Flame Retardant
Comedian Mike Dambra says he rubs people the wrong way. While it might be because of jokes about his drinking habit — “You know it’s a bad hangover when you wake up and you’re washing your face, and the lid falls on you” — chances are it’s his digs at the mentally handicapped. “I get…
Up All Night
Beware: Chris Hunter plans to get you hammered, horny, and wired at tonight’s Fourplay party. At the bash, Hunter will unveil his new alcoholic energy drink. “It has four effects,” he says. “It gets you drunk. It gets you hyper. It gives you a body buzz. And it’s an aphrodisiac. So, it gets you horny.…
The British Inversion
England isn’t really known as jam-band mecca. Hippie idealism and hackysacking is more of an American thing. But Gomez’s reformed Britpoppers have been changing that. First, the quintet signed with Dave Matthews’ ATO label, home to such hirsute and shower-averse bands as My Morning Jacket and Gov’t Mule. Then it released How We Operate, its…
Man With a Past
Twenty years ago, a Euclid company discovered a gold mine in Cleveland’s dying neighborhoods. ResCom Development launched a renovation scheme that turned crumbling East Side houses into cash machines. The plan began at sheriff’s sales, where the company bought hundreds of foreclosed houses at rock-bottom prices. Work crews slapped on new paint, carpeting, and cabinets,…
ClePunk: The Movie
Cleveland’s Screaming, a documentary about Northeast Ohio’s early 1980s punk scene, will premiere Saturday, July 1, at the Jigsaw Saloon and Stage (5324 State Road, Parma). Featuring live footage and new interviews, the film was assembled by Wadsworth native Brad Warner, former Zero Defex bassist and author of Hardcore Zen, a spiritual manual and punk…
Clouds Forming Crowns
Clouds Forming Crowns play barroom rock that deserves an arena-sized stage and PA system. Their M.O. recalls Guided by Voices, and with good reason: Writer-singer-guitarist Tim Tobias cut his teeth with the retro-rock heroes, and brother/producer-multi-instrumentalist Todd Tobias produced some of GBV’s most notable material. Live, the group kicks out the jams as a quartet,…
Monster Mash
Monster Mash Big Head Todd and the Monsters have always seemed a bit detached from their jam-band brethren. Most of frontman Todd Park Mohr’s tunes reveal their muscles early, usually sidestepping for a prolonged solo or two, before returning to the already-in-progress groove. The closest song they’ve had to a hit — the slow-burning “Bittersweet”…
A Belated Fourth
The Cleveland Orchestra is a few days late with its Fourth of July celebration, but it’s worth the wait. Today’s free downtown concert features a performance led by James Gaffigan and soprano Measha Brueggergosman, making her orchestra debut. Before the show, there’s a festival with food, performance artists, and live music; after the concert, fireworks!…
Space Oddity
Space Oddity Lyric Opera takes Mozart where no man has gone before. Back in the day, the ship at the center of Mozart’s opera Abduction From the Seraglio was a traditional seafaring vessel. Two hundred years later, it’s become a spaceship in Lyric Opera Cleveland’s update, which sets the action on Mars rather than in…
Fat Guys on the Beach
Derf covers the waterfront and much more. For his take on what the coming months will bring, click here.
