Lifeline: 5 Things To Do in Charlotte This Week
Feb. 2-7, 2027
Queen City Nerve’s motto has been the same since our start: If you think nothing is happening in Charlotte, you’re not trying. While we’ve always included a Lifeline in our print issue, here’s our online version to help give you weekly reasons to engage.
Little Heart Machine, Jackson Cavalier, Emily June
Tuesday, Feb. 3 • 8 p.m. • Petra’s • $7-10
Raucous, high-energy indie rockers Little Heart Machine couple catchy direct songwriting with the good-natured, careening-through-the-
One-man-band Jackson Cavalier is a bona-fide busker who crafts authentic driving Americana roots-rock gems like “The Devil’s Blood Red Moon,” which couples rollicking energy and immediacy with lived-in authenticity. Folk-inflected singer-songwriter Emily June crafts delicate, dusky tunes as mysterious as a faded photo found in an abandoned building. With her full band, she also rocks out, while keeping touch with her folk-pop roots.
In Pour Taste Comedy Wine Tasting
Feb. 3-15 • times vary • Blume Studios • $90
There’s a scene in the black comedy classic Withnail & I where Richard E. Grant’s arrogant, totally shitfaced Withnail throws a fusty English tea room into turmoil by demanding, “We want the finest wines available to humanity! And we want them here, and we want them now!”
In the Charlotte premiere of In Pour Taste, comedians Sweeney Preston and Ethan Cavanagh may show a touch more decorum when they grill an illustrious wine expert while swilling five fine wines. Pertinent questions like, “What the heck is a tannin?” and “How far should I extend my pinky when sipping?” will be answered.
A Conversation with Kamala Harris
Wednesday, Feb. 4 • 7 p.m. • Ovens Auditorium • $75-$109
How did the Democratic ticket hemorrhage enough voters to lose the 2024 presidential election to a corrupt racist sex offender and his pack of sycophantic pedophile protectors? Certainly the Democratic party failed to acknowledge the Palestinian genocide, or to rein in billionaires behind the affordability crisis, but is there more to the story?
With candor and a unique perspective, former Vice President Kamala Harris tells the story of one of the most consequential presidential campaigns in American history. In addition to examining how we got here, Harris charts a course for a way ahead in this conversation with Charlotte native Brooklyn Decker, setting a sane, compassionate vision for our country.
Nellie Ashford Exhibit Opening & Talk
Saturday, Feb. 7 • 2:30-4:30 p.m. • Historic Rosedale • Free
Mixed-media folk artist and Charlotte native Nellie Ashford draws on her experience as a Black woman growing up in the Jim Crow South. Combining painting with collage, she crafts vibrant, detailed works that depict unsung members of the Queen City’s community, including children, teachers, artists, musicians, and religious figures.
During the 2012 presidential campaign, Ashford’s works were featured at the Democratic National Convention Committee headquarters in Charlotte, and travelers at the Charlotte Douglas International Airport have been inspired by her mural “Honoring All Teachers.” Ashford will showcase and discuss her work and will conduct a Q&A in the cellar kitchen at Historic Rosedale.
Amor y Desamores: Art Show by OBRA Collective
Feb. 7 • 8 p.m. • Petra’s • $10
Charlotte’s OBRA (Observe, Bridge, Respond, Art) is a Interdisciplinary arts group that offers educational programs and highlights Latino/Latina and immigrant artists through classes, workshops, exhibitions, artist studios, and artist support.
The collective’s “Amor y Desamores” (“Love and Heartbreak”) blends art, rhythm, sound and movement into one shared experience with Afro–Caribbean dance performances and music by DJ Tiger, Charlotte pop-rap prince Princeton and revolutionary electro-pop trio Bravo Pueblo, which surrounds Lisa Ortiz’s warm compassionate vocals with a heady fusion of hypnotic grooves, funky instrumentation and swarming harmonies from percussionist Claudio Ortiz and guitarist and synth player Lee Herrera.
