Scene 06/15/22 by Chava Communications

| clevescene.com | June 15-28, 2022

June 15-28, 2022 | clevescene.com |

| clevescene.com | June 15-28, 2022

CONTENTS JUNE 15-28, 2022 • VOL. 52 NO 25

Upfront .......................................9

Eat ............................................20

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

Music ........................................ 23

Get Out ..................................... 16

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

Dedicated to Free Times founder Richard H. Siegel (1935-1993) and Scene founder Richard Kabat Publisher Andrew Zelman Editor Vince Grzegorek

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

Editorial Music Editor Jeff Niesel Senior Writer Sam Allard Staff Writer Brett Zelman Dining Editor Douglas Trattner Visual Arts Writer Shawn Mishak Stage Editor Christine Howey Advertising Senior Multimedia Account Executive John Crobar, Shayne Rose Creative Services Creative Director Haimanti Germain Art Director Evan Sult Production Manager Sean Bieri Graphic Designer Aspen Smit Staff Photographer Emanuel Wallace Business Business & Sales Support Specialist Megan Stimac Controller Kristy Cramer Circulation Circulation Director Burt Sender

Copyright The entire contents of Cleveland Scene Magazine are copyright 2020 by Euclid Media Group. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission of the publisher is prohibited. Publisher does not assume any liability for unsolicited manuscripts, materials, or other content. Any submission must include a stamped, self-addressed

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REWIND: 1993 Johnny Depp beating the odds on the cover of Scene three decades ago.

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SCENE with you with the Issuu app! “Cleveland Scene Magazine” COVER ILLUSTRATION BY BRIAN SCAGNELLI

June 15-28, 2022 | clevescene.com |

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Photo: Google Maps

UPFRONT

PORT BOARD VOTES TO ACCEPT PRELIMINARY SETTLEMENT WITH GEORGES OVER IRISHTOWN BEND PROPERTY THE BOARD OF THE PORT OF Cleveland last week unanimously voted to accept a preliminary settlement with the George family over the property at the corner of West 25th and Detroit, the last remaining unclaimed parcel of the planned 23-acre Irishtown Bend Park that had been at the center of a battle between the Georges and the park coalition. While the agreement is “still preliminary” — a Port spokesperson told Scene both sides need to take actions and finalize everything in court — everything is trending in a positive direction. Described to Scene as a land swap plus other details that will be released once the deal is ratified, the settlement would bring an end to the contentious saga that saw the Port take eminent domain steps against the Georges and the Georges reply with a wide-ranging lawsuit against the Port and the park coalition members. The Georges bought the longvacant building in March 2018 for $248,000 and weren’t satisfied with the $360,000 offer by the Port for the land. The sides had long been in informal negotiations over the property. A revenue-producing billboard atop the abandoned structure (the old Royal Castle building) and

the park coalition’s argument that the hillside needs immediate stabilization, which can’t begin until it acquires the property, were at the heart of the issue. It appears both sides will get what they want out of the deal. “In general, as far as Irishtown Bend, the goal is to get the hillside stabilized and to protect the environment and economic health of the region from a potential landslide, and to move forward with the stabilization project as soon as possible,” the Port spokesperson told Scene while declining to comment on the specifics of the agreement. Reached for comment, Bobby George told Scene that the sides have agreed on the major points but there’s still fine tuning to be done. “The devil’s in the details,” he said. “We’re close, and we want to get this done, honestly. I think we’ve found a unique, creative solution. [The park] is going to be real great for everyone.” -Vince Grzegorek

Amazon Labor Union President Smalls Electrifies Cleveland Crowd on Hot Labor Summer Tour Amazon Labor Union President Chris Smalls electrified a Cleveland

crowd last Thursday as he preached a message of solidarity and union mobilization and chronicled his David vs. Goliath campaign to unionize a Staten Island Amazon fulfillment center. Smalls became the face of a resurgent American labor movement after he was fired from Amazon in 2020 for leading a parking lot protest to demand safer working conditions during the early stages of the Coronavirus pandemic. He then spearheaded the union drive at the JFK8 warehouse, which became the first Amazon location to win a union election on April 1. In a wide-ranging conversation with North Shore Federation of Labor President Dan O’Malley at the UAW Local 1250 Hall in Brook Park, Smalls said Cleveland was the third stop on his self-proclaimed “Hot Labor Summer” tour. After a court battle in Arizona this week — Amazon is contesting the union victory at JFK8 — Smalls said he intends to travel the country with a “super team” of organizers to build union momentum at Amazon locations across the United States. O’Malley asked Smalls how many warehouses had contacted the ALU to join the fight after the momentous Staten Island victory. “The whole damn country,”

