9/8: Lisa Black at Joseph-Beth Booksellers
Former Clevelander Lisa Black’s background gives her serious credibility as a crime novelist. After studying political science at John Carroll and receiving a master’s degree in biology at Cleveland State, she worked for five years at the Cuyahoga County Morgue, analyzing what the TV cops refer to as “GSR” — gunshot residue — as well…
9/8: Fight Amp at Now That’s Class
If you’ve never heard of Fight Amp, go ahead and clear out a spot on your shelf for this Jersey band’s records next to the Melvins, Big Black and Helmet. This ragged quartet deal in the dark, sludgy and raw rock that ’90s bands perfected after listening to ’80s metal, punk and hard rock. And…
9/9: All’s Well That Ends Well
Case Western Reserve University visiting professor Geoff Bullen — who also serves as associate director of England’s Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, where he specializes in Shakespeare — makes his directing debut in the school’s MFA acting program tonight. Not so surprisingly, it’s one of the Bard’s works. Somewhat surprisingly, it’s All’s Well That Ends…
9/9: Benjy Ferree at Beachland
Benjy Ferree’s Come Back to the Five and Dime Bobby Dee Bobby Dee is a concept album about the sordid life and death of Bobby Driscoll, a child actor who was part of Walt Disney’s stable in the 1950s (he was the voice of Peter Pan in the studio’s 1953 animated hit). Ferree’s cleverly stylish,…
9/6: Tony Furtado at Waterloo Cafe
Virtuoso banjo player Tony Furtado has busted through several barriers during his long career. Some may see his main instrument (he also plays electric and acoustic slide guitar) as one used primarily in country or folk music, but Furtado has been able to take it to other places, including jazz, rock and blues. Through the…
9/6: The Gas House Gorillas at Town Fryer
Remember the swing revival? Bands like Big Bad Voodoo Daddy and the Cherry Poppin’ Daddies and several dozen others you never heard about? Well, the Gas House Gorillas put a slightly tougher, more rockin’ spin on that whole jump-blues-meets-rockabilly sound, propelled by a ferocious rhythm section featuring bassist Crusher Carmean (formerly of the Crescent City…
9/6: Billy Squier at TWC Amphitheater
When “The Stroke” became a global hit in 1981, many thought Billy Squier was an overnight sensation, but he’d already established a music career by then. Squier mastered the guitar by the time he was 15 and played in a succession of Boston bands before forming Piper in the mid-’70s. They shared management with Kiss…
9/7: 11th Congressional District Parade and Festival
The 11th Congressional District Community Caucus Annual Parade and Festival is an east-side tradition that was launched by former congressman Louis Stokes in the ’70s and carried on by successors Stephanie Tubbs Jones and, currently, Marcia Fudge. The parade steps off at 11 a.m. from East 146th and Kinsman (Fudge is this year’s grand marshall)…
9/7: Peace Show
The annual Cleveland Peace Show has become so much more than the anti-air show, even though its original aim was to counteract what the organizers — Artists for Peace and the Cleveland Nonviolence Network — saw as the Cleveland National Air Show’s focus on war and the military. Born during the saber-rattling of 2002 that…
Reviews of the Cedar Lee’s new films
The Cedar Lee Theatre opens two new films this weekend. Here are our reviews. Tetro Francis Ford Coppola’s follow-up to his virtually unwatchable 2007 debacle Youth Without Youth is the 70-year-old director’s finest work in almost two decades. Working from Coppola’s first original screenplay since 1974’s The Conversation, this grandly operatic tale of two siblings…
Fashion film shows at CMA tonight
A documentary about the fashion icon, Valentino: The Last Emperor shows tonight at 7 at the Cleveland Museum of Art. It shows again at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday. Here’s our review of the film. Valentino: The Last Emperor (U.S., 2008) In a documentary spiced with unimaginable glamour, no single image speaks to wealth’s fantasyland on…
Local food film screens tonight at the Waterloo Cafe
The locally produced food film, Polycultures, showed at the Cleveland International Film Festival earlier this year and then had a DVD release party at the Greenhouse Tavern. Now, it’s showing in another local venue – the new Waterloo Cafe (15601 Waterloo Rd., 216.862.4895, thewaterloocafe.com), where it screens tonight at 8 with a discussion taking place…
9/5: Bugs Bunny on Broadway
If the Cleveland Orchestra announced a program featuring George Daugherty conducting music by Carl Stalling and a hodgepodge of other composers, only a few people would figure out what it is. Yet, gigantic crowds fill Blossom and Severance Hall every time Daugherty brings one of his programs to town. That’s because Bugs Bunny on Broadway…
