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NEWS&CULTURE IS NOW THE TIME TO GO SOLAR? How Trump’s tariffs and Duke Energy’s rebates impact the market today BY RHIANNON FIONN 10 THE CHRONICLE BY RHIANNON FIONN 11 NEWS OF THE WEIRD
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FOOD&DRINK POPPY’S EXPANDS ITS BAGEL EMPIRE Authentic New York-
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NEWS
FEATURE
IS NOW THE TIME TO GO SOLAR? How Trump’s tariffs and Duke Energy’s rebates impact the market today BY RHIANNON FIONN
I
F A RECENT poll from Conservatives for Clean Energy* is an accurate indicator, you’re probably in favor of more renewable energy production in North Carolina. But is it time for your very own solar array? Under normal circumstances, knowing when to enter any market is an imperfect guesstimate. That uncertainty spikes when coping with an erratic president’s unpredictable whims and news that the nation’s largest energy producer — Charlotte’s Duke Energy — has thrown $62 million in rebates into the mix. As a reporter who’s covered the energy beat for more than a decade, I’ll tell you what I did: When Duke Energy announced its rebate offer in January, I jumped. Panels will be installed on my house next month, and while nothing is certain, our rebate could be as much as $5,400. Considering that solar prices dropped 52 percent in North Carolina between 2012 and 2017, according to the Solar Energy Industry Association (SEIA), and that the current federal tax credit is 30 percent (declining to 10 percent by 2022) – solar energy has finally become affordable for my middle-class family. And we’re not the only ones. Jeff Aliotta of RENU Energy Solutions, a Charlottebased solar company, says, “In a few years, the people of Charlotte are going to have built a new power plant in the city on their rooftops.” This dispersed energy, he says, matches consumption, so there is less energy wasted. For example, at my house, we’re buying just enough solar panels to cover our usual energy consumption. We’ll receive a new Duke Energy meter that runs both ways, so if our panels produce more electricity than we use the excess goes onto the companymanaged grid, and if we need a power boost we’ll accept energy from the grid. According to InsideEnergy.org, with the old model, where energy is produced at power plants and transported across wires sometimes over hundreds of miles, “about 65 percent, or 22 quadrillion Btus [the international measurement unit for energy] was wasted in the U.S. in 2013.” Duke Energy’s rebate, which maxes out at $6,000 for residential projects, is the first of three programs the company has proposed in response to the General Assembly’s 2017’s 8 | JUN. 21 - JUN. 27, 2018 | CLCLT.COM
As the No. 2 rank in solar installation, North Carolina could be especially impacted by the tariffs. Competitive Energy Solutions for North Carolina law. “The Competitive Energy Solutions law for North Carolina will reduce the cost our customers pay for solar, while also supporting their interest in solar energy in ways that are most meaningful for them,” said David Fountain, Duke Energy’s North Carolina president. “For many customers, installing solar is a significant investment. Duke Energy’s rebate program will help them by lowering their initial costs.” “It’s definitely created a lot of interest and we’ve seen a spike in our first quarter installations, as compared to other years, for those wanting to take advantage of the rebate,” says Jeff Redwine of Renewable Energy Design Group, a local solar company that works throughout the Carolinas. “[The rebate] really excited us because the rational customer can recognize that solar is valuable but sometimes need that nudge,” says Hannah Wiegard, a spokesperson for RENU Energy Solutions. She cautions, however, “… tax credits and rebates will eventually go away.” My family took out a no-payment-down $14,000 loan to finance 16 solar panels for our two-story, 2,400-square-foot northwest Charlotte home. That is a large number, but, if all goes well, our power bill goes away and the loan payments will be approximately $35 less than our current energy bill. Plus, we will own the panels outright by the time my husband retires. So, for us, this decision
is as much about financial planning as it is about getting closer to the ideal of energy independence. But, I still wonder if we made the right decision. In January, Donald Trump announced two tariffs – one on solar panels and another on steel and aluminum from a few of our closest allies: Canada, the European Union and Mexico. Then he acted like a petulant toddler at the G7 meeting held this month in Québec, Canada, one day saying that the group of seven allied countries should drop all tariffs and the next suggesting that all trade between the countries should be suspended. Initially, Trump proposed a whopping 30 percent tariff on imported solar panels with the four-year tariff decreasing by 5 percent per year. Reuters reported on June 7: “President Donald Trump’s tariff on imported solar panels has led U.S. renewable energy companies to cancel or freeze investments of more than $2.5 billion in large installation projects, along with thousands of jobs, the developers told Reuters.” This is particularly concerning for North Carolina, which has held the No. 2 rank in solar installation – behind California – for a couple of years now. As of 2017, of the estimated 250,000 solar energy employees in the U.S., 7,621 were in North Carolina according to SEIA, and they were employed at one of the state’s 228 solar companies, of which 41 are manufacturers and 106 are installers or developers. Today, according to the U.S. Energy
PHOTOS COURTESY OF RHIANNON
Information Administration, the solar industry employs roughly three times more people than the coal industry. About 40 percent of those employed in solar do some form of installation work and 20 percent are in manufacturing. “We’re finding the tariffs to be more of a bump in the road than a show stopper,” says Randy Wheeless, a spokesperson for Duke Energy. “Large scale companies might be more affected than rooftop solar companies,” he says, adding that his company’s solar projects in North Carolina and Florida are moving forward. Morgan Lyons, a spokesperson for SEIA, agreed, though he also says that Trump’s tariff “is going to do significant damage to our industry; we’re expecting some 10,000 to 20,000 jobs lost because of decreased demand with these artificially increased prices on modules.” As for Wiegard, she says she doesn’t want to downplay the effect the tariffs will have on her industry, but points out that the panels themselves are just a small part of the cost. Labor, permitting, construction and other overhead costs factor into the final price of a solar installation, she says. “The tariffs are definitely triggers for moving sooner than later,” says Redwine, whose company, like Wiegard’s, sources solar panels from more than one company, including several U.S. manufacturers. North Carolina solar companies have overcome government-made hurdles before,
Duke Energy’s $62 million rebate program makes installing solar panels more affordable right now, but Tump’s tariffs still threaten the solar industry.
“THE RATIONAL CUSTOMER CAN RECOGNIZE THAT SOLAR IS VALUABLE BUT SOMETIMES NEED THAT NUDGE.” HANNAH WIEGARD, RENU ENERGY SOLUTIONS
like when the General Assembly allowed North Carolina’s solar tax credit to expire at the end of 2015. “That was definitely an incentive that brought a lot of investors in and helped to get the large solar farms started,” Redwine says. Government actions like Trump’s tariffs “can have a dramatic impact on solar,” says Brian Bednar, president of Charlotte-based Birdsong Renewable Energy. His company develops utility-scale solar projects, “often three years in advance,” he says, so much of his work is “based on assumptions.” And when Trump decided to artificially inflate the cost of materials – like steel and aluminum – needed to manufacture solar panels, and then the cost of imported panels, “It made some projects we were working on unattractive,” Bednar says. “The number one reason for that is uncertainty.” This comes at a time when the state government has mandated that solar companies “get competitive,” Bednar says. He anticipates Trump’s tariffs could raise solar construction prices as much as 12-13 percent, though that will vary by project. “When you’re competing against fossil fuel generation for every tenth of a cent, a cost difference like that can have a huge impact,” he says. Since BRE opened for business in 2009, Bednar estimates the company has developed 430 megawatts in solar power generation. “That’s about half of what a typical coal plant generates,” he says.
Duke Energy’s rebate application won’t be available online until early July, and since solar installations from January 1, 2018 and on qualify, the company is set to receive a flood of requests – including mine. “We think this will cover 100 megawatts, total, of rooftop solar which will triple the amount of rooftop solar in North Carolina,” Wheeless says. When asked how long he expects Duke’s $62 million to last, Wheeless explained that it’s difficult to say since the application process hasn’t begun. He also reminded me that the rebate program is staggered over four years, and includes residential and business projects. Now the cautionary tale: When our salesman from Power Home Solar, based in Mooresville, sat on my porch and made his pitch he made it seem like the Duke Energy rebate is a given. His faux certainty was followed by an email from the company indicating that the rebate had been approved. Since the application process hasn’t begun, that is not possible. So be wary of overzealous sales folks, y’all. Also, about that federal tax credit, the terms of our loan – and I assume that of others – includes the understanding that when you receive the credit you’ll turn it directly over to your loan company. If you don’t, those low monthly bills you’re expecting will jump, too. *See Rhiannon’s column this week for more on the polling data
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NEWS
THE CHRONICLE
FINALLY, SOMETHING NORTH CAROLINIANS AGREE ON The conservatives have learned to conserve BY RHIANNON FIONN
“CLEAN ENERGY should be a mainstream
upgrades.” Like that 35 percent solar tax conservative issue,” said Mark Flemming, credit the majority Republican North Carolina CEO of Conservatives for Clean Energy. He General Assembly let lapse in 2015. Moreover, the data shows little support made that statement during the Raleighbased group’s fourth annual polling luncheon for the legislature’s 18-month moratorium on last week. The polling data results are clear: wind energy projects in 2017, which halted North Carolinians want their elected leaders two major projects that were ready to break pushing for renewable energy options and ground. The poll, conducted in March via they could give a damn about Duke Energy’s telephone included 600 likely voters split feelings. Or, as John Dowdy, a reporter for The along party lines as such: 32.8 percent Charlotte Business Journal, whispered to Republican, 42.8 percent Democrat and 21.8 Duke Energy’s Randy Wheeless, “You guys percent unaffiliated. About a quarter of the respondents were from Charlotte, and 38.8 took a beating in this survey.” According to the data, gathered and percent have lived their entire life in North analyzed by Strategic Partners Solutions, Carolina. That last part is important, Shoemakers “Overall support for renewable energy said. “If you’re born and raised in options has remained above 80 North Carolina you’re (likely to percent for the past four years be) the most conservative for candidates and lawmakers voter in the state.” who encourage such options The survey also as wind, solar and waste to included questions about energy.” Duke Energy’s coal-ash “Anything over 80 cleanup and the related percent, when you’re rate increase, one totaling doing polling is pretty $202 million dollars and much universal,” said approved of by the N.C. Paul Shoemaker, one of Utilities Commission to the political consultants RHIANNON cover the company’s initial presenting the data. FIONN clean up costs through last Only a handful of people year. Duke Energy estimates the attended the briefing, but one total clean up bill for it’s 30-plus coalperson who needed to be there actually was: a state legislator. N.C. Rep. ash sites at 14 of its North Carolina power Bill Brawley, a Republican representing Mint plants will cost $5 billion. “Only 8 percent of all voters believe the Hill and Matthews in District 3. In addition to saying that petroleum is “too precious to Utilities Commission did the right thing in burn” since we use it to create so many other allowing Duke Energy to pass along cleanup products, like plastics, he pointed out that costs for coal ash retention ponds,” read a when it comes to solar and wind energy, “no Power Point slide from the Conservatives for Clean Energy presentation. one can embargo those.” What’s more, almost 80 percent of those He’s talking about energy independence, folks, hitting on one of the reasons why polled indicated they want Duke Energy conservatives are changing their minds about to face competition in the state’s energy renewable energy. Other reasons, according marketplace, and, again, almost 80 percent to Flemming, include choice in competition, would be more inclined to support legislators private property rights and economics (i.e. that support those new-to-us companies over money, as in there is some to be made). “Our Duke Energy’s wishes to prevent competition. The long and short of it is that, in North message is a little different from our friends on the left,” he said, adding that it’s not about Carolina, Republicans have been getting it wrong on energy policy and voters have climate change. Not only do North Carolinians agree noticed. Now, perhaps thanks to this polling that they want cleaner energy, they want data, lawmakers will also take notice, because more options, too – which is bad news for what I see in these numbers is an opportunity Duke Energy, the state’s regulated monopoly. for people of all political stripes to come And that’s not all! Overwhelmingly – 87.3 together on an issue or two, and that’s big percent, according to the data — voters want progress in today’s political climate. Review the polling data yourself at lawmakers to provide “ways for homes or business owners to finance energy efficiency CleanEnergyConservatives.com. BACKTALK@CLCLT.COM
