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APRIL 4–10, 2018 • VOLUME 48 NO 40

CONTENTS

Dedicated to Free Times founder Richard H. Siegel (1935-1993) and Scene founder Richard Kabat Group Publisher Chris Keating Publisher Andrew Zelman

Upfront

Associate Publisher Angela Nagal Editor Vince Grzegorek

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Kucinich lights Lakewood on fire, the county’s Conviction Integrity Unit takes its job seriously, plus good news for low-income renters

Editorial Music Editor Jeff Niesel Senior Writer Sam Allard Staff Writer Brett Zelman Web Editor Laura Morrison Dining Editor Douglas Trattner Stage Editor Christine Howey Visual Arts Writers Dott von Schneider Copy Editor Elaine Cicora Interns Michael Wu, Matt Poshedley

Feature

Advertising Senior Multimedia Account Executive John Crobar, Shayne Rose Multimedia Account Executive Kiara Davis

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With fewer flights and fewer reasons than ever to keep Burke open, why won’t the city seriously study what it could be used for instead?

Creative Services Production Manager Steve Miluch Staff Photographer Emanuel Wallace Business Sales Assistant/Receptionist Megan Stimac Controller Kristy Dotson

Get Out!

Circulation Circulation Director Don Kriss

All the best things to do in Cleveland this week

Euclid Media Group Chief Executive Officer Andrew Zelman Chief Operating Officers Chris Keating, Michael Wagner VP Digital Services Stacy Volhein Digital Operations Coordinator Jaime Monzon

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Stage

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Isle of Dogs ... where the homage rankles viewers of Asian descent.

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A bloody good Macbeth from Great Lakes Theater

www.euclidmediagroup.com National Advertising Voice Media Group 1-800-278-9866, vmgadvertising.com

Film

Cleveland Scene 737 Bolivar Rd, #4100 Cleveland, OH 44115 www.clevescene.com Phone 216-241-7550 Retail & Classified Fax 216-241-6275 Editoral Fax 216-802-7212 E-mail scene@clevescene.com

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Wes Anderson’s Isle of Dogs looks amazing but marginalizes Japan

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Cleveland Scene Magazine is published every week by Euclid Media Group.

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When chefs want a restaurant to look unique, they call these local designers, plus Michael Symon’s Vegas debut

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Music

Copyright The entire contents of Cleveland Scene Magazine are copyright 2018 by Euclid Media Group. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission of the publisher is prohibited. Publisher does not assume any liability for unsolicited manuscripts, materials, or other content. Any submission must include a stamped, self-addressed envelope. All editorial, advertising, and business correspondence should be mailed to the address listed above.

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Indie rockers Common Deer add synths to the mix, a pair of rappers makes its Cleveland debut, plus all the shows to see this week

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Photo by Sam Allard

UPFRONT RTA BOARD CHAIRMAN RESIGNS AMID INSURANCE INVESTIGATION GREATER CLEVELAND Regional Transit Authority (RTA) board chairman George Dixon III has resigned in the midst of an agency investigation into his health insurance. Dixon, who was enrolled in a health insurance program through RTA, may have failed to pay his premiums for years. The board was made aware of RTA’s internal investigation last week. The trustees asked for and received Dixon’s resignation Thursday. Dixon owned and operated the Lancer Restaurant for years. He was first appointed to the RTA board in 1992 and has been president since 1994. Mayor Frank Jackson will select Dixon’s replacement. Per an RTA statement, Dixon is the only current RTA trustee enrolled in the healthcare plan. His alleged failure to pay premiums is unrelated to a recent prescription drug scheme that resulted in the dismissals and resignations of 10 RTA employees. South Euclid mayor Georgine Welo spoke for the trustees. “This comes as a shock to all of us who have known George for so long, and we’re profoundly disappointed,” Welo said. “Failure to pay for your health care would be a serious issue for anyone at RTA — particularly someone in a leadership position.” The investigation is ongoing, so RTA provided no further details. Westlake mayor and board vice chairman Dennis Clough will be leading the investigation. Welo told the Plain Dealer that the board will select new officers soon. The local transit advocacy group Clevelanders for Public Transit (CPT), for its part, is calling on Cleveland mayor Frank Jackson to consider appointing a regular transit rider to the RTA Board. “For RTA riders, [Dixon’s resignation] comes at a critical time when RTA should be building trust and support for expanded funding within Cuyahoga County,” the organization said in a statement. “It is imperative that Mr. Dixon’s resignation be met with a sincere

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commitment to positive change within the organization and its Board.” CPT said that Dixon’s seat isn’t the only vacancy to consider. The terms of both Rev. Charles Lucas (a city appointee) and former East Cleveland mayor Gary Norton (a Cuyahoga County appointee) expire this month. “Clevelanders for Public Transit believes that this is an opportune time for the City of Cleveland and Cuyahoga County to appoint at least one regular RTA rider to the Board of Trustees,” the organization said. — Sam Allard

Dennis Kucinich at the Lakewood Women’s Pavilion.

Dennis! Electrifies Crowd at Lakewood Democratic Club, But Cordray Now Armed with Issues Last week, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Dennis Kucinich delivered the best and brightest speech of the 2018 primary campaign. In high-volume, highvelocity remarks, he electrified a standing-room-only gathering of the Lakewood Democratic Club at the Lakewood Women’s Pavilion. Kucinich was, after all, on home turf, and his thunderous remarks had the familiar crowd by turns rolling with laughter and roaring with applause. It was one of the most impressive appearances of the governor’s race. Perhaps he was energized by being in Lakewood, for years the home of his congressional district office. Or perhaps he was emboldened by recent poll numbers, which the week prior had found that Richard Cordray and Kucinich are now neck and neck, each controlling about 21 percent of the Democratic vote. Near the end of his remarks, he relayed a message that he said came from his wife: Now that voters see him as a viable candidate, as a bona fide challenger to Cordray, maybe they’ll give themselves permission to vote for him. Whatever the cause, the effect was emphatic. And doubly so,

| clevescene.com | April 4 - 10, 2018

because it came on the heels of one of the strongest and most assured performances yet from Cordray. In his remarks, Cordray spoke, at last, with something approaching conviction. Instead of his preferred catch-all phrases — “the Ohio way,” “kitchen-table issues” — Cordray addressed the importance of women’s reproductive healthcare, organized labor, criminal justice reform and even gun violence. Cordray’s efforts to distance himself from the NRA were ambivalently received by the savvy Lakewood crowd, clearly familiar with his record on guns, but his presentation was met with frequent affirmation and applause. “We stand unapologetically for a progressive Ohio that we will govern proudly on progressive principles,” Cordray declared. Now that his campaign website boasted an “issues” tab — Cordray had been chastised for an unwillingness to state a position on anything — he was able to identify and expound upon key legislative areas that he and his running mate Betty Sutton would prioritize. But the problem was his delivery. Cordray uttered his remarks in a low, lawyerly register that rarely fluctuated. Even when making slamdunk points, he never italicized his comments with a raised voice or

other standard oratory flair. Take, for example, this moment, which ought to have landed like dynamite: “We have a legislature that is obsessed with hot-button, retrograde ideological issues such as abortion,” Cordray said. “They have passed 20 restrictions in the past seven years. I don’t begrudge anybody who is pro-life, but Betty and I are proudly pro-choice and have been throughout our careers ... [applause]. That obsession in the legislature has cost us the bandwidth we need to deal with broader women’s health issues: pre-natal care, post-natal care. And it’s cost us the ability to deal with infant mortality, which is a scandal in this state.” This is a strong campaign message, and would seem to represent an area where he might be able to create some distance between himself and his opponent. Kucinich is a proponent of universal single-payer healthcare — a much more “progressive” position — and has made women’s rights the topmost issue on his “issues” tab, but he hasn’t emphasized women’s health on the campaign trail in the way that he has emphasized other issues. (He was also a pro-life candidate for many years.) But Cordray might as well have been reciting ingredients off the

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UPFRONT back of a cereal box. He just didn’t come alive. The rhetorical strategy in evidence was to peg areas of policy focus, and to label himself repeatedly as a progressive candidate. The words “progressive” and “progressively” were peppered throughout his remarks. See above, and also this: “We have been, and will continue to be, proudly and progressively pro-worker in this state.” His strongest moment arrived, though, when a bit of personality shone through. He may have lost his place in his speech, or else he delivered the following off the cuff, but it was the only time when the crowd laughed. He was discussing his record on LGBTQ issues and got in a jab at the Republicans. “We need to understand that, no longer can we say ... By the way, the Republicans haven’t yet reconciled themselves to gay marriage,” he interrupted himself. “They still want to somehow roll that back or rescind that. I don’t know how they’re gonna do that. We have many people being happily married, and some even being unhappily divorced, and we’ve moved on from that.” [Laughs.] Dennis, for his part, launched into remarks overflowing with gratitude for Lakewood, Ohio, referring to attendees by name. He told the crowd that Lakewood had the power to influence statewide races and announced that, if elected, he’d open a local office in Lakewood. The majority of his speech was a sustained crescendo of both outrage and optimism that testified to the exclamation point that once followed his name on congressional campaign signage. “There aren’t many politicians in Ohio who can claim that they’re free and independent of interest groups,” he shouted, “but I can, because when I represented you as a state senator and as a U.S. Congressman, no one could tap me on the shoulder and tell me to vote against the interests of my constituents! I did not have to be informed as to what those interests were. I knew! And so I stood up, fearlessly, and with integrity, and with a willingness to speak the truth whether people wanted to hear it or not. Columbus is a cesspool today! These interest groups have a death grip ... a death grip on the Democratic party as well. The Democrats need a new spirit! A new energy! A new dynamism! I’ve been

driving from one end of the state to the other, and there’s a readiness. There’s a new Democratic party rising!” On health care: “We must get ahead of our health care costs, and the way to do that is to lead the way [on nonprofit single-payer]!” On oil and gas: “They’re making a pin cushion out of southeast Ohio, ruining the air, ruining the water, ruining the land, and making Ohio a sacrifice zone, for what? For export! What are we, the suckers of the United States? I say no!”

DIGIT WIDGET $65,000 Amount the city of Cleveland will pay to Alex Littlejohn in a settlement. The robbery suspect was shot in the back and paralyzed in 2014 by a Cleveland police officer after he and his brother robbed a Family Dollar.

$1 MILLION Amount in Cleveland’s 2018 budget for a new police oversight office and staffing for a community commission as part of police reform efforts in the consent decree with the Department of Justice.

$590,005 Total 2017 compensation of Zinovi Goubar, a psychiatrist with the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, $357,593.92 of which was overtime. Goubar was the highestpaid Ohio employee in 2017, and the first Ohio employee ever to eclipse the $500,000 threshold.

$7,957 Number of residents Cuyahoga County gained through international migration over the past two years, trailing only the Chicago and Minneapolis areas in the Midwest.

On marijuana: “It’s time to legalize marijuana. What’s so hard about that? Are we not past the days of Reefer Madness? ... Are we not ready to understand that if we go to a rock concert, the law has already been made by the people?” On guns: “It’s time to say no to assault weapons, once and for all! These are weapons of war, and the war has come home.” Kucinich knows that as a politician on the trail, he must also be an entertainer. His speech, while heavy on issues, was also a show, and the crowd was entertained. To be clear, Cordray was not at all weak on the issues (though guns remain on everyone’s mind, and it’s an inescapable vulnerability for him), but the difference in personality could not have been more dramatic. — Allard

Martin Sweeney, Nickie Antonio Field Questions About Sexual Harassment and #MeToo Movement The crowd at the Lakewood Democratic Club event had no trepidation whatsoever about asking tough questions. That was evidenced by the gun queries made of Cordray,

and also by the topic tossed by an attendee at Nickie Antonio and Martin Sweeney, candidates for State Senate District 23, who appeared between Cordray and Kucinich Thursday night. “We’ve seen a lot of people on the other side of the aisle do some pretty atrocious things and say some atrocious things,” said one man, “and even people within our own party. How would you continue to fight for women in the state of Ohio?” Antonio gave a measured response, speaking of her involvement on a bi-partisan congressional task force dealing with sexual harassment, arguing that the level of professionalism had to be raised at the statehouse. She said the rights of her colleagues and her constituents had to be “not only respected, but protected.” The question appeared to be a not-so-subtle reference to Sweeney’s misconduct on Cleveland City Council. (The city paid to settle a Sweeney harassment claim in 2007.) And indeed, immediately after Antonio finished and the applause died down, a woman raised a piece of paper and pointed it at Sweeney: “Mr. Sweeney, how do you feel about

what she just said?” “How do I want to answer this,” Sweeney said, approaching the mic. “What she said? One-hundred percent accurate. Some work’s going to be done at the Statehouse. We’re gonna be fully supportive of it, as I have been. And if you want to go in depth on other topics, I’m happy to talk to you.” “Hashtag MeToo,” the woman said, knowingly. “Excuse me?” “Hashtag MeToo!” “Okay ... ,” said Sweeney, now looking deeply uncomfortable. “Okay, that was fun.” — Allard

The Release of Wrongfully Convicted Ru-El Sailor Is a Sign Cuyahoga County’s Conviction Integrity Unit Is Taking Its Job Seriously After a long review by the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office Conviction Integrity Unit, Ru-El Sailor is a free man. His 2003 murder conviction was vacated last Wednesday following a joint motion from the state and his attorneys that was accepted by Judge Nancy McDonnell.

