Cover Story
Building momentum: The Avett Brothers
Halfway down the driveway to the Avett family farm in Concord, Scott Avett slows his truck to a stop. His father, Jim, watches as the 36-year-old jumps out, grabs some bales of hay from the side of the road and tosses them into a trailer. Scott wasn’t asked to help out. That’s just the way…
Fiona Apple at the Fillmore tonight (9/26/2012)
Apple often finds the perfect balance in pop sensibility, while flirting with hints of rock and jazz.
Quadrophenia, Titanic among new home entertainment titles
(View From The Couch is a weekly column that reviews what’s new on Blu-ray and DVD.) DAMSELS IN DISTRESS (2012). It doesn’t quite match the 20-year stretch when Terrence Malick sat out cinema (between 1978’s Days of Heaven and 1998’s The Thin Red Line), but until Damsels in Distress, writer-director-producer Whit Stillman hadn’t made a…
New Food Truck Spotted: Papi Queso
Your mission? Find this food truck, selling grown-up grilled cheese sammies.
A good one
A lesson in learning how to appreciate your loved ones
CD Review: Baroness’ Yellow and Green
Baroness has always been difficult to categorize. Like peers Torche and Mastodon, its brand of metal includes pop-, prog- and indie-rock elements. But with the band’s latest, Yellow and Green, the Savannah, Ga., quartet pushes even further afield leaving its hard rock roots in the dust on an 18-song double album as inspired by Yes…
Capsule reviews of films playing the week of Sept. 21
THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN Perhaps it’s best to think of Sam Raimi’s 2002 Spider-Man and Marc Webb’s 2012 The Amazing Spider-Man as the cinematic equivalents of Coke Classic and New Coke. Despite some alterations to the source material (hey, where’s Gwen Stacy?), the Raimi take earned the trust of most purists, offering a near-perfect Peter Parker…
Bizarre crimes From Charlotte police files (Sept. 20 edition)
Slimy Sweet Tooth: Employees at a local Compare Foods caught a woman with a cavity death wish shoplifting last week. She tried to leave the store with a package of Oreos, a box of Jolly Ranchers, a bag of M&M Almonds and a bag of sugar. I’m Buggin’: A 44-year-old man called police last week…
Modern Times at EpiCentre tonight
All-time classic comedy will be screened this evening.
The Wombats at the Visulite Theatre tonight (9/24/2012)
The Liverpool band’s witty, snarky, “here’s the punch line” lyrics inspire sing-alongs.
Which frozen yogurt should you choose?
When the last gasps of summer get you down, there is no lack of frozen yogurt in Charlotte to chill you out. The number of fro-yo shops has more than tripled in the past few years, but choosing the right place to dump your hard-earned money can be a challenge, depending on whom you choose…
3 questions with Wen Lee, co-owner of Honey Buns
Americans have a history of appropriating other cultures’ cuisines and making them our own (see flavored hummus and breakfast burritos). Wen Lee and her husband, Chung Huang, are prime examples. This past spring, the couple opened a second location for their counter shop, Honey Buns, inside the Super G Mart, an international grocery store on…
Arrested Development at Amos’ Southend tonight (9/22/2012)
It’s been 20 years since Arrested Development topped the charts with its debut single “Tennessee.”
Sex Slaves tonight at Tremont Music Hall (9/22/2012)
Sex Slaves deliver glammy, punked-up ear candy designed to give you a hard-rock boner.
Weekend Film Reviews: Trouble with the Curve; The Master; Compliance
What’s new and covered in movie theaters.
Trouble with the Curve: Slow pitch
TROUBLE WITH THE CURVE **1/2 DIRECTED BY Robert Lorenz STARS Clint Eastwood, Amy Adams Following the worst performance of his career — his co-starring role opposite an empty chair at the recent Republican National Convention (the Oscar campaign is understandably being built around the chair) — Clint Eastwood returns to sturdier terrain with the baseball…
The Master: Testing viewer faith
THE MASTER **1/2 DIRECTED BY Paul Thomas Anderson STARS Joaquin Phoenix, Philip Seymour Hoffman There’s a great scene in Milos Forman’s 1984 Oscar winner Amadeus when Mozart (Tom Hulce) tries to convince Emperor Joseph II (Jeffrey Jones) to allow him to stage a particular opera. Replies the Emperor, “You are passionate … but you do…
Compliance: Call berating
COMPLIANCE *** DIRECTED BY Craig Zobel STARS Ann Dowd, Dreama Walker One of the most deeply disturbing movies of recent vintage, Compliance opens with the words “Inspired By True Events,” a declaration that should always be taken with a grain — or pound — of salt. Yet my post-viewing exercise consisted of tracking down information…
An American experiment in democracy
The Democratic National Convention was the cause of my sleep paralysis and a 0-1 start to my fantasy football season. But no matter. As a reporter, I was looking forward to properly documenting the first black president coming to the “New South” to be re-nominated. I cast aside law school and amassed a stockpile of…
Local Traumatic singer appears on ‘X Factor’
Charlotte’s Julia Bullock gets nods of approval from the four judges.
