The scene has become a familiar one for me: The dark, somewhat dank insides of the Cat’s Cradle in Carrboro, band members on stage tuning and joking around, kids in the audience ready to rock. But this was 4 p.m. last Sunday afternoon, the kids weren’t old enough to drive, and the old folks around the edges were parents and friends there to see the rock ‘n’ roll equivalent of a recitaltheir children playing their first public gig.
You won’t find the debut of Arcane Apocalypse in this week’s rundown of the best concerts this year in the Triangle. But the high schoolers playing the Cradle’s Sunday Showcase were a reminder that you can’t overestimate the role rock ‘n’ roll plays in the Triangle.
The Independent has long recognized that little-appreciated fact and we believe we’re the authority on the local music scene. We have a full-time music editor, Grayson Currin (an NCSU grad, musician and longtime habitué of the scene), who never ceases to amaze with his knowledge, appreciative ear and vivid writing. Last week’s iTunes free download-of-the-week was from Little Brotherwhom Grayson traveled with last year to file a breathless on-the-road profile (www.indyweek.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A25306). This year he made it possible to listen online to the music you’re reading about, and we started running highlights from the Triangle’s definitive classical music Web site, Classical Voice of North Carolina (www.cvnc.org). And we have covered the music industry, highlighting its importance and helping the rest of the community understand its role (“Rock clubs aren’t part of conventional city planning, but they should be, even in conservative Raleigh,” wrote Fiona Morgan in our May 3, 2006, cover story, “Raleigh Rockonomics” (www.indyweek.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A31223).
So pay attention when we say to look out next year for Aimee Argote and Des Ark, David Karsten Daniels and Jozeemo. And maybe one day we’ll be telling you about Arcane Apocalypse.
It was flattering this week to see WTVD-TV’s ace investigative reporter Steve Daniels dig into the accusations against Raleigh real estate trickster James Webbwhom we exposed two years ago and have been covering ever since (“Smooth operator,” www.indyweek.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A23239). If he’d read Jennifer Strom’s stories first, Daniels wouldn’t have had to uncover so many “big surprises” in Florida, or “discovered” Webb has been shut down in California and North Carolina, or “learned federal law enforcement agencies are also investigating.” We’re glad Daniels’ report may prevent more investors from being swindled, and that the importance of this story is finally being recognizedeven if our work on it wasn’t.
