Mic Check: The Cure at the Wolstein Center on Wednesday
Who would have guessed these guys liked black? The Cure has been getting gloomy, doomy, and occasionally happy for 30 years now. There are plenty of great records in its discography – the career-defining Pornography, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me – and plenty of crappy ones (we’ll start with 2004’s self-titled dud). Robert Smith…
Bachelorette’s Jesse Csincsak has the strange idea that Colorado mountains are sexier than Lorain County
The babes at Ziggy’s bar, in Amherst, were glued to the TV last night as they cheered native son Jesse Csincsak into the final four on The Bachelorette. Sadly, the 2001 Marion L. Steele High School grad didn’t return the favor. To catch you up, 25 bachelors from around the country have been trying to…
Voting machines eyed by Cuyahoga County are lousy, expensive, and probably mean to old people
“Did you hear that? My machine just called me ‘liberal swine!'” As Cuyahoga County election officials muddle through the now-familiar ritual of picking new voting machines for the November election — we hear it’s a big one — there’s a creepy feeling of déjà vu to the proceedings. Let’s go to the instant-replay booth: First,…
Shawshank Redemtion: The Reunion
It was 15 years ago this August that the film crew for Shawshank Redemption first came to the Mansfield Reformatory to begin shooting. The filming was a rare prime-time moment for the sleepy Ohio town. So a few years ago, Bill Mullen, who owns the Sandusky lumberyard where many of the movie’s woodworking scenes were…
The Cure in Cleveland: Should you go, or stay home and watch YouTube clips?
The Cure plays CSU’s Wolstein Center on Wednesday. But while these gothy alt-rock grandfathers have a back-catalog of some of the most ecstatic singles in the history of the known universe (“Just Like Heaven” and “Boys Don’t Cry,” to name two), they happen to put on the least kinetic live show ever, standing still while…
This Just In: The lastest concert announcements. Drink slowly to avoid brain freeze
This week, 27 new shows, with hot hipster metal from Bang Camaro, Australian singer-songwriter Missy Higgins (above) , and acoustic sensation Wild Carrot. Read on for the full rundown. — D.X. Ferris
Westlake’s Viva Barcelona closes
Part of the westside’s well-known “Viagra Triangle,” popular Spanish eatery Viva Barcelona (24600 Detroit Road) closed abruptly last Thursday, June 12. According to landlord Dave Gomersall, the biz, owned by a local partnership called Running Bulls LLC was behind on its rent. “That’s the reason they’re closed,” he told C-Notes this afternoon. “Of course, I…
Tribe: Jamey Carroll gives fans someone to root for
For a team like the Indians, who entered the season with World Series expectations, one thing fans surely didn’t expect is to have something called Jamey Carroll become the everyday second basemen. After all that has gone wrong, that Asdrubal Cabrera underperformed enough to be sent to Buffalo feels like only minor bad news, but…
Pissed about the port? Tonight’s a rare chance to scream about it
In May, Scene took a long look at the mammoth undertaking that would be moving Cleveland’s port from the Warehouse District to East 55th street, freeing up downtown waterfront property for frothing-at-the-mouth developers. At a glance, it sounds like a good idea. But this is a project that has all the ingredients of another Cleveland…
Scene wins 17 Press Club awards, snags extra free drink tickets
Photographer Walter Novak racked up his usual pile of awards, taking home five. The Press Club of Cleveland held its 30th annual Ohio Excellence in Journalism awards ceremony in Westlake on Friday, and Scene came home with a serious stack of hardware (plus more than its share of free drink tickets). This rag won 17…
Best Picks of the Week Ever!
