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JANUARY 17-23, 2018 • VOLUME 48 NO 29 Dedicated to Free Times founder Richard H. Siegel (1935-1993) and Scene founder Richard Kabat Group Publisher Chris Keating

CONTENTS

Publisher Andrew Zelman Associate Publisher Angela Nagal Editor Vince Grzegorek

Upfront

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Editorial Managing Editor Eric Sandy Music Editor Jeff Niesel Senior Writer Sam Allard Staff Writer Brett Zelman Web Editor Laura Morrison Dining Editor Douglas Trattner Stage Editor Christine Howey Visual Arts Writers Dott von Schneider Copy Editor Elaine Cicora Intern Lawrence Neil

T.J. Dow tries to do his ward dirty on the way out the door, plus the silly codename for Cleveland’s Amazon bid and more

Advertising Senior Multimedia Account Executive John Crobar, Shayne Rose Multimedia Account Executive Kiara Davis Events and Marketing Coordinator Maggie Lilac

On the lax safety standards inside Goodyear’s tire plants

Creative Services Production Manager Steve Miluch Layout Editor/Graphic Designer Christine Hahn Staff Photographer Emanuel Wallace Business Sales Assistant/Receptionist Megan Stimac Controller Kristy Dotson

Feature

Get Out!

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All the best things to do in Cleveland this week

Circulation Circulation Director Don Kriss

Stage

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

Audience feedback not only welcomed, but encouraged, in CPT’s festival of new work

www.euclidmediagroup.com

Movies

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 & ClassiďŹ ed Fax 216-241-6275 Editoral Fax 216-802-7212 E-mail scene@clevescene.com Cleveland Scene Magazine is published every week by Euclid Media Group. VeriďŹ 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 2018 by Euclid Media Group. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission of the publisher is prohibited. Publisher does not assume any liability for unsolicited manuscripts, materials, or other content. Any submission must include a stamped, self-addressed envelope. All editorial, advertising, and business correspondence should be mailed to the address listed above. 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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Get thee to Old Brooklyn

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Daniel Day-Lewis delivers a knockout in his ďŹ nal performance

Eat

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Boss Dog Brewery’s quickly becoming a Cleveland Heights favorite, plus El Rinconcito Chapin reopens in Old Brooklyn

Music

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Back to the ’80s with the Romantics and Berlin, the 50-year legacy of the Alarm Clocks, plus all the shows to hit this week

...The story continues at clevescene.com Take

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SCENE with you with the Issuu app! “Cleveland Scene Magazine� COVER BY ERIC MILLIKIN

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UPFRONT T.J. DOW, IN SPITEFUL FAREWELL, TRIES TO IMPOVERISH HIS OWN WARD

THIS WEEK

CITY COUNCIL PRESIDENT Kevin Kelley announced last week that he would not authorize an attempted transfer of more than $700,000 from a discretionary pot of Ward 7 funds. Outgoing Ward 7 councilman T.J. Dow had attempted, days before he left office, to transfer those funds to Ward 4’s Ken Johnson, a man who routinely wears tracksuits to council meetings. Dow claimed in a letter that the money would go toward a “capital project” at the Ken Johnson Recreation Center, presumably the pool. Ward 7 and Ward 4 are both on the city’s east side, but they do not touch. Dow’s Ward 7 includes portions of downtown, St. ClairSuperior and Hough. Johnson’s Ward 4 is further south. It includes portions of Buckeye-Shaker and Woodland Hills and is loosely bordered by Buckeye Road to the north and Union Avenue to the south. Dow narrowly lost in the November election to challenger Basheer Jones, who’d also unsuccessfully challenged Dow in 2013. The 13-vote margin this year was the second smallest among all council races. (In Ward 1, Joe Jones defeated incumbent Terrell Pruitt by only eight votes.) After the transfer request was discovered, but before it was either approved or denied, Mansfield Frazier, (another Ward 7 council challenger) called Dow’s attempted maneuver a “dirty trick.” “Dow obviously is still pissed off at Basheer Jones for running against and besting him fair and square at the ballot box, but this

desperate attempt was the height of pettiness and folly,” Frazier posted to Facebook. “How can anyone with even a modicum of integrity try to financially hurt the residents of the ward he has professed to love for so long?” The implication was that Dow was ridding the ward’s coffers to screw over Jones, who would use that money to fund organizations of his choosing and generally support

SHHHHH Armond Budish named board chair of NOACA, the regional planning agency complicit in the hiding of Cleveland’s Amazon package. Asked for comment, Budish whispered, “Conway,” then moonwalked out of the room.

economic development initiatives or other capital projects. Dow, reportedly, had been stockpiling reserves in the hopes of building a community resources center, a project that never got off the ground. When Scene reached Jones for comment last week, the newly swornin councilman said that his opinion of Dow’s attempted fund transfer was unnecessary to state. “I think what he did is clear,”

FROM THE DEPT. OF GAY FROGS

HOW THE OTHER HALF LIVES

RNC flag-burner Joey Johnson sues Cleveland and InfoWars for his 2016 arrest. One defendant reported bogus injuries and testified that inhaling smoke from burning flag inspired conversion to radical Islam. The other was Alex Jones.

Downtown real estate developers admit forlornly that “if you build it, they will come” era is over for apartment rentals. Some say they’ll now gamble on functional amenities and sensible rents to lure tenants.

Jones said. “You’re not talking about me. You’re talking about the ward, about disrespecting the babies and the teenagers and the elders and the organizations. You’re talking about all of those. This is not about me. This is about the residents of Ward 7.” But in a letter posted to social media over the weekend, T.J. Dow rejoined with “[his] sides of the story.” Though Kelley had already said he would not authorize the transfer by that point, Dow explained that the funds would go toward an ill-defined program to be hosted at the Ken Johnson Rec Center pool. Get a load of this: “This program will become a reality under the leadership of Ken Johnson, the City’s Chairman of Parks and Recreations Department [sic],” Dow wrote. “The funds will provide resources for a dedicated space utilizing the water park at the recreation center. The program will support the development of a youth leadership program to include city-wide collaborative leadership workshops, anti-bullying and gang violence classes, swimming lessons, and educational supports for children that include Ward 7. In addition to supporting our youth, the program will create job opportunities for Ward 7 residents. The program is scheduled to begin in March 2018 and will continue for the next 7 years.” What on earth is Dow talking about? A program to support the development of another nonexistent program? Poolside gang violence classes? Seven years! It all sounds like it was composed with predictive text (or, more likely, like it was

QUALITY OF LIFE Still bumfuzzled at the latest from Cleveland.com’s engagement desk: “Is someone racist if they criticize other ethnicities?”

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County executive Armond Budish

cooked up on the spot). How does this alleged program square, for example, with the initial allocation request, which asked that the funds go toward the “Ken Johnson Recreation Center Capital Projectâ€?? And why must this one alleged program, with (at best) peripheral beneďŹ ts for select Ward 7 youth, consume all of the available Ward 7 discretionary funds? Kevin Kelley didn’t need long to deny the request, for he could sniff the answers as well as anybody. He certainly didn’t need to read the full ridiculous letter, which purported to have been sent “from the desk of T.J. Dow.â€? Thankfully, said desk is no longer housed at Cleveland City Hall. — SAM ALLARD

County Executive Armond Budish Announces 2018 Re-Election Campaign One of the ultimate Amazon secret-keepers is of course county executive Armond Budish. Last week, anked by local establishment politicians, he announced that he will seek re-election in 2018. Budish spoke at the PipeďŹ tters Local 120 union hall in Valley View. He said that in a new term (which at this point he’s all but guaranteed to secure) he’d continue to work on

the same initiatives he’s worked on thus far: reducing infant mortality, increasing funding for pre-K education and promoting economic development. In the meantime, we’d encourage you all to reect (and gaze more deeply) upon some of the major stories coming out of the county in recent months. Here are a few: The county’s credit card remains maxed out while salaried employees were paid more than $1.7 million in unsanctioned overtime. The Global Center for Health Innovation is still the leaderless husk of dying dreams and occasional corporate breakfasts that it was in 2016. RTA’s death spiral is picking up serious velocity. Infant mortality numbers are still abysmal, and in Northeast Ohio black babies die at three times the rate of white babies (though to be fair, we don’t even have 2016 numbers, so there may be success to report soon!). Budish, Frank Jackson and the Greater Cleveland Partnership’s Joe Roman, and their partner nonproďŹ ts, have kept the details of Cleveland’s Amazon HQ2 bid secret, an antiDemocratic maneuver decried by the local media. (See above!) And here’s my personal favorite Budish moment from 2017, from our reporting on the Quicken Loans

Arena renovation deal: “Cleveland.com’s Karen Farkas quoted Armond Budish saying that he’d managed to negotiate a sevenyear lease extension as part of the [Q Deal] — alleged, throughout the proceedings, to be the chief public benefit. When Farkas later reported, after a conversation with former County Executive Ed FitzGerald, that the lease extension had always been part of the Cavs’ offer (calling into question whether negotiations of any kind really happened), Budish responded with a new statement: “We think this is a great deal for the public and we stand by it.” — ALLARD

Cleveland’s Super Secret Amazon Incentive Package Has a Stupid Code Name Speaking of lame, we report with no surprise at all that Cleveland’s secret Amazon incentive package has a very dumb codename: Conway. That info comes courtesy of Cleveland.com columnist Mark Naymik, who continues to badger the daylights out of the various entities involved in the secret Amazon proposal. Naymik has been

trying to obtain information related to the incentives but has come up largely empty. But he managed to coax the codename out of unnamed sources. “Maybe they figured [Conway] sounds so boring that no one would bother to pry if they heard the name or saw it stamped on a folder,” Naymik wrote. “I would suggest a more appropriate codename would be “Pipe dream.” ... The codename is laughable — but the secrecy is not.” In addition to Naymik’s reporting on the subject, Cleveland. com has filed a complaint against

the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA) with the Ohio Court of Claims. NOACA produced 18 reports for the Amazon bid but is refusing to share them with Cleveland.com, arguing that the information contained within them constitutes “trade secrets” and is therefore exempt from state public records law. Cleveland.com called bullshit. Good on them for pursuing these reports, and continuing to shine a light on the secrecy of our public leaders who, as Naymik noted, strategically placed the information in the hands of the corporate-

DIGIT WIDGET $250,000 Civil penalty InfoCision, the Akronbased telemarketing company, agreed to pay to settle allegations of misleading calls for charitable donations. The company, however, does not admit fault in breaking FTC rules.

600 Annual number of spinal fusion surgeries for injured Ohio workers paid for by worker’s comp. A controversial new state rule requires patients to undergo 60 days of alternative therapy, ideally without the use of opioids, before the surgery will be approved.

16:39.47 Time by Willoughby 8th grader Tori Culotta in the 1,650-yard freestyle at a recent swim meet, ranking her No. 1 in the 66-lap race among all 14 year olds across the country.

$100,000 Amount Cuyahoga County will spend creating a climate change action plan, including data on health, transportation, energy efficiency, conservation, trees and water. | clevescene.com | January 17 - 23, 2018

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inclined nonprofits Team NEO and the Greater Cleveland Partnership to circumvent records laws. Shame on them. — ALLARD

Federal Indictment Alleges 28-Year-Old Cleveland Man Created ‘Fruitfly’ Malware, Spied on Thousands of Computers Over 13 Years

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In early 2017, computer security experts noticed a particularly malicious and nearly undetectable strain of malware infecting computers across America, specifically Macs. Dubbed “Fruitfly,” the malware collected keystrokes and spied on users’ screens, webcams and microphones. “The only reason I can think of that this malware hasn’t been spotted before now is that it is being used in very tightly targeted attacks, limiting its exposure,” Thomas Reed, a MalwareBytes researcher, wrote in January. A more advanced version, dubbed “Fruitfly 2.0” hit the news by summer.

Patrick Wardle, a researcher at Synack, a cybersecurity firm, found 400 computers infected with the malware but said there were likely far more victims than that. And while it was only recently discovered, it had been in existence for awhile — at least before 2014, since part of its code indicated it had been modified for the Mac Yosemite operating system, which was released that year. Experts called it unlike anything they’d ever seen, and it was universally described as creepy. “This didn’t look like cybercrime type behavior, there were no ads, no keyloggers, or ransomware,” Wardle told Forbes. “Its features had looked like they were actions that would support interactivity: it had the ability to alert the attacker when users were active on the computer, it could simulate mouse clicks and keyboard events.” Because of the limited, targeted attacks (largely, he said at the time, home users and biomedical research institutions), as well as some aspects of the code, Wardle hypothesized that the malware wasn’t some state-sponsored cyber attack nor a means to financial

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profit. “I don’t know if it’s just some bored person or someone with perverse goals,” he told Ars Technica. “If some bored teenager is spying on me, that would still be very emotionally traumatic. If it’s turning on the webcam, that’s for perverse reasons.” Last week, a 28-year-old North Royalton man named Phillip R. Durachinsky was federally indicted on 16 counts for creating malware — specifically Fruitfly — which he used to infect computers, steal identities, log keystrokes, turn on webcams and microphones to spy on users, and produce child pornography, among other things, all over the course of 13 years. It even alerted him when a user began typing words associated with pornography, if the whole deviant enterprise wasn’t creepy enough. Authorities found more than a million images of his victims saved to his computer with detailed notes. For his part, he’s been behind bars for a year already: He was arrested in January 2017 after a hack of the Case Western Reserve University’s computer system. After discovering the malware on its servers, CWRU alerted the FBI.