10 | JUN. 21 - JUN. 27, 2018 | CLCLT.COM
NEWS
NEWS OF THE WEIRD
THE PASSING PARADE Ninety-six-yearold Barney Smith of Alamo Heights, Texas, is known around those parts as the King of the Commode for his life’s work: more than 1,300 decorated toilet seats, all displayed in the retired master plumber’s Toilet Seat Art Museum. But now, he concedes, it’s time to put a lid on it: “I’m beginning to feel like I’d rather be in an air-conditioned home in a chair, looking at a good program,” Smith, who is bent with arthritis and uses a cane, told the Associated Press on May 22. Inside the metalgarage museum the collection includes toilet lids decorated with a chunk of the Berlin Wall, a piece of insulation from the Space Shuttle Challenger, Pez dispensers and flint arrowheads, along with the toilet lid from the airplane that carried Aristotle Onassis’ body back to Greece after his death. Smith told his wife, Louise, that he would stop at 500 pieces, but that was 850 lids ago. “If I would have just read my Bible as many hours as I spent on my toilet seats, I’d be a better man,” Smith said. Louise died in 2014, and Smith took a fall recently and broke some ribs. Now he’s looking for someone who will keep the museum intact: “This is my life’s history here.” PRECOCIOUS On May 20, as a handful of adults enjoyed the swings at Angel Park in southwest Atlanta, two children walked up and asked to use the swing set. The adults agreed and started to walk away, reported The Telegraph in Macon, Georgia, when the boys, about 6 and 12 years old, pulled out rocks the size of baseballs and what appeared to be a black handgun. They threw the rocks, hitting one man on the calf and causing an abrasion, according to Atlanta police. The older boy held the gun and pointed it at the adults, who ran away as the boys ran in the opposite direction. Earlier in May, two children were reported for an alleged armed carjacking in the same neighborhood. COMPELLING EXPLANATION Claiming
the shooting was an accident, Angelo Russo, 55, told police in Tatura, Victoria, Australia, he tripped over an eggplant during a dispute with a man who had run over his dog, which caused the gun Russo was carrying to go off, striking David Calandro in the head and killing him. Calandro and a friend had gone to Russo’s farm on Feb. 18, 2017, to buy some chilies, 9News reported, but as he drove away, Russo’s dog, Harry, began barking and chasing the vehicle. Calandro swerved toward the dog to “spook him,” the friend told a Victorian Supreme Court jury on May 23, but swerved too far, running over the dog instead. Russo pleaded guilty to manslaughter on May 25.
OOPS! Pesky weeds around his garage caused a Springfield Township, Ohio, resident to resort to extreme measures. The unnamed homeowner tried to eliminate them with a torch, and instead set the garage on fire.
Firefighters were called to the scene at 4 a.m. on May 24, where they found the detached garage “fully involved,” according to the Springfield News-Sun. The structure was a total loss, including tools and appliances inside, valued at $10,000 to $15,000.
HOUSE THIEVES Three men were arrested
on May 20 after stealing a 25-foot-long shed from a foreclosed property in Lebanon, Maine, and dragging it down the street behind their pickup truck, according to the Portland Press Herald. Matthew Thompson of Lebanon; Timothy James of Pembroke, New Hampshire; and Robert Breton of Milton, New Hampshire, were spotted in the act by a concerned citizen, who alerted Maine State Police. In addition, Thompson was found to have crystal meth and prescription pills that were not prescribed to him. All three were taken to the York County Jail and held on $5,000 bail.
FIRST RESPONDER Patrick Gillis, 18, a senior at Highlands High School and a volunteer firefighter for the Pioneer Hose Fire Department in Brackenridge, Pennsylvania, told police he “just wanted to respond to a fire” on May 21, when he was arrested for starting a blaze in a vacant duplex where he used to live. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that witnesses told investigators Gillis was seen at the home before the fire started, then returned as a firefighter to help put it out. He admitted to setting a piece of paper on fire and putting it in the microwave, then leaving. The Allegheny County Fire Marshal’s Office estimated damage at $150,000, and Gillis was charged with arson. BRIGHT IDEA Toronto police constables Vittorio Dominelli, 36, and Jamie Young, 35, had to call for backup in January during a raid on a marijuana dispensary after allegedly sampling some of the evidence. CTV News reported the officers called for help after they began hallucinating, one eventually climbing a tree. In a May 23 press release, Toronto police announced the two officers had been suspended and now face criminal charges for the incident. BRIDGE FOR SALE A senior prank
went unexpectedly wrong for high school student Kylan Scheele, 18, of Independence, Missouri, when he was slapped with a threeday suspension on May 23 and barred from participating in graduation after putting his high school up for sale on Craigslist. Scheele said it was meant to be a joke. “Other people were going to release live mice ... I thought, let’s do something more laid back,” he told Fox 4. The ad for Truman High School listed attractive amenities such as newly built athletic fields, lots of parking and a “bigger than normal dining room.” A lawsuit filed against the school district by the ACLU of Missouri failed to reduce the punishment. CLCLT.COM | JUN. 21 - JUN. 27, 2018 | 11
FOOD
FEATURE
POPPY’S EXPANDS ITS BAGEL EMPIRE
PHOTOS BY SOPHIE WHISNANT
Poppy’s bagels are made the New York way: boiled in a kettle and baked in the oven.
Authentic New Yorkstyle goodness comes to Southend
POPPY’S BAGELS
BY SOPHIE WHISNANT
N
Mon.-Fri., 6 a.m.-3 p.m.; Sat.-Sun., 7 a.m.-3 p.m. 2921 Providence Rd.; poppysbagelsandmore.com
NORTHERNERS NEW TO
the Southend area can breathe a sigh of relief — their beloved New York-style bagels can be found at Poppy’s Bagels and More. The Cotswold and Myers Park bagel hotspot is opening a new location on South Boulevard this fall. After six and a half years at the current location off of Providence Drive, owner Ronnie Rippner is ready to introduce the Poppy’s that Charlotte has come to know and love to a new ’hood. Rippner says that he’s had dreams of expanding Poppy’s since the deli first opened its doors, but has been waiting for the right place and time. “We finally were able to, you know, find a spot that we really liked,” Rippner says. “There’s no guarantee, you know, of the success of a second location, but hopefully people know us and like us well enough, they’ll come out and see us at our new spot.” The popularity of Poppy’s original location is evident from the crowds the bagels, sandwiches and salads draw. Rippner says that there can easily be more than 50 people waiting in line, with a long string of people wrapping around the entirety of the restaurant. Even with the crowd of people, Poppy’s staff makes sure that its customers don’t have to wait too long. “If they’re willing to brave the line, by the time they get their stuff they’re like, ‘Oh you know that really wasn’t so bad,” Rippner says. The line is worth the wait for Charlotte diners that crave a genuine, New York-style bagel. When Rippner’s banking job became a casualty of the banking crisis about 10 years ago, he decided to fill a void in the Q.C.’s food scene- a bagel shop. He went back to his home in New York and learned how to make bagels the right way. All the dough from Poppy’s is made fresh. The bagels are boiled in a large kettle, which impacts the consistency and crunchiness of the crust. From the kettle the bagels are thrown in the oven and baked. The process brings the classic bagel taste expected from the North down South, an area where a Northern native might not expect to find a delicious bagel. “There’s sort of a misconception I think 12 | JUN. 21 - JUN. 27, 2018 | CLCLT.COM
The restaurant features more than just fresh bagels. There’s an extensive selection of salads, cold cuts and sandwiches. that the bagels up North are better than “It just tastes better than all the other the bagels anywhere else,” Rippner says. ones around,” Lynch says about Poppy’s. “It’s There’s nothing magic about northern baking the closest thing to a bagel up North that you techniques, he continues, it’s just that people can get in the South.” up there have learned how to make good As Lynch’s friends from college start to bagels. move to Charlotte to begin their careers, she He also says that the idea that New York’s always recommends Poppy’s as the best bagel water is the ingredient that makes a bagel in town and a must-try in the area. delicious is a hoax. But, Poppy’s offers a lot more than bagels. “As long as you have city water, you’re While it’s true that one of the most popular fine,” Rippner says. items on the menu is a standard bacon, egg For Southern natives, a bagel from a and cheese- with fresh cracked eggs cooked corporate chain restaurant might have on the griddle accompanying the bagel- there seemed like a perfectly fine option. Rippner are also omelets, pancakes and homemade doesn’t rag on the food these places serve, French toast. For the healthier breakfast but says that in most cases those places eater, there’s egg white options as well as are feeding you frozen, as opposed to fresh, wraps and salads. At lunch, you can choose dough. from a variety of cold cuts and sandwiches. That taste can’t compare to what Poppy’s “It’s not just bagels, it’s a lot more than is serving. Rippner emphasizes that a good that,” Rippner says. bagel, the kind served at his deli, has a With a customer base comprised of a mix crunchy crust. The inside must be soft, but of regulars and newcomers, Poppy’s literally not too soft, and the overall bagel should have pops at the seams, full of eager diners ready a heavier consistency. for their New York experience. The turnout “It’s the matter of the freshness...and also and success of the deli wasn’t a complete having the local small owner flavor to it,” shock to its owner. Rippner says of what sets his place apart from “People felt there was a need for a good the bagel chains. bagel shop in Charlotte,” Rippner says. “I And locals have noticed the difference. knew if we made a good bagel, people would Charlotte native Claire Lynch used to go to a come ultimately.” corporate bagel restaurant for all her cream Still, the reception of Poppy’s has been cheese needs. But ever since Poppy’s opened, surprising to its owner. she hasn’t gone back there. “I just never expected the success, you
know, that we’ve had,” Rippner says. “We’ve been really fortunate.” Part of that success has been an expansion into Harris Teeter. After a food agent from the grocery store visited the restaurant himself, he got Poppy’s bagels into 18 stores all around the Charlotte area, including Ballantyne and Fort Mill. Even in the land where biscuits have reigned supreme, Southerners have sought out what Poppy’s was offering. “We never had to do a tremendous amount of advertising, you know, people kind of found us,” Rippner says. The hope is that a new location in a completely different part of town can bring the same kind of traffic. The Poppy’s in Southend will be next to the Five Guys on South Boulevard, near Lowe’s and Publix, and the opening is set for September or October. It’s a completely different audience demographic than the staff is used to, but Rippner hopes that everyone from families in Dilworth to working millennials in Southend itself will come out. Aside from the challenge of finding a new, perfect location, expensing the endeavor has been difficult. “People don’t realize in order for us to make a bagel that goes for around a dollar, it takes quite a bit of work for us to do that,” Rippner says. But it’s a price he is more than willing to pay. The new location will have more indoor seating and will have a similar outside terrace as the original spot. The menu will be mostly the same, but Poppy’s fans can expect general menu updates and ever-changing specials. While a new location and customer base can be intimidating, Rippner has always had faith in the power of a good bagel from up North. “It’s comfort food, it’s easy, it’s something that everybody likes basically from kids to adults,” Rippner says. “So I knew if we could make a good one, especially in an area where they don’t really make that many bagels except for the larger chains that are around,
PHOTOS COURTESY OF CHEF CHRIS MCLEAN
FOOD
THREE-COURSE SPIEL
YACHT-ROCK LOBSTER Charlotte chef Chris McLean caters to celebs and loves a good cheeseburger BY DEBRA RENEE SETH
SO WHAT DOES a top-tier celebrity chef order when he finally gets a chance to relax and go out for a bite? “Believe it or not, I love a nice cheeseburger,” Chris McLean says. “Everyone laughs when I say this.” McLean is one of a few local chefs buzzing on social media, with his colorful platings of seafood and other culinary faves. But when it comes to his personal food choices for a night on the town, McLean prefers to keep things simple. The Virginia Beach native studied at the Culinary Institute of America and has now amassed more than 16,000 social media followers and cooked for some top stars, including rapper Future, singer Bobby Valentino and MTV’s Wild’n Out star Nick Cannon. Inspired by other young black chefs, such J.R. Robinson, owner of the Washington, D.C. restaurant Kitchen Cray, Mclean describes his cooking style as unique and creative. Charlotte locals seem to agree. We sat down with the up-and-coming Chef McLean to find out what’s cooking. Creative Loafing: Of all the things you could order when you go out to eat, your favorite go-to choice is a simple cheeseburger? What goes on your burger and why is this your top choice? Chris McLean: Cheeseburgers are something I rarely ever make, so just to be able to sit back and enjoy something so simple that I don’t cook very often is amazing. My perfect burger is seared to perfection and topped with barbeque sauce and scratch made cole slaw on a freshly baked bun. If it doesn’t have all of those elements then I won’t eat it.