The CIU, headed since January 2017 by Russell Tye, was a cornerstone of prosecutor Mike O’Malley’s campaign, and for good reason. The CIU had languished under Tim McGinty, which was curious considering that he created it. Sailor had completed two applications for the unit to review his conviction, in 2014 and 2016. Each time he was denied, once in a one-sentence letter. When Scene first wrote about Sailor’s case in the summer of 2016, a spokesperson for McGinty said it would reconsider Sailor’s application. If it did, it didn’t do it seriously. After O’Malley took office in 2017, Tye began investigating the case with his team. On top of the amazing work done by Sailor’s attorney Kimberly Kendall Corral, Tye’s team got interviews with two key witnesses — one who was supposed to testify at trial but left town instead, and one who said he couldn’t identify Sailor at trial only to change his mind. That laid the groundwork for the current decision. Scene sat down with Tye to talk about the case and the changes he’s made to the CIU since taking over.

| clevescene.com | April 4 - 10, 2018

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UPFRONT TELL US ABOUT THE PAST 15 MONTHS. RT: It’s been a very, very extensive

investigation. I came onboard in January 2017 and started the investigation at the end of January 2017. And we just went through it, just turned over every rock, sought out to interview as many people as we could. I looked at the complete file, everything, and with the help of my unit and the investigators, we just kept chugging along. IS THERE ANY REASON HIS APPLICATION TO THE CONVICTION INTEGRITY UNIT SHOULD HAVE BEEN DENIED TWICE (IN 2014 AND 2016)? OBVIOUSLY IT WAS WORTH LOOKING INTO; WE CAN SEE THAT NOW. RT: I wasn’t here so I don’t

know the entire process they went through. I can tell you based on the way the policy was designed at the time, if you give a contrary story now, say 10 years later, to what your position at trial was, it can be viewed suspiciously. It can be viewed that you’re just making up something to appear in a better light with us and you’re not credible. You couple that with a case where the person has committed perjury on the stand and that’s in the back of your mind as a unit, you ask why should we believe you now. That’s not a justification or excuse for the first process, but I can tell you it probably played a critical point in the analysis. AND THAT POLICY IS DIFFERENT NOW? RT: Yeah, I changed the policy;

I made it more expansive in terms of what types of claims we deal with — not just actual innocence claims. And I felt that in all my research looking at CIUs across the nation, most of them just do actual innocence claims, but there are some that consider other claims, like over-charging. And when I say that, maybe you’re convicted of something but looking at the actual factual scenario you shouldn’t be convicted of murder, it should be manslaughter. When you look at that type of situation, it’s only fair we open up ours beyond actual innocence claims. If your claim is so compelling, it should require a review at least, because a lot of these cases, we’re the last resort. Your case has already worked its way through the appeal process and the post conviction process and really this is the last stop.

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| clevescene.com | April 4 - 10, 2018

IT’S SOMETHING WE TRY TO IMPRESS UPON THE READER IN STORIES LIKE THIS.

IF THERE’S NO NEW EVIDENCE, ESPECIALLY DNA EVIDENCE, AND YOU’RE MOUNTING THE SAME DEFENSE YOU DID AT YOUR ORIGINAL TRIAL, YOU’RE GOING TO BE TOLD NO BY JUDGES. RT: And “no” without a hearing.

That’s critical. But we should be taking a fresh look at cases if it warrants it, if it gets past the fi rst hurdle. We should look at these cases ... we’re not the 13th juror, okay? But in the same vein, we are critical at what we look at. Justice requires that if you did the crime, you should be imprisoned, if that’s what the judge saw fit. At the same time, if there’s compelling evidence, we should look at it seriously. We’re mindful of what the appellate court said, and what happened during the original trial, at the same time we look at the cases with a fresh set of eyes. IS THAT MOTIVATED BY FEELING LIKE THE LAST RESORT? RT: I think it deserves it. My

background ... I started prosecuting as a very young lawyer, coming fresh out of law school. I did four and a half years, then was a defense attorney for almost sixteen and a half years, and now I’m back on this side of the fence. My perspective is completely different from a lot of people that hold this office. I think it was wise for Prosecutor O’Malley to reach out in that regard, because I can have a balanced approach at these things. I know what I’m looking for when looking at evidence and know the pitfalls from two perspectives. WHAT’S THE CIU’S CASELOAD NOW? RT: It’s interesting you ask. There

are about 45 pending cases we’re reviewing, so to speak. We’re going through those, we can’t slight any of them, and it’s very tedious. This case took us 15 months. One of the criticisms is, “Oh, it takes so long”; well, I think the public deserves justice regardless. We have to be mindful these cases have been through the process and in some of them ... it used to be, if you plead guilty, your case isn’t reviewable. Under most CIUs across the country that’s the case. You had an attorney, you pleaded guilty, and it makes sense, but not all the time. You can see from our East Cleveland cases that’s true. The vast majority of those guys pleaded guilty, and we reviewed it because it would be, in a term for 2018, compelling. And in doing so we found compelling reasons that two detectives and a sergeant had gone rogue, so to speak. And now they’re in federal prison. So you have to look at the propriety of the conviction,

even if they plead guilty. We all know, and I know all too well, that people plead guilty for various reasons. I looked at that and said we’re taking that out of the policy. PEOPLE PLEAD ON BAD ADVICE, BECAUSE A TRIAL MIGHT BE GOING POORLY ... RT: People can’t afford lawyers,

or to escape a higher penalty. You name it. WHAT’S THE CIU STAFFING LIKE FOR THOSE 45 CASES? RT: We reach out to various units

in our office because we have to. There’s myself (Tye is also criminal division chief and an active trial lawyer), our coordinator, we have a paralegal, and we have access to investigators. Obviously, one big thing on my to-do list is to get more funding. I would like to have a staff, several attorneys who are completely dedicated to the unit and not necessarily utilize other APAs. In a perfect world I’d have a fully staffed unit like Brooklyn. They have quite a few that are just in the CIU. That’s in a perfect world. Give me half of that and I can get a lot more done. WHERE CAN THAT MONEY COME FROM? CERTAINLY NOT FROM THE COUNTY; THEY

CUT THE OVERALL PROSECUTOR’S OFFICE BUDGET $1.5 MILLION LAST YEAR. RT: We’re looking at grant

opportunities. We’re steadfast in seeking out money from any place we can for our unit. BUT TODAY’S A GOOD DAY THOUGH, WITH RU-EL? RT: Great day. — VINCE GRZEGOREK

Calling All Low-Income Renters: CMHA Voucher Waiting List to Re-Open Soon Immediately after LaTweeta Smyers, the Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority’s director of the Housing Choice Voucher Program, arrived in Cleveland in 2014, she set in motion the lottery process that granted 10,000 lucky low-income residents a spot on the program’s waiting list. Being on the waiting list means being next in line for a housing voucher, the coveted subsidy that provides assistance for low-income renters on the private market. At a brown-bag housing forum last week at Cleveland State University’s Levin College of Urban Affairs,

vouchers were variously referred to as a “golden ticket” for lowincome renters and the “Cadillac” of housing subsidies. In 2015, when the 10,000 tenants were selected for the waiting list, 55,000 residents had applied. At the forum, hosted by the Ohio Fair Lending Coalition, director Smyers said that the number on the waiting list has been dramatically reduced, and she intends to re-open the waiting list in as early as a “couple weeks.” There are 15,283 people who receive vouchers through CMHA currently. About 50 to 60 families, Smyers said in her presentation, are terminated from the program each month. Of the 10,000 lottery winners from 2015, only 1,059 remain. That’s not because the majority of them have received vouchers though. Smyers said that so many slots have opened up because of low response rates. Most of the people on the waiting list, Smyers said, are either permanently homeless or couch-surfing with friends and relatives. It makes tracking them down difficult. “We are required to send two letters,” Smyers said. “But if I

send a letter to the address you provided in 2015, you’re not there anymore. The person whose couch you were sleeping on said, ‘Hey, you’ve gotta go.’ And if I send a letter there, they’re not gonna tell [the person on the waiting list]. And they’re not going to send us a letter to notify us that they’ve moved either. That’s why we have a 60-percent no-show rate off the waiting list.” In an email to Scene after the forum, Smyers said she and her staff were still “working out logistics” for re-opening the waiting list. But the official announcement should be coming soon. The voucher program is still often known as the “Section 8” program, in reference to the relevant section of the 1937 Housing Act. The voucher program was created in 1974, and modified to its current form, emphasizing housing choice, in 1993. CMHA was established in 1933 as the Cleveland Metropolitan Housing Authority, and was the first public housing authority in the country. — Allard

scene@clevescene.com t@clevelandscene

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| clevescene.com | April 4 - 10, 2018

Photos by Aerial Agents

FEATURE

LIES, DAMN LIES AND 450 ACRES OF PRIME LAKEFRONT REAL ESTATE There are fewer flights and fewer reasons than ever for keeping Burke airport open. Why won’t the city of Cleveland give up the excuses and seriously study what it could be used for instead? By Daniel McGraw WHEN JOURNALISTS DO A story on a subject, it is best to go look at what those in the know tell you is important. So the day after talking to Cleveland city councilman Martin Keane, who serves as vice chair on the city’s transportation committee, I found myself wandering around Voinovich Park at the end of East Ninth Street. The question for Keane the night before was why the city of Cleveland keeps Burke Lakefront Airport open even as the number of flights it services has dropped off a cliff, declining more than 60 percent since 2000. It’s a question many others are asking too. Why does

the city need an airport on prime downtown, lakefront property when it’s not used by many planes? It’s part of the broader conversation on Cleveland’s oversupply of tarmacs. Northeast Ohio’s other two airports — the Cuyahoga County-run airport in Richmond Heights, and Cleveland Hopkins — have also seen declines, which isn’t surprising: These airports were planned to serve a need when Cleveland had lots of people. Cleveland doesn’t have lots of people any longer, so the need simply isn’t there. “We have three airports in this county and really only need two,” Cleveland attorney and

longtime Cleveland City Planning Commission head Tony Coyne told Scene. “Since we have to keep Hopkins because of the airlines, it comes down to county and Burke. One of them is no longer needed. We have to figure out which one should go.” And yet the city hasn’t done a study recently on the pros and cons of keeping Burke open or closing it. Why not? Councilman Keane said that Burke is an “asset” as an airport, and that if I wondered whether it should be closed and developed in some other way, I should check out the new lakefront development over near Voinovich Park, behind

the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, for evidence it should not. “Burke is a tremendous asset as an airport,” Keane said. “I think the biggest study going on right now is the waterfront development around the dock, north of the [FirstEnergy] Stadium and in Voinovich Park. Burke serves its purpose as an airport, and the success of the development we have [at the waterfront development around the stadium] is a good story.” So I went down and wandered around for an hour or two as I was instructed to do. Two new development buildings are at the end of East Ninth Street. Harbor Verandas, behind the Rock | clevescene.com | April 4 - 10, 2018

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| clevescene.com | April 4 - 10, 2018

Hall, is under construction and will possibly be open before the end of the year. It will be a three-story, 16unit apartment complex, with 1,700 square-foot, two-bedroom units renting for about $3,700 a month. The other building is already done: a modern Mexican restaurant, which was nearly empty for lunch on a drizzly Tuesday. One of the reasons the Harbor Verandas is only three stories is that Burke Airport is a few hundred yards to the east. Sources have said privately that a 10-story apartment building made better sense economically, but height restrictions around the airport made it harder to do. (SpeciďŹ cally, the building as approved needed more grants and public ďŹ nancing than a taller building would have needed.) The city opened up these projects for bid about ďŹ ve years ago. And the next phases â&#x20AC;&#x201D; doing a similar mix of housing and ofďŹ ce and retail on the old port acreage north of FirstEnergy Stadium â&#x20AC;&#x201D; are likely more years out from putting shovel to ground. The height restrictions from being next to an airport are again holding things up. Still, they are nice little projects that might move Clevelandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s wandering development eye toward the lake, as the populace seems to want. But you cannot think of lakefront development in Cleveland and not think of this 450-acre airport as the hole in the donut of future planning. While wandering around in the drizzle on this Tuesday in March, not one plane took off or landed in the two hours I was there. I thought of how people wanting to live in a $3,700 a month apartment overlooking Lake Erie might want a big park nearby. Or stores to shop at. Or ofďŹ ces. Or a place to work. Or a bench on a trail where you can bring your binoculars to look at birds, or catch the sunset over the water. Or all of that. How big is Burke? Think of it this way: You could drop Cedar Point on it and still have 90 acres left over. It could accommodate two golf courses. How many thousands of people could live there depends simply on how many you wanted to live there. Some urban planners and city ofďŹ cials have said closing Burke should not even be considered until other projects are completed, which is a silly excuse, because it really has nothing to do with the question itself, and the process is not a short

one. This is about whether or not it might be a good time to decide whether to get moving on long-term planning on something that will likely take 20 years. Lots of information here has been misrepresented by politicians, the development community and the private airplane industry for years, for their own purposes, and we will get into that. But while I was looking around Voinovich Park and waiting for a plane to emerge from the fog, I thought about what longtime Cleveland urban planning expert Hunter Morrison had told me a few days before. â&#x20AC;&#x153;One of the biggest challenges Cleveland faces,â&#x20AC;? Morrison said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;is that it has to resize its oversized infrastructure. What to do with Burke airport is a part of that challenge.â&#x20AC;? Cleveland city councilman Kerry McCormack said the same thing in a different way. â&#x20AC;&#x153;There is no doubt about the fact that we should look at whether we need to keep Burke open as an airport or not,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Go down to Edgewater Park on a weekend. People now love to be near the water and we donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t need to speculate on that. This huge amount of property downtown has the ability to be recreated into a variety of uses that can be very diverse. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t think any city in this country has this much property that they own along a waterway like this,â&#x20AC;? McCormack said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The least we can do is see what our options are.â&#x20AC;?

