2016 Issue 32 Creative Loafing

CLCLT.COM | SEPT. 29 - OCT. 5, 2016 VOL. 30, NO. 32

1 | DATE - DATE, 2015 | CLCLT.COM

2 | SEPT. 29 - OCT. 5, 2016 | CLCLT.COM

TONIGHT

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OCTOBER 1

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OCTOBER 22

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OCTOBER 29

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CLCLT.COM | SEPT. 29 - OCT. 5, 2016 | 3

th an 9 2 nual

HEY EVERYONE, IT'S TIME TO

Party!!!

 1  2 our theme: Cosplay baby!

DRESS CODE: BRING YOUR A GAME HEROeS, CHARACTERS, VILLIANS AND MORE!

Costume contest!! $500 Grand Prize

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6PM-10PM tickets $25

more info: clclt.com/charlotte/ItsPARTYtime/Page

We'r aLErEsInThSOw!

4 | SEPT. 29 - OCT. 5, 2016 | CLCLT.COM

CLCLT.COM | SEPT. 29 - OCT. 5, 2016 | 5

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PHOTO BY PAUL HAMPARTSOUMIAN

20

10

Pro-Motion performs at Breakin’ Convention at Knight Theater on Sept. 30.

COVER STORY THE TIPPING POINT: A community reacts to the death of Keith Lamont Scott.

BY RYAN PITKIN THIS WEEK’S COVER PHOTO WAS SHOT BY RYAN PITKIN AND DESIGNED BY DANA VINDIGNI.

12

NEWS&VIEWS FROM MY EYES: CL contributor describes

experience on the ground during the first two nights of protests following Scott killing.

BY LARA AMERICO

14 CLASS IN SESSION 15 THE BLOTTER

16

FOOD HITTING THE ROAD FOR GRUB: D.G. Martin’s North Carolina Roadside Eateries tracks family-owned gathering spots.

BY CORBIE HILL

22

ARTS&ENT DOWNHILL FOR UPSTAGE: NoDa venue closes its doors.

BY ANITA OVERCASH 24 FILM REVIEWS

28

MUSIC

LOOK AT WHAT THE BATS DRAGGED IN:

Wednesday 13 talks life, death and Condolences.BY MADELINE LEMIEUX 32 SOUNDBOARD

ODDS&ENDS

20

20 TOP 10 THINGS TO DO 34 MARKETPLACE 34 NIGHTLIFE 35 CROSSWORD 36 SAVAGE LOVE 38 HOROSCOPE

CLCLT.COM | SEPT. 29 - OCT. 5, 2016 | 7

8 | SEPT. 29 - OCT. 5, 2016 | CLCLT.COM

CLCLT.COM | SEPT. 29 - OCT. 5, 2016 | 9

NEWS

COVER STORY

A memorial built for Keith Lamont Scott in the parking spot where police confronted him. Neighbors continued to add flowers to the pile as darkness fell on Wednesday, Sept. 21.

RYAN PITKIN

THE TIPPING POINT A community reacts to the death of Keith Lamont Scott

BY RYAN PITKIN

O

N THE EVENING of September 21, just over 24 hours after Keith Lamont Scott was killed by a CMPD officer in northeast Charlotte, Misty McCollie stood in the parking spot where he 10 | SEPT. 29 - OCT. 5, 2016 | CLCLT.COM

had parked his car for the last time.

Standing near a shrine-like memorial built for Scott, where neighbors would come by and drop off flowers throughout the night, she spoke of how she had hoped more folks would come to the vigil there at The

Village at College Downs, instead of the rally planned for Uptown that night.

Save for a handful of Guilford College students from Greensboro and local organizers who had been canvassing the neighborhood to offer support to residents,

the vigil mostly consisted of neighbors. They mourned Scott while discussing solutions for community problems ranging from police violence to the everyday woes of child rearing.

McCollie hoped nothing bad would come of the Uptown rally following violence

For a full slideshow from each of the first six nights of protest, visit www.clclt.com. between police and protesters outside of her own neighborhood on the previous night, but she wasn’t optimistic.

“We could do whatever, it doesn’t matter,” McCollie said. “We could go downtown and tear stuff up and do whatever but at the end of the day, another black man is probably getting shot by a police officer right now.”

About 30 minutes after she said this, news came flashing across the cellphones of those gathered at The Village that a young man had been shot during protests Uptown.

First reports indicated he was dead.

Later, the city would report that the shooting that took the life of Justin Carr was believed to be an act of violence between two protesters, and Rayquan Borum would later confess to the crime, according to the prosecutor. But on the ground, fellow protesters were convinced the police had fired the fatal shot. Many eyewitnesses standing near Carr at the time of the incident are still wholly convinced of this.

Word spread among protesters that police had killed one of their own, and the incident fueled a rage awakened by Scott’s killing; one that hadn’t subsided since the shooting death of Jonathan Ferrell by thenCMPD officer Randall Kerrick three years earlier — nearly to the day — and the mistrial that followed in that case.

Wednesday night would end with at least hundreds of thousands — if not millions — of dollars in damage to local businesses, the declaration of a state of emergency in Charlotte and a new understanding for what was at stake in the oft-ignored struggle of Charlotte’s black working class and the movement for black lives.

RYAN PITKIN

FOLLOWING THE UNREST in Charlotte that Wednesday night, peaceful marches continued through the streets of Uptown on a nightly basis. There were handfuls of arrests here and there, many of which for minor infractions like blocking traffic, but all in all peace prevailed.

In the days following the unrest, local organizers formed Charlotte Uprising, a coalition of organizations like Tribe and the Trans and Queer People of Color Collective.

Charlotte Uprising organized many of the marches, during which protesters often gathered for rallies at Marshall or Romare Bearden parks before taking to the streets, shutting down traffic as they chanted and stopped for speeches. The crowds grew as the week went on, with as many as 800 people marching throughout the day on Saturday, pausing at Marshall Park for pizza and to listen to CMPD Chief Kerr Putney’s press conference before resuming their march through the night.

Putney’s partial release of body- and dash-cam footage of the Scott shooting that day did not appease the demands of protestors, who called for the full release of all footage. Many believed the videos had been not only edited for length but doctored, as no sound can be heard on the body cam footage for the first 20 seconds of footage.

At a press conference on Monday morning, Charlotte Uprising members discussed a list of demands they had created for the city of Charlotte and the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department. The list included putting an end to Charlotte’s state of emergency status, the removal of the National Guard

from the city, the release of all those arrested in the unrest following Scott’s shooting and the release of the full body- and dash-cam footage linked to the Scott case.

Two of Charlotte Uprising’s demands — the release of all remaining footage involving the Scott shooting and a call for the U.S. Department of Justice to conduct an investigation of the CMPD — correspond with similar demands presented by the NAACP North Carolina State Conference at a Charlotte City Council meeting on Monday night.

A new demand added to Charlotte Uprising’s list on Monday morning, although it wasn’t included in the original 10 demands, was for the immediate resignation of Putney and Mayor Jennifer Roberts.

“As community organizers and leaders, we have engaged with Chief Putney in the past and he has promised us that CMPD would be more transparent under his leadership,” Bree Newsome with Charlotte Uprising said on Monday. “We feel that these promises have been broken and we therefore call for the immediate resignation of Kerr Putney as Chief of CMPD. We have no confidence in his ability to either serve or protect our communities.”

At a press conference on the Thursday following the state of emergency declaration, Putney was asked how he could square his promise of full transparency with his refusal to release the tapes. His answer has since become infamous in the eyes of protesters and even people watching from afar, as its been skewered on social media.

“I never said full transparency,” Putney responded. “I said transparency, and transparency is in the eye of the beholder.”

Speakers lambasted Roberts and council members at Monday’s council meeting, disrupting the meeting with chants and heckles. Roberts, who was known to state “Black Lives Matter” during nearly all of her debate appearances and campaign speeches while running for mayor, has been seen by many as complicit in Putney’s evasiveness in dealing with the Scott killing.

“We’re asking them to resign from their positions, as they’ve been obstructing justice and they have not upheld their duties to the people,” Ashley Williams of Charlotte Uprising said. “They have been inconsistent with their stories since Tuesday … Because they refuse to follow the leadership of those they claim to represent, they should not govern here.”

The call for Putney’s resignation underscores a theme that is more prevalent in the response to Scott’s killing than was evident following the killing of Jonathan Ferrell in 2013: a distrust and often a complete write-off of any CMPD statement telling their version of events by protesters.

The near-immediate arrest of Kerrick following Ferrell’s shooting, perhaps buoyed

by the Ferrell family’s repeated references to police officers within their immediate family and calls for a peaceful push for policy change, may have led to a more restrained reaction than we’ve seen following the Scott shooting.

Scott’s family did release a statement on Wednesday calling for peaceful protests in the lead-up to the rally at Marshall Park, but a distrust in law enforcement and the justice system — bubbling under the surface since Kerrick’s mistrial declaration — was amplified by contrary stories that arose following Scott’s and Carr’s killings. Statements from police in both shootings conflicted with those from witnesses on the ground, whose accounts spread through social media and cemented the belief of many that a cover up was at hand.

Captain Mike Campagna with CMPD, who walked alongside protesters during marches throughout the week following Scott’s killing, downplayed the lack of trust between residents and police, attributing it to a loud majority.

“I think that is a small but very vocal part of this group,” Campagna said while walking alongside protesters on Saturday night. “I think that, overall, when you look at the city of Charlotte and our residents, I think we do a great job. I think we have a great relationship with the community. It’s not perfect, by any means, and we can certainly do better, but I think we’ve made a lot of steps over the last decade of really trying to work on that.”

During each march, Campagna could be seen engaging with protesters, having in-depth discussions. He said that, while some involved in the marches don’t want anything to do with him, he tries to listen as best he can to those wanting to vent their frustrations so he can build relationships and work toward positive reinforcement.

“To me, the critical thing is there’s stereotypes and there’s myths between both groups,” Campagna said. “The world will tell me that a young black man is dangerous or a criminal or a thug or whatever, and the world will tell them that I’m trying to kill them, and they’re both wrong. There are people that fit bad cop stereotypes, there are people that fit bad young black male stereotypes, but they’re on the fringes, they’re really the exception and not the rule.”

Campagna’s goal is to build better relationships outside of times of crisis, so that when a crisis does happen — whether it’s a small issue like a traffic stop or a larger issue like a police killing — the trust is there.

“If the only times people are engaged with police officers is in those times of crisis, then all their experiences are going to be negative,” Campagna said. “So we’ve got to get away from the 911 calls — away from

SEE

STREETS P. 13 u

CLCLT.COM | SEPT. 29 - OCT. 5, 2016 | 11

NEWS

COVER STORY

FROM MY EYES CL contributor reports from the ground during first two nights of protests following Scott killing

BY LARA AMERICO

THE RECORDER ON my table made a hissing sound as I made DIY cassettes of my original music. I read a news report that a black man had been shot by police in Charlotte. This was only a day after the video of the death of Terence Crutcher at the hands of a Tulsa police officer was released. The graphic video of Crutcher bleeding on the ground was still in my mind.

Now police had shot another black man; this time in my hometown.

The man’s name was Keith Lamont Scott, and his family members and eyewitnesses on the scene were saying all he had in his hand was a book. My mind went blank and my emotions shut down while feelings of helplessness overwhelmed me. I decided I needed to try to get on with the day. Life had to go on even as an uneasy feeling refused to leave me.

Word spread that people were showing up at The Village at College Downs, the apartment complex where Keith Scott lived and died. The rumors were of helicopters, police in riot gear, civil unrest. It was clear the neighborhood needed as much support as they could get.

