What to Do Tonight: Thirty Seconds to Mars
Yeah, their music kinda sounds like that Heavy on special effects and Hollywood heroes, but light on actual substance and imagination, Thirty Seconds to Mars’ This Is War sounds like the soundtrack to a summer action-movie dud. The leading man is Jared Leto (better known for his TV and movie roles in My So-Called Life…
What to Do Tonight: Ryan Bingham & the Dead Horses
Put them in, coach. Bingham and the Dead Horses wait it out on the bleachers The songs on Ryan Bingham’s new album, Junky Star, were written before the 29-year-old singer-songwriter won an Oscar in February for “The Weary Kind,” the plaintive theme song from Crazy Heart. The tales of hopelessness, the songs of desperation, the…
Out Today: Sugarland
SUGARLANDThe Incredible Machine(Mercury) When did Jimmy Buffett become the patron saint of country music? From Kenny Chesney to the Zac Brown Band, Mr. Margaritaville’s sun, sand, and suds ethos has permeated nearly every corner of landlocked Nashville over the past few years. After occasional dips into Buffett’s pool on 2008’s Love on the Inside, Sugarland…
Out Today: Kings of Leon
KINGS OF LEONCome Around Sundown(RCA) Fans who were into Kings of Leon before their 2008 breakthrough album Only By the Night may enjoy their fifth CD more if they played the new songs in reverse order. That way, the record starts with the great “Pickup Truck” and winds its way through a few songs featuring…
Ohio Attorney General Becoming a National Celebrity!
Nerd on the rise. Ohio’s Attorney General Rich Cordray is known for his brilliance, his thoughtfulness, his dedication to his job, and his squeaky-cleanness. But he’s also kind of nerdy. So he’s an unlikely candidate for big-time national media coverage. But yesterday, he got prominent exposure in The New York Times, which called him a…
This Just In: Cleveland Concert Announcements
Jay Farrar and his guitar are coming to the Kent Stage Sam Adams: Wed., Nov. 24, 7 p.m., $18 ADV/four-pack of general admission tickets $54 (LiveNation.com). House of Blues. Mose Allison: Two shows: 7 and 9 p.m., $25, Tue., Nov. 9. Nighttown. The Bar-Kays/Slave/Con Funk Shun/the Dazz Band/Ohio Players/Zapp: Sat., Nov. 6, 7:30 p.m., $47.50-$57.50…
Pic of the Day: Browns Fan’s Customized Jersey
On one hand, we understand that it’s prudent to abstain from buying a Browns jersey with a player’s name on it because that player will more than likely be out of the league or injured after less than one season wearing the orange and brown. On the other hand, really? That’s what you go with?…
Dim and Den Sum Plans Actual Restaurant, More Trucks
Dim and Den Sum has made quite a splash since crashing onto the Cleveland food scene in the spring. The Asian-tinged restaurant-on-wheels runs on the power of social media: more than 7,000 fans follow its every stop on Facebook and Twitter. For months, the question for owner Chris Hodgson was how best to expand his…
The Sword Cancel Tour, House of Blues Show Postponed
It wasn’t long after the storm rolled in that the Sword placed an ad looking for a new guitarist. The Sword — the totally awesome Austin band that we swear we get high off of just by listening to their albums — just lost their drummer. Actually, he quit, so the group’s whole tour is…
CMT’s World’s Strictest Parents to Feature Chardon Couple
“Taylor, I’m asking you once: Where did you get the cigarettes?” CMT’s World’s Strictest Parents — by far the most gripping title in the whipping-bad-kids-into-shape sub-genre of reality TV — is stopping by the Cleveland area for its second season. For those of you too busy watching Glee or Jesery Shore to tune-in, the premise…
Lorain Man Chases Criminal, Saves Him from Drowning, Watches Him Escape
There’s a brutal lesson buried inside this one. A Lorain man tells The Chronicle Telegraph a doozy about trying to help the hand that harmed you. According to the paper, 30-year-old Shannon Johnson was outside his apartment on Erie Avenue when he was approached by a white male looking to score drugs. Johnson told the…
Teens Crash Car Into South Euclid Residence
This is probably the only cruisn’ they’ll be doing for some time. Drop top cruising, taking curves as the needle swings by 70, donuts in a wet field — just a few of the traditional American pastimes associated with young guys behind the wheel of a car. Add to that list: crashing through the front…
OU, Other Schools, Push for Coed Rooming
