Queen City Nerve - January 8, 2025

VOLUME 7, ISSUE 3; JANUARY 8 - JANUARY 21, 2025; WWW.QCNERVE.COM

News:

Vulnerable populations brace for a second Trump term - pg. 4

Food:

Tonidandel-Brown makes the old new again at Leluia Hall - pg. 10

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@Q UEEN CI T Y N ERV E W W W.Q CN ERV E.COM PUBLISHER & DESIGN JUSTIN LAFRANCOIS jlafrancois@qcnerve.com EDITOR-IN-CHIEF RYAN PITKIN rpitkin@qcnerve.com STAFF WRITERS ANNIE KEOUGH akeough@qcnerve.com DEZANII LEWIS dlewis@qcnerve.com PATRICK MORAN pmoran@qcnerve.com AD SALES EXECUTIVES RENN WILSON rwilson@qcnerve.com JAMIE BLUTO jbluto@qcnerve.com MARKETING MANAGER ALEX KASTANAS HOLLADAY aholladay@qcnerve.com

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TABLE OF CONTENTS NEWS & OPINION

4. A Recurring Nightmare by Annie Keough

Organizations work to protect the city’s most vulnerable populations in lead-up to second Trump administration 6. Lifeline: Ten Cool Things To Do in Two Weeks

ARTS & CULTURE

7. Fact to Fiction by Pat Moran

Veteran Charlotte journalist pens Tar Heel murder mystery

MUSIC

8. A Brutal Siren by Pat Moran

Girl Brutal’s electronic rage attracts metalcore fans 9. Soundwave

FOOD & DRINK

10. Old Buildings, New Concepts by Ryan Pitkin

Leluia Hall carries on Tonidandel-Brown’s penchant for preservation

LIFESTYLE

Thanks to our contributors: Grant Baldwin, Aerin Spruill, Dan Russell-Pinson, and Dan Savage.

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12. Puzzles 12. Horoscope 14. Aerin It Out by Aerin Spruill 15. Savage Love

NEWS & OPINION FEATURE

A RECURRING NIGHTMARE

Organizations work to protect the city’s most vulnerable populations in lead-up to second Trump administration

BY ANNIE KEOUGH

Following the election of Donald Trump to the presidency for the first time in November 2016, Queen City Nerve editor-in-chief Ryan Pitkin, at the time a reporter for Creative Loafing, spoke with a number of local organizations serving vulnerable populations that found themselves the target of Trump’s most incendiary rhetoric.

The weeks leading up to Trump’s first term in office were marked by fear of the unknown — fear that proved justified in 2017 as increased ICE raids split families apart and kept the immigrant community on edge while the Trump administration rolled back Obama-era nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ people.

The unknown now known, the sentiments and issues discussed in Pitkin’s 2016 story are back front of mind for those with the most to lose during a second Trump administration.

As Trump promises mass deportations and even stricter immigration policies during his upcoming term, which begins on Jan. 20, with a Project 2025 transition plan that proposes all new threats to LGBTQ+ rights, we spoke once again with leaders at local advocacy organizations Time Out Youth (TOY) and Carolina Migrant Network (CMN) as they prepare for President Trump 2.0.

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Protecting young folks at Time Out Youth

The team at Time Out Youth (TOY), a Charlotte-based organization that provides resources and support to LGBTQ+ people aged 13-24, took a half day on Nov. 6, the day after Trump was elected to a second term, to come together and discuss their fears.

The TOY staff comprises mostly women and people of color, making them multiply impacted by the feared outcomes of a second Trump administration. Their main concern, however, lay with the youth they work with every day — specifically the transgender youth, a group that has become a favorite target of Trump and his followers.

The TOY team questioned what it will mean to be trans under this administration. If someone hasn’t had their name legally changed, will they be able to? Will those on hormones be forced off of them? Will those who have yet

to receive hormones ever be able to get them?

One question stuck with TOY’s Chief Executive Officer Sarah Mikhail. A young person asked her, “Will it be illegal to be trans?”

It was a fair question. The Trans Legislation Tracker reported 669 anti-trans bills introduced across the nation in 2024 that would affect trans people’s access to health care, education, sports, public bathrooms and their legal recognition.

Mikhail said she has two main concerns with Trump taking office again. First, there’s the effects on the courts, with more federal judges appointed by Trump and sending more cases to the Supreme Court, already stacked by Trump during his first term, setting new precedents that take more rights away from trans and queer people.

Her second concern is with the uptick in hateful rhetoric that comes from Trump’s supporters once he takes office, emboldened by his electoral victory and convinced that their exclusionary ideology has been vindicated.

While most adults remember what it was like to live under Trump’s first administration, a majority of the children that TOY serves were too young to recall the experience.

For Mikhail and her team, the threat is all too real.

They are hyper-focused on protecting the youth they serve based on their knowledge of what Trump and his followers are capable of. However, in her 20 years of working with young people, Mikhail has learned that you can’t say you know something for sure if you don’t.

“As we prepared to talk to our youth, we wanted to be able to give them any certainty or assurance we had, but not make promises,” Mikhail said.

As reported by the Brookings Institution in 2019, FBI data showed that Trump’s election brought an anomalous spike in hate crimes concentrated in counties where Trump won by larger margins. It was the second-largest uptick in hate crimes in the 25 years for which data are available, second only to the spike after Sept. 11, 2001. Though hate crimes are typically most frequent in the summer, in 2016 they peaked during election season with the new, higher rate of hate crimes continuing through 2017.

Mikhail spoke on the deeply human, emotional impact it has on a community of young people to be hyperaware that a certain segment of the government, especially a

ruling party, hates their existence. It’s a topic that comes up often during counseling sessions at TOY’s community center on Monroe Road.

The fear is valid, as nearly one in five hate crimes recorded since 2020 have targeted people for their sexual orientation or gender identity, according to the FBI. Anti-transgender incidents alone increased by 40% from 2021 to 2022.

Mikhail said many of the youth her team works with are also concerned with how divestments in federal funding will affect access to gender-affirming care through Medicaid and if current protective legislation will be taken away.

Though it restricted access for people under 18 from receiving hormones or puberty blockers, NC House Bill 808 did ensure that those already accessing hormones or puberty blockers wouldn’t have them taken away.

Mikhail reminds young people that we have a Democratic governor in North Carolina that openly

emphasized to Queen City Nerve that many people including herself still have a lot of trauma associated with the first Trump administration.

“There’s a lot of fear, there’s a lot of concern on what’s to come after January 20,” Arteaga said. “And one of the things that we’ve been trying to ground folks on is that, to a degree, we already know what’s going to happen.”

Carolina Migrant Network offers pro-bono legal representation for people targeted by the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration (DHS). They plan to learn from the lessons of the first Trump administration and shape their plan accordingly for the second time around.

Under Trump 1.0, residents in east Charlotte saw more ICE activity, as that area is historically one of the larger immigrant hubs in the city, Arteaga said. Agents from the Charlotte ICE office would park outside neighborhoods, apartment complexes and trailer parks in the area

CAROLINA MIGRANT NETWORK HOSTS A KNOW YOUR RIGHTS WORKSHOP IN DECEMBER. supports and protects LGBTQ+ rights. November’s election did away with the Republican Party’s supermajority, and Mikhail feels confident that any queer protections left up to the state will stay safe.

Mikhail also said TOY relies on a diverse stream of grants and philanthropy and will remain operational even if all federal funding is stripped.

In the meantime, the organization will continue to offer numerous programs and services to queer youth, including virtual name change clinics, resource days featuring hormones and blockers, hosting sexual health discussions and more.

Carolina Migrant Network wants you to know your rights

“The presidential election results reopened a deep scar many of us had yet to fully heal from,” read an email from Stephanía Arteaga, co-founder of Carolina Migrant Network (CMN), to supporters and clients on Nov. 7.

Speaking in the lead-up to Inauguration Day, Arteaga

COURTESY OF CMN

beginning early in the morning simply to intimidate community members.

According to Arteaga, agents would detain individuals seemingly at random, oftentimes settling for “collateral,” or people who happened to be there at the wrong time and were not targets for deportation.

Episode 4 of Netflix’s six-part immigration enforcement documentary series Immigration Nation, which highlights the work of Arteaga and others around the country during the first Trump administration, depicted this intimidation tactic in play, showing officers hiding behind the CVS on Central Avenue and agents pulling over unmarked vehicles filled with work crews.

In December, following Trump’s second election victory, CMN held a Know Your Rights clinic, for which 130 people showed up to prepare for similar situations in the years to come.

“We just want to make sure that people are informed, while also ensuring that we can train people to also create networks of defense in their neighborhoods, where they can be in communication with their neighbors around

NEWS & OPINION FEATURE what type of activity that they’re seeing,” Arteaga said.

It’s not just undocumented people who have to be concerned with the effects of Trump’s second administration. As is the case with staff at Time Out Youth, Arteaga and her team know that Trump’s influence over like-minded folks also emboldens them, giving them the green light to behave in intolerable ways.

In fact, Arteaga has already seen how this plays out, as people have questioned her own sibling’s immigration status solely based on the color of his skin.

