Indy Week 5.20.15 Issue by Indy Week

durham•chapel hill

5|20|15

WANT A VIBRANT DOWNTOWN, DURHAM? THEN DITCH THE GOD-AWFUL LOOP By Lisa Sorg, p. 5

raleighâ&#x20AC;˘cary

5|20|15

the rent is too

damn high

Exploring Raleighâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s affordable housing crisis By Jane Porter, p. 5

INDYweek.com ACE! THE R R E T AF INDY’S OF BEST LE A RI NG THE T PARTY DE OUTSI R! ST. BA N O S R PE

A CHARITY RIDE FOR SAFE HAVEN FOR CATS JUNE 6 | 1PM | REGISTRATION $10 OAK CITY CYCLING PROJECT 212 E. FRANKLIN STREET | RALEIGH

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MAY 20, 2015

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2015

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DURHAM • CHAPEL HILL

inside 31

WHERE WE’LL BE: The best of the week in music,

on “the blacks,” Wake County’s income inequality, Raleigh needs input on bike plan

MUSIC CALENDAR

ARTS CALENDAR

ENVIRONMENT: More criminal charges possible for Duke Energy in coal ash spill

SPORTS CALENDAR

FILM CALENDAR

MEDIA: North Carolina sues FCC over city broadband

TRIANGULATOR: A gay fairy tale, A Duke prof’s views

9 10

URBAN ARCHAEOLOGY: Music in the streets

CITIZEN: Bernie Sanders and the “suicide” of socialism, plus TOM TOMORROW

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MAY 20, 2015

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arts and film

F E AT U R E S 5

Circle of Hell Ditch the Loop, but do downtown right By Lisa Sorg

The great escape You’re locked in a room, you have one hour to get out, and it’s incredibly fun By Brian Howe

PERIPHERAL VISIONS

INDYweek.com

VOLUME 32 NUMBER 20

CALENDARS & EVENTS

NEWS & COLUMNS

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The INDY’s Act Now and Food/Farmers Markets calendars can be found at indyweek.com.

History hidden and sanitized A party at Raleigh Underground was for a good cause, but it could have been so much more

A R T S , C U LT U R E , F O O D & M U S I C 14

FOOD: Kamado Grille brings the outdoors inside

FOOD: Having a Pint With Deep River’s Sam Byrd

MUSIC: Anachronisms Caleb Johnson and American Idol

MUSIC REVIEWS: Polyorchard, Carlitta Durand and Heads

FILM REVIEW: Far From the Madding Crowd

History on both sides of the Atlantic comes to life in The Movement and Oh What a Lovely War

FILM: A Fuller Life introduces you to a badass filmmaker

By Byron Woods

By Grayson Haver Currin

on Sticks

Speak, memory

“Nobody likes the SouthBank building.” —p. 6 “As always, there is the urge to be real, full-throated liberals.” —p. 12 “I’m going to sell that to Mitch Easter.” —p. 20 Around Durham’s Downtown Loop ON THE COVER:

ILLUSTRATION BY SKILLET GILMORE

back talk

Divorce laws penalize women

As your “10 Smart Bills” article noted, there have been quite a few bills introduced this past session that would have created beneficial policy solutions to some of the problems currently facing many North Carolinians. Many of the bills listed in the article would have a positive impact on women and families in NC, increasing opportunities for greater economic selfsufficiency and better access to quality health care. We would also include HB867 on that list, which would have eliminated for domestic violence victims NC’s already questionable requirement that couples be separated for one year prior to obtaining a divorce. Requiring abuse victims to stay legally tied to their abusers for an arbitrary period of time is not the way to support victims, and exposes them to further abuse, This bill seems like it should have had an

PHOTO BY ALEX BOERNER

private citizen did so much to further the health and walkability of cities. And Curt Eshelman and Allen Wilcox (and many others) deserve our unending praise for creating Durham Central Park. If Jacobs were alive today and visited Durham, what would she tell us? As the article mentions, she would talk about sidewalks and human scale and mixed use. But I think she would go much further and push us to seriously undo the damage of autofocused planning. These are hard fixes that will take public sector leadership, not just Tara Romano responsible real estate development. President, NC Women United For example, how about returning all four of Durham’s major one ways (Roxboro, Durham: Focus less on cars Mangum, Duke, Gregson) and the Loop Hats off to the organizers of the recent to two-way streets? That could transform Jane’s Walk in downtown Durham (“Don’t block after block of the city. How about let it be Anywhere, U.S.A.”, May 13). It simply tearing out the Durham Freeway is fitting to honor Jane Jacobs, who as a for a mile or two either side of downtown?

easy and bipartisan pass through our legislature, yet it went nowhere. We’re again hearing talk this session from our legislators about women’s rights and safety, and the protection of families. Much of this talk is coming from lawmakers who ram through bills to restrict abortion access, prevent families from accessing health care, and restrict our marriage choices; while a number of truly beneficial bills have been left to die in committee. Who are these legislators really protecting? Not the majority of North Carolinians.

Other major cities are doing just that, by creating beautiful boulevards and linear parks. Such ambitious projects undoubtedly will be tackled by future generations of forward-thinking Durhamites—and Jane Jacobs will be smiling. Fred Broadwell, Durham

CORRECTION MAY 6 In Triangulator, local ordinances protect only city and county LGBTQ employees from being fired on the basis of sexual orientation. Workers at private companies have no such protections. MAY 13 In “Menu memoirs,” Tim Stallmann’s name was misspelled. In “Instro Summit,” a photo of Crispy Bess and Robby Poore should have been credited to David J. Hutchinson.

2015

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RALEIGH

inside 31

WHERE WE’LL BE: The best of the week in music,

on “the blacks,” Wake County’s income inequality, Raleigh needs input on bike plan

MUSIC CALENDAR

ARTS CALENDAR

ENVIRONMENT: More criminal charges possible for Duke Energy in coal ash spill

SPORTS CALENDAR

FILM CALENDAR

MEDIA: North Carolina sues FCC over city broadband

TRIANGULATOR: A gay fairy tale, a Duke prof’s views

9 10

arts and film

URBAN ARCHAEOLOGY: Music in the streets

CITIZEN: Bernie Sanders and the “suicide” of socialism, plus TOM TOMORROW

MAY 20, 2015

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Raleigh’s rent is too high The city could do something about affordable housing—but so far its favorite action has been inaction By Jane Porter

Outside in Raleigh’s new Kamado Grille restaurant brings the backyard inside By Jill Warren Lucas

The INDY’s Act Now and Food/Farmers Markets calendars can be found at indyweek.com.

The great escape You’re locked in a room, you have one hour to get out, and it’s incredibly fun By Brian Howe

A R T S , C U LT U R E , F O O D & M U S I C 15

FOOD: Having a Pint With Deep River’s Sam Byrd

MUSIC: Anachronisms Caleb Johnson and American Idol

MUSIC REVIEWS: Releases from Polyorchard, Carlitta

THEATER REVIEWS: The Movement and

FILM REVIEW: Old-fashioned pleasure Far From

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F E AT U R E S

PERIPHERAL VISIONS

INDYweek.com

VOLUME 32 NUMBER 20

CALENDARS & EVENTS

NEWS & COLUMNS

• CARY •

Durand and Heads on Sticks

History hidden and sanitized A party at Raleigh Underground was for a good cause, but it could have been so much more

Oh What a Lovely War

By Grayson Haver Currin

the Madding Crowd

FILM: A Fuller Life introduces you to a badass filmmaker

“He’s something like Gore Vidal minus the drama.” —p. 8 “As always, there is the urge to be real, full-throated liberals.” —p. 12 “I’m going to sell that to Mitch Easter.” —p. 20 ON THE COVER:

back talk

Divorce laws penalize women

As your “10 Smart Bills” article (May 6) noted, quite a few bills have been introduced this past session that would have created beneficial policy solutions to some of the problems facing many North Carolinians. Many of the bills listed in the article would have a positive impact on women and families in N.C., increasing opportunities for greater economic selfsufficiency and better access to quality health care. We would also include HB867 on that list, which would have eliminated for domestic violence victims N.C.’s already questionable requirement that couples be separated for one year prior to obtaining a divorce. Requiring abuse victims to stay legally tied to their abusers for an arbitrary period of time is not the way to support victims, and exposes them to further abuse,

The Raleigh Underground

PHOTO COURTESY OF

CAMERON VILLAGE MERCHANT’S ASSOCIATION

ILLUSTRATION BY SKILLET GILMORE

It is fitting to honor Jane Jacobs, who as a private citizen did so much to further the health and walkability of cities. And Curt Eshelman and Allen Wilcox (and many others) deserve our unending praise for creating Durham Central Park. If Jacobs were alive today and visited Durham, what would she tell us? As the article mentions, she would talk about sidewalks and human scale and mixed use. But I think she would go much further and push us to seriously undo the damage of autofocused planning. These are hard fixes that will take public sector leadership, not just Tara Romano responsible real estate development. President, NC Women United For example, how about returning all four of Durham’s major one ways (Roxboro, Durham: Focus less on cars Mangum, Duke, Gregson) and the Loop Hats off to the organizers of the recent to two-way streets? That could transform Jane’s Walk in downtown Durham (“Don’t block after block of the city. How about let it be Anywhere, U.S.A.”, May 13). simply tearing out the Durham Freeway

This bill seems like it should have had an easy and bipartisan pass through our legislature, yet it went nowhere. We’re again hearing talk this session from our legislators about women’s rights and safety, and the protection of families. Much of this talk is coming from lawmakers who ram through bills to restrict abortion access, prevent families from accessing health care, and restrict our marriage choices; while a number of truly beneficial bills have been left to die in committee. Who are these legislators really protecting? Not the majority of North Carolinians.

for a mile or two either side of downtown? Other major cities are doing just that, by creating beautiful boulevards and linear parks. Such ambitious projects undoubtedly will be tackled by future generations of forward-thinking Durhamites—and Jane Jacobs will be smiling. Fred Broadwell, Durham

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MAY 20, 2015

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Raleigh Cary Durham Chapel Hill A ZM INDY, INC. COMPANY PUBLISHER Susan Harper

EDITORIAL

EDITOR IN CHIEF Lisa Sorg RALEIGH EDITOR Jeffrey C. Billman MUSIC EDITOR Grayson Haver Currin ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR Brian Howe ASSOCIATE EDITOR Curt Fields COPY EDITOR Curt Fields STAFF WRITERS

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DURHAM • CHAPEL HILL

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MAY 20, 2015

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CIRCLE OF HELL

Ditch the Loop and do downtown right BY LISA SORG

F I CAN JUST MAKE IT TO THE TREE BEFORE FAINTING, THEN MAYBE I CAN GET TO THE PLAZA AND SIT FOR A SPELL. It’s summertime on Durham’s Downtown Loop, where the sun bakes the giant griddles known as parking lots and pedestrians like me marinate like ants under a magnifying glass.

Once considered the pinnacle of urban planning, the onemile Loop is now pointless, both literally and figuratively. Cleveland & Church Partners, a private development

company in Durham, unveiled a proposal last week that would convert the Loop to two-way, including Roxboro and Mangum streets, and encompass parking on both sides of the streets. Actually the Loop would not be a loop at all: It would be squared off to restore the historic Durham street grid. “A walkable downtown is key to economic success,” said Rob Dickson of Cleveland & Church Partners at a recent soiree where the plan was unveiled. “The Loop is in the way. It would be great if it were gone.” (Although not an official city document, the plan contains input from several departments and downtown business owners and residents.)

In and of itself, eliminating the Loop is not controversial. Note that there is no civic group called “Friends of the Loop.” Most of the property is government-owned. A more walkable, vibrant city could make downtown ripe for further private development—housing, retail, office and restaurants—and thus generate more property tax revenue for the city and county. However, at $12 million to $35 million, depending on the scope of the improvements, the plan will require political and public buy-in. The financial motivation behind these improvements, while understandable, is causing unease among those anxious about affordability downtown.

WHAT YOU SAID ABOUT THE LOOP 4.

Only been advocating for it for about 13 or 14 years now. Roxboro is a horrible and dangerous moat that cuts off the east side of downtown from the rest of it. I really don’t know about the town square idea— kind of looks like yet another public space that no one will use—but the rest of it looks, well, remarkably similar to what we were talking about in 2007... ;) —MichaelB, via www.indyweek.com

3. 2.

LEGEND Buildings (Existing) Buildings (Proposed)

LOCATIONS FOR CATALYTIC PROJECTS 1. Roxboro and Liberty streets 2. West Morgan and Mangum streets 3. West Morgan Street and Rigsbee Avenue 4. West Morgan and Foster streets 5. Chapel Hill Street storefronts and Convention Center upgrade CLEVELAND & CHURCH PARTNERS

When I lived in Wake Forest and drove into Durham I liked the loop as it is, because it makes it fast and easy to get to the parking garages on Morgan and Ramseur (yeah, I’m selfish that way). Now I live in Durham and bike commute, when I can; 13 miles to RTP through downtown and on the ATT, and I see the benefit of restructuring the loop.—Bottyguy I am surprised at how pleased I was at all the suggestions. I haven’t completely thought it through yet, but my only disagreement at this point is that it would be good to keep Roxboro and Mangum one way. We really want to keep that traffic moving on through and it is not that difficult to cross either of those streets now. I live on the corner of Main and Mangum, and it is a major route for fire trucks. Having it two-way a would turn it into a honking gridlock. —Amanda Smith

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DURHAM • CHAPEL HILL

“Durham is known for all diversity in ages, races and gender,” says Alice Sharpe, who lives and works downtown. We don’t want to lose that.”

PHOTO BT ALEX BOERNER

avid Godschalk was in Durham for the birth of the Loop in the 1950s and ’60s. And he plans to be here for the death of it. Fifty years ago, downtowns tried to mimic the convenience of suburban shopping centers, Godschalk, professor emeritus at the University of North Carolina’s Department of City and Regional Planning, says, “because downtowns were losing people to the malls.” In fact, driving the Loop feels a lot like circling the parking lot at The Streets at Southpoint—which is to say, aggravating. Ironically, malls like Southpoint are now trying to emulate downtowns of yore, building grids of small streets and stores close to the sidewalks. The plan to turn the Loop two-way and square it off to form a grid has been in the works for more than a decade. The idea was floated in the 2000 and 2008 Downtown Master Plans and the 2010 Retail Study. And at a recent Downtown Durham Inc workshop to update the 2015 master plan, more than 200 citizens attended, many of them to say that walkability and connectivity between neighborhoods is key to a vibrant city—as well as “grit” and “authenticity.” Matt Gladdek, DDI’s director of government affairs, lives in ClevelandHolloway, immediately northeast of downtown. “I have to cross the Loop and it’s a terrible experience,” he says. The plan calls for buildings of varying heights to be constructed primarily on city- and county-owned parking lots, which could be sold to developers. The developers and perhaps local government would build new parking garages. But instead of fortresses (Exhibit A, the Durham City Centre), these structures would be wrapped with “liner shops” to give the area more of a Main Street feel. The plan outlines five “catalytic projects” to ostensibly jumpstart the lengthy project: l 1. Roxboro and Liberty streets: Once the grid is restored, three new buildings occupy the new block. Mixed-use spaces

offset the cost and “add another revenue stream. We could get life on this street.” More than half of the theater’s audience comes from Wake County, Nocek says, “and there is no character leading up to the theater. If that’s how they get here, they probably don’t know how much Durham has changed. We’ve got a world-class market around us but the Loop is off-putting.” l 5. West Chapel Hill Street conversion: The block that runs from the Marriott Hotel to Ninth Street Bakery, aka the Canyon of Gloom, is flanked by the Convention Center’s 300-foot-long beige wall and the Bull City Business Center, where little happens on the ground floor. The wall, which hides the Convention Center’s storage and loading docks, would be converted to storefronts. Storage would move beneath the new Convention Center Plaza. An additional six projects are noted in the plan. Ramseur Street lots would have mixed-use development; City Hall Plaza would be redesigned. The SouthBank building would be demolished. It is owned by Austin Lawrence Partners, the same firm building the skyscraper at Main and Corcoran streets. “From an urbanist perspective, the SouthBank building was a mistake from the day it was made,” Gladdek says. “No one likes the SouthBank building.”

with a courtyard and small parking lot are built beside Trinity United Methodist Church. Across Liberty Street, a county building and surface lot become a downtown grocery and three levels of office space. Parking would do double duty for the church. These plans would need to enhance the new Durham County Library, which after its renovation would be closer to the street. A two-way Roxboro could help people get to the library more safely by calming the traffic. “The Loop is dangerous,” says Sharpe, whose car was totaled when a driver ran a red light on Roxboro. “Compound that with new people who come to downtown and they get lost.” l 2. Mangum and Morgan streets: East Chapel Hill Street extends across Mangum and Roxboro to First Baptist Church. Rotary Park, a pocket park that no one visits, is framed by new buildings. l 3. Rigsbee Avenue and Morgan Street: New two- and three-story buildings line the street, with a new parking deck and liner shops. l 4. Foster and Morgan streets: The proposal shows a new building on the part of the Carolina Theatre property. “I started that,” says Bob Nocek, president and CEO of the theater. He envisions the demolition of the portion of the building extending to the back of the Durham Arts Council. It was constructed in the ’90s, and thus avoids a kerfuffle with historic preservation. Nocek says the city, which owns the property, could expand the space to include a plaza and street-level restaurant, to help

his sounds grand—all that’s missing is the jetpacks to shuttle us from place to place. But there is the matter of money. It would cost the city and county an estimated $12 million to do the basic improvements, and then the developers would make their own site improvements. Cleveland & Church, not unexpectedly, is pushing for a $35 million version, in which local government would issue bonds to cover the whole enchilada. “Financing on-site improvements in developments is difficult enough,” the proposal reads. “Asking developers to finance off-site improvements makes their job tougher.” That plea is unlikely to garner much sympathy from the city, county and public. (Cue violins.) “Knowing the budget constraints of the city, only the $12 million plan has traction,”

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MAY 20, 2015

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Gladdek says. There is talk of forming a tax-increment financing district, known as a TIF, or more likely, a variant called a synthetic TIF. The latter was used to help finance some improvements for the American Tobacco Campus. The idea behind both versions is that the property value is assessed before the improvements, and then it is estimated after them. A portion of the increase goes to pay off bonds, in the case of a TIF, or other financing, such as low-interest bank loans, in the synthetic version. “It would be somewhat complex because of the city- and county-owned property,” says Durham County Commissioner Ellen Reckhow. “The city would not only change the Loop, but the use of the land they own. There are a lot of interconnected parts. I can see it happening—it would enhance downtown— but we would need to identify one or more major developers. But it’s doable.” With this level of investment, it’s difficult to envision a downtown with room for the small business owner. It appears that without some government intervention the market forces will dominate, with the hope (or delusion) that supply and demand will keep prices in line. “There are a number of property owners who care about keeping artists downtown,” Gladdek says. “But put yourself in the shoes of property owners, who after 30 years, want to make money off your land. How is that not your right?” Marcia McNally, a downtown resident and property owner is among those who while supporting the Loop conversion, is nonetheless concerned about the unintended consequences of it. Plans for the Loop, she says, must include publicly owned parking lots and codes that ensure affordable housing and business rents—to make the city center less vulnerable to the whims of market forces.. A local developer should do the project “Durham-style,” McNally says. “No cookiecutter live-work-play cluster compounds. “The City cannot give away this tremendous opportunity. We all must do our part to be sure we get this next chapter right.” p Lisa Sorg is the INDY editor. Reach her at lsorg@indyweek.com or via Twitter @lisasorg.

2015

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INDYweek.com

news

BY JEFFREY C. BILLMAN

HE LAWSUIT—TECHNICALLY, A “PETITION FOR REVIEW”— the state of North Carolina filed in federal court last week is, for a case rooted in weighty constitutional matters, fairly short, just two-and-a-half pages. The argument is straightforward enough: The Federal Communications Commission overstepped its constitutional bounds earlier this year when it preempted a state law that prevented municipalities from establishing their own broadband networks. At issue in this lawsuit, however, isn’t whether these and other restrictions are bad policy. Instead, this case will revolve around the question of whether the FCC had the right to impose its will in the first place. This is, in the legal world, uncharted waters. There’s little case law that would indicate how the appellate courts, and maybe the Supreme Court, will rule. “That’s what we’re waiting to find out in the appeal,” says Christopher Mitchell, director of the Community Broadband Networks Initiative at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. “We don’t know how the court is interpreting the limits.” North Carolina’s law was a reaction to the city of Wilson, a former tobacco town an hour’s drive east of Raleigh that in 2008 decided to spend $35 million to create its own fiber Internet service, called Greenlight, which launched in 2009. At its top tier, Greenlight produces speeds that rival Google Fiber—20 times faster than Time-Warner’s best offering. Six years on, Greenlight has been a remarkable success. It’s now profitable and providing service to more than 7,000 customers. The city wants to expand the service further into Wilson County. The big telecoms didn’t want the competition. In 2011, they lobbied the receptive, newly Republican Legislature, which produced the Level Playing Field Act, a law designed to scare off other municipalities from following Wilson’s example. Cities can’t expand

communications services beyond their corporate limits. Municipal telecoms have to pay the same fee that the government charges private telecoms. Most important, cities can’t subsidize the service with other revenue sources, which makes it more or less impossible to get one up and running. Last year, Wilson and a public utility in Chattanooga, Tennessee, asked the FCC to overrule their states’ respective restrictions on municipal telecoms, arguing that they protect the interests of companies like Time Warner at the public’s expense. President Obama, too, urged the FCC to override these restrictions in the 19 states, including North Carolina, that have them. The FCC agreed. “The need for broadband is everywhere, even if the business case is not,” the majority wrote in their March ruling, noting that in rural areas nationwide less than half the population has access to high-speed Internet. “… It is clear that the combination of requirements effectively raises the cost of market entry so high as to effectively block entry and protect the private providers that advocated for such legislation from competition.” In its petition, the state appears to be echoing dissenting FCC commissioner Ajit Pai, an Obama appointee who’s voiced skepticism about issues such as net neutrality. “In taking this step,” Pai wrote, “the FCC … disrupts the balance of power between the federal government and state governments that lies at the core of our constitutional system of government.” Whether the state law is a good idea or not is, in Pai’s view, irrelevant. If his position prevails, Mitchell points out, it will effectively put residents of North Carolina’s smaller cities and rural towns at the mercy of the big telecoms’ business interests, even as the Triangle positions itself as a high-tech hub. “That’s stunning,” Mitchell says. Time Warner declined to comment. The N.C. Cable Telecommunications Association, which lobbied for the 2011 state law, could not be reached. p Jeffrey C. Billman is the INDY’s Raleigh news editor. Reach him at jbillman@indyweek.com.

MAY 20, 2015

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First Annual

DOUBLING DOWN

North Carolina fights for its right to do Time Warner’s bidding

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The INDY’s Guide to Dining in the Triangle

• Armand & Bluesology with Will McFarlane • The Josh Preslar Band • Harvey Dalton Arnold • Best Local Bands • Best NC Craft Beers • Best Local Food Trucks • Durham Central Park • 4-9 pm 5/30/15 www.DurhamBluesAndBrewsFestival.com Presented by the Exchange Club of Greater Durham

Tickets on sale NOW!

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MAY 20, 2015

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GOLDILOCKS AND THE TWO (BIG, HAIRY) BEARS Also: a Duke professor’s racial transcendence, Wake’s income mobility and Raleigh’s brand-damn-new bike plan BY JEFFREY C. BILLMAN AND LISA SORG

pTRI

angulator

“This is nothing more than bringing homosexuality into a school where it does not belong.” —Lisa Baptist, a grandmother worried about Orange County schoolchildren acting out what they read in King & King, according to The News & Observer. The book, read by an openly gay teacher to his third-grade class, features two princes kissing on the last page.

NCE UPON A TIME IN A FOREST, close to the village of Efland, stood a cottage where TWO BEARS lived. They were not really “proper bears,” but this being ORANGE COUNTY, most of the neighbors were very respectful to them, and people raised their hats when they went by.