An investigation found he’d logged into his alumni email address from the same computer used to infect the system. “For more than 13 years, Phillip Durachinsky allegedly infected with malware the computers of thousands of Americans and stole their most personal data and communications,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Cronan in a press release. “This case is an example of the Justice Department’s continued efforts to hold accountable cybercriminals who invade the privacy of others and exploit technology for their own ends.” —VINCE GRZEGOREK

On the Supposed Brink of Obsolescence, Quicken Loans Arena Posts Best Year Ever in Attendance, Shows The Quicken Loans Arena renovation deal was sold to voters, in part, on the basis of the arena’s presumed obsolescence. Cavs CEO Len Komoroski and others repeatedly stressed throughout the proceedings that in the near future — the quote-unquote “shortterm years ahead” — the Q would

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no longer be able to compete with other venues in the region. Major touring acts would pass over Cleveland for the likes of Detroit, Buffalo, Cincinnati or Indianapolis, the argument went. Local taxpayers then, saddled with a decrepit concrete monstrosity, would miss out on hundreds of thousands of dollars in tax revenue. But if obsolescence is impending, there is no sign of it yet. In 2017, the very year the deal was approved by both the Cuyahoga County and Cleveland City councils despite enormous citizen opposition, the Q logged the highest concert and event attendance in the arena’s history. With notable performances by Lady Gaga, Coldplay, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Bruno Mars and Eric Church, the Q ranked 18th in the United States and 40th worldwide for venues with the highest ticket sales. These rankings were a marked improvement over 2016, when championship runs by both the Cavs and the Monsters, not to mention the RNC, limited potential concert bookings. In 2018, there is no shortage of major acts on the horizon: Pink, Justin Timberlake and Shania Twain are all scheduled to perform in the year’s first half. These rankings, and these upcoming big-ticket acts, are reported with euphoria by the Q’s marketing division, with little regard for the rhetoric Komoroski & Co. deployed to sell the deal less than a year ago. Has everyone already forgotten? — ALLARD

Off-duty Cleveland Police Officer Shoots and Kills Man Outside University Circle Bar An off-duty Cleveland police sergeant shot and killed a man just after 11 p.m. Saturday night outside the Corner Alley bar in University Circle. The officer, later identified as 51-year-old Fifth District Sgt. Dean Grazioli, had escorted several patrons off the premises after a fight broke out inside. Witnesses said one of the escorted men, a 21-year-old, came back and began attacking Grazioli just outside the establishment. Grazioli fired multiple shots at the man — one witness heard two shots — and after attempts to provide emergency medical treatment, the man was taken to

nearby University Hospitals, where he was pronounced dead. Grazioli was also reportedly injured and was taken to the hospital for treatment. In a later statement, he was said to have sustained cuts and bruises to the face. He will be placed on three-day paid administrative leave and will then perform “light gym duty” as Cleveland police’s Use of Deadly Force Investigation Team (UDFIT) investigates the incident. At this point, there has been no reporting suggesting the attacker was armed. Later reporting by Cleveland. com revealed that in 2014, Grazioli plead guilty to eight counts of falsification, all first-degree misdemeanors. On eight different days in the fall of 2012, Grazioli claimed to be at work — and received pay for his hours on the job — when in fact he was at home. Grazioli works part-time security at the Corner Alley. — ALLARD

Another Year, Another Surge in Opioid Deaths There were at least 822 overdose deaths in Cuyahoga County in 2017 — from heroin, fentanyl, cocaine, carfentanil and other opioids — according to a report from the county’s medical examiner. The surge — 156 more than the previous year — is not surprising. Opioids are a continuing and growing public health emergency, and the numbers bear that out. The stats, sadly, are preliminary and don’t include finalized causes of death on 50 pending cases from December on which the department is still awaiting results. If there is a bright side, it’s that it could have been even worse. If not for the efforts of Project DAWN, the overdose education and naloxone distribution program created by Dr. Joan Papp of MetroHealth that’s grown from pilot program to statewide resource, the report estimated the death toll would have eclipsed 1,300. More details — such as an increase in African American overdose deaths involving fentanyl, which tracks with an alarming national trend — and stunning stats — there were 867 more fentanyl-related deaths in the past two years than the previous 10 — can be found in the report. — GRZEGOREK

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FEATURE TREADING DANGEROUSLY Lax safety inside Goodyear’s tire plants By Jennifer Gollan, Reveal AS DAYLIGHT FADED, Matthew Smith and Kerrybeth Hall were in rural West Texas headed to college when the left rear tire of Smith’s black Ford pickup failed. The truck skidded sideways on the busy highway, smashing through a wire fence before rolling over in the parched plains, killing them both. Police listed the Goodyear Wrangler SilentArmor tire — among more than 40,000 the company later recalled — as a cause of the crash that August day in 2011. The fatal accident is a stark example of the deadly consequences of Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.’s lax approach to safety, contributing to deaths of motorists on the road and workers in its plants, a six-month investigation by Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting has found. Tires involved in the accidents were manufactured in Goodyear plants in Fayetteville, North Carolina and Danville, Virginia, where intense production demands and leaks in the roof during storms have endangered both workers and consumers for years. Reveal interviewed dozens of current and former Goodyear workers and analyzed hundreds of federal and state agency documents and court records from seven states. In interviews, several former employees said they felt pressure to put production before workplace safety. Others recalled a quota-driven motto invoked on the shop floor: “Round and black and out the back.” “The pressure to get the job done was very intense,” said Joel Burdette, who worked as an area manager at the company’s Union City, Tennessee, plant before it closed in 2011. Burdette then took a similar job at the Danville plant, leaving in 2014. “That was a motto: Anything goes as long as it goes onto the truck and gets shipped out,” he said. About seven months after Smith and Hall were killed, Goodyear sent out recall notices. “Use of these tires in severe conditions could result in partial tread separation which could lead to vehicle damage or a motor vehicle crash,” the company stated in a letter to the National Highway

Illustration by Eric Millikin

Traffic Safety Administration. Goodyear noted it had been monitoring problems with the SilentArmor tires since at least May 2010, 15 months before the deaths of Smith and Hall. The tire in Smith and Hall’s crash was made in Fayetteville, but at least two others died in accidents over the past five years after tires made at Goodyear’s Danville plant failed. Another motorist, Harry Patel of Michigan, became a partial quadriplegic in 2012 when a tire on his Nissan Pathfinder separated, causing the SUV to flip and land in a ditch. That tire was made at Goodyear’s Fayetteville plant. After hearing arguments from Patel’s lawyers that Goodyear had ramped up production, compromising the quality of its tires, a jury awarded him $16 million, one of the largest product liability awards in Michigan’s history. The 2015 award, which Goodyear has appealed, was cut nearly in half because of state liability caps. “The shocking collapse of safety controls at Goodyear’s plants has

inflicted immeasurable losses on the many families of Goodyear customers killed in avoidable tragedies,” said John Gsanger, an attorney for the families of Patel and Hall.

A deadly record Manufacturing tires is a hazardous process requiring a vigilant approach to safety. In plants that can stretch over 50 football fields, workers use massive machines to fashion rubber and steel into tens of thousands of tires for everyday motorists and clients ranging from NASCAR to FedEx. The plants can be grimy. Machines that grind rubber spew fine dust over workers’ clothes and faces. Even after showering, they ooze black residue from their pores, leaving imprints of their bodies on their bedsheets. “It’s like working in a coal mine,” said Bo Rosas, a former maintenance manager at Goodyear’s Danville plant. “When

you blow your nose, you see black film.” But even among its peers, Goodyear stands out. The tire giant is among the deadliest manufacturers in the nation for workers, Reveal’s analysis of data from the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration shows. Since August 2015, five Goodyear workers have been killed — four at the Virginia plant in one year alone. Ellis Jones, Goodyear’s senior director of global environmental health, safety and sustainability, called the company’s workplace deaths “an unusual situation.” “We reacted after every incident,” he said, referring to the company’s rash of workplace accidents. “We did have to take a step back and say, ‘Let’s look at the system within Danville and identify the gaps in the system, and let’s close those gaps.’ ” While acknowledging those safety lapses, Jones said the company’s tires are safe for consumers. “Each stage of the process, | clevescene.com | January 17 - 23, 2018

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FEATURE

that raw material, that component is tested, and that finished tire is tested for quality,” he said. “So we’re very confident about the quality of our product.” After serious workplace accidents, the company’s managers have both clashed with investigators and admitted to regulators that they ignored workplace safety lapses, Reveal found. In one instance, a manager admitted to an accumulation of oil over a period of days due to a reduction in personnel in the cleaning crew. Since October 2008, Goodyear has been fined more than $1.9 million for nearly 200 health and workplace safety violations, far more than its four major competitors combined. But its deadly track record has received scant national attention, and the publicly traded company has continued to profit from clients ranging from Boeing to the U.S. military and took in $1.3 billion in net income last year. Shifting politics in Washington stand to further insulate companies such as Goodyear from accountability. Reinvigorating manufacturing and job growth is at the core of President Donald Trump’s economic agenda. Yet protections for factory workers, who overwhelmingly supported Trump, are being dismantled.

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The administration is rolling back and postponing Obama-era protections in keeping with goals laid out by the National Association of Manufacturers, a prominent Washington industry group. Richard Kramer, Goodyear’s chairman, chief executive officer and president, serves on the association’s board. A Goodyear spokeswoman said Kramer was unavailable for an interview but made Jones available instead. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. — a member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions — said lobbyists for dangerous companies should not be permitted to dismantle workplace protections. “President Trump and Republicans in Congress have taken one whack after another at regulations that make sure workers are safe on the job,” Warren said in a statement to Reveal. “Washington is supposed to work for hardworking Americans, not for the trade associations for the companies that make their profit by taking shortcuts on worker safety.”

In the pit Just before midnight on April 11, 2016, Charles “Greg” Cooper, a maintenance mechanic on the

| clevescene.com | January 17 - 23, 2018

graveyard shift, descended alone into a machine pit in the dimly lit basement of the tire plant in Danville. He set to work replacing a broken rope that wicked oil from wastewater swirling in a huge vat. Rubber, hooks and wires lay strewn around him on the floor near the pit, where steam rose from the boiling water. Federal rules require a safety guard or cover on any openings in the floor. But about six months earlier, an electric pump had broken, and “there was still a huge hole left directly over the pit,” records show. Several hours passed before a manager noticed that Cooper was gone and dispatched his co-workers to search the plant. Finally, one of their flashlights sliced through the darkness, its beam illuminating Cooper’s body, floating face down in the pit. Then came the official call: “Man down!” It was far too late. Cooper had been boiled alive. Cooper was the third of four workers to die at the company’s Danville plant over one year ending in August 2016. A Virginia workplace safety investigator who arrived to scour the area where the 52-year-old died noted it was slippery. The floor around the gaping hole atop the pit was “covered with oil, grease, water and rubber due to lack of housekeeping and it

simulated a condition like working on ice,” the investigator wrote. The hole had been in plain view of a maintenance manager who was required to inspect the area on each shift, records show. Investigators found two other holes nearby. After the accident, Greg Kerr, the plant’s manufacturing director, told a local newspaper that Goodyear would “work with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the local authorities to fully investigate the incident.” Yet Goodyear’s conduct after the investigation proved quite the opposite. “Employer difficult to deal with,” an investigator from the Virginia Occupational Safety and Health Program noted. “Slow to respond to any request, encouraging employees to not cooperate.” Some Goodyear workers told local police, on condition of anonymity, that Cooper never should have been working alone that night. They said the plant’s policy had required maintenance employees in the area to work in pairs since 2007, when a worker in the same part of the plant was severely burned and later died. “At no time were maintenance workers to work in that area alone, as it is one of the most dangerous areas of the plant,” police investigators wrote. Nevertheless, Cooper was assigned to make the

LET YOUR IDEAS GROW

FEB. 2–11 I-X CENTER

repair by himself, police records show. In near darkness, giant machines resembling egg beaters thrash bales of rubber into flat sheets, drowning out workers’ voices. So even if Cooper had screamed for help, “there’s no way you could get in touch,” Wayne Barber, his longtime work partner and close friend, told Reveal. “What gets me is him being in the pit for so long and nobody going to look for him,” he said. “The supervisor should have found out where he was after that long.” Barber wrestles with how things might have been different if he had been at Cooper’s side that night instead of at home mourning the recent death of his wife. “He wouldn’t have stayed in that hole for four or five hours,” Barber said as he sat on his front stoop, adding quietly, “It could have been me. We might have both ended up in the hole.”

