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CULTURE JAM Tiera Swanson’s job is to give everyday Charlotteans better access to culture
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VIEWS
EDITOR’S NOTE
LISTEN UP Preaching, teaching, and reaching That’s a load of bullshit. I’M NOT GOING to talk much about what’s In this issue, you’ll read Ryan Pitkin’s in this week’s issue, but I’m going to make interview with a Charlotte rapper who just what I do talk about relate to it. Saturday night performed an awe-inspiring A childhood hero of mine died over the show at Hattie’s Tap & Tavern before making weekend. Gregg Allman wasn’t a saint. He plans to move to Los Angles for some muchwasn’t even always a good person. He struggled deserved recognition. Mason Parker is a with addiction for much of his career. He ratted stunning rapper and poet who tells it like it on a friend to get out of trouble with the law. is in beautiful, flowing, hard-hitting verse. He stole Cher from Sonny. He performed a jaw-dropping role as the He was also one of the greatest Southern Griot in OnQ Performing Arts’ production of blues and soul singers ever to bring those Miles & Coltrane: Blue (.), about the two great musical forms into rock in the racially mixed jazz legends. This paper named Parker the Allman Brothers Band. I say racially mixed best rapper in Charlotte in 2013. because when the Allmans formed in the late Parker is a millennial who’s doing 1960s, there wasn’t a lot of that in the rock amazing things in this city, and he will be of the South during that period. acknowledged for it. But do you think I saw Allman lost his brother, the great blues one other person my age in that audience? guitarist Duane, at the height of their band’s No. Not one. I did see a comment under reign in the early ’70s. Duane Allman was a video I live-streamed from the show on a towering figure. His fiery guitar defined Creative Loafing’s Facebook page by someone the Allmans’ sound. Perhaps ironically, the who looked about my age, maybe a group didn’t score a big hit until a little younger. It read, “Wish there couple of years later, with was a real band.” Presumably, “Ramblin Man,” a country-rock the guy who posted it wasn’t song that hardly reflected in the audience. If so, he what the Allmans did best, was sorely missing the which was improvising point. If not, his comment on the blues in deeply was about the same as if soulful music that would he’d been looking at a livetake you to other galaxies. stream from an art gallery Then the band floundered and wrote, “Wish there for about a decade before was some real food there.” coming back in the late ’80s It was a non sequitur. with a hot new guitarist and MARK KEMP You’ll read about another a renewed chemistry. And they millennial in this week’s news toured and toured and toured. section who’s also doing amazing I wrote about the musical and things. Tiera Swanson is taking so-called cultural importance of the Allman Brothers high art out of the stuffy, museum-like Band in a book a few years ago called Dixie institutions of Uptown and straight into Lullaby: A Story of Music, Race and New neighorhood rec centers and libraries in east Beginnings in a New South. But really, I was Charlotte, north Charlotte and elsewhere. just writing about what the Allman Brothers Read contributor Kia Moore’s piece on meant to me. After the assassination of Swanson’s sometimes homeless childhood in Martin Luther King Jr., in 1968, a very central North Carolina and you’ll understand young Gregg Allman wrote a mournful ballad why she deeply understands the good people called “God Rest His Soul.” Like so many she’s serving in her job as the director of Americans who saw King as someone who the Arts & Science Council’s relatively new might help usher this country into an era Culture Blocks program. of treating people with respect, Allman was In “God Rest His Soul,” the young Gregg shaken by King’s murder. Allman sang of King’s assassination: “A man And now, nearly a half-centry later, we’re lay dying in the streets / A thousand people still looking for someone — a politician, a fell down on their knees / Any other day he preacher, a musician — to help usher us into would have been preaching / Reaching all the an era of treating people with respect. people there.” Back then, Allman himself was Here’s where I’m going to make that reaching young people, many of whom today connection I promised: are much older and incapable or unwilling to A lot of people of my generation loved be reached. But that’s OK. Both Allman and Gregg Allman, but they’ll say things like, King have been replaced by younger folks “Rap isn’t music, it’s junk,” it’s this or it’s that. Or, “Millennials are just selfish kids like Mason Parker and Tiera Swanson, who who don’t do anything.” Then those people are reaching new generations of people — voted for Donald Trump because they and perhaps even a few older folks, too. wanted to “make America great again.” But we have to listen to be reached. CLCLT.COM | JUN. 1 - JUN. 7, 2017 | 9
NEWS
FEATURE
CULTURE JAM Tiera Swanson’s job is to give everyday Charlotteans better access to culture BY KIA O. MOORE This story is the final installment of a fivepart series on women making a difference at Charlotte arts and cultural institutions.
A
SUNNY Charlotte day beckons Tiera Swanson and her mother to take a stroll along the University City boardwalk. In the middle of their afternoon of motherdaughter quality time, their conversation is augmented by the deep, primal rhythms of a conga. Smiles spread across their faces and their heads bob along to each tap to the drum head. A little farther down the path, Swanson and her mother stroll into another Charlotte art moment. A visual artist by the name of Freddy has set up shop with a line of affordably priced paintings. The two chat with him about his art and ask how often he turns this public space into his personal studio. As they discuss his art, he continues painting. Tiera Swanson lives for organic art moments like these. The 30-year-old is the director of the Arts & Science Council’s relatively new Culture Blocks program, which focuses on supporting arts and culture activities in six areas of Charlotte far from the Uptown cluster, including north, northwest, west, southwest, east and the Mallard Creek neighborhood near UNCC. Swanson’s job is to listen to community members and find out what they want to see in terms of arts and culture at their local libraries and recreation centers. What she doesn’t want to do is impose someone else’s vision of what a community needs. “We are really walking along the line of broadening experiences already happening in [these] communities,” Swanson says. “Our support does not serve as a stamp of cultural validation.” The Arts & Science Council created the Culture Blocks program in 2015 when it saw a need for a new approach to serving Charlotte’s multifarious communities. For decades, so-called high culture in Charlotte has been centered in Uptown, an area that often feels unwelcoming to some residents of other communities. “Tiera developed an idea we had to respond more deeply to our community’s desire for cultural activities closer to home into a robust program that has provided thousands of residents with arts, science and history experiences that speak to their interests,” says Ryan Deal, vice president 10 | JUN. 1 - JUN. 7, 2017 | CLCLT.COM
Tiera Swanson
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE ASC
“WE ARE BROADENING EXPERIENCES ALREADY HAPPENING IN [THESE] COMMUNITIES.” -TIERA SWANSON
of the Cultural & Community Investment department at the ASC. The Arts & Science Council, an organization that has positioned itself as the cultural resource hub for Charlotte since the late 1950s, wanted to find new ways to connect and support the arts across the Charlotte-Mecklenburg region. With Swamson at the helm, Culture Blocks looked to be a possible solution. “When we talk about arts and culture at an intellectual level,” Swanson says, “we think, ‘Where do I go to experience arts and culture? Am I going to see a play? Am I going to a museum? Am I at a science program at a facility?’ But that’s not necessarily how we experience art and culture every day.” Swanson sees visits to arts institutions as special occasions. But since the area does not have big cultural institutions such as the Gantt Center or Mint Museum spread across the city, many residents associate arts and culture with the Uptown crowd only. “The addition of Culture Blocks has made us more nimble in responding to the interests of [specific] neighborhoods,” says Swanson’s colleague Liz Fitzgerald, the Cultural & Community Investment program director. “Tiera and I are able to work in concert with each other to make sure we are providing excellent and relevant programming throughout the Mecklenburg community.” Culture Blocks’ goal is to smash barriers that keep some Charlotteans from realizing
they, too, deserve access to experiences they may think they are not allowed to explore. It’s a feeling Swanson knows all too well. “I am not the kind of person that can tell you about opera culture. I can’t talk to you about symphony culture. I don’t know all the fancy phrases for a lot of mixed media, or the technical nature of art from an elite kind of standpoint,” she says. “I just can’t do that, but I don’t feel like that means that I am not as creative or as deserving of creative access as the person who can tell you all of the modern art history and all of the different. . . ” She pauses. ”Literally, I don’t have the language.”
BRINGING CULTURE and arts to everyday people in everyday language has been a central part of Swanson’s life journey. She spent her early childhood living in a military family on Long Island, N.Y., where her dad served alongside people of all different backgrounds. “I was an Army brat. So connecting with multiple ethnic groups and cultures was commonplace,” Swanson says. ”To me, that is one of the many things that makes life sweet, and special, and exciting.” The excitement of living in such a diverse environment in New York came to an end when Swanson’s parents separated and she and her mom moved in with her grandmother in the tiny town of Cleveland, in central North Carolina. The move south was a culture shock for the second grader.
“I just had this growing awareness that diversity is not commonplace for everyone,” Swanson says. “And not this kind of buzzword ‘diversity’; I am talking about genuine friends and family connectivity to individuals who just so happen to not have your same skin tone and who come from a different cultural dynamic than yours.” Swanson was living in Statesville when she reached high school, and she noticed a shift in the cultural landscape. It wasn’t just black and white. “There were a lot of Indian families, a lot of Spanish-speaking families,” she says. “I was part of a diverse high school, but everybody just hung out in their ethnic cliques. And that never sat well with me.” The lack of cultural connection was not the only thing that didn’t sit well with Swanson — neither did the cruelty and disrespect that comes with classism. She got a particularly poignant crash course in that during her time as a homeless teen. “I was in high school and my family and I were living in a public housing unit,” Swanson remembers. “One of the rules in public housing is no one can be in your house that has a high-level misdemeanor or felony. My brother, who was around 18 or 19 at the time, would stay at our house. Which put us in violation of that rule.” She pauses, and with a look of suppressed resentment, continues, “Our neighbor reported it. Why she felt the need to do that, I don’t know.” Swanson’s
Residents at Hickory Grove Library perform in an African Drum Circle. ASC Culture Blocks meets with residents at the Ivory Baker Rec Center. mother just wanted to protect her son. “This is something that parents often have to do in public housing units, because where else is your 19-year-old going to stay?” That neighbor’s call led to the family losing their home. Swanson’s mother moved back to Cleveland. Swanson and her sister ended up staying with a friend. “It was not like we were sleeping on benches, but we did not have a place to call our own,” she says, and then goes deeper: “It was rough, because the friend that let us stay with her must have started seeing us as a burden.” That’s when the classism hit Swanson in the gut. Her friend’s aunt began demeaning the two girls. “I was 14 at the time, and her aunt just went off on me. She called me a ‘homeless B-I-T-C-H’; she accused us of mooching off her niece,” Swanson remembers. “It was crazy, because my sister was working; she was 17 at the time and was contributing. We would wash the dishes. We would clean. We did not use up a lot of supplies. We wanted to show that we were grateful. “When you are in a position like that, without a space to call your own, you want to seem as small as possible,” Swanson continues. “You don’t want to take up space because you already feel like a burden.”
THOSE TOUGH early years provided
Swanson with lessons on class and culture that would help her at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she majored in communications with a focus on performance studies and graduated at the height of the recession in 2008. She struggled to find a job in the arts. In 2010, Michelle Obama’s childhood health initiative pulled then-23year-old Swanson into a roll-up-your-selves grassroots campaign. “One section of the health initiative was centered on obesity in children ages 9 to 13,” Swanson says. She was part of an FDA outreach program that educated Latino and African-American communities on the importance of reading and understanding nutrition labels. But she had to be creative in how to connect with the community — how
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE ASC
to capture peoples’ attention with such dry information. Swanson then took what she learned from her experience in that campaign into other community-services positions, including YWCA caseload manager and Safe Places coordinator for runaway and homeless kids at The Relatives youth crisis center. In 2015 Swanson applied for her current position, and she remembers the delight she felt upon hearing the words, “You are hired.” The road to her chosen career in the arts had been an arduous one, but she’d made it, gaining valuable experience along the way. “When I got the call that I had been offered the job, I literally just screamed for like five minutes,” Swanson remembers. “I called my sister while waiting at a Burger King drive-thru. She was like, ‘Oh my gosh, that is so great!’” Her feeling of career-bliss was fleeting. Swanson saw how much work needed to be done, so she rolled up her sleeves again and began reaching out to smaller arts organizations and the big Uptown institutions. The goal was to shift Charlotte’s perspective of culture and arts. She went to work on chipping away at the “us vs. them” mentality that had shocked her as a youngster, and was now working to form simply an “us” culture. “In my personal journey, and what I am experiencing through this program work that I get to be a part of, I am learning how to be OK in tension,” Swanson says. “Look, I don’t have to know the answer, you don’t have to know the answer. [But] me not having the answer, and you maybe not having the answer, does not mean we are at odds with each other.” Take issues of race, for example. Swanson knows she can’t speak for all black people in every part of Charlotte. “Because that is impossible,” she says. She also knows she can’t afford to look at others as enemies. “I have felt, ‘Oh, you don’t get it, white person. You can never understand.’ Well if that is my belief, if that is my stance, how can I hold anyone accountable to understanding?
I have already determined that you can’t. To me, that is the same with programming that intersects and supports the cultural lives of individuals across our community. There has to be a level of: I can understand, or you can understand, and we can get to a place where we are in ‘us’ [mode].” Under Swanson’s stewardship, Culture Block has done a community arts project with the Lakewood neighborhood, coordinated entertainment pop-ups at polling places around the community for the presidential election, held African dance classes
PHOTO BY JON STRAYHORN
presented by the Charlotte Ballet at Sugaw Creek Recreation Center, put on semesterlong photography classes for teens at the Southview Recreation Center, and the list goes on. For Swanson, bringing impactful and meaningful art experiences to the people is what her job as program director of the Culture Blocks program is all about. “To understand the rhetoric of sculptures, poetry, plays and other forms of art is one thing,” Swanson says. “But, how that art impacts people. To me that is culture — people. People are culture.”
