2017 Issue 28 Creative Loafing Charlotte by Creative Loafing Charlotte

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Rory Sheriff offers his take on the Tony Award-winning play ‘Jitney,’ which runs at Duke Energy Theater from Aug. 31 to Sept. 9.

PHOTO COURTESY OF BNS PRODUCTIONS.

NEWS&CULTURE IN HER SHOES Dorothy Counts-Scoggins talks about activism on the anniversary of her historic walk to school BY RYAN PITKIN

A HISTORY IN PROGRESS Local author Pamela Grundy discusses new book on West Charlotte High School BY RYAN PITKIN 7 EDITOR’S NOTE BY MARK KEMP 10 NEWS OF THE WEIRD 11 THE BLOTTER BY RYAN PITKIN

FOOD A NEW SUGAR RUSH Female pastry chefs find sweet success in

Charlotte

BY ALISON LEININGER

TOP 10 THINGS TO DO THIS WEEK

MUSIC 18 TRIAL BY FIRE Diamonds & Whiskey are ready for anything after winning over a Sturgis bar full of bikers

BY GREY REVELL 20 SOUNDBOARD

ARTS&ENT DANCERS TAKE FLIGHT OUTDOORS Carolina Calouche & Co. launch the Crossroads Fest

BY PERRY TANNENBAUM

24 FILM REVIEWS BY MATT BRUNSON

ODDS&ENDS 26 NIGHTLIFE BY AERIN SPRUILL 27 CROSSWORD 28 SAVAGE LOVE BY DAN SAVAGE 30 STARGAZER BY VIVIAN CAROL

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VIEWS

EDITORS NOTE

A MORAL CODE Dorothy CountsScoggins fights on SIXTY YEARS AGO, on Monday, Sept. 4, a brave and dignified Charlotte teen endured unspeakable abuse simply to attend school. Dorothy Counts was just 15 when, head held high, she walked through a chaotic and hateful gauntlet of snarling white students and parents to reach the doors of Harding High School for her first day of classes. On the streets Paris, writer James Baldwin saw media images from Charlotte on that historic day and returned to the U.S. to lend his support to the civil rights movement. “Facing us, on every newspaper kiosk on that wide, tree-shaded boulevard, were photographs of 15-year-old Dorothy Counts being reviled and spat upon by the mob as she was making her way to school in Charlotte, North Carolina,” Baldwin wrote. “There was unutterable pride, tension, and anguish in that girl’s face as she approached the halls of learning with history jeering at her back.” Those words begin the 2016 Raoul Peck

documentary I Am Not Your Negro, based on students and dignity for black citizens of Baldwin’s unfinished manuscript for Remember Charlotte. This House, and narrated by actor Samuel L. Pitkin also interviews Pamela Grundy, Jackson. author of a new book on race and education, “It made me furious, it filled me with both Color & Character: West Charlotte High and the hatred and pity, and it made me ashamed. American Struggle over Educational Equality, Some one of us should have been there with for this issue. In her book, Grundy brilliantly her,” Baldwin continued. “It was on that documents the dramatic historical arc of an bright afternoon that I knew I was leaving all-black high school that became a model France. I could simply no longer sit around of integration in the 1970s, only to return in Paris discussing the Algerian and the black in more recent years to a school that is once American problem. Everybody else was paying again segregated along racial lines. their dues, and it was time I went home and The history of West Charlotte High is a paid mine.” microcosm of what’s happened across the The monumental actions of a nation over the past 15 years. Much Charlotte teenager influenced a of the resegregation of Charlotte towering figure of American schools is directly attributable literature to come back to bigotry and stereotyping home and fight racism — by local politicians such as fight the attitudes of the Bill James, who in 2004 people, some of whom infamously wrote, “The are surely still walking the education problem at CMS streets of Charlotte today, is mostly a black problem who jeered and mocked a and specifically a moral young student who arrived problem with behavior in the at school during an earlier black community.” MARK KEMP vicious period in American Sadly, James’ skewed views history simply to learn. of morality and Charlotte’s black In this issue, news editor Ryan community — four years before the Pitkin sits down with Dorothy Countselection of America’s first black president — Scoggins to talk about what life has been like represent the egregious bigotry and stereotyping for her since that day 60 years ago. To be sure, nationwide that ultimately led to the election of she has never stopped working to promote America’s current hateful president, and the education equality and social justice in this resurgence of hate groups such as the white city — even as nasty, bigoted local politicians supremacists that recently wreaked havoc and such as Bill James have tirelessly worked to death in Charlottesville, Virginia. turn back the clocks on education for black Dorothy Counts-Scoggins today expresses

disappointment that the progress prompted by her bravery as a 15-year-old student — and the bravery of so many other young black students and activists — has been systematically undermined by the same old racism that infected this country more than six decades ago. “I never thought that 60 years later we would be back to where we’re still fighting for that which we were trying to fight for then,” she tells Pitkin on page 8. “This whole thing around racism is a part of this, and it’s not just the schools . . . Through my whole life, I just never thought in this day and age we would be facing the kinds of things we’re facing today: the hatred and the bigotry.” Make no mistake about it: Ms. CountsScoggins is not giving up. As a member of the Council of Elders and the Historic West End Neighborhood Association, she remains active in making sure Charlotte residents in historically black neighborhoods are heard over the noise of developers who have no qualms about leveling homes and communities to build overpriced condos. “I’m the kind of person,” Ms. CountsScoggins tells Pitkin, “I just do what needs to be done, and my reason for doing it is because it’s the right thing to do. It’s a moral issue.” If you don’t read anything else this week, read Pitkin’s interviews with Dorothy CountsScoggins and Pamela Grundy. And let their words motivate you to act. The moral future of our city and nation depends on those who live by a moral code. And despite their words, politicians like Bill James are not among those people.

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NEWS

FEATURE

IN HER SHOES Dorothy CountsScoggins reflects on her historic walk to school 60 years ago RYAN PITKIN

OROTHY COUNTSSCOGGINS sits in front of

Mosaic Village on West Trade Street. The daughter of a professor, she lived just a block away on the campus of Johnson C. Smith University for 11 years as a child and later attended college there. She loves the university and stays active in its development, but a school just three miles west of JCSU is where Counts-Scoggins changed history, both in Charlotte and around the nation. On September 4, 1957, Counts-Scoggins, then just Dorothy Counts, was one of four black students to integrate all-white schools in Charlotte. News photos of the teenaged Dorothy walking to class at Harding High School among a brutal crowd of white students and parents made their way around the world. The photos of the stoic student calmly walking through a vitriolic sea of hatred sparked outrage and inspired countless Americans to get involved in the civil rights movement. In the unfinished manuscripts that comprise the 2016 documentary I Am Not Your Negro, writer and activist James Baldwin remembers seeing the pictures and deciding to leave his home in France and return to America to help fight racism. As the 60th anniversary of that day approaches, Creative Loafing sat with CountsScoggins just down the street from her alma mater and her current home in the Biddleville/ Smallwood neighborhood to discuss why she left town a week after integrating Harding, and why she came back and has remained active in the community in the decades since. Creative Loafing: Do you get sick of talking to journalists about that day in 1957? Dorothy Counts-Scoggins: Certain times of the year, like now, it comes up more so than others. I don’t have any problem with it. I do it a lot in the schools. You asked about journalists, but I make a habit of trying to do it a lot in the schools with the kids, because a lot of them have no knowledge. And I need them to understand that even if a lot of things have changed now in education, a lot of things have happened as a result of people making sacrifices so they could have a better education. I just want them to know that. What sticks with you from living through that day that people might not grasp by looking at the photos? I think it’s obvious to see, in terms of what was going on, it was an angry crowd. A lot of 8 | AUG. 31 - SEPT. 6, 2017 | CLCLT.COM

PHOTO COURTESY OF CHARLOTTE OBSERVER.

them were students, but the photo doesn’t really depict that there were also adults as a part of that as well. Some of them might not have been directly in the crowd, but there were adults that were in the yards and on the porches of the houses that framed that street. People say, “You don’t look like you were afraid.” And I say, “No, I didn’t have fear. My goal was just to get through the door.” But a lot of that came from the fact that I had such strong support where my family was concerned. Not only my family, but also the community as a whole. When did it become evident that you would not be able to stay at Harding? Whose decision was that? It was a family decision. Naturally, my parents were approached, but I was a part of a family. The decisions that were made about their children, everybody was a part of it. So my parents didn’t just come to me and say, “You’re going to do this.” How much did your experience that day play into your decision to remain active in education and community issues? I worked in child development for 40 years, and when I retired in 2012, I said, “Even though I’m retiring, it doesn’t necessarily mean that I will stop fighting.” And this was at the time when things were really heating up in Charlotte around CharlotteMecklenburg Schools. So I said, that’s where I would take my focus. Then I moved back to this community; I moved from south Charlotte, my husband and I separated, and I said, “Well, I’m going home.” So I moved back on the west side, so I could be close to my mother and my family and my church. As a result of that, a lot of issues that have happened on the corridor, I’ve gotten involved with that — outside of education, because I can remember what the corridor was like as a child growing up. I can remember when we were not in a food desert. I can remember when we had

we weren’t better off 60 years ago in the segregated schools that we had — even though we were lacking the resources and those kinds of things — than some of the kids are today, because they’re going through so much other kinds of things. But it upsets me because I never thought that 60 years later that we would be back to where we’re still fighting for that which we were trying to fight for then. I guess what it is is that people just don’t understand. Everyone has their own feelings in terms of what is right. But this whole thing around racism is a part of this, and it’s not just the schools. And that is the part that bothers me, because I didn’t grow up that way. And through my whole life I just never thought in this day and age that we would be facing the kinds of things we’re facing today, the hatred and the bigotry. PHOTO BY RYAN PITKIN.

