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.
BrizB, Bedrumor, Lucid Amethyst
Wednesday, March 11 • 9 p.m. • Snug Harbor • $12
Charlotte’s Vietnamese American pop-rock singer-songwriter BrizB launched her career with wistful lo-fi tunes like the limpid, dreamy “Saturn & Stars.” In more recent work, like her February 2026 single “Heavy,” BrizB’s airy vocals thread through a violent soundscape delineated by winding and thrashing guitars to depict the moment when affairs of the heart seem like a scarred and moonlit battleground.
Enfolding Lazuli Ortiz’s feathered vocals into Ryan Mole’s plangent coils of guitar, Greensboro’s Bedrumor crafts yearning indie-rock gems like “Moon And I.” With Aubria Battle’s R&B-inflected vocals and multi-instrumentalist Aaron Armwood’s retro electro-insect sounds, Greensboro duo Lucid Amethyst creates jazzy and soulful experimental pop.
The Stray Lions, Camp Calico, Marissa Missing, Ben Bourne
Thursday, March 12 • 8 p.m. • The Milestone • $10
With chiming bent-note guitars, space invaders sound effects, sinuous bass, blown-out guitars and vulnerable everyman vocals, Roanoke, Virginia’s The Stray Lions essay dynamic, finely crafted alt rockers like “Cigarettes and Coffee (Yeah Yeah Yeah).” Charlotte existential indie rockers Camp Calico employ rippling guitars and arching multi-octave vocals to create melodic alt rock that manages to sound both soul jazz and yacht rock adjacent.
Stylistically rangey singer-songwriter Marissa Missing can evoke ’90s pop rock (“I’m With the Band”) or folk-inflected singer-songwriter confessionals (“Treadmarks On My Heart”). Cambria Iron Co. guitarist-keyboardist Ben Bourne plays a set of acoustic-guitar driven original tunes.
Kevin Shanus Charity Raffle and Pinball Tournament
Saturday, March 14 • 1 p.m. • Super Abari Game Bar • Free
Kevin Shanus did much to help the Charlotte area pinball community, organizing local tournaments and serving as the NC state pinball representative for the International Flipper Pinball Association (IFPA) for several years. Since Shanus’ sudden passing in 2023 at age 44, Super Abari Game Bar has hosted an annual charity raffle and pinball tournament in his honor.
Read more: Charity Tournament to Honor Former Super Abari Pinball Director (2024)
The third iteration of the event raises funds for Mental Health America of Central Carolinas, with all donations going to the charity in Shanus’ name. Tournament competitors will play for a 1990 Diner Williams Pinball Machine grand prize, plus other prizes. Registration is required.
‘Carmina Burana’
March 14-15 • times vary • Halton Theater • $36-$59
In 1934, composer Carl Orff came across a collection of poems in a medieval manuscript called Carmina Burana. Orff set the poems, dealing with nature, love, lust, fate and fortune, to music that has become famous for its primal, rhythmic power, epic yet accessible sound, and iconic opening “O Fortuna.”
Now Caroline Calouche & Co. tackle this classic with a fusion of dance and circus arts, transforming the musical masterpiece into a captivating experience. Calouche, who has long dreamed of performing this work with a live orchestra and choir, will do just that as her organization celebrates 20 years with more than 130 performers sharing the stage in a monumental collaboration.
Braxton Cook
Sunday, March 15 • 6 p.m. • Middle C Jazz • $46
Alto saxophonist, vocalist, songwriter, producer and composer Braxton Cook blends jazz, soul and alt-R&B into a distinctive rhythmic and melodic sound. Cutting his teeth on iconic Washington DC jazz venues at age 18, Cook went on to play with performers ranging from trumpeter Christian Scott to international pop star Rihanna.
As a composer, Cook has collaborated with multi-instrumentalist, singer, composer and bandleader Jon Batiste on the Academy Award-winning Pixar film Soul. With its mix of soulful melodies, groove-driven rhythms and sophisticated improvisation, Cook’s 2025 LP Not Everyone Can Go, evokes classics of the genre like Grover Washington Jr.’s Winelight and George Benson’s Breezin’.
