New Hampshire: Dennis Kucinich Crushed Again
Dennis Kucinich, the self-proclaimed “workers president,” had a dismal showing during the Iowa caucuses last week, when he scored 0 percent of the vote. The tally might have been expected, since Kucinich largely ignored the farm state, reasoning that he’d rather talk to the workers poolside in Hawaii and California, where he’s done most of…
Reader: Martin Sweeney is about to Rig the Charter Review Commission
Rigging it ahead of time, Cleveland City Council President Martin (“I Don’t Wear Underwear”) Sweeney, just recovered from Emily Lipovan’s sexual harassment complaint (thanks to buying her off with $60,000 of our tax money), is now planning to dupe the idiotic residents of Cleveland (who stupidly keep re- electing the same scummy, worthless councilmen) with…
New Dating Website — Without the Evangelical Overlord
Looking for love online is often as draining – and self-esteem busting — as a job search. The hours spent studying profiles, carefully worded e-mail responses, scheduling of meetings — it’s enough to make a girl turn eunuch. Especially when, after all those hours of work, you come up with no matches (not that we’d…
Dick Feagler: White People are Pussies Compared to Back in My Day
Today’s topic: A gang of black youths beat a white lawyer in Shaker Heights… I was at the coffee shop, and the guys all agree: White people just don’t have any balls like they did in my day. Why, back in my day, when the blacks started moving into our neighborhoods, we simply packed up…
The Plain Dealer Masters the Non-Exclusive “Exclusive”
Ever since Susan Goldberg took the reins of The Plain Dealer, Ms. Editor has quickly learned that leading Cleveland largest news operation isn’t as easy as the instruction imply. She baffled readers and reporters alike with her move to soften front page news. And now she’s pissing off competitors swiping a tactic of TV stations:…
Former Beachwood Star Rodney Lemons Finally Finds His Calling
Three years ago, Scene profiled the sad story of Rodney Lemons, the former pride of Beachwood High School who, in 1991, was voted one of the best high school basketball players in the country by a team of scouts. His dreams of playing for Michigan came to a halt when the school couldn’t come through…
‘Ladies Who Lunch’ Head to Vue
The snapshot tells the story: A trio of my female ancestors, circa 1964, all done up in pearls, gloves, hats, and high heels, in front of a local department store. The reason for the gathering? The store’s grand opening, followed by lunch on the town. There’s a train that long ago left the station. Still,…
Relive Cleveland’s Rock Past
XM will relive the glory days of WIXY’s Jack Armstrong next week. A bunch of old farts will embrace new technology on Friday, January 18, when XM Satellite Radio pays tribute to Cleveland radio station WIXY, which went off the air before most of you were born. Back in the day, the AM station played…
Could Bibby Save Cavs?
Could Mike Bibby help the Cavs compete in the East? From the Detroit News: NBA columnist Chris McCosky suggests the thus-far disappointing Cavs could quickly elevate themselves to an elite team in the East, which is sort of like being the hottest girl in all of Fort Wayne. How would they do that? By landing…
Cleveland Concert Announcements
Bay Village rocker Kate Voegele plays HOB’s Cambridge Room February 19 ($10). The week, 44 new shows, just like momma used to make: Cle-rap icon Bizzy Bone. A pre-St. Pat’s party with Black 47. Stoner rawk from Fu Manchu. Big, ugly metal from Devil Driver. Old-school crossover from M.O.D. The original lineup of reggae pioneers…
What Motivates LeBron? Trash-Talking Ladies
Warning: Do not talk trash to this man. Especially if you’re pretty. Apparently all LeBron needs for motivation to do unheard of things on the basketball court is get heckled by women in the stands. Monday night, the Cavs were down 13 in the fourth, and LeBron was looking LeHuman, having scored only 15 points…
Little Brown Man Goes to Denver
Subodh Chandra, Obama delegate. While Barack Obama was celebrating his Iowa ass-kicking last week, former Cleveland Law Director Subodh Chandra was doing a little victory dance of his own. Chandra, Cleveland’s former law director, a former Attorney General candidate, and Scene’s favorite “Little Brown Man”, was elected by local Dems to be an Obama delegate…
Meet Baby Dee, Circus Freak
