raleigh•cary 2|3|2016
“What’s Going On with Your Crotch?” p. 10 Small Town, Big Signal p. 15 Fried Pickle Perfection p. 21 Keep Pounding, Y’all p. 41
SHOULD REY MATTER? Chris Rey wants to be the state’s first black U.S. senator. He’ll have to get by his own party’s leaders first. By Paul Blest
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WHAT WE LEARNED THIS WEEK | DURHAM VOL. 33, NO. 5
10 The TSA provides a staff-training course called “Transgender 101.” 12 North Carolina has only elected one statewide African-American candidate—ever. 15 “People need to rewire their thinking about radio.” 18 Abstract art is not just for the elite, at least in the populist murals of Hans Hofmann. 20 Triangle Restaurant Week produced some transcedent meals—and others that flat-out sucked. 25 The classical music machine is often too focused on the 19th century to remember what came before. 26 We have to do something to Shakespeare in order for him to do something to us. 27 Lily Tomlin did characters so Margaret Cho could get personal. 41 With a Super Bowl win, the Panthers go to 176-175-1 all-time.
DEPARTMENTS 8 Triangulator 10 News 11 Citizen 20 Food 23 Music 26 Culture 28 What To Do This Week 31 Music Calendar
On Saturday, more than 100 marchers protested recent deaths in the Durham County Detention Facility (see page 8). PHOTO BY ALEX BOERNER
35 Arts/Film Calendar 41 Soft Return On the Cover: ILLUSTRATION BY SKILLET GILMORE
NEXT WEEK: THE SEX ISSUE
INDYweek.com | 2.3.16 | 3
Seeking Duke cardiology patients to participate in an 8-week study on medication compliance using digital tools to track progress. You may be eligible for this research study if you: • are over 18 years old • have a personal iOS or Android device • are currently prescribed and taking heart medication, one or two times per day Participation includes: • Coming to our office to enroll in the study and take a survey • Taking part in brief surveys daily and weekly during the study on your mobile device for 6 weeks • Coming back to our office to take one final survey and complete the study You will be compensated for your study participation. To sign up, email BEresearch@duke.edu or call 919-681-9521 Protocol # Pro00064774
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Bern, Baby, Bern
Feb 5-6, 11-13, 19-20 @ 7:30 pm Feb 7, 14, 21 @ 3:00 pm
“In the proud tradition of Bobby Kennedy, let’s ‘dream of things that never were and say why not!’” So writes Janice Vuncannon Sears, one of several commenters on Bob Geary’s column last week [“Believe in Bernie,” Jan. 27]. “I’m not a millennial; my sons are,” echoes Doug Roach. “Ever since Gene and then Bobby initially won me over in 1968, I’ve been a fan and a supporter of what many yet see as political lost causes. Senator Sanders is the right man for the job at this time. He’s not plowing the path for some future candidate of the people; he’s the one.” Half of Iowa Democrats apparently agree. But not everyone was as sanguine about Bernie’s prospects. Says Roy B.: “All the push
backtalk
against Bernie is not simply due to timing and the threat of him winning. There is a lot of truth in doubting the viability of a candidate like him when we as a nation are still struggling to shake off the Cold War mentality that taints anything related to the word ‘socialism.’” Alex Leon thinks our story on a Raleigh developer building an outsize home in an old neighborhood [“When Bigger Isn’t Better,” Jane Porter, Jan. 20] is no big deal: “As long as everything was done legally, I don’t see a problem with this. People can do what they want with their property. It’s a free country, after all.” But commenter Outofstater offers this counterpoint: “Everyone has their own ideas of what is or isn’t compatible, good design, etc.
SMOKING STUDY DUKE UNIVERSITY Smokers who want to try investigational cigarettes that may or may not lead to reduced smoking are wanted for a research study. This is NOT a treatment or a smoking cessation study. Compensation will be provided. Call: Triangle Smoking Studies at Duke at 919-684-9593 or visit trianglesmokingstudies.com for more information. Pro00056069 6 | 2.3.16 | INDYweek.com
Mitchell Bratton (right) and his daughter, Randi Bratton, sing David Bowie’s “Heroes” during a special PopUp Chorus event on January 29 at Motorco in Durham. PHOTO BY ALEX BOERNER
I live in Glenwood-Brooklyn, where we are nearing the end of a process to establish a historic overlay district. Many would paint this as an attempt to ‘control’ what people can and can’t do with their property. While an HOD certainly puts restrictions in place, that is not the objective but merely a means to an end, namely the preservation of our shared history as manifested in the homes we inhabit (for now). These houses were here long before any of us were born, and if our efforts come to fruition, they will be here long after we are gone. That’s what it’s about, at least for me.” l Want to see your name in bold? Email backtalk@indyweek.com .
indyupfront
A Change Is Gonna Come A QUICK NOTE ON OUR NEW LOOK BY JEFFREY C. BILLMAN
If you’re reading this in print, you’ve probably noticed that today’s INDY is a little different. The pictures are bigger. The type is cleaner. There’s more of what the designers call “white space.” And, yes, eagle eye, we are using the serial comma. (Actually, we’ve chucked many of the old-school AP guidelines in favor of our own in-house stylebook.) The idea is to make the INDY a more enjoyable and engaging reading experience, something both more aesthetically pleasing and functional. What you see here, of course, is very much a work in progress; as an industry friend once told me, the day you launch a redesign, you’re about 60 percent done with it. And so this design, like all such designs, will evolve as we figure out what works and what doesn’t. But I’m nonetheless enormously proud of the work our team has done—in particular, our design department: art director Maxine Mills, production manager Skillet Gilmore, and graphic designer Christopher Williams. I’d like to take a brief moment to walk you through some of the changes we’re making, as well as some changes coming down the pike in the months to come. For starters, we’ve modernized Backtalk to reflect the fact that much of the feedback we receive comes through our website or on social media. But if you’ve got something to say, we’ve got space for you, too. Starting this week, we’re unveiling a reader-generated column called Soft Return, where you can opine on whatever (local) thing is on your mind. (In 400 words or fewer, please; we don’t have room for your dissertation.) Think of it as the INDY’s old Front Porch column, except in the back. Some other changes: Triangulator is now a two-page spread, packaged together with the Peripheral Visions cartoon and a new column we’re calling tl;dr (that’s short for “too long; don’t read,” in case you don’t speak Internet), a place for us to crack wise about the week’s headlines. After the news section you’ll find
a feature well, a collection of our longer stories. In the food section, we’ve created a foodevents column. In music, we’ll have starred record reviews for the first time in ages. The music calendar, meanwhile, will have shorter, pithier blurbs. The online community calendars for arts and culture events will be bigger than ever, while in print our arts calendars will be more curated and selective, offering cultural connoisseurs a more focused tour of the best our diverse and thriving scene has to offer. That’s really just the beginning. The biggest changes we have in store this year are designed to increase the INDY’s presence in Raleigh. This week we’re opening a new
This redesign is just the beginning. office on Wilmington Street in downtown. We’re currently interviewing for another Raleigh-based staff writer. (Interested? Hit me up.) And come this spring, we’ll be rolling out two distinct editions of this newspaper, one targeted to Raleigh/Cary and the other to Durham/Chapel Hill, each with its own columns, covers, and features, a bifurcation intended to provide readers all over the Triangle with unique, in-depth hyperlocal content. (You’ll still be able to catch all of our stories at INDYweek.com.) Here, by the way, is what isn’t changing: our commitment to producing the best alternative journalism we can, to effecting change through storytelling, to shining a light on things that might otherwise linger in the dark. We’re just a little prettier doing it. l jbillman@indyweek.com
The Firebird THUR, FEB 11 | 7:30PM
MEMORIAL HALL, UNC-CHAPEL HILL
FRI/SAT, FEB 12-13 | 8PM MEYMANDI CONCERT HALL, RALEIGH
Grant Llewellyn, conductor Handel: Music for the Royal Fireworks Haydn: Symphony No. 59, “Fire” Sean Shepherd: Blue Blazes Stravinsky: Suite from The Firebird
Soundbites at the Pub MON, FEB 22 | 6PM
HUMBLE PIE, RALEIGH
Enjoy a delicious multi-course meal and enjoy an intimate performance by North Carolina Symphony musicians. Concert Sponsor: Elliott Davis Decosimo
Saint-Saëns’ “Organ” Symphony FRI/SAT, FEB 26-27 | 8PM
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Andrew Grams, conductor Debussy: Six épigraphes antiques Debussy: Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun Franck: Selections from the Suite from Psyché Saint-Saëns: Symphony No. 3, “Organ”
Tchaikovsky’s 5th Symphony
FRI, MAR 4 | NOON & 8PM
MEYMANDI CONCERT HALL, RALEIGH
SAT, MAR 5 | 7:30PM MEMORIAL HALL, UNC-CHAPEL HILL
William Henry Curry, conductor Tchaikovsky/William Henry Curry: Military March* William Henry Curry: Eulogy for a Dream Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5** *Evening performances only **Mvts I and IV performed on March 4 at noon
Don’t miss out — Buy Now! ncsymphony.org | 919.733.2750 INDYweek.com | 2.3.16 | 7
triangulator +ARTHUR LAFFER’S REVENGE
Arthur Laffer, the 75-year-old “father of supply-side economics,” developed a theory decades ago that posits that tax cuts pay for themselves by unleashing economic growth. In the Reagan administration, he was a key architect of trickle-down tax policies, and his ideas are still very much in vogue among modern conservative intelligentsia. One problem: they’ve never worked. Sure, the Reagan years saw growth (owing largely to changes in monetary policy, but whatevs), but it came with ballooning deficits and widening inequality that persists to this day. Meanwhile, President Clinton’s tax hike was followed by the strongest growth in a half century, and President Obama, who raised taxes on top earners, has overseen the best job gains since Clinton. As The Washington Post reported last year: “There is an entire branch of economic literature that uses detailed equations to show cutting top tax rates does not spark additional growth.” But, as Saint Ronnie told us, “Facts are stupid things.” And so this grand experiment continues in conservative strongholds like North Carolina, where the Reagan fanboys who took power in 2013 dramatically reduced taxes on the wealthy while making the state more reliant on regressive sales and property taxes. (Related: last week, state House Speaker Tim Moore rejected a recommended 10 percent teacher pay raise because the state can’t afford it. Which is funny because the price tag for those raises nearly equals that of the tax cuts passed last year.) And some people think this has all gone swimmingly. One of them is J. Peder Zane, a News & Observer columnist who penned a column last week called “How Republicans Have Righted North Carolina’s Fiscal Ship.” In it, he argued that the so-called Laffer Curve works—for realsies!—and all those dumb economists with their dumb models have it wrong. “The GOP tax cuts did not drain the coffers,” Zane wrote. “Instead, they helped replenish them—just as the falsely derided Reagan tax cuts actually increased revenues and sparked a two-decade long rise in median incomes. These are the stubborn facts that belie the incessant propaganda of those who insistently pretend that supply-side economics is a fantasy.” Uh-huh. Let’s consult someone who knows what she’s talking about: “The Laffer Curve continues to be discredited economic theory,” says Alexandra Forter Sirota, director of the N.C. Budget & Tax Center. “The evidence that is pointed to from North Carolina doesn’t give that theory any support. 8 | 2.3.16 | INDYweek.com
We know that there is less coming into the state than there would have been had they not cut taxes.” Indeed, Zane’s thesis is a beautiful example of the post hoc, ergo propter hoc fallacy. Yes, North Carolina’s economy grew after the tax cuts. But that doesn’t mean the tax cuts had anything to do with it. After all, if the Laffer Curve is so kick-ass, the states that most enthusiastically embraced it would be doing better than everywhere else. Not so. Kansas’s tax cuts left it with a $900 million deficit, leading to a sales-tax hike and a court order to better fund education. Last year, Louisiana faced a $1.6 billion shortfall, as the promised stimulus never materialized. Closer to home, McCrory’s “Carolina Comeback” has produced an unemployment rate stubbornly higher than the national average—and 39th in the country. Meanwhile, Sirota points out, median income hasn’t recovered from the recession, per-pupil education spending has declined since 2008, and the state doesn’t have nearly enough money to keep up with its infrastructure needs. But at least Art Pope’s happy.
+MISSION ACCOMPLISHED
Last week, around the time North Carolina’s voter ID law was going before a federal judge in Winston-Salem, researchers from the University of California-San Diego released a damning study of such laws around the country. In short, the report stated the obvious: these laws keep minorities from voting. In “Voter Identification Laws and the Suppression of Minority Votes,” UCSD political scientists Zoltan Hajnal, Nazita Lajevardi, and Lindsay Nielson argued that “strict photo identification laws have a differentially negative impact on the turnout of Hispanics, Blacks, and mixed-race Americans in primaries and general elections.”
When a state has a strict voter ID law, African-Americans and Latinos are much less likely to vote. The voter-participation gap between both whites and Latinos and whites and African-Americans in states with these laws is roughly twice as large as in states without them. “When [voter ID laws] are enacted, racial and ethnic minorities are less apt to vote,” they wrote. “An already significant racial skew in American democracy becomes all the more pronounced.” (In states that merely “requested” identification rather than requiring it, no significant impact was found.) The UCSD study stretches from 2006 to 2012, which means it doesn’t include North Carolina’s law, passed in 2013 and considered at the time one of the most stringent in the nation. (Fearful that a court would invalidate the law, lawmakers last year amended it to allow for alternative forms of ID or a “signed affidavit” showing why a voter couldn’t access proper identification.) As in other states, officials professed concern about electoral integrity. Former state House Speaker Thom Tillis and Senate President Phil Berger touted it as a response to “widespread” voter fraud in the 2012 election, but that claim has long since been debunked. In 2014, a Loyola University law professor found evidence for just 31 cases of fraud in more than 1 billion votes cast nationwide since 2000. Being charitable, what you have here is a solution in search of a problem. Being less charitable, perhaps for the lawmakers in the 36 states that have passed voter ID laws (three of which have been struck down), this solution’s consequences are a feature, not a bug—and the data suggests that it’s working.
+“NO MORE JAIL DEATHS”
We don’t yet know why Matthew McCain died in the Durham County Detention Facility on January 19. The sheriff’s office is investigating, as is the county’s department of public health. It may be months before their official reports arrive. What we do know is that McCain, 29, an epileptic and diabetic, had told his family he was not receiving his medication. We know that the most recent review of the jail by the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services found that its medical plan was not in compliance with state rules. And we know that in December, two guards at the jail were fired and arrested for assaulting inmates. It’s also clear that Durham residents are increasingly disILLUSTRATION BY CHRISTOPHER WILLIAMS
TL;DR: THE WEEK IN REVIEW
This week’s report by Jeffrey C. Billman, Paul Blest, and David Hudnall.
PERIPHERAL VISIONS | V.C. ROGERS
-4 +3 -4 +3 +2 PHOTO BY ALEX BOERNER
gusted by the unabated stream of bad news coming from the local jail. On Saturday afternoon, more than 100 protesters marched from CCB Plaza to the jail. They carried signs (“No more jail deaths”; “Justice for Matthew”; “Black Lives Matter”) and shouted chants (“Back up, back up, we want freedom, freedom/All these racist-ass cops, we don’t need ’em, need ’em”). They blocked off traffic in the street between the jail and DPAC, where Jeff Foxworthy and Larry the Cable Guy would perform that night. The redneck comedians’ tour-bus generator hummed in the background as marchers arrived to a Kendrick Lamar track. The juxtaposition was too severe to process. McCain’s family members addressed the crowd. His girlfriend, Ashley Canady, said, between tears, “He leaves behind two girls, one that he will never get to take to a dance, a prom. He will never go to her wedding. She will never get to see what her dad looks like. All she can know is just the stories of his life. But I promise we will find justice.” The daughter of Dennis McMurray, who died in 2015 at the jail, added, “They neglected him when he screamed out for help. No one came. He collapsed on the floor and died …” She couldn’t go on. There was applause, then silence. Before the protesters marched back to CCB Plaza, they joined together in unison for a tribute to those inside the towering stone building—a wordless, guttural cheer. It lasted a minute, the roar getting louder and louder as it went on. Until some change comes to the Durham County jail, it will only get louder still. l triangulator@indyweek.com
-2 +1 +5 -1 -2
House Speaker Tim Moore says the state can’t afford a proposed 10 percent raise for North Carolina’s teachers. Because we all remember when Jesus said, “Blessed are the schoolteachers, for they shall keep Food Lion in business.” The Wake County school board will expand protections for LGBT employees. Congratulations, LGBTs: you can now be equally underappreciated and underpaid! To accommodate a high-rise, some downtown Durham streets will go one-way. “Right on!” cheers the asshole who developed The Loop. Four demonstrators were arrested at a UNC board of governors meeting while protesting the hiring of Margaret Spellings. “I don’t come to where you work and slap the alternative lifestyle out of your mouth,” Spellings thinks to herself. Attorney General Roy Cooper outraised Governor McCrory in the fourth quarter of 2015. Seriously, who would you rather fuck? Duke Energy starts pumping coal-ash pond water into Charlotte’s main source of drinking water. “What could possibly go wrong?” asks Flint. Chatham County commissioners declare February “We Love Seniors Month.” March, of course, will remain “Pull the Plug Month.” The Panthers play in Super Bowl 50 on Sunday. Peyton Manning was there for the first one. Duke suspends all sorority activities following an “alcohol-related incident” during rush. The mechanical bull at Shooters II sheds a single rusty tear. For the first time in nine years, Duke’s men’s basketball team is unranked. At least Grayson Allen goes to class.
