Cover Story
Life’s a drag: Charlotte’s queens had to fight for the right to be themselves
To celebrate La Cage Aux Folles, Jerry Herman's famous musical about two drag queens that runs at Belk Theater from May 29 to June 3, CL looks at drag culture in Charlotte — where it’s been, where it is, and where it’s going — through the eyes of local performers, both young and old. On…
Aqualads at Snug Harbor tonight (6/6/2012)
AQUALADS You can practically hear the waves crashing within these Charlotte natives’ music, which hearkens back to the days of The Chantays and Dick Dale. Formed in 1997, Aqualads have stayed loyal to the genre of ’60s instrumental surf-rock through tremolo guitar picking and heavy reverb. With four albums under its belt, the quartet spends…
CD Review: Gross Ghost’s Brer Rabbit
“You told me all about your life, before you were my father’s wife”, begins “Leslie”, the second track on Gross Ghost’s debut album Brer Rabbit. Frontman Mike Dillion’s song about his sick mother paints a very personal narrative. Although this may sound more like singer-songwriter fare, the sentiments are carried by scuzzy electric guitars. The…
DNC protest parade route kept at least two blocks from arena
Time Warner Cable Arena is where President Obama will speak
Fashion at the Mint: A glance at And the Bead Goes On
Mint Museum on Randolph continues to showcase fashion.
Blake Edwards trio, Lethal Weapon quartet among new home entertainment titles
(View From The Couch is a weekly column that reviews what’s new on Blu-ray and DVD.) CASTLE IN THE SKY (1986). One of Japanese writer-director Hayao Miyazaki’s best films, Castle in the Sky (aka Laputa: Castle in the Sky) was one of the many Studio Ghibli titles that wasn’t properly released in the U.S. until…
Today’s Top 5: Tuesday
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today.
Forest Tourist at The Milestone tonight (6/5/2012)
FOREST TOURIST Self-described “trash-pop” from the increasingly fertile Charleston, S.C., indie scene, this young quartet’s music is notable for its carnival-funhouse keys, fuzzed-out guitars, energetic tempos and singer Edward Burroughs’ half-slacker/half-crooner vocals (is that some Julian Casablancas I hear in there?). The lead single “Winnebago Dreams” off their new EP, Pop Reject, has been a…
Pig Mountain at The Haunted Mill tonight (6/5/2012)
PIG MOUNTAIN Enjoy your metal served up thick with a side of sludge? Guitarist/vocalist Dustin “Doob” Outen, bassist Ricky Culp and drummer Dillon McKinnish infuse plenty of dark emotions amidst the gruff vocals and heavy instrumentals of Charlotte’s Pig Mountain. During an Off the Record performance last year, the band said they were more concerned…
Book reviews: Gellhorn, The Family Fang, Faith
It may feel like beach weather outside, but to meteorologists and the book industry, it’s still spring — meaning it’s a great time to pick up paperback editions of some excellent books. Here are two such books, one of them a new, welcome re-release of a wonderful biography that shouldn’t have been allowed to go…
Alive After 5, 5/31/12
Photos from the weekly after-work party.
Suite, 5/30/12
Photos from Level Wednesdays.
Eat With Your Dollars: Chocolate
Oh the joys of a piece of chocolate … so delicious, so simple, yet so complicated.
Arts Flash: Q&A with Sharon Dowell
Folk Devils, Moral Panics & Pinups exhibit at Baku Gallery.
Today’s Top 5: Monday
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today.