But then the male bears, who taught elementary school, decided to read a FAIRY TALE about acceptance and compassion to a third-grade class, and some of the neighbors were no longer nice. They told others in Orange County that they were mistaking tolerance for perversion, and WOULDN’T SOMEONE PLEASE THINK OF THE CHILDREN? They raised a ruckus and quoted another fairy tale to defend their position: “I do not believe relationships as described in this book are BIBLICALLY SOUND,” one said. The mean neighbors went to an all-school meeting, wherein they discussed the creeping danger of “THE HOMOSEXUAL AGENDA.” But when they realized that most parents did not mind the bears and their books, the mean neighbors fled the school, telling themselves, “Get away! AWAY FROM THAT SCHOOL!” One of the bears yelled after them, “Don’t run away! Come back! I forgive you!” And this is how it ended. From that day onward, the bears, who later married, got to read the book to GENERATIONS OF THIRD-GRADE CLASSES, who never saw what the big deal was in the first place. The haughty, rude neighbors did not change; they just became irrelevant.

lsewhere on the tolerance-in-education front this week, meet JERRY HOUGH, an 80-year-old Duke political science prof with some very deep thoughts about THE BLACKS. Over on ratemyprofessors.com, our man Jerry scored only one jalapeño for “hotness” (allowing for students with GRANDDADDY ISSUES, we suppose), but he’s now in hot water for some, um, less than judicious online comments he made on a New York Times story. (Note to racists: The Internet is forever.) Writing about the Baltimore riots, Hough noted that “the blacks” are lazier than “the Asians,” and “Every Asian student has a very simple OLD AMERICAN FIRST name that symbolizes their desire for integration. Virtually every black has a strange new name that symbolizes their lack of

desire for integration.” Who could possibly find that offensive? For starters, the LIMP HANDSHAKES in Duke’s front office, who abruptly elbowed Hough into a not-so-early retirement. But as we learned from scanning his Rate My Professors page, Hough’s students already knew he was what we charitably call a THROWBACK (albeit an easy A if you could manage to stay awake in his class): “Hough is interestingly out of date. His antiquated views are placed in a modern world. His class is like GROUNDHOG DAY, repeating itself endlessly with nothing interesting happening. … He vocalizes some extremely strong prejudices so be careful.” “Like others have said, for the LOVE OF ALLAH, don’t take this class.” Of course, every class has its brown nose: “This man is brilliant. Contributed greatly to my understanding of history and politics. He’s something like GORE VIDAL minus the drama, with even more intellect.” Being diligent journalists, we checked on the origin of “Jerry” to see if the professor is truly a YANKEE DOODLE DANDY. Jerry, we learned through hours of research, comes from Gerald, whose Germanic origins mean “spear.” As in “Stick a spear in Jerry, he’s toast.”

id you grow up POOR IN WAKE COUNTY? Sucks to be you, dude. A new report from a pair of Harvard economists, RAJ CHETTY and NATHANIEL HENDREN, came out earlier this month ranking the country’s 100 largest counties in terms of income mobility—that is, a poor child’s ability to climb the socioeconomic ladder throughout his or her lifetime. In, for example, DuPage County, a suburb of Chicago, poor kids fared rather well by the time they reached age 26, making about 15 percent more than poor kids born in an average county. And where was Wake County on this list? Way down near the bottom, NO. 88. Its poor kids earn 11.4 PERCENT LESS than counterparts born in an average county, and the effect is much more pronounced for boys than girls. A neat interactive feature on The New York Times’ website—which we managed to read without leaving comments about THE BLACKS, weird—spells it out: Wake is “AMONG THE WORST COUNTIES in the U.S. in helping poor children up the income ladder.” Better than only 6 percent of its peers, in fact. Here’s the thing, though: According to the Times, it’s

not just poor Wake kids, though they’re hit the hardest. While the county’s poorest children will earn $2,920 less than peers in an average county, average-income kids fell nearly as far behind. Even rich kids—INCLUDING 1 PERCENTERS—seem to have the same fate, though the lag is less the wealthier you go. Durham County, in case you’re curious, is in the same boat. Chatham County does a hair better, but even there, the Times notes, “Every year a poor child spends in Chatham County SUBTRACTS ABOUT $50 from his or her annual household income at age 26, compared with a childhood spent in the average American county.” In other words, get out while you can. Alternative plan: Stay here and make it better. Chetty and Hendren found five primary factors linked to income mobility; if we address them, our poor kids might stand a PUNCHER’S CHANCE: less segregation by race and income, lower income inequality, less violent crime, better schools and more two-parent households.

inally, from the PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENTS DESK: The city of Raleigh is about to update its bicycle plan, and would like your help. The current plan, approved in 2009, has worked pretty well, says project manager JASON MYERS. Back then the city had all of three streets with bike lanes. That’s now up to 30 miles, a number that will “basically double” by the end of summer. The GREENWAY system has expanded, more people are using bicycles both for recreation and basic transportation, and a cycling culture has started to catch on. But in the intervening years, there’s also been a lot of experimentation by urban planners nationwide about the best ways to foster a healthy bike environment, knowledge the city would like to take advantage of. So it hired consultants and began surveying people at ARTSPLOSURE last weekend; you can comment on the project website, bikeraleigh.org/bikeplan. The update won’t be finished until year’s end at the earliest. Myers imagines that the end result will seek to “turn a DISCONNECTED SERIES of places to bike into a network,” and that when it’s over, “the type of cyclists using bike facilities will come closer to the average citizen.” Translation: If all goes well, you won’t have to be a pro to get around Raleigh on two wheels. p Reach the INDY’s Triangulator team at triangulator@ indyweek.com.

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news

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MAY 20, 2015

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GUILTY!

Duke Energy takes the coal ash rap. More charges may be coming

BY BILLY BALL

UKE ENERGY IS GUILTY, NINE TIMES OVER, for its handling of coal ash in North Carolina.

The energy giant pleaded guilty last week to nine misdemeanor violations of the federal Clean Water Act, accepting a punishment of five years probation and $102 million in fines and restitution. The plea deal came after last year’s 39,000-ton ash spill in Eden’s Dan River, an environmental catastrophe that spurred an ever-widening federal investigation of Duke Energy’s leaky ash impoundments in North Carolina. Federal prosecutors say the company failed to maintain equipment and ignored repeated warnings that its ash ponds were not safe at facilities in Eden, Mount Holly, Asheville, Goldsboro and Moncure. “Companies that cut corners and contaminate waters on which communities depend, as Duke did here, will be held accountable,” Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, said at a press conference.

During that press conference following last week’s sentencing in Greenville, federal officials did not rule out a civil case against Duke Energy. And while a U.S. Department of Justice spokeswoman declined to discuss whether criminal charges could be filed against individuals involved in Duke’s coal ash spill, environmental law experts say that could very well happen. “The fact that you haven’t heard about any criminal prosecution happening doesn’t mean it’s not happening,” says Ryke Longest, director of Duke University’s Environmental Law and Policy Clinic. “A criminal investigation isn’t really over until the news stops coming.” Longest says federal prosecutors could eventually file charges against Duke employees or officials at the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources, who have been accused of being too slow or lax in dealing with Duke’s ash impoundments. The Southern Environmental Law Center has been urging Duke and DENR to clean up leaky coal ash ponds in North Carolina since 2008, but state officials did not force action from the company until after the Dan River spill.

Last year’s Coal Ash Management Act approved by state lawmakers orders the company to dispose of an estimated 100 million tons of coal ash stored at its most “high-risk” plants in the next 15 years. Duke plans to dump up to 20 million tons in lined clay pits in Chatham and Lee counties—plans that have come under heavy criticism from environmental groups and locals. As part of its settlement, Duke will pay a $68 million fine—the state’s highest in the Clean Water Act’s 43-year history—and $34 million to environmental preservation and wildlife organizations. The utility will also be subject to regular audits by a court-appointed monitor to ensure compliance in cleaning up its coal ash. “The massive coal ash spill into North Carolina’s Dan River last year was a crime,” John Cruden, an assistant attorney general for the DOJ, told the media. “And it was the result of repeated failures by Duke Energy’s subsidiaries to exercise controls over coal ash facilities.” p Billy Ball is an INDY staff writer. Contact him at bball@ indyweek.com or on Twitter @billy_k_ball.

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MAY 20, 2015

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PERIPHERAL VISIONS • V.C. ROGERS

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urban archaeology VARIOUS RACHEL

Uncovering music in the streets BY LISA SORG

ECAUSE OF THE RELENTLESS SNOW LAST WINTER, Urban Archaeology had to go on temporary hiatus. But come the spring rains, Durham’s streets became strewn with artifacts, like mammoth bones emerging from an ice melt. It was a trashpicker’s dream. Since last fall, I’ve been collecting CDs (and one cassette tape!) that had been discarded in parking lots and by the road. They had been scratched and scraped, rained on and run over. Several of them appeared to be music mixes (“Various Rachel”), but a few were complete albums: Chingy, Streetz Calling by Future and The Best of the S.O.S. Band. I still have an ancient portable radio/CD/cassette player that belonged to my great-aunt (now dead 16 years, and she had it for at least a decade), and I tried playing each one. Which ones survived the winter to play another day? Go to www.indyweek. com and watch a video of the experiment. Let’s just say digital isn’t what it’s cracked up to be. p

PHOTOS BY ALEX BOERNER

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MAY 20, 2015

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THE S WORD

On Sanders, socialism, the U.S. Senate race and suicidal impulses BY BOB GEARY

O YOU LIKE ELECTIONS? I’ll come back to that question. The 2016 elections are into the backstretch—sorry, I just watched the Preakness—and a couple of things are bothering me. One is the near-total media blackout in North Carolina when it comes to a certain Democratic presidential candidate. Another, and it’s related, is that as yet there’s no Democratic candidate—not one—for what would seem to be a highly winnable U.S. Senate seat from North Carolina in 2016. On the first subject, let’s hear from Gary Pearce, the Democratic strategist and ex-Jim Hunt aide. “As always,” Pearce wrote on his blog, “there is the urge to be real, full-throated liberals. And, Lord save us, a suicidal impulse to embrace Bernie Sanders’ socialism.” Wait, where else did I hear the “s” word lately? Socialism, that is. Not Sanders. Right, it was at the Triangle Labor Group last Friday, where the discussion was about the rise of economic inequality as union power falls. And yet, one labor official lamented, few question the “weird, reverse socialism” that allows companies to pay their workers so little that they need food stamps and other government benefits to get by. Privatized profits from socialized wages. I’ll take Bernie Sanders’ brand over that one.

like elections, but only when candidates run on the issues and not who’s best able to suck up to wealthy contributors. There’s a well-established formula for progressive change in this country: People hit the streets, upstart candidates endorse the cause, and whether they’re elected or not—and usually they’re not—the combination forces the political establishment to at least look like it’s listening. Which gives the activists hope and emboldens additional candidates. Rinse and repeat, until public opinion moves.

You know you’ve had a breakthrough when an establishment figure like Hillary Clinton speaks out, for example, on immigrants’ rights—as she did this month—and sounds like she’s channeling an activist from 10 years ago. I’ve written previously about Clinton. It’s time to give our attention to Sanders, not because he’s going to defeat her for the Democratic nomination— we don’t live in that wonderful world—but rather because his platform is a roadmap for this country’s future, lest we plunge over the economic and environmental cliffs ahead. Sanders would lift up labor and locally owned businesses in a world economy tilted dangerously toward the bankers and megacorporations. He’s for massive spending on public works to create jobs, rebuild our infrastructure (e.g., Amtrak!) and help save the planet from climate change. Sure it’s socialism, of the sort practiced by European social democracies where a robust public sector—the government— serves as a counterweight to the banks, not their handmaiden. Sanders is asking why public universities in Germany, Denmark and Sweden are tuition-free, while ours go up, up, up in price. How can their governments deliver high-quality health care to every citizen for half what Americans pay? These are good questions. Let’s explore them. That’s what elections are for, if they’re “for” anything. With the rise of Huge Money in American politics, and the scorched-earth political ads, you have to wonder. But here, too, Sanders is a refreshing throwback—or perhaps a throw-forward to when the Huge Money is driven out of our democracy temple. Sanders started in Vermont politics with nothing in his pocket except his principles. He lost his first three elections—badly. He’s not afraid to push the political ball uphill. One example: When Congress passed the anti-gay Defense of Marriage Act in 1996, Sanders was in the U.S. House. He voted no. But he’s someone to be “saved” from? Not if you like elections as a tool of reform.

Actually, Sanders’ political courage has made him overwhelmingly popular in Vermont. In 2012, running as an independent, he was elected to his second Senate term with 71 percent of the vote.

emocrats are perpetually torn between candidates “who can win” (i.e., raise money) and “movement” candidates who try to reshape public opinion. In 2016, there’s no need to be torn. Clinton is the former—and maybe she can win, maybe not, against a Republican “change candidate” like Marco Rubio. But she’ll be helped if public opinion goes left on the economic and environmental tyranny of the super-rich. Which may happen if Sanders gets a hearing. Fortunately, Sanders is off to a good start, raising money from 75,000 smallmoney contributors (average: $43) in the four days after he announced, and more

citiZEN

than $4 million from 100,000 donors to date. Unfortunately, Sanders campaigned unofficially for 18 months, including two trips to Raleigh—only to be ignored by our in-state press. Similarly, there’s no need to be torn in the Democratic Senate primary. Quite the opposite: The door is open for a Sandersstyle progressive to run on a platform of national reform and raise the issues that the “candidate who can win”—when the Democrat establishment finally produces one—will be advised not to touch. A progressive candidate might, for instance, talk up the virtues of unions and join the AFL-CIO in fighting the latest free-trade deals that promise to enrich corporations at the cost of American jobs. Oh, my. A Democrat who’s for working people and organized labor? Why that’s … that’s … socialism! p Bob Geary is an INDY columnist. Reach him at rjgeary@mac.com.

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MAY 20, 2015

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MAY 20, 2015

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PERFORMANCE BOOKS FILM SPORTS

TAKE IT INSIDE

Kamado Grille amps up the backyard grill experience

IRST THINGS FIRST. It’s “Ka-mah-do,” as in the egg-shaped, Japanese-style ceramic grill, not “ka-moedo,” as in komodo, the largest living species of lizard.

In the age of Game of Thrones with dragon eggs surviving fire, that’s an important distinction. And while Kamado Joe Grills are designed for outdoor use, the new Kamado Grille restaurant in North Raleigh has a dozen of the cherry red grills inside the kitchen, where their intoxicating smoke is captured by a massive exhaust and fire-suppression system designed by CaptiveAire. You read that right. Led by Eric Gephart, formerly of The Chef ’s Academy in Morrisville, they are burning hardwood charcoal inside the restaurant, practically around the clock. The entire system, which soon will include temperature settings for individual grills, can be monitored by staff and tweaked off-site through a phone app. The fast-paced kitchen action can be viewed by diners from live-feed cameras that relay images of line cooks grilling meats, fish and vegetables to big screens in the sunny dining room. Be patient and you might get to see someone “burp” the heavy lid to minimize the potential for flying sparks. That quick jiggle is crucial,

considering they can roar to 1,100 degrees. Most menu items cook at a relatively moderate 500 to 700 degrees, while slow smoking is dialed back to around 250 degrees. Built on the same footprint of the long abandoned Lucky 32 Southern Kitchen, the huge open space—complemented by ample outdoor seating and a grass bocce court—is designed to resemble a HOAfriendly great outdoors, complete with stone garden walls, burbling water features and trees that stretch toward skylights. Co-owner Tom Allen is the clever guy who gazed admiringly at the Kamado Grill on his Wakefield deck and conjured this clearly franchise-able concept (opening soon in Greenville, South Carolina, Wilmington and Charlotte, with more to come). Allen appreciated the way the ceramic grill, similar to a Big Green Egg, quickly generates and holds heat, allowing foods to sear quickly and retain moisture. A former executive with Outback Steakhouse, he emailed Kamado Joe with his brainstorm, getting an enthusiastic call from the owner just 45 minutes later. Allen believes Kamado Grille makes one of the best burgers in town, and that claim may leave you with your jaw hanging open. Or it might be just the after-effect of the stacked mouthful ($11) topped with a patty-covering round of custom-cured pancetta, grilled onion, pepper jack cheese and “secret

BY JILL WARREN LUCAS

LEFT A tree grows toward the skylight, part of Kamado Grille’s attempt to make the inside feel as much like the outdoors as possible. ABOVE A change in color indicates a temperature change. Hotter grills turn a darker red. PHOTOS BY ALEX BOERNER

sauce.” You won’t miss the absence of fries with creative sides like red quinoa salad with butterbeans. Other sandwich options a include a Reuben ($11) with corned beef slow-cooked overnight, pulled pork ($9.50) sourced from Heritage Farm near Goldsboro, and a smoke-free lobster roll ($14). If the tender buns taste familiar it’s because they’re made by Cary’s La Farm bakery. Note that La Farm owner Lionel Vatinet’s irresistible white chocolate baguette is used in a bread pudding ($6) drizzled with “bourbon dream sauce.” That’s my idea of dreamy, but maybe not yours. See if you can resist the chocolate and seasonal fruit cobblers ($6) baked in personal cast iron pans or a selection of ice cream, sorbet and gelato ($3.50). But we digress. Before dessert, consider an entree (maybe juniper-brined pork prime rib for $16.50 or maple-miso glazed

KAMADO GRILLE 832 Springfield Commons Dr., Raleigh Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m.–3 p.m. and 5–10 p.m.; Friday, 11 a.m.–3 p.m. and 5–11 p.m.; Saturday, 11 a.m.–11 p.m.; closed Sundays. 919-803-3662, www.kamadogrille.com

Scottish salmon at $17) or a few appetizers (are you a sucker for $12 lamb lollipops? how about $10 oysters Kamadofeller with andouille, spinach and smoked gouda?). Grilled flatbread options include the $13 ocean BLAST featuring bacon, lettuce, avocado, shrimp and tomato. If you’re stumped, you can ask a friendly server for advice, but the iPad ordering system allows you to bypass such interruptions. If you want to silently signal that the only ongoing service you want is beverage refills or plate clearing, ask for a lapel pin. On the other hand, if you crave interaction, know that Kamado Grille offers free classes (with tastings) on Saturday mornings to help fans learn the fine points of ceramic grill cooking. This includes a visit to the “retail center” where they can buy accessories and grills ranging in price from the $499 portable Joe Jr. to the $1,499 party-sized Big Joe. Or, for a more modest investment, and a welcome break, let them do the cooking for you. p Jill Warren Lucas is a Raleigh writer who blogs at Eating My Words. Follow her at @jwlucasnc.

MUSIC&VISUAL eat drinkARTS

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MAY 20, 2015

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PERFORMANCE BOOKS FILM SPORTS

CAN’T FIGHT DESTINY

BILL NEAL’S SOUTHERN COOKING MARKS MILESTONE

A career in beer for Deep River Brewing’s Sam Byrd was obvious

ne of the most influential books on Southern regional cooking is Bill Neal’s Southern Cooking. It’s marking its 30th anniversary this year and will be the topic of a May 30 session of the Carolina Cornucopia conference at the Friday Center in Chapel Hill. The book defied the stereotypical beliefs about Southern food; largely, that all proteins are fried and all vegetables greased with fatback. Get the interesting backstory on how and why the book was written, plus hear from some top chefs on its import in a story by Jill Warren Lucas at www. indyweek.com.

BY GREG BARBERA

EER HAS ALWAYS BEEN PART OF SAM BYRD’S LIFE.

“My mother’s father started a beer distributorship in upstate New York right after the end of Prohibition,” says the 36-year-old rep for Clayton’s Deep River Brewing Company. He sips on a Riverbank Rye pale ale on a gloriously sunny day in Durham while recalling his beverage beginnings. “I remember being brought to work and climbing on palates, messing around on the forklift,” he says. A pause and chuckle precedes a confession: “I remember playing hockey in the warehouse and breaking bottles with hockey pucks.” By fifth grade Byrd knew his future. “I told my mom that I couldn’t wait to grow up so I could drive a beer truck,” he says. Did that come true? He nods with a big grin and emphatically states, “Oh hell yeah.” Byrd moved here eight years ago, lured to North Carolina by the weather and the promise of opportunity. He quickly landed a job working for Mims Distributing Company in Raleigh servicing accounts around the Triangle. Recently, the two-year-old Clayton brewery needed a sales person. During its search several accounts mentioned Sam Byrd’s name. By January of this year, Byrd had joined the Deep River team. “I turned a lot of heads by taking a job at a virtually unknown brewery in Johnston County,” he says. “But at the end of the day it was an opportunity I would have hated to pass up.” One thing he has at Deep River that he didn’t at his previous job is autonomy. “You get to use your own mind and you don’t run into the hurdles of the chain of command,” he says. Byrd handles a lot of grassroots events from tastings and tap takeovers. And, because the brewery selfdistributes, he is not handcuffed by strict guidelines. “I have a lot of flexibility,” he says. “And as long as I produce, nobody is breathing over my shoulder.” Of course, to paraphrase the Spider-

having a PINT with

PHOTO BY JEREMY M. LANGE

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A rare moment for Sam Byrd when he isn’t “running around like a madman.” The INDY’s Guide to Dining in the Triangle

man mantra, with great autonomy comes a great workload. “I start my day around 9:30 a.m. It could end anywhere from 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.,” he explains. “I call on accounts, throw in some sampling, do some cold calls, schedule tap takeovers and pint nights. In other words, a lot of running around like a madman.” His hard work is paying off. The iconic canoe paddle tap handles of Deep River

Brewing are beginning to pop up at various bars around the Triangle and the Clayton Brewery is making a name for itself in the area’s somewhat crowded craft beer scene. “I love what I do,” he says. Remember, “I was born to do this job.” p Greg Barbera is a freelance writer and contributor to the second edition of 1001 Beers You Must Taste Before You Die.

INDYweek.com

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MAY 20, 2015

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CHERRY PIE

Intimate Toys, Movies, Gifts & Tobacco Accessories FOR ADULTS Chapel Hill & Raleigh www.cherrypieonline.com 2009-2014 INDY WINNER – “Best Place to Buy Erotic Gifts”

ow many times did you drive by or hear about Cherry Pie before realizing it wasn’t a bakery? The name may not ooze sex, but make no mistake; these locally-owned stores are designed to help adventurous adults have fun. According to Erik, the company’s general manager since 2005, the idea has always been to create a store unlike any other. “We love to hear how much customers like the name and overall atmosphere of our stores.” He adds, “We’ve worked hard to distinguish ourselves from typical “adult stores,” beginning with our name, and so far, so good.” In my opinion, Cherry Pie is the Triangle’s top choice for adults seeking those “naughty bits.” Both locations offer well-lit, spacious layouts and a friendly & knowledgeable staff that will immediately put you at ease. Erik’s wife Christine explains why the welcoming nature of the stores is a key element, “The stores are laid out with first-time customers in mind. Our layout allows them to browse wherever they feel most comfortable, which is very important.” As you enter you’ll find candles & incense

alongside literature and a wide variety of quality lubricants & lotions. Meanwhile, glass display cases offer an impressive collection of contemporary smoking products. You’ll also find a great assortment of hilarious bachelorette party favors. Need a pecker piñata? Got it! They also carry a nice selection of lingerie and hosiery. Venture further to find “TOYLAND,” featuring low-priced “basics” as well as items from LELO, OVO, WE-VIBE and TANTUS. Oh yeah, and BDSM gear for you adventurous types... OUCH! Of course there are also thousands of adult movies for sale or rent, and they’re all BUY TWO, GET ONE FREE! The prices found throughout Cherry Pie are quite impressive. “We’re proud to say we’ve kept our prices down despite a tough economy and cost increases,” says Christine. If you haven’t had a taste of the Cherry Pie experience, grab your ID, call your fun-loving friends and stop in. It will be worth the trip. Both stores are open late 365 days a year. GOOGLE Cherry Pie for more information.

