WTF,D.C.A. DOWNTOWN CLEVELAND ALLIANCE RETURNS 26 SCENE BOXES TO THE STREETS AFTER CONFISCATING THEM UNDER VERY QUESTIONABLE CIRCUMSTANCES By Sam Allard
You know what makes Cleveland great...here’s your chance to tell us! Nominate your favorite hole in the wall bar, the bartender that knows how to make a perfect Moscow Mule, the best place to get one-of-a-kind Cleveland gifts and much more. Nominations will be accepted through March 14 — the top three in each category will move on to the Finals to be named SCENE’s Best of Cleveland 2017.
Nominate Your favorites by MARCH 14th ( WINNERS ANNOUNCED APRIL 26TH ) 2
| clevescene.com | February 15 - 21, 2017
| clev clevescene.com ves esce cene ne.c ne .ccom m | February Feb e ruar ruarr y 15 - 221, 1 22017 1, 0 7 01
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FEBRUARY 15 - 21, 2017 Dedicated to Free Times founder Richard H. Siegel (1935-1993) and Scene founder Richard Kabat Publisher Chris Keating Editor Vince Grzegorek
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A sense of change (or not) at Norma Herr Women’s Shelter, and more
Feature
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The Downtown Cleveland Alliance stole our distribution boxes, the latest notch in Cleveland’s history of silencing the press
Advertising Senior Multimedia Account Executive John Crobar, Shayne Rose Multimedia Account Executive Kiara Hunter-Davis
Get Out
Creative Services Production Manager Steve Miluch Layout Editor/Graphic Designer Christine Hahn Staff Photographer Emanuel Wallace
All the events you should check out this week
Business Asst. To The Publisher Angela Lott Sales Assistant/Receptionist Megan Stimac Staff Accountant Kristy Dotson
Art
Circulation Circulation Director Don Kriss Euclid Media Group Chief Executive Offi cer Andrew Zelman Chief Operating Offi cers Chris Keating, Michael Wagner Human Resources Director Lisa Beilstein Digital Operations Coordinator Jaime Monzon Chief Financial Offi cer William Mickey
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New art exhibition from Derek Hess and Scott Pickering opens at 78th Street Studios
Stage
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Run — don’t walk — to The King and I at Playhouse Square
www.euclidmediagroup.com National Advertising Voice Media Group 1-800-278-9866, voicemediagroup.com Cleveland Scene 737 Bolivar Rd, #4100 Cleveland, OH 44115 www.clevescene.com Phone 216-241-7550 Retail & Classifi ed Fax 216-241-6275 Editoral Fax 216-802-7212 E-mail scene@clevescene.com
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July Talk
Gore Verbinski has never been creepier than in A Cure for Wellness
Cleveland Scene Magazine is published every week by Euclid Media Group. Verifi ed Audit Member Cleveland Distribution Scene is available free of charge, limited to one copy per reader Copyright The entire contents of Cleveland Scene Magazine are copyright 2017 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, selfaddressed envelope. All editorial, advertising, and business correspondence should be mailed to the address listed above. Subscriptions $150 (1 yr); $ 80 (6 mos.) Send name, address and zip code with check or money order to the address listed above with the title ‘Attn: Subscription Department’
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Chicago’s Home of Chicken & Waffles dishes up comfort, could still use some TLC
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CONTENTS Upfront
Editorial Managing Editor Eric Sandy Music Editor Jeff Niesel Senior Writer Sam Allard Staff Writer Brett Zelman Writer-at-large Kyle Swenson Dining Editor Douglas Trattner Contributing Dining Editor Rachel Hunt Stage Editor Christine Howey Visual Arts Editor Josh Usmani Copy Editor Elaine Cicora Interns Johnny Cook, Lawrence Neil
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MAR 4 – 26 | ALLEN THEATRE Li’l Bit takes us on a no-holds-barred trip back in time to her adolescence in 1960s Maryland and her complicated relationship with an older man. This Pulitzer Prize winner masterfully veers in and out of personal memory and deftly traverses comedy, drama, and farce. written by PAULA VOGEL | directed by LAURA KEPLEY
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UPFRONT RESIDENTS HOPEFUL FOR CHANGE AT NORMA HERR WOMEN’S SHELTER — BUT NOT TOO HOPEFUL Photo by Eric Sandy
THIS WEEK
CUYAHOGA COUNTY LAST month opened up the contract for Norma Herr Women’s Shelter for competitive bidding and received a proposal from a second local organization interested in changing the state of affairs for Northeast Ohio’s homeless women. The move signaled a brief window of time in which a new operator might be selected to run the shelter, thus bringing change to what some women have called an “overcrowded” facility that hundreds of women rely on at their most vulnerable moments. That said, the women aren’t holding their breath over this bid. FrontLine Services, formerly known as Mental Health Services, has run the shelter for more than a decade. Once the county published its recent request for proposals, that group filed its paperwork to continue its contract. The other bidder, the apparent representative of change for so many women living at Norma Herr, is the West Side Catholic Center. (Lutheran Metropolitan Ministry, which runs the 2100 Lakeside men’s shelter, has agreed to partner with FrontLine if that group is successful in its bid.) This is the first time a competitive bidder has jumped into the Norma Herr operations ring since at least the late 1990s, Brian Davis, director of the Northeast Ohio Coalition of the Homeless, told Scene. For now, the two proposals are being reviewed by an ad-hoc county committee, which will parse the differences between the long-standing operator and the newcomer, West Side Catholic, and assess scores in individual
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categories. The latter is a wellknown local organization that operates a homeless shelter in Ohio City. The ad-hoc committee includes a representative from the City of Cleveland’s Community Development Department; two reps from the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services; and one rep each from United Way, the O’Neil Foundation, the ADAMHS Board and the child welfare progra,. It was pointed out with gusto from the women at Norma Herr that there is no person
BREAKING NEWS Lakewood State of the City scheduled for this month. Leaked draft of Mayor Michael Summers’ speech reads in full: “My diet consists exclusively of frozen corn dogs. I implore you to do the same.” | clevescene.com | February 15 - 21, 2017
in that review group who had been or was homeless. (Debate ensued over whether that would introduce a pronounced bias. It was pointed out later by Ruth Gillett, the director of the county’s homeless services, and county spokesperson Mary Louise Madigan that, for instance, NEOCH “is a party to” Wed Side Catholic’s bid.) Gillett said that the group is meeting this week. A recommendation on the preferred proposal is due to County Council before the end of the month.
“I know there’s a lot of anxiety on this issue,” Davis said during a recent meeting of the Homeless Congress in downtown Cleveland. “But it’s a big step that this was offered to us, an opportunity to make the contract available so that other operators could bid on it.” (The last request for proposals on Norma Herr from the county was in 2014.) Most women think the openbid process is little more than a dog-and-pony show, a carefully manicured performance that will result in no change to the
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operations at Norma Herr. For now, though, grievances continue to pile up at Norma Herr. Scene obtained copies of grievances that date back to April 2015, including “pink chickenâ€? served for dinner; toilets overowing with waste; overcrowding; leaking ceilings and walls; alleged prejudice against certain women, sometimes on the basis of race; alleged mailroom theft; black mold in the showers; and small rocks being found in the food. LaTonya Murray, director of FrontLine’s emergency housing services, says that FrontLine has responded to its residents’ grievances. During a meeting of the Homeless Congress on Feb. 9, multiple women told Scene that things have only grown worse in 2016 and 2017. “EMS basically lives at Norma Herr,â€? resident Felicia Davis told us. Women were suggesting simple amenities like a few public computers and Wi-Fi capabilities. With the path to employment and housing now almost entirely dependent on internet access, the women pointed out the compounding disadvantages levied against them by a shelter operator that refuses to offer even basic wireless internet. (“The world is changing,â€? one woman said.) “That’s a good suggestion,â€? Gillett said. She spoke to the room at length,
also leading something of a debate over whether to cap the time allowed at the shelter for individual women, the idea being that it’s better to get people into housing than into a shelter -- “emergency housing.â€? (The county works with the shelter’s operator to set policy like that.) NEOCH has been vocally opposed to time-limited shelters for at least 12 years, according to public statements made by the coalition. Gillett said that she was unaware of that position, and continued to seek input from the women on how long they should be allowed to stay at the shelter. “We want to make the timeframe useful,â€? she said. Part of the problem, many women told Scene, is that, say, a 45-day ceiling on women’s time at the shelter might come to a close before they can get in contact with a helpful social worker. Sometimes, they said, that process can take six months or so. “When you are a homeless person, people think that you have no home and no job, so you have all the time in the world and you’ll wait,â€? one lady told Scene. Presently, there’s no time limit set for homeless women at Norma Herr. The shelter also has a policy of accepting anyone who’s found eligible in their intake process. Last year, we sent a Scene contributor to spend the night at Norma Herr. She veriďŹ ed many of the complaints that we had been reading from women who’ve stayed
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UPFRONT there. While FrontLine has 162 beds on site and 40 mats, accoding to Murray, our writer reported that more than 100 women were sleeping on the floor around her. (“There are reasons for people who choose to sleep on the floor,” Murray says. “Wen ensure ethat everyone has a place to stay each night. We try to ensure that it is as safe as possible.”) A recent WEWS news story reiterated those claims of overcrowding. After a lengthy intake interview, our writer arrived at Norma Herr as dinner was ending. Most of the long, laminate tables had been propped up against the wall, and women were already staking out their sleeping locations with blue mats thrown onto the floor. Others were still finishing their meals, seated on the cold tile or leaning against piles of backpacks. The group gazed into the empty room in near silence, save for a few complaints about the food. One woman offered our writer an extra plate of dinner: dried meatloaf and something described as “cheesy cauliflower.” It was understood that this was one of the better meals served at that time. “No pillows, no mat,” a woman shouted as others around her shuffled on their makeshift beds. Some had mats; others propped themselves up on plastic chairs or their personal belongings. It was that woman’s first night at Cleveland’s only women’s shelter too, and she continued to go on about the things Norma Herr lack.
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“What the hell kind of shelter is this?” she said to no one. “This is worse than the county jail.” —Eric Sandy, with additional reporting by Brittany Rees
OPPOSITION IS MOUNTING AS QUICKEN LOANS ARENA DEAL LANDS ON COUNTY COUNCIL’S DESK With the approximately $282-million Quicken Loans Arena improvements deal careening into local council chambers this week, the opposition has grown incredibly vocal and robust. County council was scheduled to take up the matter at its Feb. 14 meeting — after our print deadline and before this issue hit streets — and more than 100 residents, rallied by the Greater Cleveland — CCPC Congregations, were expected to attend. In line with other politically divisive sports ownership issues, like the 2014 county “sin tax” extension, the controversy over how public money is being used is only growing more pronounced. To review, the Quicken Loans overhaul — represented by Quicken CEO Dan Gilbert and others as a rehab of “Cleveland’s living room” — has already skyrocketed past initial cost projections. Of the total, some $160 million is expected to come from
| clevescene.com | February 15 - 21, 2017
taxpayers’ pockets, via a variety of cobbled-together streams. The job itself is billed as absolutely necessary for the sanctity of our city’s tourism industry and, if the team’s leadership and city politicians are to be believed, to keep the Cavs from scampering off to another market. The county — which, you’ll recall, is working with a “maxed-out credit card,” according to County Executive Armond Budish — is expected to take out $140 million in bonds, to be repaid privately and publicly. (Interest and fees get us to the approximated $282-million total.) The Cavs will pay for half of that cost through increased rent payments to the city of Cleveland. The public portion of the funding shakes out like so: The eight-percent admissions tax on Quicken Loans Arena leaders event tickets will continue, generating some $88 million between now and 2034. Part of that includes revenue from taxes generated during playoff runs from 2024 to 2034, which is, of course, placing a good deal of public money on the contingency of ongoing Cavs’ success for more than a decade. The Cavs have promised to pay up on any shortfalls from the admissions tax. Elsewhere, public funds come from proceeds from sales taxes generated by purchases at the Q; a
“We will not stand by while those elected to lead us redefine progress as working people subsidizing billionaires.”
portion of the county bed tax, which would otherwise have helped fund Destination Cleveland, over the next 18 years; and a $16-million facility reserve left over from the Hilton hotel project. (No sin tax dollars will be used.) All of which is to say that it’s hard not to imagine how fervently county and city leaders were looking under local couch cushions to find the change to implement Gilbert’s desires. Now, two local organizations — the Greater Cleveland Congregations and the Cuyahoga County Progressive Caucus — are leading the opposition to what the CCPC has dubbed a “gross misuse” of public funds. “The proposed rehab of the Q is an opportunity for the people of Cleveland and Cuyahoga County to end their silence and start to be citizens instead of spectators to the decisions impacting their communities,” CCPC leaders stated earlier this month. “We will not stand by while those elected to lead us redefine progress as working people subsidizing billionaires.” As we pointed out on the day that this subsidization plan was announced, there’s ample reason to question the hustle that local leaders put into this financing plan. Indeed, we wrote at the time, the energy and creativity expended to scrape every last available dollar for renovations at the Q might have been expended on worthier causes. Where is the county’s innovation and creativity in helping solve the financial perils of public transit? Where is the city’s creativity on infant mortality and lead poisoning? What if leaders bent over backwards to find money to solve, you know, actual problems?
DIGIT WIDGET 1, 2, 4 Picks in the 2011 NBA Draft now on the Cavs’ roster. Derrick Williams (No. 2 overall) joined the team last week on a 10-day contract. Kyrie and Tristan were Nos. 1 and 4.
$142,800,000 Total value of 2004 Federal Funding Agreement that provided money for the Euclid Corridor Project, $12 million of which must be paid back by next Tuesday if Public Square is not open by then.
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3 Number of low-cost airlines flying out of Hopkins now with the launch of routes from Allegiant.
