Yes, Skyy, your billboard on West Ninth is working
If you find yourself oddly thirsty and horny, do not be alarmed: You’ve probably just been spending too much time on West Ninth Street. Because while we’re no experts in subliminal advertising, we’re pretty sure, judging by the faint tingling in our toes, that we’ve figured out what the folks at Skyy vodka were going…
Kucinich wants to impeach Bush, because what else would Congress do with its time?
Just when you thought he’d answered your prayers by accidentally falling into a manhole, Dennis Kucinich was back on C-Span this week, reading a 35-count indictment of President Bush for his actions in the run-up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. He wants Bush impeached, apparently. Apparently there’s not enough pressing shit to do in…
Super Joe Posnanski on Super Joe Charboneau
Joe Posnanski — Kansas City Star beat reporter for the Royals, award-winning sports writer, and Cleveland native – writes one of the best sports blogs you’ll find. Beyond the writing style, which is engrossing, accessible, and generally awesome, Posnanski has an uncanny ability of weaving entertaining, non-sports related stories into his posts while taking the…
Coldplay postpones concert
Get a good look at Coldplay now. You won’t be seeing them in Cleveland next month. Remember that Coldplay concert you made plans to check out next month? Well, you’re gonna have to wait until October 21 to see Chris Martin and the boys in Cleveland. The band just switched around its entire itinerary. The…
Listen to the new Hold Steady album
If you’re sitting at your computer and want to hear the new Hold Steady album, it’s streaming on the band’s MySpace page. Stay Positive doesn’t come out for another month, on July 15. Two days later, one of our favorite bands plays the Beachland Ballroom. Listen to the E Street Band-like “Sequestered in Memphis” below.…
Tuesday Top 5
Top 5 reasons you should buy the new My Morning Jacket album, Evil Urges, which comes out today. 5. The album is loaded with so many different sounds – space-funk, indie-pop, twang, R&B, southern rock – it’s like six CDs for the price of one. 4. There’s a song about a sexy librarian (aren’t they…
Hot D Wake Up Juice rides specialty-foods wave
It’s been nearly seven years now since Chris Pinta, an admitted tomato-juice addict, started puttering around his Ohio City kitchen, searching for an antidote to a job he despised. “I guess I was looking for an exit strategy,” he told C-Notes recently. And as it happens, he came up with just that, in the guise…
This Just In: Black Keys, Sarah Brightman lead latest Cleveland concert announcements
This week, 56 new shows, include true diva Sarah Brightman, hometown heroes the Black Keys, soul siren Jill Scott, ex-G&R guitarist Buckethead, dance troopers the Crystal Method, Chubby Checker (if you missed him last time, he’ll be doing “The Twist” again), Nina Simone’s Daughter, and some cruddy radio rock. Read on for a full rundown.…
New “boutique” hotel leaves a lot of questions unanswered
Any deal involving Jimmy Dimora also involves way more than meets the eye. Yesterday’s PD featured a front-page story about a new luxury hotel that plans to move into the old Ameritrust Tower downtown. With glowing optimism, the article predicts that in just two years, a 140-room “boutique” hotel could be occupying the East 9th…
Reader: Free the pot smokers. It’s the right thing to do.
Could Ohio become the 13th state to legalize medicinal marijuana? It’s about time Ohio got serious about Marijuana reform. In late May, Tom Roberts of Dayton introduced a medical marijuana bill that will hopefully pass and make Ohio the 13th state with medical marijuana legalized. Speaking as a toker, if medical marijuana passes, I’m going…
Picks of the Week: Where Dollar Beers Happen
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 Weekend. Monday: The Lake County Captains can help you stretch your dollar with its Buck Night deal on dogs…
Mike Symon left out at Beard Awards
If Michael Symon was crying in his beer last night, after the second year of watching a James Beard Foundation Award slip out of his grasp, you’d never know it from this photo of him, posted on the Beard website, laughing it up with his wife-and-partner Liz Symon and chef-pal Aaron Sanchez at the Big…
After TransUnion class-action suit, Ohioans win $100 each, only not really
This photo’s relevant, we swear. Please see metaphor at the end of paragraph three. If you’re an Ohioan who’s had a credit card at anytime since 1987—and if you’re like us, you’ve had 24 of them that have intermittently saved Christmas and ruined your life, in that order—you win a hundred bucks! Worth of some…
Times on Nine Inch Nails: The first and last time Trent Reznor will be called ‘Mr.’