This week’s issue of Scene will feature an interview with transgendered singer-songwriter Baby Dee, whose new album, Safe Inside the Day, includes collaborations with indie-rock icons Will Oldham and Matt Sweeney. The CD will be released on hip indie label Drag City on January 22. Dee talks about growing up in Cleveland, moving to NYC,…
Blossom Lights Canceled
The Grinch has abruptly ended the Blossom Music Center Holiday Lighting extravaganza, which was scheduled to run weekends through Sunday. But they’ve quite literally pulled the plug now that it’s, like, January, and most non-Orthodox Yuletide celebrations are over, and since it’s, like, 50 degrees. If you still need a little dose of Christmas cheer,…
AG Looking at Myers Merger
*** UPDATED BELOW Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann has launched an investigation into troubled Cleveland business college Myers University and its merger with a Virginia for-profit school, according a memo from the college’s acting president. In a January 2 email, Joy Banjac — who replaced embattled President Dick Scaldini, who replaced moronic President Paul Feingold…
Heaven & Earth Looks to Move to the Old Moda Site
Ohio City is debating whether to allow a new bar in the West 25th Street spot once occupied by Moda, a nightclub that boasted its “unparalled violence” and “wide selection of cocaines.” The neighborhood’s residents, instrumental in shuttering the club last year, will meet on Wednesday to hear the proposal. They’re expected to listen patiently…
Running Naked Through the Streets of Cleveland Heights
A re-enactment of a naked guy running. Just pretend he’s doing it in Cleveland Heights Cleveland Heights residents returning home at midnight on January 1 might have thought they’d consumed bit too much Prosecco when they witnessed a band of naked people streaked down Overlook as part of their 7th annual naked New Years run.…
Feagler: Marc Dann is Part Woman
Today’s topic: Attorney General Marc Dann, and his decision to attend a police officer’s funeral rather than tonight’s BCS title game … I was at the coffee shop, and the guys all agree: This Mark Dann has gone soft. Why, back in my day, men didn’t have grief. We had manly emotions, like anger, disappointment,…
More Bad News for Kucinich: He’s Dumped from Saturday’s Presidential Debate
Hoping to narrow the field and thus generate a better debate, ABC announced this afternoon that it was eliminating three presidential candidates from Saturday’s debate: Republican Duncan Hunter and Democrats Dennis Kucinich and Mike Gravel. According to the Associated Press, the network believes that by limiting the field, it will foster more interaction between the…
Rock Hall Among Top Destinations for Travelers Looking to Rock
USA Today has named our very own Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum as one of the “Top Great Places to Know It’s More Than Rock ‘n’ Roll.” Elvis’ Mississippi home, Detroit’s Motown museum, and Memphis’ Sun Studios also made the list, which was compiled by Chris Epting, who is the host of…
PD’s Sister Paper Losing Money by the Ton
The regular blood-letting at daily newspapers shows no signs of slowing in 2008. Editor and Publisher reports today that The Star-Ledger, in New Jersey, has informed its employees that it’s lost of millions of dollars in advertising, and must tighten its belt. What’s that mean for Cleveland newspaper readers? Hopefully nothing. But if you visit…
The New Zack Reed
Our favorite Hammered Councilman, Zack Reed, showed up for a pre-trial hearing in his DUI case this afternoon with a Bible in hand and 12 Steps on his lips. Waiting for the judge to arrive, he spent a few minutes chatting with a reporter about HBO’s The Wire — this after spending New Year’s Eve…
Can We Talk Baseball Already?
With only 41 days until pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training, The Diatribe blog finishes its roundup of projections for the 2008 Tribe. After taking care of the offensive stats last week, the blog’s focus shifts to the pitching staff, using the Bill James Handbook 2008, a baseball-geek’s stat bible. The verdict: The Indians’…
Lunch Off the Menu at New Budapest Blue
If life really is what happens while you’re making other plans, Ilona Simon and her crew at Budapest Blue have been livin’ large. Consider: Just a few weeks after the Blue – Simon’s new venture inside Ohio City’s former Halite — launched lunch service, two key members of her team, daughter Vera Durejko and partner…
Could the Cavs Fire Mike Brown?