Your customers go absolutely crazy for your salmon alfredo pasta. Could you walk us through the ingredients and tell us what you think makes the dish so special? My salmon alfredo starts with a homemade creamy alfredo sauce made with heavy cream, mozzerella cheese and smoked gouda. The salmon is started on the stove and finished in the oven. That process allows me to basically sear the samon for color on the stove and then finish it in the oven. I always season the salmon with fresh garlic and herbs and top it of with Old Bay. What everybody really wants to know is about your celebrity cooking experiences. Could you describe the most memorable one? Well, I actually cooked for MTV’s Wild’n Out cast’s yacht party, and it was far from a normal day on the job. First of all, it was on a Monday. I remember thinking to myself, ‘Who parties like this on a Monday?’ (laughs) The second thing I was wondering was, ‘Why aren’t these guys at work?’ But it was totally amazing. I set them up with a buffet with chicken and shrimp dishes, crab cakes and shrimp cocktails, lobster macaroni and cheese and a fruit table. Once I set the food up, we partied all day and it was the best event ever. I’ll definitely be remembering that experience for a long time to come. Follow Chef McLean on Instagram @ ChefChrisMcLean or visit ChefChrisMcLean. com.
CLCLT.COM | JUN. 21 - JUN. 27, 2018 | 13
THURSDAY
21
ANDY MCKEE What: Blending string percussion with harmonics, guitarist Andy McKee was a talented yet relatively unknown fingerstylist in 2006. Then McKee’s “Drifting” garnered over 50 million hits on YouTube, landing gigs opening for Prince. Like his fellow fretman on CandyRat Records’ roster Peter Ciluzzi — who played the Evening Muse last month — McKee is an accomplished stylist who channels his virtuosity into emotional storytelling.
When: 8 p.m. Where: Neighborhood Theatre, 511 E. 36th Street More: $22-30. neighborhoodtheatre. com
‘ 14 | JUN. 21 - JUN. 27, 2018 | CLCLT.COM
THINGS TO DO
TOP TEN
Bat Fangs TUESDAY PHOTO COURTESY OF DON GIOVANNI RECORDS
FRIDAY
FRIDAY
22
22
LIVERPOOL FC VS. BORUSSIA DORTMUND
CRYSTAL METHOD
What: Charlotte wants professional soccer so bad it can taste it, but first let’s make sure the new Panthers owners keep American football here. In the meantime, get your soccer fix when England’s Liverpool faces Germany’s Dortmund in the International Champions Cup at BoA Stadium. The last time Liverpool played Charlotte was in 2014, when they took on Italy’s A.C. Milan. Before that, Liverpool’s Beatles hit Shea Staditum in 1965. Wait — that wasn’t soccer, was it?
What: In the late 1990s you couldn’t avoid the Crystal Method’s Vegas album and it’s single “Keep Hope Alive.” The big beat genre was succeeding grunge as the next big thing, and the Crystal Method, the Chemical Brothers, Fatboy Slim and Prodigy were the four horsemen of the dance apocalypse. Of the four, the Chemicals boasted the strongest tunes, but the Crystals pointed to the future of EDM by incorporating hip-hop beats in their dancefloor rockers.
When: 4 p.m. Where: BoA Stadium. 800 S Mint St. More: $40 and up. tinyurl.com/ LiverpoolDortmund
When: 10 p.m. Where: Serj, 2900-2906 Central Ave. More: $22-25. serjcharlotte.com
the 5th annual
SAT JUNE 23rd
FRIDAY
22 BACK TO THE FUTURE: MOVIE IN CONCERT
FRIDAY
22 METHOD MAN AND REDMAN
What: Great Scott! If our calculations are correct, you’re gonna see some serious shit on Friday night. Drive your DeLorean uptown to watch Back to the Future like you’ve never seen it before - on the big screen in HD while the Charlotte Symphony performs the score live. Bring the whole family to introduce the little ones to the space-time continuum and enjoy what people from the ‘80s thought the 21st century would look like.
What: Meth and Red are back in town! For a couple of legendary rappers who’ve only recorded two official albums together (1999’s Blackout! and Blackout2, a full decade later) and one ill-fated sitcom (in 2004), Meth and Red seem to be inseparable. Expect some classic Wu, some classic Def Squad, some Blackout shit and a lot of grinning, because based on past shows, these guys really seem to like each other when they’re performing together onstage. And their enthusiasm is infectious.
When: 7:30- 9:30 p.m. Where: Belk Theater, 130 N. Tryon St. More: $19 and up. Blumenthalarts.org
When: 8 p.m. Where: Fillmore. 820 Hamilton St. More: $63.50. fillmorenc.com
TIX ON SALE
NOW!
Blac Rabbit MONDAY
NEWS ARTS FOOD MUSIC ODDS
The Crystal Method FRIDAY PHOTO COURTESY OF BLAC RABBIT
SATURDAY
23
INSANE INFLATABLE 5K) What: If you’re still bummed you missed the chance to be a contestant on ABC’s Wipeout, here’s an opportunity to fill the gaping void that game show’s cancellation has left. This inflatable park was dreamed up by a some drunk people in an Orlando bar, and now it’s a massive production that travels nationally. The course includes activities like a ball maze, giant climbing wall and more floaty fun things. Register with a team, or power through on your own.
When: 8:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Where: Charlotte Motor Speedway, 5555 Concord Pkwy. S., Concord More: $57-up. insaneinflatable5k.com
‘
Insane Inflatable 5K FRIDAY PHOTO BY ADAM PORTER
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE CRYSTAL METHOD
SUNDAY
MONDAY
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25
TUESDAY
26
JJ GREY & MOFRO
BLAC RABBIT
BAT FANGS
What: Keep away the Sunday scaries with good beer and sweet Southern soul music. JJ Grey & Mofro is is playing in the (hopefully) sunshine. The music is an all-encompassing blend of blues, folk, rock and soul, culminating in an easy vibe. The band is on tour still jamming on songs from his 2015 release Ol’ Glory and more. If you missed the Revivalists last week, this is a more strippeddown set in an intimate locale, but it’s a similar Nola vibe.
What: Twin brothers Amiri and Rahiem Taylor formed the psychedelic rock band Blac Rabbit in their hometown of Rock-rockrockway Beach, New York, in 2013, but just released their self-titeld debut album last year. These guys love the Beatles, and you can tell in songs like the swirling, Sgt. Pepper’s-esque “All Good” and “The Way the Wind Whips.” Their music breaks absolutely no new ground, but they clearly love what they do, and if you’re looking for that Magical Mystery vibe, you’ll find it here.
What: With a smirk and a swagger, Bat Fangs grab 1980s hair metal by its curly bouffant ‘do and kick its scrawny, tightly spandexed ass to the curb. Guitarist Betsy Wright and drummer Laura King come from other bands enamored of the big 80s hard rock sound, Ex Hex and Flesh Wounds respectively, so when Bat Wing’s feminist lyrics flip the script on a genre given to macho posturing, they do it with love. Stick around for a dub-todancehall set by DJ Steel Wheel.
When: 5-11 p.m. Where: NoDa Brewing Company. 2921 N Tryon St. More: $30 and up. nodabrewing.com
When: 8 p.m. Where: Fillmore. 820 Hamilton St. More: $63.50. fillmorenc.com
the 5th annual
SAT JUNE 23rd
When: 8 p.m. Where: Snug Harbor, 1228 Gordon Street More: $8. snugrock.com
WEDNESDAY
27
ALGIERS/PATOIS COUNSELORS What: Algiers’ self-titled debut of 2015 was a good enough record, but frankly, this show is all about the opening band, local indie-rockers Patois Counselors, whose brand new Proper Release, on Ever/Never Records, is one of the best indie albums of 2018 so far — for Charlotte and beyond. So by all means go and enjoy the headliner, but do not get there too late to catch Patois Counselors or you’re gonna regret it.
When: 8 p.m. Where: Neighborhood Theatre, 511 E. 36th Street More: $14-16. neighborhoodtheatre. com
TIX ON SALE
NOW!
CLCLT.COM | JUN. 21 - JUN. 27, 2018 | 15
FEATURE
MUSIC
GAME TIME Former Panther John Kasay’s daughter Savannah releases ‘Friday Night Lights’ BY MARK KEMP
W
DESIGN BY HEATHER SANDLER
Friday Night Lights cover art.
