Cleveland Metal Band Craw’s Reissue Campaign Gets a Makeover
Updated: Last year, a Kickstarter campaign aimed to generate enough revenue to reissue the back catalog of the Cleveland metal band Craw. That campaign fell short of its goal but Hank Shteamer, the guy behind the campaign, hasn’t given up. He’s just launched a new Kickstarter campaign with a much lower price. As a bonus, he’s…
Brewnuts To Open Temporary Store in Tremont
Facebook Brewnuts will soon have a temporary home in Tremont. After the following that co-owners Shelley Fasulko and John Pippins have earned from their unique idea to combine craft beer and donuts, it’s no surprise their small business is the winner of the Tremont Storefront Incubator Program. This program focuses on filling empty storefronts with…
Future Islands concert at Grog Shop exceeds expectations
Whatever preconceived notions you have about Baltimore-based pop rockers Future Islands became obsolete somewhere around the band’s third or fourth song last night at the Grog Shop. Regardless of what the band sounds like on its albums — occasionally overwrought, melodramatic — it sounded absolutely perfect live. After quickly introducing himself and his band mates,…
Greater Cleveland is Among the Most Economically Segregated Regions in the U.S.
ERIC SANDY/SCENE Hough The latest dose of local reflection comes via The Atlantic Cities blog’s five-part series on economic segregation. They’re two parts in, and it’s an important read thus far. The greater Cleveland area (Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor) ranks among the most segregated regions in the U.S., clocking in just below the likes of Milwaukee, Hartford, and…
Today’s Buzz: Lakewood’s Humble Wine Bar Named Among Hottest in Country
Lakewood has been on the receiving end of lots o’ positive buzz, as of late: the Cleveland suburb was recently accoladed for being both exciting and safe, while reports earlier this month unveiled that a stellar batch of Lakewood Park improvements may very well be underway by next fall. Now, Lakewood’s Humble Wine Bar has…
The World’s Biggest Hot Wheels Loop-the-loop is at a Shaker Heights Elementary School
WEWS Students at Woodbury Elementary School in Shaker Heights, Ohio, are confident that they’ve set a Guinness World Record for the largest Hot Wheels loop-the-loop in the history of humankind. #ThisisCle At a fundraising ceremony yesterday afternoon, a Hot Wheels toy car traveled from a 24-foot platform and successfully completed the nine-foot, nine-inch loop. The…
Have You Voted in the Best of Cleveland Poll Yet?
Who cares what you think? Scene does. That’s why we’re encouraging you to voice your opinions about the people, places, things, and ideas that make Cleveland, well, Cleveland. You’ve already picked the finalists, but now we’re asking you to rally once again to determine Cleveland’s royalty. Not only is it important to support your favorite…
UPDATE: Fire That Destroyed a City Block in Garrettsville Saturday Was an Accident
UPDATE: WTAM is reporting that the State Fire Marshal’s Office has ruled that Saturday’s fire in Garrettsville appears to have started on the roof of a building where crews were making repairs. Garrettsville, OH, in northeastern Portage County, was ravaged by a fire this weekend that destroyed 13 businesses on one of the small town’s…
Elvis Costello to Play Palace Theatre in June
Singer-songwriter Elvis Costello hasn’t played Cleveland in years. But the singer-songwriter has just announced ten new “solo” dates. The short tour starts on June 9 in Toronto and then swings through Cleveland on June 16, where Costello is slated to play the Palace. According to the official press release, Costello plays about a month of…
Ohio Taxes Funding Creationism Lessons in 20 Schools Statewide
“Adam. Hey, Adam. Pull my finger, Adam.” Politico published a report today that dives deep on taxpayers’ funding commitments to creationism lessons at private schools in 14 states. Ohio is one of them. The state’s public subsidies for private schools dates back to 1995 – much longer than most other states’ relationships with nonpublic agencies.…
GWAR singer Dave Brockie dead at age 50
