By Harold
One of the best things about living in the Triangle is all the free outdoor concerts over the summer. On top of a parking garage, behind condos, in front of hotels,another parking lot, and this being Durham, outside a renovated tobacco factory — really anywhere with 50 yards of flat space.
The biggest addition to our neighborhood this year is East 54, “a new urban village of luxury condos, shops and dining” (located on the eastbound side of Route 54). So it’s no surprise that, before the restaurants are even open (all I see is a Kerr Drug), the complex started hosting a bi-weekly outdoor concert series on Thursdays. In the parking lot, of course.
I went to the premier event yesterday to hear Joe Romeo and the Orange County Volunteers. Definitely bring a chair if you go — there’s no grass. But the sound was good and there was an Indian food vendor, which was a welcome surprise.
Rounding out the weekend, Fridays on the Front Porch at the Carolina Inn is by far the most crowded of the summer concerts, but there’s a good reason for that — it’s a beautiful setting and centrally located on UNC’s campus. It wouldn’t be the Triangle without a little Durham/Chapel Hill rivalry, so of course there’s another great summer concert series in Durham that takes place at the same exact time at the American Tobacco Campus. The ATC has more diverse music, but without the Southern BBQ and drink specials at the Carolina Inn.
Saturdays are your chance to listen to bands that you might have actually heard of, even if you thought the bands broke up 10 years ago — like Filter, Candlebox, Tonic, Better than Ezra, etc. That was last summer’s schedule at Downtown Live at Moore Square in Raleigh. The best part about this event is that it starts at 1:30 and lasts all day, and there’s even a second stage so you can still listen to live music when the main stage has a break.
Finally, to wind down the weekend there’s Weaver Street Music on the Lawn on Sunday afternoon and Southern Village Southern Concert Series at night. Weaver Street is mostly jazz, while Southern Village is the most eclectic mix I’ve seen — everything from Jewish Party Music, Hindugrass (Bluegrass/Indian blend), the North Carolina Symphony and a Grateful Dead tribute band. Oh, and “Country-Rock at its Finest”, which is damning with faint praise, isn’t it?
Maybe “finest” is referring to the setting. If there’s ever a time to enjoy country rock, it’s definitely going to be at one of the dozens of free summer concerts in the Triangle.
Laura
Harold
