Scene March 9, 2022

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| clevescene.com | March 9-22, 2022

March 9-22, 2022 | clevescene.com |

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| clevescene.com | March 9-22, 2022

CONTENTS MARCH 9-22, 2022 • VOL. 52 NO 18

Upfront .......................................6

Eat ............................................ 19

Feature ..................................... 10

Music ........................................ 25

Get Out ..................................... 14

Savage Love .............................. 31

Dedicated to Free Times founder Richard H. Siegel (1935-1993) and Scene founder Richard Kabat Publisher Andrew Zelman Editor Vince Grzegorek Editorial Music Editor Jeff Niesel Senior Writer Sam Allard Staff Writer Brett Zelman Dining Editor Douglas Trattner Visual Arts Writer Shawn Mishak Stage Editor Christine Howey Advertising Senior Multimedia Account Executive John Crobar, Shayne Rose Creative Services Production Manager Sean Bieri Editorial Layout Evan Sult Graphic Designer Aspen Smit Staff Photographer Emanuel Wallace Business

Euclid Media Group Chief Executive Officer Andrew Zelman Chief Operating Officers Chris Keating, Michael Wagner VP Digital Services Stacy Volhein Digital Operations Coordinator Jaime Monzon www.euclidmediagroup.com National Advertising Voice Media Group 1-800-278-9866, vmgadvertising.com

REWIND: 1978 Scene celebrated the thriving FM radio landscape that August. Things are a bit different these days.

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“Cleveland Scene Magazine” COVER PHOTO BY TIM HARRISON

March 9-22, 2022 | clevescene.com |

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Mayor Justin Bibb on the campaign trail last year promising to “evict” Holton-Wise. Photo by Sam Allard

UPFRONT CLEVELAND HOUSING WATCHDOGS RELEASE REPORT ON OUTSIDE INVESTORS, OFFER BLUEPRINT FOR CRACKDOWN A NEW IN-DEPTH ANALYSIS of outside investor influence in the Cleveland housing market, one of the largest citywide studies of its kind in the past decade, includes more than two dozen clear-eyed policy recommendations to address what many advocates have called a growing problem.

“It’s a new day,” said Frank Ford, Senior Policy Advisor with Vacant and Abandoned Property Action Council (VAPAC), the think tank that published the study. “It’s the right time to put some bold, creative proposals out there.”

The culmination of two years of presentations and studies of 16 years of housing data, the report’s findings confirm long-held suspicions about Cleveland’s rental market since the U.S. foreclosure crisis ended in 2012: Business buyers—that is, corporations or limited liability companies—have been increasingly adding one-to-three family homes once bought by individuals to their portfolios. (They’ve tripled, to 21 percent, since 2004.) And a growing percentage of these investors are throwing bids down from out-ofstate, often in New York, California, or outside the country.

The effect of which has been undeniable on the American and local housing market: Up to 46 percent of all home purchases on the Black-majority east side were made by investor buyers.

“We believe that such activity is part of the larger legacy of continued racial bias in the American housing market,” the report reads, “insofar as households of color are offered an inferior product—substandard housing—at a higher price.”

Though the report clarifies that the deluge of returns-focused buyers aren’t entirely bad actors, the effect is inevitably harmful.

Fewer and fewer first-time home

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buyers are landing houses while being swiped away by cash-wielding brokers. With a dwindling housing stock exacerbated by Wall Street hedge fund bulk buying, the VAPAC writers paint the current zeitgeist as “a highly competitive, highly speculative rental real estate market” where “investors are free to play as many games of Monopoly across state lines and national borders as they can afford.”

Spearheaded by housing data guru Timothy Kobie, a business process analyst at Building & Housing, the report’s findings are stark. Most vacant, boarded-up homes purchased are not formally rehabbed. Only about 20 percent of business buyers registered their new rentals from 2017 to 2019. And for landlords that were actually repairing roofs or faulty staircases— bringing homes up to city code— they were only requesting city permits to do so around 10 percent of the time. (For building repairs, only 6 to 8 percent of the time) Kobie, along with VAPAC’s 15 other committee members, urged the city to rethink how code violators are punished. “Misdemeanor criminal proceedings mean little to an out of state investor,” the report says. “A business does not fear jail time or a criminal record.” Instead, impose, like Franklin County does, $100 fines daily until the owner fixes the drywall.

“We don’t necessarily need to take a strictly criminal approach to code violations,” Kobie said. First, it’s just “making sure we’re identifying everyone with the responsibility to maintain the property.”

Such identification is what Sally Martin, the former South Euclid housing director who Mayor Justin Bibb hired in late January to lead Cleveland’s Building and Housing department, seemed to do well in her

| clevescene.com | March 9-22, 2022

prior role. Knowing that negligent owners in Seattle or San Francisco would not fly 2,200 miles to pay $200 fines for annual rental late fees, she and her department lobbied in 2018 to have a “local agent-incharge” clause added to South Euclid’s housing code. That is to say to the landlord: If you’re not in town, you need to find a surrogate to go to court for you.

Martin’s local agent rule proved effective. During her time heading South Euclid’s department, she prosecuted roughly 80 negligent landlords per year. (Martin did not respond to calls for comment in time for publication.)

Also a key figure in VAPAC’s consortium, it is very likely that Martin will succeed in actualizing some of her previous success in her new role handling Cleveland’s bad actors. (VAPAC’s investor-focused committee was previously called “The Bad Actors Working Group.”)

The recommendations to alter city policy—literally from A to Z, 26 of them—read like a progressive housing advocate’s wish list, including South Euclid’s local agent requirement, a recommendation to add civil forfeiture to the tool belt of city punishments, a call to modernize Cleveland in line with cities like Chicago or Philadelphia by adding Pay to Stay and Right to Counsel legislation.

And a plea to simplify the rehab process. “The City’s website is

outdated,” it reads, “and navigating to find information on permitting is daunting.”

While VAPAC’s blueprint for the Bibb administration could make use of the mayor’s proposed $8.9 million 2022 budget for the Dept. of Code Enforcement, it is also possible that tightening up the rental registration process—tougher than it had been during the risk-averse Jackson era— could have unforeseen consequences. “‘Investors’ is a confusing (term)” in the first place, said Jayme LucasBauer, development project manager at the Old Brooklyn Community Development Corporation. “We (just) want to encourage people who really want to invest and discourage people to come who really want to be abusive.”

For Ford, who has been studying the double-edged nature of outside investing since the early aughts, being clear in VAPAC’s policy recs is just as important as getting the data exact, or lobbying for an added, say, $300,000 to Building & Housing’s pay band.

“Their bad actions reflect on good investors that are trying to do the right thing,” he said.

As for those who’ve skirted the letters in the mail from 601 Lakeside? “I anticipate there’ll be pushback from those investors,” he said, chuckling. “If you don’t want to comply with Cleveland’s ordinances, then go somewhere else.”

-Mark Oprea

The jersey barriers may mercifully be on their way out. Photo by Sam Allard

Former Mobster Who Scammed Flats East Bank With Rascal Flatts and Toby Keith Restaurants Sentenced to Five Years in Prison Frank Capri, a former mobster turned government witness turned developer who scammed the East Bank of the Flats with Toby Keith and Rascal Flatts-branded restaurants that never opened, was sentenced last week to five years in federal prison after pleading guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and tax evasion.

Capri’s scheme, which began in 2011 and continued through 2015 in Cleveland and around the country, involved inflating revenue projections for the planned restaurants to convince developers to hand over tenant improvement funds for the properties. Capri’s company would then reduce actual construction costs — including creating fake contractors, acting as their own contractor, creating false documents, submitting fake invoices — to pocket the difference between the developer’s outlay and their costs.

Twenty to 40 franchises were sold to developers, but most never opened after lengthy, intentional construction delays. Capri’s company (Boomtown) failed to pay taxes, racked up hundreds of thousands of dollars in tax liens and faced some $30 million in lawsuits. (That number had climbed to $65 million in judgments by 2017.)

The Feds say between 2011 and 2015, Capri collected some $12.9 million for Toby Keith restaurants that never sold a thing. Meanwhile, Capri transferred millions from Boomtown’s bank account to his personal one, spent at least $2.7 million of the illegal funds on jewelry alone, and underreported his income to the IRS by more than $3 million over the course of three years.

