Live music returns to Raleigh’s reopened Rialto Theater this weekend. What to know.
Raleigh’s historic Rialto Theater will offer live music for the first time in more than 20 years Friday night, reviving itself as a venue that once drew the likes of Bonnie Raitt and Jane’s Addiction.
The Glenwood Avenue theater, which opened in the 1930s and long specialized in art house movies, closed in 2022 when its longtime owner Bill Peebles retired.
But this year, Hayes Permar and a team of local investors purchased the business with plans to rejuvenate the 90-year-old Rialto with a lineup of bands, movies and community events.
Last Friday saw a return of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” which the theater previously ran at midnight for decades.
Friday’s concert at the Rialto
Friday’s show presents Will Hoge with The One Eighties as openers.
How to go
Tickets can be purchased at the Rialto’s website, starting at $20 in advance, or $25 at the door. The Rialto is on Glenwood Avenue in Raleigh’s Five Points neighborhood northwest of downtown.
What’s coming soon?
Shows in coming weeks include Sonny Miles on Nov. 4, The Gibson Brothers on Nov. 10 and The Durham Symphony performing a holiday pops show on Dec. 15.
The complete schedule can be seen here.
What they’re saying
“It’s a great time for the Rialto Theater and a great time for Raleigh,” said Zack Johnson, co-founder of Cardinal Talent and a Raleigh native.
“I went to elementary school right next door to the Rialto at Underwood Elementary, and bringing a concert series and live music to this historic venue brings things full circle for me. We’re thrilled to announce the existing line-up and can’t wait to see what the future holds!”
