It's deeper than the SkyShow

I know I’m weighing in on this one a little bit late, but last week was crazy.
I don’t blame WBT for moving the SkyShow elsewhere for economic reasons, but I’m troubled by the slow erosion of uptown traditions.

In the last few years, we’ve lost CityFest, the uptown music festival, and the New Year’s Eve gathering was considerably smaller than previous years. And now the SkyShow is gone.

City leaders have mostly brushed off each cancelled or downsized event. They say uptown is a thriving business and entertainment district and doesn’t need planned events to draw people here. Or they say, these types of events hurt uptown businesses because of street closures.

I’m not buying it.

CityFest, New Year’s Eve and the SkyShow are the type of events that solidify uptown’s standing as the heart of the city. Charlotte is spreading. Every little pocket community surrounding the city has bars and restaurants. Unless you like dance clubs and/or performing arts, you have fewer reasons to come uptown because the suburbs have similar amenities.

Longstanding events, such as the SkyShow and next week’s Food Lion Speed Street 600 Festival, help bring this us all together in the heart of the city.

Latest on the Goblin

I haven't been able to get up with Autumn or Torch to get their version of what happened at the Goblin, but this is the e-mail that went out to their Purgatory e-mail group:

"the club is closed due to a hostile takeover attempt. i will post any updates as i get them from my lawyers. thank you to the staff and fans who supported our brief but fun opening and life. we are currently working on moving the bookings we had at the goblin to new locations. this does not affect purgatory, singlecell or our fetish theme parties that we will be booking for the rest of the year or the upcoming national tour."

Say goodbye to the Goblin

After only one month, the Goblin -- the former home of the Steeple -is gone.

Internal bickering and financial miscues led to the dimissmal of Torch, who co-owned the club. All of this went down in the last couple of days. The club is under new management, which means no more overly aggressive pat-downs.

Mike Morelli, former owner of the Room, will be the bar manager and book entertainment. The club, at Central an Pecan, will be called The Spot. There will be a hip-hop night and a heavy metal night. The entertainment line-up is still being worked out. All previously scheduled shows will still occur.

I hope things get worked out there. The Steeple was a good space and that neighborhood could use a bar to complement Fire & Ice.

Plaza-Midwood has a strong nightlife and a good club would add to the bars and restaurants that make the area a popular draw. I'll keep you posted when I hear about a date to re-open.

The Roots concert - whoa!

I'm not sure what was hotter, when ?uestlove did his solo drum set and got funky Caribbean, or when the Roots' guitarist took "You Got Me" to a George Benson level. He expanded the song for five minutes with Benson style riffs and scatting. But the best part of the concert at the Forum could have also been when entire band took it back to old school and new school hip-hop with medleys of current and old hits. I especially liked Ray Charles' "I've Got a Woman."

What a show. The Root's broke off favorites such as "The Seed," "Break You Off," "Don't Say Nuthin'" and "Hip-hop (The Love of My Life." But as always, their improvisation made the show special.

And Common. Man, I'd never seen him live before. Talk about energy. The Roots were cool, rocking the mike and playing their instruments like jazz cats, but Common jumped around the stage and the crowd jumped with him.. He mostly stuck with cuts off his newest disc, "The Corner," "Go!," "The Food" and "Testify." For "Testify" he brought a chair on stage and theatrical. Blazing.


My surprise of the night was Jean Grae. Last night, she made me want to buy her disc. Tight rhymes.

Kudos to the folks at the Forum. I wasn't sure how things were going to go. After all, moving a production of that magnitude to another venue with such short notice is not easy. And as much as I like the Forum, I couldn't fathom having a full blown concert there with at least 1,000 people because of the way the club is laid out.

It seemed to go well. The line to get inside moved relatively quickly considering that it stretched from the Forum down the alley toward the Museum of the New South. Once inside, the show was streamed to monitors and speakers throughout the club. I ended up on the balcony overlooking the dance floor. Much love to the lady upstairs on the balcony. She was in charge of the eye candy graphics, but she was nice enough to rig her camera to project the performance on her video screens. My girl Gigi helped my friend and I get into the Kool VIP section so we had an excellent view over the balcony and directly down to the stage.

I know everyone couldn't see because the club was packed and because of the stage layout it was hard to see unless you were on the main dance floor or along the stairwell. But hey, most people got in for free because they bought tickets for the Amos' show, which was cancelled, and they're getting a refund through Etix.

How often can you see or hear a Roots and Common concert for free?

