The Quality of Cleveland Life Report
Cleveland City Council likely to give go-ahead for an office park on the lakefront. Half the space to be operated by Sam McNulty, the other half by Michael Symon. New Superman exhibit at Cleveland Hopkins Airport will let visitors pay tribute to the city’s role in creating the Man of Steel, and let TSA employees…
The Horseshoe Casino Would Like You to Know the Horseshoe Casino is Generous
The Horseshoe Casino has been open for four months now and Rock Caesar would like to remind Cleveland that it is a participating member of the community, not simply a relentless suck on the wallets of those fond of blackjack and vintage chandeliers. Sure, it’s made some money since the doors flung open on the…
Letters We’d Like to Get
Dear Scene: Gee willikers, you have a pretty state. All those painted barns and Amish buggies and the fall colors…especially out in Kirtland, where the Crawfords threw that swell fundraiser for me. Don’t even want to tell you what I said there. By the way, did you know that Joseph Smith built a temple in…
Video: Fans Brawl Inside Stadium at Browns-Bills Game
Start swingin’. We have a feeling this all started out as a polite disagreement about the replacement refs. 19 Action News|Cleveland, OH|Breaking News, Weather, Exclusives (h/t 19ActionNews)
Plumber’s Billings to Cleveland Public Power Raise Suspicions
. . . to be shady? Tell us if this sounds familiar. A business lands a contract with a government entity. Both parties lock in on the terms and figures, and the whole deal gets rubber-stamped by the legislators. But . . . somehow . . . mysteriously . . . somewhere along the line…
Concert Review and Slideshow: Steve Vai at House of Blues
Steve Vai is the hard rock equivalent of a diva. He made that apparent last night at the House of Blues during an extremely flashy two-hour set that featured wardrobe changes and the kind of indulgent soloing you’d normally associate with female singers in the pop and R&B worlds. Vai, who arrived on stage wearing…
Pic of the Day: Steelers Fan Makes a Dog Do a Keg Stand
And that’s about all that needs to be said about that. (Via @WFNYCraig)
Mike Rowe Will Support Romney in Cleveland
If you’re waiting to decide which candidate will get your precious vote in the presidential election in November, take note that a millionaire who wears hats and drives trucks and interviews people who clean up dirty things is supporting Mitt Romney. Or don’t take note. Either way. Via Cleveland.com comes news that Mike Rowe, he…
Headbutting a Priest is Not Cool, Man (Updated)
Update: 49-year-old William Horning was sentenced to two years and nine months for headbutting a priest, among other transgressions less egregious than headbutting a priest. Well, he also hit two Cleveland cops with a car on his getaway from St. Georges Church last February, which is up there in the crime stratosphere, as well. (WOIO)…
Ohio University Marching 110, Gangnam Style
Starts at the 1:10 mark.
Concert Review: RJD2 at the Grog Shop
Last night at the Grog Shop, RJD2 proved that DJ-ing with vinyl is still alive and kicking, but also showed the wonders of modern music technology. He took the stage dressed in what looked like a welder’s mask, and he had LED lights on his outfit and a sampler pad hanging from his neck. He…
OSU’s Gordon Gee Balls Hard, According to Report
Gee, ballin’ like they do in Bexley. The piece of journalism everyone in Ohio is talking about that doesn’t have to do with a woman accidentally marrying her father (you know you clicked on that one, don’t lie) is courtesy of the Dayton Daily News. The paper pried a bunch of public records from OSU…
Here’s a Song About Brandon Weeden and Weed
They call me the Weedman. Now we hotbox the endzone. He’s high for every down. In the huddle with your bitch. He voted yes, for weed absentee. Just some choice lines from this song about Brandon Weeden and weed. Why not. More interesting than yesterday’s loss.