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NEWS
THE SCRIBE’S CORNER
FOOL’S SILVER NBA commissioner gives Charlotte a gift we don’t deserve BY KONATA EDWARDS said that HB2 violated the core principles of Ten Months. That’s the span of time that it took for the league, which include diversity, inclusion Charlotte to not only lose an NBA All-Star fairness and respect for others. Game but to then gain one back. But I’d ask the NBA and the Hornets, And the truth is, it should have stayed have they spoken to those in North gone. Carolina’s LGBTQ community? Has the NBA Last week, the NBA announced that the seen that House Bill 142 effectively returns 2019 All Star-Game would be held in the transgender people in North Carolina to Queen City after having the 2017 iteration the status of second-class citizens with few taken away thanks to the infamous House rights and little-to-no protections, where Bill 2. they will remain until December 2020 at the So what changed? Leadership for earliest? starters; Roy Cooper was elected into the It’s those questions that make all this Governor’s mansion in Raleigh, and in turn celebration regarding the return of the brought in the aptly named House Bill 142, All-Star Game to Charlotte laughable. The which does a marginal job to un-ring the bell status quo has simply been maintained and of HB2, making the state of North Carolina extended past the next election cycle. reasonably palatable for sports If anything, the NBA chose to businesses to return to. wait a year until the stench There’s just one small problem: LGBTQ citizens of of HB2 had wafted away North Carolina are far less and former Governor Pat protected than they were McCrory was a distant, before HB2 arrived. sickening memory so they You see, what’s lost could return to business in all this news about the as usual. “HB2 repeal” is that the Lest we forget about repeal of HB2 was also Silver’s photo op at last the repeal of Charlotte’s year’s New York Pride KONATA amendment to the Parade in June. Little did the EDWARDS nondiscrimination ordinance public know then that Silver was — the one that gave protections using the community’s struggle for to folks in our city based on sexual equality as a prop; a negotiation tool. orientation and gender identity, among It’s no different than when a struggling other things. pop artist decides to “discover” a hip-hop In a statement, NBA Commissioner sound when their album sales start to sag Adam Silver wrote, “While we understand (Someone come get Katy Perry). the concerns of those who say the repeal Silver’s Pride stunt was simple of HB2 did not go far enough, we believe the recent legislation eliminates the most appropriation of a culture to benefit that egregious aspects of the prior law.” He person through some form of financial continued, “It allows [the NBA] to work with means. the leadership of the Hornets organization In a February op-ed, Governor Cooper to apply a set of equality principles to ensure wrote that North Carolina needed to show every All-Star event will proceed with open that “We are a state that’s open for business” access and anti-discrimination policies.” and that “It’s time to put the partisan barbs Commissioner Silver’s statement is an aside, roll up our sleeves and repeal House affront to the entire North Carolina LBGTQ Bill 2.” Yeah, that’s politician for, “Let’s community. At best, it suggests that the stop letting this bigotry cost us millions of only time the LGBTQ community in North dollars.” Carolina will rightfully be treated as a Where my real disappointment lies is protected class in this state is during a with Silver, who’s fluent in the politician three-day event during February 2019 that verbiage, and who chose business loyalties they’ll be forced to pay exorbitant sums of instead of those core values that the NBA money to attend. was supposedly founded upon. By now, one can easily become frustrated And now Charlotte has its crown jewel, with the NBA, who made their displeasure albeit on a tarnished bronze cap. with HB2 very public when it came time for the All-Star Game in 2017. Last year, Silver BACKTALK@CLCLT.COM 12 | JUN. 1 - JUN. 7, 2017 | CLCLT.COM
NEWS
BLOTTER
BY RYAN PITKIN
them back any time soon.
GASSED UP A man was apparently in an emergency situation last week when he shoplifted from a Harris Teeter in Dilworth. Employees there reported that the suspect walked in and concealed $721 worth of antacid in his clothes before leaving the store with his take.
MORALISTS A 21-year-old woman filed a police report last week after two people who apparently hate scary movies broke into her home. The woman reported that the two suspects stole a coin jar, a $200 Visa gift card and $500 worth of shoes. In a more mysterious move, however, the suspects also damaged some of her DVDs before leaving the north Charlotte apartment. According to the report, the suspects smashed up four DVDs titled Chaos, Insidious, Immortals and The Purge.
SOMETHING FISHY Employees at
Green Village Children’s Academy in south Charlotte were shocked to see that someone damaged their fish tank last week, then only did more damage by trying to save the fish. According to the report, the suspect broke the fish tank, then placed the fish in the sink, presumably in order to keep them alive while the water poured out of the tank. The problem with that strategy, however, was that the suspect also put all the pebbles from the tank into the sink, reportedly doing damage to the drains.
CHEW TOY A man in Uptown chose the
worst possible landing spot for his drone last week, then was surprised that it wasn’t there when he came to claim it. The man told police he was flying his drone near 7th Street when he decided to land it in a dog park at a nearby apartment complex. When he went to the dog park, the $1,500 drone was no longer there, apparently having been picked up by either a lucky opportunist or (more likely) a curious pup. The man checked with the leasing office at the apartment complex and nobody had turned the drone in, chewed up or otherwise.
SKY HIGH Aggressive airline employees
have been in the news lately thanks to a recent incident in which a man was dragged off a flight in Chicago, but sometimes those folks can be on the other side of the aggression. A 40-year-old woman working for American Airlines was attacked last week after trying to keep an intoxicated passenger off her plane. The ticket agent told police that after she told the suspect that she was clearly too intoxicated to board her flight, the woman lunged at her, scratching her right hand, slapping her on the left cheek and shoving her out of the way. The woman never did get out of Charlotte, as she was booked for assault and taken to jail instead.
FAMILY MATTERS A visit from the
relatives ended with a call to the police last week in the University area, as a 52-year-old woman decided that inviting family over is just not worth it sometimes. The woman told police that she got into an argument with some family members that were visiting form out of town, and that things escalated to the point where she was suddenly getting assaulted by all three relatives. She told police that the suspects fled when she called 911, and we’re assuming she won’t be having
STOCKED UP A woman was shocked to
find that her recently deceased aunt was either a gun enthusiast or a doomsday prepper while she cleaned up her former home the other day. The woman went to the police station and told police that she was cleaning her aunt’s home in Dilworth after she passed away and found a cache of ammo including 247 shotgun shells and 142 long rifle rounds in the attic. The woman said she didn’t even know her aunt even owned a gun, and that she wanted to turn in the ammunition because she didn’t know what else to do with it.
ANIMORPH Employees at the Humane
Society of Charlotte near Dilworth filed a police report last week after realizing that someone had accepted some drugs that were meant for animals. The employees reported that a shipment of injectable morphine had apparently been intercepted, as they did not receive it even though someone had signed for it when UPS delivered it. The employees did not recognize the signature and have no idea who might have accepted the package. As high as that person is right now they probably don’t know who they are, either.
SENIOR PRANK Police responded to
Eastway Middle School last week after what started as a prank turned into something more serious. Employees told officers that someone lit a firework and threw it into a trash can, where it then lit the contents of the trash can on fire, leading staff to evacuate the school altogether.
TAKE THAT A 40-year-old man in north
Charlotte called police after a man allegedly assaulted him last week, even though he technically was never touched. The man stated in the report that the suspect assaulted him by knocking his hat off with a stick, which leads us to picture siblings in the back of a car arguing over who’s really touching who.
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NEWS
NEWS OF THE WEIRD
BY CHUCK SHEPHERD
BREAKING NEWS Jordan Haskins,
26, was sentenced to probation and sex counseling in May after pleading guilty to eight charges arising from two auto accidents in Saginaw, Michigan. Prosecutors said Haskins described “cranking,” in which he would remove a vehicle’s spark-plug wires to make it “run rough,” which supposedly improves his chances for a self-service happy ending. Haskins’s lawyer added, “[Cranking] is something I don’t think we understand as attorneys.”
ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRIT Le Plat Sal (The Dirty Plate) restaurant in the Marais district of Paris features specialties actually containing dirt — or as Chef Solange Gregoire calls it, “the mud of the earth that caresses our toes, the sand kissed by the sun, and rocks.” Mused a Food Network host in April, “What’s left? People are already eating snout-to-tail, leaves-to-roots....” Gregoire extolled her four-star dishes, including pastry crust a la Mont Lachat rock and a Boue Ragout stew simmered with silt from the River Seine. NPR also noted that the founder of The Shake Shack was “quietly” planning a new American chain, Rock in Roll. GOING PLATINUM Goldman Sachs analyst Noah Poponak’s 98-page paper, leaked to Business Insider in April, touted the wealth obtainable by capturing the platinum reputed to be in asteroids. The costs to mine the stone (rockets, launch expenses, etc.) might have dropped recently to about $3 billion — a trifle next to the $50 billion worth of platinum Poponak said a single asteroid might contain. On the other hand, experts point out, such abundance of platinum might crash the worldwide price. A DAB’LL DO YA The Twisted Ranch
restaurant in the Soulard neighborhood of St. Louis saw crowds swell in March after it revamped its menu with more than two dozen items made with ranch dressing, including ranch-infused Bloody Marys. As one satisfied visitor put it, “Ranch is everyone’s guilty pleasure.”
ENTITLEMENT Yale University graduate students (well, at least eight of them), claiming “union” status, demonstrated in front of the Yale president’s home in April demanding better benefits beyond the annual free tuition, $30,000 stipends and free health care. Some of the students characterized their action as an “indefinite fast” while others called it a “hunger strike.” However, a pamphlet associated with the unionizing made it clear that strikers could go eat any time they got hungry. SMOOTH REACTIONS (1) Police in Cleveland are searching for the woman
whose patience ran out on April 14 awaiting her young son’s slow haircut at Allstate Barber College. She pulled out a pistol, took aim at the barber and warned: “I got two clips! I’ll pop you.” She allowed him to finish up — more purposefully, obviously — and left without further incident. (2) Barbara Lowery, 24, was arrested for disorderly conduct in Cullman, Alabama, in May after police spotted her standing on a car, stomping out the windshield and smashing the sun roof. She said it was a boyfriend’s car, that she thought he was cheating on her, and that she had spent the previous night “thinking” about what to do, “pray(ing) about it and stuff.” However, she said, “I did it anyway.”
THE
DRONE ECONOMY (1) A Netherlands startup company announced in March its readiness to release drones capable of tracking freshly deposited dog poop (via an infrared glow from the pile) and, eventually, be guided — perhaps via GPS and artificial intelligence — to scoop up the deposits and carry them away.
POTENTIALLY UNEMPLOYED BEES
Researcher-inventor Eijiro Miyako announced in the journal Chem in March that he had created a drone that pollinates flowers, though requiring human guidance until GPS and AI can be enabled. Miyako’s adhesive gel lightly brushes pollen grains, collecting just enough to touch down successfully onto another flower to pollinate it.
NEW WORLD ORDER Social critics and
futurists suggest that the next great market for computerization already underway will be selling “human improvement.” Some sports teams are experimenting with “transcranial direct current stimulation” as a way to put athletes’ brains into constant alert, and KQED Radio reported in May that about a third of the San Francisco Giants players have donned weak-current headsets that cover the motor cortex at the top of the head. The team’s sports scientist said players performed slightly better on some drills after the stimulation. On the other hand, at press time, the Giants were still next-to-last in the National League West.
THE ARISTOCRATS! (1) Recent alarming headlines: “UK woman who urinated on Trump golf course loses case” (London). “Fish thief on unicycle busted by DNR (Department of Natural Resources)” (Battle Creek, Michigan). And, from the Northwest Florida Daily News (Fort Walton Beach), all on the same day (5-16-2017): (1) “Man throws fork at woman in fight over dog poop.” (2) “Senior citizen punches husband for taking Lord’s name in vain.” (3) “Two people busted for creating fake football league, lawmen say.” (4) “Man denies defecating in parking lot despite officer witnessing deed.”
INEXPLICABLE (1) In February, a 52-yearold man who, arrested for DUI and taken to a police station in Germany’s Lower Saxony state, wound up spontaneously confessing to a 1991 cold-case murder in Bonn. Police confirmed that, after reopening the files, they found details matching the man’s account, though the man himself was “not quite clear” why he had confessed. (2) A game warden in Titus County, Texas, reported in December arresting a man for possessing a shotgun (the man’s third arrest as a convicted felon with a firearm). The warden had spotted the weapon only because the man “out of the blue” approached him and asked if he wanted to inspect his hunting license (which, it turns out, was in order).
VIEW FROM THE COUCH For reviews on the latest in home entertainment, visit
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WEIRDO-AMERICAN COMMUNITY A
22-year-old Los Angeles makeup artist who calls himself Vinny Ohh has, according to his several TV and YouTube appearances and social media presence, transformed himself into a “genderless,” extraterrestrial-looking person via around 110 bodily procedures (so far), costing him at least $50,000. He says his appearance is merely an “all-in” representation of how he feels inside. The “genderless” Vinny has yet to specify a pronoun preference.
UPDATE The impending retirement from public life of Britain’s Prince Philip, announced in May, has likely quashed any slight chance he will visit the Imanourane people on Tanna (in the South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu) — tragic, of course, because Tanna’s Chief Jack and his followers continue to believe Philip descended from their own spiritual ancestors and has thus dominated their thoughts for the last seven decades. In fact, when Tanna was in the path of Cyclone Donna in May 2017, the Imanourane were quickly reminded of Philip’s continuing “powers.” Philip has never visited, but Tannans have long prayed over an autographed photograph he sent years ago. NOTW CLASSIC (October 2013) The story of Kopi Luwak coffee has long been a News of the Weird staple, begun in 1993 with the first reports that a super-premium market existed for coffee beans digested (and excreted) by certain Asian civet cats, collected, washed and brewed. In June (2013), as news broke that civets were being mistreated — captured and caged solely for their bean-adulterating utility — the American Chemical Society was called on for ideas how to assure that the $227/pound coffee beans had, indeed, been expelled from genuine Asian civets. Hence, “gas chromatography and mass spectrometry” tests were finally developed to assure drinkers, at $80 a cup in California, that they were sipping the real thing. CLCLT.COM | JUN. 1 - JUN. 7, 2017 | 15
FOOD
FEATURE
NAPA SOUTH Elizabeth Anne Dover brings a vineyard to NASCAR country BY ALISON LEININGER
A
MILE AND a half from the Charlotte Motor Speedway, just beyond a BP station, drivers speed past a field of typical North Carolina produce — beets, greens, radishes, strawberries — and by a plain wooden shed behind signs boasting “Fresh Produce! 300 Feet.” Beyond that, an unexpected landscape: wooden posts connected by taut wires draped with graceful leaves and tiny green orbs of grapes, worthy of a Napa Valley postcard. These are not the scuppernongs or muscadines grown by generations of North Carolinians. They are Chambourcin red and Villard blanc, two carefully chosen varietals for wine production. The vineyards offer six kinds of wines, including a pair of Villard Blancs aged separately in stainless steel and in barrels. “They are two very different wines. It’s a very versatile grape,” Dover Vineyards owner Elizabeth Anne Dover says. The four acres make up the birthplace of Dover’s wine business. Along with six acres of produce and a shed in between, they also make up the easily missed seat of power of the 32-year-old’s mini local-food empire. On both sides of her family, the Concord native carries a lineage of food. Her roots in Concord go back to the 1750s, and most of them were planted by farmers. Her father Audy owned a grocery store, as many did before him, and Elizabeth Anne grew up with grandparents, cousins and third cousins who made their living by tilling Carolina clay. In hindsight, it’s not surprising Dover has made a career of both growing and selling food. What’s surprising is the crop she chose to specialize in: wine grapes. It was both emotional and strategic. “I saw this PBS special on vineyards, and that they were the new and coming thing,” she says. “It was going to be a challenge, and it sounded like my sort of lifestyle, being outdoors, working hard.” DOVER FLIRTED with a vastly different
career, majoring at Davidson College in medieval Spanish, with an eye to entering the diplomatic corps. But by the time she graduated in 2007, she realized she wanted to stay in her hometown; that her ideal lifestyle was more tied to the outdoors than to government office buildings. Dover thrives on challenges and hard work, but she also saw wine as a way to avoid some of the pitfalls of traditional 16 | JUN. 1 - JUN. 7, 2017 | CLCLT.COM
The grapes of Dover’s path.
