The Man Show
The Medina County Fair is one of the area’s largest and longest-running fests. It’s been around for 161 years, and it remains among the state’s top agricultural fairs. That means there’s plenty of livestock, farming equipment, and abnormally huge vegetables on display. But the fair — now in the middle of a weeklong run —…
Death’s Cleaning Lady
A pile of red slop, like the insides of a pumpkin, sits on the blood-splattered kitchen floor. Betty Brown points at a few pearly white chunks in a photograph of the mess. “Those are pieces of brain.” She goes on to describe the murder scene as casually as she would her grandson’s birthday. It’s just…
Slaid Cleaves
Every roots musician must balance an audience’s demand for tradition with its contempt for familiarity. Slaid Cleaves does both well. Now touring in support of his seventh album, Unsung, Cleaves confidently unfurls songs about sinners’ prayers and drunken boxers, but his real gifts are great leaps of originality such as Wishbones’ “Horses and Divorces,” an…
I.V. League
“This is the 12 Monkeys album that didn’t happen,” says one of Varsity Club’s dozen all-star rhymers on the intro to this compilation of arena-ready hip-hop tracks. These A-team Cleveland rappers mix book smarts, street knowledge, and studio expertise. The disc collects cuts from duos Edotkom and Rime Royal, upcoming double-threat Play Havoc, and scene…
The week’s best releases from the pop-culture universe.
CD — Depeche Mode reissues: Three albums by the goth-rock gods get super-sized in remastered, two-disc packages. The band’s 1981 debut, Speak & Spell, still sounds creaky, but by 1987’s Music for the Masses and 1990’s mainstream breakthrough, Violator, the gloomy synth-lovers had perfected their brand of Prozac pop. There’s enough bonus material — B-sides,…
Grape Expectations
Don’t even think about Napa when you head out to this weekend’s Vintage Ohio wine celebration at Lake Metroparks Farmpark. It’s all about homegrown grapes at this annual favorite. “My most cherished experience is observing a wine snob saying, ‘This can’t be an Ohio wine,'” recalls Ohio Wine Producers Association rep Donniella Winchell. More than…
New Guy
Councilman Joe Santiago shuffles into his muggy office off Clark Avenue, carrying a file full of hate mail. The burly 40-year-old empties an envelope that contains only a red cloth napkin. He holds it up between his index finger and thumb before lightly tossing it aside. “I think they’re trying to tell me I’ve been…
The Saw Doctors
“It was about time we got around to writing some songs,” says Davy Carton, speaking from Galway, Ireland. He’s referring to the Saw Doctors’ new album, The Cure, an Irish-rock affair released last year and done Bring the Family-style. “Most of the tunes were done on one take, with not much overdubbing,” says Carton. “We…
Quiet Storm
A Long Time Comin’, the debut LP from Cleveland rapper Quiet Storm, leaves you with a stronger urge to hug your momma than to throw down on some haters. The Warrensville Heights grad possesses a maturity largely absent from mainstream hip-hop. He expresses his respect for the ladies with lines like “I ain’t one for…
The Joke’s on Him
Although he makes a good living as a stand-up comedian, Tom Wilson insists he doesn’t tell jokes. “It’s sort of high-energy storytelling,” he says. “I consider what I do really funny theater.” Wilson, best known as bully Biff Tannen in the Back to the Future movies, fills his act with stories from his life. “I…
Big Stink
Home-grown scam covers a lot of manure: Thank you, Jared Klaus [“Breaking the Bank,” July 5]. You have touched the top of a pile of shit, which has crusted over. Dig deeper and it really smells. Not only did National City know completely that it was selling a “lease” for phone and internet service –…
Ben Watt
Ben Watt reached a crossroads in the early ’90s. Although Watt and Tracey Thorn, his wife and songwriting partner, had knocked out six moderately successful albums as Everything but the Girl, they felt constrained by the limits of their pop-rock aesthetic. Hungry to reconnect with a younger generation, they commissioned deep-house purveyor Todd Terry to…
Costley Court
If you haven’t been to Akron lately, Costley Court is the perfect excuse. And when you go, wear your dancing shoes. “You gotta get the hook,” chant the players in disc opener “Get Hooked,” and those five words represent a big chunk of the album’s lyrics. It’s all they need to say. The eclectic eight-man…
Young and Restless
At 18, Nathan Corsi ranks as the youngest person to perform in this summer’s Street Beats series. But the rocker knows his way around a stage, making up for any lack of life experience. For the past four years, he and his trio have played the Agora, the Odeon, and Peabody’s. Tonight, he goes solo…
Shocking News!
