Triangle venues bask in the glow after J. Cole, Usher visit during Dreamville weekend
For the past two months, select staff at Vidrio on Glenwood Avenue worked with a production company for an event so top secret that their kitchen crew didn’t even know about it.
It was only after the VIP event was over — two after-parties for J. Cole and the Dreamville Festival — that the restaurant could reveal the celebrities that spent the weekend there.
Dreamville Festival was held at Dix Park April 1 and 2. With major names in hip-hop, rap and R&B performing, including Cole, Drake and Usher, the event attracted 100,000 people over two days.
Wednesday, Dreamville organizers announced the festival will be back in 2024, with the dates to be announced. But with the event now in its third year, Triangle restaurants, businesses and hotels are enjoying the festival’s economic impact as well as the buzz the celebrities bring to their establishments.
In addition to Cole shutting down Vidrio, he and other Dreamville headliners went to Cary’s Dave & Buster’s to shoot some hoops and play tabletop air hockey.
“What a nice guy,” said Dylan Chase of Cole, who came by private parties Friday and Sunday nights. Chase is vice president of LM Restaurants, which owns Vidrio and other North Carolina restaurants.
“He didn’t just sit in the VIP room,” Chase said. “He walked around and talked to everybody, he wasn’t crowded by security.”
Meanwhile, Usher stopped by He’s Not Here in Chapel Hill Friday night, causing a stir on social media, and made his way to Big Ed’s restaurant in City Market.
Economic impact data has not been released yet, but 2022’s two-day festival generated $6.7 million in direct impact to Raleigh and Wake County with 80,000 attendees, according to Visit Raleigh. Before this year’s event, with 20,000 more people expected, organizers were anticipating $7.8 million, The News & Observer reported.
Chase said he sees the events surrounding Dreamville as a sign that Raleigh is becoming a place that can compete with bigger cities. He said Raleigh reminds him of Nashville, which now has a downtown that resembles New York’s Time Square.
“I think the biggest thing here is that Raleigh is growing like crazy,” he said. “Raleigh’s just got all of this energy right now.”
Top secret event
Chase said when the company built Vidrio five years ago, they added a stage for DJs or bands to play on, but had never done anything of this scale until this weekend. The restaurant transformed the two-story, 20,000-square-foot space into a nightclub with flashing lights and bottle service.
“We do a lot of private events at our Vidrio location so we’re used to the events but this was a little bit different,” he said.
Security and organizers for Dreamville Festival visited Vidrio multiple times for walk-throughs, inspections and closed-door discussions about accommodations. They also gave Vidrio staff strict rules to keep any plans under wraps. If word got out, the celebrities and other music industry insiders might not come.
The City of Raleigh has a noise ordinance that caps loud noises at venues downtown at 2 a.m., and North Carolina law requires alcohol to stop being served at 2 a.m. Under normal operation, Vidrio closes around 10 or 11 p.m.
But Friday night, the party started at 10:30 p.m. and went on into the early hours of the next day. About 600 people on a VIP list came to Vidrio. Four different colored wrist bands gave the guests access to different areas. Everyone had to be searched by security.
Sunday’s party had about 300 guests, with fewer people due to the traffic getting out of the Dix Park area, Chase said.
Guests included Dreamville Festival performers and their entourages, NBA and NFL players and record executives.
Cole attended Friday night and came Sunday around 1:15 a.m., after he stopped by Dave & Buster’s, Chase said.
Cole, who lives in North Carolina, always orders the same two drinks wherever he goes, Chase said. Vidrio bartenders made them with their own spin.
“They’re both punches, one of them is called a piña colada milk punch and the other is a honey punch cocktail,” Chase said. “One is rum-based and the other bourbon and whiskey,” Chase said.
Chase said Vidrio is considering naming a drink after the Grammy Award-winning rapper who grew up in Fayetteville.
Usher getting brunch at Big Ed’s
Earlier on Sunday, Usher stopped by Big Ed’s City Market Restaurant on Raleigh’s Wolfe Street. The R&B singer grabbed a late brunch, greeted fans in the restaurant and posed for a picture with some of the staff members, ABC11, The News & Observer’s media partner, reported.
Usher was one of the headliners for Dreamville Festival and closed out Saturday night performing some of his timeless hits like “Confessions,” “Caught Up,” and “Superstar.”
Nicholas Culpepper, the manager of the City Market location, wasn’t immediately available for comment on Usher’s appearance.
The restaurant serves breakfast and lunch and was founded in 1958 by “Big Ed” Watkins.
Future party planning
Chase said the weekend’s events drew interest from executives who want to set up shop in Raleigh and possibly rent out Vidrio again.
Though the frequency of exclusive parties at Vidrio may be uncertain, Chase said staff at other LM Restaurants are willing and ready to play host.
“The hospitality that (guests) showed us was equal with what we tried to show them,” Chase said. “It was just an awesome experience for all of us at LM Restaurants and for our staff. It’s unbelievable the hospitality and the graciousness and the humbleness of some of these big celebrities. It was really, really great to see.”