HEN YOUR DAD is among the
top 10 players in NFL history in points scored, field goals made and games played, you not only have the right to call your debut album “Friday Night Lights” — it’s practically a responsibility. Singer-songwriter Savannah Kasay, 18, laughs when she hears such a proclamation. “This may be the first time I’ve realized that,” she says. Kasay is the daughter of the Carolina Panthers legendary kicker John Kasay, and Friday Night Lights is, indeed, the title of her first album. On a Thursday afternoon, Kasay sits with her famous father in the studio off Wendover Road near Cotswold Village where she recorded the record. Wearing sandals, a blue top and white jeans with holes in the knees, Kasay’s easy smile and attentive eye contact belie her legal blindness. She can see well enough to get around, but since birth she’s suffered from oculocutaneous albinism, a symptom of which is a rapid movement of the eyes that affects her ability to focus clearly on objects. That means watching dad play football with the Panthers during her childhood was a bit of a challenge. “I’ve been known to clap for the wrong team sometimes — which is not the best thing to do,” Kasay says, laughing again. Laughing is something she does often during our hour-long chat about growing up as a Kasay in Panther country. “But football has always been in my life, and I’ve always loved going to the games and watching my dad play.” Friday Night Lights is a nine-song set of bright, guitar-driven country-pop that ranges from reminiscences of high-school parties, romances and heartbreaks to the deepest inner struggles anybody who’s ever been young can identify with. “I remember first dates and heartbreaks/ Daddy’s mad I came home late,” Kasay sings in the title track, over a ringing, anthemic mélange of melodic guitars, bass and drums. And then later, “I was on the bleachers/ Counting down the clock./I was on the bleachers/Waiting for that buzzer to stop.” The song condenses all of the awkward, self-conscious excitement of those indelible weekend nights of teendom into 3 minutes, 37 seconds of rousing, sing-along pop. But Kasay’s lyrics don’t just scratch the surface of emotions like some shamelessly manipulative soundtrack song to an emotional scene in a 16 | JUN. 21 - JUN. 27, 2018 | CLCLT.COM
PHOTO BY U.S. AIR FORCE STAFF SGT. HENRY HOEGEN
John Kasay on the field in 2007.
Savannah Kasay on the bleachers. TV teen drama like Dawson’s Creek — or the NBC series Friday Night Lights, for that matter. There’s substance and wisdom behind her shiny pop melodies. Later in “Friday Night Lights,” Kasay sings, “I remember long nights and big fights/I probably should have let slip by/ Wishing I could take back those words./I regret the small things that haunt me,/’Cause looking back now I see/How I’d do it if I could be wise./Yeah, I wish I’d had a little more time/Underneath those Friday night lights.” The album, released June 15 during a private party among family, friends and band mates, is now available on Spotify, iTunes, Amazon and Kasay’s website savannahkasay. com. It’s the culmination of music she’s been working on since she first picked up a guitar in seventh grade. She’d always loved music, from the time she was 7 and began taking piano lessons. After learning the basics, though, Kasay had trouble when sheet music
PHOTO COURTESY OF SAVANNAH KASAY
was introduced into her lessons. “It became extremely difficult, because I couldn’t read it well enough,” Kasay says. Her parents eventually bought her a beginner Yamaha acoustic for Christmas, and Kasay, already a big fan of singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran, began putting the stories she liked to write to music. “It was great, because learning guitar was just about learning the chords, so I didn’t have to read sheet music,” she says. “I would just go and look up the charts and it was much easier, because it just says ‘G,’ and if you know how to play a G chord, you can play it. If I wanted to learn to do fingerpicking, I could just look up the tabs for that and learn to play it, because I could zoom in on it well enough to see it and figure it out.” By ninth grade, the words Kasay was writing to the chords she was learning had improved exponentially, and her parents were impressed. John Kasay claims he doesn’t have
a musical bone in his body, but he attended high school in Athens, Georgia, during the storied University of Georgia college town’s indie-rock heyday of the 1980s, and later that decade became the Georgia Bulldogs’ star kicker. “In Athens we had R.E.M., the B-52s, Love Tractor, all those great bands,” the elder Kasay says. “And of course, the 40 Watt Club. So I was there during Athens’ golden age and that was an extremely exciting time for music.” At UGA he met his future wife Laura, and when Kasay was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in 1991, the two moved on to the Pacific Northwest, where another indierock scene had taken hold around Sub Pop Records, which was churning out music by bands ranging from Mudhoney and L7 to Soundgarden and of course, Nirvana. “It was so cool,” Kasay remembers. “Laura and I went out there — and we were young at the time and didn’t have any children yet — and got to see all this music that was happening there during Seattle’s golden age. So in all, we had about a 12-year run where we were around some of the best music in the world.” In short, by the time Kasay was recruited to play for the new Carolina Panthers’ 1995 debut season, he knew good music when he heard it. Fifteen seasons later, when he retired as the Panther’s longest-lasting player, daughter Savannah, who was born in
MUSIC
Proud father John Kasay (right) sits with daughter Savannah at SoundPost Productions studio in Charlotte. Charlotte around the turn of the millennium, was developing into quite the songwriter and guitarist. John and Laura Kasay became increasingly aware that something needed to be done about it. Finally, last year, Laura reached out to an old friend.
“I GOT A PHONE CALL from Laura and she said, ‘We’re thinking about doing a recording,’” says Marc McManeus, owner of the Charlotte recording studio SoundPost Productions. “I didn’t really have a sense of what they were thinking at the time or how far they wanted to go with this. And I didn’t know Savannah’s music at all,” McManeus remembers. “So I said, ‘Why don’t you guys just come by and we’ll sit down and talk about what you’re looking to do?’” Savannah brought along her little Seagull guitar and played a few songs. “I thought to myself, ‘The words are really good but that guitar is way out of tune,” McManeus says. “And it’s got strings on it that sound like they’re a year old!’” “Which they were,” Savannah interrupts, with a laugh. “So I kind of pulled the guitar away from her and gave her my [higher-quality] Collings and said, ‘Let me hear you play on this,’” McManeus says. He was blown away by the teen’s mature storytelling. “It was super clear to me at that point that she had some good lyrics and good ideas that were going to be awesome,” McManeus says. “‘At first I was just thinking we were going to record six or seven songs of just Savannah playing and singing.” But McManeus began to envision a bigger sound for the young singer-songwriter. “I said to John, ‘It’d be cool to add more instruments if you guys are willing to go there.’ And without batting an eye, he said, ‘Let’s do it.’” McManeus enlisted several celebrated Charlotte musicians including percussionist Jim Brock, founding memer of the Monday Night Allstars who’s also recorded with such music legends as folk singer-songwriter Janis Ian (“At Seventeen”), country-pop singer Kathy Mattea (“Eighteen Wheels and a Dozen Roses”) and Americana artist
PHOTO BY MARK KEMP
James McMurtry (“We Can’t Make It Here”). They soon added Charlotte jazz pianist Chad Lawson (“Lore”), guitarist Bradford Ray Bailey, bassists Andrew Woodard and Tom Hildreth and Savannah’s sister Caroline on background vocals. And the sessions began. Friday Night Lights kicks into gear with a delicious guitar riff on “Calling Your Bluff” that elevates the song from sweet and tuneful to the status of a potential country-pop hit. It’s another sing-along anthem with clever lyrics that sound like the words of a seasoned vet. Savannah Kasay knew exactly what the song needed for her to — let’s mix our sports metaphors here — hit it out of the ballpark. “One of the things I was always telling Marc when we were recording is that I wanted a good intro for that song,” Kasay says. “And the electric guitar intro that Brad did on ‘Calling Your Bluff’ was just perfect. I remember telling him, ‘I just want a cool intro.’ He goes, ‘I know exactly what to do here,’ and he played it and I was like, ‘That’s it. There it is.’ “It’s something that, as soon as you hear those first two seconds, you’re hooked; it completely embodies the character of the song,” Kasay continues. “And all the other stuff Brad laid down for the album was incredible, too. I would come into the sessions and just sit there and be in awe of everything he was doing. He’s a fantastic guitarist.”
ONE THING THAT’S important to know
about Savannah Kasay: She’s not in this gig for the fame or fortune. She’s seen fame and fortune all her life, and her dream is not to be the next Taylor Swift. Kasay wants to to be a business journalist, and next year, she heads off to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to study journalism, business and French. If music works out, fine. If it doesn’t, that’s fine, too. At Charlotte Christian School, where Kasay graduated with honors, she was known for her giving spirit. She’s a Christian, and while her Christianity isn’t obvious in her music, it’s abundantly clear in her actions. SEE
MUSICNEWS
The Southend will rise again: Amos’ Southend in its heyday
PHOTO COURTESY OF AMOS’ SOUTHEND
AMOS’ SOUTHEND TO REOPEN Charlotte’s beloved home of rock nostalgia returns early next year BY MARK KEMP
CHARLOTTE MUSIC FANS who
have been missing all those great metal bands and tribute acts that Amos’ Southend once brought over to South Tryon Street are in for a treat. Amos’ Southend will return to a smaller section of its old haunt, most likely by early January, according to owner John Ellison. Last May, Ellison closed Amos’, and earlier this year moved his Gin Mill bar and restaurant from next door into the old Amos’ building, expanding it with a rooftop patio and other bells and whistles. Ellison closed the popular music venue due to limited parking after the Railyard offices, shops and apartment building took over Amos’ old parking area across the street. But when members of Beacon Partners, the developers of the Railyard project, held a get-together at the Gin Mill recently, they told Ellison of their plans to make a paid parking deck available to the public. “I was talking to one of the guys and he said, ‘We’re putting a parking deck in there and it’s going to be paid parking for the public after 5 p.m.,” Ellison said. “I was like, ‘Damn, I wish I’d known that before.’ But actually, I couldn’t have kept Amos’ empty for a year and half without parking anyway.” The new Amos’ will be smaller — a capacity of 750 as opposed to the 1,300 capacity in the old room — and it will
occupy a back area of the current Gin Mill. “The landlord was having a hard time finding a suitable tenant to go back in the back, and people kept saying to me, ‘Why don’t you put a smaller version of Amos’ back there,” Ellison said. “So I thought, hell, why not? [laughs] I don’t have enough headaches in my life right now anyway.” Ellison said he’s already talked with AEG Presents, a booking agency Amos’ worked with over the years, and will be reaching out again to tribute bands, up-and-coming national acts, local artists and oddball shows like midget wrestling. “Obviously I won’t be able to get in some of the bigger acts that I got, but we’ll still be doing a lot of the stuff we did before, just on a smaller scale.” Ellison opened Amos’ in 1990 in the Park Road Shopping Center. It closed for two years early on, then reopened at its Soundend location. Demolition begins on the new miniAmos’ this week and construction should be underway by August, Ellison said. “We haven’t submitted plans to the city yet. The engineer and architects are drawing them up now,’ he said. Until then, break out your old Michael Jackson and Sublime recrods and prepare for the return of acts like Who’s Bad and Bad Fish, as well as package shows by local metal bands, and lots of other old favorites. MKEMP@CLCLT.COM
GAME P. 18 u CLCLT.COM | JUN. 21 - JUN. 27, 2018 | 17
MUSIC
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MUSIC FEATURE
GAME FROM P. 17 t She’s been to the Dominican Republic twice, most recently in January 2017, when she traveled to the Caribbean nation to help build houses and tutor students. “The Dominican Republic has become my home away from home,” Kasay says. “I absolutely adore it there. We spent about a week there each year, and we would build houses, play with the orphans, do different service projects around construction and go into schools in different villages.” In 2017 she brought along her guitar. “It’s funny, I speak more French than I do Spanish, so it was difficult for me to communicate, but it was interesting,” she remembers. “I would go around to the villages and do ministries, and I found that the songs they knew the most were worship songs. So I would play them on my guitar and sing them in English and they would sing them back to me in Spanish. That was one of the coolest experiences.” At just 18, Savannah Kasay’s had her share of cool experiences, from recording an album to performing for kids in D.R. to growing up with a dad who played on Charlotte’s hometown professional football team. “I’ve always loved being able to learn new things, and to learn from my dad and hear about all the things he’s done and all the cool experiences he’s had on the field,” she says.
