Queen City Nerve Vol 2_Issue 4

VOLUME 2 | ISSUE 4 | JANUARY 15 - JANUARY 28, 2020 - QCNERVE.COM

Connect with free arts and culture experiences for all ages, close to home.

CULTURE

BLOCKS

Find upcoming events at ArtsAndScience.org/CultureBlocks

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PRESENTS

DIRECTED BY BILLY ENSLEY JANUARY 31-FEBRUARY 9, 2020 WWW.MATTHEWSPLAYHOUSE.COM

WipeOutWaste.com

Don’t Just Recycle,

RECYCLE RIGHT! Please just recycle the basic materials listed here. Nothing else.

Just because you wish it to be recycled, does not make it recyclable.

STAFF

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

PAPER

PLASTIC BOTTLES

CARDBOARD

CARTONS

CANS

GLASS BOTTLES

Please DO NOT place the following items in your at-home recycle bin. DO NOT bag recyclables.

STAFF WRITER • Pat Moran pmoran@qcnerve.com ART DIRECTOR • Dana Vindigni dvindigni@qcnerve.com MARKETING MANAGER • Jayme Johnson jjohnson@qcnerve.com

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ADVERTISING

HOSES

FOOD

PLASTIC BAGS AND TRASH

SHREDDED PAPER

No Recycling at your Apartment Complex?

Please use one of Mecklenburg County’s Recycling Centers.

To place an advertisement please call 980-349-3029

Queen City Nerve welcomes submissions of all kinds. Please send submissions or story pitches to rpitkin@qcnerve. com. Queen City Nerve is published every other Wednesday

by Nerve Media Productions LLC. No portion may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher.

Queen City Nerve is located in Advent Coworking at 933 Louise Ave., Charlotte, NC, 28204. First Issue of Queen CIty Nerve free. Each additional issue $5.

CORDS

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Charlotte’s Cultural Pulse

NEWS & CULTURE

6 Spare Some Change? by Ryan Pitkin Anti-panhandling street signs stir controversy 7 Hunkered Down by Justin LaFrancois Charlotte’s homeless population prepares for cold months ahead 8 The Suffragist by Rhiannon Fionn 9 The Scanner by Ryan Pitkin

LIFELINE

10 How not to kill your social life

MUSIC

12 The Walls Come Tumbling Down by Pat Moran Phil Lomac brings veteran regional acts together 14 Soundwave

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BUY PASSES NOW

FOOD & DRINK

16 Pay It Forward by Ryan Pitkin Mr. 3’s Crab Pot owners build community through seafood 17 The Newbie Foodie by Darrel Horwitz

LIFESTYLE

18 Aerin It Out by Aerin Spruill 18 Sudoku 19 Crossword 20 Horoscope 21 The Buzz 22 Savage Love

Cover Design by Dana Vindigni & Jayme Johnson PHOTO BY GRANT BALDWIN

INFORMAL PUBLIC HEARINGS FOR PROPOSED IMPROVEMENTS TO U.S. 74 (INDEPENDENCE BOULEVARD) FROM WEST OF IDLEWILD ROAD TO I-485

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The N.C. Department of Transportation will hold open house style informal hearings as shown below.

Tuesday, January 28 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.

CPCC Levine Campus – LVII Atrium 2800 Campus Ridge Road Matthews

Wednesday, January 29 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Ovens Auditorium – Starlight Room 2700 E. Independence Boulevard Charlotte

The proposed project would upgrade U.S. 74 from west of Idlewild Road to I-485 by adding general purpose lanes, interchanges, bridges and an express lane in each direction.

NCDOT, in cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), has published the Final U.S. 74 (Independence Boulevard) Improvements Environmental Assessment (EA). The EA contains a summary of the impacts associated with the project, including an evaluation and proposed finding of de minimis 4(f) impacts to several local park properties protected under the Department of Transportation Act of 1966.

The Environmental Assessment (EA) document is available for review online https://www.ncdot.gov/projects/us-74-express-lanes/Pages/project-documents.aspx

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2100 North Davidson 704-688-7120

M-F: 5PM - 2AM SAT & SUN: 12PM - 2AM

With the EA now available to the public, the formal review period has begun. The public hearings will provide an opportunity for the public to make comments that will be included in the project record.

Comments on the EA and de minimis finding will be accepted until February 29, 2020.

NCDOT representatives will be available in an informal, open house-style setting to answer questions and gather public input regarding the proposed project. The opportunity to submit written comments or questions will be provided and is encouraged. Citizens may attend either open house at any time between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. There will be no formal presentation.

Project maps and other information can be found on the project website https://www.ncdot.gov/projects/us-74-express-lanes Maps and other information on Project I-5507 (the project to add express lanes on I-485) will be available at this meeting as well.

For more information contact Wilson Stroud, with the NCDOT Project Management Unit wstroud@ncdot.gov or (919) 707-6045

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NCDOT will provide auxiliary aids and services under the Americans with Disabilities Act for disabled persons who want to participate in this public open house. Anyone requiring special services should contact Diane Wilson at pdwilson1@ncdot.gov as soon as possible so that arrangements can be made.

Drinks.

Games.

Music.

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Persons who do not speak English, or have a limited ability to read, speak or understand English, may receive interpretive services upon request prior to the meeting by calling 1-800-481-6494.

mecklenburg_queen-city-nerve_U-2509.indd 1

Aquellas personas que no hablan inglés, o tienen limitaciones para leer, hablar o entender inglés, podrían recibir servicios de interpretación si los solicitan antes de la reunión llamando al 1-800-481-6494.

Recycle me after reading

1/10/20 4:04 PM

& OPINION SPARE SOME CHANGE?

Anti-panhandling street signs stir controversy

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BY RYAN PITKIN

AST NOVEMBER, KEYSHA WALKER TAYLOR was walking in Uptown when a red-and-white sign caught her eye. The sign had a graphic depicting a hand giving a coin to another hand with a red circle and slash on top of it, the general prohibition symbol meant to express that something is not permitted. The sign read, “It’s OK to say no to panhandlers. Handouts don’t help. Contribute to the solution. Give to local charities. RealChangeCLT.org.”

Taylor tweeted a picture of the sign, tagging the city’s official Twitter account and voicing her disgust.

“Who approved this?” she wrote. “@CLTgov I’m under the impression this organization is intentionally trying to mimic City approved signage. Please remove this.”

She tagged Mayor Vi Lyles and other Charlotte City Council members in follow-up tweets, but never got a response from the city, so a week later she took matters into her own hands.

“The city didn’t take the signs down, so I ended up taking them down myself,”she said matter-of-factly when we met at Coco & the Director at Trade and Tryon streets in Uptown. She pointed out the window. “There was one on this corner, there was one right in front of Starbucks [on North Tryon Street]. This is the only area I frequent. But if I see another one, I guarantee, they’ll come down.”

According to Charlotte’s municipal code, it is illegal to beg, solicit or panhandle on publicly owned sidewalks or in public parks. There are a list of other prohibitions on panhandling; no soliciting within 20 feet of a bank or ATM, on a public transportation vehicle or after dark, for example. It’s also illegal to solicit money “after the person to whom the solicitation is directed has made a negative response, either verbally, by physical sign, by attempting to leave the presence of the person soliciting, or by other negative indication.”

Taylor brought the signs to a town hall meeting hosted that month by outgoing city council District

Ghost has been panhandling on Charlotte’s streets since 2011.

2 representative Justin Harlow and incoming representative Malcolm Graham, but was met with confusion about where the signs came from.

“I would be curious to know what organizations are involved,” she said. “It seems that no one really wanted to take responsibility for it.”

According to the website, “Real Change is an initiative that asks people not to give money to panhandlers. It also directs panhandlers or those in crisis to call 211, or seek help from partnered human services organizations like Charlotte Rescue Mission, Men’s Shelter, Salvation Army, Urban Ministry Center, and United Way of the Central Carolinas.”

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department is also a partner, and multiple sources told us the department is responsible for putting the signs in Uptown, though representatives did not return our request for comment before Queen City Nerve’s press deadline.

The coalition was convened by Charlotte Center City Partners (CCCP). According to Moira Quinn, senior vice president and chief operating officer at CCCP, the group was formed based on a need expressed by people working in the field.

“At Center City Partners, we are not experts in this topic, so we depend on our special services partners and CMPD,” Quinn said. “We convene, and it is our job to support. We depend on them to give us advice on how to make this work, but we also know that homelessness and panhandling, which are two different issues, are both urban issues, and so for that reason, this is something that’s important to us and it’s important to our stakeholders.”

As the board chair for the African American Community Foundation, a microgrant program that promotes economic self-reliance, equal opportunity, leadership and cultural awareness among Charlotte’s

PHOTO BY GRANT BALDWIN

African-American community, Taylor has dedicated much of her work to charitable philanthropy like what RealChange CLT is asking people to contribute to.

However, her problem is with the hypocrisy of taking away a person’s agency to ask for money themselves in the same way the organizations are asking for money.

“We categorize activities based on the person that is performing that activity,” she says. “That’s really where my issue with the signs comes in. To the poor, how do you define panhandling? It is someone standing or being mobile, asking another person for money to fulfill whatever needs that they have?

How do we define solicitation? It’s literally what the Salvation Army does every holiday season … So it’s only OK if I give money to the charity who is then in charge of giving money to those in need, but it’s not OK if I give directly to the person in need, or if the person in need asks for it directly on their behalf so they can do what they want with it?”

Rev. Tony Marciano has worked for 23 years with Charlotte Rescue Mission, the goal for which is “transforming lives in the name of Christ by serving people struggling with addiction, poverty, or hopelessness with the goal of returning them to society as productive, selfsufficient citizens.” He stands behind the campaign to end panhandling, though he does not approve of the signs that were reportedly put up by CMPD. “I would not have approved the signs if they had asked for my opinion,” Marciano told Queen City Nerve.

“I think we could have communicated the message in a friendlier manner to encourage people not to give money to folks that are panhandling.”

According to Marciano, what he’s seen over that time has convinced him that giving to panhandlers is wrong.

“The message that I’ve been trying to say is help people achieve their potential,” he says, “and we know

Keysha Walker Taylor

PHOTO BY RYAN PITKIN

that most of the people that are panhandling are either struggling with addictions or they’ve been set up by transitional housing facilities where they have to raise $75 a day to sleep there that night ... Let’s move them to seeking services so that we can help them achieve their potential.”

Marciano says he regularly polls those people receiving services at Charlotte Rescue Mission and asks whether they could raise enough money to support a drug addiction daily even if they woke up with no money. According to Marciano, about 85% of the people he polls say they could raise enough money to use every 90 minutes or so and continue on in active addiction.

We spoke with one man, who wanted to only be identified by his nickname Ghost, who says he’s been panhandling in and around Uptown since 2011.

Ghost’s daily goal is to raise $60, which he says covers food for him and his dog, as well as medicine for the many maladies he’s dealt with in recent years, including multiple heart attacks and having his big toe amputated.

Ghost said he swears off street drugs, but admits that drug addiction runs rampant in the homeless community. He said some of his neighbors in the encampment where he lives smoke crack and get the money for it through panhandling.

