Sep 10-16, 2014

Sep 10-16, 2014 / Vol. 45 / No. 38

Updated: Georgia and the Georgia Preachers to Play Music Video Release Party

(Originally Posted 9/10/2014) Dan Catullo works for production and distribution companies have produced music videos for acts such as Rage Against the Machine, Alter Bridge, Creed, Mariah Carey and Godsmack. He’s lent his directing skills to local country/pop act Georgia & the Georgia Preachers and has directed their new music video for the track “Alone…

VIDEO: Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards, a Night of Extraordinary Talent and Passion

The 79th Annual Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards ceremony was held last Thursday evening at the Ohio Theater at Playhouse Square. Five awards (two of them lifetime achievements) were bestowed upon literary artists who have made important contributions to the understanding of race and human diversity. You can watch the ceremony in full below.  “The Sound of…

A Massive LeBron James Banner May Return To Downtown Cleveland

More than four years after the massive LeBron James “We Are All Witnesses” banner was stripped off the back of Tower City shortly after he signed with Miami, a new massive banner of Cleveland’s returning superstar may be going up again on the Sherwin-Williams headquarters. The proposed new LeBron banner submitted to the Cleveland City…

Bob Mould Delivers Crowd-pleasing Set at Beachland Ballroom

Last night, singer-guitarist Bob Mould and his touring band played a short but incredibly potent set at the Beachland Ballroom. Pacing around the stage like some sort of agitated caged beast, the 54-year-old Mould tore through a number of his more recent releases alongside more than a handful of nostalgia-inducing Husker Du and Sugar tunes.…

Dispatch Writer is Cycling and Blogging Across Ohio

Everyone loves a good yarn about cycling in Ohio, and Columbus Dispatch writer Steve Wartenberg is tackling THE Ohio bike story. Follow along here.  I will be riding the entire Ohio to Erie Trail, all 330 or so miles, for the first time. And, I’ll be riding with the experts: members of the nonprofit group responsible…

Singer-guitarist Jack White Shows Off His Range at Sold Out Show

Back in the early 2000s when singer-guitarist Jack White came through town to play places like Pat’s in the Flats and the Beachland Tavern with that rag-tag garage rock duo the White Stripes, you could just sense that there was a greatness lurking behind the  band’s candy-striped schtick. Sure, his accomplice, drummer Meg White, was…

Former Medina High School Basketball Player Drops Federal Lawsuit

A few weeks back, we broke the story of Chase Johanson, the former Medina High School basketball player who sued his former coach, athletic director, principal and school district in federal court after he was cut from the team, allegedly because of some tweets he sent out after riding the pine during some mid-season games.…

Two Apps That Came Out of Cleveland This Summer That You Should Know About

Cleveland’s next chapter is yet to be written and a central question lingers: Are we—aided by our low cost of living, our expansive space, our blue-collar roots—going to return as a classic manufacturing city? The booming, smoke-on-the-water Cleveland of old? Some think so—in fact, the LaunchHouse in Shaker Heights focused heavily on recruiting manufacturing startups…

Civil Service Union Puts Pressure on Corrections Department’s Security Stance

With revelations that the Civil Service Employees Association warned the Allen-Oakwood Correctional Institution about security holes, TJ Lane’s prison escape throws the Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections into much tougher scrutiny.  “While we are proud of the team of Correction Officers and special teams that quickly apprehended the escapees last night, we have serious concerns about…

Popular Bakersfield Tacos to Plant its Flag in Ohio City

Bakersfield Tacos, Tequila, Whiskey, a small restaurant group launched by Cincinnati natives John and Joe Lanni, is on track to open in Ohio City in the first quarter of 2015. The brothers, along with co-founder Alex Blust, have signed a lease to take over the old Grind spot at the corner of W. 25th Street…

Watch the Beatles’ Press Conference in Cleveland from 50 Years Ago Today

“We’re quite normal,” John Lennon tells a mesmerized and befuddled crowd of local reporters and fans (and reporters who were unabashed fans) during a press conference in Cleveland on Sept. 15, 1964. When asked what they’ll be doing after the newser, he effects his most extreme and goofy British accent and says, “Have a jolly…