This week’s total: +1 Year to date: +1 INDYweek.com | 2.3.16 | 9
indynews
“What’s Going On with Your Crotch?” TRANSGENDER TRAVELERS REPORT “HUMILIATING” AND “INVASIVE” TSA SCREENINGS AT NORTH CAROLINA AIRPORTS
six different times on a flight Dolores Chandler, a transgenout of Charlotte Douglas Interder Chapel Hill resident, prefers national Airport on December to be referred to with gender10. Evans believes their body neutral pronouns: “they/them” tripped up the scanner’s algorather than “he/she” or “his/ rithm, which evaluates bodher.” This is a tricky request ies based on the gender agents for any English-language pubpunch in prior to travelers lication, but institutions must being scanned. adapt to accommodate the “I have facial hair and a marginalized. BY DAVID HUDNALL slightly deep voice, and I The Transportation Secuassume the TSA agent probrity Administration has also ably looked at me and punched taken steps to accommodate in ‘male’,” Evans says. “Then transgender people. There’s a I’m getting patted down and dedicated page on the agency’s they’re asking me, ‘What’s website with information for going on with your crotch area? transgender passengers. The Why are there anomalies?’” TSA also provides a staff-trainEvans was taken to a priing course called “Transgenvate screening room, where der 101,” which outlines terms their hands were swabbed and agents should use and avoid, belongings searched. “One information about prosthetics, Chapel Hill resident Dolores Chandler says TSA agents at RDU aren’t sensitive to the trans community. PHOTO BY ALEX BOERNER of the agents asked me when and how to discreetly offer primy flight was, and I said five vate security screenings. o’clock,” Evans says. “He said, But recent reports from RDU regularly to visit family. On the Sunwhat I was wearing but without announcing ‘Well, you should have gotten here sooner.’” members of the transgender community day after Thanksgiving, Clark was flagged to everybody nearby, you know, ‘Hi, I’m DoloEvans says this is the second time they’ve suggest that these sensitivity guidelines have because of their chest binder and taken to a res, I’m transgender, this is what I wear,’” been hassled at the Charlotte airport. “And yet to trickle down to agents at North Caroprivate screening room. Chandler says. I never have experiences like that on the lina airports. Unlike Chandler, Clark’s experience with The agent then leaned down and looked at return flight—not in Seattle, San Francisco, On the afternoon of December 9, Chanthe agents was friendly and respectful. Chandler’s crotch, Chandler says, and said: Chicago. Only when I’m leaving Charlotte.” dler failed to clear the security body-scanner “What was upsetting to me, though, was “Now, what do you have going on down here?” Agents at RDU and CLT answer to the TSA, en route to a flight out of Raleigh-Durham that I was told that their policy is that they “It was so embarrassing I didn’t even not the airports. A TSA spokesman says that, International Airport. Two areas of Chanhad to see the binding, which is basically my answer the question,” Chandler says. “while there is no plan to modify existing techdler’s body were flagged: the crotch and the underwear,” Clark says. “And that, because Eventually, a supervisor was called, and nology, TSA is committed to continue collaboleft side of the chest. Chandler consented to I’m male, my torso isn’t considered a sensiChandler was led to a private room for a ration with the transgender community.” a pat-down by a female TSA agent. tive area. But that’s a messed-up policy for screening. Chandler was informed that “Flying as a trans person gives me anxiety Chandler was wearing a chest binder, a me and many other trans people.” they would not be permitted to board until in general, but there’s extra anxiety at RDU,” garment that some trans individuals wear Asked about the agency’s protocol for the “anomaly” was cleared up. After one of Clark says. “A few weeks after the incident to flatten their breasts. Chandler’s binder binder searches, a TSA spokesman said the the three TSA agents in the room dug her on Thanksgiving, I flew back to Durham for was roughly the size and shape of a sports agency “does not have a specific policy.” This hands into Chandler’s armpits and discovChristmas. And I was dreading the return bra if it extended a few inches down the suggests that the agents who searched Chanered nothing but skin, Chandler was at last flight the entire time I was there: What if I get torso. It hooked on the left side—the area dler and Clark are, at best, lacking direction cleared for the flight. Chandler found the a bad agent? What if I get flagged and have to that had been flagged. Asked what they were on transgender-search procedure. nearest restroom and cried in a stall for five strip down to my underwear again? It made it wearing, Chandler told the TSA agent, “My The same may be true in Charlotte, where minutes before boarding. hard to enjoy my time in Durham.” l undergarments.” former Triangle resident Addison Evans Clark, a transgender blogger who asked “I was trying to answer her question about dhudnall@indyweek.com now lives. Evans says they were patted down not to be identified by last name, travels to 10 | 2.3.16 | INDYweek.com
citizen
Going Nuclear
DUKE ENERGY DESPERATELY WANTS NUCLEAR POWER TO BE CONSIDERED “CLEAN.” IT’S NOT. BY BOB GEARY
The first sign that the N.C. Energy Policy Council is not your most representative group is that all 12 members are men. All white men, in fact, except for Carl Wilkins, who is African-American. No women need apply, apparently. The council is only advisory and, to my knowledge, does not actually influence energy policy. Duke Energy, the giant utility company, is the policy decider. If you doubt that, recall how Duke was allowed to swallow Progress Energy like a minnow, turning two territorial monopolies into one. Or recall that Governor McCrory was a midlevel functionary on the Duke Energy payroll as he rose through the political ranks, and as governor has been to Duke like a hamster is to its wheel. So why care what the council is up to? Because in a ham-handed effort to make himself useful to Duke Energy, McCrory’s man on the council probably revealed more about the company’s strategy for remaining the dominant monopoly than Duke would’ve intended. What’s the strategy? Obstruct the development of solar and wind energy long enough for Duke to start building more nuclear plants. That’s my takeaway, anyway, from what Donald van der Vaart, McCrory’s secretary of environmental quality, said at the council meeting last week. Before Rob Caldwell, Duke Energy’s man on the council, told him to zip it, that is. Let me be clear that this ended a long, convoluted discussion, and Caldwell, a congenial Duke executive, didn’t say “zip it.” But that’s what he meant. The question before the group was whether to recommend that the General Assembly add nuclear power to the state’s list of clean, renewable energy sources. Van der Vaart was pushing hard, arguing so vociferously for a future with more nuclear reactors that Caldwell, though also pronukes, felt compelled to rein him in. Caldwell said a “one-off” vote for nukes wasn’t wise, and the council should instead come out for all forms of clean energy, nuclear included.
“This is a significantly more complicated issue” than van der Vaart described, Caldwell said. Translation: Let’s not be so obvious about our nuclear proclivities, fellas. The recommendation was duly shelved, pending a rewrite. The importance of the list is that Duke (and, where it operates, Dominion Energy) is required to generate 12.5 percent of electricity from clean-power sources by 2021. So far, Duke is at 10 percent, almost all of it from hydropower. Solar contributes just 1 percent and wind nothing. So, in that sense, Duke has little need for additional solar whether nuclear goes on the list or not. Duke has a bigger problem, however: the federal Clean Power Plan, which may force it to close some coal and natural gas plants in coming years. All together, these plants account for 60 percent of Duke’s power. Solar and wind could fill the gap, but, if they do, they could also spell the beginning of the end of Duke’s monopoly. That’s because, instead of most electricity coming from large utility-owned power plants, suppliers could include hundreds of privately owned solar and wind farms, plus vast numbers of households with rooftop solar. This is a nightmare scenario for Duke, avoidable only if it can stem the proliferation of small-scale competitors while it replaces its old plants with new nukes. Again and again, therefore, van der Vaart warned against relying too much on solar and wind. Repeatedly, too, he depicted nuclear power as the cleanest power of all. Which prompts three questions. First, are nuclear plants actually “clean”? They have no carbon emissions. But what about the spent fuel rods, which are incredibly dangerous—and for which no national repository has been established? Second, are nukes cost-effective? That’s debatable as the costs for solar and wind come down. But nuclear isn’t competitive at all without heavy federal subsidies. Third, will new nukes be cost-effective in 15 to 20 years? Because that’s how long it
takes to get any new ones licensed and built. In the meantime, solar and wind will doubtless continue to get even cheaper. Duke anticipates that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission will issue a license this year for a proposed nuclear facility in Gaffney, South Carolina, with an estimated price tag of $12 billion. Whether Duke will build it, though, is undecided, according to a company spokesman. “We believe the electric industry is moving to a low-carbon future, and nuclear will be a critical component,” Randy Wheeless added. A major factor in the decision will be whether North Carolina, which would share
the power from Gaffney, will enact legislation already in place in South Carolina to incentivize the project by allowing customers to be charged for construction work while it’s in progress—a policy known as CWIP— and without going through a rate case with state regulators. That last feature is known in the trade as “Super-CWIP.” Van der Vaart suggests further “incentivizing” by counting nuclear plants toward the state’s clean-energy goals while they’re still under construction, before they’ve generated their first watt. Clean? Sounds dirty to me. l rjgeary@mac.com
INDYweek.com | 2.3.16 | 11
Should Rey Matter? CHRIS REY WANTS TO BE THE STATE’S FIRST BLACK U.S. SENATOR. HE’LL HAVE TO GET BY HIS OWN PARTY’S LEADERS FIRST. STORY BY PAUL BLEST • PHOTOS BY ALEX BOERNER
12 | 2.3.16 | INDYweek.com
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n paper, there aren’t many stronger political résumés than Chris Rey’s. He’s young, smart, energetic, good-looking, a Signal Corps officer who was deployed to both Iraq and Afghanistan, a major in the National Guard, the executive director of a health care nonprofit that assists thousands of uninsured people each year, a cybersecurity expert who spent four years writing policy for the Department of Defense, and a graduate of William & Mary Law School. For the last four years, he’s been the mayor of Spring Lake, a town of just over 13,000 situated right outside the gates of Fort Bragg. He’s also African-American, a constituency Democrats need to prevail in this state. In person, the 38-year-old has a knack for charming voters; when he filed to run for U.S. Senate in December, Rey was accompanied by his wife and baby daughter, inciting awws from employees at the Board of Elections. Rey also impressed likely voters at a December meet-and-greet at N.C. Central. “I think he has a lot of great ideas and a lot of energy,” one of them told the INDY. “He’s suggesting changes that can be made, and I think a majority of folks in North Carolina agree with.” And yet almost no one expects him to win the March 15 Democratic primary, or even to have much of an impact. The big players (and the big money) are instead lining up behind former state legislator Deborah Ross, just as the Democratic elites have aligned themselves with Attorney General Roy Cooper’s gubernatorial bid rather than that of Durham attorney Ken Spaulding, another African-American. While Ross is backed by the powerful Democratic Senate Campaign Committee, the AFL-CIO, and EMILY’s List, Rey’s endorsement list contains over a hundred local officials but just four state legislators. Though the state party remains officially neutral, Ross seems to have secured the Democratic establishment’s blessing. So why has Rey been written off? On the surface, it’s simple: Democrats have decided Republican senator Richard Burr is vulnerable, and Ross, a proven fund-raiser and experienced politician, is most likely to beat him. But Rey thinks there might be more to the story. “You want our vote, but you’re not investing in the black leader,” Rey says. “It’s not about being divisive; it’s that we want the shot, and the shot isn’t coming, and you keep telling us to wait, wait, wait. When do we stop waiting?” l l l
Sitting in his nonprofit’s office in Fayetteville shortly before Thanksgiving, Rey has clearly been waiting for this moment for a long time. “My entire adult life has been in the service of others,” he says. That’s not an exaggeration. Rey moved to Fayetteville from St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands when he was eight; his family settled in Spring Lake two years later. He was a track-and-field All-American in 1995 and won an athletic scholarship to Eastern Carolina University, where he found his calling. “I was going to be an Olympic gold medalist, that was the plan,” he says. “But I got really involved in student issues at ECU, and that’s where I met [former U.S. representative] Eva Clayton, and the rest was history.”
After ECU, Rey followed in his uncle’s footsteps and joined the army; he started out as a computer systems information analyst and was later commissioned as a second lieutenant. He spent seven and a half years in the military, with deployments to both Iraq and Afghanistan. After being discharged, he interned in the office of Representative John Lewis, a leader of the civil rights movement, and went to law school at William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. There, after campaigning for Barack Obama in 2008, Rey had his first inkling to run for office. “There was a sense of empowerment, like, ‘Maybe this is possible,’” he says. But law school came first. Rey didn’t envision returning to Spring Lake. Rather, he planned to move to D.C. But then he ran into some friends on a visit back home a few months before graduation. They asked him pointedly, “Are you coming back to North Carolina?” “I didn’t have the courage to tell them no,” he says. “And if I was coming back to North Carolina, it wasn’t going to be Spring Lake. But one of them said, ‘Our community needs help.’ And it just moved me. You could see the despair.” On the drive to his grandmother’s house, Rey made a decision. “I jumped on her bed, and I said, ‘I think I’m going to move back home and run for mayor.’” And that’s just what he did: Rey returned home in August 2010. A year later he unseated an entrenched mayor with 76 percent of the vote. He won so easily because Spring Lake was in turmoil. Rampant corruption in the town’s police department had led the FBI to strip the department of its powers in 2009; two years after Rey became mayor, it regained full authority. The town was also hit hard by sequestration, the budget deal President Obama reached with congressional Republicans (including Burr) in 2011 to cap government spending, including for the military. Because of furloughs and job cuts, sequestration has hit Fort Bragg especially hard. (By the end of 2018, 842 troops there will be downsized.) To combat sequestration’s impact on Spring Lake’s economy, Rey pushed to attract new businesses to the area, improve public services such as parks and playgrounds, and develop affordable housing units in some of the hardest-hit areas. From 2010 to 2014, the town’s population grew by 11 percent, nearly triple the state average. It was obvious that Rey’s ambitions would quickly outgrow Spring Lake. There were rumors that he would run for lieutenant governor or challenge U.S. Representative Renee Ellmers for her seat; instead, Rey shot higher. Last September, he announced he would seek to run against Burr. “In this state we’ve got a hundred counties, and you’ve got five counties that are really doing well,” says state Senator Paul Lowe, D-Forsyth, thus far the only member of the state’s upper chamber to endorse Rey. “There’s a lot of small places like Spring Lake all over North Carolina, where the middle class is being squeezed. [Rey] gets that.” But if he has such a solid track record, why is the party lining up behind Ross? “Unique things happen when an African-American male decides to run for Senate,” Lowe says. “I remember Harvey Gantt, I remember Dan Blue [Jr.]. We still have our own challenges to deal with, but I think [Rey] gets what’s happening to regular folks.”
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In 1990, Charlotte mayor Harvey Gantt became North Carolina’s first African-American major-party nominee for statewide office, running for Senate against Jesse Helms. A week before the election, a Mason-Dixon poll showed Gantt in the lead, but Helms—who aired the infamously racist “Hands” ad during the campaign—won by six points. State Representative Duane Hall, D-Wake, was a volunteer for Gantt. “Election night was tough,” Hall says. Six years later, Gantt challenged Helms again and lost by a larger margin. “North Carolina wasn’t ready then [for an African-American senator],” Hall concedes. North Carolina still wasn’t ready in 2002, when former state House Speaker Dan Blue Jr. ran for the same seat. Blue was an unabashed progressive. But Erskine Bowles, a moderate Clinton administration vet who had never held elected office, had the support of the party establishment from the outset. He easily defeated Blue in the primary. (Bowles lost in November to Elizabeth Dole.) When this year’s Senate race first started taking shape, there was talk that U.S. Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx—like Gantt, an African-American former mayor of Charlotte—would run. But Foxx declined; a spokeswoman admitted that the decision owed in part to Burr’s support for Foxx’s cabinet confirmation in 2013. Rey saw an opportunity. He’s now vying to be only the 10th black senator in American history. (There are currently two: Democrat Cory Booker of New Jersey and Republican Tim Scott of South Carolina.) Depending on how you rate his chances, Rey is one of three viable black Democrats running for statewide office. Linda Coleman is making a second bid for lieutenant governor after losing narrowly in 2012. And Dan Blue III, a former leader of the Wake County Democratic Party, is running for treasurer. There are six other black candidates for several statewide offices, but observers don’t give them much of a chance; one of them is long-shot Senate candidate Ernest T. Reeves, a retired army captain from Greenville making his third bid for office—he ran for U.S. Senate in 2014 and Greenville mayor in 2015—in three years. Deborah Ross is atop the Senate pack for good reason: Not only was she one of the state House’s top Democratic leaders, a former state director of the ACLU, and the in-house counsel for regional transit agency GoTriangle, she was also a top fund-raiser for Democrats around the state. In fact, Hall says, part of the reason he didn’t run for Senate is because Ross is so formidable. “I think Chris is a great candidate and has a bright future, but she’s built those ties for so much longer.” Hall points out that a woman has never lost a statewide Democratic primary to a man in North Carolina. For all of the talk that Ross is the presumptive nominee, though, polling indicates that the race is wide open. The candidates are largely unknown across the state, and most Democratic voters are undecided. National Democrats put their finger on the scale anyhow. On January 21, the DSCC backed Ross—the day after the AFL-CIO announced its endorsement—something it doesn’t often do in contested races. DSCC primary endorsements INDYweek.com | 2.3.16 | 13
Rey grabs lunch at a Phi Beta Sigma chapter’s Founder’s Day Celebration on January 24 in Kinston, where he was the keynote speaker.
tend to be of national figures with established bases of support, or they come after a candidate has already cleared the field. On the one hand, it’s easy to see why they did it: Ross is far better connected than Rey or fellow candidate Kevin Griffin, a Durham businessman who ran a few points behind Ross in a recent Public Policy Polling survey. But whereas Griffin makes a point of chastising “political insiders” and trumpets his lack of endorsements from national groups or state lawmakers, Rey has been active in the Democratic Party in both Virginia and North Carolina. That doesn’t appear to have helped him much. Deep down, it’s worth considering whether North Carolina progressives who have memories of experienced and popular candidates like Gantt and Blue going down think Rey—or anyone who looks like him—could actually win. “This is still the South,” Lowe says, “and we still have our own battles. Regardless of party.” l l l
“You mean to tell me that North Carolina has only elected one African-American statewide in its history, outside of our judges?” Rey asks. “I mean, that’s crazy.” Crazy, but true. In 1992, Raleigh city councilor Ralph Campbell was elected state auditor, becoming the first African-American to win statewide office in North Carolina. He went on to serve three terms, two of his victories coming in presidential years in which Republicans easily won the state. Many Democrats see state treasurer candidate Dan Blue III as a good bet to become the second. “It’s simply not enough to be an African-American candidate,” Blue says. “You need to be a qualified and successful candidate. Mayor Gantt lost to Jesse Helms, but so did [former governor] Jim Hunt, and that was never a matter of race. It was a matter of politics.” (Blue, for the record, says he likes both Ross and Rey.) Wake County Democratic Party chairman Brian Fitzsimmons adds that the state party is more diverse than ever, and says he believes North Carolina (and its Democratic Party) is definitely ready for an African-American candidate. “There are a number of groups within the party, myself included, that have worked really hard to get strong AfricanAmerican candidates for office,” he says. “Especially in Wake County, we’ve been working to find strong African-American candidates and pro-choice women candidates to run for office.” (One such rising star is Wake County commissioner Jessica Holmes, elected in 2014.) “Does race play for some voters? Yes, but much less than it did in 1996,” Fitzsimmons continues. “North Carolina is changing. … The idea of electing an African-American statewide is not only possible, but is becoming more of the norm.” Perhaps. But Rey argues that if state Democrats don’t actively embrace minority candidates, that will hurt them down the road. “When the party—either party—doesn’t demonstrate the ability to diversify the ticket,” Rey says, “it impacts future generations. … If there are younger folks who want to run for mayor or another office, but they don’t see black senators or governors, people being elevated to those higher offices, they believe it can’t be done.” And there are still people who believe he can’t do it, either. “There are people of color who have literally said to me, ‘You’re not going to get elected, because they don’t elect folks like us. They don’t elect folks who look like us.’ And the reason they say that is because they haven’t seen the desire to get people of color to run for higher office.” He says some people he’s spoken to within the party—he wouldn’t name names—have told him he should run for state legislature first. But Rey chafes at the idea that he should be patient. “My argument to them was that there are people all across America who have never served at all and just decide to run for higher office,” Rey says. “The only difference between them and me is that most of the time, those folks are very well off and have the ability to self-fund or have the resources to get off the ground. “I always hear, ‘Chris, it’s not your time,’ and I’m sure they’ve said that to probably every African-American who’s decided to run in races like this,” he says. “I don’t know when ‘your time’ ever is.” backtalk@indyweek.com 14 | 2.3.16 | INDYweek.com
Bob Burtman sits in a production suite of WHUP, his community-radio brainchild and passion project in Hillsborough.
Low Power to The People WHUP, A SMALL RADIO STATION IN THE SMALL TOWN OF HILLSBOROUGH, HAS VERY BIG PLANS––AND THE COMMUNITY SUPPORT TO ACCOMPLISH THEM WORDS AND PHOTOS BY YORK WILSON
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he first time I tuned into WHUP-FM, a low-power radio station centered in downtown Hillsborough, I prepared for disappointment. The show coming from my speakers was called She & Her, “an hour-long talk and music show about millennial women.” As someone who is neither millennial nor female, I assumed it was my best shot at not connecting with WHUP’s eclectic programming. But I was wrong. The first episode I heard—and I’ve listened again, and often—featured Jessamyn Stanley, a Durham-based yoga instructor. The segment was artfully produced and, although I don’t practice yoga, actually riveting, in part because it ranged so far beyond the topic. I contacted the show’s two hosts, Anita Rao and Sandra Davidson. I wanted to know how their program could capture my interest and sound so expertly produced—all on a volunteer basis, all on a radio station that starts to fade from your FM dial not long after you leave Hillsborough, and all on a radio station that’s only been on the air since October.
