Queen City Nerve - April 17, 2024

Plus: A guide to Charlotte’s dispensaries pg. 10

Music: Momophobia is stoner rock with power pg. 12

IN A FOG

Local cannabis business owners left in limbo as AG calls for change in law

BY RYAN PITKIN

On March 20, when attorney Rod Kight learned that 22 state attorneys general, including North Carolina Attorney General and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Josh Stein, had just submitted a letter to Congress asking that lawmakers roll back many of the freedoms granted hemp producers and distributors in the 2018 Farm Bill, he felt blindsided.

As Congress prepares to embark on a five-year reauthorization of the Farm Bill, the letter asks that committees “address the glaring vagueness created in the 2018 Farm Bill that has led to the proliferation of intoxicating hemp products across the nation and challenges to the ability for states and localities to respond to the resulting health and safety crisis.”

The requested changes threaten an industry that has seen tremendous growth in Charlotte and across the state over the last five years, starting with CBD and evolving into Delta 8 then THCA products, all of which comply with state law limiting THC content to less than 0.3% for such products.

Anything over the .3% threshold is no longer considered hemp but defined as marijuana — and illegal. Yet hemp products can still administer a varying range of effects that the state attorneys call intoxication and your average consumer might call getting stoned.

Blaming “bad actors” for “exploiting” the Farm Bill, the letter claims that a “wrongly perceived” federal pre-emption included in the bill — also called the Agricultural Improvement Act of 2018 — has undermined efforts to control the cannabis market, especially in states such as North Carolina where it is still illegal.

“Regardless of your Committees’ intentions, the reality is that this law has unleashed on our states a flood of products that are nothing less than a more potent form of cannabis, often in candy form that is made attractive to youth and children — with staggering levels of potency, no regulation, no oversight, and a limited capability for our offices to rein them in,” the letter reads.

Though blindsided by the letter, Kight, a preeminent international cannabis attorney who represents hemp-related businesses around the country, including nearly 100 such businesses in North Carolina alone from his office in Asheville, was not surprised.

He has in recent years become accustomed to elected officials — persuaded by an odd lobbying consortium made up of anti-marijuana activists, big marijuana corporations, and law enforcement groups — have launched what he calls a “war on hemp,” threatening what has become a $28-billion industry, according to an October 2023 Whitney Economics report.

He took to his popular Kight on Cannabis blog to decry and debunk the letter, calling the attempt to define intoxication a “fool’s errand.”

“It is impossible to define ‘intoxication,’ in a way that is workable from a legal or regulatory standpoint,” Kight wrote. “Attempting to eliminate or control intoxication by redefining ‘hemp,’ prohibiting an entire class of hemp products, and/or via capping the allowed milligrams of THC and other compounds that are allowed in a product or package is totally unnecessary. This approach amounts to a ‘Nanny State’ method of addressing an issue that should instead be based on an adult’s personal preference.”

As he has long advocated, Kight insisted that the right approach to the issue would be to restrict access by minors, require quality control for production and manufacturing of hemp and hemp products, and require proper and informative labeling and marketing of said products.

“This three-pronged approach allows adults to make an informed decision about the products they choose to purchase and consume while limiting access to minors and sidestepping the impossible task of defining and regulating products based on their potential to cause intoxication,” Kight wrote.

Speaking with Queen City Nerve a few weeks following the issuance of the letter, Kight said he wished the AGs has consulted with experts in the

field rather than follow the lead of lobbying groups with a hazy understanding of the industry and the plant it has grown from.

“I think we could have tried to, at a minimum, give them some bigger context and certainly some education about all the different ways in which they were wrong for signing this,” Kight told Queen City Nerve. “Particularly with AGs throughout the country, this sort of reactionary response to hemp products come out in various ways, from legal opinion letters to press reports to these letters that are uninformed and not done in consultation with anyone in the cannabis industry, hemp or otherwise. They just put these things out there without talking to people first.”

‘It would be an instant death’

For Michael Sims, co-founder and co-owner of Crowntown Cannabis, learning of the March 20 letter was like getting back on a ride that he desperately does not want to ride.

The same month the letter was issued, Sims and his team were forced to close their Columbia, South Carolina, location after dealing with unclear laws and questionable enforcement for over a year.

The shop was raided by Columbia police and the state’s South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) in January 2023. Agents confiscated pounds of inventory from the shop that they “perceived to

be marijuana,” arresting the store manager and charging her with conspiracy to sell marijuana.

Sims and his team disputed the allegations, stating that all product in the store was hemp flower, which he believed to be legal in both North and South Carolina as long as it stayed below the .03% THC level stated in law. Sims and his team are still fighting the charges today.

Then in October, the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office issued an unfavorable opinion regarding the legal status of delta-8 THC and other similar products in the state.

“It was a death by a thousand paper cuts,” Sims said of the long struggle with South Carolina authorities. “They tried to shut us down and fight us every way possible, and we came out victorious. We probably could have stayed down and survived, but that last letter, them getting rid of the last little bit of things we could legally sell in that store, was the last straw for us.”

Then, like a recurring nightmare, March 20 came along and Sims found his entire business model in jeopardy.

“It was just like, ‘Here we go again,’” Sims recalled. “We were blindsided, but it’s almost become par for the course with this industry. From what we knew and understood, [we thought] Josh Stein was a supporter of this industry.”

COURTESY OF CC CROWNTOWN CANNABIS CLOSED ITS COLUMBIA SHOP IN MARCH.

Requests for an interview with or comment from Josh Stein’s office went unanswered for this article.

Like Kight, Sims has long been an advocate for strong age restrictions and clear labeling for all hemp products, enforcing such standards in all of his dispensary locations.

He points to multiple studies that show a decrease in opioid use in states where cannabis is legalized as proof that North Carolina is on the right track, and one reason why rolling back certain protections in the Farm Bill, which is set to be reauthorized by Congress in September, would be ill-advised.

A 2021 report from BMJ, a weekly peer-reviewed medical journal, linked legal cannabis stores to fewer opioid deaths in the United States, while a Colorado University Boulder report in 2023 found that legalizing recreational cannabis at the state level not only didn’t increase substance use disorders or the use of other illicit drugs among adults but may have reduced alcohol-related problems.

“The issue we have with all of these decisions and things, and ultimately people trying to close us down, is they keep using the same propaganda, the same rhetoric, over and over again,” Sims told Queen City Nerve. “I’m talking about adolescent use, and there’s this public health crisis now on all these issues, but it’s really unfounded. It’s been proven in

legalized states that teen use and adolescent use is down, hard drug use is down, opioid use is down.

“Basically, all the fear tactics and fear mongering that was used in that letter and have been repeated over and over again have been proven to be the opposite of that, where we’ve seen nothing but improvement in these areas.”

Sims said that, over the last five years, his business has transitioned away from CBD, with THC products making up 90% of his business’ sales today. He doesn’t believe going back to the CBD products alone, his focus when he launched Crowntown Cannabis as Charlotte CBD in 2018, could keep his business afloat today.

“It would be an instant death,” he said.

Unlikely opponents

Kight said that, while some of the opposition has been drummed up by the parties one would expect — parents’ groups and other anti-marijuana outfits alongside law enforcement lobbies that see all cannabis product as no better than any drug off the street — it’s been his experience that the growing marijuana lobby is one of the strongest opponents to the hemp industry.

The NC Compassionate Care Act, which has been stuck in committee in the North Carolina General Assembly [NCGA] since May 2023, aims to legalize medical marijuana in the state but would limit its production and distribution to 10 vertically

integrated companies. That would effectively push any aspiring small business owner out of North Carolina’s cannabis industry before widespread legalization even takes place.

“What we see when these types of bills — and I say these types of bills because they’re all the same, particularly in the southeast — they’re promoted behind the scenes by the medical marijuana companies that are from Canada or wherever that want to come in and control the market here,” Kight told Queen City Nerve.

“They pitch these things, and what they do in conjunction with it is they will also then try to eliminate the hemp industry so that they control the monopoly,” he warned.

His hope is that elected officials, whether in US Congress or the NCGA, can recognize hemp as the nascent economy driver that it has become, just in need of stronger regulations around labeling and marketing.

“What we have in North Carolina is a very experienced, solid hemp industry that has been around for a long time and is currently selling good quality products to people throughout North Carolina,” Kight said. “So whether you’re a consumer or whether you’re someone who wants to participate

in the industry, the barriers are low, and there are good and quality products out there that consumers already have access to.”

What the industry needs is more people to speak up in support, he said. Many who harbor the same concerns as Sims try to keep a low profile, carrying on with their work in hopes that they won’t find themselves in the crosshairs as he did in Columbia.

Queen City Nerve reached out to five different Charlotte dispensaries for comment on this story, but received no responses.

“I think a lot of people, their mindset is hear no evil, speak no evil,” Sims said. “A lot of people just want to lay low, but I don’t have that luxury. I learned that many years back, fighting for smokable hemp flower in North Carolina, that I had to become my own lobbyist. I realized that we have very few, if any, voices to support what we do at the state level … But as states around us legalize and bring other things to market, it’s going to become more and more of an issue for us in North Carolina and South Carolina … and for as many people who are trying to push this industry forward, there’s just as many trying to bring us back to the 1940s.”

JOSH STEIN CAMPAIGN

RPITKIN@QCNERVE.COM

A LEAGUE OF UR ON EN

Charlotte FC fullback lands in the Queen City by way of Finland

BY SAM SPENCER

Jere Uronen was in a rush to get back to Charlotte.

On Thursday, March 21, the defender was in Cardiff, Wales, as part of Finland’s national football team. Two days later, his current professional club — Charlotte FC — was set to face the Columbus Crew at Bank of America Stadium.

The Charlotte match would be critical, as the Crown had gone winless during a brutal threematch road trip and Columbus was the defending champion. Despite entering their fifth match of the season with one win, one draw, and three losses, Charlotte looked better than they ever had, and the strongest element was the back line of center backs, Adilson Malanda and Andrew Privett, plus fullbacks Nathan Byrne and Uronen.

However, at Charlotte FC’s weekly press conference that Thursday, head coach Dean Smith read Uronen’s name from a list of players who wouldn’t be available for the match against Columbus. It looked like the successful back line would be broken for the first time.

