Aug 8-14, 2018
Katie St. Clair, ‘Fruiting Bodies,’; Girls Rock Charlotte; Adria Focht interview; Myers Park Baptist trip to Georgia; Sauceman’s; AfroPop! turns two
Cover Story
Katie St. Clair’s Ice Spheres Feature Beauty, Decay and Lots of Mushrooms
Colorful paintings — collages of fractured shapes and brilliant hues — will line the walls of Central Piedmont Community College’s Ross Gallery when Katie St. Clair’s exhibit Fruiting Bodies opens on August 15. But the main event arrives five days later in the form of spherical ice sculptures that will be suspended from the ceiling.…
A Medieval Crusade Inspires XOXO’s New Production
Matt Cosper is about to get medieval on all our asses. “I’m fascinated with the Middle Ages,” the 37-year-old director of local experimental theater troupe XOXO says. “I harbor this romantic notion of traveling players and pageant wagons, Robin Hood and the plague.” That last item is a tip-off to our contemporary fascination with the…
BlacKkKlansman: Writing history with lightning
BLACKKKLANSMAN ***1/2 (out of four) DIRECTED BY Spike Lee STARS John David Washington, Adam Driver When was the last time that Spike Lee directed a movie that mattered? And by “mattered,” I mean when was the last time he helmed a film that was seen by audiences, championed by critics, and discussed by the establishment?…
The Meg exhibits some bite
THE MEG **1/2 (out of four) DIRECTED BY Jon Turteltaub STARS Jason Statham, Li Bingbing The latest shark flick hoping to take a sizable chunk out of box office revenues, The Meg is largely everything you would expect from a movie in which Jason Statham elects to deliver an upper cut to Mother Nature. It’s…
Avengers: Infinity War, Breaking In, Mac and Me among new home entertainment titles
(View From The Couch is a weekly column that reviews what’s new on Blu-ray, DVD and Streaming. Ratings are on a four-star scale.) AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR (2018). Death be not proud in Avengers: Infinity War, but it certainly is loud. This 19th entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is full of sound and fury and…
The Blotter: Lost Khat
The New Speed A report surfaced last week regarding the seizure of 24 pounds of drugs in southwest Charlotte in January, but it was the type of drug that raised eyebrows. According to the report, six 4-pound packages of cathinone, or khat, was found in a business park on Sirona Drive off Shopton Road on…
Singer/songwriter Rick Spreitzer Wants to Know Where the Scene Lives
In his 30 years of songwriting, with influences ranging from Townes Van Zandt to Nick Drake, Rick Spreitzer has quietly carved his own corner in a scene illuminated by iconic local songwriters like David Childers. “Rick Spreitzer is a beautiful guy; gentle but strong and clear-sighted about the human condition.” Childers says, “He writes about…
As the Youngest President of the Charlotte Museum of History, Adria Focht is Bringing Us Into the Present Through the Past
When Adria Focht was a young girl, she and her Girl Scout troop took a trip to the Daniel Boone Homestead in a small town called Birdsboro in her home state of Pennsylvania. While she was there, she became captivated by a small case of artifacts that had been found around Boone’s birth site. Her…
Ten Years at ‘The Loaf’ and I’m Just Getting Started
I still remember the bittersweet feeling I got from having my first story published in Creative Loafing. I was a CPCC student working as a CL intern in the fall of 2008. I had pitched a story about a slew of accidents that had occured at the Duke Energy Center construction site. I had begun…
AfroPop! Celebrates Two-year Anniversary
A few weeks ago, I went to a networking event to support a friend of mine. These events aren’t a cup of tea for introverts like me. Yes, I’m an introvert. Luckily, a few familiar faces from my last job were there to put my mind at ease. After a few drinks, the stuffiness had…
Edmar Simoes Went from Never Having Cooked Barbecue to Running One of Charlotte’s Best BBQ Joints
Just seven years after its opening, Sauceman’s has consistently been a contender in the “best barbecue in Charlotte” conversation with its no-nonsense, Lexington-style barbecue. And no one is more confident in Sauceman’s style than general manager Edmar Simoes. Originally from Brazil, Simoes had never made Southern-style barbecue when he took the job at Sauceman’s six…
Local Camp Brings Young Girls Together for Week of Music and Empowerment
As each of their names were called to be assigned instruments, a roaring cheer from a group of girls rang through the room. Once everyone had an assigned instrument, the girls broke off to begin ice breaker activities. Some of them hugged old friends from previous years, lifting each other up and swinging one another…
