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./6 %- "%2 s 6/,5 - % . O Dedicated to Free Times founder Richard H. Siegel (1935-1993) and Scene founder Richard Kabat Group Publisher Chris Keating Publisher Andrew Zelman
CONTENTS 5PFRONT
Associate Publisher Angela Lott Editor Vince Grzegorek
Lindsey Buckingham and Christine McVie
AT THE (ARD 2OCK 2OCKSINO ON &RIDAY
In which we address you, dear reader, and then share some Plain Dealer news
Editorial Managing Editor Eric Sandy Music Editor Jeff Niesel Senior Writer Sam Allard Staff Writer Brett Zelman Web Editor Laura Morrison Dining Editor Douglas Trattner Stage Editor Christine Howey Visual Arts Writers Dott von Schneider Copy Editor Elaine Cicora Intern Lawrence Neil
&EATURE
Cleveland’s hip-hop scene hopes to grow up
Advertising Senior Multimedia Account Executive John Crobar, Shayne Rose Multimedia Account Executive Kiara Davis Events and Marketing Coordinator Maggie Lilac
'ET /UT
All the events you should check out this week
Creative Services Production Manager Steve Miluch Layout Editor/Graphic Designer Christine Hahn Staff Photographer Emanuel Wallace
!RT
Business Sales Assistant/Receptionist Megan Stimac Controller Kristy Dotson
A journey into Dana Oldfather’s life in Candyland at the Galleries at CSU
Circulation Circulation Director Don Kriss Euclid Media Group Chief Executive OfďŹ cer Andrew Zelman Chief Operating OfďŹ cers Chris Keating, Michael Wagner Human Resources Director Lisa Beilstein VP Digital Services Stacy Volhein Digital Operations Coordinator Jaime Monzon www.euclidmediagroup.com National Advertising Voice Media Group 1-800-278-9866, voicemediagroup.com
3TAGE
No, The Diary of Anne Frank is not a play about the Trump era. Or is it?
Film
Cleveland Scene 737 Bolivar Rd, #4100 Cleveland, OH 44115 www.clevescene.com Phone 216-241-7550 Retail & ClassiďŹ ed Fax 216-241-6275 Editoral Fax 216-802-7212 E-mail scene@clevescene.com
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Lanthimos’ The Killing of a Sacred Deer has Lobster vibes, but none of the heart
$INING
Cleveland Scene Magazine is published every week by Euclid Media Group. VeriďŹ ed Audit Member Cleveland Distribution Scene is available free of charge, limited to one copy per reader Copyright The entire contents of Cleveland Scene Magazine are copyright 2017 by Euclid Media Group. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission of the publisher is prohibited. Publisher does not assume any liability for unsolicited manuscripts, materials, or other content. Any submission must include a stamped, self-addressed envelope. All editorial, advertising, and business correspondence should be mailed to the address listed above. Subscriptions $150 (1 yr); $ 80 (6 mos.) Send name, address and zip code with check or money order to the address listed above with the title ‘Attn: Subscription Department’
Marble Room’s service has a long way to go to catch up to its stunning setting and menu
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Jim Jarmusch and Carter Logan bring their experimental duo SQĂœRL to the Cleveland Museum of Art
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| clevescene.com | November 1 - 7, 2017
Dear reader,
of his mayoral Zack Reed and an endorsement ng uri feat er cov a be to ed ear tisement” label probably noticed what app paid advertisement. The “adver a ly ual act it’s As you picked up this issue you se, sen l sica phy in a It’s a “cover wrap,” in industry ally, the cover of the magazine page make that (sort of) clear. campaign. While it is, technic the of tom bot the at it sed cha anization that pur -hop ecosystem. up top and the name of the org amite feature on Cleveland’s hip dyn k’s wee this by the sales from to pho a the advertising options offered of one are parlance. The actual cover is ps wra er Cov . vive thing end on advertising to sur sacrosanct space. It’s the first Scene is a business and we dep l staff. The cover, we feel, is a oria edit the by e as a d ose alon opp nds y sta usl n strenuo it sometimes department. They have long bee ting thing you’ll find inside, and res inte or nt orta imp st mo we think is the a reader sees; it tells you what these have included ads orially dangerous. In the past, edit st singular editorial statement. mo the are s one d nte easy to miss. ps, the politically orie for, the indications are small and d pai are y the While we’re against all cover wra t tha e icat ind ads ured candidate. We have been k Schron, in 2014. Though the for Ken Lanci, in 2013, and Jac that Scene has endorsed the pict sion res imp the you like s der nt is giving rea That’s by design. The whole poi orial staff. Management the local and national press. in vocal opposition from the edit of e fac criticized for these decisions the in ted prin and ed ng Zack Reed was accept This week’s cover wrap featuri t to run it anyway. er the mayoral race in ways tha as they’re entitled to do, opted listened to our concerns and, Through 2017, we’ve tried to cov nd. vela Cle . of ion city pat the tici for par c one reased civi is a crucial n longshots) with the aim of inc The mayoral election on Nov. 7 (eve s ger llen cha on n ntio not s atte doe fact, , focusing considerable the general election. Scene, in other outlets in town have not endorsing either candidate in not are we voicing, and , ut ary abo shy prim n the in t we haven’t bee We did not endorse a candidate ever, led us to conclusions tha how , has ng orti never be rep r ld Ou wou d. of any kin were not and publish political endorsements erstand that those conclusions und you t tha st tru We nsparency, we n. tra kso interest of of Frank Jac t appearance, though, and in the tha particularly with articles critical ates cre p wra er cov k’s outside entity. This wee influenced or purchased by an ectly. wanted to address the issue dir Sincerely, Scene’s editorial staff
UPFRONT PLAIN DEALER RENOUNCES MEMBERSHIP IN GREATER CLEVELAND PARTNERSHIP
THIS WEEK
LAST FRIDAY, ON WCPN’S WEEKLY Reporters’ Roundtable, Cleveland. com editor Chris Quinn announced that the Plain Dealer and Advance Ohio (PD/Cleveland.com’s parent company) would be renouncing their memberships in the Greater Cleveland Partnership, the local chamber of commerce. That decision comes amid local controversy surrounding Cleveland’s bid for Amazon’s second headquarters, details of which have
been kept secret. Though the city of Cleveland, Cuyahoga County and 20 other quasi-public and private organizations were involved in the creation of the bid, no one is sharing specifics. Mayor Frank Jackson told Channel 5 that he would release the bid eventually, but GCP is said to be mandating the tight lid on information. “We at Advance Ohio and the Cleveland Plain Dealer have been a member of that group for a long
time,” Quinn said on WCPN. “We’re getting out. We’re not going to be a part of it anymore. We are all about transparency, and don’t want to be part of something that’s not.” Responding to a follow-up inquiry, Quinn told Scene that Advance and the PD had been weighing for some time whether or not they would renew their membership in February. In fact, they were “leaning toward” not renewing.
“We have been questioning the value our organization receives in return for the substantial membership dues we pay, for one,” Quinn wrote in an email. “But GCP›s old-fashioned role in keeping the Amazon proposal secret made the decision more urgent.” Quinn referenced editorial projects in recent years — “Justice for All” and “Forcing Change,” specifically — that demonstrated the paper’s advocacy for and
SEE NO EVIL
PUNCHING WHERE?
BODY COUNT
The Ohio EPA, alongside Cleveland officials, reassured the public that a fire this weekend at the East Cleveland Arco recycling facility posed no immediate health risk. By the end of the press conference, four officials’ eyes had burned fully out of their sockets.
Dan Gilbert tweets innovative arena design concept to Cavs CEO Len Komoroski, saying “something to think about in 2034.” Local attorney Fred Nance said he wouldn’t agree to an advance retainer until he could determine the arena’s weight class.
Pro-Trump Cleveland Hts. pastor Darrell Scott mulls primary run against U.S. Rep. Dave Joyce. Scott said he won’t make up his mind until he consults his advisors, comprised chiefly of “gang leaders in Chicago.”
QUALITY OF LIFE Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 7. Be sure to vote.
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UPFRONT commitment to transparency. Recenly, in the PD /Cleveland.com’s mayoral endorsement interview, Quinn called out Frank Jackson’s administration for its performance on public records. “We’ve been around a long time,â€? said Quinn in that interview, “and there’s nobody who has had a worse record with public records‌ This has been a big problem. The media does not have the money to launch what would be an expensive lawsuit.â€? This dogging of Jackson, and a potential forthcoming lawsuit, were likely key factors in the the city’s unveiling, last week, of a new public records portal called GovQA. “Public records should be readily available, and we want to streamline the process in which citizens receive information,â€? said Mayor Jackson, in a press release. “The new system is not the final answer, but an important first step in a comprehensive effort to fulfill requests in a timelier manner.â€? The new software is still being tested, and officials were unable to provide concrete estimates of how quickly records requests might now be processed. But despite this gesture toward open government, which a cynic might disparage as a bone thrown at the PD /Cleveland.com to secure their endorsement, the city has refused to release information relating to the Amazon bid. Multiple news organizations, including Scene, have asked for the bid itself and for justifications for the secrecy. When Scene asked which elements in the Amazon bid made it “proprietary,â€? we were given a public records tracking number in lieu of an answer. Quinn told Scene that this feels like a “big step backwardsâ€? for the region. He said that, in part because of the PD /Cleveland.com’s advocacy, he feels the region now has some of the best leaders it has had in decades, “which is why their acquiescence to the Greater Cleveland Partnership in this case is so distressing. “We simply cannot be a member of a group that actively resists our advocacy for strong and open government,â€? Quinn concluded. “Those are among our core principles, and we don›t compromise on them.â€? GCP confirmed that the Plain
Dealer and Advance Ohio had signaled their intentions not to renew their memberships. “We certainly think it is important that the major newspaper within our region is a member of the Chamber of Commerce, given our shared mission to advance the economic prosperity of our region,� said Sarah Johnson, GCP’s communications VP. “Advance Ohio and the Plain Dealer have always been good and very important members of GCP, and we will work hard to get them to rejoin.� —Sam Allard
CUYAHOGA COUNTY JOINS PHARMACEUTICAL LAWSUIT PHENOMENON Standing next to a coffin fashioned out of a prescription
DIGIT WIDGET 100 Number of people killed in Cleveland in 2017, marking the fourth consecutive year of 100-plus homicides.
5 Number of Democratic candidates running for the governor’s ofďŹ ce in 2018. Ohio Supreme Court Justice William O’Neill joined the fray Sunday.
73 Age of former Cincinnati Mayor Jerry Springer, who is “really trying to decide� whether to join the governor’s race.
$77 MILLION Potential sum of 15-year tax exemption on Amazon “fulďŹ llment centerâ€? in Licking County, negotiated by JobsOhio. Amazon will build another fulďŹ llment center in Euclid soon.
Photo courtesy of Cuyahoga County
pill bottle, with flowers, stuffed animals and candles splayed out before it, Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish and prosecutor Mike O’Malley announced a civil lawsuit against a roster of major pharmaceutical companies and individual doctors. The aim: to prove in court that those companies and doctors willfully misled the public about the addictive and dangerous properties of opioid medication — and then proďŹ ted wildly off the crisis that unfolded. The medical examiner in Cuyahoga County has estimated that we’ll see more than 800 opioid overdose deaths by the end of 2017. With the sheer force of that “slowmoving mass casualty event,â€? as Dr. Thomas Gilson has put it, Cuyahoga County joins other local government plaintiffs in separate cases (like the cities of Lorain, Parma and Dayton) and the state of Ohio itself in taking legal action. “This is an emergency,â€? Budish said of the record-shattering annual death tolls from 2009 to the present. “The cost in human lives is truly tragic, and it knows no economic, geographic or racial boundaries.â€? Opioid overdoses claimed more
County executive Armond Budish addresses the opioid crisis
lives in Cuyahoga County in 2016 than homicides, suicides and car accidents combined. Budish underscored the lawsuit’s assertion that the county is shelling out “millions of dollars each year� in medical services, emergency services, law enforcement, employee insurance — costs that have risen in direct connection with the crisis. “The county would not have been presented with, or paid, claims for opioids that would not have been written but for [the pharmaceutical companies’] fraudulent and deceptive marketing,� the civil complaint states. The county’s lawsuit, shepherded by personal injury attorney Paul Napoli (out of New York City),
names Purdue Pharma LP, Teva Pharmaceuticals, Cephalon, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, McKesson Corporation, Cardinal Health and AmerisourceBergen Corp, as well as Robert Portenoy, Perry Fine, Lynn Webster and Scott Fisher. As an example of a tentpole civil allegation, the Cuyahoga County lawsuit states: “Purdue directly disseminated deceptive branded and unbranded marketing focused on minimizing the risks associated with the long-term use of opioids to treat chronic pain. Purdue directed these messages to prescribers and consumers through its sales force and branded advertisements.� (Purdue manufactures OxyContin.) The lawsuit asserts that Purdue and
the other companies directly and indirectly reached Cuyahoga County residents with such misleading and anti-scientiďŹ c information. Companies are holding their ground as these lawsuits move through the court process. Purdue Pharma has argued that it followed FDA marketing guidelines in its distribution. It’s that FDA regulatory shield that may pose a signiďŹ cant obstacle to any government plaintiff seeking legal redress. “I think at the end of the day they’re fairly difďŹ cult cases for the plaintiffs to win,â€? former U.S. DEA chief of staff Jodi Avergun told Reuters this past summer. But with the Cuyahoga County lawsuit (and the state of Ohio’s lawsuit) going after marketing materials and third party publications, the FDA shield doesn’t hold up. In 2007, Purdue paid $600 million in fines after the company was found to have misled regulators and patients about the risk of abuse of OxyContin. Now, the county demands a jury trial in its case. —Eric Sandy
scene@clevescene.com t@clevelandscene
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FEATURE
STATE OF PLAY Cleveland’s hip-hop scene looks to grow up amid fleeing stars and an underdog mentality By Lawrence Neil
IN 2011, A PAIR OF SCRUFFY twentysomethings moved into an old apartment above the dry cleaners on Coventry. Nate was from rural Pennsylvania near the West Virginia border. Martez was from Lakeshore, just a couple miles north of Cleveland Heights. Nate had moved to the city for Tri-C’s Recording Arts and Technology program, and through
10
an internship at a local studio started finding rappers for his beats. Martez, meanwhile, was building a local buzz as a rapper while working at Pizzazz near John Carroll. In the mornings, Nate and his producing partner Matt would pool their money together for Red Bull and a pack of cigarettes. With the $20 or so left at the end of the
| clevescene.com | November 1 - 7, 2017
week, they’d splurge on the tencent vinyl bin at Record Revolution across the street. They’d mine the deep cuts and eclectic selections, turning them into samples for beats they’d share with local artists and friends who stopped by their makeshift studio. Oftentimes that’d include a skinny, soft-spoken producer from Mentor named Benny, who made eerie trap beats
when he wasn’t serving slices at pizzaBOGO up the street, and a Cameroonian transplant named Lorine, who hung out and sung leathery R&B. Six years later, Martez, or Tezo, as he’s better known, has been touring nationally since hopping on a Machine Gun Kelly run in 2012. TrapMoneyBenny, having moved on from the pizza shop, is
a Soundcloud pioneer -- his iconic leery, playful production serving as the sonic backdrop for Chief Keef, Lil Yachty, 21 Savage and Playboi Carti. Lorine Chia’s doing songs with Wiz Khalifa and The Game, performing on James Corden’s Late Late Show, and garnering millions of Spotify streams on her diverse output of funky electro-soul. Nate Fox is now arguably the most important new producer of the past decade, having constructed the sound that propelled Chance the Rapper to the peak of contemporary pop culture. And six years later, none of them are in Cleveland. One by one they left the city and the brick building next to the Cleveland Heights’ Marc’s parking lot, where creativity and promise blossomed. In Cleveland, rap has stumbled, if it ever got a running start at all. The scene is a sprawling, gnarled ecosystem paced by a handful of buzzing upstarts, and churned forward by hundreds of local kids on USB mics. It’s propped up by a diverse assortment of cultural and educational institutions, to varying degrees of success. It’s a funhouse mirror reflecting some of Cleveland’s successes, but mostly its systemic shortcomings. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
FITS AND STARTS For all intents and purposes, the only rap artists to make it out of Cleveland before 2005 were Bone Thugs-n-Harmony. In 1993, the eastside quintet signed to EazyE’s Ruthless Records and quickly started churning out hits and
Tezo and Nate Fox in a home studio in 2007.
collecting Grammy nods. Their signature double time flow is the closest thing Cleveland has had to a signature sound. Bone Thugs certainly spent a fair amount of time in Cleveland, but they made their money in Los Angeles. And, because of that, their multiplier effect and influence rippled through their record label, not their hometown. By the mid-2000s the Houston “swang” sound found a second home in Cleveland. Ray Cash blazed a trail that evolved into the Cap Rap era – rappers Fat Al, Chip tha Ripper, Ray Jr., Cory Bapes, and Royalty Camp blended a southern boom with swaggering piano chords and samples into a cohesive sound. While a nascent business management team and record label formed by Rich Paul and LeBron James helped score some major record deals, those, and the attendant momentum, disintegrated.