You may have noticed — and acknowledged with a deep and unsurprised sigh — that Public Square has not yet reopened to buses as of Monday morning. Further iterating the city’s total lack of surprise, Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (RTA) CEO and General Manager Joe Calabrese said that he was so totally not shocked at all when two studies commissioned by the agency supported opening Superior Avenue through Public Square. A safety study performed by K&J Safety and Security Consulting Services found that the closure of Superior has “increased operational risk” to motor vehicles and pedestrians around the Square while also creating traffic “choke points.” It asserted, notably, that “security and terrorism vulnerabilities,” which Mayor Frank Jackson has cited as one of his primary reasons for closing Superior, “exist whether Superior Avenue is open or closed.” (This is not the first corrective to the Jackson administration’s terrorism narrative. Last month, the Plain Dealer’s Ginger Christ consulted local counter-terrorism experts, who said that Public Square was no more of a security risk than many other public spaces in the city.) A traffic study performed by the engineering firm Parsons Brinckerhoff found that closing Superior does indeed cause traffic delays and costs RTA an additional $805,300 per year in operating expenses. Both the delays and the costs, however, were less than estimates from the 2011 NelsonNygard study, due in part to reduced traffic around the Square more broadly. The study also assessed the effects of making operational improvements elsewhere in the downtown transit zone. Jackson and Calabrese had said that by using things like dedicated lanes and traffic signal prioritization, the operational impact of closing Public Square could be mitigated. Parsons Brinckerhoff created a scenario that included the implementation of “semi-actuated signal operations” (traffic light prioritization) at 16 downtown intersections. But in that model, bus travel time was only
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As the county council takes up the issue this week — with a city council hearing looming in the near future, surely — we are still greatly interested in the answers to those questions. In addition to full accountability and transparency, the GCC wants to create a community investment fund with matching dollars that would go toward “urgent and concrete” regional issues in communities of need: workforce development, youth programming, housing, mental health and others. “We’re asking for a dollar-fordollar match,” said the Rev. Jawanza Colvin, of Olivet Institutional Baptist Church and a member of GCC’s strategy team. “We’re talking about matching dollars. It is amazing how we have the ingenuity and creativity to find the dollars to invest in a world-class arena. We are supposed to be ‘cash-strapped.’ The credit card is supposed to be ‘maxed.’ But yet, we can find, when we put our minds together, 160 million dollars [sic]. We want that same ingenuity, that same
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| clevescene.com | February 15 - 21, 2017
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UPFRONT reduced by 20 seconds during the morning rush hour and 26.5 seconds in the evening. If Superior were open, by contrast, average bus travel time would be reduced by 71.5 seconds in the morning and 60 seconds in the evening. In a conversation with media last week, Calabrese said the two studies “confirmed what [RTA] felt all along,” and that conversations with the city will be ongoing over the next two weeks as a Feb. 21 deadline from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) nears. RTA has been in breach of a prior funding agreement since Superior Avenue was closed and will owe $12 million on Feb. 21 if Superior is not re-opened. Calabrese said that he met with the FTA in Washington last week to “go over some of the aspects behind the $12 million number.” “We’re really hoping for a resolution at this point,” said Calabrese. “I think many of us were hoping that with the traffic mitigation changes we could be as efficient — even more efficient — than it being open. Unfortunately,
“I think many of us were hoping that with the traffic mitigation changes we could be as efficient — even more efficient —than it being opened. Unfortunately, that was not the result of the study.” — RTA CEO and General Manager Joe Calabrese that was not the result of the study. That would’ve been a key point of the discussion on Thursday.” Was that a surprise, a reporter asked? “No, it wasn’t a surprise,” Calabrese said. “Knowing the system the way we do, knowing the amount of bus traffic we have, the roughly 1,000 buses that now have to go around and not through Public Square, it not only slows up RTA traffic, it slows up other traffic as well.” This is a stark departure from rhetoric at the initial announcement of Superior’s closure. On Nov. 15, during a hastily called press conference, both Frank Jackson and Calabrese — and the following
week, the mayor’s chief of staff Ken Silliman — were brimming with confidence about the effects of traffic mitigation tactics in the downtown transit zone. “We’re going to look at the whole transit zone and use some strategies that have been successful to more than make up for the delays at Public Square,” Calabrese said that evening. “We hope to show the FTA that this will be an even better program for Greater Cleveland.” But the studies confirm what Calabrese is now saying RTA felt all along. The RTA board of trustees, who met Tuesday morning, and the media were presented with summaries of both studies Tuesday. Calabrese
called the full versions “voluminous,” and “very, very comprehensive” but as of yet unfinished. He said he felt obligated to distribute them now because the key findings were unlikely to change and because the media had continued to ask for them. The local transit advocacy group Clevelanders for Public Transit released a statement later Tuesday in response. They said that, given the Parsons Brinckerhoff estimates, RTA has already spent more than $420,000 due to re-routing buses around the Square, not to mention the $60,000 for the study itself. The study’s cost has in fact ballooned, Calabrese admitted Tuesday, to an unknown number pegged at “more than $60,000, less than $100,000.” “GCRTA ... cannot afford to wait any longer,” the Clevelanders for Public Transit statement read. “The studies show that the only way to adequately mitigate safety concerns about Public Square is to reopen the Superior Avenue bus lanes ... . We need to make transit more convenient, not less convenient. It is well past time to reopen Public Square.” — Allard
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FEATURE WTF, DCA Downtown Cleveland Alliance returns 26 Scene boxes to the streets after confiscating them under very questionable circumstances By Sam Allard ON SATURDAY MORNING, YELLOW trucks from the Downtown Cleveland Alliance were seen at various points within the Central Business District, returning the 26 Scene vending boxes that the nonprofit organization had stolen in recent weeks. In independent conversations with Scene’s circulation director Don Kriss, with a Scene reporter and with Cleveland.com, the DCA defended the box removal as a decision motivated by safety — a familiar blanket justification coming from local leaders these days. All 26 boxes, DCA marketing director Heather Holmes claimed, had been knocked over by wind or by sidewalk plows and were becoming hazards. But the higher-ups, including president & CEO Joe Marinucci, the former Gateway Development boss whose salary at the non-profit DCA is north of $208,000, contended that they had no idea the removal was happening, at least not at the outset. Holmes told Scene that members of the operations team were, as of late Friday afternoon, actively compiling a “very detailed report” about the boxes they’d taken (at precisely the moment we independently discovered that DCA was responsible). But later, she said DCA had no knowledge that DCA Ambassadors, the street-cleaning crew, had been collecting the boxes en masse. That’s why no one attempted to contact Scene over the course of the three-week pickup spree. Indeed, DCA blamed the ambassadors themselves over the weekend. “[The Ambassadors] had no intention of violating anyone’s person or property, and they take great pride in keeping downtown sidewalks clean and safe to provide the best pedestrian experience possible,” Holmes told Cleveland.com The boxes were taken in at least three discrete incidents, presumed to have been late at night or early in the morning. According to Don Kriss, 10 boxes first disappeared along Euclid Avenue. Then eight more disappeared
the following week. Then eight additional boxes disappeared. All or almost all of them were believed to be downtown. Kriss first pegged the burglaries as the work of scrappers. He filed two police reports and visited eight to 10 local scrap yards, by his own estimation, and found nothing. He did learn that the current value of the metal was about 6 cents per pound, which would put the value of a 50-pound Scene box at roughly $3. The boxes are weighted with bricks and weigh between 150 and 160 pounds total, according to Kriss. Kriss said 26 boxes blowing into the street was more far-fetched than he was willing to entertain. Still, the DCA stuck to that story. “Quite a few of them were flipped on their side, in the middle of the sidewalk, tipping over into the street,” Holmes said, “and so [our staff] took them back to our operations center for safekeeping.” As to why Scene wasn’t informed, Holmes referenced the report in progress, but said she personally agreed that the staff waited much too long to reach out to us. “We’ll fall on our sword on that,” said Holmes. “They should’ve called the moment they picked up the first one. At the time, they didn’t know exactly who to reach out to.” This, too, took us by surprise, given that contact information is provided on Page 4 of our print issues, along with the names and positions of all our staff members — this is what’s known as a masthead. Additionally, contact
information is easily accessible on the Scene website, Clevescene.com, which itself is printed on the side of many of the boxes. Also, Scene’s office is just off East Ninth Street, fewer than 10 blocks (0.3 miles) from DCA headquarters on Euclid. Holmes apologized, but didn’t seem to think this was all that big a deal, insisting that all the boxes were indeed “downed.” “I’m not sure how they got knocked down, but they were down,” she said. “They were in distress, if you will.” Scene was initially tipped off to DCA’s involvement when an advertiser called us Friday morning, after our initial article about the missing boxes. He said he’d seen a DCA truck taking a Scene box last Saturday morning. When he asked the DCA folks what they were doing, they drove away. (He did not indicate whether the box had
Photo by Bill y Hallal
been in distress). A DCA spokesperson told Scene, when we first inquired, that picking up news boxes was not something they would “typically do.” We certainly hope not. Those boxes are, of course, private property and permitted by (as in, with individual permits from) the city. It’s still unclear whether whoever at DCA instigated the removal viewed themselves as enforcing a city ordinance, or were merely fulfilling their capacity as street cleaners. It’s also unclear at what point DCA protocol dictates that the ambassadors should collect the downed boxes, as opposed to the simpler solution: just standing them up. The DCA represents downtown interests, and in fact is the only local nonprofit “dedicated to making Downtown Cleveland the most | clevescene.com | February 15 - 21, 2017
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Bipolar Depression Research Study
Great Lakes Medieval Faire
CAST AUDITIONS Add the Medieval experience to your acting resume!!
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be between 18 and 65 years of age (inclusive)
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Every experience level welcome! (Head-shot recommended but not necessary)
3033 OH-534 Rock Creek, OH 44084 7 Miles south of Ohio I-90 @ exit 218 (Any questions or concerns please contact at glmfcast@gmail.com)
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216-202-8472
Find your happy hour. 'RZQORDG 6&(1(¡V RԀFLDO KDSS\ KRXU app! clevescene.com/happyhours
| clevescene.com | February 15 - 21, 2017
FEATURE compelling place to live, work and play.â€? Both Len Komoroski of the Cleveland Cavaliers, and Dan Walsh, board chair of Destination Cleveland — both of whom were among the handful of presenters at the Quicken Loans Arena Transformation plan press conference in December, of which plan Scene has been consistently critical — sit on DCA’s 18-member board of directors; the rest of the membership is composed chiey of bigwigs from the worlds of real estate and ďŹ nance. Cleveland media being bullied or silenced by powerful players is nothing new. The most obvious example is when companies or organizations use advertising dollars as a weapon. The Cleveland Museum of Art, the Cleveland Metropolitan School District and the Cleveland Metroparks have all pulled signiďŹ cant advertising contracts with Scene in recent years after we’d written about them in less than attering terms. There are examples of more political attacks. In the 1980s, city council president George Forbes enacted a citywide ordinance whereby publications would have to pay a $50 fee for every vending box in the city. Forbes had been angered, according to longtime Cleveland reporter Roldo Bartimole, by the Plain Dealer’s coverage of him, particularly a water rate hike in which Forbes had offered council members block grant incentives in exchange for their votes. The PD came down hard on him for that maneuver. At the time (1985), the Plain Dealer had 1,000 vending boxes in the city, and Bartimole’s interpretation was that the ordinance was payback, to the tune of $50,000. In 1994, the city of Cleveland removed 20 boxes of the alt-weekly magazine the Free Times, which the Free Times discovered only when someone provided a photo of a city truck hauling one away. This was back when Cleveland was a two-altweekly town. The justiďŹ cation by the Mike White administration was that the boxes were rusty and unsightly, but Free Times president Randy Siegel suspected that the removal was “politically motivatedâ€? due to negative coverage of Mayor White. “I’m absolutely outraged,â€? Siegel said in a May 20, 1994, story on the controversy in the Plain Dealer. “It’s an attack on our First Amendment rights to publish a newspaper.â€? Though the boxes were eventually
returned after legal negotiations, Siegel claimed in the same story that the issue was bigger than the boxes. “It’s the principle of removing them and the arrogance of the city,â€? he said. The Free Times box removal wasn’t the only instance of media hostility during the Mike White years. Throughout his 12-year tenure, White frequently worked to undercut the Plain Dealer. “It has long since been forgotten, but there was a time when Mike White didn’t think the Plain Dealer was run by beady-eyed jackasses bent on his destruction,â€? wrote Scene’s Andrew Puts, in a 2002 reection on the administration. “He just thought it was run by beady-eyed jackasses.â€? From his second term onward, and in particular after editor Doug Clifton arrived in 1999, White began “publicly denouncing [the PD’s] stories. He refused to talk to PD reporters. He had his press ofďŹ ce tip off other media to the paper’s records requests.â€? On May 23, 2001, he had reporter Mark Naymik kicked out of the press conference announcing that he would not be seeking a fourth term. The DCA’s recent actions are similar to the above assaults in some ways and different in others, most notably in its stealth. This was not an overt declaration of war. This was not George Forbes grabbing Roldo Bartimole by the lapels and tossing him from a council meeting; this was not Mike White having Naymik removed from the auditorium at Miles Standish Elementary School. This was a silent offensive. But the effect is just as harsh. The removal of 26 boxes is a devastating blow to Scene’s reach. These days, Scene has only 85 boxes within the city limits, according to Kriss, 65 of which are located in the Central Business District. The DCA stole onethird of our downtown capacity, and though they promptly returned them once we found out they’d taken them, how long would they have persisted if we hadn’t? DCA asserts that its ambassadors removed the boxes, over the course of three weeks, without notifying superiors or Scene, of their own accord. The assertion strains credulity. It’s far more believable that DCA and Cleveland’s current batch of corporate and political leaders prefer the city to be as Mike White did, or at least hoped for: without critics, without dissent, without citizens.
sallard@clevescene.com t@scenesallard
Presented by SCENE & THE 9
VODKA VODKA scenevodkavodka.com
Presented by Scene Magazine and The 9, Vodka Vodka returns for its fourth year as Cleveland’s premier vodka tasting party. Enjoy inventive cocktails, a hot fashion show and dance the night away. Vodka enthusiasts and vodka-curious will join us on March 11th at The 9 from 8-10:30p (VIP 7p) to taste an assortment of both local and international vodkas. This annual party will be hotter than ever before, and now includes an exciting hair and fashion element and even more vodkas to sample from! Also enjoy the sweet musical stylings of Cleveland's hottest DJs. Mix it up! Saturday, March 11, 2017 AT THE 9 • 8-10:30pm (VIP 7pm)
Presented by SCENE
SHAMROCK BAR CRAWL sceneshamrock.com
Sat., March 11 Downtown Willoughby 7-Midnight
TICKETS: $10 Guests Receive A Shot Glass, Koozie, Light Apps At Registration. Drink Specials!
sceneshamrock.com
Don’t miss Downtown Willoughby’s 2nd Annual Shamrock Bar Crawl, Willoughby’s most spirited pub crawl. Join us as we drink our way through Downtown Willoughby bars, starting at Willoughby Brewing Company and continuing to 1899 Pub, Ballantine, Frank & Tony’s Place, Mullarkey’s, The Morehouse, Nickelby’s and Wild Goose. Registration will take place at Willoughby Brewing Company with light appetizers served. This event sold out in its first year so don’t wait to grab your tickets! Saturday, March 11, 2017 DOWNTOWN WILLOUGHBY 7PM-Midnight
F I N D O U T A B O U T T H E S E E V E N T S A N D M O R E AT C L E V E S C E N E T I C K E T S . C O M | clevescene.com | February 15 - 21, 2017
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FRAMED!
