RTP-area local music and culture

[grady <grady AT ibiblio.org>]

Don't forget Slim's, and the Downtown Event Center (aka the Raleigh 
Music Hall), plus that evangelical church that moved into the old 
Jillian's building & is apparently having shows of the alt/emo variety 
(apparently not just overtly christian bands, either, though I wonder if 
one would be able to attend a show there without getting churched in 
some way . . . thankfully the bands they're booking don't really 
interest me, so I won't be obligated to find out).

Plus the Berkeley, which is where a lot of the Hideaway shows are being 
moved to. Also Volume 11 for all your metal needs.

As far as the Brewery is concerned, a glance at their schedule 
(http://www.brewerync.com/main/e107_plugins/calendar_menu/event.php), 
which is packed with names I don't recognize, but which sound like the 
sorts of names that hardrock/"punk"/emo/altrock bands might select for 
themselves, suggests that they're marketing to a demographic that wants 
to go out & drink & hear loud rock bands once or twice a week. Plus it's 
walking distance from NCSU. Relevant? Not to you, nor apparently to me, 
but then I don't go out often enough to support a venue all by myself 
either.

Compare that to the Hideaway, which booked a pretty narrow range of 
genres . . . unfortunately a range (roots to bluegrass to alt.country) 
that tends to appeal to a slightly older audience, one that might only 
go out to shows once a month. Plus a lot of those performers are older & 
have been around a bit longer, and thus are more likely to come with 
[higher] guarantees.

If you're gonna book shows that appeal to people who might only go to 1 
or 2 shows a month, you need to book a wider *range* of music, so that 
the combination of the different 2-shows-a-month demographics still 
translates into a semi-full house every time you open.

Either that or make more money on food.

It's a pity about the Hideaway, but based on the bands they were 
booking, combined with the mixed reviews of their food, I've been 
assuming they'd go under for a while now. Which is too bad, because the 
basic idea of a multi-income venue should be a better business model 
than the old single-purpose smelly-black-box rockclub. Unfortunately, 
the details of the implementation still count for a lot.

Ross

Hoopla wrote:
> I'm sorry to read this. We were there on Monday night and it was a
> CRAZY night. I thought for sure that Rick's incredible version of
> "Meximelt" is what fried all the electricity in that portion of the
> building.
>
> I went to bed on Mon night wondering about the irrelevant Brewery, in
> fact. How can Raleigh sustain 4 small live music venues? (Brewery,
> Pour House, Lincoln, and Hideaway). Well, I'm sorry to hear this news,
> though.
>
> Dana
>
>
>
> On Jan 2, 5:03 pm, local... AT gmail.com wrote:
> > > > "It was," Palmer concludes with a sigh, "quite a learning experience."
> > I was just having this conversation with someone last week - one of
> > the reasons clubs often close is that it's a huge learning curve
> > (which booking agent's to trust, what local band's draw, etc.) that
> > most venue's can't sustain that pace very long...glenn
> >
> > From David Menconi's blog:
> >
> > http://blogs.newsobserver.com/beat/index.php?title=hideaway_soon_to_h...
> >
> > Wednesday, January 2, 2008
> > Hideaway soon to hide away
> >
> > Just before midnight Monday, as Southern Culture on the Skids played
> > for a packed house at Raleigh's Hideaway Music Hall, the electricity
> > cut off for about 45 minutes. Power was eventually restored and new
> > year's eve festivities continued. But maybe that was an omen, because
> > word has come down that Hideaway is closing. The Hideaway restaurant
> > is already shut down, with the live-music operation soon to follow
> > after a few more weeks of shows.
> >
> > "When I started this place, I used to joke that I was tired of going
> > to music venues that were dirty boxes," says owner Palmer Stacy. "Now
> > I realize why that is, so that the overhead is not as high as mine
> > ended up being. But we had a good run and we'll try to keep it going a
> > few more weeks with the music. From the beginning, it was a mismatch
> > between the cost of running the place and the amount of people coming.
> > We had some great shows and some good crowds, just not enough to
> > support a building of that size and expense.
> >
> > "It was," Palmer concludes with a sigh, "quite a learning experience."
> >
> > Hideaway opened on Capitol Boulevard in October 2006 amid high hopes,
> > a barbecue joint that did country and twangy roots rock shows. Wayne
> > "The Train" Hancock (scheduled to return on Jan. 25), Bottlerockets,
> > Blue Mountain, and Billy Joe Shaver were among the acts to play there.
> > But Hideaway struggled to break even and rumors swirled around it for
> > the past year. When booker Marianne Taylor left for South by Southwest
> > last March, Palmer told her that Hideaway might not be open when she
> > returned. Still, she had hopes the club could hang in there.
> >
> > "It's upsetting," Taylor says. "The first four months or so, there was
> > no soul to the place. Then last January, the vibe got good and it
> > started to feel like home. I'm still holding out for a miracle of
> > someone stepping up so my music can stay at Hideaway."
> >
> > Taylor guesses Hideaway will be open the next three weekends. Beyond
> > that, she'll move Hideaway shows to other clubs in the area. Upcoming
> > Hideaway shows that might be in search of new venues include Don Dixon
> > on Jan. 26; Asylum Street Spankers on Jan. 29; Malcolm Holcombe on
> > Jan. 31; Unknown Hinson on Feb. 2; Jason Ringenberg/Farmer Jason on
> > Feb. 8-9; Jesse Dayton on Feb. 16; and NRBQ pianist Terry Adams on
> > March 15.
>
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