ALL PHOTOS BY ALISON LEININGER
FOR THE FIRST FEW YEARS I WAS KILLING MYSELF, BECAUSE I WAS DOING THE MANUAL LABOR AND EVERYTHING ELSE.” -ELIZABETH ANNE DOVER
farming. “You have to have something that’s not perishable and has a good margin on it to sell the produce. Because the produce is so risky,” she says. So in typical charge-ahead fashion, Dover enrolled in an N.C. State University horticulture program, where she studied with Sara Spayd, “the godfather of North Carolina wine,” and spent the winters working on vineyards in New Zealand and Australia. In the meantime, she started planting her own vineyard and produce farm on her grandmother’s land in 2009, with the help of her parents, who remain an essential part of the business. The petite farmer is seated comfortably on the small porch of her produce shed, chatting about the many branches of her business and watching the traffic swish by, occasionally exchanging waves with family friends. Dover’s team arrives suddenly and unloads 120 pounds of fresh-picked strawberries for an order from NoDa Brewing. She gathers with them briefly to lay out the next set of projects and then the employees are gone, eager to get to work. “Having multiple
employees who can all do the job is essential,” she says. “For the first few years I was killing myself, because I was doing the manual labor and everything else.” Everything else covers a lot of ground. Dover’s degree landed her an assistant winemaker position that she still holds at RayLen Vineyards outside Winston-Salem, where all Dover Vineyard wines are fermented. In 2012, as her first wine-ready grapes were ripening, she staged a one-woman revival of the Plaza Midwood farmers’ market. She recently picked up a fill-in bartender position at High Branch Brewing, and is constantly working parties and events to sample out and promote her wines. All of this while regularly manning her roadside farmstand five days a week. Dover’s plain wooden shed houses more than the fruits of her many labors. It also symbolizes another aspect of her business savvy, that of building symbiotic relationships with other local businesses. It holds products from half a dozen area farms: nut butters from Mooresville, honey from Montgomery County, pork from Cleveland, chicken from
Gold Hill. Besides offering a local outlet for those farms, Dover brings their goods along to her Saturday market in Charlotte, and invites a few to piggyback their products on her own weekday delivery routes. So Chase Reynolds of Two Pigs Farm in Cleveland can get his eggs to Courtney Buckley of Your Mom’s Donuts in Matthews, which “gives him three hours of his day back, and it gives her the farm-fresh eggs.” All of this seems self-evident to Dover, a woman immersed in her rural community.
BLAKE BARNES, owner of Common Market where Dover sets up on Saturday mornings, shares her collaborative outlook. “I felt like she had a good sense of community,” Barnes says of his first impressions of Dover. “I like how calm she is, [that] she has quality stuff, and that she’ll pull in other people, too” — like producers of honey and muffins. “I love having them there.” Back home in Concord, Dover also donates land and time to her church, First
Dover’s shop is open for business.
Pretty soon, these little morsels will be plump and juicy. Presbyterian, where volunteers grow several rows of food for donation. She was inspired to begin on her own after seeing a TV show about child hunger in the United States. “This happens a lot,” she says, then starts laughing. “I think the little baby Jesus speaks to me through CBS Sunday Morning.” When imagining the future of her empire, she refers to a more recent episode, about Ballymaloe House in Ireland. There, another determined woman, Myrtle Allen, opened a bed-andbreakfast that expanded into a farm and
cooking school and ended up revolutionizing Irish cuisine. “If I could do something similar to that with my life, I’d be very happy,” Dover says. “We have so much food, and it is so delicious, there is no reason why anyone in this area should not be eating delicious food.” Keep your eyes open. Because if Elizabeth Anne Dover has anything to say about it, we’re about to become the best-fed region on the map.
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FOOD
THREE-COURSE SPIEL
TRAVELING SALESMAN Sadruddin Abdullah talks about how art and travel begat great pastries BY DEBRA RENEE SETH
PASTRY CHEF Sadruddin Abdullah never
even baked a cookie until he was 42. But he hasn’t stopped since. A former Johnson and Wales studentturned-instructor, Abdullah is the owner of the popular Cafe Gnache food truck, where he, his wife and his children make and serve deliciously flaky crossaint-donut hybids called kronuts that have Charlotteans on a sugar rush. Abdullah says he traveled the United States with his family to further his education, expand his palate and feed his passion for the culinary arts, and credits much of his education about food to his exposure to the kind of diversity only travel can offer. We caught up with Abdullah after his lunch rush one recent afternoon to talk kronuts and to find out why he thinks leaving the Queen City for a while can make living here that much sweeter. Creative Loafing: How did you go from never baking a cookie to becoming one of the top pastry chefs in Charlotte? Sadruddin Abdullah: Well, I never planned to go into culinary arts, but I always loved the arts. Back in high school I studied figure drawing, pottery, painting and sculpting, but when I met my wife I figured the best decision was to join the Air Force to provide stability for our growing family. I ended up getting stationed in Anchorage, Alaska, where I randomly met this guy named Frenchie one day in the mall. He was demonstrating the art of blowing and pulling sugar and I immediately became fascinated with it. For some unknown reason Frenchie kinda took me under his wing and taught me a lot about the art of sugar. That lit the spark. From there I went on to study at some of the top culinary schools in the nation, working and learning from some of the best chefs from all over the world. My family and I always motivate each other to do better and push for greater things, so they got in on the action, too, taking up studies in culinary arts and business as well. We traveled from Alaska to Providence, R.I., to further our education at the prestigious Johnson and Wales culinary school. The educational benefit for our family was huge, and our experience levels continued to grow. Eventually we decided to move to Charlotte where we are today. Your kronuts recently won the top award at the Charlotte Food Fight with a
unanimous perfect score. For those who may not know, what exactly is a kronut? A kronut is actually a cross between a crossaint and a donut. Crossaints are considered the epitome of the art of pastry making because of the time and difficulty of making them. Ours are made totally from scratch and the dough itself takes a total of three days to prepare before we can even get started. We literally spread hundreds of layers of butter and dough, one after the other, to give our kronuts the perfect light and flaky texture, then finish by deep frying for that perfect light crunch on the outside. People really love them and I think what makes them so good is the technique and time we put into them, and again, the artistry. You live in Charlotte and have a successful business here, so why do you recommend that your culinary students move away? When I was teaching at Johnson and Wales here in Charlotte I would often tell my students to get away from here and travel. Sometimes that got me in trouble, but my job was to teach and I had to share what I knew to be true. For my family and me, traveling and being exposed to people of different nationalities, different flavors, ingredients and techniques, absolutely influenced our style and gave us a competitive advantage. If I hadn’t gone to Anchorage and met Frenchie, I would’ve never even gotten into the culinary world. People love Charlotte and they love talking about the potential, but we have people living here who have never even left the area. I say go travel, see the world, then bring what you learn back here to make our city better. That’s what’s gonna make Charlotte the kind of world-class city we know it has the potential of being. BACKTALK@CLCLT.COM
T U E S D AY S A R E F O R
$2 tacos and friends ...
B U T M A I N LY
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THURSDAY
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#BLKTECHCLT What: Sherrell Dorsey might be a badass writer for Creative Loafing, but that’s only a tiny fraction of what she’s working on behind the scenes. We’ve covered Dorsey’s BlkTechCLT events in the past, but for spring 2017 she’s bringing in the big guns ... or cats. Former Panthers wide receiver Muhsin Muhammad will be at Camp North End discussing his work as managing director for the private equity firm Axum Capital Partners. When: VIP, 5:30 p.m.; General admission, 6 - 8:30 p.m. Where: Camp North End, 1776 Statesville Ave. More: $20-30. blktechinteractive. com.
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FRIDAY
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THINGS TO DO
TOP TEN
SiFi Media Rap Cypher WEDNESDAY PHOTO BY ILLGLORY INC.
SATURDAY
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SATURDAY
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SATURDAY
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BLU HOUSE
QUEEN CITY FEMME FEST
BIZ MARKIE
CHARLOTTE ROLLER GIRLS
What: Blu House’s lo-fi Soundcloud track “Solution” begins gently enough, like a long-lost alternate take from an early Funkadelic record, then kicks into gritty rock bliss about two minutes in. If the song is any indication of the group’s new EP, b-Side, this soulful rock outfit is a band to watch in summer 2017. Thing is, we have it on good authority that Blu House has improved exponentially. Just check out their YouTube video for “Borror Mi.”
What: It’s all about the ladies at this annual event designed to empower Charlotte’s creative, innovative and all-around kick-ass female artists, entrepreneurs and more. You’ll hear musicians, watch bellydancers and burlesque, laugh at local comics, see art, and talk to businesswomen, activists, Mayor Jennifer Roberts and others working hard in this city to empower women. There’s no place at this event for egos, hatred, tonedeafness or disrespect of any kind.
What: In the Beastie Boys’ 1992 punk slammer “The Biz vs. the Nuge,” (good) crazy-ass rapper Biz Markie imagines the Beasties coming back from space over a sampled guitar line by (bad) crazy-ass rocker Ted Nugent. It was the one sliver of a moment that almost redeemed America’s favorite gun-toting racist redneck. But the Biz’s Beasties collab is not the only reason to go see him. There’s also his own hilariously endearing “Just a Friend” and “Vapors.”
What: The Charlotte Roller Girls come rolling into this match against the Rogue Rollergirls of Fayetteville completely unintimidated by their opponent’s refusal to include the name of their hometown in their name. The CLTRG All Stars are 6-1, with their only loss coming during a tournament in California against a team that would go on to win the whole thing. This is your last chance to see these skater ladies in town until September, so get on it.
When: 4-9 p.m. Where: 1318 Central Ave. More: $10. www.qcfemmefest.com.
When: 9 p.m. Where: The Fillmore, 820 Hamilton St. More: $15-20. fillmorecharlottenc. com.
When: 4:30 p.m. Where: Grady Cole Center, 310 N. Kings Drive. More: $6-12. charlotterollergirls. com.
When: 8 p.m. Where: 516 E. 15th St. More: Free. bit.ly/2qoIRBW.
Paul Simon TUESDAY
Femme Fest SATURDAY
NEWS ARTS FOOD MUSIC ODDS
PUBLICITY PHOTO
SATURDAY
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VINTAGE CHARLOTTE SUMMER MARKET What: Go to the new spot everyone’s talking about in North End (two Top 10s this week!) to check out more than 80 of the area’s best vintage and handmade arts and craft vendors. Tired? Not Just Coffee. Hungry? Bleu Barn Bistro, The Dumpling Lady and King of Pops. Need a drink? Birdsong Brewing. Not to mention Amigo will be shredding in the Boiler Yard at around noon. We don’t know what the Boiler Yard is but it sounds cool. When: 11 a.m. Where: Camp North End, 1776 Statesville Ave. More: Free. vintage-charlotte.com.
COURTESY OF FEMME FEST
MONDAY
#GETTINGITOFFMYCHEST
MONDAY NIGHT ALL STARS
PAUL SIMON
SIFI MEDIA RAP CYPHER
What: A night of community, poetry, open mic, inspirational and informational speaking, food, fun, silent auction items, raffle prizes and more, hosted by School of Jai, all in the spirit of supporting the local trans community in the most direct way possible. Funds raised at this event will go to funding a top surgery for Mason, a family member of a local photographer who has partnered with School of Jai many times in the past.
What: What, you thought just because the Double Door closed that these legends of Charlotte bar-band blues were kaput? You’re sorely mistaken. The Monday Night All Stars have moved their tight, funky and soulful jams just around the corner and up the road to the Visulite. Yes, you can still hear original members Rick Blackwell and percussionist Jim Brock hold down a rock-solid rhythm behind original guitarist Joe Lindsay and more recent members. What’s Monday night without the All Stars?
What: Even if you don’t give a flip about Simon & Garfunkel folk-rock classics like “The Sound of Silence” or “Bridge over Troubled Water,” or the controversy surrounding Paul Simon’s use of South African musicians for his best-known solo album Graceland during the Apartheid boycott, you know Rhymin’ Simon. He’s the guy who learned how to incorporate African music into rock from Vampire Weekend. Wait. Maybe it’s opposite.
What: There’s more cypher activity in the Charlotte area than you may realize, particularly up at UNCC. This week, however, Railz the Principle is hosting this cypher at a little spot off Sharon Amity Road near Independence Boulevard. All are welcome: trap, rap, freestyle, experimental, hip-hop and even R&B. Ultra-talented DJ SPK, whom you may remember from a recent CL MusicMaker Q&A, will be at the decks. So if you got the skills, get your ass over to this event and jump in.
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When: 5-8 p.m. Where: Studio 1212, 1212 E. 10th St. More: Free ($10-100 suggested donations). schoolofjai.com.
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When: 9 p.m. Where: Visulite Theatre, 1615 Elizabeth Ave. More: $7. visulite.com.
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
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When: 8 p.m. Where: CMCU Amphitheatre, 1000 NC Music Factory Blvd. More: $46-up. charlottemetrocreditunion. amphitheatercharlotte.com.
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When: 7-10 p.m. Where: 2436 N. Sharon Amity Road, Ste. 102 More: Free. bit.ly/2s0tEYn.
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Festivals/Food/fairs Festivals/Food/fairs Juneteenth Festival of Chef Alyssa Kids the Carolinas Culinary Camp Drum circles, dram dance, storytelling and a gospel get-down. The whole point of this rich cultural tradition is to learn about the history of slavery in America and to never forget it. Never. The festival examines the cultural heritage of slaves and their descendants through art, education and more. It’s about honoring and celebrating freedom. When: June 15 - 18 Where: Thomas and Commonwealth avenues More: Free; juneteenthofthecarolinas.com.
The entertainment has not been announced yet, but come on: We don’t get out in the streets and celebrate with our LGBTQ brothers, sisters and otherwise for the name entertainers coming to town. We get out and celebrate them because 1) we love them, 2) we support them, or 3) we are them. Not to mention it’s the best party in town and best weekend of the year! When: Aug. 26 - 27 Where: Uptown, Charlotte More: Free; charlottepride.org.
Not only is this a great learning moment for the kids, but think about it: from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. every day when the kids are on summer break, you still get a break from them. And once they’re done, they do the cooking for you. A win-win. When: June 19 - Aug. 11 Where: Atherton Market, 2104 South Blvd. More: $400; chefalyssaskitchen.com
Dog’s Dream Dinner
Pet owners who can’t go anywhere without lil’ Fido will love this: Dinner for you and all your freaky dog friends and their dogs. Yep, you get the dinner, the mutts get treats. All night long. When: July 9 Where: Jackalope Jacks, 1801 Commonwealth Ave. More: $40; bit.ly/2r5el1j
e v i t a e r C s ’ g n fi a lo
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Charlotte Pride Festival
Puerto Rican Festival
Homegrown Tomato Festival
Tomatoes. Live music. What could go wrong? Well, as long as your band doesn’t suck. Go out, try all kinds of backyard tomatoes (and tomato cocktails) and help crown the best grower. When: July 29 Where: Midwood Country Club, 2123 Central Ave. More: Free; homegrowntomato.simdif.com
Dance in the Park
“Can You Feel It?” Ah, yes, deep house: the jazzy, funk- and soul-infused ‘80s Chicago-born dance music that helped conceive not just a few early millennials. That’s the music being promised on the five acres of Rolling Hills Park at the 2017 Dance in the Park party. When: Aug. 5 Where: Rolling Hills Park, 4340 Rolling Hill Dr. More: $13 - $136.25; bit.ly/2sgNSgI
Charlotte Bachata Salsa Fest
Not one, but three ballrooms for getting your Latin groove on: one for bachata, another for salsa, mambo and cha-cha, and a third for kizomba, zouk and tarraxinha. Want to expand your Latin dance horizons beyond just salsa? Here’s your chance. When: April 27 - 30 Where: Sheraton Hotel, 3315 Scott Futrell Drive More: $25 - $99.99; charlottebachata.com
Dancing and live music from local artists to the big-band salsa of El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico, which has been recording and making people dance since the ealry 1960s, often backing late great singers from Héctor Lavoe to Celia Cruz. Oh, and lots of Puerto Rican food. When: Aug. 27 Where: Symphony Park, 4400 Sharon Road More: Free; prcsc.org.
