[Update] Durham’s Newest Nightlife Venue’s Opening Rescheduled
December 15
2:08 pm
Spectacular Magazine has confirmed with management of Durham’s newest nightlife venue, Rhythms Live Music Hall, that due to unforeseen circumstances the opening has been rescheduled. The new official opening date will be announced soon. All tickets purchased will be honored on the new date. More information is available at https://rhythmslivenc.com/
Learn more about Rhythms Live Music Hall in the interview below.
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Durham, NC – In the past few years, downtown Durham area nightlife scene has exploded. There are a myriad of bars, restaurants and live music venues from which to choose on any given night. A few event centers have sprung up also allowing the community, be that a promoter, organization or family, the opportunity to host their events in downtown.
Other areas of Durham have not seen the same type of growth of its nightlife. Actually the rest of the city has experienced a decline. A new venue, Rhythms Live Music Hall, will open in early December that is expected to change that trend.
I had the opportunity to sit down with the club’s manager, Victor Graham, to discuss Durham’s newest entertainment venue and their plans for the future in their brand new live music hall.
PC: Victor, you are the manager of Rhythms Live Music Hall?
VG: I am the proprietor.
PC: The proprietor. Yes. So now, Rhythms Live Music Hall is located in Lakewood Shopping Center, which has been designated as the Reuse Arts District of Durham. How did you come into leasing this space, and what drew you to this location in the first place?
VG: Well, one of the main keys for me being in this location, we knew up it to be an up-and-coming location. I thought I’ve been looking for a location to launch my particular brand and I felt this was an area we’d like to be a part of. Certain things were paramount and needed to be in place. After a long search of looking in Raleigh, looking in Durham, we came across this space. I took a look at the space. I was impressed with the raw space that it had, the potential layout, and most importantly, the parking. So it had all of those particulars. In addition to that, we talked to the owner and found out that this would be just the kind of thing that they were looking for to be the Arts part of their outfit. So, that’s how that played out.
PC: How large is this space?
VG: The space is around little over 14,000 square foot. We have approximately 500 parks, half to the front and half on the side. The ceilings are nice and high providing a nice acoustical value as well.
PC: So, what are your plans for the venue?
VG: The plans for this venue, we want to bring something special for the public. We feel that there’s a little hole in the market for particular people age 40, 45 and up. To have the type of venue that will be an all-inclusive venue that gives you the opportunity to spend an evening out, see your favorite entertainer in an intimate setting; if you choose to, have dinner and/or drinks to go with that. We believe we have the perfect date night scenario…something between the smaller venues around here, and the bigger venues. We feel that demographic and the space is right in the middle and we hope to take advantage of what we think that the market could really use.
PC: How many people will it hold?
VG: It could hold up to one thousand, depending on the configuration, but with the way we have it set now, with the tables and the chairs, it will hold 600 people.
PC: How many nights a week will you be open?
VG: Well, we’re going to let the market determine that. We want to be a market friendly venue, and we want the people to speak. You know, how many nights they want it to be open. How much can they support; the venue, the entertainment. We’re going to really, really embrace the public, and let them drive how we go forward.
PC: Could someone come in and just have dinner and/or cocktails when there’s not a performance?
VG: No. We’re not a restaurant. We have a restaurant component, where all that to enhance what we call “The Rhythms Live Experience” which allows you the option to come sit down, have dinner, drink your favorite drink – be it Coca Cola or chardonnay – and see your favorite artist in an up-close and intimate setting.
PC: In trying to reach fans from at least three different music genres, how do you market to that varied demographics?
VG: Well, some of the old school avenues are still somewhat relevant; you know, radio and print — but the most important component is social media. Without the social media and the technology, it will be very hard to reach our demographic. Social media is more targeted and, we feel that with all the technology components, we should be able to reach the particular demographic in a pretty effective way because we know what we want and where they are. We just have to let people know that we’re here and make them aware of our brand.
PC: When is the grand opening, and what’s planned for the grand opening?
VG: The grand opening is December 7th. We’ve got a grand opening but we’re also trying to plan a soft opening before the grand opening; a trial opening, which will allow from city officials, media people as well as friends and family, and some members of the public, just to give everybody a peek. There’s going to be an open walk-through on November the 23rd, because the Scrap Exchange has got an event and a part of their event is to let people walk through and take a peak. As far as the Grand Opening itself, we’re opening with Blood, Sweat & Tears, a classic rock group that the people love.
PC: What’s planned for the upcoming weeks after the Grand Opening?
VG: After the opening, we’re got a few shows planned – we’ve got Crystal Gayle; we’ve got Eric Benet and Will Downing on the same stage together. We’re very excited about that! We’ve got a New Years Eve show we’re calling it “The Flashback New Years Eve Classic Party of the Year” – we haven’t announced the artist yet, but we will soon. We’re moving forward with some jazz. Jeffrey Osborne is on the schedule for Martin Luther King weekend. Some other rock acts are on the books. We’ve got an exciting Valentine’s Day scheduled. Those are the type of things we are going to be doing. We are going to embrace some of the local artists as well.
PC: Is there anything that’s novel about the decor, your drinks, your food or anything like that at Rhythms Live.
VG: Yeah, sure. We commissioned a painter that painted a nice mural on the wall that we feel will be a nice conversation piece, that really represents our city very well. It represents the past, the present and future, all the good things that this city encompasses. I love this city,and we feel that we really want to be community-oriented. We want to do some special things. I want to embrace the community, embrace the non-profits. All of those things come into play as we try to establish and shape our brand and give people something worth looking forward to.
PC: It sounds very exciting. Give us the exact address for Rhythms Live Music Hall.
VG: Rhythms Live Music Hall is located at 2020 Chapel Hill Road, Suite #33. That is right between the Thrift Store and the Scrap Exchange in Lakewood Shopping Center. We have our signage up. We’re hard to miss.
PC: How can people get more information or tickets?
VG: Okay. All the information and the tickets are on our website. You know everything these days is website driven. Our website is rhythmslivenc.com. That’s rythmslivenc.com, and all the information is there from the parking, to all the artists, to buying tickets, a little bit about the brand. We call it “The Rhythms Live Experience” and we describe it there. But you really won’t get the “The Rhythms Live Experience” until you come to a show yourself. Get the real Rhythms Live experience!
PC: Victor, I can’t wait to experience Rhythms Live Music Hall!