What To Do Tonight: Kylesa/Saviours
This is a must-see show if you like metal that’s big, ugly and adventurous. Oakland’s Saviours deal in thick guitar crunch on their new unhinged and dangerous album, Accelerated Living. A stoner-rock vibe rumbles in raging shit-kickers like “We Roam.” Album opener “Acid Hand” sounds like a rawk cover of Slayer’s “Hell Awaits” — from…
What To Do Tonight: Kurt Rosenwinkel
Not quite 40, guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel’s innovations can be traced to many of today’s developments in jazz guitar. Up-and-comers like Adam Rogers and Lage Lund owe much to Rosenwinkel, who first hit the New York scene in 1990. Consolidating the folk-like muse of Bill Frisell with a linear sense of melody and a taste for…
Out Today: The Flaming Lips
The Flaming LipsEmbryonic(Warner Bros.) Before they reinvented themselves as the world’s most awesome prog-rock band on 1999’s The Soft Bulletin, the Flaming Lips were a bunch of noise-loving kids from Oklahoma who made music that was a perfect soundtrack to your late-night LSD trips. On their 12th album, they return to their mind-wrecking roots. The…
What To Do Tonight: Tiesto
With his smart mixes and charismatic stage persona, Dutch-born DJ Tiesto has been a fan favorite since kicking off a career a decade ago. He was the first turntablist to spin in front of a large crowd without an opening act, and in 2004 he performed at the Olympic’s opening ceremonies in Greece. He now…
What To Do Tonight: Loney Dear/Asobi Seksu/Anna Ternheim
Loney Dear’s Emil Svanängen compares his relationship with music to others’ association with God. The multi-instrumentalist is a self-deprecating Swede who says music makes him feel small whenever he thinks about its infinite possibilities. For a guy who made his first few albums in his parents’ basement and other home-recording setups, Svanängen’s “smallness” has taken…
What To Do Tonight: Willie Nile
The list of “New Dylans” is a long one, stretching from David Blue to Conor Oberst. It’s a term that’s a mixed blessing at best, bringing high praise and even higher expectations. For a time in the late ’70s and early ’80s, Buffalo-born, New York City-based singer-songwriter Willie Nile wore the crown. His 1980 debut…
Meet the Artist: Keller Williams
Singer-songwriter Keller Williams says he decided to name new album Odd because the songs really are, well, really odd. “Once I had the record before me and all the songs in the order in which they would be released, it was odd in the sense that there was a Duncan Sheik-meets-Allman Brothers-like opener that goes…
What to Do Tonight: Elizabeth & the Catapult
These NPR-approved New Yorkers roll their influences all over their debut album, Taller Children. Elements of classical, folk, pop, rock and a few other old-school genres meld on this laid-back mix. Frontwoman Elizabeth Ziman is the focal point here — sultry and jazzy one minute, spunky and poppy the next. Plus, she smacks down whiny…
A film festival favorite, The Way We Get By screens tonight at CMA
A heart-warming film about the elderly people who greet American soldiers returning from the Middle East, The Way We Get By screens tonight at 7 and at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday at the Cleveland Museum of Art Lecture Hall. Here is our review of the movie. The Way We Get By (US, 2009) A hit…
Reviews of the Cedar Lee’s weekend films
The Cedar Lee opens two new movies this weekend. Here are our reviews of the films. No Impact Man “Reduce, reuse, recycle” is the motto adopted by Colin Beavan, the “no impact man” who decides he’s going to stop producing trash and reduce his carbon footprint to zero for a year. He claims he’ll take…
What to Do Tonight: Umphrey’s McGee
Mantis, the sixth album by 12-year-old Chicago jam-band Umphrey’s McGee, goes where very few jam-band albums go: into the studio with intentions other than pounding out some recent stage-worn songs. Most of the tracks were shaped during recording by the sextet, and the result is an album that plays around with sounds more freely than…
What To Do Tonight: Strike Anywhere
While most of their melodic hardcore peers were consumed with heartbreak, Virginia’s Strike Anywhere spent the decade building a reputation as one of the best political punk bands. Led by Thomas Barnett’s screaming (but decipherable) vocals, the quintet mixes raging rhetoric with chunky riffs, machine-gun rhythms and occasional breakdowns, all played with incendiary energy. The…
Reviews of the Cinematheque’s weekend films
The Cleveland Institute of Art Cinematheque is showing several great movies this weeked. Here are reviews of just two of them. The Beaches of Agnes (France, 2008) The Beaches of Agnès opens with a shot of 80-year-old French filmmaker Agnès Varda on the shore, talking to the camera: “I am playing the role of a…
Loren Cass has its local premiere tonight at CMA
An artsy movie about disillusioned youth, Loren Cass has its local premiere tonight at 7 at the Cleveland Museum of Art. Here’s our review of the film. Loren Cass (US, 2006) Since there’s nothing that resembles a narrative in Chris Fuller’s artistically shot movie, it’s hard to tell what the hell is going on. What…
HACKED TO DEATH: HIJACKING THE NEWS
WCPN morning-show host Dan Moulthrop is always polite and pleasant, but spin him at your own risk. On Tuesday, the topic was Issue 2, the controversial, industry-backed proposed constitutional amendment that would create an oversight board for livestock companies. The debate was thick with competing and borderline-histrionic claims. Moulthrop pressed hard for clear answers from…
