Reeling In Fans
Statefish, a relatively new Charlotte act, is celebrating the release of their debut album titled Fallin’ Behind The Gravy Train, on Sunday, May 5, at Hart Wizen Gallery, 611 W. 5th St. The band consists of Matt Maher (vocals/guitar), Greg Martin (lead guitar), Jeff Byrnes (bass) and Tim Rebich (drums). The material was recorded live…
A Clean Break
Many years ago I stopped being a Roman Catholic. I couldn’t tell you the exact date and time. There was not a morning I can recall when I woke up and said, “Yesterday I was Catholic, today I’m not.” The transformation took place over a period of time, several decades really. These days I attend…
Music Menu
WEDNESDAY 5.1 Badly Drawn Boy — Indie wunderkind Damon Gough, aka Badly Drawn Boy, has been snaring much attention for his brand of distracted, noisy lo-fi pop music. Gough creates tickly prickly guitar pop while indulging his muse with releasing single takes as final versions. His latest work is the music backdrop for the new…
What’s so holy about Jerusalem?
Jerusalem is like Graceland if Elvis, Mozart and Tupac Shakur had all lived there. Pilgrims would visit from around the world. Elvis and Tupac fans would fight, claiming that the other side was playing its music too loud. Mozart fans would bemoan the uncivil behavior of the Elvis and Tupac fans. The Elvis and Tupac…
Soundboard
Wednesday, May 1 * Amos’ Southend Melissa Ferrick w/ Danielle Howle Arnie’s Tavern, Huntersville Scott Johnson Bayou Kitchen Bill Noonan * Belk Arena, Davidson College Ludacris CPCC Central Campus Green Robin Rogers (5pm) Cajun Queen 7th Street Gator Band Cajun Queen, Pineville 7th Street Gator Band II Charlie Brown’s, Charlotte Cherry Bomb Acoustic Connolly’s Craig…
The Blotter
* Give Me a Break: One hungry thief decided to go for the good stuff when he hit up a local convenience store. Walking directly to the candy aisle, the chocoholic grabbed a giant-size Kit Kat Bar and ran out of the store before the store employee could think to stop him. * Give Me…
Past Perfect
Ensconced in a plush sofa in the lobby of the Georgian Terrace hotel in Atlanta, Peter Bogdanovich apologizes for not getting up. After a career like his, you can’t blame the man for being tired. In person, lapsed auteur Bogdanovich is everything his legend promises: slightly prissy with a regal manner emphasized by a preponderance…
News of the Weird
Lead Stories * In recent months, two different Hindu cults in India have begun to embrace ancient sacrifice rituals, one using horses and the other using the “Nara bali” practice of human sacrifice. In the village of Juna Padia, Assam, 150 priests participate in ceremonies to slaughter 10 horses and collect their deified blood for,…
The Peter Principle
In more ways than one, the imminent summer blockbuster Spider-Man (opening this Friday) represents something of a throwback for director Sam Raimi. Not only is it a chance for him to rekindle and reflect the excitement he felt as an adolescent fan of the original 60s comic books by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, but…
Patou, A French Bistro
The life of a restaurant is closely tied to its ownership, just as a sports team is. Some restaurateurs open a place and stay in that location with the same staff and menu for years, at times, a lifetime. Other restaurants change hands. The founding owner moves on or quits the restaurant business which is…
8 Days A Week
WEDNESDAY 1 Rapper Ludacris will bring his tongue-twisting antics to Davidson College’s Belk Arena tonight at 8pm. Tickets are $25, available by calling 704-522-6500. Authors Josephine Humphreys and Robert Morgan will lecture at 7:30pm in the McGlohon Theatre of Spirit Square as part of the Levine Museum of the New South and the Trust For…
Film Clips
NEW RELEASES LIFE OR SOMETHING LIKE IT It’s tough to completely dislike any movie that paints the Rolling Stones’ “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” as one of the great social equalizers of our time, and although this schizophrenic romantic comedy seemingly goes out its way on occasion to test viewer tolerance, it features enough piquant…
The Peaceful Dragon
Serene & Green Vegetarian restaurant relocates, expands BY TRICIA CHILDRESS When Dr. Jane Goodall came to Charlotte a few weeks ago for the opening of her film Jane Goodall’s Wild Chimpanzees at Discovery Place, Chef Geoff Bragg was asked to cook for a private event in her honor. The choice of Bragg is not surprising…
Karma Cleanser
Dear Karma Cleanser: My nextdoor neighbor is a crazy old lady who regularly schedules afternoon “tea parties.” She asks several of the older folks in our building to come over and sip tea with her and listen to classical music. She keeps inviting me to take part, and I keep saying no thanks. I’m in…
Caught In Summer’s Web
A couple of weeks ago, after sitting through previews for several upcoming titles, I turned to a colleague and said, “There are so many good-looking movies coming out this summer, there’s simply no way Hollywood can screw them all up!” The odd thing about this? I said it with a straight face, in dead earnestness.…
Stargazer
For All Signs The pervading theme this month is generalized anger and frustration which has only limited outlets. When we feel pushed around by circumstances beyond our control, we want to dump the resulting adrenaline surge onto a convenient target. Now is the time to tackle a project that demands physical strength and energy, though…
Mecklenburg sounds off
April 12, 2002 MEMORANDUM TO: Harry L. Jones, Sr., County Manager FROM: Rusty Rozzelle, Water Quality Program Manager SUBJECT: Response to Creative Loafing Article Entitled, “What You Haven’t Been Told About Charlotte’s Sewage Spill Program” Date Published: April 10, 2002 Due to the lengthy nature of the article, this document will respond to the major…
