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EDITORIAL
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YES! Writers JOHN BATCHELOR MARK BURGER KATEI CRANFORD LYNN FELDER JIM LONGWORTH IAN MCDOWELL
PRODUCTION
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We at YES! Weekly realize that the interest of our readers goes well beyond the boundaries of the Piedmont Triad. Therefore we are dedicated to informing and entertaining with thought-provoking, debate-spurring, in-depth investigative news stories and features of local, national and international scope, and opinion grounded in reason, as well as providing the most comprehensive entertainment and arts coverage in the
3 The Little Theatre of WinstonSalem is no stranger to encores, and Saturday, July 12 will see the return of its popular workshop, “ AUDITIONING 101,” which will be held at 10 a.m. at the Little Theatre’s offices, 419 N. Spruce Street, Winston-Salem.
4 IN VITRO is an auspicious accomplishment for the editing/co-directing duo of producer Will Howarth (making his feature debut) and Tom McKeith, who also co-wrote the screenplay with executive producer/leading lady Talia Zucker. 5 I can understand why a 13-year-old who just had his arm severed in an ATV accident would say “I can’t wait to start riding again.” That’s because children don’t know any better. THEIR PARENTS SHOULD
7 “ NOOR,” in Arabic, means “light” or “ray of light.” Owner Madhav Dhakal, Manager Prakash Kandel, and Chef Remlal Subedi were drawn to the name for its beautiful connotations of “divine light and spiritual enlightenment.”
8 Mike Valle of Jamestown takes some of the trash — METAL BOTTLECAPS to be exact — and makes art. He’s been doing the hobby for 15 years in his free time from Neil Allen Furniture in High Point.
11 As the Triad cruises through Independence Day weekend, temperatures are high and FESTIVALS ARE HOT, heading into mid-July.
12 Since June 19, local media has reported on conditions at this property ( COTTAGE GARDENS), which include insect infestation, broken toilets, and raw sewage flowing up through bathtub drains and pooling outside multiple housing units.
Learning the art of the audition
The Little Theatre of WinstonSalem is no stranger to encores, and Saturday, July 12 will see the return of its popular workshop, “Auditioning 101,” which will be held at 10 a.m. at the Little Theatre’s offices, 419 N. Spruce Street, WinstonSalem. Attendance is free but registration is require d, either by calling 336-725-4001 or signing up online at https://www.ltofws.org/ This self-explanatory program is designed for aspiring performers (ages 14 and up) who have had little or no prior experience in auditioning for live theater. Attendees will get a first-hand look at the audition process at the Little Theatre, where they will fill out the appropriate paperwork and have an official headshot taken. They will then “audition” for a play by do-
ing a cold reading of dialogue, then a musical try-out by singing a few measures from a particular song and learning and performing a brief dance routine. Participants will not be judged on any of their performances but will instead be offered helpful hints about the audition process from actors and directors who have prior experience at the Little Theatre, which
is the oldest performing arts organization in the Piedmont Triad. Participants are encouraged to wear comfortable clothes and shoes. The purpose of the workshop is not necessarily to find the next great actor(s) in the region, but to help those who participate feel more relaxed and confident in the audition process and possibly encourage them to audition for actual productions in the future, whether at the Little Theatre or other community theaters in the area.
The Little Theatre’s 90th season will continue with its Youth Theatre production of the supernatural musical extravaganza “ Beetlejuice JR. ,” based on Tim Burton’s 1988 cult classic, which will be presented at 7 p.m. Friday, July 11; at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Saturday, July 12; and 2 p.m. Sunday, July 13 at Hanesbrands Theatre, 209 N. Spruce Street, Winston-Salem. Tickets start at $14.50 and can be ordered by calling 336-724-4001 or visiting the official Little Theatre of Winston-Salem website: https://www.ltofws.org/. !
GREENSBORO TURNS INTO THE EMERALD CITY FOR OZ FEST
SUBMITTED BY THE ARTS COUNCIL OF GREATER GREENSBORO
Greensboro is known as the Gate City, but for one special weekend this August, it just might become the Emerald City.
Community Theatre of Greensboro (CTG) is celebrating the 30th anniversary of its beloved production of “The Wizard of Oz” with Oz Fest, a familyfriendly downtown festival on Saturday, Aug. 23, from 12 to 4 p.m., supported in part by The ACGG’s Festival Support Grant.
More than just a performance, this year marks a full-circle celebration of the city’s decades-long connection to Oz. “It really is at the heart of Community Theatre, and what we do,” said Roz Fulton of CTG. “When you are involved in a show with us, or when you are participating in a camp or class, you become part of our family. We love having that history and that call for Oz Fest/block party/family reunion.” The event will feature food trucks, Wizard of Oz-themed crafts and vendors, face painting, bouncy houses, music, games, and karaoke, with songs from the show, the movie, and Wicked.
