Akron’s Nighlight Cinema to Screen Documentary About British Punk Rocker Poly Styrene
The late Poly Styrene (Marianne Joan Elliott-Said), who sang with the British punk act X-Ray Spex, probably hasn’t gotten the credit she’s deserved. A feminist punk icon before there were feminist punk icons, Elliot-Said left behind a remarkable legacy. Who is Poly Styrene?, a 40-minute BBC documentary, shows how she struggled to accept celebrity status.…
Prosecutor Wants ‘East Cleveland 3’ Murder Charges Dropped
The latest development in the East Cleveland 3 retrial process has Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy McGinty asking to drop all charges against the men originally convicted of a 1995 murder. Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Nancy Margaret Russo will rule on that motion Aug. 15. A new trial for the three men was granted earlier…
Ohio BMVs Will Take Credit Cards Starting Later This Week
You talked (or yelled and swore) and they listened: you can now pay your driver’s license, vehicle registration renewals and other BMV fees using a credit card as of Friday at all 190 registrar offices. No longer will you get halfway to the BMV only to realize you don’t know where your checkbook is. No…
4th of July Fireworks With the Orchestra and Four More Classical Music Events to Hit This Week
[image-1]The Kent/Blossom Music Festival gets into full swing this week with the first of several faculty concerts. On Wednesday, June 29 at 7:30 pm in Ludwig Concert Hall on the Kent State University Campus, the two associate concertmasters of The Cleveland Orchestra will be featured in solo and duo music for violin(s) alone, no accompaniment…
Chrissie Hynde to Join Rock Photographer Jill Furmanovsky for Lecture at Akron Art Museum
Born and raised in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), Rockarchive.com founder and photographer Jill Furmanovsky moved to London in 1965 when she was 11 years old. There, she became a member of the Beatles fan-club and an “Apple scruff” that hung around outside Abbey Road studios in London, hoping to catch sight of the Fab Four. She…
International Stars to Perform at 6th Annual Ohio Burlesque Festival
Organizers for the sixth annual Ohio Burlesque Festival have announced that this year’s event will revolve around the theme of “amplifying every voice.” Some 60 performers will perform at the three-day festival at the Beachland Ballroom that will feature burlesque, vaudeville, sideshows and variety. Performers from the United Kingdom, South America, Canada and the…
Newly Formed White Nationalist Group Will Come to Cleveland for RNC
The Traditionalist Worker Party (TWP) will be bringing their demonstrations to Cleveland during the RNC. Last Sunday, 30-40 members of the TWP clashed with around 400 counter-protesters believed to be loosely ideologically connected on the steps of the Capitol Building in Sacramento. During the state-sanctioned protest, 10 people suffered stab and laceration wounds, two of…
Punk Rockers Letlive. Make Music With a Message
Where has all the political punk rock gone? In an age of emo revivals and “commercial metalcore” (whatever that means), it’s easy to wonder whether or not anyone cares about making a good old-fashioned punk rock statement anymore. Fortunately, even if message-centric music never makes a full resurgence in major punk circles, we’ll always have letlive. The Los…
Winners of Cleveland Arts Prize to be Honored This Week
[image-1]The winners of this year’s Cleveland Arts Prize (CAP) will be honored during the 56th Annual Cleveland Arts Prize Awards Event presented by the Cleveland Foundation at 7 p.m. this Thursday, June 30. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Performances will take place throughout the ceremony in the Cleveland Museum of Art’s Gartner Auditorium, and a…
From 1964 to Now: A Clevelander Comes Home to See a Championship Win
[image-1]I was walking up and down Larchmere Road on the Cleveland/Shaker Heights line—pacing, really—under a full moon. It was late in game 7 of the NBA championship, and I couldn’t bear to watch, couldn’t stand the pain of one more disappointment. Still I dared to wonder how my life might change and how the whole…
Meet Jose Feliciano Jr., the Man Behind the RTA Twitter Feed on Cavs Parade Day
[image-1]Jose Feliciano Jr. is an external affairs administrator for the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority. That’s a title which encompasses a number of responsibilities for the two-year RTA veteran. For the first 18-20 months of his employment, Feliciano participated in a management development program during which he rotated among the agency’s various departments. He even…
Long-Running Mi Pueblo Restaurant Has Been Reduced to Rubble