Cleveland seemed to shoot itself in the foot at every turn. And the two biggest contemporary hip-hop artists to come out of Northeast Ohio recently are atypical examples of success. Kid Cudi’s creative instincts – a genre-bending, melodic, electronic, moody landscape – caught the ear of Kanye West, who co-opted the sound for 808s and Heartbreak, an unquestionable watershed moment for rap music, and Cleveland helped spark that. If Cudi is our left hook, our right jab is Machine Gun Kelly, another Shakerite whose rat-a-tat flow and punk persona propelled him through the ranks in the city. Kelly spent his early artistic career serving up burrito bowls at Chipotle, working at a Tower City airbrush shop, and unsuccessfully selling weed. He was handing out his mixtape in the high school cafeteria to dubious faces (mine included), and bottom-lining show
bills at the Grog Shop for years before beginning to crack through. That came first with a few wins at the Ohio Hip-Hop Awards, later when he caught the ear of Diddy and Bad Boy with a few stand-out mixtapes, and eventually with legendary shows at 2011’s SXSW that precipitated his record deal. This year alone, Kells has had a top five Billboard-charting single and a prominent Rolling Stone profile. He’s the face of John Varvatos’s Fall collection and is touring Europe. He’s Cleveland through and through -- and Cudi still reps the city too -- but they’re not your average homegrown hiphop stars. While Cudi’s initial sound has aged well, his moody electro singrap was alien when it first emerged on the scene, for example. And Cudi and Kelly have also each ventured deeply into rock music -- Cudi has recorded multiple rock albums as WZRD, and Kelly picked up the guitar for a number of tracks on his latest project, bloom. Also, Kelly is white, and, though skilled as a rapper, he’ll often cite Nirvana, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Good Charlotte, or Mötley Crüe as influences before rappers. It’s a bold move for an artist to cross genres, playing with identity and messing with the status quo. It’s also one that’s hard to emulate, especially for young Cleveland artists who see two atypical examples as the only ones to have emerged from the city in recent memory. Wallace Settles, the rapperturned-promoter who books hiphop acts at the Grog Shop, put it
| clevescene.com | November 1 - 7, 2017
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succinctly: “You look at our scene in the last five years and there’s about six new artists who’ve made a national mark and only one where it’s been serious: Machine Gun Kelly.”
Photo by Emanuel Wallace
FEATURE
Daniel Gray-Kontar
HURDLES Artists from Miami, Atlanta, Chicago, not to mention New York and L.A., are coming up hand over fist as the internet has opened up the floodgates to consumers. Cleveland artists, meanwhile, can’t seem to fi nd a foothold. Much of that has to do with a lack of institutional infrastructure. A few of the resources that exist elsewhere but not in Cleveland include: major record labels or imprints, robust music public relations agencies, publications with national reach that showcase local artists, and marquee festivals, to name just a few. Jordan Morales, manager of Ezri, a young artist signed to Nas’ Mass Appeal Records, paints the picture in terms of what Atlanta has in contrast. “An artist has one record, the whole city gets behind them and they’re gone,” he says. “Next thing you know they’ve got a deal or a situation beyond the city limits, or within an Atlanta-based label. In Cleveland, where’s that structure? We’ve got to have a farm system. We’ve got this baby calf right here, we’re nurturing him, and he’s gonna be ready to produce some prime steak in about a year. And then as soon as that happens, he gets catapulted through the infrastructures and relationships that have been there.” Texo elaborates: “The wheels are turning, but nobody’s steering the car. Everybody’s producing their ass off, rapping their ass off, singing their ass off, but there’s no direction. The car might not even be touching the ground.” More than a few also mentioned the lack of accessible mentors who’ve been through the industry. “A lot of our successful artists have left, and they’ve stayed gone,” says Daniel Gray-Kontar, a poet, rapper and educator who recently opened the Twelve Literary Arts space in Collinwood. “So you don’t have a blueprint for what authentic mentorship can look like. This gets in the way of building, and you need some kind of passing on and continuity.”
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“A lot of our successful artists have left, and they’ve stayed gone, so you don’t have a blueprint for what authentic mentorship can look like.” — Daniel Gray-Kontar DJ E-V adds, reflecting on an era before he made his move to L.A.: “I don’t think any of us really knew what we were doing. In Atlanta and New York and L.A., there are people who are O.G.s who can step in and help. In Cleveland, there was nobody. Don’t get me wrong – Cleveland is the most humble and hardworking place I’ve been to, period. But with music, everything I need is out [in Los Angeles]. If I need to collab, get something mixed, get something mastered, marketing, networking with publications, interviews – it’s all there at my fingertips.” Cudi echoed that in an early interview with Music Connection, explaining his bounce to Brooklyn.
| clevescene.com | November 1 - 7, 2017
“I always felt trapped in Cleveland,” he said. “I’m gonna tell it to you like this, and this might come off crazy, but I was like, “This town ain’t ready for me… I wanted to be around people who were like me and there were no people like that in Cleveland. New York is defi nitely where I shed my skin.” While the natural inclination would be to turn to cities like New York and Los Angeles to fi nd answers and resources, mid-sized cities have been able to develop thriving cores as well. Cash Money nurtured and vaulted New Orleans artists like Juvenile, Big Tymers and Lil Wayne to international stardom before they branched out and signed artists from around
the world. Atlanta’s LaFace records was instrumental in developing Outkast, TLC, Toni Braxton, and Usher. Even peer cities like Memphis and Pittsburgh have found success. Yo Gotti’s CMG imprint has snatched up every relevant Memphis rapper of the last five years, and Rostrum Records helped develop Pittsburgh artists Mac Miller and Wiz Khalifa from promising teenagers into bona fide stars. Of course, local labels are a dime a dozen; we mention this handful because they were able to leverage local clout into international success. Most ended up with major label distribution deals, operating under subsidiaries of the big three: Universal, Sony and Warner. It’s worth noting that Dreamlife – the short-lived start-up label fronted by LeBron, Rich Paul and Leonard Brooks – could have been that missing link. “Dreamlife could’ve worked because Rich Paul was the guy,” Tezo says. “He had dudes performing in front of Jay-Z. He had LeBron in a video. How much bigger can you get?” Machine Gun Kelly is regularly lauded for maintaining and nurturing his Cleveland roots. He’s organized four EST Fests and signed a number of local artists to his imprint, EST 19XX. Maybe one day he becomes that link, but that’s down the line, and his signees haven’t exactly flourished yet. Many artists note there are hurdles in the pipeline way before the label stage. “People have something to say, but they don’t have the proper structures or tools, or even someone to tell them, ‘Hey, write that down,’” says Morales. Ezri’s manager. “And once you’re empowered to write it down, not only that, you have a session at 2 p.m. on Tuesday to record it; and after that I’m gonna get it mixed; and after it’s mixed you’re gonna be able to hear it; and if you like it, we can apply artwork from your one homey who draws for whom we’ve provided Illustrator even though he’s only drawn with pencils and paper up until now. And boom – we’ve got a single.” The importance of these types of baseline nurturing spaces for young artists can’t be overstated. Nate Marshall, the lauded poet, rapper and educator from Chicago, came up through a series of workshops and open mics under the umbrella of the Young Chicago
Authors (YCA) organization. Today, Marshall acts as Director of National Programs for YCA, and the organization is gaining cred for its role in nurturing the early creative careers of artists from Chance the Rapper to Noname. The spotlight shines bright on the organization’s famous alum, but Marshall thinks its success is simple and can easily replicated. “A lot of it is just being that gathering place,” he says. “Chicago is having a moment, so people want to exceptionalize that moment, but this is just what people do; this is how folks make art. “The important aspect is people being able to meet each other. Let’s say you’re rhyming, you’re pretty good, and you feel like you’re the best in your neighborhood,” he continues. “Then you go to this other place where it’s like, ‘I’m the fifth best person in this room.’ But you take that and build with them. It’s important to me to convey that what is happening in Chicago is not unique, and not exceptional so that [other cities] don’t get to thinking that they can’t do it. That space always needs to be created, and it can be a struggle because we’re not in a society that’s built to value young people or their creative production.” Daniel Gray-Kontar seems to be speaking Marshall’s language on both those fronts. “We do a very poor job of supporting our young in this city,” he says. “We do not do a very good job of bringing them to the table and asking them what they need based on their very lived and very real experiences growing up in this city. We do not provide enough access to space and enough access to opportunity based on what they define as opportunity. And because we do a very poor job with that, we lose young people. “This is about more than just these individual artists; this is about also making Cleveland a better place for everyone to live and work and thrive and to keep our talent here. If we’re not asking these key questions and providing support, then we’re gonna keep falling into traps. So on the one hand it’s very institutional and on the other, it’s on us as artists to come together to create the sound, professionalize the sound to make them take notice as well. So this is a two way street.”
UNDERDOGS Two-way streets are two ways for a reason, though. And coming
back against the traffic of support is self-evaluation. It’s painful to acknowledge maybe you’re just not as good as you think you are. Alongside that missing infrastructure is a poisonous thread of entrenched local mentality, an echo of Cleveland’s underdog attitude. “We’re just as good as X, Y or Z, but no one gives us our credit.” “Why is it that we need validation from the LA Times or the New York Times or the Washington Post to know that we’re a dope city?” asks rapper Archie Green, who has recently begun a series of local hip-hop networking and development events alongside his work as a mental health advocate. “We have a very depressed way of looking at ourselves, as though we’re not worthy to have a seat at the table with all these other major metropolitan cities.” It’s a decades-long cornerstone of Cleveland’s scrappy identity, a rallying point to reach out and band together a fragile but proud community. But it’s also what causes us to sometimes double down on homegrown mediocrity. That defensiveness, in combination with the internet-bred expectation of instant success in rap, is an insecurity that can end up regressive. The risk of burning a single bridge by not heaping praise upon another local artist seems to trump much of the constructive criticism that should be fostered. You get labeled a hater, and no one takes a hard look at what could be improved. Wallace Settles, the Grog Shop talent buyer, buys into that hypothesis. When Peabody’s closed in 2013, the Grog Shop became ground zero for live hip-hop in the city, and Settles, a rapper himself who switched careers after encountering one too many promoters smoking weed in their car 20 minutes into a show they were supposed to be organizing, has a front row view of the city’s emerging artists. He also doesn’t pull punches. “It boils down to professionalism and quality of music, and lots of our artists lack that here,” he says. ”A lot of people can’t get from 105th and St. Clair to the Grog Shop on time; how you gonna get from 105th and St. Clair to Philly on time? We’re not being realistic if people think they can jump out of here and do a national tour. You’re not thinking clearly. We can’t be
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— Wallace Settles you’re an artist, but this is hard fucking work! It’s the importance of rehearsal; it’s running a small business, learning to communicate with venues and promoters, getting to know gatekeepers as people, not just enablers. ” It can easily (and, in very rare cases, correctly) appear that all it takes is mumbling over a hot loop to become a star – just check out Lil Yachty. The barriers to entry
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skipping steps. “Everyone wants to move so fast, and no one’s taking their time to make quality. You might have to put out three or four albums. You might have to get booed off stage. You might get told no a couple of times. Deal with it. Your feelings are gonna get hurt. You’re gonna want to cry. That doesn’t mean you quit; that means you keep going. This shit is a fucking process. “Yes, you’re in a small city. Get off your ass. Stop crying. Work harder.” He’s not the only one who thinks the artists could use a kick in the pants. “I’m always like, ‘Man, no one told this person this song was shitty?’” says Alpesh Shah, who co-manages Ripp Flamez. “Maybe there aren’t enough bosses, just yes-men.” “It’s important to have an educated approach to this music shit,” notes Archie Green. “There’s too many bedroom rappers; you’ve got a mic, a Macbook, a MIDI controller, and you think
Photo by Emanuel Wallace
FEATURE
“You might have to put out three or four albums. You might have to get booed off stage. You might get told no a couple of times. Deal with it. Your feelings are gonna get hurt.”
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in music creation and distribution have lowered dramatically, though the path to real success remains difficult and often opaque as ever. That dissonance can be difficult to grasp, and when it doesn’t go your way, the almost inevitable frustration unfortunately harmonizes with parts of this city’s identity. “Some people say Cleveland’s a hater city, but I say Cleveland makes you earn it,� says DJ Red-I, one half of FreshProduce. “Your music can’t just be good or decent. It’s gotta be amazing.� Nate Fox, who spent lots of time in Chicago as he worked on Chance the Rapper’s projects, proposes a contrasting approach. “There’s a difference between criticism and being a hater,� Fox says. “When I’m in Chicago or New York, I play a beat for someone, they’ll say something like, ‘Damn, that sample is crazy – I don’t know about those 808s though. You can do better.’ When I play a beat in Cleveland, someone can not even nod along and be looking at their phone, then just say ‘That was tight.’ If I’m playing you something that I’ve done, I’m looking for constructive criticism. It’s finding the bar, raising it, pushing each other.�
A WAY FORWARD Given all that, is a robust Cleveland hip-hop pipeline a pipe dream? Short answer: nope. Just look at some roughly comparable urban areas with similar populations and demographics where it’s been done already: Memphis, New Orleans and Baton Rouge. “Cleveland’s had a loser’s mentality,� says Red-I. “But things have started changing and now there’s a whole generation of people are coming up saying, ‘We’re champions – we have just as much upside, and potential, and right to be here as anybody else.’� And despite the setbacks and hindrances, more than a handful of artists are making good rap music and carving out paths forward. Some venture out and get snatched up by surging local labels: 55Bagz signed to Yo Gotti’s Memphis-based Collective Music Group, and Kipp Stone was inked with Chicago’s Closed Sessions, an indie that’s taken some of the city’s most innovative artists under its wing, before jetting to sign a indie distribution deal with Empire.
