RTP-area local music and culture

[Rawls <jcmidrange AT yahoo.com>]

>Dorton is great!  I mean, not for concerts, but just
>the idea that you have this roof over the building

     In the '80's I went to various nwa wrestling
events at Dorton Arena, and loved it.  Architects from
all over the place give praise to the building, they
always stress that it wasn't meant for amplied music
events and that for agriculture shows it's great. 
There are all sorts of great stories/fiascos from the
concerts held there (Kiss's PA breaking a lot of the
windows in the '70's).  I know first hand that George
Jones, Loretta Lynn, and Merle Haggard sounded
horrible in there. Run DMC was supposed to play there
once...I don't know why they don't improve the
acoustics, I mean Clay is coming for christ sake!

>Which brings to mind a question: Why does Disco Rodeo
>suck so much and 
>the
>Orange Peel rule?  They're similar sized venues, and 

     You can probably check the archives of this list
for a more informed answer, but as far as I know Disco
Rodeo's owner has no interest in having events similar
to those at Orange Peel (i.e. bands a bit big for the
Cradle).  Disco Rodeo primarily holds tejano and
Mexican related acts (I've read they're a bit shady as
well, as in once the place is oversold they charge
double to those still willing to pay to get in which
creates a fire hazard and cheats people out of money).
 These shows are booked most every weekend, so the
type of stuff Orange Peel gets only has a chance at a
slot in the middle of the week.

     The building itself (whether it was the Ritz,
Showcase, the Deck) has always been a bit odd.  I
think the deal was a promoter could rent the place out
and deal with whatever is involved with putting on a
show, and the building's owner seemed to take any and
all comers.  Frank Heath/Cat's Cradle events seemed to
go smoothly.  I saw Slayer there a few times and those
were put on by Ziggy's (from Winston Salem) and they
went well.  

     But there were some real fiasco's like the Greg
Allman Band New Year's Eve '93, they started giving
out bottles of champagne and at some point some
bouncers and some patrons went through the front
window (I went to a god awful Fishbone show there in
early '94 and was curious as to why the front window
was taped up, and that was the answer I got).  Then
there was a Wu Tang Clan show in '96 that was oversold
and way out of control.

                                            Rawls




        
                
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