Out Today: Shakira
ShakiraShe Wolf(Epic) Shakira makes pop music the way the Coen brothers make movies. There’s something just a little bit off about it. The fundamentals and foundation are there, but beyond that, the playing field is wide open. On her third English album (and first in four years), Shakira frontloads with eight songs in English before…
Gotta Dance makes its local premiere tonight at CMA
A documentary about a group of senior citizens dancers who bonded after a season of performing during New Jersey Nets’ home games, Gotta Dance makes its local premiere tonight at 7 at the Cleveland Museum of Art Lecture Hall. It also screens at 1:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 22. Gotta Dance (U.S., 2008) Last year, the…
What to Do Tonight: Dinosaur Jr.
Dinosaur Jr. aren’t throwing any curveballs this late in the game. So you pretty much know what to expect on Farm, their second album since 2005’s comeback and the fifth by the original trio of guitarist J. Mascis, bassist Lou Barlow and drummer Murph. There are plenty of hooky songs that split the difference between…
Hausu returns to Cleveland Museum of Art
The cult classic Hausu returns to the Cleveland Museum of Art for a showing tonight at 7. Here is our review of the film. Hausu (Japan, 1977) This Japanese horror movie was made more than 30 years ago, and while it’s now become a cult classic, Nobuhiko Obayashi’s film doesn’t hold up. Even by B-movie…
11/20: Negative Approach at Now That’s Class
Back in the early ’80s, when hardcore punk was in its formative stage, bands like Minor Threat and Bad Brains represented the East Coast, while Black Flag and the Germs ruled the West. What most people forget is that the Midwest had its own vibrant scene led by Detroit’s Negative Approach. Taking the scuzzy, blaring…
11/20: Hill Country Revue at EJ Thomas Hall
When the North Mississippi Allstars’ Cody Dickinson formed Hill Country Revue, he claimed it wasn’t the end of the Allstars. Whether or not that’s the case, he’s treated Hill Country Revue as a serious side project ever since the band came together after a Bonnaroo jam session. Earlier this year, the group released its debut…
11/20: Dinosaur Jr. at the Grog Shop
Dinosaur Jr. aren’t throwing any curveballs this late in the game. So you pretty much know what to expect on Farm, their second album since 2005’s comeback and the fifth by the original trio of guitarist J. Mascis, bassist Lou Barlow and drummer Murph. There are plenty of hooky songs that split the difference between…
11/20: Cleveland Orchestra
Cellist Alisa Weilerstein is one of those people whose career seems to have been destined from the start. With both parents top-level classical musicians (dad Donald was founding violinist of the Cleveland Quartet), she began studying cello when she was four. Now 27, she’s performed with great orchestras around the world, including an upcoming and…
11/20: Cleveland Institute of Music Orchestra
Cleveland Orchestra assistant conductor Tito Muñoz takes a stroll down the street from Severance Hall today to lead the Cleveland Institute of Music Orchestra in a program of well-known 20th-century works. Opening with Leonard Bernstein’s bright and busy Candide Overture, the show then moves on to soloist Elizabeth Breslin in the Bela Bartok Viola Concerto,…
11/20: Artists Archives’ Holiday Members Show and Sale
Most of the time you know what to expect when you go to a holiday show put together by a group of artists. The work often leans toward the crafty, the wearable or otherwise functional, and it’s relatively inexpensive. But if a group of artists has higher aspirations, the emphasis turns from craft to art.…
11/19: “Who’s Your Mama?” at CWRU
The country has a mixed-race president, and Cleveland’s mayor has a mixed background as well. Case Western Reserve University’s Flora Stone Mather Center for Women is taking up an issue that’s become increasingly common: the challenge of raising multi-racial, multi-cultural children, whose backgrounds these days are often far more exotic than half-Italian, half-Irish. Four women…
11/19: Luca Mundaca at Nighttown
It seems like Brazil has no shortage of new musical talent. The country that brought us luminaries like Caetano Veloso, Joao Gilberto and Seu Jorge now gives us Sao Paulo-raised singer-songwriter Luca Mundaca, who relocated to the U.S. and was discovered by music fans here after one of her songs landed on 2004’s Brazilian Lounge…
11/19: Stephen Kellogg & the Sixers
Stephen Kellogg’s musical history stretches back to the early ’90s, when the Massachusetts native released solo and group albums as a teen. But it’s his role as frontman of the Sixers that finally got him noticed. Since their 2004 debut, Bulletproof Heart, they’ve netted comparisons to the Band, Bruce Springsteen and Neil Young. Surfing the…
Derf’s Week Ten Browns Reaction
And he goes nice and uncontroversial with this one.