Notes on the Dynamic History and Demise of Geauga Lake

Seven years after Geauga Lake aka Six Flags Worlds of Adventure aka Six Flags Ohio shut down as we knew it, the community of fans and historians remains strong nationwide. Closer to home, of course, the Geauga Lake remembrances are vivid and frequent. Last week, Brian Krosnick published the sort of comprehensive history of Geauga Lake…

Urban Outfitters Takes it Too Far with Blood-Splattered Kent State Sweatshirt

For only $2,500, this tasteless, “vintage” blood-splattered Kent State University sweatshirt can be yours! Urban Outfitters, the fashion maven and cultural provocateur of your local college town or suburban shopping center, is responsible for this thing. It retailed the “washed soft and perfectly broken in” item at $129, but it was quickly purchased.   Buzzfeed…

Read This 1981 Profile of Jim Brown

Via The Stacks at Deadspin, an illustrative and phenomenally interesting profile of JIm Brown written back in 1981 for Inside Sports. A snippet on his history with violence toward women and violence in general: In a period of three months in 1965, Brown was accused of beating and sexually molesting two teenage girls. One dropped…

10 Eating Challenges to Conquer in Cleveland

Who says you need to be Adam Richman and travel the world to take on competitive eating challenges? Cleveland’s got plenty to conquer right here in our fair city. Take it from Jason “the food guy” Beudert, one of Scene’s dining writers who has competed in (and conquered!) his fair share of local eating contests,…

Mineral’s Reunion Tour Comes to Grog Shop Tonight

Mineral singer-guitarist Chris Simpson has fond memories of playing Cleveland in the ’90s when the group was initially active. “We played at Speak in Tongues our first few times,” says Simpson, who brings the reunited band to the Grog Shop tonight for two shows. “We played Euclid Tavern the last several times. One time opening…

19 Action News Wants to Know Why All These Arabic People Are Hanging Out!

Here’s the latest from the crackerjack (and, apparently, minority-watching) news hounds at 19 Action News: A downtown park has become a “cultural hangout” for Arabs. This is news. This is cause for investigation. You won’t believe it, Ed Gallek and his bewildered investigative team report, but Arabs (and even Indians) are socializing at Perk Park…

9 Concerts to Catch This Weekend

Friday, Sept. 12 Gov’t Mule Originally birthed as a side project of the Allman Brothers Band by guitarist and singer Warren Haynes, Gov’t Mule maintains that long-standing Southern rock tradition and filters it through improv-friendly jam band sensibilities. Over 10 studio albums and hundred of shows, band members have proven their chops. Shout!, a double…

ICYMI: TJ Lane Escaped From Prison Last Night, Recaptured Hours Later

Chardon shooter TJ Lane scaled a 100-foot fence during recreation time to escape from the Allen Oakwood Correctional Facility in Lima, Ohio, at about 7:45 yesterday evening. He was apprehended several hours later by state highway patrol. Lane was one of 8 prisoners at the facility under maximum security, though Allen Oakwood is considered a…

Tom McNair Named New Head of Ohio City Inc.

Ohio City Inc., the community development corporation that has helped launch and facilitate the west side neighborhood’s steroidal growth over the past several years, has named Tom McNair its executive director.   McNair, 38, who has been serving as interim director since former chief Eric Wobser took his talents to Sandusky, is an architect by…

Eclectic Approach Works Well for Twenty One Pilots

Nominated for four awards, including Album of the Year, at the inaugural Alternative Press Music Awards that were held here over the summer, twenty one pilots certainly made an impression at the event. During its performance, singer Tyler Joseph climbed to the top in a daredevil stunt. So was it rehearsed? “No,” says drummer Josh Dun…

Herzog’s New Music Video is a Real Trip

The new video from local indie band Herzog is wild. With Tom Kondilas and LESS Productions at the technical helm and Christopher Nader writing and directing the madness, the video is quirky and completely enticing. The song comes from the band’s latest album, Boys, out now via Exit Stencil.