Dorothy Counts (top) walks to Harding High School on September 4, 1957. Above, Dorothy Counts-Scoggins, today, sits in front of Mosaic Village, near her west Charlotte home. pharmacies. I can remember when we had a grocery store at the corner. And then, of course, I’m in a neighborhood that’s going through gentrification. That’s fine, but at the same time there’s a rich history, and I want to make sure that history is maintained. Is it disheartening for you to see the same arguments about school segregation now that were happening 60 years ago? I was thinking about that this morning: It’s almost 60 years ago when my family and other families in Charlotte made a decision to put their children in those schools to make it better for all children. And here it is 60 years later, and I’m not so sure that

Are you optimistic when you look to the future? I am. One of the reasons why I’m hopeful is because of the fact that I think we are getting a very good group in Charlotte — and I’m hoping this is happening across the country — a group of millenials that are coming forward to say, “Hey, we don’t want this.” And so, they give me hope. They’re willing to speak up, and it’s sort of reminds me of myself and some of the others from 40 or 50 years ago. So I think as a result of that, I think things are going to change. Not that the older stakeholders in this community can be forgotten. We still have some very good people, people I call diehards, in this community who believe in what we believe. But I think it’s time for the younger generation to pick it up and move forward and create change, for their children as well as other children, the same kind of things that we were fighting for. Visit clclt.com for the full interview. RPITKIN@CLCLT.COM

A HISTORY IN PROGRESS Local writer Pamela Grundy discusses her new book on West Charlotte High School RYAN PITKIN

WHEN PAMELA GRUNDY set out, in

1998, to write a book about West Charlotte High School, it was supposed to have a happy ending. For decades, the school had served as shining example of the success of integration; of why busing works. Within a couple years, that all started to fall apart. Capachionne v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools would eventually lead to the end of mandatory busing in Charlotte, and wipe away much of the progress that had made Charlotte a precedent for integration. On September 5, 20 years to the day that William Cappachione filed a lawsuit claiming his white daughter, Cristina, was wrongfully denied admission to a magnet school due to racial quotas, Grundy’s new book, Color & Character: West Charlotte High and the American Struggle over Educational Equality, hits shelves. The book covers the the school’s history, from the day it opened on September 6, 1938, through integration, to the end of busing and resegregation of West Charlotte and many other local schools. We talked with Grundy in the lead-up to the release to discuss her 20-year process of writing Color & Character, and why the story might still have a happy ending. Creative Loafing: This tale took some turns while you were writing it. How did your mission change along with the story? Pamela Grundy: In 1998, the story was that West Charlotte had been a model for segregated schools. It had gone through a rocky period and then emerged and became a marvelous integrated school. It was a national model. This was a time when there were a lot of questions, stuff was swirling, Cappachione had been filed, so there was a lot of discussion about that. I felt like it was really important to tell the story that it had worked, because this was also the time when people started to say that desegregation was a failure and we need to abandon it. And a lot of that was related to, what did you expect school desegregation to do? If you expected it to turn the world into a perfect place, no, it didn’t do that. If you expect that it created perfect institutions where everyone was all perfect, no, it didn’t do that either. But if you expected it to introduce students to each other to create these new kinds of institutions where students have a chance to be with each other and learn about each other and figure out how to negotiate the problems that come up at schools that are relatively equal, it actually did a pretty good job. But then, of course, very soon after I started the project, busing stopped. Resegregation happened faster than anybody thought it would. The speed with which everyone scrambled for the best — or what appeared to be the best, meaning highest test scores and the wealthiest student population — it was a great shock to everybody. And particularly with West Charlotte, a school that had become

so beloved, resegregation changed things so quickly and so dramatically. At that point, it was really hard to know what to say, because my story was about West Charlotte becoming a great integrated school. But then it wasn’t a great integrated school. What stuck with you while researching the book? One of the things that came home to me very strongly was the trauma that the AfricanAmerican community went through from the late ’60s into the ’70s. These were things that I knew had happened, but when you really look at the urban renewal, on top of schools being closed in communities, on top of when desegregation happened, African-Americans had no control over what happened. It was being run by a group of powerful white people. The challenges, particularly for black teachers and black students... There has been a tendency, in talking about this period, to focus on the Grand Compromise, and the willingness of community leaders to send their children to West Charlotte to be part of this, instead of pulling way. And that’s very important. But in that sense, the focus is on the compromise and after that, everything was good. Telling it in a little more detail shows more of the struggle, and particularly the pain, that took place as this AfricanAmerican world in some ways crumbled. As [former West Charlotte principal] Bill McMillan says, there were kindergarten teachers who were afraid of kindergarten children; white teachers who were afraid of these little black boys. It’s hard to understand the level of separation and fear and all of that. I think it’s kind of a dramatic book because there’s a lot of dramatic things that happened. You had a son while working on this book, and he entered CMS while you were working on it. How did that affect the way you viewed the story? The research I had done told me that [integration] could work and it was a really good thing, and I wished I — who went to a high-performing high school in southern California with three black kids in the whole school and probably 20 Hispanic kids and everybody else was rich and white — I sure wish I had gone to West Charlotte High School. I was very aware of all the things I didn’t learn at this school where I achieved and got into a good college, and blah blah blah. But over the years I had come to understand what I didn’t know. And I wanted my son to have a different experience. I thought that that was tremendously important. You’ve become a bit of an activist in your own right since then. Did working on this book inspire that? It’s very upsetting that some kids have opportunities that others don’t have, and it

PHOTOS COURTESY OF PAMELA GRUNDY/UNC PRESS.

was also very upsetting that, at the time, this corporate reform, they were coming in and doing all this stuff that made no sense. This whole testing thing where they were making learning not fun. The people who design the tests say, “We’ll tell you they’re not being used the way they’re supposed to be.” It’s all political. It’s all about politics and money, the way that schools are being run, and that made me angry, because it shouldn’t be about politics and money. A lot of the same debates described in your book that have happened over the decades are the same arguments that

are happening at CMS today. Is that disheartening to you? You see that the arguments in the ’60s — particularly if you’re talking about the arguments from the people who live in the suburbs and want to go to their suburban schools because that’s part of the reason they bought their houses out there — the arguments they were making in the ’70s against [Julius] Chambers and [Judge James B.] McMillan, the arguments they were making in the late ‘80s against trying to shift back, which ended in John Murphy and the whole magnet thing, and the arguments they’re making today, they’re pretty much the same. There’s two parts to it. There’s the argument of choice: “This is what we want for our children, we’re the parents, we should be able to choose what we want. We moved here with certain expectations, etc.” There’s not an act of hostility, except for a handful of certain people, perhaps some of them being elected officials, one in particular. [Editor’s note: She’s referring to Commissioner Bill James. Read the book for further explanation of that.] But you get lots of arguments as to why it’s just better for the poor kids to stay in their own neighborhoods and go to their own schools, and I think that is just not true. The arguments that are being made for “Oh, if we do this, and this, and this,” have all been tried, and they all don’t work. The way our political system works is resources flow to those in power, and if power is distributed unequally, the combination of public and private resources are going to flow unevenly, and you’re going to get the difference between Providence High and West Charlotte, and that’s just what happens. It would be nice to say that, “Well, if the government would just properly run and if the school system just did things right, this imbalance would not exist, they would be able to make that not happen through policy,” but that has never happened in actual reality because of the nature of the political system. And that’s what Julius Chambers argued in 1969, and that’s what Judge McMillan understood, and we’ll all have to keep re-learning that. Are you hopeful for CMS when you look at the future? Where I see a lot of possibility is in the younger generation, particularly people who are less interested in going to the suburbs, maybe a little more adventurous. Even though when you have kids, all of a sudden you become much more anxious, because that’s just what happens, but young people are a little more willing to try to step out. I’m heartened by the folks, the Cotswold/ Billingsville folks, the Dillon/Sedgefield folks. There are a lot of folks who are really genuinely trying to make this work rather than everyone screaming and trying to run away. I think that’s helpful. This isn’t hopeless. You can have a mixed school. Again, if you expect it to be perfection, that won’t work, but if you really want to turn it into a place where everybody learns and everybody gains from each other and all that, that can be done if people put their effort into it. And I think it’s a whole lot more interesting and better for your kids. That’s what I think, anyway. Visit clclt.com for the full interview. RPITKIN@CLCLT.COM CLCLT.COM | AUG. 31 - SEPT. 6, 2017 | 9

NEWS

NEWS OF THE WERID

INEXPLICABLE Odessa, Texas, resident Ernesto Baeza Acosta, 34, has legally changed his name to Ernesto Trump and declared himself the son of President Trump. His NSFW Facebook page features photographs of Ernesto wearing a Trump-like wig and asks viewers to “Please share this so that my Dad your president can see this and spend time with me.” Ernesto is a fan of President Trump, but his immigrant mother is unamused about his name change. BRIGHT IDEAS Alana Nicole Donahue,

HOME ALL WEEKEND! Charlotte Knights vs. Norfolk Tides

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MONDAY

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27, of Springfield, Oregon, just wanted to entertain her children and nephew with a joy ride around the neighborhood. But on July 12, as she pulled the kids — ages 2, 4 and 8 — behind her Ford Taurus in a plastic red wagon, she was arrested for reckless endangerment. Donahue told police she was just “showing the kids a good time.” However, horrified witnesses saw the car going about 30 mph as the wagon went up on two wheels going around a busy traffic circle at rush hour.

INCONSPICUOUS

David Blackmon identified himself as a drug dealer when he called the Okaloosa (Florida) County Sheriff’s Office on July 16 to report that $50 in cash and a quarter-ounce of cocaine had been stolen from his car. When officers investigated, they found a baggie with “suspected cocaine,” a crack pipe and a crack rock in the car. Blackmon was charged with possession of cocaine and drug paraphernalia.

COMPELLING EXPLANATIONS Everett Lee Compton Jr., 49, told Siloam Springs, Arkansas, police that marijuana “makes him do sick things” after they apprehended him for abusing female donkeys. The donkeys’ owners, Emert and Joyce Whitaker, had set up a surveillance camera and recorded Compton on three occasions putting a bag over a donkey’s head and placing his pelvis against its rear end. “It just made me sick to my stomach,” said Joyce Whitaker. “To know that she couldn’t tell nobody and that she was having to go through this.” TECHNOLOGY RUN AMOK A security robot named Steve suffered a soggy fatal error on July 17 when it tumbled down several steps and into a fountain in Washington, D.C. New to the job, the robot had been patrolling the Washington Harbour area of Georgetown, mapping out its features in an effort to prevent just such an accident. “He looked so happy and healthy,” an area mourner tweeted after the incident. Another observer was less sympathetic. “Robots: 0; humans: 1,” he tweeted. LEAST COMPETENT CRIMINALS (1) The Pink Panther, he ain’t. Police in Wayne County, North Carolina, are looking for a

careless cat burglar who keeps waking people up as he robs them. At least one victim awakened by the slender white man in early July has seen him wearing a pink polka-dot beach towel around his head. Police aren’t sure if he’s actually gotten away with any loot. (2) Three heads are apparently not better than one, as three China Grove, North Carolina, masterminds demonstrated on July 12. Rex Allen Farmer, his son, Rex Carlo Farmer, and the younger man’s girlfriend, Kayla Nicole Price, cooked up a scheme to rob the Mooresville gas station where the elder Farmer worked. Surveillance video showed Carlo, disguised in a woman’s dress and wig, emptying the cash register as his father, the clerk on duty, stood by. Carlo then ran outside and removed the dress and wig, setting them on fire next to the building. However, the fire spread to a meter on the building and a privacy fence, thus summoning authorities. Police soon caught up to all three and arrested them.