Browns and Lions Get Their Own “Terrible” Towels
As the 1-8 Browns take on the 1-8 Detroit Lions on Sunday in a game that will assure plenty of leaves get raked around the Midwest, two Michigan men have unleashed new, more appropriate versions of the “Terrible Towels” for the two beleaguered franchises. The towels are $10 and can be bought on their site.…
Face Value DVD-CD Trailer
Check out this week’s Scene for a review of Rode Hard, Put Away Wet: Clevo Hardcore ’89-93, a DVD-CD set that documents the classic lineup of Cleveland punk heroes Face Value as they grow from thrashing kids with mullets to bleach-blond crossover contenders. The CD features the early band’s complete discography, including unreleased demos. Transferred…
11/18-ongoing: Holiday Displays
Festival of Trees at Cleveland Play House It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas — already! Getting the jump on the traditional Thanksgiving weekend Christmas-season kickoff, a slew of Christmas-themed shows open this week. Deck the Hall at Stan Hywet Hall and Gardens (714 N. Portage Path, Akron, 330.836.5533) offers evening tours of the…
Concert Review: Medeski, Martin & Wood at Kent Stage, 11/17
It was a night of transcendent jazz as the uber-talented Medeski, Martin and Wood took the packed Kent Stage on an out-of-this-world music trip. The sometimes funky, sometimes serious, always amazing sounds veered from percussionist Billy Martin’s African-inspired beats, hi-hat tapping and cowbell clunking to Chris Wood’s electric and upright bass lines to John Medeski’s…
‘IN CLEVELAND, I’M A MODEL!’
Even after The Drew Carey Show, the Virginia-set Cleveland Show and 2007’s 30 Rock one-episode plotline, Cleveland still has ample fodder for sitcoms. TV Land — formerly Nick at Nite, the Paramount station best known for re-running classic sitcoms — has announced plans to develop a pilot for a potential comedy series, Hot in Cleveland.…
SENATOR BROWN: ENOUGH WITH THE COMPROMISES
New York Times’ Prescriptions blog reports on Senator Sherrod Brown’s polite warning to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid that Democrats have compromised enough on healthcare reform: “A large number of people in this country including many, many doctors wanted Medicare for all,” he said. “That didn’t happen. Then we wanted a strong public option tied…
WHAT’S IT GONNA TAKE TO GET YOU TO STAY?
Genna Petrolla wants you to tell her and other Clevelanders what it’ll take to get you to stay in Cleveland. For the Wednesday, November 18, happy-hour event “I Will Stay If … ,” organizer Petrolla is encouraging proud Northeast Ohioans — and those on the fence — to bring photos and stories of what makes…
Jerseys, Confessions of a Shopaholic, Investments, Duct Tape, Reuben Droughns, and Ex-Girlfriends
About midway through the third quarter of the Monday-night debacle, Brady Quinn threw a screen pass to some receiver for some inconsequential number of yards. I can’t really go into detail since each play from scrimmage, both in style and yardage, was indistinguishable from the last. Boos rained down from the crowd, which was to…
Tuesday Music News Roundup
Janet Jackson says a doctor killed her brother. Next up for Janet PI: Which shitty record murdered her career? American Idol alum complains about a song nobody will hear. Lady Gaga shows up on Gossip Girl, where the girls gossip about her testicles. John Mayer’s new album sidesteps his personal life, dives into made-up boredom…
Checking in With the New Skarhead CD
Skarhead’s Drugs Music Sex — which comes out today — is some of the illest shit to fight its way out of N.Y.C. since S.O.D. and The Warriors movie. The hardcore veterans shred and shout through a collection of way-over-the-edge songs about drinking, snorting, fighting and fucking — or all four at the same time,…
This Just In Concert Announcements
CANCELED: Jeffree Star/Breathe Electric/Teen Hearts: Sun., Dec. 13. Grog Shop. THIS JUST IN:Sarah Borges & the Broken Singles: Thu., Jan. 14, 8:30 p.m., Tavern, $8. Beachland. Melvin Davis & the Party Stompers/the Bassholes: Sat., Jan. 16, 9 p.m., Tavern, $10. Beachland. Dark Side of the Moon (Pink Floyd tribute): Fri., Dec. 18, 9 p.m., $20.…
Got City Game! Cleveland debuts today on the web
Got City Game! Cleveland, a new web reality show set in Cleveland, finished filming last month and launches tonight at gotcitygametv.com. Music-video director Don Tyler filmed the webisodes with students from Cuyahoga County Community College assisting. Much like Amazing Race, Got City Game! Cleveland gives three different teams a variety of challenges they have to…
Shakira + Video = Awesome Shakira Video!