Concert Review: The Jesus and Mary Chain at House of Blues
Throughout the late ’80s and early ’90s, the Jesus and Mary Chain’s concerts were characterized by the onstage feuds that would break out between singer Jim Reid and his brother, guitarist William Reid. Last night’s cohesive, straight-to-the-point performance at House of Blues suggested those days are firmly in the past, though the Reid brothers did…
Akron Judge Found in State of “Undress” With Public Defender in Backseat of Parked Car, Denies Relationship (Updated)
Judge Joy Malek Oldfield Update II: A jury Thursday found public defender Catherine Loya guilty on a misdemeanor charge of having physical control of a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol. But that’s not what the fun part of this case was. You remember, right? Oldfield was caught in the back of a car…
An interview with Steve Vai, who plays House of Blues on Monday
Guitarist extraordinaire Steve Vai has played with everyone from Frank Zappa to Whitesnake and David Lee Roth over the course of a career that stretches back some 30 years. The guy plays a little bit of everything — power ballads, orchestral pieces, and instrumentals. He’s currently touring behind his new album The Story of Light,…
Concert Review: Cleveland Orchestra at Severance Hall
Roger Mastroianni Cleveland Orchestra Music Director Franz Welser-Möst has a house on Lake Attersee in Austria, which is where Gustav Mahler composed his third symphony. That should give him special insight into the piece, an exuberant celebration of the natural world inspired by the spectacular mountain setting. But it was less a sense of place…
Sam Mullett, Amish Beard Cutter, Guilty of Hate Crimes
After almost a full work week of deliberation, the Federal jury in the Amish beard snipping case tossed the book at the cadre of turncoat Amish who used pruning sheers against their brethren. Media outlets are reporting jurors have pinned guilty convictions to Sam Mullett and 15 of his followers. The main charge was of…
Concert Review: Minus the Bear at the Grog Shop
The Grog Shop’s 20th anniversary show series had yet another sold-out show that was shoulder-to-shoulder crowded by fans who were mostly fueled by Pabst Blue Ribbon tall boys. This time, people were packed into the venue to see Minus the Bear, the five-piece indie band from Seattle. Touring behind a new album that came out…
Slideshow and Concert Review: Slash at the House of Blues
With Seven Circle Sunrise opening. Earlier this year when Guns N Roses was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, a drama unfolded as singer Axl Rose announced that he wouldn’t perform with the band. Rather than cancelling their performance altogether, the rest of the guys played with Alter Bridge singer…
Pic of the Day: Kent State Turns the Tables on a Taunt
Clever, Kent State. Clever. (Via @Szczepanik)
Savage Love
Dear Dan: Healthy straight male here. The problem is twofold: My girlfriend doesn’t like come in her mouth and she feels that doggy-style is objectifying to women. Therefore, we don’t do either. She says she wants to get more comfortable and try these things. But they never seem to happen—and when I bring them up,…
On Stage This Week
At t Beck Center for the Arts Xanadu Beck Center for the Arts rolls out its new season with the locally produced premiere of Xanadu, the award-winning Broadway musical that follows the journey of a beautiful Greek muse on a quest to inspire roller disco. (Hey, it’s the ’80s.) Performances continue through Sunday, October 14,…
Soundcheck
A volatile rock act whose warring brothers often made music magazine headlines, the Jesus and Mary Chain reunited in 2007 to play Coachella and has sporadically toured since then. The band — brothers Jim and William Reid — made a musical statement of sorts with its 1985 debut, Psychocandy, an aggressively noisy album that provided…
Clubland
Given the fact that his progressive house dance track “Sandstorm” gets played ad nauseam at sporting events around the country, you’d think Finnish DJ/producer Darude would be filthy rich from royalties alone. According to him, that’s not the case. “To tell you the truth, I get some royalties, but I don’t get any from someone…
Screens
Halloween II: Collector’s Edition Halloween III: Season of the Witch 30th Anniversary Special Collector’s EditionAfter the success of 1978’s Halloween, which pretty much jump-started the whole slasher-pic craze in the U.S., it was only a matter of time before some of the original’s cast and crew got back together for a sequel. John Carpenter co-wrote…
CD Review: Aimee Mann
Aimee Mann has made some indisputably downer records over the years, but on her eighth album, she cracks something that almost can be called a smile. Taking a cue from the pop songs of the late '70s and early '80s, when Mann started making music, Charmer is the singer-songwriter's most optimistic-sounding LP in a decade…