Ghost sees his panhandling as a form of protest. He said he’s an Army veteran who has been cut off from the financial help he once received from the government.

“I don’t see anything wrong with it because it’s freedom of speech and it’s our way to let people know that we need something and we can’t get it from the resources that we already have,” he said. “The resources are tapped so we have to count on society.”

RPITKIN@QCNERVE.COM

& OPINION HUNKERED DOWN

Charlotte’s homeless population prepares for the coldest months

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BY JUSTIN LAFRANCOIS

NTONIO HOWARD has been struggling with homelessness for five years, three of those in Charlotte. He has to do whatever he can each day to find a safe space to sleep at night. When I ask where he usually lays his head, he extends his arms and spins them, saying “Wherever I can.”

I ask about his plan for that night, which is unseasonably warm for January, but he still has no intention of spending it outside. He points toward an AT&T work van at the intersection of Trade and Tryon streets. “If that van stays there all night, I might be in there sleeping, you know what I mean?” he says.

Howard is not the only example of desperate people being forced to take desperate measures on the streets of Charlotte. One recent CMPD incident report told of a family living in a broken down car on Nations Crossing Road in south Charlotte, with a 1-year-old child who was found to be neglected due to his poor health and homeless status.

Another couple was recently charged with breaking and entering after they went behind the front desk at Crowne Plaza Charlotte Executive Park. The couple stole a room key without paying, then slept in the room because they were homeless and needed to stay warm.

In Mecklenburg County, a wind chill of 10 degrees sustained for more than 24 hours was long the threshold at which the county would open warming centers at pre-established centers in the area. If water begins to freeze at 32 degrees, then frostnip, frostbite and hypothermia are all real dangers of being exposed to weather that feels like 10 degrees for a prolonged period of time.

Recently, officials with the Charlotte Mecklenburg Emergency Management Office have

moved away from the set temperature threshold.

Hannah Sanborn with CMEMO said in an email that a county-wide Shelter Task Force made up of partners from the city of Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, the American Red Cross and local homeless service providers such as Urban Ministry Center and the Salvation Army Center of Hope determined that specific criteria in regards to triggering a shelter activation restricts them from operating at times when the variables fall outside of the criteria. She adds that their focus, first and foremost, is safety.

Factors that initiate conversations among the task force include partner impacts or shelter capacities, weather forecasts and 911 call volume.

There was no specification on what type of weather constitutes concern.

In November 2019, when temperatures dropped below freezing for a night, Urban Ministry Center, who operates The Men’s Shelter of Charlotte and Salvation Army Center of Hope, expanded their capacity. Salvation Army said they would not turn anyone away and would remain open for 24 hours. Howard, however, had no such luck, stating that he was turned away from The Men’s Shelter of Charlotte during that period of time due to the shelter being at capacity.

“The worst part about it, if you’re not sleeping there, you ain’t eating,” Howard adds.

“I’ve just gotten to that point man. A lot of people have,” he continues regarding his intentions to stop going to the local shelters. “I have to ask the businesses for food, because I am actually hungry.”

According to the 2019 Point in Time Count report, a census of sorts that surveys the local

homeless population, there are more than 2,100 residents in Mecklenburg County struggling with homelessness, and everyday dozens are being turned away from shelters. The waiting lists are long and the beds are usually full.

The new Point in Time Count for 2020 will be held on Wednesday, January 29. Volunteers will also document permanent and temporary housing capacity across the housing continuum.

Sanborn says the Shelter Task Force operates two main types of shelters. One is a shelter overflow operation in response to capacity at existing homeless shelters being reached, and the other is a disaster response shelter operation during hurricanes, flooding or widespread power outages.

She says The Men’s Shelter and the Salvation Army can provide overflow accommodations to a certain point before the Shelter Task Force assists in operating an overflow shelter.

If the Emergency Management Office is starting to take steps in the direction of humaneness, why are people still opposed to using the supplied shelter system as a means for safety? Mecklenburg County Commissioner at-large Pat Cotham says it has to do with more than just the shelters being open.

“The people who are the most vulnerable don’t know what’s happening — they don’t even know what day it is sometimes,” Cotham says. “The people who need shelter don’t know about it, and they don’t have any way to find out and we don’t have anybody out there telling them.”

Cotham says the county has told her that homeless residents can go online to find out what beds are available at local shelters and when the warming

centers are open, what the hours of operation are and what sleeping situations are available.

“They don’t have anything to go online with.

They don’t have wi-fi, they don’t have a laptop in their backpack,” Cotham adds.

CMEMO states that residents can also call 311 for shelter information.

“They hesitate to leave their little spot at the bus stop — at a covered bus stop — or an area near a church or something,” Cotham continues.

A lot of our homeless population are eldery or disabled and don’t have the physical means to walk for long distances, she adds, and if they can, they’re still not guaranteed a bed when they arrive at the shelter.

Cotham says that North Tryon Street, where many homeless people stay, is well-lit and often patrolled by police cars. There are more people around, which can bring a higher sense of safety, although that can bring with it its own risks. On Jan. 10, a man was stabbed in the chest at a homeless encampment that has sprung up on North Tryon.

While there have been some improvements in resource availability for the homeless community, Cotham, who has worked with the people living on our streets for years, says the county continues to lack in communication efforts and reliable transportation to shelters, saying clearly, “I think we need a bus.”

Cotham is known to spend nights during the cold season walking the streets and handing out supplies to homeless residents.

“When I’m giving out blankets and stuff they say, ‘I could really use it but I can’t carry this stuff all the time.’ The people who stay at the shelter, I repeatedly hear that when they leave, they have to take their things with them. A lot of times, like if they are on a job interview, they have to put their things in a bush and hope that after the interview it would still be there,” she says.

She suggests that repurposing the hundreds of school lockers that have become obsolete in local schools could be a helpful policy.

She’s made friends with many people facing homelessness, and when I ask Cotham what people on the streets are saying to her, she says that, beyond warm shelter and food, many of our homeless neighbors have simply found themselves down on their luck.

Cotham has met many people who have jobs but just don’t have the credit to lock down a stable home. They feel dehumanized by fellow residents’ unwillingness to see them as peers.

“They feel invisible and people don’t look at them and they want to be seen,” she says.

JLAFRANCOIS@QCNERVE.COM

THE SUFFRAGIST THEN AND NOW

Gertrude Weil would be proud of today’s North Carolina women

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BY RHIANNON FIONN

GERTRUDE WEIL is credited with bringing the fight for women’s suffrage to North Carolina.

The Goldsboro native came by activism naturally as many other people in her life, including her mother, were already active in various women’s organization. At age 16, she left for prep school in New York City in 1895, and from there wrote home, “Oh! You’ll see me come home a thorough reformer.”

And that’s exactly what she did.

In 1913 she helped women in Charlotte — namely Julia Alexander, the Queen City’s first female attorney (the second in the state) — organize the first suffrage meeting here. Even after the N.C. General Assembly (NCGA) failed to ratify the 19th Amendment six years later, Weil did not lose hope, but instead called on women “to hold together whatever organization you have. We shall need it to carry out the work that lies before us.” Her response to the NCGA’s inaction was to form the North Carolina League of Women Voters.

For more than 70 years, Ms. Weil fought not only for women’s suffrage but also for labor reform, civil rights and so much more.

It wasn’t until 1971, when Weil was on her deathbed, that the NCGA ratified the 19th Amendment, though by then it didn’t matter.

Today, the fight for our rights continues with similar zeal. Look no further than neighboring Virginia and recent news that their state legislature may soon ratify the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) — which could make it the 28th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution ... maybe. The intent of the ERA is to provide equal rights, regardless of sex, to all U.S. citizens.

According to Bloomberg News: “When the 1979 deadline passed, only 35 of the 38 states needed had voted to ratify the amendment, but votes by Nevada in 2017 and Illinois in 2018 brought the count to 37. The Virginia General Assembly, with a newly elected Democratic majority, is expected to become the 38th legislature to approve the ERA soon after its session convenes Jan. 8.”

While there is an effort in Congress to extend the ERA’s ratification deadline, attorney generals

from Alabama, Louisiana and South Dakota filed suit in federal court last month in an effort to nullify any hope of the ERA’s ratification.

And yet, women — and men — continue their fight in Washington D.C. and right here in North Carolina. In March 2019, N.C. Sen. Joyce Waddell of Charlotte co-sponsored SB 184 offering our state another chance to be the deciding vote for federal equal rights for women. The bill has been stuck in committee since. That was the fifth year in a row that ERA bills have been introduced in the NCGA, yet the bills never come up for a vote in either legislative chamber.

Women still have plenty of poll power. “Overall ... women are 53% of the registered voters in the state, and typically are that same percentage when it comes to casting ballots in general elections,” political analyst Dr. Michael Bitzer explained on his Old North State Politics blog.

Women are paying attention with good reason. According to the N.C. Department of Administration’s 2019 report entitled “The Status of Women in North Carolina,” among other major issues on the minds of female voters, North Carolina received a D grade on the Institute for Women’s Policy Research’s health and well-being index.”

Still, an op-ed in The Charlotte Observer following the 2018 mid-term election declared, “The Year of the Woman? Not in NC politics.” The author, David McClennan, noted that while there has been a surge in female candidates in other states, North Carolina “is not experiencing a surge in women candidates to the same degree as many states. The total number of women running for all offices in the state has declined from 2014 and 2016.”

In Charlotte, five of 12 city councilmembers are female, and the Mecklenburg Commission has a majority of women policymakers — six of nine are women, including vice-chair Elaine Powell, elected in 2018. The fight is long from over for women in this state, but I can’t help but imagine Miss Gertrude smiling upon us all as we help each other carry the mantle she first brought to the state in the early 1900s.

INFO@QCNERVE.COM

SCANNER

BY RYAN PITKIN

BURNING UP A recent Sunday Funday in NoDa turned into a fiery mess when a car burst into flames in front of Neighborhood Theatre. According to the report, the 28-year-old owner of the car stated that a woman intentionally set the car on fire while she was still inside, though it’s unclear how she did so. Photos of the scene posted on Facebook show the black Honda Civic flaming up pretty big, to the point where it was totaled, though the victim was fortunately able to escape suffering only minor injuries and did not need medical treatment. Two things that remain unclear from the photo and report: Why there’s an electric scooter underneath the car while it’s burning and which involved party is now facing drug charges for the $400 worth of Xanax that were found on the scene.

LOSE YOUR HEAD Police responded to a Golf Galaxy on Providence Road after a recent example of the most south Charlotte crime one could commit.

Police responded to the store at around 6:45 p.m. one evening after an unknown suspect walked into the store and unscrewed the head of a golf club from its body and walked out with just the head, which is apparently worth $300.

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LEAVE A MARK A 35-year-old man was assaulted at his job recently in a way that is more mafia don than car salesman. The victim told police he was at his job at Town & Country Toyota on South Boulevard at around 12:15 p.m. when his coworker grabbed him by the shirt and burned his neck with a lit cigar. It must have been the suspect’s lunch break, though, because he fled the scene before police arrived.