Cleveland Screaming II
Celebrating the heritage of blood-on-the-knuckle, beer-on-the-shirt Cleveland punk rock is the welcome Cleveland Screaming concert series. The latest installment highlights the ’80s hardcore scene — which had as much influence on the city’s current crop of bands as Black Flag and the Ramones combined — featuring Numbskull, Spike in Vain, and the Dark. No one…
We Jam Econo: The Story of the Minutemen
In December 1985, a van crash took the life of Minutemen singer-guitarist D. Boon and prematurely ended the career of a promising band. The San Pedro, California three-piece had the most distinctive sound in American punk, combining George Hurley’s jazzy yet powerful drumming, Mike Watt’s funky bass, and Boon’s squealing, high-pitched guitar with thoughtful political…
Yummy Monday
Pickwick & Frolic helps customers ease into their week with a discounted menu at Monday Sucks! So Lunch Is Five Bucks! “Typically, Mondays are our slowest days,” says spokesman John Lorince. “The idea is to create a special menu that’s affordable and quick at lunchtime. Hopefully, people will be lured by the price.” Ten offerings…
The Right Stuff
Comedian Sheryl Underwood defies stereotypes. “I’m a sexually progressive, God-fearing black Republican,” she says. Onstage, she comes off like the anti-Lewis Black, hurling jabs at the left. “You don’t send no peace-loving liberal to talk to a murdering terrorist,” she quips. “You send another killer.” Still, she tries to find common ground with her audiences,…
Fun With Skitzobill
During his stand-up gig in Lakewood tonight, Martin Malloy won’t overlook one audience member: His shrink. “She pretends she doesn’t know who I am when she sees me out in public,” says Malloy, aka Skitzobill. “That’s cool. I pretend I don’t know fat chicks.” Since his first gig early last year, the 40-year-old Malloy has…
Union Buster
Cleveland Cinemas owner Jon Forman isn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer. In 2004, he decided to get rid of union projectionists at three of the theaters he runs — Shaker Square, Tower City, and the Cedar Lee. But a clause in the contract said projectionists could only be replaced by “managers.” So Forman made…
Troubadours of Divine Bliss
A midwestern answer to the Indigo Girls, the dynamic duo of Aim Me Smiley and Renee Ananda comes off like a pair of modern-day dharma bums. Kicking around the world, entertaining and uplifting spirits on street corners and in cafés and courtyards, the guitar-and-accordion combo harmonizes wonderfully. Recorded at the Winchester, the 2004 double-CD release…
Pile It On
I spent a few hours online the other afternoon, tracking the buzz on Michael Symon’s Greek restaurant that opened last month in New York. There were the usual kudos for the handsome interior, an appreciation of Symon’s small-plate concept, and the customary “compliments” along the lines of This guy’s from Cleveland, but man can he…
Subliminal Seduction
The four-day Ingenuity Festival peaks tonight with Subliminal Strings, a collaboration by violinist Daniel Bernard Roumain, Cleveland Institute of Art professor Kasumi, and NYC’s DJ Spooky, aka Paul D. Miller. It’s a one-time-only show that blends laptop beats, live classical music, poetry, and video art. “I like the idea of classical-music-meets-hip-hop,” says Miller. “It explores…
Add It Up
The idea behind the Children’s Museum’s Mother Goose Math: Rhyme & Arithmetic is to fool the little ones into thinking they’re having fun. The joke’s on them, since they’re learning all about numbers, patterns, and calendars while checking out Humpty Dumpty’s Wall and other displays. Tuesdays-Saturdays, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sundays, 12-5 p.m. Starts: July 6.…
Irish Ears Are Smiling
Tim Benson credits his passion for playing the uilleann pipes to the Chieftains’ Matt Molloy. “He’s the finest flute player on either side of the Atlantic,” says the Benson, Bigler & Stamper member. “I was inspired by this guru and plunged into the Irish flute with reckless abandon.” For the past six months, Benson, fellow…
Midwife Crisis
The screams rushing up the steps from the basement echoed in the snow-blanketed front yard and filled the small ranch house in North Canton. In the candlelit basement-turned-birthing-chamber, the shrieks cut through the gentle white noise of lapping waves and the sweet scent of lavender. Kelly Moscarello, a 37-year-old brunette whose stomach was swollen like…
Brave Combo
What makes a man devote himself to polka music? Let us examine the case of Carl Finch in 1970s Denton, Texas. Discouraged by the monotony pervading most rock and pop at the time, he was driven to find something — anything — that wasn’t Boston or “Afternoon Delight.” Finch discovered polka music, which held more…
The Upside of Outside
There’s no sidewalk so narrow, no parking lot so dusty, no deck so desolate that someone won’t stick a pair of plastic chairs on it and call it alfresco. When you’re not in the mood to settle for shabby, here are some places that sparkle: The South Side (2207 West 11th Street, 216-937-2288) — Worthy…
Transplanted Troubadour
Jay Krasnow says he’d rather perform in Cleveland than in his native Minneapolis. “The band scene has been hijacked with blues-less rehashes there,” he says. “The baby-boomer punks want to hoard 1979 music all to themselves. And, the last I checked, supposedly über-cool downtown venues are hosting lip-sync contests on Saturday nights. There are 10…
Kiss the Cook
Every Thursday night this summer, the gay bar Adams Street fires up its outdoor grills for Chillin’ & Grillin’. Patrons bring their favorite meat, and the bar does the work. At first, the club encouraged folks to bring hamburgers and hot dogs, but that got boring, says bartender Adam Vicens. “They’ve been bringing in mostly…
Fancy Footwork
When the weather is warm, Groundworks Dance Theater comes alive. “Summer used to be slack,” says artistic director David Shimotakahara. “This is a tradition for us now.” This weekend’s performances at Cain Park feature a pair of world premieres, including artistic associate Amy Miller’s “Eleveneleven.” The piece doesn’t follow a traditional narrative but rather explores…
Controversy Rages . . .