One of those experiences was a lesson that may serve her well in music, should she choose that path. Music critics and fans, like critics and fans of professional football, can be vicious. Anyone who follows the Panthers remembers the time when Savannah’s dad made that infamous kicking gaffe during the 2004 Super Bowl, which mercifully was eclipsed in popular culture by Janet Jackson’s halftime wardrobe malfunction. But Kasay’s kick has never been forgotten by diehard Panthers fans. As great as he was, he’s still severely criticized for that one errant kick. Last year, John Kasay told The Charlotte Observer, “My kids were talking about regrets and they asked me, ‘Dad, if you could go back and do one thing again, what would be the one thing that you’d go back and do?’ The first thing that came to my mind was, I would have kicked that ball right down the hash.” Father and daughter burst into laughter when I bring up the topic. “He’s always told me, ‘When you make a mistake, you learn from it, and then you’ll know what to do next time to do better,’” Savannah says. “So I’ve learned a lot from his wisdom.” Wisdom is something Savannah already has in spades, even though she’s not yet even out of her teens. MKEMP@CLCLT.COM
3012 N. Davidson St.,Charlotte NC \ (980) 299-2588 \canvastattoos.com @canvastattooandartgallery Canvas Tattoo & Art Gallery “ ” Mention the word "Creative" at the shop for a rad prize!"
MUSICMAKER
BASS INSTINCTS John Shaughnessy lives for free improvisation BY PAT MORAN
HALF THE TIME, John Shaughnessy just makes shit up. It’s part of his job. “I do a lot of free improvisation and avant-garde stuff,” the 49-year-old bassist says. “I play with different configurations, trying to do as much non-commercial music as possible.” Since settling in Charlotte in 1997, the Buffalo, New York, native has balanced wellpaying gigs like weddings and corporate events with his love of free-form music. On YouTube you can check out Shaughnessy backing Shana Blake at Smokey Joe’s, tearing through a free-jazz version of Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs.” He’s released four albums with a varying roster of players: the jazz-funk collection Two Bass Hit, in 2000; West Eats Meat, a mixture of classical Indian music and free improv, in 2007; the experimental jazz collection All That Was Left Behind, in 2015; and the self-titled debut by the avant-garde jazz quartet Crows and Ghosts in 2016. Dave Bullard, the drummer on that last project, joins Shaughnessy for a set with the Free Improv Quintet at Petra’s on June 27. The gig is part of the Charlotte New Music Festival, which features concerts and workshop throughout the city from June 18 to June 30. This is Shaughnessy’s third year participating in the fest, which is now in its seventh year. Creative Loafing spoke with the bassist about playing music without a plan, and gigging with musicians he’s never met before stepping out onstage with them. Creative Loafing: How is free jazz and free improvisation different from just regular old jazz? Shaughnessy: Jazz is really a question of form. If you’re playing a jazz standard like “Satin Doll,” you have a set of chord changes. There are a predetermined number of bars in the piece of music, and you’re improvising according to the notes that are in the chords. Free jazz blows apart all those conventions. The one constant is the element of swing. There is a swing or a blues feel that runs through free improvisation. It all comes out in the listening though — how much you listen, and how much you respond to what other people are doing. That’s the common denominator with free jazz and free improvisation. The main thing is that there are no rules, except for one. The only rule is to listen. In addition to you and Dave Bullard, the Free Improv Quintet playing at Petra’s includes Charlotte guitarist Troy Conn, and two musicians from New York, guitarist Kyle Sanna and saxophonist
18 | JUN. 21 - JUN. 27, 2018 | CLCLT.COM
John Shaughnessy
PHOTO BY STEFANIE HAVIV
FREE IMPROV QUINTET 7 p.m. June 27 (Kyle Sanna, Erin Rogers, Dave Bullard, Troy Conn, John Shaughnessy) Petra’s, 1919 Commonwealth Ave. Free. facebook.com/petrasbar
Erin Rogers. What can the audience expect from this group and this show? One thing that I love about doing this is I have no idea what I’m going to do. I’ll just start playing. I love that I may have no idea who I’m playing with. I know Dave Bullard and Troy Conn, the other guitarist. We’ve worked together quite a bit. I know how Dave approaches the drum kit, and I know how Troy approaches the guitar. But the other two I’ve not met yet. The trick is to meet people where they’re at. I won’t expect Erin to play a certain way. I’ll listen to what she’s doing and respond in kind, and hopefully we’ll start a dialog. What is the Charlotte New Music Festival and what’s been your part in it? Elizabeth Kowalski is the brain behind the Charlotte New Music Festival. I got involved by asking her if there was anything I could do. I started by running the New Music Open Mic, which is on June 19 this year. It’s an open mic for new music composers, and I’m the ringmaster. Anything composers have that hasn’t been performed in workshops or concerts, they can try it out there. What else will you be doing for this year’s festival? I am also doing the improvisation workshop, which is the Tuesday before the concert at Petra’s. It’s the players involved and I talking about the role of improvisation in music. We’ll give people some ideas about how to write for improvisation. Isn’t writing for free improvisation a paradox? [Laughs] Yes it is. PMORAN@CLCLT.COM
Snuggle Up with CL
tonight....
CLCLT.COM | JUN. 21 - JUN. 27, 2018 | 19
MUSIC
SOUNDBOARD JUNE 21
The Lenny Federal Band (Comet Grill)
BLUES/ROOTS/INTERNATIONAL
DJ/ELECTRONIC
Jarekus Singleton (The Music Yard)
CLASSICAL/JAZZ/SMOOTH Red Clay Saxophone Quartet (Evening Muse)
COUNTRY/FOLK American Aquarium, Travis Meadows (Visulite Theatre) Beavergrass Bluegrass Jam f. Jim Garrett (Thirsty Beaver) Jamie Hofmeister-Cline (Summit Coffee Co., Davidson)
DJ/ELECTRONIC DJ Karz (Tin Roof) Le Bang (Snug Harbor)
POP/ROCK Carmen Tate Solo Acoustic (Eddie’s on Lake Norman, Mooresville) Open Mic for Musicians (Crown Station Coffeehouse and Pub) 42- Coldplay Tribute Band (Rooftop 210) Andalyn (Tin Roof) Andy McKee (Neighborhood Theatre) Dark Prophet Tongueless Monk, Sunndrug, Middleasia (Milestone) Jim Garrett Trio (Comet Grill) Karaoke (Hattie’s Tap & Tavern) Lisa De Novo (RiRa Irish Pub) Open Mic at Studio 13 (Studio 13, Cornelius) Mollywopps (JackBeagle’s) Sabbaton Esteban, Katya Harrell, Bruce Hazel (Petra’s) Shana Blake and Friends (Smokey Joe’s Cafe) Yarn (U.S. National Whitewater Center)
JUNE 22 CLASSICAL/JAZZ/SMOOTH
POP/ROCK The Bill Miller Band (Smokey Joe’s Cafe) Billy Jones and the Pocket (Summit Coffee Co., Davidson) The Commonwealth, Dr. No, SiBANNÄC, AM/ FMs (Milestone) Driftwood, Lisa De Novo, Tin 4 (Petra’s) The Georgia Flood (Thomas Street Tavern) India Ramey, Clay Parker, Jodi James (Evening Muse) Laney Jones and the Spirits (U.S. National Whitewater Center) Machine Funk - Tribute to Widespread Panic (The Rabbit Hole) Mistics (Hattie’s Tap & Tavern) Modern Primitives, Pearl Earl, It’s Snakes (Snug Harbor) Paul Thorn Band, The Gary Douglas Band (Neighborhood Theatre) Rumours - Tribute to Fleetwood Mac (The Fillmore) Seventy Six and Sunny (Tin Roof) Shana Blake (JackBeagle’s) The Stranger - Tribute To Billy Joel (The Underground) Virginia Man, Cannibal Kids (Evening Muse) Wicked Powers (RiRa Irish Pub)
JUNE 23 CLASSICAL/JAZZ/SMOOTH Groove 8, Keeyen Martin (Neighborhood Theatre)
BLUES/ROOTS/INTERNATIONAL Sombacha (Cantina 1511)
Charlotte Symphony Summer Pops: Back to the Future - Movie in Concert (Belk Theater) Jazzy Fridays (Freshwaters Restaurant) Sounds on the Square: Jazz Student Competition Night (Spirit Square)
COUNTRY/FOLK
COUNTRY/FOLK
Electrohex with DJ Price (Milestone) Tilted DJ Saturdays (Tilted Kilt Pub & Eatery)
Appalachian Songbook: Brandi Icard, Gregory Thompson (Stage Door Theater) Jim Sharkey (Cabarrus Brewing Company, Concord) 20 | JUN. 21 - JUN. 27, 2018 | CLCLT.COM
Crystal Method (Serj) Nora en Pure (World)
Russell N’ Woods (Cabarrus Brewing Company, Concord) Winston Ramble (The Music Yard)
DJ/ELECTRONIC
HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B 80s & 90s R&B Day Party (Sydney’s Martini and
MUSIC
SOUNDBOARD Wine Bar) Hipgnostic, Seeds? (Evening Muse) Method Man, Redman (The Fillmore)
POP/ROCK Summer Concert Series (Blakeney Shopping Center) 2 Door Chicken Coupe (Smokey Joe’s Cafe) Ancient Cities (Heist Brewery) Avery Deakins (Tin Roof) Cassidy Daniels (Tin Roof) Creative a Cappella (Duke Energy Theater) Elonzo Wesley (Primal Brewing) Frank Viele, Mark Webb, Jr. (Evening Muse) Fusion For Theory (JackBeagle’s) Joe Williams (Comet Grill) Pistol Town (RiRa Irish Pub,) Ron Holloway Band (U.S. National Whitewater Center)
JUNE 24 BLUES/ROOTS/INTERNATIONAL River Ratz Bluegrass Band (Cabarrus Brewing Company, Concord) Irish Ceili Brunch: Irish band and Irish dancers from Walsh Kelley School of Dance (RiRa Irish Pub, Charlotte)
DJ/ELECTRONIC Bone Snugs-N-Harmony (Snug Harbor) More Fyah - Grown & Sexy Vibes (Crown Station Coffeehouse and Pub)
COUNTRY/FOLK Family Jam with Jamie (Summit Coffee Co., Davidson) Mary Battiata & Little Pink, Ross Adams (Petra’s)
POP/ROCK Dischordia, Krvsade, Divine Treachery (Milestone) JJ Grey & Mofro, Great Peacock (NoDa Brewing Company) Joshua Davis (Evening Muse) Metal Church Sunday Service (Milestone) Omari and The Hellhounds (Comet Grill) Sunday Music Bingo (Hattie’s Tap & Tavern)
JUNE 25 CLASSICAL/JAZZ/SMOOTH Jazz Jam (Crown Station Coffeehouse and Pub)
HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B #MFGD Open Mic (Apostrophe Lounge) Monday Fun(d) Day: NiGE Hood (Recess Charlotte) Knocturnal (Snug Harbor)
POP/ROCK Blac Rabbit, Kid Freud (Neighborhood Theatre) Stress Fractures, Just Friends, Grad Life, Heckdang (Milestone) Find Your Muse Open Mic featuring Anthony Wayne (Evening Muse) Jamorah (Smokey Joe’s Cafe) Jesse McCartney, Nina Nesbitt (The Underground) Music Bingo (Tin Roof, Charlotte) Music Trivia (Hattie’s Tap & Tavern) Open Mic with Lisa De Novo (Legion Brewing)
JUNE 26 CLASSICAL/JAZZ/SMOOTH Beo String Quartet (Free Range Brewing Company)
HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B Eclectic Soul Tuesdays - RnB & Poetry (Apostrophe Lounge) Logic, NF, Kyle (PNC Music Pavilion) Soul Station (Crown Station Coffeehouse and Pub)
DJ/ELECTRONIC DJ Steel Wheel (Snug Harbor) June’s Lost Cargo: Tiki Social Club (Petra’s)
COUNTRY/FOLK Red Rockin’ Chair (Comet Grill)
POP/ROCK Aly & AJ, Rainsford (The Underground) Ancient River, Dinner Rabbits, Joules (Milestone) Bat Fangs, Kissing Is A Crime, Gardeners (Snug Harbor) Jesse Terry, Ryanhood (Evening Muse) Open Jam with the Smokin’ Js (Smokey Joe’s Cafe) Uptown Unplugged with Dan Smith (Tin Roof)
JUNE 27 CLASSICAL/JAZZ/SMOOTH Free Improv Quintet (Petra’s)
HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B Free Hookah Wednesdays Ladies Night (Kabob House, Persian Cuisine)
6/21 AMERICAN AQUARIUM 7/21 JUPITER COYOTE 6/29 HAYES CARLL 7/19 ROOSEVELTS 7/20 JGBCB 7/23FANTASTIC NEGRITO 7/25 THE SHEEPDOGS 7/27 PORCH 40 7/28 COSMIC CHARLIE - JERRY GARCIA BIRTHDAY BASH! 8/10Abacab A Tribute to GENESIS 8/5 LYDIA 8/11NATALIE PRASS 8/17 RED BARCHETTA A Tribute to RUSH 8/24 TREEHOUSE 9/11 JOSEPH 9/19 NOAH GUNDERSEN 9/28 CAAMP 10/2 MT. JOY 10/9 WELSHLY ARMS
DJ/ELECTRONIC Karaoke with DJ Alex Smith (Petra’s) DJ Method (RiRa Irish Pub, Charlotte) Cyclops Bar: Modern Heritage Weekly Mix Tape (Snug Harbor)
WHERE WE ALL REFUSE TO WEAR SOCKS.