our best shots from last week Photos by Emanuel Wallace
Friends and family @ Sanctuary at Touch Supper Club
Striking a pose @ Sanctuary at Touch Supper Club
Got them moves @ MIX at CMA
Cheesin’ @ Basquiat, the Unknown Notebooks at CMA
Getting cultured @ Basquiat, the Unknown Notebooks at CMA
Shredding @ High School Rock Off
Long live rock @ High School Rock Off
The kids are all right @ High School Rock Off
Cheers! @ Adult Swim at the Aquarium
Peace, love and wine @ Adult Swim at the Aquarium
Hello there, sharkies @ Adult Swim at the Aquarium
Well, hi to you too @ Cupid Undie Run
It’s always island time @ 4th Annual Winter Beerfest
Cute, but how do you drink with the mask on? @ 4th Annual Winter Beerfest
Where’s your beer, buddy @ MIX at CMA
Never miss a beat! See more pics @ clevescene.com That you, Jim Tressel? @ Cupid Undie Run
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| clevescene.com | February 15 - 21, 2017
Share your best shots with SCENE – just tag or mention us! ™ @ clevescene t @ cleveland_scene ` #LEVELAND3CENE s CLEVESCENE
COME W E L TO
Join Us For a Sweet
Painting Party Led by
It’s An Art Party by Marina
Register on
AllCityCandy.com or Call 216.487.7070
Feb 24 | Ć… ĆŠ ĆŚ
ĆšĆ?ĆŽĆĽĆĆŹ ƨƧƼƲ Ĺ˜ BYOB
| 746 Richmond Rd., Richmond Hts., OH
3439 West Brainard Rd. Ste.107 Woodmere, OH 44122 (216)245-6682 DrLaurelsPrpBar.com
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VillainArts.com
Tattoo Convention
February 24th - 26th 2017
COME GET TATTOOED Huntington Convention Center of Cleveland
300 Lakeside Ave, Cleveland, OH 44114
$20 Day / $40 3-Day Pass Show Info 215-423-4780 Friday 2 PM - 12 AM Saturday 11 AM - 12 AM Sunday 11 AM - 8 PM Over 300 Tattoo Artists from Around the World T V Stars from: Ink Master B e st I nk The Eni gma Marlo Ma rquise Live Human Suspension Half Pint Brawlers Olde City Sideshow Burlesque Ta t t o o C o n t e s t s Unique Vendors & More | clevescene.com | February 15 - 21, 2017
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MARDI GRAS CRAWL Saturday, February 25th, 12pm - 5pm
[
Event Check-in : 12 pm - 2 pm After Party : 5 pm - 7pm
Tickets $10
[
(plus processing fees)
TICKETS ON SALE NOW! Proceeds benefit H.E.L.P. Chance to win a trip to Burlington, Vermont for Magic Hat’s 22nd Annual Mardi Gras Party!
flatseastbank.com
Presented by:
Alley Cat Oyster Bar / Aloft Hotel–WXYZ / Beerhead / Big Bang Dueling Pianos Bold Food and Drink / Coastal Taco / Flip Side / Lago / Magnolia / Punch Bowl Social
Partners: Must be 21 or older with ID for entry. Tickets are non-refundable; event will occur regardless of weather conditions. Portions of the event will be held outside, so please plan appropriately. While supplies last. Trip rules and regulations available at event check-in.
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| clevescene.com | February 15 - 21, 2017
everything you should do this week
GET OUT WED
THU
02/15
02/16
SPOKEN WORD
COMEDY
Activism: Then & Now In conjunction with This Light of Ours: Activist Photographers of the Civil Rights Movement, its current exhibit, the Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage hosts a special lecture. Rhonda Y. Williams, Ph.D, founder and director of the Social Justice Institute at Case Western Reserve University, leads a panel that includes civil rights attorney James L. Hardiman, local activist Rachelle Smith, The Fixers producer Kate Sopko and textual activist/ entrepreneur RA Washington. They’ll discuss the effectiveness and reach of modern-day activism while imagining new ways forward — topics that seem particularly timely given the current political climate. Tickets are $12, or $6 for Maltz Museum members. (Jeff Niesel) 2929 Richmond Rd., Beachwood, 216-593-0575, maltzmuseum.org.
Kevin Bozeman Comedian Kevin Bozeman likes to joke about the mundane. “I got one thing out of college,” he likes to say. “Bad credit.” With his highpitched voice, Bozeman practically winces as he tells his narrative-based jokes. His problems are everyone’s problems. He has trouble with women and issues with his finances. Expect him to touch on social issues too as he’s made fun of the fact that there aren’t any “brothers” in auto racing. He performs tonight at 8 at Hilarities, where he has shows scheduled through Sunday. Tickets start at $18. (Niesel) 2035 East Fourth St., 216-241-7425, pickwickandfrolic.com.
SPOKEN WORD
Between the Lines:Kazim Ali Though he’s primarily a poet, Kazim Ali also writes lyrical essays, short stories and novels. His poetry tends to defy genre categorization, and he uses imagery and symbols to explore relationships between ethnicities, national borders, heritage and selfidentity. The award-winning author, who teaches literature and creative writing at Oberlin College, will read from his upcoming collection of short stories, Uncle Sharif’s Life in Music. He’ll discuss other upcoming projects and take questions from the audience as well. His reading ought to be particularly relevant, considering the recent developments surrounding America’s immigration laws. The reading begins at 7 p.m. at the Euclid Tavern; admission is free. (Johnny Cook) 1625 Euclid Ave., 216-231-5400, happydogcleveland.com. FILM
The Big Sleep The late, great Howard Hawks directs The Big Sleep, a 1946 film that stars Humphrey Bogart as a private eye who gets mixed up with two sisters from a wealthy family. A 35-mm print of the movie screens tonight at 7 and again at 6:45 on Friday night at the Cleveland Museum of Art as part of the museum’s Bogart & Bacall
Monster Jam returns to the Q. See: Saturday. series. Tickets are $11, or $8 for CMA members, seniors and students. (Niesel) 11150 East Blvd., 216-421-7350, clevelandart.org.
& cheese) and chocolate mousse. Admission is free. (Niesel) 1148 Main Ave., 216-242-1250, musicboxcle.com.
MUSIC SPOKEN WORD
SPORTS
Cavs vs. Indiana Pacers Led by All-Star forward George Paul, the Indiana Pacers have slowly but surely gotten themselves into the thick of the playoff race after a slow start. Behind Paul, who averages more than 20 points a game, the Pacers went on a tear in late January and early February, beating playoff contenders such as the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Houston Rockets. Tonight’s game against the Cavs begins at 7 at the Q. Tickets start at $14. (Niesel) 1 Center Court, 216-420-2000, theqarena.com.
Hip-Hop 2020 At 6:30 tonight as part of its Black History Month celebration, the Rock Hall presents Hip Hop 2020: Where It Started + Where It’s Been + Where It’s Going, in the Foster Theater. Radio, deejay, and production experts will discuss the development and growth of hip-hop over the past four decades. The event will also include short deejay sets by DJ Yulissa, DJ RoadRunner, DJ Ellery, DJ Walk and Corey Grand. Admission is free with an RSVP. (Niesel) 1100 Rock and Roll Blvd., 216-515-8444, rockhall.com. SPOKEN WORD
SPOKEN WORD
Cleveland Stories Dinner Parties Cleveland Stories Dinner Party, a weekly series at the Music Box Supper Club pairing fine food with storytelling, aims to help 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.” Each week features a guest speaker and a custom prix fixe menu — a full three-course meal for only $20. The popular series resumes tonight at 7:30 with Dan Ruminski, who’ll talk about the days when John D. Rockefeller lived in town. The menu includes lobster bisque, oysters & pearls (fried chicken thighs and mac
Think & Drink with the Extinct Billed as “one of the brainiest happy hours in Cleveland,” Think & Drink with the Extinct, a monthly gathering at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, represents more than just an opportunity to get wasted. Rather, patrons actually learn something as the museum’s staff members give interactive demonstrations and talk about topics such as the winter solstice and entomology. A different local brewery provides the libations each week. Tonight’s topic is archeology, with museum archeologist Brian Redmond; the beer comes from Thirsty Dog Brewing Company. It takes place from 5 to 9 p.m. Tickets are $8, but museum members and Case students get in for free. (Niesel) 1 Wade Oval Dr., 216-231-4600, cmnh.org.
Mozart and Tchaikovsky Since Mozart likely wrote his Concerto for Two Pianos to perform with his older sister Nannerl, it’s only fitting that sisters Katia Labèque and Marielle Labèque team up with the Cleveland Orchestra to play it tonight at 7:30 at Severance Hall. The concert concludes with Tchaikovsky’s Manfred Symphony. An hour before the concert, guest speaker Donna Lee, a professor of piano at Kent State University, gives a talk titled Doubled Delights, Romantic Symphony. Performances also take place at 8 p.m. tomorrow and Saturday. Tickets start at $29. (Niesel) 11001 Euclid Ave., 216-231-1111, clevelandorchestra.com. MUSIC
The Musical Box For almost 20 years now, Montreal’s Musical Box has recreated Genesis concerts from the early ’70s, paying attention to every last detail in the process. For the current tour, the band will play Selling England by the Pound, the 1973 album that made Genesis and Peter Gabriel into rock ’n’ roll superstars. The set includes a 23-minute long rendition of “Supper’s Ready.” Tonight’s performance is officially licensed by Peter Gabriel and Genesis. The concert begins at 8 at the State Theatre. Tickets are $10 to $39.75. (Niesel) 1519 Euclid Ave., 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org. | clevescene.com | February 15 - 21, 2017
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GET OUT COMEDY
Aries Spears At the age of 14, comedian Aries Spears found his calling. It wasn’t long before Spears was a principal member of the hit sketch show MADtv — not only as a performer, but a writer as well. He recorded his two-disc comedy album, I Ain’t Scared, at the famous Icehouse in Pasadena. He has performed on Def Comedy Jam on HBO and Showtime at the Apollo. In addition to his credits as a comedian, Spears has made appearances in several movies. After being spotted in a comedy club, he was given a role in Home of Angels. He also has been in Why Do Fools Fall in Love and Jerry Maguire. He plays a good range of characters and does a variety of voices too. His experience on sketch shows and TV gives him an advantage over other comics. He performs tonight at 7:30 at the Improv, where performances continue through Sunday. Tickets are $25. (Niesel) 1148 Main Ave., 216-696-IMPROV, clevelandimprov.com.
FRI THEATER
Flanagan’s Wake Now in its fifth year running in Cleveland, Flanagan’s Wake transports the audience to a wake in Ireland where villagers tell tales and sing songs for their dearly departed Flanagan. Finding the humor in life and death, the wake acts as a dark backdrop to an otherwise hilarious show in which alcohol fuels the
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Theatre. Tickets are $26. (Patrick Stoops) 1501 Euclid Ave., 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org. SPOKEN WORD
Lunch on Fridays In addition to their Student Independent Exhibition opening tonight in its Reinberger Gallery, Cleveland Institute of Art’s Student and Alumni Gallery hosts new work by CIA alumnus Curlee Raven Holton.
Black History Month
VaLerIe JUnE
FEB 10 at 8PM $5.50
Hip Hop 2020:
SPOKEN WORD
Kurt Andersen at the Art Institute Internationally acclaimed writer and cultural critic Kurt Andersen visits the Cleveland Institute of Art’s Peter B. Lewis Theater today at 7 p.m. to deliver a lecture on art, design and their role in contemporary culture and in 20th century fascism. Andersen graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College, where he was the editor of the infamous Lampoon. He also received an honorary doctorate from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2005. New York Magazine named him one of the “100 People Who Changed New York,” and Forbes listed him as one of the “25 Most Influential Liberals in the U.S. Media.” Beginning his career at Time as an award-winning political and criminal justice writer, he later became the magazine’s design and architecture critic. He also has written for The New Yorker, The New York Times and New York Magazine. In addition to his journalism and novels, Andersen also writes for film, television and the stage. Tonight’s lecture is free, but seats must be reserved in advance on the website, below. (Josh Usmani) 11610 Euclid Ave., 216-421-7000, cia.edu/events/2017/02/kurtandersen-lecture.
02/17
Where it Started & Where Its Been & Where its Going
Rock Hall Film Series:
Take Me To The River
DJ Sets & Roundtable Discussion w/CLE industry insiders
Celebrating the inter-generational and inter-racial musical influence of Memphis
FEB 15 at 6:30PM
FEB 23 at 7PM
Free w/RSVP
$5.50
Rock Hall Film Series:
The Big Beat: Documentary on Fats Domino & the Birth of Rock & Roll FEB 26 (shown continuously 10am- 4pm)
Included with a Rock Hall admission
Winter Soul Concert Featuring Franc West and more MAR 3 at 7:30PM $15 Adv; $20 Door
rockhall.com/onstage to purchase tickets or RSVP. 1100 Rock and Roll Boulevard, Cleveland, OH 44114 | rockhall.com | 216.781.ROCK
humorous reminiscing. A sort of tragic Tony ’n’ Tina’s Wedding, the interactive and improvised show engages the entire audience as the guests are treated as the friends and family of the deceased. The show starts at 8 tonight and plays again tomorrow night at 8 at Kennedy’s
| clevescene.com | February 15 - 21, 2017
Following his studies at CIA, Holton earned his MFA from Kent State University. A painter and printmaker, Holton’s exhibition at CIA showcases work from throughout his more than 30-year career. Over the past 25 years, Holton’s work has been featured in more than 30 individual exhibitions
and 80 group shows, at venues such as the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art and many more. Before Friday’s opening, Holton will discuss his career during a special Lunch on Fridays presentation in the Peter B. Lewis Theater at 12:15 p.m. today. Holton’s exhibition remains on view at CIA through March 19. As always, CIA’s Lunch on Fridays lecture series is free and open to the public, and free pizza and beverages are available on a first-come, first-served basis. (Usmani) 11141 East Blvd., 216-421-7000, cia.edu. ART
Third Friday In addition to the usual exhibitions, receptions and open studios, February’s Third Friday at the 78th Street Studios includes the debut of Superelectric Pinball Parlor’s new location on the lower “ramp” level. After years as a third-floor staple, Superelectric invites the public to be a part of its new chapter and among the first to play in its new showroom. Additional events include receptions for exhibitions such as the Board Room at E11even 2, Palettes for the Senses at Hedge Gallery, Joseph Karlovec’s Impulse Paintings at PopEye Gallery, Wandering Palette: Watercolors from the ARTneo Collection, For the Love of Zoar: The Donald & Timothy Whitemyer Collection at Tregoning & Company and much more. Third Friday takes place from 5 to 9 tonight. Don’t forget: Survival Kit presents free live music at 9 p.m. Admission is free. (Usmani) 1300 West 78th St., 78thstreetstudios.com. THEATER
Wait Until Dark Frederick Knott’s thriller Wait Until Dark takes place in a 1960s Greenwich Village apartment where “a deadly game of cat and mouse” unfolds as a group of con men “manipulate and terrorize” an unsuspecting blind woman to reclaim a mysterious doll. Great Lakes Theater presents tonight’s performance of the play, which takes place at 7:30 at the Hanna Theatre. Performances continue through March 12. Tickets cost $15 to $80. (Niesel) 2067 East 14th St., 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org.
