Anyone ever heard of this? Man, I had no idea this was ever a reality in Raleigh, let alone in Cameron Village.

http://goodnightraleigh.com/2008/07/the-raleigh-underground-a-lost-phenomenon/

Quote :

"The entrance to Raleigh’s “Underground” was a long stairwell that was made to look like the entrance to a subway station in NYC. At the bottom of the stairs were paintings of trains to reinforce the idea. Rather than traditional wall advertisements, there were rectangular paintings of the shops that occupied the underground space. Every person I’ve spoken with that spent time there has fond and vivid recollections of that era and location. It represented a moment in time in which Raleigh was known far and wide for its nightlife and music scene. The number of talented artists that graced the halls of the underground is quite impressive. Bert from the Player’s Retreat provided me with this enormous list of some of the artists that played there: * Doc Watson * Eddie Money * Huey Lewis & The News * Steppenwolf * Peter Tork/The Monkees * Velvet Underground * Nantucket * Flock Of Seagulls * Frank Zappa * 38 Special * Iggy Pop * Jefferson Airplane * Joan Jett * Jimmy Buffet * David Bowie * Black Flag * Cutting Crew * The Ramones * Pat Benatar * R.E.M. * Maynard Ferguson "

7/8/2008 4:49:43 PM

yeah, i heard about this. i want to go find it.

7/8/2008 5:00:40 PM

damn, that sounds so awesome

7/8/2008 5:22:18 PM

Supposedly they paved over the stairs...I wonder how we could get down there.

7/8/2008 8:08:04 PM

so wait...

what exactly is there to see? pictures of trains and old shops??

7/8/2008 8:46:19 PM

The Ramones and Muddy Waters.

In a tiny club in Raleigh.

Jesus.

(Not together, but still.)

7/8/2008 8:47:19 PM

^^^ those pictures look like they were taken recently so there has to be a way. I'm down to go exploring.

7/8/2008 11:42:09 PM

according to the article, the old staircase used to be where the library is now, paved over

but there's gotta be more entrances, if they're using it as storage

7/9/2008 12:03:03 AM

i know the back of the johnson-lambe warehouse opens out on to it, but that's all i know

7/9/2008 12:14:22 AM

7/9/2008 12:29:26 AM

some antique shop over there has a downstairs that might be in what used to be that area.

7/9/2008 12:39:02 AM

sigh. the blog talking about whether or not raleigh will ever have a scene like that again.

not in cameron village, thats for sure this place is deader than dead.

7/9/2008 1:18:49 AM

My father went to shows there all the time when he was in college and beyond.

He actually used to tell me stories about going there to see people like the Ramones.

7/9/2008 4:08:06 AM

Yeah, with Raleigh being the way it is now and Cameron Village being so "rich" as it is now...that scene will never open up under there again..but I could see some cool bars going in down there to start off with...then who knows?

Does anyone feel Raleigh will ever get a music scene(that isnt the brewery) back?

7/9/2008 12:19:34 PM

I've been into the Johnson-Lambe place. I was all 'Why do you have a store in a basement/dungeon?'

7/9/2008 12:35:41 PM

Quote :

"Does anyone feel Raleigh will ever get a music scene(that isnt the brewery) back?"

I think it's possible in the distant future. With the downtown growth explosion, I could see a new downtown venue (sorry Lincoln Theater) in the cards sometime years down the line. I guess I'm thinking of something along the lines of First Avenue in Minneapolis.

Of course, if Kings would open again in a new place...

7/9/2008 12:53:55 PM

If Kings were to reopen in a downtown space, things would really open up again. The group of people who kind of divided themselves between Slim's, the Events Center, Alibi, and Jackpot all used Kings as a social hub. Between the shows and the wrestling and the movie nights and the rollergirl parties...it was without a doubt the coolest place in Raleigh for years upon years.

7/9/2008 1:25:43 PM

Man, that would be outstanding if King's would open back up. What was the reason it closed?

I know this is as far away from King's as possible, but maybe livenation will accidentally book a few good acts here: http://www.gogoraleigh.com/2008/05/27/downtown-amphitheater-under-the-big-top/

7/9/2008 1:40:12 PM

^ They tore down the building to put up a parking lot for the new convention center. FWIW, apparently the city tried a bunch of different things to keep the building because they new what it meant to that segment of the city and downtown activity, but money talks.

7/9/2008 1:43:42 PM

has there been any talk of re-opening or is this only hope talking?

7/9/2008 1:48:07 PM

There was a little bit of talk, but nothing too serious. I know for a fact it'd make a lot of people happy, though.

7/9/2008 1:55:00 PM

KINGS

7/9/2008 10:55:35 PM

Quote :

"Does anyone feel Raleigh will ever get a music scene(that isnt the brewery) back?"

no, as I have stated before, for some reason people just dont go out that much in Raleigh. For a decent sized city with a major university smack in the middle of it the club/live venue scene in Raleigh is horrible. By far the worst I have ever seen for a city over 100K

[Edited on July 9, 2008 at 11:15 PM. Reason : d]

7/9/2008 11:12:21 PM

Ah, the old Sidewinder, Nantucket, Stormz, Pegasus Rocks, States, and PKM days--just to name a few. I didn't patronize this particular establishment, but I thought of somebody that I bet knows about it.

I know of Kenny Soule, the former drummer for Nantucket and PKM, from hanging around 2112 some years ago. I'll bet that he played the club you're talking about more than once in one or both of these bands.

Contact info's on his Web site here:

http://www.kennysoule.com/live/

If you're still interested in the place, ask him about it.

7/10/2008 2:17:04 AM

The Developer who owns it has plans to reopen the space to new tenants... but I highly doubt there is any significant interest on their part in bringing back the club specifically. They're still in early stages of other portions of the town approval for renovating Cameron Village, so don't expect anything new on this front too soon.

7/10/2008 9:34:44 PM

god damn seeing black flag there would have been awesome

9/5/2008 7:07:40 PM

the bassist from PKM works at Harry's, you could ask him about it as well

9/5/2008 9:28:14 PM