Joe Kleon Over the course of a career that stretches back 30 years, the shock rock group GWAR regularly played Cleveland. In fact, the group just brought its theatrical stage show to House of Blues this past November, showering the club with fake blood and guts. Yesterday, singer Dave Brockie passed away, reportedly while sitting…
VIDEO: U.S. Coast Guard Rescues Man Who Drove his ATV onto Lake Erie
The U.S. Coast Guard was called in this weekend to rescue a man who apparently drove his ATV onto Lake Erie ice, which then broke away from the shore. The Coast Guard reports that a SOS call came in around 2:30 a.m. on Saturday, revealing that a man was stranded on the lake near Sterling…
Copyright Lawsuit Against Medina Bar: ‘Unauthorized’ Show By Local Classic Rock Cover Band Caused ‘Great and Incalculable Damage’
Alter Ego on Facebook Local classic rock cover band Alter Ego perform at 69 Taps in Medina on August 31, 2013. The bar and its former management are being sued for copyright violation for having the performance and not paying licensing fees Last August, a suburban Cleveland classic rock cover band called Alter Ego got…
Indians Opening Day Brings New Food and Drink Options to Progressive Field
The Cleveland Indians 2014 opening game will serve up something a little different than just peanuts and crackerjacks. This season, Progressive Field has a few new partnerships to offer a greater variety of food and drink options at ball games. Perhaps most notable are the three new brewing companies: Great Lakes Brewing Co., New Belgium…
County Council to Discuss $1.6-Million Plans to Resurface West 117th from Bellaire to Lake
Cuyahoga County Council will discuss a resurfacing project for West 117th Street, covering the hellmouth from Bellaire to Lake. The project would clock in at $1.6 million, paid out of the county’s road and bridge fund. Though the terminology is fairly boilerplate legalese, the council resolution lists the community’s “public convenience and welfare” as the…
25 Cleveland Restaurants to Woo the RNC
The road to the White House is blazed through Cuyahoga County, and something tells us that the folks at the Republican National Committee understand this history, as Cleveland is considered a finalist for the 2016 Republican National Convention. Even though we have a beautiful park system, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and a…
Reunited Ataris to play So Long, Astoria in its entirety at upcoming Agora concert
While the pop-punk band the Ataris never officially broke up, the band did significantly alter its line-up in the mid-2000s. That’s when bassist Mike Davenport and drummer Chris Knapp both left the group. Last year, the Davenport and Knapp reunited with singer Kris Rowe and started rehearsing for a tour that would commemorate the ten-year…
You Could Win VIP Tickets to the Captain America Premiere
Winning VIP tickets to the Cleveland world premiere of Captain America sounds pretty freakin’ good, especially considering that sponsor packages start at a whopping $3000 and tickets for common-folk like us are simply not for sale. But, for 10 bucks and a few lucky thoughts, a couple of Clevelanders will get the royal VIP treatment,…
10 Things Going on in Cleveland this Weekend (March 21 — 23)
There’s lots to keep city-goers busy this weekend. It’s probably the best chance to catch a flick or two, or 20, because the Cleveland International Film Festival is here for its 38th consecutive year. And, per usual, Cleveland’s music scene is raging with a few great shows including the self-described “rag n roll” band Woody…
Rocky River-Based Sweet Melissa Days Away from East Side Debut
Sweet Melissa, the popular west side restaurant in Rocky River, will open it new east side location on Monday, March 24th, after a weekend of soft opening events. The new restaurant (20630 John Carroll Blvd.) is located in University Heights, near the campus of John Carroll University. The space was formerly home to the North…
Film Review: Divergent (It’s Better Than the Book)
In 2012, The Hunger Games tapped a blossoming Jennifer Lawrence to be its leading lady. As Katniss Everdeen, Lawrence has become an icon. Meantime, she’s cemented her stardom in a bouquet of ambitious mainstream Hollywood roles, winning (in addition to adulation from both genders for at least two reasons) an Oscar in 2013 for her…