Once he’d taken the developers for all he could with Toby Keith’s restaurant, Capri went back to the well after securing another deal to open Rascal Flatts-branded bars and restaurants around the country, deploying a similar scheme, and in many cases, deploying it on the same developers he had just bilked.

Cleveland was one of those cases, as the East Bank announced in 2016 it would be welcoming the Rascal Flatts Bar and Grill.

Because Capri hid his ties to the new company so well, few were any the wiser, and Capri managed to collect more than $5 million in tenant improvement funds from developers for another batch of

restaurants that once again never opened.

The developers of the East Bank of the Flats eventually found out they were dealing with Capri again when a man named Ray Rostho, who owned an Arizona construction company and who was hired by Capri to front the Rascal Flatts project here and in other cities, told them at one point that they really ought to just talk to Frank Capri if they had concerns, because it was his project.

“I said, ‘You’re going to have to call Frank Capri,’” Roshto told the Arizona Republic. “He was totally surprised. He shouted out, ‘Frank Capri!’ Then he said it again: ‘Frank Capri.’ And I said, ‘Yeah.’”

He was indicted by a federal grand jury in January 2020 on 16 charges. He pleaded guilty to two of them last August.

-Vince Grzegorek

Bibb Proposes Legislation to Replace Public Square Jersey Barriers with Retractable Bollards Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb has proposed legislation to authorize spending $1.5 million in city funds to remove the ghastly jersey barriers on Public Square and replace them

with retractable bollards.

The estimated all-in cost of removing the barriers on Superior Avenue, repairing the streetscape that they’ve reportedly scuffed up and otherwise damaged as for five years they’ve imbued Public Square with all the charm and urban effervescence of I-480 near Transportation Boulevard, and installing a new bollard system will be $3 million. The city’s contribution will, per Bibb’s hopes, leverage additional private and philanthropic contributions and an investment from RTA. “Public Square should be the people’s park,” Bibb said in a Friday news release, “but for too long, jersey barriers have got in the way. Today, my administration is taking the first step towards removing these barriers and restoring Public Square to its original intent – to serve as a meeting place in the heart of our city.”

Public Square has always been that. The problem was that the jersey barriers were unsightly.

A brand new $50 million Square was deliberately brutalized by mayor Frank Jackson, who many presumed was pouting because local activists succeeded in getting buses back on Superior after they were blocked during and after the

Republican National Convention in 2016. Jackson and his benefactors viewed buses on Public Square the way everybody else views the jersey barriers: as eyesores.

The concrete barriers have served, therefore, as enduring evidence of Jackson’s pettiness and vindictiveness. They were premised on his alleged fears of lone-wolf terrorists driving into crowds, fears thoroughly debunked or otherwise reclassified by local experts and the federal government. And Jackson said he would not remove them until a permanent solution, (bollards), could be paid for. In five years, Jackson never bothered to try to find funding, something Bibb has evidently done in less than two months.

The Group Plan Commission, the nonprofit created by Jackson to develop downtown’s signature public spaces, will be tasked with the bollard update, a “redesign” in the language of the news release, and will have authorization to do so as soon as city council gives them the green light. Downtown councilman Kerry McCormack is fully in support. So is Group Plan Commission Chairman Tony Coyne.

“Group Plan Commission applauds Mayor Justin Bibb’s expedient introduction of legislation

March 9-22, 2022 | clevescene.com |

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to improve the safety, security and aesthetics in Public Square by removing the jersey barriers in Superior Avenue and planters at the corner entryways into Public Square with an attractive, removable bollard system,” Coyne said.

-Sam Allard

Cleveland to Chicago Hyperloop is Still Just a Stupid, Extremely Expensive Dream In 2019, the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA) and the Californiabased Hyperloop Transportation Technologies announced the results of a feasibility study that assessed the costs and benefits of an imaginary Hyperloop corridor

DIGIT WIDGET 89.7 The FM radio station that, on March 28, will become the exclusive provider of National Public Radio programming in Northeast Ohio. 90.3 WCPN will become the new home of WCLV, the classical music station now on 104.9.

$250 Amount the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections is offering poll workers who work the May 3 primary election, a hike from the $173 offered last year.

20% Percentage of Cleveland kids ages 5 to 11 who are vaccinated against Covid-19, a low rate that convinced CMSD to keep its masking requirements in place.

$179 million Revenue collected at Ohio racinos and casinos in February, setting a new record for the month. Across the state, gambling revenue was up nearly 13% relative to February, 2021, with MGM Northfield Park posting a 16.7% gain.

between Chicago, Cleveland and Pittsburgh. It came to the astonishing conclusion that such a corridor would be worth it.

“I am sold to move to the next step,’’ Grace Gallucci, president of NOACA, said at the time. “I think there’s enough evidence in the feasibility study to suggest we should move forward as a region in order to leverage the work that we’ve already done and to capitalize on the momentum of hyperloop nationally and internationally.”

That momentum, stalled by the pandemic, screeched to a halt last week when Virgin Hyperloop announced that it was abandoning its plans for passenger transport via hyperloop tech and laying off roughly half its staff. Transporting freight (instead of humans) along vacuumsealed tubes at high speeds, the company concluded, would entail far fewer regulatory and safety burdens.

Even so, the government of Saudi Arabia appears to be Virgin’s only client for such transport. Everyone now seems to acknowledge that the technology is simply too costly to be practical, especially when high-speed rail is sitting right there.

In Cleveland, the buoyant hyperloop atmosphere in 2018 and 2019 is a distant memory. Back then, local leaders up to and including Democratic U.S. Senate Candidate Tim Ryan were credulously praising the hyperloop as a revolutionary technology with the potential for thousands of jobs and a commute to Chicago so painless (30 minutes or less!) that it would be possible to live in Cleveland and work in Chicago and vice versa, an outrageous proposition.

The feasibility study advised that the project could cost north of $25 billion but would make up those costs via huge upticks in the labor market and enhanced property values along the route, among other things. The study itself cost $1.2 million and included a $200,000 contribution from the Cleveland Foundation. All sorts of public and private institutions leaped to be a part of a “Great Lakes Consortium” on the hyperloop and released a vortex of press releases about how over the moon they all were.

Hyperloop technology even seemed to be gaining ground in its quest for legitimacy in November, when it was included by name in Joe Biden’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. That bipartisan bill authorized huge investments in bridges, freeways and sustainable transportation modes nationwide and allowed Hyperloop companies like HyperloopTT to apply

for federal grants that other transportation modes already have access to. After its passage, HyperloopTT’s CEO Andres de Leon said that the construction of a domestic hyperloop system “just got a lot easier.”

Tim Ryan himself gushed, “I am proud to have helped cement the future of hyperloop travel with the passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. This groundbreaking technology will be revolutionary to Ohio and the entire country — opening the door for more job opportunities, higher economic growth in our cities, less time in traffic, more chances to see loved ones, and so much more. I look forward to continuing to work to get the Hyperloop built and up and running.”

HyperloopTT’s Andres De Leon, when reached via email by Scene, said he was not deterred by the Virgin Hyperloop news last week.

He said, in fact, that the company’s transition to freight was “highly expected,” given that its primary investor, DP World, is a cargo logistics company.

“This shift aligns them better with their current revenue streams,” he wrote. “As for HyperloopTT, we remain committed to building a sustainable adaptable system that includes both passenger and cargo.

Interest in hyperloop around the world is stronger than ever. Since our unveiling of the Great Lakes Hyperloop Feasibility [study] in late 2019 we have continued to make advancements in the region. We’re working to advance the project and expect to announce next steps this year.”

Who knows what those next steps might be? But it’s hard to imagine that investors, who in spite of De Leon’s prognosis have been skittish about the incipient and overblown tech, will pony up in the wake of Virgin’s transition, a move interpreted by some as a surrender to reality.

Thankfully, the Infrastructure bill is also providing enormous investments in regular-old rail. The news couldn’t come at a better time for RTA, whose rapid transit trains are spontaneously bursting into flames on what feels like a daily basis. The regional transit agency announced last Thursday that it was receiving $20.3 million as part of its first tranche of funding.

For Clevelanders who actually use public transit, the prospect of safe, frequent, reliable buses and trains— and hell, maybe a couple of Amtrak trains departing during waking hours—is still far more intoxicating

than the magical sci-fi super tube dreamed up by Elon Musk.