CD Review: The Whigs
This Athens, Georgia, trio has been making records for about seven years now, but on Enjoy the Company, their fourth album, they finally pull together the warm mix of soulful garage-pop they've played around with from the start. On songs like the sprawling, horn-kissed opener “Staying Alive,” “Summer Heat,” and the stinging “Waiting,” the Whigs…
On View This Week
Corcoran Fine Arts: Untitled. A treasure of mid-century Modernism is currently on display at Corcoran, featuring priceless prints from Salvador Dali, Marc Chagall, Ben Shahn, Alexander Calder, and Fernand Leger (pictured). Also featured are works from Cleveland photographer John Quinn, English printmaker James Marsh, and vivid impressionistic works by “the dean of Cleveland painting” Joseph…
From Here to Profanity
Addicts are, at heart, incurable romantics. They’re always hopefully, naively chasing the buzz from that first high, the rush from that first drink. And they’re always disappointed. That’s pretty close to the experience one gets in viewing The Motherf**ker with the Hat by Stephen Adly Guirgis, now at Dobama Theatre. This rude, profane (no asterisks…
Latin Love
You never know when you’ll stumble upon culinary bliss. There I was, at a modest Latin eatery in the Clark-Fulton neighborhood, when I wrapped my mouth around one of the best Cubanos I’ve enjoyed in a good, long while. Even before picking up the sandwich, I spotted the signs of excellence: the right bread, a…
Pretty on the Outside
There are no fewer than three dapper staffers waiting at the hostess stand when we cross the threshold. We're effusively greeted by all and asked to follow one to our table – but not before being told about a wonderful drink special. The walk may be short, but it is by no means dull. To…
CD Review: Corin Tucker Band
Like her former Sleater-Kinney bandmates, who make familiar but satisfying noise in Wild Flag, singer Corin Tucker leads her new group through full-speed-ahead Northwestern punk that's as timeless as it is now. And like 2010's debut, Kill My Blues doesn't linger. Most songs get in and do their thing for two or three minutes and…
The New Season
We may be the tarnished buckle in the Rust Belt, but Cleveland has always been a great performing arts town—especially in the fall, when local stages, concert halls, clubs, and movie theaters come alive with new offerings. This year is no exception, with more bands, concerts, films, plays, and special events on tap than anyone…
CD Review: Dinosaur Jr.
Three albums into their reunion (which is the same number the original trio made before disbanding in 1988), Dinosaur Jr. have settled into their role as indie-rock godfathers with all the respect and familiarity the title affords. But where 2007's Beyond and 2009's Farm sparked under the embers of playing together again, I Bet on…
Facetime
As long as there’s reason to speculate ad nauseam on who the Browns should draft at quarterback next year, sports talk radio will always be king on Cleveland’s airwaves. Aaron Goldhammer is sitting at the head of the pack of local talking heads. Co-hosting ESPN 850’s “The Really Big Show” with Tony Rizzo, Goldhammer takes…
Band of the Week
Meet the Band: Rick Spitalsky (guitars and vocals), Ben Gmetro (bass), and Jimmy Frysinger (drums). About a Girl: Like many artists before them, Extra Medium Pony’s pop-rock tunes are inspired by heartbreak. “One stormy night in November a girl broke my heart, and I was compelled to write 18 confusing breakup songs,” says Spitalsky. But…
CD Review: Shit-Box Jimmy
(sbj.stereokiller.com) The latest album by this Cleveland’s “drunk ‘n’ roll trio” was originally released on cassette tape. But if you tossed your Walkman or boombox years ago, don’t fear: Alive at the Door, despite a tiny title change, contains the same no-frills music. Shit-Box Jimmy don’t come with any gimmicks — or fancy production tricks,…
Buzz Worthy
For almost 30 years now, the Melvins have operated on the fringes of both the indie and alternative rock worlds. Too heavy to be indie and too weird to really fit in with what passes for alternative, they influenced many of the Seattle bands that emerged in their wake but never quite reaped the dividends…
Voodoo at the Institute
As the Cleveland Institute of Music kicked off the school year with an opening assembly this fall, students got an unexpected earful. Near the event’s close, a small group of musicians took the stage and fired up a rara, a sweaty voodoo stomp indigenous to Haiti. Over the summer, three CIM students had traveled to…
CD Review: Ryan Bingham
Singer-songwriter Ryan Bingham’s big break came three years ago, when a handful of his songs anchored Jeff Bridges’ Oscar-winning movie Crazy Heart. He followed that up a year later with an album that explored America’s, and Americana’s, landscape with broad Springsteenian strokes. On his fourth and most ambitious LP, the 31-year-old New Mexican fine-tunes his…