East Side Block Music Festival
You’ve heard of the Lower East Side of New York City? Charlotte’s got a lower East Side, too, and it’s throwing a block party. Local music, local food, a health fair, kids activities and all manner of other fun stuff organized by Dapper Street Productions for the Arts and sponsored by Culture Blocks (see page 10). When: Sept. 2 Where: Albemarle Road Rec Center (baseball field), 5027 Idlewild Rd. More: Free; dapperstreetproductions.com.
Charlotte Kosher BBQ Festival
Kosher lovers love barbecue, too. And so should you. There’ll be a Kid Zone, watermelon and pickle eating contests, and much more. And it’s all to help support Jewish Family Services. Bring two canned goods for their pantry to help feed those who have a tough enough time feeding themselves, let alone enjoying BBQ. When: Sept. 4 Where: Levine JCC, 5007 Providence Road More: Free; charlottekosherbbq.com.
Charlotte Roller Girls
August 13: 3:10-5:10 p.m. August 14: 9:25-11:30 a.m. August 15: 9:25-11:30 a.m. August 16: 9:25-11:30 a.m. Where: Gibbs Stadium, 429 N. Church St. Cost: Free Preseason August 9: Houston Texans August 31: Pittsburgh Steelers Regular Season September 17: Buffalo Bills Where: Bank of America Stadium, 800 S. Mint St. Cost: Prices vary. More: panthers.com
Following their June 3rd matchup at Grady Cole Center, the Girls are going on the road for the next few bouts, so they’ll only return for one home game in the summer, the season closer. This double-header will be against the ladies from Greensboro, who are hopefully more talented than they are creative, if we’re judging by team names here. September 9 Charlotte Roller Girls All Stars vs. Greensboro All Stars Charlotte Roller Girls B-Dazzlers vs. Greensboro B Where: Grady Cole Center, 310 N. King Drive. Cost: $12 More: charlotterollergirls.com
2017 PGA Championship
Charlotte Independence
On June 17, the Charlotte Independence are officially leaving the Ramblewood Soccer Complex and moving to their new digs in Matthews. It’s a little bit of a hike for any non-southeast Charlottean, but it’s nothing like the days of driving to Rock Hill to watch the Knights. Go support the local soccer team, who at press time were 4-2-2, and hadn’t lost yet in May. June 4: Tampa Bay Rowdies* June 17: Harrisburg City Islanders July 1: Rochester Rhinos July 8: St. Louis FC July 26: Richmond Kickers August 5: Louisville City FK August 16: Bethlehem Steel FC August 19: Orlando City B August 26: Toronto FC II September 2: Richmond Kicker September 16: Ottawa Fury FC Where: Mecklenburg County Sportsplex, 1505 Tank Town Rd., Matthews. (*Ramblewood Soccer Complex, 10200 Nations Ford Road.) Cost: Single, group and season tickets available on website. More: charlotteindependence.com
Charlotte Hounds
We know our readership can often be sports-illiterate, so this is your yearly reminder that Charlotte does have a Major League Lacrosse team, and the games are damn fun. June 10: Atlanta Blaze June 24: Florida Launch July 15: New York Lizards July 27: Boston Cannons Where: Memorial Stadium, 310 N. Kings Drive. Cost: $8-100. More: charlottehounds.com
Charlotte Knights
At press time, the Knights were rocking an
above-average-but-just-barely-you-know-youcan-do-better record of 25-24, but the arrival of phenom prospect Yoan Moncada has brought new energy to the ballpark this summer. Who’d have thought he’d be just fourth on the team in home runs, though? June 5-7: Durham Bulls (June 7, Jerry “The King” Lawler Appearance) June 13-15: Louisville Bats (June 13, Women in Baseball night; June 14, Brian Jordan Appearance) June 16-18: Indianapolis Indians* (June 18, Yoga Day at the Ballpark, Father’s Day Pre-game Catch on the Field) June 26-29: Columbus Clippers (June 26, Bark in the Ballpark; June 27, Crockett Park/Griffith Park Replica Giveaway; June 28, Bucky Dent Appearance) June 30 - July 3: Gwinnett Braves* (July 2, Super Hero Day; July 3, Independence Day Fireworks) July 13-16: Gwinnett Braves* (July 15, Carolina BBQ Battle Royale) July 24-27: Columbus Clippers (July 24, First Responders Night; July 25, Retro Knights Youth Jersey Giveaway; July 27, Jewish Heritage Night) July 28-30: Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders* (July 30, Salute to Softball Night, Long Haul Bombers Exhibition) August 4-6: Gwinnett Braves* August 15-17: Toledo Mud Hens (August 16, Jack Morris Appearance, Mustache Bash; August 17, German Heritage
Night, Augtoberfest) August 18-20: Lehigh Valley IronPigs* August 28-31: Durham Bulls (August 31, Greek Heritage Night, Greek Life Night) September 1-4: Norfolk Tides* *Weekend series Where: BB&T Ballpark, 324 S. Mint St. Cost: $8-23. More: bbtballparkcharlotte.com
Carolina Panthers
You may not associate the summertime with football, but legit Panthers fans have been flocking to Spartanburg to watch their team practice over the summer in hopes that Cam Newton looks even better than last year (and that KB loses some weight in all that heat). July 28: 6:30-8:30 p.m. - Lowe’s Kickoff Party July 29: 3:10-5:10 p.m. July 30: 9:25-11:30 a.m. July 31: 9:25-11:30 a.m. August 1: 9:25-11:30 a.m. August 2: No Practice August 3: 9:25-11:30 a.m. August 4: 9:25-11:30 a.m. August 5: 7:30-9:30 p.m. - Fan Fest at Bank of America Stadium August 7: 3:10-5:10 p.m. August 8: 9:25-11:30 a.m. August 9: 9:25-11:30 a.m.
Charlotte usually gets its big golf tournament in the spring, but the Wells Fargo Championship was moved to Wilmington this year to make room for the first major to come to Quail Hollow. When: August 10-13 Where: Quail Hollow Club, 3700 Gleneagles Drive. Cost: Too damn much. More: pga.com/pgachampionship/2017
Let’s Go Racin’ (or Smashin’)
By the time this issue hits racks, the big race will have already come and gone, and NASCAR won’t return to Charlotte ... err... Concord until October, but there’s still stuff going on up at the Speedway to check out. August 19: Back to School Monster Truck Bash Where: Charlotte Motor Speedway, 5555 Concord Pkwy. S. Cost: $10-27. September 15-17: NHRA Carolina Nationals Where: ZMax Dragway, 5555 Concord Pkwy. S. Cost: $36-86. More: charlottemotorspeedway.com
Sports/Leisure Sports/Leisure CLCLT.COM | JUN. 1 - JUN. 7, 2017 | 23
Elvis Costello & the Imposters
We tried to stay away from the nostalgia in this guide and keep things fresh, but this is Elvis Costello for Christ’s sake. Besides, his last release, a collaboration with The Roots, was released just four years ago. So we’re done explaining ourselves, OK? When: June 21 Where: Charlotte Metro Credit Union Ampitheatre, 1000 N.C. Music Factory Blvd. Cost: $27 and up. More: charlottemetrocreditunion. amphitheatercharlotte.com.
T.I.
Ok, so we’re already off to a bad start on this “keeping things fresh” trip, aren’t we? T.I. has been much more present in the tabloids than on the charts in recent years, but his rolodex of hits is reason enough to check this one out. When: June 30 Where: Ovens Auditorium, 2700 E. Independence Blvd. Cost: $72 and up. More: ovensauditorium.com
Sturgill Simpson
Sturgill Simpson recently announced that he will be joining Guns n Roses on tour this summer to play three shows in the South. Luckily for you, Charlotte isn’t one of those shows. See the man by himself, as he belongs. When: July 7 Where: Charlotte Metro Credit Union Ampitheatre, 1000 N.C. Music Factory Blvd. Cost: Not yet listed. More: livenation.com.
My Morning Jacket
On the night following Simpson’s show, and closing out our picks for shows at Charlotte Metro Credit Union Ampitheatre at the AvidXchange Music Factory, oh god now we’re out of room to even talk about the band. When: July 8 Where: Charlotte Metro Credit Union Ampitheatre, 1000 N.C. Music Factory Blvd. Cost: $30 and up. More: livenation.com.
Raekwon
The Chef is back in the
kitchen. We’re still awaiting the release of the album he said he finished last November, but we’ll make do with a solo show while we wait. When: July 15 Where: The Underground, 820 Hamilton St. Cost: $25 More: fillmorecharlottenc.com.
Phantogram
The whole Creative Loafing crew went next door to Fillmore for Phantogram’s Halloween show last year. Well, they must have had as good of a time as us because they’re coming back just months later, and we’ll probably help fill the building again. We’re just not dressing up this time (probably). When: July 22 Where: The Fillmore Cost: $35-78. More: fillmorecharlottenc.com.
Descendents
lot to get us on that damn PNC lawn, but this will do it. When: August 12 Where: PNC Pavilion, 707 Pavilion Blvd. Cost: $47 and up. More: charlotte.funkfesttour.com.
Kendrick Lamar
From K. Dot to Kung Fu Kenny, we’ve been rocking with Kendrick Lamar since well before Damn, but still, that new album, Damn. If you were to pick one show to go see in Charlotte this summer, this would be the one (only because Chance the Rapper is tehnically in the spring). When: August 29 Where: Spectrum Center, 333 E. Trade St. Cost: $40 and up. More: spectrumcenterarena.com.
Ed Sheeran
There would be no Green Day without Descendents, but don’t hold that against them. These pioneers of pop punk and nerd culture are swinging through again now that all that shit is cool again. When: August 4 Where: The Fillmore Cost: $30. More: fillmorecharlottenc.com.
If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all. But we don’t have a single bad thing to say about ol’ Ed here so we could talk all day. He’ll be wrapping up his recordbreaking Australian tour soon and coming stateside, where you can catch him without all the sharks and snakes. When: September 3 Where: Spectrum Center, 333 E. Trade St. Cost: $120 and up. More: spectrumcenterarena.com.
J. Cole
Bruno Mars
We would love to claim J. Cole as our own, but Fayetteville just has so little, we would never try to steal their shine. But we’re still excited for the North Carolina native to play in Charlotte’s biggest arena, with no features. When: August 9 Where: Spectrum Center, 333 E. Trade St. Cost: $39 and up. More: spectrumcenterarena.com
FunkFest 2017
The reigning Super Bowl halftime show champion is bringing his high-energy show to Spectrum, and we’re here for it. The showmanship in his live performances has been compared to that of Michael Jackson, meaning seeing him on stage could be a oncein-a-lifetime experience. When: September 14 Where: Spectrum Center, 33 E. Trade St. Cost: $205 More: spectrumcenterarena.com.
OK, forget everything we said above about trying to be nostalgia free, because FunkFest is bringing out Erykah Badu and Goodie Mob, and that’s about all we need to say. It takes a
Music/Concerts Music/Concerts 24 | JUN. 1 - JUN. 7, 2017 | CLCLT.COM
arts & entertainment arts & entertainment Gendered: An Inclusive Art Show
N. Tryon St. More: $20; brownpapertickets.com/ event/2905539.
The Young Affiliates of the Mint look to create a safe space for expression and dialogue in a divisive climate. When: June 16 – July 21 Where: Mint Museum Uptown, 500 S. Tryon St. More: Free with admission; mintmuseum. org.
Historic South End Gallery Crawl
The featured August artist in this monthly crawl is Jennifer Pierstorff, who has a unique talent for blending medical and pharmaceutical art with botanical and abstract art. When: August 4 Where: Magnolia Emporium, 307 Lincoln St. More: Free; magnoliaemporium.com.
Queen City Cinephiles
Zero in on your own location throughout the night as the line-up goes from foreign shorts, to national shorts, to local shorts. When: June 22 Where: Petra’s, 1919 Commonwealth Ave. More: $5-10; petrasbar.com.
Creative
Cirque Imagine
Duck out of the heat and the long lines to check out some stunning stunts and visual effects. When: June 23 - September 4 Where: Carowinds, 14523 Carowinds Blvd. More: Free with admission; carowinds.com.
Alexandra Loesser showing
Perennial “Best Visual Artist” winner in our Best of Charlotte issue Alexandra Loesser shows off her new work, and when all that critical art viewing gets you ravenous, you’re already in a top-notch Italian restaurant. When: June 28 Where: Luca Modern Italian Kitchen, 1523 Elizabeth Ave. More: Free; alexandraloesser.com.
Fun Home
Charlotte’s own Abby Corrigan returns to star in the adaptation of Alison Bechdel’s graphic memoir in which she unravels the mysteries of her childhood. When: June 27 - July 2 Where: Knight Theater, 551 South Tryon St. More: $25 and up; blumenthalarts.org.
Garrison Keillor
David Blaine
The modern man’s musician has mesmerized the market for many years. We don’t really know what that means we just like alliteration. When: July 11 Where: Ovens Auditorium, 2700 E. Independence Blvd. More: $29 and up; ovensauditorium.com.
The Little Mermaid
We all grew up on this flick, and now my first crush comes to life in front of my eyes! Some times I forget I’m supposed to be writing as a publication when I do these things. When: July 18 Where: Belk Theater, 130 North Tryon St. More: $25 and up; blumenthalarts.org.
