Live Review: Islands
Islands Neighborhood Theatre June 28, 2008 By: Anita Overcash The Deal: Montreal indie rockers, Islands, conclude their stop in Charlotte with a harmonically eccentric show. The Good: The six-piece Islands hit the stage (which was decorated with red-lighted trees) and began showing off their mystifying music right way. From their ability to merge small sounds…
News Roundup 7/1/08
Talk About Setbacks: The rebuilding at the World Trade Center site will take longer and cost more than previously projected, The Wall Street Journal reports. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is set to release a detailed report on delays and cost overruns on construction. The Trade Center won’t be completed until…
Oil in a day’s work
Smiley Pat McCrory has bought into the new conservative cause, best described as wrecking the nation’s beaches so we can keep on driving gas guzzlers. McCrory, who is running for the N.C. governorship in a year that’s predicted to bring a Democratic landslide, has now grasped at his party’s latest electoral straw. The new GOP…
Woods on South closed?
When Chef Marvin Woods opened his upscale restaurant, Woods On South, he was in it for the long haul. His plan was to change the way Charlotte ate, adding health-conscious fried chicken to the menu. Things have apparently changed, and Woods on South looks as if it has served its last plate of oven fried…
Jim Rogers, environmentalist
Anyone who opposes the planned Cliffside power plant expansion or, heck, just about any disgruntled Duke Energy customer, might be surprised to hear CEO Jim Rogers described as “one of the electricity industry’s most vocal environmentalists.” Yet that’s just what readers of last Sunday’s New York Times magazine found. Sue Sturgis of Facing South offers…
Movie trailers for this week’s film reviews
Wall-E \\\\\\\\\\ Hancock \\\\\\\\\\
Movie trailers for this week’s film reviews
Wall-E \\\\\\\\\\ Hancock \\\\\\\\\\
Religious neutrality
It is amazing when people try to claim religion in order to justify not doing something important like voting. The Williams sisters do not vote because they are Jehovah’s Witnesses? In that case, there is a lot of things they should not be doing but clearly do in spite of their religious “convictions.” Religious neutrality?…
Today’s Menu (7/1/2008)
Dave Matthews Band He’s the Kenny Chesney of the hippie-rock circuit – you can pretty much set your seasonal watch by his regular summer concerts. The boys are headed back to the Queen City. Last year, they played a couple of new songs and I wouldn’t be surprised to hear a few more this time…
Jay-Z can’t sing…
Jay-Z headlined the Glastonbury festival this year and kicked off his set with a cover of Oasis’ “Wonderwall.” It was a great idea and a jab at Noel Gallagher who was critical of the decision to have Jay-Z at the fest. However, while he may be the king of rap, it proved he’s not good…
Ray J @ NV Lounge, 6/28/08
Photos by Jeaumane McIntosh
Uncle Sam Jam @ Dixies Tavern, 6/28/08
Photos by Renaul Hill
Boardwalk Billy’s, 6/28/08
Photos by Chey Scott
Synthesis @ Prevue, 6/27/08
Photos by Jeaumane McIntosh
One of Charlotte’s greatest leaders
If Johnson C. Smith University’s outgoing president, Dr. Dorothy Yancy, were mayor of Charlotte, light rail and a lot of other dumb mess in this city would make more sense. For the last 14 years, Yancy has been running the only university in Uptown Charlotte so well that some people forgot the place was there.…
Today’s Menu (6/29/2008)
Jill Scott True, Scott’s music does contain lots of “can-do” rhetoric – she can even “stain and polyurethane,” as she sings in “The Fact Is (I Need You)” of off 2004’s Beautifully Human: Words and Sounds Volume II – that could be misconstrued, upon first listen, as mere cocksure artifice. However, Scott doesn’t make these…
Today’s Menu (6/28/2008)
Islands This Montreal sextet, born from the ashes of experimentalist indie faves The Unicorns, started off promisingly in 2006 with wildly inclusive debut that featured everything from twang to calypso and rap. But their Anti- debut Arm’s Way has been getting mixed reviews, mostly for abandoning the band’s kitchen sink approach for a more unified…
Quote this
“Sailing on the Railing: Gloria Monday, bright and merry, Climbed aboard the Brighton ferry And crossed the storm-tossed Bay of Fundy. A rugged crossing, tossing, turning, Left poor Glory’s stomach churning. Oh, sick transit, Gloria Monday.” — The Best of the World’s Worst Poetry: 20 Very Odd Years of Outfrontery, by Doug Robarchek (Main Street…
Who does your schedule?
