(photo by Greg Barbera)
Such was my trajectory this past weekend, when I took advantage of having three straight days off to do something I've been wanting to do for ages — visit my friends Gary, Greg and Erik in Raleigh, NC. Gary, I've known since my early days in LA; we met while both paying the bills on our way to something better by working at the Virgin Megastore in West Hollywood. Greg, I've known for about ten years now; back when he was the editor of NC's now-defunct Spectator, he tracked me down and sweet-talked me into writing reviews for his paper for a measly ten bucks a pop. Erik, well, I'd never actually met Erik before; we were introduced via MySpace by mutual friends, and realized we had a ton of stuff — musically and cosmically — in common. In fact, everyone who knew the both of us kept remarking about how much he reminded them of me, and vice-versa. All three of these dynamite gents now live in the Raleigh-Durham area, so I snagged a cheap plane ticket and dropped in on them.
What transpired was about 55 hours of eating, drinking, jamming, intense conversations and general hilarity. Didn't do much sightseeing, unless you count a couple of resale shops and Slim's Downtown, but that was just fine with me; I was enjoying everyone's company too much to bother with the local museums or points of historical interest. Although Gary and Erik did take me to Clyde Cooper's, a BBQ institution in downtown Raleigh since 1938. The place boasts some mighty fine hush puppies and pork rinds (yes, I said pork rinds), but I confess that it didn't win me over to the cult of vinegar-based Carolina-style Q. Give me Arthur Bryant's in Kansas City, any day...
Friday night was the more epic of the two evenings I spent there. First, Erik and I picked up Greg at some ale house in Durham near the new ballpark, whose name I can't remember; then we hit the Raleigh Times for some mighty fine burgers and Belgian beer; then on to Slim's in downtown Raleigh to meet up with Gary; and then on to an epic jam session with members of the T's, Gary's band, and the Static Minds, Erik's band, with Greg and I pitching in on guitar, bass and vocals when we had the chance. Can't remember everything we jammed on, though I know Neil Young's "Cinammon Girl," the Who's "Substitute" and "I Can't Explain," the Stooges' "Down in the Street" and the Rolling Stones' "When the Whip Comes Down" were all part of the equation. It had literally been six or seven years since I'd last plugged in a guitar and wailed with a full band, and it felt DAMN GOOD. How it sounded was probably another matter entirely...
We were all pretty hurtin' the next day, but a greasy fry-up at Finch's put the four of us at least semi-right. Spent the late afternoon nodding off on Erik's couch while watching the University of North Carolina basketball game with Erik's lovely wife Robin, a massive hoops fan. (I figured that if you should read Homer's Odyssey while you're in Greece, you should definitely watch ACC basketball while you're in North Carolina.) Erik, Robin and I then fortified ourselves with some fine calzones at Moonlight Pizza before heading to the Landmark Tavern where Gary was tending bar. The place was positively crawling with post-frat douchebags, so we sat outside under the heatlamps and had fun counting the pairs of chinos that walked by. (I caught some good-natured shit from the locals for being the only person sitting outside who was actually wearing gloves — "You're not from around here, are you?") From there, it was on to an engagement party for the T's singer/guitarist Steven and his fiancée, where I met and rapped with a number of really cool people, ate some amazing home-cooked tacos, and almost coughed up a lung laughing as I watched Gary try to wrap up an uncooperative slice of apple pie for the road. Hopefully, he's remembered to retrieve it from his trunk by now...
It was a whirwind trip, but a fantastic time; and while it felt great to get back to the desert (especially in its current warm and gorgeous state), it was easily the most fun I've had since this past Christmas in NYC. From what I saw, Raleigh definitely has a lot to recommend it — good food, cheap drinks, friendly people, fine ladies, easy acceptance of people with conceptual facial hair, etc. I miss my pals, I miss the constant yuks (most of which fell into the "you had ta be there" category) and I miss Erik and Robin's dog, Maeby, and theircat, Lola, constantly vying for my attention. Thanks for the good times, everyone; see ya during minor league baseball season, for sure!
One thing that we didn't cover while you were here is the distinction that must be made between eastern North Carolina barbeque (vinegar based) and western North Carolina barbeque (tomato based). Next time you visit we'll head west so you can try Western NC barbeque.
http://www.northcarolinatravels.com/food/barbecue/index.htm
Posted by: Robin Conklin | February 25, 2009 at 08:35 AM
i'm surprised any of the pics i took came out ;-)
Posted by: Greg Barbera | February 25, 2009 at 10:56 AM