Chris Sheridan’s odds on Mike Brown getting the boot: 12:1. In his most recent column, ESPN.com’s Chris Sheridan handicaps the odds that various NBA coaches will be fired, and Cavs coach Mike Brown hovers near the top of the list. Sheridan calls the Knicks’ Isiah Thomas the “favorite” to lose his job, putting the odds…
Kucinich Boldly Picks Another Symbolic Fight of No Consequence
Since Dennis Kucinich first hit the political scene in the 1960s, he’s been happy to pick any fight worth a headline [“King of Spin,” December 5]. So today, fresh off a ringing endorsement in the Iowa caucuses – where he received exactly 0 percent of the vote – Kucinich has once again launched a patented…
Mushroomhead Wins Headbanger’s Ball Video of the Year
The clip for Mushroomhead’s “1200” has won video of the year honors in the 2007 viewers poll of Headbanger’s Ball, cable’s premier heavy metal showcase. Over 120,000 metal fans called in to rank the videos. The song is from the Cleveland band’s 2005 LP, Savior Sorrow, which has sold over 80,000 copies, according to Nielsen…
Zack Reed Finally Recognizes His Drinking Problem
Today’s Plain Dealer features an exclusive interview with party boy turned repentant sober councilman Zack Reed, after his completion of a 28 treatment program at the Cleveland Clinic. Among other things, he talks about the support he received in his ward, his plans to hang out at some new places with some new people (good…
C-Notes’ Weekend Picks
A random but reliable sample of the weekend’s entertainment options, cooked up weekly by C-Notes … Friday: Ink slingers share the spotlight tonight for the Davenport’s (6287 Pearl Road, Parma Heights) inaugural Addicted Tattoo Party. Starting at 8 p.m., tat specialists from nearby Addicted Body Art will give their irons a workout for barflies who’d…
Friday Cheers & Jeers
If these seals weren’t so lazy, they’d just move to someplace where nobody has a club. Cheers: To cute and furry kittens, Mrs. T’s pierogies, and snowplow drivers who work around the clock to make our streets safe and clear, except in Cleveland. Jeers: To those kids who beat up that guy in Shaker Heights.…
A World Without Whoppers
What would you do if you walked into Burger King, ordered a Whopper, and were told that the 670-calorie pile of joy had been discontinued? That’s exactly what Henry Alex-Rubin, director of the documentary “Murderball,” wanted to know when he made “Whopper Freakout.” In the 7-minute film, Alex-Rubin and his crew show real customers ordering…
Governors Engage in Friendly OSU-LSU Wager
If LSU wins Monday’s title fight, Ohio will be the new home to Aaron Neville’s mole. In keeping with an irritating tradition of governors and mayors everywhere, Ohio Governor Ted Strickland initiated a “friendly wager” with Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco as Ohio State and Louisiana State prepare for the national championship Monday. The bet, cravenly…
Is Your Favorite Presidential Candidate a Lying Bastard?
With the presidential primary season opening today in Iowa, voters will begin deciding which charlatan, opportunist or sociopath – are we being too polite here? – will next occupy the White House. Alas, these are politicians we’re talking about, which means they’re as trustworthy as guys selling miracle kitchen appliances on 3 a.m. infomercials. And…
Get Paid to Help Legalize Gambling!