Ars Longa, Vita Brevis
Charlotte’s not renowned for its visual sophistication. Our city is more excited by the ephemeral possibility of installing a whitewater rafting course, or in the soap opera of the Hornets and a new arena, than in anything as effete as . . . well, a new art museum. As a low wage mill town, we…
County Stonewalls On Sewage Spill Charges
Deny, deny deny. That’s the strategy county and city officials are using to deal with a Creative Loafing article (“It’s a Crapshoot: What You Haven’t Been Told About Charlotte’s Sewage Spills,” April 10) which documented the millions of gallons of raw human sewage spilled by Charlotte-Mecklenburg Utilities (CMU) into the creeks and streams of this…
Umberger’s Swan Song
Nobody has won Creative Loafing’s Theatreperson of the Year Award as many times as Steve Umberger. No one is more responsible for Charlotte Rep’s steady growth and artistic excellence than Umberger, the company’s founder. Yet at a recent 25th Anniversary Gala that felt more like chamber of commerce banquet than a celebration of great theater,…
Letters to the editor
Walking The Hairy Legged Walk To The Editors: I’ve often wondered if Lucy Perkins is as Lucy Perkins says (or writes). Her commentary on “Hairy Legs And All” (CL, April 17) finally proved that she talks the talk, but she doesn’t walk the walk. I started shaving my legs in eighth grade, because boys in…
Subtle Gems
Like Shooting Rapids in the Dark: Thirty-Three Years as a College President, by Billy O. Wireman, with Dick Goode and Bob Whalen (NewSouth Books, 160 pages, $20) This is a collection of essays by one of the great educators of our time, but a man so familiar to the people of Charlotte that it’s easy…
Are We World Class Yet?
Foremost on my mind at Cityfest Live this year was surviving the damn thing without being trampled to death by hordes of beer (and music) loving folks. I strolled confidently to the will call booth on Saturday, only to find out my tickets were for a Tim Davis at the Charlotte Observer. After convincing the…
One Man’s Foley
Winemaker Bob Foley has every reason to be arrogant and self absorbed. His Pride Mountain Vineyards wines have a cult following and receive 90 plus ratings from wine magazines. But instead Foley is unassuming, down to earth, and charming. Foley was in Charlotte for the 2002 Wine & Food Weekend. I had an opportunity to…
Altogether Now, Kneel
If anyone was worried that City Council would abandon its overriding mission of serving Charlotte’s financial bigshots, last week should have come as a relief. The city’s governing body voted 8-2 against appointing a committee to study a proposal — not even against the proposal itself, but against even studying a proposal — to let…
Cinco de Mayo, US Style
America has been called the great melting pot. We’ve become the country we are partly because of the cultural diversity of those who call themselves Americans. Of course, being the country that we are, we don’t allow this diversity thing to go too far. We’re most comfortable when all our various ethnic groups are willing…
A Dog’s Life In Charleston
Players and puppies made history at the recent Family Circle Cup tennis tournament in Charleston. For the first time in tennis’s open era (since 1968), two unseeded players reached the championship of a Tier I tournament — Iva Majoli of Croatia and Barbara Schnyder of Switzerland. When Majoli won, she became the lowest ranked player…
Wine With Mexican Food?
In case nobody ever told you, Cinco de Mayo is not a national celebration of cheap tequila. Cinco de Mayo (which means “fifth of May”) is a regional holiday celebrated in the capital city of the Puebla, Mexico. It commemorates the defeat of Napoleon’s troops at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862. What…
They Must Think We’re Stupid
State leaders want you to believe that it’s not their fault. They want you to believe that the hurricane, the national economy, lower-than-projected tax revenues, even the terrorists are to blame for the so-called state budget crisis. And the only reason they’ve gotten away with spreading this kind of manure is that the media in…
Good Eats
ALL AROUND TOWN ANNTONY’S CARIBBEAN 2001 E. 7th, 704-342-0749; 145 Brevard Court, 704-339-0303; 20910 Torrence Chapel Road, Cornelius, 704-894-0280. A fun, change-of-pace restaurant for a casual lunch or dinner. Limited menu features rotisserie-cooked barbecued meats, what else, Caribbean style. $ BRUEGGER’S BAGEL BAKERY All over town. Chewy bagels, crisp on the outside, and served with…
The Cost of Education
In light of the current situation with the state budget, everyone is trying to figure out where cuts can be made in government programs. This has also led to a rash of rationalizations, wherein government officials try to prove how crucial their jobs are. It is important to avoid reading or listening to such rationalizations;…
CD Disc-overies
Dismemberment Plan — Change (De Soto Records) First off, let’s get one thing straight: Dismemberment Plan is not emo. The kinetic energy that roils on this disc is too massive and fresh to fit into that stale construct, and when was the last time you heard emo music that made you want to get up…
Why Isn’t Beer Sold In Plastic Bottles?
Today you’re pretty hard pressed to find soft drinks, or sodas, in glass bottles. In fact, that generally out of fashion about the same time as disco and butterfly collars. Which makes perfectly good business and marketing sense — today’s plastic soda bottles are cheaper, lighter and safer than glass. But if that’s the case,…