The Eastern Seaboard at Snug Harbor tonight (6/4/2012)
THE EASTERN SEABOARD Mix punk and free jazz, chill, serve, and you have The Eastern Seaboard. Hailing from Brooklyn, the band creates dark, improvisational jazz that will put you on the edge of your seat. Saxophonist and Charlotte native Brent Bagwell makes his instrument a living, breathing, screaming entity while bassist Jordon Schranz creates both…
Ten at Park Lanes is on a roll
Park Lanes has been a Myers Park institution since it opened in 1960. For years, legions of Myers Park High School students have hopped 7:30 a.m. buses to bowl there for P.E. classes; later each day, children’s birthday parties and then serious bowlers have played the lanes. Recently, however, while the rest of the real…
3 questions with Seden Yapa, farmers market vendor/personal chef
For many of us, the words “farmers market” conjures an image of colorful raw produce. Though this picture is pleasantly refreshing (depending on how plant foods rank in your diet), it omits the many vendors that sell more than just veggies and fruits. Seden Yapa sells one of Matthews Farmers Market’s newest foodie delights: handmade…
Tom Principato at the Double Door Inn tonight (6/2/2012)
TOM PRINCIPATO Oft accompanied by just a drummer and a bassist (what else does a guitar maestro need?), Principato has hit the road a few times in his four decade career. The Telecaster guitar wiz, road-hardened crooner and storyteller is on tour supporting Raising the Roof!, his remixed and reissued recording with an added live…
Birds with Teeth at The Milestone tonight (6/2/2012)
BIRDS WITH TEETH Lead singer Jon Davis has described his writing style as doodling until he likes it. That approach is what makes this Charlotte rock outfit’s take on indie-punk compelling. Like most young bands, they’ve had some turnover, but with the release of Birds’ second album, Two, slated for June 23, the group’s evolution…
Bizarre crimes from Charlotte police files
Dirty deeds: A 23-year-old woman went to police headquarters after realizing that she had been duped out of an award that she apparently believed she deserved. The victim told police that an unknown suspect had called her to tell her that she had won a “Good Citizenship Award.” The catch, however, was that she would…
Heritage Park residents lay grievances before management
And they hope they’re finally heard
Weekend Film Reviews: Snow White and the Huntsman; Darling Companion
What’s new and covered in theaters.
Snow White and the Huntsman: More Tolkien than Grimm
SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN **1/2 DIRECTED BY Rupert Sanders STARS Kristen Stewart, Charlize Theron Let’s get the obvious out of the way: Snow White and the Huntsman, the year’s second big-screen outing centered around a forlorn princess, a wicked queen and a magnificent seven, is infinitely superior to Mirror Mirror (reviewed here), which proved…
Darling Companion: What a dog!
DARLING COMPANION *1/2 DIRECTED BY Lawrence Kasdan STARS Diane Keaton, Kevin Kline Once one of my favorite filmmakers, writer-director Lawrence Kasdan earned Oscar nominations for penning two of the great films of the 1980s (The Big Chill and The Accidental Tourist) and one of the forgotten gems from the early ’90s (Grand Canyon). He also…
Capsule reviews of films playing the week of June 1
THE AVENGERS The Avengers is, quite simply, a brainy and brawny blast. It’s a culmination of numerous super-sagas that have been building toward this moment, and it manages to trump every last one of them. In this instance at least, too many cooks have not spoiled the broth, as writer-director Joss Whedon and co-writer Zak…
Live review: Larkin Poe, Evening Muse, 5/31/2012
Rebecca and Megan Lovell showcase their band’s new sound.
Octopus Jones at the Evening Muse tonight (6/1/2012)
OCTOPUS JONES Musical relevance in the tourist trap of Myrtle Beach – aka the Grand Strand of shite cover acts and tiki lounge jam bands – takes perseverance and, no doubt, a healthy ability to ignore one’s surroundings. But this quintet’s self-styled “spank-wave boogie” manages a compellingly weird hybrid of regionally apropos elements (surf guitars…
Lera Lynn at the Evening Muse tonight (6/1/2012)
LERA LYNN Lera Lynn has long been the quiet darling of the Athens, Ga., folk/country scene, but that’s about to change. Among other accolades, NPR’s Gerrison Keillor was so impressed when he picked her ringing, lyrical soprano out of a pile of audition tapes that he invited her to share the stage with bluegrass great…
Corrosion of Conformity, Torche at Amos’ Southend tonight (6/1/2012)
CORROSION OF CONFORMITY/TORCHE Raleigh punk-metal progenitors Corrosion of Conformity, whose 30-year history reads like a crash course in aggressive genres, released a self-titled record earlier this year. It’s a good career summary for those who didn’t grow up with the band, and a solid dose of shred-n-yell for those who did. Torche, Florida’s kings of…
Weekly Horoscope (May 31-June 6)
Gemini The Twins (May 20-June 21) You may be easily angered on the 30th. Don’t accelerate yourself into an accident. Beyond Thursday, the pace and the company are positive and welcome. This is a good week to be social or to focus your attention on a project that requires detail. For All Signs: On June…
A hero for us all: Local cosplayers take fashion to iconic heights
“Can I take their picture?” When a passing citizen finds four caped crusaders gathered on a Charlotte sidewalk, he directs his question to the plainclothes entourage standing nearby. Dazzler and Phoenix are deep in conversation; as fellow X-Men, they undoubtedly have much to discuss. The muggy Charlotte air is a far cry from Gotham’s steel…
90 degrees of separation
Find out what’s going on at Spoleto Festival USA.