Uronen had different plans.

Luckily for Charlotte, Uronen didn’t see play in the international match, a qualifier for the UEFA European Football Championship. Despite having 67 caps (international appearances) for Finland, Uronen spent the entire match on the bench for the 4-1 loss to Wales, meaning his legs would be healthy for a match two days later.

The next day, Uronen hopped on an international flight, arriving early Saturday morning in Charlotte, making himself available for the Columbus match. While João Pedro Reginaldo would get his first start for Charlotte in Uronen’s usual slot at left fullback, Uronen was available for the closing minutes of the 2-0 Charlotte win.

At the post-match press conference, Smith joked that Uronen “flew back economy class late last night” to make the game (for the record, Uronen later told

us Finland flies its first team in business class).

“[Uronen] wanted to come back and be here for the [Columbus match] which shows me how committed he is to this football club as well, which can only be good news for us,” Smith told Queen City Nerve in March. “He’s willing to listen, he’s willing to get better, he’s willing to work hard.”

Though Uronen’s trip from Wales to Charlotte was straightforward, the course of the Finnish international’s life was a long journey from his native country through Sweden, Belgium, France, and Germany to eventually make it to Charlotte.

Hockey or soccer

Born on July 13, 1994, Uronen is one of the veteran footballers on Charlotte FC’s first team. He is a native of Turku, Finland, the country’s oldest city and original capital. The city is bilingual (Finnish and Swedish), and as an important commercial and cultural city, features a wide range of cultures.

“Obviously the weather is quite different there than in Charlotte,” Uronen told Queen City Nerve in a March interview.

Because of Turku’s sports culture, Uronen’s interest in soccer wasn’t always assured.

“I’m from a hockey city,” said Uronen. “Not a big football country.”

It’s no surprise the young Uronen played both hockey, Finland’s most popular sport, and soccer growing up. As a center in hockey, Uronen told us he was a good passer, but “never the strongest, never the fastest,” and no good in a fight.

“This frame is quite small, so I should just stay away from that,” Uronen told us with a laugh.

At age 14, Uronen’s coaches forced him to choose between the sports.

“I think I made the right choice,” said Uronen.

He also made another important choice in Finland, meeting his future wife Minttu in church 15

years ago. They married in 2017.

He took his football career seriously, but growing up he didn’t think he would ever be a professional player.

“I never really thought my dreams could be anything more than dreams,” said Uronen. “Coming from a small football country, I knew the odds of making it were smaller than, for example, if you’re from England or Spain.”

Uronen loved the game and played soccer in his spare time with his friends. He didn’t engage in traditional training with cones and obstacles, instead opting for a fun, social experience. It was unstructured practice: shooting competitions, twoon-two scrimmages, and free kick contests.

Eventually, Uronen developed his talents to the point where his first club, Turun Palloseura (TPS), noticed. Uronen was modest about how he got his start, saying he got the opportunity at 16 years old due to injuries at the club.

“Out of the blue, I got a chance with my first team in Finland,” said Uronen. “I played well, and all of a sudden I was a starter … then all of a sudden I had offers from abroad.”

After 18 starts and one goal at TPS in 2011, Uronen made the move to Sweden on a €700,000 transfer fee, and would play in Helsingborg for four years before joining one of the top leagues in Europe in Belgium.

“It was just a dream for me, I never thought I could actually be a pro footballer,” said Uronen. “I feel really lucky obviously, and really proud of it.”

Sparring with a future teammate

When Uronen’s career took him to Belgium in 2016, he joined Koninklijke Racing Club Genk (KRC Genk), where he would face future Charlotte FC teammate Brecht Dejaegere with Koninklijke Atletiek Associatie Gent (KAA Gent), another team in Belgium’s top division, multiple times a year.

“I played several times against [Uronen],” Dejaegre told Nerve. “I think I had some good games against him … They were always close games between Gent, my team, and Genk, his team.”

During Uronen’s time at Genk, he not only faced Belgian teams but also gained experience in the international competitions, facing teams like RB Salzburg (with a young Erling Haaland), Liverpool, and SSC Napoli.

“It was the biggest dream for me,” Uronen said of his Champions League experience. “It’s just special, especially when you go to their stadiums because you’ve watched tens, maybe hundreds of games [on] TV from those stadiums.”

That experience makes Uronen relatively unique among Charlotte defenders, many of whom are young or haven’t had the opportunity to play in the top leagues where teams can qualify for European play.

“We both have some experience on the international level with Europa League games but also Champions League games,” said Dejaegere. “I think experience can always help a team and both of us have quite some experience on that side. It’s always beneficial for the team and for players.”

In 2017, Uronen and Dejaegere would face off

PHOTO BY REBEKAH WILDEN JERE URONEN (FAR RIGHT) DURING A MATCH AGAINST FC CINCINATTI.

NEWS & OPINION FEATURE

in the round of 16 in the Europa League, with Genk prevailing thanks in part to a Uronen goal. Then, in 2019, Genk won the Belgian championship, defeating Dejaegere’s Gent twice in the round-robin playoff.

“It was good to play against him,” said Dejaegere. “He always said he liked talking to his opponents.”

Dejaegere would join Charlotte FC in July 2023, less than a month before Uronen.

Making the big move

“Eff it, let’s move to Charlotte,” sounds like a line from a certain Onion article about the Queen City, but it’s also how Uronen came to join Charlotte FC.

After his successful time in Belgium, Uronen moved to French side Stade Brestois 29 (Brest) on a reported 1-million-euro transfer fee, but the move to France presented challenges on and off the pitch.

“After a while in France, we kind of all realized with my family that it’s not a good fit,” said Uronen. “Football-wise, it’s not a good fit for the whole family living there. We were never really happy there, we never settled. Then, you just have to kind of accept that it was a mistake.”

As much as if not more than any Charlotte FC player we’ve spoken with, Uronen centers his wife and family in conversations. It’s clear their happiness is very important to Uronen — and to his quality of play. In France, Uronen felt he wasn’t performing at a high enough level due to the unhappy situation, stating that there were issues on both sides. His former coach at Brest apparently felt the same;

when Nerve reached out to Michel Der Zakarian, a spokesperson for his current club told us, “The coach does not wish to respond favorably to this request.”

Uronen’s current coach, however, told us how important a good fit is to a successful footballer.

“Massive difference. You want to feel wanted, you want to be enjoying yourself,” said Smith. “I’ve always said here I want the culture to be where people come to work everyday wanting to come to work with a smile on their face … you can have a bit of a laugh and a joke but work hard to improve ... What I’ve seen from Jere so far is that he wants to do that.”

Smith, following his own advice, couldn’t help but add a joke to his comments. “Big difference from Finland’s weather to North Carolina weather, that’s for sure. He’ll probably get through as much [SPF 50 sunscreen] as I do.”

Because he and his family wanted a change, Uronen asked Brest for a new opportunity and went on loan to Schalke in Germany to help them in a relegation battle, where he is fondly remembered as a “great guy” by the communications staff.

Uronen’s family had a much better experience as well.

“Fantastic experience. Just incredible for me,” Uronen said of Schalke. “Unfortunately, [while] we had a really good six months there when I was there, [and] we got a lot of new players in January, it just wasn’t enough.”

Schalke missed their target by one win and the team was relegated to Germany’s second league, meaning Uronen’s loan contract was void and he was on his way back to France. His family stayed in Finland as he looked for somewhere else to go.

“The club saw it on my face that I wasn’t happy

there,” said Uronen. “So Charlotte came calling, and I think I had one day to decide if this is going to be the next adventure for us or [not] because the transfer window was closing … we ended up saying ‘You know, eff it, let’s go for an adventure across the big sea.”

Never satisfied

Uronen has been a stalwart on defense since joining Charlotte FC last August. He’s appeared in 18 matches for the club, starting for the team when he’s not on international duty.

At first, however, the August heat was a major change from Europe, especially while going though big changes with his family.

“It was scary going to a different continent with two little kids, but I know I have the best wife with me who will be there for me and for the kids,” said Uronen. “It’s been great so far. This city’s just fantastic, the club is amazing, and all four of us have really enjoyed our time here.”

When I ask Jere Uronen how his season has been so far, he gives a reasonable answer: “Lot of good, lot of things to be better at obviously, like every season you never really feel satisfied as a player or as a team, no matter the results.”

Again, it was a modest response: Charlotte’s back line has been seen as one of the highlights of the team this season, conceding only eight goals in eight matches as of this writing.

“Both the fullbacks have been leaders in that back four … so they’ve got the experience of playing a lot of games and they can give really good advice to Adi [Malanda] and [Andrew Privett] who have been playing there so far,” said Smith. “Likewise in front of them as well — they’ve had some young players in

front of them — just giving some help and advice in those areas as well has been really helpful for us.”

“I think we’ve built a really good base now during the offseason and the first games, and game by game it feels better, I think it looks better, and we’re on the right track,” said Uronen. “Just as a team, I feel that we are really solid. I think Nate [Byrne], Adil [Malanda], Drew [Privett] … they’ve played really well. I think [goalkeeper Kristijan Kahlina] has a lot less work to do than last year, which is always a good sign.”

The introduction of Smith as coach has changed a lot for Uronen — and his teammates — at Charlotte this year.

“Obviously, the philosophy is really different this year. Everyone knows that every single football coach has their own way of playing and it’s always different,” said Uronen. “There’s quite a big contrast between our coach now and Lattanzio last year in their way of thinking. For me, there’s never [a] right or wrong way of playing football; it’s just whenever you have a coach who wants to play in a certain way then as a player you do everything you can to play at your highest level.”

While Uronen has accomplished a lot in his career, Finland has never made the World Cup. Uronen is ready as soon as it happens.

“I’ve been really, really lucky with my career. There’s only one thing I haven’t checked off my list, which is playing in the World Cup with my country,” said Uronen. “For me, I just go with the mentality, let’s go show how good I am, let’s enjoy this moment, because you never know if you’ll get anything like that again.”

INFO@QCNERVE.COM

PHOTO BY SAM SPENCER FANS PRESENT URONEN A FINNISH NATIONAL FLAG.

