Cover Stories
CL‘s Guide to CIAA 2012
This week isn’t just about the parties – it’s about experiencing Charlotte the very best way you can.
CIAA 2012: Mode Noir puts a runway in the middle of the mayhem
Sean Combs, better known as Diddy, is a man known for many things, including his Sean John clothing line and Ciroc vodka. He’s an entrepreneur who banks on his brands, and he does it with style. This week, Diddy will host a party at the N.C. Music Factory during the CIAA tournament (which draws tens…
A Separation: Scenes from a marriage
A SEPARATION ***1/2 DIRECTED BY Asghar Farhadi STARS Peyman Moadi, Leila Hatami When Asghar Farhadi recently collected the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, the Iranian writer-director of A Separation stated that the name of his country “is spoken here through her glorious culture, a rich and ancient culture that has been hidden under…
Gone: No escape from implausibilities
GONE ** DIRECTED BY Heitor Dhalia STARS Amanda Seyfried, Daniel Sunjata Let’s give this much credit to Gone: It plays it straight. In an era in which filmmakers come up with increasingly convoluted ways to trick audiences with all manner of daft plot pirouettes, this new thriller respects viewers enough to present the whodunit aspect…
Wanderlust loses its way
WANDERLUST ** DIRECTED BY David Wain STARS Paul Rudd, Jennifer Aniston As scattershot and unfocused as its characters, Wanderlust casts Paul Rudd and Jennifer Aniston as George and Linda, a Manhattan couple who have just purchased their first home (a “micro-loft,” no bigger than one of Donald Trump’s closets). But when George loses his job…
Anais Mitchell plays The Evening Muse (3/6/12)
ANAÏS MITCHELL With her fourth album, Young Man in America, singer-songwriter Anaïs Mitchell follows up the success of her 2010 folk opera, Hadestown. Young Man continues Mitchell’s tradition of taking on different character voices to tell stories through her music. The sweet tone of her grounded vocals dissipate any sense of pretentiousness to let her…
Today’s Top 5: Tuesday
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today.
Edward Sharpe, Polyphonic Spree, Jane’s Addiction coming to Charlotte
A couple of quick concert announcements today — • Jane’s Addiction will bring their “Theatre of the Escapists” to Charlotte’s Ovens Auditorium on May 23, 2012. Tickets go on sale on March 9 at 10 a.m. • The Polyphonic Spree are coming to the McGlohon Theatre on May 28. • Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic…
CIAA 2012: A recap on the fashion
A lot of do’s, a lot of don’ts …
Taking Back Sunday singer shatters leg
When I heard Taking Back Sunday singer Adam Lazarra broke his leg over the weekend due to a tree falling, my assumption was that the Charlotte resident was injured during the storms that spawned tornadoes in the area. Actually, he was in Michigan where the band is working on its next studio album. Not exactly…
Fashion meets surrealism at the Mint for ArtFusion: Surrealism and Beyond
Surrealism, high fashion from two local fashion designers and taking place at one of Uptown’s coolest spots? Yes, please.
Charlotte Film Festival Preview: Q&A with Louis Gurgitano
A candid discussion with the head of the Charlotte Film Festival, which starts this week.
Fashion review: Mode Noir, March 2
The black tie finale brought a larger crowd and a longer list of talented designers to the spotlight at the Harvest Center.
CIAA 2012: J. Cole at The Fillmore, 3/3/12
With a special guest appearance by T.I.!
LunaFest screens films by women
Nine culturally diverse short films will be screened at Mint Museum Randolph.
CIAA 2012: Finale at Founders Hall, 3/3/12
Photos from Maz Entertainment’s Finale CIAA party.
CIAA 2012: Cufflinks: The Day Party at Enso, 3/3/12
The Kappas hosted a CIAA shindig at Enso, dubbed Cufflinks: The Day Party.
CIAA 2012: Uptown Saturday at Blue Restaurant, 3/3/12
Photos from Digital Divas’ day party at Blue.
CIAA 2012: Enchanted at The Urban Garden, 3/2/12
DesMarq Events hosted an “enchanting” CIAA party at Urban Garden on Friday, March 1.