CTG’s yearly production of “The Wizard of Oz” draws nearly 100 cast and crew members each year and has become a cherished community tradition. “We’ve had students who have started
o playing a Munchkin and then have gone on to play Dorothy. It’s a family a air,” Fulton said. “We have parents who help with the rehearsals, help load the set in, work the dressing rooms, are backstage moving the sets or flying the people across the stage.”
Looking ahead to August, Fulton shares what excites her most. “There are so many people who have participated in ‘The Wizard of Oz,’ and then have moved away or are no longer in Greensboro. We’ve already started reaching out to our alumni, and they’re planning to come back. I’m excited to see people who were Munchkins or were Dorothy when they were 16 years old, and now they’re married with two kids, bringing their families to come see the show or participate in some of our events.”
So grab your ruby slippers and follow the yellow brick road to Oz Fest. Memories and Munchkins await, because after all, there’s no place like home. !
In Vitro: Dark doings Down Under
In Vitro is an auspicious accomplishment for the editing/co-directing duo of producer Will Howarth (making his feature debut) and Tom McKeith, who also co-wrote the screenplay with executive producer/leading lady Talia Zucker. If this award-winning film is any indication, it portends good things for the filmmakers in the future — and it’s always nice to “discover” fresh new talent. Set in Australia in an indeterminate but not-too-distant future, we are introduced to Layla (Zucker) and Jack (executive producer Ashley Zukerman), a married couple who oversee a working ranch where they conduct experiments cloning cows, all the better to keep fresh beef on consumers’ tables. The contrast between the hi-tech scientific procedures they utilize, and their remote, rustic surroundings is an intriguing one, and the filmmakers draw the viewer into the setting and the story with ease. Everything seems so matter-of-fact.
The day-to-day drudgery of Layla and Jack’s life initially appears routine and monotonous — but looks can be deceiving, especially in a film like this. Recent experimentation has met with failure, and there’s a palpable tension in the air, neatly augmented by Helena Czajka’s eerie score and brooding cinematography by Shelley Farthing-Dawe (who did equally exemplary work on the recent Dangerous Animals). In Vitro eschews easy shocks for an increasingly unnerving mood. It’s building toward something … What that something is, however, cannot be disclosed so as not to spoil its surprise, although it is a doozy (in a good way), and attentive viewers may be able to discern it ahead of the actual revelation. Let’s just say that the rift it causes between Layla and Jack isn’t one that any amount of marriage counseling
can rectify. The strengths of the film are in the concept and the characterizations, which are credibly rendered on both counts. The film falls squarely into science-fiction but isn’t so far removed from reality that it can’t be believed, and cult status appears very likely.
Zucker dominates the small ensemble cast with a performance that, shall we say, has many facets. Zukerman capably plays the bespectacled, bookish scientist who internally implodes when confronted with the consequences of his work, and Howarth has a nice turn as Jack’s grizzled delivery man Brady, who initially appears threatening but proves not to be. Again, looks can be deceiving.
In Vitro packs quite a bit into its tight, trim 88-minute running time, and it’s a credit to the players (particularly Zucker) that it even has an emotional resonance that comes to the fore in the late going, a surprising development in what is certainly not your average genre outing. It’s an experiment worth experiencing and o ers ample food for thought.
(In Vitro is playing in select theaters and is available On Digital and On Demand) !
In 2017, 13-yearold Tyler Hughes of Clemmons went for a ride on his ATV. The road was slick, and the ATV flipped over on him. Tyler survived the crash, but the roll bar severed his left arm. Fortunately, surgeons were able to re-attach his arm, but the neardeath experience didn’t deter the boy. While recovering from surgery, Tyler told a WinstonSalem Journal reporter, “I can’t wait to start riding again.”
What happened to young Tyler was not a rare occurrence. According to Reuters, about 11,000 such accidents occur every year resulting in 900 deaths annually, and that’s just involving ATVs. Dirt bikes are also a source of tragedy. Last month 14-year-old Cam Trail died in a motorcross competition when he collided in mid-air with another biker. The event was hosted by East Bend Motorsports and held in Yadkin County. Afterward, Emiee Murray of King who organized a GoFundMe page for Cam’s family said, “He [Cam] inspired others to chase their dreams.” Dreams of what? An early death? No matter because the day after Cam’s death, the competition continued as if nothing had happened. Chad Mabe of Tobaccoville had no problem letting his 13-year-old son get back on the track saying, “What happened last night could have happened in any sport.” Another parent, Jarrett Gold wrote on Facebook, “It scares me to death it could happen to my child…but God says, ‘Trust Me.’” Are you kidding me? I’m no Bible scholar, but from what I’ve read God never indicated that 13 and 14-year-old boys should ride ATVs or race dirt bikes. There’s a reason why society imposes age restrictions on products and activities that could pose a threat to
the well-being of children. Here in North Carolina, for example, you must be 18 to purchase cigarettes (in 2019, Congress raised the age to purchase tobacco products to the age of 21) and 21 to buy alcohol. You must be 16 to apply for a driver’s license. You must be at least 17 years old to join the armed forces and you can’t play in the concussion-ridden NFL unless you’ve been out of high school for three years. You must be 21 to purchase a handgun, and 18 to compete at the top NASCAR races. The reason for these and other restrictions is that children and young teens are not yet fully developed physically, emotionally, or mentally, and need time to mature before embarking on high-risk activities.
