Review: Jonathon Richman at the Grog Shop
As guitar-strumming funny men go, Jonathon Richman falls somewhere between Adam Sandler and a lovesick school girl. Once, 30 years ago, he was the Godfather of Punk. His band, the Modern Lovers, won irony-loving hearts across the globe with hits like “Roadrunner.” But in recent years, he’s better known for his appearances in There’s Something…
Copley-Fairlawn schools hire private eyes, lobby state lawmakers to root out illegal students
Last month, Scene reported that the Copley-Fairlawn School District was offering $100 rewards to anyone who ratted out students who didn’t live in the district but were still attending its schools. The program is a hit with local residents, who weren’t too pleased that these students were stealing funding from their own kids. It costs…
Now with help from Britney Spears, Shaker Heights grad finds success on ‘How I Met Your Mother’
Carter Bays, Shaker Heights native and lucky bastard. Carter Bays might be Shaker Heights’ most un-famous famous alumni. The 32-year-old Shaker High grad is the co-creator and producer of the CBS show How I Met Your Mother. The Monday-night sitcom, starring Neil Patrick Harris and Josh Radnor, centers around dating in New York, as Radnor’s…
Jump!: The latest Obsessive Fringe Competition Flick rocks Film Fest, and sparks a few ideas of our own
Judging from the enthusiastic reception it received at a Saturday screening, Jump! seems destined to be among this year’s Film Fest fan favorites. Which comes as no surprise—it’s a documentary about competitive jump-roping, and for whatever reason, if it’s a weird, obsessive, competitive subculture, you know the movie about it is going to do well.…
DJ Mick Boogie releases new, free mixtape with Talib Kweli
Cleveland mixmaster Mick Boogie continues to blur the line between mixtape and album. His latest original/creative blend is a collaboration with Black Star rhymer Talib Kweli, one of the great positive figures in modern hip-hop. But he doesn’t experiment on your dime; you can download the freshly-compressed mixtape, The MCEO, by clicking here, as a…
Yes! The Indians’ Free Money Night is back!
If you missed the best promotional event of the Indians season last year, don’t worry. It’s back. No, it wasn’t Dollar Dog night. Don’t get us wrong: We love hot dogs – all encased meats, really — but honestly, 50,000 hot dogs? That’s just disgusting. It also wasn’t “camo hat night,” although who doesn’t love…
This Just In: Cleveland Concert Announcements
Tim Fite, at the Grog April 13. This week, 52 new shows. Nobody’s got more – and even if they did, they wouldn’t love you like Scene loves you. Funny man Eddie Izzard brings his show to town. Off-beat singer-songwriter Tim Fite visits to Grog. Artful Dodger comes back to help you relive some glory…
An Indians jukebox to melt the snow away before Opening Day
If you attended Opening Day last year, this picture probably doesn’t surprise you at all. The only question come March 31 will be how much snow will be on the ground when the Indians take the field to open the 2008 campaign. With 87 feet of snow still on the ground, it’s hard to think…
‘Return of the Cuyahoga’: The Film Fest doc that gets at the fiery heart of our oh-so-foul river
According to a new documentary, the pictures that made Cleveland’s 1969 river fire famous were actually of an earlier fire. This blog is way better if listening to “Burn On,” by Randy Newman: On Saturday, enough Clevelanders braved a Siberia-esque snowstorm to pack Tower City Cinemas for the Cleveland Film Festival. And while most of…
The next big thing: Will Moroccan argan oil find its way to Cleveland?
