Scene june 21, 2017

Come F ly Away

The Biggest Week in American Birding, Ohio’s natural bounty, and lessons on being human and saving the planet

By Eric Sandy

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*5.% s 6/,5-% .O 51 Dedicated to Free Times founder Richard H. Siegel (1935-1993) and Scene founder Richard Kabat Group Publisher Chris Keating

CONTENTS

Publisher Andrew Zelman

Upfront

Associate Publisher Angela Lott Editor Vince Grzegorek Editorial Managing Editor Eric Sandy Music Editor Jeff Niesel Senior Writer Sam Allard Staff Writer Brett Zelman Writer-at-large Kyle Swenson Web Editor Laura Morrison Dining Editor Douglas Trattner Stage Editor Christine Howey Visual Arts Writers Josh Usmani, Dott von Schneider Copy Editor Elaine Cicora Interns Daniela Cacho, Julie Ciotola, Kirby Davis, Colton Faull, Adrian Leuthauser, Lawrence Neil Advertising Senior Multimedia Account Executive John Crobar, Shayne Rose Multimedia Account Executive Kiara Davis, Andrew Newsome

6

Frank Jackson plans suburban bigwig fundraiser, Lakewood begins releasing hospital records, and more

&EATURE

'ET /UT

A trip to the Biggest Week in American Birding yields lessons on saving the planet

All the best things to do this week in Cleveland

Creative Services Production Manager Steve Miluch Layout Editor/Graphic Designer Christine Hahn Staff Photographer Emanuel Wallace

Art

Business Sales Assistant/Receptionist Megan Stimac Controller Kristy Dotson Circulation Circulation Director Don Kriss Euclid Media Group Chief Executive Offi cer Andrew Zelman Chief Operating Offi cers Chris Keating, Michael Wagner Human Resources Director Lisa Beilstein Digital Operations Coordinator Jaime Monzon www.euclidmediagroup.com

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Puzzled Bipeds begets puzzled bipeds (in a good way) as we ponder the evolution of Matt Dribble’s work

Stage

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You might look elsewhere for a wittier take on feminism than an overly faithful musical restaging of 9 to 5

Cleveland Scene 737 Bolivar Rd, #4100 Cleveland, OH 44115 www.clevescene.com Phone 216-241-7550 Retail & Classifi ed Fax 216-241-6275 Editoral Fax 216-802-7212 E-mail scene@clevescene.com

Film

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The dark comedy Beatriz at Dinner offers a critique of social inequality

Kamasi Washington will be at the Allen Theater on Saturday

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$INING Bob’s Hamburg celebrates 86 years of griddled perfection in Akron

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5

UPFRONT MAYOR’S LAVISH SUBURBAN FUNDRAISER DRAWS BACKLASH

THIS WEEK

THE CLEVELAND CORPORATE community is hosting a fundraiser for Mayor Frank Jackson on June 28 at the Gates Mills home of Umberto and Maryellen Fedeli. The “home” is in fact a mammoth “Europeaninspired” mansion with a full Italian restaurant in the basement.

Fedeli is the president and CEO of The Fedeli Group, a big insurance company. He’s a hard-core Catholic and a longtime Republican party contributor. He has hosted George W. Bush, Mitt Romney and Steve LaTourrette for gatherings at his luxurious abode. In 2008, the Fedelis were throwing Gatsby-esque parties basically every weekend.

Fedeli was joined by Lonnie Coleman (of Solon) and Dom Ozanne (of Pepper Pike) in a letter, published

by Cleveland.com’s Mark Naymik, inviting other corporate leaders to the Jackson soiree, and reminding them that the maximum contribution — thanks to the 2016 legislative efforts of Cleveland City Council — is now $5,000 for an individual and $7,500 for a PAC. “[Jackson] has capably and fearlessly taken on many crises head on, providing the sure and steady leadership that has enabled our city to remain stable,” the letter read.

“He continues to be the leader that Cleveland needs to maintain the positive momentum created by the public and private sectors working cooperatively.”

Naymik reported that some of the region’s bigwigs have been “privately grumbling” about a perceived lack of “vision and innovation” in the 12-year incumbent. “In the end, however,” he wrote, “business leaders don’t like big change and especially don’t like the bombast displayed by several of Jackson’s challengers.”

But it’s not just the bombast,

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Photo by Sam Allard

surely. On one hand, these business leaders love Jackson because he’s so congenial to their interests. Jackson is a man who called the Q Deal the “best deal [he’d] ever seen” in his entire career of public service. On the other, the business community isn’t keen on the idea of a mayor who will stand up to them, or even one who won’t be totally subservient to their agenda and whim.

Councilman and candidate Jeff Johnson supports a minimum wage increase, for instance, something that the business community strenuously opposes and ideologically abhors. All the candidates save young Tony

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Madalone have spoken out strongly against the Quicken Loans Arena deal, something that the business community exults in: Some of them own the companies that will get the construction work. Others will be providing the insurance, others the legal representation, others the financing. Developers and their bankers and their lawyers have thrived under Jackson.

So it’s natural that they don’t want to rock the boat. And they’re willing to generously “show [their] support and gratitude” to Jackson for representing them so consistently and well.

But Jackson is squaring off

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against two competent city council challengers with populist messages and two outsiders with appeal and pull with certain demographics. And while maintaining his war chest is important — Jackson knows that the candidate with the most money wins virtually every time — this Gates Mills party just looks gross.

For years, Jackson has been an honorary Republican, but the fact that his most ardent supporters and biggest financial contributors are the suburban corporate crowd (people who, stated affection for the city notwithstanding, won’t be casting votes in the election) should give residents of Cleveland pause. And the fact that this genre of support is worth a great deal more this year is additionally disheartening.

When Kevin Kelley was pushing for the extreme increase in campaign contribution limits last year — and remember he initially wanted the cap to be $10,000 for personal and PAC contributions — it was argued by many of Kelley’s council colleagues that the increase would disproportionately help out incumbents like Jackson.

The cap increase would “widen the gap between incumbents and new candidates, setting up wellentrenched politicians to collect almost 10 times more from their wealthiest donors.”

We’ll have to wait for the campaign finance reports, but it appears those grim predictions will come to fruition.

Political fundraisers happen all the time. Candidates seek out wealthy donors as a matter of course. That’s just true. There’s nothing wrong with that in principle. But this is a fundraiser at a mansion in Gates Mills — hosted by an exorbitantly wealthy

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finance guy who’s a dyed-in-the-wool religious conservative — which will be attended by business executives and real estate developers from Shaker Heights, Hunting Valley, Pepper Pike, Solon, Chagrin Falls and all the other forested deepdriveway hamlets of Cleveland’s southeast side. This is the constituency Jackson is accused of catering to when people say that he’s focused on “downtown interests.” (Downtown interests tend, paradoxically, to be in the interest of people who live in the suburbs). Shouldn’t Jackson be more sensitive to that? Shouldn’t he be aware of these ugly optics?

He’ll have no choice come June 28. In response to the fundraiser announcement, the Cuyahoga County Progressive Caucus intends to protest the party. Members of the group have created a Facebook event — “Frank’s Fat Cat Festival Protest” — and will gather to make signs at CCPC’s Lakewood offices on June 24.

“As Frank continues to pretend to be fighting wealth inequality,” the event description reads, “[the Fedeli fundraiser] is a clear reminder of who his actual constituency really is. Let’s gather outside Umberto’s mansion (as close as we can legally

be) with some signs and some chants to let folks know that we know what’s going on inside.”

— Sam Allard

LAKEWOOD OFFICIALS BEGIN PROTRACTED LAKEWOOD HOSPITAL PUBLIC RECORDS RESPONSE The city of Lakewood began its response to a sprawling field of public records requests last week, though there’s still a long road ahead, based on the court docket.

Recall that Lakewood Hospital was demolished to make way for a wellness campus and several acres of private development. City Council unanimously approved the deal with Cleveland Clinic that made this possible, although the process has been questioned at length for more than two years.

Lakewood was facing a June 12 summary judgment deadline and mounting pressure to release hundreds of thousands of public records requested since March 2016 by resident Brian Essi. (This, after an earlier May 1 compliance deadline came and went.) On June 14, the city released “the first 1,389 pages” of those records.

Unfortunately, many of the pages

are essentially blank or duplicated email threads. (Lakewood mayor Michael Summers acknowledged this when he wrote, “Think of all the iterations of setting up a meeting or discussing a topic with multiple participants, the back-andforth questions and answers about a meeting or a subject, and the volume of written communication, however brief and perhaps negligible ...” Indeed.) Elsewhere, the records are near-complete drafts of press releases and PowerPoints already provided to the public. See the full 1,389-page attachment at clevescene. com.

The overall gist of this records release simply shows how closely Lakewood city officials worked with what was then known as Hennes Paynter Communications to curate and present the January 2015 news conference that announced the hospital’s closure. It’s at the very least an interesting look into how government messages are pruned by third parties. (Looking at the records, though, we personally take issue with the city leaving Scene off its media list at that time and including something called Lakewood Buzz.)

Among the more notable finds in this first batch of hospital emails

is the matter of the $120-million promised investment by Cleveland Clinic in Lakewood.

“The $120 million slide was demolished at the last meeting,” Lakewood Hospital Association member Bill Gorton writes in a February 2015 email, earlier in the public roll-out of the news. “As it should be as it is bogus. My strong recommendation is to remove all reference to that unfortunate number.” The figure remained in use by the city as officials courted consultants and developers in 2015, raising concerns now that parties could have been misled by the scope of the project.

Brian Essi v City of Lakewood will continue to marinate in court, and it’s worth noting that the case has attracted a great deal of outside attention. During an April 25 hearing, a bevy of attorneys representing Cleveland Clinic CEO Toby Cosgrove, the Lakewood Hospital Association, the Lakewood Hospital Foundation, Lakewood mayor Michael Summers and the Cleveland Clinic Foundation all showed up, despite laying no claim to this appeals case. According to a signed affidavit from Essi, at least one attorney said that non-party clients “are implicated” by these

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UPFRONT records. It’s unclear what was meant by that. — Eric Sandy

CLEVELAND PRIDE CEO STILL HASN’T STEPPED DOWN (HE SAID HE WOULD LAST YEAR) Cleveland Pride is Saturday at Voinovich Park, and Todd Saporito is still the CEO and board president of Pride Inc. Saporito remains in his position despite public assurances that he would step down after the cancellation of last year’s event and a growing dissatisfaction with his leadership. The decision to cancel the 2016 Pride event resulted in the creation of Pride in the CLE, which enjoyed its second-annual march and event earlier this month.

Saporito appeared on Sound of Ideas last year to discuss the cancellation controversy and said he would be stepping down, though not because of pressure in the community. An online petition was circulating at the time calling for his ouster.

“I don’t think you really ever want somebody to walk away without finishing up and wrapping up their books, personally,” Saporito said, responding to a caller. “This was actually my last year to be working.

As a matter of fact, I was called into this year because they were having some issues.”

“So you’re done?” host Mike McIntyre clarified.

“My goal is to wrap up the organization,” Saporito said. “There are new board members coming on, schools that are linked to it. I mean, we actually have tight relationships with all the college GSA programs ... I’ll be wrapping up everything that I can to make sure they have everything they can for next year.”

But Saporito is still in charge.

Though he did not respond to calls and emails from Scene, two community members familiar with the organization told us that Saporito was still at the helm.

A current member of the event planning committee, Elise Bigley, confirmed that this was the case.

“After the 2016 cancellation, members of the board, planning committee, and community asked that he stay on for a final year to help transition new leadership,” Bigley wrote to Scene in an email.

“He has been training me and several of my peers so that we are prepared for the challenges that organizing an event of this scale

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| clevescene.com | June 21 - 27, 2017

inevitably holds.”

But that was Saporito’s position last year. Couldn’t he have stayed on in an advisory capacity? Did he truly need another year at the top to train new members?

Bigley said that while she was indeed being trained, she was new to the logistics committee — separate from the board of directors — and was “not in the decision-making process.” She didn’t know who the next CEO would be, for instance.

Nor could she comment on timing or “any details of the transition.”

“I certainly hope to continue my work with the event next year,” she said. “But right now we are focusing our efforts on hosting an awesome event for the community and hope that others will join us in doing the same.” — Allard

STATE LEGISLATORS SPARRING OVER HOW TO FUND THE FIGHT AGAINST THE OPIATE CRISIS Last month, several top Democrats introduced a bill that would funnel $200 million from the state’s “rainy day” fund toward fighting the ongoing and worsening opiate addiction crisis. Debate continues, though leading Republicans (like Gov. John Kasich) have balked at tapping those reserves, which total about $2 billion.

Everyone mostly agrees, though, that more money needs to be committed to the struggle. The state has already dropped $1 billion into its Opiate Action Team. Still, the death toll mounts.

Now Republicans are suggesting that the state chip another $35 million from the local government fund, as Cleveland.com’s Jackie Borchardt reports. That money would be included a $176.4-million plan to curb the crisis, mainly through bulking up the state’s child protective services program, expanding the number of treatment beds in Ohio and increasing drug treatment and detox programs for convicted felons.

But with the local government fund being tapped for a spectrum of state needs since 2011, mayors across the state are feeling burned once again. “Again, we seem to be the slush fund for state programs or priorities the state wants to fund that they won’t want to fund through their own revenues,” Ohio Municipal League executive director Kent Scarrett told Borchardt.

A vote on the state budget is expected by the end of the month; until then, state legislators are scrambling to put forth a package

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One corner of the proposed 4,500-page Ohio budget is actually drawing cheers from criminal justice reformers. Tucked into the massive proposal now being debated in Columbus is a provision that would expand payouts for Ohioans wrongfully convicted of crimes they didn’t commit. The move would actually make the Buckeye State one of the most progressive on the question. But pushback is coming from prosecutors around the state.

The proposal would knock down a number of the roadblocks standing between a wrongfully convicted individual and financial compensation. Currently, an inmate is not eligible for money from the state unless he or she is no longer facing criminal charges related to the case. If you’ve spent any time reading up on wrongful conviction, you probably know that often these cases take forever to litigate; prosecutors are often extremely reluctant to grant a full exoneration even when evidence clearly stacks up in favor of the accused. That leaves the exoneree without financial compensation until the state finally says “uncle.” This would shorten that time period.

The new budget proposal would also open up financial compensation to individuals who gave up false confessions and were later exonerated; under the current Ohio provisions, these people are not eligible for compensation.

The full financial scope of the proposal isn’t exactly clear at this point. Currently, wrongfully convicted individuals are eligible for $52,625 per year of incarceration, plus lawyer’s fees and lost wages.

The proposal would up that figure to a higher annual number.

Pushing against the proposal are Ohio’s prosecutors, who argue the subject should be addressed in its own bill, not as part of the big-picture appropriations project.

But Rep. Bill Seitz, the Cinncinnatti Republican responsible for the

original wrongful conviction compensation legislation, is moving forward with the current proposal.

— Kyle Swenson

GUIDE TO KULCHUR BOOKSTORE WILL REOPEN IN NEW LOCATION THIS MONTH At Lorain Avenue and West 52nd Street, Guide to Kulchur will live again. Founder RA Washington told Scene he plans to open the bookstore and an adjacent black box space later this month. And this time, with the assistance of some local foundations sympathetic to his mission plus the addition of a board, Washington hopes to secure official nonprofit status, which he views as key to long-term sustainability.

Guide to Kulchur first arrived in 2013, in a small retail space two doors down from the Capitol Theatre on West 65th Street. It was owned and operated by Washington and his wife Liz Bly and was billed as “a place where classic literature, pulpycampy fiction, theory, and zines and the DIY ethos can coalesce.” A

DIGIT WIDGET 21.6 MILLION Number of meals provided by Greater Cleveland Food Bank during 2017 Harvest for Hunger campaign, a record.

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zine-making co-op and events space were housed downstairs. In 2015, Washington, who’d separated from Bly, moved to a slightly larger space on Detroit and West 59th. But in October of last year, the money ran out. The printshop equipment was broken or breaking. The shop just wasn’t sustainable as a for-profit venture.

Washington these days is more subdued, focused on the store itself and on his band, Mourning [A] BLKstar. When Scene spoke with him last week at the new location, he quietly sorted through stacks of fiction and reflected on his vision for the store. One of Washington’s initial goals was to provide a kind of salon for radical thought and action, a meeting space for diverse and marginalized voices. The basement space in Guide to Kulchur’s first location hosted readings and discussions and alternative musical acts.

Washington says he is dedicated to continuing that work, but being “more intentional” about the programming in the blackbox space, which will be named in honor of the Cleveland poet Russell Atkins, a pioneer in avant-garde lit.

Washington says a strategic plan is actively being developed for the

Willoughby

nonprofit, and he intends to stick to the plan.

“I finally had to realize there were some things I couldn’t do,” he says. (The oddest adjustment will be becoming an employee at an organization that he conceived.)

“But a space like this should have every opportunity to exist as an institution, and shouldn’t be limited to the lifespan of one person or one vision.”

In Washington’s view, a curated bookstore is a crucial component of the larger enterprise — and he says he’ll be manning the store personally a lot — but it’s only the most visible element of the nonprofit’s three central program areas: providing books to prisoners; operating GTK Press, a small press for insurgent literature and marginalized voices; and curating speakers and performers in the black-box space.