The closer I got to the apartment complex, the more I realized this was not an ordinary protest. Police had blocked parts of Old Concord Road and people were walking from miles away.

I parked my car in a dimly lit neighborhood and approached the site of the shooting.

The sun was setting and a dusty fog made for an ominous backdrop. Police were putting on riot gear and arming themselves with wooden batons. A helicopter flew overhead, placing its spotlight on hundreds of protesters. My stomach dropped. Text messages from my partner Joanne poured in, asking me to come home.

A car parked in the center of the crowd of blasted anti-police songs while a man stood atop and rapped along. The bass from his trunk shook the ground. The police had their own vehicle: a CATS bus filled with more police, riot gear and other equipment.

The tension increased as protesters confronted CMPD officers. They lined up in formation, face to face with the officers glaring through helmets. Some were baiting the officers saying, “Pull the trigger now, we’re right here!” or “You’re scared, you don’t want to be here!” Others were lecturing officers, telling them how they are hurting the community with their actions.

One man, in a confrontation with a row 12 | SEPT. 29 - OCT. 5, 2016 | CLCLT.COM

of officers caught on video that soon became viral, said, “I love my fucking country, I’ve got brothers who died for this shit man.” He raised his arm to show a veteran’s bracelet.

“You’ve seen this band, you know what it is. I don’t hate you, I don’t hate none of you. But why, man?” A picture of the confrontation is featured on the cover of this week’s issue.

As the numbers of protesters increased, police officers went in. The lead officer shouted a command and officers began walking, thwacking wooden batons on their shields. The crowd hurled water bottles at the CMPD officers and refused to move.

With water splashing in my eye, I followed the crowd as it pushed down the road. The deafening sound of a cargo train cut through the commotion. Protesters cried that the police were going to surround them. “They’re trying to trap us! We need to surround them!

Get behind them!”

Eventually the police were overwhelmed by hundreds of protesters. I witnessed my friend Charlie Comero streaming a live feed on Facebook, yelling at the officers. “You don’t have to do this!” he said. “Why do you have batons? Why are you in riot gear?”

I flinched in response to a loud thump near me when an officer was hit with a brick in his helmet. Officers down the line became more aggressive with their batons.

Protesters were being attacked, dragged away with force. Comero, after being hit with a baton, charged an officer screaming at the top of his lungs, “What is wrong with you?” The officers started to retreat.

Fifteen yards away, the officers started to regroup. At this point, the peaceful protest had turned dangerous. Protesters listening to police scanners warned others that tear gas and flash bangs would be used. The officers put on gas masks. Onlookers panicked.

Some protesters continued to push forward, some throwing objects, while other in the crowd pleaded for them to stop. The riot police tried to push them down the street. Protesters resisted. But the police were winning this battle. A canister of tear gas was thrown into the crowd and protesters scattered. Bottles, bricks and tree limbs flew through the air, some hitting fellow protesters.

My throat burned and it became difficult to see. Protesters began throwing tear gas back at police. As I ran to a safe location to regain my vision, more and more protesters

RYAN PITKIN

A protester on his car during protests immediately following Keith Scott’s killing.

pushed back at the police. The CMPD unit had no choice but to retreat.

A lone police vehicle became the target of angry protesters on Old Concord Road as police retreated and left them alone for some time, a helicopter spotlight and blue lights flashing in the distance the only evidence of their presence. A man climbed atop the vehicle and started to stomp on the roof. Attacked with bricks, tree branches and wooden poles, the vehicle was totaled. Protesters opened the car door and removed items from the vehicle.

A laptop flew in the air and nearly hit another protester in the head. A small group of riot police eventually returned to the vehicle with guns drawn and the protesters ran away.

This continued through the night — ending with a complete blockade of Interstate 85 that included a fire fueled by the contents of a tractor-trailer stuck in the mayhem — until protesters dispersed for good around 3 a.m.

The second day of protest originally showed promise to remain more peaceful than the previous day. A gathering took place at Marshall Park. A group of mothers whose children had been killed by police were sharing their stories and grieving with the crowd. Around 200 people mourned with candles and signs.

From the beginning, I sensed the gathering was divided into two groups with different ideas about how they wanted to protest. One side was made up of those who were there to pray for the police and the victims. These individuals pushed for a peaceful and political approach to the situation. The other group consisted of those who believed the only way to bring change was to bring chaos. That group eventually left the park to move deeper into the city. Police scanners reported that around 400 protesters showed up near the Omni Hotel near Trade and Tryon Street.

As I arrived, it was clear this protest would be far from peaceful. People chanted “Fuck the police!” as they began throwing objects at CMPD officers in riot gear. The

officers made the Omni Hotel parking garage their base and defended it with paintball guns loaded with pepper balls — paintballs filled with pepper spray. The officers began shooting any protesters who approached them. It quickly became difficult to breathe and my eyes began to burn.

I approached their lines at the Omni Hotel entrance as a black woman with angel wings pleaded for police to stop shooting black people. Clergy members stood between the police units and the protesters hand-in-hand in an attempt to prevent further violence.

Across the street, a fight erupted when a white worker began to admonish protesters.

A steady amount of flash bangs and tear gas were being thrown into the crowd.

Suddenly there was a loud sound that could have been mistaken for another flash bang. People began screaming.

“You shot him!”

“The police killed him!”

In front of the Omni, a man was plastered to the ground, blood pouring through his dreadlocks. A medic manipulated Justin Carr’s seemingly lifeless body and took him behind the line of riot police. The mood in the air changed as everyone processed what happened. We were protesting the death of a black man and right in front of us another black man was dying. A pool of his blood seeped into the brick ground.

Who killed Justin Carr would remain a point of contention between police and protesters in the coming week, even as a prosecutor stated in court that Rayquan Borum had confessed to the killing. On the streets of Uptown that night, the sight of Carr’s body on the ground in a pool of his own blood would fuel the anger of protesters.

Riot officers marched toward the crowd.

Protesters threw chairs and garbage canisters into windows and hurled metal containers and large pieces of wood at police. Police continued their efforts to push protesters down Trade Street. A combination of tear gas, flashbangs, pepper bullets and physical force pushed back protesters.

Meanwhile, the windows and doors at EpiCentre Sundries Convenience store were broken. Protesters in makeshift masks began to loot the store. Canned sodas and packs of cigarettes fell to the ground as a looter ran through a broken window. From the Charlotte high rises, bankers watched the streets burn from their offices, while others dined on The Ritz-Carlton balcony across the street. They all looked down as their illusion of a clean, tidy Charlotte crumbled.

As clouds of tear gas spread through Uptown that night and my vision blurred, one thing that remained clear to everyone on the ground and looking down from the balconies is that Charlotte would never be the same again.

BACKTALK@CLCLT.COM

NEWS

ACTIVIST JOBS

COVER STORY

*TO HELP STOP LGBT BULLYING* STREETS FROM P.11 t those things — and find opportunities to engage each other personally rather than on a professional basis.”

For Newsome, however, the way police respond in these times of crisis makes all the difference. At Monday’s press conference, she emphasized her belief that police should carry the burden for the events that transpired on Tuesday and Wednesday, due to the nature in which she says officers escalated things. “[A police killing] is a traumatic thing for a community to experience and … it is especially traumatic when it happens in certain neighborhoods,” she said. “So instead of the police showing up and dealing with the community and the trauma they are experiencing; giving them answers, showing the video right away, being transparent, engaging in that way, they show up with SWAT gear and war methods and tear gas, to a community of residents. There is absolutely no balance of power between the police — who are backed by the state government — and the residents.”

FOR THOSE RESIDENTS who came together at The Village at College Downs on Wednesday night, change will come not through protest but in a newfound motivation to become active on a political level.

Quan Davis, another of Scott’s neighbors, said she wants to form a grassroots political action group to represent the interests of those in her area who are either too busy or unwilling to attend bureaucratic meetings.

Davis’s plan is to get together a handful of people willing to research the voting records of local elected officials and the platforms of new candidates in local government — from state representatives down to the school system — to educate those in the neighborhood who are less politically adept.

“We can be there to speak and be a mouthpiece for the community, because everyone is not articulate,” Davis said. “Everyone cannot express themselves appropriately. They get overly passionate and it’s seen as aggression or anger. It takes someone with an even keel that can just speak and get their point across and have an open dialogue with whomever, so they’ll see, ‘You know what, this community is not playing. They’re serious.’”

N.C. Rep. Carla Cunningham, who represents the 106th District, which includes The Village at College Downs, was in the community Wednesday night.

At the time Scott was shot, Cunningham was in west Charlotte attending a panel with the mothers of Eric Garner, Sandra Bland and Dontre Hamilton, all of whom died at the hands of police or while in police custody. When she heard the news, she called the mayor’s office to find out if it happened in her district.

“I’ve been expecting it,” she said.

Perhaps that’s because, from where she stood at the site of Scott’s shooting on Wednesday, she was just five miles from the site of Ferrell’s shooting in 2013 and one mile from the spot where Daniel Harris was shot and killed by a state trooper in August.

Cunningham knew residents of The Village would be traumatized, and got to work setting up a “safe space,” where residents could vent their frustrations or seek free counseling.

She heard from those who missed work Tuesday night because they were stuck inside the complex. She heard from a veteran who was triggered by her own past experiences to the point where helping her daughter cope with the situation was hard. She heard from a young man whose mother was calling repeatedly to make sure he was still OK. “We focus on what’s dramatized; what raises the ratings on TV. But this impact is going to last for the long term, and we have to start somewhere,” Cunningham said. “It’s not me going downtown.”

Speaking with Davis and McCollie on Wednesday night at The Village, the conversation turned to those who were protesting in Uptown. People were saying someone was shot and reports were that things were getting out of control, but there was no context for what was really going on in Uptown.

While each agreed they would not be taking to the streets to protest, they also wouldn’t hold judgment against those who took that route.

“They’re protesting over there because that’s all they know to do, so they do what they can do,” she said. “It’s like a child, like my kids. When you’re little, you don’t have nothing but your little self. If your momma make you mad, you might tear your own toy up because that’s all you have to do, and you can execute that power in that way, not thinking that you aren’t going to have a toy to play with tomorrow. You are angry. You want people to know that you’re angry so you exhibit that anger. It’s a knee-jerk reaction and that’s what’s happening right now.”

McCollie shared the frustration of the protesters, at one point saying, “They see us like animals now, but if you’re constantly treating us like animals, killing us or locking us up, how do you expect some of us are going to act?”

She burned a sage stick and looked down upon the flickering candles and the evergrowing pile of flowers on Scott’s memorial.

“I expected [a riot]. It’s normal now. The police and the government and everybody knows when they kill us that’s what we’re going to do. They know. It’s history,” McCollie said. “That’s why I was not going down there either, because then y’all might have been coming to visit me maybe.“ RPITKIN@CLCLT.COM

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VIEWS

CLASS IN SESSION

BUT AM I REALLY OK? Checking in, and not on Facebook comes to the sincerity of some religious LAST WEDNESDAY NIGHT and institutions, I did grow up in a Baptist through Thursday, I kept getting prompts church so I do have some context when one on Facebook from folks to see if I was OK asks for prayer. This is why I felt the call to because apparently I was in a designated action from some to #PrayForCharlotte to problem area. For a couple days following be disingenuous, or at least broad in scope. the shooting of Keith Lamont Scott, my You see, these are the same folks who city joined a list of others that had been drug Kaepernick through the mud for deemed worthy of a Facebook check-in due exercising his constitutional right to a to horrible earthquakes and terror attacks. peaceful protest when he began taking a knee Folks wanted to know if I was OK, but during the national anthem. Yet they are truthfully I was not — and I was not alone. absolutely mute when black men are killed, I saw many folks hurting and grieving over their deaths streamed on loop in the media. the most recent set of black men to be killed, The problem lies in that folks are more upset and the resulting unrest sparked a new hashabout how folks are protesting than why they tag: “Pray for Charlotte.” are protesting.

