2017 Issue 5 Creative Loafing Charlotte by Creative Loafing Charlotte

CLCLT.COM | MARCH 23 - MARCH 29, 2017 VOL. 31, NO. 5

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EDITORIAL

NEWS EDITOR • Ryan Pitkin rpitkin@clclt.com FILM CRITIC • Matt Brunson mattonmovies@gmail.com THEATER CRITIC • Perry Tannenbaum perrytannenbaum@gmail.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS • Jasmin Herrera, Corbie Hill, Erin Tracy-Blackwood, Vivian Carol, Charles Easley, Chrissie Nelson, Page Leggett, Alison Leininger, Sherrell Dorsey, Dan Savage, Aerin Spruill, Chuck Shepherd, Jeff Hahne, Samir Shukla, Courtney Mihocik, Debra Renee Seth, Vanessa Infanzon, Matt Comer

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BOBBY WHITMIRE

Erik Button of Dollar Signs gets into his feels on stage.

NEWS&CULTURE FOR THE CULTURE Can expanding C3 Lab save the scene in South End?

BY RYAN PITKIN 9 EDITOR’S NOTE 13 THE BLOTTER 14 NEWS OF THE WEIRD

FOOD BEHIND THE BOOTH What you don’t see at the farmer’s market

BY ALISON LEININGER

ARTS&ENT MILES & COLTRANE SPRINGS BACK TO LIFE

Charlotte’s On Q theater company takes its signature show to the next level

BY PAT MORAN 20 TOP 10 THINGS TO D0 25 ARTSPEAK: CAROLYN LAWS BY GREY REVELL

MUSIC ANXIOUSLY WAITING TO BLOW Dollar Signs brings us into the dog days of spring

BY RYAN PITKIN 30 MUSICMAKER: DARIAN LA SPARROW BY MARK KEMP 32 SOUNDBOARD

ODDS&ENDS 34 MARKETPLACE 34 NIGHTLIFE BY AERIN SPRUILL 35 CROSSWORD 36 SAVAGE LOVE 38 HOROSCOPE BY VIVIAN CAROL

Go to clclt.com for videos and more!!

COVER DESIGN BY DANA VINDIGNI PHOTO BY JUSTIN DRISCOLL CLCLT.COM | MARCH 23 - MARCH 29, 2017 VOL. 31, NO. 5

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VIEWS

EDITOR’S NOTE

SEEING THE ARTS Charlotte recommits to creativity Barninger and the Nociks are planning to expand the already existing C3 Lab studios Sparrow was sitting across from me at an over the next couple of years, providing a outside table at the Smelly Cat Coffee House balance to all the other development. The in NoDa earlier this week, telling me why C3 Lab has been essential to the growth and she chooses to make videos of her songs nurturing of all kinds of arts in Charlotte. before putting them together on an album, And all kinds of collaboration. as musicians have traditionally done. One C3 occupant, artist Sharon Dowell, La Sparrow doesn’t just hear her songs, tells Pitkin the collaboration she finds at the she told me — she “sees” them. space has been essential to her own growth. “I’m a very visual person, so as I’m in “I really like the community aspect of it. the midst of writing my music, I’m already There’s a lot of connection and we help each thinking about what I want in a music video,” other,” she tells Pitkin. La Sparrow says in this week’s “Musicmaker,” Dowell wasn’t initially sure that the on page 30. “That’s just how I think — I community aspect of C3 would work, but visualize words, so thinking in terms of it didn’t take long for her to see its value. videos makes it easier for me to process.” “I’m used to having either my own space or a The visual arts. We use those space with maybe one other person, terms as a way of distinguishing so it was a big switch for me,” she painting, sketching, sculpting says. “And I was wondering, and photography from like, ‘I don’t know about the musical arts (voice, sharing a room with so instrumental work) or the many other people. Will performing arts (acting, we get along?’ It’s actually dancing). But the reality been really great. We all is this: All arts are visual, really do get along and and the visual arts were help each other.” arguably the first method Helping each other to humans used to express see — visually as well as themselves artistically. figuratively. It’s the reason MARK KEMP In this issue, we report a the arts scene in Charlotte has lot on the arts in Charlotte — on continued to explode over the why it’s not only important that we past several years. nurture our homegrown artists, but also That kind of collaboration isn’t restricted why it’s essential that we provide spaces to fields traditionally considered the “arts.” for them to work and collaborate together. In the food section this issue, writer Alison No art comes out of a vacuum. All arts are Leininger talks to another kind of artist — collaborative. the people who bring us the ingredients we Two people who are acutely aware of this use in the food we prepare for ourselves and are C3 Lab owners Glen Nocik and his wife our families and friends. Maria, who have partnered with Union Shop Leininger puts the spotlight on the folks Studio owner Jeffrey Barninger on a project behind the booths at the farmers markets that’s set to bring the arts and culture back we love to frequent on weekends. Buying to South End after a terrible year of loss in from local farmers means collaboarting with that neighborhood — losses of music venues them by asking questions and getting to and hangouts that once attracted artists and know the process. Coming face to face with other creative types to the area that hugs the people who farm our food brings a richer the southern edge of Uptown. In the place perspective to the culinary arts. of those establishments, condos and office “Part of the experience of the farmers buildings are springing up. market is that connection with the producer, “One of the things that happens, and it and that means extra conversation time is happens in every city, is artists move into part of the deal,” Leininger writes in “Behind a neighborhood that’s less desirable, it’s the booth,” on page 16. cheaper,” Barninger tells news editor Ryan It all starts with the eyes — seeing the Pitkin in this week’s cover story “For the music, the performance, the painting, the Culture,” on page 10. “They make it cool, food. Paying attention. In this issue, CL takes people start to flock there, developers come a look at our surroundings, at the people in, development happens, the neighborhood making sure art, in all its manifestations, improves, prices go up, and the artists get continues to happen in Charlotte. pushed out.” MKEMP@CLCLT.COM He’d like to change that tired scenario.

THE SINGER and songwriter Darian La

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(From left) Jeffrey Barninger, Maria Nocik and Glen Nocik are partnering to expand the creative hub that is C3 Lab.

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JUSTIN DRISCOLL

NEWS

COVERSTORY

FOR THE CULTURE Can expanding C3 Lab save the scene in South End? BY RYAN PITKIN

T’S BEEN a rough couple of years for cool kids in South End. Sure, “cool” is subjective, but it would be hard to argue that the once-hip neighborhood hasn’t lost a ton of its culture over the last year and a half, mostly to make room for condos, townhomes and office buildings. Most Charlotteans are familiar with the businesses and events lost (Tremont Music Hall, Black Sheep, Phat Burrito, Amos’ Southend), relocated (Common Market) or scattered (Food Truck Friday), all affected either directly or indirectly by development. C3 Lab owner Glen Nocik admitted the changes have left a hole in the cultural scene of South End. “As far as culture and music right now in South End, realistically, what do you have to do?” he asks. “Breweries? A couple restaurants and bars? There’s nothing else.” Nothing else save for C3 Lab, the creative hub that Nocik opened with his wife Maria in April 2015. Over the last two years, the lab has operated as a coworking space, gallery, art studio, music and event venue and home for the Nociks’ sign business. Now, the couple is joining forces with Jeffrey Barninger, owner of Union Shop Studio in west Charlotte, for a bold expansion project that will nearly double the size of the already-massive arts cultivator by the end of 2018 — from 25,000 square feet to 45,000 square feet throughout three buildings. The expansion will make C3 Lab one of the biggest art galleries and studios in Charlotte’s history. The team has already begun work on “Phase 2,” the first stage of expansion, which will involve opening up a 10,000-square-foot gallery, event venue and bar two doors down from the current C3 Lab location. They hope to open that space in September. In February 2018, they can begin to bring it all together by leasing out another 10,000-square-foot building between the two spaces, which is currently occupied. Thanks to large, rolling doors in each of the buildings, it will eventually be one continuous space that C3 Lab calls home. When asked whether the move is an attempt to fight back against overdevelopment in South End, Barninger and Glen agreed that it’s not a matter of fighting back, but more a call to other members of the arts scene that the culture is alive in the neighborhood. “We’ve established in South End because we love it. We see everything going on,” Glen said. “I’m not going to say it’s fighting back, but it’s more of a statement saying, ‘You

know what, you can do this. You can make something cool out of what’s still here. You don’t have to tear stuff down.’” In fact, Nocik is hoping the expansion

For example, Sharon Dowell is a local artist who works with multiple mediums (you’ve probably seen her United Buddy Bear sculpture outside the library in Uptown).

“YOU CAN MAKE SOMETHING COOL OUT OF WHAT’S STILL HERE. YOU DON’T HAVE TO TEAR STUFF DOWN.” -GLEN NOCIK

marks the beginning of a transformation, during which Distribution Street, where C3 Lab is located, becomes the epicenter of Charlotte’s newest arts district. “Our goal, our hope is for this whole street to turn into these types of things, so no one touches it. Hopefully people will start following suit. We want people to continue doing these types of things.” Over the last two years, the C3 Lab studios have served as a melting pot of mediums, with artists and entrepreneurs of all types working side by side, sharing tips and inspiration.

Dowell is one of the C3 Lab originals, working in the studios there for most of the two years the Lab has been open. On a recent day, we found Dowell working alongside Karla Sosa, a local paper-cut artist who’s been in the studio for four months. “I really like the community aspect of it. There’s a lot of connection and we help each other — everything from business to Karla just showing me how to do this thing on Instagram that I didn’t know how to do, to helping me with my art,” Dowell said. “I’m used to having either my own space or a space with maybe one other person, so it

was a big switch for me and I was wondering, like, ‘I don’t know about sharing a room with so many other people. Will we get along?’ It’s actually been really great. We all really do get along and help each other.” In contrast, it’s the first experience working in a studio for Sosa, who moved here from her hometown of Merida, Mexico, six years ago. “I like that there are different artists doing different things. You learn from them,” Sosa said. “For example, Sharon and Kathie [Roig, a weaver who works in the C3 Lab studios] are kind of my mentors. I’m always asking questions, because they have been doing this for so long, so they have a lot of knowledge about the art business, and I ask questions about composition and just arts stuff. Everybody here is very helpful and nice, so it’s a good vibe.”

WHEN

NOCIK speaks about the importance of making sure “no one touches” the lab, he’s referencing a key aspect of why it’s so hard to cultivate an arts district and, more importantly, keep that sense of culture alive in the long term. He and Barninger have seen rising rent prices in places like NoDa push out the starving artists that made the neighborhoods cool in the first place. “One of the things that happens, and it happens in every city, is artists move into a neighborhood that’s less desirable, it’s cheaper. They make it cool, people start to flock there, developers come in, development happens, the neighborhood improves, prices go up, and the artists get pushed out,” Barninger says. “They move somewhere else, five to ten years later they have to do it again. It becomes sort of this reinventing the wheel over and over and over again, and I really think that we need to start creating permanent, sustainable artist space in neighborhoods like South End — where it’s affordable, you can be in a place you want to be and you’re not going to feel like you’re going to have to do it again in a couple years.” The key to such sustainability is usually ownership, although Barninger and the Nociks will continue to lease their space. All three buildings are owned by the Charlottebased Vinson Enterprises. Although Vinson management did not want to comment for this story, Glen says he’s in constant talks with ownership and rests assured that he won’t be pushed out of the space on Distribution Street. “At the beginning, when we first started C3 Lab, that was always in the back of our CLCLT.COM | MAR. 23 - MAR. 29, 2017 | 11

Artists of C3 Lab (from left): Karla Sosa, Ayinde Rivera, Angela Clousher and Sharon Dowell.

RYAN PITKIN

“THE C3 LAB IS ON THE CUSP, IT’S ON T DON’T SEE ANYTHING ELSE IN THE ENTHE FRINGE. I IRE CITY OF CHARLOTTE THAT’S ANYTHING LIKE IT .” -AYINDE RIVERA heads: ‘If we’re going to do this, will we be here in five years?’” Glen says. “But [Vinson] are behind us more than we can say right now. They understand our vision and the way they’re supporting us, with the relationship we’ve built with them in these last two years and these last three months showing them what we’re doing with the expansion, that is out of our head, not one ounce of worry, we’re here for a while.”