The Sunday New York Times this weekend profiled Nine Inch Nails mainman Trent Reznor, Cleveland’s biggest, brightest son in recent rock memory. (Technically he’s from Pennsylvania, but he moved to the fertile scene of Cleveland to make it, which he did). The story examines T-Rez’s recent decision to give away his latest record, The Slip…
More crookedness at the Mud and Grass Volley-Dodgeball Tournament?
We’re just guessing, but St. Peter might have something to say about screwing disabled kids and firemen. In past years, we’ve promoted Scott Baltusnik’s Mud and Grass Volley-Dodgeball Tournament in our Night & Day section, calling it a “muddy good time.” But this year, we think we’ll pass on the mud-caked keg stands. After hearing…
Great moments in Cleveland: Drunken cat fight outside the Tick Tock Tavarn
It’s undisputed fact that Clevelanders are the coolest people on earth. Brains, good looks, an ability to spot a beer special at 1,000 feet — we have it all. So to brighten your day, we’d thought we’d show you the video above, featuring Cleveland’s finest in regalia outside the Tick Tock Tavern on Clifton Blvd.…
Heavy Heavy Low Low: More encouraging words from our devoted readers
If we weren’t so preoccupied with felatio, says reader, we’d understand the virtues of this band. As you’re probably aware, being a writer is the toughest job in America. Though we get free coffee, it’s that kind they served at Texaco stations in 1981. Worse, sometimes the boss looks at you weird if you take…
Twin Lakes’ Mangiamo! goes up in smoke
Mangiamo’s patio was as comfy as its veggie pizza was tasty. Now, they’re both toast. Strike Mangiomo! off your list of outdoor-dining destinations. The cozy Italian eatery with a secluded patio burned to the ground on Memorial Day morning. According to a staffer reached at sister restaurant, Kent’s Bistro on Main, neither a cause nor…
Summertime dining specials in the Warehouse District
Who can say no to wild salmon? In celebration of summer, Warehouse District restaurants are running a special promotion. Every Friday night from now until August, twelve downtown eateries are offering three course prix fixe menus for two from $39-$99. With respect to the Warehouse District, that’s, like, super cheap. Chefs are not skipping on…
Money Where Your Mouth Is: We Be the Echo
We’re letting Frisco’s We Be the Echo pitch their show at Pat’s in the Flat’s this weekend because, 1) We’ve never heard the terms “brutal” and “prog” used together, 2) they sound alright, 3) they sure as shit sound better than the Mars Volta, who suck 4) Pat’s in the Flats is a great place…
PD’s Pluto shockingly level- (and smooth!) headed about sports blogs
In the growing debate between the mainstream sports media — mascot: a giant-headed, froth-spewing Buzz Bissinger — and the sports blogosphere — represented by an angry band of bloggers in Deadspin T-shirts, all of whom are highly skilled in the art of the dick joke — it’s always interesting to see on which side of…
Pink Flamingos at Cedar Lee: If it’s banned in Norway, it has to be good, right?
The first Saturday of every month, Cedar Lee Theatre plays a different cult flick at 9:30 and midnight. It’s their “Cult Film Series,” and it probably wouldn’t be complete without John Waters’ 1972 film Pink Flamingos. Flamingos is known to be one of the nastiest, strangest films this side of the critically acclaimed Two Girls…
C-Notes’ Picks of the Weekend
Every Friday, Scene calendar editor Cris Glaser provides a random but reliable sampling of things to do this weekend. For more options, log onto entertainment.clevescene.com. And check back Monday for C-Notes’ Picks of the Week. Friday: The Castaways and Andy’s Last Band rock the house at Chalet Debonné Vineyards this weekend during Lake County’s 26th…
Hello, Cleveland: This weekend’s concert cheat sheet
Big Bad Voodoo Daddy — the band from Swingers — are tops on this weekend’s list of swingin’ shows, big cat; break out your zoot suit and get ready to party like it’s 1996. Read on for a full rundown of the weekend concerts. — D.X. Ferris
Can Mike Symon continue his scorching year at the Beard Awards?