Excuses, Misperceptions and Tumbling Numbers Dan Brady is the current president of the Cuyahoga County Council. He was a three-term Cleveland city council member (1986 to 1996), and also served as a special advisor to mayor Frank Jackson to develop a strategic business plan for Cleveland Public Power, on the lake just east of Burke. He too is perplexed about why the future of Burke is not considered as its numbers go so far down. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We use to discuss its future somewhat when I was on [city] council, but that is not being done now and I have no idea why it is not,â&#x20AC;? Brady tells Scene. â&#x20AC;&#x153;[Burke] can be lots of things â&#x20AC;&#x201D; park property, housing ofďŹ ces, a city plannerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s dream â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and having that type of property on the lakefront is something other cities donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want to speak for the mayor, but from my perception the mayor is not open to conversation about this,â&#x20AC;? Brady says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;But it is in

| clevescene.com | April 4 - 10, 2018

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| clevescene.com | April 4 - 10, 2018

our best interest to be doing studies now to prepare for when [closing] does happen.” (What does Jackson think and is he, in fact, not open to the idea? A city of Cleveland spokesperson didn’t respond to a request for comment for this story, as usual, so who knows.) To get at the crux of the Burke issue is to first look at the data and facts of what it once was and what it is now. The plan for a Cleveland lakefront airport was first announced in 1927, part of a trend to capitalize on this newfangled aerospace business. Airplanes were the new toys of the rich, and Cleveland had plenty of those. Charles Lindbergh had done his fi rst solo crossing of the Atlantic that year, and many cities — especially in the Northeast and Midwest — thought they would need as many airports as possible to compete in the transportation game. Hopkins was already opened at this time, and doing big business. When considering a downtown airport, Cleveland had an express purpose in putting it next to the lake: The new airport would “cater primarily to amphibious plane operations and will have all the facilities for sea plane and hydroplane operations,” the city stated in its Cleveland Region Airport Plan in 1946. The airport opened in 1947. The irony was that the notion of sea plane popularity and usage was mostly gone just about the time Burke opened up. Landing planes on lakes was popular and, for the military, useful during World Wars I and II; but after the war, it faded from view as the airport industry found sea planes generally limited in use to delivering mail in Alaska. Cleveland, always tragically behind the curve on trends ... . But we digress. In order to accommodate sea planes, Cleveland’s downtown airport was built on mostly clean fi ll dumped in the lake, meaning it was a combination of building and highway construction excavation from the period. Some dredging from the Cuyahoga River and Lake Erie was also used. A garbage dump occupied about 20 to 30 acres of the airport on the far northeast portion of the property until it closed in the late 1950s. The Ohio

EPA found in 1987 that the dump area posed a “low threat” for land or surface water contamination and would not be considered for any “remedial action” list of properties that had hazardous materials problems. “The perception that Burke is built on a garbage dump and cannot be used for anything else is a public misperception that refuses to go away,” says Ted Esborn, a Cleveland attorney who worked in the city’s law and health department in the ’80s and ’90s. “The EPA has never found this to be a superfund site, and to the extent they built the terminal and a high school on it, it is obvious you would be able to build other structures on it as well.” Ohio EPA spokesman James Lee told Scene that the Ohio EPA “is not aware of any additional sampling or studies at this property” that would indicate any environmental issues from the landfill, and that the state agency “is eager and available to work with the city, if assistance is needed.” The other misperception of the airport is that Burke is a net economic benefit for the city. According to the Federal Aviation Administration’s Air Traffic Activity Data Base System (ATADS), Burke had 100,321 takeoffs and landings in 2000. By 2010, that number was down to 53,987. Last year, 2017, it had basically dropped off to 38,571. So between 2000 and 2017, Burke’s fl ight numbers have dropped by 62 percent. Those are striking numbers made even more striking by this fact: About a third of those 38,571 takeoffs and landings are for the pilot fl ight schools located at Burke, which has nothing to do with business, travel or shipping of goods. During that same time period, Hopkins and the Cuyahoga County Airport in Richmond Heights also saw significant declines. According to ATADS, Hopkins had 331,899 operations in 2000 and 122,392 in 2017. The Cuyahoga County Airport dropped from 65,177 to 20,106 in that same period. To put it another way, the three airports in Cuyahoga County had 497,397 takeoffs and landings in 2000 and 181,069 in 2017. That means 361,328 fewer planes landed in this area last year than in 2000, so the argument that Burke is needed as a “reliever” airport for Hopkins for when it gets too busy — a guffaw-inducing excuse Frank Jackson has trotted

out time and time again — is a strange interpretation of basic numbers. One more small, but relevant, number has changed as well. The location of Burke Lakefront Airport in downtown Cleveland might have had some time advantages in 1970, when the city population was 750,000 and about double what it is now. Less population means less traffic, and the downtown airport has less advantages on the time scale than it once did. Driving time from Burke to Public Square is eight minutes, but from Hopkins to Public Square is only 17 minutes. The car time from Burke to the Cleveland Clinic’s main campus near University Circle is 16 minutes, while Hopkins to the Cleveland Clinic comes in at 20 minutes. This is not to diminish the advantages of short travel times. Sitting in a car for several hours instead of several minutes can be a difference maker. But that is not the case here. The differences are in minutes. Which brings us to the last point. One of the excuses used by Burke proponents is that University Hospitals and the Cleveland Clinic use Burke for the transportation

of organs for transplant purposes. It is implied that patients will die if Burke is closed, because the organs will not be transplantable if the travel is too long between their surgical recovery and placing them in the bodies of the living. A big problem with that argument? Organs last somewhere between four and 24 hours after recovery, depending on which ones you’re talking about, and the difference in travel time between Hopkins, Burke and the County airport to UH or the Cleveland Clinic is about eight minutes. And speaking of transplants, there was some speculation that Cleveland might offer up Burke to get Amazon to move their secondary headquarters here. That speculation was preposterous on so many levels. The biggest problem is that in order to give Amazon the 450-acre Burke property as their new relocation campus space, the airport would have to be closed first by the Federal Aviation Administration. The FAA does close airports, but it often takes many years to do so. Would Amazon jump in as Cleveland’s new economic partner — and cast aside the other cities to do so — if the land Cleveland was

offering was not available until the feds said it was cool? I think we all know the answer to that. And speaking of the FAA …

The FAA Lie “The FAA won’t let you close the airport, so why bother trying.” It’s been said for decades when talking about Burke, an adage trotted out by naysayers and politicians. “Give me a break; that is a loser attitude,” said Robert Simons, an urban planning professor at Cleveland State University. “The attitude is that we have way too much development, so why try? Most every city in the country would be excited about having space like this, but people in Cleveland refuse to get excited about this? That is pathetic.” Simons’ view is echoed often, but only privately. It’s why the vast majority of Cleveland — be they council members, hospital nurses, pothole fillers, lawyers or media members — all trot out the same reason Burke can never close: “We can’t do it because the FAA won’t let us.” That has a little bit of truth to it, but the key word is “little.”

“The first thing that happens when cities request that their airport be closed is that the FAA says no,” says Ronald Price, the principal with QED Consultants, a Florida-based aviation consulting business that advises cities and counties on their aviation business, including how to close up airports if that is good for the local government. Price’s company worked for the city of St. Clair, Missouri, which got the FAA to close its city-owned airport last November. That airport, which had fewer flights than Burke, is about 50 miles west of St. Louis, and the city thought the 150 acres along Interstate 44 could be more useful for development than for the occasional plane. So about 10 years ago, they started to explore closing. “After the FAA told them no, the city of St. Clair did research, on how the flights had declined, the way they could use the land economically better, how much the airport was costing the city, and why closing it would not affect other airports nearby adversely,” Price says. “Sounds like Burke airport a bit, doesn’t it?” Price said that after they prepared their research, the FAA said, “Maybe.” The St. Clair mayor

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| clevescene.com | April 4 - 10, 2018

17

FEATURE

Is it time to close Burke Lakefront Airport?

and council then asked Missouri politicians — the governor, the two U.S. senators, and U.S. House members — to get on board. Backroom talks between Congress, the city and the FAA then put the closing of the airport in play, and Sen. Claire McCaskill introduced a bill in 2014 “to release the city of St. Clair from all restrictions, conditions and limitations on the use, encumbrance, conveyance and closure of the St. Clair Regional Airport.” That bill, passed by both House and Senate, was signed by Pres. Barack Obama in 2014. The airport closed for good in November 2017. A similar type of closing occurred at Blue Ash Airport 16 miles northeast of downtown Cincinnati in 2012. The 250-acre airport opened in 1921 and had seen its aviation usage decline over time. The airport was owned by the city of Cincinnati, and it sold half of the airport to the suburb of Blue Ash for a park and the rest to private developers for housing and other projects. The airport traffic there was absorbed at other local airports in the Cincinnati area. “It is not easy to get the FAA to approve airport closures,” says Peter Kirsch, a Washington, D.C., lawyer specializing in aviation law and policy. “But if Cleveland wants to, it can more than likely prove that Burke costs too much money to

18

remain open, has better economic use, and that the flight operations can be handled elsewhere.” “And remember,” Kirsch says, “the FAA does what Congress tells it to do. So if the Ohio delegation expresses to the FAA it wants Burke closed, things start to move. But it has to start with the mayor of Cleveland. Nothing gets done unless he wants to get things started.” Two hurdles: Airports get grants from the FAA, and as part of the acceptance of those grant, the airport owner (in this case the city of Cleveland), usually agrees to stay open for 20 years after the last grant was received, and to pay back those grants to the FAA if the airport does close. The FAA says it has given Burke about $23 million since 1982, including some grants last year. Does that mean Burke cannot close until 2037 and Cleveland has to pay $23 million to do so? The answer is murky, but certainly not set in stone. The first part is that the grants are amortized, meaning the amount owed for a $10 million grant from 2010 will be less than for a $10 million grant from 2017. Most think the $23 million in grants to Burke are really worth about $10 to $15 million, and given that Burke costs the city about $1.5 to $2 million to operate annually, some think the FAA grant money payment is actually a way to save

| clevescene.com | April 4 - 10, 2018

money in the long run. As far as not being able to close until 2037: If Cleveland starts now, that can be negotiated by Congress, and the 20 years is, more often than not, a starting point from which the FAA can move downward. Of the dozens of airports closed by the FAA in the past few decades, none took 20 years to go from the point of seeking permission to the point of closure. More often than not, the period was in the seven to 10 year range. Congress can take care of those things, as Missouri’s McCaskill did for St. Clair. “The case for the FAA to permit the city of Cleveland to close Burke is much stronger than any of the recent closures because of lack of use,” said Robert Poole, director of transportation policy at Reason. “That is very obvious. The ability to absorb those flights at other airports, and the market value of the reuse of those 450 acres, would be a good mix that the FAA would have a hard time saying no to. And even if the FAA wanted all $23 million from the grants they gave to Burke, the sale of parts of those 450 acres for private development would dwarf what they would have to pay back to the FAA.” Poole also said to look at Santa Monica Airport in California: It’s recently announced closure is proof that closing a big city urban airport is something the FAA is now open to.

The Santa Monica Airport is less than 10 miles from Los Angeles International Airport and, between them, those two had almost five times as much air traffic last year (777,000) as Burke and Hopkins had (160,000). Santa Monica has been working on closing the airport for about 10 years, and in 2017 the FAA agreed to let them do so, effective in 2028. The reasoning? The city thought the 250 acres would be better for the city as a park, and that the neighboring glut of airports in Southern California could easily handle the flights. “This is a historic day for Santa Monica,” Santa Monica mayor Ted Winterer said in the announcement about a year ago. “After decades of work to secure the health and safety of our neighborhoods, we have regained local control of airport land. We now have certainty that the airport will close forever and future generations of Santa Monicans will have a great park.” In 2014, Cleveland mayor Frank Jackson was asked by former city council member Zack Reed about whether the city might want to close Burke for lakefront real estate development. His answer? “There are between 75,000 and 80,000 landings and takeoffs at Burke every year … alternative use for redevelopment at this time is not realistic.” There was a big problem with Jackson’s comments. And not for

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whether Burke is well suited for “alternative use for redevelopment” either. Burke hadn’t had 75,000 to 80,000 takeoffs and landings since 2005. In reality, Burke had 54,000 fl ights in 2013. (And that number could easily be absorbed by Hopkins and the county airport, experts say.) He was 30 percent off. Nothing against Mayor Jackson on this. It’s how people are. If you have no intention of considering closing an airport like Burke, no consideration that maybe 450 acres of prime lakefront property in downtown Cleveland might be a city game changer if done right, then there is no reason to have the latest facts correct. Because the facts really don’t matter. Cleveland attorney Richard Knoth shakes his head at how the city of Cleveland has handled this issue. As a former port authority board member, Knoth has been studying Burke’s land use for more than a decade, and he is surprised the city has been able to bury the closing of Burke as an issue for so long. “The flights have been declining for almost 20 years and no one thinks that is relevant?” Knoth asked. “There is not a long-term approach to leadership in this city, and that really explains why this asset is so underutilized. The FAA could not contest this, because the numbers for closing it are there. To think otherwise is to ignore the facts.”

Not Just a Reasonable Conversation, But a Necessary One In the long run, the main issue here is whether the city should do a study to lay out the pros and cons of closing versus keeping the airport open. In the past, the city has tended to pay for studies that predict future growth and to keep Burke open. In 1999, a study predicted Burke would have 132,000 flights by 2017. Another study in 2007 said Burke would have 90,000 flight by 2016, even though the numbers had fallen between 2000 and 2006. Both studies suggested the city would need more hangers and new runways to keep up with the big growth, and that closing Burke would mean the region would lose $81 million in economic impact because of the closure. Longtime Cleveland State University urban planning

professor Norm Krumholz sees it differently now. “I don’t think there is any question that this is a good location for development, although either the mayor’s position or the FAA position is likely enough to keep it open as an airport,” he told Scene. “But what is reasonable is to do an economic analysis of the comparative benefits of it remaining an airport or closing it and building on it. It is very reasonable to request to have that done at this time. And that includes the cost of each, the estimated cost of redevelopment versus the cost of maintaining it. And then a political decision can be made. That request is not only reasonable, it is necessary on this subject right now.” Ohio State University professor Ned Hill sees things the same way. “We might find out there are problems with building on some part of the 450 acres, and no problems on other parts,” he said. “We might find out that there are some national real estate developers who think this is a great investment. And we might find out there is little market for a mixed-use development in Cleveland right now, and that a big park is all it could be. But we don’t know what the answers to all those questions are until we look at them in a smart and open-minded way.” That open-minded attitude is all that most are asking for right now. Burke does have a small passenger service that flies a small number of passengers to Cincinnati each week, and it might be good to know if that passenger service has a growth potential that makes it worthwhile. One the other side of the coin, the city needs to quit lying about how important Burke is to the city economy. For example, Cleveland officials said Burke was going to draw extra flights into Cleveland during the Republican National Convention, the World Series, and the three NBA Finals. But the numbers say the opposite: The flights into Burke were fewer during those specials events than they were in the same months in previous years. At the very least, Mayor Jackson can be honest, solicit a comprehensive study, and then, as Krumholz says, make a political decision based on the results. In the meantime, professor Hill has a suggestion. “I say we should just close it on our own and build a Scottish links golf course,” he says. “We can play golf while the FAA sorts it all out. Might be the best way to handle this.”

scene@clevescene.com t@clevelandscene

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GET OUT everything you should do this week Photo by Joseph Llanes

WED

04/04

MUSIC

Chamber Music in the Galleries This monthly concert series at the Cleveland Museum of Art places young musicians from the Cleveland Institute of Music and Case Western Reserve University in the CMA galleries. Now in its sixth season, the series features “mixed programs of chamber music” for “a unique and intimate experience.” The concert begins at 6 and lasts for about an hour. Admission is free. (Jeff Niesel) 11150 East Blvd., 216-421-7350, clevelandart.org. FILM

Cleveland International Film Festival Opening Night The 42nd iteration of the Cleveland International Film Festival will kick off tonight with a screening of Nick Kelly’s The Drummer and the Keeper, a fi lm about a young drummer with bipolar disorder who befriends a 17-year-old with Asperger’s Syndrome. The fi lm stars Dermot Murphy, Jacob McCarthy, and Peter Coonan. Kelly and producer Kate McColgan, as well as actors Murphy and McCarthy, will attend the opening-night screening. Tickets are $225 per person ($200 for CIFF members). The evening includes the 7 p.m. screening of the fi lm at Connor Palace followed by a reception in the KeyBank State Theatre. (Niesel) 1615 Euclid Ave., 877-304-3456, clevelandfi lm.org.

