Concerts & Events in West Raleigh

• For $4, you get one ticket to any regular-season home game on Sunday–Thursday (an $8 value before fees, or up to a $9.50 value online, including all ticketing fees). • For $16, you get four tickets to any regular-season home game on Sunday–Thursday (a $32 value before fees, or up to a $38 value online, including all ticketing fees).

The sound of swooshing nets fills the rafters of the PNC Arena as the NCAA women's basketball tournament shuffles into the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight rounds, pinning the Raleigh Division's top remaining teams against each other in a do-or-die sprint toward the Final Four. Rather than getting pelted with constant shots while reclining in the backboards' cozy round hammocks, hoops fans can perch in 100-level seats to witness the on-court madness, which has already seen the 13th-seeded Marist Red Foxes bust brackets by ousting fourth-seeded Georgia in the opening round. The Elite Eight game on March 27 will crown a regional champion, sending them on a trip to the national semifinal in Denver, where the Kingston Region's own victor awaits the chance to play rock-paper-scissors for a coveted spot in the title game.

Formed in 2010 by merging the region's best opera talent into a single company, the North Carolina Opera pairs an internationally acclaimed cast with a full orchestra in its engaging, modern rendition of Gounod's Faust. Director James Marvel's innovative staging sets the stage aflicker in original video projections, which incorporate English supertitles that immerse audiences in the meaning of the French libretto. Tenor Dimitri Pittas, who has sung key roles with the Vienna State Opera and Metropolitan Opera, plays the eponymous scholar who trades his soul for the promise of youth, riches, pleasure, and unlimited soda refills offered by the devious Mephistopheles, devilishly embodied by Lyric Opera Center alumnus Christian Van Horn. The impassioned music and tragic action swirl around Mary Dunleavy as poor maiden Marguerite, who'll sing with formidable sopranic power. Meymandi Concert Hall's orchestra-level seats and warm, clear acoustics throughout afford prime views and excellent ear-views of the sweeping symphonic action.

Voted a favorite place for party services by Carolina Parent readers, Bounce U welcomes kids to descend upon an inflatable, climate-controlled playground where they can bounce and ricochet in safety. Along with birthday parties and group outings, Bounce U hosts open-bounce sessions that let sock wearers of all ages imagine they're synchronized leapers in a futuristic moon performance as they carom around the inflatable stadium, expending energy with every leap. Adults are welcome to act like 8-year-olds and join the vivacious youngsters in the playground.

The inflatable arena also opens its buoyant doors to technology-themed bounce camps and programs, where boys and girls spend half their time with brain-bolstering projects such as creating their own stop-motion animation movies or reprogramming the remote to skip all news channels. After stretching the limits of their imaginations, kids then spend the other half of the day stretching the limits of their limbs on the inflatable playground.

In 2002, Mike Southard took a leap of faith worthy of The Dukes of Hazzard. He left a career in the elevator industry and decided to pursue his true passion: stock-car driving. Southard launched Try It Racing and On Track Racing Experience, determined to share with others the thrill he had felt many times in the victory lane of late-model stock-car races. His business has grown from a few humble events and clients each year to a fully packed schedule at some of the country's longest running and most renowned racetracks. Some things haven't changed, however—you can still find Southard behind the wheel of the two-seat ride-along car, taking patrons around curves and straightaways at top speed.

Adrenaline fiends satisfy their cravings while driving or riding around tracks such as Orange County Speedway, where industry legends Jeff Gordon and Scott Riggs have burned their share of rubber. A professional photographer and in-car video cameras can capture the excitement at each event, memorializing guests' wide-open eyes, exhilarated smiles, and high-intensity games of I Spy.