SAT
02/18
SPOKEN WORD
CAPtalks For more than 45 years, the Cleveland Arts Prize organization
has recognized individual local artists and arts advocates with special awards. Now they are launching a new storyteller series, CAPtalks, designed to create a more intimate relationship between artists and their audience. CAP trustee Daniel Gray-Kontar hosts the first CAPtalk today from 2 to 5 p.m. at the East Cleveland Public Library, with special guest Robert P. Madison (CAP 2000) and storytellers Kristen Cliffel (CAP 2016), Johnny Coleman (CAP 2003), Ernie Krivda (CAP 2009), Michael Oatman (CAP 2011) and Mary E. Weems (CAP 2015). The event is free, but donations are accepted. (Usmani) 14101 Euclid Ave., 216-541-4128, eastclevelandpubliclibrary.org. ART
Collecting African American Art with David Lusenhop In conjunction with Black History Month and its current exhibition, The Electrostatic Man: The Art of Miller Horns, the Artists Archives of the Western Reserve hosts Collecting African American Art with David Lusenhop from 1 to 3 p.m. today. During his 45-minute presentation, Lusenhop will discuss his experience working with museums to acquire important works by African Americans for their permanent collections. The talk will conclude with Lusenhop’s thoughts on the work of the late Akron artist Miller Horns, whose work Lusenhop collects, as well as why he believes Horns’ work should be in more public collections. The presentation is free, but registration is required. Learn more on the website. (Usmani) 1834 East 123rd St., 216-721-9020, artistsarchives.org. ART
Pottery Social at Jukebox If you’re looking for an out-of-theordinary date night, look no further than Hingetown’s Jukebox, where you can enjoy an evening of working with clay along with your favorite adult beverage. Guests can choose to create either a pair of ceramic pint glasses or a berry bowl, led by instructors from Quill Studio in Bay Village. No experience is required, and the fun runs from 5 to 7 p.m. Admission is $45 per person and registration is required at the website below. (Usmani) 1404 West 29th St., 216-313-9870, potterysocial.com. FILM
Fight Club Cleveland Cinemas’ Late Shift series, a program dedicated to the
nostalgic cult and camp cinema that we love and cherish even though it’s certainly not Oscar-worthy material, has been a fixture at the local chain of theaters since 2006. The 2017 schedule continues tonight with Fight Club, the 1999 drama based on the 1996 novel of the same name by Chuck Palahniuk. It screens at midnight tonight at the Capitol Theatre. Tickets are $6. (Niesel) 1390 West 65th St., 216-651-7295, clevelandcinemas.com. FOOD
Frostville’s Farmers Market Finding a good farmers market in the dead of winter ain’t easy. That’s we find Frostville’s Farmers Market so appealing. Set up on select Saturdays at the Frostville Museum in the Metropark’s Rocky River Reservation, the indoor market includes local farmers, artisans and speciality food vendors. Expect to find seasonal vegetables, honey, eggs, organic cheese tea, wine, soaps, jewelry and assorted crafts. It takes place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. today in the museum’s barn. (Niesel) 24101 Cedar Point Rd., North Olmsted, 330-592-6518, frostvillefarmersmarket.com. FAMILY FUN
Monster Jam Feld Motor Sports’ Monster Jam, the annual monster truck rally that descends upon the Q each year, turns the arena floor into a racetrack by dumping truckloads of dirt and building a series of jumps and obstacles. At approximately 12feet tall and 12-feet wide, Monster Jam trucks sit atop 66-inch tires that allow the trucks to roll over just about anything. The trucks can even fly up to 130 feet in distance. Competition commences at 1 and 7 p.m. today and at 1 and 6:30 p.m. tomorrow. Tickets start at $15. (Niesel) 1 Center Court, 216-420-2000, theqarena.com. DANCE
Naach di Cleveland A national bhangra and fusion competition, Naach di Cleveland pits nationally recognized collegiate and regional Indian dance teams from across the United States against one another as they compete for a grand prize. NDC aims to “promote South Asian culture throughout the Great Lakes region.” All proceeds go toward charities. The event begins tonight at 6 at the Ohio Theatre. Tickets are $20 to $30. (Niesel) 1501 Euclid Ave., 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org.
WJW.CLEVELAND
| clevescene.com | February 15 - 21, 2017
21
LIVE AREA= 19.25 X 12�
This annual party will be hotter than ever before, and now includes an exciting fashion show and even more vodkas to sample from! Also enjoy the sweet musical stylings of Cleveland’s hottest DJs.
22
| clevescene.com | February 15 - 21, 2017
$30 for General Admission
which includes 5 drink tickets and fashion show.
$40 for VIP which includes VIP hour starting at 7pm complete with hand passed hors d’oeuvres by The 9, exclusive cocktails and VIP gift bag plus 7 drink tickets and fashion show.
| clevescene.com | February 15 - 21, 2017
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SKOOL I
GET OUT FUNDRAISER
JOIN W E D N E S D AY, MARC H 1 AT
1909 W.25th ST. CLEVELAND for the Official Release of
NU SKOO L I PA
This new product from Southern Tier is an approachable, well balanced IPA with slight malt sweetness that’s brimming with tropical, fruity, spicy, piney and citrus character. Mike & Neil from Southern Tier will be on hand sampling NU SKOOL and answering your questions. Join the street team from 6-8 pm for fun and giveaways.
Unwritten History: A Grays Lecture Series
Founders Day 180 Years of Gray PRESENTED BY
CHAPTER 13:
CIVIL WAR MEDICINE FEBRUARY 20th, 2017
Starting at 7pm Unwritten History: A Grays Lecture Series is FREE and brought to you by Cleveland Grays Armory Museum and Cuyahoga Arts and Culture -
Please RSVP to reserve a seat by February 15th by calling (216) 621-5938 Civil War Medicine by Fred Marquinez, M.D. The Civil War took place “at the end of the medical middle ages” and resulted in death of approximately 750,000 Americans from battle-related wounds and disease. Ill-prepared and overwhelmed, the U.S. Army Medical Dept. was faced with enormous challenges. Through excellent leadership and practical experience gained, great advances were made in casualty management systems, anesthesia, surgical techniques, hospital GHVLJQ DQG PHGLFDO UHFRUG NHHSLQJ 7KHVH LQQRYDWLRQV LQÀ XHQFHG WKH SUDFWLFH RI PLOLWDU\ DQG FLYLOLDQ PHGLFLQH IRU WKH QH[W RQH KXQGUHG DQG ¿ IW\ \HDUV
COME AND CELEBRATE 180 YEARS WITH THE CLEVELAND GRAYS. 24
| clevescene.com | February 15 - 21, 2017
PLEASE RSVP BY FEBRUARY 15th AND LET GRAYS ARMORY KNOW YOU WISH TO ATTEND LECTURE TO RSVP : CALL (216) 621-5938
Waterloo Alley Cat Fundraiser Founded in 2009, the Waterloo Alley Cat Project is a community effort in Collinwood which seeks to address the neighborhood’s concerns about the large number of homeless/stray cats between the Waterloo Arts District and Euclid Beach. Over the past eight years, the group has spayed/neutered more than 300 cats using the trap-neuter-return method, helping reduce the cat population in the area drastically yet humanely. From 7 to 11 p.m. tonight, Waterloo’s Slovenian Workers’ Home hosts the Eight Annual Waterloo Alley Cats Fundraiser. The event includes a silent auction, a raffle featuring gift baskets and a $1,000 grand prize, along with appetizers, a cash bar and music from Ace Molar, featuring Fox 8’s Todd Meany. Admission is $20, and all money raised will benefit the community’s feral cats. Additionally, the organization requests donations of cat food and cat supplies at the door. (Usmani) 15335 Waterloo Rd., waterlooalleycatproject.org.
SUN
02/19
MUSIC
Beatles Brunch The members of the local rock act Sunrise Jones came from various bands, including the long-running local group Copperfoot. One night, the guys were at a jam night at the now shuttered westside bar Stampers, and the band realized its lead singer could sing just like Paul McCartney. As a result, the guys dedicated themselves to learning the parts as faithfully as possible. They’ll play Beatles tunes today at noon at a Beatles brunch at Music Box Supper Club. Tickets are $12 in advance, $15 at the door. (Niesel) 1148 Main Ave., 216-242-1250, musicboxcle.com. BEEFCAKE
Chippendales 2017: Best. Night. Ever. Tour Chippendales, the infamous male stripper show, has been on the circuit for what seems like an eternity. The guys bring their sixpack abs and toned figures to House of Blues tonight as part of a multicity tour. According to the official press release, the guys intend to create “a fun, party-like environment where women can let loose, have
a great time and appreciate the fantasies played out on stage.” Sounds like the bachelorette party from hell. The show starts at 7:30 p.m. and tickets range from $25 to $75. (Niesel) 308 Euclid Ave., 216-523-2583, houseofblues.com. FUNDRAISER
Cocktails & Karaoke At a time when activism is needed more than ever, Prosperity Social Club will host Cocktails & Karaoke, a fundraiser for the Preterm Access Fund, at 8 tonight. The organization provides financial assistance to low-income and uninsured patients so they can afford “compassionate, high-quality care.” There’s an optional $5 donation at the door, and all the proceeds will benefit Preterm Access Fund. The bar/restaurant will also offer happy hour deals throughout the event, which runs until midnight. (Niesel) 1109 Starkweather Ave., 216-937-1938, prosperitysocialclub.com. FILM
Dark Passage Delmer Daves directs Dark Passage, the 1947 film about a man who turns to plastic surgery as a way to hide from the authorities after they falsely accuse him of murdering his wife. A 35-mm print of movie screens today at 1:30 p.m. at the Cleveland Museum of Art as part of the museum’s Bogart & Bacall series. Tickets are $11, or $8 for CMA members, seniors and students. (Niesel) 11150 East Blvd., 216-421-7350, clevelandart.org. BURLESQUE
Toxic Burlesque The folks at the local burlesque promotion company Toxic Burlesque have thrown a number of events at Brothers Lounge. According to promoter Frank Ian, who runs the company with his wife, there’s been a “packed house every time.” For tonight’s show, they’ve booked Carmen M’Knoxide, Bella Sin and Rubi~Nesque. Champagne Charlie hosts. The show begins at 8 p.m. and tickets are $15. (Niesel) 11609 Detroit Ave., 216-226-2767, brotherslounge.com.
MON
02/20
FESTIVAL
Cleveland Kurentovanje They’ve been hosting Kurentovanje (koo-rahn-toh-VAHN-yay) festivals in
Slovenia since 1960, but the fun only made its way to Cleveland five years ago. The 10-day pre-Lenten festival, which has spread throughout Eastern Europe and beyond, famously features elaborately costumed Kurents, mythical furry monsters that endeavor to scare off winter and help to usher in spring. Cleveland Kurentovanje, held annually since 2013 in the St. ClairSuperior neighborhood, is expanding its duration and number of offerings this year. Originally a one-day affair with parade, food and entertainment, this year’s festivities will extend to nearly a full week of events, meals, parties, exhibits and, ultimately, the parade. The events begin tonight at 6:30 with a special joint edition of Dinner in the Dark and CLE Dinner Club. Tickets are $86.99. Find the details on Facebook. (Douglas Trattner) facebook.com/ ClevelandKurentovanje/. BRUNCH
Industry Brunch Brunch isn’t just a Saturday/Sunday thing. Over at Mahall’s, you can grab a great brunch on Mondays as the club caters to industry folks who have the day off. Not that you have to work in the restaurant industry to indulge. The menu features items such as Chicken and Donuts, a dish that features three pieces of fried chicken along with two Old Hushers doughnuts. Other staples include the Everything Pretzel and the Creamy Egg Sandwich. A live DJ from WCSB will be on hand to spin cool tunes too. It runs from noon to 4. (Niesel) 13200 Madison Ave., Lakewood, 216-521-3280, mahalls20lanes.com. MUSIC
Wing Ding Doodle Blues icon Howlin’ Wolf famously covered “Wang Dang Doodle,” the old blues tune penned by Willie Dixon. Prosperity Social Club in Tremont has adopted that slogan, calling its wing night Wing Ding Doodle. The weekly event features specials on Buffalo wings and cold brews. Prosperity will not only serve up substantial, $1 whole wings, but it’ll also offering meatless Monday “wing” baskets for vegans. Discounted drafts and a playlist of vintage-electric blues and soulful R&B curated by local musician Clint Holley will be on tap as well. Wing Ding Doodle takes place every Monday from 6 p.m. to midnight. (Niesel) 1109 Starkweather Ave., 216-937-1938, prosperitysocialclub.com.
TUE
02/21
MUSIC
Classical Revolution Cleveland For many years, classical music wasn’t intended for the masses. Seemingly reserved for quasiexclusive concert halls, classical music hid from the outside world. Classical Revolution Cleveland helps tear down that wall and once again bring great chamber music to the people. Showcasing a variety of performers in bars, cafes and the like, it’s actually not that different from how people used to listen to chamber music. The third Tuesday of every month, CRC brings its wide array of chamber music to Euclid Tavern. Performers like the Trepanning Trio, Anime Duo, students of Cleveland Institute of Music and even Cleveland Orchestra members grace the stage in these exciting concerts. Full of immensely talented performers, CRC re-instills the relevancy of this vibrant art form. Tonight’s free, all-ages performance starts at 8. (Stoops) 5801 Detroit Ave., 216-651-9474, happydogcleveland.com. SPOKEN WORD
The Big Sale: Elk Hills, the Energy Crisis, and the Invention of the Neoliberal Market, 1969-1998 In 1912, the wealth of Southern California’s Elk Hill oil fields spurred President Taft to designate the region as a Naval Petroleum Preserve, setting it aside as a military resource for future emergencies. The fields went untapped until the energy crisis of the 1970s, and were sold to a private company in 1997 for $3.65 billion — to this day, the highest selling price for a piece of public property in American history. Case Western Reserve University history professor Peter Shulman, an expert in science and technology in twentieth century American politics, will discuss the significance of the Elk Hill divestiture within the rising tide of neoliberalism, freemarket economics and governmental withdrawal from the private economy. Part of the Baker-Nord Center for the Humanities lecture series, the one-hour talk takes place today at 4:30 p.m. in Clark Hall, room 206. Admission is free but advanced reservations are suggested. (Lawrence Neil) 11130 Belleflower Rd., 216-368-2242, case.edu/humanities.
