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A Year in the Life of Live:
World Cafe Live Celebrates its First Birthday.
9/19/05
On October 2nd, and throughout the month to follow, World Cafe Live will celebrate its first anniversary in business at 3025 Walnut Street in University City. Since opening its doors with the intention of “changing the landscape for artists and audiences,” the live music performance space and restaurant has done much to live up to that audacious promise.
Sharing both a building and a musical philosophy with radio station WXPN-FM, whose nationally syndicated “World Cafe” radio show was the inspiration for the venue. World Cafe Live has presented a remarkably diverse range of music in its first year (see below). As a result, the venue has been embraced by the WXPN community of listener-members, and by the Philadelphia music community at-large.
Thanks to its superb sightlines and acoustics, comfortable appointments and great versatility, World Cafe Live has also become a magnet for the region's most coveted private parties, meetings and events. Notable guests at WCL in its first year include:
Best Of Philly, NARAS, Penn Praxis, Innovation Philadelphia, City of Philadelphia, XPN Industry Weekend, The Non-Comm, Meyer Associates, Trustees Of The University Of Pennsylvania, Land America, Police Athletic League, Beats Blues And Brews, Delaware Valley Green Building Council, Penn Alumni, Campus Philly, Sundance Channel, Neighborhood Transformation Initiative, Drexel University, Pennsylvania Convention And Visitor's Bureau (PCVB)
In appreciation of what founder Hal Real terms “the unbelievable support and good will this community has extended to us since day one,” the World Cafe Live team will be giving away a pair of tickets to upcoming WCL shows everyday in October to participants in its “Live Access” community of online subscribers. Subscription to the Live Access program is free to anyone who signs up at the venue or on the World Cafe Live website at www.worldcafelive.com.
As he revs up for Year Two, Real's agenda is increasingly ambitious. He has plans to expand the MusicLab education program, which last year hosted musical master classes with Michael McDonald, Bela Fleck, Joe Sample and others. Music Lab educational teaching packages and DVD's will begin to be distributed to local schools this fall and Real has an agreement with a high definition television distributor to broadcast a season of the MusicLab series. In addition World Cafe Live is developing a high definition concert series expected to begin broadcasting in January, 2006. World Cafe Live is working on a new nightly programming concept for the Upstairs Live Cafe to be unveiled this fall. Real is also in discussion with partners in several other cities about opening additional World Cafe Live venues — each designed to reflect and embrace the musical community around it.
Following are some of the noteworthy events of the first year in the life of World Cafe Live: Year One Highlights
· October 2nd, 2004 - 7:30 PM, Jonatha Brooke electrifies the Downstairs Live stage, performing a duet with surprise guest, Eric Bazilian of the Hooters, of his song “One of Us” in front of a sold-out house.
· December 2004 - a “who's who” of the local music scene gathers on the Downstairs Live stage for “Philly Bands Together,” a benefit concert in support of WXPN Musicians On Call, an organization that brings music to the hospital rooms of the chronically ill. The group finale of John Lennon's “So This Is Christmas” brings down the house.
· December 31, 2004 - National Public Radio, in partnership with WXPN, broadcasts nationally a powerhouse performance by British piano man Jamie Cullum , recorded at World Cafe Live on October 23.
· January 13, 2005 - George Clinton and Parliament/ Funkadelic test the fire code capacity in the Downstairs Live main venue. The crowd onstage alone totals over 30 people, one clad only in a diaper.
· February 10, 2005 - A banquet for the University of Pennsylvania's Board of Trustees in the Upstairs Live Cafe ends 15 minutes before the start of a sold-out performance by gay and lesbian folk trio Girlyman while Swedish alt pop duo Kings of Convenience play on the downstairs stage. Harmony is achieved.
· February 11, 2005 - WXPN presents the first in its Free At Noon concert series for the stations loyal fans from Downstairs Live at WCL. The series kicks off with a set by Donovan Frankenreiter and has gone on to welcome such guests as Hall and Oates, Citizen Cope, Buddy Guy, David Gray, Richard Thompson and Townhall .
· March, 2005 - the lunch crowd in the Upstairs Live Cafe includes a party headed by R&B star John Legend and another that includes cello virtuoso Yo Yo Ma, both of whom had recorded sessions in the WXPN studios with World Cafe host David Dye .
· March 20, 2005 - After an evening performance by rising “newgrass” stars Old Crow Medicine Show , the venue marks a milestone when the first pair of women's panties is found onstage.
· May 11, 2005 - World Cafe Live and WXPN are honored to receive the Arts and Business Council's Business Partnership Award for the region's most successful collaboration between an arts institution and a private business.
· June 6, 2004 - WCL launches Peanut Butter and Jams, a weekly lunchtime concert series for kids and the people who drive them. WXPN's Kathy O'Connell welcomes the band, Ernie and Neil rock the house and the kids take over the Upstairs Live cafe.
· June 27, 2005 - WCL's strict no smoking policy is violated publicly for the first, last and only time by Eels frontman Mark Oliver Everett , who refuses to perform without his trademark cigar.
· July 27, 2005 - WCL doubles as host and recipient at the prestigious “Best of Philly” celebration where it is recognized as “Best New Music Venue” and for its innovative Saturday morning children's concert series, “Peanut Butter & Jams.”
· September 30, 2005 - One year to the day after she was hired as a “busker” to perform outside WCL's doors for the entertainment of cabdrivers just before the grand opening, Kate Gaffney headlines a concert on the Downstairs Live stage in celebration of her first CD release.
Sellouts:
Alo Brasil, Black 47, Bruce Cockburn, Charlie Hunter, Danielia Cotton, Edwin McCain, eels, George Clinton and Parliament/ Funkadelic, Gray Eye Glances, Jamie Cullum, Jesse Malin, Jim Boggia, Joe Bonamassa, Jonatha Brooke, Josh Komorowski, Josh Rouse/AmyCorreia, Kings of Convenience, Leon Russell, Liz Phair, Marc Cohn, Matisyahu, Mike Doughty, Milton & the Devil's Party, Nanci Griffith, Old Crow Medicine Show, Pink Martini, Ray LaMontagne, Rhett Miller, Richie Havens, Rickie Lee Jones, Robert Earl Keen, Shawn Colvin, Sonny Landreth, Stargazer Lily, Steve Forbert, The Jayhawks
Living Legends:
Al DiMeola, Angelique Kidjo, Chick Corea, David Grisman, Donovan, Edwin McCain, Gary US Bonds, George Clinton, Joe Bonamassa, Joe Sample, John Cale, Leon Russell, Nancy Sinatra, Pinetop Perkins, Pink Martini, Richie Havens, Rickie Lee Jones, Robert Earl Keen, Shemekia Copeland, The Dixie Hummingbirds, Tom Russell, Utah Phillips
Rising Stars:
Aqualung, Charlie Hunter, Clem Snide, Danielia Cotton, Jamie Cullum, Jesse Malin, Josh Ritter, Josh Rouse, Keren Ann, Kermit Ruffins, Kings of Convenience, Lizz Wright, Matisyahu, Old Crow Medicine Show, Raul Midon, Ray LaMontagne, Ringside, Sarah Lee Guthrie & Johnny Irions
Local Heroes:
Alo Brasil, Amos Lee, Birdie Busch, Blue Method, Chinua Hawk, Christina Havrilla, Dr. Dog, Grey Eye Glances, Jangling Sparrows, Jim Boggia, John Eddie, John Francis, Josh Komorowski, Kate Gaffney, Kathy Sledge, Mutlu, Stargazer Lilly, The Notekillers, Townhall |
