The Great Metallica Debate — Round Six
On Saturday, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum welcomes Metallica to the ranks of popular music’s all-time greats. The band did as much as any group to establish and define thrash metal, then gradually slowed down and became one of the world’s biggest rock bands. To celebrate the Frisco phenoms’ hard-won recognition,…
The Great Metallica Debate — Round Five
On Saturday, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum welcomes Metallica to the ranks of popular music’s all-time greats. The band did as much as any group to establish and define thrash metal, then gradually slowed down and became one of the world’s biggest rock bands. To celebrate the Frisco phenoms’ hard-won recognition,…
Hard Rock Serves Up Some Raspberries
It’s good to see the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame finally involving the actual museum and the Cleveland community in the induction hoopla with a weeklong series of events, similar to how the Football Hall of Fame in Canton handles its annual induction. And it’s great to see some Cleveland musicians involved. Influential ’70s…
Worst Offensive Seasons Since 1952 for the Tribe Measured by VORP
VORP. Value Over Replacement Player. Usually, hopefully, that’s a positive number in the stat column next to a player. Of course, a player can be such a sucking wound on offense that his VORP is negative, meaning he is quite literally taking runs away with his feeble swings. Inspired by the Sports Guy’s latest mailbag…
Eddie Moo Gets the Wazoo
By Steve Buffum Eddie Mujica, out of options, is apparently headed to the landin which options are plentiful (otherwise known as the N.L.): This marks the umpty-millionth time I have incorrectly identified the Indians’ “Closer of the Future,” also held recently by Ferd Carbrera, Tom Mastny, and Anyone But Joe Borowski. Mujica had some sick…
We Got a Winner for the Music Video Challenge!
Last night, the newly formed Ohio Film Office announced the winner of its Music Video Challenge during a reception at House of Blues’ Cambridge Room. Attended mostly by the contestants, the event acknowledged the Top 10 entries in the contest, which solicited music videos from directors and bands located across the state. All 10 nominated…
When Will The Rock Hall Get Pac-Man Fever?
The Rock Hall has failed to induct —- or even acknowledge — hundreds of bands that should be in it: Journey (“Only Solutions”), Kiss (“Beth”), Michael Stanley (“My Town”). But it was still a fresh slap in the face to local music aficionados when, for the third year in a row, the Hall failed to…
The Great Metallica Debate — Round Four
On Saturday, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum welcomes Metallica to the ranks of popular music’s all-time greats. The band did as much as any group to establish and define thrash metal, then gradually slowed down and became one of the world’s biggest rock bands. To celebrate the Frisco phenoms’ hard-won recognition,…
CavFanatic.com Front Page Gets a Little Punchy
Scott from WFNY alerted me to the new black-and-blue tinged feature on CavFanatic.com’s front page yesterday. Check out the “Photos” section. That’s the problem when you combine user-generated content with the public’s love for all things Sham Wow. Click on the photo for a larger, more disturbing size
AN S.O.S. FOR THE ARTS
With even the likes of the Cleveland Orchestra announcing salary cuts and other cutbacks to help cope with tough economic times, it’s no surprise that other organizations are feeling the pinch too. Beck Center for the Arts launched a viral fundraising campaign this morning (Tues. March 31) that included grave language: “If the Beck Center…
Things To Read That Might Not Suck: 100% Indians Edition
For the reading you do outside of the bathroom. — You should definitely head on over to The DiaTribe and read Paul’s “Diary of a Mad Baseball Fan,” which chronicles his trip to Goodyear, Arizona, for spring training. This is perhaps my favorite nugget: Aside from DeRosa, the game was highlighted by Fausto Carmona pounding…
Wayne Kirby says, “Good Morning, Cleveland”
As Opening Day descends upon us, let’s remember Wayne Kirby, who provided the ending to one of the most magical home openers in Indians’ history. It was his 11th-inning hit to score Eddie Murray in 1994 that christened brand new Jacob’s Field with a win, as any fan worth his salt knows.
WHEN LIFE GIVES YOU PINK WATER …
At least it’s not the color of turd. That has to be what a lot of folks in Painesville and Perry were thinking over the weekend when their taps started spewing pink water instead of the usually clear variety. A malfunction at the Lake County Water Department fed too much of a chemical used to…
April Fools? Please?
We just got word that Kid Rock bought the naming rights to the Detroit Tigers’ home field, Comerica Park. From now, says the press release that greeted us this morning, it will be called Kid Rock Field. Also, Kid Rock’s new beer has been named the official beer of the Detroit Tigers. Please let this…
THE HIGH COST OF STRIPPING
OSU boss Gordon Gee talks a good game about whipping America’s energy consumption into shape with a renewable revolution, about using university know-how to divorce us from our love affair with that dirty-ass, low-down coal. The self-ordained environmentalist was even named co-chair of a national movement of 15 colleges to help America become more energy…
GLENN, YOU SO CRAZY
Huffington Post reports that FOX News whackjob Glenn “Bury Me in Bay Village” Beck … has been using his airtime to broadcast a right-wing conspiracy theory about the Obama administration setting up ‘concentration camps,’ as part of a secret plot to establish totalitarian rule. Curiously, Beck’s criticism of President Obama’s economic policies seems to have…
On the Occassion of Baseball
Summers are easily categorized as generically good or bad. When you’re, say, eight or nine, the three holy months of freedom might be measured by whether you convinced Susie from around the block to be your girlfriend. Or maybe by whether your Little League team made the playoffs. If Susie kissed you, it was a…
Assessing the Rock Hall Inductees’ Inducters
Sure, we’re mega excited about this weekend’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductions. Can’t wait to see Jason Newsted with Metallica again and Run-DMC. But we’re just as excited to check out the artists inducting the Class of ’09: Jimmy Page, Eminem, two E Streeters, Flea … um, scratch that last one. There’s been…
A Guy To Really Root For
(This is a guest post by the estimable and hilarious Steve Buffum, who can be found during the season over at The Cleveland Fan. He’s a must-read, and I’m lucky to have him contributing here as well.) Juan Lara signed a minor-league contract with the Tribe: Now, really, there’s no sense in ragaling you with…
Last Mag Standing?