NOW THAT C3 is apparently here to stay, what exactly will the new space look like once it’s finished? The new building will be used mainly as a gallery and events venue, which will open up the existing building for more affordable studio space for local artists. The new building will also include an applied craft space with a woodshop, a welding room, a metal room and space for printmaking, clay work and other mediums. “It’s about adding more to current studio 12 | MAR. 23 - MAR. 29, 2017 | CLCLT.COM

space but adding more of these things that impact the community as well,” Barninger says. The new building will also include a bar called Alchemy at C3 Lab and a 3,200-squarefoot patio that will host a range of activities and events, from outdoor movies with stadium seating to bocce ball. “What we’ve been figuring out: the sustainability part, how do you do that? If it’s just artist space, you don’t survive. That model doesn’t work. So you have to subsidize things with other things. We were doing it here in the early stage with the coworking and things. That helped us pay the bills,” Glen says. “Rent in South End is not cheap, so as we expand our overhead expands, so that’s why now we’re bringing in the bar component. The bar component is going to allow us to continue doing what we’re doing, and in a sense, if you come here and have a drink, have a beer or a bourbon, you’re helping the arts.”

The Nociks run a sign business out of C3 that’s their main source of income, while Barninger designs and builds furniture. He’ll be shutting down Union Shop Studio in June and running his business out of C3. The team takes just 10 percent of artist sales at C3 Lab, compared to average numbers closer to 50 percent around the city. They describe the lab as a passion project. “We don’t rely on these businesses for a living. We create these businesses because of passion. We’re invested not only emotionally and putting our time in, but we’ve put our own money into all of this. We’ve done all this out of pocket,” Glen says. Off in a different corner of the C3 Lab warehouse during our recent visit, we came across Ayinde Rivera, known professionally as Ayinde the Drummaker. Ayinde has been making his ashiko and djembe drums in the C3 Lab warehouse for about six months. He called it “the most fantastic experience in the world.”

“Coming to work every day, I look forward to it. I look forward to all these different ideas and ways of thinking; the different characteristics of the environment itself. You go to one room, you experience one feeling, you go to a different room, you experience a whole different feeling. There’s a variety of muses if you will; the muse is everywhere you look inside C3 Lab. It’s chock-full, over the brim with inspiration,” Rivera said. “I think the C3 Lab is on the cusp, it’s on the fringe. I don’t see anything else in the entire city of Charlotte that’s anything like this. And I’ve been involved in the arts here for well over 50 years, and I’ve never seen anything like C3 Lab anywhere in Charlotte, nothing coming close.” Next to Rivera, Angela Clousher was in the midst of work on a painting. Clousher said she began working at C3 Lab just two months ago. She was attracted by the affordability, but has quickly learned the advantages of working in such a diverse space.

NEWS

BLOTTER

BY RYAN PITKIN

MODERN ART Security guards at a

Walmart in north Charlotte got quite a show last week as they watched a suspect who had been shoplifting, but then took things to the next level. At first, security noticed the suspect concealing items in their clothing. They first took some clothing, then a candle, then some bananas. Security continued to watch to see what else the suspect would do while waiting for police to arrive, and that’s when things got weird. According to the report, “They continued to watch as the suspect began to open small jars of paint and consume them.” The suspect then attempted to leave the store but was stopped before they could do so. They were found to be impaired — although it’s unclear whether that was a cause or effect of the paint consumption — and had been banned from several other area Walmarts. Helpfully noted at the end of the report: “The merchandise was recovered, except for the consumed paint.”

ANTIQUES A 43-year-old northeast RYAN PITKIN

The studios in C3 Lab’s existing building will expand once the new building opens up next door. “I love the fact that it’s just more of a collective creative work space,” Clousher said. “Everybody’s got a lot of creative energy. Everyone’s working and doing different stuff around you, so that’s kind of cool. If I don’t know how to do something I can always ask somebody else. I’ve definitely learned some stuff since I’ve come here.”

NEWS OF THE C3 Lab expansion comes at a precarious time for arts around the country, as a recent federal budget proposal from President Donald Trump would cut all funding to the National Endowment of the Arts, which funds the Arts & Science Council locally. “I think in most places the arts scene is a very fragile thing and can be blown up very easily with just a few things happening,” Barninger said. “I feel that way here in Charlotte. Even since I’ve moved here, it’s been getting better. There are more things to go do. But by losing grant funding and things like that, it is going to hurt the artists in a big way. I think that’s one of the cool things about our gallery is we have the opportunity to help these artists because we’re not trying to make money from the gallery. Sales are not going to us.” As has been the case with Union Shop, Nocik has dedicated C3 Lab to showing more experimental pieces and installations, like Chrysalis, a recent exhibit by local artist and performer Lara Americo originally inspired by her photo essay Trans & Queer in the Workplace, which ran in Creative Loafing. Chrysalis included three-dimensional busts done by Americo, a rare medium in local

exhibits but one the C3 team would like to showcase more often in the new space. Barninger hopes the dedication to showcasing mediums of all types will inspire the Charlotte arts community and arts consumers to come together and fight for funding in an uncertain future. “We have the opportunity to show some things in there that maybe don’t get shown in some of the other galleries around the city. Hopefully, in a small way, that can push the arts community and community at large and what they want to see,” he said. “If there’s demand in the community for arts, you can get funding for arts. That’s what it takes. It takes the entire community to demand funding and demand that there is availability for grants to artists and things like that because they want to see it.” As idealistic as that sounds, Nocik said he’d like to see it taken one step further. “I think ultimately what we hope happens is we create newer models for everything,” he said. “Everything has been the same for so long; you have institutions that are funded by the government. Well, what if there are groups of people doing things like this — investing or bringing investors in to do these things? So that’s in a sense changing the model. It’s breaking the traditional way of doing things. I think we need to change that, it’s time that that changed.” It’s a lot to hope for, but you had us at having a beer or bourbon for the arts. RPITKIN@CLCLT.COM

Charlotte woman called police after someone broke into her car and stole some relics of the past. The woman reported that she woke up to find that someone had gotten into the vehicle, but the only items listed as stolen were CDs — $40 worth. It’s unclear how the thief plans to play them, but they’ll good mementos of a time gone by.

MERRY CHRISTMAS A 35-year-old man in south Charlotte finally filed a police report last week regarding an incident that apparently took place last Christmas. The man described a vandalism case to officers in which the suspect seemed to be very deliberate about vandalizing a home when nobody else was there. The victim told police that the suspect damaged a plastic Christmas tree, ripped pieces off of a chandelier, pulled the strings out of the ceiling fans, cut two cords leading to the television, scratched up a dresser and — in a grand finale — shattered a large fish tank, killing the five fish inside and damaging the ceiling, floor and television (further). NOTHING TO SEE Police responded to a vehicle break-in call in northwest Charlotte last week after a burglar used the most conspicuous means possible to get into someone’s car. The 27-year-old victim said she was watching the suspect the whole time as he threw “a yellowish-red brick” (very descriptive) at the windshield of her Chevrolet Cobalt repeatedly until it shattered. He then reached through the windshield to unlock the driver’s side door, opened it and rifled through the front seat. It was a dumb crime, but one that paid — at least for the time being. The thief found $340 in a man’s wallet inside the car and got away with it before police could arrive.

KEYS TO SUCCESS While handing over

your car keys to anyone save for the most trusted loved one is usually a recipe for a stolen car in this here Blotter, some times it can lead to less dramatic but equally troubling issues. A 42-year-old woman told police that she handed her keys over to a friend before going to work the other day so he could work on her car while she was gone. When she returned home, her car was there but the friend wasn’t. She eventually got a hold of him and he said he had to grab some more tools, but hours later, she was unable to get a hold of him and still unable to get into her apartment.

INSURANCE FRAUD Fails The CMPD

Arson unit responded to an apartment fire on the banks of the Catawba River last week after it quickly became clear that there was foul play involved. Investigators eventually determined that a man had assembled a homemade explosive incendiary device and set it off in the garage connected to the apartment. In the end, he only did about $500 in damage, so whatever the end goal was, it didn’t pan out. Also, he now has some serious charges on his record. So, all in all, he’ll have to chalk that one up as a loss.

CASH BE INSIDE, HOW BOUT DAT

Police responded to a BB&T in northwest Charlotte after some unknown suspect(s) put a whole lot of effort into robbing the unrobbable. Employees showed officers where the thieves pried open the metal door and broke the deadlock to an outdoor ATM machine overnight, only to learn that they still couldn’t access any cash. They did $1,000 in damage, with nothing to show for all that effort.

WANNA PARTY? Two 19-year-old women were a bit shaken after coming in contact — although not physical contact, thankfully — with a hitchhiker who may have had too much to drink that night, but was a predator any way you look at it. The girls told officers they were driving down Mallard Creek Road near the intersection of Prosperity Church Road at 1:30 a.m. when a man suddenly approached their car with no clothes on and tried to get in. Luckily, he wasn’t able to do so and they drove to safety. MOOCHING A MOOCHER A woman in

southwest Charlotte filed a fraud report after some stranger claimed a portion of the tax returns she was justly due for raising her son, without doing any of the work. The woman said that she had filed her 14-year-old son as a dependent on her tax returns, only to later be rejected and told that someone else had already claimed him as such. The woman said there is no other person who she can think of that would have the right to claim as much, so she filed a report for impersonation and fraud. CLCLT.COM | MAR. 23 - MAR. 29, 2017 | 13

IT’S OK TO OVERINDULGE.

NEWS

NEWS OF THE WEIRD

Website: www.clclt.com Facebook: /clclt Pinterest: @clclt Twitter: @cl_charlotte Instagram: @creativeloafingcharlotte YouTube: /qccreativeloafing

BY CHUCK SHEPHERD

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION A

highlight of the recent upmarket surge in Brooklyn, N.Y., as a residential and retail favorite, was the asking price for an ordinary parking space in the garage at 845 Union Street in the Park Slope neighborhood: $300,000 — also carrying a $240-a-month condominium fee and $50 monthly taxes. That’s similar to the price of actual one-bedroom apartments in less ritzy Brooklyn neighborhoods like Gravesend, a few miles away.

COMPELLING EXPLANATIONS Saginaw, Michigan, defense lawyer Ed Czuprynski had beaten a felony DUI arrest in December, but was sentenced to probation on a lesser charge in the incident, and among his restrictions was a prohibition on drinking alcohol — which Czuprynski acknowledged in March that he has since violated at least twice. However, at that hearing, which could have meant jail time for the violations, Czuprynski used the opportunity to beg the judge to remove the restriction altogether, arguing that he can’t be “effective” as a lawyer unless he is able to have a drink now and then. At press time, the judge was still undecided. FINE POINTS OF THE LAW Residents in southern Humboldt County, California, will vote in May on a proposed property tax increase to fund a community hospital in Garberville to serve a web of small towns in the scenic, sparsely populated region, and thanks to a county judge’s March ruling, the issue will be explained more colorfully. Opponent Scotty McClure was initially rebuffed by the registrar when he tried to distribute, as taxpayer-funded “special elections material,” contempt for “Measure W” by including the phrase “(insert fart smell here)” in the description. The registrar decried the damage to election “integrity” by such “vulgarity,” but Judge Timothy Cissna said state law gives him jurisdiction only over “false” or “misleading” electioneering language. CAN’T

POSSIBLY BE TRUE As technology has progressed, News of the Weird has written several times about Matt McMullen’s “RealDoll” franchise — the San Marcos, California, engineer’s richly detailed flexible silicone mannequins that currently sell for $5,500 and up, more with premium custom features. Even before the recent success of the very humanish, artificially intelligent (AI) android “hosts” on TV’s “Westworld,” McMullen revealed that his first AI doll, “Harmony,” will soon be available with a choice of 12 “personalities,” including “intellectualism” and “wit,” to mimic an emotional bond to add to the sexual. A recent University of London conference previewed a near future when fake women routinely

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provide uncomplicated relationships for lonely or disturbed men. Recently, in Barcelona, Spain, a brothel opened offering four “realdolls” “disinfected after each customer” — though still recommending condoms.