It’s always dicey to tout this or that ingredient as “the next big thing” – especially here in Cleveland, where coastal trends, should they arrive at all, seem to do so at a glacier’s pace. Still, I’m going to go out on a limb here and make a small culinary prediction: Don’t be surprised if…
In Cleveland’s Ward 6, a race for a new councilman might decide Martin Sweeney’s future
Cleveland City Council President Martin Sweeney’s sexual harassment scandal is having powerful repercussions—none of them good for him and his future as the council’s leader. After Council Clerk Emily Lipovan accused Sweeney of harassing her last year, and then took a $60,000 payout from the city to leave city hall, Councilwoman Pat Britt moved into…
No pressure Cleveland State Vikings, but the fate of Cleveland is in your hands against Butler
For success, the Vikes need only to tap into their inner-Hoosier. The Cleveland State men’s hoops team disposed of Valparaiso on Saturday, earning them a spot in Horizon League Championship game against the 14th-ranked Bulldogs of Butler . Tip-off is at 9 p.m. on ESPN. (Editor’s note: We called the CSU athletic department and Becky’s,…
Kalliope Stage, in Cleveland Heights, dies, but hopes to soon rise from the grave
Kalliope Stage, the little black-box theatre that could, has closed. Facing the same monetary struggles as many regional theatres – that is, they’re way broke — the cozy space in Cleveland Heights finally closed its doors earlier this month, right before a production of Fanny Hill was supposed to begin. A donation drive earlier in…
Hello, Cleveland: The Week’s Concert Calendar
Many good picks this week, including Spyderz (featuring Biohazard frontman Evan Seinfeld), Yellowcard (acoustic), and twin-star supernova the Gutter Twins. But let’s kick it off with Jonathan Richman (above), the former Modern Lovers frontman, best known for his role as the chorus in There’s Something About Mary, who has perky sing-along songs about true love,…
Carl Monday’s back, and he’s not better than ever, which makes us sad
Ah, the goold ole days, when Carl tricked unsuspecting Buckeye fans into admitting they crank it in the library. In late January, we questioned whether Carl Monday had gone soft. He hadn’t done a Carl Monday Investigation worthy of that title in two months, instead wasting his valuable time and even more valuable moustache on…
A gentle proposal to Cleveland sports fans: Quit bitching and enjoy it
You know your slightly overweight and under-mannered but nonetheless charming friend who lands a smoking hot and incredibly un-bitchy girlfriend, but instead of counting his blessings counts the days until she wises up and leaves for someone hotter and richer and better endowed? That’s the Cleveland sports fan. …
In Minnesota, smoking ban no match for local thespians. Why didn’t we think of that?!
Ever since Ohio enacted its smoking ban, bartenders and their nicotine-loving patrons have been looking for clever ways to evade the new rules. While some bars — which shall remain nameless, of course — have set up smoker’s lounges in their basements, others are simply looking away as customers puff away, assuming that Ohio is…
Joyce Banjac may be Myers University’s best hope
Judge Daniel Gaul is on the ropes. The self appointed savior of Myers University is desperately trying to dodge a right hook thrown by the bumbling of former university officials. They left Myers around $13 million in debt – and Gaul in a tricky situation that’s progressively getting worse…
Akron mom embezzles $12,000 from PTA
When C-Notes heard that an Akron mom embezzled more than $12,000 from her PTA, we were stunned to say the least. Turns out that 45-year-old Katherine Delaney had been the treasurer of the Sam Salem Elementary PTA, where she’d been skimming cupcake money for years until a recent audit revealed her scheme. She was arrested…
Dispatch: Either Derek Anderson gets roster bonus in ’09, or Quinn fans celebrate
If he can avoid getting traded or fired, Derek Anderson will rake in an extra $5 million in 2009. The big Browns news of the day had to do with Derek Anderson. No, Brady Quinn fans, he did not accidentally stab himself in the throwing arm. Sorry to disappoint. James Walker of the Columbus Dispatch…
Cleveland’s power brokers take a turn at high fashion
Judge Joan Synenberg: Babe of the Cuyahoga County bench Last night, Cleveland’s most fashionable people gathered at The Club at Key Center to watch city power brokers strut down a makeshift runway in the name of good taste – and charity. Proceeds from the $100 a ticket event went to the Rainbow Babies & Children’s…
Sound of Ideas Host Dan Moulthrop steals our idea, raises money for cancer
St. Dan Moulthrop, WCPN Alright, Dan Moulthrop, we get it. You’re the world’s most amazing person. You’re intelligent, friendlier than a Jesuit at Happy Hour, and unlike us, you’re rarely drunk on a Tuesday morning. Oh, and that show you host on 90.3 WCPN, The Sound of Ideas, it’s pretty damn good public radio. We…
Review: Nellie McKay seduces the crowd at Nighttown
Nellie McKay gets standing ovations even when she forgets the words Nellie McKay launched her gig at Nighttown last night by rushing in just as her name was announced, weaving through the restaurant’s standing-room-only crowd to reach the piano. She took off her coat, apologized for the disheveled back of her head (she said it…
Alex Bevan, ModQuad Shows Canceled
The Saturday, March 8 concert by Alex “Northeast Ohio’s Answer to Jimmy Buffet” Bevan at the Kent Stage has been canceled, due to the eight feet of snow that’s about to arrive, which sort of kills the whole Margaritaville/Put-In-Bay vibe. The show is rescheduled for Saturday, April 26 — when we should only have a…
Sandy Kane — yeah, that’s the woman who flashed Carrot Top — leads our 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: You’ve heard her impersonate Dolly Parton on her cable-access show. You’ve watched her flash her genital warts in front…
Reader: Is Judge Daniel Gaul really helping Myers University?
