Third time's the charm?

That's what owners of Raleigh Music Hall may be hoping. The club, which only reopened about a year ago after its former life as Martin Street Music Hall, has closed its doors once more. (We'd been wondering why their website recently vanished.) Owner Rob Farris cited a "bad lease situation."

In other not-so-good news on the local scene, King's Barcade, a couple blocks away on McDowell Street, will close in April.

Their building is being torn down to make way for a parking deck and shiny new condominiums. Owners are taking tips for a new location at kingsbarcade@mindspring.com.

Both of these clubs are, of course, in the shadow of the construction zone caused by the "new and improved" Fayetteville Street and demolished convention center. Hmm, you think there's a connection there?

As the only local venue where I can play Pole Position between sets, I'm sad to see King's go and hope they'll find a new home soon. In the meantime, let's all get out and support the clubs that are left.

Ward Williams' "Beautiful Distraction"

We liked our last video post so much, we decided to do it again. Here's a video of Ward Williams performing a new song, "Beautiful Distraction," along with Ash Hopkins at Raleigh Music Hall Saturday night.



* My apologies for the dark and sometimes out of focus video. This was taken with a Sony Powershot. But considering that, the audio quality is amazing.

Photos: The Films & Simon Dawes @ Raleigh Music Hall

[photos by Kevin Norris]

The Films: Coming to a rock club near you Thursday night

The Films are awesome. Simple statement, but it's true.

The pop rock quartet will bring their live show to town tomorrow night at Raleigh Music Hall, along with their new buddies Simon Dawes.

I'll admit my opinion of the band is quite biased. I've known them for a few years now, back into their days under the moniker Tinker Punishment. Any of you Jump, Little Children fans out there may remember their tour with the group in 2002 and 2003.

They've always had this cool vibe about them. A little bit different, a little off from the norm but you couldn't really put your finger on what it was. Their music has evolved quite a bit since those days, but it still retains that same unhomogonized quality, and that's probably the thing I like most about them.

But look at me, going all this time without giving you an inkling of what their music sounds like. Take all the great bands from the 60s — The Kinks, The Beatles, etc. — and their songwriting sensibilities, throw in a little Radiohead for good measure, possibly some of the melodic stylings of bands like Muse, a dash of Elvis Costello, The Pixies and The Violent Femmes ... I could go on, and you've got The Films.

Don't believe me? Come to the show. Tomorrow night (that's Thursday, August 10) at Raleigh Music Hall, 14 W. Martin Street. Doors at 9, show starts around 10.

But first, check out The Films' MySpace profile and download "Strange Hands." It's the mastered version of a song for their first studio album, which should be released early next year. While you're there, check out their latest tour video and a video for their last single "Black Shoes," off the EP of the same name.