Find more events @clevescene.com t@clevelandscene | clevescene.com | February 15 - 21, 2017
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ART COME TOGETHER New collaborative exhibit from Derek Hess and Scott Pickering opens at 78th Street Studios By Josh Usmani LOCAL ARTISTS DEREK HESS and Scott Pickering have been friends since the early 1990s, when Hess was booking bands into the basement of the legendary Euclid Tavern, and Pickering was working at Wax Stacks record store on Lee Road in Cleveland Heights as well as playing in several of the bands, such as Prison Shake and My Dad is Dead. It was music that brought the two together, but art that ultimately bonded them. Now the two have collaborated on a new series of mixed media drawings which debut this Friday during an opening reception at Derek Hess Gallery, as part of Third Friday festivities at 78th Street Studios. Reflecting on Hess’ early, iconic promotional concert posters, Pickering says, “They were immediately eye catching and thought provoking. The strong sense of flow and dynamic rhythm of line and texture define his approach. I
DOUBLE DOG DADDY-O! Derek Hess Gallery, 1300 West 78th St., Suite 227, 330-819-7280 derekhess.com
love the ‘loose but tight’ feel to his work.” Meeting Pickering first as a musician, Hess remembers being struck by his friend’s unique visual style and fresh subject matter. Describing Pickering’s work, Hess says, “Fresh monstrous, hat-wearing,
PREPARING FOR LIFE AS A PROFESSIONAL ARTIST FOR 70 YEARS, THE STUDENTS at the Cleveland Institute of Art have independently organized every aspect of their annual Student Independent Exhibition (SIE), from selecting the jurors and organizing artwork dropoff in the gallery to designing the postcards and installing the selected works. Each year, the show features a variety of artwork in a range of media and subject matter. Collectively, the exhibition showcases the various concentrations offered by the Institute, as well as work created in addition to the students’ official coursework and produced outside of the confines of the classroom walls. Each year an organizing committee of student leaders select and invite
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the jurors, promote the show, solicit donations for awards, check in their fellow students’ work, mount the exhibition and even handle refreshments. The whole process begins in May of the academic year before the exhibition, and the committee meets weekly during the school year to plan all the details. Aside from the committee, many students volunteer to help make each year’s event possible. “You can’t overestimate the importance of what our students get out of taking ownership of an exhibition of their work,” says Bruce Checefsky, director of CIA’s Reinberger Gallery. “For some of them, it’s a significant step toward
| clevescene.com | February 15 - 21, 2017
garbage-pelting, funny figures that bounce at you with bold applications of color, or no color at all. Regardless the medium the message is conveyed; these fresh dudes are going to grab you by the hair and whisper nonsense in your ears till they pop.” Twenty years later, both artists
seeing themselves not just as art students, but as the professional artists and designers they’re going to become. That empowerment has been the beauty of SIE since its inception 71 years ago.” CIA’s current SIE Committee includes Bianca Breed (junior Biomedical Art major), Noelle Richard (senior Drawing major), Zach James (senior Game Design major) and James Waite (senior Drawing major). This year’s jurors are Cyanide & Happiness creator Shawn Coss, CIA alumnus Adam Holtzinger and Cleveland native Julie Schenkelberg. From more than 230 submissions, the jurors accepted just 70 works. They also met with students in their classrooms and studios. “Students have the opportunity to receive studio visits with these artists and discuss their work and creative processes,” says SIE committee
have polished their styles and expressive subject matter, with Hess reaching international success by continuing to work with both established and emerging bands. Although Pickering hasn’t reached international audiences, his prolific painting career continues to impact audiences in Northeast Ohio through projects such as Slavic Village’s Rooms to Let. After years of friendship, the two decided to collaborate on a whim. Keeping it casual, both artists agreed to not set any rules and just see what happened. The resulting exhibit, Double Dog Daddy-O!, showcases more than two dozen collaborations created in the past several weeks. Taking turns, each artist started half the work for the other to finish, drawing a subject on one side in his trademark style, and leaving room for the other to respond with a similar or complementary subject in his own style. Through this shared subject matter and the compositions’ inherent duality, each artist’s unique illustrative qualities shine through, emphasizing both their similarities and differences. An engaging and illuminating exhibition, Double Dog Daddy-O! is a welcome break from all the political chaos and doom and gloom in the current cultural zeitgeist. The exhibition showcases two highly talented friends having fun together, doing what they love most. Hess and Pickering’s collaborative efforts remind us all to enjoy our time on this planet, in the company of those we most appreciate. The exhibit opens Friday, Feb. 17, with a reception from 5 to 9 p.m.
member Bianca Breed. “It is a pretty extensive process to entirely plan and run this exhibition; however, being able to communicate with professional artists and be a part of something so unique is very rewarding as a student. The coming together of students from STUDENT INDEPENDENT EXHIBITION Cleveland Institute of Art, 11610 Euclid Ave, 216-421-7000, cia.edu
all majors to plan, run and feature work in the show is a very exciting part of the spring semester.” The 71st Annual Student Independent Exhibition opens with a free, public reception from 6 to 9 p.m. this Friday, Feb. 17, and remains on view until March 19. — Josh Usmani
jusmani@clevescene.com t@clevelandscene
STAGE IMMIGRANTS ON STAGE! RUN FOR THE HILLS! Oh, sorry, it’s just The King and I. So run to Playhouse Square instead By Christine Howey
Photo by Matthew Murphy
IT’S A SIGN OF WHERE WE ARE today as a nation when a happy little tune from a Broadway musical practically brings you to tears. On opening night of The King and I, the remarkable touring production now at Playhouse Square, the cast sings “Getting to Know You,” a charming ditty about people from different countries becoming acquainted. But now, it seems freighted with sad overtones as our current president pushes many foreigners away, often at the point of a spear. Oh, to go back to that lovely Jose Llana and Laura Michelle Kelly in Rodgers & Hammerstein’s The King and I
THE KING AND I THROUGH FEB. 26 AT CONNOR PALACE, 1615 EUCLID AVE., 216-241-6000, PLAYHOUSESQUARE.ORG
sentiment of the early 1950s — or, you know, about a month ago — when we actually looked forward to meeting and greeting those from different cultures. In any case, that world is available now, on the Connor Palace stage, and it’s wonderful to experience again the lush Rogers and Hammerstein score that features such all-time favorites as “Hello, Young Lovers,” “I Whistle a Happy Tune,” and “Shall We Dance.” This is the classic Broadway musical about a 19th century King of Siam (now Thailand) and the British schoolmarm who teaches him a thing or two about accepting other peoples’ cultures and traditions. And he does the same for her. While this production puts a different spin on that relationship, there is much gorgeousness afoot for the audience
to drool over. The show gets off to an awesome beginning as we see the teacher Anna and her young son arrive on a boat from England. As the wooden ship glides towards the audience, set against the crimson sky of Bangkok, one gets the sense that something special has arrived. After that glorious opening, all the rest of the action takes place in the royal palace, against an unchanging backdrop of a large gray wall. If that was all you saw, it would be depressingly static; happily, there is a huge cast of performers, costumed sumptuously, who make the stage come alive. The portrayal of Anna here is very similar to other stage versions and to the film, which starred Deborah Kerr (with Marni Nixon’s voice). Anna is a way-before-her-time feminist who is ready to stand up for her rights and her beliefs, even before the King. And the fine singer Laura Michelle Kelly makes Anna quite believable, if not exactly riveting. As always in this show, the focus is thrown onto the King — probably because the incomparable Yul Brynner played the role for about 200 years. (That’s an alternate fact. Actually, he performed the role 4,625 times.) In any case, he made the King in his image and it’s hard for many of us who grew up with Brynner in our minds to imagine the King any other way. Yet here comes the young and adorable Jose Llana, playing the King not as a stoic and distant autocrat but as a man who, it seems, has had the power of kingship thrust upon him. It’s a very interesting twist on the character, and it has its positive and negative aspects. On the plus side, Llana’s King is much more accessible. Confronted by Anna, he often responds unguardedly, instead of adopting the towering judgmental disdain that Brynner perfected. However, since Llana is more of a human-scale leader, the moment when he and Anna finally come together and share some subtly sexy terpsichore in “Shall We Dance,” is a bit less of an epiphany. But overall, Llana and Kelly make for a respectably dynamic duo. They are ably supported by Joan Almedilla, who sings the role of Lady
Thiang with passion. And the secret love affair between Lun Tha (Kavin Panmeechao) and the King’s slave/ wife Tuptin (Manna Nichols) feels particularly resonant when they sing “We Kiss in the Shadows,” even though some of the phrases are vocally pushed a bit too hard. Perhaps the most transporting part of the show is when “The Small House of Uncle Thomas” is performed as a Siamese ballet, with the Buddha rescuing poor Eliza from the clutches
of Simon Legree. Christopher Gatelli’s choreography and Catherine Zuber’s costumes truly make this interlude a highlight of the show. In short, The King and I has all the Broadway zazz you’re looking for, while giving us another perspective on what’s happening in our world today. Hard to ask for anything more.
scene@clevescene.com t@christinehowey
March 25 216-241-6000 Group Sales 216-640-8600 playhousesquare.org
| clevescene.com | February 15 - 21, 2017
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MOVIES A CURE FOR GORE VERBINKSI? Pirates’ director has never been creepier than in A Cure for Wellness By Sam Allard DANE DEHAAN IS THE SICKLY looking fellow who’s typically called upon to play nebbish teenage outcasts and/or backwoods halfwits (see: Chronicle, Lawless). In Gore Verbinski’s thriller A Cure for Wellness, out Friday, he’s cast against type, as an ambitious financial executive named Lockhart. And his sickliness — those eyes! that pallor! — is here the outgrowth of overwork, of chewing on nicotine gum all day while staring at blinking numbers on bright computer screens. This overwork is
not abnormal in Lockhart’s world. Quite the opposite. In an opening scene, a big shot at his firm suffers a heart attack and dies. He’s alone at the office late one night and, when he collapses, the water from a spilled water cooler seeps out around him rather like blood might in a different sort of death. The camera tilts up and reveals islands of computer screens, monitors ablaze with the technicolor of late-night market reports, impervious to the dying man’s convulsions. The title appears. It’s one of the film’s many striking
SPOTLIGHT: SEASONS BEARS ROARING AND SPITTING AND PAWING IN ONE-ONone combat; wolves chasing down honking boars, teeth bared; deer giving birth; elks moaning in rut; and bison wriggling in the cold. It’s like your favorite YouTube videos from nature, arranged back to back and compiled with minimal voiceover and musical accompaniment, all in an effort to convey the “Golden Age of the Forest.” Yes, it’s Seasons, brought to you from France, and it screens at 7:10 p.m. on Saturday and 8:25 on Sunday at the Cinematheque. A master-class in nature cinematography, Seasons also happens to be a snoozefest. And the family-friendly ecological message to which it builds — we can once again co-exist happily with wild beasts — is unfortunately not too specific and not too convincing. You will be mesmerized by two or three stunning sequences: “How on earth did they get that footage?” you’ll ask yourself. Though the credits name a handful of cinematographers, one imagines hidden cameras rolling constantly in countless forests primeval. There’s a horse fight; there are migrating birds; there’s a leopard on the hunt — all in extreme close-up, camera undetected. It’s some of the most intimate, uninterrupted looks at animal behavior and anatomy that you’re likely to see onscreen. None of it seems simulated or staged. It’s as if you’re peeking into the world of animals before humans arrived. But humans do arrive, inevitably. And in one sense, the long, slow, observation of these creatures in their natural habitats makes the arrival of civilization — a fast-forward in the final 20 minutes of the movie — much more dramatic. But this narrative technique is unlikely to wield the same emotional power as, for example, Leonardo DiCaprio’s Before the Flood, released this fall on the National Geographic channel. That film, though nakedly partisan, used current images from natural disasters around the globe to paint a stark and urgent picture of climate change’s effects. Seasons, while smaller in ambition (though visually much better), paints a dire picture too. But it doesn’t rise to the fever pitch necessary to induce feelings in viewers that conservation is a vital cause. A high emotional pitch isn’t necessary in the presence of clearly stated facts, but Seasons is short on those, too. It’s literally just animals existing in nature. — Sam Allard
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and awesome tableaus. “Visionary” director Verbinski, whose career is closely linked to Johnny Depp’s — from Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl to Lone Ranger — has produced something unique here. A Cure for Wellness is long and creepy and visually accomplished. But astonishingly, what with its budget and brand-name director, the film belongs to no franchise. It is neither a sequel nor a spinoff nor a reboot. Though not without its demerits, A Cure for Wellness is, praise god, an original story. Via some bland and borrowed boardroom dialogue, we intuit that Lockhart’s firm is on the precipice of a merger, and the board’s leadership, cardboard cutouts of venal corporate executives all, are anxious that certain financial crimes not come to light, lest the forthcoming deal be sullied. They need the CEO, who’s been absent at a retreat center in the Alps for two weeks. He lately sent a letter which seemed to suggest he’d lost his mind. He no longer wants anything to do with the company. Lockhart is dispatched to Switzerland to retrieve his boss. Easier said than done. Lockhart arrives at a remote village. The retreat center turns out to be a Wellness Center, housed within a gothic castle on a hill, and it casts a long and sinister shadow over the town, whose punk-rock denizens tend to look upon the crisp professionals in the same disdainful way that the townspeople gaze upon the Beast in Beauty and the Beast. Clues about an ignoble history recur — something about medical experiments on the townspeople? A poisoned water supply? A fire? — but Lockhart can’t make heads nor tails of it, even after his CEO refuses to leave, Lockhart breaks his leg in a car crash and finally submits to a
program of convalescence. On crutches, Lockhart ambles around the facility, witnessing (and sometimes participating in) its deeply offbeat treatments. Something, it seems clear, is in the water. It’s certainly affecting the patients, who are getting visibly worse, not better. Lockhart too. In a familiar psychological device, we are nudged to consider what’s real and what’s in our protagonist’s head. Against the wishes of the facility’s director, Volmer (Jason Isaacs), Lockhart investigates the more troubling evidence he’s come upon, assisted in his sleuthing by the nymphet Hannah (Mia Goth, of Nymphomaniac Vol. II, who’s also married to Shia LeBeouf). It’s Hannah who tells Lockhart that “no one ever leaves” the wellness facility, and Hannah upon whom the facility’s existence revolves. The nature of the conspiracy, when it’s revealed, is both insane and satisfying (because it’s unpredictable), and ultimately makes for a kind of polemic against the cult of wellness — an idea literalized in the film’s final act — especially among the pampered corporate set. At two hours and 26 minutes, it’s of course much too long, though in keeping with Verbinski’s penchant for bloat. One shudders at the memory of 2007’s Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, which clocked in at an unspeakable 2:49. An R rating also might have been reduced to PG-13 without too much trouble, though “disturbing images” abound. Much like the latter Pirates movies, A Cure for Wellness is perhaps the year’s worst movie for those with hair-trigger seafood allergies.
sallard@clevescene.com t@scenesallard
| clevescene.com | February 15 - 21, 2017
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EAT HOME IMPROVEMENTS Chicago’s Home of Chicken & Waffles dishes up comfort, could still use some TLC By Douglas Trattner Photo by Emanuel Wallace
IF YOU DID NOT HAZARD A VISIT to the Rathskeller on Prospect Avenue, then it’s impossible for you to comprehend the astonishing transformation that befell that address. In place of the bleak fortress-like facade now sit expansive windows that reveal to all that this no longer is a spot one needs to avoid out of fear for personal safety. In fact, Chicago’s Home of Chicken & Waffles gets so busy at times that we’ve seen a line of folks waiting for a table extend clear outside and onto the sidewalk. Granted, that was on a Friday night when the Cavs were playing down the street, but this joint jumps on other nights as well. We slid into an oversized booth on another weekend night just as the live jazz ensemble began to play. From our cushy faux alligator-skin perch we could really appreciate the stylish interior, which appears considerably larger than it used to. Glass-bubble chandeliers around the room add a pleasant firefly effect, and the avocado green furniture upholstery feels fresh and modern. A raised lounge area across from the bar is a sweet little spot to wait with a drink, especially when there’s a ballgame on the wall-size screen. Step into Chicago’s Home and you’ll be met with the customary “Welcome to our home” greeting, a sentiment that was imported, like the concept, from the Windy City, where two other spots exist. Owner Tonya Johnson opened the first restaurant a decade ago in the South Side neighborhood of Bronzeville. Unlike the space, the cuisine is decidedly unpretentious, the kind of soul food your grandmother would make is how Johnson describes it. That might be the reasoning behind the table settings, which stand in stark contrast to the room. While no expense was spared on the interior design, diners eat off cafeteria-style plastic plates with tinny silverware while sipping from plastic Coca-Cola branded glasses and dabbing their faces with paper napkins. We noticed a considerable beefing up of the staff between early and
subsequent visits, with literally dozens of employees attending to guests. The effort is there, if not always the execution. Meals can get a little hectic and disorganized, with dishes coming to the table with the orderliness of a shotgun blast. But I rest the blame for that less on the staff than on the menu, which has more moving parts than a mechanical timepiece. A simple entree can consist of five separate plates when you take into account salad, main, sides and accoutrements.
