6/23: Tania James reading and signing
Tania James, a first-time novelist at age 28 with degrees from Harvard and Columbia, notes that she still hasn’t achieved the goal she set for herself when she was 10: to become a Supreme Court Justice. Her novel, Atlas of the Unknowns, is a coming-of-age and coming-apart story about a young Indian girl who wins…
6/20: Roomful of Blues
Adversity has always been good for those who play the blues, but the members of Roomful of Blues have had more than their share. Yet they soldier on, still Raisin’ a Ruckus, as they put it on their 15th album in a career that spans 40 years and 50 members. More than any album in…
6/20: Chuck Mead at the Beachland
Back in the ’90s, BR549 were hailed as saviors down on Nashville’s Music Row. With their tradition-based country music and an irreverent attitude, the group was an invigorating antidote to the Shanias and Garths ruling the charts. Although the guys never became mainstream heavies, they did manage to snag a few Grammy nominations. But after…
Money Where Your Mouth Is: Morality Check
This is the part of the blog where C-Notes’ music writers quit sobbin’ about how Jeff Buckley is still dead and let a real rock band plead their case. Plus, frankly, we doubt we’d give a nü-metal crew like Morality Check a fair shake anyway. Band: Morality Check Website: www.myspace.com/moralitycheck or www.moralitycheck.net Hometown: Cleveland Sounds…
6/20: Big Cool Cats Music Festival
Three local entrepreneurs have joined forces to present the first annual Big Cool Cats Music Festival, happening today from noon-11 p.m. at Cain Park (14591 Superior Rd., 216.371.3000). The event is the brainchild of Steve Presser (owner of the Big Fun toy store) and Denis Devito (founder of roots-rockers Cats of Holiday, video below), who…
6/23: Tania James reading and signing
Tania James, a first-time novelist at age 28 with degrees from Harvard and Columbia, notes that she still hasn’t achieved the goal she set for herself when she was 10: to become a Supreme Court Justice. Her novel, Atlas of the Unknowns, is a coming-of-age and coming-apart story about a young Indian girl who wins…
6/19: Opera Cleveland’s Falstaff
When Guiseppe Verdi died, the great conductor Arturo Toscanini led orchestras and choruses from all over Italy for a state-sponsored funeral service, which, 108 years later, is still credited as the country’s largest-ever public gathering. Eight years earlier, when he was 80 years old, Verdi wrote Falstaff, the last of his 26 operas. Based on…
6/19: Selvation at Salon des Refuses
When Nina Sarnelle refers to her one-night sculpture show Selvation as an “underground event,” she literally means it. Her gallery, Salon des Refuses, is located in the newly refurbished basement of an apartment building. Sarnelle graduated from Oberlin College two years ago with degrees in creative writing and film studies. Selvation, her first show, includes…
6/19: Color Me Cleveland
If you want to be fancy when you talk about painting outdoors, you could use the French “en plein air” — famous 19th-century impressionists like Monet and Renoir referred to it that way. But here in Cleveland, you’ll probably just refer to it as “in plain air.” This weekend, the Artists Archives of the Western…
6/19: Time of the Gypsies
A week after his Cleveland concert, Goran Bregovic’s raucous and imperfectly tuned gypsy music returns — this time on the big screen, as the Cleveland Museum of Art shows Emir Kusturica’s Time of the Gypsies, Bregovic’s first movie score from 1988. It’s a coming-of-age story about an Eastern European boy. Bregovic followed up with several…
Capsule reviews of the Cinematheque’s weekend films
The Cleveland Institute of Art Cinematheque is showing several great movies this weekend. Here are capsule reviews of just two of them. Across the Universe (US, 2007) Making creative use of several Beatles songs, Julie Taymor’s (Frida, Titus) musical tells the story of a young man (Jim Sturgess) who leaves his dockyard job in England…
6/19: Enon at the Beachland
Back before the Rapture discovered cowbell, and electro-clash was a viable genre title, Enon were already meshing electro-pop with noisy art-house rock. As dance-punk slowly goes the way of rap-metal, Enon’s Devo-like experimental quirks keep them relevant. Yeah, they’ve got disco beats, murky bass and dissonant fretwork, but with a penchant for sampling, discordant interludes…
6/19: Toby Keith at Blossom
As the spokesman for fervent patriotism and the heartland’s hard-nosed attitude after 9/11, Toby Keith’s musical response to 9/11 catapulted him into the national spotlight. “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American)” wouldn’t find nearly as wide an audience these days, but back when it was released, it provided both a cathartic…
6/19: CIM’s Young Composers Program