PHOTO BY JESSE BOYKIN KIMMEL URONEN FACES OFF AGAINST INTER MIAMI

THE TOASTERS, CORPORATE FANDANGO, SOUTH SIDE PUNX, THE UNSUSTAINABLES

Upstroke guitar, walking bass and offbeat drums define second-wave ska’s sonic palette, exemplified by The Toasters, formed by Brit expat Rob Hingley in the 1980s. Forty years on, the NYC ska pioneers remain undaunted and undimmed. Antic horns and smart-ass attitudes inform the third-wave ska punk of Greensboro’s Corporate Fandango. The nonska outlier on the bill, South Side Punx, provides a soundtrack for the apocalypse with martial manifestos like “All Quiet on the Eastern Front.”

Melodic lovers rock and traditional reggae power the rocksteady grooves of Carrboro’s The Unsustainables. More: $15-$17; April 17, 8 p.m.; The Milestone, 3400 Tuckaseegee Road; themilestone.club

INFINITY’S END 4/20 FESTIVAL

Celebrating its 55th birthday serving Charlotte as a family-run head shop, Infinity’s End will hold 20-percent-off sales at all four of its locations on 4/20, but the real party’s on the west side. Partnering with neighbors Rhino Market and Town Brewing, this block party will include food, beer, live music, local vendors, local artists and, of course, cannabis. Food options include Cutting Board CLT, Don’s Jamaican Kitchen, and Katsu Kart, plus an equally impressive local music lineup: Modern Moxie, Cosmic Collective, Tecoby Hines, The Bleus, Woody and more. Also check for giveaways (including a PlayStation 5), a Super Abari arcade, raffles and more. More: Free; April 20, noon-8 p.m.; 800 Grandin Road, infinitysend.com

DOCUMENTARY SUPERSTAR TALK: CLAIRE AVE’LALLEMANT

Deciding to forgo the traditional college education path, Charlotte-based film editor Claire Ave’Lallemant took the hands-on approach, working in the editorial department for projects such as the AHC series Gunslingers. It was her role as assistant editor on Cecilia Aldarondo’s award-winning feature documentary, Memories of a Penitent Heart, released in 2016, that introduced her to the “sheer power” of the documentary medium. She’s gone on to work as lead editor on projects like Choir, Netflix’s The Pharmacist, and Dogs Claire’s projects aim to bring more compassion into a tumultuous world, keenly interested in stories that center LGBTQIA+ folks, women, generational trauma, mental health and memory.

More: Free; April 20, 3-5 p.m.; The Photo Outfitters: 4732 Monroe Road, Suite 130; instagram.com/ unconventionalfilmschool

RODRIGO Y GABRIELA, OKAN

Heavy metal-inspired instrumental guitar duo Rodrigo y Gabriela draws on classical music, bluesbased rock and flamenco. After meeting in Mexico City’s vibrant heavy metal underground, the duo joined Ireland’s bustling busking scene before finding international acclaim with performances that fuse pointillist arpeggios, rasping blues riffs and percussive rhythms. Taking its name from the word for heart in the Afro Cuban folk religion Santeria, OKAN is Cuban-born violinist Elizabeth Rodriguez and percussionist Magdelys Savigne. With the propulsive “Eshu Nigüe (Eleggua),” the pair fuses their vocals in a powerful mantra that recalls Finnish folk juggernaut Värttinä.

More: $49.50; April 21, 8 p.m.; Knight Theater, 430 S. Tryon St.; blumenthalarts.org

BEAUTY & BARBERS ICON AWARDS GALA

For more than two decades, The Dooby Shop School of Cosmetology has offered more than just hair and beauty services but also scholarships for low-income students through its adjoining Skill Builders Institute. Founded by Terese Swan Hutchison, the shop is NC’s sole Black female-owned NAACAS-accredited school of cosmetology, serving as a symbol of opportunity and empowerment. The Beauty and Barber Icon Awards Gala serves as a fundraiser for students who may not qualify for other scholarships due to various barriers while recognizing excellence in the local beauty and barber industry. Lyfe Jennings will perform.

More: $100-$2,500; April 21; 6-10 p.m.; Luxe Event Venue, 10213 John Adams Road, tinyurl.com/ BeautyBarbersGala

THE THING, THE SIMPLICITY

Are all retro rock bands producing crime scene music videos now? As good as The Thing’s louche and sneering fuzz guitar swagger “Neptune” was, the NYC psych-garage four-piece’s follow-up single is better. With urgent buzzing guitars and a disaffected Arctic Monkeys-on-methadone drawl, “Midnight” pairs a churning surf-rock maelstrom of distortion, decadence and bad attitude with a grainy blackand-white crime caper video. On “Pain Reliever Fever Reducer,” Charleston’s The Simplicity unleash waves of blistering psych-blues biker-rock guitar licks played on blown-out speakers, accompanying it with an oversaturated color crime caper video.

More: $17.50; April 24, 9 p.m.; Snug Harbor, 1228 Gordon St.; snugrock.com

DOCUMENTARY SUPERSTAR TALK: CLAIRE AVE’LALLEMANT

Courtesy of Claire Ave’Lallement 4/20

RODRIGO Y GABRIEL

Photo by Christopher Dube 4/21

TALKING POLICY IN THE QUEEN CITY

UNC Charlotte’s Public Policy Ph.D. program hosts the sixth annual discussion panel on public policy featuring community members who bring unique perspectives to a comprehensive dialogue that aims to deepen our understanding of the complex issues surrounding homelessness and housing policy. The panel, moderated by former Charlotte Mayor Jennifer Watson Roberts, will feature Stephanie Southworth, assistant professor in Coastal Carolina University’s Department of Sociology; Lori Thomas, executive director of UNC Charlotte’ Urban Institute; Warren Wooten, Housing Services manager with the city of Charlotte; and Sharmaiye Haynes, codirector at QC Family Tree.

More: Free; April 25; 7 p.m.; The Dubois Center at UNC Charlotte Center City, 320 E. 9th St.; tinyurl. com/TalkingPolicyUNCC

BRIGHTFIRE MUSIC AND ARTS FESTIVAL

Traditionally, fire was used for agricultural, land management and other practical purposes. BrightFire Music and Arts Festival celebrates these critical uses by early societies as well as what flame has come to symbolize today: new beginnings, growth and emergence. The two-day genre-bending festival will include live rock, funk, jazz, blues, world/folk, hip-hop and other performances as well as fire performances, a comprehensive arts market, food trucks, storytelling and poetry, yoga and more. Kick things off on Friday with an ethereal fire-lighting ceremony that will progressively build over the weekend, culminating with dancing and drumming.

More: Free-$200; April 26-28; times vary; 281 Odell School Road, Concord; charlottenewmusic.org

SAT 4/27

INTERNATIONAL CIRCUS & DANCE CELEBRATION

The Charlotte Cirque and Dance Center hosts this diverse event featuring a wide range of eccentric dance and circus workshops to participate in along with live performances and activities. Hop across cultures in workshops like hula dancing from Hawaii, juggling from Latin America, belly dancing from the Middle East, and the Chinese scarf dance. Don’t forget garba (India), trapeze (France) and capoeira (Brazil). Enjoy Hawaiian pupus by L&L Hawaiian Grill alongside sweet and savory Indian snacks. Attendees can also make their own lei or head outside to try out the German wheel and Polynesian dancing by local group Siva Tasi Ho’okahi Autahi Nui.

More: $5-$15; April 27; 2-6 p.m.; Charlotte Cirque & Dance Center; 9315 E Monroe Road; cltcirquedancecenter.org

WOODY, GOOD DEAL, ZACH KING

Guitarist/songwriter John Carstarphen and drummer Jacob Palladino are alumni of The New Creatures, a defunct McAdenville combo that drew inspiration from surf, country and classic rock. The pair is joined by bassist Cohen Malz and pedal-steel player David Finch for Woody, a band that crafts similarly fresh yet familiar music, but this time with more songwriting dynamics and brio. Woody takes a great thing and makes it better. Raleigh’s Good Deal trades in rollicking folk rock with a touch of Tame Impala-style spaciness. Accomplished flat-picking guitarist and folk singer Zach King fills the bill.

More: $7; April 27, 8 p.m.; Petra’s, 1919 Commonwealth Ave.; petrasbar.com

A TO Z IN THC

A guide to Charlotte dispensaries

BY RAYNE ANTR IM & RYAN PITKIN

It was just five years ago that folks looking for CBD only had a few options for storefronts in the Charlotte area. Fast forward just a half-decade — as we’ve seen the evolution of the hemp industry capitalizing on the popularity of Delta 8, Delta 9, THCA and other similar products — and the city has seen a proliferation of businesses that have jumped into this fledgling market, each with their own offerings and atmosphere to set them apart.

We picked out 20 shops that are worth checking out on this 4/20 holiday.

APOTHECA CANNABIS DISPENSARY

Five locations in Charlotte, one in Cornelius; apotheca.org

With a mission to deliver a safe and reliable product while maintaining its reputation through transparency and sustainability, Apotheca opened in 2019 as “a trustworthy source of reliable and sustainable cannabis, kratom and microdosing magic mushroom products.” The dispensary carries CBD and THC gummies, chocolates, delta-9 seltzers, taffy, caramels, pot brownies, cookies and more, including microdosing psychedelic mushrooms and kratom supplements like concentrated shots, powders and easy-to-dose capsules.

BLUE FLOWERS CANNABIS DISPENSARY

4717 Sharon Road, 2B; 3020-C Prosperity Church Road; 601 S. Kings Drive, Suite FF; blueflowersnc.com

Owners Joslyn and husband Colby opened one of the first dispensaries in Charlotte shortly following

the passage of the 2018 Farm Bill in late 2018, Blue Flowers has since expanded to six locations — three in Charlotte and three in the High Country. Their highly educational website will answer questions ranging from an in-depth look at the endocannabinoid system to “Will I pass a drug test?”

BUDDHA’S BAZAAR

9124 South Tryon St., Suite F; four other locations in greater Charlotte area; buddhasbazaar.com

This modern head shop largely focuses on glassware like water pipes, hookahs, bubblers and others, as well as “gardening goods” including CBD, hemp, Delta-8 products and more. They’ve got “zengineers” — their version of the Geek Squad — to help anyone new to the alphabet soup that is the THC and CBD scene.