“People need space to collaborate and discuss, and they need to invest in their training and learning as activists so they understand intersectionality and how to bring diverse voices to the table,” Washington says. “We represent a place to do that.”— Allard

scene@clevescene.com t@clevelandscene

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FEATURE

Come F ly Away The Biggest Week in American Birding, Ohio’s natural bounty, and lessons on being human and saving the planet

By Eric Sandy

Tom Bartlett scans the skies for birds May 13 during the Biggest Week in American Birding.

Photo by Eric Sandy

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| clevescene.com | June 21 - 27, 2017

T

HE PROSPECT IS DAUNTING, AT FIRST. YOU’VE GOT TO find a bird with your naked eye, a tiny bird that weighs about as much as three sheets of copy paper. And you’ve got to pick that bird out of a teeming forest of limbs and leaves. Only then do you grab your binoculars or arena-rock telephoto lens and zoom in on the little creature’s morning activities. More often than not, the bird is just being a bird.

When you’re talking about birding, the verb “occur” comes up frequently. “Birding” is the other dominant action word, the commercial descriptor of modern birdwatching. It’s important, for instance, to know the seasonal circumstances for when a particular warbler species might “occur” in a certain area, like Magee Marsh in the corner of Lucas County in Northwest Ohio. It is there, in Magee Marsh, that thousands of avid birders from around the world congregate each May to see a vast spectrum of migratory birds occurring in the lush cypresses and cottonwoods and assorted low-slung shrubbery lining Lake Erie. It’s the Biggest Week in American Birding.

There’s something very special about the road into Magee Marsh in early May. Hundreds of cars trickle in off State Route 2, taking heed of the warning to drive slowly and watch out for snakes and frogs along the asphalt. Coasting processionally, the line of vehicles stops now and then so that eager families can lean out of windows and snap a quick shot of an elegant roadside egret.

Their marvel can’t be contained. The Biggest Week is finally here.

The land now called Magee Marsh (pronounced Meh-GEE Marsh) has been a reliable stopover point for birds migrating north from exotic locales like the Andean mountain range in Peru for thousands of years. The annual licensed event began earnestly only in 2009, thanks to the growing popularity of recreational birding and the alarming rate at which the Earth’s climate is changing, raising more than few questions about the future health of bird populations. It’s impossible to ignore the fact that some of the birds seen during the Biggest Week — a whole gamut of tiny Old World warblers, most especially — might not ever be seen by the great-grandchildren of the folks congregated there this year.

The whole point is you’ve got to get there to witness this slow planetary history on display while you still can.

Tom Bartlett is here to do just that. It’s 10 a.m., and he’s seen 76 species of birds at Magee Marsh so

far today. That’s not bad, and surely more than you or I would see on a typical Saturday morning. But Bartlett’s a pro, and he was expecting more. “Buy me some birds, because it’s slow,” he jokes to a friend below him.

Bartlett is sitting on top of a metal platform about 12 feet off the ground. He’s got his binoculars at the ready, and he’s here to count as many birds as possible while raising money for the Black Swamp Bird Observatory. It’s Tom Bartlett’s Big Sit. Five or six birder pals post up in lawn chairs beneath him, and a crowd of curious onlookers and question-askers orbits the scaffolding. The group is startled into action when a warbler is spotted high in a tree about 50 yards out, but it’s just a Blackburnian. Bartlett already got that one this morning.

“It’s gonna be a long afternoon,” he says with a smirk. “I should have brought some gin.”

Bartlett’s been sitting up there and watching birds for 23 years. Not the whole time, of course, but from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. one day each year, Bartlett climbs atop this thing and scouts feathered friends for charity — $1 per species, along with thousands of dollars in pledges from fellow birders. He’s only taken a bathroom break a few times.

The Big Sit is a fun spin on fundraising, to be sure, but there’s a more basic element at work for Bartlett and for this year’s 2,000-plus Biggest Week registrants. Bartlett returns year after year to Magee and countless other favorite spots because there’s an inherent enjoyment in communion with birds. They’re a lot like us, after all. I ask him what he likes best about birding. “Just being outside,” he says. “Just being outside.”

I figure that Bartlett’s got some work to do, so I trundle off journalistically to the famed Magee Marsh boardwalk. Mid-morning is like the peak of birdwatching around here, so the carefully upkept mile-

long boardwalk is absolutely flooded with birders. There’s a mecca-ish quality to passing beneath the arch and wandering marshward. Before I came here, an article about the Biggest Week claimed that warblers would be “dripping” from tree limbs.

I adjust my eyes accordingly.

The boardwalk is a panoply of American characters: squat middleaged men with camo caps turned backward lean into massive telephoto lenses, capturing in a flurry of clicks a tree swallow that’s turned into the mid-morning light just so; quaint Amish families, armed with the latest in optics gear (high-tech stuff without the electronic fuss),

years ago for precisely such calm enjoyment; an elderly woman is scooted forward on a wheelchair, her face the absolute epitome of childlike wonder and hiding, perhaps not very well, the nagging fear that this might be her last trip to Magee for the birds.

It’s a rush of passion, and I take my time navigating the throng. It’s pretty clear that I haven’t the faintest clue what I’m doing, armed only with a friend’s Bushnell binoculars and a fresh paperback copy of the Kaufman Field Guide to Birds of North America. I leaf

Black-throated blue warbler at Magee Marsh

point out chestnut-sided warblers flitting preciously on a branch up high and reel in anxiously constrained children; a young daughter rides aboard dad’s broad shoulders, not entirely realizing yet just how powerful these early family vacations will prove until she winds up accepting a full-ride scholarship for UC-Berkeley’s ecology program many years from now; a retired couple, hair white with age, embrace quietly against the wooden framework first constructed 28

Photo by Rodney Campbell

through dumbly with each passing warbler, trying to note keen distinctions between Tennessee and Nashville.

Along my walk, I meet Cheryl Gomez, longtime birdwatcher (not necessarily a birder, she tells me) who lives right here in Northwest Ohio. After a childhood of family camping vacations, her love for the outdoors developed into a thematic backdrop as she grew up. The | clevescene.com | June 21 - 27, 2017

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springtime migration ritual is as much clockwork for her as it is for the birds. She’s walking alone on the boardwalk, slowly taking in the sights. “It’s pure relaxation,� she says. “It’s like going back to being a kid and not having to work.�

She only recently started really studying birds, preferring rather to simply observe them as fellow travelers on this planet. “They’re like old friends,� she says, and we part ways.

Clumps of birders break up the walk, with particular warbler sightings drawing a major pause in the proceedings and bringing maybe a dozen or so people at a time to gather and peer through lenses of all sizes at a tiny bird singing a gentle tune within a tree. There’s something enigmatic about it all.

I return to the Big Sit to see how things are going for Bartlett. “I’m up to 80 now,� he tells me.

His friend ďŹ res up from the ground: “Oh, you look a lot older than that!â€?

Birdwatching as a deliberate recreational activity dates back to the 1800s, when there were just plainly more birds around to watch.

Estimates are nearly impossible to verify, but biologists generally agree that there are between 200 and 400 billion birds on the planet these days.

Those numbers have most assuredly dropped since the Victorian birdwatching days, when the activity had more to do with collecting eggs and shooting for skins than idyllism and conservation.

In 1889, the early stirrings of commercial birding were brought to being by Florence Bailey, who at 26 published the progenitor of U.S. ďŹ eld guides: Birds Through an Opera Glass. “Wherever there are people there are birds, so it makes comparatively little difference where you live, if you are only in earnest about getting acquainted with your feathered neighbors,â€? Bailey wrote in her introduction, drawing a contrast in spirit to the booming plumage markets of the time. She saw birds as vital and curious residents of the planet, like old friends. “When going to watch birds,â€? she continued, “provided with opera-glass and note-book, and dressed in inconspicuous colors, proceed to some good birdy place, the bushy bank of a stream or an old juniper pasture, and sit down in the

undergrowth or against a concealing tree-trunk, with your back to the sun, to look and listen in silence.

You will be able to trace most songs to their singers by ďŹ nding which tree the song comes from, and then watching for movement, as birds are rarely motionless long at a time when singing. ‌ If you have time for only a walk through the woods, go as quietly as possible and stop

“It’s pure relaxation. It’s like going back to being a kid and not having to work.� —Cheryl Gomez often, listening to catch the notes which your footsteps have drowned.

Timid birds may often be attracted by answering their calls, for it is very reassuring to be addressed in one’s native tongue.�

And that’s more or less the whole of it. Watching birds is a lot like playing chess, in that it’s easy enough to grasp at the start and it hasn’t changed much over the years.

But it’s the depth beneath the surface that offers the richest nutrients.

Around the same time that Bailey’s book was published, an adolescent Franklin Roosevelt was prowling the forests of his childhood estate, examining baby-blue robin’s eggs and meticulously documenting the birds of leafy Dutchess County, New York. (As a teenager, he tended to prefer Frank Chapman’s Birds of Eastern North America in the ďŹ eld.)

Much later, he would be elected four times to serve as the U.S. President, whereupon he would gently nudge the country progressively toward its impending environmental comingof-age.

As Roosevelt grew up, a group of conservationists incorporated the National Audubon Society in 1905.

The whole idea was to intervene on the massive slaughter of birds, to protect them against what was very clearly a predator species.

Those who chose to protect birds realized that this could only be accomplished through study and conscious observation paired with conservationist effort. Simply by virtue of watching birds, not merely seeing them, a civilization will become more engaged; the Audubon spirit insists that communion with wildlife will play an important role in

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| clevescene.com | June 21 - 27, 2017

17

FEATURE

Greg Miller offers birding wisdom to a group at Magee Marsh.

Photo by Eric Sandy

staving off climatic entropy. Audubon chapters have sprung up all over the world, including right here in Cleveland.

The 20th century rolled on with an increasing awareness of ecosystems and their victimhood at the hands of industrialization. The ramifications of human influence on the planet slowly became clearer, and we collectively realized that the next dramatic swing in climate trends would be a big one. The U.S. National Park Service, founded in 1916, grew expansively under various presidents to accommodate the public’s interest in protecting a diversity of wildlife. (Parks like Yellowstone and Cuyahoga Valley make for optimal birding.)

By now there are more than 50 million birders in the U.S, and it’s arguably among the fastest-growing outdoor hobbies. Conde Nast Traveller called birding “2017’s unlikeliest craze.” Out on Magee Marsh, the activity was compared on more than one occasion to Pokémon Go, with the central caveat being that this is real life. These creatures are all just out there, available for nearly unlimited cataloguing. Tune in more closely during your brief morning walk to pick up the newspaper and you’ll immediately realize that birds claim true mobile freedom over the entirety of Earth’s domain.

It’s remarkable. Haven’t you always wanted to fly?

Birders compile “life lists,” enumerating via honor system the species they’ve seen. Upon the news that a rare Kirtland’s warbler is spotted in southern Michigan,

18

birders from around the U.S. will drop what they’re doing and fly down the freeway to catch a glimpse before the elusive “life bird” heads to other climes.

It’s stuff like this that keeps the placid hobby competitive and American in spirit, and lends an almost social-media gamesmanship angle to the fun. How many did you see at the Biggest Week this year?

But the late Joseph Hickey, a legendary ornithologist, squared the point simply: “Birdwatching is much more than this. It is the art of discovering how birds live.”

When global peregrine falcon populations began declining in the mid-20th century with no clear explanation, Hickey, a lifelong birdwatcher, organized a peregrine falcon conference in Madison, Wisconsin, where other devoted birdwatchers shared their observations on the bird’s state. The resulting effort — the formation of the Raptor Research Foundation — helped bring about the national ban on DDT and, eventually, restore the peregrine falcon population so robustly that the International Union for Conservation of Nature no longer lists the species as even remotely threatened.

Hickey wrote about the experience in 1965. In a book review for Science magazine, George Lowery referred to his work as an “examination of a worldwide disaster.” He staked a firm claim: “[Hickey’s] book might well be a classic — the handwriting on the wall for all mankind. Although it is specifically concerned with the biology of the peregrine falcon and

| clevescene.com | June 21 - 27, 2017

its raptor relatives, it could foretell our own fate if the contamination of our environment continues at the present rate.”

And it all began with a little bit of curiosity and a decent set of binoculars.

“You never know what’s going to show up out here,” Greg Miller says with a smile. He’s wearing a thick pair of headphones connected to a small microphone on top of his Biggest Week cap. From there, Miller can cut through the universe of background sounds and distill the springtime song of a bay-breasted warbler 100 feet in the air. Nearby, the gentle waves of Lake Erie lap at the shoreline.

The Magee Marsh boardwalk is certainly the most famous landmark here, but the grounds sprawl outward into the Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge and Metzger Marsh.

You can slip away from the hubbub of the main event and walk into Ottawa, where a stony path meanders alongside the aptly named Crane Creek.

Miller is leading a guided walk around the area, which is about the only way a rookie birdwatcher will be able to get anything meaningful out of an excursion like this. He’s also sort of a legend in the birding community; he was portrayed by Jack Black in 2011’s The Big Year, also starring Steve Martin and Owen Wilson. During the walk, Miller regales a few of us with the story of Jack Black’s first bird (a red-winged blackbird). The two had gone on

a walk together, so that the actor could get a sense of his subject in the field. When Miller pointed out the bird, Black peered through his lens and asked where the red wings were. As the bird took flight, its colorful wings spread out against the trees — and here Miller delivers a spot-on impression of Black letting out a nasally “Ooooohhhh” upon the sighting.

Miller’s eye guides our group through a litany of migratory species. My first bird is a Baltimore oriole, and it’s a particularly stunning sight. It’s the first time I’m able to pick a bird out of a tree and zoom in with my binoculars and hover, briefly, while I watch the little orange-blazed bird perch anonymously above us. I feel a crest of pride, much like knocking my first double into deep center way back in Bay Village Little League. This is not the last sports metaphor that occurs to me throughout the weekend.

We’re well into the Biggest Week at this point, and the event’s early bad weather has pretty much totally subsided. Birds are starting to arrive en masse, though a northerly wind has pushed the migration cycle back a bit. There are fewer birds here than in years past, I’m told.

The vicissitudes of the planet have consequences. Overhead, parties of blue jays fly back and forth constantly along the north shore.

They’ve arrived at the marsh only to find an expansive lake up ahead.

“They’re uncertain,” Miller says, and so they fly along the shoreline, a group of hundreds, debating in committee mid-flight.

We see a number of special birds on our walk: blue-headed vireo, prothonotary warbler, black and white warbler, red-headed woodpecker. I just miss out on the northern parula high in a sycamore that everyone else seemed giddy to glimpse.

Without somebody like Miller to point out the intricacies of bird taxonomy and context, I’d be totally lost. At times I’m painfully aware of how many birds others are seeing, and how quickly they can identify the sing-song melody of a yellow warbler, sight unseen. It’s daunting at first, like trying to get a grip on how a single person’s actions can impact the world. A young Charles Darwin confirmed his own suspicions about life on this planet by watching the finches on Ecuador’s Galapagos Islands. The people joining me on this walk weren’t imbued with the powers of mystical birding wizardry at birth; they learned the interface of Earth slowly

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| clevescene.com | June 21 - 27, 2017

19

FEATURE

The boardwalk at Magee Marsh has a mecca-ish quality in spring.

Photo by Eric Sandy

and with a patient and passionate dedication.

“You have to think like an insect,” Miller says. One person in the group responds: “Is that the secret to life?”

We never do get an answer.

It occurs to me that I’m enjoying the Biggest Week more than I thought I would. I’ve been an outdoorsy type for years, mostly through hiking the trails of the Cleveland Metroparks, the Cuyahoga Valley National Park and elsewhere on vacation. But in all those treks, the birds have passed above and beyond me with little notice. Walking along Crane Creek with Miller and a group of maybe 20 birders, I’m noticing time slow down in a way that it hasn’t in a long time for me.

I mostly don’t know what I’m looking at out here, these tiny, idiosyncratic things flitting about on tree limbs. But as I tune in I can at least discern the very nature of it all, a creature minding its own way through life according to an intrinsic order. They don’t need to be watched, and still they don’t shy away from their place in the vast ecosystem of Earth. The planet works because birds play their role.

Things were getting very weird in America as I planned this trip, and I realize now that I was looking for

20

something smaller, something more innate to place my faith in. It wasn’t long before the Biggest Week that the U.S. Senate installed sundry climate skeptics and fracking expansionists into prime Cabinet spots. I didn’t want to dwell on it, but there was something unavoidable in all the dire warnings of public lands sell-offs, natural gas pipeline construction and national monument downsizing. Like a lot of people, I was having trouble deciding what I could do to improve our lot. America was less organized than ever, clearly, and certainly in danger. Without thinking much about it, birds just seemed to make more sense.

It’s like naturalist John Burroughs put it: “I go to nature to be soothed and healed and have my senses put in order.”

I stayed away from Twitter while I was birding at Magee, though I couldn’t help but sneak a look at the official Biggest Week account, if only to see what others were seeing. Right as I landed, a staffer at the Black Swamp Bird Observatory tweeted a promising warbler sighting: “Face melting views of Chestnut-sided on MM boardwalk about 50 yards down from tower on w entrance.” At the time, this was a remarkably relatable announcement.

| clevescene.com | June 21 - 27, 2017

“What makes that boardwalk so special,” Jack Moore tells me, “is the fact that there you are on this 1-mile boardwalk, and you have a concentration of birds that are, like, five feet from you. Some of them will fly right in front of your face, and they don’t care that you’re there by the hundreds. It’s the concentration of birds in one place that makes northern Ohio so special this time of year.” Moore and his wife have been coming out here for the past few years. They picked up birding as a hobby because it combined their love of nature with an interest in neat technology, like top-notch DSLR cameras and lenses. It’s fun.

