Good music and hip concerts aren’t exclusive to the aura of big cities. The music scene of Raleigh and around the Triangle is steadily gaining popularity and WKNC 88.1, the student radio station, is working to create a dynamic relationship with the up-and-coming talent in the area. It’s brainchild—Double Barrel Benefit Concert.
Friday and Saturday, WKNC hosted their 8th annual benefit concert, which included 9 bands. Double Barrel is the station’s most lucrative concert and funds the bulk of the radio budget.
The event highlights and celebrates local bands, and according to tradition, takes place at King’s Barcade, a club in downtown Raleigh. Over 500 people attended and WKNC and Kings raised more than $5000, splitting the surcharge in half.
“We presold more tickets for the first night, a few less for the second night,” Tommy Anderson, WKNC general manager, said. “The first night, we sold out within 30 minutes of opening the doors. The second night it took about an hour to sell out, but it was full.”
According to Anderson, a senior political science, the concert is only a small part of the “greatest local music scene in the country.”
“The concert was all over the place when thinking about the music,” Anderson said. “It had a little bit of everything, like some hip-hop and indie bands.”
Dealing with the dropout of one of the schedule bands, the WKNC staff quickly contacted two local rap artists to perform in lieu of the scheduling change.
“The hip-hop artist, King Mez and HaLo, are both destined for great things,” Anderson said.
Chris Cioffi, a senior in English and the station’s Public Affairs Director, expressed a feeling of serendipity with regards to the rap show.
“I was surprised,” Cioffi said. “I had not in a long time seen a show in which the headliner and the band before the headliner [King Mez and HaLo] got an encore. Kings was packed and the windows were all fogged up. Everybody seemed like they were having a great time.”
The band roster was exclusively local, with most distant band coming from Charlotte.
“We live in an area and we have the ability to broadcast the greatest local scene in the country,” Anderson said. “It’s only natural that we all work together.”
