Out Today: Maximum Balloon
MAXIMUM BALLOONMaximum Balloon(DGC) With the possible exception of LCD Soundsystem’s This Is Happening and Janelle Monáe’s The ArchAndroid (Suites II and III), the self-titled debut album by artsy electro-popper Maximum Balloon — otherwise known as TV on the Radio’s Dave Sitek — is the most fun you’ll have listening to any record this year. Sitek’s…
What to Do Tonight: Best Coast
Fun in the sun — relatively speaking, of course When you listen to Best Coast’s debut album, Crazy for You, you’re hearing singer Bethany Cosentino’s life. Piles of reverb coat the Los Angeles native’s songs about love, longing, and regret. There’s also occasional giddiness thrown in there for good measure. Surf-pop guitars brush over her…
What to Do Tonight: Those Darlins
A night on the town with Those Darlins always ends up with a dead critter on the bar After two solid years spent conquering any honky tonk and rock club that would book them, Those Darlins hit their first big snag this summer. Just days before the Murfreesboro, Tennessee, quartet was set to take off…
What to Do Tonight: Jackson Browne and David Lindley
Jackson Browne hasn’t aged a day in 35 years. Neither has his hair Rock & roll is a young man’s game, and it isn’t so easy to age gracefully when you play it. Once you hit 50 or so, there are only a few options: oldies act, retirement, pop-culture punch line. Jackson Browne, who’ll turn…
What to Do Tonight: Land of Talk
“They said to meet them by the big, round, orange mural. Maybe they meant the other big, round, orange mural … ” Land of Talk is another one of those not-really-a-band bands. Since forming in 2005, the only constant member has been singer Elizabeth Powell, rounded out by a few short-termers and a whole lot…
What to Do Tonight: Kellie Pickler
“My family’s batshit crazy, y’all!” After Kellie Pickler was eliminated from American Idol in 2005, it looked like she would go the way of most of the show’s alum (paging Justin Guarini and that Sanjaya dude). But the ditzy Southerner has carved out quite a career, racking up several hits (including “Red High Heels,” “I…
What to Do Tonight: Matt & Kim
Zany! Matt & Kim are two Brooklyn pals — Matt Johnson and Kim Schifino — who also happen to be the happiest and most carefree dance-punk duo touring the country right now. Whenever they’re onstage, they break out huge smiles and get real goofy — a perfect complement to their ecstatic music. Matt & Kim…
What to Do Tonight: Breathe Owl Breathe
Be afraid. Be very afraid Breathe Owl Breathe got their start in 2004, when Oberlin College freshman Andréa Moreano-Beals was on tour with another band. She met singer and guitarist Micah Middaugh, and it wasn’t long before Moreano-Beals was adding her classically trained cello to Middaugh’s warm folk songs. A few years later, percussionist Trevor…
Out Today: Weezer
WEEZERHurley(Epitaph) After 16 years of cleverly written guitar-pop, it’s easy to take Weezer for granted. Casual fans might even be a bit overwhelmed by the fact that Hurley is the prolific band’s third album in as many years. But it’s rare to have a songwriter as talented as Rivers Cuomo stay true to his original…
Out Today: Robert Plant
ROBERT PLANTBand of Joy (Rounder) Robert Plant’s first album since Raising Sand, 2007’s Grammy-winning collaboration with Alison Krauss, deepens his probe into Americana. It doesn’t hook immediately — instead it insinuates. Band of Joy is a largely dark, haunting record. Produced wide and raw by Plant and Buddy Miller, the guitar ace who gave Sand…
Cleveland Public Library Giving Amnesty for Late Books/Fines in September
No excuse, people. Someone else could read and then make fun of Mitch Albom’s books now. Purely hypothetical… There’s this guy, we’ll call him John, who six years ago took books out from the Cleveland Public Library. His due date comes and goes and he holds onto the books, fully intent on returning them soon…
Cleveland Is The Third Most Stressful City in America
He doesn’t looked stressed… for now. Another day, another list for Cleveland. This time it’s the “Most Stressful Place in America” rankings by Portfolio.com, where Cleveland comes in at No. 3 Before you moan about another seemingly lowly designation for the Forest City, first take a deep breath, you don’t want to get any more…
This Just In: Cleveland Concert Announcements
