Norfolk’s NorVa has been named one of the top five rock clubs in the country by Rolling Stone magazine.
The eight-year-old concert venue gets the honor along with clubs in New York City, Detroit, Austin, Tex., and Asheville, N.C., in Rolling Stone’s the “Best of Rock” issue, due to be released on April 18.
The magazine says it will tout the NorVa’s historical character and modern amenities, including a backstage basketball court, game room, hot tub and sauna, all of which make it a favored stop for touring bands.
It’s the same combination of musical quality, local history, and modern attractions that Bill Reid, the NorVa’s owner, says The National brings to Richmond.
Reid, speaking at a breakfast meeting of the Greater Richmond Chamber today, said he expects similar honors in the future for The National, which opened in late February in an 85-year-old vaudeville theater on East Broad Street.
“What we’ve done at The National is even better than what we did at NorVa,” said Reid, who owns Rising Tide Productions in Norfolk and is a partner in RIC Capital Ventures, which bought and restored The National.
The NorVa is a 1,500-person concert venue on Monticello Avenue, across from McArthur Mall in downtown Norfolk. Since the venue opened eight years ago in the site of an athletic club built in 1917, it has staged 1,500 shows and become a major draw for people to come to downtown Norfolk.
The National opened Feb. 22, although The Temptations will headline a grand opening show on April 19. Reid said the theater has staged 26 shows for 26,000 concertgoers with musical acts ranging from country music legend Willie Nelson to Irish punk rockers Flogging Molly.
Reid said he and his partners invested $15 million to renovate The National because of the new vitality evident in downtown Richmond, especially along Broad Street.
“I’m really excited to be at the forefront of a city on the move,” he said at today’s breakfast at Willow Oaks Country Club in South Side. — Michael Martz
I think that the sound at the Peel is horrible, and I avoid shows there at all costs. I don’t understand how they won anything.
glad they put the peel on the map, but i think their music sucks. sorry ash!
yeah, and don’t forget the Smashing Pumpkins and how they put the Peel on the map last year…
it’s gotta be the peel. sure as hell can’t be the civic center.
so far @ the peel i’ve seen ben harper and the innocent criminals, ricki lee jones, joe cocker, lindsay buckingham……….they’ve all been incredible shows!