2018 7 Issue 7 Creative Loafing Charlotte by Creative Loafing Charlotte

CLCLT.COM CLCLT.COM | MARCH | APRIL 17 - MARCH 5 - APRIL23,11,2016 2018VOL. VOL.30, 32,NO. NO.047

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EDITORIAL

NEWS EDITOR • Ryan Pitkin rpitkin@clclt.com FILM CRITIC • Matt Brunson mattonmovies@gmail.com THEATER CRITIC • Perry Tannenbaum perrytannenbaum@gmail.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS • Erin Tracy-Blackwood, Allison Braden, Catherine Brown, Konata Edwards, Jeff Hahne, Vanessa Infanzon, Alison Leininger, Ari LeVaux, Kia O. Moore, Grey Revell, Dan Savage, Debra Renee Seth, Aerin Spruill,

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Creative Loafing © is published by CL, LLC 1000 NC Music Factory Blvd., Suite C-2, Charlotte, NC 28206. Periodicals Postage Paid at Charlotte, NC. Creative Loafing welcomes submissions of all kinds. Efforts will be made to return those with a self-addressed stamped envelope; however Creative Loafing assumes no responsibility for unsolicited submissions. Creative Loafing is published every Wednesday by Womack Newspapers, Inc. No portion may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher. First copy is free, all additional copies are $1. Copyright 2015 Womack Newspapers, Inc. CREATIVE LOAFING IS PRINTED ON A 90% RECYCLED STOCK. IT MAY BE RECYCLED FURTHER; PLEASE DO YOUR PART.

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PHOTO BY DARIA SERDTSEVA

Roll around town with your pup for Charlotte Brewery Tours’ Pup Crawl on Sunday, April 8, starting at Lucky Dog Bark & Brew Charlotte.

We put out weekly 8

NEWS&CULTURE TWEAKED Charlotte may not be street-skating friendly, but when all is said and done, skaters gonna skate BY JON GUNN 10 NEWS OF THE WEIRD 11 THE BLOTTER BY RYAN PITKIN

FOOD&DRINK LITTLESPOON GOES SPLIT-PERSONALITY Homey brunch by

day, meticulous Mexican at night BY ALEXANDRIA SANDS

14 16

TOP 10 THINGS TO DO THIS WEEK

MUSIC ES LA VERDAD Rapper Indigo Jo’s truth is subject to revision BY EMIENE WRIGHT 18 MUSICMAKER: CELESTE MOONCHILD BY MARK KEMP 19 SPONSORED CONTENT: CHARLEY CROCKETT 20 SOUNDBOARD

ARTS&ENT A SMART ALTERNATIVE Can a one-night pop-up art show shake up Charlotte’s art scene?

BY PAT MORAN 25 FILM REVIEW BY MATT BRUNSON

ODDS&ENDS 26 NIGHTLIFE BY AERIN SPRUILL 27 CROSSWORD 28 SAVAGE LOVE BY DAN SAVAGE 30 SALOME’S STARS

GO TO CLCLT.COM FOR VIDEOS, PODCASTS AND MORE!

COVER DESIGN BY DANA VINDIGNI

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sponsored content

In honor of Charlotte craft beer week, find these at Moo and Brew 2018! Abita Brewing: Hop-On

Abita Hop-On is a full-bodied “juicy pale,” packed with Cascade, Citra and Ekuanot hops to deliver refreshing tropical and citrus notes. It pours a vibrant light gold while the unique brewing process produces a distinctive haze. It’s also super food-friendly, great with seafood ceviche, fresh fruit or a nice aged cheddar. Give Hop-On a try and enjoy our brewmaster’s latest journey.

Phone number: (800) 737-2311 @abitabeer

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Bold Rock Cider:Carolina Apple Crisp and refreshing, in this expertly crafted blend of Carolina apples, the green apple taste of Granny Smith comes through in every sip. Its slightly higher acidity and sparkling effervescence give it liveliness that dances on the tongue.

Address: 72 School House Rd, Mills River, NC 28759 Phone number: (828) 595-9940 @boldrockhardcider

@BoldRockHardCider

Olde Mecklenburg Brewery: Hornet’s Nest This opaque, subtly sweet Hefeweizen is OMB’s tribute to Charlotte history: Hornet’s Nest is the nickname England’s General Cornwallis gave Charlotte when he met more resistance here than anticipated during the Revolutionary War. Drinkable but complex, Hornet’s Nest is a traditional Hefeweizen with notes of banana.

Address: 4150 Yancey Rd, Charlotte, NC 28217 Phone number: (704) 525-5644 @oldemeckbrew

@OldeMeckBrewery

Southern Range Brewing: Hopsequences A juicy New England style IPA brewed with Citra, Mosaic and Idaho 7 hops.

Address: 151 S Stewart St, Monroe, NC 28112 Phone number: (704) 289-4049 @southern_range

@southernrangebrewing

CLCLT.COM | APR. 5 - APR. 11, 2018 | 7

PHOTO BY BRIAN TWITTY

NEWS

COVERSTORY

TWEAKED

Charlotte may not be street-skating friendly, but when all is said and done, skaters gonna skate BY JON GUNN

“COMING FROM AN AFRICAN-AMERICAN HOUSEHOLD, EVERYBODY PLAYED BASKETBALL, BASEBALL AND FOOTBALL. I WASN’T GOOD AT ANY OF THEM. I STEPPED ON A SKATEBOARD . . . THE FIRST DAY AND KNEW SKATEBOARDING WAS WHERE IT WAS AT.” WILLIAM DAUGHTRY II

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T WAS AN INSANE skateboard jump no one had ever made. William Daughtry II landed “Death Gap,” and he did it with epic flair. The first time the 20-year-old tried making the gap, it was 1:30 a.m. He snapped the tail off his board in one attempt, snapped the nose on another. He borrowed his friend’s board and snapped it in half. Daughtry and his crew returned to the Uptown spot near the Mecklenburg County Courthouse, and Daughtry successfully made the jump, skating off an 8-foot-tall wall, doing a 180-turn while sailing over an 8-foot gap — as well as over an approaching security guard — and landing on a 3-foot-tall wall. Epic flair. “I ended up trying it 40 times,” Daughtry says. “By the time I was done, I couldn’t walk. My friend had to carry me off the spot. “It was special to me because in every aspect of my life, I like doing things people won’t do. I don’t like following people. Most of the gaps I’ve hit in Charlotte, nine out of 10, nobody else has hit.” Street skating, where skaters perform tricks up, on and over manmade hardscapes, is hugely popular (it’s in the 2020 Olympics), and Charlotte has a vibrant and growing street-skating scene. The Queen City, however, is not streetskating friendly — by any stretch. Authorities post no-skating signs, hire private security and install a wide-variety of metal bars and knobs on just about every exterior surface — all in an effort to thwart street skaters. “You just get in and get out,” 20-year-old skater Steven Lopez says of hitting a spot. “You do your trick and you go. If security comes, you ask if you can get a couple more tries. If they say no, you wait for another day. “If you don’t, they’re coming after you. I’ve had my friends chased and tackled.” It’s a battle that plays out every day: no-skateboarding proponents versus the skateboarding-is-not-a-crime set. “OK, some kids don’t seem to have the best attitudes,” says Patrick Carroll, co-owner of Armada Skate Shop in Plaza Midwood. “One of them just cut you off in traffic on a skateboard, gave you the finger and all that stuff. They’re raggedy and this and that. Skateboarders are cantankerous, loud and obnoxious. “But if you put that aside, strip it down and look at someone who knows what they are doing, it’s very remarkable. But it’s hard to translate that for everybody else who may just see this kid making noise going down the sidewalk or who scuffed up his property because he jumped up on a rail and slid down it.” Despite what the mainstream public may or may not think about skateboarders, they

are attracted to it in the same way others are attracted to activities like soccer, hockey or dance. “Coming from an African-American household, everybody played basketball, baseball, and football,” Daughtry says. “I wasn’t good at any of them. I stepped on a skateboard, I remember I was decked out in my SpongeBob pads, and I jumped off a curb the first day and knew skateboarding was where it was at.” For 15-year-old Georgia Martin, a top local skater and freshman at Myers Park High School, skateboarding resonated with her on several levels. “I got into it when I was 10,” Martin says. “I’ve just always been different, I kind of stood out. My friends at the time were kind of like that. We saw skateboarding and we were like, ‘Oh my God, dude. We’ve got to get into this.’ “Whenever I am stressed out or have something on my mind, I just go out and skate.” Watch skating, or better yet give it a try, and you quickly discover the athletic ability required to do anything other than fall. But street skaters consider it to be more artistic expression than sport. “It’s hard to get others to see the artistic aesthetic of skating,” Carroll says. “It’s performance art.” For this and many other reasons, street skaters will risk being accosted or arrested to skate a spot. They just can’t get the same satisfaction skating venues like Charlotte’s Grayson SkatePark on the east side. “You can do whatever you want; there are no rules,” 24-year-old Dyshon Whidbee says of street skating. “You can just see a set of stairs and skate down it and try any trick you want instead of there being a lot of rules and regulations to it. “Anything that you can put your own spark on it, I think is an art form. “The parks are smooth and perfected, which makes skating easier. I like the difficulty of street skating because you have to figure out how to get past a crack or something that is just in the way. Skateparks can get boring after a while. With street skating, you can travel anywhere and just do it. It’s unlimited.”

TO AVOID THE HASSLE associated with

skating buildings, sidewalks or schools, a popular alternative for street skaters is the do-it-yourself skate spot. Skaters will find the foundation of an abandoned building, claim it without permission and build cement ramps, ledges and curbs. The installations mimic what skaters may encounter while riding on the street as well

Above: Patrick Carroll of Armada Skate Shop; right: Georgia Martin in actiont. as at skateparks, and they are less likely to get kicked out. “They are tired of waiting around for people to tell them that they can’t do it when they have been doing it for years,” Jake Phelps, the longtime editor of Thrasher magazine, says of DIY spots. “We’ve been building stuff, we know how to make concrete, we’re going under the bridges, we’re making shit happen. That’s what we do. We’re skateboard people. We see it, we want it, we do it. “A lot of times, these kids, they get a skatepark passed, and by the time they get the skatepark built, they’re already done with college and moved on with their lives. “It’s like, ‘Where were you when I was a kid?’” There are DIY skate spots like Burnside in Portland, Oregon, that have become so well-established that cities grant skaters permission to continue using the property. But the biggest risk for most DIY spots is that, despite all the work that goes into creating and maintaining them, they can get demolished in an instant. There was a DIY spot on Independence Boulevard on the foundation of an old Camelot Records store. It got leveled. Another crew built a popular little DIY spot under a bridge in NoDa. It got leveled. For years, Charlotte skaters convened at a DIY spot on Albemarle Road in east Charlotte. The spot was built atop the foundation of a demolished Uptons department store. Over time, nearly a dozen installations were built on the spot, and skaters loved it. It got leveled in the spring of 2015. “When ‘Albi’ was torn down, it took a lot of wind out of a lot of these kids’ sails,” Carroll says. “It does suck when that happens; it’s very disheartening.” Not long after the Albemarle spot was demolished, a small crew of older skaters took action. “Someone called me and told me that happened,” says Stephen, a 37-year-old skater who requested his last name not be used. “I went straight up there and salvaged any metal, steel and coping I could reuse.”