Bloom V: Revolution
The performing arts duo Satarah will put on a show across four stages that ranges from the joyous and uplifting to the dark and melancholy. When: July 28-29 Where: McColl Center for Art + Innovation, 721
We’re only putting this in because our boss, editor Mark Kemp, is always bitching about how much he dislikes A Prairie Home Companion. When: September 14 Where: Belk Theater, 130 North Tryon St. More: $25 and up; blumenthalarts.org.
loafing’s
Summer Guide 2017
CLCLT.COM | JUN. 1 - JUN. 7, 2017 | 25
MUSIC
FEATURE
BRIDGE BUILDERS One Latino and one Anglo create a multicultural fusion in Plaza Midwood BY MARK KEMP
I
NSIDE A HOME studio on North Davidson Street just a few blocks down from NoDa’s busy main intersection, Tony Arreaza and Davey Blackburn are lounging around talking Latino music: salsa, bachata, merengue, samba, bossa nova, son. The two Charlotte musicians are surrounded by guitars, drums, keyboards, and row upon row of posters promoting past Latin American Coalition concerts. There’s Julieta Venegas, the adventurous Mexican singer-songwriter who performed a jaw-dropping set at the 2013 Latin American Festival in Symphony Park. There’s the experimental Colombian alt-rock band Aterciopelados, which performed at the annual festival two years earlier. And there’s La Santa Cecilia, the bilingual Los Angelesbased Latin-folk-rock combo that played the Charlotte fest just last summer. Before Arreaza began booking bands for the Latin American Festival in 2005, you wouldn’t find so many critically acclaimed, button-pushing international acts that merge experimental rock with Latin rhythms at this popular family event. Arreaza has almost single-handedly helped bring a sense of adventure to the Latin music scene in Charlotte, while maintaining a respect for the purity of traditional Latin genres. Ever since his local Latin alt-rock band of the early 2000s, La Rua, began dipping its musical toes into traditionally Anglo venues like the Evening Muse, Arreaza has been on a mission to push these now-deeply rooted American musical genres to Anglo and African-American audiences. And he’s succeeded spectacularly. But all that was years ago. Today, Arreaza and Blackburn are building new bridges with their Latin Night in Plaza Midwood events. The two have brought an eclectic array of local and regional acts that mix Latin, African and Anglo styles with experimental touches to a neighborhood club known mostly for its mix of punk and indie rock: Snug Harbor. They launched their first Latin Night event on January 9, 2015, and held five more over the subsequent two years. Beginning this week, the series will be running on a monthly schedule. Arreaza’s band UltimaNota will perform at the first one on June 3, along with Latin-music DJ Minuche and the dance group Bongó Bembé. “As a Latin band, it’s great to be able to play in a place like Snug Harbor,” Arreaza 26 | JUN. 1 - JUN. 7, 2017 | CLCLT.COM
UltimaNota (from left to right): Oscar Huerta, Dunny Mendez, Joswar Acosta, Isaac Melendez and Tony Arreaza. says. “It’s a chance to play for a new audience that doesn’t go to the Latino festivals or venues where we usually play. And it’s a chance for our fans to discover a new venue, where they don’t typically go and see music. The times we’ve played there in the past, we’ve seen the most diverse crowds of any of our shows.” Bringing diverse audiences and musicians together for both traditional and experimental approaches to Latin music is what’s most inspiring about the event, says Blackburn, who plays in the Latino alternativo (or Latin alternative) band Chócala. Blackburn’s background includes stints with highly experimental rock bands such as the noisy math-rock act Calabi Yau, where his dynamic personality behind the drums was a highlight of the group’s mid-’00s club and house concerts at places like the legendary Yauhaus. Coming from an underground rock background, Blackburn was the perfect match for Arreaza, who was steeped in the Latin alternative scene during that same period. “Tony and I come from one or the other of these perspectives, and we kind of meet in the middle with this, and it’s a great combination,” Blackburn says.
IN THE DECADE since Calabi Yau and La Rua played on parallel paths, both musicians have taken lead roles in bridging cultural gaps. Blackburn went on to form the Latintinged bands Moenda, Patabamba and
Chócala, and has also brought the Brazilian art of capoeira — a practice that incorporates dance, acrobatics and music — to Anglo audiences through his work with capoeira Mestre Esquilo (Bruno Antonio de Araujo Melo) of the International Capoeira School on Central Avenue. Blackburn also works with the North Carolina Brazilian Arts Project. Arreaza, in addition to booking the bands for the Latin American fest, has also lured internationally popular Latin alt-rock groups such as Cafe Tacuba to local clubs. But he is equally dedicated to keeping traditional Latin musical styles alive and well in Charlotte. “Tony is phenomenal in a lot of ways. He knows how to put all those kinds of things together in ways that respect tradition and also push boundaries,” Blackburn says. “He’s totally passionate and totally professional. For example, he wanted to bring Patabamba and now Chócala into these bigger events to serve as a local band that’s somewhat like the bands he brings that are a little edgier and out there, like Bomba Estéreo or Systema Solar. “I feel like Tony and I have a lot in common in that way,” Blackburn continues. “We had the same ideas about what Latin Night in Plaza Midwood should be, as far as bringing all those things together in a rock ’n’ roll club that’s in our neighborhood.” Arreaza agrees. “We are finally getting to a point where Latin music is becoming like a general market, like it is normal to be
PHOTO BY ARIEL PEREZ
LATIN NIGHT IN PLAZA MIDWOOD (FT. ULTIMANOTA) June 3, 10 p.m.; Snug Harbor, 1228 Gordon St.; $10; 704-561-1781. snugrock.com.
listening in a shopping mall or on the radio to a song in Spanish,” he says. “We are not there yet, but for sure we are getting close to it.” Zachary Reader, the Snug Harbor talent scout who’s responsible for bringing so much adventurous music to Plaza Midwood, has been pleased with the growth he’s seen during earlier Latin Night in Plaza Midwood events. “Snug Harbor has been the perfect platform for this to happen,” Reader says. “I’ve just seen this wide-eyed curiosity from people who were fans of some of these bands but had never been to Snug Harbor before, and I’ve seen the same wide-eyed curiosity from a lot of regulars who may have never heard this kind of music before. I saw lots of bridges forming, and I’m all about bridging gaps — musically, socially and culturally.” So far, Blackburn and Arreaza have booked acts for the next two months. For the July 7 Latin Music night, the Dominican band Sharey
Chócala (from left to right): Michael Anderson, Liza Ortiz, Claudio Ortiz and Davy Blackburn. & su grupo Klave will team with Charlotte’s La Nueva Sensacion. Both play a variety of music from Latin America including bachata and merengue. On Saturday, Aug. 5, Latin Night will present “A Samba Social! A benefit for the N.C. Brazilian Arts Project and the International Capoeira School.” Blackburn’s Chócala will perform at that event. And on Saturday, Nov. 4, both Chócala and Arreaza’s UltimaNota will perform on a bill together. The two are still working out the details for September and October. Arreaza says the idea is “to invite different Latin bands with different styles and create an atmosphere that is completely a melting pot.” Blackburn echoes Readers’ thoughts on the bridging cultural gaps. “I’ve talked before about the meaningful adjacencies among all
PHOTO BY TEMO TOBON
these things,” Blackburn says. “I saw it early on when I was constantly playing in bands at Snug Harbor, and then I started to bring in the capoeira group and then other Brazilian groups that would do stuff ranging from capoeira to samba to batucada and the full span of Brazilian culture. It was awesome and people started liking this stuff and I saw that. “Tony and I are absolutely in this thing together to build a bridge between cultures and different kinds of music,” Blackburn adds. Sometimes it takes a spoonful of the familiar to make the music and traditions of other cultures go down more easily for American-born Anglo and African-American audiences. With their Latin Night series now going monthly, Arreaza and Blackburn seem to have gotten the recipe down to a fine art.
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A LINE IN THE SAND Mason Parker departs for L.A. and prepares to drop a new album RYAN PITKIN
THERE WAS A moment in time when Mason Parker considered giving it all up. On August 27, 2010, Parker lost his mother on the same day he was fired from his job as an Allstate Insurance agent. He would inherit his mother’s home, along with the responsibility of paying it off. Since Parker began banging on his mother’s piano and dancing at talent shows at the age of 4, he had been chasing the dream of being a performer. At 11, around the time he moved to Charlotte, he added rap and spoken word to his repertoire. By the time of his mother’s death, he was a respected rapper, poet and actor in the Queen City, but was still struggling financially. The new father of two felt pressure from friends and family to drop the artistic aspirations and pursue a more stable lifestyle. So he set himself a deadline: if in three years he wasn’t able to support himself financially through his art or hadn’t received a sign that this was the life meant for him, he would put it aside. Fast forward to the day of deadline: August 28, 2013. Parker was sitting in a plane on a runway in Edinburgh, Scotland, after acting in Charlotte-based OnQ Productions’ Miles & Coltrane at Festival Fringe, unsure of whether he would continue his career in the arts when he returned home. While on the plane, Parker received an email from Creative Loafing informing him that he had won Best Rapper in the upcoming 2013 Best of Charlotte issue. “At that point I realized, I need to keep going,” Parker says now, just two weeks from jetting off to Los Angeles, where by the end of 2017 he’ll release his first full-length album, FREE Mason, under EightyNineTen Music, the Charlotte-based record label he signed with earlier this year. Before his departure, Creative Loafing catches up with the artist formerly known as Quill to discuss the new album, the Charlotte music scene and why Parker felt he had to move on. Creative Loafing: Does it sometimes feel overwhelming balancing all your art? Do you ever get the urge to just focus on one thing? Mason Parker: No, because I’ve been blessed to find ways to be very in control of what I do, and people rock with it on a level that’s allowed me certain opportunities to be on certain platforms and stuff. But I’ve never felt inclined to focus on one thing. I’ve been encouraged to focus on one thing. Why do people want to pigeonhole you? Most of the time it’s management and
Mason Parker.
MUSIC
PHOTO BY J. BOSEMAN.
MUSICMAKER
people like that, because it makes it easier for them. Because to them, it seems like you’re all over the place, but in your mind, you’re an artist, so it makes perfect sense to you. It’s like when you know somebody whose room is a mess but it’s an organized mess, so they know where everything is at. We all know somebody like that. My mind is kind of like that. What can people expect from FREE Mason? FREE Mason is going to be my best, most contemplative work to date. When I say contemplative, I’m always introspective, I’m always real reflective, but it’s like a real complete body of work. Prince said it all when he said, “Albums aren’t dead.” It’s something that you can ride to all the way through. It’s got all the ebb and flow you need. It’s going to take you through the whole gamut of the emotional spectrum. That’s all you can ask for, in my opinion, from a classic project. If you go through the history of everything that’s ever meant anything, they all bring those things to the table. So if you rock with how I do what I do, then you’re going to really like this joint. Why the need to leave Charlotte? The fact of the matter is that Charlotte is still trying to become a media hub, and so it’s very hard as an artist to make a living fulltime here because of that. In a place like L.A. or a place like N.Y., I can get on Craigslist right now and get me $500 real quick. I can’t do that like that here, and that’s just the fact of the matter. It’s not a shot, it’s just the way it is. But if you want to be in banking or healthcare, you’re good here. So from that aspect, if you’ve got the time to wait for Charlotte to catch up to you, and you want to help sow into the culture, then sow into the culture while you’re here. Push it forward, push it forward, keep pushing the envelope. But at the same time, don’t let it stifle you, don’t wait for Charlotte to catch up to you. If you’ve got to go make a living for your family, you’ve got to go do what you’ve got to do. But Charlotte is always going to be home.
CLCLT.COM | JUN. 1 - JUN. 7, 2017 | 31
MUSIC
SOUNDBOARD
JUNE 1 CLASSICAL/JAZZ/SMOOTH John Alexander Jazz Trio (Blue Restaurant & Bar)
COUNTRY/FOLK Ashley Wineland (Tin Roof) Billy Strings (U.S. National Whitewater Center)
POP/ROCK
JUNE 3 BLUES/ROOTS/INTERNATIONAL
Ben Miller Band (The Evening Muse) Jason Moss and the Ruckus (Comet Grill) Joshua Cotterino, Dallas Thrasher, Koosh, JPH (Petra’s) Karaoke with DJ ShayNanigans (Hattie’s Tap & Tavern) Songwriter Open Mic @ Petra’s (Petra’s, Charlotte) Tommy Z Band (Hattie’s Tap & Tavern, Charlotte) The Worshiper, Heft, Innervisions, East Viridian (Milestone, Charlotte)
Burt Wray Blues (Hattie’s Tap & Tavern) Seth Walker Band (The Evening Muse)
JUNE 2
Abbey Road Live! presents: Sgt Pepper 50th Anniversary (Visulite Theatre) Blue Monday (Tin Roof) Abe Reid & the Spikedrivers (Vinyl Pi, Huntersville) Gemini Jam featuring Leebo (Comet Grill) Idlewild South (Sylvia Theatre, York) LATIN NIGHT w/ UltimaNota, DJ Muniche (Snug Harbor) No Anger Control, Nerve Endings, The Commonwealth, Ganges Phalanges (Milestone) The Packway Handle Band (The Evening Muse) Roomful of Blues (Neighborhood Theatre) Smash City (RiRa Irish Pub) Stop Light Observations (U.S. National Whitewater Center) Train, O.A.R., Natasha Bedingfield (PNC Music Pavilion)
CLASSICAL/JAZZ/SMOOTH Jazzy Fridays (Freshwaters Restaurant) Spectrum (Morehead Street Tavern)
BLUES/ROOTS/INTERNATIONAL Steven Engler Band (Blue Restaurant & Bar)
COUNTRY/FOLK The Lenny Federal Band (Comet Grill) Malcolm Holcombe, Rob McHale (Sylvia Theatre, York)
DJ/ELECTRONIC DJ Red (RiRa Irish Pub)
HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B Electric Relaxation f. DJ Skillz (‘Stache House Bar & Lounge)
POP/ROCK City and Colour (The Fillmore Charlotte) Shana Blake Band (Vinyl Pi, Huntersville) Craig Veltri Band (Hattie’s Tap & Tavern) CUSP (Vol. 2) ft. High Cube, Contour, 1970s Film Stock, NahhG, Zodiac Lovers, Victor F. Glass (Snug Harbor) Delta Rae (The Underground, Charlotte) The High Divers, Great Peacock (Visulite Theatre) The Honeycutters, Town Mountain (Neighborhood Theatre) 32 | JUN. 1 - JUN. 7, 2017 | CLCLT.COM
Kaleb Hensley (Tin Roof) MindMaze, Paladin, Everthrone, Avalon Steel (Milestone) My 3 Sons (The Evening Muse) The Villains and Vagabonds Outlaw Variety Show (Petra’s) Wicked Powers (RiRa Irish Pub)
HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B Biz Markie (The Fillmore Charlotte)
DJ/ELECTRONIC DJ Method (RiRa Irish Pub, Charlotte) Drake Night featuring DJ Fannie Mae (The Underground, Charlotte) Off the Wall (Petra’s, Charlotte)
POP/ROCK
JUNE 4 HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B Rudy Currence and The VKC Band (Riverview Raw Bar & Chill) YFN Lucci, Munki Boi (Label)
COUNTRY/FOLK Tom Russell (Evening Muse)
POP/ROCK Bone Snugs-N-Harmony Karaoke Party (Snug Harbor) Omari and The Hellrasiers (Comet Grill)
Shredding the Southeast Tour: Mikey Cunningham & The Aftermath, The Joe Davis Band, Manslaughter (Keg & Cue)
JUNE 5 HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B Knocturnal (Snug Harbor) Motown on Mondays (Morehead Street Tavern) #MFGD Open Mic (Apostrophe Lounge)
POP/ROCK Locals Live: The Best in Local Live Music & Local Craft Beers (Tin Roof) The Monday Night Allstars (Visulite Theatre, Charlotte) Shannon Lee and Thomas Stainkamp Dueling Piano’s Night (Vinyl Pi, Huntersville)
JUNE 6 CLASSICAL/JAZZ/SMOOTH Bill Hanna Jazz Jam (Morehead Tavern)
COUNTRY/FOLK Red Rockin’ Chair (Comet Grill) Tuesday Night Jam w/ The Smokin’ Js (Smokey Joe’s Cafe)
DJ/ELECTRONIC BYOV with DJ Aswell: Bring Your Own Vinyl Night (Petra’s)
POP/ROCK
ЧAYU w/ Axnt, Joneses, Simon SMTHNG (Snug Harbor) Griffin House, Vanessa Peters (Neighborhood Theatre) Hayley Kiyoko, Sweater Beats (Visulite Theatre) Jade Moore (Tin Roof) Nothing Feels Good - Emo Night (Noda 101) Open Mic with Jeff Claud (Puckett’s Farm Equipment) Paul Simon (Charlotte Metro Credit Union Amphitheatre)
JUNE 7 CLASSICAL/JAZZ/SMOOTH The Clarence Palmer Trio (Morehead Tavern)
DJ/ELECTRONIC Bugalú – Old School Latin Boogie (Petra’s) Cyclops Bar: Modern Heritage Weekly Mix Tape (Snug Harbor)
COUNTRY/FOLK Open Mic (Comet Grill)
POP/ROCK
Dirk Quinn Band (Hattie’s Tap & Tavern) Karaoke with DJ Pucci Mane (Petra’s) Katastro, Pacific Dub (Neighborhood Theatre) Modern Heritage Weekly Mix Tape (Snug Harbor) Open mic w/ Jared Allen (Jack Beagles) Patois Counselors w/ Group Text, Konvoi (Snug Harbor) Pluto For Planet (RiRa Irish Pub) Toto (Knight Theater, Charlotte)
6/2 THE HIGH DIVERS & GREAT PEACOCK ROAD LIVE! presents: Sgt Pepper 50th 6/3 ABBEY Anniversary Performing “Sgt Pepper” 6/6HAYLEY KIYOKO 6/16 ALL THEM WITCHES 6/18 JAMES MCMURTRY 6/22 OLD 97's 7/9 SIR SLY 7/20 JOHN MORELAND 7/28 YO MAMA'S BIG FAT BOOTY BAND 7/30THEROCKET SUMMER
The Perfect Combo.
