Raleigh has a new outdoor amphitheater, and the North Carolina Symphony will be there this September to help break it in. The orchestra, led by Maestro William Henry Curry, will wave goodbye to summer and kick off its bold new concert season with “Pops in the City,” a free concert in Raleigh Amphitheater, Sunday, Sept. 12, at 7:00 p.m.

Families and friends can bring a picnic, grab a lawn seat in the heart of downtown Raleigh and prepare for a musical world tour. First, in collaboration with the Independent’s Hopscotch Music Festival, Minneapolis-based multi-instrumentalist Dosh opens at the performance beginning at 5:45 p.m. with his electronic blends of folk keyboard and experimental sampling. Then the Symphony takes over with a globe-trotting symphonic showcase.

The lineup first transports concertgoers to the golden age of classical music, including Handel’s joyous Overture to Music for the Royal Fireworks—a powerhouse selection to launch the Symphony’s debut in the city’s newest venue. The fireworks don’t stop there, as Curry turns to the trumpet section to bring two Latin-flavored brass showcases to life: Cuban composer Ernesto Lecuona’s “Andalucia” and his legendary jazz standard, “Malagueña.” Henry Mancini’s classic serenade “Moon River” then paves the way for a charming tribute to Mancini’s legacy and selections from Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story. With a closing note by John Williams, as well as “America the Beautiful,” this free concert offers Raleigh residents an unforgettable night on the town.

The North Carolina Symphony’s 2010-11 season opens in downtown Raleigh’s Meymandi Concert Hall with renowned guest artists Navah Perlman, Giora Schmidt and Zuill Bailey joining the Symphony to perform Beethoven’s “Triple” Concerto on Friday and Saturday, Sept. 24-25.

On Thursday, September 23, Lady Antebellum will return to the area. This time it is a headlining date at Cary’s Booth Amphitheater. Tickets are on sale now.

The Ramshead Rathskeller, a Chapel Hill landmark in the hearts and fatty tissues of many to drink from The Well, will open by the end of the year. Apparently the restaurant will be under new ownership, which is, reportedly, a good thing. The restaurant closed for a while about a decade ago, then closed again in 2008. Perhaps the restaurant should be called the “Cats”keller because it seems to have nine lives.

map it

[via]

Tonight (8/6) Kenny Roby and Scott McCall (no relation) will be playing tonight’s Music On The Porch event. The event begins at 6pm and the music goes from 7-9ish. There will be bounce rooms for the kids and Fire Dancers from Sparkcon swinging by, as well.

The event takes place at Peace China at Seaboard Station. Capital Creations will also be on hand with $2 cheese pizza. Dogs, food, snacks are welcome, but guests may not (by law) bring their own beer and wine. The MOTP events are family-fun, however children need to stay within the event perimeter and need to be supervised by their parents.

In the midst of its 50th anniversary year, The Angus Barn has been named an All-American Icon by Nation’s Restaurant News and won its 21st consecutive Wine Spectator Grand Award. Recently The Barn racked up another accolade. Its Wild Turkey Bar & Lounge has been named one of the Best Business Bars in America by Entrepreneur magazine.

The July 2010 issue includes The Wild Turkey Bar & Lounge among 15 American watering holes. It is one of only two bars in the Southeast named as a best bar for doing business.

Stating that the Wild Turkey Bar & Lounge has been “a cross-sectional hotbed of local politicos, big pharma executives and tech tycoons since it opened in 1984,” author Monica Corcoran Harel goes on to write that this is “the best place to strike a deal in the entire Research Triangle.” On any given night, one might run into local and state elected officials, as well as top executives from SAS, GlaxoSmithKline and more.

The review states that the essential attributes of a great business bar include discreet seating, friendly and attentive staff, a compelling crowd, manageable din, a full range of liquor, good lighting, good food, and decent décor.

Superchunk will release its first new album in nine years with a concert on Thursday, Sept. 16, 2010 at the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University. It will be the only North Carolina venue for the Chapel Hill-based band’s national fall tour in support of their new album, “Majesty Shredding” (available 9/14). The concert is open to the public and begins at 8:30 p.m.

Under the Radar Magazine says “Majesty Shredding” displays "a cohesive band scaling the heights of their formidable powers.” Time Out Chicago says the album "puts the pedal to the metal with youthful abandon.”

The Superchunk performance, a complement to the Nasher Museum’s exhibition “The Record: Contemporary Art and Vinyl,” will take place after a 6 p.m. talk by New York-based visual artist Xaviera Simmons, whose work is part of the exhibition. “The Record” explores the culture of vinyl records through 50 years of contemporary art and features work by 41 artists from around the world who use vinyl records as subject or medium.

Tickets are $12 for adults and $6 for Nasher Museum members and $5 for Duke students with I.D.

Superchunk will have a busy week that week, as they will appear on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon late on the evening of September 20.

(Show)
(Fallon)

The Raleigh City Council’s Passenger Rail Task Force will present their report and recommendations at today’s City Council meeting. The group analyzed three proposed plans for High(er) Speed Rail and how it will impact residents and businesses along corridors. The three plans are online, and viewing them before today’s 1:00 meeting (televised on RTN) will ease the viewer’s understanding of the subject matter.

The three maps for downtown are the most interesting (map 1, map 2, map 3 – all pdf). The show alternative routes and possibilities for new crossing arrangements. One proposal puts the railway between Capital Blvd and Whitaker Mill Road. The other two put the railway on the Mordecai side of Capital Blvd.

The Task Force presentation falls on page 19 of the City Council’s 24-page agenda. So, while the agenda is not followed at a constant pace, and is sometime ignored, we can at least get a sense of when the presentation will be.

Raleigh native David Sedaris will be returning home for one show at Memorial Auditorium on Saturday, October 9. Tickets go on sale Friday morning at 10am, but there are two presales going on right now until midnight Thursday.

During the weekend of August 20, Raleigh will be revving with excitement as the Carolina Classics at the Capital (www.classicsatthecapital.com) brings the Southeast’s largest indoor car show to the Raleigh Convention Center. This family-friendly event will feature special show cars and auto parts vendors in the air-conditioned Convention Center, displays of custom and classic automobiles on historic Fayetteville Street, a KidsZone with inflatable attractions, and prizes awarded by Southern Classic Cars NC Inc.

Many of the Southeast’s premier classic cars be featured at the Carolina Classics at the Capital, including a 1940 Cadillac LaSalle, a 1961 Chevy Impala Bubbletop and a 1969 Camaro RS/SS, just to name a few.

Top vendors already committed to the show include Danchuk Manufacturing, Pypes Performance Exhaust, Northern Tool and Equipment, Hamlett’s Chevy Parts, Detailer’s Dream, Page’s Custom, Ausley’s Chevelle Parts and Quality Air Tools.

With no charge for viewing the classic cars that will be parked on the closed-off Fayetteville Street, plus just $10 for admission to the Convention Center, this first-of-its-kind event is expected to attract thousands of attendees. Tickets can be purchased on site at the Raleigh Convention Center.

The festivities will culminate with an awards ceremony on Sunday, Aug. 22 at 1 p.m. on the Fayetteville Street Stage, with awards for Top 50, Sweet 16 and the Sir Walter Raleigh Cup.

“We’ve gotten great cooperation from the City of Raleigh, the Convention Center and automobile enthusiasts to make sure that everyone will have a good time,” said Greg Cox, one of the event’s organizers. “We hope this family-friendly event will become an annual tradition on the auto show circuit.”