Richie Sambora and Orianthi will perform at the Rock Hall. See: Saturday.

Knight, who’s written nine books on Cleveland sports, talks about the making of the movie Major League. (Niesel) 1148 Main Ave., 216-242-1250, musicboxcle.com.

SPOKEN WORD

Cleveland Stories Dinner Parties Cleveland Stories Dinner Party is a weekly series that pairs fi ne food with storytelling. Through it, the folks at Music Box Supper Club hope to raise awareness of the mission of the Western Reserve Historical Society’s new Cleveland History Center. The goal of the Cleveland Stories Dinner Party is to “bring to life some of the fun, interesting stories about Cleveland’s past — from sports, to rock ’n’ roll, to Millionaires’ Row,” as it’s put in a press release. Admission is free, with no cover charge, although a prix fi xe dinner, designed to complement the night’s theme, is $20. Doors open at 5 p.m., dinner is served at 6, and the storytelling starts at 7. Tonight, Jonathan

THEATER

Fifth of July A play by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Lanford Wilson, Fifth of July focuses on a veteran who gathers with his family in rural Missouri to ring in Independence Day. A family squabble breaks out, setting off emotional “fireworks.” This production introduces the joint Case Western Reserve University and Cleveland Playhouse masters degree acting program’s class of 2020. Tonight’s performance takes place at 7:30 at the Helen Rosenfeld Lewis Bialosky Lab Theatre. Performances continue through April 7. Tickets are $15 to $20. (Niesel) 1407 Euclid Ave, 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org.

SPOKEN WORD

Keep Talking Keep Talking is an exciting storytellers program where locals can share their real-life experiences on a theme. The monthly series offers attendees the chance to grab a drink and a dog while listening to some of their Cleveland neighbors tell tall tales. The theme for tonight’s storytelling is “My First,” and the hosts are Adam Richard and Zachariah Durr. The program starts at 7:30 p.m. sharp at the Happy Dog. Admission is $5. Want to be a storyteller at a future session? See details on the website. (Niesel) 5801 Detroit Ave., 216-651-9474, happydogcleveland.com. THEATER

Macbeth Tonight at 7:30 at the Hanna Theatre, Great Lakes Theatre presents its take on Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the playwright’s famous tragedy about a power-hungry

Scottish general. The play’s theme about the dangers of political ambition seems particularly relevant in this day and age. Performances continue at the Hanna through April 15. Tickets are $15 to $80. (Niesel) 2067 East 14th St., 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org.

THU

04/05

SPORTS

Cavaliers vs. Washington Wizards Even without the services of terrific guard John Wall, who had knee surgery and is on the DL, the Washington Wizards are one of the Eastern Conference’s better teams. The playoff-caliber Wizards should give the new-look Cavs a worthy challenge when the two teams face off tonight at 8 at the Q. Doors open at 6:30. Tickets start at $41. (Niesel) 1 Center Court, 216-420-2000, theqarena.com. | clevescene.com | April 4 - 10, 2018

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GET OUT COMEDY

Gary Gulman In a routine he delivered last year on Conan, comedian Gary Gulman talked about how he recently viewed a documentary fi lm about how the states fi rst received their abbreviations. He explains how the post office assembled “a crack squad of abbreviators” to take all 50 states down to two letters. His funny account of the fi lm shows off his astute storytelling abilities. Gulman performs tonight at 8 at Hilarities, where he has shows scheduled through Saturday. Tickets are $23 to $28. (Niesel) 2035 East Fourth St., 216-241-7425, pickwickandfrolic.com.

two years. Now it’s regarded as a cult classic. The French anti-war fi lm King of Hearts also screens tonight at 9:35. Performance makes a second appearance at 9:05 tomorrow night, and King of Hearts screens again tomorrow night at 7. Consult the website for admission prices. (Niesel) 11610 Euclid Ave., 216-421-7450, cia.edu.

SCHEDULE

THEATER

Marat/Sade Marat/Sade, the fi nal production of the CSU Theatre season, features a “play within a play” that relies upon theater, song, dance, mime and puppets. Set inside the Charenton Mental Asylum after the French Revolution, the play centers on the Marquis de Sade (played by associate professor of theater Michael Mauldin) and revolutionary leader Jean Paul Marat. It addresses “the exploration of political change, the use of violence to bring about that change, and the nature of life and death.” Tonight’s performance takes place at 7:30 at the Outcalt Theatre, where performances continue through Sunday, April 15. Tickets are $10. (Niesel) 1501 Euclid Ave., 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org.

FRI

in the league, so a return to the playoffs seems likely. The teams plays its fi rst home game of the year today at 4:10 p.m. when it takes on the Kansas City Royals at Progressive Field for the start of a 10-game homestand. Tickets sold out instantly, but you can still buy them via ticket brokers. Or you can just come downtown to celebrate opening day at one of the local

ALL FILMS START AT 7 PM | ROCK HALL’S FOSTER THEATER

3/7 3/21 5/2 5/16 5/30 6/6

WED.

WED.

WED.

WED.

WED.

WED.

Lady Gaga: Five Foot Two 2017 • 1 hour, 40 minutes • TV-MA

What Happened, Miss Simone? 2015 • 1 hour, 41 minutes • Not Rated, Courtesy of Eagle Rock Entertainment

Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World 2017 • 1 hour, 43 minutes • Not Rated Who the F**k is That Guy? The Fabulous Journey of Michael Alago 2017 • 1 hr, 25 minutes • TV-MA

Head 1968 • 1 hour, 26 minutes • G

Purple Rain 1984 • 1 hour, 51 minutes • R

04/06

FILM

Cleveland Cult Film Festival 9 During the Cleveland International Film Festival, the Cleveland Institute of Art Cinematheque cuts back its schedule and only screens fi lms on Fridays and Saturdays. Those days make up the Cinematheque’s annual Cleveland Cult Film Festival. Now in its ninth year, the festival kicks off tonight with a 7:30 screening of Performance, the 1970 Nicolas Roeg/Donald Cammell fi lm that stars Rolling Stones’ singer Mick Jagger as a former rock star who becomes infatuated with a criminal. Because of all the sex and drugs, it originally received an X rating, and Warner Bros. shelved the psychedelic psychodrama for nearly

24

Members FREE w/RSVP • Non-Members $5.50 1100 Rock and Roll Boulevard, Cleveland, OH 44114 | rockhall.com | 216.781.ROCK

of the Emmy-winning Jay Leno’s Garage. Leno brings his hilarious standup show to the State Theatre tonight at 8. Musician David Luning opens. Tickets are $35 to $100. (Matthew Poshedley) 1519 Euclid Ave., 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org. NIGHTLIFE

Mix: Philosophy The fi rst Friday of each month, the Cleveland Museum of Art hosts its popular Mix at CMA event. The museum stays open later than normal for the occasion, which features dance, drink and a themebased program. Tonight’s theme is Philosophy, and the museum encourages patrons to “have a think” and grab a drink in honor of #Rodin100 — the 100th anniversary of “The Thinker” sculptor Auguste Rodin’s death, and the title of a current museum exhibit of the same name. Tickets are $10 in advance, or $15 at the door. CMA members get in for free. The party runs from 6 to 10 p.m. (Niesel) 11150 East Blvd., 216-421-7350, clevelandart.org. SPORTS

Monsters vs. San Antonio Rampage In one of the last homestands of the year, the Cleveland Monsters take on the San Antonio Rampage tonight at 7 at the Q. The fi rst 10,000 fans receive a Monsters reusable grocery tote bag, courtesy of Discount Drug Mart. The two teams face off again at 3 p.m. on Sunday at the Q. That game is a Puck and Paws event, and you can bring your dog to the game with the purchase of a $5 dog ticket. Also, the fi rst 2,500 kids age 14 and under will receive a Monsters beach towel, and the fi rst 2,500 kids 12 and under receive a Castaway Bay Kids Day Pass. There will also be $6 Monsters kids meals (hot dog, chips, and a soda) and a postgame skate. Tickets start at $10. (Niesel) 1 Center Court, 216-420-2000, theqarena.com.

SAT

04/07

MUSIC OPENING DAY!

Indians vs. Kansas City Royals Last year’s season ended on a disappointing note for the Cleveland Indians, who lost to the New York Yankees in the playoffs. This year, the Tribe has retooled a bit; catcher Carlos Santana signed a huge contract with the Phillies, and the Tribe picked up Yonder Alonso to take his place. The Indians still have some of the best pitching

| clevescene.com | April 4 - 10, 2018

watering holes. The two teams play each other again on Saturday and Sunday. (Niesel) 2401 Ontario St., 216-420-4487, clevelandindians.com. COMEDY

Jay Leno Jay Leno made millions laugh for years on The Tonight Show. Since “retiring,” he’s been a best-selling author, voice-over artist and host

Celebration Day The official kickoff to Rock Week at the Rock Hall, Celebration Day 2018 features free admission to the Rock Hall. There will be live music, family activities, new exhibits, educational programs, a Bon Jovi album listening session, food trucks and fi lm screenings. Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora will perform with his band RSO (Richie Sambora and Orianthi) at 8 p.m. The

day will conclude with a massive fireworks show at 9 p.m. Consult the website for a complete schedule of the day’s events. (Niesel) 1100 Rock and Roll Blvd., 216-515-8444, rockhall.com. FILM

Dan Savage’s Hump! Film Festival Several years ago, syndicated sex columnist Dan Savage launched Hump!, a film festival designed to challenge his Pacific Northwest readers to “get their hands dirty” and create “good, old-fashioned homemade porn.” The results ran the gamut, representing straight, gay and transgender porn, made by amateurs. Until recently, HUMP!’s screenings were limited to the Pacific Northwest. Now a traveling fest, Hump! features porn that, as Savage says, takes people out of their comfort zones. Straight people watch gay porn, and gay people watch straight porn. “The whole festival is a celebration of sexual diversity,” Savage has said. Some 21 films made the cut this year. Screenings take place at 7 and 9:30 tonight at the Capitol Theatre. Tickets are $20. (Niesel) 1390 West 65th St., 216-651-7295, clevelandcinemas.com. NIGHTLIFE

Organ Grinders Ball 23 Billed as the “longest running fetish event in the United States,” the Organ Griders Ball has been a Cleveland staple for years. This year’s edition, which takes place tonight at 9 at House of Blues, promises to include a fetish fashion show and an extensive vendor village. There will even be fetish equipment that you can try out for “voluntary play.” Admission is $25, cash only at the door. (Niesel) 308 Euclid Ave., 216-523-2583, houseofblues.com. FILM

Rocky Horror Picture Show It’s the first Saturday of the month again, so tonight the Cedar Lee Theatre hosts a midnight screening of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, the 1975 cult classic that still draws an exuberant, costumed crowd that likes to throw rice and dry toast and sing along to the songs in the movie. Tickets are $9.50. (Niesel) 2163 Lee Rd., Cleveland Heights, 440-528-0355, clevelandcinemas.com. BOOKS

Voices From the Rust Belt Launch Party The Cleveland launch of Voices from the Rust Belt, a book edited by Belt

Publishing founder Anne Trubek, takes place at 7:30 tonight at the Happy Dog. The Cleveland stop on a 10-city tour to promote the book, tonight’s party will include readings by five of the book’s contributors. The Cleveland-based essays in the volume cover topics such as busing, the city’s Muslim population, Northeast Ohio sprawl, Lakewood and art walks. Books will be available for purchase. (Niesel) 5801 Detroit Ave., 216-651-9474, happydogcleveland.com.

SUN

04/08

Wednesday

Darts and $1 Sliders

Upcoming Events:

COMEDY

Cleveland Improv Jam The Angry Ladies of Improv has hosted the Cleveland Improv Jam for almost seven years now. A few years back, Scene described the show as “fierce, formidable and very funny.” The women have some serious experience too. Katie WhiteSonby is an actress who’s performed at Clague Playhouse, Karamu and Kennedy’s Cabaret. Marjorie Preston is an alumna of Something Dada and Rockwell 9 improvisational comedy troupes. The event begins with a short-form set of improv games, followed by a long-form improv set. It begins at 5 p.m. at Coffee Phix. Arrive early if you want to sign up and perform. Admission is free. (Niesel) 4485 Mayfield Rd., South Euclid, 216-381-5706, coffeephixcafe.com.

Thursday STAND-UP COMEDY OPEN MIC Hosted by Gary Graham Sign-up at 7:30pm Show Starts at 8:00pm

04/09

Taryn & Special Bartender Stoplight Party with

Friday AYCE FISH FRY

KY wrestling & body paint. (starts at 8:00)

38107 Second Street Willoughby, OH 44094

MUSIC

Harp & Heels Classically trained harpist Calvin Stokes and soprano Laura Pedersen make up the duo Harp & Heels — we suspect he’s the “harp” and she’s the “heels.” The duo has been very successful, soloing with bigname orchestras and performing at Carnegie Hall and internationally acclaimed opera houses. Tonight at 7, they’ll perform at Music Box Supper Club. Expect to hear classical, jazz, country, Broadway tunes and pop. Tickets are $40 in advance, or $45 the day of the show. (Niesel) 1148 Main Ave., 216-242-1250, musicboxcle.com.

MON

04/09

COMEDY

Hollywood Babble-On Director/actor Kevin Smith and actor/radio host Ralph Garman come to House of Blues tonight for their Hollywood Babble-On show, which takes a comedic look

(440) 602-9780 Monday:

Jamo, Pizza Mug Specials after 7PM Wednesday:

20¢ Wing Night Thursday:

Lyric Master

ANDERSON’S Sports Pub & Eatery

6082 Andrews Rd., Mentor-on-the-Lake, Ohio | 440-290-7805 visit us at: www.Andersons.pub

TUESDAY HOPPY HOUR- $2 TACOS, TALLS, & JAMO, $1 OFF CRAFT Now booking special events! Bring the office for a complimentary after work party

| clevescene.com | April 4 - 10, 2018

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CELEBRATING THE 33RD ANNUAL

INDUCTION EREMONY C

YOUR CLASS OF 2018 INDUCTEES ARE: PERFORMER CATEGORY: The Cars

Bon Jovi

Dire Straits Award for Early Influence:

Sister Rosetta Tharpe

The Moody Blues

R

Nina Simone

ock week kicks off the celebration of the 33rd annual rock & roll hall of fame induction ceremony, and in the rock & roll city, the rock hall, city of cleveland, inductees, partners, fan clubs, members and local organizations are helping the rock hall amplify its mission to engage, teach and inspire through the power of rock and roll with events around town. Here’s the complete rundown of official rock week events.