DJ Tiesto, Tuesday at Metropolis. Every Monday, Scene calendar editor Cris Glaser provides a random but reliable sampling of things to do in the week ahead. For more options, log onto entertainment.clevescene.com. And check back Friday for C-Notes’ Picks of the Week. Monday: The last time Detroit’s High Strung rock trio tooled into Northeast Ohio,…
Mic Check: Jack Johnson at Blossom Music Center on Tuesday
Would rather be surfing. Say what you will about Jack Johnson: He’s boring, all his songs sound alike, you pretty much gotta be smoking a doobie to come down to his laid-back level. But not too many artists can make the slack lifestyle seem so effortless. Dude’s a surfer, an outdoorsman, and an environment-loving peacenik.…
Hello, Cleveland: Jack Johnson headlines a, like, totally chill week in concerts
Chief among this week’s concerts, surfer-dude-turned-singer-songwriter Jack Johnson brings the feel-good vibes to Blossom. And if that’s not mellow enough for you, check out the smooth-jazz sounds of Chris Botti at Playhouse Sqaure. Read on for more concerts and details. Pay attention. There will be a quiz. — D.X. Ferris
Last Night in Cleveland: Death Cab for Cutie
Death Cab for Cutie has always been tougher in concert than on record. Ben Gibbard’s songs about sad, lonely people occasionally play that way at home or on your iPod: sad and lonely. It can all get a bit insular and depressing. Onstage, the band tends to turn up the volume a notch or two…
Kate Voegele wants you to schedule her fall tour
Guitar heroine. Our favorite Bay Village singer-songwriter, Kate Voegele, is letting fans pick where her first headlining tour in the fall will take her. Now through August 13, fans can vote at Eventful to win a concert by Voegele, who’s been on the road with her debut album, Don’t Look Away, for more than a…
Horror Convention Massacre 2: DVD release at Roc Bar this weekend
The Horror Convention Massacre 2 makes its DVD debut at the Roc Bar (1220 Old River Road, East Bank of the Flats, 216-771-6655) Saturday, June 14. Produced in Cleveland, the indie horror flick stars Ari Lehman (Jason from Friday the 13th), and features an appearance by Uncle Scratch’s Gospel Revival. The film will screen at…
Former Steeler Greg Lloyd wants to watch the Browns game at your place. Hope you’re armed!
Greg Lloyd, in a rare moment without his gun. September 14, 2008 has been circled on your calendar since the NFL released its schedule. Actually, it’s been circled twice – once in orange and once in brown. Sunday Night Football. Browns vs. Steelers. Decrepit Rust Belt Hamlet vs. Decrepit Rust Belt Hamlet with Hills. Good…
Money Where Your Mouth Is: Psychostick at the Jigsaw
Occasionally, C-Notes picks the show but lets the band do the talking. This time: Arizona’s Psychostick, because they play metal, and they’re funny. And ha-friggin’-ha if you just said, “Uh, ALL metal is funny.” Read on for their pitch and the details — D.X. Ferris
Tribe: More injuries, more call-ups, more drinking to dull the pain
Victor Martinez will be placed on the roster by someone named Yamid Haad. Victor Martinez and Josh Barfield will be joining Jake Westbrook, Fausto Carmona, and Travis Hafner on the DL. Victor’s got some elbow issues (once again, something that has bothered him for a significant period of time but only recently announced by the…
Last Night in Cleveland: Iron Maiden
It’s no big surprise that the T-shirt color of choice at last night’s Iron Maiden concert at Blossom Music Center was black. Audience members sported Black Sabbath, Queensryche, Slayer, and Maiden Ts. And everything from the merch table to the Powerslave-era stage set had a decidedly retro feel. Singer Bruce Dickinson is even putting his…
Scene’s Tasteful Affair: As tasteful as we can make it, considering all the booze
Light chef Matt Mathlage will judge this year’s cooking competition. Booze, food, and a chance to watch four local chefs make like Food Network stars are among the highlights of Scene’s 2008 Tasteful Affair, a June 26 fundraiser for the Diabetes Association of Greater Cleveland. More than 25 restaurants and markets will be taking part…
Hello, Cleveland: Brooks and Dunn, Death Cab top this weekend’s shows
Brooks & Dunn bring the country to Blossom Sunday, and Death Cab for Cutie make the Plain Dealer Pavilion come alive Friday. Read on for a full rundown of the weekend’s must-see shows. — D.X. Ferris
Egyptian pope “breaks thigh,” headed to Cleveland. Must be the pork