Mark Dottore has a history of plucking clean the carcasses of dying businesses Hostile takeovers are usually reserved for big business, but not in Cleveland. Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas is a party to a hostile takeover, with its most recent victim being Myers University. With Mark Dottore as special master, “hostile” and “takeover”…
Reader: Joe Cimperman deserved to get beat
Joe Cimperman was correct in his determination to get Dennis Kucinich’s portrait hung in Cleveland City Hall. After all, Kucinich saved Cleveland $195 million between 1985 and 1995 by refusing to sell Muny Light in 1978. As it turned out, the default was politically motivated and the city’s poor financial status could be attributed to…
Fabulous music documentaries at the Cleveland Film Festival
Local music aficionados should be happy to know that among the offerings at this year’s Cleveland Film Festival are six stellar music documentaries about everything from the self-mutilating singer of a famous L.A. punk band to an unknown country singer with a preference for pornographic lyrics. For those with a need to delve deeper into…
Hello, Cleveland: The Weekend Concert Calendar
Plenty of big little-room shows this weekend, unless you want to drive to Dayton for the Taste of Chaos tour featuring Avenged Sevenfold. If not, stay in town for some crossover, Celtic rock, or your favorite hits from the ‘90s. Read on for the full schedule. — DX Ferris
Scouting Cleveland’s top burgers
On Saturday nights, we dine. On Fridays, in contrast, we’re just as happy to hunker down at a neighborhood eatery, a plump, juicy burger in hand. Here are a few local joints that do ‘em up right. At Reddstone (261 West 76th Street, 216-651-6969), the lights are low, the music’s loud, and the plump, hand-formed…
A friendly note from Pollacks: That guy with his wang in the household appliance, he’s not ours
”How you doin’?” For as long as men have worn knee-high socks with shorts and t-shirts and called them their “nice clothes,” Polish people have been the unfortunate butt of many, many jokes. They started long ago, these yarns, back before my father learned the correct placement of a pink flamingo in his front yard,…
Extreme Makeover is looking for a home in Cleveland
With one of the highest foreclosure rates in the country, Clevelanders could use some financial aid — and some good news. Extreme Makeover, the ABC show that builds deserving people new homes and induces more tears than a sliced onion, is coming to Cleveland. Producers are searching for inspiring stories about local families who need…
Review: Pharrell’s N.E.R.D. at House of Blues
Alright, Pharrell, we’ll call a truce. But cool it with the weird stuff, huh? I’m just as sick of Pharrell as anybody else. The neon-colored diamond chains, the bandanas over the face, the perfectly-tilted cap, the head-to-toe draping in his own clothing label. It’s not that I’m jealous—I have all that shit too, I swear.…
Reader: There are hipsters in Cleveland. They just don’t fit into skinny jeans
Indie Rock Singles Night, an event for hipsters, lacked a key ingredient: hipsters. For this week’s Scene, resident hipster Bradley Campbell slipped into his skinniest jeans and Subarued his way to the Beachland, for Indie Rock Singles Night. He was searching for love, or at least someone to ride the bus with. But he struck…
Cali Miles: Too hot for the CD
Check out this week’s issue of Scene for a review of the Snowbunni EP by Cleveland model/singer Cali Miles, the hottest would-be Diva to hit the Cleveland music scene since Jackie (for what that’s worth). According to Miles, you’ve never seen a freak like her. Her recording debut features Cleveland rapper Ray Cash on a…
Thursdays at East Fourth’s Corner Alley, it’s good to be a lady
It’s almost comical to watch Mary Ann Sodowski go all giddy at the Corner Alley. On Thursdays, the Solon secretary can’t decide if she’s more amazed when she breaks 100 on her bowling game or that the glitzy sports bar lets her play for free. “Where can you go downtown and not spend a penny?”…
A Sabbath tribute band almost as fun as the real deal
A loving parody of this crazy old man Tribute bands, by nature, tend to suck. That’s because they’re largely composed of guys who’ve given up trying to write their own music, so they’re now dressed like chubby, 43-year-old versions of Nikki Six. Okay, so they can be fun and nostalgic, offering the younger generation a…
Protestors: Repeal the Med Mart tax and put it on ballot
Zack Reed: It’s time to fish or cut bait Now that the Medical Mart/ convention center deal is on the rocks, City Councilmen Zack Reed and Brian Cummins, along with their pals at the citizen’s group Put in on the Ballot, are back on the protest train. This morning they braved the frigid steps of…
Mic Check: Black Mountain at the Grog Shop on Thursday