-Sam Allard

Former East Cleveland Mayor Eric J. Brewer is Running for Congress in 11th District as a Republican Former East Cleveland Mayor, Cleveland mayoral candidate and veteran journalist Eric J. Brewer announced last weekend that he has filed to run for the 11th District Congressional seat currently occupied by Shontel Brown.

Brewer, who placed eighth out of nine candidates in the 2017 Cleveland mayoral primary and whose most recent professional adventure has been a militant personal news website, will run as a Republican. He wrote that the GOP is the party of Abraham Lincoln and his grandparents.

“Our civil rights as Americans are at stake and under attack by the un-Americans who control the Democratic Party,” Brewer wrote.

“My family’s roots exist here long before the Civil War and American Revolution. Someone needs to fight for our shared history and values as Americans in our Congress.”

Brewer said that he is running specifically to provide constituents in Ohio’s 11th District with a “detailed and knowledgeable report” of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The announcement of his candidacy consisted largely of his interpretation of the current conflict there.

The 11th District, in the revised congressional map, includes the city of Cleveland in its entirety and many of the eastern suburbs. The district no longer includes its southern tendril that encompassed some of the city of Akron. In the revised map, the 11th is one of five districts projected to be won by Democrats.

Overwhelmingly so.

As such, the Republican primary is without a great deal of consequence. But Brewer will run against James Hemphill, a general contractor and real estate investor. In the Democratic primary, incumbent Shontel Brown will face a rematch against challenger Nina Turner. If the 2021 special election is any indication, that race is likely to garner boatloads of financial contributions from outside the district and national media attention.

-Sam Allard

scene@clevescene.com @clevelandscene

March 9-22, 2022 | clevescene.com |

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FEATURE

The city of Cleveland’s paint program could use a fresh coat as residents cite costly labor and slow voucher approval process

By Doug Breehl-Pitorak/Cleveland Documenters 10

| clevescene.com | March 9-22, 2022

TUESDAY GIBSON LIVES WITH her mom, Barbara, in a 107-yearold home in Cleveland’s BuckeyeWoodhill neighborhood. Gibson had hoped Cleveland’s Exterior Paint Program, which offers free paint and supplies to help residents repaint their homes and safely remove any hazardous lead-based paint, would provide enough support to give the home a fresh coat.

Gibson applied and was approved, but before ever prepping her house for painting, she realized the program wasn’t going to work for her.

“It was a lot of stipulations just to get the paint to do the job,” she said.

Gibson’s home never got a new paint job, a reality shared by many applicants.

The city’s goal for the program was to have 1,000 homes painted during the last two years.

In that time, 374 applicants — 37 percent of that goal — have completed the program, said Louise Jackson, commissioner of the city’s Division of Neighborhood Services.

Return of the paint program The Exterior Paint Program was revamped “to help residents leverage these and other city services which can help protect their home investments, improve housing stock in our neighborhoods and create a better quality of life,” former Mayor Frank Jackson said in a 2019 press release announcing the program’s return.

City Council passed legislation and a budget of $521,000 per year was approved for paint and supplies, according to Commissioner Jackson.

The city paid Sherwin-Williams Co., the primary vendor, $378,063 for paint and supplies, according to public records obtained by Cleveland Documenters. Bloom Brothers, the lone other vendor participating, received $2,558.

Council members discussed the program with Jackson and new Director of Community Development Alyssa Hernandez during the Feb. 28 General Fund budget hearing.

Several council members asked questions to confirm the program process and said the cost of labor is

Tuesday Gibson, a Buckeye-Woodhill resident, said she’s considering saving for new vinyl siding after deciding that Cleveland’s Exterior Paint Program wouldn’t provide the support needed to repaint her roughly 2,000-square-foot home.

Photo by Tim Harrison.

an issue to address. Council Member Jenny Spencer said that partner agencies have told her they’ve stopped referring residents to the program because of the stress and frustration it brings residents.

“It’s not only rebuilding the program; it’s rebuilding trust entirely,” Spencer said in the hearing. “I actually had someone in the community tell me that this program has made residents’ lives worse.”

Hernandez said she’ll work to address gaps in the program. They did not allocate more money from the 2022 budget for the program at that time.

‘A lot of stipulations’ The city hit and exceeded its goals in terms of applications and approvals.

In the last two years,1,338 residents applied and the city approved 77 percent to participate in the program, according to Jackson.

Most applicants were homeowners — relatively few were tenants — and predominantly identified as Black or African-American, according to city application data. The median income of applicants was about $15,750.

However, only 36 percent of those approved got their homes fully painted, suggesting complications came after residents were approved.

Residents told Cleveland Documenters the challenges they experienced including: • Labor costs or difficulty painting • A confusing and slow-moving process • Concerns about city deadlines For Gibson, who rents one floor of her mother’s two-family home, doubts about the program grew after she was approved. She knew residents had to find the labor, whether that meant doing the painting themselves, recruiting family or friends or hiring professionals. But contractors who visited her home gave her an estimate of $3,000 to paint. And, they said, the siding had rotted wood that would need to be replaced before painting.

Saving money for those repairs in addition to hiring painters — and having the work itself done — would push Gibson close to the city’s fall deadline, she said. And she wasn’t even sure the city’s voucher would provide enough paint to cover her roughly 2,000-square-foot home.

That made the required training and multiple inspections — four total — seem less worthwhile. Gibson gave up.

Instead, she is considering saving up for vinyl siding.

“It’s the ‘give me $600 and fix it’ that’s not going to work,” she said.

“Not for this size house.”

Though the 2021 application says residents could get up to $600 for paint and supplies, the legislation calls for up to $1,500 for owneroccupants and $750 for tenants.

Jackson told council in March 2021 that the city lowered the amount on the application because the average voucher was for about $600. Plus, some people had used more paint because they didn’t like their first color choice or because they tried spraypainting and ended up wasting it, she said.

The painting deadline stated on the application — Oct. 31 — was top of mind for several residents.

Gibson and another resident interviewed worried they would have to pay back the voucher amount if they didn’t finish in time. Though it’s not clear in the applications, Jackson said residents can return unused supplies and paint that isn’t tinted and can request extensions to finish painting their homes.

“We want people to paint,” Jackson said.

The waiting (to paint) is the hardest part, for some While the physical toll of painting or the cost of hiring professionals created challenges for some residents, Judy Muldoon’s problem was waiting for her vouchers to come.

Muldoon, who lives in West Park-Jefferson, gave her two-story bungalow a fresh, dark green coat — mostly by herself. That required eight-hour days and self-set deadlines.

After filling out an application, Muldoon attended the required virtual class on lead-based paint safety the first week of June. After that, she should have received a voucher for her “prep pack,” a kit of supplies for preparing homes for painting, including the removal of lead-based paint. But she didn’t get

March 9-22, 2022 | clevescene.com |

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| clevescene.com | March 9-22, 2022

Marileidy Fermin used Cleveland’s 2021 Exterior Paint Program to give her West Boulevard home a fresh, sky blue coat. Years ago, Fermin used a previous version of the program to remove hazardous lead-based paint.

Photo provided by Marileidy Fermin.

that until the end of July, which she said cost her time to paint during the summer.

“It shouldn’t take almost two months to get the voucher,” Muldoon said. “So, somewhere in there, in the mechanics of the city, it just needs to be tightened up.”

Muldoon received her first paint voucher in September and finished painting in November, she said.

Despite a rough start, Muldoon said the Bellaire Puritas Development Corporation and the Sherwin-Williams store in Brooklyn made the remaining process go smoothly. Muldoon, out of work since the pandemic, said she appreciated a program that gave her about $600 of paint.

“It started out very slow; I wasn’t happy with it in the beginning,” she said. “But once I started, I was really grateful for every last bit of it.”

For other residents who experienced a delay in receiving vouchers, the timeframe to paint was even shorter.

Marileidy Fermin applied in February of last year. She received her supply voucher in June or July and prepared her West Boulevard home for painting. Fermin then began a months-long process of

calling the city — as the application instructs — in order to get the paint voucher. Fermin, a supervisor at Help Me Grow, a support network for expecting and new moms, called every week or so but didn’t reach anyone until Nov. 2, two days after the program’s deadline.

Though she doesn’t remember the name of the person she spoke with that day, details of the call have stuck with her.

