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Jun
09

The Connells Salute “Downtown”

At the conclusion of the grand opening amphitheater concert, I decided to get a little 360-panoramic video. Little did I know that Doug and Steve would tag the concert’s conclusion with a verse from Petula Clark’s “Downtown”. (I just wish I had the patience to slow down in that pan)

Jun
09

Frankie Valli Returning to Memorial Auditorium

valli Legendary singer Frankie Valli will be at Memorial Auditorium on Sunday, February 27 at 7:30. Most singers lose it somewhere along the way, but according to reviews from last year’s show, Frankie’s voice is, amazingly, still fresh and accurate. Presale tickets are on sale now until midnight tomorrow night (Thu). General public tix are on sale Friday morning at 10am.

Jun
08

TWC Channel Reassignments Hit Today

Just a reminder that when you turn on the TV tonight you’ll find TWC’s new channel lineup all rolled out. Complete information is here . Don’t worry about your scheduled recordings. Their schedules still should be intact.

Jun
08

High(er) Speed Rail Hearing Date Set

rail The Federal Railroad Administration and the States of North Carolina and Virginia have been hard at work drafting proposals for the Southeast High(er) Speed Rail (SEHSR) corridor between Raleigh and Richmond. Throughout July, they will conduct a series of hearings in the SEHSR region to provide the public with opportunities to review and comment on proposed designs. The 162-mile project will allow for limited stop service traveling at an average of 86mph, roughly 20% faster than interstate highway traffic in the corridor.

As designed the 162-mile project will be completely grade-separated, so around 100 new bridges and overpasses will have to be implemented. One such location will be Jones Street at 518 West. Due to the adjacent rail corridor Jones street will either have to be cut-off or fly over the tracks. Detailed situations like this can have impacts on neighborhoods and businesses, and are a part of this discussion.

The meeting for Raleigh will be held on July 26 at the Raleigh Convention Center. AN open house will run from 5-7pm and the formal public hearing will begin at 7pm.

Jun
05

Fosters Celebrates 15 Years With Block Party

indecision Fifteen years ago Clarence Fosters opened and was a key player in the rebirth of Cameron Village. This was an important event in getting people’s attention focused back on older parts of Raleigh. Some of the ownership has changed, but still today, Fosters stands proud at the base of the Taj MaTeeter.

Beginning at 5pm today they will have two outdoor bands to celebrate this occasion , Indecision and Soul Posse. Admission is free until 8pm, and appetizers are just $5.

Jun
04

The Connells Open The Walt Tonight

It just wouldn’t be a Raleigh amphitheater if The Connells couldn’t open it! Almost exactly 19 years ago The Connells opened Raleigh’s Walnut Creek Amphitheater. Tonight’s open house gives citizens free entry to their newest public property with the city’s most popular music act to date. It also gives the amphitheater staff a dry run on how the place really works with people attending. This event will be packed, so be sure to check out the parking ideas below.

The Amphitheater (which should be named for Sir Walter Raleigh) is located across the street from the Raleigh Convention Center Shimmer Wall, at McDowell and Cabarrus. ( map it )

Open House

The events kick off at 5pm with this schedule for bands:

Access/Parking

First off, I would avoid the SW of quadrant downtown when going to events, unless you are eating at Humble Pie, Five Star, or Jibarra beforehand.

For those coming on-I-40 from Wilmington, Durham, Chapel Hill, and Greensboro, take the Hammond Rd. exit, get on Northbound Hammond Road (From Wilmington, turn right. From RTP, turn left). ( map it ) This will become Person Street. At Cabarrus Street, turn left , and park across from the Lincoln Theatre in the Progress II Deck ( map it ). The amphitheater is a short, 3-block walk.

For those in Raleigh coming from the North, the best bet is probably to shoot for any of these decks: City Hall ( map it ), Progress II Deck ( map it ), or Martin Street Decks (across from Progress II). Best of all, though, would be the Hannover Deck (underground) or the Cabarrus Deck (across from the Sheraton). Those two are best accessed by coming down Salisbury Street from the Capitol.

There are many, many more parking options, though, and a map of all of them can be found online.

R-Line

2009022060[1] Don’t forget the R-Line ! Downtown Raleigh’s free circulator bus comes every 10-15 minutes, and goes right to the door of the amphitheater. Because of routing uncertainties, I’m not sure I’d rely on this method until after the facility has had some events. The City of Raleigh will undoubtedly make moves to ease the ensuing vehicular/pedestrian strain on McDowell Street, and this may involve closing the street for periods around events. This could affect the R-Line’s routing and timing. We’ll see. You can check the R-Line real-time bus locations online.

If the R-Line turns out to be a good idea, then eating in the Glenwood South area will be a fantastic option before a concert. The R-Line’s counterclockwise routing makes this area favorable.

Rickshaws

No doubt, a rickshaw is the coolest way to take your baby to the show. Raleigh Rickshaws tend to be most popular in the Fayetteville Street area.

