May 22-28, 2013

May 22-28, 2013 / Vol. 27 / No. 13

Cover Story

Summer Guide 2013

Summer in Charlotte unofficially kicks off this weekend, with Speed Street taking over Uptown in honor of the Coca-Cola 600. NASCAR not your thing? No worries. We’ve got you covered with our guide to all things fun in the next few months – including film critic Matt Brunson’s annual summer movie preview, a list of…

CL Staff

Bizarre crimes from Charlotte police files (May 23)

Nudists for Jesus: Police responded to Providence Road last week after receiving multiple 911 calls regarding a family taking a stroll through the city. The only problem was that no one in the family had any clothes on. A woman in her 20s was allegedly causing a traffic jam by walking down the street with…

Ryan Pitkin

The rundown of Spoleto Festival

Program books ready and posters lining the shop windows, Spoleto Festival USA begins its annual 17-day siege of Charleston today – heaped up as high as ever with events sure to challenge and excite performing arts gluttons from around the globe. The most prestigious and substantial arts festival in the Western Hemisphere comes at us…

Perry Tannenbaum

Fast & Furious 6: Buckle up

FAST & FURIOUS 6 **1/2 DIRECTED BY Justin Lin STARS Vin Diesel, Paul Walker Generally speaking, any series that has managed to make its way to a sixth installment is running solely on fumes, but that’s not the case with the Fast & Furious brand. This wildly inconsistent franchise seems to rise and fall on…

Matt Brunson

Art show highlights issues faced by immigrants

Inspired by the recent turmoil over immigration reform, Charlotte-area Latino artists are banding together to “raise awareness about immigrants and the undocumented community.” This Saturday, OBRA Collective hosts a one-night-only art show and poetry reading focused on immigration reform. The event will also feature drinks, antojitos (Mexican appetizers) and desserts from Take the Cake Bake…

Bo McMillan

At Any Price: A matinee at most

AT ANY PRICE **1/2 DIRECTED BY Ramin Bahran STARS Dennis Quaid, Zac Efron A Winston-Salem native, writer-director Ramin Bahrani has already helmed a series of award-winning indie flicks, including 2009’s wonderful Goodbye Solo. Unlike these earlier efforts, At Any Price finds the filmmaker working with a name cast and a larger budget, but it’s hardly…

Matt Brunson

Weekly Horoscope (May 23-May 30)

Gemini The Twins : (May 20-June 21): You have a desire to reach outward to others. You want to share ideas and express yourself in a larger framework. It seems everyone is interested in what you think. Activities involving legal interests, travel, teaching or learning are favored. Those interested in romance may encounter someone interesting…

Vivian Carol

Matrimony a happy union of music and lyrics

Being surrounded by family and friends provides a comfort that’s almost tangible at first sight. When you see the folk-rock quintet on stage, the group appears at ease. The members are at home within the music. It’s a harmony of souls and songwriting; a marriage of music and lyrics. Matrimony. The band’s name is a…

Jeff Hahne

Confederacy of dunces

After North Carolina voters approved an anti-gay marriage amendment in 2012, a horrified Gov. Beverly Perdue blurted, “We look like Mississippi.” Lots of North Carolinians chuckled over the now-former governor’s comparison, but few of those folks are laughing now. Here we are, mere months after Tea Partiers turned state government into a 1950s-bound time machine,…

John Grooms

Daniel Wallace has Bigger fish to fry

Daniel Wallace is still riding the waves of success from Big Fish, his 1998 novel-turned-motion picture and soon-to-be Broadway show in September. But the N.C.-based author, who teaches creative writing at UNC-Chapel Hill, has also penned a steady flow of other works since the best-seller. His most recent novel, The Kings and Queens of Roam,…

Anita Overcash

Bright yet bittersweet goodbye

When I returned to Creative Loafing in 2011 after five years away from the company, I was shocked to see how hard it had been hit by recession and bankruptcy. An office that once bustled with adrenaline-fueled journalistic inquisitiveness and a heady sense of adventure — from the editorial department to sales, marketing and distribution…

Mark Kemp

Party Pedaler adds twist to bar crawls

The sky can’t decide if it wants to produce rain or wind or make way for sunshine, so it settles on an uncomfortable mix. No matter. It’s Friday and a night out in NoDa is too enticing for Heather Fitch and her friends. Before hitting the bars, the group of six meet at a nondescript…

Ana McKenzie

Can 49ers turn Charlotte on to college ball?

It was the morning before UNC Charlotte’s first spring football game and I needed a grill. I paid thousands of dollars in student fees over the last three years to help fund this team and refused to tailgate with my roommate’s George Foreman. So, I headed to the Home Depot near campus. I was searching…

Corbin Peters

Summer Guide 2013: Drinks go beyond frozen or fruity

Some say that the perfect summer drink is a cold beer. Others prefer drinks with rum or gin, or the trendier Latino liquors tequila and pisco. In the 1930s and 1940s, the majority of the summer cocktails contained gin. The Silver Fizz, a classic 1940 gin cocktail with egg white, is making its way back…

Tricia Childress

Summer Guide 2013: Charlotte’s best patio paradises

From corn hole and crab-legs to cocktails and live music, take your pick of some of the most appealing outdoor spaces across town. “Let’s take it outside” never sounded so good. VBGB (920 Hamilton St.): VBGB has one of the only outdoor beer gardens in town. We’re OK with that, as it’s pretty awesome. When…

Lauren Blake

King of Pops woos the Queen City

Sound the trumpets! The King of Pops has landed in the Queen City with a tasty decree: handmade popsicles for everyone. With summer just around the corner, the arrival of King of Pops is right on time. You can now find the royal push cart with its rainbow-colored umbrella parked on street corners across the…

Keia Mastrianni

Summer Guide 2013: Electric Run mixes exercise, EDM

If anything can be learned from watching tired, played-out and annoyingly predictable horror movies, it’s that if you run in the middle of the night, you will trip and fall so an axe murderer, whose pace is similar to that of a THC-ridden snail, will miraculously catch up to you and … cue the gory…

Brittany Gaston

Summer Guide 2013: Stage sizzlers

Was a time, way back when the Charlotte Repertory Theatre company was developing into a regional powerhouse, when summertime was the prime season in the Queen City. While Opera Carolina and N.C. Dance are done for the season — and Charlotte Symphony brings us orchestral lawn feed through the July 4 weekend — local and…

Perry Tannenbaum

Summer Guide 2013: Summer films, flying high

The 2013 summer movie season began with a heavy metal act (Iron Man 3, which opened May 3) and will end with a pop performance (One Direction: This Is Us, the boy-band documentary that’s out Aug. 30). In between, Hollywood will emit a steady siren song that will ensnare moviegoers of all stripes. The slate…

Matt Brunson

Summer Guide 2013: More fun in Charlotte

FESTIVALS & OTHER EVENTS MAY Food Lion Speed Street Celebrating its 19th year, Food Lion Speed Street transforms the streets of Uptown Charlotte into an racing-enthused entertainment zone with live music, activities, vendors and appearances and autograph sessions with NASCAR drivers and celebrities. Free admission. May 23-25. Held in Uptown Charlotte. For more information, visit…

Anita Overcash

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