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THE CRYSTAL GARDEN

gems and crystals at an early age and became an avid collector. He also found it personally rewarding to explore the metaphysical properties that have been attributed to these special stones. Over the last few years Sam has exhibited at shows around North Carolina. While this had its rewards, the setup/takedown requirements were grueling and the display options were limited. Settling down and opening The Crystal Garden overcame these obstacles and has also made it possible to begin building a faithful clientele. Sam would love to talk to you about your interests and to share his wide-ranging knowledge of the collection. So, come see the wondrous beauty and variety of Nature. Perhaps find that perfect gift for a friend or an enchanting decorative piece for your home or hand-crafted jewelry for yourself!

am a therapist in Durham specializing in individual and couples counseling. I enjoy helping women and men of all ages to develop new insights, make changes in their lives, and find happiness. I am experienced in working with clients to increase self-awareness, make good decisions, manage grief and suffering, respond to hardship, and create more fulfilling relationships. I work effectively with people who need assistance with: • General well being • Stress, anxiety, sadness, depression, and anger • Couples/marriage counseling • Intimacy, communication, and conflict management • Identity issues (LGBTQ, gender, multicultural) • Life direction • Spirituality and meaning I believe in the power of a therapeutic relationship to provide a space to work out difficult

feelings, figure out how to manage life transitions and relationship challenges, or achieve a more purposeful life. I encourage my clients to be open to a dialogue with me in which we discover insights they may not have had about themselves. With compassion and humor, we make our way in a relationship of honesty and trust as we identify changes—small and large—which might help them live more happily and successfully. Sometimes this means uncovering unconscious motivations; sometimes we identify how thoughts and behavior affect their feelings. I invite you to set up a consultation with me to explore what you are seeking and how we might work together. I received a Master of Social Work from Smith College and completed a two-year, post-graduate clinical fellowship at Harvard University. I also received a Master of Divinity from Harvard University.

WOMEN’S BIRTH & WELLNESS BOUTIQUE

5315 Highgate Drive, Suite 104 Durham • (919) 491-4181 Theretreatdurham.com

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Holistic Counselor & Life Coach 919-699-4933 • Durham & Chapel Hill www.CarolynStevenson.com Creating change, finding meaning

THE PETITE RETREAT

lake Moriarty is delighted to announce the opening of The Retreat’s second location, The Petite Retreat. The Petite Retreat is tucked away in a quiet office park conveniently located off Highway 54. With three treatment rooms, no ringing phones or administrative staff, it can easily maintain a quiet, peaceful atmosphere focused on healing and relaxation. You may notice familiar faces, with some therapists working exclusively in the south Durham office, and some sharing their time between the two locations. There are a wide variety of specialists available to help you achieve your bodywork and skin care goals. Whether you require a more rehabilitative/preventative technique or your needs are more nurturing and healing in nature, the providers approach each

MAY 20, 2015

CAROLYN STEVENSON, LCSW, MDIV

Timberlyne Shopping Center 1129 Weaver Dairy Road, Chapel Hill (Near the Post Office) • 919-265-8038 www.the-crystal-garden.com Showcasing Nature’s unearthed marvel. The Crystal Garden rocks! e are very excited to announce the opening of our new store in the Timberlyne Shopping Center in Chapel Hill. No other store in the Triangle carries such a wide variety of crystals, gems and minerals. We are also pleased to offer handcrafted jewelry featuring these natural wonders. In addition, we carry incense, sage, candles, special CDs and books. We encourage you to come in, even if just to look around. Many entering the store say “Wow!” The store is a feast for the eyes, from the small specimens of Tanzanite with their unique hues of blue, to the knee-high Amethyst cathedrals with their rich shades of purple. Check out the spheres of Black Moonstone and the beautifully crafted eggs of Carnelian. The proprietor, Sam Bryan, Jr., developed an enduring interest in the variety and beauty of

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930 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Suite 204 Chapel Hill • 919-537-7055 www.ncbirthcenter.org client’s concerns with care and attention. Christin Fitzsimmons has joined The Petite Retreat team as the head aesthetician. Christin has an enthusiastic approach in her work that shows in her concern for her client’s satisfaction and the amount of care she puts into each and every service she provides. Her passion for aesthetics is apparent in her superior waxing skills paired with her knowledge and gentle approach to skin care. The Petite Retreat is excited to offer the quality and care of a local small business, amongst the hustle and bustle of the Research Triangle Park. Blake and the rest of the staff are looking forward to helping you meet your skin care, massage and acupuncture needs.

omen’s Birth & Wellness Boutique (WBWB) is a non-profit retail boutique focusing on breastfeeding support, including hospital-grade breast pump rentals and supplies, a variety of nursing bras, fitted by certified bra fitters, and much more. We specialize in selling a variety of cloth diapers, baby carriers, and general holistic health and wellness products for the entire family. More than anything, the Boutique is a community resource. WBWB offers free baby-wearing classes taught by International Babywearers of the Triangle educators every first Saturday of the month, as well as free cloth diapering classes led by volunteer cloth-diapering parents every third Saturday of the month. Our newest gathering is the Breastfeeding Café on the second and fourth Friday mornings of the month; mothers and their babies come together to talk and relax in a supportive setting with Lactation Consultants on hand. And now there’s a place for fathers to come with their chil-

dren with the formation of a new Dad’s Group on Monday afternoons. “As a non-profit, we are able to focus our efforts on supporting healthy and environmentally-friendly parenting as opposed to solely focusing on increasing profit margins,” says Brianna Honea, Business Director of Women’s Birth and Wellness Center. All proceeds from the Boutique support Women’s Birth & Wellness Center so that the Center may continue its mission to provide an excellent standard of care in women’s primary health care from adolescence to post-menopause. Women’s Birth & Wellness Center also participates in a free program for healthy pregnancies called Strong Start. We stand by our motto: Your birth, Your health, Our commitment.

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MAY 20, 2015

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CULTURE

TRAPPED IN THE CLOSET

For $25, Mike and Lynn Horan will lock you in a room and watch you try to escape BY BRIAN HOWE

E KNOW THE SOLUTION HAS SOMETHING TO DO WITH THE DOGS, lighthouses and books with symbols ciphered on their edges. We know our escape is hidden among the tchotchkes on the shelves, the photos on the windowless walls, the strongboxes and safes on the ground. But for a moment, we don’t know where to begin. Three INDY editors are trapped in what seems to be a child’s playroom with excessive home security—locks are everywhere. A timer on the wall counts down from 60 minutes. A walkie-talkie occasionally squawks. We can use it to ask our captors, who observe us remotely through a camera feed as if we were specimens in an experiment, for three hints. A keypad locks the only exit. We’re trying to discover the code before time runs out. As we search the room, we talk about what we find, and motifs emerge. Groups of items with digits written on them start to coalesce, and riddles and logic puzzles suggest orders for the digits. Lockboxes spring open, divulging more clues. Each one brings us closer to escape. We have been in the room for only half an hour, but we’ve come a long way since Mike Horan started us off with this set-up: “Congratulations. You are the new assistant to the director of the tourism board of North Carolina. Your first assignment is to publish the North Carolina state tourism guidebook. You have one hour to get everything in the mail to the printer. Your boss just called and said the photographer canceled. Your job is to travel the state of North Carolina, gather the photos, and escape the room in order to get them in the mail.”

Sure, this isn’t the most exciting metagame ever devised (it sounds a lot like my real job). Yes, it completely neglects the fundamental question of the scenario: “Why are we locked in this room, anyway?” And fine, it actually muddies the contextual waters with the metaphysical concept of traveling the state in a locked room, which I like. But none of that reduces the immersive quality of the game, any more than the humble setting does. It fades from mind

ipher Escape, a five-month-old live escape game in a Morrisville office park, is the passion project of Mike and Lynn Horan of North Raleigh. Mike, a telecom engineer, has a gracious manner and a pealing laugh. He does most of the couple’s talking, in a warm, rapid patter. Lynn is a real estate appraiser. They first experienced live escape games in Orlando and Nashville. “We just looked at each other and said, ‘We’re going to do this,’” Mike says.

ABOVE Cary’s Rebecca Rechkemmer (left) and Lisa Dalola (right) solve puzzles with a group of other players at Cipher Escape, a live escape game in Morrisville. RIGHT Mike Horan, who operates Cipher Escape with his wife, Lynn, observes the action from the command center. PHOTOS BY ALEX BOERNER

as we become absorbed, decisively separating things that matter from things that don’t, feeling patterns taking shape in the darkness of the unknown. Curious journalists no more, we are amateur sleuths now, and time is passing very quickly. At a pivotal moment (this is an experience with spoilers), one editor screams in shock, which swiftly turns to delight.

The concept grew out of a genre of videogames called room escape games. Descended from the point-and-click adventures that ruled PC gaming in the ’80s and ’90s (think Myst, of which Mike is a fan), they combine scavenger hunts with logic puzzles in a single room. Their compact scale and mundane concept makes them easy to translate into real life, and Japanese company SCRAP created the

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CULTURE first physical version in 2007. The trend spread through Europe, where there are now hundreds of live escape games, then Canada, Australia and, more recently, the U.S., where there are only about 50. The Horans create their own puzzles.

With help from their adult children, they run games Thursdays through Sundays (and by private appointment throughout the week), and hope to expand their hours soon. Corporate team-building parties and foreign travelers are reliable customers, and they saw a bump in business when an escape room was featured on the show The Big Bang Theory in February. But such a novel concept takes time to catch on. “A lot of people visiting here have found us before people who live here, because they’re very familiar with it,” Mike says. “People from Turkey and Poland will look up [live escape games] when traveling for work.” Cipher Escape offers the NC Photo Hunt Escape room, which is for three to six players, and the comics-themed Geek Escape room, which holds up to a dozen. A beer-themed Brewery Escape room is in the works for June, and the geek theme is scheduled to be replaced by a horror one around Halloween. All the rooms will rotate, as they’re basically one-time experiences. The North Carolina room is snug, even at minimum capacity. It looks every bit like the generic office it is, with stark overhead lighting, white walls and gray industrial carpeting. The props are simple, including lots of thrift-store knickknacks and bargain-bin books, but they are deployed with ingenuity. There is more to the experience than searching duffel bags, punching keypads and spinning combinations. Binoculars, a radio and other paraphernalia come into play. Though there is only one door, there are three ways out. You can solve the code, which, to me, clearly represents survival, not the successful publication of a tourism guidebook. Or you can be

released when the hour expires, which, of course, represents death. You can also press an emergency exit button in case of claustrophobia or bladder distress. There is no big payoff for beating the clock—just your picture on the wall and the chance to buy an “I Escaped” T-shirt sold only to winners. “If you offer a reward, you’ll have one person who’s just thinking about the reward, and totally miss the concept of the game,” Mike says. He’ll walk you through the solution if you fail, so either way, you get the complete experience. Instead, there are layers of intangible compensation. One is the sheer fun of tearing apart a room like a TV detective, trying to remember not to pry open anything marked with the stickers that distinguish actual infrastructure from props (still, the Horans cheerfully expect, and receive, occasional damage). Another is the camaraderie that grows among friends, coworkers or families engaged in cooperative problem-solving. “For parents and children, it gives them commonality,” Mike explains. “The children can’t do it by themselves and the parents can’t do it by themselves, because everybody recognizes different things. The games are built for multiple talents.” And there is the satisfaction of accomplishment. For light entertainment, the game is surprisingly hard. The fastest anyone has escaped the NC Photo Hunt is 47 minutes and 2 seconds, and only 25 percent of players have made it out. Success in the larger room now belongs to an elite 12 percent, up from a measly 5 percent at the time we visited. In the end, the editors failed to escape in time, though we were surprised by how close we came, and by how quickly the hour had passed. We were free again, excitedly talking over our highlight reel in the spring air, but part of me remained locked in a world reduced to a room. With just one more editor, I was certain, we could have gotten out. p Brian Howe is the INDY arts and culture editor. Email him at bhowe@indyweek.com.

CIPHER ESCAPE 250 Dominion Dr., Suite 101, Morrisville, 919-378-93 919-378-9362 | www.cipherescape.com Admission $25 per person

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MAY 20, 2015

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MUSIC VISUAL ARTS PERFORMANCE BOOKS FILM SPORTS

OD ABERNETHY PULLED BACK THE SHEER CURTAIN that hung beside the fashion show’s future stage, took four steps forward, pointed to his right and shouted, as though he’d seen a specter. “Well, holy shit,” he exclaimed. “That’s it. That has to be it.” With his 17-year-old son, Matt, at his left, Abernethy stood in front of a large white rectangle on an otherwise drab concrete wall and began to smile. At some point during the last three decades, the space had been whitewashed, its offending graffiti of anarchy signs and curse words almost obviated. But what had been written with the thickest markers and scratched out with the heaviest pens remained. Abernethy leaned in, squinted and read off the names—Black Flag and 7 Seconds, Stillborn Christians and The Phux, The Right Profile and T.S.O.L. He took out his cell phone, snapped a photo of a faded Let’s Active insignia and chuckled like a child: “I’m going to sell that to Mitch Easter.” At least he wouldn’t be the only one in the room hawking the past. Minutes before, Pat Hunnell, a publicist working for the sprawling Raleigh shopping center Cameron Village, assured Abernethy the wall no longer existed. Surely, she said, she would have noticed it while building two stages, a runway, a dance floor and a bar for the next evening’s big event, an ostentatious gala named “One Night Only: The Underground Comes Alive.” Between 1972 and 1984, this subterranean space, tucked near the rear of Cameron Village, was known as “The Village Subway,” or the “Underground.” A network of retailers, restaurants and as many as four music clubs at any one time, the Underground became a crucial touring nexus in the Southeast and a cultural incubator for Raleigh—years before The Brewery and Berkeley Cafe, decades before Kings and The Pour House. It was a fount of area art. Abernethy played this space at least 75 times—solo, with side projects and mostly with Arrogance, regional rock stars through the ’70s. Arrogance was the first band to perform at The Pier, the Underground’s staple rock room.

THE LAST STOP BY GRAYSON HAVER CURRIN

One of the Triangle’s most iconic music spaces hosts an inexpensive, unfortunate farewell And now, Abernethy had found part of The Pier’s backstage wall. It offered a telling sampler of the thousands of acts that played the Underground, from Iggy Pop and R.E.M. to Jimmy Buffett and Bette Midler, from The Connells and Corrosion of Conformity to The Fabulous Knobs and the dB’s. Abernethy told Matt he’d written on it at some point. He was, in fact, staring at the ghost of his youth. Hunnell, who had just given me a guided tour of the Underground, seemed surprised but pleased we’d found the wall. It was clear, however, it wouldn’t be a last-minute addition to tomorrow’s party of 500 paid guests. Instead, there would be free food and a fashion show, arcade games and a cover band. And mostly there would be, as the flyer advertised, “your last chance to get in the door” of what has become a bona fide urban legend. In 2013, the Raleigh blog Candid Slice published a series of popular posts that offered glimpses into the space’s hidden history—blueprints, photos, interview excerpts. People began to share their memories of the Underground or their surprise it had existed at all. One such article eventually generated more than a million hits.

To take advantage of the buzz and this sudden cachet, Cameron Village—now known more for its clothing-and-jewelry boutiques, towering new developments and two-story Chick-fil-A—hosted a free outdoor concert and charity fundraiser, “The Underground Rises,” last summer. This year, they decided to take the next and final step—sell pricey tickets into the Underground before it becomes a prep kitchen for the grocery store The Fresh Market or a permanent storage space for the shopping center. The tickets sold out in less than four hours, raising $25,000 for the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle. “When you sell out any event for that much that fast, you know you’ve got a good fundraiser on your hands,” Hunnell said. “It is the last hurrah for this space.” Indeed, the event was designed for nostalgic reassurance and the fulfillment of moribund fantasies. In the lone bright hallway of the labyrinthine and otherwise dim space, you could pose with a redand-black train car, a joke that always highlighted the irony of the Subway’s name. As paint peeled from the walls in massive flakes and curls, you could even

Smile and say, “Cheesy!”: Revelers at the Cameron Village Underground’s farewell PHOTO BY JILLIAN CLARK

see the name of The Frog and Nightgown, an earlier downstairs club. And across the hall, you could gaze at the clubs’ marquees, still stained by the chalk the owners once used to advertise their shows. Signs encouraged attendees to take selfies with the art and to tag the results across social networks. “Let’s get it trending one more time,” read one such banner, as though that had been a concern of the Underground’s original denizens. But Abernethy just wanted to see the backstage wall. Hidden behind one of two video screens, just out of sight of the seats where the party’s VIPs would watch a 30-minute fashion show, the Underground’s remaining relic would not be invited to its own farewell. “For one of the only few things left of why we were really here,” Abernethy said after his original excitement had dimmed a bit, “you would think they would want to play it up a little more, wouldn’t you? That’s too bad.”

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MUSIC VISUAL ARTS PERFORMANCE BOOKS FILM SPORTS

n their way into the Underground, Matt Abernethy asked his father if he was coming to the next night’s big event. They were walking past large reproductions of photos from the state archives. Many of the people were old friends of Rod’s, pictured playing in bands in The Pier or Cafe Déjà Vu. “Look how skinny we all were,” he said, laughing before he turned to answer Matt’s question. “No, I didn’t buy a ticket. They cost too much for me.” In fact, Abernethy knew very few people who would be attending. They couldn’t afford it. The members of the wedding band Crush, the evening’s only musical entertainment, were close friends. Some of them had even played the Underground. Like scabs at a strike, Crush had caught some flak for agreeing to be the only band playing when the acts that helped define the space hadn’t been invited. “A gig is a gig, though,” Abernethy eventually said. “And I’m sure this one pays.” For a party where insulation occasionally fell from the ceiling and where errant screws and nails rose from corners of cracked floors, One Night Only was lavish, indeed. There was red carpet and a valet service, cordoned seats for the VIPs and canvas bags stuffed with gift certificates and jewelry cleaner. Souvenir catalogues rested on every table, and a professional photographer snapped your photo upon arrival and promised to have it printed (for free) in less than 30 minutes. Each VIP received two gratis specialty cocktails, each named for one of the Underground’s clubs, and an unending flow of free craft beer. Some of the arcade games, Hunnell said, had been flown in from California. Temporary ductwork wound throughout the ceiling, all connected to a 25-ton air-conditioning system parked outside for the night to keep the space at 68 degrees. Though the concessions to comfort were manifold, the acknowledgements of the space’s musical legacy were not. Photos and videos of bands playing the venues of yore flashed on a wall, but devoid of captions or context, you mostly wondered who the people that weren’t R.E.M. were. And as polished and tight as they sounded, Crush were never allowed to be loud enough to be anything more than a cover band working through two long sets. They played on a black stage a few inches high and through a sound system that made them sound flat and far away, like a big boom box plunked in

a corner. During the first set, including their live soundtrack to the fashion show, they worked recent hits, like “Blurred Lines,” and sing-along throwbacks like “Centerfold.” For the second half, they mustered a reference to The Pier’s bygone days by prefacing “Our Lips are Sealed” from The Go-Go’s with an explanation that the band had played there. One Night Only, then, treated the Cameron Village Underground not as a cradle for bands that went on to bigger things and a music scene that continues to bloom but as a mausoleum with a prohibitively high cover charge. There was little celebration of what had happened there and no nods to what it helped build. The event was exploitative of a history it barely acknowledged, a convenient way to use nostalgia to make sure a benefit sold out. I suppose the fundraising ends justify such glib means, but the Underground deserved a better sendoff than drunk folks in nice clothes, occasionally dancing but more often taking selfies. In the two years since those initial Candid Slice posts about the Underground went viral, blog founder Heather Leah has become the space’s de facto historian and advocate. She’s collected interviews with dozens of people who played there, assembled a trove of artifacts from people who worked there, and launched talks with the City of Raleigh Museum to host a show about the space later this year. She’s even asked about finding ways to salvage what’s left on the walls—the train, the marquees, maybe even The Pier’s backstage area—from permanent destruction through archival photos or actually removing it for permanent display elsewhere. The discussion seemed promising at one point, but now she doesn’t know if Cameron Village’s ownership and management will commit the resources. Standing in front of the train and behind a barricade, Hunnell sighed a little when I asked what will happen to the artwork. She said she was worried people would rip chunks of it from the wall on Saturday night. She seemed less concerned about the wall after the party. “It’s such an expensive undertaking,” Hunnell explained, adding that her daughter is an art historian and archeologist. “It doesn’t really seem to be in the cards.” A moment later, the space’s one-nightonly air-conditioning infrastructure clicked on. She smiled. p Grayson Haver Currin is the music editor of the INDY.

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Sun May 24

The Psychedelic Furs

www.lincolntheatre.com MAY

Tue May 26

Fr 22 GLO PAINT PARTY TOUR 9p Sa 23 DJ MC FROM 102 JAMZ 10p Su 24 THE PSYCHEDLIC FURS 7p w/ Black English

Tu 26 VEIL OF MAYA w/Revocation

/Oceano/Gift River/A Turning Day We 27 CALEB JOHNSON of American Idol w/Jason Adamo 7p

Th 28 GRAVY BOYS / JOHNNY 7:30p FOLSOM 4 / NASTY HABITS Fr 29 REDRESS SPRING 6p FASHION SHOW Sa 30 EXTINCTION LEVEL EVENT 7p JUNE B F r 5 BOLWEEVIL playing music of WP Sa 6 SAINT PAUL & THE w/Parker BROKEN BONES Milsap 6p Su 7 ROBERT RANDOLPH & THE FAMILY BAND 7p T u 9 LIL DICKY w/Probcause 7p Fr 12 THE BREAKFAST CLUB (80’s) 8p Sa 13 CHRIS STAPLETON w/Sam Lewis Su 14 CHRONIXX & THE ZINCFENCE REDEMPTION w/Federation Sound Mo 15 AGAINST ME! w/Frnkiero & the Celebration, Annie Girl & the Flight

Tu 16 THE TOADIES 7p Fr 19 CHATHAM COUNTY LINE

w/Au Pair (Gary Louris of Jayhawks) /Django Haskins of Old Ceremony Sa 27 WAKA FLOCKA w/ Ben G JULY

Sa 18 PRIMUS w/Dinosaur Jr. Th 23 BERES HAMMOND 7p

Wed May 27

Caleb Johnson Sat June 6

St. Paul & The Broken Bones Sun June 7

w/ The Harmony House Singers

Fr 24 GOLDEN GATE WINGMEN 8p Th 30 KMFDM w/Chant & Seven Factor B AUGUST 8 - 1 SHUGGIE OTIS 8-14 8-25 9-10 9-19 12-5

w/Greg Humphreys TRIO

THE MANTRAS Ophishial Party OF MONTREAL w/ Mothers HOPSCOTCH MUSIC FEST DAVID ALLAN COE w/Rebel Son KIX w/Automag /The Fifth +

Robert Randolph & The Family Band

Advance Tickets @ Lincolntheatre.com & Schoolkids Records All Shows All Ages 126 E. Cabarrus St. 919-821-4111

Sat July 18

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MAY 20, 2015

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ABOUT TO ROCK?

Asheville’s Caleb Johnson attempts to out-sing the American Idol curse

MERICAN IDOL suffered a series of endings at the start of April.