Composer and composition teacher Orianna Webb’s music has been performed by orchestras and chamber groups around the country, and she’s taught in some impressive places (including the Yale School of Music). But this weekend she focuses on the kids. Webb is founder and director of the Cleveland Institute of Music’s Young Composers Program, which teaches…
Selvation at Salon des Refuses
When Nina Sarnelle refers to her one-night sculpture show Selvation as an “underground event,” she literally means it. Her gallery, Salon des Refuses, is located in the newly refurbished basement of an apartment building. Sarnelle graduated from Oberlin College two years ago with degrees in creative writing and film studies. Selvation, her first show, includes…
6/19: Cleveland Shakespeare Festival’s Antony and Cleopatra
Alison Garrigan puts her stamp on Shakespeare, laying a 21st-century concept on Antony and Cleopatra that should resonate on several levels. The original play centers on the relationship between Roman Marc Antony and Egyptian Cleopatra, which is complicated by Rome’s internal political tensions as well as a battle between the two nations. Garrigan turns the…
Time of the Gypsies screens at CMA
A week after his Cleveland concert, Goran Bregovic’s raucous and imperfectly tuned gypsy music returns — this time on the big screen, as the Cleveland Museum of Art shows Emir Kusturica’s Time of the Gypsies, Bregovic’s first movie score from 1988. It’s a coming-of-age story about an Eastern European boy. Bregovic followed up with several…
6/19: Avett Brothers at Akron Civic Theatre
Scott and Seth Avett used to wind down after gigs with their rock band Nemo with post-show hootenannies. The alt-country trio has since become the Avetts’ full-time group. Joined by stand-up bassist Bob Crawford, the Avett Brothers layer three-part harmonies over bluegrass tunes that often drift into pop and punk territories. The North Carolina band…
6/20: Joel McHale at Lakewood Civic Auditorium
Five years ago, actor and comedian Joel McHale was doing TV commercials when he auditioned for yet another version of Talk Soup, E!’s chat- and reality-show wrap-up program. The show’s title was shortened to The Soup, its concept was slightly reworked and McHale’s career took off — slowly. “Because the show is the cheapest show…
6/19: American Mirrors summer repertory festival
Actors’ Summit launches a new project tonight: the American Mirrors summer repertory festival, which brings four small shows — three of them one-man portraits of American cultural icons — to two Hudson locations. The series opens with Unforgettable, artistic director Neal Thackaberry’s portrait of Nat “King” Cole. Reggie Scott (pictured) stars as the music legend,…
6/19: Opera Cleveland’s Falstaff
When Guiseppe Verdi died, the great conductor Arturo Toscanini led orchestras and choruses from all over Italy for a state-sponsored funeral service, which, 108 years later, is still credited as the country’s largest-ever public gathering. Eight years earlier, when he was 80 years old, Verdi wrote Falstaff, the last of his 26 operas. Based on…
6/18: Coventry Street Arts Fair
Cleveland Heights’ Coventry Road between Euclid Heights Boulevard and Mayfield Road will be closed to all but foot (and paw) traffic from 6-9 tonight for the first Coventry Street Art Fair. Bring the kids (and dogs) down to hear music (by Vital Mines, Cleveland Jazz Project and guitarist Gaetano Letizia & the Underground Band), shop…
Young Composers at CIM
Composer and composition teacher Orianna Webb’s music has been performed by orchestras and chamber groups around the country, and she’s taught in some impressive places (including the Yale School of Music). But this weekend she focuses on the kids. Webb is founder and director of the Cleveland Institute of Music’s Young Composers Program, which teaches…
JACKSON’S BIGGEST THREAT: AN 80-YEAR-OLD WHO DOESN’T RAISE MONEY
A perennial candidate with some actual credentials runs for Cleveland mayor this time around. He decides to walk up Lorain Avenue from the abandoned Tops at Kamm’s Corner to the West Side Market to kick things off. It’s a seven-mile jaunt, rain or shine. Smacks of Stokes, right? Why no one paid attention: Norbert Dennerll…
Concert Review: Rancid/Rise Against at Time Warner Cable Amphitheater, 6/15
Nothing shouts “punk” like mohawks & liberty spikes! And there were plenty on display at last night’s Rise Against and Rancid show at Time Warner Cable Amphitheater at Tower City. Riverboat Gamblers kicked things off with a set of driving anthems that played straight to the venue, which was packed with young kids and old-school…
“I Still Call it The Jake” Tees From No Mas
Awhile back, No Mas, purveyors of some of the finest sports tees known to man and writers extraordinaire, came out with a “I’m Calling it Shea” t-shirt series for all those Mets fans disenchanted with the new Citi Field. Paul Lukas of Uni Watch and the No Mas brethren started fielding requests from fans around…
Photo Show: Rancid and Rise Against at Time Warner Cable Amphitheater
Johnny Angell went to see Rancid and Rise Against in concert last night. He brought his camera.