Jun
04

Thoughts On The Walt

Walt_birds My mother has an old friend who is known best for her ability to leave. Whenever she and her husband are coming, we are all excited because they are a very entertaining, energetic couple. However as the weekend moves on, the stories about how wonderful they are get old as do the passive aggressive actions by her to coerce the husband into the bedroom. By the end of the weekend we are all ecstatic so see them leave. For sure, we are glad to see them, but are especially glad to see them leave because they do it so well. They clean the bathroom, run the vacuum cleaner, and put the sheets in the washing machine before packing! They offer an experience afterward that is like no other, and are a perfect metaphor for the long-awaited Raleigh downtown amphitheater which opens today.

The project stands on land formerly occupied by Sir Walter Chevrolet, one block to the west of the Raleigh Convention Center. That center was designed for future expansion into the lot. In the meantime Raleigh officials have erected a 5,500-seat, “temporary” amphitheater site which will host around 20 events per summer.

Walt (2) It is important to keep the long-range plan in mind when visiting the site, because it is bare bones to say the least. There are no velvet cloaks at the entrances. If you are expecting something nice like Koka Booth Amphitheatre or Time Warner Pavilion, you will be sorely disappointed. The stage is boxed in only by a very basic lighting rig that complies to industry shed tour standards. The bathrooms are in trailers, which is a step up from porta-johns in Moore Square. The concessions are all from temporary trailers and folding tables. There is no in-house video, and spot lighting is from extremely temporary scaffolding that looks like it could blow over in a 20 mph wind.

While all of those items are expected and excusable, there are some choices designers made that will severely hamper the experience, especially for those who drive long distances and pay first rate prices for shows.

Walt (5) The seating is somewhat similar to Walnut Creek in that it is arranged much like a baseball diamond. Around the outer infield arc there is “box” seating, which consists of stacking chairs separated by pipes, much like the boxes at Walnut Creek. Between the stage and this arc, however, there is nothing but a sea of concrete. Officials told me the plan is to place stacking chairs in this zone to simulate reserved seating. The problem here is that there is absolutely no rise from the front row to the box seats, so everyone in the entire infield will have to stand if Row A decides to stand (and you know they will). Are these the stacking chairs from inside the Convention Center? What happens during times like now when graduations and other events demand the Convention Center chairs? How is security going to control a crowd that has stacking chairs to throw?

Behind the box seats is the only East-West arc aisle, and behind this aisle there is a large section of permanent, reserved seats which slope upward only slightly. At Walnut Creek this East-West aisle is cleverly sunken so people on the lawn are not disturbed. Not here. Patrons in the reserved seating area will have to stand in order to see the stage. That may be par for the course at rock concerts, but it presents real problems for stage productions like Rent and Chelsea Lately. Walt_pan

The remaining land behind the reserved seating is general admission lawn “seating”. While this area does actually have a steep rise, the view of the stage from at least 1/3 of the space, at least right now, is obstructed by tents for the soundboard and for box seating. Most likely these tents will have to go.

Walt (1) The entire seating area is exposed, so be sure to bring a poncho if there is any chance of rain. There is no shelter to speak of, which may present problems for some productions. The real catalyst for the project was the receipt of a framework for a tent to cover much of the seating area. We received this for free from Denver, but had to buy a new fabric skin, which apparently was cost prohibitive given the extreme bare-bones nature of this facility.

While sight-lines and shelter are concerns for this facility, the sound looms as the biggest. Raleigh’s newest landmark, the Shimmer Wall, borders Left Field, and will probably be known as the Silver Monster to musicians. The angle of the stage is such that the entire stage left bank of PAs will be aimed directly at the shimmer wall, and likely create an acoustical mess. Rap Bap….Rap Bap is what two snare drum hits will sound like for anyone along the 3rd baseline. It will be interesting to hear music from the right baseline as the music from the stage left bank will be hitting those fans almost a full second after the stage right bank hits.

Walt (3) For some reason the design of the amphitheater is within the confines of the arcing access road to the Convention Center’s service tunnel. A better design would have been to relocate this road directly adjacent to and parallel to W. Cabarrus St. This would have allowed the stage to be tucked back closer to the Cabarrus/Dawson intersection, thus allowing the stage to be turned more to the south. Perhaps a better grading plan would have allowed the stage to be lower than Dawson, and the outfield to be higher than McDowell streets. This would have provided much better sightlines.

The real advantages the amphitheater has (over most in the country, in fact) come from its location. Ingress and egress will be outstanding, and a very welcome feature to those who have sat in office building parking lots in Cary for well over an hour without moving. Downtown Raleigh has well over 10,000 parking spaces, and most of them are empty during the times of use for this facility.

For people who want to kick around after the show, downtown Raleigh offers the finest nightlife experience in the Triangle. In fact, there are over 70 places to drink in downtown Raleigh, and most are a short walk from the amphitheater.

