Tears of a Clone
At first listen, Jim Rome hits the ears like an MTV version of Rush Limbaugh: a spoiled So-Cal punk dabbling in radio between his morning surf and afternoon tennis. He augments his staccato delivery with phrases like “grab a vine” (pick up the phone), “suck on some D-cells” (grow bitter), and other staples of mall-rat…
Guided by Voices
When it emerged from Dayton over a decade ago, Guided by Voices proved to penniless bands everywhere that, where there’s a will, there’s sure as hell a way out of Dullsville. Presiding over the band stands the prolific, Budweiser-guzzling, kung-fu-kicking ex-elementary-school-teaching marvel Robert Pollard, who won the world over with GBV’s low-fidelity sound. Hailed as…
Keeper of the Keys
Being the proprietor of an acoustic piano palace isn’t easy these days. Thirty years of microchip music have taken their toll. On this slate-gray afternoon, the only callers at Kap Piano in East Cleveland are two boys hawking tools door-to-door and a girl in a Catholic-school uniform. “I called yesterday about maybe getting some piano…
The James Gang
The James Gang reunion was a cultural touchstone and lovefest for Cleveland’s classic rock crowd, which can be heard cheering ecstatically in approval on this surprisingly good recording of the first of two shows held at the Allen Theatre earlier this year. After opening with a passable rendition of “Walk Away,” the group, which sounds…
What about Bob?
When Ohio kicked off its new tourism TV campaign, Governor Bob Taft knew something was wrong: There wasn’t enough footage of Governor Bob Taft. So, according to a Department of Development spokeswoman, Taft ordered the ads reedited to include more shots of him surrounded by children. His motives were obvious: When making summer vacation plans,…
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds
With the Birthday Party, the band he fronted in the late ’70s and early ’80s, Nick Cave was a punk provocateur who kicked against the pricks, screaming as much he sang. That he would go on to develop an addiction to heroin, star in several underground movies, and publish his prose and poetry only added…
Blowin’ Smoke
This is how famous Denis Leary is: He begins and ends a story by saying, “To this day, when I see Mick…,” and by Mick, he means Mick Jagger. They became pals, oh, seven years back, when the Rolling Stones were on that week’s farewell tour, kickin’ it in the Voodoo Lounge. The story, as…
Journal on The Journal
Enjoy the new and improved profit margins Thank you for the article revealing the new and not improved Akron Beacon Journal [“Slouching Toward Mediocrity,” March 8]. Many longtime readers, despite what columnist David Giffels contends, are dismayed, disgusted, and insulted at the changes of the last few years. With every “improvement,” we get less to…
Storm in a Teapot
Those who delight in perverse oddities can’t afford to forgo the Willoughby Fine Arts production of Spring Storm at the Corning Theatre. Seeing this early Tennessee Williams writing exercise is much like viewing the embryo of a future genius. Wunderkinds rarely pop out of the shell with full plumage. To prove this, there are warehouses…
Cultured Pearls
There is something slightly self-indulgent about Sunday brunch to begin with: that between-hours meal that accommodates pillow-hugging late risers as well as their more energetic up-and-at-’em brethren. Served forth in a sweetly cultured setting, its charms only increase. And when it’s paired with an opportunity to contemplate beautiful things, our sense of being pampered is…
Continental Divide
The folks at Tonight Tonight (7375 Royalton Road, North Royalton; 440-582-2000) have been bucking food-industry trends for most of the restaurant’s 14-year history, earning the distinction of being one of the last places in Northeast Ohio to offer Continental service. But even here, in this final stronghold of the theatrically prepared Caesar Salad and flaming…
Checking Out
Midway through a recent first-anniversary concert for the Beachland, the all-female rock band the Librarians, one of several local acts on the bill, hit the stage with a bang. With her long black hair and flared polyester pants, guitarist Sharon Yoo fired intensity across the room. Tall and lanky Carol Schumacher settled into the classic…
Two Fab Fours
Nostalgia isn’t supposed to be creepy, but rock and roll tributes often walk a line between remembrance and religious devotion that is equal parts concert, stage show, and The Twilight Zone. This weekend, Northeast Ohio — America’s petri dish for tribute bands — supplants the snarling Gene Simmonses and drunken Jim Morrisons with a pair…