DOWNSIZING Scientists at Columbia

University and the New York Genome Center announced that they have digitally stored and retrieved a movie, an entire computer operating system and a $50 gift card on a single drop of DNA. In theory, wrote the researchers in the journal Science, they might store, on one gram of DNA, 215 “petabytes” (i.e., 215 million gigabytes — enough to run, say, 10 million HD movies) and could reduce all the data housed in the Library of Congress to a small cube of crystals.

OVERZEALOUS An office in the New York

City government, suspicious of a $5,000 payment to two men in the 2008 City Council election of Staten Island’s Debi Rose, opened an investigation, which at $300 an hour for the “special prosecutor,” has now cost the city $520,000, with his final bill still to come. Despite scant “evidence” and multiple opportunities to back off, the prosecutor relentlessly conducted months-long grand jury proceedings, fought several court appeals, had one 23-count indictment almost immediately crushed by judges, and enticed state and federal investigators to fruitlessly take on the Staten Island case. In March, the city’s Office of Court Administration finally shrugged and closed the case.

IRONIES A chain reaction of fireworks in Tultepec, Mexico, in December had made the San Pablito pyro marketplace a scorched ruin, with more than three dozen dead and scores injured, leaving the town to grieve and, in March, to solemnly honor the victims — with even more fireworks. Tultepec is the center of Mexico’s fireworks industry, with 30,000 people dependent on explosives for a living. Wrote The Guardian, “Gunpowder” is in “their blood.” MISCELLANEOUS ECONOMIC INDICATORS (1) “Bentley” the cat went

missing in Marina Del Rey, California, on Feb. 26 and as of press time had not been located despite a posted reward of $20,000. (A “wanted” photo is online, if you’re interested.) (2) British snack food manufacturer Walkers advertised in February for a part-time professional chip taster, at the equivalent of $10.55 an hour. (3) An Australian state administrative tribunal awarded a $90,000 settlement after a cold-calling telemarketer sold a farm couple 2,000 ink cartridges (for their one printer) by repeated pitches.

PERSPECTIVE American chef Dan Barber staged a temporary “pop-up” restaurant in

London in March at which he and other renowned chefs prepared the fanciest meals they could imagine using only food scraps donated from local eateries. A primary purpose was to chastise First-World eaters — especially Americans — for wasting food, not only in the kitchen and on the plate, but to satisfy our craving for meat. For example, we require diversion of 80 percent of the world’s corn and soy just to feed edible animals. Among Barber’s March “WastED” dishes were a char-grilled meatless beetburger and pork braised in leftover fruit solids.

UNDIGNIFIED DEATHS (1) A 78-year-

old man in Easton, Pennsylvania, died in February from injuries caused when he lit his cigarette but accidentally set afire his hooded sweatshirt. (2) A Mexico City man fell to his death recently in the city’s San Antonio neighborhood when he climbed up to turn off a highway video sign on the Periferico Sur highway that was showing a pornographic clip apparently placed by a hacker.

LEAST

COMPETENT

CRIMINALS

Oops! An officer in Harrington, Delaware, approaching an illegally parked driver at Liberty Plaza Shopping Center in March, had suspicions aroused when she gave him a name other than “Keyonna Waters” (which was the name on the employee name tag she was wearing). Once properly ID’ed, she was arrested for driving with a suspended license.

THE PASSING PARADE (1) In his third try of the year in January, Li Longlong of China surpassed his own Guinness Book record by climbing 36 stairs while headstanding, beating his previous 34. Among the Guinness regulations: no touching walls and no pausing more than five seconds per step. (2) The online live-stream of the extremely pregnant giraffe “April” at New York’s Animal Adventure Park has created such a frenzy, and exposed the tiny attention spans of viewers, that, as of March 3, they had spent a cumulative 1,036 years just watching. Erin Dietrich of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, 39 weeks pregnant herself, mocked the lunacy by livestreaming her own belly while wearing a giraffe mask. By press time, Erin had delivered; April had not.) NOTW CLASSIC (June 2013) Maryland

state troopers stopped when they caught sight of a drummer working out all alone on the side of traffic-packed Interstate 695 near Windsor Mill Road in Baltimore on May 21 (2013), at about 10:30 a.m. As the troopers later reported, the man had run out of gas and, rather than just sit around in his car, had set up his full drum kit on the shoulder and practiced while he awaited assistance. After a utility truck arrived, with gasoline, the drummer packed up and went on his way.

CLCLT.COM | MAR. 23 - MAR. 29, 2017 | 15

16 | MAR. 23 - MAR. 29, 2017 | CLCLT.COM

FOOD

FEATURE

BEHIND THE BOOTH What you don’t see at the farmer’s market BY ALISON LEININGER

S SPRING MAKES its final entrance across our region, a sunny morning at a local farmers market presents an appealing prospect. The image of tables piled high with brightly colored carrots and lettuce draws people from their beds all across the Charlotte area. But those crops don’t pile themselves. Nor do they harvest, clean or transport themselves. No, behind every booth stands a vendor who can tell you the market day starts well before Saturday morning sunrise. Farmers Joe and Dani Rowland have been selling at area markets for about six years, usually splitting up to cover two per week. This year they will enter a third, having just been accepted at Matthews Community Farmers Market. One of their specialties is fresh chicken, meaning their Saturday preparations start on Thursday with poultry processing. That technically means they start Wednesday, when Dani makes her first trip to a local ice plant. “We go through about 400 pounds of ice every week,” says Joe. That’s enough to chill freshly killed birds, with another load on Friday to fill coolers in preparation for hot market days. Fridays are also the prime day for harvesting produce for markets, especially during the spring,” says Dani. “We want things to be as fresh as possible, so we try and wait to pick everything on Friday. So on Saturday we can say ‘This was picked 24 hours ago.’” Harvesting is just the first step, though. Produce is then carefully washed by hand, and in many cases weighed, before being bundled or bagged for market. Farmers aren’t the only ones starting preparations days ahead. Cheesemaker Zack Gadberry begins building inventory of UAV products on Wednesday or Thursday, and may even find himself making extra mozzarella early Saturday morning to fill last-minute orders. He and wife Victoria have been selling fresh Italian cheeses and cultured butter at Matthews and the regional markets for the past three years. “Maybe originally it was all done on Friday, because we didn’t have all the products we do now,” says Victoria. “But not anymore.” Nowadays UAV’s lineup of 15 products includes feta and goat cheeses that require several days to brine or age. Even with two days of preparation, Friday is a long one for both businesses, sometimes stretching to 11 p.m. or midnight. No matter

COURTESY OF ROWLAND’S ROW FARMS

Dani and Joe Rowland how organized their week, the farmers and the cheesemongers often find themselves scrambling to pack a little extra for late orders. The Rowlands have tried to cut their hours back, especially since the arrival of baby Ella last September, but they still stay busy until after 7 p.m.

SATURDAYS START early, around 4 a.m., for the Rowlands and Gadberrys, regardless of season. Both households experience a fast, Spartan start to the morning. “Shower? What’s a shower?” jokes Dani Rowland. “There’s no shower, there’s no breakfast.” The chickens don’t care that it’s market day; they still need water and feed before loading commences. There are more than ice-packed coolers to sling into the trucks, too. Tables, signs, baskets and other accoutrements come along to create an attractive display that helps drive sales. With lots of grocery store experience, the Rowlands pay particular attention to arranging their merchandise. “Making it look abundant and full and fresh is really important,” says Dani, who says it takes her an hour or more to arrange those eye-catching bunches of carrots and lettuce. And that job doesn’t finish when the opening bell rings. Not only do piles need restacking as customers browse, but in hot weather, sensitive produce rotates in and out of the coolers. “As people shop, I’m constantly moving things,” says Joe, confirming that selling means more than chatting with customers and taking their money. “We start with three

Victoria and Zack Gadberry tables, and by the end of the day we have one little table in the middle.” Even chatting with customers and taking their money, however, can be a challenge, especially during the first rush. As lines lengthen, regulars and new customers need equal attention, whether that means remembering to grab an order held back, or explaining how smoked mozzarella is made. Part of the experience of the farmers market is that connection with the producer, and that means extra conversation time is part of the deal.

THE END OF THE day goes beyond the last sale of beets or butter. When the Matthews market shuts down at noon, Zack Gadberry packs up and drives over to join Victoria at the Regional Market, where they are required

to remain until 2 p.m., regardless of whether they’ve sold out. After closing up and driving home, they usually wind up their day around 4 p.m. — 12 hours after they started. Joe and Dani Rowland’s market day usually ends a little earlier, typically finding them back at the farm by 2 p.m. But they still have about four hours of unloading, cleaning, record keeping and more chicken chores before hitting the couch for a few hours of a different kind of vegging. “On Saturday night, we’re not having our other farmer friends over for a fiddle session,” Dani says with a laugh. For Zack Gadberry, who works overnight during the week, Sunday is his only down time. “That’s been an adjustment for me, kind of like a chef’s wife,” says Victoria. “In my head, this is our one day together, and I want to go do something. In his head, this is his one day to not do anything. I try to give him that more often than not, because that’s all he gets.” Going over their own Sunday catch-up schedule, Joe Rowland points out that in all their days of market prep, “We haven’t done any farming yet. We haven’t grown anything. We haven’t planted anything.” Yet all the vendors still relish their one day a week seeing customers face-to-face. As Dani Rowland says, “That what fuels us to go back. . . even when we are weeding for hours in 90-degree weather and half our broccoli crop isn’t coming up.” So as happy as we may be to see the farmers standing behind their booths, they’re even happier to see us. CLCLT.COM | MAR. 23 - MAR. 29, 2017 | 17

even your grandma gets it.

18 | MAR. 23 - MAR. 29, 2017 | CLCLT.COM

60 MINUTES to ESCAPE...

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CLCLT.COM | MAR. 23 - MAR. 29, 2017 | 19

FRIDAY

24 HACKATHONCLT What: It’s being billed as the ultimate Charlotte geek fest, but we’re not here to call names. The 5th annual Hackathon will be at Discovery Place Science in Uptown. The real magic will take place in the early morning hours, but museum visitors can cheer on participants the next morning as they wrap up an overnight coding marathon, aimed at solving a business problem for a local nonprofit. When: March 24, 5 p.m. - March 25, 2 p.m. Where: Discovery Place Science, 301 N. Tryon St. More: Spectating free with museum admission. hackathonclt. org.

20 | MAR. 23 - MAR. 29, 2017 | CLCLT.COM

THINGS TO DO

TOP TEN

Paint Fumes TUESDAY

COURTESY OF PAINT FUMES

FRIDAY

THE LOX

MATTHEW SILVER

What: From The Bomb Squad to The Warlocks to The LOX to D-Block and back to The LOX again, this trio has had things on lock from the jump no matter what they were calling themselves. They were perhaps at their hottest as The LOX, however, when the entire DMX-led Ruff Ryders team was at its prime, so their return to Charlotte under that moniker is only right. Come see the greatest group to ever come out of Yonkers on their Filthy America... It’s Beautiful Tour.

What: In the tradition of village idiots and Ken Kesey’s Merry Pranksters, street performer and viral video star Matthew Silver confounds public expectations by acting like a lunatic. He’s the weird bearded guy who runs around in his underwear banging a drum and yelling, “Love is the answer,” and “Stop buying stuff.” By tweaking taboos, Silver parodies excessive seriousness. His mission is to breach people’s armor and open a portal for imagination. Maybe he’s not that crazy after all.

When: 7 p.m. Where: The Fillmore, 820 Hamilton St. More: $25. fillmorecharlottenc.com.