6/18: Ozric Tentacles at the Beachland
Ozric Tentacles are sorta like the U.K.’s version of the Grateful Dead: They’ve been playing together for 25 years, they’re known for awesome live shows and they jam like nobody’s business. They meld several different styles into their music — which is also Dead-like. On their latest album, The Yum Yum Tree, you’ll find psychedelia,…
American Mirrors festival at Actors Summit
Actors’ Summit launches a new project tonight: the American Mirrors summer repertory festival, which brings four small shows — three of them one-man portraits of American cultural icons — to two Hudson locations. The series opens with Unforgettable, artistic director Neal Thackaberry’s portrait of Nat “King” Cole. Reggie Scott (pictured) stars as the music legend,…
Derek Anderson Declares “Derek Anderson Day” at Memphis Kiddie Park
Brookpark, OHIO — Just a few days after Cedar Point, the world famous amusement park in Sandusky, held “Brady Quinn Day,” Derek Anderson, the Browns’ other quarterback, showed up unannounced at Memphis Kiddie Park in Brookpark, Ohio, in full gear proclaiming it “Derek Anderson Day.” The park’s operators were unaware of any such event. “We…
6/17: The Juan MacLean at the Grog Shop
Like his record-company boss and musical bedfellow James Murphy, John MacLean makes jittery electro-pop for groove-minded hipsters — not hollow-eyed club-hoppers looking for the latest Saturday-night jam. On The Future Will Come, their second album, MacLean and his self-named group flicker through DFA-approved songs that aren’t as alienated or as alienating as they seem on…
Weird Al Does the Doors
We love when Weird Al takes on ego-inflated musicians and pop culture at the same time. His “American Pie”/Star Wars song? Genius. The eBay song set to the Backstreet Boys’ “I Want It That Way”? Sublime. His latest is called “Craigslist,” and it sounds like the Doors’ “When the Music’s Over,” with Al swinging it…
6/16-21: Greg Warren at Hilarities
Several years ago St. Louis native Greg Warren left his profitable job at Cincinnati-based Proctor & Gamble to pursue his life’s dream: stand-up comedy. His experiences in the Midwest and his encounters with others shape the basis of his comedy. “During the day I can figure out what I want to say and at night…
Money Where Your Mouth Is: Black Skies
This is where C-Notes lets a band explain why you need to see them live, even if it means going out on Wednesday.Today’s band is Black Skies, ‘cuz we’re all about the sludge. Plus, Forged in Flame is opening, and they could use your support. Band: Black Skies Website/Myspace: blackskies.us and myspace.com/losblackskies Hometown: Chapel Hill,…
Drummer Not Playing Akron Friday
Friday’s Drummer show at Musica has been sorta canceled. Drummer — that’s the Akron indie-rock superstar band featuring members of the Black Keys, Beast, and like six other bands — isn’t playing. The band is now scheduled to play on August 7. This Friday’s show will now be headlined by Beaten Awake — which is…
This Just In: Concert Announcements
This week: 17 new concerts. It’s raining shows — hallelujah! Advent/Call to Preserve: Sat., July 11. 7 p.m., $8 ADV/$10 DOS. Pirate’s Cove. Big Sandy & His Fly Rite Boys/Eilen Jewell: Sat., Aug. 29. 9 p .m., $12. Beachland Tavern. Danger Is My Middle Name: Wed., Aug. 12. 5:30 p.m., $10 ADV/$12 DOS. Rockstar Cleveland.…
Freedom Mega Lineup: Don’t Call It A Supergroup (Even Though It Is)
Freedom play their first show tonight at Now That’s Class with a mega-super lineup that’s like some kind of multi-headed radiation monster from a Godzilla flick. The band features members of Roué, This Moment in Black History, Pere Ubu and most of the better indie-rock bands that have graced the Cleveland scene in recent years.…
6/17: Black Skies at Spitfire Saloon
It’s easy to just dial in some floor-rumbling distortion, turn the bass up loud enough to make your ribs thump and shout like you’re an extra from Braveheart. But that doesn’t mean people will listen to your music. Luckily, in the case of Chapel Hill’s Black Skies, there are enough chunky riffs and precise breakdowns…
Christian-Rock Fest Coming to Canal Fulton This Week
You’d think I’d be all festivaled out, after my unshowered experience at Bonnarroo last week. So why am I looking forward to this weekend’s Alive Festival happening in Canal Fulton this weekend? Because I’m a fan. The fest is a Christian-rock event filled with seminars, speakers and plenty of good music. On tap: artists like…
Seriously — Can We Just Call it No Service Fee Summer?