SEAN HANNITY: SICK BASTARD
… and race-baiting bigot and hypocrite and good friend of Ohio gubernatorial candidate John Kasich! From The Quoteable Douchebag: “I’ll tell you who should be tortured and killed at Guantanamo: every filthy Democrat in the U.S. Congress.” Sadly, we couldn’t find video of this comment, from 2005. But here’s the fat-headed schifoso mocking the outrage…
Q&A: Hall & Oates
You don’t need a degree in musicology to know that Daryl Hall and John Oates grew up listening to lots of Philly soul. The sound penetrates the music found on the duo’s comprehensive new four-disc box, Do What You Want, Be Who Are You, which will be released next week. The compilation stretches back to…
What To Do Tonight: Tom Russell
“I write movies in my head all night,” declares Tom Russell in the song “Grapevine.” Given the sharpness and vivid nature of the settings found in his lyrics, it’s an accurate statement. And given the humanity reliably found in the characters inhabiting those settings, the fiftysomething, L.A.-born- Texas-transplant singer-guitarist-songwriter crafts some very memorable “movies” indeed.…
YOU SPIN ME RIGHT ROUND
Rachel Maddow examines “astroturfing,” or faux grassroots movements — in this case, opposing healthcare reform. That effort is far more sophisticated than what Scene encountered recently in response to our article on suburban oil and gas drilling, but the intent is the same: to advance an industry’s agenda through deception and fear. (Bonus: The report…
SEAN HANNITY: RACE-BAITING BIGOT
… and hypocrite and good friend of Ohio gubernatorial candidate John Kasich! From The Nation: On WABC Hannity inherited [Bob] Grant’s fan base of angry white males, who listened to his show in the New York City area. Hannity recognized his audience’s thirst for red meat, racist rhetoric. However, he knew that if he wanted…
eBay Item of the Day: Cleveland Indians Fabric Bowling Shoe Covers and Towel Bag
Sometimes I find something on the world’s marketplace and think to myself, “Self, yes, this is crazy, but I can see someone buying this.” This is not one of those times. Dear lord. If you or someone you know would buy this, please contact me, because I would like to know just what in the…
Tuesday Music News Roundup
Two record companies say Guns ‘N Roses owe them money for copyright infringement. I say Guns ‘N Roses owe me money for buying that crappy Chinese Democracy. Looks like MTV is going to air DJ AM’s reality show after all. Don’t know what they’re gonna do about the second season, though. Bummer. MTV names Jay-Z…
Little Bricky Bowie Coming to Videogame
We love Legos. We love videogames. And we love music. That’s why Lego Rock Band may be the best. Thing. Ever. And we’re really not all that surprised by today’s announcement that David Bowie will be a playable character in the game, which comes out sometime this winter. A few weeks ago, Bowie’s old drug-buddy…
The LeBron James Corn Maze
(Updated below with quotes and info from the owner.) At the Little Darby Creek in Central Ohio. (Via Hot Clicks via Clubhouse Cancer) (Updated): Nothing quite says “We love you, LeBron, never leave” like carving his likeness into 9 acres of cornfields. Randy Rausch and his wife Jayne did just that on their land in…
Attn: Marijuana Fans
Tomorrow, Live Nation is offering a buy-one-ticket-get-one-free deal for a pair of shows that will save you some scratch to buy even more weed! Stoner-comedy pioneers Cheech & Chong are coming to Akron’s EJ Thomas Hall on November 6. Next-gen stoner-comedy dude Demetri Martin is playing Lakewood Civic Auditorium on October 16. Both shows are…
‘Could the problem be that you are missing the point?’
The following was sent to Scene critic Keith Joseph by actor, writer and pianist Hershey Felder, in response to Joseph’s review of Felder’s Beethoven, As I Knew Him. Recently, due to the many reviews and reports on my work, a well known publisher has asked me to create a collection of these reviews and comment…
This Just In: Concert Announcements
We have 31 new shows this week, including Ghostface at the Beachland, Ace Frehley at House of Blues, Informatik at the Phantasy, Lez Zeppelin at the Beachland, Nellie McKay at Nighttown, 12th Planet at the B-Side and Innerpartysystem at the Grog Shop. —D.X. Ferris The Anvil Experience: Thu., Jan 20. Features screening of documentary Anvil:…
The Time When I Tried Out for American Idol (A Cleveland Sports Music Treasure Finally Documented)
Not pictured: The Author. The auditions for season nine of American Idol, which will begin airing in January, were completed this summer in Denver, Boston, Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Orlando and Los Angeles. That sentence, naturally, is the beginning to any good sports discussion. Unconventional and possibly alienating, sure, but it gives me a chance to…
Out Today: Mittens on Strings
Case Western Reserve University has produced a litany of local notable music acts: adult-contemporary pianist Jim Brickman, mash-up master Girl Talk and operatic soprano Brenda Miller Cooper (it’s true — we had to look that last one up). Now members from the Chicago-based Mittens on Strings have joined the ranks of musical Case alums (mandolin…
Road Trip Photo Show: Austin City Limits
Carissa Bowlin was in Texas over the weekend for the Austin City Limits music fest. She saw the Dave Matthews Band, John Legend, Kings of Leon and a bunch of other cool guys. Here are some pics from her trip.