Pray for Charlotte, indeed.

Growing up in a black Baptist I got a message from a former church, when sister Jones was student, a conscious young struggling with the cancer brother named Develon who (in black churches it is wanted to check up on me “the cancer”), she asked after all that he had seen on for prayer, which set off the news. It was a simple a chain reaction. An old but powerful gesture of deacon would get off the support, much needed pew, get down on bended between two black men knee, start with a “Father weary from negotiating a God we come,” take out his culture where it seemed to CHARLES handkerchief and began to be open season on black lives.

EASLEY pray in earnest to and for the I reached out for support person that needed healing. He online and asked for discernment didn’t ask to pray for Mercy Hospital in preparation for this column. Many or the folks at the American Cancer Society. folks responded but there was one voice, Ms. No, he started with the one that was in Martha, a seasoned, sassy white ex co-worker immediate need of prayer: sister Jones. that captured a sincere spirit of healing with Some folks won’t or can’t see the people the simple statement, “I’m praying for you who are hurting. I’m not saying there are Charles.” She was not “Praying for Charlotte,” not folks in Ballantyne, Dilworth or Myers but praying specifically for someone she Park that need prayer, but right now we knew, like most of us do, who is in immediate have some brown folks on the corridors of need of prayer and is especially struggling Beatties Ford Road, Central Avenue and with the challenges in seeking social justice.

Freedom Drive that need help now.

For some, these recent events came as Why? Because we have not historically a shock to residents who claim that such addressed racial profiling and the chaos could only happen in other places — brutalization of black bodies and spirits by certainly not here in the shadow of banking authority figures in this city. These actions towers, under Carolina blue skies. now yield the united voices of disenfranchised Many are sharing #PrayForCharlotte folks and their allies who represent the sister because they wonder, how could such hate Joneses of our community, standing in the and violence come to their fair city? Therein immediate need of prayer. lies the rub, because depending on who you If you really want to #PrayforCharlotte, talk to, the anger, hate and discontent have you have to get uncomfortable, and I don’t always been here in Charlotte. I grew up mean getting down on one knee. Get out of southern, so I am aware of our mutant ability your circle, check in with a brown neighbor to smile, swap sugar and “bless your heart” or colleague, reach out to those hurting into a false sense of normalcy and content. the most — the victims of historical and Each syrupy exchange, however, can be laced systemic violence — and pray sincerely. with a cold, biting dose of unspoken truths.

Sweat stained handkerchief and gospel Pray for Charlotte. choir optional.

Although I have reservations when it 14 | SEPT. 29 - OCT. 5, 2016 | CLCLT.COM

NEWS

BLOTTER

BY RYAN PITKIN

NOT LOVIN’ IT Police responded to a

McDonald’s on E. W.T. Harris Boulevard last week after a man’s drive-thru wait became too long for him to handle. Police arrived at the restaurant to find a man passed out in the driver’s seat of his vehicle, which was parked in the drive-thru line. Usually this happens only after you eat McDonald’s food.

HAPPY TO SEE ME A man in South

End last week walked into a Circle K and immediately started shoving the most phallic foodstuff he could find down the front of his pants. An employee told police that the suspect was wearing sweatpants and concealed a can of Pringles, a “Big Mama” sausage and a stick of beef jerky down the front of the pants before walking out the front door looking very excited.

ANTIQUING A 32-year-old man in west Charlotte had his home broken into and his shotgun stolen last week, but the thief will be in for a surprise if they ever try to shoot the gun. The victim told officers that the burglar took a 100-piece socket set, 100 shotgun shells and a shotgun, although the gun itself is an antique and hasn’t functioned for decades.

NO TIP Employees at an Applebee’s in the University area got the runaround from a pair of cheap customers last week who seemed offended that anyone would even ask them to pay for their meal. The employees told officers that the suspects ate $42 worth of food and then left the restaurant without paying. One employee followed the suspects outside and when it became clear that they weren’t planning to turn around, they started taking pictures. One suspect said, “Don’t take fucking pictures of me, I will fucking kill you.” When the employee began taking pictures of the license plate, the suspect reached into the backseat of their vehicle, scaring the employee back inside.

The suspect chased them back inside, and the employee had to run through the kitchen to get away.

MY GOOD NAME An elderly couple living in south Charlotte filed a police report after realizing that someone had used their identities to apply for a credit card with a local bank, but seemed to be more concerned with why that application would have been denied than with the crime itself.

The 76-year-old woman filed the report, and rather than list who she thought may be responsible or any other information that might help the case get solved, she was sure to list in the report that the suspect used her middle name instead of her first name in the application, and she believes that’s the only reason this fake person wasn’t approved for the card.

DROP ZONE Employees at Carowinds filed a police report last week after an amateur spy had to ‘fess up to his sneaky behavior. Employees walking the grounds at the amusement park found a drone lying on the ground where it had apparently crashed.

Management told police that the drone’s owner had already contacted them at an earlier date saying the drone had crashed in the park and to be on the lookout for it.

Next time you’re at the highest point of The Fury, look around to see if the neighbors are watching.

BACK FOR MORE In another example of how video technology is changing the way crimes are committed and prevented, a disgruntled employee of a south Charlotte skin care studio was caught red-handed by her former boss thanks to app surveillance last week. The studio’s owner told police she was alerted through her phone one afternoon that someone had opened the door to her business, despite it being closed for the day. She logged in to an app that showed her feeds from surveillance cameras in the studio, and saw a former employee stuffing $250 worth of Botox into her purse. The owner was able to reach the business before she left, and the would-be thief returned all the Botox and fled the scene.

EASY AS ABC Staff at the West Boulevard Library called police last week after the building was damaged by suspects who may have just been learning how to read and spell the hard way. The reporting person told officers that the vandal(s) did $700 in damage when they removed the large metal letters from the outside of the business and walked off with them.

CAR TROUBLE While protesters shutting

down the roadways were all over the news in Charlotte last week, one man who shut down traffic further down Brookshire Boulevard didn’t make CNN, but left his mark nonetheless. Police responded to an intersection on Brookshire after calls came in about a man acting erratically and walking in the roadway to impede traffic. When they arrived, officers were able to speak to the man for a moment, but then he suddenly darted back into the road and began smacking the windows of a car. Officers dragged the man off the road, but he didn’t go down without a fight. He allegedly kicked the two officers, grabbed the groin area of both men and bit one of them while they were trying to handcuff him.

Blotter items are chosen from the files of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty.

CLCLT.COM | SEPT. 29 - OCT. 5, 2016 | 15

FOOD

FEATURE

HITTING THE ROAD FOR GRUB D.G. Martin’s North Carolina’s Roadside Eateries tracks family-owned gathering spots

BY CORBIE HILL

W

HEN D.G. MARTIN ran for Congress, once in 1984 and then again in 1986, the Charlotte district covered Mecklenburg, Iredell and Lincoln Counties, as well as some of Yadkin. It had been held by Republicans for decades, and the Democratic Martin had some good campaigns, he recalls, only losing the first time by 300-odd votes. It was a good race, and the candidate covered the sizable district one greasy spoon at a time.

“What I found out is if you’re going to go to Lincolnton, you go to where the locals eat for your campaign event — same thing in Statesville and in Yadkin County,” Martin says. “I loved that aspect of meeting with a few people (and) having conversations that might challenge your views, but they were by and large friendly people.”

He may not have landed the congressional seat, but the Mecklenburg County native was reminded of something he’d experienced his whole life: if you want to find out about the people who live someplace, you go to the local restaurants. Many of them have been in the same family for generations and have become institutions in their own right. In his new book North Carolina’s Roadside Eateries: A Traveler’s Guide to Local Restaurants, Diners, and Barbecue Joints, he presents 100 such locations. There are burger and seafood joints, Mexican and Mediterranean restaurants, and certainly down-home Southern diners. On Oct. 12, Martin speaks at Park Road Books in support of this guidebook.

In a way, the author — also a newspaper columnist and the host of UNC-TV’s North Carolina Bookwatch — is coming home; he grew up in north Mecklenburg and practiced law in Charlotte as a young adult. North Carolina’s Roadside Eateries, however, is largely designed with curious travelers in mind.

“On these roads, particularly on interstates, we get on and generally don’t stop except for at an intersection for a quick bite to eat,” Martin says. Rather than seek out the same chain you can find anywhere, he proposes, why not seek the place where the locals go? “It turns a long, boring trip into something that’s refreshing and adds to the spice of life.”

For the restaurants in North Carolina’s Roadside Eateries, Martin’s rubric is simple: 16 | SEPT. 29 - OCT. 5, 2016 | CLCLT.COM

they must be inexpensive, family-owned gathering spots that are convenient to an interstate. It’s not a foodie book, though gourmet types would be wise to seek livermush at the Shelby Cafe, he volunteers.

These are places to get reliable country cooking.

Maybe the foodie guide to the interstate can come next, he offers with a laugh.

It wasn’t altogether easy to choose what went in the book, either. There are plenty of good places to eat, Martin explains, but many are either franchises or too expensive or too new to have proven themselves yet as local gathering spots. Some eateries Martin wanted to include are simply no longer there.

“One of my longtime favorites was a place called McDonald’s Cafeteria, which was an African-American-owned, wonderful, wonderful gathering place right off the Beatties Ford Road / I-85 intersection,” Martin says. “It was the perfect place, and five or ten years ago Mr. McDonald passed away and it went out of business.”

The author knows, too, that his Charlotte friends will ask why he left out this or that beloved local restaurant. This is a positive criticism, Martin says. He welcomes these suggestions, and he’s taking notes for the next edition. For transplants, though, he feels this book can help them get to know the state.

“It will be fun even for outsiders who never hope to take these trips to read them and get a little taste of what North Carolina is like,” Martin says. “Even for places in Charlotte they’ve heard about and never gone to, like the Open Kitchen, Lupie’s — these are local places where local people have been going for a long time.”

With certain Charlotte area spots, Martin was one of those locals.

The Acropolis Cafe and Grill in Cornelius, where North Mecklenburg’s class of ‘58 — Martin’s high school class — holds its reunions, is only three or four miles from where the author grew up. Charlotte’s Open Kitchen is one of the few places that has held on for Martin’s entire life, and it gets an extra-long entry in North Carolina’s Roadside Eateries. In 1959, Davidson’s basketball team was having a lousy season. On New Year’s Eve, following a particularly humiliating loss, Martin and the rest of the team showed up at

PHOTO COURTESY D.G. MARTIN

D.G. Martin will sign copies of the book at Park Road Books on Oct. 12 and at Main Street Books on Oct. 13.

A shot of The Soda Shop in Davidson. the Open Kitchen, where the crowd cheered them up.

“If you live in Charlotte and you haven’t been to the Open Kitchen — I’m out there telling travelers that they should stop there!”

Martin says. “It’s a nice place to eat, but it puts you in touch with 60-odd years of Charlotte history, a place that people who lived and died in Charlotte long before you moved there have been.”

At the root of Martin’s love of the junction of country food and gathering places may be the Mallard Creek Barbecue. He heard about it in high school from his friend Tommy Oehler, whose family runs the annual event (this year it falls on October 27). He didn’t go as a teen, Martin admits, but developed his love of the Mallard Creek Barbecue a decade later when he was practicing law in Charlotte. The food is great, sure, but it’s

PHOTO COURTESY D.G. MARTIN

the opportunity to meet people that’s the real draw. What Martin presents in North Carolina’s Roadside Eateries is something he’s valued for decades, and he pauses while talking about Mallard Creek to make a mental note.

