WKNC Double Barrel announces 2014 headliners, sends one night to Carrboro

88.1 WKNC may be the college radio station for N.C. State University, but its signal is powerful enough to reach past Raleigh to most every point in the Triangle. This February, the station will try to leverage this broad territory, stretching its annual Double Barrel Benefit into two weekends in two different cities. On Feb. 7, The Love Language will headline the first show at Carrboro’s Cat’s Cradle. One week later, Mount Moriah will lead the second night, which hits the Lincoln Theatre in downtown Raleigh.

The booking is solid. The Love Language’s recent live shows have transformed their anxious pop into a ragged psych-rock surge. Mount Moriah, fresh off this year’s sterling Miracle Temple, liven their elegant folk-rock with a fiery choogle onstage.

But sending one night of this annual Oak City hullabaloo across the Triangle is a risky proposition: All of the previous 10 Double Barrels have taken place on adjacent Fridays and Saturdays at one of two smaller rock clubs in Raleigh — Kings Barcade and The Pour House, which both hold about 250. The Cradle can admit 750. The Lincoln has room for 800. Filling these bigger rooms, especially far away from WKNC’s home base, could prove difficult. While events stretching across the Triangle aren’t unheard of (early iterations of Durham’s defunct Troika Music Festival dotted shows all over the area), WKNC will depend on some Interstate 40 travel to make this work.

There’s also the issue of stepping on rival toes: Carrboro already has a local college radio station, UNC-Chapel Hill’s 89.3 WXYC, and they present frequent and successful events, such as the Backyard Barbecue and the 80s Dance.

But WKNC’s gamble could also pay off, raking in additional funds and cementing their reputation as the Triangle’s most popular college radio station. We’ll find out in February.