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| clevescene.com | April 4 - 10, 2018

FRIDAY, APRIL 6 CIFF: BAD REPUTATION N FILM SCREENING Documentary spotlighting Inductee Joan Jett, 7:30pm

MONDAY, APRIL 9 THROUGH SATURDAY, APRIL 14 STORIES OF ROCK, INDUCTEE & ALBUM SPOTLIGHTS

SATURDAY, APRIL 7

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11

CELEBRATION DAY

AUTHOR SERIES WITH GAYLE WALD Shout, Sister, Shout!: The Untold Story of Rock-and-Roll Trailblazer Sister Rosetta. 7pm, FREE with RSVP

10am to 11pm Sponsored byy Greater Cleveland Partnership, Downtown Cleveland Alliance and Medical Mutual.

•

Live music featuring RSO (Richie Sambora + Orianthi) and Wesley Bright & the Honeytones

• • • • •

FREE Admission New exhibits Bon Jovi album listening Film screenings Rock N Roll Fireworks Show (9pm). A live audio simulcast of the fireworks show can be heard on 106.5FM The Lake.

THURSDAY, APRIL 12 CITY CLUB Silent No More: #MeToo and the Music Industry, 12pm, City Club FILM SCREENING: DAYS OF FUTURE PASSED LIVE all day, included with Rock Hall admission HALL OF FAME SERIES INTERVIEW WITH THE MOODY BLUES 8pm, FREE with Rock Hall admission (limited capacity)

SATURDAY, APRIL 14 RED CARPET LIVE STREAM 5:30-7:30pm 33rd ROCK & ROLL HALL OF FAME INDUCTION CEREMONY, Presented by KLIPSCH AUDIO 7:30pm, Public Auditorium INDUCTION SIMULCAST PARTY 7:30 pm (Doors at 6:30pm) Sponsored b byy Fat Head’s Brewery, Great Lakes Brewing Company, Magic Hat Brewing Company, Tito’s Handmade Vodka, Pepsi, Medical Mutual andDowntown Cleveland Alliance.

INDUCTION AFTER-PART WITH DJ QUESTLOVE 11pm Doors, House of Blues

Visit for event times & details rockhall.com/rockweekcle

Events at Rock Hall unless otherwise noted

What’s going on downtown and around Cleveland LIVE MUSIC SATURDAY, APRIL 7 Music Box Supper Club • E5C4P3: Journey Tribute

• A Tribute to Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Inductees Past & Present w/ Chris Allen and Friends Wild Eagle Saloon • Dueling Piano Party – Inductee edition SATURDAY, APRIL 14 Public Square • Songs of Nina Simone w/Afi Scruggs • Songs of Sister Rosetta Tharpe w/ Diana Chittester • Moving in Stereo: The Cars tribute band Agora • The Darkness Touch Supper Club • A tribute to Nina Simone

Music Box Supper Club • Stevie Wonder Tribute – The Reid Project

EVENTS & OFFERS Great Lakes Science Center • America’s Musical Journey in the DOME Theater Hilton Cleveland Downtown • Inductee-themed specials in all bars and restaurants Table 45 A Zack Bruell restaurant

• Inductee-inspired menu & live music by Nate Jones

Photos by Janet Macoska

THURSDAY APRIL 12 Flats East Bank • Punch Bowl Social Diana Chittester • Big Bang Dueling Piano Bar Free cover! • Beerhead Bar & Eatery – Inductee BINGO & beer tap takeover • Aloft • Coastal Taco • Lago • Magnolia • Collision Bend • Dante’s Inferno • Thirsty Dog

FRIDAY APRIL 13 E. 4th Street Party Presented by Tito’s Handmade Vodka - 3 Outdoor Live Bands - Specials at Participating Venues • Pickwick and Frolic • House of Blues • Society Lounge • Flannery’s • Corner Alley • Erie Island • Zocalo • Butcher & Brewer • Wonder Bar • Chinato House of Blues Restaurant & Bar Stage • Blues Chronicles Music Box Supper Club • Nitebridge w/Colin Dussault: Van Morrison Tribute

| clevescene.com | April 4 - 10, 2018

27

GET OUT at showbiz news while biting the hand that feeds them. Smith, the director of movies such as Clerks, Mallrats and Dogma , suffered a massive heart attack during a comedy show in late February. After a couple days in the hospital, Silent Bob took to Twitter to tell the world he was feeling great. Garman is best known as the host of The Joe Schmo Show and his voice work on Family Guy. He also appeared in Smith movies such as Tusk and Yoga Hosers. Doors open at 7 p.m., and the show starts at 8 p.m. Tickets are $30 to $45. (Poshedley) 308 Euclid Ave., 216-523-2583, houseofblues.com. SPORTS

Indians vs. Detroit Tigers How the mighty have fallen. Back in 2014, the Tigers clinched their fourth consecutive AL Central Division title and went to the playoffs. They haven’t been to the playoffs since, and last year’s team was so bad, the Tigers traded away star pitcher Justin Verlander before the season was over. The Tigers still have star Miguel Cabrera on the roster, but they’re in rebuilding mode. They come to town tonight to play the Tribe at 6:10 at Progressive Field. The two teams will face off again on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Tickets start at $15. (Niesel) 2401 Ontario St., 216-420-4487, clevelandindians.com.

E’S DAN SAVAG

E WHER

E EVERIYS ON SEXY!

IVAL FILM FEST

SPOKEN WORD

Science Cafe Tonight, and the second Monday of every month, Music Box Supper Club hosts Science Cafe, an informal lecture series that brings scientists from throughout the region to the club to talk about science topics. Tonight at 7, Jessica Fox, Ph.D, an assistant professor in the biology department at Case Western Reserve University, will discuss “the neuroscience of flight.” The talk is free, but bring some money for the bar and the restaurant. (Niesel) 1148 Main Ave., 216-242-1250, musicboxcle.com.

CAPITOL THEATRE

April 7th CLEVELAND

SHOW TIMES & TIC K ETS AT

#open

| clevescene.com | April 4 - 10, 2018

TUE

04/10

THEATER

The Humans Part of this year’s KeyBank Broadway Series, Stephen Karam’s The Humans takes place over the course of a Thanksgiving family dinner. Typically, a family get-together turns into a serious meditation on values and tradition, mostly focused on religion. The play won the 2016 Tony Award for Best Play. Tonight’s performance takes place at 7:30 at Connor Palace. Tickets are $10, and the play’s run continues until April 29. (Niesel) 1615 Euclid Ave., 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org. MUSIC

Vinyl Night Jukebox owner Alex Budin has described his 1,350-squarefoot music-focused bar in the Hingetown ’hood as “a place where people can expect to hear and learn about music of multiple genres, all of which is concentrated in a constantly evolving jukebox.” The club hosts a vinyl night every Tuesday that serves as a listening party for new releases, partnering with Loop in Tremont, so patrons can hear a new album on vinyl. You can bring your own vinyl and spin it too. It all starts at 5 p.m. Happy hour runs until 9, and discount prices on apps apply until 7. (Niesel) 1404 West 29th St., 216-206-7699, jukeboxcle.com.

MUSIC

HUMPFILMFEST.COM 28

event at the B-Side Liquor Lounge that allows patrons to choose from “an unlimited selection of jams from hip-hop to hard rock.” Participants are encouraged to “be as bad as you want.” Fueled by drink and shot specials, it all goes down tonight at 10 p.m. (Niesel) 2785 Euclid Hts. Blvd., Cleveland Heights, 216-932-1966, bsideliquorlounge.com.

Shit Show Karaoke Local rapper/promoter Dirty Jones and Scene’s own Manny Wallace host Shit Show Karaoke, a weekly

scene@clevescene.com t@clevelandscene

VOTE NOW | BEST ISSUE OF THE YEAR!

A METRO MATCH-UP NE FOR THE AGES!

BEST

CLEVELAND

WEST SIDE VS EAST SIDE

BARS & CLUBS | FOOD & DRINK | PEOPLE & PLACES

APRIL 25, 2018

clevescene.com/bestof

East vs. West. It all comes down to this. After tens of thousands of votes from readers, it’s time for the best of each side of town to square off against each other for eternal bragging rights. Make your voice heard below. Voting on this final stage ends on April 13th. Winners of Scene’s Best of Cleveland 2018 will be announced on April 25th. | clevescene.com m | April 4 - 10, 2018

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STAGE A BLOODY GOOD MACBETH Great Lakes Theater stays traditional and delivers a juicy Shakespeare classic By Christine Howey EVERY NOW AND THEN, A person needs to see Macbeth. Not just because it is a great play, but because that guy named Shakespeare had an ability to create stories that resonate in every age — sometimes with startling clarity. Take Macbeth, an ambitious and immoral leader who listens attentively to the prophecies and advice spilling out of three nattering apparitions, then plans his actions based on their weird statements. There’s clearly a direct comparison between that relationship and our current POTUS and his early morning seances with the three couch-bound talking heads on “Fox & Friends.” Many of Shakespeare’s plays are effortlessly contemporary, even without the often distracting froufrou of modern set design. And happily, as with last year’s Hamlet , director Charles Fee has decided to keep big Mac anchored where it belongs in the 17th century, on a stage designed by Russell Metheny that echoes the original Globe Theatre (except for the smooth hydraulic trapdoors). Plus some audience members are seated on the stage in two alcoves, close enough to get some fake blood on their shirt sleeves. Now at Great Lakes Theater, this trot through the gore and treachery of Macbeth relies on Lynn Robert Berg in the title role. And that faith is not misplaced, as Berg thrashes about admirably, when tormented by doubt early on and then when his vengeful rage asserts itself even more fully in Act 2. Berg is complemented with wicked intent by Erin Partin, whose Lady Macbeth bubbles as fiercely as the witches’ caldron with plots and suspicions. The two of them fashion a ferocious, molten core at the center of this production, and their scenes are by far the most fully realized. One has to wonder, however, why longtime GLT actor Andrew May, who has been gone for several years, is relegated to being one of the interchangeable Scottish Nobles (Lennox or Ross, take your pick). May was very recently hamstrung

30

Photo by Roger Mastroianni

by being the virtually unmoving victim in a fl awed production of Misery at GLT, and now here is this extraordinary actor holding up scenery in Macbeth. Seems like a waste of prodigious talent. In any case, this company of professionals creates a Macbeth that is frequently powerful and transporting. The witches (Laura Welsh Berg, Jodi Dominick and Meredith Lark), arrayed in voluminous black cloaks and equipped with weaponized walking sticks, skitter about like images from a particularly disturbing nightmare. Their effect on Macbeth and the audience is palpable. Also excellent are David Anthony Smith as King Duncan, Jonathan

adds a chuckle or two as Seyton, Macbeth’s attendant. When he delivers the Porter’s soliloquy as a series of knock-knock jokes, you laugh and cringe since the drunken servant’s imaginings of Macbeth’s gate as the gateway to hell isn’t far off the mark. The one place where this production falls short of the mark is in making many of the interstitial scenes as accessible as they could be. There is always a tendency with Shakespeare to let his gorgeous language flow, unimpeded by beats that might make the antique phrasing easier to understand for 21st century ears. But director Fee often allows scenes to ride that iambic pentameter wave, with the

MACBETH THROUGH APRIL 15 AT GREAT LAKES THEATER, HANNA THEATRE, 2067 EAST 14TH ST., 216-241-6000. GREATLAKESTHEATER.ORG

Dyrud as Mac’s best buddy Banquo, and Dominick as Lady Macduff — before each of them is killed by Macbeth in his quest for total power. It’s a more graphic version of the “terminations” occurring in our country’s governmental castle, the White House. There is precious little comic relief in this script, but Aled Davies

| clevescene.com | April 4 - 10, 2018

risk of leaving in the dust those trying to follow the dialogue. The witches’ prophecies are what power a lot of the carnage in this play, and a couple of them don’t come off as effectively as possible. Early on, Macbeth was told that he would only be defeated “when Birnam Wood comes to Dunsinane.” Mac is mollified, not

understanding that Malcolm’s troops will cut branches from the forest and use them as camoufl age as they advance. But having a couple cast members walk back and forth in a foggy mist upstage with little potted seedlings doesn’t quite capture the moment. Another prophecy is lame, and only Shakespeare is to blame. Macbeth is told that he cannot be killed because “… none of woman born shall harm Macbeth.” Seems like an airtight guarantee against murder, until it’s revealed that his arch rival Macduff (Nick Steen) was “untimely ripped” from his mother’s womb. Okay, he wasn’t technically “born” in the traditional sense, but a Caesarian procedure seems a tiny technicality on which to hang one of the greatest plays ever written. Work on that, will you Mr. S? Even while there are stretches of dialogue that are difficult to follow, this production of Macbeth — augmented by Kim Krumm Sorenson’s period costumes and Matthew Webb’s well-accented sound design — has enough blood lust and evil to satisfy old Mac friends as well as newcomers.

scene@clevescene.com t@christinehowey

MOVIES ISLE OF WES ANDERSON Stop-motion flick looks amazing, but marginalizes Japan By Sam Allard WES ANDERSON’S ARTISANALLY crafted stop-motion animated film Isle of Dogs, which opens Friday, is as pleasurable to look at as almost all of Anderson’s unique and decorative works. Like his best movies ( The Royal Tenenbaums, The Grand Budapest Hotel) Isle of Dogs delights in a large, eccentric ensemble cast and glories in meticulously designed, setting-specific tableaux. But accusations of cultural appropriation have dogged — no pun intended — the film’s reception, which has been otherwise overwhelmingly positive. The film takes place in a fictional near-future Japanese metropolis called Megasaki, and the principal characters are canines, all of whom have been banished by mayoral decree to a nearby island. We’re informed at the outset that all barks have been translated into English.

And hearing Bryan Cranston, Bill Murray, Ed Norton, Jeff Goldblum and Bob Balaban (all white males) voicing the film’s central “Alpha Dog” pack occasioned no uneasiness for me. Asian writers (and speakers of Japanese) have noted that the Japanese dialogue in the film, which is sometimes translated by a translator (Frances McDormand), is drastically simplified and often resorts to anglicized words and simplistic sentence structure to create context clues for English speakers. If this was intended as a tribute, they argue, it’s a failed one. (I thought the “translation” gag worked well in the pressconference settings but agree that using subtitles would have made more sense in others, especially as it would have facilitated a more accurate portrayal of the language.)