PHOTOS BY BRIAN TWITTY

“WE’RE SKATEBOARD PEOPLE. WE SEE IT, WE WANT IT, WE DO IT.” JAKE PHELPS, EDITOR OF ‘THRASHER’

Stephen stashed the metal — which is used for the tops of ramps, ledges, and walls — under some shrubs in a corner of the 80-acre parcel that had been home to the Eastland Mall — which opened in 1975, closed in 2010, was purchased by the city in 2012, and demolished. Later, when Stephen and his friends started thinking of places to build a new DIY spot, they settled on a foundation of what had been a Hollywood Video store adjacent to the Eastland site on Central Avenue. The roughly 8,000-square-foot cement foundation was perfect for a DIY spot. “We brought a bunch of blocks over there just

to see how it would go,” Stephen says. “No one touched them for like a week. We went ahead and built the thing — me and a couple friends. We went to town on it, taking it slow. “Every month or two, we would build something new,” Stephen adds. “That was two years ago.” Stephen and his friends have since poured an estimated $5,000 and countless man hours into transforming the location from nothing to the hottest street-skating spot in Charlotte. On any given weeknight or weekend, up to a dozen or more skaters of all ages can be seen shredding the Eastland foundation spot and its dozen installations.

“A lot of it is very low impact, chill,” Stephen says of his creation. “I’m old and some of my friends who skate are in their 40s. We were like, ‘Let’s just build something we would like to skate.’ “I designed it so it would have a flow to it,” he says. “You can whip around this thing in circles all day — have obstacles to hit, keep your speed up, and keep moving. It worked out good; I’m pretty stoked on it.” Unlike the foundation spot on Albemarle Road, which proved impossible to keep clean and graffiti free, the Eastland crew works to keep this spot as clean as they can. Local skate shops like Armada and Black CLCLT.COM | APR. 5 - APR. 11, 2018 | 9

NEWS

NEWS OF THE WEIRD

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT Police in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, appealed to the public for help in late March tracking down a most unusual perpetrator. “Over the past year and a half,” the department posted on its Facebook page, “someone has been clogging the women’s toilet (at the Deland Community Center) with a 20-ounce soda bottle. This is very strange ... and gross.” The Sheboygan Press reported that the string of more than 25 incidents began in 2016. Joe Kerlin, the city’s parks and forestry superintendent, says the suspect is likely an adult male, based on security camera footage from outside the restroom. The city’s resulting plumbing bills have totaled between $2,000 and $3,000.

A TRUE MIRACLE Shoppers at the PHOTO BY BRIAN TWITTY

Dyshon Whidbee skates between a rock and a hard place.

“IT’S PERFORMANCE ART.” PATRICK CARROLL, CO-OWNER OF ARMADA SKATE SHOP

The crew — Daughtry, Steven Lopez, Whidbee, Martin and Carroll — hanging out at the Eastland Mall spot. Sheep raise funds for the Eastland spot. Carroll’s shop sells decals of the old Eastland Mall sunburst logo originally designed by Alfred Kloke, and the proceeds go to help support Eastland. With all the time and money that has gone into Eastland, skaters are hoping the city, which has struggled to find a use for the parcel, will sanction the tiny spot and allow it to remain. “The biggest fear is it getting torn out,” Stephen says. “I think the city doesn’t mind because it helps keep a lot of the kids out of the street skating, which is never going to change, though. Kids are still going to skate in the street; I still skate in the street. “This provides a place where skaters can 10 | APR. 5 - APR. 11, 2018 | CLCLT.COM

PHOTO BY SHEA B. ALEXANDER

come, hang out, do what we’re doing, not be bothered, and we’re not bothering anybody.” If the Eastland DIY spot is demolished, don’t think for a second Charlotte skaters won’t go hunting for another foundation to build and skate. “If Eastland is torn down today, I guarantee you we’ll have something built up within three months,” Carroll says. “Your passion for skating isn’t going to die because a spot isn’t there any longer. “It’s a need. When you step on that skateboard and you start to progress, you are received by the family, and it’s your source of joy, almost nothing will stop you from skating.” BACKTALK@CLCLT.COM

Miracle Mile Shopping Center in Monroeville, Pennsylvania, got more than they bargained for on April 8, 2017, as model Chelsea Guerra, 22, of Indiana Borough and photographer Michael Warnock, 64, of Point Breeze conducted a nude photo shoot around 11 a.m. According to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, as Warnock took photos and families looked on, Guerra walked around and posed wearing only thighhigh black stockings and high-heeled shoes. In early March of this year, Guerra and Warnock pleaded guilty to misdemeanor disorderly conduct after other charges were dropped, and paid a $300 fine. “My nude modeling is honest work,” Guerra said, “and I use it mostly to fund my college career.”

CRIMINALITY Ruan Rocha da Silva, 18, was caught in late March trying to steal five cans of deodorant from a supermarket in Sao Paulo, Brazil. His prominent tattoo might have given him away: A year ago, after Silva tried to steal a bike from Maycon Wesley Carvalho, 27, and Ronildo Moreira de Araujo, 29, the two men forcibly tattooed Silva’s forehead with the words “I am a thief and an idiot.” The Daily Mail reported that Carvalho and Araujo were caught after filming themselves inking Silva’s forehead and sending the video to friends; both were sentenced to jail time. Silva is out on bail, awaiting trial for shoplifting.

INEXPLICABLE

Eastern Michigan University student Andrew (who didn’t give a last name), 22, wasn’t making any kind of statement or protesting any government action (or lack thereof) on March 12 when he filled a pothole in Trenton with a whole box of Lucky Charms and a gallon of milk. Andrew then lay on the road with a spoon and ate the cereal out of the pothole. “I don’t know where the inspiration came from, but when it hit me, I knew it was a good idea,” Andrew told MLive.com. “It tasted great. If I was blindfolded, I wouldn’t know if it was a pothole or a bowl.”

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS Italian

chef Fabio Picchi has offered three American exchange students in Florence a four-hour cooking lesson after the women tried to cook pasta in a pot without water on March 18. The pasta burst into flames within minutes, and firefighters were summoned to put out the fire. “We thought it was cooked like that,” one of the students told La Nazione. “They will have lunch in our restaurant with two of my extraordinary cooks,” Picchi said. “I think this can be useful to them, but also to us. Understanding is always ... what is beautiful and necessary.”

OVERACHIEVER It was lucky 13 for Hot

Springs, Arkansas, resident Patricia Ann Clanton, 55, as she was charged with her 13th felony DWI on March 26. Garland County Sheriff’s Deputy Richard Garrett stopped to check on a Chevrolet Monte Carlo parked in the lot of Buddy Bean Lumber Co. around 1 a.m. on March 26, reported the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. An assisting officer noticed a strong smell of intoxicants and asked Clanton and her passenger to get out of the car. Clanton refused a field sobriety test but agreed to a Breathalyzer, which registered her blood alcohol level at more than twice the legal limit. Nevertheless, she entered an innocent plea in Garland County District Court. Since 1994, Clanton has been convicted of driving drunk in various Arkansas jurisdictions and served jail time. COPYRIGHT 2017 ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION

Account Sales Representative Womack Publishing, is seeking a creative Account Sales Representative for several newspapers in North Carolina to promote and market the business community through our products in print and online. A college degree is preferred but not required. A good work ethic, positive attitude and willingness to be part of a team will be an important consideration in selecting a candidate for this position. If you enjoy meeting people, this may be the perfect opportunity for you. Womack Publishing offers a competitive salary and a full benefit program. Womack Publishing is a family owned, growing multimedia company that publishes 19 regional newspapers. Please send your resume to: Ron Cox, Human Resource Manager, P.O. Box 111, 30 N. Main Street, Chatham VA or to rcox@womackpublishing.com

NEWS

BLOTTER

BY RYAN PITKIN

BURY THE HATCHET PSA: Do not fuck

with Goodwill employees. A thief in the Ballantyne area learned this the hard way last week when an employee stopped him in his tracks despite the fact that he was holding a weapon. According to the report, the suspect shoplifted seven pairs of shoes and a hatchet from a Goodwill store on Lancaster Highway. Despite the fact that the man was now armed with a hatchet, an employee chased him into the parking lot and detained him until police arrived. Give that man a raise.

‘TWAS ALL IN VEIN The fun thing about the Blotter is that, while for the most part the same shit happens on a day-to-day basis that was happening in these pages 30 years ago, there’s always going to be something that happens every week that you’ve just never seen before. Such was the case in Dilworth last week, when a woman was assaulted with something we’ve never seen used as a weapon. The victim in this case was working as a paramedic at Carolinas Medical Center when the suspect “threw a medical IV at her,” hitting her in the right arm. The victim was unharmed, but the suspect will regret ever tossing an IV at anyone, as they’ve now been charged with assault with a deadly weapon on emergency personnel, which carries no small sentence. TANTRUM TIME A 65-year-old woman suffered minor injuries last week after a woman attacked her in a convenience store and then attacked the store itself. Witnesses told police that the suspect got into an argument with the victim at a BP on The Plaza, then assaulted her. After the assault, the woman stayed on the scene for around six minutes before continuing on her rampage, doing $300 in damage to a Red Bull storage display. Before leaving the business, the suspect grabbed a $25 dollar bottle of wine, then left without paying for it. DO-NOT A similar incident occurred at a

convenience store in west Charlotte on the same morning that the above-mentioned incident took place. A 34-year-old man working at a 7-Eleven on Beatties Ford Road told police that a suspect walked out of the business with $5 worth of donuts without paying for them at around 6 a.m. The employee did not give chase, but he would run into the thieving suspect again when he went to take the trash out, at which the time the suspect, who was standing by the dumpster, threw a can at him and hit him in the arm.

