The Underground

During the 1970's and early 80's, The Village Subway in Cameron Village in Raleigh, NC was a hub of music, activity, and night life. The Ramones, R.E.M, and Jimmy Buffet are some famous musicians that made their start at the Subway. Now, a couple decades later, the Underground still in a decaying and dilapidating state. Cameron Village opened the Subway back up one last time to give the Subway a final farewell. 

Today, The Village Subway is the ruin of the old 70's and 80's nightlife. For a final time, Cameron Village is allowing ticket holders down into the The Underground for a concert, fashion show, and the final farewell to The Village Subway. While the event sold out extremely fast, Cameron Village decided to give out employee tickets to some of the ventures so they could tour and witness The Underground for themselves (Thank you guys!) So last week, I got to go down and tour the remains of The Underground. There remained antique murals that are chipping to reveal even older murals. 

The first room is pictured above. The cobblestone from the streets and the foundations from the stores are still visible. The whole room is a giant empty room, with the exception of the storage from stores up above and the stage that is in the process of being built. There is some graffiti left over from people. Walking on the left over foundations is unadvised since there is left over piping and water on the floor. Other employees touring that were around during The Village Subway's prime time. They were reminiscing of times when they visited The Subway and which stores and bars were where. When the stale air was filled with music and the faint stench of stardom. Or a rockstar thats forgotten to shower. Its very similar. 

Th' Cigaretz performing in 1979, photographed by Malcolm Riviera
 http://www.candidslice.com/the-raleigh-underground-an-epic-era-sealed-beneath-cameron-village/

The large underground space was originally made to act as a bomb shelter during the Cold War after the land was bought in 1964 by the Brookmont Corporation. It was meant to be a space that sheltered civilians during an attack. The space then was renovated to look like the Underground Atlanta. The original entrance, pictured below, was painted to look like a New York Subway. This entrance is sealed off now and the paint is peeling off the wall. 

In its prime time, The Village Subway was home to dozens of musicians that got their start playing in this underground club. Every genera of music was represented and so was every type of band, from famous to garage bands. Raleigh's only jazz club of the time, The Frog and Nightgown, was a hot spot of activity. Performers generally were not announced before their performance, so the audience payed careful attention to who was on stage. Other bands performed at the Cafe Deja Vu and other clubs at The Village Subway. Frequent performers,The Connells, a local band, found their start here. They lived so close to the Village that the performers would walk their, carrying their luggage.

Other well know performers such as Jimmy Buffet, The Police, and The Ramones to name a few. R.E.M.'s first concert footage is taken at The Pier in 1982. The Pier also hosted Sonic Youth when they recorded their first live track "I Wanna Be Your Dog" for their album Confusion is Sex. 

Slice of the 1970's by Malcolm Riviera overlaying the real mural today
http://www.candidslice.com/the-raleigh-underground-an-epic-era-sealed-beneath-cameron-village/

Today The Underground is forgotten with most of the current Cameron Village Shoppers not even knowing about its existence. The interest in its existence was rekindled by Heather Leah in her article called Candid Slice which reminded everyone about the forgotten space in July of 2013. Since then, there has been a revival to for The Village Subway to come back to life. Currently the location is to be used by The Fresh Market for food preparation. With their location being blocked off from all sides from above or below. This area will no longer be opened to the public after the renovations. They hold one of the two entrances to The Underground. The second entrance is behind the Party Shop and was used in the "Cameron Village Live" concert that was held on May 16. 

Today, the second location is a large shell of the past with all of the original structures removed and graffiti replacing it. 

If you have other stories or information about The Village Subway, go ahead and comment! 

References:

"The Village Subway." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 17 May 2015.    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Village_Subway 

Leah, Heather. "The Raleigh Underground: An Epic Era Sealed Beneath Cameron Village." Candid Slice. N.p., 18 July 2013. Web. 17 May 2015. 
http://www.candidslice.com/the-raleigh-underground-an-epic-era-sealed-beneath-cameron-village/