Troika, Harding concert, skate park highlight busy Durham weekend

There's a plethora of things to do around the Bull City this weekend, none of them perhaps more high-profile than the Troika Music Festival, which started last night with a free concert at Durham Central Park among other venues.

Festival organizer Melissa Thomas joined Barry and me on the "Shooting the Bull" radio show to give a more detailed history of the event, but it can best be boiled down like this: a chance to see a terrific mix of local, regional, and even some on-the-cusp national acts -- like last night's Megafaun, playing downtown Durham before setting off on a European tour -- some of them for the last time in such small venues.

The festival, intended to give Durham a chance to host shows and concerts in a region where music had traditionally gravitated south to Chapel Hill/Carrboro or east to Raleigh, was started in 2002 and, after a brief regional play mid-decade, has settled back in to its traditional home in downtown Durham -- as the "bullbot" at right demonstrates.

A record number of bands (over 200) applied to be in this year's event. Tickets for any individual night are $8, in addition to the $20 three-day pass that started to pay off for last night's events. Durham Socialite has a nice Google Map featuring the venues, showtimes and performers, or check out the Troika web site for more details. New this year: Rock, Paper, Scissors, a live music show-cum-arts/crafts market, in the Trotter Bldg. at the corner of Geer and Foster St. downtown.

This is also the weekend when Durham's much-anticipated skateboard facility opens on the eastern side of Durham Central Park. (You don't know how anticipated it was unless you were at the design meeting year; I didn't realize it was humanly possible to squeeze that many teenaged skaters into City Hall, the last place many may have thought they'd want to spend a breezy evening.)

The owners of Ujamaa Boardhouse at Old Five Points told the Herald-Sun that skaters from throughout the mid-Atlantic look poised to come to Durham to check out the park, which recreates a concrete downtown environment, doubtlessly intended in part to draw skaters likes flies to a light, away from the au natural attractions like the Convention Center plaza and courthouse.

The noon to 4:30pm opening on Saturday will feature DJs and demonstrations from the Toy Machine skate team. Heck, the park even has its own enthusiast blog already.

Tonight, folk/pop singer-songwriter John Wesley Harding performs at a benefit concert for Urban Ministries of Durham as part of their ongoing Strings Attached benefit series for the respected downtown homeless services provider.

This will mark the first Triangle performance in seven years by Harding -- best-known for "I'm Wrong About Everything," from the High Fidelity soundtrack, and his cover of Madonna's "Like A Prayer" -- and his first time ever playing in Durham. Joining Harding will be Daniel Wallace, a writer known for the book Big Fish (inspiring the Tim Burton film), who'll play his own short set of songs at the concert.

Tickets are $20 at the door ($15 in advance, $8 for children under 12), and on-site childcare is available. The concert will be held at St. Philip's Episcopal Church downtown; visit their web site for more details.

Sunday marks the Watts-Hillandale neighborhood's annual Art Walk, a walking tour of the neighborhood featuring jewelry, pottery, quilts, handmade books and more. Get to see artists' work right in the homes of the artists themselves. The event kicks off at 1301 Alabama Ave.; find out more and see a map at the neighborhood web site.

Meantime, if you graduated from an American college and are still, somehow, craving that a capella music you used to hear on Friday night double-bill jams at the student union -- well, you're in luck, since the SoJam a capella festival -- featuring "the biggest names in the collegiate and professional a capella music world" -- will be harmonizing around a mouthpipe at the Carolina Theatre this weekend.

No, they will not sing "Better Man" by Pearl Jam or "Sloop John B" on demand. But apparently, there is professional a capella out there -- besides Rockapella of Carmen Sandiego fame, who won't be making their trip to the Carolina until December 10.

In other Durham events this weekend:

If you're not busy today, it's a good day to head to Duke's Nasher Museum; the art museum is having a free community today, with limited comp tickets at the door; the Picasso exhibit is ongoing. The museum is open today 10am-5pm.

The Watts Street Baptist Church hosts its annual Fall Bazaar this Saturday from 9am-2pm, including crafts, needlework, and holiday decor -- plus sandwiches, soups and baked goods.

On Sunday, Old West Durham's John Schelp will give a talk on the history of his 'hood as an old-time mill village that supported the neighboring textile factories. The talk, at 3pm in the downtown library, coincides with a display of local cotton mills' artifacts that's ongoing in the library lobby all month.

If shopping's more your thing, two events in the Brightleaf Square area to keep in mind:

• Morgan Imports' annual Open House kicks off the holiday season as the miscellany store is wont to do; the downtown institution is celebrating its 40th anniversary. The open house features discounts on holiday essentials, plus free food, punch and champagne.
• Meanwhile, if you're a collector of Vietri Italian dinnerware, Teresa's on Main has its Festa Vietri this weekend, with 20% off their collection all day Saturday, plus a chance to see the dishmaker's newest additions.

Tonight, the Duke New Music Ensemble hosts a free concert at the Biddle Music Building on East Campus, featuring the works of Louis Andriessen, Andrew Cole and others.

Common Ground Theatre on Hillsborough Rd. runs its performance of "The Laramie Project" tonight through Sunday; the play focuses on the reaction to the 1998 hate crime murder of gay student Matthew Shepard in Laramie, Wyo.

Meanwhile, Manbites Dog is continuing its performance of "Caleb Calypso and the Midnight Marauders," a play by North Carolina's Howard Craft about US Army soldiers in Germany at the Cold War's end.

Duke's Chapel Choir is hosting and performing in a benefit concert this Saturday night for Mike Arneson, a teenager who sustained head and brain injuries in a biking accident this summer. (web)

Comments

[Retro-Grouch]

I'm not a skateboarder but the skatepark is pretty ding-dang rad.

Looks great, and its nice to see a project like that actually get built. Kudos to all involved. I'm looking forward to checking out the action on the occasional work break.

[bb]

I have already announced to my wife that I will be purchasing a skateboard in the very near future.

[JB]

Oops, I think you mean Daniel Wallace, not Daniel Author. Thanks for providing such a thorough list of weekend options.

[BCR -- Fixed, my error.]

[Todd P]

Morgan Imports? mmmmmm, donuts...

[Joseph F]

It's a slow Friday. Flip over to BCR every few hours, hoping for new postings. Instead I get this same headline, which I interpret every time I first see it as: "Tonya Harding to give concert at skate park if not too busy"

[Bull City Rising]

@Joseph: Sorry to disappoint, though I love your headline interpretation!

I actually have a significant backlog of blog posts I'm working on. Things are dicey last couple of days since I'm in Fla. helping a parent to pack up and get ready for movers arriving on Monday, so the Internet is limited and my time more so. More soon.

[jc]

thanks for such a thorough listing of weekend events. this is great!

[ACW]

It was great to see such a turnout at the grand opening of the skate park today. I grabbed some decent pics and four short, less-than-stellar-quality videos.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTsGFDFjgfY

I like that it's between the police station and the pavilion. Central Park is shaping up nicely. At other sites, folks are jazzed about not needing protective wear, but the sign posted at the sidewalk clearly states they are required, as are helmets... not that the ordinance was particularly enforced today...

[Erik Landfried]

There are other sites besides Bull City Rising?!?

I also took a few photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/erik.landfried/DurhamSkateboardPark#

[HollandDianne]

That is understandable that money can make people autonomous. But how to act if one doesn't have cash? The one way is to get the home loans and just auto loan.