THE ANIMAL KINGDOM (1) An African

grey parrot named Bud may have been the key witness in convicting 49-year-old Glenna Duram of White Cloud, Michigan, in the shooting death of her husband, Martin Duram, 46. The investigation of the 2015 shooting dragged on for a year before Martin’s first wife, who inherited the parrot, shared with a local TV station a videotape of Bud imitating two people having an argument, including the words “Don’t (expletive) shoot.” Three weeks later, Glenna Duram was arrested and charged with first-degree murder, and on July 19, she was found guilty. (2) Fire department dispatchers in Branson, Missouri, must have thought they were being punked on July 22, when they received a call to rescue a bird from a tree. But it was no joke. A ladder truck was dispatched to rescue a parrot that had escaped and became tangled in its leash 50 feet up in a tree. Bonus: The firefighter who braved the 50-foot climb was Colt Boldman.

ANGER MANAGEMENT Two AT&T utility

workers apparently didn’t work fast enough on lines outside the home of Jorge Jove, 64, of Hialeah, Florida, on July 19. After confronting the workers, Jove went back into his house, came out carrying a gun and began shooting at the AT&T trucks, deflating the tires. Jove reloaded twice and shot at the trucks’ engines before aiming at Gilberto Ramos, a service worker who was up on a utility pole. Jove was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

PEOPLE

DIFFERENT

FROM

Barbara Rogers, 42, of Coolbaugh Township, Pennsylvania, said she was just following directions when she shot her boyfriend, Steven Mineo, 32, in the forehead July 15. Rogers said Mineo asked her to kill him because he thought a cult they belonged to was led by a reptilian pretending to be human. Rogers called 911 to report the shooting, after which she was charged with homicide.

NEWS

BLOTTER

BY RYAN PITKIN

THUGS While it’s the rap shows that get a

bad wrap around many of Charlotte’s music venues, police reports regarding guys and girls acting crazy because they’ve had too much to drink are far more often to pop up following country music shows, as with a recent report following Luke Bryan’s show at PNC Music Pavilion. Police said that a suspect at the concert “willfully and wantonly” appeared intoxicated and was being disruptive. When he was told to leave, police say he cursed loudly at other concertgoers around him before trying to fight the police officers that were trying to escort him out. It was then that the man was finally arrested.

HITMAN Police responded to a 7-Eleven in the University area after someone was threatening to beat up a 13-year-old kid, but didn’t have it in them to actually commit the crime themselves. The young victim and witnesses told officers that the suspect told the boy that he was going to “kick his ass,” but then apparently had second thoughts, because he started offering money to random customers walking through the parking lot if they would be willing to kick the kid’s ass for him. No one accepted. FRANKENSTEIN While it’s a fairly common expression to ask someone who’s not acting right if their head is screwed on straight, a man in Third Ward took it upon himself to find out when he fought his roommate last week. A 52-year-old man living near the Johnson & Wales University campus called police and told them that his 60-year-old roommate was drunk and had stabbed him in the head with a screwdriver. Both men were taken to the hospital, where they were treated for minor injuries, before the older of the two was arrested for assault. FIND YOUR BEACH A man simply dug himself deeper after being cited by police for drinking in public in the Starmount area of south Charlotte last week. According to the report, the man was first approached because he was drinking a Corona on a public sidewalk while waiting for the bus. An officer issued him a citation, and then watched as the man got on the bus, leaving both the empty bottle of beer and the ticket he was just given on the ground next to the bus stop. The officer then wrote him two more tickets in absentia for littering. RABID SHOPPER Being a security guard at

Target may seem like an uneventful job, but one guard learned last week that he too has to watch out when dealing with aggressive shoplifters at work. According to the report, police responded to a call at Target in the RiverGate Shopping Center in southwest Charlotte for a shoplifting-turned-assault call. The security guard told police that a woman who had previously been banned from the store — and was later found to have been

convicted of more than four misdemeanor larcenies — came in and, true to her personal brand, began shoplifting perfumes. When the guard confronted the woman, she became upset and tried to bite the man. He was not injured, and would thankfully not need any shots. The repeat offender was arrested, but must have struggled, as the police report states a handcuff was damaged during the incident.

LIQUID GOLD Police responded to a Showmars on Providence Road last week after someone targeted their stash of vegetable oil. According to the report, an unknown suspect came to the location overnight and went right for the storage shed behind the building. The thief used a truck to pull the doors off the shed and made off with 1,700 pounds of vegetable oil, valued at $900. GET OFF MY LAWN Police officers must have been rolling their eyes when they had to respond to a neighborly dispute in east Charlotte last week because a man would not stand for seeing his neighbor help out with the landscaping. The 54-year-old “victim” in this case called police on one of his neighbors for trespassing on his yard because she was spreading mulch in her own yard and he thought some might have gone onto his property and up against his privacy fence. Bah humbug. BAIT AND SWITCH While many beer and

wine thieves that target gas stations tend to use the grab-‘n’-go method, one man tried a new method that we’ll call the BOGO. The man figured that if he bought one bottle of Mad Dog 20/20, the cashier wouldn’t expect him to steal another, although the cashier reported having already seen the man slip a second bottle in his back pocket while he was attempting to pay for the first one.

TOUGH LITTLE MUTT A man in southwest

Charlotte didn’t exactly pull a Clark Griswold last week when he pulled off from a shopping center without realizing what was on his bumper, but he did have to file a report for lost property after his phone won out in a battle for survival with his wallet. The man said he had placed the phone and wallet on the back of his car while placing bags inside, and forgot until he was about a mile down the road and someone flagged him down to inform him about the phone. The wallet, however, wasn’t so lucky, and he wasn’t able to find it anywhere on the route.

DONG BONG Police carrying out a traffic

stop in Pineville last week came across a man who was apparently turning up in style. The police reported that the suspect was found to be holding a cup with an alcoholic beverage in it when he was pulled over, and following a search, they found the suspect to be in possession of a marijuana pipe shaped like a penis. The driver was arrested on scene.

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CLCLT.COM | AUG. 31 - SEPT. 6, 2017 | 11

FOOD

COVERSTORY

A NEW SUGAR RUSH Female pastry chefs find sweet success in Charlotte

OUR YEARS AGO, Jossie

Perlmutter was understandably nervous. Young and untried, she was about to take the reins of her own pastry program at the new Heirloom restaurant. In 2013, Perlmutter had moved to Charlotte from Maryland for the job, after intensive study at France’s Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Pâtisserie. But Heirloom owner Clark Barlowe’s concept ran counter to what Perlmutter’s instructors had advised: he expected to change his menu every two days in the interest of seasonality. Oh, and by the way, Perlmutter was younger than her new assistant. Not only did the young chef rise to the challenge, but Perlmutter and her thenassistant Anne Marie Stefaney formed a highly successful team, developing four creative new desserts every week. Since then, both women have gone on to successively claim the title of “Pastry Chef of the Year” from the North Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association “I credit Heirloom with giving me the most experience,” Perlmutter says today. “It forced me to experiment with different techniques, textures, flavors. It was a great way to take everything I had learned in France and apply all of it.” Perlmutter’s collaboration with Stefaney demonstrates Charlotte’s culinary reputation for collegiality over competition, yet some absences still glare in the kitchen. Of the culinary teams serving our most respected fine-dining establishments, few are led by women. Sure, there are women owners and managers, and many, such as Katie Kindred and Jessica Annunziata, have been essential front-of-the-house partners to their chef husbands. But of Charlotte Magazine’s top 25 restaurants last year, only one, Flipside in Rock Hill, boasted a female head chef, coowner Amy Fortes. If you’re one to stay for dessert, though, the field widens. Pastry chef Ashley Boyd of 300 East and Heritage Food & Drink has drawn attention and plaudits for her sweet artistry, accompanying a Charlotte all-star chef team to the James Beard House in 2016. Hers may be the only name familiar to many Queen City diners, but a new generation is rising: they’re young, they’re pastry chefs, and they are women.

AFTER HER STINT at Heirloom, Perlmutter’s talent and growing skills took her to The Asbury in Uptown, then to Block and Grinder in Mooresville. At the same time, she began building an independent future, launching her own cake-focused catering business, Sweet Affairs, in 2015. She also cultivated a small network of peers, and last 12 | AUG. 31 - SEPT. 6, 2017 | CLCLT.COM

year inaugurated an annual charitable event, Sugar Shock, featuring multiple dessert courses in a sweets extravaganza. Two years in the planning, the event included other local female pastry phenoms, including Boyd protégé Miranda Brown, Luca’s Sam Dotse, and the Fig Tree’s Samantha Allen. At Fig Tree, Allen has been quietly pushing out her own artistic interpretations of classic dessert flavors. From brownies to Napoléons, Allen’s sweets are novel yet familiar, and her plating stands alongside any in the city. “It was either painting or baking, and I figured baking was more lucrative,” Allen says, only partially tongue-in-cheek. A graduate of Charlotte’s Johnson & Wales, she has been baking professionally since her teens, including stints at Amélie’s and Something Classic Catering. Three years ago, Allen threw her hat in the ring at Fig Tree to escape a corporate job. “I didn’t really think I could get it, but I was like, ‘Try anyway,’” she says. Seated at a rustic picnic table on the covered front patio of Common Market’s Oakwood store, Allen and Perlmutter tell similar stories. Both are young women who studied and worked their ways to respected positions in the pastry world, and both have launched dessert-centric businesses. Allen announced the opening of her Wentworth & Fenn this summer, and the company’s Instagram feed bears witness to the baker’s artistic tendencies. It’s no surprise that the two women quickly became connected in Charlotte’s small-town culinary world. “I think we ‘liked’ each other’s stuff back and forth on Instagram,” Allen says. “And then when [Perlmutter] started Sugar Shock, she approached me and a couple of other people. It just snowballed from there.” The two became close enough friends that Allen provided cakes for Perlmutter’s bridal shower and wedding in August. That mutual support in a male-dominated industry has helped the women take the next steps into creating business on their own. “We have a pretty supportive community, more so than savory chefs,” Perlmutter says. “We all came out of fine dining restaurants, going in to make our own bakery in some way,” she says, speaking of the current crop of independent-minded female bakers. “So being able to talk to people going on a very similar path is extremely encouraging.” Allen concurs. The coterie of female pastry chefs, she says, is “very inspirational, seeing all the stuff that they post. Jossie is so encouraging, and her stuff is so beautiful, so I’m like, ‘Thanks for complimenting my stuff!’” She laughs. “I think it goes full circle.”

Jossie Perlmutter makes a heartfelt cake.

