Cleveland is prepared to hand over a $12 million “loan” to the nuCLEus project. Does the mixed-use development’s economic impact merit a taxpayer handout? BY SAM ALLARD
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CONTENTS
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Bad cops, good news for Clark-Fulton, and more
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Is the city of Cleveland giving nuCLEus a bad handout?
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UPFRONT 391 OHIO POLICE OFFICERS HAVE BEEN DECERTIFIED FOR FELONIOUS CONDUCT, BUT THEY ARE JUST THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG Photo by Laura Morrison
OUTSIDE OF BUCKSHOT Google searches and public records requests, there is no easy way to find out about the bad cops in your state: the police officers who’ve broken the public’s trust and gotten themselves banned from the force. Who are they? What did they do? What guardrails are in place to prevent those men and women from serving as police officers? This is where the oft-maligned work of journalists comes into play. USA Today network reporters compiled a list of more than 30,000 police officers who’ve been decertified in the 44 U.S. states that have such a process on the books. This searchable record is now the most comprehensive nationwide database of police officer decertification. Westword—in Denver, Colo.— published an overview of the USA Today list in Colorado. I’d like to tip my hat to writer Michael Roberts and replicate the spotlight here in Ohio. Decertification is a public process that revokes the licenses of officers who have “engaged in serious misconduct,” according to the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP). The form of that misconduct often ends up as criminal conviction, but it varies from state to state. USA Today chronicled 391 police officers in Ohio who’ve been decertified. Their offenses range from theft and carrying a concealed weapon to drug trafficking and rape. The list includes at least 14 Cleveland Police Department officers. (Some of the listed officers’ names do not include a reference to their “last appointing agency.”) Among those, most Cleveland residents will recognize some names — like Gregory Jones, who was convicted of rape and kidnapping in 2014. He was sentenced to nine years in prison. And there’s Robert Bonness, convicted of attempted rape and possession of child pornography. He was sentenced to more than 50 years in prison and decertified by
Clark Avenue mural. See page 9.
the state of Ohio in 2011. Zvonko Sarlog was sentenced to 10 years in prison, in 2008, for his central role in a Northeast Ohio drug trafficking ring. Sarlog was later decertified in 2017. Anthony Tuleta is on the list, too. He was convicted of six counts of drug possession and one count of theft; the 8th District Court of Appeals later overturned the ruling and insisted that Tuleta never should have been prosecuted in the first place. In March 2014, he was reinstated as a member of the Cleveland Police Department. Also on the list, readers will find officers who until recently
held positions at the Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Office, the Cuyahoga Community College Police Department, the Cleveland Metropolitan Housing Authority Police Department and a smattering of Northeast Ohio suburban police departments. But the through-line for the Ohio officers on this list is a criminal conviction. Nothing less. Even a cursory understanding of current events will lead to the assumption that there’s more rot in Ohio law enforcement than the savage crimes listed here. Prosecutions of police officers aren’t often successful, if they’re pursued
at all. The USA Today list is a step toward something more accessible, toward a real sense of scale. (The news organization announced that it has also compiled a list of 85,000 officers who’ve been investigated for misconduct more broadly, which will be published in the future.) The 30,000-some officers documented by the decertification list is but a glimpse into what a national data set might look like — and about half of that total is drawn from North Carolina, Florida and Georgia, anyway. Different state statutes handle decertification differently. There is no national | clevescene.com | May 15 - 21, 2019
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UPFRONT standard, which is why there was nothing like this database until the USA Today group came along and spent time to publish one. So, what does it mean? According to the Ohio Revised Code, any defendant who pleads guilty to a felony and who happens to be a police officer is fired and decertified. (The officer must be warned in court and given a chance to reconsider his or her plea.) “You are hereby advised that conviction of the felony offense to which you are pleading guilty will result in the termination of your employment as a peace officer and in your decertification as a peace officer pursuant to the laws of Ohio.” If an officer is convicted of a felony at trial or is convicted of a misdemeanor, the court is obliged to send all documentation thereof to the officer’s employers. What happens then is up to the law enforcement agency in question. That’s Ohio. Every other state is different. Six states don’t even have a decertification statute on the books. The current attempt at a
federally cataloged data set in the U.S. is entirely voluntary. In May 2015, President Barack Obama’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing issued a call to the International Association of Directors of Law Enforcement Standards and Training “to expand its National Decertification Index to serve as the National Register of Decertified Officers with the goal of covering all agencies within the United States and its territories.” The task force quoted Roger Goldman, a law professor emeritus with Saint Louis University, who said that a national register would effectively treat “police professionals the way states’ licensing laws treat other professionals. If anything, the need for such a system is even more important for law enforcement, as officers have the power to make arrests, perform searches, and use deadly force.” Did President Donald Trump’s administration pick up the task and run with it? No. Former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions went the opposite way with his departmental oversight, calling into question consent decrees held between the Department of Justice and law
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enforcement agencies around the country. After his forced resignation, successor William Barr has since been a bit busy with other stuff. In the midst of high-profile international criminal allegations and investigations in the U.S., the USA Today report is helpful in jerking the focus back to local anxieties. To what standard are the peace officers in your neighborhood really held? Timothy Loehmann, in one of the more visible examples, evaded formal charges in 2015 by a Cuyahoga County grand jury in the investigation into the shooting death of Tamir Rice. Loehmann was fired by Cleveland in 2017. Before the death of Tamir Rice, however, and before he was hired by Cleveland, Loehmann had been formally reprimanded by previous higher-ups at the Independence Police Department. (Loehmann was infamously called “weepy” by his superiors, a cause for concern when the subject is handling a gun and tasked with public safety.) He’d been deemed unfit for duty, but only a public records request for Loehmann’s personnel file or a formal background check by
another police department that was thinking about hiring him would have told you that at the time. The Cleveland Police Department did neither. This remains a cautionary tale. In October 2018, Loehmann withdrew his application to work as a part-time police officer in Bellaire, Ohio. “Hopefully, he will not be hired as a police officer by any other state,” Samaria Rice, Tamir’s mother, said at a news conference. In March 2019, the Cleveland Police Patrolman’s Association filed an appeal to overturn the 2017 firing of Loehmann by the Cleveland Police Department. Wherever he lands, Loehmann is still certified to work as a police officer in Ohio. Two days before USA Today published its decertification list, the news organization ran an investigation into the criminal violations of David Cimperman, police chief of Amsterdam, Ohio, a small town of 500 between Steubenville and New Philadelphia. “In 2001,” the reporters write, “he was convicted of a felony for tampering with police radios so that he could make untraceable phone calls. Over the years, he crashed his cruiser five times and
left a personnel file strewn with disciplinary violations.” But Cimperman was never decertified. He was hired as a smalltown Ohio police chief in 2015. — Eric Sandy
Cleveland Selects Clark-Fulton Neighborhood for Millions in Federal Affordable Housing Funds The city of Cleveland has selected the Clark-Fulton neighborhood as the target of millions of dollars in federal funds for affordable housing through the newly christened FHAct50 program. The Ohio Housing Finance Agency usually gives out about $25 million in federal Low Income Housing Tax Credits throughout the state. The new program, FHAct50, named in honor of the 50th anniversary of the Fair Housing Act, will give an additional $3 million in credits to three Ohio cities — Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati — that could attract as much as $30 million in affordable housing investment in each location. The cities were tasked with identifying a specific neighborhood for the funds, as to maximize the impact of the program, and, in order to create mixedincome communities, also had to guarantee there would be commensurate construction of market-rate housing — unit for unit — to match the addition of affordable housing during the same time period. The city will have full control over picking which developers and projects receive the tax credit. A short introduction on a new FHAct50 website for Cleveland reads: “The city has collaborated with their citizens to select one neighborhood that is ripe for market-rate housing investments and broader economic growth. In Cleveland, that neighborhood is Clark-Fulton. The city and residents will work together to create a plan for this target area that strategizes long-term development goals. The city will then recruit community partners to help execute this plan. After laying this groundwork, the city is authorized to competitively and transparently select affordable housing developments that support the plan to receive tax credits. This local competition replaces
OHFA’s traditional competitive requirements and allows investments to be more tailored and responsive to local needs than ever before.” What does that last part mean? Basically: Whereas OHFA has outsized control in picking developers with the usual funds, the cities will retain almost full say with the FHAct50 funds, so long as a commission that includes low-income residents supports the choices. And, by opting into FHAct50, which Cleveland has done for 2019, 2020 and 2021, it gives up some control for the
normal funds back to OHFA. A press conference and announcement by the city and MetroHealth and MetroWest, which were co-applicants, is expected in the coming weeks. — Vince Grzegorek
CLASH Lawyers Up, Demands that City Accept Lead Safe Petitions In a letter filed last week, Cleveland Lead Advocates for Safe Housing (CLASH) demanded that
Cleveland Law Director Barbara Langhenry compel city council clerk Patricia Britt to accept the 6,350 signatures that CLASH submitted last month with the hopes of putting a lead-safe ordinance on the November ballot. Those signatures were rejected by council because the petitions failed to include an all-caps disclaimer about election falsification required by the Ohio Revised Code. CLASH has maintained, and reiterated in its letter to Langhenry, that the City Charter, not the Ohio Revised Code, dictates the local government response. It has cited
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UPFRONT numerous legal precedents, including the Ohio Supreme Court’s decision in the Q Deal referendum dispute, to argue that Britt must accept the petitions, regardless of their form or substance. “If there had ever been any doubt,” the letter states, “the Supreme Court’s decision in [the Q Deal case] makes clear that the Clerk must accept the petitions and perform her duties in determining the sufficiency of the signatures.” The letter was signed by attorneys Marc Dann and Donna Taylor-Kolis, from the Dann Law Firm, whom CLASH has retained as legal counsel. “Our hope is that the Council Clerk and Law Director will do the right thing so that we can avoid the time and expense of seeking a Writ of Mandamus,” said Dann, in a statement provided to the press. CLASH said that if Langhenry refuses to compel Britt to accept the signatures and refuses to file a Mandamus action in court to force her hand, then CLASH would do so itself, a procedure that it says is allowed under state and local laws. Just like in the Q Deal case, CLASH has officially requested that they be named defendants in any Mandamus action against Britt so that they can present material to the court. This legal action runs parallel to the Lead Safe Cleveland Coalition (LSCC) effort. Monday, that public-private group presented 33 recommendations to City Council to help local lawmakers craft their own ordinance. These recommendations hew closely to CLASH’s proposal but fail to include a few key provisions, including a requirement that day care centers be subject to a lead-safe mandate. — Sam Allard
2019 Lake Erie Algal Bloom Forecast: Pretty Bad! It’s that time of year, folks. The first forecast for algal bloom levels in Lake Erie this year was released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and right now it’s looking like it will be worse than last year. “We project that the bloom will have a severity greater than 5, which is larger than 2018, as a result of heavy rains in April that produced high river flow and large phosphorus loads,” the report reads. “High flow
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is expected to decrease after this week, then precipitation is forecast to be near normal going into summer. There is considerable uncertainty in the projected maximum severity; the maximum is based on the possible occurrence of heavy rain in June and early July. As we add data over the next two months, this uncertainty will decrease. Any bloom that develops will change with time and move with the wind.” The NOAA will update the forecast weekly through July. Northeast Ohioans are intimately familiar with the seasonal bloomage, which scientists say is being exacerbated by climate change and runoff from small to medium farms in Northwest Ohio. Plenty has been made of the health and future of Lake Erie, from statewide efforts at regulating farms to Toledo’s effort to grant personhood to the lake (the Statehouse seems hellbent on passing stipulations in this year’s budget that will usurp that vote and prevent groups from passing similar measures), and from Gov. DeWine’s efforts to allocate nearly a billion dollars to protecting Lake Erie to the $300 million allocated for the Great Lakes Initiative, despite President Trump’s initial objections. As that all continues to evolve, Ohio can look forward once again to harmful blooms in 2019 that cause a bunch of adverse health effects and that, in the most severe modern example, led to a protracted stretch when Toledoans were without clean water. — Grzegorek
Lorain Mayor Chase Ritenauer to Resign, Move to Chicago Two-term Lorain, Ohio, mayor Chase Ritenauer announced last Thursday that he’d be vacating his seat at the end of the month to take an executive position with Republic Services in Chicago. The Lorain Morning Journal reports that Ritenauer made the announcement to a roomful of Lorain city officials and their staffs after rumors had circulated that his house was on the market. In a letter posted to Twitter, Ritenauer publicized his announcement, calling the decision “agonizing and perhaps the most difficult” of his career. The 34-year-old will relocate with his wife and young daughter and become Republic Services’ director of mergers and acquisitions for the Midwest
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region, a region which includes Lorain (which has a garbage collecting contract with Republic). In his address at Lorain City Hall, Ritenauer credited Lorain’s law director for obtaining an opinion from the Ohio Ethics Commission to determine whether or not he could ethically take the Republic job. There being no issue, Ritenauer said he had to do what was best for him and his family. “While I love Lorain and the work we are doing,” he wrote, “more important to me now are nights, weekends and a position that has more definitive boundaries for my family and me.” Ritenauer is a native of Lorain, an alum of Lorain County Community College and Heidelberg University. He was first elected mayor in 2011 and was re-elected in 2015. Scene reporter Eric Sandy visited Lorain in 2016 and talked with Ritenauer about the city’s recovery after 1,200 steel jobs were lost. “It was a tough budget cycle, there’s no doubt about it,” Ritenauer told Scene, discussing 2015. “Every day was a challenge. Every day going into work was tough. There was none of the stuff, I guess, that gets people to run for office. None of the planning, none of the improvements, being an agent of change — the things that people usually take to gravitate toward politics or running for office. None of that. It was a hunker-down mentality.” Lorain is Ohio’s 10th-largest city. — Allard
Cleveland Magazine Names Managing Editor Kim Schneider Editor in Chief Cleveland Magazine publisher Lute Harmon Jr. announced two weeks ago that longtime managing editor Kim Schneider has been named editor of the monthly publication. “[Kim] has worked tirelessly behind the scenes creating a nationally acclaimed city magazine while at the same time making a name for herself in the restaurant community with her passion and dedication to covering Cleveland’s dining scene,” Harmon wrote. Schneider has been with Great Lakes Publishing since 2006 and will oversee a publication that aims to increase its digital presence
as it continues to “champion Clevelanders and help our community discover the best it can be.” Schneider takes over for editor Steve Gleydura, who parted ways with Great Lakes publishing in January after 17 years at the helm. — Allard
DIGIT WIDGET 1,200
People who have signed up for Cleveland.com’s “Project Text” free trial, in addition to “a few hundred” customers who are paying $ 3.99/month to receive texts from journalists about their coverage areas.
