YES! Weekly - August 14, 2019

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 21 / NOON - 5PM

TRIAD MARGARITA WARS

THE PRESCOTT

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P. 9

MARCUS DEON SMITH

tickets on sale at www.margaritawars.com

P. 18

KELLY HOPPENJANS

P. 20

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inside

w w w.y e s w e e k l y. c o m

AUGUST 14-20, 2019 VOLUME 15, NUMBER 33

16 5500 Adams Farm Lane Suite 204 Greensboro, NC 27407 Office 336-316-1231 Fax 336-316-1930

THE DAYS OF DISCORDIA RETURN

Publisher CHARLES A. WOMACK III publisher@yesweekly.com EDITORIAL Editor KATIE MURAWSKI

The DISCORDIA DAYS BURLESQUE FESTIVAL is this weekend, and it is what the Greensboro-based burlesque troupe, the Discordia Dames, have been preparing for all year.

katie@yesweekly.com Contributors IAN MCDOWELL KRISTI MAIER DAVINA VAN BUREN

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JOHN ADAMIAN

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MARK BURGER TERRY RADER KATEI CRANFORD MARISA SLOAN JIM LONGWORTH PRODUCTION Graphic Designers ALEX FARMER designer@yesweekly.com

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Sometimes people get really excited about chain restaurants, and they serve a purpose and offer the diner an expectation in their experience, but a chain restaurant doesn’t offer the personal impact that I’m seeking when I dine out, and many others feel the same way. So I asked my readers (not our newsroom) WHAT LOCAL RESTAURANT THEY’D LIKE TO SEE in their town that’s already in another city.

9 Opened in December 2018, THE PRESCOTT is located in the space formerly occupied by Bistro B Tapas & Wine Bar. Marketed as a farm-to-table concept, the restaurant features locally grown items incorporated into a continental and Europeaninspired menu.

12 Appropriately gritty but inappropriately shallow, THE KITCHEN stars Melissa McCarthy, Elisabeth Moss, and Tiffany Haddish (in a rare dramatic turn) as three women whose gangster husbands are imprisoned for a botched robbery...

18 Speaking to supporters at Shiloh Baptist Church in Greensboro last night, the mother of the late MARCUS DEON SMITH YES! WEEKLY

AUGUST 14-20, 2019

said she’s been unable to make herself visit her son’s grave.

19 During last week’s Triad Today program, I uttered the “C” word. I don’t just mean any “C” word; I mean the dreaded “C” word. The one word that makes SECOND AMENDMENT activists’ blood boil.

20 HOPPENJANS is a Nashville-based singer-songwriter who is touring the region this month. She’ll play a show in Greensboro on Saturday, Aug. 17. It will be put on through Sofar Sounds, a company that helps coordinate small semi-secret concerts in intimate settings, at people’s houses, in retail spaces, and at other non-standard spots.

21 Celebrating their latest album, Tower, released on Small Stone Records, IRATA will a host release show with Freedom Hawk and Velvet Devils at the Blind Tiger on Aug. 23. The Greensboro hard-rock outfit looks to party with giveaway ticket structure, “We’re throwing down with all of our supporters to extend our gratitude with music, live art, tarot card readings, and door prizes,” drummer Jason Ward described of the whole shebang—which is free with an RSVP.

AUSTIN KINDLEY artdirector@yesweekly.com ADVERTISING Marketing TRAVIS WAGEMAN travis@yesweekly.com LAUREN BRADY lauren@yesweekly.com Promotion NATALIE GARCIA

DISTRIBUTION JANICE GANTT KARRIGAN MUNRO We at YES! Weekly realize that the interest of our readers goes well beyond the boundaries of the Piedmont Triad. Therefore we are dedicated to informing and entertaining with thought-provoking, debate-spurring, in-depth investigative news stories and features of local, national and international scope, and opinion grounded in reason, as well as providing the most comprehensive entertainment and arts coverage in the Triad. YES! Weekly welcomes submissions of all kinds. Efforts will be made to return those with a self-addressed stamped envelope; however YES! Weekly assumes no responsibility for unsolicited submissions. YES! Weekly is published every Wednesday by Womack Newspapers, Inc. No portion may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher. First copy is free, all additional copies are $1.00. Copyright 2019 Womack Newspapers, Inc.

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EVENTS YOU DON’T WANT TO MISS | BY AUSTIN KINDLEY

be there

FRI 16-18

FRI 16

CAROLINA BOHEMIAN JAM

THE SPIRIT OF WOODSTOCK

WHAT: Carolina Bohemian Jam is a 3-day arts & music festival celebrating the era of music that would influence generations to come. Welcome to all and closed to none, we hope to create a sense of afterglow that will last the whole weekend! Join us for live music on multiple stages featuring tribute bands from the 1960s and 1970s. We will also feature local musicians.

WHEN: Fri: 4-11 | Sat: 10-10 | Sun: 11-5 WHERE: Rowan County Fairgrounds.

1550 Julian Rd, Salisbury.

MORE: $20 for 3-day ticket. $5 for Friday ticket. $10 for Saturday or Sunday ticket.

WHAT: The Forsyth Association of Rock Musicians (FARM) and The Ramkat are proud to announce the “Spirit of Woodstock” event to commemorate and celebrate the Woodstock music festival. On Friday evening FARM will bring three bands, Gypsy Soul, Fifty Years On, and Spindle 45, and their special guests (for a total of two dozen area musicians) who will perform music played at the original event.

WHEN: 7 p.m.

WHERE: The Ramkat.

170 W. 9th St., Winston-Salem.

MORE: $12-17 tickets.

SAT 17

SAT 17

KERNERSVILLE HONEYBEE FESTIVAL

2019 UNITY WALK AND FESTIVAL

WHAT: Buzz on over to Fourth of July Park on Saturday, August 17 for the Kernersville Honeybee Festival. There will BEE performances by The Brickhouse band and Jukebox Rehab, demos, authentic arts & crafts vendors, food trucks and carnival rides and more! Visit kvhoneybee.com for more information!

WHEN: 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.

WHERE: 4th of July Park.

702 W Mountain St, Kernersville.

MORE: Free event.

WHAT: People will gather at FaithAction International House (705 N. Greene Street) at 10:30am and begin the Downtown Unity Walk for Immigration Reform at 11am. The walk will end at LeBauer Park,and the Summer Unity Festival will begin at noon and continue until 3pm at the Great Lawn of the park!

WHEN: 10:30 a.m. - 3 p.m.

WHERE: LeBauer Park at Greensboro Downtown Parks, Inc. 208 N Davie St, Greensboro.

MORE: Free event.

SAT 17-18 CHAIR CITY MUSIC FESTIVAL WHAT: Come join us in a weekend of music and fun. There will be eight live performances from some very talented bands.

There will be two beer gardens available with a great selection of cold beer. Bring the kids and take advantage of the kid zone with bounce houses, face painting and a train that will offer rides. Food trucks will be onsite to take care of a wide range of food choices for both days.

WHEN: 12 p.m. - 10 p.m.

WHERE: Thomasville Farmers Market.

21 E Guilford St, Thomasville.

MORE: Free event.

RETRO Carroll Baker & Foster Hirsch in person presenting

Baby Doll 1956 Controversial Classic!

Aug. 17 at 7:00pm at Hanesbrands Theatre in Winston-Salem Tickets $12 plus tax & fees online or at the door https://rhodesartcenter.org/babydoll//

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[SPOTLIGHT] WATCHTOWER

BY MARISA SLOAN

There are a lot of people who enjoy listening to the Dave Matthews Band, but it takes a particularly deep appreciation to decide to start a Dave Matthews cover band — and keep it going. Josh Moyer, who learned how to play guitar by listening to Dave Matthews in the late ’90s, did just that. Watchtower is a “Dave Matthews tribute band” based in WinstonSalem, and the only one of its kind in North Carolina.

The band was thrown together about two years ago for a charity event called the Friday Night Music Club in WinstonSalem, and despite its origins as a one-off event, Watchtower remained together ever since. Moyer, by day a solo acoustic performer, leads the band on rhythm guitar and vocals. Evan Bloom, Joshua Shelton, Brandon McCotter, Ralph Butcher, and Dustin Foley are the professional musicians who fill out the rest of the instruments.

“We do the full band thing like you’d see at a big Dave Matthews Band show, with the saxes and the violins,” Moyer said. “We even have trumpet and stuff like that. We also do the duo — the Dave and Tim thing that you see on the smaller shows that they’ve done.”

In the past two years, Watchtower has been met with success. Last year, they played the closing night of the WinstonSalem Open Tennis Tournament for 3,500 people, and this past Memorial Day weekend they played for the Gears and Guitars Fest in Winston-Salem. They also play smaller venues around North Carolina and into Virginia, but Moyer believes they’ll hit their demographic of Dave Matthews fans in more festival and regional circuits.

“It’s been exciting, and we’re just trying to get some wheels on it and get some momentum behind it and get some awareness out there that we’re here,” Moyer said.

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For Moyer, although original music has substantial artistic merit and it’s gratifying to write original songs, people will always want to hear songs they’re familiar with. Any Dave Matthews fan worth their salt knows that the jam band is renowned for its live shows; improvisation is a staple, and they play songs differently each time they perform. One might think that a Dave Matthews cover band would have a difficult time walking the line between improvisation and emulation, but it’s all part of the fun for Watchtower.

“I’d always tell people we’re a jam band, we just happen to play one person’s music,” Moyer said. “We just bring the whole rig to the gig, and you never know what’s gonna come out. So that makes it exciting for us, and makes it exciting for the audience, too.”

Because Moyer is expecting his baby to arrive any day now, Watchtower won’t have any upcoming shows for the time being.

However, you can follow them on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter (@watchtowerdmb) for more. !

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chow

EAT IT!

Bring me the local favorites: We want you, we need you

R

ecently, a local publication drew the ire of many when it polled its newsroom to find out what restaurants are needed in Winston-Salem.

Kristi Maier Oh, the backlash! @triadfoodies Oh, the vitriol!

Why? Because it was a list full of Contributor corporately-owned chains: An ice cream chain, fast-food chicken, and several burger chains. Only one was a locallyowned establishment in another town, and I agree, Come Back Shack, with its two locations (Boone and Charleston), would be a great addition to any city.

And dear foodies, I was so very proud.

You came out hardcore on the side of local.

Sometimes people get really excited

Jerusalem Market

Kitchen Roselli

about chain restaurants, and they serve a purpose and offer the diner an expectation in their experience, but a chain restaurant doesn’t offer the personal impact that I’m seeking when I dine out, and many others feel the same way.

So I asked my readers (not our newsroom) what local restaurant they’d like to see in their town that’s already

in another city. I’m talking to you, Pho Hien Vuong and Cheesecakes by Alex.

But maybe you’d love to see Jerusalem Market in Winston-Salem, or Philippines eatery Asian BBQ & Grill in Greensboro or your favorite Korean place in High Point, The Humble Bee Shoppe in Greensboro, anyone? I don’t think there would be backlash on that idea at all.

It’s impossible to list them all, but here are some standouts from the survey: Greensboro > Winston-Salem Pho Hien Vuong: I might have led the charge on this one. The pho is the best I’ve had in the area, and there’s not a real tried and true Vietnamese restaurant in Winston-Salem. PHV would be the perfect fit.

1618: Many feel that the restaurant group’s offerings would be perfectly suited for the Camel City.

Blue Denim: Because Cajun is so good and is sorely lacking in Winston!

Jerusalem Market: The wraps, sandwiches, and plates at this icon are hard to beat.

Winston-Salem > Greensboro Finnigan’s Wake: A few folks said they wouldn’t mind being able to enjoy this Winston-Salem favorite in the Gate City.

Penny Path Cafe & Crêpe Shop: Who wouldn’t want a crêpe shop in their downtown? (Pssst, Chez Genese has crêpes in downtown Greensboro.)