If you’ve always wanted to spend way too much playing blackjack but are continually stymied by a barren bankroll and Ohio’s dearth of blackjack parlors, then MyOhioNow.com may have the perfect solution to unlock the degenerate gambler that’s chained within you. The group is lobbying to open one mega-casino in central Ohio, and it needs…
Lakewood’s Venezia Takes a Vacation
That bastion of quirky charm and first-rate food, Venezia (16300 Detroit Avenue, Lakewood, 216-226-0006) has closed for a brief remodeling. When chef-owner Moha Orchid reopens in mid-February, look for an updated menu as well as some interior improvements. “I got tired of fighting it,” says the eccentric Moroccan-born chef, whose resume includes stints in Paris…
Our Resident Foodie Talks Turkey — and French Fries — on WCPN
Clevelanders love food — cooking it, eating it, reading about it, and apparently also listening to professional chowhounds jawing about it 90.3/WCPN, where I was a guest yesterday on Dee Perry’s call-in show, Around Noon. Also on hand to discuss developments and trends on the local restaurant scene were The PD’s Joe Crea and Free…
This Just In: Concert Announcements
Insane Clown Posse plays the Agora on January 26. This week: Immortal rock icon Todd Rundgren. Full-contact Juggalo action from Insane Clown Posse and friends. Ill Nino’s still kicking around the weather system, apparently, as are screamo godfathers Poison the Well. And if you really, really have a hankerin’ for rockin’ screamo and semi-metal, the…
David Giffels’ Version of This Old House
It was 1997 when Akron Beacon Journal columnist David Giffels and his wife Gina stumbled upon the decaying Gilded Age mansion in Akron. Trees burst through the roof, there was no electricity, and aside from a senile old lady, the only other beings calling this place home were variety of woodland creatures…
Hey Larry Hughes Blog Has Critics Raving
One mighty frustrated Cavs fan is delighting other mighty frustrated Cavs fans with his clever and clunky-named blog, Hey Larry Hughes Please Stop Taking So Many Bad Shots. Check it out. And be on the look out for knockoff sites, like Hey Sasha, See That Guy Running Past You On His Way to the Hoop?…
Feagler: They Just Don’t Make Presidential Candidates Like They Did in My Day
Today’s topic: presidential candidates… I was at the coffee shop, and the guys all agree: This Benazir Bhutto is for the birds. Why, back in my day, we had real presidential candidates with names like Ike and Dick. And they were men, not like these Italian broads they have today. They wore Army helmets or…
Perhaps the Browns Now Understand What It’s Like to be a Cleveland Sports Fan
The Cleveland Browns were eliminated from playoff eligibility on December 30, when the Tennessee Titans claimed the final post-season spot with an ugly 16-10 victory over the mostly second string roster of the Indianapolis Colts. This event elicited this response: It’s never easy selling silver linings to cynical folks, and after four decades of futility,…
Cleveland Steelers Fans Find Home in Middleburg Heights
Expect this guy at Rivals in Middleburg Heights on Saturday. It’s a dangerous time to be a Steelers fan in Cleveland. Local steel-heads are a bit worried about Browns hecklers coming out full-force for Saturday’s opening-round playoff game against the Jaguars, especially with the Browns home for the winter and their fans as sorrowful as…
Further Proof of Dennis Kucinich’s Paid Vacation
The Worker’s President, fighting for you at the finest resorts of Hawaii For the second presidential election in a row, West Side Congressman Dennis Kucinich is conceding the Iowa Democratic primary. The New York Times reports that Kucinich is telling supporters to back Barack Obama if he doesn’t have enough votes in Thursday’s caucuses. That…
Can You Handle the Karma Kleanse?
The Karma Kleanse costs $325. (Hot yoga partner not included.) So, you ate too much, drank too much, and the only exercise you got was stumbling home from the bar on New Year’s Eve. Now comes that next great American tradition: inexhaustible guilt. For those who believe in extremes, Karma Yoga, the large, downtown Cleveland…
Former Reporter: What Happened to the PD’s Front Page?