This weekend marks the return of the annual James Beard Foundation Awards extravaganza in the Big Apple. Named for “father of American gastronomy” James Beard, the prestigious awards are a celebration of the nation’s best chefs, restaurants, and food journalists. The weekend-long festivities will peak on Sunday night with a black-tie gala at Lincoln Center’s…
Money Where Your Mouth Is: The Strange Familiar at Musica
C-Notes occasionally lets the band do the talking. This time around, we pass the mic to the Strange Familiar, a sublime new sophisticated rock band featuring Kira and Jeff of scene veterans Jaded Era, who won like 18 high school rock-offs in a row. More recently they wrote Ashlee Simpson’s “Invisible.” They’re home for the…
Think tank says Ohio is struggling. Think tank needs more original material
The report’s executive summary. Yet another exhaustive study has confirmed what even your average ninth grader now fully understands: We’re f%$#ed. The Campaign for America’s Future (CAF) this week released a report entitled “The Stress Test: A State By State Assessment of America’s Economic Health and a Prescription for Change.” It’s a top-50 list of…
What are Ted Strickland’s chances of being Obama’s VP?
Ted Strickland: He’s not really VP material, is he? If you worried that Ohio would slip out of the spotlight in this year’s presidential race, never fear. Our governor will make sure we hog it for at least awhile longer. Ted Strickland’s name has been tossed around for months as a possible vice presidential candidate,…
Farewell to Gene Tracy, faithful school district protester
Think of the school board as the Titanic. Gene Tracy was the only one aboard who knew how to swim. If you’ve ever managed to stay awake through an entire Cleveland school board meeting, chances are you’ve seen Gene Tracy. He’s the guy sitting somewhere near the back, his hair too long and his waist…
Scene’s D.X. Ferris writes a book about Slayer. Wait — metal fans can read?
When we’re not passing along Star Wars parodies on YouTube and, um, working, co-worker D.X. Ferris and I usually argue about music. He’s into metal; I’m not. Most of these “discussions” end with him making some comment about my mom and stalking off to listen to some song about three-horned beasts rising from the depths…
‘Dodgeball’ director to make movie written by Cleveland teenager
Starting Friday, shooting will begin on a new movie set in Cleveland. The film is the result of a nationwide search for promising talent. An A-list director is attached. And the author of the screenplay is none other than Earlaina Kemp. Never heard of her? That’s because Kemp is a 16-year-old junior at Eastside’s Martin…
Mic Check: The Nylon Summer Music Tour at House of Blues on Friday
Woof! Be Your Own Pet. You’ll want to get to the Nylon Summer Music Tour early and stay late. It’s a pretty solid bill, starting with post-punk revivalists the Virgins and She Wants Revenge. But the real fun begins once Be Your Own Pet takes the stage. The Nashville punks sing about food fights and…
Calling all God-fearing porn stars
God bless Google Image. God bless — or damn — craigslist. Your online source for everything from part-time employment to part-time girlfriends has posted an ad for a self-described “religious porno,” title TBD, from a company identified as Striptures, Inc. The post calls for “actors/actresses who would like to be involved in a film about…
The NFL: Where ‘I don’t have that kind of money’ happens
Ginn’s bus tour helped payers like Ryan Driggins showcase their talents for schools that otherwise would never had heard of them. Interesting story in this morning’s Plain Dealer about the annual summer bus tour of Glenville football coach Ted Ginn, who for years has been taking young football players — from his school and schools…
Dave Attell 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: C-Notes did the legwork, and the skinny on this week’s big comedy shows, video included, is just a click away. Read…
Apex bar is the Enterprise Rent-a-Car of bars. (Yes, they’ll pick you up)
It’s one thing for a nightclub to slash its prices as patrons simmer over high gas prices and supermarket bills. It’s another thing entirely to chauffeur them to and from the bar to get them to drink. And so it’s with great pleasure that we introduce (cue the trumpets) the Apex nightspot, where manager Johnny…
Restaurant of the Weekend: Dante
Economic woes notwithstanding, there are reasons aplenty to keep exploring the Cleveland dining scene. Tops among them, perhaps, the fact that prices here have remained mostly moderate, even at our trendiest places. Take Dante, for example, star chef Dante Boccuzzi’s top-flight dining destination in Valley View (8001 Rockside Road). Like any classy, gourmet go-to, Dante…
Sean Levert’s widow sues county over his death in jail
Sean Levert was in jail for owing $89,000 in back child support. The widow of Sean Levert has filed a wrongful death suit against jail officials who she accuses of medical negligence. In March, the R&B singer collapsed in his cell at Cuyahoga County Jail, and was rushed to the Lutheran Hospital. Doctors pronounced him…
Downtown Cleveland: Do we really need more vacant offices?
