Cover Story
Morgan School is Cherry Neighborhood’s Last Attachment to a Rich Past
Bolted to a wall in the back of the historic Morgan School building in Charlotte’s Cherry neighborhood is a rusted-out sign facing a wooded area. “School maintained in this community for benefit of its citizens. Please protect against damage and abuse to your buildings,” the sign reads. It’s a message to its neighbors from the…
First Episode of New ‘CL’ Podcast ‘Local Vibes’ Features Rapper Tizzy of Th3 Higher
UPDATE: Local Vibes is now on iTunes. Check out the first episode here. In the inaugural episode of Creative Loafing’s brand new music podcast Local Vibes, editors Mark Kemp and Ryan Pitkin shoot the shit with Tizzy of Charlotte rap duo Th3 Higher about the creation of what Kemp described in CL as the group’s “Zen…
Clutch shines, Primus cruises at CMCU Amphitheatre
Bands kickoff co-headlining tour in the Queen City.
Elonzo Wesley brightens up the U.S. National Whitewater Center
Charlotte quartet shines through River Jam session.
War for the Planet of the Apes: Hail, Caesar
WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES *** (out of four) DIRECTED BY Matt Reeves STARS Andy Serkis, Woody Harrelson The third chapter in the latest incarnation of the venerable monkey-movie series, War for the Planet of the Apes follows last week’s Spider-Man: Homecoming as an example of how to allow a franchise to continue…
The Fate of the Furious, Species, Jackie Chan twofer 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.) THE BRIDGE AT REMAGEN (1969). Not to be confused with The Bridge on the River Kwai or A Bridge Too Far, The Bridge at Remagen is similarly an action-packed yarn about a…
Hectorina Frontman Dylan Gilbert Much More Than a Songwriter
The electric guitar is dead. As a lightning rod for wayward souls, as a compass for creative nomadic minds and as way out of whatever real or figurative slum you may have grown up in, the electric guitar has bowed to the synth and drum machine, and its age has passed. Tell that to Dylan…
Hectorina Frontman Dylan Gilbert Is Much More Than a Songwriter
The electric guitar is dead. As a lightning rod for wayward souls, as a compass for creative nomadic minds and as way out of whatever real or figurative slum you may have grown up in, the electric guitar has bowed to the synth and drum machine, and its age has passed. Tell that to Dylan…
Greg Olsen’s Contract Demands Bring Up a Disturbing Comparison
In NFL contract negotiations, each player is like a snowflake — although since that word has been hi-jacked by the insecure alpha assholes of the right, let’s say fingerprint instead. What I mean to say is that each player, each agent, each owner, each contract has its own complex nuances and must be treated differently…
Cultural Continuity is Essential
While I sit in the old home-turned-office of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Historic Landmarks Commission chatting with Dan Morrill, the HLC’s consulting director, he tells me a story from his youth that perfectly underscores his role in preserving Charlotte’s landmarks today. In his younger days, Morrill was into theater. Specifically, he was interested in set pieces. “I…
Bunny Gregory Opened Her Home to Rappers and Forever Changed the Local Music Scene
Bunny Gregory was the “weird” kid in her school. For one thing, it was the ’70s and ’80s and she was a black artist in Charlotte who liked poetry and listened to everything from country to R&B, jazz and even crooners like Frank Sinatra. It only made sense a couple of decades later that in…
New Photo Exhibit Shows NODA Before It Was NODA
Once upon a time, what’s today known as gentrified NoDa in North Charlotte was a simple mill village, where the citizens, mill workers, were disparagingly called lintheads. Back in the Day is showing a gallery of photos spanning from the neighborhood’s early years to the 1970s. It’s an amazing, eye-opening look at a village where…
When Nap Time is Not Optional
Have you ever fainted in a crowd of people? Without hardcore drugs and limited alcohol in your system? No? Well, I’ve got a story for you. Picture it: Uptown, Charlotte, NC, July 4th weekend 2017. After grabbing a few drinks at The Blind Pig in NoDa on Friday night — it’s popping there on a…
SouthPark gets adventurous
For a long time, SouthPark was known as an upscale, suburban, rather homogenous and boring neighborhood. As were its dining options: steak, steak and more steak. Grilled chicken on salads, maybe with some hearts of palm or mandarin oranges, if the chef was feeling wild. Grilled salmon. And “gourmet” hamburgers. Vegan or vegetarian? If you…