Black Mountain rocks the Grog tonight. On their excellent new CD, In the Future, Canadian band Black Mountain run through a bunch of different hippie sounds: One minute they’re playing goat-petting folk music, the next minute they’re lighting up their bongs and settling back for 16-minute proggy epics like “Bright Lights.” But the four guys…
Restaurant of the Weekend: Light Bistro
Light chef Matt Mathlage will serve up a special anniversary menu this weekend. We don’t need an excuse to recommend dining at Light Bistro, that intimate little boîte in Ohio City, where chef and co-owner Matt Mathlage offers playful takes on progressive American cuisine. But how’s this for an incentive? This weekend, March 6 through…
Get ‘Tuit’ tonight at Parma’s BamBoozles
If you’ve never been through boot camp, BamBoozles, an otherwise friendly dive bar in Parma, is the closest thing to it on Tuit Night Thursdays. Between 8 and 10 p.m., barmaid Sandi Powell will play the same prank she’s been pulling on customers for nearly 25 years. Whenever someone orders a drink, she plunks down…
Shot by Cleveland police: According to Corey Pope, it really hurts
“When they shot me I was backing up and stepped back and turned around and they shot.” Early in the morning of February 20th, Cleveland police shot a suspected heroin dealer, 36-year-old Corey Pope, at his apartment building at 12700 Fairhill Road in Shaker Heights. The bullet went through his arm and into his chest.…
Jennifer Brunner’s crusade to clean up Summit County continues
Will Donald Varian be the white knight to clean up the Summit County Board of Elections? Last Friday, C-Notes reported that the Summit County GOP was trying to replace Alex Arshinkoff on the Board of Elections with one of his lackeys, Brian Daley. In February, Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner decided not to reappoint Arshinkoff…
Overheard at the Bratenahl dog park last weekend
Chic, thirty-something, while looking lovingly at his dog, says to his equally hip wife: “I’d really like [input dog name] to have sex one time before he gets neutered.” Wife responds: “What are you going to do put an ad in the newspaper: Dog owner looking for cute, attractive bitch for one night stand?” Husband:…
Hold on to your Olds: Rash of car thefts in Ohio City
You know times are tough when thieves start coveting an ’85 Olds. But even such AARP rides are not safe in Ohio City these days. The latest safety report from the neighborhood’s development corporation reveals a rash of car thefts in February — a dozen to be exact. The list of disappearing vehicles includes everything…
Top film fest picks from the guy who chooses the movies
The Art of Negative Thinking In this week’s Scene, we introduce you to Bill Guentzler, the man responsible for picking the movies at the Cleveland International Film Festival. In case you’re curious about his personal taste: His favorite film of all time is Das Boot — a World War II flick that takes place on…
No snow plows yesterday; Cleveland back to normal
Last week, when the political rail jockeys and TV Gods came to town, the city of Cleveland stunned residents by efficiently plowing streets the night of the Clinton-Obama debate. You could actually see the (highly potholed) roads. It was premeditated, according to Andrea Taylor, a spokesperson for Mayor Frank Jackson. “We know how important this…
The Bum Path: plan your downtown jog for maximum homeless cheerleading!
Unlike better-planned cities like, say, Baltimore—God that’s sad—Cleveland doesn’t much utilize its waterfront for parks or trails. And since the closest thing to a significantly sized park in the city center is a West Bank gravel factory, treadmill-wary joggers living downtown are forced to take to their neighborhood’s streets. Which, if you plan your route…
Comedy Corner: Scouting the week in Cleveland Comedy
Unless you recognize a comedian’s name as That Girl From that Movie or the Dude from That One HBO Special, it can be hard to tell whether a stand-up is worth seeing. Lucky you: Scene did the legwork, and the skinny on this week’s big comedy shows, video included, is just a click away. –…
Money Where Your Mouth Is: Gunfire Getdown, at the Jigsaw this Friday
The Scene Music Department disappeared three songs into Monday night’s Arcade Fire set, and we haven’t heard from ‘em since. So we hereby grant the floor to Gunfire Getdown, a Cleveland all-star band featuring members of Crash of ’59, the Nick Wolff Band, Switchblade Saints, Who Killed Marilyn, and Immolation Monks. They’ll explain why you…
Beware the XXXChurch.com ads; it’s not as cool as it sounds
Important news bulletin: A Toyota Land Cruiser tricked out with XXXChurch.com advertisements was seen buzzing through the Warehouse District this week. It was last seen going west on Saint Clair Avenue. The driver of this monstrosity could not be seen through the window, his face obscured by the giant “#1 porn site for Christians” sticker.…
If Rosati’s opens, can spring be far behind?