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Current number of working garbage trucks operated by the city of Cleveland. Normally there are 68 for the 86 routes throughout the city. After complaints to council members, the city’s chief of operations Darnell Brown said they’ll lease 10 more for a short period as repairs to broken trucks are made.
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Age of John Beilein, new head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers. Beilein, who was the University of Michigan Head Coach for 12 years, signed a fi ve-year contract Sunday.
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Number of proposed Cleveland City Council members in a proposed ballot initiative that seeks to reduce council size (from the current 17) and pay (from $ 80,000 to $ 58,000). Businessman Tony George and his lackeys are leading the charge in gathering signatures.
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nuCLEus: Endgame Cleveland is prepared to hand over a $12 million “loan” to the nuCLEus project. Does its potential economic impact justify the taxpayer handout? Photo courtesy of Stark Enterprises
BY SAM ALLARD
“IT’S GOING TO BE SICK.” One windy Wednesday morning in March, developer Ezra Stark (of the Crocker Park Starks) and members of the Stark Enterprises marketing and finance teams sat down with Scene to outline their vision for the nuCLEus project downtown. Stark wanted Scene to see for ourselves, he said, “the excitement and change [nuCLEus] is bringing to the city.” The proposed $350 million multiuse project with the exasperating print styling — nuCLEus — has been scaled back from a 54-story, $500 million Jenga tower design. The original sci-fi high-rise was meant to do for Cleveland’s skyline in the 21st century what Terminal Tower did for it in the 20th. “Can you imagine if the Terminal Tower Complex was never built, what the Cleveland skyline would look like?” Stark VP Steven Coven asked a statehouse committee in 2018. “You can’t, because it is forever associated with our skyline. It is our goal that our great-grandchildren will be saying the same things about the nuCLEus project 100-plus years from now.” One year later, Ezra Stark told Scene, “that was aspirational, to say
we’re like Dubai. We’re not there yet, but this will still have a dramatic impact.” No question. The project, in its current form, includes two 24-story structures slated to be built on land adjacent to the arena formerly known as the Q. It’s the acreage between Huron Road and Prospect Avenue now occupied by surface parking lots and an aging parking structure. The multi-use project will include 277 residential units, a six-floor internal parking garage with upwards of 1,300 spaces, 400,000 square feet of premier office space and nearly 80,000 square feet of splashy retail. Stark said that virtually all of the nuCLEus retail tenants, including a Starbucks Reserve and other “super trendy” food options that he could not yet specify due to non-disclosure agreements, would be “new to market,” meaning unique in Cleveland. The Stark team added that they pride themselves on working with tenants to create dynamic storefronts that “really activate a space.” “It’s going to be sick,” Stark said. With gusto, the team painted a high-def picture of a “catalytic”
development, one that will continue to attract residents to downtown, retain major Cleveland firms and enliven what Stark called Gateway’s “black eye.” Comparisons were drawn to both Chicago’s Wrigleyville and New York City’s Times Square. Architectural renderings overlooking the conference table at Stark’s current headquarters on West Third Street corroborated what he called the “ridiculous views” that nuCLEus residents could expect. From the topmost floors, Stark said by way of example, residents would be able to see home plate at Progressive Field. When asked whether the Indians were all right with that arrangement, Stark said he thinks the team is actually excited about it. “It only makes the game experience that much better,” he said. “It’s more active. It’s a fuller, more immersive experience for fans. Even fans who can’t get into the games will feel the excitement, just by being in that area.” Among the more newsworthy items Stark disclosed about the project was that 62 percent of the office space has been pre-leased, including nine floors (at about 20,000 usable square feet per floor)
to Benesch, the region’s fastestgrowing law firm. Benesch will be the project’s anchor tenant, and though the local law office is relocating within Cleveland (from 200 Public Square), Stark characterized the lease as a win for the region, because it means Benesch wants to stay and grow in its hometown, as opposed to in Chicago or San Francisco, where it also has offices. “Benesch is using the move to nuCLEus as a recruiting tool,” he said. “Even though they’re relocating, there’s so much nuance to this conversation. It’s not just about retaining Benesch. It’s about growth and the future. Look at what happened to Jones Day. Look at what happened to so many other firms. They all went to New York! We don’t want back offices ... I’m sick of treading water.” Stark Enterprises will also relocate to nuCLEus. In fact, they’ve already sold their current building. But Stark said he’d like to preserve as much of the remaining square footage as possible for out-of-market tenants. He said the significant preleasing from regional relocations gave the project stability to finance construction and now means they | clevescene.com | May 15 - 21, 2019
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can pursue companies from out of town, especially those who have expressed interest in Cleveland for satellite offices. But he said he understands why local companies would be lured to relocate. Compared to other “Class A” office space in Cleveland — the Ernst & Young Building, Key Tower, 200 Public Square — Stark said nuCLEus will be in a class unto itself. Not only will the project be centrally located, unlike the Ernst & Young building on its island overlooking the Warehouse District and the Flats, it will feature efficient design that permits open (or exotically conceptualized) office floor plans, modern technology and amenities typically reserved for residents. “Indoor and outdoor pools, a lounge, a gym that rivals the Ritz.” Stark listed them off. “No, seriously. These are resort amenities, and we’re bringing them to our office users.” On the residential side, though the project’s units were initially reported as exclusively rentals, Stark said that the top four floors will be available for purchase as condos or penthouses. These would be state-ofthe-art residences, he said, the sort of places that celebrity athletes and executives from global brands would consider. “This is Tier 1,” he said. “We really see this as being the Who’s Who of Cleveland.” Stark said these residences would also signal to other prospective buyers that home ownership in downtown is important. “This is an opportunity to get people more comfortable by creating a home ownership context where all your services are within the facility,”
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there. He said if they’re successful in pre-selling half of the projected units, they’ll move forward with their plan. The project is “shovel ready,” according to the Stark team, confirming earlier reports that they are hopeful to begin construction in August. Stark said that legislation for the project’s public financing is making its way along parallel tracks through Cleveland City Council and Cuyahoga County Council and that, barring “FBI raids or something,” approval would be forthcoming promptly. Was he anticipating any objections? Scene wondered. “No,” he said. “I think both because of our reduction in size, and because our public ask is selfsustaining, it should be smooth sailing.” “OUR PUBLIC ASK IS SELFSUSTAINING” Throughout our conversation, Stark referred repeatedly to the idea that the public financing for nuCLEus would be “self-sustaining” or “self-generating.” “I don’t want to throw anyone under the bus,” he said at one point, “but unlike other projects where they’ve asked for outside dollars, this is only requesting self-generating funds.” Though we didn’t fully comprehend it at the time, what he meant was that virtually all of the tax revenue that nuCLEus is projected to generate over the next 20 years will be handed over by the public in advance to help close the financing gap. “The dollars that are being generated by the project are in the city’s calculations, and they’re just doing it [providing the subsidy] as a grant,” Stark said. “But that’s it. It’s just the funds being generated by
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he said. “You can have groceries delivered. You can have your dog walked. It’ll be like New York City.” Stark is convinced that demand for luxury housing of this sort is out
the property. We’re not asking any additional dollars. We’re not ruining their balance sheet.” An awfully self-serving interpretation, we might note.
Artist rendering courtesy of Stark Enterprises
Scene referenced both the Quicken Loans Arena expansion and the possible City Block project — the Blockland-affiliated tech hub, about which scant information has been released — and questioned the merits of public subsidies for downtown real estate as the region’s modus operandi. Having not seen the project’s financing details at the time of our interview, we could only express abstract skepticism that public benefits would equal the public costs. “You’re not the only one who’s skeptical,” Stark said. “Lenders are skeptical. The banks are skeptical. The banks would never let us do this project speculatively, so the retail had to be significantly preleased. The parking is all preleased. [Note: It has been master leased to LAZ Parking.] The office space is significantly pre-leased. The only speculative revenue is the apartments, and there’s only 250 of them.” But the public subsidies, we now know, are generous. It was known that nuCLEus would be receiving a tax increment financing arrangement (TIF), which allows developers to invest what they would pay in taxes on the increased value of the property back into the
project. Stark initially asked for a full TIF that would have included the portion of property taxes designated for Cleveland schools. (Until that time, full TIFs had been forbidden by Mayor Frank Jackson.) The request included an initial lump sum payment to CMSD, but it didn’t gain traction.
The non-school TIF has now been estimated at $19 million. That’s $19 million in property tax revenue that the city will forego, an enormous — if increasingly standard — subsidy. On Monday, April 29, the City of Cleveland introduced legislation to provide Stark with an additional $12 million “forgivable loan.” This loan
is on top of $360,000 in the form of two Vacant Property Initiative Loans and the city’s 15-year tax abatement for new development. Alongside $6 million from Cuyahoga County, $6 million from the state of Ohio and more than $200 million in a witches’ brew of advanced financial instruments known as “Private
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Debt,â€? not to mention the roughly $100 million in private equity, the city’s assistance will put the project “over the ďŹ nish line,â€? according to the legislation’s sponsor, Ward 3 councilman Kerry McCormack. “The long-awaited nuCLEus project will transform a surface parking lot in the middle of Downtown Cleveland to a catalytic $350 Million mixed-use development with new ofďŹ ce space, active retail and housing,â€? said McCormack, in a statement provided to the press. “This project will tie together the Gateway District and create a more walkable and connected neighborhood, promoting a positive ripple effect on Downtown and all of Cleveland. The City’s investment gets the project over the ďŹ nish line, with the guaranteed protection that the City will be paid back 110 percent of the dollars put into the project, on top of the many other positive economic impacts nuCLEus will have.â€? The legislation was scheduled to appear before city council’s Development, Planning and Sustainability Committee on Tuesday, May 14. From there, it will pass to the Finance Committee and then receive a vote from the full council. As Stark said, he’s not expecting any objections. Stark marketing director Rebecca Hegyes added that the city has been “extremely supportive.â€? The $12 million loan is premised, per the analysis of the city’s economic development staff, on the notion that nuCLEus will be generating tax revenue, both from parking spaces and from the incomes of the employees who work there. In the legislation’s supporting documents, the city’s investment is justiďŹ ed by the fact that Stark has “agreed to a guaranty of created tax revenue sufďŹ cient to cover 110 percent [=$13.2 million] of the city’s funding outlay.â€? (McCormack alluded to this guarantee, in the comment above, as the city’s “protection.â€?) Though further details were not published in the legislation, city spokespeople told Scene that this 110-percent guarantee was for a 20year period. But Stark is not paying off the loan over this term. He’s merely guaranteeing that the project will generate $13.2 million in tax revenue over 20 years. That’s what’s meant by a “self-generatingâ€? subsidy.
