Note: A condensed version of this article was published in The Carrborean’s November print edition.
Last Friday night, the Cat’s Cradle showed off their new location on Brewer Lane. The occasion was a get out the vote event for Senate hopeful Roy Cooper. He was joined by Justice Anite Earls and governor Josh Stein, along with a selection of musicians performing
I decided to attend as a member of the press.
One important point I need to share is this is not “the new’ Cat’s Cradle, it is “another” Cat’s Cradle. I will be interested to see how Frank Heath and crew clarify that as a common misconception is the location at 300 E Main would be closing. That is not the case, at least for now.
I got there early, while people were lining up outside the newly completed venue./ The weather was great, it was sunny and warm, and everyone was in good spirits.
Most people had gotten the memo and walked from nearby parking lots, or in some cases, from their homes. Such is the life of Carrboreans! For me, it is super convenient, as the new location is just off the Libba Cotten bike path, and that is how I arrived.
There was a lot of staff, both from the Cat’s Cradle and the Roy Cooper campaign. Carrboro Police were present also. They had placed barricades into the now defunct concrete plant, to keep cars from parking there. People were walking down Brewer Lane, and getting scolded for walking in the street by a squad car positioned up the street. There were people driving down Brewer Lane, asking where they could park. The answer: Nowhere. There did seem to be a little confusion by the staff directing people in the serpentine lines outside the building. Since this is the first time they have done an event, I hope and expect that process will get smoother.
Enough of the outside, I was keen to get inside the venue. The new ‘Cradle is cavernous compared to the existing venue and the back room. There is a balcony that circles 3 sides of the floor. There are two sets of stairs to access. There is also an elevator to help people with mobility issues. Like the classic cradle, and most other music venues, this is a standing only venue. While there are some seats, there aren’t a lot. I took my spot on one of the press risers in the back, next to the sound board.
One nice feature of the new venue is on the west side, there are garage doors that can open, and provide fresh air into the venue on favorable days. Since the weather was so nice, today they were open.
Things got underway around 6:30 and kicked off with Karly Hartzman, playing several solo songs. From that point, there would be a music performance, followed by a speaker. Starting with Governor Josh Stein, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of North Carolina and Anita Earls.
Preceding Coopers speech, several of the bands all joined the stage and performed together.
Finally, NC Senate candidate (and former governor) Roy Cooper took the stage. All of the speakers kept it short and concise, for example, Roy Cooper’s speech ran 7:20 I don’t have room here for his entire speech (I have an audio file if we want to make it linkable?) However, I did find it funny, he opened his speech with “Anybody gotten any texts and emails from me?”
Some advice to people attending events here: Park at the decks either at the Hampton Inn or the Drakeford building. If you are planning on walking the bikeway to Brewer lane, please note there are 3 lanes, two lanes for bikes (going opposite direction) and a lane for walkers. They are actually well marked at the entrances to the path at both ends, so it is easy to see where to walk.Final take. For a first event, with a large turnout, things went pretty smoothly other than the mentioned crowd management issues.
Here are the artists who performed:
Hiss Golden Messenger
Karly Hartzman
Tift Merritt
Watchhouse x Viv & Riley
Davie Circle