This is my favorite new video. At least for this week. —Michael Gallucci
Concert Review: Steely Dan at E.J. Thomas Hall, 11/16
Since coming back on the scene in 2000, hitmakers Donald Fagen and Walter Becker have made it a habit to regularly hit the road each summer tour season, a practice that in their earlier years was looked upon with trepidation. In fact, after some live gigs to support their first album, Steely Dan stopped touring…
Out Today: Norah Jones
Norah JonesThe Fall(Blue Note) The sounds you hear on Norah Jones’ fourth album would scare the hell out of all but the most adventurous characters who populated her multiplatinum debut. For starters, producer Jacquire King’s résumé includes outré records by Tom Waits and Modest Mouse. Jones co-wrote songs with Ryan Adams and Okkervil River’s Will…
Photo Show: Miley Cyrus at the Q, 11/15
There’s a piece of paper out there that says C-Notes photographer Johnny Angell has to stay so many feet away from Miley Cyrus at all times. He didn’t break any laws when he shot her concert at Quicken Loans Arena last night.
Browns Jets Original MNF
In preparation for the abysmal failure that is bound to occur on the shores of Lake Erie tonight in front of a (bored) national audience, check out video from the first Monday Night Football game, especially if you’ve never seen it before. Here’s the first drive. The rest can be found on this guy’s YouTube…
Hillary Clinton Not Big on Knicks, But Would be With LeBron
Silly? Yes. But it’s amazing, really, the scope of the LeBron free agency discussion. Clinton mentions it during a Q&A session while she was in the Philippines. QUESTION: Thank you very much, ma’am. On a lighter note, I’d just like to ask, since most of us Filipinos here are sports fanatics, particularly basketball and boxing,…
Red adaptation will look like it was filmed in Cleveland
Red, an adaptation of the very violent graphic novel by Warren Ellis, starts filming in January. And while the movie will be primarily shot in Toronto and Louisiana, its main subject, a retired CIA operative named Paul Moses (played by Bruce Willis) lives in Cleveland. Though Willis and the cast (which includes Oscar winner Helen…
WTF of the Day
You can find a bigger version here, in case you want to set as wallpaper or something. —Michael Gallucci
Concert Review: American Music Masters Series Gala Concert
The gala tribute concert that concludes the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum’s annual American Music Master series each year always features some surprises — usually relatively unknown artists who bring down the house. This year’s tribute to Janis Joplin Saturday night at the State Theatre was no different. Although some people were…
Concert Review: Alternative Press Fall Ball at House of Blues, 11/14
House of Blues’ floor was shaking, but who would have thought a sold-out crowd of teens in skinny jeans and Glamour Kills T-shirts had so much force? Alternative Press did. Pop-rock favorites Mayday Parade and the Academy Is … headlined the AP tour, rounded out by Set Your Goals, the Secret Handshake and You Me…
YouTube Saturday: Always Trust the Guy With an NES Controller on His Hat and Rock Star Hair
He’s talking about the greatest moment in League Park history, but I implore you to watch only a few seconds of this video, lest you be entranced by this guy’s magnetic sexuality. As if the hat and hair wasn’t enough, the glasses scream, “I am your sporting authority.”
YouTube Saturday: Minnifield and Dixon
Segment from NFL Films where they list Minnifield and Dixon as the No. 2 cornerback duo in the history of the game.
YouTube Saturday: Cleveland’s Salute to Randy Lerner
You’ve heard the “Salute to Randy Lerner” song on “The Really Big Show” with Rizz and Hammer. (Here it is if you’ve never heard it.) Naturally, an enterprising Browns fan remade it with Cleveland lyrics.
YouTube Saturday: Bernie Kosar/Steve Szabol Interview
Great archival footage, hilarious quotes from opposing players and coaches.