9/5: Lita Ford at TWC Amphitheater
Lita Ford was 17 when she joined the Runaways, the 1970s hard-rock jailbait quintet. When the band dissolved in 1979, Ford and Joan Jett took the solo route with widely varied results. Favoring a pop-metal approach, Ford released the largely ignored Out for Blood in 1983 but scored a minor hit with “Gotta Let Go”…
9/5: Mike Huckaby at Touch
As far as DJs go, Mike Huckaby has never been high profile, despite more than a decade of constant gigging and his visibility in the Detroit music scene. Whenever he’s not DJing, Huckaby manages the flow of dance records that funnels through the Record Time music shop to the rest of Detroit’s DJs. Still, his…
9/5: New Horizons, Unusual Assemblages and Renaissance Art
Three artists whose only connection is their teaching gigs at Avon Lake Elementary School are thrown together for New Horizons, Unusual Assemblages and Renaissance Art, which opens today at Pentagon Gallery. The exhibit includes work by watercolorist Richard Skerl, illustrator Sean Crum and sculptor and collage maker Gail Crum. Skerl uses watercolor in traditional subject…
Reviews of the Cinematheque’s weekend films
The Cleveland Institute of Art Cinematheque is showing several great movies this weekend. Here are our reviews. … And God Created Woman (France/Italy, 1956) When Roger Vadim’s sinful drama first premiered in the U.S., it was banned in Philadelphia and denounced by clergy, conservative politicians and even film critics. In truth, star Brigitte Bardot shows…
9/4: Back to School at Shoparooni
The adventures of Dick, Jane and their dog Spot were standard teaching tools for more than four decades, starting in the 1930s. Lakewood artist Dan Pongalo mines the books’ graphics and prose for his Superindustrial Love greeting cards. Shoparooni carries them and were happy to oblige Pongalo’s ambition to create some larger pieces in the…
9/4: Peter Frampton at TWC Ampitheater
Peter Frampton’s career ride makes coaster-hopping at Cedar Point look tame. A musical prodigy, Frampton went from British teenage heartthrob (with the Herd) to major guitar hero (with Humble Pie) to faltering solo career in less than a decade. Inexplicably, Frampton Comes Alive! became a huge hit in 1976 and Frampton turned into a full-fledged…
I Can See You has its local premiere tonight at CMA
Described as a “psychedelic campfire tale,” I Can See You has its local premiere tonight at 6:45 p.m. at the Cleveland Museum of Art. Here’s our review. I Can See You (US, 2008) Graham Reznick’s film has been described as a “psychedelic campfire tale,” and that’s a pretty apt description for this disjointed movie about…
Blink-182 Reschedules Concert
Yep, Blink-182 canceled their concert at Blossom Music Center tomorrow night. At least there’s some good news here: The band has rescheduled the show for September 30. Yeah, it’s gonna be a little cold, but at least you’ll get to see them sometime this year. —Michael Gallucci
BUT IS IT ART?
Whether graffiti is art of vandalism is one of those arguments that can never be resolved. That’s partly because the two choices are not mutually exclusive: of course graffiti is both art and vandalism. The choice is also dodgy because of the subjectivity of at least one of the choices. What, after all, is art,…
Blink-182 Canceled?
Those rumors are swelling as big as Scott Stapp’s now-bald head, so you know what that means: Blink-182’s concert at Blossom Music Center tomorrow is gonna be canceled. You can expect to get official word on this in a couple hours. So if you have something else to do tomorrow night, go ahead and make…
Tuesday Music News Roundup
Jay-Z says he isn’t mad that his new album leaked online. He’s got 99 other problems to deal with. Historic rock summit is being turned into big, gay Broadway show. Is Cleveland next? Chris Brown tells some old guy about the time he slapped around Rihanna. DJ AM’s reality show probably won’t last more than…
Feagler and Friends: A Short Play Concerning the State of Cleveland Sports
Scene: Interior. Starbucks on W. 6th. Occasion: First day of Gingerbread Lattes. Dick Feagler, LeBron James, Mark Shapiro and Josh Cribbs sit at a table. Dick Feagler: So, I was sitting there at the coffee shop with the guys talking about… LeBron James: Dick, we’re right here. We know you’re at the coffee shop. You…
This Just In: Concert Announcements
We have a hot, steaming serving of 47 new concerts this week. This week’s theme: big shows in small clubs. Nicole Atkins & the Black Sea: Tavern, Mon., Oct. 26, 8:30 p.m., $10. Beachland. Black Cobra/Black Tusk: Mon., Nov. 23, 8 p.m., $10. Grog Shop. Lonnie Brooks: Ballroom, Fri., Nov. 13, 8 p.m., $20. Beachland.…
Will Blink’s Show Go On?
