Queen City Nerve - June 12, 2024

VOLUME 6, ISSUE 14; JUNE 12 - JUNE 25, 2024; WWW.QCNERVE.COM

2024

News:

‘Clacking’ the LGBTQ+ vote out

SUMMER GUIDE The hot season is upon us

pg. 4

Music:

A new look for our Music section pg. 18

Durag Fest provides a space for Charlotteans to be unapologetically Black

BY DEZANII LEWIS

Pg. 2 JUNE 12 - JUNE 25, 2024 - QCNERVE.COM

@Q UEEN CI T Y N ERV E W W W.Q CN ERV E.COM PUBLISHER JUSTIN LAFRANCOIS

jlafrancois@qcnerve.com

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF RYAN PITKIN

rpitkin@qcnerve.com

DIGITAL MANAGER RAYNE ANTRIM

rantrim@qcnerve.com

STAFF WRITERS ANNIE KEOUGH

akeough@qcnerve.com DEZANII LEWIS

dlewis@qcnerve.com

ART DIRECTOR AIDEN SIOBHAN

QUE E N CI T Y NE RV E W E LCOME S SUBMI SSI ONS OF ALL K I NDS. PLE ASE SE ND SUBMI SSI ONS OR STORY PI TCHE S TO I NFO@QCNE RV E .COM. QUE E N CI T Y NE RV E I S PUBLI SHE D E V E RY O T HE R W E DNE SDAY BY NE RV E ME DIA PRODUCT I ONS LLC. QUE E N CI T Y NE RV E I S LOCAT E D a t 417 E AST BLV D, SUI T E 206, CHARLO T T E , NC, 28203 . F I RST I SSUE OF QUE E N CI T Y NE RV E F RE E . E ACH ADDI T I ONAL I SSUE $3 .

COVER PHOTO BY: TERRY SUAVE COVER DESIGN BY: AIDEN SIOBHAN

aiden@triad-city-beat.com

AD SALES EXECUTIVE RENN WILSON

rwilson@qcnerve.com

TO PLACE AN ADVERTISEMENT EMAIL INFO@QCNERVE.COM (704) 817-8996

TABLE OF CONTENTS NEWS & OPINION

4. Clack for Pride by Annie Keough

Clack the Vote movement aims to get LGBTQ+ people to the polls

6. Going North by Davis Cuffe

Where Charlotte’s transit plan stands following Norfolk Southern agreement

7. Life On the Rails by Davis Cuffe

Etiquette and public safety on Charlotte’s public transit

ARTS

8. Unapologetically Black by Dezanii Lewis

Durag Fest is a different kind of Juneteenth celebration

10. From the Top Down by Rayne Antrim

How hair styles play a role in confirming one’s identity

12. Summer Guide 2024 Enjoy it while it’s still livable

16. Lifeline: Ten Cool Things To Do in Two Weeks

MUSIC

18. For Your ‘Mental Health’ by Ryan Pitkin Evan Plante returns to music as a True Optimist

18. New Releases 19. Upcoming Releases/Project Spotlight 20. Soundwave

FOOD & DRINK

22. No Need to Be Salty by Timothy DePeugh

Maíz Agua Sal in Wesley Heights shows Charlotte why “local” matters

24. Space to Grow by Dezanii Lewis

LIFESTYLE

26. Puzzles 28. Aerin It Out by Aerin Spruill 29. Horoscope 30. Savage Love Thanks to our contributors: Aerin Spruill, Davis Cuffe, Timothy DePeugh, Jonathan Golian, Dan Russell-Pinson, Laura Wolff, Joan Marcus, CNCooper, DaRemen J., Kara Perry Storm, Kelsey Mard, Storm Lover, Alvaran Strong, Will Folsom, Evan Zimmerman, Matthew Murphy, and Dan Savage.

Pg. 3 JUNE 12 - JUNE 25, 2024 - QCNERVE.COM

Grow Cafe will be Charlotte’s first coffee shop for parents and children

NEWS & OPINION FEATURE

CLACK FOR PRIDE Clack the Vote movement aims to get LGBTQ+ people to the polls

Pg. 4 JUNE 12 - JUNE 25, 2024 - QCNERVE.COM

BY ANNIE KEOUGH

To “clack a fan,” the term for snapping a hand fan Queer people are everywhere. They are in every hard enough to make a clapping (or clacking) sound, workplace, faith community and university. All of can mean many things depending on the intended these places are queer spaces inherently because effect. The action can be one of resistance, joy, or queer people exist there, Pruette said. alarm.

“Our human rights and queer rights should be It can drown out the hate of bigots at Pride nonpartisan,” he said. parades or send support to a drag queen during Clack the Vote will be present at multiple events their performance. throughout Pride Month and in August, when “A clack of a fan can be celebratory or it can be Charlotte Pride holds its local festival and parade, part of protest,” explained Cameron Pruette, the to spread information on candidates, check people’s Freedom Center for Social Justice’s Director of voter registration and provide resources necessary to Intersectional Initiatives. queer voters.

Now Pruette and his team are asking for There are existing resources and guides for the supporters, be they LGBTQIA+ community members dos and don’ts once you get to the polls, but that’s or their allies, to Clack the Vote. the privilege of assuming you fit the standard A collaboration between Carolinas LGBTQ+ representation of who those guides were created Chamber of Commerce, The Freedom Center for for, Corrigan said.

Social Justice and Charlotte Pride, Clack the Vote is Human Rights Campaign North Carolina in an initiative dedicated to mobilizing and educating collaboration with the Freedom Center created a queer voters in the wake of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation trans voter guide to help transgender and nonbinary and rhetoric. voters who may be going through transition or Organizers like Pruette are partnering with name changes that do not align with their voter ID drag performers, the queer ballroom scene and confidently navigate the polls. supportive faith organizations to spread awareness and engage new or veteran voters.

What they’re fighting for The Clack the Vote initiative is nonpartisan, In November 2023, the Monroe mayoral race with the only goal to get folks out there and vote, winner came down to a coin flip. Former Monroe according to Bethany Corrigan, a member of Mayor Robert Burns and opponent Bob Yanacsek Carolinas LGBTQ+ Chamber of Commerce. tied with 970 votes and both men waived the “We’re nonpartisan, we’re not going to go out chance to recount, as reported by WBTV. there and endorse one candidate over the other,” Burns, who won the election on account of that they said. “But we are endorsing voting … Clack coin flip, has been vocal in his opposition to LGBTQ+ the Vote represents unity and solidarity, not in a rights. During a protest of the drag performance partisan way, but in a way that makes people feel “Hello Daddy” outside of Monroe’s Dowd Theatre, safe and affirmed in their decision to vote and Burns told WCNC that conservative values are under participate in the electoral season.” attack in America and compared the moral failure of Pruette said Clack the Vote is meant to get owning a slave to allowing a child to enter the show. queer people to vote regardless of their affiliation.

“Just because you can do something, still doesn’t The initiative was formed to educate voters on mean that it’s right,” he said. candidates and ensure they know their rights at The fact that Union County came so close the polls because it does not subscribe to the belief to electing someone who supports the queer that only a certain side cares about LGBTQ+ rights, community was a feat in and of itself, Pruette said, Pruette said.

CLACK THE VOTE HAND FANS.

but it would have taken just one more vote to make it a reality.

“We get so disillusioned because of what’s going on nationally that we forget that your vote has so much power at the local level,” he said. “They’re gonna spend $2 billion dollars telling you who to vote for for president, but we really want to talk to you about these other 20 things that are going to be on your ballot.”

With North Carolina emerging as one of the country’s most critical swing states in the 2024 election, encouraging queer folks to go to the polls and vote could be the determining factor in an election, Corrigan said.

Pruette told Queen City Nerve that the Freedom Center’s national partners have sounded the alarms, saying LGBTQ+ voters may choose not to vote this year despite voting in 2020.

Pruette believes this attitude is caused by burnout in the community. After the 2020 and 2022 elections, there was a sense of relief among queer North Carolinians.

They had a governor who was willing to veto antiLGBTQ+ legislation and believed North Carolina was headed in a good direction.

But after Democratic NC Rep. Tricia Cotham, who ran on a platform that included support for LGBTQ+ rights, announced her switch to the Republican Party, giving conservatives a supermajority in the North Carolina legislature, Republicans overrode governor Roy Cooper’s veto of three anti-LGBTQ+ bills.

COURTESY OF CLCC

SB49, HB808 and HB574 were all passed in the 2023-2024 session, targeting LGBTQ+ youth in schools and health care settings.

A trend Corrigan has seen in the past couple of years is an omnibus tactic; either cramming too much information into one bill making it difficult for people to understand or utilizing the quantity effect of introducing multiple bills in a short period of time.

“If you have 50 darts getting thrown at the wall, even if you’re the worst shot in the world, one of them has got to stick,” they said. “It’s advocacy fatigue, right? How many bills can you fight against at once?”

The American Civil Liberties Union has tracked six anti-LGBTQ+ bills introduced in the 2024 legislative session so far, including health care age restrictions, school sports bans, forced outings in schools, and religious exemptions for medical practitioners.

Anti-LGBTQ+ legislative attacks are typically not filed from a research or scientific perspective, Corrigan said.

Data is sparse on the necessity of these bills from a health and safety perspective, yet the impact of simply filing them has shown to not only create a spike in workplace discrimination and gender-based violence but also negatively impact the economy, according to Corrigan.

They noted that legislative attacks against the LGBTQ+ community have caused North Carolina nearly $3.3 billion in lost revenue and tourism dollars in the past, particularly after the infamous

NEWS & OPINION FEATURE

PHOTO COURTESY OF CLCC

Pg. 5 JUNE 12 - JUNE 25, 2024 - QCNERVE.COM

House Bill 2 was passed in 2016, a bill targeting transgender bathroom use.

A number of cities and states, including Washington, California, New York City and more, all banned tax-payer-funded travel to North Carolina in protest of the bill. The bill was repealed in 2020.

“I always tell people, even if you don’t care about queer people, you should care about your own finances,” Corrigan said. “Because [equality] impacts everyone regardless of what side of the isle you stand on.”

A rather conservative estimate of how many LGBTQ+ folks live in North Carolina is about 4%.

Though an underrepresented and outdated number, it’s the most recent one available, Corrigan said.

That 4% of queer folks represents nearly $19 billion in employee generated revenue.

Carolinas LGBTQ+ Chamber of Commerce empowers and supports LGBTQ and allied businesses, enterprises and corporation professionals in both Carolinas.

In that way, all spaces must be safe spaces, Corrigan said.

“The intention [of the Chamber] is to shape legislation and policy in such a way that the AT THE LAST ROOFTOP SOIREE economic benefits and prosperity are really touching the LGBTQ community and beyond,” they said. “Because in the economy, if one community is opportunity to network and celebrate the culture of suffering, that’s not a healthy economy.” diversity in Charlotte’s business community.

The new Rainbow Ball hosted by Resident Culture on July 27 will commemorate the love, joy and Finding peace and place When anti-LGBTQ+ legislation is filed, the authenticity of the queer experience.

Clack the Vote will partner with local drag detrimental impact on the affected community goes performers to help folks check if they’re registered beyond the consequences of the bill.

The mere introduction of anti-trans and queer to vote and talk about important issues in the legislation causes constant social media trauma community with the slogan “Drag Me to the Polls.”

For those wanting to mix politics and partying, hitting the community and reminds them that their identity is politicized and used as a bargaining chip the Chamber is also holding its eighth nonpartisan candidate fair on Aug. 14 at Resident Culture’s South in an election, Corrigan said.

“I get frustrated when LGBTQ … identity is End location.

The fair is held every election year to provide an featured in the press [and it’s] always the doom and educational space for LGBTQ+ and allied voters. gloom,” they said.

“Queer people are not a monolith,” Corrigan said.

“On one hand, we cannot have issues in the dark, “We don’t all think the same. We might not even all they do need to be highlighted … but what I want vote the same. But, at the end of the day, there’s a to see is joy and celebration.”

The LGBTQ+ Chamber and The Freedom Center very powerful … sense of identity that’s sacred that will host several events throughout Pride season we have between us.” that will spotlight Clack the Vote.

AKEOUGH@QCNERVE.COM The Friends in Diversity: Rooftop Soiree on June 25 at the Skyline Terrace will combine a number of businesses and individual professionals for the

NEWS & OPINION FEATURE

GOING NORTH Where Charlotte’s transit plan stands following Norfolk Southern agreement

Pg. 6 JUNE 12 - JUNE 25, 2024 - QCNERVE.COM

BY DAVIS CUFFE

News broke in late May that the city of Charlotte had reached an “understanding” with Norfolk Southern to acquire the rights to its O-Line rails, train tracks that run north from Uptown and have long been a coveted piece of land by city officials eager to move forward with its latest commuter rail project.

The Red Line would establish commuter rail service from Uptown’s Gateway Station north to Mt. Mourne in Mooresville, with eight stops in between including in Derita, Huntersville, Cornelius and Davidson.

The pending agreement was a major milestone in Charlotte’s efforts to expand its transit options outside of the city, though there is still a long way to go, as the city will need to rely on state legislators to allow it to place a proposed sales tax hike on a future ballot in order to fund the project.

The Red Line project was first identified by Charlotte in 1998 and designed in 2008. According to the project’s plan, the stops along the route would also act as mobility hubs with bus services and first/ last mile connections.

The line’s Charlotte stop would be connected to the entertainment district with access to the Gold Line streetcar, Amtrak, and other transportation options.

The plan’s next steps include reassessing the plan for a transformational mobility network, providing a cost estimate and involving the public and stakeholders more in coordination. Opportunities for future public involvement will include public meetings and community engagement.

When the Charlotte MOVES Task Force, headed by former mayor Harvey Gantt, presented its final report in December 2020, the plan centered on the Silver Line, which would run from Uptown to Matthews.

In the wake of news about the city’s agreement with Norfolk Southern, however, it appears the Silver Line is taking a back seat to the Red Line.

Charlotte Gateway Station (CGS), the beginning stop in the Red Line plan for those coming from Charlotte, has yet to be built. The station requires more than $87 million in public funding from the city, with a $25 million grant from the NC Department of Transportation partially covering those costs.

Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) interim CEO Brent Cagle said Phase I of construction for the station was “basically complete” in March. That phase included basic infrastructure for the station and raised platforms.

CGS will be a multi-modal transportation center situated at the crossroads of West Trade and North Graham streets, though completion of the station is reportedly years away. The lack of an agreement with Norfolk Southern, which for years refused to negotiate on the O-Line, did play a role in the delay.

The movement toward a deal first began in July 2023, when Norfolk Southern’s Senior Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer Michael R. McClellan sent a letter to Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles and Charlotte City Manager Marcus Jones expressing their considerations for a transaction involving the O-line rails.

“Norfolk Southern is willing to consider engaging with the City of Charlotte and other interested parties in the region regarding a possible transaction of the O Line,” the July letter read.

A final agreement is expected by September. The costs of the deal for the city are still unclear.