“I’ve gotta get it on my calendar for this year,” he says.

D.G. MARTIN BOOK SIGNING Oct. 12, 7 p.m. Park Road Books, 4139 Park Road. 704-525-9239. parkroadbooks.com.

Oct. 13, 6 p.m. Main Street Books, 126 S. Main St., Davidson. 704-892-6841. mainstreetbooksdavidson.com.

CLCLT.COM | SEPT. 29 - OCT. 5, 2016 | 17

18 | SEPT. 29 - OCT. 5, 2016 | CLCLT.COM

Carolina Book Fest 2016 Authors are swooping in to the Queen City to deliver an event you will not forget!

Join us to meet over 90 bestselling authors from all genres!

October 15, 2016 Marriott City Center Charlotte, NC

Author Signing/Meet & Greet: 10-3pm Monster Mash After Party: 7:30pm-10pm CONNECT WITH US: www.carolinabookfest.com

www.facebook.com/carolinabookfest carolinabookfest@gmail.com

DISHING FRESH FOOD AND BEVERAGE NEWS WEEKLY. EVERY WEEK IN:

CLCLT.COM | SEPT. 29 - OCT. 5, 2016 | 19

THURSDAY

29

GRACE STOTT GALLERY RECEPTION What: Local artist Grace Stott is showcasing a selection of her artwork at Petra’s, and the surrealsim involved in this show will blow your mind. Back in April, she curated Cherry Pie, an exhibit that feature feminist-inspired art by local artists at Union Shop. Her solo show features art that’s described as “fantastical and nightmarish.”

Cats with rainbow tongues wrapped around legs? Check.

When: 7 p.m.-10 p.m.

Where: Petra’s, 1919 Commonwealth Ave. More: 704-332-6608. petraspianobar.com.

— ANITA OVERCASH

20 | SEPT. 29 - OCT. 5, 2016 | CLCLT.COM

THURSDAY

29

THINGS TO DO

TOP TEN

Breakin’ Convention FRIDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

29

FRIDAY

30

30

LAURYN HILL

JIM LAUDERDALE

ROB: EARTH-ONE

BACON FEST

What: Saying Lauryn Hill will be late to the stage at her upcoming Charlotte show is akin to telling people the sun will rise in the morning. Expect it and don’t let it bother you. Once that’s out of the way, we know Ms. Hill is worth the wait. Her recent concerts and festival appearances have been sublime. Her songs have received modifications and modernizations and her talent shines through.

What: Jim Lauderdale just picked up a WagonMaster Lifetime Achievement Award, which was presented by George Strait, at the Americana Honors & Awards. It’s a much deserving honor given to a master songwriter — his work has been recorded by artists like Patty Loveless, Shelby Lynne, Solomon Burke, The Dixie Chicks and Strait.

Lauderdale is a talented performer, as noted after this year’s Housing Fest that was held at The Fillmore.

What: Better known as a member of the hip-hop collective, The Social Contract, Rob:Earth-One, is going solo for this show. Dividing his time between Fayetteville and Charlotte, he’s written and recorded new material recently. He’ll release his solo album at this Snug show, so pick it up while it’s still hot. What better way to have a good time and support local music before anyone else has it?

When: 9 p.m.

Where: Evening Muse, 3227 N. Davidson St. More: $20-$22. 704-376-3737. eveningmuse.com.

When: 10 p.m.

Where: Snug Harbor, 1228 Gordon St. More: $5. 704-561-1781. snugrock. com.

What: This gathering of 10 food trucks is focused around bacon.

TIN Kitchen will have a baconbison slider, OooWee BBQ will have hickory smoked mac and cheese and Southern Cake Queen will have bacolate, a chocolate cake with bacon pieces in it. Other food trucks with bacon options include Tiger Yakitori, Spoon’s BBQ, Improper Pig, Mel’s BLT Kitchen, Papo Queso, Gyro Twins and more.

Live music from Pluto for Planet and C2 &The Brothers Reed, too.

When: 7 p.m.

Where: Charlotte Metro Credit Union Amphitheatre, 1000 N.C. Music Factory Blvd.

More: $61.50-$101.50. 704-9168970. livenation.com.

— JEFF HAHNE

— OVERCASH

— OVERCASH

When: 5 p.m.-10 p.m.

Where: Food Truck Friday in South End, 2161 Hawkins St. More: Free admission.

— OVERCASH

SCOTT SIMONTACCI

HOLLY ANDRES

Eleanor Tallie WEDNESDAY

NEWS ARTS FOOD MUSIC ODDS

Jim Lauderdale THURSDAY

Esperanza Spalding WEDNESDAY

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

30

1

BREAKIN’ CONVENTION What: This convention, which debuted in Charlotte last year, is was one of the funnest events of 2015. On Friday, Knight Theater hosts break dancing performers from across the globe, including Just Dance (Korea), Tentacle Tribe (Canada), Jane Sekonya (South Africa), Pro-Motion (UK) and the mastermind behind the convention, Jonzi D (UK). Followed by an outdoor festival on Saturday.

When: Sept. 30-Oct. 1, 7:30 p.m.

Where: Knight Theater, 430 South Tryon St. More: Free outdoor performances; $20 and up show. 704-372-1000. blumenthalarts.org.

— OVERCASH

HEROIN KILLS AWARENESS SHOW What: The first Heroin Kills show was put on last winter after a group of friends in Plaza Midwood lost numerous people to the drug.

After raising $1,600 that time around, they’re back it, raising money for the scholarship fund of a local holistic treatment center and the NC Harm Reduction Coalition.

Performers include The MADD Hatters, The Common Wealth, No Brainer, The Fill Ins, Sibannac and Black Fleet.

When: 4 p.m.

Where: The Station, 2131 Central Ave. More: $3.

— RYAN PITKIN

SATURDAY

WEDNESDAY

WEDNESDAY

5

1

5

MIAMI DICE

ELEANOR TALLIE

ESPERANZA SPALDING

What: This local group has quite a good reputation around town and for good reason. The band is comprised of Shawn Olson and Josh Faggart (also of Cement Stars) and Scott Weaver (who doesn’t know Scott Weaver?

Music wise, think: Babyshaker and Snagglepuss). Seeing the trio with Patabamba and Astrea Corp makes this a not-to-miss show at Visulite Theatre.

What: Classically trained multiinstrumentalist Eleanor Tallie is known more these days for her soulful singing. She plays her own brand of neo-funk that fuses soul, R&B, the blues, jazz and hip-hop elements. She’s able to strike the right chords to conjure up a retro vibe, while establishing her own modern characteristics. She came through a few months back as a support act, but this time around, she’s topping the bill.

What: Jazz bassist/cellist/singer Esperanza Spalding flew under the radar for years until a number of Grammys, including Best New Artist in 2011, helped quickly elevate her status. She’s touring in support of Emily’s D+Evolution, her fifth studio album, which was released in March of this year. If you haven’t seen her by now, this is yet another chance to catch her talent in the Queen City.

So, what are you waiting for?

When: 9 p.m.

Where: Visulite Theatre, 1615 Elizabeth Ave. More: $10. 704-358-9200. visulite. com.

When: 9 p.m.

Where: Double Door Inn, 1218 Charlottetowne Ave. More: $12-$15. 704-376-1446. doubledoorinn.com.

When: 7:30 p.m.

Where: McGlohon Theater, 345 N College St. More: $29.50-$54.50. 704-3721000. blumenthalarts.org.

— OVERCASH

— HAHNE

— HAHNE

CLCLT.COM | SEPT. 29 - OCT. 5, 2016 | 21

ARTS

PERFORMING ARTS

DOWNHILL FOR UPSTAGE NoDa venue closes its doors

BY ANITA OVERCASH

W

HEN DEANA PENDRAGON aka Big Mamma

D performs with her burlesque crew at UpStage, they like to get up close and personal with the audience. Pendragon opens the shenanigans by walking through the crowd, making an already intimate show even more hands-on (but it’s really hands-off, as you well-behaved folks know, you can’t touch the burlesque performers), as she greets many of her repeat fans that have become more like family and friends over the years.

That will be the case one last time on Oct. 8, when Big Mammas House of Burlesque makes an appearance at UpStage for the venue’s farewell show.

UpStage transitioned into a performing arts space in 2012. Before that, the venue had been known as Wine Up, since opening in 2003. Longtime Wine Up/UpStage owner Kelly Oyama says that after the NoDa property — which includes other businesses like Neighborhood Theatre, Boudreaux’s, and Salud — was sold for $5.6 million to LCRE Partners, she received a call from Tyler Foster, the property’s former owner, and was told to vacate in 30 days.

“I was like ‘Wow, after 13 years, really?!’

The whole thing was really bizarre,” says Oyama, who admits she didn’t have a solid leasing agreement in place.

LCRE Partners declined to comment as it relates to the details around the close of the business, but Aaron Ligon, broker/principal of LCRE says, “We are not forcing out tenants and we plan to work with every tenant there that has a lease and that is a part of that property.” He adds that they are planning maintenance and cosmetic improvements, which includes replacing the roof, but no demolition. “We’re excited to be a part of the neighborhood.”

Though Oyama is skeptical over the property’s future, one thing is sure: The timing couldn’t have been better. Oyama says was ready to say goodbye to the venue.

She returned to run it last year, after three years of management by Michael Ford, who fostered the growth of theater performances there.

“He was very much the reason that so 22 | SEPT. 29 - OCT. 5, 2016 | CLCLT.COM

ANITA OVERCASH

The exterior of UpStage, located above Salud, in NoDa.

FAREWELL UPSTAGE! BIG MAMMAS HOUSE OF BURLESQUE PRESENTS DISNEY AFTER DARK BURLESQUE SHOW $15-$18. Oct. 8, 9 p.m.

UpStage, 3306 N. Davidson St. bigmammasproductions.com.

ANITA OVERCASH ERIC CUTCHIN

Ophelia PopTart of Big Mammas House of Burlesque at an UpStage performance in April.

many people who were doing plays came.

There are a lot of people out there that know Michael, he was very active in that community,” says Oyama, who has no plans to open UpStage or a similar venue in another location.

She contributes leasing issues, rent expenses, increased construction and lack of parking as contributors to UpStage’s gradual financial decline. According to her, it wasn’t making substancial money or drawing large crowds, despite efforts made by Ford.

When Oyama returned to operate the venue last year, she began charging $250 a week for performances, which were previously free to performers/performance groups.

“I can’t run this place on air. It’s hard to get people in the door. These people in the

arts community, they’re great and I would love to work with them, but on a Saturday night we might get 16 people out to a play.

The rent is almost a $1,000 a month, so you don’t have to be a mathematician to figure out that can’t work,” she says.

Theatre/performance groups like Three Bone Theatre, Stephen Seay Productions and Big Mammas House of Burlesque put on shows somewhat regularly at the venue. There were also regular spoken word nights from Touch One Productions and monthly improv shows by Improv Charlotte.

Stephen Seay currently doesn’t have a replacement venue for shows lined up, but hopes to find a similar spot to UpStage.

Pendragon, who was recruited to the venue by Ford and started performing there in 2012, says that she believes theatrical arts “just aren’t well supported in NoDa.” “I’m sad that we’re loosing it but we have a potential replacement venue for [Big Mammas

House of Burlesque], which is good. It is my hope that we’ll be able to continue at the new Actor’s Theatre of Charlotte location,” says Pendragon.

“They are possibly looking for late night shows, shows that wouldn’t start until maybe 10:30 p.m., so it’s my hope that we’ll get to move in that direction. We’ll still always be at the Visulite Theatre. I’ve already solidified my dates or 2017 there.”