PERLMUTTER PLANS to keep that circle

turning. Based on her own experience, she rented kitchen space for Sweet Affairs with the intention of fostering other budding businesses. “I was at the point where I can’t grow my business if I don’t have a space, but I can’t afford a space if I don’t grow my business,” Perlmutter says. “That’s a horrible place where, unfortunately, everybody starts out.” Since rent is not Perlmutter’s primary revenue source, she is able to offer competitive rates, and having a baking-only kitchen simplifies health inspections and all but eliminates the potential for flavor contamination. When she began seeking out potential tenants, she says, it took no more than two weeks to fill the roster. Today she hosts six other small companies in her space off Monroe Road. One of those companies that has begun to flower is La Piccola Gabbia, playfully named for owner Gabija Janceviciute. When the native Lithuanian met her Italian-speaking husband, he mentioned that her first name

PHOTO BY ALISON LEININGER

resembles the Italian word for cage. Once back in the United States and married, Janceviciute put her law career on hold to pursue a lifelong dream of baking. She started her company in September 2016. “We wanted to have something in the name that represents our love story, and our story in general,” Janceviciute says. And so, La Piccola Gabbia, which translates as “the little cage,” was born. A long way from cold-calling stores with samples in hand a year ago, today Janceviciute delivers her European-style pastries to Charlotte favorites like Reid’s Fine Foods, Pasta & Provisions and Uptown hotspot café Coco and the Director. The vivacious baker currently sells to 14 locations, and estimates she can easily add another 10 with the space available in Perlmutter’s kitchen. “She has been great to help grow my business,” Janceviciute says of Perlmutter. It helps that these business-owning bakers can do their jobs without having to worry about running up costs of time and equipment.

PHOTO OF SAMANTHA ALLEN BY REMY THURSTON

“IT WAS EITHER PAINTING OR BAKING, AND I FIGURED BAKING WAS MORE LUCRATIVE.” -SAMATHA ALLEN

“I can go in and work there and not feel stressed out,” Janceviciute says. Getting a toehold with Perlmutter also has brought Janceviciute benefits beyond a financial break. “It’s nice that we all are bakers there, so there’s no extra food — no meat,” she says. “It feels cleaner and more sanitary.” Chef Janceviciute admires Perlmutter, and working with her has helped her own development. “She is my mentor,” Janceviciute says. “It’s just been really nice to watch her work and learn from her.”

ALLEN ALSO HOPES to spread the love, but her direction diverges from Perlmutter’s. Allen plans to open a Wentworth & Fenn retail space as a gourmet bakery and wine room, and while she won’t have kitchen space to rent, she will eventually have employees. “I want to bring back [a situation] where

PHOTO BY SAMANTHA ALLEN/WENTWORTH & FENN

CLCLT.COM | AUG. 31 - SEPT. 6, 2017 | 13

“WE ALL CAME OUT OF FINE DINING RESTAURANTS, GOING IN TO MAKE OUR OWN BAKERY . . . BEING ABLE TO TALK TO PEOPLE GOING ON A SIMILAR PATH IS EXTREMELY ENCOURAGING.” -JOSSIE PERLMUTTER

Pastry chefs on a mission (from left): Jossie Perlmutter, Samantha Allen, Gabija Janceviciute.

FOOD

COVERSTORY

people enjoy going to work again,” Allen says. She also sees the importance of building community ties, whether through supporting local farmers or participating in events like Sugar Shock. “If you give, you’ll receive so much more in the end,” Allen says. Based on these chefs’ experience, Charlotte is primed for a sweet renaissance, with more restaurants spending the time and money to make desserts in-house. “Even if it’s something as simple as someone putting pound cake and ice cream on a plate, I think people are starting to focus more on their dessert menus,” Allen says. And as Perlmutter points out, “That’s the last thing that a customer is going to remember about the meal.” Perlmutter, Allen and Janceviciute may be stepping outside the mainstream restaurant world, but they seem primed to catch the next culinary wave in Charlotte. With a strong network of peers, and a desire to offer support to their professional heirs, their success bodes well for all of us. Wherever their careers take them, we can count on a sweet ending. BACKTALK@CLCLT.COM 14 | AUG. 31 - SEPT. 6, 2017 | CLCLT.COM

PHOTO BY ALISON LEININGER

Perlmutter’s flower cake.

PHOTO BY ALISON LEININGER

CLCLT.COM | AUG. 31 - SEPT. 6, 2017 | 15

THURSDAY

JITNEY What: By the end of this Tonywinning play, this story about African-American manhood will have a memory-staining effect on any viewer who ventures to Duke Energy Theater during its run. Rory D. Sheriff’s BNS Productions takes on it own adaptation of the play and brings it to Charlotte for the first time ever. If you didn’t see Sherrif’s Be a Lion earlier this year, now is the chance to witness one of Charlotte’s best up-and-coming playwrights at work. When: 7:30 p.m.; runs through Sept. 9. Where: Duke Energy Theater, 345 N. College St. More: $28. blumenthalarts.org

16 | AUG. 31 - SEPT. 6, 2017 | CLCLT.COM

THURSDAY

HYBRID DJ EXPERIENCE What: Experience old school vs. new school when two DJs — DJ Answer (Leonard Johnson) and DJ Hugo (Omar Crenshaw) — from two eras take four records and create one sound. Watch (or dance) as they scratch, cross-fade and beat-jump their way to ecstasy. You’re likely to hear everything from a snippet of “Apache” to a loop of Kanye as these two square off in a delightful instrumental history of hip-hop. When: 8 - 11:30 p.m. Where: Apostrophe Lounge, 1440 South Tryon Street Suite 101. More: $10. apostrophelounge.com/ events

THINGS TO DO

TOP TEN

DamNation FRIDAY PHOTO COURTESY OF PATAGONIA

FRIDAY

CAREY J. KING GALLERY CRAWL

DAMNATION FILM SCREENING

What: A change of perspective is refreshing. We tend to get caught up in our busy lives and forget to notice the little details around us. Fortuitously, Carey J. King, known for “That Moment,” found a new perspective on his day-to-day life through his camera and never looked back. This crawl features the Charlottean-via-N.Y. visual storyteller for a one-night opportunity to stop and smell the roses.

What: DamNation is a powerful documentary exploring the dying rivers and obsolete dams across America and the battle of free-flowing rivers. Well-suited for the Whitewater Center, which is notable for its environmental stewardship and promotion of active lifestyles, the film is a great way to educate wilderness fans at one of America’s best outdoor centers. (Note: some language not appropriate for younger children.)

When: 6-9 p.m. Where: Magnolia Emporium, 307 Lincoln St. More: Free. magnoliaemporium. com

When: 7:50-9:30 p.m. Where: U.S. National Whitewater Center, 5000 Whitewater Center Pkwy. More: Free. usnwc.org

SATURDAY

CLASH OF THE COMEDIANS What: Improv comedy is the jazz of stand-up. In Charlotte, where there’s not nearly enough improv jazz, our comedians — and cypher rappers, of course — fill in the gaps. In this battle of wits, 16 improvising comedics will honk and squawk and freestyle their way to success. Teams of four from Acting Out Studios, Charlotte Comedy Theater, Improv Charlotte and Now Are The Foxes will compete until only one team remains standing. It might be a nail-biter, it will defninitely be a good time. When: 8 p.m. Where: Stage Door Theater, 100 E. Trade St. More: $10. blumenthalarts.org

John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats TUESDAY

Dita Von Teese THURSDAY

Maxine Waters SATURDAY

NEWS ARTS FOOD MUSIC ODDS

PHOTO COUTESY OF BRANDON EGGLESTON

SATURDAY

AFTER; What: One of Charlotte’s more talented visual artists, Sharon Dowell, will show her latest works in After;. We’re not sure exactly what “after” refers to in this exhibit, but it’s loaded with meaning: after the spate of cop killings of black men and women, after the Charlotte Uprising, after an ugly presidential election marked by racism and misogyny, after the Charlottesville tragedy. We are living in a world brimming with life after trauma, and we suspect Dowell will allude to it. When: 7 - 10 p.m. Where: Butteroni’s, 516 15th St. More: Free. 704-609-4070. bit.ly/2wcSNUD

SATURDAY

AN EVENING WITH MAXINE WATERS What: Maxine Waters has been a leader of the resistance against the madman in the Oval Office since day one, but when her recent comment in a congressional meeting went viral, it inspired a meme, a motto and this presenation, “Reclaiming My Time.” The Black Political Caucus of Charlotte-Mecklenburg welcomes Congresswoman Waters to its annual banquet to speak on a variety of topics relating to being black in a hostile country. When: 6-9 p.m. Where: Le Meridien, 555 S. McDowell St. More: $130 and up. bpc-charlotte. tripod.com

PHOTO BY RECA

PHOTO COURTESY OF MAXINE WATERS

SUNDAY

TUESDAY

JERKAGRAM

DITA VON TEESE

What: Equal parts sprightly sludge, jagged noise and pensive guitar, Jerkagram has mellowed since they debuted as an artsy noise-punk duo in 2014. Fraternal twins Derek and Brent Gaines can still raise a gnarled and scuzzy racket like they do on their Tired Old Horseshit EP, but the core guitar and drums duo has branched out to include cellos, saxophones and trancey rhythms. Their 19-minute epic “Elusive Whistler” sooths and jangles the nerves at the same time.

What: Rocking a retro femme fatale look, pin-up model and burlesque performer Dita Von Teese is a throwback to 1940s glamor queens — with a healthy dose of modern day kink thrown in. Her Art of the Teese review is a boon to lingerie and bubble bath fetishists, but don’t expect Von Teese to spill the presumably salacious details of her short-lived marriage to Marilyn Manson. Unlike her outfits, Von Teese has kept her lips zipped about that freaky affair.