Initially, she was told that the program had ended. After Fermin explained how she had tried to speak to someone, the city offered a deal, she said: if Fermin could paint her home in two days, she would get the paint voucher and not have to pay back money in the amount of the vouchers she redeemed. If that didn’t work, she could wait until spring to paint.

Not wanting to pay back the money, risk the program’s end or deal with the arrival of new city personnel unfamiliar with her situation, Fermin paid three people to help paint, a job that took five to seven cold and rainy days in early November.

“That was the biggest challenge ever,” Fermin said, adding that she wasn’t aware of the deadline or

penalty until the Nov. 2 call. “I had to … pay somebody to come and paint as soon as we can.”

Ultimately, things worked out, she said, with the program saving her money on a new coat of sky blue paint for her home.

Labor is a key challenge Council Member Anthony Hairston, whose Ward 10 had the highest number of program applicants — 138 — said that while the program has helped many residents beautify their homes, securing the labor remains a challenge.

“I think that there are some legitimate needs that exist that we should look at,” Hairston said.

House painting in Cleveland can be difficult, especially for people without experience, said Kris Harsh, the newly elected council member for Ward 13 and former Housing Director at Metro West CDC. Harsh spent several years working with a crew painting houses and said it’s not hard to spot a Cleveland home with a new coat of paint that stops at the eaves. That’s because most people can only get 40-foot ladders.

“Getting a 60-foot ladder isn’t easy,” he said, noting that they are

difficult to set up and maneuver, especially on windy days.

Harsh wonders if it would be beneficial to slow down the program and, instead of enrolling new residents each year, build relationships to help overcome challenges to completing the work.

“Programs like this — you have to get a whole lot of things lined up to get it to work perfectly,” he said.

Lynn Rodemann, housing outreach specialist at Slavic Village Development, said that the cost of labor was a barrier for residents, and that the lack of broadband access prevented some from taking the required lead-safe training.

In some cases, her CDC used money from one of its programs to help seniors and residents with disabilities to pay for painting. “But our funds are limited,” she said Quotes for painters ranged widely, from $3,000 up to $8,000, residents told Cleveland Documenters. Some also were concerned that contractors would not safely discard lead-based paint.

Jackson told the City Council last March that the city had learned of at least five contractors who did not follow proper rules for scraping or paint-chip disposal.

Council President Blaine Griffin said the clock is ticking on the program. He doesn’t want to scrap it because programs often need three to five years to become functional, and the pandemic and staffing turnover and shortages likely hampered success. Griffin, however, said he would be hesitant about the city paying for labor without an honest assessment of costs and with concern about residents being able to choose their own contractors. Still, he is open to ideas for improvement.

“We will definitely listen to the public to figure out how we can do better,” Griffin said.

Fermin and other residents would like to see a program that offers free or low-cost labor based on income for applicants who need assistance with painting.

“You might have the paint, but then if you don’t have anybody or if you don’t have the money to pay the labor, that’s not going to work,” she said.

This story was reported by Cleveland Documenters in partnership with The Cleveland Observer. Reporter Rachel Dissell contributed to this story.

scene@clevescene.com @clevelandscene

March 9-22, 2022 | clevescene.com |

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GET OUT

Everything to do in Cleveland for the next two weeks

Sheng soloist Wu Wei comes to Cleveland Museum of Art. See: Friday, March 11.

WED 03/09 2022 MAC Tournament Many teams in college basketball’s biggest conferences will make it to the NCAA basketball tournament whether or not they win their conference tournament. In the MidAmerican Conference, teams must win the conference tournament to get selected to play at the Big Dance.

At least that’s traditionally been the case. So expect the mid-sized schools from the region (Kent State, Ohio University, Akron University, etc.) who’ll duke it out at this year’s tournament to engage in some real winner-take-all battles. Today at 11 a.m., both men’s and women’s teams will play at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, leading up to the championship games on Saturday.

1 Center Court, 216-420-2000, rocketmortgagefieldhouse.com.

THU 03/10 Drink and Draw with Dr. Sketchy Akron Founded in 2005 in a dive bar in Brooklyn, Dr. Sketchy’s has now spread to more than 100 cities

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around the world. Dr. Sketchy Akron, a monthly drink and draw event that takes place on the second Thursday of each month at Jilly’s Music Room in Akron, gives patrons the opportunity to “draw glamorous underground performers in an atmosphere of boozy conviviality.” The fun begins at 7 p.m.; it costs $10 to draw. second Thursday of every month.

111 N Main St., Akron, 330-5763757, jillysmusicroom.com.

FRI

03/11

Wu Wei A sheng soloist who has helped to develop this 4,000-year-old Chinese wind instrument into an “innovative force” in contemporary music, Wu Wei studied the sheng at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and was a soloist with the Shanghai Chinese Orchestra before studying at the Hanns Eisler Academy of Music in Berlin, where he’s now based. His performance tonight at 7:30 at the Cleveland Museum of Art will include traditional and contemporary Chinese music as well as masterworks of the European baroque period. Check the museum’s website for more info.

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Wu Wei

11150 East Blvd., 216-421-7350, clevelandart.org.

SAT

03/12

Aminé Known for his clever lyrics, rapper Aminé comes to House of Blues tonight as part of a tour in support of his latest effort, TWOPOINTFIVE, which features special guests AJ Tracey, Cochise and 454. The album draws from club and dance music, influences that the rapper distills nicely on standout tracks like “Charmander,” “NEO” and “Van Gogh.” The show starts at 7 p.m.

Consult the House of Blues website for more info.

308 Euclid Ave., 216-523-2583, houseofblues.com.

SUN 03/13 Shoeless: A Musical Tale of Cinderella Today at 3 p.m. at the Mimi Ohio Theatre, North Coast Men’s Chorus presents the world premiere of a staged musical concert of the fairy tale Cinderella. Cinderella, the Prince, her evil stepmother and her two stepsisters all make appearances

along with the Fairy Godmother.

1511 Euclid Ave., 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org.

MON 03/14 Movie Mondays Every Monday, Cleveland Cinemas hosts $5 Movie Mondays, where film fans can catch up on the latest Hollywood flicks for significantly reduced prices. Bring your friends and family and make Movie Mondays a weekly tradition — many theaters even offer discounted concession stand items. Participating theaters include Apollo Theatre, Cedar Lee Theatre and Chagrin Cinemas. Additional charges apply for 3-D movies. clevelandcinemas.com.

TUE

03/15

Henry Rollins Punk rock icon Henry Rollins comes to the Mimi Ohio Theatre tonight as part of his Good to See You 2022 tour. He’ll talk about how he survived the COVID shutdown and likely discuss his travel to faraway places such as Nepal, Sri Lanka, Siberia, North Korea and Sudan. The show

GET OUT begins at 8. Check the Playhouse Square website for more info.

1511 Euclid Ave., 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org.

WED 03/16 An Evening with Anne Lamott The author of seven novels, Anne Lamott comes to the State Theatre tonight to deliver a talk about her career as well as her latest book, Dusk, Night, Dawn: On Revival and Courage.

It all starts at 8. Check the Playhouse Square website for more info.

1519 Euclid Ave., 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org.

THU

03/17

St. Patrick’s Day Parade The first Cleveland St. Patrick’s Day parade reportedly took place in 1867. In the early years, the parade marched through the near-Westside (from the Flats to Detroit-Shoreway), where the region’s Irish immigrants were concentrated. The songs and dancing were organized by the Order of the Hibernians. Back in 1910, Ohio senator Dan Mooney introduced a bill which recognized St. Patrick’s Day in Ohio, turning the parade into a true tradition. Today’s parade launches at 1:04 p.m. at the intersection of Superior Avenue and East 18th Street and will end at Rockwell Avenue and Ontario Street. Expect downtown bars to be jammed after it’s over. The parade route and more are on the website. stpatricksdaycleveland.com.

FRI

03/18

50th Annual Lakeland Jazz Festival The 50th Annual Lakeland Jazz Festival returns to Lakeland Community College this weekend.

Red Light Roxy performs tonight.

Brazilian guitar master Diego Figueiredo and singer, songwriter, pianist and humorist Nellie McKay will perform tomorrow night. Sunday night will feature two regional big bands. Consult the website for a complete schedule and more info.