Pope Shenouda III: conduit with God and BBQ aficionado. With all the bad news coming out of Cleveland lately, it’s nice to know the city can still attract A-list tourists. Case in point: Pope Shenouda III. Shenouda, known to his friends as “the Nood,” is the 85-year-old leader of the Coptic Church, a minority sect…
Reader: to aspire to LeBron’s fast-track to sports riches misses “the whole point of life”
In this week’s cover story, “Endangered Species,” Scene checks out the growing lack of black faces in baseball. Via voicemail, a friendly reader ruminates on the problem: I just wanted to thank you so much for an excellent article in this current issue of Scene magazine. I’m a retired professor, and I would say (chuckles)…
Restaurant of the Weekend: Sweet Melissa’s in Rocky River
A fun vibe, an earthy-meets-trendy décor, and a big menu of really big sandwiches, salads, and assorted entrees help make Sweet Melissa’s a sure bet for busy summer weekends. Nothing formal or stuffy, here. Instead, the restaurant and bakery, which opened in the former Max’s Deli space in Rocky River on April 28, is a…
Twin Lanes: Another bad-ass Cleveland bowling alley on the verge of going belly up
Twin Lanes, Tim and Tom Menge’s bowling paradise is on the verge of collapse. As Scene reported in April, Twin Lanes, on E. 30th and Chester, is the bowling puritan’s heaven — but hell for its owners. The venerable alley is run by 60-year old twins Tim and Tom Menge, who blame bowling for virtually…
Mic Check: Death Cab for Cutie at the Plain Dealer Pavilion on Friday
“So this is what God does all day.” It took us a while to get “I Will Possess Your Heart,” the sprawling first single from Death Cab for Cutie’s new album, Narrow Stairs. But now that we understand its place within the CD, it sorta makes sense. It also helps that producer and guitar player…
Hello! McFly! Back to the Future’s Biff leads the week in Cleveland comedy
Unless you recognize a comedian’s name as That Girl From that Movie or the Dude from That One HBO Special, it can be hard to tell whether a stand-up is worth seeing. Lucky you: Scene did the legwork, and the skinny on this week’s big comedy shows, video included, is just a click away. Read…
Who will be Cleveland’s Next Top Model?
Two months ago, C-Notes brought you the premier of Cleveland’s Next Top Model, a hilarious parody of the WB reality show America’s Next Top Model, in which five Cleveland wanna-be models compete for a $1,200 modeling job at Sears. In the first few episodes, Deb was eliminated because of her “bony legs,” Pam for her…
Mad Money’s Jim Cramer praises a green Cleveland
This man is not nearly as obnoxious as originally thought. You may not realize this, but Cleveland is way ahead of the green curve. So says Grist.org, a Seattle environmental group that ranked Cleveland one of the 12 most green cities in the country. Seems we have more community gardens than most, and most of…
The horror! Coke product found on Oberlin campus!
Drink this at Oberlin, and you’re supporting murder With its ultra-liberalism and eco-consciousness, it’s sometimes hard to keep track of all the things that Oberlin College is officially against. Take Coca-Cola. Since 2004, the school has officially banned all Coke products from campus due to the soda company’s alleged human rights violations in Colombia. In…
My House is Worth What? is coming to C-Town
Cleveland may be drowning in foreclosures and plummeting property values, but that doesn’t mean your misery can’t be televised! In a few months, some folks from Hollywood will arrive to teach us how to get the most out of our homes — while conveniently ignoring the boarded-up crack house down the street…
Slide Show: U.S. Air Guitar Championships at the Grog Shop
Kicking axe. A bunch of local guys who can’t afford real guitars went to the Grog Shop on Monday and shredded something fierce at the U.S. Air Guitar Championships. Wanda Santos-Bray was there (fortunately with a real camera and not an air one) and took some pictures. Check out her slide show. –Michael Gallucci
The Artist Formerly Known As P. Diddy wants to tell you something
Earlier this week, the blogosphere was abuzz with the rumor that Sean Combs had changed his name once again. Looking over our scorecard, Diddy appears to be the name the hip-pop producer and president of the R.I.P. Biggie Smalls Fan Club is using these days. According to reports, Combs was going back to his old…
Cuyahoga county commissioners: You mean we don’t have an endless supply of money to waste?