MalcUpNext and Q Money flipped Instagram fame into deals in Atlanta. East Cleveland’s Doe Boy and his stick-up anthems found a home in Future’s Freebandz imprint under Epic. Another way forward? Placing a strong emphasis on business-savvy, relationship-driven management. “I’ve been watching MGK’s team since day one,� says John Stursa, a Lorain-based blogger who runs Cleveland’s pre-eminent hip-hop site, ImFromCleveland.com. “If I had to give advice to another artist, I’d say watch the moves they’ve made. Look at the pieces he has; he’s not doing that by himself. Artists need to buy in and develop those teams.� Paper Paulk has taken that advice almost verbatim. His manager, Derrick Pender, spent years at Bowling Green State University studying business and working with Andre Cisco throwing events, bringing artists from Drake to Wale to Wiz Khalifa to town. More importantly, Andre had been working with MGK since booking him in 2006. By 2011 he was Kelly’s road manager. “Dre is my O.G.. He always understood how to make the most of limited resources – he taught me how to take two and turn it to four,� says Pender. After Paper Paulk dropped his first project in 2012, the pair went down to Austin for SXSW. “From 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. we were going to meetings and workshops catering to what we needed to learn at the time,� Pender remembers, “That first time gave us the exposure to where this could go, and where we had to begin putting a plan in process.� An easy example: A mentoring session with Miles Davis’ nephew, of all people, landed them a slot opening for A$AP Rocky on a major stage at SXSW. The duo used conference and festival gatherings as a proxy for what the city couldn’t provide: industry mentorship, access to major media outlets, and national stages. They’ve been able to flip personal relationships into agency representation, features from A-list artists, and significant coverage from hip-hop media. Over this past summer, Paulk went on a 42-city national tour supporting an artist he’d opened for at 2013’s conference: the newly minted XXL Freshman Kap G. “I rock the stage, then build a person-to-person connection with every fan that talks to me after the
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FEATURE show, meet every promoter from every venue, talk to the sound engineers, shake every person’s hand.” Paulk says. Ripp Flamez, a native of the Garden Valley neighborhood, has also assembled a strong team around him. Ripp had been developing his signature spacious, smoky, auto-tuned sound in tandem with his brother Ed for years before catching the attention of Alpesh Shah. Shah is a Cleveland native who’d worked as a DJ and manager for years before joining LiveMixtapes, the iconic Cleveland-based rap clearinghouse and media company, and came on as co-manager of Ripp with Ed. “When he moves, it’s like he’s signed to a major even though he’s not,” Shah says. “We have the relationships to facilitate that.” LiveMixtapes sifts through thousands of projects, so Shah can suggest potential producers or collaborators for Ripp’s consideration, and deliver if he says go. Shah keeps a place in Los
Angeles, and hinted that Ripp and Ed may be heading down to Atlanta to develop further. They’re not alone in that instinct to explore what the world has to offer. “Taking Ezri outside the city and tapping into the culture
and Ray Jr., and was mentored by Steph Floss. Those connections cascaded into Ezri’s eventual Sway in the Morning freestyle, a five-minute tour-de-force that introduced the young rapper to the world. He landed acting roles in
“I rock the stage, then build a person-to-person connection with every fan that talks to me after the show, meet every promoter from every venue, talk to the sound engineers, shake every person’s hand.” — Paper Paulk beyond just the walls of Cleveland early on helped him see beyond the realities of where Cleveland’s stake was in music and culture in general,” his manager Morales says. “It was crucial.” Ezri became a favorite of the city’s tastemakers. As he made his way through MC2 STEM High School, he was being invited to studio sessions hosted by Rich Paul
The Land and Empire and found a fan in rap legend, Nas, who inked him to his Mass Appeal label. His debut album dropped last week. Others, like that small Coventry crew, have been more deliberate about leaving the city. “Just from being close with people like Chip the Ripper and [Fat] Al,” Tezo says, referencing two artists whose careers didn’t
flourish as expected in Cleveland, “I already knew what it was going to take. There’s a glass ceiling in this city and you smack it. “Until that infrastructure builds in Cleveland, you gotta bounce,” says Tezo. “To build a real career – book it, bro.” He’s based in Los Angeles, where he works fairly consistently with TrapMoneyBenny, who agrees. “A lot of doors just open up in Los Angeles that you wouldn’t get in Cleveland,” he reflects. Benny has found unlimited free studio time, vetted lawyers, and the network opened up by his manager’s other client, Grammywinning singer/songwriter James Fauntelroy. “You could just bump into Travis Scott at the studio, or find a random dude who’s really good at playing the guitar, ask him to record some shit, chop it up, and it could be the next Rihanna song.” Nate Fox’s ascent since leaving has been even more staggering. He produced half of the tracks on Chance the Rapper’s breakthrough mixtape, Acid Rap, has writing and production credits on half of the Grammy-grabbing Coloring Book, and even just dropped a
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song with Paul Simon. Fox spent five years cutting his teeth in Cleveland, first at Tri-C, then at his studio internship, then in his home studio. But even after he started selling beats, he couldn’t see a way out from within the city. “It would’ve taken a real plan for the future and real money,“ he says. “We didn’t have the knowledge or capability to do what needed to be done to push it to that national level. The pool of ideas of what to do next was very small.” In 2011, his dad came to Cleveland, threw his shit in a truck, and brought him back to Pennsylvania. Nate got a job working construction outside of Philadelphia, and he’d use the money he made to rent a car every weekend and come back to Cleveland or Chicago, where he was developing ties. At 2012’s SXSW, Nate was introduced to Chance the Rapper. “I gave him a beat CD and it had, like, ‘Juice,’ ‘Favorite Song.’ After [Chance] got back to Chicago, he recorded it and sent it to me just a few days after. I was like, ‘What the fuck is this?’” he remembers. “Then he called me and asked me to do the whole project.”
Throughout 2012, Fox spent weekends in Chicago, drove all night Sunday back to his place in Pennsylvania, and start breaking walls with a sledgehammer at 6 o’clock the next morning. “A few days after Acid Rap came out, a guy named Josh Fisher who was interning at Interscope called me like, ‘Did you do this shit?’ I said yeah, and he was like, ‘You need to come the fuck out to L.A. right the fuck now. I got like six meetings for you.’ I was like, ‘OK,’ and I went to L.A. and I’m still here.”
WE’RE STILL HERE Beyond the success stories of ex-pats or artists patching things together locally, there are tangible efforts being made to bolster the culture at its roots and move past the underdog attitude. “If you’re willing to look with new eyes, you see Cleveland as a great city, a destination, with lots of opportunity,” says DJ Red-I as she thinks about the path forward. “We just have to forge it.” Bulkley House, a four-story downtown brownstone on Prospect, opened its doors in 2015 and has become a multidimensional
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FEATURE creative space for the professional hip-hop community. With brand new studios, photo suites and podcasting equipment, the space has allowed local talent to simmer, and national acts to pop in while they’re in town. In just the last year and a half, Bulkley has hosted studio sessions with artists from Migos to Post Malone. DJ Phatty Banks, one of the producers behind Royalty Camp and a local OG, used the space for sessions on a recent collaborative album, Balance, pairing local emerging artists with established figures in the scene – a perfect embodiment of what Bulkley is all about. I’m From Cleveland, the only substantial media platform for local hip-hop, is also in a progressive transition. Stursa, the blog’s founder, noted that he’s in the process of reducing the content he’s posting to only highlight the highest quality releases, like local tastemaker-curated Cosign mixtapes. “I’m trying to make I’m From Cleveland be that Fake Shore Drive for Cleveland,” says Stursa, referring to the hugely influential Chicago hip-hop blog whose cosign is respected nationwide, “highlighting what’s on in Cleveland, and pushing it out there, hopefully to a national stage.” The recent Complex and XXL features on the Cleveland scene seemed to reflect the groundwork of the site. The women of FreshProduce are hitting the ground running on a major project combining hip-hop development and entrepreneurship. Coming up through the vibrant community of Tuesday Open Mics at B-Side instilled in them the
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Red-I and Playne Jayne of FreshProduce.
importance of mentorship and feedback, and they’re hoping to provide that for young people in Garden Valley. “We just got funded for a program called FreshLo, to help develop music and business skills together with some people down in Garden Valley,” Playne Jayne says. “We’re working with different organizations from around the city and from within the neighborhood to help build entrepreneurial mindsets around hip-hop.” After spending the last year and a half on a planning grant, Red-I
| clevescene.com | November 1 - 7, 2017
and Playne Jayne are helping lead a Kresge Foundation-sponsored two-year program starting in January. This is huge. Kresge’s typical recipients in Cleveland? All the heavy hitters: CPAC, Cleveland Clinic, every community development corporation, Tri-C, Cleveland Public Theatre, even the zoo. And now, an initiative spearheaded by a hip-hop duo. “This work is the work you have to do. This is the infrastructure building,” says Red-I. “Working with groups of people with
limited resources and using their creativity and ingenuity to make something beautiful and maybe something people would pay to see. Everyone can’t conduct the train, somebody gotta lay the track.” Daniel Gray-Kontar’s Twelve Literary Arts space in Collinwood is a strong answer for Chicago’s YCA and Nate Marshall’s call for a gathering space, and it’s growing. Hosting performances, workshops, studio sessions, and informal creative sessions for young artists, it’s already knocking down a wall to take over the entire floor
“This is the infrastructure building, working with groups of people with limited resources and using their creativity and ingenuity to make something beautiful and maybe something people would pay to see.” — Red-I, FreshProduce
in its building. “Our role is to provide MCs and poets with brick and mortar space for them to feel comfortable doing their thing. It’s really minor, but at the same time it’s really important. They share their craft with other MCs, or with others who just love hip-hop. “Our thinking was just creating a teaching space that doesn’t feel like a classroom,” he continues. “It’s literally you just being you and just learning. Like everybody has done before. Somebody like Archie or myself – somebody who has been recording for a long time – almost becomes a mentor. MCs who are not as seasoned at producing high quality tracks get to learn from that mentor even though the mentor isn’t teaching in a traditional sense.” Archie Green has seen an immediate impact. “Kids were walking the street, and a couple of them walked in just to see what we were doing. We were cyphering, we had beats going, and a couple of these kids got on the mic. The older kid, 14, 15, was like, ‘What are y’all doing?’ He was detached, but he stuck around, saw and heard what we were doing, and he ended up recording on the mic in our studio space, and by the end of the night, he’s helping fold chairs. He cares now. He sees this place in his neighborhood as valuable.” Like FreshProduce, Gray-Kontar has managed to tap into funding sources that give these projects sustainability and support. “A lot of people operate under the premise that there’s no money here, but that’s a false premise,” Gray-Kontar notes, “There’s a lot of money here. It’s bananas.”
For Gray-Kontar, he’s leveraged funding from the Cleveland Foundation, which grants almost $90 million annually to community non-profits. Twelve Literary Arts is one of those recipients, and Kontar has managed to find harmony between the foundation’s interests and those of the hip-hop community. “The question for me isn’t necessarily how well how do we push back against institutions. It’s more, how can I say to those with power, ‘These are the needs. Let’s create an environment where we meet the larger needs of the city and also meet the needs of the public that we’re trying to serve.’ “I’m not the first person that has tried to do that and I’m not the only person trying to do that. I just happen to emerge trying to do some work in Cleveland at a time when Cleveland really needed it, in a neighborhood that is embracing who I was and what I was trying to do. A lot is right place, right time, and just luck.” He might be right. But if Cleveland’s rap scene keeps getting more “lucky” breaks, if they champion pioneers seeking to serve young artists and community through hard work, if young rappers start getting the support they need to develop as artists, if the couple of artists who’ve forged their own path through this Midwestern concrete jungle keep pushing through and giving back, Cleveland could solidify itself as the right place and the right time, no luck about it.
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WED
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soda campaign, is showing off at the Improv. Cast as the token black friend in every comedy ever made, he’s best known as the token black friend in 2001’s Zoolander. That Godfrey’s so hot right now, touring the country and making regular appearances on Comics Unleashed. His show starts at 7:30 tonight, and he has shows scheduled through Sunday. Tickets start at $17. (Brittany Rees) 1148 Main Ave., 216-696-IMPROV, clevelandimprov.com.
Kayagum virtuoso Ji Aeri performs at the Cleveland Museum of Art. See: Sunday.
MUSIC
Chamber Music in the Galleries This monthly concert series at the Cleveland Museum of Art places young musicians from the Cleveland Institute of Music and Case Western Reserve University in the CMA galleries. Now in its sixth season, the series features “mixed programs of chamber music” for “a unique and intimate experience.” The performances often feature instruments from the museum’s keyboard collection. Tonight’s concert begins at 6 and lasts for about an hour. Admission is free. (Jeff Niesel) 11150 East Blvd., 216-421-7350, clevelandart.org.
FRI FILM
MUSIC
Get the Led Out A tribute to British rockers Led Zeppelin, the Philadelphia-based band Get The Led Out consists of six veteran musicians who aim to re-create the band’s songs without the aid of any technological gimmicks. If a studio version of the song had three guitars on it, the band plays it with three guitars. Expect to hear both the hits and the deeper cuts that the band rarely performed in concert. The show starts at 8 tonight at the State Theatre. Tickets are $10 to $37.50. (Niesel) 1519 Euclid Avenue, 216-640-8669, playhousesquare.org. SPOKEN WORD
Keep Talking Keep Talking is an exciting storytellers program where locals can share their real-life experiences on a theme. The series offers attendees the chance to grab a drink and a dog while listening to some of their Cleveland neighbors tell tall tales. The theme for tonight’s event is “Medical.” It starts at 8 p.m. at the Happy Dog in Gordon Square. Admission is $5. (Niesel) 5801 Detroit Ave., 216-651-9474, happydogcleveland.com.
THU
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Art of Exchange: Contemporary Cuban Art in Cleveland features a variety of artwork drawn from several private and public local collections. The Art of Exchange opens with a reception from 6 to 8 p.m. today and remains on view through Dec. 15. Admission is free. (Josh Usmani) 11141 East Blvd., 216-421-7000, cia. edu. ART
Art Therapy Studio Join Spaces and members of the Art Therapy Studio tonight (and every first Thursday night) from 6 to 7:30 for an evening of inspiration, artmaking and community connection. Tonight’s edition is all about painting and poetry: Attendees will have a chance to experiment with some very fluid and abstract watercolor techniques and gather meaningful words from old books and magazines (or write an original haiku) to collage onto their paintings. A $5 admission fee covers the cost of supplies, and all materials are provided. At least five reservations are required for the class to be held. Please RSVP by calling the Art Therapy Studio directly at 216-791-9303, or by emailing mepps@ spacesgallery.org. (Usmani) 2900 Detroit Ave., 216-621-2314, spacesgallery.org.
