Jan 3-9, 2018
Stuck in the Service Industry; Charlotte Fire Department; Artist Vice; Brio; Aisslinn Nosky
Invasion of the Bike Shares
When you see them all alone, you almost feel bad for them. As they’re depicted in Charlotte photographer Logan Cyrus’ ongoing Instagram photo series, the solo bicycles look like already-lost remnants of the city’s recent proliferation of bike-share programs. In a photo taken on the Mallard Creek Greenway, a neon orange bike sits alone, creating…
The Blotter: Burrito Bomb
No Service Sometimes you just want to throw your phone against a wall when it’s acting up, and sometimes other people want to do it for you. A 55-year-old woman in Uptown fell victim to the latter last week, and now she’s out an $800 phone. It’s unclear why the incident happened — whether there…
Film 2017: The Best & Worst
During 2017, it seemed that movies mattered as much as ever. While the country burned as Nero continued to fiddle with his Twitter account, Hollywood did its part to put out the flames. In real life, sexual predators were finally tagged and caged (yes, liberals condemn their perverts while conservatives elect theirs President; go figure).…
Listen Up: Brio Perfects the Sound on ‘Local Vibes’
Releasing his debut album, LIGHTBLEU, has been a long road for Brio — from CLT to ATL and back again over four years. For episode 24, Mark and Ryan have him in right after the album’s release to talk about the full process, and how moving away from his hometown and then coming home has…
News of the Weird: American Assholes
All-American Weirdos Two American tourists, Joseph Dasilva, 38, and Travis Dasilva, 36, of San Diego, were arrested in Bangkok, Thailand, on Nov. 28 and detained in an immigration detention center after they posted a “butt-selfie” on Instagram, taken in front of the Buddhist temple Wat Arun, or Temple of the Dawn. The pair’s Instagram account,…
American Made, The Breakfast Club, Kingsman: The Golden Circle 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.) ALICE (1990). Anchored by Alfonso Arau’s 1992 gem Like Water for Chocolate, the early 1990s saw a mini-boom of movies that fell under the umbrella of “magical realism.” Alice was one such…
Charlotte Symphony Teams with Punk Violinist
Even in Charlotte, the would-be crown of the New South, you occasionally hear the grumblings backstage — or in the boardrooms of our leading performing arts companies: “Our audiences are graying.” Who you gonna call? For Charlotte Symphony, this week’s startling answer is their guest soloist, Aisslinn Nosky, a redheaded violinist — sometimes fire-engine red,…
More College Graduates Are Getting Stuck in the Service Industry as Opportunities Become Scarce
As Mandy Smart stands behind the bar, a printer buzzes nearby, informing her that more drink orders are up. The orders come from the servers on the floor, but the cocktails are her responsibility. She reaches for the ticket, and a customer calls for her attention. He asks about the drink specials. Halfway through her…
Brio Releases Debut Album After Four Years of Fine-Tuning
When I last sat down with Brio in July 2015, he was just about ready to release his debut album, LITEBLEU. Even then, Brio talked about the patience he practiced in taking two years to record and fine-tune the new album throughout his time living in Atlanta and then moving to back to his hometown…
Charlotte Fire Department Looks to Transition After Controversial year
Walking through the newly constructed, technologically advanced Charlotte Fire Department headquarters just north of Uptown, one would hardly notice that it’s a department in transition — one might even say a department at a defining point in its storied history. The department is coming off a most turbulent year, during which high-ranking officials faced accusations…
Artist Vice Creates Stadium-Ready Rock for the Soundtrack of Your Youth
Blame it on Dawson’s Creek. Before that iconic teen TV series of the late ’90s and early 2000s snuck songs by ultra-cool artists like Anna Waronker, Tanya Donally and the Wedding Present onto its soundtracks, fans of so-called alternative rock had to listen to hip college radio or MTV’s 120 Minutes, or read underground music…
Former Mayor Anthony Foxx Offers Real Talk on Charlotte’s Problems
We spent 2017 at Creative Loafing focused on Charlotte — its strengths as well as its weaknesses — and not concerning ourselves or you with what those outside of the city think of us. It’s good to know Anthony Foxx, our former mayor and the former U.S. Secretary of Transportation, is of the same mind.…