So … what do you think the chances are Blink-182 will cancel Wednesday’s show at Blossom Music Center? After this, we think the chances are pretty good. —Michael Gallucci
9/3: Brian Auger at Nighttown
Widely recognized as a pioneer in the jazz-rock and acid-jazz movements, keyboardist Brian Auger’s career began on a different track. He started performing at jazz piano bars in his native England in the early ’60s and even won a Melody Maker award for his playing in 1964. But then he discovered the organ and started…
Monday Music News Roundup
Oasis call it quits, surprising most of the world, who thought they broke up years ago. Blink-182 pay tribute to DJ AM. Chris Brown still loves Rihanna and would love the chance to beat the shit out of her again. Call your mom. Whitney Houston has a new album. Michael Jackson’s dad says “someone should…
9/3-7: Great Geauga County Fair
It may sound grandiose, but the Great Geauga County Fair has earned the right to call itself “great.” It’s not only one of the largest county fairs in Ohio, it’s the oldest, celebrating its 186th outing this year. The gates at the Burton Fairgrounds (14373 Cheshire St., Burton) — where the fair has been held…
9/3: 2009 CIA Faculty Exhibition
“Ginger Jar” Brent Young’s three-foot-tall “Ginger Jar” is a container in name only. You might uncover a piece like this (with its delicate glass loops) during an archaeological dig, but the Cleveland Institute of Art professor of glass’ sole intent was to show off a technique that makes viewers wonder, “How did he do that?”…
Poll: Black Cobra vs. White Denim
In November, two bands with colorful (or is that colorless?) names will enter the Grog Shop, but only one may leave. Who’s your money on: Black Cobra or White Denim? Black Cobra are fistful-of-metal rockers from Frisco. White Denim are arty, trippy rockers from Texas. Who do you think could take whom in a Texas…
Photo Show: Brad Paisley at Blossom, 8/28
Mark Pirri braved the stormy weather at Blossom Music Center on Friday night and emerged with a bunch of backstage and onstage shots of Brad Paisley.
Concert Review: Brad Paisley at Blossom, 8/28
Brad Paisley’s new single, “Welcome to the Future” (from his latest album, American Saturday Night), is the country singer-songwriter’s take on the ways technology has changed since he was a kid. The video for the song was filmed in New York, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles and Japan, and features kids talking about their hopes for…
9/2: Blink-182 at Blossom
Used to be that bands from the ’70s and ’80s were the ones cashing in with reunion tours. But it’s gotten to the point where ’90s groups like Stone Temple Pilots and No Doubt are getting back together for some quick cash. You can add Blink-182, who have been on hiatus since 2005, to that…
9/2: Intellectual Property and the Arts
Sued twice on grounds of copyright infringement for their appropriation of sound and video in their collage-style productions, Negativland know a thing or two about intellectual-property rights and the concept of “fair use.” For almost three decades they’ve been cutting and pasting scraps of culture. Their 1995 book and CD Fair Use: The Story of…
DOUCHEBAG DEFINED
There’s a category of books that get sent to all the alternative newspapers in the country because the publishers of said books believe that we’re all total suckers for whatever wacky outrageousness they can print. Books that have come across the Scene arts desk recently include a slew in this category, from The Book of…
Halloween 2 takes itself too seriously
Rob Zombie’s 2007 remake of Halloween did a fairly good job of putting a fresh spin on a horror classic. By no means did it measure up to John Carpenter’s original, but it wasn’t bad. Not all horror fans were happy, but that’s par for the course. Now, despite having said he wouldn’t direct a…
Concert Review: Cracker at the Beachland, 8/28
Back in the mid-’90s, when Cracker was delivering one alt-rock radio hit after another, it attracted a crowd of backward-baseball cap wearing dudes who’d be just as happy pumping their fists to some Soundgarden song as they would to Cracker’s sardonic “Teen Angst.” Fifteen-plus years down the road, the band now attracts a more sophisticated…
8/30: Cleveland Orchestra
After Saturday’s all-French program, the Cleveland Orchestra crosses the border for a program that mixes works by Spanish composers with some French guys who borrow rhythms, drama and inspiration from the Iberian Peninsula. Most of the pieces are greatest hits from that part of the world: Georges Bizet’s Suite from Carmen and Maurice Ravel’s Bolero.…
8/31: Josh Rzepka at Musica
Oberlin grad Josh Rzepka looks young enough to still be in high school. But the trumpet player is currently enrolled in a graduate program at Boston University. While in town this summer, he quickly recorded and released Midwest Coast. Backed by pianist Jackie Warren, bassist Peter Dominguez and drummer Ron Godale, Rzepka pounded out the…