Artist’s rendering of Dick Jacobs building three years after construction is completed. While the wonders of Cleveland economics never cease, they recently took a turn toward the surpernatural with the announcement of a proposed new 21-story office tower in Public Square. With the real estate market in utter collapse, it seems the last thing we…
Esham’s Agora show canceled
Underground rapper Esham’s Thursday, June 5 concert at the Agora has been canceled. Call the box office with ticket questions: 216-881-6911. — D.X. Ferris
Prisonshake releases new album. Now it’s your turn, Axl
Cleveland indie-rockers Prisonshake have been working on their third album for more than a dozen years now. It’s finally coming out on August 26. As a Scat Records (which was founded by Prisonshake frontman Robert Griffin) press release puts it, Dirty Moons is “an underground-rock Chinese Democracy, maybe, but with less drama and way less…
Kelly Pavlik, ‘Pride of Youngstown,’ gets NY Times treatment
An endearing profile about “the ghost who didn’t vanish” from Youngstown, and a very cool slide show. No wonder the New York Times’ web site gets an A. — Joe P. Tone
Tribe: What other injuries is the team not talking about?
When Eric Wedge announced this week that Victor Martinez is still struggling with a bum hammy he injured Opening Day, it was yet another piece of information long withheld by the Tribe, who seem to be taking their management cues from Bill Belichick. It started, you’ll recall, with Joe Borowski. He was struggling at the…
Last Night in Cleveland: James Taylor
James Taylor and Blossom fit together like summertime and warm weather. That’s why the guy’s become a tradition there. A little early-evening rain may have prevented a few fans from attending Taylor’s concert at Blossom last night, but judging by the still-crowded lawn, it didn’t seem to bother most people. “You people on the lawn,…
Slideshow: Giuseppe O’Connell at Brothers Lounge
In this week’s Scene, food critic Elaine Cicora takes a long, deep dive into the mind of Giuseppe O’Connell, Cleveland’s most well-known and disliked restaurant GM. (In short: He’s kind of a dick, but quite good at his job). That story will be on newsstands shortly, and on the restaurant page of clevescene.com this afternoon.…
Don King’s fantabulanamous new video game
For Cleveland-born loon Don King, the subject of his magnitacular ruminations is of post-secondary importance. He could be promoting Mike Tyson, some Venezuelan welterweight, George Bush, or ketchup. What Don King is really promoting is himself. It’s worked so far. And for his latest project, he cranks the volume on his own self-Hypology. If only…
David Giffels promotes ‘All the Way Home’ in Akron, Cleveland
Akron Beacon-Journal columnist David Giffels will host the official release party for his third book, All the Way Home: Building a Family in a Falling-Down House, at the Downtown Akron Public Library (60 S. High Street) at 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 4, with a talk, reading, Q&A, and book signing. If you don’t feel like…
Tremont’s Prosperity adds summer Sunday hours
Just in time for the return of patio weather, Prosperity Social Club (1109 Starkweather, in Tremont; 216- 937-1938 ) has added Sunday hours to its lineup. According to owner Bonnie Flinner, the retro-style bar, restaurant, and outdoor-dining room will be open from 2 to 10 p.m. each Sunday, with a menu featuring barbecued baby back…
Canton lays the hammer down on people who don’t mow
Mowing the lawn has always been kind of a pain. That’s why most parents pass the responsibility on to their sons as soon as possible. Or don’t do it at all. The latter choice hasn’t gone over so well in Canton. On Monday, the city council unanimously passed a rule making lawn-mowing a law. People…
Finally, a remedy to the chaos of University Circle
In Cleveland’s long-standing territorial debate between East and West, one trump card stands out: University Circle. Or rather, the traffic circle that ushers you from Rockefeller Park into the University Circle neighborhood For years, this hellish roundabout has been a maze of too many lanes, too many signs pointing in every direction, and too many…
Cleveland Heights spends millions to lure condos that won’t appear
Cleveland Heights spent millions on The Terraces, a shopping/condo complex pictured above. With all the hand-wringing about the real estate slump, one particularly depressing tale in Cleveland Heights bears extra mention. Over the past few years, the city has invested millions of dollars in The Terraces, a complex of shops and 48 condos that was…
