Aquapalooza

View of the stage.
Down the row. Doesn't do the number justice.

Fire and rescue always available.

The Lancaster brothers have taken over the operations at Midway Marina and have added their special touch with their great food and their management style that makes for an environment where people want to be when they are relaxing. Mark is the owner of Lancaster Dock & Dredge and he brings his equipment and knowledge to the business to improve the docks and appearance of the operation. Jeff, owner of Lancaster's and Jeffrey's, adds the great food from his restaurants and the atmosphere that they are know for. And Freddy, owner of Big Daddy's brings the legendary influence of that great seafood restaurant to the site. Fittingly, the grand opening of the marina was Aquapalooza, sponsored by Sea Ray boats and Homesley, Goodman & Wingo, PLLC among others. This massive boat dock raft up featured a performance by the Spongetones, a longtime Charlotte band known for their flawless Beatles covers and for being "big in Japan". Mark had 3,000 pound concrete anchors spaced out towards the main channel that allowed a stable raft up for perhaps 2,000 boats. The massive crowd enjoyed the music and festivities at this well organized event. Kudos to all law enforcement and rescue that helped this event to be flawless. These organizations included the Catawba County Sheriff's Department, the State Highway Patrol and numerous volunteer fire departments and rescue squads. It was a great event that allowed folks to let down their hair a little.

Jeremy Current

Openers, the Twins.

Jeremy Current
Current and guitar man.

Current and band.

A young fellow and his young band on a free night at Neighborhood Theatre.

We went to Charlotte to see Gov't Mule and the show was sold out--for real. No extra tickets whatsoever. I have never been to any event in my life where I couldn't get tickets. But this was the one. Perhaps Charlotte's music fans are coming around when they can sell out an excellent yet somewhat underground act like the Mule. Saw Bill Diehl outside and he was looking good, legend that he is. I asked him to pull some strings and get us some tix and he said he would try but, alas, we never heard from Bill. So we headed on over to NoDa for free music night at the Neighborhood Theatre. Saw this boy called Jeremy Current. A nice looking young band with a velvet voice and good songwriting ability and a tight band. I say be on the lookout for this fellow. He could actually make it in the music "industry." Capped the night off with some sweets from Amelie's, a wonderful 24/7 bakery.

David Childers & Bill Noonan

Bill Noonan with Mark Lynch in the background.
David Kim on drums. Beth Chorneau giving an assist on vocals.

Randy Saxon.

David Childers and the Overmountain Boys.

Saw a great show July 11 at Snug Harbor. Two of the alt.country pioneers of the Charlotte scene, David Childers and Bill Noonan, showed why they have built loyal followings. Childers opened with his new band, the Overmountain Boys. The difference from his previous band, the Modern Don Juans is that Mark Lynch is no longer on bass, replaced instead by a keyboard player. Drummer is still son Robert Childers and phenomenal Randy Saxon on lead guitar. David anchors at rhythm guitar and a fiddle player brings kind of Neil Young circa Harvest but with a harder Crazy Horse sound to the music itself. Of course David's howling vocals are much different from those of Neil Young, but the emotion of the performer is similar as you sense the sincerity as he delivers each line. It is good to see David back on the scene after a hiatus. Bill Noonan released his new CD at this show and he showcased his precise songwriting chops. Amazingly, David Kim was on drums joined by Mark Lynch on bass. I came to the realization tonight that probably at least half of my almost 200 videos on youtube feature David Kim ("DK") on drums. This guy is a mainstay on the Charlotte scene and is at the heart of some of its most creative endeavors. Check out my vids at the bottom of the page or www.youtube.com/nosyfieldstone

Terra Firma

Shrimp and Scallop risotto.
Veal Ravioli.

Octopus (foreground) and frog legs.