With much of the project still to be built and redesigned, the payment method for construction is unclear, but the city of Charlotte is hoping to propose a one-cent sales tax increase on an upcoming ballot.

That proposal would have to be approved by the General Assembly before Charlotte residents would get a chance to vote on it. The construction cost for the Red Line is estimated to exceed $680 million.

Jones said he expects the General Assembly to approve the move based on current proceedings and conversations with them.

“The business community has continued its dialogue with state legislative leaders, and they have indicated they could support enabling sales tax legislation in the current short session,” said Jones.

He said he’s optimistic that a local referendum will take place in 2025, yet past proceedings indicate that passing a sales tax increase may be difficult.

In 2019, a proposed .25-cent sales tax hike that would have funded arts, parks and education in Mecklenburg County failed at the polls. In 2021,

step back from the originally proposed 80% allocation to the train system, but is seen by some city leaders as one that may appease the NCGA. As a result, Charlotte reportedly told Matthews Mayor John Higdon that the expensive and longpromised Silver Line that would have run from Uptown to Matthews would no longer be built.

Higdon criticized the deal and its impact on Matthews in a May 29 Metropolitan Transit Commission (MTC) meeting.

“I think one of the reasons folks in Matthews aren’t dancing in the streets is that we have planned to have a train come to our town,” Higdon said. “We spent thousands of hours planning for a train, and at the last second, we were told, ‘No, sorry, we’ll give you a bus.’

And no one in this room can look me in the face and say the transitoriented development of a bus is equivalent to a train.”

The initial Silver Line proposal COURTESY OF CITY OF CHARLOTTE would have gone 29 miles, THE PROPOSED PATH OF THE CATS RED LINE. stretching from Matthews to northern Mecklenburg officials opposed passing Uptown and then past Charlotte a 1% sales tax increase. Those officials cited the Douglas International Airport. Earlier this year, it was pandemic’s recency and its effect on the economy as estimated that the completion of the Silver Line would their reasoning for the hesitancy. cost around $8 billion.

Past efforts to increase infrastructure spending CATS, which manages Charlotte’s public in Charlotte have been met with resistance from transportation, operates over 20 light rail vehicles officials in the NCGA. In 2023, Charlotte proposed a every day. Ridership on CATS’ transit systems is still mobility plan that would have cost a little over 13 recovering post-COVID, but 4 million passenger trips billion dollars and made improvements to Charlotte’s were reported between July and September 2023 by roads, mass transit, and walkable transit systems. CATS. This figure jumps 11% from 2022’s ridership in Eighty percent of the $13 billion plan would have the same period but continues an upward trend in gone to rail transit system improvements. ridership since taking a 65% dip in 2020.

In response to the 2023 proposal, House Speaker Something else that may factor into the dip in Tim Moore told WBTV that “Charlotte keeps ridership is the percentage of Mecklenburg workers spending millions and millions of dollars on plans who work from home. In 2022, a survey found that that didn’t come to fruition.”

30.3% of Mecklenburg County workers who were In response, Charlotte has been pushing its new surveyed said they work from home, almost double mobility plan, which it calls a “roads-first” plan. the national average of 15.2%.

During a recent Charlotte City Council meeting, Future possible upgrades in Charlotte’s transit a new mobility plan was approved in a 9-2 vote. system may improve these commuter numbers, Republican council members Tariq Bokhari and Ed though if a referendum has the same issues past Driggs voted against it. ballot measures have seen, the upgrades may not The new plan would allocate 40% of sales have the opportunity to happen in the first place. tax funds to road improvements, 40% to train PMORAN@QCNERVE.COM improvements and 20% to buses. It is a significant

NEWS & OPINION FEATURE

LIFE ON THE RAILS Etiquette and public safety on Charlotte’s public transit

BY DAVIS CUFFE

THE NORTHERNMOST STOP ON THE CATS BLUE LINE.

etiquette or unspoken rules when taking the light rail. And truthfully, society as a whole has gone to shit post-COVID — people have lost their everloving minds,” said Redditor IllSession3648.

“Public transit in this country is famously bad for etiquette. This isn’t contained to Charlotte in the slightest,” said another commuter.

One commuter said the lack of robust transit culture was the reason for the etiquette problem.

“Charlotte is not a big transit city, so people who ride it here generally don’t know a thing about transit etiquette,” said R/Charlotte Redditor Automatic-Arm-532.

Charlotte’s light rail system opened in November 2007 and has seen relatively high ridership numbers, though it is still recovering from a dip due to COVID-19. In 2023, CATS reported ridership at 4 million between the months of July to September, 2.34 million less than what CATS saw in 2019 before the pandemic.

One commuter shared that they felt etiquette should not be a priority when they feel unsafe using Charlotte’s light rails.

“What good is train etiquette when you have to fight through a sea of homeless people to even get to the platform?” said R/Charlotte Redditor couchpro34. “Mainly, Woodlawn and South get super sketchy at the stations. We need to work on public safety at these stations before we have any need for discussion about what’s actually happening on the light rail.

“I would love to be able to use the light rail more often, but I just don’t feel comfortable or safe at any stations south of Scalybark,” continued couchpro34.

On May 18, a person was hospitalized after a shooting at Archdale station that occurred around 11 p.m.

PHOTO BY DAVIS CUFFE

And yet the safety concerns can go both ways, as over-policing is a concern for some. In November, CATS came under fire when three security guards were caught on surveillance roughing up a man with a prosthetic leg, dragging him away from a Blue Line station in Uptown before leaving him on the ground.

Security concerns are not isolated to Charlotte’s light rails. CATS buses have seen multiple highprofile incidents of violence, In February 2022, the murder of CATS bus operator Ethan Rivera in a road rage incident led a group of CATS bus and light rail operators to call on the city to implement better safety protocols.

Another bus operator was struck by a stray bullet while working in December 2023, while in May 2023, a bus operator was fired for shooting a passenger who had pulled a gun on him.

CATS buses were reported to carry 2.13 million passengers in the winter of 2023-24.

With the movement toward an agreement between Norfolk Southern and the city of Charlotte that would give Charlotte the rights to existing rail to build the Red Line with and momentum behind Charlotte’s new mobility plan, Charlotte’s public transportation may soon expand.

However, commuters say public respect and etiquette on Charlotte’s light rails and the system’s overall security remains poor. In order to recover from the COVID dip and, perhaps more importantly, convince voters to support a sales tax hike that will fund a major expansion of the local transit system, the issues around public safety will have to be addressed in the eyes of their commuters.

INFO@QCNERVE.COM

Pg. 7 JUNE 12 - JUNE 25, 2024 - QCNERVE.COM

With new deals to expand Charlotte’s light rail shared her unpleasant experience on the light rail had system in the works, as does the sentiment that 179 reactions and 10 comments as of June 6. etiquette aboard light rail cars needs work locally.

While this is by no means a large sample size in a city We visited some stops along the existing Blue of nearly 900,000 people, some Charlotte commuters Line track and asked around on Reddit’s R/Charlotte feel the city should make more efforts to maintain a page to learn more about the reported lack of proper environment on Charlotte’s light rails. etiquette on Charlotte’s light rails, learning that the “They need to be more attentive because concerns range in seriousness from annoyances to right now it doesn’t look like they maintain the public safety concerns. environment of the trains that often,” said Michael, “I’ve seen people fighting, security bother a Blue Line commuter. people when they don’t need to, people smoking, Solutions offered by light rail commuters varied; even some people peeing on the train,” said one one said an increase in security was necessary, while anonymous Blue Line commuter. another suggested educational resources to make Other commuters described noise from other unwritten etiquette rules written. passengers as a primary disturbance on Charlotte’s As of June 6, Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) light rails. security patrols primarily check for tickets and “The number one issue is people who are playing informational printing inside the light rails, the only music out loud on their phone, talking on speaker measures to promote etiquette inside Charlotte trains. on their phone and also just speaking very loudly Outside the trains at stations around Charlotte, and saying unsavory language in a carriage which is Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD) mostly quiet,” said R/Charlotte Reddit user Shineese. officers regularly patrol along with CATS security.

Another R/Charlotte Redditor, Odd_System_89, In March, Brent Cagle, interim CEO of CATS, shared a similar sentiment in their annoyance with recently moved to double the company’s security other passengers being loud on Charlotte light rails. spending. This money partially funded two new “The only thing people need to work on is turning contractors, PSS and Strategic Security Solutions, off the volume on their cell phone; I don’t want to replacing the previous contractor, Allied Universal hear your conversation or whatever video you are Security. The contractors staff around 100 unarmed playing; get a headset or shut up or get off the train,” security employees who roam onboard Charlotte’s said Odd_System_89. light rail and a stations.

Other commuters described minor actions like Redditor Shineese shared their belief that the standing in the way of others as bad etiquette. lack of etiquette could not be helped and reflected “I frequently witness people who post up at the a greater problem. doors and won’t move out of the way for people to “I don’t think public etiquette can be improved by enter/exit the train car,” said R/Charlotte Redditor laws. I think it is a reflection of the lacking respect IllSession3648 humans have for each other in today’s society.”

“A lot of people don’t even consider that someone Some commuters shared Shineese’s sentiment. might be getting off the train and just stand right in front Some even shared that the lack of respect she of the door,” said R/Charlotte Redditor HogarthHues. touched on was an issue that has only grown The conversation around light rail etiquette is since the COVID-19 pandemic and with population not contained to these individuals in the Charlotte growth in the Charlotte area. community. A May 28 R/Charlotte Reddit post titled “I think people moving to our area from other “Lightrail Etiquette” had 42 comments as of June 6. cities that don’t have a robust public transportation An earlier Charlotte NextDoor post in which a woman means there’s a number of people unfamiliar with

ARTS FEATURE

UNAPOLOGETICALLY BLACK Durag Fest is a different type of Juneteenth celebration

Pg. 8 JUNE 12 - JUNE 25, 2024 - QCNERVE.COM

BY DEZANII LEWIS

Black people often lack spaces created by and for them. When they try to include themselves in existing spaces, society tells them to make their own, and often when they make their own, they’re accused of gatekeeping or exclusivity for not being more welcoming to whites.

It is in this context that Jimi Thompson, better known around Charlotte as the artist Dammit Wesley, has over the years cultivated the Durag Festival into a true Black space for Charlotteans.

The Durag Festival, an annual festival that helps commemorate Juneteenth in a way that not many other observations of the holiday do, will be held June 21-22 at Thompson headquarters in BlkMrktCLT in Camp North End. It’s a festival where all types of people can attend and rock their respective cultural headwear, but Black people in particular can revel in their culture without judgment. Attendees can expect food, music, wave checks and other challenges adding to the good vibes at Camp North End in late June.

Thompson said he settled on the durag as a representation of Black culture because of its ubiquitousness in Black peoples’ lives. Many, if not all, Black people have owned or come into contact with a durag at some point in their lives.

As he’s been known to do with his art, Thompson aimed to switch the narrative around the stigmatized symbol the durag had become.

“The durag was chosen specifically as one of the relics for this festival because of the negative connotations that it has against it,” he said. “People are free to wear whatever they want, and they’re also heavily encouraged to make something new.”

Attendees are spotted each year wearing a range of headpieces ranging from durags to wave caps to bonnets to head wraps. Not only do they wear these garments, they often take them to the next level.

“Everything from full-body durags, trains, bedazzled bonnets, we have seen LED headwraps in the past few years,” he said. “The tagline is the ‘Met Gala of Durags,’ and some people take that as a personal challenge.”

Headwear is not limited to durags, headwraps, or the like. In the past, there has been other cultural additions, such as South Asian attendees who wore their traditional headwear. They’re all welcome because of what all of these represent from a cultural perspective: protest and preservation.

“We call it a festival, but I view it more as a protest,” Thompson said. “Any opportunity I have to create a space where Black joy can exist in opposition to white supremacy, I’m always here for it.”

What started as a smallish festival (/protest) that hosted around 1,200 people in 2018 has over time blown up into the festival folks know today, with upwards of 20,000 people expected to show up, sometimes traveling long distances to be a part of the experience.

“I just wanted to have a really wild art exhibit based around Black culture,” he said. “That was essentially the first Durag Fest in 2018. It was just an art exhibition that really got out of hand.”

Seeing the growth

Thompson hosted smaller, infrequent Juneteenth celebrations prior to the Durag Festival, but none of them were near the caliber of this event, which has made national headlines and gone countless times, as the creative nature of the custom-made durags lends itself to social media sharing.

The event has appeared in national publications such as Essence, Blavity, and Travel Noire.

Thompson said he often attended Juneteenth celebrations beyond the ones he hosted, but always felt something was missing.

DURAG FEST IS ENTERING ITS SIXTH YEAR.

PHOTO BY CNCOOPER PHOTOGRAPHY

“I was always disappointed when I went to more along the East Coast.

West African-focused Juneteenth festivals and “In six years, it’s grown a lot, actually,” he said. traditions and celebrations,” he said. “It never really “This is still very much a Charlotte event. It still feels felt like a celebration. It just never felt right to me.” very Charlotte. [But we’ve had] people from New With his vision to create an experience better Jersey, DC, Florida, Canada. So, slowly but surely, aimed at Black American culture, the Durag we are reaching a more national audience with the Festival was born. Thompson said he didn’t plan too event.” intensely for the first event in 2018.

He also said celebrities like Clay from Netflix’s Prior to the festival, he had been doing other art Love is Blind and nationally renowned comedian events, but head count for those often topped out Ryan Davis have attended the event in the past. at 300 people. He took his experience planning the “It meant a lot for a lot of those types of people smaller events and put it toward the Durag Festival, to take time out of the day to come be a part of this putting everything together within five weeks. thing,” he said. “I really hope that continues. I hope In that short time, the anticipated number of 300 this is a festival where celebrities or influencers people, considering that was what his events were or people of a particular stature feel comfortable used to, grew to 1,200 people. coming and not having to perform. It should “[That] was a lot for us, considering we didn’t always be a day off for Black people, especially our have the infrastructure to host that many people,” entertainers. I feel like we have to perform enough he said. “But social media caught wind of it, and it at work as is. So anytime you can just come out and just grew from there into its own thing. I feel like just be, I’ll support it.” we just realized that there was a necessity for more culturally relevant events like this that actually A new kind of celebration celebrate you just being Black and free. That’s really Juneteenth is a commemoration of when the what it came down to.” news of emancipation reached those who were Thompson has noticed how, over the years, believed to be the last Black people still enslaved. people have begun showing up from different cities While the Emancipation Proclamation occurred

ARTS FEATURE on Jan. 1, 1863, news didn’t reach enslaved Black people in Texas until June 19, 1865, over two years later.

Juneteenth became a federal holiday in 2021 and was the first holiday to obtain federal observance since Martin Luther King Jr. Day obtained it in 1983.

The day wasn’t always nationally recognized as a holiday, federally or otherwise. In fact, it was a holiday that was often pretty obscure, which is almost as ironic as it is tragic. Now that it’s a federally recognized holiday, ways to celebrate and brand it differ, but ultimately there’s no nationally recognized way to celebrate the holiday.