City leaders will nevertheless frame the assistance as an investment, as a loan with favorable terms: “getting the city’s money back plus 10 percent.â€? But it’s much more accurate to portray it as a handout, another real estate subsidy which means Cleveland will only receive 10 percent of tax revenue that it should be receiving 100 percent of. This is why the idea of “selfgenerating fundsâ€? is so deceptive. The tax revenue that nuCLEus generates is not designed to be generated for itself. It’s tax revenue. A version of the same argument was made for public expenditures at the Arena formerly known as Quicken Loans. The city’s $88 million contribution comes largely from admission taxes on ticketed events at the Q. Proponents argued, then, that only those who attended the events were paying for the upgrades. The funds were selfgenerating. In a related FAQ that CMSD created to discuss the proposed nuCLEus TIF, the theoretical question was asked: “If the proposal is accepted, how will my property or city taxes be impacted?â€? The answer was: “Your property or city taxes will NOT be impacted.â€? But that’s not quite true. Because when the tax burden on developers and corporations are lifted, citizens pay in other ways. Sometimes it actually is in the form of higher taxes, as in the city of Cleveland’s income tax increase of 2016. More commonly, citizens pay in terms of services that aren’t provided because of a lack of funds. Pick your city department or crisis and consider the ďŹ nancial woes: Why are the police department’s sex crimes and homicide units severely understaffed? Why do the roads never seem to get paved? Why has the lead crisis become such an unsolvable quagmire? At a city council hearing on lead last week, council members were proposing taxes on potato chips and soda pop because they couldn’t conceive of how they’d pay to remediate homes owned by low-income families. The meeting was one week to the day after the announcement of the $12 million grant for nuCLEus. “LET’S TALK ABOUT THE SOCIAL PIECEâ€? The terms of the loan are subject to amendment during the legislative process, though the “legislative processâ€? tends to be a formality in Cleveland. The decision has already been made. “The city of Cleveland has chosen to make this investment,â€?
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| clevescene.com | May 15 - 21, 2019
FEATURE reads the press release announcing the legislation. But council should investigate the true economic impact of the project if the city intends to forego 30 years of property tax revenue and roughly 20 years of all other tax revenue. (Incidentally, should parking tax revenue even be considered in the arithmetic of the city’s contribution? The county’s 8-percent parking tax — the highest in the state — goes chiefly to funding FirstEnergy Stadium.) Among other things, Stark himself doesn’t even know how many out-of-market employees will be working in nuCLEus. Attracting tenants is still a work in progress. He said he’s “shooting for” a third of the building to be occupied by new-to-market companies. But it’s possible that 75 or even 85 percent of the office tenants — whose incomes will be subject to Cleveland taxes — will have already been working in Cleveland; incomes, in other words, that would have been taxed anyway. Should those be factored into the terms of the forgivable loan? Presumably, the city took all this into account. Spokespeople didn’t elaborate much, though we report with elation that our emailed questions were answered. When asked how the values were arrived at, the city said: “The proposed $12 million and 110 percent guaranty were determined based upon the project financing gap and the projected tax revenues to be earned by the City.” A Plain Dealer report on the city’s legislation said that the incomes of Benesch and Stark employees were not factored into the payback calculations. Stark maintained that these public dollars were vital to attract private investment. And even with those dollars, he said, “it’s still a tight return.” But nuCLEus sits within an Opportunity Zone, the federal designation designed to help attract private investment to ostensibly impoverished census tracts by allowing investors to postpone or forego taxes on their capital gains. Stark said the Opportunity Zone designation “is that cherry on top to hopefully incentivize out of state investors to take an okay return because of the tax benefits.” When asked about the project’s benefits — a line of inquiry that city
council should probe in detail — Stark said that he and his company were committed to Cleveland, and that they are planning to go above and beyond. At the Beacon, the Stark residential high-rise currently under construction at Euclid and East Sixth, Stark said they’ve had interns from John Hay and Kent State. “It’s been an incredibly rewarding experience for us to provide mentorships and real-life experience for these kids,” he said. “I see the need. I see the dearth of mentorships and opportunities in these neighborhoods. People always want to know, how does this project spill into the neighborhoods.” How does this project spill into the neighborhoods, Scene wanted to know. “Look, there’s economics of how it does, but let’s talk about the social piece. There are the requirements in construction for minorities. But I want to take it a step further than that. Instead of just those temporary jobs, we’re going to partner with some nonprofit people and do some job fairs in these neighborhoods. I want to hire some local people and train them in hospitality and operations. People from the neighborhoods. I don’t want anyone left behind. I want this to be catalytic not just for the urban core, but on a personal, individual level. We’re pretty stoked about that.” Time will tell, of course, whether and to what degree any of these forecasts come to fruition. When Scene said, “If that happens ... ” Stark cut us off. “Oh, we’re doing it,” he said. “We’re doing it.” What is almost certain is that city council will rubber-stamp the legislation — more than likely an “emergency ordinance” — and will praise, throughout their hearings, the strength and transformational vitality of buildings like this one. (Cuyahoga County and the State of Ohio can be counted on to do the same.) And when the next crisis befalls the citizenry, when the people in their desperation are compelled once more to demand new and better programs, new and better facilities, new and better leadership, new and better solutions, that old familiar refrain will resound from every speaker and livestream in every hall of power: “But how will we pay for it?”
sallard@clevescene.com t@scenesallard
| clevescene.com | May 15 - 21, 2019
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FREE EVENT three stages OF live local and national bands, plus vendors and THE MEIJER kids zone. Look for beer & craft cocktails on Erie Street, and, of course, ribs from participating downtown Willoughby restaurants & national vendors.
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| clevescene.com m | May 15 - 21, 2019
GET OUT everything you should do this week Photo by Scott Sandberg
WED
05/15
PODCAST
My Brother, My Brother and Me First launched as a TV series on the NBC streaming app, Seeso, and now available on Google Play, VRV, and iTunes, My Brother, My Brother and Me has become an extremely popular podcast. One story was even adapted into a graphic novel that topped the New York Times Bestsellers list of paperbacks. Today at 7 p.m. at the State Theatre, Justin, Travis, and Griffin McElroy present a live episode of their podcast, an advice show for the modern era. Tickets cost $43.50. (Jeff Niesel) 1519 Euclid Ave., 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org. MUSIC
Amit Peled Today through Sunday, IsraeliAmerican cellist Amit Peled will make his Cleveland debut in a series of concerts with CityMusic Cleveland. Performances will include SaintSaëns’ Cello Concerto No. 1 in A Minor, Op. 33 in a program titled Hidden Gems. Led by guest conductor Mélisse Brunet, who’ll also make her Cleveland debut, the programs will also include Mendelssohn’s Overture in C Major, Saint-Saëns’ Symphony No. 2 in A Minor, Op.55 and Kodály’s Dances of Galánta. Peled’s journey from the basketball courts of rural Israel to the world’s greatest concert halls is the subject of the 2017 children’s book, A Cello Named Pablo. Performances will take place at 7:30 tonight at St. Noel Church in Willoughby Hills, at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow at Temple Tiffereth-Israel in Beachwood, at 7:30 p.m. on Friday at Lakewood Congregational Church in Lakewood, at 8 p.m. on Saturday at Shrine Church of St. Stanislaus and at 4:30 p.m. on Sunday at St. Jerome Church. Admission is free. (Niesel) citymusiccleveland.org. SPOKEN WORD
View From Above As a NASA astronaut, Terry Virts installed the Cupola module at the International Space Station (ISS) granting the team a 360-degree view from the station. Virts would go on to become commander of the ISS and take more photographs than any astronaut who came before him. Many of those images were used in the National Geographic book View
Carrot Top comes to MGM Northfield Park Center Stage. See: Thursday.
From Above and in the IMAX film A Beautiful Planet. Virts talks about his experience and shows some photos tonight at 7:30 at the Ohio Theatre. Tickets start at $25. (Niesel) 1501 Euclid Ave., 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org. FOOD
Walnut Wednesday Today from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Perk Plaza at Chester Commons — at East 12th and Walnut streets — food trucks once again gather to serve up lunch to area residents and employees. Follow the Downtown Cleveland Alliance on Facebook for weekly updates on vendors, entertainment offerings and more. The series continues through Sept. 4. Admission is free, but the food will cost you. (Niesel) downtowncleveland.com.
connection to Northeast Ohio. His parents met at Case Western Reserve University, where his dad studied aeronautical engineering. These days the comedian, who holds down a regular gig in Las Vegas, seeks to “carrotize” audiences with lasers and pyrotechnics. In the past, props have included a toilet attached to a plate and high heels with training wheels. In the many cameos he’s had on TV and in films, he often appears as himself. That speaks to the extent to which he’s made a name for himself in a comedy world cluttered with lesser talents. He performs tonight at 7:30 at MGM Northfield Park Center Stage. Consult the website for ticket prices. (Niesel) 10705 Northfield Rd., Northfield, 330-908-7793, mgmnorthfieldpark. mgmresorts.com. MUSIC
THU
05/16
COMEDY
Carrot Top Though born in Florida, Scott “Carrot Top” Thompson has a special
The Cleveland Jazz Orchestra Rehearsal Featuring Bernie Dresel After graduating from the prestigious Eastman School of Music, jazz drummer and percussionist Bernie Dresel moved to Los Angeles and has been busy ever since. For about 15 years, he was the
drummer for the multi-Grammy Award-winning Brian Setzer Orchestra. Tonight at 7 at the Fine Arts Association in Willoughby, he rehearses with the Cleveland Jazz Orchestra. The practice session is open to the public. Admission is free. The dress rehearsal serves as a warmup for a performance that takes place at 8 p.m. on Saturday at the Ohio Theatre. Those tickets start at $35. (Niesel) 38660 Mentor Ave., Willoughby, 440-951-7500, fineartsassociation.org. COMEDY
Don “DC” Curry The films Next Friday and Friday After Next were terrific vehicles for a number of black comedians. Don “DC” Curry, who played the part of sex-crazed Uncle Elroy Jones, certainly benefited from the exposure. Curry, who boasts he only talks about “the truth” in his standup routines, often sounds like a grumpy old man as he complains about fancy restaurants where the servers fawn over their customers. He doesn’t like family-run places, either, as he says they don’t clean their floors. | clevescene.com | May 15 - 21, 2019
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GET OUT It’s a funny bit that reflects just what a curmudgeon he can be. Curry performs tonight at 7:30 at the Improv where he has shows scheduled through Sunday. Tickets are $18. (Niesel) 1148 Main Ave., 216-696-IMPROV, clevelandimprov.com.
concertos. The concert will also include Schubert’s Mass in E-flat Major. Guest speaker Cicilia Yudha, associate music prof at Youngstown State University, will give the free pre-concert talk at 7. Performances take place at 8 p.m. tomorrow and Saturday. Consult the orchestra’s website for more info. (Niesel) 11001 Euclid Ave., 216-231-1111, clevelandorchestra.com.
in the bizarre and beautiful mysteries that make up a life.” Tonight’s performance takes place at 7:30 at the Helen Rosenfeld Lewis Bialosky Lab Theatre. Tickets cost $20. The Hat Box is just one of four new plays being debuted during the festival. Find complete details and a schedule on the website. (Niesel) 1407 Euclid Ave, 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org.
ART + MUSIC
Geriatric Mayhem Art Show Local acts We Live By Night, Grievance Committee, DJ Kung Fu Bob, DJ Grandbag and SquareBiz will provide the soundtrack to today’s Geriatric Mayhem Art Show that’ll feature art by locals such as Stacy McNasty, Derek Hess, Bernadette Glorioso, Scott Pickering, Barbara Eckles, Caroline Eckles and Dana Depew. The event starts at 7 p.m. at the Grog Shop, and admission is free. (Niesel) 2785 Euclid Hts. Blvd., Cleveland Heights, 216-321-5588, grogshop.gs.