Forget about buzzards: For me, the most eagerly awaited sign of spring is the one that says “Open” outside Rosati’s Frozen Custard (95 E. Aurora Rd., 330-908-0889) in Northfield Center. According to owner Jim Rosati, that sign goes up on March 15 this year – a full month earlier than usual. Of course, the fact…
Oscar-Starved
Into the Wild (Paramount) Sean Penn waited a good decade before adapting Jon Krakauer’s book about Chris McCandless, who graduated college in 1990, then disappeared into the American unknown, re-emerging as Alexander Supertramp before his final, tragic farewell in the Alaskan wilderness in ’92. Penn’s patience is evident in every finely wrought frame of this…
Rock-a-Bye Baby
With a reputation built as an underground powerhouse in New York’s experimental-folk scene, Samara Lubelski rocks MOCA tonight. The 40-year-old chanteuse has expanded her résumé by engineering tracks for Ted Leo, playing violin on Thurston Moore’s solo album, and jamming with the likes of Jackie-O Motherfucker and the Double Leopards. Lubelski has even put out…
Cali Miles
Cali Miles is a model-turned-singer who basically uses her body to sell records. Look no further than SnowBunni the EP’s racy cover shot or any of the bikini pics that fill her MySpace page. Her ripped figure may indeed be the entry into Miles’ world, but the music on this EP is just awful. Not…
Tab the Band
Tab the Band’s sibling frontmen, Tony and Adrian Perry, are the sons of Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry. Little surprise that Tab’s debut album, Pulling Out Just Enough to Win, sounds like Dad’s group — but with a splash of snarling punk tossed in . . . or maybe Adrian just ain’t much of a singer.…
Thinning Crowds
To all the gun-toting video-game bad guys out there: Please stop standing next to exploding barrels. Seriously now. Of the hundreds of places you could squat and shoot, you and your henchman pals always camp beside the neon-orange canister with “Flammable!” painted on the side. Really, we don’t need your charity. Of course, we get…
Material Girls
Cave drawings meet kiddie doodlings in Anne Kibbe’s contributions to Zygote Press Gallery’s latest exhibit, Material Studies: Process and Play. To assemble her pieces, she copied ancient caveman etchings out of a book, rounded up modern-day grade-school artwork, slashed all of it into little pieces, and made a collage out of the scraps of paper.…
Downtown’s One Walnut gets giddy with its new Happy Hour
Once the domain of cheesy hotel lounges, happy hour has gone upscale, cropping up in some of Cleveland’s finest restaurants. Flying Fig (2523 Market Avenue, 216-241-4243) was probably the first to launch the trend, with juicy five-buck burgers and spirited cocktails served at the bar each Tuesday through Friday from 5 to 7:30 p.m. Hot…
Vic Chesnutt
There’s an unsparing fragility to singer-songwriter Vic Chesnutt’s characters. They spend so much time on the brink of dissolution that they have their own table with a view of the void. The Athens, Georgia native is probably best known as the subject of a Sweet Relief tribute album, where a bunch of other artists —…
Our top DVD picks scheduled for release this week:
Archie’s Funhouse: The Complete Series (Classic Media) Army of the Dead (Maverick) Arranged (Film Movement) Ben 10: The Complete Season 3 (Turner) Billy Wilder Film Collection (MGM) Dead Moon Rising (Anthem) Half Moon (Strand) Lonesome Dove: Season One (Echo Bridge) Magnum P.I.: The Complete Eighth Season (Universal) Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium (Fox) Mrs. Doubtfire: Behind-the-Seams…
Class Acts
In the Beck Center’s production of The History Boys, which opens tonight, eight teens at an all-male school in rural England study for their college-entrance exams. To get her cast in character for the Alan Bennett drama, director Sarah May had to give the actors their own history lesson. “It’s an extraordinarily difficult play, because…
In Pepper Pike, Peppermint Thai Cuisine takes a walk on the mild side
There was a time when local diners balked at anything more exotic than chicken chow mein or spaghetti and meatballs, cowed by the fear of “weird” ingredients and spicy foreign flavors. Times have changed. For proof, look no further than Peppermint Thai Cuisine, chef Matt Kanegkasikorn’s newest Southeast Asian eatery, now thriving in Pepper Pike.…
The Gutter Twins
The Gutter Twins include two of modern rock’s greatest, if chronically neglected, singers: former Afghan Whigs frontman Greg Dulli and Screaming Trees’ Mark Lanegan. The two whiskey-voiced crooners have long been running buddies in the loosely knit Twilight Singers, where their interaction has been curiously limited. That’s not the case on the Gutter Twins’ just-released…
A bounty of Bootsy Collins tops this week’s pop-culture picks
TOP PICK — Bootsy Collins CD reissues (Collectors’ Choice) Bootsy was P-Funk’s bass-playing nucleus during its greatest period. As a solo artist recording under various monikers —including Bootsy’s Rubber Band, Bootsy, and William Collins — he charted the mother ship on a similar funky course in the late ’70s and early ’80s. Four extras-free reissues…
Groovy!