Thompson saw this as an opportunity to fill a void. He pointed out that Christmas, Fourth of July, St. Patrick’s Day, and many other American holidays all have a specific theme, with traditions and regalia that allow people to fully take part and invest in celebrating them, but that’s missing from Juneteenth observations.

“It’s specific things you say, it’s specific ways you act on these days,” he said. “There are legitimate economies built around all of these holidays. When it came to Juneteenth, all those things were missing.

No costume, no specific cultural acts, phrases, things that would be done said there’s no real economy

PHOTO BY CNCOOPER PHOTOGRAPHY

yourself in a space where there are like-minded people like you, being able to build community and make friends with others and share ideas is what’s most important for me.”

Another important narrative that Thompson wants to push through Durag Fest is that Black people are not a monolith. Black people of all walks of life come to the festival, and Thompson said it would be a great opportunity for people to see how different Black people are. Black people from the elderly to children enjoy a good time at the festival.

“Everything from the video vixen to the allnatural Manuka Honey sister,” he said. “We have seen the cowboys, basketball players, brothers with gold teeth, and our blerds from the Hidden Leaf village who have on their Naruto headbands. It’s all here.”

From goth to gay people, Thompson has seen them all pass through Durag Fest and enjoy themselves, and that’s what it’s all about.

“None of these things matter because we’re all Black and we’re all celebrating each other,” he said.

“People’s divisions don’t matter at this festival, okay? We’re all Black. We’re all here to celebrate each other. I think that’s the one thing that people can learn from each other: We’re all different.”

DLEWIS@QCNERVE.COM

Pg. 9 JUNE 12 - JUNE 25, 2024 - QCNERVE.COM

DURAG FEST ATTENDEES AT CAMP NORTH END

that benefits African-Americans during their one holiday.”

“I just viewed it as an opportunity to attach some costumes and some practice behaviors for the holiday that hasn’t been observed nationally in this way,” he continued.

He added that there are festivals in places like Galveston, Texas, where Juneteenth celebrations originated, but he wanted to further add to what already exists.

While celebrations of Black people and culture have a long way to go by many peoples’ standards, the Durag Fest is viewed as a step in the right direction by many, but Thompson thinks more is needed to make that happen.

“I think there needs to be more events like Durag Fest that push for us to actually benefit from this holiday,” he said. “But pageantry is needed to make that happen.”

It’s hard to ignore the backlash the holiday tends to get from conservatives, but for Thompson, this just further solidifies the need for such a celebration.

He had always planned it as a protest, after all.

“The idea of a Durag Fest or just a durag in general is essentially like you preserving your hair,” he said.

“For us, our hair is our culture. It’s our history, and ENJOYING THE VIBES AT DURAG FEST it’s very important to us. For me, the durag is just like a symbol of preservation. That’s what we’re in America, African-American, in general, there’s so trying to maintain and keep. Being a Black person many things that we come up with and we create.

As soon as we put those ideas out into the world, they’re no longer ours. The durag stands for a lot of things. Reclamation is one of them.

“The Durag is just Black,” he continued. “It’s just the Blackest thing. When you think of Black culture, you think of things that have been stolen, right?

Time again, people try to claim that durag and they fail miserably. The durag just feels like the one Black artifact that white people haven’t figured out how to steal or how to properly assimilate into their culture.

It’s one of the few things that we still have standing.

Thompson said he hopes that, in addition to a good time and having a space to be unequivocally Black, people leave Durag Fest with some new piece of education.

“I feel that the best learning experience is a lived one,” he said. “We are trying different things with expos, having lineups of speakers come in and talk about the importance of DEI in the workplace and social media, and a plethora of skills and buzzwords that will essentially help you to elevate yourself up in the culture ladder.

“But for me, personally, culturally, I just think it’s important that we see ourselves as valuable, we see ourselves as beautiful, we see ourselves as artists PHOTO BY DAREMEN J. at heart,” Thompson continued. “Being able to put

ARTS FEATURE

FROM THE TOP DOWN How hair styles play a role in confirming one’s identity

Pg. 10 JUNE 12 - JUNE 25, 2024 - QCNERVE.COM

BY RAYNE ANTRIM

Everyone has had a bad hair day.

Maybe it looks too flat, or the side part is strange; it’s been put up and it’s been put down; for some reason, the dry shampoo is making it look greasier; for some other reason, a few strands look like coils in a sea of waves.

Whether it’s realized or not, hair can play a huge role in our self-confidence. On those bad hair days, sometimes we don’t feel like ourselves. We wonder if anyone can notice the differences we see when we look at ourselves in the mirror.

Most of the time, people are too focused on themselves to notice the minute changes we see in ourselves daily. One thing only we can know for sure is what changes internally.

People constantly change, be it due to differences in environment, self-realization, or personal values.

When those internal changes happen, sometimes we want external characteristics to reflect that.

A large part of identity hinges on what we decide to display — the clothes we wear, the people we surround ourselves with or what we do in our free time. For those in the queer community who are exploring their identity, gender-affirming haircuts are an important part of that journey.

The Jade Rabbit, owned by Storm Lover, is a cutting parlor in Charlotte that has been providing grooming services for three years. Hannah Baxter joined the business about a month ago, working with Lover to give haircuts, scalp treatments, scalp massages, eyebrow waxing, eyebrow shaping and beard facial care services. They call it wellness barbering.

Lover and Baxter’s main focus has always been providing a safe space for queer folks, seeing that it’s not always the easiest situation for those who are queer to get a haircut that perhaps doesn’t fall in line with the way other people perceive them.

“I’ve had an experience where I explain the kind of haircut I want and show them a picture and they’re like, ‘Well, don’t you want it more feminine?

Don’t you want it to be like a pixie cut?’ No, no thank you,” Lover said.

“Getting a haircut can already be a scary experience,” Baxter added. “For people coming into their identity and figuring out who they are, it’s really important to us to create a safe space for them to know that at the end of the experience — they’re going to be more affirmed. We’re going to get them a haircut that they want, and that makes them feel good.”

The two express the importance of language and communication throughout the haircut experience.

Language can be tough for someone who’s not wellversed in hair and can sometimes ask for things that aren’t what they mean.

The importance of language and clear communication

For any barber or hair stylist, asking pronouns at the beginning of a service is important in order to know who you’re talking to. It’s also important to ask if someone wants an androgynous, masculine or feminine haircut to set the base for the vibe someone’s going for.

When it comes to language, Storm and Baxter say that using the term “cutting parlor” removes an association with gender.

“We have clients representing the full gender spectrum that come in. Every haircut is a genderaffirming haircut. You’re validating someone for who they are and how they want to be presented to the world,” Baxter said.

Lover insists that a “gender-affirming haircut” is for everyone, not just queer folks. You could be a “cis South End banker bro who goes into the barbershop”

REBEKAH LEONARD

and the haircut that you get would still be a genderaffirming haircut, she explains.

“It’s the hair professional’s job to take the time to understand who’s in their chair and what their lifestyle is — to know what they want, how they want to be perceived, and how they want to feel inside,” Lover said.

Like Jade Rabbit, Bohemian Style House strides to take gender out of the equation when providing services to affirm anyone’s identity.

Bohemian was the first salon in Charlotte to offer hourly pricing rather than pricing for women’s and men’s haircuts. For someone who identifies as nonbinary or trans, seeing a list of services without gender offers security; whatever haircut they’re looking for doesn’t have to be defined.

Candace Stamper, co-owner of Bohemian Style House, has been doing hair for 17 years. Stamper and business partner Mary Scott purchased the salon’s property in 2020 and have since advocated for the queer community through their work.

Stamper is intentional when it comes to creating a safe and inclusive environment for those in the queer community through Bohemian’s business

PHOTO BY KARA PERRY STORM

practices.

“Most of us wear pins on our aprons with our pronouns on them,” Stamper explained. “When you fill out our new client forms, there’s a place to put your pronouns as well.”

Bohemian often does volunteer work with Transcend Charlotte, a nonprofit that supports transgender folks, and is currently working on building an event within the salon to offer free gender-affirming haircuts.

Transcend Charlotte has greatly aided Charlotte’s LGBTQ+ community. Amongst their several programs, one called Xpression Space offered an affirming place for those within the community looking to explore their gender expression.

Xpression Space offered free clothing, makeup, shoes, binders, breast forms as well as free gender-affirming haircuts, though the space’s future is currently in limbo as Transcend deals with divestment issues from a partnering organization.

Bohemian Style House also offers a “pay-whenyou-can” program for those who don’t have as much disposable income.

“We find a lot of teenagers and young queer

ARTS FEATURE people who don’t have as much disposable income to pay $100, $150, $175 for a haircut,” said Stamper.

“We let our stylists choose when they want to offer appointments individually, and then we post about it on Instagram.”

Where to go from here

Stamper pointed out that there’s still a strong separation of ethnicities in the salon and beauty spaces of Charlotte, as well as a problem around exploitation of hair stylists.

Stamper has heard stories where clientele don’t want to be touched by a different ethnicity and where a stylist’s coworkers were blatantly discriminatory by referring to the stylist as “it,” (even though their pronouns are they/them.)

“One of my rules is, if you’re being racist, homophobic, transphobic, xenophobic … you will be asked to leave in the middle of your service. I don’t care — I will ask you to leave because you don’t deserve to occupy the space with other people when you’re speaking hatred,” Stamper says.

She added that she’s noticed many salons will pay lip service to inclusivity, but draw a line at a certain

PHOTO BY KELSEY MARD

are and can be themselves without worrying about someone else judging them.

For Leonard, there’s nothing more fulfilling than making someone feel confident and comfortable in their own skin.

“I had a client come in who’s transitioning right now, and he was looking for a cut that was more masculine,” she explained. “We’ve been slowly transitioning into more and more masculine styles, and he’s really been loving it.”

“It feels good to know I’m able to provide that for someone and see them feeling confident while they’re still in the chair,” she said.

Places like The Jade Rabbit, Bohemian Style House, The Cut, Explicit Salon, Bishops and Mane

JADE RABBIT

Vibe Collective continue to build strong communities that celebrate self-expression, identity and the importance of safe spaces for queer individuals.

They break the barriers of what it means to have a gender-affirming haircut by focusing on providing exemplary services through open and clear communication that’s free of judgment and full of support.

A gender-affirming haircut, put simply, is an affirming haircut for anyone. Whether you’re wanting to change your look or looking to explore new parts of your identity, you’ll be leaving the chair knowing a little bit more about who you are.

RANTRIM@QCNERVE.COM

PHOTO BY STORM LOVER

Pg. 11 JUNE 12 - JUNE 25, 2024 - QCNERVE.COM

BOHEMIAN STYLEHOUSE

point in the LGBTQ spectrum. They can accept those who identify as gay or lesbian, but start to get uncomfortable when folks who are non-binary or trans show up.

“For a lot of people, inclusivity does stop at some point. It’s understandable for someone to say, ‘I’m uncomfortable because I’m not familiar with pronouns,’ or, ‘I’m uncomfortable because I don’t want to say the wrong thing,’” she explained. “That’s when you educate yourself and then move on from there.”

Rebekah Leonard, a haircutting specialist and coowner of The Cut in NoDa, believes that Charlotte’s hair and beauty scene needs more consistent effort when it comes to supporting the queer community.

For a short amount of time Pride Month, there seems to be support, but that falls off for the rest of the year, Leonard says.

“I think walking the walk and also talking the talk is important. Staying educated and knowledgeable about what being queer-friendly means is part of the walk when providing a queer-friendly space and a safe space for trans people,” Leonard said.

To Leonard, creating a safe space means that the physical environment isn’t heavily gendered.

Having gender neutral restrooms is important to help folks feel like they aren’t fighting for who they

SUMMER GUIDE

August 25: Snow Tha Product August 29: Ken Carson September 6: Manchester Orchestra September 7: Pigeons Playing Ping Pong w/ Andy Frasco & The UN, Dogs in a Pile September 9: Powerworld September 20: Alec Benjamin

2024

The Underground

Enjoy it while it’s livable Memorial Day has come and gone, and we are speeding into summer with reckless abandon. Here’s how to make sure the hot season doesn’t pass you by.

Live Music PNC Music Pavilion

707 Pavilion Blvd.; tinyurl.com/PNCPavilion2023 July 20: Kevin Gates & Friends July 23: Third Eye Blind w/ Yellowcard July 24: Creed July 27: New Kids On The Block w/ Paula Abdul & DJ Jazzy Jeff July 30: The Doobie Brothers August 2: Limp Bizkit w/ BONES, N8NOFACE, Corey Feldman, Riff Raff August 3: I Prevail & Halestorm August 4: Cage The Elephant August 7: Glass Animals August 9: Hank Williams Jr. August 10: Train w/ REO Speedwagon August 13: Earth, Wind & Fire w/ Chicago August 16: Dan + Shay August 17: Junior H

August 20: Thirty Seconds To Mars August 26: Green Day August 28: Imagine Dragons September 1: Avril Lavigne September 6: Megadeath September 7: Boyz II Men September 11: Rob Zombie w/ Alice Cooper September 13: Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats w/ My Morning Jacket September 14: Sebastian Maniscalo September 15: Meghan Trainor September 18: Korn September 19: Hootie & the Blowfish September 20: Cody Johnson September 21: Commodores w The Pointer Sisters, El Debarge September 22: Staind w/ Breaking Benjamin, Daughtry

Skyla Credit Union Amphitheatre 1000 NC Music Factory Blvd.; tinyurl.com/Skyla2023 June 20: Cody Jinks

GREEN DAY PLAYS PNC MUSIC PAVILION ON AUG. 26.

June 23: Goose June 26: T-Pain June 28: Cole Swindell July 24: Switchfoot w/ Blue October, Matt Nathanson August 2: Jamey Johnson August 7: CAKE August 11: 311 w/ AWOLNATION, Neon Trees August 11: Primus w/ Coheed & Cambria August 26: Bush September 5: Justin Moore w/ Randy Houser September 11: Porter Robinson September 14: Yung Gravy September 16: NIKI September 19: Kaleo September 21: Melissa Etherridge w/ Jewel

Pg. 12 JUNE 12 - JUNE 25, 2024 - QCNERVE.COM

The Fillmore

T-PAIN PLAYS AT SKYLA AMPHITHEATRE ON JUNE 26.

