The Piedmont is buzzing once again with the sounds of live music. After months of pandemic-related closures, concert venues throughout the Triad were allowed to reopen their doors over the weekend.
The past year has been really tough for establishments that rely on performance ticket sales for revenue. Local, state, and federal grants have provided a lifeline. And some venues recorded and streamed concerts — artists playing their music to empty halls — for nominal fees.
Richard Emmett is the co-owner of The Ramkat in Winston-Salem. He says preparing for Friday's live performance at 13% capacity and meeting all of the strict COVID-19 protocols was exhausting but worth it.
"The reaction of the patrons was incredible," says Emmett. "I mean some people said they had tears in their eyes to be in the room with live music again, and that it was so meaningful to them. And for us it certainly was. Just talking about it I can feel it in my heart right now, you know, it was a moment."
Elsewhere in the Triad, smaller stages like Greensboro's The Artist Bloc and The Flat Iron are now hosting new live events, and Carolina Theatre's summer movie series returns beginning on Wednesday.