COURTS, STRICKLAND HALT EXECUTIONS, FOR NOW
Broom Critics blasted Ohio’s death penalty after last month’s botched attempt to execute inmate Romell Broom. A federal appeals court on Monday echoed that criticism when it temporarily spared the life of inmate Lawrence Reynolds, the next man in line for execution. Then Governor Ted Strickland went one step further and postponed a November execution…
A GEEK HERO’S WELCOME FOR AUTHOR GAIMAN
“I know that people in Cleveland are, theoretically, like people in other places,” said author Neil Gaiman Sunday afternoon, in a soft British accent. “But I don’t know what people in Cleveland want to know.” A mob wanted to know anything Gaiman would talk about. After the Browns game, author Gaiman’s appearance at the Cleveland…
SEAN HANNITY: HYPOCRITE
… and good friend of Ohio gubernatorial candidate John Kasich! Hannity joins in the Fox News bashing of Chicago as too unsafe for the Olympics … then blames President Obama for making comments that cost Chicago the chance!
Monday Music News Roundup
Lady Gaga and Madonna duke it out on Saturday Night Live over Most Annoying Gay Icon title. Beyonce’s dad gets busy with a single lady. Put a ring — or something — on it, dude. Someone gets medieval on the ass of a reggae guy we never heard of. Method Man is arrested for not…
CMA’s Gauguin show is a revelation
The spectacular, enlightening and highly accessible new exhibition, Paul Gauguin: Paris, 1889, that opened at the Cleveland Museum of Art on Sunday, was sparked by curator Heather Lemonedes’ doctoral dissertation. Lemonedes, the museum’s assistant curator of prints and drawings, was researching Gauguin’s series of 11 zincograph prints known as the Volpini Suite. They were part…
Road Trip Concert Review: Austin City Limits
This year’s mud-filled Austin City Limits 2009 rocked the face off 100,000 Zilker park wanderers with a lineup that turned the grounds into a pit of progression. And who said it never rains in Texas? Then what was that on ACL day two for eight hours straight? Wet conditions aside, it was a triumphant introduction…
Tommy Lee Visits the Rock Hall
Showing no signs of wear after having flown to Cleveland on a red eye from Las Vegas (where he celebrated his 47th birthday, no less), Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee stopped by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum Saturday for a brief press conference before taking a tour of the exhibits. In…
The Randy Lerner Appreciation Song
Via The Really Big Show and Hammer’s blog, the most addictive and ridiculous song you’ll hear all day. Sure, it’s about Randy the soccer team owner not Randy the football team owner, but does it really matter? Five bucks if you’re not singing this to yourself all day long.
Photo Show: Taylor Swift at the Q, 10/3
C-Notes’ Johnny Angell went to see Taylor Swift at the Q on Saturday night. She got teardrops all over her guitar. Good thing she didn’t get any on Johnny’s camera.
Christian Eyenga Wins Spanish League Dunk Contest
(Hat tip to Brian Windhorst)
Concert Review: Built to Spill at Grog Shop, 10/4
Onstage in front of a packed audience at the Grog Shop last night, fully bearded Built to Spill frontman Doug Martsch didn’t act like a guy who’s been making music business for more than 15 years. His interaction with the audience was limited to a Michael Moore reference, which came halfway through his band’s set…
Concert Review: Adam Marsland at Barking Spider, 10/4
Los Angeles singer-songwriter Adam Marsland regaled a rainy-night crowd at the Barking Spider last night with a short set of tunes, mostly taken from his new 23-track double-CD Go West. He and his band — bassist Teresa Cowles, drummer Jon Braun and keyboardist Charlie Zayleskie — played “My Pain,” the weather-appropriate “Grateful for the Rain”…
At private screening, cast and crew relive making The Dead Matter
Twelve years ago, Ed Douglas, mastermind behind the local Goth group Midnight Syndicate, made a movie called The Dead Matter. Three years ago, he decided he wanted to remake the film. That remake finally premiered last night at Tower City Cinemas, packing two auditoriums at a private, invite-only event. In the horror film, a woman…
10/5: MONOTONIX AT NOW THAT’S CLASS
It’s rare that a band will stand out at South by Southwest. Hundreds of artists compete for attention as jaded industry types weasel their way from one show to another. Israel’s sneering garage rockers Monotonix performed at the Austin music fest two years ago, and that paved the way for some major stateside buzz. “My…
10/5: YO LA TENGO AT BEACHLAND
Yo La Tengo’s new CD is called Popular Songs, but that title isn’t is as ironic as you’d presume. After a quarter century and a dozen albums, the New Jersey trio’s spare, haunting indie rock takes on some new shapes and guises on Popular Songs. There’s bang-and-clatter garage rock, pasty R&B, droning lo-fi and yes,…
10/6: SHOOTER JENNINGS/JJ GREY & MOFRO AT BEACHLAND
Shooter Jennings may lament his royal country lineage on “Living Proof,” but a wider sampling of his work strongly suggests the burden has hardly done him in. By the sound of things, the son of original country outlaw Waylon Jennings is more than capable of surviving the inevitable comparisons his career will likely never completely…
10/6: PUERTO PLATA AT MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
What the Buena Vista Social Club did for Cuban music, 86-year-old José Cobles does for tunes from the Dominican Republic. Cobles — nicknamed Puerto Plata after the town he was born in — leads a band that takes bachata, meringue and other super-charged, brassy styles familiar to Latin pop fans and returns the music to…
10/6: GARY TRUDEAU AT PLAYHOUSE SQUARE
As a kid, I was a well-rounded geek, with obsessions ranging from the de rigueur (Star Wars) to the unheard of among my 12-year-old peers, Doonesbury. From the time I found a hardcover copy of The Doonesbury Chronicles at the library, I adored Gary Trudeau’s ensemble: Mike, the would-be womanizer; Zonker, the stoner; radical and…
10/6: American Songbook Sing-Along at Cleveland Playhouse
Two days after closing his one-man show Beethoven, As I Knew Him, piano man Hershey Felder heads forward in time for the American Songbook Sing-Along, which includes tunes by some of the greatest composers of the past 100 years. Felder — who studied piano with Juilliard’s esteemed Jerome Lowenthal and has worked extensively with veteran…
10/6: Grand Archives at Beachland
Grand Archives’ new album, Keep in Mind Frankenstein, features mellow acoustic picking and the slow blossom of pedal steel, which serve as gentle backing for Mat Brooke’s comforting croon. The Seattle-based band’s sophomore record includes some dark tunes inspired by haunted houses near their recording studio. One of the best, “Siren Echo Valley,” is split…
Saying Goodbye: The Eric Wedge Facial Hair Gallery
Wedge’s tenure is coming to an end very, very soon — in fact, by the time you read this, it may be over already — and I could think of no better way to honor the man’s time at the helm of the Indians than collecting pictures of all the different facial hair styles he’s…
Eric Wedge Is Gonna Need a Job, Right?