. NO GOOD DEED Last week, we reported on

a man who was carjacked after pulling over to offer a ride to a man walking down I-485. The trend continues this week as another Good Samaritan was victimized after trying to help someone. The 23-year-old woman in this case told police that she and her boyfriend

had stopped to assist a stranded motorist in University City, driving them to the gas station to get gas and then returning them to their car. She soon thereafter found that someone was using her credit card at various locations she had never been to, and that’s how she learned that the person she had helped had stolen her credit card while riding in her car.

THE HANGOVER A 28-year-old man from Concord found himself piecing together the night of his bachelor party last week, which is not all that unusual, except for the fact that he didn’t even drink enough to get drunk. The man told police he went Strike City at the EpiCentre in Uptown Charlotte for bachelor festivities on a Friday night, but after just one hour and one single drink he blacked out and, according to the report, “the next clear memory he has was the following morning about 2:30 or 3 a.m. at his house with one of his friends.” The man went to his doctor the following Monday and was tested for drugs, for which the results were positive, although the report does not state what drugs he was given, exactly. He filed a police report and notified his employer, the Air National Guard, so as not to lose his job for failing an upcoming drug test. NOSTALGIA A woman was doing some spring cleaning around her house in east Charlotte last week and found something she’d rather forget. It was sort of like when Facebook’s “Memories” feature shows you an old picture of an ex-spouse as if it’s something that you’d recall fondly. The 64-year-old woman filed a police report and stated that she was cleaning her house when she found a bullet dug into the outside wall. She said she believed the bullet probably hit her house about two years ago when some people were shooting it out in her neighborhood, but she still wanted the crime documented, as it did $150 in damage to her siding. LIGHTS OUT A car burglar broke into a 33-year-old man’s Kia Optima in Uptown Charlotte last week, and perhaps they thought that if they kept the victim in the dark about it, they would never be found out. The victim told police that the thief stole $80 in cash from the car and then removed the dome light from the top of the car’s interior. TRASHED A 37-year-old woman turned to

police after finding what looked to be the work of some child vandals but turned out to involve children in an entirely different manner. The woman told police that someone had damaged both her mailbox and trash can, and she thought someone had done it purposefully until she talked to a neighbor who said that a Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools bus had hit her property and kept on driving. All stories are pulled from police reports at CMPD headquarters. Suspects are innocent until proven guilty. CLCLT.COM | APR. 5 - APR. 11, 2018 | 11

FOOD

FEATURE

The new bar at littleSpoon serves up fresh-squeezed concoctions.

PHOTO BY ALEXANDRIA SANDS

LITTLESPOON GOES SPLITPERSONALITY Homey brunch by day, meticulous Mexican at night BY ALEXANDRIA SANDS

OR A WHOLE eight weeks, Myers Park residents and folks from all around the city had to go without their beloved littleSpoon, but the hip-hop brunch spot has returned, and it brought a friend. In January, the restaurant’s’ owner Alesha Stegemeyer closed littleSpoon for renovations and transformed it into a two-in-one restaurant. Comida, an upscale Mexican restaurant, hadn’t been doing as well in Plaza Midwood, where it had taken over the iconic Penguin building. “I think the neighborhood expectation of what we were and our expectations of the neighborhood weren’t meshing,” she said. Plaza Midwood residents were apparently not feeling the Comida vibes, and since many littleSpoon fans were making the trip across town to support the restaurant, Stegemeyer figured she would bring it to them. From 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., the space is still the cozy-but-modern brunch spot that regulars love. People hang out, drinking coffee from handleless mugs and eating the creations of chef Kyle Allen while listening to ‘90s hip-hop artists like NWA, Biggie and Tupac. But when the sun sets, the area transforms into Comida. Lights dim, tables are dressed up and the music switches to Brazilian. The littleSpoon fans who never did make the trek to Plaza Midwood are now tasting Comida for the first time, after years of urging Stegmeyer to start serving dinner in that space. The renovations included a new bar, which serves mimosas and Bloody Marys by day and “the best margaritas in town” by night. Like their food, the drinks are all housemade. “If we can’t squeeze it, then we don’t pour it,” Stegemeyer said. “You won’t find a soda bar behind our bar. You won’t find store bought orange juice. Everything is squeezed fresh.” They also made changes to the kitchen and dining room. The transition was simple and beneficial for the staff, especially to each restaurant’s chef, who now work off each other for inspiration, Stegemeyer said. It’s also a win for her, as she now only manages one space, just a bike ride from her house. The temporary closing didn’t mean 12 | APR. 5 - APR. 11, 2018 | CLCLT.COM

“People love the fact that we play hip-hop ... It wouldn’t be the same space without it.” ALESHA STEGEMEYER, OWNER OF LITTLESPOON EATERY the crew was off duty, however. Stegemeyer organized for her staff to travel the country and learn from different restaurants and bars, so they could bring the knowledge back and improve the restaurants. She took Comida chef Christina Bradshaw and general manager Laura Esparza to New York to visit Atla and Cosme, two restaurants owned by prodigy female chef Daniela SotoInnes, and to Union Square Cafe, which is known for notable service. “I think that experiencing great dining and food is the best way to be inspired,” Stegemeyer said. She spent 48 hours in Los Angeles taking Allen to specific restaurants she wanted him to experience. “The style on the West Coast is very different than what’s happening on the East Coast,” she said. “I wanted him to be influenced by the changes in the movement that were happening there.” The staff takes occasional local field trips as well. On one upcoming day, the staff will work on the farms that they source their ingredients from. “It’s important to see where it comes from to appreciate and value the hard work and the man-hours that make up each individual either head of lettuce or the hydroponically grown tomatoes,” she said. Both littleSpoon and Comida try their best to support local farms and artisans. Sometimes the farmers grow unfamiliar foods, which Allen researches and experiments with.

“It helps you grow as a chef and it helps him grow as a farmer as well,” he said. You can find Allen in the kitchen, proudly sporting his Wu-Tang Clan hat. It’s only his second hat in eight years. Stegemeyer gifted him a new one for his 30th birthday to replace the tattered one he’d worn since 2008. Hip-hop is a passion Allen and Stegemeyer share. She grew up listening to artists like A Tribe Called Quest, Jurassic 5 and Digable Planets in school and still listens to it every day in her restaurant. Although you wouldn’t expect it from a chic brunch spot, the music fits surprisingly well. However, there was initially some push back when she opened the restaurant. Myers Park is the last place you’d expect to walk into a nice little brunch spot and hear a tune from Nas’ Illmatic. “I think if you’re going to build something and you’re going to build a brand then you have to stick to your guns,” she said. “And now, people love the fact that we play hiphop. My staff loves the fact that we play hiphop. I love [it]. It wouldn’t be the same space without it.” Stegemeyer was 15 when she first started working in the restaurant business. Before launching littleSpoon, she worked in television as a set decorator, food stylist and culinary producer, but after 10 years she wanted something new. Just in time, she met her husband and they dated long distance from California until she moved to Charlotte so they could be together. At the time, she

PHOTO COURTESY OF LITTLESPOON

The famous thick-cut bacon from littleSpoon with some french toast and milk was experimenting with recipes for a pie shop, but eventually the plans developed into what littleSpoon is today. “We just wanted to build restaurants where we wanted to hang out,” she said. “Charlotte is a really young, growing city. I’m from a larger market so I had different expectations of what I wanted breakfast to be and look like.” Some of their most popular dishes are the livermush, chicken biscuits and thick slabs of house-cured bacon. But the menu changes quarterly, as foods go in and out of season. For the reopening, they added crispy rice, breakfast tacos and avocado toast (adding Comida to the space has given Allen more ingredients to work with, like avocados). Stegemeyer describes the chewy chips the restaurant serves as “crack.” They’re partially fried, making them crispy on the outside and chewy in the middle. They also serve tacos, tamales and different meats like duck and pork. Comida opened two years ago in the old Penguin building, when littleSpoon was two years old. Stegemeyer said she missed Southern California Mexican food, where the cuisine is broken into regions and much different from the Tex-Mex that Charlotte is accustomed to. “It was the one cuisine — I’ve been here

LITTLE SPOON/COMIDA littleSpoon: Closed Monday, Tues.Sun., 8 a.m.-3 p.m.; Comida: Closed Sunday, Mon..-Sat., 5-10 p.m.; 2820 Selwyn Ave. Suite 180. 704-4969908. littlespooneatery.com; comidaclt.com

PHOTO BY ALEXANDRIA SANDS

Kyle Allen, chef at littleSpoon

five years now — where I just missed it,” she said. “The restaurants that are here are great and they’re wonderful but it wasn’t hitting that spot for me.” At both restaurants, diners are encouraged to order a few different items to get a real taste of the flavorful, bright and ingredient-detailed menus. With every bite, you taste the hard work of a farmer, creativity of a chef and Los Angeles vibes of the owner. And if you enjoy the brunch, you can always come back for dinner. After all, it’s a whole new restaurant.

CLCLT.COM | APR. 5 - APR. 11, 2018 | 13

THURSDAY

GUNNA What: There comes a time in every mother’s life when she has to push her baby out of the nest and let it fly. That may be what’s happening between Gunna and his mentor Young Thug. Not only did Thug release two of Gunna’s projects on his label, YSL, but he also gave Gunna his first major feature on the track “Floyd Mayweather.” Thug even brought Gunna on three tours with him. Now, Gunna is spreading his wings and flying off on his own tour, all the way to The Underground. When: 8 p.m. Where: The Underground, 820 Hamilton St. More: $18. fillmorenc.com

14 | APR. 5 - APR. 11, 2018 | CLCLT.COM

FRIDAY

THINGS TO DO

TOP TEN

Lil Skies SATURDAY PHOTO COURTESY OF THE FILLMORE

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

GENDERFUSION

‘RITE OF SPRING’

VBGB FIELD DAY

LIL SKIES

What: Charlotte’s LGBTQIA community has a ton of talent, and Genderfusion gives those folks a chance to share it. This variety show will feature live music, dancing, drag, lip syncing and other performances, all for a good cause. Proceeds will go to Transcend Charlotte, a local transgender advocacy and support group. Everyone is welcome, but a organizers hope to see plenty of trans and non-binary folks in the audience.