Durham > Winston-Salem Rose’s Noodles, Dumplings, & Sweets: All I have to say is when you go, you know, and you become a believer.

Rockin’ Rolls Sushi: Conveyor belt, all-you-can-eat sushi--I don’t know if I

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Pho Hien Vuong can get behind the idea, as I like to see my sushi being prepared. Apparently, this concept is a hit in California, and the local eatery in Durham seems to be catching on. Fans say it’s super fresh.

People also say they wish an Ashley Christensen restaurant were here in the Triad. She hails from Kernersville, so we say, ditto!

Yadkin County > Winston-Salem or Anywhere Kitchen Roselli: The very best gnocchi in the whole world, as well as wonderful lasagna and Laura’s Cream Puff. Another one of those that fall into the “you have to try it to believe it” category.

One thing people agree on for sure is there’s a severe lack of noodle shop, ramen and pho in Winston. Dim sum is needed anywhere in the Triad. Real dim sum, like Red Ginger in Asheville. Poke bowls are finally arriving in the Triad, and lastly, a few folks are nostalgic for some good Cuban food in any city, especially since the departure of Miami Cafe. Fortunately, to get your Cuban fix, there’s always Mojito Mobile Kitchen.

One thing’s for sure: We’re not hurting for impeccable restaurants, owned or led by talented chefs. What we love is that you want to see your favorites right here next to you. But aren’t you glad the drive there, even if it’s across the county line, is relatively short? We’re all basically 30 to 45 minutes from a stellar, locally-owned dining experience and to that I say, eat local! !

KRISTI MAIER is a food writer, blogger and cheerleader for all things local who even enjoys cooking in her kitchen, though her kidlets seldom appreciate her efforts.

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The Prescott brings the heat to downtown Kernersville Downtown Kernersville has a successful new finedining concept that is elevating the city’s food scene.

Opened in December 2018, The Prescott is located in the space formerly Davina Van Buren occupied by Bistro @highpointfoodie B Tapas & Wine Bar. Marketed as a farmto-table concept, the Contributor restaurant features locally grown items incorporated into a continental and European-inspired menu.

High ceilings greet guests as they enter the space, and muted wallcoverings let a handful of select works from local artists pop. The space is divided into three main areas: a bar, central dining room, and a secondary dining room off to the side. It is within walking distance of several local historical and tourist venues including Körner’s Folly, Paul J. Ciener Botanical Gardens, Bellamy House, Kernersville Museum, and the Kernersville Depot.

The restaurant was purchased asis from the former owner by Robert Prescott and a silent partner. Prescott’s son Trey runs the kitchen, and general manager Daniel Dyson manages the front-of-house. Trey Prescott, who holds a hospitality business degree from Appalachian State University, has an impressive culinary resume, which includes stints at Chetola Resort At Blowing Rock, the Umstead Hotel and Spa in Cary, and the former Christopher’s in Winston-Salem.

He also ran the kitchen at Smitty’s Grille— a seafood-heavy concept also owned by the senior Prescott—for four years.

The Prescott’s menu is heavy on American favorites, but Trey Prescott’s European-focused education and training definitely shine through. The summer menu features plenty of fresh vegetables and North Carolina seafood in particular.

Take the gazpacho—a refreshing combination of watermelon, tomatoes, cucumber, and green strawberries—or the peach, heirloom tomato and burrata salad, for example. Both items appear on the appetizer menu along with diver scallops, Pamlico shrimp, crab toast, and more. The entrée menu offers a wide variety of protein options, including steaks, organic chicken, salmon, pork belly, and lamb. There’s also a lovely seafood risotto, WWW.YESWEEKLY.COM

a sweet corn ravioli with Tuscan kale and leeks, and of course, a burger for the kids, picky eaters, and diners who simply want a thick, juicy, handmade burger. The sides list is small, but mighty: house-cut fries, Yukon potato puree, grilled asparagus, succotash, and my personal favorite: okra battered in cornmeal with bacon. The dessert menu is equally curated with four standout options: apple-brandy bread pudding, lemon mousse, deconstructed cheesecake, and a decadent flourless chocolate torte with pistachio, cocoa powder, and Chantilly cream. On Sundays, the restaurant is open for brunch and serves special cocktails such as mimosas with fresh-squeezed juices and “Proud Mary,” the Prescott’s veggie-heavy play on the Bloody Mary.

If you like craft cocktails, you’ll love the drinks. As with the dinner menu, it changes with the seasons and boasts a wide variety of fresh ingredients. A peek at the summer drink menu reveals cocktails featuring practically every summer and tropical fruit imaginable: blueberry, watermelon, peach, strawberry, grapefruit, pineapple, and Key limes make an appearance alongside the restaurant’s signature “Whiskey Smash,” a mixture of Maker’s Mark, mint, lemon juice, and simple syrup. The bar boasts only topshelf liquors, and the wine menu is heavy on California varietals.

In addition to the seasonal menu, The Prescott holds monthly dinners with vintners and other wine professionals where multi-course menus are paired with exceptional wines. This month’s wine dinner is next Wednesday, Aug. 21, and features wines from Gouguenheim Winery. Located in Mendoza, a city in the heart of Argentina’s wine country, the winery is lauded for its Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Merlot, and Syrah. Owner and winemaker Patricio Gouguenheim will lead the discussion and tasting.

If you’re into farm-to-table and fine dining, The Prescott is sure to please.

We’re already looking forward to the fall menu. !

DAVINA VAN BUREN is an award-winning freelance travel and food writer based in High Point. Follow her on social media at @highpointfoodie.

WANNA

go?

The Prescott (126 S. Main St., Suite G.) is open Tuesday–Friday from 4–9 p.m.; Friday and Saturday 4–10 p.m; and Sunday from 10 a.m.–2 p.m.

AUGUST 14-20, 2019

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Art for Art’s Sake hosts ARTivity markets and more

A

rt for Art’s Sake Group in partnership with the Red Dog Gallery is hosting free art markets that include up to 20 AFAS artists selling their wares Terry Rader at the ARTivity on the Green Art Park in Winston-Salem on Contributor Saturdays along with free music on Friday evenings. AFAS events are open to the general public of all ages.

Harry Knabb, AFAS group chairman, and chief executive officer is a native New Yorker who relocated to North Carolina to work for Hanesbrands. He said the arts scene in Winston-Salem reminds him of Greenwich Village in New York City.

Knabb, who has been with AFAS from the beginning 12 years ago, said that since he has been in Winston-Salem he has seen a significant change from the days of craftspeople and potters, to the last couple of years with so many galleries and “2-D accomplished artists popping out of the woodwork.”

Knabb said that the AFAS Group proudly sticks to their mission-branding statement, “We build, educate and celebrate community through art,” in every decision they make and it has served them well. He said that for everything that comes along,

it has to fit one of those three objectives or else they don’t do it. He said they have been very fortunate in their fundraising as a nonprofit by being consistent and by not charging artists to show their work aside from a small commission the Red Dog Gallery receives from art sold in exhibitions.

He said that people don’t mind giving money when they see how AFAS “sticks to the plan” with successful results. AFAS’s intention was and still is, Knabb said, geared to keep the downtown arts district alive by moving toward the Innovation Quarter, “to combine all the elements and build up the emotion quotient on Main Street.” Knabb said that AFAS was made possible by gifts from several supporters after a group of artists, teachers, mentors and lawyers who got together to help artists in Winston-Salem. AFAS has grown to include more than 600 artists.

Knabb said the ARTivity markets evolved from the Arts on Sunday and continues to reserve spaces for 15-18 artist’s tents. ARTivity On The Green is an art-themed park with a bandstand and 13 “misting” lighted towers on Liberty Street, between 6th and 7th Streets, in downtown Winston-Salem and is located in the front yard of the AFAS Group building. Knabb said that the design of the mist was recreated as a silhouette of R.J. Reynold’s heritage using mist from water instead of smoke. “It’s so much fun to watch and listen to the kids laughing and running around,” Knabb said. The park’s mural wall is repainted white every May with 11 rotated artists who “get to go at

Unbound Monk by artist, Eric Marks YES! WEEKLY

AUGUST 14-20, 2019

“Unbound Beserker” by artist Eric Marks it.” The park can be scheduled for concerts and festivals (see details online). (Free live music for tips by local musicians are featured in ARTivity after Dark. Bands can reserve the stage by contacting Heath Combs on Facebook.)

Knabb said while you’re at the ARTivity Studios, plan to visit the AFAS artist-juried exhibition “2019 Unbound and Unleashed” from the Downtown Arts Association Gallery Hop show that celebrates published works of literature through art inspired by nonfiction, a novel, poetry, biography, a comic book, essay or music. This show is located in the Red Dog Gallery on the first floor along with Studio 2, privately owned by jewelry and fiber artist, Julie Knabb.

The Unleashed Arts Center caters to young people, and emerging artists providing classes, workshops, outreach programs, and is on the second floor of the AFAS building.

AFAS has a lot going on from third Saturday Salsa Socials from 7-11 p.m., open to all ages for $12, to Hip-hop Yoga on Mondays and R&B Yoga on Thursdays.

ArtAbout hosts open studio portrait painting sessions on Wednesday evenings along with a Preschool Art Experience on Tuesdays from 9-10 a.m. and an after-school art program, “Art at the Heart,” every Tuesday from 4-6 p.m. On Aug. 20 from 6:30-9:30 p.m., back by popular demand are ArtAbout evening events.

“Lock Yourself Into the Arts” allows participants to design their own locks to celebrate life events such as births, marriages, graduations and birthdays. Par-

ticipants attach their painted lock to the four-sided gridded Archway that Knabb said they had was built five years ago at Cherry and 6th Streets, and then they toss the key in the Archway base.

AFAS and Red Dog Gallery recently partnered with Indigo River Outdoor owners Michael Lamphier and John Georgius, Jr. who are creating billboards that look like art exhibits and just supported AFAS with an electronic billboard on University Parkway.

The AFAS Group’s public art initiative continues to bring art into people’s daily lives with several public art events each year. The Art Towers are being rotated with new art, and more Mannequin Shenanigans are in the works. Knabb said their new event this October is called “Boo in the Park” and will take place the Saturday before Halloween with live bands and a smoke machine and other fun stuff for kids. !

TERRY RADER is a freelance writer, poet, singer/songwriter, wellness herbalist, flower essences practitioner and owner of Paws n’ Peace o’ Mind cat/dog/house sitting.

WANNA

go?

Saturday ARTivity Markets 8/17, 8/24, 8/31 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday Art Jam, 8/17, 12:303:00 p.m., Art About Evening Event, 8/20, AFAS Center for the Arts, Unleashed Arts Center, Second Floor at Red Dog Gallery, 630 N. Liberty Street, Winston-Salem, (336) 723-4444, Hours: Tues.Fri., 11 a.m. - 6 p.m., Sat., 11 a.m.-4 p.m.

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RiffTrax rouses and ridicules ‘The Giant Spider Invasion’ Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the movies … RiffTrax Live is back on the big screen, and they’ve got a king-sized cinematic catastrophe at their mercy.

That would be WisMark Burger consin filmmaker Bill Rebane’s mind-boggling 1975 scienceContributor fiction fiasco The Giant Spider Invasion, in which a stray meteorite crashes in a remote Wisconsin burg, spawning a spate of spiders that soon wreak havoc on the environs – and its inhabitants. Some of the spiders look like tarantulas from Earth (because they are), others appear to be sock puppets (because they are), and the big one – the “Giant Spider” of the title – was constructed atop a Volkswagen Beetle. Folks, you can’t make this stuff up.