11/15: Jazzanova at Touch
Several years ago, Jazzanova, a DJ collective based in Berlin, Germany, made its Cleveland debut at Touch Supper Club (2710 Lorain Ave. 216.631.5200). The place was packed to the gills with Warehouse District hipsters anxious to check out the ensemble’s mixing skills. Jazzanova has returned to town since with less fanfare, but that’s probably because…
Jazzanova returns
Several years ago, Jazzanova, a DJ collective based in Berlin, Germany, made its Cleveland debut at Touch Supper Club (2710 Lorain Ave. 216.631.5200). The place was packed to the gills with Warehouse District hipsters anxious to check out the ensemble’s mixing skills. Jazzanova has returned to town since with less fanfare, but that’s probably because…
eBay Item of the Day: Braylon Edwards’ Face on a Shirt
Yeah, Bray Bray is bye bye, but like dozens of other “stars” that have passed through Cleveland in the expansion era, we’re left with a bunch of merchandise in our closets with no real use. Here’s one particularly great shirt that simply has the most blown-up version of Braylon’s face that I’ve ever seen on…
What to do tonight: Arkana CD release
Local metal mongers Arkana have planned a real headbanging showcase of mostly Northeast Ohio bands to celebrate the release of their debut CD tonight at Peabody’s. The bill includes Blood Coven, Cellbound, Failure Doll, Feargrinder, Scalera, Skeletal Thought and Western New York’s Discidium. Arkana — which includes William Seelbach on keyboards and vocals, Jeremy Felton…
What to do tonight: Kent State Folk Fest
If you’re looking for a giant dose of top-notch local music, tonight’s the night to head down to Kent. As part of the 43rd annual Kent State Folk Festival, dozens of Kent venues have banded together to offer more than 50 local music acts for free. It’s not strictly folk music either — there are…
MEDMART: WE’RE ALTERING THE DEAL, PRAY WE DON’T ALTER IT FURTHER
Remember the Medical Mart deal? It’s been quiet for a while, but with another election cycle completed it’s safe for the con artists behind this farce to start stirring the pot again. The PD reports: The latest rendition of a Cleveland medical mart calls for a modern glass edifice cascading from the bluff between City…
C.J. Mosley Planning Protest of Fans’ Protest and the Protest of the Protest… Got It?
CLEVELAND, Ohio — On the heels of a planned fan protest led by Dawg Pound Mike for Monday night’s game against the Ravens, and a subsequent protest of Dawg Pound Mike’s protest led by RealFansDontMissKickoff.com and Cleveland frowns, Browns backup defensive lineman C.J. Mosley announced his own protest today. “You know, the fans aren’t the…
Reviews of the new films opening at the Cedar Lee
The Cedar Lee Theatre opens two new films this weekend. Here are our reviews. Anti-christ Danish enfant terrible Lars von Trier’s Cannes-awarded cause celebre deals with a couple (Willem Dafoe and a risk-taking Charlotte Gainsbourg) who express grief over the accidental death of their young son in extraordinarily, uh, destructive ways. If a movie can…
Thursday Music News Roundup
As far as I’m concerned, Aerosmith called it quits years ago. A music awards show that absolutely nobody cares about is happening real soon. I think. Taylor Swift wins big at the CMAs, but what really got us excited was Carrie Underwood’s performance. Ooh-la-la! Hey! Who let the black guy in? Carrie Underwood debuts at…
Reviews of the Cinematheque’s weekend films
The Cleveland Institute of Art Cinematheque is showing several great movies this weekend. Here are reviews of just a few of them. The Headless Woman (Argentina/France/Italy/Spain, 2008) Weird undercurrents of dread permeate nearly every frame of Argentinean auteur Lucrecia Martel’s (The Holy Girl, La Cienaga) teasingly opaque, densely layered mindbender of a movie. Did adulterous…
Dock Ellis & The LSD No-No by James Blagden and No Mas
Must-watch video of the day.
OK. Now She’s Starting to Freak Me Out
Have you seen Lady Gaga’s new video for “Bad Romance”? WTF? Seriously. Can somebody tell me what’s going on here? —Michael Gallucci
YOU’RE TALKING A LOT BUT YOU’RE NOT SAYING ANYTHING
The media coverage of Anthony Sowell has left me angry, though not for the reasons you might think. It was almost 30 years ago when I first entered the world of serial killers who rape and serial rapists who kill (yes, there is a difference). I have interviewed the perpetrators, their families, their victims’ families…
Photo Show: Bruce Springsteen at the Q, 11/10
Like Bruce Springsteen, Scene photographer Johnny Angell was born to run. But at least he got some pictures of the Boss before he hightailed it out of the Q last night.