I’m just here to help, Eric. Call me, I have some great marketing ideas. You’d be a hit on QVC.
Marsland Attacks!
Lovers of straightforward classic pop/rock should head to the Barking Spider (11310 Juniper Rd., 216.421.2863, ) Sunday, October 4, and catch L.A. troubadour Adam Marsland, currently on tour supporting his latest album, the 23-track Go West, which was released in August. It’s his first album of new studio material in five years although he hasn’t…
Don’t Call it a Comeback
A new band called the Champagnes will some familiar faces makes its debut at the Beachland Tavern at 8 p.m. this Sunday, October 4. Given the variety of the four members’ backgrounds, it’s a little hard to guess what the Champagnes will sound like. Scott Hanson made his mark in the mid-late ’80s and early…
THE COMPANY KASICH KEEPS
The PD reports that Republican gubernatorial candidate John Kasich is bringing Fox News host Sean Hannity to Northeast Ohio for a fundraiser. We’d need days to cite everything that’s wrong with this, so we’ll just focus on the latest round of nastiness from that fat-headed schifoso Hannity. Aping Glenn Beck, Hannity is on a crusade…
New York Daily News is Counting Down LeBron
No sense of entitlement there at all. Nope. (Hat tip to True Hoop.)
Bill Peters lands Anvil
Back in 1982, when Bill Peters started his popular indie-metal program on John Carroll University’s WJCU 88.7 FM, he dubbed it Metal on Metal after a song by Canadian metal band Anvil. He opens his show each Friday at 6:30 p.m. with the Anvil tracks “March of the Crabs” and “Metal on Metal.” As he…
Manpoleon
(photoshop courtesy of Fred Coupon over at Shey Hey)
NBA to Benches: Sit Down
During the 2008-2009 campaign, the Cavs sported one of the tightest squads in the league. This was evident through their interactions on and off the court, and it manifested itself in myriad ways. One of the most noticeable (and, perhaps, annoying) was the bench cheerleader effect. See, when the game got tight, or the team…
Capitol Theatre hosts gala opening party
Shuttered for the past 20 years, the recently renovated Capitol Theatre held an extravagant, invite-only opening last night that was marked by speeches and ceremony. It commenced with a party under a tent outside the venue; guests were treated to fine food courtesy of nearby LUXE restaurant and a jazz band played standards. After about…
What to Do Tonight: Murali Coryell
Bearing the name of a celebrated parent is both blessing and burden. It attracts instant attention, but it also lays out great expectations. Singer-gutiarist Murali Coryell, son of fusion pioneer Larry, looks to have mastered the act of footstep-following by cutting a path of his own. While the senior Coryell made his bones crossing superb…
Breaking News: Randy Lerner Speaks Publicly About the Browns
Just kidding, of course. He wouldn’t do that. The Browns head into Sunday 0-3 and underdogs to the Cincinnati Bengals. And this is how fans are going to react: Oops, that’s an Aston Villa crowd chanting, “There’s only one Randy Lerner.” They seem so happy. Quite the opposite of what’s going to happen on Sunday…
10/4: Built to Spill at the Grog Shop
Over four relatively short years in the mid-’90s, Doug Martsch took Built to Spill from beloved underground indie-rock band to almost universally lionized overground indie-rock band. The band’s first two albums were marvels of stripped-down guitar squall — melodic, messy, passionate and powerful, a glammy pop coda to grunge. Their critical acceptance led to an…
10/3: Paul Taylor Dance Company at EJ Thomas Hall
When three celestial bodies form a straight line, it’s called syzygy. That’s also the name of one of the dances the Paul Taylor Dance Company will perform tonight. Created in 1987, the piece is the oldest dance in a program that aims to please both fans of and newbies. “Syzygy” is set to big-band music…
10/3: Larry Smith at Visible Voice Books
Larry Smith spends a lot of energy and money publishing other authors’ poems and stories from and about Ohio and the Midwest through his Huron-based Bottom Dog Press. Now it’s his turn as writer. The Long River Home is a fictionalized account of Smith’s family roots in southern Ohio and West Virginia, blending stories he…
10/3: Mat Kearney at House of Blues
Mat Kearney is solid proof that television is the new radio. The Nashville-based singer-songwriter’s first album, Bullet, flew under the radar but snagged enough attention to net him a record deal. The follow-up record, Nothing Left to Lose, included a number of reworked tracks from his debut, as well as some new songs that ended…
10/2: Wovenhand at Musica
David Eugene Edwards spent a dozen years leading 16 Horsepower before their dissolution in 2005. Known for his haunted Americana-inflected rock, Edwards’ lyrics and weathered croon imbued the band’s music with a shadowy theatrical spin — like age-old murder ballads given a forbidding Southern gothic twist. The grandson of a Nazarene preacher, Edwards brings grim…
10/2: Hellmouth at Now That’s Class
Heavy music typically comes with an overbearing amount of gloom. Nihilistic worldviews, violent narratives and grim, tough-as-nails personae pervade the aggressive end of the music spectrum. Fortunately, there have always been a handful of bands that offer a reprieve from the drudgery with either humor or hard-partying aesthetic. Michigan’s Hellmouth blend hardcore and metal with…
10/2: Murali Coryell at Wilbert’s
Bearing the name of a celebrated parent is both blessing and burden. It attracts instant attention, but it also lays out great expectations. Singer-gutiarist Murali Coryell, son of fusion pioneer Larry, looks to have mastered the act of footstep-following by cutting a path of his own. While the senior Coryell made his bones crossing superb…