The Akron Beacon Journal has a tradition of being especially tone deaf when it comes to under-40 culture. But the paper rose to new heights last week by reporting that — gasp! — college students now prefer iPods to beer. “Listening to music on iPods has temporarily overtaken beer drinking as the most in’ thing…
Paramore/Cute Is What We Aim For
A group of squeaky-clean Tennessee teens with a red-haired firebrand for a frontwoman, Paramore shades its high-octane emo rock with welcome echoes of early ’90s alt-rock acts like the Breeders, Belly, and That Dog. Singer Hayley Williams’ presence — and her precise, laser-beam vocals — are signs of progress in an ascendant emo scene that…
In With the Old
Some taverns are gathering places, some are solitary refuges. And some, like Tremont’s Prosperity Social Club, are time machines, where visitors soak up another era along with their cocktails and beer. Time shifts the moment we cross the threshold. On a humid July evening, heat crouches in every corner, waiting for the ceiling fans to…
Pointe Break
At tonight’s Pointe of Departure performance at Cain Park, dancers wed ballet, tap, modern, and jazz steps to classic movie tunes. A dozen troupe members bust moves to everything from Singin’ in the Rain to James Bond’s theme song. “These are not your grand-scale ballets,” says co-founder Karen Gabay. Gabay and business partner Raymond Rodriguez…
Public Square: Going Bi
So many women ask me this question, so I am going to post my views on the bi thing. The bi thought came to me in 1999 when I wasn’t dating for a long time and I could not find a girlfriend. I checked every dating site and went to bars. The problem with bars…
The Raconteurs
The Raconteurs are a garage-fuzz/power-pop ensemble led by the White Stripes’ Jack White and his old Detroit running buddy, singer-songwriter Brendan Benson, and featuring the Greenhornes’ rhythm section. The band was hatched in ’04, when White and Benson penned the combo’s first single, “Steady as She Goes”; within a year, the new quartet was using…
Pure Thoughts
The health-conscious trendinistas who frequent Chagrin Falls’ tony boutiques now have a pit stop of their own in Pure Juice Bar & Café (95 North Main Street, 440-773-3188). The healthy store is ironically located inside a Ben & Jerry’s, but partners David Walker, Carter Murdock, and Angela Huang are obviously sincere in their mission. “This…
Hall of Fame Ribs
Canton’s Pro Football Hall of Fame Festival weekend kicks off with the National Ribs Burnoff. There’s lots of non-ribs food as well, including wings, sweet-potato fries, and jambalaya. The Doobie Brothers and Pat Green bring the noise. Aug. 3-4, 11 a.m.-10:30 p.m.
Rover Returns
After six rocky months in Chicago, Rover is coming back home to Cleveland. “I can’t begin to tell you how happy we are,” the shock jock says. On Monday morning, Rover announced on his show that he was done with the Windy City and would soon be broadcasting from his home base in Cleveland. Since…
As Cities Burn
As Cities Burn is one of those rare emo bands that deserve a better label than “emo,” but when a song like “Terrible! How Terrible for the Great City!” suddenly explodes from a quiet, almost unplugged sing-along to a wall of guitar noise, it’s the kind of revelatory music that can drop you to your…
Crash Test Dummy
There is no antecedent to the movies Will Ferrell makes with writer-director Adam McKay, with whom Ferrell collaborated during their tenure at Saturday Night Live only a few years ago. To compare their offerings, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy and the new Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, to the oeuvres of Adam…
Community Service
For 25 years, the East 185th Street Festival has been one of the area’s biggest and best summer events. This year, the community bash is getting back to the basics. That means more displays from homegrown merchants, who will line an entire mile with handcrafted clothing, artwork, and more. All the usual fair attractions are…
Money for God
Last time we checked, abortion was still legal in Ohio. But thanks to a recent cash infusion from the feds, groups who want to outlaw it are getting flush on your dime. Take Pregnancy Decision Health Centers, a Columbus Christian group that promotes “responsible sexual values and alternatives to abortion.” According to its website, the…
This Bike Is a Pipe Bomb
Punk’s about a frame of mind, not a hair style or shirt from Hot Topic. This Bike Is a Pipe Bomb may not sound like Black Flag or the Clash, but in its 10 years of existence, the Pensacola, Florida trio has played more all-ages basement shows and VFW Halls than Dischord’s entire roster combined.…
Absolutely Fabulist