Trump’s election has left immigrants — those already in the US and those outside our borders — doubting their decision to move to or stay in the country after Jan. 20.

Arteaga knows folks who are considering a move to Canada rather than face the uncertainty of the next four years.

Some people may not be leaving on their own terms, however. Trump has touted his strict immigration enforcement policies since his re-election campaign began, promising to carry out the “largest deportation effort in American history.”

CMN has had countless conversations with community members who are trying to get their affairs in order in case of deportation. For example, some are enlisting the help of her organization to establish power of attorney so that, should they be detained, their US citizen children would go to a trusted individual instead of Child Protective Services.

immigration for both lawful and unlawful immigrants will negatively impact North Carolina’s economy, stripping the Charlotte area of $2.7 billion in taxes paid by immigrants and $7.4 billion in immigrants spending power that supports local businesses, according to the New American Economy.

The next four years will be emotionally and financially taxing, but Time Out Youth, Carolina Migrant Network and countless other Charlotte-based organizations will continue to work and remind folks that they still have autonomy.

“We’ve been around for … almost 35 [years], [through] different administrations, so we’re just reminding our young people that we’re here, we’re not going anywhere,” Mikhail said. “We’ll tell you what we do know, and we will be with you as we fight for the things we don’t know that are coming down the pipeline.”

Arteaga pointed out that the fear of deportation and family separation never went away, and while that risk may be increasing in the coming years, she and her team COURTESY OF TOY will continue to do the work they’ve always done to TIME OUT YOUTH’S COMMUNITY CENTER AT 3800 MONROE ROAD. protect the rights of our city’s most vulnerable.

“The more folks are aware of what their rights are and “You can have your country back, you can have your unauthorized immigrant workers, showed that NC could the tactics that ICE has used in the past,” she said, “the future back, you can have your state back,” Miller said lose up to $140 million in agricultural losses without more we can have an organized network of community during a Trump rally in Salem, Virginia, as reported by immigrant workers. members ready to fight back.”

The city of Charlotte owes its ability to develop and NPR. “You can look your children in the eye and say, ‘We did it, we saved America, we saved this republic. We didn’t grow the local economy to immigrant workers, Arteaga Carolina Migrant Network will hold another Know Your emphasized. let it get stolen from us.’”

Rights clinic on Jan. 11. Follow @carolina_migrant_network “We can’t ignore that in certain industries, immigrant The aftermath of Trump’s immigration agenda is not on Instagram for updates. only completely void of any sense of humanity, Arteaga labor is needed,” Arteaga said.

The threat of mass deportation and restricting said, it’s also economically implausible.

AKEOUGH@QCNERVE.COM In 2019, the New American Economy and the American

Stephen Miller, a leading player in family separation efforts as Trump’s senior advisor in his first term, will now take the role of White House deputy chief of policy during the upcoming administration while also working as the president’s homeland security advisor.

The position will grant Miller, someone who has long pushed the white supremacist Great Replacement Theory, the power to write and enact Trump’s immigration agenda.

COURTESY OF CMN

Immigration Council reported 274,200 immigrant residents in the Charlotte metro area, with 83.4% of foreign-born workers considered to be working age. One of the top industries with the highest share of foreignborn workers is construction.

CMN reported that unauthorized immigrant workers make up nearly 65% of North Carolina farmworkers.

Agricultural loss data taken from Georgia, a comparable agriculturally intensive state with a similar share of

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CMN FOUNDERS BECCA O’NEILL (LEFT) AND STEFANIA ARTEAGA.

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UPCOMING EVENTS IN THE QUEEN CITY include Charlotte alternative progressive rockers SYLEENA JOHNSON

Once Below Joy, hardscrabble South Carolina alt- With gritty vocals, confessional lyrics and an oldcountry singer-songwriter Ryan Lockhart, rowdy school sense of swing, Grammy-nominated singer, Rock Hill rockers Space Daddy & the Galactic Go- songwriter and producer Syleena Johnson is a hipGos, percussive trap rapper/producer Yomi Blkk, hop and R&B powerhouse who broke through as Palmetto State post-rock combo Read-Only Time the inimitable voice behind the chorus of Kanye Travel, driving indie-pop purveyors PTSD Radio, West’s 2005 hit “All Falls Down.” In 2017, Johnson raucous synth thrash band Complaint Club, and the collaborated with her father, R&B producer Syl list goes on. We’re not here to judge, but anyone Johnson, on the Rebirth of Soul LP, recorded with who misses this weekend romp in the Courtroom top-tier soul and Chicago blues artists. Her latest DESIGNING THE FUTURE: FLOYD MCKISSICK’S SOUL CITY will be found guilty.

LP, Woman (2020), draws on spoken word and Photo by Indy Beetle 1/20 More: $10 per night; Jan. 10 & 11, 7:30 p.m.; Tom orchestral highlights to impart a message of reliance BECHTLER 15 YEAR BASH Gettys Center Courtroom, 201 E. Main St., Rock Hill; and empowerment. She’s an artist rooted in the soul Named after Charlotte resident and mid-century facebook.com/dontsweatitinc tradition yet dedicated to moving it forward. modernist art collector Andreas Bechtler, the More: $57.60; Jan. 15, 8 p.m.; Neighborhood Bechtler Museum of Modern Art opened on Jan. IV MONTANA W/ ZAC, ZAY GRASTLEY, Theatre, 511 E 36th St.; neighborhoodtheatre.com 2, 2010. Fifteen years later, the Uptown institution HOLY BOY, TRUKK, B-VILLAINOUS celebrates its own birthday with a DJ set by From the whirlpooling guitar that kicks off “Way MON ROVÎA Charlotte creative Dammit Wesley and an interactive With the Money” to the gravelly flow of regret- Fleeing Liberia’s seven-year civil war in the late station where you can craft your own Bechtler laced dis track “Windows Tinted,” Gastonia native 1990s, Janjay Lowe adopted the name of his B-day card. Guests can also explore the museum’s IV Montana entwines eclectic genres in his blend homeland’s capital city of Monrovia as his writing/ current exhibits — Surrealism: Then and Now, of trap and R&B. On melodic tracks like “Wildfire,” performing moniker. Since 2020, the Chattanoogawhich showcases radical dreamlike works by Max North Carolina’s Zay Grastley conjoins rap and based artist has perfected his intensely personal Ernset, Joan Miró and others; and Clare Rojas: Past outlaw country. On cuts like “Pick a Side” and “Fuck brand of Afro-Appalachian folk music. With hipand Present, a revue of a multifaceted artist whose You,” producer/rapper Trukk tackles violence and the hop accents plus a blend of acoustic and electric works veer from surrealism to abstraction. pursuit of money. Multitudinous voices escape from instruments, Lowe tackled healing and trauma on More: Free; Jan. 8, 5 p.m.; Bechtler Museum of the prismatic mind of B-Villainous on his creepy- his debut LP Dark Continent. A pair of 2023 EPs, Act 1: Modern Art, 420 S. Tryon St.; tinyurl.com/Bechtler15 funny EP Cartoon Tracks. Rapper ZAC and Christian The Wandering and Act 2: Trials, couple aspirational hip-hop artist Holy Boy complete the bill. lyrics with lilting ukulele-driven melodies on songs ‘MAESTRA’ SCREENING AND More: $15; Jan. 11, 7 p.m.; The Rooster, 334 W. Main like the latter’s title track “Trials,” which alludes to TALKBACK Ave., Gastonia; theroostergastonia.com the Greek myth of Sisyphus.

This inspiring documentary follows the fortunes More: $30; Jan. 17, 8 p.m.; The Underground, 820 of women competing in an annual orchestral BREAKING BREAD Hamilton St.; fillmorenc.com conducting contest in the male-dominated world After producing and writing immersive pop-up of classical music. Five conductors are spotlighted, plays in Chicago, Kellee Stall moved to the Queen HOPE NICHOLS’ 65TH BIRTHDAY including an American balancing her professional City where she is a set dresser, casting director, PARTY ambitions with her desire to have a child, a actor, acting coach, stage director and co-founder Snug Harbor hosts a birthday blowout honoring Ukrainian trying to focus on her art as Russia invades of Charlotte Conservatory Theatre. An installation the Queen City icon who founded, sang and wrote her homeland, and a French immigrant returning to based on the theme of hope, Breaking Bread classic songs with Fetchin Bones, Sugarsmack and trauma from her past. Maestra marks the directing draws from true Charlotte stories of two people Snagglepuss before fronting (from behind, on the debut of documentary producer Maggie Contreras, conversing over a meal. Several tablescapes capture drums) her current band It’s Snakes. (She’s also who will be on hand for a Q&A following the the precise moments when differences are exposed co-owner with husband Aaron Pitkin of funky/chic screening. mid-meal, yet the exhibit holds onto hope that we boutique Boris & Natasha.) On the bill is rowdy, More: $12.85; Jan. 10, 7:30 p.m.; can understand those who think, believe and feel radical and tuneful guitarist/songwriter J. Roddy Independent Picture House, 4237 Raleigh St.; differently than ourselves. Stall will be on hand for Walston, who draws equally from gospel and Leon independentpicturehouse.org the Jan. 12 opening to discuss her creative process Russell; San Diego-based thrash/doom metal duo with patrons.