Columbus’ The Black Canary hasn’t even recorded an album yet, but it’s generating a lot of buzz with its throwback-pop originals. “People have been harassing us because we haven’t put anything out yet,” says David James, who doubles as the quartet’s singer and guitarist. “They’ve bugged us so much that we decided to do a…
Joe’s Garage
The members of Joe’s Garage have been playing together since they were kids, and while their sound is thoroughly old-school, it’s still fresh. The Cleveland quartet makes bouncy college rock, circa 1985: “It Cuts Like That” recalls a lost era when late-night, left-of-the-dial radio helped bored boys and girls make it through school the next…
Coco Montoya
Los Angeles-based guitarist Montoya spent two decades playing with blues legends Albert Collins and John Mayall. He started out as a rock drummer. But then he met Collins, who, in 1972, introduced Montoya to the blues and taught the youngster some guitar licks. By the early ’80s, Montoya’s skills impressed Mayall so much that the…
André 3000 puts down the mic and picks up the roundball for a new movie
Some folks diversify their stock portfolios when they get older. Some spread out their travel calendars. André Benjamin, one half of the rap duo OutKast, expanded his career. It’s not exactly news when megastars branch out into brand marketing or give different mediums a spin. Hip-hop alone has spawned multitaskers from Russell Simmons to Jay-Z.…
Just the Axe, Ma’am
At 8 tonight, the Italian-born Soloduo strums a repertoire of Rossini, Piazzolla, and Petit masterpieces for the eighth annual Classical Guitar Weekend at the Cleveland Institute of Music’s Mixon Hall. “These guys are an impeccable ensemble. They have a dynamic rhythmic sense and an incredible energy,” says Armin Kelly, whose Guitars International import store has…
Dobama Theatre’s Colder Than Here waits for death, with a smile on its face
There are few easier ways to immediately establish dramatic tension in a play than to have one character teetering at death’s door. And in Colder Than Here, by Laura Wade and now in production at Dobama Theatre, that go-to plot device is leveraged to the max. The challenge, however, is to make impending death more…
The White Tie Affair
The White Tie Affair may well represent the next level of pop. Hailing from Chicago, the squeaky-clean quintet is perfectly triangulated between Fall Out Boy, the Killers, and *NSync: The new Get In Where You Fit In EP is a nonstop party of swelling rock choruses, buoyant keyboard undertones, so-sweet-they’re-sticky harmonies, impossible-to-ignore dance beats, and…
Years after he gave up on rock music, Bob Mould plugs back in
Post-punk icon Bob Mould took a surprise left turn a few years back, making experimental electronic dance music that was genres away from the blistering three-chord hardcore pop he played in Hüsker Dü. On his new album, District Line, Mould plugs back in. Formed in 1979, the Minneapolis-based Hüsker Dü put a whole new spin…
We Will Roc You
To hear Shauna Steiner tell it, you’d think the Flats will rise like a party-horse phoenix from its nightlife grave with tonight’s grand opening of Roc, located next to the old River’s Edge club. Booking Detroit rockers Sponge with opening act Phestur might do the trick. “We want to revive and revitalize the East Bank,…
Seeing Red, Great Lakes Theater Festival’s traveling show, roots out commies one star at a time
The interrogations run by the supposedly anti-communist House Un-American Activities Committee back in the mid-20th century were evil by any standard.This production of Daniel Hahn’s Seeing Red drives that point home. This outreach production by the Great Lakes Theater Festival precedes the company’s staging of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, starting later this month, and is…
Kevin’s Martini Bar
The lower level of the Pickwick & Frolic complex hosts Cleveland’s coolest new hidden hang-out spot: The city’s only champagne bar, located in Kevin’s Martini Bar, the red-and-white subterranean lounge. While techno and dance music pulse gently, you can rub elbows with some fellow fans of the bubbly, soak in the space-age decor, and sip…
Guitar legend Adrian Belew gigs with kids half his age, tries to keep up
Adrian Belew recently celebrated his 30th anniversary as a professional musician. In 1977, Frank Zappa pulled the guitarist out of Kentucky club hell and cast him as an auxiliary musician who would join him onstage as performer or visual punch line. Sometimes Belew would wear a military uniform; other times he’d don a dress, like…
Thump the Stumpers
Comic Bobby Collins admits his act has gone political, because “the gene pool could use some chlorine.” And none of the presidential candiates are spared his ridicule. “What’s running for president is not the cream of the crop of our country. If anything, we’ve got the bottom-dwellers. They’re spending over 100 million dollars each to…
Jason Statham finally breaks out in The Bank Job, a film too fast and fun to fact-check