Phoenix, 9/20/2012
Photos from Thursday night.
Peculiar Rabbit opens
Plaza Midwood’s newest restaurant covers the gamut of Asian Fusion to New American.
The Color Purple: The Showstopper
Northwest School of the Arts production is, in a word, phenomenal.
Recipe: Spicy Red Pepper and Tomato Soup
This soup is as easy as it is elegant.
North Mississippi Allstars at Neighborhood Theatre tonight (9/21/2012)
Rootsy, rollicking Southern rock full of bluesy bluster and fuzzy guitars.
Rosco Bandana at the Evening Muse tonight (9/21/2012)
Rosco Bandana plays a clean mix of wide-screen vocals, rootsy folk and fiery bluegrass with a Skynyrd-fried dollop of loud guitars.
Holy Ghost Tent Revival at Visulite Theatre tonight
The band makes old-timey folk-pop in the bluegrass and jugband vein.
Weekly horoscope: Sept. 20-26
Libra The Scales (Sept. 22-Oct. 22)Many who are upset will be seeking your solace and gift of listening. Do not overload your schedule because even you, the peaceful warrior, may feel short-tempered. Drive carefully. Vehicles, tools or other things may suddenly break. Concentrate on staying with your center. For All Signs: The second of seven…
Religion and politics: A deadly mix
Dear God in heaven, creator of the universe, foundation of our being, Brahma, Yahweh, Allah, Manitou, whatever name you like best, please do all of us schmoes down here a big favor and take religion out of our politics. It’s making people stupid and driving everyone else crazy. Thank you and amen. There’s little chance…
Opening Friday
What’s new in theaters this weekend.
An open letter to Mr. Romney from a Latina
Just because you talk the talk doesn’t mean you walk the walk
This week’s concert listings (Sept. 20-Sept. 26)
** Bullet points indicate CL’s critics’ picks** Thursday, Sept. 20 Blues/Roots/International Bayou Butch Lucas (Villa Antonio (Ballantyne)) Latin Thursdays (Dream Nightclub, Matthews) Classical/Jazz/Smooth Beats and Keys (Encore Bistro and Bar) John Alexander (Blue Restaurant & Bar) Country/Folk Bill Yates and the Country Gentlemen Tribute Band (Denton FarmPark, Denton) The Farewell Drifters (Evening Muse) Open Mic…
Introducing CL’s new electronic gaming column
(Starting this month, Creative Loafing is proud to offer a new gaming column. Console Me, which will consist of previews, reviews and commentary, is penned by Charlotte writer Adam Frazier, a regular contributor to CL and the websites Geeks of Doom and Hollywood News.) Let’s kick off this week’s installment of Console Me with Star…
On Q Productions brings us two for the show
History isn’t nearly as tidy or malleable as art. That’s why On Q Performing Arts can bring us a season of revolution with a predetermined beginning, middle and end. With Kiss My Black Angst, at a venue where Q has never presented a mainstage production before, the beginning is provocative, exciting and worth checking out…
Impressions of the Democratic National Convention
No more road blocks or helicopters circling Uptown. No more black SUVs. No more worrying about all the things that could go wrong. By most accounts, everything during the Democratic National Convention went right. But what impression did it leave on the city? Just before convention week, we asked some Charlotteans what they wanted or…
The Light Factory’s film roster of ’72
Oscar winners, box office hits and cult classics all included in four-day film series.
Jennifer Roberts surprisingly close to Pittenger in recent poll
The dark horse rises
Black Sunday, Chico & Rita, Re-Animator among new home entertainment titles
(View From The Couch is a weekly column that reviews what’s new on Blu-ray and DVD.) BLACK SUNDAY (1960) / HATCHET FOR THE HONEYMOON (1970) / LISA AND THE DEVIL (1974) / THE HOUSE OF EXORCISM (1974). One of the leading directors of Italian horror cinema (along with Dario Argento, Lucio Fulci and a couple…
Election 2012 Notebook: In Mitt Romney video, Mr. Monopoly lives
If only the GOP nominee had that iconic mustache
No sleep till… who the hell knows?
The ever-frustrating search for that most precious commodity
Craftoberfest tickets still available
Missed out on tickets to Oktoberfest? Here’s the next best thing.
Live review: Mary J. Blige/D’Angelo, Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre (9/16/2012)
Hip-hop soul collided with neo-soul in University City Saturday night.
Are the Avett Brothers America’s last great rock band?
In 1975, music journalist and culture critic Greil Marcus published one of the great pieces of pop-music literature, Mystery Train: Images of America in Rock ‘n’ Roll. It was a wildly exciting ride through the heart and soul of American folk song that blended myth and fiction, social commentary and cultural history — and a…
Music Festival 411
After a summer of stellar area festivals that brought hundreds of bands — Archers of Loaf headlined Charlotte’s Recess Fest while Raleigh’s Hopscotch brought Yo La Tengo, the Roots and the Jesus & Mary Chain — we’re heading into the fall music festival season with plenty more going on across the region. From the mountains…
