Three years after the initial shutdown, Xpress catches up with local music venues about the state of the scene, how individual spaces weathered the storm and what the future looks like for musicians and concertgoers alike.

Three years after the initial shutdown, Xpress catches up with local music venues about the state of the scene, how individual spaces weathered the storm and what the future looks like for musicians and concertgoers alike.
The Orange Peel presents ‘The Vagina Monologues’ to raise money for Helpmate. Plus, a local poet releases a small collection, the Asheville Celtic Festival returns and Story Parlor’s AVL Revue series honors Black History Month.
Asheville City Council will consider establishing an “independent review committee to analyze the events and circumstances leading up to, and throughout the duration of, the recent prolonged water outage.” The group would evaluate Asheville’s emergency response, identify infrastructure needs and recommend policy changes to make the city more resilient.
The Asheville Symphony rings in the New Year with music from James Bond movies. Plus, Brevard hosts kitschy Christmas trees, a local author recounts Mediterranean tales and UNCA welcomes award-winning author.
A new book from an Asheville author reworks classic fairy tales. Plus, Buncombe County is looking for mural artists, ForestHer promotes story telling and Little Shop of Horrors comes to UNC Asheville.
Veteran author MariJo Moore releases new collection of stories. Plus, LEAF returns with full-scale festival, concert raises awareness of suicide and the Craft Fair of the Southern Highlands marks 75 years.
“I was surprised when I attended the concert that the vast majority of 6,500 people in attendance were not wearing face masks, and the city-owned venue is unable to enforce a face-mask requirement indoors.”
“What if we ever decide to build a multipurpose concert and/or sports arena (with parking) and take the load off downtown?”
Asheville City Council and the community will participate in city business face to face for the first time since April 2020. The meeting will take place in the Banquet Hall at Harrah’s Cherokee Center – Asheville at 5 p.m.
The Fine Arts Theatre, Flat Rock Playhouse and Harrah’s Cherokee Center – Asheville face unique challenges on the road to resuming operations.
Members will discuss the final proposed guidelines to streamline future lodging development — and residents will have one last chance to weigh in — before the city’s hotel moratorium expires on Tuesday, Feb. 23.
“Shouldn’t the name of Asheville’s civic center, Harrah’s Cherokee Center – Asheville, be among those that must be changed, since the Cherokees were also slaveowners?”
Local live event and entertainment professionals lit up their businesses in red to bring awareness to a struggling industry.
Homeward Bound and city of Asheville coordinate to place homeless residents during pandemic at motel, as innovative stopgap at civic center winds down.
According to a staff report available before City Council’s meeting of Tuesday, May 12, 60 hotel rooms at the Red Roof Inn in West Asheville would replace the city’s emergency group shelter at the Harrah’s Cherokee Center – Asheville, which has a capacity of 50 and currently houses 32.
“Other than a new roof, the exterior shell and a few walls here and there, we’re looking at a brand-new facility,” said Chris Corl, general manager of Harrah’s Cherokee Center — Asheville, as he displayed concepts for the auditorium developed by the Nashville-based Earl Swensson Associates. He described the plan as “not a renovation, but a transformation.”
On Tuesday, Jan. 21, Tyson takes the stage at Harrah’s Cherokee Center Asheville, where he’ll parse current events in real time.