Charlotte Dark Scene

The Rooster is a live performing arts venue. My name is Michael Carpenter and I love live music and performance art. The idea of The Rooster started years ago, when my wife Christy and I decided Gastonia needed a place to see live performance art. We love spending our free time going to live performances and concerts; and living in the small(ish) town of Gastonia, NC, we would always find ourselves traveling far away for entertainment. On the way home from a show one night, we started talking about how awesome it would be to open a club of our own. We began to imagine what it would be like to bring people together in celebration of art, music and live performance. We imagined how much fun it would be to provide opportunities to local musicians and performers to showcase their craft…to create a “home” for the arts scene in Gastonia. There was no place providing this service in our community…sure, you could go to a bar on a given night and see a band in the corner of the room, playing to a crowd of distracted diners and drinkers, but we had bigger ideas in mind… And so the idea of The Rooster was born! All we had to do is figure out how to do it! Fortunately, we are positive, determined people and we didn’t let this dream just die as an afterthought. We have worked very hard to make this dream a reality, and we hope that we are able to accomplish our goals by providing this community with a place to go for live entertainment for years to come. It is our mission to provide a platform for local and regional artists to display their talents in a safe, inviting environment while offering the citizens of Gaston County of all demographics a one-of-a-kind entertainment experience that is welcoming, fun and (most importantly) inclusive. It is love that drives this machine. Love of music, love of art, love of community, and love of one another. We seek to celebrate our love for the arts together with our neighbors, and we hope that our message rings true with every show we book. So come on down to The Rooster and let’s make some beautiful memories together! Rock on! -Michael Carpenter