Savage & the Witch; the Pylon-meets-James Brown DUMB SWEATER FEST More: $10 suggested donation; Jan. 12, 3 p.m.; grooves of Nichols’ own project It’s Snakes; and Don’t Sweat It Inc., a nonprofit that fosters local VisArt, 3102 Eastway Drive; visartvideo.org/events sounds by Shiprocked! maestro Scott Weaver. music, presents two nights of performances at the More: $12; Jan. 18, 10 p.m.; Snug Harbor, Tom S. Gettys Center Courtroom in Rock Hill. Artists 1228 Gordon St.; snugrock.com

MON ROVÎA Promotional photo

1/17

KEVIN HART: ACTING MY AGE

According to Wikipedia, Kevin Hart’s first stand-up performance, which took place at The Laff House in his native Philadelphia under the name of Lil Kev, did not go well. If so, that may be the last time the four-time Emmy nominated comedian, movie star and entrepreneur has bombed. With a standup style that draws on his insecurities, Hart has lampooned himself on the faux-reality TV show Real Husbands of Hollywood while touring arenas and appearing in what feels like dozens of movies every year.

Fittingly, the comedian’s Acting My Age Tour comes after he became the youngest ever recipient of the Mark Twain Prize for American Comedy in 2024 at 45 years old. At the time of this writing, the Jan. 17 and 18 shows are sold out, so act quickly to see him on his last night in the city.

More: $102-$175; Jan. 19, 8 p.m.; Ovens Auditorium, 2900 E. Independence Blvd.; boplex.com

MLK DAY 2025: DESIGNING THE FUTURE

What kind of future do you want? On the day a convicted felon, adjudicated rapist and avowed authoritarian takes the oath of office in Washington D.C., the Gantt Center honors two men who are the antithesis of Donald Trump and his wholly owned Republican party. The first is civil rights icon Martin Luther King, Jr., while the second is NC native Floyd McKissick, who helped create Soul City, a selfsustaining community in Warren County designed to provide equal opportunity for Black Americans in the early 1970s. This year’s MLK Day celebration honors McKissick’s visionary legacy with arts workshops, discussions, performances and more.

More: Free; Jan. 20, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.; Gantt Center; 551 S. Tryon St.; ganttcenter.org

ARTS FEATURE

FACT TO FICTION Veteran Charlotte journalist pens Tar Heel murder mystery

BY PAT MORAN

grabs every opportunity to curtail his constituents’ civil liberties while lining his pockets.

Meanwhile, The Charlotte Press hires Texas reporter Price to expose Avery and his God’s Gift Church. This explosive situation soon becomes a backdrop to murder.

With her mystery novels, Stancill says she tries not to be too partisan with her own political views but adds that she staunchly supports the separation of church and state: “No ‘godly state’ for me.”

She notes that the novel’s first chapter describes the bombing on an abortion pill factory and that readers might infer from the sequence that she is pro-choice.

For those seeking a message, Stancill directs readers to the book’s front cover blurb from BestThrillers.com: “Crackling with immediacy and suspense, ‘Deadly Secrets’ is an unforgettable political thriller about murder, corruption and personal freedom.”

“I think this country is deeply divided,” Stancill says.

“That’s probably why this novel seems believable.”

To those who know her, it’s no mystery that Stancill loves western North Carolina, where her third novel is set. She grew up in the nearby mountains of eastern Tennessee, plus some time in Virginia.

In the wake of the devastation wrought by Hurricane Helene and the long recovery process it has engendered, Stancill is devoting half her proceeds from Deadly Secrets to Asheville-based charity Hearts with Hands.

In a Dec. 24 post on NovelMasterClass.com, Stancill noted that she has a long and emotional connection to the mountains of western North Carolina, quoting a passage from her novel that describes the region and the tourists drawn to its scenery: “She knew she was looking at the Blue Ridge Mountains. Their blue haze, a reflection of the blue-green fir and balsam forests that grew there, was distinctive. Leisurely drivers flocked to the gorgeous Blue Ridge Parkway in autumn to see red, yellow and orange fall colors. In the spring and summer, tourists could look forward to the healthy foliage sprinkled with wildflowers.”

The tourists that flocked to the mountains won’t be there this winter — or possibly for a long time, Stancill writes in her post.

“Roads are badly damaged, and many restaurants and hotels won’t be open … How will the region’s fragile economy recover without tourism?” she continued.

Despite the corruption and murders that thread through her mountain mystery, Stancill says she hopes that residents of the region won’t be offended by the plot, instead seeing NANCY STANCILL Deadly Secrets as a tale well told, albeit a cautionary one.

PHOTO BY WENDY YANG

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In Nancy Stancill’s more than 30-year career as an investigative reporter, she’s exposed wealthy men delaying divorces to punish their ex-wives, unveiled credit card companies luring consumers into crippling debt, documented shockingly high tobacco use among high school and middle school students, and profiled a strip club owner who later bribed former Charlotte mayor Patrick Cannon.

Over a decade into her second career as a crime novelist, the now-retired local journalist published her latest thriller, Deadly Secrets, on Dec. 12. The Charlottebased writer will take part in a Q&A and sign copies of her new novel, one of three featuring reporter/sleuth Annie Price, at Park Road Books on Jan. 9 at 7 p.m. The conversation will be facilitated by a colleague of Stancill’s, former Charlotte Observer reporter and Money Rock author Pam Kelley.

Stancill’s latest fictional tale is just as compelling as the stories she covered as a reporter. In Deadly Secrets, the dogged and indomitable Price solves a string of murders involving a charismatic pastor who has established a right-wing Christian state in the western North Carolina mountains.

After writing for the Houston Chronicle and other papers in Texas, Stancill worked 10 years for the Charlotte Observer before retiring in 2009. She says the Price series, which launched in 2013 with Stancill’s debut novel Saving Texas and continued with Winning Texas in 2016, is the result of the author staying in her lane.

“We write what we know, and I know newsrooms and reporters,” says Stancill, who published her memoirs, Tall: Love and Journalism in a Six-Foot World, in 2020. She adds that she’s not above embellishing the documentarystyle realism of her crime fiction with a few touches of glamour.

“I wanted a heroine who was 6 feet tall like me,” says Stancill. “But who was cuter, had better clothes, and a more exciting love life.”

The plot of Deadly Secrets is not exactly ripped from today’s headlines, but the story holds up a recognizable mirror to America’s political landscape in which religious zealots are working to steadily deconstruct the wall separating church and state.

In the novel, minister King Avery persuades state and federal authorities to establish the 51st state of Westcarolina. Avery becomes its first governor, determined to impose his evangelical beliefs on what he calls “the first Christian state.” Aided by ruthless secessionist Rob Ryland as lieutenant governor, Avery

“That was a dramatic example of how credit card “I love that area,” she says. “I certainly don’t wish for it companies were just savaging the consumers,” Stancill says. to have an evangelical minister at the helm.”

The town of Robbinsville in western North Carolina came to Stancill’s attention when a survey conducted in Highlights from a reporter’s the municipality revealed that 70 % of its high school kids notebook smoked – and that the percentage of smoking among Stancill’s approach to journalism was inspired by her middle school kids was almost as high. late father Godfrey Wells Stancill, who worked as editor “It was tragic,” Stancill says. “I interviewed a 12-yearand publisher of the Radford News Journal and the old boy that said he had been dipping snuff since he was Suffolk News-Herald in Virginia.

5 — and his parents bought it for him.”

“I’ve never seen anybody work harder than he did to The story took Stancill to an international smoking put out the truth in a good paper,” Stancill says. conference in Beijing, where the Chinese government Godfrey Stancill could do everything, she recalls — admitted that it was selling cigarettes to children. write stories and editorials, sell ads, and take pictures at In retrospect, Stancill says reporters in her generation children’ s ballgames. didn’t know they were living in a golden age of journalism.

“If somebody didn’t get their paper, he would get up “I remember 1994 and 1995 as the years of big raises,” from dinner and go deliver it,” Stancill says.

Stancill says. “[But] you could see things slowly going After graduating from the UNC Chapel Hill with a downhill.” journalism degree, Nancy worked for newspapers in Texas Falling circulation was a warning bell, followed by for 15 years, much like her fictitious alter ego Annie Price. diminishing ad sales with Craigslist beating out local In 1993, she moved to Charlotte and started her stint at classifieds for advertising dollars. the Observer.

“When I came in 1993, there were 250 people in the A 1994 story titled “Desperate Wives Settle for Less” newsroom,” Stancill says. “They created the investigative reported on wealthy, powerful men delaying divorce team, and they had all these bureaus.” settlements, in one case nine years, through unscrupulous Now the Observer’s newsroom staff listing totals less lawyers. than 50 people.