Who wouldn’t — man or woman — want to room with this guy? As if you couldn’t sex-up college life enough, some Ohio universities are making the push for coed housing — as in guys and gals sharing the same dorm room. Predictably, opponents say this loosening of standards will hasten the destruction of society…
Katurah Petty Goes Into Labor After Robbing Walmart
Do you think she paid for that red soccer ball? What better way to start off the work week than with a story on a failed tech heist that ends with excitement-induced labor? Channel 5 is reporting this morning that over the weekend Alliance, Ohio was the scene of one such fumbled exercise in criminal…
Willie Edwards Jr. Stalked Female Newscasters
He tunes in. Those lovely and talented ladies that grace your local evening newscasts garner their fair share of attention. Fans, understandably, notice when a beautiful woman is giving them the news or breaking down the weekend’s forecast. Sharon Reed’s made a couple of “Hottest Newscaster” lists, and if you poke around Facebook, you’ll come…
DeAsia Bronaugh Wins in Juvenile Court
Throughout the summer we’ve kept readers dialed-in to the fates of Destini and DeAsia Bronaugh, the teen sisters who tangled with Cleveland Police at a protest outside of Collinwood High School in May. The girls were subject to a rough arrest, and the entire incident was caught on tape by Scene’s favorite Marx-toting community organizers,…
Ohio Woman Asks Police if She Has a Warrant, She Does, Is Arrested
Friday’s not even half over yet, but we already have our criminal of the day, because there’s simply no way anyone can top Selma Elmore and her tale of stupidity. It seems that Selma was recently curious if there were any warrants out for her arrest. Now, there are ways to find this information. Head…
Concert Review: Deerhoof at the Grog Shop
“You ready to rock? Cough, cough …” Although he’s admittedly not a mathematician, Deerhoof’s Greg Saunier calculated that the audience at last night’s Grog Shop concert was the largest the band has played for in Cleveland. Their spastic, experimental rock was the highlight of the three-band bill, which also featured the Italian minimalist rock trio…
Third Grader Brings Loaded Gun to School
First, to get this out of the way upfront, no one was hurt. Now, here’s what happened: Action 19 News reports that a third-grader at Marion Sterling brought a loaded .22-caliber gun to school yesterday. One bullet was in the weapon, three more bullets were in his pocket. There are very few details at the…
Todd Pinney Gets 9th DUI
Todd Pinney is one of those assholes you hear about from time to time. The kind you wish cops could just keep off the roads one way or another, even if it means shackling him to a radiator somewhere. Pinney, a 52-year-old from Parma, just pleaded guilty to his 9th DUI. Not content to drive…
Ohio State is a Sexually Healthy School
Despite living and going to school on a Big Ten campus pervaded by temptation, nubile flesh, free-flowing alcohol, and raging hormones, Ohio State students maintain a remarkably high degree of sexual health. According to Fifth Annual Trojan® Sexual Health Report Card, Ohio State is the third most sexually healthy school in the nation. Good for…
Man Steals $62,500 Diamond
If you see this guy, don’t hand him a $62,500 diamond and expect him not to run off. Saturday evening a man walked into a Jared Jewelry store in Copley and asked for “the largest diamond they had.” That might have been the first clue to the sales associate that something was amiss. No questions…
Navel Gaze of the Week: PD on Kasich Endorsement
“What’s that Ace? The Kasich endorsement? Golly!” It’s often the unsaid truism of the game, but the media is a pretty self-involved clique, sometimes to the point of near-narcissism. Sure, we like to see our monikers in print, and yeah, we’ll squeeze our publication name inside our copy from time to time — think of…
Ohio Girl is Football Hero and Homecoming Queen on Same Night
Jackie Kasburg, a senior at Doylestown Chippewa , had quite the night last Friday. It began when she got her first playing time on the varsity football team, kicking three extra points in Chippewa’s loss to 55-27 loss to Rittman. That in itself was no small feat. Kasburg hadn’t kicked a football until three weeks…
Ohio Girl is Football Hero and Homecoming Queen on Same Night
Jackie Kasburg, a senior at Doylestown Chippewa , had quite the night last Friday. It began when she got her first playing time on the varsity football team, kicking three extra points in Chippewa’s loss to 55-27 loss to Rittman. That in itself was no small feat. Kasburg hadn’t kicked a football until three weeks…