One Under
Columbus is a hotbed for neo-hippies, serving as home base for groove- and hemp-soaked groups like jam-band kings Ekoostik Hookah, roots-groovers the Shantee, and reggae renegades the Ark Band. It was only a matter of time before the city crafted a supergroup like One Under, which draws members and styles from each of the aforementioned…
Capsule reviews of current area art exhibitions
NEW “Hey!” William Schwartz: New Sculptures and Op Art — The most commonly uttered phrase in contemporary art galleries is probably “I could do that,” followed closely by “My kid could do that.” And guess what? You probably could make the stuff in local artist William Schwartz’s exhibition; “Awakening of Intelligence,” for one, is just…
Jams on Jellies
Blue blubbers cozy up to Pacific sea nettles in the Akron Zoo’s tribute to the brainless, headless, and heartless jellyfish in Jellies: Rhythm in the Blue, which opens this week for a three-year run. In the zoo’s Komodo Kingdom, the collection also includes a “touch tank,” in which you can dip your hand in the…
Three Miles Out
On their just-released third album, Nobody, Cleveland rockers Three Miles Out show off some of the things they picked up since their last record six years ago. In particular, several of the songs boast monster hooks — something the quartet always came up short on before. There are still plenty of generic meat-and-potato riffs on…
Difficult singer David Giffels gets all autobiographical in new book
David Giffels’ third book, All the Way Home, finds the Difficult frontman fighting the decay that threatens to erase Akron’s onetime glory. It follows Giffels and his growing family as they purchase and renovate a dilapidated early-20th-century Tudor and make it their home, one fixture at a time. Giffels, an Akron Beacon Journal columnist, bought…
Porn yesterday
Anna Biller pulls double duty as director and movie star as she harpoons ’70s soft porn in her tongue-in-cheek sex romp, Viva. Set in 1972 in Southern California, the flick is about a bored suburban housewife, whose free-thinking women’s libber of a girlfriend coaxes her to discard her bra and experiment with wife swaps, nudist…
Josh Hoge
Nashville isn’t just about country music. Dig beneath the stereotype, and you’ll find a city soaked in R&B. Nashville singer-songwriter Josh Hoge figured that out early. “There was just something down and dirty, something real and honest about that music,” says Hoge, whose older brother Will mines similar territory on his records. “But even beyond…
U.S. Air Guitar Championships
No kidding: The U.S. Air Guitar Championships are among the most exciting live music events you’ll see this year. The tour is raging across 21 cities, where would-be rockers put on a show of virtual shredding, where style and flash are totally more important than actual technique. Each competition consists of two rounds: In round…
Tales From the Crypts
Ask Cryptacize axeman Chris Cohen about the history behind the trio’s name, and he’ll blame it on bandmate Nedelle Torrisi, then take the credit himself. “It just popped into her mind one day. I said, ‘I have no idea what that means.’ A week later, I said, ‘What was that name again?’ And I talked…
Rockin’ on the River
This week, Scene’s Club Scout takes its annual break from the dark and grungy interior of rock clubs — which, don’t get us wrong, we live for — and goes south for Rockin’ on the River, the free weekly summer concert series that draws crowds of thousands to Cuyahoga Falls’ outdoor pavilion. This year’s schedule…
My Morning Jacket
My Morning Jacket frontman Jim James claims that the overall theme of Evil Urges, his band’s fifth album, is one of moral confusion. But after a few listens, the most mystifying thing about the record is its vast sonic landscape. The 14-track masterpiece throws listeners for a loop, cramming in everything from glam-rock power chords…
Lush Life
Nobody knows why a couple of dudes were compelled to meet at an Akron gatehouse to talk about their drinking problems. But the Mother’s Day meeting in 1935 between a doctor and a stockbroker would eventually lead to the creation of Alcoholics Anonymous. And a historical account of the group is now chronicled on film…
Edward Siegel is on a quest to either stop exorbitant lawyer payouts — or score some easy money
Frankie Hamilton vs. The Ohio Savings Association was one of the longest-running cases in state history. In the early 1980s, Francine Hamilton discovered that the bank was overcalculating the interest on her mortgage — and was doing the same to hundreds of others. Though individual customers took a barely noticeable nick, it amounted to a…