What: When Igor Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring premiered in Paris in 1913, its outrageous costumes and shocking choreography nearly sparked a riot. Since then, the ballet score has become revered and “safe.” Now Charlotte Symphony and Charlotte Ballet blow that complacency out of the water with a reimagined Rite. It may not be as revolutionary as the Paris debut, but don’t expect springtime butterflies and fluffy bunnies.

What: As a child, we all had that one day a year when we were actually excited for school. That day was the eagerly anticipated field day. Why does the fun have to stop just because most of us graduated elementary school? You’re never too old for propelling a water balloon, running with an egg on a spoon or the good ol’ dizzy bat relay race — all with a fresh pint in hand. Pick your most competitive drinking buddies to form a winning team.

When: 7 p.m. Where: Petra’s, 1919 Commonwealth Ave. More: $10-15. neighborhoodtheatre.com

When: 7:30 p.m. Where: Belk Theater, 130 North Tryon St. More: $19 and up. blumenthalarts.org

When: 11 a.m. Where: VBGB Beer Hall & Garden, 920 Hamilton St. More: $100 per team. vbgbuptown.com

What: In an interview with Billboard earlier this year, 19-yearold rapper Lil Skies said that he got his many face tattoos just to ensure that he would never land a day job, driving him to work that much harder on his rap game. At least for the time being, it seems to be working, as Skies found his new album, Life of a Dark Rose, at 10 on the Billboard 200 in January, and the kids love him. But we hope he’s aware that the stardom, like all things (save for his tats), will one day fade. When: 7 p.m. Where:The Fillmore, 820 Hamilton St. More: $25. fillmorenc.com

NEWS ARTS FOOD MUSIC ODDS

Gunna THURSDAY

Sierra Hull TUESDAY PHOTO COURTESY OF SIERRA HULL

SATURDAY

SARAH SHOOK AND THE DISARMERS What: This is not the country music you’ll find on the radio.Call it country punk, alt-country, etc., it’s some badass shit whatever way you slice it. Coming out of Garner and fueled by whiskey and cigarettes, Shook’s outlaw twang is anything but disarming, but that’s the way we like it. The band’s new LP, Years, cements their spot as one of the best country bands in the States, and a home-state show makes it all the better. When: 7 p.m. Where: Neighborhood Theatre, 511 E. 36th St. More: $10-13. neighborhoodtheatre.com

SUNDAY

PUP CRAWL What: There are two rules one must follow to be a true Charlottean. For starters, Charlotteans love breweries. Secondly, they bring their dogs everywhere. This Charlotte Brewery Tour event mixes the two, and was so popular, they booked a second tour. The first afternoon tour will start at Lucky Dog then swing across town to Resident Culture and Birdsog Brewing before returning. The later tour replaces the Resident Culture stop with Blue Blaze in west Charlotte. All aboard. When: 1:15 p.m.; 4:15 p.m. Where: Lucky Dog Bark & Brew Charlotte, 2220 Thrift Road More: $45. charlottebrewery.tours

TUESDAY

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE FILLMORE

TUESDAY

NEW SOUTH FOR THE NEW SOUTHERNER

WITNESS IN RESIDENCE INITIATIVE

What: One can’t overstate the importance of Edna Lewis to the country’s collective palate. Before passing away in 2006, Lewis introduced the world to Southern cooking with iconic cookbooks like The Taste of Southern Living. Author Sara Franklin will discuss her new book, Edna Lewis: At the Table with an American Original, a collection of essays from culinary heavyweights about one of the South’s best political activist chefs.

What: With a name made for the movies, Henderson Hill is known for winning the “unwinnable” cases and sparing the lives of criminals facing the death penalty. He’s brought his expertise to The Eighth Amendment Project, an organization that fights to end capital punishment, and now he’s bringing it to UNC Charlotte. Hill will discuss North Carolina’s use of the death penalty and how he thinks society should respond to egregious acts of violence.

When: 6-8 p.m. Where: Levine Museum of the New South, 200 E. 7th St. More: $20. museumofthenewsouth.org

When: 6:30-9:30 p.m. Where: UNC Charlotte Center City, 320 E. 9th St. More: Free. clas.uncc.edu/witness

TUESDAY

SIERRA HULL What: While still in grade school, Sierra Hull was tearing up the bluegrass festival circuit with her quicksilver mandolin playing. Now in her twenties, Hull continues to astound with her coruscating picking, but she has also blossomed as an exceptional songwriter, coupling acoustic jazz-influenced new grass with spare poetic lyrics where regret and sorrow duel with optimism. With diffidence and uncluttered virtuosity, Hull provides a soundtrack for her generation.

When: 7:30 p.m. Where: Duke Family Performance Hall, 207 Faculty Dr., Davidson More: $4.66 and up. davidson.edu

CLCLT.COM | APR. 5 - APR. 11, 2018 | 15

MUSIC

FEATURE

ES LA VERDAD Rapper Indigo Jo’s truth is subject to revision BY EMIENE WRIGHT

ALKING TO INDIGO JO is like being in the eye of a storm. The rapper formerly known as Joel Verdad is preternaturally calm, spiritual, but not in a heavy way. You just feel yourself preparing for a minor miracle or two. So it wasn’t a shock that he opened the interview with an anecdote about a street corner prophecy he received in a local bar. “I was in Common Market the other day and this guy just started preaching to me about [the late Doors singer] Jim Morrison, and him singing about the spiritual pathway of the Carolinas,” Jo said. “He had some really prophetic words about the city and where we are headed. I mean, he may have been crazy, but then again, who’s to say?” Indigo Jo has always been open to alternative messaging. He may have gotten it from his dad, a nondenominational preacher who encouraged him to start a rap group, HYPE (Holy Young People Excitement) Squad, when he was 10. But as he matured, his music became less dogmatic. “As an indigo child, we actually don’t conform too much to the old-time system of control. We are fluid, multi-talented. We think for ourselves. You try to control people when you can’t control yourself, when you don’t understand yourself. I started talking my truths more — more about myself and less about rule-bound Christianity. I realized I can reach people, I can touch people outside of church,” Jo said. If Jo — born Donovan Joel Long — ever worried about his family’s reception to his ideas, he needn’t have. His father was all for it, and the respect that already existed between them grew. But his father’s musical influence began long before, as a jazz head. “I have vivid memories of riding in the car, strapped into a car seat as a baby, with my dad listening to jazz,” Jo said. “In fact, Al Jarreau got me into hip-hop. It wasn’t like Tupac, even though I respect those guys. [Jarreau] introduced me to scatting and I said I wanted to do that.” The Carolina native is a Charlottean to the bone, growing up between his home in Monroe and his grandmother’s house off Beatties Ford Road. His ode to the west side, “CLT,” came from watching and understanding the lifestyles of friends and family in that area. “I’m talking about the lifestyle and the ‘hood where my family came from, even though my dad got us into a better environment by the time I came along,” Jo said. “But I started questioning why I think certain things, examining deeper themes about dark times and beginning to 16 | APR. 5 - APR. 11, 2018 | CLCLT.COM

Indigo Jo understand myself. Seeing things I once saw through new knowledge. It’s an ironic song, because the hook at the end says, ‘It still feels good to be free, roaming in the CLT, from the west side I reside, it feels good to be me.” As Verdad, Indigo performed on a lot of stages, working with producers from Sony and performing with Erykah Badu and Roy Ayers. “At the time I didn’t know I was hearing Ayers’ music all the time sampled in hip-hop,” he said. “Now knowing, he’s became one of my favorite artists. It was beautiful. But it was money-focused.” He released an EP called Hybrid but it was shelved due to trouble with the legal clearances. He changed his name during a spiritual progression, and confirmation from his friend and fellow CLT rapper Deniro Farrar just sealed the deal. “I am an indigo child,” Jo said with a smile.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF INDIGO JO

“Indigo is about truth. The blues are always true.”

LONG BEFORE INDIGO JO discovered

jazz, he took his original influences from literature, namely Shakespeare. The youngest of three siblings, he graduated from Hopewell High School, north of Charlotte, but put his college aspirations aside to pursue his growing love of punk, hip-hop, house music and soul. “Punk talks about the struggle, too, going against the system, Jo said. “Rage Against the Machine, System of a Down, Green Day, [and] of course the history of black punkers like Poly Styrene [of X-Ray Spex] and [D.C. hardcore pioneers] Bad Brains.” For inspiration, Indigo Jo looks to instrumentation for the musicality that’s reflected in his work. He plays the saxophone

and is learning guitar. As far as fueling his writing, hip-hop doesn’t do it. “House music helps me write,” he said. “It opens me up and makes me vulnerable, where I can connect with my thoughts. It’s the upbeat, feel-good sound.” That sound is evident in the breezy guitars that fuel such reflective Indigo Jo tracks as “N.A.S.A.” — which stands for “Not A Sing-Along,” not National Aeronautics and Space Administration — and “Beast Jo.” It’s also in the more upbeat “Church on TraXXX,” featuring Farrar, which Jo recorded in 2012 as Joel Verdad for his album Adolescent (Add-A- Lesson) Theory. That record featured contributions not just from Farrar, but also Shawn Dawg and Serenity Skyy. It’s that feel-good sound that is part of our Carolina music heritage, Jo insists. “It’s funny when we try to make music

“I AM AN INDIGO CHILD. INDIGO IS ABOUT TRUTH. THE BLUES ARE

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!"

ALWAYS TRUE.” INDIGO JO

that sounds like Atlanta or somewhere else that’s not us. It’s not our identity. That’s why we ain’t made it,” he said. “We’re like the last of the Mohicans. Ain’t nobody fucking with the Carolinas. That nurturing sound, that honesty and truth, is in Charlotte. Mecklenburg is the Mecca for a reason. If ain’t nobody else saying it, I’m saying it.”

INDIGO JO 7-9 p.m. April 10. Dupp&Swat, 2521 The Plaza. Free. tinyurl.com/IndigoJo

BACKTALK@CLCLT.COM

CLCLT.COM | APR. 5 - APR. 11, 2018 | 17

MUSIC

really comes into his own, the whole vibe in the room changes; everyone is very present. And that’s what I want this event to do – I want it to have a feeling of presentness. And he definitely does that, single-handedly.

MUSICMAKER

CALL HER MOONCHILD

So you moved to Charlotte seven years ago. Where are you from originally, and what brought you here? I’m from Zebulon, Georgia, but I grew up out in the country — Pike County. Culinary school brought me here; I came here to go to Johnson and Wales. I didn’t finish, but the only reason I left is because I became a sous chef at a restaurant, and working 80 hours and then going to school was not feasible anymore.