LA TRAVIATA—FREE TICKETS
This week the Cleveland Institute of Music Opera Theatre performs acts from three beloved operas—Engelbert Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel, Carl Maria von Weber’s Der Freischutz, and Verdi’s beloved La Traviata. Performances are at 8 p.m. Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, at CIM’s Kulas Hall. Tickets are normally $15 each, but I’ve got some free ones to…
AMA SOFTENS STANCE ON MARIJUANA
The American Medical Association changed its position on marijuana this week, saying that cannabis’ classification as a controlled substance should be reviewed “with the goal of facilitating the conduct of clinical research and development of cannabinoid-based medicines, and alternate delivery methods.” Marijuana reform activists received this bit of promising news just as Scene was going…
Concert Review: Person L at the Grog Shop, 11/10
Last night’s concert at the Grog Shop was a showcase for solo projects. Kent band the Climate opened, followed by Brooklyn favorites Brian Bonz and the Dot Hongs. Bonz, who resembles a baby-faced Jack Black, was joined by keyboardist and tambourine man E.J. DeCoske and a bass player named Jinda. Bonz explained the absence of…
MEET THE NEW (ARTS) BOSS
Cuyahoga Arts and Culture, the cigarette tax-funded grant maker, announced Tuesday the appointment of Karen Gahl-Mills to lead the organization, starting in February. Among her major challenges will be to build the organization’s public profile — or more specifically, the profile of the work they fund — so that in 2016, when the time comes…
Mr. Gnome’s “Spain” Video Online
Cleveland duo Mr. Gnome has posted a video for “Spain,” the first track from its new album, Heave Yer Skeleton. Check it out above. The song builds verrrrrry slowly, but it’s going somewhere. Drummer Sam Meister directed and edited the low-budget production, which was filmed in the band’s Cleveland garage. “The video was Sam’s idea,”…
Renegade rock DJs rule the seas in Pirate Radio
Set in the late ’60s — “the greatest era for British rock ‘n’ roll,” a pre-titles card tells us — Pirate Radio, a thin story about the renegade DJs who broadcasted music from a boat at sea, is really just an excuse to champion rock music from the era. Back then, British radio played barely…
MEET THE NEW (ARTS) BOSS
Cuyahoga Arts and Culture, the cigarette tax-funded grant maker, announced Tuesday the appointment of Karen Gahl-Mills to lead the organization, starting in February. Among her major challenges will be to build the organization’s public profile — or more specifically, the profile of the work they fund — so that in 2016, when the time comes…
What to Do Tonight: Art Brut
On Art Brut Vs. Satan, their third album of smartass Brit-rock, Art Brut once again riff on things that rock their world. This time around, it includes alcoholism, breakfast cereal, public transportation and the Replacements. Frontman Eddie Argos still sounds like he’s choking back chuckles beneath his thick accent, but the rest of the band…
CLEVELAND SURF: ONLY THE STRONG SURVIVE
Contrary to the title of an infamous song, there is surf in Cleveland. The waves, weather and conditions are slightly better than nothing, but in its own way, Cleveland’s surf scene is world-class; and the people have a good attitude. The new documentary Out of Place examines the small but dedicated cult that rides Lake…
Concert Review: Bruce Springsteen at the Q, 11/10
Scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m., Bruce Springsteen and the E Stree Band didn’t come onstage at Quicken Loans Arena until 40 minutes later. But when you’re the Boss, you can show up for work whenever you want. And it’s not like Springsteen didn’t deliver, opening with the defiant “Wrecking Ball,” which he adapted for…
CD Review: Carrie Underwood
Like Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood has transcended her American Idol upbringing. She’s a gifted singer with a strong team of record-makers guiding her every move. On her third album of pop-skewing country, the 26-year-old heartland singer steers a little more toward big-city sounds. Swedish hitmaker Max Martin is on board; so is Mike Elizondo, who…
Kozmic Warrior
Janis Joplin has an indelible image as a swaggering, boozing rock ‘n’ roll mama whose blues-based music was a raw outpouring of her angst. The 1979 Bette Midler film The Rose, which depicts a Joplin-like singer, strengthened that view. Very likely it’s why a lengthy list of actresses — including Renee Zellweger, Brittany Murphy, Pink,…
CD Review: Robyn Hitchcock
Robyn Hitchcock is established in the pantheon of British Rock Eccentrics, which includes Kevin Ayers and late wizards Syd Barrett and Kevin Coyne. All four share a cheerily skewed and irreverent — and often harrowing — worldview and a knack for surreal, catchy melodies. I Often Dream of Trains in New York consists of a…
