RTP-area local music and culture

[grady <grady AT ibiblio.org>]

> > > mattt317 AT yahoo.com wrote:

> > > > They end soooo late.... all five shows I've been to
> > > > ended close to or right at 2 AM, plus the drive
> > > > home.... this happened to me...twice at Kings (no

> > > > M-Th - Doors 7 / Show 8....
> > > > and really start before 8:30, over around 12...
> > > > does it make sense.... ?

Cat's Cradle is best, both for having [slightly] earlier start-times and 
for actually starting on time, although Local 506 has gotten better 
about the on-time starts since Glenn bought it. However, on a three-band 
bill, there's a lot of potential slush-time between bands, so if the 2nd 
band or headliner wants to stall, it's hard to control that.

In my experience at the smaller (<300 people) clubs, the bands are often 
more or less in charge of deciding to go on, and thus the quintessential 
Triangle-area chicken-or-egg syndrome flourishes: "I'm not going on 
until some people show up!" vs "I'm not showing up til late, because the 
shows always start late anyways, and I don't want to hang around an 
empty club."

This can be especially pathetic on a weeknight, when you just wanna grab 
the first band and say "look dudes, it's Tuesday, NOBODY ELSE IS COMING."

> > > > Does anyone know if Local 506 is non-smoking like the
> > > > Cat's Cradle?  I dig non-smoking...

Cave is non-smoking. Cradle is non-smoking. ArtsCenter is non-smoking. 
Just about everyplace else is smoking. Local 506, Wetlands and Kings 
seem to be the most-smoky. Many other joints appear to allow smoking but 
for whatever reason, people either don't smoke as much, or go outside to 
smoke, or maybe I just go to shows where nobody's there.

John Iwaniszek wrote:
> I didn't want to mention the other side of the issue: published start 
> times seem to be far earlier than actual show times.  But now that both 
> are on the table, I think it is fair to say that late starting shows are 
> a real problem for me and my ilk (mid-40s, professional, family) being 
> able to get out and see local and national acts at area venues.  (not to 
> performers and club owners:  I usually buy a band's cd if I see their 
> show.  The law of averages says that my ilk does, too.)

I've been surveying my friends about this lately, and I can now state 
semi-scientifically that sleep is the #1 factor keeping local music 
lovers over the age of ~25 (of my acquaintance) from going to more 
rockshows. Smoke came in a vocal second, but it was heavily outweighed 
by the sleep issue.

Now, I tend to think that if people can let a little thing like sleep 
keep them from going out to see the wonderful thing that is live rock 
music, then it might well turn into some other excuse if shows started 
earlier. Then again, I was a total walking zombie on Friday after 
staying up til 1:30 Thursday night for the Hold Steady (who were onstage 
at 11:45, btw -- we left at like 12:40 & it was mostly the trek home & 
the showering off the smoke that occupied the rest of the time) so I 
suppose I can sympathize.

I just have a short memory for physical discomfort, I guess.

Ross