Chronic workplace safety hazards While investigating an earlier incident at another Goodyear plant, federal workplace safety investigators found unguarded floor holes had long been a problem. In February 2015, about a year before Cooper was killed, a worker at the Topeka, Kansas, plant suffered third-degree burns on the left side of his body as he worked on a tirecuring press. Investigators wrote that the plant’s then–safety manager, Tim Washeck, told them that floor holes had been “observed for as long as they can recall and … covering them had not been considered in the past.” OSHA cited the plant for the violation. The following month, a worker at the company’s plant in Gadsden, Alabama, fell from a platform, which

lacked standard railings, onto a conveyor belt, breaking his left arm, shoulder, four ribs and collarbone. Oil leaking from a nearby milling machine covered the floor where he had been working. The plant’s safety manager, Charles Skaggs, was aware of the oil leak and open-sided platform, investigators noted. Washeck and Skaggs did not return calls seeking comment. Jones, Goodyear’s senior safety director, declined to comment on specific cases but noted that Goodyear safety officials are expected to ensure that “every associate goes home safe.” In settlements with the Virginia Occupational Safety and Health Program after lapses that included the four Danville deaths, Goodyear admitted it had violated workplace safety and health laws more than 100 times. The company agreed to a reduced fine of $1.75 million earlier this year. And in a move that three former top federal safety officials called “highly unusual” and “outrageous,” Virginia regulators at the time invited the company to apply for the state’s so-called Voluntary Protection Program, which shields companies with exemplary safety programs and below-average injury rates from routine safety inspections. Virginia is one of 28 states and U.S. territories that run their own workplace health and safety programs, covering private- or public-sector workers or both. Most of these states have adopted standards that are identical to those set by OSHA. Soon after the Goodyear settlement, a 61-year-old contract worker was killed at the company’s Topeka, Kansas, plant when a falling object struck him in the head. He left behind a wife and daughter. OSHA imposed a fine of $27,713 against Goodyear for the accident, which the company quickly contested.

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17

Coming Attractions

DIXIE’S TUPPERWARE PARTY January 18-20

KATHLEEN MADIGAN Boxed Wine and Bigfoot

February 1

FEATURE “A firm in which five workers are killed over 18 months is clearly a firm in which the management is not adequately focused on worker safety,” said David Michaels, who led OSHA under President Barack Obama and now is a professor at George Washington University’s Milken Institute School of Public Health. “It is also a sign of the absence of operational excellence, since worker fatalities and serious injuries do not occur when the production process is tightly controlled.”

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STEVE WINWOOD March 6

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18

Gerri Hall remembers the day his daughter, Kerrybeth, came home from school and told him she’d decided to become a paramedic. She was 14. The petite blonde with a piercing laugh learned that her father, a firefighter and EMT, had rescued her friend after a car accident. “She thought that’s what she was here for, is to help people,” Hall said. Two weeks before she was due to start a paramedic program at Victoria College in Texas, police found the 18-year-old’s mangled body still strapped into the passenger seat after the Goodyear tire failed. “Disbelief,” said Hall, 51, who lives in Placedo, near the Texas Gulf Coast, a little more than an hour’s drive northeast of Corpus Christi. “I always wake up thinking I’ll see her. “Kerrybeth was our rock, and we all leaned on her,” Hall added. “It has torn the foundation of our family apart.” Since Kerrybeth’s death, Gerri Hall says he has suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder. He quit his job as an EMT and firefighter, unable to face any more car accidents without picturing his daughter. In a safe at home, he keeps an old cellphone with a text his daughter sent him just before the wreck. “Love you too daddy,” she wrote. A tire industry expert hired by John Gsanger, the Hall family’s lawyer, blamed design and manufacturing flaws for weakening the Goodyear tire before it failed, according to court

| clevescene.com | January 17 - 23, 2018

records. Goodyear’s lawyers insisted the tires were safe and said the truck must have hit an object that caused the tire to separate. A dozen former workers at the company’s Fayetteville and Danville plants gave sworn statements criticizing the plant’s practices, according to court filings. In interviews with Reveal, more than seven other former Goodyear workers blamed intense production demands and leaks in the plants’ roof during rainstorms for weakening some tires, potentially causing them to fail. In court records, some former workers have said managers expected them to meet production quotas, but it is unclear whether quotas still exist at Goodyear. In a sworn statement, David Hyde, who worked as a tire builder at the Danville plant from 1977 to 2009, said the “round and black and out the back” motto was emblematic of the company’s operational failures. “Goodyear talks the talk, but they don’t walk the (walk),” Hyde said. “They, you know, they say they want to build a quality product. … You just don’t understand the stuff I’ve seen out there. It’s not good.” Jones, Goodyear’s senior safety director, acknowledged that some workers use that motto but said workers concerned about unsafe conditions are encouraged to speak up. “I’ve worked in Danville, worked in many factories, so you hear that, but again, every worker has the right to stop the process,” he said. Pressure to keep up production was intense, however, according to James Goggins, who worked at the Danville plant for more than 20 years before retiring in 2014. Officials from Goodyear’s headquarters in Akron, Ohio,

“would call down to Danville all the time, and all they would do is check the numbers,” Goggins said. “They were more interested in making the production numbers.” Goggins and other former Goodyear workers in Danville recalled how water leaked through the roof and gushed through manholes when it rained. Workers are trained to avoid moisture in the production process because it can prompt tire treads to separate, causing a blowout. “You can look down and see that water is shooting up from the floor like fire hydrants and flooding the department,” Goggins said. When it rained, workers said they would call maintenance crews to drape tarps over the equipment, draining the water into dumpsters. “If there is a roof leak in a facility — and I’m not going to say we don’t have roof leaks in a facility — that local management team will put a process in place to fix the roof leak,” Jones said. “There are also processes in place, safety systems in place, to make sure people are not in a hazardous situation.” That claim means nothing to Gerri Hall, who visits his daughter’s grave every Sunday morning. “Goodyear doesn’t care about life. They just want to make that money and let their CEOs get their big bonuses. Let’s just throw out as many tires as we can.”

This story was produced by Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting, a nonprofit news organization. Learn more at revealnews.org and subscribe to the Reveal podcast, produced with PRX, at revealnews.org/podcast.

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Tattoo Convention January 19th - 21st 2018

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| clevescene.com | January 17 - 23, 2018

19

Wednesday Darts and $1 Sliders

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

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Bring your family, and your friends for a night of surveys, drinks, and prizes, and come play AT FRANK & TONY’S

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| clevescene.com | January 17 - 23, 2018

GET OUT everything you should do this week Photo by Emanuel Wallace

WED

01/17

SPOKEN WORD

Cleveland Stories Dinner Party Cleveland Stories Dinner Party is a weekly series that pairs fine food with storytelling. Through it, the folks at Music Box Supper Club hope to raise awareness of the mission of the Western Reserve Historical Society’s new Cleveland History Center. The goal of the Cleveland Stories Dinner Party is to “bring to life some of the fun, interesting stories about Cleveland’s past — from sports, to rock ’n’ roll, to Millionaires’ Row,” as it’s put in a press release. Admission is free, with no cover charge, although a prix fixe dinner, designed to complement the night’s theme, is $20. Doors open at 5 p.m., dinner is served at 6, and the storytelling starts at 7. Tonight, D.M. Pulley, a local author, talks about the Cleveland torso murders. (Jeff Niesel) 1148 Main Ave., 216-242-1250, musicboxcle.com. COMEDY

Matt Fulchiron Sarcastic comedian Matt Fulchiron makes the most of a melancholy yet hysterical tone in his routines as he jokes about the hazards of legalizing marijuana; and he just loves to tell stories about the difficulty of living in New York for a year. He performs at 8 tonight at Hilarities. Tickets are $13 and $18. (Niesel) 2035 East Fourth St., 216-241-7425, pickwickandfrolic.com. THEATER

Love Never Dies Set 10 years after the Phantom’s disappearance from the Paris Opera House, Love Never Dies, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s sequel to The Phantom of the Opera, follows the Phantom after he’s escaped to a new life in New York, even though he still longs for his one true love, Christine Daaé. Tonight’s curtain is at 7:30 at the State Theatre; performances continue through Jan. 28. Tickets are $29 to $109. (Niesel) 1519 Euclid Ave., 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org. SPORTS

Monsters vs. Rockford Icehogs Tonight at 7 at the Q, the Cleveland Monsters begin a two-game stand against the Rockford Icehogs. The Icehogs have played well — they’re

just above .500 and have won a few more games than the Monsters. It’s College ID Night, so college students can purchase $6 tickets and $6 “college meals” that include a hot dog, chips and a soda. Tickets for the general public start at $10. The two teams meet again at 7 p.m. on Friday at the Q. At that game, there will be a Blue Jackets themed jersey auction, and a portion of the jerseys will be auctioned off via silent and blind auctions at the Monsters Community Fund table. Others will be auctioned after the game from Section 128 in the arena bowl. (Niesel) 1 Center Court, 216-420-2000, theqarena.com. FILM

The Opera House A new film by award–winning documentary filmmaker Susan Froemke, The Opera House examines the Metropolitan Opera’s lengthy history. It uses rarely seen archival footage, stills, recent interviews and a soundtrack of Met performances to chronicle the Met’s last 50 years. It screens today at 6:30 p.m. at area theaters as part of a special Fathom Events screening. Consult the Fathom Events website for locations and ticket prices. (Niesel) fathomevents.com.

THU

01/18

FILM

78/52: Alfred Hitchcock’s Shower Scene Film scholar Philip J. Skerry will be on hand for tonight’s screening of 78/52: Alfred Hitchcock’s Shower Scene, a 2017 documentary about the famous slashing scene in Hitchcock’s Psycho. The title refers to the 78 different cameras Hitchcock used to film the scene. He also made 52 edits to the footage. The movie shows at 8:35 tonight and at 7:15 on Saturday night at the Cleveland Institute of Art Cinematheque. Tickets are $10, or $7 for Cinematheque members and students. (Niesel) 11610 Euclid Ave., 216-421-7450, cia.edu. SPORTS

Cavaliers vs. Orlando Magic The Orlando Magic surprised the Cavs earlier this season and handed them a loss. That was back when the Magic were winning games. Wins have since become hard to come by for the Florida team, so

The Cleveland Tattoo Arts Convention returns to the Convention Center: See Friday.

you can expect the Cavs won’t be fooled again. The game begins at 7 tonight at the Q. Tickets start at $20. (Niesel) 1 Center Court, 216-420-2000, theqarena.com. CATEGORY

Michael Colyar Comedian Michael Colyar tells the kinds of jokes that aren’t designed to appeal solely to fans of a certain ethnicity, age or background. He aims at making everyone laugh. Colyar, who’s just unleashed a Donald Trump impersonation that finds him spouting things like, “Let’s make America white again,” performs tonight at 7:30 at the Improv. Tickets are $20 with performances scheduled through Sunday. (Niesel) 1148 Main Ave., 216-696-IMPROV, clevelandimprov.com.

MUSIC

Haydn’s “The Seasons” Franz Welser-Möst conducts the Cleveland Orchestra as it takes on Haydn’s oratorio, “The Seasons.” Beethoven allegedly attended the premiere and bowed to Haydn after he heard the performance. Guest speaker Rose Breckenridge, a Cleveland Orchestra Music Study Groups administrator and lecturer, gives a free pre-concert talk an hour before the concert. The concert takes place at 7:30 tonight and at 8 on Saturday night at Severance Hall. Consult the orchestra’s website for ticket prices. (Niesel) 11001 Euclid Ave., 216-231-1111, clevelandorchestra.com.

FRI

01/19

THEATER

Dixie’s Tupperware Party Alabama’s self-proclaimed Tupperware Lady, Dixie Longate, tells tall tales in Dixie’s Tupperware Party, an off-Broadway play that became such a hit, Longate decided to take the show on the road. Performances take place at 8 tonight and tomorrow night at the Hanna Theatre. Saturday performances are set for 4 and 8 p.m. Tickets are $29 to $49. (Niesel) 2067 East 14th St., 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org.

ART

78th Street Studios Third Friday Art Walk Stop by SmArt Space, on the ramp level of the 78th Street Studios, for the Third Friday Art Walk that takes place today between 5 and 9:30 p.m. More than 50 studios and galleries will participate in this popular indoor art walk; be sure to check out spots like the Derek Hess Gallery, Tregoning & Company and Hilary Gent Studio. (Niesel) 1300 West 78th St., 78thstreetstudios.com. | clevescene.com | January 17 - 23, 2018

21

GET OUT ART

Anthropocene: The Age of Humans The Cleveland Print Room celebrates its fifth anniversary today from 5 to 9 p.m. with a special reception launching Anthropocene, a new art exhibit that examines how humans affect the environment. The exhibit, which includes works by local artist Michael Loderstedt; former Clevelander, photojournalist Tom Laffay; and Oscar Palacio, a native Colombian who lives in Boston, runs through Feb. 24. Richard Smith, a former Clevelander and Thoreau reenactor at Walden Pond for 19 years, will attend the reception and speak as Thoreau tomorrow at 1 p.m. Additionally, the Cleveland-based Elu Dance Company will perform, and there will be a poetry reading by Clevelander Kisha Nicole Foster. The Print Room’s first exhibition, Welcome to Hard Times, was a solo show by Youngstown native Vaughn Wascovich. Some of Wascovich’s latest work will be presented on the Print Room’s new Wall 5 during Anthropocene. (Niesel) 2550 Superior Ave., 216-401-5981, clevelandprintroom.com.