Blender magazine folded last week, placing Cleveland-based Alternative Press indisputably in the Top 3 glossy monthly music mags. The independently owned AP consistently ranks second in book-store sales, behind Rolling Stone, above Paste and far beyond Spin. It doesn’t have the size or cachet of Rolling Stone or Spin, but it has the best track…
New Concert: Margot & the Nuclear So and So’s
Margot & the Nuclear So and So’s are a ton of fun onstage. They released a pair of albums last year — Animal and Not Animal — that offer two different takes on the band’s expansive indie-pop. (Two versions were released to settle a record-company squabble; you can read more about it here.) Margot &…
CLE ROCK CITY
To drum up some regional support for the upcoming Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductions, Positively Cleveland hosted what it called a “fam tour” (fam as in familiarization) with area journalists last week. The day started with the Rock Hall press conference about the Inductions that included handing out a proclamation to Parliament/Funkadelic’s Bootsy…
Cleveland Rock City
To drum up some regional support for the upcoming Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductions, Positively Cleveland hosted what it called a “fam tour” (fam as in familiarization) with area journalists last week. The day started with the Rock Hall press conference about the inductions that included handing out proclamations to Parliament/Funkadelic’s Bootsy Collins…
Things To Read That Might Not Suck: You Can Never Have Enough World. B Free Edition
“Groundbreaking. Thoroughly enjoyable. A family-friendly fun ride through the world of sports imagination.” — The Editor of this sports blog. — We featured K1X’s upcoming summer line, which is entirely created around and inspired by World B. Free, the other day. Today, here’s a link to an extensive and entertaining interview with the man himself…
Feelin’ Generous?
Feeling in a giving mood? I know, it’s hard to give to others when you might be eating cat food in a couple months. But just in case you have some spare cash around, Paul Williams — who founded Crawdaddy!, the first magazine to take rock ‘n’ roll seriously — needs some help. Williams has…
The Great Metallica Debate — Round Three
On Saturday, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum welcomes Metallica to the ranks of popular music’s all-time greats. The band did as much as any group to establish and define thrash metal, then gradually slowed down and became one of the world’s biggest rock bands. To celebrate the Frisco phenoms’ hard-won recognition,…
Guy No. 25: Zach Jackson
(This is a guest post by the estimable and hilarious Steve Buffum, who can be found during the season over at The Cleveland Fan. He’s a must-read, and I’m lucky to have him contributing here as well.) I don’t really have the hang of this “blogging thing.” I started writing a post, and it bled…
World in a Room Reunites
World in a Room was one of the most popular of Cleveland’s wave of poppy alternative bands in the ’90s, with a surging, melodic sound that drew from all the usual sources of that era: R.E.M., the Smiths, Depeche Mode, U2 etc. The quartet — vocalist and rhythm guitarist Jason Kilbey Smith, lead guitarist Kevin…
LAST MAG STANDING?
Blender magazine folded last week, placing Cleveland-based Alternative Press indisputably in the top three glossy monthly rock mags. The independently owned AP consistently ranks second in book-store sales, behind Rolling Stone, above Paste, and far beyond Spin. It doesn’t have the size or cachet of Rolling Stone or Spin, but it has the best track…
Gerald McNeil says, “Good Morning, Cleveland”
I always pretended to be Gerald McNeil when I was growing up and playing football in the backyard, mainly because we were each built more for being horse jockeys than running back kickoffs. I loved how his helmet looked five sizes too big and how the Browns probably had to borrow a uniform from a…
HARTMAN EXECUTION UPDATE
It’s becoming increasingly clear that the jailhouse snitch who testified that he heard Brett Hartmann confess to killing Winda Snipes was lying to get out of jail sooner—committing perjury (“Deadline,” March 25). But Summit County prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh is still pushing to have Hartmann executed on April 7. Apparently, she’s learned nothing from the…
This Just In: Concert Announcements
Visit the reborn Clevescene.com every Tuesday for brand-new concert announcements … and visit every day anyway, ‘cuz you never know when we’ll have more. Don’t believe us? Here’s 43 to start. —D.X. Ferris NEW DATEMichael Schenker Group (featuring original vocalist Gary Barden): Fri., June 26. 7 p.m., $20 ADV/$24 DOS. Peabody’s. CANCELEDIce-T/Black Sheep/Jus Mic: Black…
ENOUGH SECRECY
For more than a year now, county leaders have negotiated in private to secure Merchandise Mart Properties Inc. as the one-and-only overseer of the planned Med Mart/convention center facilities for Cleveland. Since then, the media has tried to get a grasp on the billion-dollar deal — about $600 million of which will go to MMPI…
NEW WITNESS TO AMY’S ABDUCTION ID’S RUNKLE
For nearly 20 years, Rick Burns waited patiently for the police to return to his auto body shop across the street from the station to show him photos of the man he saw with Amy Mihaljevic the day of her abduction. But they never came. Burns maintains that a strange man with shaggy hair parked…
STILL PROUD?
