The "Father of Rock and Roll" will be Downtown Sept. 5 to celebrate the birth of Raleigh as a destination. 

The legendary Chuck Berry, the very first inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, will be the headliner for the Sept. 5 Raleigh Wide Open 3 (RWO3) Celebration. The Raleigh Convention Center will be officially opened at noon on that date.

On day two, Foreigner lead singer Lou Gramm will perform his unique brand of Rock and Roll that placed 20 Top 40 singles and sold nearly 80 million albums worldwide.

RWO3 also offers a diverse slate of opening acts on the Fireworks Stage, plus, for the first time, an alternative music stage. Dubbed, Cherry Bounce, the alternative stage will feature local and global acts making a name on music's cutting edge.

Mayor Charles Meeker announced the headliners at Monday's City Council meeting. Meeker said this spring Berry performed 14 concerts in 14 days in 10 European nations, and in June he performed four dates in Brazil. Currently the legend is again rocking Europe, having appeared Saturday in Spain and headlining France's De La Mer Sete Festival on Thursday. This is in addition to 20 performances in the United States he will give prior to Raleigh's Sept. 5 date. The Mayor pointed out that Raleigh residents can catch a guest appearance of the cultural and musical icon on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on Aug. 29, exactly one week prior to Berry's Capital City date.

Among Berry's other all-time greats that are essentials in the Rock and Roll "bible" are: "Brown-Eyed Man," "Too Much Monkey Business," "Memphis," "Roll Over, Beethoven!" and of course, "Johnny B. Goode."

Lou Gramm on Saturday
Acknowledged as one of the most distinctive and powerful voices of Rock's past 30 years, Gramm burst on the scene in 1977 with chart topper, "Feels Like the First Time." Foreigner made itself at home at the top of the charts with eight Top 5 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and five Top 5 albums. Other classics include: "Waiting for a Girl Like You," "Hot Blooded," "Juke Box Hero," and his massive solo hit, "Midnight Blue."

Opening Acts
The party will start Sept. 5, on the Fireworks Stage on the 500 block of Fayetteville Street with hip-hop heavyweights Arrested Development. The group's members are self-described dancers, vocalist, turntablist and drummers. Their sound described as "life music" has sold over six million albums and garnered a Grammy Award.

Opening Sept. 6, is Soul Asylum, which has cut nine albums over their 24-year sojourn.

Cherry Bounce Alternative Stage
A new music feature is joining the Raleigh Wide Open Celebration - the Cherry Bounce Alternative Music Festival. A Raleigh-bred band, the Annuals will take to the CB Stage Friday evening. None other than Rolling Stone and Spin magazines have bestowed rave reviews on the native sensation, Annuals. Saturday's alternative tunes will be courtesy of Islands, an acclaimed high-energy act out of Montreal.

The Cherry Bounce Alternative Music Festival is named in honor of a cocktail that very well may be the reason there is a Raleigh. Cherry Bounce is a mash of cherries, sugar and whiskey or brandy. It became legendary in 1792 when the a commission of nine men appointed by the General Assembly went in search of a site to serve as North Carolina's permanent capital. Col. Joel Lane, a Revolutionary War veteran and gregarious tavern and inn keeper, convinced the officials that his parcel of 1,000 acres was the perfect location for the Tar Heel capital. Many claimed that the commissioners were influenced by Col. Lane's libation, which he liberally shared and of which they had become quite fond!

Related Links

1. City of Raleigh and Full RWO3 Schedule
2. Raleigh Convention Center