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College Guide: The ABCs of life outside the classroom in Charlotte
Everyone knows studying is important and all, but that can get boring. As the area colleges get back into the swing of a new semester, we, too, decided to get into the school spirit. With the help our summer interns Deborah Swearingen, Sean Billings and Brittaney Major, we bring you 26 lessons you need to…
Theater review: The Performers
You might have assumed that porn stars aren’t quite as talented as the actors and actresses you’ve seen in mainstream Hollywood movies or TV series, let alone on the Broadway stage. But did you ever suspect that porn stars are incredibly ignorant, narcissistic, stupid and shallow? That’s the chief revelation of David West Read’s The…
A Spoonful of Spirits
Before alcohol’s sole purpose was to instill us with the courage to dance and say things we’d regret come morning, its role was fueled less by indulgence and more by necessity. Back in the day, man turned to booze and botanicals to thwart every illness under the sun. It was ingested as a pain reliever…
Breakheart Pass, Phantom of the Paradise, Y Tu Mama Tambien among new home entertainment titles
(View From The Couch is a weekly column that reviews what’s new on Blu-ray and DVD.) THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 (2014). Overall, the least of this summer’s superhero flicks is a slight improvement over the rush job that was The Amazing Spider-Man, but not enough that we can feel excited about the future of this…
Charlotte paying to live up to the NBA’s standards?
Yes, because we’re obligated to.
Nan and Byron’s welcomes new executive chef
Kyle Rhodes comes from 5Church.
Theater preview: Romeo & Juliet
ShakesCar returns to the great outdoors.
Today’s Top 5: Tuesday
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today.
First Drip (8/26/14): City Council approves millions for arena upgrades, e-cigs need more regulation, more
The news you need to know today.
First Notes (08/25/2014): Suge Knight shot — no, this isn’t a headline from 1996
The latest in music happenings around the world.
Photos: Back to School Party at Solstice Tavern, 8/23/2014
Back to School Party gets rowdy at Solstice Tavern.
Photos: Heist Brewery’s Anniversary Party, 8/23/2014
Heist Brewery celebrates its anniversary luau-style.
Today’s Top 5: Monday
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today.
First Drip (8/25/14): Calvary Church pastor on administrative leave, Napa recovers from earthquake, more
The news you need to know today.
Today’s Top 5: Sunday
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today.
Today’s Top 5: Saturday
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today.
Cheap list: Silent Disco, Craft Chicks Hustle Harder, Clown Crawl and more
A list of cheap things to do in the Q.C. this weekend.
Today’s Top 5: Friday
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today.
What If this film went all the way?
WHAT IF **1/2 DIRECTED BY Michael Dowse STARS Daniel Radcliffe, Zoe Kazan Here’s the thing about What If: Unlike such past hipster rom-coms as (500) Days of Summer, Ruby Sparks and the criminally overlooked In Search of a Midnight Kiss, we really don’t care if the central lovers end up together or not. That may…
Magic in the Moonlight: Dim results
MAGIC IN THE MOONLIGHT ** DIRECTED BY Woody Allen STARS Colin Firth, Emma Stone An inconsequential trifle even by late-career standards, Magic in the Moonlight finds Woody Allen attempting to once again create movie magic; only instead of akin to pulling a rabbit out of a hat, it feels like the workaholic auteur merely plucked…
If I Stay: Leave immediately
IF I STAY ** DIRECTED BY R.J. Cutler STARS Chloë Grace Moretz, Mireille Enos Early summer found The Fault in Our Stars producing the tears in our eyes, but late summer can only offer the heaviness in our eyelids in the form of If I Stay. Like Stars, Stay is similarly adapted from a novel…
Really, senator? The coal ash bill is something we should be proud of?
We may now be a national “leader” in the governing of coal ash, but that alone says something.
It’s already time to talk turkey
It took us a few years to get the timing right to be added the turkey list, because who’s thinking about Thanksgiving in the middle of summer?
Question the Queen City: The William Treloar House
Built in 1887, the familiar structure on the corner of 7th and Brevard streets is getting a facelift.
First Drip (8/22/14): City Council to discuss arena updates, judge rules against taxpayer funds for private schools, more
The news you need to know today.
Foo Fighters Sonic Highways trailer released
New series will include a look at the history of American music.
Opening Friday
What’s new in theaters this weekend.
A silent night, from the male perspective
The crickets are in full effect in this latest dating in the Q.C. story.
Today’s Top 5: Thursday
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today.
First Drip (8/21/14): General Assembly passes coal ash bill, ISIS warns of more American beheadings, more
The news you need to know today.