SIX EDUCATION
The most celebrated political moment I’ve witnessed in Cleveland was the night Carl Stokes was elected mayor in November 1967. Last week the passage of Issue 6, which creates a new county government, had its historical significance as well. But instead of celebration, there was only exhausted triumph. The fight to pull the county from…
CD Review: The Cribs
British rockers the Cribs loaded 2007’s Men’s Needs, Women’s Needs, Whatever with razorblade vocals and guitars. On this follow-up, they get a little poppier and lot moodier, thanks to ex-Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr, who joined the three Jarman brothers last year. There’s still considerable crunch to songs like “We Were Aborted” and “Emasculate Me,” but…
CD Review: Echo & the Bunnymen
Chasing past glories is an exhausting pursuit, so we’ll forgive remaining original members Ian McCulloch and Will Sergeant for failing to surpass their ’80s high point since reuniting in 1997. Subsequent albums have brushed against their old gloomy, bristling post-punk, but their latest shelves the darker edges in favor of full-on pop embrace. The album’s…
CD Review: Wale
Rapper Wale hit the buzz jackpot with last year’s terrific Mixtape About Nothing, 70-plus minutes of rhymes and samples based on Seinfeld. On his official debut, the 25-year-old Washington, D.C. native pairs up with some A-list guests (Pharrell, Lady Gaga), raps a lot about things that bring him down and comes off like a more…
CD Review: Julian Casablancas
Ah, advice: almost always directed towards the young yet so rarely solicited. In proffering received-albeit-stylized wisdom of his own, Julian Casablancas’ motives aren’t entirely altruistic: his saving-rawk-in-the-aughts Strokes haven’t been a going concern for a couple years now. Phrazes for the Young represents Jules’ attempt to keep his fire stoked and demonstrate his versatility, and…
MONEY TALKED
Last week voters overwhelmingly approved Issue 6 — a charter to restructure county government – and unwittingly reinforced the jaded notion that money gets you everything in politics. Campaign fundraising wasn’t even close; corporate supporters of Issue 6 pitched in most of the $609,000 used in the winning campaign, compared to a meager $77,000 raised…
CD Review: AC/DC
This mix of odds and sods is decidedly more geared to dedicated collector than casual fan. AC/DC’s genius — remarkably minimalist bluesy hard-rock bluster, amped to 11, and driven by guitarist Angus Young’s dirty, bone-breaking riffage — lends itself more to great singles than deep-seated album cuts, making 18 tracks of outtakes somewhat superfluous. Despite…
Smokescreen
Perhaps the most pervasive and clichéd image of the “War on Drugs” is the pot-bust press conference, where law-enforcement officials pat themselves on the back in front of a spread of cash, guns and cannabis. State representative Kenny Yuko daydreams about a different sort of press conference. There are no police, no guns and no…
It’s a Wonderful Life
In the opening scene of You, the Living, a man is woken up by a train barreling past his window. He briefly addresses the camera, and then the movie begins a new scene with a tattooed couple arguing on a park bench. Don’t like that one either? Don’t worry, there are many more vignettes on…
Around Hear: Paranoid Lovesick Reunion
Paranoid Lovesick will play a reunion, farewell and double-CD release show Saturday, November 14. In the ’90s, the power-pop band opened club shows for Oasis and Weezer, and their 1995 Molly EP broke into regular rotation on WENZ and WMMS. Later, the band began work on an album with producer Bill Korecky at his Mars…
Reel Cleveland: Surfing Lake Erie
Nine years ago, Scott Ditzenberger and Darrin McDonald began working on a documentary about the waves of Lake Erie. Realizing “it’s a flat lake most of the time,” they turned their attention to the motley crew of surfers who have tried to ride the waves that occasionally emerge. “We were going to capture the waves…
THE ART OF RECONNAISSANCE
These are interesting times for the Ohio Arts Council. A series of budget cuts has taken one of the strongest arts funders in the U.S. on a 10-year decline, from $32.2 million in 1999 to $13.1 million for the 2010-11 biennium. It’s happened as the state has made broad cuts in the face of declining…
Short Takes: A Very Carrey Christmas
Using the same performance-capture animation technique he employed for 2004’s Polar Express and 2007’s Beowulf, Robert Zemeckis’ A Christmas Carol is another family-friendly holiday feature from the veteran director of Back to the Future and Forrest Gump. Zemeckis doesn’t mess with the Charles Dickens book much, quoting directly from it in the opening sequence that…