7700 Clocktower Dr., Kirtland, 440525-7000, lakelandcc.edu.

SAT

03/19

Pam Tanowitz Pam Tanowitz Dance returns to

Cleveland to close the season with a performance that’ll feature renowned pianist Simone Dinnerstein. The company will perform New Work for Goldberg Variations, a piece that deconstructs classical, formal and traditional movement to Bach’s iconic score. The performance takes place at 7:30 p.m. at the Mimi Ohio Theatre. Check the Playhouse Square website for more info.

1511 Euclid Ave., 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org.

SUN 03/20 Tablao Flamenco Abrepaso flamenco, Northeast Ohio’s premiere flamenco music and dance company, regularly presents flamenco in its most traditional setting — a tablao. Tonight’s performance, which features Alice Blumenfeld (dance), Marija Temo (guitar & vocals), Juan Siddi (dance) and Patrick Graney (percussion) along with dancers from ABREPASO flamenco, will be no different. The performance begins at 7 at the Music Box Supper Club. Tickets cost $20 in advance, $25 at the door.

1148 Main Ave., 216-242-1250, musicboxcle.com.

The High Kings Thurs. & Fri. March 10 & 11

Pat Travers & Cactus Sat. March 12

(ONLY OH/WESTERN PA SHOW)

Wishbone Ash Mon. March 14

Tommy Castro & the Painkillers

Sam Bush Fri. March 18

w/Deanna Bogart

Rick Wakeman Sun. March 13

Thurs. March 17

MON 03/21 Cavaliers vs. Los Angeles Lakers Despite the stellar play of a certain LeBron James, the Los Angeles Lakers have underachieved this season and might even miss the playoffs. They come to Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse tonight at 7.

Wouldn’t it be nice if the Cavs can help to ensure that King James and Co. go fishing at the season’s end?

Check the arena’s website for ticket prices and more info.

1 Center Court, 216-420-2000, rocketmortgagefieldhouse.com.

TUE

03/22

Pretty Woman Based the film by the same name, the musical Pretty Woman comes to Connor Palace tonight at 7:30. It stars Broadway superstar and Tony Award-nominee Adam Pascal as Edward Lewis and Olivia Valli as the “charming and charismatic” Vivian Ward. Performances continue through March 27. Tickets start at $10.

1615 Euclid Ave., 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org.

AT THE GOODYEAR THEATER

Graham Nash at The Kent Stage Saturday, April 2 & Sunday April 3

AT THE AKRON CIVIC THEATER

Little Feat Saturday April 9 Get tickets now at akroncivic.com

Janis Ian with Tom Rush Celebrating Our Years Together

Wednesday May 11 Get tickets now at goodyeartheater.com or ticketmaster.com

Tue. March 8 Kasim Sultan Wed. March 9 Spyro Gyra Thurs. March 24 The Wailers Sat. March 26 Mardi Gras Mambo Wed. March 30 Blood Brothers (Mike Zito & Albert Castiglia) Wed. April 6 The English Beat NEW! Tue. April 12 Progject Sat. April 15 Hell Van Sun. April 16 Donnie Iris & the Cruisers Wed. April 27 Aimee Mann Wed. May 11 Shawn Colvin NEW! Sat. May 14 Marc Cohn Wed. May 18 Al Stewart Thur. May 19 Bodeans Wed. June 8 The Music of Cream Tue. June 28 The Zombies

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EAT OLD WORLD, NEW SPIN

Schnitz Ale in Parma offers a free-spirited interpretation of Eastern European fare

YOU MIGHT EXPECT A chilly late-February Monday night to be Deadsville at the local brewpub, but the opposite was true during a recent visit to Schnitz Ale in Parma.

Not only was every seat at the bar spoken for, as were most of the seats in the main dining room, but there also happened to be a party of 50 people seated above our heads on the second floor. Far from an aberration, however, this scene has been replayed pretty much every night since the brewery opened last November.

The parallel storylines of Immigrant Son and Schnitz Ale breweries are almost too numerous to list and remarkable to ignore.

Both projects had their genesis way back in 2019, when the buildings that would eventually house them were acquired. Both breweries endured numerous and protracted construction delays thanks in large part to the pandemic. The two businesses opened their doors just days apart at the tail end of 2021 – and when they did, each was the first ever to start brewing in its city, Lakewood and Parma, respectively.

I’d say, “and that’s where the similarities end,” but that’s not the case because both new breweries also are the product of immigrant families with strong ties to the Old Country.

If you’ve eaten at Das Schnitzel Haus since it opened in 2005, then you have some idea of the types of foods on the menu at the cleverly named Schnitz Ale. But while the bill of fare is decidedly German and Eastern European at heart, the brewpub offers a more free-spirited interpretation of those foods. Many dishes ignore borders altogether. The one thing that items like pulled pork egg rolls and schnitzel sliders have in common is that they both go great with beer.

If you’re like me, you like to toss in a snack order along with that first round of beer. Here, that quick-fire dish should be the Schnitz Ale pretzel ($11). The dinner platesize hand-knotted treat has an appropriately shiny, crisp exterior that gives way to a light and fluffy interior. The hot, soft pretzel is drizzled with molten beer cheese and

Photo by Douglas Trattner

By Douglas Trattner

showered with bacon bits and chives.

I’m a sucker for fried smelts ($12) so when I spied a beer-battered version served here I bit. We were rewarded with a large platter of golden-brown fish and fries. A squeeze of fresh lemon was all these headless, well-trimmed fishes needed to be enjoyed, crispy tails and all.

The kitchen smokes several items that make their way to the menu,

German, all served with (yet more) fries and brown mustard. There’s also a sausage and sauerkraut (or peppers and onions) sandwich on the menu.

With a name like Schnitz Ale, one would expect to find a few schnitzel options and the brewpub delivers.

The Jäger schnitzel ($17) features a thin breaded pork cutlet sauced with mushroom gravy and paired with a

SCHNITZ ALE BREWERY 5729 PEARL RD., PARMA, 440-340-4353 FACEBOOK.COM/SCHNITZALEBREWERY

whole chicken wings included.

Available in orders of three ($11), six, or nine, the wings are large, meaty and pleasantly smoky. They’re served with fries and a smokey-sweet barbecue sauce for dipping.

That flair for smokehouse goods extends to the sausages, which owner Goran Djurin stuffs and smokes himself. The selection changes, but we enjoyed a platter ($17) containing chubby, juicy links of Italian, bratwurst and spicy

buttery rice pilaf. Another fun route to go is with the schnitzel sliders, a trio of mini chicken cutlets served on soft brioche buns.

First-time visitors are bound to be bowled over by the interior, a 10,000-square-foot, two-level space with eye candy at every turn. The brewpub seats approximately 200 guests on two floors, the second of which is a mezzanine connected to the main hall via a grand central staircase. The elaborate Old-

World touches are nicely offset by industrial fixtures like steel beams and exposed ceilings and HVAC. A cozy 15-seat, red-tiled bar is tucked into one corner of the room. Nearby, a window peers into the 7-barrel brewhouse, where brewmaster Jerome Moore concocts a wide range of ales, available in pints and flights. Flagships include a Kolsch, pilsner, stout and saison, but there also are a few IPAs and guest sours. A serviceable wine by the glass and bottle list is also on hand.

For now, parking is a bit of a hassle. The large adjacent lot still is an unpaved mess, a small lot directly behind the brewery is always full and street parking is not allowed nearby. That situation may or may not improve when a beer garden-style patio comes to life on that unpaved lot, but the idea of enjoying an icecold pilsner and warm Bavarian pretzel outdoors should more than compensate.

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satisfy all tastes.

New hydraulic garage-door windows will be installed in the bar area and the second dining room, which will effectively expand the outdoor patio to 55 seats. Indoors, there will be room for 165.

Out front, 1940s-inspired signage with animated lights will artfully point the way to East 4th Street’s newest restaurant, which — along with Blue Agave, Indie and Goma — will bring the “eat street” back to full occupancy.

“It’s still the best address in the city,” Watts says. “This is hallowed ground in Cleveland culinary. What Michael Symon did for national notoriety of Cleveland cuisine... to have the keys to this building, we don’t take that lightly.”

“I cut my teeth and built my career four doors down from here,” adds Cimino, “so to be back here is more than a dream come true – and in our own restaurant and in our own way.”

