Thursday, March 19, 2009

Alive After Five moving to EpiCentre

After eight years at Wachovia Plaza, Alive After Five is merging with the year-old EpiCentre at 5 after-work party.

The new event -- Alive After Five at EpiCentre -- will kick off April 16 one last time at Wachovia Plaza before moving permanently to the EpiCentre on April 23.

"We wanted to have a farewell party (at Wachovia) as a way of saying thank you for eight wonderful years of a great event," said Larry Farber of East Coast Entertainment. "One of our best bands, Liquid Pleasure, will perform."

The decision to merge the two events came after Alive After Five's East Coast Entertainment and EpiCentre's BMG realized that having two similar parties on the same night (Thursday, for those of you who are new to Charlotte) divided partygoers and was, in the end, less profitable for both businesses.

"We were competitors and now we're happy partners," Farber says. "We've combined our resources. We can help bring in the big talent that they weren't as able to get and it's a great location. We really expect it to be a monster year."

This year, the event won't be limited to the Pavilion rooftop patio. Instead, it will encompass the entire complex with smaller acoustic acts early in the evening in the downstairs courtyard and the bigger bands starting around 7 p.m. on the rooftop stage.

Farber says it will run from 5-9:30 p.m.

Also new this year: an after-work Wednesday party in SouthPark.

Farber is spearheading the new Piedmont Town Center after Five. The event will be similar to the uptown party, but music will be geared toward an older crowd.

"It's more like an Alive after 35 crowd," Farber says. Music acts will include beach band The Embers.

The first PTC after Five will be held on a Friday -- May 1 -- as an alternative to those who will miss the annual golf championship Block Party at Phillips Place, which is taking this year off.

It will then resume its traditional schedule the following Wednesday (5-9 p.m.)

And speaking of after-work parties: the spring patio season officially kicks off Friday with the first of the monthly Mint After 5 parties. Enjoy the newly warm (and dry) weather on the rooftop of the Mint Museum of Craft + Design uptown. The patio offers great views of the Charlotte skyline – and networking opportunities with other young professionals. (6-9 p.m.)

25 comments:

Anonymous said...

The older crowd? Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa....39 and no interest in The Embers. Sorry...

Anonymous said...

33 y o and love the embers! real music!

Anonymous said...

Has the schedule of bands playing at AA5 at the Epicenter been released yet?

This is the best decision they could have made..AA5 is always a lot of fun. Looking forward to it kicking off!

Anonymous said...

I feel like the two concerts had decent showing last year. So how are they proposing fitting that amount of poeple into a smaller venue. They will lose alot of beer sales.

Anonymous said...

Piedmont towers, so i everyone going to be standing out in the circle where all the cars will be pulling thru?

Anonymous said...

24 and I enjoy the Embers.

Anonymous said...

Yeah I'm 42 and don't like beach music either. Good lord, beach music is for people 60 and up. I'm not dead yet! How about playing some 80's and 90's tunes? That's more my style.....

Anonymous said...

Thanks for having something for us "older" folks. We can outlast the young new yankees any day of the week.

The old "Alive After Five" patries at the former civic center were classic! We actualy talked to each other without the intrusion of text messaging and cell phones.

Anonymous said...

Why are they down sizing? Even at Wachovia plaza it seemed like they needed a bigger venue. Pavilion will be too packed to enjoy the atmosphere.

Anonymous said...

I find it hard to believe ECE regards Liquid Pleasure as "one of their finest bands". At least get a crowd pleaser, not some mediocre AARP 3rd tier wedding band.

Anonymous said...

I'm 25 and have loved beach music since I was little. I'd say it's more relative to where you're from as opposed to how old you are. Visit any fraternity party in NC or SC and you will inevitably run into more than a few of them with beach music bands such as the Embers, Coastline Band or the Johnny Dollar Band. Yankees don't like beach music because they didn't grow up with it, and that's ok. I don't like hair gel on guys because I didn't grow up where all the guys wore it. To each their own.

Sarah Aarthun said...

EpiCentre schedule hasn't been released yet.

Here's the lineup for Piedmont:

May 1st “Surprise” artist

May 6th The Embers Beach Music’s # 1 band.

May13th Band of Oz

May 20th Breakfast Club America’s favorite 80's band

May 27 Liquid Pleasure

June Too Much Sylvia

June 10 Dave Matthews Tribute Band

June 17th The Backbeat..Beatles Tribute band

June 24th Black n Blue

Anonymous said...

Wow. I'm 42 and I love the Embers and I also love Kings of Leon, Kid Rock, Justin timberlake, etc etc etc. Why does everyone give the older folks such a hard time. I'd rather party around an older crowd any day instead of loud, drunk 20 yrs.

Anonymous said...

It seems like Epi Center drew a huge crowd on it's own last year...bathrooms were an issue, there were none! Can you imagine what it will be like now with even more people?

Anonymous said...

How can you hate beach music? Shag is imbibed with a certain mystique. It's a warm night with a cold beer and a hot date... no matter what age you are.

Anonymous said...

I'll take an urban cougar over a younger woman any day. A cougar in training is cool too.

Anonymous said...

great the epicenter, now i cant go anymore.

Anonymous said...

Shocker, BMG noticed that business wasn't as good when they put on a band party right next door to an existing one. It's sad to lose the Wachovia plaza.

Anonymous said...

The "urban cougars" you speak of are embarrassing themselves all over town. For example, 3 of them going out to a bar that is geared towards the mid-20's aged crowd acting a drunk fool in their animal print clothing and taking their shoes off (in a bar) to dance awkwardly to the live music. They looked ridiculous. They truly are beginning to look pathetic and desperate. I am all for them having a good time, but I hope they reel it in a little and start acting a little more classy. When drunk 20-somethings recognize the ridiculousness of the 40-somethings, you know it's bad.

Anonymous said...

Alive after five should be a "nude only" event.

Anonymous said...

Bad, bad decision. I love the Wachovia Plaza venue (not to mention the cheap beer at Mimosa); the EpiCentre venue was--and will be--overcrowded and claustrophobic! Larry Farber and Wachovia Center Management--hope you're reading this; please consider bringing this back where it belongs!

Anonymous said...

Can anyone here read? There's an entire paragraph in the post describing how the ENTIRE complex will be used. It is not limited to last year's venue.

No wonder the banks are in trouble.

Anonymous said...

Even if the entire complex is used, I hate to see it move. The Wachovia plaza seems more open and nice breezes pass through on good days. The air at Epicenter is just stuffy like an oven.

Anonymous said...

um...27 and love the embers. Don't put an age on the spark location...your turning people away!

Anonymous said...

Instead of merging the 2 parties because they fall on the same night, why not have 2 seperate parties on 2 different nights? How about a Wednesday/Thursday or a Thursday/Friday combination? The EpiCentre is way too small, even in it's entirety, to host the only party.