FIFTEEN MINUTES OF SHAME
Sometimes the surface you paint on is just a place to put the paint, but for artist John Ryan, “canvas” often becomes part of the work and deepens its effect. At his family’s carpet-binding business, Ryan sees a lot of forklift pallets. He disassembles and re-assembles the wood slats to make flat-ish surfaces marked by…
APOCALYPSE NOW
This is the way the world ends — not with a whimper but with a bang. At least that’s what we get with 2012, a movie that builds upon the Mayan myth (well, we hope it’s a myth) that the world as we know it will no longer exist in the year 2012. At the…
THE COLOR YELLOW
Splayed and entangled like figures in a living Rodin on Karamu’s arena stage, Kyle Primous and Kristi Little embody a doomed couple who make Porgy and Bess look like Hansel and Gretel. Alas, Karamu’s fevered production of Yellowman adds up to an evening of red-hot almosts. This seems appropriate for a sweaty series of connecting…
Melody Matters
Celebrating the power-pop guitar-rock genre, the first International Pop Overthrow festival was held in Los Angeles in 1998 and become an annual event. It quickly expanded into a year-round pop empire of additional “satellite” festivals in other cities. This weekend, IPO founder David Bash hosts his first Cleveland IPO festival with 14 regional acts from…
Moving Targets
The three artists in Paper in Motion, now at the Morgan Conservatory, are storytellers as well as visual artists, weaving tales about what it’s like to be human and female in this culture. Their deployment of inventive, unconventional materials and narrative configurations of objects is partly a result of feminist thought soaking deep into the…
Local Music Reviews
Doc & the Rocket Scientists The Jungle (self-released) Myspace.com/doctherocketscientists There’s a whiff of hippie nostalgia to this odd band, which features lead guitarist/vocalist Tim Bauman and former McKendree Spring violinist Michael Dreyfuss. The Jungle is dreamy, minimalist folk with touches of rock, which credits literary inspiration for some of the tracks — a sort of…
Marvelous!
TOP PICK Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 (Activision) The best thing about this videogame (for pretty much every console) is that no superhero in the Marvel universe is too obscure. Are you a Penance fan? He’s here. What about Songbird? She’s here too. The gameplay is a lot like the original Alliance: You and up to…
Soundcheck: Ace Frehley
Though he was a founding member, singer-guitarist Ace Frehley last played with KISS in 2002. Now, KISS is out playing arenas on yet another reunion tour, and Frehley is playing the club circuit, staying at hotels like the SpringHill Suites in Iowa where he was so preoccupied with finding food — room service wasn’t available…
IN THE MOOD FOR … VEGETARIAN FARE
CROSTATAS 558 Bishop Rd., Highland Hts. 440.449.7800 As dictated by pizza code, Anthony Pilla uses only imported San Marzano tomatoes, which ripen on the volcanic slopes of Mount Vesuvius. Because it would be a shame to cook away the bright, summery freshness of these tomatoes, Pilla simply stems and squeezes the fruits by hand before…
CD Review: Dashboard Confessional
If emo needed a poster boy to get a toehold nearly a decade ago, it couldn’t have done any better than Chris Carrabba. Tattooed, soft-spoken, sensitive and cute, Carrabba was tough enough to present himself as an acoustic-guitar balladeer and open for punk thrashers like New Found Glory and Snapcase, and good enough to not…
A Halloween Hangover
There’s a reason Rob Zombie has been so successful as a horror-movie director: He knows how to build suspense and how to keep a secret until it’s time to spring it on fans. When interviewed for this story a few weeks ago and asked why his forthcoming album Hellbilly Deluxe 2: Noble Jackals, Penny Dreadfuls…
RECEDING TIDE LOWERS SOME BOATS MORE THAN OTHERS
The New York Times’ web site offers a tool for looking at unemployment rates by race, gender, age and education. Click on your demos, then see how other groups are faring. The only thing that could made it more depressing would be regional breakdowns. — Frank Lewis
VOINOVICH CHOOSES TO BE PART OF THE PROBLEM
When Senator George Voinovich mocked some of his Republican colleagues from the South over the summer, we hoped it might be the start of something. Given the length of his public service, his reputation (in the media, at least) for being a moderate and the fact that he’s not seeking re-election, Voinovich is uniquely positioned…
ISSUE 6: THE MORE THINGS CHANGE …
Voters in Cuyahoga County were taken in by big money’s big deception on Issue 6: That it would address and clean up corruption in county government. Here are three things to watch for to tell if the new system will be as easily influenced by money and favors as the one we’re scrapping one. 1)…