When: 8 p.m. Where: The Station, 1231 Central Ave. More: $8. thestationclt.com

SATURDAY

31ST ANNUAL ELIZABETH ROAD RACE

SATURDAY

BACK 2 THE ’80S

What: Get ready for the grandmother of all road races. It’s so big the mayor has proclaimed Saturday “Elizabeth Day,” in honor of the neighborhood that birthed it. It’s so big that Legion Brewing has named an ale for it, Big E! It’s so big you won’t find mere rappers, rockers or acoustic strummers serenading the racers — no, these racers get full-on opera (OK, actually “Xpress Opera,” but we’re splitting hairs).

What: If we were going back to the ’80s in our fantasies, we might choose a stronger lineup: Run-DMC, Salt-N-Pepa, L.L. Cool J, Stetsasonic, Eric B. & Rakim, Queen Latifah. . . Ah, but this isn’t a fantasy concert and we’re not booking it. Besides, you won’t go wrong with the real lineup at this hip-hop nostalgia show: Whodini, Big Daddy Kane, Slick Rick, Force MDs, Al B. Sure! and a few others. Just remember: It was better than this back in the day.

When: 8 a.m. Where: Hawthorne Recreation Center, 345 Hawthorne Ln. More: Free, spectators; $10-$31, participants. www.elizabeth8k.com.

When: 8 p.m. Where: Ovens Auditorium, 2700 E. Independence Blvd. More: $39-$103. ovensauditorium. com.

Matthew Silver FRIDAY

pierre bensusan SEED20 On Stage SATURDAY MONDAY

NEWS ARTS FOOD MUSIC ODDS

PHOTO BY DAMIAN BATTINELLI

SATURDAY

RODNEY SCOT PHOTOGRAPHY

PHOTO LUKE HODGKINS – ALIVE NETWORK.JPG

SATURDAY

SUNDAY

MONDAY

TUESDAY

ABARI ONE-YEAR BIRTHDAY

PIERRE BENSUSAN

“THE WALL” ART EXHIBIT

SEED20 ON STAGE

PAINT FUMES

What: “Round 1 ... Ready ... Party!” Charlotte’s first bar arcade has made it through that milestone first year, so it’s time to throw down. Their first birthday celebration will feature an outdoor arcade; a pop-up market, grub from food trucks like Mel’s BLT Kitchen; and live music from some of Charlotte’s best bands, including Junior Astronomers, The Eyebrows and Modern Primitives. Who would have thought gaming could be so cool? That’s right, Abari did.

What: A handful of fleet-fingered acoustic guitar slingers excel at classical, jazz, North African or Celtic styles. French-Algerian guitarist Pierre Bensusan plays them all in a fluid and playful blend of traditional and improvisational music that defies categories. Bensusan augments his nimble picking and sensual strumming with genre-jumping bilingual vocals that fuse whistling with resonant low notes. It’s international music for a hopeful future – a soundtrack for a world without borders.

What: These days, hearing anything about “the wall” can be a depressing experience. For this event, the folks at Studio 1212 are taking it back to ‘79, when The Wall still referred to one of the most iconic albums of all time (at least in America). Local artitsts, performers, poets and more offer their takes on Pink Floyd’s classic record. The event will include performances, paintings, installation pieces, photography and more.

What: Dinner, an open bar and some of the most creative people in town — not a bad way to spend a night in Charlotte. SEED20 was designed to bring folks with innovative ideas out of their creative bubbles and into the light of day. Each year, 20 nonprofit participants are coached on how to tell their creative stories. At the end, up to half of them get to pitch their ideas to judges and an audience for cash awards. Come decide what visionary will walk away with this year’s kitty.

What: After singer Elijah von Cramon was struck by a car and severely injured in 2013, it looked like Paint Fumes would be sidelined, perhaps permanently. Like a garagerock Phoenix, they rebounded with their snarling vocals, grimy guitars and reverbed thrash aesthetic derived from the classic punk rock compilation Nuggets intact and undimmed. Their sophomore release, If It Ain’t Paint Fumes It Ain’t Worth a Huff is available on “Puke Swirl” multi-color Starburst vinyl.

When: 2 p.m. - 2 a.m. Where: Abari, 1721 N. Davidson St. More: $5 suggested donation for North Mecklenburg Animal Rescue. abarigamebar.com.

When: 8 p.m. Where: Evening Muse, 3227 N Davidson St. More: $22-25. eveningmuse.com.

When: 5 p.m. - 12 a.m. Where: Studio 1212, 1212 E. 10th St. More: $5-10 suggested donation. eventbrite.com/e/the-wall-artexhibit-tickets-32571191310.

When: 6:30 p.m. Where: Knight Theater, 430 S Tryon St. More: $60-$85. www.seed20.org.

When: 9 p.m. Where: The Milestone, 3400 Tuckaseegee Road. More: $5-7. twentyfiveminutestogo. com.

CLCLT.COM | MAR. 23 - MAR. 29, 2017 | 21

Sultan Omar El-Amin, Quentin Talley

22 | MAR. 23 - MAR. 29, 2017 | CLCLT.COM

PHOTO BY LOVO

ARTS

Sultan Omar El-Amin

FEATURE

‘MILES & COLTRANE’ SPRINGS BACK TO LIFE Charlotte’s On Q theater company takes its signature show to the next level BY PAT MORAN PHOTO BY LOVO

ENIUS DESERVES an unconventional approach, says Quentin Talley. How unconventional? Well, for one thing, you won’t see the actors who portray Miles Davis and John Coltrane — the trumpeter and saxophonist who revolutionized jazz — play a single note in On Q Performing Arts’ production of Miles & Coltrane: Blue (.). Talley, the founder of On Q who directs the play and portrays Coltrane, explains how he and Sultan Omar El-Amin, the actor portraying Davis, handle the production’s frequent musical interludes. “Omar and I don’t even have our instruments in hand [when Miles and Coltrane play],” Talley says. “When we finish a monologue or a scene, a trumpet player and a saxophone player will take our positions onstage, and then they will front a full band.” The top-notch players recruited by music director Stephen Gordon for the production, which runs March 22 through April 1 at Duke Energy Theater, is a sign of Talley’s deep respect for Coltrane, Davis and their music. Trumpeter Eleazar Shafer’s hip-hopinfused bop style has turned critics’ ears in his hometown of New York City. Saxophone is split between two Charlotteans: Adrian Crutchfield, former reedman for Prince, will handle sax duties for the first week of the show’s run, and Phillip Whack takes over for the second. “We let the professionals handle the music,” Talley says with a deep chuckle. It’s been 26 years since Davis’ death, and a half-century since Coltrane’s. But Talley insists the men and the music they crafted remain relevant. The only album the two jazz greats recorded together, 1959’s Kind of Blue, remains one of the biggest-selling jazz discs ever. “Their music is the blueprint for a lot of what you hear today,” Talley says. “They influenced every genre.” The lives of Davis and Coltrane also carry social implications that resonate with modern audiences. “Both Miles and Coltrane were navigating being black in America — what that meant at that time and what it means today,” Talley says. “Davis demanded to be treated just like everybody else. In 1956 he was a black man driving a yellow Ferrari in New York City. That’s a social statement just by itself.” So is Miles & Coltrane: Blue (.), which is less a play than a poetic and musical rumination on creativity and its human

costs. “It’s part performance poetry, part traditional theater with monologues and dialogue, and part concert,” Talley says. “The band goes from playing a full-blown concert to dropping out to the background like a film score, while myself, a narrator, and Omar as Miles are talking. The music never stops.” On Q premiered Miles & Coltrane: Blue (.) in Charlotte in 2008. It has since toured, crossing the Atlantic for two stints at Edinburgh’s Fringe Festival — a 2009 run with a truncated cast, and a full staging in 2013. But the current production, which marks On Q’s 10th anniversary, is by far the most ambitious remounting of a show that’s close to Talley’s heart.

the fact that we’ve been able to make an impact on the community.”

TALLEY HAS been immersed in theater since childhood, producing his first original production at a community center in his hometown of Greenwood, S.C., while still in his teens. “It was called Black and Blue,” Talley remembers. “I took a excerpt from one of my favorite books, The Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison,

“IN 1956 MILES DAVIS WAS A BLACK MAN DRIVING A YELLOW FERRARI IN NEW YORK CITY. THAT’S A SOCIAL STATEMENT JUST BY ITSELF.”

lley Quentin Ta

VO PHOTO BY LO

-QUENTIN TALLEY

“It’s our signature piece,” Talley says. “It’s a Charlotte-arts-community-born-andbred production, from musicians to writers to performers. From the ground up, it’s a Charlotte show.” The production is a proven crowd pleaser, Talley adds. “We’ve tested it with critics and audiences, and they like it. So now we’re doing our remounted show with a new set and some other goodies.” The goal this time around, he says, is to up the production’s commercial ante, and to prepare it for an off-Broadway run. Show business considerations aside, Miles & Coltrane also speaks to On Q’s ability to create original work. Along with classical and contemporary productions, “original performance work that reflects the black experience” has been a cornerstone of On Q’s mission since the company was founded. “With our 10-year anniversary,” Talley says, “we’re celebrating

and turned it into a stream-ofconsciousness play.” At Winthrop University Talley was exposed to African American poets like Saul Williams and Staceyann Chin. Spoken word, open mics and poetry slams dovetailed neatly with his college theater work, but by the time he graduated from Winthrop in Sultan Omar El-Amin 2003 with a theater performance PHOTO BY LOVO degree, Talley was burnt out on the stage. theater. A move to Charlotte rekindled his “All the companies would do their one passion. Talley jumped into the city’s show in February for Black History Month, spoken word poetry scene, and at the sinceand that was it,” Talley says. “The rest of the shuttered Afro American Cultural Center, he year, trained actors of color couldn’t find met his future Miles Davis — El-Amin. work on a regular basis.” “Omar was working the front desk while With few productions and fewer parts for I was doing theater and poetry there,” Talley says. “We started talking.” That’s when Talley realized Charlotte SEE SPRINGS P. 24 u suffered a dire shortage of African-American CLCLT.COM | MAR. 23 - MAR. 29, 2017 | 23

Sultan Omar El-Amin, Quentin Talley

ARTS

SPRINGS

PHOTO BY LOVO

FEATURE FROM P. 23

t MILES & COLTRANE: BLUE (.)

PHOTO BY LOVO

Quentin Talley

24 | MAR. 23 - MAR. 29, 2017 | CLCLT.COM

PHOTO BY LOVO

actors of color, Talley tackled the issue headon. In 2006, he launched On Q, Charlotte’s first full-fledged African-American theater company, with a production of Suzan-Lori Parks’ In The Blood at the Hart Witzen Gallery. Not long after that, the first inkling for Miles & Coltrane emerged. “I was sitting on the back steps of the (now-defunct) Wine Up Lounge with a musician friend, Corey McClure,” Talley remembers. He and McClure were talking about music, theater, Miles and Coltrane when McClure asked if there had ever been a theater piece devoted to the iconic jazzmen. Talley couldn’t name a single show. From its inception, Talley knew Miles & Coltrane had to include poetry with performance and music. He turned to his friends in Charlotte’s spoken-word scene to craft a non-traditional theater piece that would riff and flow like jazz improvisation. The script that emerged is credited not to any single writer, but to Concrete Generation, a collective of artists and poets. “There are actually nine writers on the show,” Talley says. The roster includes Talley, C. P. Maze, Filmore Johnson, Kendrea “Mekkah” Griffith, Maisha Rice, Boris “Bluz” Rogers, Carlos Robson and two writers who have since passed away — Norris Guest and Tavis Brunson. While Talley acted as editor and poet wrangler, different writers focused on salient features of their subjects. “Mekkah wrote from the perspective

March 22, 7:30 p.m.; March 23, 7:30 p.m.; March 24, 8 p.m.; March 25, 2 p.m., 8 p.m.; March 26, 3 p.m.; March 28, 7:30 p.m.; March 29, 7:30 p.m.; March 30, 7:30 p.m.; March 31, 8 p.m.; April 1, 2 p.m., 8 p.m. $28-40. Duke Energy Theater at Spirit Square, 345 N. College St. 704-372-1000. blumenthalarts.org.

of Coltrane’s wife Alice,” Talley says. “Alice locked John in the closet for several days so he could kick heroin.” Maisha viewed Davis through the prism of the women in his life, particularly his first wife Frances Taylor. “We got different perspectives from different writers but it all gelled together beautifully. It was like we were all in the same room writing,” Talley says. In the completed script, a portrait of two inspired-yet-contentious human beings emerges. There was never any intention to craft a burnished tribute to Davis and Coltrane, Talley maintains. “We’re portraying them as artists struggling to create,” Talley says. “Who or what got in the way of creating? Who or what was their muse?”