Celeste Fisher trades the blunts for a pair of dancing shoes BY MARK KEMP

ONE OF OUR FAVORITE denizens of

Charlotte’s hip-hop scene is a little hobbit named Celeste Fisher, more commonly known as Celeste MoonChild. She’s a fixture at shows and has recorded some dope sounds, both on her own and with local artists including Yung Citizen and Ricky Rogers. In last year’s 4/20 issue, Creative Loafing spotlighted a track she did with Rogers, “End of the FcKing Rainbow,” on our list of Top 10 Marijuana Songs by Charlotte Artists. Her latest sound is a far cry from stoner music, though. She’s currently working with Boomchld — the producer name of Blame the Youth drummer Kynadi Hankins — on a more dance-oriented project. MoonChild and Boomchld — along with Asheville guitarist Maddy Shuler — performed April 3 on a MoonChild-curated show at Kanvas that also included Deion Reverie and Indigo Jo (see music feature story this week.) We met up with the 25-year-old rapper and singer to talk about the show and get the scoop on her trio of upcoming singles.

difference between what you’re working with her and the stuff you’ve done with Ricky Rogers? Well, the music I’ve done with Ricky Rodgers is music where you’re just going to sit around and chill. This is more dance music. Whether it’s happy or serious — whatever the message behind the song is — it’s still dance music. I want you on your feet and getting the blood pumping; not just hearing the music, but also feeling the music. Can I assume we won’t be using this in our 4/20 issue, then? [laughs] Oh, I remember that! You put the one with me and Ricky and Krishon Krown. Um, no, this won’t be in the 4/20 issue. [laughs] I put out a project about three years ago that was like my first-time-ever experience of trying to put out music, and these new singles are kind of going back to those roots, where I talk about a lot of serious things, but in a way that’s very relatable to my audience.

Creative Loafing: What are you working on right now? Celeste MoonChild: I’m working on three singles — it was going to be an EP, but then I decided to just drop them as singles. I’m going to drop the first one on my birthday, April 16, and then a second one at the end of April, and then another one in May. The one on my birthday is called “Spring,” and the one I’m dropping at the end of April is called “Science,” and then the last one is called “Black Girl Magic.”

Who is your audience? I kind of see them as, like, twentysomething, indigo-child kind of people — just weird people in society, like the black sheep of society. That’s kind of like where my music has come back to.

Do they sound anything like the stuff you’ve done with previous producers? The reason it’s taken me so long to put out any new music is because my style has changed so much, and my ideas about what music is — what it is to me — has evolved. This is more electronic, more house-y, but still hip-hop. I still sing and I rap on all the tracks. Boomchld is my producer, and she makes these house/electronic/hip-hop-heavy beats. So “Spring” is like this happy springy song – just me trying to talk to a girl I think is cute. It’s just a cute and kitschy song about that. And then “Science” is more about me not being like the typical hip-hop girl, like Nikki Minaj, so it’s an answer to like: What do you expect me to do or be or to act like? Who do you think I am? So that song is like my answer to that. And then “Black Girl Magic” just kind of takes you on a little trip to the moon, talking about being a wonderful, sparkling black girl.

Do explain. Well, I love hip-hop in Charlotte. I’m very much in the community and I know just about everybody in hip-hop in Charlotte. But every show I go to it’s like rappers and a DJ, and there’s like four of them; or it’s a band and a singer; or it’s like an R&B singer and musicians. And I really like what LeAnna [Eden] has put together at Petra’s — more like variety shows, where you get a mix of all of that. But I wanted to do a hip-hop/R&Bfocused show that shows the different sides of hip-hop, where not every act is just a rapper and a DJ. Like Deion Reverie — I really like watching him play and seeing him make his music from scratch, in your face, and then playing with the music. It’s a lot more interactive. So I wanted to put together a show where you could see that and then also have people who are putting out really good messages in their hip-hop. That’s kind of what I wanted to do with this.

From the stuff Boomchld has done as Kynadi with Blame the Youth, I can almost hear the happy song you’re talking about — “Spring.” What’s the 18 | APR. 5 - APR. 11, 2018 | CLCLT.COM

What were you going for when you chose the lineup for the April 3 event? Well, I kind of wanted to put together a hiphop show that wasn’t a hip-hop show, if that makes any sense.

You had Indigo Jo on the bill, too. Why did you choose him? Well, one, he’s like my brother. I moved to

Celeste MoonChild

COURTESY OF CELESTE FISHER

Charlotte seven years ago, and I’ve known him for about six years. At that point I was just like a poet in a new city, and I didn’t really know that much or do that much, and I used to listen to him freestyle on beats in my living room. So listening to him do that and now seeing the progression of that and seeing what he says and the way he engages a crowd — it’s amazing. I’m all about someone who can create a vibe for listeners to be able to receive the message, and that’s what he does. I’ve seen almost every performance that he’s done, and no matter what the size of the crowd or the feeling in the room, as soon as he gets on that stage and takes command and

Do you still work in the food industry? Yeah, I work for Not Just Coffee — the Dilworth location. We just opened six months ago and I curated their entire food menu. Right now I’m working on the spring menu. Are you an awesome cook? Am I a what? An awful cook? An awesome cook. Oh! [laughs] Yeah, well, I think I am. I do a lot of farm-to-table vegan food. That’s my main focus. That, and making dance music with Boomchld. Yeah. MKEMP@CLCLT.COM

MUSIC

SPONSORED CONTENT

DAVY’S BOY Charley Crockett brings his own ‘Wild Frontier’ to Moo & Brew IF YOU’RE A MALE child of a certain age, grabbing a coon-skin cap and playing Davy Crockett, “King of the Wild Frontier,” was just part of the ritual of growing up. For Charley Crockett, it was a little more than that. True to his maverick ancestor’s reputation, the 32-year-old singer and songwriter resolved early on to be the king of his own wild frontier, breaking out of his hometown of San Benito, Texas, and traveling all over the United States and as far away as Spain and Morrocco. “I always feel the wanderer pulling at me, and I think that’s different than a frontiersmen’s spirit.” Crockett observes. “Being a professional musician is a way of staying out on the fringe and in the gray area, which is where I prefer to be.” Crockett recorded his fourth and latest album, Lonesome as a Shadow, in the studio at the legendary Sun Records in Memphis, and it showcases a range of Gulf Coast musical styles, from the blues to Cajun to Tex-Mex. He and his band the Blue Drifters will be appearing with Shovels & Rope at Creative Loafing’s Moo & Brew Craft Beer and Burger Festival at AvidXchange on Saturday, April 28. We reached out to Crockett to find out more about his legendary bloodline and, of course, his music. Your famous ancestry is well documented. Do you feel like having Davey Crockett in your DNA compelled you to make some of the choices you’ve made in life? What I’ve learned about DNA is that if you go looking into it, you’re bound to find things about your heritage that will challenge what you thought you knew about yourself and the world around you. I feel connected to Davy through the conflicts and struggles that he faced in real life. Like what? Early on he was an Indian scout in the Creek War. Later, as a politician, he favored Native American rights against the Indian Removal acts sweeping across the frontier. The irony here is my grandmother had Creek Indian heritage while my grandfather has the direct lineage to Davy himself. This constant conflict is a powerful part of the American experience. I think by the time Davy made it to Texas he was disillusioned with the U.S. government. But then after his death at the Alamo, he became a martyr and his name was used to rally public opinion in favor of the Texas Revolution, ultimately ending up as a state. There are two different people here. There’s Davy Crockett made famous in

every household thanks to Disney and the nationalism that this image supports. Then there’s David Crockett, the real man on the far outskirts of American civilization caught up in conflicts far greater then himself. He represents rugged individualism, and I think this is more Texan than it is even American. It’s most certainly part of what’s driven me down deep, there’s no doubt. Lonesome as a Shadow showcases a range of Gulf State Americana styles. Which songs have been the most enjoyable for you and the band to play live? We like to call our sound Gulf Coast boogie woogie, and it’s important to me to shed light on our rich and diverse regional heritage. I enjoy playing the whole record, but a couple that I really love to do on stage are “I Wanna Cry” and “How Long Will I Last.”

From cotton fields to Cash poses, Charley Crockett does it all.

PHOTOS BY LYZA RENEE

Do you feel these styles get enough love from your generation and younger generations? I think there’s a big audience for traditionaland classic-schooled music out there. Look at the success of West Coast festivals like Hardly Strictly [Bluegrass] or Pickathon. Money-driven corporate types may control a lot of the mainstream airwaves, but when people get a chance to hear honest music it hits them deep, even if they don’t exactly know why at first. I think it’s a renaissance we’re seeing right now. I’m glad to be a small part of that. Any specific musical styles you would like to explore in the future? I’m heavily drawn to Appalachian folk music. I want to bring the banjo into my repertoire more and more. When I was a street player in New Orleans I met and played with a lot of travelers coming out of a sound called “Appalachian Stomp,” which is a bluesier driving kind of banjo and fiddle sound. I really like the music of Ralph Stanley — that minor singing style over the major key. Just now, I’ve been paying attention to Texas-Mexican border ballads. The stories of courage in those songs are so inspiring and are really valid in modern times. [And] I’m forever digging deeper into traditional Cajun and Creole music. You’d be hard-pressed to find a more unique American sound then the music of southern Louisiana. This story is sponsored by Creative Loafing’s Moo & Brew Craft Beear and Burger Festival. CLCLT.COM | APR. 5 - APR. 11, 2018 | 19

MUSIC

SOUNDBOARD APRIL 5 COUNTRY/FOLK Maggie Rose (Tin Roof) Open Mic with Lisa De Novo (Temple Mojo Growler Shop, Matthews)

POP/ROCK

Carmen Tate Solo Acoustic (Eddie’s on Lake Norman, Mooresville) James Hunter (Neighborhood Theatre) John Craigie, Wild Ponies (Evening Muse) Kip Moore, Drake White (The Fillmore) Matt Walsh (Comet Grill) Open Mic music with Willie Douglas (Crown Station Coffeehouse and Pub) Shana Blake and Friends (Smokey Joe’s Cafe) Three Dog Night (Ovens Auditorium) Tommy Z Band (The Rabbit Hole) Treehouse, Bubba Love (Visulite Theatre)