Has the Sports section moved to Page One? Lets see: We have two sports-related stories on Saturday with the one at the top a total waste of space. Then we devote 60 inches to the Lake Erie Monsters, whose attendance is no more than the population in Lindale. Then my eyes amazed me Sunday: Boring…
MödQuad
Right around the same time disco morphed into house music, 1970s dinosaur rock began its own transformation. Once sneered at for their onstage wankery and long stretches of super-size soloing, bands like the Allman Brothers, Little Feat, and Traffic became jam-band groundbreakers. The big difference between these old-school behemoths and their shaggy-haired progeny is the…
Our top DVD picks scheduled for release this week:
Billy Jack (Image) The Heartbreak Kid (Universal) Indie Sex: A Revealing Look at Sex in Cinema (IFC) Jimmy and Judy (Anchor Bay) Living & Dying (HBO) Resident Evil: Extinction (Sony) Seaquest DSV: Season Two (Universal) September Dawn (Sony) Shoot ‘Em Up (New Line) Solstice (Weinstein) The Tudors: The Complete First Season (Showtime) Weird Science: The…
State of the State
Take a bow onstage and get a peek behind the curtains during this morning’s inaugural Theater Tour of Playhouse Square’s eight historic show palaces. As you walk through the State and its sister theaters, guides will narrate the stages’ 86 years of history, from their opulent 1921 debuts to their massive restorations in the ’80s…
Solipsist
Cleveland-based metal band Solipsist cops a sinister vibe on its debut EP, Medicate the Masses. And even if we can’t understand a single word Noah Buchanan growls on songs like “Dead Derelict” and “Paralyze You,” the battering rhythms and piercing guitar licks come through loud and clear. The group is made up of guys who…
Treasure Island
TOP PICK — Lost: The Complete Third Season, The Unexplored Experience (Buena Vista) Pumping us up for the fourth-season premiere of our favorite TV show in a few weeks, this seven-DVD set includes all 23 episodes from last year’s narrative-scrambling run. Bonus material — more than six hours of it — includes deleted scenes, a…
Rip Chords
With many of their original compositions written on the piano in E-flat minor, Mike Dolsen and Roman Zmudzinski thought it was only appropriate to name their musical duo The Black Key Projekt. But the pair find it more of a challenge to describe their signature sound. “It may be hard to categorize, but it most…
Bali Bob’s Birthday Brew-Ha-Ha
Dave Overkill, singer and guitarist of local metal monsters Destructor, first met Bob Bailey (also known as Bali Bob, who’s throwing a music-stuffed birthday bash for himself this week) when he was in high school. “We went to this park by the lake and pulled up next to Bob,” recalls Overkill. “He was parked, with…
Mille Grazie
As if we needed another excuse, Bon Appétit recently dubbed the French fry the “indulgence of the year.” That might explain why we’re so powerless right now, with about 100 of them staring us in the face. Pulled up to a bare tabletop inside Bar Cento, chef Jonathon Sawyer’s earthy new workshop in Ohio City,…
Costum-Wha?!?!/Out of the Black Box
The curtain rises tonight on a sketch-comedy production to kick off Cleveland Public Theatre’s eight-week Big Box series of new plays by local playwrights. And Steve Maistros’ Modern Problems is a prime example of the theater’s mission to bring scripts tweaked in its Little Box program to the Big Box stage. “It’s really some of…
HotChaCha
When Cleveland’s HotChaCha put word out that it was looking for a bass player early last year, guitarist Mandy Aramouni, singer Jovana Batkovic, and drummer Lisa Paulovcin set one condition: no boys. After seeing the band perform live, Heather Gmucs immediately signed up. These days, HotChaCha’s stage shows exude the sort of hopped-up madness usually…
Un-Comfort Food
A new year is upon us, bringing 366 more opportunities to get intimate with your region’s restaurant scene. Resolve to be adventurous: Sample an exotic cuisine, or just head out to someplace you’ve heard about, but never tried. If you’re a West Sider, set out for Shaker Square, where the don’t-miss options include Doug Katz’s…
PA System
The alt-rockers of Geronimo parachute into Akron tonight for a mixed bag of hard rock. The Northeast Pennsylvania quartet headlines the Earthworm’s weekly show as part of its East Coast tour to peddle its new EP, Green Lights Go! Opening acts include Cleveland electronica screamos the Announced, metalheads Where Nowhere Begins, also from Pennsylvania, and…
The Queers
What the Queers are: a long-running, Ramones-inspired band that, along with the Descendents, pretty much wrote the book on pop punk. What the Queers aren’t: gay (not that there’s anything wrong with that, but they’re often confused with onetime labelmates and queercore pioneers Pansy Division). Actually, the Queers have been accused of homophobia, mostly because…
Never Bored on the Boards
So you’re sitting there in your purple Crocs, woozy from steroids and HGH, eating your locavore plate of Northeast Ohio veggies and watching your pit bull rip into a Tibetan mastiff, while you replay the last episode of The Sopranos to decide whether you liked the ending. In other words, you’re a fully realized product…
Rally of the Dolls
The creative mind behind beloved Miss Piggy is in town for the next three nights to introduce the start of the monthlong film series Muppets, Music & Magic: Jim Henson’s Legacy. And Bonnie Erickson will talk about her days as Henson’s design director tonight, before Muppets History 101 screens as part of the cinematic tribute…
Original Gangster
Browns icon and serial wife-beater Jim Brown has launched a new company, OG Nation, to market energy drinks, malt beverages, and snacks. The corporation claims the noble pursuit of creating “opportunities in the business arena for the disenfranchised.” But since it will be selling stuff like Party Dogg Malt Liquor, it appears Brown’s greater intent…
Bonfire
AC/DC tribute Bonfire kicks off 2008 by playing the Back in Black album in its entirety. And any time that you can see a tight rendition of a whole record that’s sold over 10 million copies, your music-loving butt should be there. Unless it’s that one by the Eagles. P.S.: If you’ve never eaten at…
Capsule reviews of current area art exhibitions.