Everyone I talked to last night left smiling and happy. Did you go to the show? What did you think?

The Roots updated

Okay, here's the latest. If you bought a ticket through Etix you have free access at the club 8-10 p.m. After 10 p.m., all bets are off and it's $10.

It's been a crazy 24 hours. It started with Kitch's e-mail from Amos' Southend saying the Roots show was cancelled. I caught up with John Ellison at Amos' to confirm. Then last night a girlfriend got a call from a friend saying the show was still on. This morning my girl called at the crack of light, okay 8:21 a.m., saying her cousin hung out with some Roots folks last night. And the Roots folks didn't mention the show was cancelled.

I dragged myself out of bed and got on the phone and computer. I had a message from a hater reader who doesn't think I should have job, and who wanted to tell me the show moved to the Forum.

I had an e-mail from Amos' Southend explaining that the show had been moved. I worked the phones and thankfully the Forum's Kevin Mitchell called me back to confirm the e-mail and update me on the latest. Apparently, the deal didn't get confirmed until yesterday afternoon, and it's been crazy since then. Kinks are still being worked out. I'll keep you posted if I hear anything else.

Roots Show Is On

The Roots thing keeps getting crazier and crazier. The show, originally scheduled for Amos’ Southend, has moved to the Forum, according to Forum manager Kevin Mitchell. If you bought a ticket your money will be refunded to your credit card, but you will have priority access to the club from 8-10 p.m. You must have a photo ID and
credit card in the name of the Etix purchaser to be eligible. The club is not guaranteeing admission or a good seat, but video will be provided throughout the club. Admission is $10. After 10 p.m., all remaining tickets will be released to the public.

Roots cancelled

Yes, it's true. The Roots concert at Amos' Southend on Thursday has been cancelled. When I caught up with club owner John Ellison by telephone on Wednesday afternoon, he said he was about to throw himself off the roof of his club. I begged him not to. After all, I'd never get a giant bear hug from him again.

The cancellation is a result of construction delays and Ellison assures fans that once the club re-opens it's going to be the premier live music facility in the area. I can't imagine how frustrated he is since he owns the club, but I know I'm disappointed and so are Roots fans. My e-mail, cell phone and telephone have been blowing up. For hip-hop fans this was the show of the year -- the Roots and Common. I'm crying as I type this. Freelance photographer Ebony Stubbs suggested we show up at Amos' anyway on Thursday. Maybe we could bring a boom box and have our own concert.

Ugh, it's been gloomy and gray all week, and now this. I might join John on the roof.

Brokeback Mountain moment

Remember the scene in "Brokeback Mountain," when Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger get their groove on in the tent? They were aggressive and rough.
I asked a gay friend if that scene and the one where the two cowboys get into the random fistfight are typical of men who don’t want to admit that they want each other.
My buddy said yes because they have so much testosterone and they don’t know what to do with it.
I still found it hard to believe until I saw a snippet of that testosterone at Loft 1523 on Tuesday night. I was with three women and a guy for an Absolut vodka tasting party. Absolut unveiled its citrus line. Bar and restaurant industry folks came out. It was the best crowd I’ve seen at Loft. The usual yuppies were out, but so were deejays, folks from the Penguin -- which meant hair dyed colors your mom wouldn’t dream of -- as well as my New Year’s Eve booty-on-you-leg man Denny and folks from Ragin’ Uptown. I met the owner of the Solstice Tavern, which is scheduled to open soon in NoDa. DJ Jason Herring, aka Jah Sun Rising, spun groovy down tempo house music that by 12:30 a.m. had older men dancing with women half their age.

The Brokeback moment started when L-Boogie asked this club kid, a person you always see in the club, for his blinking sticker. He gave it to her and then started talking to us. By the end of the night, he was like a stray cat - he wouldn’t go away.
We went outside for a change of scenery. We were sitting on giant ottomans talking when the club kid plopped down with us. He starts running his mouth and my male friend looks at him. Not like, "I want you," but more like, "Ugh, please stop talking."

It begins.

Club kid: "Why are you looking at me?"
My friend: "Because, I can."
Club kid: "Be careful, what you ask for."

My friend rolls his eyes. They exchange a few more words and I realize that Brokeback scene really could happen. Unchecked testosterone is a beast.

It's a party blog, but...Monday equals "24"

It's time for our weekly "24" update. I missed last week because I was hanging out at the Wachovia Championship.

