Queen City Nerve Issue 14_2019

VOLUME 1 ISSUE 14 JUNE 5 - JUNE 18, 2019 - QCNERVE.COM

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Charlotte’s Cultural Pulse

NEWS & CULTURE STAFF

PUBLISHER • Justin LaFrancois jlafrancois@qcnerve.com EDITOR-IN-CHIEF • Ryan Pitkin rpitkin@qcnerve.com

EDITORIAL

ASSOCIATE EDITOR • Courtney Mihocik cmihocik@qcnerve.com STAFF WRITER • Pat Moran pmoran@qcnerve.com

ART/DESIGN

ART DIRECTOR • Dana Vindigni dvindigni@qcnerve.com

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6 Life, Liberty and Amplified Noise by Ryan Pitkin New ordinance is most recent point of contention at east Charlotte clinic 7 An Equal Starting Line by Ryan Pitkin GreenLight Fund invests in early-childhood initiative 4 Editor’s Note by Ryan Pitkin 8 The Seeker by Katie Grant 8 Get Fit With Britt by Brittney Pereda 9 The Scanner by Ryan Pitkin

ARTS

10 Don’t You Forget About Me by Courtney Mihocik Charlotte Museum of History pays homage to fallen music venues 11 Dark Room Magic by Courtney Mihocik Creepy black-and-white photo series implements development tricks

SUMMER GUIDE 2019 12 What will you do with your last summer on Earth?

LIFELINE

16 How not to kill your social life

MUSIC

18 Purple Protégés by Pat Moran Carolina musicians pay tribute to late friend Prince 20 Soundwave

FOOD & DRINK

22 A Recipe for Success by Ryan Pitkin Cover Illustration by: Two teams partner to make Southern Strain a Concord destination Dana Vindigni 24 The Buzz

NIGHTLIFE

26 Tips From Last Night by Justin Zalewski 27 Crossword 28 Horoscope 29 Sudoku 30 Savage Love

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DIRTY WATER One of the many fronts in the war nobody’s fighting

BY RYAN PITKIN

FOR THIS WEEK’S cover design, we took a tonguein-cheek approach thought up by our associate editor Courtney Mihocik: the pre-apocalypse.

What would you do if you knew this was our last summer on Earth? Half of our listings feature environmentally friendly, socially conscious events for folks who want to go out fighting the good fight and the other half consists of kick-ass parties for those who want to watch the world burn.

It’s becoming more and more important to highlight the former because, though we know this will most likely not be humanity’s last summer, if mankind doesn’t change its direction, that summer will come sooner than later.

The corporations that contribute a huge percentage of the pollution this country and the world suffer from are set in their ways, and it’s going to take direct action from both everyday people on the ground and their governments to stop it.

I’m not holding my breath for that to happen (I’m holding it because of the smog), but people are at least taking steps. Over the last year, we’ve seen pushes around the country for a ban on plastic straws, which is not a bad thing considering that, according to the National Park Service, Americans use about 175 billion straws every year, and their seemingly trivial size means most folks don’t make an effort to recycle them (only about 14% of all plastic is recycled, according to the World Economic Forum).

Quick sidenote to keep in mind: There are millions of disabled people in his country who need to use straws, so pushing for straw bans without implementing alternatives is irresponsible, but I digress. The real issue I have with straw bans is that it gives folks a false sense of complacency without making the sizeable impact that we need in order to create change.

According to a study by University of Georgia environmental engineering professor Jenna Jambeck published in Science journal in 2015, straws make up about 4% of the plastic pollution bobbing around in the ocean. When measuring by weight, it is far less than that. Bloomberg News estimates that straws make up about .03% of total plastic waste by mass.

By comparison, it’s estimated that about 46% of ocean debris is abandoned fishing equipment.

Something to think about for folks who believe a pescatarian diet is environmentally friendly.

I am fully aware I’m coming off as the “Well, actually”guy poo-pooing all potential solutions, and also as a hypocrite, as I know of the major damage that factory farming does to our environment and yet have taken no steps to limit my intake of the products created through that industry.

What I’m trying to express, however, is the difficulty for everyday people to make a dent in this growing epidemic without any changes being made at the top by corporations and governments.

I’m not the type to be optimistic that government will fix any problem, but I’m far less apt to trust that a private corporation will step up and do the right thing on their own (a big reason why I can’t take the libertarian platform seriously).

Mega-corporations that play the biggest role in worldwide pollution have shown over and over that they don’t give a shit about anything unless it affects their bottom line. Take McDonald’s for example.

Last year, when they flirted with the idea of doing away with plastic straws — the smallest symbolic effort to help put a dent in the evergrowing floating dumps in our oceans — shareholders voted against even allowing the company to fund a report on the impact the decision would make.

Our best hope is for change to come from the ground up — grassroots efforts that begin with activists and advocates recruiting masses of people to demand change from their governments. Without stricter regulations, big corporations will continue to laugh at the idea that they are to blame for climate change until we’re all up to our waists in floating plastic.

I’m a pessimist by nature, but I’m hopeful that in the next few years, these issues will take precedent over clickbait news cycles and partisan bickering.

Despite what the news will have you believe, this era will not be remembered as The Era of Trump. It will be remembered as a time when we had a chance to do something to ensure a better future for our planet — or any future at all.

If that doesn’t happen, covers like this one won’t be so tongue-in-cheek.

RPITKIN@QCNERVE.COM

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LIFE, LIBERTY AND AMPLIFIED NOISE

PHOTO BY RYAN PITKIN

New ordinance is most recent point of contention at east Charlotte clinic

W

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BY RYAN PITKIN

HEN I APPROACH Michelle Guobadia standing just outside the driveway of A Preferred Women’s Health Clinic (APWHC) on Saturday, May 25, she looks exhausted.

It’s only 11 a.m. and the temperature is already getting ready to hit 90 degrees. Guobadia is watching the ending of another Love Life Charlotte march, during which anti-abortion prayer marchers from different churches each week gather outside the clinic to pray, march along Latrobe Drive by the hundreds and then stop in front of the clinic to hold a concert, usually consisting of acoustic Christian hymns the crowd can sing along to.

While the marchers wrap things up across the street, right across the driveway, different antiabortion protesters continue to yell into the clinic parking lot, trying to reach anyone they can inside or outside the building’s walls.

Guobadia has been volunteering as a clinic defender with Charlotte For Choice, a grassroots organization associated with APWHC for just under a year, and she’s tired.

“I think it’s exhausting because we could all be doing other things,” she says. “They could be doing other things. We could all be volunteering at shelters or foster care, but the fact that we have to be out here to defend legal rights to a medical procedure in health care is ridiculous and it is frustrating.”

In recent years, tensions have ramped up outside of the clinic. During the organization’s 40-Weeks Journey of Hope, Love Life sometimes attract as many as 1,000 people or more to the small street in east Charlotte where APWHC sits at the end of a loop that dead-ends into itself. Last summer, Love Life bought the property next door to the clinic, cleared

Love Life Charlotte marchers sing a hymn outside of A Preferred Women’s Health Clinic on a recent Saturday.

all the trees from the lot and now sets up a stage for marchers to congregate around and hear speeches just feet from the clinic walls.

Protesters with other anti-abortion organizations like Cities4Life are outside of the clinic every day, using loudspeakers that can be heard inside the building.

On April 20, APWHC director Calla Hales showed up to work to find that someone had thrown a brick through a window of the clinic.

Disagreements over parking, noise ordinances and blocking access to the clinic have led the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department to increase its presence outside of the clinic. On May 25, about 10 officers stand across the street from the clinic, one holding a sound meter.

Officers don’t write any citations that day, but proposed changes to the city’s noise ordinance have added to the controversy around the daily battle taking place outside of APWHC. A committee has recommended that Charlotte City Council approve an update to the ordinance that would prohibit amplified sound within 200 feet of “quiet zones,” defined as medical facilities, places of worship and schools.

The ordinance has been the hottest topic discussed during public forums at city council meetings for more than a month now, and council members may vote on the change sometime in June.

Protesters have called the proposed ordinance an

infringement of their free speech. Cities4Life Executive Director Daniel Parks has stated publicly that his organization will pursue legal action against the city if the ordinance is passed. When I ask if that’s still his plan, he confirms.

“Certainly if there’s an infringement of First Amendment rights, I think every red-blooded American should want to get behind infringements of First Amendment rights, and that certainly would be,” he says.

“Every form of speech that we employ has been attacked by the city of Charlotte — every form, and so yeah, it’s obvious that they’re against what we’re doing,” Parks says. “It’s obviously worsening with that new ordinance that they’re trying to pass, and that’s just one stepping stone along the way. Ultimately what they want is for us to not be out here at all.”

As much as that’s what Guobadia and other clinic defenders would love to see, no city council members have outright said as much, though it appears that every council member is in support of the new ordinance save for District 7 representative Ed Driggs.

During an April meeting about the ordinance, Driggs said he worried council members were pushing through the changes to support their stance on abortion, rather than any real issue with noise.

“It’s a tough call because ... I don’t really approve of what I’ve heard about in terms of what is going on there, but I cannot support this particular solution,”

he said.

Hales says she’s cautiously optimistic that the ordinance will pass.

“I am tentatively hopeful,” she says. “I think that it’s really clear that there’s an issue here and if this remains an issue for yet another year, this could really impact a lot of businesses in Charlotte as it continues to grow.”

Multiple other medical clinics call Latrobe Drive home, including psychiatric centers such as New Hope Specialty Clinic and Mental Health America of Central Carolinas.

For Guobadia, the ordinance would bring the city one step closer to what she hopes for, which is to have Saturdays free to serve in some other way. For her, it’s a matter of respecting the rights of a patient to their healthcare.

“Everyone gets to have different beliefs, but when you infringe on other people’s beliefs and you stand in front of the facilities where they’re making decisions for that, that’s when you’ve taken it way too far and it’s inappropriate,” she says. “If we came and protested your church, you would have an issue with that, and we wouldn’t, because again, we respect your right to have that in your space. Respect people’s right to have what they need in this one.”

RPITKIN@QCNERVE.COM

AN EQUAL STARTING LINE

GreenLight Fund invests in earlychildhood initiative

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I

BY RYAN PITKIN

MAGINE WALKING into a classroom for the first time having never held a book, done a puzzle or used safety scissors. You don’t know how to sit still for storytime. You don’t even speak the same language as your peers or teachers.

According to Sarah Walzer, CEO of ParentChild+, 40% of children entering kindergarten in Charlotte aren’t ready to learn in a classroom setting, putting them on the wrong path before they even get started.

“At every turn you don’t know what to do in that classroom. You have failed on your very first day of school, and that doesn’t make you love school or set you on a path to school success,” Walzer said, building on the aforementioned scenario during a press conference on May 29 announcing a new initiative that aims to ready the children and tackle the city’s infamous lack of economic mobility in the process.

ParentChild+, a national organization that works with low-income children and parents in their own homes to ensure children are ready to succeed in schools, announced its Charlotte launch the press conference, partnering with the Charlotte Housing Authority, Charlotte Bilingual Preschool and the UCity Family Zone. GreenLight Fund Charlotte will fund the launch with a $1 million investment.

The local launch of ParentChild+ will help ensure kindergarten readiness for more than 400 Charlotte children. Students who have gone through the ParentChild+ program are 50% more likely to be prepared for kindergarten than their peers and see 30% higher graduation rates than their socioeconomic peers. On average, ParentChild+

Stephanie Kripa Cooper-Lewter talks to media, flanked by (from left) Banu Valladares, Carrie Cook and Fulton Meachem.

PHOTO BY RYAN PITKIN

“A DAY LIKE TODAY IS A DAY THAT WE DREAM ABOUT OFTEN AND THEN IT ACTUALLY HAPPENS.” Dr. Stephanie Kripa Cooper-Lewter, executive director, Leading on Opportunity

children enter school performing 10 months above their age.

“A day like today is a day that we dream about often and then it actually happens,” said Dr. Stephanie Kripa Cooper-Lewter, executive director of Leading on Opportunity, a local organization that works on the recommendations of the Opportunity Task Force, formed in response to a 2015 Harvard study that ranked Charlotte 50th out of the country’s 50 largest cities in economic mobility.

“This investment connects directly to our early care and education strategies,” Cooper-Lewter continued. “It aligns and fills a gap where early care recommendations were not being addressed and says, ‘This is something that we can do differently as a community.’”

Part of the local ParentChild+ efforts will be centered in Southside Homes, a Charlotte Housing Authority complex consisting of 336 apartments where planners identified a need for ParentChild+ programming.

By hiring parents who live in Southside Homes to serve as early learning specialists, ParentChild+ will help continue increasing opportunity in

a neighborhood where the Charlotte Housing Authority’s Jobs Plus program has helped increase the employment rate from 25% to 75% in four years.

“What that’s showing is that our families are just like everybody else; they really want to do better, and in some cases they just don’t have the support that they need in order to do better,” said Fulton Meachem, CEO of Charlotte Housing Authority.

“What was so attractive about [ParentChild+] was we’re going in the community and we’re not just talking to the kids, we’re talking to the parents.

We’re teaching the kids how to [succeed], so that when we go away, they’re more self-sufficient, and that’s what we want people to be is self-sufficient, relying upon themselves.”

ParentChild+ will also operate within Charlotte Bilingual Preschool, North Carolina’s only five-star licensed dual-language academy, by recruiting early learning specialists that share language, community and cultural backgrounds with students.

Charlotte Bilingual Preschool Executive Director Banu Valladares said the new investment will be a

boon to students and their families in the school’s 20th year.

“We have a strong commitment to moving our families out of poverty to create economic mobility, and the fact that we can actually hire parents is super exciting for us,” Valladares said. “We are delighted to partner with people who truly understand the importance of partnership with parents to move their children forward.”

ParentChild+ will also partner with UCity Family Zone, a network of organizations in University City consisting of UNC Charlotte, non-profits, businesses, schools, faith-based organizations and others.

Dr. Mark DeHaven and the Early Years Collaborative at UNC Charlotte will begin evaluating ParentChild+ metrics for success alongside the childhood and family resilience work led by the UCity Family Zone Steering Committee. The UCity Family Zone is being considered as a future partner site for ParentChild+.

Many in attendance on May 29 credited Carrie Cook, executive director of the GreenLight Fund, with implementing the ParentChild+ launch in Charlotte.

After the 2015 economic mobility report was released, GreenLight Fund Charlotte led conversations with local stakeholders and families to identify opportunities for expanded services and resources.

The result was a focus on early childhood resilience and parental support, according to a press release announcing the ParentChild+ launch.

GreenLight vetted dozens of organizations to find a program with the most impactful results and promise of local fit. With the assistance of GreenLight Charlotte’s Selection Advisory Council, ParentChild+ was selected as the first investment in a portfolio of solutions expected to grow each year to address gaps in services to families in Charlotte’s low-income community.

On Wednesday, Cook referenced a study from the National Forum on Early Childhood Policy that shows that for every $1 invested in early childhood education, a community can expect $6 to $9 in return.

“So the million dollars today, when we think about the graduation rates of our kindergarten students moving through high school, leaving high school prepared for life success because they have had school success,” Cook said, “that changes a generation, that changes the game, and that puts Charlotte where we should be in terms of economic mobility.”