For nearly 20 years, Mi Pueblo – and its iconic retro sign – have been landmarks on Euclid Avenue in University Circle. The Mexican restaurant was opened in 1998 by Adrian Ortega, who relocated to Cleveland from Chicago. The long-running restaurant changed hands a number of times, most recently rebranding itself as Pinatas. That restaurant…
Local Newgrass Outfit Honeybucket Raising Money for Next Year’s CIFF
Earlier this year, the local newgrass oufit Honeybucket contributed the song “Old High Road” to the Cleveland International Film Festival trailer. As a thank you, the group has just re-released the track as a single along with “Oh, Dolores,” a previously unreleased bonus track. All proceeds from iTunes or Bandcamp sales of “Old High Road…
Bad Company and Joe Walsh Bring the Heat at Blossom
It definitely was one hell of a night with Bad Company and Joe Walsh rocking the stage at Blossom Music Center last night. Both young and old came to enjoy a rockin’ good time and to get a glimpse of two of the biggest rock band legends of the 70s and 80s: Paul Rodgers and…
Video: Hopkins Airport Unveils Completed Improvements
[image-1]Façade and ticketing hall construction at the Cleveland Hopkins International Airport is finally complete. Well, sort of, there are still a few adjustments and touch ups being made here and there, but the dust has cleared for the most part. Is it good? We’ll leave that to travelers to decide. Here’s time-lapse video of the…
Not Caring About Sports Doesn’t Really Cut It In Cleveland
I’ve never really been mistaken for a sports fan. My dad would probably be the first to acknowledge that any hopes he may have had that I would join him in conversations about football or occasionally play a game of pick-up basketball were swiftly dashed pretty much as soon as I became a sentient being.…
Kent Stage to Host Only Regional Screening of the Documentary Film ‘Going Furthur’
Writer Ken Kesey famously chronicled his exploits of the ’60s in The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, a book about the cross-country trip he took in a school bus he christened Furthur. Fifty years after that venture, Kesey’s son Zane took a bus named Furthur on the road with a new band of Merry Pranksters. It…
Part of the Smokers Club Tour Coming to the Agora, Rapper G Herbo Calls Attention to Chicago’s East Side
Up-and-coming Chicago-based rapper Herbert Wright (G Herbo) grew up on Chicago’s notorious East Side, so the husky-voiced rapper has seen his share of shootings and drug deals. Herbo, who performs on Friday at the Agora as part of the Smokers Club Tour with rappers Cam’ron, the Underachievers, Smoke Dza, Yk Caution, Mobsquard Nard, G-Jet and…
Listen: New Bone Thugs-n-Harmony Track, “Coming Home”
Bone Thugs-n-Harmony released a new track a few days ago and while it comes right after the Cavs took home the NBA championship, it’s about much more than that. It’s about home, and Cleveland, and ups and downs. It’s also pretty great. Here’s “Coming Home” for your listening pleasure.
Indie Rockers 1-800-BAND Draw From a Wide Range of Influences
There’s something different about a talented, upbeat rock band; a certain positive energy flows through the space the music inhabits, almost as if the human brain is naturally conditioned to react in such a way. When that first infectious chorus hits the audience, the room seems to overflow with passion, a reminder that the simplest…
Ray LaMontagne Grows Into His Sound on ‘Ouroboros’
The narrative arc of Ray LaMontagne’s career is an interesting one, though he’s not entirely interested in looking back and discussing earlier points from which he’s traveled. He’s here right now, and, to be honest, this is about as fine a point along that arc to join our cosmic hero as any. Let’s tune in.…
Rebol at Public Square Unveils Concept and Menu
After more than a year of construction, much of it taking place behind the veil of fencing, Cleveland’s Public Square is gearing up for its big reveal. Even as the barriers come down, there’s still one more piece to the puzzle that remains to be put into place: the opening of Rebol, a café at…
Local Electronic Musician Matthew Ryals Releases Debut Full-Length
Local musician Matthew Ryals records his own music at his home studio where he uses a “sound palette,” something he describes as “a mixture of highly manipulated audio samples, instruments, and field recordings.” He once even used recordings of Lake Erie at Edgewater Park that he captured on an especially windy day. Ryals, who holds…
11 Concerts to Catch This Weekend
FRIDAY, JUNE 24 Colleen Green Indie singer-songwriter Colleen Green vocalizes the plight of every maturing Millennial on her most recent full-length, 2015’s I Want to Grow Up. Through her struggles to do and be the right thing, Green recognizes that just when age grants true appreciation for the self-abandonment of childhood, conscience suffocates the last…
Let’s End This Week With a Video of a Guy Eating Horse Poop During the Cavs Parade
I’m not sure what else there is to say here, except WHAT A WEEK, CLEVELAND.