Tim Hagan offers up kids and old people to take the brunt of the county’s belt-tightening. King Jimmy Dimora and his Cuyahoga County commissioner pals have never been especially thrifty guys. They had no qualms about blowing more than $35 million on the Ameritrust complex, a collection of vacant, asbestos-filled buildings that they soon realized…
John Lee Hooker Jr. show canceled
The Thursday, June 12 John Lee Hooker Jr. show at Brothers Lounge has been canceled. Call the club for refund information: 216-226-2767. — D.X. Ferris
Ray’s, at Kent State: One damn fine place to relive the glory days
Here’s something incredibly awesome I learned recently about college reunions: You can still get just as shit-faced at them as you did back in the day. Case in point: I recently met an old college buddy for a multi-class get-together to tour Kent State University’s new School of Journalism and Mass Communications. The Friday-night reunion…
Batting Stance Guy takes on Tribe
If you haven’t seen the batting stance guy yet, he’s become a minor YouTube sensation among baseball nerds by videotaping himself imitating the batting stances of countless major league ballplayers. He’s sort of like that geeky Star Wars kid, but with a plastic bat and more grace. He’s now taken on the roster of Cleveland…
Spike Lee on LeBron James: Oh, what fun he could have
In a new interview with MTV.com, filmmaker Spike Lee, on an apparent break from trash-talking Clint Eastwood, talks up his documentary about Lakers guard Kobe Bryant, who’s having some trouble with the Boston Celtics. (Hey, it happens.) Lee says Kobe is one of the best two players in the league, right up there with LeBron…
Local sex-shop chain Ambiance rubs its giant profits in our depressed faces
Lindsay doesn’t mind if you can no longer afford Death Cab tickets. Your average Clevelander lives in a house worth $12,000 and dropping, is stuck in a $500 Hummer lease, puts on a suit to sit in a park for eight hours a day so that his wife won’t know he’s been laid off, and…
In Ohio City, Jazz28 takes over former Budapest Blue
Musicians and entrepreneurs Marc and Debora Lynn quietly opened Jazz28 last Friday, June 6, in Ohio City. The space, at 2828 Clinton Avenue, was most recently Ilona Simon’s Budapest Blue; prior to that, it was home to Halite. And in its longest-lasting incarnation to date, it was the popular Italian restaurant, Traci’s. C-Notes caught up…
Has Robert Smith brought the Cure back to life?