Free Energy are coming back to town for the 837th time this year Joseph Arthur: Sat., Sept. 18, 9 p.m., $15. Musica. Death Angel: Mon., Feb. 7, 6:30 p.m., $14 ADV/$16 DOS. Peabody’s. Dignan/Farewll Flight/Bassell/Call Me Constant/Jacob Vangas’ Band: Thu., Sept. 16, 7 p.m., $9. Musica. Free Energy/Foxy Shazam: Sun., Nov. 21, 9 p.m., $8.…
Sandra Daniel, Cleveland School Bus Driver, Charged With DUI
Sandra Daniel’s car on its side after the crash. A woman parents trust to shepherd their kids safely to and from school couldn’t be trusted to do the same with one of her own. Police are busy processing charges against Sandra Daniel, a 47-year-old Cleveland school bus driver, after Daniel wrecked her car while under…
Helga Taylor and Husband Get DUIs in Same Day
One for the family photo album. Helga Taylor and Michale Taylor are married but separated. The husband and wife are obviously dealing with some issues that caused a rift in the marriage. Whatever those issues that kept them on separate pages were, two separate but similar incidents a couple of weeks ago involving the pair…
Hanging Out at the Rock Hall
Shazam! More than a thousand people crammed the Rock Hall Friday night to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the opening of the museum in 1995. New York may have snagged the 25th Anniversary Concerts last October, but Cleveland was left with a fun, and somewhat hollow, party to kick off Labor Day weekend. The evening…
Raleigh Trammell, Dayton Minister, Ringleader of Sick Sex Circus
Not someone you want to hang out with. Morning all. After a refreshing long weekend, here’s a gross dispatch from the underbelly of American society to get your week off right! Seriously though, we put up a lot of stories here on the decadent and depraved, but this next one really seems like a signpost…
Vanessa Bayer, Cleveland Native, Joins SNL Cast
According to numerous reports, the newest Saturday Night Live cast member is Cleveland’s Vanessa Bayer. Any female not named Kristen Wiig is a welcome addition. Click the link for her comedy cred, or check out the clip after the jump to see her in action in a California Blue Shield commercial, which has nothing to…
Infamous Fox 8 Bear Video Lands on Jimmy Fallon Show
Everyone’s favorite viral clip of Fox 8’s own Todd Meany prancing around a backyard with a cardboard cutout of a bear landed on Jimmy Fallon’s show this week in the “Remix the Clip” segment.
Miami Doesn’t Want Clevelanders’ Donated LeBron Jerseys
Break Up With LeBron, the group behind the donation program. When the sparks of anger were flying fast and hot in the wake of LeBron’s departure to South Beach, many a LeBron jersey in Cleveland went up in flames. The cathartic process of torching the King’s gear made some fans feel better, but others thought…
Miami Doesn’t Want Clevelanders’ Donated LeBron Jerseys
When the sparks of anger were flying fast and hot in the wake of LeBron’s departure to South Beach, many a LeBron jersey in Cleveland went up in flames. The cathartic process of torching the King’s gear made some fans feel better, but others thought it was a tad wasteful to burn perfectly good clothing…
Ohio Couple Claim to Capture ‘Normandy Nessie’ Creature on Video in Florida
An Ohio couple vacationing in Florida claim to have captured the infamous ‘Normandy Nessie’ on video. The supposed 30-foot-long, serpent-like creature has been part of Florida lore ever since resident Russ Sittloh coined the name after catching similar mysterious movements by some mysterious creature in the water near his home. Authorities, it should be noted,…
Gay Games Get Dirty, Lawsuit Filed By Ousted Group
This will — hopefully — be us in 2014. The fracas over the 2014 Gay Games took another twist this week. The local group initially tasked with planning the games filed a lawsuit on Wednesday alleging the city and international planners are in cahoots to squeeze them out of the picture. Conspiracies afoot, dear readers…
Parma Doesn’t Mind Playing Up Its Stereotypes
Churches! Kielbasa! All Discover Parma’s missing is pink flamingos and pirogi. (Hat tip to Scott from WaitingforNextYear.com)
Road Trip Concert Review: Aerosmith
“Hello, Cleve … Cincinnati!” From time to time, we here at C-Notes like to hit the road for big concerts that for some reason are skipping Cleveland. Here’s our report. Had to beg for this article, cut out of work early and drive five hours to Cincinnati to get Aerosmith tickets last night. Top priority…
Have Machete, Will Travel