Nevertheless, organizers of motorsports and ATV events will tell you that they are not to blame for accidents and injuries because parents have signed a consent form. The problem is that parental consent is not designed to circumvent the law and here in North Carolina, a parent whose child is injured or killed while operating any kind of motorized vehicle or equipment, is guilty of a Class E felony which is punishable by up to seven years in prison. Specifically, N.C. statute 14-318.4, section (a4) states, “A parent or any other person providing care to or supervision of a child less than 16 years of age whose willful act or grossly negligent omission in the care of the child shows a reckless disregard for human life is guilty of a Class E felony if the act or omission results in serious bodily injury to the child.” Translation? If you let a child engage in dangerous behavior, you are guilty of child abuse.
I can understand why a 13-year-old who just had his arm severed in an ATV accident would say “I can’t wait to start riding again.” That’s because children don’t know any better. Their parents should. !
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Jim Longworth
Longworth at Large
ACROSS
They’re filled at filling stations 9 Causes of some winter roof leaks
Two or three
Its capital is Springfield
Good time to shop and save
1977 hit for Electric Light Orchestra 23 Bird hanging around power-generating structures?
25 Bottom-of-the-barrel bit
26 Grace and Frankie co-star Lily
Me, in Marne
Take a chair
Spike for a rock climber
Icky food
Bird with a pronounced lower back?
Elite police unit
35mm camera type
Holy Week follower
Bird with an a iction?
Lead-in to lateral
It flows through Koeln
Rocker Ocasek
“Ammonium” has three
Single’s first half
Response to “You weren’t!” 55 Jazz great Fitzgerald
Give a bird a monetary reward? 60 “God Love Us” rapper
Pecans and cashews
of “Li’l Abner”
employment
with a bird?
or
“Are we out of danger?”
Bird starring in The Birds?
owl
Novelist Loos
“You did not just say that!”
of The Waltons
Eggs
Slow-moving reptile with a bird on its back?
Chow Down with John Batchelor at Noor
BY JOHN BATCHELOR
“Noor,” in Arabic, means “light” or “ray of light.” The interior design of this restaurant capitalizes on that theme with attractive lighting. Owner Madhav Dhakal, Manager Prakash Kandel, and Chef Remlal Subedi were drawn to the name for its beautiful connotations of “divine light and spiritual enlightenment” (message from Prakash Kandel).
The restaurant is located a bit o the proverbial beaten path. You are not likely to notice it on drive-by, because it is o Wendover Avenue, a little away from tra c. But trust me on this, dining here is worth the modest e ort required to find the place. Food here is aromatic, deeply flavorful, and highly enjoyable.
A cozy bar lies to the left of entry. Full bar service, including cocktails, beer, and wines are available — unusual for an Indian restaurant. Wine selections are good. Pairing wine with Indian food can be di cult. Try the French rose’ if you don’t already have something in mind.
Dining areas are separated into smaller rooms, creating a quiet ambiance that allows conversation. Personnel here are especially friendly and helpful. Don’t worry about being unfamiliar with Indian and Indo-Chinese food. They will help you, and the online menu provides photos and descriptions, so you can plan in advance if you want to. This place is just easy to enjoy.
Triad patrons are often intimidated by the perception of hot food. Preparations here are flexible. Order “mild” at first. I generally like hot-spicy dishes, and I found “medium” to be right on target.
A meal starts with complimentary Papadum, made from chickpea flour, like a cracker in appearance and texture, served with ramekins of mint and onion sauces, and onion-tomato chutney. The mint is light and refreshing, the chutney interesting and novel, the onion sauce pretty spicy-hot.
I love Indian breads. Order a bread basket and try them all. You will be rewarded. My wife and I especially enjoyed Garlic Naan — pu y, bursting with mild, fresh garlic flavor.
From the menu starters, diners from the South will recognize the appearance and texture of Aloo Tikki — pleasantly crusty potato patties, pretty much the equivalent of a lightly fried potato pancake. These are traditionally spiced with garam masala, chili powder, and turmeric.
Momos are dumplings, filled with ground chicken, pleasantly mellow tasting, arrayed around a mild mustard sauce. If you are afraid of too much spice, this is a good place to start.
Most entrees come with a side of basmati rice — distinctive, separate white grains that help convey flavors from the primary ingredient, while retaining their own independence in both taste and texture.