ART
THEATER
The Art of Exchange: Contemporary Cuban Art in Cleveland The latest exhibition at the Cleveland Institute of Art’s Reinberger Gallery explores and celebrates the cultural exchanges between Cleveland and Cuba, specifically Cleveland organizations and Cuban artists. The
The Colored Museum Tony Award-winning playwright and director George C. Wolfe is the man behind The Colored Museum, 11 scenes or “exhibits,” through which the audience is taken on “a journey of oppression and racism in a comedic yet thought-provokingly impactful
fashion.” The play aims to redefine our ideas of what it means to be black in contemporary America. Performances take place at 7:30 tonight, tomorrow night and Saturday night at the Ohio Theatre. Tickets are $20. (Niesel) 1501 Euclid Ave., 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org. ART
E11even 2 Day Local artists Rich Cihlar, Billy Nainiger and Christina Sadowski founded E11even 2, their gallery on the first floor of 78th Street Studios in January 2014. Known for its eclectic, themed exhibitions, the gallery’s schedule typically includes a combination of group exhibitions featuring dozens of local artists and solo shows by the gallery’s founders. In the summer of 2015, the gallery expanded into the vacated space next door, doubling in size. After nearly four years, E11even 2 is celebrating its anniversary early with E11even 2 Day, appropriately taking place today. From 6 to 8 p.m., E11even 2 hosts an anniversary celebration and preview of its next show, Ratio 1:12, opening during November’s Third Fridays open studios next week. The show features all new work by Cihlar, Nainiger and Sadowski. Guests will receive 10 percent off any purchase made during the preview party. Admission is free. (Usmani) 1300 West 78th St., 440-724-9261, e11even2.com. COMEDY
Godfrey Remember that 7Up guy? Good. Because he’s in town tonight. Godfrey, who got his start during a 1980s viral
All Things Bakelite: The Age of Plastic Director John Maher’s documentary, All Things Bakelite: The Age of Plastic, profiles Leo Hendrik Baekeland, the “father of modern plastics.” In 1907, the Belgian-born American chemist created Bakelite, the first wholly synthetic plastic. The movie explores his life with the use of historical re-enactments, rare archival footage, photos, first-person accounts, interviews with scientists, historians, and artists, and musical performances. Tonight at 6 at CWRU’s Strosacker Auditorium, Case Western Reserve University Professor Hatsuo “Ken” Ishida hosts a free screening of the film. Maher and Executive Producer Hugh Karraker, Baekeland’s greatgrandson, will participate in a Q&A following the film. (Niesel) 2180 Adelbert Rd., 216-368-CINE, films.cwru.edu. MUSIC
The Dirty Songbook Taking the concept from Jerry Silverman’s The Dirty Songbook, tonight’s cabaret performance that takes place at Kennedy’s Theatre will feature Cameron Cabot and Nathan Maslyk performing a collection of risque tunes. The guys have developed a “hilariously suggestive” selection of songs designed to make you blush. The concert takes place at 8 tonight and tomorrow night. Tickets are $30. (Niesel) 1501 Euclid Ave., 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org. MUSIC
Enigma & Emanuel Ax Pianist Emanuel Ax joins conductor Vladimir Ashkenazy tonight at Severance Hall to play Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1 as well as Elgar’s famous Enigma Variations. An hour before tonight’s concert, Cicilia Yudha, | clevescene.com | November 1 - 7, 2017
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GET OUT an associate professor of piano at Youngstown State University, gives a free pre-concert talk. The performance begins at 8, and tickets start at $81. Performances also take place at 8 p.m. tomorrow and at 3 p.m. on Sunday. (Niesel) 11001 Euclid Ave., 216-231-1111, clevelandorchestra.com. SHOPPING
Holiday Store Opening Reception Looking to start your holiday
shopping early? Just days after Halloween, Heights Arts presents its 16th Annual Holiday Store Opening Reception beginning with a member’s reception from 5 to 7 p.m., followed by a public reception from 7 to 9 p.m. This year’s Holiday Store includes artwork and crafts by more than 85 local and regional artists. The gallery features a wide variety of items, including; paintings, photography, jewelry, clothing, music, handmade artist cards, fine art prints, ceramics, glass, wood, fiber, books by local writers and more. Open seven days a week, Heights Arts Holiday Store remains open through December, except holidays.
Admission is free. (Usmani) 2175 Lee Rd., Hts., 216-371-3457, heightsarts.org.
SAT
11/04
SPOKEN WORD
Distinguished Lecture in Indian Art Today, the Cleveland Museum of Art hosts its second annual Distinguished Lecture in Indian Art at 2:30 p.m. in the museum’s Gartner Auditorium. Robert L. Brown, professor of Indian and Southeast Asian Art at UCLA, will give a presentation titled Transformations of a Buddhist
Savior: Art and Avalokiteshvara. Avalokiteshvara is considered the most popular and important bodhisattva. Some of the most celebrated artistic representations of Avalokiteshvara are created in Cambodia, and one important example, never seen outside of Cambodia, is on loan to the museum this fall. In addition to teaching at UCLA since 1986, Brown has served as curator in the department of South and Southeast Asian Art at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) since 2001. After receiving his PhD in Indian art history from UCLA in 1981, he has trained more than twenty graduate students who now work at major museums and universities throughout the country. The event is free, but tickets are required. To register, visit engage. clevelandart.org or call the ticket center at 216-421-7350. The lecture is made possible by the Dr. Ranajit K. Datta in Memory of Kiran P. and S.C. Datta Endowment Fund. (Usmani) 11150 East Blvd., 216-421-7350, clevelandart.org. FAMILY FUN
An Evening with Scott Hamilton & Friends Tonight’s 18th annual An Evening with Scott Hamilton & Friends ice show and gala serves a dual purpose. While it offers fans a chance to see a champion skater strut his stuff, it also serves as a benefit for benefit cancer research, education and survivorship programs at Cleveland Clinic’s Taussig Cancer Institute. Singersongwriter Peter Cetera will provide the soundtrack for the event which will feature Olympic skating champions and medalists. It begins at 5 p.m. at the Q. Tickets start at $32.50. (Niesel) 1 Center Ct., 216-420-2000, theqarena.com.
All neW
ART
Highlighting 30+ years of induction ceremonies! The hall of fame pays homage to our inductees through an immersive concert-like experience and a space for fans to share their own stories. 1100 Rock and Roll Boulevard, Cleveland, Ohio 44114 • 216-781-ROCK • rockhall.com
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| clevescene.com | November 1 - 7, 2017
*On general admission when showing a valid ID with ZIP beginning in 440, 441, 442 or 443.
Free First Saturday Have you recently visited MOCA Cleveland to view its Fall 2017 Exhibitions yet? If not, never fear. Thanks to a generous gift from PNC, admission is free to all on the first Saturday of each month. Stop in today from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. to explore MOCA Cleveland’s current exhibitions: the first U.S. museum solo show by British artist Phil Collins (not the musician) and A Poet*hical Wager, a group exhibition of contemporary abstract artists from around the world who use abstraction to convey complex feelings and ethical concepts that can’t be depicted through representational imagery. For Collins’ first U.S. museum exhibition, the artist has created six listening booths, each with a seven-inch vinyl recording of
GET OUT original songs created in collaboration with guests of a homeless shelter in Cologne, Germany. Collins installed a phone booth with a free line at the shelter, available for unlimited local and international calls, with the understanding that the conversations would be recorded anonymously. Collins offered selected recording to his musician-friends, who used the recordings to create new songs for the recording booths. MOCA Cleveland’s Fall 2017 Exhibitions remain on view through Jan. 28. (Usmani) 11400 Euclid Ave, 216-421-8671, mocacleveland.org. SPOKEN WORD
An Interview with Cheetah Chrome and Johnny Blitz of the Dead Boys Earlier this year, Dead Boys’ Cheetah Chrome and Johnny Blitz came through town to celebrate the 40th anniversary of their seminal album, Young, Loud and Snotty. Tonight at 7 at the Gill and Tommy LiPuma Center – Black Box Theatre on the Tri-C Metro Campus, they’ll talk about the tour as well as a new book of photos. Dave Treat, the photographer who published a book of “lost” Dead Boys photos will also be on hand. Following the interview, there will be a live performance by Cheetah Chrome and Johnny Blitz. The program will conclude with a signing, and books and CDs will be available for purchase. Tickets are $10. (Niesel) 2809 Woodland Ave. FILM
Rocky Horror Picture Show It’s the first Saturday of the month again, so tonight the Cedar Lee Theatre hosts a midnight screening of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, the 1975 cult classic that still draws an exuberant, costumed crowd that likes to throw rice and dry toast and sing along to the songs in the movie. Tickets are $9.50. (Niesel) 2163 Lee Rd., Heights, 216-321-5411, clevelandcinemas.com.
is Spaces in Wonderland, and this year’s honorees are Fred and Laura Bidwell, founders of the neighboring Transformer Station. Guests are encouraged to dress up as a favorite Lewis Carroll character. VIP tickets are $150 ($100 tax deductible, 6:30 p.m. entry), general admission is $50 ($35 tax deductible, 8 p.m. entry) and dance party tickets are $10 (10 p.m. entry). (Usmani) 2900 Detroit Ave., 216-621-2314, spacesgallery.org.
SUN
11/05
MUSIC
Ji Aeri In conjunction with the exhibition Chaekgeori: Pleasure of Possessions in Korean Painted Screens, kayagum virtuoso Ji Aeri will deliver an “intimate” concert of Korean music, both traditional and contemporary, today at 2 p.m at the Cleveland Museum of Art. The kayagum, a zither-like instrument with 12 strings, is related to the Japanese koto and the Chinese guzheng. Aeri will perform both contemporary and traditional music on her instrument. The performance takes place on the closing day of the Korean screens exhibition. Tickets are $30 to $45. (Niesel) 11150 East Blvd., 216-421-7350, clevelandart.org. MUSIC
John Gorka Folk icon John Gorka has toured and recorded since the 1970s. The veteran musician came out of the Northeast folk rock scene. Specifically, he emerged from Godfrey Daniels, one of the oldest folk clubs in the country. At one point, he even lived in the club’s basement and acted as resident MC and sound man. He performs tonight at 7 at the Happy Days Lodge in Peninsula as part of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park Concert Series. Tickets are $25. (Niesel) 500 West Streetsboro Rd., Peninsula, 330-657-2909, ConservancyforCVNP.org. SPOKEN WORD
ART
Spaces in Wonderland For the first time since moving into its beautiful new home on Detroit Avenue in Hingetown, Spaces hosts its annual benefit from 6:30 p.m. to midnight tonight. As always, the event includes a cocktail-style, themed costume party and an art auction featuring more than 75 artists, including a curated section from which proceeds go directly to Spaces capital campaign. This year’s theme
A Special Memorial Event Julian Stanczak is considered one of the pioneers of the Op Art movement. A longtime resident of Cleveland, he originally received the Cleveland Arts Prize in 1969, and was appointed the organization’s Special Honoree in 2015. Born in Poland in 1928, Stanczak was forced into a Siberian labor camp at the beginning of World War II. While imprisoned, he permanently lost the use of his right (dominant) arm. After escaping Siberia in 1942,
WJW.CLEVELAND
| clevescene.com | November 1 - 7, 2017
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GET OUT Stanczak learned to write and paint left-handed at the age of 13 in a Polish refugee camp in Uganda. Stanczak moved to the U.S. in 1950 and eventually settled in Cleveland. Stanczak taught at the Art Academy of Cincinnati from 1957 to 1964 before serving as professor of painting at Cleveland Institute of Art from 1964 to 1995. In 1998, his 50-year career was honored with a collaborative retrospective between Youngstown’s Butler Institute of American Art, the Columbus Museum of Art and the Josef Albers Museum in Germany. In honor of Stanczak’s life and career, the Cleveland Institute of Art hosts a special memorial event from 2 to 3:30 p.m. today in CIA’s Peter B. Lewis Theater. Scheduled speakers include noted art historian Henry Adams, MOCA Cleveland director Jill Snyder, friend and collector Neil Rector and CIA president and CEO Grafton Nunes. Admission is free. (Usmani) 11141 East Blvd., 216-421-7000, cia.edu. FUNDRAISER
Touchdown for Hunger Hunger Network of Greater Cleveland aims to “reduce hunger and enhance nutrition by providing food and other health related vital services to individuals and families by actively and effectively participating in a coordinated response to people in need.” The fourth annual Touchdown for Hunger, which takes place today from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Greater Cleveland Aquarium, is a donation event that benefits the organization. Organizers suggest patrons bring jars of peanut butter, boxes of oatmeal, cans of beans and other non-perishable food items to the event. In exchange, attendees bringing donations will receive discounted $7 same-day admission. (Niesel) 2000 Sycamore St., 216-862-8803, greaterclevelandaquarium.com.
MON
11/06
NIGHTLIFE
Wing Ding Doodle Blues icon Howlin’ Wolf famously covered “Wang Dang Doodle,” the old blues tune penned by Willie Dixon. Prosperity Social Club in Tremont has adopted that slogan, calling its wing night Wing Ding
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| clevescene.com | November 1 - 7, 2017
Doodle. The weekly event features specials on Buffalo wings and cold brews. Prosperity will not only serve up substantial, $1 whole wings, but it’ll also offering meatless Monday “wing” baskets for vegans. Discounted drafts and a playlist of vintage-electric blues and soulful R&B curated by local musician Clint Holley will be on tap as well. Wing Ding Doodle takes place every Monday from 6 p.m. to midnight. (Niesel) 1109 Starkweather Ave., 216-9371938, prosperitysocialclub.com.
TUE
11/07
MUSIC
Classical Revolution Cleveland For many years, classical music wasn’t intended for the masses. Seemingly reserved for quasiexclusive concert halls, classical music hid from the outside world. Classical Revolution Cleveland helps tear down that wall and once again bring great chamber music to the people. Showcasing a variety of performers in bars, cafes and the like, it’s actually not that different from how people used to listen to chamber music. The first Tuesday of every month, CRC brings its wide array of chamber music to the Euclid Tavern. Performers like the Trepanning Trio, Anime Duo, students of Cleveland Institute of Music and even Cleveland Orchestra members grace the stage in these exciting concerts. Full of immensely talented performers, CRC re-instills the relevancy of this vibrant art form. Tonight’s free, all-ages performance starts at 8. (Stoops) 11625 Euclid Ave., 216-231-5400, happydogcleveland.com. FILM
Flesh and Blood Flesh and Blood director Mark Webber (Green Room, The End of Love) plays the lead role in Flesh and Blood, his film about a man who who struggles to rebuild his life after a stint in prison. Based on a real family, the movie blurs the line between narrative and documentary, and many real-life people play their counterpart characters. The film screens tonight at 7:30 at the Capitol, and Webber will be available via Skype for a Q&A after its screening. Regular admission prices apply. (Niesel) 1390 West 65th St., 216-651-7295, clevelandcinemas.com.