CALI VAPORS ELITE SMOKE SHOP

Four locations around Charlotte; calivapors.com

Though they focus more on vapes and glass pieces, Cali Vapors also partners with cbdMD, which makes health-focused CBD products.

CAROLINA HEMP CABINET

3625 Mt. Holly-Huntersville Road, #407; thehempcabinet.com

Described as an herbal medicine store, Hemp Cabinet carries TCHA and CBD products in the form of flower, edibles, capsules, vapes, live hash rosin, and topicals. The shop proudly states that its THCA flower is grown indoors with organic nutrients, guaranteeing clean flowers with no threats of harmful chemicals present in the buds.

CROWNTOWN CANNABIS

2419 Central Ave.; 3201 N Davidson St.; cltcbd.com

One of the first dispensary-style storefronts to open in Charlotte back in 2018 as Charlotte CBD, Crowntown Cannabis has two Charlotte locations and a third in Concord that all offer a huge selection of products ranging from vapes and honey to tea and topical creams. The dispensary also has a CannaBUS, taking their store on the road, and can be booked to show up at a party, bar or event.

DELTA BEVERAGES

Various locations; drinkdelta.com

More of a distributor than a dispensary, these drinks are made with hemp-derived THC and prioritize the cannabis effect above all else. They’re available at dozens of retail locations around Charlotte, just check the website for a store locator.

GREENLIFE REMEDIES

501 Penman St.; 8700 Pineville-Matthews Road, Suite 340, Pineville; greenlifeclt.com

The two “cannabis-loving Midwesterners” who brought Greenlife Remedies to the NC hemp market in 2018 did so after having worked for decades in various parts of the cannabis industry elsewhere. They offer a unique feature for shopping by browsing different benefit categories: calming, euphoria, focus, recovery, relaxation and sleep.

THE HAPPY CAMPER LOUNGE & DISPENSARY

Dispensary, 2017 N. Davidson St.; Lounge and dispensary, 3100 N. Davidson St.; beahappycamper.com

The Happy Camper offers quality above all else in its vapes, edibles, smokeables and even Staff Picks in case you’re feeling indecisive. The dispensary is community-focused with regularly scheduled events like jazz and chess nights for an all-around inclusive experience.

HEMP HOP CANNABIS DELIVERY

227 Old Hebron Road; hemphop.co

After witnessing the benefits of hemp products with a family member, the owners of Hemp Hop were on a mission to deliver the same benefits to others … literally. The dispensary delivery service provides same-day delivery for Charlotte, Huntersville, Mint Hill, Belmont, Cornelius and other cities in the greater Charlotte area.

COURTESY OF BFCD

BLUE FLOWERS CANNABIS DISPENSARY

COURTESY OF CHC

CAROLINA HEMP CABINET

INFINITY’S END

Four locations around Charlotte Charlotte’s original smoke shop since 1969, Infinity’s End has everything from disc golf bags to tarot decks … from incense to flower. They’ve stayed alive for 55 years by keeping up with what’s new, and that means staying up on the evolving cannabis industry in North Carolina. They currently serve drinks, edibles, flower, mushrooms, tinctures, topicals, vapes, wax and more.

KANNA CBD

209 W. Worthington Ave.; 440 E McCullough Drive, Suite A-130; kannacbd.org

Kanna CBD is a family-owned business comprising an indoor hydroponic hemp grow and two storefronts in South End and the University area. The dispensary offers an in-store rewards program and daily discount codes. The shop offers beverages like the cannabis-infused Pretty High for a Dry Guy mocktail.

MITTY’S CANNABIS CAFE

216 Iverson Way, B2; mittyscannabiscafe.com

The first of its kind in Charlotte, Mitty’s offers CBD-infused coffees and teas alongside products like baked goods, tinctures and flower. The website helpfully breaks down all the different compounds they put to use so you know what the difference between Delta-10, THC-11 and CBG is.

PREMEZ

9211 North Tryon St., Suite 10B; 709 Louise Ave.; thepremez.com

Noted for their customer service, Premez offers an array of CBD products including some we haven’t seen elsewhere like CBD coffee or bath and beauty products such as bath bombs and massage butter. Get a closer look at the product with their Smokus Fokus carrying case.

PRIME SUNSHINE CBD

121 Greenwich Road; primesunshine.com

Founded as an online business in 2014 by Ellen Tacher, Prime Sunshine CBD was one of the first to open a CBD storefront in 2018. The dispensary offers wellness products like supplements and nutritional products like blood pressure support.

QUEEN HEMP COMPANY

Various locations; queenhempcompany.com

A woman-owned-and-operated business, hence the name, Queen Hemp Company is a vertically integrated indoor grower and wholesale/retail distributor of hemp products. You can buy their products online, or at spots around town like Berrybrook Farms, Common Market, Rhino Market and more.

SEED TO SOUL

624 Tyvola Rd Ste 105-A; seedtosouldispensary.com

This dispensary believes in a holistic approach with natural remedies for healing through their natural products including THCA flower, Delta-9 edibles, cartridges, disposables, tinctures, baked goods and more. “Our mission revolves around enhancing the accessibility of natural healing with cannabis and other plant-based products,” the shop’s website reads. “We firmly advocate for the decriminalization and destigmatization of these incredible natural remedies, recognizing their potential to transform lives.”

VAST CANNABIS

8424 Old Statesville Road, Suite 400; vastcannabis. com

If you’re feeling foggy about what exactly is in the products you’re buying, just hop on Vast’s website and click on “Lab Results” right there on top, where you’ll find the documentation that breaks down each product sold in the shop.

THE WELLINGTON SHOP

201 S. College St., Suite 150; thewellington.shop

Woman-owned and founded, The Wellington Shop’s Linsey Beford partners with yoga instructors, chiropractors and other wellness experts who align with their mission of providing holistic medicine to others with CBD products. The Wellington on Wheels also allows Beford’s team to bring their experienced staff and unique CBD products straight to the customer.

YOUR CBD SOURCE

10416 E. Independence Blvd., Suite 610, Matthews; yourcbdsourcenc.com

This family-owned business was opened after the owners experienced the benefits that CBD had on their own lives. The shop offers oils, edibles, vapes, topicals, and even CBD treatments for your pet’s health. “More people are becoming aware of the life-changing effects that CBD can have within their wellness journeys and we want to help guide them,” the owners wrote on their website. “We are passionate about this industry and are committed to understanding the studies done on the benefits CBD can have.”

INFO@QCNERVE.COM

COURTESY OF QHC

QUEEN HEMP COMPANY’S NICOLE BURNETTE (LEFT) AND GAIL SYFERT.

COURTESY OF STS

WHAT’S IN A NA ME ?

Charlotte power-emo trio Momophobia blends finesse and ferocity

BY PAT MORAN

Just because Sam Howard and Santiago Morales named their muscular, grooving, grinding emo-core trio Momophobia doesn’t mean the two musicians and songwriters fear their moms.

“There’s a running joke I always tell people that I’m scared of my mom,” Morales says, referencing the band’s thought-provoking, sometimes headscratching name.

“We don’t go for one show without [someone asking] how to pronounce Momophobia,” says Howard, who half-jokingly considers launching a Mother’s Day themed line of merch to capitalize on misconceptions about the meaning of the band’s moniker.

According to the esoterically titled Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows, momophobia means “the fear of speaking off the cuff or from the heart; the terror of saying the wrong thing and having to watch someone’s smile fade as they realize you’re not who they thought you were.”

Though both Howard and Morales agree in doubting that momophobia’s pensive and poetic meaning has any impact on the group’s songwriting, they say so with a hint of second guessing. Certainly, a sense of mistaken identities and fast-changing opinions infuses the band’s debut single “Orchid Skies.”

As Howard’s grainy bass-led riff propels the groove forward like a rusted gigantic gear grinding, his vocal rips free from the song’s cocoon of layered thrash to unleash a soaring pop lyric laced with the uncertainty and heartbreak of an averted gaze.

“Social events don’t feel the same/ I’m always coming to an afterthought/ Showing your true colors/ Hoping you’d fall for me/ You’d never look at me now...”

A chugging bass-and-guitar combo burrows through rippling slashes of Morales’ decaying rhythm guitar before he launches a beautiful yet brutal lead. His guitar chimes, rings and rages, swiftly dovetailing into a shouted, distorted chorus

“Why can’t you/ Just see me alive/ So I can see your eyes/ In these orchid skies...”

“I’ve had that feeling of disappointing someone by saying the wrong thing, and I can relate to it,” Howard says. “That’s why I like the [band’s] name.”

Howard, Morales and drummer Grayson Gulley bring Momophobia’s mix of spiraling melodies, multi-edged meanings and shape-shifting hard rock to The Milestone on April 21 for a show that celebrates the release of the band’s debut five-track EP Duality of Dreams, which drops April 20.

Forging influences into a sound

Far from fearing his mom, Howard credits her with instilling in him a love of music.

“My mom is a classically trained concert pianist,” he says. “I still get to hear her play sometimes, and it’s absolutely the best.”

He started guitar lessons at age 9 and absolutely hated them until he discovered pop-punk bands like Green Day and 21 Pilots.

“It went from there,” he recalls. “I’ve been in and out of bands since 2019, but I’ve been playing since I was a kid.”

In contrast, Morales didn’t pick up a guitar until he was 13. A self-taught player, he took inspiration from Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Albert King. A blues kid growing up, as he got older Morales was drawn to the harder rocking sounds of bands like Smashing Pumpkins, then onto heavier stuff like Slipknot. “I’ve always [resonated] with post-rock.”

Howard and Santiago met at Mint Hill Middle School, where they immediately bonded. The pair, however, never got the chance to make music together. Life intervened, sending them to separate high schools — Independence for Howard and Butler for Morales.

Howard played in several cover bands in high school, including one called Renegade that included future Modern Alibi guitar player Sloane Letourneau.

After helping to launch The Sand Dolls, his first band that played original songs, Howard had a falling out with that group’s lead singer. Resolving never to have that experience again, Howard determined to form his own band where he would sing.

In the meantime, Morales never joined a band, though he played guitar in his church and continued to hone his skills. On New Years’ Eve, just as 2021 turned into 2022, Morales texted Howard and proposed that the two of them launch a band.