Indians Fans Alternately Rally Around and Spit Hate at New #DeChief Twitter Campaign
The newly launched @DeChiefWahoo Twitter account is featuring photos of Indians fans showing off their Tribe merch sans Wahoo. Here’s the first tweet, published yesterday: #DeChief your Indians gear, send pics for us to retweet, and join the movement.— #DeChief (@DeChiefWahoo) March 19, 2014 The concept, completely unsurprisingly, has garnered all sorts of hate messages.…
Electronic music pioneer Gary Numan gives visceral performance at Beachland
Singer-guitarist-keyboardist Gary Numan is old enough — the guy just turned 56 — to have come of age during the time when punk rock emerged. Born in West London, Numan began recording in the late ‘70s and developed a unique sound that foreshadowed the industrial rock revolution of the late ’80s and early ‘90s. It…
Appellate Court Overturns Douglas Prade’s 2013 Innocence Ruling: UPDATE
UPDATE 2:52 p.m. “It had been a crazy day, but you guys seem to forget, I spent 15 years in hell,” Prade tells the press as he departs Summit County Jail. *** UPDATE 1:37 p.m. Thursday: After winning a stay from the Ohio Supreme Court, Prade will be released from prison this afternoon. *** UPDATE…
Positively Cleveland rolls out new destination brand at gala event
The view from the cheap seats. About two years ago, the folks at Positively Cleveland decided to embark on a rebranding campaign and tested the slogan “Cleveland rocks.” Tests showed that it didn’t appeal to millennials, the target demographic for the new destination brand. When we first heard about this, we feared the new branding…
Councilman Jeff Johnson Publicly Supports Merger with East Cleveland
Cleveland City Councilman Jeff Johnson has come out publicly in favor of a merger with East Cleveland. Johnson’s Ward 10 on the East Side borders the struggling suburb, and Johnson says his residents have an “intimate relationship” with East Cleveland. That’s why he felt it was important to take the lead. “The direction [East Cleveland]…
Sylvain Sylvain and Glen Matlock revisit their punk rock pasts during session at Rock Hall
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum Last night as he introduced the New York Dolls’ Sylvain Sylvain and the Sex Pistols’ Glen Matlock, who were both in town for a special performance/interview session, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum president and chief executive officer Greg Harris admitted their appearance in the…
Band of the Week: Greg Bandy and His International All-Star Quartet
Meet the band: Greg Bandy (drums, vocals), Ray Blue (saxophone), Thomas Janzon (guitar), Eddie Baccus Sr. (organ). An Early Start: Bandy had lived in New York for years but he grew up in Cleveland and still has fond memories of the days when his father, a local promoter, would take him to the clubs to…
Houserockers
“Rock and roll will either kill ya, or it’ll keep you young.” Michael Stanley made this breathy proclamation as I was interviewing him over the telephone one afternoon in the early 1990s. The middle-aged host of a local light features television program called Cleveland Tonight, Stanley had recently suffered a heart attack. A longtime smoker,…
Regional Beat: Adam Rich
Virgin Freak (Love Muffin) lovemuffinrecords.com Local singer and multi-instru mentalist Adam Rich marks the 20-year anniversary of this, his full-length debut, with a special reissue. A rough-sounding collection of tunes that Rich recorded at home on a Tascam cassette recorder, it’s likely to appeal only to his devoted fans. The noisy guitars on album opener…
Liberal Dad Can’t Deal with Son’s Pokémon Fetish
Dear Dan, I am a liberal parent. I raised a daughter who is bi and poly. I always thought that I could accept anything that parenthood might throw at me. I knew that I could embrace my son if he were straight, gay, bi, trans, etc. If there is a controlling consciousness of the universe,…
Always Expanding: Infamous Stringdusters Merge Genres and Shake Worlds with Constant Growth