Disgusted by the lies: I read your article on Tom Meyer [“What’s Tom Meyer Hiding?” June 14], and I was disgusted. Disgusted by the lies and false quotes that you guys put together on Meyer. I bet you made all of those events up just to get people to read your crappy little magazine. What’s…
Yakuza
Yakuza has made three albums on as many labels. This may suggest to the cynical that these record companies didn’t know what they were encouraging when they signed the Chicago foursome, a group that blends thrash, hardcore, free jazz, ambient fusion, and Tuvan throatsinging — occasionally in the same song. This year’s Samsara (Prosthetic) may,…
Recycled Steel
After all that, just . . . this? After all the anticipation, all the hype, all the product on toy-store shelves and in kiddie sections at bookstores; after all the promise that this would be the most super of Superman movies, all we get is just this . . . this . . . remake?…
Blues Clues
Most Midwest blues bands stack their repertoires with songs by the legends: B.B. King, Buddy Guy, maybe some James Brown to get the people dancing. For Mike Milligan and Steam Shovel, the set lists are filled with songs written by . . . Mike Milligan. “If you really want to get anywhere, you should be…
Man With a Thousand Faces
Comedian Heath Hyche bills himself as a “one-man, high-energy, sketch-comedy show.” His narrative-heavy bits feature multiple characters — all portrayed by the manic comic. Routines are often set at places like a college bowl game or during a World War II dogfight over the Pacific. But Hyche doesn’t think of his characters as impressions. “I…
Book Revue
We don’t hit the beach till we check out the Cleveland Public Library’s Summer Used Book Sale, starting today at the downtown branch. Up for grabs are thousands of titles — everything from oversize history books to hardcover biographies to sci-fi digests. July 10-14, 9 a.m.-6 p.m.
Leapin’Leprechauns
The Lake County Irish Summerfest is one of the area’s most authentic commemorations of the green. In addition to traditional eats and music, the fest features Irish-dancing lessons and strolling bagpipers. “It’s a celebration of Irish and Celtic heritage,” says director Patrick Coyne. “But it’s a celebration for everyone.” Fri., June 30, 6-11 p.m.; Sat.,…
Judge Whitey
If USDA Judge Leslie Holt hadn’t been so busy honking down the Peruvian Marching Powder, Lorenzo Pearson’s collection of exotic animals might have been saved. Last month, Pearson lost bears, pit bulls, tigers, and iguanas in a fire at his Copley home. At the time, he was facing a federal animal-welfare suit. In 2004, he…
Stay Fucked
Imagine the Jesus Lizard’s David Yow wrapping his sweaty self around Emerson, Lake & Palmer and squeezing real tight, and you’d have a pretty good idea what Stay Fucked sounds like. The confrontationally named Brooklyn trio describes its music as “prog for kids with ADD” and does the tricky math-rock stuff in a quick and…
Letter-Box Edition
It may not be an “iconic manifestation of civilization,” as documentarian Ken Burns proclaims, but the New York Times crossword puzzle is undoubtedly an institution. Printed every day for the past 64 years, the puzzle draws politicians, working stiffs, comedians, musicians, and homemakers across the country — anybody who, to paraphrase one champion puzzler, sees…
Fat Chance
Sarah Strohmeyer isn’t fat. But some of her fans are. They were the inspiration behind the author’s new novel, The Cinderella Pact, a fictional look at three women who set out to shed pounds and become new gals. Strohemeyer was at a book-signing a couple of years ago and ran into someone she barely recognized.…
Mr. Clean
You have to wonder what director Olivier Assayas really thinks of his ex-wife, actress Maggie Cheung. Just look at the role he wrote for her in Clean: Cheung plays the Yoko-like Emily, a heroin-addicted woman whose washed-up rock-star boyfriend dies of an overdose early in the film, leaving a young son and many unpaid bills.…
A Midsummer Night’s Sex Comedy
Indie filmmaker Caveh Zahedi confronts his obsession with prostitutes in I Am a Sex Addict, an autobiographical comedy in which he turns his camera on himself. To chronicle his tragically hilarious love life over the past 25 years, the youthful-looking Zahedi combines home movies, animation, and staged scenes. Whether cruising the streets of L.A. for…
You’ve Got Male
Just because you’re addicted to the internet doesn’t mean you shouldn’t leave the house. And now you can party and not miss a message, thanks to tonight’s free MySpace.com Mailbox Party. Sitting behind a bank of computers, visitors at the gay club Interbelt can check the massively popular website’s message boards, while DJ Skotty K…
This week, even a blind columnist finds a nut!