“Santiago came over to my house and we jammed once,” Howard says. “He was the best guitar player I had ever met.”

Morales remembers that their single jam session sparked “a fire in his heart.”

In January 2022, Momophobia officially launched. Drummer Duncan Brown joined the fold for a year before Seth Brown stepped in, playing off-and-on with the band for the latter half of 2023. Howard notes that Gulley, who joined the band in January, is the band’s first drummer that doesn’t share a last name with Momophobia’s previous drummers.

“He doesn’t have to change [his name] to Brown,” says Morales deadpanning. “We threw away that initiation a long time ago.”

Since Momophobia’s launch, Howard has also played bass with a few other Charlotte bands, including impassioned punk outfit Dead Senate. From August to November 2023, he also played with sludge punk crew Wastoid.

Years before launching Momophobia, Howard had longed to be in a band. Whenever he came across a word or phrase he thought would make a cool band name, Howard would write it down.

“My only criteria was that it had to be a band

name that didn’t already exist,” Howard says. At the time, Howard was taking bass lessons from musician Karl Gunther, who also local managed bands. Howard pitched his two favorite imaginary band names to Gunther: The Evil I Collective and Momophobia. The latter won the day.

The band is young; Howard and Morales are 19 while Gulley is 18. From the start, Momophobia’s members were faced with a challenge that has stymied far more experienced players, as all three are striving to blend their disparate musical inspirations into a satisfying whole.

“It’s interesting trying to find ways to apply all of our influences together, because we come from different backgrounds in music,” Howard says. The result of that process, Morales says, is a marvelous mishmash.

“With my guitar playing, my inspirations have always been melodic,” says Morales, whose preferences run from intricate players like Guthrie Govan to equally tuneful yet softer guitarists like John Mayer. “I’m not into just noodling [and] technique. I want to make my guitar sing.”

Gulley grew up listening to his parents’ emo and rock albums — bands like Chiodos and Hawthorne Heights.

After beginning drum lessons at 9, he continued for eight years, and now works as a drum instructor himself at Learn Music in Cornelius. When Gulley came to Momophobia, he was used to playing the harder, faster grooves of bands like Silverstein. He

SANTIAGO MORALES (RIGHT) AND SAM HOWARD OF MOMOPHOBIA. PHOTO BY EVAN DENNIS

currently also plays in a cover band that specializes in hard rock bordering on scream, an aggressive and willfully experimental and dissonant subgenre of emo.

Howard’s and Morales’ shared love for Queen of the Stone Age raises questions about Momophobia’s genre and classification, especially with a 4/20 release show on the books. Can a power trio that threads layers of soaring pop-rock melodies through thickets of thrash while entwining knotty grooves with yearning vocals be considered a stoner band? Howard emphatically says yes.

“At the beginning of the band I was into stonerrock bands like Kyuss,” Howard says. “The bluesy side of the music spectrum influenced a lot of my writing.” Morales also accepts the stoner designation.

“It’s because [our music] is very airy,” Morales says of the band’s more ethereal and impressionist excursions. “It’s like looking up at the sky or flying.” Gulley cites “Mariposa,” one of five tunes on the Duality of Dreams EP, as a stoner (or at least stoneradjacent) song.

“There is a bridge and a build that are definitely long compared to other builds and bridges you

might hear in other songs,” Gulley says. “It’s an ambient, ‘go-with-the-flow’ groove.”

Conjoined music about conflicted feelings

Just as there has been give-and-take between band members in devising the band’s sound, songwriting has also been a collaborative processes, so integrated that’s it’s often hard for individual Momophobia members to know when individual contributions begin and end.

That quality is exemplified by Momophobia’s vocals. How the band members view each song, is what determines whether Howard or Morales sings the lead. The ideal vocal allocation is a 50/50 split, Howard says. If there’s one song that demands Morales’ voice as lead, Howard will sing back up, or vice versa.

“I find [that approach] interesting and a lot more refreshing,” Morales says.

The songwriting partners will even write for each other’s voices on occasion.

“Sam gives me a different palette to work with,” Morales says. “Each time we write songs, it’s never the same vibe.”

The band’s debut single, “Orchid Skies,” began as

a badass bass riff that Howard brought to the band.

“It was something we jammed on, and we all wrote the lyrics together,” Howard says. “We played this house show the same week that we wrote the song, and we finished it before that show.”

It all clicked quite well, Morales remembers. The band came up with the instrumental track in one day, and then took another day to write lyrics.

“It was a very short process,” Howard says. “Later, when we were writing songs for the EP, I was thinking to myself, ‘Why can’t we have ideas coming out as quickly as they did then?’”

“Orchid Skies” was cut at Knothole Recording Studio where it was produced by audio alchemist Boo English.

Howard credits Chloe James, frontwoman for psychedelic goth-rock combo True Lilith, with introducing the band to English and his Knothole facility.

“Boo’s awesome,” Morales says. “We love him.”

English also produced Momophobia’s follow-up single “Maybe I’m Crazy.” Opening with a recorded phone message and delicate whirlpooling guitar, the sophomore single may be Momophobia’s most spacious song to date. The production puts distance between Morales’ grimy and guttural guitar and Howard’s questioning vocal, which drifts like

woodsmoke above a blasted landscape.

“Maybe I’m crazy, definitely lazy/ And I can’t seem to find myself/ I lost my heart on/ The way down the drain/ and I can’t find the end...”

While Momophobia’s latest single “Prosthetics” was also recorded at Knothole, the melodic, prowling and growling track was produced by Atticus Lane, and not English. Howard met Lane while Howard was working with Dead Senate. Howard and Lane subsequently worked closely on several tracks for Wastoid.

When Momophobia played S.O.S. Fest at The Milestone in November 2023, Lane caught the band’s set. After the show he asked Howard if he could produce Momophobia’s music. The trio jumped at the chance, as they count themselves fans of Lane’s work with Wastoid, Subvertigo and Cosmic Twynk.

“We picked Atticus because of how happy we were with other projects he had been a part of, and we knew he could do our sound well,” Howard says.

“Prosthetics” is the sound of full metal alchemy. Abrasive bass undergirds wailing, warning-siren guitar, which sounds like somebody punched a hole in Morales’ amp. His guitar pivots and curls like a snake charmer’s melody as Howard’s vocals shimmer like heat waves on a highway.

“You forgot about me/ and thats all I’ll know/ I never wanted to be your zero/ The night rides/ The evening sun/ Go cry about it/ You’ll have no one...”

As a foretaste of the Duality of Dreams EP, “Prosthetic” deepens and broadens Momophobia’s palette. Howard hopes that the single and the rest of Momophobia’s music have a deep impact on listeners. Good music helps him through hard times, Howard says.

“I like music where I see themes that I can relate to,” he says. “I hope that’s something people can take away from our EP and any of our songs.”

“With a lot of [Momophobia’s] songs there are themes where people can be like, ‘Yeah, I understand that,’” Gulley says.

“The title Duality of Dreams fits the EP because two of the songs are very happy, and then there are other songs where you’re going through things,” Morales adds.

He says he treasures music that makes him feel exactly how he imagines the songwriter feels. Morales hopes Momophobia’s music can replicate that feeling and capture complex, sometimes antithetical feelings.

“I want [listeners] to say, ‘I know how that feels.’” Morales says. “I want them to feel at home.”

GRAYSON GULLEY OF MOMOPHOBIA

PHOTO BY EVAN DENNIS

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 17

ROCK/PUNK/METAL

The Toasters w/ Corporate Fandango, South Side Punx, The Unsustainables (The Milestone)

The Young Dubliners w/ Tom Eure, Amelia Osbourne (Neighborhood Theatre)

JAZZ/BLUES

Jazz Nights at Canteen (Camp North End)

COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA

Cowboy Junkies (Booth Playhouse)

Grace Pettis w/ Robby Hecht, Al Olender (Evening Muse)

The 502s w/ Daniel Nunnelee (The Fillmore)

POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC/DJ

Giant Rooks (The Underground)

CD Ghost w/ Drook, Deion Reverie (Snug Harbor)

SINGER-SONGWRITER/ACOUSTIC

Annie Haden (Goldie’s)

Songwriter’s Circle (Starlight on 2nd)

COVER BANDS

Still Crazy (Paul Simon tribute) (Middle C Jazz)

OPEN MIC

Open Mic Night (Starlight on 22nd)

THURSDAY, APRIL 18

ROCK/PUNK/METAL

JJ Grey & Mofro (The Amp Ballantyne)

JAZZ/BLUES

E Dub w/ Amaree, BLE DLO, DJ J Glove (Snug Harbor)

COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA

Dailey & Vincent (Booth Playhouse)

Ryan Trotti Band w/ Jake Haldenvang (Goldie’s)

POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC/DJ

Wild Love w/ Nolen Durham (Evening Muse)

CLASSICAL/INSTRUMENTAL

Opera Carolina: Turandot (Belk Theater)

Jonathan Scales Fourchestra (Petra’s)

COVER BANDS

Jazmine Hinton & Gena Chambers sing Alicia Keys & Toni Braxton (Middle C Jazz)

FRIDAY, APRIL 19

ROCK/PUNK/METAL

Secret Monkey Weekend (3102 VisArt)

The Lenny Federal Band (Comet Grill)

IAMDYNAMITE w/ Family Video (Evening Muse)

The Driver Era (The Fillmore)

Filth w/ Heavy//Hitter, Coma Waves, Abyssal Frost, Blaakhol (The Milestone)

Mutant Strain w/ Motocrossed, Tombstone Poetry, Gluetrap (Snug Harbor)

POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC/DJ

Zingara (Blackbox Theater)

JAZZ/BLUES

Emmet Cohen Trio (Stage Door Theater)

The Hi-Jivers w/ RC Roadshow Duo (Goldie’s)

Rick Braun (Middle C Jazz)

COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA

Tyler Braden (Coyote Joe’s)

Jeffrey Lewis & The Voltage w/ Grasping Straws, Roman Candles (Petra’s)

SINGER-SONGWRITER/ACOUSTIC

Jade Bird (Evening Muse)

LATIN/WORLD/REGGAE

Satsang w/ Tim Snider (Neighborhood Theatre)