After my friend asked me about my week, he had to pause and ask ….”Who does your schedule?” I do… and I think I might have to fire myself. This was just this week’s nightlife agenda…. Monday – Wii and Weeds night. Weeds, as in the series on Showtime that just premiered its fourth season.…
Quick fix for smog?
Smog, that nasty and very visible air pollution, isn’t pretty and can be dangerous, but most of us have learned the ways of the ostrich in order to keep driving our precious vehicles guilt-free. According to CNN, Beijing noticed their problem with smog years ago, but suddenly wishes to correct their smog problem as soon…
The Invisible Bed in the Alley
The back alley is a dirty place to get it on, so some of you public boinkers are going to love this one. This position begins with the woman kneeling in front of her partner, holding her torso up by her arms which are placed behind her. Her hands should be the only part of…
Un-friggin-believable! Feds freeze solar power projects
If you want something to drive you crazier than even United Way’s Gloria Pace King and her million-dollar compensation, check out a story in today’s New York Times by Dan Frosch . Guess what the far-sighted Bush administration (a wholly owned subsidiary of the oil industry) is doing now? They’re freezing all solar energy projects…
New nightclub headed to QC
“New Club Will Bring Pure Dance Back to Charlotte Nightlife,” …says the press release I just received regarding the opening of The Garden and Gun Club at the NC Music Factory, which will neighbor the hub of this blog: the Creative Loafing offices. I don’t know about you, but I’m excited for this new edition…
Millionaire enslaves housemaids
Here’s a story from CNN if you’re one of those people who think the world is all pretty. The judge called the testimony “eye-opening, to say the least — that things like that go on in our country.”
Women Who Rock party @ Loft, 6/25/08
Photos by Renaul Hill
Today’s Menu (6/27/2008)
The Lonely H Definitely not to be confused with the grunge-flavored two-piece Local H, this Washington-state outfit instead takes its cues from our region – circa the 1970s – and plays a funk-flavored, riff-happy, occasionally deep-fried or twangy Southern rock that sounds like a mash-up of The Black Crowes, The Allman Brothers, The Band and…
Tim McGraw Security, Inc.
I guess you shouldn’t mess around at a Tim McGraw concert. At a show in Washington state earlier this week, he pulled a “fan” out of the crowd and looked like he was about to kick his ass… kicked him out of the concert, to say the least. Funny how he first calls security and…
Wall-E: Look how angry you made me!
By Wall-E Honestly. Where did that god-damn PA go? I mean, what is this? I feel like I’m working on Ice Age or like a community college animation assignment or some shit — God fucking dammit. This is Pixar. If I ask for a scone or some biscotti, I don’t expect to wait 10 fucking…
“If guns kill people, then do pens misspell words?”
This quote was taken from a photo of protesters on Washington, D.C.’s ban on handguns. The Supreme Court ruled today that the 32-year-old law was unconstitutional and violated the Second Amendment right to “keep and bear arms.” If there’s one city to live in and need the means to defend yourself and your family from…
The Weekender
Friday, June 27 Film WALL-E: To sum it up in one word: Pixar. The animation house consistently offers great flicks (See: Finding Nemo, Ratatouille, Monsters Inc.), and this new Pixar venture should be no exception. But if that’s not enough for you, here’s the rundown: Cute robot WALL-E and fellow mechanical pal Eve are faced…
Today’s Menu (6/26/2008)
Joey Belladonna Anthrax, the band with which Belladonna sang with for many years (present for most of the group’s salad days, he was replaced by former Armored Saint yowler John Bush in 1992), was always one of the strangest birds in the metal aviary, and Belladonna, with his jet-black, flowing perm, Steve Perry-on-uppers voice and…
Live Review: Dub Auto Show
Dub Auto Show June 21, 2008 Charlotte Convention Center By Mike McCray The 2008 DUB Car Show drove through the Convention Center on Saturday with its own brand of flash and ass. A welcome distraction to the showcase of cars you can’t afford and women you couldn’t get with was a concert that featured a…
Democracy undone
Zimbabwe is imploding while the world watches. Although the United Nations has called for a stop to President Robert Mugabe’s murder and mayhem, it has not intervened in what is perhaps the most undemocratic election in recent years. Mugabe’s insistence on remaining president in spite of being voted out legally is further crippling an already…
Mental bikinis
Last night, I went out for the purpose of going to a benefit at the Wachovia Atrium for the Mental Health Association, and somehow ended up judging Whisky River’s Boots & Bikini contest… I swear I am not a mental health patient. Although my friends may beg to differ. They said I should’ve taken the…
Kanye talks Bonnaroo
Kanye West has given his side of the story about what happened at Bonnaroo here. There’s also more at cnn. He calls the people at Bonnaroo idiots who didn’t know how to set up his stage. My point is still this – Kanye should have come out and addressed the crowd, before 3 p.m., to…
A cop who curses? Charlotte is shocked!!