RPITKIN@QCNERVE.COM

THE SEEKER

GET FIT WITH BRITT

FLOATING THROUGH TIME

Taking a dip in the sensory-deprivation tank

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How to recognize when you’re being fed bullshit

BY BRITTNEY PEREDA

BY KATIE GRANT

I’D BE LYING if I said the idea of an hour-long solo session in a sensory-deprivation tank wasn’t daunting. But alas, if I’m going to take this role of The Seeker seriously, I can’t let mild trepidation stop me from what could be a good experience. So with float therapy gaining popularity in the wellness world, I decided I would take the plunge. Literally.

It wasn’t all reluctance; the reported benefits to floating sounded like the practice would be like hitting the reset buttons on a few different devices at once. Who doesn’t need that?

The tanks at First Float in Huntersville, where my saline-filled adventure began, are filled with Epsom salts, long-touted for their therapeutic benefits to skin, hair and nail health. Epsom salts also aid in preventing inflammation in joints and muscles. As someone who takes Epsom salt baths regularly at home, I’ve certainly never experienced one to this degree. It couldn’t be that much different, right?

Approximately 1,000 pounds of salt in 180 gallons of water creates a 30% salt solution in the sensory-deprivation tanks, enabling a person to float effortlessly. I can’t stress the term “effortlessly” enough. I’ve never experienced such a feeling of weightlessness and ease in my adult life. I could even feel my hamstrings releasing, which is a pretty big deal when you have muscles as tight as mine.

The idea behind a sensory-deprivation tank session is to experience zero gravity with no distractions, lauded as a miracle worker for reducing cortisol in the body, the body’s main stress hormone. Our adrenal glands make cortisol, best known for activating our body’s “fightor-flight” mode. If you’re anything like me, living in a constant state of overstimulation, you’ve probably experienced a sense of mental and physical drain.

Fortunately, I maintain a mediocre-at-best meditation practice, which was my greatest asset stepping into the tank for the first time. Viewing my introduction into the world of float therapy as a meditation space made it less intimidating.

The scientific term for floating is REST: Restricted Environmental Stimulation Therapy. When external sources of distraction are removed, the brain is able to enter the theta brain-wave state, which is associated with deep sleep and dreaming.

I DON’T LIKE YOUR TONE

Because I wasn’t in a lab with electrodes connected to my scalp, I have no idea if I actually entered a theta state. What I do know is if I ever devolve into a speck of cosmic dust floating in outer space, I’ll already know what it feels like.

That may sound inviting, but there’s more to the float therapy experience that you should know before diving in — the first being that the water is only a foot deep or so, so it’s really more like stepping in.

Interestingly, you’re required to take two showers. The first shower removes any oils from your skin. Magnesium sulfate, the scientific word for Epsom salts, is known to exfoliate the skin and clear your pores, but you have to got that oily film off first. The second shower removes the highlyconcentrated salt water that will embed itself in your hair and body during the float session.

After your pre-float rinse, it’s time to step into the sci-fi cryogenic pod (Yes, that’s what it looks like). After sealing myself in by gently closing the door behind me, the attendant warned I would hear a tone signifying my session had begun. The tone was actually an excerpt from a song by The Album Leaf, which I secretly didn’t want to end (mostly out of fear).

After the song clip, lights out. At first it felt like I was spinning in all directions, which I later read was normal due to the lack of external cues. Once the spinning subsided, I floated quietly with my thoughts for the next 60 minutes, which slipped by surprisingly quick.

I let my mind wander wherever it pleased, visualizing bizarre scenarios. At one point I felt as if I were gently cocooned within a womb, and wondered if my exit would signify a rebirth. Spoiler alert: It didn’t.

An hour later, my descent into darkness came to an end, bookended again by The Album Leaf. I showered and dressed slowly, noticing the subtle difference in how I felt physically and emotionally after my submersion.

According to First Float, the primary principle of flotation is to “unplug, unwind, then unleash your greatest self.” While it may take more than one float to officially unleash my greatest self, whatever that may be, the experience as a whole certainly provided a new outlook on what total body relaxation can look like.

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“GIRL, I JUST want a round, toned booty, without all this cellulite.”

I hear similar phrases to this one all the time, and they always include that one particular word — typically some form of “tone” or “toned.”

It’s become a major buzzword in the fitness and health industry. From training ads on Facebook to supplement commercials, magazine articles, stay-at-home workout videos and more, people are being brainwashed into thinking this “toned” thing can happen just by eating less, taking a few vitamins and joining a running club.

Let’s start by breaking down the actual bio-mechanical definition of the word, beyond “something ladies want their arms to look like.”

Muscular tone, by definition, is something exercise scientists and fitness professionals use to describe the consistent and continuous contraction of our muscles. Not many people know that our muscles are constantly tensed to a certain degree in order to keep our bodies balanced, warmed up and ready for any planned or unplanned activity that we take part in on a daily basis. When people say something about their toned friend Sally, they mean they can see her muscles, probably because Sally is a regular weightlifter who has built solid muscle definition over time, which in turn stays contracted and looks more defined because of it.

The word “toned” is a marketing ploy in and of itself and sometimes I wish it would join phone books and testimonials in the marketing graveyard.

Why are ladies so against using the word “muscular” instead of “toned” to describe themselves or their goals? If you were to listen to society’s expectations for the female body, picking up more than a 10-pound dumbbell might turn a woman into the incredible, unbeddable Hulk. God forbid a woman shows a little bit of muscle definition or strength!

But what about those female bodybuilders that look all bulky and veiny, you ask? Don’t worry, you won’t look like that unless you really want to look like that (not that there’s anything wrong with it).

Those women have years upon years of building and carving their physiques, eating down to the

gram and using supplemental aids to assist them.

They also don’t maintain that super pumped-up stage physique year-round.

Many female clients also ask why their husbands, boyfriends, dads or brothers tend to lean up and build muscle faster. That’s because we women don’t have near the testosterone levels that men do, and despite the miracles you might see an actor pull off while preparing for a superhero role, it takes men a long while to build quality muscle mass.

I want you to take a good look at the next Facebook ad you see marketing a barre, cycle or dance class. (Before I say what I am about to say, I want to make it clear that many of these gyms and studios are fabulous and if that barre class is what gets you active, please continue doing it.) The next time a boutique fitness company’s marketing text runs across your feed and promises anything along the lines of “allover tone,” just know that they are playing off of the popular notion that women can’t do the same workouts that men can do. You are being targeted because they know the vast majority of women are very uncomfortable lifting weights in a weight room.

One of the biggest myths in the industry states that the only way to get lean is by doing massive amounts of cardio. Sitting on a stationary bike will not build that lean muscle you are looking for. Cardio is an extremely important aspect of your health, but if you are looking for a more “toned” look, then weight training is the most effective way to do that.

Having more muscle mass actually burns calories faster throughout each day because having muscle mass increases your metabolic activity, as it takes more energy to keep those muscles working correctly. Putting on muscle is not an easy task, but it has many benefits outside of the fact that it will give you the “toned” physique you are looking for.

So ladies, do not be afraid to pick up a challenging weight (with correct form, that is) and work some weightlifting into your routine. Drop the word “toned” from your vocabulary and empower yourself by picking up those weights, getting stronger and building the muscle definition you really want, societal expectations be damned.

INFO@QCNERVE.COM

SCANNER

BY RYAN PITKIN

NO SHIT A 36-year-old man called police after making an odd find in front of his home. The man, who lives in the Orchard Hill neighborhood in Ballantyne, filed a police report stating that he walked out of his home at around 2:30 a.m. one recent morning and “found human feces in the street in front of his home.” The man said that he knew the pooping occurred at some point between 1 and 2:30 a.m., but I don’t even want to know how he found that out.

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CAREER DAY Police got involved in an incident at Selwyn Elementary School recently after a little kleptomaniac was caught trying to impersonate a teacher. According to the report, the kid was caught stealing two pens, multiple school access badges and a walkie-talkie used by staff. Thankfully, the school did not wish to prosecute the kid, but the staff and the child’s parents wanted police to come talk some sense into the kid. It was then that he stole the cop’s badge. (OK, I made that last one up.)

SECURE THE BAGS Employees at a Belk store in SouthPark Mall turned to police after they were robbed by one of their own counterparts … or someone pretending to be, anyway. A cashier told police that a woman claimed to be an employee of a different Belk store, then told the cashier to ring up two Louis Vuitton bags that she had picked out — worth $345 and $695 each — as a cash sale, but then paid through Apple Pay. The suspect showed the cashier that the payment went through on her phone, even though it didn’t go through on the cash register. But hey, she’s an employee of Belk, so you gotta trust her, right? She walked right out with the two bags, both still unpaid for. (For the record, I’m as confused as you are as to how this scam worked.)

HOT ITEMS A 52-year-old man damn near lost everything when someone broke into his car in the College Downs neighborhood in University City recently. The man filed a report stating that an unknown suspect broke into his car overnight and took a PlayStation 2 worth $20 and a rice cooker worth $10. In an unrelated incident in the Paw Creek area of southwest Charlotte, a 30-year-old man stated that someone broke into his car after he left it sitting for just 30 minutes. This time, the thief made off with a laptop, $6 cash, a backpack,

morning, but sometimes it’s not your decision.

According to a report, the victim was working at a Home Depot on Wendover Road when he saw a suspect trying to leave the store with a $300 power drill. The employee tried to stop the shoplifter, at some weed (probably don’t have to report that next which time the suspect stiff-armed the employee. time), $200 worth of a prescription used to treat Give it to the employee, though, because he took muscle spasms, his debit card and a dildo.

GOOD LUCK Staff members were left shaken after an armed robbery at their convenience store recently, but it seems the suspect had too much to live for to do anything rash. A 25-year-old employee of a Circle K on East Boulevard told police that a man entered the business and pulled out a gun, demanding money. That’s not all he wanted, however. In the end, he made off with $90 cash, a pack of Newports, some lottery tickets and a pack of condoms.

DRINK UP A 33-year-old man filed a report recently after he was terrorized over some booze. The man told police that he was hanging out with his friend on the street in the Winterfield neighborhood at around 5:30 a.m. when the two began arguing over a bag of alcohol. At some point, the suspect got so angry he broke out the victim’s car window, doing $500 in damage, then told the victim he was going to come back and shoot his house up.

AFTER-SCHOOL PROGRAMS Police responded to Harding University High School in west Charlotte for a trespassing call on a recent Wednesday after a few non-students showed up looking for trouble. According to the report, two unknown male suspects walked onto campus “after they went to another student’s house and threatened him and his family.” That sounds scary enough, but what they did once in the school was unforgivable.

According to the report, staff watched the men use a power outlet to charge their phones, then use the faculty bathroom.

SOUTHERN GIRLS Some folks put sugar in their grits. Other folks put sugar in the gas tanks of their enemies. One suspect mixed these two ideas in a vandalism incident that happened in the Village Lake area of southeast Charlotte. A 35-year-old woman filed a report stating that some unknown suspect poured grits in the gas tank of her 2000 Chrysler, doing $300 in damage.

HEISMAN A 41-year-old Home Depot employee wasn’t expecting to be playing any full contact sports when he went into work on one recent

Attorney James Ferguson

that hit and hung on so that the store was able to recover the drill in the end. Give that man a paid vacation.

All Scanner entries come from CMPD reports. Suspects are innocent until proven guilty.

Judge Richard Gergel

NEW SOUTH FOR THE NEW SOUTHERNER: UNEXAMPLED COURAGE

Joe DeLaine, Jr

June 18, 2019 | 6:00 p.m.

Hosted by historian Dr. Tom Hanchett Come and hear the powerful story of how a police assault on a uniformed black soldier changed the course of America's Civil Rights history.

Tickets are $15 and includes program, dinner, and a cash bar. Reservations required.

Levine Museum of the New South 200 E. Seventh St. | Charlotte, NC

www.museumofthenewsouth.org

Tune in to WCCB's The Edge every week night at 10:35 p.m.

Get a glimpse at the next issue with our editor-in-chief every other Tuesday night

‘UNFORGETTABLE MUSIC VENUES OF CHARLOTTE’ OPENING RECEPTION June 15, 6-8 p.m.; $15; Charlotte Museum of History, 3500 Shamrock Drive; charlottemuseum.org

“IT’S LIKE WALKING THROUGH A GALLERY OF YOUR OWN MIND.” Ian Pasquini, curator, ‘Unforgettable Music Venues of Charlotte’

DON’T YOU FORGET ABOUT ME

Charlotte Museum of History pays homage to fallen music venues

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BY COURTNEY MIHOCIK

HE NAMES OF now-closed music venues still burn bright on the marquee of Charlotte’s collective memory, and Ian Pasquini is ensuring that they never fade away.

In an exhibit opening June 15 at the Charlotte Museum of History called Unforgettable Music Venues of Charlotte, Pasquini has curated a collection of artifacts from the mainstays of Charlotte’s closed venues. The Double Door Inn, Tremont Music Hall and The Excelsior Club are among the highlighted spaces in a series of posters, T-shirts, tokens and various furniture brought in from around the city.

As a local musician, sound engineer at Skylark Social Club and part-time education associate for the Charlotte Museum of History, Pasquini is no stranger to the music venues or documenting their history. While in graduate school at UNC Charlotte, he produced a documentary about the music venues of the city, then completed his thesis on the local music scene in Greensboro that revolved around that city’s closed locales.

Originally, Unforgettable Music Venues began exclusively as an ode to The Double Door Inn, which opened in 1973 and closed in 2017.

“As soon as I started contacting people, the interest was immediate from everybody I talked to,” Pasquini explained. “And as projects so often do, it was very casually expanded where my boss was like, ‘You should do this, you should look at The Excelsior to see if you can get something on that. You should look at Tremont.’”

like PNC Music Pavilion and Charlotte Metro Credit in these places as anything else,” he elaborated.

“People always think about the performers and the Union Amphitheatre in town.

“The mid-sized local venue has seen a real artists and stuff that come through a place and they decline. It’s difficult to have rock ‘n’ roll venues oftentimes don’t think about what goes into that.” that are of a larger size, that can draw bigger The exhibit is not just for those who used to acts because you have national corporations that frequent Tremont, Excelsior or The Double Door, are involved in booking acts, it’s just difficult to Pasquini said. He wants newcomers to understand compete with that,” he explained. the fragility of the locales and jump in to be part of But it’s not just about the venues themselves, the still-thriving music community. he added. There’s so much more that goes into “Really, my drive is to inspire other people to operating a venue, and most may overlook the staff come out to be a part of the community,” he said. while recalling the bands that played there instead. “I want to get new people to be like, ‘Oh, this is PHOTO BY COURTNEY MIHOCIK The bartenders, sound engineers, booking staff how this works,’ or however they see it, but they are Theater seating from The Double Door Inn. inspired to hopefully go get involved.” and others deserve recognition, Pasquini said.

“This is something that I care about very deeply What are you waiting for?

Now Pasquini has slated approximately 100-200 CMIHOCIK@QCNERVE.COM and it’s as much about the people that worked objects for the collection, gathering artifacts from a variety of sources. The exhibit will inspire a heavy bout of nostalgia for anyone who frequented the showcased music venues before their closings.

JUNE 7th TICKETS ON “The nostalgia is obvious. If someone walks JUNE 23rd SALE NOW! into this place and they spent a lot of time at [the venues], they’ll see things and it’ll spark memories,” Pasquini stated of the impact he hopes the collection makes. “It’s like walking through a gallery of your VISIT: MATTHEWSPLAYHOUSE.COM own mind.”

As a musician who’s played in a variety of bands since the mid-2000s, Pasquini understands the pressure that venue owners and operators are under.