Cutthroat Cabaret
When she was eight years old, Abby Travis went to summer camp in Portland, Maine, and discovered that she wasn’t like the other kids. Rehearsing for a production of Sweeney Todd, she dedicated most of her time to memorizing her lines and little of it exploring the great outdoors. “Every day I would be in…
Wolf Blitzing
That Cleveland’s Manimals came back from the dead is as perfectly suited to the band’s “horrorcore” image as its gig this weekend at the Frightvision horror and sci-fi convention, though Larry the Wolf admits even he didn’t see a disinterment coming. “I walked away from it,” he recalls of the music scene the Manimals quit…
Picking Up Styx
The stage on the main floor at the Rock Hall is usually reserved for live musical performances, but on March 28, it was turned into a two-tiered set that looked like something out of a game show. The reason: the announcement of a summer package tour featuring Styx, Bad Company, and Billy Squier. It’s a…
A Kinder, Gentler Dope Fiend
Hello, what’s this? Why, could it be another cautionary tale from Hollywood about recreational drugs being — alert the media! — not particularly good for people? Indeed, with Blow, director Ted Demme (Beautiful Girls, Monument Ave.) has set us up with a morality tale in which the moral is obvious from the start and there’s…
AC/DC
After 25 years, it’s uncanny how many times you can hear the first 30 unmistakable seconds of an AC/DC cut and not be able to distinguish it from any other AC/DC song. Angus Young’s agile guitar assaults have always sounded smart enough announcing the band’s tunes; it’s just that, as catchy as those riffs are,…
Spider Bites
Easily the most creepy (and by far, the most interesting) thing about Along Came a Spider, yet another adaptation of one of James Patterson’s alleged mystery novels featuring beleaguered detective Alex Cross, is how much co-star Monica Potter looks, sounds, and acts like Julia Roberts. Granted, it’s hardly a startling revelation to anyone who’s seen…
Iffy
It’s common practice for the avant-garde musicians who play in New York’s downtown scene to perform in various groups simultaneously. This is the case with the members of Iffy, a trio that includes tenor saxophonist Chris Speed, organist Jamie Saft, and drummer Ben Perowsky. All of Iffy’s members are important figures in the downtown scene.…
In the Mood for Mood
With In the Mood for Love, Wong Kar-wai solidifies his stature as the subtlest and most idiosyncratic of Hong Kong directors. In an industry best known for its accessible, crowd-pleasing comedies and action films, Wong has turned out a series of increasingly risky dramas that make little or no concession to the most obvious elements…
BS 2000
With the Beastie Boys on another extended vacation, the restless one, Adam Horovitz, is, well, being restless. While his bandmates kick back (or heal from bike accidents, as in the case of Mike D), Horovitz is hitting the road in support of his side project, BS 2000, which recently released its debut album, Simply Mortified.…
Law Schooled
Elise Kopit is nervous. Composed, businesslike, but still nervous. Two years ago, the smartly dressed, well-spoken mom from Beachwood won a high-stakes legal battle. Her opponent: her local school district. The fight: over how to educate her severely autistic son, Ben. Kopit talks guardedly about what happened, worried that she’ll upset Beachwood school officials. But…
Mulgrew Miller
In jazz, the master craftsmen aren’t always recognized for the finely wrought music they create. Jazz piano certainly enjoys a long tradition of such craftsmen, as its practitioners work within the tradition, playing music of great subtlety and understated beauty that seldom calls attention to itself. Few would call pianist Mulgrew Miller revolutionary, but with…
Kent Before the Storm
For now, Chris Wetterich is still just a college kid. Nobody’s called him craven or courageous in the national media. He hasn’t had to explain himself to a mob of fellow students. He hasn’t been informed that he works for a “racist propaganda machine.” Not yet, anyway. Wetterich is the editor of Kent State University’s…
Run D.M.C.
The formula worked wonders for Santana: Surround the creatively dead artist with people who still sell records, and let the magic happen. Surprisingly, it did. To the tune of platinum many times over, a shelf filled with Grammys, and a career revitalization. Now the label that orchestrated that comeback is at it again, this time…