Chicken Curry is exceptional, based on tender breast
meat. The curry sauce creates a rich gravy, wonderful when blended into the rice. As good as this is, and I don’t want to underplay it, I found Butter Chicken even more flavorful. This kitchen has a real tandoori oven. The chicken is baked in the tandoori oven, then simmered in a buttery tomato and cashew sauce. For a purer treatment, consider Tandoori Chicken — a leg and thigh, tender and moist, coated with traditional tandoori red sauce. A squeeze of fresh lime perks this up. The tandoori oven is also utilized for Tandoori Shrimp. In almost every Indian restaurant I have been to, tandoori seafoods taste good, but they come out dry. Not so here. Both the shrimp and a portion of Salmon Tikka Kabab were moist and tender, testimony to skill in this kitchen. Recipes for this dish usually call for a yogurt marinade, plus cilantro, tomato paste, ginger, lemon juice, brown sugar, coriander, cumin, turmeric, cardamom, chili powder, garlic, salt and pepper.
Lamb Seekh Kabab is made with ground lamb, rolled into a cylinder and grilled. The usual seasonings for this dish include onions, mint, cilantro, ginger paste, and chili paste, plus cumin, coriander, paprika, salt, and cayenne pepper. Lamb Boti Kabab is a ground lamb patty, blended probably with chopped onion, white onion paste, ginger paste, papaya paste, yogurt, coriander powder, chili powder, garam masala, and salt. In both cases, the flavors are exotic and delicious.
Lamb Biryani contains multiple bite-sized pieces of tender lamb, slow-cooked in moist heat. Seasonings likely include cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, cumin, coriander, and sa ron, in a lot of rice. I cannot imagine anybody being able to consume all this in one sitting. I picked out the meat and saved a good bit of rice for later. Lamb Chettinad Curry rests in a rich curry sauce, enhanced with chettinad spices — the standards are green cardamom, black cloves, ground cumin, fennel, and coriander seeds.
Often, in Indian restaurants, I find the flavor of lamb dishes highly enjoyable, but the texture is often tough, a function of cheaper cuts. I think the quality of meat here is better than usual for the genre.
A sizeable number of vegetarian dishes are available.
I tried one. Palak Paneer virtually glows dark green from pureed spinach, also hosting cheese cubes for protein. I have advised readers in the past that in good restaurants, going vegetarian does not sacrifice flavor, and this is a case in point.
I will close with a disclaimer. I do not have specific expertise in Indian cooking. I have never tried to cook an Indian dish myself. The spices that I have cited are based on taste, but also recipe searches for traditional preparations. I do not claim I got them all exactly right, specific to the Noor kitchen, but I am pretty sure I came close. When I inquired, the kitchen advised that they keep over 200 spices on hand for various preparations. One section of the menu branches out from Indian and moves into Indo-Chinese. And I think some of the o erings even reflect origins or at least influences from the Himalayas. I will have to explore more in the future, which I am highly likely to do.
I have some Indian acquaintances, met through my real estate work, who recommended Noor. Their judgment seems solid to me. I think Noor serves some of the best Indian food I have had in the Triad. !
JOHN BATCHELOR has been writing about eating and drinking since 1981. Over a thousand of his articles have been published. He is also author of two travel/cookbooks: Chefs of the Coast: Restaurants and Recipes from the North Carolina Coast, and Chefs of the Mountains: Restaurants and Recipes from Western North Carolina. Contact him at john.e.batchelor@gmail. com or see his blog, johnbatchelordiningandtravel.blogspot.com.
WANNA go?
Noor
4312 Big Tree Way Greensboro 27407 336-315-5351, noorgso.com
Recycling is good for the environment. Taking paper, bottles, cans, etc. to a recycling center not only gets litter o the street but allows the items to be re-made into a new product.
Mike Valle of Jamestown takes some of the trash — metal bottlecaps to be exact — and makes art. He’s been doing the hobby for 15 years in his free time from Neil Allen Furniture in High Point. A look at the large number of storage bins in his garage is a sign he has many more years of bottlecap art ahead of him. There are at least seven million caps there.
“I know I’ve utilized over 100,000 caps at this point,” Valle said while admitting he did not know the exact number. “People keep giving them to me.”
He uses mostly beer caps and has connections with several restaurants and bars in the area. He said people like to look at his work to find their favorite beer cap.
“I started saving during college, based on the color, knowing I could do something with them,” Valle said. “Around 2009 I saw a group in Australia that was taking 3,000 cups of co ee, pouring di erent amounts of creamer in them to create the ‘Mona Lisa.’”
That project turned on a light in the mind of the Savannah College of Art and Design graduate — especially since he already had a bottlecap collection. He
PHOTO BY MIKE VALLE
PHOTOS BY CAROL BROOKS
recreated the “Mona Lisa” for his original piece.