WEIGHED DOWN A porch pirate in south Charlotte probably thought they had made a big haul during a recent theft, only to find a blanket. According to a police report from one of Charlotte’s more affluent neighborhoods — which we won’t name so as not to make it a target — a 32-year-old man reported thousands of dollars worth of goods stolen from his porch after they were delivered by Amazon. The man reported the following as stolen: two ceramic fans, two air filters, a weighted blanket, a bed comforter, a knife set, a Roku, an Apple Watch, two vacuums, a juice machine, two phone cases and a dinner set. All in all, the thief made off with $2,700 in merchandise.

NCDOT TO HOLD PUBLIC MEETING REGARDING THE PROPOSAL TO WIDEN N.C. 73 FROM DAVIDSON-CONCORD TO U.S. 29

E-COMMERCE Management at a north Charlotte Walmart filed a police report recently after finding that one of their employees had been collecting on a holiday bonus that he didn’t necessarily earn.

According to the report, the employee was found to have stolen 20 video games and a pair of AirPods during his three-month employment. If we’re being real, Walmart is known nationally for treating their workers like shit so we say let him keep the games.

CAN’T BE CONTAINED Police responded to a group home in the Windsor Park neighborhood after one juvenile proved to be too slippery for both staff and police both. According to the report, police had just “recovered” the runaway juvenile after he ditched the group home, and returned him to the building at around 10:30 p.m. Then, “while officers were still on scene, group home staff members informed officers that the juvenile had run away again.”

STARTING A BAND Police responded to a Guitar Center in University City on one recent morning after someone pulled off a daring heist and stole thousands of dollars worth of musical equipment.

According to the report, at some point between 9:19 and 10:15 a.m., a suspect walked out of the store with four electric guitars, one bass guitar, one classical guitar and a case, stealing a total of $5,646 worth of gear.

DAVY CROC-IT One would-be shoplifter has to be wondering which is worse, his taste or his timing, after getting caught red-handed at a DSW shoe warehouse on South Boulevard one recent morning.

According to the report, the suspect walked into the store at around 10:40 a.m. and grabbed a backpack from one of the shelves then put two pairs of Crocs in the bag. He ran out the front door and right into two police officers who were walking into the store. A brief foot pursuit followed, but the suspect was caught by the officers and charged with misdemeanor shoplifting.

MOPEDING ISN’T A CRIME Police responded to Saint Patrick Catholic School on a recent morning after an anonymous employee called 911 to report a “suspicious moped” that had been found near the school’s playground. We’re not sure what makes a moped suspicious, but we think Suspicious Moped would make a good band name if anyone wants it.

IN MECKLENBURG / CABARRUS COUNTIES

STIP Project No. R-5706 The N.C. Department of Transportation will hold a public meeting regarding the proposed widening of N.C. 73 from Davidson-Concord Road (S.R. 2693) to U.S. 29 (Concord Parkway North) in Mecklenburg and Cabarrus counties.

The primary purpose of this project is to increase mobility between Davidson-Concord Road and I-85 and between U.S. 29 and I-85, reduce congestion at the intersections, improve traffic along N.C. 73, and provide bicycle and pedestrian facilities.

A public meeting will be held from 4-7 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 27 at Connect Christian Church, 3101 Davidson Hwy in Concord.

The purpose of this meeting is to inform the public of the project and gather input on the proposed design. As information becomes available, it may be viewed online at the NCDOT public meeting webpage: https://www.ncdot.gov/projects/nc-73-mecklenburg-cabarrus/Pages/default.aspx.

Maps and information on R-5721/U-5765 (N.C. 73 Improvements from N.C. 16 to Northcross Drive) will also be available at this meeting.

The public may attend at any time during the public meeting hours, as no formal presentation will be made. NCDOT representatives will be available to answer questions and receive comments. The comments and information received will be taken into consideration as work on the project develops.

The opportunity to submit written comments will be provided at the meeting or can be done by phone, email, or mail by Feb. 10, 2020.

For additional information, contact NCDOT Project Management Unit Project Manager Theresa Ellerby, at 1595 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-1595, (919) 707-6020 or tellerby@ncdot.gov.

NCDOT will provide auxiliary aids and services under the Americans with Disabilities Act for disabled persons who wish to participate in this meeting. Anyone requiring special services should contact Tony Gallagher, Environmental Analysis Unit, at 1598 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-1598, (919) 707-6069 or magallagher@ncdot.gov as early as possible so that arrangements can be made.

Persons who do not speak English, or have a limited ability to read, speak or understand English, may receive interpretive services upon request prior to the meeting by calling 1-800-481-6494.

1 As cabarrus-mecklenburg_queen-city-nerve_R-5706.indd for the moped itself, it’s been placed in storage until ownership can be determined.

WHEN NATURE CALLS Perhaps the most conspicuous thing you can do to grab a cop’s attention when you happen to be driving drunk at 9 a.m. would be to jump out of your car and start peeing in the street during rush hour traffic, but that’s what one suspect did on a recent Monday morning. According to the report, officers witnessed the suspect urinating in the roadway on South Tryon Street near Sandy Porter Road, so they pulled him over and, following an investigation, charged him with driving while impaired and other trafficrelated offenses.

Aquellas personas que no hablan inglés, o tienen limitaciones para leer, hablar o entender inglés, podrían recibir servicios de interpretación si los solicitan antes de la reunión llamando al 1-800-481-6494.

12/27/19 PM OUTTA MY YARD One south Charlotte man1:30 doesn’t want anybody messing around in his yard, even if they’re trying to improve it. Police responded to an assault call in the Quail Hollow neighborhood and found two men, aged 63 and 23, who had just been in a fight. According to the report, the 63-year-old man who owned the home where the call originated yelled at the younger man, who is a landscaper and was doing yardwork. The older man ordered him to leave his yard. The landscaper must really love his job, because he refused to leave the yard, then “an altercation ensued [and] the resident struck the landscaper in the face with a closed fist.”

All Scanner entries are pulled from CMPD reports.

Suspects are innocent until proven guilty.

WEDNESDAY, JAN. 15TH A SHARED ELEGY

What: The Light Factory and Mint Museum present the work of four photographers. Emmet Gowin specializes in aerial landscapes, his son Elijah Gowin’s Of Falling and Floating depicts people in free fall, Osamu James Nakagawa is a pioneer of digital photography, and Takayuki Ogawa presented a stylized, highly personal portrait of New York.

More: Free; 6 p.m.; Mint Museum Randolph, 2730 Randolph Rd.; lightfactory.org

THURSDAY, JAN. 16TH

IRON CAGES & YOU ONCE WERE

What: Who was fastest and loudest, the Ramones, or Husker Du? Move over for the next generation of LOUD. Washington D.C.’s Iron Cages feature blistering banshee yowls over rattlesnake riffs. You Once Were’s bludgeoning maelstrom “Laden with Stone” lasts all of 24 seconds. Totally Slow and Charlotte’s Mutant Strain bring the tinnitus home.

More: $5-7; 8 p.m.; Oso Skatepark, 933 Louise Ave., #109; ososkatepark.com

FRIDAY, JAN. 17TH

LIFELINE

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JAN. 15TH - JAN. 21ST

‘HAITI: BEYOND THE RUINS’

What: Bryn Gillette is big into Jesus; we’re just going to warn you of that going into this artist talk. But whether you share that same religious fervor or not, the door-sized paintings he’s created and described as “a plea for God’s spirit to renew the destiny of Haiti” are worth a glorious gander.

More: Free; 7-9 p.m.; Warehouse 242, 2307 Wilkinson Blvd.; tinyurl.com/BrynGillette

SATURDAY, JAN. 18TH

GIN CURIOUS WITH DURHAM DISTILLERY

What: Gin has evolved a lot since 70 A.D. Come learn its history with mixologist and Durham Distillery N.C. brand ambassador JaQuan Bowser and his award-winning Conniption Gin. Enjoy a tasting of Conniption’s American Dry and Navy Strength styles at this Grapes, Grains and Conversations event.

More: $35; 3-4:30 p.m.; Max & Lola Bodega, 1501 S. Mint St.; tinyurl.com/DurhamDistillery

SUNDAY, JAN. 19TH BIG EASY BRUNCH

What: Last month we named Chef Joya Best Vegan Chef of 2019, and she’s kicking things off this year with a Soulful Sunday brunch event inspired by the colorful flavors and cultural melting pot of New Orleans, with Krab Cakes Po Boys, Creole Chik’n, empanadas, blackened C-Food Mac & Cheez, Banana Foster French toast, New Orleans-style red beans and more.

More: $40-$50; 1-3 p.m.; address TBA; tinyurl.com/JoyaNawlins

MONDAY, JAN. 20TH

MLK DAY CELEBRATION

What: This family-friendly event kicks off with a screening of Our Friend Martin in the morning, followed by a full day of hands-on art workshops, guided tours, musical performances and more activities examining the inequities in housing, incarceration and reentry. Local musicians and artists perform throughout the day, including a noon set from Quentin Talley and the Soul Providers.

More: Free; 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture, 551 S. Tryon St.; ganttcenter.org

TUESDAY, JAN. 21ST CELINE DION

What: In November, Celine Dion dropped her first English-language album in six years, debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard charts and proving the icon’s still got it. Sure, it fell to No. 80 by the next week, but she’s sold 250 million records in her life, her heart will go on. (Sorry, we couldn’t help ourselves.)

More: $72 and up; 7:30 p.m.; Spectrum Center, 333 E. Trade St.; spectrumcentercharlotte.com

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for cool events happening in the queen city!

WEDNESDAY, JAN. 22ND MANIFESTATIONS OF HYBRIDITY

What: Anatomy, identity and psychology are at the core of works by N.C.-based artists Saba Taj and Antoine Williams. A queer Muslim, Taj challenges racism through empowered representations of people of color. Influenced by authors like H.P. Lovecraft, Williams utilizes mixed media to create a mythos concerned with race, class and masculinity.

More: Free; 6 p.m.; Elder Gallery, 1520 S. Tryon St.; eldergalleryclt.com

THURSDAY, JAN. 23RD

LADIES NIGHT OPEN MIC

What: What better place for a woman-only open mic than Charlotte’s only 100% woman-owned brewery? This event is hosted by the folks at Beerly Funny, but it’s not just for comics; musicians, poets or whoever else has something to say are all welcome. Just make it bold or don’t bother.

More: Free; 7-9:30 p.m.; Bold Missy Brewery, 610 Anderson St.; boldmissybrewery.com

FRIDAY, JAN. 24TH

LIFELINE

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JAN. 22TH -JAN. 28TH

‘THE ROAD TO NOW’

What: Have you ever asked yourself, “How did we get here?” In 2006, Bob Crawford and Ben Sawyer sat down to talk history, and the conversation never stopped. Building on their popular podcast, Avett Brothers bassist Crawford and historian Sawyer hold enlightening discussions with great thinkers bolstered with music and comedy.

More: $32.50 and up; 8 p.m.; McGlohon Theater, 345 N. College St.; blumenthalarts.org

SATURDAY, JAN. 25TH

WOMEN UNITED MARCH 2020

What: What began as a protest aimed at President Donald Trump has since become a movement. The Charlotte Women’s Movement and the National Coalition of 100 Black Women Queen City Metropolitan bring together women of different races, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identification and socioeconomic status to address issues facing women and demand change.