“I worked at StoryCorps in New York. That’s a highly edited show,” Rao, also a producer for WUNC’s The State of Things, explains a few days later. “Usually, we would spend like fifty hours on one StoryCorps piece.” “I founded Bit & Grain, a digital publication about North Carolina,” adds Davidson. “Both of us have worked in narrative storytelling since we graduated.” Rao and Davidson, both 26, met in a women’s studies class at UNC-Chapel Hill. The goal of their show, they tell me, is to offer an opportunity for “intersectionality”—that is, to feature people with diverse backgrounds sharing their experiences of being a woman, however different or related those stories may be. “I think we’re both very skilled at bringing people into a vulnerable place where they can share in a comfortable way,” Davidson says. “If people are earnest and humble, that is going to be more listenable than people being angry. There are times where it is OK to be angry, to say something really radical. Our show would be a safe space for that, too.” WHUP has become a safe space for a lot of things, actually.
The station provides total creative freedom, so, like a college radio station, the programming is all over the map. But its mix of talk and music, with musical emphasis on Americana, seems to represent its community. And despite the open-ended format, it somehow feels curated. “They were so supportive of our vision: ‘Here’s this space. We want you to make exactly the show you want to make,’” says Davidson. Rao joins: “In our first meeting with WHUP, they were like, ‘We trust you all. Here’s structure. Here’s an audience. Here’s a place for you to record. Do whatever you want.’” WHUP-FM sits above the Dual Supply hardware store on Hillsborough’s King Street. The store is the station’s landlord and, apparently, an enthusiastic booster: A bright yellow DeWalt boombox sits at the entrance, blaring the signal. Finding someone in Hillsborough who’s down on WHUP is nearly impossible. Finding someone who doesn’t have some sort of connection to it is almost as difficult. From the station, for instance, I walk a couple doors to Purple Crow Books. The owner, INDYweek.com | 2.3.16 | 15
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RIGHT Will Baker poses with a Hillsborough water tower and, at top, a WHUP antenna. OPPOSITE Sandra Davidson and Anita Rao, the hosts of WHUP’s great She & Her
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Sharon Wheeler, helps by connecting authors with WHUP’s literary show, The Spine. “Do you remember the TV show about the little town in Alaska, Northern Exposure?” she asks, evoking a popular comparison. “Hillsborough reminds me of Northern Exposure, and the radio station just caps it off.” Just around the corner at The Wooden Nickel, bartender Tony Rignola says he participated in a benefit for the station—a crochet fashion show. One quick jaywalk across the street, and Yep Roc Records executive Billy Maupin tells me he is on WHUP’s board of directors. Really, the story of WHUP is the story of Hillsborough, a town that, in recent years, has exemplified community in the modern South. Loaded with restaurants, a brewery, a distillery, a cheesemaker and dozens of other established or upstart small businesses, Hillsborough has become this area’s unlikely incubator. One may wonder how much impact a 100watt station in a town of just more than 6,000 can actually have, but like the concentric circles used to animate a signal emanating from a radio tower, some ideas reverberate. And Hillsborough has plenty of them. “It’s a very supportive, artistic community,” Maupin says. “A station like WHUP adds to the mix and gives people a different way to express their voice. People were like, ‘Of course, we need this.’” l l l
Bob Burtman meets me at the front door of WHUP. He shows me to an office just off the control room, sits down, and attacks an enormous cinnamon bun from Cup A Joe, just across the street. “Sorry,” he offers, crumbs tumbling down his shirt. “I’m starving.” Burtman is a longtime investigative reporter and a veteran of several local radio efforts. He was WHUP’s primary motivator, but he’s quick to deflect focus from himself. “This thing wouldn’t have happened if not for the three hundred or so people from this community who pitched in,” he says. I get it, I tell him: I had been hearing about WHUP, after all, for several months from various volunteers, and their enthusiasm and excitement felt contagious. Like the anticipation around the opening of Mystery Brewing Co. in Hillsborough several years ago or the launch of the Cajun restaurant LaPlace in early 2014, the thought of a new, local radio
station, just off Churton Street but available to the whole world, animated Hillsborough. When I question Burtman about the station’s limited range, he’s dismissive. “Our range is the entire universe,” he says. “People need to rewire their thinking about radio. We still have an over-the-air service, and we always will, because we are an old-school radio station. We are harkening back to a time when radio was a force in its community. But the community’s expanded, and we have no limitations, no geographical barriers. Everything is moving in that direction, anyway.” Burtman is adamant about the assets that make this station different, like live music performances and on-demand access to the station’s archives. “We have an on-demand service that only a handful of stations do. Every show gets archived for the two weeks allowed by federal copyright law,” he says. “When a show is broadcast over our airwaves, it is streamed, captured by our systems, and placed into these different directories. All of this shit is automated, and there is no software that is off-the-shelf that does this. This is why only a few stations do it.” I pause and turn away from Burtman. I can make out “The Rainbow Connection” playing from the monitors and a pack of dogs raising a ruckus in the street below the studio. Burtman appears unfazed and finishes his pastry, washing it down with the last of his coffee. I first caught site of Will Baker while I was interviewing Burtman. It was a Monday, just past noon, the typical time slot for Baker’s weekly show, The Lunch Crunch. I had glanced into the control room and spotted him playing a melodica with his musical guests for the day. Baker is Hillsborough’s assistant utilities
director. The Lunch Crunch begins with live music and ends with him interviewing someone else who works for the town. After I left the studio, I caught the end of his show as I was driving out of town. He was interviewing the town’s videographer—like I said, eclectic. Baker is one of the better examples of town-and-station cooperation. Initially, his job was merely getting the station’s antennas installed on top of a few water towers, but the station soon beckoned him toward the control room. “I have a musical background myself,” he explains. “I’ve got my own studio at home and write and sing and play and produce my own music.” Baker drives me a few blocks over to show me the Hassell Street water tank, upon which one of the WHUP antennas stands. “We’re a small town, and our whole government is very community-oriented. We just felt this was such a great deal, this radio station, as far as providing information, news, entertainment for the town,” he says. “We felt we should help if we could.” I ask Baker how far a hundred watts gets you. “If you’re in Hillsborough and you got a Hillsborough address,” Baker says, “you can hear the station.” But, as Burtman has already told me, that metric is somewhat meaningless. WHUP exists online, too, in ways few similarly sized stations can. A good number of tech-sector types prefer the relative quiet of Hillsborough, and a core of four such volunteers form WHUP’s ad hoc IT department. I finally coaxed one of them, Johnny Shepherd, to talk to me on its behalf. Shepherd is an electrical engineer by trade. By hobby, he is an enthusiast in the open-
s with livesource world of Linux—“because I’m just a ing some-general nerd,” he explains. When a HillsborAfter I leftough neighbor learned Shepherd’s day job was show as Iending, she persuaded him to join WHUP’s IT erviewingteam before beginning a new consulting gig. d, eclectic. “We wanted a clock—an accurate clock,” amples ofShepherd says of one of his early endeavors itially, hisat the station. “An industrial, digital-network, antennastime-protocol-synced clock is four hundred owers, butdollars. ‘This is a nonprofit,’ I said. ‘This is oward thefreakin’ ridiculous.’ So I took a little Raspberry Pi out of my closet of goodies and made myself,” hea little clock.” home and Hang around WHUP long enough, and the e my ownvibe suggests an anarchist bicycle collective that has grown up. WHUP folks place er to showa high premium on things that are free and pon whichopen-source. To wit, the IT team’s proudest achievement is the customized Linux-based whole gov-software that drives the station. nted. We “We’ve had other people look at it,” Shepthis radioherd boasts, “and say, ‘Yeah, this is just as ormation,usable as the one other stations paid a big ,” he says.five-figure license fee for.” .” Shepherd harbors no romantic fantasies watts getsabout the exigencies of maintaining a radio station with an all-volunteer force. Many of his you got apeers are self-employed, retired, or kid-free, he “you canexplains, allowing them to turn their tasks into temporary full-time jobs when necessary. d me, that “For about three months, it was a fulls. WHUPtime-plus job, forty to sixty hours a week,” arly sizedhe says. “For volunteer work, it’s really hard to have something that is always up, always pes prefersupported. Professional corporations have and a core24-7 staff on call.” P’s ad hoc But, like the rest of Hillsborough, even this e of them,rational, brutally honest engineer seems to its behalf. have caught the WHUP bug. r by trade. “I think it’s got legs. There’s enough talent the open-that’s unique,” he says. “I’m an engineer, not
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I ask everyone I interview in Hillsborough where they see WHUP in five years, even a decade. Some dream about on-location music broadcasts. Others imagine a more vibrant, packed schedule that doesn’t rely on automatically generated “WHUP Tunes” playlists to fill open slots. For his part, Burtman dreams of a paid station manager and program director. After all, five years have passed since his first caffeinated conversations at Cup A Joe about his idea. He must be exhausted. His mantra is “three hundred people”— you know, the army that helped build the station and keeps it going now. But without a dozen or so core people, it would all come to a halt. Those people have poured their power into the station as if it were a paying, fulltime gig. The trick for WHUP will be how to recycle pieces of that core if they burn out. But you know what? All the enthusiasm on the streets and through the airwaves of Hillsborough seems legitimate, infectious even. Sure, the initial ardor might fade, but as the on-air signal at 104.7 starts to crackle as I leave Hillsborough one more time, the overwhelming impression is of a community that will not let this thing fail. The pride seems too visceral. “What we want to do is export the Hillsborough experience to the rest of the world,” says Burtman. “We’ve got a good thing going here.” l music@indyweek.com
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Mural, Interrupted
THE POPULIST PUNCH OF HANS HOFMANN’S PAINTING TEACHES US HOW TO READ ABSTRACT ART BY CHRIS VITIELLO
18 | 2.3.16 | INDYweek.com
Hans Hofmann: “Mosaic for Apartment House Sketch No. 14” (detail) PHOTO COURTESY OF THE RENATE, HANS, AND MARIA HOFMANN TRUST
Hans Hofmann: “Chimbote Mural Fragment of Part II”
PHOTO BY DOUG YOUNG/COURTESY OF THE RENATE, HANS, AND MARIA HOFMANN TRUST
W
hen Hans Hofmann accepted a commission for a large-scale mosaic mural project in the Peruvian city of Chimbote in 1950, he was already seventy years old. An influential Abstract Expressionist painter and theorist, he had helped raise a generation of artists, teaching painters such as Jane Freilicher, Larry Rivers, Helen Frankenthaler, and Lee Krasner in the Art Students League of New York and elswhere. Though the mural project was never realized, a series of seven-foot-tall oil studies from it show a master’s thematic iterations and offer a look under the hood of abstraction itself. Nine of the studies are the highlights of the new Ackland show Walls of Color: The Murals of Hans Hofmann, which also includes work from a number of his other mural projects. Part of a comprehensive redesign of the city, the Chimbote commission was supposed to be a col-
laboration with architect Josep Lluís Sert, known for designing the Spanish pavilion at the 1937 Paris World’s Fair, for which Picasso painted his masterpiece mural, “Guernica.” Hofmann was to design a mosaic for a freestanding, fifty-foot-tall bell tower next to a church in a central plaza. Walls of Color includes sketches that give an incomplete sense of what Hofmann had in mind for the tower’s wall. In one, several of the sevenby-three-foot studies are identifiable, placed on the wall as if they were mosaic tiles themselves. Hofmann’s measurement notations give a sense of grand scale. It’s almost heartbreaking that the bright colors and tangled compositions of the studies were never built. But the studies themselves will heal your heart. On a first pass, they seem like nine distinct images rendered in a variety of ways. Several of them are flat, with clean geometric shapes of unmodulated color, some of which have outlines and interior marks that recall those of a draftsman. Others are wild abstractions with caked-on paint— swirled, blended, and scarred. Where one is meticulously rendered, another looks as if Hofmann made it with his bare hands in a five-minute frenzy. It’s easy to admire them as unrelated improvisations and move on, but that’s a mistake. Compare the first two, which depict a cross. In the first, a stout red cross steps forward from a yellow landscape, conveying an almost human agency. In the second, a thin blue cross serves to separate the painting into a quartered map, like a landscape seen from the perspective of a deity. The last two studies in the sequence offer a more startling comparison. The eighth is dominated by olive-green lineation, rendered with a fast, messy energy. The lines form a figure standing before a thickly swirled field of color. A single eye is painted atop the figure in childlike brushstrokes. The ninth painting couldn’t be more different in terms of texture—a bright green quadrilateral shape is met by a
WALLS OF COLOR: THE MURALS OF HANS HOFMANN Through April 10
RACIAL VIOLENCE AND RESILIENCE: QUESTIONS AND CURRENTS IN AFRICAN AMERICAN ART Through Feb. 21 Ackland Art Museum, Chapel Hill | www.ackland.org
ARTISTS LOOK FOR MEANING IN A CYCLE OF BRUTALITY
pair of black-and-yellow triangles that form an opposite quadrilateral. Drawn lines go in and out of red and blue circles as if it were a mechanical drawing. But these last two paintings are actually the same composition—the same figure with the same winking head, surrounded by the same luminous circles. If you go back down the wall, you’ll see this figure reappear in most of the studies, with a head or eye on top. Once you arrive back at the start, you can see that the recurring figure is built off the cross, abstracted in a variety of ways through the entire series. Such comparative viewing gives insight into Hofmann’s process of abstraction—known as his “push/pull theory”—by which adjacent colors and forms create synthetic depth and implied movement. Abstraction is sometimes dismissed as an academic departure from reality, leaving the people and objects of the world behind to revel in purely intellectual forms. But in the Chimbote mural series, Hofmann’s abstract vision is clearly populist. Intended for a public gathering place as well as for a call to worship, these works bring the holy and human together through deft strategy. While social-realist mural artists of the same era sought to capture the laborer’s essence in representational, narrative compositions, Hofmann frees that essence through abstraction, as if creating a power source for the whole city. These nine studies are both a beautiful illustration of his theories in practice and a cognitive template that one can use on almost any 20thcentury abstract work. l Twitter: @chrisvitiello
A
Renée Stout: “Ogun” PHOTO COURTESY OF THE
ACKLAND/© 1995 RENEE STOUT
mid the din of shots fired at black men by white cops and the shouts of protest that ensue, artists can bring nuance to discussions of racial violence. In the Ackland’s second-floor Study Gallery, UNC-Chapel Hill art professor John Bowles has chosen twenty works from the Ackland’s collection in which African-American artists deal with both physical and rhetorical violence—and, occasionally, offer outcomes beyond the cycle of brutality. Racial Violence and Resilience: Questions and Currents in African American Art is not meant to be comprehensive. In a space not much larger than a living room, conversations can start and then head off in many different directions. The show is anchored by Renée Stout’s rusted metal idol, “Ogun.” Named for the Yoruba spirit of metalwork, the sculpture recalls the colonial plunder of African figurines and masks that can be found in the anthropological sections of history and art museums. Constructed largely from discarded machine parts and adorned with old portraits of black men, the work connects colonialism to the systemic poverty of blacks in the industrial age. Willie Cole’s triptych “Man Spirit Mask,” in which the footprint of an iron echoes an African mask, also relates labor to servitude. While Kara Walker’s stunning drypoint and aquatint work, “no world,” is a biting indictment of the slave trade in the guise of a maritime seascape, several works by Jacob Lawrence find points of empowerment in work and religion. Walker and Lawrence both use allegorical scenes to make layered statements that carry both a psychological and a social charge. Other works have more ambiguity. Gertrude Abercrombie’s cryptic “Charlie Parker’s Favorite Painting” asks for your interpretation. Depicting a lynching tree in a surrealistic landscape, the image is hard to resolve with the title. Barkley Hendricks’s portrait “New London Niggah/Big Chuck (Charles Harvey)” could express either placid resignation or exhausted defiance. Racial Violence and Resilience also includes works by Glenn Ligon, Ellen Gallagher, Gordon Parks, Mose Tolliver, Kehinde Wiley, and others. A related panel sponsored by the Ackland and the Nasher, “Collecting and Presenting Work by Artists of African Descent,” will be held at the Nasher on February 11 at 7 p.m. Also visit the Ackland’s website for a variety of events associated with Walls of Color. —Chris Vitiello
INDYweek.com | 2.3.16 | 19
indyfood
Assorted Spreads
LESSONS LEARNED FROM SEVEN NIGHTS WITH TRIANGLE RESTAURANT WEEK, OR WHY A GOOD DEAL FOR DINERS REMAINS A MISSED OPPORTUNITY FOR THE LOCAL FOOD SCENE BY ANGELA PEREZ When I decided to eat at a different restaurant every day or night of Triangle Restaurant Week, many of them for the first time, I mostly fretted that I would be tagged as an amateur eater. Restaurant staff, I feared, would mistake me for some cheap opportunist, a vulture who only dines out with a Groupon voucher in hand. Instead, the gracious staffs of the seven restaurants I visited uniformly assuaged my fear. Rather than feeling judged, I felt welcomed. I shared jokes with my servers. I felt like a regular, full-fledged customer, regardless of my good deal and late reservation. But after seven consecutive nights of contemporary Mexican and hip fondue, of sushi specials and sad chicken, of delightful shrimp-and-grits and bad salads and classic Indian desserts, another prevailing question remained: Why, in the course of a one-week event isolated to one region with a highly touted and ostensibly thriving food scene, had my gastronomic experiences varied so much? Triangle Restaurant Week produced some meals that were transcendent and others that, after several decades spent dining out, I can safely say are the worst I’ve ever had.
The extremes of Triangle Restaurant Week: Faire’s poor chicken and 18 Seaboard’s shrimp redemption PHOTOS BY ALEX BOERNER
At least I didn’t feel uncomfortable. Nearly one hundred area restaurants participated in the ninth edition of Triangle Restaurant Week, each offering a three-course
prix fixe. The biannual event occurs in those drab months when diners don’t eat out so much, in hopes of boosting sales during the culinary downturn. For any restaurant that
wishes to participate, the process is simple: The place pays a flat fee, sets its price, and sends a menu to the organizers (in this case, a Raleigh marketing firm called Triangle Blvd) so that it can be promoted. For the diner, this setup can equal a hell of a deal, with lunches costing $15 and dinners running $30 or less. To best capitalize on the value, you need to do a little homework, especially by comparing the special Restaurant Week menu to the standard menu and seeing if the bargain is any bargain at all. With some of the more affordable participants, a threecourse meal might cost less than $30, anyway; on the other hand, such a meal at many establishments might surpass $60. In my week of experience, I found that, if the costs from the regular menu closely align with the special menu’s costs, the food is invariably better. But only two restaurants—Mez, near Research Triangle Park, and 18 Seaboard, in Raleigh— really dazzled with the deal and the meal. Both offered beautifully executed dinners
FOOD TO GO: THE WEEK’S BEST CULINARY EVENTS SWEET ON SOUR
Sip up the aromatic results of wondrous Lactobacillus and Brettanomyces at the inaugural Sour Barn Bash, a public gathering of North Carolina brewers and their most sour wonders. Presented by Steel String Brewery, catered by Snap Pea, and hosted alongside Highway 54 at Rock Quarry Farm, this is a benefit with a most peculiar buzz.
PANTHER FOOD
Keep pounding the beers and the wings and the fries and the burgers and the beers and the brats and the … OK, you get it. The Carolina 20 | 2.3.16 | INDYweek.com
Panthers are headed to the Super Bowl for the second time, and area bars, pubs, and clubs will be stocked. Raleigh’s Hibernian is bringing in extra TVs, while Lincoln Theatre is hosting a big-screen showing. Show up almost anywhere, it seems, and you’ll find the Panthers party.
DINE & WINE
Arriving on the heels of the rather cheap and inclusive Triangle Restaurant Week, Triangle Wine Experience is the expensive and exclusive counterpart. Tickets to the kickoff
party will run you $500, to the grand gala, $250. Dinner and wine at Garland and a pool of other area favorites? $165. But this Triangle tradition, now nearing the quarter-century mark, rakes in the cash for the Frankie Lemmon School, so hey, pour ’em if you got the proverbial it.
EARLY VALENTINE?