Season 14 closed with a hail of confetti, the new winner Nick Fradiani and lower finale ratings than the previous season. Fox had already announced that the show’s next run, which begins in January, would also be its last. And Season 13 winner Caleb Johnson, the Asheville rocker with pipes that suggest the wail of Whitesnake, went indie. The state’s third Idol winner, Johnson left the show’s associated imprint, Interscope, after his debut LP tanked. He is searching for, as he told Billboard, a team who is “going to support me.” At last, perhaps, Johnson will get interesting again—maybe successful, too. Johnson’s departure from Interscope seemed to be a foregone conclusion as soon as he won. The brand of music he offered on Idol— “rock ’n’ roll songs with soul,” he told me in a July interview—and, three months later, on his solo debut is decidedly out of step with what now thrives on the dwindling number of rock stations. It’s too melodic and classic for the dour landscape of what radio programmers call “active rock,” too powerful for the wan world of “adult album alternative.” You have to imagine that Idol the machine didn’t want him to win. Second-place finisher Jena Irene, who specialized in strident confessionals, and third-place finisher Alex Preston, who never missed a chance to remind the audience about his relationship to goofy strummer Jason Mraz, were more in tune with the commercial times and the Idol oeuvre. Fifth-place finisher Sam Woolf, an anxious if cute Floridian who turned 18 shortly before he was eliminated, could have been a teen dream. But Johnson did win, affording Idol a certain amount of long-haired-rocker panache (a missing element among the show’s waves of lite-rock-ready strummers) during his ride to victory. He stormed through “Still Of The Night” and covered the Black Crowes, Lady Gaga and “Maybe I’m Amazed.” He became the first person to bring the Canadian

prog-libertarians Rush to the Idol stage by singing “Working Man” during a week themed around “Home.” That alone should have given him at least enough karmic credit to warrant a top-four finish, had he not referred to Twitter users who offered up song suggestions as “retards.” (He apologized almost immediately, thus passing his first test in the ongoing celebrity course, “American Public Relations Crisis.”) But after the show, Testify sold barely more than 10,000 copies, disappointing numbers for someone with an entire season of national television in their promotional arsenal. It was the worst-selling Idol debut ever, but Johnson’s lack of traction in the pop marketplace seems as much a testament to Idol’s fading fortunes as it is to his out-of-fashion genre. It’s tempting to think that perhaps Idol got lucky on its first attempt to make a pop star. But Kelly Clarkson, the show’s inaugural winner, was destined to be a pop standout, evidenced by the enthusiasm she continues to put in even for performances at all-day radio station meat markets. Many of the show’s most successful pop-rock exports since her win have been decidedly middle of the road, however, making music meant to be played between Delilah segments—the Mumfordlite tunes of Phillip Phillips, the Pink-like offerings of Adam Lambert. Other singing competitions have struggled to get their music to the wider marketplace, too. For all its ratingsgrabbing and chair-swiveling, The Voice has been more of a chart boon to its alreadyfamous judges than to its contestants. And the road is littered with other pretenders to the Idol throne—The X Factor USA (the one with Simon Cowell after he left Idol), The Next Great American Band (the one with bands) and Rising Star (the one with an app). It’s as if audiences have decided that musical stars and shows about making them needn’t be connected. Like Testify’s retro-rock, that makes Johnson a musician out of time, despite how good the album occasionally was. Justin Hawkins of poodle-rock revivalists The Darkness wrote “As Long As You Love Me,” the first single Johnson released

ILLUSTRATION BY CHRIS WILLIAMS

BY MAURA JOHNSTON

after his Idol victory. It’s a muscular rocker, built to showcase Johnson’s formidable voice. Testify deserves a spot on the shelf of current post-’80s hard rock curiosities that also includes albums by the Chicago quintet Bad City, the New Orleans stompers Star & Dagger or Hawkins’ own outfit for that song alone. Johnson also powers through the stormy “Another Life” (co-written by Aloe Blacc) and the Southern-fried “Save Me.” For the ’80s pop-rock pastiche “Let Me In,” he gets an assist from the Dap-Kings’ horn section. The ballads are a bit timid, mostly because Johnson’s voice sounds so smooth. The grain he exposed when he hit high notes on Idol worked as one of his most satisfying tricks. Producers polished it away for Testify, though, making a compromise for commercialism that never even happened. Blaming Testify’s generally undercooked essence on Idol, its associations and the demands of potential fame is reasonable enough. Not only was there implicit pressure for Johnson to deliver something resembling a modern hit, but the material was also recorded and released as soon

as Johnson could get off the air and while he was out on the road with the show’s annual tour. That’s a tough setup for a grand entrance. Now, however, Johnson is free to proceed at his own pace. He can make a follow-up record that doesn’t aim so safely for the middle and miss. If his Idol performances and the breadcrumbs scattered throughout Testify are any indication, Johnson can sell a certain strain of rock—emotive, soulful and big—even if the charts aren’t always buying. p Maura Johnston lives in Boston, where she teaches at Boston College and writes about music and culture.

CALEB JOHNSON With Jason Adamo Wednesday, May 27, 8 p.m., $12–$15 Lincoln Theatre 126 E. Cabarrus St., Raleigh 919-821-4111 www.lincolntheare.com

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Every Sunday I wake up next to the most gorgeous woman. I watch the morning light tangle through her curls, her eyes wild and warm, A Leo at her best. Every Sunday I hide in coffee cups and daydreams with her, We crinkle through newspapers and pour over our escapades. She is the best thing I have ever known, Exquisite, brave, brilliant and undeniable She is my port in the storm, and the storm itself….. A few Sunday’s past she held me close and whispered; “Marry me you f***ker!!” Well, I want this to be the promise of every Sunday to come, spent by your side. Will you marry me?

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MAY 20, 2015

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MUSIC VISUAL ARTS PERFORMANCE BOOKS FILM SPORTS

ARRIVALS, DEPARTURES AND ADDITIONS POLYORCHARD COLOR THEORY IN BLACK AND WHITE (self-released)

For three years, the Raleigh-rooted improvisational collective Polyorchard have only existed in the real time of live performance. The revolving, motley assortment of classical, jazz and rock musicians have played practically every kind of music in every possible configuration in almost every Triangle venue, emerging as a vital and wonderfully vexing force of the area’s sonic fringes. But at last, and mere weeks before founder and sole constant David Menestres leaves North Carolina for New Mexico, Polyorchard have issued their first recording, Color Theory in Black and White. An impressive entry point into group improvisation, it arrives better now than never. Polyorchard’s studio debut appears to pit strings against brass. On its “black,” first side, the trio of cellist Chris Eubank, violist Dan Ruccia and bassist Menestres deliver four tracks. (Ruccia is an occasional INDY contributor.) The second, “white” side contains six cuts with Jeb Bishop on trombone and Laurent Estoppey on saxophone, Menestres binding the two together. But this oppositional setup is a matter of presentation, not competition. Still, it’s hard not to choose a team. Within passages that flow from microscopic sounds to lyrical swells and anxious moments that suggest Hitchcock soundtracks, the black trio offers plenty of classical toeholds. “Black 1,” the first and longest track on the album, shows Polyorchard’s penchant for establishing

a motif but moving along before it goes stale. The action opens with a spidery crawl and builds full phrases from small scuttles. It develops until the sounds suggest the musicians working together to renovate a house, the audience left to listen from the basement. “Black 2” explores the percussive possibilities of the bodies and strings of the instruments. It’s simultaneously destructive and constructive, as though the group is playing while being bashed about by a windstorm. The horns of the white trio offer fewer jazz echoes but instead breathe and burble with molten intensity. Their output feels more disparate and airborne, with the insect sounds of strings giving way to the honks and chirps of the birdlike horns. “White 1” echoes “Black 2” in its

opening, fooling the ear into wondering if this is organized music at all, and not a field recording from some remote rain forest. The tracks take time in developing from a chatter of clipped, skittering sounds into declarative choruses of sustained notes and elaborated phrases. “White 4”doesn’t begin to cohere until around the six-minute mark, when it finds a bright melody and some momentum, suggesting something Stravinsky might have shoehorned into The Rite of Spring. The album and track titles stem from an inexpensive, black-and-white edition of Josef Albers’ seminal 1963 treatise, Interaction of Color. Albers intended for the influential book to be an exhaustive teaching catalog of how color combinations can produce specific results to the human eye. In discussing harmony, he differentiated its visual and musical aspects. Albers described visual art as spatial and music as linear. Music was experienced as a single tone or set of tones moving “perhaps not in a straight line, but of necessity in a prescribed order and only in one direction—forward. Tones heard earlier fade, and those farther back disappear, vanish.” With Color Theory in Black and White, Polyorchard shows how Albers’ definition of music is limited. Group

improvisation requires a sustained attention not only to the present moment but to the music that preceded it as well as the many possible directions it could take. While some improvisers vie to get out in front of each other to show off their chops, the elements of Polyorchard get behind each other. This holistic surface never wavers, a byproduct of all those gigs during the last three years. The musicians are listeners first, players second. —Chris Vitiello

CARLITTA DURAND I’LL BE GORGEOUS WHEN I DIE (self-released)

Carlitta Durand has said she set out to make I’ll Be Gorgeous When I Die “like a live album.” For a singer like Durand, who’s been largely absent from the local music scene since having her first child several years ago, it’s a fitting strategy for re-entry—charm us all, like we’re sitting in a room together. Before she paused her career, Durand was a go-to vocalist for Nicolay Rook and Phonte Coleman (on both their solo ventures and their The Foreign Exchange enterprise) and the hiphop community at large. A peerless singer, she was an in-demand harmony-and-hook syndicate. She brings all of this experience to bear on her comeback but leaves the past associations on the album’s doorstep. There isn’t a single chord from Nicolay, for instance, nor are there any featured rappers. It’s just Durand, her band Fat Snacks, and a colony of producers—Abjo, Flash Frequency, JaJuan Cofield, GC le

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MUSIC VISUAL ARTS PERFORMANCE BOOKS FILM SPORTS fresh, Vaughn Garcia, Harvey Cummings, JC Martin. Together, they design a rich love suite, brighter and better than Durand’s prior EPs and full-lengths. If you were, however, anticipating some repeat magic from Nicolay and Durand’s “Lose Your Way” or “Saturday Night,” you won’t get it. Instead, producer Abjo offers an enhanced take on that sound for “100 Nudges of Love,” where hollow, wind-like synths and delayed drum-and-bass offer a big bed for Durand’s affections. If it’s played live, Fat Snacks drummer Tim Scott Jr. will have his work cut out for him. His jazz background delights during Durand’s “Colors Fade,” where she gets pleasantly close to vocal jazz, a singing style at which she’s only hinted in the past. Over rolling cymbals and sinking keys, Durand sings, “You used to color me and make my sun set/Right now you just color me and darken all my light.” Her voice drifts into Fat Snacks’ instrumental captivity.

Durand is at her most vulnerable on “House of Birds,” an acoustic number stripped only to a guitar, her lead vocals and her own layered background vocals. She’s not a great folk singer or songwriter yet, but she can still hit rhythmic, soul specials like “Everything” and “Find A Way” and fireside lullabies like “The Other Side” and “Care For You” with ease. The chance is worth taking for the resurgent Durand, as this album is a reminder of her capabilities and a requiem for the three years when the area lacked one of its most enchanting voices. —Eric Tullis

HEADS ON STICKS DECISION/SURRENDER/LANDSCAPE (self-released)

If you’ve seen Heads on Sticks within the last year, perhaps you already know David Mueller’s now doing some of his best work with the long-running, ever-evolving

outlet of psych-rock, postpunk and dance music. Maybe you even know these songs, as the band issued “Big Decision” and “Surrender” on a limited-edition, tour-only 7-inch last year. They’ve been doing them live, too. But for the set’s new digital version, Heads on Sticks tacked on “The Landscape Vanishes,” another pinnacle of their catalogue. This is a triptych of online riches. The throbbing “Big Decision” builds tension through repetition, the meter and the riff cycling beneath Mueller’s beguiling mantras. Each shift is like a turn of a relief valve, moved continuously back and forth. “Surrender” is more prismatic, with refracted piano lines settling through an array of scattered drums and distorted bass. The elements eventually coalesce around Mueller’s distant discussion of life lessons and observations; think Wayne Coyne, coming down gracefully, or a blissful hymn from Birds of Avalon,

another band in which both Mueller and Heads on Sticks multi-instrumentalist Missy Thangs also play. But it’s the new addition to the set, “The Landscape Vanishes,” that portends new avenues of exploration for Heads on Sticks. It starts as an amorphous psychedelic fantasy, a saxophone theme shifting and slipping over a syncopated beat. The band charges, though, springing into dance-punk jubilance only to bend out of it again. At one point, they leave nothing but the bass line and the synthesizers hanging, returning to indulge one last gallop. Handclaps and slashing guitar emphasize the hook, sharp enough to be part of Franz Ferdinand’s oeuvre but aloof enough for Mueller’s soft tone. Heads on Sticks have sometimes obscured their own immediacy. On these three tunes, they know exactly when to hide or highlight it. —Grayson Haver Currin

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MUSIC VISUAL ARTS PERFORMANCE BOOKS FILM SPORTS

MOVEMENT ON THE WESTERN FRONT

Two productions tackle history on both sides of the Atlantic BY BYRON WOODS

Oh What a Lovely War at The ArtsCenter makes snarky fun from World War I songs. PHOTO BY ADAM DODDS

WHAT’S GOING ON THIS SUMMER?

ISSUE DATE: MAY 27

Contact rgierisch@indyweek.com to reserve your space

E WANT TO BELIEVE THE MAJOR EVENTS THAT COMPOSE HUMAN PROGRESS ARE PERMANENT. Indeed, the belief figures into a number of world religions: that moments like the Buddha’s enlightenment under the Bodhi tree or the death of Christ are eternally selfsufficient and self-disclosing.

As comforting as the thought may be, it is mistaken. Two regional productions— one focusing on the experiences of African-Americans in the last 50 years, the other dealing with the responses of British culture to the so-called Great War— underline the terrible fragility of history. Both show that if the events that hold our greatest values aren’t regularly brought back to memory and attention, we run the

risk of losing them. At Common Ground Theatre, playwright and actor Ron Jones’ notable solo show, THE MOVEMENT: 50 YEARS OF LOVE AND STRUGGLE, dramatizes the last half-century in civil rights and African-American culture. Under Willette Thompson’s direction, Jones briskly juxtaposes projected facts and news footage against the responses of a series of characters, some of whom we return to over the decades. At the outset, an excited young father named William holds his newborn son as he, and we, watch Lyndon B. Johnson sign the Voting Rights Act of 1965 on television. “You know what that man is talking about? He’s talking about you,” William says to the infant. As The Movement progresses, William speaks of his experiences in the Poor People’s Campaign: “We were the medicine a childish nation needed to take if we are ever gonna grow up to be big and strong of spirit.” When he later learns of

Rep. John Conyers’ 1989 bill to consider reparations for African-Americans, William scoffs, “Now you know as well as I that this country will never have a grand fit of conscience and start writing checks for past bad acts.” Other characters pop in and out as the timeline unwinds. A clergyman recalls the exact moment he realized that Martin Luther King Jr. would not survive the Civil Rights Movement. After the acquittal of O.J. Simpson, a prisoner in an orange jumpsuit notes that Simpson became a symbol for black and white people, but that “both sides missed the point.” One of the greater services this production provides is placing historical words back in the mouths of those who said them. I repeatedly felt the hairs rise on the back of my neck as President Johnson admitted the starkest of home truths, Stokely Carmichael exhorted Black Power in Berkeley in 1966, and King indicted a nation wedded to warfare in an excerpt from his 1967 speech,

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MUSIC VISUAL ARTS PERFORMANCE BOOKS FILM SPORTS “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence.” On the weekend of its world premiere, Jones and Thompson were still tweaking the show, adding new material on the basis of audience response. The intersections between video and live performance were rewarding in some sequences, including a comic sketch, featuring Brian Yandle, on the white-flight phenomenon, but rough in passages where dialogue occurs between actors on stage and on screen. Jones’ technique as an actor supports the broad cast of characters we encounter, even if a stereotypical Indian accent for one seems ill-advised, and his vivid writing engages us, only lapsing into sentimentality in the final scene. But the true generosity of this work lies in William’s observation: “A true movement isn’t about how far you go. It’s about how many you bring along with you.”

irector Joan Littlewood and her colleagues in London’s Theatre Workshop plunged open farce into the fog of battle in their avant-garde hit from 1963, OH WHAT A LOVELY WAR, currently running at ArtsCenter Stage. The work, which transferred to the West End and Broadway in 1964, spliced the historical quotes, hymns and popular songs of World War I with the ribald, irreverent— and, more than occasionally, stark— alternate versions that soldiers rewrote to reflect the truer face of combat. Director Hope Alexander, music director Glenn Mehrbach and a cohort of 11 top-shelf actors surely give their all in this hellzapoppin’ revue. A girl (Marleigh

THE MOVEMENT: 50 YEARS OF LOVE AND STRUGGLE HHH 1/2 Dialogues on Diversity @ Common Ground Theatre 4815B Hillsborough Road, Durham 919-384-7817 | www.cgtheatre.com Through May 23

OH WHAT A LOVELY WAR HHH The ArtsCenter 300-G E. Main St., Carrboro 919-929-2787 www.artscenterlive.org Through May 24

Purgar-McDonald) opens an abandoned toy chest on a flotsam-ridden seashore— and a troupe of cirque artists pours out. Their leader and emcee (redoubtable Ian Bowater) puts them through their paces, to the child’s initial delight. But as their strange repertoire makes a low burlesque of the events precipitating World War I, the details are repeatedly muddied more than is either useful or amusing. Part of the blame may fall to the production’s decidedly snappy pacing, but most of it is due to the opacity of the script, at least for those of us here in the former colonies. Let’s stipulate up front that an educated American audience should have at least an outline of the events that lead up to World War I. With that said, the social intrigues that lead to Sir Douglas Haig’s promotion as British field marshal—and his reputation as “The Butcher of the Somme,” who sacrificed an estimated million lives in disastrous battles—remain frustratingly obscure to at least one American after viewing the version here. And if an audience doesn’t know what a “whiz-bang” is (answer: a terrifying form of artillery shell), or that the song being mocked in a left-handed tribute to it is “Here Comes the Dream Man,” most of the irony and meaning will be lost. Frequently, the jokes and darker insights do come across in this production. Chloe Oliver and the other women of the ensemble put across the discreet but unmistakable come-on of “Your King and Country,” a recruitment song that reassured prospective enlistees, “We shall want you and miss you, but with all our might and main / We shall cheer you, thank you, kiss you when you come back again.” Jeri Lynn Schulke’s character takes a more frank approach in a similar song, “I’ll Make a Man of You.” The snark is rewarding in the title song— and unexpectedly poignant in “If You Want the Old Battalion” and the gentle closer, “And When They Ask Us.” And precious little French is required to register the pathos of Germain Choffart’s secondact solo, “Chanson de Craonne.” But a work that would remind us of a brave and tragic history stumbles when an American audience is too often asked to already know most of its intricacies coming in. The result, though in English, remains somewhat lost in translation. p Byron Woods is the INDY’s theater and dance columnist. Twitter: @ByronWoods.

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• MAY 20, 2015 • MUSIC VISUAL ARTS PERFORMANCE BOOKS FILM SPORTS NDYweek.com

A TALE OF TWO THOMASES

Vinterberg takes on Hardy’s Victorian melodrama

SUNDAY, MAY 31, 2015

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BY GLENN MCDONALD

always been a tough nut to crack. She’s introduced as a strong, almost protofeminist character: “I shouldn’t mind being a bride at a wedding if I didn’t have to take a husband,” she tells Gabriel. But then she That’s the conundrum for makes a series of tremendously dubious director Thomas Vinterberg decisions that result in the goofball soldier (The Celebration) and his leading lady, becoming master of the house. Carey Mulligan, in Far from the Madding Vinterberg largely resolves the issue in Crowd, a handsome pastoral romance a critical early scene—a secret rendezvous based on the book by Thomas Hardy. in the woods where the roguish Troy Mulligan plays Bathsheba Everdene, an awakens Bathsheba’s repressed Victorian independent young woman who inherits sexuality with some strategic caresses. a manor and farm in Victorian England She’s beguiled. It happens. circa 1874. You know she’s going to have a Mulligan delivers a lovely, layered complicated life, saddled with a name like performance, expressing Bathsheba’s that. Bathsheba quickly finds herself mired complex contradictions by deploying all of in drama—and melodrama—as she tries the tools of the screen actor’s trade. Sheen is amazing, too—their scenes together should be savored. It’s glorious to watch performers work at this level. The film’s other great performance comes from cinematographer Charlotte Bruus Christensen, FAR FROM THE who treats light MADDING CROWD like a powdery HHHH PHOTO BY ALEX BAILEY tactile material. Opening Friday Her English countryside is a to run the farm while place of piercing fending off three tenacious suitors. greens, bruised clouds and buttery Her first admirer is the handsome and sunrises. brawny shepherd Gabriel Oak, played Far from the Madding Crowd is an oldby Danish actor Matthias Schoenaerts. fashioned movie-going pleasure, the Gabriel is strong and true, but a reversal kind of film we just don’t get that often of fortune renders the match unlikely, and anymore. My mom—a Scottish immigrant we’re reminded how rigid class distinctions and dedicated lover of old moors-andwere in Victorian England. manors stories via Hollywood—used to Suitor number two is the ace British call them “weepies.” She would have actor Michael Sheen, who plays adored this movie, and massacred a Bathsheba’s wealthy neighbor, William whole box of tissues. p Boldwood (what great names this story has)—gallant, but a bit of a stiff. In third Glenn McDonald writes about film, games position is the dashing soldier Sergeant and technology for the INDY, Yahoo, Troy (Tom Sturridge), a classic rake with an Discovery News and others. air of danger and a ridiculous mustache. Twitter: @glennmcdonald1. As a literary creation, Bathsheba has

OW DO YOU SOLVE A PROBLEM LIKE BATHSHEBA?