PHOTO BY WILL FOLSOM

820 Hamilton St.; fillmorenc.com June 30: Matisse July 6: Hobo Johnson & The Lovemakers July 12: Rumours ATL: Fleetwood Mac Tribute July 14: ShxtgNGigs July 21: Is For Lovers w/ Hawthorne Heights July 23: idobi Summer School July 25: PARTYNEXTDOOR July 27: Chief Keef July 28: $NOT July 29: As I Lay Dying August 3 & 4: The Band Camino w/ Knox August 8: Taking Back Sunday August 10: Lucky Daye

820 Hamilton St.; fillmorenc.com June 20: Wilderado June 21: Yoi Toki July 5: Felly July 11: Bktherula July 12: The Lox July 13: Northland July 20: Lil Poppa July 25: D’Aydrian Harding July 26: Jake Hill July 28: Evavn Honer July 29: mxmtoon July 31: The New Pornographers August 2: Caspian PHOTO BY ALVARAN STRONG August 10: We the Kings August 11: Black Pistol Fire August 24: Crumb August 25: Libianca August 27: Crown The Empire September 4: Lamp September 6: Leprous September 10: Wild Rivers September 14: The Airborne Toxic Event September 20: Mickey Guyton September 21: Old 97’s

Ovens Auditorium

2700 E. Independence Blvd.; boplex.com June 27: That Girl Lay Lay July 9: Donny Osmond July 26: Brit Floyd August 3: Ramón Ayala September 5: Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit

Bank of America Stadium 800 S. Mint St.; panthers.com/stadium July 18-19: Morgan Wallen

The Amp at Ballantyne

11115 Upper Ave., ampballantyne.com June 29: Trey Songz July 11: Thurston Howell Band August 3: Anthony Hamilton August 8: Cassette Rewind September 12: B Sharp

Charlotte Symphony

charlottesymphony.org June 21: Freedom Drive Festival - Ophelia GarmonBrown Community Center June 23: Music From the Movies - Symphony Park June 30: CSO Summer Pops Celebrates America Symphony Park

U.S. National Whitewater Center

5000 Whitewater Center Pkwy.; whitewater.org The U.S. Whitewater Center’s River Jam features live music on an outdoor stage every Thursday, Friday and Saturday night at 7 p.m. from May through September.

Genres span roots rock, Americana, bluegrass, folk and funk. Other activities include yoga, open-water swims and, of course, whitewater rafting. Admission is free aside from parking.

MoRa Fridays Live

Edge City Brewery, 6209 Old Post Road; moraclt.org Since May, Edge City Brewery has hosted the Fridays Live concert series every third Friday, and will continue to do so through November. MoRA began this FREE community concert series seven years ago at the Embrace Sculpture, and this year, Edge City is cooking up a concert series with all the right ingredients: great bands, food trucks, craft beer and local vendors. Summer’s scheduled performers include Well Drinkers, Something Like That and Faultline Bluegrass. Be there at 6 p.m.

BACK TO THE FUTURE: THE MUSICAL

Locations vary, 7-9 p.m.; tinyurl.com/SundownSounds24 June 22: Adrian Crutchfield at Pearl Street Park July 7: Of Good Nature at Ramsey Creek Beach July 14: The Steepwater Band at Park Road Park July 20: Eli Yacinthe Band at Romare Bearden Park July 27: Blue Monday at Pearl Street Park August 4: Blackwater Band at Ramsey Creek Beach August 11: The Eric Brice Group at Park Road Park

Jazz at the Garden

A special evening of jazz under the stars, featuring five performances by some of the finest talent from the Carolinas: Reggie Graves & Jazz Theory, Holly Hopkins Jazz Trio, 5th & York Band, JaVonne Jones, and Scott Marvill.

More: $59, July 9, 5-10 p.m.; Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden, 6500 S. New MAMMA MIA! Hope Road; dsbg.org

Arts & Culture Theatre Charlotte

501 Queens Road; theatrecharlotte.org June 28-July 7: Alice by Heart July 19-20: Dear Edwina Jr.

Three Bone Theatre

The Arts Factory at West End Studios, 1545 W. Trade St.; threebonetheatre.com August 9-24: Mojada: A Medea in Los Angeles

PHOTO BY JOAN MARCUS

Booth Playhouse

130 N. Tryon St., blumenthalarts.org Through June 29: Charlotte Squawks 19: Go pluck Yourself July 5: Omari Dillard July 9: D. Savage July 13: Merrily We Roll Along July 27: Black Couples Therapy Aug. 23-24: Herlin Riley August 31: The 8th Annual Carolina Music Video Awards September 20: Reverend Kristin Michael Hayter

Knight Theater

430 S. Tryon St.; blumenthalarts.org June 20: Ryan Adams June 21: Justin Willman June 22: Cedric Bowler June 23: Lalah Hathaway June 26: Mike Birbiglia July 11: An Evening with Nikole Hannah-Jones July 19: Najee August 17: Jeff Ross August 24: Dusty Slay August 29: PJ Morton September 7: Joe Pera

Stage Door Theater

155 N. College St.; blumenthal.org July 6: Black Boys Cry July 26-27: Joey Alexander July 28: The One With All the Laughs August 1: Queen City Lip Sync September 12: Now Are the Foxes & Friends September 19-21: Tablao Flamenco

Ovens Auditorium

2700 E. Independence Blvd.; boplex.com July 13: Nikki Glaser August 8: Ellen DeGeneres August 31: RePaul’s Drag Race Live September 6: Giggly Squad Live September 14: Chelsea Handler

Bojangles Coliseum

2700 E. Independence Blvd.; boplex.com Aug. 1-4: Cirque du Soleil: Corteo

PHOTO BY MATTHEW MURPHY, EVAN ZIMMERMAN

Matthews Playhouse

Fullwood Theatre, 100 E. McDowell St., Matthews September 20-29: One Year to Die

Belk Theater

130 N. Tryon St., blumenthalarts.org June 18-23: Mamma Mia! July 9-21: Back to the Future: The Musical Aug. 8-Sept. 8: Disney’s The Lion King DISNEY’S THE LION KING

PHOTO COURTESY OF BLUMENTHAL ARTS

Pg. 13 JUNE 12 - JUNE 25, 2024 - QCNERVE.COM

Mecklenburg County’s Sundown Sounds

August 17: West End Mambo at Eastway Regional Recreation Center August 24: TBD at Pearl Street Park

Regular season

Crossroads Cinema

September 15 vs. San Diego Chargers

Camp North End, 300 Camp Road, 8:30 pm.; camp.nc Every Thursday this summer, catch iconic flicks from the ‘80s, ‘90s and 2000s on a jumbo screen with surround sound against the backdrop of the historic Ford building.

June 20: Dreamgirls June 27: Charlie’s Angels July 4: Miss Congeniality July 11: Gladiator July 18: Hitch July 25: Shrek August 1: Mission Impossible II August 8: Princess Diaries August 15: Napoleon Dynamite August 22: Legally Blonde

Charlotte FC

Bank of America Stadium, 800 S. Mint St.; charlottefootballclub.com July 3 vs. Inter Miami August 24 vs. New York Red Bulls August 31 vs. Atlanta United FC

Charlotte Independence

Wednesday Night Live

HOMER’S CASTLE IS TRUIST FIELD Presented by Bank of America, Wednesday Night Live includes free admission to the Mint Museum, Bechtler Museum and Gantt Center every Wednesday as well as live entertainment or programming at one of the four Levine Center for the Arts institutions each week.

Special programming ranges from dance performances Charlotte Knights to spoken-word artists to film screenings.

Truist Field, 324 S. Mint St.; milb.com/charlotte-knights More: Free; Wednesdays, 5-9 p.m.; locations vary; June 18-23 vs. Gwinnett mintmuseum.org July 4-6 vs. Jacksonville July 9-14 vs. Durham July 30-August 4 vs. Norfolk

Pg. 14 JUNE 12 - JUNE 25, 2024 - QCNERVE.COM

Sports

PHOTO BY LAURA WOLFF

August 13-18 vs. Toledo August 27-Sept. 1 vs. Nashville September 10-15 vs. Jacksonville

Carolina Panthers

Bank of America Stadium, 800 S. Mint St.; panthers.com

Preseason

August 17 vs. New York Jets

American Legion Memorial Stadium, 310 N. Kings Drive; charlotteindependence.com July 9 vs. Lexington SC July 20 vs. South Georgia Tormenta FC August 3 vs. Lexington SC August 10 vs. Greenville Triumph SC August 24 vs. Central Valley Fuego FC September 14 vs. Richmond Kickers

Charlotte Motor Speedway

5555 Concord Pkwy. S; charlottemotorspeedway.com August 17: Monster Truck Bash September 7: SuperMotocross World Championship Playoffs September 20-22: NHRA Carolina Nationals

Queen City Juneteenth Parade and Cultural Celebration

Enjoy vibrant floats, music, vendors and dance performances that honor African American heritage and freedom.

More: June 15, 9 a.m.-noon; CPCC - Cato Campus, 8120 Grier Road; tinyurl.com/JuneteenthCPCC24

2024 North Carolina Juneteenth Festival

BELMONT JUNETEENTH CELEBRATION

Support over 100 Black-owned companies and enjoy crafts, culture, performances, art, kids games, free giveaways and more.

More: June 15, 1-5 p.m.; Cabarrus Arena & Events Center, 4751 State COURTESY OF ELEMENTS OF EMPOWERMENT Highway 49 N., Concord; tinyurl. com/JuneteenthFestConcord

Juneteenth Celebrations

Gastonia EbonyFest Juneteenth Festival

Charlotte Symphony: A Juneteenth Celebration

Makeda Iroquois, cultural historian Makheru Bradley, and the Charlotte African Drum & Dance Collective.

More: Free; June 19, 6 pm; Matthews Community Center, Celebrate Juneteenth with Charlotte Symphony as they 100 E. McDowell St.; tinyurl.com/MatthewsJuneteenth24 honor African American musical heritage and unite in the spirit of freedom with works by Scott Joplin, Louis Historic Rosedale Juneteenth Armstrong and more.

More: $15; June 16, 8:30 p.m.; Symphony Park, 4400 Celebration Sharon Road; charlottesymphony.org As part of its African American Legacy programming, Historic Rosedale follows through on its mission to honor those who once forcibly labored on the property. This University City Juneteenth Art Fest Juneteenth celebration will include demonstrations, 2024 prayer, a panel discussion, a musical performance by Celebrate creativity, culture, and community at the Kimberly Baker and more.

Shoppes at University Place, with artists showcasing More: Free; June 22, 10 a.m.-3 p.m., Historic Rosedale, their work, live music performances, dancers, games 3427 N. Tryon St., tinyurl.com/RosedaleJuneteenth24 and giveaways, vendors, and free interactive painting activities for all ages.

More: Free; June 19, 4-8 pm; The Shoppes at For the Struggle Juneteenth University Place, 8931 JM Keynes Drive; tinyurl.com/ Celebration UCityJuneteenth24 Local community activist organization For the Struggle hosts its fifth annual Juneteenth celebrations featuring giveaways, African dancers and drummers, musical Evening of Homecoming Event host April C. Turner of Life As Art Productions, a performances, storytellers, voter registration and folklorist and community educator, will perform her education, a VIP senior citizen section, a Kid’s Freedom popular interactive presentation, Dancing Stories, Corner with bouncy houses and a game truck, and more. followed by performances from the Mt. Moriah More: Free; June 22, 2-6 p.m.; Senior Drive, Historic West Missionary Baptist Church Praise Team, neo-soul vocalist End; ftsinc.org

Celebrate freedom, culture, and community with live music, traditional soul food, crafts, art, merchandise, games, face painting and more.

More: Free-$150; June 15-16; Rotary Centennial Pavilion. 107 N. South St., Gastonia; tinyurl.com/ The best way to kick off your summer early is with EbonyFestGastonia any of these Juneteenth celebrations spread throughout the greater Charlotte area.

House of Africa’s Annual Juneteenth Festival

Celebrate the Juneteenth holiday while embracing African American culture with nostalgia, music, food, and shopping for vintage pieces from local Charlotte vendors.

Dress up in your favorite low-rise jeans, pink Juicy Jay tracksuit, silver tops, and bandanas to support Black business owners and build community.

More: Free admission; June 15; 1-4 p.m.; 102 Berkeley Place Drive; tinyurl.com/pre-juneteenth-pop-up

Belmont Juneteenth Celebration

Hosted by Elements of Empowerment, Inc., this is a free cultural festival of arts, crafts, music, food and more.

More: Free; June 15, 2-9:30 p.m.; Stowe Park, 24 S. Main St., Belmont; tinyurl.com/BelmontJuneteenth24

Ada Jenkins Juneteenth Celebration

The fourth annual Ada Jenkins Juneteenth celebration will include music, dancing, spoken-word performances, Celebrate Juneteenth as a day of recognition, reflection nonprofit vendors, food trucks, a kids’ zone and a free and celebration with spoken word, dancing and more. meal for the first 400 people in attendance.

More: Free; June 14, 6-9 pm; Crossing Paths Park, 120 More: Free; June 15, 4-7 p.m., Ada Jenkins Center, 212 HISTORIC WEST END JUNETEENTH CELEBRATION Blythe Drive; tinyurl.com/IndianTrailJuneteenth24 Gamble St.; adajenkins.org

Indian Trail Juneteenth Celebration

COURTESY OF FOR THE STRUGGLE

Pg. 15 JUNE 12 - JUNE 25, 2024 - QCNERVE.COM

Launched in 1998, House of Africa owner Pape Ndiaye is heading into his 27th year hosting his annual Juneteenth celebration in Plaza Midwood, making it one of the longest running observations of the holiday not only in Charlotte but all of North Carolina. Events planned this year include a drum circle, youth culture camp, a unity march and more, with plenty of vendors onsite selling food, beverages, arts, crafts and other goods. “Juneteenth is not just an African American holiday; it is a significant piece of American history,” wrote the Juneteenth Planning Committee on the festival’s website. “We are calling for unity and togetherness.”

More: Free; June 13-16, times vary; House of Africa, ​​1215 Thomas Avenue; juneteenthofthecarolinas.com

Pre-Juneteenth Y2K-Themed Pop-Up Market

FRI

SAT 6/14

6/15

AERIAL PRIDE PARTY AT HI-WIRE SILOAM SCHOOL REOPENING The Siloam School was built more than 100 years BREWING

Following up on Hi-Wire Brewing’s Geeks and Gaymers aerial show, the South End brewery will celebrate Pride Month with the newest installment of its Cirque du Biere event series. The first act of the local aerialist troupe’s performance will be choreographed to a queer song of the performer’s choice while the second will be performed improvisationally to a song chosen by the audience.

A part of the proceeds from the event will be donated to Time Out Youth, an organization that aids LGBTQ+ youth.

More: $10-$20; June 14, 7 p.m.- 9:30 p.m.; HiWire Brewing, 340 West Tremont Ave., Suite 140; hiwirebrewing.com

CIRQUE DU BIERE Courtesy of Hi-Wire Brewing

6/14

SUN

WED 6/16

ago by members of the Mallard Creek area’s Black community for local Black children to have a place to learn amid a movement to educate freed Blacks that began in the 1890s and continued into the 20th century. In September 2023, following six years of planning and fundraising for the Save Siloam School project, the Charlotte Museum of History moved the decrepit old schoolhouse from its original lot to the museum property, where it’s been renovated and will now serve as a center for history education, hosting exhibits about the 20th-century Black experience and serving as a space to learn about the region’s history of racial discrimination and injustice.

More: Free; June 15, noon; Charlotte Museum of History, 3500 Shamrock Drive; charlottemuseum.org

WED 6/19

ALL MY FRIENDS ARE FLY-THE PARTY Photo courtesy of MacFly Fresh Printing Co.