Season 9, James Vaughn from Ink Master Season 7 and Alli Baker from Best Ink. The convention takes place from 2 p.m. to midnight today, from 11 a.m. to midnight tomorrow, and from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Sunday. Tickets are $20 per day or $40 for a three-day pass. For more information, visit the website. (Niesel) 500 Lakeside Ave., 216-928-1600, villainarts.com.

opening reception from 6 to 8 p.m. Schutz has a Cleveland connection. She graduated from the Cleveland Institute of Art in 2000 and has said the Cleveland Museum of Art has had an influence on her career. A discussion between Schutz and artist and historian Nell Painter, a professor emerita at Princeton University and author of the books The History of White People and Creating Black Americans, will take place at 1 p.m. tomorrow at the

Black History Month Hall of Fame Series

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Let it whIp! KINSMAN DAZZ BAND & DJ ELLERY FEB 9TH • 8PM (Doors 7pm) • TIX $10

BOOKS

Mike Belkin and Carlo Wolff Discussion and Book Signing After chasing a professional baseball career in the Milwaukee Braves farm system, Mike Belkin decided to join the Belkin family clothing business. While still working for his parents, he began booking concerts in Cleveland, and soon Belkin Productions became synonymous with rock ’n’ roll in Northeast Ohio. With a little help from co-author Carlo Wolff, Belkin tells his story in his new memoir, Socks, Sports, Rock and Art. Tonight at 7 at Visible Voice Books in Tremont, the two talk about the memoir. Admission is free. (Niesel) 2258 Professor Ave., 216-961-0084, visiblevoicebooks.com.

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CONVENTION

Cleveland Tattoo Arts Convention Back for the third year, Villain Arts’ Cleveland Tattoo Arts Convention brings together hundreds of tattoo artists and vendors from Cleveland and across the country for a weekend filled with tattoo sessions, entertainment, seminars, competitions and more at the Huntington Convention Center of Cleveland. Special guests include Cleen Rock One from Ink Master

22

1100 Rock and Roll Boulevard, Cleveland, OH 44114 | rockhall.com | 216.781.ROCK ART

Dana Schutz: Eating Atom Bombs Dana Schutz: Eating Atom Bombs, a new exhibit of 12 paintings and three drawings created by the artist primarily in the past year, speaks to “the precariousness of our current political and social moment.” The show opens today at Transformer Station, which hosts an

| clevescene.com | January 17 - 23, 2018

Cleveland Museum of Art. (Niesel) 1460 West 29th St., 216-938-5429, transformerstation.org.

Beethoven’s music through the metaphor of Prometheus. Tonight, Welser-Möst will conduct the orchestra as it plays Beethoven’s “Heroic Symphony.” The concert begins tonight at 7 at Severance Hall. Consult the orchestra website for ticket prices. (Niesel) 11001 Euclid Ave., 216-231-1111, clevelandorchestra.com. COMEDY

Impractical Jokers ‘Santiago Sent Us’ Tour The TruTV show Impractical Jokers follows the four members of comedy troupe the Tenderloins as they rehearse and prep for their live shows. The current tour, which stops at Wolstein Center tonight at 7:30, follows the guys as they tell their backstory and perform skits too raunchy for the TV program. Tickets start at $62.50. (Niesel) 2000 Prospect Ave., 216-687-9292, wolsteincenter.com. COMEDY

Last Call Cleveland Goes Hollywood The local comedy troupe Last Call Cleveland will “go Hollywood” for tonight’s show at the Outcault Theatre. Famous for its viral videos, the group will bring its unique mix of live and taped sketches to the venue, and will likely draw upon local culture for its routines. Shows start at 8:30 tonight and tomorrow night. Tickets are $18. (Niesel) 1407 Euclid Ave., 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org. ART

Materialized: Seven Artists Working in Metal Materialized: Seven Artists Working in Metal, a new show that opens today at Heights Arts features sketches, models, patterns and prototypes as it explores both traditional and new ways of working with meal. The show promises to present several themes, including “industrial vernacular, the study of form and function, innovative use of technology and visual metaphor.” The show opens with a reception that starts tonight at 6. A gallery talk will take place at 7 p.m. on Feb. 15. (Niesel) 2175 Lee Rd., Cleveland Heights., 216-371-3457, heightsarts.org.

SAT

01/20

MUSIC

MUSIC

Fridays@7: Beethoven’s Eroica To celebrate the Cleveland Orchestra’s 100-year anniversary, conductor Franz Welser-Möst has created the Prometheus Project, a program that will explore

22nd Annual Tri-C High School Rock Off When the annual High School Rock Off launched some 20 years ago at the Odeon, the promoters at the local Belkin Productions (now Live Nation) saw it as a way to reach out

to area high schools and provide students with the kind of outlet that they might not have. Two decades later, the event, which takes place again this year at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on four Saturdays, before concluding with final exam on Saturday, Feb. 17, continues to thrive. Tonight’s concert begins at 6 p.m., and tickets are $10. (Niesel) 1100 Rock and Roll Blvd., 216-515-8444, rockhall.com. FILM

Brimstone & Glory A 2017 documentary film, Brimstone & Glory documents the National Pyrotechnic festival that takes place in Mexico. The festival honors the patron saint of firework makers and promises to be “an impressionistic immersion into fire and fiesta.” The movie screens tonight at 9:30 at the Cleveland Institute of Art Cinematheque. Tickets are $10, or $7 for Cinematheque members and students. (Niesel) 11610 Euclid Ave., 216-421-7450, cia.edu. MUSIC

Ed Caner plus special guest David Mayfield A founding member of the local act Hey Mavis, master fiddler Ed Caner has performed alongside dozens of local and national acts. For tonight’s concert at the Hines Hill Conference Center in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, he teams up with local multi-instrumentalist David Mayfield, a guy who’s performed with the Avett Brothers, Mumford & Sons and sister Jessica Lea Mayfield. Sponsored by the Conservancy for Cuyahoga Valley National Park, the concert begins at 7 p.m. Tickets are $25 on the conservancy website. (Niesel) 1403 West Hines Hill Rd., Peninsula, 216-479-8611, conservancyforcvnp.org. SPORTS

Cavaliers vs. Oklahoma City Thunder Over the summer, the Oklahoma City Thunder made some significant trades and added All-Stars Carmelo Anthony and Paul George to the lineup. While the team hasn’t dominated like some critics thought it would, it’s still a force to be reckoned with. Expect a tight game when the two teams face off today at 3:30 p.m. at the Q. Tickets start at $102. (Niesel) 1 Center Court, 216-420-2000, theqarena.com. DANCE

Grupo Corpo Most recently, Brazil’s Grupo Corpo performed as part of the

opening ceremony during the 2016 Summer Olympics. This weekend, DanceCleveland brings the internationally renowned dance troupe to town for performances at 7:30 tonight and at 3 p.m. tomorrow at the Ohio Theatre. Tickets are $25 to $60. (Niesel) 1501 Euclid Ave., 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org. THEATER

Marie and Rosetta Now a Rock Hall inductee, the late Sister Rosetta Tharpe is the subject of Marie and Rosetta , a musical presented by the Cleveland Play House, that pays tribute to “the Godmother of Rock ’n’ Roll” who influenced rock icons such as Elvis Presley and Jimi Hendrix. The play opens tonight at 7:30 at the Allen Theatre, where performances continue through Feb. 11. Tickets are $25 to $105. (Niesel) 1407 Euclid Ave., 216-241-6000, clevelandplayhouse.com. FILM

Robocop 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 2018 schedule continues tonight with the 1987 sci-fi thriller Robocop. It screens tonight at midnight at the Capitol Theatre. Tickets are $6. (Niesel) 1390 West 65th St., 216-651-7295, clevelandcinemas.com. FILM

Rocky Horror Picture Show The Rocky Horror Picture Show, the 1975 cult classic, still draws an exuberant, costumed crowd that likes to throw rice and dry toast and sing along to the songs in the movie. Expect a throng to show up for tonight’s midnight screening at the Kent Stage. Tickets are $10, or $7 if you come in costume. A live shadow cast (the School of Rocky) will act out the movie and involve the audience. (Niesel) 175 East Main St., Kent, 330-677-5005, kentstage.org. COMEDY

Suzanne Westenhoefer Comedian Suzanne Westenhoefer likes to refer to herself as a “sacrificial lesbian” because when she started doing standup comedy years ago, there were so few openly gay comics. “I’m old and I’m gay,” she often jokes. Her matter-of-fact style of delivery and self-deprecating

WJW.CLEVELAND

| clevescene.com | January 17 - 23, 2018

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sense of humor distinguish her routines. She performs tonight at 8 at the Akron Civic Theatre. Tickets are $25. (Niesel) 182 South Main St., Akron, 330-253-2488, akroncivic.com.

SUN

01/21

COMEDY

Greg Hahn A favorite on the Bob and Tom Radio Show, comedian Greg Hahn likes to joke that he spends more time in the weight room “chalking up” than actually lifting weights. Though his observations aren’t particularly sophisticated, the bit gives him the opportunity to show off his physical approach to comedy. A loudmouth guy who yells and claps fervently during his routines, Hahn screams and shouts so much, you gotta think the late Sam Kinison inspired him. He performs tonight at 7 at Hilarities. Tickets are $13 and $18. (Niesel) 2035 East Fourth St., 216-241-7425, pickwickandfrolic.com. FILM

Late Spring The Cleveland Museum of Art kicks off a series devoted to the films of director Yasujiro Ozu with tonight’s screening of the director’s 1949 film Late Spring. The film centers on an elderly man who tries to marry off his grown daughter, much to her chagrin. The movie shows at 1:30 p.m. today and again at 1:45 p.m. on Tuesday. CMA film curator John Ewing leads a discussion after Tuesday’s screening. Tickets are $10, or $7 for CMA members. (Niesel) 11150 East Blvd., 216-421-7350, clevelandart.org.

MON

01/22

FILM

Birthright: A War Story Billed as the “real-life Handmaid’s Tale,” Birthright: A War Story centers on how the radical rightto-life movement has created an atmosphere of fear and terror in the U.S. The documentary film explores “the accelerating gains of the crusade to control pregnant women and the fallout that is creating a public health crisis, turning pregnant women into criminals and challenging the constitutional protections of every woman in America.” It screens tonight at 7 at the Cedar Lee Theatre. Tickets are $10. (Niesel) 2163 Lee Rd., Cleveland Heights, 440-528-0355, clevelandcinemas.com.

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| clevescene.com | January 17 - 23, 2018

THEATER

Deconstructing Stephen Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along Next month, Martin Friedman will direct Stephen Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along at Lakeland Civic Theatre. Tonight, in advance of that production, Friedman will discuss the musical’s history and talk about how it flopped on Broadway after only 11 performances. Music director Jordan Cooper and Lakeland cast members will be on hand as well to perform several songs from the play. The event begins at 7 at Nighttown. Tickets are $10. (Niesel) 12387 Cedar Rd., Cleveland Heights, 216-795-0550, nighttowncleveland.com.

TUE

01/23

NIGHTLIFE

Drunken Spelling Bee You might scoff at the kids in the national spelling bee on ESPN every year, but can you do better? Tonight at 9 at the Grog Shop, you’ll get your shot as the club hosts a Drunken Spelling Bee. Sam Handwich (John K) and Buzzed Wallace will host the event, which is taking place every Tuesday in January. Admission is free, and there will be drink specials and weekly prize packs. The fun continues through Jan. 30. (Niesel) 2785 Euclid Hts. Blvd., 216-321-5588, grogshop.gs. MUSIC

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

Find more events at clevescene.com t@clevelandscene

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STAGE THEY’RE NEW, THEY’RE RAW, AND THEY WANT YOUR OPINION Audiences encouraged to offer feedback at Cleveland Public Theatre’s Entry Point festival By Christine Howey “WE ACTUALLY STARTED TO hope it would be a failure, since it was so hard to put it all together. But last year was incredibly popular, so we’re doing it again this year. I guess we can hope it’ll fail this time!” So says executive creative director of Cleveland Public Theatre Raymond Bobgan, with tongue slightly in cheek, as he talks about their Entry Point event that starts Jan. 18, and runs through Jan. 20. Entry Point is both a workshop and a celebration. It is essentially a workshop for new theater pieces created by 95 artists — pieces that range in length from 15 minutes to 90 minutes (plus one ongoing installation) — and that involve all manner of mixed media and performance. And it’s all presented in a loose but highly organized festival format where patrons choose which shows they want to see. And there’s no way to see them all. This is really nothing new for CPT, since they have been deeply involved in new play development for more than 20 years. As Bobgan says, “In the 10 years from 1996 to 2006, we staged 10 readings of local plays, along with 29 workshops and the production of 18 new plays. Compare that to the following 10 years, when we hosted 78 readings of local plays, presented 105 workshops and staged 35 full productions of work by local playwrights. This is an important mission for us.” And it’s quite an undertaking, since Bobgan and his talented staff have to juggle the needs of multiple creators, performers and audience members over three evenings, with shows going on simultaneously in seven venues on the CPT campus. “We approach this like it’s a festival,” notes Bobgan. “We sell passes for each evening or for the three-day weekend, and our bars are open so people can get the refreshments they want. It’s a high-energy environment, and everyone has a great time.” But as Bobgan is quick to point out, it’s not all fun and games.