“Based on a true story,” brags The Bank Job before diving into the clear blue water of the Caribbean, where, in 1970, a topless woman frolics with two swimming mates. The trio retires to a hotel room for a sweaty, breathless afternoon quickie, which is photographed by a Peeping Tom — who will later turn…
Stephen Malkmus & Jicks
Popular thinking goes that Stephen Malkmus recorded his best work when he was fronting indie-rock heroes Pavement. But just listen to “The Hook,” from Malkmus’ 2001 self-titled solo debut, and you’ll hear the deadpan singer’s tour de force — a tuneful ditty about rowdy Turkish pirates who have little use for wooden legs or eye…
Beer, BBQ, industry schmoozing: Rounding up SXSW 2008’s local delegates
Every year around this time, everyone who makes a living off the music industry — artists, publicists, writers — converges on Austin for the annual South by Southwest music festival. It started 21 years ago as a low-key showcase for regional bands, but it’s since turned into music’s most buzzed-about happening. More than 1,500 bands…
Erin Go Bebo
Ireland folk-rockers The Saw Doctors, who are on an American tour to promote their new CD, That Takes the Biscuit, resurrect a concert of “rarities” for their Cleveland show tonight. The 23-track Biscuit includes “Ways of the World” and other early demos from the late ’80s, as well as several live recordings from their London…
Taxi to the Dark Side, winner of Best Documentary at the 2008 Oscars, tackles why we torture
The title of this film, named the best documentary feature at the recent Academy Awards, refers to the cab driven by an Afghan man named Dilawar. Picked up as a suspect in a rocket attack in 2002, he was placed in the custody of U.S. soldiers at the Bagram “Collection Point.” Within five days, he…
A bunch of metal guys start a management company
On Saturday, March 8, Ohio Sky and Red Giant will play a concert at the Peabody’s complex (2083 East 21st Street). The gig will double as an introduction to LaMafia Records, a new artist-development company run by Chimaira bassist Jim LaMarca, former Mushroomhead manager Trent Weller, and producer Ben Schigel (Ringworm, Drowning Pool). Despite the…
Mothership of Fools
Adrienne Zurub isn’t boo-hooing in the unemployment line; she’s hawking a tell-all autobiography about her 26-year nursing stint at the Cleveland Clinic, which ended when her bosses canned her in January for self-publishing the book. In Notes From the Mothership, Zurub describes “angry, uncontrolled behavior” from several doctors, including one physician she brands as an…
Teachers Take a Spanking
“Beat Down,” February 20 Turnabout seems fair play to this former student: This really struck a nerve in me, because I was one of those kids who always got picked on when I was in school. Somehow my teachers always managed to tell me and my parents that it was my fault — that if…
Black Mountain
Black Mountain is an anomaly among Canadian bands. For one thing, it has only five members. And they don’t play highfalutin chamber-pop that requires the assistance of at least two dozen instrumentalists onstage. You can practically smell the weed of inspiration burning throughout In the Future, the British Columbian band’s terrific second album — which…
Independents’ Day
Sure, the 32nd annual Cleveland International Film Festival loads up on flicks about foreign rockers, teen angst, and trannies-in-transition. But among the 290 indie films from nearly 60 countries, five Cleveland moviemakers offer Ohio-centric fare on the fest’s six screens.After the fest opens today at 7 p.m. with the Helen Hunt-directed Then She Found Me…
Akron struggles to be cool enough for Chrissie Hynde
When Akron Mayor Don Plusquellic first heard The Pretenders’ 1984 hit “My City Was Gone,” he was none too pleased. Singer Chrissie Hynde was clearly taking shots at his town. Hynde, an Akron native who lives in London, had every right to bag on the city. The exodus of the rubber industry left the town…
Nellie McKay
We’re convinced that piano-pounding singer-songwriter McKay will one day spend a considerable amount of time “resting” at a well-secured facility that doesn’t stock sharp objects. She’s bat-shit crazy, the kind of girl who’ll squirt ketchup all over you at a restaurant and then call you a dickhead as she storms out. Until then, we’re going…
Puzzle Solver
Since January, Jason Meyers has spent Thursday afternoons working the numbers he’s programmed into his cell phone, speed-dialing fellow musicians to perform at Parma’s Jigsaw for its weekly Open-Mic Night. “At most open mics, it’s a bunch of people not knowing what they’re doing. What I do is call everybody and get friends I know…
The golden hand behind the Cleveland Film Festival’s success
Once a year for 10 days, the deserted bowels of Tower City are flooded with life. More than 50,000 people descend on the mall’s theaters, devouring greasy Sbarro and food-court General Tso. They rent rooms at the Ritz, take the week off from work, drive up from Akron and fly in from Sweden. They stand…
Atlas Sound
The debut solo album by Deerhunter frontman Bradford Cox travels the same electro-experimental path he often traverses with his full-time band. But where Deerhunter occasionally dips into the indie-rock pool, Let the Blind Lead Those Who Can See but Cannot Feel is a head-on exploration of the many sounds Cox finds lying around his studio.…
