Rocky Horror Show Returns!
The fishnets, the Meatloaf songs, the gender bending, the Time Warp — its all baaaaaaaaack! The Cleveland Public Theater will be reviving The Rocky Horror Show — the cult classic that put the theater on the map 20 years ago — from December 1 to December 23, with a beloved midnight slot on December 9.…
Get Grandma a F*cking PS3 already
Old Grannie Hardcore, queen on the video game Last month, we wrote about Old Grandma Hardcore, a 70-year-old bad-ass who plays 10 hours of video games a day and does reviews for MTV.com. What makes Grandma special is complicated: She’s this incredibly modest, tough-as-nails matriarch who’s keeping close watch on her daughter’s family in a…
Concert schedule just in…
Houseguest is at The Lime Spider December 10th The following concerts have just been announced for Northeast Ohio: Joe Bonamassa: Sat., Feb. 3, 7 p.m., $23. House of Blues. Chicago Afrobeaet Project: Sat., Dec. 9, 9:30 p.m., $7. Wilbert’s. Cleveland Jazz Orchestra Holiday Concert: Fri., Dec. 1; Sat., Dec. 2. The Cleveland Bop Stop. Karl…
Tom Noe’s prison wish list
The new OJ book will be a must-read for Tom Noe in prison — after, of course, his personalized version of the Bible written in crayon and signed by Ken Blackwell In honor of Tom Noe’s upcoming 18-year jaunt in federal prison, we compiled a list of momentos he might want to pack for the…
Kim Osorio’s sexual-harassment suit
Kim Osorio I read the article/ interview about Kim Osorio’s sexual-harassment lawsuit [“All Eyes on Her,” November 8]. I understand that she was found to be a victim and it is against the law, but $15.5 mil? There was slander involved, so I guess you could add a million or two; but, still, I’m not…
A moment with a pissed off hairdresser
I heard that usually the “Best Of” gets a write-up in your magazine. However, I was told that since the editors actually pick and choose, Cory’s Hair Studio is not going to get one. What’s wrong? Is Cory’s Hair Studio & Day Spa not on Coventry? Or in the heart of Shaker or another eastern…
Kan Zaman to the rescue
As smokers brace themselves for the new statewide smoking ban, which goes into effect on December 7, it’s nice knowing that at least one place in Cleveland will allow you to continue to support the starving tobacco farmers of North Carolina. Kan Zaman, a Middle Eastern restaurant on W. 25th, will continue to supply hookahs…
The right-wing Daily Show
Kurt Long, the Jon Stewart of the right Republicans may have suffered a crushing defeat at the polls, but it appears Fox News will have the last laugh, literally. The news channel, which falls just left of David Koresh on the political spectrum, plans to launch two half-hour pilot episodes in January of a news…
Guns N’ Roses Get Opening Acts
Eagles of Death Metal have been added to the bill of Friday’s Guns N’ Roses show at the Q, which will feature frontman W. Axl Rose and none of the guys who played on the 15-million-selling Appetite for Destruction. In an understandable Freudian slip, the headline of Live Nation’s announcement of the act’s addition to…
How not to get killed in Columbus
This e-mail was sent out to the Michigan student body by Dean of Students Sue Eklund: We know that it can be uncomfortable being in an opposing team’s environment, especially when the stakes are so high. We would like to offer a few suggestions in order to help you stay safe and have a positive…
Jennifer Brady: Win or watch Oprah?
Jennifer Brady Not long into Jennifer Brady’s campaign for the Ohio House, as she struggled connecting with some West Side laborers, someone pointed out that could be at home watching Oprah. If life were an Aaron Sorkin drama, Brady would launched into a soliloquy about our great land’s democracy. Instead, she thought to herself, Yeah,…
Boehnered again
Pedophile protector named top House Republican If you thought Congressional Republicans would have learned their lesson from the mid-term drubbing, think again. They just chose Representative John Boehner (R-Ohio) as House minority leader. Boehner was one of the guys that knew about Florida Representive Mark Foley macking on teenage boys, but did nothing to stop…
“You are a complete idiot”
I agree everyone has a right to their opinion. However, when topics such as this [New Black City]cause heightened levels of racism, you are a complete idiot to mention the names of businesses. What is your goal by mentioning Paddy’s? To get innocent people shot? You used poor judgment and should pray that you do…
Sammy Weeps for the PD’s Downsized!
