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GWINNETT ANNUAL REPORT 2004: Going Out in Style: Night out's no longer a road trip Clubs, entertainment leave few reasons to go elsewhere BYLINE: DON FERNANDEZ CORRECTION: 02/22/04, page J/2: A photograph caption in today's Gwinnett 2004 Annual Report, which was printed in advance, misspells the names of Patti Scialfa and Steven Van Zandt, who performed with Bruce Springsteen at the Arena at Gwinnett Center. Forget the commute. For a night filled with music, mingling, excitement and culture, Gwinnett County offers more reasons than ever to skip the trip to Atlanta. Live music? Check. Big-name concert acts? The list is long. Night life, dancing, a burgeoning social scene? It's all here. From the Arena at Gwinnett Center, with its roster of A-list concert offerings, to the arrival of Wild Bill's, metro Atlanta's largest nightclub, Gwinnett County no longer can be defined as an endless series of subdivisions and strip malls. Finally, there is something to do besides shop, and there are fewer reasons than ever to trek down I-85 to Atlanta for a night on the town. "It's like everything else. It's a quality-of-life issue," said Commission Chairman Wayne Hill. "As we're able to support more things, more will come. With the Arena, it proved our citizens will support these things." Rivaled only by Philips Arena in downtown Atlanta, the year-old Arena at Gwinnett Center has wasted no time earning a reputation as a top-notch performance venue. In its inaugural year, the Arena racked up superstar performances by rock and pop standard-bearers Bruce Springsteen and Elton John as well as acclaimed youth-oriented rockers Coldplay and Good Charlotte. Country music heavy-hitters George Strait, Hank Williams Jr. and Martina McBride drew huge crowds. By December, Mannheim Steamroller and the Trans-Siberian Orchestra had arrived with two of the most eagerly anticipated shows of the holiday season. "We want to continue to build on what we've started," said Arena general manager Preston Williams. "We're still trying to establish its identity in the industry. In the community, it's there. We still have to do some work with the agents and promoters and [define] the role we want to play in this market. That's one thing we're focused on in the coming year: to keep our face in front of everybody." Concerts aren't the only ticket. World Wrestling Entertainment will take its second show in less than a year to the Arena in March. Lucha Libre, a popular form of wrestling in Latin America, is making a sophomore visit soon, and two rodeo tours have found the Arena the perfect spot to hang their hats. "It's developed pretty much like we thought it would and pretty much what we intended for it to do," Williams said. "We tried to design and build the diversity into the venue to be able to accommodate that." The Arena is also home to the Georgia Force arena football team and to Gwinnett Gladiators hockey. In May, the Arena could step into a national spotlight when "On Eagle's Wing," a heralded Irish production that traces the immigration of the Scots-Irish to the United States, makes its world premiere at the facility. The stage show is said to be filled with music and dance and has drawn comparisons to the popular "Riverdance." Former President Jimmy Carter already has hailed the production. Just as the Arena was bursting into prominence, another venue -- almost equally notable -- amped up the after-hours excitement level. Taking an abandoned Service Merchandise storefront as its home, Wild Bill's opened in the summer. A colossal nightclub -- the biggest in metro Atlanta -- and performing arts hall, Wild Bill's lured top-tier country music artists, including LeAnn Rimes and Trace Adkins, for concerts. Blowouts on Halloween and New Year's Eve also attracted thousands to the club, which mixes country music with dance and top 40 hits. Owner and country music performer Bill Gentry defied many expectations and challenges when he opened the facility -- including those of a rival club that was eyeing a nearby location -- and faced the nagging question of whether there was an audience for such a venture so far from intown Atlanta. It turned out that folks were hungry for such a place to party. "It has gone way beyond my expectations," Gentry said. "The amount of people coming out and the level of success have almost been overwhelming." Sunday's at Wild Bill's have been set aside for