Pic of the Day: What $788,000 of Pot Looks Like
Portage County authorities discovered a plentiful marijuana growing operation in some woods in Brimfield Township. DEA agents and the Portage County Task Force couldn’t even reach the area without all-terrain vehicles and chain saws. Once they did, they discovered 705 plants — a harvest worth about $788,000 on the street, or enough to keep Peter…
Concert Review: Suzanne Vega at the Ohio Theatre
Lookin’ for Luka As you’ve probably heard, the music business is in total disarray these days. So it’s completely understandable that singer-songwriter Suzanne Vega, who has recently gone “off the grid” by setting up her own record label, wasn’t quite able to pack the house for her concert at the Ohio Theatre last night. What…
German Band Invades Cleveland, Hands Out Free Pizza
German metal legends Accept will be all over Cleveland tomorrow. And some of it may become part of the band’s permanent record. Following a 6 p.m. in-store appearance at the Parma Heights Exchange, the Teutonic terror will record their concert at the Agora Theater for possible use as a live release. “If there is any…
Ohio Sets New Record for Executions in One Year
Ohio has three months to set a new record. At 10:34 A.M, when the state stuck the execution needle into the arm of Michael Benge, it hit a milestone, of sorts: the record for most executions in one year since the death penalty was reinstated in 1999. Benge’s crime was a typical lowlife horrorshow: in…
Cue the Tears: Half-Blind Former Gang Dog Rescued After Fall Off Cliff
This is “Dino.” Dino had a bit of an accident today. He fell off a cliff near Lake Erie and firefighters worked for over an hour to rescue the 6-year-old, over 100-pound pup. End of story? Nope. See, Dino’s had a bit of a rough life. Not only is he half-blind, but Dino spent the…
Double Murder and Suicide Suspected in Ohio
Police have discovered a grisly scene in Carrollton where they found a mother and her two children dead in an apparent double homicide and suicide. Names have not been released yet pending notification of next of kin. The 24-year-old mother apparently shot her 18-month-old son and 6-year-old daughter and then killed herself. Each child had…
Don’t Tell Residents in Opportunity Corridor That It’s an Opportunity For Them
This sign will not be in Slavic Village. It’ll be closer to the Clinic. Many like to tout the Opportunity Corridor’s benefits by emphasizing the first half of the name: Opportunity. Look! Look at how many more people will be coming through your neighborhood! This road is going to bring jobs! This is what you…
Dead Catholic Churches Becoming Greenhouses
For those who have wondered what will become of all the beautiful old churches mothballed during the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland’s recent contraction, one Jesus-approved answer has emerged. The diocese is set to announce that the former St. George Lithuanian Parish at East 65th and Superior will be rechristened “Community Greenhouse Partners,” yet another installment…
No One Important Wants to Be Mayor of Lakewood
It’s no longer accurate to say no one is interested in filling the office of Lakewood Mayor if current mayor Ed Fitzgerald wins the race for Cuyahoga County Executive. Speculation as to who would take charge of the county’s 3rd largest city began when no one in the line of succession was interested in the…
Here’s Byron Scott With a Swastika on His Tie
New Cavaliers’ head coach Byron Scott probably didn’t think much about the tie he picked out to wear for Cavs Media Day besides, “Hey, this looks good.” You can tell he probably didn’t think too much about it because the pattern seems to have swastika-like symbols on it. They’re obviously not supposed to be swastikas,…
Timothy Gresser Accused of Killing Infant Daughter
Not father of the year. Nothing really spells out horrible, hell-bound d-bag like infanticide, and one Northeast Ohio guy is currently facing charges for killing his own kid. According to Channel 5, authorities believe Wayne County native Timothy Gresser, 22, smacked his 18-month daughter Kali upside the head and then rushed her to the hospital,…
Pic of the Day: ‘Extreme Makeover’ Home Finished
The Anderson family of Maple Heights had two dreams come true yesterday: “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” finished and unveiled their tremendous new house and Ty Pennington is finally leaving Cleveland. Read all about here.