Find more events @clevescene.com t@clevelandscene
Friday, December 1
7PM - MIDNIGHT
DOWNTOWN WILLOUGHBY
Part Of Brought to you by:
$15 Adv. $20 Day Of
BeneďŹ ting The Downtown Willoughby Organization and Willoughby-Eastlake Schools Food Pantry
SceneHolidayBarBlast.com
| clevescene.com | November 1 - 7, 2017
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ART SIMPLER TIMES A journey into Dana Oldfather’s life in Candyland at the Galleries at CSU By Dott von Schneider DANA OLDFATHER’S magnificent paintings have played a key role in pushing other artists to expand their boundaries and understanding of abstract artwork. In her latest exhibition, Candyland, at the Galleries at Cleveland State University, Oldfather moves us again with her ability to make us think. “We are so bombarded with information and the belief of abundance of everything,” she says during a walk through the exhibition. “These works are about my very simple domestic life, which is the antithesis of opulence.” In this series of paintings, she starts simply with a photo and then creates a bunch of drawings, narrowing those down to the fi nal idea for a particular piece. In fact, the canvases may contain up to 30 layers -- from being primed four times, to spray paint, to the under-painting in drawing and acrylic, to the point in which the once realistic under-painting becomes more blown out. Oldfather adds and erases elements and successfully tricks our eye into believing the paintings have been created quickly. “[But] mostly I’m an additive painter so things are just kind of getting added and morphing into other stuff, three or four layers of acrylic then a really heavy layer of spray paint and then several layers of oil paint. So they take a long time to make,” she says. In the piece “Clearing Primrose,” we are clearly looking at a large painting of a flower. As we regard the field, it becomes evident, however, that we are not. There are two figures, parenthetical to the ongoing battle between humans and nature. It is a painting of chaos through the lens of simple day-to-day life. Oldfather says that the piece is about how she can’t keep up with the Joneses. Using abstracted photos and images of her neighbors shoveling their
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drives, she brings us back into the quotidian. Candyland came about partially from the three small and three larger paintings in the front and back of the gallery, respectively. “There are pieces on carbon fiber that turned into little candy nuggets,” says Oldfather of the two three-painting series titled “Colored Egg for GZ” (the initials of General Zod, Kryptonian villain extraordinaire in Superman) and “Lemonheads” (based on her husband’s favorite candy). “They were non-objective, just like these candy pieces. I’m learning what the paint does and what my brushes do so that I can get to this point and get it to work with a message or with a narrative,” she says. Her son is really into the board game of the same name,
with a friend’s child. The young girl on the left is pointing the toy gun at Arlo and shooting bubbles at him. His response is to crouch down and laugh. The colors and zippy lines very much depict the ease of child’s play. The lush green grass gives the illusion of being in a dream when life was seemingly easier and we were less bombarded with images and negativity. In “Night Walls” the deep, purplish pigment with its matte and shininess reminds us of grape flavored rock candy against a midnight blue sky. The figure is lit only by a lemon yellow campfire. “Being city people we are so conditioned to the street lights at night, but when you are camping, the darkness can be so thick it’s like you are in a room, like you’re in a walled room,” she says. “I had an odd feeling of coziness and
CANDYLAND THROUGH DEC. 9 AT THE GALLERIES AT CSU 1307 EUCLID AVENUE | 216.687.2103
incidentally, and Candyland is a game of color recognition. It is wonderful in its simplicity and as we walk through the gallery space Oldfather points out more scenes of meditation as well as pure childhood joy. “Bubblegun” is based on a photograph of the artist’s son Arlo
| clevescene.com | November 1 - 7, 2017
being enclosed.” She successfully translates this experience. Standing in front of the large artwork we get a sense of calm. The opposite feeling is in effect as we come face to face with “Dentist Chair with Stuffies,” which harkens us back to the anxiety ridden days of the 1970s, where horrific-looking
tools accentuated the dentist chair. These days dentist offices have all sorts of images and screens and stuffed animals to distract children. Here we see the images of the little clown fish, Nemo and a stuffed shark toy, swimming around the chair in hopes of giving comfort. “Sundays” is a frenetic interpretation of a weekend gathering bringing together images, social media and politics. The rose window is actually the windows of her friends’ loft where they partake in fellowship each week. The scene is illuminated with light. Two figures are cooking and talking and yet it looks as if they are draped in cloth. What caught our eye is how very much this painting resembles the infamous and highly moving sculpture “The Ecstacy of Saint Theresa” by the Italian artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini. “Sundays” is a strong piece in both its visual and underlying meaning. In Candyland, Oldfather effectively pulls us into her life and makes us ponder paring down our own. It’s a suggestion you may or may not end up taking in the end, but the journey itself is well worth your time.
scene@clevescene.com t@clevelandscene
Photo by Roger Mastroianni
STAGE
TRAPPED, WITH LITTLE HOPE OF ESCAPE No, The Diary of Anne Frank is not a play about the Trump era. Or is it? By Christine Howey IT HAS BEEN SAID THAT THE power some plays possess emanates not from the writing or the acting but what the audience itself brings to the performance. That seems especially true with The Diary of Anne Frank, now at the Cleveland Play House. Ever since the play debuted in 1955, only a decade after the end of World War II, people in the U.S. have encountered this material with a mixture of horror and relief. Horror at the barbaric actions of the Nazis in their dedication to rid the world of any Jewish presence, and relief that such heinous behavior on a grand scale had been relegated to the dim recesses of history. Well that was then and then is now. As America stumbles haphazardly towards a fascist state under the Trumpian banner of white supremacy and free-floating bigotry, there are echoes of Nazi Germany everywhere you look. Except now, those echoes sound more like clarion calls as you watch this interesting production of the play by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett, as adapted by Wendy Kesselman. As you enter the theater, you are confronted with rough-hewn boards and barbed wire (actually, artfully designed threads that look so real you have to touch them to believe they’re not made of metal) that give you a sense of foreboding. Curiously, that bone-deep chill you receive upon entering is never quite matched during the remainder of the show.
One reason is that the excellent director Laura Kepley, CPH’s artistic director, has decided to buff out some of the rougher edges of certain characters. This works splendidly in showing the tender and human sides of characters such as the usually unlikable Mr, and Mrs. Van Daan (Laura Perrotta and Bruce Winant) and crotchety Mr Dussel (Lee Wilkof), the dentist who shares Anne’s bedroom. In addition, Yaron Lotan as young Peter Van Daan is endearing in his adolescent, clumsy attempts to connect with Anne. But this interpretation by Kepley puts a softer focus on the eight occupants of the small, three-story annex in Amsterdam owned by the heroic Miep Gies. Clearly, living in such confinement for more than two years would drive anyone a bit nuts, even without the daily fear of being discovered by the Gestapo. And certainly, there are flashes of arguments between and among the four Franks, the three
Frank (Rick D. Wasserman), Gies (Amy Fritsche) and her associate Mr. Kraler (Tom Woodward), who keep this little tribe functioning for months on end, against all odds. Otto uses his wisdom and gentle touch to keep the peace inside, while Gies and Kraler bring in supplies and news from the outside. As for the Frank women, Anne’s mother Edith (Lise Bruneau) is properly wracked with fear mixed with quiet despair, and Anne’s sister Margot (Sarah Cuneo) is passive and obedient. That stands in sharp contrast to sprightly Anne, played with energy and enthusiasm by Annie Fox, who throws herself around these rooms and often at other people in mini-explosions of Anne’s irrepressible girlish spirit. However, one is always aware that Fox is actually about a decade older than the 13-year-old Anne. Too often, Fox the theater-toned actor seems more present than Anne, the vulnerable, skittish, and profoundly
THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK THROUGH NOVEMBER 19 AT THE CLEVELAND PLAY HOUSE, PLAYHOUSE SQUARE, 1407 EUCLID AVE., 216-241-6000, CLEVELANDPLAYHOUSE.COM
Van Daans and Dussel. But by airbrushing some feisty attitudes, we aren’t presented with a fully threedimensional sense of these people, making their ultimate fate land with less impact. The script is understandably impressed by Anne’s dad Otto
compassionate young girl. Fox speaks in the voice of a grown woman (and happily avoids any possible temptation to impersonate a 13-year-old’s vocal quality). But the sense of Anne as a fragile child just entering her teenage years is unfortunately missing. In the
original stage production a 17-yearold Susan Strasberg played Anne, and one would think a teenage actor could handle this task. As you gaze down on the scenic design by Robert Mark Morgan, where the rooms of the annex are arrayed like a live blueprint, you are aware of the cramped quarters. However the layout of the Outcalt Theatre, featuring steeply raked seating that surrounds most of the stage, tends to pull the audience away from connecting with the actors’ faces. This is a bit frustrating in this play, which is so personal in both its dimension and intent. Setting quibbles aside, The Diary of Anne Frank feels fresher and more relevant now than at any time in recent history. At one moment in the play, on Dec. 31 of their second year in self-imposed captivity, Edith says, “I remember when a New Year was worth looking forward to.” And suddenly, you realize that a New Year’s celebration is bearing down on us, bringing with it the prospect of 365 more days of challenges to our teetering democracy. That is, if we haven’t already been “suffused with an incandescent glow” (Tom Lehrer, circa 1959) of nuclear war. We are all trapped in a secret annex of Donald Trump’s fevered brain, and there may be no way out.
scene@clevescene.com t@christinehowey | clevescene.com | November 1 - 7, 2017
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just a few of the featured bottles you’ll sample | clevescene.com | November 1 - 7, 2017
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| clevescene.com | November 1 - 7, 2017
MOVIES FEAR THE DEER Lanthimos’ The Killing of a Sacred Deer has Lobster vibes, but none of the heart By Sam Allard YORGOS LANTHIMOS’ THE Killing of a Sacred Deer, which opens in limited release Friday, begins with one of the more repulsive images I’ve ever seen on screen. It is the organs – maybe the stomach and the pancreas? – of a human torso mid-surgery, filmed in grotesque close-up. These organs thump and ripple in lockstep with a heart that beats offscreen, unnaturally hard and fast, while gloved hands begin to sew thread through the flaps of skin at the edge of the open wound. Yuck. If you had any question about whether this new psychological dramedy from the director of last year’s The Lobster would be a tough sit, here’s your answer right off the bat. Lanthimos’ latest is at times a thrumming genre-bender with startling narrative developments, but it’s more of a horror than anything else, and because Lanthimos operates at such an emotional remove – there is no face attached to the organs in the opening image, for example – it often makes for extremely uncomfortable viewing. Furthermore, Sacred Deer has neither the absurdist humor nor the allegorical heft of The Lobster, which made that film’s violence easier to justify. Still, no one can argue with the originality here. The gloved hands in the opening surgery belong to
one Steven Murphy (Colin Farrell, who also starred in The Lobster). He is married to a successful ophthalmologist, Anna (Nicole Kidman), and seems to enjoy his well-appurtenanced family life in an upper crust suburb of Cincinnati, the skyline of which – Ohio viewers will be pleased to know – is on recurring display throughout. But the central relationship of the film is between Steven and a troubled teenager named Martin (Dunkirk’s Barry Keoghan). Martin has adopted Steven as a father figure, after his own dad died a few years back. Steven is intimately connected to that death, and feels a grim sense of responsibility for Martin. But Martin’s behavior gets increasingly discomfiting, increasingly sinister. His clinging
personality turns stalker-ish. Soon, he’s absconding for evenings with Steven’s daughter and showing up in Steven’s office unannounced when he should be at school. Up until an hour or so into the film, if not for Lanthimos’ stylized dialogue, it would scan like a standard stalker flick. But then Martin reveals something to Steven that throws a wrench in the formula: Steven must make a terrible choice – he must “kill a sacred deer,” as the title suggests – to equalize the pain that Martin felt at the loss of his dad. (It’s a close thematic relative of the “compatibility” material in The Lobster, where lovers could only pair off if they had something essential in common.) Here, Martin wants justice, and he’s ruthlessly committed to an ideology of equality. When he bites
Steven late in the film, drawing blood, he does the same to himself. But if Steven does not submit to what Martin says, an even greater tragedy will befall him. The question that you might find yourself asking, as a bizarre chain of events begins to play out, is how. Is Martin just a mentally unstable kid or does he actually have supernatural powers? When Anna pleads with Martin in a desperate moment, Martin says the terrible choice that Steven must make is the only way he can think of to balance the scales. He is the architect and agent of Steven’s misery, but it’s impossible to discern how he’s making these things happen. (It’s almost certainly irrelevant, though it still nags.) Lanthimos’ settings and camerawork all make for a technically superb production, and though the film’s second half is unbelievable in many respects, you cannot help feeling a disturbed sense of wonderment as the medical anomalies mount. The performance of Barry Keoghan as Martin is most vivid and disturbing of all. He’s a perfect Lanthimos villain – as homely as he is dispassionate, as inscrutable as he is viciously weird.
sallard@clevescene.com t@SceneSallard
SPOTLIGHT: A BAD MOMS CHRISTMAS THE CHRISTMAS SEASON seems to bring with it at least one raunchy and irreverent holidaythemed film. This year’s entry, A Bad Moms Christmas, fits the bill. While its stereotypical genderrole-defying spirit is admirable, its rather conventional narrative (the “bad moms” must confront their own “bad moms” and “take back Christmas”) doesn’t have much going for it. The movie is currently showing area-wide. Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell and Kathryn Hahn all reprise their roles from the movie’s predecessor, 2016’s Bad Moms. The film centers
on Amy (Kunis) and her attempts to have a mellow Christmas. Her plan hits a snag when her uptight mother (Christine Baranski) shows up and announces her plans to throw a lavish party at Amy’s house. She quickly hires decorators who do up the outside to the degree that the place could wind up on an episode of The Great Christmas Light Fight. To cope with her overbearing, perfectionist mother, Amy recruits her gal pals Carla (Hahn) and Kiki (Bell) for a bit of day drinking at the mall. They playfully molest an unsuspecting Santa Claus and
steal a Christmas tree from the Lady Footlocker. But back at their respective homes, they all have mother issues. Kiki’s mother (Cheryl Hines) is too clingy, and Carla’s mom (Susan Sarandon) doesn’t even know her grandson’s name. It’s not giving too much away to say that each daughter reaches the boiling point with her mother. Amy has the most drastic response and does everything she can to prevent her mother’s party from happening. Even her kids and her kowtowing father (Peter Gallagher) can’t believe the animosity she shows toward her mother.