Fashion review: Mode Noir, March 1
Day two brought couture, Lipp Boutique, Elle VJ and more.
Today’s Top 5: Monday
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today.
Le Concert film screening
Charlotte Jewish Film Festival continues at Temple Israel.
The Mantras with Dopapod play the Visulite Theatre (3/3/12)
THE MANTRAS/DOPAPOD Greensboro quintet The Mantras’ P-Funk chops and cred are unimpeachable, having supported George Clinton’s crew. Weeding out their early Zappa fixation, The Mantras mine metal, middle eastern and jazz-rock in a mix that’s more ’70s fusion than ’90s jam band. Pumping popping bass, crisp percussion and crunchy guitar accents add up to the…
J. Cole at The Fillmore Charlotte tonight (3/3/12)
J. COLE He may have started with a dollar and a dream when he dropped his first mixtape, but one Jay-Z signing and a Grammy nod later, J. Cole is riding high while keeping his underground cred. Critically, his commercial success has cast Cole between a Roc Nation and a hard place: The big label…
Blacklight exhibit at Genome
Nick Bloomberg and Katie Schuler showcase new works in Lux Operon.
Friday Film Reviews: A Separation; Gone; Wanderlust
Here’s what’s newly covered on the cinema scene.
Reminder: Madonna tickets on sale Monday, March 5
If it was 25 years ago, you’d see hundreds of people camped out in tents this weekend outside of Time Warner Cable Arena, competing with the throngs in town for the CIAA. However, those in tents would be waiting for the box office to open on Monday morning, March 5, at 10 a.m. That’s when…
CIAA 2012: Pink Groove 7 at Phoenix, 3/1/12
Photos from the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority party.
CIAA 2012: Diverse Thursdays at Dharma Lounge, 3/1/12
Photos from the CI edition of Diverse Thursdays.
Theater review: Jersey Boys
The diminutive Frankie is back for another sojourn.
On Q production honors jazz legends
Miles & Coltrane: Blue(.) remembers Miles Davis and John Coltrane.
Naked Gods play The Milestone tonight (3/2/12)
NAKED GODS These Boone deities turned in one of last year’s best regional spins with the superb No Jams, an ironic title only if you really believed you’d find 20-minute noodle-fests here. Instead, the tightly crafted Pavement-meets-Beachwood Sparks tracks offer appealingly meandering grooves and stoned musings that capture western N.C.’s mountain vibe without once resorting…
Today’s Top 5: Friday
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today.
Waka Flocka Flame at Bojangles’ Coliseum (3/2/12)
WAKA FLOCKA FLAME Southern party-rap talent Waka Flocka Flame makes the sort of music the word “crunk” was invented for. The mixtape warrior has attached his name to such club and radio rap luminaries as Gucci Mane and Nicki Minaj. Now, he’s shaking booties across America in advance of his upcoming sophomore release, Triple F…
Fashion review: Mode Noir, Feb. 29
The first night featured day and casual wear from local stores like Francesca’s and finale designer Charles Lynch.
Crockpot Arsenal: Teriyaki Sesame Pork with Asian Slaw
If you like sweet and smoky barbecue sauce, this will be right up your alley, but also a nice change of pace.
CIAA 2012: Pop Life at RE:Public, Phoenix 2/29/12
Wednesday night, Feb. 29, was the unofficial kickoff to CIAA party weekend.
A.W.O.L. announces 2012 lineup
Robert Randolph will headline 2012 event in April.
Opening Friday
What’s new in theaters this weekend.
Truckfighters at Tremont Music Hall tonight (3/1/12)
TRUCKFIGHTERS There’s something absolutely ridiculous about desert rock, so don’t hold it against Sweden’s Truckfighters that they come from a country with no deserts. Yet this ostensibly southwestern branch of drug rock, driven by fuzzed-beyond-recognition guitar tone and purposefully overblown stoner psychedelia, almost hinges on pure absurdity. How else, in today’s minefield of ironic metal…
North Mississippi Allstars at Neighborhood Theatre (3/1/12)
NORTH MISSISSIPPI ALLSTARS Last year, Cody and Luther Dickinson turned in the best album of North Mississippi Allstars’ career, following the death of the brothers’ legendary father, Jim Dickinson — a staple of Southern music whose magic fingers touched everything from the Stones’ classic Muscle Shoals recordings to American punk greats the Replacements. The Dickinson…
Violet Lights rock the Milestone (3/1/12)
THE VIOLET LIGHTS This Los Angeles twosome is touring in support of its debut EP, Sex & Sound. Their self-produced, self-funded record has launched the band’s music career without the help of a major music label. Though hailing from the West Coast, The Violet Lights’ sound is more akin to british pop and garage rock…
Today’s Top 5: Thursday
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today.