Let’s see — what’s happened in Charlotte in the past few months? Well, a teenager was Tasered to death, a guy was shot in the back by a police officer under circumstances now under SBI investigation, gas is about $4 a gallon, and the country is waging war that a majority of citizens don’t support,…
Kid flick frights
A friend sent me this link to one of the funniest stories I’ve read in quite some time: The 26 Most Disturbing Kids’ Movies Ever. Sample entry: “Cars. Let’s see: a world devoid of humans where the machines come to life? This is nothing more than the animated version of a James Cameron post-apocalyptic fever…
Is it football season yet?
College Football kicks-off in 65 days and there are 72 days until the NFL season kicks-off…. But who’s counting? In the interim I’ve been getting my football fix via the Carolina Speed — the Professional Indoor football team that plays in Cabarrus Arena up in Concord. Arena Football is in a league of their own.…
What’s on Barack’s iPod?
Cnn has an article posted online here about what Barack Obama has on his iPod. No surprises, I’d say. The list includes Yo-yo Ma, Jay-Z, Bob Dylan, Stevie Wonder, The Rolling Stones and Sheryl Crow.
MHA’s Lift Your Spirits Party, 6/24/08
Photos by Tricia Gillis
I’ve heard pregnancy is contagious, but this is ridiculous
Time magazine published an article last week that the 17 teens at Gloucester High School in Massachusettes who are expecting made a “pregnancy pact” — in which they would get pregnant together and raise their children together. The kicker was that, allegedly, one of the baby’s daddies is a 24-year-old homeless guy. Here’s the latest…
Twice as fast, half the price equals smaller profit?
According to an article on PCWorld.com, the new 3G iPhone (available for purchase July 11 — can’t wait!) only costs $173 to make. With the price tag at $199, that means Apple is only making a profit of about $26 per phone. I can’t even fill up my gas tank with $26. But hey, who…
Walk the lie
“I did everything for the least bit of nothing … I handled everything wrong.”
Film Clips
New Releases MONGOL It wouldn’t exactly be accurate to tag this historical drama I Was a Teenage Conqueror, but this Oscar nominee for Best Foreign Language Film (Kazakhstan’s first nod in that category) spends next to no time on the Genghis Khan who would become legendary for invading and occupying much of Asia during the…
It must be summer
JUNE 26 — Beer Tasting. If you’re tired of the same old wine tastings and you like your beer cold and plentiful, then here is your chance to try a variety of new beers at Dolce Vita in NoDa. 7:30 p.m. Dolce Vita, 3205 N. Davidson St. 704-334-1052. www.dolcevitawines.com. JUNE 26 — An Aussie Wine…
Scouting the streets
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools earlier this month counted 2,493 homeless students on its enrollment sheets. That doesn’t mean all, or even most, of those students are living on the street — many are children whose families are living with other family members, have doubled up in low-income apartments, or are staying at shelters. Nor does that number…
View from the Couch
BE KIND REWIND (2008). The premise of Be Kind Rewind is pure Michel Gondry. The end result is anything but. Here’s a guy who marches to his own quirky beat (The Science of Sleep, co-writer of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), and this picture’s plot can be pegged as unfiltered Gondry: After a mishap…
CD Review: Ry Cooder
The Deal: Final chapter in Cooder’s excellent California trilogy. The Good: Ry Cooder’s musical journey has landed him in the Mississippi Delta, Hawaii, Cuba, Mali, Mexico and India, but he’s never traveled anywhere without his native California. Completing his marvelous Golden State trilogy, which includes the Latin-flavored Chavez Ravine (2005) and rootsy My Name Is…
Party crashers
It appears as if Uptown isn’t trying to become party central. There was talk of bringing an ABC store to Center City. Those plans were squashed. Coyote Ugly, a bar made famous by a movie and Tyra Banks’s ass, wanted to move from its North College Street location to the corner of Church and Fifth…
Love hurts
Get smart and avoid painful comedy
CD Review: N.E.R.D.