maple syrup and hot sauce. Diners can also swap the chicken for a pair of crisp, mild tasting catfish filets ($14.50). For people who struggle with decision making, this menu can be maddening. There are nearly 10 different categories, each with multiple dishes, each of which have numerous possible iterations. “Soul Food Specials” come with your choice of fried or grilled catfish, fried white or dark meat chicken, grilled boneless thighs or grilled salmon. Then there’s the sides:
CHICAGO’S HOME OF CHICKEN & WAFFLES 1144 PROSPECT AVE. 216-600-8600 CHICAGOSCHICKENANDWAFFLES.COM
Chicken and waffles, for example, arrive on separate plates. Diners can get pretty much any combination of white and/or dark meat, with prices ranging from $10 to $20 depending. We thought the fried chicken was excellent — hot, crispy and juicy. The waffles, despite being hot, arrived pale, soft and especially chewy. They come topped with whipped butter and accompanied by
choose three from a list of eight. Now, do you want that smothered with gravy and onions? In place of chicken and waffles one night I went with the Mr. Beckham’s (all dishes have proper nouns), boneless grilled thighs ($15.50) smothered in gravy, served over rice, and paired with a side salad and fluffy biscuit. I did not regret my decision. Not that you need them, but
Chicago’s Home does not sell appetizers. The closest they come is the long list of side dishes and the bar menu, which has items like breakfast sliders, macaroni balls and the tempting “flaming gizzards,” but is available at the bar only. While waiting for our companions one night, we ordered home fries with gravy ($5) and fried chicken livers ($9) to tide us over. The potatoes were neither hot nor crispy. The deep-fried livers were very hot, very crispy and very overcooked, at least if you prefer them to be blush-colored and creamy. There’s been some grumbling about the check-payment method, which is done Square-like in real time on a tablet. Servers hand over the device for a signature and tip percentage, sometimes walking away to offer privacy, others not. I feel that if you’re embarrassed about the tip amount, maybe it’s inappropriate. And if it is on the low side, perhaps offer the server the benefit of an explanation.
dtrattner@clevescene.com t@dougtrattner | clevescene.com | February 15 - 21, 2017
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Photo by Rachel Hunt
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| clevescene.com | February 15 - 21, 2017
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AS WITH WINE AND COFFEE, chocolate is said to be affected by terroir, deriving certain flavors from the region in which the cocoa beans are grown. The husband-and-wife team behind Sweet Bean (216-9128822, sweetbeancandies.com), Bob and Kristin Barnes, were inspired to treat Clevelanders to small batch, artisan chocolate after realizing the niche market had not yet been filled in their hometown. “We’ve been enjoying craft chocolate for a long time,” says Kristin, seated in the living room of her Euclid home, which also serves as headquarters for the cottage food business. “The closest person doing anything like this when we started was in Michigan. We thought, let’s be the ones who do it here. It’ll differentiate us from the other chocolatiers.” Kristin’s rich Belgian chocolates already stand out, packaged in visually appealing assortments of four or 12 treats in eye-catching colors. Each chocolate is hand-painted with colored cocoa butter, molded into the size of a button, and lacquered with a thin coat of luster dust to create metallic marble or Pollack-inspired spatters. “I’m very into pop art, Lichtenstein and Keith Herring, so I love all of these really bright, poppy colors.” The bonbons are created from dark, milk and white chocolates. They are then filled with an assortment of signature-flavor ganache or caramel, including honey-lavender, Mexican hot cocoa with cinnamon and cayenne, maple creme, chai, or, for Valentine’s Day, a seasonal strawberry rose. “We’re not doing anything super elaborate,” Kristin explains. “Instead of putting a bunch of different flavors together, I’ve been focusing on a big punch in one bite.” What began as a one-off class in Boston advertised through Groupon quickly snowballed into the establishment of a small business. Kristin enrolled in a professional program through Ecole Chocolat and they both participated in a
food business incubator offered by the Economic and Community Development Institute (ECDI), a lender that works with the Cleveland Culinary Launch Kitchen. Soon after, they applied to vend at the Cleveland Flea and were accepted in the fall of 2013; however, the busiest months are November through February. Recently they’ve expanded to offer single origin bean-to-bar chocolate as part of their brand. These aren’t your run-of-the-mill Hershey’s; each bar contains 45- to 72-percent cocoa sourced from countries like Peru, Mexico, Ghana and Venezuela, all represented in their hand-roasted varieties. This has been a big step for Bob, who latched onto the science and artistry behind making chocolate straight from bean, a relatively rare craft in Ohio. Purchasing from a distributor in Oregon, Bob selects beans to roast a few pounds at a time, sorting them once they’re in hand. “I roast in my oven. That’s one of the biggest things that determine the flavor, or I use the term ‘point of view.’ That’s really what’s driving the end product,” he explains. Once the beans are roasted, he winnows them to remove the paperlike outer shell and cracks them into nibs before grinding. The cocoa is mixed with sugar and cocoa butter to achieve just the right taste, consistency and firmness. It is tempered before it can be molded into a bar. “You can do what everyone else is doing or you can create your own point of view,” Bob says. “We’re really accentuating the opportunities in chocolate that people don’t know are there. Coffee roasters are doing very similar things.” For a unique post-Valentine’s Day activity, the Barnes have teamed up with Brandon Riggs of Rising Star Coffee to offer a coffee and chocolate pairing from 6 to 7 p.m. on Feb. 16 at the Roastery (3617 Walton Ave., 216651-7827, risingstarcoffee.com). See the website for details.
scene@clevescene.com t@clevelandscene
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| clevescene.com | February 15 - 21, 2017
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EAT NOW OPEN El Puente Viejo Taco and Tequila Bar By Douglas Trattner IT’S “TACO TIME” AT EL PUENTE Viejo (1220 Huron Rd.), the splashy new taco and tequila bar in Playhouse Square. The 2,800-squarefoot restaurant on the ground floor of the Creswell, a high-end residential building, opened last Friday. Owner Rogelio Hernandez was born and raised in Central Mexico, but he’s owned Mexican restaurants in the States for years. He recently added a popular new Si Señor (25048 Sperry Dr., 440-250-0882) in Westlake to his portfolio, which also includes spots in Kamm’s Corners, Seven Hills and North Ridgeville. Like his Westlake operation, Puente Viejo features handmade tortillas, a guacamole bar and refrigerated fresh toppings bar for diners to customize their dishes. Partner Dave Wittschen describes the look and feel of the restaurant as “urban modern,” with a feature wall mural of the “puente viejo,” or old bridge. “It refers to the old bridge in Central Mexico that separated Rogelio’s hometown from the city,” Wittschen explains. “All the kids would have to cross the old bridge to get to the city, which is where all the old-school taco carts would be.”
PROPER PIG TO BRING ITS BBQ MAGIC TO MENTOR WITH SECOND SHOP Almost a year to the day that Shane Vidovic and Ted Dupaski signed the lease for Proper Pig Smokehouse in Lakewood, the pair signed a lease for a second location,
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| clevescene.com | February 15 - 21, 2017
this one clear across town in Mentor. The site, a former Quiznos (9582 Diamond Center Dr.), should be up and smoking by May, according to Vidovic. “We’re going to take what we did in Lakewood and use some of the things we learned since we opened to improve on the process,” Vidovic explains. Since opening last spring, Proper Pig has earned the favor of scores of customers who adore the Texasstyle barbecue dished up in a casual Lakewood storefront. The team was selling so much slow-smoked beef brisket, pulled pork, turkey breast, pork ribs and hot link sausages that they had to quickly expand their equipment. “Going forward we will be better streamlined and open more often,” he adds. The Lakewood shop is dinner only every day but Saturday and Sunday, but the Mentor shop will be open for lunch and dinner seven days a week. The menu will be the same as on the westside and all the meats will be smoked on site. Wisely, the new spot has room to expand if and when the need arises. As for the original location, which will turn 1 in April, Vidovic says the learning curve was steep and quick. The two went from running a food truck to operating a busy-asheck brick-and-mortar spot almost overnight. But Proper Pig is now right where they want it to be. “It’s running so much smoother,” he reports. “We’ve gotten the hang of not selling out of certain things, cooking enough and getting our
Sit down with your guests. Advertise with SCENE. Call 216-241-7550 for more information.
capacity right. That’s why we feel we can do this one too.” And if you think slow smoking implies slow moving, think again. “We hope this will be the model for moving forward. We don’t like to stop moving.”
STOUT IT OUT LOUD FEST PAIRS OHIO DARK BREWS WITH OYSTER BAR On Saturday, Feb. 18, Butcher and the Brewer (2043 East Fourth St., 216-331-0805) will host its second annual Stout It Out Loud festival, a late-winter celebration of oysters and craft beer. More than 25 Ohio breweries will be on site pouring an incredible assortment of stouts, porters, strong ales and other dark brews. The beers will complement a dozen varieties of East and West Coast oysters. “Last year’s inaugural event was such a success that we have been able to add to the stellar list of growing local breweries,” explains partner Jason Workman. “This year we have more than 25 breweries participating and over 40 different styles of beer to try.” Butcher and the Brewer will be pouring a staggering selection of stouts, including Albino Stout, Midnight Oil Imperial Oatmeal Stout, Count Belgian Chocolate Stout, Sugaree’s Sweet Stout with Coffee, Midnight Oil on Cacao Nibs, Midnight Oil on Coffee, and Albino Stout on Cacao Nibs and Coffee. Other participating breweries include Rhinegeist, Fat Heads, Brick & Barrel, Thirsty Dog, Willoughby Brewing, Hoppin’ Frog, Canton Brewing Co., Jackie O’s, Urban Artifact, Brew Kettle, Market
Garden, Seventh Son, Platform, Sibling Revelry, Portside Brewing, Maize Valley Brewing, Goldhorn Brewing, MadCap Brewing, Lockport Brewing, Hansa Brewing, Lagerheads, HiHo Brewing, JAFB, Millersburg Brewing, RShea Brewing, and Double Wing Brewing. Some of the special offerings include Hoppin’ Frog’s Boris the Crusher, Jackie O’s Bourbon BarrelAged Dark Apparition, Seventh Son’s Oubliette Imperial Stout, Urban Artifact’s Kicksled Stout, and Brew Kettle’s Kitka Stout. For eats, there will be an oyster bar with housemade accouterments. A dozen raw, fresh-shucked oysters will be paired with classic, bloody Mary and stout mignonettes, cocktail sauce, fermented horseradish and fresh lemon. Fried oysters will be served as Po’ Boys and johnnycake fried oysters. “The culinary team is assembling a diverse lineup of fresh shucked and fried oysters with a variety of housemade accoutrements,” Workman adds. “The sharp bite of a briny oyster and the roasted chocolate notes of a stout are the perfect pair for a cold winter day. I can’t wait. It’s my favorite event of the year!” The event runs from noon to 4 p.m. Tickets are $40 in advance ($45 after Feb. 15) and include a souvenir tasting glass, 20 beer-tasting tickets and a half-dozen oysters. Non-food tickets as well as designated driver options are available as well.
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THE BRITE STUFF
Photo by Emanuel Wallace
MUSIC 10 bands to see at this year’s Brite Winter By Jeff Niesel BRITE WINTER, THE ANNUAL outdoor winter music and arts festival, began a few years back in the Flats near what is now Merwin’s Wharf. Organizers had to learn a few difficult lessons before they were able to turn the event into the welloiled machine it has become. “We literally weathered a blizzard our first year and found out the hard way that yes, you need to cover bands if you want them to play in the snow, and a rear-wheel drive U-Haul van is tough to drive on unsalted brick roads,” says cofounder Emily Hornack in a press release announcing the return of this year’s event, which will take place from 3 p.m. to 1 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 18, on the West Bank of the Flats. Last year’s event, which also took place on the Flats’ West Bank, featured record-breaking temperatures of 66 degrees. The festival subsequently drew record-breaking crowds. Some of the city’s best local bands are scheduled to perform at this year’s incarnation, and a slew of other local acts are also on the bill. “This year we expanded our selection process to include a review committee of over 30 people who work in or around the music community in Cleveland,” says music director Justin Markert. “It really helped us diversify the lineup. More than half of the lineup has never played Brite Winter before. It’s a perfect cross section of the amazing things happening in all corners of the Cleveland music community.” Dia De Muertos Ohio, Sankofa Fine Arts Plus, Negative Space Gallery, Robin Heinrich, the Fire+Light Performing Arts, Andrew Kaletta, MXLXTXV, and RGI Inc. will provide the visual art for this year’s event, which features larger festival grounds and more heated tents. One new feature: the trippy DayGlo Experience at Mulberry’s. Here’s a rundown of some of the bands worth checking out.
Ottawa performing at last year’s Brite Winter.