By falling on Sunday, when you can’t buy your lover a drink before noon and when you have to prepare for the next day’s early alarm, Valentine’s Day does us few favors this year. Get a head start
Saturday, Feb. 6, with a road trip to Kinston, where Mother Earth will unveil the latest edition of her very limited North Carolinaproduce-inspired Windowpane series. In this case, the “produce” is Videri Chocolate’s cocoa nibs, used to brew this whiskey-barrelaged oatmeal porter. The beer and chocolate samples go live at 1 p.m., and look for this liquid love arrow—simply called “Chocolate”— in bottle shops next week. And in Raleigh Saturday, New Belgium will host a “Sour Soiree” at the new Mash & Lauter. For food tips and events, email food@indyweek.com.
EAT THIS made with ostensibly lower-cost ingredients. The meals provided insight into the regular menu, making me want to know more. I will be returning to both. But the problems with Triangle Restaurant Week—both as a deal for diners and a showcase for the Triangle’s food scene—begin as you inch toward the realm of higher-end restaurants. They pare down their regular offerings to the point that a mix of cheaper ingredients, limited options, and comparatively dull approaches produce results that range from terrible (Babylon maddened me) to merely meh (Faire seemed aptly named). Disappointment was common, too, when the one-off Restaurant Week menus diverged completely from the regular menu. Though the meal described on the menu seemed appetizing enough, the results missed the mark. Was it because the kitchen staff hadn’t had proper time to experiment and perfect these new additions? Was there some back-of-the-house attitude that it didn’t matter what these barbarian Restaurant Week diners think—who needs that business, anyway? Was this just a way to get people in the door? I’ve read the arguments of chefs and restaurateurs in other cities who choose not to participate in such events because they don’t believe it brings repeat business. They say they cannot offer a meal that meets the standards of the restaurant at such a deep discount. Likewise, many of the area’s restaurant elite, or the ones always winning local and national accolades, do not participate in Restaurant Week—no Poole’s or Stanbury, no Lantern or Standard, no Bida Manda or An. Since they typically have packed houses, they opt out. That’s understandable enough. In my experience, though, many of the most expensive restaurants could benefit from a more democratic, less self-important stance, and an affirmation that, yes, we can still cook an incredible meal for people who might not otherwise be able to afford our steep prices. Such outreach could go a long way to an improved perception of a restaurant—and the cities that supply them with customers. But I’m not blaming the restaurants so much as the Triangle Restaurant Week model, which seems to favor building quantity rather than promising quality. The system should rethink the way it asks restaurants to participate. As is, there is little regard for uniform standards. With more input from
restaurants on their costs, losses, and benefits, Triangle Restaurant Week could tweak menu prices to better accommodate the needs of all participating restaurants, from lowbrow to high-end. What if there were more safeguards, more of a back-and-forth between the presenter and those who produce the food? Only participate if you can create an interesting menu that capitalizes on and showcases the restaurant’s philosophy, ingredients, and approach. If the restaurant can’t make that grade, why should it impugn itself—and local restaurants as a whole—by making a commitment it can’t keep? If Triangle Restaurant Week is meant to spotlight the dining scene’s variety, the representatives should be held accountable. Still, when I asked the staffs of the seven restaurants I visited about the week’s attendance, almost all reported experiencing a major uptick in individual sales due to new customers. (A few admitted there were an inordinate number of bad tippers. C’mon, people). Some even said regulars were thrilled to see a new offering or specials centered around old favorites. At Mura, the sushi place in Raleigh’s North Hills, a server said he’d done $1,600 in sales for Saturday lunch and that Mura had doubled its Restaurant Week business from last year. By the time I dined there on Sunday, the ingredients had started to run out, while one item, the coconut miso ramen, had proved so popular the chef had decided to upgrade it to the regular menu. That’s when it occurred to me that, in a region where so many restaurants are offering similar cuisine, with pimento cheesed-this and duck-fried that, Triangle Restaurant Week gives area chefs a perfect chance to experiment, to create new trends, to see what hits and misses with a receptive audience that’s already paying a bit less. Why not conjure new approaches during the slowest months of the year and try to create a buzz around adventure? Part of this is on us, the customers, to know what we’re getting into—the Triangle’s best chefs, trying something new and maybe failing. But I’d eat the effort, and I suppose it couldn’t be much worse than a few standard flops I had during the last week. And, recognizing the effort, I’d surely return. The second time around, I wouldn’t even need to worry about being an imposter. l Twitter: @DoYouMuuMuu
LAPLACE LOUISIANA COOKERY 111 N. Churton St., Hillsborough www.laplacehillsborough.com
Fattening Tuesday
THE AREA’S PERFECT FRIED PICKLES, IN SEASON FOR MARDI GRAS BY ERIN URQUHART
If you have lived your lifetime under the misconception that green tomatoes are the sole vegetable beneficiary of a deep fryer’s love in the Deep South, head immediately to Hillsborough’s LaPlace Louisiana Cookery. What chicken and waffles do for the combination of sweet and savory, LaPlace’s creolestyle fried pickles accomplish for salt and vinegar—that is, perfection. “Like a true Louisiana roadside food stand, we’re really good at frying things,” says Dean James, LaPlace’s director of operations. He offers fried oysters, shrimp and étouffée fries as evidence. “People don’t really know our Cajun story. But they walk in and see fried pickles on the menu and think, ‘Fried pickles—now there’s something I can get behind.” He’s right: As a lover of fried fare and pickles, I can confirm that these buttermilk-battered sour dill spears are among the best fried pickles I’ve ever had. Dusted with a proprietary blend of creole seasoning and
served with an ample side of homemade ranch dressing, these spears resemble fried chicken tenders in both size and texture. Fried pickle chips are often too thin and oily, becoming too soggy to snap before you can get to many of them. But these pickles— stuffed into the bottom of a shallow Mason jar—are substantial and crispy. The cayenne and paprika perfectly complement the light buttermilk batter and contrast the pickle’s sour bite. For weekend brunch, pair the pickles with a shrimp po’boy and a LaPlace Bloody Mary. For dinner, chase the appetizer with a bowl of LaPlace’s seafood gumbo or tasso ham, red beans and rice. “We’re going for low-country Carolina cuisine,” says James, “but staying true to Louisiana cooking.” l
Twitter: @PuttingUpwErin
Pickled, for your pleasure PHOTO BY ALEX BOERNER
INDYweek.com | 2.3.16 | 21
Fri Feb 5 & Sat Feb 6
www.lincolntheatre.com FEBRUARY
We 3 GAELIC STORM 7p F r 5 AMERICAN AQUARIUM
8p
Sa 6 AMERICAN AQUARIUM
8p
American Aquarium Wed Feb 10
w.T Hardy Morris & Timmy The Teeth
Su 7 Mo 8 We 10 Th 11 Fr 12
w. Nikki Lane & Jonathan Tyler
SUPER BOWL 50 PARTY 5p FOR TODAY w/Like Moths to Flames JOHN KADLECIK BAND 7p CHERUB w/Gibbz @ THE RITZ THE SHAKEDOWN (Mardi Gras)
w/ Al Strong & Friends 7p Fr 13 WHO’S BAD Michael Jackson Trib.
Panel Discussion aT THe nasHeR MuseuM oF aRT
Collecting and Presenting Work by Artists of African Descent Thursday, February 11 7 PM
Thelma Golden, director and chief curator, The Studio Museum in Harlem. Photo by Julie Skarratt.
Jack Shainman, owner, Pamela Joyner, Jack Shainman Gallery, San Francisco New York. Photo by Jackie art collector.
Nickerson. Courtesy of Jack Shainman Gallery, New York.
Photo by Jeff Gamble.
Franklin Sirmans, director, Pérez Art Museum Miami.
Photo by Angel Valentin. Courtesy Pérez Art Museum Miami.
Holland Cotter, art critic, The New York Times. Photo by Damon Winter,
The New York Times.
Join us, at the Nasher Museum, for a lively and critical conversation on collecting and presenting work by artists of African descent, moderated by Richard J. Powell, Dean of Humanities and John Spencer Bassett Professor of Art and Art History at Duke. This event is a collaboration between the Nasher Museum, Ackland Art Museum at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the North Carolina Central University Art Museum and the North Carolina Museum of Art.
2001 Campus Drive, Durham I nasher.duke.edu ABOVE: Fahamu Pecou, Nunna My Heros: After Barkley Hendricks’ ‘Icon for My Man Superman’ 1969 (detail), 2011. Acrylic, gold leaf, and oil stick on canvas, 63 x 49 1⁄2 inches (160 x 125.7 cm). Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University. Gift of Marjorie and Michael Levine (T’84, P’16, P’19, P’19). © Fahamu Pecou.
22 | 2.3.16 | INDYweek.com
John Kadlecik Band Formerly of Further & Dark Star Orchestra
Su 15 BOOMBOX Th 18 THE MACHINE performs PINK FLOYD Fr 19 MOTHER’S FINEST 7p w/ The Soul Psychedlique
Sa 20 NEVER SHOUT NEVER + 6:30p Su 21 KELLY HOLLAND MEMORIAL 4p CRUSH / HANK SINATRA /BLEEDING HEARTS / AUTOMATIC SLIM /
Tu 23 SISTER HAZEL 7p Fr 26 GEOFF TATE’S of QUEENSRYCHE OPERATION MINDCRIME Sa 27 DAVID ALLAN COE 7p Su 28 MIKE GARDNER BENEFIT 7p Tu 1 We 2 Th 3 Sa 5 We 9 Sa 12 Su 13 Th 17 Fr 18 Sa 19 Su 20 Tu 29 We 30 Th 31 4 - 1 4 - 2 4 - 3 4 - 7 4 - 8 4-15 4-16 4-17 5-14
Thu Fri Jan 22 Feb 11
@ THE RITZ
MARCH
Y&T 7p RANDY ROGERS BAND + TITUS ANDRONICUS w/Craig Finn THE CLARKS 8p JUDAH AND THE LION 7p JOHN MAYALL BAND CEE-LO GREEN MAC SABBATH THE BREAKFAST CLUB STEEP CANYON RANGERS 8p WE THE KINGS w/AJR, She is We+ TWIDDLE 8p AUTOLUX STICK FIGURE w/Fortunate Youth START MAKING SENSE THE MANTRAS THE INFAMOUS STRINGDUSTERS ELLE KING DELTA RAE 8p JJ GREY & MOFRO 8p LAST BAND STANDING & YARN DOPAPOD w/The Fritz 8p FLATBUSH ZOMBIES
Advance Tickets @Lincolntheatre.com & Schoolkids Records All Shows All Ages 126 E. Cabarrus St. 919-821-4111
Who’s Bad
Michael Jackson Tribute
Fri Feb 13
Fri Feb 19
Mother’s Finest Tue Feb 23
Sister Hazel
indymusic
Microphone Checks
AMBITIOUS RAP ACROSS CULTURES AND BITTERSWEET POP ACROSS GENERATIONS SHIRLETTE AMMONS LANGUAGE BARRIER
(Churchkey Records/SugarQube Records) HHHH The voice of Shirlette Ammons— soft in a warm Southern way but somehow toughened by both experience and enthusiasm—arrives just two seconds into Language Barrier, the emcee’s first album in five years. “Yeah,” she says defiantly, stepping over corkscrew bass and electroclash guitars. “Some say life is a bitch/I say that bitch is a diva.” Ammons continues to hold court for the next two minutes, delivering the sophisticated verbal tangles of her “Earth Intro Segue” with a confessional candor. It’s as if she’s still parsing the meaning of the words she has written. After the big, bludgeoning beat has decayed for the final time, Ammons’s voice is all that remains for the song’s final seconds. “The matter is with the facts,” she closes, her voice settling into resignation after a masterful prelude. But then, just like that, Ammons and her velveteen voice disappear for the bulk of Language Barrier. She slips like a guest, or a ghost, into a project that bears her name. On Language Barrier’s remaining nine tracks, Ammons yields the microphone to a panoply of high-profile guests—both Indigo Girls and Hiss Golden Messenger’s Mike Taylor, Sylvan Esso’s Amelia Meath and Justus League alumnus Median. Ammons wrote the lyrics and crafted the teeming, dynamic backing tracks with multi-instrumentalist Daniel Hart. She then, by and large, passed the microphone, rejoining to trade a self-liberating verse
with German rapper Sookee or to shout out the chorus of the bewildering and irrepressible title track alongside Mount Moriah’s Heather McEntire. Rather than serve as the mouthpiece for her own material, Ammons has chosen to become its spine, connecting the limbs of this strange, gangly body. This approach may, admittedly, make for a vexing first or even second listen, as the material pivots freely among leading characters and styles. The smooth boom-bap of “Aviator Segue,” for instance, chases the punk brashness of “Language Barrier.” “Earth Intro” combines hard rock and hard rap, pausing only briefly before indulging the bulbous soul of the brilliant “Dear Nora,” delivered by Ammons’s clearest lodestar, Meshell Ndegeocello. And the album ends with two unabashed pieces of folk-rock, the peppy and Taylor-led “On the Road” and Phil Cook’s bittersweet letter to home, “Travel Light.” Over time, though, these pieces push together, like bits of what seemed to be a broken jigsaw puzzle suddenly making sense. Even when she’s not singing, Ammons’s voice steadily becomes apparent in the text and its treatment. This is her record, after all. Language Barrier is a keenly modern rap and pop record, wherein the network Ammons has built in order to deliver these songs can speak as much to the essence of the material as the tunes themselves. Her collaborators span racial and international borders, gender and genre distinctions, and the mix of music falls in line with Ammons’s imperative. “Now we burning them bridges amidst the broken and brilliant,” she raps during a mid-album cameo. “Watch the barriers burst like bubbles scaling a building.” If that’s the mission, Language Barrier is
entirely accomplished. —Grayson Haver Currin Shirlette Ammons plays The Pinhook Saturday, Feb. 6, at 10 p.m. Tickets are $10. See www.thepinhook.com.
HUMANIZE SADLANDS
(Winsome Management) HHH An album called Sadlands, released under the auspices of Winsome Management, consists of songs sporting titles such as “Pain,” “Loneliness,” and “Crying.” The thoughtful listener has ample reason to anticipate a musical mope. But there’s actually very little that’s precious or depressing about Sadlands, the second LP by Trianglebased singer-songwriter Thomas Costello, who now calls his backing band of area pros Humanize (né Human Eyes). In spite of the sad-bastard earmarks, these nine songs are seductive, reflecting a melodic new wave heart, even when the subject is the cold embrace of existential despair. Costello waited until he reached the age of 30 to release 2012’s Guiding Eyes for the Blind, a poignant set of bedroom pop that limned the onset of maturity and reflected on the quickly fading past through post-punk touchstones. Its long gestation imparted the quality of a personal project, distilled from years of collected sentiments. Sadlands has a more immediate feel, suggesting the work of an actual band. While the eighties fixation remains, Costello’s found inspiration in different
pockets of that era. On the angular opening track, “Different,” Costello’s voice recalls Tom Verlaine’s updated Buddy Holly-isms, while pointy-elbowed riffs and hints of surf guitar evoke a distinct New York new wave astringency. The guitar embroidery of “Feeling Blue” and the unmistakable “You Can’t Hurry Love”-via-the-Smiths cadence of “Set Free” make no bones about Costello’s deep devotion to Johnny Marr. Though the stylistic seams still show, Costello’s new songs demonstrate an emerging confidence. On the lush, synth-driven “Pain,” he musters a youthful yet entirely credible croon that honors the song’s Bryan Ferry intimations. There’s greater complexity to the songwriting, too. For “I Found Heaven,” he revisits the beguiling fake-banjo figure from “A Sight For Human Eyes,” the opener from his first record. Alongside a bump in BPM, Derek Torres’s chiseled bass line and arpeggiating synthesizer shape an altogether transporting moment. Even as he celebrates the life-affirming essence of the now, though, Costello can’t keep from pondering death and decay. If you get the sense you’ve heard these songs before, these echoes are both a tribute to Costello’s musical heroes and, sometimes, a limitation. Now that he’s refined his approach and sharpened up his ensemble, it raises hopes for a watershed third record, with or without a misleading title. —David Klein Humanize plays Cat’s Cradle Back Room Saturday, Feb. 6, at 9 p.m. Teardrop Canyon opens, and tickets cost $8. See www.catscradle.com. INDYweek.com | 2.3.16 | 23
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CHARGER is looking for a new friend and he thinks it could be you! This sweetheart of a boy is around 8 years old and is pretty confused as to why he’s found himself in the shelter. His family could no longer care for him or his long-time doggy pal, so they both came here to start new chapters in their lives. His pal has been adopted, but he’s still waiting to find the perfect person to welcome him home. Charger is healthy and friendly, and would likely do well with a another friendly dog in his new home. He could also be great as a solo dog, especially if his new family is home a lot or able to take him along to work or play. Mostly this sweet boy just wants a new, secure place to call home. In return he will give undivided love and affection to a lucky new family. Could you be Charger’s new best friend? Visit him to see at Orange County Animal Services, 1601 Eubanks Road, Chapel Hill. Or see him online at www.orangecountync.gov/departments/animalservices
To feature a pet for adoption, please contact rgierisch@indyweek.com
music
NORTH CAROLINA HIP MUSIC FESTIVAL Various Venues; Chapel Hill, Durham, Raleigh Saturday, Feb. 6–Sunday, Feb. 28, $20–$60 www.mallarmemusic.org
Recovery Time
THE HIP FESTIVAL SALVAGES SOUNDS OF THE PAST THAT EVEN MOST SYMPHONIES HAVE FORGOTTEN BY DAN RUCCIA
strings behind the bridge and nut to create a different Quick: Name the oldest piece of music you’ve ever instrument altogether. heard at an area festival. As the tension on the strings and their relationA Bill Monroe number at the World of Bluegrass ship to one another shift, the instrument’s resonance in Raleigh, maybe an old-time fiddle tune in the Shachanges, allowing Biber to radically reconfigure the kori Hills woods? Something by Jelly Roll Morton or violin’s sound. Sometimes, as in the fourth sonata, Duke Ellington, perhaps, at the Art of the Cool? A Tin the violin takes on an open-tuning glow that sugPan Alley number covered by an indie rock band at gests the fingerpicking of guitarists like John Fahey Hopscotch? or Jack Rose. In the sixth, the vibrations almost disThe North Carolina HIP Music Festival looks at appear, conjuring an unplugged electric guitar. Biber those ages and laughs. Outside a brief foray into the composed his music to showcase his technical ideas. 21st century, the month-long event, now in its third These sonatas rank among the greatest music of year, plunders the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries to their era, easily matching anything by Bach, Vivalshowcase music at the edges of the classical canon. di, or Corelli. Each sonata has a unique form. Some The notion of HIP, or “Historically Informed Pracbrim with dance rhythms or include intricate fugues. tice,” is simple—play music the way it may have been Others seem rhapsodic and open-ended. Often, the played when it was written. HIP musicians initially connection with the Mysteries of the Rosary seems began with pieces that dated to around 1750 and worked tenuous. The eighth sonata, “The Crowning with backward to the oldest available notated music. The Thorns,” feels convivial, while the fourth, “The Prescene has subsequently pushed forward, embracing sentation of Jesus in the Temple,” is fairly somber, alternate ways of playing Beethoven or Brahms, Wagner occasionally violent. or even Schoenberg. Nothing else at this year’s festival is as extreme as This often entails using antiquated instruments or Biber’s work, but the programing still ventures into older versions of modern instruments. The baroque vioplenty of underexplored Baroque corners. The quintet lin, for instance, has a shorter fingerboard and a differRaleigh Camerata investigates 18th-century Moravian ent bridge. The neck attaches at a shallow angle, so the instrumental music, while Baroque & Beyond team gut strings take less tension than their modern counterwith Voices of a New Renaissance to perform vocal and parts. Without recordings, scholars have reconstructed instrumental music from the royal palaces of London the details of how these instruments were likely played and Paris. Aliénor pairs a harpsichord duo by Johann and how this repertory sounded. The players fill the gaps Ludwig Krebs, a student of Bach’s, with two new duos through inferences made in the spirit of the music. by Edwin McLean and Mark Janello. The Triangle supports a surprisingly large concenAt the end of February, the festival closes when tration of such musicians, allowing the HIP Festival HIP’s founding institution, Mallarmé, and the UNCto tap area ensembles for all of its twelve concerts. Chapel Hill Department of Music present a semiNine local groups join performers from Duke Unistaged version of Handel’s 1738 opera, Serse. Handel versity and UNC–Chapel Hill for a deep dive into the played so thoroughly with operatic conventions that past, a chance to hear music you may have considered the work initially flopped. But now it’s known best for familiar, recast in its original glory. Baroque cellist Stephanie Vial will play Heinrich Ignaz Franz von an opening countertenor aria that’s perhaps the greatThe festival begins February 6 and 7 with what Biber’s sonatas for the HIP Music Festival. PHOTO BY ALEX BOERNER est love song ever written about a tree. may be the most HIP-ready music available, Heinrich Even if HIP musicians fail to re-create the exact Ignaz Franz von Biber’s Mystery Sonatas. Biber was from its neighbor, giving its open strings a range of almost two experience of hearing this music in the 17th or 18th century, one of the greatest violinists and composers of the late 17th octaves. Here, each sonata gets its own tuning, and they grow the quest is a worthwhile one, capable of reintroducing audicentury. The Mallarmé Chamber Players, including six viomore complex as the work progresses. ences to composers like Biber before their names disappear linists, will deliver his set of 15 Rosary Sonatas—one for each Early on, Biber moves a string a single step or two. Durin history’s advance. The classical music machine is often too of the Mysteries of the Rosary, key moments from the lives of ing the middle five sonatas associated with the crucifixion, focused on the pivotal 19th century to remember what came the Virgin Mary and Christ. though, Biber wrenches the top strings down and the botbefore. HIP offers a rejoinder, as in tune and time with the What’s most striking about this work, written in the 1670s, tom strings up, collapsing the range into less than an octave. past as it can be. l is that each sonata calls for a different scordatura, or tuning And for the resurrection, the violinists cross the middle two system. Each string of a violin is typically tuned a fifth apart Twitter: @danruccia INDYweek.com | 2.3.16 | 25
indystage
TWELFTH NIGHT
Reynolds Industries Theater, Durham Friday, Feb. 5–Saturday, Feb. 6, 8 p.m., $10–$34 www.dukeperformances.duke.edu
Shake It Up
WHY CAN’T WE LEAVE SHAKESPEARE ALONE—AND VICE VERSA? BY ADAM SOBSEY
I started researching Filter Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Twelfth Night, which Duke Performances presents this weekend, by watching the ten-minute trailer on YouTube. It’s quite entertaining. It devotes its first minute to a thorough, comic milking of the famous opening line (“If music be the food of love …”). It captures the live feel of the madcap, music-driven show, which was conceived by a company of theater friends from college, and it tidily unfolds most of the plot. The “radically cut, fast-paced” staging, as Filter describes it, is about ninety minutes long, but if it’s possible to get the whole thing enjoyably done in ten, why an additional
eighty? Why see the play at all, actually—and is the play even what we’re seeing? Is a halflength Twelfth Night really Twelfth Night? And does it matter if it is—or isn’t? If all of this sounds familiar, it’s because four years ago, Duke Performances presented another condensed, madcap, music-driven Shakespeare comedy created by college theater friends whose company name is a six-letter word starting with F (Cymbeline, Fiasco). How different is Filter Theatre’s Twelfth Night, really? Most of Shakespeare, especially the comedies, is essentially interchangeable: a handful of famous scenes pried out of hours of dense, difficult, obsolete dramaturgy.