Some of the more serious moments in the film’s second half are truly heartwarming, but this dramedy just doesn’t have the naturalness of its predecessors (the film relies on an excessive number of mother-daughter montages, for example, and Amy utters “what the fuck” one too many times). It also leaves the door open for a potential “bad grandmothers,” even though those characters all come off as clichés. — Jeff Niesel
jniesel@clevescene.com t@jniesel | clevescene.com | November 1 - 7, 2017
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EAT
Photos courtesy of TRG Realty
HIGH STEAKS Marble Room’s service has a long way to go to catch up to its stunning setting and menu By Douglas Trattner STANDING AT THE SWEEPING quartz bar, our party was ideally positioned to take in the breathtaking grandeur of the Marble Room. Designed by Walker and Weeks, the dream team behind Severance Hall, the stunning interior has all the hallmarks of Beaux Arts-style architecture. Ringed with columns, soaring to a neck-craning 40 feet, and embellished with gilded chandeliers, sexy marble staircases and ornate ironwork, the building is a bottomless bucket of eye candy. We should know; the four of us stood at that bar for nearly an hour before being shown to our table despite having a reservation. Being glumly informed by an unapologetic host that your table isn’t ready is one thing, but to be ignored for another 40 minutes without so much as an offer of a beverage is a demoralizing start to what was intended to be a celebratory feast. “Is it worth it?” That’s a question every diner personally must wrestle with. I’m more than happy to pay a steep surcharge for a steak, even though I can prepare one at home for a fraction of the price, to be treated like a king in a storybook setting. I’ve cheerfully forked over a half-week’s wages to linger in some of the world’s finest dining rooms, where guests are bundled up in the warm embrace of gracious, anticipatory hospitality. From the moment we crossed the threshold at Marble Room, we were engaged in a disappointing struggle for relevance with a service staff so dispassionate
we could only assume it was performance art. It would be another 18 minutes after being seated that water would find its way into our etched crystal glasses. When the wine finally arrived, another 10 minutes later, it was rightly offered to me for assessment and acceptance. The server then proceeded to fill my glass before those of my three tablemates, two of whom are ladies. I’m not one to stand on ceremony, but that runs afoul of both Wine Etiquette and just plain etiquette. I’ll admit that the first glass of wine – a lovely Gran Reserva from Rioja ($65) – went down fast, but it would be another 20 minutes before anybody bothered to notice. Marble Room specializes in the sort of high-ticket fare that one would expect in an opulent specialoccasion restaurant. Oysters on the half shell, plump shrimp cocktail, King crab legs and butterflied lobster tails all can be ordered individually or united into one grand tasting.
rice against the crispy filigree of a thousand fried potato threads. In a place like this, for a price like that, you’d expect to see a lump-filled crab cake ($20) held together by little more than its own gravity. Here, the crispy cake is as slender and uniform as a quarter pounder, altogether lump, bump or chunk free. At some point in the evening – precisely two hours after we arrived for our reservations, to be exact – management became woke to my identity and the performance art took a 180-degree turn. That’s when no fewer than eight staffers descended upon our table and did their best service à la russe impression, attempting to simultaneously serve each diner. The awkward flourish ended with a slice of Hudson Valley duck breast ($36) lodged between my ass and the chair, to be discovered an hour or so later as we departed. The steaks are USDA Prime and priced between $38 for small filet on up to $125 for a terrifying tomahawk. Our bone-in strip ($58)
MARBLE ROOM 623 EUCLID AVE., CLEVELAND | 216-523-7000 WWW.MARBLEROOMCLE.COM
A slick of truffle-infused ponzu managed to not get in the way of the spotless hamachi crudo ($16), thin shingles of fish garnished with pert jalapeno wheels and radish shavings. Fish and Chips ($16), a cleverly named rolled sushi, sets the firm plushness of raw fish-filled
was nicely charred and cooked to temp. Chops are served simply and without sides, unless you add them. We did: the horseradish potato gratin ($11) was decadent and finely textured, but it had no identifiable heat or flavor of horseradish. Grilled broccolini ($12) appears just as
it sounds: an attractive bundle of green, crunchy, flowery stalks. A seared sea scallop dish ($38), too, was pleasantly straightforward, with evenly cooked seafood atop a bed of chopped roasted cauliflower. We found the seafood cioppino fettucine ($37) to be too heavy on pasta and tomato sauce and too light on the promised clams, scallops, shrimp and fish. It wasn’t just our table that seemed to be striking out; everywhere we looked we saw diners craning their necks, not to better take in the view, but in hopes of flagging down a warm body. As once-romantic dates soured all around us, servers labored like untrained marathoners to keep pace with lofty expectations. More than anything, it was the defeated disposition of those servers that spoiled the mood. There’s no question that Marble Room will be high on the mustvisit list of well-heeled diners both local and distant. And there’s no question that we experienced them at their absolute worst. But if we want visitors to leave our city with a favorable impression of our dining scene, and if, like most of us, a spin through the majesty and price point of Marble Room is once or twice a year treat, they’ll have to do a better job treating everyone, and not just a dining critic, like kings in a storybook setting.
dtrattner@clevescene.com t@dougtrattner | clevescene.com | November 1 - 7, 2017
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Photo courtesy of ClusterTruck
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By Douglas Trattner IT’S DIFFICULT TO IMAGINE somebody spending heaps of cash to build out a restaurant that doesn’t welcome diners. But that’s exactly what Chris Baggott and his team are presently doing in Cleveland. Located just east of downtown, this large commercial kitchen will have a chef, a cadre of line cooks, and a general manager. It will not have a dining room, servers or a bartender. Welcome to ClusterTruck, a tech-driven concept built from the ground up to get hot, fresh food into the hands of delivery customers in around 20 minutes. While it sounds like the latest in a long, often disappointing line of food delivery services, ClusterTruck is completely different. “The difference between us and the other food-delivery services is that we make all our own food, and we have this technology that we developed to streamline the process and get the timing just right throughout all stages of the process to make sure the food gets to the customer super-fresh,” explains Gwen Ragno, digital marketing specialist.
CEO Chris Baggott relied on his years in the tech industry to attempt to solve the problem of long delivery times resulting in less-than-ideal food quality. Unlike traditional third-party services that pick up food from restaurants that might have been sitting in wait and drive them to the customer, ClusterTruck utilizes technology that works its way back from the drive time. If an order is estimated to take seven minutes to prepare, but the next driver is still 10 minutes out, the kitchen will wait three minutes to begin making it so that the two cogs synch up perfectly. To maintain food quality, an eight-minute drive time is established as the outer limit. “The average time from when you hit the button on your computer or app and when you have food in your hands is around 22 minutes,” Ragno adds. “We start pretty tight [with the delivery area] and then expand as we learn how quickly the drivers are able to get around.” Unlike traditional third-party delivery services, drivers do not have to find a parking spot, exit
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EAT bites
Black Pig
their vehicle, enter a restaurant, and deal with staffers to pick up the meal. Instead, ClusterTruck drivers pull up to the kitchen and someone hands them the order. On the other end, customers meet the driver at the curb. In return for their effort, customers pay no delivery fee. This is a cash-less transaction and the app lets diners track the entire process in realtime. Drivers (and cyclists) are recruited in the same fashion as other freelance drivers. They are paid per delivery – and given the streamlined process, management says the gig is an attractive one. “A lot of our drivers are disgruntled Uber and Lyft drivers,” notes Ragno. “One of the goals that we set out to do was to make this the best on-demand driving gig out there. They don’t have to have strangers in their car; they never even have to get out of the car.” Corporate executive chef Tim McIntosh will oversee a local team that includes chefs, cooks and a general manager. Customers can look forward to a Cheesecake Factory-size menu of approachable dishes that span the day. There are breakfast sandwiches, nearly a dozen (meat and meat-free) salads, funky comfort foods like pulled pork-topped tater tots, grass-fed burgers, sandwiches and wraps, tacos, burritos and rice bowls, Thai curries and Chinese fried rice, pizzas, ice cream and beverages. Launched in Indianapolis in 2016, ClusterTruck now has locations in Bloomington, Indianapolis and Columbus.
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Cleveland and Denver are next for the fast-growing company. Cleveland’s kitchen (1627 St. Clair Ave.) is expected to come online in mid-November. Interested parties can sign up to be “beta testers,” CT’s version of a soft opening that offers free food in exchange for feedback.
DAVE KOCAB JOINS BLACK PIG AS NEW CHEF DE CUISINE There’s a new culinary force in the kitchens of the Black Pig. Dave Kocab has been brought on as chef de cuisine. “Dave is a tremendous talent that we are very happy to attract,” says Michael Nowak, Black Pig’s chefowner. “I look forward to working with him to develop new ideas and dishes that will help continue to grow the Black Pig in our fifth year as a restaurant.” Kocab’s most recent position was as chef de cuisine at Jonathon Sawyer’s Trentina, where he worked for more than two years. The chef also has worked at Greenhouse Tavern, the Plum and The Flour Pasta Company. Additionally, he serves as an ambassador for Certified Angus Beef. Last year, he was honored with a StarChefs Rising Stars Award. As head chef, Kocab will be responsible for the daily operation of the kitchen while working with Nowak to develop new dishes using the best local, seasonal ingredients. “He is an addition to the restaurant that will strengthen the staff, bring fresh ideas, and create time for myself as chef-owner to
| clevescene.com | November 1 - 7, 2017
focus on developing and growing the business,” Nowak adds.
TASTE OF KERALA TO OPEN SIT-DOWN SOUTH INDIAN RESTAURANT IN WOODMERE Great news, Indian food fans: Taste of Kerala, a beloved sixyear-old South Indian restaurant in Mayfield Heights (5850 Mayfield Rd., 440-461-9212), is opening a new location in Woodmere. The business will open a second shop in the former home of Tomaydo Tomahhdo (3429 W. Brainard Rd.). The full-service sit-down eatery is an upgrade from the bare-bones, take-out-only storefront on Mayfield. Look for the new restaurant to open any day now. Like other South Indian eateries, this one devotes a large portion of the menu to vegetarian dishes like airy iddli served with sambar and chutney, dosa rolled around potatoes and onions, veggie-filled samosas, and crispy lentil fritters. Meat-free entrees include chickpea curry, eggplant masala, mutter panner and vegetarian biryani. Non-vegetarian items range from lamb curry to fiery, fluffy goat biryani. Staples like butter chicken, tikka masala, lamb korma and chicken 65 join special dishes like fried kingfish with tamarind soup. The original location is currently closed. It will undergo renovations and reopen in late November.
dtrattner@clevescene.com t@dougtrattner
clevelandrestaurantweek.com | clevescene.com | November 1 - 7, 2017
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Legacy Village | 24325 Cedar Rd, Lyndhurst, OH | 216-297-9232 Coastalbarandkitchen.com
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ECSTATIC MUSIC Jim Jarmusch and Carter Logan bring their experimental duo SQÜRL to CMA By Jeff Niesel AN AKRON NATIVE, DIRECTOR Jim Jarmusch has helmed a handful of significant films over the course of a career that stretches back three decades. His filmmaking alone attests to his significant talent. In 2009, Jarmusch, who plays electric guitar, added to his remarkable resume as he and drummer Carter Logan formed the experimental duo SQÜRL. They describe the group as an “enthusiastically marginal rock band from New York City.” You can hear SQÜRL’s atmospheric music in two of Jarmusch’s latest films, 2013’s Only Lovers Left Alive and 2016’s Paterson. At 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 1, the duo makes its Northeast Ohio debut at the Cleveland Museum of Art. The program features scores by Jarmusch and Logan for four silent films by dada and surrealist artist Man Ray. Relying heavily on loops, synthesizers, and effected guitars, the semi-improvised scores emphasize the band’s more experimental, ambient, and drone-like tendencies.
Reto Thüring, curator of contemporary art, will host an onstage conversation with the duo after the performance. In a recent conference call, Jarmusch and Logan spoke about the band and the program they’ll present at the art museum. Can you each begin by talking about what you’d consider to be your musical influences? What are the things you listened to while growing up that had a formative impact of some sort? Logan: There’s so much. A through line for SQÜRL these days that applies to our process in scoring this Man Ray set of silent films but also our more recent releases, whether they’re our new EP or the Paterson score, is that where we find a common ground and current interest is in what we would loosely call ecstatic music. Even that alone is pretty wide and open and broad and open to interpretation but for us that envelopes drone and trance and avant-garde and stoner metal and free jazz. It’s more about the effect of the music on you in terms of
elevating consciousness in some way. One of the places we performed this set of our score to Man Ray was at the Big Ears festival a couple of years ago where we saw Swans and Terry Riley and Omar Souleyman and all of those things just in one festival. Despite the fact that they might be considered to be in different genres by different standards, they resonate with us on a quasi-spiritual level. Jarmusch: We worked with Jozef Van Wissem who was part of SQÜRL and played live with us and did the score with only lovers. As a lutenist, he is ecstatic music. He’s sometimes minimal, but he’ll use odd forms. That ecstatic thing is a place where we’re at now. It’s widely interpreted. For me, I’m a bit older than Carter and when I was a young teenager, it was R&B stuff like Screamin’ Jay Hawkins and Motown and Memphis R&B. What really hit me was the MC5 and Stooges and Velvet Underground. Then we go to punk rock, and I’ve liked funk and certain forms of hip-hop and so-called avant-garde classical music and
outside jazz as does Carter. It’s pretty wide. It’s a difficult question. Logan: Jim got to experience firsthand the British Invasion, and, for me, it was alternative rock and grunge. That led me back through a number of channels to the influences along with East Coast and West Coast gangsta rap. That was what was happening when I was a teenager. Since then, my process of musical discovery involved jumping off and going through threads from there and tracing rock to rockabilly and jazz. The world of music is so expansive, especially now. Seemingly everything is at your fingertips even though that’s just a small percentage of what’s been recorded throughout history. Jarmusch: If I would look at the vinyl scattered around in front of my stereo, you’ll see everything from Kendrick Lamar to William Byrd to Sturgill Simpson to Black Mass. How’d you wind up describing the band as “enthusiastically marginal in New York”? Jarmusch: We are marginal and | clevescene.com | November 1 - 7, 2017
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MUSIC enthusiastic. We’re not going for the big stadium shows or anything like that. We’re lucky if we get to play in some basement punk club. Logan: It’s more that we don’t consider ourselves to be professional musicians. Jarmusch: We respect professional musicians but we find beauty in all kinds of approaches to music. I always consider myself not a professional filmmaker. The root of “amateur” in Latin means “the love of a form.” “Professional” means you’re doing it for money. I feel like an amateur filmmaker as well, not in a negative way. Except when it’s time to pay the bills. Then it becomes a negative. Talk about what it was like to work on the music for The Limits of Control. Logan: When we went into to do that, we hadn’t played music in a room before. We had an exchange of ideas making films and had been both making music on our own and talking about that and listening to the things we had made. When we went in to do those pieces for Limits of Control, it was the first time we sat in a room to do that. We had no idea what the result would be, but we were happy with it, and it worked well with the film. There’s a nice EP that has those tracks on it. That was just the jumping off point. From then on, we continued recording in that
“Little Sister” in a rockabilly style. We’re attracted to those kinds of things. We like SQÜRL-izing things to our taste. Logan: Those are part of the vernacular of American music. They’ve been done ad redone and reinterpreted by many artists. It’s us doing our own take on them. We thought we could do something new and different with it. In the case of Wanda Jackson’s “Funnel of Love,” which we recorded for Only Lovers Left Alive, what we ultimately did was slow it down and remix it and rerecord it with Madeline Follin doing the vocals and it was giving the DJ Screw treatment to an old country rockabilly song. How’d you decide to score the Man Ray films? Jarmusch: We wanted to do a live score of something. I was looking at silent films from the ’20s. At first, I was interested in a film by Renoir. The daughter of a friend of ours suggested Man Ray films. I only really knew the one film, L’Etoile de Mer. I thought it was a fantastic film. We were watching his films and got very excited. He has no rules to filmmaking. He adheres to nothing. He is experimenting as a realist in the 1920s and he’s hanging the camera out of moving cars and treating it as a toy and getting his beautiful girlfriends to take their clothes off as he films through the distortion of broken glass. The results are fun and beautiful and strange and sometimes dark and unpredictable and, yes,
SQÜRL: JIM JARMUSCH & CARTER LOGAN 7:30 P.M. WEDNESDAY, NOV. 1, CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART, 11150 EAST BLVD., 216-421-7350 TICKETS: $22-$35, CLEVELANDART.ORG
way over the course of the next few years, which yielded EPs #1, #2 and #3. It was great. It was the beginning of a collaboration that we’ve carried through. Talk about the ways in which it sounds like you tried to broaden your musical horizons in the wake of that recording by going to “the back-alleys of American country, noise and psychedelia.” Jarmusch: We love all kinds of music but it sort of circles back to our idea of ecstatic. We like chopped and screwed hip-hop. We love DJ Screw and that kind of stuff. We love country music, especially sad country songs. When we perform live, we slow a few down and make them quite sludge-y. We play “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” by Hank Williams and we play
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| clevescene.com | November 1 - 7, 2017
experimental and innovative. We’re big Man Ray fans. We like to say we’re just the band and he’s the frontman when we play to the films. It’s like we’re the Stooges and he’s Iggy Pop. He’s an amazing artist and filmmaker. They’re so much fun. What will the live show here in Cleveland be like? Jarmusch: We have new weapons in our arsenal. Carter plays drums and samples and loops and synths, and I play treated guitar and loops and synths, and we have toy synthesizers we love and new sounds, so we’re digging it ourselves. We’ll see if people walk out or not.