6/19

THURS 6/19

6/20

Pg. 16 JUNE 12 - JUNE 25, 2024 - QCNERVE.COM

GO SKATE DAY WARM UP PARTY AND PERCUSSION DISCUSSION AFRIKA ALL MY FRIENDS ARE FLY - THE PARTY LIMINAL DIVINE EXHIBIT OPENING Legendary Ugandan percussionist Herman Whether you’re a social butterfly looking to dance Curated by local artist Elizabeth Palmisano, this RAFFLE

National Go Skating Day occurs on June 21, but the folks at Charlotte Skate Foundation (CSF) are getting ahead of it with a raffle to help fund maintenance and insurance at the Kilborne DIY Skatepark. Super Abari Game Bar is partnering with Black Sheep Skate Shop and CSF to throw a raffle that offers up prizes ranging from an XBox Series S and Black Sheep kicks to mini-fridges, camp chairs and band merch.

The raffle will conclude with a pre-party featuring performances by Mindvac and Gluetrap, food from King Of Fire Pizza, drink specials and a celebration of Charlotte’s skate culture.

More: Donations suggested; June 16, 3 p.m.; Super Abari Game Bar; 1015 Seigle Ave.; givebutter.com/abariskate24

Ssewanyana founded the Percussion Discussion Afrika in 1997 as he noticed that much of Uganda’s music had been highly influenced by Congolese soukous, leaving the culture around folk music to fade into the past. With a vision of introducing a new identity and sound on the Ugandan music scene, the group quickly gained popularity and took over the local airwaves. Percussion Discussion Afrika’s music is driven by the melodic sound of traditional Buganda drums, accompanied by the adungu (a traditional harp from northern Uganda) and a fusion of other instruments.

More: $20; June 19, 7:30 p.m.; Evening Muse, 3227 N. Davidson St.; eveningmuse.com

the night away to the hottest beats from DJ See Bird Go or want to dress in your best just to post up and chill with cool people, you’ll want to stop by MacFly Fresh Printing Co. for this party. This screen-printing business was launched with the goal to address issues around economic mobility in Charlotte and diversity in the creative professions. Through this artistic medium, founder Eric Ndelo has not only kept folks looking fresh but elevated social justice movements like Black Lives Matter, empowered countless young artists and taught entrepreneurship to Congo youth.

More: $15; June 19, 7-10 p.m.; MacFly Fresh Printing Co., 301 Camp Road; tinyurl.com/MacFlyFresh

exhibit is the result of the Spring 2024 McColl Exhibition Fellowship, a four-week collaborative fellowship in which seven local artists came together to explore the hallowed moments found in the mundane — in connection, in nature, in the everyday magic around us. Participating artists include Palmisano, Krystle Baller, Alicia Bell, day hixson, Amtah Naazim, Marcell Vielot and Gloria Zavaleta. The group created works in mediums including documentary photography, videography, sound, live plants, silversmithing and metal working, sculpture and fabrication, broommaking, sigil creation, and fiber art.

More: $10 suggested donation; June 20, 6-9 p.m.; McColl Center, 721 N. Tryon St. mccollcenter.org

SAT

SUN 6/22

6/23

JAZZ AND THE SAXOPHONE WITH LALAH HATHAWAY Lalah Hathaway has been topping R&B charts since ERICK “ZOOT” PAYNE

Learn about the rich history of jazz and see a live demonstration of saxophone improvisation with musician Erick “Zoot” Payne, also known as Smaqdiggle. The workshop is open to all ages and any necessary supplies will be provided. As a saxophone player, producer, amateur photographer, traveler and independent musician, Payne has traveled the world sharing his talents with folks from all over, and he’ll take what he’s learned to lead this Goodyear workshop on improvisational sax.

More: Free; June 22, 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.; Goodyear Arts, 301 Camp Road; tinyurl.com/erickpayne

her debut release in 1990, working with musicians such as Mary J. Blige, Marcus Miller, Take 6, and The Winans when she’s not recording as a solo artist.

Daughter of the iconic Donny Hathaway, Lalah has created plenty of space fr herself in the music industry, with an multiphonic overtone style of singing that allows her to sing several notes at the same time. She’s known to extend her songs out well over 5 minutes during live performances, so you’ll likely get plenty of chances to see her put this talent on display.

More: $44.50 and up; June 23, 7 p.m.; Knight Theater, 430 S. Tryon St.; blumenthalarts.org LALAH HATHAWAY Courtesy of Blumenthal Arts

ELIZABETH PALMISANO, CURATOR OF LIMINAL DIVINE Photo courtesy of McColl Center

6/23

6/20

MON

TUES 6/24

6/25

MICHAEL CERA PALIN W/ KEROSENE FRIENDS IN DIVERSITY: ROOFTOP HEIGHTS, BETWEEN TWO TREES, BIG SOIREE Wrap up Pride Month in Historic West End with BACKYARD

MICHAEL CERA PALIN Promotional photo

6/24

Carolinas LGBTQ+ Chamber of Commerce’s eighth annual Rooftop Soiree presented. Current LGBTQ+ Chamber members get in free and nonmembers’ tickets are $20. All ticket purchases include complimentary cocktails, hors d’oeuvres and parking as well as live entertainment and diverse and intentional networking opportunities with a number of established businesses and individual entrepreneurs. Attendees will get a chance to network with members of other chambers including the Charlotte Mecklenburg Black Chamber, Carolinas Asian-American Chamber, Black Business Owners of Charlotte, Latin American Chamber of Commerce of Charlotte, Charlotte Regional Business Alliance, and Women’s Business Center of Charlotte More: Free- $20; June 25, 6:30-9 p.m.; Skyline Terrace, 1601 W Trade St;

PERCUSSION DISCUSSION AFRIKA Promotional photo

6/19

Pg. 17 JUNE 12 - JUNE 25, 2024 - QCNERVE.COM

Atlanta-based emo/indie punk band Michael Cera Palin redefines the genre of party-punk music with its driving rhythm and passionate sound. “Portrait of a Woman on a Couch With Cats” sets the tone for a forceful, heartfelt sophomore EP. Asheville band Kerosene Heights is cementing itself into the emo scene with songs like “Perfect Timing” and “Kathryn.” Between Two Trees and Big Backyard are two more Charlotte emo acts with names that could be referring to the same scene but sound quite different.

More: $12-$15; June 24; 8 p.m.; The Milestone; 3400 Tuckaseegee Road; themilestone.club

MUSIC FEATURE

FOR YOUR ‘MENTAL HEALTH’ Evan Plante returns to music as a True Optimist

BY RYAN PITKIN

Longtime lovers of the Charlotte music scene know the name Evan Plante from his time playing with a number of punk bands locally and elsewhere — Quad, Pleather, Light the Fuse and Run, Escapists, and others.

Some years ago, he found himself detaching from the music scene, worn out by a lifetime of gigging and indifferent about creating new music. He threw himself into his day job as founder of Dockland Designs, work that scratched his creative itch while also paying the bills.

He thought he had left music, or at least the creation of it, in the past. He found over time, however, that it wasn’t that easy. Music was a release for Plante, a form of therapy that played an

important role in his everyday psyche, a role that couldn’t be replaced.

Now, after a years-long hiatus, Plante has begun making music again, recording at home with his wife Susan Plante (of indie-rock trio Faye) under the name True Optimist. Their new single “Mental Health” is set to release on June 25, with an album of the same name scheduled to drop on Aug. 2.

The title comes from Evan’s realization that making EVAN PLANTE GRACES THE COVER OF ‘MENTAL HEALTH’ music was his way of leveling off his anxiety about what was happening in the world around him. music will be surprised by Mental Health, which “I tried to quit music and eventually realized sounds like nothing he has ever been a part of. music was needed in my life for my mental health,” It defies genres, gamboling between Latin jazz, he told Queen City Nerve. post-disco and any number of other sounds and Those familiar with Plante’s former ventures in inspirations. Evan is also singing on the project — another first for him.

In the lead-up to the release of True Optimist’s first single, we talked to Plante about what got him back into making music and the processes behind Mental Health.

REWIND: CLT’S NEW MUSIC RELEASES ALBUM SINGLE THE WHISKEY PREDICAMENT, ‘THE HOLD IT MODERN MOXIE, “DON’T LOOK AT ME” An indie-rock anthem with a driving rhythmic guitar TOGETHER’ Nate Fey breathes an air of tales told around a campfire with his folk lyrics.

Stream on Spotify

SINGLE CAMISOLE., “FREEZE FRAME”

melody and springy vocals that confront what it means to be beautiful, authentic, and creative in a world that tells people not to be.

Stream on Spotify

SINGLE

Pg. 18 JUNE 12 - JUNE 25, 2024 - QCNERVE.COM

Rich, punchy guitar solos stretch for minutes, WILLINGDON, “BRUISER” representing a memory of someone who was in love and A look into ruminating over past mistakes all while is holding on to the lingering feelings. trying to remind yourself that you’re more than the Stream on Spotify “things” that define you.

Stream on Spotify EP

J ANDREW, SELF-TITLED

Straying away from the grunge of Late Bloomer, J Andrew creates comfort in his easy-going melodies that feel distantly familiar like the sound of a guitar someone decides to play on a cool evening at a summer party.

Stream: tinyurl.com/j-andrew

Queen City Nerve: What made you decide to start making music again?

Evan Plante: I got pretty bored with rock bands after a lifetime of playing in them, and I always liked to put on jazz and bossa nova in the background while I work, so I tried to learn how to think about music in a new and freer way. I also decided that I would spend two months listening to music chronologically.

I would put on music from, say, 1961 all day and work, and never skip a song. 1962 the next day.

Even if I didn’t love every song, I tried to listen for something that made that song special; a hit song. I’d get intrigued by a new rhythm, or a new language of music, or a nostalgic sound from a time past. I discovered that my favorite years for music (currently) are 1980-1983. It was the birth of synthesizers in pop music, and punk and disco were both entering their “post” phase. All of this added up to a new spark of creativity.

COVER ART BY SUSAN & EVAN PLANTE

person, and writing music is just something that I have always done. But I was not impressed with my music anymore until I opened my mind up a bit more. Susan studied music theory and classical piano in college, so we’d just play around on drums and piano and explore new paths together.

It’s actually very easy for us to play music because we are a good team at most things, we come from the same music scene, we understand each other’s tendencies.

What we’re doing right now is really effortless to me. It just happens, and it’s very fresh feeling.

This is a departure from the sounds in any of your earlier outfits. What inspired that and how do you feel about the finished product?

I wanted to reinvent myself musically. I can change, and I should change as I get older. I should get better, in all things. True Optimist is not meant to be a band or to play gigs. It’s really a solitary expression and experimentation in rhythm and style. I don’t really know how it’s happening, because every song I finish, I shake my head in disbelief that I created it.

I don’t know how it happens, and it’s not influenced by anything other than me and what I want music to be. The Mental Health album is full of genres of music and ideas that I have never attempted to write or play before, and I still just can’t believe that I made this record.

Visit qcnerve.com for the full interview. True Optimist What’s the process like working solely with singles are scheduled for release on June 25 and July 9, Susan on this project? Do you find it easier, with the full Mental Health album set to drop on Aug. 2. harder, etc.?

RPITKIN@QCNERVE.COM Music never feels hard to me. I’m a creative

Subvertigo at The Milestone, 6/7/24 Photo by @danrussellpinson

Girl Brutal at The Milestone, 5/11/24 Photo by @channel_20xx

Marisa Missing at The Milestone, 5/11/24 Photo by @channel_20xx

SWAE at Snug Harbor, 5/30/24 Photo by @danrussellpinson

Hey RICHARD at The Milestone, 5/11/24 Photo by @channel_20xx

FASTFORWARD: UPCOMING PROJECTS EP SUBVERTIGO/BLUEGILL, ‘CPR-085’

Charlotte four-piece Subvertigo can turn on a dime from moody shoegaze to heavy metal. They’ll join Greenville’s Bluegill on this fourtrack EP with two songs from each band featured on cassette tape only.

Premiering June 14

SINGLE TE’JANI, “LET ME BUM A CIGARETTE”

Singer-songwriter, producer, engineer and multi-instrumentalist Te’Jani Inuwa follows up on 2023’s On Prozac with his first solo work since producing Dollar Signs’ latest effort.

Premiering June 23

SINGLE CLARITY, “MIRAGE OF FATE”

Premiering June 28

SINGLE ALEXA JENSON, “JUST YOU WAIT”

Singer/songwriter Alexa Jenson launched her career at age 16 as a solo performer, though she recently added drummer Matt Conte and bassist/synth player Josh Rosales to give her music more of a rock feel.

Her fun and energetic single “Just You Wait” will be her first new music release in six years. “It’s one we’ve been playing for several years as a band,” she told Queen City Nerve. “It’s my teenage late ’90s/early 2000s indie-pop band dream. It’s my favorite.”

Premiering at qcnerve.com on June 28

SINGLE BOULEVARDS, ‘CAROLINA FUNK: BARN BURNER ON TOBACCO ROAD’

Taking cues from pioneers such as Prince, Rick James, and Earth Wind & Fire, Jamil Rashad’s charisma oozes throughout his performance as the Raleigh-based Boulevards and expertly executes an original sound described as “Southern fried funk.” On “Do It Like a Maniac,” he seamlessly translates the pulsating energy of a live Boulevards performance into an immersive auditory experience that can easily be enjoyed on-the-go.

PAUSE: Project spotlight ‘HOW TO SAVE A MILESTONE’

When Queen City Nerve first reported on Liz McLaughlin and Jason Arthurs’ efforts to make a documentary about west Charlotte’s legendary music venue The Milestone, there was no guarantee the building would still be standing by the time they finished.

In fact, it felt highly likely that it wouldn’t be.

Fast forward five years, and we’re happy to report that the film is finally in the can and, better yet, The Milestone was able to host its first screening back in March.

What McLaughlin and Arthurs caught in the end was a tale of a venue scraping to stay alive in the face of a pandemic, under new ownership, in a city where raising rents meant many of The Milestone’s contemporaries were already razed.

Premiering June 28

If you’re interested in being included in an upcoming issue, send any new releases to Rayne Antrim at rantrim@qcnerve.com.

‘How to Save a Milestone’

“The film captures how the forced shutdown left so much in flux for the venue, bands, and fans alike,” says McLaughlin now.

“It’s hard to ignore the value of the visceral experience of live music when it’s taken away. That time was a wakeup call that we must support the Milestone if we don’t want to lose it.”

The film is set for its world premiere at Independent Picture House on Aug. 30, with other community screenings to follow. Stay tuned for more on the story of a business back from the near-dead.

RPITKIN@QCNERVE.COM

Pg. 19 JUNE 12 - JUNE 25, 2024 - QCNERVE.COM

Through Clarity’s hauntingly beautiful voice and a cloudy textured bass, “Mirage of Fate” depicts the journey of healing when swimming through a sea of layered pain. “This song was crafted amid a flare up with my neurological disorders,” Clarity says. “Reflecting the personified essence of the trials entwined with chronic pain, the devil represents the archetype of that pain. Despite the challenges, I’ve unearthed solace in movement.”

