North Tower will perform on Thursday (July 2) as part of the 2009 Midtown Music Series. The band has been playing great beach, top 40, oldies and party music for 30 years.

This week’s music will feature a special appearance by Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker, who (with Kane Realty) will declare the week of July 1-7 “Independents Week” in honor of Raleigh’s locally owned businesses. Owners of 60 independent businesses in North Hills have been inivited to join Mayor Meeker on stage.  Shop Local Raleigh, a membership group that supports local businesses, is also involved.

Come out and support local business owners and hear some great music on Thursday. Stay tuned for more info about the 4th of July festivities that will be taking place at North Hills on Saturday.

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The Catalinas will be performing tonight at North Hills as part of the weekly Midtown Music Series. The music will start at around 6pm and go until about 9pm over at the Commons (area across from the movie theater).

Just as an FYI - you can park across the street at First Citizen’s Bank, if you’re having trouble finding a spot in the main North Hills decks.

PS. What do you think about the picture above (borrowed from the band’s website)? I think it may be time for an upgrade…

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The Voltage Brothers will be performing at North Hills from 6pm-9pm tonight as part of the 2009 Midtown Music Series. Come check them out for fun music and a great time!

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The Craig Woolard Band will perform tonight for the weekly Midtown Music Series here at North Hills Raleigh.

According to the band’s website, Craig Woolard performed for 27 years with The Embers before going out on his own. In 2005, he and the band won “group of the year” at the  Carolina Beach Music Awards. You can listen to some of their music here.

Also tonight - ZSpotlight is having a sushi tasting party at Mura. Doors open at 8pm and sushi will be served at 9pm, 10pm, and 11pm. The event will be a Stoplight Party:  wear red if you’re  “off limits,” yellow if “it’s complicated, proceed with caution,” or green if “single, go ahead!” Tickets are $11.  Click here for more info.

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In the video Raleigh’s planning director, Mitchell Silver, says, “As we look to the future, we want to have more places like North Hills throughout the city because it reduces the need for people to drive.”

That is probably true for people who live there, but I’m not sure if that is true overall–with all the great things happening in the area, more and more people are driving here. Until the city gets a bus or metro to/from downtown Raleigh and other places, I’m not sure this will change.

What do you think?

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THE TAMS
North Hills Concert Series - Free
Thursday, April 30, 2009

It was colder and overcast with the morning beginning long-sleeved at least but later in the day the sun worked its way through the haze and pushed the temperature up to the shorts and short sleeve season we are trying to move into.

And just in time for THE TAMS, Live at the Free North Hills Concert Series.

The excitement begins the moment you score a much sought after parking spot, walk your way through the mini-city that is North Hills past all the stores and sidewalk café eateries to hit the main plaza where the people gather and the beer flows as the music kicks off.

Immediately the beverage lines form and grow like the grass coming up from the re-awaked Earth so after I queued up and worked my way to the front I paid with tip in advance to the friendly bartender which allowed me to just step up to the side of the tent, smile and wavy my empty can koozie and be instantly reloaded.

The back-up band does the first set warm up, there is a lull in the action then out comes THE TAMS in their white pants, shirts, hats with turquoise vests and ties. The open dancing area immediately fills with people crowding to the front, the band is bouncing, the stage is bouncing and the crowd goes pogo right along with them.

The age range of these Events are from one end of the scale to the other, there were a few way little kiddies at the head of the stage that security cleaned out in a sweep-up operation, kind of like the witching hour being reached in a bar when it’s time for some to exit stage left.

The Tams are showmen and what a show they once more put on. Continually dancing with choreographed moves in tandem with all on stage and they involve the party crowd in front of them like so few do.

There is one primary lead singer but four different players took their turn to pump the crowd with the mic and The Tams make sure that all there are a part of the entertainment. The mic was passed down to a guy in the crowd that wailed away some lyrics in a song knocking it out of the park, the mic was repeatedly held out to the audience and there were no shy people in attendance with all doing their best singing renditions, even yours truly and the only thing I usually sing to is a bar of soap.

At one point it was requested to have a “white guy” jump on-stage and with crowd and beer encouragement all of a sudden there he was in the dancing line of swinging black guys and as much as he tried to keep the rhythm he could not remain in sync and the lead singer commented, “Yep, he’s a white guy” but that never slowed him down.

THE TAMS:
“Hey Girl Don’t Bother Me”
“What Kind Of Fool Do You Think I Am”
“I’ve Been Hurt”
“Be Young, Be Foolish, Be Happy”

Covered:
The O’Jays – “I Love Music” …Any Kind Of Music.
General Johnson – “Carolina Girls” …Best In The World.
Sly and the Family Stone – “Going To Take You Higher”
The Temptations – “SHOUT” (the crowd went ballistic)
Jimmy Buffett – “Margaritaville”
O’Jays – “Love Train”

From the stage the lead singer shouted,
“I’m about done, do you want one more? Two More? Three More? Alright, here we go!”

The plaza has a Chick-Fil-A and there walking through the crowd was the Chick-Fil-A mascot cow so we had literally partied till the cows came home.

…Lee Odom

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This post was submitted by Lee Odom.

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North Hills was the location of a fashion shoot on Monday for menswear designer McKenzie Tribe. “We wanted to show our Summer and Fall lines,” said Todd Killian of the North Hills store. “Next season is all about bright colors, great fabrics and easy-to-wear fashion that crosses over from work to play.”

The small crew worked throughout the day from one end of North Hills to the other. A Pug named Bruce even managed to work his way into one of the shots, courtesy of two nice women having an ice cream at Ben & Jerry’s.

The shoot was produced by Goodtree & Co. Hal Goodtree was the principal photographer.

BTW - McKenzie Tribe is having a 20-40% off sale on selected menswear for Spring including their signature jeans.

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The Midtown Music Series at North Hills Raleigh continues tonight with a performance by The Maxx from 6pm - 9pm. The band originated in Atlanta and  performs  hits from the 50’s & 60’s along with the party songs from the 70’s, 80’s, 90’s and today.

As a reminder, last week’s perfromance by the attractions was cancelled due to bad weather but will be rescheduled for sometime in September. It looks like there is a chance of thunderstorms today, so stay tuned. If the music is cancelled we’ll let you know.

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The 2009 Midtown Music Series continues tonight over at the Commons at North Hills with a performance from The Attractions. The event is free so bring your friends and family (and chairs if you want to sit). The music starts at 6pm but you might want to get there earlier if you want to beat the crowd.

The Attractions started playing music in 1965 in Burlington, NC. They were inducted into the Beach Music Hall of Fame in 2001. You can see more about them on their website.

If you want to see more music tonight, check out Brooks Wood at Mura from 7pm-10pm.

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Here’s a video of Brooks Wood at Mura from last Thursday.

The man can sing and play. He’s also on Twitter, if you want to follow him there.

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