Did You See the Freak Play at Indians vs. Reds Last Night?
If you missed last night’s Indians game, it’s enough to know that the Tribe got walloped by their Ohio rivals. The Reds scored nine runs and held Indians’ hitters to only two, thanks to a complete-game effort from on-again off-again ace Johnny Cueto. But the Indians were mounting a late-inning rally when a freak play…
Priming This Week’s Windsor Appeals
The 6th District Circuit Court of Appeals will cast its decision in five Windsor appeals tomorrow, which in sum will affect the future of marriage equality measures in four states (Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee). In Ohio, the plaintiff couples are arguing that the refusal to recognize marriages performed legally in other states is unconstitutional.…
Dawn of the Planet of Attack Ads (Plus: FitzGerald Driving with Temps?)
The most recent Ed FitzGerald controversy — a sultry, wee-hour Westlake Rendezvous from 2012 — didn’t appear in political attack ads which were excreted upon the airwaves yesterday. But John Kasich and his campaign operatives have painted the Democratic challenger as a “risky” choice for guvna. In Kasich’s ad, a woman reads about FitzGerald’s credentials on…
Was Today Wilberforce University’s Last “First Day of School” Ever?
Today was the first day of classes at Wilberforce University, and given the looming specter of its accreditation status, it’s fair to at least wonder whether or not it may have been the final first day for the oldest historically black college (HBCU) in the country. As of today, the university still hasn’t announced a new…
Hip-hop and EDM Dominate This Year’s Lollapalooza
In the past couple of years, Lollapalooza, the annual alt-rock festival curated by Jane’s Addiction frontman Perry Farrell, has gravitated toward electronic dance music (EDM) and hip-hop. As a result, the audience has gotten younger and rowdier (and drunker). We saw more than one person hurl at this year’s three-day festival which took place this…
Singer-guitarist Eric Johnson Loosens Up for Kent Stage Concert
After a performance at the Odeon Concert Club in the mid-’90s, guitarist Eric Johnson spoke about how he was singing more each night because the tour had been going on long enough that he had become comfortable with his voice. There were echoes of that moment during his show on Sunday evening at the Kent…
Jukebox Bar in Freshly Minted ‘Hingetown’ Neighborhood to Debut Tonight
At 5 p.m. tonight, Jukebox will officially open its doors in Ohio City, providing a low-key watering hole for those living, working and playing in the freshly coined Hingetown neighborhood. Those in attendance at a soft opening event over the weekend were pleased to have another entertainment option in addition to those along the increasingly…
Lance Mason, Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Judge, Arrested For Attack That Sent Wife To Hospital
Via Lance Mason on Facebook Judge Lance Mason was arrested by Shaker Heights police this weekend for an attack that sent his wife to the hospital. Mason has been a judge in the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas since 2008, having previously served as a state senator. Mason was charged with felonious assault in…
Get Your Free Burgers Today in Akron to Kick Off Festival Weekend
Although Akron’s 9th annual National Hamburger Festival doesn’t technically begin until Saturday, you can get in on the action early by bopping over to The Game Grill + Bar in Canal Park Stadium (home of the Akron RubberDucks) for free hamburgers today at noon and a press conference concerning the fest. Let us repeat: free…
FitzGerald Lambastes Kasich, Republicans for “Sleazy” Campaign Tactics
A testy, disgusted Ed FitzGerald attacked Governor John Kasich, Ohio GOP Chairman Matt Borges, Westlake Mayor Dennis Clough and Republican political operatives statewide for “sleazy’ campaign tactics during a press conference this afternoon. The presser was held in response to the publication of a Westlake police report earlier in the day which described FitzGerald in…
Battery Park Wine Bar to Close. CHA Spirits & Pizza Kitchen to Take its Place
Susan Walters is getting back in the restaurant business. The pioneering restaurant owner and consultant behind such concepts as KeKa and SubStance will take possession of the Battery Park Wine Bar next week. The four-year-old Detroit Shoreway wine bar will close after service this coming Sunday. Following a one-week closure, the wine bar will reopen…
Western Reserve School of Cooking to Open Outpost at Cleveland Culinary Launch & Kitchen
A few years back, Catherine and Carl St. John. planned to open a second outpost of their popular Hudson-based cooking school and retail store Western Reserve School of Cooking in Ohio City. That never panned out, but come this fall, they will open a location in Midtown. They will be partnering up with the folks…
