Nov 9-15, 2016

Nov 9-15, 2016 / Vol. 30 / No. 38

Cover Story

Men of the Thirsty Beaver strip down for a good cause

Justin Bennett began having doubts about what he had signed up for when he found himself posing for pictures on his motorcycle on the Central Avenue train tracks on a hot July morning. He was hungover from the night before, pouring sweat while remaining bundled up, but showing just enough skin to make things sexy.…

Ryan Pitkin

Arrival: A divine experience

ARRIVAL **** (out of four) DIRECTED BY Denis Villeneuve STARS Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner A friend once quipped that, given my reluctance to hand out four stars to more than just a couple of movies each year, I only award the highest rating if I “personally see God walking across the auditorium.” Honestly, he’s not…

Matt Brunson

Moonlight shines bright

MOONLIGHT ***1/2 (out of four) DIRECTED BY Barry Jenkins STARS Trevante Rhodes, Mahershala Ali Black lives matter in the quiet, contemplative Moonlight, but let’s not stop there. Gay lives matter as well, to say nothing of the lives of those seeking identity, companionship and direction. Simply put, all lives matter in this impressive indie effort,…

Matt Brunson

Review of Theatre Charlotte’s You Can’t Take It With You

When it first came to Broadway, just after the 1936 election, Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman’s You Can’t Take It With You was steeped in the Great Depression — and a deep suspicion of the efficacy of government. Twenty elections later, as the audience favorite returns to Theatre Charlotte yet again in a truly…

Perry Tannenbaum

Talking art and tech with Ivan Toth Depena

For Charlotte-based Ivan Toth Depeña technology has added a new platform to his work as an artist. A graduate from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design, where he received a masters degree in architecture, his art incorporates aspects of design, architecture, and … wait for it … technology. As an artist-in-residence at McColl Center for…

Anita Overcash

Three questions for Steve Dyer, Polar Pig Cook-Off competitor

For Charlotte-area residents Steve Dyer and Josh Lambert, cooking barbecue comes natural. They do it in their backyards on a regular basis, filling the bellies of family and friends who are more than happy to serve as guinea pigs. But for the upcoming Polar Pig Cook-Off, held in downtown Mt. Pleasant, NC, Nov. 11-12, they…

Anita Overcash

Q&A with Drive-By Truckers’ Patterson Hood

In the run up to the 2016 presidential election, the Drive-By Truckers were praised for encapsulating the electorate’s rage and angst with their latest LP, American Band. But now that President-elect Donald Trump is transitioning into the White House, the left leaning southern rockers’ new songs have taken on a whole new resonance. “I’d pondered…

Kyle Mullin

Mount Moriah finds new cosmic direction

Shirtless children playing with toy swords and coating plaster on the bare skin of one another in a sort of casual casting play date. That’s what you’ll see in the video for Mount Moriah’s “How to Dance.” The song is a single from the band’s third studio album of the same title. It was written…

Anita Overcash

Bless These Sounds Under the City’s On the Brink of Life

Bless These Sounds Under the City ­— a duo comprised of Albert Strawn and Derrick Hines ­— released its debut, self-titled album in 2014. That 13-track effort offered a showcase of the band’s minimalist style while showing enough diversity in sounds and presentation to shed light on the breadth of each member’s talents. Now, two…

Jeff Hahne

Drive-By Truckers’ American Band

Country music is rendered eclectic on American Band, the fantastic new album by the Drive-By Truckers. On it, the Athens, Georgia alt-country troop push the limits of their genre with arena rock riffs, Memphis soul melodies, bluesy piano playing and more. Case in point: “Kinky Hypocrite,” not only a solid tune but boasting the year’s…

Kyle Mullin

Rhino Market and Deli stays on point

Imagine your ideal neighborhood bar also doubling as a bodega, serving excellent sandwiches and playing sweet jams. A place that you’d love to sit at in a booth for hours and get some work done or meet some friends for coffee or a local brew. If this description sounds enticing to you, then Rhino Market…

Chrissie Nelson Rotko

Weekly horoscope (Nov. 10-16)

For All Signs: Watch the evening sky for a stellar show. Mercury becomes visible on the 13th. Venus, Mars, and Saturn comprise the rest of the planetary grouping until the 23rd. Note the brightness of the planets which will help you identify which is which. Venus is close to Saturn, but she is brighter. Then…

Vivian Carol

Anti-violence advocate looks back on month of work in Charlotte

Nikolai Elneser has a surprisingly sunny disposition for someone who works on violence prevention in the planet’s most violent city. Elneser is from Caracas, Venezuela, and while accurate data is hard to come by, estimates put the country’s homicide rate at about 119 per 100,000 residents. (By contrast, the U.S. homicide rate is 4 per…

Allison Braden

Bizarre crime from Charlotte police files (Nov. 10)

Protective Papa It’s an old cliché that a man might scowl at the thought of his daughter’s boyfriend pulling up at the house in a motorcycle, but one Charlotte family is going through a battle right now that seems to be built around this stereotype. A 39-year-old man called police and reported that he was…

Ryan Pitkin

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