In his first starring role, veteran character actor Danny Trejo earns his place among the hallowed hall of action heroes as he slices and dices his way through a series of bad guys, led by none other than Steven Seagal. Trejo (whose quarter-century career includes everything from Maniac Cop 2 to voiceover work in one…
Ohio Wal-Marts Segregate Books About African Americans in Their Own Section
Via peopleofwalmart.com. Wal-Mart is in the business of making money. The process by which it does so is attracting a certain brand of consumer and keeping things simple. This goes for selling books just as much as it does for hawking economy-sized packages of tube socks. Grouping books together by general topic and genre for…
John Gajewski, ex-Wickliffe Bus Driver, Fired for Handing Out X-mas Cards
No reports on whether or not Gajewski’s bus was this much fun. In the spectrum of on-the-job offenses that can get you canned, where exactly does handing out Christmas Cards come in? Is this worst than insubordination? Workplace porn? Fraud? One former Wickliffe school bus driver is asking himself — and the court — that…
Ever Get the Feeling You’ve Been Cheated?
We can smell a swindle a mile away … Not that there’s much to their legacy that hasn’t already been exploited and pissed on by Johnny Rotten and the other band members, but the Sex Pistols’ new perfume may be their most shameless and obnoxious moneymaking swindle since the last time they pulled something like…
Bernie Kosar Definitely Maybe Hit a Cop’s Motorcycle and Got a Ticket
Bernie, not in a car. Bernie, Bernie, oh yeah, how you can drive. No, no, no no no no. Random YouTube searching turned up a video purporting to show Bernie Kosar pulled over by a Cleveland motorcycle cop after making an illegal U-turn and, allegedly, hitting a bike cop in the process. The title of…
New Web Site Promotes Cleveland’s Nightlife
This actually isn’t from a club. It’s Scene’s weekly edit meeting. We might not be telling you anything you didn’t know here, but Cleveland bumps, it grinds, it shimmies and shakes. This town’s got an active nightlife — Ground Zero the beleaguered West 6th area — and wild Friday and Saturday nights are major money…
New Mushroomhead Song Streaming
Mushroomhead have a new song streaming online. “Come on” is the first taste of the band’s new album, Beautiful Stories for Ugly Children, which comes out on September 28. You can read more about it and here the song here. The link will also direct you to the new Kylesa song, which might make you…
Thursday Ticket Giveaway: Rock Hall Ball
This place will be rockin’ tomorrow night. We have a pair of tickets to the Rock Hall’s 15th anniversary bash tomorrow night. They’re ‘vinyl level’ tix that get you into the party from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. Want them? Just be the first person to send your name and e-mail address to freetickets@clevescene.com with…
Pre-Show Q&A: Ryan Kralik
“Boo!” Kent troubadour Ryan Kralik has set his way-back machine to explore the expansive sounds of classic rock. His third album, Fast Winds From Dying Stars, is an 11-song set of solar breezes that sound like some long-lost ‘70s radio station. Tune into tracks like “Wherever You Are,” “Always Never,” and “Refuge (Yeah, Yeah, Yeah)”…
Brennan Eden in the Craziest Car Crash You’ll See All Day (Updated)
Brennan Eden thinks his crash was pretty badass. Update: Brennan Eden was stone-cold sober. That unbelievable revelation comes from authorities who tested Eden’s blood for drugs and alcohol following his spectacular crash near Dayton last week. Raise your hand if you thought they’d find a LiLo-worthy cocktail of substances coursing through his veins? Yeah, us…
Louis Badalament, the Awful Weatherman, Got a Tosh.0 Web Redemption
If you’ve ever seen the infamous ‘Awful Weatherman’ viral video, then this clip from Tosh.0 should be right up your alley. Louis Badalament was attending Ohio University when he became the unlikely star of a student newscast. Weatherman? Sure, I can be the weatherman. How hard can it be? More difficult than one would imagine.…
Alexa Guzman Got Drunk and Drove Kids To School
Surprised she was able to keep her eyes open for this photo. Cops in Medina got reports of a driver weaving erratically Monday morning. It was early, when buses and cars pack the roads on the way to work and school. School is where Alexa Guzman was trying to go — she had her two…
Akron Police Confiscate 9 Kilos of Cocaine