The bigger marginalization issue, in my viewing experience, was the character of Tracy, voiced by Greta Gerwig. She’s a foreign exchange student from Cincinnati who leads Megasaki’s protest movement against the dog decree. When the mayor’s young ward, Atari (voiced by Koyu Rankin) flies to the island to rescue his beloved guard dog, Spots (Liev Schrieber), Tracy, via her student paper, exposes a conspiracy at the heart of the dog decree. Her investigative journalism antics are a hoot, but her centrality in the people’s revolt against the administration reminded me of Avatar -style “white savior” narratives. This particular example not only marginalized Japanese characters, it also didn’t make a ton

of narrative sense. Anderson has acknowledged that the film could have taken place anywhere. What it came down to, most likely, is that he wanted to set a movie in Japan, with its rich cultural history, its lush natural and hyperactive urban backdrops, and a written language that is itself beautiful to look at. I think it’s clear that Anderson intended the film as an homage — his love of iconic Japanese filmmakers is almost as evident as his love of dogs — but I think it’s also clear that the homage fell short, and that it rightly rankles viewers of Asian descent.

sallard@clevescene.com t@scenesallard

SPOTLIGHT: JOURNEY’S END

WHEN DIRECTOR SAUL DIBB was seeking inspiration for Journey’s End, his new film based on R.C. Sherriff’s 1928 play about World War I, he looked to the sci-fi fl ick Alien rather than other war fi lms. Because the Journey’s End outcome is known (it’s inevitable the British soldiers will die after a German invasion), he sought to capture the same kind of tension you fi nd in Ridley Scott’s claustrophobic thriller. “There are no spoiler alerts in this film,” Dibb says in a recent transatlantic phone call. “We make it clear from the opening that these are 120 dead men walking. That’s the point of the film. In a way, we got rid of the three-act structure. It’s not about if this thing will happen; it’s about when it will happen. The end is told at the beginning. It’s a bit like Alien. You know there’s an alien. It’s about how these people deal with that pressure over time. And how you get to know the people.”

Set in a single trench and the bunkers near the trench, Journey’s End captures the intensity of having to defend a small strip of land under extreme circumstances. It’s gritty and dirty and intense. Dibb filmed in a real-life trench and then constructed bunkers in the dimensions of the real-life bunkers. He often simply let candles provide lighting for the scenes. “The whole process was to mirror the experience as much as possible, and shoot chronologically when we could,” explains Dibb. “We didn’t have one lighting stand in the whole set. It was the case of putting the candle close to the face if we needed more light. It made the thing live for me. The light was constantly fl ickering if people breathed or moved. If they moved the light, the wicks fl ickered and you would get a different feel.” The terrific cast includes Sam Clafl in (The Hunger Games), Asa Butterfield (Hugo), Paul Bettany (The Avengers: Age of

Ultron), Toby Jones (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy), Tom Sturridge (On the Road) and Stephen Graham (Snatch). Bettany, in particular, shines as an older officer who must rein in his right-hand man (Claflin) and appear unfazed to a teenage soldier (Butterfield) who has just joined the group. “He’s called Uncle for a reason,” says Dibb when asked about Bettany’s performance. “He has this incredible benevolent sense to him. He’s an elder statesman, and he has a calm gravitas and kindness to him. I don’t know what exactly [Bettany] was channeling, but I feel like it was something that was very close to him. He puts on a performance, which is very, very moving.” Claflin also balances his emotions as Captain Stanhope. He’s angry most of the time but occasionally shows his sensitive side. “Male anger is often seen as a one-dimensional thing, but it’s a bundle of other things,” says Dibb. “[Stanhope] didn’t arrive [angry]

like that three years before. He’s seen horrific combat conditions and suffers a bit from PTSD. He has this pressure to not be seen as cracking up when he’s out in the trenches. He becomes a kind of bullying older student. It all comes out. What [Clafl in] is doing is a complex mix of all those things.” World War I happened more than 100 years ago, and yet Journey’s End still resonates. Dibb says it’s because “the experience of warfare is pretty universal.” “It will always be universal,” he says. “We have quickly entered much more uncertain times. The possibility of confl ict seems much bigger in our country. And we shamefully and arrogantly tried to rip up allegiances that have prevented wars from happening. [The fi lm’s] relevance is in there.” — Jeff Niesel

jniesel@clevescene.com t@jniesel

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| clevescene.com | April 4 - 10, 2018

EAT FEAST FOR THE EYES When chefs and owners want a unique restaurant design, they call these local firms By Douglas Trattner “IF YOU LOOK AT ALL THE different restaurant projects we’ve done, they will all look different,” says Scott Richardson, founder and chief creative officer of Clevelandbased Richardson Design. “They are all appropriate to the brand or food type or chef or location.” Hospitality guru Danny Meyer famously said that “every restaurant needs to have a point of view,” and that point of view should be distinctive enough to tell a story, speak to the brand, and leave a positive lasting impression. That’s where firms like Richardson step in to help turn a client’s vision into reality. “It’s really about getting into the experience you want to create through interior design and sensory elements like lighting and sound,” says Richardson. “For Mabel’s, we crafted an entire story with Michael and Liz, around creating a new barbecue lexicon based around Cleveland ethnicity. There are elements in there that you may not even pick up on as a guest, but as an entirety it speaks to the nostalgia of barbecue in Cleveland.” Visual cues like a barrel-vaulted ceiling that evokes the West Side Market, a bar wrapped in the same green enamel you’d find on an old Coleman cooler at a Browns tailgate, and communal tables that conjure the convivial spirit of a backyard barbecue combine to create a oneof-a-kind, yet oddly familiar, dining experience. The folks at Cleveland-based Vocon approach restaurant design in much the same fashion, one that begins with lengthy discussions to extract a client’s motivations, aspirations and objectives. “Typically, we start with the client’s vision,” explains Jason Burick, senior project designer. “How do they plan to differentiate themselves from the rest of the crowd, because today that is the absolute biggest challenge that any restaurant has to address.” Thanks to countless design blogs and virtual bulletin boards, it’s easier than ever to create a mood board flooded with potential. But moving from concept to completion

Photo courtesy of Richardson Design

Restaurant design is about creating an experience.

is where the real work happens. “Anybody can go on Pinterest and grab four million images and say, ‘This is what we want to be,’” Burick says. “But how will that manifest itself in terms of the physical constraints of the site, the equipment, the furniture? Getting the concept down is the first step, but the next 100 steps to when they open the door is where the meat of our work lies.” These days, restaurants come in all shapes, sizes and service styles, from multi-tenant food halls to full-service, fine-dining eateries. Each one presents the designer with a unique set of challenges to deliver on a client’s goal of telling his or her story. That’s precisely what Richardson was facing when he was hired to rebrand the iconic Toledo restaurant Tony Packo’s into a fast-casual concept. “We had to evolve the brand from this 60-year-old grandma and grandpa’s Hungarian place to more of a fast-casual, millennial-type place,” he explains. “There’s a lot of great nostalgia around that brand, but we needed to repackage the story for a new generation.” Guests waiting in line can

quickly survey a selection of the restaurant’s famous autographed hot dog buns that bear the names of actors, musicians and U.S. presidents. Old photos and memorabilia speak to the restaurant’s Eastern European heritage. Even the name has been truncated to just “Packo’s” to announce a change in personality. “In full-service places you can share a lot more of the story on the menu or through a server,” notes Richardson. “At fast-casual places like this, you have to be big and bold and quick.” When it comes to sound and lighting, every diner seems to have a unique threshold for comfort. But to a designer, the goal is to create an environment where the topics don’t even come up at the dinner table. “For the most part, you don’t even want to know that there is lighting,” asserts Burick. “It’s got to be bright enough to see your food and read a menu, but darker is better when trying to create an ambiance.” Lighting should be used strategically to “create features and focal points” around elements

such as the bar, a chef’s table, artwork or architectural details. And when it comes to those restaurants that seem louder than a Motorhead concert, Burick says that you should blame the budget not the designer. “The reality is, to create an acoustical model there’s a lot of work that needs to be done prior to construction, and few clients are willing to hire an acoustical consultant, which is a large chunk of money.” Given the considerable expense of designing and building a new restaurant, a person might assume that the objective would be to create a timeless jewel that has an indefinite shelf life. “I never start off thinking that a restaurant needs to be timeless, because 99 percent of the time they aren’t,” Burick says curtly. And if the restaurant does manage to live long and prosper? “I would expect a restaurant to want to reinvent itself after 10 years, if not wholly then at least partially to recreate its identity to some degree.”

dtrattner@clevescene.com t@dougtrattner | clevescene.com | April 4 - 10, 2018

33

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| clevescene.com | April 4 - 10, 2018

COME SEPTEMBER, VISITORS TO Las Vegas will be able to enjoy the sights, smells and flavors of Cleveland — well, at least a sliver of our fair city. That’s when Michael Symon is expected to open Mabel’s BBQ, part of an ambitious $620 million renovation currently underway at the iconic Palms Casino Resort. “The re-imagination will touch virtually every aspect of the property and is expected to transform the Palms into a must see gaming and entertainment destination,” says Nicole Lando, vice president of Alison Brod Marketing and Communications. Michael Symon, a James Beard and Iron Chef winner and co-host of ABC’s The Chew, will be making his Las Vegas debut with Mabel’s, which of course will be serving the Cleveland chef’s take on barbecue. Symon joins pals Marc Vetri and Bobby Flay in the project, each of whom are opening new eateries within the resort. James Beard award-winning chef Vetri will open Vetri Cucina, which will feature his critically acclaimed Italian fare, while James Beard award-winning chef Flay will open a sushi and seafood concept.

Cleveland’s La Plaza Supermarket Expanding Its Taqueria Plaza Marketplace, home to some of the most authentic street tacos in all of Cleveland, has set its sights on expansion this year. As the food obsessed already know, no matter the time of day, the line for tacos, tortas and other Mexican delicacies in the back corner of the market is constant, and available table space sparse. Now the grocery store, opened by Adrian and Theresa Ortega in 2011, is expanding to a larger taqueria space at the front of the building. It’s set to include more indoor and outdoor seating.

Mabel’s BBQ is headed to Vegas.

La Plaza is open during construction and the new space should be open in May. For those who haven’t visited yet, besides insanely delicious tacos, the market also offers Latin-themed spices, cheeses, tortillas and a fully stocked butcher counter. The new taco stand will also offer homemade frozen fruit popsicles called paletas.

North Union Farmers Market at Shaker Square Kicks Off Outdoor Season April 7 There are many signs that spring has sprung, but few are as natural as the North Union Farmers Market at Shaker Square’s annual shift from indoors to outdoors. That shift will take place on Saturday, April 7, from 8 a.m. until noon. As is the tradition of the North Union Farmers Market at Shaker Square — aka the Shaker Market — the outdoor season will kick off with the annual blessing of the farms and farmers at 8 a.m. sharp, to be followed by the ever-popular sheep-shearing demos. This season marks the 23rd year for the long-running producersonly farmers market. This year, North Union Farmers Market’s season continues every Saturday through Dec. 22, rain or shine.

dtrattner@clevescene.com t@dougtrattner

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MUSIC THE K-POP SOUND Rappers Mad Clown and San E make their Cleveland debut at the Grog Shop By Jeff Niesel Photo courtesy of All the Best Media

SOUTH KOREAN RAPPERS MAD Clown and San E have teamed up to headline a U.S. they’ve dubbed the We Want You tour. It represents one of the most extensive K-pop tours to ever come to the States. Also known as South Korean pop music, K-pop draws from Western pop music, rock, experimental, jazz, gospel, Latin, hip-hop, R&B, reggae, EDM, folk, country and classical, in addition to traditional Korean music. In a recent phone interview from South Korea, where they were rehearsing for the tour, Mad Clown and San E, who perform with Sobae at 8 p.m. on Sunday at the Grog Shop, spoke about their respective musical influences. They’re both successful solo artists who’ve recently collaborated on tracks such as the giddy “Sour Grapes,” a song that begins with some funky guitar and then features tonguetwisting raps, and the ballad “Lonely Animals,” a tune that begins with a somber piano melody before Mad Clown and San E start exchanging rapid-fire raps. HOW MUCH EXPOSURE DID YOU HAVE TO AMERICAN HIP-HOP WHILE GROWING UP IN SOUTH KOREA? MAD CLOWN: When we started to

listen to music, hip-hop especially, it was really hard to get the CDs or find music because at the time there was no YouTube. There was internet, but it was really slow, and there was no Google. The only way we approached hip-hop was by TV. It was hard to get any influences or inspirations. Many of these popular musicians at our age had the same experience. SAN E: I pretty much grow up half my life in Korea and half in the States. When I was a little kid, I knew what rap music was, but I didn’t know what hip-hop was. I moved to Atlanta when I was 14. It’s a big city with a lot of rappers. It was natural that this music was everywhere. That’s when I first encountered hip-hop music, and this all started. TALK ABOUT WHO YOUR FAVORITE RAPPER WAS WHEN YOU WERE GROWING UP AND WHAT YOU LIKED ABOUT THEIR STYLE AND DELIVERY. MAD CLOWN: Tupac was the first

American musician I listened. It

hasn’t changed. I was singing his songs all the time. SAN E: I liked lots of rappers. I

copy his voice. I just loved the flow. His flow was just amazing. I wanted to have a voice like his.

MAD CLOWN, SAN E, SOBAE 8 P.M. SUNDAY, APRIL 8, GROG SHOP, 2785 EUCLID HEIGHTS BLVD., CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, 216-321-5588. TICKETS: $30, GROGSHOP.GS

liked Biggie and Nas. I especially loved Nas. I didn’t know what he was talking about, but I loved his voice. I tried to make my voice like his and

TALK ABOUT HOW THE TWO OF YOU TWO FIRST MET AND WHAT YOUR INITIAL IMPRESSIONS WERE OF EACH OTHER? MAD CLOWN: Before we signed to a

major label, we knew of each other but never met. When I was 10 years old, I was making my first solo album. I asked him to be a feature my song, but it didn’t happen. I contacted him first to help and feature my song. SAN E: He asked me to feature his song, and I wrote down the whole verse. He just disappeared. He was gone. MAD CLOWN: A long time after we signed with the label and got famous, we met again and we decided to make a song again. This | clevescene.com | April 4 - 10, 2018

37

MUSIC time, we wanted to do it for sure. SAN E: He didn’t disappear the second time. HOW DO YOU COMPLEMENT ONE ANOTHER? MAD CLOWN: We are both flexible.