Headline: Colleagues leaving the saddest news Date: November 15, 2006 Topic: This week, Sam laments the loss of staff as The PD goes through layoffs. He launches by cribbing an old poem, then tries to compare the buyouts of his cubemates to the trench warfare of World War I. In between we’re ambushed by another…
Elsebeth Baumgartner convicted
Elsebeth Baumgartner may the most annoying woman alive. What started a decade ago as a beef over her daughter getting benched by her high school cross-country coach has spiraled into an all-out assault on the legal system in Ohio. She’s sued literally everybody in her path — judges, prosecutors, former friends — leveling bizarre accusations…
Tribute to Gerald Levert
Gerald Levert The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (One Key Plaza, 216-781-7625) will host a memorial tribute for Gerald Levert Friday, November 17 through Sunday, November 19, from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. An announcement from the Rock Hall reads: “Any and all who loved…
Orlando “El Mediocre” Hernandez
Orlando Hernandez There’s a refreshingly frank and spot-on story about Tribe shortstop Jhonny Peralta inside this morning’s sports page. But even more interesting is an accompanying “Chatter” box — I couldn’t find it online — in which PD beat writer Paul Hoynes reports that the Tribe was until recently trying to sign Orlando “El Mediocre”…
Test your “real” age
For those of you whose evil, cold-hearted workplace has banned all the fun online procrastination tools like MySpace and Friendster, take heed: The RealAge test, a questionnaire that determines your body’s “real age,” is available online at realage.com. This 25-year-old is proud to report that she has the body of an 18-year-old. One thing, though:…
Thank Goodness for Frank Jackson
A few weeks ago, our esteemed Invisible Mayor Frank Jackson was honored by a local foundation with the Sam Miller Goodness Award. At first, I was a little confused. Miller, after all, is chairman of the board of Forest City, which is not exactly a charity joint. What could this mean? Was it like, “Thank…
Lez Zeppelin: Squeeze Their Lemons
Yes, Lez Zeppelin are girls, and pretty ones at that. But so scorching is their rendition of “Dazed and Confused” — guitarist Steph Paynes does a great Jimmy Page, complete with taking a violin bow to her axe — that we couldn’t help but wonder how the most famous and sleazy saga in rock history…
This Just In: The Latest Concerts
Fresh new concerts, just announced for Cleveland: Big Leg Emma: Sat., Nov. 25, 9:30 p.m., $8. Wilbert’s. Nora Jean Bruso: Sun., Dec. 31, $15. Wilbert’s. Chimaira Christmas 7, with Demiricous: Wed., Dec. 27, 7 p.m., $17 (all ages). House of Blues. The Curtains (Deerhoof’s Chris Cohen): Fri., Jan. 12. Beachland Tavern. Iris Dement (with John…
The Real Real Bob Saget
Danny Tanner: Good Lord was he ever gay. My colleague Jared penned this simple-minded review of the Bob Saget’s recent performance in Cleveland. But my colleague Jared also counts Police Academy 3 as his favorite film, followed closely by Police Academy 1 and Meet Joe Black. My colleague Jared is not a close friend of…
Stars Come Out to Honor Levert
Stevie Wonder, Johnny Gill, and Angie Stone are all expected to attend Friday’s “Celebration of Life” musical tribute to Gerald Levert, who died on Friday. The public is invited to the memorial, which starts at noon at the Cleveland Music Hall (500 Lakeside Avenue). Levert’s dad (and O’Jay) Eddie Levert will also be there, performing…
Ohio Needs Medical Marijuana
Medical marijuana is a popular issue. Medical marijuana ballot initiatives have passed in every state that has voted on them. So far, three state legislatures — Hawaii, Rhode Island, and Vermont — have had the courage to do this without a drive from the voters. This is not a partisan issue; it is a compassion…
Roy Ayers and Lonnie Liston Smith
For those of us raised under the sign of the DJ, Roy Ayers is a total crate classic — a jazzbo vibraphonist and bandleader whose records contain a near-infinite number of popularly sampled beats. Hell, 1976’s Everybody Loves Sunshine probably contains half the grooves used in acid jazz, hip-hop, and modern soul. What’s more, Ayers…
Feeling Right at Home