Bob Serpentini, Mr. American And Proud of It, is apparently so American that he’s in danger of defaulting on millions of dollars in loans provided by GMAC financial services to his Aurora dealership. Defaulting on loans, after all, is the new cool thing to do in this country, especially when corporations are being handed fat…
Metallica Is Taking Over Our Lives
All this Metallica talk around here lately almost made us forget that (in addition to their induction into the Rock Hall on Saturday) they’ve got a new videogame. Guitar Hero Metallica came out yesterday. I haven’t played it yet, but I’m sure it rocks. The commercial for it (above) is, as Lars would say, fuckin’…
First MLB Player to Tweet During a Game?… Now With 100% More Fake Kerry Wood Tweets!
Shaq twittered at halftime of a game, as did Charlie Villanueva. Members of the women’s professional soccer league twittered live during their inaugural game. As Opening Day approaches, I have to wonder who will be the first player to twitter a home run. Will players be allowed to tweet during games? Who the hell knows…
Shows You Should See This Week
The Gaslight Anthem at the Agora on Tuesday —These New Jersey rockers sound like a cross between the Clash and Bruce Springsteen. They play heartland rock spiked with a bit of punk assertion. Their songs are packed with rousing choruses that could have been written in the ’60s, ’80s or yesterday. Last year’s The ’59…
This License Plate Speaks the Truth
Saw this the other day while driving and had to snap a shot. (It reads: LBJ4MVP.)
Concert Review: Brian Jonestown Massacre at the Grog Shop, 3/29
It’s appropriate that Brian Jonestown Massacre strolled onto the Grog Shop stage last night as Human League’s “(Keep Feeling) Fascination” blared through the speakers. There is something fascinating about the decade-old group, even if its mix of Velvet Underground and British Invasion rock is hardly groundbreaking. Singer-guitarist Anton Newcombe is such a volatile frontman, he’s…
Full LeBron 60 Minutes Video
For anyone who missed LeBron’s spot on 60 Minutes Sunday night, here’s the full video.
Wednesdays with Waiting For Next Year: The Browns QB Situation
Every Wednesday I’ll chat with Scott and Rick from Waiting For Next Year on some pertinent and timely topic. This week, you’ll get one today, and another one on Wednesday. Lucky you. Topic: The mess at the QB position Rick: Do I care which one we keep? Yes. I want us to keep the right…
Cavs New Pre-Game Intro Would Like the Finest Meats and Cheeses In All the Land
(Hat tip to NESW Sports)
The Great Metallica Debate — Round Two
On Saturday, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum welcomes Metallica to the list of popular music’s all-time greats. The band did as much as any group to establish and define thrash metal, then gradually slowed down and became one of the world’s biggest rock bands. To celebrate the band’s hard-won recognition, Scene…
Things To Read That Might Not Suck: Happy Face Edition
Because I don’t think you would know what to read without me. — Nonsports: Bill James’ thoughts on the future of newspapers. Excellent read. (The Future of Newspapers) — Brian Hartline’s girlfriend or something. (Busted Coverage) — Seriously, it’s like we talk about the Browns because we really do have something self-destructive in our brains…
Concert Review: Hoots and Hellmouth at the Kent Stage, 3/26
Aided with only their acoustic guitars and harmony vocals, Sean Hoots and Andrew “Hellmouth” Gray formed Hoots and Hellmouth in their hometown of West Chester, Pennsylvania. Four years later, along with mandolin player Rob Berliner and upright bassist Tim Celfo, the group started making what it calls “new music for old souls.” And you can’t…
Green Day Ruins “American Idiot”
Spitfire punks Green Day are turning their 2004 opus American Idiot into a play, hereby demolishing any street cred they might have retained in the wake of that album’s success. Michael Mayer, who spearheaded Spring Awakening onstage, is collaborating with the band on the show, which is also called American Idiot. It will include all…
Jeff Manto says, “Good Morning, Cleveland”
Jeff Manto, the answer to the question: Who was the Indians starting first baseman on Opening Day of 1998? Consummate journeyman, Manto played in Cleveland in 1990 and 1991 before playing with Philly, Boston, Baltimore and Seattle. He returned Lake Erie-side in 1997 and suited up for the Tribe and Detroit in 1998, then bounced…
Your Weekly Concert Calendar
This Just In: Concert AnnouncementsOMG, Jonas Brothers! Happy Monday, Cleveland. Today, Scene has 52 new concerts to announce. Stay tuned for more. —D.X. Ferris CANCELED* Michael Schenker Group: Fri., April 3, $20 ADV/$24 DOS. Peabody’s. SOLD OUT* The Academy Is/Empires/Evan Taubenfold: Fri., April 3, 8 p.m. Musica.* Dinosaur Jr/Awesome Color: Wed., April 8, 8 p.m.…
We’re Live Blogging the Rock Hall Inductions on Saturday
On Staurday night, C-Notes’ crack team of writers and reporters will be at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s induction ceremony — covering the red carpet, the onstage festivities and the backstage shenanigans. And you can read all about it here first, since we’ll be live blogging the whole thing. Fun drinking game you…
PAPER TIGERS
It’d be hard to pin down exactly what’s behind the burgeoning print scene in Cleveland; On the one hand, the obsolescence of analog systems has taken old equipment like letterpress printing machines out of the commercial realm and created an after-market for art studios. But that’s certainly not all. At a time when art schools…
Photo Show: Ultra Music Festival in Miami, Day 2
Scene’s Carissa Bowlin is getting her freak on in Miami this weekend, firing up her glow sticks and taking in all the DJs. She also found some time to shoot some pics. Below: The Prodigy and a sweaty, smelly tent.