Trivia & Karaoke Wednesdays (Tin Roof, Charlotte)
COMING SOON Chance the Rapper (June 8, PNC Music Pavilion) Tegan and Sara (June 8, The Fillmore Charlotte) Fire Marshall Bill (June 9, Petra’s) Iron Maiden (June 9, PNC Music Pavilion) Banks (June 9, The Fillmore Charlotte) Skillet (June 10, Carowinds Paladium) Jarabe De Palo (June 13, Neighborhood Theatre) Blame the Youth (June 13, Snug Harbor) George Thorogood and the Destroyers (June 13, Knight Theater) Bleachers (June 14, The Underground) Muse, 30 Seconds to Mars (June 15, PNC Music Pavilion) Aqualads (June 17, Snug Harbor) Deftones, Rise Against (June 20, CMCU Amphitheater) Elvis Costello and the Imposters (June 21, CMCU Amphitheater) Kris Lager Band (June 21, The Rabbit Hole) Holly Russ Johnson (June 23, Petra’s) The Toasters (June 28, Milestone) Sturgill Simpson (July 7, CMCU Amphitheater) My Morning Jacket (July 8, CMCU Amphitheater) Crystal Garden (July 12, The Rabbit Hole) Spoon (July 18, CMCU Amphitheater) Boy Harsher (July 28, Snug Harbor) Frank Secich (July 29, Snug Harbor) Gillian Welch (August 4, Knight Theater) Gov’t Mule (August 5, CMCU Amphitheater) Apocalyptica (September 8, McGlohon Theater) John Prine (September 16, Belk Theater) Adam Ant (September 22, The Fillmore Charlotte) Kings of Leon (September 27, PNC Music Pavilion) Cafe Tacuba (October 6, The Fillmore Charlotte)
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XOXO perform Ubu Roi
ARTS
PHOTO BY XOXO
COVER STORY
THE MIND OF MATT COSPER XOXO steps beyond the threshold of freaky theater BY PAT MORAN
W
E’LL USE our imagination,” Matt Cosper says as he fires up the engine. Twelve of us are packed into a church van, and he asks us to close our eyes and open them on cue. “Lights up,” he says, and we lurch into Charlotte traffic. As we leave the city for winding country roads, Cosper plays a CD. It’s a weird mix tape, the soundtrack to a lucid dream where voices and snatches of songs rise and fade. A man and a woman talk about people who have vanished without a trace. A foggy recording of Del Shannon’s “Runaway” and a distorted, ghostly take on the 1950s Doris Day hit “Que Sera, Sera,” set a nostalgic yet unsettling mood. Except for Cosper, none of us have any idea where the hell we’re going. It’s May 2015 and I’m on my way to Bohemian Grove, an immersive event by the experimental theater troupe XOXO that’s too boundary-breaking and mystical to be called a mere play. Perhaps “happening” is a better 34 | JUN. 1 - JUN. 7, 2017 | CLCLT.COM
word. In the course of the evening, we traipse through farmland and forest, following two bumbling police officers as they investigate a missing persons case. The police perform a weird aerobics routine before crossing into the grove. In the torch-lit wooded area, cast members in animal masks swarm through the trees like night spirits. A Spanish earth mother in a tight red dress strums a ukulele and sings songs about the moon. Uniformed nurses pick out audience members one by one and take them away. I follow a nurse to a cabin in the woods. I’m ushered inside and the door slams shut. A lantern flickers in a corner of the room. A shadow moves and becomes a hulking bear of a man. Then it gets weird. At the end, we all gather around a campfire. We join hands and sing “Que Sera, Sera.” I talk to my fellow audience members, and no two can agree on what they’ve just experienced. We just know we’ll never look at
theater in the same way. We’ve had a personal transformative experience, and we owe it all to XOXO and its artistic director Cosper.
“WE DEAL with the biggies — sex and death,” Cosper says. “We’re good pagan artists.” It’s May 2017 and we’re sitting in a dark back room at Goodyear Arts. Abstract paintings adorn the walls, but it also as if the space has been used as a storage room. Out front, the sound system crackles with bursts of hip-hop as the venue prepares for an event scheduled later that evening. Cosper will be mounting XOXO’s latest happening #CAKE (Year Zero) in less than a month. It’s the troupe’s most ambitious undertaking to date, set on the streets of Charlotte, and in two spaces Uptown. Right now Cosper is trying to lock in one of those locations, and the clock is ticking. “We have a lot of lines in the water,” the 36-year-old writer, director and producer
says. “I’ve heard back from some realtors who might have office space for us. So we’re not panicking — yet.” Cosper has been organizing chaos into art since 2001. While still a student at Greensboro College, he founded the Farm Theater, which staged avant-garde shows in Charlotte’s funky alternative spaces like the Hart Witzen Gallery’s since demolished warehouse on East 5th Street. “We got sick of waiting for permission to make the kind of art we wanted to see,” Cosper explains. When the Farm disbanded in 2003, Cosper acted and directed for practically every company in town that wasn’t ensconced at Blumenthal’s Uptown complex — Children’s Theater, Bare Bones, Actor’s Theater, CAST, Charlotte Shakespeare and Starving Artists Productions. In 2009 he launched Machine Theatre, initially to produce pieces he wrote, but it rapidly became a more collaborative
#CAKE (Year Zero): Kadey Ballard
Bohemian Grove
PHOTO BY XOXO
PHOTO BY XOXO
Bohemian Grove
PHOTO BY GEORGE HENDRICKS
“WE GOT SICK OF WAITING FOR PERMISSION TO MAKE THE KIND OF ART WE WANTED TO SEE.” -XOXO’S MATT COSPER
ensemble. Machine morphed into XOXO in 2012 with Bohemian Grove’s absurdist trek to the afterlife and beyond. “[The name] Machine initially suggested a series of different parts working together to form a whole,” Cosper says, “but over time it began to connote a coldness and precision that was at odds with (our) work.” Whereas, “XOXO has the hugs and kisses connotation, so it’s warm and friendly. It also speaks to childhood,” he continues. “It has a poetry to it that I respond to.” In the five years since Bohemian Grove, XOXO has staged a drunken, buffoonish reading of Alfred Jarry’s Ubu Roi, I Won’t Hurt You, a healing ritual filtered through a fractured fairy tale; A Very Tampone Christmas, a wholesome holiday special recast as a Salvador Dali painting; and All the Dogs and Horses, a psychedelic western staged as an acid-damaged Six Flags America show which captivated and confounded audiences at the April BOOM festival in Plaza Midwood. With #CAKE (Year Zero), XOXO unleashes its darkest, most dangerous vision. The production has had a three-year gestation period. Its earliest incarnation, a 2015 work-in-progress presentation at Artspace 525, presented the future of humanity as a toxic and criminal workspace, with would-be power players jockeying for dominance over diminishing resources. A lovable Yeti, baking a cake while touting her high school record for running the 100-yard dash, provided comic relief.
The Yeti is gone from the current production, and the humor is more mordant and acid-laden. In the course of two years, Cosper’s description of the show has gone from “an astral projection, examining appetite, privilege and temptation” to “a crime story in the vein of David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive.” It seems those two descriptions are not too far apart. “Linking appetite, privilege and temptation to crime is not a huge leap,” Cosper says. “The gangster movie is a classic American form because it’s the story of capitalism with the veneer of respectability wiped off. We can see what’s truly going on. Everyone’s trying to rob each other. You can call it liberty, or the market, or moral bankruptcy.” In a case of form following function, #CAKE (Year Zero), which looks at the collapse of late capitalism, is set in the center of bank town. The show’s ambitious vision is also complemented by its experimental structure. Cosper says he’s scripted a ton of material with his collaborator MB Schaffner, but XOXO is encouraging the audience to determine the direction of the show to an unprecedented degree. “The show starts here [at Goodyear], looking like a play. There will chairs on risers, and the audience will sit and watch the performance, which then leads them out onto the streets of Charlotte.” Then cast members lead the audience on circuitous routes through Uptown, Cosper says, and each curated route has its own
specific flavor. Playgoers will also be given mp3 players loaded with three distinct tracks. Track One is background information, he explains, telling you more about the characters and the dystopian world of the play. Track Two is surveillance, a theme central to the show. It’s a bug, listening to the room where Act One occurred. Track Three is a Bohemian Grove-style metaphysical collage. Each track is 20 minutes long, lasting the duration of the walk. Listeners can choose a single track, or they can toggle back and forth between them. “You’re in charge of how you put that information into your head,” says Cosper. The audience’s urban exploration leads them to another location where “the boundary between audience and actors has been erased,” Cosper says. “We’ve rehearsed the piece in such a way that there’s room in it for the audience to make decisions about what they see and what they hear.” No one is more interested to see how it pans out than Cosper. He wonders if a few dominant audience members will take charge and impose their will. Or will we see democracy happen, with groups of people reaching consensus? The process poses questions about choice and power. In #CAKE (Year Zero), power is the center of gravity. It’s our world seen through a glass darkly. An unspecified disaster has occurred, spurring a scramble for dwindling resources. The Mayor, a criminal overlord, runs his enterprise like a dysfunctional office. The
other characters struggle to make ends meet, alternately pleasing and plotting against their boss. To anyone who’s toiled in the belly of the corporate beast, this dark sci-fi vision sounds uncomfortably like a typical workweek. Although the grim gravitas of #CAKE (Year Zero) seems a world away from the bucolic mysticism of Bohemian Grove, Cosper maintains that both shows occupy the same universe. If Bohemian Grove is heaven, then #CAKE (Year Zero) is hell. But Cosper won’t take all the credit for creating a waking nightmare. He couldn’t have crafted XOXO’s twisted vision without its managing director Karina Caporino.
THE FIRST TIME I saw Caporino, she
was performing a jerky, puppet-like dance to the Hollywood Argyles’ 1960 hit song “Alley Oop.” She was teamed with former XOXO cast member Chris Herring, and the routine was a weird and wonderful respite in Bohemian Grove’s journey toward the infinite. Then they did the dance again. This time the routine took on the gravitas and concentration of a magic ritual. It was one of those moments where XOXO gently confronts their audience, to engage them and draw them in. Another example is the Machine Theatre production A Guide for the Newly Dead. “It’s in three parts,” Caporino says. “The first part is this sort of cartoonish detectives’ office, and SEE
MIND P. 36 u
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MIND FROM P.35 t then we go into the underworld with these abstract characters, and then the fourth wall crumbles and we have an unscripted conversation about death and loss, what we believe and think. Some nights the audience kept very quiet and some nights the audience would engage with us about our pain, sorrows, fears and expectations.” It’s a brief moment that’s impossible to manufacture, Caporino maintains. It has to come naturally and earnestly or else it won’t work. To get to XOXO’s moments of unplanned magic, someone has to mind the business of running a theater company. That’s where Caporino comes in. She describes her position as “a lot of nuts and bolts and spreadsheets.” XOXO has a progressive agenda, Caporino explains, and both Cosper and Caporino are ambivalent about capitalism. “That makes running a theater company challenging,” she says, laughing. “I admire Karina,” Cosper says. “She’s smart and stubborn. She helps me get the shit done, and she has vision for what an arts organization can do in Charlotte, in a way that I sometimes don’t.” Caporino also plays one of #CAKE (Year Zero)’s most inscrutable characters, Davey. “Davey fights for what Davey believes to be justice and equity. Davey chooses to do that by getting close to those in power, and by changing the system from the inside. But being inside the system can take its toll.” Davey is also non-gender specific. “Is gender even important in a character?” Cosper asks. “What comes up with Karina’s work with Davey is this idea that Davey can access masculine and feminine energy, and can be neutral. It’s a formalist experiment. Can an actor be un-gendered?” When it comes to the theatrical adage that casting is 90 percent of a director’s job, Cosper disagrees. He thinks it’s closer to 100 percent. “If you put the right people in the right positions, things will happen,” Cosper says. “You can be the most brilliant writer in the world, but if you don’t have the right team, there won’t be life in the work.” Perhaps Cosper’s most surprising casting choice was artist and musician Maf Maddix, a non-professional performer in the key role of Paul, the calm stoic who watches and notes the reckless and criminal activities of the Mayor’s operations. Originally Maf Maddix did sound design for Bohemian Grove, and Cosper got him on board to handle audio for #CAKE (Year Zero). Then one day there was a reading, and no one was available to read Paul. Cosper asked Maf Maddix to pick up the script. “He is engaging and dry,” Cosper says. “He’s crazy smart, and he has this distance about him. We’d written a character, but we didn’t see the person until he came through this actor.” Maf Maddix got it. “Since I’ve been working on the show,” he says, “I can see how this character is perfect for me.” 36 | JUN. 1 - JUN. 7, 2017 | CLCLT.COM
#CAKE (Year Zero): (L-R) Maf Maddix, Kadey Ballard, Bill Reilly, Karina Caporino, Lillie Oden If #CAKE (Year Zero) has a hero, it’s the Reverend, played by Lillie Oden. Cosper met Oden when he and Caporino hired her for a piece XOXO did for On The Hook, a collective of Charlotte arts organizations making work aimed at eradicating white supremacy. “I fell in love with Lillie,” Cosper recalls. “She’s funny, warm and expressive. “Everyone in the play is flawed, but Reverend Gerard is the moral center,” Cosper adds. The Reverend has a sermon that has to pull everyone together at the end of the harsh and unsettling first act. “Lillie is perfect for that,” he says. “She has this amazing ability to make eye contact and get you to take a deep breath.” Bill Reilly plays the Mayor, perhaps the only clear-cut villain in the piece. “The Mayor is an awful son of a bitch,” Cosper says. The role was written as the personification of “the invisible hand of the market,” but Reilly’s work has transformed a bastard into a needy middle manager. He just wants his underlings to like him. “It gives that character some interesting dimensions, and it also speaks to need,” Cosper says. “Coupled with the violence that character is capable of, it makes him fun to watch.” #CAKE (Year Zero)’s babe in the woods is Jelly, played by Kadey Ballard. “Jelly’s blissfully, willingly ignorant about what is happening throughout the play,” Ballard says. “She doesn’t question what’s going on, and doesn’t try to change it, but she may not be able to continue doing that for long.” For Ballard, #CAKE (Year Zero) is about everyone’s complicity in the slow-motion collapse we see around us. We’re aware that something is wrong, but what are we doing about it?