A few inventive kills can’t save The Final Destination
While at a racetrack, Nick (Bobby Campo) has a premonition that one of the cars will crash into the stands causing considerable death and mayhem. He makes a scene, and, along with his friends and a few other spectators, leaves the track just in time to miss seeing the vision come true. Any relief is…
Friday Music News Roundup
Just because we love Taylor Swift and will post about her whenever we get the chance. Well, maybe you should leave the stripper pole at home next time. Whitney Houston’s record company cares more about her career than she does. Michael Jackson was murdered! And they mean it this time. They’re not nearly as trendy…
Salt the Wound Preview New CD Tomorrow
Local deathcore/extreme-metal quintet Salt the Wound’s new CD Ares (on California-based Rotten Records) comes out September 15. But the band is sharing it with fans a little early. They’re celebrating the release with a show at the Grog Shop tomorrow night, and every paid admission also snags a free copy of the CD. The quintet…
We Wish You a Happy Nirvana
Ready for the holidays? No, not Labor Day. I’m talkin’ Christmas. Hannukah. Thanksgiving. My birthday (yeah, I’m a late-November guy). Well, the record companies are getting ready for them. A few new Nirvana-related CDs are coming out soon, and their respective labels hope you’ll spend some of your gift-giving cash on them. First up is…
FACE IT, “THE REAL WORLD” IS NEVER COMING TO CLEVELAND
We’re not entirely sure about this — something about a Cleveland-based reality show and hip young loft-dwellers running around town looking for stuff — but if it even puts a dent in the brain drain, we’re down. (Does that still mean “in favor”?)
Taking Woodstock was a real drag for star Liev Schreiber
When Liev Schreiber (Defiance, X-Men: Wolverine) read the script to Ang Lee’s period piece Taking Woodstock and realized he’d be playing a man dressed in drag, he had a mixed reaction. “It was exhilaratingly humiliating,” he says during recent roundtable discussions in New York. “In thinking about it, there’s something about putting on women’s clothes…
Firestone Blind Item: Which Golfer Knocked Up a Stripper in Akron?
From Gawker: 4. “Which well-liked pro golfer once switched sponsors because he needed several million dollars in hush money? Seems he knocked up a stripper while playing at the Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio, and had to pay her off to keep their love child a secret.” [Page Six] So… any guesses people?
DRESDEN EXCHANGE
Zygote Press director Liz Maugans is getting ready to show some new work in Germany. She and Bellamy Prinz are the artists participating this year in Zygote press’s annual Dresden Exchange program, an artist swap with a commercial print making studio in Dresden, the Grafikwerkstaat. Later in the fall, the Dresden shop will send a…
Bruce at the Rock Hall
The Rock Hall just posted two audio clips from chief curator Jim Henke’s exclusive interview with Bruce Springsteen. Check ’em out here. This month, you can also catch the Rock Hall on TV: Cinemax is airing The Rocker, the locally filmed, music-themed comedy featuring Office star Rainn Wilson. In the film, the Rock Hall apparently…
8/29: Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes ay HOB
In the rush to canonize Bruce Springsteen back in the ’70s, several other New Jersey musical deities were shunted unfairly into a secondary position. Chief among them was John Lyon and his band of R&B-flecked rockers. Although plagued by a lack of commercial success and bad luck with record companies, Southside Johnny & the Asbury…
8/29: Cleveland Orchestra w/ Jean-Yves Thibaudet
Jean-Yves Thibaudet once told an interviewer that because he has both of his hands, he learned all of Maurice Ravel’s piano works except the one in D Major, which was composed for the left hand only. He thought playing music for only half of his functional digits was “silly.” Booked to perform the piece at…
8/29: Big Sandy & His Fly Rite Boys at Beachland
Over the past 21 years, Big Sandy & His Fly Rite Boys have morphed from purveyors of frenetic rockabilly to masters of Western swing and the more traditional arm of country music, without losing one iota of the energy and passion that they’ve exhibited from the very start. They started out in Southern California in…
Thursday Music News Roundup
People in Romania like Madonna’s recent records, but they don’t like gypsies. Go figure. So this is what slapping around Rihanna gets you these days. Remembering a great pop songwriter. Apparently, Whitney Houston’s dookie bubble song won’t be released after all. Authorities say Michael Jackson’s doctor killed him. Michael Jackson’s doctor says, “No I di-in’t!”…
8/28: Mose Allison at Nighttown