The Fathom Events presentation of Rifftrax Live: The Giant Spider Invasion will be screened Thursday, with an encore screening next Tuesday, at more than 650 theaters nationwide, including three in the Triad: The Grand 12 - Four Seasons Station (2700 Vanstory St.) and Regal Greensboro Grande Stadium 16 (3205 Northline Ave.) in Greensboro, and the Grand 18 Theatre (5601 University Parkway) in WinstonSalem.

For 10 years, “RiffTrax Live” has been roasting the bad, the worse, and the ugly during its series of big-screen presentations. Film lives forever – whether it

deserves to or not – and the RiffTrax team has selected some of the biggest, boldest, baddest cinematic atrocities in irreverent and irrepressible fashion. The Giant Spider Invasion certainly fits the bill, as anyone who’s seen it – and that includes yours truly – can attest.

The film’s human contingent includes such (ahem) seasoned veterans as Steve Brodie, who appeared with Elvis Presley in 1961’s Blue Hawaii and later appeared in 1981’s Frankenstein Island, and Barbara Hale (erstwhile Della Street on Perry Mason) as the obligatory scientists investigating this fearful phenomenon, Alan Hale (former “Skipper” on Gilligan’s Island) as the local sheriff, noted Hollywood dialect coach Robert Easton (who co-wrote the screenplay with Richard L. Huff), Leslie Parrish (The Manchurian Candidate) as Easton’s boozy wife, and Bill Williams (Hale’s real-life husband).

The film received a theatrical release from Group 1 Films and wound up in the Top 50 grossing films of 1975, and is in development as a stage musical. Again, you can’t make this stuff up.

Michael J. Nelson, Bill Corbett, and Kevin Murphy – those beloved, battle-scarred veterans of Mystery Science Theatre 3000 (MST3K) – are back on the big screen, prepared to do battle with the extra-terrestrial idiocy of The Giant Spider Invasion, armed with an array of wisecracks, witticisms, quips, and puns.

During its small-screen run, not only did

Fourth Fridays on 4th Street - Downtown W-S

MST3K amass a worldwide following – becoming a cult phenomenon in its own right – but also drew attention to scores of movies best forgotten and in some cases revived interest in them as potential cult classics. During its lengthy run, the series earned two Emmy nominations (both times for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Writing for a Variety or Music Program), and in 1993 received the prestigious Peabody Award.

With the series canceled in 1999 after 197 episodes, and following a 1995 feature film, the series continues to live on in syndication and on home video – as well as in the hearts and minds of its fervent fans worldwide.

This is not RiffTrax’s first go-’round with The Giant Spider Invasion, as it previously took its (deserved) lumps in a 1997 segment of MST3K. This is only the latest in a long, illustrious line of “RiffTrax Live” screening events

since first partnering with Fathom Events.

Previous offerings have included Ed Wood’s infamous Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959), the indescribable Manos: The Hands of Fate (1966), George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead (1968), Tommy Wiseau’s The Room (2003), Samurai Cop (1991), Krull (1983), Syfy’s campy Sharknado extravaganzas, and more. So long as there are bad movies to be ridiculed and mocked, there’s no end in sight! Rest assured, “RiffTrax Live” will be back. !

See MARK BURGER’s reviews of current movies on Burgervideo.com. © 2019, Mark Burger.

WANNA

go?

RiffTrax Live: The Giant Spider Invasion will be screened 8 pm Thursday, with an encore screening 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 20. Tickets at the Grand 12 - Four Seasons Station and the Grand 18 Theatre are $13.34 (both days, both screenings) and tickets at Regal Greensboro Grande Stadium 16 are $12.50 (both days, both screenings). For advance tickets or more information, you can visit the official Fathom Events website, www.FathomEvents. com. Visit the official RiffTrax website, http:// www.rifftrax.com, for more information.

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Half-baked leftovers in The Kitchen

S

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ACNC-19589658-1 A1905-0U009-X9999

et in New York’s Hell’s Kitchen, circa 1978, The Kitchen marks the feature directorial debut for screenwriter Andrea BerlMark Burger off, who previously penned World Trade Contributor Center (2006) for Oliver Stone and earned an Oscar nomination for Straight Outta Compton, and is based on the DC Vertigo comic book by Ollie Masters and Ming Doyle.

Appropriately gritty but inappropriately shallow, The Kitchen stars Melissa McCarthy, Elisabeth Moss, and Tiffany Haddish (in a rare dramatic turn) as three women whose gangster husbands are imprisoned for a botched robbery, which compels them to forsake baking cookies for collecting protection money from local merchants to make ends meet.

Not for a second is the film believable. The women take to crime so easily and effortlessly that it’s almost laughable. Maybe it’s a reflection of the ‘70s setting that no one here seems to have ever seen a gangster film, but they sure seem to know and follow the basic trappings.

The blame cannot be pinned on the leading ladies, who deliver their dialogue – clichés and all – with as much firmness as they can muster, and bring a necessary charisma to the proceedings. But they’re only as good as the script, which doesn’t do them – or the other actors – any favors. McCarthy, Moss, and Haddish struggle to find some dimension in their roles, but it’s an uphill battle all the way.

As the narrative (lit-

erally) lurches forward, The Kitchen only gets thinner and more obvious. There’s plenty of talent on hand, including Domhnall Gleeson, Margo Martindale, James Badge Dale, Brian d’Arcy James, Annabella Sciorra, Common, and Bill Camp (as a prototypical, and very laidback, Italian godfather), but there’s not much for any of them to do.

What’s more, The Kitchen is a missed opportunity. Even within the context of an action-movie framework, the concurrent themes of female empowerment and gender equality, which are as timely now as during the “Women’s Lib” movement of the 1970s, are mere gimmicks, scarcely worthy of further debate or discussion. The film carries no weight, lacks any moral irony, makes no impact, and bears evidence of having been heavily edited. There are some glaring lapses in logic, including an absurd ending that portends something bigger (or perhaps a sequel), yet makes almost no sense given the events leading up to it. !

See MARK BURGER’s reviews of current movies on Burgervideo.com. © 2019, Mark Burger.

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theatre

STAGE IT!

Aug 16-22

The Ramkat to host the Spirit of Woodstock Celebration The Forsyth Association of Rock Musicians (FARM) and The Ramkat are proud to announce the “Spirit of Woodstock” event to commemorate and celebrate the Woodstock Music Festival, held in Bethel New York on Aug. 16-18, 1969.

With over half a million people coming to a 600-acre farm to hear 32 acts (leading and emerging performers of the time) play over the course of four days (Aug. 15-18), Woodstock showed a spotlight on such signature acts including but not limited to: Jefferson Airplane, Jimi Hendrix, the Grateful Dead, the Who, Janis Joplin, and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.

Woodstock is still known as one of the most significant happenings of all time and –perhaps- the most pivotal moment in music history.

On Friday evening, Aug. 16, FARM will bring three bands: Gypsy Soul, Fifty Years On, and Spindle 45, with their special guests (for a total of two dozen area musicians) who will perform music played at the first event. While the official five and a half hour film, and corresponding three vinyl LP release, captured many of the festival’s highlights, it was impossible to represent all of them. For that reason,

FARM searched for the setlists of every performer at Woodstock, and made them available to the bands as they crafted their set. Among the artists chosen are Santana, Crosby Stills and Nash, Janis Joplin, Credence Clearwater Revival, The Who, Joe Cocker, Jefferson Airplane, The Band, Sly and the Family Stone, Jimi Hendrix, Mountain, Canned Heat, Johnny Winter, Arlo Gutherie and more.

FARM co-founder Jon Epstein said, “Woodstock was so pivotal and occupied a big space in millions of people’s musical journey, that we felt we had to celebrate the anniversary in a special way here in the City of Art and Innovation.” In light of Woodstock 50 being canceled, we also feel this is an opportunity to pay tribute with the vast talent our city has to offer.”

The musicians who will perform are (in alphabetical order: Laurie Alley, Mike Bennett, Rod Bettini, Randy Carter, Trey Childress, Trina Cleveland, Dale Cole, Matt D’Amico, Dan Dockery, Jon Epstein, Kate Evans, Dustin Foley, Neal Goode, Rick Gustaitis, Jim Harvish, Renee Henry, Neal Holladay, Kim King, Audrey Muck, Bradford Reaves, Paul Schuh, David Smith, and Matt Weiser.) !

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FAST & FURIOUS PRESENTS: HOBBS & SHAW (PG-13) LUXURY SEATING Fri & Sat: 11:50 AM, 2:40, 5:35, 8:30, 11:25 Sun - Thu: 11:50 AM, 2:40, 5:35, 8:30 THE LION KING (PG) LUXURY SEATING Fri & Sat: 12:40, 3:20, 6:05, 8:40, 11:20 Sun - Thu: 12:40, 3:20, 6:05, 8:40 SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME (PG-13) LUXURY SEATING Fri - Thu: 11:00 AM, 4:40, 10:20 YESTERDAY (PG-13) LUXURY SEATING Fri - Thu: 1:50, 7:30 47 METERS DOWN: UNCAGED (PG-13) Fri & Sat: 12:20, 2:50, 5:00, 7:10, 9:20, 11:30 Sun - Thu: 12:20, 2:50, 5:00, 7:10, 9:20 BLINDED BY THE LIGHT (PG-13) Fri & Sat: 11:25 AM, 2:05, 4:45, 7:25, 10:05 Sun: 11:25 AM, 2:05, 4:45, 10:05 Mon - Thu: 11:25 AM, 2:05, 4:45, 7:25, 10:05 GOOD BOYS (R) Fri & Sat: 11:00 AM, 1:10, 3:25, 5:40, 7:50, 10:00, 11:50 Sun - Thu: 11:00 AM, 1:10, 3:25, 5:40, 7:50, 10:00 WHERE’D YOU GO, BERNADETTE (PG-13) Fri - Thu: 11:30 AM, 2:20, 4:50, 7:35, 10:05 ODE TO JOY (PG-13) Fri - Thu: 1:30, 3:40, 5:50, 8:00 THE ANGRY BIRDS MOVIE 2 (PG) Fri: 11:35 AM, 2:00, 4:25, 7:05, 9:30, 11:55 Sat - Thu: 11:35 AM, 2:00, 4:25, 7:05, 9:30 DORA AND THE LOST CITY OF GOLD (PG) Fri - Thu: 12:15, 2:35, 4:55, 7:15, 9:35

[A/PERTURE] Aug 16-22

THE KITCHEN (R) Fri - Thu: 11:45 AM, 2:10, 5:00, 7:25, 9:55 SCARY STORIES TO TELL IN THE DARK (PG-13) Fri & Sat: 11:15 AM, 1:45, 4:30, 7:00, 9:30, 11:55 Sun - Thu: 11:15 AM, 1:45, 4:30, 7:00, 9:30 ONCE UPON A TIME...

IN HOLLYWOOD (R) Fri - Thu: 12:30, 3:45, 7:00, 10:15 THE LION KING (PG) Fri - Thu: 11:20 AM, 2:00, 4:40, 7:20, 10:00 ECHO IN THE CANYON (PG-13) Fri - Thu: 11:40 AM, 10:10 THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW (R) Sat: 11:55 PM

BLINDED BY THE LIGHT (PG-13) Fri: 3:30, 6:00, 8:45 Sat: 10:00 AM, 12:30, 3:30, 6:00, 8:45 Sun: 9:30 AM, 12:00, 3:00, 6:00, 8:30 Mon: 5:45, 8:15, Tue: 3:00, 5:45, 8:15 Wed: 5:15 PM, Thu: 3:00, 5:45, 8:15 ONCE UPON A TIME...