Headline: Finding light in the dark Date: July 13, 2006. Topic: A boy who was born with retinitis pigmentosa is learning how to live for when he eventually goes blind. Clear-eyed Sammy sees an opportunity to tug our heart strings … and interview a cane?! Originality: 8/10 For once, “And-1” Fulwood throws up something other…
Tim McGraw and Faith Hill
Although they’re not colorful enough to warrant a Johnny ‘n’ June-like biopic, impossibly photogenic Tim McGraw and Faith Hill are without a doubt country music’s reigning first couple, their 10-year union seemingly as strong as their combined album sales. The pair first linked up in ’96, on McGraw’s aptly named Spontaneous Combustion tour. He was…
Cruella de Vogue
For an industry in decline, print journalism has done a fashion publicist’s job of staying in vogue, particularly among the more stylish of career-seeking college grads. Never mind telling these BlackBerry-toting eager beavers that even an unpaid gig in the field is as rare as a winning lottery ticket: The Devil Wears Prada, an American…
Casey at the Bat
Casey Stratton laces many of the songs on his sixth CD, Divide, with political commentary. Yet the Michigan singer-songwriter stresses that he’s not mounting a soapbox. “I wanted to comment on the conditions we are faced with in this world and how I have been affected, being an American in this time,” he says. “I…
Road Rage
More than 150 new cars line Main Street today for the Akron Auto Showcase, which features two dozen different brands. Twenty-five area dealerships take their inventory to the street for this event that promoters are billing as a “$4.5 million car strip.” Folks have the opportunity to check out many foreign and domestic cars and…
Call It a Comeback
A few years ago, Austin attorney Monica Samuels was offered a position with the Bush administration. But after much deliberation, she turned down the job to stay home with her two young sons. “I was working 24-7,” says Samuels, co-author of Comeback Moms, a new book that helps mothers reenter the workforce. “Everybody was making…
Kent: More Than a University
Kent-O-Rama: An Historic Art Exhibit, now on display at the North Water Street Gallery, features a pair of local artists whose work pays tribute to Kent’s bicentennial this year. Ray Packard and Ken McGregor contribute watercolors, memorabilia, and giclee prints. Together, they chronicle the history of Kent’s architecture, businesses, and lifestyles. Thursdays-Saturdays, 1-5 p.m. Starts:…
Open Fire!
Lisa, let’s face it, this type of shoddy work would never be acceptable at a “real” paper. Mislabeling photographs, using half-truths, insufficient research, missing the big picture. How could you possibly be proud of your work? Do you lack the talent to make a story interesting with the full truth — telling one snippet of…
Blue Cheer
‘Twas a time when feedback and distortion, like every other goodie in the rock guitarist’s arsenal, were brand-new playthings. Hendrix used them to explore uncharted astral regions. L.A. prog pioneer Spirit kept them on a short, taut leash as the carefully controlled colors of their sound. In the hands of Blue Cheer’s founding guitarist Leigh…
Little Pretty
Sure, it’s possible to reimagine well-known villains: Perhaps Hannibal Lecter was just a misunderstood gourmand, or Cruella De Vil the hapless victim of a naming process beyond her control. But the Wicked Witch of the West? Can we revamp our perception of the malevolent, broom-propelled crone who was made indelible forever by Margaret Hamilton in…
Lord of the Ring
Wagner’s bombastic Ring Cycle has always been ripe for parody. Bugs Bunny borrowed from it for his crowning achievement, What’s Opera, Doc? , and the work’s most famous sequence, “The Ride of the Valkyries,” plays during Apocalypse Now’s sardonic helicopter scene. And now Lyric Opera Cleveland stages Das Barbecü. Set in Texas, five vocalists breathlessly…
Zing Thing
Canton’s Zing in the City, a weekend-long party, kicks off with Martinis Tonight, featuring food, live music, and plenty of booze. Tomorrow’s jam-packed schedule includes walking tours, art shows, kids’ activities, fireworks, and a free concert by Canton natives the O’Jays. Sunday wraps up with a parade, a picnic, and more O’Jays.
