Vibes blog

Charlotte Music Awards
Booth Playhouse
Nov. 20, 2008

Review and photos coming soon!

The following is a partial list of winners from last night’s awards:

Best Rock Artist — Luna’s Lament
Women in Rock Award — Kim Niption, Luna’s Lament
Best Latin Artist — Tropic Culture
Club Owner of the Year — Neal Harper, Milestone
Best Hip Hop Artist — King Carter
Best Gospel Artist — Greater St. James Young Adult Choir
Best Small Venue — The Double Door Inn
Best Large Venue — Blumenthal Performing Arts Center
Best Showcase Americana Artist — South 85
Best Americana Artist — The Avett Brothers
Best R&B Artist — Jocelyn Ellis
Best Promoter Award — Larry Farber
Best Radio DJ — Rick Belew
Best Showcase Blues Award — Contagious Blues Band
Best Blues Artist — Robin Rogers
Reliable Music Award — The Spongetones
Best CD Cover — Robin Rogers
Best Music Publication — Amps 11
Best Music Festival —
Club Booker of the Year — Micah Davidson, Double Door Inn
Best Country Showcase Artist — Smokey Joe Show
Country Artist of the Year — Jimmy Wayne
Most Promising Artist — Angwish
Best Songwriter — Kathy Osborne, South 85
Best Singer-Songwriter — Jared Allan
Best Southern Rock Artist —
Best Female Vocalist — Erika Blatnik
Best Male Vocalist — Joe Davis

Bookmark to:

Hide Sites

Live Nation, one of the country’s largest music promotion companies, is coming to Charlotte.
Rick and Noah Lazes of the Ark Group, the development team behind the North Carolina Music Factory, made the announcement today.

“We now have Live Nation on board and they’re going to put the music in the Music Factory,” said Noah Lazes. “Live Nation is going to bring a 2,000-seat live music club from San Francisco called the Fillmore as well as operate the 5,000-seat outdoor boutique amphitheater.”

The Fillmore in San Francisco became legendary in the 1960s after holding concerts by The Doors, Jimi Hendrix, Grateful Dead, Pink Floyd, Otis Redding, The Who and Cream. In 2008, Live Nation began to lease and operate the Fillmore and recently started a campaign to expand the Fillmore brand name by establishing clubs in other cities — New York City (Fillmore at Irving Plaza), Denver (Fillmore Auditorium), Miami (Fillmore at the Jackie Gleason Theatre), Detroit (Fillmore Detroit) and Philadelphia (Fillmore at the TLA).

Rick Lazes said with the addition of Live Nation and the Fillmore night club, mid-level acts that would normally bypass the Queen City will be more likely to come and perform here.“These acts would normally bypass Charlotte because of the venue. You either went from a 600-800 seat club or to the arena. On the concert side, Verizon Amphitheatre is 18,000 seats, so if you’re a mid-level act you’re only going to sell 5,000 to 6,000 seats and you don’t want to play to an empty arena.”

The Lazes envision The N.C. Music Factory to become Charlotte’s version of Chastain Park Amphitheatre in Atlanta — where Rick said the intimate outdoor music venue sells out before the acts are even announced every season.

“Live Nation is the biggest concert promoter in the world and they can just route talent through Charlotte now,” said Rick.

But the Lazes are being realistic about this new venture with Live Nation. “With anything new, it’s a building process. It’s going to take some time to develop that clientèle. But the level of talent that we’re going to bring here is going to make concerts more desirable to come see,” said Noah.

And concerts aren’t the only thing that entertainment seekers will be able to get at the factory. Along with Live Nation, the Lazes have gotten some marquee clubs and restaurants to set up shop in the Q.C. Butter from New York is coming. (“Straight from the pages of People magazine,” said Noah Lazes.) Wet Willie’s, a popular restaurant and bar across the Southeast, is also coming.

“All of these places are owned and operated by the real people,” said Noah.

The ultimate goal of the N.C. Music Factory, according to Noah, is to turn Charlotte into a destination city, much like Atlanta where people will get in their cars and just drive into town to spend the weekend.

(Written by Cheris Hodges. Additional reporting by Jeff Hahne)

Bookmark to:

Hide Sites

Ashlee Simpson-Wentz and Pete Wentz have named their child… Bronx Mowgli Wentz.

Seriously, what the hell is wrong with people these days?