EAT

Partners Andrew Watts (left) and Vinnie Cimino. Photo by Douglas Trattner

BITES

Cordelia to open in former Lola spot on East 4th Street this spring

By Douglas Trattner AS DEVASTATING A BLOW AS it was when Michael Symon closed Lola on East 4th Street, seeds of optimism soon began to sprout.

Last summer, diners were thrilled to learn that the iconic restaurant space had been leased, but details surrounding the new business have remained a closely guarded secret.

Now, partners Andrew Watts and Vinnie Cimino have come out on the record for the first time to discuss Cordelia, a compelling new restaurant that will debut this spring. For 20 years, Watts has been a fixture in the local dining, nightlife and hospitality scene, working in management in dozens of establishments. Cimino, the executive chef and operating partner, worked for Team Sawyer Restaurant Group, including Greenhouse Tavern when that restaurant’s chef won the James Beard Award. Cordelia is a homecoming for both Watts and Cimino, as Watts was the general manager of Greenhouse at the same time.

Named for Watts’ greatgrandmother, Cordelia aims to be a celebration of Cleveland and the Midwest, with a heightened focus on hospitality – an approach they’re calling “Midwest Nice.”

“She took care of her community and she taught our family what

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hospitality is and how vital it is to take care of folks,” Watts says of his great-grandmother. “From the onset, it’s going to be very obvious how appreciative we are for every single person coming through the door.”

The property, which dates to the early 1900s, has been stripped to the shell and is being rebuilt. Diners will experience a very different interior from that of Lola when they cross the threshold. Watts and company are going for warm, classic and vintage, with a timeless look designed to put all guests at ease.

The original terrazzo flooring at the entrance, uncovered during construction, will give way to honey-colored wood flooring in the bar area. That wood flooring will lead to elegant penny tile mosaic flooring around the base of the bar, an expanded 20-stool wraparound fixture with a beefy bullnose rail.

Behind the bar, Lola’s “wall of wine” was removed and the original brick exposed. Open shelving and a rolling library ladder will complete the classic tavern look.

Also in the bar, a 12-seat communal table will slide in between the pillars.

In the dining room, the 15-foot coffered ceiling has been painted a bright white and new booths and banquettes will be installed on an

| clevescene.com | March 9-22, 2022

elevated platform that rings the room, providing even better views of that impressive open kitchen.

“The kitchen for Lola was iconic in its design and layout,” Cimino says. “One of the things that inspired me to be a chef to begin with was this kitchen. It’s always been a favorite of mine in any city.”

Cimino says that the general look and feel of the kitchen, with its classic French-style cooking suite, will remain intact but some equipment will be moved, updated or replaced. The small corner chef’s table will be removed and replaced with a roomy 12-seat dinner counter.

To complement that “Midwest Nice” hospitality, Cimino will be cooking what he calls “Modern Grandma” cuisine.

“Modern Grandma is a term we’ve really been enjoying,” says the chef.

“We’ll be a scratch kitchen that does everything by hand. We’ll do our own butchering, do our own baking, fermentation and curing that we’ve built our roots on here in the Midwest. These things are timeless and we’re inspired by heritage and where we come from.”

The seasonal menu will be built for passing around the table and sharing to foster a communal experience. To join the food, there will be a beer, wine and spirits list to

Terrestrial Brewing Hires New Chef in Advance of Opening Next-Door Restaurant, Upstairs Event Space Late last year, Terrestrial Brewing (7524 Father Frascati Dr., 216-4659999) announced a multidimensional plan to activate its entire building in Battery Park. In addition to the fiveyear-old brewery, owners Ralph Sgro and Ryan Bennett began building out a full-service restaurant next door and a live-entertainment venue and event space upstairs. In pursuit of those goals, management hired chef Penny Tagliarina to join the team as Director of Culinary Operations.

But just weeks later, Tagliarina announced that she was relocating to Phoenix to accept a new job opportunity, leaving Sgro and Bennett with a major hole to fill.

“It delayed the project a bit until we could find someone,” explains Bennett. “And then we brought Michael in. We liked everything he had to say.”

“Michael” is Michael Lovano, a young but exceptionally experienced chef. Terrestrial’s new executive chef has worked at One Red Door in Hudson, Lola downtown, and Summer House in Lakewood, where he was Chef de Cuisine. He says that the idea of working in a brewery has always appealed to him.

“It sounded really exciting,” Lovano says. “I’ve always liked the idea of brewing beer and being around that culture and side of industry.”

While the timeline might have shifted, the concept has not. The 2,400-square-foot space next door, vacant since 2017, is being transformed into a 70-seat full-service restaurant and bar.

The eatery, described by Sgro as “40-percent fancier than the taproom,” will serve elevated gastropub food.

“Putting the menu together is probably my favorite part so far,” says chef Lovano.

An early draft includes starters like duck poutine with raclette cheese and waffle fries, seasonal pierogi with shifting fillings, pretzel bites with beer cheese dip and a Wagyu corn dog. For mains, there might be short rib grilled cheese, smash burger, gnocchi with basil, mint and pea pesto and a grilled hanger steak with fingerlings.

With plumbing inspections behind them, the team is moving onto drywall and eyeing an April opening. Until then, Lovano will be cooking up Sunday brunches at the brewery.

As for the event space upstairs, core samples are being taken in advance of footers being poured to support the elevated wraparound deck off the second-floor space. At 2,400 square feet, the loft-like space lends itself to live entertainment, dinner-and-a-show events, beer dinners, overflow dining and private affairs. The team envisions a 150to 200-person club that will attract regional and out-of-state talent.

“We want to play up the live music and brewery vibe,” says Sgro.

The goal is to start playing in late spring or early summer.

After Seeing News of Village Square Pizza’s Impending Closure, Todd Leebow Steps In to Buy It In February, we published an item about Village Square Pizza shutting down after nearly 50 years in business. For the past 27 years, the Woodmere restaurant has been operated by Joe DeGaetano, who purchased the restaurant from the previous owners in 1995. He will be 86 years old next month and he’s ready to retire.

Days later we learned that Todd Leebow of Kind of One Concepts, the Cleveland-based hospitality group that operates The Last Page restaurant at Pinecrest, has agreed

to purchase Village Square Pizza, thus sparing it from the proverbial wrecking ball.

“I grew up eating Village Square Pizza as a young Clevelander on the east side,” Leebow states. “I knew the phone number by heart. When I saw the announcement of their closing today, I wanted to see how I could prevent that. Now with Village Square Pizza as part of the Kind of One family, my kids will be able to grow up loving their pizza just like I did.”

For DeGaetano, who says the business never fully recovered from the pandemic, the sale is a bit of a relief.

“He’s a nice guy and I think he’ll do a great job,” he says. “He’ll have the resources to do a great job, I didn’t. I was never able to get it back to where it was before the pandemic.

The hotels died too and that was a big portion of our business and the companies started to come back a little bit, but not to the degree when we needed them to.”

The Yard on 3rd Will Bring Food Truck Park, Geraci’s Pizza to Willoughby This Summer The Yard on 3rd, a new food truck park, will open this summer in the former home of Lure Bistro (38040 Third St.), the downtown Willoughby mainstay that closed in early 2020 after 20 years in business.

On tap next is a large outdoor seasonal bar, with plenty of picnic tables, that will draw a regular schedule of Northeast Ohio food trucks from spring through fall, much like the Lakewood Food Truck Park.

“As a lifelong Eastside resident, I am confident that DTW is the perfect area for this concept. Bringing a fun and outdoor Food Truck Yard to Downtown Willoughby will create synergy with the existing vibrant restaurant and bar scene” Anna Dey, The Yard on 3rd co-owner, said in a release.

Inside, The Yard on 3rd is bringing a year-round Geraci’s outpost that will also offer delivery and takeout.

“For my family and I, Downtown Willoughby was always a neighborhood we wanted to bring Geraci’s too,” Bucky Spoth, Geraci’s co-owner, said.

Look for The Yard on 3rd to open around June 1.

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Photo credit: Chipster PR

MUSIC

Rick Wakeman

A STANDUP GUY

Keyboardist Rick Wakeman brings his Even Grumpier Old Rock Star tour to Kent Stage

By Jeff Niesel ON A TREK HE’S DUBBED THE Even Grumpier Old Rock Star tour, keyboard wiz Rick Wakeman (the Strawbs, Yes) returned with what a press release describes as a program packed with “virtuosic piano performances and hilarious anecdotes” inspired by his 50-plusyear career.