IN HOLLYWOOD (R) Fri: 2:00, 5:00, 8:15 Sat: 11:45 AM, 5:00, 8:15 Sun: 9:45 AM, 1:00, 5:00, 8:15 Mon: 5:15, 8:30, Tue: 2:00, 5:15, 8:30 Wed: 5:00, 8:30, Thu: 2:00, 5:15, 8:30 THE FAREWELL (PG) Fri: 4:00, 6:30, 9:00 Sat: 11:00 AM, 1:30, 4:00, 6:30, 9:00 Sun: 12:15, 5:30, 8:00, Mon: 6:30, 9:00 Tue: 4:00, 6:30, 9:00, Wed: 6:30, 9:00 Thu: 4:00, 6:30, 9:00 MAIDEN (PG) Fri: 4:15 PM, Sat & Sun: 11:15 AM, 4:15 Mon: 9:15 PM, Tue: 4:15 PM Wed: 9:15 PM, Thu: 4:15 PM ECHO IN THE CANYON (PG-13) Fri - Sun: 9:15 PM, Tue: 9:15 PM, Thu: 9:15 PM THE SPY BEHIND HOME PLATE (NR) Fri: 6:45 PM, Sat & Sun: 1:45, 6:45 Mon - Thu: 6:45 PM

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13

leisure

[NEWS OF THE WEIRD] CHUTZPAH!

Lake Worth, Florida, homeowner Phil Fraumeni emerged from his house on July 19 to find a white Tesla not only parked on his lawn, but tethered to an outlet on Chuck Shepherd his house, charging the car’s battery.

Fraumeni told WPBF he waited a couple of hours, then called police. The car was not stolen, and police were able to contact the owner, who showed up around noon and told Fraumeni he had been visiting friends in the neighborhood when the battery died around midnight.

Fraumeni declined to press charges (pun intended) and did not ask for reimbursement for the 12 hours of electricity the car used.

Winston-Salem, NC

Steve Johnson

Sam Querrey

RECENT ALARMING HEADLINE

Alex Bonilla, 49, took revenge to an extreme on the man he told police he had caught cheating with his wife in May, according to WCJB. On July 14, Gilchrist County (Florida) Sheriff’s deputies said, Bonilla entered a house in the town of Bell, firing a gunshot and forcing a man inside into a bedroom, where he tied the man up and, using scissors, cut off his penis, which he ran away with. Later that day, deputies arrested Bonilla at his place of employment; his bond was set at $1.25 million. The family of the victim declined to comment, but said through the sheriff’s office the victim was doing well medically.

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7/11/19 4:27 PM

— It’s been a hot summer in Europe.

Among those suffering was an unnamed 66-year-old military veteran in the small southeastern French town of Les Arcssur-Argens, who had been complaining for several weeks to his landlady, Maryse Malin, 71, about the lack of air conditioning in his villa. That may have been why, the Local reported, he shot the “sweet, kind and caring lady” three times, killing her. Malin had agreed to install air conditioning but told the tenant it couldn’t be done until October.

— Two men in Antwerp, Belgium, felt the heat on July 24 when they accidentally got locked in a shipping container full of cocaine in the huge port there, reported AFP. That day, temperatures reached a record high of 104 degrees Fahrenheit, stifling the 24- and 25-yearold, who had entered the container “to remove drugs,” according to prosecutors.

As the mercury rose, they desperately called a police emergency number and when police finally found them two hours later, they gratefully gave themselves up. Port workers were videoed pouring water over the pair to try to lower their body temperatures.

GOING TO EXTREMES

Kim Gordon, 55, vanished on Feb. 25, according to his 17-year-old son, after going for a nighttime swim at Monastery Beach in Monterey, California, an area with a deadly reputation sometimes called “Mortuary Beach.” The Associated Press reported that police searched for three days before learning the Scotsman from Edinburgh, also known as Kim Vincent Avis, faced 24 charges of rape in Scotland, which made them suspicious about the story. “When that came up, we start to wonder if this is a hoax,” said Monterey County sheriff’s Capt. John Thornburg. Finally, on July 26, the U.S. Marshals Service announced it had caught up with Gordon in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where he is now being held; the son had been returned to Scotland and will not be charged with filing a false report.

LEAST COMPETENT CRIMINALS

— Police in Sydney, Australia, had a drug bust land in their laps on July 22, when an unnamed man slammed a van loaded with 600 pounds of methamphetamines into a patrol car parked outside a suburban police station. The car was empty at the time of the collision, Reuters reported. The van sped away from the scene, but police caught up with the 28-year-old driver an hour later and charged him with drug supply and negligent driving. The drugs had an estimated street value of about $140 million.

— Michael Harrell, 54, strolled into a U.S. Bank in Cleveland on July 29 with a note demanding cash from a teller: “This is a robbery. Don’t get nobody hurt.” Unfortunately, according to WJW, he wrote the note on a document he had apparently received from the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles, which included his full name and address. The teller, who called Harrell by his first name after seeing it on the letter, gave him $206 and summoned police, who later arrested him. !

2019 CHUCK Shepherd. Universal Press Syndicate.

Send your weird news items with subject line WEIRD NEWS to WeirdNewsTips@amuniversal.com.

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The days of Discordia return Greensboro burlesque festival is ‘here to stay’

T

he Discordia Days Burlesque Festival is this weekend, and it is what the Greensborobased burlesque troupe, the Discordia Dames, have been Katie Murawski preparing for all year.

Editor According to their press kit, the Discordia Dames are a versatile and entertaining troupe composed of Memphis Muerte, Lux Valentina, Sadie Mae Hem, May Hemmer, and Allison Wonderland. The Dames “have something to tickle every fancy,” drawing on multiple styles and eras of burlesque such as classic burlesque, neo-burlesque, fetish art, sideshow performances, flow arts, and nerd-lesque. The Discordia Dames produce monthly shows as well as this yearly festival. The Discordia Days Burlesque Festival is this weekend, Aug. 16-18, at the Community Theatre of Greensboro and Chemistry Nightclub.

The festival is co-produced by Stumble Stilskins.

Headlining is two wellknown names in the burlesque world, Calamity Chang and Lou Lou la Duchesse de Rière.

According to a Vice minidocumentary, Lou Lou la Duchesse de Rière is from Montreal, Canada, and was the first Indigenous woman to be crowned Queen of Burlesque. She uses burlesque “to break social constructs surrounding First Nations women’s sexuality and imposes news standards of beauty in the burlesque community.”

Muerte, the “mama bear” of the Dames and a co-organizer for the festival, said that the “sweetest and YES! WEEKLY

AUGUST 14-20, 2019

absolutely phenomenal” Calamity Chang is a Top 100 burlesque performer who produces as well as performs two weekly shows and monthly shows in New York City. She has made an appearance in reality T.V. series and the film Shame

by Steve McQueen. Calamity Change is not new to Greensboro, in 2014 she headlined for the Discordia Days Festival when Muerte took over the reins for organizing the festival.

“I reached out to Calamity first because of her involvement and kindness the first year I took this over has always been important to me and has resonated with me,” Muerte said. “As a white-passing woman of color, it is incredibly important to me, because I am in a position of power, to make those offers. I always reach out to performers of color first and every year but one, our headliner has been a person of color.”

“She was the first burlesque performer that I ever saw in person that looked like me,” said performer and co-organizer Lux Valentina of Calamity Chang.

This year’s festival is a bit different than what it has been in the past. Last year, Muerte said the Dames were able to host a four-day festival, however, this year with the sudden closure of their former home venue, Shiners, they were left to improvise.

“Last year we did four days, which was amazing because it brought in so many people and performers, but it was so exhausting at the end of it,” Muerte said.

“We all work full time, too. This year, we

are doing three days.”

“Luckily, we are super, super excited to be at Chemistry Nightclub,” co-organizer and performer Allison Wonderland added. “We are doing an ‘afternoon delight’ show, at 3:30, right after the drag brunch.”

Muerte is especially excited to be performing at Chemistry.

“When I took the troupe over, several years ago, that was our home venue because I started there as a bio queen--I’m a female, but I still did drag,” she explained. “I still have a lot of friends in the drag community, so it is a really kind of a fun homecoming for me, personally.”

Muerte said the Dames would continue to do their monthly shows at Chemistry Nightclub starting in September.

“We are a smaller festival, and we don’t get any support from the city,” Muerte said. “Like, when you go to the Savannah Burlesque Festival; they have their own beer and all these other things, and the Chamber of Commerce gave us a letter of welcome. We don’t get that here in Greensboro.”

“Our goal for this year is to cement ourselves as here to stay in the city,” Wonderland said.

“I think that people are becoming much more open to the idea of a burlesque festival and the performance aspect of it. We are different from many other festivals for the fact that we benefit a nonprofit organization every year and we are really interested in bringing things back to the community.”

This year, the Discordia Days Burlesque Festival will benefit the Greensboro Interactive Resource Center (IRC), which according to its website, “is Guilford County’s only day resource center for people currently facing, experiencing or coming out of homelessness.” The IRC provides everything from basic services (such as showers, laundry, or a mailing address) to medical and mental health care, case management, and employment services.

“The festival ends on Aug. 18, bills are paid Aug. 19, and on Aug. 20, whatever is left in our bank account, I am cutting a check for a charity,” Muerte explained.

Muerte said that each year, the Dames start with a zero balance, which is why sponsorships are crucial.

“We are a legitimate theatre, when you look at the roots of burlesque, it has been around for thousands of years,” Muerte said. “We are here, and we are a thing. And it is a double-edged sword, where we are a legitimate theatre, and I want that kind of recognition, but so much of what draws people to us is that illicit quality.”

“We try to implement the art of the tease as an art form in itself,” Wonderland added. “It is not dance entirely, it can be, but it is also all these different aspects of art we incorporate.”

Burlesque is not just taking off articles of clothing during a song.

“Sometimes it is costuming, dancing, acting; it is everything,” Muerte said.

“Every burlesque act tells a story, sometimes that story is just, ‘I am really sexy and I want you to look at me,’ and sometimes that story is deeper and evocative.

Sometimes it is political, sometimes it is personal, and you derive your own meaning from it. I want us to be recognized as here [in Greensboro].”

Valentina said the diversity of the Dames is what keeps people coming back for more. As Muerte explained, she

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is white-passing Latina. She started out doing drag as a “bio queen,” she is a plus-sized woman, and her burlesque is all about body positivity. Valentina is a Korean-American, who came from a GoGo dancing and stripping background.

She performs in the fetish, flow realm of burlesque, and she sometimes incorporates poi (fire spinning) in her acts.

“We come together, and it is very much like a sisterhood,” Valentina said. “It is not only a business, but we take care of each other, we are there for each other whatever we are going through in our personal lives. I think people can sense that when we are on stage.”

Wonderland is newer to the troupe, and she’s a white woman with an hour-glass figure that focuses on the bump-andgrind aspect of classic burlesque. But she is going to branch out by performing her first comedic act at the festival.

Sadie Mae Hem is a plus-sized white woman who falls in the realm of rockabilly and classic burlesque, but she doesn’t like to be type-cast and labeled.

“Some festivals try to fit people in specific boxes,” Hem explained. “I know Memphis and I have been hit with the idea before that ‘fat girls do funny,’ but you don’t see that with us.”

May Hemmer is an Afro-Latina and First Nations woman who specializes in the realm of cosplay and nerd-lesque.

“It is not just that we are diverse ethnically, but we are diverse across body types, we are diverse across generations,” Hem said. “That is one of the things I like about burlesque; it is not about being 25 and being perfectlyshaped. You can see the power and the sexiness and what anyone’s trying to convey at any age, shape, color, or gender identity. That diversity is really important, and I know that Memphis especially makes an effort to make sure that we are diverse. That you see diverse performers do diverse things. You aren’t going to see strip-and-strut acts or just classic burlesque. You are going to see everything from nerd-lesque, to classic, neo-burlesque, fetish artist, comedic; it is a whole variety of things.”

“As a community, the reason why people should come to the festival, in general, is because it is for a good cause WWW.YESWEEKLY.COM

and also it’s a great burlesque show. It is great entertainment,” Wonderland added. “We’ve got people coming in from all over the world. We have people who apply from everywhere. I think that it is just a really unique thing that not every city has. I think that one of the reasons why people gravitate toward it.”