Concert Review: Drive-By Truckers at Musica
A little porch music The much beloved Drive-By Truckers played, and packed, Akron’s Musica for the first time ever last night. “Good to be back!” they noted (we suspect they were referring to their surprise gig at the Beachland Tavern this summer, which stretched on late into the night). It was clear from the start…
The Towpath’s Hidden Trail
On your standard map of Cleveland, the Scranton Peninsula is just a clenched fist of land uppercutting the Cuyahoga River, another nondescript piece of the Flats jigsaw situated just south of downtown. Zero in to street level and the area is even less than what’s promised on paper: Like a scene out of a nuclear…
Grace Under Pressure
If you listen to the people who want a stronger border between the U.S. and Mexico, the solution sounds awfully simple. Just build a fence so high and so impenetrable that no one will ever be able to cross. It’s a swell idea until reality gets in the way — as it does in The…
The Wilde Side
It is said that Mark Twain once sadly remarked to his wife, who had just spewed a string of choice vulgarities at him: “Livy, you know the words but not the melody.” Such is also the case with many theater companies that tackle plays by that musician of verbal japery, Oscar Wilde. They say the…
On the Screen This Week
Alpha and Omega (PG) — Humphrey (voiced by Justin Long) and Kate (Hayden Panettiere) are buddies in their wolf pack until Kate goes off to alpha training to become a future pack leader in this animated movie. Humphrey is an omega; his pack role is merely comic relief. The two classes traditionally never mix, but…
At the Arthouse
Fargo Here’s your chance to see one of the best movies of the ’90s on the big screen. The Coen Brothers’ classic about a kidnapping that goes horribly wrong gets better each time you see it (trust us — we’ve seen it a dozen times). The movie follows a special 7:30 p.m. program, “The Art…
Stay In
TOP PICK — DVD The Evil Dead Blu-ray (Anchor Bay) Spider-Man director Sam Raimi’s first movie makes its Blu-ray debut with a two-disc set that includes two transfers of the 1981 bloodbath. There’s also commentary by Raimi and star Bruce Campbell, as well as a bunch of extras (like outtakes and a making-of feature). The…
The Marriage of Fig
What’s that saying about the solution being right under our noses? That’s precisely where Flying Fig chef and owner Karen Small discovered the remedy for a tricky little pickle. For years, Small had been scouring the urban landscape for the perfect location to open a gourmet retail market. Like the proverbial Goldilocks Principle, each and…
On Stage This Week
All That Fall — This Samuel Beckett play, originally intended for radio, centers around elderly Maddy Rooney, who walks to the train station to meet her even older and blind husband, and then walks back home with him. Along the way, Maddy encounters different folks and assorted animals from the town, and those interactions serve…
Bites: Jonathan Bennett Cooking for James Beard House
Dining at the James Beard House in New York is a real treat. But cooking there — now that’s an honor. That’s precisely what chef Jonathan Bennett of Moxie will be doing on November 6 when he presents a “Fall in Ohio” dinner at the famed venue. “To stand behind the stove at the Beard…
CD Review: Deerhunter
Deerhunter’s music can be so repulsive it actually becomes seductive, like it did on 2008’s Microcastle. And just as that album made fans wade through a valley of dead air between the dreamy “Little Kids” and the anthemic “Nothing Ever Happened,” Halcyon Digest features big listless gaps between its not-as-majestic highlights. The surprises are in…
School of Thought
It’s best if you know a thing or two about Never Let Me Go before you see it. First of all, it’s based on an acclaimed 2005 novel by Kazuo Ishiguro about three kids raised in a boarding school. Second, it’s something of a science-fiction story — and here comes a spoiler, so maybe skip…
CD Review: Ice Cube