If you believe the reports, the Cure is putting on a half-decent live show for the first time in 20 years. On their current tour, the perennial goth-rockers are playing three-hour sets featuring some of their best tunes and are actually putting a little effort into it. It’s about time. Like Heart of Darkness author…
We Are Scientists
We Are Scientists still seems like a bunch of fun-loving dudes who want to fill dance floors with their poppy post-punk. But the Brooklyn group — now down to a duo — has lost some of the spunk that sneaked into nearly every crevice of 2006’s With Love and Squalor. Most of the generic songs…
Candid Camera
After 17 years as a California bioengineer, shutterbug Aleks Raskin realized he’d scored all the money, cars, and success he could ever want. But at 43, he was also fed up with life. “I was going to bed miserable and waking up miserable. And I realized that money is a trivial thing,” says Raskin. “I…
Long-lost Akron punks Teacher’s Pet finally release their debut album
Recently unearthed after nearly three decades in the can, Teacher’s Pet’s self-titled album doubles as a time capsule of Akron’s legendary music scene of the late ’70s. “There was a lot of stuff happening,” recalls singer and keyboardist Pete Sake (who was born Ron Mullens). “It was kind of a hotbed of punk rock in…
Ellen Degenerate
Ellen Degenerate is pissed off at everyone who’s ever been called cool. The Akron punks’ frame of reference may be a tad dated, but it gives them a long historical view that vindicates their vitriol. In “Tony Danza,” singer Jimmy Beautiful lets you know who’s the boss, sneering, “Tony Danza is so stellar/Banging Angela in…
All They Need Is Love
As Fab Faux co-founder Will Lee sees it, the Beatles “gave us all a wake-up call” about the turbulent ’60s. And he and his four bandmates plan to prove it tonight during their Playhouse Square concert. “They woke us up to fashion. They woke us up to what a few people can do to change…
Heads Held High signs to C-Bus label
Heads Held High has signed with Columbus indie label Crossface Records to release its full-length debut. Crossface owner Josh Wood discovered the Cleveland modern-hardcore band through MySpace. “Before signing them, I had friends with differing tastes in music listen to Heads Held High, and all of them liked the music,” says Wood, a scene veteran…
Mike Symon shut out in Beard Awards — again
For the second straight year, Cleveland chef Michael Symon (Lola, Lolita) came home from the Big Apple sans a coveted James Beard Foundation award. Held on Sunday at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall, the Foundation’s annual awards gala is intended to spotlight the nation’s top chefs and restaurateurs. Like last year, Symon was one of…
The End of the End
Michael Wendt still remembers the day in 1999 when Northeast Ohio’s alt-rock radio listeners mourned the death of 107.9-FM “the End” WENZ after an ownership shuffle. Because the station repeatedly played the same R.E.M. song for 24 hours before it changed to an urban format, the Cleveland filmmaker has fittingly titled his debut documentary —…
Iron Maiden
Nearly 30 years after Iron Maiden released one of the all-time-greatest metal albums, it’s sorta surprising how tame The Number of the Beast sounds these days. This stuff used to cause shock, scandal, and outrage; the band was even labeled a bunch of devil-worshiping degenerates. But anyone who actually bothered to listen to the record…
Pretty Saigon is an approachable downtown adventure
It’s a familiar feeling for frequent diners: tedium, tinged by despair about what seems like the real possibility you’ll expire from boredom before your server shows up with your check. So when our dinner companion at a Saturday-night visit to downtown’s Saigon slumped in her seat, moaning, “Please don’t let me die this way,” our…
Boom Box Seat
The Baseball Heritage Museum makes room for a new stable of radio relics at today’s opening of the permanent Baseball and Radio Broadcast Exhibit. And local on-air legends like Ted Alexander, John Webster, and John Gorman will be on hand to give you the lowdown on changes in electronic journalism. “It’s long overdue for Cleveland,…
Cross Canadian Ragweed
If this Oklahoma foursome isn’t careful, it could become country music’s Next Big Thing. These latter-day Creedence Clearwater Revival-style red-dirt rockers turn out tunes loaded with style and lyrical smarts. To hear a Ragweed song is to witness the execution of a musical tightrope act that most of its peers avoid. Lurking just beneath the…
The Foot Fist Way is a tae kwon do comedy with one truly cringe-tastic star
The Foot Fist Way has been trying to break into theaters since clawing its way down film-fest row, starting at Sundance in ’06. It took Will Ferrell and his comedy-life partner Adam McKay to get distributors interested. As the trailer notes, they “watched it at least 20 times.” It’s easy to see why Ferrell and…
Shoot Me!