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MUSIC VISUAL ARTS PERFORMANCE BOOKS FILM SPORTS

SAM FULLER’S WAR

An N.C. State film professor evangelizes for influential but overlooked director Samuel Fuller

BY CRAIG D. LINDSEY

Life intimately captures life during wartime, as Fuller’s daughter rounds up clips not just from her old man’s filmography, but also from his personal war-footage archives. Most of the doc focuses on Fuller’s experiences as an infantry grunt, taking mental and celluloid snapshots of the atrocities he witnessed before eventually A film studies professor at N.C. State, Gordon instilling his films with that chaotic energy and kinetic action. has been immersed in Fuller’s life and career. After the hell he experienced as a soldier, the dog-eat-dog She’s writing a book on his war movies, tentatively titled Organized world of Hollywood didn’t faze Fuller. Gordon says, “I was really Insanity: Sam Fuller’s Hot/Cold War Films, slated for release interested in the fact that he fought this war, came back to the U.S., next year. She even went to Vienna recently to introduce a film made these films and, actually, became a somewhat controversial Fuller shot when he was a soldier, capturing the liberation of a figure, politically, with the making of a couple of his films, like The concentration camp in Czechoslovakia. Steel Helmet.” And, this week, she has persuaded the Colony in Raleigh to screen Apparently, J. Edgar Hoover wasn’t a big fan, singling out A Fuller Life, a 2013 documentary directed by Samantha Fuller, the Fuller’s 1953 Cold War spy noir film, Pickup on South Street, for director’s daughter. “This is a great opportunity for people to learn being unpatriotic. “The FBI investigated him for his politics, more about his past as a soldier and a filmmaker,” says Gordon, who although he was never called to testify in front of HUAC,” will be at the screening to give an introduction and a Q&A, “and Gordon says. he’s a great, outsized, HollywoodAlthough Fuller didn’t get maverick character.” major love in his home country, The documentary features he did overseas. The French a bevy of celebrities who were worshipped the dude and his lowinfluenced by Fuller’s tough, budget, hard-boiled storytelling; electrifying filmmaking—from New Wave icon Jean-Luc Godard A-list admirers (James Franco, even gave him a cameo in Pierrot Tim Roth) and filmmakers (Joe le Fou. Of course, in his later Dante, Wim Wenders) to actors years and after his death, the who appeared in his movies U.S. started recognizing Fuller’s (Jennifer Beals, Mark Hamill)— greatness. The 1996 doc The paying their respects to the Typewriter, the Rifle & the Movie journalist-turned-screenwriterCamera finds filmmakers and turned-filmmaker, who passed Fuller disciples Martin Scorsese, away in 1997. They all show Jim Jarmusch and Quentin up at Fuller’s memorabiliaTarantino saluting the man and strewn office in the Hollywood his work. Hills to read passages from his Gordon hopes this one-night posthumous 2002 memoir, A screening could lead to Fuller’s Third Face: My Tale of Writing, movies getting some screen time Fighting and Filmmaking. at regional repertory houses—or The cigar-chomping Fuller maybe even a retrospective. lived by his own instinctual “I’ve talked to a couple of rules, making sensationalistic, people about wanting to do it, independent genre films whether but that will take a major effort they were urban crime noirs, to convince an institution,” she outlaw-heavy westerns or bulletsays. “I don’t know. But I’d love riddled war flicks. to make it happen.” p “I think he made some of the Maverick filmmaker Samuel Fuller PHOTO BY ROLAND GODEFROY most distinctive films that came Craig D. Lindsey writes for the out of Hollywood, especially in INDY and others on film, comedy the 1950s,” says Gordon. “I got A FULLER LIFE and more. Twitter: @unclecrizzle. really interested in the angle of Thursday, May 21, 7 p.m., Colony Theatres the way he dealt with the issue 5438 Six Forks Road, Raleigh, 919-847-5677 of war, which he dealt with www.ambassadorcinemas.com | www.afullerlifedoc.com throughout his career.” A Fuller

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Where we’ll be

CALENDARS MUSIC 33 VISUAL ARTS 37 PERFORMANCE 38 BOOKS 39 SPORTS 39 FILM 41

MUSIC | MELT-BANANA On stage, legendary Tokyo weirdos Melt-Banana can look like a glorified karaoke machine. Behind a surgical mask, guitarist Ichirou Agata presses play on a computer loaded with drumbeats and basslines. Spitfire singer Yasuko Onuki stands to his right, idly holding a microphone. But when they begin to play, any worry for artifice vanishes. Agata’s splintering riffs are precise and prickly, zipping between math-rock technicality and noiserock force, driven by the momentum of grindcore mastery. The music seems to overtake Onuki, too, as she moves like a robotic mannequin whose rock-music-choreography program was made with intentional bugs and glitches. Somehow, the almost-silly setup is invigorating, delivering a thrill ride of starts, stops and sprints. Hot Nerds and Christian noise minister Clang Quartet open. 9 p.m., $13–$15, 300 E. Main St., Carrboro, 919-9679053, www.catscradle.com. —Grayson Haver Currin

COMEDY | WAIT WAIT … DON’T TELL ME! DURHAM PERFORMING ARTS CENTER, DURHAM THURSDAY, MAY 21

A peculiar thing happens to me on the weekends: I gain a taste for the most brazen shtick on public radio, from the chortling galoots of Car Talk to the orotund raptures of The Splendid Table—all the way down, in a certain mood, to A Prairie freaking Home Companion. Even when I’m rolling my eyes at wocka-wocka gags (Ask Me Another is a particularly ruthless experiment in strangling laughs from awful puns), there is something deeply relaxing and enjoyable about NPR’s weekend shows, some so long-running they remind me of riding in the oxidized pea-green Datsun my dad drove in the ’80s. Or maybe the good association is simply with being (in theory) off work. Either way, my favorite is Wait Wait … Don’t Tell Me!, a 17-year-old news quiz show from WBEZ in Chicago where comedian panelists banter about the weekly headlines. From the “Bluff the Listener Challenge,” where call-in contestants guess which outrageous news item is real, to “Not My Job,” where celebrity guests answer wildly off-topic questions, the show is crammed with sometimes clever, sometimes groaning, always game currentevents riffs. We get panelists Faith Salie, Adam Felber and Bobcat Goldthwait—but, sadly, no Paula Poundstone, who was just at the Carolina Theatre May 1—and celebrity guest Clay Aiken. Best guess: they’ll quiz him about pottery. You can count on Bill Kurtis, who replaced beloved announcer Carl Kasell (still providing the voicemail prize), and your host, Peeeeeeeeter Sagal. Though the show is sold out, it’s all but certain some last-minute tickets will be released at the door. Race you there. 7:30 p.m., $38–$128, 123 Vivian St., Durham, 919-680-2787, www.dpacnc.com. —Brian Howe

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art. That theme resonates within American Movie, a tragic, comic and ultimately uplifting documentary about two Wisconsin men attempting to make a horror masterpiece with little money, equipment or experience. No, its protagonist, Mark Borchardt, never became a famous director, but he’s a lovable character nonetheless, a restless soul working well beyond his means. Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy presents American Movie as part of the occasionally fascinating series Film:Acoustic. After the screening, he’ll answer questions and perhaps play some songs, too. 7 p.m., $15, 309 W. Morgan St., Durham, 919-560-3030, www.carolinatheatre.org. —Grayson Haver Currin

CAT’S CRADLE BACK ROOM, CARRBORO MONDAY, MAY 25

PERFORMANCE

AND THE ASS SAW THE ANGEL

CY GR OU P Y OF TH E AG EN PH OT O CO UR TES

MANBITES DOG THEATER, DURHAM THURSDAY, MAY 21–SATURDAY, JUNE 6

Religious beliefs can mutate in the backwoods and hills of the American South. We see its more benign forms in the outsider artworks of William Thomas Thompson and Howard Finster. But UFOMAMMUT in what Flannery O’Connor called this “ChristKINGS, RALEIGH haunted” land, people have died convinced FRIDAY, MAY 22 that God demanded they regularly pick up In a world of file rattlesnakes; other interpreters of scripture have transfers and organized brutal ethnic and racial cleansing streaming media, campaigns from their beliefs. It’s hard to outstrip instant accessibility a legacy like that, but Nick Cave tried in And the and Periscoped Ass Saw the Angel, his relentless 1989 Southern events, it can be Gothic novel detailing the vicious beliefs of an convenient to forget isolated cult and the tender mercies visited upon that geographical central character Euchrid, an outcast mute given UFOMAMMUT AND THE ASS SAW THE ANGEL divides still matter. to ecstatic—and darker—visions. Dana Marks For instance, Italian trio Ufomammut have been delighting directs the premiere of this adaptation by John Fidel Justice and stateside audiences for more than a decade with imported Jaybird O’Berski, one of the most anticipated Little Green Pig transmissions of high-volume and ultra-tumescent psychedelic productions in recent years. 8:15 p.m. Thurs.–Sat. and Weds. stoner rock, where the riffs and rhythms hit with leaden weight June 3, $5–$20, 703 Foster St., Durham, 919-682-3343, even as the songs aim skyward. They’ve even released their www.littlegreenpig.com. —Byron Woods last three albums, including this year’s excellent Ecate, through Neurot Recordings, the outpost of American doom legends Neurosis. But before last week, they’d never launched a full-scale TIME OUT OF MIND: BOB DYLAN’S BIRTHDAY North American tour, despite short overseas stints and a growing KINGS, RALEIGH | SUNDAY, MAY 24 international fanbase. Their Raleigh stop comes just after an Bob Dylan doesn’t really need a tribute, even at the age of appearance at Maryland Deathfest, a chief impetus for the trip. 74. Strange as it may seem, he’s been releasing some of the Promising but prolix Portland doom squad Usnea joins, as does best records of his career during the last two decades, starting Chapel Hill’s Make, now finishing a second album. A loud, righteous with the beautiful and broken Time Out of Mind in 1997 and and rare night. 9 p.m., $12–$14, 14 W. Martin St., Raleigh, continuing through this year’s beguiling cover set, Shadows in the 919-833-1091, www.kingsbarcade.com. Night. All the same, Rod Abernethy felt like celebrating Dylan’s —Grayson Haver Currin 74th birthday with his songs. Best known alternately as the guitarist for ’70s North Carolina favorites Arrogance or as a bigdeal composer of video game music, Abernethy invited several JEFF TWEEDY: AMERICAN MOVIE of his friends to join the ceremony. A house band will back a dozen singers and songwriters, mining many of Dylan’s greatest CAROLINA THEATRE, DURHAM | SATURDAY, MAY 23 hits (and a few obscurities) in a two-hour homage to the wizened Analyzing two decades of Wilco, the act’s fourth album, Yankee and mustachioed bard. The talent includes dB Peter Holsapple, Hotel Foxtrot, is often considered the breakthrough, not only for Arrogance’s Robert Kirkland, Ben Folds Five’s Robert Sledge and its widened artistic ambitions and its critical approval but also the cores of both The Connells and The Backsliders. No one is for the new audience it helped the group recruit. An essential planning on a cut from the event’s namesake masterpiece, but part of that appeal was I Am Trying to Break Your Heart: A Film Abernethy does hope to end the show with one big sing-along. About Wilco, Sam Jones’ poignant, humanizing documentary 8:30 p.m., $10, 14 W. Martin St., Raleigh, 919-833-1091, about the making of the record and, really, of the band itself. It www.kingsbarcade.com. identified the pedestrian struggles—doomed friendships, business —Grayson Haver Currin problems, morning commutes—inherent in trying to make good

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& THE SENSATIONAL SPACE SHIFTERS CAT'S CRADLE BACK ROOM

7/10: LAKES & WOODS, HECTORINA, JPHONO1 ($7) 7/12: STEVE FORBERT TRIO W/ SUGARCANE JANE ($20/$22) 7/13: A.A. BONDY ($12/$14) 7/14: ANTHONY RANERI W/ WHAT'S EATING GILBERT, ALLISON WEISS 7/17 AND 7/18: THE OLD CEREMONY

5/22: BEARS IN THE CITY *FINAL SHOW* W/ THE COLOR EXCHANGE, WE 6/17 HAPPY ABANDON ($7) 5/23: MAC MCCAUGHAN W/FLESH WOUNDS **($12) SA 5/23 DEL THE FUNKY 5/25: MELT BANANA HOMOSAPIEN W/ HOT NERDS, CLANG (CELEBRATING NEW RELEASE, SPRINTER!) W/ SKYBLEW ($15) QUARTET** ($13/$15) 7/27: ROCKY VOTOLATO / 5/29: JOE HERO, ADHESIVE, FR 5/29 SCHOONER/ DAVE HAUSE ($12/$14) JAR OF FLIES ($10) CAN'T KIDS SPLIT 7" RELEASE 7/31: THE APPLESEED CAST PARTY W/ KINGSBURY MANX 5/30: STEPH STEWART & THE ($13/$15) & PLENTY MORE ($3!) BOYFRIENDS (ALBUM RELEASE SHOW) W/ALEX & WESTON 8/14: MICHAEL RANK & STAG SA 6/6 HEALIN' WITH A **($10/$12) ALBUM RELEASE SHOW FEELIN' ( BURN CENTER BENEFIT) W/ HEATHER MCENTIRE 6/3: COMEDY @ THE CRADLE WE 6/10 SHAKEY GRAVES (MOUNT MORIAH) ($7) W/ BARRY ROTHBART, W/ CARSON MCHONE ($15/$18) JASON SAENZ, MORE 9/15: EILEN JEWELL ($16/$20) SA 6/13 HEARTLESS (PRESENTED BY MARIANNE TAYLOR MUSIC & 6/4: NC ELECTRIC PRESENTS: BASTARDS CAT'S CRADLE) DAVID TORN CLINIC & SOLO W/ CRAIG FINN ($16/$18) GUITAR PERFORMANCE KOKA BOOTH (CARY) SU 6/14 UNKNOWN W/ MIKE BABYAK ($25/$50) MORTAL ORCHESTRA W/ 6/5: JONATHAN BYRD ($12/$15) 6/10 ALABAMA SHAKES ALEX G, BIRDS OF AVALON**($15) W/ COURTNEY BARNETT 6/6: ALGIERS ($10/$12) MO 6/15 PHOX 6/15 ROBERT PLANT 6/9: TRISTEN W/MECHANICAL RIVER **($13/$15) & THE SENSATIONAL 6/10: MINOR STARS, TU 6/16 HURRAY FOR MEGAFAUNA, SPACE SHIFTERS THE RIFF RAFF W/ CLEAR FAKE SWEDISH ($8) W/ THE PIXIES PLASTIC MASKS ($15) 6/11: GBH LOCAL 506 (CH) WE 6/17 CLEAN BANDIT ($20/$22) W/TOTAL CHAOS **($15/$17) 5/30: IVAN & ALYOSHA TH 7/2 SAY ANYTHING 6/12: JOSH MOORE (ALBUM W/ KRIS ORLOWSKI ($10/$12) W/ MODERN BASEBALL, RELEASE) W/JENKS MILLER & CYMBALS EAT GUITARS, HARD CAROLINA THEATRE (DRHM) ROSE CROSS NC ($8) GIRLS ($18/$22) 7/20 ROB BELL 6/13: STRAND OF OAKS W/ FR 7/3 MELVINS AVERS AND THE TENDER FRUIT** ($12) MOTORCO (DURHAM) W/ LE BUTHERETTES ($16/$18) 6/14: THE HELIO SEQUENCE 6/3 MILO GREENE SA 7/4 HOLY GHOST TENT W/ LOST LANDER ($15) W/ HEY MARSEILLES ($14/$16) REVIVAL ($12/$14) 6/16: GILL LANDRY (OF OLD NC MUSEUM OF ART (RAL) SA 7/18 THE PIETASTERS W/ CROW MEDICINE SHOW) ($12/$15) GUTTERMOUTH AND CORPORATE 5/23: LAKE STREET DIVE 6/18: CHRISTOPHER OWENS FANDANGO ($14/$16) W/ RIVER WHYLESS ($15) FR 7/31: HEADFIRST FOR 6/12: BRANDI CARLILE 6/19: DESLONDES HALOS, EYES EAT SUNS, W/TWAIN ($10) W/ ANDERSON EAST YOUMA, KISS THE CURSE, FRIENDS AS ENEMIES 6/20: CHRIS STAMEY GROUP 9/25: DAWES**($24-$35) ($13/ $15) RECORD RELEASE PLUS... RED HAT AMPHITHEATER (RAL) SA 8/1 THE ENGLISH BEAT** FELLOW TRAVELLERS (W/ BRETT TU 9/15: DEATH CAB HARRIS, DJANGO HASKINS, SKYLAR GUDASZ) WE 8/12 BASEMENT FOR CUTIE W/ TWIN SHADOW 6/22: LOCAL H W/ADVENTURES, LVL UP, W/AEGES **($12/$14) THE RITZ (RALEIGH) PALEHOUND**($15/$18) SHOWS PRESENTED IN 6/26: TOO MUCH FUN ($10) TH 9/10 AN EVENING WITH ASSOCIATION THE WATKINS FAMILY 7/2: CAROLINE ROSE ($10/$12) WITH LIVENATION HOUR ($30) 7/3: SAGE FRANCIS ($15) 9/29 FATHER JOHN MISTY($25/$28) SA 10/10 NOAH GUNDERSEN 7/8: SWIRLIES W/ CREEPOID ( $15/$17) ($12/$14) HAW RIVER BALLROOM WE 6/17 JOSH ROUSE (WITH BAND) ★ ★ ★ W/ WALTER MARTIN ($17/$20) MO 9/14: BEST COAST** **Asterisks denote advance tickets @ schoolkids records in raleigh, cd alley in chapel hill ($20/$23)

CLEAN BANDIT

CATSCRADLE.COM 919.967.9053 300 E. MAIN STREET CARRBORO order tix online at ticketfly.com ★ we serve carolina brewery beer on tap! ★ we are a non-smoking club

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INDYweek.com

music WED, MAY 20

THE ARTSCENTER: Triangle Jazz Orchestra; 7:45 p.m., free. THE CAVE: The Last Tycoon, Caroline Skeen; 9 p.m., $3. See indyweek.com. KOKA BOOTH AMPHITHEATRE: Stanley Baird Group featuring Connie Rogers; 5:30 p.m., $5. See indyweek. com. LOCAL 506: (J)Rowdy and the NightShift, Defacto Thezpian, Tracy Lamont, Alex Aff; 9 p.m., $7. See indyweek.com. THE PINHOOK: Daddy Issues, Shana Falana, White Cascade; 9 p.m., $5. See indyweek.com. POUR HOUSE: Input Electronic Music Series; 9:30 p.m., free. SLIM’S: Beneath Oblivion, Necrocosm, Only Ash Remains; 9 p.m., $5. SOUTHLAND BALLROOM: Leo Moran and Anthony Thistlethwaite; 7:30 p.m., $20– $25. See indyweek.com. UNC’S PERSON RECITAL HALL: Richard Luby Violin Symposium. See indyweek.com.

THU, MAY 21 BEYÙ CAFFÈ BARON TYMAS TRIO Distinguished and downright funky, this trio of NCCU music faculty members is one the Triangle’s jazz gems. Tymas’ electric and acoustic guitar moves from Brazilian and classical to straight jazz, reggae and soul. Fellow educators who maintain active careers as sidemen, bassist Damon Brown and drummer Thomas Taylor assist Tymas in that territory. Free/7 p.m. —SP THE CAVE: Dead Flowers, Sibannac, Tecate Sunrise; 9 p.m., $3.

DEEP SOUTH ROCK PROM

“Reviving Raleigh,” a series of sporadic concerts presented by local label Revival Recordings, grows up and goes to “Rock Prom.” They’ve got a strange soundtrack for the student body: Headliners Bare the Traveler scramble pop-punk, piano pop and indie folk, making for strange amalgams that suggest The Avett Brothers rebranding as a young modern rock act. From Atlanta, Bear Girl laces technically deft and ambitiously structured prog suites with hooks meant for radio love. Yearning Raleigh band The Past Six Years open, along with Magnolia. $1–$3/8 p.m. —GC FIDELITY BANK PLAZA: Erin Mason; 11:30 am, free. KINGS: Bastages, Indiobravo, Roar The Engines; 9 p.m., $5. LOCAL 506: Kingsland Road, Six Stories Told, Gentleman Contender; 9 p.m., $13–$25. MIDTOWN PARK AMPHITHEATRE: Band of Oz; 6 p.m., free.

MOTORCO BANDA MAGDA Greek, Brazilian, French and Latin influences forge Banda Magda, the jazz-pop vehicle for composer and heart-stealing vocalist Magda Giannikou. She’ll try anything, from composing new music for 100-year-old Greek barrel pianos to jamming on her accordion with the rhythm of a tap dancer. Retro cabaret style seldom delivers such arresting, fresh charm. $15–$20/9 p.m. —SP

NEPTUNES OCTOPUS JONES It’s hard to make psych-rock sound more immediate than Octopus Jones. With lively grooves, the trio wrestles charisma from yesteryear’s glam and momentum from modern garage rock. From Greensboro,

Contributors Amanda Black (AB), Grant Britt (GB),Grayson Haver Currin (GC), Spencer Griffith (SG), Corbie Hill (CH), Allison Hussey (AH), Jeff Klingman (JK), Jordan Lawrence (JL), Sylvia Pfeiffenberger (SP), Bryan C. Reed (BCR), Brandon Soderberg (BS), Eric Tullis (ET), Chris Vitiello (CV), Patrick Wall (PW), Justin Weber (JW)

Echo Courts offer up pop-rock that’s more patient but no less seductive. $5/9:30 p.m. —JL

PITTSBORO ROADHOUSE: Red Leg Husky; 6 p.m.

POUR HOUSE BRADFORD LEE FOLK Though he’s fronted Rounder Records act Open Road and delivered some of the best sets of Raleigh’s IBMA iterations with the Bluegrass Playboys, Bradford Lee Folk has more in common with country outlaws and roots troubadours than pickers and grinners. Folk brings striking details and dark humor to soul-searching stories haunted by high vocals. Acoustic quartet Fireside Collective adds progressive mountain music from Asheville. $8–$10/8 p.m. —SG SLIM’S: Nuclear Honey, The Potatoes; 9 p.m., $5.

SOUTHLAND BALLROOM WILLIAM CONTROL Maudlin songs like “Beautiful Loser” and “Revelator” from darkwaver William Control might take you back to a time when you got ridiculed for wearing all black. His Skinny Puppy and Legendary Pink Dots-indebted tracks exist away from Cold Cave, the stars of Sacred Bones Records or even Yeezus-era Kanye West, musicians that cribbed a few goth moves and made it cool. He is, admirably, a goth in good standing. $15–$24/8 p.m. —BS STATION AT SOUTHERN RAIL: The Walking Deadbeats, The Riders; 10 p.m. THE PLAZA AT 140 W FRANKLIN ST: Jon Stickley Trio; 6 p.m., free.

THE RITZ LYFE JENNINGS Lyfe Jennings’ newest ballad, “Pretty Is,” is a shoo-in for contemporary urban radio play. If

MAY 20, 2015

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TUESDAY, MAY 26

THE PINHOOK CHARLES LATHAM The acerbic tongue of Durham anti-folk hero Charles Latham goes for tunes alternately personal and political. His latest EP, 2012’s Fast Loans, collects sardonic singles that cover topics from living with his parents and (not) earning a living wage to depression and domestic oil exploration. Since returning to the Triangle late last year, Latham has been penning his fourth full-length release, his first since 2007. Hip Hatchet and The Ends open. $8/9 p.m. —SG

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SHILPA RAY

PHOTO BY EBRU YILDIZ

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LOCAL 506, CHAPEL HILL—Shilpa Ray is the sort of musician frequently championed by established artists who interchange “raw” and “real,” as if they were the same word. Nick Cave, for instance, took her across Europe as a supporting act and backup singer. She’s played shows with Patti Smith, Jon Spencer and Acid Mothers Temple. And her new record, Last Year’s Savage, arrives through Northern Spy, an avantgarde imprint more prone to release an LP of Thurston Moore improvisations than a singersongwriter showcase. But her time as a favored cause might be coming to a close; this month, when she plays a record release show in Brooklyn, no-wave legend James Chance will open for her. Ray’s old band, Beat the Devil, offered a shortlived attempt to reconcile the sound of a harmonium, carried over from her Indian lineage, with goth tendencies she acquired as an outsider teen in New Jersey. Her hard-gigging garage quartet, Shilpa Ray and Her Happy Hookers, subsequently released two records in three years. The harmonium hung around for her solo stuff, its drone sliding into the empty spaces of her songs. But her voice—a genuine blues bellow that’s raspy, sort of sleazy and a little sweet—dominates all her music. Nothing on her tracks, save a spare drumbeat, can stand up to it. Built with titles like “Nocturnal Emissions,” “Pop Song for Euthanasia” and “Sanitary iPad,” Last Year’s Savage delivers Ray’s usual level of cynical wit and caustic bluntness. “Oh, how I wish my parents had sent me to Johnny Thunders’ Fantasy Space Camp,” she jokes. Her boozy, sin-soaked stories will appeal to anyone who considers a Tom Waits comparison a compliment, but cabaret bawdiness isn’t her only mode. She’s described this set as her most personal. During “Burning Bride,” she invokes the banned Hindu practice of immolating a live wife after her husband’s death as a dark metaphor. “You’ll be lucky when she runs out of desire,” she wails, her own supply stocked full. J Kutchma and Stray Owls open. 9 p.m., $8–$10, 506 W. Franklin St., Chapel Hill, 919-942-5506, www.local506.com. —Jeff Klingman it were the only thing you’d ever heard from the roughneck R&Ber, you’d wonder why he’s never mentioned among Ne-Yo, Usher, Anthony Hamilton or John Legend. Even overlooking his late start as a result of a 10-year prison bid, Jennings’ last five albums and many guest appearances have diluted his soul moves with too much street and not enough svelte. On his upcoming Tree of Lyfe, it seems he may be trying to clean things up. $25/8 p.m. —ET TIR NA NOG: Local Band, Local Beer: The Midatlantic, Laney Jones & The Spirits, Feeds; 9:30 p.m. UNC’S PERSON RECITAL HALL: Richard Luby Violin Symposium. See indyweek.com.

FRI, MAY 22

BERKELEY CAFÉ: Redleg Husky; 7 p.m., free. BEYÙ CAFFÈ: Straight Up Jazz Quintet; 8 p.m. BLUE NOTE GRILL: Duke Street Dogs; 6-8 p.m., free. BYNUM GENERAL STORE: Rootzie; 7 p.m., $5–$7.

CARRBORO TOWN COMMONS: Boo Hanks, Kelley and the Cowboys; 6 p.m., free.

CAT’S CRADLE BEARS IN THE CITY, THE COLOR EXCHANGE, HAPPY ABANDON Chapel Hill’s Bears in the City play their last show, leaving a void another pleasant roots-rock band will undoubtedly fill. Their melodramatic fare has always fit like a thrift-store coat—stylish and vintage, sure, but it’s hard to escape the feeling someone else wore it first. With grand, sweeping U2-isms, The Color Exchange’s secondhand suit fits a little better. Happy Abandon opens with sinuous, delicate material that splits the difference between Death Cab for Cutie’s tell-alls and Tim Buckley’s wanderings. $7/9 p.m. —CH

THE CAVE 1970S FILM STOCK, FELTBATTERY, LOST TRAIL This congregation of experimental music travelers swings between the placid and the plangent. Winston-Salem’s 1970s Film Stock is the solo guitar

outpost of longtime rock musician Eddie Garcia. He powers his individual abstraction with fondness for Alan Licht and Derek Bailey, his guitar crying, sighing and screaming broken riffs and dissonant themes. But feltbattery favors solemn rituals, often using field recordings to shape slow, immersive sounds that unspool in extended time. Headliners Lost Trail fall somewhere between those two ends. Combining heaviness and harmony, Lost Trail aim for ascension through abrasion in a manner that suggests Tim Hecker. $5/9 p.m. —GC CITY TAP: The Guilty Pleasures; 8:30 p.m.