PLAY: THE SHOWCASE

LOCAL STARS ON STAGE; MAY-JUNE

Submit your photos to info@qcnerve.com

MUSIC SHOWCASE

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 12

ROCK/PUNK/METAL Faye Webster (The Fillmore) Wastoid w/ Sex Mex, Tongues of Fire, Momophobia (The Milestone) Useless Info w/ Fried Reality, Corrupt Faith, Zig Zag (Snug Harbor) JAZZ/BLUES Jazz Nights at Canteen (Camp North End) Carolyn Wonderland (Middle C Jazz) COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA Savannah Harmon Duo (Goldie’s) SINGER-SONGWRITER/ACOUSTIC Melissa Ferrick w/ Kristen Ford (Evening Muse) OPEN MIC Singer/Songwriter Open Mic (The Rooster) Variety Open Mic (Starlight on 22nd)

THURSDAY, JUNE 13

Pg. 20 JUNE 12 - JUNE 25, 2024 - QCNERVE.COM

ROCK/PUNK/METAL Cigarettes @ Sunset w/ Hourglass Kids, Kai & The Gooniez, Groove Skeletons (Amos’ Southend) Nekromantix (Neighborhood Theatre) The Minks w/ Comino, Ali Forrest (Petra’s) Grindhouse w/ Caged Affair (The Rooster) COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA The Jacob Jolliff Band (Evening Muse) Brent Cates Duo w/ Anna J (Goldie’s) POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC/DJ Neil Frances (The Underground) Lynsea w/ Mariah Van Kleef, Mimah (Snug Harbor) SINGER-SONGWRITER/ACOUSTIC Josh Daniel (Comet Grill) FUNK/JAM BANDS Sol Fusion (The Amp Ballantyne) COVER BANDS Brandon Stevens sings Michael McDonald & Maxwell (Middle C Jazz)

FUNK/JAM BANDS Secret Formula Band (Smokey Joe’s Cafe & Bar) HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B Bossman Dlow (The Underground) CHRISTIAN/GOSPEL/RELIGIOUS Aarik Duncan w/ Nia Zhané (Evening Muse)

COVER BANDS

Grateful Dudes (The Rooster)

SATURDAY, JUNE 15

ROCK/PUNK/METAL Almost A.M. (Heist Brewery) Racoon Tour w/ North Bloom, Windley, Nervous Surface, With Haste! (The Milestone) Cravin’ Melon w/ Chad Meers (Neighborhood Theatre) Tiny City w/ Neon Deaths, Stink Buggg (Petra’s) Christy Snow Band w/ Siena Christie (The Rooster) Oh! You Pretty Things w/ Physical/Digital, Momophobia, Pink Skull Garden (Snug Harbor) POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC/DJ Rabbit in the Moon (Blackbox Theater) JUNE! w/ money for water, Pei Wesley, KUNA (Evening Muse) All the Feels (The Fillmore) Adult ‘80s Prom w/ DJ Festivus (Primal Brewery) Sua Casa Afterparty (Starlight on 22nd) JAZZ/BLUES David Benoit (Middle C Jazz) COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA Hunter’s Travesty (Comet Grill) Kim Richey (Evening Muse) Holler Choir w/ Rose Hotel, Spencer Thomas (Visulite Theatre) CLASSICAL/INSTRUMENTAL Charlotte Symphony: Jaws in Concert (Belk Theater) FUNK/JAM BANDS U-Phonik w/ Bald Brothers (Goldies’) COVER BANDS Red Hot Chili Dogs (Amos’ Southend)

MONDAY, JUNE 17

ROCK/PUNK/METAL Adjy w/ Blake Anthony & the Campfire, Sunset Electric, Outward Conversation, Whoami? (The Milestone) JAZZ/BLUES The Bill Hanna Legacy Jazz Session (Petra’s) COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA Charlotte Bluegrass Allstars (Smokey Joe’s Cafe & Bar) OPEN MIC Find Your Muse Open Mic (Evening Muse)

TUESDAY, JUNE 18

ROCK/PUNK/METAL Red Rocking Chair (Comet Grill) Ocean Alley (The Fillmore) Razorblade w/ Trainwrecked, Screwed Ends, Longsuffering, Echos of Humanity (The Milestone) B.O.R.N. w/ Cartridge, Forced Humility (Snug Harbor) OPEN MIC Open Mic Night feat. The Smokin J’s (Smokey Joe’s Cafe & Bar)

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 19

ROCK/PUNK/METAL Silversun Pickups (The Fillmore) The Menzingers (The Underground) King’s X w/ Sound & Shape (Neighborhood Theatre) Isaac Rother & the Phantoms w/ Bath Party, Warp Street, DJ Wylie Kill (Snug Harbor) SINGER-SONGWRITER/ACOUSTIC Delta Fire Duo (Goldie’s) Josh Daniel w/ Jim Brock, Kerry Brooks (Smokey Joe’s Cafe & Bar) FRIDAY, JUNE 14 JAZZ/BLUES ROCK/PUNK/METAL Jazz Nights at Canteen (Camp North End) Violent Vira w/ Alexis Munroe, Max Diaz (Amos’ POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC/DJ Southend) Beats @ Birdsong (Birdsong Brewing) Drive By Truckers (The Fillmore) LATIN/WORLD/REGGAE Dollhaver w/ Emily Grimm, Lindera, Syndrome (The Percussion Discussion Afrika (Evening Muse) Milestone) SUNDAY, JUNE 16 COVER BANDS Archspire (Neighborhood Theatre) POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC/DJ Summer of Funk (Middle C Jazz) Slow Funeral w/ Kitty Coen, Jay Hoff (Petra’s) Hazy Sunday (Petra’s) OPEN MIC Crenshaw Pentecostal w/ HolyRoller, Vera Soul HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B Singer/Songwriter Open Mic (The Rooster) (Snug Harbor) Will Downing (Knight Theater) Leisure McCorkle w/ Fancy Gap, Wilde Green (Visulite Variety Open Mic (Starlight on 22nd) Soul Sundays feat. Guy Nowchild (Starlight on 22nd) Theatre) JAZZ/BLUES POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC/DJ THURSDAY, JUNE 20 Omari & the Hellhounds (Comet Grill) The Wonderlands w/ Elora Dash (Camp North End) ROCK/PUNK/METAL Gina Rosaria (Middle C Jazz) CLASSICAL/INSTRUMENTAL Ryan Adams (Knight Theater) SINGER-SONGWRITER/ACOUSTIC Charlotte Symphony: Jaws in Concert (Belk Theater) Once Below Joy w/ The Yllat, Cigarettes at Sunset, David Childers (Free Range Brewing) COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA Benz.Birdz. (The Milestone) Russell ‘n’ Woods (Goldie’s) Simple Sole w/ Bourbon Sons Duo (Goldie’s) Love Bug Junkie (The Rooster) LATIN/WORLD/REGGAE Hardy (PNC Music Pavilion) JAZZ/BLUES Sean Paul (The Fillmore) JAZZ/BLUES Woody Allen (Comet Grill) Steve Cole (Middle C Jazz)

HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B Caleborate w/ Mir Fontane, Joey Zen, Justomobbin (Neighborhood Theatre) COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA Wilderado (The Underground) Cuchulain w/ Jon Charles Dwyer, Aaron Chance Wilson (Petra’s) LATIN/WORLD/REGGAE Josh Daniel Band w/ Mike Ramsey (Goldie’s) FUNK/JAM BANDS Shana Blake’s Musical Menagerie (Smokey Joe’s Cafe & Bar) EXPERIMENTAL/MIXED-GENRE/FESTIVAL Snug Harbor Music Awards (Snug Harbor) COVER BANDS Just Fine (Mary J Blige tribute) (Middle C Jazz)

FRIDAY, JUNE 21

ROCK/PUNK/METAL The Lenny Federal Band (Comet Grill) Current Blue w/ Britton Rauscher (Evening Muse) Magnitude w/ Combust, Balmora, Fake Eyes, Divine Right (The Milestone) Planet Sized Planet w/ Saluda, Wine Mom, This Island Earth (The Rooster) JAZZ/BLUES Christian Sands Trio (Middle C Jazz) POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC/DJ Yoi Toki (The Underground) COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA Adam Church w/ The Jeffers N’ Kelly Band, Chandler & The Reckless Souls (Amos’ Southend) Virginia Man w/ Liam Pendergrass (Camp North End) Jayson Arendt Band w/ Randy Paul Duo (Goldie’s) FUNK/JAM BANDS The Bloodworth Project (Smokey Joe’s Cafe & Bar) LATIN/WORLD/REGGAE Jay Wheeler (Ovens Auditorium) Kaleta & Super Yamba Band (Snug Harbor) HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B JMSN w/ 2007 (Neighborhood Theatre) MC Challenge (Starlight on 22nd) Josh & Joe Play the Dead (Visulite Theatre)

SATURDAY, JUNE 22

ROCK/PUNK/METAL Josh Joplin Group w/ Mike Miz (Evening Muse) Late Night Special w/ Sam & Illia (Goldie’s) Kurt Vile & the Violators (Neighborhood Theatre) Deaf Andrews (Primal Brewery) Modern Alibi w/ Kaska Sun (Visulite Theatre) COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA Wim Tapley & The Cannons w/ Hollifield (Evening Muse) Outlaw Fest (PNC Music Pavilion) JAZZ/BLUES Eric ‘Zoot’ Payne (Goodyear Arts) Ragan Whiteside (Middle C Jazz) POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC/DJ GLOW: Just Twirl Pride Month Party (Blackbox Theater)

Digital Noir w/ DJ Spider, DJ Dave Industrie (The Milestone) Frequency360 Family Reunion (Starlight on 22nd) SINGER-SONGWRITER/ACOUSTIC Brandon Tenney w/ Maddrey, Jackson Harden (Petra’s) FUNK/JAM BANDS Eddie Schenck Band (The Rooster) The Goodnight Brothers Band (Smokey Joe’s Cafe & Bar) LATIN/WORLD/REGGAE Os Mutantes w/ Curiosidades de Bombrile (Snug Harbor) COVER BANDS Undertow (Tool tribute) w/ Sugar (System of a Down tribute) (Amos’ Southend) Cedric Bowler performs as Luther Vandross (Knight Theater) BlackwaterREVIVAL (Comet Grill)

SUNDAY, JUNE 23

ROCK/PUNK/METAL Mike Strauss Band (Free Range Brewing) Secret Gardens w/ Sincerely, Cloutchaser, Condado (The Milestone) Sneakers w/ The Eyebrows (Neighborhood Theatre) Manic Society w/ Kallisto, Ratking (The Rooster) HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B Lalah Hathaway (Knight Theater) Soul Sundays feat. Guy Nowchild (Starlight on 22nd) JAZZ/BLUES Omari & the Hellhounds (Comet Grill) Jazmine Ghent (Middle C Jazz) SINGER-SONGWRITER/ACOUSTIC falllift w/ Courtney Lynn & Quinn (Evening Muse) Square Roots (Goldie’s)

MONDAY, JUNE 24

ROCK/PUNK/METAL Michael Cera Palin w/ Kerosene Heights, Between Two Trees, Big Backyard (The Milestone) COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA Charlotte Bluegrass Allstars (Smokey Joe’s Cafe & Bar) JAZZ/BLUES The Bill Hanna Legacy Jazz Session (Petra’s) OPEN MIC Find Your Muse Open MIC featuring Conrad Moore

TUESDAY, JUNE 25

VISIT QCNERVE.COM FOR THE FULL SOUNDWAVE LISTING, INCLUDING MAY 25-28.

Pg. 21 JUNE 12 - JUNE 25, 2024 - QCNERVE.COM

ROCK/PUNK/METAL Red Rocking Chair (Comet Grill) SINGER-SONGWRITER/ACOUSTIC Kristi Ormond & Friends (VisArt Video) OPEN MIC Open Mic Night feat. The Smokin J’s (Smokey Joe’s Cafe & Bar)

FOOD & DRINK FEATURE

NO NEED TO BE SALTY Maíz Agua Sal in Wesley Heights shows Charlotte why ‘local’ matters

Pg. 22 JUNE 12 - JUNE 25, 2024 - QCNERVE.COM

BY TIMOTHY DEPEUGH

There are four reasons why Maíz Agua Sal in Wesley Heights is the hero that Charlotte’s food scene both needs and deserves.

First, just look at the place.

It’s not often that we encounter a restaurant whose aesthetics evoke something more than an architect’s take on adjectives. Maíz Agua Sal (or MAS for short) is “light” and “airy,” yes, but it is also the wistful dream of a traveler so inspired and intoxicated by the sights and sounds around her that she just had to bring it home to show everyone.

But not in that appropriated way often attributed to otherwise clueless influencers with toothy smiles. No, Alyson Davis, who co-owns MAS with her husband Dan and who is responsible for the restaurant’s design, is far too much of a romantic for that.

Her dream is one of walking through a neighborhood in Mexico City, full of bright colors and natural light.

On my first visit, impressed as I was by much of what I saw, from the outdoor mural to how the lighting choices inside put focus on the kitchen while brightening and dimming throughout the day so that even indoor diners can experience the movement of the sun, it struck me just how much the restaurant’s design allows for outdoor and indoor spaces to be distinct and yet with no obvious transition between the two. Even the tree next to the hostess stand just feels like it belongs there.

I’d also like to think that when I looked up from my seat out on the front patio and saw through my sunglasses what looked like a rainbow dancing along the patio’s transparent roof, that even that was deliberate — that Alyson realized dreams are the colors we see when our eyes are closed and thought of a clever way to evoke that feeling for her guests when their eyes are wide open.

She wouldn’t own up to it, of course, when I

asked. Nor, as I’ve come to learn, is that her style.

Through her other successful projects in Charlotte — including Lincoln Street Kitchen and the Green Room — Alyson has always been perfectly content with staying in the background and letting the places, and the talent who bring those concepts to life, speak for themselves.

Second, Amanda Britton is there. I wonder if I even need to go on. Her name sort of speaks for itself in this town, and her appearance at MAS should come as no surprise, given her roles at Lincoln Street and Green Room.

Her knowledge of agave spirits is as breathtaking as the collection she has built for MAS. The cocktails are as good as you’ll find anywhere in town, and her trademark wit is sprinkled throughout. The Pliti Patillo, for example, seems especially popular, though I find it particularly off-putting only because it 100% achieves its objectives of being a drink inspired by an ashtray.

I feel like I am not masculine enough for that drink, not that there’s anything wrong with that.

My visits instead are spent getting drunk on bougie frozen margaritas — bougie because you can actually select your tequila (or mezcal, no one is judging) from Amanda’s library. More often than not, I’ll go for the Código Resposado, which if you’re not careful to count, will be a surprise later on when presented with the bill.