Estelle
From the opening “Wait a Minute (Just a Touch),” London-born rapper and R&B singer Estelle shows off sensual, soulful pipes as well as some solid hip-hop chops. In the club hit “American Boy,” she and Kanye West playfully weigh the party-time benefits of L.A., Brooklyn, and London, while “Magnificent” heads to Jamaica for inspiration. Estelle…
Dog Day afternoon
Tina McLaughlin still chuckles about the time somebody fell into the water at the annual Buckeye DockDogs’ Working Dog Weekend. As a competitor braced her pooch to run off a plank and jump as far as he could into a pool, the owner fell backward off the dock. “You put your dog back on the…
Rock Star painted him as a wannabe, but Ripper Owens is doing better than ever
The house sits in an unassuming Akron development filled with practical brick- and vinyl-sided bungalows colored from a factory pallet of neutral hues. Its netless basketball hoop is surrounded by evergreens and budding dogwoods, growing in tandem with the children in residence. In the kitchen stands a barrel-chested 40-year-old, covered in tattoos and dressed in…
The Last Shadow Puppets
With their full-time bands, the Arctic Monkeys’ Alex Turner and the Rascals’ Miles Kane make loud, blurry Britrock that celebrates Saturday-night debauchery. With their new side project, the Last Shadow Puppets, they settle in and chill for a Sunday-afternoon tribute to the ’60s. But The Age of the Understatement is no Panic at the Disco…
Attell’s It Like It Is
The longer Dave Attell makes a living as a comedian, the more he looks for a joke in anything, including the sad stories. “I don’t know if that’s jaded. I think it’s more being a bad person, and I’m a bad person,” says Attell, who’s in town for a one-nighter at the House of Blues.…
Mike White is back: A master criminal bequeaths his secrets to a new generation
We may be going out on a limb here, but one could argue that political leadership in Cleveland is somewhat lacking these days. County government is a heaping dish of ineptitude, slathered with a rich sauce of patronage. And the city council recently registered a twofer — paying off a sexual harassment suit and summoning…
Mates of State
Two bandmates and exponential layers of synthesizers, organs, and drums. These are the ingredients that make up Mates of State, the husband-and-wife duo of Jason Hammel and Kori Gardner, whose pop songs are impressively huge, considering there are only two of them. Still, Re-Arrange Us manages to be catchy and simple, despite playfully ornamental details…
Mixin’ it up
The largest mixed-martial-arts showdown ever in the Midwest blows into town tonight for Fight Nite in the Flats IV. Hosted by the North American Allied Fight Series, the schedule of 18 bouts gives you a chance to see a level of fighting usually seen only on TV. That’s because the competitors are nationally ranked fighters,…
Letters published June 4, 2008
“Damage Control,” First Punch, May 21 Blocked Shot Will local servers beat the defender? What is the matter with you people? You’re taking LeBron to task for a misunderstanding. Didn’t anyone see the report on Channel 19 that said the bitchy little crybaby server looked at the bill wrong and was actually left a very…
The Old 97’s
“He was on her like she was a drug,” sings Old 97’s frontman Rhett Miller on the band’s seventh album. It sounds like he’s spent the four years since the last record cooling off, loving up . . . and switching intoxicants. “You’re a bottle cap away from pushing me too far,” he spat last…
Down for the Count
Big-money grapplers descend on Geneva-on the Lake tonight as the in-the-ring drama mounts for Firestorm Pro Wrestling. Big names on the bill look are a Who’s Who of the WWE, like former Stampede North American heavyweight champs Jake “the Snake” Roberts and Mike “the Deviant” Hutter. “We know what we do is popular,” says Hutter.…
A tempting boy toy whets appetites in Convergence-Continuum’s In the Garden
The story of Adam and Eve has always been fascinating, since it involves God, an evil snake, and irresistible temptation. In the play In the Garden, now at Convergence-Continuum, playwright Norman Allen folds those entities into one hyperactive bisexual street hustler named Gabe, who delights and torments four puffed-up urban posers. The ambitious but often…
Bizzy Bone
Since 1993, Bizzy Bone has released a lot of albums —around 25, if you count the records he’s made with Bone Thugs-N-Harmony and Bone Brothers. Lately, he’s been releasing three or four CDs a year. Dude certainly lives up to his name. Of course, this much output yields some serious clunkers; A Song for You,…