Pendragon also notes that shows at Visulite Theatre tend to sell better than those at UpStage, though she’s unsure as to why.

Experience-wise, UpStage provides a more cabaret-style atmosphere.

“The stage is only about 8 inches high as opposed to the stage at Visulite, which is 4 feet. It’s much more intimate and very up close and personal.”

UpStage’s final shenanigans, featuring Big Mammas House of Burlesque will be themed around “Disney After Dark.” Behind the bar will be former UpStage bartender, Leann Steves, who is returning for the final hurrah to mix drinks, hopefully, until the bar is dry.

AOVERCASH@CLCLT.COM

ANITA OVERCASH ERIC CUTCHIN

Ophelia PopTart of Big Mammas House of Burlesque at an UpStage performance in April.

ANITA OVERCASH

The exterior of UpStage, located above Salud, in NoDa.

DOWNHILL FOR UPSTAGE NoDa venue closes its doors

BY ANITA OVERCASH

HEN DEANA PENDRAGON aka Big Mamma D performs with her burlesque crew at UpStage, they like to get up close and personal with the audience. Pendragon opens the shenanigans by walking through the crowd, making an already intimate show even more hands-on (but it’s really handsoff, as you well-behaved folks know, you can’t touch the burlesque performers), as she greets many of her repeat fans that have become more like family and friends over the years.

That will be the case one last time on Oct. 8, when Big Mammas House of Burlesque makes an appearance at UpStage for the venue’s farewell show.

UpStage transitioned into a performing arts space in 2012. Before that, the venue had been known as Wine Up, since opening in 2003. Longtime Wine Up/UpStage owner Kelly Oyama says that after the NoDa property — which includes other businesses like Neighborhood Theatre, Boudreaux’s, and Salud — was sold for $5.6 million to LCRE Partners, she received a call from Tyler Foster, the property’s former owner, and was told to vacate in 30 days.

“I was like ‘Wow, after 13 years, really?!’

The whole thing was really bizarre,” says Oyama, who admits she didn’t have a solid leasing agreement in place.

LCRE Partners declined to comment as it relates to the details around the close of the business, but Aaron Ligon, broker/ principal of LCRE says, “We are not forcing out tenants and we plan to work with every tenant there that has a lease and that is a part of that property.” He adds that they are planning maintenance and cosmetic improvements, which includes replacing the roof, but no demolition. “We’re excited to be a part of the neighborhood.”

Though Oyama is skeptical over the property’s future, one thing is sure: The

timing couldn’t have been better. Oyama says was ready to say goodbye to the venue.

She returned to run it last year, after three years of management by Michael Ford, who fostered the growth of theater performances there.

“He was very much the reason that so many people who were doing plays came.

There are a lot of people out there that know Michael, he was very active in that community,” says Oyama, who has no plans to open UpStage or a similar venue in another location.

She contributes leasing issues, rent expenses, increased construction and lack of parking as contributors to UpStage’s gradual financial decline. According to her, it wasn’t making substancial money or drawing large crowds, despite efforts made by Ford.

When Oyama returned to operate the venue last year, she began charging $250 a week for performances, which were previously free to performers/performance groups.

“I can’t run this place on air. It’s hard to get people in the door. These people in the arts community, they’re great and I would love to work with them, but on a Saturday night we might get 16 people out to a play.

The rent is almost a $1,000 a month, so you don’t have to be a mathematician to figure out that can’t work,” she says.

Theatre/performance groups like Three Bone Theatre, Stephen Seay Productions and Big Mammas House of Burlesque put on shows somewhat regularly at the venue.

There were also regular spoken word nights from Touch One Productions and monthly improv shows by Improv Charlotte.

Stephen Seay currently doesn’t have a replacement venue for shows lined up, but hopes to find a similar spot to UpStage.

Pendragon, who was recruited to the venue by Ford and started performing there in 2012, says that she believes theatrical arts “just aren’t well supported in NoDa.” “I’m sad that we’re loosing it but we have a potential replacement venue for [Big Mammas House of Burlesque], which is good. It is my hope that we’ll be able to continue at the new Actor’s Theatre of Charlotte location,” says Pendragon.

“They are possibly looking for late night shows, shows that wouldn’t start until maybe 10:30 p.m., so it’s my hope that we’ll get to move in that direction. We’ll still always be at the Visulite Theatre. I’ve already solidified my dates or 2017 there.”

Pendragon also notes that shows at Visulite Theatre tend to sell better than those at UpStage, though she’s unsure as to why. Experience-wise, UpStage provides a more cabaret-style atmosphere.

“The stage is only about 8 inches high as opposed to the stage at Visulite, which is

4 feet. It’s much more intimate and very up close and personal.”

UpStage’s final shenanigans, featuring Big Mammas House of Burlesque will be themed around “Disney After Dark.” Behind the bar will be former UpStage bartender, Leann Steves, who is returning for the final hurrah to mix drinks, hopefully, until the bar is dry.

AOVERCASH@CLCLT.COM

LOVES CHILDREN

&OTHER PETS...

FOR DINNER

NEED A PET SITTER? ADVERTISE WITH A CREATIVE LOAFING CLASSIFIEDS AD! email pmoran@clclt.com

CLCLT.COM | SEPT. 29 - OCT. 5, 2016 | 23

ARTS

FILM

MGM & COLUMBIA

The Magnificent Seven ride.

SAGEBRUSH SUICIDE SQUAD Western remake passable rather than Magnificent

BY MATT BRUNSON

T

HE 1960 WESTERN

classic The Magnificent Seven (itself an Americanized version of Akira Kurosawa’s 1954 Seven Samurai) found its septet of gunslingers pooling their 24 | SEPT. 29 - OCT. 5, 2016 | CLCLT.COM

resources to protect the residents of a small village against the boastful, greedy and downright evil Mexican bandit Calvera, even going so far as to build a wall around the town perimeters.

With the boastful, greedy and downright evil capitalist bandit Trump yakking about building a wall along the U.S. border to keep Mexicans out ... well, if that’s not accommodating material ripe for satire, I

don’t know what is.

The new version of The Magnificent Seven (**1/2 out of four) doesn’t take this route (in fact, except for one character, Mexicans are out of the picture completely),

preferring instead to play out as a straightforward oater with plenty of colorful characters and even more colorful action.

That’s perfectly fine: We all periodically need a rousing action flick to stir our senses, and this handsomely mounted production offers sporadic thrills. It’s just a shame the overall film isn’t better.

In this version, the villain is Bartholomew Bogue (Peter Sarsgaard), who wants to take over the town of Rose Creek and has his army of underlings gun down men and women alike to prove he’s serious. Townsperson Emma Cullen (Haley Bennett), whose husband is murdered by Bogue himself, takes it upon herself to search for men who can help them in the battle against Bogue. She first locates Sam Chisolm (Denzel Washington), a state-sanctioned bounty hunter, and he in turn recruits the other six: Josh Faraday (Chris Pratt), quick with the cards and the wisecracks; Goodnight Robicheaux (Ethan Hawke), a former Confederate officer who has lost his nerve; Billy Rocks (Byung-hun Lee), Goodnight’s companion; Jack Horne (Vincent D’Onofrio), an eccentric scout; Vasquez (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo), a Mexican outlaw; and Red Harvest (Martin Sensmeier), a Comanche warrior. Even with the knowledge that it’s basically a suicide mission, they all agree to take part, whether for money, glory or something else entirely.

Director Antoine Fuqua and scripters Richard Wenk and Nic Pizzolatto don’t just offer carbon copies of the seven from the previous picture — while there are elements of, for example, Yul Brynner’s Chris in Washington’s Chisolm and Steve McQueen’s Vin in Pratt’s Faraday, these are for the most part new characters created for a new film.

While it’s admirable that the filmmakers forged their own path, it’s also lamentable in that, overall, these men aren’t nearly as interesting or as memorable as the 1960 models. Hawke’s intensity keeps Goodnight watchable, but Pratt’s patented shenanigans are less entertaining than usual, and while Washington only has to walk in front of the camera lens to project strength and charisma, his Sam Chisolm is on the stiff side, not nearly as engrossing as the taciturn heroes he essayed in, say, The Book of Eli or his last picture, 2014’s The Equalizer (also directed

by Fuqua and written by Wenk). As for Sarsgaard, it’s disheartening to see this fine actor saddled with such a ridiculous role, a one-note villain who almost makes Hannibal Lecter look like Mahatma Gandhi.

The action scenes are well-staged if deeply impersonal — in fact, much of the film feels rote and mechanical, less a vibrant throwback

to vintage Westerns and more a marketing campaign in search of meaning. In the 1960 version, the survivors ride off into the sunset; in this new take, we only see actors riding off in search of the next gig.

AN AGONIZING EXERCISE in indie quirk, The Hollars (*1/2 out of four) suggests that director John Krasinski and writer James C. Strause watched Garden State and then simultaneously muttered, “Well, if Zach Braff can pull it off, then by God, so can we!”

Yet while Braff’s 2004 sleeper hit certainly has its share of detractors, even they might be willing to concede that it’s positively Heavensent when compared to this awkward and insufferable undertaking.

The Hollars actually doesn’t recall Garden State as much as it brings to mind 2014’s torturous This Is Where I Leave You, another all-star idiocy about the members of a dysfunctional clan coming together in the face of a familial tragedy. In this case, it’s the brain tumor that’s suddenly discovered in matriarch Sally Hollar (Margo Martindale), a condition that’s gone untreated for years because her husband Don (Richard Jenkins) thought the symptoms were related to obesity and sent her to Jenny Craig rather than to a doctor.

There also to comfort Sally are her two sons: John (Krasinski), a struggling cartoonist who has yet to completely commit to his pregnant girlfriend Becca (Anna Kendrick), and Ron (Sharlto Copley), a slacker who continues to spy on his ex-wife (Ashley Dyke) and kids, all happily living with the patient Reverend Dan (Josh Groban).

Ron is supposed to be the non-PC comic relief — he asks a Laotian doctor (Randall Park) if he knows martial arts like all Chinese men — but he’s arguably the most odious screen character of the year. Of course, like almost everyone else in the picture, he’s heading toward a happy ending, one achieved after the players are run through a gauntlet of tears and laughter. But while Martindale has one terrific scene that will moisten those eyes (she’s easily the MVP on this 3-13 team), the rest of the picture just writhes up there on the screen, flailing against Krasinski’s inert direction and Strause’s abundance of comic scenes that fall flat and characters who grate on the nerves (Mary Elizabeth Winstead, as John’s former girlfriend, promises to perk up the proceedings but then inexplicably disappears after one solitary scene).

Faced with all the cinematic white noise that collectively makes up The Hollars, viewers are advised to just run away screaming.

CLCLT.COM | SEPT. 29 - OCT. 5, 2016 | 25

26 | SEPT. 29 - OCT. 5, 2016 | CLCLT.COM

CLCLT.COM | SEPT. 29 - OCT. 5, 2016 | 27

MUSIC

FEATURE

PHOTO COURTESY OF WEDNESDAY 13

Wednesday 13 performs at Amos’ Southend on Oct. 5.

LOOK AT WHAT THE BATS DRAGGED IN Wednesday 13 talks life, death and Condolences

BY MADELINE LEMIEUX

F

OR ME, HALLOWEEN

and October, I’m like Santa Claus,” Joseph Poole aka Wednesday 13 says. “It’s my busiest time of the year.”

The Santa Claus of Halloween is a fair title for the horror rock legend: Wednesday 28 | SEPT. 29 - OCT. 5, 2016 | CLCLT.COM

13 has spent the last 20 years making a name for himself by embracing all things spooky and camp, from his signature growl to his darkly sarcastic lyrics. Even his moniker is a homage to horror — a combination of Wednesday Addams and the Munsters’ home at 1313 Mockingbird Lane.