Why don’t they just get it over with and call it “No Service Fee Summer”? It would save us the trouble of writing these things every week. From the latest Live Nation press release: Live Nation, in its continued effort to give fans more of what they want and make concerts more affordable in these…
6/16: Ume at Now That’s Class
If you ever wondered what would happen if you combine a pop singer with an angular indie-rock band, look no further than Ume. The Austin trio fire off jagged, serpentine riffs and spliced rhythms like they dated Sonic Youth before they fell in love with math-rock. What saves the band is singer and guitarist Lauren…
6/16: 311 at Time Warner Cable Amphitheater
Though rap-rock is one of the most widely denigrated musical novelties to emerge in the late ’90s, there’s no doubting that, for a brief moment at least, it offered something strikingly innovative and a true alternative to the standard stuff heard on the radio. While bands like the Red Hot Chili Peppers were early innovators,…
6/16: Rupa & the April Fishes at Wilbert’s
It’s hard enough making a career as a singer-songwriter. When you sing your songs in a foreign language, it’s doubly difficult. But Rupa & the April Fishes are beating the odds. The San Francisco group just wrapped recording their second album, which is due in the fall, and are heading out on a summer tour.…
6/15: Rise Against/Rancid/Riverboat Gamblers at the Amphitheater
Let punk-rock vets Rise Against and Rancid duke it out over who gets headlining status on this tour. We call it a draw between the bands — both Clash-inspired, politically smart and wedded to old-school ideals. Just be sure to get there early for Riverboat Gamblers. The Austin-based quintet’s newest album, Underneath the Owl, combines…
6/15: The Hold Steady at the Beachland
It’s easy to label the Hold Steady’s sound as Paul Westerberg channeling Bruce Springsteen, or Thin Lizzy raised in Minneapolis. But that’s not fair. They’re better than that and boast several key qualities that lift them out of the bar-band pack and into Best Band in America territory. Most prominently: frontman Craig Finn’s lyrics. He…
Rick Vaughn vs. Charlie Manuel
Apparently, the Indians aren’t the only team hot on the giveaway trail. As we discussed late last week, there were plenty of goodies given to fans over the weekend. And of course, tonight’s Rick Vaughn giveaway will likely bring more fans to the stadium than the thought of facing Dave Bush and the Milwaukee Brewers.…
Photo Show: O.A.R. at Nautica Pavilion, 6/12
Crystal Culler reviewed O.A.R.’s Friday concert at Nautica. Mark A. Pirri was there too, and he brought his camera.
MVPuppets: Lil Dez Raps, LeBron and Kobe Dance
Short and sweet, with a very Puff Daddy circa-1997 vibe to it thanks to LeBron and Kobe dancing in front of the individual who is rapping. Somehow, I think we still have a long way to go before we hear the end from these three guys in puppet form. Perhaps the next one will sample…
Road Trip Concert Review — Bonnaroo Pt. 5
After years of blatant discontentment, you’d think Trent Reznor and the NIN guys might be over it. Or at least lighten up a little. You know, that they might be happy once in a while. But Saturday’s 1 a.m. performance was as dismal as ever. And it was a killer show, with sharp vocals, insane…
O.A.R. at Nautica Pavilion, 6/12
At first glance, it looked like every college student in Cleveland showed up for O.A.R.’s show Friday night at Nautica. Closer inspection revealed that hardcore fans of all ages were there. The crowd surged toward the stage before the music even started. As frontman Marc Roberge strapped on his guitar and approached the mic, a…
James Franco to show Erased James Franco at CMA
Since starring in the short-lived Judd Apatow TV series Freaks and Geeks, James Franco has taken on a variety of roles that show just how much range he truly has. He starred as Harry Osborn, son of the Green Goblin, in Spiderman and played James Dean on a made-for-television movie that aired on TNT. He…
The Dead Matter will have its premiere in Cleveland
Two months ago, Ed Douglas, the mastermind behind local Goth/industrial heroes Midnight Syndicate, finished post-production for The Dead Matter, a horror movie he directed. Shot in Northeast Ohio, the film tells the tale of a woman who tries to connect with her dead brother and inadvertantly enters a supernatural world. Now, with the movie out…
Road Trip Concert Review: Bonnaroo Pt. 4
Living in Cleveland, I thought the only band that wore pig costumes onstage was Mushroomhead. I was wrong. Of Montreal not only had a pig mask onstage, they also busted out giant fiberglass arms that spit balls to the crowd and a bunch of frolicking football players. On record, Of Montreal are one confusing band.…