In our fifth century of doing Shakespeare, Shakespeare, Shakespeare, one wonders if we have finally squeezed his ideas dry, reducing him to some kind of theatrical click bait. This weekend, Carolina Ballet opens its Spring Shakespeare Festival with Love Speaks, in which his sonnets are set to Baroque music, plus just the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet. Next up is a “dance meditation” on The Tempest. Maybe, in the era of Tinder and Twitter, Spotify and Auto-Tune, SportsCenter and sous vide, this is fine: Shakespeare not as theater so much as infinitely remixed content. Danced Shakespeare, mashed-up Shakespeare, shrunken Shakespeare. Twelfth Night in twelve minutes.
Shakespeare—or let him do something to us. The first full-length play I ever wrote transposed Hamlet onto a truck stop. That gave my grungy diner-tragedy a philosophical spookiness I couldn’t have created myself, along with murderous intensity. A few years ago, I was commissioned to raid Timon of Athens for a found-text script about the Vorticist art movement, co-founded by Ezra Pound. I’d already spent three years trying futilely to dramatize Pound. Three weeks of grafting him onto Timon made Pound’s protean character clear: lordly benevolence undone by fatuity and flattery, finally driven to madness and misanthropy. We may not hear our language in Shake-
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Shakespeare shenanigans: Filter Theatre’s Twelfth Night PHOTO COURTESY OF DUKE PERFORMANCES
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Cymbeline in a thimble. The Tempest in tutus. There are, perhaps, reasons to worry about this trend (and Tinder, and Auto-Tune), but the most boring Shakespeare productions are the ones that just do the whole play, solemnly, in doublets. They’re like three hours of church in a foreign language. Nothing about Shakespeare comes naturally to us. We must resort to artifice. In order for Shakespeare to mean something, we have to do something to
speare’s, or see our rooms and cities in his castles and forests. But he explains our world to us through his stories and characters—and, especially, in the ways we stage his plays. Filter Theatre and Carolina Ballet may or may not reveal new things about his works. No matter; go and see. The greatness of Shakespeare is that every time we put him onstage, he reveals the way we see him, and thus the way we see. l Twitter: @sobsey
$10–$34
stage
LILY TOMLIN
Carolina Theatre, Durham Wednesday, Feb. 3, 8 p.m., $37–$155 www.carolinatheatre.org
MARGARET CHO
Goodnights Comedy Club, Raleigh Thursday, Feb. 4–Saturday, Feb. 6, $25–$38 www.goodnightscomedy.com
Well Enough Alone
LILY TOMLIN REINVENTED THE “ONE-MAN SHOW” FOR WOMEN LIKE MARGARET CHO BY CRAIG D. LINDSEY
Lily Tomlin is enjoying a nice ing to us. career resurgence. Last year, the rote trans-seventy-six-year-old comedy icon at gave mystarred as a lesbian poet who takes al spooki-her granddaughter on a road trip along withto get money for an abortion in ago, I wasthe indie film Grandma. The role hens for aearned her praise and best actress art move-nods at the Golden Globes and I’d alreadyCritics’ Choice Awards. At the lato drama-ter, Amy Schumer, who won for him ontoTrainwreck, said in her acceptance cter clear:speech not only that Tomlin should y and flat-have won, but that Schumer “would santhropy.love to go down” on her. in Shake- Tomlin has also jumped on the
streaming bandwagon alongside her 9 to 5 costar Jane Fonda in the Netflix dramedy Grace and Frankie, where two senior citizens lean on each other when their significant others become a couple. Tomlin may be in her golden years, but judging from the fact that she’s returning to the Carolina Theatre this week, she still has a lot more to say. The same goes for Margaret Cho, a younger comedian who benefitted from Tomlin’s trailblazing but was freer to express her personal life. A bit of the old ultra-comedy: Margaret Cho Cho appears at Goodnights Comedy PHOTO COURTESY OF MARGARETCHO.COM Club for three nights this week. Even though Tomlin has been getin 1977 and the Tony-winning The Search for ting much love lately, we shouldn’t forget that Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe in 1985. she had to reimagine the “one-man show”— Along with her collaborator and life partner as a woman. Some of you may shudder upon Jane Wagner, Tomlin rounded up monologues hearing that term; folks usually imagine such ERFORMANCES where her characters riffed on life, society and an evening being nothing but dull, pretenthe human condition. tious, self-indulgent spectacle. But when These shows weren’t created just to display in his cas-Tomlin took center stage, it was less about her exceptional skills as a comedic actor. They world to usher than the trademark characters—busywere also full of socially conscious observaand, espe-body telephone operater Ernestine, precotions and existential quandaries. It might not Filter The-cious five-year-old Edith Ann, housewife hit you until afterward that she had dropped a not revealJudith Beasley—she introduced as a cast lot of heavy, thought-provoking shit. ter; go andmember on Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In. Although she has been an LGBT supporter that every Tomlin memorably took her arsenal of perfrom way back, Tomlin’s sexuality has never he way wesonas, both male and female, to Broadway on been a focal point of her comedy or her public two occasions: Lily Tomlin: Appearing Nitely life—she didn’t officially come out until later r: @sobsey
in life, eventually marrying Wagner in 2013. But a generation later, fellow queer-comedy heroine Margaret Cho had no qualms bringing up bisexuality in her one-person shows. Hell, in 2002’s Notorious C.H.O., she revealed her preferences in a woman (“I want a woman who looks like John Goodman!”) as well as her views on cunnilingus (“You really need a wet-nap if you’re gonna eat that”). Unlike Tomlin, the forty-seven-year-old Cho doesn’t do much character work in her stand-up. She has always been aggressively personal, especially after ABC tried to make her an inoffensive sitcom princess when the network gave Cho her own vehicle, All-American Girl, in the mid-nineties.
Since then, she has created several frank, unfiltered solo shows, including Notorious, I’m the One That I Want and Margaret Cho: Revolution, where she riffed on what it’s like being an Asian-American—and a sexually adventurous one, at that—in contemporary society. While they both have distinctive approaches to stand-up, it’s apparent that Tomlin and Cho have always prided themselves on exhibiting a bold, independent femininity, an impulsive yen for social commentary, and, of course, an unapologetic feminist edge whenever they hit the stage. And both of them are far from done. l Twitter: @unclecrizzle
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T H E I R O N YA R D . C O M / R A L E I G H G I V E U S A C A L L : 9 1 9. 4 2 4 . 6 0 5 5
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02.03–02.10 FRIDAY, FEB. 5–SATURDAY, FEB. 6 AMERICAN AQUARIUM
LEFT American Aquarium PHOTO BY JUSTIN COOK BELOW Dance Theatre of Harlem PHOTO BY MATTHEW MURPHY
MUSIC
Late last January, American Aquarium recruited its posse to Raleigh. For much of the last decade, the Raleigh alt-country upstarts had worked the roads like whiskey-fed pack mules, gradually rising from small pubs and backwater bars to major opening slots and big headlining tours. Concurrent with the release of what, to date, stands as its contemplative-and-compelling opus, Wolves, the band staged two nights in its hometown’s biggest rock club and watched far-flung fans flock to town. (How many Slim’s tabs remain open from that lost weekend, I wonder?) American Aquarium responded with Springsteen-ian grandeur, playing nearly sixty songs in two days and pivoting between early, booze-addled tunes and more settled-and-mellowed recent fare. During the last year, American Aquarium’s members have survived home ownership, relationship trauma, solo tours, Hopscotch main-stage status and nearly 250 more shows scattered across two continents. This weekend, the band offers up the second edition of what we hope is a new tradition. —Grayson Haver Currin
S TAG E / DA N C E
FRIDAY, FEB. 5
DANCE THEATRE OF HARLEM
Balanchine dancer and choreographer Arthur Mitchell created a sea change in the dance world when he formed Dance Theatre of Harlem in 1969, advancing a groundbreaking fusion of ballet, modern and African sensibilities with an all-black professional troupe. But the company found unwanted fame in 2004, when administrative problems—and a multimillion-dollar deficit—forced it into a nine-year hiatus. A group of company students and artists toured provisionally (coming here in 2011) before a much smaller ensemble’s formal New York return in 2013. At the Carolina Theatre on Friday, a lineup of fourteen favors old favorites, like Robert Garland’s Return, a funky balletic street party set to music by James Brown and Aretha Franklin, and New Bach, Garland’s hip-hop take on Johann Sebastian. We’ll also see a new work by
LINCOLN THEATRE, RALEIGH 9 p.m., $25, www.lincolntheatre.com
S TAG E / T H E AT E R
TUESDAY, FEB. 9–SUNDAY, FEB. 14 GREASE It’s basic Darwinism: organisms must adapt to changes in their environment in order to survive and flourish. One thing’s for sure—Sandy Dumbrowski’s wholesome, good-littleGidget persona, which worked for her at the Catholic school she used to attend, isn’t going over as well since she moved and started at Rydell High. In the 1971 musical Grease, later immortalized in the John Travolta/Olivia Newton-John film, the new girl in town negotiates the new ecosystem of a
public school in 1959, where hormones—and social groups—regularly collide. Will Danny, her summer fling, remain as charming when he’s hanging with his semilovable greaser friends? Exactly what kind of welcome does the school’s toughest girl gang, the Pink Ladies, have in mind for her? Why are there so many erasures and penciled-in lines in the Book of Love, and who will be the Hand Jive King? Relive these and other coming-of-age dilemmas courtesy of NC Theatre. —Byron Woods MEMORIAL AUDITORIUM, RALEIGH Various times, $25–$92, www.nctheatre.org
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WHAT TO DO THIS WEEK Dianne McIntyre and Contested Space, a meditation on men and women in relationships by Donald Byrd. —Byron Woods
bassist Tarus Mateen and drummer Nasheet Waits in this trio, never dumbs down his expeditions into that territory, no matter the context. You can picture the sound, and it’s wonderfully intricate. —Chris Vitiello
CAROLINA THEATRE, DURHAM 8 p.m., $12–$77, www.carolinatheatre.org
UNC’S MEMORIAL HALL, CHAPEL HILL 8 p.m., $10-$59, www.carolinaperformingarts.org
FRIDAY,
FEB. 5 DISHOOM After nearly a decade of performing at bhangra and “international” dance parties, DJ Rang found a new set of party people eager to connect. Now, at his DISHOOM parties, the dance-floor results range from healthy fitness to severe injury, either 1,800 calories burned according to a Fitbit or a knee popped out of socket. A dholi, or dhol drummer, is always by Rang’s side, and VJ Kid Ethnic syncs archival Bollywood footage into staccato clips, giving Rang’s rhythm and the dholi’s beats a psychedelic visual choreography. The dudes in charge are a product of the South we live in, making DISHOOM an unforced representation of how Durham looks and feels on the dance floor. —Victoria Bouloubasis
S TAG E / DA N C E
THURSDAY, FEB. 4–SATURDAY, FEB. 21 LOVE SPEAKS PHOTO COURTESY OF THE ARTIST
MUSIC
MUSIC
Jason Moran & The Bandwagon
THE PINHOOK, DURHAM 10 p.m., $10, www.thepinhook.com
FRIDAY, FEB. 5
JASON MORAN & THE BANDWAGON “Jazz is like painting with sounds.” This sort of lame, synesthetic cliche is enough to send both musician and painter to the exit. But pianist Jason Moran actually finds substantial conceptual connections between music and visual art. He’s collaborated on projects with Kara Walker, Glenn Ligon, and Adrian Piper, and his theatrical piece Looks of a Lot with artist-activist Theaster Gates blew away a Chicago Symphony Orchestra crowd at its debut. Gates credits Moran’s “strong sense of space,” one way of describing what the audio and visual arts share: specific, situational territory. Moran, who leads
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William Shakespeare died exactly four centuries ago this April, but he continues to inspire varied artistic expression (see story, p. 26), from faithful renditions to works that turn Shakespeare into a jumping-off point, like the current Broadway smash Something Rotten or New York’s The Sonnet Project, which produced 154 short films based on Shakespeare’s fourteen-line poems. Some of the sonnets also provide the basis for Love Speaks, the opening salvo of Carolina Ballet’s Spring Shakespeare Festival. Adapting Shakespeare’s poetry for a theatrical presentation in which the poems won’t actually be heard would seem a formidable task. Yet part of the beauty of Shakespeare’s works is their sheer malleability. Choreographer Lynne TaylorCorbett wrings out the essence of the Bard’s love lines through bodily movement and the Baroque music of Vivaldi and Purcell. In the coming months, the festival shifts its tone toward tragedy with the premiere of artistic director Robert Weiss’s Macbeth in April, bracketed by two works in which magic plays its part: A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Tempest Fantasy. —David Klein FLETCHER OPERA THEATER, RALEIGH Various times, $30–$73, www.carolinaballet.com
WALLS OF COLOR AT THE ACKLAND (p. 18), HUMANIZE RECORD-RELEASE PARTY AT CAT’S CRADLE (p. 23), SHIRLETTE AMMONS RECORD-RELEASE PARTY AT THE PINHOOK (p. 23), NC CHINESE LANTERN FESTIVAL HIP FESTIVAL (p. 25), FILTER THEATRE AT DUKE PERFORMANCES (p. 26), MARGARET CHO AT GOODNIGHTS COMEDY CLUB (p. 27), PUBLIC DISPLAYS AT FLANDERS (p. 35)
Coming February 17th
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John Pizzarelli
Saturday, February 6 at 8pm Stewart Theatre ■ 919-515-1100
SPECIAL TREAT: A pre-show conversation with John Pizzarelli, 7pm PHOTO: TIMOTHY WHITE
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music
02.03–02.10
CONTRIBUTORS: Jim Allen (JA), Amanda Black (AB), Grant Britt (GB), Grayson Haver Currin (GC), Spencer Griffith (SG), Allison Hussey (AH), David Klein (DK), Jordan Lawrence (JL), Bryan C. Reed (BCR), Dan Ruccia (DR), David Ford Smith (DS), Eric Tullis (ET), Chris Vitiello (CV), Patrick Wall (PW)
WED, FEB 3
Rob Schneider
Housefire Bulltown Strutters at Durham Mardi Gras 2015 PHOTO COURTESY OF THE BAND
TEMPEST Late last year, TONES Durham’s Housefire issued Burn the Masters, a mantra-like exploration of repeated rhythms and samples, static caked along the sides. On stage, expect Housefire’s material to arrive louder and faster. Openers Sunk Heaven and Blue Shift both use strings, bows, and pedals to suggest the widening gyre of an abyss, like Tony Conrad on steroids. With Misha. —GC [NIGHTLIGHT, $7/7 P.M.]
Save The Pinhook LIVE AID Last week’s pair of clandestine Pinhook benefits put Sylvan Esso on one of its smallest stages in years and area acoustic favorites Mipso and Mandolin Orange in a chatty rock-club context. Not bad for a weeknight. Sneak peeks at this week’s set of gigs look promising, with the possible formation of at least one area singer-songwriter supergroup and a righteous rock show to boot. If you don’t understand why The Pinhook deserves to be saved, these shows offer mighty testimony. —GC [THE PINHOOK, $25–$100/8 P.M.]
Valerie Kuehne and the Wasps Nests STRINGS/ As its title implies, SHOUTS The Apocalypse as Witnessed by a Slice of American Cheese, by New York’s Valerie Kuehne and The Wasps Nests, is a fascinating, flummoxing record. Mixing punk rock aplomb with string-trio motion, spoken-word calm with theatric outbursts, these songs suggest a patient boxer, biding time before landing a swift blow loaded with insight. Cyanotype opens. —GC [ARCANA, FREE/8 P.M.] ALSO ON WEDNESDAY
CAT’S CRADLE: Low; 8:30 p.m., $20. • LINCOLN THEATRE: Gaelic Storm; 8 p.m., $14.50. • POUR HOUSE: The
Loz Band; 9 p.m., $5.