He explained that although it may seem glamorous to run a music venue, there’s blood, sweat and tears that go into operating the business side of the venues and keeping the doors open.

“If you talk to the people that ran Tremont, or the folks over at Milestone, we’re always one bad night away from shutting the doors. There’s always that element of risk in all of it,” he said.

Furthermore, he hopes the community will better understand the hard work that people Sing.

Act. Dance.

Explore. put into the music venues of Charlotte that are SUMMER CAMP INFO: MUSICAL THEATER INTESNIVE still standing. Pasquini will give nods to current Half-Day and Full Day Summer Acting Intenstive, Theatre arts camps for children improv, spaces like Petra’s, Snug Harbor, Visulite Theatre, (pre-K thru 18 years) AND many more!

Neighborhood Theatre and more in the exhibit.

He knows that mid-sized venues, however MATTHEWS COMMUNITY CENTER for more information, and to register: 100 E MCDOWELL STREET, MATTHEWS popular, are always at risk of losing patrons and www.matthewsplayhouse.com 704-846-8343 income, especially with corporate-backed venues

A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM

SUMMER @ MATTHEWS PLAYHOUSE

ARTWORK BY CAROL GOLEMBOSKI

‘MAGIC SHOW’ OPENING RECEPTION June 6, 6:30-8:30 p.m.; Free; The Light Factory, 1827 Central Ave.; thelightfactory.org

‘Trap Door’

DARK ROOM MAGIC

‘King, Queen, Knave’

Creepy black-and-white photo series implements development tricks

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BY COURTNEY MIHOCIK

OR CAROL GOLEMBOSKI, antique objects hold a certain mystique, as they have a secret history only known to those who once possessed them.

Each history is a titillating tale that Golemboski tries to capture in her photographs. She scopes out estate sales, searching for intriguing artifacts to take to abandoned houses, where she photographs them in an attempt to capture the thin line between reality and the spiritual.

Some years ago while working on an unrelated photo manipulation project, she attended an estate sale for a former magician and discovered boxes upon boxes of old magic trick kits. She found inspiration for a brand new project and bought the lot, eventually turning it into a series titled That Old Black and White Magic, which she debuted in 2015.

On June 6, she’ll premiere the newly updated series at The Light Factory.

That series, titled Magic Show: Photographs by Carol Golemboski, will show through Aug. 2 and is an exploration of the connection between the work of magicians on stage and the magic that occurs in a dark room when developing photographs.

“It made me start thinking about how so many people describe their first experience with

photography — if they learned traditional analog photography in a dark room — that their first experience seeing a print come up in the developer is like magic,” said Golemboski.

The photographer takes that magic one step further, manipulating the photos by hand to create surreal and haunting images centered around traditional magic tricks. Though she scans the prints to keep a digital copy, there is no digital manipulation in her photos, as she prefers the dark room over a computer screen.

“I really love the experience of making a print in the dark room — the hands-on quality of it, the fact that it’s physical, that the film is physical. I don’t really like sitting at a computer. I want to use technology as little as possible,” said Golemboski, a photography professor at University of Colorado at Denver. “The idea of sitting at a computer, there’s already too much of it in my life that the idea of doing it for my work is so unappealing to me.”

Her series of black-and-white magic photos is punctuated with illustrated diagrams depicting hands pulling tied handkerchiefs out of a dummy’s mouth or demonstrating where a trap door lies for a disappearing act, for example. These illustrations and other drawings are created through chemical manipulation in the dark room.

ARTWORK BY CAROL GOLEMBOSKI

“I DON’T REALLY LIKE SITTING AT A COMPUTER, I WANT TO USE TECHNOLOGY AS LITTLE AS POSSIBLE.” Carol Golemboski, photographer

Through experimentation, Golemboski found that she could use materials like charcoal pencils to draw pictures that block out light during development or apply photography chemicals to interfere with an image’s development, changing the final product.

“I created this process for myself ... where I draw on a clear material like acetate or Mylar or tracing paper, then I print my negative through it,” she elaborated further.

The end result is a series of creepy black-andwhite photos that feel like they belong in a haunted museum of old and abandoned carnival sideshow mishaps. It’s an unnerving aesthetic that she’s explored throughout her body of work since she was a child.

Before falling in love with photography, Golemboski thought she was going to be a writer.

Reading mystery and suspense novels is still a favorite pastime and when she was younger, she wrote creepy — but half-fledged — stories. When she enrolled in a photography class in college, she discovered a different passion that stems from the same creative places in her mind.

It wasn’t until later that she saw the connection between the stories she wrote as a child and her

‘Match Print’

ARTWORK BY CAROL GOLEMBOSKI

current work.

“I first started making that connection when I was in graduate school and I had to write a thesis about the work that I was creating, and it wasn’t until I really had to start analyzing it and writing down what I was doing that it dawned on me that it was basically the same thing but in another format,” Golemboski said. “You can see the roots of the interest in the subject matter were always there.”

Her Charlotte exhibit marks the first time a new set of photos in the series will be shown. After finding a set of expired photographic paper at yet another estate sale, she brought the paper back to her dark room. As she expected, all the expired paper developed black. Despite this, she took to experimenting again and found a way to turn the defunct paper into magicians’ trick playing cards.

“They look like playing cards, part of the magic trick is that it’s not a playing card at all,” Golemboski stated. “It’s a photograph that’s on paper that’s from the same time period as a lot of the objects that I was photographing, and it’s sort of a magic trick to pull any sort of imagery out of it.”

Through her own experimentation and exploration, Golemboski has become a magician in her own right.

CMIHOCIK@QCNERVE.COM

The world is burning. This might be your last chance to make a change before the ice caps melt and we all go with them.

You can’t just sit back and watch the world die, take action and do the right thing by supporting these good causes and environmentally friendly events.

JUNE 8

JUNE 15

What: No need to spend money at Autobell.

Get your car washed, get your friend’s car washed, get your parents’ cars washed all for a good cause.

Proceeds from the annual Beards n’ Bubbles wash benefit Safe Alliance, an organization dedicated to helping those impacted by domestic violence and sexual assault.

More: Donation-based; 12-5 p.m.; NoDa Company Store, 3221 Yadkin Ave.; tinyurl.com/ BeardBubbles

What: With WYTV, learn the ins and outs of starting a nonprofit, including bylaws, tax information and donor management. Speakers include experts in customer relationship management, accounting and governance. Now, go forth and start a nonprofit!

More: Free; 11 a.m. - 2 p.m.; South Regional Library, 5801 Rea Rd; tinyurl.com/Nonprofit101

BEARDS N’ BUBBLES KILTED KARWASH

WEINER DOG RACE

What: Little hot dogs with legs will compete to see who is the fastest. Most of the time, it’s really which dog has the attention span to run to the end the quickest. In any case, enter your own weiner dog in the race and see how they stand up to the competition.

All race registration fees and donations go toward North Mecklenburg Animal Rescue. If you don’t have a weiner dog, enter your small breed in a mix-breed race at the end.

More: $10-30 registration, free to attend; 2-8 p.m.; Lucky Dog Bark & Brew, 2220 Thrift Rd.; tinyurl.com/2019Weiners

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JUNE 13

HOPPIN’ HELPS: A SILENT AUCTION FOR MACKENZIE LYNN BARRON

What: A close friend of the pour-your-ownbeer restaurant found out their 3-year-old daughter was diagnosed with a rare form of brain cancer.

In response, Hoppin’ is opening their doors for a silent auction in which 100% of the proceeds go toward the family during her treatment. All of the ticket sales and part of the day’s proceeds will also benefit the family.

More: $1; 6-9 p.m.; Hoppin’, 1402 Winnifred St.; tinyurl.com/HoppinHelps

BASIC 101 HOW TO START A NONPROFIT

KIWANIS UPTOWN SOUTHERN SUMMER 2019

provide assistance for disabled veterans and children with special needs.

For five hours, Lenny Boy Brewing will be donating $1 of every pint sold to Project2Heal, an organization whose mission it is to nurture and train Labrador retrievers for service.

There will be cold beer and Project2Heal pups to pet onsite.

More: Free; 1-6 p.m.; Lenny Boy Brewing, 3000 S. Tryon St.; tinyurl.com/PurposefulPints

JUNE 24

PACK THE CHAMBER #THEBUFFERZONE VOTE

FOR

What: With seersucker suits and sundress attire encouraged, this derby-themed soirée is a party with a purpose. Donations and proceeds go to Smart Start of Mecklenburg County, which mobilizes resources, forges partnerships and helps families improve early-childhood health.

Get ready for a hot Southern night, you just might sweat through your seersucker.

More: $25-35; 6-10 p.m.; Blue Blaze Brewing, 528 S. Turner Ave.; tinyurl.com/ SouthernSummer2019

What: Do you support the new noise ordinance that protects churches, schools and medical facilities with a 200-foot buffer zone? If you don’t know what it is, check out this week’s News feature.

The ordinance would prohibit amplified noise near places of worship, education or healthcare.

You can sign up to speak your voice and contact your city reps to make sure they’re on your side.

More: Free; 6-7 p.m.; Charlotte Mecklenburg Government Center, 600 E. 4th St., tinyurl.com/ BufferZoneVote

JUNE 22

JUNE 29

ANNUAL 5K DOMESTIC AWARENESS RUN/WALK

VIOLENCE

What: The Park Church is partnering with Safe Alliance for a 5K fundraiser. Get your running shoes on and raise some dough to benefit the efforts of these organizations, which help those dealing with the desparate situation of domestic violence. Even if you’re not in town, you can still log miles for the run.

More: $25 registration, $35 day of race; 7:45 a.m. - 2 p.m.; The Park Expo and Conference Center, 800 Briar Creek Rd.; thepark5krun.org 3RD ANNUAL PINTS FOR A PURPOSE

What: It can take up to three years and thousands of dollars to train a Labrador dog to

PTSD AWARENESS RIDE

What: Every day, 22 veterans take their own lives. This ride is to commemorate those who have fallen after the battlefield and to benefit Mission22, an organization committed to helping veterans receive treatment for PTSD, TBI or other injuries from serving in the military.

Motorcycle passengers and drivers register to cruise for this cause. If you’re hungry after the ride, lunch is served by RideNow Powersports.

More: $10-20; 8 a.m. - 1 p.m.; RideNow Powersports Concord, 254 Concord Pkwy S, Concord; tinyurl.com/PTSDRide

JULY 6

PLAZA MIDWOOD CLEAN UP DAYS

What: Make Midwood clean again! Join the neighborhood in a monthly cleanup event that starts at Common Market.

You won’t just feel good getting all the litter and floating Harris Teeter bags off the sidewalks, you’ll also meet the friendly faces of Plaza Midwood and the people behind the Plaza Midwood Merchants Association.

More: Free; 9 a.m. - 12 p.m., first Saturday of the month; Common Market, 2007 Commonwealth Ave.; tinyurl.com/CleanPlazaMidwood

JULY 13

CHARLOTTE ANGELS IN THE OUTFIELD

What: The Knights will donate $5 from every ticket bought through the link to Charlotte Angels Nonprofit, an organization bent on helping every foster care child and family in the city.

More: $17; 6 p.m.; BB&T Ballpark, 324 S. Mint St.; tinyurl.com/CharlotteAngels

JULY 26

24 HOURS OF BOOTY

What: Booty, booty, booty, booty, rockin’ everywhere. Presented by the Levine Institute, 24 Hours of Booty is a 3-mile loop that runners, walkers and cyclists can traverse as long as they want in 24 hours. No, you don’t have to participate for the whole 24 hours, but it’d be a lot cooler if you did. Proceeds benefit nonprofits that support cancer navigation and survivorship programs.

More: Fundraising-based; 7 p.m. to July 27, 7 p.m.; Queens University, 1900 Selwyn Ave.; 24foundation.org

JULY 27

HOMEGROWN TOMATO FESTIVAL

What: Back in the day, tomatoes were thought to be poisonous fruits. The human race has seen

the error of their ways and now, a juicy heirloom or homegrown tomato is a cool summer snack. Throw down $10 and vote for your favorite homegrown tomato dish. All proceeds go toward 100 Gardens, a nonprofit that implements aquaponics farming in schools for hands-on STEM learning.

More: $10; 12-4 p.m.; Neighborhood Theatre, 511 E. 36th St.; neighborhoodtheatre.com

JULY 28

HOPE HOPS & FLIP FLOPS

What: This charity event’s proceeds will help families whose children face life-threatening illnesses. This is the inaugural Hope Hops & Flip Flops event by March Forth With Hope, and there will be a silent auction, a pig-pickin’, games and live music.

More: $30-75; 4-10 p.m., Brewers at 4001 Yancy, 4001-A Yancy Rd.; tinyurl.com/ HopeHopFlipFlops

AUGUST 3

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GB’S KIDS 1ST ANNUAL KIDS FASHION SHOW

What: A new nonprofit is making its way into the scene. GB’s Bridging the Gap Foundation is trying to raise the funds to launch its nonprofit dedicated to serving underprivileged youth with mentoring and supplying everyday essential needs.

The details for the location aren’t fully ironed out yet, but you can be part of the fledgling nonprofit’s first fundraiser.

More: $15-70; 4-7:30 p.m.; TBA, Charlotte; tinyurl.com/GBsFashionShow

AUGUST 10

CITY OF IMMIGRANTS 5K

What: This evening run will keep you out of the afternoon heat while you run to celebrate your heritage. Signing up means identifying a country that you’re representing, whether its your own home country or your ancestors’. Celebrate the diverse immigrant population with an inclusive jog through Plaza Midwood. The race concludes with

music, food, games and family fun.

More: $25; 6-9 p.m.; Latin American Coalition, 4923 Central Ave.; tinyurl.com/CityofImmigrants5k

AUGUST 16

BLUE DOOR BENEFIT

What: All the 5Ks and 24-hour runs may be a bit much, even for a fitness fanatic, so settle down with a benefit party that helps the Boys & Girls Club of Union County. Take a load off from running around to enjoy some refreshments, live music and the promise of doing good for the students of Union County.

More: $50, 7-9 p.m.; Bottle Factory Venue, 304 W Franklin St., Monroe; tinyurl.com/ BlueDoorBenefit

AUGUST 17 CHARLOTTE PARADE

PRIDE

AUGUST 24

SEPTEMBER 14

What: Riders can choose 15-, 25-, 37- or 62mile routes while walkers can opt for shorter 2.5 or 4.5-mile routes in this Tour De Turns. After a hot morning cycling and walking around, sit under the trees for lunch by Harris Teeter and a beer garden from OMB. All proceeds benefit Fish & Loaves Charlotte Mecklenburg, an emergency food pantry nonprofit that provides groceries to families in need.

More: $10 and up; 8 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.; Carmel Road Neighborhood Park, 2365 Carmel Rd.; tourdeturns.org

What: Since the first PurpleStride in Chicago in 2008, the annual walk has been the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network’s primary fundraising and awareness raising event.

In cities across the country, people will gather wearing purple to help raise money to fight pancreatic cancer. Registering is easy, and raising money for this cause is too.

More: Donation-based; 8 a.m.; Romare Bearden Park, 300 S. Church St.; pcan.at/PSCHT19

8TH ANNUAL TOUR DE TURNS

SEPTEMBER 3 FIELD OF HONOR

FESTIVAL

AND

What: This year signifies a special milestone for the LGBTQ+ community around the country, as June 28 marks the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising in New York City. The Charlotte Pride crew hasn’t announced a full lineup of entertainers and events yet (check our Pride Guide in August), but we already know a few names and you’re in for a show.