“One of these poor [ex-wives] was living out of her car,” While living in London in 2010, Stancill wrote Price’s Stancill says, pointing to the results of her investigation. first adventure, Saving Texas. The plot was inspired by “Essentially, the judges were ashamed that they did not reporting Stancill did about a corrupt community college notice [the long delays, and] the legislature was appalled.” in Texas, and on the state’s longstanding secessionist Stancill’s reporting inspired new legislation that movement, which also informed Price’s follow-up punished unreasonable delays while judges began mystery Winning Texas. sending most divorce cases to a more streamlined dispute Annie gets shot at the end of the second book and is resolution process recovering as Deadly Secrets opens, and while Stancill has Another one of Stancill’s stories involved a Gastonia never found herself under literal fire for her reporting, couple that owed more than $180,000 in credit card debt. she is certainly no stranger to second chances, as the “The husband was making $20,000 a year and his wife journalist turned novelist has found a groove in the world was disabled,” she recalls. The couple lived on credit cards, of fiction.

PMORAN@QCNERVE.COM and the credit card companies just kept signing them up for new cards.

MUSIC FEATURE

A BRUTAL SIREN Girl Brutal’s electronic rage attracts metalcore fans

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BY PAT MORAN

Like a nighttime artillery barrage, stuttering strobe lights flash over electronic noise punk trio Girl Brutal.

Clad in bunny ears, clownish Joker makeup and thong underwear over her tights, Grace Nelson stalks the stage, stomping, screaming, squatting and rolling on the floor as drummer Music Knight lays down chaotic, pummeling beats over Jarrett Mintz’s ear-splitting air-raid-siren synths.

The YouTube video of the band performing its most recent single “Poison” at The Milestone is from Girl Brutal’s Aug. 27, 2024 show, commemorating Nelson’s 24th birthday. It’s a parody of Bacchanalia, a raucous rave in hell, but Girl Brutal’s lyrics, delivered in a machine-gun staccato by founder, frontwoman and songwriter Nelson, provide a message amid the maelstrom: “Why do I lie when you boys make me dry/ What a bore to see you talk shit … Ya milky sticky grainy brain you thinks I’m gonna sue ya/ You’re a loser poser shithead copy cat I like it too ya...”

“Poison” is a response to people in the local music scene shit-talking and wallowing in drama, Nelson says.

“I was seeing poison within the community when we’re supposed to be coming together and being reasonable adults,” she continues. “It felt like I was back in high school.”

Girl Brutal is hardcore music for people who want to let their anger out, Nelson states.

“I definitely cater … towards feminine rage,” she says.

But the band does have a softer side.

In the single “Serenade,” which dropped in July, Nelson tackles her own insecurity. Here a bubbling 1980s-style synth horror soundtrack underlays Nelson’s whispered vocals, which allude to Shakespeare’s Love’s Labour’s Lost.

“Put my pain on your shoulder and I expect you to let it out/ Take care of me, rid it for me/ I can’t feel it anymore and my love’s lost, hate won...”

Nelson explained to Queen City Nerve that “Serenade” is about her childhood struggles with an eating disorder.

“I wrote it [about] a relationship that I have with my body and my appearance,” she says. “But other songs are [about] calling out hypocrites and things that I see that I’m not happy with.”

The flip side of “Serenade” illustrates Girl Brutal’s take on social issues. A shouted manifesto bolstered by grinding pneumatic drill beats, “GBHC” (Girl Brutal Hates Cops) is an outraged howl in reaction to the murder of George Floyd and police brutality as a whole.

“Try to beg for my life in a fucking chokehold/ Every word that I speak doesn’t get heard...”

The trio brings its cacophonous yet alluring sonic assault to The Milestone on Jan. 10, then to The Rooster in Gastonia on Jan. 18,

Musical theatre leads to digital noise

Instead of alienating audiences with its jagged shards of noise and stark messaging, Girl Brutal has been on a roll, gaining enthusiastic fans with every show.

As Nelson’s layered and witty lyrics illustrate, the band has a playful side, bolstered by Nelson’s theatrical and sometimes satirical performance, which is where the bunny ears come in.

“I wear [the bunny ears] for their playful innocent appearance,” Nelson says. The attire ironically plays off Playboy bunnies, iconic symbols of the sexualization of women.

Onstage, Nelson supplements her assaultive approach with overblown sexy gyrations, as much a parody of femininity as Playboy publisher Hugh Hefner’s famed bunnies.

“A lot of times I do sexual movements or something a little more risqué,” Nelson offers.

It’s meant to mock what people expect of a woman performing onstage, she says, noting that she’s screaming and being creepy while she’s gyrating.

“When she’s being sexy, it’s for the girls,” says Knight, who has been dating Nelson since early 2022.

Nelson concurs. She says the faux-sexy antics are a shared secret message with women in the audience: This is the shit guys expect from us.

Much of Nelson’s captivating stage presence is instinctual, but she’s also drawing on her past as a performer and theatre kid.

“Originally, I’m a piano player. I used to do concert recitals,” Nelson says.

Attending high school in Mint Hill, Nelson became besotted with musical theatre. She cites rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar as one of her favorites at the time. She was drawn to the music’s dark and dramatic qualities, but now she considers it a guilty pleasure at best.

After graduating from high school, Nelson started attending local shows. Her explorations sparked an interest in electronic music, including the electrohardcore of Machine Girl and the experimental hip-hop of Death Grips.

GRACE NELSON PERFORMS WITH GIRL BRUTAL AT THE MILESTONE. “Digital noise can be whatever you make of it. You will hear the craziest tingly noises,” Nelson says. “It’s just so experimental and wide-ranging. It can’t be put into a box.”

Deciding to combine multiple eras of the things she had done, like performance art and electronics, Nelson devised the concept of Girl Brutal. She originally opted for a solo act, but when she joined the uncompromising Charlotte hardcore band Wastoid as its bassist and befriended guitarist Jarret Mintz, her plans changed.

Drawing upon their shared passion for electronic music, Nelson and Mintz launched Girl Brutal as a duo, playing the band’s first show at The Milestone on Feb. 11, 2024. By that time, Nelson was dating Knight, who has played drums for Charlotte bands True Lilith and Ink Swells. The couple also played together in nu-metal trio Cosmic Twynk. “[I realized] I have this incredibly talented drummer that I’m dating, and I figured [he] could help elevate our sound,” Nelson says.

Knight initially had doubts about joining the combo, feeling that their sound was already full, but he recognized that Girl Brutal was sharing stages with similarly heavy acts that successfully incorporated drummers into their lineups. He joined Girl Brutal in June.

“A lot of the Girl Brutal songs have specific sounding industrial drums,” Knight says. “Sometimes I will overlay that.” But at other times, Knight says he can freestyle, completely losing the rhythm because the track already has electronic drums that anchor the song.

PHOTO BY DAN RUSSELL-PINSON

In a relatively short time Girl Brutal has made an impact on the local music scene. In July, the trio expanded its audience when Welcome to the Family show promoter Jake Woodard asked Girl Brutal to play a secret set at an otherwise metalcore show at The Milestone.

Knight believes Girl Brutal is inviting people to encounter a type of music they’re less familiar with, as Nelson’s “screaming vocals” and his and Mintz’s metal chops and tendencies captivated the metal-forward crowd during Welcome to the Family. Electronic music is hardly new, he acknowledges, but there is a shortage of original electronic acts in Charlotte, so Girl Brutal is in a unique position to influence the local music scene.

“I love a good guitar, bass, drums and singer band,” Knight says. “There’s nothing wrong with it. But it’s good to show people that there are alternatives and they can be local.”

Nelson says she’s flattered that, after seeing Girl Brutal play, a few fans started their own band called Yrdsale.

“I love sharing music with people and I like inspiring people,” she says. “People love a party. They’ll come [to our shows] and they’ll wear bunny ears and cool, crazy outfits. I can tell that [we are] something that’s fresh and new for the average music enjoyer.”

With people getting involved in the harrowing whirlwind of sound at the trio’s shows and finding encouragement to start their own projects, Girl Brutal’s confrontational, committed and self-reflective frontwoman is just getting started.

PMORAN@QCNERVE.COM

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 8

JAZZ/BLUES Jazz Nights at Canteen (Camp North End) Lovell Bradford Trio (VisArt Video) SINGER-SONGWRITER/ACOUSTIC Josh Daniel, Jim Brock & Kerry Brooks (Smokey Joe’s Cafe & Bar) POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC/DJ SHINDIG! Does the 80’s w/ DJ Blondzai & DJ Longchild (Tommy’s Pub) OPEN MIC Open Mic Night (Goldie’s) Singer/Songwriter Open Mic (The Rooster) Open Hearts Open Minds Open Mic (Starlight on 22nd)

THURSDAY, JANUARY 9

COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA Rod Fiske Duo (Goldie’s) FUNK/JAM BANDS Shana Blake’s Musical Menagerie (Smokey Joe’s Cafe & Bar) JAZZ/BLUES Mark Black (Middle C Jazz)

FRIDAY, JANUARY 10

SATURDAY, JANUARY 11

ROCK/PUNK/METAL Karmachain w/ Grindhouse (Evening Muse) Reviler w/ Gimmick, Alpha Strain, Jiu-Jitsu (The Milestone) Abyssal Frost w/ Desolus, Nganga, Dr. Blood’s Orgy of Gore (Snug Harbor)

This list may not have every event listed. To have a venue included in the editorial compilation of this list, please send an email to info@qcnerve.com with the subject “Soundwave.”

POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC/DJ Orbit @ Cue (Blackbox Theater) Ultraviolet Sapphic Dance Party (Petra’s) Requiem: Goth Night w/ DJ Velvetine, DJ Sanity Ana, DJ Vam Poison (Tommy’s Pub) Tycho (The Underground) SINGER-SONGWRITER/ACOUSTIC Jake Haldenvang w/ Simple Sole Duo (Goldie’s) Michael Tracy (Primal Brewery) HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B IV Montana w/ ZAC, Zay Grastley, Holy Boy, Trukk, B-Villainous (The Rooster) COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA Yonder Mountain String Band (Neighborhood Theatre) CLASSICAL/INSTRUMENTAL Charlotte Symphony: Bach & Mozart (Knight Theater) COVER BANDS Dead Letter Office (R.E.M. tribute) (Amos’ Southend) Coconut Groove Plays Steely Dan (Middle C Jazz) Runaway Gin (Phish tribute) (Visulite Theatre)

SUNDAY, JANUARY 12 CLASSICAL/INSTRUMENTAL Charlotte Symphony: Bach & Mozart (Knight Theater) COVER BANDS Justin Varnes: The Music of Miles Davis (Middle C Jazz) Ashes of the Priest (Lamb of God tribute) (The Rooster)

MONDAY, JANUARY 13

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 15

ROCK/PUNK/METAL Under High Street w/ Groove Skeletons, Jackson Fig (Snug Harbor) SINGER-SONGWRITER/ACOUSTIC Josh Daniel, Jim Brock & Kerry Brooks (Smokey Joe’s Cafe & Bar) JAZZ/BLUES Jazz Nights @ Canteen (Camp North End) HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B Syleena Johnson (Neighborhood Theatre) COVER BANDS Chicago Rewired (Middle C Jazz) OPEN MIC Singer/Songwriter Open Mic (The Rooster) Open Hearts Open Minds Open Mic (Starlight on 22nd)

THURSDAY, JANUARY 16

ROCK/PUNK/METAL Den of Wolves w/ Brave New World, Varia, Spirit Leaves, Ghost Choir (The Milestone) FUNK/JAM BANDS Shana Blake’s Musical Menagerie (Smokey Joe’s Cafe & Bar) SINGER-SONGWRITER/ACOUSTIC Jim Lauderdale (Evening Muse) Lisa De Novo & Sky (Goldie’s) HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B Lazer Dim 700 (The Underground) COVER BANDS MarvelUS Band (Middle C Jazz)

JAZZ/BLUES FRIDAY, JANUARY 17 The Bill Hanna Legacy Jazz Session (Petra’s) ROCK/PUNK/METAL POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC/DJ The Lenny Federal Band (Comet Grill) See Bird Go w/ DJ Glory, De$ Dollar$, Love Ley (Snug Hush Money w/ Nathan Storey, Brice Parker (Evening Harbor) Muse) OPEN MIC Ceschi Ramos w/ Nerve Endings, Appaluchia, Mikal Find Your Muse Open Mic feat. Big Bay Allen Blues Khill, Tribe One, Family Friend (The Milestone) (Evening Muse) Fiction Parade w/ 6 Story Pyramid, We Set Fire (The Rooster) Candy Coffins w/ Wilde Green (Tommy’s Pub) TUESDAY, JANUARY 14 HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B ROCK/PUNK/METAL Mon Rovîa (The Underground) Red Rocking Chair (Comet Grill) COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC/DJ Featherpocket w/ Lil Skritt, Barcerado, The Flood Dark ‘n’ Dirty (Snug Harbor) (Snug Harbor) OPEN MIC FUNK/JAM BANDS Open Mic Night feat. The Smokin J’s (Smokey Joe’s Bailey Marie Griggs w/ Six Year Hiatus (Goldie’s) Cafe & Bar) CLASSICAL/INSTRUMENTAL Charlotte Symphony: Disco Fever (Knight Theater) JAZZ/BLUES Chief Adjuah (Booth Playhouse) Marcus Johnson (Middle C Jazz)

SATURDAY, JANUARY 18

ROCK/PUNK/METAL harf. w/ Thomas Rowland (Evening Muse) Self Made Monsters w/ Girl Brutal, Cyanide Suspension, Marianne Toilet & the Runs, Punk Angels (The Rooster) It’s Snakes w/ J. Roddy Walston, Savage & The Witch, DJ Scott Weaver (Snug Harbor) POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC/DJ Digital Noir w/ DJ Spider, Dead Cool (The Milestone) Hot & Fresh with J. Overcash and Friends (Salud Cerveceria) FUNK/JAM BANDS Joe May’s Month of Mondays (Visulite Theatre) CLASSICAL/INSTRUMENTAL Charlotte Symphony: Gershwin’s Magic Key (Knight Theater) Charlotte Symphony: Disco Fever (Knight Theater) COVER BANDS The Breakfast Club (Amos’ Southend) Minutes & Years w/ Bald Brothers (Goldie’s) Jay D. Jones: Musical Salute to The Isleys (Middle C Jazz)

SUNDAY, JANUARY 19

ROCK/PUNK/METAL Silverstein (The Fillmore) JAZZ/BLUES Omari & the Hellhounds (Comet Grill) Russell Thompkins & the New Stylistics w/ Blue Notes (Knight Theater) Karen Linette (Middle C Jazz) POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC/DJ Hazy Sunday (Petra’s) Soul Sundays feat. Guy Nowchild (Starlight on 22nd)

MONDAY, JANUARY 20 JAZZ/BLUES The Bill Hanna Legacy Jazz Session (Petra’s) OPEN MIC Find Your Muse Open Mic (Evening Muse)

TUESDAY, JANUARY 21

ROCK/PUNK/METAL Red Rocking Chair (Comet Grill) Miranda & the Beat w/ Comino, Designer (Snug Harbor) HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B Nocap (The Fillmore) OPEN MIC Open Mic Night feat. The Smokin J’s (Smokey Joe’s Cafe & Bar) VISIT QCNERVE.COM FOR THE FULL SOUNDWAVE LISTING

Pg. 9 JANUARY 8 - JANUARY 21, 2025 - QCNERVE.COM

ROCK/PUNK/METAL Girl Brutal w/ Shawn Garlic, Ashley!, January Knife, Hiroshi Jaguar (The Milestone) The Great Indoors w/ Creatures of the Sun (Petra’s) Haymaker w/ Vehement, Alaya’s Curse, A Separate Piece (The Rooster) Zeta w/ BloodRitual, Art Star, Masse Critique (Snug Harbor) JAZZ/BLUES Willie Bradley (Middle C Jazz) COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA Bryan Martin (Coyote Joe’s) Griffin House (Neighborhood Theatre) SINGER-SONGWRITER/ACOUSTIC Jason Moss w/ Alana Gibson (VisArt Video) CLASSICAL/INSTRUMENTAL Charlotte Symphony: Bach & Mozart (Knight Theater) POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC/DJ Bingo Loco (Blackbox Theater) Gimme Gimme Disco (The Underground) EXPERIMENTAL/MIXED-GENRE/FESTIVAL Modal Citizan w/ IIOIOIOII, Solemn Shapes, DJ Spider (Tommy’s Pub) COVER BANDS The Dave Matthews Tribute Band (Amos’ Southend) Bad Romeo w/ Ryan Trotti (Goldie’s) Songs from the Road Band w/ Eternally Grateful (Visulite Theatre)

The Soundwave is Queen City Nerve’s comprehensive guide to live music happening in Charlotte every night of the week. This list is pulled together by our editorial team every other week from combing through Charlotte music venue calendars and separated by genre. None of these listings are paid advertisements. We understand that many non-traditional music venues offer live music like coffee shops, breweries, art galleries, community events and more.

POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC/DJ Moonroof w/ Late Night Special, Fifth Floor (Evening Muse) Fulton Lee (Neighborhood Theatre) SINGER-SONGWRITER/ACOUSTIC Ma w/ The Retired Lovers, Timothy Chandler Hicks (Petra’s) COVER BANDS Nirvani (Amos’ Southend) Brightside (Visulite Theatre)

FOOD & DRINK FEATURE

OLD BUILDINGS, NEW CONCEPTS Leluia Hall carries on Tonidandel-Brown’s penchant for preservation

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BY RYAN PITKIN

Walking through the 110-year-old Dilworth church that will soon be home to Leluia Hall early one January morning, I got the sense that Jamie Brown could see things that I couldn’t.

Where I saw ladders, buckets, tool boxes, bags of quick-set compound, bottles of caulk, extension cords and a slew of supplies strewn about an unfinished bar area, she saw a dining room complete with tables, seats, server stations, stools at the finished raw bar, and silverware settings.

At least that’s what I imagined she saw.

“I think in any of these restoration projects, it’s a game of faith,” she said. “You’ve got to just keep moving forward. It does not always look pretty. This is one of those moments. It’s the chaos that happens right before you go to open.”

This process is nothing new to Brown, who cofounded Tonidandel-Brown restaurant group with her husband Jeff Tonidandel in 2009 with the opening of NoDa’s Crepe Cellar. They landed in that prime location by happenstance after searching for any space a property owner was willing to lease two aspiring restaurateurs with no experience in the midst of the Great Recession.