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Photo by Steve Wagner

“Each of these artists is working on something that means a lot to them, and they’re eager to get feedback from the audience to help them shape their pieces.” This feedback is encouraged in several ways. There is a brief discussion after each presentation when the audience can share their thoughts in the moment, positive or otherwise. In addition, there are cards in the Entry Point lounge where audience members can write their opinions, and those who wish

necessary, to answer big questions about ourselves and our projects.” Fraley’s innovative Wryneck is described as follows: “A bird flies across geographical and psychological spaces through Morse Code-like patterns, stirring the reality of individual women in separate lives.” In other words, this ain’t your traditional theater fare. And that is what Bobgan finds particularly gratifying: “Years ago, we were the only theater developing new plays. But now, many theaters

ENTRY POINT, 2018 FROM THURSDAY, JAN.18 THROUGH SATURDAY, JAN. 20 AT CLEVELAND PUBLIC THEATRE, 6415 DETROIT AVE., 216-631-2727, CPTONLINE.ORG

to can receive an email survey afterwards. This is the second year that Lauren Joy Fraley has participated in Entry Point, and she is very excited to be back with an excerpt from her work titled Wryneck. As she explains, “I love Entry Point because it honors the uniqueness of the individuals who are creating these theatrical pieces. But it also gives us a safe place where we can fail, if

| clevescene.com | January 17 - 23, 2018

have started fostering beginning work, so we can focus on developing the kind of theater we find exciting — theater that stretches boundaries and is inventive, intelligent and socially conscious.” Another of the Entry Point creators, Jimmie Woody, finds a connection to his heritage in what he’s doing. “Griots were West African storytellers who transmitted all the information of a village and

its people. But when colonialists took over, many of the griots were killed to eliminate the history of those people. I see myself as carrying on that griot tradition, and Entry Point gives me that rare opportunity.” Woody’s piece, Tale of Jiminirising, is a “theatrical memoir combining poetry, hip hop and digital storytelling about figuring out how to be a man in the never-ending landscape of what masculinity means in America.” And even though it deals with very personal aspects of Woody’s life, including various challenges faced by his mother and sister, it’s all worth it. In Woody’s words, “I want to find out if people connect to these stories, if they ring true. It all comes down to a desire to answer one question: Am I alone?” In addition to the 12 new works, most of which are repeated up to several times over three nights, there will be free afternoon panel discussions on Saturday, Jan. 20. One discussion will on “Activism and Audience Interaction” and the other will cover the topic, “Getting Better as an Artist.” These panels will include participation by local and national theater professionals. Entry Point is happening at an exciting time for CPT, since the theater just announced a groundbreaking collaboration project, “Cross-Pollination.” Funded by the National New Play Network, CPT will join forces with two other theater companies — Kitchen Dog Theater from Dallas and InterAct Theatre Company from Philadelphia — to work with playwrights outside their sphere of influence. Thus, playwright James Ijames from Philadelphia is here at Entry Point with his play history of walking, and Cleveland playwright Lisa Langford will take her play Rastus & Hattie to Dallas in June. If new plays excite you, and you want to be part of the process, check out CPT this weekend.

scene@clevescene.com t@christinehowey

MOVIES GOOD THREAD Daniel Day-Lewis delivers knockout in (putative) final performance By Sam Allard ONE OF MY COLLEGE ENGLISH professors wrote, after he saw Phantom Thread, the new film by Paul Thomas Anderson, that during his viewing he felt both “awed and assigned to awe.” He enthused about the film, but admitted that in some ways his appreciation had been suffocated by all the talk in Phantom Thread’s orbit: the fact that this was reportedly Daniel Day-Lewis’ final role, the fact that reviewers were already gushing over it, making it one of the year’s most critically acclaimed movies long before it arrived in the vast majority of American theaters. I mention the experience because it was not terribly unlike my own. As a lover of movies, but as a non-academic one, I felt a bit intimidated by this artisanal love story. It charts the romance of a 20 th century British dressmaker, Reynolds Woodcock (Daniel DayLewis), and his lover and muse,

Alma (Vicky Krieps). I’m a fan of Anderson’s in general. Like many others, I think 2007’s There Will be Blood has aged extremely well; unlike many others, I think 2014’s Inherent Vice didn’t get the acclaim it deserved. I dig that Anderson is a director with unique and readily identifiable signposts: huge ensemble casts, bloated run times, convolved storylines, meticulous re-creation of specific settings. Nevertheless, my own viewing of Phantom Thread became a self-conscious one. I worried that if I wasn’t obsessed, I might not be getting it. But I really liked Phantom Thread! It didn’t quite crack my annual Top 10 list, but it came awfully close. The principal reasons for my positive reaction were two: 1. The high-culture dressmaking world of London (and specifically, Woodcock’s home office) in the

SPOTLIGHT: HOSTILES FOR BOTH WES STUDI, A Native American actor who plays Yellow Hawk, a dying Cheyenne war chief, and Q’Orianka Kilcher, an American actress who plays Black Hawk’s wife Elk Woman, director Scott Cooper’s new film Hostiles portrays Native Americans in a positive light. The period Western centers on surly army captain Joseph J. Blocker (Christian Bale), who reluctantly agrees to escort Black Hawk and his family back to their tribal lands. It opens area-wide on Friday. Thanks to a fine performance by the always-intense Bale and some stunning cinematography, the film successfully captures an early American experience and shows just how dangerous the West once was. “I think the film brings about discussion, which is always important,” says Kilcher during a recent phone interview when asked about its depiction of Native

Americans. “Through discussion, we become more educated. It’s a step in the right direction. We do have a long road ahead of us when it comes to Native American stories being told. I would love to see more stories told from the perspective of Native Americans. Maybe that just means we need some awesome up-and-coming Native American filmmakers to be inspired by watching filmmakers like Scott Cooper and watching incredible performances by Native American actors. It’s our responsibility to take steps in the right direction and break down cultural barriers and continuously strive to do better and educate people.” Studi, a Cherokee actor and producer who starred with Kilcher and Bale in the 2005 film The New World, agrees. “The only thing I would say is that I wish we knew a little more about the inner workings of the

1950s is rendered carefully and minutely by the team of production designers and tailors. The film boasts, for my money, the best sound design of the year outside of Mother! Every poke and tear and cut of fabric is faithfully captured as Woodcock works on his own or with his staff of seamstresses on their various masterpieces. It is a world that has never been this richly brought to life. Other fashion biopics (of Yves Saint Laurent, recently) have portrayed the larger culture of fashion — its runway shows, its extravagances — but no other movie has so meticulously

presented the craft. 2. It almost goes without saying, but the performance of Daniel Day-Lewis is as captivating as ever. He’s the sort of actor who can — and, miraculously, does — make a breakfast order one of the most magnetizing moments I’ve seen onscreen all year. I dare not spoil the dinner scene, but I’ll say only that it lives up to the hype. If this indeed is his final role, his absence will be a great loss to the cinema.

family group,” he says in a separate interview. “Other than that, I think our participation was well done.” Violence occurs at every turn in the film as the group travels from Fort Berringer, an isolated outpost in New Mexico, to the grasslands of Montana. Along the way, Blocker & Co. encounter a young widow (Rosamund Pike) whose family was murdered on the plains. She joins them as they battle the vicious Comanche they meet while proceeding through some incredibly rugged terrain. “I think everyone was as violent as they were depicted in this film — no more so the Comanche than anyone else,” says Studi when asked about the film’s emphasis on scalpings and bloody shootouts. “They were doing the things that they did in our story for the right reasons. They were ridding their land of encroachment. That’s what their lifestyle demanded at the time.” Cooper filmed in Colorado and throughout New Mexico. The shoots often involved drastic changes in

elevation, and Mother Nature threw some serious obstacles at the cast and crew on a regular basis. “We faced all sorts of elements,” says Kilcher. “There were many times that we had to stop because of lightning. There were dust storms and rain storms. We went through it all.” Ultimately, Kilcher says she hopes people who watch the film realize the “hostile” lurks inside us all. “I hope that people stop and take a look at themselves,” she says. “For me, it’s a looking-in-the-mirror movie about looking at your own reflection. We could all be hostiles, depending on the situation. If you demonize someone, what happens when you turn the tables and put yourself in that person’s shoes? Would you act any differently or would you act the same way? It’s a timeless message relevant to what is going on in our country today and in the rest of the world.” — Jeff

sallard@clevescene.com t@scenesallard

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jniesel@clevescene.com t@jniesel | clevescene.com | January 17 - 23, 2018

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SIT, STAY, EAT, DRINK Boss Dog Brewery’s pub atmosphere has quickly become a Cleveland Heights favorite By Douglas Trattner WE STRODE BUOYANTLY through the rear door of Boss Dog, past the bar, and directly into the dining room. It was another frigid evening in Cleveland Heights and we assumed the restaurant would look like most others on this dark, bleak, January night: That is, a ghost town. How wrong we were. Every table in the dining room was occupied, including a boisterous 20-top that was celebrating a big birthday. We glanced over to the high-tops in the lounge area, where guests have views into the brewhouse, but those too were gobbled up. Our last resort, stools at the bar, came up craps as well. “I guess we should have made a reservation,” I said to my wife. For three long years, this building on Lee Road has been a gaping wound in the landscape of the community. For two decades, Lemon Grass Thai Restaurant ebbed and flowed in popularity, but at least the lights were always on. That run ended in the spring of 2015, after the old mare finally kicked it. When brothers Josh and Jason Sweet — “Heights folks” — staked a claim on the building, neighbors were collectively chuffed but admittedly guarded, a sentiment that seemed only to magnify with each passing month of construction. At long last, after nearly a year and a half of fits and starts, Boss Dog Brewing opened its doors this fall to receptive crowds. In place of the chopped up, janky and dated interior that was

Lemon Grass sits a contemporary 140-seat brewpub with an edgy, industrial bent. At the heart of the structure lies the wrap-around bar, which is flanked on two sides by the dining room and lounge. Walls were knocked down to open up sight lines and the shiny 10-barrel brewhouse is prominently positioned behind a wall of glass. Above the main hallway hangs a dramatic light fixture fashioned out of repurposed kegs, and inside the men’s room, kegs are readapted for a completely different purpose. Crowds appear to have warmed so quickly to the newcomer because, like all great neighborhood hangouts, it’s

that opens it up to the broadest possible audience. It’s hard to take issue with a giant, warm and soft pretzel ($6), especially when it’s paired with gooey beer cheese for dipping. Same goes for potato and cheese-filled pierogi ($9), each well browned and buried beneath buttery sauteed onions and mushrooms. After sliding on a sheet of ice from the car, an order of plush garlic and cheese bread knots ($6) feels like a warm hug. There’s marinara on the side for dipping. Other worthwhile starters include a trio of braised beef sliders ($9) with slaw and an Asian sauce, an earthy and comforting bowl of duck, beef and black bean chili ($7),

BOSS DOG BREWING 2179 LEE RD., CLEVELAND HEIGHTS 216-321-2337 BOSSDOGBREWING.COM

approachable, convenient and flexible. A variety of seating options caters equally to a pair of buddies watching a game at the bar, a couple grabbing a quick weekend lunch before the matinee, and a full-on dinner for the entire family. Like many breweries, this one isn’t exceedingly comfortable given that it’s all concrete, glass, stainless steel and brick, but it certainly beats indoor picnic tables and paper plates. Perhaps wisely, Boss Dog leans more pub than gastropub, a move

and whole grilled wings ($9) with, in my opinion, a slightly off-putting sweet and spicy BBQ sauce. Boss Dog’s pizzas ($11-$12) are sturdy and dependable options, with three pre-designed pies (two of which are meat-free) ready for takeoff. Neither too thin and brittle nor fat and doughy, the crust, you might say, is Goldilocks approved. Every great saloon requires a great burger and I’m happy to report that the one served here ($10) is that. The meaty, beefy, juicy patty is topped with fragrant gruyere (or