Road Trip: Miami’s Ultra Music Festival, Day 2
After Friday’s multi-genre affair, day two of Miami’s Ultra Music Festival got back to the basics of what the festival is all about: DJs, DJs and more beat-bouncing DJs. Bicentennial Park was a bit more packed and bursting with the enchanted energy of old-school rave. Saturday wasn’t about just these mainstage acts — it was…
NEW EVIDENCE IN HARTMANN CASE?
Brett Hartmann sits on death row, awaiting an April 7 appointment with the lethal injection chamber for the 1997 murder of Winda Snipes. Hartmann has always denied stabbing Snipes over a hundred times and cutting off her hands in a brutal attack that occurred in her Highland Square apartment (“Deadline,” March 25). Strangely, another woman…
NO PICTURES!
It’s anyone’s guess why cop cruisers in Cleveland, the largest city fleet in the state, still don’t have dash cams to protect officers — and their suspects — from false accusations. Councilman Zack Reed says he’s been trying to get them installed from the time he was chairman of Council’s Public Safety Committee six years…
Photo Show: Ultra Music Festival in Miam1
Scene’s Carissa Bowlin is getting her freak on in Miami this weekend, firing up her glow sticks and taking in all the DJs. She also found some time to shoot some pics. Below: Black Eyed Peas, general zaniness, the Ting Tings.
Road Trip: Miami’s Ultra Music Festival, Day 1
Yes, the Ultra Music Festival lives up to its rep as a sea of dancing glow sticks, billowing from five stages, intense, trans-like energy and festivalgoers clad in metallic, platforms and fishnets. But the fest also welcomes and represents most every walk and lifestyle from all over the world. A melting pot exploiting new trends…
Concert Review: A.C. Newman at the Grog Shop
(Can’t find any video from the Cleveland show, so the above video is from Newman’s show in LA. You get the point.) New Pornographers frontman AC Newman brought his solo show to the Grog Shop Friday night. In fact, it was his first-ever visit to the Coventry institution. “Since February 2001, I’ve only ever been…
Bruuuuuuce!
Got a sneak peek at the new Bruce Springsteen exhibit coming to the Rock Hall on April 1. Dubbed From Asbury Park to the Promised Land: The Life and Music of Bruce Springsteen, it’s an extensive look at all things related to the Boss. “There’s a warehouse in New Jersey where a lot of this…
GETTING CLOSE TO THE TRUTH
Do local UFOlogists know too much? According to one local believer, the shadow government sent out its black-ops helicopters to “taunt” an Ohio UFO investigator who lives north of Columbus after he talked about a sighting on the radio a few years back. The intimidated space cadet managed to capture a fleet of the secret…
AMY UPDATE
Scene’s James Renner will be interviewed on Channel 5’s “Live at Five” tonight. Reporter Duane Pohlman has found a witness who claims to have seen Dean Runkle with Amy Mihaljevic on the day she disappeared. Renner first identified Runkle as a possible suspect — the most significant new lead in years. The new witness will…
Your Vinyl Answer
The Waterloo neighborhood around the Beachland Ballroom continues to expand at a recession-defying pace. The latest addition to its collection of hip, locally owned niche businesses is Blue Arrow Records and Books (16001 Waterloo Rd., 216-486.2415), which opened last night. It’s the brainchild of Pete and Debbie Gulyas, who run This Way Out, the vintage…
Interview: Bootsy Collins on the Cavs, Bengals, and Buckethead Running Through the Woods
Bootsy Collins is in town for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction, and given the chance, I couldn’t pass on the opportunity to ask one of the funkiest of the funkiest about the songs he’s written for the Bengals and the Cavs. Remember “Get Pumped”? How could you not. Great energy. Listen here…
iTunes Raising Prices on the Songs You Like
According to the Los Angeles Times, iTunes will be raising the price of some songs from 99 cents to $1.29. The songs affected? The ones you want to hear. Word is, on April 7, iTunes will raise the price of its top-selling singles and classic tracks by 30 cents. So you better get all those…
Funkin’ It Up
“This week, the eyes of the world are on Cleveland,” Rock Hall CEO Terry Stewart said this morning to dozens of reporters assembled at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum to kick off Induction Week. After thanking everyone, including the politicians who lobbied to bring the induction ceremonies back to Cleveland for…
THANKS, DAN MOULTHROP!