More: Free; August 17-18 (festival), August 18 (parade); Uptown Charlotte; charlottepride.org

AUGUST 22

HISTORIC PRESERVATION AWARDS

What: There’s a lot of culture and history built into the foundation and walls of many buildings in Charlotte. These awards honor renovation and preservation projects that enrich our communities and neighborhoods culturally and economically.

RIP to the James K. Polk Building.

More: $25 and up; 6-8 p.m.; Charlotte Museum of History, 3500 Shamrock Rd.; charlottemuseum. org

What: The city of Huntersville is placing 100 American flags to remember 100 individuals who lost their lives during the Twin Tower attacks on 9/11. In the downtown Huntersville Veterans Park, visitors can pay respects and learn more about the 100 people who died. Adults can look back on the event that changed modern American history, while youths can learn more about it.

More: Free; through September 14; Veterans Park, Main & S. Church Streets, Downtown Huntersville; huntersville.org/986/Veterans-ParkEvents

SEPTEMBER 10

RESTAURANTS FOR RESCUES

What: For one day, Humane Society of Charlotte is partnering with local restaurants for an all-day fundraiser. As restaurants and breweries sign up, they pledge to donate 15%, 20%, 25% or 30% of the day’s proceeds to the Humane Society of Charlotte. What a good excuse to dine out on a Tuesday.

More: Price of meal; All day; Various restaurants, Charlotte; humanesocietyofcharlotte.org

PURPLESTRIDE

CHARLOTTE TOUR DE CURE

What: If purple isn’t your color, or you want to double dip on helping fight pancreas-related diseases in a single day, you can hit up Charlotte Tour de Cure.

This event has a special place in Queen City Nerve associate editor, Courtney Mihocik’s diabetic heart. Walk, bike or run to raise awareness and research funds for type 1 and 2 diabetes.

More: $20 and up registration fee; 6 a.m. - 4 p.m.; Ballantyne Corporate Park, 13860 Ballantyne Corporate Pl.; diabetes.org/tour

SEPTEMBER 21

BEERS AND BURPEES 2019

What: You’ve heard that a beer after a workout is really refreshing and good for you, right? What about beer during a workout?

Beer and Burpees is the chance you get to workout and drink while benefiting Dream on 3, a local organization that grants sports and fitness wishes to children with chronic diseases, lifechanging illnesses and disabilities. And no, it’s not BYOB. But there will be food and a beer garden available for those 21 and older.

More: $30 and up; 9 a.m. - 9 p.m.; CrossFit Charlotte, 9535 Monroe Rd.; beersandburpees.com

Why even fight it? While we use paper straws and drive hybrid cars, big corporations are responsible for a huge majority of global warming and climate change. We should just swim out past the breakers and watch the world die, or go out experiencing as many of these parties as possible.

JUNE 14

THOMAS RHETT

What: With a picture-perfect life and a happy wife, the Southern roots and cowboy boots country singer Thomas Rhett is swinging through Charlotte for his Very Hot Summer Tour.

A fitting title in a time when it seems the planet is warming more and more by the day.

The ice caps are melting, but you can forget about that for a night and watch him play hits like “Marry Me,” “Look What God Gave Her,” and “Die a Happy Man,” all inspired by wife Lauren Akins.

What is it about this woman?

More: $48.75 and up; 7 p.m.; PNC Music Pavilion, 707 Pavilion Blvd.; musicpavilioncharlotte.com

JUNE 15

Dad and Motel Glory round out the lineup of music while empanadas will be tossed around by Taco Boiiz. Make the trek to Rock Hill for a sweaty summer night.

More: $15-25; 7 p.m., runs through June 22; Concerts at the Courtroom, 201 E. Main St., Rock Hill; tinyurl.com/DSIF2019

JUNE 22

VAMPIRE WEEKEND

What: Everyone’s favorite prep rockers are back with a new album, Father of the Bride, and a new tour to show off the fresh slate of songs.

They’re playing outdoors, so get ready to sweat through your blazer.

More: $34.50-69.50; 7:30 p.m.; CMCU Amphitheatre, 1000 NC Music Factory Blvd.; charlottemetrocreditunionamp.com

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QUEEN CITY JAZZ FEST

What: Michael McDonald (Steely Dan, The Doobie Brothers), Jonathan Butler and Gerald Albright round out the lineup for Queen City Jazz Fest, a night-long celebration of, who would have guess it, jazz.

Among the three of these American jazz giants, there’s over 100 years of soulful funk, R&B and jazz experience. Get in on the festivities before we’re all blown away.

More: $49 and up; 6 p.m.; CMCU Amphitheatre, 1000 NC Music Factory Blvd.; charlottemetrocreditunionamp.com

JUNE 20

DON’T SWEAT IT FEST

What: Don’t be tricked by the name of this festival. You gon’ sweat at Don’t Sweat It Fest.

In its eighth installment, the three-day festival has added yet another lineup of food, music and vendors slinging their wares.

Performances by Gardeners, DJ NA$A, Party

JUNE 27

ALL WHITE ATTIRE AFFAIR

What: Your finest white-colored attire is requested for this bougie exclusive event.

VIP tables, hors d’oeuvres and multiple bars accompanied by fantastic and inspiring art will be the backdrop to this social event at The Ritz.

Grab some party favors and drink the night away with socialites and pretend like you’re Gatsby or something while you drop your savings on some tickets for a table. We’ll all be gone soon and, as you know, you can’t take that money with you.

More: $30-700; 9 p.m.; The Ritz-Carlton, 201 E. Trade St.; tinyurl.com/WhiteAttireOnly

JUNE 28

DEAD & COMPANY

What: Deadheads, unite! Since taking over as front man, John Mayer has ushered in an age of resurgence for the ’60s and ’70s rock band,

FREE RANGE CELEBRATION

BREWING

4-YEAR

Grateful Dead, now known as Dead & Company.

The trippy, electronic, rock and folk-infused band is sure to bring out a crowd of old hippies and young acid heads blowing smoke over the crowd. Expect a contact high, so leave the kids at home.

More: $49.50-175.50; 7 p.m.; PNC Music Pavilion, 707 Pavilion Blvd.; musicpavilioncharlotte.com

What: The crew at Free Range hasn’t spilled much about what they’ve got lined up for their fourth birthday, but we expect good music and good beer. What else do you want?

More: Free; 12-11 p.m.; Free Range Brewing, 2320 N. Davidson St.; tinyurl.com/ FreeRange4Years

JULY 3

YOUNG THE TANTRUMS

FOURTH OF JULY CELEBRATION

GIANT,

FITZ

&

THE

What: SUP yoga, slow-flow yoga, you know what’s up at the Whitewater Center. The outdoor festivities also include a SUP battle royale where contestants navigate a watery field of bouys and currents in a bracket.

If you’re just there for the drinks and music, Rayland Baxter rounds out Thursday night and North Mississippi Allstars end it on Friday with fireworks displays both evenings. You know, standard Whitewater Center fare.

More: Free; 9:30 a.m., through July 4; U.S. National Whitewater Center, 5000 Whitewater Center Pwky; usnwc.org

What: Two big names in pop and rock under one roof in one night. Young The Giant’s latest album, Mirror, Master is a turn away from their usual upbeat rock riffs into a softer compilation of droning songs, but in a good way.

On the other hand, Fitz & The Tantrums’ self-titled album released in 2016 is soon to be followed by an upcoming album. They’ve already dropped the electrifying single “123456” in preparation, and Parade has said it’s in the running for Song of the Year.

More: $29.50-65; 7 p.m.; CMCU Amphitheatre, 1000 NC Music Factory Blvd.; charlottemetrocreditunionamp.com

JULY 13

JULY 14

What: The Vikings were known for their magical beer-making abilities. Tour the Swedes’, Danes’ and Norwegians’ regions with beer at Carolina Beer Temple.

Try brews that you most likely haven’t encountered before and broaden your beer horizons with Sweden’s Brewski hazy IPAs or Denmark’s To Ol imperial stouts.

More: Free; 12-11:30 p.m.; Carolina Beer Temple, 2127 Ayrsley Town Blvd.; tinyurl.com/ Scandinavi-Ale

What: You’re going to eat sooooo many french fries at this festival. Just kidding, but you can look forward to great wine, crepes, pastries, music, dance and a petanque initiation and tournament.

Are you like us and don’t know what that last part is? Whatever, there’s a dog costume party, too.

More: $5; 10:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m.; Nevin Community Park, 6000 Statesville Road; charlottefrenchfestival.com

SCANDINAVI-ALE

CHARLOTTE FRENCH FESTIVAL

JULY 20

CHARLOTTE GETS WEIRD MUSIC & ARTS FESTIVAL

What: It’s an incredible celebration of the humanities to ring in the end of humanity. The music is all local like we like it.

Also featured: live painting, art installations, DJs and plenty more. Take a trip through the “Disco Cosmos” and, fuck it, wear a costume if you want to.

More: $15-20, 5-11 p.m.; The Shed Amphitheatre at Station House; tinyurl.com/ CharlotteGetsWeird

AUGUST 3

R&B BAR CRAWL

What: Take a trip down nostalgia lane hopping from spot to spot for an ‘80s R&B DJ party followed by a ‘90s R&B DJ party followed by a … well, you get it.

More: Prices TBD; 4 p.m.; Roxbury (starting point), 116 W. 5th St.; rnbcrawl.com

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CONFLUENCE

What: Billed as part festival, platform and conference, the Whitewater Center is stepping up to showcase local artists at this inaugural music festival.

Better yet, if you’re a musician reading this, they’re still looking for local musicians to fill out the lineup. Deadline is July 1.

More: Free; Aug. 3, 11:30 a.m.-Aug. 4, 6:30 p.m.; U.S. National Whitewater Center, 5000 Whitewater Center Pkwy.; usnwc.org

AUGUST 5

THE FLAMING LIPS

What: There is perhaps no band in America more fitting to watch while you ring in the apocalypse. And what better place than Charlotte for them to do it, as they designed their spooky Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots cover after the Firebird sculpture they once saw outside of the

Bechtler here in Uptown.

More: $29.50 and up; 7 p.m.; CMCU Amphitheatre, 1000 NC Music Factory Blvd.; charlottemetrocreditunionamp.com

AUGUST 9

QUEEN CITY ANIME CONVENTION

What: There’s no shame anymore in the con game, as those once thought of as nerds for loving comic books, video games, etc. have found themselves at the forefront of the culture.

One of these thriving subcultures is anime, so take part in cosplay, fan programming and, of course, a video game room with pride. Let your nerd flag fly.

More: $38-65; Aug. 9, 10 a.m.-Aug. 11, 5 p.m.; Sheraton Charlotte, 555 S. McDowell St.; queencityanimecon.com KISS

What: You may have thought KISS was discussing their 46-year history when they named their latest tour The End of the Road.

No, the world is ending. We’ve been trying to tell you this through the whole guide. Pay attention when we’re speaking to you.

More: $47 and up; 7:30 p.m.; PNC Music Pavilion, 707 Pavilion Blvd.; pncmusicpav.com

AUGUST 16

TAKEOVER ROOFTOP PARTY

What: Get a good view for the end of the world while bopping to beats from DJ Little Betty.

Free to attend but it’s a cash bar. You can’t take it with you.

More: Free, 8-11 p.m.; City Lights Rooftop, 555 S. McDowell St.; tinyurl.com/CityLightsParty CAROLINAS CANNABIS CONVENTION

What: The future is almost here. Folks in government are slowly waking up to the viability of cannabis the wonderdrug, and as can be seen

by the CBD craze in Charlotte this year, consumers are ready to buy in.

Get ahead of the curve at the Carolinas Cannabis Convention, which includes farm tours, a pitch competition and more.

More: $25 and up; Aug. 16-17, all day; Renaissance Charlotte Suites, 2800 Coliseum Centre Drive; carolinascannabisconvention.com

SEPTEMBER 1

LABOR DAY CELEBRATION

What: There are so many ways to celebrate Labor Day at the Whitewater Center that will leave you feeling so much better about yourself: rock climbing, the trail race, yoga, yoga on a paddle board.

For our part, we’ll probably just wait ‘til the sun goes down and watch the River Jam bands play while drinking beers.

More: Free; 9 a.m., all day; U.S. National Whitewater Center, 5000 Whitewater Center Pkwy.; usnwc.org

SEPTEMBER 5

HOOTIE & THE BLOWFISH

What: Throughout this new century, Darius Rucker has had a hell of a solo career, topping the country charts multiple times, but if we’re being honest, we all still know him as Hootie.

He brings the Blowfish back for this tour, and we only want to be with them.

More: $34.50 and up; 7:30 p.m.; PNC Music Pavilion, 707 Pavilion Blvd.; pncmusicpav.com YIASOU GREEK FESTIVAL

What: Since launching in 1978, this fourday festival has become one of Charlotte largest cultural celebrations. Folks of all backgrounds are welcomed to enjoy Hellenic cultural exhibits, authentic Greek cuisine, homemade pastries, entertainment, live music, dancing, wine tastings, art, shopping and more.

More: 11 a.m., runs through Sept. 8; Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Cathedral, 600 East Blvd.; yiasoufestival.org

SEPTEMBER 21

FESTIVAL LATINOAMERICANO

What: For its 29th year, Charlotte’s “signature cultural event” is moving to a new home at Aldersgate in east Charlotte.

As always, the event promises a great lineup of musicians and dancers while serving up authentic Latin American food and allowing you to peruse all the beautiful crafts and visual arts on display.

More: Free; Noon-8 p.m.; Aldersgate, 3800 Shamrock Dr.; latinamericancoalicion.org WOOFSTOCK 2019

What: Big dogs and small dogs unite for this groovy K9 party, as Great Dane Friends of Ruff Love and Mid Atlantic Pug Rescue combine to host the 11th annual Woofstock.

The event will feature more than 20 petfriendly vendors including Four Dogs Pet Supplies, Barkitecture Charlotte and Simply American Dog Treat Truck.

More: Free; 11 a.m.-4 p.m.; NoDa Brewing Co., 2921 N. Tryon St.; tinyurl.com/Woofstock2019 ROCKTOBERFEST 2019

What: It may just so happen that you party out all summer while everyone else does the work and (whoops!) it turns out we’re going to be OK after all.

This last party still goes for a good cause.

Formerly titled Rockin’ for a Cure, Rocktoberfest benefits the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation’s Charlotte chapter.

More: $50 ($21 tax deductible); 6:30-11:30 p.m.; The Fillmore, 820 Hamilton St.; fillmorenc. com INFO@QCNERVE.COM

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 5TH

12-HOUR RUN TO END HOMELESSNESS

What: Hop, skip, jump, run, jog, walk, or however you and your team want to move for 12 hours to log as many miles as possible. RunningWorks is hosting this fundraising challenge to reach a goal of $56,000 to go toward housing and services for seven RunningWorks members over one year.

More: Donation-based; 6 a.m. - 6 p.m.; Thomas Polk Park, 105 N Tryon St; tinyurl.com/12HourRun

THURSDAY, JUNE 6TH

AN EVENING WITH TED KOPPEL

What: Ted Koppel was the last of a dying breed, before broadcast journalism turned into partisan talking heads screaming at each other from their respective panels. WFAE hosts the former Nightline anchor for a discussion about the current state of journalism and democracy with WFAE president/CEO and former Nightline producer Joe Connor.