“It took about 3,000 bottlecaps and lots of cups of co ee and took about six months.” This first project is hanging in Valle’s dining room and is not for sale. It is 5 feet tall and 3 feet wide and very heavy.
“It took six months to do and now I can do a portrait in about a month,” he added. “I’ve come a long way, learning how to speed up the process.”
“My art is a reflection of myself — learning, growing, constantly evolving,” Valle said. “The idea of mosaic work came to me after years of saving bottle caps and seeing the seemingly infinite range of colors available. For me, creating mosaics is dually fulfilling, as it allows me to both design and physically build a work of art.”
Some of his favorite bottlecaps are from Yuengling, Coors Light, Bud Light Blue Moon, Bud Light Lime, Michelob Ultra, and Smirno Ice. All either have di erent colors or variations of the same color.
Once he decides on a project, he goes through his bins of caps (which he has already washed), selecting those of particular colors. He used to use the entire cap, putting grout on the inside, but now removes the crimped parts of
the skirt (the knurl), just keeping the flat top. He a xes the caps with super glue to plywood or uses a nail gun for larger pieces, working in what used to be his dining room.
In the beginning, the Boston native plotted out his designs on graph paper with a marker.
It only takes three to four hours for small, simple pieces but the Joker from “Batman” took about 60 hours and the
Asheville skyline took approximately 150 hours. Perhaps surprisingly, he finds portraits the easiest to do.
“Through my work, I aim to give new life to everyday items generally discarded as waste,” Valley said. “Combining many pieces of trash to create something new, beautiful, and hopefully recognizable.
Focusing my work on portraits of iconic figures throughout history, I strive to get people to look at a classic art form with an uncommon medium, mixed with a bit of Pop Art. Through my work, I’m hopeful it will inspire people to see everyday materi-
als and the environment around them di erently.”
Viewers standing a distance from the bottlecap art cannot see the graphics on the caps, just the colors. Most have multiple colors but a few have been in solid colors, like the UNC and Duke logos.
Valle sells his work and does commission work. Recent commissions include the Carolina Core soccer team in High Point and a 9-foot cityscape skyline of the city of Asheville for an apartment complex.
“I think that was 10-to-11,000 bottle caps,” he said. “That was the biggest piece I’ve ever done.”
He exhibits in shows like the N.C. Folk Fest and Holiday Craftsman Classic, both in Greensboro, but now focus on ComicCons.
Valle’s art is on display at Oden Brewing Company and Brewed & Bottled Coffee Shop in Greensboro and Rixster Grill and Frady’s Taphouse and Eatery in High Point.
For more information, visit www.recapsart.com. !
Artist Mike Valle
Social Habit
| Kernersville | Photos by Natalie Garcia Folly’s Draft & Snack with Blue City Bombers
| Kernersville | Photos by Natalie Garcia
As the Triad cruises through Independence Day weekend, temperatures are high and festivals are hot, heading into midJuly.
It’s hard to not pick up the electronic vibes resonating across festival and event calendars. July hits a fever pitch with beats dropping all over North Carolina.
In Greensboro, it’s a killer Killmatic weekend, starting on July 11 with “Where Are Your Friends Tonight?,” an indie sleaze dance party at the Back Table. “Time to do the D.A.N.C.E. and party like it’s 2009!” said host DJ Patrick “Killmatic” Kilmartin, who’ll be spinning a mix of dance-punk, electroclash, bloghouse, and post-punk revival hits from artists like the eponymous LCD Soundsystem and choice selections from the era of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.
On July 12, Killmatic will join his regular partner on decks for a special “Halloween in July” edition of their monthly “Saturday Night Dives” session at Westerwood. Costumes are encouraged for the second annual spooky summer evening of dance, disco, house, horror, and more. The Killmatic weekend rounds out on July 13, with Kilmartin as the resident DJ at the Back Table’s Second Sunday Flea Market. Over in Glenwood, the Swaghouse folks prepare to host their last soiree in their current location, on July 13, with “SWAGFEST” a Sunday afternoon DIY festival. “Come turn up while touching grass and listening to extremely dope N.C. bands!,” said Swaghousemate James McLaughlin. “It’ll be a small indie rock music festival in our backyard,” he explained. “This will be our largest of the 16 shows we’ve hosted since June of 2024, and will feature six great North Carolina bands, four of which are based in Greensboro!” Sunshower, Lost In Time, Bed Rumor, Dish, My Body With Blood, and Panes are on the allages bill. More information can be found on the @swaghouse_shows Instagram. Meanwhile, in Winston-Salem beats and ink flow at NCMA W-S for Brandon
Mid-July Music Forecast
Sadler’s “Path of Totality” exhibition opening reception on July 10; followed by an anime-oriented Night Moods house party on July 11.