Short Film Awards. How did that make you feel? I submitted the film and didn’t think much more of it, but then I got a certificate for the acting. One judge said they wished I’d had more dialogue. (Laughs.) They liked my acting that much. What kind of a budget did you have for the film? What did it take? Very little! I think the most I spent was $300 for some sound equipment we needed; special microphones and things. Zachary Perlow, my partner, was the cinematographer, so he was in charge of where that money would be budgeted. But I funded everything. Everything we did was either cheap or free, from shooting locations to the wardrobe. I went to the Goodwill. I went through Amazon to make the pizza delivery uniforms. (Laughs). I bought these little pizza patches and my mom sewed them on. So we made the uniforms ourselves. ZACHARY PERLOW

Carolyn Laws

ARTS

ARTSPEAK

‘DAMIANE’ ON A SHOESTRING Actor and DIY filmmaker Carolyn Laws talks about her passion

The film is very Charlotte-centric. You kept the talent pool local, from the music on. Was that super-important to you? There is this unique coolness in Charlotte — a lot of DIY, and simply loving the people around you. I wanted to capture that. The opening song — that band is (Charlottebased indie rockers) the Business People. The drummer Anthony Pugliese and I, we went to North Meck together, so I reached out to him for a possible song, and he was like, “Yeah, by all means.” All the actors are local Charlotte actors. Amy Lesneskia, who played my alter-ego,

and Armie Hicks, who recently moved to Los Angeles. Everyone in the film is still closely connected to Charlotte. The wardrobe for the party scene was supplied by Enemy to Fashion — they’re based out of NoDa, though I think they may have just moved their office. I love Enemy to Fashion because they capture this singular Charlotte cool. The pace of it. And the films starts with a time lapse of uptown Charlotte, which I loved. It was essential to the beginning. You’ve been back and forth from Florida for the last few weeks shooting a film. Can you tell us about it? The film is called Hurricane Aaron. The director is J.R. Howell. He also plays the lead role. It’s a family drama. I won’t spoil anything, but it gets super intense. What else do you have going? I’m starting my own web series called Mind over Mattie. We’re shooting five episodes all at once. It’s another fantasy. (Laughs). A lot of the stuff I like to write these days is about internally based struggles. Where will you be shooting that? We’re definitely shooting it in Charlotte. The more of this atmosphere and this culture, the better. Carolyn Laws’ award-winning short film “Damiane and Her Demons” can be seen on YouTube, and “Hurricane Aaron” is scheduled for a 2017 release.

BY GREY REVELL

SHOOTING A DIY short film is full of

challenges. Shooting one in the South in the dead of August — that ranks near unbearable. Carolyn Laws, actor and director of the short indie film Damiane and Her Demons, learned quickly that this wasn’t what people in the business meant when they talked about “catching heat.” “We had to do those scenes a number of times with the camera set up on the dash and the side window,” Laws says. “We had to keep the A/C off, in the middle of the summer, so it wouldn’t mess up the audio.” She laughs and shakes her head. “That was a rough day.” Laws, who graduated in 2016 from UNC Greensboro with a BFA in acting, got her start early, doing print and runway modeling while still a student at North Mecklenburg High School. Before Damiane and Her Demons, her previous acting credits included roles in The Metal Children, at UNCG; Time Stands Still, with Paper Lantern Theatre Company and Trifles, at Triad Stage’s Upstage Cabaret. CL caught up with the DIY filmmaker one afternoon in South Charlotte, in between shooting schedules for an upcoming feature. Creative Loafing: What sparked the idea for Damiane And Her Demons? Carolyn Laws: After I graduated from UNCG, my main foundation was the Actors Lab led by J.D. Lewis. There was this artist’s retreat weekend that June that J.D. put together [in which] we went to this gorgeous campsite in Asheville. The retreat was all

about setting goals for ourselves; we came up with 30-day goals and 90-day goals. I made the goal to write a short film script in 30 days, and then 90 days to film it. I owe J.D. a lot for that. Before this, I’d written a lot of poetry, but I hadn’t really considered myself a screenwriter. I really just wanted to create something. A lot of the film is this surreal little world that’s happening in the main character’s car. Where did that idea come from? I was delivering pizzas at the time, so the story basically started out from personal experience. There’s the monotony of my character getting in her car and not having anyone to talk to. So she creates someone to talk to, someone in the backseat who’s like her other self. There’s nothing to do except drive, so she starts thinking about who she wishes she was — someone more interesting, more exciting, more social. She’s also stuck in this love triangle with this dude that she just met, and this other person that she’s been dating who might not necessarily be the best fit for her. It’s not really autobiographical, but it was things I could certainly relate to. Being single versus being in a relationship. The anxiety of making those kinds of decisions. I actually didn’t write a lot of actual dialogue for Damiane. It’s an internal dialogue [she has while] driving in her car. It just expresses that. Damiane and Her Demons recently got a certificate of mention from the Southern CLCLT.COM | MAR. 23 - MAR. 29, 2017 | 25

Emma Watson in Beauty and the Beast (Photo: Disney)

ARTS

FILM

The star of Christine (Photo: Columbia)

MAGIC AT THE MOVIES

MARCH MADNESS: MONSTER EDITION

Filmic fairy tale doesn’t disappoint

MMP returns for a sixth haunting

BY MATT BRUNSON

Admittedly, a live-action version of 1991’s Beauty and the Beast, one of Disney’s all-time great animated features, sounds like nothing more than a cash-grab, an easy way for the studio to make a mint off of giftwrapped nostalgia. What’s truly wondrous is that this new Beauty and the Beast (***1/2 out of four) is a powerful piece in its own right, with everyone involved shedding copious amounts of blood, sweat and candle wax to produce a picture that illuminates rather than tarnishes the legacy. In a year in which several of the biggest hits have been little more than sops to fanboys and fanboy critics more interested in bloodletting than storytelling, here’s a film that should appeal to all demographics. The plot remains fundamentally unchanged from the ’91 model, and the narrative diversions that have been added along the way are acceptable and sometimes even manage to enhance particular points from its predecessor. While some great individual moments don’t survive the transition — I particularly missed the “If it’s not baroque, don’t fix it” line, which never fails to amuse me — what is transferred unencumbered is a true sense of enchantment and an even truer sense of romance. Starting with Emma Watson, who proves to be absolutely luminous as Belle, the cast is top-flight straight down the line. As Belle’s 26 | MAR. 23 - MAR. 29, 2017 | CLCLT.COM

father, Kevin Kline rescues the role from irrelevance — little more than dotty comic relief in ’91, here he’s a fully fleshed-out character with an added backstory that brings him into focus. Ewan McGregor and Ian McKellen are dandy providing the voices of Lumiere and Cogsworth, and Luke Evans amuses as the conceited Gaston. Even Josh Gad, typically as welcome as a rash, is fine as Gaston’s sidekick LeFou. LeFou, as everyone has doubtless heard by now, has been transformed into an openly gay character. It’s a progressive change that neither helps nor hurts the overall narrative — ditto for the pair of mixed-race relationships found among major supporting players. I can almost taste those salty tears being shed by homophobes, bigots and Trumpsters. The 1991 Beauty and the Beast featured both the best song score and the best thematic score found in any Disney animated feature, and if there’s a major complaint to be lodged against this latest film, it’s that the new songs — doubtless added to snag an Oscar nomination or two — don’t compare to the original tunes and occasionally slow down the proceedings. But in most other respects, from the vibrant visual sheen to the enormous emotional pull, this picture doesn’t disappoint. To be sure, it’s no match for the animated take, which belongs in a special class all by itself. Yet on its own terms, it manages to return a splash of magic to the movies, even if only momentarily.

To date, there have been eight films in the original Halloween series, seven movies in the initial A Nightmare on Elm Street run, 10 flicks in the first Friday the 13th franchise, and — by far the scariest of all — seven entries in the Police Academy series. At this rapid clip, the Mad Monster Party will beat ‘em all in terms of sustained success: With five smashing shows already in the books, it looks as if the follow-ups will continue to attract audiences for years to come. To that end, the sixth annual Mad Monster Party will be held March 25-27 at The Hood Center, 375 S. Anderson Rd. in Rock Hill, SC. Complete details can be found at www.madmonster.com, but in the meantime, here are some highlights to whet those monstrous appetites. Return Of The Empire Strikes Back: Last year’s celebrity roster included Jeremy Bulloch, the actor who originated the role of bounty hunter Boba Fett in 1980’s The Empire Strikes Back. This year’s event will feature another Empire alumni: Billy Dee Williams, who played Lando Calrissian in both Empire and 1983’s Return of the Jedi, will be appearing at the event to meet fans and sign autographs (as always, the celebrities charge for their scribbles and often for photos, so come with wallet in hand). Munster Kids: Although it aired for

only two seasons, The Munsters remains a beloved — and instantly recognizable — TV sitcom from the ‘60s. While Fred Gwynne (Herman), Yvonne De Carlo (Lily) and Al Lewis (Grandpa) are no longer alive, the actors playing their kids are still very much with us — and they’ll especially be with us this weekend. Both Butch Patrick (young son Eddie), now 63, and Pat Priest (normal sister Marilyn), now 80, will be at this year’s Mad Monster Party bash. Road Rage: Butch Patrick and Pat Priest won’t be the only Munster-related stars in attendance. Look also for the Munster Koach and the Drag-u-la dragster as part of the exhibit Roadkill Goreage, featuring famous vehicles from film and television. We won’t reveal all of the crazy rides that will be on display, but let’s just say that Stephen King — and John Carpenter — will be represented in this automotive attraction. Cutting Up: Three of the actors involved with 1986’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 will be in attendance: Bill Johnson (Leatherface), Bill Moseley (Chop-Top), Caroline Williams (Stretch). Also one corpse (OK, a prop corpse) — that of Nubbins, featured prominently in the film. Godzilla, Up Close And Personal: The Mad Monster Deluxe Photo Ops provide fans the opportunity to pose with a celebrity in a green-screen setting, with the performer’s theme-related background visuals later added and thus providing a pretty groovy photo.

Makeup expert Tom Savini will be returning to Mad Monster Party this year (Photo: www.savini.com) This year’s participants will include Williams, Patrick, the Texas 2 gang, Haruo Nakajima (the original Godzilla), Bin Furuya (the original Ultraman), Kane Hodder (Jason Voorhees in four Friday the 13th films, from 1988’s Part VII: The New Blood through 2001’s Jason X), and — for a change of pace — wrestler Ric Flair. (As in past years, advance tickets for photo ops are encouraged as these bookings tend to sell out.) Celebrity Sightings: The Sequel: Some

popular guests from past MMPs are returning again this year, so if you missed ‘em the first time, now’s your chance to say hi. Among the repeat offenders are actor and makeup wiz Tom Savini (Dawn of the Dead, Creepshow), actor Sid Haig (House of 1000 Corpses, Spider Baby), and, from the very first MMP back in 2012, Ricou Browning, who played the Gill Man in the trio of Creature from the Black Lagoon flicks. Greasy Is The Word: While most of

the attendees hail from classic (or at least older) movies and TV shows, a few have made their mark in far more recent times. The Greasy Strangler was one of the most unusual and controversial films of 2016, and both of its stars, Michael St. Michaels (who played Big Ronnie) and Sky Elobar (who played Big Brayden), will be here. So will Mark Steger, who essays the role of The Monster on the smash Netflix series Stranger Things. Gore Galore: As is the norm at MMP, there

will be plenty of extracurricular activities, including such tried-and-true favorites as the Mad Monster Party Film Festival, Scaraoke, and the Miss Mad Monster Pageant. But also be on the lookout for newer attractions like the intriguingly titled Professor Morte’s Silver Scream Spookshow Spooktacular and the Mad Monster Creepy Carnival.