Smalls said. He confirmed that he’d been in contact with two Northeast Ohio locations. Smalls relayed how a tech giant like Amazon, the nation’s secondlargest private employer, pits workers against each other in the workplace as a permanent bulwark against worker solidarity. Amazon knows, Smalls said, that solidarity leads to agitating for improvements in the collective best interest: things like workplace safety measures, more humane quotas, wage increases. Smalls said employees are encouraged to “snitch” when they see groups of people congregating or when popular workers galvanize others. In a bombshell story in April, Amazon was found to have blocked words like “union” and “plantation” on its worker chat app. And the opening speaker Thursday night was local worker Joey Desatnik, who was fired from Amazon’s North Randall fulfillment center (CLE2) in April after his outspoken efforts to drum up union interest there. But Smalls said the same hightech advancements that have made Amazon such a ruthless workplace surveillant also crystallized the prounion message by comparison. “Number one for us was building and earning trust,” Smalls said, “and that’s something that Amazon fails at miserably. There’s no real conversation there. It’s all a system. You talk to a computer, you make your complaints in an app. They tell you to call a hotline, put in a ticket, deal with a third-party case manager in some other country. We added a human aspect to our campaign. That meant bonfires and barbecues. Smoking weed and breaking bread. Bringing in musicians. We were doing things Amazon would never do. And the biggest thing was love. We showed that we cared, that we loved one another.” Smalls, who said he previously rallied outside the White House with Black Lives Matter and was donned in his trademark “Eat the Rich” bomber jacket Thursday, articulated a labor message divorced from partisan politics. “It’s not about being left or right,” he said. “We’re workers, and we need to build off the commonality of our issues.” When asked during a Q&A whether or not workers should seek or build a new political June 15-28, 2022 | clevescene.com |

| clevescene.com | June 15-28, 2022

party, as national Democrats and Republicans are both controlled by corporate interests, Smalls conceded that “sometimes new is definitely necessary,” and reminded the audience the power of labor in society. “I know people don’t want to talk about it,” he said, “but a general strike could change this country in one fucking day.” Smalls’ message was ultimately one of hope and encouragement, and he cited the regional efforts at local Starbucks locations as sign of prounion energy nationwide. For those not yet unionized, he urged a more robust and holistic labor education. (He said middle schoolers should not be worshipping billionaires like Jeff Bezos, for example, and that workers should bring their friends and families to rallies and learn about historic labor struggles.) He closed with a powerful reminder, one he shared with

DIGIT WIDGET $1,100 Current Median rent in Greater Cleveland.

19.3% Percentage increase in Greater Cleveland rents since May, 2021, a stratospheric increase that’s more than double the rate of inflation.

122.9% Percentage increase in rent in Fairview Park Zip Code 44126, the highest increase in the region. Median rent there is now $1,725.

44115 The Zip Code in the City of Cleveland (representing downtown), where rents are currently highest. Median rent there is $1,958. Only the Beachwood Zip Code 44122 has a higher median rent ($2,215) in the sevencounty region.

Photo by Jay Brown

Patricia Hanych.

UPFRONT

congress as well. “Remember that workers are the ones that generate revenue for these companies,” he said. “You are worth something. Your labor is worth something.” -Sam Allard