Road Trip Concert Review: Bonnaroo Pt. 3
Media folks and fans alike were hopping barricades and stomping over security and stagehands to dance away on That Stage late last night. Everyone was piled on top of each other, shaking the entire tent. Onstage: Girl Talk. He and his crew also provided ridiculously oversized blow-up couches, pillows and chairs to the glow-stick-wielding crowd.…
Road Trip Concert Review: Bonnaroo Day 2
The scene has settled at Bonnaroo: showers at the sink, sleep in the reclined car seat. Tents don’t pitch themselves and air mattresses don’t blow themselves (ha!). And we need all the time we can find here. We no longer loop the farm twice to find our campsite, because we’ve already done that twice. We…
Federal Bowling Money for Jimmy
Nearly a year after it began, the federal corruption probe entered new regions of Cuyahoga County’s stinky bowels on Friday. Add to the six Cleveland building inspectors already accused of taking bribes yet another assortment of alleged opportunists — this time a group much higher up the ladder of Dirty River’s old establishment. This time…
Anne Cochran at Cain Park Tomorrow
Anne Cochran’s musical career could easily have peaked as a singer performing with local special-occasion bands like Timmy and the Tuxedos and Nitebridge in the ’80s. As a wife and mother of two in Cleveland, her voice might have reached no further than the demos and commercials she sang on. But her friend and Shaker…
Reed Takes the High Road
In keeping with his flair for histrionic publicity, Mt. Pleasant Councilman Zack Reed finally made official last week, from the pulpit of Holy Trinity Baptist Church, what everybody already knew he was doing this reelection season: trying to win. He’ll run in the newly formed Ward 2, what will amount to an open seat since…
Smoke Less Tobacco
Yet another item of good news that the tobacco farmers, coal magnates, auto barons and oil sheiks — as well as all of their loyal political minions — don’t want you to catch wind of: In January, the New England Journal of Medicine reported that the reduction of smoking and the implementation of actual controls…
Road Trip Concert Review: Bonnaroo — Day 1
The 10-hour lanes of traffic have been entered. Mud lanes are somewhat dried up. The tents are staked. And the “shower” situation is finally accepted. Let the Bonnaroo games begin! With a “Bonnaroo Guide” boasting as many as 10 shows, signings and conferences at a time, your real life is pretty much forgotten and your…
Don’t Stop Believin’: Tribe Turns Back the Clock
Last year’s Tribe season featured the stadium name change as well as a ’70s weekend.There were psychedelic CC Sabathia bobbleheads, 1970s-era baseball caps and a special guest appearance by Squiggy from Laverne and Shirley. Given the team’s appreciation for all things chronological, this year will feature … an ’80s weekend. This Friday, Saturday, Sunday and…
Blackened Fest Now Blackened Show — UPDATED
Cephalic Carnage, Cattle Decapitation and Withered have dropped off tonight’s Blackened Fest. Norwegian black-metal OGs Mayhem are still headlining. Read more about how the tour crumbled at MetalSucks.net, the metal news site that sponsored the trek. Tickets are still $22 — the band’s still on the hook for air fair, and gas ain’t getting any…
Columbus Clippers: Replacing Dime Beers with Dime Dogs
Not that long ago, Vince touched on the quality hot dogs that can be found at various Cleveland-area golf courses. I’m not quite sure how they will compare, but on Monday, Huntington Park will sell 10-cent hot dogs throughout the entire game. The first of three special nights (the others are July 20 and August…
Geauga Film Fest continues through Sunday
The Geauga Film Festival kicked off earlier this week and continues through Sunday, June 14 at Chardon’s historic Geauga Theater. The lineup includes independent films, shorts and animations, with a large showing from independent filmmakers from Northeast Ohio. Greg Pribulsky, Vice President of the Geauga Lyric Theater Guild, says the festival was created as an…
Phoebe Cates, Party of Helicopters Reunion Shows Tonight
Kent’s the Phoebe Cates and Party of Helicopters are playing one-off reunion shows tonight at the Beachland Tavern. It’s Phoebe Cates’ first show in a decade. Helicopters haven’t played since a 2007 reunion show. Guitarist Jamie Stillman says they’ll perform old favorites and songs from the half-finished lost album, which they may finish “one of…
Hang Out With Kate Voegele, Drink Some Tea
A new website, STA Travel, is giving fans a chance to win tickets to a Kate Voegele concert and hang out with her after the show. Plus, they’re sweetening the deal with a year’s supply of Honest Tea! Head on over to Voegele’s page at STA’s website and enter the contest. A winner will be…