jniesel@clevescene.com t@jniesel
308 EUCLID AVE. CLEVELAND, OH 44114 216.523.BLUE Complete listing at houseofblues.com/cleveland
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The Highway Finds w/ High Valley, Ashley McBryde, Adam Doleac Cambridge Room Umphrey’s McGee Daley Cambridge Room Token w/ Matt Houston Cambridge Room Jack & Jack w/ Olivia O’Brien New Found Glory ‘25 Years of Pop Punk’ w/ ROAM Tyler, The Creator SOLD OUT Brett Young w/ Carly Pearce Descendents w/ Frank Iero and the Patience, Public Squares SOLD OUT Holy Moses Matrimony ft. Pop Evil presented by Rover’s Morning Glory SOLD OUT
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Buy tickets at HOUSEOFBLUES.COM/CLEVELAND Order By Phone: 800.745.3000 • House of Blues Box Office
| clevescene.com | November 1 - 7, 2017
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MUSIC A HOLISTIC APPROACH Victor Wooten Trio brings spectrum of jazz, funk, soul to Beachland Ballroom VICTOR WOOTEN IS KNOWN and beloved in circles throughout the music world. He’s won multiple Grammys while leaving his imprint on projects throughout the American rock and jazz scenes. As a founding member of Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, Wooten has had a visible platform from which to jump to solo works, music camps and the world of books. In many senses, he’s a phenom — and a marvel to watch. Wooten’s latest album, TRYPNOTYX, sees him working a new trio with drummer Dennis Chambers and saxophonist Bob Franceschini. The trio comes to Beachland Ballroom on Saturday. “It was just a dream to be able to work with these two musicians,” he says in a phone interview. “I knew it would be really special if we did it as a trio, you know, drums, sax and bass without adding a fourth instrument for chords or anything like that. If we could pull it off, just the three of us, it was going to turn some heads and be more special — and less normal. And I knew we could do it.” The guys booked some shows and started finding their groove. As 2017 buzzed along, they had to write songs and arc themselves toward the studio. Without leaning on chords, Wooten says, the band is free to explore in an almost improvisational method of songwriting. The tunes that ended up on TRYPNOTYX were the result of inspiration from a variety of sources. “The band is more than just a jazz band,” Wooten says. “You’ll get a few things where Dennis can swing, I can walk the bass line, you know, you’ll hear some of that. But it also gets funky. You’ll hear some rock. You’ll hear some mellow, sweet stuff. It goes in lot of different places, and I knew this band had that capability. We knew we didn’t want to just go in one direction, and we knew we wanted to capture as much as we could on record.” Listeners will indeed find it all on TRYPNOTYX: “Funky D” brings its namesake in droves, and Franceschini soars across the song’s
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Photo courtesy of LPC Media
By Eric Sandy
almost boundless energy. (His sax sounds like a human voice at some points.) Then you’ve got stuff like “A Soul Full of Ballad,” which sees Wooten himself taking center stage and painting a bucolic scene with a mournful lead on bass. One of the neat tricks behind this album is that the guys made sure they could take everything they captured and replicate it onstage during their tour. There’s a sense of preservation there, which is key to
you asked the same questions, it would come out in a new way. And in doing it again, you’ll then come up with new questions. Music is that organic. Every time we play we get new ideas. Harder than writing a song is not losing ideas.” And the live show will indeed echo those ideas: Setlists vary, improvisation takes root, and audiences should expect certain surprises from night to night. It’s that sort of ethos that has
VICTOR WOOTEN TRIO 8 P.M., SATURDAY, NOV. 4, BEACHLAND BALLROOM, 15711 WATERLOO RD., 216-383-1124. TICKETS: $30.50 ADV STANDING, $35 DOS STANDING, $50 SEATED GA, BEACHLANDBALLROOM.COM
how Wooten has always intended to communicate his music to listeners. His is a holistic approach to the craft. “When we get together to play, something new is going to come out,” he says. “It’s the same way: If we started this interview over and
| clevescene.com | November 1 - 7, 2017
driven Wooten’s career, including the creation of Victor Wooten’s Center for Music and Nature. Now in its 18th season, the music education camp has attracted hundreds of students to the banks of the Duck River in Tennessee. “It allows me, I think, the best
opportunity for me to share with other people — people from around the world, all instruments and different ages,” Wooten says. “It’s a place, 150 acres, where we set it up how we want it ... to reach as many people as possible. We’re seeing musicians go on to wonderful things. But it’s also a way for me to grow, because I can bring in teachers that I want to learn from.” And Wooten’s influence, in turn, continues to spread across the musical world. He’s now recording a metal album with Nitro. (“I’m having a blast getting to go crazy in that direction,” he says.) He’s also looking toward an acoustic bass jazz record in the future. And, on the day that we spoke, Wooten was about to board a plane to Buffalo, where he would play a bass concerto with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra.
esandy@clevescene.com t@EricSandy
| clevescene.com m | November 1 - 7, 2017
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MUSIC A TRUE COLLABORATION Fleetwood Mac’s Lindsey Buckingham and Christine McVie team up for side project By Matt Wardlaw
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Photo by John Russo
THE PAST FEW YEARS HAVE been full of unexpected developments for Fleetwood Mac’s Christine McVie. After 15 years away from the legendary group, McVie found herself coming out of retirement — at least for one night — when she jammed with the Mick Fleetwood Blues Band at a show in Maui in February 2013. It was a moment that was a real thrill for both sides. “It was fantastic. I think they wanted me to, but they didn’t dare ask me. I mean, I hadn’t really performed in all of that time that I’d taken away,” the keyboardist/ vocalist recalls during a recent phone conversation. “I thought, ‘Well, you know what, this might be quite fun to just go on and do a couple of blues songs.’ I mentioned it to Mick and they went, ‘Oh my God, of course! We would love it!’” A piano arrived in her hotel room in short order and after a bit of practice, she found herself on stage with Fleetwood and his band for a brief set that quickly made her realize that she had been missing the experience of playing live more than she realized. “I thought, my God, what have I started here? It wasn’t long after that when I mentioned to Mick, ‘How would everybody feel if I was to ask to come back?’ Of course, the rest is history and everybody loved it, and I loved it,” she says now. “We all just kind of got on as if I’d never left, really.” Later that same year, McVie was back onstage with the entire Fleetwood Mac gang, a precursor to a full-blown reunion tour, appropriately entitled “On With the Show.” But before the group hit the road, McVie found herself in the studio with Mac guitarist Lindsey Buckingham. “Originally, we hadn’t planned on making an album, we were just going to cut some demos of mine, just to familiarize myself with Lindsey again primarily and the idea of working together, before we went to rehearsal for the tour. This all evolved about a year later when we went back to those songs. I think we kept about five or six tracks. Even after being on the road for
more than a year, Buckingham and McVie continued to think about the initial recordings that they had put down, with the feeling that there might be something there worth continuing to explore. “When we went back and listened to them, I thought, ‘Well, these are really good.’ Then Lindsey and I, we talked about it and thought, ‘Why don’t we finish this as a duet album?’” Never at a loss for material, the prolific Buckingham brought out some more recordings that he had been working on a few years earlier with producer Mitchell Froom, which featured Fleetwood behind the kit and Mac bassist John McVie also in his usual slot. They worked on the combined pool of songs, with both McVie and Fleetwood returning as the rhythm section. On paper, it was awfully close to a Fleetwood
that emerged out of their efforts, is one that Fleetwood Mac fans will find feels like a true collaboration, with the pair trading off lead vocals from song to song, yet it’s clear that they worked hard together to flesh out each other’s ideas to carry them beyond being merely songs that could have just as easily been on solo albums. In one instance, McVie had a set of lyrics that she had been carrying around that had been inspired by a trip to Africa. On the beach, she had written the words, “When the red sun kisses the sea.” Years later, there was Buckingham in the studio with a sequence of chord changes and a melody he wasn’t planning to use. McVie saw the beginnings of a potential song and “Red Sun,” one of the standouts on the new album, was born. That’s one thing which has been
LINDSEY BUCKINGHAM AND CHRISTINE MCVIE 8 P.M. FRIDAY, NOV. 3, HARD ROCK ROCKSINO, 10777 NORTHFIELDS RD., NORTHFIELD, 330-908-7625. TICKETS: $75-$99.50, LIVENATION.COM.
Mac album — but Stevie Nicks was away, focused on her own touring, and by all accounts there wasn’t much deliberation — Buckingham and McVie quickly decided to stay the course and just focus on finishing out the collaboration as a duets album. Buckingham McVie, the album
| clevescene.com | November 1 - 7, 2017
exciting about the arrival of this album — the extended opportunity it provided for Buckingham and McVie to write together, that’s something which hadn’t happened a lot in the history of Fleetwood Mac, although as McVie points out, their collaboration has roots which go really deep into the DNA of the
group. “That’s true to say, we haven’t really written that many songs together, but we worked quite intimately together in the studio musically,” says McVie. “Because we are the only two musicians in the sense that we play chords. It’s not like being a bass player or a drummer, so it’s really down to me and Lindsey, how the songs are voiced in that sense. So we’d always worked well together and we always seemed to be able to predict what the other one’s going to play. You know, we see each other across the studio and we sense where the other one is going, if you know what I mean. So we’ve always been good at that. I suppose it flows on quite naturally from there to actually write songs with him, which has been really satisfying.” Earlier this summer, Buckingham and McVie hit the road for a series of shows that found them playing smaller and more intimate venues than they normally would with Fleetwood Mac. The shows began with an initial set featuring just the two of them, and that added to the intimate feeling. It was a joyous moment for fans, but one that McVie admits was challenging for her personally. “Yeah, I think that probably scares me more than anything,” she laughs. “I heave a sigh of relief when the band comes on. I think it’s a lovely way to start, but you’re just terribly exposed. It’s something that I’ve never done before, and as it turns out, the set goes so quickly I can’t believe it.” Back on the road for another run of dates which will bring them to the Cleveland area for a show at Hard Rock Live on Friday, McVie says the chances are really good that there might be a sequel to their album, which has been well-received, indicating that Buckingham in particular is keen to continue the collaboration and record more material.
scene@clevescene.com t@clevelandscene
| clevescene.com m | November 1 - 7, 2017
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all the live music you should see this week Brothers Band/Lewis & Company/ Sarah Arafat: 6:30 p.m., $10 ADV, $12 DOS. Grog Shop.
11/01
Turkuaz/Vibe & Direct: 8:30 p.m., $16 ADV, $18 DOS. Beachland Ballroom. 10 X 3 Singer Songwriter Showcase hosted by Brent Kirby: 8 p.m. Brothers Lounge. Bluewater Kings Band: 8 p.m., free. Brothers Lounge. Dive Cup/Basement Boys/ Roobydocks/Scum Guppies: 9 p.m., $5. Now That’s Class. The Highway Finds Tour Featuring High Valley/Ashley Mcbride/Adam Doleac: 7 p.m., $15. House of Blues. Peelander-Z/Half an Animal: 9 p.m., $10 ADV, $13 DOS. Beachland Tavern. Reggae Night on Coventry: 10 p.m., $10 ADV, $20 DOS. Grog Shop. Eric Seddon’s Hot Club Presents: George Lewis: 7 p.m., $12. Bop Stop. Paul Thorn Hammer & Nail 20th Anniversary Tour: 7:30 p.m., $25 ADV, $28 DOS. Music Box Supper Club.
THU
11/02
Umphrey’s McGee: It’s time for that annual tradition: Umphrey’s McGee fall tour lands in Cleveland tonight. If you know, you know. But if for some reason you’ve missed this show in the past, get thee on the train immediately. Check out the latest Hall of Fame installment, which features stellar jams from 2016 (“Phil’s Farm,” “Hurt Bird Bath,” a Red Rocks “In The Kitchen,” etc.). Jefferson Waful is the guy behind the light board, so you know you’re in for a dazzling visual journey through one of the best funk-prog-jam catalogs in America. (Eric Sandy), 7:30 p.m., $32-$42. House of Blues. Yonder Mountain String Band/The Last Revel: 8 p.m., $27.50 ADV, $30 DOS. Beachland Ballroom. Primus: 8 p.m., $12. Musica. Johnny Cash Tribute by the Cold Hard Cash Show (in the Supper Club): 7:30 p.m., $18 ADV, $20 DOS. Music Box Supper Club. Bela Fleck and Abigail Washburn: 8 p.m., $40-$50. The Kent Stage. FLQ/Charged/Perverts Again/Kill the Hippies: 9 p.m., $6. Now That’s Class. Kirk Franklin & Ledisi: The Rebel, the Soul & the Saint Tour: 7:30 p.m. Hard Rock Rocksino Northfield Park.
SAT
Up-and-coming rapper A Boogie wit Da Hoodie performs at the Agora. See: Sunday.