An Atlanta-based multi-disciplinary artist (under the moniker “Riding Red Lotus”), Sadler’s murals are notorious across the southern metropolitan landscape (and were featured in Shuri’s lab in Marvel Studios’ Black Panther). In his latest work, inspired by a passion for world-building that combines calligraphy with figurative painting, “The Path of Totality” explores “a mythical universe inhabited by beings who can cultivate cosmic energy and create realities through written language.”
To a degree, Sadler’s cosmic notions are carried over from his childhood love of anime like Dragon Ball Z and Mobile Suit Gundam Wing — and it’s with that energy that NCMA W-S will carry into the ninth installment of Night Moods for an anime and J-Pop infused experience with Niervash and LUSHXLOTUS on deck (featuring visuals from Spencer Elles) in the Hanes House on July 11.
The weekend keeps rocking in Winston as the Kaleidium prepares to rock for a Moon Rockin’ edition of their After Dark Series on July 12. Music from TdK (The Downstairs Kids) will rock out the Kaleidium rooftop, while Moon Rockin’ Bingo (a twist on traditional bingo featuring moon facts, rock trivia, and rock & roll legends) is just one of the activities for fans of all things rock (and minerals),
including specimens from the Vulcan Materials Company and rock-candy stirred cocktails. “Let’s rock — literally and figuratively — at Moon Rockin’, an adults-only evening of live music, handson science, and cosmic vibes!”
Up around Boone, The UNDRGRND will celebrate 10 years of party vibes and techno beats at Betsy’s Barn on July 12, with a stellar lineup of electronic artists including Andy Brug, Analog Future, <Family, Lacy, Treee City, and many more.
Meanwhile, the annual An Appalachian Summer festival runs through July 27 — though it’s the July 11 appearance of 90s alt-rock queens Lisa Loeb and Joan Osborne that have perked this weird-girl writer’s interest.
And over at the Appalachian Theatre, the Doc & Rosa Lee Watson MusicFest holds a testament to the power and resilience of bluegrass pickers. The festival’s home at the Historic Cove Creek School in Sugar Grove was destroyed during Hurricane Helene, so the 2025 edition will be held in downtown Boone (featuring Scythian, The Kruger Brothers, and Charles Welch), on July 11; while rebuilding e orts continue in 2025.
Down in Wilmington, “it’s a good time for a BAD day” at the inaugural BAD Day Festival (named for Wilmington’s Brooklyn Arts District), on July 12. With three stages of immersive, genre-spanning o erings, the festival presents an “eclectic mix of bluegrass, funk, reggae, house, and more on two outdoor stages
and then in a late-night show,” with organizers planning a “full day and night of world-class music, immersive art, and vibrant culture for all ages.”
Outdoor daytime headliners include Railroad Earth, Yonder Mountain String Band, and Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country, along with artists like Lettuce, Signal Fire, and Electrolust; plus a latenight indoor lineup at the Brooklyn Arts Center. And an electrified afterparty at the Eagle’s Dare, featuring house music curated by Femme House; with selectors DOMii and See Bird Go on deck.
Looking to orient and showcase the district itself, the BAD streets will be ”transformed into a bustling festival village,” with: arts vendors and popups, live murals, wellness experiences, and food from local eateries. They’ll also celebrate Wilmington’s cinematic roots, with tributes to the city’s legendary film scene and role as a movie-making hotspot.
“From street-side creativity to latenight revelry, BAD Day is here to celebrate the dynamic spirit of the Brooklyn Arts District and redefine what a downtown festival can be. Gather your crew, mark your calendar, and get ready for the best BAD Day ever.”
From the western hills to the eastern sea: North Carolina’s July music fest forecast is a scorcher. !
KATEI CRANFORD is a Triad music nerd who enjoys spotlighting artists and events.
Katei Cranford
Contributor
Councilmembers want to raise fines for noncompliant landlords
“Those landlords need to pay some serious money in fines,” said Sharon Hightower, who represents District 1 on Greensboro City Council. “We need to get their attention.”
Hightower did not specify which property owners she was referring to, but in an April 29 email to the Chief of Code Compliance Larry Roberts, she wrote that she was “very concerned” about the state of Cottage Gardens, an apartment complex at 307 Avalon Road.
Since June 19, local media has reported on conditions at this property, which include insect infestation, broken toilets, and raw sewage flowing up through bathtub drains and pooling outside multiple housing units. Public records show a May 2 email from City Code Compliance Operations Manager Christie Holt to Cottage Gardens Property Manager Vicki Campbell, in which Holt wrote that the sewage “poses a significant environmental hazard.”
A June 2 email to Campbell from code inspector Matthew Peel describes a unit in which “their toilet is full of sewage and does not flush” and states that the “tenant reports that it’s been this way for
a month.” Other correspondence dates back to early February and cites apartments without heat.