ONGOING Delineate — The pen is mightier than the sword, but in this stunning collection of drawings by seven well-known Ohioans, the pencil trumps all. Technique takes center stage as this group reaches new artistic heights with carbon. Wielding charcoal, Julie Friedman creates silhouettes of trees, so richly layered they could be prints or paintings.…
Celluloid Heroes
Nearly three decades after singer Ian Curtis’ suicide, Anton Corbijn sheds light on the collapse of Joy Division in his debut biopic, Control. The Dutch photographer weaves footage of the ’70s post-punk rockers with stories from Touching From a Distance, Deborah Curtis’ book. Curtis’ widow, who filed for a divorce in 1980, chronicles their marriage…
Taking the Fifth
It’s the stuff horror movies are made of. You go in for a routine surgery. A nurse pats your arm as the anesthetic creeps into your veins. Then you wake up, only to realize something has gone horribly wrong. For lawyer Francis Sweeney’s client, that nightmare arrived in 2003, when the young man went to…
Acid Rain
Acid Rain: It’s a weekly industrial-grind-rawk-metal dance party at Rockstar Cleveland, the snug upstairs club at Peabody’s, which has a well-worn stripper’s pole. Imagine auditions for the next Suicide Girls DVD — with extra Jägermeister. And 16 Volt and Marilyn Manson booming in the background. Don’t worry if you don’t dance; dancers are provided.
Revenge of the Nerds
Absolutely, unequivocally, 2007 was The Year of the Apatow: Judd got Knocked Up to the tune of $150 million (at the box office alone); his super-OK Superbad grossed another $120 million, “gross” being the operative word; and at year’s end, he walked hard to the finish line as writer and producer of a faux-biopic about…
Up in the Air
In Fighter Pilot: Operation Red Flag, John “Otter” Stratton flies an F-15 Eagle in combat training. As he reaches speeds of 600 miles per hour, g-forces from the IMAX film should keep you pinned to your seat. It screens daily at 10 a.m. and noon, today through Friday, January 18; 11 a.m., 1, and 3…
Deer Farming for Fun and Profit
“Contract Killing,” November 14 So do they qualify for subsidies? Your article exploited the kindness of the Amish man who allowed you access to his operation. Obviously, you gained access under some premise of writing a fair piece of literature. Why don’t you take your closed-mindedness away from a farm-raised animal that gets to live…
Mary J. Blige
It’s always been easier to admire Mary J. Blige’s backstory than her backing tracks. She’s the premier female soul singer of her generation — even though she rarely receives the musical support that her terrific voice and storytelling deserve. In an urban world where respect for melody has all but vanished, perhaps classic songs aren’t…
Cast Off
John Turturro’s third and loopiest film, Romance & Cigarettes, is prime film-studies fodder, fitting in best at the tail end of a musicals seminar, along with Dancer in the Dark and other “postmodern” song-and-dancers. A Coen Brothers production with a cast as unlikely as it is impressive (including Susan Sarandon, Kate Winslet, James Gandolfini, Mandy…
Potty Mouth
Jeff Blanchard pities balding men for popping hair-sprouters like Propecia. At tonight’s Mad Men of Comedy show with fellow yucksters Mark Reedy, Jason Dixon, and Quinn Patterson, he’ll lampoon the drug’s ability to cause impotence. “Now you gotta take another pill to get your dick hard, which can kill you because that can hit your…
When You Wish Upon a Song
Less than a year ago, the Jonas Brothers were in label limbo, dumped by Columbia and set to go belly-up in an ocean of teen-pop competition. Most likely, the three siblings were ready to dissolve back into a solo project for kid brother Nick. Now the Jonases are at the top of the heap —…
Bow Wow and Omarion
Even though it sounded preposterous when Bow Wow told XXL magazine in 2005 that he, Kanye, 50, and maybe Jay-Z were rap’s biggest stars, it’s hard to argue with the dude’s winning streak. Face Off is Bow’s sixth CD since 2000’s debut, Beware of Dog, which was released when he was only 13 years old.…
Daley Update