Much like the guy in the red suit, Poole finds that Halloween as Wednesday 13 is all work and no play: he’s currently in the middle of a cross-country tour ahead of the release of his seventh solo studio album Condolences, due in January. On Halloween, he’ll play Hollywood’s Whisky a

Go Go. The Halloween-season tour will also bring the rocker back to his North Carolina hometown when he plays Amos’ Southend on Oct. 5. Returning to a Charlotte stage brings back memories for the rocker, who started performing locally in the ‘90s as the frontman for Frankenstein Drag Queens.

WEDNESDAY 13 $15-$18. Oct. 5, 7 p.m. Amos’ Southend, 1423 S. Tryon St. 704-3776874. amossouthend.com.

“We used to terrorize Charlotte as much as we could,” he laughs. “I worked at K-mart on the weekends and I’d go, ‘I got a big show coming up in two weeks, I gotta get everything I can.’ I’d come out with every dumb thrift-store prop from baby carriages to stuffed animals to smoke bombs to using pyro in clubs before that was banned. It was fun times.”

Though Frankenstein Drag Queens helped put Wednesday 13 on the map, it was his 2002 collaboration with Slipknot drummer Joey Jordison that really launched the small-town Carolina native into the horror rock stratosphere. The pair teamed up to create Murderdolls, a splashy, campy, glam rock outfit that sparked an instant fanfrenzy across the globe.

“We got to tour with Alice Cooper, Rob Zombie, all over the states. We got to tour with Guns N’ Roses all over Europe. We played with Ozzy at Ozzfest — it was us and Korn and Ozzy Osbourne at the O2 Arena [in London] where Michael Jackson was rehearsing,” Poole recalls fondly. “We did a lot of stuff in that really short time.”

Unfortunately, the project was shortlived: “As long as Slipknot was a band and Joey was involved with that, it was always at the mercy of Slipknot and what they could do.”

The duo eventually joined forces again in 2010 for a follow-up album and tour, but the reunion would prove equally short-lived.

“Joey and I haven’t spoken since our last show in April 2011,” Poole says when I poach the subject of a reunion. “I saw he’s recently been out in the press and he’s doing well. I haven’t spoken to him, but just like that last time — I hadn’t spoken to him in eight years when he called me up out of the blue and we did a record. Stranger things have happened, and if it happens, it happens.

“No matter what me and a guy in a band have problems with, at the end of the day is it really that bad that we can’t go out and play for thousands of fans all over the world that want to hear us?” he adds. “That’s silly to me. Kiss does it every day, and they don’t like each other!”

Though the Murderdolls’ door may have softly closed, another door opened with Bourbon Crow, an acoustic outlaw country side project that draws on Poole’s Carolina roots.

PHOTO COURTESY OF WEDNESDAY 13

“At first, I didn’t really tell people it was me at all. I think a few people were like, ‘What are you doing? Country?’ and then they actually heard what it was.”

Though it may have been an unlikely transition for fans, they followed, and when Poole went back to the studio to put out another solo album as Wednesday 13, he brought elements of Bourbon Crow with him.

“Having to sit down and not have a big band behind us, and do acoustic stuff, and strip my voice down to what it actually is and not do my typical Wednesday 13 voice I do on the record, I’ve gotten more comfortable with my voice, more confident with it,” he says. “So now when I go back and listen to the new album, I think, ‘Wow, I would have never done that if I hadn’t done Bourbon Crow and done my voice like that, because I would have never been confident to do that.’”

“In my twenties, I was closed-minded and I was like, ‘I wanna listen to glam rock, punk rock.’ If it didn’t have a certain look, I wouldn’t even give it a shot,” he continues.

“Now I listen to everything, and I think that’s what made the music evolve and give it the big sound that it has.”

Wednesday 13’s evolution doesn’t

end with vocals; his material has become noticeably more serious in recent years, and Poole says Condolences may be his darkest and heaviest yet.

“The campiness is kind of gone off of this record. It’s definitely heavier, and definitely the best produced sounding thing I think I’ve ever recorded. A lot of people go, ‘He’s serious now!’ Well, I’m 40 years old now. I’m growing with the music, my band, everything, and this record definitely has some experimenting with different sounds and things,” he says. “The sense of humor is still always there, but maybe not as campy as it’s always been, and sometimes that comes off more serious.”

Matching the heavy sound is the album’s heavy subject matter: “The theme is death, and it comes from everything from the point of view of a killer, the point of view of being killed, and the whole record ends with the title track Condolences and that’s like the funeral.”

“It’s just a dark, weird record, kind of inspired by basically everybody who seems to be dropping around us. I kept seeing, ‘Condolences, sorry for your loss,’ and I saw that, and I themed the record around what’s in the air right now.”

Despite the election year and the recent string of controversies plaguing his home state, the singer — who has dabbled in conspiracy theories and satirical anthems like “Elect Death for President” on previous albums — has opted out of the banter for Condolences: “I chose the high road. I’m not going to get involved in that. There’s nothing political on this new album at all.”

That said, the singer doesn’t shy away from reflecting on North Carolina’s tumultuous state: “I tell people all the time that the best education I ever got was leaving North Carolina, traveling the world, touring, doing what I’m doing, meeting different people from different countries and seeing their culture, and coming back to North Carolina and going, ‘Wow, what a fucking closed bubble I lived in for so long.’”

“Not trying to sound like I know better or I’m better than anyone, but I’ve seen a light, I’ve been out. There’s a bigger world out there. It’s bigger than North Carolina.”

But as the altered adage goes, You can take the shock rocker out of the Carolinas, but you can’t take the Carolinas out of the shock rocker: “I always like to put a little nod in there to where I’m from. The South is always in me.”

CLCLT.COM | SEPT 29 - OCT. 5, 2016 | 29

MUSIC

FEATURE

JOHNNY CHAPMAN

Lisa De Novo performs at Evening Muse on Oct. 1.

A DREAM IN THE MAKING

LISA DE NOVO $10. Oct. 1, 8 p.m. The Evening Muse, 3227 N. Davidson St. 704-376-3737. eveningmuse.com.

Local musicial Lisa De Novo debuts solo ep

BY LARA AMERICO

C

HARLOTTE NATIVE LISA De Novo had one dream

in life: to be a full-time musician.

Since she was a child, De Novo has been working to make that dream a reality. After years of constant networking, practicing and researching other musicians, her dream has become a reality.

30 | SEPT. 29 - OCT. 5, 2016 | CLCLT.COM

On Oct. 1, De Novo will fulfill another dream by releasing her first professionally recorded solo EP at Evening Muse.

When you ask De Novo how she learned to sing and play guitar, she’ll tell you that she comes from a family of musicians in the spirit of The Jacksons and The Partridge Family.

In De Novo’s case, she was a young girl lip synching and dancing with four siblings.

“We all loved music but didn’t have a lot of money to be taught so we mostly taught ourselves,” she says.

De Novo describes being in the car with her family harmonizing to different songs on the radio. Her family was not wealthy and

things like video games and going out were not an option.

Instead, activities like church recitals and at-home dance competitions were a regular occurrence. Her family emphasized the importance of supporting each other and De Novo’s talents were cherished and cultivated, even though she could be really shy.

Lisa De Novo’s new album.

ALEXA GENOVAS

Saying goodbye to the close knit family was not easy for her but she needed to find her own way. In college, De Novo discovered guitar and used the instrument to help her with her nervousness. “I was always scared of people judging me too hard on my original songs. But I still made myself play them and I was proud of myself when I did,” she said.

De Novo graduated from Florida Gulf Coast University and moved back to the Charlotte area. Having been a nanny, a server and a food demonstrator at Costco, De Novo knew she needed a change. Music was still her main priority and working nine-to-five jobs was only getting in the way. She started saving money for a year working as a sales operator at Red Ventures. The money afforded her the freedom to pursue other options.

“Life is too short to not enjoy your job,”

Lisa De Novo “There is a video somewhere with me hiding in my mother’s dress because I was so shy” she said.

De Novo started early, singing in churches and creating original music with friends.

Each performance gave her an opportunity to work on her stage presence and develop her confidence. At 10 years old, De Novo already had recorded four separate albums.

she said. She quit that gig and focused her efforts on music.

De Novo soon learned that being a full-time musician had more to do with booking gigs and keeping financial records than actually creating and performing music. Mornings for her include calling local Charlotte bars and clubs attempting to book shows. Nights are spent playing solo acoustic shows that are sometimes as long as four hours.

Today, De Novo routinely plays several shows a week, sometimes several in one day.

Once a week you can find Lisa teaching guitar classes to 6-year-olds or organizing music workshops for other local musicians. Having an open and opportunistic attitude is the way she survives in a city that is sometimes accused of being unkind to musicians.

“You have to believe in yourself,” she said.

“If you’re good at your job and you’re okay with doing your passion on the side, that’s okay too.”

Today De Novo prepares for her first EP release party. Her soulful voice accompanies delicate acoustic instrumentals to create an intimate environment. She has played music in some of the toughest spots in Charlotte.

Still, she manages to keep her childlike excitement in her live performances and in her recorded music.

De Novo uses music to connect to people and sharing in the excitement of self expression. In many ways she is still the young girl lip-synching with her family in her house making her own dreams a reality.

“When you’re living your dream, it’s like you are dreaming all the time.”

ALEXA GENOVAS

Friends would come over to learn songs and De Novo would give them color coded sheets to harmonize. At 11, she had her first solo performance at her church.

“I had three journals full of songs about life, love, growing up and standing out and being different,” she said. “I still have the notebooks!”

Eventually De Novo had to leave the nest.

CLCLT.COM | SEPT 29 - OCT. 5, 2016 | 31

MUSIC

SOUNDBOARD

SEPT. 29 BLUES/ROOTS/INTERNATIONAL Live Latin Thursdays (BluNotes)

COUNTRY/FOLK *Jason Aldean (PNC Music Pavilion) *Jim Lauderdale (The Evening Muse) River Jam Series w/ Seth Stainback & Roosterfoot (U.S. National Whitewater Center) The Steppin Stones w/ Joe Robinson (Double Door Inn)

HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B *Lauryn Hill(Charlotte Metro Credit Union Amphitheatre)

POP/ROCK Breakin’ Convention Lunchtime Performance: Lori Spencer Trio (Levine Center for the Arts) Donnie Dover (Comet Grill) Hot Buttered Rum (Neighborhood Theatre) *Lisa De Novo (RiRa Irish Pub) Shiprocked (Snug Harbor) *Strung like a Horse feat. The Lil Smokies & Henry River Honey (Visulite Theatre) Turnstiles (Tin Roof) The Worshiper, Cross Stitch, Shadows of Deceit, Annabell Leigh & East Viridian (Milestone)

SEPT. 30 CLASSICAL/JAZZ/SMOOTH Charlotte Symphony: All Tchaikovsky (Belk Theater) Stonecrest Summer Concert Series w/ Flute Praise (Stonecrest Shopping Center)

COUNTRY/FOLK Carrie Rodriguez (The Evening Muse) The Lenny Federal Band (Comet Grill) Wes Cook (Tin Roof)

HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B Keeyen Martin & Friends (BluNotes) *Rob: Earth-One (‘Before I Go’ Release Show) w/ CVSH, Quise La Verdad & Malcolm Chester (Snug Harbor)

POP/ROCK Face 2 Face - a Tribute to Elton John & Billy Joel (The Fillmore Charlotte) Anchor Detail, Broken Glow, Throwline & Black Powder (Milestone) 32 | SEPT. 29 - OCT. 5, 2016 | CLCLT.COM