Yo Momma’s Big Fat Booty Band w/ Electro Dust (Visulite Theatre)

CLASSICAL/INSTRUMENTAL

Opera Carolina: Turandot (Belk Theater)

COVER BANDS

Ride the Lightning (Metallica tribute) (Amos’ Southend)

SATURDAY, APRIL 20

ROCK/PUNK/METAL

Tremont (Amos’ Southend)

Featherpocket (Birdsong Brewing)

Safari Room w/ Swansgate (Evening Muse)

Blind Guardian (The Underground)

The Eyebrows w/ Flame Tides, Rabbit Fighter (Petra’s)

4/20 Festival: Shake the Dust, Council Ring, The Donner Deads (Starlight on 22nd)

SINGER-SONGWRITER/ACOUSTIC

Tosco Music Party (Knight Theater)

POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC/DJ

Rainbow Rave (Blackbox Theater)

Digital Noir w/ DJ Spider, Sanityana (The Milestone)

Sinetology presents Social Media feat. Baby Cousin Tay Tay, Lon Lon, FZXXX (Snug Harbor)

ChemLab presents Rogue Interia w/ Hexxus (Tommy’s Pub)

FAMILY

The Jolly Lollies (Camp North End)

JAZZ/BLUES

Emmet Cohen Trio (Stage Door Theater)\

Rick Braun (Middle C Jazz)

Bucher Brown w/ Son Little (Neighborhood Theatre)

HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B

Mariah the Scientist (The Fillmore)

CLASSICAL/INSTRUMENTAL

Opera Carolina: Turandot (Belk Theater)

FUNK/JAM BANDS

Caleb Davis & the 4/20 Jam w/ Jonahan Birchfield (Goldie’s)

COVER BANDS

Don’t Blink (Primal Brewery)

Trial by Fire (Journey tribute) (Visulite Theatre)

SUNDAY, APRIL 21

ROCK/PUNK/METAL

Momophobia w/ Young Death God, Jamus, SWAE, The Clearcoats (The Milestone)

POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC/DJ

Hazy Sunday (Petra’s)

HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B

Frxsh: Charlotte Artist Discovery Showcase (Neighborhood Theatre)

Soul Sundays feat. Guy Nowchild, Jeremy Saxe (Starlight on 22nd)

JAZZ/BLUES

Omari & the Hellhounds (Comet Grill)

Eric Mintel Quartet (Middle C Jazz)

SINGER-SONGWRITER/ACOUSTIC

Peter & Brendan Mayer (Evening Muse)

Allison & Jake w/ Brent Cates (Goldie’s)

LATIN/WORLD/REGGAE

Rodrigo y Gabriela w/ OKAN (Knight Theater)

CLASSICAL/INSTRUMENTAL

Opera Carolina: Turandot (Belk Theater)

MONDAY, APRIL 22

ROCK/PUNK/METAL

Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol w/ Flagman (Snug Harbor)

JAZZ/BLUES

The Bill Hanna Legacy Jazz Session (Petra’s) OPEN MIC

Find Your Muse Open Mic feat. Young-Chhaylee Khat (Evening Muse)

TUESDAY, APRIL 23

ROCK/PUNK/METAL

Red Rocking Chair (Comet Grill)

Beach Fossils w/ Nation of Language (The Underground)

Ridgeway w/ Navtec, Coma Therapy, Feeling Format (The Milestone)

Soft Blue Shimmer w/ Keep, Trembler, Clearbody (Snug Harbor)

SINGER-SONGWRITER/ACOUSTIC

Kadey Ballard Trio (3102 VisArt)

Sam on Someday (Evening Muse)

JAZZ/BLUES

UNC Charlotte Jazz Ensemble feat. John Love: Uptown Sinatra (Booth Playhouse)

POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC/DJ

George Clanton w/ Full Body 2 (Neighborhood Theatre)

Hozier (PNC Music Pavilion)

CLASSICAL/INSTRUMENTAL

The Rock Orchestra by Candlelight (The Fillmore)

COVER BANDS

RAIN: A Tribute to the Beatles (Belk Theater)

House of Funk Celebrates Prince (Middle C Jazz)

OPEN MIC

Open Mic Night feat. The Smokin J’s (Smokey Joe’s Cafe & Bar)

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24

ROCK/PUNK/METAL

Attila w/ Born of Osiris, Traitors, Extortionist, Not Enough Space (The Underground)

Emperor X w/ Tourneforte, Moderneverything., The Whiskey Predicament (The Milestone)

The Thing w/ The Simplicity (Snug Harbor)

SINGER-SONGWRITER/ACOUSTIC

Dave Killian (3102 VisArt)

Josh Daniel w/ Jim Brock, Kerry Daniels (Smokey Joe’s Cafe & Bar)

JAZZ/BLUES

Jazz Nights at Canteen (Camp North End)

POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC/DJ

TOTO (Ovens Auditorium)

FUNK/JAM BANDS

The Free Label w/ Dysfunktone (Evening Muse)

OPEN MIC

Open Mic Night (Starlight on 22nd)

THURSDAY, APRIL 25

ROCK/PUNK/METAL

Deadharrie w/ Flannelmouth, Mariah Van Kleef, Jackson Fig (The Milestone)

NEEDTOBREATHE (PNC Music Pavilion)

A24 Night: Cuzco (Snug Harbor)

SINGER-SONGWRITER/ACOUSTIC

Hans Williams w/ Wilfred (Evening Muse)

Ellie Morgan w/ Lindsey Schroeder, Nehemiah Lawson, Bart Copeland (Visulite Theatre)

COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA

Bombadil (Neighborhood Theatre)

POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC/DJ

Matteo Bocelli (Knight Theater)

FUNK/JAM BANDS

Joseph Gallo Band w/ Square Roots Duo (Goldie’s)

Shana Blake’s Musical Menagerie (Smokey Joe’s Cafe & Bar)

COVER BANDS

Tony Tatum Experience (Babyface tribute) (Middle C Jazz)

FRIDAY, APRIL 26

ROCK/PUNK/METAL

The Lenny Federal Band (Comet Grill)

Traxx Trio (3102 VisArt)

Killakoi w/ Dovecage, Forever May Fall, American Theory (Amos’ Southend)

We Three (The Underground)

Jake Haldenvang w/ Bald Brothers (Goldie’s)

Kaska Sun w/ Charlotte Culture Party, Benton (Petra’s)

Private Hell w/ Pretty Baby, Pollute, Junk (Snug Harbor)

JAZZ/BLUES

Carol Albert (Middle C Jazz)

SINGER-SONGWRITER/ACOUSTIC

BJ Barham (Evening Muse)

MIXED GENRE/EXPERIMENTAL/FESTIVAL

Blood Sugar Fest Magic (The Milestone)

POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC/DJ

Taylor Swift Dance Party (The Fillmore)

Get Sad Y’all’s Emo Prom (Neighborhood Theatre)

CLASSICAL/INSTRUMENTAL

Charlotte Symphony: Vaughan Williams’ A Sea Symphony (Belk Theater)

The Piano Guys (Ovens Auditorium)

LATIN/WORLD/REGGAE

Amjad Ali Khan, Amaan Ali Bangash & Ayaan Ali Bangash (Booth Playhouse)

FUNK/JAM BANDS

Celestial Co. (Birdsong Brewing)

HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B

Lamar Atkins (Starlight on 22nd)

COVER BANDS

Red Hot Chili Dogs w/ Funkwondo (Visulite Theatre)

SATURDAY, APRIL 27

ROCK/PUNK/METAL

Twinz w/ Rod Fiske (Goldie’s)

Sir Chloe w/ Daffo (Neighborhood Theatre)

Woody w/ Good Deal, Zach King (Petra’s)

Pylon Reenactment Society w/ It’s Snakes, Pink Eye (Snug Harbor)

Roman Candles w/ Jay Moore, Dazy Bea (Starlight on 22nd)

77 Lies w/ Anchor Detail, The Donner Deads (Tommy’s Pub)

HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B

Got Soul: Savor the Culture (The Amp Ballantyne)

Black Kray (The Underground)

JAZZ/BLUES

Kelli Baker & Melissa McKinney w/ Mama & The Ruckus (Evening Muse)

POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC/DJ

Blanke w/ Aeon:Mode (Blackbox Theater)

CLASSICAL/INSTRUMENTAL

Charlotte Symphony: Vaughan Williams’ A Sea Symphony (Belk Theater)

LATIN/WORLD/REGGAE

Grupo Barak (Ovens Auditorium)

MIXED GENRE/EXPERIMENTAL/FESTIVAL

Blood Sugar Fest Magic (The Milestone)

COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA

Peter Bradley Adams (Evening Muse)

COVER BANDS

The Rush Experience (Amos’ Southend)

Robyn Springer & Brandon Stevens Celebrate Donnie Hathaway & Roberta Flack (Middle C Jazz)

The Recall Band (Primal Brewery)

The Dirty Doors (Visulite Theatre)

SUNDAY, APRIL 28

ROCK/PUNK/METAL

Mike Strauss Band (Free Range Brewing)

HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B

Soul Sundays feat. Guy Nowchild, Jeremy Saxe (Starlight on 22nd)

JAZZ/BLUES

Omari & the Hellhounds (Comet Grill)

J-Rod Sullivan Band (Middle C Jazz)

COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA

Hayes & Heathens w/ Daniel Rodriguez (Neighborhood Theatre)

SINGER-SONGWRITER/ACOUSTIC

Kat & Craig w/ Matt Stratford (Goldie’s)

David Gillespie w/ Saint Logic, Joe McGovern, Silver Bay (The Milestone)

MONDAY, APRIL 29

ROCK/PUNK/METAL

Meatbodies w/ Impending Joy, Peach Candy Nut Boys (Snug Harbor)

JAZZ/BLUES

The Bill Hanna Legacy Jazz Session (Petra’s)

COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA

Charlotte Bluegrass Mondays (Smokey Joe’s Cafe & Bar)

OPEN MIC

Find Your Muse Open Mic feat. LVDY (Evening Muse)

TUESDAY, APRIL 30

ROCK/PUNK/METAL

Red Rocking Chair (Comet Grill)

POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC/DJ

Night Club w/ Rosegarden Funeral Party, Feyleux, JPEG (Snug Harbor)

COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA

Matt Woods w/ Chip McGee (Petra’s)

OPEN MIC

Open Mic Night feat. The Smokin J’s (Smokey Joe’s Cafe & Bar)

VISIT QCNERVE.COM FOR THE FULL SOUNDWAVE LISTING.