DEEP SOUTH ANIMAZEMENT AFTER PARTY Eight Bit Disaster headlines the first of two Animazement after-parties. As the name suggests, the music—this entire evening, really—is centered on vintage video game soundtracks. Wilmington’s D&D Sluggers apply the familiar tones of NES and Super NES games to Jamiroquai-

INDYweek.com style funk-pop jams, while Professor Shyguy’s extensive oeuvre includes 8-bit Björk covers and an album of funny 10-second songs about major summer movies. $8–$15/8 p.m. —CH WE 5/20

JP BLUES

TH 5/21

VALERIE WOOD THE DUKE STREET DOGS DANNY GOTHAM, CARTER MINOR & FRIENDS RED’S RHYTHM

FR 5/22 SA 5/23

8PM $6 7PM FREE 6-8PM 9PM 8PM $6

919.821.1120 • 224 S. Blount St INPUT ELECTRONIC MUSIC SERIES

WE 5/20

TH 5/21 MARIANNE TAYLOR & THE POUR HOUSE PRESENT:

BRADFORD LEE FOLK FIRESIDE COLLECTIVE

FR 5/22

JEFF SIPE TRIO

JONATHAN SCALES FOURCHESTRA + BRIAN BELLER SA 5/23

THE YOUTH LEAGUE BAND

CHRIS HENRICKS FEATURING JACKSON MANUEL SU 5/24

THE SETLIST LIVE VIDEO SHOOT FEATURING: JACK THE RADIO, OCTOPUS JONES, TRIPLICITY 12-6PM FREE

BLUEPRINT • SUPASTITION • CESAR COMANCHE • K-HILL • DEFACTO THEZPIAN • DJ RARE GROOVE 8PM MO 5/25 TU 5/26 WE 5/27 TH 5/28 FR 5/29 SA 5/30

THE SIDESHOW TRAGEDY

FREE

CHROME SCENE • ACE HENDERSON + ARSON DAILY

FLYING BALALAIKA BROTHERS TREEHOUSE • DOWN BY FIVE • CAPTAIN GREEN 6 STRING DRAG • HORSEHEAD THE EVERYMEN • CONTINENTAL THE BATTERY ELECTRIC • MSRP

SU 5/31 MO 6/1 TU 6/2 WE 6/3 TH 6/4

UGLY AMERICANS • B-SIDE • DRINK FIGHT THUGS THE OLD LAWS FREE HAZY RAY • TRAVERS BROTHERSHIP ELEPHANT CONVOY • MEDICATED SUNFISH FAT CHEEK KAT

SOUTHERN BELLES • ATLAS ROAD CREW FR 6/5 FOOTHILLS FREE FIRST FRIDAY FEATURING: DOBY • THE CHIT NASTY BAND • FUNKUPONYA

facebook.com/thepourhousemusichall @ThePourHouse

HONEYSUCKLE TEA HOUSE: The Gleaners; 7 p.m., free. IRREGARDLESS: Foscoe Philharmonic; 6:30 p.m. KINGS: UFOMAMMUT, Usnea, MAKE; 9 p.m., $12–$14. See page 31. THE KRAKEN: Zoltar’s Fortune, Robert Griffin, Luke McMahan; 8 p.m. LINCOLN THEATRE: Glo Paint Party Tour; 9:30 p.m., $20.

thepourhousemusichall.com

MOTORCO THICK MODINE, NUDE PARTY Both Thick Modine and Nude Party are throwback acts. The former embrace a Cosmo’s Factory choogle and a Sticky Fingers ruggedness, dispatched from the start of the ’70s. The latter, a Boone six-piece, would have felt right at home during Los Angeles’ acid-rock heyday. $7–$10/9 p.m. —PW MYSTERY BREWING PUBLIC HOUSE: The Low Counts; 8:30 p.m., free.

NC MUSEUM OF ART ONYX CLUB BOYS NCMA stays open late for a musical happy hour, featuring hot swing and Gypsy jazz with Gabriel Pelli (violin/guitar/vocals), Dave Smith (guitar/vocals) and Jonathan Henderson (upright bass). Small plates and beverages are available for purchase at this weekly, free series. Free/5:30 p.m. —SP NORTHGATE MALL: E Train & The Rusted Rails; 6:30 p.m., free. PAGE-WALKER ARTS & HISTORY CENTER: Barrowburn; 7 p.m., free. PITTSBORO ROADHOUSE: Faith Bardill and the Back Row Saints; p.m.

POUR HOUSE JEFF SIPE TRIO, JONATHAN SCALES FOURCHESTRA, MICHAEL BELLAR Known for holding the throne in Leftover Salmon and Aquarium Rescue Unit, drummer Jeff Sipe leads his own trio through tuneful jazz pieces that stay smooth despite rapid runs from guitarist Mike Seal and bassist Taylor Lee. With the steel pan, fellow percussionist Jonathan

Scales fronts his Fourchestra for oddball instrumentals with tropical flair. Keyboardist Michael Bellar has previously worked as a sideman for Art Garfunkel and Amos Lee. Here, the NC native goes solo for funky explorations that could’ve soundtracked a hip ’70s film. $8–$10/10 p.m. —SG SOUTHLAND BALLROOM: Joe Hero, Adhesive, Jars of Flies; 9 p.m., $8–$10. STATION AT SOUTHERN RAIL: Skee-Town Stylee; 8 p.m.

THE RITZ LOS HURACANES DEL NORTE We’re entering hurricane season, and norteño group los Huracanes del Norte arrive right on time. These darlings of Spanish language media conglomerate Univisión released their 65th album in 2014. They continuously tour sold-out rooms in both the U.S. and Mexico. In an interview with El Gordo y La Flaca, bassist Heraclio “Rocky” García explained the group’s appeal: “We might sing badly, but we sing from our hearts!” With more than 40 years of experience, Los Huracanes—with their acordeons and heartbreak in tow—won’t disappoint. Conjunto Primavera, Los Cadetes De Linares and El Dasa open. $40/9:30 p.m. —AB

TIR NA NOG NC ROOTS SHOWCASE The second installment of this local folk series highlights groups pushing beyond the traditional. Asheville’s Jon Stickley Trio create an experimental mosaic of American music. They combine their namesake’s flat-picking, Lyndsay Pruett’s nimble violin and jazz and hip-hop rhythms from former Atmosphere drummer Patrick Armitage. Raleigh’s Hank Smith and Lindsey Tims join; they avoid the temptation to pick as fast as they can to develop strong melodies. Raleigh’s Urban Soil and Winston-Salem’s The Genuine round out the lineup. Free/7 p.m —JW UNC’S PERSON RECITAL HALL: Richard Luby Violin Symposium. See indyweek.com.

WALNUT CREEK AMPHITHEATRE DAVE MATTHEWS BAND The recorded output of the Dave Matthews Band has slowed to a trickle, as the Virginia-born act has released only two albums since 2005’s Stand Up. (Compare that to the days when, after three

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MAY 20, 2015

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years passed between albums, fans fretted over Matthews’ health.) There’s talk of a new album, and DMB even debuted a fresh if forgettable tune on their final Letterman appearance. But they know where their money is made, and they know where they can still muster a trace of their old excitement—on slow, sprawling tours across the country. These days, DMB is something of a big band, with electric guitarist Tim Reynolds in constant tow and two horn players taking the place of the deceased LeRoi Moore. Given that lineup, though, they can still hit ecstatic improvisation when they get loose on their oldest standards, even if it rarely happens for the touring machine. $40.50–$85/7 p.m. —GC

SAT, MAY 23

BEYÙ CAFFÈ: Dee Lucas; 8 & 10 p.m., $10. BLUE NOTE GRILL: Red’s Rhythm; 8 p.m., $6. CAT’S CRADLE: Del the Funky Homosapien; 9 p.m., $15. See box, page 35.

CAT’S CRADLE (BACK ROOM) MAC MCCAUGHAN, FLESH WOUNDS Superchunk and Merge Records co-founder Mac McCaughan recorded Non-Believers, his first LP under his own name, in the basement of his Chapel Hill home. The process was protracted and private, with McCaughan coupling layers of synthesizers and drum machines with lyrics about childhood memories and mishaps late at night or early in the workday. The record is warm and inviting, McCaughan’s nasal hooks ensconced in luxurious self-production. To put those same songs onstage, though, he knew he needed to add some muscle. In recruiting the great garage rock trio Flesh Wounds, who issued a 7-inch on Merge last year, McCaughan ostensibly added some outward gusto to his individual, indrawn approach. When they come to the Cradle’s Back Room, they’ll be in the middle of a brief tour, hopefully in peak, out-of-the-basement form. $12/9 p.m. —GC THE CAVE: Octopus Jones, Sleepwalkers; 9 p.m., $5. CITY TAP: The Swang Brothers; 8:30 p.m. CONNECTIONS EVENT CENTER: Six Stories Told; 7-10 p.m., $15.

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albums, DEEP SOUTH hews’ ANIMAZEMENT AFTER a new PARTY debuted a Deep South’s second e on their Animazement after-show is a rance. But pure dance party, leaning heavily r money is toward dub and related bass where theyobsessions. From Virginia Beach, e of their DJ Genki is punishing and ow, sprawl- maximalist. His frenetic mixes untry. and low-end hits impel, rather mething of than simply encourage, the ic guitarist (possibly cosplaying) audience to ant tow andget up and move. Georgia DJ g the place F3NN infuses his glitchy, Moore. mid-tempo dubstep with ugh, they cinematic textures. Nullstruckt, provisation Horus and Wondershock also n their bring that bass. $7–$12/9 p.m. n if it rarely —CH ng machine. GC HONEYSUCKLE TEA HOUSE: Stu McLamb; 7 p.m., free. IRREGARDLESS: Brien Barbour; 11 a.m. Gen Palmer ucas; 8 & Duo; 6 p.m. Atomic Rhythm AllStars; 9 p.m. Red’s

KINGS the Funky JACKSON SCOTT

$15. See

Jackson Scott’s intent seems to be to disorient. The Asheville-viaPittsburgh songwriter willfully muddied both 2013’s Melbourne BACK and this year’s Sunshine Redux N, FLESH with circus mirrors and pot smoke. Lo-res acoustic guitars and blown-out drums rattle e Records against helium-pitched vocals, ughan obscured by a lysergic fog of rs, his first reverb and tape delay. Still, he e, in the can’t hide his knack for hooks. His el Hill best tunes, like Melbourne’s as “Evie” and Sunshine’s “Ripe for e, with Love,” feature hooks that cut ayers of through the haze like a sunbeam m machines through a cumulonimbus. Scott’s hood songs may be dazed, but he’s far ps late at from confused. With Less orkday. The Western and Astro Cowboy. viting, $10/9 p.m. —PW oks s KOKA BOOTH t those hough, he AMPHITHEATRE d some NC SYMPHONY he great SUMMERFEST OPENING Wounds, The North Carolina Symphony n Merge isn’t waiting for the solstice: Their ostensibly Summerfest program starts now. gusto to his Designed for families to hear proach. symphonic favorites over a picnic he Cradle’s while the kids romp around in in the the gloaming, Summerfest kicks hopefully off with Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in sement Blue” and Dvořák’s “New World C Symphony,” as well as hits from Sousa and Copland. Come early to let the kids try out symphony Jones, instruments. $28–$30/7:30 p.m. $5. —CV g Brothers;

LOCAL 506 NT Told; 7-10 NORTH ELEMENTARY

North Elementary keeps moving. With seven albums behind them,

they’re now an area institution. The mixture mustered by John Harrison and his backers ranges far, but it’s built largely on the limber grit of the region’s notable indie rock exports and the darkly tinged psychedelics of bands like The Jesus and Mary Chain. They pivot between spectral delicacy and distorted intensity. With Cory Pallon Band and the new and righteous The Wyrms. $5/9 p.m. —JL LORRAINE’S COFFEE HOUSE: Eric Meyer Jazz Trio; 7:30-9:30 p.m., free.

THE MAYWOOD PHOBIA California grindcore band Phobia has spent a quarter-century railing against the establishment over pummeling drums, ground-and-pound riffs and Slayer-esque guitar squeals. Across a hulking catalog, they’ve forged an alloy of crust-punk polemics and heavy metal dexterity, reminiscent of Napalm Death in its blunt-force approach and Exhumed in its death-metal detours. Last year’s vitriolic Grind Core finds the band as explosive and nimble as ever. Raleigh’s similarly dynamic and belligerent Old Codger opens. $10–$12/8:30 p.m. —BCR MYSTERY BREWING PUBLIC HOUSE: Amigo, Pneurotics; 8:30 p.m., free.

NC MUSEUM OF ART LAKE STREET DIVE Brooklyn four-piece Lake Street Dive shares vintage soul space with the Alabama Shakes, though it trades the latter’s gritty blues-rock for jazzy retro pop; imagine an alternate universe where the British Invasion stemmed from Motown. While that may sound suited for American Bandstand, Lake Street Dive has enough contemporary sheen to warrant crossover success. All four members contribute to songwriting and add harmonies, but singer Rachael Price steals the spotlight with her commanding presence. Asheville quartet River Whyless opens with an orchestral, elegant take on experimental folk sounds. $15–$30/8 p.m. —SG NICE PRICE BOOKS: Jackson Honeycutt, Look A Ghost; 9 p.m., $5.

THE PINHOOK ENO MOUNTAIN BOYS Hillsborough’s Eno Mountain Boys cite fellow North Carolina

outfits The Avett Brothers and Megafaun among their influences, plus Wilco, Queens of the Stone Age and Foo Fighters. It’s a curious combination, but they follow through. While they lean more heavily on the rock end of folk-rock, little bits of twang seep through in the vocals and guitars. Songs like “The Open Road” are rowdy enough to make you forget categorization. This show celebrates the release of their new LP. Local string band The Piedmont Regulators open with old-time-inclined tunes. $5/9 p.m. —AH

PHOTO COURTESY OF AUDIBLE TREATS

DEL THE FUNKY HOMOSAPIEN SATURDAY, MAY 23 CAT’S CRADLE, CARRBORO—When forced out of the major-label system due to low sales or high costs, most artists stumble during the relocation process to dependence on an independent, especially in hip-hop. Rappers who go gold or even multi-platinum on prior releases can soon become RIAA cardboard—Foxy Brown’s Brooklyn’s Don Diva and Joe Budden’s No Love Lost come to mind. Known for picking up declining emcees kicked to the curb, indies like eOne serve as incubators for lowered expectations and diminished returns. The artists fade into mundane new lives or tragicomic punchline fodder. After his second album for Elektra, Del the Funky Homosapien was dropped, too. But he constructed a compelling, unconventional case study in hip-hop success. Operating outside of the major-label system for nearly 20 years, he capitalized on the power of downloads earlier than most, starting with the online-first availability of 1997’s Future Development. A core member of the Hieroglyphics crew, Del helped form the aptly named Hieroglyphics Imperium Recordings, which persists. This is true self-reliance in a realm not known for it. Semi-autonomy alone doesn’t equate to success, though, and Del has consistently worked outside of his circle. Around the turn of the century, he got his music in front of the skateboard community, a self-sustaining scene that scarfs down videos and music compilations. And as the illmatic charismatic Deltron 3030, the dominant Blue Meanie of Gorillaz’s “Clint Eastwood” and “Rock The House” and the tongue-twisting wordsmith of early solo hit “Mistadobalina,” Del survives on the iPods of millions. As such, a Del solo gig can be one of passive recognition, with tiny epiphanies like, “Wait, that’s one of his songs, too?” Even with the benefit of genuine skills and a distinct voice, he’s unlikely to ever become a household name. Throughout his post-Elektra career, he has remained a low-key thriver, a modest hitmaker and a go-to for some of music’s most brilliant minds. He’s got current phone numbers for acclaimed artists like Dan The Automator and Damon Albarn—and they’ve likely got his, too. Showing no sign of stopping, Del’s discography continues to grow in size and interest, offering perhaps the most poignant “fuck you” possible for major labels. 9 p.m., $15, 300 E. Main St., Carrboro, 919-9679053, www.catscradle.com. —Gary Suarez

PITTSBORO ROADHOUSE: Last Tuesday; 8 p.m. POUR HOUSE: The Youth League Band, Chris Hendricks featuring Jackson Manuel; 10 p.m., $8–$10. ROOST: The Holland Brothers; 5 p.m.

SAXAPAHAW RIVERMILL CURTIS ELLER’S AMERICAN CIRCUS Like a vaudeville showman frozen in time but thawing slowly, Curtis Eller has been only slightly impacted by the whims of the modern era. The banjo player’s theatrical old-time tunes occasionally sport garage-rock fuzz, a nod perhaps to his Detroit upbringing. But Eller’s writing largely draws on tales and characters of post-Reconstruction American history. Free/6 p.m. —SG SCHOOLKIDS RECORDS: Raye, Natalie York; 7 p.m., free. SHARP NINE GALLERY: Scott Sawyer/Keith Ganz Quartet; 8 p.m., $10–$15. SOUTHLAND BALLROOM: The Vaudevillain Revue: Octavius Wrigglebottom’s Circus Spectacular; 10 p.m., $12–$15. STATION AT SOUTHERN RAIL: Twilighter; 8 p.m. DJ Petey Green; 10 p.m. TIR NA NOG: Rye Baby; 7 p.m. The Wavos; 10 p.m. UNC’S PERSON RECITAL HALL: Richard Luby Violin Symposium. See indyweek.com.

SUN, MAY 24 CAROLINA THEATRE CHAMBER ORCHESTRA OF THE TRIANGLE: MUSIC AND THE BIZARRE Walt Disney owes Ponchielli an apology. The Italian composer’s “Dance of the Hours” comes from La Gioconda, which narrates a day from sunrise to sunset. It was once the center of

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one of the most frequently performed ballets. But the cartoonist turned it into a series of sight gags, staging it with zoo animals in Fantasia. The Chamber Orchestra of the Triangle recovers Ponchielli’s classic, as well as the incidental music from Grieg’s Peer Gynt, in a Sunday matinee show. $25/3 p.m. —CV THE CAVE: Jay Alm; 9 p.m., $3. FULLSTEAM: Redleg Husky; 5-7 p.m., free. HONEYSUCKLE TEA HOUSE: Lester Fricks; 2 p.m., free. IRREGARDLESS: Larry Hutcherson; 10 a.m. Ed Moon; 6 p.m. KINGS: Time Out of Mind: An Evening of Bob Dylan; 8 p.m., $10. See page 31. KOKA BOOTH AMPHITHEATRE: Triangle Wind Ensemble: At The Movies; 7:30 p.m., $13–$26.

LINCOLN THEATRE THE PSYCHEDELIC FURS Psychedelic Furs’ enduring hit, “Pretty in Pink,” is mopey and poppy in perfect proportion to be the inspiration for a John Hughes flick. The 1986 recording that conquered the charts is a crummier version of an earlier song, though, slathering over darkness with junky saxophone that obscures lyrics about theft and car crashes. That compromise made them briefly huge, but life’s funny. Without their second life as international stars, the Butler brothers probably would have ended up exactly where they are now, playing mid-sized theaters on the reunion circuit, coasting on the strength of their early post-punk material. Black English open. $25–$28/7:30 p.m. —JK

LOCAL 506 GEOGRAPHER The music Michael Deni makes as Geographer reflects one belief—life is but a dream, an involuntary and imaginative reverie devoid of discernable meaning or purpose. Melodies burrow in blankets of soft synthesizers and swelling strings, while minor keys and tom-tomheavy drum patterns imply the turbulence of troubled sleep. Geographer’s mellifluous pop is too pleasant to be a waking nightmare, but Deni imparts just enough angst to spike interest. Empires and Idlehands join. $12–$14/9 p.m. —PW MOTORCO: Tyler Thigpen, Stolen Reputation, James Garland; 7:30 p.m., $5–$10.

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The INDY’s Guide to Dining in the Triangle

Acid Chaperone, a new psych-rock foursome from Raleigh, have issued no recordings, but they selfdescribe as “sand rock.” Their forceful stuff is fittingly enigmatic; its heavy, pounding low-end anchors an ominous swell of noisy atmospherics and spartan riffs. $5/9 p.m. —BCR

POUR HOUSE THE SETLIST LIVE VIDEO SHOOT The Setlist is a new web series on Trianglelife.tv, aiming to bring more local music to the masses—both online and by opening the doors to its video shoots. This month’s installment offers three scattershot acts: There’s the Americana stomp of Jack The Radio, the swimmy-headed pop rock of Octopus Jones and the prog noodling of Triplicity. Check your favorite, or enjoy the whole sampler. Free/1 p.m. —AH POUR HOUSE: Blueprint, Supastition, Cesar Comanche, K-Hill, Defacto Thezpian, DJ Rare Groove; 9 p.m., $10–$12. STATION AT SOUTHERN RAIL: Doug Largent Trio; 7 p.m. UNC CAMPUS: PERSON RECITAL HALL: Richard Luby Violin Symposium. See indyweek.com.

MON, MAY 25

CAT’S CRADLE (BACK ROOM): Melt-Banana, Hot Nerds, Clang Quartet; 9 p.m., $13–$15. See page 31.

THE CAVE SHIVERY SHAKES

An Adult Nightclub • Open 7 Days/week • Hours 7pm - 2am

Shivery Shakes make breezy, fuzzy California pop, a style that’s blooomed in recent years. Clear guitar melodies shoot through dramatic tempo changes and dynamics, keeping songs from drifting into mere affability. With poppy locals Charming Youngsters and Seabreeze Diner, this is a fine soundtrack for a late spring beer in The Cave’s close quarters. $3/9 p.m. —JW

LOCAL 506 CAROLINA STORY

919-6-TEASER

for directions and information

www.teasersmensclub.com 156 RAMSEUR ST. DURHAM, NC

TeasersMensClub

@TeasersDurham

A band from Tennessee called Carolina Story? Uh, OK. Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Folksy guy-gal harmonies delivered over jangly guitars and banjos, plus some stomping rhythms, forgettable lyrics and

harmonica. Stephen Chandler Wilson opens. $10/8 p.m. —AH MOTORCO: PopUp Chorus; 6:30 p.m., $5. POUR HOUSE: The Sideshow Tragedy; 9 p.m., free.

TUE, MAY 26 THE CAVE VICTOR FLORENCE Prolific Florida songwriter Victor Florence suggests the Mountain Goats during the golden days of the Shrimper label, where lo-fi recording and a high amount of tape hiss aptly captured the emotional live wires of John Darnielle’s songs. Rather than just strum and scream into a boom box, though, Florence surrounds his detailed ruminations with collages of noise and textural obfuscation. These songs can even get grand, with winding melodies and ambitious arrangements tucked inside the distortion. $3/9 p.m. —GC

LINCOLN THEATRE REVOCATION, VEIL OF MAYA Watching the crowd at this five-band show should be a telling study in just how divided heavy metal audiences can be, especially with the last two acts. Boston’s Revocation is a surly and brutal death metal band, stuffing complicated, spider-webbing riffs between lunging beats and screams. They sometimes get fancy, with flashy solos that stretch for a minute at the time, but mostly they are relentless and daunting. But headliners Veil of Maya have many more accessible intentions, with a high-polish, prog-laced take on metalcore. They’ve got bright hooks and sparkling leads, enamoring them to many but perhaps antagonizing to those in the room for Revocation. Plus Oceano, Gift Giver and A Turning Day. $15–$18/6:30 p.m. —GC LOCAL 506: Shilpa Ray, J Kutchma, Stray Owls; 9 p.m., $8–$10. See box, page 33. PITTSBORO ROADHOUSE: Brien Barbour; 6:30 p.m. POUR HOUSE: Chrome Scene; 9 p.m., free.