Charles Ramsey to Host Weekly Webcast
Charles Ramsey, in his ongoing effort to alchemize a courageous act into lasting celebrity, will begin hosting a weekly webcast radio show Thursday, Aug. 7. The one-hour program will stream on the Rogue Radio Network — “No Rules. No Restrictions.” — and will give Ramsey a wide berth to talk about whatever he pleases in the…
Porco Lounge Unveils the $25 Tiki Cocktail. (Somebody Call a Cab)
Since opening last summer in Ohio City, Porco Lounge and Tiki Room http://porcolounge.com (2527 W. 25th St., 216-802-9222) has been attracting Tikiphiles from near and far thanks to its dreamy Polynesian-themed cocktails and décor. The bar has single-handedly cultivated a respectable Tiki scene in Cleveland thanks to a skilled team of craft bartenders turning out…
Video: Warren G Reading Warren G. Harding’s Sex Letters
A couple weeks ago, we had John Oliver reading Warren Harding’s recently released hot and heavy love letters to his mistress. Today, we have Warren G reading them, thanks to Jimmy Kimmel. (Hat tip to Gawker)
The Fill-In-The-Blank Cleveland Revitalization Think Piece
Some good things have been happening in Cleveland, not that they haven’t been happening for awhile, but the current string of good news means it’s high time for Cleveland think pieces on the Forest City’s renaissance. If you haven’t written yours yet, that’s okay, we’ve laid out a template with some multiple choices to get…
Cleveland Woman Accused of Shoplifting at Walgreens Responds By Pooping in Store
A 51-year-old Cleveland woman who was attempting to abscond with $140.47 of merchandise from the South Euclid Walgreens was spotted by a store manager and the suspect did what any reasonable person would do when faced with the fact that the gig was up: she pooped in the store. From the News-Herald: In the parking…
Panic! At the Disco Elicits Screams at Jacobs Pavilion at Nautica
When bands set their touring schedules, they rarely come to the same city more than once within a six-month period. The thinking is that they don’t want to saturate the market. Not Panic! At the Disco. These guys have been in Northeast Ohio a number of times this year (most recently, singer Brendon Urie performed…
Tech Talk: Engaging Local Residents Through Government Apps With CitizenSync
Tech Talk is a weekly series that explores the people behind startup companies in the Cleveland area. Zac Sebo is no stranger to hard work. Shortly after completing his bachelor’s degree in sport sciences and management at Ohio University, he went on to co-found two companies — KegFLY, a daily deal website for college students,…
10 Things Going on in Cleveland this Weekend (Aug. 1 – 3)
There are a plethora of entertainment options to choose from this weekend, from Rascal Flatts to a gigantic drunken pool party and church festivities. Take a minute to check out the selection, and have fun! You’ve earned it this week.
Local Singer-Songwriter Dan Miraldi to Play Farewell Show at Mahall’s
Local singer-songwriter Dan Miraldi is moving to New York next month to get his masters degree in music business at New York University. Last year, he had heard about music business programs and started researching them. One of the major programs was at NYU.So between touring in the fall, he studied for the GRE. He…
Burntwood Tavern Founder to Launch New Concept in Chagrin Falls
In just over four years’ time, Bret Adams has managed to assemble a five-restaurant (and counting) empire since opening his first Burntwood Tavern in Chagrin Falls. With additional locations in Rocky River, Solon, Brecksville and Cuyahoga Falls, the fast-growing concept clearly has legs. Before the end of the year, Adams will open a brand new…
“Caucasians” T-Shirt is Popular on Canadian Indian Reservations
The Toronto Star reports that a “Caucasians” shirt mocking the Cleveland Indians mascot and team name (pictured right) is selling like hotcakes on Canadian Indian reservations. The smiling face of Peter Pattakos, a regular Scene contributor and anti-Wahoo crusader, can be seen on the front page of Reddit this morning. Shirt sales took off when…
Band of the Week: The Strange Familiar
Meet the Band: Kira Leyden (vocals, keyboards), Jeff Andrea (guitar), Frank Freeman (bass), Nicholas Sainato (drummer) They came back to their city: Singer-keyboardist Kira Leyden and her husband, guitarist Jeff Andrea, moved from Akron to L.A. for five years. While there, they appeared on the fifth season of America’s Got Talent. They also made a…
10 Years Later: The Legacy of Brian Polcyn
It’s been 10 years since Brian Polcyn and Michael Ruhlman published the groundbreaking book “Charcuterie.” For a book that almost never saw the light of day, it has managed to completely change the landscape of the American dining scene. A decade ago, charcuterie boards didn’t appear on every other menu as they do today. We…