Knight Shift
You’ll find some of the usual seasonal eats, like cotton candy and sausage sandwiches, at our favorite summertime fest, the Great Lakes Medieval Faire. But we spend most of our hard-earned cash on humongous turkey legs, steaming bowls of apple dumplings, and homemade root beer. Strolling knights, jesters, and wenches put visitors in a 13th-century…
Holly Go Lightly
Buddy Holly’s recording career lasted less than two years. But in the brief period between his first hit, “That’ll Be the Day,” and his death in a plane crash in 1959, he became a music legend. “People don’t understand how influential he was, how he really pioneered pop and rock,” says Sean Cercone, artistic director…
Woolly Metal
Troy Sanders’ ears are ringing as he answers the phone during a rare break from rehearsal. The immediate reason is the show that bassist-vocalist Sanders played, at overwhelming volume, only two days earlier as a member of the Atlanta quartet Mastodon. After six months off the road, the metal behemoths took to the stage for…
Mojo Risin
35 years ago Sunday, Doors frontman Jim Morrison briefly ended his ongoing bender, sobered up long enough to take a frank look at his overblown poetry, and was so embarrassed that he faked his own death and moved to South America, hiding under the semianagrammatic alias Mojo Risin. To commemorate the Lizard King’s disappearance, Mojo…
Extra Harry
Encountering a song by the late Harry Chapin on the radio is always a moment to treasure: His simple, clear, and wistful voice is ideally suited to his story-songs, which often trace the morose and disappointing lives of ordinary people. And on the radio, there’s never another Harry Chapin song to follow the first. Because…
With a Paddle
Kayakers claim they have the most fun a person can have while wearing a life vest. At today’s Cleveland Harborfest Paddle, they’re out to prove it, as more than 20 kayak enthusiasts hit the water near the East 55th Street Municipal Marina. “There’s no crew, just you,” says participant Matt Eldredge. “You gotta be disciplined.…
Write On!
At the five days of Imagination: A Writers’ Workshop and Conference, authors, playwrights, and poets give advice to fledgling wordsmiths. “I don’t care what gender you are or how tall you are,” says coordinator Neal Chandler. “What you need to bring is a love of writing, a love of language.” The program includes lectures, workshops,…
Music in the Air
The Cleveland Orchestra performs its first Blossom Festival concert of the season tonight, and the program explodes with the sounds of summer. Conductor James Gaffigan leads the group through four playful pieces that should resonate beautifully at Blossom Music Center: Mozart’s Overture to Don Giovanni, Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2, Don Juan by R. Strauss,…
The Big Bang
Nearly 2,000 shells will explode tonight during the fireworks display that caps the Flats’ daylong Waterfront Festival. Be sure to stick around for the 20-minute spectacular’s finale, says pyromaniacal producer Chris Mele. “They’ll break blind, and you’ll go, ‘Man, that one’s a dud.’ Then they’ll suddenly burst into umbrella patterns for a superlong time!” The…
Double Header
It’s a sticky Saturday evening on Coventry, and the CMJ Rock Hall Music Fest is in full swing. Head Automatica lead singer Daryl Palumbo wanders into Record Revolution, wearing a scruffy tee. He rifles through a trove of obscure DVDs and CDs in hushed concentration. Suddenly, his silence is broken. Looking up from his mission,…
Grant-Lee Phillips
Grant-Lee Phillips has always been known as a sharp singer-songwriter. This ’80s version of Bowie’s Pin-Ups, however, proves that he’s even smarter than you realize. These 11, mostly acoustic versions of Reagan-era alternative classics are a wise acknowledgment of a simple truth: While there’s no point in recording an album of sound-alike covers, collections of…
Capsule reviews of current area theater presentations.
