The CLog

THE WOGGLES
Formed in Athens, Ga., in 1987, The Woggles are essentially a four-piece living-breathing-singing-jamming Nuggets box set impervious to the passing of time. From the matching outfits and preponderance of 7-inches to the stage-names - Professor Mighty Manfred, Flesh Hammer, Montague and Zorko - the mid-'60s are still the font of all things swinging. That also means there's little difference in the garage-friendly blend of soul, big beat R&B, rock and surf from the band's 1993 debut TeenDanceParty to its latest, this year's The Big Beat. It's all good fun, especially live in a packed sweaty club with a beverage or two under your belt. But, at least on record, it's equally impossible not to sometimes wonder why you're not listening instead to the early progenitors ("Maximum R&B"-era Who, Mitch Ryder, The Yardbirds, et al.) who did it first. So, you know, point being, see 'em live and quit thinking about it so much; better to just let the rock wash over you for the night and cleanse the bullshit away. With Temperance League, Modern Primitives and more as part of the 6th Annual Snug 600 which runs through Sunday; Vroom-Vroom! $10. May 25, 10 p.m. Snug Harbor, 1228 Gordon St.

Tags: John Schacht, Charlotte, music, concert, preview, The Woggles, Snug Harbor, Image

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News Charlotte to participate in worldwide March Against Monsanto

Posted by Tori Wright on Fri, May 24, 2013 at 1:37 PM

Many people know very little about genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Here's a scary thought: GMOs are becoming so prevalent that some people are consuming them in every meal.

Insert a shudder here.

On Saturday, May 25, locals will gather at Marshall Park to protest Monsanto, an agricultural company that controls more than half of the global seed industry and is known for genetically modifying soybeans and other seeds. The March Against Monsanto is the first event of this significance to bring awareness to GMOs. Charlotte is one of more than 250 cities worldwide participating in the march.

Tags: GMOs, genetically modified organisms, March Against Monsanto, Monsanto, global seed industry, soybeans, protest, food, autism, Dawn Simone, Image

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Culture Question the Queen City: Remembering Mercy Hospital

Posted by David Aaron Moore on Fri, May 24, 2013 at 1:10 PM

Editor's note: In this series, local author David Aaron Moore answers reader-submitted questions about unusual, noteworthy or historic people, places and things in Charlotte. Submit inquires to davidaaronmoore@.gmail.com.

I was born at the old Mercy Hospital - now CMC-Mercy - in Charlotte's Elizabeth neighborhood back in the 1960s. The hospital has changed so much in recent years it's barely recognizable, but I still feel a connection to the site. Do you know much about its history? - Nancy Mills O'Brien, Charlotte

Postcards depict Mercys evolution over the years

Courtesy Carolinas Health Care
Postcards depict Mercy's evolution over the years

Tags: David Aaron Moore, Question the Queen City, Mercy General Hospital, Charlotte, history, CMC-Mercy, hospital, Belmont, Sisters of Mercy, Catholic, Charleston, Wilmington, convent, nuns, sisters, St. Peter's Catholic Church, Tryon Street, Vail Street, World War II, Sprot, Barnet, Bingham, Image

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Arts The rundown of Spoleto Festival

Posted by Perry Tannenbaum on Fri, May 24, 2013 at 12:39 PM

Program books ready and posters lining the shop windows, Spoleto Festival USA begins its annual 17-day siege of Charleston today - heaped up as high as ever with events sure to challenge and excite performing arts gluttons from around the globe. The most prestigious and substantial arts festival in the Western Hemisphere comes at us for the first time in 37 seasons without its kingpin venue, Gaillard Auditorium.

Not to worry, Dock Street Theatre and Sottile Theatre will take up the slack for theater and opera, while a new hall, the TD Arena at the College of Charleston, will enter the rotation, freshly outfitted for concert and dance presentations. Through torrential rains and torrid heat, we've been covering Spoleto for the past 20 years, as charmed by the city and its cuisine as we've been by the performers.

Of course, the global convergence on Charleston is about the artists as much as it is about the tourists. Whether it's jazz, opera, theater, classical music, or dance, the international variety of the fare is as impressive as the artistry. There is more of a pop flavoring to the concert lineup these days - perhaps because that music has achieved classic status after 37 years! - and sufferings of ticketholders have been greatly alleviated with the renovation of the quaint Dock Street venue. Now the workhorse of the festival is air-conditioned!

We'll be down in Charleston, sampling about 25 of the 160 performances, keeping you posted on the CLog. Here are the highlights:

Theater
New twists on the classics will be grabbing the most attention. A new take on Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream moves into Dock Street for the duration of the festival (May 24-June 9), presented by the Bristol Old Vic in cahoots with the Handspring Puppet Company. Maybe you want to see War Horse here in Charlotte to be convinced - but the same artistic team, Vic's Tom Morris and Handspring's Basil Jones and Adrian Kohler, are behind this US premiere.

A Midsummer Nights Dream (credit: Simon Annand)

A Midsummer Night's Dream (credit: Simon Annand)

Late in the festival, the legendary Steven Berkoff directs his own new adaptation of Sophocles' Oedipus (June 4-8) at Memminger Auditorium. He'll be in town for an interview with Martha Teichner two days before opening night - and acting the role of Creon. Even later comes the pioneering Intergalactic Nemesis (June 5-9) a two-part graphic novel epic presented by three live actors voicing dozens of characters, a Foley artist creating live sound effects, and more than 1,250 comic book images projected on a two-story-high screen.