COUNTRY/FOLK Open Mic/Open Jam (Comet Grill)
POP/ROCK Algiers, Patois Counselors (Neighborhood Theatre) CUSP presents (Instrumentality): Cuzco, Chew, Hectorina, DJ Justin Aswell (Snug Harbor) Thirty Seconds To Mars (PNC Music Pavilion) Open House & Karaoke (Sylvia Theatre, York) Open Mic & Songwriter Workshop (Petra’s) Open Mic with Jared Allan (JackBeagle’s)
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 mkemp@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 | JUN. 21 - JUN. 27, 2018 | 21
ARTS
COVERSTORY
IF THESE WALLS COULD TALK Southern Tiger Collective helps propel a burgeoning street arts scene in Charlotte BY RYAN PITKIN
I
T’S NOON ON a 92-degree mid-May day in Plaza Midwood, and Mike Wirth is standing outside staring at a wall. In a paint-stained white t-shirt and shorts, he’s looking at a sketch he just finished of a bunny holding a beer on the side of a restaurant called Peculiar Rabbit. He’s coming to a realization that he’s got more work ahead of him. “Shit, the beer is crooked,” he says, sweat running down his forehead. “I’m going to have to do something about that beer.” The sketch is just the beginning stage of a mural Wirth is working on for Peculiar Rabbit owner Rob Nixon. The two met at one of Nixon’s other establishments when he noticed Wirth’s paint-stained clothes and asked what he did for a living. Wirth, director of the art and design at Queens University, told him he’d been working on a mural, and Nixon’s ears perked up. That weekend, he came to see Wirth paint live at BOOM Charlotte, a fringe festival in Plaza Midwood, and quickly commissioned him to paint the side of Peculiar Rabbit. And just like that, the Southern Tiger Collective’s influence grew stronger. Originally formed in 2017 by local artists Alex DeLarge and Dustin Moats, the Southern Tiger Collective is a group of local artists whose work has been hard to miss in the city this year. Aside from the now-finished Peculiar Rabbit mural, you can find STC work on the side of Seventh Sin Tattoo Company, Salon 1226, Abari, Pure Intentions Coffee and many other walls throughout the city. Now, the crew wants to use its growing influence to encourage collaboration in the city’s street art scene, starting with the recently announced Talking Walls, Charlotte’s first mural festival, planned for October. When I visit the Southern Tiger Collective studio on North Davidson Street in the Villa Heights neighborhood a few weeks after Wirth finishes his mural, the team is working on pressing hundreds of t-shirts in preparation for an upcoming event they’ll be hosting at the space. DeLarge is holding court with a few of the core members of Southern Tiger Collective: 22 | JUN. 21 - JUN. 27, 2018 | CLCLT.COM
Murals from the 5Sense Arts program, led by Mike Wirth and Nick Napoletano. (5Sense)
PHOTO COURTESY OF 5SENSE ARTS
PHOTO BY DANA VINDIGNI
Artwork by Owl (0741) Moats, Wirth, Owl and Arko. He explains that each STC event — like the Ambush! party his team is preparing for now, which will feature live mural painting, food trucks and live music — is designed to lead up to the festival in October, and why he and Wirth decided to organize the festival in the first place. “I want it to incorporate all of the arts,” he says. “I feel like Charlotte doesn’t really incorporate music when you go to a gallery show, doesn’t incorporate wall art when you go to a concert. It’s something that happens in other cities. You go to a festival of any kind, they have carnival rides, they have a mural wall pyramid — some crazy thing for street artists — and they have shows. They incorporate all the arts, I feel like that’s something we could use.” DeLarge grew up in Pittsburgh, doing art in Philadelphia and other spaces around Pennsylvania. He attended the Art Institute of Pittsburgh before deciding that the academic route was not for him. About six years ago, he moved to Statesville to live with his mother and sister before making his way to Charlotte, where he and Moats have been making waves since. The two infamously made local headlines and even pseudonymously designed a CL cover as the artists behind the paintings of a
PHOTO BY DANA VINDIGNI
A van behind the studio got the STC treatment. (0681)
mischievous Bart Simpson that were popping up throughout the city and getting under the skin of some local leaders in the summer of 2015. In February 2017, the duo moved into the space next to their friends at RCB Fashion on North Davidson Street. After using it simply as their personal studio for months, the two eventually began inviting fellow artists to work in the space and, slowly but surely, a collective was born. DeLarge now runs the collective like an art firm, hiring out muralists, designers or whatever a client needs. “That goes back to what we are,” DeLarge says. “We’re just empowering and enabling and educating ourselves and our clients like, ‘This is what we’re worth and what we’ll do.’”
ONE PART OF that education involves righting a misperception that many folks have about street art: that it’s the same as graffiti. Although a few members of the collective have graffiti backgrounds and some still write graffiti from time to time, most agree that the general population’s tendency to lump it together with street art hurts the arts scene as a whole. “It might not be simple to some people, but to me it’s simple. Graffiti is people’s
names — that’s what you’re seeing. Graffiti is about the process, it’s about doing. It’s who got up to the craziest spot and did the craziest thing and just killed it the most. It’s not about what that shit looked like,” DeLarge says, laughing. “Street art — legal or not, which is a blurry line in itself, but that has more to do with like laws and society than the artist — to me is about characters; cartoons and faces and stuff like that. It’s more illustrative. It’s not the alphabet. On paper it would be the difference between a comic book artist and a guy who does typography. Two different skill sets.” However, as non-artists have become more aware of the differences between graffiti and street art, it’s created a troubling dynamic across the country. While graffiti has long been seen as an eyesore that negatively affects property values and serves as the sign of a “bad neighborhood,” street art is more often being seen today as part of a beautification process, which then becomes a harbinger of gentrification. “That broken window theory, it’s already going to the other side,” DeLarge says. “Now it’s the spearhead of gentrification, because an artist moves into a low-level community, beautifies it, Starbucks moves in, and they
PHOTO BY DANA VINDIGNI
An Arko mural in the STC studio. (0677)
can’t even live there anymore, and neither can the people who did before. That’s why there has to be intent to what we’re doing as street artists and graffiti artists, because you beautify a city and there’s repercussions to that.” While DeLarge can’t solve the larger issues surrounding gentrification, he believes that art done with intent can help represent communities rather than displace them. He encourages STC artists to take control of the pieces they’re commissioned to do. “Know what you’re doing, for who and why — what your intent is behind it,” DeLarge says. “To me that goes back to allowing people to do what they’re good at. Instead of painting that branded mural with just a logo or something that looks like some
PHOTO BY DANA VINDIGNI
PHOTO BY RYAN PITKIN
PHOTO BY RYAN PITKIN
Owl works on a piece at a recent Brand the Moth benefit at McGill Rose Garden. (200010)
The STC studio (0737)
Alex DeLarge was involved with this mural outside of Abari and the former Joe’s Doughs location. (125644)
sort of company ad, next time a company approaches you to do something for them, say, ‘Instead of branding the hell out of this and telling me what to do, let me do what I’m good at.’ That empowers artists, and not only that it helps the people around us.” The crew’s “intent” also goes beyond commissioned art. In the aftermath of the Charlotte Uprising in September 2016, before the collective had even come together, Wirth, Arko and Owl joined other local artists in painting artwork on the boards that covered the shattered windows of the Hyatt Hotel. At that same time, a piece that Wirth designed replacing the gem in the Queen City crown with a fist went viral on social media and served as the inspiration for a now-popular shirt design. Wirth, whose 18-year-old cousin Meadow Pollack was killed in the Marjory
The crew (from left): Dustin Moats, Mike Wirth, Owl and Arko. (STCStudio) Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida, in February, says he’d like to do more art around social justice. In 2017, he joined local artist and Southern Tiger Collective cohort Nick Napoletano in leading a pop-up arts incubation at Mint Museum for Queens University students. The group used art to confront the infamous report that listed Charlotte as 49th in America’s 50 largest cities in economic mobility. They created murals, built a street art education space and organized a community arts empowerment event.