CLCLT.COM | MAR. 23 - MAR. 29, 2017 | 27

Erik Button of Dollar Signs.

28 | MAR. 23 - MAR. 29, 2017 | CLCLT.COM

BROOKE MARSH

MUSIC

FEATURE DOLLAR SIGNS LIFE IS RUFF EP RELEASE PARTY

ANXIOUSLY WAITING TO BLOW

April 1, 8 p.m.; The Milestone, 3400 Tuckaseegee Road. 704-398-0472. themilestone.club.

Dollar Signs brings us into the dog days of spring RYAN PITKIN

OR A GROUP that calls itself an “angsty, anxious punk band” that “rebels against themselves,” the guys from Dollar Signs are a chill, welladjusted bunch. We sat down with three of the four guys — horn player Luke Gunn lives in Los Angeles and flies in to tour with the band — to chat over beers at Sanctuary Pub in NoDa on a recent Saturday about their new EP, Life is Ruff; why they’re so obsessed with marketing their band; and that pesky anxiety that affects them all, some more than others. Bassist Dylan Wachman did not partake in the afternoon beers, and hasn’t done so since a drinking bender shortly after his 21st birthday sent him into a nervous breakdown. He was thereafter diagnosed with general anxiety disorder, and

living on Chamberlain’s couch at the time, and had met Wachman through attending all the same shows in the Charlotte music scene. Those friendships were all the auditions he needed. “It took me a while to decide who I wanted to ask to be in the band, because my whole thing is, I didn’t necessarily need the greatest musicians in the world, since I’m not the best musician,” Button said. “I just wanted people that I liked to be in the band. If it’s not fun then there’s no point to doing it. It’s way too much work to try to make it with people you don’t like.” And unlike many local bands that will repeatedly tell you — truthfully or not — that they’re not interested in blowing up, Dollar Signs has no such reservations about what their goals are.

Wachman, who felt justified in the band’s then-recent decision to take this “accidental band” more seriously. “It reaffirmed all the work that we had put into our music.” The guys returned to Charlotte with newfound inspiration, and soon thereafter moved into a house together in north Charlotte and began work on Life is Ruff. “The pressure was mounting to make it serious and we were like, ‘This is the best way to make it serious. To just always be in a place where we can play music together,’” said Wachman of the new pad. Although they say it’s nothing new that they’re “meticulous, cautious and careful” songwriters, and that they’ve always taken longer to get songs ready to record than most bands (blaming anxiety, of course)

The band is constantly churning out new merchandise — that Chicago show was a hot sauce release party for the band’s own brand of, well, you get it — and looking for new ways to get their name out. The group takes advantage of its skillset — Button has won two Emmy awards with his production company, Priceless Misc.; Wachman’s degree in graphic design and interest in marketing; and Chamberlain’s acting background — to shoot high-quality promo videos for upcoming shows. Wachman uses what he learned in graphic design and marketing classes to inform how the band will roll out each new project — this time on the back of his dog, Barney, who graces the cover of Life is Ruff.

r u o f o ll a d n a , g in n ig a mp a c t u o b a d e n r a le I e g e ll “In co ll a is n ig a p m a c is h t o S . s ign a p m a c l a u id iv d in e r a s e releas o t g in o g is e n o t x e n e th t a h w w o n k ’t n o d I d n a , about dogs d.” n a b g o d a e r a e w g in e b e be about. But for the tim LL -DYLAN WACHMAN, DO

put down the drinks for good. “That’s my anxiety origin story. I’ve been carrying it with me ever since and trying to use it for good and not evil,” he said. For frontman Erik Button, things were a little more … familiar, one could say. “I just got bit by a radioactive anxious person,” he joked of his social anxiety. A feeling of not quite fitting in is something that has bonded the members of Dollar Signs together since Wachman and drummer Arion Chamberlain joined Button and Gunn’s two-piece experimental project of the same name in 2013. Button felt maxed out on what he could do with two people creatively, and began looking to put together a “real band.” He was

Hell, it’s all right there in the name. “Because we played, at the time, folkpunk and now punk I just thought it would be funny to have a band name that was basically us being forward about trying to sell out,” Button admitted. It wasn’t until last summer that the dream started becoming a reality of sorts. The band was on their first true nation-wide tour, playing their previous album Yikes, when they showed up to play a show at Subterranean in Chicago. It quickly became apparent that people were there to see them on purpose, and even singing their songs. “That was like the moment that we knew that, not only is this self-fulfilling, but maybe it’s important to other people,” said

AR SIGNS

for Life is Ruff, they doubled

down. The band took twice as long as earlier efforts in an attempt to record “the best five songs we could come up with.” That effort will culminate with the Life is Ruff record release party The Milestone on Saturday, April 1. “We have a lot of songs, but if you have never heard us before, we just wanted to put out an EP that’s like, if you hear any of these songs it explains the kind of band that we are,” Button said.

ACCORDING TO A long-running joke

among the guys, the kind of band they are is one simply created to sell t-shirts. It’s a joke based on the group’s knack for marketing themselves.

“In college I learned about campaigning, and all of our releases are individual campaigns,” Wachman says. “So this campaign is all about dogs, and I don’t know what the next one is going to be about. But for the time being we are a dog band.” A lot of thought is put into what may seem like a simple idea. Wachman had the cover art worked out six months before the album was ready and had to pitch it to Button, who had shot down his dog idea already in the past. This time, however, it felt right. “It does kind of work for the album, because I think the album is mostly about being in your late 20s, where you don’t want SEE

BLOW P. 30 u

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MUSIC

FEATURE

BLOW FROM P. 29 t

From left: Dylan Wachman, Arion Chamberlain and Erik Button.

MUSIC

COURTESY OF DOLLAR SIGNS

MUSICMAKER

BEDROOM BRILLIANCE Darian La Sparrow takes an unconventional route to the soul BY MARK KEMP

IN THE VIDEO for her song “Aphrodite’s

Love Child,” Darian La Sparrow wears a sleek black dress against a sky-blue backdrop. She’s clutching dried brown roses and singing, Minnie Ripperton-style, over a simple beat, synthesized strings, vibes and ghost-like background vocals. It could be classic 1972 soul. Or 1982 R&B. But it’s neither of those. This is DIY soul, straight from the bedroom, ca. 2017. The sound is not perfect, but it’s perfectly authentic. And the ambiguity of time and technique are pretty much the point. “I listen to a lot of older music,” La Sparrow tells me over a hot chai latte at Smelly Cat Coffee House in NoDa. “You can hear the imperfections in that music. And I think that’s what makes it more timeless.” I first caught La Sparrow when she performed at Charlotte singer-songwriter Le Anna Eden’s debut Session: A Listening Party, at Petra’s in Plaza Midwood. La Sparrow’s rendition of the jazz standard “My Funny Valentine” floored the audience, which jumped to its feet in extended applause after 30 | MAR. 23 - MAR. 29, 2017 | CLCLT.COM

PHOTO OF DARIAN LA SPARROW BY MARK KEMP

the final notes dripped from her lips. It was positively mind-blowing. But where did Darian La Sparrow come from? Where were her albums? Where did she perform? As it turns out, La Sparrow, whose real name is Darian Parham, writes and records at home and releases her songs as YouTube videos. This summer, she plans to finally put out an album. Until then, we thought we’d chat with this unconventional singer about her creative process. Creative Loafing: When I saw you do “My Funny Valentine,” your interpretation knocked me out. In the jazz era, singers like Ella Fitzgerald didn’t write their own material — they were interpreters. Were you inspired by those singers? Darian La Sparrow: It’s funny, because my favorite rendition of “My Funny Valentine” is actually Chaka Khan’s version. (Laughs) I

to go out anymore, and because we all live together, Barney is a central part of me sitting in my house,” Button said. Other topics tackled with slapstick and sarcasm on Life is Ruff range from fast food and shitty living situations to more serious topics like alcoholism, loneliness and — you guessed it — anxiety. For Dollar Signs, writing and performing such songs are the best ways to confront any issues they deal with head on. “The mental health conversation is pushed away. Nobody ever wants to talk about it. Regardless of the awareness that’s gone on — especially in social media with people airing their anxious or depressed grievances — I still feel like in person, anxiety and depression are really taboo in a way,” said Wachman. “People don’t want to confront it in public. Everybody is just trying to have a good time. So I guess being on stage for all of us together, it’s kind of a way to share those feelings with a crowd of people who also have mean, I love Ella Fitzgerald’s version and all the older versions, but when I heard Chaka Khan’s rendition I was like, “I love this!” At the time, I was just starting to get more experimental. I was doing gigs with [a band] and we would go back and forth to Chicago. So I was hearing a lot of different music. I remember I had this one gig and it went pretty well and I was talking to the musicians afterwards and they started quizzing me on jazz. They started preaching to me: “If you want to become the singer you want to become, you need to study jazz.” So I went home and started digging for stuff and I’ve been practicing jazz technique for about a year now. It’s still kind of fresh, but I love it. I feel most comfortable when I’m singing jazz. I feel like there’s no boundaries with it, because so much of it is improvisation. And you’re truly using your voice as an instrument. You also write your own music, and you make these great videos, but you haven’t made an album. Isn’t that the opposite from the way most musicians operate? I know, right? (Laughs.) I’m a very visual person, so as I’m in the midst of writing my music, I’m already thinking about what I want in a music video. Because that’s just how I think — I visualize the words, so thinking in terms of videos makes it easier for me. Have you always worked that way? Well, I used to book studio time, but it got too expensive and I got tired of having to wait until I had a complete idea. So I thought, “Let me just go ahead and invest my money in a mic and record myself.” I got myself a $50 mic off of Amazon, and now I record all of my music myself. And I have this friend Darien — with an “e” — who does video. So when I’m in the middle of working on something,

those feelings. It’s kind of the great unifier.” Despite all the emotional underlying issues, Dollar Signs is still an upbeat band, and Life is Ruff is full of hyper headbangers. The guys are happy as hell to be on stage in front of any crowd, and they want you to know it. For Button, it comes back to that admission that the Dollar Signs are there to make it playing music, and he doesn’t want to waste time around bands who want to pretend otherwise. “It’s honestly the thing that I hate about most bands,” he said. “Why do we all have to pretend that we don’t care about the things that we do? I think probably the thing that I hate more than anything in the fucking world is when we go and play with a band who just stands there and they look bored on stage. If you don’t care about this, why would I care about this?” For Chamberlain, just like with acting, his role in the performance is an escape. Knowing many of the band’s fans deal with the same social issues he and his band mates do makes it all the more important to show up with that high energy. “If all of us — with all the anxiety we have combined — if we can manage to somehow try to care, there’s no excuse,” he said. No excuses; it sounds like a potential campaign. I’ll just send what I have over to him and he’s like, “OK, when you finish this song, I already have some ideas. Wanna shoot next week?” And that’s just how it works. Can we expect an actual album from you? Yes! (Laughs.) It’s almost finished and I’m really excited about it. I only have like two songs left and I’m determined to get them done. The plan was to put it out in the middle of this month, but I’m a little late for that at this point, so it’ll be out by summer now. When did you start singing? I’ve been singing since I was about three. I would spend summers with my mee-maw, who lived in Morganton and was heavily involved in her church. And every morning I would hear her in the kitchen, making breakfast and singing really loud. She would always tell me, ‘If you don’t use your gift, God will take it away from you.’ (Laughs.) So after that, if anybody ever asked me to sing, I would have something ready, because I had to sing or God would take it away from me. What did your grandmother sing when she made breakfast for you? She loved country music, so we would sing Dolly Parton songs. And she would just make up stuff and sing it. And then there were certain songs that I thought were made up but weren’t — like that old country song “Take an Old Cold Tater and Wait” [made famous by Grand Ole Opry star Little Jimmy Dickens]. I would make fun of her and say, “Mee-ma, I know you made that up,” and she’d say, “No, that’s a real song!” She always said, “If you feel it, that’s what you do. You’re a singer. Sing.” To hear Darian La Sparrow’s music, search for her on YouTube or soundcloud.com/darianlasparrow.

