I am concerned about the current state of Raleigh's Music Scene and would like to hear your thoughts about it.

Have you been going to shows? What bands are you listening to these days? When was the last time you went to a show? What would you like to see come to town?

Any type of input would be greatly appreciated. Be as detailed as you like.

I look forward to hearing from you!

Billy Reed.

11/16/2006 12:29:35 AM

i like raleigh's scene. i like durham's scene. i honestly haven't been to many shows in chapel hill in a while (at least not many local shows).

durham has the math/post rock sort of stuff on lockdown. cantwell gomez and jordan, maple stave, etc can put on great shows. (not to mention countless other bands with dave cantwell at the drums). and of course you can't forget the mountain goats.

raleigh is a little harder to peg down. but i really like the bowerbirds (are they raleigh these days? i don't really know), nola, megafaun.

those are a good chunk of the local bands who i make it a point to see. i don't think that the raleigh scene is struggling at all. there are PLENTY of other bands that i didn't list, but i have enjoyed. those are just the bands that i try not to miss.

11/16/2006 12:36:13 AM

more than a handful of folks who are involved in club ownership or promotions have made the comment to me that they have seen a shift in turnouts for shows as of late. I am trying to figure out what exactly is going on.

perhaps I am the one changing, and not the Raleigh music scene.

11/16/2006 12:40:40 AM

yea I have been to several shows some at Lincoln Theatre, The Brewery and Cat's Cradle. There are some good bands then others just suck. I listen to alot of rock and metal and want to see some more well known bands come through like Secret Lives, Dead Poetic (again), RJA, Silverstein, TDG, and others. uhh yea hope that helps, but overall pretty good and I had a fun time!

11/16/2006 12:55:41 AM

for the record:
i go to king's and bickett mostly in raleigh.
most recently in durham i've been to joe and jo's a few times, 305 south and chaz's bull city records. the turnout has been pretty good at most of these shows, with the exception of a random nola show i went to in which i was one of six people there.

11/16/2006 1:06:47 AM

i might occasionally venture to the brewery, but not very often. 90% of the time i go to cat's cradle.

[Edited on November 16, 2006 at 6:21 AM. Reason : sdf]

11/16/2006 6:20:52 AM

how long has this been going on? i'm in hawaii and one of the things i miss the most about nc is the music scene. i've been to 3 or 4 shows in the 3 months i've been here... when i'm in raleigh i go to about that many each week.

11/16/2006 7:37:37 AM

there is a music scene in raleigh?

11/16/2006 7:40:54 AM

since i dont live in raleigh anymore, i spend most of my time at Tremont (like tonight)



i only travel to the brewery when Scapegoat is playing

11/16/2006 8:40:42 AM

(Ziggys / Tremont) > (Brewery / Lincoln) unfortunately

I go to the brewery when alesana comes through but that is about it

11/16/2006 8:48:36 AM

i go to the brewery when they have good bands but that's about it

11/16/2006 8:56:36 AM

Its lacking in variety, but thats a function of local colour i suppose.

Everything I ran across seemed to be metal, emo, rockabilly or cheezy modern creed rock. I moved to DC, partly because of the music scene.

11/16/2006 9:11:31 AM

We have some pretty decent stuff that's solely out of Raleigh. Check out groups like A Rooster for the Masses, The Cartridge Family, Bowerbirds, Annuals, Des Ark, DeYarmond Edison/Megafaun, and Nathan Asher and the Infantry and you'll realize that we have an extremely solid musical backbone in this town, even if there isn't a predominating musical zeitgeist.

I go to shows at least once a week, usually either at Kings, Bickett, the 506, or the Raleigh Music Hall. The last show I went to was the spectacular Old Ceremony/Bombadil show at the Raleigh Music Hall last Friday, and, well, I'd definitely like to see some bigger indie acts come to town (it always seems like they go to the Cradle first). Perhaps Wilco or the Eels would be nice to see.

11/16/2006 12:19:12 PM

wilco came to raleigh two years ago.

11/16/2006 2:43:50 PM

What are club owners telling you that they're seeing?

11/16/2006 3:46:25 PM

lack of turnouts.

11/17/2006 12:01:57 AM

i mostly go to metal or industrial shows. raleigh is a terrible scene for it. i ususally have to go to charlotte to catch these bands at tremont

11/17/2006 12:27:24 AM

the triangle as a whole has a a great music scene and keeps me happy.

its all kept up to date here

http://wknc.org/rockreport.php

11/17/2006 10:04:37 AM

not really.
you don't even have the bowerbirds show next week. boo on you. heh.
i don't know why i get such a kick out of criticizing wknc, but i do. i guess it's because i know a college radio station can be SO much better.