Benyaro w/ Tough Old Bird (Double Door Inn) Breakin’ Convention Lunchtime Performance: Adrian Crutchfield (Levine Center for the Arts) Darrell Scott (Neighborhood Theatre) The Fall Kickoff (Amos’ Southend) Matone w/ I Got 5 On It (The Rabbit Hole) Scar Tissue - Red Hot Chili Peppers Tribute (RiRa Irish Pub) Tyrone Wells w/ Andy Suzuki & the Method (Visulite Theatre)

OCT. 1 CLASSICAL/JAZZ/SMOOTH *Charlotte Symphony: All Tchaikovsky (Belk Theater) Mercury Band (BluNotes)

COUNTRY/FOLK Natty Boh Dou (RiRa Irish Pub)

HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B Off the Wall: A Tribe Called Quest / Native Tongues Tribute V.4 (Petra’s)

POP/ROCK Danny B. Harvey w/ Jem & the Hypertonics (Puckett’s Farm Equipment) DM Radio (Tin Roof) Dub Access (Comet Grill) Gov’t Mule w/ Blackberry Smoke (Charlotte Metro Credit Union Amphitheatre) Green Fiend w/ Toke, Funeral Chic, Violent Life Violent Death (Snug Harbor) *Jessica Lea Mayfield feat. Sad Baxter (Double Door Inn) *Lisa De Novo EP Release w/ Sincerely, Iris (The Evening Muse) Machine Funk ‘Tribute to Widespread Panic’ Gov’t Mule & PGroove After Party (The Rabbit Hole) *Miami Dice w/ Patabamba & Astrea Corp (Visulite Theatre) Moodie Black, Chief and the Doomsday Device, Sulfur, Two Weeks Notice, Tribe One and Mikal kHill (Milestone) The Never Say Die! Tour feat. Eptic, Must Die! and Laxx (Amos’ Southend) Perpetual Groove w/ The Trongone Band (Neighborhood Theatre)

OCT. 2 COUNTRY/FOLK Three Women and the Truth, Mary Gauthier, Eliza Gilkyson & Gretchen Peters (The Evening

WED 9/28

KISHI BASHI TWAIN + Special Guest

Thu 9/29

STRUNG LIKE A HORSE

Muse)

POP/ROCK Bone Snugs-N-Harmony Karaoke Party (Snug Harbor) Gangstagrass (Neighborhood Theatre)

POP/ROCK Eleanor Tallie (Double Door Inn) *Korn and Breaking Benjamin (PNC Music Pavilion) Modern Heritage Weekly Mix Tape (Snug

OCT. 3

*Wednesday 13 w/ One Eyed Doll, Fractured

Knocturnal (Snug Harbor) #MFGD Open Mic (Apostrophe Lounge)

FRI 9/30

Jettison Five Duo (RiRa Irish Pub)

Omari and the Hellraisers (Comet Grill) Sense of Purpose f. Paul Agee, Chris Allen, Joe Lindsay, Jody Gholson (Tyber Creek Pub) Take the Fall, Rothschild, Get Dead, The Knowing Within & Favelas (Milestone)

HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B

THE LIL SMOKIES & HENRY RIVER HONEY

Harbor) Open Mic Night (Comet Grill) Roots of a Rebellion w/ Queen City Dub (The Rabbit Hole) Fairytales (Amos’ Southend)

COMING SOON

SAT 10/1

MIAMI DICE FRI 10/7

+ PATABAMBA & ASTREA CORP

LOVESATCANON 10/8 elephant revival SUN 10/30

Charlie Puth (Oct. 6; The Fillmore)

POP/ROCK

Bad Religion & AgainstMe! (Oct. 8, The

Locals Live: The Best in Local Live Music & Local Craft Beers (Tin Roof) The Monday Night Allstars (Double Door Inn) Wicked Powers (Comet Grill)

Fillmore)

OCT. 4

Bonnie Raitt (Oct. 26; Ovens Auditorium)

CLASSICAL/JAZZ/SMOOTH Bill Hanna Jazz Jam (Double Door Inn)

COUNTRY/FOLK

Andy Grammer & Gavin DeGraw (Oct. 22, The Fillmore) Die Antwoord (Oct. 25; The Fillmore) Genitorturers (Oct. 26, Amos Southend) Rae Strummond (Oct. 26, The Fillmore) Phantogram (Oct. 29; The Fillmore) Machine Gun Kelly (Oct. 30, The Fillmore)

Red Rockin’ Chair (Comet Grill) Tuesday Night Jam w/ The Smokin’ Js (Smokey Joe’s Cafe) Twobadours on the Run Tour: David Ryan Harris & Gabe Dixon (The Evening Muse)

Sonata Artica (Nov. 6, The Fillmore)

POP/ROCK

Warner Cable Arena)

Switchfoot and Reliant K (Nov. 2, The Fillmore) Bob Dylan (Nov. 6, Belk Theater) Fitz & the Tantrums (Nov. 9, The Fillmore) Stevie Nicks and the Pretenders (Nov. 10, Time

Bill Hanna Jazz Jam (Double Door Inn) Fairplay & Special Guests (Lucky Lou’s Tavern) Jacuzzi Boys w/ Paint Fumes, The Nude Party (Snug Harbor) Nothing Feels Good - Emo Night (Noda 101) Stryper w/ Loretta Jett (Amos’ Southend)

Evanescence (Nov. 15, The Fillmore)

OCT. 5

Good Charlotte (Nov. 18, The Fillmore)

CLASSICAL/JAZZ/SMOOTH *Esperenza Spalding Presents: Emily’s D+Evolution (McGlohon Theater at Spirit Square)

COUNTRY/FOLK Open Mic (Comet Grill) Open Mic w/ Jeff & Al (Puckett’s Farm Equipment)

Helmet, Local H (Nov. 16, Visulite) Russ (Nov. 16, The Underground) Yellowcard: The Final World Tour (Nov. 17, The Fillmore) Steve Vai (Nov. 18, Neighborhood Theatre) A$AP Ferg and Playboi Carti (Nov. 21, The Underground) * - CL Recommends

NEED DIRECTIONS? Check out our website at clclt.

com. CL online provides addresses, maps and directions from your location. Send us your concert listings: E-mail us at aovercash@clclt. com or fax it to 704-522-8088. We need the date, venue, band name and contact name and number. The deadline is each Wednesday, one week before publication.

CLCLT.COM | SEPT. 29 - OCT. 5, 2016 | 33

ENDS

MARKETPLACE

ENDS

JOBS | POSTINGS | LISTINGS | RENTALS

IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION File No.: 16 CVS 6380 NOTICE OF SERVICE OF PROCESS

BY PUBLICATION TO: Helen Elaine Panos

TAKE NOTICE that a civil action has been commenced against you in the above referenced court and file. The Plaintif has filed a Complaint for Slander, Libel, Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress, Alternatively Negligent Infliction of Emotional Distress, Invasion of Privacy and Punitive Damages in Raleigh, Wake County, North Carolina. In order to participate in and receive further notice of the proceedings, including notice of the time and place of any hearing in these matters, you must prepare and file with the Clerk of Superior Court, P.O. Box 351, Raleigh, NC 27602, a response or otherwise make a defense to such Complaint no later than Oct. 24, 2016, said date being forty (40) days from the first publication of this notice.

In the event you fail to respond, the Plaintif wil seek the relief sought in his Complaint without further notice to you. You should provide a copy of any response to the attorney for the Plaintif at the address indicated below.

Deborah Sandlin, Attorney for Plaintiff Sandlin Family Law Group 5617 Departure Drive, Suite 109 Raleigh, NC 27616 (919) 850-9199

Published in the Creative Loafing, Charlotte, NC, on September 14, 21, and 28,, 2016.

WEEKEND CURFEW? THAT’S NEW Navigating nightlife when you have to throw in the towel early

STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA WAKE COUNTY MICHAEL SHANE COATS, Plaintiff, v.

KIMBERLY COATS, HELEN ELAINE PANOS, AND JONI PANOS TSUMAS, Defendants.

NIGHTLIFE

PHOTOGRAPHY Family Engagement Real Estate Events and more

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(Disclaimer: My boyfriend and I both THE PAST FEW days in the Queen City have personal convictions about the events have been interesting, to say the least. The going on in our city and across the nation. death of Keith Lamont Scott, a black male, Our commitment to enjoying the weekend in at the hands of CMPD last Tuesday sparked spite of, was in no way a dismissal. We were #BlackLivesMatter protests throughout the simply seeking opportunities to celebrate city. community instead of focusing our entire The #BlackLivesMatter movement was weekend on negative energy that wouldn’t officially established in 2012 — following fix the problems we all face.) the acquittal of George Zimmerman who We decided to hit up a high school shot and killed Trayvon Martin, a 17-yearfootball game. Shortly before halftime, I was old black male — in an effort to bring ready to leave. My hope was that we would issues such as racial injustice, inequality leave the game, head straight to a bar, drink and police brutality to the forefront of early and get home before 12 a.m. Later we conversation. Last week, Charlotte brought were alerted that breweries, clubs and bars the conversation back. were closing early. We opted for a bottle On Wednesday afternoon, a protest of wine and $40 worth of snacks at a was scheduled for Uptown. Given the convenience store. current social climate and media The following day and night attention surrounding similar was a complete wash. My protests, many businesses, boyfriend and I slept all day particularly in the Uptown and the next thing you area, made the decision to know, it was already curfew the let their employees time. So we focused our leave early. As I stepped energy on actually making outside of my office and something happen for prepared to relocate I Sunday Funday and yet could feel the tension another Panthers game. rising as Charlotteans Again, we weighed our piled into the light rail AERIN SPRUILL options. Head Uptown and and police officers stationed deal with protest talk and themselves in front of crowded bars or stay close to buildings. home? The latter, seemed like a better After receiving multiple texts idea. from friends and family later on that night I’ve mentioned Blue Olive Lounge asking if I was okay and staying out of before, but this time there was free food. trouble, I knew that the protests had taken I wasn’t even hungry, but I knew this was a turn for the worst. The next morning we the best option for watching the game. We were asked to work from home, learned that scored some Indian cuisine and mac and businesses in the EpiCentre had racked up cheese. Talk about a killer combo! Not to damages and were alerted that the National mention, I made friends with some barGuard was on its way. That night, a curfew of goers and scored a slice of pizza, too. After a 12 a.m. was instituted and would carry into disappointing loss and only a couple drinks, the weekend.

I was tempted to keep the party going but After wrapping up work on Friday and followed my instincts and called it a night. welcoming my boyfriend home earlier than As I walked from the light rail to work usual, we pondered on what we do. After all, on Monday morning, I went through the neither one of us have navigated Charlotte EpiCentre passing boarded storefronts — nightlife under these circumstances, or had the aftermath of the actions of a small a curfew in a really long time. The football faction of protesters in Charlotte. I thought, team he coaches had just won a season ‘weekend number one of Q.C. social change opener and our plan was to celebrate. But is in the books.’ when we started to compile a list of places to Regardless of your perspective on the go we became frustrated. social unrest in the Charlotte community, If we did go out, where would we go? navigating the nightlife scene under these Would the “riots” be the focus of every circumstances is very interesting, especially conversation? Would we want to have that considering we have no real idea how long conversation with every person, friend or the protests will last. foe, that we encountered? How quickly could How and where did you unwind after a long we get from one place to another and make week given the current environment? it home before curfew?

BACKTALK@CLCLT.COM

34 | SEPT. 29 - OCT. 5, 2016 | CLCLT.COM

ENDS

CROSSWORD

CREATING A MAIL SLOT ACROSS

1 Mails a dupe to 4 Peak in the Cascades 10 1975 shark thriller 14 Lost intensity 19 “You -- here” 20 -- -Davidson 21 Saab of fashion 22 Stare angrily 23 What planes are in when they’re taking off and landing?