More: $250; 5-9 p.m.; Charlotte Convention Center, 501 S. College St.; wfae.report/tedkoppel

FRIDAY, JUNE 7TH TASTE OF CHARLOTTE

LIFELINE

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JUNE 5TH - JUNE. 11TH

What: You know the drill: enjoy an entire weekend of sampling from the city’s restaurants in one six-block stretch of Tryon.

Throw some money down for some sample vouchers and bam, you’re all set.

More: Free; Fri. & Sat. 11 a.m. - 11 p.m., Sun. 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.; Tryon Street, Uptown Charlotte; tasteofcharlotte.com

SATURDAY, JUNE 8TH UNFORGETTABLE: VOCAL JAZZ

What: Sharing its name with the 1951 pop jazz hit sung by Nat King Cole, Unforgettable is an evening of a cappella jazz

featuring the nine-man ensemble 7th Son — apparently they picked up two extra sons on Route 66 — and the fivewoman vocal combo Epiphony A Cappella.

More: $25; 3 and 7:30 p.m.; Duke Energy Theater, 345 N. College St.; blumenthalarts.org

SUNDAY, JUNE 9TH

STILL NOT ASKING FOR IT FLASH TATTOO FUNDRAISER

What: Since launching in NYC in 2015, Still Not Asking For It has raised more than $367,000 for local organizations that help fight back against sexual assault. Made to Last will have more than 30 flash tattoo designs available to benefit Safe Alliance, which helps sexual assault and domestic violence survivors in the Charlotte area.

More: $80-200; Noon-7 p.m.; Made to Last Tattoo, 129 N. Poplar St.; tinyurl.com/MadeToLastSafeAlliance

MONDAY, JUNE 10TH

ARIANA GRANDE

What: Ariana Grande secured her spot as a beloved singer/songwriter with debut album Yours Truly. Now, after four more

studio albums, including the most recent, Thank U, Next, her singles like “7 rings,” and “break up with your girlfriend, i’m bored,” have reached top charts over and over.

More: $213 and up; 8 p.m.; Spectrum Center, 333 E. Trade St.; spectrumcentercharlotte.com

TUESDAY, JUNE 11TH CLAIRE ROUSAY & JACOB WICK

What: San Antonio-based improviser, percussionist and event organizer Claire Rousay teamed up with Mexico City improviser, writer and artist Jacob Wick to form a drums-and-trumpet duo that, as Goodyear puts it, “chews up the macho and militaristic histories of their respective instruments and spits out vulnerability and absurdity.”

More: Free; 7:30-10:30 p.m.; Goodyear Arts, 301 Camp Road; tinyurl.com/claireandjake

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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 12TH

SPELL RUNNER, JAH-MONTE

What: In usual fashion of hosting a variety of genres in one show, Oso has self-proclaimed Best Rapper in Charlotte

jaH-Monte alongside hardcore punk band Spell Runner. The genre pairing is less surprising if you’ve ever spent a night partying at Oso. More: $5; 8 p.m.; Oso Skate Park, 933 Louise Ave. Ste. 109; tinyurl.com/SpellRunnerJahMonte

THURSDAY, JUNE 13TH JUNETEENTH FESTIVAL 2019

What: It’s more than just a mid-year party with music, vendors and family activities. Juneteenth is a celebration of the

end of chattel slavery in the United States. Join in the fun while also remembering those who suffered 400-plus years while white people built this country on their backs.

More: Free; 9 a.m., runs through June 16; House of Africa, 1215 Thomas Ave.; juneteenthofthecarolinas.com

FRIDAY, JUNE 14TH HEROESCON

LIFELINE

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JUNE. 12TH- JUNE. 18TH

What: Launched in 1982 by the comics shop Heroes Aren’t Hard to Find, Charlotte’s popular three-day con celebrates its

37th anniversary by letting anyone 18 years old-and-under in for free. Guests this year include Ren & Stimpy co-creator Bob Camp and Mad Magazine cartoonist Sergio Aragones.

More: $37; 10:30 a.m., through June 16; Charlotte Convention Center, 501 S. College St.; heroesonline.com/heroescon

SATURDAY, JUNE 15TH

STONEWALL50 COMMUNITY RALLY

What: On June 28, 1969, a trans black woman named Marsha P. Johnson was celebrating her birthday at the Stonewall Inn. A police raid that night sparked a response that would forever be known as the Stonewall Uprising, a turning point in the LGBTQ liberation movement. Join LGBTQ folks and allies for a rally followed by a retro dance party at Bar Argon.

More: Free; 2-4 p.m., 9 p.m.-2 a.m.; Romare Bearden Park, 300 S. Church St.; tinyurl.com/Stonewall50CLT

SUNDAY, JUNE 16TH STAR WARS: THE MUSIC

What: Other composers did the scores to Rogue One and Solo, but John Williams did the ones everybody remembers. Not

as innovative as Jerry Goldsmith, or as cool as Morricone, Williams is certainly catchy. Folks of all ages know the main Star Wars theme or at least the leitmotif “The Imperial March” (Darth Vader’s theme).

More: $4.11 and up; 8:15 p.m.; Symphony Park, 4400 Sharon Rd.; charlottesymphony.org

MONDAY, JUNE 17TH JUSTICE YELDHAM

What: If you walk into The Milestone on Monday and see a man holding a big broken piece of glass up to his mouth, don’t be alarmed, he’s not trying to give himself a Joker-esque smile. Lucas Abela, aka Justice Yeldham, employs vocal techniques like throat singing and raspberries to turn broken shards of glass into crude versions of trumpets.

More: $10; 8 p.m.-midnight; The Milestone, 3400 Tuckaseegee Road; tinyurl.com/JusticeYeldham

TUESDAY, JUNE 18TH SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE

What: Taking their name from a 1973 Spanish film, this Philadelphia-based five-piece seems obsessed with their haunted

inner life. Their 2017 album Pleasure Suck rides a lo-fi psych groove, before puncturing the whimsical vibe with squalls of distortion. It’s like having a bad trip but at the pleasant picnic.

More: $10; 9 p.m.; Snug Harbor, 1228 Gordon St.; snugrock.com

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PURPLE PROTÉGÉS

PHOTO COURTESY OF MJM PREMIERE

Carolina musicians pay tribute to late friend Prince

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S

Adrian Crutchfield

“I TOLD MY GUYS, ‘IF WE HAVE ONE SHOT OF WORKING WITH PRINCE, WE AUTOMATICALLY BECOME IMMORTALS.’” Adrian Crutchfield

BY PAY MORAN

HELBY JOHNSON was shopping at a Walmart when she got the phone call that changed her life.

“I picked up and it was Prince’s team,” she remembers. “They asked me to learn 12 or 13 songs and come out to Las Vegas.”

Johnson, a vocalist who performs as Shelby J., accepted the offer to perform with Prince Rogers Nelson, the musical genius and juggernaut who defined pop culture and music for at least a generation. Johnson subsequently sang with Prince’s New Power Generation for 10 years. It was during this time that she found encouragement and inspiration from Prince to launch her solo career, she says.

On June 7, Johnson joins a host of Prince’s former band members at the Neighborhood Theatre for Purple Note 4: Celebrating the Life of Prince through Jazz. It will feel like a family reunion, Johnson enthuses. The Greensboro native, who lived in Charlotte from 2009 through 2014, will be joined onstage by Charlotte’s X-Men, a group of songwriters and producers turned live band comprised of Evan Brice, CJ Mercer, Chris Kee, CJ Thompson and Ahji Love. Fellow North Carolinians Joey Rayfield and Lynn Grissett, both former members of Prince’s tight-as-funk brass section New Power Generation Hornz, will also be playing trombone and trumpet, respectively.

Saxophonist and Charlotte resident Adrian Crutchfield, another NPG Hornz alumnus, was originally scheduled to play the show, but due to a misunderstanding will not be in the lineup.

Crutchfield teaches a course on Prince at Catawba College in Salisbury, where he encourages students to be as fearless and innovative as his former boss.

Crutchfield also remembers when he was recruited by the iconic artist. In 2011, Crutchfield had assembled a horn section for fellow Charlottean and Grammy-winning R&B artist Anthony Hamilton. When Hamilton opened for Prince’s Charlotte show that year, the paisley impresario was impressed with the horn section. A few months later Crutchfield got a call from Paisley Park, Prince’s estate and production complex in Chanhassen, Minnesota. The saxophonist was tasked with building a horn section for Prince protégé Andy Allo.

“I told my guys, ‘If we have one shot of working with Prince, we automatically become immortals.

People will be listening to us for the next 200 years,’” Crutchfield recalls.

Eventually Crutchfield’s work on Prince’s project became a gig backing the man himself as part of NPG Hornz from 2011 to 2015, then as a solo sax man until Prince’s untimely death on April 21, 2016.

In retrospect, Crutchfield’s rendezvous with Prince seems fated. When the future horn man was just 4 years old, his parents took him to a concert

by Kenneth Bruce Gorelick, better known as Kenny G. Gorelick noticed the young fan in the audience, invited him onstage and gifted Crutchfield with a small electronic saxophone, sparking the young Crutchfield’s love for music, he says. With a laugh, he remembers getting into fights at Northwest School of the Arts because his classmates were talking trash about the lambasted Kenny G. Johnson’s transformative phone call and dream come true was also many years in the making, she recalls. As a child she sang at St. James Baptist Church in Greensboro, where her mother Mamie Johnson was choir director. Johnson immediately knew she wanted to make a living with music. As Johnson grew up, she held down a myriad of day jobs while singing nights in clubs, restaurants and bars. In 2000 she joined D’Angelo’s band, the Soultronics, where she performed alongside her friend Anthony Hamilton.

Later, singing in Hamilton’s touring band, she befriended Crutchfield, the ensemble’s saxophonist.

To this day Crutchfield fondly calls Johnson his sister. Johnson subsequently toured and performed with jazz trumpeter Roy Hargrove, Mary J. Blige, Santana and bassist Larry Graham.

It was Graham who pulled Johnson into Prince’s dazzling orbit. Johnson was taking a break from touring with Anthony Hamilton’s band when the Sly and the Family Stone and Graham Central Station bassist asked her to fill in on vocals for a one-off show. The band rehearsed at Paisley Park, then moved to 3121, Prince’s Las Vegas nightclub in the Rio Hotel for the gig. During the sound check, as Johnson and Graham ran through a rendition of Stevie Wonder’s “Higher Ground,” a voice from behind the sound console kept asking Johnson to sing the song again and again.

“I thought, ‘The sound guy really wants to get it right,’” Johnson says. “Then, all of the sudden, Prince came walking out from behind the [console].”

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PURPLE NOTE 4: CELEBRATING THE LIFE OF PRINCE THROUGH JAZZ June 7, 8:30 p.m.; $25-35; Neighborhood Theatre, 511 E. 36th St.; neighborhoodtheatre.com

Prince told Johnson she was a good singer, nothing more, before seemingly floating away, Johnson remembers. The next night during the show, Johnson was singing when the crowd went wild. She thought the audience was really feeling her until she realized that the frenzy was caused by Prince who was behind her approaching the mic.

It was the first time she sang with her soon-to-be boss, mentor and friend.

“There was synergy happening on that microphone,” Johnson says. “Talking about it now, I can feel it again.”

After the gig, Johnson flew home, where she got the transformative Walmart call. She flew back to Las Vegas where she performed for Prince’s 2006 New Year’s Eve show. After the gig, Prince nonchalantly told Johnson that their very next show would be at the Super Bowl.

In the course of his five years with Prince, Crutchfield worked on the artist’s last five albums, Plectrumelectrum, Art Official Age, HITnRUN: Phase One, HITnRUN: Phase Two and the unreleased Black is the New Black. The last of these, which may never see a commercial release, is a holy grail for Prince aficionados. Rumors persist that it is Prince’s jazz album, but Crutchfield says it’s much more than that.

“At that point in Prince’s life, he was in a different place,” Crutchfield maintains. “He wanted to innovate and experiment without having to explain it to anybody.”

The album draws on all the music Prince enjoyed, an amalgam and homage to jazz, Jimi Hendrix, James Brown and more. In his final years, Prince was openly co-creating and crediting his collaborators, Crutchfield continues. Unlike earlier albums, which identify each song as “performed and recorded by Prince,” later albums like the Grammynominated HITnRUN: Phase Two credits players like Crutchfield for performing and arranging.

In the midst of the open and collaborative sessions for Black is the New Black, Prince enquired about the music Crutchfield was creating on his own. Crutchfield had released his solo debut Private Party fresh out of college in 2009, but had not released an album since.

Although he never stopped writing songs, Crutchfield was disillusioned by restrictive radio playlists and the music industry’s efforts to pigeonhole him. He had allowed his solo efforts to

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VINYL Shelby J.

slide while he concentrated on being a sideman.

So Crutchfield gave Prince the answer he though this boss wanted to hear.

“I told him that I liked being a sideman,” Crutchfield says. Referencing James Brown’s fabled North Carolina sax player, Crutchfield added that all he wanted was to be the Maceo Parker to Prince’s James Brown.

Crutchfield thought his answer would flatter his boss, but Prince was angry.

“He looked at me sternly and said something I’ll never forget,” Crutchfield continues. “He said, ‘James is dead. What’s Maceo doing now?’”

The message was clear. Prince recognized a fellow artist in Crutchfield, one who needed to be making and releasing his own music.

“He said sometimes you have to take a leap for yourself,” Crutchfield remembers. It was the last time Crutchfield and Prince spoke face-to-face.

By the end of the following month, Prince was dead, but Crutchfield took his mentor’s advice to heart. In 2017 he released his second album, entitled Leap in honor of his former boss and the advice he had given.

Crutchfield had also confided to Prince that he felt his solo music would never chart. It was too aggressive for smooth jazz, but too jazzy for urban playlists. Prince replied that anything was possible.

On May 13, 2017, the title track from Leap hit 29 on the Billboard Smooth Jazz Chart.

Like Crutchfield, Johnson had also followed a solo career before joining Prince’s court. She had performed with her own band, Black Gypsy, prior to joining the New Power Generation. When it came

PHOTO COURTESY OF MJM PREMIERE

time to return to her solo career, Johnson also found her boss extremely supportive.

“He knew what my dreams were, and he was going to help me to get to that dream through his teaching and his support,” she says.

Released on December 12, 2012, Johnson’s first single “North Carolina” featured her vocals along with Anthony Hamilton’s, but all the instruments were played by Prince. The single was meant to be a teaser for Johnson’s forthcoming album, but life took the exuberant singer in a different direction. Her marriage to Levern Allen III ended in divorce in 2013 and Johnson moved from Charlotte to Greensboro.

As her debut album, Ten, named after the number of years she sang with Prince, neared completion, she got a phone call far more somber than the call that launched her stint with the NPG. Johnson answered and learned that Prince had died at his Paisley Park estate at the age of 57.

Ten came out a year after Prince’s death, but Johnson finds solace in the fact that her former boss heard about 80% of the album before he passed away. He took great pleasure in monitoring the project, she remembers.

“He would say, ‘It’s fine to be singing “1999,” but what about your music, Shelby?’” she recalls.

Johnson was planning a series of tours to promote and sing the songs from Ten, but another obstacle arose when she was diagnosed with breast cancer last year. With the same vigor and energy that defines her career, Johnson concentrated on her recovery. In fact, she composed her latest single “God is Here” while undergoing radiation treatments.

Now on the other side of surgery and treatment,

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Johnson is ready to tour and sing “God is Here,” which dropped this past Christmas, as well as her other material. On some dates, she will be accompanied on saxophone by her friend Crutchfield, but first she’s going to meet up with other old friends and band mates at the Neighborhood to celebrate the life of their inspiration and mentor.