Nature tends to bring together people in ways that few other enterprises do. There are no teams once you’re out in the forest.

“I don’t think you would find any birders who are climate change deniers or people who are indifferent to the environment,” Moore says.

“I’ve always had this appreciation of the wilderness.”

Prothonotary warbler at Magee Marsh Photo by Jack Moore

As my group leaves Crane Creek, we spot a black-crowned night heron perched on a low-hanging branch, right above the water. It takes a moment to pick him out of the flora, but through the eyes of the binoculars there’s no mistaking the image of pure, stoic peace.

We’ve done a real number on the global climate, we humans, and it’s starting to become visible. You can look to all corners of the ecosystem for proof, but the bird populations right here in North America tell the whole story easily enough. In sum, 314 of the 588 bird species on this continent will lose more than half of their migratory habitat range within 60 years, all things being equal, making those birds

| clevescene.com m | June 21 - 27, 2017

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â&#x20AC;&#x153;climate endangeredâ&#x20AC;? and at risk of slipping into the history books for good, according to a landmark 2014 Audubon report.

Audubonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s vast network of conservationists, ornithologists and scientists collectively conducted a seven-year scientiďŹ c investigation into how the shifts in North American climate will affect the lives of birds. Point-blank, climate change is the single most signiďŹ cant threat to birds, outstripping the deadly effects of turbines, skyscrapers and house cats. A simple line of thinking insists that the only way to protect birds â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and us â&#x20AC;&#x201D; is to mitigate our impact on the climate and, honestly, to ďŹ rst acknowledge it. Turning off the lights in tall business towers at night helps, but itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a drop in the bucket. Audubonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 2014 report doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t mince words. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Shrinking and shifting ranges could imperil nearly half of U.S. birds within this century,â&#x20AC;? it says.

The planetâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been lucky enough not to have too many bird species slide into extinction lately. Mostly, birds have been driven out of existence by things like predators â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and humans make for terriďŹ c predators. The last great auk, for instance, was killed in 1844 by a man in Scotland who thought it was a witch.

Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s worth a pause is noting how much climate data was readily available, stretching back decades, thanks to the casual and recreational observation of birds. Birdwatchers helped speed up the otherwise sluggish pace of wildlife habitat awareness and conservation simply by engaging the natural world for fun.

Audubon began holding its annual Christmas Bird Count in 1900, getting people involved across North America to catalog the whereabouts and trajectories of birds. With more sophisticated data metrics and technology â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and wider participation â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the 116th Christmas Bird Count this past winter set a number of records. Beset by El NiĂąo climate patterns during the time frame, 76,669 birders still tackled 2,505 â&#x20AC;&#x153;circlesâ&#x20AC;? across North America and logged almost 60 million individual bird sightings into the history books. (The El NiĂąo caused most species to disperse more widely across the continent, making for a lower overall count than usual.

Audubon points out that itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not necessarily a sign of declining

populations, but rather a simple cause and effect cycle that happened to land on a low note last winter.)

Birdwatching became birding, which became, in many ways, an active conservationist effort. The second iteration of the Audubon study is already under way, and Christmas Bird Counts will continue for years to come. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s really important new information,â&#x20AC;? Stuart Butchart, head of science for BirdLife International, told Audubon after the study was completed. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It shows us which species we need to be most worried about, and it helps us understand the whole suite of new challenges that these species will be facing in the future.â&#x20AC;?

The Audubon report posits that the scarlet tanager could lose up to 94 percent of its summer range, if climate trends are not halted. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a bird that is not currently listed as critically endangered, and yet its habitat could drastically diminish in the years ahead. By 2080, the report shows, the scarlet tanager may spend its summers entirely in Canada. And if trends continue, where will it go then?

The problem is that as the tanagersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; summer range shifts northward, its population will need to ďŹ&#x201A;y farther during spring migration. That takes more time, which will lead to the birds arriving later than normal, which may result in a diminished or altogether different food supply once they land.

Furthermore: â&#x20AC;&#x153;A study of 35 North American warbler species found that the range of occurrence of seven of the species has shifted signiďŹ cantly north in the past 24 years, by an average of 65 miles,â&#x20AC;? according to Nature Canada. â&#x20AC;&#x153;None of the birds shifted to the south.â&#x20AC;?

With weather patterns shifting more dramatically, migratory birds are losing the rhythm of the seasons.

Elsewhere, imagine seabirds being pushed into landlocked territories.

Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s true of birds is true, of course, of us. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Birds are important because they keep systems in balance: they pollinate plants, disperse seeds, scavenge carcasses and recycle nutrients back into the Earth,â&#x20AC;? wrote Melanie Driscoll, director of bird conservation for the Gulf of Mexico and the Mississippi Flyway. â&#x20AC;&#x153;But they also feed our spirits, marking for us the passage of the seasons, moving us to create art and poetry, inspiring us to ďŹ&#x201A;ight and reminding us that we are not only on, but of, this Earth.â&#x20AC;?

After the Biggest Week, I started incorporating birdwatching into my

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23

FEATURE hikes. On a recent trek out to the Salt Run trail in Cuyahoga Valley National Park, I was fortunate enough to spot a scarlet tanager high up in the trees, a small blaze of red perched quietly for a moment. To be honest, it was the first bird that I had identified wholly on my own, apart from, like, robins. There was an accomplished joy in that, coupled with a sense of dejection that this bird might not always be safe in this park.

By 2100, based on an amalgam of scientific estimates, anywhere between 25 and 56 percent of all known bird species will be “functionally extinct,” which means that those species will have dwindled to populations that no longer play a significant role in the ecosystem or that those species’ populations have no real hope of ever growing back to significance. (Since 1500, only about 150 species of birds have gone extinct. That rate, experts say, is

Kirtland’s warbler in Michigan Photo by Joel Trick

about to increase dramatically in the decades ahead.)

“On average, the 48 songbird species we investigated were falling out of sync with the timing of spring green-up by 5 days per decade,” according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. “Some species were becoming increasingly mismatched to their environments by double or triple that rate. … New research shows climate change is altering the

24

delicate seasonal clock that North American migratory songbirds rely on to successfully mate and raise healthy offspring, setting in motion a domino effect that could threaten the survival of many familiar backyard bird species. Spring is coming earlier in the east and later in the west, and birds are struggling to keep pace.”

The consequences will be widespread.

We need to, as Audubon’s Michelle Nijhuis puts it, “begin to reduce the severity of global warming and buy birds more time to adapt to the changes coming their way.”

That means immediately pumping the brakes on natural gas and oil drilling in forest-rich southeast Ohio. That means tuning into the messages that birds are sending us — by watching them — and responding in our own roles. An ecosystem is all about cooperation, right?

“A good many birds rely on cavities,” another Biggest Week guide told my group. “That’s why it’s a good idea to leave something up for them,” like a birdhouse or a backyard feeder.

All throughout the Biggest Week, I’m realizing my own naked rookie status, my own environmentalist leanings growing pale in comparison to the world around me. I’m realizing how daunting is the task at hand. Thankfully, I’m also realizing there’s already a roadmap.

At Magee Marsh, I silently commit to doing more birdwatching once I get back to Cleveland.

The wind is whipping fast around the row of trees lining the Lake Erie shore. Several volleyball teams bump and set their way through earlymorning league play as the group of birders organizes itself around Jen Brumfield’s spotting scope. She’s trained the lens on a line of doublecrested cormorants sitting on the breakwall, and we all sort of peer in, one by one, before the birding event begins in earnest.

“I’ll go through torrential downpours for birds in my spare time,” Brumfield said when I first met her at Rocky River Nature Center the week before. She leads mostly weekly birding outings, including a 12-hour bus excursion in mid-June across

| clevescene.com | June 21 - 27, 2017

Amish country, over and along the rolling terrain due east of downtown Cleveland. It’s Metroparks policy, however, to cancel public events when lightning strikes. Thankfully, we don’t run into this problem.

Wendy Park is one of the best birding sites in Ohio, Brumfield says, which surprises me. It’s basically just a small, overlooked woodlot to most Clevelanders, sandwiched between the bar at Whiskey Island and the iconic drawbridge at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River. The old Coast Guard station stands proudly against the horizon. Brumfield lives nearby, and she comes down here every morning to scout the birds. In 2012, she broke the record for the most bird species seen in Cuyahoga County with 270.

(She saw 53 species on Jan. 1 alone, including a snowy owl at the airport.)

Brumfield is a naturalist’s naturalist and the sort of Metroparks representative who speaks clearly to what William Stinchcomb identified when he first laid out the park system 100 years ago. She commands an attentive audience when she does these birding walks, from excitable children to intrigued retirees and everyone in between.

When a small killdeer wanders across the grassy knoll near our group, she trains the spotting scope and we all take a gander. A few people jot the name down in small notebooks for their own life lists.

To the average human, birds are undoubtedly just part of the desktop screen of life. Gulls soar haphazardly over parking lots and offices in downtown Cleveland, and more than a few jabbering blue jays nest collegially in our backyards each summer. Each state has its own state bird, and here in Ohio we pause now and then when a cardinal flies by.

To know birds is to be aware of grander, more sweeping tides in Earth’s business. The vast migratory infrastructure isn’t flawless or untouchable; the lives of birds fit into a broader narrative about where we’re all going, and they tell us quite a bit about our own limited existence.

“A positive experience right there makes somebody then take glance or be more conscious of something,” Brumfield says of her outdoor education work. “Little do people know anymore that we’re conscious!

We can make decisions and not just go with the flow!”

The whole point, Brumfield argues, is that a simple engagement with nature can prompt action down the line. It’s easy to see that she’s not simply spinning PR for the Metroparks’ impressive roster

of outdoor activities, because there’s earnestness in her voice with each sentence. All it takes is that sort of “Aha!” moment to turn an otherwise detached passerby into a citizen of the world, such that the next time a plot of public land is up for sale or a drilling well is proposed down the street, he or she might actually do something about it for the betterment of the community. It’s a chain reaction, and it might just start with an afternoon of birdwatching.

“And the issues are monumental,” Brumfield says. “You can sit at home and flip through Facebook and go, ‘Oh, god! Oh, god!’ You know? Or you can do that and then get out and do a couple things. It is possible. When you look at the matrix of action and you break it down into the smallest actions possible, a grandmother driving her grandson to an Audubon meeting — her saying yes and bringing him to that meeting, as opposed to no — that’s another connection. Whereas if she would have said, ‘No, not this time,’ you wouldn’t have had that whole idea sprout. In outdoor education, our goal is to take any number of tools in our belts … and offer these things to help create that weave of interests.”

We wander around the small patch of trees for a while, and Brumfield tells us of the impending seasonal idiosyncrasies, the birds that we might expect to see this summer and during the lustrous fall migration that we would do well not to miss.

By the time we all gather at Wendy Park, it’s been about a month since the Biggest Week event. I’ve been thinking about this vast problem, the planet’s health, every time I see a bird dash precipitously close to the hood of my car, and it’s hard to shake.

“I cannot fathom a greater connection to Earth appreciation than birds,” Brumfield says. “Besides — I will say this — gardening. Everybody loves flowers.

“If you look down through history at their flight — they’re powerful, they’re free,” she continues. “They’re unique. They’re beautiful. There’s something about birds that reaches through all emotions, all intelligences, all interests.”

Before we all head to our cars, drawing collars tight against the wind, a great blue heron appears from a strip of reeds near the Whiskey Island marina and flies out toward the breakwall, a soft, hazy sun backlighting its broad wings and determined path.

esandy@clevescene.com t@EricSandy

SPONSORS

| clevescene.com m | June 21 - 27, 2017

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everything you should do this week

GET OUT

Photo by Emanuel Wallace

WED

Damien McClendon will perform.

Nehemiah and McClendon write and perform passionately about their life experiences. Admission is $5 and the event runs from 8 to 11:30 p.m.

(Cacho) 11625 Euclid Ave., 216-231-5400, happydogcleveland.com.

06/21

SPOKEN WORD

Between the Lines Tonight Happy Dog at Euclid Tavern hosts Between the Lines, an interactive evening featuring writers Aubrey Hirsch and Karyna McGlynn. A Cleveland native, Hirsch writes short stories and is well-known for her fiction. McGlynn has two published poetry books, one of which was just released this year. Hirsch and McGlynn will share their personal writing journey and answer questions from the audience. The event, which takes place at 7, is free. (Daniela Cacho) 11625 Euclid Ave., 216-231-5400, happydogcleveland.com.

MUSIC

Scene’s 2017 Best Of party takes place this year at FWD Day & Nightclub. See: Friday.

ART

Drawing Power Once a month, Great Lakes Brewing Company hosts Cleveland’s Drink & Draw Social Club. The event is organized by the Rust Belt Monster Collective and sponsored by Carol and John’s Comic Book Shop.

Drink & Draws are an opportunity for artists of all skill levels to drink, draw, socialize/network and collaborate in a relaxed and welcoming environment. Events take place at 7 p.m. on the third Wednesday of each month, including tonight. At the end of each Drink & Draw, prizes are awarded for various superlatives. Admission is free. (Josh Usmani) 2516 Market Ave., 216-771-4404, greatlakesbrewing.com.

BEER

Hoppin’ Frog Hoppy Hour Much like the Fat Head’s tasting room in Middleburg Heights, the Hoppin’ Frog tasting room in Akron is in a nondescript strip of storage facilities and warehouses. But step inside and you’ll find a cozy space with a huge array of the brewery’s wonderful libations. The place features “hoppy hour” every weekday from 3 to 7 p.m. Tonight, the brewers visit the tasting room from 5 to 7 p.m. While they don’t fill growlers, you can drink bottles on site or take ’em to go. The place also offers a “Hoppin’ Frog Rare & Vintage” list as well as a guest bottle list. And you can order from a limited food menu too. (Jeff Niesel) 1680-F Waterloo Rd., Akron, 234-525-3764, hoppinfrog.com/tasting-room.

FILM

Sacro GRA With his 2013 film Sacro GRA, director Gianfranco Rosi profiles the colorful people who live along the Grande Raccordo, the giant highway encircling Rome. We see a man riding in his small boat in a river below the road and another man chomping on a cigar as he takes a bath in his home. The movie makes its Cleveland premiere at the Cleveland Museum of Art, where it screens at 7 tonight and again at 7 on Friday night. Admission is $9, or $7 for CMA members, students and seniors. (Niesel) 11150 East Blvd., 216-421-7350, clevelandart.org.

FOOD

Walnut Wednesday Walnut Wednesday is one of summer’s great traditions. Today from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Perk Plaza at Chester Commons — at East 12th and Walnut streets — food trucks gather to serve up lunch to area residents and employees. Follow the Downtown Cleveland Alliance on Facebook for weekly updates on vendors, entertainment offerings and more.

Admission is free, but the food will cost you. (Niesel) downtowncleveland.com.

FILM

Waters Wednesday Director John Waters has made some remarkable movies over the course of a career that stretches back decades.

He defined a satirical style that critics have subsequently dubbed “camp.” The last Wednesday of the month at Now That’s Class is Waters Wednesday. The

club will play a Waters movie and have a competition to go alongside it. For tonight’s event, the club will screen Pink Flamingos at 5 p.m. Admission is free, but the drinks will cost ya.

(Niesel) 11213 Detroit Ave., 216-221-8576, nowthatsclass.net.

THU

06/22

MUSIC

Edgewater Live Now in its fourth season, Edgewater Live features local acts throughout the summer. The event also boasts food trucks and recreational activities.

The weekly event commences today at 4:30 p.m. on the Centennial Plaza at the new Edgewater Beach House with performers from the Tri-C Creative Arts program. From 6 to 9 p.m., headlining act The Caliber band will perform on the RTA Main Stage.

(Niesel) 6500 Cleveland Memorial Shoreway NW, clevelandmetroparks.com.

SPOKEN WORD

Poetry Slam Join the folks at Happy Dog at Euclid Tavern tonight for some poetry, as the joint hosts its regular fourthThursday-of-the-month tradition, the People Poetry Slam and Open Mic night. Anyone who attends has the chance to share his or her own written work during the open mic portion of the evening, starting shortly after the doors open. Following that, 2017 National Poetry Slam members Ephraim Nehemiah and

Shop Concert Series Tonight at 7:30 at Heights Music Shop, local singer-songwriters Roger Hoover and Maura Rogers will perform as part of the Shop Concert series curated

by Barking Spider’s Jenna Juredine.

The series features songwriters and musicians from Northeast Ohio.

There’s a $10 cover charge, and patrons can bring their own food and drink. Attendance is limited to 40 people. (Niesel) 2174 Lee Rd., Cleveland Heights, 216-860-4460, heightsmusicshop.com.

COMEDY

Sinbad Story-based comic Sinbad prides himself on finding the funny even in life’s toughest situations. His show is interactive, but you might not want to be part of his routine. Sinbad flips the script on his audience members and turns their troubles into comedic gold for everyone else’s enjoyment. The comic has also seen some screen time though it’s nothing to brag about. He was the star of the holiday flop Jingle All the Way and has acted in several pilots. It’s safe to say his forte is standup, but you can judge for yourself tonight at 8 at Hilarities, where he has shows scheduled through Saturday.

Tickets are $30 to $35. (Brittany Rees) 2035 East Fourth St., 216-241-7425, pickwickandfrolic.com.