What’s the difference between a good liar and a good storyteller? The answer, or the lack of an answer, is a mystery at the heart of The Night Listener, a muted psychological thriller adapted from the Armistead Maupin novel. A writer’s elaborate what-if scenario extrapolated from an anecdote, it’s presented as a story within a…
Call of the Wild
At tonight’s 14th annual Twilight at the Zoo, 16 local bands will perform in the confines of the city’s biggest and best animal house. Hors d’oeuvres, beer, and wine keep the place swingin’. But it’s the wide palette of music — from rock to reggae and pop to punk — that makes this event so…
’80s Cover-Up
Grant-Lee Phillips isn’t Avril Lavigne or an American Idol contestant — he can write his own songs. First as the leader of Grant Lee Buffalo and later as a solo artist, Phillips has built a two-decade career around his inventive songwriting; he even won Rolling Stone’s award for best male vocalist in 1995. His original…
The Drams
Formed from the ashes of rustic Texas rock band Slobberbone, the Drams work a combination of countrified Stones and windblown anti-Nashville C&W. Singer-guitarist Brent Best has steered his new quintet into poppier, less guitar-reliant territory. Rootsy power pop and jangly country-folk rule the debut, Jubilee Dive, making it sound reminiscent of R.E.M. or Matthew Sweet.…
Downward Mobility
The old Lucas/Spielberg stunt of turning B-movie peekaboos into E-ticket thrill rides remains the industry standard — to the virtual exclusion of other multiplex fare, particularly when school’s out. But as not every kid who remade Raiders in Super 8 either gave up the dream or morphed into Michael Bay, there’s at least one next-generation…
Master of Puppets
Dozens of ancient puppets and masks are on display in Preserving Tradition in Wayang at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. Wayang is Southeast Asia’s traditional puppet theater; the exhibit focuses on artifacts specific to Indonesia, including wayang kulit, which are two-dimensional figures attached to long sticks. Since illumination brings them to life, they’re basically…
The Return of the Emo King
After struggling for years to achieve mainstream acceptance, former Sunny Day Real Estate singer Jeremy Enigk has given it up. And he sounds happier and more centered than ever. Enigk has just finished his second solo album, World Waits, and will release it on his new label, Lewis Hollow, in October. It has been 10…
The Unseen
Rise up and raise your fists! The Unseen kicks some ass with its riotous hardcore punk. The Boston quartet combines the street-smart ethics of classic punk with elements of screamo for an aggressive gut-punching rock sound. The Unseen’s not just another Warped Tour-tailored punk revival act. Its fifth album, State of Discontent, which was issued…
Show Me the Mommy
Monster’s Ball producer Lee Daniels makes his directorial debut with Shadowboxer, and it couldn’t be clearer that he’s trying to follow his previous formula for success. Oscar-caliber actors? Check. Interracial sex? Plenty. A violent demise or two, in the service of character development? Oh yes. But maybe Daniels could have learned a thing or two…
Hot Spot
Hot Spot If Dancing with the Stars has you wanting to put your best foot forward, saunter on over to Salsa on Mondays. The weekly classes welcome everyone from beginners to intermediates. The instructors will prep you with the basics before the sexy stuff starts. Experts work with budding dancers on trouble spots, so that…
Singer for Hire
Boston singer-songwriter Carrie Cheron may not be able to contain herself onstage tonight. Two months after releasing her first album, One More Autumn, she’s still high on the thrill. “It’s hard for me to believe,” she says. “When [the CDs] showed up on my doorstep, it became very real.” While touring the East Coast, Cheron…
Couch Concerts
I’ve barely got the attention span for a music video — on those rare occasions when MTV or MTV2 deign to play one — so music DVDs make no sense to me. What shmuck slumps on the couch, Doritos in hand, for hours on end, while a band rocks out on the screen? All a…
The Morning After
Mixing buzzsaw blues guitar and good old-fashioned alternative melodies into a remarkably palatable pop-rock mix, Cleveland quintet The Morning After is developing word of mouth among jaded music fans and cultivating growing crowds with its lively stage presence. The group hit the ground running, with an instant following culled from day-job friends at the Middleburg…
Superstar Rises Again
For anyone who’s read The Da Vinci Code — and that apparently includes everyone over the age of two — it’s impossible to look at a reproduction of Leonardo’s “The Last Supper” and not wonder about the gender identity of the person sitting at the right hand of Jesus. Even for those who consider the…
Dancing Under the Influence