Swiss or cheddar), lettuce, tomato and onion and tucked into a pillowy brioche bun. A cocktail shaker of fries is included in the deal. In terms of stick-to-your-ribs comfort foods, the stout-braised short rib ($22) ticks all the boxes: It’s rich, it’s hearty, and the fallapart meat just melts into the cheesy mashed potatoes. The kitchen gets bonus points for crisp-tender heirloom carrots and flavorful gravy. A penne pasta ($17), which arrived on the cold side but was quickly remedied, aims for the middle with an agreeable toss-up of noodles, white meat chicken and tomatoes in a cream sauce. Not every beer I’ve sampled has been perfect — a few had noticeable off flavors like diacetyl — but those have been the exception, not the rule. The Holy Toledo pilsner ($6) was crisp and clean and the Twisted Citra IPA ($6) appropriately juicy and fragrant. Unlike many breweries — heck, bars too — Boss Dog offers a lovely wine and cocktail list for those who prefer to stay away from the suds. But the best is yet to come for Boss Dog and its neighbors. Come spring, a greatly expanded and improved patio, which connects to the interior via a massive garage door, will debut, adding another outdoor option for area diners.

dtrattner@clevescene.com t@dougtrattner

| clevescene.com | January 17 - 23, 2018

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Photo by Douglas Trattner

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| clevescene.com | January 17 - 23, 2018

WE GOT A QUICK, DELICIOUS taste of El Rinconcito Chapin in Old Brooklyn last year but were unable to return before the small eatery on Pearl Road shut down in advance of a move. It would be more than six months until the new spot welcomed it first diners, but that finally took place late last month. The new spot (3330 Broadview Rd., 216-795-5776) is less than two miles from the original restaurant, in a stand-alone building that used to be home to The Coney Company. In addition to offering a larger and more comfortable dining room, the new site boasts its own parking lot. At El Rinconcito Chapin, owner Engel Godinez prepares authentic foods from his home country of Guatemala. Diners can look forward to uncommon and delicious street food-style snacks like chuchitos ($1.50), Guatemalan-style tamales filled with chicken, dobladitas (3 for $6), crispy chicken-filled turnovers, yucca fries and salsa ($4.50), and crispy rolled taquitos (4 for $7) topped with queso fresco and salsa. An order of garnachas ($9) nets a half dozen tidy stacks composed of a small, sturdy tortilla base topped with seasoned ground beef, salsa, raw red onion and a sprinkling of salty cheese. In addition to the ubiquitous platters of grilled steak and fried tilapia, both served with rice

and beans, El Rinconcito offers some interesting larger plates. Jocon ($11) is a chicken-based dish in which the meat is stewed in salsa verde. Pepian ($11) is a dish consisting of chicken cooked in a spiced tomatillo sauce, and arroz a la cazuela ($12) is like a Guatemalan version of paella with rice, shrimp and vegetables.

Hyde Park Restaurant Group Signs Lease on Gamekeeper’s Taverne Space in Chagrin Falls Last spring, Gamekeeper’s Taverne closed its doors after 40 years in business. Last week, we learned who will be the new stewards of that iconic Chagrin Falls property. “We signed a lease on Gamekeeper’s Taverne and can now go forward,” says Joe Saccone of Hyde Park Restaurant Group. “We’re really just getting our hands around it now.” In addition to nearly a dozen Hyde Park Prime Steakhouses scattered around the Midwest and Florida, Hyde Park Restaurant Group operates the nearby Jekyll’s Kitchen as well as ML Tavern in Moreland Hills. Already, the building’s owners

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★★★★★ “Worth the stop & future excursions from the Near West Side in the future.I can’t find one thing wrong with V’s and the woman taking care of us was just the nicest and personable person ever. For all the food we ordered it was very reasonably priced and held up well on the ride home/ Stopping here in the near future is in order as it puts lousy KFC’s, Popeyes, etc to shame in terms of quality, price, and customer service.” - Jesco D. ★★★★★ “I went here after the good reviews and I was impressed. I had the regular/mild batter. The chicken was light, crispy and delicious. The rice and greens is ingenious! They have

a little kick to them but quite tasty. They were buttery and lightly sweet. I enjoyed my meal and will return in the future.” - Ladonna G. ★★★★★ “This is some Seriously delicious chicken. I have lived very close, and almost drive by there daily. Thought it was part of the convenient store, so I would not go there. After reading the reviews and being extremely hungry, I took the plunge, and I am more than glad I did. I will be coming here so much more.” - Stephanie L. ★★★★★ “It’s no joke, best fried chicken in Cleveland. They’ve got plenty of sides, but don’t kid yourself, it’s all about the chicken. While there’s a variety of flavors the staff might not give you many clues past identifying the individual flavors. Luckily there’s a brief explanation of them at the restaurant.” - Noah F.

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have invested in a new roof and windows, notes Saccone, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg in terms of planned improvements that he is calling “a major facelift.” “We expect to spend a substantial amount of dollars upgrading the facility while keeping a lot of the charm of the space,” he explains. In addition to the new interior, and major remodels of the kitchen and restrooms, Saccone hopes to extend the small bar in the front of the building out onto a front-side patio. When it opens in late spring or early summer, the restaurant will showcase a new brand concept for the restaurant group. While still in the conceptual phase, there is a frontrunner in terms of direction. “The top idea for us is, we’re steakhouse guys, so it could be a chef-inspired steakhouse with a lot of European influences,” Saccone acknowledges. There were many suitors for the prime Chagrin Falls property, but at the end of the day, it was Saccone and Hyde Park who walked away with the prize. It’s an honor and privilege he doesn’t intend to squander. “It’s an iconic spot, the patio is fantastic, and we know what the Village has meant to Cleveland and the eastern suburbs,” Saccone says. “It was very sad to see Gamekeeper’s go. [Owner] Tom [Lutz] and I were competitors, but we both worked in the Village and tried to make the Village great. It’s an opportunity for us, and hopefully what we do will complement everybody in the Village and bring more people down there.”

Lucy Restaurant Brings Ethiopian Food to West Side for the First Time And then there were three. For 25 years, Cleveland has had to make do with a single Ethiopian restaurant, the lovely Empress Taytu (6125 St. Clair Ave., 216-391-9400). Last year, that pioneering eatery was joined by Zoma Ethiopian Restaurant, which is quickly making a name for itself in Cleveland Heights (2240 Lee Rd., 216-465-3239). And now we welcome Lucy Restaurant (2218 Broadview Rd., 216-417-2550), an Old Brooklyn restaurant dedicated to the food and drink of Ethiopia.

“We see the Ethiopian community in Cleveland keep growing,” explains owner Desalegn Sisay. “We just established a second church on the west side of Cleveland and we’re seeing a lot of new faces all the time.” Sisay, who purchased the building most recently home to Casablanca Bar and Restaurant, says that his passion for the restaurant business extends back to his time back home in Ethiopia. His cook also hails from that country. Sisay says that guests to Lucy can expect traditional Ethiopian foods, service and decorations. The cuisine is characterized both by its unique flavors and its communal presentation, a familystyle approach with multiple items arriving on a large platter. Vegetable, grain, meat and fishbased stews, some of which are spicy, are scooped up and eaten with small pieces of injera, a spongy flatbread made from fermented teff batter. Silverware is provided for those who prefer it. Doro wat, perhaps the most familiar dish, is a spicy chickenbased stew made with berbere, a fiery spice blend. Derek tibs is a flavorful beef stirfry with onion and peppers, while kitfo is a tartar-like dish of raw ground beef mixed with spices and eaten with injera. Many Ethiopian dishes are built around lentils, split peas, chick peas and greens, making them popular with vegetarians. Meat and vegetarian combination platters are popular options that display many of the most popular items on a single platter. In addition to draft domestic and imported beers, and Ethiopian mead called tejj, the restaurant offers a traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremony. The owner says he chose the name Lucy in honor of the archeological discovery made by Donald Johanson in 1975 while Johanson was curator of physical anthropology at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. “The name has a connection with Cleveland history,” explains Sisay. The restaurant is open every day for lunch and dinner except Monday.

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SATURDAY, MARCH 31 ...........................................SPAZMATICS

| clevescene.com | January 17 - 23, 2018

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| clevescene.com m | January 17 - 23, 2018

Courtesy of MLT Events Production

MUSIC

The Romantics

RIDING A NEW WAVE Eighties acts the Romantics and Berlin team up for a double bill at Hard Rock Live By Jeff Niesel THE ROMANTICS AND BERLIN, two new wave/pop bands that were popular in the ’90s, both benefited from exposure in Cleveland. The Romantics regularly played the Agora when they first started touring in support of their powerpop hit single “What I Like About You,” and Berlin songs such as the slinky “The Metro” and the salacious “Sex (I’m a …)” received airplay on WMMS well before other stations in the country started to play their music. The two groups will share a bill at Hard Rock Live, where they perform at 8 p.m. on Friday. In separate phone interviews, the Romantics guitarist Mike Skill and Berlin singer Terri Nunn spoke about their lengthy musical careers. How did the band come together? Skill: Me and drummer Jimmy [Marinos] have played together since high school. We played in his basement in Detroit with [singer-

bassist] Rich Cole. We didn’t do the bar band scene, which was just ending, with the cut-and-paste paper doll bands. When we got out there, we were always writing our own songs. This was in the greater area of Detroit. Iggy [Pop] had moved to

Wally [Palmar] and started putting the band together. It took off from there. We had punk hair and we were wearing re-sale store clothes — tight pants and greaser jackets. We just hit the road. We played the Agora in Cleveland and stayed at [the hotel]

THE ROMANTICS, BERLIN 8 P.M. FRIDAY, JAN. 19, HARD ROCK LIVE, 10777 NORTHFIELD RD., NORTHFIELD, 330-908-7625. TICKETS: $29.50-$52.50, HRROCKSINONORTHFIELDPARK.COM

L.A. The MC5 had broken up. The music scene was started to shift back to shorter songs, more like the ’50s and ’60s, and we were all about that. I saw a photo of [the British mod band] the Jam in Melody Maker, and I thought they were like the Who, which is what I grew up on. I took that photo and a Flamin’ Groovies album to Jimmy’s house. I said, “We could do this.” We talked to [singer]

Swingos and all that. Radio wasn’t playing new wave at the time. But Detroit started boomeranging and coming back, and new bands were coming out. Toronto was smoking at the time too. It was a Midwest kind of explosion. Nunn: I answered an ad that [bassist] John Crawford, who wound up being my [songwriting] partner for 13 years, put in through

the Musicians Contact Service in Hollywood in 1979. They had an ad in there that said they were “unique.” They absolutely were. There wasn’t anything going on in America that was like what they were doing. It was electronic and had synthesizers. I thought it was great. He sent me a tape. Remember cassette tapes? He sent me one of those with their music, and I thought it was awesome. I auditioned and joined the band. I was based in L.A., but they were based in Orange County. How did you wind up with hit songs? Skill: Nothing was getting on the radio. Some cities had good DJs. We had a Sunday night program in Detroit that played original music for two or three hours. That’s all you had. It was all Genesis and Yes, which we loved, but it wasn’t high energy enough. We were just a new crop of guys coming up. It was 1978 when we wrote [“That’s What I Like | clevescene.com | January 17 - 23, 2018

37

Courtesy of Andrew Lurie

MUSIC

Berlin singer Terri Nunn

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| clevescene.com | January 17 - 23, 2018

About You”]. I didn’t have a car at the time. My mom dropped me off at band rehearsal. I got there early one day and told the drummer I had these chords and rhythm. It was just three chords with a big catchy hook. He just started singing something, and I came up with the guitar intro. His verse was on the other side of the beat. He was always ad libbing on stage. We recorded it on the first album. It was the second or third song that was released. It blew up to the middle of the charts and then started dropping off. The song took off when we did a commercial for Bud Light. We caught some heat for that. Now, you see everyone doing it. They called us “that band that does that beer song.” We never paid anyone to promote it. It was an organic thing, and it still is. I’m happy that we didn’t have to hype it. We never had lots of money for promotion like someone like the Knack. We just worked our butts off on the road. Nunn: Our first single wasn’t “Sex (I’m a …).” It was either “The Metro” or “Tell Me Why” that [the L.A. station] KROQ started playing there. We gave it to a DJ by the named of Richard Blade. He was doing graveyard shift at another station. He was knocking on the door at KROQ and they gave him a weekend where their DJs went to Hawaii for a promo event. He took over, and they liked him. He brought our single over. He played it, and they played it a bit. But when we finished “Sex (I’m a ...)” and gave it to them, it exploded. All the record labels that didn’t like us said, “We don’t get it, and you need

to go sell shoes or something.” They came back to us. They said, “You just sold 25,000 copies in a month. We think you’re great.” Then, it became a bidding war. It turned around from us being scum of the earth to the next best thing. Are you working on new material? Skill: Samantha Kives from Ktel Records came us to recently, and she really loves the band. She wants us to do some cover songs. We weren’t too sure about doing that, but it’s worked out. We did “We Gotta Get Out of This Place” by the Animals. An odd choice was “Daydream Believer.” I liked the Monkees, but I never thought I’d record one of their songs. They had great writers, however. We did [Deep Purple’s] “Hush.” There are eight or so songs on the album with a couple of originals. It still needs one more song. That will come out as soon as we can finish it up. I’m already ready to move on to fresh ground. Nunn: It’s happening. We got a record deal through Deep Well Records with the Capitol label. We’ll begin recording in February. It’s the original Berlin team. It’s exciting. It came out of nowhere. I didn’t expect it all. We got together talking because John [Crawford] was going through a bad divorce. I’ve been through that. He needed a shoulder to cry on. [Guitarist] David Diamond came in because he’s also a friend of John’s. We got creative and really liked it. That started to develop and now we have Deep Well behind.