The show’s repertoire will range from Wakeman’s solo works and his stints with prog rockers Yes through to his early days as a session musician playing keyboards on such classics as David Bowie’s “Life on Mars?” Wakeman will also deliver unique interpretations of Beatles’ hits and many more memorable tunes, adapted for the grand piano.

The Event Grumpier Old Rock Star tour stops at Kent Stage on Sunday, March 13. During a phone interview from a San Francisco tour stop, Wakeman talked about returning to touring, and he discussed that infamous acceptance speech he gave when Yes was inducted into the Rock Hall in 2017.

You’ve been playing live for decades now. What was it like when things came to a halt in 2020?

It was horrible. That’s being really honest. I’m a people person. And so it’s very difficult for me. I get my energy from people and being on stage and interacting with everybody. And to have that taken away, I didn’t realize how much it would affect me. I got really depressed about it. I used to go out walking with my rescue dogs, and I used to pour my heart out to the dogs. I watched musician friends around me and people in the music business also go into depression, and some of them caught COVID and passed away. I found it very difficult. I came out for the first time last October and did 13 shows with serious restrictions. But it was so lovely. At the first show, I walked out and — I didn’t plan to say this — said, “Look. There’s people.” It just meant so much. I did a short Christmas tour at home. Now, I’m

out doing these shows. It’s great to be out playing again.

In 2019, you embarked on the Grumpy Old Rock Star tour. Talk about what that trek was like and what made you want to follow it up with the Even Grumpier Old Rock Star Tour?

There was a program in England called Grumpy Old Men, which is where a lot of middle-aged men moaned about things. It was very funny. It was huge in the UK. They did a few series. I’m the only person who was in every single program.

I got known as the “Grumpy Old Man.” And because of the music thing, it turned into “Grumpy Old Rock Star.” In England, that’s what I’m known as, like it or not. I do radio, TV and corporate events. I always get introduced that way.

That’s what it is. My road manager here loved the name and said we have to use that for the tour name. And now because of all the cancellations and restrictions, it’s become the Even Grumpier Old Rock Star tour.

I know you originally thought you’d become a classical pianist.

What set you down the path of becoming a progressive rock keyboard wiz instead?

A few things really. Yes, it’s true.

When I started my degree, it was as a classical pianist. I played so many different kinds of music and didn’t want to attach myself to one type of music. Also, good classical players attach themselves to one or two composers. I couldn’t do that. I was also very interested in mixing different types of music, which I felt hadn’t been done as I would do it. When bands used orchestras to enhance the music, that’s what it was. It was a bit of enhancement to the music and the musicians were separate. I thought they should all be one. That was always something I wanted to see if I could make work. Over the years, I’ve had the opportunities to do it, which is

RICK WAKEMAN: THE EVEN GRUMPIER OLD ROCK STAR TOUR 7 P.M., SUNDAY, MARCH 13, KENT STAGE 175 E. MAIN ST., KENT, 330-677-5005.

TICKETS: $65-$260, KENTSTAGE.ORG

great. When I was in school, I was doing sessions, which, at the time, was really looked down upon by the college. Now, it’s really encouraged.

They opened their doors to music, and it’s been incredible. It was a natural path I went down.

I did that for four or five minutes and came away. In no way at all was it meant to be irreverent. I was so proud of being inducted. I had some amazing emails and messages from people who said, “Thank God for that.” I never said anything degrading and would never do that.

In fact, I have an ambition which will never get realized, which is to host the Rock Hall Inductions. I would love to do it with Ricky Gervais.

Talk about getting inducted into the Rock Hall with Yes and what that was like. Did you even script that speech?

It was on the fly really. I was incredibly proud to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. I was really proud.

I love watching awards, but what I get fed up with is all the speeches.

They’re really boring. Thank heavens for people like Ricky Gervais. How many times can someone thank their mom or grandmother or the person who bought their first guitar for them? The audience knows all this anyway. All you can hear is the hum of people talking. I do a lot of standup in the UK. [Yes singer] Jon [Anderson] and [Yes guitarist] Trev[or] [Rabin] know that I do that. It was getting a bit boring up there, to put it bluntly And Jon said, “Go for it. Do something to liven things up.” I said, “I’m not known for comedy over here.” He said, “Someone has to do something.”

I couldn’t do one of my standup routines because they’re long. So I did a couple of one-liners. People laughed, and then, I did more. Jon and Trevor were going, “Go on.” I picked out bits from routines I did.

What kind of gear will you have on hand?

We have a nice concert grand piano, which we pick up in various places, and I take a very, very new Korg synthesizer, and I can do a few pieces on it. In between, you get a lot of ludicrous stories.

You regularly play Kent Stage.

Talk about what you like about the venue?

I just like it. There are certain places you go to, and you go, “It’s good be back here.” Kent Stage is one of them. There are nice people who work there and run it. It’s really well run. It just great in so many respects. I get to see my daughter, who lives in Cleveland, and she comes up with my grandchildren.

All in all, it’s a great place.

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MUSIC A LASTING LEGACY

Mayday Parade comes to House of Blues to celebrate its self-titled album’s anniversary

By Halle Weber “WE ALL KIND OF GREW UP together, playing music in different bands and going to shows. This was kind of a collective dream for all of us,” says Derek Sanders, lead singer of seasoned pop-punk band Mayday Parade, in a recent phone interview.

Mayday Parade’s 11-year anniversary tour for its self-titled album comes to the Agora Theatre on Tuesday, March 15. “We were always trying to find those other people that were as fully into it as we were. When we started Mayday Parade, it kind of felt like, for the first time, everything just kind of clicked.”

It took a lot of blood, sweat and tears for the band, which formed in 2005 in Tallahassee, FL, to be able to play for thousands of fans all over globe who can sing the words back to them. After the band released its debut EP independently in 2006, the same five guys who remain in the band today were determined to get their music into the right hands.

According to Sanders, it all started with Vans Warped Tour.

“Starting in 2006, following Warped Tour, where we weren’t even a part of the tour, just sort of tagging along, showing up every day, selling CDs to people outside in the lines, you know, literally the most bottom of the rung that we could be. And every summer, sort of coming around again, kind of climbing up to eventually playing the main stage for the first time, I just remember how incredible that was and what an amazing feeling that was, to have come all that way,” says Sanders. “I miss Warped Tour so much, and the camaraderie of being out there for so long with all these people that you love, and meeting new people, and making new friends, and hanging out every day, and so much activity, so much going on; there really was nothing else like it. I really kind of look at that whole arc and whole experience as being one of the things I’m most proud of.”

Sanders thinks that the mainstream boom of pop-punk that’s taken over the music industry in the past couple of years, with Travis Barker producing angsty pop-punk hits for artists like Avril Lavigne,

Mayday Parade.

Jordan Knight

Jxdn, Machine Gun Kelly, Mod Sun, Yungblud and Willow Smith has reenergized the genre.

“I think it’s super exciting,” says Sanders. “I mean really a lot of it is kind of like the Warped Tour scene.”

Sanders notes that the viral reaction to the announcement of

anniversary for the album that Sanders notes is one of the fan favorites alongside 2007’s A Lesson in Romantics, but it got pushed back a year due to COVID-19 spikes. The band has played album anniversary shows before, and they were left wanting more. It seems to be a theme

MAYDAY PARADE, REAL FRIENDS MAGNOLIA PARK, 7 P.M. TUESDAY, MARCH 15. AGORA THEATRE, 5000 EUCLID AVE., 216-881-2221. TICKETS: $29+, AGORACLEVELAND.COM.

the When We Were Young music festival in Las Vegas featuring many of Mayday Parade’s peers who dominated the 2000s pop-punk scene took him by surprise.

“I think that really goes to show you that there is a lot there with pop-punk or emo,” says Sanders.

“Even though, you know, the newest wave might be a little bit different or evolved a bit from what the standard is for what we typically do, I feel like it kind of helps everyone in the scene. Even the bands that are 16 years old or older than that.”

This time around, Mayday Parade is hitting the road to play its selftitled album front-to-back, and the band couldn’t be more excited. The run was supposed to be a ten-year

for beloved pop-punk bands as All Time Low has done a handful of anniversary tours as well.