Blackfoot Gypsies at Double Door Inn (2/29/12)
BLACKFOOT GYPSIES Making Keith Richards’ riffs (circa Exile on Main St.) sound clean by comparison, this raggedy duo meshes rock, blues and country with funky rawness. It’s all in good fun as the blokes rearrange vintage country with a glorious racket that only guitars, drums, and drunken howling can create, when in the right hands,…
The Fishing Journal play Snug Harbor tonight (2/29/12)
THE FISHING JOURNAL Part of the burgeoning music scene in the Palmetto state, this trio is the vehicle for the songs of ex-Death Becomes Even the Maiden’s Chris Powell, ex-Restoration drummer Josh Latham and Mercy Shot bassist Reno Gooch. The band’s eponymous six-song EP last year felt like the last decade of synth-pop and glo-stick…
Theater review: Race
Carolina Actors Studio Theatre takes on David Mamet play.
Democratic National Convention 2012 Notebook: Kathleen Sebelius redefines ‘American Values’ at a very political gala
At the Human Rights Campaign’s Saturday night gala, the choice between what Democrats and Republicans stand for could not have been clearer.
Crown Station, 2/24/12
Photos from the New Flesh party last Saturday.
Today’s Top 5: Wednesday
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today.
Fashion-focused events posing for CIAA 2012
Here are three great events to wet your style whistle
All About Style: T. Strong launches new video blog, visits Lotus
The fashionista chats up Jackie Rodney at Lotus about CIAA fashion.
Win tickets to Tales of Edgar Allan Poe
Children’s Theatre of Charlotte’s Tales of Edgar Allan Poe gives a devious twist to family-friendly fare.
LOL: Comedy in the Q.C.
A roundup of CL’s top picks for comedy shows in Charlotte this week.
What is Mecklenburg County Commission Chairman Harold Cogdell up to?
After jockeying for the top position on the county board, the Democrat (or, uh, NOT Democrat) quits.
Perversion of Justice in the drug war
I was giddy as I approached the office of a federal prison camp set in the bleak, Victorville, Calif., desert. I had flown to California from Charlotte, then driven two hours in a rented KIA to be present at the moment Hamedah Hasan was released after serving 18 years. “I’m here to pick up my…
CIAA 2012: Shaw-shot redemption?
Led by Malik Alvin, the Raleigh private university has some teams to beat in the CIAA tournament The Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association tournament returns to Charlotte this week to celebrate its 100th anniversary, and contrary to popular belief, there’s actually basketball being played in between all the parties. On the court, this year’s tournament is…
Anatomy of a Murder, Scarlet Street, Unforgiven among new home entertainment titles
ANATOMY OF A MURDER (1959). A Molotov cocktail of a movie when it first appeared in 1959, Anatomy of a Murder was so controversial that audiences were taken aback by both its frank language and unexpected ambiguities, and Mayor Richard Daley even went so far as to prohibit it from playing in Chicago. The picture…
CIAA 2012: Savor the flavors in the CLT
Charlotte has everything under the sun when it comes to dining: from food trucks to five stars, you can find anything your belly desires.
New Charlotte eateries look to the past to take them forward
As this year’s elections approach, the eyes of the nation are turning to Charlotte. With the Democratic National Convention expected to bring in at least 30,000 delegates, service industry folks know it’s their time to shine. People making the pilgrimage will no doubt want their share of Southern fare, and thanks to three new Queen…
3 questions with Randall York of Cloister Honey
3 questions with Randall York of Cloister Honey A beehive isn’t a typical gift, but that’s what Randall York received four years ago as a Christmas present from Joanne Young. An interest in, and understanding of, the winged insects, coupled with a love for the sweet natural fluid they produce, led the two to acquire…
CIAA 2012: CL’s picks of the very best parties
Our picks for some of the very best parties happening during tournament week.