On June 28, I had the pleasure of interviewing the ladies of the Discordia Dames while they prepared for their show at The Crown that night. That show was probably the most entertaining live theatre performance I have been to so far this year. The variety of music and the different techniques from the performers were so structured and clean. You could tell this gig was something the troupe took very seriously, but at the same time, you could tell they were also having a good time. As far as their fanbase, it was very apparent that they have a loyal following as well an edge for attracting those who haven’t been to a burlesque show before. While I was there observing, I also “kittened,” which means making sure the stage is clean for the next performer or just helping the show run smoothly, collecting tips, and helping the performers get all of their garments back that they take off during their act. They had sold 50 walk-up tickets alone that night, and the intimate venue was full of people from all different walks of life having a blast.

“We get a really good response from the audience,” Wonderland said.

“There are people that come to the festival because they have heard about it and they have never been to a show before.

To be honest, if you are going to go to a burlesque show, the festival is a good place to start. You will see the best of the best.”

As a perk to other North Carolinabased burlesque performers, Muerte said

the Dames offer $20 performer passes.

“If you apply [as a performer], the application fee pays for a weekend pass even if you don’t get accepted,” she said.

“As a group, we make a point to build people up, especially women,” Wonderland said. “It is not a competition; we are all in this together.”

As an amateur drag king myself, I sometimes find myself lost when it comes to choosing my next song to perform, and often I take a while to contemplate what story I want to tell in my performance. I asked the Dames what their process was for choosing their next piece to perform.

Wonderland said it all starts with building a playlist.

“I start with one song and when I listen to Spotify or whatever, and I add to it.”

“I do that too, I keep a running playlist, but there are definitely times when I want to do this character,” Hem added. “I have a hard time staying in my comfort zone. I come from a rockabilly, plus-size pin-up space and so I have a tendency to do a lot of numbers from the ‘40s. Memphis likes to challenge people to do things that are outside of what people usually do.”

As the Dames “get as naked as the law allows,” I wondered, do they ever get nervous?

“Absolutely, every single time,” Muerte said. “When you stop getting nervous about it, to me, is a red flag because you are not caring anymore.”

Muerte said it is a challenge when she has to perform but doesn’t feel as confident as she usually does, but she doesn’t let that stop her.

“I am about body positivity, just be who you want,” she said. “The longest relationship is the one you have with yourself. It doesn’t matter how I feel that day; people paid for tickets, I can’t let my insecurity ruin the money they spent on me.”

I also asked the Dames if their art

of the tease comes from within or if it manifests externally.

“I think it is a little bit of both; it is both validation and having confidence,” Wonderland said. “It is scary but also really fun; it is the most fun thing I have ever done.”

“I have gone out and had people yell at me ‘eat a cheeseburger,’” Valentina said. “I have gone out, taken something off, and heard some people go, ‘eww.’

I’m online (on Instagram and Facebook) and they comment on my pictures and call me a whore, but you have to get over it. Not saying what those people are doing isn’t wrong, but you have to just get that validation from within. You have to realize these people are gonna say what they are gonna say.

If it is enough for you to stop, that is fine, it is your choice.

But you have to feel powerful enough inside to overcome it.”

More information about the Discordia Days Burlesque Festival can be found on its website, www. discordiadaysburlesquefest.com, and more information about the Discordia Dames Burlesque Troupe can be found on their website, www.discordiadames. weebly.com, as well as on their Facebook (discordiadames/) and Instagram (@ discordiadames) pages.

Tickets start at $15 per day (plus an online service fee from Brown Paper Tickets, www.ddbf19.bpt.me/), VIP passes are $20 per day, general admission for the weekend is $30, and a VIP weekend pass is $40. !

KATIE MURAWSKI is the editor of YES! Weekly. She is from Mooresville, North Carolina and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in journalism with a minor in film studies from Appalachian State University in 2017.

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Schedule: Friday, Aug. 16, 8 p.m. at The Community Theatre of Greensboro (520 S. Elm St.) Saturday, Aug. 17, 8 p.m. at The Community Theatre of Greensboro Sunday, Aug. 18, 3:30 p.m. at Chemistry Nightclub (2901 Spring Garden St.) after the August installment of Greensboro Drag Brunch, benefitting the Guilford Green Foundation, featuring RuPaul’s Drag Race contestant Kahanna Montrese.

AUGUST 14-20, 2019 YES! WEEKLY

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Marcus Smith legal team alleges a history of GPD misconduct Chief Wayne Scott announces retirement, says no connection Speaking to supporters at Shiloh Baptist Church in Greensboro last night, the mother of the late Marcus Deon Smith said she’s been unable to make herself visit her son’s grave.

Ian McDowell Mary Smith said she wants to tell her dead son that the Contributor eight Greensboro Police Department officers who hogtied him until he stopped breathing have been punished and that the City of Greensboro has apologized for his death at last year’s Folk Festival.

“When I go to his grave again, I want to be able to tell him the truth about what happened,” she told the group of about 30 supporters, two ministers, and six reporters.

She said that she and her husband George only found out how Marcus really died on Oct. 8, a month after his death, when attorney Graham Holt viewed the bodycam videos of the hogtying, a restraint procedure the GPD had not mentioned in either their visit to the family or the initial press release.

Before that, she and her family had believed the claims, she said, which were repeated by Chief Wayne Scott in his introduction to the compilation video released by the city, that Marcus had been “combative” and had “collapsed.”

“We had to tell the whole community Wayne Scott’s lies, we had to tell our church Wayne Scott’s lies, we had to tell our jobs Wayne Scott’s lies, we had to tell the whole family Wayne Scott’s lies,” Mary said. “We want the truth, and we want closure.”

In April 2019, Holt, along with attorneys Flint Taylor, Ben Elson and Christian Snow of the People’s Law Office of Chicago, filed a federal civil right suit against eight GPD officers, the City of Greensboro, two EMTs and Guilford County. Speaking at last night’s meeting, Holt said that the lawsuit would address “the policy and practice of the City of Greensboro as a governmental entity,” including, “what they have done in the past about police abuse.”

Holt also read a text from attorney Flint Taylor stating that team is “committed to holding accountable all those YES! WEEKLY

AUGUST 14-20, 2019

Attorney Graham Holt with Rev. Nelson Johnson sitting behind him responsible for the brutal and completely unacceptable hogtying death of Marcus Smith, particularly the City of Greensboro and the GPD, whose policies and lack of training was a fundamental reason for Marcus’s homicide.”

Rev. Nelson Johnson, who conducted the meeting, also referenced this allegation. “We know that what happened to Marcus is part of a larger pattern and practice of police abuse of power, so we’re here to curb that tendency.”

Those attending the meeting were given a handout prepared by the Homeless Union of Greensboro, titled “Pattern & Practice of Police Abuse, Misconduct & Cover-Ups in Greensboro.”

It cited 16 instances of this alleged pattern, going back to the 1969 GPD and National Guard siege of A&T and the shooting of Willie Grimes. These included the 1979 Greensboro Massacre; the 1995 wrongful conviction of LaMonte Armstrong; the 2009 settlement in the lawsuit brought by then 85-year-old Eva Foster after she was injured in a police raid but not charged with any crime; and a 2015 front-page article in the New York Times about, “the disproportionate risks of driving while black” in Greensboro.

The handout also cited the city’s $95,000 settlement in the case of Dejuan Yourse after the release of bodycam footage of his arrest showed him being assaulted by officers Travis Cole and Charlotte Jackson; a 2013 YES! Weekly article reporting that city council member Marikay Abuzuaiter once served as a GPD confidential informant; and journalist Nate Thayer’s 2018 report that GPD officers Steven Kory Flowers and Robert Finch served as “control agents” for KKK imperial wizard Chris Barker, shielding Barker from felony prosecution.

Present at the meeting (and mentioned in the handout) was Zared Jones, who was tased and arrested by GPD officers Samuel Alvarez and Jose Chavez in September of 2016. This week, North Carolina Court of Appeals Judge Chris Dillon upheld a gag order preventing the Greensboro City Council from discussing GPD bodycam footage of the incident, which council members have been allowed to view but which has not been released. Called to the podium by Rev. Johnson, Jones stated his support for the Smith family and announced his intention of filing a lawsuit in his own case.

The meeting concluded with plans hold

a candlelight vigil during next month’s N.C. Folk Festival on Sept. 8, the last day of which will be the anniversary of Marcus Smith’s death at last year’s festival.

At 10 a.m. on Aug. 9, Greensboro Police Chief Wayne Scott held a press conference announcing his retirement on Jan. 31, 2020. He gave the following reason: “I’ve been eligible for retirement since about the end of January. Law enforcement’s retirement system is fairly complicated; it can actually be counterproductive to stay past your date for financial reasons.” He also said, “quite honestly, it’s time; I want to go spend some time with my family.”

When a reporter asked if the Smith case was a factor in his decision, Scott said, “Absolutely not. As I’ve said, I’ve been eligible for retirement for some time. We have concerns; I’ve expressed concerns, related to that particular incident. But the truth be known, incidents occur every day across this country, and police departments are called into question. I think we have answered the questions have been out there. Some of that’s in litigation, so we can only go so far. But quite frankly, we have a tremendous amount of support in this city. I couldn’t be more happy with the way we’ve answered not only that that question but others that have happened during our history. No one factor drove this. It’s a matter of timing. When I leave the city, Lord willing, on Jan. 31, I’ll have the combined time of 31 years of service.

It’s time for me to move on.”

When asked if he had any message for the Smith family and supporters, he gave the following statement: “Again, I can’t go too much into details, that’s a matter of litigation for us. I can say this, and I have said this repeatedly, I can say with confidence that the public safety folks related to that incident aced with professionalism. They do, as they do daily, which [is] trying to help a citizen.

The results were terrible. Someone lost their life. As family members, I understand that. They have my sympathy for grieving. But at the end of the day, public safety is about doing what’s best for each individual in our community, and we will continue to do that.” !

IAN MCDOWELL is the author of two published novels, numerous anthologized short stories, and a whole lot of nonfiction and journalism, some of which he’s proud of and none of which he’s ashamed of.

WWW.YESWEEKLY.COMW

It’s time to use the ‘C’ word During last week’s Triad Today program, I uttered the “C” word.

I don’t just mean any “C” word; I mean the dreaded “C” word. The one word that makes Second Amendment activists’ blood boil. It happened while our Jim Longworth roundtable panel was discussing what can be done to prevent Longworth mass shootings such at Large as the ones in El Paso and Dayton. That’s when I commented that no matter how many gun control measures are enacted, they will be ineffective unless accompanied by the “C” word: “Confiscation.” Why? Because there are more guns in America than there are people.

Forty million more to be exact. And so, even if you ban the sale of assault-style rifles and semi-automatic handguns, anyone who is hell-bent on killing people need only to beg, borrow, or steal one of the 357 million guns already in circulation.

For the record, I believe in the spirit of the Second Amendment, and I own several guns. Some of them are for home protection, and others are collectibles. None of them are assault rifles. That’s because I don’t need an assault rifle, and neither does any other private citizen. Folks on the far right, however, argue that a ban on the sale of such weapons would be, in itself, an assault on the Second Amendment. They say the Founding Fathers gave us the right to bear arms. The problem is that when James Madison wrote the Constitution, a single shot musket was the weapon of choice, with which the finest marksmen of that era could only kill one person per minute. If a bayonet was affixed to the musket, the shooter might be able to kill two people per minute.

In contrast, today’s assault-style rifles “affixed” with high capacity magazines can kill over a hundred people per minute. I hardly think that the framers of our Constitution would have wanted every citizen to own an AK-47. Another popular argument put forth by the Right is that mass shooters are mentally ill, but earlier this month the Washington Post published findings of a 2018 report by the FBI, which found that of 63 active shooter assailants studied, only three had been diagnosed with a psychotic disorder.

