Independent Weekly

Corners Cut, And an Audience Divided: Green Day's AMERICAN IDIOT

Byron Woods — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 17:28:40 -0500

AMERICAN IDIOT
3.5 stars (out of 5)
Broadway Series South / North Carolina Theatre
Through Feb. 5

Unfortunately, AMERICAN IDIOT is not—repeat, not—the great American grunge opera.

Not with seven central characters this poorly defined and developed.…

With a little help from her friends: Kathleen Edwards in Carrboro

Peter Blackstock — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:02:00 -0500

Midway through Canadian singer-songwriter Kathleen Edwards' show Tuesday night at Cat's Cradle in Carrboro, she welcomed a familiar face onstage to the delight of the hundreds in attendance.

It wasn't necessarily a surprise: A few folks had already spotted Bon Iver's Justin Vernon in his hooded yellow sweatshirt, commingling in the audience with old friends from his Raleigh days, and it's no secret that Vernon produced Edwards' outstanding new album Voyageur.…

Planned Parenthood: "Enormously grateful" for the support, Komen's reversal

Bob Geary — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 15:37:43 -0500

HUGE!! Komen reverses decision.See statement from PPFA President Cecile Richards - tinyurl.com/7v2nr3f
— PlannedParenthoodCNC (@PPCNC) February 3, 2012

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Tremors in Lillington? And Etheridge jumps in the Gov race

Bob Geary — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:41:06 -0500

We discussed yesterday the phenomenon known as the political groundswell — some are earth-shaking, some a mere jostle. Former Congressman Bob Etheridge reports a groundswell for him to run for governor in the Democratic primary.…

Durham's Delta Rae signs to Sire Records

Jordan Lawrence — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:30:00 -0500

Durham-based folk-rock sextet Delta Rae has signed to Sire Records, a subsidiary of the Warner Music Group. Their label mates will include Avenged Sevenfold, Jack’s Mannequin, Regina Spektor and a host of other bands that water down otherwise interesting musical ideas until they are highly safe and consumable.…

Hoop Cheese: The Twitter of our discontent, and getting ready for Duke-UNC bonfires

David Fellerath — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 12:10:12 -0500

Groundhog Day came and went with the usual scorn for the holiday and our annual renewed appreciation of the minor masterpiece Bill Murray and company slipped into theaters 19 years ago.

The pagans among us recall that Groundhog Day is a manifestation of the ancient practice of watching the sun go down.…

Komen backs down, will fund Planned Parenthood (Update: Now Ellmers is deeply disappointed.)

Bob Geary — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 11:43:00 -0500

(Update: I don't read Komen's statement as being ambiguous about future funding for Planned Parenthood. But a writer for DailyKos is dubious.]

(Update 2: Komen's cave-in has Rep. Renee Ellmers, D-N.C., deeply disappointed from her anti-choice perspective.…

Hagan to Susan G. Komen: "Deeply disappointed" in your "Cure"

Bob Geary — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 10:34:00 -0500

Hopefully, I don't need to tell you what the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation did to Planned Parenthood ... or about the storm of protest resulting from it.…

Despite presence of Scary Potter, Woman in Black is a musty curio

Neil Morris — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 10:12:00 -0500

The Woman in Black
** stars
Opens Friday (see times below)

The epochs of classic creature features and splatter fests have gradually given way to a contemporary horror film genre shaped by Asian influences and, more notably, the trappings of today’s technology. Starting with Hideo Nakata’s Ringu—a convenient, affecting marriage of these two influences—popular modern scare fare is the stuff of The Blair Witch Project and such progeny as Paranormal Activity.…

Peters, Jackson double their fun as Duke drubs Deacons

Mike Potter — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 23:24:00 -0500

CAMERON INDOOR STADIUM/DURHAM With apologies to Warren Harding, Duke faces a return to normalcy tonight in women’s basketball with a home game against Wake Forest.

The hoopla of Monday’s contest with Connecticut — in which the Blue Devils were not intimidated but shot an icy 25 percent in a 61-45 loss — is all over and it’s time to continue working on a third straight ACC title.…

Liberty Warehouse repairs unfinished; city could set new conditions, deadline next week

Samiha Khanna — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 17:25:25 -0500

Durham’s planning department held a public meeting Thursday to determine whether Greenfire Development, which owns more than 25 properties downtown, neglected its historic Liberty Warehouse property on Rigsbee Avenue. Part of the roof over one of the two adjoining warehouses at 611 and 613 Rigsbee Avenue collapsed in heavy rains last May, displacing several artists and art nonprofits.…

Brad Miller: You'll know if I'm running very soon. (Update: MoveOn says go for it.)