MUSIC
Mitsuko Uchida Plays Bartók Tonight at 7:30 at Severance Hall, pianist Mitsuko Uchida sits in with the Cleveland Orchestra to play Piano Concerto No. 3, the most popular of Bartok’s three piano
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PERFORMANCE ART
Shortform Tonight, tomorrow and Saturday nights at 7:30 p.m., Maelstrom Collaborative Arts will produce another installment of Shortform, an anthology of live art that features artists from all over the creative spectrum. They’ll showcase short original performances that are funny, absurd and experimental. Each act is 10 minutes or less. Tickets cost $10. (Niesel) 5403 Detroit Ave., 440-941-1482, maelstromcollaborativearts.org.
FRI
05/17
ARTWALK
SPOKEN WORD
Frederic Lahey Tonight, Music Box Supper Club will launch a new Film Cafe Series. The club has partnered with the Cleveland Film Commission and Cleveland State University School of Film and Media Arts for the series that will offer “a fun environment for fans and other film industry pros to learn more about filmmaking from each other.” Each month, a local film expert will dissect a specific topic and lead a discussion. The event will also serve as a networking session, and there will be food and beverage specials. Tonight’s speaker is Frederic Lahey, the founding director of the School of Film & Media Arts at Cleveland State University. Lahey was the founding director of the Colorado Film School, which he ran until January 2016, and he’s won a variety of awards for his work as a filmmaker, producer and director. His BA and MFA degrees are from Columbia University. He’ll speak about whether it’s necessary to attend film school. The event starts at 7, and admission is free. (Niesel) 1148 Main Ave., 216-242-1250, musicboxcle.com.
he has shows scheduled through Saturday. Tickets are $23 to $28. (Niesel) 2035 East Fourth St., 216-241-7425, pickwickandfrolic.com.
DEF LEPPARD
THE CURE
78th Street Studios Third Friday Art Walk Time again for the Third Friday Art Walk at the cavernous 78th Street Studios. 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 for a chance to shop and interact with artists. Look for food trucks out front and live music on the first floor. Hours are 5 to 9 p.m. and admission is free. (Niesel) 1300 West 78th St., 78thstreetstudios.com. FUNDRAISER
JANET JACKSON
STEVIE NICKS
RADIOHEAD
ROXY MUSIC
THE ZOMBIES
THEATER
COMEDY
New Ground Theatre Festival: The Hat Box (or, The Inheritance) Part of Cleveland Play House’s annual New Ground Theatre Festival, The Hat Box (or, the Inheritance) focuses on two sisters who discover a hat box hidden in the back of their recently deceased father’s closet and embark on a journey to discover their roots. Cleveland playwright Eric Coble wrote this comedy that “revels
Steve Rannazzisi An American actor and comedian who got some good exposure through the FXX comedy hit The League, Steve Rannazzisi likes to draw from personal experience for his routines. In one bit, he talks about how his son took a massive dump on the living room floor to ward off a babysitter. He performs tonight at 8 at Hilarities, where
| clevescene.com | May 15 - 21, 2019
The Bob Ross Experience Fat Head’s Brewery in Middleburg Heights will host the Bob Ross Experience, a paint-night fundraiser with proceeds going to the Cleveland chapter of A Special Wish Foundation. Fat Head’s Brewery and A Special Wish Foundation encourage attendees to wear their best denim outfits as they channel their inner Ross while creating their own artistic masterpieces. Tickets to the event cost $45 plus a handling fee. The price of admission includes paint supplies, a canvas, one drink ticket and, perhaps most importantly, a Ross wig. (Niesel) 18741 Sheldon Rd., Middleburg Heights, 216-898-0242, fatheadsbeer.com. DANCE
Rise, the Inaugural Dance Academy Gala Rise, the Inaugural Dance Academy Gala celebrates Cuyahoga
Community College’s Creative Arts Academy and the Cleveland Foundation, both of which aim to “expand dance education to the city’s most deserving populations” through their Dance Academy and Arts Mastery program. Tonight’s performance will include new works by guest choreographers Darrel Moultrie, Christopher Huggins, Troy Powell, Renee McDonald and Dance Academy director Terence Greene. It takes place at 8 at the Ohio Theatre. Tickets cost $10. (Niesel) 1501 Euclid Ave., 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org.
supplies.” Anyone who donates his or her time to help the lake stay great will be rewarded with one free general admission ticket to the Greater Cleveland Aquarium. Splash Fund leadership provides gloves, containers and guidance and, at the end of each session, the team records and analyzes the junk they have amassed. Over the course of four mornings, last year’s volunteers helped the Splash Fund bag 386 pounds of trash that included bits of foam, glass and 7,686 pieces of plastic. (Niesel) greaterclevelandaquarium.com.
FILM
FESTIVAL
TVTV: Video Revolutionaries Directed by Paul Goldsmith, TVTV: Video Revolutionaries explores the history of Top Value Television. Between 1972 to 1977, it unleashed a “band of crazies” with portable video cameras who shot satirical pieces and other footage too raw and unusual for the Big Three networks. The documentary includes interviews with celebs such as Bill Murray, Steven Spielberg, Hunter S. Thompson and Lily Tomlin. It screens at 7 tonight at the Cleveland Museum of Art. Tickets cost $10, or $7 for CMA members. (Niesel) 11150 East Blvd., 216-421-7350, clevelandart.org.
BayArts Get Out! Festival From 11 to 3 p.m. today at BayArts, you can celebrate the outdoors and art at an event dubbed the BayArts Get Out! Festival. There will be live music by Kingfish and activities for all ages. There will also be wellness demonstrations and local vendors selling everything from beer to ice cream. Admission is free. Find details on the website. (Niesel) 28795 Lake Rd., Bay Village, 440-871-6543, bayarts.net.
MUSIC
Viva Acappella An a cappella competition that takes place today and tomorrow at the Renaissance Cleveland Hotel, Viva Acappella features quartets and choruses made up of more than 800 singers from Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, New York and Indiana. The event kicks off today at 4 p.m., and competition continues at noon tomorrow. The Great Lakes Harmony Boutique will feature unique and homemade products from local vendors and home party consultants. Single event and two-day tickets are available. Consult the web site for prices. (Niesel), 24 Public Square, 216-241-3670, gcchorus.com.
SAT
05/18
VOLUNTEER
Adopt-a-Beach Shoreline Cleanup Since 2012, Greater Cleveland Aquarium’s nonprofit Splash Fund has hosted an Adopt-a-Beach shoreline cleanup program. Today’s cleanup takes place at 10 a.m. at Edgewater Park. Someone from the Splash Fund team will be on hand to “advise, assist and provide necessary
SPRING HOURS: Friday: 5:00 - Close | Saturday & Sunday: 12:00pm - Close
LIVE MUSIC EVERY WEEKEND!
POP FICTION Saturday, May 18 • 2-6pm
FESTIVAL
The Cleveland Asian Festival The Cleveland Asian Festival has been in operation since 2010, and it returns today and tomorrow to the heart of Cleveland’s Asia Town (Payne Avenue between East 30th and 27th streets) with all sorts of vendors, food, live entertainment and activities. Nearly two dozen Asian restaurants set up stands in the festival area, serving everything from banh mi to bubble tea. There are also two main stages that include demonstrations and competitions. Admission to the festival is free, but parking can be a little hairy. There’s free parking at Cleveland State’s magnet lots on East 24th Street, but you’ll have to walk a few blocks. (Johnny Cook) clevelandasianfestival.org.
ROCK RADIO Sunday, May 19 • 2-6pm
FOOD
Cleveland VegFest Expect to find array of vegan food vendors at Cleveland VegFest, which takes place today from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Huntington Convention Center of Cleveland. At the Vegan Food Court, you can learn how to make your own vegan dishes during one of the cooking demonstrations. There will also be a Cruelty Free Marketplace and a Vegan Kids Club. Experts in the fields of health and wellness, animal advocacy, ethics and social justice, and environmental sustainability will be
WHISKEY ISLAND MUSIC SERIES Every Wednesday Beginning June 5 Featuring The Region’s Best Bands
ALL SUMMER LONG Full Schedule Available on Our Website.
www.facebook.com/whiskeyislandstillandeatery www.whiskeyislandstillandeatery.net | clevescene.com | May 15 - 21, 2019
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GET OUT on hand as well. A $5 donation is requested. (Niesel) 500 Lakeside Ave., 216-928-1600 clevelandvegansociety.org. FILM
Cold War Cold War, with its dramatic blackand-white photography, was one of the most visually arresting films of 2018. Its 3:2 aspect ratio contributes to its beauty as well. Unlike 2015’s Son of Saul, which used the boxier aspect ratio to convey the claustrophobia of Auschwitz, Cold War uses it to compose images of remarkable height and depth in Poland’s ravaged post-war landscape. At a trim 90 minutes, much of Cold War’s narrative occurs between the precious images and representative scenes that Polish auteur Pawel Pawlikowski has selected. It’s much like Pawlikowski’s previous film Ida (2014), in this respect: spare but searing, with only the most important moments elevated. It screens tonight at 9:20 and tomorrow at 4:15 p.m. at the Cleveland Institute of Art Cinematheque. Tickets cost $10, or $7 for members and students. (Sam Allard) 11610 Euclid Ave., 216-421-7450, cia.edu. THEATER
The 2019 Dazzle Awards The most talented high-school performers in Northeast Ohio take center stage tonight at 7:30 at the Connor Palace for the annual Dazzle Awards ceremony and showcase. Awards will be handed out in 14 categories, including Best Musical, Best Actor/Actress, Best Student Orchestra, Best Costume Design and Best Scenic Design. The winners in the Best Actor and Best Actress
categories will go on to represent Northeast Ohio at the National High School Musical Theatre Awards in New York. Tickets are $25. (Niesel) 1615 Euclid Ave., 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org. FOOD
Downtown Willoughby Rib Burn Off The annual Downtown Willoughby Rib Burn Off returns to downtown Willoughby today and tomorrow. Attended by thousands from all over Northeast Ohio, the familyfriendly outdoor celebration provides an opportunity to showcase some of the neighborhood’s bars and restaurants as well as bring regional and national barbecue vendors to provide a wealth of food options. Drink options include Shocktop, Bud Light Lemon Tea, Tito’s Vodka, Russel’s Reserve, Three Olives and Pendelton Whisky. In addition, the Rib Burn Off includes three stages with live music all weekend long, where local bands and musicians will be featured exclusively. The kids’ zone will include bounce houses, games, an activity tent and Sandy the Pony. Admission is free and the event runs from noon to 10 p.m. today and from noon to 8 p.m. tomorrow. (Niesel) dtwribburnoff.com. FAMILY FUN
Spirited Away As part of its Family Film Series, the Cleveland Museum of Art will screen Hayao Miyazaki’s anime classic Spirited Away today at 1 p.m. Miyazaki based the coming-ofage film on his friend’s 10-year-old daughter. The screening takes place outdoors in the museum’s Fine Arts Garden. It’s free. (Niesel) 11150 East Blvd., 216-421-7350, clevelandart.org. FAMILY FUN
Steam Family Festival 2019 The Rock Hall, the Great Lakes Science Center and the Cleveland
Metropolitan School District have teamed up for Steam, a one-day festival of science and music. There will be innovative and hands-on science and arts experiences with an overall goal of “inspiring and empowering students and their families.” Performances will take place on six stages. The event takes place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and regular Rock Hall admission applies. (Niesel) 1100 Rock and Roll Blvd., 216-515-8444, rockhall.com.