More: Free; 11 a.m.; First Ward Park, 301 E. 7th St.; womenunitedmarch.org

SUNDAY, JAN. 26TH ‘5B’ SCREENING

What: 5B is the inspirational story of the courageous nurses and caregivers who took extraordinary action to establish a new standard of care for the patients of the first AIDS ward in the United States in the early 1980’s. HIV advocacy organization RAIN hosts this screening, followed by a panel discussion.

More: Free; 2-5 p.m.; RAIN, Inc., 601 E. 5th St., Ste. 470; tinyurl.com/Rain5BCLT

MONDAY, JAN. 27TH COREY HARRIS

What: Songwriter-guitarist Harris plays the blues like they were a field holler echoing across continents and centuries. He fuses the raw emotion of Delta-style players like Lightnin’ Hopkins with eclectic elements drawn from New Orleans brass bands, African polyrhythms and roots reggae, and treats the blues like a living evolving language.

More: $12-15; 8 p.m.; Petra’s, 1919 Commonwealth Ave.; petrasbar.com

TUESDAY, JAN. 28TH ‘THE NEW COLOSSUS’

What: “Give me...your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” Inspired by the sonnet at the base of Lady Liberty, director/ co-writer Tim Robbins (Shawshank Redemption) and 12 actors weave immigrants’ stories into one narrative of generations drawn to Ellis Island. With concentration camps at our border, it’s a timely tale.

More: $20 and up; Jan. 28 – Feb. 2, times vary; Knight Theater; 130 S. Tryon St.; blumenthalarts.org

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QCNERVE’S LIFELINE

for cool events happening in the queen city!

shop small shop local for all of your needs

VINYL LOTS OF CDS, TAPES, & TURNTABLES TOO Sean O’Shields (left) and Phil Lomac play at The Evening Muse.

PHOTO BY SHANE COMBS

THE WALLS COME TUMBLING DOWN

Phil Lomac brings veteran regional acts together

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A

crafted modern guitar pop is hard to pin down.

Instead of focusing his sound into a specific genre, Lomac draws on music he likes and artists he respects — ’80s new wave, the alt-country rock of Wilco and the ’70s Laurel Canyon sound exemplified by singer-songwriters like Neil Young and Jackson Brown. After performing and making music in Charlotte, Asheville and Montreat, Lomac will play a different kind of Queen City gig on January 24 at Petra’s, one that illustrates his advocacy for breaking down barriers between music styles and performers.

The show is a reunion of sorts, Lomac explains, a triple bill of colleagues and fellow regional music veterans whose paths have crossed multiple times over the years. Joining Lomac at the Plaza Midwood venue will be Asheville’s Laura Blackley, along with Marc Higgins and the Chainsaw Bears from Spartanburg, South Carolina, a band that has been

voted creating loafing “best RECORD STORE” 2012-2018

lunchboxrecords.com

BY PAT MORAN

S A TEENAGER in Cold War-era Germany, Phil Lomac witnessed the Berlin Wall come crashing down. That may be why the now 45-year-old singer-songwriter and multiinstrumentalist’s music is so eclectic, displaying little regard for the self-imposed barriers of genre.

In fact, Lomac admits that his music might be just a touch too varied.

“I call [my music] indie folk rock,” he says, “but that’s kind of vague.”

Lomac has been either performing solo or playing in North Carolina bands since 1993. His three solo records have garnered critical acclaim for their mix of alt-rock and roots music with his most recent release, 2017’s Northern Cities, Southern Stars, playing like a post-punk update of Bare Trees-era Fleetwood Mac. One of his groups, Senatobia, was a top 10 DIY pick from print publication Performing Songwriter in 2003.

But for marketing purposes, Lomac’s pensive, hand-

tons of new & used vinyl needles, sleeves, frames, boxes, cleaners, all of your record needs shop local!

likened to a Southern version of ramshackle indie punk godfathers The Replacements.

Lomac says he met Higgins during his tenure with Senatobia, which ran from 1999 to 2004.

Higgins ran a club, The Guitar Bar, in Spartanburg.

When Lomac played the venue, he hit it off with the club owner and fellow musician.

“He knew how to treat musicians, and how to make [playing a gig] a good experience,” Lomac remembers. “In a business where you can meet some of the nicest people on earth, as well as some of the biggest assholes, you tend to connect with the nice ones.”

Around the same time, Lomac met Blackley, when the two shared a bill at an Irish bar in Asheville. Before becoming a performer herself, Blackley had been a music writer for the Asheville Citizen-Times and the local alt-weekly, Mountain Xpress.

825 CENTRAL AVE. CHARLOTTE, NC 704-331-0788

Lomac still remembers a glowing review of his first solo album written by Blackley for the Asheville Citizen-Times. Blackley subsequently became an onair host and producer at WNCW 88.7 FM in Spindale for seven years, spotlighting contemporary regional and roots music. With her current band, she plays rock infused with high lonesome Appalachian blues and bluegrass. The Wildflowers won first place in the North Carolina Piedmont Blues Preservation Society’s 31st annual Blues Challenge Band Competition in 2016.

Lomac unabashedly credits his own eclectic leanings to growing up in the shadow of the Berlin Wall. His parents were missionaries who moved their family to the divided city when Lomac was just four years old. He lived there for 15 years, just long

Pg. 13 Jan. 15 - Jan. 28, 2020 - QCNERVE.COM

PHIL LOMAC, LAURA BLACKLEY, MARC HIGGINS AND THE CHAINSAW BEARS Jan. 24, 8 p.m.; $5-$8; Petra’s, 1919 Commonwealth Ave.; petrasbar.com

enough to see the barrier bisecting the city come down in 1989. Lomac remembers Berlin as a melting pot of people from all over the world, a crossroads of creativity, art and activism. Artists and musicians were on the forefront of the struggle to unite the two Germanies and end repressive Communist control. Lomac was exposed to a broad swath of music in Germany, everything from political punk to the activist reggae of Burning Spear.

“Seeing that music and art can have this impact, [that] it can change things at a very basic level, was ingrained in me early,” he says.

Concurrently, Lomac picked up his father’s acoustic guitar and taught himself to play from a John Denver songbook tucked inside the guitar case. The very first record Lomac bought was Jimi Hendrix’s Live at Fillmore East, an incendiary performance that solidified Lomac’s love for guitar.

When some older kids at high school started a band and needed a guitarist, Lomac started jamming with them and got hooked on making music.

When Lomac was 17, his parents semi-retired from their ministry work and moved to Charlotte, where Lomac finished his senior year at Garinger High School. He subsequently attended Montreat College near Black Mountain, where he joined his first real band as lead guitarist, the Brown Root Seed Company. It was his first experience playing live shows and going out on the road. The group eventually ran its course when members finished college and moved on. After three years at Montreat, Lomac transferred to the University of North Carolina Asheville, where he switched his degree from environmental journalism to creative writing.

“Creative writing was freer and more open,” Lomac explains. “I could explore poetry, songwriting or fiction writing.”

After graduating from UNC-A, Lomac settled in Asheville, where he met local musician Ron Neill.

Neill was recruiting players for a touring band, so Lomac became guitarist for Ron Neill and the Eleventh Hour for a few years until that band also ran its course. At this point Lomac decided to try his hand at being a band leader and primary songwriter for a group. He approached the bassist and drummer who had played with him behind Ron Neill. Together they formed the three-piece Senatobia. It was

Lomac’s most serious project to date. For five years the band toured extensively, up and down the East Coast, across the southeast and into the Midwest.

Performing Songwriter Magazine picked one of their CDs for their DIY top ten — exemplary releases that didn’t come out on a major label. As with most bands, there were plenty of highs and lows, but over time the lows took their toll, Lomac says.

“We had some big opportunities that would have put the band in a good place, but then they fell through,” Lomac remembers. “It [was] hard to get everybody motivated to start all over and do it again.”

In addition, Lomac was ready to give a solo career a shot.

“It was the right time to try something different and have more control of the process — what the songs should sound like and how they should be recorded.”

In 2005, he released his first album, phillomac.

A song from that collection, “No Connection,” made it onto the soundtrack of the regionally produced horror movie Stitch. Lomac recalls that the tune played over the closing credits, but he’s not sure if the movie ever received distribution.

While Lomac played solo shows, he also sat in with Asheville post punk outfit Bugs Multiply, but soon he was ready for another change. In 2004, he had married Jody Pedersen. The couple moved to Chicago in 2007, so Jody could continue her studies for a degree in medicine. Up in the Windy City, Lomac started working as director of operations for Inventables, a company that makes software and machines for carving designs in wood, tile and stone.

He also dropped his second solo release, Strangers Funeral in 2009. With a drummer friend named Andy Angelos, Lomac also started the band Lovely Tyrants. Tied in with the group was a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign to launch Tea for Tyrants, a green tea company that supported indie musicians from around the globe.

Lomac and his wife moved to Charlotte in 2013 to be closer to their families. His mother’s side of the family is from Charlotte, while his wife’s family lives in Brevard. But work brought Lomac back to Chicago for part of 2015 and all of 2016, and there he recorded Northern Cities, Southern Stars, tracking quieter material at his Lakeview apartment one mile south of Wrigley Field and louder material at the 100-year-old Unity Lutheran church in Edgewater, which houses an affordable studio space for artists and musicians.

The album is truly a one-man band effort, with

Lomac producing, engineering and playing guitars, bass, keyboards, banjo guitar, and programmed percussion.

From the ringing new wave-inspired title track to the sinewy twanging “Read the Message,” the result is Lomac’s most carefully produced and arranged project to date. Writing for MusicNews.com, Jon C Ireson said the seven-song super EP delivers “a poetic reflection on modern life through an acquiescent but hopeful voice.”

Upon his return to Charlotte in 2017, Lomac found inspiration in Roadmaster Stage Presents (RSP), a live music venue in Black Mountain.

“A guy named David Boughner books house shows,” Lomac explains “He has a stage in his back yard.”

Boughner books everything from local acts to national artists like Jim Lauderdale, and that he’s recently seen crowds of 150 people or more come to Boughner’s back yard for hours of music, food and drink.

“It’s a lot of people who have been playing in this region for a long time coming back together,” Lomac says.

Feeling inspired by RSP, Lomac wondered if he shouldn’t try something similar. The result is the triple

bill of Lomac, Blackley and Higgins coming to Petra’s.

The trio has already played a show in Spartanburg last December, and after Petra’s they hope to hit Boughner’s Roadmaster Stage in the spring.

Unlike his one-man band approach on his most recent album, Lomac plans to put together a full band for the Petra’s show. He’s recruited Sean O’Shields of Greenville, South Carolina, band Little Leslie & the Bloodshots on pedal steel and guitar.

Lomac’s drummer Matthew Carter has played with Gigi Dover. Electric guitarist Craig Hanks ran sound at the Double Door. Charlotte artist, painter, musician and producer Chris Liberti will play bass, and he’s also producing Lomac’s new recordings, currently in progress. Lomac hopes to release the new material, which will also feature a full band, in the spring.

As with all his musical efforts over the past 25 years, Lomac hopes people enjoy the tunes, but he also aims that amid the enjoyment, a message comes through.

