If at first a '60s-era farce sounds a bit stale, get thee to YouTube and watch the 2008 Broadway cast of Boeing Boeing doing a dance-off during curtain call. It's all pulled faces, primary colors and hot-roller hair styles. The play, written by French playwright Marc Camoletti, was first staged in London in 1962 and … Read more
Neil Hamburger’s self-described never-ending comedy tour is coming back to town. The hack-prince of comedy — who’s released nine comedy albums through the Drag City record label over the last 15 years (“I don’t listen to these records”) and opened for the likes of Faith No More, NOFX, and Bad Religion — will perform his … Read more
When Staten Island-based instrumental Afro-soul collective The Budos Band was last in Asheville it was the Harvest Records-sponsored Tranfigurations festival. During their sweaty, thronged set the band announced that first, they were bringing the f—king doom (which they did, thank you very much), and second, Asheville was the farthest south they had ever traveled. (They … Read more
Imagine this: Your mom is a Blue Ridge Rollergirl, goes by the name of Smithereen and is part of a group in Asheville right now. You go to practices, sit around with a few other teenage girls and get to watch mom and friends with nicknames like Poison Sue Smac skating ‘round and ‘round a … Read more
The Suspect: Bassnectar Bassnectar is the performing name for the freeform electronic music artist Lorin Ashton. He specializes in sudden shifts in meter and multiple layers of samples. He calls his tempo-changing style “omni-tempo maximalism”; his legions of fans just call it “Siiiick!” He’s collaborated with Diplo and RJD2, and he’s performed many a celebrated … Read more
The Baker Family Former Asheville musicians The Baker Family (now based in Austin, Texas — but still Asheville locals in their hearts, they assure us) return to the Grey Eagle on Saturday, Feb. 19. The Bakers say they "witnessed a exceedingly awesome turnout and response last year" and "feel like there's a lot to catch … Read more
Uninsured local people needing medical care now have another option: the Access 4 All Clinic at the Three Streams Family Health Center (1710 Old Haywood Road in West Asheville), which opened Feb. 2. Established with a grant from Mission Hospitals’ Community Benefits Program, the clinic will serve uninsured Buncombe County residents during nontraditional hours — … Read more
Food fight The WNC Magazine Chefs Challenge series is back with new chefs, new secret ingredients — and a whole new venue. The challenges, to be held at Cucina 24 (24 Wall St. in downtown Asheville), will kick off Monday, March 7, and run through April 25. Last year, all of the action took place … Read more
Entering her fourth term in the N.C. General Assembly, Rep. Susan Fisher of the 114th District is the senior representative from Buncombe County. As a Democrat, however, she lost the leadership positions she held last year as Republicans took control of both houses of the Legislature in January. "None of the Democrats are seeing office-holding … Read more