As the monthlong run of Polar Opposites winds down, R.D. Daley is still nowhere to be found. Instead, the Cleveland artist lets his 23 pieces in the Touch Supper Club art exhibit speak for themselves. “I’m kinda hermitized. I’m not totally antisocial, but I’m a little shy about the public,” says Daley. “The paintings, however,…
Men All Paws
If you’ve ever wanted to take home a Cavs dance girl, you can get your wish tonight at Guys Nite Out. Sorta. As the team squares off against the Sacramento Kings, you’ll score a dance-team swimsuit calendar. And that’s about as close as you’re going to get to the cheerleaders. “We did a widespread survey…
The Art Modell Awards
[The scene: The city’s best and brightest convene for an opulent buffet at the downtown Ritz.] Greetings and welcome to the 2007 Art Modell Awards, where tonight we pay tribute to those doing their best to turn Cleveland into a satellite nation of Jena, Louisiana. Before we begin, let’s offer a warm shout-out to Sam…
Lupe Fiasco
The worst thing one can do when listening to Lupe Fiasco’s sophomore release is to believe the Chicago rapper’s claims that The Cool is a concept album. The CD’s alleged storyline — about an MC raised by a mythical character named the Streets and tempted by another mythical character called the Game — makes no…
Joke Joint
Local comedy vet Mike Wypasek handles the hosting honors tonight for What’s the Deal Wednesday at the Borderline. The showcase is designed to help re-establish the venue as a venerable comedy club, after ex-tenant Bassa Vita fell into disrepair last summer and shuttered its doors. Promoter Jeremy Sheer salvaged the place in November for aspiring…
Spit Takes
Admit it: There are times you’re sitting around, listening to your old Sex Pistols records and thinking, I wonder which punk-rock icon has the biggest schlong? Or maybe you’re wondering: What kind of pizza would that one Food Network guy say goes well with the New York Dolls? The Official Punk Rock Book of Lists…
Kate Nash
Like Lily Allen — last year’s cutie import, who sings about blowjobs in a thick British accent — Kate Nash airs her dirty laundry for all to hear. “You’ll call me a bitch, and everyone we’re with will be embarrassed, and I won’t give a shit,” she sings in “Foundations,” her breakthrough U.K. single and…
Dancin’ to Romancin’
Eight celebrities and their dance partners tango tonight in Cleveland in the midst of their nationwide Dancing With the Stars tour. And the live version of the top-rated TV reality show comes with its share of drama, now that its fifth season on the air is history.The tour features Vegas crooner Wayne Newton and pop-singer…
Face the Music
It’s always darkest before the dawn. Or so the music industry has been reassuring itself lately. You really can’t blame record companies for that whiff of optimism: Over the past few years, they’ve been bleeding like a hemophiliac with a razor fetish. The numbers are indeed grim. SoundScan figures for the first part of 2007…
Raymond Scott
In 1958, orchestra leader Raymond Scott released Rock ‘n Roll Symphony, a downy-soft lounge record that had more to do with Percy Faith’s cheesy strings than Chuck Berry’s guitar heroics. The original liner notes claim the album is a rock and roll record for adults — without all the “crazy words, the screaming, and other…
Good Bucks Charms
Ohio State Buckeye fans lead the cheers over beer and apps tonight, when Coach Jim Tressel and his top-ranked Scarlet and Gray tangle with No. 2 Louisiana State Tigers in the BCS championship football game in New Orleans. And the loudest booster section will be heard in the Warehouse District, where the 40-and-under alumni of…
How (Not) to Name Your Band
There are worse things in the world than naming your band something annoying. Things like killing people or donning a diaper and chasing some astronaut cross-country or, say, literally getting away with murder, only to bust years later into a Las Vegas hotel room with a bunch of guns and try to get all your…
Necrodamus
Guitarist Scott Stearns is an astronaut of musical violence. He explores dark, ugly places that reek of sulfur, rotgut, and boiling sweat. His Necrodamus project is essentially a reshuffling of a recent Fistula lineup. But where that band lurks in a sludgy punk-metal mid-ground, Necrodamus alternately stalks both sides of the crossover divide. Stearns riffs…
You’re It!