Punch Drunk Tagalongs 4:25 p.m. on The Stage Under the Bridge We last saw Punch Drunk Tagalongs when they opened for Rubblebucket not too long ago. The pairing was apropos, which might give you a small sense of their sound. Veering from contemplative verses and atmospheric guitar work to head-bobbing, raucous choruses, the Tagalongs certainly command an exciting presence on the stage. Frontwoman Alisha Stahnke has a fantastic voice for this sort of music, and the band that’s assembled around her seems to be really gelling as they play more and more shows around Northeast Ohio. The 2016 debut EP is a four-song romp that we highly recommend; “Alice” is an incredibly cool song that involves a lot of movement in its frenzied five minutes. (Eric Sandy)
Signals Midwest 8:20 pm on The Stage Under the Bridge With more-than-earnest songwriting, mid-song breakdowns, and sing-along choruses, Signals Midwest has contributed to the indiepunk/emo revival of the past few years. During that time, the band has crafted a more mature sound and introduced more complex pop hooks and punk melodies. The band’s new album, At This Age, has been praised and covered by major media outlets such as Spin, A.V. Club and Punknews. Even though the band still books its own shows, its growing popularity suggests a much larger following could be on the horizon. (Johnny Cook)
Holden Laurence 5:55 p.m. on the Covermymeds Stage on Elm Avenue Fans of the Modern Electric, one of the best indie rock bands in town, might be taken a bit off guard by the solo debut from guitarist Holden Laurence. While the Modern Electric has a cinematic pop sound, Laurence opts for something far folkier. His album features somber ballads that show off Laurence’s sensitive side. “Friendship & the Fever” could pass as unplugged Modest Mouse, and “Falling Still” sounds like the kind of lullaby you could sing to a child attempting to sleep. With its references to Midwestern winters, the Leo Kottkelike “Humble, I’m Coming Home” will appeal specifically to local listeners. The sparse nature of the recording —
Ex-Astronaut 7:55 p.m. on the Dayglo Experience at Mulberry’s Stage Known for a while as Field Trip (and thus securing two of Cleveland’s best band names in the past decade), Ex-Astronaut blazed across the music scene last fall with its album, No More Bad Dreams, a sublime and chilled-out seven-song rocker. “With the current lineup, we have shifted away from the fuzzed out Dino Jr. stuff and started playing the shoe-gazer stuff we play now,” guitarist Pete Jennings told us earlier this year, describing the past few years’ path that led to this album. “We want the guitars to not sound like guitars.” The band’s live show is a trippy and head-nodding experience that will remind you of the power of shoe-gaze. Oh, and a quick note: The
the tunes here sound like they simply consist of guitar and vocals — works to its favor and gives the songs a real beauty. (Jeff Niesel)
awesome, local Panza Foundation helped finish off the funding for the album. (Sandy) Midnight Passenger 9:35 p.m. on McCarthy’s Stage Recorded over the past year by local hero Jim Stewart at Lava Room, Whiteout Audio and Jim Stewart Studios, MidnightPassenger’s latest album, Calypso, the long-awaited followup to its 2011 debut EP, sounds like a throwback to ’90s bands such as Semisonic, Live and Guster. The tunes here tend toward the mellow side of things, but the music becomes more engaging when the group turns up the distortion in songs such as “Radiating,” “Wading” and “NGTMR,” the latter of which features bellowing vocals and an escalating tempo that turns it into a veritable anthem. The same goes for “Wolfs Den,” which sounds like a cross between U2 and My Morning Jacket. Album opener “Bones” is an earnest, mid-tempo rocker and would make a great single. These guys have been playing the indie circuit in town, but the music here has crossover potential, assuming AAA radio stations are adventurous enough to play something that just doesn’t sound like Mumford & Sons. (Niesel) Mourning [a] Blkstar 9:55 p.m. on the Dayglo Experience at Mulberry’s Stage For many, the introduction to this band came last year when the first single hit Youtube and Facebook: “Field N***as, My Heroes.” It’s a bold song, unlike anything that’s come out of Cleveland in years. The video conveyed an esoteric arrival; these four musicians are seen walking through | clevescene.com | February 15 - 21, 2017
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MUSIC a sparsely wooded grove, clad in exotic threads and burning sage among the trees. A manic beat spins through the natural setting, as LaToya Kent’s vocals spell out a message about the past and the future. One minute in, the song shifts dramatically. The beat becomes more immediate, and the video flips over to a catacomb of rusted steel. The piece ends in black and white, with the three singers facing away from the camera for a full minute of airy tones. And that’s sort of the thing here: More than any other band in a good long while — Pere Ubu, maybe, or 9 Shocks Terror? Or more recently, This Moment in Black History? — MAB captures the vibe of Cleveland in a time of cultural growth. (Sandy) The Lighthouse and the Whaler 10 p.m. on the Covermymeds Stage on Elm Avenue As the story goes, after attending Southeastern University in Florida, where he studied literature and theology, singer Michael LoPresti returned to Cleveland in the winter of 2008. Inspired by Herman Melville’s classic man-vs.-sea novel Moby Dick, he called his new band the Lighthouse and the Whaler and headed into the studio and started recording songs with violinist Aaron Smith. Later that spring, the two got together in a field near Chardon for what they thought was their first photo shoot. They started playing music and people stopped to check them out, making LoPresti think the band was onto something that had potential. For its most recent album, 2015’s Mont Royal, the band headed north of the border to Montreal to record with Marcus Paquin (The National, Arcade Fire). The terrific album garnered national acclaim, and the band toured the states in support of it. (Niesel) Wesley Bright and the Honeytones 11:10 p.m. on the Cleveland Clothing Co. Stage at Music Box Singer Brent “Wesley Bright” Wesley and a different backing band played its first gig a few years ago, and he’s been going strong ever since. Because of its terrific live show — sharp-dressed Wesley is a real dynamo on stage — the soul/oldschool R&B band is suddenly in high demand. Songs such as “You Don’t Care About Me” feature a steady bass beat and soulful, Otis Redding-like vocals. This year, Bright reemerged with a new backing outfit, the Honeytones. “We’re still drawing from
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| clevescene.com | February 15 - 21, 2017
the familiar soul tradition,” he told us earlier this year. “The Honeytones are going new places musically, exploring a more diverse, funkier and nuanced sound.” The band will release a series of 45s throughout 2017, the first being “You Don’t Want Me/Work It Out: Part 2),” a cheeky soul-pop tune that Bright says sounds like Sam Cooke meets Vulfpeck. “It has gotten entire crowds singing its hook while I sing it at live shows,” says Bright. “‘Work It Out: Part 2’ shows the band’s explosive side, calling upon the feeling of James Brown’s classic funk.” The first single comes out this spring, with a “giant release party” at the Beachland to celebrate. (Niesel) Brent Kirby and his Luck Midnight on the Ports Petroleum Stage at Music Box Down Singer-songwriter Brent Kirby is one of the busiest local musicians in town. In addition to playing with a number of local ensembles, he also nurtures a solo career and has just regrouped with a new backing band (dubbed the Luck) for his latest album, Patience Worth, an eclectic collection of roots rock songs that suggests he’s been unfairly pigeon-holed as an Americana or alt-country artist. It’s a terrific collection of tunes that sound like they were written by a veteran songwriter. (Niesel) Runaway Brother Midnight on McCarthy’s Stage Runaway Brother are a homegrown emo band — for clarification, that’s emo in the Sunny Day Real Estate and basement show sense, not the Fall Out Boy and Hot Topic variety — that does things big. They manage to cram a lot into their mostly threeminute songs: punchy hooks, layered vocal harmonies, speedy drum kicks and even the odd synth line. With a wide range of excellent guitar work, courtesy of the band’s three guitarists (the band itself is big!), the group delivers huge distorted chords, gentle acoustic strumming and Cap’n Jazz-ian leads. Runaway Brother displays a rare combination of technical ability and taste. And they’re no studio charlatans. Live, they hit every hard stop and breakdown in their energetic sets perfectly. As the genre suggests, they’ve got big feelings too: Their lyrics largely revolve around such intangibles as nostalgia, disappointment and neverending effort to stay positive. (James Helmsworth)
jniesel@clevescene.com t@jniesel
| cl cclevescene.com leves eves ev escene cene ce ne.cco om m | February Feb ebru ruar ar y 15 ary 15 - 221, 11,, 22017 00117
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MUSIC A SPECIAL TOUCH Indie rockers July Talk adopt a more visceral sound on their new album By Jeff Niesel PETER DREIMANIS AND LEAH Fay, the two singers who front the Canadian punk/alternative act July Talk, have more than music in common. They share a perspective about activism and self-motivation. So what do they think about the rise of xenophobia in the world and the political meltdown taking place in the U.S.? “It feels like it’s chaos right now,” says Dreimanis in a recent phone interview from a Phoenix tour stop. “Everything is in flux. I think the United States has been led by collaboration for decades, and I hope there’s room for that to happen in an inclusive way. I don’t think there needs to be division and picking and choosing who needs to come to a country. I think we should remember that we’re all refugees.” The politically astute Dreimanis and Fay met a few years ago just as Dreimanis, who had been playing in another band, came back from a European tour. He walked into a bar and Fay, whom he had never met before, was sitting in the back corner. She had a bicycle helmet on and was covered with face paint. She also had a guitar. He listened to her and then joined her to play a song the band would end up turning into “The Garden.” When the two decided to form July Talk, they immediately knew they had no interest in being a “folk Simonand-Garfunkel-type of duo.” Rather, they wanted to have a rock ’n’ roll band that was “loud and dynamic and something like Crazy Horse.” Bassist Josh Warburton, who owned a film company, joined the band along with drummer Danny Miles. During practices, they initially did some covers, but they purposely avoided duets. Rather, they played songs that were sung by one person. They did Leonard Cohen’s “If It Be Your Will,” an Antony and the
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Johnsons’ song and “Bernadette” by the Four Tops, all emotionally charged male songs. “I guess we just did that because in terms of playing with each other, there weren’t the amount of songs that are sung by two people,” says Fay. “There’s some cutesy duet stuff, but the lack of duets probably helped to inform a lot of the way we wrote and the way we ended up sounding just because we have such different ranges. It was an enlightening process.” The band cut its debut in a mere six months. That album, a mix of garage rock and blues, alternates between noisy numbers such as the aforementioned “The Garden” and retro-leaning pop. The two singers trade off vocals, creating a rather stark contrast between their voices. The music has been described as garage blues, but Dreimanis says the band’s style has changed over the years. He says everyone in the band
the physicality of the music. With the loss of the great David Bowie, I think everyone was influenced by that. On a musical level, he influenced so many things and produced Iggy Pop and Lou Reed and made these records that created the rock ’n’ roll that would influence bands like the Strokes and Kings of Leon.” Fay says she thinks of her musical influences in a similar manner. “Growing up, I liked music that was written by musicians who felt they could change the world,” she says. “I like that sincerity. I think music does have that power for people like Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson and Salt-N-Peppa. That expanded my world view. Now I look to people who write from a perspective that is very political, like Father John Misty. He had an influence on the way we wrote the second album.” When it came time to record the followup to their self-titled debut, the
JULY TALK, MONA, LITTLE JUNIOR 8:30 P.M. SATURDAY, FEB. 18, GROG SHOP, 2785 EUCLID HEIGHTS BLVD., CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, 216-321-5588. TICKETS: $12 ADV, $14 DOS, GROGSHOP.GS
loves the Rolling Stones and connect to people like punk singer Iggy Pop and punk poet Patti Smith. “It’s so funny,” says Dreimanis. “I love the Stooges to death, but I’m more influenced by [Iggy Pop’s] actions and
| clevescene.com | February 15 - 21, 2017
band decided to experiment more. “We didn’t have any mandate,” says Fay. “It came from experimentation. All five of us worked things out and then threw things out. I guess we feel a specific privilege because we can
write about gender from two different perspectives.” The group recruited Ian Davenport, who had worked with the edgy punk group Band of Skulls. “He’s such a great human being,” Dreimanis says of Davenport. “We had been demoing for a few months before he came to Canada from the U.K. He arrived, and we played him everything. He’s concerned with capturing a certain vibe. You perform the songs with no click track, and he waits until you get to this point where you get him moving, and you’re dancing in the control room, and we’re playing from our hips and physically moving our body. That was a huge influence. Though the lyrical content was kind of dark at times, we wanted to make the music move, especially for people who aren’t used to moving. It was special to work with him.” The album closes with the title track, “Touch,” a somber song that features a bit of piano as a choir joins Dreimanis and Fay. “‘Sex Song’ was the working title of that song,” Fay says. “It’s about a human urge that we all carry with us from cradle to grave. We need human touch and love. It’s a common thread that runs through all of us.” Dreimanis says the tune typifies the band’s approach on the album. “We started playing that song about four years ago,” he says. “The lyrics have shifted a bit, but it grew into itself in a strange way. We didn’t know what the song was about until we really needed it. As a result, the whole record started to come together as this idea of focusing on human touch. It’s about just standing naked in front of somebody and why we are all so afraid of that. It’s about accepting that reality and restating to people how sacred the vulnerability might be.” The immediacy on Touch means the songs translate well live. “Our first album was really, really padded,” says Dreimanis. “It was cool and sounded huge, but the songs on Touch were played live, and there wasn’t the tendency to throw everything at them. The songs on Touch make it seem like you could be sitting next to us rather than in some dream world.”
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& THE LEGENDS OF SOUL | clevescene.com | February 15 - 21, 2017
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WED
02/15
10 X 3 Singer Songwriter Showcase: Hosted by Brent Kirby (in the Wine Bar): 8 p.m. Brothers Lounge. Bluewater Kings Band: 8 p.m., free. Brothers Lounge. Nick Finzer: Hear and Now: 8 p.m., $12 ADV, $15 DOS. Bop Stop. Grum with Derek Armstrong and Blackbird: 9 p.m., $10 ADV, $15 DOS. Grog Shop. The Movement/Dutty: 8:30 p.m., $15 ADV, $17 DOS. Beachland Tavern. Ones to Watch Presents Locash: The Fighters: 7 p.m., $22.50 - $32.50. House of Blues. Overkill/Nile/Lordi: 6:30 p.m., $25 ADV, $30 DOS. The Agora Theatre. Tri-C Soundworks: 7 p.m., $15. Nighttown.
THU
02/16
Busty & the Bass/Michael Blume/ Red Rose Panic: The nine members of Busty & the Bass befriended one another during their first week at McGill University’s jazz school in Montreal and started jamming. Casual house party gigs led to legitimate performances at festivals. Later this year, the group will issue its full-length debut. Neal Pogue, a Grammy award-winning producer/mixer best known for his work with acts like Outkast, Snoop Dogg, Earth Wind and Fire, MIA, Nikki Minaj, Aretha Franklin, and Lil Wayne, produced the album. “Up Top,” the album’s first single, features breezy horns and a funky rhythm section. Expect the band to bring a party vibe to the Beachland for tonight’s show. (Jeff Niesel) 8 p.m., $10 ADV, $12 DOS. Beachland Tavern. KT Tunstall/Kelvin Jones: A couple of years ago, Scottish singersongwriter KT Tunstall announced she would no longer tour and record. Rather, she wanted to pursue writing music for film. She attended the Sundance Composers Lab in Northern California. In the midst of working there, she started to write the pop songs that would make up last year’s Kin, a collection of generally up-tempo tunes that document her move to Southern California and coming to terms with her status as a pop star. She’ll have a full band in tow for tonight’s performance, which comes at the start of a spring tour. (Niesel) 7:30
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all the live music you should see this week Photo by Pete Duvall
LIVEWIRE
Heavy hitters Darkest Hour play the Agora. See: Sunday. p.m., $25 ADV, $28 DOS. Music Box Supper Club. Bossbird Wooda/King Mouder/Erika Kayne: 9 p.m., $15 ADV, $20 DOS. Beachland Ballroom. Cleveland Greats Concert Series: Bob Fraser: 8 p.m., $15. Bop Stop. William Control/Toxic Waters/ Minimal Concern/Together We Fly: 7 p.m., $12 ADV, $15 DOS. Agora Ballroom. Duchess: 8 p.m., $20. Nighttown. The G-Nome Project/Psychic Relic/ Dr. Scott’s Electric Hairbrush: 9 p.m., $8 ADV, $10 DOS. Grog Shop. Chris Hatton’s Musical Circus (in the Wine Bar): 8 p.m. Brothers Lounge. Jam Night with the Bad Boys of Blues: 9 p.m., free. Brothers Lounge. John Lennon & Friends/Gary Lee (in the Supper Club): 7 p.m., $5. Music Box Supper Club. Meat Flowers/Joey Sprinkles/Holy Daughters: 9 p.m., $5. Happy Dog. Switchfoot & Relient K, Looking for America Tour Part II: 7 p.m., $32 ADV, $40 DOS. House of Blues. Tesla: 8 p.m., $29-$60. Packard Music Hall.