Photo Show: Fall Out Boy and Blink-182 at Blossom, 9/30
Johnny Angell covered his face in guyliner last night and checked out Fall Out Boy and Blink-182’s rescheduled concert at Blossom Music Center. His camera also got dolled up for the occasion.
Picture of the Day? Month? Year?
From the official Cleveland Browns Twitter, Webster Slaughter in shorts, no shirt, towel over mouth and nose, spray painting his cleats orange.
10/4: CH-UH LIBRARY BENEFIT AT NIGHTTOWN
The amount of creative talent in Cleveland Heights is staggering. The city is home to hundreds of working musicians, visual artists, writers and theater people. So it’s not surprising that there’s strong support for the Cleveland Heights-University Heights Public Library. Wise Up! — The Nighttown Academy of Poetry and Letters is a fundraiser for the…
10/3: TAYLOR SWIFT AT THE Q
A couple of weeks ago, Kanye West went from eccentric genius to total asshole with one dumb-ass stage rush. It’s not that Taylor Swift really needed another award to add to the batch she’s justly collected over the past two years. It’s not that the country star needed MTV to validate her pop-princess standing either.…
10/3: POETRY IN THE GARDEN
Nature inspiring poetry is nothing new. The first poem ever written was most likely generated by someone’s awe of a sunset or a meadow filled with flowers. Nature themes run through the recorded history of poetry, so there’ll be a fertile field to explore when CWRU’s Baker-Nord Center for the Humanities and the Cleveland Botanical…
10/2: MC CHRIS AT THE GROG SHOP
MC Chris is a nerd who raps, but don’t file him under the nerdcore tag. While he may pen songs about Dungeons & Dragons and Star Wars, the 34-year-old rapper would prefer you didn’t associate him with the geeky subgenre. Unless you’re 60 Minutes: The news program interviewed Chris for a special on nerd culture…
10/2: MEGLOUISE DANCE/CLOUD NINE AT GALLERIA
Flamenco guitar player Wesley Washington is a hustler in the best sense of the word. His full-time job consists of selling his CDs while busking downtown and performing at local clubs. He met MegLouise Dance choreographer Megan Pitcher at one of her company’s performances a couple of years ago, and they built a friendship around…
10/2: The Man Who Came to Dinner at Playhouse
Ensemble Theatre begins its season without founders and longtime champions Lucia and Licia Colombi, both of whom passed away earlier this year. Artistic director Bernard Canepari sticks with the company’s mission of performing classic American plays from the mid-20th century, opening with Kauffman and Hart’s 1939 comedy, The Man Who Came to Dinner. The classic…
10/2: Firestorm Pro Wrestling at Phantasy Theatre
Jimmy Snuka, an old-school pro wrestler with rock-star popularity, stars in this month’s Firestorm Pro event, A Call for Blood. He’s the biggest name on a bill that features more than its share of potentially explosive match-ups. Firestorm heavyweight champ Shane Taylor — a six-foot, 350-pound monster with an impressive amateur background — will square…
10/1: Common at House of Blues
Back in the day, rapper Common went by the name Common Sense. That should give you an idea about how seriously he took himself. He dropped the second half of his moniker after two albums and began lightening up a little. His records from the early part of this decade — Like Water for Chocolate…
10/1: The Bike Rack at Cleveland Public Art
The city of Cleveland is in the process of creating a bike station for bicycle commuters — a facility that includes bike storage, lockers for clothes and showers for sweaty bikers. It will be “tucked away in an unsuspecting location on the ground floor of the Gateway parking garage,” says Cleveland Public Art executive director…
10/1: Are We There Yet? at Actors Summit
Actors’ Summit’s artistic director Neil Thackaberry takes the first Ohio crack at a musical he says is “like I Love, You, You’re Perfect, Now Change, but the focus is on family life instead of dating.” It features four actors in a series of musical sketches connected not by plot, but by the unbreakable bond of…
10/1: Anti-Pop Consortium at the Grog Shop
Anti-Pop Consortium don’t really think of hip-hip as hip-hop. The avant-rap group thinks of sounds as building materials and follows the possibilities without sticking to genre signposts. Of course, most of the time this manifests itself as something most easily labeled rap, but there seems to be only a cursory relationship. The group works electric…
Reviews of the Cinematheque’s weekend films
The Cleveland Institute of Art Cinematheque is showing several great movies this weekend. Here are our reviews of some of them. $9.99 (Israel/Australia, 2008) Based on several Etgar Keret short stories, $9.99 is a stop-motion animation film that aspires to be something like Waking Life. The central character Dave Peck (Samuel Johnson) is a philosopher…
Kid Cudi Schooled by Ghostface
Cleveland’s Kid Cudi recently broke into hip-hop’s big leagues with his debut album, Man on the Moon: The End of Day, which was released last month on Kanye West’s Motown imprint, G.O.O.D. Music. But the Kid has a ways to go before he’s in the starting lineup. According to a Rolling Stone report, Wu-Tang’s Ghostface…
10/3: The Pekar Project Live at Pennello Gallery
Until fairly recently, Harvey Pekar says, he “always had a lot of trouble” getting artists to illustrate his stories. “I had to work with some people who were not that good. It was either that or nothing.” Rick Parker That’s not the case anymore, as one look at his new online project and real-world gallery…
Music Saves Parties … With Donuts!