And yet, as the pair of Davidson College graduates have continued to grow their company, opening more establishments along the North Davidson Street corridor — Growler’s Pourhouse, Haberdish, Ever Andalo, Reigning Doughnuts — before expanding to Plaza Midwood with the opening of Supperland, one thing has remained constant: each of their restaurants are located in old and sometimes historic buildings.

The two insist that preservation was never part of their mission when they launched Tonidandel-Brown, though it does play into their goals involving community.

“We are interested in the neighborhoods and having a presence in the neighborhood that we’re going into,” Tonidandel explained. “I think that leads us into some of these old buildings. We really want to be part of the neighborhood. It makes a little more sense to go into some building that’s been here for 100 years rather than jumping into a new build where you don’t quite feel like you’re really part of the neighborhood.”

“I think we’ve gravitated towards interesting spaces

that are kind of like a very natural bedrock on which to build,” added Brown. “It’s not just this white room. It already has character, so it actually makes our jobs a lot easier. We always joke like, ‘We probably aren’t very good

at the latest, Tonidandel and Brown look to continue building their legacy as two of Charlotte’s most impactful restaurateurs, not only for their great food and dining experiences but for the legacy they are building — if accidentally — as two of Charlotte’s most important preservationists.

The big move

“Somehow it is 2023 and I find myself here as a restaurateur in front of city council fighting to save a 1903 building,” said Jamie Brown during a Sept. 18, 2023, Charlotte City Council meeting, clearly somewhat frustrated. “That’s not where I expected to be.”

Brown was there to gain support for a rezoning hearing at the Leleuia Hall site, located at 1823 Cleveland Avenue. While the historic church on the site was already zoned for th use they needed — renowned restaurant Bonterra operated there for more than 20 years before moving in 2021 — Tonidandel-Brown wanted to take things further.

LELUIA HALL WILL OPEN SOON AT 1823 CLEVELAND AVENUE. at what we do. It’s just the old space that offers that up already.’”

Safe to say that both Brown and Tonidandel are good at what they do, as they’ve proven time and again with their popular eateries. It appears that with each new establishment, the team grows stronger.

Building on the strong buzz behind Haberdish, the Southern-styled restaurant that opened in late 2016, the team’s 2021 opening of Supperland gained national recognition. The Plaza Midwood steakhouse, also located in a historic church, landed at No. 15 on Esquire’s list of Best New Restaurants in 2022.

Now with Leluia Hall, a steak-and-seafood restaurant set to open sometime in January or by winter’s end

“Dilworth was meant to be developed around mass transit and walking people. It is really not set up for the type of single-occupancy-vehicle traffic that most of its residents participate in today,” said then-Mayor Pro Tem Braxton Winston.

“We should ask ourselves which history we are trying to preserve,” he continued. “Are we trying to actually preserve the makeup of the neighborhood or do we want to preserve a gentrified version of the neighborhood, which exists today?”

The process was about more than business for Brown and Tonidandel, who are Dilworth residents raising their children in a home just a few blocks away from the Cleveland Avenue site.

“There were definitely frustrations or concerns around how are we really trying to grow in Charlotte?” said Brown. “But also, I live in this neighborhood and I’ve got children. I know what it’s like not to want change. A lot of people don’t want change. You’re happy where you are.

So I can understand why people can feel upset or worried.

That’s the last thing we want to do is create change for

PHOTO BY GRANT BALDWIN

Their plan was to move the Leeper & Wyatt building, Dilworth’s oldest surviving retail building that had been slated for demolition, from where it sat on South Boulevard to the lot on the church’s property on Cleveland Avenue.

The plan saw pushback from a handful of neighbors who were concerned that placing the building in what was supposed to be Leluia Hall’s parking lot would only exacerbate issues with parking in the neighborhood, adding more traffic while taking away parking spots.

The September hearing inspired a debate among council members about what it looked like to “preserve the character” of a neighborhood dubbed Charlotte’s oldest streetcar suburb.

the worse. We want it to be a beautiful place for people to enjoy.”

The rezoning petition was eventually approved and the couple moved forward with relocating the Leeper & Wyatt building, a process that proved far more complex than any restoration they had carried out at their other establishments.

There were dozens of considerations to be made before the big move could take place, from city permitting to ensuring the streets could hold the weight of the building to raising power lines and trimming tree branches to working the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Historic Landmarks Commission.

“Jeff did all the legwork on that move,” Brown acknowledged. “The number of parties that had to come out here. There were days we’d have a meeting

FOOD & DRINK FEATURE and there’d be 25 people out here just talking, all from different teams.”

In September 2024, a crowd of Dilworth and South End residents gathered to watch workers move the 120-yearold building 750 feet down the street from 1923 South Blvd. to 1823 Cleveland Ave. Brown said she has kept in contact with some of her neighbors who had opposed the move in an effort to reconcile any differences the two parties may have had.

“I think some of the ones that weren’t in support of it are now seeing the vision,” Brown said. “They’re okay with it and excited for us to open and have been very accepting.

I think we’re turning the corner. We’ll be excited to have all of them here, even if they were the people that stood up in front of the city council and spoke out against this project here. It’s okay. It’s all good.”

Tonidandel and Brown still haven’t finalized plans for

Adapt and reuse

With each of Tonidandel-Brown’s establishments carrying a slightly different variation of the family-style, shared-dining experience that runs through all of the restaurants — Southern fried chicken at Haberdish, Italian at Ever Andalo, steaks at Supperland — Leluia Hall marks the company’s first foray into seafood.

While Growlers Pourhouse offers up an enticing oyster program, Tonidandel, Brown and executive chef Chris Rujinski, who’s moving over from Supperland, are expanding on that for Leluia Hall’s raw bar, offering oysters and a range of ceviche options.

According to Tonidandel, citrus will be the root from which the raw bar’s menu items branch out.

“We have this huge knowledge base of things that we can do culinarily with citrus,” he said. “Right now we have the ability to take the acid content, take the sugar content of all the different stuff that goes into the cocktails, and we’re doing that for our ceviche as well to keep the consistency going.”

INSIDE LELUIA HALL AS A RENOVATION PROJECT. “There are a lot of things at home that we do that are maybe a little bit more unusual than the way the standard American diet is,” she said. “We use a lot of coconut milk and cream at home. We use a ton of avocado and more meat and vegetable or seafood and vegetable type of approach, so that’s definitely influenced what we’re doing here.”

The restaurant will offer three seating options, with the main dining room on the ground floor, partially private dining on the upper mezzanine, and a private dining table in the basement, where diners will be surrounded by 1,200 bottles of 200 different varieties of wine, all temperature controlled.

With the name paying homage to the roots of the building — Leluia Hall is a mash-up of the word

JEFF TONIDANDEL (LEFT) AND JAMIE BROWN INSIDE LELUIA HALL.

“Hallelujah” — the two hope to foster an environment that feels celebratory. They’ve worked toward that goal with every little touch from the stair risers to the overhead lighting.

“Yes, people are coming to eat, but they’re also coming to experience and spend their time and enjoy their time,” Brown said. “This being an old church, we just go to that.

We just want this whole place to feel like a celebratory place and really fun.”

When they do open their doors, that will surely be the case, because regardless of their running joke, these two are good at what they do.

RPITKIN@QCNERVE.COM

PHOTO BY GRANT BALDWIN

That includes taking some “tricks” that have worked wonders in their other establishments’ bar programs such as acidifying pineapple juice until it more resembles lime juice, then using that in the ceviche. They’ll also be working yuzu and other lesser known citrus fruits into some recipes.

Brown said each new concept for the company can often be tied to where the couple are in their own lives together. Ever Andalo was born of Jeff’s efforts to get more connected with his Italian roots, bringing the family there and even obtaining Italian citizenship.

Supperland was inspired by Brown’s experience with late-onset food insensitivities, which found her patronizing more steakhouses because they had menus she could work with more easily.

As for the menu at Leluia Hall, it will more closely THE SOON-TO-BE-BAR AT LELUIA HALL. resemble what Brown and Tonidandel like to cook at home.

PHOTO BY GRANT BALDWIN

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the Leeper & Wyatt building, all they know is that it will be another restaurant separate from Leluia Hall with a glassed-in solarium on the rooftop patio.

With 1,500 square feet on each of the building’s three floors, Brown said her next job will be to find out how to best activate that limited space on each story.

Design is Brown’s strength, as Haberdish was recognized twice in 2017 by the American Institute of Architects, earning the AIA NC Award and AIA Charlotte Honor Award for its design and atmosphere.

She’s likely to find plenty to do with the historic building that now sits next door to Leluia Hall, but for now the focus is on getting their first Dilworth restaurant opened.

PHOTO BY GRANT BALDWIN

LIFESTYLE

HOROSCOPE

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2025 KING FEATURES SYND., INC.

JAN. 8 - JAN. 14

JAN. 15 - JAN. 21

ARIES (March 21 to April 19) The New Year brings challenges that can change many things in your life. You need to be prepared not only to confront them but also to deal with what happens afterward.

ARIES (March 21 to April 19) It’s a good time to take a much-needed break from your recent hectic schedule and spend some time in quieter surroundings. Important news could arrive early next week.