CLCLT.COM | MAR. 23 - MAR. 29, 2017 | 31

TONIGHT

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MUSIC

SOUNDBOARD

SOUTHERN GIRLS NIGHT OUT FEATURING

BRETT YOUNG AND

RUNAWAY JANE TICKETS ON SALE NOW $12 APRIL 1

1-2-3 NIGHT FEATURING

DARRELL HARWOOD ALL TICKETS $10

MARCH 23 COUNTRY/FOLK Whiskey Myers (The Underground)

CLASSICAL/JAZZ/SMOOTH Miles & Coltrane: Blue (.) (Duke Energy Theater) John Alexander Jazz Trio (Blue Restaurant & Bar)

POP/ROCK Blue October, Matthew Mayfield (The Underground) Brut Beat, Ephemeral, Sam The Lion (Petra’s) Dirty Regae Punx, Popshot, The Bleeps (Milestone) The High Divers, Amigo (The Evening Muse) Jim Garrett Trio (Comet Grill) Jordan Middleton (Tin Roof) Karaoke with DJ ShayNanigans (Hattie’s Tap & Tavern) Keith Harkin (RiRa Irish Pub) Lisa DeNovo (RiRa Irish Pub) Shiprocked (Snug Harbor) Songwriter Open Mic (Petra’s)

APRIL 28

JONALLLANGSTON TICKETS $12 MAY 20

DYLAN SCOTT LIMITED ADVANCE $12 ALL OTHERS $10

WILD 1-2-3MARCHNIGHTS 24

MARCH 24 CLASSICAL/JAZZ/SMOOTH Charlotte Symphony: Dvorak (Belk Theater) Dianne Reeves (Knight Theater) Jackie O’ and the Groove Masters (Morehead Tavern) Jazzy Fridays (Freshwaters Restaurant) Miles & Coltrane: Blue (.) (Duke Energy Theater)

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

COUNTRY/FOLK The Dead-Inns (Puckett’s Farm Equipment) The Lenny Federal Band (Comet Grill)

Hippo Campus w/ The Magic City Hippies (Visulite Theatre) Hungry Girl w/ Cuzco, Starbenders (Snug Harbor) Marty Manous, Gabrielle Sophia (The Evening Muse) Matthew Silver, Sticky Bandits, Asbestos Boys (Petra’s) Mic Larry (Tin Roof) Radio Lola, Jason Scavone, Brit Drozda (Petra’s) Reason Define w/ Blackwater Drowning, Auxilia & Ghosts Again (The Underground) Southern Floyd (Thomas Street Tavern) Staton-Bush Project (Hattie’s Tap & Tavern) Travers Brothership (Neighborhood Theatre) Violin Femmes starring Bella Electric Strings (Don Gibson Theatre, Shelby)

MARCH 25 CLASSICAL/JAZZ/SMOOTH Charlotte Symphony: Dvorak (Belk Theater) Miles & Coltrane: Blue (.) (Duke Energy Theater)

COUNTRY/FOLK Creative Vibe Roadshow (Puckett’s Farm Equipment)

DJ/ELECTRONIC Digital Noir featuring Michael Price and DJ Spider (Milestone) Plan B (Label) Su Casa (Petra’s)

HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B Back 2 The 80s (Ovens Auditorium) Lyricist’s Lounge (Upscale Lounge & Restaurant)

BLUES/ROOTS/INTERNATIONAL Pierre Bensusan (The Evening Muse)

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32 | MAR. 23 - MAR. 29, 2017 | CLCLT.COM

DJ/ELECTRONIC

POP/ROCK

Carnage (Label)

ABACAB (Sylvia Theatre, York) The Bald Brotherhood (Tin Roof) Brandon Jeffries, Dan Ellison, Subliminal Confession (The Evening Muse) Carolina Music Video Awards (The Underground) Carolinacation (RiRa Irish Pub) Figure, JayKode, Ilanthrophy (Milestone) Ian Thomas & Band of Drifters (Thomas Street Tavern) Jay Taylor (Tin Roof) Johnnyswim, Bruce Sudano (Neighborhood Theatre) Leisure McCorkle (Comet Grill)

HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B Lil Yachty with Special Guest Quinn XCII (Davidson College’s Belk Arena, Davidson) The Lox, Uncle Murda (The Fillmore Charlotte, Charlotte)

POP/ROCK Black Masala, Evan Taylor Jones (The Evening Muse) Ceschi Ramos, Coolzey, D and D Sluggers, Luciopro (Milestone) Craig Veltri (Tin Roof)

Michael’s Voice Fundraiser (Hattie’s Tap & Tavern) Planet Creep w/ The Off White, Psychiatric Metaphors, Warboys, DJ Lord Soul (Snug Harbor) Violent Life Violent Death, Abacus, Violent Gods (The Station) Sonic Rewind (SC Shore Club @ Tega Cay Golf Club, Tega Cay) VooDoo Drifters (Hattie’s Tap & Tavern)

COUNTRY/FOLK

MARCH 26

Karaoke with DJ Pucci Mane (Petra’s)

CLASSICAL/JAZZ/SMOOTH

Harbor)

Miles & Coltrane: Blue (.) (Duke Energy Theater)

HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B Rick Ross (Label)

POP/ROCK El Malpais w/ Ghost Trees, Hand Grenade Job (Snug Harbor) Matisyahu (The Fillmore Charlotte) Omari and The Hellrasiers (Comet Grill)

MARCH 27 HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B Knocturnal (Snug Harbor) #MFGD Open Mic (Apostrophe Lounge)

Open Mic (Comet Grill)

POP/ROCK Christy Snow (Hattie’s Tap & Tavern) The DuPont Brothers, Hope Country (The Evening Muse) Four Year Strong, Can’t Swim, Light Years, Sleep On It (Neighborhood Theatre) Jettison 5 (RiRa Irish Pub) Modern Heritage Weekly Mix Tape (Snug Open mic w/ Jared Allen (Jack Beagles) Sext Message w/ South Side Punx, Minimums, Motel Glory (Snug Harbor) Tioga, Tiny City, Glimpses (Milestone) Trivia & Karaoke Wednesdays (Tin Roof)

COMING SOON  The Flaming Lips (March 30, The Fillmore) Birds of Chicago (April 5, Evening Muse) Kehlani (April 6, The Underground) Shadowgraphs (April 7, Snug Harbor) Dark Star Orchestra (April 15, The Fillmore) Red Hot Chilli Peppers (April 17, Spectrum Center)

POP/ROCK

Periphery (April 20, The Underground)

Locals Live: The Best in Local Live Music & Local Craft Beers (Tin Roof) Session: A Listening Party (Petra’s) Sondorblue (Hattie’s Tap & Tavern)

The Weeks (April 20, Visulite) Steve Martin, Martin Short, Steep Canyon Rangers (April 22, Ovens Auditorium)

MARCH 28 CLASSICAL/JAZZ/SMOOTH Miles & Coltrane: Blue (.) (Duke Energy Theater) Bill Hanna Jazz Jam (Morehead Tavern)

COUNTRY/FOLK Red Rockin’ Chair (Comet Grill) Open Mic (Puckett’s Farm Equipment) Tuesday Night Jam w/ The Smokin’ Js (Smokey Joe’s Cafe)

POP/ROCK Jason Atkins Duo (Tin Roof) Open Mic with Jeff Claud (Puckett’s Farm Equipment) Red Rockin’ Chair (Comet Grill)

MARCH 29 CLASSICAL/JAZZ/SMOOTH Miles & Coltrane: Blue (.) (Duke Energy Theater)

3/24 HIPPO CAMPUS 3/31 THE MANTRAS 4/5 JD MCPHERSON 4/20 THE WEEKS 4/14 PIGEONS PLAYING PING PONG 5/9 SAN FERMIN 5/21DEAD MAN WINTER 6/11 JOSEPH 6/16 ALL THEM WITCHES 6/22 OLD 97's 7/20 JOHN MORELAND NEED DIRECTIONS? Check out our website at clclt.

com. CL online provides addresses, maps and directions from your location. Send us your concert listings: E-mail us at aovercash@clclt. com or fax it to 704-522-8088. We need the date, venue, band name and contact name and number. The deadline is each Wednesday, one week before publication. CLCLT.COM | MAR. 23 - MAR. 29, 2017 | 33

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704-737-2145 34 | MAR. 23 - MAR. 29, 2017 | CLCLT.COM

NIGHTLIFE

AIN’T NEVA SPRUNG Kicking off spring with a bang don’t have to worry about tip-toeing around SUNDAY MORNING I was packing a bag in heels in the freezing cold and can finally to stay at the boyfriend’s for the week. You shed the layers to let loose. Not to mention gotta love the commuter/honeymoon phase. If only he understood what it meant to bring that my birthday’s in April, which solidifies a “U-Haul to the second date.” Nevertheless, spring as the best time of the year. packing for multiple days almost always All this to say, spring has officially sprung means I have to check the weather, especially in the Q.C. and I’m all for it. My CL cohorts with the way things have been in the QC may have released their official Spring Guide lately — we did just have snow you know? last week, but I decided I’d have a go. I pull out my phone, reluctant to see how Besides craft beer, sour ales and hip-hop, cold it was going to be all week and to my here’s my personal top three list of what’s on surprise, my weather app indicated warm tap for spring in Charlotte: weather and sunshine. Thank goodness. 3rd Annual Moo and Brew: If you’ve Just a couple weeks ago the boyfriend kept up with me since the early days, you’ll and I were heading to the mountains to remember I wrote an article on how to prepare go skiing. I wasn’t going to let a silly for festival season by attending my stereotype regarding black people first one in Charlotte with my and extreme sports slow me editor at the time. If you love down. burgers and beer, this event We’d had an extremely is for you. Accompanied stressful week and we by live music and local were excited about just having a little bit of goods, there’s something fun. Looking back, I for everyone to enjoy. Get thought about a status your tickets before it’s I came across after that too late, Moo and Brew adventure that said, “You is scheduled for Saturday, want to make God laugh? April 22nd rain or shine. AERIN SPRUILL Show Him your plans.” Well Hippie Fest: Throw it back He/She was definitely laughing to one of my fave decades — I’ll as our plans kept falling apart. leave the why up to your imagination We made it, but by the time we arrived *wink wink* — for Hippie Fest 2017. Groovy after what felt like “A Series of Unfortunate vibes, food trucks, local vendors, tie dye and Events,” I was ready to “trump” any card with maybe even some illegal activities, Hippie my “black card” and avoid all cold, snow and Fest is sure to be a hilarious event. Perfect physical activity like the plague. for the new age free spirit, stretch your Needless to say, after we returned to the festival legs on April 22nd. Keep in mind, Queen City, my patience was wearing thin as this is the same day as Moo and Brew. You I anticipated warmer weather. can totally do both! “I’m sorry for what I said when it The Queen’s Cup Steeplechase: Hat was winter.” I actually laughed out loud when I saw that meme scroll across my contest! Dress in your Sunday’s best and timeline on Facebook Monday morning. tailgate with your friends for the Queen’s Then, a sponsored banner ad complete with Cup. You’ve seen horse races on TV and fluttering birds or butterflies popped up watched gamblers lose a bunch of money, letting me know it was the first day of but have you experienced the excitement spring — along with every other human for yourself? Bet on a race or just party at on my timeline posting pics of tulips and the tailgate like most will end up doing. You flowers we’d all thought would die during the won’t want to miss schmoozing at one of the “snow.” That’s when I realized that Seasonal most anticipated social events of the season. Affective Disorder, aka Winter Depression, Grab your tickets before the event on April was a reality that we were all actively trying 29th! to escape. These events are just a snapshot of If you’ve lived in Charlotte long enough what’s to come in the Q.C. this spring. Keep to experience the full range of seasons, you up with my whereabouts by following me on are very well aware of how much the city and social media or by checking out my column. nightlife scene changes with the seasons. What are your plans for #QCspring2017? Patios, beers, festivals, break-ups, pools, Share it with me and we can party together sunshine, guns and buns. Everyone has smiles on lips and hands on hips. The ladies at backtalk@clclt.com!