Virtual JFK has its local premiere tonight at CMA
For the past month, the Cleveland Museum of Art has hosted a program called “Friday Night First Runs.” It features local premieres of movies that have previously bypassed Cleveland during their theatrical runs. Tonight at 7, it’s offering a screening of 2008’s Virtual JFK: Vietnam If Kennedy Had Lived, a documentary that suggests Vietnam wouldn’t…
Hard Rock Café Throws a Rockin’ Benefit
A group of cool local bands and artists have teamed up to participate in a fundraiser happening at the Hard Rock Café on Sunday. Artists like indie-rockers Ghost Town Trio, former Faith No More singer Chuck Mosley, industrial rockers This I a Shakedown, Miami University-educated singer-guitarist Dave Ritz and alternative heroes Pale Hollow (pictured) will…
Pickup Basketball Guy
Pickup Basketball Guy is the corollary to Softball Guy. For the majority of us amateur weekend athletes, the game is a game — a chance to get out of the house and away from chores, a lame attempt at grasping the last straw of youthful dreams, a half-hearted attempt to stay in some semblance of…
Lose the Conference Finals, Lose the Videogame Cover
He may have had his MVPuppet, but after losing the Eastern Conference Finals to the Orlando Magic, LeBron James likely missed out on donning the cover of EA Sports’ NBA Live 10. While there was no guarantee that James would have been the selection, Los Angeles’ Kobe Bryant was the chosen cover boy for 2K…
Pere Ubu Make a Radio Play for the Internet
Cleveland’s best avant-garage/post-punk/old-school-survivor band Pere Ubu is jumping into the 21st century with a series of podcasts that sound an awfully lot like one of those radio plays your grandma listened to back when life sucked. Starting next Tuesday and running through September 28, Ubu will release eight podcasts (at two-week intervals), which make up…
Money Where Your Mouth Is: Dead Enders
C-Notes is letting the Dead Enders explain why you ned to see them. Because the raw-dog, punky rock band just rules. Singer Holly Berry (no relation to Halle) is the city’s bad-to-the-bonest frontwoman. And guitarist CJ Gunn’s solos are considered lethal weapons in three states. —D.X. Ferris Band: Dead Enders Website: myspace.com/theofficialdeadenders.com Hometown: Cleveland Sounds…
Softball Guy
By Joe Strailey Summer is here, and one thing that brings every year besides girls in bikinis is Softball. If you’ve ever gone to watch someone play softball, or play softball yourself, you have surely noticed Softball Guy. There’s almost always one on every team, they’re usually an above average player and ALWAYS make sure…
Capsule reviews of the Cinematheque’s weekend films
The Cleveland Institute of Art Cinematheque is showing several great movies this weekend. Here are capsule reviews of just a few of them. The Barefoot Contessa (US, 1954) A title that calls to mind a fluffy Doris Day or Sophia Loren pastry is actually a tart-tongued Hollywood-insider tragedy from illustrious writer-director Joseph L. Mankiewicz. Ava…
Parks and Wreck
Brunswick is gonna teach those skater kids a lesson. Brunswick’s Parks and Recreations department has shut down the city’s skate park for a weeklong trial period. Parks officials claim they’re trying to teach disrespectful young hooligans a lesson. The closing came after a series of complaints about littering, smoking, vandalism, drug use, public sex, and…
TO THE FUTURE, SLOWLY
For half a decade city leaders have been rebuffed when they’ve brought up putting dashboard cameras in Cleveland’s police cruisers. Too expensive, they’ve been told. And don’t forget that liability risks could trump the evidentiary benefits. Yes, it’s frightening to even consider how dangerous it could be to hold officers accountable. But, alas, dash cams…
Housekeeping
I’m taking a vacation. I know what you’re thinking. Either a) You don’t care, or b) I work less than Earle Turner. Both fair points. This blog will run, albeit in a limited fashion, while I’m gone. Joe Strailey, who works in our Classifieds department, will chip in with some blog posts, and Scott Sargent,…
LeBron James Doesn’t Carry Ones
Cavs beat reporter Bob Finnan’s season recap is out. Keep in mind, it’s not a recap of the actual games, but of the off the court stuff that is sometimes funny and sometimes not. This section made me crack up for some reason. $1 bills After talking to James in pregame media availability, there were…
Ticket Giveaway: Ha Ha Tonka
We got four (count ’em, four!) pairs of tickets to Ha Ha Tonka’s concert at the Beachland Tavern on June 25. All you have to do is send your name, phone number and e-mail address to freetickets@clevescene.com. We’ll be picking four random winners at noon on Tuesday, June 23.