Not this weekend, Chuck. The holiday bar scene is going to be irritable, mark our words. As if temperatures scraping at the triple digits and the start of school weren’t enough to put people on edge, now we get this info out of Akron: the cops have put a major dent in the region’s cocaine…
Eric Deaton, Constitution Party Candidate for Senate, Indicted for Sexual Contact with Minor
Eric Deaton, posing and looking moral. Eric Deaton is the Constitution Party’s candidate to fill George Voinovich’s Senate seat. The fringe candidate is one of many vying against Rob Portman and Lee Fisher, the big boys from the big parties. Deaton, who has been endorsed by the Mansfield and Akron Tea Party groups, was already…
Sam Mazzola’s Bear Killed a Man (UPDATED)
This bear is completely harmless, until he is harmful. Update II: Lots of happenings involving Mazzola since the initial attack. First, a judge ordered that Mazzola under go mental health treatment. Second, the AP writes today that Mazzola didn’t have workplace injury insurance in case an employee, like Brett Kandra, was killed or injured on…
Frank Russo, No Criminal Mastermind, Does Something Sketchy, Again
No, you are not mistaken. That is Frank Russo and Jerry Springer So it looks like Frank Russo isn’t even trying anymore. The besieged public official — on the Fed’s chopping block since ‘08 —has now been caught red-handed indulging in blatant cronyism.As the Plain Dealer tells it today, after the county property revision board…
Local Bluesman Jimi Dyson Dies
Dussault and Dyson, back in the day Sad news on the local blues front. Colin Dussault tells us that James “Jimi” Dyson, a fixture on the Cleveland blues scene throughout the ’80s, passed away in his East Cleveland home over the weekend. Dyson played frequently at Brother’s Lounge, Fat Fish Blue, and the Main Street…
Ohio State Builds World’s Fastest Electric Car
Meet Terrelle Pryor’s new running back. The Ohio State University Center for Auto Research and sponsors have worked together for more than ten years as the Buckeye Bullet team, a coalition of tech and car enthusiasts who have been pushing the boundaries of hydrogen-fuel-cell and electric-powered vehicles. In that time, they’ve set land speed records…
Lorain Man Punches Woman, Realizes She Wasn’t Who He Thought She Was
“My bad.” A woman in Lorain was on her front lawn last week chatting with a neighbor. She had just moved to the area and what better or more neighborly thing to do for a newly arrived resident than to chat with the people on her street. There she was, making friends, when an unidentified…
Danielle Renftle Arrested For Leaving 1-Year-Old in Car on 90-Degree Day
Shoppers at Super Kmart came to the rescue of a 1-year-old yesterday when they noticed the tot in a car. There was great cause for concern: It was 90 degrees outside, the windows were up, and the baby was in the car by himself. After calling the cops, the shoppers alerted employees at the store…
Photo Show: Jonas Brothers at Quicken Loans Arena
Crystal Pirri unleashed her inner teenage girl last night and reviewed Jonas Brothers’ concert at the Q. She also brought her camera so she could take a whole bunch of fab pics for her bedroom wall. She’s sharing some with us. Were you at the show? Let us know what you thought of it in…
Concert Review: Jonas Brothers at Quicken Loans Arena
“Justin who?” Even though Justin Bieber has pretty much taken over the hearts and bedroom walls of teenage girls everywhere, Jonas Brothers still have a loyal following, which they proved last night at Quicken Loans Arena. And they proved it even before they took the stage: Thousands of screaming voices rose every time one of…
Concert Review: Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers at Blossom Music Center
“You know what’s hard? Waiting” Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers sure know how to work a crowd. The Rock Hall inductee started his band’s concert last night at Blossom Music Center with a series of hits before turning to material from their latest new album, the mostly forgettable Mojo. The mid-show departure gave fans a…
Still Splashing
The Breeders have released only four albums in their 22-year career, making them one of alt-rock’s most underachieving bands. During the same period, frontwoman Kim Deal’s Pixies bandmate Black Francis/Frank Black has been ridiculously over-prolific, recording more than a dozen albums. But even with the smaller catalog, Deal and the Breeders are the bigger stars,…
Get Out!