Chris Hatton’s Musical Circus (in the Wine Bar): 8 p.m. Brothers Lounge. Jam Night with the Bad Boys of Blues: 9 p.m., free. Brothers Lounge. Seth L. Johnson Trio: 8 p.m., $15. Nighttown. Shilpa Ray/Toma Doe: 8:30 p.m., $10 ADV, $12 DOS. Beachland Tavern. Sinkane/Uptowne Buddha/Red Rose Panic: 9 p.m., $14 ADV, $16 DOS. Grog Shop.
FRI
11/03
Bob Dylan: When singer-songwriter Bob Dylan played E.J. Thomas Hall four years ago, he appeared to truly enjoy performing at the intimate space. The show’s opener “Things Have Changed” set the mood for the two-hour concert. Standing at the microphone stand and swaying back and forth under dim lights as if he were a boxer who’d already been through a few tough rounds of fighting, Dylan cast a spell as he sang in a voice so raspy, it made him sound a bit like Tom Waits. “I used to care, but things have changed” he hissed. That ominous feeling carried over into the rest of the set. The performance enthralled the capacity crowd that, if anything, treated the performance with too much reverence (only a few patrons bothered to try to dance or clap along to the tunes). Expect him to
put on a similarly captivating show tonight. (Niesel), 7:30 p.m. E.J. Thomas Hall. Lindsey Buckingham and Christine McVie: 8 p.m. Hard Rock Rocksino Northfield Park. Alex Bugnon: 8 p.m., $30. Nighttown. Dog Fashion Disco/El Creepo/ Polkadot Cadaver: 6:30 p.m., $25 ADV, $30 DOS. The Agora Theatre. The Element: 9:30 p.m., $5. Brothers Lounge. Kevin Griffin/Gretchen Pleuss: 8 p.m., $25 ADV, $30 DOS. Music Box Supper Club. Hey Mavis (in the Supper Club): 8 p.m., $10. Music Box Supper Club. The Maine/Dreamers/Night Riots: 7 p.m., $25. Beachland Ballroom. Johnny Mathis: 8 p.m., $35-$89.50. KeyBank State Theatre. Jen Mauer and Anthony Papale (in the Wine Bar): 8 p.m. Brothers Lounge. Punch Drunk Tagalongs/Slug Fest/ Front Porch Lights: 9 p.m., $5. Happy Dog. Chase Rice/Sam Riggs: 7 p.m., $30$55. House of Blues. Rocklee Album Release Party: 9 p.m., $5. The Euclid Tavern. Sparrows/Harvey Pekar/Wolfteeth/ Snakes: 9 p.m., $8. Now That’s Class. Moss Stanley: 10:30 p.m., free. Nighttown. Wake Magnolia/Eskimo Sisters/ Coldswell: 9 p.m., $5. Musica. Westbound/Born to Kill/The Stringer
11/04
Autonomen: Aktion III with Dani Lehman/Uun/Echelons/Hollow Eyes/Mx. Silken: 9 p.m. Now That’s Class. Alex Bugnon: $30. Nighttown. Daley/Tiffany Gouche: 7 p.m. House of Blues. Dog Fashion Disco/El Creepo/ Polkadot Cadaver: 6:30 p.m., $25 ADV, $30 DOS. The Agora Theatre. Glassjaw NY 1993: 8 p.m., $25-$35. House of Blues. Eric Gould Trio: 8 p.m., $20. Bop Stop. P.O.S./Metasota/Transit22/Sankuro/ Floco Torres: 9 p.m. Grog Shop. Spazmatics: 9:30 p.m., $5. Brothers Lounge. Sugar Blue/Austin Walkin’ Cane: 8 p.m., $12 ADV, $15 DOS. Music Box Supper Club. Jeff Varga (in the Wine Bar): 8 p.m. Brothers Lounge. The Village Bicycle/Extra Medium Pony/Longface/Sweepyheads: 9 p.m., $5. Happy Dog. Colter Wall/Blake Berglund: 8:30 p.m., $12 ADV, $15 DOS. Beachland Tavern. Jackie Warren: 10:30 p.m., free. Nighttown. Won’t Back Down: A NEO Celebration of the Music of Tom Petty: 8 p.m. E.J. Thomas Hall. Victor Wooten Trio: 8 p.m., $30.50$80. Beachland Ballroom.
SUN
11/05
A Boogie wit da Hoodie/TK Kravitz: A Boogie wit da Hoodie, real name Artist Dubose, is a rapper in the fast line. In the past two years, he’s gone form Bronx obscurity to signing with Atlantic and opening for hip-hop’s hugest stars, Future and Drake. And like those artists, A Boogie makes the sort of singsongy and syrupy tunes that rule the airwaves these days. He switches between Auto-Tune lines and lethargic raps with the best of ‘em. So far, his single “Drowning,” off his debut album The Bigger Artist, is the closest he’s gotten to prominence — it cracked the Top 40 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 earlier this year. But as the guy is only 21, he just needs a little time to hone his distinct sound. Let’s see what he can | clevescene.com | November 1 - 7, 2017
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LIVEWIRE “ Rainy days seem to wind up sunny”
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do with another two years. (Laura Morrison), 7 p.m., $27.50 ADV, $30 DOS. The Agora Theatre. Diane Coffee/Peach Pit/Jivviden: 7:30 p.m., $10 ADV, $12 DOS. Beachland Tavern. Allison Au Quartet: 7 p.m., $12. Bop Stop. Elizabeth Cook/Darrin Bradbury: 7 p.m., $15 ADV, $18 DOS. Music Box Supper Club. David Crosby & Friends: 7:30 p.m., $66-$609. The Kent Stage. Ben Folds/Tall Heights: 6 p.m., $37$60. House of Blues. In Celebration Of, A Tribute to the Lives and Music of the Generators: 7 p.m., $20. Beachland Ballroom. J.I.D. and Earthgang: 9 p.m., $15 ADV, $18 DOS. Grog Shop. Mike Petrone (in the Wine Bar): 5:30 p.m. Brothers Lounge. Helen Welch: 7 p.m., $20. Nighttown.
MON
11/06
Holly Bowling: 8 p.m., $20. Bop Stop. Cory Branan/Matt Hectorne: 8 p.m., $10 ADV, $12 DOS. Beachland Tavern. Moya Brennan: 7 p.m., $30. Nighttown. Yngwie Malmsteen: 8 p.m., $40-$50. The Kent Stage. Shit Show Karaoke: 10 p.m. B-Side Liquor Lounge & Arcade. Skatch Anderssen Orchestra: 8 p.m., $7. Brothers Lounge. Velvet Voyage (in the Wine Bar): 8 p.m. Brothers Lounge. Lucinda Williams: 7:30 p.m. Music Box Supper Club.
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| clevescene.com | November 1 - 7, 2017
11/07
Amanda & Rick (in the Wine Bar): 8 p.m. Brothers Lounge. Doyle Bramhall II: 8 p.m., $27. The Kent Stage. Breaking Benjamin Unplugged: 7 p.m., $41-$55. House of Blues. Essex Muro/Deche: 9 p.m., $5. Now That’s Class. Great Good Fine OK/Tigertown: 8:30 p.m., $13 ADV, $15 DOS. Beachland Tavern. Our Great Country Night with Mary Taylor Brooks (in the Wine Bar): 8 p.m. Brothers Lounge. R.L.UM.R./Phangs: 8:30 p.m., $13 ADV, $15 DOS. Grog Shop.
scene@clevescene.com t@clevelandscene
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BACHELORETTE, CORPORATE, BIRTHDAY OR ANY OCCASION.
“Coolest local live band venue I’ve seen in a long time” - Slash
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 3
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 4
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 10 .............TRICKY DICK & T HE COVER UPS SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 11 ............................CLEVELAND ROCKS FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 17 ............................................... OLD SKOOL SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 18 ..................................THAT 80S BAND WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 22 ..............................................TOAST FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 24 ........................................... GRUNGE DNA SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 25 ........................THE BREAKFAST CLUB FRIDAY, DECEMBER 1 ..........................................DISCO INFERNO SATURDAY, DECEMBER 2...............................CLEVELAND ROCKS
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 8 ............... TRICKY DICK & THE COVER UPS SATURDAY, DECEMBER 9...................................THE SPAZMATICS FRIDAY, DECEMBER 15 ............ SHOUT & THE LEGENDS OF SOUL SATURDAY, DECEMBER 16 ........................THE BREAKFAST CLUB FRIDAY, DECEMBER 22 ....................................JUKEBOX HEROES SATURDAY, DECEMBER 23 ......................................... OLD SKOOL FRIDAY, DECEMBER 29 ........................................... GRUNGE DNA SATURDAY, DECEMBER 30 ............................CLEVELAND ROCKS
THE SPAZMATICS
ACE MOLAR
| clevescene.com | November 1 - 7, 2017
51
GREAT FOOD ]h[Wj cki_Y Š ]h[Wj j_c[i
LOCATED RIGHT OFF OF I-480
Friday, Nov. 10 Eagles Tribute
**9Ê "1,ÊUÊ 6 ,9 9Ê1 / ÊÇ*
OUT OF EDEN
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LYFE JENNINGS
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Friday, Nov. 17
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RICK DERRINGER
PW FAMILY TAVERN
special guest
Featuring.....
DEREK ST. HOLMES
Enclosed Heated Patio
Saturday, Nov.18
RICHARD ELLIOTT Friday, Nov. 24
Smoked BBQ Menu Every Weekend 139 Inch Projection TV
WEDNESDAY
OPEN MIC NIGHT THURSDAY
Annual Holiday Stomp
KARAOKE w/Big Daddy
-Ă•Â˜`>ĂžĂƒ\
Saturday, Nov. 25
Nov 4th ..................... Sugar Mountain
7 Ê Ê7 / Ê* ,/9t f{°™™Ê 1 "Ê7 -Ê Ê 9
Vegas After Dark Christmas Show
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Saturday, Nov. 11
ĂŠ ",ĂŠ ,/ĂŠEĂŠ*"" ĂŠ/ -ʇÊ7ˆÂ?Â?ĂŠ*>ÞÊ/i>“Ê iiĂƒ
THE WALKING CLAMPETTS DOM & RUSS Saturday, Dec. 2
LIVE ENTERTAINMENT Niel Young Tribute Band
Nov. 5th ...................Wixy 1260 Band SUNDAY FUNDAY! Burgers, Brats, Wings + Drink Specials Medina Cigar Shop w/Cigars
NORMAN BROWN’S JOYOUS CHRISTMAS
Nov. 11th ............ Third Monkey Band
BOBBY CALDWELL
1868 PEARL RD | BRUNSWICK
starring
and featuring
MARION MEADOWS
ALL BANDS FROM 8P-12A
330.220.2682
Fri., Sat. & Sun. Dec. 15-16-17
THE SCINTAS CHRISTMAS SHOWS Saturday, Jan. 20
ERIC BENET Saturday, Jan. 27
ERIC DARIUS & NICK COLIONNE
LIVE ENTERTAINMENT 4"563%": /07&.#&3 r 1.
ELVIS TRIBUTE SHOW
COMING IN FEBRUARY
JUST ANNOUNCED!
STOKLEY WILLIAMS Lead Singer of MINT CONDITION
Saturday, Feb. 10 Valentine Show & Buffet
THE JERSEY BEAT BAND
& THE
FAT TUESDAY BIG BAND 5)634%": /07&.#&3 r 1.
MURDER MYSTERY DINNER
MINDI ABAIR & THE BONESHAKERS
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532 W. MARKET ST. | AKRON, OH | 330-376-7171 | clevescene.com | November 1 - 7, 2017
ERNIE KRIVDA
Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons Tribute Friday, March 23
SHOW TICKETS AVAILABLE ONLINE! www.thetangier.com
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VISIT WEBSITE FOR DETAILSD 56&4%": /07&.#&3 r 1.
VISIT WEBSITE FOR DETAILS & SHOW DATES
LAUGHTER UNLEASHED! A NIGHT OF COMEDY WITH
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SAVAGE LOVE DEGRADING GAMES Dear Dan, I am a pretty handsome gay (I have been told) and I am dating a gorgeous man. I am 34, and he is 31. I am bottom only, and he is top only—so it’s a good match. He seems sincerely interested in me and we are talking about being together. But here is the thing: He noticed that I have a rather small penis. I am under the average, and his dick is quite big and long. Since he discovered this, he fancies about “humiliating” me about my “small pee-pee.” He would even like me to show it to his friends. I am not ashamed of the size of my penis because it’s how I am made and I can’t change it. But I wonder what this idea means for him. I would somehow understand that he would put me down if he suffered from a “small dick complex,” but since he is so well-endowed, I don’t get it. Is it a common turn-on for some top guys to imagine that their partner is smaller than them? Does it hide something else maybe? —Humiliated Over Tackle P.S. English is not my mother tongue. I apologize for this. I don’t have a problem with your English—it’s doubtless better than my [insert your mother tongue here]—I have a problem with your potential boyfriend. Small penis humiliation (SPH) is a kink popular enough to have spawned a porn genre. There are more than 76,000 SPH-themed porn videos on XTube—and XTube is just one of the various porn tubes out there ruining everything for everyone. Over at PornHub, there are SPH videos with more than two million views. That’s all anecdote, not data, HOT, but it’s anecdote enough to confirm that, yes, small penis humiliation is definitely a thing. And it can be a very good thing for guys whose erotic imaginations transformed their anxieties about having small dicks into a kink they enjoy. But you are not one of those guys. You like your dick fine, and you’ve got the exact right attitude about your dick—indeed, all men everywhere, regardless of size, should embrace their dicks the way you’ve embraced your own. Your dick is your dick, you can’t change
it, and you shouldn’t be ashamed of it. And big or small, HOT, your dick has all the same nerve endings as that big and long thing on the guy who might be your boyfriend someday (but who’s definitely a presumptuous asshole right now). As with most kinks—bondage, cuckolding, foot fetishes, diapers, pup play—subs/bottoms are way more common than Doms/tops. So it’s usually the guy with the small dick who initiates small penis humiliation games with his partner, HOT, not the boyfriend with the bigger dick and/or the girlfriend with the pussy and/or the bigger dick. (Some women have dicks, all women can purchase strapons.) While there are SPH tops out there—just as there are bondage tops (half of whom are frustrated bondage bottoms)—their numbers are far smaller. But the issue here isn’t stumbling over a rare small penis humiliation top in the wild, HOT, but whether or not you’re into it. Are you into power play? Do you like being degraded? Does the thought of this dude ordering you to show your dick to his friends— friends who presumably want to see your dick—turn you on in any way? If the answer is no, no, and FUCK NO, then tell your potential new boyfriend to stop making fun of your cock. If the answer is maybe, maybe, and maybe under the right circumstances, then talk it over with him and work out when, where, and how you’re willing to indulge his SPH kink. If you stay with him, you’re also going to need to have a conversation about consent. SPH isn’t something you surprise someone with. Like most kinks, it requires advance discussion, the setting of limits, and the consent of both parties. It’s worrisome that this guy didn’t bother with obtaining your consent in advance, HOT, and if he doesn’t recognize that he made a mistake and swear not to make a similar mistake in the future, well, then you’ll have to DTMFA.
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| clevescene.com | November 1 - 7, 2017
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| clevescene.com | November 1 - 7, 2017
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OHIO’S PREMIER
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