Saturday, FEB. 6 & Tuesday, FEB. 9
DURHAM MARDI GRAS
After a winter storm wiped out last year’s festivities, Durham Mardi Gras hopes to return in force for the nonprofit’s sixth year of Fat Tuesday celebrations, both city-sanctioned and otherwise. As its Big Easy-meets-Bull City slogan suggests, “Laissez les bull temps rouler.” Get an early start with Saturday’s Samedi Gras celebration at Motorco, which helps fund the rest of Durham Mardi Gras and features the first of a few appearances by the festival’s host band, The Bulltown Strutters. The wild collective fuels the party by pairing New Orleans classics with some funk. The costumed Beauty Operators join the bill to serve up greasy roadhouse blues and meaty rock. Cirque de Vol makes the trek from Raleigh to perform aerial acrobatics. Tuesday’s events begin at CCB Plaza with an opening ceremony in which Major the Bull will sport a tutu, a boa, and beads. From there, The Bulltown Strutters and more than a dozen “Parade Krewes” will move mostly along Foster Street toward Motorco, where Sidecar Social Club takes the stage with speakeasy jazz. The Strutters then take another turn. Nearby spaces will host cover-free, two-band bills: Across the street at Fullsteam, Piedmont bluesman John Dee Holeman opens for the roots-based storytellers of Gasoline Stove, while Ellis Dyson & The Shambles raise a ruckus with ragtime and oldtime tunes at Blue Note Grill. They follow Boom Unit Brass Band’s open-minded combinations of New Orleans traditionals and unlikely covers. The Pit presents Cajun fare from MSA Ramblers and The Cajammers, while The Bar hosts a Mardi Gras drag show. —Spencer Griffith VARIOUS VENUES, DURHAM, various times, free–$10, www. durhammardigras.com
THU, FEB 4 Brother Beast NERVES & They aren’t quite GUITARS hardcore, not quite post-punk. Somewhere in between sits the strange, quiet intensity of Raleigh’s Brother Beast. Singer Allen Hyde’s vocals are declarative yet unstable; he’s always warning of emotional collapse though never
hitting the edge. If hardcoretinged Dischord bands strike your fancy, you’ll like this. With Sea of Storms and Dogs Eyes.
—DS [SLIM’S, $5/9 P.M.]
Fat Cheek Kat HORN Fat Cheek Kat has PARTY become a fixture on Triangle rock club calendars thanks to a party-friendly potpourri. The lively Winston-
Salem quintet spikes sauntering Southern rock shuffles, laid-back reggae rhythms and high-energy funk workouts with heavy horns and soloing guitars. —SG [CAT’S CRADLE BACK ROOM,
$5–$8/9 P.M.]
Professor Toon START-UP We may never TRAP know exactly how much money or effort
downtown Durham start-up hub American Underground invested in its “rapper-in-residence,” Professor Toon. But as his dark-trap debut, Take Notes, grandstands in songs like “The Elephant,” the Bull City-via-Baltimore rapper, hustler, and charmer might not need the quasicorporate cosign to celebrate his turn-up for long. With Tab-One, Ace Henderson, and Made of Oak. —ET [MOTORCO,
$12–$15/8:30 P.M.]
TEXAN No, he’s not the guy TUNES from Apples in Stereo. Bob (not Robert) Schneider is a singer, songwriter, and guitar banger from Austin. He has worked with a slew of acts over the years, but he’s pumped out solo albums pretty steadily for nearly two decades now. His rough-hewn brand of Americana-tinged rock should offer a welcome weekend prelude. Graham Wilkinson opens. —JA [THE ARTSCENTER, $22–$25/8 P.M.] ALSO ON THURSDAY
THE CAVE: Maradeen; 9 p.m., $5. • DEEP SOUTH: Valleys, Awake at Last, Nikol, In Waves; 8:30 p.m., $5–$10. • DURHAM PERFORMING ARTS CENTER: Star Trek: The Ultimate Voyage; 7:30 p.m., $45–$85. • LOCAL 506: BiggBrad, Anonymous Jones, YDM, Jones Michael, Vinnie Dangerous; 9 p.m., $10. • POUR HOUSE: Local Band Local Beer: Matt Phillips & The Philharmonic, Jphono1, Mason Via; 9:30 p.m., free.
FRI, FEB 5 The Backsliders, Jeffrey Dean Foster TAR HEEL Despite histories TWANG that stretch into the 1980s, The Backsliders and Jeffrey Dean Foster have aged well. Raleigh’s Backsliders deliver aching twang and up-tempo but heartbroken anthems in the vein of classic Nashville bards. Triad singersongwriter Jeffrey Dean Foster threads roots-based jangle into his strong power pop. —PW [CAT’S CRADLE BACK ROOM, $10–$12/9 P.M.]
Carnaval of All Rhythms BEATS OF Motorco brings the BRAZIL rhythm for Carnaval. Caique Vidal’s Batuque is becoming the go-to Brazilian band to get the Triangle moving, with a percussion ensemble that will bring even the most hesitant partygoer to the dance floor for samba, frevo, maracatu, and axé. Batalá INDYweek.com | 2.3.16 | 31
WE 2/3 AN EVENING WITH LOW **($20) SA 2/6 BOB MARLEY'S BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION FEAT. MICKEY MILLS AND STEEL ($12/ $15) FRt2/12 MUTEMATH W / NOTHING BUT THIEVES soLD ou SA 2/13 PERPETUAL GROOVE ($20/$25)
1990’S MUSIC BINGO W/ DJ KERI THE RED MUST BE THE HOLY GHOST
TH 2/4 FR 2/5
PLEASURES / YOUTH LEAGUE HUNDREDFTFACES SA 2/6 FOR THE CULTURE PRESENTS:
ZENSOFLY
BRASSIOUSMONK / YOUTHFUL RECORDS BASS/ABS / JUST ARCHIE
THE DATING GAME
TH 2/11
LIVE AT NEPTUNES
BIG EYES KINGS VALENTINE’S DAY BASH
FR 2/12
WOOL / WING DAM / FAYE
WKNC’S DOUBLE BARREL BENEFIT 13
SA 2/13
DES ARK / SCHOONER MUSEUM MOUTH / NAKED NAPS MO 2/15 THE 17TH ANNUAL LOVE HANGOVER TU 2/16 VOIVOD FR 2/19
VEKTOR / EIGHT BELLS / DAVIDIANS KOOLEY HIGH RECORD RELEASE PARTY!
BELL WITCH / GREAT GOOD FINE OK / GUTTERMOUTH DOWNTOWN BOYS / THE SNAILS / NAPALM DEATH
MO 2/15 WAVVES & BEST COAST W/ CHERRY GLAZER ($30) FR 2/19 DIRTY BOURBON RIVER SHOW /
ELLIS DYSON & THE SHAMBLES
SA 2/20 WKNC DOUBLE BARREL BENEFIT 13 DENIRO FARRAR, SKYBLEW, EARTHLY ($12/$15) FR 2/26 TIFT MERRITT PERFORMS 'BRAMBLE ROSE' ALEXANDRA SAUSER-MONNIG($25) SA 2/27 WXYC 90S DANCE WE 3/2 MC CHRIS W/ NATHAN ANDERSON ($13/$15) TH 3/3 KURT VILE & THE VIOLATORS W/ SPACIN' ($20) FR 3/4 DEAD TONGUES ALBUM RELEASE SHOW W/ NC VOLUNTEERS & SPECIAL GUESTS ($10/$12) SU 3/6 ERIC HUTCHINSON TU 3/8 RA RA RIOT W/ SUN CLUB, PWR BTTM ($17) SA 3/12 PENTAGRAM W/ COLOSSUS, KING GIANT AND DEMON EYE ($18/$22) LD out soSU 3/13 X AMBASSADORS W/ SEINABO SEY, POWERS TH/FR 3/17/18 (TWO SHOWS!) DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS THAYER SARRANO $25/$28) SA 3/26 MOUNT MORIAH W/ ELEPHANT MICAH ($12) MO 3/28 JUNIOR BOYS JESSY LANZA, BORYS ($15/$17) WE 3/30 THE WONDER YEARS W/ LETLIVE, MOOSE BLOOD, MICROWAVE TH 3/31 G LOVE AND SPECIAL SAUCE **($25 / $30) ALSO UPCOMING: DUNCAN TRUSSELL • DAUGHTER • SEAN WATKINS • MAGIC MAN, THE GRISWOLDS THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS • THAO & THE GET DOWN STAY DOWN • MURDER BY DEATH TRIBAL SEEDS HOUNDMOUTH • POLICA THE RESIDENTS • PARACHUTE • STICKY FINGERS • BOYCE AVENUE OLD 97S • THE FRONT BOTTOMS • BLOC PARTY SAY ANYTHING OW WONDER • PETER HOOK & THE LIGHT
Cat's CraDLe BaCK room 2/4: FAT CHEEK KAT ($5/$8) 2/5: THE BACKSLIDERS/JEFFREY DEAN FOSTER 2/6:HUMANIZEW/TEARDROPCANYON($8) 2/7THE PINES 2/11:PELLW/DAYEJACK,CHAZFRENCH,WELL$ ($12/$15) 2/12:ARALEIGHW/SHANNONO'CONNOR 2/13HEY MARSEILLES W/BADBADHATS($12/$14) 2/14: BOB MARGOLIN ($10/$12) 2/16PROTOMARTYR W/SPRAYPAINT,BODYKIT($10/$12) 2/18DRESSY BESSY AND PYLON REENACTMENT SOCIETY FEATURING VANESSA BRISCOE-HAY ($15/$18) 2/20: SERATONESW/THICKMODINE($10) 2/21:HONEYHONEYW/CICADARHYTHM($15) 2/22THE SOFT MOON($10/$12) 2/25:MY THREE SONS W/LEMON SPARKS($8/$10) 2/26GRIFFIN HOUSE($15/$18) 2/27THE BLACK LILLIES W/UNDERHILLROSE($14) 2/29:SON LITTLE 3/2:PETER CASE 3/4:BRETT HARRIS($8/$10) 3/6:QUILT 3/9:ALL DOGS 3/11 PORCHES / ALEX G W/YOURFRIEND($13/$15) 3/12: MAPLE STAVE / WAILIN STORMS / BRONZED CHORUS ($8) 3/13:TRIXIE WHITLEY ($12) 3/19GROOVE FETISH($7/$10) ALSOUPCOMING:KRIS ALLEN • CHON ELEANOR FRIEDBERGER • ERIC BACHMANN MATTHEW LOGAN VASQUEZ • JOHNATHAN BYRD artsCenter (CarrBoro) 2/4 BOB SCHNEIDER W/ GRAHAM WILKINSON 2/28 LUTHER DICKINSON & THE COLLABORATORS W/ JIM LAUDERDALE ($20/$23) 5/5 GREG BROWN ($28/$30) LoCaL 506 (CHapeL HiLL) TU 2/16 THIRD MAN RECORDS PRES: TIMMY’S ORGANISM, VIDEO, REGRESSION 696 CaroLina tHeatre (DurHam) 2/25 JOSH RITTER & THE ROYAL CITY BAND motorCo (DurHam) 4/12 INTO IT. OVER IT. AND TWIABP... W/ THE SIDEKICKS, PINEGROVE ($15/$17) 5/3 WILD BELLE HaW riVer BaLLroom 3/30-3/31 (TWO SHOWS!): DR DOG ($22/$25) 4/3 ANGEL OLSEN W/ THE TILLS ($17/$20) 4/9 PHIL COOK 4/29 M WARD ($23/$25)
WWW.CATSCRADLE.COM 32 | 2.3.16 | INDYweek.com
Durham’s samba reggae ensemble also performs, along with DJ CK Scorpio, Triangle Capoeira CDO and Movimentos de Samba dance troupe. —AB
[MOTORCO, $10–$12/9 P.M.]
Death Shroud, Heron PAINTED Virginia black metal BLACK purists Death Shroud summon howls, blast beats and distortion with all the lo-fi grit of their European forebears. Raleigh’s Heron takes a more patient and atmospheric approach to the genre; they filled September’s DYZU with open spaces, making their frenetic bursts more dynamic. Basura opens. —BCR [SCHOOLKIDS RECORDS, FREE/7 P.M.]
The Fire Tonight PIANO With members PROG spread across three states, The Fire Tonight is an illogical mash-up of sounds and styles—the arty rock of Radiohead, the Anglicized bombast of Muse, the wild jazz of Thelonious Monk. The seams in the stitching show sometimes, though not enough to be off-putting. With Dragmatic and Alpha Cop. —PW [DEEP SOUTH, $5/9 P.M.]
Jphono1, Blanko Basnet LOCAL As Jphono1, John FUZZ Harrison finds an easy middle ground between spectral rock experiments and delicate folk intimacy, shaping a more introspective vibe than that of his long-standing band, North Elementary. Blanko Basnet feeds off the colorful dexterity of guitarist Joe Hall, layering eager melodies and bendy distortion into thoughtful rock. With The Shelles and Jacob Mirador. —JL [THE CAVE, $7/9 P.M.]
MAKE FIT TO This show serves as PRINT a release party for WXYCzine, a best-of-2015 print
compendium compiled by UNC’s WXYC-FM. Loaded with interviews, essays, art, and lists, it’s an interesting project boosted here by a fascinating bill. Local headliners MAKE commingle doom metal and psychedelic rock, giving their heavy tones a wonderfully astral lift. The dense and often abrasive guitar-and-voice paroxysms of New York’s yek koo are fascinating, the audio equivalent of staring at an expressionist painting until shapes and stories spill out. Fellow New York traveler Heavy Hymns opens with meditative guitar-and-keys vistas. —GC
[NIGHTLIGHT, $7/9 P.M.]
Maradeen JAM ON, Nashville’s Y’ALL Maradeen somehow boasts enough jaunty energy to keep its staid jam-rock influences from feeling altogether stale. The piano rollick, euphoric noodling and loose-and-lively vocals are all stuff that devotees of the Allmans or The Band should enjoy. With Psylo Joe and Fonix. —JL [SOUTHLAND BALLROOM, $7–$10/9 P.M.]
Must Be The Holy Ghost CIRCUIT As Must Be The GAZING Holy Ghost, Jared Draughon crafts deep, dreamy electronic numbers that drift into a super-stoned space. Live, the music gets an extra boost from colorful overhead visuals by Evan Hawkins. Pleasures, Youth League, and Hundredftfaces open. —AH [KINGS, $10/9 P.M.]
Jennifer Nettles POP Once the voice of COUNTRY Sugarland, Jennifer Nettles has been nurturing a solo career. Her songs are sharp and fun. “Sugar” is sweet and sassy, while “That Girl” is a satisfying single about coming to terms with being The Other Woman. Brandy Clark, Lindsay Ell, and Tara Thompson join her. —AH [DURHAM PERFORMING
ARTS CENTER, $45.50– $100.50/7:30 P.M.]
N.C. Symphony: Orchestral Love Stories ROMAN- The second half of TIC SWAY the 19th century was prime time for steamy, overwrought orchestral music. Something about the heaving, open-ended harmonic language of the times lent itself to grand gestures. For this lunchtime concert, the N.C. Symphony surveys some of the best-known orchestral romances of that era: the “Liebestod” from Tristan and Isolde, the overture to Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet, and selections from Carmen. —DR [MEYMANDI CONCERT HALL, $28/12 P.M.]
Outliar, Warhead METAL After a year on REBIRTH hold, Apex quartet Outliar returns to the stage with new members and songs, building upon the band’s foundations in old-school thrash and death metal. Given Outliar’s pre-existing balance of sharp riffs and fluid melodies, expect a dynamic and familiar approach. Phoenix thrash revivalists Warhead and LA’s Brain Dead fill the bill’s middle. Raleigh’s Enigmatic Path opens. —BCR [THE MAYWOOD, $8/8:30 P.M.] ALSO ON FRIDAY
BEYÙ CAFFÈ: Ezra Brown; 8 & 10 p.m., $9. • BLUE NOTE GRILL:
Adrian Duke Band; 9:30 p.m., $8. • CAT’S CRADLE: 2016 Battle of the Bands; 7 p.m., $8–$10. • CITY LIMITS SALOON: Casey Donahew Band; 8 p.m., $15–$20. • KABOOM ART GALLERY: Sonfather, Raw Dog, Photoclub, Yea(h); 7 p.m., Donations. • THE KRAKEN: ElecTrick Ladyland, Pagan Hellcats; 9 p.m. • LINCOLN THEATRE: American Aquarium, T Hardy Morris, Timmy the Teeth; 9 p.m., $25. See page 28. • THE PINHOOK: DISHOOM Bollywood Dance Party; 10 p.m., $10. See page 28. • PITTSBORO ROADHOUSE: Carolina Soul Band; 8 p.m., $12. • POUR HOUSE: Doby, Groove Fetish, Funkelstiltskin; 8 p.m., free. • SHARP NINE GALLERY:
The
0–
ny: ve
Aaron Hill Quartet; 8 p.m., $10–$15. • UNC’S MEMORIAL HALL: Jason Moran & The Bandwagon; 8 p.m., $10–$59. See page 28.
SAT, FEB 6
nd half of Jennifer Curtis and century Clara Yang eamy, al music. ENESCU Violinist extraordiMISSION naire Jennifer heaving, c language Curtis has long been exploring to grand the music of Romanian composer and violinist George htime Enescu. She describes this phony best-known concert as “a pit stop” on the of that era: way to the release of her debut, Tristan and The Road from Transylvania Home. At its core is Enescu’s Tchaiuliet, and 1940 suite Impressions d’Enfance, en. —DR a series of ten short pieces T HALL, rooted in Romanian folk songs and dappled in lovely impressionistic washes. UNC piano professor Clara Yang joins.
ead
—DR [DUKE’S NELSON MUSIC ROOM, FREE/8 P.M.]
ear on ex quartet stage with Led Zeppelin 2 ngs, JUST LIKE Led Zeppelin 2 is nd’s ’72 notable for spot-on hool thrash en Outliar’s re-creations of the deep catalog of sharp of Page, Plant and company; es, expect a they’re easily one of the best approach. Zep tribute acts running. The band also shares members with lists ain Dead some of the edgiest acts in Chicago’s illustrious indie rock, aleigh’s . —BCR jazz and metal scenes. To wit: /8:30 P.M.]Bruce Lamont, who serves as Robert Plant in Led Zeppelin 2, leads the willfully weird and very heavy Yakuza. —PW [THE RITZ, wn; 8 & 10 $10/9 P.M.]
GRILL:
m., $8. • attle of John Pizzarelli • CITY y Donahew SAFE, BUT It’s hard not to like jazz singer and KABOOM COOL er, Raw Dog, guitarist John Pizzarelli. Sure, Donations. you might sneer at his career ck Ladyland, choice as largely a cover artist, INCOLN but he seems to nail the covers, uarium, T right? Pizzarelli’s album of Nat Teeth; 9 p.m., “King” Cole covers is a classic, PINHOOK: and his latest effort, Midnight ce Party; 10 McCartney (made at the request PITTSBOROof Sir Ex-Beatle, btw) makes “No Soul Band; More Lonely Nights” and “Silly USE: Doby, Love Songs” new again. —CV kin; 8 p.m., [NCSU’S STEWART THEATRE,
LLERY:
$31–$35/8 P.M.]
Punk Rock Smackdown The Maywood’s fourth-annual Punk Rock Smackdown gathers an abundance of power-chord driven bands plus burlesque dancers, comedians, and a food truck. These nine bands stretch from KIFF’s blunt shock-rock to Almost People’s hooky pop-punk, from Poison Anthem’s shout-alongs to monkeyknifefight’s Guttermouth-like jokes. —BCR
SSIA!
[THE MAYWOOD, $8/4:30 P.M.]
Raund Haus KICK Raund Haus is a DRUM <3 new electronicbeat series housed in one of downtown Durham’s underused Golden Belt spaces. Less clandestine than its weekly workshop predecessor, Purple Flame Dojo, this producerbased showcase should provide a serviceable combatant to a run-of-the-mill beat battle. Oak City Slums, Drozy, Gappa, Trandle, and Mr. Lone Wolf offer the rhythms. —ET [THE SHED, $3/9 P.M.]
