This weekend’s top arts and entertainment picks around town, from the guy who’s paid to pick them: Friday: Cirque Dreams cast members say folks always confuse them with the infinitely more popular Cirque du Soleil troupe. Well, that’s gonna happen when you not only give yourself a similar name, but crib your whole damn act from the Canadian group. Still, the trippy costumes, gravity-defying feats, and flashing lights are pretty impressive. Besides, Cirque Dreams is in Akron tonight. Cirque du Soleil is nowhere near Cleveland.
Saturday: Emo fans, rejoice! Tonight’s House of Blues show featuring Cartel, Cobra Starship, Boys Like Girls, and New Atlantic features some of the scene’s most popular bands. Our favorite: Cobra Starship, whose theme song for Snakes on a Plane was the best thing about that movie.
Sunday: You don’t need to wait till next weekend to drink like an Irishman. O’Feenie’s Irish House in Parma holds a Great Irish Draft Taste Test today. Five bucks gets you six of the pub’s lagers and ales — including Guinness, Smithwick, and Bare Knuckle, all on tap. The bar’s cooks also dish out corned beef and cabbage, shepherd’s pie, and lamb stew. Think of it as preseason training. –Michael Gallucci
This article appears in Mar 7-13, 2007.