VOINOVICH JUST NOTICED THAT GOP IS RUN BY HICKS [UPDATED]
Recently we challenged Senator George Voinovich to incite a schism in the Republican party in order to detach the GOP from its ever-loonier base. We didn’t have much faith that Voinovich really would take on the crazies — as we noted, he’s long been bolder in word than in deed — but today we are…
MAYBE WE SHOULD JUST LET NASHVILLE HAVE THE MED MART
Like two drunks ready to back up their boasts about which could better withstand a punch, Nashville and Cleveland are scrambling to stake their futures on the assumption that a shiny new “medical mart” will lure new conventioneers and their expense accounts. (Tradeshow Week has the background on both cities’ delusions dreams.) Nashville Scene (no…
STOP THE PRESSES: CITY COUNCIL RUBBER-STAMPS MEDMART DEAL
The medical mart/convention center marriage is a no-brainer, huh? No need for competitive bidding? First of its kind!? A win-win?!?! All this and more is finally stinking up the place like the bullshit it always was. Sadly, it’s too late. Cleveland City Council president Martin Sweeney, ever in deference to the Powers That Be, scheduled…
MED MART DEAL: TWO MOVES IN ONE
Two owners of three adjoining properties to the downtown Mall site are all that’s left to settle snugly in their beds, now that the county commissioners have officially agreed to buy the Public Hall site for $20 million. All that’s left before the compasses start twirling is to get Cleveland Council, which is reviewing the…
THEY LOVE IT WHEN A PLAN COMES TOGETHER
Oh. We see now. The machinations to pave a failsafe path to a brand-new Cuyahoga County headquarters complex — a vexing financial hurdle to justify when there are convention centers to build — has just been set in ink for all to see. All you have to do is connect the dots to see the…
ANOTHER ‘NO’ VOTE FOR THE PEOPLE
Bill Callahan calls out Voinovich on a recent vote: Our Republican Senator explains his “No” vote on mortgage-relief-in-bankruptcy to Huffington Post’s Ryan Grim: I evaluated it and it harms more than it helps. It’s the precedent that it sets in terms of a lot of people who are out there quite frankly very responsible. Our…
PICK A JOB
We get anonymous tips all the time. Sometimes they pan out, revealing true violations of the public trust. And sometimes somebody’s just eaten some sour grapes and is looking for quick revenge. This might be a situation where a little of both is involved: Someone is accusing Parma Mayor Dean DePiero, a close pal of…
JUDGES JUST DON’T UNDERSTAND
Mayor Frank Jackson says the $900,750 fined levied by an exasperated Common Pleas Court Judge Peter Corrigan against the city for repeatedly ignoring his orders to start honoring the civil service statues will break the bank. The city just barely broke even for another year after some serious trimming. Now, a professional hatchet man has…
BUT THIS TIME IT’LL BE DIFFERENT!
And they’re off. Thanks to our now-business-friendly board of county commissioners, especially Chief Fixer Tim Hagan, planners for the city’s new medical mart/convention center have actual work to do now (for more about how Commissioner Hagan was able to line the pockets of longtime friend and med mart developer Chris Kennedy, see “How We Got…
JACKSON MAKES IT OFFICIAL
Mayor Frank Jackson officially launched his re-election campaign Saturday afternoon when he threw open the doors to his new campaign headquarters at the corner of East 36th and Carnegie. The political star power in that room should give pause to any potential opponents. The program was hosted by Arnold Pinkney, one of the old lions…
HAGAN SENDS HIS BUDDY ONE FROM THE HEART
Despite having heart troubles last Friday while on county business at MetroHealth Medical Center, and having to endure another stent surgery, County Commissioner Tim Hagan was present and accounted for Thursday morning to stamp the county’s development agreement for a new Medical Mart and convention center in blood. He wouldn’t have missed the opportunity to…
HUBRIS INDUSTRIES
At some point, maybe this year, a grand jury may hand down indictments in what will come to be known as “The People vs. Jimmy Dimora and Frank Russo, et al.” More than likely deals will be struck. But who knows — maybe we’ll be forced to endure spectacle of public officials standing trial. In…
PLEASE EXPLAIN WHY THIS GUY IS CONSIDERED A ‘MODERATE’
“U.S. Senator George V. Voinovich (R-OH), the Senate’s top “debt hawk,” voted last night against passage of S. Con. Res. 13 — the Fiscal Year 2010 Budget Resolution. … ‘I want Americans to know the facts. This budget doubles the already $9.85 trillion debt in five years and triples it in 10 years, continuing huge…