Today’s Top 5: Thursday
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today.
Opening Friday
What’s new in theaters this weekend.
Former QNotes editor back in the job
Matt Comer will reassume the role he had held from October 2007 to January 2012.
Larkin Poe at the Evening Muse tonight (5/31/2012)
LARKIN POE The Lovell Sisters made plenty of waves as a bluegrass trio, but when Jessica left to get married in 2009, Rebecca and Megan formed a new group that leans a bit more toward folk-rock. That’s not to say Georgia’s Larkin Poe has forgotten their roots – Megan still plays dobro and Rebecca can…
CD Review: Whatever Brains
The 2011 self-titled debut from Raleigh’s Whatever Brains followed a series of scuzzy singles that were fetching for their low production values and skewed take on garage and punk. By that token, the LP’s varied stylistic reach was both overwhelming and engrossing. The album moved from brutally bent surf-rock to psychotically insular dance music and…
CD Review: Off!
Keith Morris hasn’t aged a day. Whether that’s a compliment or not depends almost entirely on the level of fundamentalism one ascribes to his or her taste in retro-hardcore. (Most critics seem, strangely, to be a gang of Jerry Falwells to hardcore’s short-fast doctrine.) Off!, the ostensible supergroup helmed by the one-time Black Flag and…
Cooking up some vintage country at Snug Harbor
In 1979, a medical journal published a study entitled “The Tempo of Country Music and the Rate of Drinking in Bars.” The results confirmed what everybody who likes country music knows empirically — the liquor goes quicker with country music. You don’t need to tell Derek Ghent or Corey Zeigler that, since they each have…
Our evil Inner King
“I’d command each thing, be it fish or fowl. With a woof and a woof and a royal growl.” — “If I Were King,” sung by the Cowardly Lion, The Wizard of Oz A few years ago, I read an article positing that everyone has an “Inner King.” The story explained that there’s something in…
LOL: Comedy in the Q.C.
Listed below is a roundup of CL’s top picks for comedy shows in Charlotte this week. Hopefully, they keep you entertained and, more importantly, laughing out loud. For an audience, the best thing about an open mic is that you never know who is going to show up. Luckily at comedy open mic’s, the chances…
DNC protesters granted marching permit
They say it’s a step in the right direction for the city but insist it’s hardly enough.
May the circle be unbroken: a tribute to two Carolina legends
The deaths of Doc Watson and Earl Scruggs represent the end of a musical era that brought dignity to the American South
Live review: Adam WarRock, The Milestone, 5-25-2012
Adam WarRockThe MilestoneMay 25, 2012 From the moment Memphis-based, Korean-American MC Adam WarRock took the Milestone stage on May 25, it was evident this wasn’t just any rap show. Meticulously crafted and spit with speed, WarRock’s rhymes aren’t exactly what you’d fathom when you think of hip-hop. That’s not to say the vibe at a…
Today’s Top 5: Wednesday
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today.
Breakfast Club, 5/25/12
Take a peek at these break dancers! They were tearing up Breakfast Club this weekend!
Marigny, 5/26/12
Photos from TWIRLICIOUS 2012.
Dharma Lounge, 5/25/12
Photos from Su CASA’s one-year anniversary party.