Scene’s Dan Harkins on WCPN’s Reporters Roundtable. Topics include Sheriff McFoul and the magically shrinking Council.
Strangest Bobblehead of 2009: Shin Soo Choo Loves the 80’s
This doesn’t particularly qualify as news, but I was glancing through the Tribe’s promotional schedule for this year and came across the June 13th game against the Cardinals when fans will receive this Shin Soo Choo bobblehead. Complete with a white suit, Simon Says four-color base, and black shades, Shin Soo, for some reason that…
Things To Read That Might Not Suck: 60 Minutes Edition
Your early-bird special of delicious sports links, because sports patties aren’t nearly as tasty. — LeBron’s going to be on 60 Minutes this Sunday, and CBS has released a sneak peek which features, what else, LeBron draining a half-court underhand shot. (Ball Don’t Lie) — Some guy in Denver (and former Scene employee, in the…
THE KEY WORD IS ‘CITIZEN’
Ohio Citizen Action has a big and dirty state to patrol for industrial excrement, right near the bottom in nationwide water- and air-quality rankings. Last fall, its organizational tactics helped convince metal and mining behemoth Eramet to spend $170 million to clean up its Marietta manganese factory. But OCA’s Cleveland chapter, one of just three…
Shows You Should See This Weekend
A.C. Newman at the Grog Shop on Friday — Newman plays straight guy in the New Pornographers. He’s also the brains. Neko Case is the hot chick, Dan Bejar is the beardo with indie cred. Newman’s the guy who writes super-poppy songs. His solo albums (like the recent Get Guilty) sounds like early-’60s AM radio…
Jay Guidinger says, “Good Morning, Cleveland”
My best friend growing up was absolutely and bizarrely obsessed with Jay Guidinger. If you don’t know who that is, don’t worry, you are far from alone. Guidinger played two seasons for the Cavs — 1992-1994 — which were his only two seasons in the NBA. He has 100 career total points (you can see…
SPLITSVILLE
So Cleveland has two less wards now, and two fewer Sweeney naysayers. You wouldn’t know it by looking around. Some will feel the benefits, though. For the 19 Council members who remain — especially for folks like Council President Martin Sweeney out in West Park’s Ward 20 — there are fewer pots to put the…
Antonio Gaudi (Japan, 1984)
Antonio Gaudi was a Spanish architect who designed some really funky modern-looking pieces during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. His buildings, churches and parks incorporate spider-like columns and rows of arches that twist and turn into labyrinthine shapes. He also built things that look like caves. The dreamlike imagery of his work makes…
Brothers at War
Producer-director Jake Rademacher admits he made this documentary to get closer to his brothers Isaac and Joe, both of whom are in the military, serving in Iraq. As a result, the film’s more a tribute to American soldiers and their families than a critique of a highly controversial war. In fact, no one in the…
The Great Buck Howard
As a down-on-his-luck, Kreskin-style mentalist reduced to performing his “effects” for easily impressed old biddies in nondescript hick towns, John Malkovich delivers a bravura comic performance that’s richer and funnier than the material deserves. Written and directed by Sean McGinly, the film putters along amiably without ever quite delivering on its solid-gold premise. Yet Malkovich…
Sunshine Cleaning
This bittersweet comedy about two sisters who launch a crime-scene cleanup business was produced by the team responsible for Little Miss Sunshine, which it resembles in its mordant affection for its hard-luck characters and the casting of Alan Arkin as an eccentric grandpa. Amy Adams is Rose, an Albuquerque ex-cheerleader who cleans houses and is…
Crossing Over
Wayne Kramer’s immigration drama has had a troubled release. First, the producers demanded it be cut considerably from its original length, and then Sean Penn reportedly insisted his scenes be removed because he objected to the movie’s portrayal of Iranians. With Harrison Ford, Ray Liotta, Ashley Judd and a variable cast of lesser-knowns, the movie…
The Haunting in Connecticut
Sara Campbell (Virginia Madsen) rents a house so her family can be near the hospital where teenage son Matt (Kyle Gallner) is undergoing experimental cancer treatments. The rent is cheap, and with good reason — the house used to be a mortuary, and if that’s not enough, séances were once conducted there. One such séance…
Monsters vs. Aliens
Even though Monsters vs. Aliens incorporates new characters to the talking-animal genre (actually, Pixar got there first eight years ago with the otherworldly creatures of Monsters, Inc.), it’s still the same mix of animated elements. The opening scenes set up the plight of Susan (voiced by Reese Witherspoon), a bride hit by a piece of…
12 Rounds
At their best, Hollywood action movies can be exciting thrill rides that make audiences cheer; at their worst, they’re pointless exercises in property destruction. 12 Rounds falls somewhere between those extremes. The premise is a blend of Die Hard and Speed, with a police detective (John Cena) trying to save his girlfriend (Ashley Scott) from…
Countdown to Opening Day With the Sweet Sounds of Tom Hamilton
With Opening Day right around the corner, no better way to set the mood than to sit back and listen to the sweet soothing voice of Tom Hamilton, especially when he’s calling the game when the Tribe clinched the AL Central two years ago.