The Deal: N.E.R.D. cooks up a genre schizophrenic stew on their third studio album. The Good: Their energy and diversity create a sense of anticipation that makes being purposefully unpredictable work for Seeing Sounds. “Everybody Nose (All The Girls Standing In The Line For The Bathroom)” is a sweaty, thumping club banger complete with massive…
Last week on The Clog …
Enough with the Russert worship! “Their maudlin spectacle — complete with live TV coverage of mourners passing by Russert’s body, lying in state like a deceased President — was a jaw-dropping indication of how self-important many national media figures really are. Maybe they needed to mourn Russert so openly as a counter to the increased…
Frankly French
To face the intimidating, gothic words on the label, you might believe wines from Alsace hail from Germany. Of course, you probably don’t think about Alsacian wines at all since, outside the wine nerd sanctum, since they’re about as popular as Brussels sprouts. Recently, while checking out the Alsace section in a local wine shop,…
CD Review: Willie Nelson & Wynton Marsalis
The Deal: Country crooner teams up with jazzbo for two-night performance at Lincoln Center. The Good: If you’re a fan of Nelson, you’d probably enjoy the layering that comes with this effort, taken from Jan. 12 and 13, 2007, shows. The trumpet work by Marsalis is as good as you’d expect and neither takes anything…
As the world turns
As I pack to leave South Africa, I find myself wishing that I could bring back with me a particular piece of popular culture: South African soap operas. Their nickname, soapies, belies the complexity of the characters and storylines that comes across the screen on a daily basis. Unlike many of the soap operas that…
The Fin man
GW Fins offers high-style ambiance with a menu to match
Music: Heron raps for change
Known primarily for his music contributions in the ’60s and ’70s, Gil Scott Heron’s vibes are lined with themes of mass consumerism, politics and black revolutionaries. Of Jamaican descent, Heron is sometimes called the “godfather of rap.” He continues to send pleas to the new generation of rappers to speak up for change. $20. 8…
Christina Jacuzzo
Think of your typical attorney — especially a corporate finance attorney — and toss this image out the window. Christina Jacuzzo is anything but typical. This 5-foot-1-inch “Sicilrish” (Dad is Sicilian and Mom is Irish) attorney and fashion designer is a force to be reckoned with, even in her usual 3-inch heels. Recently, Jacuzzo represented…
Field of greens
• Sparkling seafood salads are the quintessential summer dish. One of the best around is Punta Cana’s impeccably dressed octopus salad, Ensalada de Pulpo, laced with cilantro and onions. Punta Cana Caribbean Restaurant & Grill, 5230 South Blvd. • It’s hard to resist revisiting Crisp in the summer. Salads here include the outstanding Cobb with…
A little bit country
Baby making music L.A.-based DJ/singer Vikter Duplaix — the dude behind the song “Make a Baby” — stopped by Loft 1523 last Friday to make people get their asses shaking. Built tough Toby Keith performs at Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre on June 20. The country singer’s stage, by the way, was set up to look like…
It’s kinda sweet over at Suite
Rewind a few weeks to the grand opening party for Suite in the EpiCentre. I was on official dork duty with my reporter recorder collecting opinions on Charlotte’s new upscale night club. I asked a young professional donning a suit and a smile to share his. His response: “This is my kind of place –…
Doc blocked
If you were going under the knife, would you want to know whether your doctor has been sued by previous patients? What if your doctor paid malpractice judgments to several of them? Would you want to know that, too? I did. After years of covering medical malpractice in North Carolina, I’m not your typical patient.…
One band’s constant evolution
Turning a bunch of drunk stuntmen loose in a crowd is usually a recipe for disaster. But if the stuntmen in question are the Massachusetts ones of the musical variety, what you get is a twangy mix of King Johnson and Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show with some twisted Willie Nelson sprinkled in. Started…
Exhibit: Project runway
EXHIBIT
My Family, Our Stories
Exhibit: My Family, Our Stories Dates: Showing now through July 6 Location: The Light Factory, Spirit Square, 345 N. College St. Info: 704-333-9755 or www.lightfactory.org Imagine a world where nothing makes sense. You have all your senses but when people talk, you can’t understand them. You are torn from everything you have known and are…
Legendary
Bonnaroo: From the awe-inspiring to legends themselves
Theater: Wishful thinking
THEATER
Charlotte Bestsellers List
1. Blackman’s Coffin: A Sam Blackman Mystery by Mark de Castrique 2. The Art of Keeping Secrets by Patti Callahan Henry 3. When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris 4. Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen 5. Always By My Side: A Father’s Grace and a Sports Journey Unlike Any Other by Jim…
COMEDY: Chris Rock brings practical joking to the Q.C.