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1 DINNER & DIVERSITY AT LUCHITA’S Eat, Drink, and Be Worldly For more than 80 years, the Cleveland Council on World Affairs has taken it upon itself to mold our understanding of international relations through events that encourage discussion of global affairs. It sets the table for fascinating debates, but also for fascinating…
Cheap is Good
When it comes to eating college-style, ambiance and craftsmanship take a backseat to fast, filling, and cheap — at least till the folks pay a visit. Whether you’re a student hunkering down for a campus adventure or just a hungry civilian aiming to fill up, the Cleveland area offers a ton of great sandwich joints…
At the Arthouse
Ondine Colin Farrell stars in this new movie about a fisherman who catches a beautiful woman one day. It’s sorta like Splash directed by the guy who made The Crying Game. So this mysterious sea-woman may have a penis. Cleveland Institute of Art Cinematheque. At 9:30 p.m. Friday, September 3; 7:10 p.m. Saturday, September 4;…
On View at Local Galleries and Museums This Week
ON THE CORNER OFF: KEN NEVADOMI During his long career, CSU prof Ken Nevadomi’s paintings have been part cartoon and part visionary surrealism, almost always built around human figures placed in hallucinatory landscapes or other contexts that carry the work’s message. This month he’s showing two groups of paintings completed between 1997 and 2007: The…
CD Review: Ra Ra Riot
It’s not totally fair to call the Syracuse-based chamber-pop group Ra Ra Riot a junior Arcade Fire. For one thing, there are only five people in Ra Ra Riot. For another, they don’t aim quite as big as the way more popular Canadian collective. And that’s often a good thing. Without Win Butler’s arena-size anthems…
CD Review: Mike Posner
Mike Posner recorded his first mixtape in his dorm room. His second one included an appearance by electro-hip-hop knuckleheads 3OH!3. That should give you a pretty good idea where this 22-year-old Michigan native is coming from on his debut album. His breathy vocals are pleasant enough, and his poppy R&B beats are made for maximum…
Separation Anxiety
The relatively lengthy running time of Going the Distance, a romantic comedy starring Drew Barrymore and her real-life boyfriend Justin Long, coupled with its wearily predictable ending, gives you plenty of time to think about the relentless demands of commercial moviemaking. In this case, gifted documentary filmmaker Nanette Burstein — whose portraits of young boxers…
Back in Action
Violent action movies exist in a universe all their own. Whether it’s a film starring Clint Eastwood, Sylvester Stallone, or Danny Trejo, certain rules must be obeyed. Even filmmakers as creative as Robert Rodriguez play by them. In Machete, Trejo stars as a gun-wielding badass out for revenge against the guys who left him for…
Film Capsules, and More FIlm Capsules
Avatar Special Edition 3-D (PG-13) — There’s less than ten minutes of new footage added to this “special edition” of last year’s money-hogging sci-fi epic. At least the new scenes include creatures and action, so your $15 won’t be a total waste. Cairo Time (PG) — Patricia Clarkson plays a married woman who falls for…
Wit Happens
At Wits End are getting back together for one last show at 8 p.m. Sunday at Peabody’s. It’s the group’s first performance in six years. Frontman Aaron “Pants Pantsley” Sechrist assembled the hardcore band’s original lineup (bassist Brendan Moore, drummer Andrew DiVita, and guitarist Ryan DiVita) for the gig, which he promises will be “wild…
Stay In!