A MASTERPIECE I N THRE E ACTS

Locally Charlotte but globally inspired, L’Ostrica rivals the best restaurants in the country

BY TIMOT HY DEPEUGH

At some point amidst my multiple visits to L’Ostrica — which opened just south of the iconic Park Road Shopping Center in November 2023 and is already among the very best restaurants in Charlotte — I was struck by a sense of the theatrical, as though it were the inspiration for a three-act play. Curtains rise.

Act One: Carrots

The carrots arrive at the restaurant from Barbee Farms in Concord. They arrive as carrots do, so humble they’re dowdy; they need a good wash and peel. Unbeknownst to them (or to anyone in the dining room), they are poised to become legend. Chef Eric Ferguson sees to their proper ablutions. He runs them through a grinder — yes, a meat grinder. This is far from a joke. This is the method to his madness. Risotto is notoriously fussy, and even more so when it isn’t made with rice. Running the carrots through the grinder, you see, gives them an Arborio-like texture, or at the very least, gets them ready for what’s to come.

Meanwhile, the shrimp are smoking. “Old school,” as he calls it. He does it right on the stove with wood chips, the Florida rock shrimp in a perforated pan. Focus is essential. Any longer than a quick two minutes and the flavor of the final dish (just wait until you see it!) will be overpowered.

Then back to the carrots, primed as they are for transformation in a pan, with butter and then water to sweat them down. Risotto with rice takes about 30 minutes; this will take barely eight. He cooks them, stirring constantly to build up friction and more texture; this is what writers mean when they marvel at a chef’s “technique.” The carrots, finished with more butter and a handful of Parmesan, are now ready for their moment.

They go into a bowl, and then Chef Ferguson tops them with wee dollops of creme fraiche, fennel

pollen and fresh cracked black pepper. The shrimp? Don’t worry. They’re next. Placed on top and finished with dill fronds and fresh greens.

But then comes the plot-twist of Act One. If only the audience in the dining room could see this coming, they would gasp.

Chef Ferguson, not in any threatening fashion but as a man with great talent does when the lesser mortals around him see might consider his next move an act of magic, pulls out a robin-eggcolored vaporizer and gives the bowl a few spritzes of cardamom bitters.

This achieves certain objectives. One, it shows there is no line dividing the kitchen from the front of the house at L’Ostrica. The bitters were the bar manager’s idea, an otherwise left-of-center addition to the mix but one firmly rooted in the traditions of mixology: between sweet and salty, licorice and herbal and a final whiff of spring, the bitters provide balance.

But even more than that, the bitters are a throwdown. Technique at the cutting board or stove is one thing. Any good restaurant can achieve that. A great restaurant will take those techniques even further, and maybe even show the most experienced diners something new. Some might dismiss those as gimmicks, but at least to this lesser mortal here, the bitters are magic. Queen City chefs are hereby put on notice. What do you get with shrimp, carrots and cardamom bitters? Is that bacon I taste? Or a gloriously smoked ham?

Yes, exactly those, but also so much more. Just look at the final dish! “Carrot risotto,” for lack of a better name, is the very best thing currently on any menu at any restaurant in Charlotte.

Act Two: Pickled Raisins

The food at L’Ostrica is many things, but singleword descriptors fail no matter how fitting, even

for a writer like me. And lest the name fool you into thinking the food here is Italian — “l’ostrica,” in Italian, means “oyster” — going in with high hopes of pasta and red sauce would be unfair, both to you and to the kitchen.

It would be fair, however, to expect oysters.

On the current spring tasting menu (but not for much longer, as the tasting menus here are seasonal to the millisecond), the oyster is baked. It is covered in pancetta bread crumbs and topped with Korean gochugaru aioli. As any good amuse bouche should do, it does what words cannot, announcing immediately on the palate L’Ostrica’s global perspective, distilled down not into one word, but five: “Stop trying to define us.”

Consider the oyster, then, since it has a point.

That confidently conceived opening salvo is salt, sugar, alkali and acid; hot, cold, plump but with crunch; unknown, but by god, familiar. How can one word capture all that comes to mind, when each new word cancels out the one that came before?

Nature and Charlotte diners abhor a vacuum — the cuisine here is not nothing, and it is also far from “Italian” — and subtleties hardly satiate the hungry, so where on the Queen City stage does that leave chef Ferguson?

Wherever the hell he wants to be.

Enter stage left: white asparagus, which Chef has

cast in the role of “Spring.” That season may be the one and only thing that all parts of this dish have in common. From Belgium, white asparagus, sweet at the peak of its short time on any tasting menu worth the price of admission. A savory stripe of nori there to temper sweetness, by way of East Asia. A plating aesthetic of two muted colors; of foam and aioli, dotted with fresh flowers — that is straight from Scandinavia.

This is no more Italian than North Carolina cannabis laws are still relevant in 2024. It is a thought exercise, offered to a chef who reaches for the stars and can practically touch them: how to make a diner taste one of the best vegetable preparations in town while also offering up on a plate, at 8 p.m. dinner service, the greatest sunny spring day of their lives?

This theorist is also a general. Entering triumphantly from upstage center: an army, led by Chef, but one of Sunday dinners. These dinners are from the south of Greece and from a British pub; they feature anything from spring greens to prime ribs. I even ate at a French bistro.

Diners who seek solace within the confines of a seasonal tasting menu, beware. Sunday dinners at L’Ostrica are up to the whims of the whimsical.

At the bistro, I started with a French 75, the classic gin and champagne cocktail, made by someone that day with lemon drops on their mind, albeit ones

PHOTO BY RICO MARCELO CHEF ERIC FERGUSON AT L’OSTRICA

FOOD & DRINK FEATURE

dressed in their Sunday best, fresh from learning they had just come into an inheritance. This was from the same bar that brought me cardamom bitters, which told me that the bar team are masters at setting the mood, whatever that may be.

On that Easter Sunday, the mood was a picnic lunch on a grassy hill, or somewhere sunny, stage right, in Freedom Park.

Porcini mushroom tartlet (delicate, heady), white asparagus “parfait” with soft-boiled egg (Sweet Oblivion, take my arm and guide me to Thomas Keller) and a most exciting preparation of chicken ballotine, which chef whispered he had deep-fried gently to add a few extra sensations on the palate (this is what writers mean when they marvel at a chef’s “technique”). On a day like that, with a menu like that, where does anyone see anything remotely Italian?

For those solace-seeking diners downstage, however, never fear. On these special Sundays, occasionally things can be unmistakably Italian. There was even one dinner called “All That Pasta.” But nuance, in the right hands, can be even more filling. One recent menu — called “Primavera” — sought to evoke springtime in Italy. But then that would have been too easy.

Cobia on that day’s menu was dusted in flour and briefly seared then covered in onions, fresh laurel and pine nuts. There was something else there, though, something akin to a splash of ice wine, or maybe not — I was confident I knew what it was, but it also tasted so new to me, in the context of a cooked fish dish, that I thought for sure I was being gaslit.

“Are these … pickled raisins?” I asked. “Where exactly have you taken me?”

“You’re either gonna love it, or you won’t,” chef Ferguson smiled. “It’s kind of how we roll.”

And not solely because of, but due in no small part to, those pickled raisins — quod erat

demonstrandum, as they say — the curtain thus closes on Act Two, while all notion of being able to distill everything about L’Ostrica into a single word (up to and including its food, which is peerless in Charlotte) exits, pursued by a bear.

Act Three: Comedy Tonight

This play — performed daily on Mockingbird Lane along the outer edges of Montford — shall end with comic relief.

If you look closely at the hanging art, for example, you might find satire before dessert.

L’Ostrica is located in, of all places, the first floor of a luxury apartment building. The crew, however, have made the best with the space, turning it into a gallery of sorts.

The building’s giant, structural concrete pillars that jut into the dining room are thus less intrusive than they are, in this context, Guggenheim-ian.

The open kitchen is its own exhibition, organic in its design and seamlessly coexisting with and in the dining room.

But look closer at the art. It is fiendishly clever, created by a Korean-American female artist with searing wit. Just what is going on with that geisha, and how many social media app icons can you spot in flagrante delicto?

Or: the French 75 cocktail on Easter Sunday. It came with a yellow Peeps marshmallow, impaled by a straw. I was mortified. Pulling the thing off was a whole sticky ordeal — but then again, anything for The Risen One, right?

Or: Cat Carter, chef Ferguson’s wife and L’Ostrica’s other half. On my first visit, I was seated next to an entire wall of wine, where I spotted and immediately ordered a J.J. Prum Riesling. Cat, also a J.J. Prum fan, asked me later why I picked this one over the other J.J. Prum she had. The other?

Sure enough, the bottles were identical, but for a few words on the labels. “I would have ordered the other one had I known!” We laughed, we cried; I planned my next visit.

(There’s a certain amount of privilege buried in that last sentence, which I acknowledge, but for

even more laughs, isn’t schadenfreude funnier when at the expense of someone who spends so carelessly on something to which other diners might apply more caution?)

Or: Cat Carter again. Lamb, on the current Spring tasting menu, is unlike any lamb you’ve ever had in Charlotte. This has nothing to do with the flavor, which is aromatic to a degree approaching infinity and is referential to the entire Indian subcontinent, or at the very least, to Gaggan Anand.

It has to do with the texture, which in my meals at L’Ostrica has been the single most controversial proposition so far. Don’t get me wrong. I loved it. So tender I could cut it with a sigh, but I did say halfway jokingly to Cat, “The lamb is so raw that it’s still screaming, Clarise.” She could pass for Clarise. We laughed, we cried; I planned my next visit.

On one of those next visits, I brought a photographer. He asked chef Ferguson to pose, arms crossed, “like a chef.” The thing is, but for the red hair, he looks very much like Marco Pierre White. Temperamentally, he is the exact opposite. Wholesome, calm, brilliant — you would do well not to try and find a single word to define him.