3TEETH, Ho99o9, Street Sects (The Underground) Abbey Road Live! (Visulite Theatre) Bencoolen (Thomas Street Tavern) Captain Midnight (Smokey Joe’s Cafe) The Come On, Broke Jokes (Tommy’s Pub) Dueling Pianos (Shore Club, Tega Cay) Dylan LeBlanc & the Artisinals (Evening Muse) Footwerk, Jah Will Band, Ellameno Beat (Evening Muse) Genderfusion-Transcend Charlotte’s Queer Variety Show (Petra’s) HousingFest Snugged: Hectorina, JPhono1, ET Anderson, TKO Faith Healer (Snug Harbor) Kids in America - Totally 80s Tribute to Benefit Kids in Seats (The Rabbit Hole) Knowne Ghost, Nerve Endings, Haal, Sunday Boxing (Milestone) Shell of a Shell, Family Friend, Kal Marks (Lunchbox Records) Sly Sparrow (Hattie’s Tap & Tavern) Why Don’t We (The Fillmore)

APRIL 6

APRIL 7

BLUES/ROOTS/INTERNATIONAL

VS Guitar Duo: Vadim Kolpakov & Sasha Kolpakov Jr (Grace on Brevard) Junco Partner (Crown Station Coffeehouse and Pub)

COUNTRY/FOLK

DJ/ELECTRONIC DJ Matt B (Tin Roof) Le Bang (Snug Harbor)

HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B Gunna, Yung Mal & Lil Quill (The Underground)

POP/ROCK

CLASSICAL/JAZZ/SMOOTH Charlotte Symphony: Rite of Spring - Reinvented with Charlotte Ballet (Belk Theater)

COUNTRY/FOLK The Lenny Federal Band (Comet Grill)

DJ/ELECTRONIC DJ Method (RiRa Irish Pub) Illenium (World, Charlotte)

HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B 90s Block Party: Guy featuring Teddy Riley, (Spectrum Center) Ladies Night Out hosted by Ginuwine (Loft & Cellar) Maxo Kream, Cuz Lightyear (Neighborhood

20 | APR. 5 - APR. 11, 2018 | CLCLT.COM

Theatre) Zo!, Carmen Rodgers (Morehead Street Tavern)

Latin Night: Bakalao Stars (Snug Harbor)

Sarah Shook & The Disarmers (Neighborhood Theatre)

CLASSICAL/JAZZ/SMOOTH Charlotte Symphony: Rite of Spring - Reinvented with Charlotte Ballet (Belk Theater)

DJ/ELECTRONIC DJ Soden (RiRa Irish Pub) Paul Oakenfold (World) Tilted DJ Saturdays (Tilted Kilt Pub & Eatery)

HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B Lil Skies, YBS Skola (The Fillmore) Off the Wall: DJ Justice, The Mighty DJ DR (Petra’s) A Tribute to the Music of Marvin Gaye and Luther Vandross (McGlohon Theater)

POP/ROCK

SOUNDBOARD

SATURDAY, APRIL 14

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MUSIC

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CLCLT.COM | APR. 5 - APR. 11, 2018 | 21

FEATURE

ARTS

A SMART ALTERNATIVE Can a one-night popup art show shake up Charlotte’s art scene? BY PAT MORAN

NE SURE-FIRE way to raise

hackles in an art community is to critique it without any sugarcoating. “I felt the art scene was lacking in Charlotte,” Logan Bennett says. “There’s a lot of money here, but not much organic culture.” The culture we do get, Bennett says, is “what the wealthy — the powersthat-be — like. So they broadcast it out to the public.” How can a real estate broker and selfdescribed patron of the arts rectify things? “We’re throwing a pop-up show,” Bennett says. As he sees it, the antidote to corporate art and pristine galleries is an approachable, immersive exhibit, and Bennett has teamed with artist Stewart Millsaps to present a string of events they’re calling the Smart Series. The inaugural exhibit, Zenith Nadir, opens in a former tool-and-dye warehouse in South End on April 7 for one night only. The show features works by an all-local lineup including Millsaps, Addison Wahler, Arko 83, Arthur Brouthers, Eric Pickersgill, John W. Love Jr., Osiris Rain, Owl, Paul Veto, Robert Childers and Sharon Dowell. This bold, eclectic mix of established artists and up-and-comers is reflected in the show’s title, Bennett says. “Zenith Nadir is the highest and lowest point that a celestial body will reach,” he explains. “It represents the highs and lows of life, art and everything in between.” Bennett and Millsaps are hanging out at the Art Factory, a repurposed industrial building in north Charlotte, where Millsaps has his studio space. Some of his works — spiraling, twisting murals fashioned from sintra, a plastic used for sign-making — hang from the ceiling. Millsaps comes from a Davidson-based artistic family; his mother is renowned painter Elizabeth Bradford. He says the idea for Zenith Nadir came about through an extended conversation he’s had with Bennett, who learned about the exhibit venue through one of his clients. Millsaps’ contacts with the Charlotte art scene secured the battery of artists contributing the show. The South End warehouse space is key to the exhibit’s impact, according to Millsaps. “We want this to be an immersive, inclusive experience,” Millsaps says. “It’s an expansive space, thousands of square feet, and all the artists were able to come together and fill it.” The warehouse space is just a stone’s 22 | APR. 5 - APR. 11, 2018 | CLCLT.COM

PHOTO BY STEWART MILLSAPS

“Shape” - Stewart Millsaps

“I LIKE THE

IMPERMANENCE. IT’S GOING TO BE, AND THEN

IT’S NOT GOING TO BE – ALL

“Folk Tales for the Dirty Queen” - Robert Childers throw from Lenny Boy Brewing Company, which is a sponsor for the exhibit. The show also marks the celebration of Lenny Boy’s sixth anniversary, and Lenny Boy kombucha and beer will be on hand at the event. Millsaps is aware that art in a retrofitted industrial building is not exactly novel in Charlotte, but he feels the show’s organization — and its line-up — make it unique. He praises the accomplished artists at Goodyear at Camp North End but feels the presentation there is like an arts explosion. For Zenith

PHOTO BY ROBERT CHILDERS

Nadir, he wants a choreographed experience where everything falls into place. “This show is curated. It’s the kind of artwork you’d expect to see in a museum,” Millsaps says. “It’s expanding your mind by pushing boundaries, but rather than being in a gallery, it’s in the warehouse.” Millsaps also finds the pop-up aspect satisfying conceptually. “I like the impermanence,” he says. “It’s going to be, and then it’s not going to be — all within a 24-hour time frame.”

WITHIN A 24HOUR TIME FRAME.”

STEWART MILLSAPS

Join us at Free Range Brewing on April 14th to discuss the cultural turning point of the #MeToo movement and explore ways to move beyond conversation and take action. Drinks and food will be available for purchase.

Tickets $10 presented by:

COURTESY OF RICK WESTER FINE ART, NY

PHOTO COURTESY OF OWL

“Installation” - Owl PHOTO BY SHARON DOWELL

“Parallel” (acrylic on canvas) - Sharon Dowell The show’s ephemeral quality is a selling point for Eric Pickersgill, one of the contributing artists. “I think that creates excitement for people to take advantage of the moment and experience the work while they can,” Pickersgill says. “It’s easy for people to put off seeing an exhibition knowing that it has a run for several weeks, but when it’s a one-night operation, people have to work if they really want to see it.” Pickersgill’s photography, along with the contributions of Guggenheim fellow John

creative loafing

W. Love Jr., may be among the best-known works on display at Zenith Nadir. The series Pickersgill is showing, Removed, has been the subject of a TED Talk and has gained international attention since 2015. This is the first time it will be shown publicly in Charlotte. Pickersgill’s images question our reliance on cell phones, depicting people holding their devices — except the devices have been removed from people’s hands seconds before the shutter clicks. “It’s important to note that the devices are not photo-shopped from the photographs,” Pickersgill explains. “I ask my subjects to perform as if they are holding their devices, and then I physically slide the

phone from their hand.” In contrast to Pickersgill’s contemporary examination of habits and mores, musician and visual artist Robert Childers’ paintings are a sort of modern primitive take on the folk art of Grandma Moses. “I paint about Charlotte and the cuts and back roads all around it,” says Childers, who found his inspiration growing up around people creating and appreciating great art, music and literature. “My work is in the southern gothic tradition,” Childers says. “It’s about my love for the Lord and the nature of sin and death.” Charlotte-based artist Owl, a native of

THE SMART SERIES PRESENTS ‘ZENITH NADIR’ Saturday, April 7, 5 p.m. 3021 Bank St. 28203

Bogota, Colombia, uses a different kind of canvas for her work — the human body. Her installations aim to bring the viewer closer to understanding different perspectives. “I’m stitching together depictions of the SEE

SMART P. 24 u

CLCLT.COM | APR. 5 - APR. 11, 2018 | 23

ARTS

FILM

SNAP, CRACKLE AND POP CULTURE Spielberg gets nostalgic BY MATT BRUNSON

COURTESY OF RICK WESTER FINE ART, NY

FROM P.23

strength I see in women,” she says. “I’m translating each woman’s story, emotions and feelings into a composition that involves the artist, the model and the photographer in an intimate manner.” Sharon Dowell says intertwining themes — the energy of place, renewal, regeneration and redemption — course through the colorful acrylic paintings she’s contributing to Zenith Nadir. The bold canvases depict the hustle and bustle of urban progress. “I can’t help but feel overwhelmed that what drives this progress is often greed, money and power,” Dowell saus. “[It’s built] on the backs of those who were and are oppressed.” Short-lived as this one-day event may be, it promises to be a long day, Millsaps says. “To do it for more than one night would be like a full-time job,” he says laughing. The on-site schedule actually starts before the show begins, with a guided sound journey at 3:30 p.m. A group called Focused Alignment will perform on crystal-singing bowls tuned to each of the body’s seven chakras. “It’s a cross between a guided meditation and vibrational healing,” Millsaps says. “It’s raising the energy for art.” The show starts at 5 p.m., and families and children are encouraged to attend. The live music will be upbeat and acoustic, Millsaps says, contributing to a celebratory feel. As the evening wears on, the energy will change, and the music and lighting will enhance a nightlife and gallery-crawl vibe. All the planning and effort will be worth it, Millsaps says, if the show triggers an emotional response. “I want every curator, collector and anyone that gives a shit about art to be aware of what just happened,” he says, “and be talking about it six months from now — when the next one happens.” Bennett also hopes viewers are impacted by the experience. “I don’t even care how. I just want them to feel,” he says. “The show is for everyone. It’s taking us back to the essence of society and what society should be.” PMORAN@CLCLT.COM