TOP PICK — DVD Elvis on Tour (Warner) Marking the 33rd anniversary of the King’s death, this documentary about Elvis’ 1972 tour finally makes its Blu-ray debut. It was the last movie Elvis released before he died, and it’s a telling look at the era. Somewhere between his comeback high and sad decline, Elvis is…
CD Review: !!!
!!! not only predated electroclash by five years, they’ve survived their brief post-millennial window of popularity without deviating much. Indeed, in “Steady as the Sidewalk Cracks” (from the new Strange Weather, Isn’t It?), frontman Nic Offer sings, “When I was young they called it garbage, now suddenly it’s golden age/The only thing that changed was…
LADY CASH GETS HER DAY
Leaking confidence at every turn, Cashmere “Lady Cash” Jackson darts about the ring with a swagger. When a right hand connects against her opponent’s side, the deep echo rattles around the Zelma George Rec Center in Cleveland’s Kinsman neighborhood. The girl hits hard. The center’s glass walls face the messy sundown, throwing the evening practice…
Where Did All the Art Go?
SPACES director Christopher Lynn has grown accustomed to explaining himself. He’s had a lot of practice lately. That’s what happens when you overhaul an institution that’s been around for more than thirty years, especially if your constituents are artists. Founded in 1978, SPACES is a gallery on the West Bank of Cleveland’s Flats whose mission…
We Get Mail
WHY COMMUNISM’S A BUMMER In “The Commies Next Door” [July 28, 2010], the writer forgot to mention that Marxism’s gulags and concentration camps make the National Socialist counterparts amateurish and inefficient. Leave it to the upper- and middle-class liberals, progressives, and secular humanists from Beachwood, Berea, or Hudson to spawn the next generation of “working-class…
Some of the Right Moves
Director Bruce Beresford (Tender Mercies, Driving Miss Daisy) has carved out a career crafting sturdy films with just enough pulse to shuffle his audiences out of theaters with a half-smile and a bland compliment. Mao’s Last Dancer — a tender, gawky, and, at times, gorgeous true story about an impoverished Chinese kid plucked from his…
Let’s Twist Again
There was a time when just about everybody in the United States was on the same page, culturally speaking. Let’s call that time “The ’80s.” The pop stars at the top of the charts — Bruce Springsteen, Prince, Madonna, Michael Jackson — were universally recognizable. You could hum their biggest hits. And so could your…
Concerts You Should Go See This Week
Todd Rundgren Unlike Ric Ocasek and the rest of the country, Northeast Ohio has forgiven Todd Rundgren for the New Cars. It stands to reason: Rundgren’s regional following is as famous as he is. So naturally he would get a free pass for the money-siphoning ruse of playing complete albums in concert. Last year, Rundgren…
CD Review: Soundtrack
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is one of the most exciting, next-level movies of the year. So why are the soundtrack’s best songs the old ones? Beachwood Sparks’ “By Your Side,” T-Rex’s “Teenage Dream,” and the Rolling Stones’ “Under My Thumb” stand out among Beck’s tossed-off new compositions — he performs the music, the film’s…
Expanded Book Chronicles Search for Bill Watterson, Calvin and Hobbes Creator
Calvin & Hobbes doing what they do. An expanded version of Looking for Calvin and Hobbes: The Unconventional Story of Bill Watterson and His Revolutionary Comic Strip is now available in paperback. In two new chapters, author Nevin Martell continues his fruitless quest for the elusive Watterson, who grew up in Chagrin Falls and still…