FRI

06/23

CAR SHOW

Cleveland All-Stars Homecoming Show The second biennial Cleveland AllStars Homecoming Show returns to the Crawford Auto Aviation Museum today at 3 p.m. The show features vintage cars that were Cleveland-made or Cleveland-customized, along with Clevand racing cars and historic cars from the Crawford collection. Today’s kickoff includes a tour of the Ford auto assembly plant at 6 p.m. followed by food and libations at the Euclid Tavern. Tickets are $15. Tomorrow, the classic vehicle parade begins at 9 a.m. on Wade Circle, followed by the main event: the Cleveland All| clevescene.com | June 21 - 27, 2017

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GET OUT Stars Homecoming Car Show, which kicks off at 10 a.m. and goes to 4 p.m. Admission for the car show is $10. The auto adoration wraps up on Sunday with Cars and Coffee at the Crawford. from 10 a.m. to noon, with exclusive early access to the Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum. Find details and order tickets on the website.

(Adrian Leuthauser) 10825 East Blvd., 216-721-5722, wrhs.org.

FOOD

FRIDAY, JUNE 23

TEABAGS 8P-12A

SATURDAY, JUNE 24

CATS ON HOLIDAY 2-6P

THAT 80’S BAND 8P-12A

Cleveland Pizza Fest Thirteen local pizza joints will participate in this year’s Cleveland Pizza Fest, which returns this weekend to the Cuyahoga County Fairgrounds in Berea. The event kicks off tonight at 5 with a special Bike Night. The Spazmatics and Faction Cleveland will perform, and there will be special onsite parking for bikes. Gates open tomorrow at noon when there will be a classic T-Bird car show and music from Carlos Jones and the P.L.U.S. Band, Nine Daze, the Rick and the Attraction. The event concludes Sunday with a classic car show and performances by Cruising’ and Rubix Cube; Sunday hours are noon to 8 p.m. Tickets are $6, or $2 for kids ages 13 to 17. Anyone 12 and under is free. (Niesel) 164 Eastland Rd., Berea, 440-243-0090, cuyfair.com.

SPORTS

SUNDAY, JUNE 25

SPAZMATICS DJ LARRY 2-6P

8P-12A

Gladiators vs. Philadelphia Soul The Cleveland Gladiators, part of the struggling Arena Football League, go up against the Philadelphia Soul tonight at 7 at the Q. The league has diminished over the past couple of years and only a few teams remain, the Gladiators being one of them.

The high-scoring games can be good fun, and tonight’s game features concession specials that include $1 sodas and $2 draft beers. (Niesel) 1 Center Court, 216-420-2000, theqarena.com.

SPORTS

Indians vs. Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins started the season with a bang and sailed into first place during the first two weeks of the season. They’ve cooled considerably since then, especially since a Tribe sweep in Minneapolis earlier this month. Tonight, the division rivals commence a threegame series at 7:10 at Progressive Field. It’s Dollar Dog night too.

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Tickets start at $13. (Niesel) 2401 Ontario St., 216-420-4487, clevelandindians.com.

ART

Neck of the Woods From 6 to 9 tonight, the Morgan Conservatory hosts an opening reception for its latest exhibition, Neck of the Woods, featuring new and recent work by Samantha Parker Salazar, Andrea Peterson, Gaylord Schanilec and Lisa Schonberg. At 7 p.m., current artist-in-residence Hong Hong will discuss her multidisciplinary practice, which includes printmaking, sculpture and installation. Neck of the Woods remains on view through Saturday, July 29, and Hong Hong’s residency at the Morgan Conservatory continues through August 6. Admission is free.

(Usmani) 1754 East 47th St., 216-361-9255, morganconservatory.org.

BEST OF CLEVELAND!

Scene 2017 Best Of Party Earlier this year, Scene published its annual Best Of issue and acknowledged all the fine things its readers love about Cleveland. Tonight from 7 to 10:30 p.m. at FWD Day & Nightclub, Scene will acknowledge the winners at a big party. Tickets, which cost $35 in advance and $50 at the door, include bites from favorite restaurants, five drinks and entertainment. The party will take place at FWD and in the Tito’s Experience Tent at Flats East Bank.

Drinks will be provided by Tito’s Handmade Vodka and Brew Kettle.

This year’s winners, DJ E-V and the Big Bang Cleveland, will perform along with DJ Steph Floss, and Shooter Sharp & the Shootouts will play their first-ever bluegrass show featuring special guest David Mayfield from the David Mayfield Parade. The party starts at 7 and continues until 10:30. Details and tickets are on the website. (Niesel) 1176 Front St., 216-417-6282, scenebestofparty.com.

FILM

Twilight Zone, The Movie Four esteemed directors (Joe Dante, John Landis, George Miller and Steven Spielberg) contributed to 1983’s Twilight Zone, The Movie, a film based on the popular TV sci-fi series. Mark Dawidziak, the Plain Dealer’s TV critic who recently published the book Everything I Need to Know I Learned in the Twilight Zone, will introduce the film when it screens at 7:30 tonight at the Cleveland Institute of Art Cinematheque. Tickets are $12, or $9 for CIA and CSU I.D. card holders and anyone under 25. (Niesel)

IS AY THID FR Tickets On Sale Now!

FOUR DAYS ONLY

JULY 11-14

Presented by SCENE

Presented by SCENE

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scenebestofparty.com

budandburgersCLE.com

You nominated your favorite people and places, where to go for that perfect bowl of pho, the bartender who makes the perfect drink, your favorite sports player and much more. These were then narrowed down, voted upon and now we get to celebrate all of those named the Best Of Cleveland for 2017! Enjoy craft cocktails + music while meeting some of our Best Of winners for this year. Let's celebrate what makes Cleveland the place we call home.

Bud & Burgers is making its way to Cleveland for a four-day, burger- and beer-centric event hosted by SCENE Magazine. In this unique take on the pop-up diner will get to experience a full menu of one-of-a-kind burgers crafted by Mike Mariola, Eric Williams, Demetrios Atheneos, and Shawn Monday while sipping a smooth, crisp Budweiser. $4 ticket includes a gourmet burger, side, beer and charitable donation to Downtown Cleveland Association.

4`WROg 8c\S ! Â&#x2019; % (! ^[ @ FWD Day & Nightclub

8cZg " Â&#x2019; /; >; @ 1051 W 10th Street At Flats East Bank { By Aloft Hotel } A SCENE MAGAZINE EVENT

8C:G Â&#x2019; /C5CAB & Presented by SCENE, RMS Investment & the City of Shaker Hts.

D/< /93< 033@ 5/@23< vanakenbeergarden.com The third annual Van Aken Beer Gardens returns this summer! This three part, FREE, outdoor event series celebrates summertime with music, food, beer, wine, craft cocktails, local retail vendors, and activities for all ages! The remaining celebrations will be Friday, July 21 & August 18 from 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM outside in the west parking lot of Shaker Plaza at the corner of Farnsleigh Road & Van Aken Boulevard and inside the adjacent storefront next to The Pearl Asian Kitchen, 20060 Van Aken Boulevard.

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Presented by SCENE

ALEFEST

scenealefestival.com The 9th Annual SCENE Magazine Ale Fest will feature over 100 beers from around the corner to around the globe. The celebration is packed with your favorite porters, stouts, pilasters,ales, wheats, Belgians, ciders, and lagers just to name a few. Ale Fest has live music, interactive games, food booths, local vendors and more.

AObc`ROg 8cZg ' Â&#x2019; ^ @ Lincoln Park in Tremont

F I N D O U T A B O U T T H E S E E V E N T S A N D M O R E AT C L E V E S C E N E T I C K E T S . C O M | clevescene.com | June 21 - 27, 2017

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THIS WEEKEND!

SPONSORED BY:

ADMISSION:

Adults (18+) = $6 | Teens (13-17) = $1 Kids (12 and Under) = FREE * *must be accompanied by an Adult

FREE PARKING

5K RUN | 1K WALK SAT. 6/24 | clevelandpizzafest.com for details PROCEEDS BENEFIT THE NORTH END FOUNDATION/BEREA YOUTH WORKS

FRI

(5PM – MIDNIGHT)

BIKE NIGHT

All Bikers & Guest Discounted Admission $1 ea. + Special On-Site Parking MUSICAL GUESTS

SPAZMATICS AND FACTION CLEVELAND

SAT (NOON – MIDNIGHT) SUN (NOON – 8PM) CLASSIC T-BIRD CLASSIC CAR SHOW CAR SHOW (NOON – 5PM) MUSICAL GUESTS

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& THE P.L.U.S. BAND NINE DAZE THE RICK THE ATTRAXXION

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PIZZA EATING CONTESTS! MUSICAL GUESTS

CRUISIN’ AND RUBIX CUBE

BEST BEER, WINE AND SOFT DRINK PRICES OF ANY MAJOR AREA FOOD FESTIVAL!!!

FOR ADDITIONAL INFO, INCLUDING A SCHEDULE OF EVENTS AND DISCOUNT TICKETS, Visit clevelandpizzafest.com

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| clevescene.com | June 21 - 27, 2017

11610 Euclid Ave., 216-421-7450, cia.edu.

SAT

06/24

FESTIVAL

Cleveland Pride Parade and Festival The 28th annual Pride parade kicks off at noon today at West Third Street and St. Clair Avenue, then makes its way to Voinovich Bicentennial Park, where the Pride rally begins at 1 p.m. Cleveland Lesbian Gay Bi Trans Pride, Inc. boasts the largest LGBTQQI & SA festival in Northeast Ohio. The event celebrates its diverse population with food, music and dance. It’s all part of national Pride month, when Cleveland and other cities look back at the long-fought battle for equality in the LGBTQ community.

Grammy-nominated singer Taylor Dayne will perform, along with more than 10 other artists. Details are on the website. (Leuthauser) clevelandpride.org.

SUN

06/25

MUSIC

Concerts at Lake View Cemetery Lake View Cemetery just might be one of Northeast Ohio’s most bucolic settings. With that in mind, the folks at Nighttown will kick off their fourth season of concerts there this evening.

Tonight’s performace features local Latin jazz star Sammy DeLeon, who’ll perform from 4 to 6 p.m. on the Garfield Monument lawn. Bring a blanket or a lawn chair. Admission is free. (Niesel) 12316 Euclid Ave., 216-421-2665, lakeviewcemetery.com.

FAMILY FUN

MUSIC

Dan TDM British YouTube sensation Dan TDM Middleton holds the Guinness World Record for most views for a dedicated Minecraft video channel.

His adventures in Minecraft inspired his first book, the graphic novel Dan TDM: Trayaurus and the Enchanted Crystal. In his family-friendly touring show, Dan TDM and audience members solve puzzles and play games. He performs today at 2 and 7 p.m. at Connor Palace. Tickets are $41.50 to $79. (Niesel) 1615 Euclid Ave., 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org.

Liberty Rocks Crocker Park gets a head start on Independence Day today from 3 to 10 p.m., with Liberty Rocks, a music event featuring a lineup of local bands.

Victory Highway kicks things off at 3 with an assortment of blues, rock, pop and R&B. Saint Edward High School students will make beats on recycled trashcans and buckets. Thriller BMX riders will show off their bike skills.

Up-and-coming local rockers Welshly Arms headline. The night ends with fireworks. Admission is free. (Cacho) 143 Crocker Park Blvd., Westlake, crockerpark.com.

Powered by

FILM

The Rocky Horror Picture Show The Rocky Horror Picture Show, the 1975 cult classic, still draws an exuberant, costumed crowd that likes to throw rice and dry toast and sing along to the songs in the movie. Expect a throng to show up for tonight’s midnight screening at the Kent Stage. Tickets are $8, or $5 if you come in costume. A live shadow cast (the School of Rocky) will act out the movie and involve the audience. (Niesel) 175 East Main St., Kent, 330-6775005, kentstage.org.

DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS with Seratones

JULY 22 - $23.50 Rock all day and into the night.

This ticket gets you access to tour the Rock Hall and a full day of live music featuring: The Vindys • Falling Stars Seratones Drive-By Truckers Sponsored by Aramark and Repros Color.

Bringing Cleveland’s hottest acts to our outdoor plaza

MUSIC

Wednesdays 6-9 pm

The Rough & Tumble A couple of years ago, the Rough & Tumble’s Mallory Graham and Scott Tyler sold everything they couldn’t fit in Graham’s sister’s spare closet, quit their day jobs, admitted they were in love and bought a camper. They hit the road and haven’t looked back. In last year’s Pieces and Pieces, a soundtrack written for a short film, they write about issues of women in war, PTSD and “mending the gaps of a life that has been torn to pieces.” The folksy duo performs at 2 p.m. today in the meeting room at the Cuyahoga Public Library’s Fairview Park branch.Admission is free but registration is requested.

You can do that by giving them a call at the number, below. (Niesel) 21255 Lorain Rd., Fairview Park, 440-333-4700, cuyahogalibrary.org.

• FREE gift w/online RSVP • Upgrade to “Fan” for just $20 to get the gift, the show, a tour of the Rock Hall AND $10 at the bar! (a $40 value!)

July 12 - Mourning (A) BLKSTAR: Jimmy’s Songs July 19 - Part Time Lover with MIST July 26 - Hamilton Handshake with Skulx Aug. 2 - Shooter Sharp & The Shootouts with Cody J. Martin Aug. 9 - Seeress with Axioma Aug. 16 - Hiram Maxim with Glass Traps Aug. 23 - Funkyardx with JPENNELOPE Aug. 30 – Jack Fords with The Commonwealth

While taking in a show, grab a bite to eat from our new All-Access Cafe inside or out on the plaza, with a menu designed

by Cleveland celebrity chefs Fabio Salerno, Jonathon Sawyer and Rocco Whalen!

KEEP IT GOING! Summer stays hot while the Rock Hall throws parties to celebrate great music, including:

July 1 - U2 Tailgate July 16 - Alternative Press Fan Fest Aug. 5 - Latino Arts & Culture Celebration

RSVP, get tix and full schedule at:

ROCKHALL.COM/SUMMER | clevescene.com | June 21 - 27, 2017

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GET OUT NATALIE MERCHANT SU 3 DECADES OF SONG FAMILY FUN

A Most Excellent Race A Most Excellent Race takes place today at Beaumont School in Cleveland Heights. Proceeds support recreation programs for children with disabilities at the Achievement Centers’ Camp Cheerful. Prizes will be awarded to the top runners in each age group.

Those who believe running takes too much effort can take part in 5-K or 1-mile walks. There also will be family activities such as crafts, a bounce house and face painting. Online race registration is $25 until June 22. Race day registration opens at 7:30 a.m. and is $30. The race kickoff is at 9 a.m.

(Leuthauser) 3301 North Park Blvd., Cleveland Heights, 216-292-9700, achievementcenters.org.

July 8

FILM

216-241-6000 Group Sales 216-640-8600 playhousesquare.org

$

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10.00HalOf FF the Marathon

Welfare To celebrate the 50th anniversary of documentarian Frederick Wiseman, the Cleveland Museum of Art is screening a number of his movies this month. Today at 1:30 p.m., the museum will screen Welfare, his 1975 film about the challenges that face welfare workers. Tickets are $10. (Niesel) 11150 East Blvd., 216-421-7350, clevelandart.org.

MON 06/26 SPORTS

Indians vs. Texas Rangers The Indians started the season with a sweep of the Texas Rangers.

Since that bright beginning, the Tribe has struggled to stay above .500. The Rangers got off to a rough start but have since recovered and continue to keep pace with the teams battling for a wild-card spot. The Tribe and Rangers begin a four-game series tonight at 7:10 at Progressive Field.

Tickets start at $13. (Niesel) 2401 Ontario St., 216-420-4487, clevelandindians.com.

FOOD & DRINK

Wing Ding Doodle Blues icon Howlin’ Wolf famously covered “Wang Dang Doodle,” the old blues tune penned by Willie Dixon. Prosperity Social Club in Tremont has adopted that slogan, calling its wing night Wing Ding Doodle. The weekly event features

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specials on Buffalo wings and cold brews. Prosperity will not only serve up substantial, $1 whole wings, but it’ll also offering meatless Monday “wing” baskets for vegans. Discounted drafts and a playlist of vintage-electric blues and soulful R&B curated by local musician Clint Holley will be on tap as well. Wing Ding Doodle takes place every Monday from 6 p.m. to midnight. (Niesel) 1109 Starkweather Ave., 216-937-1938, prosperitysocialclub.com.

TUE

06/27

SPOKEN WORD

Life, the Universe and Hot Dogs Head out to Happy Dog for tonight’s Life, the Universe and Hot Dogs lecture and hear frequent speaker Jameson Voss discuss how humans adapt to new surroundings. Admission is free; the talk begins at 7:30 p.m. (Cacho) 5801 Detroit Ave., 216-651-9474, happydogcleveland.com.

MUSIC

Open Turntable Tuesday Tonight from 6 to 9, Goldhorn Brewery hosts its weekly Open Turntable Tuesday. DJ Kris Koch will offer 20-minute time slots to people who want to bring their own vinyl and spin their favorite songs or deep tracks. The Northeast Ohio Vinyl Club and the locally based Gotta Groove Records serve as sponsors, and turntables will be provided. A mic will also be available to talk about the selections. (Niesel) 1361 East 55th St., 216-465-1352, goldhornbrewery.com.