It’s nice to have that variety to choose from, though, and it’s especially nice to see agave spirits finally being given the chance to shine somewhere more upscale than a frat house.

CHEF JONATHAN OLVERA

named Jonathan Olvera.

A lesser talent might have dialed it all in, but Olvera, who has honed his skills in such Charlotte restaurants as Bardo and Leah & Louise, takes nothing for granted, instead taking to this platform with all the hunger and grit of an underdog prize fighter.

You’ve heard of Rocky Balboa? Think of Olvera as the star of a Rocky spin-off, set in the kitchen, where he fights to make a name for himself.

Full disclosure from me, I have written about chef Olvera previously for another publication in the days leading up to MAS’s opening, but our conversation was focused on his backstory, and this was before I had even tasted his food.

Now, as then, Olvera openly struggles as a first generation Mexican-American born and raised here in North Carolina with the labels that people often expect him to wear; he will never be “authentic,” but he does strive for honesty.

Several visits (and several tacos) later, I finally get what he means.

The chef at the helm At some point on one’s taco journey through Third, and this is the lede I’ve buried — Charlotte one will encounter unspeakable things intentionally, in fact, because I want its dramatic that are fried, seasoned, pickled and piled high reveal to sear his name in your mind — MAS onto tortillas that never stood a chance in an succeeds most of all thanks to a young local chef

PHOTO COURTESY OF ARDR HOSPITALITY GROUP

Instagram age where college kids with smartphones consider themselves “tastemakers.” “STOP SOCIAL NETWORKING THE TACO,” you might want to scream.

Just go to MAS instead.

Olvera’s tacos are indeed honest, laid bare on metal trays such that they come to the table almost vulnerable in their modesty. At first glance, you can’t imagine that they would amount to anything, and perhaps that’s Olvera’s point. A protein, some diced onions, a tortilla — a taco doesn’t need to be anything more than what’s on that metal tray, so respect it for what it is instead of what Instagram tells you it ought to be.

The lingua taco in particular is unmissable. For any of you who have sidestepped that protein in favor of something more akin to chicken, to do so at MAS would be a mistake. Olvera somehow cooks the beef tongue into a texture that mimics crisp, rendered pork belly. I’ve never had lingua so crispy and satisfying, nor have I ever walked away from a lingua taco still drooling, thinking I had been so well-fed.

That also has much to do with the tortillas themselves. The dramatic centerpiece of the restaurant is a giant tortilla machine sent straight from Mexico, looking like an Airstream that can

FOOD & DRINK FEATURE

Let’s be honest

And that leads me to my fourth reason.

Maíz Agua Sal is perfectly primed to make us all better, and the Charlotte food scene as a result, because it shows why “local” really does matter.

We are in a slump in this town. Sure, there are new restaurant and bar openings here and there, but can you even remember them once the influencers’ Reels expire? Something has stalled Charlotte’s ascendancy to the upper echelons of US food destinations, and that something is us.

Our hearts are all in the right place, but why aren’t our palates? Charlotte is never going to get better with paid influencers commanding the conversation and the rest of us biting our tongues when a server comes up to ask us how we are enjoying the food.

You are allowed to say you don’t like it. You are allowed to say why. Influencers are allowed to be

paid to say a restaurant’s melted cheese is the best locally conceived and locally staffed. Chef Olvera’s they’ve had, sure, but when you know better (and I food might not be the “authentic” Mexican food you think you want, but for crying out loud, he’s from know you know better), speak up.

When we Charlotteans lose our collective shit Salsibury, and food is his local take. going after a writer instead of the flop he called out, The real genius behind his food, however, is that you know what we look like? I guarantee you we it’s familiar enough to all of us so that we have a don’t look like the local, small business champions common frame of reference from which to start we think we look like. If we are going to band that conversation that needs to be had, but that together to defend “local,” then let us also be more it’s so impeccably well made (and honest!) that it’s discerning. the perfect way to get less vocal diners to finally be I’m not saying we must favor fine dining over moved into saying something simple as, “This was something simpler, or that fine dining is even the delicious because.”

As for me, my “because” is all the words that led way for Charlotte to advance. There is space here for both — after all, even Noma has a spin-off that sells you here to the end. burgers. That’s not the point.

INFO@QCNERVE.COM The point is, just like that island in the Indian Ocean where the indigenous population remains willingly and deliberately in the Stone Age, we Charlotteans are doomed to remain in the age of Drawing by Lauren Lowe chain restaurants and flop if we continue to let our @hayatequinn convictions and not our palates do the talking.

MAS is the perfect restaurant to get us all talking about what we all mean when we say “local.”

Is “local” a free pass from criticism? Is “local” code for outside opinions not welcome? I certainly don’t think so, and I don’t think you do, either.

This entire restaurant is from a local point of view,

SCAN FOR TIX

CHARLOTTE EDGE FEST Saturday, July 13 ~ 3-9 pm W 32nd Street NODA BREWING 150 Charlotte 28206

LIVE PAINTING • LIVE MUSIC

FOOD TRUCKS • ARTIST INCUBATOR • DANCE

SPOKEN WORD • YOGA • LOCAL ART VENDORS STREET ART FASHION SHOW

A SELECTION OF DISHES FROM MAÍZ AGUA SAL

PHOTO COURTESY OF ARDR HOSPITALITY GROUP

Pg. 23 JUNE 12 - JUNE 25, 2024 - QCNERVE.COM

churn out hundreds of tortillas fresh daily.

Chef Olvera has even chosen a special type of heirloom masa for the tortillas, which gives them a more robust masa taste. Though immediately apparent to Spanish speakers from the restaurant’s name alone, the fact that tortillas — simply made from Corn, Water and Salt for the English speakers — are treated with such reverence should not come as a surprise, especially after one tastes them.

When used in the chillaquiles, breakfast turns into a spiritual experience. I can’t even express how thankful I felt after that first bite. For all I knew, those tortillas could have been cuts of the finest quality steak: they fed me, they healed me. I tore into the rest of the dish — topped with cheese and jiggly egg — as though I had never eaten food before. And maybe from chef Olvera’s perspective, I hadn’t.

There’s not a whole lot of honesty involved with sucking the helium out of an apple-flavored balloon, or from licking curry off a plate for $500. Even the green chili sauce was honest; climate change had pushed peak jalapeño season up a few weeks so that the chili sauce was so ferocious as to be unexpected by all there that day, not just me, the one whose trachea was convulsing.

On my final visit before committing to writing this review, however, “honesty” took on a different layer of meaning. Chef Olvera wants his food to be honest and loved, but if he is honest with himself, he also wants to be a name people recognize. To that end, he cooked up an honest-to-god showstopper of a destination dish.

You all know what I mean by that, right? The kind of dish that puts a restaurant and its chef on the map. The kind of dish that you will gladly drive hours just to try. The kind of dish that makes you love that you’re alive to taste it.

At MAS, that dish is duck, cactus and blue tortillas, along with a mole madre made from 20 ingredients.

It presents like modern art with a message, with duck breast rendered and sliced on one side, charred and pickled cactus on the other — the mole madre, made from chef’s mother’s recipe, spread into a pool underneath.

It’s the best possible dichotomy: the restaurant design standing in for the neighborhood that inspired it, and this singular blockbuster dish standing in for the people of that neighborhood and everything they dream to achieve. That 90% of the ingredients are not something well-heeled global travelers would ever see on a tasting menu was just

the sucker punch this Rocky was waiting to deliver.

It gave me goosebumps.

That it also tasted of something I’ve never experienced before — the pickled cactus bursting with liquid that added yet another layer to that mole, transforming it into something formidable enough to make that duck go quack again — was just a nice bonus.

J�i� Q�e�n C�t� N�r�e i� d�s�u�s�o�s a�o�t l�c�l n�w� t�p�c� o�e� c�c�t�i�s w�t� f�a�u�e� g�e�t� o� t�e Q�e�n C�t� P�d�a�t N�t�o�k�

Pg. 24 JUNE 12 - JUNE 25, 2024 - QCNERVE.COM

S�a� t�e c�d�

FOOD & DRINK FEATURE

SPACE TO GROW Grow Cafe will be Charlotte’s first coffee shop for parents and children

BY DEZANII LEWIS

A new “play cafe” that will cater to parents of young children is set to open next month in the Highland Creek area of northeast Charlotte.

Grow Cafe, a Black- and family-owned play cafe that caters to parents and children aged 0 to 6, will open in mid-July at 5324 Docia Crossing Road, Suite B, in a shopping center anchored by Cinergy Dine-In Cinemas.

Stacy and Michael Baker, a married couple with children who live in the Highland Creek area, will own Grow Cafe, partnering with Enderly Coffee to supply beverages and baked goods.

The business is the brainchild of Stacy, who has spent over a decade working with youth nonprofits and advocacy groups. She holds a Master of Public Administration from Clemson University and ruminated over the idea for years before finally striking out to open Grow Cafe.

“This is something that I’ve been trying to figure out and find out what the vision was,” she told Queen City Nerve. “I had this vision the first time

PHOTO BY MORGAN ROBINSON

GROW CAFE WILL OPEN IN THE HIGHLAND CREEK AREA

PHOTO BY MORGAN ROBINSON

City Council rep, in a release announcing the many challenges trying to socialize their daughter upcoming opening. “Through connecting families, when the time came. the Grow Cafe can also help foster valuable and “When it got time to socialize her, it was a hopefully lifelong relationships across neighbors struggle,” she said. “She was only comfortable with in our communities. Stacy has also committed to us, the people she was in the house with for the utilize Grow Cafe as a space to provide community last few years. Our children are lacking socialization outreach through workshops, resource drives and skills. Parenthood has become such an isolating informational conversations.” thing, and that’s something that I really struggled Stacy’s original business idea looked more like a with after having both my girls. traditional daycare, but she soon realized that route “I didn’t want to be a burden,” she continued. “I didn’t suit her vision. Baker put the idea on hold didn’t want to be a burden if friends invited me to while she got married and had children, but just as coffee. So what could I do as a mom? And so my she was ready to revisit her dream of opening a new friendships really became more telephone[-based], business in 2020, COVID-19 forced another pause. and it wasn’t in person. I was in a space of isolation, Despite the unfortunate turn of events, gaining and I wanted to really see how I could help resolve more experience as a parent eventually helped Stacy that.” solidify her plan for a play cafe rather than your runUltimately, Baker said she wanted to assuage the of-the-mill daycare. concerns of anxious parents and provide them a safe Painfully aware of the lack of options in Charlotte, space to just be a parent.

Stacy was inspired by play cafes in surrounding areas Grow Cafe will be open to the public, though such as Pineville (Unwind Indoor Play Cafe), Monroe timed “play sessions” will have a cost. A VIP (Playland Indoor Playground + Café), and Concord Membership program will offer perks such as free (The Playroom Social). Having regularly traversed play sessions on weekdays, discounts on weekends, more than 45 minutes to reach such a venue, the and 15% off private party bookings.

Bakers wanted something local.

Families with one child over six months can “We made preparations, packed a bag, took our purchase a membership for $80, while membership girls out there, and sometimes they’re like, ‘Oh, we for families with two or more children will cost $150. don’t have any reservations available right now,’” The Bakers have launched a crowdfunding she said. campaign in hopes of raising $30,000 to help grow The isolating effect of the pandemic on both the cafe. parents and children was another motivator for the Bakers, whose 4-year-old daughter is what many For more information, visit growcafeclt.com. would consider a “pandemic baby.” The couple faced DLEWIS@QCNERVE.COM

Pg. 25 JUNE 12 - JUNE 25, 2024 - QCNERVE.COM

STACY AND MICHAEL BAKER

in 2017 and I didn’t know exactly what it was, but I knew it was a space that families and children could thrive.”

Grow Cafe will offer traditional coffee items such as espressos, lattes and baked goods in an environment geared toward children, with an innovative play space that includes both fun and educational equipment. The site will also offer various activities in an effort to allow parents to better engage and interact with their children.

The activities, which Baker said they hope to host at least four times a week, will range from Mommy and Me Yoga, arts and crafts classes, music workshops, and reading sessions featuring local children’s authors.

“Grow Café would help to fill the void for a muchneeded family-friendly space for minority families.

Parents and caregivers will be able to observe their young children have fun learning, while also being able to fulfill their own mental and emotional needs,” said Renee Johnson, District 4 Charlotte

Pg. 26 JUNE 12 - JUNE 25, 2024 - QCNERVE.COM

LIFESTYLE PUZZLES SUDOKU

BY LINDA THISTLE

TRIVIA TEST

BY FIFI RODRIGUEZ

1. HISTORY: Who was the first female chancellor of Germany?

2. GEOGRAPHY: Which European capital used to be called Christiania?

3. MOVIES: What are the names of the elderly couple in the animated movie “Up”?

4. ANATOMY: How much blood is in the average human body?

5. SCIENCE: What do ohms measure?

6. TELEVISION: Al Borland is a sidekick in which 1990s TV sitcom?

7. GENERAL KNOWLEDGE: What does an hCG test determine?

8. U.S. STATES: Which state is named after a French king?

9. LITERATURE: Who are Nancy Drew’s best friends in the children’s mystery novel series?

10. FOOD & DRINK: What fruit is used to make Worcestershire sauce?

CROSSWORD

PLACE A NUMBER IN THE EMPTY BOXES IN SUCH A WAY THAT EACH ROW ACROSS, EACH COLUMN DOWN AND EACH SMALL 9-BOX SQUARE CONTAINS ALL OF THE NUMBERS ONE TO NINE. ©2024 King Feautres Syndicate, Inc. All rights reserved.

Pg. 27 JUNE 12 - JUNE 25, 2024 - QCNERVE.COM

SUITABLE ACTIVITIES

©2024 King Feautres Syndicate, Inc. All rights reserved.

LIFESTYLE COLUMN

AERIN’ IT OUT

MANEKI FOR ME A chat with chef Kenny Do about his pop-up-turned-brick-and-mortar

having just said I couldn’t eat another bite. Little did I know, that wouldn’t be the last lie of the meal.

The final course was a non-dessert eater’s wet dream of nori and sesame-encrusted ice cream sandwiched between crusty, buttery shortbread cookies. Salty and sweet?! Kenny was killing my stomach softly with his food song, and I was an addict.

What to expect? A game-changer for late-night food ops.

Maneki will offer a limited-seating omakase experience (we paid sub $100 for around 10 courses each visit, which is insane!) and skewers-to-go under one roof. When and where? Your new favorite Japanese food stall is taking over the old Fujiyama in Latta Arcade (on brand, I’ll never call it “The Alley”) and it’s slated to open in the coming weeks!

INFO@QCNERVE.COM

Pg. 28 JUNE 12 - JUNE 25, 2024 - QCNERVE.COM

BY AERIN SPRUILL

Kushiyaki (noun) ku·​shi·​ya·​ki: grilled and skewered meat or vegetables in Japanese cuisine; typically seasoned with soy sauce, salt, or other flavorings and cooked over an open flame or grill.