Purple Note 4 will be much more than a jazz show, Johnson enthuses.

“It’s an all-Prince fantastical, musical catalog by some of the great musicians that have played with him and been inspired by him,” she promises. “It is going to be one of the most epic nights of music in Charlotte. It’s going to make that whole town vibrate.”

PMORAN@QCNERVE.COM

SOUNDWAVE JUNE 5

ROCK/PUNK/METAL

Shinyribs, David Childers (Neighborhood Theatre) Tesla (Fillmore) Year of October, Swamp 78, Mutt! (Skylark Social Club) Motherfolk, Wylder (Evening Muse) June Residency: Pinky Doodle Poodle, Hectorina, Stone Mecca (Snug Harbor) Josh Daniels, Jeremy Shaw (Smokey Joe’s) COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA

Matt Anderson (Stage Door Theater) The Ice Man Special, Peter More (Free Range Brewing)

JUNE 6

ROCK/PUNK/METAL

Crunk Witch, Dead Sea $crilla, 30 Year Sick,

All Hell CD Release, Nemesis, Demiser (The Milestone) The Lemonheads, Tommy Stinson (The COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA Underground) Yes Ma’am, Kaska Sun (Visulite) Lisa De Novo (26 Acres) Strong Water (U.S. National Whitewater Living Colour, Den of Wolves, Fear Until Fury Center) (Amos’ Southend) Thirsty Horses (Tin Roof) DJ/ELECTRONIC SRO (Smokey Joe’s) Slushii, Nitti Gritti (Fillmore) Chris Larkin, The Remarks, The Mangos RAP/HIP-HOP/SOUL/FUNK/R&B (Hattie’s Tap & Tavern) Mir Fontane, Justice Plant, Kayo Bracey, Austin The Barons (Tin Roof) Royale (Evening Muse) COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA Brit Drozda, Courtney Lynn & Quinn (Visulite) JUNE 7 ROCK/PUNK/METAL Gretchen Peters, Trisha Gene Brady (Stage Rooney (Evening Muse) Door Theater) Van Huskins, Sunday Boxing, Labia Minor Lenny Federal Band (Comet Grill) (Tommy’s Pub) Emma’s Lounge (U.S. National Whitewater Alder Rose, Rebekah Todd, My Blue Hope Center) (Petra’s) My Three Sons (Free Range Brewing) Martel Tha God (The Milestone) Ona, Darby Wilcox (Neighborhood Theatre)

DJ/ELECTRONIC

A King & A Prince (Crown Station) Open Decks (Skylark Social Club)

JUNE 8

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ROCK/PUNK/METAL

Violent Life Violent Death, Circle Back, Arborlea, Choke Chamber (The Milestone) Modern Moxie, Faye, Future Friend, Sweat Transfer (Snug Harbor) Yacht Rock Revue (Fillmore) The Situationals, Sunset Cassette (Tommy’s Pub) Cal Maro, Meyru (Evening Muse) Bill Miller Band (Smokey Joe’s) The Maggie Valley Band (Hattie’s Tap & Tavern) HBBA Summer BBQ Jam (Heist Brewery) Stoic AF (Primal Brewery) COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA

Darrell Scott (Neighborhood Theatre) Caroline Spence CD Release, Charlie Whitten (Evening Muse) The High Drivers (U.S. National Whitewater Center) Jay Taylor (Tin Roof) Unspoken Tradition (Free Range Brewing) RAP/HIP-HOP/SOUL/FUNK/R&B

Xavier Wulf, Beau Young Prince, Reco Havoc (The Underground)

JUNE 9

ROCK/PUNK/METAL

Omari & the Hellhounds (Comet Grill) Jesus & The Groupies (Tommy’s Pub) RAP/HIP-HOP/SOUL/FUNK/R&B

Bone Snugs-N-Harmony (Snug Harbor) ROOTS/BLUES/INTERNATIONAL

Live Bluegrass w/Greg M Clarke & Friends (Tommy’s Pub) COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA

Cave Twins (David Mayfield & Abby Rose), Vanessa Peters (Evening Muse)

JUNE 10 POP

Ariana Grande (Spectrum Center) ROCK/PUNK/METAL

The Impurity, The Body Bags (Skylark Social Club) Find Your Muse Open Mic: The Rinaldis (Evening Muse) BLA/ALT Summer Residency: Eli, The Business People (Petra’s) Open Mic with Lisa De Novo (Legion Brewing) Cito Jamorah & Friends (Smokey Joe’s) RAP/HIP-HOP/SOUL/FUNK/R&B

Jazz Jam hosted by Occie Davids, Troy Conin, Ron Brendle (Crown Station) Knocturnal (Snug Harbor)

JUNE 11

ROCK/PUNK/METAL

Sleep, Big Business (Neighborhood Theatre) Catfish and the Bottlemen (Fillmore) Angel Du$t, Paperback, Gouge Away, Glitterer (Skylark Social Club) Steve Earle & the Dukes (McGlohon Theater)

JUNE 12

ROCK/PUNK/METAL

Esham Jimmy James, Ill Phil Beni Hana (The Milestone) The New Respects, Apollo LTD (Neighborhood Theatre) Gojira, All Them Witches, Deafheaven (Fillmore)

SOUNDWAVE Twenty One Pilots (Spectrum Center) Stray Fossa (Evening Muse) June Residency: Pinky Doodle Poodle, Friendship Commanders, Bitterhearts (Snug Harbor) Josh Daniels, Jeremy Shaw (Smokey Joe’s)

JUNE 13

ROCK/PUNK/METAL

Bask, Late Bloomer, Nerve Endings (The Milestone) Moves (Visulite) Keep Flying, Absinthe Father (Skylark Social Club) Blue Water Highway (Evening Muse) MoFunGo, Dorian Gris (Petra’s) COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA

David Childers (U.S. National Whitewater Center)

JUNE 14

Pg. 21 June 5 - June 18, 2019 - QCNERVE.COM

ROCK/PUNK/METAL

Grown Up Avenger Stuff, Voom, Black Power Mixtape, The Fill Ins (The Milestone) Sierra Ferrell (Evening Muse) The Fab Four (Knight Theater) Knowne Ghost, Pnltybx, Futurists (Petra’s) Kelen Heller, Fiftywatt Freight Train, Uncle Buck, Revelry Soul (Amos’ Southend) Nita B (Smokey Joe’s) Shutterlings, Bunker Babies, Something Went Wrong, Leith K. Ali (Tommy’s Pub) Natty Boh (Hattie’s Tap & Tavern) Seventy Six and Sunny (Tin Roof) Josh Daniel Grateful Band (Thomas Street Tavern) COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA

Amanda Anne Platt & the Honeycutters, Zoe & Cloyd (Neighborhood Theatre) Thomas Rhett, Dustin Lynch, Russell Dickerson, Rhett Akins (PNC Music Pavilion) The Arcadian Wild, Emmy Law (Evening Muse) The Nick Schnebelen Band (U.S. National Whitewater Center) Lenny Federal Band (Comet Grill)

JUNE 15

ROCK/PUNK/METAL

Kyle Perkins Band (The Milestone) Kikagaku Moyo, Sarah Louise (Neighborhood Theatre) Old Flings (Reunion), Alright, Bangzz (Snug Harbor) QC Metal Fest: Black Ritual, Never I (Underground) The Technicolors,Young Mister (Evening Muse) Tosco Music Beatles Tribute (Knight Theater) Hannibal, In Sonitus Lux (Petra’s) The Turnstiles (Tommy’s Pub) Michael Tracy, Preacher Stone (Amos’ Southend) Hannah Wicklund & The Steppin Stones (U.S. National Whitewater Center) Fudd & Friends (Smokey Joe’s) Revelry Soul (Hattie’s Tap & Tavern) Cardfall (Tin Roof) COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA

Will Varley with Travers Geoffray (Evening Muse) Diamonds and Whiskey, Caroline Keller, Haley Mae Campbell (Tin Roof) Stephen Evans (Primal Brewery) JAZZ/CLASSICAL/ INSTRUMENTAL

Queen City Jazz Festival: Michael McDonald, Gerald Albright, Jonathan Butler, Al B. Sure (CMCU Amphitheatre)

JUNE 16

ROCK/PUNK/METAL

Another Hospital, Pet Bug, Moderneverything, Pretty Baby (The Milestone) Fabfest: Charlotte’s Beatles Festival (Fairfield Inn & Suites) Omari & the Hellhounds (Comet Grill) RAP/HIP-HOP/SOUL/FUNK/R&B

Bone Snugs-N-Harmony (Snug Harbor) Jon Bellion, Marc E. Bassy, Lawrence (CMCU Amphitheatre) Visit qcnerve.com for the full Soundwave listings.

The full Southern Strain team (from left): Chris Young, Jennifer Cubillos, Michael Bowling, Jake Allen, Ford Craven and Bart Roberts.

A RECIPE FOR SUCCESS

PHOTO BY RYAN PITKIN

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Two teams partner to make Southern Strain a Concord destination

T

BY RYAN PITKIN

HESE DAYS, it can feel like social media isn’t good for much of anything anymore.

Instagram selfies, political screaming matches on Twitter, whatever the hell Facebook can do to mine more data for sale. It’s all just a wasteland, right?

But alas, it is out of this online wasteland that strong connections can still be made, for it is thanks to a Facebook post that a team of six entrepreneurs with a range of talents came together to create a new partnership that may change the face of one of Charlotte’s most underappreciated suburbs.

It was just three months ago that chef Michael

Bowling saw a post from Piedmont Culinary Guild Executive Director Kris Reid stating that a group of guys were starting a brewery in Concord and looking for chefs to run a kitchen in the facility.

Bowling replied and the next day was on the phone with Bart Roberts, one of three founders of Southern Strain Brewing Company, set to open in Concord late this summer. Before the day was over, Bowling was driving to Concord to discuss a partnership.

“I came up and we sat down and chit-chatted, then we did a tasting and from there it’s all kind of history,” says Bowling. “It was a really painless and

fast-moving friendship and partnership.”

I’m sitting in a booth in the Southern Strain tap room with the six people who will combine their diverse talents in the new partnership. Sitting in bar chairs around the booth is the Southern Strain team: Roberts, longtime jack-of-all-trades at NoDa Brewing Company who will serve as head brewer at Southern Strain; Ford Craven, a homebrewer known around Charlotte for his role as cohost of the popular Cheers Charlotte podcast; and Jake Allen, who’s been working finance with Empire Properties, which owns multiple bars and

restaurants in Raleigh.

Sitting in the booth is the culinary crew: Bowling, former owner of the Charlotte-based Hot Box Next Level food truck and co-founder of the popular Soul Food Sessions dinner series; chef Chris Young, who’s cooked with Bowling in restaurants in Virginia and Charlotte and helped run the Hot Box food truck; and chef Jennifer Cubillos, former pastry chef with Charlotte institutions like Suarez Bakery and Best Impressions Catering who now works as a pastry instructor at Central Piedmont Community College.

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The Southern Strain trio of craft beer enthusiasts had originally planned to open the brewery near the end of last year with no kitchen. That mission may have been a bit overzealous, they now admit.

Outfitting a 15,000-square-foot facility proved harder than expected.

“All the stuff you read about — construction and permits and all of that — you think, ‘Oh, we can do it a little faster and better,’ but you have no control over it,” says Roberts.

All that waiting gave the team more time to consider every aspect of the business, and every move they could potentially make.

“We’ve had some time to think on this,” Craven says. “This hasn’t been like an, ‘Oh, we need to hurry up and build this and make money and cash out,’ situation. This is it for us. This is the end game. We want to do it right and it has to be sustainable and work for this market, and to have time to really think about how this is going to roll out, have time to think about the details. It’s been a benefit. It’s taken the stress level down a notch.”

Roberts already had his eyes on some of the beers he’d like to brew. His favorites are lagers, and he’ll do plenty of those, but he plans to spread it around to “funky sours, chewy stouts and juicy IPAs.” The building is located in a repurposed textile mill smack in the middle of a residential neighborhood that’s in walking distance to Concord’s downtown area. As a 5th generation Concordian, Craven says being at the forefront of redefining the city is important to him.

“I’ve been watching those markets in a circumference around Charlotte. Everywhere else has been milked out to a degree and the northside is kind of left,” he says. “A lot of people think Concord just stops at Concord Mills. We’ve got this beautiful city and a bunch of neighbors. It’s a little town and it’s getting ready to have a really big resurgence.”

All that time waiting for permits and red tape produced plenty of food for thought, which eventually led to a decision that will set Southern Strain apart from most Charlotte-area breweries: actual food.

As they continued to research a craft beer scene that they all knew very well already, they thought more and more about what void in the market could be filled.

After all, folks do get hungry when drinking beer, right?

But it couldn’t be just any old bar food.

“We had talked to a few other chefs that had shown some interest, and we had a lot of different ideas in our minds as to what we thought the food would be here, but it had to be something that related to our product on quality and diversity and everything like that,” Roberts says.

The Hot Box Next Level team (from left): Bowling, Cubillos and Young.

PHOTO BY RYAN PITKIN

“I REMEMBER TELLING MIKE, ‘I FEEL LIKE I’M READY TO HIRE Y’ALL RIGHT NOW, BUT WE GOTTA TASTE THIS FOOD. IF IT TASTES THE WAY IT READS, THIS IS A DONE DEAL.’ AND IT DID.” -Ford Craven, Southern Strain Brewing Co.

Enter Bowling and Young. The two had shut down the Hot Box Next Level food truck in 2017 as Bowling continued to work with Soul Food Sessions and Young and Cubillos began plans to open a local food hall called Queen City Market.

The Hot Box menu didn’t go anywhere, though, so Bowling brought it with him when he made his first trip to the brewery. Specialty Hot Box favorites like house-made ramen, bean sprout curry, chorizo corn dogs and risotto fritters supplemented the artisan wings, ribs and burgers. Follow that up with some of Cubillos’ chocolate chip cookies made with brown butter, malt powder and salt, and the Southern Strain team had no choice but to get on board.

To read it was impressive, to eat it was something else, Craven says.

“It was a very crafty, curated menu that kind

of goes together with the artisticness of a brewery and what people want when they go to one,” he says. “It wasn’t one-sided, it wasn’t just burgers and fries, it was very eclectic and it was instant. I remember telling Mike, ‘I feel like I’m ready to hire y’all right now, but we gotta taste this food. If it tastes the way it reads, this is a done deal.’ And it did. That’s how it clicked.”

Bowling describes the menu as “international pub food,” which fits nicely with the neighborhood pub feel that the Southern Strain team is going for.

For Young, the joy of the food truck was the experimentation, and now that he’ll have a kitchen to work with rather than being stuck in a literal hot box of a truck, he’s excited to begin working on new additions.

“Ford already said it, but eclectic is the best word for it,” Young says. “We don’t want to be that

niche thing where we do pizza or we do barbecue.

We want to do all things and we want to start where we had really great food at Hot Box and only get better for the things that we’re producing.”

Bowling sees the Southern Strain kitchen as a chance to get the respect he and Young deserved for food that they perfected in the truck. He’s run kitchens before, and he’s seen how people’s perceptions change when they order from a truck, regardless of the quality of food that’s produced from the window.

“Ramen’s a big deal for us and in the city, and because it’s ours, we think our ramen’s the best in the area, but when we were on the food truck nobody respected that because we’re on a food truck,” Bowling says. “So now’s an opportunity for that to come back. We just like to do different stuff, and it’s important to us that when we do it it’s done to the best of our ability.”