Et Tu, Krzyzewski
Before we all head home to the glories of original Thursday night television and the beginning of the Sweet 16, let us hereto be primeth absolute to the majestic beauty of the collegiate athletic competition in the words of the Bard. Well, not Shakespeare himself, but those who purport to know him awfully well. Carolyn…
FILM FLAM
Last Friday, Cleveland Film Commission director Ivan Schwarz spoke on WCPN’s The Sound of Ideas, again, to pat himself on the back for everything he’s done to make Cleveland the Hollywood of the Rust Belt. Which would be totally awesome, if it were true. Unfortunately, host Regina Brett doesn’t know as much about movie production…
We Now Know When C.C. Will Throw His First Pitch Against the Tribe
We all know that Cliff Lee will take the mound on April 6 against the Texas Rangers and Kevin Millwood on Opening Day. The home opener will see Scott Lewis on the bump for the Wahoos, and… well, I don’t have time to figure out who’ll be pitching for Toronto. The big news today is…
R.I.P. Blender
My favorite music magazine, Blender, just closed. The magazine was sold to different owners a couple years ago and never got its footing after that. The shitty economy and the even shittier way it’s treated the publishing business hasn’t helped. Recent issues have been a fraction of the hefty books that used to arrive in…
Q&A: Krayzie Bone
Bone Thugs N Harmony made a successful comeback last year with the chart-topping Strenght & Loyality, but somehow founding member Krayzie Bone has found time to record a solo album. Dubbed Just One Mo Hit, it came out this week. Featuring the same mix of smooth R&B tunes and street-wise raps you’d find on a…
K1X’s Summer Collection: All World B. Free, All the Time
K1X’s new summer collection, coming in May, was designed and inspired completely around World B. Free. We’re not just talking t-shirts here, basketball loving people. We’re talking shoes, shorts, hoodys, sweats, a jacket, and, yes, a couple of different tees. Other than to say that the collection is completely sharp, dope, etc., and World B.…
Concert Review: Ra Ra Riot at Musica, 3/25
Ra Ra Riot pulled in a nearly full house at Akron’s Musica last night. The 350-person venue slowly filled as the three opening bands blew through their sets. The 40’s, from Canton, opened with a strong energy that got the early birds jumping. Illinois-based So Many Dynamos (read it backward — it’s a palindrome!) shook…
SOMETIMES IN THE DARK
It’s a big deal for businesses to shut off the lights for an hour in the evening — especially for restaurants, bars and coffee shops. But a few Ohio cities are participating in Earth Hour, the World Wildlife Fund’s call for greater global-warming awareness. The plan: Turn off lights and unplug unneeded appliances between 8:30…
Local Reggae Bassist Cellis Dies
Cleveland music fans just learned of the sudden death on March 22 of Ed Skinner a.k.a. Cellis, a mainstay of the area’s reggae scene since the ’80s. After a brief stint in First Light in the mid-’80s, he formed his own band Satta, which spent the next decade recording and touring extensively, doing regular tours…
New Kate Voegele CD Coming in May
Kate Voegele, the area’s best pop-minded female singer-songwriter, has a new album coming out on May 19. It’s called A Fine Mess, and it’s produced by Mike Elizondo, who’s worked with Rihanna, Pink and Maroon 5. The first single is the rockin’ “99 Times.” Voegele has been hella busy the past couple years. Her debut…
THE MAN BEHIND THE MASKS
Like some kind of concert promoter, filmmaker and make-up artist Frank Ippolito has worked hard to recruit patrons for the screening of his two shorts, Teller 1 and Teller 2, which show at the Cleveland International Film Festival at midnight on Friday. The Cleveland native flew in from Los Angeles last week in time to…
OMG, JUST HIT SOMETHING, BRB
Since drinking-and-driving is already a no-no, two-time DUI loser Councilman Zack Reed feels qualified to lead the effort to ban another menace to motorists: driving while texting. Call it Zack’s Law, if you’re so inclined. That’s what he would want. After mostly favorable discussion Wednesday morning at Council’s Public Safety Committee meeting, Reed told Vice…
WELCOME TO CUYAHOGA COUNTY, PLEASE SIT DOWN AND SHUT UP
“I’m hard-pressed to believe that people who have not been a part of [the Medical Mart negotiations] will have greater insight than people who have been a part of it.” — County Commissioner Tim Hagen, rationalizing why he can ignore public input on the Medical Mart contract, after keeping the details of that contract secret…
Concert Review: Adele at House of Blues 3/21
Everybody knows that you don’t book a budding soul chanteuse like Adele for the hip-but-tiny Beachland Ballroom when she can sell out the less-hip-but-more-cavernous House of Blues in mere minutes. It’s economics, really. So that’s where the shockingly mature 20-year-old Brit ended up holding court on Saturday night, with a delicate but sassy performance that…
Tyson Documentary Screening at CIFF Sunday
The critically acclaimed documentary on Mike Tyson is showing this weekend at the Cleveland International Film Festival. It’s gotten rave reviews, one of which you can read here, after its premiere at Cannes. I’m pretty pumped for it and will have a full review for you folks on Monday. The trailer looks absolutely riveting, but…
’SAW 2: ATTACK OF THE LAWYERS
The Jigsaw Saloon and Stage opened briefly for a Lucky Paws Animal Rescue fundraiser this past weekend, but the storied restaurant-nightclub remains closed for day-to-day business for the third week. Monday, the Cuyahoga County Board of Health suspended the club’s food service license, citing an overdue renewal. Disappointed fans of the Parma institution reported seeing…