teenagers. Recently, 6,000 teens filled the club while more than 1,000 sat outside in the cold waiting to enter. "It's just insane," Gentry said. Wild Bill's is also sponsoring a Tuesday amateur night during which aspiring musicians compete for a shot to audition for country music record labels after first showcasing their talent for the nightclub crowd. "I've looked at all the things as an entertainer I had to do myself and put it into a prize package," Gentry said. Wild Bill's has become not only a nightclub, but also a tourist attraction, drawing eager partyers from around the South. "It's been huge from the country music aspect," said Lisa Anders, spokeswoman for the Gwinnett Convention and Visitors Bureau. "There's also a lot of little things that people don't know about." Even the county's nooks and crannies are developing a night-life identity. In downtown Buford, blues club 37 Main opened in an abandoned and slightly Gothic brick structure among the myriad art galleries and restaurants that populate the area. After some fine-tuning -- no more flamenco music, less jazz -- the nightspot is carving out an audience. "We're just now starting to get the word out," said owner Laurie Attaway. "Lots of repeat business. Our bands are out of Atlanta, and there are lots of blues bands. We do zydeco, lots of different stuff." A taste of old Gwinnett can be found at Everett's Music Barn in Suwanee, where players have been picking out bluegrass on Saturday nights for more than 30 years. For a night of good old live rock 'n' roll in a roadhouse atmosphere, the Sweetwater Bar & Grill in Duluth showcases a variety of local bands each Friday night for a mere $3 cover charge. Those looking for more sedate -- dare we say it, even refined -- cultural experiences don't have to look far. The Performing Arts Center at Gwinnett Center is a mecca for fans of the classics. It is home to the Gwinnett Philharmonic and the Gwinnett Ballet Theatre. Last year, it counted 106 events, including extended engagements such as "The Nutcracker." "It has been a gem for the community," said Gwinnett Center marketing manager Cheryl Gee. "We have everything from Chinese-American performances to students from schools. Since the arrival of the Arena, people have noticed the venue as another tool for marketing the smaller events." Comedy shows are one genre the Performing Arts Center has embraced recently, and their success bodes well for more laugh-filled evenings. "We're talking to some promoters for some future events in comedy," Gee said. The growing influence of Hispanic culture has not been ignored in the maturation of the county's entertainment options. It is evident in everything from the diversity in cuisine -- Mexican, Colombian and Peruvian, to name a few -- to Lucha Libre wrestling and the coming debut of Teatro del Sol, a Spanish-language branch of Duluth's popular Aurora Theatre. Gwinnett is even developing what appears to be an entertainment district. Once-staid Sugarloaf Parkway now bristles with activity. The Arena, the Performing Arts Center, the Convention Center and the Hudgens Center for the Arts are all clustered along Sugarloaf, and the Discover Mills shopping center is just up the road. Discover Mills recently added a huge movie theater -- the Discover Mills 18. Sugarloaf is speckled with restaurants, and more are primed to surface. A ride down PeachtreeParkway to the Peachtree Corners corridor has become a tempting tour for epicureans. The Forum shopping center, for instance, recently debuted the second location of the Brooklyn Cafe, which has been a favorite Italian eatery in Sandy Springs for more than a decade. All of these options position Gwinnett as more than a mere suburb. It is a full-fledged cultural community that is becoming a destination for its residents and for those beyond the county line as well. "It's going that way, definitely," Anders said. "When we are traveling places, when we are downtown, people always tell us, 'Love the Arena.' They used to say, 'It must take a long time to get downtown.' " Photo: Bruce Springsteen, Patty Scialfa and Steve Van Zant rock the house at the Arena at Gwinnett Center and demonstrate its ability to draw big-name entertainers and big-time crowds./ KENT D. JOHNSON / Staff Photo: Owner Bill Gentry takes the stage at Wild Bill's, metro Atlanta's largest nightclub and a major addition to county nightlife./ JENNI GIRTMAN / Staff
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