A Horse Is a Horse, of Course
Nearly 200 steeds and their riders trot, gallop, and jump for trophies at this weekend’s Ridgewood Horse Show. But here’s the catch at the ninth annual equifest: Every contestant draws the name of a horse and competes on it with virtually no practice. “This format rewards the skills of the rider,” says Roxane Rheinheimer, the…
Damon and Affleck get roasted in Cleveland Public Theatre’s fast and funny Matt & Ben
Some plays are critically shrugged off because they have a one-joke premise that’s never fully developed. Nevertheless, one good joke can make your week. The gag at work in the two-person Matt & Ben, now at Cleveland Public Theatre, is watching two women play screenwriters/actors/mini-icons Matt Damon and Ben Affleck during the creation of their…
Spiritualized
It took a stop in Cincinnati and a brush with death (unrelated incidents in this case) to bring Jason Pierce’s latest Spiritualized project into focus. Pierce wrote much of Songs in A&E years ago, strumming the melodies on a vintage 1929 Gibson he picked up at a Cincinnati music shop. A serious bout with double…
Building a Mystery
Since taking over Cleveland Public Theatre’s artistic direction two years ago, Raymond Bobgan hasn’t found much time to work on his original material. Until now. During this weekend’s workshop productions of Cut to Pieces, Bobgan teams with the theater’s education director, Chris Seibert, to stage an Agatha Christie-like mystery that is set in a mansion…
Castle of Shikigami III tests the bounds of Wii loyalty
John Edwards might see two Americas, but this simpleminded little game enthusiast is more preoccupied with America’s two Wii owners. One is the Nintendo fan: the cat who bought a GameCube, Nintendo 64, every incarnation of the Game Boy — and anything Nintendo releases with a “Mario” or “Zelda” in the title. The other Wii…
Smiley Baldazar
In the funked-up world of Smiley Baldazar, the father, son, and holy ghost are Frank Zappa, Duane Allman, and Les Claypool. With those spirits guiding its way, this Lakewood ensemble rips through a gauntlet of horny sailors, confused killers, embryonic chickens, and horse trainers. In “How Bout That Moon,” frontman Mike Jacobs shares his nightmare…
Bunny Trails
Many outsiders have thought of this weekend’s Hot Air Balloon Rally in Madison as nothing more than a minor blip on Northeast Ohio’s cultural radar. Natch, it would stun the naysayers that the 26th annual fly-by attracts an average of 5,000 spectators each year. “It’s a surprise to most people that our tiny town operates…
Kung Fu Panda tops this week’s pop-culture picks
TOP PICK — Kung Fu Panda (Paramount/DreamWorks) Jack Black gives life to a noodle-peddling panda who accidentally becomes a kung-fu warrior, in this zippy animated movie opening on Friday. The believe-in-yourself story is a familiar one, but the thrilling fighting sequences pack a real punch. Seth Rogen, Angelina Jolie, and David Cross voice members of…
Switches borrows ELO’s monster riffs plus a truckload of other British rock tricks
It’s no surprise that the four young guys who make up the London-based Switches listened to a lot of Britpop while growing up. After all, Blur, Suede, and lots of other bands with loud guitars and sharp hooks were all over the radio in the mid-’90s, when Switches singer Matt Bishop and guitarist Ollie Thomas…
Dancin’ la Vida Loca
With names like Cream and Maximum Girth, it’s no wonder that Luca Santiago can’t wait for tonight’s debut of her Los Villanos dance troupe, a group of twentysomething Latino dudes. “They’re not strippers,” she warns. “If they take off anything, it’ll be their muscle shirts.” Every Thursday, Santiago reserves her restaurant for a women-only audience…
Raheem DeVaughn
Raheem DeVaughn comes from the Marvin Gaye school of soul-singing. Dude’s got a big, smooth voice that he wraps around equally big, smooth grooves. If people were still calling old-school R&B neo-soul, DeVaughn would surely be one of its leaders. His latest album, Love Behind the Melody, definitely has its eyes on the bedroom, but…
Adam Sandler returns as a Mossad baddie turned stylist in You Don’t Mess With the Zohan
Behold Adam Sandler, in a passable Israeli accent and outsize codpiece, as Zohan the Mossad super-heavy: catching barbecued fish in his butt crack in Tel Aviv, repelling bullets with his nostril, and sculpting hand grenades into toy poodles for delighted Palestinian children. What makes these scenes the funniest in the otherwise overstuffed muddle that is…