Help Fund an Overjoyed Cleveland Sports Fan’s Coloring Book
Remember Why Is Daddy Sad on Sunday?, the coloring book that depicted all the disappointing moments in Cleveland sports history? Well, illustrator Scott O’Brien is singing a different tune these days, right along with every other beautiful person in this wonderful city. He’s seeking investors for Why Is Daddy Overjoyed On Sunday?, the natural sequel…
Guns N’ Roses Launches Reunion Tour with Hard Rocking Show at Detroit’s Ford Field
There must have been a frost advisory in hell last night, because Axl Rose was onstage at Ford Field by 9:43 p.m. for night No. 1 of the Guns N’ Roses reunion tour (the band doesn’t play Cleveland on the tour). There were moments when Axl was charging with the mic stand or doing the…
Could a County Sales Tax Increase Save the RTA? One Board Member Thinks So.
Newburgh Heights Mayor Trevor Elkins gripped the mic at Antioch Baptist Church in Fairfax. Elkins is the newest member of the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (RTA) board of trustees and he was representing that body at a Clevelanders for Public Transit Meeting Thursday evening. Elkins’ remarks came after RTA CEO Joe Calabrese was pressed…
Verne Collection to Host Unique Works by Daniel Kelly
Located on Murray Hill Road in Little Italy, the Verne Collection has specialized in Japanese painting and printmaking for decades. This intimate gallery typically only hosts one exhibition in Cleveland each year, and Verne Collection president Michael Verne spends a large portion of the year traveling to prestigious art fairs around the country, as well…
Solstice is Centerpiece of Terrific Weekend at Wade Oval
Although the Cleveland Museum of Art’s Solstice is sold out, there are still plenty of opportunities to celebrate during the CMA’s Centennial Festival Weekend. Throughout the weekend, dozens of local artists will be showcasing their studio practices around Wade Oval, and after Saturday night’s Solstice, the Cleveland Orchestra will perform around Wade Lagoon on Sunday…
Newly Renovated Public Square Now Open; Grand Opening Ceremony to be Held Next Thursday
The city has announced the newly renovated Public Square will have a grand opening next Thursday, and everyone is invited to the festivities—for free. (Of course, the fences are down as of today and you can go wander around right now or over the weekend if you want. It doesn’t exactly look like the rendering,…
Top-Tier Acts Kick Off Tri-C JazzFest with Tribute to Native Son Tommy LiPuma
“I’m overwhelmed,” said producer and native son Tommy LiPimua at the end of last night’s three hour (with a 20-minute intermission) tribute concert that took place at Connor Palace. The performance honoring LiPuma’s 80th birthday featured some of jazz and pop’s top acts. It successfully kicked off the 37th annual Tri-C JazzFest, which continues today…
A Cavs Fan in Utah Threw a Small Championship Parade Yesterday in Provo
What do you do when you’re a Cavs fan and you can’t make it back to Cleveland in time for the championship parade? You throw your own, of course. Weston Wride, god bless him, did just that yesterday. He and a small group of merry Wine and Gold supporters hopped in a Cavaliers-emblazoned pickup and…
A Newbie Clevelander Begins to Understand the Magnitude of the City’s First Championship in 52 Years
Full disclosure: I am a bandwagon Cavaliers fan. I never once, before moving to Cleveland, rooted for the Cavaliers, watched a Cavaliers game with any interest, or even thought about the Cavaliers much more than, “Man, that LeBron James ‘The Decision’ TV special was bullshit.” My husband, however, is originally from Cleveland and would often have Cavs…
In Praise of Parade the Circle and Gathering as a Community
A couple Saturdays ago I went to a parade. This now sounds shamefully silly because that same night the worst mass shooting in American history took place in Orlando, FL. The targets of this attack were members of the LGBTQ community who were trying to be together, and celebrate, in a place where they could,…
Swedish Indie Rock Act Peter Bjorn and John Offers ‘Evergreen’ Pop Songs on New Album
When singer-guitarist Peter Moren, singer-bassist Bjorn Yttling and drummer John Eriksson, the Swedish trio better known as Peter Bjorn and John, first came together in 1999 in Stockholm, the city’s indie rock scene hadn’t fully developed. The band existed as an anomaly, particularly since members’ musical predilections veered toward British shoegazer acts such as Stone…
Federal Judge Overturns City’s RNC Security Measures