In 1992, when Jimmy Scott released the Grammy-nominated record All the Way, the cult jazz figure finally started receiving the widespread attention and success that had eluded him for nearly four decades. A whole new generation became aware of Scott’s talent. Filmmaker David Lynch enlisted him to sing “Sycamore Trees” for Twin Peaks. Lou Reed…
Dance of the Penguin
Having movie animals act like human beings is a storytelling device as old as the cinema, so maybe it’s a little unfair to get tired of it just now. But back in the day, wise old owls didn’t sing “Boogie Wonderland.” And whereas we used to give animals human souls, now we give them iPods.…
Keys to Success
Mr. Jingeling celebrates his golden anniversary today by handing out his trademark sets of keys to kids at Cleveland’s Christmas Connection. Five men have played the “keeper of the keys” since the holiday role was created by Cleveland cop Tom Moviel in 1956. For the past four years, the honor has gone to local actor…
Lez Zeppelin
Lez Zeppelin are girls — pretty ones. And their rendition of “Dazed and Confused” is a total scorcher. Steph Paynes does a great Jimmy Page, complete with taking a violin bow to her axe. It’s so good, in fact, that we couldn’t help but wonder how the most famous and sleazy saga in rock history…
An American Tale
Barbara Kopple and Cecilia Peck wanted badly to be in London in March 2003, when Dixie Chick Natalie Maines told an audience, “Just so you know, we’re ashamed the President of the United States is from Texas.” Kopple, an Oscar-winning maker of 1976’s Harlan County, U.S.A. , was particularly interested in making a movie about…
Damp Good
Some films become such fixtures in our culture that they keep popping up in the most unexpected places. Who’d have thought that the same cheerful, upbeat song could appear in both a General Electric TV commercial with a dancing elephant and in a horrific rape scene in A Clockwork Orange? Yet those are two places…
Ready to Wear
Northeast Ohio’s newest fashion moguls launch their Cleveland Clothing Company tonight with a blowout at the Velvet Dog. The line isn’t the first foray into the fashion world for Jason Fisher and Jim Mollica. In 2004, they sold out a limited edition of shirts for Avowal — and then discovered they could design their own…
Loudon Wainwright III
That Loudon Wainwright III once served time as a character on M*A*S*H should come as no surprise to anyone familiar with his work; the quirky singer-songwriter’s satirical folk music is definitely cut from similar cloth. Think of it as a ’70s-bred thinking man’s tomfoolery. But let’s forget the goofy stuff, because Wainwright — when all…
Levert Remembered
When Gerald Levert, 40, unexpectedly died Friday, November 10, the Cleveland music scene lost a great entertainer and ardent supporter. “He helped a lot of people,” says Cleveland soul singer Conya Doss. “He came back and gave to the community. He put Cleveland on the map. Everybody I know has a link to Gerald.” The…
Hitting the Wall
Those time-lapse videos of a building under construction or a flower blooming from a small bud are curiously fascinating. It’s always interesting to see a new entity come into being, and that holds true for new theater companies as well. In this area, we’ve been fortunate to witness the birth of several excellent groups in…
Lady Sings the Blues
When singer Ann Rabson was four years old, she turned on the radio and heard Big Bill Broonzy sing the blues. She called her father at work and demanded an explanation. “I had never heard anything that spoke so directly to me,” she recalls. “It’s like that scene from Wizard of Oz, when everything turned…
Say Anything
Many great musicians have been plagued with mental illness: Roky Erickson, Brian Wilson, Daniel Johnston, and now Max Bemis, the 22-year-old singer, guitarist, and mastermind behind the Los Angeles collective Say Anything. Diagnosed with bipolar disorder and paranoid schizophrenia, Bemis has experienced multiple breakdowns and been institutionalized, yet he has also constructed some of the…
Tom Waits
In Tom Waits’ vast cast of musical personalities, three dominate: the swamp-stomping bluesman, the sad romantic, and hell’s cabaret performer. These three faces serve as the organizing principle behind Orphans, a triple-disc set of rarities and previously unreleased songs. The set is split into three categories: “Brawlers,” “Bawlers,” and “Bastards,” which translate roughly into blues,…
Capsule reviews of current area theater presentations.