Of the two one-man shows, Bullet Catch (June 5-9) seems to be the most intriguing, with Rob Drummond chronicling the history of the most notorious - and lethal - trick in the magician's art. At the other extreme, Compagnie XY brings back the family-friendly circus tradition to Spoleto with Le Grand C (May 22-June 1) at Memminger.

Tags: Spoleto Festival USA, Charleston, SC, theater, Image

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Arts Art show highlights issues faced by immigrants

Posted by Bo McMillan on Fri, May 24, 2013 at 11:15 AM

Inspired by the recent turmoil over immigration reform, Charlotte-area Latino artists are banding together to "raise awareness about immigrants and the undocumented community."

This Saturday, OBRA Collective hosts a one-night-only art show and poetry reading focused on immigration reform. The event will also feature drinks, antojitos (Mexican appetizers) and desserts from Take the Cake Bake Shop.

OBRA, the art advocacy group behind the show, stands for "Observe, Bridge, Respond, Art." Essentially, the collective uses art to highlight issues that immigrants, both undocumented and legal, face on a day-to-day basis. Through the works, they hope to initiate conversations and bridge gaps between members of the Charlotte community.

As of now, the group currently has works on display at the Latin American Coalition on Central Avenue. OBRA is open to any artist interested in social activist art related to immigrants in the U.S.

Free admission. May 25, 7 p.m.-10 p.m. 300 W. Morehead St. For more information, visit http://obracollective.wordpress.com.

Tags: OBRA Collective, art, exhibit, visual arts, poetry reading, immigration reform, undocumented, Charlotte, NC, Image

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Music Menu Seryn at Visulite Theatre tonight (5/24/13)

Posted by Pat Moran on Fri, May 24, 2013 at 10:54 AM

Seryn
Using mainly acoustic instruments including ukelele, accordion and banjo, Texas-based six-piece Seryn craft shifting, swelling, almost liturgical compositions that bear a passing resemblance to folk, while sharing common touchstones with indie-pop. Seryn's multi-instrumental live presentation has been described as "a music shop (that) threw up onstage," and they occasionally need to nod to audiences to let folks know when their lengthy, ebbing and flowing compositions have come to an end. Frequently compared to the ubiquitous Mumford & Sons, and to the sprawling, folk-inflected song cycles of Sufjan Stevens, Seryn are both freakier than the Mumfords and more grounded than Stevens. Closer comparisons are the orchestrated Americana of Van Dyke Parks and the meditative cyclical classicism of guitarist James Blackshaw. Seryn's achingly beautiful five part harmonies easily outstrip anything the Fleet Foxes ever attempted, hitting the sweet spot occupied by Brian Eno at his most meditative. True to their name which draws from the first two syllables of "serenade" and "serenity," Seryn make joyful noise that seems to be searching for the eye of a psychic storm. Call it "third eye music." With Brave Baby. $8/$10. May 24, 8 p.m. Visulite Theatre, 1615 Elizabeth Ave. 704-358-9200.

Tags: Pat Moran, Charlotte, music, concert, preview, Seryn, Visulite Theatre, Image

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Arts / Today's Top Five Today's Top 5: Friday

Posted by Anita Overcash on Fri, May 24, 2013 at 10:30 AM

Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today, May 24, 2013 as selected by the folks at Creative Loafing.

* Proof at Carolina Actor's Studio Theatre

* Anna Egge at McGlohon Theater

* Seryn at Visulite Theatre

* Gatsby Gala at Sullivan's Steakhouse

* Outlaw Showdown at Charlotte Motor Speedway

Tags: Proof, Carolina Actor's Studio Theatre, Anna Egge, McGlohon Theater, Seryn, Visulite Theatre, Gatsby Gala, Sullivan's Steakhouse, Outlaw Showdown, Charlotte Motor Speedway, Charlotte, NC, Image

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Music Menu Anna Egge at McGlohon Theater tonight (5/24/13)

Posted by Pat Moran on Fri, May 24, 2013 at 8:34 AM

ANA EGGE
Given her unusual upbringing, Brooklyn-based folk troubadour Ana Egge was bound to be a free spirit. Raised on a hot springs hippie commune in rural New Mexico, Egge learned to build her own guitar from her alternative school's astrology teacher. Egge still plays that guitar today, singing about self-sufficiency, restlessness and the road in a clear, warm alto which suggests a harder edged Gillian Welch. Even when she's being playful, as with her 2007 covers collection, Lazy Days, which focuses on songs about idleness, Egge's catchy Americana harbors a haunted nourish streak. It's this combination of easy-going panache and underlying edge that led peer Lucinda Williams to call Egge, "the Nina Simone of folk." Egge's road took an even harder turn in 2011 when she teamed with producer Steve Earle to create the LP Bad Blood, a clear-eyed examination of the mental illness that runs in her family. Even tainted with the ravages of madness, Egge's songs retain graceful composure, effortless melodicism and a sense of hope. Consciously avoiding shock and melodrama, Egge's unflinching examination of the heartland's dark underbelly is tempered with acceptance and understanding. Opening for The Steel Wheels. $17.50. May 24, 8 p.m. McGlohon Theater, 345 N. College St. 704-372-1000.