Bandway! Kings!

Last night Raleigh witnessed two of the most highly anticipated events in recent memory: Kings and Bandway both returned from the dead in one magical moment. I don't have to tell you that Bandway ruled (though I wish they'd played "Are You Mad at Me?"), and that the sold out audience pretty much went crazy over it. Check out the videos of "King Kong" and a new song that had something to do with recycling. See more photos.

We ended up hanging out at Remedy beforehand, so we only caught the last bit of the Dynamite Brothers.


But the big news, for those of you who weren't there last night, is that the new Kings sounds amazing. Seriously. I understand that a good bit of the work that was done in that space was done to improve the sound, and that the club owners invested in top notch sound equipment. All that work and money paid off because everything, even the Billy Joel CD being played beforehand, sounded amazing. And it's true that no matter where you are in the club, you can see the band. In fact, there's a slight step up at the back of the club, so even back there you can see perfectly. But watch out for it because I ended up tripping on it.

And it looks good too. It was so packed there last night that I didn't get a chance to really look around, but I will tell you the old Kings wooden crown is on the wall over the new bar, and the lit "KB" sign is back. But everyone was talking about the two gigantic Statler and Waldorf Muppets dolls (I had to look them up to find out their names) hanging to the right of the stage, seemingly ready to heckle the band. I was told that they actually move, too, but I didn't see that.

But the best part of the night was seeing just about every person I know in Raleigh, together again and happy. I'm looking forward to many more shows there.

It's official! Kings to return

Grayson has the details here.

The return of Kings?

I am still waiting to hear from Steve, Paul or Ben whether or not this is true. Now Chico, one of the founders of Sunday dance night Neu Romance, which got its start at Kings and continued at Alibi, just posted this on a Facebook page advertising the last Neu Romance (this Sunday) at Alibi:

After three or so years of hearing, "I miss Kings", and' "When are they going to open another spot?" from all the folks that thought I had inside information (which I never did) finally, I am not the last to know. I haven't heard this from Ben, Paul, or Steve yet, but the Alibi folks are telling me that the Kings folks have taken over control (in agreement) of all entities at the 14 West Martin St. address.

Now Castro, myself and the other members of the Neu Romance/Sweatt Bros. collective can only hope that our services will be required in the future by the Kings ownership. Kings history aside, we worked hard over the last two years or so to establish an old school dance scene down in the basement, and of course we would love to see that continue to grow. But more importantly and immediately when have some last nights to deal with.

This Friday (I'll be at Flanders Gallery from 6 to 9 btw) we will celebrate our last full weekend at Alibi. It's my second to last Friday, but Castor's last Saturday night and the last Neu Romance - in it's current incarnation. Shaun has been setting small fires with Serotto for quite some time now down at Alibi, and he would really appreciate a "community good bye" Saturday night. As for Neu Romance, we hope to resume our status after the re-opening, however we're planning on this being the last one for awhile. Khoa Dinh, the manager of Alibi, has offered food from the pizza parlor to celebrate our last night with him (and he has been a joy to work with).

March is also the month we celebrate our anniversary. Seven years ago this month we started this little Neu Romance thing at Kings Barcade, and it's still all about the music and the people, and we still don't get paid. It's beautiful irony that maybe we will be under the Kings umbrella again. For now just come out and enjoy yourself, and help us celebrate downtown music and culture. It's gonna be your last chance for ahwile.

The Final Neu Romance (again)
@ Alibi Bar & Lounge
14 W. Martin Street
Downtown Raleigh

Confab over the Cover-up

I just found out about all this brouhaha last night. Apparently Tir na Nog, along with some local rockers/music fans, wanted to hold The Great Cover-Up this year, or early next. A spirited discussion ensued over at New Raleigh (a blog that I need to start reading since they seem to like using my photos) over whether or not the owners of Kings approved or even if the whole idea was even appropriate.

This morning I received an e-mail from Steve Popson, which I assume was sent to everyone on his list stating that the Kings owners are not involved in the event, and request that Tir na Nog not use the names "Great Cover Up" or "Cover Up" but otherwise wish the charity event success. (Full disclosure here: I'm involved with The Beehive, which is the charity organization that will be benefitted.)

My take: The owners of Kings don't want their name used. OK. Tir na Nog shouldn't use that name. But there's absolutely no reason why they shouldn't host a similar event (Lincoln Theatre did over the summer, and I didn't hear anyone complaining about that). And anyone who insists that "friends of Kings" won't go is just being plain silly. I consider myself to be a good friend of Kings, and I look forward to the day when they finally re-open, but I'm also looking forward to this new event, which sounds like it will be a lot of fun.