ON THE EVE of premiering XOXO’s most
challenging project, Cosper contemplates his place in the Charlotte theater scene. He’s grateful for support he’s received from the Knight Foundation and the Arts & Science Council, and he currently holds a job he enjoys: director of theater arts at Charlotte Latin School. He loves working with his students, and he notes that Charlotte Latin seems thrilled that one of its teachers is making art in the community.
PHOTO BY XOXO
#CAKE (Year Zero): (L-R) Kadey Ballard, Karina Caporino, Lillie Oden, Maf Maddix, Bill Reilly “I’m privileged,” Cosper says. Still, he sees a rocky road ahead for the city’s theater community. Out of all of Charlotte’s companies, only Children’s Theatre pays performers something close to a living wage he says. “Think of the money in Charlotte,” Cosper says. There are plenty of people in Charlotte who could write a check to support a sustainable theater scene, he adds. “We have a bunch of wonderful theaters downtown where you can see a beautiful show from out of town. So maybe people with money think there is theater to see,” Cosper says. “They don’t make the connection that those performers aren’t from here, and they aren’t telling our story.” It’s a tough situation that makes Cosper and XOXO’s contributions all the more vital. “If I make the work I want to see, and I do as best as I can with people that I care about,
PHOTO BY XOXO
#CAKE (YEAR ZERO) June 1-24, Thursday-Saturday, 7:30 p.m. (there will be no showing June 22); $50; Goodyear Arts, 516 N. College St. goodyeararts.com. Age 18-over.
one of two things will happen,” Cosper says. “Either after 20 years of doing this, I’ll get noticed, and we’ll be going on tour to Tokyo. Or I’ll spend my life making the work I want to make with people that I care about.” As with everything in both life and good theater, a bittersweetness hovers over either scenario. BACKTALK@CLCLT.COM
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FILM
LOST AT SEA Two oceanic adventures debut, but only one partially stays afloat BY MATT BRUNSON
T
HE LEAST SEA-WORTHY
— make that see-worthy — film in the deathless franchise, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (*1/2 out of four) is the sort of big-budget extravaganza that’s exhausting in the worst possible way. Whereas the brightest blockbusters leave audiences feeling happily drained thanks to a real sense of adventure and plenty of adrenalinepumping excitement (think Raiders of the Lost Ark or the original Jurassic Park), the poorest ones wear viewers out through a bullheaded combination of unnecessary bloat, tiresome developments, and — to paraphrase that Shakespeare guy — unrelenting sound and fury, signifying absolutely nothing at all. After sitting through a movie like Dead Men Tell No Tales, you don’t want to rush out and tell your friends to see it. You just want to take a nap. It’s been six years since the last Pirates of the Caribbean picture drifted into theaters, and a full 14 years since the original film made its debut. Like all that have preceded it, this fifth entry is primarily built around Johnny Depp and his character of Jack Sparrow, and why not? It was the first Pirates feature that turned Depp into a genuine movie star and earned him his first Oscar nomination, and he’s always been the bloodline of this franchise. Unfortunately, that blood is running thin these days — with Depp having spent the last several years playing caricatures rather than characters (The Mad Hatter, Tonto and more), there’s no longer any novelty to what was once a blazingly original creation. His Jack Sparrow is now just a Jack-in-the-box, popping out at regular intervals to amuse the kids. Brenton Thwaites, the bland hero in last year’s Gods of Egypt, is the bland hero here as well, playing the son of Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann (original series costars Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley). For reasons too convoluted to explain, he’s but one of many people seeking the fabled Trident of Poseidon, joined in his quest by Jack and an astronomer named Carina (Kaya Scodelario). Captain Barbossa (returning Geoffrey Rush) is still on the scene, and there’s a new villain in the form of Captain Salazar (Javier Bardem), a murderous spirit who blames Jack for his present ethereal state. For a movie that never stops moving, Dead Men Tell No Tales is astoundingly dull, choked to death by expensive CGI, lumbering set-pieces, and a script seemingly cobbled together even after production was underway 38 | JUN. 1 - JUN. 7, 2017 | CLCLT.COM
(late in the film, Salazar is revealed to possess a power that sure would have come in handy at countless earlier points). There are a few clever moments strewn throughout — a bit involving a guillotine is brilliant, and, intentional or not, Jack’s first appearance is a nice homage to Charlie Chaplin’s intro in City Lights — but these bits are too few and too far between. A couple of the earlier films featured Keith Richards as Jack’s father. Figuring that a Rolling Stone cameo should be matched by a Beatles cameo, this one showcases a brief appearance by Paul McCartney as Jack’s uncle. It’s an apt inclusion, since a message to the makers of this past-its-prime franchise can be found right there in The Beatles discography: Let It Be. The big-screen version of the imbecilic TV series that ruled ‘90s television, Baywatch (**1/2 out of four) is pretty much indefensible. Nevertheless, like my cousin Vinny bucking the odds in the courtroom, allow me to defend at least parts of it. Those would be the parts involving a charismatic leading man and no small measure of knowing laughs. A movie based on a show about brainbaked lifeguards isn’t going to stir memories of, say, A Man for All Seasons or The King’s Speech or even Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, but within its own parameters, Baywatch knows the territory. The plot is flimsy but enough to get the movie from point A to point B (if not much beyond): Stalwart lifeguards defend their stretch of the beach against criminals hoping to seize it for their own nefarious purposes. On second thought, flimsy might be too strong a word. The MVP is, of course, the impossibly appealing Dwayne Johnson, cast as head lifeguard Mitch. The film has fun playing off the actor’s image as everyone’s best — and best-built — buddy, and he’s equally ingratiating whether receiving or (more often) delivering the cutting zingers. Mitch’s favorite target is a narcissistic Olympian named Matt Brody, and Zac Efron surely deserves some sort of Good Sport award for allowing himself to be the movie’s version of Lou Costello. That Baywatch was written entirely by men can be deduced by simple math. There are four beautiful women in the primary cast (Alexandra Daddario, Kelly Rohrbach and Ilfenesh Hadera as lifeguards and Priyanka Chopra as the villain) but only two beautiful men (Johnson and Efron). The inequality is partly because the other male lifeguard is the audience surrogate, a shlub who looks
Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales.
The girls and boys of summer in Baywatch. like Josh-Gad-with-training-wheels. The character of Ronnie (played by Jon Bass) is there for the same reason that Ron Jeremy has prevailed in porn, so that ordinary, uncool guys can excitedly point and breathlessly intone, “If he can make it with the ladies, then, by God, so can I!” This Josh Gad Jr. isn’t particularly funny or endearing, but he of course gets the girl (well, one of the girls) — this bit of wish fulfillment should add an extra five or so million to the domestic box office. On the other hand, the only nudity in the film comes not from the four beautiful women or the two beautiful men but from this guy, so maybe subtract a mil due to the expected gay panic on the part of the intended audience. Speaking of the male writers, it took three separate teams of two guys — six total writers! — to produce this script. It was probably worth the piling-on, considering one team was previously responsible for Norbit, one for Freddy vs. Jason, and one for those inane Night at the Museum flicks. Perhaps these gents were able to weed out much of each other’s rancid material, allowing several amusing bits to float to the top. On the other hand, the juvenile antics that do drag down the picture — moments like Mini-Me Josh Gad unable to conceal his erection or Efron fondling a corpse’s testicles — clearly reveal the fingerprints of man-children who have previously toiled for the likes of Kevin
DISNEY
PARAMOUNT
James, Jimmy Fallon and The Smurfs. It’s too bad a skilled comic writer like Tina Fey wasn’t tapped to drop the boys-will-be-boys drivel and beef up the potent bits that were already in place. Or how about Aaron Sorkin? I imagine Aaron Sorkin writing a Baywatch movie would pretty much be on bucket lists left and right. But I digress. Bottom line: Baywatch ain’t great, but after such duds as that King Arthur clunker and the latest Jack Sparrow droppings, you could do worse than a day at the beach. An art-house experience for older viewers not particularly interested in typical summer shenanigans, The Lovers (**1/2 out of four) stars Debra Winger and Tracy Letts as Mary and Michael, an unhappily married couple both enjoying affairs with other people. Mary is seeing a writer (Aidan Gillen) while Michael is dallying with a dance instructor (Melora Walters), and both are repeatedly being given ultimatums by their respective lovers: Tell your spouse that you’re leaving them, or else. While Mary and Michael each try to build up the courage to confess, they unexpectedly locate a burning ember among the cold ashes of their marriage. Suddenly, they’re in no real rush to seize that divorce. Winger and Letts are excellent in the central roles, and writer-director Azazel Jacobs does a rather remarkable job of
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ARTS
ARTSPEAK
CULTURAL BONANZA Four Charlotte arts institutions team up for one big party BY GREY REVELL
THE INAUGURAL Long Live Arts Festival, held last May, attracted more than 3,500 people, and one unwelcome guest. “Last year we had rain,” Andrea Chandler, who goes by Angie C, remembers. “So we’re doing all the rain dances to keep that away.” As the Levine Center’s arts ambassador, Chandler was asked to put together the 2017 edition of Long Live Arts, and she dove into the project with enthusiasm. The results of her work coordinating four major Charlotte arts institutions — the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, John S. and James L. Knight Theater, Harvey B. Gantt Center for African American Arts and Culture, and the Mint Museum Uptown — will be on full display Saturday, June 3, at the Levine Center for the Arts complex. Last week, Creative Loafing sat down with Angie C to find out what it takes to wrangle all those organizations into a united front, and what to expect at the Uptown event. Creative Loafing: What motivated four major Uptown arts and culture institutions to come together for a festival like this? Angie C: They decided to come together because of their common location, to create a Center for the Arts so they could have an organization that makes things happen. But until last year, there hadn’t been any large events that included all of them. There was a common desire to get people down here, but as you know, there’s always a lot of construction and people tend to shy away from that. So we wanted to remind people of what we have going on. We said, “Let’s do something where all four of us come together.” We’re bringing a lot of it outside so that people can see what’s going on in these buildings, amidst all the Charlotte bustle and construction. That was always the heart behind it — to get people to see what’s going on out here. Not an easy feat, huh? Oh yeah! (laughs) There’s definitely a desire to get people out to experience art, so we all had that in common, but we’re four different entitites, with our own different events, and we’re all venues as well, with weddings and things, so to get everyone on the same page and focused on it, it was hard, but doable. What should folks expect this year? Basically the whole day, anything arts that
Courtesy of Levine Center can happen, is happening (laughs). So from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., people will be able to come and make things. All of the museums will be offering creative arts opportunities. Here at the Gantt, there will be a spot where you can make your own tote bag and T-shirts. The Mint will offer you a chance to make your own version of some of the great art that they are displaying. So a lot of hands-on stuff, free guided tours, and performances. We will have Shafelee Patel, with an Indian folk group, and she’s going to do a dance called the gujarat. We will have orchestral hip hop, marrying opera and neo-soul with classical instruments. There’s going to be Cuban jazz, and West African dance. A day where literally all the different things you can see throughout the year at the museums and the Knight Theater are all on that day. It sounds like a pretty Herculean effort. What motivated you to take it on? My heart. As an arts educator and as an arts ambassador, my job is to allow people access to what we have here. Just look at the Mint exhibit (State of the Art, from April September). You and I both know there are great things inside, but the percentage of people that come in from outside is so small that it’s always in my heart to tell people, “This is what we’re doing here — come see it!” This festival is an opportunity to do that, and this is what I love to do. This is here all the time. I’m over here at the Gantt for the majority of the time, so to be able to see what’s happening inside the Bechtler and the Mint in the same weekend — that’s why we’re having the festival. For example, the Knight is showing “Innovations” right now, which is a ballet but with poetry and people who aren’t traditional ballet dancers. So getting to know what all four institutions are doing on the same days, and learning that your patrons are our patrons, too. It’s been great for me to see what everyone else is doing. Not just to see it on social media, but to go inside. It’s really dope — all the things we have to offer to Charlotte.
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WHO’S REALLY YOUR DADDY?
A DOOZY OF A WEEKEND
The word is bleeding into popular usage and provoking consideration of our own desires
How many more days off do we have?
