Cat’s Cradle — Attraction in Carrboro

I love the small clubs like this one for shows. It feels so much more intimate. I think I read that the capacity is 750 and the show we went to was sold out, but it didn't feel like everyone was jammed pack in there like at some places. We thought it would when we first walked in because it looks really small. It looks small from the outside too. It looked like they had a small area on one side with stools, but I think that was their only seating.

The staff was much more friendly than we are used to at places up north (NJ, NY, MA, PA). Maybe people from that area would have different opinions, but it was nice to not have people talk to you like you are an idiot. We weren't sure, but it seemed like the security guys were stopping people from moshing and crowdsurfing, which was a nice change. I endure it for the bands I love, but it's nice not having to worry about it.

On the way out I bought a bottle of water and it was only $1.50. That was kind of impressive since usually a bottle of water is $3 or $4 at shows. I honestly can't say if they had a bar, I did not notice. The little counter where we got the water, the guy did have beers, but I don't know about any other type of beverages or what they charged.

One big thing, however and why I only did a 3 star rating. During the show the PA kept going out. I realize sometimes places have technical problems, which I don't know if this is a rare occurrence for this place or something that happens regularly. When you drive six hours for a show, though you want to be able to hear the band playing.

I do think if my favorite band was playing there again, I would give it another try.

An additional note, if you have never been here before, their entrance is around the back of the building. There was a little bit of confusion with us and a few other people who had never been there before about that. Also, there's a parking garage next door that is free. Signs are posted that say 3 hour parking up to 7PM. We got there around two and even though, it didn't appear anyone was monitoring the garage, we weren't sure about parking there longer. Just to be safe, after getting lunch we moved our car to the parking lot in front of...

I heard a lot about the Cat's Cradle and maybe had set my expectations too high for the Sierra Hull show. I try to be fair so it's important to know my wife and I are in our early 60s. Due to my work in the mountains/canyons (wildland firefighter, trail builder, wilderness ranger etc.) I have put a hurting on my feet so standing for hours is something that I do not enjoy doing. But, I have been to many, many music venues and shows over the years so I write this with some experience. We arrived early enough we actually were able to grab available seats on a slightly raised platform. You can see in the photo they are not ideal. There was a pole blocking Sierra and the sound where we were at was muddled and not loud enough to really get into the music. I suppose we were lucky to get a seat at all with so few being available. Also the noise at the back of the club coming from the bar area annoyed the you know what out of me. There were many loud conversations and ice scooping noises constantly. When I ordered the tickets only Sierra was listed as performing but a warm up artist was added and played for about 45 minutes. I was there for bluegrass and she played some rather slow sad music and talked about working in a hospice. Not uplifting stuff. Then there was the men's bathroom. It was clean but I'm really not into standing at a trough urinal next to other guys. A few decades ago I probably thought they were cool but give me a divider nowadays. They do have stalls for toilets I could have used. Prices of the drinks were what was expected but if you purchase liquor expect the pours to be on the small side. I do appreciate this venue brings in the likes of Sierra Hull and other big names. My experience was not up to expectations but if I was younger???? I should add parking here is...

Went there for American Authors a couple of months ago and to Tyrone Wells May 9th.

American Authors was great! It's a shame that you have to walk outside into a separate building to get liquor.. then you have to stay there and miss your show until you finish your drink. But overall we didn't mind and the show was amazing.

Our Tyrone Wells experience was piss poor. Tyrone Wells & his opener were AMAZING. Tyrone Wells has his stuff down, wow what a great show. But the bartender ruined our whole time. She was terrible. Couldn't keep track of who walked up to the bar first and would consistently make you wait for drinks... I can understand a little mishap here and there but we would be the last ones served after being the first ones there out of only 5 patrons.. shouldn't be that difficult to keep track of. Then she was rude and unfriendly-- seemed miffed that we were annoyed with her. One of our friends was designated driver and was looking for a red bull which she said she didn't have. But the bouncer overheard us ask and said he was willing to go run into the main venue for one and she refused! I can't think of any good reason why she would refuse when we continued to be polite to her throughout the show. Terrible service.

I'll absolutely go see these acts again but I'll be looking for them at a...