When: 8 p.m. Where: The Station, 2131 Central Ave. More: $5 - 8. facebook.com/ thestationclt

When: 8 p.m. Where: Fillmore, 820 Hamilton St. More: $40-65. fillmorecharlottenc. com

TUESDAY

THE MOUNTAIN GOATS What: The Mountain Goats’ John Darnielle has used music to deal with personal issues — his bout with drug addiction and his abusive stepfather among them. Nowadays he prefers to tell stories of oftoverlooked people like pro wrestlers and aging Goth rockers with compassion and understanding. A frenzied guitarist, Darnielle is shifting more to piano to craft jazzy intoxicating pop. It’s the best music of his career, and that’s saying a lot. When: 8 p.m. Where: Neighborhood Theater, 511 E 36th St. More: $23 - 26. neighborhoodtheatre.com

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MUSIC

FEATURE

TRIAL BY FIRE Diamonds & Whiskey are ready for anything after winning over a Sturgis bar full of bikers BY GREY REVELL

HE CHARLOTTE DUO was in the middle of a scene that would chill the spines of many would-be musical road warriors. Forget Easy Rider. This was no easy crowd. It was an army of drunken devils hell-bent on bringing the sky down on Jennifer Lauren and Von Bury’s new alt-country act Diamonds and Whiskey. The Dakota Territory Riders motorcycle club had converged on a tiny tavern in Sturgis, South Dakota, as they do each year, to celebrate their love of the outlaw spirit and their chosen land. In the shadow of Devil’s Tower — the nation’s first national monument and the structure used in Close Encounters of the Third Kind — the Riders were among the 63,000 bikers who had come to Sturgis for two weeks of drinking, riding, best-tits-and-ass contests and debauched fuel-injected, liquid-cooled insanity. In an era of bearded city hipsters who hit their favorite craft brewery on cappuchinocolored scooters, these men and women are the vestiges of a deadly and pure breed. They’re demons riding the final fringes of the American frontier, and they had come to rock. Two weeks later, Lauren, 34, and Bury, 42, are sitting at an outside table in front of Akahana Restaurant in Plaza Midwood, picking at a plate of edamame. The couple are back home and preparing for an upcoming appearance at the Matthews Alive Festival on Sept. 3. Diamonds & Whiskey will take the stage at 1 p.m., on a bill with ’90s country star Sammy Kershaw. Safely back on their home turf, Lauren and Bury remember the adrenaline, fight-or-flight rush of having to entertain a roomful of howling bikers. The scariest part was the silence. “They stood there, dead quiet, and stared at us with their arms crossed,” Bury says, mimicking the bikers’ Sons of Anarchy-like poses as the duo began their set. With faces as hard as stones, the bikers were not giving an inch to these two outsiders from the cushy, codependent South. Lauren is more forthright about the feelings she had while on the stage. “It was terrifying, actually,” she says, picking at her edamame as she remembers D&W’s baptism by fire. “Playing for thousands of hard bikers, I feel like I could play for anyone now.” The proof is in the footage. A clip of the duo’s Sturgis performance of “Sugarstick” was still burning hot on YouTube three weeks 18 | AUG. 31 - SEPT. 6, 2017 | CLCLT.COM

“PLAYING FOR THOUSANDS OF HARD BIKERS, I FEEL LIKE I COULD PLAY FOR ANYONE NOW.” -JENNIFER LAUREN Jennifer Lauren and Von Bury are Diamonds and Whiskey after the gig, clocking in at more than 1,000 views a day. “We will drive 2,000 miles to play for you again if you guys wanna see us again,” Bury bellows to the crowd after having won them over with the duo’s potent alt-country. The reponse is bedlam. “You could see them slowly come around over the course of the set,” Bury says, smiling. “They’d raise their drink if they heard a line they felt. They’d look at each other and nod.” In the course of a single set, the stony facade of the Dakota Territory Riders gave way to connection, and then acceptance. A major rite of passage for any road-hugging act had been won with flying motorcycle jacket colors. It’s not hard to see why. Diamonds and Whiskey offer an undeniable one-two punch: A diamond-hard guitar attack that would cut through anything, together with good, old-fashioned, late-night, bourbon-soaked country songwriting born of human suffering that would make Patsy Cline proud. Lauren was the recipient of that suffering: a country girl who’s been through hell and back, eventually finding herself with a rocker from Louisiana who cut his teeth on punk,

Britpop and shoegaze-style guitars. Their mutual passion for music resulted in a sound that’s unlike anything else.

DIAMONDS

NESTLED IN Burke County, the Henry River Mill Village is now a ghost town, a fading echo of the area’s early 20th-century industrial heyday. The old mill and surrounding 72-acre village is on the National Registery of Historic Places, and was more recently used as the backdrop for scenes in the 2012 movie The Hunger Games. The village is also where Lauren’s story begins. Country idyllic, the setting was drenched in pain for Lauren. Her parents divorced when she was young, and she had to quickly learn to navigate the rough waters of their new relationships. Lauren’s mother was supportive of her daughter’s musical inclinations, but her father — who, perhaps ironically, was the musician in the family — wasn’t. His new wife brought serious religion into the mix, and radio was banned in their home, replaced by a steady diet of hymns. Dress was conservative, hair had to be up,

PHOTO BY JUSTIN KATES

skirts had to extend below the knee. In the mid-’90s, Lauren fell ill, and there wasn’t a doctor in the Carolinas who could figure out what was wrong. Was it cancer? Was it something else? She went blind in her right eye, and deaf in her right ear, both only temporary; at one point she couldn’t recognize her own mother. The lasting emotional effects of the illness were deep. “I thought I was losing my mind,” she says, speaking quietly of the experience. Years passed, and Lauren learned to live with her condition, which remained undiagnosed. Her talent for music became a lifeline for her sanity. At UNCC, she joined the choir, which took her to Europe at one point. It was during college in Charlotte that she got a taste of modern rock and hip-hop. “One of my biggest influences is Eminem,” she says. “Eminem, Jay-Z, Nas, and a lot of alternative music.” A few years after leaving school, where she studied civil engineering, Lauren gave birth to a son, and at 25 she finally got a diagnosis for the illnesses that had plauged her since age 12. It was Lyme Disease. A simple tick bite had likely been what consigned the young girl

DIAMONDS AND WHISKEY Matthews Alive Festival 1:30 - 3 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 3. Free. 131 Matthews St., Matthews. 704-7081261. matthewsalive.org

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to years of misery. “I remember the doctors saying things like, ‘You can’t have Lyme Disease, this is the Carolinas,’” Lauren says. “They didn’t even have the test for it here.” In the nine years since she was diagnosed, Lauren’s had to incorporate into her life periodic trips to the emergency room and a permanent regimen of suppressive drugs. The relentless grind of emotional and physical obstacles, along with the challenges of motherhood, awoke in her an indomitable drive. Under unspeakable heat and pressure, lumps of coal become the world’s hardest and most precious gems: diamonds. “It was gonna be music,” Lauren decided resolutely, “one way or another.”

WHISKEY

VON BURY had been in bands nonstop for

31 years. The New Orleans-born musician moved to Charlotte in 1995, and his journey is typical for a Gen X alternative rocker. Growing up in the Metaire suburbs in early 1980 (“David Duke was 10 blocks away from my house,” he grimly recalls), Bury was destined to be a rogue. While his peers were turning into metalheads or obligatory Lynyrd Skynard fans, Bury was raised on his older sister’s collection of art rock: Laurie Anderson, Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush. A steady stream of post-punk and new wave sealed the deal. “I was nuts for the B-52’s,” Bury says. “So of course, every jerk in high school assumed I was gay, and I had to fight my way through.” Over the years, Bury developed a relentless work ethic. By the time he got to Charlotte at 20, he was not going to be swayed. His years in the Charlotte music scene have seen him alternately play guitars or drums for bands including Chelsea Daggers (which also included Radio Lola’s current axeman Chris Hendrickson) and Lovesucker, a blues duo he formed with vocalist Crystal Crosby. That duo, it could be argued, was the prototype for Diamonds and Whiskey — the Opal to David Roback’s Mazzy Star, if you will. A break in Lovesucker’s momentum led to Bury seeking musical projects to keep him occupied in the summer of 2016. He was taken by a simple Craigslist ad: female country singer seeking instrumental support for covers and brewery gigs. “It was kinda out of my wheelhouse,” Bury says with a shrug, “but what the hell?” He invited the singer to his studio to run through some tunes. From the moment Bury met Lauren, he knew there was something special in their chemistry. “She showed up for practice last summer,” Bury remembers. “It was 110 degrees in the room and she hung an IV bag on a metal hanger and rehearsed for two-

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and-a-half hours.” To this day, Bury calls the metal hanger that remains in the rehearsal room the “No Excuses Hanger.” It was quickly evident that covers weren’t going to cut it for this duo. Lauren presented Bury with the first song she had ever written, “Whiskey Down,” which details an early relationship that ended when her lover chose a bottle over her. Bury presented a new guitar approach to the country song: an ear for snaky, atmospheric riffing that was more swamp than Appalachia. The results were inspiring, and Lauren presented more songs out to her new partner. Another one, “25 to Life,” was written about a family member who wrestles with addiction and its consequences; Bury hammers it home with atmospheric slide guitar that recalls Daniel Lanois’ work with Emmylou Harris on her 1995 album Wrecking Ball. “Hands Down” moves with an angular, hypnotic guitar melody that conjures Jimi Hendrix’s “Voodoo Child (Slight Return)” before slamming into a country chorus that would send Shania Twain back to school, as Lauren swings between sweet and snarling. Diamonds and Whiskey’s upcoming Dark County Voodoo is all but in the can. Recorded just eight weeks into the duo’s formation, the songs came together in the Seattle studio of Graig Markel, who produced the album and also plays lap steel guitar on it. Though Bury plays both guitar and drums on the record, the duo has enlisted Chris McKinney as the touring drummer, along with occasional member Shealee Cousino on violin. Bury and Lauren’s chemistry may seem like an overnight lucky success, but anyone who’s spent years trying to make something happen in music knows that’s not the case. It’s a slow process of paying dues, knowing a good thing when it happens, and jumping on it. Not to mention playing whatever hands you’re dealt with grace and guts. Fired up by their recent conquest in Sturgis, Diamonds and Whiskey are now ready for pretty much anything. “We’re not gonna stop. We sleep in the van. We’ll play anywhere,” Bury says. He turns to Lauren. “What she brings is something totally special.” She smiles. “He’s my best friend,” Lauren says. “I can’t imagine doing this with anyone else.” BACKTALK@CLCLT.COM CLCLT.COM | AUG. 31 - SEPT. 6, 2017 | 19

MUSIC

SOUNDBOARD

AUGUST 31 CLASSICAL/JAZZ/SMOOTH John Alexander Jazz Trio (Blue Restaurant & Bar)

COUNTRY/FOLK Lauren Alaina, Out of the Blue (Coyote Joe’s)

DJ/ELECTRONIC Le Bang (Snug Harbor)

POP/ROCK Carmen Tate (Eddie’s Seafood & Raw Bar, Mooresville) Open Mic at Studio 13 (Studio 13, Cornelius) Bob Fleming and the Drunk Girl Chorus, Quinlan Conley, Bart Lattimore, The Kyle Perkins Band (Milestone) Fortune Teller, Brother Oliver, Grace Joyner (Petra’s) Joseph Huber (U.S. National Whitewater Center) Kaitlin (Comet Grill) Karaoke with DJ ShayNanigans (Hattie’s Tap & Tavern) Kevin Marshall, Tony Eltora, Yes Ma’am (The Evening Muse,) Matt Minchew Duo (RiRa Irish Pub) Rock n Roll Hi-Fives, Amigo, Vermillion (Lunchbox Records) Through the Roots (The Underground) Throwback Thursdays: 80s and 90s Music (Morehead Street Tavern)

SEPTEMBER 1 CLASSICAL/JAZZ/SMOOTH Jazzy Fridays (Freshwaters Restaurant)

BLUES/ROOTS/INTERNATIONAL Steven Engler Band (Blue Restaurant & Bar)

COUNTRY/FOLK The Lenny Federal Band (Comet Grill)

