Friday, June 27, 2008
Looking back, Shaftman Hall was a great idea
Ralph Berrier
Riffs, the regional music scene as heard by The Roanoke Times reporter Ralph Berrier, will appear weekly on Sundays.
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I love the "Looking Back" page compiled by news researcher Belinda Harris that runs every Monday in the Virginia section. News items from 100 years' worth of The Roanoke Times are boiled down into bite-size nuggets that are equal parts historic, informative and ridiculous.
I especially enjoy the reports of cattle roaming the streets of Roanoke, which, judging by the number of bovine-related items that appear in "Looking Back," must have been a huge problem in 1908:
"Much complaint had been made on the part of residents in the outskirts of the city of certain herders allowing cows to depredate on their property."
And you think Roanoke is a cow town today! Another favorite is the weekly roundup of drunks (literally). Reporters clearly relished covering court proceedings, as evidenced by this report:
"The police court yesterday had the appearance of a banquet hall deserted. There were only three unfortunates to answer their names for violating the law."
Nothing, however, beats the sportswriters of yore for sheer poetic overkill that would have made Tennyson cry in his inkwell:
"For a baseball game the weather of yesterday was simply perfect. From the west the sunlight fell upon the diamond in exquisite radiance, and in the air there was a spice of coolness that made life worth living."
Sounds like somebody was high and outside, if you know what I mean.
The news items from a decade ago certainly do not resonate with such purple prose, which isn't such a bad thing, except that reports of business park expansions, government contracts and layoffs aren't as much fun to read about as, say, cows in the street.
However, one item from 1998 caught my attention recently:
"Organizers unveiled plans Tuesday for a new auditorium that they boldly claim will be the finest in Virginia. The concert hall will be in the old Jefferson High School auditorium at Roanoke's Jefferson Center."
Anybody who has had even a remote interest in Roanoke's musical and cultural scene knows what that "new auditorium" became.
7 years of great shows
Ten years ago this month, the auditorium that would be known as Shaftman Performance Hall was born on blueprints. Three years and $9 million later, Shaftman opened and has been a cultural boon to Roanoke -- and the surrounding region -- ever since.
Whether or not the concert hall ever became "the finest in Virginia" is a debate for others. If it's not, all I can say is that after covering scores of shows there for seven years, I'd love to catch a concert at any place considered its superior.
With a seating capacity just under 1,000, a stupendous sound system and other amenities that make attending a show there fun, Shaftman has been my favorite place to see a show in Roanoke ever since I saw Del McCoury and the Roanoke Ballet Theatre combine forces. Who could forget bluegrass ballet? That show sold out.
But would Roanoke continue to support shows in such a posh environment? That first performance series of 2001-02 was only marginally successful.
In 2002, Jefferson Center hired then-Blacksburg-based promoter Dylan Locke to book shows at its expensive auditorium. The result has been seven seasons of knockout events.
Steve Earle, Joan Baez, Emmylou Harris, Wynton Marsalis, Branford Marsalis, Bela Fleck, Jerry Douglas, Tim O'Brien, Rodney Crowell, the Avett Brothers, Nickel Creek and too many other artists to name have played there. Jazz, blues, bluegrass, country, rock, world and almost any other kind of music you could name has been performed there.
Out of all the terrific Shaftman shows I covered, my favorite was when hometown girl Rene Marie returned for a fantastic jazz concert in 2003. The show was a triumph, and the crowd was as mixed as any you'll ever find in Roanoke -- blacks, whites, middle income, upper income, jazz fans, classical fans, you name it, they were there.
In fact, one aspect of Shaftman shows that doesn't receive a lot of attention is that it's one of the few places in Roanoke where you will see audiences of different races at the same show. That's not true for every concert, certainly, but part of JC's mission is to bring a variety of acts to the city.
Next year's performance series has not been announced, but Pollstar.com is reporting that Wynton Marsalis, Allen Toussaint, Arturo Sandoval, Joey DeFrancesco, a Celtic show headlined by John Doyle and Cherish the Ladies, and a Christmas program from Ricky Skaggs and the Whites will all come to Shaftman in 2008-09.
It hasn't been easy. Jefferson Center, like many arts organizations, has battled money problems this decade. Today, the cultural center seems to be on firmer financial footing, shows are selling out and -- judging by the schedule -- more great shows are on the way.
Shaftman is proof that if a venue is booked properly, operated sensibly and creative in its fundraising, it can succeed. Even in Roanoke.
Looking back -- and looking ahead -- Shaftman has been great for Southwest Virginia.