If you’re just hanging out tonight with nothing particular to do, why don’t you do just that at indie record store Music Saves? Tomorrow night is the store’s last Alley Cat Friday of the season, starting at 7 p.m. and going on until whenever. It’s a monthly event the store’s been holding since June on…
HOT AIR AND SLICKNESS FROM THE GAS AND OIL TRADE
“Drill Baby Drill,” our cover story on gas and oil drilling in residential areas, sure struck a nerve. As of this writing, there are about two dozen comments, most of them long and heated, from a few very interested readers. In this corner we have “NEOGAP,” a poster obviously representing the Northeast Ohio Gas Accountability…
Concert Review: The Honorary Title at Musica, 9/30
There were hipsters everywhere last night at Musica. The Honorary Title — which on their current tour is made up of founder and frontman Jarrod Gorbel and his guitar — haven’t taken the stage, but people clad in skinny jeans and Converses are taking over the Akron venue. Openers Long Time No See played the…
Concert Review: Os Mutantes at Beachland Ballroom, 9/30
Even though Os Mutantes formed in the late ’60s, the Brazilian band has been on hiatus since the late ’70s and never played Cleveland. You’d think that would be reason enough for the Beachland Ballroom to be packed for the group’s first-ever Northeast Ohio concert. But a crowd of about only 100 showed up last…
WE’RE NOT THE POOREST, BUT …
The Center for Community Solutions notes another dubious distinction: In Ohio’s cities, the ranks of those living in poverty are growing, according to Census Bureau data released today. Nearly one-third of Cleveland residents eke out an existence below the poverty line, making it the second poorest city in America. The poverty threshold for a family…
Soon You’ll Able to Get Michael Symon’s Food Inside the Q
Disappointed with the food selection inside the Q? Well, Cleveland’s own star chef is making some improvements. Michael Symon is leading two new joints inside the arena, both basically smaller versions of his other restaurants, for those basketball fans looking for something better tha a hot dog to scarf down on. Food fit for a…
CONGRESSMEMBERS LOVE GOVERNMENT-RUN HEALTHCARE — FOR THEMSELVES
You probably know that members of Congress have a pretty good healthcare package. You probably didn’t know just how good — and how cheap — it really is. From ABC News: Services offered by the Office of the Attending Physician include physicals and routine examinations, on-site X-rays and lab work, physical therapy and referrals to…
Win Tix to NYC Concert That Should Be in Cleveland
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame foundation may be dicking over Cleveland, but Rolling Stone is looking out for us. The magazine is giving away tickets to the HOF’s 25th Anniversary Concerts at Madison Square Garden on October 29 and 30. You can enter here. Be sure to enter both drawings, since winning tickets…
The Invention of Lying is a truly funny comedy
This winning comedy, directed, co-written by and starring Ricky Gervais (Ghost Town, Britain’s The Office), imagines a world in which everyone always tells the truth. In this alternate universe, lies, fiction, irony, imagination and social niceties are unknown. Daily life is a depressing minefield of rude insults and unfiltered admissions. The movie hilariously explores the…
Megalis Does Voodoo
Cleveland singer-songwriter Nicholas Megalis recently made his first appearance in Rolling Stone — sort of. In the latest issue — the one with Megan Fox cover — on page 89, Megalis’ name can be found as the last act listed in an ad for next month’s New Orleans Voodoo Music Experience festival, which runs October…
Next Stop: The Wendy Williams Show
Seriously, is there any talk show LeBron hasn’t appeared on in the last two weeks? Here’s a clip from The King and Charlie Rose where LeBron talks about his dream team.