TAURUS (April 20 to May 20) You have what it takes to set your goals quite a bit higher this year. Learn what you need to know and put what you learn into your efforts. A partner offers loving support.

TAURUS (April 20 to May 20) The Taurean traits of reliability and thoroughness could be well-tested when decision-makers consider your proposals and/or requests.

Be prepared to answer some probing questions.

GEMINI (May 21 to June 20) In true Gemini Twin fashion, you’re conflicted about a decision you know you’ll have to make in this New Year. Best advice: Get the facts before you make any commitment.

GEMINI (May 21 to June 20) A sudden attack of boredom leaves you with some tasks undone. It’s OK to take a short respite, but get back to work by week’s end so that you have time for other projects.

CANCER (June 21 to July 22) A friend offers you an exciting opportunity for this New Year. Although your positive aspects are strong in most respects, caution is advised. Investigate before you invest.

CANCER (June 21 to July 22) Avoid prejudging a situation just because it looks bad. Facts could emerge that can make your position uncomfortable, to say the least.

Meanwhile, a relative has interesting news to share with you.

LEO (July 23 to August 22) You can make this New Year a roaring success! Start by readjusting your goals to reflect LEO (July 23 to August 22) This is a good time to begin the changes in the economy. Your den-mate offers both reassessing some of your recent decisions about your wise and loving support. long-range goals to see if they still have merit. In addition, spend more time with loved ones this weekend.

VIRGO (August 23 to September 22) The New Year brings new opportunities for change. But you need to be ready VIRGO (August 23 to September 22) An unsettled to move away from the comfortable status quo to the situation at home or on the job early in the week could challenging unknown. It’s up to you! drain your energy levels, making it difficult to get your work done on schedule. But things improve by midweek.

LIBRA (September 23 to October 22) Your most important New Year’s resolution should be to work out problems LIBRA (September 23 to October 22) A temporary setback with a family member in order to avoid continuing could give you time to go over your plans to find weaknesses misunderstandings. Do it soon for both of your sakes. that you might have overlooked before. Also, a romantic getaway with a special person is favored this weekend.

SCORPIO (October 23 to November 21) The New Year has much to offer the intensely determined Scorpian, who SCORPIO (October 23 to November 21) Professional and isn’t afraid to take on challenges and stay with them until personal situations benefit you once you set a positive they surrender their rewards. tone in getting things off to a good start. Honest dialogue smooths over any occasional display of balkiness.

SAGITTARIUS (November 22 to December 21) You’ll have many fine opportunities in this New Year. But be warned: SAGITTARIUS (November 22 to December 21) A problem Reject offers of “help.” You work best when you’re free to with workplace colleagues or family members seems to be your own creative self. defy even your sage counsel. But be patient. Your words will eventually lead to a resolution.

CAPRICORN (December 22 to January 19) The New Year offers changes that you might feel you’re not quite ready CAPRICORN (December 22 to January 19) Don’t just wait for. Best advice: Deal with them one step at a time until out an unexpected and unexplained delay in your career you’ve built up your self-confidence. move. You could gain added respect if you ask why it happened and what you can do to move things along.

AQUARIUS (January 20 to February 18) Travel is a dominant aspect of the New Year. This could mean AQUARIUS (January 20 to February 18) Although your relocating to another city (or even another country) in workplace strategies are usually accepted, you could be connection with your education or career. challenged by someone who isn’t so favorably impressed.

Be prepared to defend your positions.

PISCES (February 19 to March 20) This New Year brings news about a change you’ve been anticipating. You might PISCES (February 19 to March 20) Your friendship circle have a problem persuading a loved one about your new expands with new people coming into your life at this plans, but they will soon go along with your ideas. time. Welcome them warmly, but don’t neglect cherished longtime personal relationships.

BORN THIS WEEK: You have a gift for making people feel safe and protected. You would make an excellent youth BORN THIS WEEK: You love to search for knowledge and counselor. share it with others. You would make an especially fine teacher!

LIFESTYLE PUZZLES SUDOKU

BY LINDA THISTLE

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.

TRIVIA TEST

BY FIFI RODRIGUEZ

CROSSWORD

1. TELEVISION: Which popular spinoff series originated with the drama “Breaking Bad”?

2. HOLIDAYS: What is another name for Three Kings Day, celebrated on Jan. 6?

3. LANGUAGE: What does the Latin phrase “bona fide” mean?

4. MOVIES: In the movie “Babe,” what kind of animal is the title character?

5. MEASUREMENTS: How many grams are in a kilogram?

6. GEOGRAPHY: Which strait separates Saudi Arabia from Africa?

7. SCIENCE: What are the three layers that make up the Earth?

8. FOOD & DRINK: Which breakfast food is associated with the retro series “Stranger Things”?

9. MEDICAL: What is the common name for muscae volitantes?

10. LITERATURE: Which poet wrote a six-volume biography of President Abraham Lincoln?

©2025 King Feautres Syndicate, Inc. All rights reserved.

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ADDED WEIGHT

©2025 King Feautres Syndicate, Inc. All rights reserved.

Exploring NA options about town on the first weekend of the new year

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BY AERIN SPRUILL

The moment Jeremy Radio slid the non-alcoholic version of the Astro Zombie (just $10 with the booze) across the bar in a very on-brand enamel sharkhead mug, I knew Uncle Jerry’s Tiki Sundays at Tommy’s Pub was the ideal kickoff for our dry-ish Sunday Funday.

The first sip only confirmed that kismet.

The refreshing flavors of grapefruit and lime hit my lips first, but it was the tingly combo of cinnamon syrup and seltzer bubbles that delivered a warm, fuzzy mouth feel that convinced me Uncle J must’ve forgotten to exclude the dark rum and pernod. It was the first time I could imagine day drinking without actually drinking.

“I think I actually prefer yours,” Boo admitted, taking a second sip of his traditional Dark and Stormy ($8). I didn’t believe him at first, but before I knew it, he was reaching for another sip of Baby Shark. Hmmm, maybe we are capable of dry-ish January after all.

Every December, I flirt with the idea of jumping on the Dry January bandwagon. But before the figurative resolution pen even touches mental paper — or dares escape my lips for anyone to hold me to it — New Year’s Eve rolls around.

The thought of facing Charlotte’s nightlife — or any social situation, really — sober, while still in the malaise of New Year’s Day’s poor decisions, convinces me I’m mentally unprepared to follow Gen Z down the mindfuldrinking path.

That’s right, millennials: Surviving Y2K, two economic crises, and drowning our unpacked childhood trauma has paved the way for Gen Z to set healthy boundaries with alcohol.

But in all seriousness, research has shown that, for reasons that are tough to pinpoint, Gen Z seems less inclined to follow J-Kwon’s OG mantra: “Everybody in the club gettin’ tipsy.”

And that simple first sip at Tommy’s piqued my sober curiosity a week into the new year, as the warmth of the tiki mocktail lingered in my mouth and we headed over to NoDa on the hunt for NA options that could keep the party going.

You might know Haberdish for their fried chicken, but it was their surprisingly delicious punch bowls that made a lasting impression on my once-naive taste buds, back in 2016 when I was still hooked on vodka Red Bulls.

So it only made sense to stop in and try their spirit-free

and legally “green” cocktails (because who says you can’t be “high” on life and still stay sober-ish?).

Snoop Nogg ($15) featuring the hemp-infused NA spirit Calmezzi, was sold out so I went with the New Best Friend ($14) featuring Calmezzi original, amethyst lemon serrano NA spirit, lime simple syrup and soda. Boo opted for the CBD-infused California Sober ($11).

Though I’m usually not one to pine for a spritzer, my New Best Friend was bubbly, light, and showed off just the right amount of balanced flavor to set her far above her Aperol spritz, White Claw, or seltzer water counterparts in my rotation.

But don’t let her free-spirited, carefree nature fool you, her Calmezzi fey is fierce.

“Do you feel anything?” Boo asked as I realized the day had turned to night and I was only a third of the way through my cocktail. I chuckled with quiet confidence

INSIDE COPPERHEAD SOCIAL CLUB ON A NOT-SO-DRY VISIT.

INFO@QCNERVE.COM

PHOTO BY AERIN SPRUILL

Trivia Answers

SUNDAY DRY DAY

PUZZLE ANSWERS

6. Bab-el-Mandeb.

7. Crust, mantle and core.

8. Eggo waffles.

9. Eye floaters.

10. Carl Sandburg.

AERIN IT OUT

that I was feeling no more than a placebo buzz while simultaneously searching “NA mocktail recipes, boozefree activities, bottle shops near me with NA spirits, and what happened to Charlotte’s Counterculture Club?”

Then, suddenly, I was hungry.

“I don’t think so, but should we close out and head over to Copperhead to place a to-go order and a nightcap?” “…or Zambies,” Boo said.

“Or what if we go to Copperhead, place a to-go order, have a beer while we play Simpson’s bowling, then place a pick-up order at Zambie’s for late-night?” I replied with a huge grin and raised eyebrows.

When he smiled and didn’t immediately veto, I knew that Haberdish had delivered on sending us home in high spirits without the buzz and our only regret would be that we’d forgotten to stock up on Pepto.