And Baby Makes Seven — In Paula Vogel’s play, Ruth, Anna, and Peter not only share an apartment, they also participate in a free-floating and continually shifting faux life in which stout Ruth is also Henri, the young French boy from the movie The Red Balloon, and Anna pretends to be his American counterpart Cecil.…
Yes, Virginia
Virginia Coalition’s new CD, Live at the 9:30 Club, captures the Washington, D.C. band in front of a hometown crowd, doing what it does best. The quartet falls into the jam-band-lite genre, which has all the hallmarks of a jam band — patchouli-scented songs, music that sounds kinda rootsy, and an endless catalog — but…
Meg & Dia
It takes serious dedication to play twice a day on a two-month tour in front of hordes of sweaty teenage boys, but that’s exactly what Meg and Dia — two young and pretty Korean American sisters from Utah — did as part of last summer’s Warped Tour. What’s more, they proved to be much more…
Animal Collective
Some so-called treasures are better left buried. First released as a limited-edition LP back in 2002, the recently reissued Hollinndagain is a scrapbook of several live performances by an Animal Collective that was still grasping for its sound. These seven songs have a rudimentary, open-ended feel that falls short of the psychedelic majesty of other…
Capsule reviews of current area art exhibitions.
NEW Busy — Consumerism is the ostensible theme of these mixed-media images by California artist Nathan Haenlein. But that rationale seems forced; in the end, they’re simply objects of great luster, depth, and visual complexity. The formula behind them is consistent, which isn’t to say that they’re formulaic. Haenlein starts with thick, rectangular slabs of…
A Fortunate Event
One of indie-pop’s busiest stars teams up with one of kid-lit’s most enigmatic writers tonight. Stephin Merritt — the brains behind the Magnetic Fields — comes to Regina High School with Daniel Handler, the San Francisco writer better known as Lemony Snicket. They play songs from The Tragic Treasury: Songs From a Series of Unfortunate…
World Party
Ragamala Music & Dance Theatre’s From Temple to Theater is like a musical Amazing Race. Featuring performances by the Zaire-based Zap Mama, the show combines the ancient Indian dance style of Bharatanatyam and the thunderous taiko drumming of Japan. It also incorporates poetry and a cappella raps, like the ones heard on Zap Mama’s latest…
The Spazmatics
The eve of Thanksgiving could be a better holiday than Thanksgiving itself: You don’t have to work the next day, and your relatives haven’t arrived yet. And since you’ve spent the last two weeks watching VH1’s Top 100 Songs of the ’80s, what could be a better way to spend the biggest party night of…
Mayday!
The two-man band of Plex Luthor and MC Bernbiz have made Mayday!’s self-titled debut one of this year’s pleasant surprises. Mayday! is vivid and colorful, with sounds that range from the hard organ crush of “Watchin’ Me” to the echoing piano keys on “The Customer Is Always Right.” Meanwhile, Bernbiz’s rhymes are tight and concise,…
When the Stars Came Out
Forbidden Planet (Warner Bros.) Long available as faded discount product, Fred McLeod Wilcox’s 1956 masterpiece — the movie without which Star Trek, Star Wars, 2001, and, oh, Lost in Space wouldn’t exist — at last gets its proper due; this double-disc collection comes with everything but stardust and rocket fuel. The tale of a United…
Different Stokes
Photographs, awards, and a trumpet go on display today at the Western Reserve Historical Society’s From the Projects to Politics: Carl & Louis Stokes. The 200-piece exhibit documents the lives of the sibling lawmakers. Louis even donated personal papers that he accumulated as a congressman. But some memorabilia almost didn’t make it. Last May, someone…
Mr. Stress: 40 Years of Blues
Mr. Stress has had the blues for 40 years now. A who’s who of Cleveland blues will pay tribute to Bill “Mr. Stress” Miller in a long reunion of various Stress band lineups. Longtime pianist Mike Sands and bassist Raymond DeForrest will join Stress for the first time in years, and the smart money says…
Leonard Cohen