“Sometimes you gotta pop up and sh(o)nigiris,” I jokingly said to the boo (sorry, not sorry, Kendrick Lamar’s “They Not Like Us” is on repeat), reminiscing on our third rendezvous at Maneki, a Japaneseinspired kushiyaki pop-up on its omakase flex.

And guess what Queen City? This pop-up is getting ready to become a permanent late-night hotspot in Uptown.

“Oh my God,” I said as I bit into the third course of the night, an elote corn twist on onigiri, a traditional Japanese food consisting of a triangle of cooked rice, often wrapped in nori (seaweed) and typically filled.

And in Kendrick fashion, this onigiri “wasn’t like any other” onigiri anyone’s ever tasted in all the best ways.

Picture an inside-out sushi roll sammie filled with sweet corn niblets and drizzled with burnt scallion kewpie, citrusy togarashi, and salty cotija.

Make it make sense! How can someone so effortlessly fuse Mexican street corn and traditional Japanese flavors in a single bite?! Executive Chef Kenny Do didn’t just do it again, he did it thrice!

Despite my drinking habits and short-term memory, I distinctly remember the first night I met Kenny. The boo and I had the munchies and were throwing up Hail Marys that Carlos Dogs would be serving up late-night eats outside Snug Harbor.

“That’s Kenny, he’s from Bardo,” boo whispered as I was eye-grilling the only person getting in the way of my sustenance, unaware that’s who he was referring to. However, my impatience quickly turned to compassion as Kenny’s freshly prepped food slipped from his hands to the ground. He stared in dismay for a second, then turned with a smile, shrugging it off as if to say, “It’s all good.”

A hungry lady in waiting, I’m sure my reaction to his calm, cool and collected demeanor read both

horror and delight. All that to say, with Kenny at the helm, you can trust he won’t fumble the bag with Maneki.

But I digress.

“You licked your fingers?!” I whisper-screamed at my non-phalange-licking boyfriend in a total state of judgment as I begrudgingly wiped away the remnants of the onigiri kewpie from my fingertips.

Me: What’s the personal significance of the name Maneki? (Followed by boo’s edit: “Why lucky cat?”)

Kenny: Maneki cats are utilized in different Asian cultures and depending on the color of the cat and which paw it’s waving can represent many things.

Left paw waving beckons in more guests while the right paw raised/waving means bringing in more income to the establishment.

As I rolled my eyes in jealousy at my boo’s break from decorum, my gaze met that of the one musclebound lucky cat waving his caricature of a huge left NEGIMA YAKITORI arm in my direction. It was at that moment I realized I was already getting full and this MF was taunting me.

But the jacked lucky cat wasn’t going to break my spirit. “Left side, strong side,” I thought to myself, taking a page from the Remember the Titans playbook as I dipped my baby spoon into the silky surface of the fourth course, a velvety trumpet mushroom chawanmushi.

Unlike some Queen City chefs, before hopping in pockets and putting food to plate at the permanent location, Kenny embarked on a month-long externship to Japan where he became intimately engaged with the art of kushiyaki, Japanese culture, and cuisine. Read: There’s no way I’m not eating the next eight courses.

Of course, with kushiyaki, the charcoal-grilled meat and veggie skewers are the main event. Cubes of chicken thigh grilled to juicy perfection, nestled between chunky scallion and topped with fresh lemon zest. Your go-to skewer spot could never.

ONIGIRI FROM MANEKI “Do you have another Tums?” I asked bae after

PHOTO BY AERIN SPRUILL

PHOTO BY AERIN SPRUILL

LIFESTYLE

HOROSCOPE

PUZZLE ANSWERS

2024 KING FEATURES SYND., INC.

JUNE 19 - 25

ARIES (March 21 to April 19) Home conditions still demand attention. Also, keep an open mind about a sudden question of trust involving a close friend. All the facts are not yet in.

ARIES (March 21 to April 19) Be careful about doing someone a favor when you don’t know the full story behind the request. Don’t rely on someone’s unsubstantiated assurances. Insist on all the facts before you act.

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER Get our community reporting delivered straight to your inbox every Mon., Wed. & Fri.

UPCOMING SPECIAL ISSUES JULY 10 | CLT MUSIC ISSUE AUGUST 7 | PRIDE GUIDE SEPTEMBER 4 | FALL ARTS GUIDE OCTOBER 16 | HALLOWEEN GUIDE

Pg. 29 JUNE 12 - JUNE 25, 2024 - QCNERVE.COM

TAURUS (April 20 to May 20) Travel begins to dominate your sign as spring gives way to summer. Make plans TAURUS (April 20 to May 20) That workplace problem still carefully to avoid potential problems during the first half needs your attention before you can finally close the book of June. on it. Meanwhile, a long-anticipated reunion gets closer to becoming a happy reality.

GEMINI (May 21 to June 20) A romantic Libra sets a challenge that your “sensible” side might question, but GEMINI (May 21 to June 20) You might be demanding your idealistic self finds the prospect too intriguing to more from others than they can give. Best advice: Have resist. The choice is yours. a long and frank talk to determine what the facts are.

Tensions should abate as the week winds down.

CANCER (June 21 to July 22) Those tense times in your personal life are just about over. Concentrate on CANCER (June 21 to July 22) Aspects are favorable reaffirming relationships. Your love for travel opens up a throughout this week for making contacts that could be surprising new opportunity. important to your career plans. Meanwhile, an old friend offers the advice you’re seeking.

LEO (July 23 to August 22) The Big Cat usually loves to be in the center of things. But this week, it might be wiser LEO (July 23 to August 22) It’s time to stop licking your to watch and learn from the sidelines. A Pisces wants to wounds from past mistakes. Get up and get going toward make you purr. your future. Loyal friends will be there to help the Lion get back into rip-roaring shape.

VIRGO (August 23 to September 22) “New” is your watchword this week. Be open to new ideas, both on VIRGO (August 23 to September 22) Take time out to go the job and in your personal life. A romantic Aries or over what’s expected of you before you begin your new Sagittarian beckons. project. Otherwise, you run the risk of pushing yourself harder than you need to.

LIBRA (September 23 to October 22) Some difficult family decisions have to be faced, but be sure to get more LIBRA (September 23 to October 22) An unusual request facts before you act. Also, be careful not to neglect your could put you in an awkward position. Best advice: Deal health during this trying time. with it immediately. The longer you delay, the more difficult it will be to get out of it.

SCORPIO (October 23 to November 21) You still need to support a loved one through a difficult time. Meanwhile, SCORPIO (October 23 to November 21) You should feel things continue to work out to your benefit in the recharged and ready for whatever your workaday world workplace. holds for you. The same positive energy spills over into your personal relationships.

SAGITTARIUS (November 22 to December 21) Aspects continue to favor expanding social opportunities. A SAGITTARIUS (November 22 to December 21) A prospect Gemini reaches out to offer a chance for reestablishing a might be less than it appears to be. Like the Archer in your once-close relationship. sign, you always aim for the truth. And this is no time to settle for less than full disclosure.

CAPRICORN (December 22 to January 19) There’s a potential for misunderstandings in both your job and CAPRICORN (December 22 to January 19) Start doing your personal life. A full explanation of your intentions some serious thinking about a career move that could helps smooth things over. entail more than just changing job sites. Some lifestyle changes might also be involved.

AQUARIUS (January 20 to February 18) You might be feeling restless on the job, but delay making any major AQUARIUS (January 20 to February 18) With tensions moves until all the facts are in. Meanwhile, a Scorpio has easing at the workplace, a more positive environment a surprising revelation. once again encourages the free flow of ideas that are so typical of the always-innovative Aquarian.

PISCES (February 19 to March 20) Your business sense works to your advantage as you sort through the PISCES (February 19 to March 20) Show some of that possibilities that are opening up. A Libra is Cupid’s best usually hidden steel-strong Piscean backbone and bet for your romantic prospects. stand up for yourself if you hope to make a case for that promotion you know you deserve.

BORN THIS WEEK: You have a gift for being open-minded about people. This helps you make friends easily. You do BORN THIS WEEK: You enjoy doing new things and very well in public service. staying ahead of the crowd. You would make a fine military leader or a sports coach.

6. “Home Improvement.”

Trivia Answers 7. Pregnancy.

1. Angela Merkel.

8. Louisiana (Louis).

2. Oslo, Norway.

3. Carl and Ellie Fredricksen. 9. Bess and George.

10. Tamarind.

4. 1.2 to 1.5 gallons.

5. Electrical resistance.

JUNE 12 - 18

LIFESTYLE COLUMN

fair share of the housework, they shower and brush their teeth, they get their wives off — and they never get blowjobs. They may have married women who never liked sucking cock or they may have married women who loved sucking cock at first but something about the act doesn’t work for them in the context of an established relationship.

P.P.S. If you want a BJ, ask the wife for one. If she won’t give you a BJ, ask the wife for permission to get a BJ elsewhere. If she won’t give you a BJ or let The evolution of pegging you get a BJ elsewhere, do what you need to do to

BY DAN SAVAGE stay married and stay sane.

P.P.P.S. Not calling it a “BJ” might help.

Is pegging only for butts or can vaginas get sex was good every other time, I think you should pegged too? give it (and them) another go. If you expect to be 6. Best soap for cleaning smelly cock?

I’m not a pegging purist. When the term the center of attention during every threesome, you Any soap will do — seriously, cocks don’t smell originated in my column — when my readers should share that expectation with them — but I bad because men are using the wrong soap. selected “pegging” as the name for a woman fucking don’t think that’s a realistic expectation. A one-off a man in the ass with a strap-on dildo — it was threesome with a couple? You’re the very special 7. My boyfriend said he wants to ask his gendered; pegging was something a woman did to guest star and you should be the center of attention. therapist “for their approval” before we can a man. But now people use “pegging” in reference A relationship with a couple that involves lots of to someone of any gender fucking someone of any threesomes? Everyone should get to be the center of have a threesome. Is it a no-go?

Does your boyfriend have a long history of gender in the ass with a strap-on dildo, an evolution attention once in a while. compulsive sexual behavior? Did he need years of of use and meaning that I fully support. But I think therapy before one-on-one sex with someone he it’s good we have a term that refers to a particular 4. After four years together, I found out and very popular kind of ass-fucking. But meaning that my boyfriend cheated on me. I became actually cared about was a possibility for him? Did follows use, of course, and I am not the boss of the suspicious because he didn’t want to have sex your boyfriend’s ex-husband leave him for someone English language, and if people start using pegging anymore and he spent most of his time on his they had a threesome with? And did the fallout from to refer to any kind of penetrative sex that involves a phone. At first, I learned he kissed a coworker the breakup require years of therapy to clear away? dildo and a dildo harness, I won’t be mounting any after I found the shadow of a hickey on his Did your boyfriend walk in on his mom getting legal challenges. neck. He uses a car-sharing service to get home double penetrated by his dad and his dad’s best and I asked to see where he got the car, and friend when he was ten? And has your boyfriend only 2. Best sex position for celebrating the NY it was the street where this woman lives. He recently managed — with the help of his therapist verdict? insisted it only happened twice. Now I know it — to block the mental images that were ruining Not sure, but it should be something you can get has happened 15 times in nine months. I love sex for him and him for sex? If any of the above or away with doing 34 times. him dearly and I can’t live without him. What something close is true, your boyfriend might have am I supposed to do? How can I believe it was a good reason to check-in with his therapist before having his first threesome with his new boyfriend.

3. I’m a unicorn to a hot married couple just two kisses? Can I ever trust him again? that lives a few hours away. I came up for her If you can’t live without him, you’ll have to put up But he could’ve and should’ve checked-in without birthday and a fun party. For the first time the with this shit. If you can’t put up with this shit, you’ll telling you about it. sex was off. The wife and I had our usual hot have to learn to live without him.

8. Sex has become boring and routine. Best time, but the husband seemed to be ignoring me and focusing only on his wife. I left feeling 5. Married 24 years, haven’t had a BJ in 15 advice for spicing it up?

Location, location, location — meaning, if rejected. I called and said it’s OK if he wants years. you’re having sex with the same person in the same to fuck his wife, but why was I there then? He That sucks. apologized and assured me he’s still attracted P.S. Since I’m an advice columnist and you’re place over and over again, you might wanna fuck to me and wants me to come back. Should I go a straight married man — men couldn’t marry that person somewhere you’ve never fucked that back? other men 24 years ago — I’m supposed to ask if person before, e.g., at the office, on the roof, in the Maybe the husband felt his wife should be the you’re doing your fair share of the housework, if you darkroom of a sex club with other couples having sex center of attention on her birthday … or maybe you have good personal hygiene practices, and if you’re all around you. If you’re having sex lots of different were the center of attention the last 10 times and making sure your wife comes when you have sex. people in lots of different places and you’re bored, his wife asked to be the center of attention on her The implication: You must not be doing these things you may need to take a break. birthday. Either way, if the husband had a plan to — or eating her pussy — because otherwise you 9. I can take really big sex toys, but men’s focus things on the wife for a change, he should’ve would be getting regular blowjobs. But there are dicks are painful. Why? shared that plan with you in advance. But if the men out there who do everything right — their

SAVAGE LOVE

Pg. 30 JUNE 12 - JUNE 25, 2024 - QCNERVE.COM

QUICKIES

Men come attached to dicks — typically — which can make dicks somewhat unpredictable.

Toys, by way of contrast, are very predictable; toys stay where you put them, toys don’t make any sudden moves, toys don’t have their own ideas about the depth, angle or pace of penetration. If you’re someone who experiences even mild anxiety around penetration, playing with the typical dick — the kind that comes attached to man — may be causing you to tense up and tension is the enemy of painless penetration.

10. Cis female here who has sex with trans women with [eggplant emoji] who also sleep with people with [eggplant emoji, eggplant emoji, eggplant emoji]. Should I be on PrEP? Yes. 11. What’s the most erotic thing you’ve watched IRL in a room?

Pass.

12. How legit are all the ads telling me I have low T? I’m a 45-year-old male. Do all men my age have low testosterone levels?

Those ads are designed to make all men feel like they’re suffering from low testosterone, which not all men do. Luckily for men, getting your testosterone levels checked is a pretty simple procedure.

13. My partner and I enthusiastically adopted your #fuckfirst philosophy and doing so has improved our lives immeasurably! But I have noticed that on the social occasions when it’s not an option, I often find myself feeling disconnected and prone to being testy with my partner. Is this a problem? Is our relationship too dependent on sex? Would we be together if it weren’t for our incredible sex life?

I couldn’t tell you — but if you stay together long enough, i.e., if you’re together into advanced old age, you’ll find out.

14. Will casual gay sex between consenting adult males ever be normalized?

God, I hope not — because it feels like discomfort with gay sex is the only thing keeping bachelorette parties out of bathhouses.

Got problems? Yes, you do! Email your question for the column to mailbox@savage.love; or record your question for the Savage Lovecast at savage.love/ askdan; podcasts, columns and more at Savage.Love.

Pg. 31 JUNE 12 - JUNE 25, 2024 - QCNERVE.COM