X Kicks off Three-Night Stand at Music Box with a Bang

“Cleveland actually does rock,” said shaggy-haired X singer Exene Cervenka last night as the veteran punk band started a three-night stand at Music Box Supper Club by playing its first two albums (and then some) in their entirety before a crowd that filled about three-fourths of the club. She thanked the Rock and Roll Hall…

Browns Game Sunday Will Feature Halftime Concert by Machine Gun Kelly

The Cleveland Browns and the word “hip” are two things that have never really gone together. Since the team’s unceremonious return in 1999, and through the ensuing 15 years of crippling depression, what is now referred to as First Energy Stadium has featured halftime dog races, no cheerleaders, speakers that sounded like they belonged in…

Josh Gordon Sold His First Car

While Josh Gordon, the Browns and all of Cleveland wait for a new deal between the players union and the NFL that would get Josh Gordon reinstated, eliminating his year-long suspension for weed, Gordon is down near Akron at Sarchione Auto Group selling cars. This, according to the internet, is a picture of him and…

Bike-Share Program to Launch Today in Ohio City

Today, Cleveland will join the groundswell of trendy cities nationwide calling for more bike facilities and cyclist-oriented policy with an actual announcement. That’s right folks. At noon at Market Garden Brewery, a group of civic leaders, bar owners and private funders will officially launch Cleveland’s first bike share program.  The bike share here, however, will…

Interpol’s ‘El Pintor’ Offers More of the Same

Interpol El Pintor (Matador) interpolnyc.com New York- based alt-rockers Interpol haven’t put out an album in four years, and in today’s world, that’s nearly an eternity. While band members have talked about how rejuvenated they felt while making this album, that doesn’t come across on the finished product. Self-produced and recorded at Electric Lady Studios and…

Robert Plant in Fine Form on ‘Lullaby… And the Ceaseless Roar’

Robert Plant Lullaby… And the Ceaseless Roar (Nonesuch/Warner) robertplant.com For the past few years, former Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant has lived in the States and performed with roots rocker Alison Krauss. That experience has left a lasting impression. He digs deep into traditional English music on his latest solo effort, an album that pairs him with…

Quickening Makes a Welcomed Return with ‘Color Your Lines’

Quickening Color Your Lines self-released) facebook.com/quickeningmusic Prior to this year, local indie rockers the Quickening hadn’t booked a gig in six years. But the band — singer-guitarist James Isom, drummer Patrick Ginley and bassist Darren Irwin — recently reunited and played a show at Mahall’s earlier this year. Recorded with Bill Korecky (Mushroomhead) at his Mars…

Band of the Week: Chris Carpenter

Meet the Band: Chris Carpenter (vocals, guitar), John Mattick (keyboards) A Student of Music: Carpenter says he’s “grown up” with music. “The bug bit me before I was old enough to remember,” he says. He first took piano lessons and then started playing guitar, eventually drifting into a few garage rock bands that played everything…

Humble Bragg: The English Bard Keeps Up the Good Fight 30 Years On

There they are, lined up side-by-side: Life’s a Riot with Spy vs. Spy (30th Anniversary Edition) and Tooth & Nail, right next to each other at the top of Billy Bragg’s page on Spotify. This matters, not only because Bragg is supportive of what Spotify is doing with the music industry, but also because those…

Film Spotlight: A Letter to Momo

A shy 11-year-old girl, Momo Miyaura (Karen Miyama) and her mother (Yuka) are in the midst of moving to her mother’s childhood home in the wake of her father’s death when a few drops of rain fall on her head as if they’re some kind of sign from above that her father is still with…

Film Review of the Week: May in the Summer

Though the marriage plot, family dramas and personal revelations in May in the Summer are all too familiar, the film about a New York writer who returns to Jordan with her two sisters for upcoming nuptials is still an original and probing work, stoked by a couple of notable performances and that trusty thematic accelerant:…

Richmond Heights’ Mayor Miesha Headen Bears Down for a Recall Election

The war between Richmond Heights’ mayor Miesha Headen and the power-hungry city council has been waging, basically without pause, since the moment Headen took office in December, 2013. The past nine months have been marked by bickering and political maneuvering that has played out dramatically on Cleveland.com (via reporter Sara Dorn, who notably had her…


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