If you boogie on DJ Rob Black’s dance floor, you’d better have a cocktail in your hand. Otherwise, he’ll stop spinning house music, grab the mic, and order you to belly up to the bar. “You just can’t have everybody dancing and not send them to get a drink,” says Black, who spends his days…
Hair Today
Dirty hippies aren’t baring their jigglies at Cain Park’s production of Hair. That’s because the original off-Broadway production contained no nudity, and director Victoria Bussert plans to stick to the script. “When it moved to Broadway, things were added . . . and taken away,” she laughs. Bussert hopes that the naked emotional truth expressed…
Kings of the Open Road
“So, do you like the upright piano on the porch?” This greeting, from Lords of the Highway singer-guitarist Dennis Bell, isn’t the first clue to the band’s idiosyncratic nature. Featuring an upright bass, contagious energy, and a clever mix of rockabilly, garage, and surf-punk, the band’s live show is among the most distinctive in town.…
Voivod
Knowing that his time was short, guitarist Denis “Piggy” D’Amour, founder of Voivod, the long-running, ever-mutating Canadian prog-thrash band, laid down loads of riffs and solos, along with instructions on their use for his bandmates — singer Denis “Snake” Belanger, drummer Michel “Away” Langevin, and ex-Metallica/Supernova bassist Jason Newsted — before cancer claimed his life…
Mini Mac
Now that the world is so thoroughly immersed in widening conflicts in the Middle East, isn’t it time to reestablish the quaint old tradition of displaying your enemy’s head on a pike? Oh sure, we have the modern version, like the close-up photos of dead bad guy al-Zarqawi, but those were carefully matted and framed…
Kick It Up
Cleveland pro-soccer fans can reconnect with the past at tonight’s NSL Indoor Soccer Challenge. The event arrives nearly a year after the Force folded. The main event pits Hector Marinaro, Zoran Koric, and other Cleveland all-stars against players from the new National Soccer League. At halftime, a Cleveland Legends game brings Force and Crunch veterans…
311 Is Evolving
On its eighth album, Don’t Tread on Me, 311 wraps up the past 15 years with a familiar-sounding set of new songs. Only this time, they’re coming through a group of relatively thoughtful, responsible thirtysomethings. “It does have a mature sound for us,” says S.A. Martinez, the rapper who also shares singing duties with Nick…
Making History
This Moment in Black History singer Chris Kulcsar must share an ancestor with the Tasmanian devil. How else to explain the manic jitters and spasms that accompany his singing — a kind of anguished yelp that becomes another screeching vehicle in This Moment’s sonic pileup? The quartet’s taut, careening rumble always makes a big impression.…
Mr. Gnome
Mr. Gnome rules. Mr. Gnome kills. Mr. Gnome owns. We hereby recommend the shred-heavy, pit-bull psychedelic rawk of the co-ed Cleveland duo to all fans of Jucifer, Black Sabbath, Portishead, Trip 66, Bardo Pond, drinking, fighting, and sex. If you don’t bring an extra $8 for the eponymous debut EP, you’ll be kicking yourself in…
Capsule reviews of current area theater presentations.
Ain¹t We Got Fun! — Writer-director Michael McFaden has come up with a fetching idea, weaving a storyline around vintage, gay-themed songs from pre- and post-Depression-era America. But what should be a sprightly romp instead shudders to an exhausted halt a full two and a half hours after the opening number. The central plot involves…
O Brother
Darrin Bates and five fellow funnymen claim they’re “Cleveland’s craziest comics.” Tonight they’ll try to prove it at 3-C Comedy Spree. Bates stuffs his sets with “raunchy dick and Vagisil jokes,” which oughta go down well with the free wings. Darrin, who doubles as the event’s host, brings along his fraternal twin, Dave, to spin…
Hang Time
Like its other eye-popping shows, Cirque du Soleil’s Delirium features luminous sets and over-the-top acrobatic feats. This time, the performance (which comes to town this weekend) centers on Bill, a guy who’s fed up with cube-dwelling reality. So he retreats to a dream world, where he discovers a friendlier, less-internet-savvy society. “Bill finds out about…
Desert Isle Discs
1. Afghan Whigs, 1965 The bass slides, the drums kick in, and from there on out it’s tight grooves, catchy lyrics, and a dirty, soulful feel. 2. Weezer, Pinkerton There’s something about it that’s not immediately accessible, but it grows and grows on you, until one day it feels like a friend you wish you’d…
Phoenix
The French are known not for the raw fury of their actions so much as the smooth operation of their passions. The Versailles quartet Phoenix maintains that impression, with a breathless, calculated spontaneity that feels as if it’s evolving in real time even as it’s rooted firmly in tradition. Uniting Spoon’s rhythmic insistence, the Strokes’…
Capsule reviews of current area art exhibitions.