Mississippi-born jazz pianist, singer and songwriter Mose Allison has influenced countless musicians, including the Rolling Stones, the Who and the Clash. He’s penned more than 150 songs — most of them combining sharp, caustic wit with a great sense of irony. “Your Mind Is on Vacation” admonishes an acquaintance for blabbering on; “Getting There” gently…
8/28: Native at Now That’s Class
If you’re one of those music fans who wishes At the Drive-In had never broken up and mewithoutYou had never gone the acoustic-psych path, chances are you’ll like Native. The Indiana quartet play the kind of gnarled, intricate and intelligent post-hardcore those two other bands are known for, and they do it with the same…
8/28: Year of the Beard Guest Beard-Tending
Back in December — when most of us were considering doing away with cigarettes, desserts or some other vice for the new year — Andy Bindernagel was pondering what he could add to his life. The final decision? Three-hundred-and-sixty-five days’ worth of facial hair. After nearly eight months of not shaving, Bindernagel may look like…
Mansfield Woman Inducted Into Rockabilly HOF
Mansfield septugenarian Betty Nickell was recently inducted into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. We somehow missed the news, but her local paper, the Mansfield News Journal, didn’t. In fact, it has a pretty good profile of the woman you should read. You can head over here to listen to some of Betty Nickell’s music, daddy-o.…
8/28: The Sculpture of David E. Davis
You can find David Davis’ large, abstract sculptures all over town — from a work that resembles a large basketball balanced on a domino sitting on the front lawn of the Beck Center to “Bridge to Knowledge,” a huge piece at the Cuyahoga County Public Library’s Beachwood branch that looks a little like folded paper.…
8/28: Bocce Cup
The 26th annual Pat O’Brien Chevrolet Cleveland Challenge Cup of Bocce brings together 84 teams from the Great Lakes region that take this Italian variation on lawn bowling very seriously. Starting at 6 p.m. today and ending Sunday evening, competition will be going on continuously on seven courts, with the top 16 teams splitting $15,000…
8/27: Margot & the Nuclear So & So’s at Musica
Frontman Richard Edwards must’ve recognized the throngs crowding into the chamber-pop scene, so he chose to give Margot’s second release a moodier, atmospheric sway, plying instruments with more finesse and discretion. While the Indianapolis eight-piece still unveil richly layered moments, Not Animal — and its companion record Animal! — sidestep the precious twee baroque-ialism that…
8/27: Human Eye at Now That’s Class
Even if you’re not into punk/psychedelic/prog that’s heavy on sci-fi sounds, Human Eye are worth seeing, if only to find out what they’re gonna do onstage next. Whether the Detroit band is working with robotic snakes or making a mess with paint-filled balloons, you’re sure to leave the show amazed, scarred or wearing a different-colored…
8/29: Dragon Boat Festival in the Flats
Even if you can’t get yourself up at 9 a.m. for the opening ceremonies, you’ve got all day to mosey on down to the West Bank of the Flats to catch the annual Dragon Boat Festival, sponsored by the Cleveland Rowing Foundation and the Flats Oxbow Association. It’s a celebration of a lot of things:…
Reading Roundup: Keelhaul
Keelhaul released their first album in six years last week, Keelhaul’s Triumphant Return to Obscurity. We thought it was their most accessible, rocking record. We aren’t alone. Now other national press is trickling in, it looks like the cult of Keelhaul is growing. Decibel magazine — the most literate, adult metal journal — called it…
Photo Show: Creed at Blossom Music Center, 8/26
C-Notes photographer Johnny Angell was in his own prison last night covering Creed’s concert at Blossom Music Center. He made his escape with his camera and delivered these to us.
From More Than a Game, “Forever” Featuring Lil Wayne, Eminem, Kanye
A bunch of all-star rappers have gotten together to record a song for the new LeBron James doc, More Than a Game. No big news here, since most rappers can’t go into the studio without at least two or three other guys tagging along. The big deal about “Forever” is that it marks the first…
9/5: Suzanne Westenhoefer at Hilarities
“I am a lesbian comedian, for those of you who don’t know — I know you know, ladies.” One night only, two shows (7:30 & 10:15 p.m.), at Hilarities, at Pickwick & Frolic, 2035 E. 4th St., 216-241-7425.
All-Star Rap Team Gives Props to LeBron
A bunch of all-star rappers have gotten together to record a song for the new LeBron James doc, More Than a Game. No big news here, since most rappers can’t go into the studio without at least two or three other guys tagging along. The big deal about “Forever” is that it marks the first…
Thursday Ticket Giveaway: Kiss
We got a pair of tickets to Kiss’ concert at Quicken Loans Arena on September 28. All you have to do is send your name, phone number and e-mail address to freetickets@clevescene.com. We’ll pick a random winner at 10 a.m. on September 9.