Weekly Horoscope (Feb. 29-March 6)
On this round of Mercury, keep your computer backed up every day. Electronic snafus are probable.
CIAA 2012 celebrates 30 years of hip-hop
When Doug E. Fresh hits 5th Element on Thursday morning, March 1, to do his human beatbox thing, perform a little “Dougie” dance and maybe break into a few Get Fresh classics like “The Show,” CIAA partiers over 40 will dutifully mouth all the words and shake their middle-aged booties. It’ll be a nostalgia-fest, for…
Too late to be bad: Jeremy Mayfield and NASCAR history
Former NASCAR driver Jeremy Mayfield was in trouble again last week, charged with possession of stolen property. Not too many people were surprised. Mayfield has, as they say, a “history.” The new charges — which Mayfield says are the result of the DA being in cahoots with NASCAR — came just three months after a…
Mr. 704 represents Charlotte’s hip-hop
With Charlotte’s continued emergence as one of the nation’s fastest-growing and culturally evolving cities, it seems shocking that her urban streets have still yet to produce a serious hip-hop scene. That used to be the case for other major cities in the New South too, like Atlanta and Miami, but the rap wave washed over…
CIAA 2012: Comedy, spoken word, theater events
Now going into its third year, the Royal Comedy Tour must be doing something right.
Going Beyond: Surrealism at center of three Mint exhibits
There are probably few movements as closely associated with the stereotype of the flamboyant, crazy artist — or that have spawned so many bad imitators — as Surrealism. So it’s refreshing to see three exhibitions at Mint Museum Uptown, collectively titled Surrealism & Beyond, that address a few of the less-hyped aspects of this groundbreaking…
Book review: American Rising:The Untold Story of America’s Largest Slave Revolt by Daniel Rasmussen
American Uprising: The Untold Story of America’s Largest Slave Revolt by Daniel Rasmussen (Harper Perennial, 288 pp., $15.99). In January 1811, 500 or so slaves in south Louisiana, armed primarily with farm implements, marched for two days toward New Orleans. Most of them wore military uniforms, their leaders rode horses, and together they set fire…
CIAA 2012: Fashion do’s and don’ts
It’s high time someone shed a little light on the style challenges that simply don’t have to be.
Bizarre crimes from Charlotte police files
Iced: An employee at a local Kangaroo Express gas station called police after someone decided a bag of ice wouldn’t be enough to cool down their refreshments. Unknown suspects apparently took the entire $4,000 machine. It has “Reddy Ice” on the front, in case you see it in your buddy’s house. Thirsty: A 35-year-old man…
Capsule reviews of films playing the week of Feb. 29
THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN Finally, here’s one seven-year itch that can be scratched. When 2004’s The Polar Express made film history as the first animated movie to be created wholly by employing the motion-capture process, we instantly recognized that we were in the presence of something ghastly. Awkward and unsightly, the ersatz innovation rendered all…
Apache Relay aims to road test new material
Take a folk-rock band with two members from the Charlotte area. Their first release is steeped in the bluegrass side of Americana and produced by Doug Williams. The next album leans more toward rock ‘n’ roll. As they get set to record its follow-up, the band decides to hit the road first and let things…
New Obama campaign co-chair: ‘The president is wrong’
“The president is wrong.” So says one of the newly appointed co-chairs of President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign. Those four words headline the website of the organization Progressives United, founded by former U.S. Sen., and now Obama campaign adviser, Russ Feingold. He is referring to Obama’s recent announcement that he will accept super PAC funds…
Food truck fixins’ and where to find them during CIAA 2012
Food trucks to indulge all the cravings you could conjure up, allowing you to break bread without breaking the bank.
Chop Shop, 2/25/12
Single Cell Productions brought their monthly Alloy party back to NoDa on Saturday, Feb. 25.
CL presents our list of CIAA 2012 parties
Our gigantic list of parties happening in the Q.C. for the annual CIAA basketball tournament — updated.
