One Friday morning last year, Kate Gaffney was out on the sidewalk strumming her guitar and singing for cab drivers. World Cafe Live had just opened, and owner Hal Real had asked the 26-year-old folk singer to do a little street promotion.
Although they didn't necessarily know it at the time, the opening of the restaurant-and-concert venue would propel Gaffney and Real into popularity for living out their passion -- music.
Last Friday, Gaffney sang and played her guitar for more than 200 people to celebrate World Cafe Live's first anniversary and her new CD release.
"Hal's a dreamer, I'm a dreamer," Gaffney said. "The stars aligned, and now this is a dream come true."
World Cafe Live is simultaneously trendy yet smoke-free, grand yet intimate. Through the cozier, coffeehouse-like Upstairs Live and the larger Downstairs Live, the place suits both national and local acts. The diverse lineup of performers ranging from Liz Phair to George Clinton also attracts fans from all over the area.
"This is one of the last places, I think anywhere, where you can come and see real music," said Jamie Myerson, a record producer from New Jersey who was at the concert.
If not for World Cafe Live, he said, he would probably never find himself coming to University City.
"I mean, God, there's actually parking around here," he said.
Though the venue has succeeded in attracting an older audience from around Philadelphia, Real said one disappointment of World Cafe Live's inaugural year has been the lack of patronage by college students.
"We're very much a part of University City," he said. "We're not that far."
In the future, Real hopes that more Penn students will start totake advantage of World Cafe Live's shows and programs. With the venue's location at 3025 Walnut St. and live performances, Real believes University City students will love the musical opportunities and other experiences that his establishment offers.
"It's the best-kept secret we got here, but we don't want it to be a secret," he said.
World Cafe Live got its name from the nationally syndicated "World Cafe" broadcast from Penn's WXPN-FM radio station. Through an unusual partnership, the for-profit concert venue and the not-for-profit radio station found benefits in sharing high-quality performance spaces.
Though the two operations are managed separately, Real said, "We kind of look for opportunities for how one plus one can equal three."
The "Free at Noon" series is one such collaboration. The first 1,000 people who sign up online can enjoy a free performance weekly at World Cafe Live. The Friday shows, which have previously featured artists like Ben Folds and Hall and Oates, is broadcast live over WXPN airwaves.
Cafe highlights - May 11: World Cafe Live and WXPN receive the Arts and Business Council's Business/Arts Partnership Award for the region's most successful collaboration between an arts institution and a private business - Feb. 10: A banquet for Penn's Board of Trustees in the venue's upstairs ends 15 minutes before the sold-out show by gay and lesbian folk trio Girlyman starts, while Norse alt-pop duo Kings of Convenience play downstairs
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