Sutter’s Gold Streak Band C’MON, Between 1975 and BOYS 1983, New Bern’s Sutter’s Gold Streak Band rattled the windows and shook the floors of East Coast clubs with mellow country-rock. A reunion dinner sparked a new CD, which pairs lost tapes locked in a bank vault for 37 years with new originals. Fans of Poco and the Eagles will appreciate this take on country. “We’re gonna ride it ’til it quits,” says bassist Moon Munden. —GB [SOUTHLAND BALLROOM, $12–$15/8 P.M.] ALSO ON SATURDAY
BEYÙ CAFFÈ: Calvin Edwards; 8 & 10 p.m., $7. • CAT’S CRADLE: Bob
Marley Birthday Bash: Mickey Mills and Steel, JamRock, Crucial Fiyah, DJ Ras J; 8 p.m., $12–$15. • CAT’S CRADLE (BACK ROOM): Humanize, Teardrop Canyon; 9 p.m., $8. See page 23. • DEEP SOUTH: The Water Between, Michael Daughtry Band, Hence The Name, But You Can Call Me John;
9 p.m., $7. • KINGS: Zensofly, Brassiousmonk, Brass/Abs, Just Archie; 9:30 p.m., $5–$7. • THE KRAKEN: Lee Gildersleeve and The Bad Dogs, Dmitri Resnik & Bootleg Beat; 8 p.m. • LINCOLN THEATRE: American Aquarium, Nikki Lane, Jonathan Tyler; 9 p.m., $25. See page 28. •
LORRAINE’S COFFEE HOUSE:
Deborah Annett & Company; 7:30 p.m., $10. • MOTORCO: Fat Saturday Mardi Gras Kickoff: The Bulltown Strutters, The Beauty Operators; 8 p.m., $10. • THE PINHOOK: Shirlette Ammons; 10 p.m., $10. See page 23. • POUR HOUSE: Trae Pierce & the T-Stone Band, Gang of Thieves; 5 p.m., free. • SHARP NINE GALLERY: Angela Bingham Quartet; 8 p.m., $10–$15.
SUN, FEB 7 LOLO POP IS Lauren Pritchard, LOUD better known as Lolo, has had some big features on recent singles with Fall Out Boy (“Centuries”) and Panic! At The Disco (“Miss Jackson”). On her own, though, Lolo is only now finding her place. She’s got a powerful, soulful voice but still seems to be learning how to position it. Her Comeback Queen EP is unsubtle and overambitious to the point where she ends up sounding like a shouting Meghan Trainor. A little nuance could go a long way for Lolo. Crystal Bright and Barren Graves open. —AH [LOCAL 506, $10/8:30 P.M.]
The Pines ROOTS On the excellent INTO SKY new Above the Prairie, the Minneapolis trio The Pines rises above its formerly pedestrian station as a plain roots-rock act. Instead, the band surrounds its laments and pleas with atmospheric textures of twinkling guitar, unfurling keyboards and ricocheting drums, adding a pastel glow to the Americana fare. Above the Prairie positions The Pines as alt-country’s answer to The War on Drugs—heartland music with escapist ambitions. —GC [CAT’S CRADLE BACK ROOM, $10–$12/8 P.M.]
Gravy Boys
WE 2/3 BLUE WEDNESDAY KICKOFF / LAZER LLOYD TH 2/4 NASH STREET RAMBLERS
8PM 7PM
6-8PM THE DUKE STREET DOGS FR 2/5 ADRIAN DUKE BAND 9:30PM $8 WITH TERESA RICHMOND 8PM $8 SA 2/6 THE TERRY WILEY BAND SU 2/7 SUPER BOWL 50 6:30PM Friday October 10th at 8:00PM MARDI GRAS PARTY W/ Community Church of Chapel Hill 7PM TU 2/9 BOOM TOWN BRASS BAND & FREE 106 Purefoy Road, Chapel hill NC 27514 ELLIS DYSON & THE SHAMBLES LIVE MUSIC • OPEN TUESDAY—SUNDAY Advance Sale $20 at THEBLUENOTEGRILL.COM www.communitychurchconcerts.org 709 WAHSINGTON STREET • DURHAM
The Kruger Brothers
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 6 8:00PM
th 2/4 CARDIGAN PRESENTS BIGGBRAD / ANONYMOUS JONES / YDM JONES MICHAEL / VINNIE DANGEROUS 9pm $10 fr 2/5 NORTH CAROLINA COMEDY ARTS FESTIVAL 6pm $12
NORTH CAROLINA COMEDY ARTS FESTIVAL 6pm $12 LOLO/CRYSTAL BRIGHT/BARREN GRAVES 8:30pm $10 3@3: M IS WE/GLÁSS/JOKES&JOKES&JOKES 3pm FREE 2/8 MONDAY NIGHT OPEN MIC 8:30pm FREE An Road, evening with Jens, Joel is always amo special 106 Purefoy Chapel Hill,Uwe NC,and 27514 th 2/11 NORTH CAROLINA COMEDY ARTS FESTIVAL 6pm $12 musical experience. 919-942-2050 fr 2/12 NORTH CAROLINA COMEDY ARTS FESTIVAL 6pm $12 “I used to think the banjo was somewhat limited to csa ertain www.communitychurchconcerts.org 2/13 NORTH CAROLINA COMEDY ARTS FESTIVAL 6pm $12 styles, un8l I heard Jens Kruger. Jens has played some f the suo2/14 3@3: LAZY CIRCLE Tickets:
Community Church of Chapel Hill UU
sa 2/6 su 2/7
most beau8ful and expressive banjo I’ve ever heard.“
–Ron Block In Advance: $15 At Door: Alison Krauss and • Union StaTon $20
THEM DAMN BRUNERS / ADAM FENTON 3pm FREE
COMING SOON: FOXING, THE SMITH STREET BAND, CAMPFIRES AND CONSTELLATIONS, SILVER DOLLAR SWITCHBLADE, THE WEEKS, THE QUEERS
www.LOCAL506.com
BIG GAME PARTY
Sunday, Feb 7th Doors open at 6:30pm See & hear the game with no interruptions!
FREE PIZZA
FREE WINGS
919.821.1120 • 224 S. Blount St THE LOZ BAND FREE! TH 2/4 LOCAL BAND LOCAL BEER MATT PHILLIPS & THE PHILHARMONIC
WE 2/3
JPHONO1 FOOTHILLS FREE FIRST FRIDAY FEATURING DOBY GROOVE FETISH / FUNKELSTILTSKIN FOOTHILLS SEXUAL CHOCOLATE RELEASE PARTY
FR 2/5 SA 2/6
TRAE PIERCE & THE T-STONE BAND GANG OF THIEVES A FUNDRAISER FOR SPCA ARC & STONES FREE! SWAMP CANDY COMMUNITY CENTER BITTER INC / STEVE HARTSOE
SU 2/7 MO 2/8 TU 2/9 WE 2/10 TH 2/11
COAST 2 COAST LIVE INTERACTIVE SHOWCASE INPUT ELECTRONIC MUSIC SERIES LOCAL BAND LOCAL BEER YOUNG YODER BARREN GRAVES / SEABREEZE DINER
LEGENDARY SHACK SHAKERS
FR 2/12 SA 2/13
An Adult Nightclub
Open 7 Days/week 7pm-2am
919-6-TEASER
SU 2/14 TU 2/16 WE 2/17
THE WILD TONES / HEARTS & DAGGERS BIG MEAN SOUND MACHINE / BOSS NACHO JAC CAIN’S VALENTINES DAY PAJAMA DANCE PARTY FREE TREEHOUSE! / BUMPIN UGLIES DAN BAIRD & HOMEMADE SIN / MALDORA
for directions and information
LOCAL BAND LOCAL BEER OLD QUARTER
www.teasersmensclub.com 156 Ramseur St. Durham
facebook.com/thepourhousemusichall @ThePourHouse
TH 2/18
TEXOMA / ENO MOUNTAIN BOYS
thepourhousemusichall.com INDYweek.com | 2.3.16 | 33
LOCAL 506: 3@3: M is We, Gláss, Jokes&Jokes&Jokes; 3 p.m., free. • POUR HOUSE: Arc & Stones; 9 p.m., free.
MON, FEB 8 Mack Avenue Superband DETROIT This band of JAZZ top-shelf players from Detroit made its debut at the 2012 Detroit Jazz Festival. They’re currently boasting two bona fide jazz superstars as musical directors: Christian McBride and Gary Burton. Heavyweights like Carl Allen and Kirk Whalum have popped up to play with them. Without all the extra star power, this solid ensemble is adept at turning out straight-ahead bop, soul jazz and more modern sounds, too. —JA [CAROLINA THEATRE, $30–$79/8 P.M.]
For Today MORAL For Today is a METAL Christian metalcore band, but nonbelievers needn’t be scared. So long as you can stand up to brutal technicality and Cookie Monster vocals, the group’s delivery is strong and loud enough to blast past ideological disagreements. Put religion out of mind for guitars that alternately churn and haunt, and get swept up by rhythms that pivot between time signatures. With Like Moths to Flames, Phinehas, and Vanna. —JL [LINCOLN THEATRE, $15–$25/6:30 P.M.] ALSO ON MONDAY
NIGHTLIGHT: Cienfuegos, Enrique,
Bobby Flan, Liquid Asset; 9 p.m., $7. • POUR HOUSE: Swamp Candy, Community Center, Bitter Inc., Steve Hartsoe; 8 p.m., $8–$10.
34 | 2.3.16 | INDYweek.com
TUE, FEB 9
same awards, from a knighthood to being a multiple inductee in rock’s hall. In recent years, Nash has concentrated on photography and been honored for his work. His voice is wonderfully intact. —DK
Hiroshi Hasegawa HEAVIER A cofounder of THINGS noise provocateurs C.C.C.C. and a solo experimental explorer for nearly a quartercentury, Japan’s Hiroshi Hasegawa is a legitimate improvisational icon. His solo sets are meticulous, overwhelming spans, where simple signals bloom into ravaging din in the time it takes to watch a sitcom on Netflix. He lords over his knobs and pedals and inputs, controlling them like a taskmaster even when the sounds he elicits suggest everything has slipped into chaos. Desiccant, Dromez, Secret Boyfriend, and Clang Quartet join this excellent bill. —GC [NIGHTLIGHT, $7/9 P.M.]
Zvi EXPAND/ Under the name ASTRACT Zvi, Brooklyn multi-instrumentalist and Kayo Dot guitarist Ron Varod extends idiosyncratic songs until they sprawl into immersive, singular sound worlds. Sheets of radiant noise and layers of strident distortion twist and stretch into the middle distance, surrounding melodies that Varod sometimes sings like a soul man and sometimes screams like a power electronics lord. It’s heady, delirious stuff, like Khanate opening itself to the world. With Anamorph and He Who Walks Behind the Rows. —GC [SLIM’S, $5/9 P.M.] ALSO ON TUESDAY
THE CARRACK: Carrack Free Imrov
Tuesday: Shooting Decisions; 7:30 p.m., free. • CAROLINA THEATRE: Todd Rundgren; 8 p.m., $34–$105. See box, this page. • MOTORCO: Durham Mardi Gras: Sidecar Social Club, Bulltown Strutters; 7:30 p.m., free. See box, page 31. • POUR HOUSE: Coast 2 Coast Live Interactive Showcase; 9 p.m., $10. • THE RALEIGH TIMES BAR: Beer and Banjos: Swift Creek; 7:30 p.m.
[CAROLINA THEATRE, $28–$131/8 P.M.]
John Kadlecik Band
PHOTO BY DANNY O’CONNOR
ALSO ON SUNDAY
Tuesday, FEB. 9
TODD RUNDGREN
In 2016, the Todd Rundgren song you’re most likely to encounter by chance is “Bang the Drum All Day.” The faux-island vibes of the Philadelphia rock star’s 1983 novelty have a few commercial uses—as an anti-work anthem for middle-aged strivers eying a Carnival Cruise getaway, as a highly concentrated blast of fun in movie trailers, and as a mockthe-hippies moment for right-wing radio hosts railing against democratic socialism. It’s fitting that even a silly Rundgren song would elude definitive meaning; most every aspect of his illustrious career is hard to summarize. Rundgren breezed past the branches of the 1970s rock tree. He earned his biggest successes playing clean, muscular power pop and heartfelt Carole King-type ballads, but he’d soon dally with everything from hard rock to prog to Philly soul. As a producer, he guided impactful albums like The New York Dolls’ debut, XTC’s Skylarking, and Meat Loaf’s Bat Out of Hell, helping to diversify the concept of male rock stardom to include androgynous gutter-glam, dry British wit, and sweaty, blockbuster cheese. He was an early adopter of the music video in the 1980s and of the clunky but interactive CD-ROM in the 1990s. Creative restlessness has followed Rundgren into his golden years. Just last year, in fact, he released both a goofy stab at political party-rock that suggests a groggy Electric Six and a set of airy disco ballads made with Norwegian dance producer Lindstrøm. These records aren’t good exactly, but they’re not blankly checked out, either. Rundgren’s gonna ramble on. —Jeff Klingman CAROLINA THEATRE, DURHAM, 8 p.m., $34–$104, www.carolinatheatre.org
WED, FEB 10 Griffanzo JAZZY Pianist Robert PIANIST “Griffanzo” Griffin finally celebrates the release of December’s I Mighta Lied to You Yesterday (But I’ll Tell You the Truth Tonight), his latest solo
venture. The veteran Triangle hand has performed alongside Katharine Whalen and fronted combos like Blue Spot in C Minor. On Mighta, Griffin’s late-night, piano-based jazz numbers span scat vocals, beat-poet lyricism, and lounge crooning; frequent collaborators Taz Halloween, Carter Minor,
and Don Gladstone join. —SG
[CAT’S CRADLE BACK ROOM, $8/8 P.M.]
Graham Nash HOLLIES As a member of the HERO Hollies, Graham Nash was a contemporary of Paul McCartney, and at this point, he’s won many of the
DEAD, Dark Star Orchestra DUDE cofounder and former Furthur guitarist John Kadlecik has focused on his own venture for the last half-decade. An auditory dopplegänger of Jerry Garcia, Kadlecik borrows from the catalogs of Grateful Dead and Phish while mixing in originals inspired by classic rock. —SG [LINCOLN THEATRE, $14.50/8 P.M.]
Anne McCue AUSSIE Although Australia IMPORT transplant Annie McCue now calls Nashville home, her music hasn’t picked up a Southern accent. Instead, on her latest, Blue Sky Thinkin’, her vocals recall the sultry sounds of Peggy Lee doing 1930s jazz. McCall is equally at home as a brash rocker or mellow folkie. —GB [BLUE NOTE GRILL, FREE/8 P.M.]
Input Electronic Music Series DAFT This Input edition PRIDE features scorching house from Free Waterfall, aka Justin Chillington of Wilmington MIDI-funk duo Libraries. Aligning himself with Parisian greats like Alan Braxe, Chillington has a taste for heavy kicks and filtered samples. To add variety, his tunes occasionally step out for a smoke by entering ambient zones. Luxe Posh and Drozy open. —DS [POUR HOUSE, $5/9:30 P.M.] ALSO ON WEDNESDAY
HARRY’S GUITAR SHOP:
Compton & Newberry; 7 p.m., $20. • NIGHTLIGHT: Nathan Bowles, Jake Xerxes Fussell; 8:30 p.m., $10.• THE SHED JAZZ CLUB: Ben Goldberg, Hamir Atwal and Michael Coleman; 8 p.m.
OPENING
SPECIAL AMERICANA: EVENT TEXTILE & HISTORY AS MUSE: Robert Otto Epstein, Margi Weir and David Curcio. Feb 5-Mar 26. Reception: Fri, Feb 5, 6-10 p.m. Artspace, Raleigh, www.artspacenc.org. SPECIAL ANIMAL EVENT ATTRACTION: Multimedia works depicting animals. Feb 5-27. Reception: Fri, Feb 5, 6-9 p.m. Tipping Paint Gallery, Raleigh, www. tippingpaintgallery.com. SPECIAL BEACH-HEADZ: EVENT NORTH CAROLINA MARINE FOSSIL PORTRAITS: Rick Jackson. Feb 5-28. Reception: Fri, Feb 5, 6-8 p.m. Nature Art Gallery, Raleigh, www.naturalsciences.org. SPECIAL HIDDEN THINGS EVENT REVEALED: Paintings by Patricia Williams. Feb 5-28. Reception: Fri, Feb 5, 6-10 p.m. 311 Gallery & Studios, Raleigh, www.311gallery.com. SPECIAL HOME IN A NEW EVENT PLACE: Photos by Katy Clune of an immigrant community in Morganton, N.C. Feb 5-Apr 27. Reception: Fri, Feb 5, 5:30-7 p.m. Center for the Study of the American South, Chapel Hill, www.uncsouth.org. LET IT GO: Abstract acrylic and watercolor paintings by Janie Johnson. Feb 5-28. Local Color Gallery, Raleigh, www. localcoloraleigh.com. MORPHOLOGY AND THE BIOMORPHIC IMPULSE: Sculpture, paintings and photos by Mark Elliot, Harriet Bellows, Bill McAllister. Feb 9-Mar 9. FRANK Gallery, Chapel Hill, www.frankisart.com. SPECIAL PECULIAR LIGHT: EVENT Debra Wuliger. Feb 5-28. Reception: Fri, Feb 5, 6-11 p.m. Morning Times Gallery, Raleigh, www.morningtimesraleigh.com. SPECIAL ROBERT BARNARD: EVENT PAINTINGS: Largescale works by the late art professor from UNC-Chapel Hill. Feb 4-29. Reception: Thu, Feb 4, 5:30-7:30 p.m. Betty Ray
02.03–02.10 McCain Gallery, Raleigh, www. dukeenergycenterraleigh.com. SPECIAL SCHERR EVENT INSPIRATION: Jewelry by Mary Ann Scherr. Feb 5-28. Reception: Fri. Feb. 5, 6-9 p.m. Roundabout Art Collective, Raleigh, www. roundaboutartcollective.com. SPECIAL SPECTRUM: LIGHT, EVENT ROBOTS & CONTRAST: Molly Chopin, Mike Slobot and Daniel Laffey. Feb 5-25. Reception: Fri, Feb 5, 6-9 p.m. Litmus Gallery, Raleigh, www.litmusgallery.com.
THOMAS EDISON CO.’S “THE KISS”: PHOTO COURTESY OF FLANDERS GALLERY
art
TEXTURE TRANSFORMED: Jewelry by Mirinda Kossoff and oil and encaustic paintings by Mary Stone Lamb. Feb 9-Mar 6. FRANK Gallery, Chapel Hill, www.frankisart.com. A THOUSAND MORNINGS: DRAWINGS AND PAINTINGS BY NORMA HENDRIX: Feb 9-Mar 6. FRANK Gallery, Chapel Hill, www.frankisart.com.
ONGOING AUNTIES: THE SEVEN SUMMERS OF ALEVTINA AND LUDMILA: Photos by Nadia Sablin. Thru Feb 28. Center for Documentary Studies, Durham, www.cdsporch.org. BACKROADS: THE DOWN EAST PHOTOGRAPHY OF WATSON BROWN: Thru Feb 10. Gallery C, Raleigh, www. galleryc.net. BLACK HISTORY: ARTISTS’ PERSPECTIVES: Mixed-media work by Durham artists. Thru Feb 29. Hayti Heritage Center, Durham, www.hayti.org. CHISEL AND FORGE: Peter Oakley and Elizabeth Brim. Thru Mar 20. North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, www. ncartmuseum.org. CONSTANCE PAPPALARDO: Paintings. Thru Apr 30. Umstead Hotel & Spa, Cary, www.theumstead.com. CONTEMPORARY SOUTH: Multimedia work from artists across the South. Thru Feb 25. Visual Art Exchange, Raleigh, www.visualartexchange.org.