No Anger Control, Green Fiend, Black Fleet, The Midnight Ghost Train (Snug Harbor) The Shana Blake Band (Hattie’s Tap & Tavern) Stay Wild, Recover The Satellite, Trash Room, Van Huskins (Milestone)

SEPTEMBER 2 BLUES/ROOTS/INTERNATIONAL Roots of Creation (The Rabbit Hole)

DJ/ELECTRONIC DJ Complete (RiRa Irish Pub) Off the Wall: “The Cool of the Night” (Petra’s, Charlotte)

HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B Lyricist’s Lounge (Upscale Lounge & Restaurant)

POP/ROCK Black Ritual, AuxiliA, Violent Life Violent Death, Proxima (Milestone) The Grand Shell Game, David Childers (The Evening Muse) Gung Ho Variety Show: Bette Machete, Cherry Von Bomb, Dixie Von Hellcat (Snug Harbor) Leebo (Comet Grill) Lord Nelson (Thomas Street Tavern) Nathan Angelo, Matt Simons (The Evening Muse) The New Familiars (U.S. National Whitewater Center) Shun the Raven, 1 Last Chance (Hattie’s Tap & Tavern) Smash City (RiRa Irish Pub) West Bolz (Mac’s Speed Shop (Steele Creek)

SEPTEMBER 3 CLASSICAL/JAZZ/SMOOTH Jazz Brunch (RiRa Irish Pub)

HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B

DJ Method (RiRa Irish Pub, Charlotte)

Charlotte Go-Go Invasion 2017: Black Passion Go-Go Band, Uptown Swagga, The Blend King, DJ Shaun, DJ Elevate. (Morehead Tavern)

HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B

POP/ROCK

Electric Relaxation f. DJ Skillz (‘Stache House Bar & Lounge)

The Bald Brotherhood (Mac’s Speed ShopMatthews) Bone Snugs-N-Harmony Karaoke Party (Snug Harbor) Ed Sheeran (Spectrum Center) Glimpses, Jerkagram, This Was Your Life (The Station) Labor Of Love Fest: Sam Holt Band, Soul Mechanic,Voodoo Visionary, Polecat Voodoo (The Rabbit Hole) Lord Nelson (Mac’s Speed Shop (South End) Omari and The Hellhounds (Comet Grill) Only Sibling, Messenger Down, The Chroma Divide, The Hooliganz (Milestone)

DJ/ELECTRONIC

POP/ROCK Analog Crash (NoDa Brewing Company) Armory (Tin Roof) The Bald Brotherhood (RiRa Irish Pub) C2 and Brothers Reed (Thomas Street Tavern) Eliot Bronson Album Release Show, Sam Tayloe (The Evening Muse) Hunter’s Travesty (Mac’s Speed ShopMatthews, Matthews) The Mystics’ Ball: Masquerade (Visulite Theatre) The Nick Moss Band (Neighborhood Theatre) 20 | AUG. 31 - SEPT. 6, 2017 | CLCLT.COM

SEND US

SOUNDBOARD

MUSIC

White Hot Labor Day Bash: Armory (Tin Roof)

SEPTEMBER 4 HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B

POP/ROCK Locals Live: The Best in Local Live Music & Local Craft Beers (Tin Roof) The Monday Night Allstars (Visulite Theatre) Music Trivia (Hattie’s Tap & Tavern) Open Mic with Jade Moore (Primal Brewery, Huntersville)

Bill Hanna Jazz Jam (Morehead Tavern)

COUNTRY/FOLK Red Rockin’ Chair (Comet Grill) Open Mic hosted by Jarrid and Allen of Pursey Kerns (The Kilted Buffalo, Huntersville) Tuesday Night Jam w/ The Smokin’ Js (Smokey Joe’s Cafe)

POP/ROCK Dita Von Teese’s “The Art of the Teese” Burlesque Revue (The Fillmore Charlotte) Laser Background, Patois Counselors, Koosh (Snug Harbor) The Mountain Goats, The Hot At Nights (Neighborhood Theatre) Nothing Feels Good - Emo Night (Noda 101) Pearson & Wells (Tin Roof) Sugar Ray & Mr. Bill (Mac’s Speed Shop (Lake Norman)

The Clarence Palmer Trio (Morehead Tavern)

BLUES/ROOTS/INTERNATIONAL

JOSH PHILLIPS ALSO STARRING

RILEY GREEN

LIMITED ADVANCE $10 ALL OTHERS $12

SATURDAY, SEPT 16

CHASE RICE

LIMITED ADVANCE $22 ALL OTHERS $25

SATURDAY, SEPT 23

MUSCADINE BLOODLINE WITH SPECIAL GUEST

BRANDON RAY

LIMITED ADVANCE $12 ALL OTHERS $15

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FRIDAY, OCT 6

MORGAN WALLEN LIMITED ADVANCE $10 ALL OTHERS $12 SATURDAY, OCT 14

JON PARDI

WITH MIDLAND AND RUNAWAY JUNE LIMITED ADVANCE $20 ALL OTHERS $25 FRIDAY, OCT 20

COREY SMITH

LIMITED ADVANCE $20 ALL OTHERS $25

Bugalú – Old School Latin Boogie (Petra’s)

DJ/ELECTRONIC

Birdtalker, Becca Mancari (Visulite Theatre) Jettison Five (RiRa Irish Pub) Karaoke with DJ Pucci Mane (Petra’s) Open Mic & Songwriter Workshop (Petra’s) September Residency : Oddboy Collective (Snug Harbor)

SATURDAY,SEPT 9

CLASSICAL/JAZZ/SMOOTH

POP/ROCK

FREE CONCERT

SEPTEMBER 6

Open Mic/Open Jam (Comet Grill, Charlotte)

LAUREN ALAINA

CLASSICAL/JAZZ/SMOOTH

COUNTRY/FOLK

THIS THURSDAY

SEPTEMBER 5

Cyclops Bar: Modern Heritage Weekly Mix Tape (Snug Harbor)

Knocturnal (Snug Harbor) Stone Soul Mic Love (Freedom Factory @ Seeds) #MFGD Open Mic (Apostrophe Lounge)

❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈ ❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈ ❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈ ❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈ ❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈ ❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈ ❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈ ❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈ ❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈

YOUR LISTINGS!

❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈ ❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈ ❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈ ❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈ ❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈ ❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈ ❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈ ❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈

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SATURDAY, NOV 4

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LIMITED ADVANCE $17 ALL OTHERS $20

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CLCLT.COM | AUG. 31 - SEPT. 6, 2017 | 21

ARTS

FEATURE

DANCERS TAKE FLIGHT OUTDOORS Caroline Calouche & Co. launch Crossroads Fest BY PERRY TANNENBAUM

NEW DANCE festival is leaping into the QC, touching down at First Ward Park for Labor Day weekend. Pretty interesting idea, right? But the new Crossroads Festival isn’t merely an outdoor dance festival. It’s free, it features aerial dance classes and performances, and the main event starts just after sundown. Caroline Calouche has been the queen of aerial dance in Charlotte for more than a decade. Her usual haunts have been Booth Playhouse, where her Caroline Calouche & Co. offers its annual Clara’s Trip, an aerial Nutcracker, and Spirit Square, where she organizes a festival in early spring. So what lured Calouche to the great outdoors? “I was inspired by many great outdoor shows like Boston’s Shakespeare in the Park and Montreal’s annual circus festival,” Calouche says. “Creating an outdoor show for the Charlotte community that reflects who we are has been a dream of mine for quite some time. Thankfully, the Knight Foundation helped make this dream come true.” Though there are precedents in San Francisco; Boulder, Colorado; and Victoria, Canada bringing aerial dance outdoors — along with the Cirque du Soleil flavorings Calouche sprinkles into her choreography — is a fairly different undertaking. Even Cirque doesn’t go all the way, opting for a big top on its famous tours. “I did look into a circus tent so we can have the show rain or shine, but — whew! — that was crazy expensive!” Calouche says. “Plus, I would like the performance to take place under the stars with Uptown Charlotte as the backdrop to connect more to the location.” Connecting with Charlotte was clearly a major factor in Calouche & Co.’s winning support from the Knight Foundation. Buyin from Charlotte Center City Partners was also key before moving on to Mecklenburg Parks and Recreation to secure the festival’s location. Calouche’s Crossroads concept digs deep into Charlotte’s historical DNA. Long before Charlotte became the crossroads for America’s most corrupt megabanks, it was a crossroads of commerce. If the Cherokee or Chippewa had named our city instead of the British, that name would likely mean crossroads. While the Uptown’s main crossroad is on Trade Street, Calouche’s event and choreography will remind us how Charlotte has also evolved into a crossroads 22 | AUG. 31 - SEPT. 6, 2017 | CLCLT.COM

Caroline Calouche

CROSSROADS FESTIVAL Fri., Sep. 1, 5 - 6 p.m. (free dance class); 6 - 7:30 p.m. (pre-show performances); 8 p.m. Crossroads performance Sat., Sep. 2 & Sun. Sep. 3, 3 - 6 p.m. (free dance class); 6 - 7:30 p.m. (pre-show performances); 8 p.m. Crossroads First Ward Park, 301 E. 7th St. 704844-0449. carolinecalouche.org. All events are free.

Dancer Dominique Willis for culture as well. Each of the festival’s three days will begin with a potpourri of free dance and fitness classes. You can browse the online schedule above and choose from hour-long sessions in samba, salsa, tap, hip-hop, capoeira, or aerial silks. Fitness freaks can contort themselves into the yoga and Pilates they truly deserve. At 6 p.m., the pre-shows begin, with various lineups of performers each evening. Constants in the lineup will be the MILA Dance Team, Mrudani School of Performing Arts and the CC&Co. Youth Ensemble. If you’re itching for the NC Brazilian Arts Project, No Limits Dance Company, Hope of Israel, Maha’s Dances of India, MufukaWorks Dance Company, or the Jazz Arts Initiative Trio, consult the same handy webpage to see who’s up Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. All of those evenings will conclude with Crossroads, starting at 8 p.m. Yes, it’s also free, and Calouche promises that there will be no letup in variety when she and her company take to the air. On the contrary: “The show includes contemporary dance, breakdancing, tap, zapeando, shag, capoeira,

ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF CC&CO.

aerial silks, trapeze, bungee, partner acrobatics, aerial rope, Cyr wheel, and aerial hoop,” Calouche reveals. “My artistic idea is to either cross history with dance and/or circus arts or cross cultural dances that are represented in Charlotte’s community today. Crossroads is designed as an event for unity and the opportunity for people to learn about Charlotte’s history and culture.” Guest unifiers will include artists from an exciting mix of disciplines, including actress Iesha Hoffman, percussionist Tim Scott, and slam poet extraordinaire Boris “Bluz” Rogers. Hoffman will narrate, knitting the various segments together and maybe providing cover during aerial apparatus changes. Scott will be featured during the segment where tap meets zapeando dance and during what promises to be a wild breakdance battle on aerial rope. Rogers takes Calouche’s unifying fantasia to a new dimension with an original poem inspired by a great unifier, Thaddeus Tate. During Rogers’ spot, he’ll connect with the entire Crossroads cast on the floor. Tate was an African-American leader in Charlotte from the 1880’s to the 1940’s.