Tablao Flamenco: Del Campo Tonight at 8 at Kennedy’s Theatre, Abrepaso Flamenco gives a dance performance that “highlights the emotionally charged flamenco rhythms inspired by the farmers and miners of Andalusia.” The concert features Marija Temo (guitar and voice), Alice Blumenfeld (dance) and other guest artists. It’s the first in a series of exciting tablaos showcasing flamenco’s roots. Tickets cost $25. (Niesel) 1501 Euclid Ave., 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org. MUSIC
The University Settlement Homecoming Dance The University Settlement Homecoming Dance takes place at 7:30 tonight at Sokol National Hall. It will feature band leader Lou Ragland, a guy with deep roots in Cleveland’s soul and R&B scene. Years ago, Ragland worked with the O’Jays and has recorded in various formats with all sorts of Cleveland soul groups, including his own bands Hot Chocolate, Seven Miles High and Volcanic Eruption. Ragland’s first single, “Never Let Me Go/Party at Lester’s,” was recorded locally in 1960 at Boddie Recording Studio on Union Avenue and was released on the Way Out label in 1961. Other guests who’ll perform include Phil
written by KAREN ZACARÍAS | directed by ROBERT BARRY FLEMING
TICKETS START AT $25 | STUDENT & GROUP DISCOUNTS AVAILABLE
216.241.6000 | clevelandplayhouse.com | clevescene.com | May 15 - 21, 2019
SUN
05/19
DANCE
APR 27 – MAY 19 • ALLEN THEATRE
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Coghill (True Movement, Avatar), Art Blakey (the Hesitations), Dunn Pearson Jr. (Dunn & Bruce Street, Ninth Street Exit), Pam Hamilton (Hot Chocolate) and Harvey Hall (Harvey and the Phenomenals, Fabulous Flames). Actor Peter Lawson Jones will serve as emcee, and tickets cost $25. (Niesel), 4939 Broadway Ave., 216-883-0675, universitysettlement.org.
FAMILY FUN
Euclid Beach Park Grand Carousel Birthday Bash May 19, 1910, was the day that opened the season for Euclid Beach Park, and that day also marked the first time attendees would ride the park’s Grand Carousel. Installed by Philadelphia Toboggan Company, the carousel had four rows of horses — three inside rows of “jumpers” and an outside row of nearly lifesize stationary horses. It cost a whopping $7,734.04. To mark the anniversary, the Cleveland History Center will host a Birthday Bash today from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. There will be Sugardale Hot Dogs and Weber’s premium custard and ice cream as well as unlimited rides on the Grand Carousel. Tickets cost between $5 and $10. (Niesel) 10825 East Blvd., 216-721-5722, wrhs.org. FILM
Kevin Roche: The Quiet Architect Directed by Mark Noonan, Kevin Roche: The Quiet Architect documents the accomplishments of Pritzker Prize–winning IrishAmerican architect Kevin Roche, who designed a slew of buildings and had a more than 40-year association with the Metropolitan
Museum. The movie makes its local debut today at 1:30 p.m. at the Cleveland Museum of Art. Tickets cost $10, or $7 for CMA students. (Niesel) 11150 East Blvd., 216-421-7350, clevelandart.org. MUSIC
Simon Keenlyside: Winterreise One of the world’s most charismatic singers, Simon Keenlyside brings his “refined musicality” to Severance Hall’s Reinberger Chamber Hall tonight at 7:30. Pianist Natalia Katyukova joins him for Franz Schubert’s Winterreise, one of the greatest song cycles ever written. Tickets cost $49. (Niesel) 11001 Euclid Ave., 216-231-1111, clevelandorchestra.com. MUSIC
The Singing Angels Now in their 55th year, the locally based Singing Angels will sing everything from Beethoven to Broadway classics at today’s show at the State Theatre, a spring benefit concert that’ll feature 200 local kids. The concert begins at 2 p.m., and tickets start at $18. (Niesel) 1519 Euclid Ave., 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org.
TUE
05/21
ART + FILM
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Art & Mind Directed by Amélie Ravalec, the documentary Art & Mind explores the relationship between visionary art, madness, and the unconscious. Featured artists include Hieronymus Bosch, Vincent van Gogh, Edvard Munch and Salvador Dalí. The film shows at 1:45 p.m. today at the Cleveland Museum of Art. Tickets cost $10, or $7 for CMA members. (Niesel) 11150 East Blvd., 216-421-7350, clevelandart.org.
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Classical Revolution Cleveland Today, and the first Tuesday of every month, Classical Revolution Cleveland brings chamber music to the Happy Dog. Performers like the Trepanning Trio, Anime Duo, students of Cleveland Institute of Music and even Cleveland Orchestra members grace the stage in these exciting concerts. Tonight’s free, all-ages performance starts at 8. (Patrick Stoops) 5801 Detroit Ave., 216-651-9474, happydogcleveland.com.
No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited or restricted by law. Limite one pass per person. Each pass admits two. Passes are limited and will be distributed on a first come, first serve basis, while supplies last. No phone calls, please. Seating is not guaranteed.
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SPORTS
Indians vs. Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics regularly stay in contention. Last year’s team won 97 games and managed to snag a wild card spot in the playoffs. This year’s team is playing .500 ball and should be a tough matchup for the Tribe. They come to town tonight for a three-game series; first pitch is at 6:10 at Progressive Field. Tickets start at $15. (Niesel) 2401 Ontario St., 216-420-4487, clevelandindians.com. NIGHTLIFE
Shit Show Karaoke Local rapper/promoter Dirty Jones and Scene’s own Manny Wallace host Shit Show Karaoke, a weekly event at the B-Side Liquor Lounge wherein patrons choose from “an unlimited selection of jams from hip-hop to hard rock,” and are encouraged to “be as bad as you want.” Fueled by drink and shot specials, it all goes down tonight at 10 p.m. (Niesel) 2785 Euclid Hts. Blvd., Cleveland Heights, 216-932-1966, bsideliquorlounge.com.
Open Turntable Tuesday Tonight from 6 to 9, the Winchester hosts its weekly Open Turntable Tuesday. Jason Gokorsch will book guest DJs and offer slots to people who want to bring their own vinyl and spin their favorite songs or deep tracks. First time DJs are encouraged, and equipment is provided. Patrons can also bring records for the night’s DJ to add to their set. Sign up on Northeast Ohio Vinyl Club’s Facebook page. (Niesel) 12112 Madison Ave., Lakewood, 216-600-5338, facebook.com/ TheWinchesterMusicTavern. FOOD
Truck Stop Tuesday Crocker Park in Westlake has launched its seasonal Truck Stop Tuesday, a weekly food truck gathering that takes place from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Main Street. Needless to say, admission is free, but the food will cost you. Truck Stop Tuesdays continue through Sept. 24. You can find a lineup of upcoming food trucks on the website. (Niesel) 189 Crocker Park Blvd., Westlake, crockerpark.com.
scene@clevescene.com t@clevelandscene
| clevescene.com | May 15 - 21, 2019
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ART YIN AND YANG Tim Callaghan and Valerie Grossman create a beautiful light at River Gallery By Dott von Schneider Photos by Tim Callaghan
Ceramics by Valerie Grossman, left, find their match in paintings by Tim Callaghan.
WONDERFUL THINGS CAN HAPPEN when two artists collaborate, particularly when those artists work within different mediums. Such is the case with Timothy Callaghan and Valerie Grossman in Some Kind Time, now on view at River Gallery. Like a game of badminton, Grossman and Callaghan serve and return color and light within the realm of paintings and ceramics. Blues, oranges, yellows and gold dominate the gallery. “The idea to work/show together came pretty organically,” says Callaghan, whose classroom is next door to Grossman’s at Lake Ridge Academy. “I asked if I could use whatever objects she was going to make as props in a series of still-life paintings. We started talking about this project back in the fall when Val started teaching at the academy. We thought it would be a unique opportunity since we were working right next door to each other every day to make a body of work that we could give and receive feedback in real time.” The result reads like a “chicken or the egg” debate; it’s hard to tell if the ceramics came first or if they were a response to the paintings. “I found that while collaborating with Tim I really learned a lot about mark
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making, especially in painting,” says Grossman. “I believe looking closely at Tim’s work really influenced the way I thought about the surface decoration of my pieces.” Grossman is influenced by vintage design and patterns and her work reflects as much. Light, airy fish-scale motifs that look like crowns adorn the center area of the gallery. Deep blues and oranges magnify a technique that we’ve not seen before. “I am using under-glazes for my surface decoration. I use a spray application for the ombre effect,” Grossman says. “Without a clear glaze, and on top of
bright still life. On the facing wall, we see single portraits and their inspirations, the painter adding even more life by inserting flora into the ceramics. “In some of the still lifes, I would create a textile based on Val’s object that I could set up and paint from observations. In others I would respond only to the form of the object and imagine or invent the negative space in the image.” The artists repeat taches throughout the exhibition, those wonderful brush strokes that create movement in the paintings and on the ceramic work. “Poet”
SOME KIND TIME ON VIEW THROUGH JUNE 8 RIVER GALLERY, 19046 OLD DETROIT RD., ROCKY RIVER, 440-331-8406 RIVERGALLERYARTS.COM
bright white porcelain, the result is a vibrant, matte surface.” These are exhibited on their own, as well as like cages surrounding other ceramic works. It almost looks like alien flowers blooming from the pedestals that support them. Along the perimeter, Callaghan has paintings that mirror the vessels displayed before them; such is the case with “Sower,” where he has grouped the ceramic work within a
| clevescene.com | May 15 - 21, 2019
is created with gouache, a waterbased medium that is more opaque than watercolors. Here the painter repeats the deep blues and oranges in Grossman’s fish-scale patterned pieces. The aforementioned taches undulate through a river that runs adjacent to a graffiti-riddled concrete abutment. “The small river painting ‘Poet’ as well as the other river paintings came midway in the body of work,” Callaghan reveals. “I
wanted to also do some landscape paintings with the subject of water and explore pattern-like mark making that would complement the mark making Val was using. I was also drawn to the subject of rivers, creeks and streams as a metaphor for the process of collaboration and working within a community environment.” The working environment has offered Grossman a foray into more functional ceramics, whereas her work has been mostly sculptural. In her statement, the artist informs us that, “This body of work speaks to the creative play and unexpected connections that come with making art and is connected to the setting that we are in. The environment changed things for me. It gave me a space to concentrate, teach, be inspired, and create. There is something to be said for the working artist.” “Some Kind Time” is a joyfully engaging exhibition of color, water, air and light, and our mood was lifted after having experienced it. We look forward to more artist collaborations like this one.
scene@clevescene.com t@clevelandscene
MOVIES PRAISE GOD, FROM WHOM ALL MOVIES FLOW Praise, with qualifications, All Creatures Here Below Sam Allard IN ALL CREATURES HERE Below, the low-budget drama from writer-actor David Dastmalchian and director Colin Schiffli, a pair of traumatized adults go on the run after one steals money from a cockfighting organizer and one steals an infant from her neighbor. It opens Friday at the Cedar Lee. Gensan (the recognizable character actor Dastmalchian) and Ruby (Karen Gillam, whose name — if not whose face — should be familiar as the actor behind Nebula in the Marvel Cinematic Universe) are deeply troubled folks. The opening 15 minutes establish their miserable circumstances. He’s a line cook at a chain pizza shop in L.A. and gets laid off when corporate decides to shift to a carryout business model. She’s a temporary cleaner who gets booted from her gig cleaning a church when she comes too close to the adjacent school. She has a few items on her rap sheet, unexplained until late in the film, involving kids. These are folks on government assistance who do things like plumb garbage bins for recyclables to supplement their income and who think of lotto tickets as investments. Both Dastmalchian and Gillam play their roles with tenderness bordering on the lachrymose. At first, the whole
project feels somewhat exploitative, actors trying their best to portray emotionally and intellectually stunted characters living in poverty. And while the script ultimately complicates this impression, it doesn’t do so until the film’s final act, after Gensan and Ruby have been on the run for a few days, growing to love the infant whom they’ve stolen. In one scene at a thrift store, Gensan is dismissive of what he regards as an expensive baby seat. A few seconds later, he’s marveling at a model with a racing stripe and an additional safety bar, admitting that it’s probably worth the extra 10 dollars. It turns out Gensan and Ruby aren’t a conventional couple. We watch them have passionless intercourse early in the film that suggests a relationship from which the flame has died. But the truth is they were both victims — together — of heinous physical abuse as children. Both are obviously coping in different ways. And when they return to the scene of their abuse with the hopes of moving on once and for all, their crimes catch up with them, leading to a devastating finale. On paper, the script was likely a careful and even elegant work. There are subtle hints of Gensan’s and Ruby’s dark history throughout: Ruby
Photo courtesy Planeo Films
has nightmares, for example. And Gensan’s cruelest insult is calling Ruby a “dummy,” presumably an artifact of their youth. But so much of the film is the two of them bickering in cars and hotel rooms, bumbling through their misunderstandings of parenting in scenes that are sometimes unwatchably awkward. The redemptive explanation arrives all at once, and perhaps too late for impatient audiences. The title comes from the doxological Christian hymn, based on text by Thomas Kern: “Praise God, from whom all blessings flow; Praise
God, all creatures here below; Praise God above, ye heavenly host; Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. The title is surely not to be interpreted as a song of praise, but perhaps as a song of tolerance. This movie reminds us that the world is full of people living with extraordinary pain and hardship, and that — though they may seem dirty or even despicable — they too are worthy of love.