25 “Heck!”

26 MetLife rival 27 Nepal locale 28 -- Perignon 29 Climb a rope right after waking up?

31 “Which of you is good at copying signatures?”

35 Poker pro Ungar 36 Beholds 37 Houston hockey team until 2013 38 Ancient Aegean land 41 So-so 43 Furlong divs.

44 Spectral hue 48 Big tree branch used to decorate a shop?

53 Big computer of the 1940s 54 Frustrates 56 Delhi coin 57 Tame some mean dogs?

61 “-- girl!”

64 Uno + uno 65 Anniversary unit 66 AQI monitor 67 Four of -68 Skill, to Cato 69 Law degs. held by the Obamas 70 Comment when a surface only allows for a glossy finish?

75 -- Friday’s restaurant 76 Dot in la Seine 77 Off-limits acts 78 Wad of gum, e.g.

79 Carrie’s “Star Wars” role 80 Prefix with soul 81 Beer head 82 Fashionably stylish grain husk?

87 Big boo-boo 89 Tactics 91 Writer Nin

92 Spiced tea brewed in a business workplace?

95 Multi-vehicle crash 97 Church bench 100 Fed. crash-probing agcy.

101 Tear-eliciting vegetable 103 “Nowhere Road” singer Steve 105 Nailed 108 Happy -- lark 110 Ensnared by a tree branch?

114 Bit of gear used by a videography student?

118 Simple tune 119 Ames’ state 120 John Belushi catchphrase 121 Flubs it up 122 Apt phrase spelled by the deleted ends of this puzzle’s theme answers 125 “It’s -- of the times” 126 Seven days 127 Parthenon goddess 128 Trump 129 Antsy 130 Uses needle and thread 131 Gym class, briefly 132 Some hosp. cases

DOWN

1 Bread seed 2 With 47-Down, snow cone’s base 3 Promgoers 4 “-- La La” (1964 hit) 5 Writer of 104 symphonies 6 The long -- the law 7 Replay view, briefly 8 Actor Lange 9 Mate’s “yes” 10 Sci-fi knight 11 “Sadly ...”

12 Telegrams 13 Hill bigwig 14 “Holy moly!”

15 Sneeze response 16 Take a soak 17 Bert’s pal 18 University bigwigs 24 1993 Texas standoff site 29 Toon pal of Stimpy 30 Zap, in a way 32 Black -- (very dark) 33 Oil field sight 34 Boo-boos 39 Nile goddess

40 P.R.’s ocean 42 Wear down 45 Small peeve 46 Lah-di- -47 See 2-Down 49 Honshu port 50 Software reviser, e.g.

51 Peach State 52 Wiesbaden native, e.g.

53 Vase handle 55 Like some citrus tastes 57 “Goodness me!”

58 Kind of lettuce 59 De-intensify 60 “Eh” marks 62 Little birdie 63 Big bang producer 67 Prefix with valent 70 Contaminate 71 Furthermore 72 Cell stuff 73 Energy 74 Boozer 79 Many oz.

82 Slay 83 Rodeo miss 84 MS-to-MI dir.

85 Lac liquid 86 Grow mature 88 Investigation discoveries 90 Philosopher -- -tzu 93 Morales of film 94 Scott Pelley’s milieu 96 Shiba -- (dog breed) 97 Preceding 98 Bow-making material 99 Software running in browsers 102 Tenet 104 Keep -- on (don’t reveal) 105 Turn to try for a homer 106 Small oil container 107 Have home cooking 109 Side (with) 111 Actress Rigby 112 Eagles’ kin 113 Actress Rich 115 Zilch 116 Work group 117 Pleads, e.g.

122 Track unit 123 Verb suffix in the Bible 124 “Gnarly!”

SOLUTION FOUND ON P. 38.

CLCLT.COM | SEPT. 29 - OCT. 5, 2016 | 35

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from making monogamous commitments to I’M A GUY, 35, and a cheating piece anyone else in the future. But if you honestly of shit. I’m engaged to a woman I love, believe you can be faithful, CPOS, you don’t but earlier this year I cheated on her. have to see yourself as a cheating piece I have no excuse. She discovered the of shit. A serial adulterer/betrayer/liar is a dating app I used, and we worked cheating piece of shit; someone who cheated through that. But she doesn’t know that once, regrets it, and makes a good-faith, shortly after her discovery, I went ahead multi-decade effort not to do it again is a and cheated. To my meager credit, I did fallible human being. seek out only women who were looking for no-strings-attached hookups. But I am a 36-year-old Italian straight I came to realize how big of a mistake man. I love my girlfriend endlessly. this was, how much I love my fiancée, One month ago, she told me she has and that I’m a shitty person. I see a thoughts about missing out on the therapist, and he advised that, if I’m things she didn’t get to do in her teens. certain this was a one-time thing, and She is 29 years old now. Also, she says if I’m convinced that I’m happy with my she feels only a mild love for me now and fiancée, I should keep quiet. I shouldn’t is curious about other men. Yesterday burden my fiancée with this knowledge. we met and cried and talked and made I’m inclined to agree but, dear God, love and it felt like she still loves the guilt. I feel like I’m not the me passionately. But she also person my fiancée thought I told me she had sex with a was. What do I do? Should stranger a week ago and I just accept this as a she is going for one and lesson learned and keep a half months to Los it to myself? Perhaps Angeles on her own. there’s selfishness at Now I feel confused. play here, since I’m I should hate her for trying to make myself what she did to me, I feel better, but I’m should tell her to fuck struggling. off, but I can’t do it. I Can’t Personally DAN SAVAGE am so in love and I want Overlook Selfishness to be together again after her trip. How do I exit this I’m with your therapist, CPOS turmoil?

— and, hey, it’s nice to see “keep your Pensive And Insecure Now mouth shut about a one-time infidelity” make the jump from our finer advice columns You exit this turmoil by breaking up with (Dear Prudence, Dear Sugar, Savage Love) to your girlfriend. She wants to get out there some of our actual therapists. and do “things she didn’t get to do in her While honesty (best policy) and teens,” i.e., fuck other guys and most likely confession (good for the soul) get all date other guys. This isn’t what you want, the positive press, there are times when PAIN, you’ve made that clear to her, but she’s unburdening yourself is absolutely the gonna fuck other guys anyway. You don’t wrong thing to do. The person who confesses have to pretend to hate her, PAIN, and you may wind up feeling better — because at don’t have to tell her to fuck off. But you do least now they’re being honest — but the have to tell her that it’s over. person to whom they’ve confessed can wind And once she goes, PAIN, don’t lie up feeling a whole lot worse. Some burdens around tormenting yourself with mental should be borne not shifted. If your fiancée images of all the things/men she’s doing is going to inevitably find out, CPOS, better in Los Angeles. Don’t put your life on hold she find out about it from you. But if the while she’s gone. You’re going to be single. secret can be kept and if living with the guilt So get out there, date other women, do motivates you not to cheat again, then you some things/women you haven’t done. If she can keep your mouth shut with a semi-clearwants to get back together when she returns, ish conscience. and if you still want to get back together This advice is not a license for serial with her, you can pick things up where you adulterers. If you can’t be faithful to someone left off. But you should act like it’s over while — if that’s what you discovered when you had she’s gone, PAIN, because it most likely is. the affair — then you should extract yourself Contact Dan Savage at mail@savagelove. from the monogamous commitment you’ve net. already made to your fiancée and refrain

CLCLT.COM | SEPT. 29 - OCT. 5, 2016 | 37

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FOR ALL SIGNS: Our largest planet, Jupiter, moved into the sign of Libra on Sept. 9 and will remain in that sign for nearly 13 months. Jupiter is the planet of expansion, optimism, philosophy, travel and education. It generally represents improvements and growth in whatever department of life it touches. Its last sojourn through Libra occurred between October of 2004 and 20005, so review that era for comparison. Jupiter’s change of signs affects everyone, but is perceived in a different way, depending upon the sun and ascendant signs at birth. They both apply, so if you know your ascendant (or rising sign), you can read both zodiac signs below.

ARIES: The year brings improvements in all your most intimate relationships. This may be the year to get married or develop a beneficial business partnership. Those with client bases will note considerable expansion.

The period is favorable for attracting positive assistance through professional consultants, e.g., doctors, counselors, etc. Travel and/or education are on the increase.

TAURUS: Jupiter will increase the physical vitality, heal anomalies, and offer improvements in work conditions.

Relationships to coworkers will be enhanced and equipment may be updated. This is the time to look for a better job (or it may find you). Any type of self-improvement program, but especially those relating to the physical body, will have highly beneficial results. Many will adopt pets.

GEMINI: The time has come to relax and remember how to play. All types of creative work will be enhanced and those with children will find greater satisfaction and a more rewarding relationship in the next year. Those who want children or a new love affair will likely be granted their wish.

Give yourself permission to explore new possibilities in creative self-expression.

FREE STUFF! CLCLT.COM/CHARLOTTE/FREESTUFF

CANCER: Jupiter will bring improvements

to your domestic life. This may manifest in a new home or other property, such as a car. It especially favors home decorating or expansion projects. Domestic problems of the past may be improved or resolved during this period. Opportunities to improve and augment relationships to the family of origin will be presented.

LEO: During the next year opportunities for travel will probably increase. Relationships with siblings, roommates and/or neighbors will be more rewarding and your overall daily attitude becomes more optimistic. Focus of attention on communication (written or oral) will be highlighted. Educational opportunities are attractive and expanded.

You may become a teacher in your field.

38 | SEPT. 29 - OCT. 5, 2016 | CLCLT.COM

VIRGO: You will likely have improvements in financial income or other personal resources. This may develop either as the result of general good luck or increased effort.

Optimistic attitudes concerning money might lead you to overextend resources. Your sense of self-esteem is increased by several notches as you demonstrate what you have learned in recent years.

LIBRA: Jupiter in your sign will lighten

any load, renew your sense of optimism and reinforce your self-esteem. Help and cooperation of others will be more available to you, especially if you make your requests in person. The spiritual dimension of your life will improve and travel or education becomes more prominent. The only difficulty with this transit is the tendency for weight gain.

SCORPIO: Any effort toward becoming

more acquainted with the deeper parts of your self will be well rewarded. Positive results can be achieved through psychotherapy, dream work, meditation, hypnosis and/or prayer. Assistance will come to you through unexpected (and possibly mysterious) sources. Your desire to contribute to the greater social good will increase and yield good karma.

SAGITTARIUS:

Effort invested in organizational or group social causes will be returned in bounty. Networking with friends and acquaintances may play an active role toward helping you attain personal goals in life. Relationships with stepchildren (and more generally to other people’s children) will improve and become a source of pleasure.

Corporate financial resources may increase.

CAPRICORN: Any reasonable effort

in the area of profession, career or social status should meet with favorable results during the next few months. There may be additional travel, or educational/teaching opportunities associated with career endeavors. Relationships to superiors will be more supportive. Opportunities develop to improve relationships with the family of origin.

AQUARIUS: Jupiter augurs improvements

and good fortune through any or all of the following: legal or ethical issues, contacts with foreign lands or people who live at a distance, the Internet, higher education, teaching, publishing and long distance travel. Events of the next year will broaden your perspective on all of life and expand your sense of connection to a larger circle of others.

PISCES: Gain comes to you through areas

of shared financial resources. These may include: compensation from insurance or other group holdings, increases in partner’s

CLCLT.COM | SEPT. 29 - OCT. 5, 2016 | 39

40 | SEPT. 29 - OCT. 5, 2016 | CLCLT.COM