Instrumental in establishing a library branch, an insurance company, and the Grace A.M.E. Zion Church — while rubbing elbows with the Uptown elite as owner of the Uptown Barber Shop — Tate is particularly pertinent because he resided on the block that is now First Ward Park. So Rogers’ tribute will definitely strike home. With its unifying and educational components, Calouche tells us to expect a casual atmosphere rather than a carnival one, more like Symphony in the Park or Shakespeare on the Green than Speed Week. Food trucks and D9 Brewery will be on the scene to help keep bellies properly bloated. Like Clara’s Trip, which tends to shuffle its Nutcracker mix from year to year, Calouche expects to vary the content of Crossroads each time the festival rolls around. It’s not just a title for the festival and it showcased choreography — it’s a theme. “Crossroads is the name of the event, and the theme will remain the same,” Calouche explains. “There might be some scenes that stay the same, but there is still more research I can do and other collaborators I would love to work with.” Aerial dance is difficult enough to stage indoors, requiring a fly loft (ordinarily used to drop scenery from above) that’s sturdy enough to suspend up to four dancers on a

Sarah Small and Javier Gonzalez float above the tree line. dangling apparatus. Don’t try this at home. Or at Theatre Charlotte or Pease Auditorium. So how exactly do you stage aerial dance outdoors? It sounds like CC&Co. will borrow from the big top concept and strip away the canvas. “JHE is our production company who is building our stage, trussing, audio and lights,” Calouche says. “The stage will be two feet from the ground on the grass near the 7th Street side of the park with four legs of truss crossing in the center at 25 feet high.

Essentially we are building a theater in the round outside.” Visualize a one-ring circus where 20 dancers, circus artists, musicians, and poets will perform under the stars — if the weather holds. So what happens if it rains? “We wait it out and start when it passes,” Calouche replies. Come to think of it, when most of your dancing is up in the air, you really don’t have to worry as much if the dance floor gets slick. BACKTALK@CLCLT.COM

CLCLT.COM | AUG. 31 - SEPT. 6, 2017 | 23

A24

Robert Pattinson in Good Time.

ARTS

FILM

DY-NO-MITE! RPatz is explosive in ‘Good Time’ BY MATT BRUNSON

T TOOK A FEW YEARS, but

once the silly fanboy snickering subsided, Kristen Stewart was able to move on from the Twilight series and reclaim her title as an accomplished actress with such credits as Camp X-Ray, Personal Shopper and particularly Clouds of Sils Maria — for which she became the first American actress to ever win France’s Oscar equivalent, the Cesar Award. While it’s unclear whether Taylor Lautner will enjoy a similar renaissance — his recent efforts have consisted of dopey thrillers and Adam Sandler stinkbombs — Stewart’s other Twilight stud, Robert Pattinson, appears to be on the right path with his selection of interesting roles in various indie flicks. Pattinson’s latest effort in this vein is Good Time (*** out of four), a striking drama directed by sibling filmmakers Josh and Benny Safdie. With Josh co-scripting with Ronald Bronstein and Benny co-starring with Pattinson, the brothers certainly have their 24 | AUG. 31 - SEPT. 6, 2017 | CLCLT.COM

DNA all over this project, and while their previous pictures are known only to the most dedicated cineastes, this one should allow them more exposure as they move forward. Good Time finds RPatz and BSaf respectively starring as Connie Nikas and his younger brother Nick. Connie is a smalltime hustler and crook while Nick is mentally impaired, and while Connie loves his bro, he doesn’t always do what’s best for him. Case in point: Connie elects to rob a bank and decides that his slow-witted sibling would make an excellent accomplice. Instead, Nick ends up getting arrested following the heist, and Connie must figure out a way to spring him from jail. What follows is one of those all-nightlong odysseys that’s taxing for the characters but weirdly fascinating for the viewer (think Martin Scorsese’s After Hours or even Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle). Connie Nikas isn’t likable in the least, but there is a sliver of redemption in his single-minded devotion to his brother. Yet what makes Connie such

a new character in the form of Ray (Buddy Duress), another petty criminal. If anything, Ray is even thicker than Connie, and their scenes together are among the movie’s best. It’s like Dumb and Dumber — only better and better.

SHOUT! FACTORY & FUNIMATION

In This Corner of the World. a compelling character is that he’s completely delusional about his own abilities and intelligence. Here’s a man who thinks he’s smart, but situation after situation proves that he’s anything but. This is amusing enough, but then the second half introduces

Sparse in its visual style yet weighty with its themes, In This Corner of the World (*** out of four) is a Japanese animated feature that largely concerns itself with the bombing of Hiroshima toward the end of World War II. Like many other anime features, this one isn’t exactly for the kids, with a PG-13 rating to allow parents to debate whether it’s a proper viewing option for their offspring. Then again, it can’t be any more detrimental to young minds than something like The Emoji Movie, in which characters named Poop and Poop Jr. run around chanting, “We’re number two!” There is a split-second shot of an anthropomorphic alligator, but that’s about it for flights of fancy in In This Corner of the

World. The story centers on Suzu (voiced by Rena Nounen), an artist and self-described daydreamer who, at the age of 18, marries a young man named Shusaku (Yoshimasa Hosoya) and moves from her home in Hiroshima to his family’s residence in nearby Kure. She more than pulls her weight with the other members of the household, and she particularly bonds with her niece Harumi (Natsuki Inaba). But the war, which initially seems so far away, soon takes its toll in the form of limited food rations and strafing American airplanes. All the while, dates occasionally pop up on the screen to show that we’re inexorably moving closer and closer to August 6, 1945. Although there are a few moments of Suzu admiring her nation’s weapons of mass

destruction (particularly a pair of imposing battleships), In this Corner of the World keeps nationalism on the back burner, preferring instead to examine the effects of war on ordinary citizens. If there are any politics in the picture, it’s of the personal sort, with Suzu doing her best to be accepted by her new husband and the rest of his family. Indeed, the first portion of the film, focusing more on domestic issues, doesn’t completely hint at the grimness that will take over during the second half. But it’s nevertheless a constant in the story, hiding in the margins before making its presence known as strikingly as a mushroom cloud in the sky. BACKTALK@CLCLT.COM

CLCLT.COM | AUG. 31 - SEPT. 6, 2017 | 25

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26 | AUG. 31 - SEPT. 6, 2017 | CLCLT.COM

Pride is better described as a “spectacular” gathering that bridges the gap between busiest streets in the Queen City, South LGBTQI, allies and the community at Tryon Street, as it’s lined with vendors; large. No matter what city I’ve been in, rainbow flags are everywhere. Then, you this festival has always lifted my spirits as I turn to glance at whatever your parents are gazing at only to settle your eyes on a young, watch hundreds, if not thousands, of people topless woman who has X’s over her nipples. celebrating love. The multitude of colors, If that’s not “making memories,” I don’t makeup, pasties and tear-away trunks seem know what is! to be the perfect formula for time well-spent. Little did my poor parents know that After introducing my parents to the they missed out on even more free nips the excitement of Pride at 50 and 51 years of next day. The same vendor that bedazzled age, I figured it was time to do something my face with rainbow/unicorn glitter, that excited them. So, we said goodbye to Shimmer Down, bedazzled their fair share of some of the best-dressed Queens I’ve ever boobs at the parade on Sunday! That being seen Uptown and headed to Topgolf for said, let’s recap the weekend. some of pops’ favorite pastime. We hopped On Friday, while checking in at on I-485 and got off on Arrowood, the front desk of the Westin in rounded the corner and there it Uptown, a man emerged from was — one of the QC’s newest the back and proceeded to happenings. It was packed, a ask me if my name was three-hour wait time to be Aerin Spruill. I was unsure exact. We grabbed drinks of the consequences of and food at the bar while saying yes but thought, I pondered how much after the day I’d had, someone would let us pay eff it. Corey Parker, to just jump in. the hotel’s front desk After finishing up our supervisor, then informed meal, we’d given up on the me that he reads all of my AERIN SPRUILL idea and decided to leave. But articles *insert the most just as we were getting on the obnoxious “aww” ever* and that he was going to send something highway, I was texted by the front special up to the room. #mommawemadeit desk and informed that my “bay” was almost Shortly after, a plate of chocolate covered ready. We had nowhere to be in a hurry, so strawberries and a bottle of champagne we turned around, yes we did. When we arrived! Now I know where I’ll be taking returned, we were ushered to a bay on the my staycations from now on. Oh, and did bottom level and our gracious waitress gave I mention he hooked us up with some free us the rundown on how everything worked. breakfast, too?! After slipping away Saturday (If only she could’ve schooled me on how to night with the P.I.C. he doted on me some actually play golf!) We paid $35 for an hour more when they were chilling in the lobby. and took turns hitting the balls (which have Corey, you’re the real G.O.A.T. Maybe now a tracking chip in them for scoring purposes they’ll see value in my drunken shenanigans! by the way). My pops was beyond thrilled, After drinks at The Imperial and full but I couldn’t tell if it was because he was bellies at Enso Asian Bistro & Sushi Bar Friday participating in his fave sport, or if it was night, we decided to turn in early. I slept in because I couldn’t hit the ball. on Saturday while the parentals brunched Side note: For those who haven’t been, downstairs and I woke up to the sounds of it’s better to try to go during the week if music in the streets for Charlotte’s Pride you want to avoid long wait times. Also, Festival and Parade. Coincidentally, it falls on extending your time after already selecting my mother’s birthday weekend every year. A your timeframe is much more expensive, much more conservative woman than myself, best to just signup for more and give your she’s never been one for traipsing through bay to someone else. big city streets protesting or participating After that, we finished the night off with in other sociopolitical events. That’s why I a bang — mom’s fave, Galaga and other was shocked that she and my pops walked in arcade games at Lucky’s Bar and Arcade. I the room after breakfast and were actually think it’s safe to say mom’s birthday weekend interested in attending the festival. While a “spectacle” for older folks, was one fit for a diva. especially those who live in the Bible Belt, BACKTALK@CLCLT.COM

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UP TO THE CH-CHALLENGE ACROSS

1 Plane takeoff guess, briefly 4 Tries to nip 11 Figurative language 16 Excessively 19 Hawaiian yellowfin tuna 20 Running wild 21 Braga or Sotomayor 22 Eye, in verse 23 New drugs being studied, say 26 Coll. dorm overseers 27 Pedi offerers 28 That, in Peru 29 G.P.s’ gp. 30 Strong-arm 32 Altar locale 34 Put on a different station 39 In serenity 42 City in Oklahoma 43 Coop female 44 People 45 Many souffle makers 47 Shuffle 48 Protrude 49 Carrere of film 50 “Great joke!” 51 Israel’s Abba 53 “--, ergo sum” 56 2014 British Open winner McIlroy 58 Pop singer from Oahu 61 Sunbathing furniture 63 See 104-Down 65 Taboo acts 67 Water, in Oise 68 Film director Spike or Ang 69 Nauseating 75 “Angie Tribeca” network 78 Refrain bit 79 Expiate 80 Pagan priest 84 Securer of a pocket timepiece 88 Papal crown 91 Relative of -ette 92 Native Americans of Nebraska 93 Young fellas 95 “Othello” villain 97 Suffragist -- B. Wells 98 Sun -- -sen 99 “Platoon” war zone 100 Robed group in a loft 104 Wise -- owl 106 24/7 source of 20s 107 Irishman, e.g.