sallard@clevescene.com t@scenesallard
SPOTLIGHT: A TUBA TO CUBA BEN JAFFE, SON OF THE LATE Allan Jaffe, spent some serious time hanging out at Preservation Hall, the historic jazz venue in New Orleans, while growing up. His father served as the Preservation Hall Jazz Band’s music director back in the day and Ben Jaffe currently serves as its music director. The group has a remarkable history and continues to be a musical force, something that’s recounted in the terrific new documentary, A Tuba to Cuba. The movie screens at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday and at 9:45 p.m. on Friday at the Cleveland Institute of Art Cinematheque. “If you’re from New Orleans, there’s no question in your mind
why this is the place where jazz was born,” says Jaffe at the film’s start. “I feel blessed to be born and raised here.” The film chronicles the group’s first-ever trip to Cuba. Jaffe explains that his father always wanted to go to Cuba, but the American embargo stood in his way. “You can hear the influence of Cuban music on New Orleans music,” Jaffe says prior to flying with the band to Havana. When Jaffe sets foot on Cuban soil for the first time, he says the experience must’ve been similar to what his parents experienced when they initially arrived in New Orleans after moving from Pennsylvania. His parents sought to help impoverished
jazz musicians, and he sees his trip to Cuba as a similar endeavor. The film chronicles a crucial cultural interaction and includes terrific footage from the concert that the Preservation Hall Jazz Band played with Cuban musicians. The movie also has a plethora of heartwarming moments. Musicians in Cuba really struggle to get by, and one woman talks about how her family did without a refrigerator so that she could have a flute. In another scene, the Preservation Hall guys donate instruments to a local school and spend a day hanging out with the young students. The Preservation Hall band also paid to have the neon
sign at the theater that hosted their show restored. We get to see the sign light up for the first time. At one point on the trip, the band travels to Santiago to join up with a group of musicians there and jam in the city’s streets. At a time when divisive politics threaten to erect boundaries between people of different cultures, it’s refreshing to see a film that chronicles all the good things that come from breaking down barriers. — Jeff Niesel
jniesel@clevescene.com t@jniesel | clevescene.com | May 15 - 21, 2019
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| clevescene.com | May 15 - 21, 2019
EAT CHA-CHA-CHA-CHANGES Meet the new operators of Edible Cleveland, which was in danger of closing up shop By Douglas Trattner Photo by Emanuel Wallace
NORTHEAST OHIO FOOD FOLLOWERS have enjoyed seven years of Edible Cleveland, a lush print magazine that comes out seasonally. The publication, a member of the Edible Communications family, which has similar titles around the country, was launched by the husband-andwife team of Noelle Celeste and Jon Benedict. When that team no longer could juggle the demands of life and work and passion project, says Celeste, they made the painful decision to put the magazine to bed one final time. “I knew I could no longer give the publication, and more importantly, the people who work on it, the time and support they needed,” Celeste admits. From the start, Edible carved out a niche separate and distinct from its local media brethren. In place of top-10 lists, breaking news and restaurant reviews, the magazine provided its writers the space to devote 2,000 words to an Amish Country butter producer and its photographers and illustrators the artistic freedom to beautifully complement those dispatches from the field. “We always talked about beauty and sustainability and storytelling that is worthy of the paper it’s printed on,” says Celeste. “While everyone else was getting out of print, I always believed in an environment like this. There’s a place for a quiet story that is uninterrupted like it is online.” In her monthly address to readers in the Spring edition, Celeste lamented that, “This will be the last issue we personally publish.” But that cheerless disclosure was followed by an optimistic note stating that talks were in the works to possibly pass the torch on to new owners. Those talks apparently proved fruitful as Edible now surely does have a future in Cleveland. “We’ve always been a huge fan of the magazine and what they have done for the local food community,” says new owner Eric Diamond. “It ties in perfectly with everything we are doing.” Diamond is a partner in Central Kitchen (formerly Cleveland
From left, Edible Cleveland ’s publisher Lisa Sands, owner Eric Diamond and former publisher Noelle Celeste.
Culinary Launch and Kitchen), a shared kitchen and food business incubator space downtown. He’s also part of the team behind the Cleveland Food Hub, a multifaceted operation that will offer foodfocused entrepreneurs even more resources to get their products to market. It is precisely those people, products and startups that have helped fill the pages of the magazine since its inception. Presently, the award-winning publication is distributed throughout the community via its network of supportive advertisers, which includes coffee shops, breweries, restaurants, farmers markets and grocery stores, all of whom proudly display the quarterly. With help from new publisher Lisa Sands, who in a former job with Whole Foods was one of those advertisers, leadership is poised to take the magazine to new heights. “We are inheriting something that is very successful,” explains Diamond. “We didn’t want to screw
it up, but to use our business experience to expand it so that in seven years Edible feels the same but looks different.” By investing some capital, pursuing new media streams like podcasting, and greatly enhancing the online experience, Diamond aims to preserve and amplify the powerful storytelling nature of the magazine, where there’s room to dig deep into “nerdy” topics such as fermentation, foraging and food science, yet still highlight a frothy cocktail recipe. “We want to continue telling the stories of local food in this area,” he states. “We talk about the different economic ecosystems in Cleveland; food should be one of them.” Sands, who joined the team six years ago in a social media capacity, has continued to grow her presence and value in the publication by contributing as a writer, among other roles. The thought of losing that creative outlet saddened her, so the
opportunity to help usher it into its next chapter was too good to pass up. “Honestly, I just couldn’t imagine Edible no longer in my life,” she confesses. “When an opportunity occurs and you go, ‘yeah, that actually feels really right,’ that’s how I feel about this. We want to be a platform for the people who want to tell those stories at a time when those opportunities are shrinking.” For Celeste, who will remain the magazine’s most ardent supporter, the transition is bittersweet, but sweet all the same. “As a leader, you have to recognize when you’re in the way more than you’re leading,” she states. “I did a great job, and now it’s time for me to let someone else take it to the next level.” Look for the Summer issue of Edible to hit the streets — as usual — in June.
dtrattner@clevescene.com t@dougtrattner | clevescene.com | May 15 - 21, 2019
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EAT BITES Chef Doug Katz to open two new eateries this year
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| clevescene.com | May 15 - 21, 2019
WORLD FAMOUS BBQ RIBS & CHICKEN
By Douglas Trattner Photo by James Douglas Studio
IT’S BEEN FIVE YEARS SINCE AN arsonist destroyed chef Doug Katz’ dreamy Katz Club Diner on Lee Road in Cleveland Heights. Meanwhile, Fire (13220 Shaker Sq., 216-921-3473), his flagship eatery at Shaker Square, is fast approaching its 18th birthday. It is such a finely tuned machine, notes Katz, that the time is right to make a move. Two moves, to be precise. “We have such a great team at Fire that is ready to expand,” he explains. “My chef Cameron [Pishnery] has been with me for 12 years and Todd [Thompson] has been our director of operations for over five years. Plus, we are really passionate about these foods.” “These foods” include Indian cuisine and Middle Eastern fare, each of which will be featured at a pair of new eateries. One will open next month at the Van Aken District Market Hall, and the other, a full-service concept, will debut this fall in the Cedar Fairmount neighborhood of Cleveland Heights. Chutney B, slated to open in June at Van Aken, is a fast-casual Indian/ Thai rice bowl concept, hence the “B.” “I’m inspired by Indian cuisine,” says the chef. “Fire actually started because I fell in love with the tandoor oven. Over the years I’ve become even more aware of Indian cuisine through a friend of mine. We’ve done Indian dinners here at Fire and, of course, I started the spice company.” Recipes will start with freshly toasted and ground spices, which will be blended into three different base stews: Thai yellow curry, Indian tomato masala, and Moroccan harira, a vegan chickpea and lentil stew. The stew of choice is served atop steamed rice and topped with one of three proteins: masala meatballs, curry chicken or miso-glazed tofu. One or two of the namesake chutneys come last, along the lines of creamy Indian raita, spicy green chutney, and fruity mango chutney. One cold dish, a Thai peanut noodle salad with crushed nuts, will also be available. Chutney B will be followed by Zhug, a full-service, 80-seat
restaurant that will open this fall in the former Fawaky Burst/Liquid Planet spot (12413 Cedar Rd.) in Cleveland Heights. Katz says that the concept, still in the development phase, is built around “Fire-style small plates that build upon each other.” “In most Israeli restaurants, zhug is the ultimate flavor, the main condiment that you add for spice,” Katz explains. “I like the name because I know it’s a word that every single person is going to ask how to pronounce.” Katz sees the restaurant as a complement to what already exists in the Cedar Fairmount neighborhood, a place to go for a bite and drink while waiting for a table at Vero, perhaps, or to hit after a show at Nighttown. A full bar and smallplates menu will be the order of the day, but individual dishes are still a work in progress. “I call it Israeli, but we’re going to be doing food from all different cultures, from Mediterranean to Middle Eastern,” he notes. “We aren’t going to be limited to just one cuisine, just really flavorful small plates that work really well together.” The goal is to be open by midOctober. “I’ve been looking at this space on and off for more than three years and it was never the right timing,” he adds. “I love Cedar Hill and I live in Cleveland Heights.”