Chloe is forever my woman. Double-zapping the drunk guy with the Taser last week was great. Wouldn't the club experience be different if more women carried Tasers? We wouldn't have to worry about being harassed at a club if guys started dropping like flies after being zapped when they became obnoxious? Just a thought.

I'm digging the Homeland Security lady now. I'm telling you, women are about to take over the show -- The President's wife, Chloe, the Homeland Security lady...The bomb.

I have to admit, tonight's plot line with the president authorizing the military to shoot down the passenger airliner is too much. We'll see what happens.

Please sir, can we spend our money?

Calm before the storm

As promised, car wash tips

Yesterday, I promised the secrets to a showroom-clean car from the folks at Eagles Eye. Some of you may be wondering who cares about the cars, but if you attend the tournament you know that the golfers arrive in the hottest Mercedes and other luxury cars. They park in a special area and the cars look clean enough to eat off.

I always thought I kept my car pretty clean until I saw these beauties. I try to wash mine every other week, and wax it once a year.

Who am I kidding? To keep your car looking good, the folks at Eagle recommend washing it weekly and get this, waxing it once a month. Once a month.

Okay, golfing peeps. This was my last post from the tourney. I'm out of here. If you're coming have fun, if you're not have fun wherever you go.

I'm out.

Chillin' in VIP

Volunteers make the tournament go

One of the most important groups working the tournament is the volunteer. Each year, volunteers give so much of themselves to make the tournament run smoothly. They take their tasks extremely serious, whether it's the guy who raises his arm for quiet while a golfer hits or the woman who ropes of the "golfer x-crossing" areas, these are the people the tournament depends on to make the week run smoothly.


Phillip is one such volunteer. He's a tent captain for the Mecklenburg Aquatic Center's concession stand. In a matter of minutes, I watched him handle a woman who wanted to be a cashier and not a food processor, break-in two rookies and make sure all of the condiments stayed dry when it rained. It was Phillip's first year as a captain.

There's starving children in....

I'm in the executive kitchen which sends food to numerous tents. Antwan sauces, not bastes, more than a dozen pans of ribs, and Brian chops cantaloupe. I see the unthinkable. A chef grabs a pan of steamy carrots, rolls, and asparagus in a creamy sauce. He dumps it in the trash.

My eyes bulge.

He returns to the warmer and grabs another pan. My mind screams nooooo. He dumps it in the garbage too. Then another and another.

I'm speechless. Why?

He needs four empty pans.

Troubleshooting with Fitz

Handling the food at a major golf tournament isn't easy. This morning I zoomed around with Restaurant Associates' John Fitzgibbon. The biggest problems of the morning were a leak a terrace tent, the bomb squads request for more trash pick ups at one of the sites and making sure the condiments didn't get soaked in the rain.

My favorite cocktail

Roaming around the Champion Club, I saw so many people drinking Bloody Marys I had to taste one (non-alcoholic) for myself. I'm a Bloody Mary junkie and I'm always looking for a good mix. My favorite is Zing-Zang. The folks from Restaurant Associates use Ocean Spray. It's tasty, but still not as good as Zing-Zang. If, add a little Tabasco sauce and Old Bay seasoning and you're all set.

Any Bloody Mary fans out there? If so, what's your favorite mix?

This is how we do it

Oh yeah, it's Friday and the Champion Club on the eighth green is buzzing upstairs. Bloody Marys flow and the weekend has begun. If you have an upgraded ticket the Champion Club is the place to be. There's food, beer, wine, liquor and most importantly shelter from the rain.

Friday is a big day

I've got big plans for Friday. First, I'll be dressed more appropriately. And don't think I'll be the only news reporter rocking shorts. A lot of those pretty TV reporters who look all button-down are wearing shorts, too.

I'm hanging with John Fitzgibbons tomorrow. He's the man who puts out the fires, you know --trouble shoots. I'm hoping to catch up with Chef Lou again. Last year, I made a salad with him. I talked to the Restaurant Associates top chef on Monday and I think I may have offended him. (Imagine that.) I was telling him that I wanted a harder job this year because I had mastered making salads. He looked at me and said, he hadn't even mastered salads yet. What he really wanted to say was "Idiot girl, how dare you think you can be a salad expert in a half hour!"


I'm also trying to hook up with the car wash guys tomorrow. They keep the rides real shiny and they told me the secret on how to keep your car looking showroom new. You gotta hit the blog tomorrow to find out. I'm off to flag football and then pre-Cinco de Mayo parties.

Holla'

Stayin' on top of the scores

Kiosks throughout the course allow fans to keep up with the stats.