North Hills Buzz

Yesterday some friends and I headed over to the Commons at North Hills for the music they have there every Thursday. We were planning on going to the luau at Mura later, but wanted to check out the music first. The area was pretty packed. It seems like more people show up to hear the music each week, and yesterday I’d estimate there were about 2,000 people there. Most people were standing, but others brought their lawn chairs to relax in.

The Music

The Mardi Gras Band put on a good performance and when they took a break an emcee came out and encouraged people to come up front for some shag lessons. People seemed to be having a lot of fun and it was crowded, but not so much that it was uncomfortable.

The Luau

At around 8:30ish people started heading over to the luau at Mura. They had roped off an area outside Mura with tables, a Red Bull mini-bar, and a DJ who was spinning over by the fountain. There was a long line to get in, and the line wasn’t moving very quickly. But there was a girl passing out leis so this was a good distraction from the wait. We finally got to the front of the line and I found out that I’d mistakenly reported the price of admission and sushi. I’d heard it was $10, when it was really $15. But the money went to a good cause (Muscular Dystrophy Association) so I paid and went in.

We met up with the MyNC.com crew (see picture below), who were there getting the word out about their community website, which features sections for Raleigh, as well as other areas of North Carolina. I definitely think they’re doing some cool stuff with this, as it seems they understand the trend towards citizen journalism and user-generated news.

The Food

After talking with a few other friends and meeting some new people, we decided to investigate the food situation. Unfortunately there was no food yet (after 9pm). People had gathered by the one table where the sushi was going to be and were waiting to eat. Eventually they brought the sushi out but it took a while to get through the line to get food.

For the $15 admission fee you received two tickets, which were good for one plate of sushi each. I’m definitely glad I waited, as the sushi was excellent. The only things I would have done differently would be to get the sushi out earlier, utilize more than one table so the lines would be shorter and include some options for vegetarians — I’m not one, but I’ve come to accept them…I don’t make fun of them nearly as much as I used to

Overall it was a good event benefitting a great cause. For anyone else that attended the luau, what did you think?

The Pictures

See below for some pictures from the music and luau. Click the thumbnails twice to see the largest versions. You can also see these pictures and others on Flickr.

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