dtrattner@clevescene.com t@dougtrattner
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| clevescene.com | May 15 - 21, 2019
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PHOTO COURTESY OF TUF TED PUFFINS
T
HE GUYS IN THE LOCAL PUNK ROCK band Tufted Puffins possess some serious musical pedigrees. Prior to forming the Puffins, singer-guitarist Mike Baker played in local bands such as Sleazy Jesus and the Splatter Pigs and Hucklebuck. Bassist Ken Brown also played in Sleazy Jesus and spent time in the hard rocking Ten Tons of Hell too. In addition, Brown runs his own recording studio and plays for various theater orchestras and other musical projects. He is, as it says in the band’s bio, “all business on the bass.” Guitarist Tom Huff played in Burning Lesbians with highly respected local musicians Dave Cintron, Sam
Ludwig and Scott Pickering. He’s also recorded with locals Roscoe Disposal Co., Goburn, Motorboat and 2lb. Spread; and drummer Markymoon battered away at his kit for acts such as Zen-Luv Assassins, Professional Againsters, Roscoe Disposal Co., 2lb. Spread, Cathedral 45 and Final Solution. The Puffins play a release party on Friday at the Beachland Tavern to celebrate the release of their cantankerous debut album, Old, Loud and Puffy. The Puffins came together a couple of years ago when Markymoon simply posted something on Facebook saying that he was looking to start playing music again. The guys who would become his bandmates responded,
and the band was born. “We were just going to play in the basement and drink some beer, but something clicked at our first rehearsal, and it sounded really good, so we booked some shows,” says Baker one afternoon from Boss Dog, the Cleveland Heights brewery that’s near his home. “I got back in it. As far as the band’s name goes, that was me. I had gotten an email asking for money to save the tufted puffins. I went and looked at the bird, and I thought it was too good of a band name to pass up. It’s basically that. I really don’t even know anything about puffins.” Baker, who grew up in Hamilton, Ohio, actually started his musical career on trumpet. While at Kent | clevescene.com | May 15 - 21, 2019
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KentStage =HGÍM FBLL MA>L> @K>:M LAHPL MB<D>ML HG L:E> GHP
Nils Lofgren Band
Alex Bevan & David J. Young Fri May 17
Thu May 16
X
Joanne Shaw Taylor
Wed May 22
Tue May 21
An Evening with John Waite Sun May 19
Steve Earle and the Dukes Thu May 30
THE TUFTED PUFFINS | CRAIG BELL BAND | BAR TRASH 8 p.m. Friday, May 17 Beachland Tavern | 15711 Waterloo Rd. | 216-383-1124 Tickets: $8. beachlandballroom.com
Karla Bonoff Sat. June 1
Christone “Kingfish” Ingram
AJ Croce Plays Croce
Thu June 13
Sat June 15
Darrell Scott
Over The Rhine
Thu June 20
Fri June 21
The Allman Betts Band Tue June 18
JUST ANNOUNCED
David Crosby & Friends Sky Trails Tour Aug 20 On Sale Fri May 17th
:EE LAHPL :M MA> D>GM LM:@> NGE>LL HMA>KPBL> GHM>= Tickets available at thekentstage.com or 877-987-6487 GMK [w cw i {{ © a{ B e~ JJHJF
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State in the ’80s, he joined the Juice, an “improvisational punk weirdo band.” “I was practicing in my room at the dorms one day, and this guy next door heard me play and wanted me to come to a party and bring the trumpet,” he says. “There was a drummer there, and we got really wasted and started jamming. Somebody offered us an opening night, and we were a band after that.” After that group dissolved, Baker moved to Cleveland but didn’t play in any working bands. “I just did pick-up shows for a while,” he says. One day, a friend of his who was moving to Europe insisted that he buy her guitar before she left the States. “I had never played guitar, but I bought
’n’ roll-isa, and there’s a lot of melody. The energy is definitely punk.” Last year, the band issued a four-song demo to get gigs and then released a few singles. Prior to recording the full-length, the guys visited several local studios before deciding upon Noise Floor Studio. “There’s lots of really good studios here,” says Baker. “The last place we looked at was Noise Floor, which is in this little shack that looks like a hoarder’s house. There are instruments everywhere and old carpeting. It’s all chaotic, and it just felt perfect. The price was really reasonable. [Owner] Mark Klein has a big history of doing some of the best records to come out of Cleveland. He’s really good with his equipment, and he got just the kind of sound we wanted out of it.” Chris Keefer, who recorded a Sleazy Jesus single back in the day, mastered the album. Gritty rockers such as “It Ain’t Right,” “Good Times” and “Dead by Now” possess the kind of manic energy for which
| clevescene.com | May 15 - 21, 2019
it off her, and within three months, there was a battle of the worst bands at Pat’s in the Flats,” says Baker. “We put together Sleazy Jesus and the Splatter Pigs, and we won. That was the big launching pad for all the punk bands I’ve been in.” In Sleazy Jesus, band members dressed as what Baker describes as “disco gang Latino people.” The band had a drum box that it ran through a 100-watt amp. “We did all of our songs to that,” he says. “One of the guys would make margaritas and hand them out. It was pretty notorious for the stage shows.” That group lasted about a decade and even put out a 7-inch. Baker and Brown met for the first time in that group. Baker took a long hiatus after Sleazy Jesus but says he’s been happy to get back into the Cleveland club scene with the punk-ish Tufted Puffins. “I don’t know if we’re really punk,” says Baker, who’s old enough to have experienced punk’s first wave. “When the punk scene started, it wasn’t what it is now. It was just a lot of really weird bands that had the same attitude. It wasn’t a style of music. It was just whatever was pushing at the norm. Punk now is hardcore guitar riffs. I’m partial to American punk, especially the stuff that happened around here like the Dead Boys. That sound does it for me. I do like British bands like Stiff Little Fingers too. I think the Puffins are more rock ’n’ roll than punk. Our song structures are more rock
the Stooges and MC5 were known. Baker wrote one of the album’s songs, the anti-anthem “In America,” 25 years ago. “I could never get anyone to play it in a way that was right,” he says of the song. “These guys just nailed it. Tom’s [Huff] guitar on that is just incredible.” Another highlight, “Messin Up My Mind,” features heavy percussion. “The energy of that song is great,” says Baker. “It has church choir sounds and all kind of percussion. It was a blast to record.” “Dead by Now” takes a nostalgic look back at the Kent music scene of the ’70s. “I love the old local music scene,” says Baker. “Now, we’re like old guys, and it’s not our music scene. It’s a really good music scene, and I like a lot of the younger bands, but they don’t want to hang out with their grandfathers. I understand. It’s still been good for us. We’re playing a lot. I’ve always played music really aggressively, and I still just throw everything into it. It’s such a high to get that adrenaline going. That’s what I miss in most of the music now. There’s not that full-blown energy. I like bands that sound like they’re falling apart because they’re going so fast, and they sound like they could just disintegrate. That’s the sweet spot for me.”
jniesel@clevescene.com t@jniesel
@masoniccle @hobcleveland
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BUY TICKETS AT
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MASONIC CLEVELAND: 3615 Euclid Ave, Cleveland OH 44115 HOUSE OF BLUES: 308 Euclid Ave, Cleveland OH 44114 masoniccleveland.com / houseofblues.com | clevescene.com | May 15 - 21, 2019
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| clevescene.com m | May 15 - 21, 2019
LIVEWIRE
all the live music you should see this week Photo by courtesy of Holden Laurence
WED
Craig Rich: 8 p.m., $5. CODA. The Tufted Puffins Record Release/Craig Bell Band/Bar Trash: 8:30 p.m., $8. Beachland Tavern. Jackie Warren: 10:30 p.m., free. Nighttown.
05/15
Martin Barre Celebrates 50 Years of Jethro Tull: 8 p.m., $40-$55. The Kent Stage. The Furious Bongos Play the Music of Frank Zappa: 8:30 p.m., $12 ADV, $15 DOS. Grog Shop. Honeysuckle: 7 p.m., $15. Bop Stop. Loud Night/Civil Unrest/Genocide Order: 9 p.m., $8. Now That’s Class. Joan Osborne Sings the Songs of Bob Dylan: 7:30 p.m. Music Box Supper Club. The Sea the Sea: 8:30 p.m., $10 ADV, $12 DOS. Beachland Tavern. Whitesnake: 7 p.m. Agora Theatre. Xiu Xiu/Hiram-Maxim: 8:30 p.m., $15 ADV, $17 DOS. Beachland Ballroom.
THU
05/16
Glass Harp: 7:30 p.m. Music Box Supper Club. Klashing Black/Apostle Jones: 8 p.m., $5 ADV, $7 DOS. CODA. Nils Lofgren Band: 8 p.m., $35-$50. The Kent Stage. Open Spaces Trio Album Release/ Ray Flanagan: 8 p.m., $5. Happy Dog. The Revivalists: 8 p.m., $29.50$47.50. Jacobs Pavilion. Snarky Puppy/House of Waters: For its latest album, Immigrance, Snarky Puppy sought to show just how much its travels have influenced its musical approach. The noisy album opener “Chonks,” one of the album’s many highlights, possesses a P-Funk vibe with its whirring synths and wonky guitars. With its thick bass riffs, “Xavi” borders on prog rock. The inspiration for the album’s most whimsical tune, the perky “Bad Kids to the Back,” came from guitarist Justin Stanton. The live show will feature many of the album’s new tunes. (Jeff Niesel) 8 p.m., $35-$55. Masonic Auditorium. Caroline Spence: 8 p.m., $12 ADV, $14 DOS. Beachland Tavern.
FRI
SAT
05/17
Eric Alexander Quartet: 8:30 p.m., $20. Nighttown. Alex Bevan & David J. Young/ Brent Kirby: 8 p.m., $20. The Kent Stage.
Local singer-songwriter Holden Laurence plays a release party at Mahall’s 20 Lanes. See: Friday.
Brian Charette: Kurrent Duo: 7 p.m., $15. The Cleveland Bop Stop. Flatfoot 56/Brave Bones/Scoliosis Jones: 9 p.m., $12. Grog Shop. Glass Harp: 8 p.m. Music Box Supper Club. Holden Laurence Album Release Show/Niights/Punchdrunk Tagalongs: Local indie singersongwriter Holden Laurence received rave reviews for his debut, 2017’s Wild Empty Promises. “It’s a fantastic debut that blends Moperock, Post-punk and New Wave deftly with its bittersweet tone and cinematic delivery,” Scene’s Eric Sandy wrote at the time of its release. On his new album, Rewire, Holden expands his musical range with “walls of synths” and “glassy guitars, driving grooves and songwriting that is equal parts eloquent and visceral,” as it’s put in a press release. With its rich vocals and synthesizer swirls, album opener “Shadows of Old Love” has a Smiths-like vibe to it, and thick bass riffs and plaintive vocals give “Speaking in Tongues” an ’80s feel (think New Order). Holden recruited longtime collaborator and drummer Michael O’Brien of the Modern Electric to play alongside him on the album, which was recorded in Cleveland at Fe True Productions and in Milwaukee at Bobby Peru
Recording Studios. All vocals and instruments, with the exception of drums and percussion, were performed by the talented Laurence. (Niesel) 8 p.m., $8 ADV, $10 DOS. Mahall’s 20 Lanes. Jamestown Revival/Cordovas: 9 p.m., $17.50 ADV, $20 DOS. Beachland Ballroom. Jazz Jam Session: 11 p.m., free. Bop Stop. Jamey Johnson/Natalie Stovall: Given that many of today’s biggest country’s stars are more concerned with wardrobe and make-up than music, it’s refreshing to see a guy like singer-guitarist Jamey Johnson. He tends to look more like a roadie than a rock star. His beard and long hair make him look a bit like Grizzly Adams and his deep, gravelly voice confirms the comparison. Influenced by George Jones, Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson, he takes an oldschool, no frills approach. (Niesel) 8 p.m., $35 ADV, $40 DOS. House of Blues. Lavender Daughter/The Swimfan/ Copper Thieves Int’l: 9 p.m., $5. Happy Dog. Motown & More: Divas Edition by Nitebridge (in the Supper Club): 8 p.m. Music Box Supper Club. Mystery Girl/The Missed/Jaite: 9 p.m., $6. Now That’s Class. Skeleteon Drive/Tunnel Songs/
05/18
The Garcia Project: 8:30 p.m., $20 ADV, $25 DOS. Beachland Ballroom. Heart Attack Man Release Show/ Perverts Again/Crime of Passing/joyframe: 8 p.m., $12 ADV, $14 DOS. Mahall’s 20 Lanes. Monika Herzig/Peter Kienle: 8 p.m., $20. Bop Stop. Sam Hooper Group: 8:30 p.m., $15. Nighttown. Andy Jenkins/The New Preservation Society: 8 p.m., $10 ADV, $12 DOS. Beachland Tavern. King Buu/White Buffalo Woman/ Zip Zapp: 9 p.m., $6. Happy Dog. Lucki/Qdafool/D-oreXAaREZ/Bread 216/Chucky $upreme: 9 p.m., $18 ADV, $20 DOS. Grog Shop. Nite/Ghost Twin/Key to the Mint/ Echostep: 8 p.m., $7. Now That’s Class. Personplacesthings/Silvis/The Chestertons: 8 p.m., $5 ADV, $7 DOS. CODA. That Arena Rock Show/The Crazy Train: 8 p.m., $13 ADV, $15 DOS. House of Blues. Jackie Warren: 10:30 p.m., free. Nighttown.
SUN
05/19
The Black Donnellys (in the Supper Club): 6 p.m. Music Box Supper Club. Drum Workshop With Dave Brewer: 3 p.m. Bop Stop. An Evening with John Waite: 7:30 p.m., $30-$40. The Kent Stage. EYEHATEGOD/Negative Approach/Sheer Terror/Phobia/ Fuck You Pay Me: 8 p.m., $20 ADV, $23 DOS. Grog Shop. Oliver Keenan: 8 p.m., $8 ADV, $10 DOS. Beachland Tavern. Marianas Trench/Scott Helman/ DJ George Thomas: 8 p.m., $26.50 ADV, $29.50 DOS. House of Blues. NOYO Chamber Music Extension: 7 p.m., free. Bop Stop. Jenny Scheinman & Allison Miller’s Parlour Game: 7 p.m., $20. Nighttown. | clevescene.com | May 15 - 21, 2019
37
LIVEWIRE Theories/Genocide Order: 8 p.m., $10. Now That’s Class.