24 | APR. 5 - APR. 11, 2018 | CLCLT.COM

IN THE NAME of full disclosure, I have never read Ernest Cline’s bestselling 2011 novel Ready Player One. Of course, I haven’t read many books that ended up becoming popular movies, but it’s a tidbit that seems Olivia Cooke and Tye Sheridan in ‘Ready Player One’ worth mentioning in this particular case. I’m aware of the property (Simon Pegg), has recently passed away, and have actually perused great chunks of but not before revealing that there is an it — all of which left me thinking that Cline’s “Easter egg” hidden inside the virtual world writing level tapped out somewhere around and whoever solves the mystery will inherit the fifth grade. ownership of Halliday’s empire. More importantly, I have yet to meet Naturally, there’s a soulless bureaucrat, anyone whose opinion I value — i.e. Nolen Sorrento (Ben Mendelsohn), who uses intelligent people who don’t get excited over, all the resources available to him through his say, that upcoming Jersey Shore reunion conglomerate Innovative Online Industries show or the next inane Trump tweet — (IOI) in an effort to crack the case and take who hasn’t dismissed the novel as a painful over the OASIS; just as naturally, there’s an experience, a name-dropping tome where ordinary kid, 18-year-old Wade Watts (Tye practically all the ‘80s-friendly nostalgia Sheridan), who bests him at almost every is artificially manufactured rather than turn. organically integrated into the framework. Wade has help, though. In his online In short, it basically sounds like fan fiction avatar guise of Parzival, he’s friends with — Fifty Shades of Grey for guys who have yet Aech (Lena Waithe), Sho (Philip Zao) and to discover their peckers. Daito (Win Morisaki), and their outfit is soon That Ready Player One (*** out of four) joined by riot grrrl Art3mis. the movie sounds superior to Ready Player Wade falls for Art3mis, and more so One the book shouldn’t come as a complete after he meets Samantha (Olivia Cooke), surprise, given that Steven Spielberg is the the actual human behind the avatar. In the one sitting in the director’s chair. After all, OASIS, they battle the likes of King Kong and Spielberg worked similar alchemy when he Mechagodzilla while receiving much-needed helped transform Peter Benchley’s Jaws — assistance from Ted Hughes’ Iron Giant. a terrible book I did read — into merely The film references come at the audience one of the all-time great motion picture at warp speed (mostly ‘80s, but also some entertainments. ‘70s and ‘90s), and if the cultural co-opting Naturally, Ready Player One isn’t in the was frequently a lazy trigger on the printed same league as Jaws — heck, it’s not even in page, a way to get easily impressed folks to the same 20,000 leagues — but on its own mistake nostalgia for gravitas (“Wow, Cline terms, it’s pleasing pablum, buoyed by an mentions both Back to the Future and Knight engaging cast and some savvy pop-culture Rider! This is the bestest book ever!”), there references that are skillfully woven into the admittedly is some of that taking place on narrative rather than left hung out to dry. screen as well. Ready Player One is set in one of those But unlike a book, where every word dystopian Americas in which the onecan have equal import, the screen allows percenters get richer while everyone else for background action that can be taken as is left suffering — no, not 2018 but rather mere asides, which is the case with many 2045. of the visual cues here. And while a few The only escape for the masses is the iconic films and characters take center stage virtual-reality world of OASIS, where at select points, they’re actually employed folks spend practically every waking hour in imaginative and story-specific ways: indulging in their fantasies. James Halliday A popular horror yarn from the 1980s (Mark Rylance), who created the OASIS receives its own showcase, while the sudden alongside former partner Ogden Morrow

WARNER BROS.

appearance of a slasher-flick fave provides the movie with one of its biggest laughs. (And as an Animal House fan, I appreciated the shout-out to Faber College.) Dating back to his prime period, Spielberg has not only championed children on screen but has also ensured that they’re affable rather than annoying (I would take the empathic Elliott from E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial over the insufferable Kevin McCallister from Home Alone any day of the week). With Ready Player One, that tradition continues, as the quintet representing the human side of the online avatars prove to be an engaging bunch. Sheridan (best known for Mud) and Cooke (the dying girl from Me, Earl and the Dying Girl) are charming in the central roles, and it’s just a shame that the roles of Waithe, Zao and Morisaki weren’t larger. On the older side, Mendelsohn does well enough within the confines of a stock villain, while Rylance (who won an Oscar for Spielberg’s Bridge of Spies) wisely maximizes the charming aspects of his rather problematic character, a dreamer largely oblivious to the nightmarish real world. At 140 minutes, Ready Player One could stand some judicious trimming, with its length particularly felt during the protracted third act. Certainly, the first snippet of film that should have been excised is when Wade tells Sorrento that, “A fanboy knows a hater when he sees one,” an awful, awful line designed solely to inspire high-fives among white geeks who feel persecuted by a world that dared allow the creation of a female Ghostbusters film. But while fanboys will blindly worship the movie and haters won’t even bother seeing it, the truth rests in between these extremes. On balance, Ready Player One is a diverting slice of entertainment, offering enough surface thrills to justify its existence in a world already overloading on nostalgic feints. BACKTALK@CLCLT.COM

CLCLT.COM | APR. 5 - APR. 11, 2018 | 25

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day trip. In addition to the fact that it’s a small town with a charming disposition, think so with the 80-degree weather we’ve Davidson is also home to Kindred. I’ve heard experienced this week in the Queen City. But excellent things about the menu options at something deep down tells me that the cool this chef-driven restaurant. I can’t wait to nights of winter haven’t given up just yet. Especially when I’m scrolling through my try the ravioli but my adventurous heart timeline and see my N.Y. friends posting pics keeps eyeing the Squid Ink Conchiglie – eek! of snow still coming down, while my weather Haberdish: We’ve been saying app warns of a rapid drop in temperatures for months that we were going to go to coming over the weekend. Nevertheless, the Haberdish. It’s right next door to our Crepe excitement of the upcoming summer is hard Cellar in NoDa, the first date night spot for me to contain. we ventured to. However, every time we Each year I set out to explore new say we’re going to set aside a day during nightlife venues or local adventures, a the week, something comes up. Known for summertime bucket list if you will. But you serving Southern staples like fried chicken, know how that goes. Just like New Year’s okra and biscuits, I’m interested to find out resolutions, they rarely get done. Before I whether or not Haberdish can hold know it, I look up and the summer its own when compared to Mert’s nights are getting shorter and or Price’s or, dare I say, the not even half the items on Shell gas station. I would be my summer bucket list are doing them a disservice if complete. I didn’t at least try their And while this fried chicken, but I also year and summer I’ve need to see what’s going committed to actually on with the cast iron NC doing things like finding trout. something to do that Eddie V’s Prime doesn’t involve day Seafood Restaurant: Like I drinking or putting my AERIN SPRUILL said earlier, I have a ridiculous muscles (no need to LOL) to affinity for seafood. To the point work on the rock climbing wall at the USNWC, I found a much where I’m often extremely critical more manageable summer bucket list of popular (read: expensive) seafood for #summer2018. spots in the Charlotte area. However, I’m As I walked my familiar route Uptown, I willing to give anything a try. Twin lobster happened to notice new signage right before tails and lobster bisque? Sign me up. Take the intersection of Trade and Tryon streets: a look at the menu for yourself and tell me Eddie V’s. Covered by fencing and signs of seafood lovers won’t get excited. Also check construction, I thought to myself, “Yeah, the prices … this is a situation where you that’s new. I wonder if it’s open yet.” A might want to split the check. sucker for good seafood, my mouth started Zeppelin: Let’s be real. Date night watering thinking about twin lobster tails always goes right when you combine small and lots of butter. That’s when the idea came plates with handcrafted cocktails. And to to me. Instead of setting lofty goals that my understanding, that’s what awaits me requires me making a commitment to social at Zeppelin. My boyfriend told me about it interaction, I’m going to eat my way through first, but we haven’t stopped in yet. I took a the Queen City this summer. look at their Instagram and um, yes, I can’t Don’t get me wrong, I’m still going to wait to give this intimate spot a try. What’s keep you looped in on the latest additions going to be on my plate? Well, we usually end to the nightlife scene. But I’m also going to up doing quite a few small plates, which fills convince the boyfriend to plan regular date us up. But I also want to give that dry aged night adventures we haven’t been on yet. (It crispy duck a try. won’t be that hard to convince him, he loves Let’s be honest, great food and strong great food too!) drinks will always facilitate a great nightlife Here’s a preliminary list of places I’m experience in the Queen City. Before you putting on my list: settle for a fast food pregame, grab your Kindred: My boyfriend has suggested a couple different times that we spend a hottie and hit a restaurant you’ve never day in Davidson. Just a short 40-minute tried. Want to get in on my bucket list? ride from the center of the city (don’t even Follow me on Instagram at @omgclt_ or try during rush hour, though), Davidson shoot me an email at backtalk@clclt.com! provides Charlotteans a great option for a BACKTALK@CLCLT.COM

ENDS

FeeLing Lonely?