“I always hope that people take away that the lyrics have some depth and meaning, that I put some time and effort into them,” Lomac says. “The lyrics are the backbone of the songs.”

PMORAN@QCNERVE.COM

Follow our Spotify Playlist PREVIEW YOUR LOCAL CHARLOTTE SOUNDWAVE ARTISTS HERE

1. OPEN SPOTIFY ON YOUR SMARTPHONE 2. TAP THE SEARCH BAR 3. CLICK THE CAMERA ICON IN THE TOP RIGHT CORNER 4. POINT CAMERA AT THE CODE BELOW

S O U N D W A V E JANUARY 15

ROCK/PUNK/METAL

January Residency: King Cackle, Dumpster Service, The Commonwealth (Snug Harbor) Paint Fumes, The Cavemen (The Milestone) Antighost, Weighted, Janet Flights (Skylark Social Club) Chris Smither (Stage Door Theater) COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA

Open Mic/Open Jam (Comet Grill) Kevin Daniel, Seth Power (Evening Muse) DJ/ELECTRONIC

The Wizard’s Roadshow (Post Sports Bar & Grill) Ondas do Brasil (Petra’s) JAZZ/CLASSICAL/ INSTRUMENTAL

Assia Ahhatt (McGlohon Theater) JANUARY 16 ROCK/PUNK/METAL

Strike the Tower, Drowned Out, ValarMorghulis, Messy Stains (The Milestone) Molly Hatchet, Michael Tracy (Neighborhood Theatre) Goalkeeper, Come Clean, Deaf Andrews, Home for the Day (Petra’s) The Disco Biscuits (Fillmore) Stoll Vaughan, The End of America, Dan Tedesco (Evening Muse) Shana Blake(Smokey Joe’s) Mike Strauss Trio (Comet Grill) Captain Lunchbox (Tin Roof) Open Mic Night with Kat & Barry (Tommy’s Pub) DJ/ELECTRONIC

Le Bang: Leather Daddy Disco (Snug Harbor)

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RAP/HIP-HOP/SOUL/FUNK/R&B

El Lambert (Crown Station) JANUARY 17 ROCK/PUNK/METAL

Citizen Cope (Neighborhood Theatre) Patrick Davis and His Midnight Choir (Visulite Theatre) Four Finger Records 2 Year Anniversary: Solis, The Wilt, Thousand Dollar Movie, VESS, Fortune Teller, Jude Moses (Petra’s) Grace Potter (Fillmore) Allen, Mack, Myers & Moore (Amos’ Southend) Marlon Craft, Bobby Feeno, G Yamazawa (Snug Harbor) Brandon Hardesty (Evening Muse)

Almost Broadway II: Gina Robinson (Duke Energy Theater) Jesse Cook (McGlohon Theater) Cardfall (Tin Roof) Rumbletramp, On The Cinder, Asbestos Boys, Maxwell Williams (Tommy’s Pub) COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA

Lenny Federal Band (Comet Grill) Hardy, Sean Stemaly (Coyote Joe’s)

RAP/HIP-HOP/SOUL/FUNK/R&B

Case (Underground) DJ/ELECTRONIC

A New Decade of Dubstep: Bawldy, Molokai, JETT (SERJ) JAZZ/CLASSICAL/ INSTRUMENTAL

Phillip Whack plays John Coltrane (Stage Door Theater) Charlotte Symphony: Thorgy & the Thorchestra (Knight Theater) The Ruach Band (Middle C Jazz) Coconut Groove plays Steely Dan (Middle C Jazz) JANUARY 18 ROCK/PUNK/METAL

Hiss Golden Messenger, Lilly Hiatt (Neighborhood Theatre) Courtney Lynn & Quinn, Darby Wilcox,Kaska Sun (Visulite Theatre) Hungry Girl, Ancient Cities, Easy Honey (Snug Harbor) The Wiltz, The Burn Brothers, Riley Moore (Petra’s) Badfish - Sublime Tribute, Of Good Nature, Tropidelic (Fillmore) Bullet The Blue Sky - U2 Tribute, Shadez of Crazee (Amos’ Southend) Emma’s Lounge, Ashley Heath & Her Heathens (Evening Muse) Almost Broadway II: Gina Robinson (Duke Energy Theater) Skynoceros, Something Went Wrong, Storm Watchers (Tommy’s Pub) Renegade (Comet Grill) The Jump Cut (Tin Roof) COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA

The Dead South, The Hooten Hallers (Underground)

JAZZ/CLASSICAL/ INSTRUMENTAL

Phillip Whack (Stage Door Theater)

Charlotte Symphony: Thorgy & the Thorchestra (Knight Theater) DJ/ELECTRONIC

Digital Noir: DJ Price (The Milestone) #LocalOnly Saturday: DJ Teddy,Mike Boyer (the Milestone) Kai Wachi, Sam Lamar (SERJ) RAP/HIP-HOP/SOUL/FUNK/R&B

J Holiday, TEK-9 Movements (The Press Box) Afro Pop (Crown Station) JANUARY 19

ROCK/PUNK/METAL

Weatherworn, Sunday Boxing, Big Wave Small Wave (Skylark Social Club) School of Rock Charlotte (Amos’ Southend) American Authors, Magic Giant (Underground) Cry Baby, Whitehall, Charles Walker (Evening Muse) Omari & the Hellhounds (Comet Grill) Neal Francis, Colby Dobbs Band (Heist Brewery) RAP/HIP-HOP/SOUL/FUNK/R&B

Bone Snugs-N-Harmony Karaoke (Snug Harbor) JAZZ/CLASSICAL/ INSTRUMENTAL

Bill Hannah’s Jazz Session (Petra’s) DJ/ELECTRONIC

Hazy Sunday (Petra’s)

COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA

Bluegrass Open Jam (Tommy’s Pub) Vaden Landers Band, Bob Fleming & Cambria Iron Co., Brothers Egg (Snug Harbor) JANUARY 20

ROCK/PUNK/METAL

Find Your Muse Open Mic: The Amazing Allie (Evening Muse) RAP/HIP-HOP/SOUL/FUNK/R&B

Jazz Jam (Crown Station)

COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA

Country Music Monday (Hattie’s Tap & Tavern) Vaden Landers Band, Bob Fleming & Cambria Iron Co., Brothers Egg (Snug Harbor) DJ/ELECTRONIC

Knocturnal (Brooklyn Lounge) JANUARY 21 ROCK/PUNK/METAL

Smokin’ Js Open Mic Jam (Smokey Joe’s) Musician Open Mic (Crown Station) Uptown Unplugged: Rotie Salley (Tin Roof) COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA

Red Rockin’ Chair (Comet Grill) Tanner Pull 2020: Kane Brown, Lauren Alaina, and Ryan Hurd, Travis Denning, John King (Coyote Joe’s) JANUARY 22 ROCK/PUNK/METAL

Jesse Malin,Tuk Smith & The Restless Hearts (Visulite Theatre) January Residency: King Cackle, Cosmic Reaper, Empty Devil in the Hotel (Snug Harbor) Kash Money Karaoke Live (The Press Box) COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA

Open Mic/Open Jam (Comet Grill) DJ/ELECTRONIC

Body Movin (Petra’s) JANUARY 23

ROCK/PUNK/METAL

Shana Blake (Smokey Joe’s) Marco Benevento, Ian Ferguson (Neighborhood Theatre) Frute, Boa, The New Creatures (Petra’s) Son Little (Stage Door Theater) Open Mic Night w/ Aaron Lawrence (Tommy’s Pub) Hunters Travesty (Comet Grill) Phillip Michael Parsons (Tin Roof) DJ/ELECTRONIC

The Wizard’s Roadshow (Hartland’s Bar & Grill) Le Bang (Snug Harbor) COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA

Jason Moss & The Hosses, The Bo-Stevens (Visulite Theatre) The Honey Dewdrops, Aaron Burdett (Evening Muse) JAZZ/CLASSICAL/ INSTRUMENTAL

A Jazz Celebration of Steven Wonder: Maria Howell, Adam McKnight, Juan Rollan (Middle C Jazz) Four Days of Steinway: Chad Lawson (Free Range Brewing) JANUARY 24 ROCK/PUNK/METAL

Buried In Roses, Adam Cope, Wine Pride (The Milestone) Yarn (Visulite Theatre) Nerve Endings, Acne, Ray Gun (Snug Harbor) Ripe (Underground) Deep Shallow, Matone (Amos’ Southend) The Devil Makes Three (Fillmore) Desert Noises, Little Bird (Evening Muse)

True Lilith, North by North, Flame Tides (Hattie’s Tap & Tavern) Wayne Harper (Tin Roof) Deaf Andrews, The Wiltz, Betty White Bronco (Tommy’s Pub) COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA

Lenny Federal Band (Comet Grill) Chris Lane, Blanco Brown (Coyote Joe’s) Ryan Bailey (Heist Brewery) DJ/ELECTRONIC

Mad Hatters Ball: Captain EZ, Citron, Cotton Candy, Emonei, Joneses, Zero(SERJ) Loud Luxury (World) JAZZ/CLASSICAL/ INSTRUMENTAL

A Jazz Celebration of Steven Wonder: Maria Howell, Adam McKnight, Juan Rollan (Middle C Jazz) Charlotte Symphony: Totally 80s (Knight Theater) Four Days of Steinway: Sweat Transfer (Free Range Brewing) RAP/HIP-HOP/SOUL/FUNK/R&B

Hella Collab (Crown Station) JANUARY 25 ROCK/PUNK/METAL

All Hell, Vimur, Vesterian, Paezor(The Milestone) RevelWood Mission (Neighborhood Theatre) Paulina Simone, AGØNY, Glow, The Dirty Lowdown, Played by Kings, Calebjustcaleb, East Viridian (Skylark Social Club) American Maid,Venus Invictus, III KINGS(Skylark Social Club) Tribute: A Celebration of The Allman Brothers Band (Visulite Theatre) Orquesta Mayor, Ultima Nota, DJ Minuche (Snug Harbor) Matoma, Two Friends (Fillmore) Danny Worsnop (Amos’ Southend) Lucinda Williams (McGlohon Theater) Troublemaker (Smokey Joe’s) The Alley Cats (Comet Grill) COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA

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The Freeway Jubilee, The Flatland Tourists (Evening Muse) Erath Old (Tin Roof) JAZZ/CLASSICAL/ INSTRUMENTAL

Joe Policastro Trio (Evening Muse) A Jazz Celebration of Steven Wonder: Maria Howell, Adam McKnight, Juan Rollan (Middle C Jazz) Charlotte Symphony: Totally 80s (Knight Theater) Four Days of Steinway: Thomas Pandolfi (Free Range Brewing) DJ/ELECTRONIC

#LocalOnly Saturday: DJ Teddy, Mike Boyer (the Milestone) Su Casa (Petra’s) Zia & Sippy (SERJ) Rave Charles (Crown Station)

RAP/HIP-HOP/SOUL/FUNK/R&B

Drake Party (Underground) JANUARY 26 ROCK/PUNK/METAL

The Glorious Sons, Des Rocks (Amos’ Southend) Omari & the Hellhounds (Comet Grill) That 70s Show II: Mo Money Band& Friends (Visulite Theatre) Toward Space, Psych Ops, The Straitjackets,