108 Honchos 109 Product of alkalized cocoa powder 113 Little cut 114 Warm up again 115 Bit of a giggle 116 Regulation 119 Old Russian ruler 121 Groom’s vow 122 Some Toll House morsels 128 Masc. counterpart 129 Grub, e.g. 130 Game to try something 131 After taxes 132 Taoism’s Lao- -133 Top-tier invitees 134 Parts of the solar system 135 Main character in “Despicable Me”

DOWN

1 Aural pair 2 Mel Gibson war film of 2000 3 Goes poof 4 Large snake 5 About 6 Tic -- (some mints) 7 Moral climate 8 See 13-Down 9 Hot tub sigh 10 Discourse 11 Hall-of-Fame cager -Thomas 12 ENT or OB 13 With 8-Down, very shortly 14 Auto garage squirter 15 Brick dresser 16 Like deluges 17 Seer’s shrine 18 Fixate (on) 24 German city 25 Cato’s 2,400 31 Plenty 33 Per unit 35 Very little 36 Having one flat, musically 37 Beijing site 38 Witch’s work 39 SAG- -- (performers’ labor gp.) 40 Neighbor of Nigeria 41 Amp effect 46 Barbera’s collaborator 47 West with one-liners 48 Cheerful 52 Pellets for air rifles 53 Latte option

54 Sports draw 55 Raw metal 57 “Definitely!” 59 Ad add-on? 60 Available 62 100 yrs. 64 To boot 66 Mo. in fall 70 Tolkien menaces 71 -- -jongg 72 Prefix with brow 73 Broadcast anew 74 Test for college srs. 75 A pair of 76 “Whap!” 77 Not inclined to travel 81 Forming a labor group 82 Very thin material for book pages 83 Loved ones 85 Opportunity 86 Old Texas siege site 87 The “sum” of Descartes 89 Antler pair 90 Turkish VIP 94 Increases 96 Folkie Phil 99 -- degree 101 Jimmy Buffett’s “Ain’t -- Genius” 102 Final: Abbr. 103 Intuitive inkling 104 With 63-Across, floating freely on the ocean 105 Soft leathers 106 Real 107 Word after party or film 110 “No -- espanol” 111 Swindle 112 “Levon” singer John 117 Lot unit 118 Very little bit 120 Post-Q string 123 Bi- plus one 124 Idiot boxes 125 Certain NCO 126 Out -- job 127 Dollar divs.

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listen to his adult ass complain endlessly My brother just broke up with his girlfriend for the second time in eight about the by-now-predictable consequences months. They had been together for of his terrible choices. two and a half years, and she became If you’re feeling anxious about pretty discontent when she finished conversations you fear being dragged into, college and my brother entered NOBRO, let your brother know you’re done law school because all his time and listening to him sob about his ex. attention weren’t revolving around her. In January, she staged this bizarre, I’m a 26-year-old heterosexual female, soap-opera-esque situation to make and I was recently dumped by my my brother jealous, and then broke up boyfriend. He was my first love and with him when he reacted predictably. the person I lost my virginity to. We’d (This is not speculation — she admitted been seeing each other for a little over a to it.) After the breakup, my brother year. I had sex with someone else while became a mess of a person — sobbing I was seeing my ex (it was a more casual all the time and talking about her to relationship in the beginning). I wanted anyone and everyone. At the risk of more, and I’m not 100 percent sounding insensitive, he was sure but think that’s what unbearable. Then, against scared him off. I went into the advice of my family, a depression and started he started talking to her seeing a therapist. This again and they got back all happened a little together. The second more than a month ago. breakup came after he Friends tell me that the snooped and found out “best way to get over she had been texting someone is to get under her ex-boyfriend. She someone else,” but I’m was telling that guy not sure what to do. I’m DAN SAVAGE that she was trying to pretty sure I’m doing the line up her next boyfriend thing I shouldn’t be doing: while still dating my brother. holding out hope my ex will They broke up again, and he’s decide he made a horrible decision now back in the same situation. He and want to be with me again. I know it started back at school yesterday. He is idiotic to have this hope. Can you give almost fucked that up last time because me some direction? of her bullshit, and I don’t want to see DON’T UNDERESTIMATE MY PAIN that happen again. Additionally, I feel bad this happened — I really do — but This may not be helpful in the short term, I don’t have the time or patience to DUMP, but it’s not idiotic to hold out hope have the same conversation with him your ex will take you back. It could happen a million times. It’s exhausting and — indeed, it has happened for lots of folks. annoying. I have two friends who are married to men NOW OVER BROTHER’S RELATIONSHIP OBSESSION who dumped them, regretted it, and begged to be taken back. The trick, however, is to assume it won’t happen and make a Your brother is an adult. (I mean, presumably conscious effort to get on with your life. he’s an adult — they’re not letting minors (And, if necessary, a conscious effort to get into law school these days, are they?) And under someone else.) Your boyfriend/first since he’s an adult, NOBRO, you can’t stop love/first fuck dumped you a little more him from making terrible choices or the than a month ago — you’re allowed, one same terrible choice over and over again. month and change later, to live in hope of a But here’s the good news, NOBRO: You’re an reconciliation. Odds are good, though, that adult, too! And just as you can’t force your it’s a false hope, DUMP, so don’t pass on any brother to stay away from this toxic POS, solid offers and keep seeing that therapist. your brother can’t force you to converse with him all day long about politics or his POS ex On the Lovecast: parents, talk smart to your or Game of Thrones turning into Star Trek. kids about sex: savagelovecast.com. Follow @ And if your brother makes the mistake of fakedansavage on Twitter; mail@savagelove. getting back together with this woman a net.fakedansavage on Twitter; ITMFA.org. second time, your adult ears don’t have to

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BY VIVIAN CAROL FOR ALL SIGNS: Mercury, ruler of business, communications, and everyday routines, will turn direct on Sep. 5, 2017. A retrograde period appears to last about 3.5 weeks. The truth of the matter is that the period lasts an additional 2.5 weeks on either side. Prior to the exact retrograde, Mercury gives the appearance of slowing its motion before physically becoming retrograde. The same thing happens after the direct motion begins. Mercury requires about 2.5 more weeks to return to its natural speed. The whole process is a little more than 8 weeks altogether. Mercury’s retrograde purpose is to pressure us to slow down, think and rethink everything, before proceeding with plans. It is ideal for those who meditate and who are working on self-study. It is not favorable for moving forward with new plans because we will inevitably find something in error as we proceed. For the next 2.5 weeks we will be cleaning up details that weren’t finished in August. Then we can more freely proceed forward. ARIES: After what seems an aeon, you have a happy development that is the result of your personal effort and creativity. There may also be a green light in relation to a lover, a child or a domestic animal. At the end of the week your attention turns to beginning a work project that involves many details. TAURUS: Necessary expenses (those not of the “fun” type) may develop this week. If not that, you could be just having a little blue mood. It is one of those times when we become aware that our loved ones can never know or understand fully what is inside of us. This is an existential dilemma that everyone encounters now and then. It will pass quickly. GEMINI: As Mercury, your planetary avatar, changes directions, you may be confronted with angry words you have previously spoken. Now is the time to own up and make amends if you have hurt someone’s feelings with careless speech. It is possible that anger was not originally intended. Now you must clear it up. CANCER: Your inner warrior is urging

you to take care of an underdog or rescue someone. While we are on the tipping point of the Mercury change, this may not be a great idea. Perhaps you should give this underdog a chance to see if s(he) can resolve the problem. Occasionally when you see a problem you take over before it is needed. Let it simmer for a couple of weeks.

LEO: This is an exceptionally loaded week for the Lions. Among other activities, you are called upon to be a warrior on behalf of those you perceive as underdogs. Activities involving social media or the internet are swift and require focused attention. This is a time in which you must look at financial 30 | AUG. 31 - SEPT. 6, 2017 | CLCLT.COM

realities. Someone may be deceiving you related to shared expenses.

VIRGO THE VIRGIN: (Aug 22--Sep 22)

Mercury, your planetary ruler, is changing directions, virtually in front of your face. Something you previously decided is on the front burner again. Don’t allow yourself to be forced into a decision for two weeks. The issue can go either way and you don’t yet have all the facts.

LIBRA: For any number of reasons, circumstances may leave you out of the social loop this week. It’s possible that you do not feel well. Astrologically this is a time for selfreflection and not self-condemnation. Having a quiet week is appropriate at this time. Don’t turn this into a negative belief about yourself. Enjoy the time to be still and enjoy the quiet.

SCORPIO: It will be important now to

use firmness about your boundaries. This is likely to be particularly so related to your career and life direction interests. You are called to be of assistance to your partner and others you encounter. Though the temptation may be in front of you, don’t cross ethical boundaries.

SAGITTARIUS: This is a strongly positive

week in which your faith in yourself and all humankind is supported and nurtured by the people and circumstances in your path. Hopefully you are aware of a type of joy that is beyond mundane experiences of life. One caution: keep one foot on the ground. The earth has its rules also. It is easy to believe what you wish now.

CAPRICORN: You may feel as though

circumstances are forcing you to abandon your principles to save your pride. Think again about that one. Avoiding a short moment of embarrassment is not worth throwing away your integrity. You would have cause to regret it later.

AQUARIUS: It may be that you are the

object of advances or an attraction from someone that you prefer to avoid. It serves as a great lesson of tact and diplomacy. Make an effort to be honest about where you are in the situation, rather than talking about “you.” Maybe this is a time when you would simply rather be alone.

PISCES: There are vampires loose in the

world and the Fish tends to attract them. If you have matured 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. Are you interested in a personal horoscope? Vivian Carol may be reached at (704) 3663777 for private psychotherapy or astrology appointments (there is a charge). Blog: http// www.horoscopesbyvivian.com.

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