I’m Your Man is not a documentary. Leonard Cohen obsessives learned this the hard way, flocking to jam-packed theaters only to encounter Bono’s banal assertion that Cohen’s religious imagery isn’t all that religious. If I’m Your Man documents anything at all, it’s that Cohen is loved most by other musicians, even those who, like Bono,…
Hands Off
Final Fantasy is to role-playing games as the Yankees are to baseball. The series — now almost 20 years old — practically redefined the genre with Final Fantasy VII on the original PlayStation, the first console RPG that captured a mainstream audience in the States. But FF was a victim of its own success, spawning…
Wedded Bliss
Stoner-rock trio Atomic Bitchwax has had a busy year. After wrapping up a European tour last winter, the New Jersey band took a brief break during the summer while its drummer got married. The guys are currently in the middle of a monthlong U.S. jaunt that brings them to Parma tonight. The group’s fifth CD,…
The Game
Whether you believe the Game’s beef with Dr. Dre is real or that his lyrical digs are just another PR stunt meant to cover up Dre’s uncredited contributions, the Game’s new disc is still a better-than-expected follow-up to his multiplatinum debut. Of course, it’s not a classic, as the Game (aka Jayceon Taylor) claims, but…
The Morning After
Shakin’ and stirring, the Morning After’s On the Rocks is straightforward, ambitious rock. With only brief nods to alt-rock, the members of this Cleveland quintet spend their debut album showing how well they can play their instruments. Behemoth guitarist Justin Smith squeezes out blues riffs and classic-rock solos — “Homewrecker” could be a Blue Öyster…
Our top DVD picks for the week of November 14:
Brothers of the Head (IFC) Cary Grant: The Franchise Collection (Universal) CSI: The Complete Sixth Season (Paramount) Cream: Royal Albert Hall (Rhino) 49 Up (First Run) Friends: The Complete Series Collection (Warner Bros.) The Green Mile: Two-Disc Special Edition (Warner Bros.) Hate Crime (Image) He Changed Our World: Steve Irwin Memorial Tribute (EMI America) Home…
Cocktail With a Twist
Rob Turek says that Tom Cruise got it wrong in Cocktail. Turek, the star of Flair Bartending, says that the fancy bottle-juggling in the 1988 flick takes a few liberties. “The filmmakers weren’t bartenders, so they liked to see liquor spilling out of the bottles,” he says. “In reality, spillage is unacceptable when flipping.” With…
Army of Anyone
Although Army of Anyone features half of Stone Temple Pilots as well as former Filter lead singer Richard Patrick, the whole isn’t greater than the sum of its parts. None of the tracks on the group’s debut smolders quite like Filter’s mid-’90s breakthrough, “Hey Man, Nice Shot,” nor does any match the catchiness of STP’s…
Cleveland Fats
On his fourth album, gruff-voiced bluesman Cleveland Fats delivers tunes that touch on familiar themes such as faithless women (“Don’t Call Me”) and wayward men (“Cell Phone Blues,” his most contemporary and funny track). The singer-guitarist twines with Robert Lockwood Jr. on Lockwood’s “Dead or Alive” and a funky treatment of Sonny Thompson’s “Long Gone.”…
Here are the week’s best releases from the pop-culture universe:
DVD — Beavis and Butt-head — The Mike Judge Collection: This massive box features more than 120 episodes from the TV series, a Special Collector’s Edition of the movie Beavis and Butt-head Do America, and lots of bonus clips and music videos. There’s almost as many “bung-holes,” “ass-wipes,” and “dumb-asses” here as in Congress. CD…
All Dolled Up
It’s been 30 years since the New York Dolls released a new record. In that time, three members of the original quintet have died. On the new CD, One Day It Will Please Us to Remember Even This, original Dolls David Johansen (vocals) and Sylvain Sylvain (guitar) lead a new group of Dolls through a…
John Legend
There are a number of words to describe contemporary mainstream R&B, but “sophisticated” isn’t one of them. And then there’s John Legend. At 28, Legend writes songs that give the lie to the saying, “They don’t make ’em like they used to.” Consider the piano-driven ballad “Again.” Sparsely produced by Craig Street, it articulates the…
Sindust
Sindust takes hard-riffing half-metal songs and sends them in radio’s direction, ruining some quality fist-pumping rock tunes like “One Take,” “7ams,” and “Kid Ego” with melodic by-the-numbers modern-rock choruses. The soft-loud-soft paradigm has been replaced by rough-delicate-rough, and albums like Sindust’s Back From the Dust don’t make a solid argument for what kind of group…