U.S. District Judge James “Don’t Call Me Tony!” Gwin has overturned much of the city of Cleveland’s security measures for the RNC. Gwin sided with the ACLU in determining that the Convention’s massive downtown security zone was way too large and that the assigned parade route was insufficient to allow protesters to express their free…
How I Learned to Stop Hating and Love LeBron
I was a huge LeBron hater. I’ll admit it. No shame. Well, maybe a little shame. I guzzled deeply from the well of haterade. Massed ill-omened jinns against him in my deepest wishes. Screened private reveries of career-ending ankle injuries in my head. I don’t think I have ever coughed up equal gallons of bile…
Now Open: The Butcher’s Pantry, a Gourmet Market and Butcher Shop
Tucked away off a major thoroughfare in Solon, The Butcher’s Pantry (33475 Station St., 440-999-0990) is slowly making a name for itself amongst the busy lunch crowd. The gourmet market and butcher shop is turning out house-smoked meats like brisket, pulled pork, turkey breast and pork belly, which get turned into quick, delicious sandwiches. Opened…
Video: Indians Fan Bolts Across Field, Scales Outfield Wall
An Indians fan really, really wanted to both get on the field last night at the Tribe game and get away from the police, so, naturally, scaling an outfield wall was his only solution: Crazy fan, and he got away!! @indians @SC_Cleveland @Cleveland_Fanz @BrownsMemes pic.twitter.com/YLQ5nUhqxn — Bryan Istenes (@polaris250) June 23, 2016 No one seems…
The Boiler to Bring the Boiling Seafood Concept to Gordon Square
In my recent review of Boiling Seafood in Cleveland Heights, I wrote the following words: “Mark my words, it’s a concept that’s ripe for the picking in terms of replication.” Two months later, I’m reporting the news that the concept indeed is being replicated. Within a couple months, The Boiler will open in the Detroit…
CM Punk is Making UFC Debut Later This Year at UFC 203 in Cleveland
[image-1]When UFC 203 is held right here in Cleveland later this year, former WWE superstar CM Punk will be here too…as a contender. CM Punk signed with UFC back in December 2014, but a shoulder injury kept him from competing. He will face Mickey Gall (2-0), a welterweight from New Jersey. Reigning UFC heavyweight champ…
Not Ready to Stop Celebrating the Cavs? Akron’s Rally Happens Tonight
Yesterday was something, wasn’t it, Cleveland? If you, like many of us, don’t want the celebration to end quite yet, you can head down to Akron tonight to keep the party going. The city is hosting a celebration for the Cavs and Akron’s favorite son. LeBron wanted a chance to talk directly to his hometown…
Sports Commission Says It Doesn’t Know Where 1.3 Million Parade Figure Came From
Nick VanDemark, a communications rep for the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission, said that the Commission did not generate the 1.3 million figure used widely yesterday as an estimate of total downtown crowds during the Cavaliers championship parade. “I don’t know where that number started,” VanDemark told Scene by phone Thursday morning. “We actually have no…
Singer-songwriters Matt Nathanson and Phillip Phillips Talk About Their Co-Headlining Tour
It’s a summer of co-headlining tours and singer-songwriters Phillip Phillips and Matt Nathanson represent the latest such endeavor. They’ve teamed up for a 40-plus city U.S. co-headline tour that includes a Northeast Ohio stop at Hard Rock Live. Phillips broke into the scene in 2012 upon winning the 11th season of American Idol and delivering…
The Cleveland Orchestra Celebrates the Art Museum’s Centennial and the Rest of the Classical Music Events Not to Miss This Week
Three extensive summer concert series continue or begin this week, while two single events bring a very special flavor to our weekly picks. ChamberFest Cleveland cranks into full gear with world-class performances on several different stages. The theme for Diana and Franklin Cohen’s fifth season is “Tales and Legends,” allowing for a wide-ranging selection of…
SPACES Groundbreaking Set For Next Week
After more than a year of speculation and anticipation, SPACES will finally break ground on its future home on the first floor of the former Van Rooy Coffee Roasters building, located at 2900 Detroit Ave., next week. Thanks to a purchase agreement and generous support from building owners Fred and Laura Ruth Bidwell, who also…
Singer-Songwriter Graham Nash to Play the Kent Stage in September
Last summer, singer-songwriter Graham Nash played in town twice. He performed once with the Contemporary Youth Orchestra and he then played a solo show at Hard Rock Live. He also appeared in town to open an exhibit about his career at the Rock Hall. Apparently, he still loves Northeast Ohio. He will perform at 8…