jniesel@clevescene.com t@jniesel

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| clevescene.com | January 17 - 23, 2018

39

MUSIC A 50-YEAR LEGACY The Alarm Clocks’ Mike Pierce on the local garage band’s lasting influence By Jeff Niesel LOCAL GARAGE ROCKERS THE Alarm Clocks existed for close to three short years in the ’60s before calling it quits after releasing only one single. And yet, it left such a lasting impression that it would reunite 12 years ago to start recording and touring again. Singer-bassist Mike Pierce can still recall the first version of the band’s last show before it broke up in 1967. “We were at Boston Mills Ski Lodge, which was a hot spot to play,” he says in a recent phone interview. The band performs at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 20, at the Beachland Tavern. “We went out there and the crowd went crazy. People were yelling and screaming, and it was unbelievable.” The band’s 50-year history is rather convoluted. Initially, Boehm, drummer Tim Douglas and bassist Jeff Suveges, all teenagers at the time, formed the Perceptions, which recorded a few songs in a basement. Boehm eventually quit the Perceptions and, after a short stint in a band called Night People, formed the Alarm Clocks with drummer Bill Schwark and Pierce. The band recorded its first (and until recently only) single “Yeah!/ No Reason to Complain” live in the studio in 1966, and some 300 copies were made (the original pressings have since become collectors’ items that sell for up to $1,000). With its lyrics about cruising for women and walking down the streets on a Saturday afternoon, “Yeah!” isn’t particularly sophisticated when it comes to the lyrics. The same goes for “No Reason to Complain,” another song about looking for quick and easy love. Yet the rawness — characterized by Pierce’s highpitched yells and Boehm’s abrasive guitar — is distinctive. Both tracks have become iconic. They were included on the influential 1996 Crypt Records compilation Back from the Grave, and comedian Patton Oswalt paid tribute to the band by naming his 2004 Comedy Central special No Reason to Complain and featuring the Alarm

40

Photo credit: Courtesy of Mike Pierce

Clocks’ recording as the show’s musical introduction. About a month after cutting “Yeah!,” the Alarm Clocks went to Sound Ideas Recording Studios to cut a demo tape that it could give to local promoters. In one take, the group recorded several tracks, among them raucous covers of “Louie Louie,” “It’s All Over Now” and “It’s Alright.” At the time, the guys thought that the tape would help take them beyond the highschool party circuit. But when guitarist Boehm left the band to work on a freighter in 1967, the group essentially dissolved.

the 7-inch out the first time. The reissue, which includes that demo from the band’s first rehearsal, came to be when George Gell and Tom Fallon (who now plays in the band), two Cleveland record collectors who used to publish a ’zine called Rebel Teen, tracked Boehm down some 12 years ago to ask him about the history of the Alarm Clocks, one of their favorite bands. “I get this phone call from George, and this guy asked for Bruce Boeing,” Boehm told us a few years back. “Usually, if you can’t say my last name, then you’re a salesman, and it’s goodbye.

THE ALARM CLOCKS, BLACK TIGHTS, THE DREEMERS 8:30 P.M. SATURDAY, JAN. 20 BEACHLAND TAVERN, 15711 WATERLOO RD., 216-383-1124. TICKETS: $8 ADV, $10 DOS. BEACHLANDBALLROOM.COM

Boehm had wanted to restart the group shortly after he returned home from the ship, but he was drafted and served 14 months in Vietnam. By the time he returned from Vietnam, it was too late to reform the Alarm Clocks. Some members of the group had moved on to the garage rock act the Damnation of Adam Blessing. Fifteen or so years ago, Norton Records’ reissued the “Yeah!/ No Reason to Complain” single, making it the first official Alarm Clocks release since the band put

| clevescene.com | January 17 - 23, 2018

But I said, ‘Yeah, speaking.’ And he asked, ‘Is this the Bruce that was in the Alarm Clocks?’ Now, I thought it was my kid brother playing a joke. He was flipping out, because he finally found one of us. And he’s flipping me out because I can’t believe that somebody is actually asking about the Alarm Clocks after 20 years. He’s telling me the single is one of the greatest garage songs ever recorded. I met them a year after that, and I told them about the demo tape, and I made them a copy and then made

[singer-bassist] Mike Pierce and [drummer] Bill Schwark copies. Those are the only three I’ve ever made copies for. I was pretty protective of it.” Mark Leddy, co-owner of the Beachland Ballroom (where “Yeah!” is in the jukebox), mentioned to Norton Records’ Miriam Linna that Fallon had a tape of the rehearsal. Fallon was more than happy to lend his copy to Norton for its first legitimate pressing. Since reforming for the 40th anniversary of their single in 2006, the Alarm Clocks have played to festival crowds across the country and have recorded new original material with the same raw energy they had in the 1960s. Pierce has also been regularly writing new material too. He’s even penned a rock opera that the group has yet to record. “I only wrote two songs in my life, which were ‘Yeah!’ and ‘No Reason to Complain,’” says Pierce. “Since we got back together in 2006, I’ve written more than 100 songs. I just started playing guitar again and started hearing things I didn’t hear before.” While the group hit the festival circuit shortly after reforming, it hasn’t played much in Cleveland. Four years ago, Pierce had hip surgery and was out of commission and Boehm had physical problems as well. But Pierce says he’s so pleased the band has come back together, he hopes it’ll perform more often in the future. “It’s something I always dreamed about,” he says of continuing to play with the Alarm Clocks. “After the group split in the ’60s, I never thought we’d be playing on a stage again, and here it is 40 years later, and I’m doing it. I went on the internet and looked up ‘No Reason to Complain.’ There are groups all over the world playing it. There’s a group in Italy and Norway and Japan. I found like 20 different groups playing that song. When I saw that, I thought, ‘You gotta be kidding me.’”

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

| clevescene.com m | January 17 - 23, 2018

41

LIVEWIRE

all the live music you should see this week Photo Courtesy of Naavin Karimbux

WED

01/17

10 X 3 Singer Songwriter Showcase hosted by Brent Kirby: 8 p.m. Brothers Lounge. Diego Figueiredo: 7 p.m., $20. Nighttown. Tim Lekan Quartet: 7 p.m., $10. Bop Stop. Songwriter in the Round with Joshua Jesty/Holden Laurence/ Stephanie Trivison: 8:30 p.m., $5. Beachland Tavern.

THU

01/18

Big Mean Sound Machine/ Heavyheds/The Dorian Walker Experience: 9 p.m., $8 ADV, $10 DOS. Grog Shop. Cleveland Uncommon Sound Project: 7 p.m., $15. Bop Stop. 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. Kick: The INXS Experience: 7:30 p.m., $15 ADV, $20 DOS. Music Box Supper Club. Richard Shindell/Charlie Mosbrook (in the Supper Club): 7:30 p.m., $20 ADV, $25 DOS. Music Box Supper Club. Stick Figure/Twiddle/Iya Terra: 7 p.m. House of Blues.

FRI

01/19

Armstrong Bearcat: 9:30 p.m., $5. Brothers Lounge. Blues DeVille (in the Supper Club): 8 p.m., $8. Music Box Supper Club. Gus Dapperton/Exotic Fruit Club: 7:30 p.m., $10 ADV, $12 DOS. Grog Shop. The Dreemers/Window Dogs/The Brothers Band/Coup De Grace: 8 p.m., $8. Musica. The Elderly Brothers (in the Wine Bar): 8 p.m. Brothers Lounge. Fresh Out of the Can Featuring the Fifth House/Midwest Beaches/ Half Knocked Out/Lies Behind Us/Bewarewolves: 7 p.m., $10. Mahall’s 20 Lanes. Headspace: Minimal/House/Techno in the Underdog featuring Eric Kilbourn, Justin Hartman, John Rookwood: 9 p.m., $5. The Euclid Tavern. Jazz Jam Session: 11 p.m., free. Bop Stop.

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Carlos Jones and the P.L.U.S. Band/ James Emmett Band: 9 p.m., $12 ADV, $15 DOS. Beachland Ballroom. Modern Bouzouki Sounds with Konstantinos Revelas & Company (featuring Istvan Medgyesi and Shai Azulay): 9 p.m., $5. Happy Dog. Reginleif/Axon-Neuron/Sol Fox: 9 p.m., $4 ADV, $7 DOS. CODA. Shadow of Doubt Tom Petty Tribute Concert: 8 p.m., $8 ADV, $10 DOS. The Winchester. Silverstein/Tonight Alive/ Broadside: Back in 2015, posthardcore act Silverstein celebrated 15 years together with a show in Cleveland that made it seem as if the band was playing “a hometown gig.” Tonight, the explosive Ontario-based act is back at House of Blues armed with a new album, last summer’s Dead Reflection. And the record proves that singer Shane Told still has his screaming chops on lock, while the band’s instrumentation is as tight as ever. Here, Silverstein’s searingly emotional lyrics make you feel all of the feelings ... just like back in high school. (Laura Morrison) 6 p.m., $20. House of Blues. Moss Stanley: 10:30 p.m., free. Nighttown. Charles Walker Band: 8:30 p.m., $15. Nighttown.

SAT

01/20

The 2018 Winter Classic with Panda: 8:30 p.m., $10 ADV, $12 DOS. Beachland Ballroom. The Alarm Clocks/Black Tights/ The Dreemers: 8:30 p.m., $8 ADV, $10 DOS. Beachland Tavern. Bone-Afide: 8 p.m., $15. Bop Stop. Cryptkicker Benefit Show for Louie DeSantis: 6 p.m., $25-$30. Odeon. Cuco/Helado Negro/Lido Pimienta: An 18-year-old Chicano singer from Los Angeles, Cuco sings in both English and Spanish. Over the past year he has built a dedicated fanbase as his melancholy tracks have racked up millions of views on Youtube. His latest single, “We Had to End It,” features a plodding guitar riff and plaintive vocals. Somber horns give the tune some heft. Expect to hear it and more tunes like it at tonight’s show. (Jeff Niesel) 9 p.m., $12. Grog Shop. Fire is Motion/Weller/Suitcase Runaway/The Skies Above Us/

| clevescene.com | January 17 - 23, 2018

Young Chicano singer Cuco comes to the Grog Shop. See: Saturday.

Puppy Love (in the Locker Room: 7 p.m., $10. Mahall’s 20 Lanes. Grand Funk Railroad: 8 p.m. Hard Rock Rocksino Northfield Park. Johnny La Rock / Furface /J. Buckner / Istvan Medgyesi: 9 p.m., $4 ADV, $7 DOS. CODA. Stanley Jordan: 8 p.m., $25. Nighttown. G. Love & Special Sauce: Not many of the alt-rock and hip-hop acts that MTV made famous in the ’90s are still kicking. G. Love & Special Sauce is the exception. Twenty years ago, the singer-guitarist G. Love and his two-piece band released their self-titled debut and had an instant hit with the woozy blues-meets-hip-hop number “Cold Beverage.” In the two decades since that album’s release, Love and crew have consistently toured and recorded; they received a good second wind in 2003 when Love and singer-songwriter Jack Johnson collaborated on the Johnson tune “Rodeo Clowns.” For his 2014 album, Sugar, Love reunited with upright bassist James “Jimi Jazz” Prescott for the first time in five years. (Niesel) 8 p.m., $25-$35. House of Blues. Dave Matthews Tribute Band by Trippin’ Billies: 8 p.m., $15 ADV, $18 DOS. Music Box Supper Club. Pompous Ass (in the Wine Bar): 8 p.m. Brothers Lounge. Punch Drunk Tagalongs/Bummed Out/The Katy: 9 p.m., $5. Happy Dog. Frank Sinatra Tribute with Michael Sonata (in the Supper

Club): Canton native Michael Sonata has always been involved in plays and choirs and was a member of the University of Notre Dame Glee Club. In 2004, he auditioned for a role in a Sopranos spoof that required a character based on Frank Sinatra. Sonata got the part and has been imitating Ol’ Blue Eyes ever since. He includes some 90 songs in his repertoire and covers all eras, including the Columbia years and the Capitol years. He even takes requests from the audience. (Niesel) 7 p.m., $10. Music Box Supper Club. That ’80s Band: 9:30 p.m., $5. Brothers Lounge. Time Traveller: A Tribute to The Moody Blues (in Club Velvet): 8 p.m. Hard Rock Rocksino Northfield Park. Tropical Cleveland (in the Supper Club): 11 p.m., $10 ADV, $15 DOS. Music Box Supper Club. Jackie Warren: 10:30 p.m., free. Nighttown.