Asbestos Boys (The Milestone) Metal Church Sunday Service (The Milestone) Indigo Girls (McGlohon Theater)

ROOTS/BLUES/INTERNATIONAL

Bluegrass Open Jam (Tommy’s Pub)

JAZZ/CLASSICAL/ INSTRUMENTAL

Bill Hannah’s Jazz Session (Petra’s) Four Days of Steinway: WDAV Small Batch Series featuring Ethan Uslan (Free Range Brewing) COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA

Lazer Lloyd with Zachary Scott Johnson (Evening Muse) Bluegrass Open Jam w/Greg Clarke (Tommy’s Pub) JANUARY 27

ROCK/PUNK/METAL

Find Your Muse Open Mic: Travis Linville (Evening Muse) Corey Harris (Petra’s) COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA

Country Music Monday (Hattie’s Tap & Tavern) RAP/HIP-HOP/SOUL/FUNK/R&B

Jazz Jam (Crown Station) DJ/ELECTRONIC

Knocturnal (Brooklyn Lounge) Shake: Elevator Jay, Ahuf (Snug Harbor) JANUARY 28

ROCK/PUNK/METAL

Beartooth, Motionless In White, Stick to Your Guns (Fillmore) Smokin’ Js Open Mic Jam (Smokey Joe’s) Uptown Unplugged: John Rooks (Tin Roof) Musician Open Mic (Crown Station) Desmond Jones (Free Range Brewing) Open Mind Night: An evening of music, art and snacks w/ Pants (Tommy’s Pub) COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA

Red Rockin’ Chair (Comet Grill) Carolina Country Revue: Carolina Hot Snakes (Snug Harbor) DJ/ELECTRONIC

Lost Cargo: Back Patio Tiki Party (Petra’s)

PAY IT FORWARD

Mr. 3’s Crab Pot owners build community through seafood

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I

BY RYAN PITKIN

T WAS EARLY 2015 when the idea for a seafood restaurant started to stir in the minds of Rod and Rana Brown. The couple, who both grew up in Charlotte and had since moved to Rock Hill, would regularly travel the country, along with regular trips to the Bahamas to visit family. It was during these trips that the utter lack of good seafood spots back home became apparent.

“We were out in the Bahamas,” recalls Rod. “They were cooking up food for us and everything, and we were like, ‘We need something at home.’ We would always go searching for crab legs and the only thing we could find was the seafood buffets, that was it.”

Later that year, as the couple drove through Gastonia late at night on the way home from Atlanta, the crab-leg craving hit again, and this time Rod got proactive about it. Rather than complain about the lack of quality seafood spots in town, the couple opened their own.

Despite the fact that both held down full-time jobs — Rod with the Department of Homeland Security and Rana as a nurse — while also managing properties together on the side, and despite the fact that neither had any experience in the restaurant industry, they jumped in.

Rod found a man selling a trailer online and made an offer. The couple upfitted the trailer to cook and serve food and began setting up in the old Kmart parking lot on Freedom Drive in west Charlotte.

And less than a month after their craving went unquenched in Gastonia, Mr. 3’s Crab Pot was born.

But the Browns weren’t done — not by a long shot.

Just two months later, in February 2016, the Browns closed on an old grocery mart on Bradford Drive near

where Harding High School graduate Rod had grown up in west Charlotte. They opened the takeout spot that summer, and eventually opened two dine-in locations, one in Rock Hill and another in Gastonia.

The Browns now use their restaurants as a foundation for uplifting underserved communities and helping startup business owners who may otherwise not find any support. Not to mention, they serve a kickass seafood platter.

As I sit with Rod in his Gastonia location, he explains that the rapid rise of Mr. 3’s is indicative of the hustler’s spirit that he shares with his wife.

“We’re both the same way; when we start doing a thing, this is what’s going to happen,” he says.

“We’re not going to wait for nobody. If the bank said we couldn’t get a loan, we’re going to go to work — work overtime, whatever you gotta do, get the money and build it. That’s what I tell a lot of people, they always look at the roadblocks and stuff like that, but naw, you can’t look at that.”

But before they could serve up inspiration to others, they had to start with the food, and Mr. 3’s serves up plenty of that. The restaurant’s bestselling seafood platter includes a cluster of crab legs, jumbo shrimp, corn on the cob and plenty of sausage and potatoes for just over $20. There are cheaper options, too: fried platters, fish sandwiches, pasta dishes and the popular creamy seafood potato.

Then there are the seafood boats — or yachts, as Rod calls them — that can be made to feed groups of up to 14 people.

Regardless of the size of the dish, Rod says what sets it apart is the preparation.

“Everything’s home-cooked. Each order is made from scratch,” he tells me. “There’s nothing coming out of a bag, nothing pre-battered. Every lobster tail is hand-battered. Crab legs, we make them each order. Mac and cheese is made from scratch, alfredo sauce, everything is made from scratch. So we try to go for the home-cooked vibe. It’s flavorful food, and you don’t just get the cookie cutter, ‘cause there’s a lot of cookie cutter places popping up.”

As we talk, a family that looks to span three generations sits across the dining room. An elderly woman enjoys a seafood plate while talking with a middle-aged woman, and two young children bounce around the room between trips back to the table for bites of their lunch.

For Rod, who employs about 15 people total across his three locations, each plate has to be made with families like the ones sitting across from us in mind.

“I tell employees you have to care about what you’re doing, what you’re making, every plate has to be made like you care about making it,” he says. “You

Mr. 3’s seafood platter.

see people coming in every day, for some people it’s like going to Disney World. They come and get their plates, it brings them a whole bunch of joy, so you want to make sure that plate is right when it goes out. It’s something you care about when you see them get their plate.”

The Browns don’t just care about the food coming out of the kitchen, or the customers walking through their door; they try to spread their wealth of knowledge and unstoppable drive to the community members around them, whether

PHOTO BY @THEFOODUDECLT

that means helping neighboring business owners paint their facade or holding court with “corner classes,” as Rod calls them. He likes to walk around the neighborhoods where he’s set up his shops, schooling young people on ways to start their own legitimate businesses rather than wait around to get caught up in the cycle of drugs and violence that he’s seen take so many others.

For 37-year-old Rod, who named his business for his son, the third Rod Brown, the idea of leaving a legacy is everything.

“WE’RE BOTH THE SAME WAY; WHEN WE START DOING A THING, THIS IS WHAT’S GOING TO HAPPEN.”

Rod Brown, co-owner, Mr. 3’s Crab Pot

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Rana (left) and Rod Brown.

PHOTO BY JERRY BROWN

“I’m trying to tell the younger dudes now, look, if you go get this property now, that’s something you keep in your family for generations to come, and everybody can eat off that property,” he says. “I meet a lot of young dudes out there scamming and drug dealing and things like that, and I tell them, ‘You can’t do nothing with that. It’s not going to lead to anything and you got a little kid, then you go do jail time, and you get out, then what? You just go back in the full circle again. So why go through that circle? Just stop it right here while you’re young,’ …

If I knew everything I knew, and acted on it back when I was like a teenager, imagine where I’d be now.”

Last year, Rod turned the broad idea behind his informal corner classes into an official program: Crabs Out the Barrel, a Shark Tank-esque startup incubator in which Rod chooses a young person trying to launch a new brand or business and takes them under his wing.

The Browns review business plans of entrepreneurs, offer advice in promotion and marketing, assist them with gaining required licensing, and ultimately give them access to selling their products in Mr. 3’s Crab Pot. Their first mentee is Antonio Harrison, a 27-yearold baker who recently launched Sugar Coated Goodz with his fiancee Ghelisa Daniels. Harrison recently moved to Charlotte from Washington D.C., where he worked for eight years at The Sweet Lobby, a popular bakery that’s been featured on Food Network’s Cupcake Wars.

His involvement with Crabs Out the Barrel started much like Mr. 3’s itself: with a seafood craving. A coworker told him to try out Mr. 3’s for the best seafood in Charlotte, and he happened to check them out on the day the Browns opened up the application process for their new program. He

applied, and three weeks later, Rod reached out and said he was interested in helping Sugar Coated take things to the next level.

“Looking online, I saw how many people applied and it was an honor for him to text me back and say, ‘We want to work with y’all,’” Harrison recalls, “and from the day he said that it’s been a go.”

The Browns filed for and funded an LLC for Sugar Coated Goodz, created social media pages, paid for branded merchandise and are currently helping Harrison work through other pertinent paperwork.

Once that’s finished, they’ll allow Harrison to sell his goods inside of Mr. 3’s locations.

They also connected Harrison with Cynthia Davenport, founder of E.R.D’s Eatery, a California soul food kitchen in north Charlotte where Harrison will sell Sugar Coated Goodz products in the coming year.

“That means a lot, because a lot of businesses and companies don’t do that,” Harrison says when I ask what the Crabs Out the Barrel program means to him. “You already established your name, so why help somebody else? It means a lot that he’s established and he’s got a name for himself and he’s not even looking for no recognition or nothing like that, he just wants to help, and that means more than anything.”

When I talk to Harrison about his plans for 2020, I can’t help but hear hints of the same hustler’s spirit that has pushed the Browns to grow so quickly.

“I’m trying to build my clientele and keep pushing,” he says. “There’s no looking back now.

We’re there, we got the support we need, we’re making the connections we need, and we’ll just keep pushing from there.”

And the drive continues.

RPITKIN@QCNERVE.COM

THE NEWBIE FOODIE FEELING SALTY

A birthday at The Cellar leaves a bad taste

BY DARRELL HORWITZ

BIRTHDAY DINNERS are very important to me, and mine came up shortly after moving to Charlotte from Chicago. After doing a little research, I chose The Cellar at Duckworth’s. The question was: Would The Cellar at Duckworth’s be up to the challenge?

Located in Uptown, the restaurant resides below Duckworth’s Grill and Taphouse. You walk down 17 steps, turn to the left, and enter a dark, windowless cavern. It was exactly how I envisioned it.

My wife’s parents joined us since they were in town to check out our new digs. We were seated promptly for our reservation and took in the atmosphere. There was a warmth to the room, though the surroundings made it loud and difficult to talk.

Starting the party with a drink, I ordered the Mezcal Thymencello. It had a spicy little kick to it and was served in a unique bottle with a cork. It was a good choice, and The Cellar has an interesting cocktail program.

The in-laws started with the housemade waffle cone that included poke tuna, coconut shrimp and Sriracha chicken each in their own cone for $15.

The chicken had a sweet-spicy thing going on and the marinated tuna had a fresh, crisp taste. I opted for the char-grilled oysters for $16. It included five mollusks with creole butter and pecorino. It had a salty cheese flavor when melded with the butter. A grilled baguette was included. It wasn’t a bad dish, but didn’t go snap, crackle and pop with flavor either.

When I ordered my entree, I was assured by the young lady serving me that “these were the best steaks in town.” I went with a Kansas City strip for $47 and my wife chose the shrimp and grits that ran us 18 bucks. I ordered the truffle fries to accompany my steak. The parents went with the black grouper with Anson Mills Carolina gold pesto rice, artichokes, candied carrots and leeks for $22.

