Backyard Barbecue draws more than 100

Karina Soni thinks the combination of food and music is the perfect way to enjoy the summer outside.

Soni is the station manager at the UNC student-run radio station WXYC, which put on its first Backyard Barbecue event of the summer outside of Chapel Hill Underground Sunday.

Sunday’s event featured live music from two local bands, pulled pork barbecue sandwiches, hot dogs and chips for a cover charge of $3. Around 150 people attended the event.

Backyard Barbecue shows are scheduled to occur on the last Sunday of every month at the Chapel Hill Underground.

“The whole name of our shows, ‘the Backyard Barbecue,’ is fun because it’s very literal,” Soni said. “Also, the combination of music and food make a fun occasion.”

Eddie Sanchez, co-owner of Chapel Hill Underground, said the Backyard Barbecue is the first event the bar has hosted outside, but he hopes to schedule more outdoor shows in the future.

The female trio Boykiller and Carrboro-based Flesh Wounds performed at the event.

“Boykiller is like post-punk with a little bit of pop, and Flesh Wounds is a garage band,” Sanchez said.

Soni said Sanchez organized the event and recruited the bands, but for the next event WXYC is recruiting the bands.

Backyard Barbecue began as, and still is, a WXYC radio program on Sunday nights.

The radio show began about 24 years ago and features DJs playing local records, live in-studio sets by bands and previews for upcoming shows.

The in-venue events began around the same time the radio program started.

Julianna Thomas, the Backyard Barbecue coordinator, said Sunday’s event was the first Backyard Barbecue in-venue show since October 2008.

“In the past, these in-venue shows happened very sporadically,” Thomas said in an email. “Now, we’re just trying to make it more of a regular thing.”

Next month’s event, scheduled for Sunday, July 29, will feature Airstrip and Old Bricks.

Airstrip is a ‘nightmare-pop’ band that features former members of popular local bands such as Veelee and Gross Ghost.

Old Bricks, an indie-folk, experimental band, features Sanchez as an instrumentalist and vocalist.

Thomas said the Backyard Barbecue lineups reflect the varied musical scene in the Triangle region.

“It’s really important to us that there is a mix of different genres represented in these shows,” Thomas said in an email. “The first show was very garage-rock focused, but we’ve also discussed and are actively looking into booking metal, punk, indie rock and more for future shows.”

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