SUN

01/21

The Accidentals/Maura Rogers & the Bellows (in the Supper Club): We last saw the Accidentals on their tour with Keller Williams in early 2016. And we were happy to catch them as they found themselves in the midst of a years-long odyssey on the road. The show was great and, honestly, they’ve pretty much been touring

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ever since — with no plans to slow down. The trio returns to Cleveland this week to showcase their chops and show off the material from their latest album, aptly titled Odyssey. It’s worth noting, if only because it’s such an interesting and obvious fact about the band, that musicians Sav Buist, Katie Larson and Michael Dause are only in their very early 20s. And they’ve been relentlessly touring for several years at this point. (Eric Sandy) 7 p.m., $12 ADV, $15 DOS. Music Box Supper Club. Bad Bad Hats/The Sonder Bombs: 8:30 p.m., $10 ADV, $12 DOS. Beachland Tavern. Close Encounters Chamber Music: 3 p.m., $15-$55. Bop Stop. The Grass Is DeadHyde/ SpaceWhale: 8 p.m., $7 ADV, $12 DOS. The Winchester. Lalah Hathaway: 7 p.m., $30-$42. House of Blues. Huun Huur Tu: 7 p.m., $28 ADV, $32 DOS. Music Box Supper Club. Mikrowave Cafe with DJs Uptight, Unikove and Glacial23: 4 p.m., free. Now That’s Class. Mike Petrone: 5:30 p.m. Brothers Lounge. Trunkweed/Pack Wolf/Floorvveed: 8 p.m., free. The Euclid Tavern.

MON 01/22

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Uriah Heep

Texas Troubadours

Sat., Mar. 3

Sun., Mar. 4

Skatch Anderssen Big Band: 8 p.m., $7. Brothers Lounge. Shit Show Karaoke: 10 p.m. B-Side Liquor Lounge & Arcade. Snail Mail/Lomelda: 8:30 p.m., $10 ADV, $12 DOS. Beachland Tavern. Velvet Voyage (in the Wine Bar): 8 p.m. Brothers Lounge.

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| clevescene.com | January 17 - 23, 2018

FRIDAY, JANUARY 19 9:00PM

RAY FOGG

FROM PUT-IN-BAY

DOORS OPEN AT 6:00PM

SATURDAY, JANUARY 20 8:00PM

FRIDAY, JANUARY 26 8:30PM

THE SPAZMATICS

01/23

Avejing Quintet: 7 p.m., $10. Bop Stop. Big Head Todd & the Monsters: 6:30 p.m. House of Blues. John’s Little Sister/Leaf Borbie & the Family Tree/The Brazen Youth: 8:30 p.m., $8 ADV, $10 DOS. Beachland Tavern. Perfect Choice: 8 p.m., free. Brothers Lounge. Jerry Popiel (in the Wine Bar): 8 p.m. Brothers Lounge.

scene@clevescene.com t@clevelandscene

SATURDAY, JANUARY 27 9:30PM

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C-NOTES THE KIDâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S ALRIGHT Local guitarist wins MTV contest By Jeff Niesel Photo Courtesy of Michael Weber

him on my album.â&#x20AC;? Weber also owns and operates local Silver Swamp Recording Studio. Heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s currently working on a new album with his band and will perform at the Lorain Palace Theatre on Feb. 17.

Rock Hall to Celebrate Black History Month Michael Weber with the coveted Amazingness trophy.

A 20-YEAR-OLD GUITARIST whoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a student at Kent State University, Michael Weber recently won ďŹ rst prize on MTVâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new talent show, Amazingness. Skateboard icon Rob Dyrdek hosts the show. Taped in Los Angeles, the show features six acts competing for the grand prize of $10,000. Weber walked away with the top prize. The producers initially contacted him after seeing some YouTube videos. After about a month of correspondence, he ďŹ&#x201A;ew to L.A. to compete. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It was an experience that I will always remember,â&#x20AC;? says Weber, who went up against an extreme bartender. â&#x20AC;&#x153;In my musical career, I have performed countless shows with my band, the Michael Weber Show, various local bands and national acts. It was an honor to be included with professionals on the MTV show. Everyone was very gracious, and it was great to play guitar and bring my own brand of music to MTV and to the competition without sacriďŹ cing any artistic integrity.â&#x20AC;? Weber is no stranger to the stage. His uncle worked as Counting Crowsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; ďŹ rst tour manager, and Weber even played on stage with the band. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I led them through some interesting dynamic changes on â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Rain Kingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; that I think they incorporated on the rest of the tour,â&#x20AC;? Weber says of performing with the Crows. â&#x20AC;&#x153;So that was kind of fun.â&#x20AC;? Weber recorded his latest album at United Recording in Hollywood with T Bone Burnett drummer Jay Bellerose handling production duties. R.E.M.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Mike Mills guests on the album. â&#x20AC;&#x153;R.E.M. is a big inspiration,â&#x20AC;? says Weber. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Mike is a great guy, and it was great to have

Per usual, the Rock Hall will celebrate national Black History Month with a series of special events and programming. There will be live concerts, interviews, ďŹ lm screenings and special programming. At 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 7, DJ Yella and Lil Eazy-E kick things off. A Rock Hall inductee, N.W.A.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s DJ Yella will sit down with Lil Eazy-E, the son of rapper Eazy-E, and the Rock Hallâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Dr. Jason Hanley, to discuss their careers. An audience Q&A session and DJ demonstration will follow the interview. The event is free but a RSVP is required. The event will also be streamed live on the Rock Hallâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Facebook page, and the online audience can submit questions via the web. At 8 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 9, Kinsman Dazz Band and DJ Ellery will perform. Those tickets cost $10. At 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 21, the Rock Hall will screen the 2012 ďŹ lm Something from Nothing: The Art of Rap in the Foster Theater. Directed and produced by rapper Ice-T, the ďŹ lm includes interviews with many of rapâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most inďŹ&#x201A;uential stars. Tickets are free for Rock Hall members and $5.50 for the public. And ďŹ nally, at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 28, the Rock Hall will present CTRL|ALT|BEAT, an â&#x20AC;&#x153;interactive, socially engaging experienceâ&#x20AC;? that will allow attendees to gain valuable information regarding diversity and inclusion in music technology, innovation, creativity, and business. The event is free with an RSVP.

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45

Photo by Jason Siegel

BAND OF THE WEEK

BOP STOP

Winner Of

2015/2016 Scene Magazine Best Jazz Club & 2014 Fox 8 Best Nightspot 1/17 | 7PM

TIM LEKAN QUARTET $10 1/19 | 11PM

Voted “Best Jazz and Blues” on Cleveland Hot List 2017

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1/18 | 7PM

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CLEVELAND UNCOMMON SOUND PROJECT

BRITE WINTER WARMER FUNDRAISER

$15

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1/20 | 8PM

JAZZ JAM SESSION

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FREE

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1/23 | 7PM

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WANNA VAPE? CALL US!

BIG HEAD TODD AND THE MONSTERS By Jeff Niesel MEET THE BAND: Todd Park

Mohr (vocals, guitar), Rob Squires (bass), Brian Nevin (drums, percussion), Jeremy Lawton (keyboards, lap and pedal steel guitar, and backing vocals) ROAD WARRIORS: After forming in the

mid-’80s in Boulder, Colorado, Big Head Todd and the Monsters initially focused on playing shows regionally in the Colorado area. They’d quickly take to the road, however, and logged hundreds of thousands of miles in a van they dubbed “the Colonel.” “Most of the bands that existed at the time we formed were cover bands or metal bands,” says Mohr. “We were one of only a few original bands in the Denver area at the time. It was a very nascent scene. We did a lot of driving and a lot of sleeping in the van. We got a lot of mosquito bites. It was an incredible time. When you start out, there’s nothing like that.”

artist Charley Patton inspired the album’s title track, a bluesy song that features a grunge-y guitar riff and hoarse vocals. “[Patton] has a gospel song on one of his albums that became a pattern for the melody of that song, and the lyrics have been in mind for quite some time,” says Mohr. “Detonator” is another hard rock tune that Mohr describes as a “Petty-ish punk song,” and “Trip” features some of the album’s funkiest guitar work. Big Head might get pigeonholed as a jam band, but the group embraces a wide range of musical genres on New World Risin’. “We grew up in the early jam band scene, but we’ve always thought of ourselves as a rock band,” says Mohr. “We focus on the songs, and my aim as a songwriter is to not write the same song twice. I love all kinds of music. We’re a little bit eclectic but not any more than any other rock band. American music is just a melting pot.”

ROCKING HARD: When the band began

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| clevescene.com | January 17 - 23, 2018

to assemble the songs that would make up its latest effort, New World Arisin’, it realized the album would rock a little harder than previous efforts. The band recorded the disc at E-Town Studios in Boulder. It was mixed by Mark Needham and engineered by James Tuttle. Mohr produced the album himself. WHY YOU SHOULD HEAR THEM: The blues

WHERE YOU CAN HEAR THEM:

bigheadtodd.com. WHERE YOU CAN SEE THEM: Big Head Todd and the Monsters perform with Luther Dickinson at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 23, at House of Blues.

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

| clevescene.com | January 17 - 23, 2018

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SAVAGE LOVE BLOODY BUSINESS by Dan Savage I’m a professional dominatrix, and I thought I’d seen everything in the last five years. But this situation completely baffled the entire dungeon. This middle-aged guy, seemingly in fine health, booked an appointment with me and my colleague for one hour of some very light play and a golden shower to finish off with. We did no CBT, no cock rings, no trauma to the dick area at all, no ass play, no sounding or catheters, no turbulent masturbation, nothing that could have caused this reaction. We brought him into the bathroom, and he laid down on his back, jerking off with a condom on his penis as my buddy was standing over him and peeing and I was saying all kinds of mean/ encouraging sentiments and closely observing his progress. He came and … it was entirely blood. It looked like he shat into his condom, through his penis. He did not seem alarmed or in pain. He took off his condom himself, so he was aware of the situation. He did not remark on it to either of us! He made ZERO effort to prepare either of us, either. And it was not a little blood in his ejaculate — it was entirely blood. He has never returned. Is this person a monster or a vampire? Is he dying? Seriously. Mistress Echo P.S. I went back to the bathroom with gloves on and removed the used condom from the trash and took a photo. It’s the only way to communicate just how much blood there was. “You can tell Mistress Echo that her client was not a monster or a vampire, and he is likely not dying anytime soon,” said Dr. Stephen H. King, a board-certified urologist. “What she observed is a person with hematospermia, meaning blood in the semen.” While the sight is alarming — I’ll never be able to scrape that photo off the back of my eyeballs, thanks — Dr. King assures me it’s almost always benign. And even if you had done ball play or rough CBT (cock and ball torture), or if he engaged in solo CBT prior to the session, it’s unlikely that would result in a condom full of blood. “The vast majority of the semen actually comes from the prostate and the seminal vesicles, which are located deep in the pelvis just behind and

below the bladder, respectively,” said Dr. King. “Very little of the ejaculate fluid actually originates from the testicles,” which primarily pump out hormones and sperm cells. “The prostate gland and seminal vesicles (also glands) store up the fluids and can become overdistended with long periods of abstinence and prone toward micro tearing and bleeding in this circumstance.” Blowing regular loads doesn’t just lower your risk for prostate cancer, as multiple studies have shown, it also lowers your risk for filling condoms with blood and alarming your friendly neighborhood pro-Dom. Two good reasons for draining those balls, guys — and other people with balls because, as the Book of Tumblr teaches us, not all guys have balls and not all balls have guys. “Also, these glands are lined by smooth muscle that contracts to force out the fluid [during ejaculation],” Dr. King continued. “If the force of contraction is excessive —a fucking great orgasm — this may lead toward rupture of some of the surrounding blood vessels and blood will enter the semen.” Your client’s blasé reaction is a good indication that he’s experienced this previously, ME, because most guys who see blood in their semen — or only blood when they expected to see semen — freak the fuck out. “In my practice, most guys who see blood in their ejaculate the first time are sufficiently freaked out to seek immediate medical attention, and their doctors usually tell them this isn’t something to worry about — unless it persists,” said Dr. King. “In cases where it persists, gets worse, or is associated with other symptoms such as pain, difficulty urinating, or general health decline, medical attention is definitely recommended.” Back to your client, ME: If blood loads have happened to him before, proper etiquette dictates that he should have said something to you about it afterward (“I’m fine, no biggie”). If it happens to him regularly, he should have warned you in advance — at least that’s what it says in my imaginary edition of Emily Post’s Etiquette.

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Located on a private tree lined street, 1BR and 2BR suites available. Off-street parking available. Heat included. 216-392-5384.

Rentals: West/Suburbs

BROOKSIDE OVAL APARTMENT

PARK PLACE Spacious 1BR and 2BR suites available. Steps from Edgewater Park. Heat included. Off-street parking available. 216-392-5384

(216) 377-6345

www.megamates.com 18+

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NEVER EVER EVER BEEN A BETTER TIME TO BUY A HOME!!! Great Low Fixed Interest Rates* When YOUR dreams come true... OUR dreams come true!!!

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