another example of their Chapel Hill-centric coverage that becomes more and more obvious as Raleigh's downtown scene continues to grow, largely ignored by the Independent...

[ncwebguy]

To continue the city of Raleigh's ongoing support (or lack thereof, according to the Independent), the N&O's On The Beat blog is reporting that the Connells have been added to the July 26 Downtown Raleigh Live concert.

More free entertainment, unless being bombarded by beer ads isn't your idea of free. A decent lineup here plus the improved lineup at the 'Creek (or the "Cable") and other shows here and there is adding up to be a good summer for music this year.

[ERG]

i wouldnt expect, nor would i want, the independent to cover artsplosure. it was covered in detail by all the other media outlets. the indy would be wasting space covering something that, frankly, isnt really the kind of thing they are about. i go to the indy to see whos playing cats cradle (and back in the day, king's and bickett and...), not what washed-up band is playing the budweiser-stravaganza-plosure in moore square (hahahah, id pay more attention if thats what they called it)

sorry to be so "you know" but let media outlets cover their market.

raleigh needs to find king's a space. we've all slowly been migrating to durham and chapel hill, where the cities are more than willing to accomodate the crowds kings had. its just the sad truth.

[ChiefJoJo]

^ The Indy would rather remind us all that Raleigh is the city that 'allowed' it's finest music hall (Kings) to be imploded and replaced with a 'convention center parking lot'... never mind that Kings was a tenant in a privately-held building, the deck is part of a nice mixed use development that utilizes an underused surface lot and has little to do with the RCC anyway... but we wouldn't want facts to get in the way of the fun of sticking it to Raleigh. Meanwhile, Durham has had clubs close as well, but that didn't seem quite as noteworthy. I would love for Kings to reemerge at 14 W Martin, but I've heard the second floor is problematic due to apparently lacking elevators (loading).

Even if Kings never reincarnates, there are still some good shows at Slims, Pour House, Berkeley Cafe, and Lincoln Theatre, plus Cats Cradle and Local 506 are not far away. Frankly, I'm not sure where to see a good show in Durham.

[dmccall]

i wouldnt expect, nor would i want, the independent to cover artsplosure.