11/17/2006 11:34:54 AM

yayayaya, this isnt a full time job for any of us which is not the case for all college radio stations who actually hire non student dj's and employees.

where are they playing and i will add it.

11/17/2006 11:42:20 AM

wetlands, middle of next week (tuesday or wednesday?)

11/17/2006 11:44:14 AM

i'll get it on there next time im in the office

11/17/2006 11:45:08 AM

Daylight Dies is a cool band from Raleigh

11/17/2006 4:46:04 PM

http://www.trianglerock.com

11/17/2006 4:47:53 PM

Attendance has been down at many places in the past six months. This is what I am experiencing at The Brewery and what people (agents) all over the country are saying. Promoters from Greensboro and Winstom Salem have said that their numbers are down also. I think some of it can be attributed to some baby bands growing into national acts (and therefore not playing smaller venues), and also many bands have broken up this past year. Bands like Evenfall, The Capulets, The Clear and several others are no longer together. Things like that take a toll on local scenes.

11/17/2006 6:57:32 PM

Interesting topic.

The quote above sums it up:

Quote :

"there is a music scene in raleigh?"

I would have considered myself part of the "scene" (as being someone who attended shows regularly, not having a faux hawk) maybe like 5 years ago, but now the whole concept seems rather obsolete. I'd be at either The Duke Coffeehouse, Cats Cradle, Go!, Brewery, Kings, etc at least every other week. I will admit my tastes have changed, definately a factor influencing my perception of the issue, but I can't seem to find any music I like, locally, save a few bands. Maybe only one band, now that I think of it: Annuals, who I shouldn't even count since I've known them since they were, like, 13.

Also any sense of a cohesive "scene", that I remember, is gone. 'Musical taste' seems a lot more independently oriented. I don't think that previous sentence made any sense. Anyway, I think it can be argued that the whole myspace world is to blame, since it seems that I rarely discover any new bands by live performance anymore. Also sites like punknc, breakingboundaries, etc don't exist anymore. Nothing seemed to solidify the "scene" like someone talking shit about someones new Beloved rip-off band.

I noticed most of the bigger touring bands I like have started to play further away (like Ziggy's and Tremont). One of my favorite band's only stop in NC on their current tour was in Asheville. Yeah, exactly. "Where?"

Also I hate when real shitty bands get booked with bands I like. It always used to seem like all the good bands were booked together.

Anyway, I'm done ranting.

In summation:
Lack of turnout really doesn't surprise me at all.

11/19/2006 4:18:37 AM

Before I pass out, I wanted to add:

The number of bands seems in the area seems to be dwindling, which doesn't make much sense since I can't seem to find anyone that wants to play.

Anyone (attempt to) play [decent] music in this town?

11/19/2006 4:23:36 AM

i agree with elduderino. there are no decent musicians in this town. talentless hacks all 'round. ziggy's and tremont get all the good bands.

11/19/2006 4:45:47 PM

it depends on what you want to hear.

The troika music fest was great and had loads of local bands but if you you only like crossfade or velvet revolver you're obviously not going to want anything to do with it. But if you like those bands then why would you be interested in a local scene to begin with. Also im going to plug WKNC, steve-o has a great local music show on fridays and does a great job of interviewing and playing local bands.

and elduderino, Asheville gets tons of great stuff and rich isn't agreeing with you.

11/19/2006 5:29:54 PM

like that dood said. All Depends on the styles of music you like. Raleigh has some great bands.

Patty Hurst Shifter
Tres Chicas
Hearts And Daggers
Yearling
Between The Buried And Me
Bowerbirds
Megafaun
The Bleeding Hearts
Leadfoot
etc

11/19/2006 5:40:35 PM

^ and honestly those bands spread over a huge range of styles.

so if you don't like something around here then you're the one who sucks not the music scene.

11/19/2006 5:42:42 PM

If all your doing is going to the Brewery with a bunch of 15 year olds, of course its going to be horrible.

11/19/2006 5:44:44 PM

Wsw, Blasph. That was kinda harsh. We bring in a lot of bands at The Brewery, and not all of the crowds are made up of 15 yr olds.

11/19/2006 11:54:23 PM

the first and last time i went to the brewery was the first week of my freshman year. and there is good reason for that.

11/20/2006 12:06:31 AM

I'd like to clarify by stating that I didn't question talent of any musicians in the area. I'm sure there is plenty of fresh talent around. My poorly constructed rant was more on the notion of the "scene" as a musical niche and my perception of its deconstruction as such.

11/20/2006 2:00:45 AM

CHARLOTTE'S MUSIC SCENE SUCKS! Raleigh is like, a music haven in comparison

11/20/2006 10:29:16 AM