Jazz Is Phish Brings Hybrid Jams to Beachland Tonight
Phish’s summer tour began last night in St. Paul, Minn., and that first show brought a number of bustouts (“Dear Prudence”!) and a sense of optimism about the weeks ahead. Some of you in Cleveland may have already hopped on tour, and others may be waiting until this weekend’s shows at Wrigley Field or Deer…
RTA Is Using Today’s Championship Parade Craziness to Remind Northeast Ohio That It’s Underfunded
The budget and infrastructure woes of RTA have long been known and recently and repeatedly in the news, what with the service cuts and fare hikes. Today’s Cavs celebration and the estimated one kajillion people who are descending on downtown to revel in the championship parade are taxing RTA’s services, to put it lightly, and…
Cavs Championship Accents This Weekend’s Waterloo Arts Fest
[image-1]With the sun shining especially brightly on Cleveland and Northeast Ohio this week (thanks mostly to the Cavs win), this weekend is a perfect opportunity to get out and enjoy it. The 14th Annual Waterloo Arts Fest takes place from noon to 7 p.m. this Saturday, June 25, on Waterloo Road in Collinwood’s emerging arts…
The Rapid Is Nuts Right Now. Consider the Bus
Getting into downtown today is, of course, a Herculean task no matter where you’re coming from. Most transit conversations over the past few days involved the Rapid, which is sort of the default St. Patrick’s Day option for the ‘burbs, for instance, but as of 7:30 a.m. all Rapid line parking lots were full (except…
Lake Erie Creamery Marks a Decade of Ohio-made Artisan Cheese
Tucked away in a corner of an office building in the Clark-Fulton neighborhood, a small, 900-square-foot operation is entering its 10th year of creating many of Cleveland’s finest cheeses. In 2006, the husband and wife team of Gerald Onken and Mariann Janosko launched Lake Erie Creamery (216-961-9222, facebook.com/LakeErieCreamery), Ohio’s first artisan creamery, in the heart…
Raiders! The Story of the Greatest Fan Film Ever Made Chronicles a Fantasy Come to Fruition
Because he liked Harrison Ford so much as Han Solo in Star Wars, a young Chris Strompolos was predisposed to like him in Raiders of the Lost Ark. But unlike other kids, Strompolos, now an actor and producer, became obsessed with the film when he saw it at age 10. “Indiana Jones was a believable character for me,”…
Film Spotlight: Dheepan
Following the lives of three Tamil refugees, Dheepan vividly illustrates the ravages of war and the hardships of the immigrant struggle. It opens Friday at the Cedar Lee. The film commences in Sri Lanka where three strangers assume the identity of a family in order to voyage to France. In the hopes of fleeing war…
Savage Love: PUPS
Dear Dan, There is a guy at my work who is into puppy play. I know this because I have some friends in the gay puppy community. I don’t give two shits what anyone I work with does to get off. All well and good, except … he wants us to call him Spike, his…
A Reimagined Phantom of the Opera is Impressive at the State Theatre, But…
It’s been seen by over 140 million people in 30 countries and 151 cities. It’s been translated into 14 languages. It’s Broadway’s longest running show. Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera is now on stage at the State Theatre, albeit in a reimagined form. The present touring version has a new set, staging,…
Ron Hill Grants an Insider’s Look at the World of Editorial Cartoons
With more than a decade’s worth of experience as both a local teacher and editorial cartoonist, Ron Hill has a unique, insider’s perspective of the educational system. In his new book, Edutoons, Hill showcases a large collection of his editorial cartoons commenting on and critiquing the educational system, both locally and nationally. Although originally published…
Meet the Band: Demos Papadimas
MEET THE BAND: Demos Papadimas (guitar, vocals, harmonica, bouzouki), Ralph Rich (drums), Nils Johnson (upright bass), Sandi Quotson (violin), Al Moss (pedal steel), Dave Lynn (electric guitar) WORKING THE REGION: Based in Youngstown, Papadimas started playing in pop punk bands when he was a teenager but recently went down the singer-songwriter path. He has regularly…
Nora is in the Heart of Little Italy, But Also a World Away
You don’t expect to find a pasta dish that includes potatoes. For good reason too, because who needs to add more starch to a plate of starch? But then the dish lands on the table and you see that those potatoes are wispy little matchsticks, flash fried to a sunny golden brown and arranged like…