FRI
02/17
COIN/Keeps/Kid Runner: Before playing Bonnaroo and some other major festivals this summer, Nashville upstart COIN will hit small clubs in support of its 2015 debut album. The band seems poised
| clevescene.com | February 15 - 21, 2017
for a breakout this year. The first hit “Run” got heavy alt-radio airplay, and new single “Talk Too Much” recently hit 10 million streams on Spotify. Both songs make use of glossy guitar, melodic synth lines, danceable kick-drum backbeats and anthemic vocals. Their high energy evokes comparisons to other indie pop-rock bands like Two Door Cinema Club or the 1975. Keeps, a psych-rock duo (also from Nashville), and Kid Runner, a pop punk group from Columbus, will open for COIN. (Johnny Cook) 9 p.m., $12 ADV, $15 DOS. Grog Shop. Echostep CD Release Party Featuring DJs Mike Textbeak and Tim Smith: A veteran on the local electronic music scene, James Young, who performed with the local act Shadow Saints before forming his latest “adventure,” Echostep, self-released a new Echostep album earlier this year. The EP includes four original tracks and two remixes of the title track by Interface and Coldlink. The effectively eerie “Pictures in the Sky” features hushed vocals and pulsating synths, and the piano ballad “I’m Okay” has a subtle intensity to it. Expect to hear the tracks at tonight’s release party. (Niesel) 8 p.m. The Symposium. Commander Cody (in the Supper Club): 8 p.m., $20 ADV, $22 DOS. Music Box Supper Club. Norman Connors Featuring Bobby Lyle: 8 p.m., $40. Nighttown.
Dead Fall/The Grievance Club/ Nervous Laughter/Like Tyrants/ Colorblind: 7 p.m., $8 ADV, $10 DOS. Now That’s Class. Sammy DeLeon’s Latin Jazz Sextet: 8 p.m., $15. Bop Stop. Bon Fire, AC/DC Tribute: 9:30 p.m., $10. Brothers Lounge. Brantley Gilbert/Tucker Beathard/ Luke Combs/Brian Davis: 7 p.m., $31.75-$36.75. Covelli Centre (Youngstown). Gringo Stew/Zydeco Kings: 8:30 p.m., free. Beachland Tavern. Billy Joel Tribute by the Stranger: 8 p.m., $22 ADV, $25 DOS. Music Box Supper Club. Bill March (in the Wine Bar): 8 p.m. Brothers Lounge. Masquerade Ball with Radio Active Band: 7 p.m., $25. Vosh Club. Part Time Lover/Herzog/New Planet Trampoline: 9 p.m., $5. Happy Dog. Radiate 2017: 9 p.m., $25. The Agora Theatre. Rumpke Mountain Boys/Dave Katz: 9 p.m., $12-$20. Beachland Ballroom. Skin Graft/Valley Girls/Knife in a Cage (in the Locker Room): 9 p.m., $5. Mahall’s 20 Lanes. Moss Stanley: 10:30 p.m., free. Nighttown. Turn to Crime/Joey Sprinkles: 9 p.m., $5. The Euclid Tavern.
SAT
02/18
High School Rock Off Round 4: 6 p.m., $10. Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Cassie Bishop/Jenna Fournier/ Dad Shorts/Ty Barker: 9 p.m., $5. Happy Dog. Norman Connors Featuring Bobby Lyle: 8 p.m., $40. Nighttown. Ikembe/Brittany Atterberry: 9 p.m., $5. The Euclid Tavern. The J. Dilla Geek Down Featuring DJ Know1: 9 p.m., free. Now That’s Class. Carlos Jones & the P.L.U.S. Band: 10 p.m., $8. Brothers Lounge. Joe Joyce/The Promise Hero/Nathan James/Glendale/Ashley Blasko/ Austin Lawrence (in the Locker Room): 7 p.m., $8. Mahall’s 20 Lanes. July Talk/Mona/Little Junior: 8:30 p.m., $12 ADV, $14 DOS. Grog Shop. Low Cut Connie/Hamilton Handshake/DJ Alr!ght: 9 p.m., $10 ADV, $12 DOS. Beachland Tavern. Jimmy Maguire (in the Wine Bar): 8 p.m. Brothers Lounge. Rumpke Mountain Boys/Chris
| clevescene.com m | February 15 - 21, 2017
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| clevescene.com | February 15 - 21, 2017
LIVEWIRE Dollar: 9 p.m., $12-$20. Beachland Ballroom. Songwriters Round in the Tavern: 3 p.m., free. Beachland Tavern. That 80s’ Band: 8 p.m., $5. Vosh Club. Jackie Warren: 10:30 p.m., free. Nighttown.
SUN
02/19
Darkest Hour/Ringworm/Rotten Sound/Rivers of Nihil/Lower 13: Formed 20 years ago in Washington D.C., Darkest Hour remains one of the heaviest acts circulating in the metal core world. Produced by Kurt Ballou, its latest effort, Godless Prophets & the Migrant Flora, might be its heaviest album yet. As its title implies, the songs reect the current conicts between humanity and nature. The intensity that runs through the songs on the album should translate to one helluva live show. (Niesel) 6:30 p.m., $15 ADV, $18 DOS. Agora Ballroom. Martin Sexton/Dan Hubbard: 7 p.m., $25 ADV, $28 DOS. Music Box Supper Club. Blue Streak Ensemble: 7 p.m., $10. Bop Stop. Braxton and Charity of Samfox/ Together We Fly/John’s Little Sister: 8:30 p.m., $5. Beachland Tavern. Graceful Closure/J. Emmett/Theta Waves: 8 p.m., $8 ADV, $10 DOS. Grog Shop. I Love the ’90s Tour: Vanilla Ice/ Salt-n-Pepa/Spinderella/Color Me Badd/Coolio/Tone Loc/Young MC: 7 p.m., $36.50-$76.50. Covelli Centre (Youngstown). Mike Petrone (in the Wine Bar): 5:30 p.m. Brothers Lounge. Southern Avenue: 7 p.m., $15. Nighttown. Yesterday Once More - A Musical Celebration of the Carpenters (in the Supper Club): 7 p.m., $18 ADV, $20 DOS. Music Box Supper Club.
MON
02/20
Billy Bragg/Jon Langford: Tooth & Nail, Bragg’s most recent album, might not have the sonic edge that his earlier records displayed, but the razor-sharp power of his songwriting stands up through each tune (all of which were recorded live, by the way). The journeyman’s attitude and wistful observational wit that one might pick up on the docile “January Song� or the breezy
“Your Name on My Tongue� can be traced back, quite simply, to, say, “Greetings to the New Brunette� or “Wishing the Days Away.� His blend of political critique and love song may tilt toward the latter these days, but the humanity is still fullon Bragg. And a quick note: Bragg wrote an unsettling little tune called “The Times They Are A-Changin’ Back� in the wake of the presidential inauguration. We need his stuff more than ever. (Eric Sandy) 7:30 p.m., $45 ADV, $50 DOS. Music Box Supper Club. Skatch Anderssen Orchestra: 8 p.m., $7. Brothers Lounge. Velvet Voyage (in the Wine Bar): 8 p.m. Brothers Lounge.
TUE
02/21
Frontier Ruckus/White Pines/ DolďŹ sh: A six-piece folk and bluegrass band, founded in a high school drama class by Detroit natives Matthew Milia and David Winston Jones, Frontier Ruckus serves up a lo-ďŹ dose of banjo, guitar, horns, keys and musical saw laced with Milia’s dense, poetic vocals. With a cheeky DIY streak, the band is just as likely to cover Third Eye Blind as perform with John Oates; the video for their biggest hit, “Dark Autumn Hour,â€? is an ephemeral, improvised live performance shot “someplace in upstate Michiganâ€? with a handheld camera and wind whistling through the microphones. Praised by Rolling Stone and Paste Magazine, the group has toured throughout Europe and the United States since 2009, including slots at Bonnaroo Music Festival and NPR’s Mountain Stage. After a two-year recording hiatus, they’ve been in the studio with former Wilco drummer Ken Coomer cooking up their new LP, Enter the Kingdom. It drops on Feb. 17, just in time for tonight’s headlining show at the Beachland. (Lawrence Neil) 8 p.m., $12. Beachland Tavern. M2B2 Big Band: 8 p.m., free. Brothers Lounge. Outlab: Experiments in Improvised Music: 9 p.m., free. Bop Stop. Soular Flares Presents Sight, Scent & Sound Act 2: 8 p.m., $7 ADV, $10 DOS. Grog Shop. Swing City Big Band: 7:30 p.m., $10. Vosh Club. Two-Set Tuesday featuring the Greg Show (in the Wine Bar): 7 p.m. Brothers Lounge.
scene@clevescene.com t@clevelandscene
| clevescene.com m | February 15 - 21, 2017
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| clevescene.com | February 15 - 21, 2017
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BAND OF THE WEEK
SOUTHERN AVENUE By Jeff Niesel MEET THE BAND: Tierinii Jackson (vocals), Ori Naftaly (guitar), Tikyra Jackson (drums), Jeremy Powell (keyboards), Daniel McKee (bass) WALKING IN MEMPHIS: An Israeliborn blues player, Naftaly first came to the states with his own band in 2013. “When I came here with my own band, I was touring, and it was awesome and exciting, but I felt like there might be more after meeting local musicians,” says Naftaly via phone from his Memphis home. He saw a Tierinii Jackson YouTube video and asked her to audition. “When I saw her video, I thought she had something exciting,” he says. “And when she came to audition, I thought she should be auditioning me.” She brought her sister Tikyra Jackson into the fold, and the band evolved from there. In the first two weekends of playing together, the band wrote several of the songs that appear on its forthcoming self-titled debut. SIGNED TO STAX: The band’s name comes from a Memphis street and pays homage to Stax Records, the famous Memphis-based soul and R&B imprint. Ironically enough, the group signed a deal with the recently revived Stax Records, which will issue its debut later this month. “We never thought we’d get signed to Stax,” says Naftaly. “I grew up listening to Stax records and anything that came out of Memphis and New Orleans — whatever came out of places along the Mississippi River. To be signed to Stax is a
dream come true.” Produced by Kevin Houston (North Mississippi Allstars, Lucero, Patty Griffin), the band’s 10-song debut features guest appearances from Luther Dickinson of the North Mississippi Allstars and trumpeter Marc Franklin of the Bo-Keys. “It was a great experience,” Naftaly says of the recording process. “Kevin made sure we have our own sound.”
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WHY YOU SHOULD HEAR THEM: The self-titled release features soulful originals such as “Don’t Give Up,” “What Did I Do,” “It’s Gonna Be Alright,” “Love Me Right” and “Wildflower.” “Don’t Give Up” features a spiritual vibe thanks to its souful vocals and gritty guitars. “I had a serious crisis in my life,” says Naftaly when asked about the tune. “The song is about me saying to myself that I need to take things day to day. Coming from Israel, which is war torn, the song reflects that situation. The song also reflects the racial things happening Memphis.” In addition, the group pays tribute to its roots with a rousing rendition of the Ann Peebles’ Memphis soul classic “Slipped, Tripped and Fell in Love.” It’s spirited stuff. WHERE YOU CAN HEAR THEM: SouthernAvenueBand.com WHERE YOU CAN SEE THEM: Southern Avenue performs at 7 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 19, at Nighttown.
jniesel@clevescene.com t@jniesel
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| clevescene.com | February 15 - 21, 2017
SAVAGE LOVE PAIR OF ACES by Dan Savage Dear Dan, I’ve been reading your advice column in the Coast in Halifax for a while, and it seems that most solutions to relationship problems revolve around sex. Everyone wants it or needs it, we should fuck before dinner, or we can spice up our sex life in this certain way to be happy. What about someone who doesn’t want to have sex, ever? I’ve asked other people for advice, and the answer is usually “take one for the team,” have sex to keep them happy. Is that the only way I could find happiness in a relationship? It’s not something I want to do — but at this point, I don’t see any other options. — All Alone Ace I’m a sex-advice columnist. Consequently, AAA, people tend to write me when sex (needing it, wanting it, getting it but not the kind you want, etc.) is the problem, and sex (in some new and improved form) is often-but-not-always the solution. I also get and respond to questions from asexuals, and I’ve urged sexuals not to regard asexuals as defective — or, for that matter, to view committed-but-sexless relationships as defective. So long as both people in the relationship are content and happy, it’s a good and healthy and functional relationship, whether the sex is vanilla or spicy or nonexistent. Strictly companionate marriages can be good marriages. As for “taking one for the team,” that’s not advice given only to asexuals. A woman who’s married to a foot fetishist, for instance, may be advised to “take one for the team” and let her husband perv on her feet. A vanilla guy married to a woman corrupted by Fifty Shades of Grey (it’s baaaaaack) may be advised to “take one for the team” and tie the wife up once in a while. And while there are certainly lots of asexuals out there taking one for the team — having sex to please/keep/shut up their partners (or allowing their partners to seek sex elsewhere) — you know who doesn’t have to take one for the team, ever? Asexuals with other asexuals. Dating another asexual is the other option, the obvious option, and may be the best option for you, AAA. (Don’t want to take one for the team, ever? Don’t draft anyone onto your team who wants one, ever.) A
quick Google search brings up several asexual dating sites: Asexualitic.com, AsexualMatch.com, Ace-Book.net, AsexualPals.com. You can also choose to identify as asexual — and search for other asexuals — on mainstream dating sites like OkCupid and Match. I can already hear you composing your response, AAA: Asexuals are just 1 percent of the population. There are 400,000 people in Halifax, which means there are 3,999 other asexuals. Sounds like a lot, but most will be too young, too old, or unappealing for political or personal reasons (loves Kevin O’Leary, hasn’t seen Moonlight, picks their nose with an oyster fork). And a significant chunk of that number may not be aware — yet — that they’re asexual. So realistically, AAA, your local dating pool is much smaller than 3,999. But! Good news! There are 7.5 billion people on the planet! And 75 million of them are asexual! I have a good friend with a unique array of kinks — a crazy, specific, and rare constellation of kinks — and he cast a wide net on kink dating apps. After he met someone on the other side of the world with all the same kinks and they hit it off via Skype and the guy provided my friend with references (put my friend in touch with friends who could vouch for him), my friend flew to the other side of the world to go on a first date. Two months later, he went back, stayed for a few months, and then moved abroad to be with Mr. Kink Match On The Other Side Of The World. My friend did things people are typically advised against — who gets on a 12-hour flight to go on a first date? — because he knew there weren’t many lids out there for his particular pot. Asexuality isn’t a kink, I realize, but you can and should cast a wide net, AAA, like my kinky expat friend. Don’t let geography limit you in your search. You may not be able to afford to do what my friend did — fly halfway around the world for a first date — but you can get your ass to the next province over if you hit it off with an asexual in New Brunswick or Quebec. Good luck.
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| clevescene.com | February 15 - 21, 2017
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| clevescene.com | February 15 - 21, 2017
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