FILM

Pride Month Film Series The Capitol Theatre’s Pride Month series continues tonight at 7:30 with The Fabulous Alan Carr, a new film by director Jeffrey Schwarz (I Am Divine, Tab Hunter Confidential). Carr, a producer, manager and marketing guru, was famous for the outrageous Hollywood parties he threw in the 1970s. The screening will also include a Skype Q&A with director Schwarz. Admission is $9.75 for adults, or $7 for seniors/children.

(Kirby Davis) 1390 West 65th St., 216-651-7295, clevelandcinemas.com.

Find more events @clevescene.com t@clevelandscene

A SCENE MAGAZINE EVENT

ALEFEST

29 July

OVER 100 BEERS Lincoln1-7pPark LIVE ENTERTAINMENT | INTERACTIVE GAMES | FOOD BOOTHS

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| clevescene.com | June 21 - 27, 2017

33

38th Annual

THURSDAY, JUNE 22 CONNOR PALACE 7:30 p.m. | Chris Botti/Dianne Reeves

FRIDAY, JUNE 23 INDOORS OHIO THEATRE 6 p.m. | Terence Blanchard’s Blue Note Sessions with Kenny Barron, Ravi Coltrane, Carl Allen, Dave Pulphus, Khari Allen Lee CONNOR PALACE 8 p.m. | Boney James/Norman Brown PRESEN TED BY

JUNE 22–24, 2017 PLAYHOUSE SQUARE

STRASSMAN INSURANCE STAGE 3 p.m. | Tri-C Jazz Camp Showcase 4:45 p.m. | Montage 5:15 p.m. | Keyed Up! (kickoff) 5:45 p.m. | Frisson 6:50 p.m. | Evelyn Wright 7:55 p.m. | Eric Seddon’s Hot Club 9 p.m. | Yosemight 10:05 p.m. | Hubb’s Groove 11 p.m. | Jam session at Bin 216 11:15 p.m. | FunkyardX

OUTDOOR FEATURES: Food Trucks on 14th | Vendor Village (boutiques) Amusement Alley (games, photo booths) Beer Garden | Yoga (10 a.m. Saturday, June 24) Dancing under the GE chandelier Cooking demos/free samples at Tri-C’s Hospitality Management tent Keyed Up! kickoff (5:15 p.m. Friday, June 23) 17 free concerts on the Strassman Insurance Stage U.S. Bank KidBop – activities for wee boppers Chemical Bank Jazz Talk Tent (meet the artists)

STREET PERFORMERS: Cleveland Museum of Art | Parade the Circle Puppets Samba Joia | Sax - o - Matic

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#tricjazzfest

D

SATURDAY, JUNE 24

Rain or Shine!

UNDER THE GE CHANDELIER

U.S. BANK KIDBOP!

10 a.m. | Jazz Yoga

INDOORS ALLEN THEATRE 1 p.m. | Alicia Olatuja/Jane Bunnett & Maqueque 6 p.m. | Kamasi Washington 10:15 p.m.

Terence Blanchard featuring the E-Collective

OHIO THEATRE 3:30 p.m. | Anat Cohen Choro Aventuroso/ Diego Figueiredo with John Clayton and Jeff Hamilton CONNOR PALACE 8 p.m. | Boz Scaggs/Catherine Russell

STRASSMAN INSURANCE STAGE 2:30 p.m.

East Central Jazz Educators All Star Big Band 3:30 p.m. | Sam Blakeslee Large Group 4:35 p.m. | Bobby Selvaggio 4 5:40 p.m. | Lucas Kadish presents: TUNDRA 6:45 p.m. | Humbly Submitted 7:50 p.m. | Eddie Baccus Sr. Quartet 8:55 p.m. | Splitroot 9:55 p.m. | Ernie Krivda’s Fat Tuesday Big Band 11 p.m. | Sammy DeLeon y su Orquesta 11 p.m. | Jam session at Bin 216

SUNDAY, JUNE 25 Noon Jazz Brunch at Nighttown: Sullivan Fortner Trio 12383 Cedar Road, Cleveland Heights

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6:30 p.m. Cleveland Tenor Tradition with Ernie Krivda 7:35 p.m. Meet Terence Blanchard

SATURDAY, JUNE 24

3:15 p.m. International Jazz Scene: Jane Bunnett 4:15 p.m. Cleveland Treasures Tadd Dameron: Ernie Krivda/John Richmond 6:25 p.m. Samba! - Diego Figueiredo/Jeff Hamilton 7:30 p.m. Meet Kamasi Washington

COOKING DEMOS AND FREE SAMPLES AT TRI-C’S HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT TENT Chef Jack Ahern

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4:30 p.m. Bacon-wrapped corn on the cob with Cotija cheese and Aleppo chili butter 6:30 p.m. Adobo-braised chicken lettuce wraps 7:35 p.m. Grilled shrimp with coconut-lime sauce

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5:20 p.m. Corn soup with smoked mussels 6:25 p.m. Pancetta-wrapped pork tenderloin with tomato fondue 7:30 p.m. Seared scallop with English pea puree and buerre rouge | clevescene.com | June 21 - 27, 2017

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ART BEAUTIFUL LAYERS Puzzled Bipeds begets puzzled bipeds as we ponder the evolution of Matt Dribble’s work

By Dott von Schneider WHEN AN ARTIST’S WORK resembles or seems to borrow from a predecessor, is the artist appropriating someone else’s idea or is that artist evolving organically? It’s a hot topic in the art world, and one that has come up with more regularity here and elsewhere. Many people, for example, are at odds with artist Matt Dibble’s figurative work, and one reason might be the comparison with Picasso’s drawings and paintings, such as the famous “Guernica.” However, that’s where the comparison stops and we engage in Puzzled Bipeds, Dibble’s current show at Tregoning & Co. Known mostly for his massive, gestured and layered abstract paintings, Dribble is making his fourth appearance at the gallery, and in this exhibition, owner Bill Tregoning aimed to focus on his figurative pieces.

Both sides of the gallery are being used to hold an impressive span of work dating from 2011 through 2017 in this prolific exhibition loaded with stitches, arches and twisted figures.

The smaller drawings using India ink on woven paper are intense and introspective, but the real meat comes with the larger mixed media paintings that Dibble has steadily developed over the past 10 years.

In the back room we encounter “Plastic Saddle,” which is quite similar to the exhibition title piece, “Puzzled Bipeds,” mounted in the front gallery.

Both are oil on canvas with twisted, stitched shapes resembling blood cells coursing through space beneath a microscope slide. The faded blue and red amplify this visual vibration and we kind of wish we had 3-D glasses.

“Venus, Amigo,” created in 2011, is a highly organized painting with its mixed technique on canvas.

Newspaper tabloids draw us in through the planes of salmon, cerulean blue and taupe. The lines of the newsprint from advertising to comic strips guide our eyes up and

36

"Venus, Amigo"

down, left and right, walking us through its layered labyrinth. We find ourselves wanting to tie in what lies beneath, but in this painting, as with many in the exhibition, Dibble uses newsprint as material rather than commentary.

As we move into the front gallery, “Illuminated Swimmer” marries classical Roman architecture with its shaped canvas, enamel and newsprint.

In it, a contorted figure or figures dive throughout its copious strata.

Vertigo almost sets in, as we cannot tell which end is up. By contrast, “Big Tart Potion” and “Coastal Tuesday,” both of which are accompanied by their original drawings, wash over

beast with two heads” winks at itself or each other in amused play. With hand on waist, the entity straddles the landscape at a crossroad. There is a yin-yang quality sprouting from our illustrated friend that we can’t quite put our finger on. Again, one wonders if the use of his media is purely practical or some sort of commentary.

The argument is there and we keep returning to it.

Throughout the exhibition, although the line drawings and paintings are lovely and their austerity moving, his mixed media works knock us back with their high impact. Take into consideration, however, that it is the evolution of the

PUZZLED BIPEDS THROUGH JULY 1 AT TREGONING & CO. 1300 WEST 78TH STREET, 216-281-8626.

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us with a sense of quietude and contemplation. There is grounding in these paintings; still, we are unsettled by their gaze.

In the painting titled “Modesty,” Dibble shifts from newsprint to dress patterns. This 46-inch-by-50-inch painting gifts our eye with more arches and the muted hues of green, gray and blue. What appears to be “the

| clevescene.com | June 21 - 27, 2017

smaller works to the larger, more involved paintings that make this exhibition exciting. We physically move back and forth as if we are in a boxing match, forced to reckon with the details as well as with the whole, just as the figures do within them.

In his statement, Dibble writes, “It’s been said that even the angels ache for a body, sometimes. If I did

figurative work, what would it look like? I asked myself this question often. I soon realized that figures were part of my work for many years, an ongoing series of pen and ink drawings. Projecting them on to larger canvases I was able to find many new compositions and entanglements. I’m often asked where the figures originate. There is an ache in my body, on the outside everything is calm the inside is much different.” He goes on to add, “The postures here are not meant to be literal. I’m trying to create an impression, as simply as possible that describes my two natures. One grasping and one allowing. This is my situation, moment to moment, day to day and year to year. Where the figures in these paintings come from is a mystery…”

The dialogue that Dibble opens up for us with Puzzled Bipeds is as cerebral as it is aesthetic. It will be interesting to see how he further pursues this idea. In fact, in this exhibition, we turn into the puzzled bipeds trying to find our way through his two natures.

scene@clevescene.com t@clevelandscene

STAGE WHAT DO WOMEN WANT? Maybe a wittier take on feminism than this overly faithful musical restaging of the film 9 to 5 “THE MORE THINGS CHANGE, the more they stay the same.” That may be true for some aspects of our culture: The politicians change but they always lie, the Cleveland Indians’ lineup changes but they always avoid a World Series championship, and so on. But it doesn’t work for everything.

And that’s part of the problem with 9 to 5 The Musical, now at the Porthouse Theatre on the Blossom Music Center campus.

This retread of the slightly subversive 1980 feminist film comedy, which starred Lily Tomlin and Dolly Parton, attempts to capture the vibe of women on the verge of independence in the workplace.

Unfortunately for this well-meaning musical, many things have changed, and they haven’t stayed the same in the intervening 35 years, so the old jokes don’t land with the same punch.

That said, the cast under the always sure-handed direction of Terri Kent, the Porthouse producing artistic director, manages to keep things fairly lively, even during a long and challenging first act.

And there are a few standout performances that make a jaunt to this outdoor venue a good idea.

We are in the offices of Consolidated Industries in the 1970s, just a decade or so after the Mad Men era, when women are meant to type, get passed over for promotions, and fetch coffee for their male overlords. We quickly meet a trio of women who each have their own aspirations.

Violet is the frustrated yet ubercompetent office manager who decides to help naïve new hire Judy navigate their shark-infested whitecollar waters. Meanwhile, buxom Texas gal Doralee is dealing with their boss Franklin Hart, trying desperately to keep his lecherous eyes and hands off her substantial cleavage. And the office sycophant Roz, a plain and scheming woman, only wants to cling close to her idol, the dreaded (and dreadful) Hart.

As you probably remember, a troika of the above-mentioned women plots against Hart, eventually keeping him trussed up and suspended in his home while they take over the day-to-day office business. And their progressive

Photo by Paul Silla

By Christine Howey Franklin Hart Jr. (Fabio Polanco) doesn’t know what hit him when his employees, including Judy (Courtney Elizabeth Brown), band against him.

changes result in higher profits for the company.

These gender-defined battle lines were quite resonant and powerful back in the President Carter era.

But the book by Patricia Resnick, who also co-wrote the screenplay, has lost a lot of its zip due to the strides women have made. When someone asks, “What do you call a woman who’s lost 95 percent of her intelligence?” and then answers, “Divorced!” the laughter is faint and a bit uncomfortable.

And when the music and lyrics

by Dolly Parton are called upon to express the women’s yearning, we’re left with some overly simplistic and rhyme-y thoughts (“I just might

and sings and dances with skill, showing off her multiple performance chops. And she faces off well against Fabio Polanco as Hart, even though the talented Polanco does nothing much more than scowl, sneer and look depressed. The role of Hart has been a continuing challenge for this show in its various iterations, and the latest featured song for Hart, the up-tempo “Always a Woman,” has been cut from this production. Too bad: Polanco could have nailed it.

As Doralee, Erin Diroll looks the part and does a nice job with the clever “Backwoods Barbie,” even though she can’t approximate the Parton pipes. In the difficult

9 TO 5 THE MUSICAL THROUGH JULY 1 AT PORTHOUSE THEATRE, 3143 O’NEIL RD., CUYAHOGA FALLS, 330-672-3884. KENT.EDU/PORTHOUSE

make it work/I just might make it after all/I just might rise above the hurt/Though I suffered quite a fall”).

Parton’s familiar title song sets a high bar at the start of the show that her other numbers can’t equal.

In the central role of Violet, Amy Fritsche exudes office professionalism

and mostly thankless role of Judy, Courtney Elizabeth Brown hangs in there but still disappears at times. Among the many supporting roles, Jess Tanner stands out as the perpetually soused Margaret, never overplaying her character’s wooziness and triggering her own

set of laughs.

Of course, every musical needs its showstopper moment, and that happens in the first act when Sandra Emerick as Roz kicks the stuffing out of the confessional “Heart to Hart.” Stripping away Roz’s dowdy persona to reveal the flaming sex kitten underneath, Emerick almost steals the whole show and runs off into the surrounding woods with it.

Given that, it’s unfortunate that her second song, the potentially clever “5 to 9,” is nothing more than a reprise.

It’s a great idea: Roz crooning about the lonely hours she’s not at work and next to her Hart-throb. Another great opportunity missed.

Certainly the movie 9 to 5 could be turned into a vivid and vital stage musical. But it would probably need a new composer, lyricist and writer to update the dynamics and incorporate a fresher comedic sensibility. But for now, this is the 9 to 5 we have, and the Porthouse production has enough engaging moments to keep you amused on a summer evening.

scene@clevescene.com t@christinehowey | clevescene.com | June 21 - 27, 2017

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MOVIES WOMAN ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN The dark comedy Beatriz at Dinner offers a critique of social inequality

By Jeff Niesel SOCIAL INEQUALITY EXISTS everywhere. But southern California offers its own set of problems. The top 1 percent lives in giant homes that often feature ocean views and plantation-like grounds. As a result, those rich folks usually employ of host of hired hands to help maintain their ginormous mansions and the accompany fields. The people the wealthy employ often live on so little money, they can barely make ends meet.

Beatriz at Dinner, a dark comedy from director Miguel Arteta (Star Maps, Chuck & Buck), shows just how awkward the exchange between rich and poor can be. Written by Mike White, the co-creator, executive producer, writer, director and actor behind the terrific short-lived HBO series, Enlightened, the movie thrives on creating situations so uncomfortable, they’ll make you cringe. Despite the fact that the characters sometimes resemble caricatures, the movie’s critique of social inequality hits the mark. It opens on Friday at the Cedar Lee Theatre.

The film follows massage therapist Beatriz (Salma Hayek) as she goes about her day. An animal lover who lives with a few dogs and a goat, which she crates in her bedroom thanks to a neighbor who complained about the bleating, Beatriz works at a wellness

center where she tries to help children being treated for cancer. It can be emotionally taxing, and she often dreams of her childhood when she rowed a boat along a tranquil river, losing herself in nature.

After work one day, she drives to Orange County, a bastion of wealth even by SoCal standards, to help her friend/client Cathy (Connie Britton) relax before a high-power dinner party. Cathy’s husband Grant (David Warshofsky) has invited wealthy developer Doug Strutt (John Lithgow) and his wife Jeana (Amy Landecker) to

dinner, so they can celebrate a recent development deal that finally cleared one last legal hurdle so construction can begin.

When Beatriz’ car breaks down, Cathy invites her to stay for dinner.

She eventually accepts, but, as you can imagine, quickly finds that she has little in common with Grant’s friends.

In fact, she recalls having seen news reports about just what a unionbusting scumbag Doug really is.

Predictably enough, she drinks too much wine and regularly spars with Doug, a blowhard who brags about

how wealthy he is while chomping on a cigar. Doug, for example, laughs about how a few rare birds will be displaced by his new development and talks about going big-game hunting in Africa. His demeanor bears a striking similarity to that of President Trump, and more than one reviewer of this Sundance hit has already pointed out that comparison.

Even if the Earth-loving Beatriz and the money-hungry Doug sometimes come off as stereotypes, the movie effectively comments on the growing divide between rich and poor.

SPOTLIGHT: BAND AID A HIT AT THIS YEAR’S Sundance Film Festival, the dramedy Band Aid comes across as a stereotypical art house flick right from the start.

The characters talk too much, and the dialogue sounds a little too clever.

Written and directed by Zoe Lister-Jones, the film opens Friday at the Capitol Theatre. The plot centers on writer-turned-Uber-driver Anna (Lister-Jones) and her husband, an unemployed graphic designer named Ben (Adam Pally). Like many young couples, they struggle to make rent and regularly argue over silly things

such as who’s responsible for the dirty dishes in the kitchen sink. They go to therapy together on a regular basis, but that doesn’t help either.

One day at a kid’s birthday party, they play a couple of toy instruments together and subsequently decide they could turn their arguments into songs. Turns out, that’s a pretty effective form of therapy. One afternoon when a sexual exchange doesn’t go well, they write a song about it. The tune, “I Don’t Wanna Fuck You,” ends up igniting their passion for one another, and they go

at it right in the garage.

Their neighbor Weird Dave (Fred Armisen) shows up as they’re goofing around in their garage and tells them that he could play drums. He used to play in a one-man band that the local paper proclaimed to be “really weird.”