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame DVD Includes Lots of John Fogerty
Just in time for the wallet-busting, gift-giving season, Time Life will release a nine-DVD box called Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Live on October 20. The set — one part of the HOF’s 25th-anniversary celebration, which also includes a mega-cool concert that’s happening in NYC rather than in Cleveland — includes 125 live performances…
Nicholas Megalis Plays HOB Tonight
Just a reminder that Nicholas Megalis plays House of Blues’ Cambridge Room tonight. You should go, because: 1) He’s really good at what he does. 2) It’s his first local show in nearly a year. 3) It’s only $5 to get in. You can read more about one of our favorite local singer-songwriters in a…
BIKE NERD RAP THROW-DOWN
No matter what kind of bike you ride, you can’t help but laugh at Robin Moore’s rap video “Performance,” featuring the beats and rhymes of MC SpandX. He professionally skewers both the spandex-clad racers and hipsters riding fixies, a rivalry that thrives in every city that has a cycling culture. SpandX rhymes: “Is that a…
RUBBERED OUT
Akron’s World of Rubber Museum will close permanently at 4:30 p.m. today. After 61 years, the mini-museum will shut its doors a final time with no additional fanfare, echoing the general reception it’s met in recent years. The World of Rubber resides on the fourth floor of Goodyear Hall. And, with all due respect to…
eBay Item of the Day: Dan Majerle Jersey
Thunder Dan. Bet you don’t think about his time in Cleveland too often. Well, unless you think about Wally Szczerbiak with any frequency, because I’m convinced they’re the same person. If you’re going to own a jersey of a completely random Cleveland guy, someone who passed through town and just as quickly departed, something that…
NOT WITH A BANG
The Bang and the Clatter Theater is not packing it in, as Scene theatre critic Christine Howey heard from co-director Sean McConaha earlier this month, but the company is proceeding on what he describes as “a show by show” basis. McConaha had called Howey to tell her a production of John Kolvenback’s On An Average…
NOT WITH A BANG
The Bang and the Clatter Theater is not packing it in, as Scene theatre critic Christine Howey heard from co-director Sean McConaha earlier this month, but the company is proceeding on what he describes as “a show by show” basis. McConaha had called Howey to tell her a production of John Kolvenback’s On An Average…
NOT POOR IN SPIRIT
Around 100 people of mixed ages and races and with mixed purposes gathered last Friday for the 5th annual Poor Peoples’ March. Photos by Anastasia Pantsios Organizers Prisscilla Cooper of the Family Connection Center and Valerie Robinson of Stop Targeting Ohio’s Poor, the two main sponsors, kicked it off by talking about working to change…
Wednesday Music News Roundup
Cute Jonas brother talks about ugly Jonas brother’s upcoming wedding. Chris Brown sure does like to run it. He likes to beat the shit out of women too. Miley Cyrus stalker goes to jail and will spend the next few years being ridiculed by fellow inmates for stalking Miley Cyrus. Meewwrryyy Chhhriskmassstt eeevfferryybodddyyy. Two months…
Courtesy of the Sports Pickle
“These models keep themselves in great shape. They have to. The job demands it,” said Mangini. “And once he goes back to visit his runway buddies and tells them about all the brigthly-colored shirts and the tight pants, I think the NFL is going to have them lining up like it’s a warehouse sale at…
At Least Philly’s Being Polite
First, there was the Fightins and Birdland creation — the “City of Brother-Lee-Love.” And now, PhillyPhaithful comes along with the “Thanks Cleveland” mock Chief Wahoo in Phillies colors tee. Apaprently Philly just can’t stop thanking Cleveland for parting was with the reigning AL Cy Young winner, so much so that words just won’t do. No!…
Worst Case October Scenarios for Tribe Fans
It was just two years ago that the Red Sox sent home Martinez’s Indians in a brutal Game 7 loss at Boston in the American League Championship Series. Cleveland led the series 3-1 before losing the final three games. The players were crushed. On the plane home, Martinez and Sabathia — teammates since low-A ball…
Breaking News: Browns Install Scoreboard ON the Field
CLEVELAND, Ohio — After the NFL decides what to do about the scoreboard problem in Dallas, the league might have another quandary to look into regarding a similar situation in Cleveland, as the Browns have installed a scoreboard on the field of Cleveland Browns stadium to nullify the run game of their opponents. “We decided…
ARCHDIOCESE AND PARISH-CLOSING OPPONENTS SHOULD THINK BIGGER