Puppet LeBron Commits Suicide
Funny cap to the MVPuppets campaign by Nike from The Onion. Headline: Kobe Bryant Puppet Finds LeBron James Puppet Dead In Apartment Bathtub Just a snippet (but go read the whole thing, it’s short): “Maybe I should have seen it coming. One minute LeBron was happy and covering the apartment with talcum powder, and the…
Eddie Murphy returns to form in Imagine That
Imagine That, the Nickelodeon family comedy about an executive who finds answers to his business troubles in his young daughter’s imaginary world has a lot to recommend it, especially Eddie Murphy’s likeable, naturalistic performance as Evan, the beleaguered businessman, and his chemistry with Yara Shahidi, the exquisite little actress who plays his daughter, Olivia. Evan,…
Best. Video. Ever. Lego Metallica.
Lego Batman was awesome (partly because of the odd allure of Lego Catwoman). And Lego Star Wars rules. And Lego Indiana Jones was something, for sure. And that White Stripes video with the Legos was cool. But you ain’t seen Legos in action until you experience the metal-thrashin’ hilarity of Lego Metallica. —D.X. Ferris
CD Review: Taking Back Sunday
Taking Back Sunday, the Long Island fivesome who have been through a slew of members since their 1999 inception, are often treated with reverence by bands and fans. There’s no denying that the band, which released their major-label debut, Louder Now, in 2006, can write a solid emo number, complete with smartly placed hooks and…
Methods of Mayhem
There are a lot of good reasons to attend the Blackenedfest tour. Openers Withered take black metal and thrash into some dark new places, while Cattle Decapitation and Cephalic Carnage turn grindcore and death metal into politically engaged, jazzy, even psychedelic art. And if Marduk ever manages to enter the country (they’ve missed a bunch…
CD Review: Sonic Youth
Typically, a band’s move to an indie label after years of laboring on a major means one thing: The big-bucks company dropped the underperforming group. But in the case of Sonic Youth, who pretty much invented indie-rock as we know it more than 20 years ago, it means something totally different. For their 16th album,…
MILQUETOASTS RARELY MAKE HISTORY
Between January and April, Gallup polled more than 7,000 registered voters to take the pulse of the electorate. And while it’s old news that the Republican “brand” is about as valuable as AIG stock, the results were startling. The number of people self-identifying as Republicans was down 10 percentage points. When broken down into demographic…
Around Hear This Week
Kevin “Sku” Skizenta, a Sagamore Hills police officer and former frontman of Mutant Soldier, died Tuesday, June 2, of leukemia. Skizenta, 40, was father of two. He fronted Mutant Soldier from 1988-1992, helping the band hold its own in the second wave of Cleveland thrash. Services were held last week. Read more at Scene’s blog,…
THE GHOSTWRITE
Last summer, singer-songwriter Robby Lester, a.k.a. the Ghostwrite, toured the country in what he says is a “fuel-efficient vehicle.” Even so, he could barely afford to get from city to city. So, for this summer’s tour, he’s planning togo wheeless. Calling his June jaunt the “Leave the Car at Home” tour, he’s traveling by mass/public…
CD Review: Dirty Projectors
David Longstreth has been making records for most of the ’00s under various monikers. His most consistent and fully realized project, Dirty Projectors, also happens to be his most accessible. And on their fifth album, the revolving group (Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig was a member at one point) expands both their roster and their scope.…
Joy Ride
In 1974’s underrated The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, Walter Matthau plays a frustrated N.Y.C. transit cop negotiating the release of subway-car hostages. In the zippy but less sharp remake The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, Denzel Washington plays a dispatcher named Walter, in tribute to the original’s star. That’s one of the…
CD Review: Neil Young
Nearly two decades in the making, the first volume of Young’s massive Archives series (this one clocking in at 10 discs!) finally sees the light of day. And it was definitely worth the wait. Compiling songs from Young’s first 10 years, the box — which is available as bank-account-busting Blu-rays, wallet-lightening DVDs and plain ol’…
Flower Child
Rachel Roberts is Akron’s perkiest folk-rock troubadour. Wearing a little black hat as she sits at the Upstairs Gallery above Musica (the site of her CD-release performance this Saturday), she talks enthusiastically about her new album, Lightning Loves the Kite, as if it were hanging on the gallery walls. “This new record felt more like…
CD Review: Dave Matthews Band
For a band that harnesses so much energy onstage, the Dave Matthews Band studio experience has been exceedingly bland and lifeless over the past decade. Albums like 2001’s Everyday and 2005’s Stand Up sound like a great jam band on the decline — directionless, passionless and losing the ability to perform as a unit without…
Making Music Out of Madness