NEW All Women All Art — Woodmere’s Opus Gallery opens its halls once a year to an exhibit featuring local women artists only. The 11th edition of the show includes work by six painters and photographers, at least half of whom make the trip worthwhile. Victoria Dumesh’s digital photography is particularly memorable. Applying modern technology…
Roots Rock
The Roots are just as sick as we are of hearing about how they’re a hip-hop anomaly. Yeah, they’re a “live rap band” that plays its own instruments. But they’re also one of music’s most original, organic groups. Phrenology, from 2002, ranks as one of the decade’s best CDs, no matter what label is slapped…
Adolescents Pursuit
Now in their forties, the members of veteran Orange County punk band the Adolescents still find meaning in their old songs. “I went through this jaded period, where I thought no one was listening to what we were saying,” says bassist Steve Soto, looking back on old faves like “Amoeba” and “Kids of the Black…
Battle of the Bands
With Live Nation’s purchase of the House of Blues, there’s no telling whether Kuyahoga’s first year will also be its last. But for the moment, let’s celebrate our good fortune: HOB booker Anthony Nicolaidis has assembled the best single-day music lineup of the year. Poaching the finest acts making their way to Lollapalooza on Friday,…
Various Artists
France’s favorite pop pervert, the late Serge Gainsbourg, enjoyed most of his success in the late ’60s and ’70s. But while his orchestral hits retain their lecherous charm, this tribute comes a decade too late. Maybe it’s the roster packed with trip-hop throwbacks (Tricky, Portishead) and Brit-pop’s back pages (Pulp’s Jarvis Cocker, Placebo), but even…
Shut Up, Already
V for Vendetta (Warner Bros.) Illustrator David Lloyd calls this adaptation of the comic he made with writer Alan Moore “very good” — so why did Moore beg to have his name removed? The intentions are noble, sure; name another big-studio blockbuster in which a government manufactures fear to keep its citizens in line (and…
Watch Out for Guano
Bats don’t get their parties started till dusk. So fans of the furry, flying critters will have to wait till sunset tonight to check them out at Cleveland Metropark’s annual Bat Gala. Naturalists lead folks on a search, hauling out nets to snag a few of the winged freaks for close-up looks. “Our experts work…
Virtual Deal
Smog Veil Records has signed an innovative iTunes-exclusive deal for a best-of release from Brook Park’s Balomai Brothers. The band’s “And Every Single Song Is Gonna Go Like This” was a Scene Music Awards nominee for song of the year. Label owner Frank Mauceri says that all-digital distribution allows him to give more bands more…
Cut Chemist
Deep underground, in his secret lab, Cut Chemist has been experimenting with his new set of sinister scratches and samples. The mad turntable tactician, consummate record collector, and DJ-producer for Jurassic 5 and Ozomatli has just released his debut solo disc of sample-based songs, The Audience’s Listening. Twelve slices of South American hip-hop percolate and…
Trail of Tears
Native American heroes are a rare commodity in videogames. Turok: Dinosaur Hunter, released a decade ago, is the most prominent example. Now Turok finally has company. The best way to describe Prey is “Doom meets Cherokee mysticism.” And while most critics are fawning over this first-person action/horror title, don’t believe the smoke signals. Prey’s characters…
The First Rule Returns
Tyler Durden fans, rejoice! The Cedar Lee Theatre’s weekly cult-movie series features Fight Club tonight, and if you’ve never seen it on the big screen, do yourself a favor and check it out. David Fincher’s 1999 mindfuck of a film is all the more powerful when it’s looming over you on a 30-by-70-foot screen —…
Gone In 50 Seconds
His flight didn’t leave for several hours, but just after midnight on October 2, 2005, Shaun Cleland filled his rental car with gas and headed for the airport. If he needed a place to stay — a couch or floor to crash on, even for a few hours — he could have called someone. His…
Adrienne Young and Little Sadie
Adrienne Young and Little Sadie Thanks in part to the popularity of the movie O Brother, Where Art Thou?, the acoustic axis of American roots (or “traditional”) music is enjoying its highest profile since the folk-blues boom of the ’60s. To quote Madame Stewart, “That’s a good thing” — especially if it allows talents like…
Rude Boy
As a fictional film, Rude Boy fails miserably; as a document of Britain’s punk era and of the Clash live, it’s an unqualified success. In their story about a Clash roadie, filmmakers Jack Hazan and David Mingay try to create a white counterpoint to the Jamaican rude-boy phenomenon, but the real stars are the Clash’s…
Our top DVD picks for the week of August 1.
Beavis & Butt-head: The Mike Judge Collection, Volume 3 (Paramount) Blind Beast vs. Killer Dwarf (Panik House) Broken Saints: The Animated Comic Epic (Fox) Dallas: The Complete Fifth Season (Warner Bros.) Elvis: ’68 Comeback (BMG Heritage) A Fish Called Wanda: Deluxe Edition (MGM) Girls Next Door (Fox) The Graduate (MGM) How Art Made the World…