A RT
Friday, FEB. 5 PUBLIC DISPLAYS/SILVER SCREEN
Early film The Kiss, produced by Thomas Edison’s company, began a long tradition of public outcry over the moral toxicity of mass entertainment. In the eighteen-second-long clip, two stage actors share a chaste peck. Considered obscene at the time (they didn’t have MTV, let alone Internet porn, in 1896), it called down denunciations from newspapers and the Roman Catholic Church. Demonstrating how yesterday’s racy is today’s quaint, Flanders Gallery asked people to re-create the original PDA for Public Displays, conceived by artists Louis Cherry, Marsha Gordon, Jason Paul Evans Groth, Josephine McRobbie, and Trevor Thornton. The re-creations will be projected alongside the original, and you can add to the work by filming your own kisses at the gallery from 6 to 9 p.m. Feb. 5 or from 5 to 9 p.m. Feb. 14. How’s that for a quirky Valentine’s Day date—or a potential meet-cute, abetted by drinks and sweets from Fair Game Beverage Co. and Videri Chocolate Factory? Another, simultaneous exhibit at Flanders is just as cinematic: Tama Hochbaum’s Silver Screen, published in a monograph last year by Daylight Books, is a tribute to the artist’s mother via bewitching iPhone images of TV screens showing golden age films. The clashing media poignantly evoke the blurry distances opened by time, technology, and Alzheimer’s. See both shows at this opening reception, after which they run throughout February. —Brian Howe FLANDERS GALLERY, RALEIGH, 6–9 p.m., free, www.flandersartgallery.com
LAST DEUCES: CHANCE Multimedia work by Pleiades member artists and a guest artist. Thru Feb 7. Pleiades Gallery, Durham, www. PleiadesArtDurham.com. SPECIAL DIM SUM: New EVENT sculpture by Catherine Thornton. Thru Feb 28. Reception: Fri, Feb 5, 6-9 p.m. Adam Cave Fine Art, Raleigh, www.adamcavefineart.com. SPECIAL DISAPPEARING EVENT FROGS PROJECT: On the global decline of
amphibian populations. Thru Mar 3. Reception: Wed, Feb 3, 6:30-8 p.m. NCSU’s The Crafts Center, Thompson Building, Raleigh, www.ncsu.edu/crafts. EVERYDAY CHAOS: RE-COLLAGING THE SURFACE: Carlyn Wright-Eakes, Richie Foster, Harriet Hoover and Saba Taj. Thru Mar 13. Arcana Bar & Lounge, Durham. FAILURE OF THE AMERICAN DREAM: Installation by Phil America. Thru May 8. CAM Raleigh, Raleigh, www. camraleigh.org.
HACKENSACK DREAMING: Nancy Cohen lives and works in New Jersey, and her traveling installation Hackensack Dreaming is a complex abstraction of the ecosystem of Mill Creek Marsh in Secaucus. In it, Cohen shapes organic materials such as handmade paper and glass into an allusive facsimile of a place she has internalized. The result is an immersive diorama—a memory you walk inside. —Brian Howe
Thru Mar 6, Power Plant Gallery, Durham, www. powerplantgallery.org. ILLUSIONARY WORLDS: Kellie Bornhoft and Tedd Anderson. Thru Feb 20. Artspace, Raleigh, www.artspacenc.org. INSIDE OUT: Sandra Elliot. Thru Feb 29. Duke’s Louise Jones Brown Gallery, Bryan Center, Durham, www.duke.edu. LAST INTERSECTIONS: CHANCE Sasha Bakaric, Shelly Hehenberger and Suzanne Krill. Thru Feb 7.
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INDYweek.com | 2.3.16 | 35
PUBLICATION DATE
2 | 20 | 2016
MAY 26, 2016 RESERVE YOUR SPACE NOW!
Doors open at 4pm Show starts at 5pm until 9pm 1st come, 1st served $15 per person 21 + older $25 per person 18-20 years of age capitalcabaret.com 919.206.4040 6713 Mt Herman Rd • Morrisville (Located in Brier Creek, adjacent to RDU)
FRANK Gallery, Chapel Hill, www.frankisart.com. LAST LAYER UPON CHANCE LAYER: Peter Filene and Linda Prager. Thru Feb 7. FRANK Gallery, Chapel Hill, www.frankisart.com. LINEAR REFERENCING: Matthew Rangel. Thru Feb 18. UNC’s Alcott Gallery, Chapel Hill, www.art.unc.edu. THE NEW GALLERIES: A COLLECTION COME TO LIGHT: Thru Sep 18. Nasher Museum of Art, Durham, www.nasher.duke.edu. NEW YEAR SHOW: Jeff Bell, Kiki Farish, Heather Gordon, Warren Hicks, Sallie White. Thru Mar 12. Light Art + Design, Chapel Hill, www.lightartdesign.com. LAST OUT OF THE CHANCE ORDINARY: Paula de Luccia and Liv Mette Larsen. Thru Feb 5. SPECTRE Arts, Durham, www.spectrearts.org.
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PULL: If memories of Colour Correction, the Nasher’s excellent show of prints from last year, are still embossed on your brain, then freshen them up with this exhibit of work by local and international printmakers at Meredith College. Curated by Supergraphic co-director Bill Fick and UNC-Chapel Hill art professor Beth Grabowski, the show features artists from the U.S., the U.K., and Canada who demonstrate printmaking techniques from screenprints to 3-D printing. —Brian Howe Thru Mar 27, Meredith College: Weems Gallery, Raleigh, www. meredith.edu/the-arts. REALITY OF MY SURROUNDINGS: Thru Feb 28. Nasher Museum of Art, Durham, www.nasher.duke.edu. SOUTH SIDE: Photographs and writings by Jon Lowenstein. Thru Feb 27. Center for Documentary Studies, Durham, www.cdsporch.org. TREASURES OF CAROLINA: STORIES FROM THE STATE ARCHIVES: Thru Jun 19. N.C. Museum of History, Raleigh, www.ncmuseumofhistory.org. LAST UNFULFILLED CHANCE DESIRES: Video art by Hye Young Kim. Thru Feb 5. Visual Art Exchange, Raleigh, www.visualartexchange.org.
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GAVRIEL SAVIT: Anna and the Swallow Man. Wed, Feb 10, 7 p.m. Quail Ridge Books, Raleigh, www.quailridgebooks.com. JAY WILLIAMS: From its title, Life is Not an Accident, it would be easy to mistake former basketball player Jay Williams’ new book for an inspirational memoir. And while this memoir is plenty inspirational, the “accident” refers
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to Williams’ near-fatal, ostensibly career-ending motorcycle crash in 2003—and his refusal to let it define his life. Now an analyst for ESPN, Williams, a Duke Blue Devils phenom for three years, seemed headed for great things in the NBA, but only managed a single season before he was injured. His book unflinchingly surveys a wide landscape, from youthful recklessness and painful rehabilitation to the harsh realities of the sports industry and the hard-won wisdom Williams has acquired from such epic highs and lows. —David Klein
Saturday, FEB. 6 DAVID JOY
“Hope and faith are loaded guns,” David Joy writes in Where All Light Tends to Go, a bleak, gripping novel that the INDY selected as one of the most notable books from North Carolina in 2015. Joy is a long-term resident of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and his debut novel resembles Daniel Woodrell’s Winter’s Bone in Appalachia instead of the Ozarks. Set among the methamphetamine-wrecked byways of a small, poor town in western N.C., it’s a classically proportioned tale of fathers and sons, nature and nurture, poverty and fate. Even before Jacob McNeely dropped out of school, he was set apart from his peers by his last name. His dad is a backwoods gangster who dispenses meth and violent coercion. He has police on his payroll and bodies in the reservoir. Jacob’s slim hope of escaping his hometown is straitened by his tragic ability to see the outside world without believing there’s a place for him there. Joy has a powerful, precise command of the harsh lyricism of country noir. His sentences are as short and stark as the landscape of buckled shanties and scorched grass they describe. Even in coldly depicted scenes of brutality, he draws Jacob as someone with a stubborn moral compass, the needle twisted by circumstance but straining, against all odds, for true north. Joy reads from what The New York Times called “a remarkable first novel” at McIntyre’s Books on Saturday. —Brian Howe MCINTYRE’S BOOKS, PITTSBORO 11 a.m., free, www.fearrington.com
PHOTO COURTESY OF DAVID-JOY.COM
The INDY’s Guide to Dining in the Triangle
Wed, Feb 10, 7 p.m. Regulator Bookshop, Durham, www. regulatorbookshop.com. LAWRENCE M. SCHOEN: Barsk: The Elephants’ Graveyard. Thu, Feb 4, 7 p.m. Flyleaf Books, Chapel Hill, www.flyleafbooks. com. — Fri, Feb 5, 7 p.m. Quail Ridge Books, Raleigh, www. quailridgebooks.com. See story at www.indyweek.com. MICHAEL SEARS: Saving Jason. Sun, Feb 7, 2 p.m. McIntyre’s Books, Pittsboro, www. mcintyresbooks.com. M.M. ANGELO: I Found Someone to Play With: A Biography of Larry LeGrand, the Last Member of the
stage OPENING BEST OF RALEIGH ROUNDUP: Raleigh stand-up comedy showcase. $5–$13. Wed, Feb 10, 8 p.m. Goodnights Comedy Club, Raleigh, www. goodnightscomedy.com AN EVENING OF ENTERTAINMENT: Performances by Durham Public School students benefiting the DPS Scholarship Foundation. $12.50–$35. Sat, Feb 6, 7 p.m. Durham Performing Arts Center, Durham, www.dpacnc.com. GREASE: Musical produced by North Carolina Theatre. $25–
Satchel Paige All-Stars. Thu, Feb 4, 7 p.m. Regulator Bookshop, Durham, www.regulatorbookshop. com. — Sat, Feb 6, 2 p.m. McIntyre’s Books, Pittsboro, www. mcintyresbooks.com.
STORYTELLING FESTIVAL: Hosted by Suz Robinson, six storytellers speak to the theme of new beginnings. Fri, Feb 5, 7-9 p.m. Joyful Jewel, Pittsboro, www.joyfuljewel.com.
PHILIP WARBURG: Harness the Sun: America’s Quest for a Solar Powered Future. Mon, Feb 8, 7 p.m. Regulator Bookshop, Durham, www.regulatorbookshop.com.
TRAVIS MULHAUSER: Sweetgirl. Wed, Feb 3, 7 p.m. Quail Ridge Books, Raleigh, www.quailridgebooks.com. — Fri, Feb 5, 7 p.m. Regulator Bookshop, Durham, www. regulatorbookshop.com. TWO WRITERS WALK INTO A BAR: Poet Ellen C. Bush and fiction writer Lucas Church. Tue, Feb 9, 7 p.m. West End Wine Bar, Durham, www. westendwinebar.com.
POETRY AND RACE: Reading and discussion featuring L. Jamar Wilson, Joseph Mills, Jaki Shelton Green and Shelby Stephenson. Thu, Feb 4, 6 p.m. Orange County Main Library, Hillsborough, www.co.orange. nc.us/library. $87. Tue, Feb 9 & Wed, Feb 10. Memorial Auditorium, Raleigh, www.dukeenergycenterraleigh. com. See p. 28. INDEPENDENCE: Play by Lee Blessing. $15–$18. Thu, Feb 4-Sat, Feb 6. Page-Walker Arts & History Center, Cary, www. friendsofpagewalker.org. I WAS NEVER ALONE: Being a person with disabilities is challenging anywhere. But what special issues attend it in a country whose president has a penchant for rugged, shirtless dressage—and where children with disabilities face severe obstacles in public education, according to Human Rights Watch? Cassandra Hartblay’s new play, now in development at UNC’s Process Series, explores that terrain through
STAGE / T H E AT E R
monologues drawn almost verbatim from translated interviews with seven Russians with disabilities. “Performance ethnography is an important genre of research because it focuses on opening a space for discussion and dialogue,” says Hartblay. “So often researchers summarize what they’ve learned in the field in text, and there is little room for audiences ‘back home’ to engage with the work in a way that changes it.” Discussions with the playwright, actors, scholars, and director Joseph Megel bolster the performances. —Brian Howe $5 suggested donation, Fri, Feb 5-Sat, Feb 6, Swain Studio 6, Chapel Hill, www.comm.unc.edu.
Thursday, FEB. 4–Sunday, FEB. 14
PHOTO BY ALEX MANESS
VENUS IN FUR Vanda, that oh-so-talented and treacherous actor, knows she’s perfect for the lead in a sadomasochistic stage play. All she wants is a three-minute read for the part. Honest. Should Thomas, the playwright, buy that one, he’s in for much more than he bargained for. In Venus in Fur, David Ives’s cautionary backstage comedy from 2010, an actor with a little something extra takes on the sexual politics of theater, drawing her prey into a web of intrigue as she gradually unleashes a unique, increasingly extreme brand of literary and gender criticism. John Murphy directs Meredith Sause and Mark Filiaci in this American Theater Practice production. —Byron Woods COMMON GROUND THEATRE, DURHAM Various times, $12–$16, www.cgtheatre.com INDYweek.com | 2.3.16 | 37
MARGARET CHO: Cho has always been aggressively personal, especially since ABC tried to make her an inoffensive TV princess in mid-’90s sitcom All-American Girl. Now she brings her unfiltered stand-up to Raleigh. $25–$33. Thu, Feb 4-Sat, Feb 6. Goodnights Comedy Club, Raleigh, www.goodnightscomedy. com. See story, p. 27. TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE: Play produced by the Justice Theater Project. $14–$22. Fri, Feb 5-Sun, Feb 7. St Francis of Assisi Catholic Church, Raleigh, www. sfaraleigh.org. TWELFTH NIGHT: Filter Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company blast out a “radically cut, fast-paced” take on the Bard’s comedy. $10–$34. Fri, Feb 5 & Sat, Feb 6. Duke’s Reynolds Industries Theater, Durham, www.dukeperformances.duke. edu. See story, p. 28.
ONGOING BLUE SKY: Many planes used in the Bush administration’s extraordinary rendition program came from North Carolina airstrips in Johnston and Lenoir counties. In British playwright Clare Bayley’s drama, Jane’s a journalist returning to her small English hometown, which has a similarly obscure airstrip, in 2003. She’s on the trail of a story her newspaper refuses to investigate. Was England, despite official denials, allowing “torture taxis” to refuel and depart from British soil? What agendas and unfinished business will arise when she enlists a family friend and his
political-activist daughter to help her prove it? Gus Heagerty directs the U.S. premiere of this “mordant meditation on justice, journalism and individual political engagement” (The Telegraph), co-produced by Burning Coal Theatre Company and CAM Raleigh. —Byron Woods Thru Feb 14, $15–$25, CAM Raleigh, Raleigh, www. camraleigh.org. 1/2 THREE SISTERS: Libby Appel is an authority on the works of Anton Chekhov, and her recently published translations of his five major plays featured strategic restorations of passages and entire scenes that had been excised by Russia’s government censors and Chekhov’s original director, Konstantin Stanislavski. Appel’s love affair with Three Sisters dates back to her teen years. “I developed a reputation for being the three sisters—all of them at one time,” she wrote in a foreword to her 2013 adaptations, which smooth out the chill and stiltedness that have long dominated Chekhov’s identity in Europe and America. PlayMakers’ new artistic director, Vivienne Benesch, directs this new view of the Russian master. —Byron Woods Thru Feb 7, $15–$44, Paul Green Theatre, Chapel Hill, www.playmakersrep.org. See review at www.indyweek.com. THE UNDERPANTS: Play by Steve Martin. $18–$24. Fri, Feb 5-Sun, Feb 7. Theatre In The Park, Raleigh, www. theatreinthepark.com.
screen SPECIAL SHOWINGS
PARDONS OF INNOCENCE: THE WILMINGTON TEN: Sun, Feb 7, 2 p.m. Free. NC Museum of History, Raleigh, www. ncmuseumofhistory.org. TIMBUKTU: Thu, Feb 4, 6:15 p.m. Free. NCSU’s: Witherspoon Student Center, Raleigh. WALL-E: Wed, Feb 10, 7 p.m. Free. Duke’s Griffith Theater, Bryan Center, Durham, www. duke.edu. WILMINGTON ON FIRE: Fri, Feb 5, 4 & 7 p.m. $15. Hayti Heritage Center, Durham, www.hayti.org.
OPENING 45 YEARS—The 45th anniversary of a comfy couple (Charlotte Rampling and Tom Courtenay) is threatened by the arrival of an upsetting letter. Rated R. THE CHOICE—This romantic drama, based on a Nicholas Sparks novel, is about love at first sight in Beaufort, North Carolina. Rated PG-13. HAIL, CAESAR!—Eddie Manix (Josh Brolin) is responsible for keeping a mid-century movie studio in Hollywood from going off the rails in the Coen brothers’ new comedy. Rated PG-13. PRIDE AND PREJUDICE AND ZOMBIES—Jane Austen’s classic novel gets an undead update. Rated PG-13.
See our reviews of these films at www.indyweek.com.
returns to the repressed ’50s, a friendship between two women morphs into a frowned-upon affair. Rated R.
ANOMALISA—This fable about consumer capitalism and the male ego is familiar ground for Charlie Kaufman, but the material is elevated by the singular stop-motion animation. Rated R.
CREED—The focus on Apollo Creed’s son, Adonis, celebrates blackness in a franchise (Rocky) formerly framed through the prism of the Great White Hope. Rated PG-13.
1/2 BROOKLYN—The nostalgic melancholy of Colm Tóibín’s novel is preserved in this elegiac old-school immigrant’s tale. Rated PG-13.
DIRTY GRANDPA—Robert De Niro churcks the remains of his reputation in this filthy, unfunny spring-break comedy. Rated R.
A L S O P L AY I N G
CAROL—As director Todd Haynes (Far From Heaven)
THE HATEFUL EIGHT—If Quentin Tarantino doesn’t jettison this kind of historical revenge
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fantasy, he will become as dated as his film stock. Rated R. 1/2 THE REVENANT— Leo DiCaprio plays a historical fur trapper left for dead after a bear attack in the director of Birdman’s latest Oscar-bait. Rated R. 1/2 ROOM—Adapted from an acclaimed novel, this is a cathartic exploration of the traumas of the love between mother and child. Rated R. STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS—J.J. Abrams successfully remixes Star Wars mythology for a new generation. Rated PG-13.
Saturday, FEB. 6 CROOKLYN
Terence Blanchard will be a major part of May’s Art of Cool Festival in Durham. The trumpeter serves as a Friday-night headliner for the two-day, progressive jazz/soul festival. To get people psyched, the Art of Cool Project is in the midst of a four-month-long film series featuring movies Blanchard scored for filmmaker Spike Lee, who has called on Blanchard for every film he’s made since Jungle Fever in 1991. The series started last month with 4 Little Girls, Lee’s 1997 documentary about the murder of four AfricanAmerican girls in a Birmingham, Alabama, church bombing in 1963. This Saturday brings Crooklyn, Lee’s flawed but nostalgic semiautobiographical dramedy from 1994. The next two months feature Clockers and Mo’ Better Blues, where Blanchard was a featured player, as the series moves to the Carolina Theatre from Full Frame Theater. While this is an interesting selection of Lee/Blanchard collaborations, it raises a question: Why not program the bank-heist blockbuster Inside Man or the Hurricane Katrina documentary When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts, two great Lee films scored by Blanchard that both turn ten this year? Oh well—all this Spike Lee love may at least inspire people to rent Chi-Raq, his latest, must-see film. Author and Duke professor Mark Anthony Neal moderates the screenings, which are free with an online reservation. —Craig D. Lindsey FULL FRAME THEATER, DURHAM, 2 p.m., free with RSVP, www.theartofcoolproject.com
BILL BURTON ATTORNEY AT LAW The INDY’S GUIDE to ALL THINGS TRIANGLE
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