Things To Read That Might Not Suck: Mustachioed Pre-Game Edition
Your early-bird special (except today, obviously) full of delicious sports links, because sports patties aren’t nearly as tasty. — MVP pieces are usually pretty boring, but John Hollinger’s recent piece on LeBron’s 2009 campaign is different. According to the Hollinger PER ratings — a complicated formula I only pretend to understand when talking to girls…
EAT TO THE BEAT
Steve Schimoler’s dad was, among other things, an inventor. He recalls watching as his father tinkered in the basement, trying to build what he saw in his mind. So he knows something about the nature of ideas, the way they’ll show up unannounced, at strange times, as if suddenly bored of hanging out in the…
CD Review: Various Artists
Apparently the heavy-metal wayback machine is still running on full steam. In addition to the retro-thrash movement that’s inspired a fistful of excellent bands (Merciless Death, Hatchet, Warbringer, Fueled by Fire), there’s a retro-New Wave of British Heavy Metal sound emerging from garages and basements worldwide. These groups emulate the sound of Judas Priest and…
MIXED BREED
The radio promo for The Bow-Wow Club tells us with an audio wink that “old dogs can learn new tricks.” Apparently Karamu is trying to fudge Levy Lee Simon’s chronicle of a men’s club 20th-anniversary reunion into another laugh lulu off the chitling circuit. (Wrong!) The company’s production of this destined-to-be-some-kind-of-classic is an unforgettable theater…
MASTER AND SERVANT
Brian Leerhuber seems to enjoy jumping back and forth between centuries, like alternating the taste of salty and sweet. Sprinkled in his busy schedule of operatic staples like Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi (directed by Woody Allen at Los Angeles Opera) and La Boheme (at San Francisco Opera), he’s had a string of parts in contemporary operas,…
CD Review: Marianne Faithfull
From wispy ’60s pop chanteuse to melancholy new-wave observer to world-weary techno-cabaret singer, Marianne Faithfull has survived and thrived in high style on her own terms. Her dark, dusky voice bears all the scars of her early dissipated path, and she continues to use her remarkable instrument in combination with an almost supernatural ability to…
Arts News
The Cleveland State University Art Gallery has hosted the People’s Art Show for years, open to anyone who submits work. There’s another people’s art exhibit in town too — the National Arts Program’s All City Art Shows take place in 85 venues in 44 states annually. Typically they focus on art by public employees: Police,…
Creature Feature
It’s gotten to the point where animators have run out of talking animals to put on the big screen. Cats, turtles, bears and even fish took turns in the CGI spotlight. But there are only so many situations into which you can wedge a chatty penguin before it becomes boring. That’s why many animated movies…
Short Takes: 3/25/09
Antonio Gaudi (Japan, 1984) — Antonio Gaudi was a Spanish architect who designed some really funky modern-looking pieces during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. His buildings, churches and parks incorporate spider-like columns and rows of arches that twist and turn into labyrinthine shapes. He also built things that look like caves. The dreamlike…
There Will Be Blood
TOP PICK Let the Right One In (Magnet/Magnolia) One of last year’s best films, and one of the best vampire movies of all time, comes to Blu-ray with a glistening elegance that heightens the blood-soaked ambiance. A lonely 12-year-old boy falls for a new neighbor — who just happens to be a vampire. Gracefully told…
Out of Africa
I don’t know that Zaire-born writer-director Mweze Ngangura, when he created the comedy Pièces d’identité, took any cues from the Eddie Murphy vehicle Coming to America, but a certain resemblance exists. The premise is again tradition-bound African royalty coming to a modern metropolis and experiencing life more or less incognito. In 1958, tribal leader King…
CLEVELAND FOOD ROCKS PERFORMANCES
More may have been added since Scene’s press time; visit clevelandfoodrocks.com Bar Cento 1948 W. 25th St., 216.274.1010, barcento.com. Thursday, March 26: Rock and Roll Wine Project, featuring Drunken Karaoke Wednesday, April 1: Austin “Walkin’ Cane” Charanghat (blues), 9 p.m. Bistro on Lincoln Park 2391 W. 11th St., Cleveland, 216.862.2969, bistroonlincolnpark.com Call or visit website…
Reel Cleveland: Old School 3D Classics
Opening this Friday, Monsters vs. Aliens portends to be one of the year’s biggest box-office hits. At select theaters around town, you can see it in glorious digital 3D that features the latest technological innovations. But while today’s 3D makes the 3D of yesteryear look primitive by comparison, there’s still something appealing about the old-school…
PREPARE YE
It’s midnight at Liberty University, and I’m kneeling on the floor of my dorm, praying. This is not a particularly unusual event. Any night of the week, a quick stroll through Liberty’s campus would reveal hundreds of students in the same position, making the same kind of divine appeal. At this school, we pray for…
For Those About to Rock
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductions are still a week away. But the festivities leading up to the sold-out event kick off on Thursday, March 26, at the Beachland Ballroom (15711 Waterloo Rd., 216.383.1124, beachlandballroom.com), as the club’s resident DJs pay tribute to inductee Bobby Womack by spinning some of his rarest grooves.…