When my colleague Michael Gill wrote about the grand, historic churches that have been or will be abandoned in the Archdiocese restructuring, he acknowledged the thorniness of a so-called “lapsed” Catholic weighing in on church affairs. But he went on to explain why it’s his business — indeed, everyone’s business — given the very public…
Health, Lies and Videotape
Despite a fast and bold start out of the gate, it looks like whatever health-care reform plan President Obama passes will be a far cry from his original idea: publicly funded health care for all who want it. Obama’s obsession with bipartisanship, the political pressure of the insurance and pharmaceutical industries, and in no small…
Capsule Reviews
Opening Duck Soup (US, 1933) The Marx Brothers’ comic masterwork wasn’t a success in its era. In fact, there was some doubt the team would do another movie after the film laid an egg at the box office (it was indeed the last time Zeppo Marx appeared onscreen with the troupe). Only in the 1960s,…
The Buddy System
When college BUDDY Andrew (Joshua Leonard) shows up at Ben’s doorstep one night, Ben (Mark Duplass) feels obligated to take the guy in. After all, the two were inseparable at one point before going in separate directions. Post-college, Andrew traveled the world, while Ben got married and bought a house. And even though Andrew tells…
Kicking and Streaming
Welcome to the Scene’s local music jukebox, where we’ll bring you some of the finest tunes from area bands. The tunes are down below to the right. Indulge. We’ve got new music this week from Mr. Gnome, Casual Encounters and Trans-Atlas. If you are a local musician and have more than a modicum of talent,…
Soundcheck: Rich Kline
Seven years ago, singer Rich Kline decided to ditch the cover band he played in and start Diamond Dogs, devoted entirely to the music of his childhood hero David Bowie. With Kline in the role of Bowie, the band plays regularly on the local circuit. They dig deep into Bowie’s catalog (they even know songs…
The Croc Whisperer
From outside, Paul Bodnar’s Northeast Ohio home looks like any other comfortable suburban domicile. The attractive beige brick structure sits on a large landscaped lot. The homes surrounding it are also tasteful, adequate and well-tended, but the similarities end abruptly at Bodnar’s threshold. “I’m trying to turn my house into a jungle,” jokes Bodnar as…
Local CD Reviews
D. Roof (Board of Edu-tainment) myspace.com/roofmusic D. Roof is one busy dude. Age of the Hipster is his second album this year, and it’s a change of pace for the righteous rapper. It kicks off with a heady spoken-word track before delivering an atmospheric onslaught of beats as Roof warns, “One day you loved like…
Around Hear: Hot HotChaCha
One of Cleveland’s hottest bands is almost ready to unleash its full-length debut. HotChaCha has finished recording The World’s Hardest Working Telescope & the Violent Birth of Stars with Ryan Weitzel, who engineered and co-produced with the band. He’ll release the all-girl quartet’s album in October on his Exit Stencil label. “What you hear [live]…
CD Review: Arctic Monkeys
Those expecting the third album from the Arctic Monkeys to simply rehash the post-punk dance-floor fodder of their first two albums will be disappointed. Humbug retains singer Alex Turner’s distinctive vocals and the signature angular guitars. But many songs travel into new musical territory. “Dangerous Animals” features a propulsive staccato delivery as Turner yelps, “You…
Arts District: Verb at Lincoln Park
Verb Ballets brings a bunch of new work to Lincoln Park this week as part of Tremont’s Arts in August program. World premieres include the ballroom-style “Lady Be Good,” choreographed by Gary Pierce, and Troy McCarty’s one-woman piece “Scent.” Ginger Thatcher’s “Urban Study” from 2002 is new to Verb. The only older dance on the…
CD Review: Brendan Benson
Push fellow Raconteur Jack White aside, kick two other band members to the curb and you’ve got some of the best power-pop of the decade. Brendan Benson consistently churns out sparkling gems of pop perfection. Although he’s been disguising himself as White’s sideman for the past few years, he’s been releasing solo albums since 1996.…
BACK FROM AROUND TOWN
“A hallmark of all the performers in the series is the question, How do you present the tradition?” That’s how Massoud Saidpour, the Cleveland Museum of Art’s director of performing arts, music and film, describes the criteria he and colleague Tom Welsh use when they put together the annual Viva and Gala series. “We are…
CD Review: Jack Peñate
On his 2007 debut album Matinée, London singer-songwriter Jack Peñate came off like a lovesick troubadour whose acoustic guitar-driven tunes fell somewhere between overwhelming glee and heartbreaking resignation. On Everything Is New, he takes the title quite literally, offering nine British soul songs that pour on the handclaps and horns. “Dance away defeat/Change has been…