SLIM’S GLOOM On their self-titled debut, Washington, D.C.’s Gloom demonstrate remarkable restraint. Though their instrumental skill is obvious in sharp bass lines and shape-

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shifting rhythms, Gloom don’t succumb to tech-metal temptations. No ostentatious exercises, their songs dig into steady grooves and pull heft from classic death metal. They shade open spaces with austere black metal melodies. Los Angeles’ Bereft show a like-minded commitment to dredging grooves from their agile doom. Raleigh’s Heron opens. $7/9 p.m. —BCR TIR NA NOG: Beer & Banjos: Ellis Dyson; 7 p.m.

WED, MAY 27

KOKA BOOTH AMPHITHEATRE: Mint Julep Band; 5:30 p.m., $5. LINCOLN THEATRE: Caleb Johnson, Jason Adamo; 9 p.m., $12–$15. See page 22. LOCAL 506: Maliyah Tan, Nile Ashton, DJ EMDMA; 9 p.m., $5.

THE PINHOOK MR. GNOME The married duo of Sam Meister and Nicole Barille, Mr. Gnome don’t fit easily into any one box. From a recent sampler of B-sides, “Sleepwalker” arrives with dense and thumping bass lines, countered by merry twee whistling. “Melted Rainbow,” which kicks off last year’s The Heart of a Dark Star, is a synth-pop confection, like early MGMT if they’d been less randy. But no matter how far afield their ideas go, Mr. Gnome are redeemed by consistently charming melodies and Barille’s piercing voice. With Posifaction. $10/9 p.m. —JL

POUR HOUSE FLYING BALALAIKA BROTHERS Although it sounds like a high-wire act, The Flying Balalaika Brothers are actually RussianUkrainian musicians, led by Red Elvises guitarist Zhenya Kolykhanov. Russian folk, jazz and even Finnish music rush together, with a healthy dose of humor always present in the mix. During the frosty party anthem, “Time to Drink Some Vodka,” they sing, “In the land of ice and snow/ Vodka moved them Eskimos/ Whattya do when its 30 below?/ Time to drink some vodka!” $10–$12/9 p.m. —GB STATION AT SOUTHERN RAIL: Jacob Augustine, Sad Magazine, Tain Collins Band; 8 p.m.

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visualarts and Vistas. 1215 E Franklin St. www.chapelhillartgallery.com.

Galleries OPENING ERUUF ART GALLERY: May 24-Jul 2: Layered Openings, new work by Annie Nashold. 4907 Garrett Rd, Durham. 919-4892575, www.eruuf.org.

ONGOING 311 GALLERY & STUDIOS: Thru May 29: Eggistentialism 2.0, chicken-themed art celebrating urban farming. free. Free. 311 W Martin St, Raleigh. 919-4366987, www.311westmartinstreet gallery.com. INDYPICK THE ARTSCENTER: Thru May 23: The Sacred Art of the Sand — Sat, May 23, 2 p.m.: closing ceremony and deconstruction of the mandala. 300-G E Main St, Carrboro. 919-929-2787, artscenterlive.org. BETTY RAY MCCAIN GALLERY: Thru Jun 30: Mary Anne Keel Jenkins: A Lifetime Dedicated to Art, a career survey. 2 E South St, Raleigh. 919-996-8700, dukeenergycenterraleigh.com. BOND PARK COMMUNITY CENTER: Thru Jun 30: Shells: You & Me and the Sea. 150 Metro Park Dr, Cary. 919-4623970, www.townofcary.org. CAMERON VILLAGE REGIONAL LIBRARY: Thru May 31: Needle Prints, sewn fabric and paper works by Caitlin Cary. 1930 Clark Ave, Raleigh. 919-856-6723, www.wakegov. com/libraries. INDYPICK CAPTAIN JAMES & EMMA HOLT WHITE HOUSE: Thru Jul 15: On the Other Side of the Lens: The Photography of Leonard Nimoy. 213 S Main St, Graham.

CARY ARTS CENTER: Thru Jun 30: Nanci Tanton Student Exhibition. 101 Dry Ave. 919469-4069, www.townofcary.org. CHAPEL HILL ART GALLERY: Thru May 31: Gardens, Flowers

INDYPICK CHURCH OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Thru Jun 12: Spring Bloom, work with themes of sex and power. 303 E. Chapel Hill Street, Durham. 919416-1111.

CLAYMAKERS: Thru Jul 10: Quiet Earth, ceramics byy Natalie Boorman, Charlie Evergreen and Tad Uno. 705 Foster St, Durham. 919-5308355, claymakers.com. THE COTTON COMPANY: Thru Jun 7: Pamela Rhode. 306 S White St, Wake Forest. 919-5700087, thecottoncompany.net. CRAVEN ALLEN GALLERY: Thru Jun 13: Blue Dream of Sky, paintings by Sue Sneddon, mixed media tapestries by Nance Lee Sneddon. 1106 1/2 Broad St, Durham. 919-2864837, cravenallengallery.com. DUKE CENTER FOR DOCUMENTARY STUDIES: Thru Jul 29: Binnegoed: Coloured & South African Photography. — Thru Oct 3: Beyond the Front Porch 2015. 1317 W Pettigrew St, Durham. 919-660-3663, cdsporch.org. INDYPICK DURHAM ART GUILD: Thru May 28: Heirloom-Worthy, mixed-media work by Stacy Bloom Rexrode. 120 Morris St. 919-560-2713, durhamartguild.org. DURHAM ARTS COUNCIL: Thru Jun 27: Cold Gravy, work by Chance Murray. 120 Morris St. 919-560-2787, durhamarts.org.

ENO GALLERY: Thru Jun 21: Conjured Ghosts, work by Julyan Davis. 100 S Churton St, Hillsborough. 919-883-1415, www.enogallery.net. INDYPICK FINE ART CAROLINA GALLERY: Thru Jul 3: The Spirit of Art by Faiq Haddad. 116 W Clay St, Mebane. 919-455-5965, FineArtCarolina.com. INDYPICK FLANDERS GALLERY: Thru Jun 2: So Much To She, works by Chris Watts and Aaron Fowler. 505 S Blount

LITTLE ART GALLERY & CRAFT COLLECTION: Thru May 30: Our Monuments, paintings by Brenon Day. 432 Daniels St, Raleigh. 919-890-4111, littleartgalleryandcraft.com.

St, Raleigh. 919-757-9533, flandersartgallery.com. FRANK GALLERY: Thru Jun 7: Members’ Spotlight Exhibition. — Thru Jun 7: Transplanting Our Focus. 109 E Franklin St, Chapel Hill. 919-636-4135, frankisart.com.

LOCAL COLOR GALLERY: Thru May 30: Artist Unleashed. 311 W. Martin Street, Raleigh. 919-8195995, localcoloraleigh.com.

FRANKLIN STREET: Thru Jun 30: Windows on Chapel Hill, installations by Teddy Devereux, Helen Seebold and Greg Carter. Franklin Street, Chapel Hill.

INDYPICK LUMP: Thru May 30: Isolated Tracks, photography by Harrison Haynes. 505 S Blount St, Raleigh. 919-8892927, teamlump.org. MEREDITH COLLEGE JOHNSON HALL: Thru Nov

GALLERY A: Thru Jun 29: Gadgetry, work by Catherine Connolly Hudson. 1637 Glenwood Ave, Raleigh. 919-5469011, www.gallerya-nc.com.

5: Annual Juried Student Art Exhibition. 3800 Hillsborough St, Raleigh. MORNING TIMES GALLERY: Thru May 31: Misunderstood Creatures, work by Liz Bradford. 10 E Hargett St, Raleigh. 919-4592348, morningtimes-raleigh.com. NATURE ART GALLERY: Thru May 31: Old Roots, New Branches, pottery by Ben Owen III. 11 W Jones St, Raleigh. 919733-7450, naturalsciences.org. NC CRAFTS GALLERY: Thru May 30: Colors of Spring, pottery by Julie Wiggins. — Thru May 31: Triangle Weavers Guild

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Group Show. 212 W Main St, Carrboro. 919-942-4048, nccraftsgallery.com. ORANGE COUNTY MAIN LIBRARY: Thru Aug 1: Summer Art Show, photographs by Bruce Weber; watercolors by Jeeyhun Hoke; mixed media pieces by Marie Lawrence. 919-245-2525, www.bit.ly/ocplibrary. 137 W Margaret Ln, Hillsborough. 919-245-2525, www.co.orange. nc.us/library. PAGE-WALKER ARTS & HISTORY CENTER: Thru Jun 20: ARTQUILTSreminisce, by PAQA-South. 119 Ambassador

GALLERY C: Thru May 30: Beyond Boundaries: Latin Artists in America, work by Angel Mieres, Jonay Di Ragno and Ariana Gershman. — Thru May 31: Best of North Carolina 2015. 540 N Blount St, Raleigh. 919828-3165, www.galleryc.net. INDYPICK GOLDEN BELT: Thru May 29: Off the Radar: Method, work by Joy Drury Cox and Wendy Collin Sorin. 807 E Main St, Durham. www. goldenbeltarts.com.

HQ RALEIGH: Thru Jun 15: Make A Scene, mixed media work by Amy S. Hoppe. 310 S Harrington St. 877-242-6090. JOYFUL JEWEL: Thru May 31: Description of Figuratively Speaking, mixed media paintings by Nancy L. Smith. 44-A Hillsboro St, Pittsboro. 919-883-2775, www.joyfuljewel.com. LA RESIDENCE RESTAURANT & BAR: Thru Jun 30: Contemplation, paintings by Ruth Ananda. 202 W Rosemary St, Chapel Hill. 919-967-2506, laresidencedining.com. LEE HANSLEY GALLERY: Thru Jun 17: Pat Scull and Gerry Lynch, paintings and ceramics by Scull, paintings by Lynch. 225 Glenwood Ave, Raleigh. 919-8287557, leehansleygallery.com. LIGHT ART + DESIGN: Thru Jul 3: Butterflies are Free: Women in Photography, work by Sarah Cioffoletti, Tama Hochbaum, Leah Sobsey, Barbara Tyroler. 601 W Rosemary St, Chapel Hill. 919-9427077, lightartdesign.com. LITMUS GALLERY: Thru May 29: Embracing Every Phase, mixed media art by Marie Arondeau and Trudi Taylor. 312 W Cabarrus St, Raleigh. 919-5713605, www.litmusgallery.com.

PHOTO BY MIKE DELLERMAN

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“RED HIBISCUS FLOWER” BY MIKE DELLERMAN

VISUAL ART

BEYOND A GLIMPSE: AN INTIMATE AFFAIR WITH NATURE FRIDAY, MAY 22, DURHAM

THE CARRACK MODERN ART—In this collaborative exhibition, the Carrack is transformed into an interactive garden of earthly delights. Botanical curator and living-art designer Aisha Sanders and photographer Mike Dellerman show terrariums and photography with the goal of educating and inspiring viewers to engage with the natural world. Local band The Pinkerton Raid performs at this opening reception, and the exhibit provides many learning opportunities before it closes May 30. They include workshops on nature photography and terrarium-building (Saturday, May 23, 1 and 4 p.m.), plantmounting (Sunday, May 24, 2 p.m.) and more; visit www.thecarrack.org for a full schedule. 6–9 p.m., free, 111 W. Parrish St., Durham, 704-213-6666, www.beyondaglimpse.org. —Chris Vitiello

VISUAL ART

JANET SEIZ: ARTIST AS COLLECTOR THURSDAY, MAY 21, DURHAM

SUNTRUST GALLERY AT THE DURHAM ARTS COUNCIL—Andy Warhol collected cookie jars. Rembrandt accumulated seashells. Glass artist Dale Chihuly can’t resist Native American baskets. Frequently, makers of the highest order are also collectors, and those collections feed their making in fascinating ways. Art historian Janet Seiz, who has taught at many universities—most recently, North Carolina A&T State University—talks about the relationship between collecting and creating as part of the Durham Art Guild’s lecture series “Art for All.” The SunTrust Gallery is on the ground floor of the Durham Arts Council building. 6:30 p.m., $10 (free for DAG members), 120 Morris St., Durham, 919-560-2787, www.durhamartguild.org. —Chris Vitiello

INDYweek.com

Loop, Cary. 919-460-4963, friendsofpagewalker.org. PULLEN ARTS CENTER: Thru May 31: Joseph Sand, stoneware. 105 Pullen Rd, Raleigh. 919-996-6126. RALEIGH ARTS COLLECTIVE: Thru May 30: Bike Art Show, bike-related work. 500 Royal St. https://www.facebook.com/ raleighartscollective. ROUNDABOUT ART COLLECTIVE: Thru Jun 28: Victoria Powers, foil relief etchings. 305 Oberlin Rd, Raleigh. 919-747-9495, roundaboutartcollective.com. THE SCRAP EXCHANGE: Thru Jun 13: Art of the Bicycle, work by members of the Durham Bike Co-op. 2050 Chapel Hill Road, Durham. 919-688-6960, scrapexchange.org. THE CARTER BUILDING GALLERIES & ART STUDIOS: Thru May 31: Flash of Summer, works from more than 40 different artists. 12-22 Glenwood South, Raleigh. 919-270-6529, thecarterbuilding.com. THE COMMUNITY CHURCH OF CHAPEL HILL UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST: Thru Jun 28: Psyche Unveiled, mixed media on wood by Shelly Hehenberger. 106 Purefoy Rd. 919-942-2050. TIPPING PAINT GALLERY: Thru May 29: Eggistentialism 2.0, work celebrating chickens and urban farming. Joint show with 311 Gallery. 311 W Martin St, Raleigh. 919-928-5279, tippingpaintgallery.com.

UMSTEAD HOTEL & SPA: Thru Aug 30: Madonna Phillips, mixed media glass work. 100 Woodland Pond, Cary. 919-4474000, www.theumstead.com. UNC CAMPUS: SONJA HAYNES STONE CENTER: Thru Jun 30: Selected Works of J. Eugene Grigsby, Jr.: Returning to Where the Artistic Seed was Planted, paintings. 150 South Rd, Chapel Hill. 919-962-9001, sonjahaynesstonectr.unc.edu. VISUAL ART EXCHANGE: Thru May 28: ROYGBIV, multimedia works in red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. — Thru May 28, 6-10 p.m.: Mandala Manifesto. free. 309 W Martin St, Raleigh. 919828-7834, visualartexchange.org.

Museums

ACKLAND ART MUSEUM: Thru Jun 7: Adding to the Mix 9: From or by Marcel Duchamp or Rrose Sélavy, installation by Marcel DuChamp. — Thru Jun 7: The Land of No Things: Selected Works by the MFA Class of 2015. 101 S Columbia St, Chapel Hill. 919-843-1611, ackland.org. CAM RALEIGH: May 23-Sep 13: Big Bent Ears: A Serial in Documentary Uncertainty, work exploring the nature and craft of listening, making use of sound recordings, video, photography and text. $5. 409 W Martin St. 919-261-5920, camraleigh.org. DUKE HOMESTEAD STATE

NC MUSEUM OF ART: Thru Aug 2: Field Guide: James Prosek’s Un/Natural World. — Thru Aug 23: The Patton Collection: A Gift to North Carolina. — Thru Sep 13: Zoosphere, animal-based video installation by Allison Hunter. — Thru Sep 13: Director’s Cut: Recent Photography Gifts to the NCMA. 2110 Blue Ridge Rd, Raleigh. Info 919-8396262, tickets 919-715-5923, ncartmuseum.org. NC MUSEUM OF HISTORY: Thru Aug 2: North Carolina State Highway Patrol: Service, Safety, Sacrifice, highlighting the organization’s history from 1929 to the present. — Thru Sep 5: Starring North Carolina!, featuring memorabilia from films shot in North Carolina. $6–$10. — Thru Sep 27: Rural Revival: Photographs of Home and Preservation of Place, photographs by Scott Garlock of abandoned and old buildings in eastern and northeastern North Carolina. Free. 5 E Edenton St, Raleigh. 919-807-7900, ncmuseumofhistory.org. NC MUSEUM OF NATURAL SCIENCES: Thru Aug 16: Dig It! The Secrets of Soil. 11 W Jones St, Raleigh. 919-733-7450, naturalsciences.org.

Art Related

FIGURE STUDIES (CLOTHED): Thursdays, 1-4 p.m.: moderated long and short poses. $8. Art Bar Raleigh, 6109 Maddry Oaks Ct. 919-307-8312, artbarraleigh.com. FIGURE STUDIES (NUDE): Thursdays, 7-10 p.m.: moderated short and long poses. $10. Art Bar Raleigh, 6109 Maddry Oaks Ct. 919-307-8312, artbarraleigh.com.

performance COMEDY

SHERYL UNDERWOOD

FRIDAY, MAY 22–SATURDAY, MAY 23, RALEIGH GOODNIGHTS COMEDY CLUB—Long ago, a young Sheryl Underwood appeared on Def Comedy Jam and won over the crowd with frank talk about her sexual appetite. (“If you put a dick between two pieces of bread, you got me!”) These days, Underwood is known mainly as the resident Whoopi Goldberg on The Talk, CBS’ blatant The View ripoff. One wonders if that show’s target audience knows how blue Underwood can get. If they don’t, they will likely find out quickly if they show up at Goodnights this weekend. So for all you folks who just wanna see that loud black girl who isn’t Aisha Tyler, remember—you’ve been warned. 7 and 9:30 p.m., $30–$38, 861 W. Morgan St., Raleigh, 919-8285233, www.goodnightscomedy.com. —Craig D. Lindsey

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Comedy

COMEDYWORX THEATRE: Fridays, 8 p.m. & Saturdays, 4 & 8 p.m.: ComedyWorx Improv Show, 2 teams of improv comedians. $6-12. — Fridays, 10 p.m. & Saturdays, 10 p.m.: The Harry Show, Ages 18+. Improv host leads late-night revelers through potentially risque games, with audience volunteers. $10. 431 Peace St, Raleigh. 919-829-0822, comedyworx.com. DSI COMEDY THEATER: Wed, May 20, 7 p.m.: Midweek. $6. — Wed, May 20, 8:30 p.m.: Comedy Lottery. $6. — Thu, May 21, 7 p.m.: Student Showcase. $6. — Thu, May 21, 8:30 p.m.: Harold Night. $6. — Thu, May 21, 10 p.m.: Stranger Danger. free. — Fri, May 22, 8:30 p.m.: The Thrill. $10. — Sat, May 23, 7 p.m.: Humor Games. $10. — Sat, May 23, 8:30 p.m.: Spring Loaded. $10. — Tue, May 26,

Theater OPENING INDYPICK AND THE ASS SAW THE ANGEL: ThursdaysSaturdays, 8:15 p.m.; Thru Jun 6: $5–$20. Manbites Dog Theater, 703 Foster St, Durham. Tickets 919-682-3343; Office 919-6824974, www.manbitesdogtheater. org. See page 31.

PUMP BOYS AND DINETTES: Wed, May 27, 8 p.m.: Kennedy Theater, 2 E South St, Raleigh. 919-996-8700, dukeenergycenterraleigh.com. REAPING WHAT YOU SOW: Sat, May 23, 7 p.m.: $10–$15. St Augustine’s University: Seby Jones Gallery, 1315 Oakwood Ave, Raleigh. 800-948-1126, www.st-aug.edu.

ONGOING INDYPICK THE MOVEMENT: Fri, May 22, 8 p.m. & Sat, May 23, 8 p.m.: $13. Common Ground Theatre, 4815-B Hillsborough Rd, Durham. 919-384-7817, www. cgtheatre.com. See page 26.

OH, WHAT A LOVELY WAR!: May 21-24 $12–$18. The ArtsCenter, 300-G E Main St, Carrboro. 919-929-2787, artscenterlive.org. See page 26.

PHOTO BY LILY HUANG / COURTESY OF ANIMAZEMENT

HISTORIC SITE: Sat, May 23, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.: Bull Fest, celebrating the history of Durham. 2828 Duke Homestead Rd, Durham. 919-477-5498, www.nchistoricsites.org/duke. NASHER MUSEUM OF ART: Thru Jul 12: Open This End: Contemporary Art from the Collection of Blake Byrne. — Thru Aug 30: Colour Correction: British and American Screenprints, 1967-75. 2001 Campus Dr, Durham. 919-6845135, nasher.duke.edu.

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CONVENTION ANIMAZEMENT

FRIDAY, MAY 22–SUNDAY, MAY 24,RALEIGH RALEIGH CONVENTION CENTER—The annual Japanese animation and culture gathering Animazement has become a destination event for downtown Raleigh, attracting thousands of anime fans each year. While you might not know why the voice of Frieza on Dragon Ball Z or the founding editor of Animerica magazine are packing rooms full of fans, it’s worth going to experience the vibrant anime community—by which we mean countless elaborate cosplayers, dances and much more. It’s a chance to learn something about anime and Japan—or at least find a decent stuffed Totoro in the dealer’s room. There will also be panels, art shows and autograph sessions. Special pre-con event: 6 p.m.–midnight (Thurs.). Convention: 9 a.m.–2:30 a.m. (Fri. and Sat.); 9 a.m.–4 p.m. (Sun.), $25–$65, 500 S. Salisbury St., Raleigh, 919-831-6011, www.animazement.org. —Zack Smith

INDYweek.com

Museums

Art Related

performance COMEDY

SHERYL UNDERWOOD

MAY 20, 2015

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Comedy

ONGOING INDYPICK THE MOVEMENT: Fri, May 22, 8 p.m. & Sat, May 23, 8 p.m.: $13. Common Ground Theatre, 4815-B Hillsborough Rd, Durham. 919-384-7817, www. cgtheatre.com. See page 26.

OH, WHAT A LOVELY WAR!: May 21-24 $12–$18. The ArtsCenter, 300-G E Main St, Carrboro. 919-929-2787, artscenterlive.org. See page 26.

PHOTO BY LILY HUANG / COURTESY OF ANIMAZEMENT

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CONVENTION ANIMAZEMENT

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MAY 20, 2015

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film Special Showings

SHADOWS OF LIBERTY: Thu, May 21, 7 p.m. See box, this page. PEACEFUL WARRIOR: Fri, May 22, 7 p.m.: free. The Oasis at Carr Mill, 200 N Greensboro St A5, Carrboro. oasisatcarrmill. com. STATES OF GRACE: Fri, May 22, 7:30 p.m.: $5-$10. Duke Campus: Griffith Theater, Bryan Center, Durham. www.duke.edu. GHOSTBUSTERS: Fri, May 22, 8:15 p.m.: free. Raleigh City Plaza, 400 block of Fayetteville St. DURHAM CINEMATHEQUE MOVIES IN THE PARK: 1930S/1960S: Fri, May 22, 9 p.m.: Durham Central Park, 501 Foster St. 919-794-8194, durhamcentralpark.org. FILM:ACOUSTIC: AMERICAN MOVIE: Sat, May 23, 7 p.m.: with Jeff Tweedy (Wilco). $15. Carolina Theatre, 309 W Morgan St, Durham. 919-560-3030, www.carolinatheatre.org. See page 31. UNBROKEN: Sun, May 24, 2:30 p.m.: free. Chapel Hill Public Library, 100 Library Dr. 919-9692028, chapelhillpubliclibrary.org.

Find times and locations in our Film Calendar at www.indyweek.com.

FRACKING STORIES: Tue, May 26, 7-9 p.m.: six short documentaries about the public health and environmental consequences of hydraulic fracturing. Free. Community United Church of Christ, 814 Dixie Trail, Raleigh. 919-7876422, www.communityucc.org.

Film Capsules

Our rating system uses one to five stars. If a movie has no rating, it has not been reviewed. Signed reviews by Brian Howe (BH), Laura Jaramillo (LJ), Kathy Justice (KJ), Craig D. Lindsey (CDL), Glenn McDonald (GM), Neil Morris (NM), Lauren Vanderveen (LV) and Isaac Weeks (IW).