They recruit him to play in their band but soon realize he has a few problems of his own — he’s a recovering sex addict who blames his parents’ divorce for his problems. So as they start arguing during the middle of band practice, he realizes playing with the two of them has become too traumatiz-

ing and he backs away.

At this point, the film veers from dramedy into full-on drama, particularly as Anna and Ben realize they must confront the impact that Anna’s miscarriage has had on their marriage. While there’s something quite realistic about the problems that Anna and Ben have, the movie feels rather derivative and comes across like a cross between Portlandia and Girls.

jniesel@clevescene.com t@jniesel | clevescene.com | June 21 - 27, 2017

39

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EAT

CHEESEBURGER PARADISE 86 years of griddled perfection at Bob’s Hamburg in Akron

By Douglas Trattner Each day, Bob’s flies through approximately 240 quarter-pound patties, which get gobbled up as singles ($3.60), doubles ($4.40), triples ($5.10) and even quads ($6.25).

The burgers are laid to rest on that ancient coal-black griddle behind the counter, where they luxuriate in a shallow pool of sizzling fat. Each patty is smooshed flatter and flatter with a wide, sturdy spatula until it is thin and ringed with a lacey, crisp edge. No seasoning — not salt, not pepper, not Bob’s magic dust — goes on the meat whatsoever.

“Because that’s the original grill, it’s got so much seasoning on it that we don’t have to put salt and pepper on the burgers,” Buckeye explains.

“Plus, we cook bacon and sausage on the grill every morning. Most people don’t even bother adding salt or pepper.”

What they do add is cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion and Bob’s Special Sauce, a smoky tomato-based

Photos by Douglas Trattner

BY THE TIME I HAD SETTLED IN at Bob’s Hamburg in Akron, it was already 2 in the afternoon. Given the late lunch hour, the small room was largely empty but for one couple in a booth and a single at the counter. But when I looked over at the griddle, it was filled to capacity with burgers, and the young cook manning it was working at a frenzied clip just to keep pace. Gosh, I thought to myself, I hope they aren’t precooking burgers.

Silly me. Soon enough folks began streaming through the door for their take-out orders. And they never stopped — nor did the phone — until I departed, full, fat and happy, an hour or so later.

In August, Bob’s Hamburg will turn 86 years old, making it Akron’s oldest continuously operating restaurant by more than a few years. Since 1931, this legendary establishment has been cooking up burgers at the same location, in the same building and — get this — on the very same griddle. The menu is largely the same too, save for some newer menu items that were added along the way.

How do you make it to the ripe, old age of 86? You focus on a few things, you make them from scratch, and you deliver on them each and every at bat.

“Every morning I go to the butcher shop to buy fresh ground beef, we hand-cut our fries, hand-dip our onion rings, and make our soups and cakes from scratch,” says owner Aimee Buckeye.

with lettuce, pickles, onions and tartar sauce.

My double with cheese, lettuce, raw onion and mayo was burger bliss.

The perfectly cooked patties went straight from the griddle into a fresh, toasted bun slathered with mayo.

Without excessive seasoning, it’s the pure flavor of the beef that shines through. The onion rings ($2.25) at Bob’s, delivered in a small paper tray, are the kind you fondly recall from your youth. Batter-dipped thick-sliced onions are flash fried until they are golden brown and crackling crisp. If I happened to live nearby, I too would

BOB’S HAMBURG 1351 EAST AVE., AKRON, 330-253-2627 BOBSHAMBURG.COM

elixir. After ordering onion for my burger, I was asked if I preferred raw sliced or the house onions, which are dehydrated onions that are allowed to soak in water overnight until they plump up. A half dozen specialty burgers (all $4.95) range from a burger topped with cheese, bacon and barbecue sauce to a double-capped

be placing regular take-out orders.

Bob’s Hamburg may have been featured on countless local and regional television shows — and has even been the site of a wedding or two, if you can believe it — but its fate is hardly certain. In fact, it was perilously close to shuttering when Buckeye took it over about

six years ago.

“I had been working there for a few years when the owner’s husband passed away,” says Buckeye, the sixth owner. “She had no interest in running it so I bought it. I was diagnosed with cancer around that time and, to be honest, it’s what pushed me through, as cliche as that sounds.”

Summer is the time for spontaneous road trips, and I can’t imagine a better destination than Bob’s Hamburg. I, for one, have had this place on my burger bucket list for more than a decade and would have been crushed if I never got to experience it.

“We’re a dying breed,” Buckeye admits. “It’s not an easy job; everybody thinks just because we’re so little that it is. They don’t understand the amount of time and work you need to put into an 85-yearold building, into an 85-year-old restaurant.”

Dying breed, indeed.

dtrattner@clevescene.com t@dougtrattner | clevescene.com | June 21 - 27, 2017

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EAT STUFFED FUN Where to score the best pupusas in Cleveland

By Billy Hallal WITH NEW JOINTS OPENING ON every side of town, we very well may have reached Peak Taco in Cleveland.

And while we love the tortilla-bound concoctions as much as ever, variety is the spice of life. That’s where the pupusa comes in.

The pupusa (say it poo-POOsa — yes, it’s fun) is a traditional dish hailing from El Salvador. It’s a stuffed, savory corn flour cake that resembles a pancake cross-bred with an English muffin. Like the pancake, it demands to be eaten with a fork and knife (attempts to eat it by hand will not end well).

And like the taco, it’s filling, fun to eat and cheap: Most in town range from $1.80 to $2.50.

At the three near-westside establishments that serve them, pupusas are made to order and served hot off the grill. They’re paired with curtido; a lightly spiced cabbage and carrot slaw; and salsa roja, a thin, mild tomato sauce.

All pupusas come stuffed with queso blanco, a mild cheese with a pleasurably melty, stretchy texture. The generous cheesiness of most pupusas makes pulling away a forkful akin to cutting into a stromboli. The revueltas, which translates as “scrambled,” is a savory mixture of finely ground pork and black beans. Another great pick is the queso con loroco, made with an edible flower native to Central America.

It’s easy to miss Pupuseria La Bendicion, hidden as it is behind a Gyro George in the Lorain Market district. But the name promises blessings, and La Bendicion delivers. They serve generously sized, overlapping corn cakes — just two had us reaching for our Thanksgiving Day pants. The space is small, and the offerings are minimalist. There’s no bar, but Coke from a glass bottle works great to wash down the savory cakes.

El Arepazo y Pupuseria in Fairview Park has a full bar and more of a sit-down atmosphere. Run by a Colombian-Salvadoran family, it highlights beloved dishes from both countries: arepas, kissing cousins

to pupusas, are heavily featured and highly recommended. Chase that meal with an ice- cold Sol, an underrated Corona alternative.

Pupuseria Katarina in Parma is the most festive in terms of decor.

Diners are greeted with colorful posters, flags and Salvadoran music. At $2.50,the pupusas are a tad pricier, but there’s a rice pupusa option as well, although it’s not very popular. The Pupusa Loco ($9) nets a diner an overstuffed corn cake filled with nine ingredients.

Diners are well advised to tack on an order of the sweet and creamy fried plantains. The housemade horchata also makes for a sweet meal accompaniment.

Miramar, formerly La Casa Tazumal, is just down the street from La Bendicion. It is temporarily closed for renovations, but we’ll be keeping a close eye on the spot.

For all its traditional-food cred, the pupusa remains decidedly un-trendy. You won’t find them on the menus of more popular South American spots like Barroco or Moncho’s, you can’t score them from any local food trucks (trust us, we looked), and thus far we’ve uncovered no fusion-y takes (banh mi pupusas, anyone?) cropping up on local menus.

Perhaps one reason the pupusa hasn’t yet caught on is because of that simplicity. It’s too humble, for now, for even the fad-chasers who worship the inexpensive ethnic dish.

But then, foods not traditionally thought of as sexy have a way of catching on, especially in a city with roots as blue collar as ours. We gave the world the Polish Boy, after all.

Pupusas may remain a hidden gem in Cleveland. Or, in 10 years, we might all be going out for Pupusa Tuesdays. Either way, we hope Clevelanders will continue to patronize the places that brought the pupusa our way.

scene@clevescene.com t@clevelandscene

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RICK’S CAFE HAS NEW OWNERS

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RICK’S CAFE WILL HAVE A NEW owner this week. What that means for the 40-year-old restaurant, though, isn’t quite clear yet.

What we do know is that Alec Singer is indeed selling Rick’s to Shawn Monday, who runs the nearby Flip Side as well as Hudson’s One Red Door and Three Palms, and his partner Michael Schwartz.

We first heard about the sale from a Rick’s employee who reported that the staff was informed last week that the restaurant would indeed close this week and that Monday would install a completely new concept.

Singer had a different idea of what would happen to his Chagrin Falls American Tavern that had for decades offered the right balance of comfort and panache.

“Nothing’s changing,” Singer promised. “Michael Schwartz loves Rick’s Cafe and he always has. He’s happy to continue the legacy.”

Chef Monday, meanwhile, said that while a new concept might be possible down the road, he indeed might keep the Rick’s Cafe concept going for a while.

Who’s telling the truth? We’ll see soon enough.

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was opened by Red Restaurant Group last year, closed last week.

The move is temporary, says a spokesperson, with plans for a “comprehensive rebrand” and subsequent reopening tentatively scheduled for fall 2017.

“At every Red location, we regularly evaluate how to best serve our guests, ranging from menu offerings to restaurant atmosphere and overall design,” Jonathan Gross, Red Restaurant Group president and CFO, explains. “A variety of factors, including our ownership of the building, will allow us to introduce a new concept specifically tailored to the Cleveland market and Red Restaurant Group vision.”

This move follows on the heels of the departure of Jonathan Bennett, executive chef and operating partner. Bennett left the organization to launch his own restaurant consulting company.

Red Restaurant Group, which includes Moxie in Beachwood, recently opened a new Red, the Steakhouse in Indianapolis and has plans to open new spots in Pittsburgh and the Pinecrest development.

“We sincerely thank all of our guests who were patrons of 811,” said Gross. “We look forward to welcoming them back, and invite all to experience our additional Red locations in the meantime.”

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

a little kick to them but quite tasty.

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

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| clevescene.com | June 21 - 27, 2017

Vegans must be a patient lot. Either that or theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re willing to put up with all sorts of complications just as long as thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s some meat-free food waiting for them on the other end. Our group, while in no hurry whatsoever, found itself mired in a morass of sluggish service at Water Garden Cafe, which opened near the Lorain Avenue Antiques District in February.

It certainly is an attractive space, a bright and airy double storefront that has been meticulously renovated.

Ancient wide-plank wood ďŹ&#x201A;ooring is balanced by a modern stacked stone fountain, ironically bone-dry given the restaurantâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s moniker. A lengthy wood-slab bar is also bone dry, as Water Garden has no liquor license and frowns upon diners toting in their own.

The menu is a small but eclectic mix of meaty and meat-free options ranging from starters like vegetable tempura and vegan tamales to a grilled beet burger and chicken ďŹ&#x201A;autas. There are also the requisite vegan items that make use of the ďŹ gurative quotation marks, like â&#x20AC;&#x153;meatâ&#x20AC;? balls with sauce, squash â&#x20AC;&#x153;noodleâ&#x20AC;? pasta with marinara, and â&#x20AC;&#x153;bacon,â&#x20AC;? lettuce and tomato sandwiches.

We heartily enjoyed our bowl ($6) of lentil soup, a thin broth with warm spices and fresh vegetables. The house tamales ($6) looked promising when they landed on the table, with twin corn husks ďŹ lled with dough topped with black beans, pickled onion, roasted veggies and avocado cream.

Unfortunately, the dough (cornmeal?) was cold and pasty and the toppings never really came together.

Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll be the ďŹ rst to admit that the

roasted beet burger ($11) was a surprise hit, a substantial burger substitute paired with top-notch french fries. We could have done without the â&#x20AC;&#x153;black bean aioli,â&#x20AC;? which we all agreed was simply the water that one drains from a can of black beans. A colorful and vibrant mound of crisp zucchini and squash ribbons ($12) is set atop a fresh tomato marinara. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a nice, summery dish thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s appealing in its simplicity.

Oddly enough (or not), it was the non-vegan options that made the best impressions. Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a damn ďŹ ne grass-fed beef burger ($11) topped with Swiss, lettuce and tomato and sided by those same great fries. And the chicken ďŹ&#x201A;autas ($12), four crispy fried tortillas rolled around juicy dark meat chicken and capped with sour cream and all the ďŹ xings, went over with a bang.

There is no denying that the service is sweet and meaningful, but with just one staffer doing the job of host, waiter and cook, it also is amateurish. We waited seemingly forever, while our water glasses remained bone-dry, as the lone employee prepared our four-topâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s food. We wondered aloud what might have happened if we werenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t the only diners.

Management also made a point of talking up breakfast, lunch and brunch service with our table, but when I called on a recent Friday morning the phone rang and rang unanswered. The restaurant business is brutal, especially given the stiff competition. Water Garden has a product that people want, but theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll need to tighten up their execution game to succeed.

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47

48

| clevescene.com m | June 21 - 27, 2017

MUSIC

SUMMER SOJOURN Rap/rock/reggae act 311 makes its annual trek into town

By Jeff Niesel

Photo by Brian Bowen Smith

SUMMER WOULDN’T BE SUMMER without a 311 concert. The SoCalby-way-of-Omaha rap/rock/reggae band has hit the road every summer for the past 18 years, and this year is no exception. The band brings its latest summer tour to Hard Rock Live on Thursday.

“Well, we fortunately got into touring and recording because we love music, of course,” says drummer Chad Sexton in a recent phone interview from his L.A. home, where he had just hit up a farmer’s market and was prepping for the tour. “We have not been

touring in the fall at all. We’ve been hitting it a little in the spring, just sporadic shows. We hit the summer, sometimes shorter and sometimes longer depending on if we have a record out or not. We just kind of figured we got into this for music’s sake, and we should be playing music every summer. It’s just sort of an event. And at this point, we’ve built up some real connection with our fans.”

He says it’s been a “dream” to keep the band going for the past few decades even if it’s gotten harder to leave family members

behind. “It’s sort of a balancing act,” he says when asked about devoting so much time to touring.

“We’ve grown up loving the music part of it and not the industry part of it. We don’t only tour to sell a record. We just want to have an outdoor vibe every summer for our fans. Some of our favorite bands like the Grateful Dead used to do that.”

When 311 emerged out of Omaha in 1985, the whole raprock thing was still in its early stages. Even though 311 could hardly be classified as metal, the

band, which sounded more like the Red Hot Chili Peppers than Korn, was still considered a forerunner, even though it initially didn’t have the same notoriety as many of its musical peers.

That all changed in 1995 when 311 became a hit, and the band upscaled into bigger venues. While rap-rock has gone out of fashion, and 311 hasn’t really evolved or changed its musical approach, it has somehow continued to play mid-sized venues and fi ll them with young, rabid fans.

“That was unexpected,” says | clevescene.com | June 21 - 27, 2017

49

MUSIC Sexton when asked about the album’s commercial success. “I think the third single is the one that started everything, so that wasn’t until about a year after we released it. Being in the middle of it and working so hard and traveling so much, we were just excited to have some success. Back then, it was one dream after another dream coming true for us, so we were really stoked. That gave us motivation to continue.”

This year, for the first time in a few years, the band has a new album to promote. Produced by John Feldmann (Blink-182, Panic!

At the Disco) and Scotch Ralston, its latest release, Mosaic, took more than two years to fi nish.

“We’ve had a very unique relationship with Scotch, whom we met in 1992, and we couldn’t be happier with that relationship because he knows the band so well and approaches the sound in the manner that we would still want to approach sound, even though there’s all this technology out which is kind of the same way we approach the road,” says Sexton.

“We’re playing live instruments mostly for the mix and so we like a natural approach to that.

We don’t like to limit everything or compress everything or zero

you can see if you have lived here for a while. It’s a little tiny story about that.”

With its mid-tempo groove, “Too Late” starts out like an Incubus song but then distorted guitars and echoing vocals kick in. S.A. Martinez, the band member who does all the rapping on the albums, drops a few sputtering raps into the mix, giving the tune a Beastie Boys vibe.

“That’s kind of been a staple of ours — sometimes inside a song and sometimes song to song,” says Sexton when asked about the tempo changes. “We’ve been known to write such hard rocking songs such as ‘Fuck the Bullshit’ and then do such ballad reggae songs like ‘Amber.’ And once again that comes about because we’re really musicians at heart; we’re musicians first. We like to play different stuff; we like to challenge ourselves at this point even.”

Sexton says that “Too Late” provides an example of how the band can “lay it down with a normal groove and then take it up to a hard rocking place.”

“It’s just something we’ve been practicing our entire careers,” he says. “Obviously, the trick is to make it believable and to play each section as if you’re playing the entire song like that. We luckily have been able to practice that before, and that song just kind of came together. There’s quite a few

311, NEW POLITICS 8 P.M. THURSDAY, JUNE 22, HARD ROCK ROCKSINO NORTHFIELD PARK, 10777 NORTHFIELD RD., NORTHFIELD, 330-908-7625. TICKETS: $49.50-$54.50, HRROCKSINONORTHFIELDPARK.COM

everything out on the board and just have the limiters try and help mix it. Not to say we don’t use technology, but our angle is more of a natural angle. That’s rare these days.”

The album’s first single, the Sublime-inspired “Too Much to Think,” embraces a reggae vibe with its thick bass riff and offbeat guitars. When Nick Hexum sings, “I wanna get high/but you’re keeping me low,” you can just imagine fans lighting up and swaying to the song’s mid-tempo groove.