Hey Man, Nice Cover Song
Bay Village native Richard Patrick is still piloting Filter. The band just covered the Turtles’ classic “Happy Together” for The Stepfather soundtrack. The tune starts as a murky trip-hop piece, then explodes into a percussive blast that sounds more like Filter’s breakout single, “Hey Man, Nice Shot.” “Happy Together” is streaming here. —D.X. Ferris
PEKAR WORKS HARD FOR THE MONEY
Until fairly recently, Harvey Pekar says, he “always had a lot of trouble” getting artists to illustrate his stories. “I had to work with some people who were not that good. It was either that or nothing.” Rick Parker That’s not the case anymore, as one look at his new online project and real-world gallery…
HE WORKS HARD FOR THE MONEY
Until fairly recently, Harvey Pekar says, he “always had a lot of trouble” getting artists to illustrate his stories. “I had to work with some people who were not that good. It was either that or nothing.” Rick Parker That’s not the case anymore, as one look at his new online project and real-world gallery…
DRILLING AND GRILLING
Erin O’Brien describes the difficulties she encountered in reporting this week’s cover story, “Drill Baby Drill”: The research required sorting through complex regulations. At times, I turned to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) for help and clarification. But every ODNR representative I spoke with wanted my questions in writing. I often felt like…
Drill, Baby, Drill
Susan Fowler crosses her arms and gazes out the picture window above her kitchen sink. The view includes an inviting deck, lush trees and a towering oil derrick that stands just 89 feet from her property line. Much of the neighboring 13-acre property has been clear-cut to drill a total of three oil wells, and…
CD Review: Hope Sandoval and the Warm Inventions
Hope Sandoval was the sleepy voice behind Mazzy Star in the ’90s. On her second album with the Warm Inventions, she’s still a calming presence, floating through 11 songs about flowers, birds and other serene subjects. Not that it matters much; she could be singing about sautéing an ex-boyfriend and it would still sound like…
Around Hear: Wish You Were Here Unplugged
Members of Pink Floyd tribute band Wish You Were Here will stage the first major show by their unplugged Floyd tribute, Acoustic Side of the Moon, on Friday, October 2, at the Winchester (12112 Madison Avenue, Lakewood). The new side project will feature a fluid co-ed lineup and core members of Wish, including bassist-singer Eroc…
Hoop Dreams
Eight years ago, a Loyola Marymount University-Los Angeles sophomore by the name of Kris Belman approached St. Vincent-St. Mary varsity basketball coach Dru Joyce about making a documentary about his nationally ranked team. LeBron James, a high school phenom whom Sports Illustrated deemed “the chosen one,” led the Fighting Irish as they played top-rated teams…
Arts News: Paper Anniversary
The Morgan Art of Papermaking Conservatory and Educational Foundation (1754 E. 47th St., 216.361.9255, morganconservatory.org) marks its first anniversary — its paper anniversary — with a party featuring the second edition of what it’s dubbed “The Snail Mail Paper Trail.” Artists working at the studio have made sheets of paper, which have been distributed —…
Reel Cleveland: Capitol Theatre Reopens
Shuttered since 1985, the Capitol Theatre (1390 W. 65th St., 216.651.3010, clevelandcinemas.com) is set to reopen next week after a multi-million dollar facelift. Originally opened in 1921 as a vaudeville and silent-film house, the theater became the property of the Detroit Shoreway Community Development Organization, which has been applying for grants and working with Cleveland…
A Ghostly Good Musical
The Mystery of Edwin Drood Through Nov. 1 Great Lakes Theater Festival Hanna Theatre 2067 E. 14th St. 216.241.6000 Tickets: $15-$49greatlakestheater.org Hollywood folklore has it that Katharine Hepburn elucidated the magic of the Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers partnership like this: “He gives her class, she gives him sex.” Coincidentally, 70 years later, the same alchemy holds…
DAWN OF THE DAY
Soprano Dawn Upshaw gets up pretty early these days because her kids have to get to school. She’s never been a coffee drinker, but lately she’s taken up the morning ritual with a little French press. “I just decided to give it a go,” she said when, after a cup, she spoke with Scene about…
ESCAPE TO EVERYWHERE
The list of art “stars” living in northern Ohio is short. Briefer still is the roster of those whose accomplishments are recognized internationally. Cleveland Institute of Art emeritus professor Julian Stanczak’s status as one of the premier abstractionists in the world is unquestioned — increasingly so as the decades of his career pile up and…
ARRIVING WITH A THUD
For any Clevelander who loves theater, it’s time to celebrate. Dobama Theatre has finally opened their new space on Lee Road, and it is a treasure to behold. But as elegant as a theater is physically, nothing can compare in importance to what’s put onstage. The initial production at Dobama’s new home is the world…
All Clone Up
TOP PICK Star Wars: The Clone Wars (Cartoon Network) The second season of the CG-animated TV hit kicks off with a one-hour, two-episode story at 8 p.m. Friday. Anakin, Obi-Wan and R2-D2 return, but it’s all about the bounty hunters (including a cowboy hat-wearing blue dude named Cad Bane) this season. Can we request a…
Unfinished Business
Mostly comprising unused footage from an autobiographical film that the late documentarian Richard P. Rogers never got around to finishing, Alexander Olch’s posthumous tribute to his onetime college professor inevitably succumbs to narcissistic navel-gazing and feels awfully overextended even at 80 minutes. A son of wealth and privilege who spent a good chunk of his…
IN THE MOOD FOR … MEAT
BAR SYMON 32858 Walker Rd., Avon Lake 440.933.5652, barsymon.squarespace.com We could not have been happier with an appetizer of roasted bone marrow ($8), a dish that admittedly sounds less than appealing. Split lengthwise for easy scooping, the long bones cradle a lush and beefy pudding that is spread on toasts and topped with herbs and…
