DP hits summer stride with slate of indie rock

So it's a lovely summer evening, and you want to see a show. You don't have a car, which means Cat's Cradle is out of the question. Most of your cash is going toward food, making an expensive ticket to Carolina Theater unrealistic. And you're underage, so a bar isn't the, ahem, most legal of options. But don't fret-Director of Duke Performances Aaron Greenwald has an idea for you. And it's free, if you're a student.

This summer, Duke Performances is hosting its second annual Music in the Gardens series. The series is composed of three indoor chamber music shows and a number of outdoor independent rock concerts, featuring music with a Triangle connection and some national appeal. Case in point: the Rosebuds, a Raleigh-based duo from Chapel Hill's Merge Records, performed in the Sarah P. Duke Gardens June 10.

"[The Rosebuds] performed just a killer show," Greenwald said. "And we had 800 people out for the show, which is pretty incredible if your real aim is not to have thousands of people out but to do something in a very low-key and relaxed fashion."

Greenwald said the summer is an essential time for Duke Performances to "retool" and pursue this type of lower-energy, less taxing slate of programming. During the school year, the organization presents artists that Greenwald describes as "of the highest caliber," generally erring more toward traditional and classical music. The indie rock shows that are the meat of Music in the Gardens provide a suitable alternative. Less expensive to produce and less cerebral to pull off and attend than the year's typical fare, the concerts nevertheless offer a high level of musical artistry.

"To be able to maintain that sort of ethos but also draw what we would consider to be pretty massive audiences for this sort of thing is pretty gratifying," Greenwald said.

Duke Performances is under the umbrella of the Provost's office, lending some authenticity to the organization's stated goal of promoting academic, intellectual art with its programming. But this is not mutually exclusive with relaxing fare, as Greenwald and Provost Peter Lange were both quick to point out.

"I think [Music in the Gardens] is an entirely appropriate and engaging part of the kinds of contributions that Duke Performances makes to our campus and non-campus communities," Lange wrote in an e-mail. "'Laid back' is good and should not imply intellectually or artistically vacuous, in fact, when done well, quite the opposite."

Greenwald said the series is off to an "enormously successful" start, and the performers also seem to be enjoying themselves. Alt-country artist Thad Cockrell played the series' first outdoor show, and he came away with a positive vibe.