Scholar of Evil: James Badal, Cleveland’s Resident Torso Murders Historian
James Badal and his extravagant muttonchops can be seen, most mornings, at Civilization Coffee shop in Tremont. Badal, a professor at Tri-C in english and journalism, has lived in Tremont for 11 years and calls it “a neighborhood in the old-fashioned sense of the word.” It was there, last Thursday evening, that he held a…
Film Review of the Week: Guardians of the Galaxy
From the moment Chris Pratt dances solo on a deserted planet in the opening minutes of Guardians of the Galaxy, booting the native rodent-dinosaurs through puddles and clutching one by the midsection to use as an impromptu microphone, you’ll be on board with this zany summer sci-fi comedy that opens areawide on Friday. And you’ll…
Roofie Island: A Summer of Reported Druggings and Rapes on Put-in-Bay, Lake Erie’s Party Destination
It’s noon on Thursday and Put-In-Bay is being invaded with bachelor and bachelorette parties and folks looking to spin away from regular life with a little help from the bottle. It’s about to be Christmas in July — the island’s busiest weekend — and the hordes are starting to arrive for a few days of…
Film Spotlight: Boyhood
Actress Patricia Arquette remembers when writer-director Richard Linklater first called her about his new film Boyhood, which opens on Friday areawide. Linklater sought to capture a child’s experience over a 12-year period by filming in real time. Arquette loved the concept even though there wasn’t even a script. “We spoke directly about it,” she says…
Making that Magic Happen: The Iguanas Mix Different Musical Styles Together on their Terrific New Album Juarez
A few weeks ago, sax man Kaz Kazanoff, a Texas guy who’s played with blues artists such as Marcia Ball, Jimmie Vaughan and WC Clark, caught a show from the New Orleans group the Iguanas. He sent out a tweet that expressed how much he liked the band’s set. Iguanas’ bassist Rene Coman says Kaz…
Cosmic Soul: Local Musician Marcus Alan Ward’s New Album is a ‘Metaphor for Growth’
In the deep subspace of human consciousness, strange and beautiful things can happen. A galaxy unto itself, this abyss harbors the polydactyl monster of growth and self-discovery. Like a classic science fiction tale, Marcus Alan Ward’s new album, Last Night I Grew Tentacles, explores these depths. The outlandish title of Ward’s first full-length album speaks…
Blues Traveler: Singer-Guitarist Eric Johnson Discusses Why He Went to Europe to Record his New Album
Singer-guitarist Eric Johnson, who’ll turn 60 this year (he jokes that he might get a mug with “geezer” on it to celebrate), was 11 years old when he picked up his first guitar. “I had heard the Ventures records and the Rolling Stones and Beatles and the Yardbirds,” he says via phone. “I played piano…
Orphan Back: It’s the Return of that Grimy, Gruel-Fed Rugrat in the Classic Musical Oliver!
In the past few decades, there have been many Broadway musicals about dark and troubling topics such as Sweeney Todd (serial killer), Chicago (murder and venality) and Assassins (assassins). But that trend may have started way back in 1960 with Oliver! by Lionel Bart. This retelling of Dickens’ Oliver Twist is built around little orphan…
Also on Stage
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest Interesting, how time changes our perceptions. Back in the 1960s, when Ken Kesey wrote the book on which this play is based, mental institutions were an accepted fact of life. Sure, they were probably awful, but at least there were places to put people suffering from mental deficits of…
Tom Petty Returns to Form with ‘Hypnotic Eye’
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers Hypnotic Eye (Reprise Records) tompetty.com In interviews, singer-guitarist Tom Petty has described this new album as a return to the sound he and his classic rock act cultivated in the early days (the tracks “Forgotten Man” and “Shadow People” even sound like something he might have recorded in the ’70s). That’s…
Adam Rich Reaches Beyond the Blues with ‘Streetlight Smile’
Adam Rich Streetlight Smile (Love Muffin) lovemuffinrecords.com Earlier this year, local singer-multi-instrumentalist Adam Rich marked the 20-year anniversary of the release of his full-length debut Virgin Freak, a rough-sounding collection of bluesy tunes, with a special reissue. The set even included “Weaving,” a song from Rich’s 1993 EP Leave My Fish Alone. That’s quite a…
Jenny Lewis’ ‘The Voyager’ is Ultimately Uneven
Jenny Lewis The Voyager (Warner Bros.) jennylewis.com The main singer in Rilo Kiley, a band that emerged in early 2000s as part of the whole indie/emo craze, singer Jenny Lewis has held down a solo career for the past decade. With the now defunct Rilo Kiley, her bandmates kept her purely pop tendencies in check.…
