Mat Kearney's at the House of Blues on Friday.
This week's top arts and entertainment picks around town, from the guy who's paid to pick them:
Monday: Vietnam sounds a little like the era from which they grabbed their moniker. The Brooklyn group makes music that's hazy, crazy, and totally druggy. Their new self-titled album is the year's best stoner-rock album. They play the Beachland tonight.
Tuesday: Pug Mahone's claims it's the only Lakewood bar that brews its own beer -- the new
Frankie's Irish Red. We'll take their word for it (though a few boozy nights on the town have sorta confirmed this claim). The tasty beer packs a mind-numbing 5.9-percent alcohol content. Drink up!
Wednesday: Hey, ladies! Twenty eligible men take the Beachland stage tonight at Gallery 222's
Bachelor Auction, which also comes with food. Perfect for refueling between bouts of heated bidding on prime Cleveland beefcake.
Thursday: Cutie Utah siblings
Meg & Dia sure make some ballsy indie-rock for a couple of girls. The songs on their debut CD, Something Real, buzz and howl under the influence of the best pop-punk groups. They play House of Blues tonight.
Friday: In this iPod age of new artists making or breaking out of the gate, singer-songwriter
Mat Kearney's slow climb to radio ubiquity can be viewed as some sort of old-school triumph. The Nashville-based Kearney's major-label debut, Nothing Left to Lose, was released a year ago. Its title track, a Jack Johnson-like shot of laid-back folk, is just now making its way to the upper parts of the charts. Kearney is part of the VH1 You Oughta Know Tour, which also includes the Feeling and Rocco DeLuca & the Burden. It plays House of Blues tonight.
--Michael Gallucci