We can adjust to each other’s styles. We also have a common taste in music. It wasn’t that hard to make a song like “Sour Grapes” and our new song, “Butterfl y.” SAN E: I like Mad Clown’s rap and music. When he was doing pure rap shit, it was awesome. He’s also so good at doing mainstream songs too. I just wanted to work with him. COULD YOU EACH TALK ABOUT WHAT INSPIRED THE SONG, “SOUR GRAPES”? MAD CLOWN: San E fi rst came up

with the topic of the lyrics and the beat and the hook. It was his idea. When I listened to it, I thought it could be a big hit on the charts. I liked the song, so we worked really fast to record it. We fi nished the song really fast. When it came out, it was a really big hit in Korea. SAN E: We wanted to make a song that was danceable and that everyone could sing along to. It’s a good song at the same time too. That was our target. It just happened. We both liked it and people liked it. It was a great moment. THE ACCOMPANYING MUSIC VIDEO IS REALLY COLORFUL. WHAT WAS IT LIKE TO MAKE THE VIDEO? MAD CLOWN: We wanted to

put some funny characters that represent the kind of flavor in our music and that’s how we came up with the funny characteristics that came out differently. When we work on our next single, “Butterfl y,” we want to keep that flavor. This new song also has the same atmosphere. SAN E: We just wanted to have some fun. In the music video, you’ll see we parody the “Hotline Bling” dance moves. “Butterfly” has the same particular flavor. It’s also fun to watch. “LONELY ANIMALS” COMES OFF AS A TENDER BALLAD. WHAT IS THAT SONG ABOUT? SAN E: “Sour Grapes” is a catchy

song and easy to listen to with funny lyrics. At the same time, we wanted to do something serious and a song how we really feel when we’re lonely and about the mental stuff. We compared ourselves to lonely animals. The lyrics represent lonely people. You think everyone else is happy, and you feel empty and lonely. MAD CLOWN: We wanted to make a song that had a completely different vibe than “Sour Grapes.”

38

| clevescene.com | April 4 - 10, 2018

WHAT WILL THE LIVE SHOW BE LIKE? SAN E: It’s going to be pretty

much, if you come, you can listen to all the songs you’ve been listening to on your cell phone, but they’ll sound so much better. It will be an hour and 30 minutes. In that moment, you’ll hear all our best songs. MAD CLOWN: We didn’t realize we had this many hit songs until we practiced together for the tour. There will be many hit songs that audiences can sing together. SAN E: If you come, there won’t be a second that will be boring. From the start to the end, it’ll be all fun. It’s an awesome opportunity. We feel blessed to have a chance like this. Not a lot of people have done this. This is pretty much the fi rst Korean artist to play this many shows. We’re really excited. TALK ABOUT THE TOUR OPENERS, SOBAE AND DJ JUICE. HOW DO YOU KNOW THEM AND WHAT DO YOU LIKE ABOUT THEIR MUSIC? MAD CLOWN: Sobae is a new up-

and-coming artist in Korea. I think she studied in the States and had a job as a reporter before. That’s her background. Her fi rst song just came out today in Korea. It’s called “Homegirl.” SAN E: She’s a rising star. She’s gotten lots of attention. I love her new song. And DJ Juice is my homeboy. When we do shows in Korea, we’re always together. We have a tight relationship. He’s down to earth and really cool. MAD CLOWN: He’s been DJing for a long time. He’s an OG, for real. K-POP HAS FINALLY STARTED TO BECOME POPULAR IN THE STATES. WHAT DO YOU THINK HAS BEEN THE KEY TO GETTING AUDIENCES OUTSIDE OF SOUTH KOREA TO EMBRACE THE MUSIC? MAD CLOWN: Unlike people our

age, people in these days have had more of a chance to approach music overseas because of Google and YouTube and Soundcloud. That’s one big reason that K-pop has gotten more attention than before. SAN E: I’m not sure what it is exactly, but there’s got to be a certain fl avor that people feel when they listen to K-pop. Lots of other countries have their own styles of music, but people focus on K-pop because it has its own flavor. It also has its own dance moves. And it’s new. Back when we were kids, we had Backstreet Boys and NSync, but you don’t have that anymore [in the States]. In Korea, we still have it [in the form of K-pop], and it’s great. It’s only from Korea.

jniesel@clevescene.com t@jniesel

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| clevescene.com | April 4 - 10, 2018

39

MUSIC PACKING A PUNCH Indie rockers Common Deer add more synths to the mix By Jeff Niesel COMMON DEER SINGERkeyboardist Sheila Hart says the music scene in the Toronto band’s hometown is great but admits it’s become “oversaturated.” In the midst of the indie rock band’s fi rst extensive U.S. tour, Hart says the band has enjoyed the enthusiastic reception it’s received from lessjaded American audiences. “From traveling to other places, people seem to appreciate live music more [than they do in Toronto],” she says via phone from a Petaluma tour stop. The band performs with Hazard Adams at 9 p.m. on Sunday at the Beachland Tavern. “In Toronto, if you look like you’re having too much fun, it’s not cool. You play a lot of rooms where people just stand there with this ‘impress me’ kind of attitude. People will just come up to the front here on this tour. In Toronto, they’ll stand so far away. It’s almost impossible to derive energy from that. It’s very satisfying to be touring down here.” The band fi rst formed a few years ago when multi-instrumentalist Adam Hart, singer-guitarist Graham McLaughlin and drummer Liam Farrell, all of whom had played together in other bands, held auditions for a new female vocalist and bassist. That’s when Sheila Hart and Liam’s brother, Connor Farrell, joined the band. Hart says singing harmony with McLaughlin was effortless from the start. “I grew up doing musical theater and choir,” says Hart. “I’m great at harmonizing with other people and fi nding that sort of blend. It just turns out that the timbre of our voices sounds very similar. They work really nicely together. Sometimes, if I can’t hear myself clearly enough in the monitors, I can’t tell if I’m listening to him or myself. For its fi rst release, last year’s EP I, the band worked with Laurence Currie (Wintersleep, Hey Rosetta!). The songs have an indie folk feel that recalls the power-pop/indie folk of New Pornographers. “EP 1 was an interesting process,” says Hart. “For us, it was defi nitely an essential process to go through. We had never recorded

40

Photo courtesy of the Syndicate

together and, for most of us, we had never recorded in that capacity. Adam and I grew up doing more classical stuff. We weren’t in bands recording things. The process took a long time.” The band had less time to spend on EP II. It spent a week in preproduction and then had to knock out the album in two weeks with producer Gus Van Go (Arkells, the Stills). “It was totally different from stretching it out over months with Laurence,” says Hart. “However, we couldn’t have done EP II in the amount of time and with the level of quality if we hadn’t worked with Laurence. He really challenged us. It was a more fast-paced experience.” Songs like “Wait!” and

not necessarily to cater to what is in vogue. As musicians, we listen to other musicians all the time. My favorite artists are artists whose catalog is very diverse in their sound. EP II moves in the direction of a very large sound. It’s just a different kind of production. It has more synths. Anytime you get synths in the mix, it will have that punch. Synths just cut through in that way.” With its fluttering synths and synthetic-sounding drums, the Pet Shop Boys-like “Gone” even has an ’80s synth-pop feel to it. “We love ’80s music,” says Hart. “[Singer-guitarist] Adam [Hart] is super informed by ’80s pop. I listen to a lot of new wave and dark wave as well.”

COMMON DEER, HAZARD ADAMS 9 P.M. SUNDAY, APRIL 8, BEACHLAND TAVERN, 15711 WATERLOO RD., 216-383-1124. TICKETS: $8 ADV, $10 DOS, BEACHLANDBALLROOM.COM

“Mistakes,” a lilting song which fi nds Hart and McLaughlin trading verses, have a bit more heft to them. Hart says the band intentionally tried to sound heavier on EP II. “EP I was more informed by folk,” she says. “We started out as an indie folk band. I would not consider us that anymore. That is a purposeful decision. I don’t listen to folk music — not that there’s anything wrong with folk. It’s more that bands go through transitions,

| clevescene.com | April 4 - 10, 2018

The lyrics aren’t political, but they address the times, and Hart says the recent U.S. presidential election informed some of the themes addressed on the album. “Whether it’s the environment or political leaders, we did it to ourselves,” Hart says. “That’s the whole point of ‘Gone.’ You can look at someone to blame, but we’ve done it to ourselves. That’s the most depressing part about it.” The aforementioned “Mistakes”

addresses the theme of living with anxiety. “For Graham and I, we spend so much of our lives worrying and making ourselves sick over things that haven’t happened yet,” Hart says. “That’s just how my brain works. I was reading some statistics about the increase of phone calls and accessing mental health [services]. We are suffering from a national mental health crisis. Young people especially are having a hard time. It comes from the crushing insecurity about the future.” Hart says the songs really come to life when the band performs them live. “I feel like we truly are a live band,” she says. “Graham moves between three different instruments. My brother moves between three different instruments. People aren’t used to seeing the stuff we do on stage. Visually, it’s a captivating thing. People tend to be surprised with the variety in the set. That’s one of the biggest pieces of feedback I’ve gotten from this tour is that people say they haven’t been to a show with so much different stuff and where the songs don’t sound the same. It’s an energetic show too. We’re all pushing each other, and no one is getting complacent. No one ever feels like they can phone it in.”

jniesel@clevescene.com scene@clevescene.com @clevelandscene t@jniesel

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| clevescene.com m | April 4 - 10, 2018

41

4422

| clevescene.com m | April 4 - 10, 2018

LIVEWIRE

all the live music you should see this week Photo by Jess Griffen

WED

04/04

Canadian Rifle/Green Meteor/Old Souls/Heart and Lung: 9 p.m., $5. Now That’s Class. Don Dietrich & Ben Hall/New Wizards (in the Apartment): 8 p.m., $10. Mahall’s 20 Lanes. Native Harrow/Marina Strah/Sarah Arafat: 8 p.m., $7 ADV, $10 DOS. Beachland Tavern. Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo: A Very Intimate Acoustic Evening: 7:30 p.m. Hard Rock Rocksino Northfield Park. Tha Writers Block Hosted by BKA Watts/Jul Big Green/Collin Miller/Istvan: 8:30 p.m., $5. Grog Shop.

THU

04/05

Bolmongani/The Hard Eight/Obnox: 9 p.m., $5. Now That’s Class. Clumsy Words /PIG /Jordan Smart/ Ceiling Fan: 8 p.m., $4 ADV, $8 DOS. The Winchester. Hot Djang! (in the Supper Club): 7 p.m., $5. Music Box Supper Club. Joe Jack Talcum and Coolzey Entertain Your Membrane (in the Locker Room): 8 p.m., $8 ADV, $10 DOS. Mahall’s 20 Lanes. LittleBoyBigHeadOnBike/Matt Hectorne/Zack Lint: 8 p.m., $4 ADV, $7 DOS. CODA. Rhett Miller/Bea: 7:30 p.m., $20 ADV, $25 DOS. Music Box Supper Club. John Raymond and Real Feels CD Release: 7:30 p.m., $15. Bop Stop. Suicide Prevention Benefit Show in Honor of Nick Ramsey with Kel SD/Nothing Major: 8 p.m., $8. Mahall’s 20 Lanes. Svetlana & the Delancey Five: 8 p.m., $15. Nighttown. Floco Torres & Friends/Jean P MC/ Sankuro/Luvabstract: 8 p.m., $7 ADV, $10 DOS. Grog Shop. Twin Peaks/The Districts/Pack Wolf: 9 p.m., $16 ADV, $18 DOS. Beachland Ballroom. WRUW Live From Lakewood with Me Time and the Raging Crush/ The Tom Katlees/An American Astronaut/Valley Girls: 8:30 p.m., $5 ADV, $8 DOS. Mahall’s 20 Lanes.

FRI

04/06

Between the Buried and Me/The Dear Hunter/Leprous: 6 p.m.,

$25 ADV, $30 DOS. The Agora Theatre. The Bones of J.R. Jones/Morgan Mecaskey: 8:30 p.m., $10 ADV, $13 DOS. Beachland Tavern. Karla Bonoff: 8 p.m., $20-$35. The Kent Stage. Bumpin Uglies/Joey Harkum Band/Stimpy’s Revenge: 9 p.m., $10 ADV, $12 DOS. Beachland Ballroom. Clumsy Words/PIG/Jordan Smart/ Ceiling Fan: 9 p.m., $5. Musica. Current Joys/The Sonder Bombs/ Swell Tides (in the Locker Room): 8 p.m., $10 ADV, $12 DOS. Mahall’s 20 Lanes. Front Porch Lights/ Mimi Arden/ Mich: 9 p.m., $10. Grog Shop. Merle Haggard Tribute by Gringo Stew (in the Supper Club): 8 p.m., $10 ADV, $12 DOS. Music Box Supper Club. Jazz Jam Session: 11 p.m., free. Bop Stop. Philippe LeJeune Trio: 8 p.m., $15. Bop Stop. Jeff Lorber Fusion: 8 p.m., $40. Nighttown. Brian McKnight: 9 p.m., $40 ADV, $45 DOS. House of Blues. NEOS NEOS/Party Plates/Straight A’s/Gills: 9 p.m., $5. Now That’s Class. Michelle Romary/Kid Politics (Nashville)/Mallory SanMarco: 8 p.m., $7 ADV, $10 DOS. CODA. Robin Trower/Brent James & the Vintage Youth: 8 p.m. Hard Rock Rocksino Northfield Park. A Work of Fiction/Years Before/The Trades/Break Down the Walls/ Grim Republic/Vinyl Wings: 7 p.m., $10. Mahall’s 20 Lanes.

SAT

04/07

Counterfeit Madison/Exotic Fruit Club/Ray Flanagan: 7 p.m., $7 ADV, $10 DOS. Mahall’s 20 Lanes. The Crystal Method/Bypass Circuit/Stout XTC /Chris-Tucker/ Jacob Bennett: 9 p.m., $17 ADV, $22 DOS. Beachland Ballroom. Cult of Sorrow/Monastery/Black Spirit Crown: 8 p.m., $5. Now That’s Class. Disco Paradiso Presents: Arab Heritage Month with Oceans/ Flowmar/Fana/Sayara Hamra/ Soraya: 9 p.m., $10. Now That’s Class. Journey Tribute by E5C4P3: 8 p.m., $18 ADV, $20 DOS. Music Box Supper Club. JP and the Hatfield Boys/The

Ann Wilson of Heart performs at Hard Rock Live. See: Saturday.