“Musically, we’ve always done a little bit of reggae,” says Sexton when asked about the song.

“We’ve been known to mix reggae and rock. The song is just about wanting to be happy and not have people try to compete with you.

There’s a little blurb about Los Angeles in there, and the vibe that

50

| clevescene.com | June 21 - 27, 2017

moments like that on the record.

We were trying to, not maybe exaggerate, but maybe make sure we have that happening a lot on the record. Our playing is really refined but sometimes has attitude too.”

The band’s 30th anniversary is just around the corner, but Sexton says band members haven’t discussed what they’ll do to mark the occasion.

“I suppose we’ll think about it when it starts getting closer in the next few years,” he says. “And that’s just a weird sort of thing because even though we’re a little older, I always mistake myself for being 33 or 34. To be in a band for 27 years is like, ‘Whoa, it’s getting a little weird here. How’d this happen?’”

jniesel@clevescene.com t@jniesel

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| clevescene.com | June 21 - 27, 2017

51

MUSIC FIRMLY FOCUSED At the Drive In’s first studio album in 17 years represents a return to form THIS PAST CINCO DE MAYO represented the closing of a 17-year gap between At the Drive In albums as the band released IN s TER A s LI s a, the long awaited followup to 2000’s Relationship of Command.

The band, which includes singer Cedric Bixler, singer-guitarist Omar Rodriguez, bassist Paul Hinojos, drummer Tony Hajjar and singerguitarist Keeley Davis, sounds better than ever as snarling guitars rip through tracks such as “Governed

by Contagions” and “Pendulum in a Peasant Dress.” The album represents a terrific return to form for a group once heralded to be post-punk’s next big thing.

Hajjar joined the band in 1996, shortly after its inception. A senior in college at the time, he was pursuing a degree in organic chemistry and math when the guys recruited him.

“I was looking for an excuse to get on the road, and in El Paso, it was hard to find anyone who wanted to give everything up,” he says via phone from his El Paso home. “Omar and Cedric literally snuck into my university and came to my lab and said, ‘Let’s do this and play together.’

I said, ‘Okay.’ It was that easy in the sense that we were all ready to just go and see what happens. I joined the band and was the business dude.

Sometimes, I was ‘dad’ but not in the best way.”

Hajjar says the group toured with punk bands even though its musical peers didn’t entirely accept the act as one of their own.

“If you recall, in 1996, ska was big again,” he says. “All the shows we got onto, god bless them, were ska shows.

The punk rock community wasn’t that loving to us for many years. I can’t exaggerate enough that we would get beer bottles thrown at us, and no one would let us stay at their house.

To become the sweethearts of the community was a shock. No one was preparing us for it, and we never got used to it.”

After releasing three albums and taking its explosive live show to stages all around the world, things came to an abrupt halt in 2000.

“We talk a lot about our past to learn from it and not go back to it,” says Hajjar. “Could it have been deterred? I don’t know. We got off the

52

Photo by Clemente Ruiz

By Jeff Niesel

stage at Groningen in the Netherlands and we said, ‘That’s it. We’re taking a break.’ We went home and rested up and then thought that everything was good. We should have taken six months off because we didn’t realize how burnt we were. If we had taken a longer break, I think we would have still been a band. But, as Omar would say, we would not be here. We wouldn’t have been at this place where we’ve been through so many things.”

The band would reunite in 2012 to play Coachella, but the rebooted version of the group proved shortlived.

“Reuniting was a big change for

last year, it traveled with an engineer and set up a studio backstage, so it could work on new material.

“The songs [on the new album] are united by a theme of crazy At The Drive In times,” says Hajjar. “We’re lucky to have great chemistry. If you think about it, we put these songs together [at a festival] in Seoul. We had North Korea right over us. We went to the DMZ and witnessed that connection between people who actually want to be together. That was a theme, and the shroud of religion is a theme. We were also experiencing Trump in the U.S. All these themes were above us. We watched the movie

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everybody,” says Hajjar. “It wasn’t what it was supposed to be, but it was another growth. We’ve all been in relationships, and it’s one of those things that you learn from as an adult. I will take things as I go and don’t wish that some things had never happened.”

When the band reunited to tour

| clevescene.com | June 21 - 27, 2017

THX 1138 a bunch together and that was the catalyst for the record.”

The band emphasizes the prog rock side of its sound, and the guitars in the song “Governed by Contagions” coalesce to make it resemble a Discipline-era King Crimson track.

“That’s the first time I’ve heard the comparison to Crimson, but I love it,”

says Hajjar. “It was created in Philly.

It was Omar and Paul and I. Paul had that bass line. It had this [indie rock group] Brainiac vibe. I started hitting the toms that became the rhythms. I think that song is a bridge from old At the Drive In to new At the Drive In.” “Incurably Innocent” takes on the theme of sexual abuse.

“We were talking about how people report things like this and then it gets swept under the rug,” says Hajjar when asked about the song’s theme. “It was another vibe we talked about in our meetings. Our meetings are dark sometimes. I think that’s the way it was in Cedric’s head, and it’s an amazing song.”

When asked, Hajjar says he’s not sure what the future holds for the band.

“I anticipate only tomorrow,” he says. “And that doesn’t just go for At the Drive In. That goes for my life.

We have a ton of plans, and we’re very excited, and we’re the most focused we’ve ever been. We have a lot of announcements coming up.

We’re very excited about the whole thing.”

jniesel@clevescene.com t@jniesel

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53

MUSIC SAX APPEAL Kamasi Washington talks about the ‘mutiny’ that took place when he switched instruments

By Jeff Niesel WHEN HIS SON WAS STILL A teenager, Kamasi Washington’s father left a saxophone lying on the family’s piano. Washington, who knew how to play clarinet, picked it up and immediately played the Wayne Shorter tune, “Sleeping Dancer Sleep On,” his favorite song at the time.

He was hooked.

“I always wanted to play the saxophone,” says Washington in a recent phone interview from his Los Angeles home. He performs at 6 p.m. on Saturday at the Allen Theatre as part of Tri-C JazzFest. “They’re similar instruments. My dad kept telling me I had to learn clarinet first, so I was learning these songs on clarinet. Compared to saxophone, they’re not exactly the same. Things that are easy on saxophone are hard on clarinet, and some things that are easy on clarinet are hard on saxophone. The sound and music I was hearing in my head was saxophone. I didn’t know that until I played the saxophone. But once I did, I knew it was what I was trying to do. My dad wanted me to play clarinet and didn’t know I would switch. It was a bit of a mutiny when I did.”

That “mutiny” has paid dividends.

While he was in high school, Washington put together a band to compete for a scholarship. The group won the competition, and one critic proclaimed Washington and his pals were “young jazz giants.” The name stuck, and the band called itself the Young Jazz Giants.

Thanks, in part, to the group’s success, Washington received a scholarship to UCLA, where he pursued a degree in ethnomusicology.

“I knew I wanted to study music, but I wanted to study in a way that I would learn,” he says when asked about why he chose that particular major. “I wanted to be exposed and pushed in a way that would take me in a direction that I wasn’t already going. I did my own kind of thing. I was a Jazz Studies major in ethnomusicology with a composition emphasis. I was trying to get everything they had. I was interested in learning about music from other

54

places. It was great. I was exposed to stuff I didn’t know existed. It opened my mind to the fact that music is more than just Western music.”

While in college, he also had another formative experience when he toured as a member of rapper Snoop Dogg’s band. During the 10week academic quarter, he says he’d sometimes spend five weeks on the road.

Doing his homework would prove to be a struggle.

“This was before everyone had laptops,” he says. “I had to turn this paper in, and most hotels had a business center. This one place didn’t have a business center. I needed to write an email to my teacher, and I went back to the room. They had a controller next to the TV that I had to use. A screen would pop up with the whole alphabet on it, and you could type one letter at a time. I wrote this whole paper like that. I told the professor, ‘You have to give me an A. This is dedication.’ There was a lot of that. I was figuring out how to be in school and play.”

After college, he and his musical peers regularly toured and recorded with other artists. As a result, when Washington put together the band the Next Step, he made sure he had two of everything at his disposal just in case someone was unavailable.

“I added people like [bassist] Miles Mosley and [keyboardist] Brandon [Coleman], and it became a bigger

disc album featuring the entire band. With its heavy drums and soaring strings, the opening track, “Change of the Guard,” sets the tone for the often atonal album.

“I didn’t know it would be three discs when we started the project,” Washington admits. “I knew I wanted it to be a big band. I just decided I wanted to make a real album that represents who I am.”

One highlight, the beautiful ballad “The Rhythm Changes,” features singer Patrice Quinn who croons like Billie Holiday; her voice pairs nicely with the song’s delicate strings arrangement and

TRI-C JAZZFEST: KAMASI WASHINGTON 6 P.M. SATURDAY, JUNE 24, ALLEN THEATRE, 1407 EUCLID AVE., 216-771-8403.

TICKETS: $30, PLAYHOUSESQUARE.ORG

group because we were all so busy, so if someone was missing, I wanted it to be okay,” he says. “At that point, it was a quartet or quintet. We had one gig where I didn’t think the band would show up, so I invited the backup musicians. Everyone ended up showing up, and that’s how I got into the double rhythm section. I thought that sounded so cool.”

That ambitious mentality carried over to 2015’s The Epic, a three-

| clevescene.com | June 21 - 27, 2017

Washington’s tempered solo.

“It’s a song I wrote a while back,” Washington explains. “Patrice and I grew up together. She’s from New York. She came to L.A., and I met her in 1999 or 2000. She just had a really amazing voice. We used to play this gig, and she used to sing with us. She really liked that song.

We got together and came up with some words and once we added her voice to the song, we realized that’s

how we needed to do that song.”

In the wake of the album’s release, Washington worked with rapper Kendrick Lamar on his To Pimp a Butterfly, one of the most notable hip-hop records of the past decade.

“I finished my album in 2014, and I was working on some stuff with [producer] Terrace Martin for his album,” he says. “I had him hear my album with the strings, and he was asking me about how I wrote it. He didn’t know I was so far into composition. He brought me in to hear Kendrick [Lamar], and I was blown away when I heard what he was doing.”

For the live show, Washington will bring an eight-piece band to town. He says to expect plenty of improv when he plays as part of JazzFest.

“We keep it wide open and spontaneous,” he says. “I always read the audience and the vibe of the city, and where we’re at. I don’t like to lock things in with a set list.

It’s something that happens in the moment. All the tempos and how we play the songs happen in the moment.”

jniesel@clevescene.com t@jniesel

| clevescene.com | June 21 - 27, 2017

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| clevescene.com | June 21 - 27, 2017

LIVEWIRE WED

06/21

Water Seed: Water Seed typically kicks out an album every six months or so; that didn’t happen with this latest album, We Are Stars, which the band has described as a “funk album — nothing else.” This is a pretty hefty album, one comprising 14 cuts of 100-percent New Orleans funk. And after a stint in Atlanta — almost an “exile,” as others have described it — the group clearly wanted to get back to their NOLA roots. Expect to hear tracks from the new album at tonight’s show. (Eric Sandy) 7 p.m., $20. Nighttown.

The Ghost Wolves/Duo Decibel System/Kiss Me Deadly: Ghost Wolves, an Austin-based duo that consists of singer-guitarist Carley ‘’Carazy’’ Wolf and singer-drummer Jonny ‘’Little Hammer’’ Wolf, fuse Texas blues and rock on their debut EP, 2011’s In Ya Neck!, and its followup, 2014’s Man, Woman, Beast.

Songs such as the twangy “Gonna Live” and “Cry Babies” are natural sing-alongs with their heavy drums and bluesy basslines. The band recently released Texa$ Platinum, another solid effort that features songs like ‘’Whettin’ My Knife’’ and ‘’Triple Full Moon,” both of which serve as homages to their musical roots. (Daniela Cacho) 9 p.m., $8.

Beachland Tavern.

Parkway Drive/The Word Alive/ Wage War: 7:30 p.m., $25 ADV, $30 DOS. House of Blues.

10 X 3 Singer Songwriter Showcase/6th Anniversary with Full Band Showcase: 8 p.m.

Brothers Lounge.

At The Drive In: 8 p.m., $39.50. The Agora Theatre.

Bad Boys of Blues: 9 p.m., free. Happy Dog. Maureen Choi Quartet: Latin Jazz Made In Spain: 7 p.m., $15. Bop Stop.

Nate Jones (in the Supper Club): 6 p.m., free. Music Box Supper Club.

No BS Brass Band/Uptowne Buddha/ The Dorian Walker Experience: 8:30 p.m., $10. Grog Shop.

Oolala/Super Awesome Macho/ Goodmorning Valentine: 9 p.m., $5.

Now That’s Class.

THU

06/22

John Paul White/Lera Lynn: 8 p.m., $18 ADV, $20 DOS. Music Box Supper Club.

all the live music you should see this week The New Orleans-based Water Seed returns to town to play Nighttown.

See: Wednesday.

Moss Stanley: 10:30 p.m., free.

Nighttown.

Tri-C JazzFest: Boney James with Norman Brown: 8 p.m., $25-$75.

Connor Palace.

Tri-C JazzFest: Terence Blanchard’s Blue Note Sessions featuring Kenny Barron, Ravi Coltrane and Carl Allen: 6 p.m., $30-$50. Ohio Theatre.

Webb Wilder (in the Supper Club): 8 p.m., $18 ADV, $20 DOS. Music Box Supper Club.

SAT 311/New Politics: 8 p.m., $49.50$54.50. Hard Rock Rocksino Northfield Park.

Mimi Arden/The Shadow Division/ The Movies/Alvarez Kings/Ray Flanagan: 8 p.m., $8 ADV, $10 DOS. Grog Shop.

Cedar Fairmount Special Improvement District Music & Block Party: 7 p.m., free.

Nighttown.

Cheek To Cheek: A Benefit Cabaret: 7 p.m., $10. Bop Stop.

Anne Cochran and Abe Lamarca and His Band: 8 p.m., $18-$28. Cain Park.

Ward Davis/Charles Hill Jr.: 8:30 p.m., $15-$40. Beachland Ballroom.

Fates Warning/Infinite Spectrum: 7 p.m., $17 ADV, $20 DOS. Agora.

Chris Hatton’s Musical Circus (in the Wine Bar): 8 p.m. Brothers Lounge.

Hot Djang (in the Supper Club): 7 p.m., $7. Music Box Supper Club.

Jam Night with the Bad Boys of Blues: 9 p.m., free. Brothers Lounge.

Rays/Christmas Pets/Trophy Knife: 9 p.m., $5. Now That’s Class.

Surfer Rex/The Kahuna Kings/The Blair Pongracic Band: 9 p.m., $5.

Happy Dog. Tri-C JazzFest: Chris Botti with Dianne Reeves: 7:30 p.m., $30-$95.

Connor Palace.

Turtlenecked/Cool American/The Scuzzballs/Phone Party/Flipcoin (in the Locker Room): 7:30 p.m., $8 ADV, $10 DOS. Mahall’s 20 Lanes.

Watershed/Brave Bones: 8 p.m., $8.

Beachland Tavern.

FRI

06/23

My Morning Jacket: 7 p.m., $33.50 $56. Jacobs Pavilion.

Xenia Rubinos/Punch Drunk

Tagalongs/Fake Species: 9 p.m., $10 ADV, $12 DOS. Grog Shop.

We Are the Northern Lights: Hadar Orshalimy and Sheldon Low had long journeys prior to We Are The Northern Lights. Orshalimy advised the military on cleanup of nuclear waste and Low worked an an engineer. Orshalimy and Low first collaborated on “Take Me Home,” a song that unexpectedly made it into the 2013 film Beneath. Then the two realized they were meant to work together. The duo made its way to a New York cabin in 2016 to record “I’m Still Here” and then released an EP of catchy indie pop tunes this year. (Daniela Cacho) 9 p.m., free.

The Euclid Tavern.

4th Friday Concert Series with Tracy Marie Featuring Jack Charlton: 8 p.m. Brothers Lounge.

Beppe Gambetta: 8:30 p.m., $20.

Nighttown.

Build with Alex Compton/Hivelike/ v1984/Shirtless/Noelsferatu: 9 p.m., $5. Now That’s Class.

City Mouth/Left & Leaving/The Ballroom Charades/Clumsy Words/Before There Was Fire/ Pollen (in the Locker Room): 6:30 p.m., $8. Mahall’s 20 Lanes.

Duchess/The Horse Traders/The Cory Grinder Band: 9 p.m., $5.

Happy Dog. Electric Forest FOMO Party with Fletcher’s Grove/The Cat’s Meow: 9:30 p.m., free. Beachland Ballroom.

Halo Circus /Allison Iraheta w/ Ruby Rose Fox: 9 p.m., $10. Musica.

Into the Blue: Grateful Dead Revival: 9 p.m., $12. Beachland Ballroom.

The Jack Fords: 9:30 p.m., $5.

Brothers Lounge.

Jarabe De Palo: 8 p.m., $50. House of Blues.

The Quebe Sisters: 8 p.m., $25. The Kent Stage.

06/24

Playing to Vapors Album Release/ Paper Morning/Saint Light: With its upper-register vocals and offkilter tempos, “Switchblade,” the latest single from the Columbusbased indie/math pop band Playing to Vapors has a Mutemath quality to it as the proggy synths contrast with the song’s infectious chorus.