Writers in the Night
The last time the Ten Out of Tenn tour stopped in Cleveland, it wasn’t pretty. “We came through in the wintertime,” says singer-songwriter K.S. Rhoads. “We weren’t playing, but we just stopped for the day. One of the water mains broke downtown. We got to the hotel, and they didn’t even tell us that there…
CD Review: Kid Cudi
Like mentor Kanye West, Kid Cudi specializes in weirdness. You won’t find any rhymes about what a badass Cudi is on his debut album, Man on the Moon: The End of Day. This glasses-wearing rapper from Cleveland is all about kicking back, toking up and flipping through his existential angst. West produces a couple of…
Buzz Band
About a year ago, former Disengage bassist Sean Bilovecky had a chance encounter at the Grog Shop with Buzz, frontman for noisy local rockers the Duvalby Bros. When Buzz told him the Duvalbys were imploding (again), even though he had written a bunch of new songs for the band, Bilovecky realized it was a good…
CD Review: Times New Viking
Our minds are wonderful at filling in the blanks — whether it’s missing vowels or creating the illusion of movement from a series of stills. So throttling fuzz, rattling clatter and lo-fi buzz are small impediments to appreciating the beauty within Times New Viking’s noisy pop. While their prickly rumble isn’t for everyone, the Columbus…
Back in Black
Living Colour guitarist Vernon Reid is pleased with The Chair in the Doorway, the band’s first album of new material in six years. He’s sure it hangs together the way it does because the title came first and — in ways not easily spelled out — guided and governed the songs. “How this record literally…
CD Review: The Twilight Sad
While recording their second album, Forget the Night Ahead, the Twilight Sad used everything from distortion pedals to the smacking of fire distinguishers to cloak their music in haze. If you cut through the fuzz and distortion, you start hearing really dark messages. Themes of guilty consciences, the sad realities of prostitution and the loss…
Local Disc Reviews
Townhouse Suite The Red Room (self-released) townhousesuite.net Though it’s clearly rooted in ’90s hard rock, Townhouse Suite’s full-length debut is an impressive first showing. With its refrain “I saw the world go by,” “Patience” is a terrific anthem that recalls mid-’90s Pearl Jam, propelled by sinewy guitar solos that maintain the momentum as the song…
CD Review: Girls
It’s always hard to judge a throwback band. Are they paying homage, in love with nostalgia or just plagiarizing? The retro-rock sounds of San Francisco’s Girls don’t make this debate any easier. Combining sunny California folk-rock with bits of psych-rock, garage, surf-rock and even Motown, the tunes on Album will leave you with that nagging…
Soundcheck: Taylor Hanson
Taylor Hanson, one of three brothers who comprise the band, recently spoke about the group’s history and the Take the Walk Campaign they started a couple of years ago to fight hunger and poverty. Thanks to the success of their infectious single “MMMBop,” Hanson’s major-label debut, 1997’s Middle of Nowhere, sold eight million copies. After…
CD Review: Avett Brothers
On their major-label debut, alt-country buzzmakers the Avett Brothers check in with a Grammy-winning producer (Rick Rubin), a newfound sense of scope and a sweeping song cycle about broken hearts, wrecked truths and busted dreams. On a series of indie albums released over the past decade, the North Carolina trio explored the outer fringes of…
DEAD MAN TALKING
Romell Broom achieved a macabre notoriety this past month when he became the first man to survive his date with the needle. Not just in Ohio, but anywhere. The convicted rapist and murderer endured more than two hours of poking and stabbing before his date with death was called off indefinitely. His executioners could not…
CD Review: Castanets
Ray Raposa, the extravagantly bearded mainstay of Castanets, has been trading in elusively weird folk and country since his impressive 2004 debut, Cathedral. Raposa is an unabashed risk-taker, continuously bathing his prettiest songs in unexpected noise, alternately pushing his adenoidal warble to the front or washing it in tons of echo. Last year’s City of…
JIM KRANE
Journalist and author Jim Krane grew up in Lakewood and played in some Akron garage and punk bands (Starvation Army, Jippo and Squelch) in the ’80s before moving to New York. His career with the Associated Press took him to the Middle East, covering Baghdad, then all six Gulf Arab nations, including the United Arab…
CD Review: La Roux
Overseas, La Roux (real name: Elly Jackson) is hot shit right now. The 21-year-old Londoner’s dance-club electro-bounce sounds like something from 1983, right when U.S. record companies starting scooping up new-wave divas and selling them to famished music fans as the future. But Jackson and Ben Langmaid — the other half of La Roux’s creative…
Akron Robber Focuses on Dough, Crispy Chicken Skin
Some capers should be easier to crack than others, and this robbing spree in Akron falls distinctly under that category. A 300-pound man wanted for a string of armed robberies has hit a few more joints this week, logging three heists in a mere 12 hours. Now, narrow down the search by the fact that…
RAGE, RAGE AGAINST THE DYING OF THE SIGNAL
Sanford Herskovitz, better known on the East Side as Mister Brisket, sometimes tells stories in his e-mails to customers*. We had to share this one: At roughly 4:30pm on September 10, the stupidest customer in the history of Mister Brisket contacted me at the shop. It began with a cell phone call. I answered and…
‘THE WORST THING HE IS DOING IS DRESSING UP IN WOMEN’S CLOTHES?’
East Cleveland native Jimi Izrael weighs in on Mayor Eric Brewer: Although it looked from the curb alot like the Joker being elected mayor of Gotham City, it made sense to me that he would eventually win the mayoral seat. When I got word of it, I made the mistake of calling his City Hall…