Bob Geary — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 15:57:36 -0500

With Erskine Bowles out of the running, the door is wide open for a Brad Miller candidacy for governor. That's my take.…

Videos: Megafaun, Mount Moriah and The Beast gather to fund a Durham school

Dan Schram — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 15:00:00 -0500

Before last Saturday, I had never heard of a venue selling out twice in one evening. But at Motorco, the first half of the night—a benefit for the Central Park School For Children—opened with a mob of young children and their parents anxiously awaiting the student performances to begin.…

Videos: The Gathering Church praises in Carrboro

Dan Schram — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 14:40:00 -0500

Friday night’s performance at The ArtsCenter in Carrboro offered an interesting array of area musicians, centered for an evening around gospel songs. While that might immediately turn off some concertgoers, the songs being played—at least according to Gathering Church Associate Pastor Chris Breslin—were more soul music than anything else.…

My god, is it an earthquake? Or —

Bob Geary — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 14:31:00 -0500

I know I'm feeling it. The earth is rumbling, my friend.…

Birbiglia, Emo and Brill: Zach Ward discusses returning to North Carolina to oversee NC Comedy Arts Festival

Craig D. Lindsey — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 14:09:00 -0500

Zach Ward is currently making it his thing to be at two places at once. The former Chapel Hill resident and current DSI Comedy Theater owner and executive producer has been making Boston his home as of late, running the ImprovBoston theater in Cambridge, Mass.

However, he’s still very much an integral, behind-the-scenes member of his pride and joy, the North Carolina Comedy Arts Festival, which began yesterday with shows at the DSI Comedy Theater.…

Live: Jeff Mangum returns to a (very formal) Chapel Hill stage

Brian Howe — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 13:20:00 -0500

Jeff Mangum
w/ Andrew, Laura & Scott
Memorial Hall, Chapel Hill
January 30, 2012

Photography was not permitted at Jeff Mangum’s show in Chapel Hill on Monday night, increasing the sense that we were about to witness a rare, delicate artifact that could be damaged by bright lights. Yet the person that emerged seemed average, affable and mild, more like someone who had just woken up refreshed after being in suspended animation for 13-odd years than a wild-eyed hermit.…

Bowles skipping race for governor

Joe Schwartz — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 12:27:24 -0500

Erskine Bowles announced today that he won’t run for governor.

The former UNC-system president who served as chief of staff in the Clinton Administration and twice ran for U.S. Senate and said there are other ways besides serving in Raleigh to make a difference.…

Number of dropouts declines statewide and in Wake, Durham, Orange

Samiha Khanna — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 12:26:55 -0500

The N.C. Department of Public Instruction released reports today on school discipline and high school dropouts. The rate of dropouts decreased statewide and in Durham, Orange, Wake and Chatham counties.…

Hackney won't seek re-election; clears path for Insko

Joe Schwartz — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 10:45:00 -0500

N.C. House Minority Leader Joe Hackney announced his retirement this morning, opting not to wage a re-election campaign against long-time colleague Rep. Verla Insko, D-Orange.

The two veteran legislators were drawn into the same district, the 56th, by the Republican-produced new maps last year.…

Icy Tar Heels grind out road victory at Wake

Rob Harrington — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 12:22:56 -0500

ESPNU — In case you feel cheated by a lackluster winter, North Carolina had you covered last night in Winston-Salem. The Tar Heels shot a frigid 31 percent from the field in a 68-53 victory over the Demon Deacons, which shot an even lousier 30 percent.…

The cuisine we've cultivated is truly worth celebrating

Victoria Bouloubasis — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 04:00:00 -0500

Carolina Inn's Shrimp-n-Grits Throwdown (Feb. 25); Dame's Chicken & Waffles; Bon Appétit magazine feature; Southern-focused food trucks by Victoria Bouloubasis I walked into Dame's Chicken & Waffles (dameschickenwaffles.com) in Durham last week expecting the usual: a gussied-up homemade waffle with a plump piece of fried chicken perched atop. And I got it.…

Justin Robinson & the Mary Annettes' Bones for Tinder

Spencer Griffith — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 04:00:00 -0500

Robinson's gothic, chamber-hop formula works tremendously on Bones for Tinder, the first full-length following last year's EP Precious Blood, and proves he can move freely without his more famous band. (Five Head Entertainment) by Spencer Griffith Justin Robinson was a founding member of the rightfully acclaimed Carolina Chocolate Drops. An African-American string band, it turned largely forgotten American musical history into inspiring nightly celebrations, signed to a major label and—just before Robinson's exit—won a Grammy.…

Little Green Pig's Donald examines the Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld legacy of violation

Byron Woods — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 04:00:00 -0500

Were we there for justice, or had we come for blood? Were we about to see a graphic theatrical recital of expanded interrogation techniques, staged as an exposé and an act of public witness? Or had we gathered as an audience for a communal revenge fantasy instead? by Byron Woods I can say this much about the night my dad took me to my first (and last) professional wrestling match, upward of 40 years ago: Very little has surprised me about American politics ever since. For a cause no greater than an evening's entertainment, the producers deftly manipulated the blood lust of thousands that one night in a large and darkened coliseum in Greensboro.…

Finding room for consensus

D.L. Anderson — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 04:00:00 -0500

by D.L. Anderson

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