Troika Music Festival
The Troika Music Festival in Durham gets underway for real tonight, with shows at six different venues. Most of the venues are new to the festival, including the Duke Coffeehouse and Alivia's Bistro.
I'm not sure why, but the festival doesn't seem to have generated the buzz this year as in years past, at least as far as what i'm hearing. The lineup certainly seems stellar enough, but with Jo and Joe's and 305 South gone from the scene, maybe i'm just not hanging around in the right places.
Then again, maybe the choice of tiny grey text on a black background for the website is keeping people from being able to figure out what's going on. And the fact that my two favorite bands from the whole lineup (Dom Casual & Regina Hexaphone) are playing at basically the same time in two different venues bums me out.
Anyway, get out of the house and support some local music this weekend, OK? Even if it some of it is happening on scary East Campus. Travel in a pack and you'll be fine.
I'm not sure why, but the festival doesn't seem to have generated the buzz this year as in years past, at least as far as what i'm hearing. The lineup certainly seems stellar enough, but with Jo and Joe's and 305 South gone from the scene, maybe i'm just not hanging around in the right places.
Then again, maybe the choice of tiny grey text on a black background for the website is keeping people from being able to figure out what's going on. And the fact that my two favorite bands from the whole lineup (Dom Casual & Regina Hexaphone) are playing at basically the same time in two different venues bums me out.
Anyway, get out of the house and support some local music this weekend, OK? Even if it some of it is happening on scary East Campus. Travel in a pack and you'll be fine.
Labels: Local music
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7 Comments:
They shot themselves in the foot bigtime a few years ago by changing the name from the Downtown Durham Music Festival to "Troika," which sounds like it's some Russian folk music festival, but particularly by trying to make it "triangle-wide." That was dumb -- the fun of the thing was that you could buy a ticket and wander around downtown, not buy a ticket and spend your night driving down the interstates between the cities.
I think they've been trying to recover ever since.
By
Unknown, at 4:51 PM
"Even if it some of it is happening on scary East Campus. Travel in a pack and you'll be fine."
That's good advice. From what I read in the paper*, I might be at risk of a vicious snobbing or maybe a drive-by stereotype attack. Especially since I'm a person of color. :-)
*the Chronicle. What, you were thinking something different?
By
Marsosudiro, at 4:52 PM
It doesn't help that all their schedules appear to be backwards...
By
Anonymous, at 10:23 PM
I didn't make it downtown for anything, but our neighbors hosted a pianist, Melissa St. Pierre, at their house on Thursday evening. She was originally scheduled to play at BCHQ, but there were logistical problems. Anyway, I'm usually skeptical of highly experimental music, but she was pretty great. There were some pieces I didn't love, but I was able to appreciate them.
And kudos to my neighbors for opening their house up to Melissa.
They shot themselves in the foot bigtime a few years ago by changing the name from the Downtown Durham Music Festival to "Troika," which sounds like it's some Russian folk music festival, but particularly by trying to make it "triangle-wide".
You are correct Michael. I don't get why Durham wasn't enough. Not to mention that we needed something to boost Durham's music scene. When I moved here seven years ago, it was almost non-existent. They didn't do themselves or Durham any favors by trying to split it up.
By
Anonymous, at 11:35 AM
Tiny grey text on a black background may not be bad design, but design that attempts to pre-select the audience by weeding out those who will be repelled by the design.
Like old farts who can't read too good no mo. Who wants them at a concert? They'll probably contain the music is too loud. Or the lights too bright. ;-/
By
Anonymous, at 8:27 AM
I made it to Ringside Friday night...the crowd was 'comfortable', which is to say, there were enough people that there weren't any real gaps but plenty of room to move around and order drinks. Jew(s) and Catholic(s) were great, despite the fact that Ringside's PA sounded like shit. Anyway, I feel like I got my $8 worth.
By
Brian, at 11:22 AM
Glad those of you who went had a good time. I caught Regina Hexaphone's set at the Joyce's back porch, or "beer garden, as Sara referred to it. It was a nice match, and i got home early enough to go to work the next day.
I should also point out that the printed program was set in what appeared to be 6 point type.
They definitely didn't want anyone over 30 being able to figure out what the schedule was.
8^)>
By
Barry, at 9:41 PM
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