Dames at Sea — Porthouse Theatre serves up an affectionate send-up of movie musicals from the 1930s and ’40s — especially the classic 42nd Street, right down to naive young Ruby (a nod to film legend Ruby Keeler), who arrives in New York with only a pair of tap shoes in her valise. Of course,…
Candy Land
There’s a scene in Strangers With Candy where Jerri Blank, a 47-year-old high-school student played by Amy Sedaris, must run with the bulls in a school gymnasium. The look on Sedaris’ face teeters somewhere between gleeful exhilaration and scared-out-her-mind fear. “I had two live bulls chasing me,” says Sedaris, who did her own stunts. “It…
While the City Sleeps
Longtime Cleveland shutterbug Bill Miller has finally entered the 21st century by trading his trusty 35 millimeter for a digital camera. You can see the results today at St. John West Shore Hospital’s 14th Annual Festival of the Arts, which displays his 15-piece A Night’s Eye View of Cleveland — a photo exhibit that spotlights…
Horsing Around
Nearly 1,000 of the world’s top equestrians compete this week for a $65,000 purse at the 41st annual Hunter Jumper Classic. The tournament starts today and features three obstacle courses that challenge riders to steer horses over fences, gates, and pools of water. After five days of preliminaries, finalists run one last set of courses…
Men in a Tub
Charles Fleck will see a lifelong dream materialize at Flex Cleveland’s Grand Opening and Open House this afternoon. After three years of construction, the Cleveland native will unveil the world’s largest gay bathhouse. “It wouldn’t be fair to compare this to any of its kind anywhere,” says Michael Ontko, the club’s manager. “It’s pretty much…
Hagar the Horrible
Of all the infernal questions to have wormed their way into rock’s subconscious, the merits of David Lee Roth versus Sammy Hagar as frontmen for Van Halen has to be one of the most dim-witted debates circulating in frat houses and gentlemen’s clubs across this great land. Such lip service is especially insipid since Hagar…
Monty Alexander
It might seem a tad irreconcilable, a mainstream jazz pianist at the helm of a tribute to the most renowned singer-songwriter in reggae history, but don’t skip to the next review yet. Pianist Monty Alexander — whose style mingles Oscar Peterson’s sophistication with Horace Silver’s earthiness — was born in Kingston, Jamaica, in 1944, and…
Capsule reviews of current area art exhibitions.
NEW MythAmerica — Be sure to read the wall text from the start, or you’ll waste time grasping for meaning that probably isn’t there. Few of the nine artists readily convey anything significant on their own, without reference to the exhibit’s broader and largely unfulfilled mission to examine the health of the American dream and…
Great White
Here’s a first: Female illusionists will impersonate Gladys Knight, Tina Turner, and Anita Baker tonight in the party hall of a Catholic church. “Now don’t take that the wrong way,” laughs Divinity Ariego, organizer of Dressed in All White. “We wanted to have it some place other than a bar. This place was big enough,…
Blues Bayou
On his new CD, Brother to the Blues, Louisiana bluesman Tab Benoit gets a little help from guitar greats Jim Lauderdale and Billy Joe Shaver. No slouch himself, Benoit piles on the riffs and licks, bending notes in time with the veterans’ weathered voices and Waylon Thibodeaux’s Cajun-seasoned fiddle. This time out, Benoit’s usual swamp…
Renaissance Punks
The Vacancies have a busy summer ahead of them. The local punk band begins a month-long nationwide tour with the Street Dogs and Adolescents next week in support of its latest album, A Beat Missing or a Silence Added. It’s prepping material for a new CD, which it hopes to release by the end of…
A Grape Deal
John Lorince will debate anyone who says you can’t find a bargain anymore — especially when it comes to fine wine. The Pickwick & Frolic mouthpiece is the mastermind behind Wine Down Wednesday, when the restaurant sells bottles of recent-vintage red, white, and rosé wine for one cent above wholesale (usually $8.50 to $20). If…
Sound Advice
Jay Lewis, a local radio personality for more than 19 years, can be heard Wednesdays from 9:30 p.m. to midnight on WJCU-FM 88.7 and on Blastradio.org. What’s your first memory of music? Gotta be the early ’70s, when I was a kid. Moms and Pops used to throw parties and would spin funk, soul, and…
Fireworks and quality beer
The Lime Spider doesn’t have much going on for July Fourth . . . except the best view of the Akron area’s most stellar fireworks display. And it’s free. The rooftop grill will be open, serving both veggie and burgers (of the big, meaty kind). The club also boasts the city’s biggest, best beer selection,…
The Citizen Kane of Crap