MON 05/20 Anderson.Paak/Earl Sweatshirt/ Thundercats: The Grammywinning act Anderson.Paak & the Free Nationals come to town tonight in support of their new album, Ventura. Executive produced by Dr. Dre, the album was recorded at the same time as his most recent album, Oxnard. “Growing up in Oxnard [CA] gave me the grit and the church to find this voice of mine,” says Paak in a press release. “[In Ventura, CA], I went further and found my depth. The duality of each place inspired me greatly and from that I made two albums at the exact same time but held one back because that would have been too many songs to perform live for you all! I like ending things on an even number so welcome to Ventura.” (Niesel) 7:30 p.m., $39.50-$69.50. Jacobs Pavilion. Molly Burch/John’s Little Sister: 8 p.m., $12. Beachland Tavern. Cocoa Tea/Dubflex: 8:30 p.m., $20 ADV, $25 DOS. Grog Shop. Laurel & the Love In/Lucid Lynx/ Madison Pruitt: 7:30 p.m., $5 ADV, $7 DOS. CODA. Slayer/Lamb of God/Cannibal Corpse: 6 p.m., $49.50-$79.50. Covelli Centre (Youngstown).
TUE
05/21
Andrew Bailie: 8 p.m., $5 ADV, $7 DOS. CODA. Andrew Belle/William Wild: 8 p.m., $17 ADV, $20 DOS. Beachland Tavern. Los Mirlos/DJ Sinid: 8 p.m., $15 ADV, $20 DOS. Now That’s Class. Outlab Session: 9 p.m., free. Bop Stop. PUP/Ratboys/Casper Skulls: 8 p.m., $20. Beachland Ballroom. Joanne Shaw Taylor: 8 p.m., $25. The Kent Stage. Walk Off the Earth/Gabriela Bee: 7:30 p.m., $35 ADV, $39.50 DOS. Agora Theatre.
38
| clevescene.com | May 15 - 21, 2019
scene@clevescene.com t@clevelandscene
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| clevescene.com | May 15 - 21, 2019
39
BAND OF THE WEEK HEART ATTACK MAN By Jeff Niesel
Photo courtesy of Triple Crown Records
6/1
FRANKIE SCINTA The Showman
6/11
COLLECTIVE SOUL AND GIN BLOSSOMS Now’s The Time Tour
6/16
BIG HEAD TODD & THE MONSTERS & TOAD THE WET SPROCKET
6/18
MELISSA ETHERIDGE The Medicine Show
6/23
PATTI LABELLE
6/29
DAVID FEHERTY Live Off Tour!
7/5
RUSSELL PETERS Deported World Tour
7/6
KILLER QUEEN The Premier Tribute to Queen
7/7
DIANA ROSS Diamond Diana 75th Birthday - A Year of Celebration
7/11
LOVERBOY
5/31
KICK THE INXS EXPERIENCE 8PM
6/2
SAMMY HAGAR’S Full Circle Jam Tour Featuring Michael Anthony, Vic Johnson & Jason Bonham Benefiting Akron Children’s Hospital
6/8
WFC 107 Live Championship Boxing MEET THE BAND: Eric Egan (vocals,
guitar), Adam Paduch (drums), Seamus Groman (bass), Ty Sickels (guitar)
6/22 RANDY RAINBOW
IT STARTED AS A SOLO PROJECT: Egan
originally launched the band as a solo project, but he eventually started to take the group more seriously. “I didn’t even plan on playing any shows, but that changed, and we’re a full band now. We’ve gotten more and more active with it. I’m really happy about it.” Egan has known everyone in the band for a few years. “Seamus and I have been friends since growing up. Seeing [drummer] Adam [Paduch] and [guitarist] Ty [Sickels] play in other bands, I really wanted to play music with them. We’ve gone through lineup changes, but where we’re at right now is really great.” A RANGE OF INFLUENCES: Egan says the
6/1
PROGNATION CLASSIC PROG-ROCK TRIBUTE 8PM
6/7 THE FM PROJECT
6/22 BRETT SCALLIONS
6/14 ALEX ORTIZ 6/15 FEATURING LUCKY LUCIANO
7/5 EARL DAVID REED 7/6 FEATURING JESSE BLANCO
STEELY DAN TRIBUTE 8PM 7PM & 9:30PM
LEAD SINGER OF FUEL UP CLOSE & ACOUSTIC 8PM 7PM & 9:30PM
L A S V EG A S I S H ERE
TI C K E TS AVA I L A B LE AT TI C K E TM A S TE R .CO M A N D TH E B OX O FF I C E , O PE N DA I LY FRO M 1 PM - 9 PM . A LL TI C K E T SA LE S F I N A L .
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40
| clevescene.com | May 15 - 21, 2019
band takes influences from metal and hip-hop and that members all grew up playing more aggressive punk music. “We’ve always had an appreciation for the poppier side of punk,” he says. “In my free time, I listen to hardcore and metal and death metal and Adam is really into stoner rock and riff-y, heavy rock stuff. Some of my favorite bands are melodic based. I like Husker Du and Nirvana and Jawbreaker.”
reaction pushing against us has certainly shaped us.” MORE TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE: Compared
to the band’s first album, 2017’s The Manson Family, the new album, Fake Blood, is much more focused. “It’s more calculated,” Egan says of Fake Blood. “We’ve come into our own as a full band, and we collaboratively brought our own elements. When I was writing the songs, I would just have a skeleton of a song, and we’d flesh it out. Our approach was more organized and cohesive. We function more as a unit.” The band took two-a-half weeks to record at the Barber Shop, a studio in northern New Jersey. “That amount of time was great,” says Egan. “We recorded our debut in six days, but recording it all in six days made it really rushed.” WHY YOU SHOULD HEAR THEM: The band shows off its musical range on Fake Blood. “Blood Blister” and “Out for Blood” have Weezer-like elements as they feature lurching guitars and parched vocals that give it an emo vibe. The ballad “Moths in a Lampshade” demonstrates the band’s soft side, and “Cut My Losses” registers as a breakup ballad for the ages. WHERE YOU CAN HEAR THEM:
heartattackman.bandcamp.com.
A BAND WITH A MANIFESTO: In the
WHERE YOU CAN SEE THEM: Heart Attack
manifesto he penned for the band, Egan says, “As stated in Newton’s Third Law of Motion, for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Despite the unbelievable power that Heart Attack Man wields, we are not exempt from the laws of physics, and the equal, opposite
Man performs with Perverts Again, Crime of Passing and Joyframe at 8 p.m. on Saturday, May 18, at Mahall’s 20 Lanes in Lakewood.
jniesel@clevescene.com t@jniesel
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SAVAGE LOVE DISCLOSED by Dan Savage Garbage human here. I’ve had herpes for about 15 years. The first five years, I was in a relationship with a guy who also had it. The last 10 years, I haven’t been in a serious relationship. I’ve been a (rare, drunk) one-night-stand type of gal, and I don’t usually tell the guy because, like, everyone has herpes. (I get that one in five isn’t everyone, but if you count HSV-1? I’ve seen numbers as high as 80 percent.) Frankly, it seems about as significant medically as minimally contagious mild acne. (Some risks to pregnancies and immunosuppressed people exist, and I know logically it’s not my call to determine what may be serious for someone else.) I justify nondisclosure to myself these ways, even though I know it’s not ethical. On the occasions where I have disclosed, I’ve been made to feel like a leper by dudes who 10 minutes before were begging me not to have to use a condom. I obviously have a lot of resentment over having this stupid thing and over the guilt I have around nondisclosure, and I suspect my history of casual sex is influenced by not wanting to deal with this conversation. Which brings us to now. What I thought was a one-night stand has turned into a months-long affair, and I’m amazed to report I find myself liking and respecting this guy. (I know, I know: If I really respected him, I’d have told him before I ever knew I respected him). What do I do? I have to tell him. But how? Is there any justification for what I’ve done? Can I just say, “Oh man, I noticed a thing and went and got tested and guess what?” That just adds to the lie. There’s no way I can have a relationship with this guy based on trust going forward, is there? I’ve fucked this up and I have to bail, don’t I? Am I going to be alone for the rest of my life? — Deserves To Be Alone You’re not a garbage human, DTBA. You didn’t share something you should’ve — the fact that you, like upwards of 50 percent of everyone, have herpes — but weren’t obligated to. The problem with not disclosing, as you now know, is that casual sex partners have a way of becoming potential long-term partners. And by the time you recognize someone’s longterm potential, the stakes are so high
that bailing looks like an easier option. “We don’t think DTBA needs to bail,” Momo and Felix wrote in a joint email after reading your letter. “And we don’t think she’s destined to be alone for the rest of her life.” Momo and Felix are the cocreators of My Boyfriend Has Herpes (instagram.com/my_boyfriend_has_ herpes), an Instagram account that has amassed more than 15,000 followers in just a few months. Using simple, direct prose and Momo’s charming illustrations, Momo and Felix educate others about herpes while sharing the story of their relationship — from how they met, to Felix’s disclosure, to Momo’s initial hesitation to get involved with someone who has herpes. “Our stance is pro-disclosure, always, but we know this isn’t possible for everyone living with HSV,” said Momo and Felix. “Unfortunately, one of the significant pitfalls of [not disclosing early on] is the difficulty it adds to the potential of a long-term relationship. And while we don’t agree with DTBA’s choice to not disclose to her partners, we understand why she might have made those choices. The stigma against herpes is terrible.” Momo and Felix both feel — and I’m with them — that you need to be
“She obviously cares about this person,” wrote Momo and Felix. “She made a mistake and she wants to make it right. DTBA needs to acknowledge her actions (opting for nondisclosure) and their impact (putting her partner at risk without his informed consent). DTBA’s partner may very likely feel betrayed or deceived. He might want to end the relationship, and his feelings would be valid. Unfortunately, all that DTBA can do is acknowledge her mistake, make herself vulnerable, and accept his reaction.” “But whatever happens, she doesn’t deserve to be alone,” they said. “We all make mistakes, and we all have the opportunity to do better.”
*** I’m a 24-year-old bisexual female, and the new person I’m dating just disclosed their HSV-2 status. I really like them and was all set to get intimate with them. But their disclosure made me change my mind. They are understanding but sad. But I feel terrible about it! They did the right, honest thing, and now they’re getting punished for it. Herpes isn’t dangerous, it’s usually not even symptomatic, and the social stigma
herpes is incredibly common: Some studies have found that more than two out of every three people have herpes. completely honest with this guy, even if it means the relationship could end. But it might not end, DTBA. He might have a disclosure of his own to make — he could have herpes, too — or the relationship could end for other reasons. You’ve been dating this guy for only a few months, and he could decide to end things for reasons that have nothing to do with the disclosure you’re about to make and/or your failure to make it sooner. Or you might learn something about him down the road that’s a deal breaker. (Have you searched his place for MAGA hats?) So how do you broach this topic?
(the chances of someone like ME saying no) is the worst part. I get all that, intellectually. And I’d still rather … just … not take the risk of becoming someone who has to have a slightly harder dating life, because of the stress of disclosing to judgmental people like myself. Have I perpetuated the stigma of having herpes because I’m scared of ending up in the “life is harder now” group? — Help A Reluctant Miss I shared your letter with Momo and Felix, HARM, and they wanted to respond to you individually. But first
a quick download: Herpes is caused by two different viruses: HSV-1 and HSV-2. HSV-1 is commonly called “oral herpes” and HSV-2 is called “genital herpes,” even though both are transmitted in similar ways — vaginal, anal, and oral sex, as well as simple skin-to-skin contact — and both can cause sores on the mouth or genitals. Herpes is incredibly common: Some studies have found that more than two out of every three people have herpes. But most people who have herpes don’t know they do—which means that you could already have herpes yourself, HARM. “It’s HARM’s right to choose not to sleep with anyone for any reason,” said Momo. “But I do think that she’s perpetuating the stigma by rejecting someone just because they have HSV. I totally understand her concerns, and I had the same concerns before deciding to be intimate with Felix. But after doing my research and contemplating, I decided that I’d rather contract HSV than feed into the stigma. I don’t expect everyone to share the same feelings as me, but that was my choice. Plus, if she walks away from this person and keeps on dating, there’s a very good chance that a future partner might have HSV and not know it. So really, is she taking less risk by not dating them?” “Like Momo said, everyone has the right to choose who they do or don’t sleep with, regardless of their reasons,” said Felix. “Is HARM perpetuating the stigma against HSV? A bit. But I think her feelings are superunderstandable. It’s important for people to educate themselves and take action toward dismantling the stigma, but to potentially take on the burden of living with the stigma is a huge leap. I don’t know if being concerned about becoming a victim of the stigma is the same as perpetuating it. But while HARM fears that contracting HSV will limit her dating life in the future, if she walks away from a relationship with potential, then her feelings have already limited her dating life.” On the Lovecast, listen and learn about vasectomies!: savagelovecast. com.
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