Bookmark to:

Hide Sites

Neil Halstead Quite a coup for the Muse landing the golden voice of Mojave 3 and former shoegaze guitar wiz of Slowdive – and on a Friday night, no less. Halstead’s new one (and only his second solo disc in six years), the sublime Oh! Mighty Engine, is no great departure from the Mojave 3 aesthetic, where subtlety trumps showy, and the legacies of Brit and American folk combine to create something fresh, intimate, and mesmerizing. Highly RIYL for fans of Mark Kozelek/Red House Painters, James Yorkston, Adem, American Music Club, etc. With gogoPilot. The Evening Muse (John Schacht)

Hoots and Hellmouth The Philadelphia-based H&H have a lot of South in their mouths, ably combining elements of gospel, classic rock, gothic murder balladry and early country. Leave your carpetbagger concerns at the door, however: Philly-centric images of cracked Liberty bells and dilapidated buildings (not to mention general misplaced anger) soon give way to the wide open road and closed-to-the-public hootenannies, all laced through with torrents of stand-up bass, wildfire mandolin runs and lush, sweet-tea strumming. With The New Familiars. Visulite Theatre (Davis)

Bruce Robison The Austin, Texas, based singer/songwriter has penned hits for The Dixie Chicks (”Travelin’ Soldier”), George Strait (”Wrapped”) and Tim McGraw and Faith Hill (”Angry All the Time”) – he recorded and released the same songs. He’s released seven of his own albums, and will put out a greatest hits disc early in 2009. Puckett’s Farm Equipment (Jeff Hahne)

April Verch The Canadian fiddle and step-dancing champion is being brought to the Queen City by the Charlotte Folk Society. The young talent – she’s 27 – released two CDs before graduating from high school and now has seven discs to her credit. While she usually plays traditional Ottawa-style tunes from her homeland, she also incorporates Appalachian and other styles. Great Aunt Stella Center (Hahne)

Bookmark to:

Hide Sites

Pat Green w/ Wade Bowen
Amos’ Southend
Nov. 15, 2008

The Deal — Texas singer and songwriter Pat Green made another trip up to Charlotte — this time to serenade from the stage of Amos’ SouthEnd.

The Good — In my opinion — all of Pat Green’s songs. That, and the fact one of his many sisters shares a zip code with us, hence the reason you can often find Pat Green on some stage in Charlotte or a surrounding area. Read the rest of this entry »

Bookmark to:

Hide Sites

Trans-Siberian Orchestra will delve into orchestral jamming with its own special fusion of progressive rock, symphonic metal and classical music tonight at Time Warner Cable Arena. Tickets are $38-$48. The show starts at 7:30 p.m. For more information, call 704-522-6500.

Watch the video below to see one of Trans-Siberian Orchestra’s live performances of “Faith Noel.”

Bookmark to:

Hide Sites

Dub is a Weapon Fans of good dub (wub-wub-wub-wub-wub) or at least good bud ought to find a lot to like here. Now about seven years into their career, the Richmond-based, Dave Hahn-led DIAW (no relation to Boris) can soften even the hardest of blood clots. Members past and present have played with Marley, Tosh, Gil-Scott Heron and The Congos, among others. Particularly impressive is the percussion, containing just the right amount of boom-bap along with the bleeps and blooshes. (I made that last word up.) With Bums Lie. Visulite Theatre (Timothy C. Davis)

Carrie Rodriguez Texas-born, Brooklyn-based singer/songwriter Carrie Rodriguez is a natural fiddle player who’s not so shabby on guitar and mandolin, either. Her twangy and somber voice seems a perfect match for her crying fiddle. Rodriguez is as adept creating an atmospheric sound, as she is naturally folksy when penning alt.country tunes. She’s quite introspective and blooms further on her recently released second recording She Ain’t Me. With Romantica. The Evening Muse (Shukla)

Bookmark to:

Hide Sites

Head out to Snug Harbor tonight to check out this month’s Crowntown Showdown. It’s a great way to see a variety of bands (and genres) for a good price — and you may get hooked up with the latest copy of Jeff Hahne’s Homebrew CD, too!

While the event started out as a competition, it’s now a local and regional showcase of talent.

It’s an $8 cover, but you get to see 10 bands perform three songs each. Show starts at 8 p.m.

Here’s who you’ll see:
Born Under Punches (Charlotte)
Deformati Denman and Holt (Charlotte)
The Dubber (DC)
Duende Mountain Duo (Asheville)
Dylan Gilbert (Charlotte)
Etta Lea (Charlotte)
Galen Kipar Project (Asheville)
Just Monroe (Monroe)
The Train Wrecks (Savannah)
Volatile Baby (Charlotte)

Bookmark to:

Hide Sites

Well if you’ve been putting off seeing Coldplay live in concert, maybe you should think twice about it. The band’s frontman Chris Martin, 31-years-old, stated the band will most likely part ways at the end of 2009. The singer said “I don’t think bands should keep going past 33.”
And I’m left thinking ‘huh?’ Sounds like a poor excuse to me. Read more on the story here.

Bookmark to:

Hide Sites

Oakhurst It’s the band’s road-hardened musicality that makes the Western bluegrass of Oakhurst appealing. The Denver, Colo.-based quintet is constantly on the road with mighty-fine picking and harmony-laden crooning that gels into down-to-earth bluegrass, lightly tinted with rock when needed. Lead vocalist/guitarist A.P. Hill sounds like a genuine hillbilly, albeit from the Western hills rather than the Appalachians. Nothing wrong with that. Double Door Inn (Samir Shukla)

Bookmark to:

Hide Sites