The Devil’s Sword (Mondo Macabro) Few trash movies live up to their reputation, but here’s a balls-out wonder that surpasses it. Grab a 12-pack of Bintang and cue up this jaw-unhinging slab of Indonesian sword-and-sorcery circa 1983 — a start-to-finish feast of martial arts, mullets, flying heads, vestal virgins, dry-ice fog, and discount psychedelia, accompanied…
Sweet Nothing
The Ohio Shakespeare Festival’s outdoor performances at Stan Hywet every year rank among the area’s best summertime events. Staged near the estate’s lagoons, the shows start while there’s still sunlight and wrap up under the stars. The fest presents three plays this season: Much Ado About Nothing, Macbeth, and, um, Always . . . Patsy…
Night Shift
The outdoors become a whole different world at night. The Cleveland Metroparks celebrates the sights, sounds, and smells of the sunless wild during Nature at Night. The program includes visits with nocturnal animals, astronomy programs, and a campfire complete with storytelling and marshmallows. There are also hikes in search of night insects, crafts for kids,…
Animal House
The stars of Dr. ZooLittle’s Wild Animal Show can be a bit temperamental. They also can show quite a flair for stealing the spotlight from the people who work with them during their three daily performances. The show is supposed to be about the zoo’s veterinary program, but with flying birds, burrowing foxes, and slithering…
Asian Fusion
Stand-up comic Steve Byrne says he found his funny bone after his family moved to Pittsburgh when he was in junior high. “I was small and had bad teeth,” he recalls. “I looked like Mowgli from The Jungle Book. So, I started goofing off to get attention.” Byrne’s dad is Irish, his mom is Korean,…
Sound/Stage
SOUND Blush, “Steady” (myspace.com/blushrock) Singer Mary Cushman’s vocals suggest Björk in a lip lock with Shirley Manson, dancing a high-heeled strut over the bubbling modern rock created by her brothers and bassist Jayson Benn. The guitar starts at a simmer, giving Cushman’s theatrics the stage, but bursts forth with ringing warmth in the chorus. There’s…
Carpathian Forest
Black metal is kinda like the eternal word of God, insofar as it’s the same today, tomorrow, and forever: That’s kind of the point. Whether that’s reactionary or radical depends mainly on where you stand. Carpathian Forest plays old-school black metal; the bandmates are not so pure that they won’t spend a few extra dollars…
The week’s best releases from the pop-culture universe.
CD — Sinner: Joan Jett’s best album in years plays with gender (covers of Sweet’s “AC/DC” and the Replacements’ “Androgynous”), leather (“Fetish”), and politics (“Riddles”). In more than 25 years, the proto-riot-grrrl icon hasn’t change a lick, riff, or sneer. Jett’s still the toughest female rocker out there, despite many challengers (including Le Tigre’s Kathleen…
A Will of Their Own
The Cleveland Shakespeare Festival gives King Lear the CliffsNotes treatment at its outdoor performances all this month. The long cautionary tale about love, madness, and treacherous offspring now clocks in at less than two hours. “We cut it so we can focus on the story,” says artistic director Lawrence Nehring. “We’re able to do it…
So You Think You Can Dance
So You Think You Can Dance Hoofer from TV’s other dance show comes to town. Dancing With the Stars pro Louis van Amstel saunters into town this weekend to teach people how to bust some eye-catching moves. He knows his stuff: Paired with Melrose Place actress Lisa Rinna, he placed fourth in ABC’s hit reality…
Flag-Waving Fun!
Today’s This Is My Country celebration works on a couple of different levels. For starters, you’ve got your obvious Fourth of July connection. And what better way to celebrate the total awesomeness of the U.S.A. than with a trio of country-music groups? Little Texas, Blackhawk, and Restless Heart — all hit-makers back in the day…
Free Spirit
In the hands of the Goran Ivanovic Group, jazz takes on a breathless, almost ethereal quality that mixes Balkan folk music, flamenco guitar fills, and blues-based rhythms. On its self-titled CD, the Croatian quartet strips traditional music of its conventions and recreates it as an exotic fusion of gypsy beats and jam-band aesthetics. Ivanovic plays…
On the Download
MP3 blogs are a gold mine for free music, but few are as generous as rbally.net. Its founder, who signs himself simply “Jennings,” has a passion for live indie-rock performances. His posts have included full concerts from Sonic Youth, PJ Harvey, Wilco, Ryan Adams, and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ recent appearance at the Coachella Festival.…
The Sammies
The Sammies play roots music — only not the kind you’d associate with a quartet of self-described country boys from Wadesboro, North Carolina. The band’s fiery debut sounds instead like it was grafted from the concrete, mortar, and steel of rock’s foundations, all the while defying lazy genre-fication. “Coming Out Wild,” “Turkey Herky Jerky,” and…
The Last Bland