Terra Restaurant in Charlotte is tucked away in the 500 block of Providence Road next to the Starbucks. Seating maybe 40 people, this little gem has a neighborhood atmosphere that belies its sophisticated food menu and wine list. The vibe is one of family and friends as proprietor Thierry Garconnet greets all diners with a warm smile and handshake and usually a look of personal recognition if you have dined there even only once. His face is familiar, I recognized him from his years at Toscana in the South Park area. Our waiter on this occasion was another fellow who had been at Toscana. One cool thing about Terra is seeing all of the folks come in who seemingly live in the surrounding neighborhood and treat it as their neighborhood place for culinary delight. Truth be known, there are few restaurants in this country who will provide the diner with such a strong dining experience. The service is excellent and the food interesting and tasty. I would say it is French with an Italian influence. There is a "carpaccio of the day". On this occasion it was octopus. The extremely thinly sliced octopus bathed in a slightly flavored olive oil film accompanied by escarole and croutons. A sublime but delicious dish. There were frog legs, cut so the entire hindquarter was still joined. Cooked enough to be cooked but cooked slightly enough to be tender in a garlic butter sauce. Then sweetbreads and kidneys lightly breaded and fried with a rich cream sauce. Some vichysoisse was good but lacked the presence of leeks and flavor. As entrees we had a veal ravioli that was beautifully displayed and featured fresh pasta. A risotto with fresh mushrooms and perfectly cooked shrimp and scallops was flawless. Desserts such as mousse and tiramisu rounded out the gluttony. It was simply a beautiful evening for F's birthday and was an indulgent meal. In that we have been eating healthily (low cholesterol and sugar), we found that the meal was a little hard on the stomach but this was no reflection on the quality of the food but moreso on our evolved stomachs. Highly recommended: www.terracharlotte.com

Poontanglers-the greatest band name in CLT

Massive Bass.
Killer solos.

Mean ass vocals.

So, with a name like the Poontanglers, they simply had to be good. I mean to live up to such a name. And live up they did at Snug Harbor on July 3. These guys simply bring it with a very tight heavy metal sound. If I had to categorize it I would say Metallica with an alt.country twist but with very much a full on assault of massively thumping bass and drums, killer guitar riffs and a vocalist who has kind of the devil music scream down pat. The guy was especially cool in his kind of "Village People" cop hat with the band symbol (not unlike the anarchy symbol) as a badge. I particularly enjoyed watching the heavily tatooed bass player literally rip through one song after another with his foot propped up on the light table at the front of the stage. His energy seemed to propel the rest of the band to another level. See the link at the bottom of my page for a vid or check my youtube www.youtube.com/nosyfieldstone.

Benji Hughes Snug Harbor 7/4/2009

The "hirsute" one as I have seem him described.

Benji Hughes has a phenomenal record called "A Love Extreme". It has been out about a year now but still seems relevant after hundreds of spins. It showcases his great songwriting talent, his use of sampling and his unique vocal talent. Benji is a product of the Charlotte music scene with some time in LA (he wrote one of the songs used on the parody of the Johnny Cash movie, can't remember the name). Anyway, Benji and his crack band appeared at Snug Harbor on July 4 early a.m. From the outset, Benji was not satisfied with the volume and bass of his voice in the stage monitor and somewhat demonstratively (understatement) complained to his band to turn it down and the sound man to turn him up. Interestingly, he had made the same complaint when I saw him a few weeks ago at Petra's with his piano man, Jon Phillips. Despite Benji's complaints, the fact is that it sounded excellent from the audience. The band ripped through many of the great songs on "A Love Extreme" adding their raw energy to a record that is kind of a studio masterpiece. Peter Gray is a fine guitarist and adds some incredible solos. Jon Phillips is a really talented keyboardist who adds a number of cool variances to the music. David Kim is steady and strong on drums and shows why he is often seen in a number of the finest bands on the Charlotte music scene. I don't know the bass player, but he is good and completes the package. I have some vids posted on my youtube and at the bottom of this page and you need to check them out (www.youtube.com/nosyfieldstone) and get Benji's record on itunes.