In a June 24 email to Peele from “Bryan De Bruin, Esquire,” De Bruin identified himself as “one of the owners at Cottage Gardens” and stated, “We are trying to find additional crews to expedite resolving all violations here.” The email lists De Bruin as co-founder of VanRock Holdings LLC at 333 Wade Hampton Blvd. in Greenville, S.C.
“Cottage Gardens, built in the 1960s, traded in an o -market deal,” a Dec. 23, 2023 post by De Bruin at vanrockre.com, describes VanRock’s purchase of the property.
“VanRock Real Estate has purchased Cottage Gardens, a 176-unit multifamily property in Greensboro, N.C., from a private in-state firm. A Capstone Cos. team facilitated the $13.5 million o -market deal.”
After describing the property as “less than 3 miles east of downtown Greensboro” and “close to North Carolina A & T State University,” the post stated that “the Capstone team that closed the deal, led by Partner & Carolinas and Virginia Production Lead Ron Corrao, also included Managing Director Eric Liebich, Directors Josh Greenwald and Scott Fuller, and Investment Sales Advisors Matt Weinstein and Dane Lozier.”
This is not the first time a Capstone team that included Liebich and Greenwald brokered the sale of East Greensboro apartments to an out-of-town
owner who was then accused of negligence by tenants and penalized by code.
As reported in the Nov. 27, 2024 YES! Weekly article “East Greensboro residents allege housing bias, poor living conditions,” Capstone brokered the sale of Lincoln Grove Apartments at 503 S. O. Henry Blvd.; New Garden Place Apartments at 1916 Phillips Ave.; and Alexander Homes at 403 S. O. Henry Blvd. to Gastonia and California based Srinivas Potluri, who purchased those properties on Dec. 22, 2023 for $14.33 million.
Throughout 2024, multiple tenants alleged that, once Potluri took ownership, he stopped authorizing repairs, even when the heat failed in the dead of winter. Public records not only support these allegations but indicate the city reached out to the N.C. Attorney General’s o ce about claims of racial bias.
De Bruin has not responded to YES! Weekly’s request for a statement.
The City of Greensboro’s current Code of Ordinances only allows violators to be fined an initial $200, with subsequent fines assessed at $10 for each day the violations are not corrected. Hightower wants the daily fine raised, perhaps even to $1,000 a day.
“As you’ve seen, we’ve had several apartment complexes that have had serious maintenance issues, apartments that didn’t have heat, or had issues with water. Tenants deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. If you want stable tenants that pay rent on time, they need to live in a good apartment. They need
to live somewhere safe for their children. But we have to make sure that landlords are going to comply with code. If they don’t, they need to be facing some penalty. So it’s time we revisit those fines. They’re way too low. I think that’s something we need to do sooner than later.” Hightower acknowledged that she is partially responsible for fines being that low, along with everyone else on Greensboro City Council in September 2015, when Hightower, Mayor Nancy Vaughan, District 4’s Nancy Ho man, and current Mayor pro tem Marikay Abuzuaiter were part of the 9-0 vote that lowered the daily fine from $75 to $10.
Speaking to council before that 2015 vote, interim director of neighborhood development Barbara Harris asked “that we be allowed to restructure civil penalties so that they are decriminalized, so that they’re restorative rather punitive, and reduce the daily fine from $75 a day to $10 a day. This is after the initial $200 that is assessed when a property is considered to be unfit for human habitation.”
“The reason we voted for that,” said Hightower, “is we hoped that, if landlords didn’t accrue huge fines, they would be able to get the work done more quickly. We didn’t want the fines to be such a burden that landlords would say they couldn’t a ord to fix anything. I think that, with smaller and more local landlords, this was true, and that once the fines were lowered, they started doing more repairs.”
Mayor pro tem Abuzuaiter o ered a
Ian McDowell
Contributor
similar explanation for lowering the fines. “In 2015, we really had more local landlords. Some on council felt it would encourage property owners who were willing to fix properties. Council hoped that educating the landlords would help encourage them to keep properties up to standards. But now I think a large part of the problem is the fact that many landlords are not local at all, and they hire management companies who have to do what the landlords ask them to do.”
According to Hightower, the lowered fines did result in multiple local landlords paying o their penalties and fixing their properties, but now it’s having the opposite e ect.
“Ten dollars is only $300 a month. So, I’m for raising the fines, although I’m also for looking at something like a tiered fine structure because I don’t want the higher fines to impact the compliant landlord who maybe only owns a duplex, or four or eight apartments.” But for the increas-
ing number of out-of-town landlords who own hundreds of units, Hightower believes that “$10 a day is more of a reward than a penalty, since it costs them so much less than repairs.”
Representative At-Large Hugh Holston agreed.
“Ten dollars a day is not enough of a deterrent. I am in favor of increasing the fines to get the attention of, and action from, the property owners for the benefit of their tenants.”
“I have talked to the Mayor and she’s on board,” said Hightower. “We’re going to start really digging down into this. We’re looking to get to this in the next 30 days, to make a change, get it on the agenda, and get it moving. That’s my hope and my goal.” !