Let’s suppose for a moment, though, that folks who cling to these false arguments are suddenly outnumbered, and Congress finally votes on comprehensive gun reform WWW.YESWEEKLY.COM

legislation. Let’s say the reform package includes a ban on the sale of assault rifles, universal background checks, registration of all guns, mandatory metal detectors and electronic locking doors in schools and other public buildings, an SRO in every school, and a federal Red Flag law whereby police or family members can petition a court to take guns away from anyone ruled to be a threat to himself or others (at present, only 17 states have a Red Flag law). Such reforms

would be meaningless unless they include a plan for confiscating all assault-style weapons and high-capacity clips through a national buy-back campaign, along with serious prison time for anyone who doesn’t participate. Then and only then will we have a fighting chance to prevent mass shootings.

So don’t be lured to sleep by the sweet sounds of singular reforms being touted by presidential candidates and grandstanding

congressmen. Let your representative know that you favor confiscation of all existing assault-style rifles. Don’t be afraid to utter the “C” word because, given the growing number of mass shootings, an extreme solution is the only way to prevent extreme violence. !

JIM LONGWORTH is the host of Triad Today, airing on Saturdays at 7:30 a.m. on ABC45 (cable channel 7) and Sundays at 11 a.m. on WMYV (cable channel 15).

AUGUST 14-20, 2019

YES! WEEKLY

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tunes

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Kelly Hoppenjans to play Greensboro Nashville-based singer and guitarist tackles 21st-century situations

K

elly Hoppenjans may have written the quiet anti-mansplaining anthem of the era. Let me explain it to you.

Just kidding. Well, John Adamian actually, “The Hmm @johnradamian Song,” from her 2015 debut EP Simple Thing, is about paContributor tiently summoning a reserve of endurance and feigned interest while some self-regarding windbag steamrolls the conversation and belligerently insists on their point of view above all others. It’s set to a light, jazzy ukulele strum and has the feel of something that Fats Waller or Hoagy Carmichael might have cooked up, had they experienced the early 21st century. In the song, the singer/narrator just hums along with a playful wordless tune in response as the offending egoist obliviously cripples conversation.

Hoppenjans is a Nashville-based singer-songwriter who is touring the region this month. She’ll play a show in Greensboro on Saturday, Aug. 17. It will be put on through Sofar Sounds, a company that helps coordinate small semi-secret concerts in intimate settings, at people’s houses, in retail spaces, and at other nonstandard spots. It’s one of several companies that helps to connect artists and fans in places outside of sometimes-noisy clubs and bars, creating a more hushed and focused listening-room atmosphere for concerts in unconventional venues.

It makes perfect sense that Hoppen-

jans, 30, would seek out these subdued shows that reward focus and attention.

In their way Hoppenjans’ songs are often about the ways that we pay attention to each other and ourselves, listening to the voices in our heads — or ignoring them, for better and for worse. Or about how we get hung up on certain details. Her song “Counting 1-2-3,” also off of the Simple Thing EP, is about how we sometimes fail to act on the lessons that we’ve learned, and also about how hard we are on ourselves for not being able to change the direction of our lives on a dime.

I spoke with Hoppenjans last week by phone as she drove through Georgia on her way to her next gig. By day, Hoppenjans is a voice teacher at Belmont University, teaching students who are essentially studying in the commercial music program there. As a voice student, as a singer, and now as a voice teacher, Hoppenjans has spent a fair amount of time focusing on the importance of enunciation and diction, to ensure that the verbal punch of a sung gets conveyed.

At these non-conventional Sofar Sounds shows, and on other small out-oftown tours, Hoppenjans generally plays solo. She likes the stripped-down way of presenting her songs, which generally originate as vehicles for just voice and guitar anyway. She likes that people can hear and understand what she’s singing.

“I’m really proud of my lyrics,” Hoppenjans said.

Hoppenjans is preparing to release a new record in October. The first single, “Growing My Hair,” was released earlier this summer. It pokes playful fun at the seemingly endless, and potentially pointless, merry-go-round of grooming routines, trimming one’s hair so that

one’s hair can grow back nicely, washing make-up off of one’s face to put more make-up on, etc. “I keep growing my hair just to cut it all off again,” she sings. The song touches on the expectations put on women to present themselves in a certain way out in public, but also on how those imposed ideas can complicate one’s sense of what one wants. She seems to be saying that making your mind up is tricky when an entire culture is based on weighing in on your decisions.

“I like to empower people with my music, particularly women who might need help with that,” Hoppenjans said.

The forthcoming record, OK, I Feel Better Now, showcases a slightly more grunge side of Hoppenjans. “Growing My Hair,” with its growls and howls, would be at home on a PJ Harvey record. Hoppenjans worked with fellow Nashville-based artist Brandy Zdan, who produced the record.

Nashville is obviously known as a place filled with talented musicians and singers.

Hoppenjans, who grew up in Ohio and lived in New York City before heading to Music City, finds that atmosphere to be conducive to working on her craft.

“It’s a great music town,” she said.

“What’s really special about it, I think, is

that it’s a town where songwriting is a big deal, no matter what type of music you do.”

One of Hoppenjans’ most successful recordings, in terms of streaming numbers on platforms such as Spotify, is a decidedly non-Nashville creation, a cover of Metallica’s “Enter Sandman.”

Hoppenjans took the metal song and focused in on the creepy nature of the lyrics, giving it a sort of spooky horror-movie treatment, with spare, plinky piano in place of the monumental guitar riffs.

Hoppenjans has a longstanding and deep connection to the guitar. It was the instrument that got her into songwriting and singing. And it was the guitar that got her thinking about gender and rock music, after seeing a guitar magazine with one of those mega lists of the all-time greatest guitarists that only included two women.

Hoppenjans has questioned the ways that male performance styles and modes on guitar are celebrated and prized while something like a female aesthetic on the instrument isn’t necessarily championed (by the often male writers who make those lists). She got her first guitar when she was 10.

“I thought girls who played guitar are cool,” she said. “Genuinely, that’s why I wanted it.” !

JOHN ADAMIAN lives in Winston-Salem, and his writing has appeared in Wired, The Believer, Relix, Arthur, Modern Farmer, the Hartford Courant and numerous other publications.

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Find out more about Kelly Hoppenjans’ Greensboro show on Aug. 17 by visiting kellyhoppenjans.com.

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AUGUST 14-20, 2019

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Irata in the age of ‘Tower’ Celebrating their latest album, Tower, released on Small Stone Records, Irata will a host release show with Freedom Hawk and Velvet Devils at the Blind Tiger on Aug. 23.

The Greensboro Katei Cranford hard-rock outfit looks to party with giveaway ticket Contributor structure, “We’re throwing down with all of our supporters to extend our gratitude with music, live art, tarot card readings, and door prizes,” drummer Jason Ward described of the whole shebang— which is free with an RSVP. The group of hard-rockers aren’t as hard in-person as their “morphine-infused math-y metal” history would lead to believe; Irata is “like the sports car version of Don Caballero.” In the age of Tower, they’ve continued to evolve beyond the scope of instrumentals, a trend ushered in their 2015 Sweet Loris release, adding Owen Burd into the fold to hit the road as a foursome.

And hitting the road has been a high-note in the latest stage of the Irata evolution.

Still fresh from runs with the likes of Toke and Weedeater, the Blind Tiger show kicks off an album-release tour, covering ground west to Colorado for Golden Haze Fest and north to the Descendants of Crom fest in Pittsburgh.

“Touring is essential to keeping me interested in my craft,” said guitarist Cheryl Manner. “Even if it means playing to five people every night, touring means playing to new people - to people who have heard of you, but never took the time to listen to your music, but came out to see what the fuss was about- people who have heard of you, and want to see if the fuss is justified, and people who loved seeing you play when you were in town two years ago, and are so excited to see you live again.”

Burd likewise holds touring in highesteem, “There may be other means of getting music out there to the world, but touring is certainly the most direct and typically the most fulfilling way,” he said.

Ward spoke of the duality of the tour experience: one-minute riding high, performing to a sold-out crowd at the Bowery Ballroom in New York; and the next, a cat pees on your suitcase in Louisiana.

Though Ward’s luggage may never smell the same, covering ground has paid WWW.YESWEEKLY.COM

try to help build on the already rock-solid foundation of what they have built over the years.”

What they’ve built is a product of understanding industry, respect for their craft—and a solid sense of humor. Irata maintains drive—while working full-time jobs with degree pursuits and gigging around the country. “We’ll take all the help we can get,” Ward said of their alignment with Tone Deaf Touring. “We still have to promote our shows like hell if we want people to come,” Manner said of working through an agency, “they take a lot of work off of us, but that doesn’t mean our work is done.” !

KATEI CRANFORD is a Triad music nerd who hosts the Tuesday Tour Report, 5:30-7pm on WUAG 1031.fm off. That Bowery-show tour with Nashville’s All Them Witches hooked-up Irata with Ben McLeod in 2017. “He was on our radar when we began discussing producers for Tower, and it worked out that he was available for us, and we couldn’t have been more thrilled,” Ward explained.

When it came to a studio, Legitimate Business was the natural option for a Greensboro band taking a legit approach.

“It makes a world of difference when you’re able to work in a creative setting with someone who makes you feel comfortable,” Manner said of engineer Kris Hilbert.

“It was a much more open and creative process,” Ward explained of recording, “we had way more input in the product this time, so it’s very personal.”

The road to release was long. But Irata

thrives on evolution, and the album marks the first recording with Burd in the band.

“He brings a whole new dimension to our sound,” Ward said of the addition. “It also doesn’t hurt that we now have a fourth driver while touring,” he added.

“It’s been a fascinating process,” Ward continued, “we began as an instrumental and are now into a four-piece with layers of sound and vocals. And we couldn’t have gotten here without Owen.”

Burd’s affection is mutual, “The recording process for Tower was one of the more fulfilling sessions of which I have been a part,” he said. “I’ve been the songwriter, the lead guitarist, the trumpet player, the drummer, the right-hand-man, the oneman-band, and everything in between,” he explained of his background, “each is fulfilling in its own way, and with Irata, I

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The work Irata looks forward to most is hosting a killer album release with Freedom Hawk and Velvet Devils on Aug. 23 at the Blind Tiger. Advance tickets are free with RSVP through the Blind Tiger website, $10 at the door.

1642 Spring Garden St., GSO (corner of Warren St.)

Phone: 336.274.1000 Hours: Mon-Sat 11 am-2am / Sun noon-2 am

Open grill till 2am every night!

Best Daily Drink Specials Greensboro’s home for the Washington Redskins!

MON: $4 Jose Silver & $1 off all draft TUES: $4 Vodka Red Bull & $1 off all craft beer THURS: $5 LIT & blue motorcycle FRI: $3 all craft cans

@boner_hot

Great Food Prices!

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come in and check out our new menu

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AUGUST 14-20, 2019

YES! WEEKLY

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Submissions should be sent to artdirector@yesweekly.com by Friday at 5 p.m., prior to the week’s publication.