Sugar Rush
There are only a few days left to see the Pop Shop’s second annual presentation of The Sugar Coated Show. Even though the exhibit (which features works by 15 local artists) is Halloween-themed, the creepy paintings and installations are worth seeing in November. The event also offers some cool gift-giving ideas. Just in time for…
Heart of Darkness
Like Apocalypse Now, the new movie Gabrielle is based on a story by Joseph Conrad. Unlike Francis Ford Coppola’s reworked and relocated Vietnam flick, Gabrielle sticks close to its source material. At the turn of the 20th century, a bourgeois French couple seemingly has it all — loads of money, a mansion, good help, and…
Patronage TV
It was as if the money fell out of the sky. Twelve years ago, cash-strapped Cleveland got a $4.5 million check from Cablevision. The national company was buying out a local franchise, which had failed to live up to its agreement to retain a certain amount of minority ownership. Under pressure from City Hall, Cablevision…
Fluent Italian
Former New York City chef Moha Orchid developed a loyal local following with his short-lived Soup & Stew in the Galleria food court. Now the gregarious native of Morocco has resurfaced with Venezia in Lakewood (16300 Detroit Avenue, 216-226-0006), a full-service showcase for his earthy Mediterranean fare. Concise and moderately priced, Orchid’s lunch and dinner…
When Standup Meets Karaoke
Back in 1983, Finis Henderson released an album on Motown. It tanked. Taking a cue from Richard Pryor, for whom he opened at the time, Henderson made a career change. These days he’s a stand-up comedian. But he hasn’t given up music completely. His act features musical impressions of Mick Jagger, Ricky Martin, and Frank…
Hot Hot! Hot!
Tri-C’s JazzFest Picante wraps up tonight with a performance by Johnny Pacheco y Su Tumbao Anejo. The second annual Latin jazz blowout also features opener Grupo Fuego. Should be a sizzling night. You can prepare for it by picking up a few new mamba, cha cha, and merengue moves at the fest-sponsored dance workshops, happening…
Gambling Rejected
Like many area politicians, Cleveland Councilman Mike Polensek is tired of watching gamblers — including his own ma — take their bankrolls to Ontario, Pennsylvania, New York, and Michigan. And with Ohio shedding jobs like a leper, Polensek thought this might be the year voters would finally approve casinos. Then voters did something he never…
Promise Keeper
Progress isn’t always linear in this town, and even the richest promise can wind up unfulfilled. Just consider the sad state of the once-bustling Flats or the continuing devolution of Tower City’s shopping scene. So watching the improvements in fine dining at downtown’s Ritz-Carlton has been a refreshing change of pace. From the uninspired Riverview…
Gov.t Issued
Gov’t Mule frontman Warren Haynes doesn’t think like other jam-band leaders. He doesn’t play like typical southern-rock guitarists either. While his band clearly fits both genres, Haynes’ dedication sets his work apart from those musical styles. Not that Gov’t Mule isn’t capable of stretching out boogie-stompin’ solos. In concert, Haynes and his group reach that…
Prime Time Singer
Tastemaking hipsters adore Matthew Ryan, headliner of the Gang of Songwriters in the Round tour. His raspy-voiced, atmospheric songs — like the MySpace hit “For Blue Skies,” which he recorded with his side project Strays Don’t Sleep — lend themselves to emotionally sweeping set pieces on One Tree Hill and other shows. His new CD,…
Hollow Victory
The beer cooler speaks for this land. It’s plastered with “Proud to be Union” stickers from the carpenters, laborers, Teamsters, and operating engineers. The dirt parking lot is lined with American-made trucks. Bob Seger sings lullabies to beefy men at the bar, who are here to fete the miracle of a cold Bud, a fresh…
Royale Flush
By all rights, 2002’s Die Another Day should have been the final James Bond film. It was packaged like a cynical, weary best-of concert, offering frequent nods to the franchise’s past without bothering to offer any new material of consequence. Yet here we are, not only prolonging the franchise, but at its very beginning: the…