Although Sanders is excited for the familiar sound of the sing-along to fan favorites from the self-titled album like the melodramatic “Oh Well, Oh Well,” he’s just as excited to play the two new songs from last year’s album, What It Means to Fall Apart, that made the setlist.

“Kids of Summer” reflects on the band’s beloved Warped Tour days, attempting to capture the inexplicable feeling of togetherness, understanding and connection that made it so special. “Golden Days” is another nostalgia track, rooted in the longing for a return to the romanticized mirage of pre-pandemic

life that so many have spent the past couple of years dreaming up.

“Not a whole lot has changed, to be honest. We still just want to be able to create music that means something to us, and hopefully, means something to other people as well,” says Sanders.

“The most rewarding part of all of this is being up on stage, and playing music live for people. We just want to continue to do that.”

Connecting to the fans on a deeply personal level is what has kept the band going all these years.

Although, with COVID restrictions, the group isn’t permitted to greet the fans after every show for pictures, autographs and heart-to-hearts as they had grown accustomed to, Mayday Parade has added an onstage pre-show Q-and-A to mimic some of that intimacy.

“You hear a lot of people tell you how much our music has been able to help them get through tough times, or whatever they’re dealing with in their lives, and that really means so much to me, and to all of us,” says Sanders. “I just hope that if there was any sort of legacy, it’d be that we were able to help people.”

scene@clevescene.com t@clevelandscene

March 9-22, 2022 | clevescene.com |

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SAVAGE LOVE LAY MISÉRABLES

By Dan Savage Hey Dan: I lost my lover unexpectedly last weekend. He was a long-time friend and periodic hook-up, and things were finally starting to turn as serious as I’d always secretly wanted them to be. I’m writing because I don’t know what to do with my desire for him, because that certainly didn’t die with him. He’s the only person I’ve been with in the past year and a half and re-reading our old sexts and thinking about the last time we were together has been turning me on. But I feel all sorts of torn up about masturbating to the thought of him.

I want to do it, but I haven’t. We had a trip planned at the end of March that I am still planning on taking where he was telling me we were going to fall in love. We had been talking (he was on the other side of the country) and video sexting about all the things we were going to do to each other, and I was looking forward to having the best sex of my life with him (we really connected in bed) while on a tropical island. Now I will be going alone. Is it healthy for me to masturbate about him?

Too Heartbroken For Witty Acronyms First and most importantly, THFWA, I’m so sorry for your loss — the loss of your friend and lover, and the loss of the future you might have had with him. My heart goes out to you.

As for your specific question…

Back in my younger days, when I first started writing this column, I advised people against masturbating about the dead. Being a gay man who came out just as the AIDS Crisis was starting, I would go on to lose friends and boyfriends during that pandemic, including the first man I ever truly loved. Looking back, I gave the advice I did — don’t masturbate about the dead — not because it was good advice for everyone, THFWA, but because sex was so closely associated with death for me that I personally couldn’t bear the thought of doing anything that would make that association any stronger. So, as alive as my desire still was for my first true love, I couldn’t fantasize about my time with him. It made me feel his loss too deeply at a time when I knew more loss was coming my way, and soon.

Anyway, THFWA, what I wanted to say… and what I can see now… is

that we all grieve in our own ways.

If the thought of masturbating about your lover gives you a feeling of peace or pleasure or makes you feel connected to him — if reading those sexts messages and watching those videos comfort you more than they grieve you — you should do it.

But brace yourself for the very real possibility that you’ll be overwhelmed by feelings of loss after you climax.

While fantasies have the power to lift us out of the moment, our refractory periods have a way of throwing us back down to Earth. You’ll rub one out, then you’ll cry it out. And if that’s what you need, if that makes you feel better, if that helps you feel his presence and not just his loss… there’s more than one way someone’s memory can be a blessing.

Hey Dan: I’m a 22-year-old straight man. My problem is simple but hard to solve: How do I cope with intense sexual desires that cannot be satisfied? I’ve been dealing with this problem since I developed a libido.

I have a lot of sexual fantasies that I cannot satisfy for two reasons.

First, because I’m not considered attractive by the people I’m attracted to. Secondly, I am now in a longdistance monogamous relationship.

The relationship is perfect. We have a lot of great sex when we are together, but I cannot try other things I’d like to explore. My girlfriend doesn’t want to open the relationship and I respect that. Also, I believe that even if we opened the relationship, I wouldn’t have much opportunity to try other things anyway. Seeing as I can’t have all the experiences I’d like to — and I feel like a whiny cis-het babyman typing that — what is the best way to cope with frustration?

Can I reduce my sexual desire? Would physical activity or certain behavioral therapies help? Am I too greedy?

More broadly, how can our society take care of all those people which, for some reason, are excluded from a satisfactory sex life? I hope this is not a stupid question.

Libido Is Brimming, Intense Desires Obsess Even the hottest people — and by “the hottest people” I mean “the most conventionally attractive people,” and it needs to be said that not all

conventionally attractive people are hot and not all hot people are conventionally attractive — don’t get everything they want. Some don’t know how to ask for what they want, some are too paralyzed by shame to ask for it, and some are so out of touch with their own desires that they don’t even know what they want. So, you shouldn’t look at the conventionally attractive and assume their sex lives are better than yours, LIBIDO, which to be honest sounds pretty good.

Instead of dumping the girlfriend you’ve got because she doesn’t want to open your relationship, LIBIDO, I would encourage you to live in hope.

She may not be interested in opening the relationship now, but she might be open to the idea at some point down the road. Most couples in open relationships were monogamous to start. A time may come when your girlfriend is not just willing to open your relationship, but excited about the idea herself.

Hey Dan: I’m a 35-year-old gay man who spent most of his life in the closet. I’ve been with very few men, and they were all bad hookups.

I’ve grown frustrated with the lack of opportunities to meet people, but lately I feel like I need to just be with someone. But I feel like I can’t trust myself meeting people on apps anymore, partly due to fear of STIs, partly due to bad experiences, and partly due to my fear of meeting someone who is scary or possessive.

It’s gotten to the point where my desire to be with a guy is causing me real suffering. All because I can’t figure out a way to meet someone without risk.

I started talking to one guy on this gay app and our kinks are fairly aligned and everything he’s saying sounds good, but he also seems like maybe he does this a lot. He kept referring to himself as a “pig,” which I found kind of hot but I’m not sure what it implies. When told that I’d like to have a brief chat before jumping into play, he basically said that he prefers to just “jump right in.” When I brought up my boundaries he seemed to respect them but again emphasized that he likes to play with a new partner right away. He lives in another town but is willing to drive to where I live to meet me. Is it a bad idea to play

with a total stranger even if I find the idea hot?

Suffering Newly Out Guy The world is on fire.

Let this pig come see you. Meet the pig in a public place. If the pig gives you a bad feeling — not the bad feeling you arrived with, but some other bad feeling — you don’t have to go through with anything.

But if the pig seems nice and you have a good feeling, SNOG, then you can invite him back to your place and have some of that kinky sex you wanna have. (And all “pig” means in this context is, “This dude likes sex and with the right guy or guys he’ll fucking wallow in it.”)

Why is this pig rushing things?

Well, maybe he’s been watching CNN and knows the world is on fire — along with at least one of the nuclear power plants in it — and wants to experience the joy and connection of sex with a man he’s attracted to while he still can. And he’s accepted something you’re gonna need to accept if you ever wanna have the sex you fantasize about: There’s no such thing as risk-free sex. You can minimize your risk for acquiring an STI by getting on PrEP and using condoms or by avoiding penetration and sticking to kink play and mutual masturbation; you can minimize the risk of meeting someone scary or dangerous by watching out for red flags and trusting your judgment.

But at the end of the day… you gotta take a chance. And this guy’s willingness to take a chance on you isn’t by itself a red flag, SNOG, as it’s not uncommon for gay men to wanna fuck right away, aka, establishing sexual compatibility before making a huge emotional investment in a potential new sex and/or romantic partner.

I can’t promise you this experience will go any better than your past experiences. I can promise you that you’ll never have a good experience if you aren’t willing to take reasonable risks, SNOG, and this guy seems like a reasonable risk to me.

questions@savagelove.net t@fakedansavage www.savage.love

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