Chances are good you can track down Thom Pennington after a day of homeschooling. And on weekends, when he’s mastering his laser-tag prowess, the North Royalton fifth-grader practically calls Lazer X Treme his second home. “It’s a great way to work out your aggressions,” says Pennington. “It’s also a cool way to make new friends.”…
Major Comeback
Isabella Basile, former owner of the defunct Major’s Club Isabella, is bringing the spirit of music past to her new establishment, That Place on Bellflower (11401 Bellflower Road, University Circle). Major’s closed last year after hosting acoustic tunes and jazz for two decades. The cozy club wasn’t forgotten. “Every place I go, people say, ‘Oh,…
Horror of ’59
Horror of ’59’s second album sounds like circa-’78 Ozzy Osbourne fronting the new Misfits. The record is full of punky garage rock, with obligatory buzz-saw guitars, five-second hand-of-glory solos, and whoa-oh refrains. With all respect to the genre, horrorcore is like canned chicken soup: It’s hard to fuck up or make special. Producer Jeff Shirilla…
Keeping Up With the Jones
After a 28-year acting hiatus, Cuyahoga County Commissioner Peter Lawson Jones returns to his other love — theater — as one of the leads in tonight’s Ensemble Theatre opening of Bourbon at the Border. In the Pearl Cleage drama, Jones plays Tyrone, a black Vietnam War vet who meets a civil-rights activist in Mississippi’s turbulent…
Quanta
It’s fitting that the three guys in Quanta prefer single-name monikers. The songs on their debut album, Have Moved You, also keep things relatively simple. The local band’s mix of California funk, heartland pop, and the occasional electronic fart relies on bottom-heavy rhythms coupled with repeated lyrics and riffs. It’s organic-sounding fluff that’s not too…
Black Russian
Eastern Promises (Universal) David Cronenberg and Viggo Mortensen are becoming a Bizarro World Hitchcock/Cary Grant combo, and the world is a better (and bloodier) place for it. Chucklehead critics too smitten by Cronenberg’s “messages” dismissed this film — a vicious and brilliant exploration of the Russian mob in London — for being a genre exercise.…
Pelvic Elvis
As the official “ultimate Elvis-tribute artist” at Graceland, Shawn Klush wants fans to take his act seriously at tonight’s Elvis Birthday Tribute at Playhouse Square. And he’s up to the challenge as he leads the celebration on Tuesday, which would have been the King’s 73rd birthday. “People don’t take too kindly to guys in jumpsuits,”…
Rue
Legend has it, if you put your ear to the pavement on certain nights, you can actually feel the sludge metal played by Akron’s Rue vibrating through the streets. These loud rock heavies have been storming concert clubs since 2003, blasting their groove-infused ogre metal to discerning degenerates across the country. They initially unchained their…
Keep Dreaming
The inevitable challenge faced by Wii developers is this: Can you create a game so spectacularly awesome as to prompt a gamer to even consider ejecting Super Mario Galaxy from his console? The gravy train is over; good luck looking consumers in the eye while offering them another lame collection of ugly-but-wagglerific mini-games. Mario queered…
Book the Cook
By day, Kelly Wright is plating up southwestern-style fare in her Borderline Café in Lakewood. But this afternoon, she trades a spatula for a microphone to team with keyboardist Chris Hanna as the jazz duo Sugar Coat. Their repertoire is stacked with standards like “Cry Me a River,” “Fly Me to the Moon,” and “Can’t…
