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Weekend In Entertainment: CLT After Dark Finale, Drive-In Poetry And Fireworks

Camp North End
Jodie Valade
/
WFAE
Camp North End will host several live band performances Friday.

It's time to check in on what's up for the weekend in the Queen City. The coronavirus pandemic still has most venues closed, but virtual events are filling the void with events such as a game night and live music online. This is also the Fourth of July weekend. And although many events have been canceled, there are a few places with fireworks celebrations.

Joining WFAE's "All Things Considered" host Gwendolyn Glenn for this edition of Weekend in Entertainment is Ryan Pitkin, editor of Queen City Nerve.

Gwendolyn Glenn: Hi, Ryan.

Ryan Pitkin

Ryan Pitkin: Hey Gwendolyn. Good to talk to you again.

Glenn: Same here. Well, Ryan, let's start with some music. That's from CLT After Dark, and Ryan, for those who haven't tuned in online for it over the past two months, tell us about it.

Pitkin: All right. The show brought on by Charlotte Center City Partners. And it's sort of defined as a virtual variety show. It features music, comedy, theater, dance, hosted by local musician Noel Freidline. And all sorts of people have been featured on here -- local regional talents, celebrities, residents.

Glenn: Yeah. And I understand it's been getting a lot of people tuning in. But this is the last episode of it. And that's Thursday night.

Pitkin: Thursday night at 10 p.m. will be the last episode. I don't know if things have just run a course because things are starting to reopen publicly or if this is what they planned for all along. But it'll be one last chance to get in from quarantine bingo, celebrity late-night snacks, bartender corner. Some of the staples they've been doing over the last two months. They do it on their Vimeo livestream or their Facebook Live, and you can find out all the details that CLTAfterDark.com.

Glenn: Okay. And Ryan, I love the name of this next event. Rye -- R-Y-E -- Not. What is this?

Pitkin: It's a punny name because it's an event hosted in partnership with Single Barrel Room. But it's a drag game show similar to the variety show we just talked about. A little bit more edgy, I guess you could say. Every week, they have a different local drag queen doing drag bingo, drag trivia, a lot of comedy, and they're doing it for great causes. They've already raised hundreds of dollars for Timeout Youth, Stonewall Sports, Gay Men's Chorus. And this week, they'll be doing it for Feed the Movement CLT, which has been out there on the streets during protests, feeding folks who are protesting, as well as folks who are working around the clock at jail support in uptown.

Glenn: How and when can people join in the fun?

Pitkin: That's Thursday night 8 p.m. Five dollar donation will get you a link if you go on Facebook and search for Rye -- that's R-Y-E -- Not, benefiting Feed the Movement.

Glenn: And on Friday night, live performances are set up for Camp North End. Who's in the lineup and how are they going to maintain safety?

Pitkin: So they've got a 70-acre campus there at Camp North End, and they will be limiting the capacity, have multiple stages for music. They'll be spacing out other happenings on the campus so as not to bring a lot of people into one area. They have sanitizer stations set up. Little Bird is a band that will go on at 6 and then Arson Daily, a Raleigh-based band, at 7:30.

And there's also new food stalls. This is all outdoors. There's nothing you have to go indoors for. Because of COVID, they are extending the hours. So it starts at 5 p.m. and it will go till about 11 or midnight so as not get everyone showing up at once.

Glenn: OK. And on Sunday, there's a spoken word event happening, The Drive-in -- Poetic Edition. Tell us about that one.

Pitkin: So Charlotte Art League has their headquarters up at the very northern tip of NoDa, I would call it, Sugar Creek and North Davidson. And they've been offering up live entertainment from a safe distance in your car. You just drive up. You pay $10 per car. Five bucks if you're alone and you can enjoy two hours of live local entertainment. Sunday night's event is going to be focused specifically on spoken word poetry. And we have a great scene for that in Charlotte, if you want to head to that, you're going to search for The Drive-In -- Poetic Edition on Facebook or visit Charlotte Art League on Facebook to get tickets. That's happening Sunday from 4-6 p.m.

Glenn: Okay, well, let's play a little more music. Ryan, I'm playing that house music because there's a house music event this weekend, right?

Pitkin: Right. This is a great way to start off your July 4th Saturday. Whether you're putting it on in the house while you're cleaning yourself, you're cleaning your soul, you're cleaning your house. I think the theme here is House Music to Clean Your House To. Either way, you're going to have top notch house music. This is just another sort of virtual version of his Freaquency 360 event that he holds around town during normal time.

Glenn: And when and where can folks join in?

Pitkin: That one's going to begin at 10 a.m. on Saturday morning. And you can log in at www.twitch.tv/freaquency360.

Glenn: And we can't forget that it's the Fourth of July weekend. And although most celebrations have been canceled due to the pandemic, there are some still being held, especially in South Carolina.

Pitkin: Right. Gastonia looks like they're going to be moving forward on July 4th at 9:30. They can be viewed from pretty much anywhere in downtown. So anywhere you feel safe, you want to pull up a parking spot somewhere. And in South Carolina, you've got Tega Cay. They've changed their annual celebration to just be fireworks. But the fireworks will be going off. And then you've got Fort Mill, will still be a go as well.

Glenn: OK. And the key is to socially distance and wear a mask to be safe. Well, Ryan let's go out with some house music playing. Thanks for joining us for this edition of Weekend in Entertainment.

Gwendolyn is an award-winning journalist who has covered a broad range of stories on the local and national levels. Her experience includes producing on-air reports for National Public Radio and she worked full-time as a producer for NPR’s All Things Considered news program for five years. She worked for several years as an on-air contract reporter for CNN in Atlanta and worked in print as a reporter for the Baltimore Sun Media Group, The Washington Post and covered Congress and various federal agencies for the Daily Environment Report and Real Estate Finance Today. Glenn has won awards for her reports from the Maryland-DC-Delaware Press Association, SNA and the first-place radio award from the National Association of Black Journalists.