Visit yesweekly.com and click on calendar to list your event online. home grown muSic Scene | compiled by Austin Kindley

ASHEBORO

FOUR SAINTS BREWING

218 South Fayetteville St. | 336.610.3722 foursaintsbrewing.com Aug 17: Tyler Millard Aug 18: The Randolph Jazz Band Aug 24: Matt Walsh

clEmmOnS

VILLAGE SQUARE TAP HOUSE

6000 Meadowbrook Mall Ct | 336.448.5330 Aug 16: DJ Bald-E Aug 17: Down the Mountain Aug 23: DJ Bald-E Aug 24: Southern Eyes

gREEnSBORO

ARIzONA PETE’S

2900 Patterson St #A | 336.632.9889 arizonapetes.com Aug 16: 1-2-3 Friday

ARTISTIkA NIGHT CLUB

GREEN HERON ALE HOUSE 1110 Flinchum Rd | 336.593.4733 greenheronclub.com Aug 17: Alicia B. Aug 24: Pete Pawsey

ElKIn

REEVES THEATER

129 W Main St | 336.258.8240 reevestheater.com Aug 16: The Gibson Brothers w/ The Wildmans Aug 17: Best of Broadway w/ Brett Pardue Aug 23: Charles Wesley Godwin

SUNDAYS

$5 MIMOSAS $4 BOTTLE BUSTERS

AUGUST 17

BARN DINNER THEATRE

113 N Greene St | 336.273.4111

120 Stage Coach Tr. | 336.292.2211 Aug 24: Wonderwall - A Tribute To The Beatles Aug 31: A Red Plaid Shirt Oct 5: Sing Hallelujah!

505 N. Greene St Aug 16: Stewart Coley Aug 23: Chad Barnard Aug 30: Tyler Long

THE BLIND TIGER

1819 Spring Garden St | 336.272.9888 theblindtiger.com Aug 13: MC Armstrong Aug 16: A Midsummer Night’s Rock Show w/ Hard Rock Reunion & Louder Aug 18: Steady Flow. LOUDER. Summer Tour Aug 20: MC Armstrong Aug 21: Tyler Bryant & The Shakedown Aug 23: Irata “Tower” Album Release Show

CAROLINA THEATRE

310 S. Greene Street | 336.333.2605 carolinatheatre.com Aug 15: Flow Tribe Aug 23: 2nd Today Aug 25: Spotlight Sessions Sep 22: The Allman Betts Band Sep 25: Adam Ant: Friend or Foe

MONDAY TUESDAYS

LIVE MUSIC @ 8PM W/ BANJO EARTH BAND

WEDNESDAYS

LIVE MUSIC W/ BRITTANY DAVIS @ 8PM

1700 Spring Garden St | 336.272.5559 corner-bar.com Aug 15: Live Thursdays

THURSDAYS

LIVE MUSIC W/ STEWART COLEY @ 8PM

COMEDY zONE

$1 OFF PINTS TRIVIA W/ TYLER @ 7PM $1 OFF CRAFT CANS & BOTTLES

$5 WINE BY THE GLASS

SATURDAYS LIVE MUSIC

AUGUST 24 AUGUST 31

SEPTEMBER 7

SEPTEMBER 14 LIVE MUSIC W/ EMMA LEE @ 8PM

2762 NC 68, HIGH POINT, NC (ACROSS FROM DUCK DONUTS) YES! WEEKLY

August 14-20, 2019

CONE DENIM

117 S Elm St | 336.378.9646 cdecgreensboro.com Aug 30: Lil keed & Lil Gotit Sep 4: Big Freedia Sep 6: Filmore

LIVE MUSIC @ 8PM SUSANNA MACFARLANE

NOW OPEN 2PM-9PM

11602 S Elm Ave | 336.698.388 Sep 7: Tian Garcia and Morgan McPherson Sep 18: Andrew kasab

523 S Elm St | 336.271.2686 artistikanightclub.com Aug 16: DJ Dan the Player Aug 17: DJ Paco and DJ Dan the Player

BEERTHIRTY

dAnBuRy

COMMON GROUNDS

THE CORNER BAR

1126 S Holden Rd | 336.333.1034 thecomedyzone.com Aug 15: Daddazz and MelissaMC Aug 16: Erik Myers Aug 17: Erik Myers

GREENE STREET CLUB HAM’S NEW GARDEN

1635 New Garden Rd | 336.288.4544 hamsrestaurants.com Aug 30: Brothers Pearl

LEVENELEVEN BREWING 1111 Coliseum Blvd | 336.265.8600 Aug 21: Bryan Toney Aug 23: Farewell Friend album release party

LITTLE BROTHER BREWING

348 South Elm St | 336.510.9678 Aug 16: Tyler MIllard Duo Aug 23: Abe Reid & The Spikedrivers

RODY’S TAVERN

5105 Michaux Road | 336.282.0950 rodystavern.com Aug 16: Low key Aug 17: Woodstock 50th Anniversary Tent Party Sep 7: Dan Moran

THE IDIOT BOx COMEDY CLUB

502 N. Greene St | 336.274.2699 www.idiotboxers.com Aug 17: Sketch Comedy Showcase

THE W BISTRO & BAR 324 Elm St | 336.763.4091 @thewdowntown Aug 16: karaoke Aug 17: Live DJ Aug 18: Live DJ

HIgH pOInt

AFTER HOURS TAVERN 1614 N Main St | 336.883.4113 afterhourstavern.net Aug 17: Fair Warning Aug 24: Sok Monkee

GOOFY FOOT TAPROOM

2762 NC-68 #109 | 336.307.2567 Aug 17: Susanna Macfarlane & Jamie Pruitt Aug 24: Bango Earth Aug 31: Brittany Davis

HAM’S PALLADIUM

5840 Samet Dr | 336.887.2434 hamsrestaurants.com Aug 16: Cory Luetjen & TBB Aug 17: Alter Ego Aug 23: Cumberland Drive Aug 24: Brothers Pearl

jAmEStOwn

THE DECk

118 E Main St | 336.207.1999 thedeckatrivertwist.com Aug 15: Cory Luetjen Aug 16: Crossing Avery Aug 17: Static Pool Aug 22: Tyler Millard Duo

KERnERSvIllE

BREATHE COCkTAIL LOUNGE

221 N Main St. | 336.497.4822 facebook.com/BreatheCocktailLounge Aug 30: BDM

J.PEPPERS SOUTHERN GRILLE

841 Old Winston Rd | 336.497.4727 jpeppers.com Aug 15: Justin Fulp Aug 17: Emma Lee Aug 22: Patrick Rock Aug 29: James Vincent Carrol

lEwISvIllE

OLD NICk’S PUB

191 Lowes Foods Dr | 336.747.3059 OldNicksPubNC.com Aug 16: Music Bingo/karaoke Aug 17: The Usual Suspects Aug 23: Music Bingo/karaoke Aug 24: Lasater Union Aug 30: Music Bingo/karaoke

lIBERty

THE LIBERTY SHOWCASE THEATER

101 S. Fayetteville St | 336.622.3844 TheLibertyShowcase.com Aug 17: Gene Watson Sep 7: Charlie Thomas & the Drifters

www.yesweekly.comw

GreensboroColiseum G gbocoliseum @gbocoliseum

NOVEMBER 22

August 13-18

SEPTEMBER 21 vecteezy.com

PJ Morton

SEPTEMBER 28th THE STATE I’M IN THE WHITE OAK EVENT SPACE

OCTOBER 20

OCTOBER 1

AUGUST

23

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19

www.greensborocoliseum.com

November 15

November 15

- I Can Bike > Aug. 12-16

-Heads Up for Our Youth 2019 Back to School Rally > Aug. 18

- KC Extreme Truck & Car Jamboree > Aug. 24

- Carolina Kennel Club > Aug. 16-18

- Greensboro Gun & Knife Show > Aug. 24-25

- Greensboro Fall Home Show > Sept. 7-8

1-800-745-3000

Event Hotline: (336) 373-7474 / Group Sales: (336) 373-2632

Safe. Legitimate. Coliseum-Approved. greensborocoliseum/ticketexchange

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NCDOT TO HOLD A PUBLIC MEETING FOR THE PROPOSED WIDENING OF N.C. 160 (STEELE CREEK ROAD) FROM THE

CB’S TAVERN

STIP PROJECT NO. U-5766 The N.C. Department of Transportation will hold public meetings regarding the proposed widening of a seven-mile section of N.C. 160 (Steele Creek Road) from the South Carolina Line to I-485 in Charlotte.

Two public meetings will be held to present the same information:

3870 Bethania Station Rd | 336.815.1664 Aug 8: Diamonds Duo Aug 24: Line Dancing w/ Pat

FIDDLIN’ FISH BREWING COMPANY 772 Trade St | 336.999.8945 fiddlinfish.com Aug 16: BadCameo Aug 22: Old Time Jam Aug 26: Crenshaw Aug 28: Camel City Blues

Wednesday, August 21 4-7 p.m.

Southwest Middle School 13624 Steele Creek Road Charlotte

FOOTHILLS BREWING

At the meeting NCDOT representatives will display maps and be available to answer questions and receive comments. Comments will be taken into consideration as work on the project develops. Written comments or questions can also be submitted at the meeting or by phone, email or mail no later than September 6, 2019.

638 W 4th St | 336.777.3348 foothillsbrewing.com Aug 14: Mason Via Aug 17: Marcus Horth Band Aug 18: Sunday Jazz Aug 24: Will Bagley and Friends

MAC & NELLI’S

4926 Country Club Rd | 336.529.6230 macandnellisws.com Aug 15: Dueling Pianos

Information will be posted on the U-5766 project webpage as it becomes available: https://www.publicinput.com/SteeleCreek-Widening

MILNER’S

630 S Stratford Rd | 336.768.2221 milnerfood.com Aug 18: Live Jazz

For additional information contact: Brian Query, PE, Project Manager, NCDOT Division 10, by mail at 12033 East Independence Blvd, Suite H Matthews, N.C. 28105 by phone at (980) 262-6294, or via email at tbquery@ncdot.gov or Project Consultant, Aileen Mayhew, PE, Project Manager (Mott MacDonald) by mail at P.O. Box 700, FuquayVarina, N.C. 27526 by phone at (919) 552-2253 or via email at aileen.mayhew@mottmac.com NCDOT will provide auxiliary aids and services under the Americans with Disabilities Act for disabled persons who wish to participate in this workshop. Anyone requiring special services should contact Kayla Weber by phone at (919)707-6061 or by email at knweber@ncdot.gov as early as possible so that arrangements can be made.

Persons who do not speak English, or have a limited

Aquellas personas que no hablan inglés, o tienen

ability to read, speak or understand English, may

limitaciones para leer, hablar o entender inglés, podrían

receive interpretive services upon request prior to the

recibir servicios de interpretación si los solicitan antes

meeting by calling 1-800-481-6494.

de la reunión llamando al 1-800-481-6494.

1 2019 24mecklenburg_yes-weekly_U-5766.indd YES! WEEKLY AUGUST 14-20,

BULL’S TAVERN

408 West 4th St | 336.331.3431 facebook.com/bulls-tavern Aug 15: Medicated Sunfish Aug 16: April B & The Cool Aug 17: The Kind Thieves Aug 22: Will Easter & The Nomads

SOUTH CAROLINA LINE TO I-485 IN CHARLOTTE

Monday, August 19 4-7 p.m.