ENDS

CROSSWORD

45-DEGREE DROP ACROSS

1 Arrange in steps 8 Nova -- (Halifax native) 15 Suspect’s excuse 20 Sailor lurer 21 Texas city near El Paso 22 Tyke’s hauler 23 Totally dumb 24 With 41- and 60-Across, question whose answer is hidden in this puzzle 26 Primatologist Fossey 27 Mister 29 Ending for Nepal 30 Dangerous African fly 31 Baseball exec Bud 33 Kind of navel 35 Gallivant 38 Drinking site 39 -- Paulo 41 See 24-Across 45 Tanning lotion spec 48 Kind of navel 50 Drooling hounds 51 -- Stanley Gardner 53 Grassland 54 Former Saturn SUV 56 Rolaids, e.g. 60 See 24-Across 65 Gossipy Barrett 66 Low opera voices 67 Debt slip 68 Trompe -- (visual illusion) 71 The Andes, e.g.: Abbr. 72 Flamboyant flamenco entertainer 73 Armada ship 75 Heat’s city 77 Resistance unit 78 Not active 80 Oerter and Unser 81 Lung-related prefix 83 First step of progress 85 With 101- and 123-Across, how to find the hidden answer 89 Singer Flack 92 Camping gear retailer 93 OR figures 94 Statistician Silver 95 “The Barber of Seville” composer 98 Desert plants 100 The, to Henri 101 See 85-Across 106 Turn -- dime

108 Romania’s basic currency unit 109 Makes mad 110 Spanish hero of yore 112 Fur king John Jacob -116 Job follows it 119 With 127-Down, China’s -- -tung 120 -- -tac-toe 122 “You bet, amigo!” 123 See 85-Across 128 Detectives 130 Hollywood’s Eastwood 131 -- Obispo, California 132 National dish of Korea 133 Boundary bushes 134 University life 135 Response to news you already knew about

DOWN

1 Iris relatives, for short 2 TV’s O’Donnell 3 Popular font 4 Comics “menace” 5 Ring legend 6 Wallet bills 7 Kiddie-song letters 8 180 degrees from NNE 9 Joint beneficiary 10 Singer Ric of the Cars 11 Carry along 12 Roth -13 Upper limb 14 -- -TURN 15 Dazzles 16 Pathetic 17 “It’s enough to live on” 18 Potted tree 19 Buries 25 Actor Seagal 28 Indonesia’s basic currency unit 32 Moo goo -- pan 34 -- kwon do 35 Sharp rival 36 “Fifth qtrs.” 37 Look on one’s face 40 Sole male offspring 42 Cain and -43 Sitcom cousin 44 Old emperor 45 Vojvodina native 46 Direct a sermon at 47 Seemingly spontaneous public assembly 49 Snare

52 “Frozen” heroine 54 Cello’s ancestor 55 Howl in grief 57 Public 58 Private 59 The, to Hans 61 Actress Petty 62 Cow catcher 63 “You win” 64 Sine qua -69 Paint applied thickly 70 Ding-a- -73 U. senior’s test 74 K-12 76 Time on end 77 Paddle’s kin 79 Slate clearer 82 Bullring cries 84 Road’s shoulder 86 Wet blanket 87 “Curses!” 88 Kin of Ltd. 90 Get rancid 91 Jeans go-with 96 Social finish? 97 Denials 98 Ozone-depleting compound, for short 99 -- bad way 101 1985 Chevy Chase film 102 Fix, as a shoe part 103 Beat at eBay 104 Federation 105 God, in the Hebrew Bible 107 In itself 111 Spine parts 113 Church gift 114 Actor Milo 115 Step part 117 -- Kong 118 Kin of -trix 119 Temperate 121 Ad award 124 She-bear, in Spanish 125 Apple buy 126 Viroid stuff 127 See 119-Across 129 British record co.

SOLUTION FOUND ON P. 38.

CLCLT.COM | MAR. 23 - MAR. 29, 2017 | 35

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Weekend in Toronto at the Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema. Audience members submitted questions on cards before the show — anonymously — but the moderator, Lisan Jutras of the Globe and Mail, and I were having so much fun talking with each other that we didn’t get to many cards. So I’m going to quickly answer as many of the questions from the audience at Curious Minds as I can this week.

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“slow down” and it’s not her? Happy birthday. And, yes, it’s normal for a man to slow down as he ages — it’s not her — and there are younger men who take a long time to come. But such men need to take their partners’ physical limitations into consideration. To avoid wearing out their partners’ jaws, fingers, etc., they need to take matters into their own hands. They should enjoy that blowjob, handjob, twatjob, or assjob, take breaks to stroke their own dicks, eventually bring themselves to the point of orgasmic inevitability, and end by plunging back into that mouth, fist, twat, or ass to blow their load.

A friend’s BF won’t go down on her no matter how much she asks. She still won’t break up with him, even though she told me that oral is the only way she has ever had an orgasm. How do Straight male here. My best male I get her to realize her sexual friend of 20 years transitioned pleasure is a priority? to female. I’ve been super If your friend’s BF doesn’t supportive since day one, know oral is the only way but her transitioning she can orgasm, she should is all she ever talks tell him. If she told him about, and it’s getting and he doesn’t care, she tiresome. I miss our should dump him. If she discussions of bicycle told him and he doesn’t repair and Swedish pop care and she won’t dump music. How can I tell her him, you’re not obligated to to give it a rest while DAN SAVAGE listen to her complain about remaining supportive? the orgasms she’s not having. If she began transitioning last week, then of course it’s all she My very Christian friend is about can talk about. If she transitioned to get married. Though she is socially five years ago and it’s still all she ever talks very liberal, she is pretty sexually about, then you’ll need to (gently) be the repressed. I want to do something to change you want to see in the conversation. encourage her to explore her sexuality Listen supportively when she discusses trans a bit before she takes a try at partnered issues and seize opportunities (when they sex. How weird would it be to buy her a arise) to change the subject (“So how do vibrator as a shower present? you think Sweden will do in Eurovision this Don’t give your friend a vibrator at her year?”). shower — gifts are opened in front of guests at showers — but go ahead and send her one. I have been reading your column since Tell her it’s a pre-bachelorette-party gift. the early 1990s. Since that time, what has struck you in the kind of problems I am 31. My husband (newly married) people write you about? is 46, almost 47. He takes FOREVER to People don’t ask me about butt plugs come, no matter what I do. How do we anymore. I used to get a letter once or twice speed up this process? My jaw, fingers, a week from someone who needed to have etc., are all very sore. butt plugs explained to them. But butt plugs Your husband speeds up the process by have their own Wiki page now, so no one incorporating self-stimulation breaks into needs me to explain them anymore. But for the blowjobs, handjobs, etcetera-jobs you’re old times’ sake: They look like lava lamps, giving him. He strokes himself while you they go in your butt, they feel awesome, and take a quick breather and/or an Advil, he they typically don’t induce gay panic in buttgets himself closer, you get back to work. play-curious straight boys. I’m 47 and my wife is 31. I take a lot longer to come and recover than she would like. Could you please explain to her that it’s normal for a man my age to

On the Lovecast, Dan chats with Brian Whitney, coauthor of a book about the “Cannibal Cop”: Follow @fakedansavage on Twitter; mail@ savagelove.net.

CLCLT.COM | MAR. 23 - MAR. 29, 2017 | 37

LILLY SPA

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SOLUTION TO THIS WEEK'S PUZZLE

FOR ALL SIGNS The planets Mars and Saturn are in a tense relationship this week, precisely so on Monday. Mars represents the energetic and assertive warrior side of each of us while Saturn symbolizes caution, conservatism and maintenance of the status quo. When these planets are in adverse aspect it becomes difficult for a short time to know whether to move forward or fall back. It resembles driving a car with one foot on the brake and the other on the accelerator. This aspect often coincides with minor accidents or failures involving vehicles, tools or mechanical objects. ARIES THE RAM (Mar 20—Apr 19th)

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This is an incredibly busy week with aspects to your sign coming from everywhere! Surprise shifts and changes will be coming out of the woodwork. Beware of an authority figure who may try to undermine you. Think carefully about what is truly important to you now in your life. Don’t allow old habits or rules from the past to make your decision for you.

TAURUS Mars, the Warrior planet, is in

your sign. You may find that you anger more easily. This started near March 9 and will be relieved after April 21. Take good care of yourself. No risky or potentially harmful activities. Your subconscious mind is trying to give you a message. Pay attention to “coincidences”, and remember your dreams. If you have experienced abuse in the past, memories may surface for resolution.

GEMINI Information has been flying your way thick and fast. A surprise concerning a friend or a family member might have you reeling. This is a good week to let yourself be quiet while you absorb the changes that have come your way. If you feel on edge, transfer that energy to physical exercise. CANCER This continues to be a period

in which you should give yourself every opportunity to be out and about in the social world. New people who come into your life during this time may become teachers or guides on your next path. Give thought to what you need from your closest relationships for a few weeks and then talk it over later after Venus goes direct.

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38 | MAR. 23 - MAR. 29, 2017 | CLCLT.COM

LEO Travel and connecting to others may feel healing to you now. Allow those you encounter the opportunity to teach you something. You may literally be experiencing education this month but it does not have to be formal. VIRGO You may be the recipient of a flood

of information. It is unsettling and hard to process. However, it is not a good idea to share any of it with others right now, because you don’t know what is fact or fiction. Recognize that you may manifest

your thoughts, both positive and negative, into reality. Avoid brooding.

LIBRA Partners and significant others may seem to move into retreat mode. If it is not “out there”, it may be inside. You may need to retreat into the quiet and have fewer people in your daily activities. Clientele may diminish for a while. It is not permanent, so don’t worry about yourself. Examine what you really need from those who are in your life daily and prepare to ask for it. SCORPIO This is going to be a challenging week. Read the lead paragraph and take very good care of yourself. Machines, tools, and kitchen knives can be weapons if not handled with care. It is possible that your partner or lover may be of assistance if you get into a tight place. Beware of obsessive thinking about something you cannot change. That just uses your energy. SAGITTARIUS Circumstances on the romantic front are favorable with one who shares intellectual interests. Activities involving teaching/learning are favored, along with good aspects for travel. Stretch your mind and open it for new perspectives.

CAPRICORN Stressors related to home, hearth and family members may be an irritation to you this week. If someone disagrees with you, don’t run them over with the tank. Open your mind and listen for the kernel of truth. Follow the advice in the lead paragraph and take care not to attempt more than your body can do.

AQUARIUS It will be a challenge to accomplish forward motion this week. Do what you can and let it go for another time. You may experience problems with broken equipment that distracts your time and energy. Some weeks are like that. Be patient with yourself.

PISCES Your mind needs a break from tedium. Give it a break with a delicious novel, art work, and music. Pisces worries about everybody and particularly this country, given present circumstances. You do not have to be “on duty” at all times. This is a good week for a break. Are you interested in a personal horoscope? Vivian Carol may be reached at 704-3663777 for private psychotherapy or astrology appointments. You may also visit her at www. horoscopesbyvivian.com.

CLCLT.COM | MAR. 23 - MAR. 29, 2017 | 39

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