This morsel of news may stun a few foodies: The latest trend in culinary circles will be explored at tonight’s Natural History of Asparagus dinner. Cleveland caterer and chef Ben Bebenroth will plate up a seven-course feast in which each dish contains shoots of the vegetable. Before you grab a barf bag, chew on this:…
Jaymay and Fink
New York singer-songwriter Jaymay digs deep into genre patriarch Bob Dylan’s wordy narratives on her debut album, Autumn Fallin’. She’s already won over late-night talk-show hosts Conan O’Brien and Craig Ferguson with her sharp, tuneful songs about a particularly depressing relationship (three of Autumn Fallin’s songs have blue in their titles). Hipsters like to drop…
In the shadow of Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk can’t live up to its billing
In recent days, Universal’s been running an ad for The Incredible Hulk that gives away a predictable cameo: the appearance of Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark, aka Iron Man. From the delighted, deafening squeals of at least one sneak-preview audience, it’s clear that the thought of an all-star Marvel Comics team-up — Avengers, assemble!…
Nun of Your Business
As an ex-Catholic schoolgirl, Lisa Buscani draws from real-life inspiration when she reprises the role of Sister in the one-nun show Late Nite Catechism 2, by Maripat Donovan and Vicki Quade. Her portrayal has a loose connection to a couple of elderly aunts and her habit-wearing first-grade teacher. “She talks about getting into heaven, the…
Nicholas Megalis
Age ain’t nothing but a number, but listening to Nicholas Megalis, it’s pretty amazing that this Cleveland kid is only 19. Unlike other post-tween artists, Megalis isn’t some watered-down, radio-friendly singer with lame lyrics and mild melodies. Whether playing quiet, intense piano tunes like Damien Rice or twangy guitar blues like Tom Waits, Megalis makes…
Parents of disabled children hit the wall in Bang and Clatter’s A Nervous Smile
While most parents say they’d give up their own lives for their children’s, few are called to do so. One exception, however, is parents who spend decades as caretakers for profoundly handicapped children, often giving up large chunks of their own lives in the process. It’s this sort of sacrifice that’s at the heart of…
Jukebox Heroes
As they plug in tonight for a concert in Kent, The Strawbs bemoan audiences in their native England. More than 40 years after their debut in London’s folk circles, the quintet now is considered too old for British musical tastes. “Over there, age matters. You’re written off as dinosaurs,” says Dave Cousins, the band’s 62-year-old…
Brooks & Dunn
Before they became country music’s biggest duo, Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn both toiled under the radar as solo acts. Once they teamed up on 1991’s Brand New Man, which yielded three No. 1 songs (“My Next Broken Heart,” “Neon Moon,” and “Boot Scootin’ Boogie”), they catapulted into the major leagues and have remained there…
Capsule reviews of current area art exhibitions
NEW Artist as Quiltmaker XIII — Crafting may be a hip hobby for twentysomethings, but only a hardcore crafter goes beyond the usual projects — jewelry fashioned from PBR bottle caps, crocheted iPod cozies, etc. — to take up quilting. The handiwork of such diehard crafty folk from across the country is on display for…
Bella of the Ball
La Casa Bella Party Center marks a new era tonight, when it hosts its first-ever concert with Motown-cover fave Shout in the house. Since 1995, the elegantly appointed center has built a rep for catering private affairs, from wedding receptions to bar mitzvahs. But its owners want to keep pace with their rivals by starting…
Fish
Drama has always surrounded Derek “Fish” Dick. It’s a key component of his very best work: From the early days, fronting prog-rockers Marillion, to a fruitful solo career (which he launched in 1988), Fish’s trials and tribulations have fueled his music. The hulking Scotsman recently underwent a public breakup with his fiancée; his latest album,…
Capsule reviews of current area theater presentations
