The PopCulteer
December 28, 2018

PopCult has been covering it for over a year and a half, but New Year’s Eve sees the official grand opening of The Bakery, Charleston’s newest all-ages music venue, located at 1007 Bigley Avenue (the old Purity Made Bread Factory).

Long months of work by volunteers, raising funds, painting, doing construction and bringing the building up to code have paid off.

Monday evening, beginning at 6:30 PM, a FREE show kicks off the new, completely-approved by Charleston’s Fire Inspector and compliant with ADA and all other regulations, music venue. The Bakery is finally here, and it’s completely legal.

There are four bands scheduled for Monday with more expected to be added later. As of now the line up is Saprogen, Everpulse, Luna Park and The High Incident Project.

This is a free, all-ages show, intended to introduce Charleston’s much-needed new all-ages venue to the public. Think of this opening night as a harder-rocking alternative to Charleston’s Good Night performances.

Charleston has needed an all-ages venue for quite some time, and it’s great to see the group behind The Bakery overcome the various and formidable obstacles that have caused this project to have such a prolonged gestation. Here’s to the perseverance of those who worked so hard to make this happen.

Speaking of Good Night 2018

We have a schedule for this year’s free New Year’s Eve concert series around town, and here it is:

Charleston Baptist Temple – Fellowship Hall
209 Morris St.
6 & 8 PM Presby Pickers
7 & 9 PM Appalachian Celtic Consort

Charleston Baptist Temple-Sanctuary
209 Morris St.
6 & 8 PM Charleston Civic Chorus
7 & 9 PM Youth Symphony

Christ Church United Methodist – Chapel
1221 Quarrier St.
6 & 8 PM Roger Rabalais
7 & 9 PM Edward Pauley and Friends

Christ Church United Methodist – Sanctuary
1221 Quarrier St.
6 & 8 PM womanSong Chorale of West Virginia
7 & 9 PM Kanawha Kordsmen Barbershop Chorus

Civic Center – Little Theater
6 PM River City Youth Ballet Ensemble
7 PM“Moonage Daydream: The Bowie Songbook”
Ryan Hardiman, Mark Scarpelli & strings
8 PM “Josh Groban and Classic Rock”
Jonathan Tucker, Mark Scarpelli & strings

First Presbyterian Church – Sanctuary
16 Leon Sullivan Way
6 PM Rose Fisher
8 PM Mary Street Brass
7 & 9 PM Makenna Hope

St. John’s Episcopal Church – Hunter Hall
1105 Quarrier Street
6-10 PM “It’s Midnight Somewhere” with FOOTMAD

St. Marks United Methodist Church – Chapel
900 Washington St., East
6 pm St. Marks Steel Drums
7, 8 & 9pm Frank Ball and Friends Gospel Sing

St. Marks United Methodist Church – Sanctuary
900 Washington St., East
6 & 8 PM Martin Luther King Jr. Male Chorus
7 PM Appalachian Children’s Chorus

Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church
1600 Kanawha Blvd., East
6 & 8 PM Almost Heaven Dulcimer Club
7 & 9 PM Albert Frank Perrone

This ia great chance to get out and enjoy some of Charleston’s most talented performers in intimate settings without spending any money on tickets. It’s a way to support the local scene and be a cheapskate at the same time, and with The Bakery grand opening at the same time, music lovers can choose from Hard Rock, folk music, Celtic music, classic rock, choral music, Barbershop, world music, gospel, old-time traditional, classical and more.

Good Night is a wonderful Charleston tradition, every New Year’s Eve, from 6 PM to 10 PM, presenting free music all around town. It’s a great way to ring in the new year and get a head start on forgetting the one we’re about to kick to the curb.

And that’s it for this year-end edition of The PopCulteer. Check back for our regular features, and also look for some kind of surprise before the end of the year, if I can force myself out of my post-holiday slacking mode. Having Christmas and then New Year’s hit right in the middle of the week has thrown your PopCulteer off his usual work-a-holic methods, and going back to work is taking more effort than normal. Still, I’ll soldier through this bout of relaxation…for the kids!