Kids A, B and C
TOP PICK Radiohead reissues (Capitol/EMI) Radiohead’s first three CDs were reissued earlier this year. Here are the next three — all pimped out with an extra disc of live cuts, B-sides and remixes. (The limited-edition sets even tag on a DVD of videos.) Kid A and Amnesiac remain the band’s most challenging and complex work;…
CD Review: Willie Nelson
The last time Nelson recorded the American Songbook, it was on 1978’s Stardust. It not only got there years before Rod Stewart and other reformed rockers tackled the same material, but it also stands as a genre standard, a work of casual elegance by an artist who’s made a career out of exploring American music…
Bites: Idyllic Italian Setting
It is pretty tough to top the setting that surrounds Vento La Trattoria, a new Italian eatery in Bay Village (28611 Lake Rd., 440.835.4530, ventotrattoria.com). Located on the grounds of the Metroparks’ Huntington Reservation, the idyllic spot is remarkably serene, boasting lush landscapes and distant lake views. Formerly the Coffee Shop, the old wood-sided building…
CD Review: Blitzen Trapper
If you ever get a chance to take a time machine back to the late ’60s, bring Blitzen Trapper with you. The baby-boom generation would have embraced the Oregon folk-rockers with open arms. Eric Earley, the band’s singer and songwriter, loves Neil Young, bluegrass and songs about nature. He mixes the road-weary inflections of Bob…
JUST LIKE MADRE USED TO MAKE
When Adrian Ortega relocated to Cleveland from Chicago (for a girl, naturally), he discovered that it was impossible to enjoy the foods he grew up eating in the Mexican state of Michoacán. “We didn’t have a place to shop for the products we needed to cook them,” explains Ortega. “We had to drive to Detroit…
CD Review: Tommy Castro
As the headliner of the Legendary Rhythm & Blues Revue, Tommy Castro is a missionary for classic R&B. And with his albums, the Bay Area guitarist/vocalist/songwriter has made his mark as a standard bearer for the music — one of a handful not only keeping the old-school sound alive but making it still matter. An…
Dazed and Confused
Taking Woodstock director Ang Lee (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Brokeback Mountain) was a teenager living in Taiwan when Woodstock took place a world away in upstate New York. For him, the lunar landing — which occurred about a month before the massive concert — was a bigger event. But he had a sense that Woodstock…
CD Review: The Postmarks
In the 1990s, bands like Portishead and Combustible Edison drew inspiration from exotic ’60s film scores. Despite being a diversely rich and rarely mined stylistic niche, that ’90s scene was merely a cool fad that faded before it exhausted its potential. The latest album by the Postmarks successfully pays particular homage to John Barry’s thriller/James…
The Boy Is Back in Town
Nicholas Megalis isn’t like most 20-year-olds. He isn’t on Facebook, he doesn’t have a driver’s license, he hasn’t been to college and he’s never had a crappy job. The singer-songwriter isn’t like most local artists either. He doesn’t play industrial-sized metal or bar-band punk. In fact, he doesn’t play music that’s at all classifiable. He…
CD Review: Joe Henry
Blood From Stars begins decorously, with pianist Jason Moran offering a delicate touch on “Prelude: Light No Lamp When the Sun Comes Down.” From there, the brassy skronk of cornet punctuates the self-conscious mystery of “The Man I Keep Hid,” which finds Henry alluding to a secret he doesn’t really have. Sketched in gentle flamenco…
Authentic to the Core
Arriving for the interview, they look less like a hip-hop posse than an ersatz Benetton ad: There’s producer/hard rocker Ben Schigel (Switched, Chimaira) with his facial scruff and faded T-shirt; the tree-like King Dom moving with a lumbering, low-riding gait; muscular pint-size prodigal A-One — older, wiser and wired to get down to business; and…
Good Times, Bad Times
The music industry is in shambles, but that hasn’t fazed veteran alt-rockers Cracker. Even though they were dumped their record company in 2003 after recording hits like “Low,” “Eurotrash Girl” and “Teen Angst” in the ’90s, they’ve soldiered on, taking a semi-independent route and continuing to record and tour without major-label bucks. But for frontman…
HEALTH CARE REFORM IS PEOPLE!
The government of the United States is not trying to kill your grandmother. Or at least, if it is, no one saw fit to include that detail in the broad proposals for the reform of the American health-care system. The public debate on health-care reform has been largely lost in a litany of concerns, real…