Even though he’s best known for family-friendly movies these days, Ice Cube still has one of the most urgent and authoritative rap voices in the game. He’s also a master storyteller. When he sets his mind to a worthy topic, like the predatory lenders in the new “Hood Robbin,” he paints a richly detailed picture…
Craven Lunacy
Anyone who’s had the misfortune of suffering through Cleveland native Wes Craven’s revolting The Last House on the Left during its original 1972 theatrical release never could have predicted that the former humanities professor would someday emerge as a significant force in contemporary American cinema. Despite an uneven career that’s seen more lows (Vampire in…
CD Review: MARK RONSON AND THE BUSINESS INTL
Record Collection? More like favor collection. Superstar producer Mark Ronson’s chutzpah is almost matched by his long list of friends on his third album. Damon Albarn at least has the self-control to put Lou Reed and Snoop Dogg on separate cuts; Ronson can’t resist pairing British grime master Wiley and Duran Duran’s Simon Le Bon…
VOTE FOR RUSSO — PLEASE
When Strongsville defense attorney Michael Astrab told friends he’d decided to run for a Cuyahoga County Common Pleas judicial seat this year and revealed who his opponent was, he got “the look” from every one of them in return. The look said Good luck, but you’re committing career suicide. Astrab’s opponent is Bridget McCafferty. Not…
CD Review: KT Tunstall
KT Tunstall calls the music on her third album “nature techno.” And that’s a pretty fair summation of the grooves found on Tiger Suit — a mix of songs rooted in traditional folk music but tweaked with bursts of club-ready electronic noise. Like Beth Orton before her, Tunstall blends the organic and synthetic, crafting songs…
Baby on Board
There aren’t too many things less inspiring than a movie trailer where the biggest laugh comes from a shot of baby poop smeared on a woman’s cheek. But trailers can be misleading. Life As We Know It — starring Katherine Heigl and Josh Duhamel as a mismatched couple entrusted to care for their deceased friends’…
Concerts Make Everything Better
Deerhoof No matter what you think of the polarizing Deerhoof, they’re never predictable. Even those who dismiss the San Francisco band as pompous modern prog-rockers give drummer Greg Saunier credit for scoring the Will Ferrell comedy Step Brothers (think anyone in Van der Graaf Generator would do that?). And collaborations with Swiss punk legends LiLiPut…
The Buzz Report
We’re heading into the homestretch of 2010, as record companies scramble to unload their biggest, baddest albums of the year just in time for the holidays. But before new albums by Kings of Leon, Rihanna, and Taylor Swift go into heavy rotation on our iPods, we’re taking one last critical look at the summer’s best…
Get Out!
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 6 Blue Man Group Invade Town If you know only one thing about Blue Man Group, it should be this: They are a group of men who are blue. If you know two things, it should be that despite the fact they’ve become something of a performance art cliché over the years, they…
An Even Grander Poobah
Long ago, before the internet, the world of rock was a mysterious and balkanized place. These days, bands can be heard on the other side of the world with a click of a mouse, but that wasn’t always the case. Sure, there were superstar bands that toured the globe back in the day, but it…
We Get Mail
PUNISHING FATHERS Ohio law for unmarried parents gives the custody rights to the mother, with total disregard of the father — whether or not he signs the birth certificate [“Ripped at the Seams,” September 8, 2010]. Signing the birth certificate only allows the state an easier method of coming in and grabbing the father’s income…
Season of the Witch
New Salem Witch Hunters (myspace.com/newsalemwitchhunters.com) — one of the best local garage-rock bands of the mid-’80s — play their first show in five years at 9 p.m. Friday at the Happy Dog. Drummer Dave Swanson says the group’s downtime doesn’t stem from any infighting — the guys have just been busy with other projects. “We…