The Gamblers — This one-hour romp, written by Nikolai Gogol and produced by the Cleveland Museum of Art, feels as modern as any production you’re likely to see this year. In an adaptation by director Massoud Saidpour, The Gamblers focuses on professional card sharks, who foist treacheries that will not surprise anyone who has seen…
Sticky Situation
That almighty staple in every dude’s tool box is this weekend’s showstopper at Avon’s fifth annual Duct Tape Festival. And there’s more to the sticky stuff than a quick patch job. For starters, exhibitors will unwrap 25,000 rolls of tape in 20 colors to create floats for tomorrow morning’s parade from the town’s Village Elementary…
Jambang and the Texas Corrugators
Former Black Flag guitarist Greg Ginn (second from left) gets the shred out in not one but two sets. Neither’s as hardcore or extreme as his Flag material, but both push the envelope into “How much art can you take?” territory. In Jambang, the axeman — whom Rolling Stone named one of its greatest guitarists…
All You Need Is Love’s 30-year-old history of pop music tops this week’s pop-culture picks
TOP PICK — All You Need Is Love (MVD) Back in the mid-’70s, John Lennon proposed that British filmmaker Tony Palmer make a documentary about the history of popular music. The 17-episode series aired across the globe from 1976 to 1981. This five-DVD set still thrills, as Palmer charts everything from ragtime and vaudeville to…
Take a Bow
Ex-Page France frontman Michael Nau is back on the road as the Cotton Jones Basket Ride and tools into town to promote his EP, The Archery. The disc is the second of a three-part package for which Nau has designed artwork for the limited-release editions. It also continues the Maryland songwriter’s foray into fuzzed-out psychedelic…
Jack Johnson
We so envy Jack Johnson. Laid-back lifestyle. Surfer boy. Cute wife. Probably hangs out in his hammock in Hawaii all day, getting high and watching the waves. He makes it all sound effortless. But it isn’t. It takes work to come off this chill (just ask Colbie Caillat or any other singer-songwriter who taps Johnson’s…
Guitar Hero and Rock Band give new meaning to “rock and roll excess”
I am absolutely dreading the arrival of Guitar Hero: World Tour. Can’t even enjoy the summer. It might sound like insanity, given that the fourth installment in the Guitar Hero franchise could end up being the most successful game of 2008. It won’t even hit store shelves till late October, but details leaked recently have…
Karaoke Queens
Cocktails and karaoke provide a potent combo in Louise Roche’s Girls Night: The Musical, which opens tonight in Cleveland for a monthlong run. And actress Sonya Carter is getting into her role as the bitter Liza, who grabs the center of attention by behaving badly. “We’ve all had too much to drink and tried to…
Baseball: Where have all the black guys gone?
It’s a miserable day for baseball. From a purple sky, cold bullets of rain spray the Brush High School team, leaving momentary stains on their brown uniforms. Two chatting umpires pay the weather no mind. On the public-school circuit, baseball will be played in driving sleet if need be — games cost too much and…
Devon Allman’s Honeytribe
Honeytribe is led by son of the Allman Brothers’ Gregg Allman, singer-guitarist Devon Allman, who inherited just about everything he could from his dad — voice, chops, beard — and spends every gig living up to the name. In one winding jam after another, the group plays everything from classic-rock originals to blues standards, tearing…
Nicholas Megalis CD
If Cleveland has anything close to Tori Amos, it’s Nicholas Megalis. The 19-year-old singer-songwriter phenom doesn’t sound much like the ethereal keyboard queen on his debut — well, he does in “The Holder,” a piano vamp about a fizzling relationship — but his literate, hallucinogenic aesthetic of whimsy and strife is the most fully developed,…
The Doctor’s In
Nobody grows too old for Dr. Seuss’ Green Eggs and Ham. That’s why the Near West Theatre production of Seussical Jr. is aimed at audiences of all ages — but especially kids who’ve been reading about Horton the Elephant, the Cat in the Hat, and the folks down in Whoville. “It’s amazing how goofy and…
The notorious Linndale speed trap faces down another would-be killer