ALLISON BRADEN
The word “daddy” makes a lot of people I didn’t expect: uncomfortable. “Not exactly sure why but it makes me When you use it for your actual father, totally lose focus.” there’s that weird sex thing. And when you “I think it’s hot, but it has to be used use it during sex, there’s that weird dad thing. sparingly and preferably close to climax.” It turns out that there’s a long history One comment seemed to sum up a of finding “daddy” sexy and an equally long healthy approach to sexuality in general: history of finding the endearment disturbing “I think it’s fine if the other person and creepy. thinks it’s fine!” In fact, there’s a song from as far back In my conversations about this over the as 1920 called, “I Want To Go To The Land last couple of weeks, I found that everyone Where The Sweet Daddies Grow.” (Yeah.) seems to have an opinion. So, what is “daddy” all about, really? Does Many have considered their own desire it have anything to do with “daddy issues?” to use daddy or not, or they’ve encountered Sigmund Freud would say yes (obviously). a preference for it from a partner. He developed the theory of the “feminine But what is that desire really about? Oedipus attitude,” which described the I’m not the first columnist to wonder. phenomenon of women competing Back in 1922, when “daddy” was with their mothers for the sexual all the rage, Los Angeles Times possession of their fathers. columnist Alma Whitaker It’s this specter of incest speculated, “Doesn’t and Freudian psychology it look like a tender that makes some longing for authority, uncomfortable. a pathetic craving to As one friend pointed be enthroned once out, “If I’m choking more in domesticity? you and biting you and A back-to-nature and fucking you, then I’m the superlatives of most certainly not your paternity?” ALLISON daddy.” But I don’t think so. Fair. But I’m skeptical Like much else about BDSM, BRADEN that someone’s desire to call calling someone or being called their partner daddy has much to daddy is about playing with power do with their biological father at all. and authority; letting control slip in I called up Dr. Kent Brintnall, a sexuality and out of your grasp; feeling the rush of and eroticism professor at UNC Charlotte, for being subsumed or subsuming someone else a philosophical perspective. in a setting where it feels safe to let go of “I think it’s fairly safe to say that part of yourself. both the discomfort but also the pleasure is Playing with power in bed can be about because it raises this kind of transgressive seizing control when the rest of the world notion of the parent-child relationship.” feels unmanageable. But it’s not, like, really about incest, right? Or, on the flip side, it can be about Brintnall says no. feeling temporarily unmoored from the “In the same way, people interested in weight of daily life. puppy play, if presented with the actual To me, “daddy” and other erotic possibility of bestiality, would be like, ‘No!’ experiments with power give voice to a Like, no, that isn’t what this is about.” fundamental yearning: to connect across For more insight, I turned to that other the bounds of our own consciousness and fount of wisdom and expertise: Facebook. to experiment with relinquishing ourselves com. to each other. When I posted a status asking whether In a cultural moment marked by bitter “daddy” was sexy or not sexy, many responses division, I won’t begrudge anyone’s attempts were unequivocal: to achieve a transcendent connection. Even “Ew.” if those attempts can be just a little bit “Super creepy.” weird. BACKTALK@CLCLT.COM “Creep factor 10.” Other responses went into a level of detail 42 | JUN. 1 - JUN. 7, 2017 | CLCLT.COM
AERIN SPRUILL “What day is it?” That’s a question you’re pack and clean up. bound to hear from me on a three-day The last thing I remembered from the weekend. night before was trying to decide whether A combination of too much PBR and or not I could rally for another drink while an extended weekend that only happens staring into the dark of the tent. That’s a handful of times each year for the when someone started yakking outside and hardworking young professional? Whatever the case may be, there’s no realized I didn’t want to be that person. doubt that everyone’s days begin to run As we piled back in the car to head back together. to the Q.C., I was thankful for three things: This weekend was no different. It started the chance to improve my beer pong game, out around 4:45 p.m. on Friday. I went to the fact that I wasn’t hungover and that this Heist Brewery for a couple beers on the patio. I’m not a huge fan of their food, but black chick survived her first camping trip. this time I tried the crab dip and I can’t say I After returning to Charlotte, I set out was disappointed. to find something to do. Like I said, a long After Heist, I thought it would be a wise weekend is too good a thing to waste. idea to stop by Hot Taco to meet up with A co-worker had given me tickets to some friends. It was supposed to be an early night so I could be productive the following Kehlani at The Fillmore later on that night, morning before soaking up some sun but that was hours away. I texted at the pool. my friend who was going with The next thing I know, me to the concert and she it’s close to 11 p.m. and I’m headed to a co-worker’s for was already pregaming at a nightcap. NoDa Company Store. I An hour or so later, I was surprised to find an received an invite to go above-ground pool filled camping the following with buns and guns when night. I’d missed out on the camping trip in I walked in. Virginia the year prior, As it happened, they so there was no way I was AERIN SPRUILL were having a luau and pool turning down the invitation. party in honor of Memorial Day. The only problem? We were How fun?! leaving around 9:30 a.m. the following morning and I remember seeing If you’ve never been to this quaint 4 a.m. before passing out on my co-worker’s little venue situated behind Smelly Cat couch. Coffeehouse & Roastery, stop what you’re That’s why I was dry heaving into a pint doing and go now! A bottle shop featuring glass heading home at 7 a.m. in the morning. local brews, sangria, unique art and a This ride to Virginia was going to be a doozy. spacious patio, NoDa Company Store is sure I packed an overnight bag for my first camping trip and hopped in my ride to VA. to be one of your favorite places to hangout. To my surprise, the trip wasn’t as brutal as I I’m hoping they’ll plan another pool thought it would be, and getting there took party before the summer is over. only a couple hours. After a couple drinks there, I could Unbeknownst to me, my friends have already feel Kehlani slipping through our been taking this trip yearly for the better part of a decade, and after piling onto a cot fingers. I looked at my co-worker and asked earlier than I thought I would and listening if we should go. to the sound of rain splash (inside and The next thing I know, it’s almost 1 a.m., outside) of the tent, I guess I can see why. I’m arguing in a parking lot and I realize we The scenic views, beautiful farmland, quaint never even set our sights on AvidXchange farmhouse (with electricity) and nostalgia for unshared memories of those who’d Music Factory. Oh well, the tickets were free. attended in previous years. The conclusion of a busy weekend ended Oh, and did I mention there were seven on a rooftop complete with pool, sun and kegs? friends. Not too shabby for an unplanned The next morning around 8 a.m. I woke four day weekend, right? up to the sound of rustling as folks started to
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PEOPLE OF THE PAST ACROSS
1 Ousts 7 Fig. on a new car sticker 11 Isle of Minos 16 Pro music providers 19 Lost lady in “The Raven” 20 “That clarifies it” 21 Saabs, say 22 Use scissors 23 Enron scandal figure was inactive? 26 Suffix of fruit drinks 27 -- Pie (cold treat) 28 Sternward 29 Lucas of film 31 By way of, briefly 33 “Three’s Company” actor started dozing? 38 See 82-Across 40 Money owed 41 Floral wreath 42 Pappies 43 Lyric writer Gershwin 44 Lyric work 47 Toe part 49 “Lulu” composer Berg 52 Watergate whistleblower had anxiety? 59 Island near Molokai 60 -- for “apple” 61 Charles of CBS News 62 “CSI” actress Elisabeth 65 Solar system members 69 Ending for pent- or hex70 Citi Field stat 71 Reds great met a tough challenge? 76 Santa -- (hot desert wind) 77 Unveil, in poetry 78 Swiss resort lake 79 Greek mountain 80 “Is there an echo --?” 82 With 38-Across, they have film bloopers 83 “This --!” (fighting words) 86 Teen sleuth noted the subtle difference? 94 “Gladiator” actor Davis 95 Mrs. Addams, to Gomez 96 Bygone flight inits. 97 “Aquarius” network 98 Chilly
101 Hereditary helices 103 Small needle case 105 Have one’s cake and eat -107 “The Ward” actress hallucinated auditorily? 113 Te- -- (giggles) 114 Blueswoman Smith 115 Fuzz figure 116 Machine for sowing 118 Become old 119 “The Great Ziegfeld” figure caused a road jam? 126 UNLV part 127 Valuable store 128 River of Pisa 129 Not coastal 130 Pack carrier 131 Targeted 132 In order 133 States of change
DOWN
1 Bugling beast 2 Winning sign 3 Cochlea site 4 Relative of an attache 5 Trying trip 6 Take effect 7 What to call an English nobleman 8 Retirees’ fund org. 9 Marina del -10 Like a smug know-itall 11 OPEC, e.g. 12 Mai tai liquor 13 Sked guess 14 Pacific island nation 15 Actor Will 16 U.S. capital and environs 17 Deemed 18 Infuses 24 Wellness gp. 25 Awry 30 Horse-track has-been 31 Slim and fit 32 Greek Juno 34 Eatery card 35 Impose -- on (forbid) 36 Pages (through) 37 “-- & Stitch” 39 Long couch 45 Room with a 39-Down 46 Pass 48 Hate 50 Horse to bust
51 All mixed up 53 Abstract artist Paul 54 Scrabble pick 55 Tight-fisted type 56 Karloff of film 57 Timber wolves 58 City near Minneapolis 62 Seville locale 63 Hair dye 64 Fan of the Jazz, usually 66 Attorney or heir follower 67 Nutty candy 68 Misc. abbr. 69 Nails the test 72 Actors Culkin and Calhoun 73 Pages for think pieces 74 Handling the matter 75 Kind 81 Schools, to the French 82 “Hero” co-star Davis 84 NYC-to-Seattle dir. 85 Berry from Brazil 87 Bike, e.g. 88 Weight-loss strategy 89 Narrow strip of land: Abbr. 90 Feng -91 Russian news agency 92 Penetrating woodwind 93 Sarges, say 98 Jewish mystical tradition 99 Last letters 100 Dwell (on) 102 Like insteps and rainbows 104 Hip place 106 Winter bug 108 Gaucho rope 109 “The Dance” artist Matisse 110 Female goat 111 Fetch 112 Sans -- (font style) 117 Pioneer Boone, to townsfolk 120 -- de plume 121 Hail, to Ovid 122 Rap’s Dr. -123 A, in Italy 124 Opal ending 125 LPs’ successors
SOLUTION FOUND ON P. 46.
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chatting in the middle of the night, then you’re probably wasting someone’s time — if, again, you’re not being absolutely clear about what you’re doing there. Also, TORSO, Grindr is location-based, which means you’re going to get a different experience based on where you’re using it. Some neighborhoods seem to be filled with messy guys looking for chemsex, bless their hearts. In others, you’ll find unwoke twinks who are on Grindr to swap (highly problematic) GIFs of black women pulling faces. And if you’re in a rural area, it’s likely you’ll message your full cast of Grindr torsos within a few days. Think of Grindr as a giant gay bar — most guys are there to hook up, a few just want to hang out and chat, some dudes are really messed up (avoid them), and no one is at their best around closing time.
Always be up front about your intentions, TORSO. The best way to do that is by I’m a married woman whose creating a profile — on Grindr hot, hung husband is into or elsewhere — that clearly “beautiful women and describes what you want and pretty boys” (his words what you’re up for. Because — and he means boyish good partners (sexual or men of legal age, of otherwise) communicate course). It took a dozen their wants clearly. years to get that out of Adding something like him. I’d watched him this to your profile should drool over pretty male do it: “My preferred form baristas and waiters, of sexual relationship is but it wasn’t until I DAN SAVAGE the friend-with-benefits found twink porn on his situation. I go on Grindr computer that he came out looking to make friends who about his “narrow slice of could, at least potentially, be sex bisexuality.” (Again, his words.) partners, but I like to do the friend thing Now that it’s out — now that he’s out before the sex.” — he’s anxious to have a three-way with Grindr is an app designed and marketed me and a femme guy. I’m up for it, but to facilitate hookups, but some people have the pretty boys we’re finding online found friends, lovers, and husbands on who are into my husband aren’t into the app (usually after hooking up first). So me. My husband says he would feel too being on a hookup app doesn’t automatically guilty doing it without me, which means mean you’re looking for “right now,” and it he may not be able to do it at all. I want certainly doesn’t obligate you to fuck every him to do it. It turns me on to think guy you swap messages with. But if you’re about. I don’t have to be there. not clear in your profile or very first message HUBBY’S UNDERLYING BI BIOLOGICAL YEARNINGS about what you’re doing there, TORSO, guys looking for a hookup on that hookup app will be rightly annoyed with you. (The time Let your hot, hung husband find a pretty and energy he sunk into you could have been boy he likes, HUBBY, then ask for the boy’s sunk into someone looking for right now.) e-mail or phone number or IG handle or If you are clear, guys seeking instacock have whatever, and have a quick back-channel only themselves to blame for wasting their convo with him. Let him know your hot, time on you. hung husband (HHH) wants his ass and that Your timing could also have something you’ll be there — but only at the start. Once to do with guys calling you an asshole. drinks have been served, the ice has been Are you exchanging messages at two in broken, and a little spit has been swapped the morning for 20 minutes? Because most (between him and HHH), tell him you’ll guys on Grindr at that hour are seeking invent a reason to excuse yourself, leaving immediate sexual encounters. If you’re just him alone with your HHH. Good luck!
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SOLUTION TO THIS WEEK'S PUZZLE
FOR ALL SIGNS This is an unusually
active week among the planets. Multiple activities are probable for everyone. We’ve had a long spring of holding back and waiting for the right moment, given the retrogrades of Venus and Mercury. Activity and forward motion started at the beginning of May and now it is in full swing. Every planet is involved in the dance. They are avatars for those of us on earth. Not everything is rosy, but at least circumstances are moving forward, for better or worse. Most of us become itchy when action is thwarted and we must sit on our hands.
ARIES An abandonment issue from the
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past may be re-enacted in the present, only in different clothing. The symbolism points toward early issues with siblings or elementary education peers. If you have an overdone sense of rage this week, it is most probably caused by issues from long ago.
internet. Relationships go well with a little surprise change in the mix. You have been needing to do something different together. Now is the time to experiment.
TAURUS You are planning to make a
SCORPIO A child or a lover might scratch
change soon that will surprise everyone. You have just a few more projects to accomplish and then you can tell everyone. You seek a practical and ordered change, which means laying all the bricks just right. Love life appears stable and unconflicted.
GEMINI THE TWINS (May 20 -- June 21) This is a time in which you must take a look at reality. The facts are being exposed related to your life direction. Maybe you are just realizing how others see you. Possibly the culprit is yourself as you have avoided clear knowledge of your total picture. Becoming conscious brings the power to resolve issues. CANCER Mars, the warrior, enters your sign
this week and will be traveling with you for seven weeks. This energy is especially helpful in defining our boundaries. Periodically we need to examine who we are and who we are not. Often something or someone is eliminated. In general, it increases your courage and physical strength.
LEO There is the possibility that you will attract someone who is needy, causing you to feel that you should help. Before you go very far, talk to your friends and ask who this person is. He or she might be a “vampire,” one who takes far more than he can give. On a higherlevel, there is also the possibility of an encounter with your Spirit. VIRGO Your concentration is good at this time and will help you accomplish any mental project you need. Use your hands to create artwork and gardening is also favored. Love life and time spent with children would go well this week. Nurturing will feel good to you. LIBRA Aspects favor the law, circumstances involving distant people, travel, and the 46 | JUN. 1 - JUN. 7, 2017 | CLCLT.COM
an old emotional wound. In the old days it felt like an abandonment so this feels painful. It is important for your mental health to stay in the present moment, lest you overreact to the situation and generate misery for yourself and others. Try not to relive that old history in knee jerk fashion.
SAGITTARIUS Primary relationship(s) are going well now. The two (or more) of you may be working together to accomplish a long-term goal. You have been building and growing your new identity for the last two or more years. This week some of that effort is showing budding signs of favorable results.
CAPRICORN Relationships to your family of origin are given a boost. It is possible you are on a family vacation with everyone, including your adult family and children. Make an effort to reach out. Plan a barbecue in the backyard, if nothing else.
AQUARIUS Let yourself make changes, even small ones, in your daily routine. It will be a refreshing shift from the norm. Give the artist in you an opportunity to spread its wings and experiment with a new or unusual medium. Play with accent pieces in new colors to brighten your mood.
PISCES There are vampires loose in the world and the Fish tends to attract them. If you have aged a bit, you probably have begun to smell them when they enter your vicinity. Those who have not will be learning a lesson soon. It’s a required course for this sign. Save some energy for yourself. Don’t take over someone else’s problem.
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