FOR ALL THE talk of artist empowerment and running the collective like a business, the true reason STC exists is to cultivate talent
PHOTO BY RYAN PITKIN
within the Charlotte arts scene, and the crew is not above working for free when it’s for a good cause. On an early June evening, a few members of Southern Tiger Collective come together at the McGill Rose Garden for a night of charitable live painting. At the event, Wirth and Owl join reputable local artists Sloane Siobhan, Dammit Wesley and Georgie Nakima to paint on canvas live while attendees look on. Before the end of the night, they’ll sell their respective pieces in a silent auction and give 100 percent of the proceeds to Brand the Moth, a local nonprofit that creates community arts projects and gives opportunities to up-and-coming artists. SEE
WALLS P. 24 u
CLCLT.COM | JUN. 21 - JUN. 27, 2018 | 23
ARTS
COVERSTORY
HOME THIS WEEKEND! Charlotte Knights vs. Columbus & Toledo
THURSDAY
THAT 70’S KNIGHT THE 1970’S ARE BACK! WEAR YOUR BELL-BOTTOMS AND ENJOY A GROOVY NIGHT AT THE BALLPARK. FANS CAN MEET BOB PINCIOTTI AND THE FIRST 2,000 FANS WILL RECEIVE A MICHAEL KOPECH #DISKOPECH T-SHIRT.
VS. COLUMBUS
GAME AT 7:04 PM
FRIDAY
FRIDAY NIGHT FIREWORKS AFTER THE GAME VS. TOLEDO
GAME AT 7:04 PM
SATURDAY
CHARLOTTE CABALLEROS KNIGHTS PLAYERS WILL WEAR CHARLOTTE CABALLEROS JERSEYS AND THE TEAM WILL HONOR HISPANIC HERITAGE.
VS. TOLEDO
GAME AT 7:04 PM
SUNDAY
KIDS RUN THE BASES VS. TOLEDO
GAME AT 2:05 PM
TO PURCHASE TICKETS VISIT:
charlotteknights.com 24 | JUN. 21 - JUN. 27, 2018 | CLCLT.COM
Mike Wirth (right, inset) discusses work on his mural with Peculiar Rabbit owner Rob Nixon. (0006, 100656) WALLS FROM P. 23 t The event is the perfect chance for STC artists to support a scene that they’ve helped build momentum for over the last year. “We want to see younger artists come up,” says Wirth while he works on a painting of his friend Jen lying down in front of a sunset-colored, Van Gogh-esque background. “We want to set the stage for the future, and so do [Brand the Moth]. I think what they do by finding artists who are at that right moment to start their first mural, it’s huge. That’s that break that makes a difference. And if we could just get more painters in the city, that means more styles, that means more opportunities, it’s just going to grow. Helping young folks who are up and coming and doing that collective tide rise, I think that’s the mentality we share.” As Owl works on a more abstract design next to Wirth, she explains why the event is a good example of why she got involved with Southern Tiger Collective in the first place. “The reason why we’re part of a collective is to build a culture, and this is part of that culture,” she says. “Even though this is not our event, we support 100 percent everybody that wants to do something different in the city.” As DeLarge says, everything Southern Tiger Collective does is leading to something bigger, and the culture building mission Owl speaks of will culminate in October with Talking Walls, at which 15 artists — five local,
PHOTO BY RYAN PITKIN
five regional and five international — will be creating works on walls across the Uptown, NoDa and Plaza Midwood areas. DeLarge says he hopes to build a tradition around the festival, and host an even bigger one next year. Speaking with each member of the collective, it’s clear that they’re all excited to see Charlotte’s visual arts scene come out of the galleries and spill onto the street. Each artist is quick to express their pleasure at seeing new murals pop up all across town, and their optimism at the potential for the local street art scene. “It will only get 10 times stronger, hopefully by the end of this year,” says Moats. “We want to put the city on a whole different level. It’s really turning a page right now, and it’s cool being, like, people that are influencing that.” For Owl, a Colombia native who moved to Charlotte from the street art-friendly Atlanta eight years ago, the momentum is building, and she’s ready to keep pushing in support of the scene. “I feel like we’ve helped set that fire a lot bigger. It was there and starting off, but there was still a lack of something,” she says. “I think it’s starting to peak now and these guys just came right at the right time where people are just wanting more out of Charlotte.” And more is what they shall get. RPITKIN@CLCLT.COM
Incredibles 2 (Photo: Disney-Pixar)
ARTS
FILM
TOON IN Not quite incredible, but fun nonetheless BY MATT BRUNSON
THE VIGOROUS embrace of mediocrity
above all else currently grips a 21st century America that has become too lazy to think for itself (as witnessed by the ascendancy of FOX News and reality TV), and writer-director Brad Bird smartly worked this national tragedy into an animated superhero tale that was, well, pretty incredible. Released in 2004, the Pixar gem The Incredibles focused on a family of superheroes whose members consisted of dad Bob Parr/ Mr. Incredible (voiced by Craig T. Nelson), mom Helen/Elastigirl (Holly Hunter), daughter Violet (Sarah Vowell), son Dash (Spencer Fox), and baby Jack-Jack. The Parrs were presented as the modern American family that was expected to conform to the societal status quo (i.e., blend with the bland) rather than champion its own uniqueness. The domestic conflicts triggered by the clan’s suburban ennui gave way to an acceptance of each person’s individuality and, consequently, an ability to pool their resources as both crime fighters and family members. That’s pretty heady material for what’s ostensibly a kid flick, but, as Pixar has proven time and again, the company’s greatest works provide relevance and resonance for adults as well. Yet when it comes to the sequels, only the Toy Story follow-ups offer comparable gravitas. Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo and Cars were all followed by further chapters that still provided the entertainment value but eased the brakes on anything more substantial.
Surprisingly, that’s the case with Incredibles 2 (*** out of four) as well. In this outing, arriving a full 14 years after the Oscar-winning original, superheroes are still outlawed and not allowed to engage in feats of derringdo. The philanthropic Winston Deavor (Bob Odenkirk) hopes to change that, and he and his sister Evelyn (Catherine Keener) elect to showcase Elastigirl performing amazing deeds in an effort to sway the public into again supporting superheroes. (Hunter returns to handle vocal duties, as do all of the primary players except Fox, who’s been replaced by Huck Milner as the voice of Dash.) While Helen is running around the world performing good deeds, a grouchy and exhausted Bob remains at home looking after the kids. It’s only when a villain known as the Screenslaver gets the upper hand on Elastigirl that Bob and the rest of the brood — with assists from Frozone (returning Samuel L. Jackson) and, of course, the invaluable designer Edna Mode (Bird himself) — must get involved in the fray. Full of energy and imagination (if a tad overlong), Incredibles 2 is a guaranteed good time at the movies and certain to be one of the summer’s biggest hits. But while it frequently feints in the direction of something more meaningful, it usually backs away and merely lathers on more thrills. That’s not exactly a debit, but anyone expecting the complexity of its predecessor might be left wanting. As before, the most satisfying element in
the picture is the Parr family itself. The plot thread involving Jack-Jack and his seemingly infinite number of powers devours too much screen time (plus, what fun is a seemingly invincible superhero?), but the attention accorded to the other four family members is once again lovely, with Bob, Helen, Violet and Dash all retaining their standings among Pixar’s very best characters. Forget that Marvel gang: On screen, they’re the true Fantastic Four. HAWKEYE WAS noticeably MIA in Avengers: Infinity War, but you can catch his alter ego Jeremy Renner in Tag (**1/2 out of four), a hit-and-miss comedy with, perhaps surprisingly, more hits than misses. The most startling trivial pursuit regarding this film is that it’s based on a true story, one that was featured in a Wall Street Journal article back in 2013 (“It Takes Planning, Caution to Avoid Being ‘It,’” by Russell Adams). The feature was about 10 men who have spent the last few decades taking one month out of every year (February) to play a game of tag, in which the final person tagged during that month has to be “It” for an entire year until the next cycle. Naturally, attempting to focus on 10 individuals would turn the film version into, well, basically an Avengers movie, so the decision was made to downsize to five guys and one very enthusiastic wife. The plot centers around the fact that one player, the suave Jerry Pierce (Renner), has
never once been tagged in all the decades of playing. Thus, the other four gents — game-obsessed Hogie (Ed Helms), corporate smoothie Bob (Jon Hamm), wry Sable (Hannibal Buress) and irresponsible Chilli (Jake Johnson) — have long been determined to nail Jerry. They feel that this is finally the year, as Jerry is getting married and the others — including Hogie’s exuberant wife Anna (Isla Fisher) — believe he might be distracted enough to let down his guard. Fat chance. Too many comedies these days include a character who’s basically an idiot and allowed to utter supposedly shocking declarations (thanks a lot, Zach Galifianakis) — these guys are never as funny as intended, and that’s again the case here with Johnson’s tiresome Chilli. Yet Hamm again demonstrates sly comedy chops, Buress is gifted most of the best lines, and Fisher is always a delightful dervish. The real story is primarily one of friendship, but in this filmic version, the emphasis is naturally on rude pranks and crude one-liners. That’s perfectly fine — the movie is often very funny when it’s going for the throat — but it does render the sentimental final act soggy and not particularly convincing (and the dire fate of one character is brought up and then abandoned in a haste to a happy ending). Overall, though, there are enough bright bits and engaging performances to give Tag a pass.
