@moonwatcher -- I was devastated when Jay had to shut down the old Ziggy's. Wake Forest University used their clout with the city and screwed him over big time. All those business properties on Baity Street and Deacon Boulevard were bought up or run out of business by a WFU front (me included) so Wake could develop it and add off-campus offices and parking. After years, they just announced that whole stretch of Deacon Boulevard from University Parkway to the football stadium is being turned into an entertainment district. I knew that was the plan when properties were being bought and flipped, but it's taken around 15 years.
Ziggy's was amazing while it lasted. I first went to a show when it was the little white house where the Joel Coliseum parking lot is now located. Saw Los Lobos in 1986. It's mind blowing to see the list of the bands that played at Ziggy's from 1986 to 2006. It was THE PLACE bands wanted to play on their way from D.C. to Atlanta. Now, bands go to Cat's Cradle in Carrboro, Orange Peel in Asheville, or one of the Charlotte venues. I mean, the huge Prog/Death Metal band Opeth played Ziggy's three times. They still play smaller venues in the U.S. (I saw them 2 nights in a row in 2020 at The Apollo Theater in Harlem), but the also sellout 100,000 attendance festivals numerous times a year.
I keep wishing The RamKat will start booking bands like Ziggy's did...but it hasn't happened yet.