Kennedy Middle School 4000 Gallant Lane Charlotte

WINSTON-SALEM

8/2/19 3:17 PM

MUDDY CREEK CAFE & MUSIC HALL

5455 Bethania Rd | 336.923.8623 Aug 15: Kelby Costner Aug 16: Bill and the Belles Aug 17: Mel Jones & His Bag O’Bones w/ John Hofmann Aug 23: Tyler Nail

THE RAMKAT

170 W 9th St | 336.754.9714 Aug 15: Carolina Crossing, Shiloh Hill, Reliably Bad Aug 16: The Spirit of Woodstock Aug 19: Moodswing Monday w/ Martha Bassett Aug 23: Whiskey Myers, The Vegabonds

WISE MAN BREWING

826 Angelo Bros Ave | 336.725.0008 Aug 14: Brother Oliver Aug 17: Reliably Bad Aug 21: Casey Noel

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[ConCerts] Compiled by Alex Farmer

cary

booth amphithEatrE

8003 Regency Pkwy | 919.462.2025 www.boothamphitheatre.com aug 18: big head todd & the monsters and toad the Wet Sprocket

charlotte

bojanglES coliSEum

2700 E Independence Blvd | 704.372.3600 www.boplex.com

cmcu amphithEatrE

former Uptown Amphitheatre 820 Hamilton St | 704.549.5555 www.livenation.com aug 15: 21 Savage aug 17: big head todd & the monsters and toad the Wet Sprocket aug 20: gary clark jr aug 22: judah & the lion

thE FillmorE

1000 NC Music Factory Blvd | 704.916.8970 www.livenation.com aug 16: bad romance a tribute to lady gaga aug 18: the raconteurs aug 23: Stunna 4 Vegas aug 24: grungefest 2019

oVEnS auditorium

2700 E Independence Blvd | 704.372.3600 www.boplex.com aug 15: america

pnc muSic paVilion

707 Pavilion Blvd | 704.549.1292 www.livenation.com aug 14: heart aug 17: breaking benjamin aug 20: the Smashing pumpkins & noel gallagher’s high Flying birds aug 24: brad paisley aug 25: beck & cage the Elephant

SpEctrum cEntEr

333 E Trade St | 704.688.9000 www.spectrumcentercharlotte.com aug 23: Queen + adam lambert aug 24: alan jackson

thE undErground

820 Hamilton St, Charlotte | 704.916.8970 www.fillmorenc.com aug 9: pouya aug 13: baroness aug 16: 12th planet aug 17: the Stranger billy joel tribute aug 23: Faithful annie www.yesweekly.com

aug 29: lil Keed w/ lil gotit ft.

Slimelife Shawty & paper lovee aug 30: the adicts

durham

carolina thEatrE 309 W Morgan St | 919.560.3030 www.carolinatheatre.org aug 14: mutlu aug 23: richard marx aug 24: robert cray

distortion w/ the devil makes three & le burcherettes aug 23: judah & the lion aug 24: ben harper & the innocent criminals + trombone Shorty & orleans avenue aug 29: band together ft. St. paul and the broken bones

pnc arEna

1400 Edwards Mill Rd | 919.861.2300 www.thepncarena.com

aug 14: jonas brothers aug 20: backstreet boys

Winston-salem

WinSton-SalEm Fairground 421 W 27th St | 336.727.2236 www.wsfairgrounds.com aug 16: gatlin brothers

dpac

123 Vivian St | 919.680.2787 www.dpacnc.com aug 21: gladys Knight aug 23: the temptations & the Four tops

greensboro

carolina thEatrE 310 S Greene St | 336.333.2605 www.carolinatheatre.com aug 15: Flow tribe aug 23: 2nd today

grEEnSboro coliSEum

1921 W Gate City Blvd | 336.373.7400 www.greensborocoliseum.com aug 17: Willie nelson & alison Krauss aug 23: marco antonio Solis

WhitE oaK ampithEatrE

1921 W Gate City Blvd | 336.373.7400 www.greensborocoliseum.com aug 16: ted nugent

high point

high point thEatrE

220 E Commerce Ave | 336.883.3401 www.highpointtheatre.com

raleigh

ccu muSic parK at Walnut crEEK

3801 Rock Quarry Rd | 919.831.6400 www.livenation.com aug 15: brad paisley aug 18: breaking benjamin aug 23: chris Young aug 24: beck & cage the Elephant

rEd hat amphithEatEr 500 S McDowell St | 919.996.8800 www.redhatamphitheater.com aug 14: 21 Savage aug 18: Flogging molly & Social

August 14-20, 2019

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photos

VISIT YESWEEKLY.COM/GALLERIES TO SEE MORE PHOTOS!

[FACES & PLACES]

by Natalie Garcia

AROUND THE TRIAD YES! Weekly’s Photographer

Dwight Bowers Memorial & Dance Party at Cafe Europa 8.11.19 | Greensboro

The Sportscenter Athletic Club is a private membership club dedicated to providing the ultimate athletic and recreational facilities for our members of all ages. Conveniently located in High Point, we provide a wide variety of activities for our members. We’re designed to incorporate the total fitness concept for maximum benefits and total enjoyment.

We cordially invite all of you to be a part of our athletic facility, while enjoying the membership savings we offer our established corporate accounts.

3811 Samet Dr • HigH Point, nC 27265 • 336.841.0100 FITNESS ROOM • INDOOR TRACK • INDOOR AQUATICS CENTER • OUTDOOR AQUATICS CENTER • RACQUETBALL BASKETBALL • CYCLING • OUTDOOR SAND VOLLEYBALL • INDOOR VOLLEYBALL • AEROBICS • MULTI-PURPOSE ROOM WHIRLPOOL • MASSAGE THERAPY • PROGRAMS & LEAGUES • SWIM TEAMS • WELLNESS PROGRAMS PERSONAL TRAINING • TENNIS COURTS • SAUNA • STEAM ROOM • YOGA • PILATES • FREE FITNESS ASSESSMENTS F R EE EQUI PM E N T O R I E N TAT I O N • N U R S ERY • TEN N IS LES S O N S • W IRELESS I NTERNET LOUNGE

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AUGUST 14-20, 2019

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hot pour PRESENTS

[BARTENDERS OF THE WEEK | BY NATALIE GARCIA] Check out videos on our Facebook!

BARTENDER: Piper Blanks

WINNERS

Burke St. Pub’s Charity Golf Tournament

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Longest drive: Annie Cartwright Closest to the pin: Johnny Anderson Tie for 1st place at 19 under par.. scorecard playoff with Team Restaurant 101 winning 1st and Team Jim McDowell 2nd. 3rd place Team Bryan Daniel

BAR: Axe Club of America AGE: 22 WHERE ARE YOU FROM? I was born in Hickory, N.C., but was raised in Stokes County, N.C. HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN BARTENDING? I have been bartending for nearly a year.

HOW DID YOU BECOME A BARTENDER? Honestly, I just stood behind the bar and started taking over. I enjoy talking to people, and luckily I’m a quick learner because my bartending knowledge was limited in the beginning.

WHAT DO YOU ENJOY ABOUT BARTENDING? The rush! I feel like most people would say the customers, (which I really do enjoy each and every customer I get the chance to serve) but I really enjoy being busy behind the bar.

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE DRINK TO MAKE? Axe Club of America does not serve liquor, but I do enjoy pouring all the drafts that we have!

We rotate our drafts, so we usually always have something different to try.

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE DRINK TO DRINK? My beer of choice is a White Zombie!

Rum and coke, when available, will always be my option number one.

WHAT WOULD YOU RECOMMEND AS AN AFTER-DINNER DRINK? My choice of an after-dinner drink is red wine! You’ll only need one giant cup and it tastes delicious.

WHAT’S THE CRAZIEST THING YOU’VE SEEN WHILE BARTENDING? Luckily for me, I have not witnessed anything super crazy ( yet!) my customers are usually really responsible and respectful. I have had a few run-ins with the stumblers and had to cut them off, which can always get a little awkward.

WHAT’S THE BEST TIP YOU’VE EVER GOTTEN? I don’t kiss and tell but I will say that my customers do take care of me. I love being part of such an amazing facility, and I’m able to interact with my customers in so many ways that I’m just glad I can make sure they are as satisfied as they can be!

AUGUST 14-20, 2019 YES! WEEKLY

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Summer Music Series with Carri & The Good Watts at Double Oaks Bed & Breakfast 8.11.19 | Greensboro

YES! WEEKLY

AUGUST 14-20, 2019

Elm Street Lounge with Sumthin 4 Tha People Band 8.11.19 | Greensboro

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last call

30

[THE ADVICE GODDESS] love • sex • dating • marriage • questions

LEWD AWAKENING

A guy I don’t know well sent me a creepy Facebook message with pervy language. Next, he messaged me a bunch of tantra memes — sex as a Amy Alkon celebration, blah, blah, blah. It grossed Advice me out. Why would Goddess a guy think he can be so blatantly sexual out of nowhere?

What should you say to a guy who does this? — Yuck When a guy messaging you starts sounding like Rumi or some other ancient elder, it’s usually for good reason — like that he’s short on hookup partners and the market’s way behind in building realistic washable sex robots.

It would be instructive for men who do this to consider sex differences in the appeal of unsolicited genital selfconstruction8.pdf 1 2/24/2019 01:34:58 ies — sent, for example, by strangers on

YES! WEEKLY

AUGUST 14-20, 2019

dating sites. The Kinsey Institute’s Justin Garcia reports that only 5% of women are aroused by unsolicited penis selfies; the vast majority are just grossed out by them.

As for the reception vagina selfies get, a Los Angeles woman sent 37 men on a dating site an unsolicited vagina pic (not hers, one she found on the internet). Three men replied with shirtless pix; seven sent messages about what they’d like to do to the pictured vagina; eight asked for more pix; nine sent penis selfies; and one sent a video that the woman told Metro UK included “a, um, happy ending.”

The difference in men’s and women’s responses to “down there” selfies from strangers makes sense in light of how female emotions seem to have evolved to protect women from becoming single mothers — getting knocked up and then ditched. Research by anthropologist John Marshall Townsend suggests that female emotions push women to look for signs of commitment from a man, even when they know they want nothing more than casual sex with him. This, in turn, probably leads many or most women to

be put off by overt sex talk from a man — before there seems to be an emotional connection.

Yet, perhaps due to what anthropologist Donald Symons calls the human tendency “to imagine that other minds are much like our own,” many men whip out the sex talk and the zipperwurst pix for women they barely know. If a guy who does this is some Tinder rando, you can just block him. But when it’s a male friend or other guy you’d rather not cut off entirely, you need to be straight with him — like, “Dude, from now on, you gotta keep any messages totally platonic” — and be straight with him again if he tries again. (I mean, come on...if you wanted gross unsolicited sexual comments, you’d wear a halter top and booty shorts to 7-Eleven.)

HAVING A BAWL

My best friend just got dumped by her boyfriend, and she’s totally devastated. I always thought he was a jerk, but I know saying that won’t help her feel any better.

I want to be there for her but don’t know how. What’s the best thing to say to somebody who’s heartbroken? — Lost

Assuming she isn’t all “I wanna be alone!” you really just need to show up.

You might even bring a little something: “I’m here, and I’ve got dinner. Very lowcarb, too — your ex’s head on a spike.”

The thing is, for many of us, watching somebody sob is uncomfortable along the lines of walking in on them having sex. We are clueless about what to say to the weeping person, and we often use that as reason to bolt or to not show up at all.

To be a better friend than that — to stick around when the going gets sobby — it helps to understand that sadness isn’t some pointless emotional ailment. Like a tire jack, sadness has a function. In evolutionary terms, it’s “adaptive,” meaning that over evolutionary history, it helped solve some of humans’ recurring survival and mating problems. Psychiatrist and evolutionary researcher Randolph Nesse points out in “Good Reasons for Bad Feelings: Insights from the Frontier of Evolutionary Psychiatry” that sadness slows us down and often leads us to ponder our choices, which can help us avoid putting our mistakes on endless repeat.

One way you might help your friend is

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by encouraging her to find meaning in what she went through — that is, to learn from the experience so she can make better romantic choices in the future. However, it may be too early for that. So your immediate job could be pretty simple: You’re an ear that hands her Kleenex and occasionally dispenses cheery thoughts, like the wish that a giant wandering reptile bites off his penis or a hit man dissolves him in lye in a motel bathtub.

“Peace ‘n’ love, gurl!” !

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GOT A problem? Write Amy Alkon, 171 Pier Ave, #280, Santa Monica, CA 90405, or e-mail AdviceAmy@aol.com (www.advicegoddess.com) © 2019 Amy Alkon Distributed by Creators.Com.

answers [WEEKLY SUDOKU] sudoku on page 15

241 CORMIER VS MIOCIC 2 HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE BOUT

AUG 17 SAT - 10PM DOORS OPEN AT 6:30PM ON PAY-PER-VIEW

[CROSSWORD] crossword on page 15

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