The amphitheater will end up being a great move for the City Manager’s books, especially if weather and crowd control are not problems. Built on a shoestring that would even make Tom Fetzer proud, the place is positioned to be a huge cash-cow for the city. The facility is built to be in place only a few years, and if convention center expansion gets pushed back, a renovation plan will have to be in the works. Given the rise of the internet and the stagnation of the world economy, that expansion may be further off than anticipated. In fact, I predict that the expansion of the convention center will not happen until at least 2025, probably 2030.

What will probably happen is that after 3 summers, the city will probably realize that expansion is still just a long-term goal, and must then deal with mounting complaints about The Walt. I expect to see permanent bathrooms, more substantial field lighting rigs, permanent gold circle seating implemented in the short run.

Is this review premature? Perhaps. Yes, I have not heard a band in the facility yet. The problem is that nobody else had either. As of 21 hours before showtime, the time all of these photos were taken, the facility had no PA system, no lighting in place, the bathroom access ramps had not been built, no vendors were in place, no ticketing facility was in place, and no seating existed for the gold circle. A lot will have to happen before the paying public comes in two days. We’ll know a lot more about the facility by the end of the weekend.

Jun
04

EVO Hits Today

sprint-htc-evo-4g The HTC EVO went on sale this morning. The phone, only available on Sprint, is the latest Android phone that trumps the iPhone (for now at least). Along with having a replaceable battery, a free range of apps, a decent carrier network, the possibility of Flash support soon, freedom from iTunes, multitasking, a kickstand, “unlimited” data, desktop widgets, miniSD memory expansion, the ability to mount as a drive, video chat, tethering, and multi-notifications, this phone runs on the 4G data network. The network is reported to be 8X-10X faster than 3G. Some tech reporters, in fact, are saying that now is the time for people to consider dropping their land data lines and going to a tethered 4G phone instead.

4G service is only available in 33 cities. New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, Washington, Miami, Denver, and Pittsburgh are among the cities that don’t have coverage, but Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill do! The full list of included cities is after the break:

read more…

Jun
04

Crabtree Ruby Tuesday Closes

christ-church[1] In the N&O today it is being reported that the Ruby Tuesday at Crabtree recently closed. While the culinary landscape in Raleigh is hardly shattered, it is kind of sad to see Applebee’s surviving and Ruby Tuesday faltering. There is still a location at Crossroads, btw.

Nevertheless the real reason for mentioning this is that the store had many historical photos and artifacts of Raleigh. If anyone is interested in getting some of these, now is the time to seek the management and see how they plan on getting rid of the items.

Jun
03

Luego Brings Out the Cowboy In Us All

The Daily Tar Heel recently posted a review of the new CD by Durham band Luego . It accurately describes the band that brings out the pop side of cowboy music. The band is essentially the project of Patrick Phelan, a Virginia native and current counselor at Duke, in front of a rotating cast of musicians. The current version includes Charles Cleaver on piano and Peter Holsapple (the dBs, REM, Hootie). We caught them on Sunday at a private function, but you can catch them at the Local 506 (Chapel Hill) on June 30 and Slim’s on July 31.

Note: Holsapple currently works at the DPAC ticket office, so if you get him on the phone, say,”Hey!”

OK – there may be some sync issues with the video. I’m in codec hell.

Jun
03

I-440 Graffiti Mushrooming Beyond Control

As reported earlier here , the City of Raleigh has an excellent attitude about fighting graffiti . It is a high priority to remove any markings within 24 hours, as this serves as a deterrent to additional graffiti. Unfortunately the State of North Carolina’s Transportation Department does not share this policy, and has allowed graffiti on I-440 to explode at an alarming rate.

I called the department and spoke with someone who explained that the department’s highest priority is maintaining roadways, and that graffiti is not a high priority this week given the number of roadway situations due to the rains. Sorry, but the state has ignored ALL graffiti markings on I-440 since mid March, and it sure hasn’t rained for that long. I also explained that painting over graffiti on red brick walls with beige paint does not quite accomplish the goals set forth by the city.

PLEASE take a moment to call the transportation department at (919) 733-2191 and explain that you care about the beauty of Raleigh and are concerned about this exponentially growing problem. This needs to be nipped in the bud before some idiot tries to argue that this type of vandalism is “art” and should remain.

Of course, if you spot graffiti in Raleigh that is not on an interstate highway, contact the City of Raleigh immediately at 919-996-6001 or email graffiti@ci.raleigh.nc.us .

Jun
03

Barenaked Ladies Coming to The Walt

On July 31 Barenaked Ladies will be at the new downtown Raleigh amphitheater. Tickets go on sale Saturday (6/5) at 10am. Beware, though, as the fat guy, the one who sang almost all of the good songs (like “Brian Wilson” and “It’s All Been Done”) went solo and is no longer in the band.

Jun
03

Santana/Steve Winwood Coming to TWC

Santana and Steve Winwood will be returning to the area on July 28. The show is at Time Warner Cable Music Pavilion at Walnut Creek and tickets go on sale tomorrow, June 4.

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