They liked the dish, but since they were already sharing, they didn’t share with me.

My fries came before the main course, which was surprising. They were salty good and didn’t need the aioli that came with. Then my steak arrived. Advertised as certified angus beef and cooked at 1800 degrees, I admired the char on the outside, but after taking a bite, I got the feeling that

it was marinated in the Great Salt Lake before being thrown on the grill. I had never tasted a steak so salty in my life. My knife could barely cut through.

The more I ate, the less I liked. It was very chewy and lacked the mineral tang that resonates with quality meat. I asked my server if the steak was aged, already knowing the answer.

She told me that they don’t age the steaks “because they’re that good.” They’re not — or at least mine wasn’t.

My wife liked her shrimp and grits. The shrimp were perfectly cooked, spicy and came with a 6-minute egg. After a bite, I thought it was a good dish. We finished up with the campfire almond s’more for dessert. It was good but not memorable.

When I have birthday leftovers, I normally look forward to reliving the meal the next day, but my doggy bag sat in the fridge for a week until my wife reminded me about it. I told her to throw it out.

I thought it only fair to give the restaurant a second chance. We sat at the bar this time since the restaurant was packed on a Saturday night. I ordered the cellar burger medium rare for $15, and my wife had the kimchi gnocchi and Heritage Farms pork ragu for $14.

The burger was cooked perfectly and was probably the best burger I have eaten thus far in Charlotte. Since my dish came with fries, my server asked if I wanted truffle fries. They seemed to be missing the truffle flavor this time, and I was missing an additional $2.50 when I received the bill. It would have been nice to let me know there was a surcharge since she asked.

My wife enjoyed her gnocchi, as did I. She mentioned it had a lot of taste. I thought it was bursting with flavor. The kimchi kicked the spice level up a notch. Great dish for the price and a generous portion.

It’s worth a visit as it’s an interesting setting.

If you make the right menu choices, it can be an enjoyable experience. Just be wary of selecting a steak, and bring your ID if you plan to drink. They card everyone, which seemed strange based on the ages of the people they asked.

My rating is 2 bites out of 4 because the steak and the truffle fries shakedown left a bad taste.

INFO@QCNERVE.COM

SURFING IN EAST CHARLOTTE

Let’s get wavy

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BY AERIN SPRUILL

WHEN I TEXTED MY EDITOR, “You’re not going to believe where I went last night,” one recent Sunday afternoon in a haze, I knew his response would be infused with disdain, as we had long planned to for him to bring me along to pop this specific cherry of Charlotte nightlife. His response included the correct guess and “You’re fired.” That response was followed by a tweet broadcasting his disappointment with a screenshot of our text exchange and “You need to chill.” Nervously, as I may genuinely be jobless, I am sharing my latest adventure — really adventures because I ended up going twice - with you.

There are very few places in the Charlotte scene that give me pause, surprise me, or throw me off my game.

But over the past month I’ve been to a certain place (which shall not be explicitly named due to its sacred nature) twice, and each time I was genuinely intrigued.

Right before the holidays, I was extended a completely random invitation to travel to an eastside hideaway. A stranger to that side of town, I’ll be the first to admit I was a bit intimidated.

Especially when every time this low-key dive bar has been mentioned as a place I “need to experience,” it was usually accompanied by a menacing grin that slowly spread across the “well wisher’s” face.

Riding in the back of an Uber, trying to decide if I was getting carsick or if my nerves were getting to me, I glanced over to adjust my focus on the scenery of Independence Boulevard. My gaze was met by a familiar Walmart parking lot clad with blue lights and a police tower. A warm memory of my first experience visiting a friend in “foreign” territory when I was a virgin Charlottean washed over me.

My thoughts were disrupted when our Uber driver inquired, “Y’all going to that spot that don’t look like no club?” as we pulled into what looked like an apartment complex. Not comforting. Not comforting at all.

We hopped out and, fortunately, one of the girls I was with knew how to lead the way. We walked up a flight of stairs and then descended down a stairwell to a nook accompanied by a patio with patrons who, in the moment, could’ve been the terrifying “ruffians” Rapunzel feared in Tangled.

(Search YouTube for the Snuggly Duckling scene.)

I took a deep breath as we entered the door thinking, “There’s no turning back.”

I stepped inside the threshold prepared for the worst, like a kid wincing before getting punched in the face. Instead, I found a playground I couldn’t wait to explore.

It was karaoke night; the bar was cozy and packed. Everything wasn’t in place, but there was a place for everything (even if it clearly didn’t belong).

The stale air, curious eyes of regulars, and the subtle but potent smell of alcohol hanging overhead all reminded me of a dive bar that I would go back to time and time again.

All of the above; not a coincidence as I learned from convos with the owner and T* (a regular who’s been going since she used to come with her mom).

The bar is one of the oldest existing in Charlotte, opening in 1976 with liquor license #1000.

Originally a shag bar, and named for the reference to its beginnings in Myrtle Beach, it easily wins the title of Charlotte’s best-kept secret.

The skinny? To answer the question that many have (especially when they’re talking to me about my experience): there was a diverse crowd. Read: I wasn’t the only black person there, nor the youngest ... nor oldest. If you’re a stranger, the bartenders will make you feel right at home. The drinks are cheap with a bite that’ll make you thankful and appreciative.

It might’ve just been the holiday spirit, but every regular welcomed us with open arms and posed with us for pics. You may stumble upon a free hot dog and chips for sustenance, or a free drink ... or free kisses!

What you won’t find: CHADs. Pretentious Charlotteans. Obnoxious basics. Drama. Judgment.

Uber drivers that are directionally challenged.

Going into such a random scenario with a beautiful bunch of younger females that would normally be met with side eyes, we were met with hugs and shots. If you can figure out where this speakeasy, word-of-mouth, “X” on the map adventure is, it’s worth the walk down the stairs and finding the treasure.

My new motto: Save the “Eccentric” East Side. *Names are excluded to protect identities. All the treasured gems must remain hidden.

INFO@QCNERVE.COM

APT OCCUPATIONS

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ACROSS

1 Ship parts 6 One in a veil 11 Very small: Prefix 15 Sealed, say 19 Early TV’s Stu 20 Posteriors 21 Stick -- in the water 22 Songwriter’s creation 23 Martin the ticket collector?

26 Actor Bana or Stoltz 27 Pay to play poker 28 Game with Wild cards 29 Clinton the doctor?

31 Caught at a rodeo 33 Pollen lover 34 Hardly fresh 35 Worldwide 38 Ellington the Peppermint Pattie factory worker?

45 More greasy 49 Ending for Israel 50 Ilk 51 Car owners’ org.

52 Kelly the minister?

54 “Let’s go!”

55 Former Apple messaging software 57 See 64-Down 58 Primate studier Fossey 59 Benny the golfer?

61 Markey and Bagnold 63 Actor Hinds of 2017’s “Justice League” 65 Negligent 66 Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand’s purview 67 Bailey the philosopher?

72 Folder flap 75 Meal tie-on 76 Rice-based Spanish dish 77 Ivory’s counterpart 79 Benatar the dairy owner?

85 Fuzzy stuff 87 Departure 88 Standoffish

89 Karmann -- (bygone VW sports car) 90 Nolte the clockmaker?

92 Skeleton part 93 + 94 Ariz.-to-Kan. dir.

95 Girls in the family 96 Liotta the lamp designer?

100 Gets dilated 102 Basic deg. for designers 103 Supermodel Carangi or actress Scala 105 End profit 110 Behar the chef?

116 Airport stat 117 Hotel chain 118 Morales of film and TV 119 Arden the demolition contractor?

122 Shady giants 123 Get-out-of-jail money 124 Super-mad 125 “The Flea” poet John 126 Blog addition 127 Pot for stew 128 Lauder of makeup 129 Evil smile

47 -- lazuli 48 Frosted 53 Abbr. on a pay stub 54 “Please, Mommy, will you let us?”

55 “Veni,” in English 56 Nero’s 160 59 Villain in Disney’s “Aladdin” 60 Waitress on TV’s “Alice” 62 Spruce (up) 64 With 57-Across, Ali ring strategy 68 Abate 69 “Fighting” Big Ten team 70 Cut, as pizza 71 Cold and wet 72 Like poison 73 Japanese cartoon art 74 Measures of memory 75 Scaring cry 78 -- noire 79 One of Henry VIII’s Catherines 80 Et -81 Mug in a pub 82 Jamaican citrus fruit 83 Mean ruffian

DOWN

1 Get gold, e.g.

2 Target Center, e.g.

3 Smacks 4 Spork parts 5 -- -cone 6 “Viva Zapata!” star 7 Alter totally 8 Reply to “Who’s in charge here?”

9 Bounced down the court 10 Actress Davis of two “Matrix” films 11 Spam, say 12 Langston Hughes poem 13 Athletic team assoc.

14 Film anew 15 Not wobbly 16 Throw 17 Troop body 18 Pt. of MIT or STEM 24 Nuclear reactor tube 25 Polar vehicle 30 Polar pixie 32 Curved arch 36 High jump on a skateboard, informally 37 Lacking a key, in music 39 “Semper Fi” mil. branch 40 Weirdo 41 Rubik of cube fame 42 Aiea’s island 43 Broccoli -44 Kit -- (candy bars) 45 Poet Nash 46 Twisted wit

SOLUTION ON PAGE 30

84 Wife on “The Addams Family,” to her hubby 86 Cover for a truck bed 90 Crystal rubbers, perhaps 91 Jab deliverer 93 Control in a clinical study 97 Certain wind player 98 Very loudly, musically 99 9-to-5er’s weekly cry 101 Main dish 104 Art house film, often 106 Went aboard 107 Nitrogen compound 108 Words after all or hole 109 San Fran gridder 110 All-terrain vehicle 111 Fjord city 112 Tasty tubers 113 Egg-shaped 114 Eye, in Paris 115 Nut with caffeine 116 Rock finale?

120 Perched 121 LP replacers

JANUARY 15 - JANUARY 21 ARIES (March 21 to April 19) That lower-thanacceptable performance you’re getting from others in your group might be the result of miscommunication. If so, correct it before serious problems arise later on.

TAURUS (April 20 to May 20) An unexpected situation could call for a change of plans. If so, you might feel that this is unfair. But it’s best to make the needed adjustments now. There’ll be time later for rescheduling.

GEMINI (May 21 to June 20) The new year brings opportunities you might want to look into. Some might be more interesting than others. But take time to look at all of them before you make any decisions.

Pg. 20 Jan. 15 - Jan. 28, 2020 - QCNERVE.COM

CANCER (June 21 to July 22) It’s a good idea to be careful about expenses until you’ve worked out that pesky financial problem. You might find it advisable to get some solid advice on how to proceed.

LEO (July 23 to August 22) Romance looms large over the Leonine aspect. Single Lions looking for love should find Cupid very cooperative. Paired Cats can expect a renewed closeness in their relationships.

VIRGO (August 23 to September 22) Making contact with a former colleague might not be high on your list of priorities. But it could pay off personally as well as professionally. Avoid bringing up any negatives about the past.