Bluegrass Sweethearts/Johnny and the Apple Stompers: 8 p.m., $10 ADV, $15 DOS. The Winchester. Love Fest Mini Concert Series Featuring Beams/The Mason District/Mimi Arden: 8 p.m., $10. Beachland Tavern. NEOSonic Fest: CIM New Music Ensemble: 7 p.m., free. Bop Stop. Punch Drunk Tagalongs/Nights/ Venus Flytraps: 9 p.m., $10. Grog Shop. Run Red Cassette Release Show: 8 p.m., $8. Musica. Sans Rebellion/The Hollow Roots/ Nick Sintos: 8 p.m., $5 ADV, $8 DOS. CODA. Thompson Square: Thompson Square’s first single, the rowdy “Let’s Fight,” caused a bit of controversy when it came out seven years ago because it seemed to endorse domestic violence. The group quickly cast it aside and issued “Are You Gonna Kiss Me or Not.” It became a hit, and the band hasn’t looked back. The tender ballad’s success set the band on the path to hit albums and Country Music Association awards. After 2013’s Just Feels Good, it started to work on a followup album, but “life got in the way” as the couple had a child. The band recently returned to the studio and has been working on a new album with award-winning producer Nathan Chapman (Taylor Swift, Keith Urban). Expect to hear tracks from it along with songs from the

back catalog at tonight’s special acoustic show. (Jeff Niesel) 8 p.m., $27.50-$39.50. The Kent Stage. Bill Toms & Hard Rain (in the Supper Club): 8 p.m., $12 ADV, $15 DOS. Music Box Supper Club. Frank Vignola & Vinny Raniolo: 8:30 p.m., $20. Nighttown. Ann Wilson Of Heart: For her solo show at Hard Rock Live, Wilson plans to play at least a couple of Heart songs, including “Crazy on You” and “Barracuda.” She’ll also include songs from her solo debut, 2007’s Hope & Glory. On that album, she teamed up with singers such as k.d. lang, Elton John and Shawn Colvin to cover tunes by the likes of Bob Dylan, Led Zeppelin and John Lennon. Her eerie, whispered cover of Lennon’s “Isolation” often makes its way into her sets. A Rock Hall inductee, Wilson is also busy recording Songs for the Living, an album that reunites her with original Heart producer Mike Flicker. The disc will pay homage to musicians who’ve died in the past few years and include covers of songs by Leonard Cohen, David Bowie, Tom Petty, Chris Cornell and Amy Winehouse. (Niesel) 8 p.m. Hard Rock Rocksino Northfield Park.

SUN

04/08

Colly: 8 p.m., $8 ADV, $12 DOS. The Winchester. Common Dear/Hazard Adams: 9 p.m., $8 ADV, $10 DOS. Beachland Tavern. Monika Herzig SHEroes Sextet: 7 p.m., $20. Nighttown. San E & Mad Clown/Sobae/KJ’s K-Pop Planet: 8 p.m., $30. Grog Shop. Second Sundays with Mateo Manic: 4 p.m., free. Now That’s Class. Spin Cycle: 7 p.m., $15. Bop Stop. Sunflower Bean/Dream Wife: The seductive singing of bassist Julia Cumming carries many of the songs on Sunflower Bean’s debut album, 2016’s Human Ceremony, but the New York trio really shines when her voice contrasts the shimmering riffs of guitarist Nick Kivlen, who founded the band with drummer Jacob Faber around 2013. The overarching mood of their album is hard to pin down, as the band bounces from the dreamy jangle of its opening title | clevescene.com | April 4 - 10, 2018

43

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| clevescene.com | April 4 - 10, 2018

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track and the spunky throbbing of “Wall Watcher,” to the soft cuteness of “I Want You to Give Me Enough Time.” Expect to hear these tracks along with songs from the band’s latest album, the just-released Twentytwo in Blue. (Jacob DeSmit) 8:30 p.m., $12. Beachland Tavern. Suppression/MFDL/Slowdance: 9 p.m., $8. Now That’s Class. Swing City Big Band: 2 p.m., $10. Bop Stop. Frank Vignola & Vinny Raniolo: 7 p.m., $20. Nighttown.

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Turnstile/Touche Amore /Culture Abuse/Razorbumps/Bib: 6 p.m., $18 ADV, $20 DOS. Agora Ballroom.

TUE

04/10

Apathy/Celph Titled/N.M.E. The Illest/Ill Supreme/Crazy DJ Bazarro: 8 p.m., $15 ADV, $20 DOS. The Winchester. Homewrecker/Mercenary/Natural Selection: 7 p.m., free. Now That’s Class. The Lawrence Arms/Red City Radio/Sincere Engineer: 8:30 p.m. Grog Shop. Phillip Phillips/The Ballroom Thieves: American Idol winner Phillip Phillips took the pop world by storm with his No. 6 hit, “Home,” in 2013. His followup, “Gone, Gone, Gone,” also enjoyed a Hot 100 stint. Known for mastering acoustic ballads with a kick, Phillips plugged in for this year’s Collateral, showcasing an edge he previously lacked. The bluesy vocals and rock ’n’ roll riffs on the singer-songwriter’s junior album suggest his range. Phillips is sure to electrify with a mix of high-energy and the intimate songs he’s included on his Magnetic Tour set-list. (Halle Weber), 8 p.m., $29.50-$99. Beachland Ballroom. Vundabar/Ratboys/Sweepyheads (in the Locker Room): 7 p.m., $10 ADV, $12 DOS. Mahall’s 20 Lanes.

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| clevescene.com | April 4 - 10, 2018

45

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Michael Stanley & Friends Sat., Apr. 21

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46

| clevescene.com | April 4 - 10, 2018

ago, Blankenhorn started writing songs with bassist Jeff Soper. With some assistance from guitarist Fred Johnson, who played on a couple of tunes, they put out a CD that they recorded themselves. “Some people heard it and liked it and wanted to hear it live,” says Blankenhorn. “I handpicked the musicians that I get along with and are good and that I have fun with. At the time, I was listening to [the metal band] Goat and [psychedelic rocker] Ty Seagall. I wasn’t trying to duplicate it, but I just wanted to get that feeling. It’s just whatever comes out.” Since they’re based in Akron, the guys know some of the folks at the Akron-based guitar pedal company Earthquaker, so they bought a bunch of equipment they could experiment with. “We just messed around with the pedals and that had a huge influence on the sound,” says Blankenhorn.

ideas and recorded and mixed and mastered and did all the visual art for the videos. We do projections if it’s compatible with the venue.” WHY YOU SHOULD HEAR THEM: Produced by Reverend Dr. Henry Lowe (an alias for Blankenhorn’s father), the album was recorded in Blankenhorn’s basement. “My Buzz,” the hard-driving opening track on the band’s new self-titled album draws from classic stoner acts such as Fu Manchu and Queens of the Stone Age. “Mother of the Wind” features a groovy mid-song jam that enables the band to show off its chops. The band is already writing new material for its next album and hopes to hit the festival circuit this summer. “It’s not the most complicated music, but it’s fun enough that people can dance to the songs,” says Blankenhorn. “It’s not too aggressive. Everyone in the band has been in punk bands or quasi-metal bands before, and we didn’t want to do that. We wanted to make something that you don’t have to think a mile a minute to do and can just have fun doing it.” WHERE YOU CAN HEAR THEM: fonerecords.bandcamp.com/

album/me-time-the-raging-crush SENSORY OVERLOAD: Since forming,

the band has released more than 12 music videos to coincide with their audio releases. The band considers Blankenhorn’s brother George Blankenhorn an honorary member since he’s worked with the group to create many of its music videos and live projections. “My brother George was a film student at Bowling Green,” says Blankenhorn. “He got a job at an insurance firm and had access to all this stuff. He came up with a few

WHERE YOU CAN SEE THEM: As part of

WRUW Live From Lakewood, Me Time & the Raging Crush performs with Joe Jack Talcum, Coolzey, the Tom Katlees, An American Astronaut and Valley Girls at 8 p.m. on Thursday, April 5, at Mahall’s in Lakewood. — JEFF NIESEL

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47

YOU AND A GUEST ARE INVITED TO A SPECIAL SCREENING

TUESDAY, APRIL 10 7:00 P.M. PLEASE VISIT WBTICKETS.COM AND ENTER THE CODE

RPSMC4 TO DOWNLOAD YOUR COMPLIMENTARY PASSES! RATED PG-13 FOR SEQUENCES OF VIOLENCE, ACTION AND DESTRUCTION, BRIEF LANGUAGE, AND CRUDE GESTURES. Please note: Passes are limited and will be distributed on a first come, first served basis while supplies last. No phone calls, please. Limit one pass per person. Each pass admits two. Seating is not guaranteed. Arrive early. Theater is not responsible for overbooking. This screening will be monitored for unauthorized recording. By attending, you agree not to bring any audio or video recording device into the theater (audio recording devices for credentialed press excepted) and consent to a physical search of your belongings and person. Any attempted use of recording devices will result in immediate removal from the theater, forfeiture, and may subject you to criminal and civil liability. Please allow additional time for heightened security. You can assist us by leaving all nonessential bags at home or in your vehicle.

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IN THEATERS FRIDAY THE 13TH 48

| clevescene.com | April 4 - 10, 2018

C-NOTES

Photo courtesy of Sun Pedal Recordings

Punch Drunk Tagalongs will play a release party at the Grog Shop.

HAZY DAYS Punch Drunk Tagalongs show off their experimental side with their new album By Jeff Niesel LOCAL INDIE ROCKERS PUNCH Drunk Tagalongs recently released “Nervous Breakdown,” the second single from their upcoming album Hazy, which comes out nationally on Friday from Sun Pedal Recordings. The song reflects the influence of acts such as Radiohead, the Cure, Bjork, Wolf Alice, and Angel Olsen. With its psychedelic interludes, the track suggests the band’s more experimental side as it begins with an accessible groove before erupting with distorted guitars and feedback near its conclusion. The band recorded the album locally at Superior Sound with producer Jim Wirt (Incubus, Hoobastank, Fiona Apple, Jack’s Mannequin). It celebrates its release with a show at 9 p.m. on Saturday at the Grog Shop. Nights and the Venus Flytraps will open. “Working with Jim Wirt was like nothing else we have done before,” says singer Alisha Stahnke in a press release announcing the album’s release. “We would spend days here and there in the studio over a ninemonth period. This allowed us to really put in some long hours while taking breaks to regroup and come back in fresh every time. One of the coolest parts about recording this record at Superior Sound is that we also almost exclusively were able to use northeast Ohio gear [Earth Quaker Devices and Dr. Z amps] on this album and to lock in a tone that could only be achieved in Cleveland.” A Warner-distributed label, Sun Pedal Recordings plans to send the band on the road in support of Hazy. The band has also just released a new music video for the track, “Bodies in Heaps.” Shot locally at St. John’s Episcopal Church, the trippy video alternates between dimly lit shots of the band performing live and a home invasion

that turns into a choreographed dance routine. “The song is about how there is so much hate in today’s society,” writes Stahnke. “This song was written right around election time in 2016. That is what this video portrays is the hate that we see in our society coming in and literally taking a hold of people and consuming them. There is so much brainwash, ignorance and misinformation that leads to violence, racism, homophobia and much more. It can be overwhelming and at times can just consume you, but there is a way out of it though. It may not be easy, but you can break free from hate. You can break away from old thoughts and behaviors. You can become a more tolerant person. You can push for change in a society that is broken.” Tickets to the Grog Shop show cost $10.

A Merle Haggard Tribute The local Tex-Mex/country/ Americana band Gringo Stew will commemorate the second anniversary of country singer-songwriter Merle Haggard’s death with a special concert that takes place on Friday at the Music Box Supper Club. The day would have also been Haggard’s birthday. “We will do a full set of our take on some of Merle’s best songs, and then a set of our stuff,” says guitarist Frank Scialdone. “We have guest performers that will sit in on some songs, such as Sam Getz from Welshley Arms and Jimi Vincent, a popular blues singerguitarist from central Ohio, as well as some others. It is going to be a really fun, special night.” The show starts at 8 p.m. Tickets are $10 in advance, $12 at the door.

jniesel@clevescene.com t@jniesel

SAVAGE LOVE ROYAL OAK MUSIC THEATRE By Dan Savage I visited Royal Oak, Michigan, for Savage Love Live at the Royal Oak Music Theatre. I didn’t get to all of the questions submitted by the large and tipsy crowd — a crowd that skipped the Stormy Daniels interview on 60 Minutes to spend the evening with me (so honored, you guys!) — so I’m going to race through as many of the unanswered questions as I can in this week’s column. Here we go …

Is there a way of breaking my cycle of being totally sexual and into someone for the first six months and then shutting down to the point that I don’t want to be sexual with them at all? What’s wrong with me? Breaking a long-established pattern may require the aid of a therapist who can help you unpack your damage — if, indeed, this is about damage. Because it’s possible this could be the way your libido works; you could be wired for a lifetime of loving, short-term relationships. While our culture reserves its praise for successful longterm relationships (think of those anniversary gifts that increase in value with each passing year), a shortterm relationship can be a success. Everyone get out alive? No one traumatized? Were you able to pivot to friendship? Then you can regard that relationship as a success — or all those relationships as successes. How common a kink is it to enjoy seeing your significant other having sex with someone else? Common enough to have numerous different ways of manifesting itself — swinging, hotwifing, cuckolding, stag-and-vixen play — and an entire porn genre dedicated to it. Cis, female, 33, poly, bi. I bruise easily, am into BDSM, and love to swim in my condo’s shared pool, where there are many seniors. Any advice for hiding bruises or getting over the embarrassment? Don’t assume the senior citizens in the pool are as naive and/or easily shocked as our ageist assumptions would prompt us to believe. Someone who became a senior citizen today — who just turned 65 years old — was 35 in 1988. I happen to know for a

fact that people were doing BDSM way, way back in 1988.

My husband is a sweet guy who is very good to me. But he is also a gun-toting right-wing conservative, and these days that feels like an insurmountable difference. We have been together for seven years and married for two. No kids yet. I love him — and the thought of leaving him is terrifying — but I honestly don’t know if this is going to work. If you’re afraid to leave him because of those guns, you need to get out. If you’re afraid to leave him because you love him and couldn’t live without him, you might be able to stay. I wouldn’t be able to stay, personally, but you might. Maybe if you make “no political discussions about anything, ever,” a condition of remaining in the marriage.

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mail@savagelove.net t@fakedansavage

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