Tonight’s show serves as a release party for Shred The Master Design, the followup to the 2015 EP A Glitch In The Void. (Niesel) 8:30 p.m., $7 ADV, $10 DOS. Beachland Tavern.

Train/O.A.R./Natasha Bedingfield: You can bet the pop/rock act Train will “play that song” as well as the rest of its many hits when it performs at Blossom tonight. The San Francisco-based band comes to town in support of its 10th studio album, A girl a bottle a boat, which has already yielded the hit “Play That Song,” a catchy number about wanting a DJ to play a popular tune.

The band aims to please, so expect to hear all of its most popular songs as singer Patrick Monahan leads the audience in sing-alongs and spreads some family friendly love. (Niesel) 7 p.m., $25-$79.50. Blossom.

Affiance/Nine Shrines/Hope for the Hollow/Leav/e/arth/Skies of December/Ira Hill/Koly Kolgate/ Entendre/Significant Loss/ Convariance/Set Sail to March: 3 p.m., $12 ADV, $15 DOS. The Agora Theatre.

The Ark Band/Mo Mojo: 9 p.m., $10 ADV, $12 DOS. Grog Shop.

Paulo Costa Trio: 9 p.m., $10. The Euclid Tavern.

Deche/Bloody Show/Fake Muslims: 9 p.m., $5. Happy Dog. Sammy Hagar and the Circle: 8 p.m.

Hard Rock Rocksino Northfield Park.

Heaven is In You Second Anniversary with Josh Mace/ Moltar/Broken Keys/Ghost Noises: | clevescene.com | June 21 - 27, 2017

57

LIVEWIRE

clevescenetickets.com

FIND OUT ABOUT SCENE MAGAZINE EVENTS ALL YEAR LONG

KentStage The

=HGÍM FBLL MA>L> @K>:M LAHPL MB<D>ML HG L:E> GHP

The Quebe Sisters

JJ Grey & Mofro

The Gin Blossoms

Steve Earle & The Dukes

Fri., Jun. 23

Wed., July 12

Jimmy Herring & the Invisible Whip Thu., Aug. 3

Ana Popovic Wed., Aug. 16

Thu., July 6

Sun. Jul 23

Jonny Lang Fri., Jul 7

Jerry Douglas presents The Earls Of Leicester Wed, Aug. 2

The Fixx

Chris Isaak

BoDeans

Rhiannon Giddens

Fri., Aug. 4

Mon., Sept. 11

Sun., Aug. 13

Sat., Sept. 16

ALL SHOWS AT THE KENT STAGE UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED Tickets available at www.kentstage.org or 877-987-6487 GMK [w cw i {{ © a{ B e~ JJHJF

58

| clevescene.com | June 21 - 27, 2017

9 p.m., $7. Now That’s Class.

The Moxies/Modernism/Twin Atomic/AJ and the Woods/Jordan Thompson: 9 p.m., $10 ADV, $12 DOS. Beachland Ballroom.

ROTT and Roll Party with Monica Robins and the Whiskey Kings (in the Supper Club): 7:30 p.m., $25.

Music Box Supper Club.

Scarab: The Journey Experience: 7:30 p.m., $13-$25. House of Blues.

Sexual Jeremy/Another Mother’s Milk/Emotional Support Pigs (in the Locker Room): 9 p.m., $5.

Mahall’s 20 Lanes.

The Skints: 9 p.m., $12. Musica.

Sounds of Jazz Featuring Nancy Redd (in the Wine Bar): 8 p.m.

Brothers Lounge.

The Spazmatics: 9:30 p.m., $5.

Brothers Lounge.

Travis “Moonchild” Haddix: 8:30 p.m., $15. Nighttown.

Tri-C JazzFest: Jane Bunnett and Maqueque/Alicia Olatuja: 1 p.m., $35. Allen Theatre.

Tri-C JazzFest: Diego Figueiredo featuring John Clayton and Jeff Hamilton/Anat Cohen: 3:30 p.m., $35. Ohio Theatre.

Tri-C JazzFest: Kamasi Washington: 6 p.m., $30. Allen Theatre.

Tri-C JazzFest: Boz Scaggs with Catherine Russell: 8 p.m., $30-$85.

Connor Palace.

Tri-C JazzFest: Terence Blanchard featuring the E-Collective: 10:15 p.m., $30. Allen Theatre.

Jackie Warren: 10:30 p.m., free.

Nighttown.

SUN

06/25

Kasey Chambers/Garret Kato: With her eleventh studio album, Dragonfly, singer-songwriter Kasey Chambers shows off her musical range. The double disc opens with the bluegrass-inflected “Pompeii” but also delves into pop, alt-country and rock. She really pushes her voice to the max with the soaring power ballad “You Ain’t Worth Suffering For” and practically yodels her way through “Ain’t No Little Girl.” Singer-songwriter Paul Kelly produced the album’s first disc and Chambers’ brother produced the second disc, which features her live band, which she’ll have in tow for tonight’s gig. (Niesel) 8 p.m., $22 ADV, $28 DOS. Music Box Supper Club.

Bestial Devastation/Tony Montana/ Reptile Dysfunction/Revadons: 9 p.m., $5. Now That’s Class.

Bloodshot Bill/Johnny and the Apple Stompers/DJ Hot Trash: 8:30 p.m., $10. Beachland Tavern.

Mike Petrone (in the Wine Bar): 5:30 p.m. Brothers Lounge.

The Minimalists: 7:30 p.m., $20 ADV. House of Blues.

Recognizze Life Fest with Lolifelane/ No Soda Cxka/DJ La Riches: 7:30 p.m., $10 ADV, $12 DOS. Grog Shop.

Sullivan Fortner Trio: 12 p.m., $20.

Nighttown.

Transportation Boulevard: 7 p.m., $10. Nighttown.

MON

06/26

Gates/Vasudeva/Head North/Los Ojos/The Traveler: The New Brunswick-based five-piece Gates is known for doing everything on its own, from recording and mixing to creating the artwork for its latest album Bloom and Breathe. Album opener “Everything That Ever Has Been,” an instrumental, sets the mood for the emotional ride. Singerguitarist Kevin Dye comes from a dark place, and the music helps emphasize it. Though the album might be highly personal, Gates still finds a way to relate to listeners.

(Adrian Leuthauser) 6:30 p.m., $12 ADV, $14 DOS. Mahall’s 20 Lanes.

Skatch Anderssen Orchestra: 8 p.m., $7. Brothers Lounge.

The Lustre Kings/The Del Rios: 8:30 p.m., $10 ADV, $12 DOS. Beachland Tavern.

The Mentors/Lorain Skum: 7 p.m., $8. Now That’s Class.

Shit Show Karaoke: 10 p.m. B-Side Liquor Lounge & Arcade.

Velvet Voyage (in the Wine Bar): 8 p.m. Brothers Lounge.

TUE

06/27

Alex Bevan: 8 p.m., $10. Beachland Tavern.

Cotton Ponys/Weed Whacker/Jesus Vio: 9 p.m., free. The Euclid Tavern.

Dustbowl Revival/Maura Rogers & the Bellows: 8 p.m., $15. Beachland Ballroom.

M2B2: 8 p.m., free. Brothers Lounge.

Nothington/Joe McMahon/Worship This: 8 p.m., $10 ADV, $12 DOS. Now That’s Class.

Two-Set Tuesday Featuring the Robyn Lanier Three (in the Wine Bar): 7 p.m. Brothers Lounge.

Von Swagger/Curly Chuck/DJ Corey Grand/Black Supafly/J Jig Cicero: 8:30 p.m., $10 ADV, $15 DOS. Grog Shop.

scene@clevescene.com t@clevelandscene

| clevescene.com | June 21 - 27, 2017

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| clevescene.com | June 21 - 27, 2017

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ALVAREZ KINGS

By Jeff Niesel MEET THE BAND: Simon Thompson (vocals, guitar), Paul Thompson (bass, keyboards, vocals), Sean Parkin (guitar, vocals), Richard Walker (drums, samples, pads)

we used to play on tour. We didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have any idea about what do with that song until we sat down with Carlos and thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s how it came about.â&#x20AC;?

STRAIGHT OUTTA SHEFFIELD: Brothers Simon and Paul Thompson first put the indie rock band together a few years ago in Sheffield, a town about three hours from London, and then recruited drummer Richard Walker and another guitarist whoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s since been replaced by Sean Parkin. Recognition came quickly as BBC Radio Sheffield named â&#x20AC;&#x153;No Resolveâ&#x20AC;? the Single of the Year and honored the group with local awards such as Best Band and Best EP. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a ton of great bands in Sheffield, so that was great,â&#x20AC;? says Simon Thompson via a recent transatlantic phone call. In 2015, the band played Vans Warped Tour, and Fuse TV documented the trials and tribulations of being on the grueling tour.

WHERE YOU CAN HEAR THEM: alvarezkings.com

FEELING CALIFORNIA: The band recorded its just-released debut album, Somewhere Between, in southern California with the Grammy Award-winning Carlos De La Garza (Paramore, M83, Jimmy Eat World). The recording took a mere three weeks as the guys sent demos of the songs to De La Garza prior to working with him in the studio. â&#x20AC;&#x153;He just fine tuned the songs and made us feel comfortable because we felt like aliens in California,â&#x20AC;? says Thompson. â&#x20AC;&#x153;With â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Sleepwalking, Pt. II,â&#x20AC;&#x2122; it was just an acoustic song

WHY YOU SHOULD HEAR THEM: Album opener â&#x20AC;&#x153;Cold Conscienceâ&#x20AC;? possesses an â&#x20AC;&#x2122;80s synth-pop feel with its percolating synths and upper-register vocals. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I think when I was younger I was really into Black Rebel Motorcycle Club,â&#x20AC;? says Thompson when asked about his influences. â&#x20AC;&#x153;In terms of singing, I remember when I listened to the first Local Natives album, I thought one of the guys had an incredible voice. Listening to the Beatles growing up, I thought Paul McCartney had an amazing voice. When the Arctic Monkeys came on the scene, I remember thinking I needed to up my game. Thanks to [singer] Alex [Turner] for giving me a kick in the ass.â&#x20AC;? Having toured with PVRIS and Echosmith, the band also recently supported Melanie Martinez on a sold-out European run. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s currently on its first U.S. headlining tour.

WHERE YOU CAN SEE THEM: Alvarez Kings perform with Mimi Arden, the Shadow Division, the Movies and Ray Flanagan at 7 p.m. on Thursday, June 22, at the Grog Shop.

jniesel@clevescene.com t@jniesel

ALLEGHENY HIGHLANDS TRAIL

C-NOTES

Bluegrass Festival

A SPECIAL SHOW Brothers Lounge showcase celebrates its sixth anniversary LOCAL SINGER-SONGWRITER Brent Kirby models 10 x 3, the weekly singer-songwriter showcase he hosts at Brothers Lounge, after off-night jam sessions he would attend when he lived in Nashville just over a decade ago.

Photo by Michelle Romary

For Wednesdayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s celebration, locals Michael McDonald, Bakers Basement, Sands & Hearn, Greg Thompson, Scott Stuewe, Anita Keys, Andy Bopp, Emily Keener and Jason Meyers will perform in the Wine Bar. AJ & The Woods, Surrounding Cities, Meg and the Magnetosphere, Saul Glennon, Mimi Arden and Kirby perform in the Concert Hall.

Kirby will host the Concert Hall performance while Jason Meyers, a songwriter and host of WJCUâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s NEO Rocks radio show, will host the Wine Bar performances. â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Jeff Niesel

R.I.P. JOHN MULLINS

Brent Kirby, host of the weekly 10X3 showcase

One was called 12 on 12th, and it featured 12 bands playing the club 12th and Porter. Bands would play two tunes, and acts coming through town would sometimes sit in.

As its title implies, 10 x 3 features 10 singer-songwriters playing three songs each. The restrictions: Two songs have to be original, and one can be a cover tune. Bands must sign up ahead of time, and then Kirby gives them a speciďŹ c time slot.

The event celebrates its sixth anniversary at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, June 21, with a special show that features 10 singer-songwriters in the clubâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Wine Bar and six bands in the concert hall. Admission is free. â&#x20AC;&#x153;In the six years that the 10 x 3 has been happening, we have featured over 3,500 songwriters from Northeast Ohio, in addition to touring artists and international performers. Every week is completely different and unique,â&#x20AC;? says Kirby in a press release. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I have pushed to create an example of how music should be listened to. I turn off the TV and ask people to turn off their cell phones and keep the conversation to the transitions in between acts, and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s become a pretty amazing listening room that everyone respects.â&#x20AC;?

John Mullins, singer, guitarist and a founding member of Ohioâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s beloved jam band, Ekoostik Hookah, died unexpectedly last week.

He performed off and on with the band since its 1991 inception, ultimately leaving for good in 2010. (He sat in with the band here and there in the ensuing years.) Along the way, Mullins and the rest of Ekoostik Hookah paved a memorable road for Ohioâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s jam scene, particularly among its devoted fans and the fellow upstart bands performing at NYCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Wetlands and, locally, Nelson Ledges.

Fellow founding member Dave Katz provided this statement on his friendâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s passing: â&#x20AC;&#x153;I will forever be grateful that we met, and for the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;magicâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; that we were able to create together. I know that, had we not met, I would not be where I am today, or the person i (sic) am today. You and I only co-wrote one song, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Under Full Sail.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; And, the ďŹ rst few lines of that song are what come to mind at this moment. â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;It all comes together. Sometimes fades, but never dies. Through different shades, from low to high.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; Poignant, to say the least. John, on this coming birthday, and every other one I am fortunate enough to celebrate, I will think of you, and what we accomplished together. You have certainly left your mark, and will be remembered by so many. Rest easy John Mullins.â&#x20AC;?

His legacy and resonance is felt far and wide this week, with stories being swapped online and in person.

Hookah plays next at Comfest in Columbus on June 23. â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Eric Sandy

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Dear Dan, I am a 34-year-old straight woman.

I’m monogamous and have an avoidant attachment style. I’ve been seeing a guy I really like. He’s just my type, the kind of person I’ve been looking for my whole life. Thing is, he’s in an open relationship with someone he’s been with for most of his adult life. He was sneaky — he didn’t reveal he was in an open relationship until the second date, but by then I was infatuated. So what I’ve learned is that poly couples often seek out others to create NRE or “new relationship energy,” which may help save their relationship in the long run.

I was deeply hurt to learn about NRE. What about the people who are dragged into a situation by some charmer in an attempt to breathe new life into a stale relationship? How can I reconcile the fact that I’ve fallen for someone who sees me as a tool to be discarded once the excitement wears off? I know we all have a choice, but we also know what it’s like to be infatuated by someone who seems perfect. I feel like such a loser.

— Sobbing Here And Making Errors “One of life’s hardest lessons is this: Two people can be absolutely crazy in love with each other and still not be good partners,” said Franklin Veaux, coauthor of More Than Two: A Practical Guide to Ethical Polyamory (morethantwo. com). “If you’re monogamous and you meet someone you’re completely smitten with who isn’t, the best thing to do is acknowledge that you’re incompatible and go your separate ways. It hurts and it sucks, but there it is.”

This perfect, sneaky guy who makes you feel like a loser? He told you he was in an open relationship on your second date. You knew he wasn’t “your type” the second time you laid eyes on him, and you needed to go your separate ways at that point. And I’m not buying your excuse (“I was too infatuated!”).

What if he had revealed that he was a recreational bed wetter? Or a serial killer? Or Jeffrey Lord? Surely you would’ve dumped him then.

Veaux thinks this guy did you wrong by not disclosing his partner’s existence right away. “Making a nonmonogamous relationship work requires a commitment to communication, honesty, and transparency,” said Veaux.

“Concealing the fact that you’re in a relationship is a big violation of all three, and no good will come of it.”

I have a slightly different take.

Straight women in open relationships have an easier time finding men willing to fuck and/or date them; their straight male counterparts have a much more difficult time. Stigma and double standards are at work here, and waiting to disclose the fact that you’re poly (or kinky or HIV-positive or a cammer) is a reaction to/work-around for that. But the stigma is a violation, too. Waiting to disclose your partner, kink, HIV status, etc., can prompt the other person to weigh their assumptions and prejudices about poly/kinky/poz people against the living, breathing person they’ve come to know. Still, disclosure needs to come early — within a date or two, certainly before anyone gets fucked — so the other person can bail if poly/kinky/poz is a deal breaker.

As for that new relationship energy: “There are, in truth, polyamorous people who are NRE junkies,” said Veaux. “They’re not very common, but they do exist, and alas they tend to leave a lot of destruction in their wake.”

But your assumptions about how NRE works are wrong, SHAME. Seeing your partner in the throes of NRE doesn’t bring the primary couple closer together; it often places a strain on the relationship. Opening up a relationship can certainly save it (if openness is a better fit for both partners), but NRE is something a poly person experiences with a new partner, not something a poly person enjoys with an established one.

And there are lots of examples of long-term poly relationships out there, so your assumption about being discarded once NRE wears off is also off. There are no guarantees, however. If this guy were single and looking for a monogamous relationship, you could nevertheless discover you’re not right for each other and wind up being discarded or doing the discarding yourself.

I’m going to give the final word to our guest expert. “Having an avoidant attachment style complicates things, because one of the things that can go along with avoidant attachment is idealizing partners who are inaccessible or unavailable,” said Veaux. “That can make it harder to let go. But if you’re radically incompatible with the person you love, letting go is likely your only healthy choice. Good luck!”

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