LIBRA (September 23 to October 22) A personal relationship could face added stress because of a

JANUARY 22 - JANUARY 28

situation involving someone close to both of you. ARIES (March 21 to April 19) Use that Arian charm Be supportive and, above all, try to avoid playing to help make a difficult workplace transition easier for everyone. News about a long-awaited decision the blame game. can be confusing. Don’t jump to conclusions.

SCORPIO (October 23 to November 21) You might well find some lingering uncertainties about a TAURUS (April 20 to May 20) Although you might decision. If so, take that as a warning that you might well be tempted to be more extravagant than not be ready to make that move yet. More study you should be at this time, I’m betting you’ll let would be in order. your sensible Bovine instinct guide you toward moderation.

SAGITTARIUS (November 22 to December 21) Music is a dominant theme for Sagittarians right now, GEMINI (May 21 to June 20) An opportunity for and it should remind you to make a greater effort travel could come with some problems regarding to restore some much-needed harmony in that very travel companions and other matters. So be sure you read all the fine print before you start packing. special relationship.

CAPRICORN (December 22 to January 19) Although family matters might demand much of the Sea Goat’s attention this week, you’ll want to try to make time to handle those all-important workplace situations as well.

CANCER (June 21 to July 22) Make an effort to complete your usual workplace tasks before volunteering for extra duty. Scrambling to catch up later on could create some resentment among your colleagues.

AQUARIUS (January 20 to February 18) A recurring unresolved issue might need to be revisited before you can move forward. Consider asking someone familiar with the situation to act as an impartial counselor.

LEO (July 23 to August 22) A financial matter could have you rethinking your current spending plans. You might want to recheck your budget to see where you can cut back on expenses until the situation improves.

PISCES (February 19 to March 20) Ignore pressure to make a decision. Keeping your options open is still the wisest course, at least until you’re sure you’ve learned all you need to know about the matter at hand.

VIRGO (August 23 to September 22) One way to make your case for that promotion you’ve been hoping for might be to put your planning skills to work in helping to shape up a project that got out of hand. Good luck.

BORN THIS WEEK: You’re capable of great loyalty LIBRA (September 23 to October 22) Be careful to those around you, which is one reason you can about “experts” who have no solid business backcount on devotion from friends and family. ground. Instead, seek advice on enhancing your business prospects from bona fide sources with

good success records.

SCORPIO (October 23 to November 21) Standing up to support a colleague’s viewpoint -- even if it’s unpopular -- can be difficult if you feel outnumbered. But you’ll win plaudits for your honesty and courage.

SAGITTARIUS (November 22 to December 21) While progress continues on resolving that recurring problem, you might feel it’s taking too long. But these things always need to develop at their own pace. Be patient.

CAPRICORN (December 22 to January 19) Someone close to you might have a financial problem and seek your advice. If you do decide to get involved, insist on seeing everything that might be relevant to this situation.

AQUARIUS (January 20 to February 18) A personal matter takes an interesting turn. The question is, do you want to follow the new path or take time out to reconsider the change? Think this through before deciding.

PISCES (February 19 to March 20) Moving into a new career is a big step. Check that offer carefully with someone who has been there, done that, and has the facts you’ll need to help you make your decision.

BORN THIS WEEK: Your warmth and generosity both of spirit and substance endears you to everyone.

2020 KING FEATURES SYND., INC.

D I LWO R T H 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

Monday: 1/2 off wines by the glass Tuesday: 1/2 off beer cans and glasses of Italian reds Thursday: $3.50 local drafts, $8.50 Matilda Wong cocktails Sunday: 1/2 off wine bottles, $5 mimosas & bloody marys, $6 Bellinis BAD DADDY’S BURGER BAR

Monday: 20-oz. draft for 16-oz. price Tuesday: $5 specialty cocktails Wednesday: $3.50 local drafts Saturday-Sunday: $5 mimosas & bloody marys 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 Pg. 21 Jan. 15 - Jan. 28, 2020 - QCNERVE.COM

SUMMIT ROOM

Tuesday: $4 drafts Wednesday: 1/2 off glasses of wine Thursday: $7 Summit cocktails

SOUTH END COMMON MARKET SOUTH END

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: $6 beer cocktails, $2 off vodka Tuesday: $8 mules, 1/2 off gin

Wednesday: $6 you-call-it, 1/2 off wine bottles Thursday: $4 wells, 1/2 off specialty cocktails Friday: $5.50 Guinness and Crispin, $6 vodka Red Bull Saturday-Sunday: $4 bloody marys and mimosas, $15 mimosa carafes MAC’S SPEED SHOP

Monday: $3 pints, $5 Tito’s Tuesday: 1/2 price wine, $3 mystery draft Wednesday: $4 tall boys, $5 Lunazul Blanco Thursday: $3 mystery cans and bottles, $4 Jim Beam Saturday: $1 off North Carolina pints Sunday: $4 mimosas & bloody marys GIN MILL

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

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

Saturday: $5 fire shots, $4 ZIMA, $3 bottles WORLD OF BEER

Monday: $2 off North Carolina drafts and spirits Tuesday: 25 percent off bottles and cans, $5 mules Wednesday: 1/2-priced wine, wheats and sangrias Thursday: $4 old school, $4 well, $4 signature shots Friday-Saturday: $3 shot of the week Sunday: $2 mimosas, $3 bloody marys & beermosas PROHIBITION

Tuesday: 1/2 off everything Wednesday: $3 drafts Thursday: $2 PBR, $6 vodka Red Bull Friday-Saturday: $4 call-its

NODA CABO FISH TACO

Monday: $5 El Cheapo margarita Tuesday: $3.50 Tecate and Tecate Light, $5 Altos silver tequila Wednesday: $7 Absolut Lime Moscow mule Thursday: $1 off neighborhood beers on draft Friday-Saturday: $8 margarita special Sunday: $5 mimosas, $6 Absolut Peppar bloody mary, $7 Absolut Lime Moscow mule JACKBEAGLE’S

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

Monday: $5 Cuervo margaritas Tuesday: $3 drafts, $5 vodka Red Bull Wednesday: $1 off whiskey Thursday: $6 Deep Eddy’s vodka Red Bull Friday: $5 Fun-Dip shots, $5 Crown Black Saturday: $5 Gummy Bear shots, $5 big mimosa, $6.50 double bloody mary Sunday: $5 big mimosa, $6.50 double bloody mary

DANDELION MARKET

SANCTUARY PUB

THE DAILY TAVERN

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

Monday: $7 Bulleit and Bulleit Rye, $3 Yuengling and PBR APA Tuesday: $6 Tuaca, $6 Tullamore Dew Wednesday: $3 Birdsong beers, $5 Sauza, Thursday: $2 Bartender Bottles, $6 Crown Royal

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 BILLY JACK’S SHACK

Monday: $1 off moonshine, $3 domestics Tuesday: $1 off all drafts, $7 Jameson Wednesday: $1 off bottles and cans Thursday: $4.50 wells Friday: $5 Fireball, $1 off local bottles and cans Saturday: $4 mimosas $5 Brunch Punch, Sunday: $4 mimosas, $5 Brunch Punch, $5 Fireball, $10 champagne bottles

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 Tito’s mules, $3 Blanche de Bruxelles, $3 OMB Copper Wednesday: 1/2 price wine bottles, $2 off bourbon of the week Thursday: $6.50 Ketel One Botanical Series, $4 Stoli Friday: $4 20-oz. Birdsong LazyBird Brown Ale and Birdsong Jalapeño Ale Saturday: 1/2 price martinis Sunday: $3 drafts

SUB SPACES

When does a kink become self-harm?

BY DAN SAVAGE

I’m a 26-year-old bisexual woman with a history of self-harm. It hasn’t been much of an issue for the last few years, but my sex life has improved a lot in that time. I realized that I am quite submissive and masochistic, and I have found a wonderful Dominant partner who I’ve gotten to explore that kink with in a positive and healthy way. Last night, I watched the movie Secretary, and Maggie Gyllenhaal’s character is someone who self-harms but stops when she begins a Dom/sub relationship with her boss. Obviously this film is flawed and not exactly a great guideline for healthy BDSM relationships. (The power dynamic! The lack of consent! That weird come scene!) However, I did find myself relating to her character and am now questioning my motives for pursuing this kind of sexual relationship. I worry that I may be unintentionally using the pain that I lovingly experience from my partner as a replacement for the pain I used to experience from my bad habits. Or am I using BDSM as a form of harm reduction? Is it rational to even compare these two things?

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SEEKING CAREFUL ADVICE REGARDING RECENT EMOTIONAL DISCOVERY

“I completely get where SCARRED is coming from,” said Lina Dune, the creator of Ask a Sub (askasub. com). “You’re discovering your kinks, and then the culture comes in with a not-entirely-accurate film or hot take, and it can taint your self-discovery.”

Dune is known as a “fairy submother” to her thousands of followers on Instagram, where she regularly posts about the D/s lifestyle and frequently highlights red flags that newbies to the kink scene may miss. (A Dom who insists he “doesn’t negotiate” with subs? Run away.) While still relatively young herself, Dune has been active in the kink scene for

many years and identifies as a 24/7 lifestyle sub.

“There’s a difference between self-harm and what SCARRED is doing with her Dom in a consensual, rational, measured environment with safe words in place,” said Dune. “And it’s telling that she didn’t write in to say, ‘Oh my god, I’m using D/s to self-harm!’

Rather, she’s worried she might be unintentionally or unknowingly engaging in some form of self-harm.”

While the fictional character played by Maggie Gyllenhaal stops engaging in acts of self-harm after entering into a D/s relationship with the fictional character played by James Spader, SCARRED, you don’t want to overinterpret that fictional narrative. Meaning, while the film suggested there was causal relationship between Gyllenhaal’s character entering into a D/s relationship and no longer engaging in acts of selfharm, that doesn’t mean the same is true for you.

“The culture infantilizes us all when it comes to owning our sexual desires — and that’s especially the case for women,” said Dune. “The message is: ‘You don’t know what you’re getting into’ or ‘You don’t realize the effect this is having.’ But if there’s one thing SCARRED is an expert on, it’s herself. It’s not like she’s in a trance when she’s with her Dom — no matter what the movies want us to believe about D/s relationships — which means she’s consciously choosing this for herself, and it feels healthy and good. Our bodies don’t usually lie, and I’d be willing to bet that self-harm did not feel that way.”

But even if it turns out you’re right — even if, worstcase scenario, joyful consensual kink in the context of an intimate connection with another person is somehow a replacement for solo acts of self-harm that isolated you — it could still be a good thing.

Dune suggests that you explore your feelings with a kink-positive therapist, and I want to second that.

“From my perspective, it looks like SCARRED may have been manufacturing her own version of exposure therapy, which some somatic-based psychologists have suggested is exactly what negotiated, consentbased kink play can provide,” said Dune. “For example, a person with a fear of being powerless may find it helpful to experiment with powerlessness in small, controlled doses in the context of a structured, negotiated BDSM situation. Looking a fear in the eye and then being able to back away from it at will and end with a cuddle and a check-in with your play partner can make you feel more powerful, not less. So if SCARRED can consciously work through this with a therapist and her Dom, this BDSM relationship has the potential to be very healing, just as long as she maintains her autonomy within it.”

Follow Lina Dune on Twitter and Instagram: @AskASub.

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