Opening

HHHH FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD—This handsome pastoral romance based on the book by Thomas Hardy is an old-fashioned movie-going pleasure, the kind of film we just don’t get that often anymore. Lead actress Carey Mulligan turns in a stellar performance, as does British actor Michael Sheen, who portrays one of three suitors seeking to win the favor of Mulligan’s character. The other great performance in director Thomas Vinterberg’s film comes from cinematographer Charlotte

Bruus Christensen, who treats light like a powdery tactile material. Her English countryside is a place of piercing greens, bruised clouds and buttery sunrises. Rated PG-13. —GM THE 100-YEAR-OLD MAN WHO CLIMBED OUT THE WINDOW AND DISAPPEARED—Based on the best-selling novel by Jonas Jonasson, this is the story of a 100-year-old man who decides it’s not too late to start over. It is directed by Felix Herngren. Rated R. POLTERGEIST—A remake of the 1982 classic by the same name, this film chronicles the travails of a family whose suburban home is haunted by evil forces who capture their youngest daughter. Rated PG-13. TOMORROWLAND—This science fiction adventure film is directed by Brad Bird, and was co-written and produced by Bird and Damon Lindelof (of Lost fame). Naturally, it features mysterious places in unknown locations with complicated connections to “reality.” The film stars George Clooney, Britt Robertson, Hugh Laurie, Kathryn Hahn, Tim McGraw and Judy Greer. Rated PG.

Current Releases H AGE OF ADALINE—This romance about an immortal young woman’s reentry to dating is one of the worst films of the year. There are no characters worth loving or hating, and the stakes are painfully low. It’s mainly an excuse for Blake Lively, whose character has been 29 for almost eight decades, to look gorgeous in a spectacular 1940s wardrobe. Michiel Huisman takes a quirky, befuddled stab at developing his side of the relationship, but it isn’t enough

•

MAY 20, 2015

•

COURTESY OF THE FILMMAKERS

FILM

SHADOWS OF LIBERTY

THURSDAY, MAY 21,CHAPEL HILL VARSITY THEATRE—“When men yield up the privilege of thinking, the last shadow of liberty quits the horizon,” wrote Thomas Paine. Director Jean-Philippe Tremblay took that as his war-cry for his 2012 documentary, which excoriates the negative effects of the corporate media hegemony on open democratic discourse, and explores how the consolidation of power compromises journalism, leading to corruption, censorship and cover-ups. Tremblay’s villains include George W. Bush and Rupert Murdoch; his commentators include Julian Assange, Dan Rather, David Simon, Daniel Ellsberg and … Danny Glover? (I guess he’s not too old for this shit.) This screening is followed by a panel discussion on how private citizens can defend their public interests, with Oscar-winning filmmaker David Kasper, NC NAACP director Michelle Laws and the NC Justice Center’s Dani Martinez Moore. 7 p.m., $5 suggested donation, 123 E. Franklin St., Chapel Hill, 919-967-8665, www.varsityonfranklin.com. —Brian Howe

to drag the film out of the nauseating, bland hole it digs itself into. Rated PG-13. —LV  AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON—Director Joss Whedon’s superior popcorn movie plugs the current A.I. trend (see Ex Machina, Her, et al) into a comic-book template. A rogue A.I. by the name of Ultron, voiced with delicious oiliness by James Spader, is out to destroy the Avengers, all of whom return from Whedon’s summer 2012 hit. Whedon’s script—a marvel of blockbuster efficiency—makes time to dig into each character’s comic-

book psychology, including needling Hawkeye about his second-banana skill set. The movie never takes itself too seriously, and Whedon amplifies the jokey tone of its predecessor with funny dialogue and running gags. Of course, superhero movies need epic heroics as well, and the goods are delivered in stunning CGI showcases and inventive action sequences. Rated PG-13.—GM  1/2 CINDERELLA—Disney’s new live-action update is lavish, old-fashioned and frequently dull. Director Kenneth Branagh keeps it reverent and gorgeous,

with none of the revisionist flash of Into the Woods or Maleficent. Lily James (Downton Abbey) is likable in the lead, and wily veterans Cate Blanchett and Helena Bonham Carter add flair. Rated PG. —GM HHHH CLOUDS OF SILS MARIA—Heady, naturalistic French director Olivier Assayas delivers a stunning, complex film. Juliette Binoche plays Maria, an aging actress quite aware of her dwindling cinematic shelf-life. Where Maria once launched her career playing a young seductress, she is now rehearsing for the

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older role in a London revival of the play. Her young assistant (Kristen Stewart) fills her in on the scandalous doings of the bratty young star (Chloë Grace Moretz) taking the younger role. It’s a riveting character study of Binoche’s proud but fading star and Stewart’s wise-beyondher-years underling. Stewart displays the independent wit and intelligence she couldn’t while pining for heartthrob monsters. Assayas rounds out a superficially simple, visually resplendent story with a third-act twist that leaves you wondering. Rated R. —CDL  1/2 THE DIVERGENT SERIES: INSURGENT—It’s all about halves in this second installment of the popular YA sci-fi franchise. The first half of the story drags, as heroine Tris (Shailene Woodley) is shuttled from crisis to crisis in a walled dystopian city ruled by the evil Jeanine (Kate Winslet). Events take on more velocity and significance in the second half, especially during an run of dazzling virtual-reality set pieces. The film can also be halved into its action scenes, which are adequate, and its more textured moral dilemmas, staged in those cool VR sequences. Twisty revelations at the end suggest we’ll finally get outside those city walls, and see how the other half lives. Rated PG-13. —GM  EX MACHINA—Writerdirector Alex Garland (28 Days Later) fills this film about an artificially intelligent humanoid named Ava with philosophical subtext. Ava isn’t just created by man. Her entire being is a digital repository of mankind’s history, including an urge for freedom and intimacy, but also a capacity for survival and deception. The plotline is a virtual point-bypoint update of The Island of Dr. Moreau, including an Eden-esque setting. The roles of deity, hero and villain are deliberately left undefined and rotate between the three main characters as the narrative slowly unspools. Rated R. —NM  1/2 FURIOUS 7—The actors fleshing out the wispy plot of the latest installment of the action-driving franchise are just along for the ride. Cars, the real stars, parachute from airplanes and leap between Abu Dhabi skyscrapers. By now, we’re in on the inanity, so a wink absolves the outlandishness, and the film entertains. Rated PG-13. —NM  GET HARD—Will Ferrell and Kevin Hart star in a film that punishes their respective

fan bases. Ferrell is James King, a financial trader caught in a fraud scandal. Facing prison, he reaches out to someone he assumes has experience with life on the inside: car detailer Darnell (Hart).But Darnell is just a family man willing to take James’ money in exchange for bogus advice. This is screenwriter Etan Cohen’s (Tropic Thunder) directorial debut, and while he has shown talent behind the keyboard, he needs more experience behind the camera. Although he displays a nice visual touch, endless jokes about prison rape and racial stereotypes tank the film. Rated R. —IW  HOME—In a fun alieninvasion story, this DreamWorks movie about misfit friendship adds Oh (Jim Parsons) to the pantheon of darling, accidentprone, animated outsiders. The voice acting (with Rihanna as Tip) rivals pairs such as Shrek and Donkey. Rated G. —LV HOT PURSUIT—In this buddy comedy, Reese Witherspoon plays an uptight cop protecting a drug lord’s widow (Sofia Vergara) from assassins. Rated PG-13. THE LONGEST RIDE—A Nicholas Sparks love story about a bullriding champion. Rated PG-13.  MAD MAX: FURY ROAD—In Greek mythology, the Furies were goddesses of justice and vengeance, particularly for crimes against the natural order. Mad Max: Fury Road takes cues from this feminist allegory while delivering—in spades—the sheer havoc the title also suggests. Director George Miller paints an immersive post-apocalyptic epoch where societal structure has been upended, and its most susceptible members—mainly women and children—are natural resources. The film is part superhero flick, part Western. Max (Tom Hardy) is a monosyllabic man-withno-name until the last act, his taciturn manner hiding the scars of abuse and survivor’s guilt from the family he couldn’t protect. The movie’s most compelling champion, Furiosa (Charlize Theron), falls squarely in the lineage of action heroines Ellen Ripley and Sarah Conner. Bolstered by a sufficient sum of provocation and even poignancy, Fury Road is a gritty, wild ride that gives equitable bang for your buck. Rated R. —NM MONKEY KINGDOM—Another of Disney’s lauded nature documentaries. This one follows the tale of a newborn monkey and its mother. Rated G. PAUL BLART: MALL COP 2—A security guard and his daughter

• MAY 20, 2015 •

stumble into a Las Vegas heist in this pointless sequel. Rated PG. PITCH PERFECT 2—After becoming the first all-woman group to capture a national title, scandal hits the Barden Bellas, threatening their last year at Barden College. To set things right, they must win the World Championships of A Cappella in Denmark. Rated PG-13.  1/2 THE SALT OF THE EARTH—Wim Wenders’ documentary follows the storied career of Brazilian photo-documentarian Sebastião Salgado, who produced some of the most iconic images of the ’90s. It’s an intimate yet sweeping portrait of Salgado’s life and work. With the focus on craftsmanship you can almost forget that most of the photos show the ravages of war, drought and famine in developing nations. Films such as this are where the politics of a genre that self-conciously calls itself “international art cinema” meet the entrenched logic of colonialism: The world out there is a resource, ready to be mined and consumed. Rated PG-13. —LJ  1/2 UNFRIENDED—Five teenagers get social-media stalked by their malevolent dead friend. Everything seen is through a computer screen, which streamlines the plotting of most horror films and probes cyber-bullying, which is scary because you can’t touch or control it. But watching teens Skype and Facebook each other gets incredibly boring, and the scary parts suffer. A computer suddenly hits the floor, or someone plows their arm into a blender. It becomes more predictable and less shocking each time. Rated R. —LV THE WATER DIVINER—Russell Crowe directs and stars in this tale of an Australian man who travels to Turkey after the Battle of Gallipoli to try and locate his three missing sons. Rated R. WELCOME TO ME—In this comedy, a woman with borderline personality disorder (Kristen Wiig) wins the lottery and starts her own cable talk show. Rated R. WOMAN IN GOLD—Based on the true story of an elderly Jewish woman (Helen Mirren) trying to retrieve family possessions, including a famous Klimt, that were seized by the Nazis in World War II. Ryan Reynolds plays her inexperienced lawyer. The battle takes them to the U.S. Supreme Court. Rated PG-13.

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MAY 20, 2015

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• MAY 20, 2015 •

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Ever dreamed of traveling to Africa? Looking for a cultural experience with local perspective? Join us! Senegalese native Diali Cissokho and NC native Hilary Cissokho are again rounding up adventurous souls for a trip to Senegal. Travelers take drum and dance classes, go on exciting trips afternoons and weekends, enjoy traditional meals, swim, visit, explore! Travel: Dec. 26th - Jan. 10th. Contact DialiCissokhoMusic@gmail. com.

misc. DIRECTV Starting at $19.99/mo. FREE Installation. FREE 3 months of HBO SHOWTIME CINEMAX, STARZ. FREE HD/DVR Upgrade! 2015 NFL Sunday Ticket Included (Select Packages) New Customers Only. CALL 1-800-849-3514. (NCPA)

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STAE OF NORTH CAROLINA COUNTY OF WAKE IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE DISTRICT COURT DIVISION FILE NO. 15 CVD 4789 DENISE M. MORGAN, PLAINTIFF, vs. KEVIN R. MORGAN, DEFENDANT AMENDED NOTICE OF SERVICE OF PROCESS BY PUBLICATION. To: KEVIN R. MORGAN, Defendant: Take notice that a pleading seeking relief against you has been filed in the above-entitled action. The nature of the relief sought is as follows: Plaintiff is seeking judgment of absolute divorce. You are entitled to make defense to such pleading not later than June 22, 2015, which is 40 days from the first publication of this notice. Upon your failure to do so, the party seeking service against you will apply to the court for the relief sought. This the 11th day of May, 2015. CHARLES R. ULLMAN & ASSOCIATES, PLLC. Charles R. Ullman, NCSB #20167, 109 S. Bloodworth St., Raleigh, NC 27601. Telephone: (919) 829-1006. Facsimile: (919) 829-1076. ATTORNEY FOR PLAINTIFF.

for sale stuff MATTRESS SETS Brand New Mattress Sets: Twin $89, Full $109, Queen $129, King $189. Delivery and Layaway available. 919-406-4616.

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INDYweek.com

crossword

critters

•

MAY 20, 2015

•

If you just can’t wait, check out the current week’s answer key at www.indyweek.com, and click “Diversions” at the bottom of our webpage.

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ption? Talk cy specializing hmothers ionwide. paid. Call e True Gift ADOPT THESE GREAT 413-6293. DOGS!! New Mexico/ They showed up before a big AN) snow storm. They are siblings, nikcnamed GOOD BOY and

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GAN, EVIN R. NDANT CE OF OCESS BY o: KEVIN R. dant: Take ading seeking u has been e-entitled re of the relief ws: Plaintiff is nt of absolute entitled to such pleading ne 22, 2015, from the of this notice. e to do so, the rvice against the court for This the 11th CHARLES SOCIATES, Ullman, NCSB oodworth St., 1. Telephone: acsimile: TTORNEY FOR

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• MAY 20, 2015 •

services financial services REDUCE YOUR PAST TAX BILL by as much as 75 Percent. Stop Levies, Liens and Wage Garnishments. Call The Tax DR Now to see if you Qualify 1-800-396-9719(NCPA)

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garden & landscape GARDENS YARD GUY Let me help in the yard when you’re too busy! Get your yard looking GREAT for Fall. Mowing, mulching, leaf raking, trimming, planting, garden planning. Chapel Hill area. Experienced reasonable and insured. Free estimates. Mike: 919-428-3398.

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Are you 18-65 years old, healthy and interested in a clinical research study? Investigators at UNC are looking for healthy volunteers to participate in a drug study. Must be able to commit for approximately 2 years and willing to receive medication by injection. You may be eligible to earn up to $950 for taking part in the study. Contact: Miriam or Becky at 1-877-643-9040 hptn_research@med.unc.edu

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Are you asthmatic? If so, you may qualify for a Two-Visit Research Study funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. The first visit requires a physical and pulmonary function test. The second visit includes a bronchoscopy procedure. Both visits will be performed at the NIEHS Clinical Research Unit located in Research Triangle Park, NC. To qualify, you must be: 18 to 60 years of age A Non-smoker Have a diagnosis of Asthma And able to provide your own transportation Qualified participants will be compensated for their time and effort. FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THIS STUDY PLEASE CALL (919) 316-4976.

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SWING

Become a junior math designer! Amplify is seeking students in grades 6-9 5 7 to partner with us.

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RALEIGH • CARY

•

MAY 20, 2015

•

THE RENT IS TOO DAMN HIGH Raleigh has an affordable housing crisis. The city wants to fix it—if it can figure out how BY JANE PORTER

LASH BACK TO 2009, WHEN RALEIGH’S CITY COUNCIL DEBATED— AND ULTIMATELY SHELVED—a task force’s proposal for what’s known in planning parlance as inclusionary zoning, which in essence requires residential developers to include affordable units as a condition of building.

The city’s position then, as now, is that state law doesn’t allow it. They wanted to tackle this increasingly pressing issue, but their hands were tied. Now, flash forward to 2015. Council’s changed a little, as have the political and economic landscapes. But the conversation about how to encourage more affordable housing? Déjà vu. On a Tuesday evening two weeks ago, City Council debated whether to rezone property it owns at 301 Hillsborough St., a valuable vacant lot across the street from the Dawson condominiums and Campbell Law School, to allow for a 20-story project. During the discussion, Council divided into two groups: Kay Crowder and Russ Stephenson, who wanted to ensure that the city maintained its bargaining position with the eventual developer, leverage it could use to compel affordable housing; and the rest, who weren’t as concerned. Councilor Wayne Maiorano—in his day job, a lawyer who represents developers— explained his vote thusly: “We don’t have a vision or a policy plan or a direction for diverse housing options, so we don’t know how to use these resources and assets yet. I would caution us not to start doing this in a less than thoughtful, strategic way.”

ILLUSTRATION BY SKILLET GILMORE

2015

On a 6-2 vote, the can was once again kicked down the road. The Hillsborough Street property will now go to the Budget and Economic Development Committee to be negotiated for sale, just like the Stone’s Warehouse building downtown, another substantial city-owned property that the Council agreed to sell earlier this year. Then, as with 301 Hillsborough, there was a lot of talk about using that building to create affordable housing downtown. In the end, however, it went to the highest bidder, though the city has pledged $2 million from the sale toward affordable housing elsewhere. If you’re a skeptic, you could be forgiven for not buying all the official talk about the city’s affordable housing crisis. When rubber meets road, when the City Council has the chance to do something conspicuous, it always seems to pass. Given the history, 301 Hillsborough caused considerable consternation among affordable housing advocates. Here the city had a golden opportunity that it failed to seize. When, they wonder, will the Council finally stop talking and start doing something? The answer, if you’re an optimist, is now. If they can figure out how, that is.

hat isn’t to say the city has entirely ignored the problem. There have been four successful bond campaigns since 1990 that have helped pay for new, and rehabilitate old, affordable housing units, including the most recent $16 million bond approved in 2011. Data from the city’s Community Development Department indicate there are more than 11,000 subsidized housing units available all over the city, funded through a combination of local, state and federal dollars.

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RRALEIGH • CARY

But that’s not nearly enough; in fact, the supply is only scratching the surface of the demand. There are more than 31,000 households whose renters are considered cost-burdened, meaning more than 30 percent of their monthly income goes toward housing, according to Larry Jarvis, the city’s director of housing and neighborhoods. This goes beyond housing for the very poor, and includes what’s called workforce housing, a particularly urgent need in the urban core, where middleclass professionals and service workers find themselves priced out of the market and forced to the suburban hinterlands. Everyone agrees that the city has lacked an overarching vision to date. But that could soon be changing. In July, Jarvis will present an affordable plan to the City Council, outlining ways to meet the city’s goals over the next five years. (He was mum on the details.) That same month, the Council will also vote on remapping downtown’s building heights based on the city’s Unified Development Ordinance, another chance to take tangible action. In that latter vote, Stephenson sees a window. He argues that the city should adopt a policy in which developers will have to negotiate to build to the maximum allowable height, rather than simply giving those rights away. That carrot, he says, could be used to get developers to include not just affordable units, but also things like public art and streetscaping. If the city gives away those rights without asking for anything in return, he says, it will forever lose its ability to bring developers to heel. “There will be no public involvement in anything built in downtown Raleigh ever again unless a developer wanted to go above the proposed heights,” Stephenson says. “We have the opportunity to look at other cities using that height and land value to achieve a broader range of community goals. My question is, why are we not having that conversation first?” One of those cities is Austin, Texas, population 886,000, where Stephenson and other civic leaders visited recently as part of a Chamber of Commerce excursion. There, nearly 18,000 housing units are rented at subsidized rates. Recently honored by the Urban Land Institute for its innovative strategies, Austin’s housing coalition has campaigned successfully for millions of dollars in bonds for affordable and workforce housing, including a $65 million bond approved in 2013. Moreover, the city charges developers for height and density bonuses downtown and along transit lines; that money goes into a fund that is then used to provide affordable housing throughout the city. According to Rebecca Giello, Austin’s assistant director of neighborhood housing and community development, Austin is also looking at flexible zoning—a concept based on the idea that land uses, neighborhoods and communities are dynamic and constantly evolving—to require developers to provide more onsite affordable housing in lieu of paying into the fund. Stephenson says these are conversations Raleigh should have had before city staffers rewrote the UDO, a process that began in 2010, and certainly before the City Council

signed off in 2013. Two days after the 301 Hillsborough vote, Stephenson called an emergency meeting of a dozen or so affordable housing advocates on the sun-drenched patio of the Café Carolina in Cameron Village. “We are standing on the precipice of giving away entitlements,” he told them. If the city isn’t careful, he later told the INDY, it will end up with a mess of its own making, similar to Capital Boulevard, where in the 1950s and ’60s, the city allowed developers to more or less do whatever they wanted. “The result should serve as a sobering lesson about expecting the free market to give us what we want,” Stephenson says. “What we got on Capital Boulevard was mile after mile of car congestion, treeless, clear-cut sites, parking lots, polluted air, pedestrian hostility, polluted stormwater runoff and the list goes on.”

tephenson’s plan sounds feasible: create a mechanism to entice developers to accede to the city’s wishes, both for affordable housing and other public goods, simple as that. But—the Austin example aside—city planners aren’t convinced, which may auger poorly for Stephenson getting the five votes he needs come July. “There are not many examples of this being an effective policy,” Ken Bowers, director of planning and development, told the City Council at a work session last week. “For a developer to choose the bonus option, the return has to be as good as the non-bonus option. That’s the key economic challenge of designing a bonus-based inclusionary program, and it doesn’t have a good track record around the nation. We haven’t seen an example that works.” A study on the feasibility of a voluntary inclusionary housing program in Raleigh conducted by the Triangle District Council of the Urban Land Institute in 2012 yielded the same results. “We didn’t think incentives were juicy enough to deliver on affordable housing on a voluntary basis,” says Gregg Warren, president of the affordable housing nonprofit DHIC, who headed the ULI panel. “Even in mandatory ordinances across the country, a developer will choose to pay a fee in lieu of affordable housing.” The ULI report did make some recommendations, including using density bonuses to encourage affordable housing in suburban areas, where property is cheaper. The report also suggested providing a per-unit rebate to developers to get them to build affordable housing is another option, but that will require cash. To help raise that money, the report recommended using tax-increment financing, in which projected increased tax values in a specific area are used to finance current affordable housing projects. Charlotte successfully used TIF to fund its $125 million Brightwalk affordable housing initiative, turning an area once plagued by drugs and crime into a desirable mixed-income community. Council member Bonner Gaylord says he’s leaning toward using Charlotte’s model rather than Stephenson’s, based on what city staffers have told him. More important, he says, will be Jarvis’ report, which he hopes will provide

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a roadmap to the city’s next steps. “We are waiting for that report with bated breath,” Gaylord says. Finally, the ULI report suggests that Raleigh “proactively purchase land in downtown locations and transit corridors if it wants to insure [sic] a mix of housing types in these locations in the future.” This makes sense (though it too will require capital): Downtowns benefit from having eclectic mixes of people. For many city employees and young professionals—not to mention the bartenders who pour their beers—a $1,200-a-month studio is simply out of the question. They end up living in the ’burbs and commuting, while downtown devolves into white-collar boredom. But the City Council’s recent actions, both on 301 Hillsborough and Stone’s Warehouse, seem to run counter to that premise. The city already owned these properties and could enforce its will. Why not mandate affordable housing as part of their redevelopment? Indeed, Warren tried to get the city to do just that at Stone’s Warehouse. “The city did not have a priority for affordable housing, and we dropped out when we realized that was the case,” he says. “The city’s explicit view on Stone’s was to get maximum dollars out of that deal that could be reinvested in affordable housing elsewhere.” There’s no way to tell for sure, however, where the money from the Stone’s sale will end up. Raleigh doesn’t have a specific fund for affordable housing, and some of the $2 million is already spoken for. The city acquired Stone’s in 2001 using a combination of federal grants, bond money and local funds. When the property is sold (the sale is still pending), some of the revenue has to be used for federal-grant-related activities; some more has to be reinvested in the local bond program. As for the rest, it’s up to City Council to keep its word. That’s not the case in Austin, where 40 percent of city property taxes go toward a program that includes affordable housing. Raleigh has no such model, though it could. Property taxes will skyrocket in the near future as land values rise; the city could, if it wanted to, set aside a portion of these revenues for housing programs. Options abound, though all require a political will the city has heretofore not demonstrated. There are signs that after all the years of complacency, after all the talk, the tide could finally be turning. At last week’s Council work session, over city staffers’ objections, Mayor Nancy McFarlane indulged Stephenson and Crowder and asked Bowers, the planning director, to look into ways the city could use density bonuses. Whether or not city officials ultimately choose that route, they’re at least taking the problem seriously. “We need to have a true conversation about the perception of downtown, about what really affordable housing looks like, a cross-section of the city, not just a place for rich people,” Crowder says. “We have an opportunity to change that perception. We need to work quickly and have a diligent process to achieve this or we won’t have a vibrant, equal downtown.” p Jane Porter is an INDY staff writer. Reach her at jporter@ indyweek.com.