“Is this chef-ing?” He balks at being photographed in that pose.

Or: quantum physics, always funny, says that the mere act of observation changes the thing that is being observed. Perhaps that explains Chef’s aversion to pose for pics. Or maybe it has more to do with the label “chef.”

In my mind, chef Ferguson is from that line of great chefs, like José Andrés, who are important social fixtures more than they are mere cooks. There’s also a market at L’Ostrica that sells the best sandwiches in town, thanks to executive sous chef Jason Newman, chef Ferguson’s secret weapon in the kitchen.

He is also a mentor, bringing out the best in everyone at the restaurant, from the back of the house to the front, all to the benefit of the local community that he is there everyday to feed.

For the purposes of this play, though, he is deus ex machina.

Before the curtain closes on this final Act — after the carrots are eaten and the next Sunday dinners are planned; after the wine is rearranged on the shelves in an order that makes sense to a food writer who loses all sense of decorum, or ability to read, when enraptured by a restaurant that rivals the best in our country from coast to coast — chef Ferguson descends onto the stage at L’Ostrica, in media res, the entire Charlotte food scene in mad disarray, ready to save the day.

PHOTO BY RICO MARCELO CARROT RISOTTO AT L’OSTRICA

PHOTO BY RICO MARCELO INSIDE L’OSTRICA

TRIVIA TEST

BY LINDA THISTLE

BY FIFI RODRIGUEZ

1. MOVIES: Which dramatic film features the character “V”?

2. GEOGRAPHY: Luzon belongs to which island nation?

3. LANGUAGE: What is the Latin phrase for “before the war”?

4. U.S. STATES: Which state has the most national parks?

5. LITERATURE: Which 1950s novel includes the line, “Nothing behind me, everything ahead of me, as is ever so on the road.”

6. CHEMISTRY: What kind of gas makes a drink bubbly?

7. TELEVISION: Which sitcom features a mom named Debra Barone?

8. MUSIC: What was the former name of the English band Muse?

9. SCIENCE: What are the gaps between nerve cells called?

10. THEATER: Who wrote the play “The Crucible”?

PLACE A NUMBER IN THE EMPTY BOXES IN SUCH A WAY THAT EACH ROW ACROSS, EACH COLUMN DOWN AND EACH SMALL 9-BOX SQUARE CONTAINS ALL OF THE NUMBERS ONE TO NINE.

ARIN IT OUT VERMOUTH OF THE SOUTH

Visiting Optimist Park’s newest bar, Substrate

BY AERIN SPRUILL

In chemistry, a substrate refers to the substance an enzyme or microorganism acts on to produce a specific reaction. At Substrate, a brand-spanking-new wine and vermouth bar in Optimist Park, it’s clear the patrons are the catalysts and the reaction is … we’ll get to that.

“What do you think about trying this new wine and vermouth spot near Bird tonight?”

Vermouth? Am I the only one who orders extra dirty martinis and yet has no idea what vermouth actually is? I perked up but was unsure whether or not I felt like acting sadiddy (read: bougie) for date night, especially on the bar’s grand opening night.

Skeptical, I took a quick scroll on Instagram. Only six posts from January to April, 700-ish followers and four bullet-point style highlights in the bio painted an approachable picture:

• Blue-collar enoteca now pouring in Optimist Park (Later I learned “enoteca” means wine spot, but “blue collar” had me at Hello)

• Thoughtful wine, vermouth, & amaro (At this point, I think I’ll stick with what I know: dry white wine)

• Tiny fish, free saltines (If it’s free, it’s for me)

• Outside food always welcome (Word to za Bird)

I couldn’t decide if their IG was giving “Too cool for school,” “We don’t have to be thirsty, we know we’ve got your attention,” or “You just gotta see it for yourself.” Whatever the case, Substrate’s humble profile and a supes cute stop-motion video had already piqued my interest.

Located behind Bird Pizzeria on East 15th Street, Substrate breathes new life into the corner/commune formerly known as Area 15. Two asymmetrical patios lined by stairs and buzzing with first-timers are oddly stacked beside each other, hinting at a curious interior. It inspires a feeling like you’ve entered a matrix of Tetris and Jenga from the moment you ascend the set of worn stairs to enter the main door.

Moody lighting, dark ceilings, and beaded curtains conceal the plethora of stairways to nooks and crannies filled with community seating and cozy conversation begging for exploration. But my interrogation of Substrate’s innards was interrupted by a mad dash for prime real estate at the bar.

It was only after hoarding three menus thinking each one unique that I realized the patrons seemingly taking it all in were just as stumped as I was on what the hell to order.

When it comes to restaurants, best believe I’ve meticulously studied the menu for hours prior, locating backups for my backups. “They’re all the same, babe,” boo said as he watched me awkwardly flipping through menus like I was playing Uno.

I reached the wine selection and read the first option: “PIETRAMORE PÉT NAT.” I was staring blankly like someone just hit me with a +4. Shit, I should’ve ChatGPTed everything.

Panic ensued as the bartender returned and asked us what we were having. My studious, non-wine-drinking man already had “$paghett” on his tongue (a High Life with aperol and lemon juice), but alas, “Aw man, we’re out of Miller High Life,” was the response. (On the bright side, High Life is just $2.50, gasp!). With both of us reeling, the panic set in.

I began to stutter a version of, “So um, the vermouth ‘cocktails’ listed on the black menu…” as I squinted to glean the letterboard menu in the far corner. The moment I thought, “You need air quotes, Aerin” I blurted out, “Oh, what about the red wine and Coke drink?” The bartender’s look of confusion at my short-circuit faded into a smile as he said, “First one of the day!” *deep breath*

For those who don’t know, this cocktail with equal parts red wine and Coca-Cola over ice is the elusive Spanish “KALIMOTXO” ($8), found on the “Every Day Value” menu. It’s definitely a lighter alternative to a GLASS OF GOOD WINE ($7), especially if it happens to be a hot afternoon in the sun while patio drinking at noon on a weekend.

I overheard the owner, Matt Green, saying with a rhyme that they also have “dines and tines,” AKA sardines & Saltines (um, my new fave phrase?!) as boo turned and said, “You really forget you’re in Charlotte.”

He wasn’t wrong; no matter where you stand in the 1,400-square-foot wine playground, the medley of eclectic seating, art pieces, pops of color, and a ready-toplay vinyl queue installation will make you feel like you’ve missed something you’ve never known.

After studying the faces of patrons sipping vermouths on the rocks sans grimace, I ChatGPTed “WTF is Vermouth” only to discover it’s just fortified wine! The average ABV of wine is 9%-16% while vermouth ranges between 16%18%. But by that point, we were two Ferrari shots ($8 for ½ Campari and ½ Fernet) too late to diversify our palates.

But we’ll whINE about that next time.

THE WINE SELECTION AT SUBSTRATE.

PHOTO BY AERIN SPRUILL

ARIES (March 21 to April 19) Rumors of a change in the workplace could make you a mite uneasy about going ahead with implementing your ideas. Best advice: Ignore the talk and proceed as planned.

TAURUS (April 20 to May 20) Everyone has an opinion on how to handle a recent business suggestion. Thank them for their advice, then go ahead and follow your own fine instincts.

GEMINI (May 21 to June 20) While home is your main focus this week, new issues in the workplace need your attention as well. Take things step by step. Pressures will ease in time for weekend fun.

CANCER (June 21 to July 22) Be less rigid when handling a relationship problem. You might believe you’re in the right, but try to open your mind up to the possibilities of facts that you’re currently unaware of.

LEO (July 23 to August 22) Leos and Leonas run at a hectic pace throughout much of the week. But by the 22nd, the Lions’ dens become a “purrfect” place for you Fine Felines to relax in over the weekend.

VIRGO (August 23 to September 22) Change is favored early in the week. This should make it easier for you to reassess your plans for handling a troubling professional relationship. Good luck!

LIBRA (September 23 to October 22) A suggestion from a colleague could give your professional project a longneeded boost. Meanwhile, someone close to you still needs your emotional support.

SCORPIO (October 23 to November 21) Before complying with a colleague’s request, check to see that the action benefits all, not just one person’s agenda. Continue firming up any travel plans.

SAGITTARIUS (November 22 to December 21) Your social life is on the upswing, and the only problem is deciding which invitations to accept. Enjoy yourself before settling down for some serious work next week.

CAPRICORN (December 22 to January 19) With your creative aspects on high, you might want to restart your work on a project that you put aside. Your efforts will bring a surge in your self-esteem.

AQUARIUS (January 20 to February 18) While you’re generous with others, be sure that you’re not overlooking your own needs. Take time to assess your situation and make adjustments where necessary.

PISCES (February 19 to March 20) Being applauded for your achievements is great, but watch out that you don’t start acting like a star. It could lose you valuable support with your next project.

BORN THIS WEEK: Your strong belief in justice along with your leadership qualities help you protect the rights of others.

ARIES (March 21 to April 19) A little wool-gathering is OK, but don’t let that dreamy state linger beyond midweek, when you’ll want to be ready to take on new workplace responsibilities.

TAURUS (April 20 to May 20) Love rules the week for single Bovines seeking romance. Attached pairs also find new joy in their relationships. The 29th should bring news about a business opportunity.

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

CANCER (June 21 to July 22) The Moon Child might have to raise those powers of persuasion up a notch to get a still-wary colleague to agree to go along with your plans. Finding more facts to back up your position helps.

LEO (July 23 to August 22)Hold off trying to fix the blame for an apparent mishandling of a work situation. A full investigation could reveal surprising facts on how and why it really happened.

VIRGO (August 23 to September 22) Your ability to see the details that others might overlook gives you an advantage in assessing an offer that possibly seems too good to be true. A trusted colleague has advice.

LIBRA (September 23 to October 22) Expect to be called on once again to act as the peacemaker in a longsimmering dispute that suddenly flares up. Offer advice, but be careful to stay out of the fray.

SCORPIO (October 23 to November 21) Your organizational skills help you line up your priorities so that you get things done without added pressure. The weekend could hold a special surprise.

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

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

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

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

BORN THIS WEEK: Your understanding of human nature helps you make wise decisions that are appreciated by all. You would make a fine judge.

PUZZLE ANSWERS