IAN MCDOWELL is an award-winning author and journalist whose book I Ain’t Resisting: the City of Greensboro and the Killing of Marcus Smith was published in September of 2023 by Scuppernong Editions.
CARBORRO
CAT’S CRADLE
300 E Main St | 919.967.9053
www.catscradle.com
Jul 2: mc chris, Swell Rell, D&D Sluggers
Jul 5: Thalia Zedeck Band, Quattracenta
Jul 11: White Denim, Tagua Tagua
Jul 12: Turtle Smash — Live Band Emo Night
CHARLOTTE
BOJANGLES COLISEUM
2700 E Independence Blvd | 704.372.3600
www.boplex.com
Jul 25: Intocable
Jul 31: Vince Gill
THE FILLMORE
1000 NC Music Factory Blvd | 704.916.8970
www.livenation.com
Jul 2: Iration
Jul 6: Carnifex
Jul 10: Jessie Reyez
Jul 10: Nick Smith
PNC MUSIC PAVILION
707 Pavilion Blvd | 704.549.1292
www.livenation.com
Jul 8: Styx, Kevin Cronin & Don Felder
Jul 15: Courting Crows & The Gaslight Anthem
Jul 16: Big Time Rush & Katelyn Tarver
CLEMMONS
VILLAGE SQUARE TAP HOUSE
6000 Meadowbrook Mall Ct | 336.448.5330
www.facebook.com/vstaphouse
Jul 5: BOOYAH!
Jul 10: Carrie Ann
Jul 11: Unknown Artist
Jul 12: Brother Pearl
Jul 17: Jon Montgomery
Jul 18: Ragtop Betty
DURHAM
CAROLINA THEATRE
309 W Morgan St | 919.560.3030 www.carolinatheatre.org
Jul 19: The Wallflowers
ELKIN
REEVES THEATER
129 W Main St | 336.258.8240 www.reevestheater.com
Wednesdays: Reeves Open Mic
Fourth Thursdays: Old-Time Jam
Jul 18: 3 Toe Possum!
GREENSBORO
CHAR BAR NO. 7
3724 Lawndale Dr. | 336.545.5555 www.charbar7.com
Jul 3: Robert Alexander Smith
Jul 10: COIA
Jul 17: The Suttons (Todd & Abbey)
COMEDY ZONE
1126 S Holden Rd | 336.333.1034
www.thecomedyzone.com
Jul 10: Justin Whitehead
Jul 11-13: Tony Rock
Jul 17: Calimar White
FLAT IRON
221 Summit Ave | 336.501.3967
www.flatirongso.com
Jul 2: Jameson Tank w/ Slanted Ceilings
Jul 3: Woody Woodworth & The Piners w/ Nathan James Hall
[ARIES (March 21 to April 19) Your persistence pays o as the information you demanded starts to come through. The pace is slow at first, but it begins to speed up as the week draws to a close.
[TAURUS (April 20 to May 20) An unwelcome bit of news jolts the Bovine who would prefer that things proceed smoothly. But at its most, it is a momentary setback. Meanwhile, a LEO brings more welcome tidings.
[GEMINI (May 21 to June 20) You need to pay close attention to details before making a commitment. Don’t accept anything that seems questionable unless you get an answer that can be backed up.
[CANCER (June 21 to July 22) Congratulations on getting a project up and running! But as exciting as it is, don’t let it carry you away. Make sure you set aside time to spend with family and friends.
[LEO (July 23 to August 22) Be sure you’re part of a discussion involving your suggestions. Your presence ensures that you can defend your work, if necessary. It also helps you gain your colleagues’ support.
[VIRGO (August 23 to September 22) A misunderstanding needs to be dealt with, or it can grow and cause more problems later. Be the bigger person and take the first step to clear the air.
[LIBRA (September 23 to October 22) Set some strict guidelines for yourself so that your heavier-than-usual work
schedule doesn’t overwhelm the time you need to spend relaxing with loved ones.
[SCORPIO (October 23 to November 21) You might feel a little uncomfortable being among people you hardly know. But remember that today’s strangers can become tomorrow’s valuable contacts.
[SAGITTARIUS (November 22 to December 21) Reward yourself for all that you’ve accomplished despite some annoying situations that got in your way. Enjoy a well-earned getaway with someone special!
[CAPRICORN (December 22 to January 19) Realizing that someone else is taking credit for what you did is bound to get anyone’s goat, but especially yours. Be patient. The truth soon comes out.
[AQUARIUS (January 20 to February 18) Forget about opposites attracting. What you need is to find someone who thinks like you and will support your ideas, even if others say they’re too radical.
[PISCES (February 19 to March 20) Workplace problems can a ect your financial plans. Be prudent and avoid running up bills or making commitments until things begin to ease up in mid-July.