BAD DAY AT THE OFFICE
We don’t need to see a slide show of Bernard Madoff’s eerily pristine offices in New York City to know that rampaging evil can lurk in the sleekest environments. And in The Receptionist, a mostly intriguing 75-minute play now being produced by Dobama Theatre, dastardly office-cubicle doings aren’t revealed until almost the very end. Up…
‘SAW 2: ATTACK OF THE LAWYERS
The Jigsaw Saloon and Stage opened briefly for a Lucky Paws Animal Rescue fundraiser this past weekend, but the storied restaurant-nightclub remains closed for day-to-day business for the third week. Monday, the Cuyahoga County Board of Health suspended the club’s food service license, citing an overdue renewal. Disappointed fans of the Parma institution reported seeing…
Local Dirt From the Paris of the Rust Belt
HIM AGAIN? On March 19, disgraced former Attorney General Marc Dann was fined $1,000 by the Ohio Elections Commission for using campaign money to rig a security system for his home and reprimanded for using those funds to pay his family’s cell-phone bills. Afterward, a smug Dann again denied he did anything wrong, suggesting the…
CD Review: Kelly Clarkson
Kelly Clarkson will always be the world’s greatest American Idol. Not only because she was the first, but also because she navigated an unproven career path, years before all the spotlight-hogging Jennifers and Davids crassly manipulated it. Plus, she totally rocks. Clarkson’s follow-up to 2007’s unfairly maligned My December makes things right with her record…
CD Review: The Decemberists
With The Hazards of Love, the Decemberists have out-nerded themselves and, in the process, they’ve created one hell of an epic masterpiece. A lady held captive, a vengeful queen, a shape-shifting monster and an unrepentant rake are a few of the characters the Portland-based band follows on this multi-genre adventure. On the biggest, most innovative…
Spring Fever
Like haute couture, John Pearson’s elegant, light-filled acrylic works painted on birch panel and rag board are deceptively simple, fitting closely around ideas of growth and change, absence and spiritual clarity. More than half of the 20 shaped paintings at Pearson’s show Transformations, at 1point618 gallery, are presented behind glass, suspended in white-painted, box-like frames.…
CD Review: Nick Lowe
Nick Lowe’s career transformation is complete after 40-plus years of successful tinkering. As a shuffling pub-rocker in the mid-’70s, Lowe influenced the era’s blossoming punk movement with his primal productions, which married the chaos of the period with his love of the Everly Brothers and Buddy Holly. Eventually, Lowe moved toward an even deeper blend…
Main Squeeze
Glenn Tilbrook earned his place in rock-history books as co-leader of Squeeze. He and Chris Difford were the Lennon and McCartney of their day, turning out smartly crafted ’80s gems like “Tempted,” “Pulling Mussels (From the Shell)” and “Cool for Cats.” Squeeze dismantled in 1999, but Tilbrook hasn’t lived off his legacy. His recent solo…
CD Review: Melinda Doolittle
She may have been one of American Idol’s most gifted vocalists, but the irony is that if 2007 third-place finalist Doolittle had actually won, she would have been under record-label pressure and would probably never have made a CD this suited to her talents. Producer Michael Mangini (Run-DMC, Joss Stone) surrounds her savvy vocals and…
Cleveland International Film Festival
Crude Independence (US, 2008) Noah Hutton’s Crude Independence is a broad look at the impact of oil discovery on a tiny North Dakota town and, by extension, on western North Dakota in general. Recent developments in technology, combined with high per-barrel prices, have brought oil companies to the town of Stanley, population about 1,200. The…
Deadline
He’s 34 but looks 50. He doesn’t maintain eye contact for long. Life in prison has not been easy for Brett Hartmann. But he doesn’t want to die. His hands cuffed, he sits at a small table in the visitor’s room of the Ohio State Penitentiary in Youngstown, his home for the past four years.…
CD Review: John Wesley Harding
Nineties singer-song- writer John Wesley Harding has been busy this decade as a novelist under his birth name, Wesley Stace. His 2005 book Misfortune earned him a pile of awards as well as a movie option, and 2007’s By George was also warmly received. Harding has always composed catchy, clever tunes, but, perhaps strengthened by…
Around Hear: Big in Japan
Big In Japan: Japanese microlabel Obliteration has pressed No Rest for the Wizard, the long-languishing debut by crusty metal band Necrodamus. It features members of Akron sludgemeisters Fistula backing Scott Stearns, a Cleveland-based visual artist and hardcore veteran who played guitar with Integrity forerunner Die Hard. Label head Naru discovered Stearns in a 2007 metal-album…
A SPOONFUL OF BULLSHIT HELPS THE MEDMART GO DOWN
Fred Nance, managing partner for Squires Sanders and Dempsey and consigliere to Cleveland’s ruling caste, sat in the middle of the commissioners’ board room last Thursday, a toothy smile he couldn’t wipe off his face. Waiting for the meeting to start, people killed time by coming up, asking him the obvious. “Good day? Ha-ha.” “We…
SCENE ACQUIRES LATE 20TH CENTURY TECHNOLOGY, NOT AFRAID TO USE IT!
Since the merger of Scene and Free Times in July 2008, we’ve gotten by with a web site that was functional, but pretty far from state of the art. Many of you have called or e-mailed to ask why (and I’ve tried to respond to those who didn’t wrap the query in condescension). Long story…