One-hit novelty group Nada Surf returns as hip indie-rock band
Thanks to some selective nostalgia, the ’90s are generally remembered as the Grunge Era. Really, though, the last whiffs of teen spirit were already gone by 1996, leaving four more years of “alt-rock” so faceless and forgettable that it still makes up about 93 percent of the world’s used-CD inventory. It was during that time,…
Spokin’ Words
Today’s Kick Start Party helps rev up ten days of motorcycle madness for the seventh annual Ohio Bike Week throughout Erie County. Geared for Harley enthusiasts, the rally pimps bike safety, with vendors, contests, and races scheduled through mid-June. A roster of classic-rock and redneck rebels also helps. Ted Nugent will hold court tomorrow night,…
Homostupids
Cleveland punks the Homostupids are shrouded in mystery. There’s talk, which may or may not be true, of wild, drunken shows. Their past — as with all real punks — is littered with seven-inch records that have become sought-after collectors’ items. Their debut album, The Intern, runs a whopping 17 minutes, and songs like “Tip…
Jack Black’s Kung Fu Panda is fun, but it’s got no kick
By all means, gather up the little ones and take them to this perfectly pleasant, very good-looking, modestly funny movie. But be forewarned: It’s a dispiritingly unoriginal variant on the nerd-with-a-dream recipe that’s been clobbered to death in animated films for at least a decade now. Hectic as ever, Jack Black voices Po, a potbellied…
Former L7 hell-raiser Donita Sparks tones down the noise, piles on the tunes
Donita Sparks isn’t really as angry as she looks. She says she stopped rebelling against her parents long ago. She’s not a pissed-off kid anymore — she’s 45 years old. Still, “People expect me to be like, ‘Yeaahhh, fuck you!,'” she says. “Like everybody deserves a fuck you or something. They’ll hug me really hard,…
Truth Be Sung
On his latest CD, Truth Stained Lies — a collection of songs about his identity — New York’s openly gay Ron Morris sings about how “Truth is slippery. What is fact? What is fiction? Believe what you will,” he says. “There’s a little bit of truth in all of it. And a fair share of…
Grand Archives
After splitting from Band of Horses, Grand Archives frontman Mat Brooke rounded up some friends to play languid songs that recall other more familiar songs, both old and new. Take Simon and Garfunkel’s sweet harmonies, toss in some playfully light maraca shakes, and mix with occasional cello plucks, and you have a pretty good idea…
Veteran GM Giuseppe O’Connell, now the keeper of Brothers Lounge, dishes on the local scene
Even at rest, Giuseppe O’Connell is buzzing, twitching on his bar stool at Brothers Lounge like a drop of water on a hot skillet. His fingers scour the bartop, searching for scratches or stains. His dark eyes dart across the ductwork, seeking out dust. And his mouth — well, frankly, the guy rarely shuts up.…
Border Patrol
For this week’s opening of On a Pedestal and Off the Wall at the Sculpture Center, Columbia University jurist Gregory Amenoff has cherry-picked 25 pieces by 19 artists, who’ve incorporated odd materials like pencils, bones, and white chocolate into their pieces. Take the one fashioned out of manila envelopes, pieced together by Tallmadge artist Joshua…
Carrie Nation
The adventures of Carrie, Charlotte, Samantha, and Miranda come to life with trivia questions, raffles, and specially named cosmos for tonight’s Sex & the City Patio Party in Legacy Village. The blowout helps celebrate last week’s movie premiere, which picks up where the popular HBO-TV series left off last season, with the four female stars…
Raul Malo
Malo got his start as a country singer, but you wouldn’t know it by the jazzy and Latin-spiced music he makes these days. The velvet-voiced Malo used to front the Mavericks, but his solo records are more in tune with his Cuban roots. His crossover comes effortlessly. At last year’s CMT Music Awards, Malo performed…
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. With a sharply satirical style in an adaptation by director Massoud Saidpour, The Gamblers focuses on professional card sharks, who foist treacheries that will not…
Buck: The Trend
Minor-league baseball with minor-league prices makes a comeback tonight, when the Lake County Captains square off against the Delmarva Shorebirds for Buck Night. The deal on the table? The Tribe’s Class-A affiliate is selling every hot dog, glass of beer, and can of pop for a crisp George Washington. “We knew this would be an…
