Way back in 1991, the year Walnut Creek Amphitheatre opened in Raleigh, it booked the closing show of its debut season in November -- R&B singer Patti LaBelle. It was an utter catastrophe, as temperatures plummetted down to near the freezing mark. That might still be the most uncomfortable night I've ever spent out there, and it was all for naught. After an interminable delay following opening act Freddie Jackson, LaBelle came onstage to announce that, due to the frigid temperature, she didn't feel as if she could give us "the show you deserve," with the clothes and the hair and the wailing. So she wasn't going to perform.

The crowd erupted into boos, with many shouting at her to leave and never come back. LaBelle did return to play Walnut Creek a few years later, during the heat of the summer, and all seemed forgiven. But Walnut Creek has never booked a show in November since, choosing instead to end every outdoor-music season in October (including this year, which is scheduled to wrap with Martina McBride on Oct. 4).

Cary's Booth Amphitheatre, however, is going to roll the dice. Just announced: A Nov. 8 date with country singer (and Hannah Montana dad) Billy Ray Cyrus as headliner. It's part of a concert celebration "recognizing the missions of the American Red Cross and the National Veterans Freedom Park, while honoring our Nation's veterans, military personnel and their families."

We'll see how that goes. Meanwhile, tickets go on sale at noon Tuesday.

Colbie Caillat is a pretty massive pop star nowadays, which she has to admit is pretty great. But there's a down side, in that a lot of days she'd just as soon be at the beach as slogging across the nation's stages. She was actually somewhat surprised to find herself calling from her very own home in California recently.

"Actual time off, it feels great," she said. "The schedule is very up and down. I'll be gone two months, home for a week -- or maybe even just a couple of days -- then back on the road for a couple more months. The best part of this is that I get to travel and see the world. But the worst part is I do it so much that I'm never home. A Catch-22."

Caillat plays Saturday in Cary at the Carolina Hope Festival (and I sure hope what happened with last year's CHF headliner doesn't happen again this year). For more on her, see the rest of the interview in Friday's paper.

Former Raleighite Ryan Adams doesn't come around his former hometown too often anymore -- he hasn't played here since June 2005, and the Triangle is conspicuously absent from his current tour itinerary. So is the rest of North Carolina. But if you check his current tour T-shirts (which went on sale at the opening date in San Francisco this week), the lineup of cities appears to show Charlotte at the very end:

That's small and hard to read, so here's a bigger version. No word yet on a date or venue in Charlotte; but you'll be the first to know.

(Thanks, Dean.)

Raleigh Downtown Live wrapped up its 2008 season on Saturday, with an announced crowd of 16,400 (!) at Moore Square for Puddle of Mudd. The free seven-show series drew a reported total of 71,050 people. And lo and behold, RDL producer Deep South Entertainment has already set dates for 2009 (which didn't happen this year until February). So if you want to mark your calendar:

May 30
June 13
June 27
July 11
July 25
Aug. 8
Aug. 22

Maybe that new downtown amphitheater will be ready to go by then?

Last month, 79-year-old Durham bluesman John Dee Holeman had to cancel a gig to have an emergency stent procedure to fix his heart. I'm happy to report that he's doing fine, but the surgery left him with some medical bills to pay. So there's a benefit show on Friday at Pizza Palace in Durham.

Holeman being Holeman, he's playing at his own benefit show, along with Andy Coats. No cover, but they're playing for donations. So before you head for that night's CyFest show at Cat's Cradle, drop on by between 7 and 10 p.m. and help fill up the tip jar.

The story behind the benefit show "A Song for Katie" sounds like something out of a country song, or perhaps the Book of Job. It began back in July with the premature arrival of a set of twins to a family in Zebulon. One of the twins died almost immediately, while the other (Katie, birth weight 2 lbs., 5 oz.) went into the intensive care unit, where she'll be until October. So Katie's parents are trekking back and forth to Wake Med every day from Zebulon and Ft. Bragg, where the father is on active duty.

Clearly, these folks need some help. So there's a Thursday night benefit show at Raleigh's V21, featuring Becca Black, Tola and the World, comic Big A and Jon Lloyd Band.

...Like watching Metallica's "Whiplash," as performed by Lego figures for a horde of fist-waving, head-banging Legos (one of whom even goes crowd-surfing). As one of the commenters notes, some folks have way too much free time -- thank God.

(Thanks, Scott.)

Earlier this month, it seemed as if Alejandro Escovedo's perpetually rotten luck in career matters was holding true to form when health reasons forced some dates to be canceled -- including what would have been his first-ever performance on CBS' "Late Show With David Letterman." But he has landed a pretty great substitute. Tonight, he'll open for Hillary Clinton's speech at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, performing his song "People (We're Only Gonna Live So Long)." That's supposed to happen at 7:45 p.m. Eastern Time, and I'm crossing my fingers that at least one cable news channel carries his performance.

Meanwhile, Escovedo is also still scheduled to play Cat's Cradle on Oct. 23.

ADDENDUM (9/10/08): Convention diary.  

Here's an oldie but a goodie, a calculator that enables you to look up what song was No. 1 on the Billboard charts the week you were born. Mine is Elvis Presley's "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" 

So what's yours?

(Thanks, Bob.)

So there's some impressive starpower lined up to play this week's Democratic National Convention out in Denver. And the McCain campaign has countered by trotting out a big-name supporter of its own -- Daddy Yankee?

Maybe he can do a few pro-McCain duets with John Rich.

ADDENDUM (8/26/08): Springsteen might not be appearing at the DNC after all.