Cradle showcase benefits bands and cats
By Jordan Lawrence
Staff writer
Courtesy of Michael Sanford
Hailing from Carrboro, Delorean knows better than most area bands the magnitude of a chance to play the Cats Cradle stage.
“It gives you a feeling of accomplishment because of the fact that the Cat’s Cradle has a reputation for bringing in a lot of big name acts to the Chapel Hill area,” said Adam Satterwhite, drummer for the Carrboro band Delorean. “It’s like a status marker.”
Delorean got its shot to play at the legendary music venue on East Main Street as part of the monthly Sunday Showcase a few years ago. This Cat’s Cradle event, which takes place on its namesake day once a month, gives concert-goers the opportunity to see eight local bands for $2.
“It was started as an opportunity for local bands to play here at the Cat’s Cradle,” said Derek Powers, director of operations for the venue. “It is often times the only opportunity that some local bands will get to play here.”
The show, which was first held in 1997, starts at 4 p.m. and runs until midnight, giving each band 45 minutes on stage. The lineup for this month’s show on March 12 consisted of The Epics, With These Hands, Beloved, The Royal Sun, Red Star Movers, Places to Live, Sketchbook, as well as Delorean, which returned to the lineup.
Powers said that although attendance varies depending on what bands are performing, usually about 20 people come for the entire show, and 30 to 40 fans come for one band and then leave. The biggest crowed the music venue ever had was about 400.
The opportunity to play at Cat’s Cradle, which is renown for bringing in well-known acts such as Death Cab for Cutie’s Ben Gibbard and TV on the Radio, is seen by local bands as a great chance to expose themselves to a wider audience.
Courtesy of Katie Fullington
“I personally think it’s one of the most influential clubs in North Carolina,” said Nick Wagner, guitarist and vocalist for a Greensboro act, The Royal Suns. “It almost creates a music scene just being there on its own.”
Lee Gunsel of a Durham band, Red Star Movers, said he was thrilled to take the Cat’s Cradle stage because he is from Durham and attended shows at the venue many times.
“Going there seeing shows for like four years, it was cool to be on the other side of the audience, to be on stage,” Gunsel said.
Some bands said they were surprised at how little pressure they felt while playing at Sunday Showcase.
“It’s a pretty relaxed environment; it’s not that nerve-racking,” said Benjamin Newgard of a Chapel Hill act, The Epics. “They have some great equipment.”
Besides affording a great opportunity to up-and-coming artists, Sunday Showcase provides an opportunity for Cat’s Cradle to give back to its community, Powers said. The proceeds from the event are given to the Carnivore Preservation Trust of Pittsboro, a halfway house for large cats such as leopards or jaguars that are abandoned by irresponsible owners.
“It costs a lot of money to run that facility,” Powers said. “That’s why we decided to give them the money from the Sunday Showcase.”
Curtis Armstead of the Sanford band, Places to Live, said that playing along side the different bands that are brought together for Sunday Showcase was one of the best parts of playing the gig.
“They have a good variety of bands,” he said. “Hopefully we’ll get to do it again at some point.”
A firm date and lineup have not been determined for next month’s Showcase.
For more information on Sunday Showcase and other Cat’s Cradle events, visit www.catscradle.com
More information on the bands who played this month can be found at the following Web Sites: Delorean at www.myspace.com/deloreanmusicinc, Red Star Movers at www.myspace.com/redstarmovers, The Royal Suns at www.myspace.com/theroyalsunpage, Places to Live at www.myspace.com/placestolive, The Epics at www.myspace.com/epicsrus and Sketchbook at www.myspace.com/sketchbookrocks..