As far as dessert, Cubillos shares Bowling and Young’s experimental streak, though she will try to rein it in for the Southern Strain kitchen.

She plans to start with artisan versions of wellknown Southern favorites, like the aforementioned chocolate chip cookies, before pushing the limits of what the average beer drinker is used to, she says.

“We’ll start by making simple, good, Southern things, because even people who are adventurous with their foods are not adventurous with their desserts. They don’t want to see a dessert with red bean paste in it. Chocolate’s a bean. Vanilla’s a bean.

Coffee’s a bean. I think you’re being discriminatory,” she says, laughing. “So I think we’ll ease into the dessert game really slow.”

Her definition of slow and simple, however, differs from most. When I press her on some of her plans, she mentions bourbon bacon pecan bars, spicy dark-chocolate-chip oatmeal cookies, housemade ice cream sandwiches and lemon cookies.

Cubillos also looks forward to working with Roberts on hybrid desserts that integrate whatever beers he’s working on at the moment. The team plans to host Southern Strain beer dinners quarterly, and Roberts says he’s excited about working closely with the Hot Box team beyond just four events per year.

“It leaves a lot of opportunity out there; any special event that’s happening, any holiday, we have the opportunity to make a beer just for that, and they have the opportunity to make food just for that holiday and we’ll put them together,” Roberts says. “We can’t wait. Having two entities that work together that people want to come in and buy the whole package is a wonderful thing.”

Sometimes, social media can still be good. (Pay me, Zuckerberg.)

RPITKIN@QCNERVE.COM

DILWORTH BAKERSFIELD

Monday: $3 Jack Daniels Tuesday: $3 Tres Generaciones, $10 Don Julio 1942 Wednesday: $3 Bulleit Bourbon Thursday: $3 Espolon Friday: $3 George Dickel No. 8 Saturday: $3 Lunazul Sunday: $3 Larceny Bourbon 300EAST

DILWORTH NEIGHBORHOOD GRILLE

Monday: $4 Crown & Down Tuesday: $4 drafts, $12 pitchers, $5 flights of North Carolina drafts Wednesday: 1/2 off wine bottles and martinis Thursday: $12 domestic buckets, $18 import buckets Friday: $3 craft drafts, $5 flavored vodka Saturday: $5 mason jar cocktails Sunday: $4 bloody marys SUMMIT ROOM

Monday: 1/2 off wines by the glass Tuesday: $4 drafts Tuesday: 1/2 off beer cans and glasses of Italian Wednesday: 1/2 off glasses of wine reds Thursday: $7 Summit cocktails Thursday: $3.50 local drafts, $8.50 Matilda Wong cocktails SOUTH END Sunday: 1/2 off wine bottles, $5 mimosas & bloody marys, $6 Bellinis

COMMON MARKET SOUTH END

BAD DADDY’S BURGER BAR

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Monday: 20-oz. draft for 16-oz. price Tuesday: $5 specialty cocktails Wednesday: $3.50 local drafts Saturday-Sunday: $5 mimosas & bloody marys

Monday: 1/2 off select pints Tuesday: Free beer tasting 5-7 p.m.

Wednesday: $2 off select pints, wine tasting 5-7 p.m.

BIG BEN PUB

Monday: $5.50 20-oz. NoDa craft beer Wednesday: $5.25 20-oz. Spaten, 1/2 price wine bottles Friday: $5.50 20-oz. Crispin and Guinness, $5 Dale’s Fireball shot Saturday: $5.50 20-oz. seasonal beers, $5 mimosas & bloody marys Sunday: $5.25 20-oz. Boddington, $5 mimosas & bloody marys MAC’S SPEED SHOP

Monday: $3 pints, $5 Titos Tuesday: 1/2 price wine, $3 mystery draft Wednesday: $4 tall boys, $5 Lunazul Blanco Thursday: $3 mystery cans and bottles, $4 Jim Beam Friday: $1 off brewery of the month (D9) Saturday: $1 off North Carolina pints Sunday: $4 mimosas & bloody marys

UPTOWN THE LOCAL

Monday: $7 Casamigos, $2 Natty Boh and Miller High Life, $5 Jager Tuesday: $3 Modelo, $5 house margaritas, $5 Don Julio Wednesday: $5 Crown & Down, $3 Southern Tier Thursday: $5 Captain Morgan, $7 craft mules, $16 Bud Light buckets Friday: $3 Jell-O shots, $4 drafts, $5 wells Saturday: $3 PBR, $5 Jager Sunday: $7 loaded mimosa, $7 Grey Goose bloody mary, $16 Bud Light buckets THE DAILY TAVERN

Wednesday: $5 whiskey Thursday: $4 pint night Sunday: $4 Miller Lite, $6 bloody marys

GIN MILL

DANDELION MARKET

Monday: $5 Titos and New Amsterdam Tuesday: 1/2 price wine Wednesday: $4 draft beer Thursday: $2.50 PBR, $5 Jack Daniels and Titos

Monday: $3 select drafts Tuesday: $15 select bottles of wines Saturday-Sunday: Bloody mary bar

ROXBURY

Friday: $5 flavored vodka drinks, $5 fire shots, $3 bottles Saturday: $5 fire shots, $4 ZIMA, $3 bottles

NODA CABO FISH TACO

Monday: $5 El Cheapo margarita Tuesday: $3.50 Tecate and Tecate Light, $5 Altos silver tequila WORLD OF BEER Monday: $2 off North Carolina drafts and spirits Wednesday: $7 Absolut Lime Moscow mule Thursday: $1 off neighborhood beers on draft Tuesday: 25 percent off bottles and cans, $5 Friday-Saturday: $8 margarita special mules Sunday: $5 mimosas, $6 Absolut Peppar bloody Wednesday: 1/2-priced wine, wheats and mary, $7 Absolut Lime Moscow mule sangrias Thursday: $4 old school, $4 well, $4 signature JACKBEAGLE’S shots Monday: $5 Cuervo margaritas Friday-Saturday: $3 shot of the week Tuesday: $3 drafts, $5 vodka Red Bull Sunday: $2 mimosas, $3 bloody marys & Wednesday: $1 off whiskey beermosas Thursday: $6 Deep Eddy’s vodka Red Bull Friday: $5 Fun-Dip shots, $5 Crown Black PROHIBITION Saturday: $5 Gummy Bear shots, $5 big Tuesday: 1/2 off everything mimosa, $6.50 double bloody mary Wednesday: $3 drafts Sunday: $5 big mimosa, $6.50 double bloody Thursday: $2 PBR, $4.50 wells, $6 vodka Red mary Bull Friday-Saturday: $4 call-its

SANCTUARY PUB

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Monday: $7 Bulleit and Bulleit Rye, $3 Yuengling and PBR APA

Saturday: $4 mimosas $5 Brunch Punch, Tuesday: $6 Tuaca, $6 Tullamore Dew Sunday: $4 mimosas, $5 Brunch Punch, $5 Wednesday: $3 Birdsong beers, $5 Sauza, Thursday: $2 Bartender Bottles, $6 Crown Royal Fireball, $10 champagne bottles Sunday: $3 Birdsong, $3 Tall or Call NODA 101

Monday: $4 Ketel One Lemon Drop, $4 well liquor, $5 Camerena Tuesday: $6 seasonal cocktails, $6 Jameson, $4 Grape Gatorade Wednesday: $5 Green Tea Shot, $6 Blue Balls Thursday: $5 Jagermeister, $6 vodka Redbull, $6 Oxley Gin Cocktail Friday: $5 Fireball, $6 vodka Red Bull, $6 Jameson Saturday: $5 Fireball, $6 vodka Red Bull Sunday: $5 Deep Eddy Flavors, $1 off tequila, $5 White Gummy Bear shots

PLAZA MIDWOOD HATTIE’S TAP & TAVERN

Monday: $6 Pabst & Paddy’s Tuesday: $5 Fireball Wednesday: $3 mystery craft beers Thursday: $6 margaritas Friday-Saturday: $5 well drinks Sunday: $10 domestic buckets INTERMEZZO

Monday: $4 Makers Mark, $2 domestic bottles Tuesday: $4 margaritas, $7 Titos mules, $3 Blanche de Bruxelles, $3 OMB Copper Wednesday: 1/2 price wine bottles, $2 off bourbon of the week BILLY JACK’S SHACK Thursday: $6.50 Ketel One Botanical Series, $4 Monday: $1 off moonshine, $3 domestics Stoli Tuesday: $1 off all drafts, $7 Jameson Friday: $4 20-oz. Birdsong LazyBird Brown Ale Wednesday: $1 off bottles and cans and Birdsong Jalapeño Ale Thursday: $4.50 wells Friday: $5 Fireball, $1 off local bottles and cans Saturday: 1/2 price martinis Sunday: $3 drafts

Do you want your bar or restaurant featured in The Buzz?

Contact Ryan Pitkin rpitkin@qcnerve.com

FLIGHT OF THE OCTOPUS

All dead bodies should be kept on ice

Pg. 26 June 5 - June 18, 2019 - QCNERVE.COM

BY JUSTIN ZALEWSKI

CHARLOTTE MAY NOT BE the biggest hockey town ever. It’s the South, after all.

I, on the other hand, hail from Hockeytown, USA, aka Detroit, Michigan. I grew up playing hockey and idolizing the likes of Steve Yzerman and Bob Probert, to name a couple. Hockey is a sport rife with tradition, from playoff beards to the captain having first dibs hoisting the Stanley Cup. The Detroit Red Wings have their own time-honored tradition: tossing an octopus on the ice. That may seem odd to some, but it makes perfect sense to those that understand.

Legend has it that the eight tentacles of the octopus represent the eight playoff victories once needed to win the Stanley Cup, the NHL’s championship trophy. This tradition started in 1952 when fish market owner Pete Cusimano threw an octopus on the ice to celebrate a goal against the Montreal Canadiens. Pete claimed that his octopus toss influenced the outcome of the game and he showed up at every playoff game thereafter, tossing an octopus after every first Red Wings goal.

So why the hell would I be writing about hockey and octopus tossing? Well, this is a column about drinking and giving tips along the way, and since its playoff time in the NHL, and down in the AHL your very own Charlotte Checkers are in the Calder Cup Finals, I have a story to tell. It involves a man, a dream and an octopus.

On April 8, 2011, three friends and I decided to go see our beloved Red Wings take on the Carolina Hurricanes in Raleigh. While planning this trip, three of us decided it would be a good idea to each bring an octopus and toss it on the ice once the Wings

inevitably scored.

Planning is key when tackling such a stupid task. First you have to find an octopus. A local Asian fish market provided the sea creature needed. Then you have to get it in the arena. This, too, took proper planning.

Fortunately, an octopus’ body is very malleable, which is key in smuggling one past security. One big problem, however, is the smell. First, we wrapped the creature in several layers of saran wrap, then double-bagged it to minimize the smell. Next, we shaped the package to resemble the male reproductive organ. You might see where this is going.

Off to Raleigh we went. We had a cooler packed with a few cases of beer, a bottle of Kraken Rum and own mini-Kraken carcasses. We arrived to the RBC Center under perfect weather and began tailgating.

We were shotgunning beers and ripping shots.

About an hour into the haze of booze we began discussing how to smuggle in our sea creatures.

As you may have guessed, the three men placed the octopi in our crotches so if security were to pat us down we could give a wink and a nod then move on.

We headed into the arena fully loaded. My nerves shook as I walked into the arena. It isn’t every day you get hammered and smuggle a smelly cephalopod into a hockey game. Fortunately, we all made it in and found our seats.

Now we just needed the Wings to score a goal.

At the drop of the puck to start the first period, I took my stinky friend out of my pants and set him under my seat. A scoreless first period meant more beer and anxious waiting. Then, without warning, a goal scored or even a discussion, my friend Anthony decided it was time to let his eight-legged friend fly, leaving the rest of us in shock.

We all played dumb so as not to alert security or those around us. Somehow, it worked. No one had a clue. However, the block was now hot; security and enemy fans all had eyes on our section.

By the third period, it was a 3-0 game, the Hurricanes with the only goals. There was no way these carcasses were leaving that arena with us. We moved to another section and decided we would toss them when we saw our best chance.

With only 20 seconds left in the game, we let the octopi fly!

Now the escape was under way. Our cover was obviously blown, with Hurricanes fans booing loudly and throwing objects at us. I lost my friends, and it was not long before my first obstacle presented itself: a lone security guard attempting to stop my forward progress.

LILLY SPA 704-392-8099 MON-SUN 9AM-11PM EXIT 37 OFF I-85

WE ACCEPT ALL MAJOR CREDIT CARDS

SOUTH ON BEATTIES FORD THEN FIRST RIGHT ON MONTANA DRIVE (LOCATED 1/2 MILE ON THE LEFT 714-G MONTANA DRIVE

A simple juke move put that joker on his ass and I high-stepped past him. An exit shined at me like the gold pot at the end of a rainbow. Could it be this simple? Nope! Upon reaching the exit I was greeted by three more security guards. A juke move wasn’t going to do the trick this time.

The first security guard went for a tackle and I countered with a stiff arm. The second grabbed my jersey, slowing me until the third could get in front of me. I mowed him over like freshly cut grass which shook the other guard loose.

I started my running to the vehicle, thinking I was home free. But alas, you can’t outrun a radio.

Raleigh’s finest were now involved, with red and blue lights pursing me through the parking lot. I could hear the Bad Boys theme in my head.

Like any good general, I sought the high ground so I could examine the battlefield. On the far end of the lot I saw a hill that led to the freeway. My escape plan came into focus.

When I reached the top, the only thing between

freedom and the coppers was a 15-foot barb-wire fence. Not happening.

So, I dug in like a Mississippi in a thicket of bushes and awaited the goon squad. There was still some fight left in me. With flashlights all around, the fuzz was closing in on me.

When one officer got within 3 feet, I sprung up like a jackrabbit and ran back down the hill.

The boys in blue had no idea what happened. I was running like Forrest Gump back to the car, free at last! Then my whole game ended abruptly.

An athletic cop stalked me like a puma and lunged at me, making a beautiful form tackle. Soon after that, the bracelets were placed on my wrists and I was given a ride to the local jail.

I learned many life lessons that evening, and if I can share one of the most valuable ones, it would be this: You can’t outrun a radio, no matter how much sauce you ingest.

Remember to always tip your bartender.

INFO@QCNERVE.COM

BYLINES

Pg. 27 June 5 - June 18, 2019 - QCNERVE.COM

ACROSS

1 Persian monarch 5 Navigator Vasco -11 Mark Twain, e.g., religionwise 16 Locale for hydrotherapy 19 Architect Saarinen 20 Relative key of C major 21 Egg-shaped 22 Rat-a- -23 [Ordeal] [Blaze] 25 Supply with a new staff 26 City in Brazil, for short 27 Particle made of quarks 28 [Stolen] [Tempest] 31 Observing 35 Many a CPR giver 36 Several eras 37 [Ashen] [Analogy] 44 Nasty sort 47 Actor Thicke 48 Award for “Moonlight” 49 Follows by radar, as a target 51 Supporting musician 54 [Triumph] [Preset] 58 Very rarely 59 Poor review 61 Mined stuff 62 Andean country 63 Ending for propyl 64 Of a junction point 66 Exact lookalikes 69 Russia’s -- -TASS 70 [Obligated] [Covenant] 73 “Que --?”