It’s always easy to spot the rookies. Veterans shuffle in, grab a seat, and wait their turn, their faces flush with resignation. First-timers never stop scanning. Paper-thin industrial carpeting. Wood-paneled walls. Cheap metal chairs. As folks file in on a spring afternoon, you can almost hear them thinking, This is it? “They sure do make…
Jakob Dylan
More than the icon with whom he shares a surname, Jakob Dylan’s true musical progenitor may well be his biological father’s former Traveling Wilburys teammate Tom Petty. For years, each has reliably crafted guitar- and organ-based radio-ready rock and roll, delivered with a lived-in, innately distinctive voice and a skilled but nearly anonymous backing band. Petty…
Big Boys Don’t Cry
Andrew Rannells has steadily kept himself busy by acting on Broadway and loaning his voice for TV shows. But the audition that landed him the role of Bob Gaudio in Jersey Boys made his stomach butterflies flutter. “This process is pretty unique in that Bob and Frankie Valli are both at your audition,” says Rannells.…
Letters published June 11, 2008
“Grand Theft Auto Tremont,” May 28 Auto Reply Tremont pioneer reacts to portrait of ‘hood: Most of my Tremont neighbors and I find the above article to be weak in factual reporting. It is filled with socioeconomic snobbery, riddled with undercurrents of racism, and insulting to my neighborhood friends, with unnecessary and inappropriate elitist snide…
Local H
Think you’ve had a bad year? Get a load of Local H’s. On 12 Angry Months, the Chicago alt-rock duo flips through its calendar and recalls 365 days’ worth of lousy dates, psycho girlfriends, and sleepless nights. Over a dozen songs that sound like they time-warped from another decade (the mid-’90s, to be specific), frontman…
Jackie, Oh!
Novelist Jackie Collins has been known to keep her readers up at night. And rightfully so, since what she mostly wrote about was sex. In a rare Cleveland appearance tonight, Collins — the sister of acid-tongued 1980s TV vixen Joan — signs her new read, Married Lovers, about an Aussie personal trainer, who flees her…
Findlay struggles with that whole separation of church and state thing
The desolate plains of western Ohio can play tricks on your mind — like making you think you’re from Kansas or something. Which may explain the Findlay public schools’ annual free Bible day. Fifth-graders were dismissed early from class last week in order to walk with their teachers to a spot about three blocks away…
Aimee Mann
Aimee Mann has made her career championing the underdog and projecting herself as a woe-is-me singer-songwriter who has just as many problems as regular folks. To be fair, her much-publicized sour experiences with nearsighted music execs were rather shitty, and this was before the industry resembled the last remains of the dodo. Ironically, as Mann’s…
Dutch Treat
To say that 2008 is turning into Tiësto’s banner year would be an understatement. In January, the 39-year-old Dutch DJ announced he will marry his teen gal pal in October. A month later, he was up for an electronic-music Grammy for his 2007 CD, Elements of Life. And next month, he’ll spin every Monday at…
Death Cab for Cutie pumps up the volume (relatively speaking) on new CD
The first song that fans heard from Death Cab for Cutie’s latest CD, Narrow Stairs, was an eight-minute epic called “I Will Possess Your Heart,” released a couple of months before the album. It’s a slow-building track constructed on sheets of sound, adding instruments — first bass, then guitar, then drums, and finally piano —…
Martha Wainwright
No big surprise that Martha Wainwright — daughter of idiosyncratic singer-songwriters Loudon Wainwright III and Kate McGarrigle, and sister of avant-pop singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright — is also a singer-songwriter with discriminating tastes. On her second album, she broadens her sonic palette, leaping from FM rock to trip-folk to Euro-cabaret to arty new wave — sometimes…
Library Cards
As America’s only garage-rock band that exclusively plays public libraries, the High Strung book from their Detroit digs today to jam in front of the aisles in Rocky River and Avon Lake as part of the group’s third annual National Rock & Roll Library Tour. But the band is better known for its 2004 bequest…