BlendConf: Just what Charlotte’s tech environment needs
Unconventional, trail-blazing conference boasts a nearly 50/50 male to female speaker ratio and offers access to the larger, national tech scene.
VIDEO: Michael Brown: A pattern of violence
On Aug. 14, a wonderful group of activists held a vigil at Marshall Park for Michael Brown and other victims of police brutalization. In this first episode of Class Is In Session — the monthly column come to video — I look into the unjust slayings of Brown and others who look like him. The…
Bizarre crimes chosen from Charlotte police files (August 21)
Sound the alarm: Listening to a fire alarm is annoying, but does it warrant a call to the police? One tenant of an apartment complex in south Charlotte apparently thought so. The man — we won’t call him a victim because he was hardly victimized — called police to report that an unknown suspect pulled…
Weekly horoscope (Aug. 21-27)
For All Signs: The planet Mars (ancient god of war) conjuncts Saturn (ruler of limits and boundaries) on Monday, Aug. 25. Their coming together represents a debate between polarities: action vs. stasis, hot vs. cold, spontaneity vs. containment, individual needs vs. collective. These planets meet in the sky approximately every two years. Their conjunction urges…
CD Review: Shovels and Rope’s Swimmin’ Time
Last year, people really started freaking out about Shovels and Rope, a spitfire husband-and-wife alt-country duo from Charleston, South Carolina. Cary Ann Hearst and Michael Trent released O’ Be Joyful in mid-2012, but in 2013, dive-bar gigs graduated into the Late Show with David Letterman and Austin City Limits. They ended the year named emerging…
Flying Lessons
A million lights webbed over black earth as we radioed Nashville approach and explained our predicament. The controller’s tinny voice crackled across the night sky as our little Apache airplane thrummed toward Nashville International Airport. “Roger,” he said coolly. “Expect runway two-zero center.” My flight instructor Volker and I exchanged a glance. Shouldn’t the controller…
The Pull List (8/20/14): The Fade Out fades in
Major deal leads to “ultimate noir story.”
Live photos: Nothing More, Amos’ Southend (8/19/2014)
Hard rock band wins over small Tuesday night crowd.
Draught Charlotte is the newest addition to Third Ward
Say hello to the newest gastropub in town, opened in the old Hartigan’s spot.
#hashtaghungry: Fire in the City, Craft Chicks Hustle Harder, more
The Social Eater picks a handful of filter-friendly, tweetable, social media-shareable foodie events in and around the city.
WTF Wednesday (8/20/2014): Super Bowl eyes pay to play halftime show
Rihanna, Katy Perry and Coldplay top list of potential acts.
My eye-opening year spent in public housing
Unless you’re one of the few Charlotte-area residents who’ve never been to SouthPark Mall, you’ve probably driven past a nondescript six-story brown-brick building a few blocks down Fairview Road thousands of times without pausing to consider what goes on inside it. There’s no fancy neon sign flashing out front to draw your attention or anything…
Theater review: Five Women Wearing the same Dress
Nearly eight years after the now-defunct BareBones Theatre Group presented Five Women Wearing the Same Dress at Spirit Square, a relatively new upstart, Three Bone Theatre, has brought Alan Ball’s comedy to UpStage in NoDa. Ball’s star power has dimmed somewhat since the days when his American Beauty and Six Feet Under were scooping up…
Making the grade: Higher education at the movies
For those wondering which college-themed films pass with flying colors and which prove to be the celluloid equivalent of a dunce cap, here’s a handy checklist of several school-set stories that run the gamut from A+ to F. All are readily available to rent or buy on DVD, but CL University will not be offering…
A guide to cheap local eateries for college students
Trapped for cash and looking for a place to eat off-campus? As the school year begins, Charlotte welcomes more than 30,000 post-secondary students to campuses across the city. Here’s a roundup of some inexpensive local eateries. • In the realm of cheap eateries, Price’s Chicken Coop (1614 Camden Road, a short walk from a Lynx…
Where’s college radio in Charlotte?
Back in the ’90s, when college radio was king and Brian Cullinan was working in marketing and promotion for major labels like Columbia and Sony, he could rattle off minute details about every college radio station in the Southeast from memory, from call letters to tower heights to broadcast ranges. For the life of him,…
Beer is not just for boys
Back in my beer rep days, one of my many duties was to press the flesh at store openings. When Earth Fare opened its Huntersville location, I set up a table with five beers to sample to shoppers. I arranged the sampling order by increasing flavor intensity: Pilsner, Hefeweizen, Pale Ale, Stout and IPA. People…