Shrewd Behavior
It’s sorta obvious from its name that the female comedy duo Untamed Shrews plays to the ladies. “It’s all dick jokes,” says member Marge Tackes. “Men are very surprised that it’s not, ‘Put down the toilet seat,’ ‘Go buy me tampons,’ and all that crap.” The Untamed Shrews’ act features three movements. First, Susan Smith…
Off-Color Approach
Reference to “chocolate” in bad taste: I read “New Black City” [November 8] today and am writing to let you know that as an African American resident of Euclid I am appalled. Beginning with the title of the article and its accompanying front-cover photo: Is “New Black City” supposed to be a spin-off of New…
There’s the Beef
Fast Food Nation, directed by Richard Linklater from Eric Schlosser’s best-selling 2001 exposé of the McDonald’s conspiracy, is designed to kill desire and deprogram the viewer’s appetite by taking a cleaver to the great American hamburger. Timed for both Thanksgiving and the centennial of The Jungle, Upton Sinclair’s classic muckraker, Fast Food Nation opens with…
Everything Is Illuminated
For the first time in its 38-year history, Blossom Music Center opens its gates in the winter for the inaugural Blossom Holiday Lighting Festival. “It’s a little bit atypical for us,” says Mark Girton, general manager of the outdoor-concert venue. “Obviously, it’ll be some kids’ first exposure to Blossom.” Every day until the beginning of…
Raising Joshua
Joshua was the second son, ushered into the world with all the hope and promise of the first. He would be the middle child, just like his dad. Destined to play football with his big brother, protect his little sister. But almost immediately, there were signs of trouble. He had constant diarrhea and rashes all…
Single White Female
“Are you writing with an Etch A Sketch over there, mate?” Lady Sovereign asks me with perfectly honed boredom as I scribble down her last few words between questions, letting the line go dead during our brief phone interview. I tell her, sorry, no, just a sec, let me write out a couple of things;…
Radical Chick
When red-blooded, flag-waving, Bush-voting country-music fans look at a gorgeous blonde who also happens to make their kind of music, they might not be expected to pay particular attention to the actual substance of her conversation. Dixie Chicks lead singer Natalie Maines wasn’t expecting any, at first. At one time far from controversial, the Chicks…
Whole Lotta Strings
At tonight’s Music of Led Zeppelin: A Rock Symphony concert, the band that defined rock and roll debauchery gets the full orchestral treatment. The Cleveland Pops perform a set of Zep tunes — including “Black Dog,” “Immigrant Song,” and, of course, “Stairway to Heaven” — with help from an onstage rock band and singer Randy…
Gary Allan
Baste the rough-and-tumble twang of Bakersfield with some of Nashville’s radio-smart songwriting, and you’ve got Gary Allan’s favorite recipe. The California singer is a master of the bad-boy ballad, the tearjerker, and the straight-talking, bar-stool story song. And Rodney Crowell-style, these classic country modes occasionally merge with rock and roll throughout Allan’s seven-disc catalog, which…
Factory Workers
The members of Fear Factory may be entering their mid-thirties, but they have no intention of growing up and getting real jobs. “We don’t want to get jobs at McDonald’s,” says Christian Olde Wolbers with a hearty laugh. “Making records is fun. It’s what we love to do most. As long as there are fans…
Miles From Home
Front-loaded with family discord, terminal cancer, prodigal jailbait, a cute kiddie looking for love, and other accessories of the ready-to-wear soap opera, Zhang Yimou’s Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles is as heartfelt, sincere, and soggy with nostalgia as some of his other periodic homages to the virtues of peasant life in the backwaters of…
Your Canadian Idol
Fronted by a former Canadian Idol finalist, the Vancouver rock band Hedley offers a mix of emo and pop-punk on its self-titled debut. The band’s first U.S. single, “On My Own,” is starting to generate some buzz, and the group has already been labeled a Band to Watch. Most of Hedley’s songs have a fist-raising…