CLCLT.COM | JUN. 21 - JUN. 27, 2018 | 25
ENDS
NIGHTLIFE
STANNING FOR THE STANLEY A flavor destination where it’s needed most Sweetbreads, hot sauce, carrots, celery, WHEN THE BOYFRIEND told me he blue cheese - $14 had to make a reservation for The Stanley a Strawberry shortcake (wasn’t listed on couple weeks in advance, my brows raised the menu) in anticipation of the cuisine that was to Just so you know, sweetbreads are come. I’d heard rumblings about the newest not actually sweet pieces of bread. They addition to the Elizabeth community but are the thymus or pancreas of a calf or hadn’t done much research on it. Now that lamb (according to Wikipedia). DO NOT be we had a reservation, it was time to check surprised. My sweetheart carefully recreated out the menu and prep for another Queen every single dish on our personal plates. City date night. I know, I know, heart be still. And I can After the loss of some of the local promise you, every single dish, including nightlife flavor, such as Philosopher’s Stone the sweetbreads, was phenomenal. I mean, and Kennedy’s, my hope for a solid night out seriously how the actual F do you prepare as an Elizabethan faded. I would walk past asparagus three different ways and make the new Pet Supplies Plus and tattered it taste good each time?! How do Dollar General and sigh. I’d hoped you create carrot foam and the newest apartment complex make it mouthwatering?! We would introduce ground-level relished in the moment of commercial space, but when the short journey we took the structure was finally with every bite. completed that hope also And when it was all faded away. said and done, you won’t However, my believe what happened. optimism was restored As we were wrapping when I noticed up dessert, Chef Verica renovations to the Dollar stopped by our table and General shopping center AERIN SPRUILL ever so sweetly bent over with and heard whispers of his bag over his shoulder and new nightlife spots and/or a couple books and said, “I wish restaurants being added to the every person who came here would eat old Heroes Aren’t Hard to Find and the way you did.” Shocked, we didn’t really Crisp locations. *insert emoji praise hands* know how to respond so we just smiled. But One of those spots, of course, was The um, what?! I wanted to slap my momma I felt Stanley, a “farm-driven” restaurant concept so good about that compliment. opened by James Beard-nominated chef Paul Two weeks later, after riding a scooter Verica and his sous chef son, Alex. around Elizabeth and Plaza Midwood for While the space is small — my boyfriend three hours, I donned a pair of boots, threw and I counted about 10 small tables and a on a “nice” jacket and walked to The Stanley. handful of stools at the bar — let me tell For what you may ask? Um, I wanted their you, the menu packs quite a punch. Before perfectly cooked scallops again. No joke, I I get into the menu, let me start by saying, took a trip to St. Petersburg, Florida, and our mouths dropped when our waitress ended up dreaming about those scallops informed us that the menu changed six last weekend. I made it my mission to get times in the first week it opened in late May. scallops for dinner while we were there, but We perused the menu and decided alas, it wasn’t the same. against the entrees. I’ve told you before, we don’t eat very much in one sitting, and You may be wondering why I thought you can’t get a good grasp on the true I could go there on a whim. Just who do I capabilities of a chef if you don’t try think I am? If we had to wait a couple weeks more than one thing on the menu. Again, to get a reservation, why did I think I could #notaselfidentifiedfoodblogger, however, I’ll just walk in and eat scallops whenever I fill you in later on how Chef Verica gave us damn well please? the ultimate pat on our backs and that’s why Well, you’re not mistaken in asking that I don’t care what y’all think. question. You do need a reservation if you’re But I digress. We settled on a few small sitting down for date night. However, you plates, which included: can walk in if you can snag a spot at the bar. Beef tartare, radishes, greens, hardTo my dismay, I took too long getting there boiled quail eggs, capers, flat bread - $15 and they’d stopped taking walk-ins because Asparagus: as many ways as we could they were running out of food for those with think of - $11 reservations (I guess everyone figured out Scallop, fennel, apple, pork belly, lemon, the key to tasting the menu pretty early). herbs - $15 Next time, Stan. BACKTALK@CLCLT.COM Peas, carrots, pork belly - $12 26 | JUN. 21 - JUN. 27, 2018 | CLCLT.COM
ENDS
CROSSWORD
“IF THE SHOE FITS ... “ ACROSS
1 Gillette razor brand 5 Sled in the Olympics 9 “Hey, you over there” 13 Sermon deliverer 19 Debuted 21 Choral voice 22 Like a lie 23 Car riders’ jolters, to a shoe collector? 25 Buccaneer 26 Kingly name of Norway 27 IRS money 28 Highly eager 30 Paradigm 31 Rakish sort 33 Treasure hunters, to a shoe collector? 36 Everybody 37 Part of ENT 39 Direct (to) 40 Hot-rod rods 41 “I’m Walkin’ “ singer, to a shoe collector? 44 Week- -- -glance 45 Tree with samaras 48 More neat 49 Suffix with lyric 50 Covertly add to an email 52 One of the Brady girls 55 Not veiled 56 Nametags, e.g. 58 Blend on high, maybe 60 They may be irregular 61 What Romeo and Juliet were, to a shoe collector? 66 Not cooked 69 Itty-bitty 70 Put on -- (fake it) 71 506, in old Rome 72 “Kwon do” or “Bo” lead-in 73 Fleeing, to a shoe collector? 78 Quarterback Kyle 79 Pivots on an axis 80 The “A” of ETA: Abbr. 81 Title girl in a J.D. Salinger story 85 Jenny Craig patron 87 Antiquated 88 Midpoint: Abbr. 90 Slacks off 92 Ending for mountain 93 Amazed feeling 95 Snoring, to a shoe collector? 97 LaBelle or LuPone 100 “-- the Champions” 102 Big U.K. lexicon 103 Comic Charlotte
104 Emerson’s metaphor for art, to a shoe collector? 108 “... that try -- souls” 109 Chef Ducasse 110 Brooches 111 Plains native 112 Slant 114 Ad-lib 116 Some cooked taters and peppers, to a shoe collector? 121 Book after Nehemiah 122 One-named New Ager 123 Threatening like a lion 124 “-- Rides Again” (1939 film) 125 Lip off to 126 Be in a choir 127 Picnic intruders
DOWN
1 iPad buy 2 --TV (“Fake Off” channel) 3 Mayonnaise-based sauce 4 Enough 5 1970s teen idol Garrett 6 Vase type 7 Bother 8 “The Rock” actor 9 Just average 10 Everett of Hollywood 11 Old veteran 12 Hubbubs 13 Baby 77-Down 14 Brutish sort 15 Golfer’s hit 16 Business’ hush-hush technique 17 Peripheral 18 Film vault items 20 “Life -- bowl of cherries” 24 Scope 29 Biting insect 31 Pool inflatables 32 Col. North, familiarly 33 Partner of to 34 Sci-fi carrier 35 This is a test 37 Ending for Milan 38 Flemish painter Brouwer 42 Sardine cans 43 Various stuff: Abbr. 44 Got 100% on 46 Zodiac sign 47 Billiards shot 50 Anheuser- -51 Minos’ island 53 Benefit 54 Court arbiter 57 Bottom-of-barrel stuff 58 H.S. junior’s hurdle
59 Village VIP 62 Bakery string 63 French painter Dufy 64 One way to turn right 65 Too old to qualify 66 -- Island (U.S. state) 67 Condor nest 68 Aquatic flora 74 Colon half 75 Big ice mass 76 Mata -77 Barking sea creature 82 “Yes, we’re open,” e.g. 83 Actress Mullally 84 Dangerous curves 86 Fixed charge 88 Dangling enticement 89 Noisy birds 91 Three past A 94 Bit of hair 95 Used a chair 96 Anti votes 98 Deplane, e.g. 99 More eensy 100 Ryder of “Mermaids” 101 Pieces from pundits 104 Was gabby 105 Beethoven title name 106 Gets stuck in the mud 107 “Likewise” 108 -- Carta 112 Big ice mass 113 Despot Amin 115 Hear legally 117 Swedish carrier 118 Pasty-looking 119 Dine 120 Relatives of aves.
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SAVAGE LOVE
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BLOWN AWAY Variations on ‘friends with benefits’ BY DAN SAVAGE I am a 24-year-old straight guy who Sam, like THROAT, is 24 years old. He recently broke up with my girlfriend of grew up on the East Coast and met THROAT more than four years. One of the reasons early in his first year at college. Sam came out we broke up was a general lack of sexually at the end of his freshman year, to THROAT compatibility. She had a particular and his other friends, and he now lives in a aversion to oral sex — both giving and big city where he works in marketing when receiving. I didn’t get a blowjob the he isn’t sucking off THROAT. whole time we were together. Which “I didn’t know until after he broke up brings me to why I am writing: One with his girlfriend that he hadn’t gotten a of my closest friends, “Sam,” is a gay blowjob the whole time they were together guy. Shortly after breaking up with — four years!” Sam said. “When I told him my girlfriend, I was discussing my lack I’d be happy to help him out, I was joking. I of oral sex with Sam and he said he’d swear I wasn’t making a pass at my straight be willing to “help me out.” I friend! But there was this long pause, agreed, and Sam gave me an and then he got serious and said earth-shattering blowjob. I he’d be into it. I wondered for was glad to get some and a minute if it would be weird had no hang-ups about for me to blow my friend, a guy sucking me. and there was definitely Since then, Sam has a bit of convincing each blown me three more other that we were serious. times. My problem is When he started taking I am starting to feel his clothes off, I thought, guilty and worry I am ‘So this is going to happen.’ using Sam. He’s a very I have sucked him off four DAN SAVAGE good buddy, and I’m more times since then.” concerned this lopsided So does this lopsided sexual sexual arrangement might arrangement — blowing a straight be bad for our friendship. What boy who’s never going to blow him — should I do? bother Sam? TOTALLY HAVE RESERVATIONS OVER ADVANTAGE TAKING “I suppose it is a ‘lopsided sexual arrangement,’” said Sam. “But I don’t mind. Only one person knows how Sam feels I really like sucking dick and I’m really about this “lopsided sexual arrangement,” enjoying sucking his dick. He has a really THROAT, and it isn’t me — it’s Sam. nice dick! And from my perspective, we’re And that’s why I wrote you back, both having fun. And, yes, I’ve jacked off THROAT, and asked you for Sam’s contact thinking about it after each time I sucked information. Since you were clearly too him. I know — now — that he thinks it is afraid to ask Sam yourself, I offered to ask a bit unfair to me. But I don’t feel that way Sam on your behalf. You sent me Sam’s at all.” contact info, and a few minutes later I was So there is something in it for Sam. You chatting with Sam. get the blowjobs, THROAT, and Sam gets the “Yes, I have been sucking my straight spank-bankable memories. friend’s cock,” Sam said to me. “And I am Write to mail@savagelove.net; follow @ flattered he told you I was good at it. That’s fakedansavage on Twitter an ego booster!”
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SOLUTION TO THIS WEEK'S PUZZLE
LIBRA (September 23 ARIES (March 21 to
April 19) Before you adventurous Arians charge right into those new projects, take a little time to learn where you’ll be going so you can avoid getting lost before you get there.
to October 22) It’s a good time to let those favorable comments about your business dealings be known to those in a position to be helpful. Don’t hide your light; let it shine.
SCORPIO
(October 23 to November 21) Avoid added pressure to finish a project on deadline by steering clear of distractions. To put it somewhat poetically: Time for fun -- when your tasks are done.
TAURUS (April 20
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to May 20) Your time is devoted to career demands through much of the week. But Venus, who rules your sign, might be planning how (and with whom) you’ll spend your weekend.
GEMINI (May 21
to June 20) Don’t be put off by the surprising turn in the way your project is developing. You’ve invested enough time in it to know how to make all the necessary adjustments.
CANCER (June 21
to July 22) The work week goes smoothly for the most part. But a weekend visit to a place in your past could hold surprises for your future, especially where romance is involved.
LEO (July 23 to August 22)
A sudden attack of shyness for the usually loquacious Lion could be a sign that deep down you’re not sure enough about what (or whom) you had planned to talk up in public.
VIRGO (August 23 to
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September 22) Deal with that job-related problem on-site -- that is, at the workplace. Avoid taking it home, where it can spoil those important personal plans you’ve made.
SAGIT TARIUS
(November 22 to December 21) You might be uneasy about an offer from a longtime colleague. But before you reject it, study it. You might be surprised at what it actually contains.
CAPRICORN (December
22 to January 19) Deal firmly with a difficult family matter. It’s your strength they need right now. You can show your emotions when the situation begins to ease up.
AQUARIUS
(January 20 to February 18) A recent dispute with some coworkers might not have been completely resolved. But other colleagues will be only too happy to offer support of your actions.
PISCES (February 19
to March 20) Let go of that Piscean pride long enough to allow someone to help you with a surprising development. That could make it easier for you to adjust to the change.
BORN THIS WEEK Your willingness to open up to possibilities is why people like you are often among our most popular political leaders.
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