For comic geeks, an X-Men game that promises to fill in the backstory between movies sounds hotter than a date with Jean Grey. Finally, we get to discover what Wolverine has been up to between films — besides winning Tony Awards as alter ego Hugh Jackman, of course. That’s the bright idea behind Activision’s X-Men:…
Pirates of the Cuyahoga
The Tall Ships couldn’t have picked a better time to return. With Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest a hit in theaters, big boats are the coolest thing without a red cape this summer. A dozen ships are docked at North Coast Harbor for the next four days, and folks can tour the mammoth…
Buggin’
The high-pitched noise made by male Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches means one of two things: They’re ready for a fight, or they’re horny. At today’s event, a Lake Erie Nature & Science Center naturalist will explain how to tell the difference. Two dozen roaches will be on display, and visitors can stroke their wingless bodies while…
Strike Up the Band
The 2006 Blossom Festival kicks off a new season of alfresco classical music with a series of Fourth of July Holiday Weekend Concerts. Conductor Loras John Schissel leads the Blossom Festival Band through a set of patriotic songs. Expect to hear Sousa marches, a salute to the armed forces, and, natch, Tchaikovsky’s “1812” Overture. It…
In Bloom
The familiar jangle that kicks off the Gin Blossoms’ new CD, Major Lodge Victory, recalls the mid-’90s alt-rock boom. It’s a time the Blossoms clearly miss. On their first album of new material in 10 years, they write and perform super-hooky songs, all in the key of “Hey Jealousy” and “Found Out About You.” Thu.,…
Friend in High Places
The door to Hank Williams III’s tour bus swings open, and we’re welcomed aboard. Three of us shuffle, single file, to the back and sit on an L-shaped sofa. Hank occupies a low stool, a locked tackle box in front of him. He wears a sweat-stained T-shirt that nicely complements his haggard expression. What does…
The Futureheads
On their eponymous debut, the Futureheads played like there was no future. Everything they had they threw into that recording studio, and as a result, the album is proof of the dangers of indie-mod excess, artsy punks with a clever sense of humor, and elaborate four-part harmonies run amok. Maybe they never believed they’d get…
Our top DVD picks for the week of June 27.
Commander in Chief: 2-Disc Inaugural Edition Part 1 (Disney) The Complete Sherlock Holmes Collection (MPI) Cow Belles (Disney) Danger After Dark (TLA) Evil (Magnolia) Is It Really So Strange? (Frameline) Failure to Launch (Paramount) Family Affair: Season One (MPI) Fear Factor: The First Season (Universal) Imagine Me & You (Fox) Leroy & Stitch (Disney) Madea’s…
Get Jiggly With It
Every Thursday night, Tequila Ranch celebrates the thrill of the Sunset Strip, circa 1986. A DJ spins hair-metal favorites by Poison and Mötley Crüe, while revelers get hammered on 40 different types of tequila. Oh — there’s also braless mechanical bull-riding. “It’s like a circus,” says regular Ed Lewis. “With a hot girl as the…
Think About It
In Doubting Thomas Gallery’s New American Art, local artists take on such hot-button topics as sex and stereotypes. “We’re not concerned with making money or gaining popularity,” says curator William Schwartz. “The show is a reminder that free speech is not dead and that presenting critical sociopolitical observations is far more patriotic than apathy in…
Dependents’ Day
Before you start celebrating on Tuesday, check out the Bang and the Clatter Theatre Co.’s production of Griller. Eric Bogosian’s family drama takes place at a backyard barbecue on the Fourth of July. With a gathering that includes a heroin-addled artist, a former bathing-suit model, and a mysterious uncle, it’s only a matter of time…
Paul Simon
For all the hoopla surrounding Paul Simon’s new Surprise — the singer-songwriter’s first solo release since 2000’s stripped-down, somewhat disappointing You’re the One — you’d think the new disc was some sort of Rick Rubin reclamation project (à la Johnny Cash and Neil Diamond) or maybe a star-studded Santana affair (think Supernatural). Truth is, Simon…
Bears
The Bears’ self-titled debut is a collection of beautiful indie pop-rock along the lines of Simon and Garfunkel or Belle and Sebastian. Like the score to a Wes Anderson movie, the songs are heartbreaking and intensely catchy. Live, the band expands into a sextet. In the studio, there are just two Bears: Craig Ramsey (drummer…
Home-Field Advantage
Asterisk Gallery’s 19 exhibition takes its inspiration from an unlikely source. “I grew up emulating Bernie Kosar,” says owner Dana Depew about the Browns’ former quarterback, who sported the number. “In college, I went to the extent of having his number tattooed onto my left hand.” The third-annual show (which opens tonight) features paintings, photography,…