CROSSWORD

WEE BEINGS ACROSS

1 Pre-Easter seasons 6 Confront boldly 12 Entree accompanier 20 Into pieces 21 “-- & Greg” (old sitcom) 22 Baseballer Roberto 23 Style for Twiggy or Halle Berry 25 Turned away from sin 26 Remove with a dustpan, say 27 Mate of Mom 28 Dead duck 29 Jesting sort 30 Kin of -ette 31 Prelude 33 Kitschy lawn decoration 36 Blasting inits. 37 Matador 39 Low mark 40 Diet Coke alternative 44 Banjos’ cousins, in brief 47 Boxer Roberto 51 Duncan of dance 52 L.A. winter hrs. 54 Bit of web video gear 56 Burrito kin 57 “American Pie” actress Reid 58 Aesop’s language 61 Robert Louis Stevenson short story, with “The” 63 POW’s place 66 Difficult trial 68 Prize taker 69 Credits for currying favor 72 World Series month 76 Goal 77 Yard dividers 82 Grimm story 84 Born earlier 86 Roof edge 87 Took a plane 88 -- Z (the works) 89 Part of 55-Down: Abbr. 90 One issuing a revision 93 Deer daddies 95 Filmdom’s Kazan 97 Cookie baker in a tree 100 Part of UNLV 102 Least confined

104 Horace’s “-- Poetica” 105 Swimmer with a long, flattened snout 110 Singer -- Marie 112 Destroy the inside of 115 Lacto- -- diet 116 Like some perfect games 117 Wide shoe spec 119 With regard to pitch 121 New film’s initial showings 123 Spago restaurateur 125 Licorice-tasting liqueur 126 One way to serve cafe 127 -- Lauder 128 Alcoves 129 Surgical inserts 130 Performers

DOWN

1 Little slip-up 2 Sweeping stories 3 Greek island 4 Duet + one 5 Enter by foot 6 Change to fit 7 Greek letter 8 One of four on a sedan 9 Kind of whale 10 Smear mark 11 Design on skin, in brief 12 Atlantic fish 13 Actress Graff 14 Rely 15 Appeared 16 Woodsy lair 17 Bisected 18 Iron output 19 Bush row 24 Stalking sort 28 Totally get 32 Artery: Abbr. 34 In -- (mired) 35 Fix, as a dog 36 -- wave 38 Lured 40 Is in session 41 Jr.’s exam 42 -- avis (oddity) 43 Sharp turn 45 Green start? 46 The Devil 48 Police action 49 Crest 50 “Negative” 53 BBQ pest

55 Weekday letters 59 Propel a boat 60 Golfer Els 61 Tow-headed 62 Emit coherent light 64 Big name in advice 65 Garbo of film 67 Hulking and dumb, maybe 70 Elocute 71 Mineral suffix 72 Does in 73 City in Colombia 74 Arena area 75 “1984” writer 78 Gets closer 79 Blanchett of “Elizabeth” 80 Stunt puller Knievel 81 Toiler of yore 83 Online “Ha!” 85 Wipe 89 Jamie of TV 91 Intend to do 92 Crazy 94 Holy French ladies 96 “-- all possible ...” 98 Singer Gloria 99 Summer, in Savoy 101 Hog noises 103 Just manage 105 Really succeed 106 Like lambs 107 Of the fifth element 108 Novelist Nevil 109 Tap-dancer Gregory 111 Les -- -Unis 112 Thigh-rotating muscle, informally 113 Peptic disorder 114 Moppets 118 Her, to Henri 120 Lhasa -- (small dog) 122 Wind dir. 123 Used to be 124 “Shoo!”

graB Your copy today

SOLUTION FOUND ON P. 30.

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ENDS

Real hot chat now.

SAVAGE LOVE

SAVAGE LIVE Sexercizing free speech at Michigan’s Royal Oak Music Theatre BY DAN SAVAGE

I VISITED ROYAL OAK, Michigan, for Savage Love Live at the Royal Oak Music Theatre. I didn’t get to all of the questions submitted by the large and tipsy crowd — folks who skipped the Stormy Daniels interview on 60 Minutes to spend the evening with me (so honored, you guys!) — so I’m going to race through as many of the unanswered questions as I can in this week’s column. Here we go…

don’t know if this is going to work. If you’re afraid to leave him because of those guns, you need to get out. If you’re afraid to leave him because you love him and couldn’t live without him, you might be able to stay. I wouldn’t be able to stay, personally, but you might. Maybe if you make “no political discussions about anything, ever” a condition of remaining in the marriage.

Is there a way of breaking my cycle of being totally sexual and into someone for the first six months and then shutting down to the point that I don’t want to be sexual with them at all? What’s wrong with me? Breaking a long-established pattern may require the aid of a therapist who can help you unpack your damage — if, indeed, this is about damage. Because it’s possible this could be the way your libido works; you could be wired for a lifetime of loving, short-term relationships. While our culture reserves its praise for successful long-term relationships (think of those anniversary gifts that increase in value with each passing year), a short-term relationship can be a success. Everyone get out alive? No one traumatized? Were you able to pivot to friendship? Then you can regard that relationship as a success — or all those relationships as successes.

When you are entering into something new, how do you differentiate between infatuation and real feelings? Infatuation is a real feeling. Only time will tell if other real but more lasting feelings — like, like like, love, lasting love — will surface when those feelings of infatuation inevitably fade.

How common a kink is it to enjoy seeing your significant other having sex with someone else? Common enough to have numerous different ways of manifesting itself — swinging, hotwifing, cuckolding, stag-and-vixen play — and an entire porn genre dedicated to it. Cis, female, 33, poly, bi. I bruise easily, am into BDSM, and love to swim in my condo’s shared pool, where there are many seniors. Any advice for hiding bruises or getting over the embarrassment? Don’t assume the senior citizens in the pool are as naive and/or easily shocked as our ageist assumptions would prompt us to believe. Someone who became a senior citizen today — who just turned 65 years old — was 35 in 1988. I happen to know for a fact that people were doing BDSM way, way back in 1988. My husband is a sweet guy who is very good to me. But he is also a gun-toting right-wing conservative, and these days that feels like an insurmountable difference. We have been together for seven years and married for two. No kids yet. I love him — and the thought of leaving him is terrifying — but I honestly 28 | APR. 5 - APR. 11, 2018 | CLCLT.COM

I can easily have an orgasm with toys but I can’t have one with my boyfriend. What gives? Your boyfriend could give you orgasms if you handed him one of those toys, showed him how you use it on yourself, and then guided his hands the first few times he used it on you.

I’m married and finishing my PhD while working full-time. As a result, I don’t get to spend as much time as I would like with my wonderful husband. I know you’re a workaholic as well. How do you manage to make your husband feel he is getting the attention/time he deserves? When I’m totally stressed out and working on several projects, and I don’t have the bandwidth to give my husband the attention/ time he deserves, I take a moment now and then to reassure him that things will settle down soon and we’ll have more time together. I’ve found he’s most receptive to this message when it’s delivered immediately after I’ve taken a few minutes to blow him. Do you recommend specific prostate massage toys? Besides dick. Forearm. How do you approach people about a three-way without ruining friendships? I think close sexy friends and the-sex-was-great-buteverything-else-sucked exes make the best “very special guest stars.” But if you’re worried about ruining friendships, well, don’t hit on friends. Hit on strangers. (And remember: A stranger is just a friend you haven’t had a three-way with yet. Or something.)

Why does my DAN SAVAGE girlfriend enjoy anal sex more than I thought she would? Because she does. Because anal Do you think it’s unwise to give and/or is hot. Because the clit is a great big organ and most of it’s inside the body and receive gay oral sex without a condom? anal penetration may stimulate the backside When we speak of gay oral without a condom of your girlfriend’s great big clitoris in a — which is almost all of the gay oral out there way that’s new and different and highly — we speak of ones that sucked not wisely pleasurable and — hey, wait a minute. You but too well. aren’t disappointed she’s enjoying anal more Are anxiety-induced orgasms a thing? than you thought she would, are you? They must be, because I have them. Donald Trump has been impeached, and I’m glad there’s at least one person out there you get to decide the punishment. So who’s managing to enjoy the Trump era. what sex toy gets used on him and who I’m a 21-year-old, queer, poly, cis girl gets to use it? Trump doesn’t deserve a sex toy. Sex toys are who recently got into this whole thing for good boys and girls. All Trump deserves is with a coworker at my shitty fast-food a lump of the coal he loves so much shoved far job. Long story short, we were having a rad time fucking around in the freezer… enough up his ass to serve as a gag. until he bashed International Women’s Is there ever a healthy way to partake in Day on Facebook. I stopped getting sensual parties while in a monogamous him off by the frozen meat without an explanation, and I quit my job to go bind marriage? books instead. Is it too late to reach out Yup. and tell this dude that I dumped him because of his misogynistic online life? The Dirty Sanchez — actually a thing? And how bitchy can I be? Nope. The world would be a better place if (1)

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women refused to sleep with right-wing assholes (to say nothing of marrying them) and (2) women told right-wing assholes that right-wing assholery is the ultimate cockblock and they have only themselves to blame for it. So it’s not too late, and you should be as bitchy as you can be. Thanks to everyone who came to Savage Love Live in Royal Oak — and to everyone who attended my shows at the Pantages Theatre in Minneapolis and the Barrymore Theatre in Madison over the same weekend. On the Lovecast, how to pack your dildo… politely: savagelovecast.com; follow @ fakedansavage on Twitter; mail@savagelove. net; go to ITMFA.org.

CLCLT.COM | APR. 5 - APR. 11, 2018 | 29

LILLY SPA

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SOLUTION TO THIS WEEK'S PUZZLE

WHERE WE ALL REFUSE TO WEAR SOCKS.

ENDS

SALOME’S STARS LIBRA (September 23 to

ARIES (March 21 to April

19) A little

woolgathering is OK. But don’t let that dreamy state linger beyond midweek, when you’ll want to be ready to take on new workplace responsibilities.

October 22) Expect to be called on once again to act as peacemaker in a long-simmering dispute that suddenly flares up. Offer advice, but be careful to stay out of the fray.

SCORPIO (October 23

TAURUS (April

to November 21) Your organizational skills help you line up your priorities so that you get things done without added pressure. The weekend could hold a special surprise.

20 to May 20) Love rules the week for single Bovines seeking romance. Attached pairs also find new joy in their relationships. Friday should bring news about a business opportunity.

SAGITTARIUS

GEMINI (May 21 to June 20) Home becomes the center of a new social whirl, as you show your talent for hosting great parties. You can expect to impress a lot of people who’ve never seen this side of you.

(November 22 to December 21) New ventures are favored. But don’t launch yours before rechecking all facts and sources. Also, be sure you can rely on support from certain people.

CAPRICORN (December

CANCER (June 21 to

22 to January 19) Don’t be pushed into renegotiating an agreement, even though it might help avoid a potential impasse. Get legal advice before you sign or agree to anything.

July 22) The Moon Child might have to raise those powers of persuasion a notch to get a still-wary colleague to agree to go along. Finding more facts to back up your position helps.

LEO (July 23 to August 22)

AQUARIUS

Hold off trying to fix the blame for an apparent mishandling of a work situation. A full investigation could reveal surprising facts on how and why it really happened.

(January 20 to February 18) Helping others is what Aquarians do so well. But this time, someone wants to help you. Expect to hear some news that will both surprise and delight you.

VIRGO (August 23 to September 22) Your ability to find details others might overlook gives you an advantage in assessing a possibly too-good-tobe-true offer. A trusted colleague has advice.

PISCES (February 19 to March 20) Things go so swimmingly that you’re tempted to take on more tasks. Best advice: Finish what you have now, then enjoy a well-earned relaxing weekend.

BORN THIS WEEK Your understanding of human nature helps you make wise decisions that are appreciated by all. You would make a fine judge. 30 | APR. 5 - APR. 11, 2018 | CLCLT.COM

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