76 AM/FM receivers 77 Monte -78 Clerk on “The Simpsons” 81 Extremist 83 London loc.

84 Beast of burden 85 Native of Islam’s spiritual center 87 [Discover] [Performing] 91 Extremist

92 Prince Andrew’s younger daughter 93 Old Aegean Sea region 96 Brooklet 97 Proofer’s “let it stand” 98 [Captured] [Revelation] 104 Educ. org.

106 Beatified Mlle.

107 Finch variety 108 [Govern] [Edict] 114 Nasty sort 118 Hollywood’s Thurman 119 Brand of kitchen appliances 120 [Oliver] [Mae] 124 Maxwell Smart, e.g.

125 More timid 126 -- uno 127 Opera song 128 Ending for seer 129 Some bridge sides 130 Judge the value of 131 Royals manager Ned

DOWN

1 Meyers of NBC 2 Zeus’ wife 3 Dry 4 Got raspy, as a voice 5 Actor Coleman 6 Poehler of “Sisters” 7 PC image file 8 Folk singer DiFranco 9 Comic Sahl 10 Region 11 Musical scale start 12 Evite listings 13 Metrical foot 14 Stick around 15 On edge 16 Skill at which one excels 17 Couple 18 Quark site 24 Singer Lisa 29 Prefix with plunk 30 Lost money in the stock market, say 32 Holy image 33 Rejections 34 SUV maker 37 Out of date 38 Otherworldly 39 Big spoon 40 Lowly chess piece 41 MSNBC host Melber 42 Out of date 43 San Francisco’s -- Valley 45 City near central Missouri

46 Sign up for 50 Ozone-depleting compound, in brief 52 Prefix with unsaturated 53 Love, to Yvette 55 -- contendere 56 Wild horses 57 Meddling types 59 Containing cushioning 60 Many a white animal 65 Genetic info holder 66 IV dosage amts.

67 Be off base 68 Hollywood’s Hayek 70 Hair clip 71 Jellystone Park bear 72 Film director Joel or Ethan 73 Whimpers 74 Alaskan native 75 Many Broadway productions 78 Second part of 75-Down 79 Beach toys 80 Popeye, to Pipeye 82 Wilson of Heart 84 Tons (of) 86 Haul off

SOLUTION ON PAGE 30

88 Ballpoint brand 89 Pro vote 90 Young louse 91 Man-goat combo 94 SoHo locale 95 “When -- good time?”

99 Early online forum 100 Some hot rods 101 That girl 102 One-man-army types 103 Victim 105 Degrade 108 Bit of trickery 109 Ref relatives 110 Jewish youth gp.

111 Squares on calendars 112 City in central Sicily 113 Suffix with gas or right 115 First-century emperor 116 Nile goddess 117 French political division 121 Hotel units: Abbr.

122 Casual shirt 123 Divs. of 111-Down

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Req’d Wireless: Eligible postpaid wireless voice & data svc on both devices (min. $65/mo. for new svc with autopay and paperless bill discount. Pay $75/mo. until discount starts w/in 2 bills. Existing customers can add to elig. current plans If you cancel wireless svc on one, will owe that device balance of up to $950. Activation Fee: up to $45/each. Return: Return w/in 14 days. Restocking fee up to $45 each may apply. Add’l BOGO terms for customers w/consumer acct & Subscriber Paid User acct: Purchased device must be on Subscriber Paid User acct & free/discounted device must be on the consumer acct. Billing addresses for Subscriber Paid User & consumer accts must match. Req’s elig. postpaid wireless voice & data svc on both devices. Combined min. elig wireless svc is $73.50/mo. ($28.50/mo. on Subscriber Paid User acct + $45/mo. on consumer acct after autopay & paperless bill discount. Pay $83.50/mo. until discount starts on consumer acct w/in 2 bills.) Bill Credits: Applied in equal amounts to device over entire agmt term & will not exceed $700. Both wireless lines must be on same acct, be active & in good standing for 30 days to qualify. To get all credits, free wireless line must remain active, with eligible service, and on agmt for entire term. If you cancel service, upgrade or pay up/off agmt early your credits may cease. Limits: May not be combinable w/other offers, discounts or credits. Purchase, financing & other limits & restr’s apply. Participation in this offer may make your wireless account ineligible for select other offers (including select bill credit offers) for a 12 month period. See store or att.com/iphone8offer for offer details.

GEN. WIRELESS SVC: Subj. to Wireless Customer Agmt (att.com/wca). Credit approval required. Svcs not for resale. Deposit: May apply. Limits: Purch. & line limits apply. Prices may vary by location. Taxes, fees, monthly, other charges, usage, speed, coverage & other restr's apply per line. See att.com/additionalcharges for details on fees & charges. Promotions, terms & restr’s subject to change & may be modified or terminated at any time without notice. AT&T service is subject to AT&T network management policies. See att.com/broadbandinfo for details.

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JUNE 5 - JUNE 11 ARIES (March 21 to April 19) There’s nothing an Aries Lamb likes less than having to tackle a humdrum task. But finding a creative way to do it can make all the difference. A more exciting time awaits you this weekend.

TAURUS (April 20 to May 20) Finishing up a job on time leaves you free to enjoy your weekend without any Taurean guilt pangs. A romantic attitude from an unlikely source could take you by surprise.

GEMINI (May 21 to June 20) Moving in a new career direction might be seen by some as risky. But if you have both the confidence to see it through and the facts to back you up, it could prove rewarding.

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CANCER (June 21 to July 22) Holding back on a decision might be difficult, considering how long you’ve waited for this opportunity. But until you’re able to resolve all doubts, it could be the wiser course to take.

LEO (July 23 to August 22) You still need to move carefully where financial matters are concerned.

Better for the Lion to move slowly than pounce on a “promising” prospect that doesn’t keep its promises.

VIRGO (August 23 to September 22) A rejection of an idea you believe in can be upsetting. But don’t let it discourage you. Get yourself back on track and use what you’ve learned from the experience to try again.

LIBRA (September 23 to October 22) The early part of the week could find you looking to balance your priorities between your family obligations and your

JUNE 12 - JUNE 18 career responsibilities. Pressures begin to ease by ARIES (March 21 to April 19) Try using that Aries charm to warm up the usual set of workplace week’s end. naysayers, and then back it up with a solid block of SCORPIO (October 23 to November 21) An associate’s facts and figures to sell your idea to your colleagues. problem could cause unavoidable delays in moving ahead with your joint venture. If so, use the time TAURUS (April 20 to May 20) While nothing can to look into another project you had previously set deter a determined Bovine from following a course aside. you believe in, it helps to have some supporting data and statements by trusted colleagues to make SAGITTARIUS (November 22 to December 21) your case.

Although a financial problem could be very close to being resolved in your favor, it’s still a good idea GEMINI (May 21 to June 20) Take advantage of to avoid unnecessary spending for at least a little new information that could help make your career transition easier. The weekend is a good time to while longer. re-establish relationships with people you haven’t CAPRICORN (December 22 to January 19) Support seen in a while. for some unwelcome workplace decisions begins to show up, and continues to build, so that by week’s CANCER (June 21 to July 22) Personal matters end, the gregarious Goat is as popular as ever. demand your attention as once-stable situations begin to shift. Quick action to shore things up is AQUARIUS (January 20 to February 18) called for in order to avoid more problems down Congratulations. Deciding to attend a social the line. function you might have earlier tried to avoid could turn out to be one of the best decisions you’ve made LEO (July 23 to August 22) Although your financial picture begins to brighten, “thrift” and “caution” in a long time. are still the watchwords for fiscally astute Leos PISCES (February 19 to March 20) Getting into a and Leonas to live by. Expect news about a family new situation could prove to be a more difficult matter. experience than you expected. Don’t hesitate to ask for advice in coping with some of the more irksome VIRGO (August 23 to September 22) Before you challenges. try to blame a colleague for a workplace problem, make sure you have the proof to back you up. Make BORN THIS WEEK: Your strong sense of duty some quiet inquiries on your own to try to solicit makes you a valued and trusted member of your more information. community. Have you considered a career in law enforcement?

LIBRA (September 23 to October 22) Trying to cheer up a depressed friend or downcast family member

can be difficult. But keep at it, and your efforts should soon pay off in ways you might have never expected.

SCORPIO (October 23 to November 21) Taking a new look at an old and frequently recurring problem might lead you to consider making some surprising changes in the way you had been handling it up till now.

SAGITTARIUS (November 22 to December 21) Despite what the naysayers might say, setting your sights on a new goal could be one of the smartest things the typically sagacious Sagittarian has done in a long time.

CAPRICORN (December 22 to January 19) Rebuilding an unraveling relationship won’t be easy. But you can do it, if you really want to. Just remember to keep the lines of communication open between the two of you.

AQUARIUS (January 20 to February 18) A new friendship could develop into a close relationship.

Meanwhile, reassure an old friend who might be feeling neglected that he or she is still an important part of your life.

PISCES (February 19 to March 20) You might be feeling that you’re still in over your head as you continue trying to adjust to your new situation. But the pressures ease by week’s end, giving you time to come up for air.

BORN THIS WEEK: You have a gift for sensing the feelings of others. You might consider a career in some aspect of counseling.

BABY SOFT

Diapers and doms

BY DAN SAVAGE

I’m a 27-year-old, male, adult baby/diaper lover (AB/DL). I’ve been in the closet about my fetish basically since puberty. As a consequence, I never dated or became romantically involved. I thought if I buried my kink with enough shame, it would go away and I would somehow turn normal. It obviously didn’t work, and for the past year, I’ve been trying to find healthy ways to integrate this into my life. I play around with the kink in the privacy of my home and otherwise lead a normal life. My depression issues have let up, I’m more confident day-to-day, and even work has begun to improve. I want to start dating. I went on a normal date, and I felt very inauthentic trying to be engaged when my kink wasn’t present or at least out in the open.

I just wasn’t excited by the idea of a vanilla relationship. I would like to date women, but there’s such an imbalance between men and women with this particular kink that I don’t feel like I’ll ever meet someone who is compatible. I feel like I’m doomed to be lonely forever with my kink or sexually unfulfilled and terrified of being found out.

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BOY ALONE BASICALLY ETERNALLY

“It’s okay to not reveal every aspect of your sex life on a first date,” said Lo, a kink-positive podcaster and AB/DL whose show explores all aspects of your shared kink. “Besides, saying, ‘I like to wear diapers,’ on the first date is a surefire way to scare someone off. A better strategy is to establish a connection with a person, determine whether or not they’re trustworthy, and then open up about AB/DL. That takes time.”

Lo also doesn’t think you should write off vanilla people as potential partners.

“BABE should know that it’s possible to convert someone to the AB/DL side,” said Lo. “I see it happen

all the time. That’s the focus of Dream a Little, my AB/DL podcast. Most of the people I feature are men who have turned their female partners on to AB/DL, so the odds are in your favor.”

Lo is happily partnered with a vanilla guy who embraced her kink.

That doesn’t mean you’re guaranteed success the first time you disclose your kink to a partner, BABE. But you’ll never find someone with whom you’re compatible — or with whom you can achieve compatibility — unless you’re willing to risk opening up to someone.

“BABE is more likely to be doomed to the #foreveralone club if he gives up entirely out of fear,” said Lo. “Being an AB/DL poses some unique challenges in the dating world, but thousands of other AB/DLs have found a way to make it work, and he can too.”

Now, before people start freaking out (and it may be too late), it’s not just AB/DLs who “convert” or “turn” vanilla partners to their kinks. There are two kinds of people at any big kink event (BDSM party, furry convention, piss splashdown): the people who were always kinky, i.e., people who’ve been aware of their kinks since puberty (and masturbating about them since puberty), and the people who fell in love with those people.

So Lo isn’t telling BABE to do anything that people with other kinks aren’t advised to do all the time: date, establish trust, and then lay your kink cards on the table.

“BABE has come a long way, and it’s great that he’s building confidence. But he still views his kink as an impossible obstacle, and it doesn’t need to be that way,” said Lo. “It’s so important that you learn how to accept your kink, because then you will know you’re capable of and deserving of love.”

And finally, BABE, if and when you do meet a woman who is willing to indulge you — or maybe even embrace AB/DL play — don’t neglect her sexual needs. I answered a letter years ago from a frustrated woman who was preparing to leave her AB/DL husband because he never wanted to have vanilla sex and, as much as she’d come to enjoy AB/ DL occasionally, she no longer felt like her needs mattered to her husband.

Don’t make the same mistake that guy did — or you could, after a long search for a compatible partner, find yourself miserable and alone again.

You can follow Lo on Twitter and Instagram @daddyiwantthis. Her podcast and AB/DL self-acceptance programs can be found at thelittlelounge.com.

I need help deciding whether to listen to my mother on the matter of what’s best for me romantically or ask her to keep her opinions about my boyfriend to herself. My mom and I have always been close. She is a single parent and I am an only child. I’ve always told her everything, and as I have gotten older that has started to become a problem. I’ve been in a longdistance Daddy Dom/little girl relationship with a middle-aged man with spina bifida for three years. We met on FetLife right before I turned 19. The entire time, my mom has made fun of his disability while occasionally putting her pettiness aside and acknowledging that he’s good to me. I made the mistake of telling her about the BDSM element, and she is extremely uncomfortable with it, though she denies that it is why she disapproves. My Daddy comes from a middle-class family and has been known to say insensitive shit on occasion about workingclass people like my mom and me. I checked my Daddy on his privilege, and he doesn’t say stupid shit about the jobs we work anymore. I love my Daddy and can’t stand the idea of leaving him, but at times I wonder if my mom is right that me loving him isn’t enough. He makes me feel loved and taken care of in a way no one else has before, but I worry about whether I can have a future with someone who doesn’t work, who my mom hates, and who might be a little bit of an asshole? (Do a couple instances of rudeness make a man an asshole?) Help. I’m lost.

DUMB DAUGHTER LOVES GUY

the sound of things — has taken place online. Which is fine — people can forge strong connections online.

But until you meet this man in person (assuming you haven’t already), DDLG, and unless you’re working toward moving to where he lives, this relationship probably won’t last forever — which is also fine.

A relationship doesn’t have to last forever to have been a success. This guy played an important (and still ongoing) role in your sexual development and brought you a lot of joy ... and you can acknowledge those things while simultaneously acknowledging the reality of the situation: The man you were with when you were 18 is probably not the man you’ll be with when you’re 28. That’s true for most people, DDLG, regardless of their kinks, distance from their lovers, relationships with their mothers, etc.

As for whether your boyfriend is an asshole: While he certainly said some insensitive/asshole-y/ classist things, DDLG, you let him know that wasn’t okay and he knocked it off. It’s not proof he doesn’t still think those things, but it is evidence he cares enough about you (or fears losing you enough) to stop saying those things. So even if he is an asshole, he is capable of moderating his assholery, which is something not all assholes can do.

As for your mom ... just because you shared everything with her when you were a child doesn’t mean you have to or should as an adult. There are things a mother has a right not to know, as my mother used to say, and her child’s kinks fall under the “right not to know” header. When it comes to your romantic and sexual interests, DDLG, share the rough outlines with your mom (“I’m seeing this guy, it’s long-distance, he’s nice”) but spare her the intimate details (BDSM, DD/LG, whatever else).

On the Lovecast, what do we do now that Tumblr is dead?: savagelovecast.com; mail@savagelove.net; Your entire relationship with your boyfriend — from Follow Dan on Twitter @fakedansavage; ITMFA.org

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