“I don’t like perfect tuning,” says composer Goran Bregovic. “Perfect tuning makes me feel uncomfortable. I like to have a little madness, you know. And that’s where the madness is — when the instruments are a little bit out of tune.” Bregovic — a multimillion-selling star in the Balkan countries — is now in the…
The Odd Couple
Matty and Johnny first meet after she backs her car into his truck in a supermarket parking lot. He calls her a “crazy bitch”; she guesses his ginormous truck compensates for his small penis. So begins the unlikely relationship between the 41-year-old Matty (Barbara Sarafian) and the 29-year-old Johnny (Jurgen Delnaet) in Moscow, Belgium. Matty…
Film Cap Reviews
Anvil! The Story of Anvil It’s the summer of 1984, and a heavy-metal tour featuring the Scorpions, Whitesnake, Bon Jovi and Anvil has hit Japan. All the bands would go on to have multi-platinum success. Except for Anvil. After an introduction that includes footage from that tour, along with testimonials from Guns N’ Roses guitarist…
Reel Cleveland: The Cinematheque Takes Note
Last year, when the French journal Cahiers du cinéma published its list of the 100 greatest films, it included several movies that Cleveland Institute of Art Cinematheque (11141 East Blvd., 216.421.7450, cia.edu/cinematheque.) director John Ewing calls “oddball entries.” So he’s decided to show them. “I’m not making light of the list,” explains Ewing. “I just…
CHANGES
Dreams mix the imagery of waking experience with a hint of the infinities that surround us, out in the dark beyond. In her second solo show at William Busta Gallery, titled Mystery Hatch, Cecelia Phillips shows 15 oil paintings executed in a loosely realistic style on canvas and paper. Most are dreamlike visions focused on…
FREEDOM RINGING
The premise tilts toward the preposterous: Take a story about sexual orientation, gender identity, race and cultural oppression; mix in religious hypocrisy and faith in equal measures. Then set the whole thing in the antebellum South. Disaster should loom. But in Robert Sheeley’s Rainbow Plantation Blues, it doesn’t. Sheeley, a graduate of Geneva High School…
CD Review: The Horse’s Ha
Bad band name? Check. Bad album name? Check. Bad album? Sorry, but that one is not getting checked off. While many recent additions to the world of folk music think that all you need to be an Americana artist is an acoustic guitar and a bottle of whiskey, the Horse’s Ha produce nuanced and soothing…
Arts News From Around the Block
The Community Partnership for Arts and Culture has announced the winners of the first cycle of Cuyahoga Arts and Culture’s Creative Workforce Fellowship grants. The $20,000 grants, funded by the cigarette tax and made to artists living in Cuyahoga County, are among the largest annual grants awarded to support the work of individual artists in…
CHEESEBURGERS IN PARADISE
On a gorgeous summer day, there may be no sweeter patch in town than the narrow spit of land known as Whiskey Island. Sporting a hedonistic disposition not unlike Put-in-Bay’s, the county-owned parcel at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River is a popular spot with boaters, birders, babes and the sand-volleyball players who love them.…
KEEPING HIS HEAD UP
There is no worse enemy than a former friend. A friend knows your weak spots and intuitively senses how to manipulate those vulnerabilities to torture you. This dynamic underlies Karamu’s current world-premiere run of Before I Die: The War Against Tupac Shakur. The lethal friendship in question is between Tupac Shakur and Christopher Wallace…
CD Review: Rhett Miller
Rhett Miller says you can tell what his Old 97’s bandmates don’t like about his songwriting by his solo work, which typically features songs that get booted by the rest of the group. If that’s the case, the Old 97’s’ voting majority might want to rethink their strategy, given the strength and depth of Miller’s…
NOT BASED ON A TRUE STORY
Chuck Cleaver and Lisa Walker sound happy. And why wouldn’t they? Three terrific albums since the birth of their band Wussy, and their musical partnership has only grown stronger. Their most recent album, the eponymous Wussy, stands as their most complete album so far. It’s the apex of their individually formidable songwriting talents, which have…
Bites: New Gatherings
Lakewood residents have been seeing activity inside the old Bavarian Pastry Shop. At first blush, the goings-on appear restaurant-related, with contented customers enjoying wine and freshly prepared food in a storefront dining room. The major difference: These guests cooked their own meal. For six years, Doug Zimmer and Ruth Kostadinov ran Gatherings, a traditional catering…
CD Review: British Sea Power
You’ve got to wonder what sort of turn the band meeting took when someone in British Sea Power proposed crafting a score to the 1934 documentary Man of Aran. Granted, these dudes drress up in World War I garb and perform with giant fake birds on stage, but still. The group’s last three albums invited…
Boom Goes the Dynamite
TOP PICK Boom Blox Bash Party (Electronic Arts) Last year’s original Boom Blox is one of the Wii’s best games. This follow-up is even better. The gameplay remains pretty much the same: You hurl balls, bombs and other things at a bunch of boxes, knocking them down for trophies. But this time the action includes…
