RTP-area local music and culture

[Phillip Grosshans <phillipg AT NODAMNSPAM.duke.Spamfree.edu>]

First off, a big thanks to everyone who came out to the 2 shows. (and
to all of the bands and everyone who helped out)  I just got back from
talking to the person in the Duke admin who is looking into the
changes at the Coffeehouse, and I was really happy to report to him
the huge turn out (he was impressed): 

70+ people for the Easter weekend show with The Ghost of Rock,
Cantwell, Gomez & Jordan and Blackstrap.

and, the overwhelming 130+ people for the Jett Rink, Permanent
Darling, Dom Casual, Wigg Report show. Hot damn!

So, what does this mean for the Coffeehouse? Well it demonstrated to
the administration that with some support and publicity, the C-house
can be a successful venue and is woth keeping as such. None of this is
official yet, but the future of the Coffeehouse looks bright. More
than likely, it will become part of the Duke University Union to be
used as a performance space for the Union. What does that mean? Well,
it would continue as a music venue, but you might have films,
speakers, and thespians in there too, as all of the committees of the
Union would be using that space. Which would be great! The Union does
some great programming, including WXDU: <http://www.duke.edu/web/duu/>

What else can you? Probably nothing much right now. The Coffeehouse
closes down for the summer as American Dance Festival takes over thier
space (as they do every summer). And, I think we did what we can do:
XDU put on a couple of successful shows and you all showed up. From
what I can tell, the Duke administration is committed to making the
Coffeehouse a good venue. They're talking about fixing the equipment,
improving the space, and putting in a management system that will
encourage its use. Right now, no one is really booking shows in there.
1/2 of the equipment doesn't work. When they do have shows, they ain't
publicized. The reorganization would address those problems. And,
there would be a continued tie-in with XDU and the local rock scene.

The petition: well, XDU wasn't in charge of that, and no one at the
Coffeehouse bothered to do it


On a not-really related side-note: I've been meaning to post something
about the "Durham Rock Benefit" One-year later, but haven't gotten
around to it: One year ago, The Basement closed itself to the local
rock scene, kicking out the bands that Jason Jordan had booked in
there. Jett Rink, Des Ark and Blackstrap moved their show over to the
Coffeehouse and did it as a benefit for a future "durham rock club" --
well, it's a year later, and while nothing has materialized, there's
still a small group of people stumbling towards a "durham rock club",
perhaps something set up as a collective along the lines of PS211. The
money that was collected for that show is still being held in trust
for said-future-club. Just wanted to report that, in case anyone was
wondering what happened their $5. Your cash is still optimistically
waiting to be used in a proper manner, with a backup plan of being
used to pay for publicity for the Durham Music Fest. But, at this
point, the "durham rock club" still seems a future possibility.

-pg


On 20 Apr 2004 14:53:55 -0700, fikri_y AT yahoo.com (Fikri) wrote:

>I just wanted to follow up on this.  The turnout was pretty good for
>the Jett Rink, Permanent Darling, Dom Casual, Wigg Report show this
>past saturday, and as usual, Jett Rink kicked all kinds of ass (and
>had many in the crowd shaking theirs).  Am only sorry that I couldn't
>make it to the Cantwell, Gomez, and Jordan - Ghost of Rock show the
>saturday before (which by all accounts was also awesome).
>
>So, what does this mean for the duke cofeehouse?  And is there
>anything else us Durhamites can do to show our support?  There was
>mention of a petition, but I didn't see one circulating at the show. 
>I want to do what I can to help the coffeehouse... If anyone has more
>info to share, please let us know what's up.  Thanks,
>
>-Fikri
>
>(long time durhamite, show-goer, and lurker)