This Weekend: A Homecoming, a Free Funk Party, and Bands for the Dogs
It is the last weekend of July, the weather is doing its August impression a few days early, and the Triad has scheduled a nearly perfect three-course meal across both cities. Here's where to be.
Friday, July 31 — 9th Wonder at The Ramkat (Winston-Salem). We gave this one its own column, so briefly: Winston-Salem's own 9th Wonder — the producer behind Little Brother, a track on Jay-Z's The Black Album, and roughly a generation of North Carolina hip-hop — headlines the Ramkat's 1,000-capacity room a short drive from where he grew up. This is the marquee ticket of the weekend and quite possibly the month. If it's still available by the time you read this, don't overthink it.
Friday–Saturday, July 31–Aug 1 — Old School Block Party at Corpening Plaza (Winston-Salem). Prefer your legends free and outdoors? Downtown Winston-Salem's Old School Block Party takes over Corpening Plaza with a headline set from The Bar-Kays — the Memphis funk-and-soul institution once tapped as Otis Redding's backing band, still carrying original member James Alexander. Free admission, open plaza, and a horn section that has forgotten more about a groove than most touring acts will ever learn. Bring water; leave your inhibitions at the parking deck.
Saturday, Aug 1 — Riffs for Rescues: Battle of the Bands at The Flat Iron (Greensboro). And now the grassroots course. Greensboro's beloved dive The Flat Iron hosts an SPCA fundraiser stacked with local acts, and the bill alone is a scene report: Ellie K (pop-punk), O Captain! My Captain! (a banjo ensemble, because of course), power trio Televolt, and cover outfit Planet Pluto. Cheap cover, good cause, and the specific joy of watching four Triad bands leave everything on a small stage so a shelter dog gets a better week. This is the Flat Iron doing exactly what the Flat Iron is for.
Zoom out and the weekend is a tidy argument for the whole region. In roughly forty-eight hours you can see a nationally significant producer come home to a 1,000-cap club, catch a soul institution for free on a downtown plaza, and watch your neighbors' bands raise money for animals in a dive bar — one ticket splurge, one free show, one small cover, both cities represented. Try assembling that itinerary anywhere people insist "nothing happens here."
The Triad spends a lot of energy being described as the space between other places. This is the weekend to stop reading the map and start reading the marquees. Homecoming Friday, funk all weekend, bands for the dogs on Saturday. Go be a local out loud.
Sources: Summertime fun and good music — Yes! Weekly; The Ramkat, Winston-Salem — Songkick