There’s a massive amalga- mation buzzing around the music scene, combining musical traditions like bluegrass, country, folk, even reggae. At times, the ascendent popularity of so much of that eclipses the individual genres’ legacies. The Infamous Stringdusters, hailing from Nashville, Tenn., work hard to advance traditions, all while maintaining the character of American roots music. Scene…
Into the Scrum: A Few Minutes with the President of the Cleveland Rovers on Injuries, Skill and Weird Traditions of our City’s Rugby Team
Cleveland’s 35-year-old rugby club opens the spring season on Saturday. We talked with Cleveland Rovers president Terry Kilbane — a 2002 St. Edward’s graduate who played at Bowling Green — about the growth of rugby in the city. How would you pitch Scene readers on rugby in Cleveland? tk: Rugby in Cleveland is actually a…
A Dreamland State: Indie Rockers Future Islands Make the Most of Recording their New Album at a First-Rate Studio
For more than a decade, Baltimore-based indie rockers Future Islands have been crafting oddball synthpop. On its latest release, the forthcoming Singles, singer Samuel Herring simultaneously channels Morrissey, Bryan Ferry and Matt Johnson. Along with pulsating synthesizers and bass, his voice defines the band’s sound, making Future Islands into a band on the precipice of…
A Hard Sell: Eclectic Singer-Songwriter Nat Osborn Makes Albums for the iPod Generation
For some people, playing a gig at the Bitter End, the historic New York area rock club located in Greenwich Village, might be a sign that perhaps they had finally made it. But singer/songwriter Nat Osborn, who was celebrating his 18th birthday at the time that he first played a show there, had a different…
Hello, Dali, It’s Walt Calling: An Unlikely Disney Studios/Salvador Dali Project is Imaginatively Recreated in Lobster Alice
You may remember Walt Disney as the avuncular fellow who brought you The Mickey Mouse Club and Lady and the Tramp, or as the morally wizened guy who helped the House Un-American Activities Committee do its evil work in the early 1950s. But either way, you will probably have a hard time imagining Uncle Walt…
Mexico, Only 30 Miles Away: The Best Authentic Tacos in Northeast Ohio Can Be Found, Of Course, in Painesville, in the Front of a Grocery Store
It’s a funny thing driving 30 miles for a two-buck taco, but then again, once you’ve had a taste of the real thing, there’s no going back. That’s been the case for a few years now as fans of authentic Mexican street tacos have been making regular pilgrimages to a 10-seat cantina in faraway Painesville. That…
Film Review of the Week: The Grand Budapest Hotel
In Wes Anderson’s latest smorgasbord, The Grand Budapest Hotel, a young lobby boy named Zero Moustafa and a stately, mustachioed concierge named Gustave H. (Ralph Fiennes) encounter about a thousand strangers — all of them portrayed by actors and actresses you’ll recognize! — as they steal a coveted painting from the estate of a seasonal…
The Rise of the Female Butcher: The Pork Chop Shop
They’re young, they’re fe-male and they deal exclusively with pork. There are a lot of qualities that separate Emma Beno and Alexia Rodriguez, owners of the West Side Market’s Pork Chop Shop, from the competition. But they also stand out because of what matters most: Their products are really tasty. All of the pork sold…
Also on Stage
The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity This is a play that desper- ately wants to be a satire on American values, reflected through the faux posturing (and faux everything) of pro wrestling. Written by Kristoffer Diaz, it has all the elements of a potentially incisive look into the myths we all share (about race, among other…
Ballot Battle: State Leaders are Knuckling Down on Voter Restriction. Here in Deep-Blue Cuyahoga County, the Fight is Only Beginning (Again)
The sheer breadth of Ohio’s voting rights boondoggle is just awesome. It’s also now a regularly scheduled part of our election cycle. Republican leaders crack down, local Democrats respond, we all reach some sort of half-decent compromise, and then we live-tweet Election Day returns. This year, though, the fight is getting really intense. “This is…