A couple blocks closer to Uptown, across the street from the Heist Brewery corner, Copperhead Social Club sat waiting for us to warm up one more time before making our way back home.

In the middle of what was supposed to be a quick catch-up with a girlfriend, quietly savoring her Best Day Brewing Kölsch-style NA beer, I realized my New Best Friend was charming her way into my psyche like a mischievous sprite.

Before I knew it, I was doing the one thing I can’t stand for other people to do: overstaying my welcome.

My time-turner on dry-ish Sunday funday was running out and I needed two Copperhead burgers and one order of Copperhead-style fries to go stat … the ‘za would have to wait.

1. “Better Call Saul.”

2. Epiphany.

3. “Good faith.”

4. Pig. 5. 1,000.

LIFESTYLE COLUMN

LIFESTYLE COLUMN

SAVAGE LOVE

QUICKIES No mo’ pronouns needed

BY DAN SAVAGE

Would you be willing to share my list of proposed gender-free pronouns with your readers, listeners and followers? I’ve enclosed a graph listing them that details how they should be used. They are very liberating.

Sorry, but I’m unwilling to share your list of new pronouns with my readers, listeners and followers as there are currently more than enough gendered pronouns, non-gendered pronouns, and neo-pronouns in circulation. I don’t see any point in adding more to the mx.

Should I get on Grindr?

“Every gay man should know how to use Grindr but we all need to remember that it’s just like any social media app: useful, addictive, toxic and it should never, ever replace real-life interactions,” said queer author and filmmaker Leo Herrera. “The apps are simply one tool in a huge sex arsenal that we’ve developed for hundreds of years. And right now, gay men of all ages are walking away from the apps and embracing tradition: picking up strangers in bars and bathhouses and parks. So, before you download Grindr, learn the basics of analog cruising — traditional cruising — so you’re not dependent on Grindr.”

Leo Herrera is the author of the book Analog Cruising, a great resource for younger gay men who never learned how to pick someone up in person and older gay men who forgot how after the apps came along. Follow on Instagram and Threads @herreraimages.

relationships, Faith Hill cited research done by Amy Hackney, a psychology professor at Georgia Southern University, which found that the sooner heartbroken people started dating— the sooner they got under someone new — the faster they healed from their heartbreak. So, if you haven’t already gotten under someone new, go throw yourself under someone ASAP! Would you please talk about the movie Babygirl, Dan! Writer Rebecca Woolf will be joining me on the Lovecast to talk about Babygirl, the new film starring Nicole Kidman as a powerful corporate executive who gets into a D/s relationship with a hot male subordinate.

Woolf wrote a (spoiler-packed) essay about the film on her website that I can’t wait to discuss with her on my show!

What’s the best way to describe DP? Two men enter, one man cleaves.

How can I meet you, Dan? You can meet me in person — in the flesh — when I host the Part One premiere of the HUMP! 2025 Film Festival in Seattle on Feb. 14-15. I’ll also be hosting screenings in San Francisco from Feb. 20-22 and Berlin on April 22-23. To find out more about the amazing films in HUMP!’s 20th anniversary season — and to get tickets to see HUMP! in a theater near you — go to humpfilmfest. It seems reasonable to ask (given who’s returning com. to the White House) that you revive your ITMFA campaign? My ITMFA buttons and t-shirts are a How do you get over the proverbial one who got little tattered and I could use a fresh stash for away? handing out. Please?

You know what they say: “The fastest way to get over I raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the someone is to get under someone new.” And it turns out ACLU, Planned Parenthood, and the International they — the proverbial they — were on to something. Refugee Assistance Project selling ITMFA (“Impeach the In a 2023 piece for The Atlantic defending rebound Motherfucker Already”) buttons, t-shirts, lapel pins and

out) pretend breast-feeding sessions, but on some level we’re latching onto distant sense/sensual memories.

And even if this is weird, which it isn’t, who cares? You enjoy it, she enjoys it, it gets you both off, and you’re not forcing anyone to watch or participate who doesn’t want to watch or participate. And if it makes you feel better, there are far worse kinks out there. Enjoy your partner’s tits and thank your lucky stars you’re not into coprophilia Is there anyone in the Montreal area who can or crypto. safely inject saline into a man’s scrotum?

Scrotal inflation is a niche kink — not many people What cautions should I take as a gay Dom to are into it — but Quebec wouldn’t be Canada’s kinkiest prevent consensual kink and pain play from being province if it weren’t for the critical mass of kinksters who misconstrued later as abuse or assault? One of call Montreal home. So, I’m guessing there’s probably at my subs wants to be slapped, trampled and fat least one pervert in Montreal who can safely blow your shamed. Do I need some sort of contract? sack up to the size of a basketball. But that particular “Communication is the best caution we Doms can pervert isn’t in my list of contacts, which means you’ll take,” said The Funny Dom, a kink educator, author, and have to find them yourself. content creator who lives and dominates subs in Australia.

“Things can’t be misconstrued if they’ve been plainly and When my girlfriend eats my pussy, there’s no specifically discussed and planned — and safewords problem! When my husband eats my pussy, I agreed to — before they’re carried out. But absolutely invariably get a yeast infection. It’s actually he could look at drawing up a ‘contract’ that they both starting to piss him off. Help! read and sign as a way of really formalizing consent and Wait, your husband is giving you yeast infections making sure they’re literally on the same page.”

— or his epidermal microbiome is — and he’s pissed The Funny Dom and I both wanted to emphasize that off? Aren’t you the wronged party here? Maybe a slave contracts or play contracts aren’t legally binding — dermatologist could help and/or maybe your husband because of course they’re not — and your sub is free to could go down on your girlfriend a few times in the hopes withdraw his consent at any moment. If you keep going that her epidermal microbiome re-seeds his. But if your after he uses his safeword or tells you to stop, you will husband can’t go down on you without giving you a yeast have crossed the line that separates kink play from abuse infection, then he doesn’t get to go down on you. I had a and assault. serious boyfriend who was allergic to my semen (that’s Follow The Funny Dom on Instagram and Threads @ a thing) but loved facials. I couldn’t come on his face, TheFunnyDomReturns. The third installment of The Funny but other guys could. And did I whine about it? Did I get Dom’s Guide to Kink is out now! pissed off? No and no. I arranged for other guys to come on his face right after I came on theirs.

How many times have you seen Wicked?

Just once — but I plan to see it again, the same May I ask a personal question? What is your day that Wicked: Part Two is released, because I’m only relationship like with your husband’s boyfriend? I getting gayer. can only imagine that it must be complicated.

My relationship with my husband’s boyfriend is a lot When and how do I bring up when a stranger less complicated than my relationship with my husband. smells bad when meeting for a hookup?

Before you ask them to shower — assuming you want Could you please recommend a lube that doesn’t them to stay — or after you tell them to leave if they ask irritate vulvas/vaginas? for a reason and you feel safe sharing the real reason.

Some women swear by water-based lubricants, others swear by silicone-based lubricants. Water-based lubes Is using a dating app cheating? can get tacky and need to be reapplied but are easily A single person wouldn’t be asking me this question washed off; silicone-based lubes stay slick a lot longer — for obvious reasons (no one to cheat on) — which and require fewer reapplications but they’re harder to means you’re not single. And if your partner was a stag wash off. Individual results/preferences vary. or a cuck or your relationship was open and you were allowed to be on the apps, you wouldn’t be asking me this Me and my new partner — great sex begins at 49 question. So, in your case, using a dating app is definitely (and after divorce!) — do a lot of pretend breast cheating. feeding, which is intimate, erotic, matronly, and so sexy for both of us. But the guilt after sucks. How Got problems? Yes, you do! Email your question for the do I not feel guilty about this? column to mailbox@savage.love; or record your question As perversions go, your kink barely registers as a kink. for the Savage Lovecast at savage.love/askdan; podcasts, I mean, who doesn’t enjoy sucking on their partner’s columns and more at Savage.Love. nipples? Most of us aren’t consciously invoking (or acting

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I fell in love with an unhappily married man in an open relationship. He ultimately decided to divorce his wife to be with me. When he told her he wanted a divorce, she told him she was three months pregnant. They had an agreement to not have kids for the time being, given their issues.

Now he says he feels stuck. This was messy before the pregnancy and it’s extra messy now. It’s hard because I’ve never loved someone so much and he says the same about me. I can’t imagine moving on from him. He won’t consider getting a divorce and co-parenting with her and I’m not sure why. What should I do?

You have two (legal) options: You can wait for this man to divorce his wife — a wait that will probably never end — or you can get under someone new.

mugs after that man entered the White House in 2017. I believed at the time that impeaching him might save the country. But seeing as that motherfucker was impeached twice — and indicted dozens of times — and it didn’t make a damn bit of difference, I don’t think calling on him to be impeached a third time is going to help. We’re going to need new strategies, new candidates and new merch.

THE PARY RECAP DECEMBER 7, 2024

THANK YOU TO THE HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE THAT BRAVED THE COLD TO CLOSE OUT 2024 WITH US! CATCH IT AGAIN NEXT YEAR.

Photos by Joel Cox