Unemployment’s up. The dollar’s down. Even Ed McMahon can’t catch a break. Who doesn’t need a good laugh? Chris Rock is sure to oblige, but, like all great comedians, he’ll make you think, too. He may even piss you off. One guarantee: You’ll leave Ovens Auditorium with a renewed appreciation for stand-up. $45.50-$75.50. 8 p.m.…
Theater: The perfect murder?
theater
An eye for glass
Subject: Mark Selleck. Sixty-nine-year-old Mark Selleck has been blowing glass for over three decades. Most of that time has been spent developing his technique and innovating new ones. Glass Impressions is the name of Selleck’s shop in Waxhaw, N.C. His works include intricate sculptures, unique perfume bottles, stemware and Christmas ornaments. On His Profession: I…
Theater: STICKING Together
THEATER
CD Review: Robin Rogers
The Deal: Charlotte blues singer releases her Blind Pig Records debut, Treat Me Right, on June 24, 2008. The Good: It doesn’t take long for your foot to start tapping when you hear Robin Rogers sing. She draws you into the music and her seasoned vocals fit right up against the blues riffs and grooves.…
Review of Thunderbolts No. 121
Thunderbolts No. 121 Published by Marvel Comics. Written by Warren Ellis. Art by Mike Deodato. The Deal: Acclaimed writer Warren Ellis and artist Mike Deodato wrap up their run on Thunderbolts — Marvel’s superhero team that’s actually made up of super villains — with this latest issue of the series. This issue also provides closure…
Flooding the system
The floodwaters are rising, swamping cities, breaching levees. Tens of thousands are displaced. Many are dead. No, I am not talking about Hurricane Katrina, but about the Midwest United States. As the floodwaters head south along the Mississippi, devastating communities one after another, the media is overflowing with televised images of the destruction. While the…
Music Menu
THURSDAY, JUNE 26 Joey Belladonna Anthrax, the band with which Belladonna sang with for many years (present for most of the group’s salad days, he was replaced by former Armored Saint yowler John Bush in 1992), was always one of the strangest birds in the metal aviary, and Belladonna, with his jet-black, flowing perm, Steve…
Mile High musings
Denver hosts performing arts convention
Book Signing: Author/adventurer visits Charlotte
BOOK SIGNING
Bonnaroo 2008 – discoveries abound, few disappointments
When I set foot on the grounds of Bonnaroo this year, it all seemed quite familiar and comfortable — almost like I never left. Of course, if you’ve read the blogs at qcvibes.com, you probably already know this. In case you missed them, or wanted more info, here are the highlights and lowlights from four…
The Blotter
CROOKS OUT FOR REVENGE: An employee at Empire Gear Wear at 6510 Albemarle Road observed a woman trying to steal jeans and a pair of shorts. He kicked the woman out of the store. She threatened to beat his ass and then left the scene. A few minutes later, she returned with a huge rock…
Ask the editor
Q: What music are you listening to these days? A: What a great fake question! Honestly, I’m kind of ashamed to admit that — although I’m usually pretty ahead of the curve when it comes to music — I discovered an artist recently by the name of Esperanza Spalding (pictured right) way after the fact.…
The monster
When I was young there wasn’t much on cable-free television in the horror-movie department, so we had to make do with the requisite smattering of Japanese acid-trip offerings that included, but was not limited to, Godzilla, Rhodan and another movie called The Gargantuans, which basically had Tokyo being attacked by multicolored plush toys. These movies…
Paper clipped
Lately we’ve noted with some alarm the changes taking place at the city’s incredible shrinking daily newspaper. First came the dumbing down of page 2 with piles of celebrity gossip, followed by someone’s brilliant idea to turn hapless Sarah Aarthun into a new Observer icon (no doubt a sop to the huge “shallow mannequin” slice…
Stargazer
Cancer The Crab: (June 21 — July 21) There is a lot going on in your daily life this week. You seem to be at the helm of multiple activities. Handle tools and mechanical objects carefully. Your physical cycle is in a short droop and your reflexes are not at their best. Don’t allow stressors…