Matzo Ball
It’s Ladies’ Night at the Maltz Museum with Rent-a-Yenta’s sassy sopranos, Beverly Simmons and Cheryl Eitman, in Mamas, Maydeles, and Mavens. Accessorized in sequined hats and toe shoes, the actresses pay tribute to Jewish goddesses of the 20th century. “We talked about doing a portrait of the Jewish American woman and all the roles she…
At Indie-Rock Singles Night in Cleveland, an event for hipsters lacks one key ingredient: Hipsters
It was a little pink poster that caught my eye. Posted outside the Grog Shop, the flier advertised an “Indie-Rock Singles Night” at the Beachland Tavern. It was like finding my own name on the back of a milk carton. I had come to Cleveland after years at America’s great hipster outposts: Chicago, the land…
Your Number’s Up
If Running the Numbers doesn’t make you want to quit smoking, then Seattle lawyer-turned-shutterbug Chris Jordan doesn’t know what will. “Skull With Cigarette” — a print from his photo exhibit, opening today at Oberlin College — depicts 200,000 packs of smokes, to represent the number of Americans who die from lung disease every six months.…
Natasha Bedingfield
Too bad “Love Like This,” Natasha Bedingfield’s hit duet with Sean Kingston, couldn’t be held off for a few months. It would make a perfect summer jam. The British cutie’s second album is filled with such warm-weather sentiments. “Sticks and stones are never gonna shake me/I got a pocketful of sunshine,” she sings in the…
Capsule reviews of current area theater presentations.
The Break Up Notebook: The Lesbian Musical — Thirtysomething Helen is the dumpee, left alone in her Los Angeles bedroom, wearing the dress of her departed lover of two-plus years. She is soon joined by a predictable support network consisting of her gay co-worker Bob and a butch-femme couple, Monica and Joanie, who are on…
R.O.C.K. in the N.Y.C.
Northeast Ohio is counting down the months until next March, when the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Inductions take place in Cleveland every three years. After all, it makes better sense than to stage it in New York all the time, when the hall is standing right there on the Lake Erie shoreline. Duh.…
Times New Viking
Columbus’ Times New Viking takes a cue from fellow Ohioans Guided by Voices, recording its fuzzy indie-rock under a thick gauze of guitar noise. There’s little to no production on the feedback-soaked Rip It Off, which includes zero bass or bottom end to balance out the meter-tipping squall. It’s an inspired move in the Pro…
An ancient Apollo statue landed in Cleveland and touched off an international outcry
After three weeks in Europe, Michael Bennett was ready to come home. The curator had been visiting dealers across the continent, searching for new pieces for the Cleveland Museum of Art. But as he was leaving Phoenix Ancient Art, an antiquities dealership in Switzerland, his eyes strayed to a pointy figure draped in black cloth.…
Heavy on the Hart
Through his latest CD, Cigarettes and Gasoline, Emerson Hart has learned to forgive the person who murdered his dad in ’70s New Jersey. Even though the case remains cold and the former Tonic singer doesn’t know who his father’s killer is, his 12-song debut disc as a solo act follows a “cathartic journey.” “It refers…
Jim Lauderdale & the Dream Players
Singer-songwriter Lauderdale has won two Grammys, backed Lucinda Williams, and recorded an album with bluegrass icon Ralph Stanley. But mainstream music fans have no idea who he is. Maybe it’s because he has little use for corn or melodrama in his songs. Or maybe it’s because his voice — deep and smooth, it often recalls…
Capsule reviews of current area art exhibitions.
NEW Carroll Dunham Prints: A Survey — New York painter Carroll Dunham’s first foray into printmaking was back in the mid-’80s, and he’s kept at it ever since. This exhibition presents more than 100 of those prints and demonstrates the range of processes (lithography, screen-printing, wood engraving, etching), along with morphing styles, he’s played with…
Big MAC Attack
March Madness means nonstop college-hoops action. While it’s pretty awesome to arm yourself with a brew and watch the games on a bar TV, there’s nothing like scoping out the shoot-outs in person. Take the Akron Zips’ matchup at home tonight against the rival Golden Flashes of Kent State, in the final regular-season game before…
Morcheeba
The U.K. group led by a pair of studio-bound brothers assembled its sixth album of club-ready electronica with singers and musicians it found on MySpace. Built on Paul Godfrey’s trippy beats, Dive Deep is a surprisingly cohesive listen — even when tracks veer off into their own subgenres. “Run Honey Run” retains folkie John Martyn’s…
Chris Knight
Singer-songwriter Chris Knight has an identity problem. While he’s never done prison time like Steve Earle (whom he sounds like) or hit the Nashville jackpot like Lucinda Williams (though Montgomery Gentry and Randy Travis covered his songs), Knight shares his name with the Brady Bunch guy who was on that crappy VH1 show. Once folks…