Patricia Hanych, Longtime Owner of Pat’s in the Flats, Passes Away at 82 Patricia Hanych, the beloved owner of Pat’s in the Flats, passed away Sunday morning at the age of 82 following a short battle with cancer. Booking agent, confidant, bartender, pseudo-grandmother/ aunt/mother of countless Cleveland musicians, Hanych closed the business, which had been in the family for more than 60 years, in 2018. Her father, William Hanych, first purchased the property in 1945 when he opened Pickles. It became Anne’s Lunch in 1951, named after Hanych’s mother, and later Pat’s. Patricia, who worked at the family business since she was in high school, began booking live music in 1987, and, before long, Pat’s became known as a place where aspiring musicians could get a gig, even with little experience. Pat was always willing to give the band a shot and didn’t fuss a lot about draw and ‘meat in the seats’ conversations about presale and door count. The deal was simple: She’d pull a calendar from behind the bar, you’d pick a date, the bands took and kept the door and she did the bar. “An’ no fighting!” she would say. Simple. Talking to Scene last year about the sale of the property and all the bands that came through the door, Pat said: “I miss them, I wasn’t happy the way this all turned out in the end for me and I never expected to be a health issue but that’s how you don’t know in life. I had hoped we could go out in a different way, in my choice instead of basically being forced out. That’s something you cannot foresee. I enjoyed it, I had a good time, and I couldn’t have asked for a better job, for me, for what I like to do, which is talk a lot and make friends.” Ultimately it was health issues which made her give the business up. “My head says I could, and my body says forget it,” she told Scene. The Cleveland music community has been sharing memories in the days since her passing. “There was just no pretense at Pat’s and she made a huge

contribution to the city and its music scene. She’ll be missed by so many,” said Tony Cross, Manager of the Happy Dog and local musician. “She was always the most supportive and encouraging person to all us creative weirdos,” said Michael Baranick. “She also didn’t mince words if she thought what you made, or how you behaved, was no good. Totally authentic. To me she was Cleveland at its best.” Pat was direct, didn’t mince words, was convivial at times and gruff when necessary. She was heartfelt and compassionate but had little tolerance for bullshit. She loved people, their stories and a good fat-chewing session, if you had something worthwhile to contribute. She liked music. She loved all her dogs over the years, many of whom were seen scampering around the bar around closing time. She is survived by her daughter Pam, her family, various cousins and her 4-year-old hound dog, Brutus. “I once read a philosophy that I have firmly believed in ever since,” her daughter Pamela Howlett wrote in a Facebook post Sunday morning. “To lead a fulfilled life, a person needs to have something to do, someone to love, and something to hope for. Pat did all those things in spades. She worked harder and with more dedication than anyone I ever knew. I became a lawyer to

work LESS than her. She loved her customers, dogs, and family to the point of putting their needs and desires above her own. She had been through a lot, too much in fact, but always looked forward to a better day, and tried to make it happen. It is finally time to rest, mom. Well done.” Personally, I remember many nights when the bands were done and the lights were up, along with the bar stools, and Pat was finally freed up to chat about the night and life. She’d share a laugh and raise a shot of warm Absolut vodka to cap things off. I thought of that when I saw Pat in hospice not long before she passed. It was closing time once again. There will be a wake for Pat on Wednesday June 15th at Kolodiy Lazuta Funeral Home on State Road in Parma with a service on Thursday at 11 a.m. and a graveside ceremony following at 12:30. The Happy Dog will host a celebration of her life, Pat’s in The Flats, and her contribution to the Cleveland music community from 4 to 8 p.m. on Thursday the 16th. Attendees will be invited to share memories and stories on stage. -Shawn Mishak

scene@clevescene.com @clevelandscene

June 15-28, 2022 | clevescene.com |

ExecutivE seSsions

Talking policy and smack with Lee Weingart and Chris Ronayne as the county executive race heats up -By Sam Allard CUYAHOGA COUNTY VOTERS will decide between Democrat Chris Ronayne and Republican Lee Weingart in the race to succeed Armond Budish as county executive this November. Scene sat down with both candidates in recent weeks, giving them space to clarify their platforms, respond to criticisms and make their pitches to voters as the summer campaign season heats up. (The conversations below have been lightly edited for length and clarity.) We met Weingart at the 27 Club in the Flats, owned by Weingart’s favorite musical artist, Machine Gun Kelly. Over coffee, the Republican in the race began talking about his work with Black small business owners during the pandemic. Quickly, our conversation veered to the woeful voter turnout in Cuyahoga County. We suggested that there was a straightforward relationship between residents’ material conditions and their engagement in the democratic process…

| clevescene.com | June 15-28, 2022

SAM ALLARD: ...It doesn’t matter if you’re a Democrat or a Republican. I’m still poor. No one gives a shit about me. Why bother? LEE WEINGART: Right. Think about the Cleveland mayor’s race last year. It was the first open race in 15 years, and yet there was a smaller turnout than in 2017, when Frank Jackson coasted to his third re-election. I’ve talked to people on the East Side. There’s a sense of dejection about the system. But when I talk about what I want to do,

they tell me: If you really do that, I’ll vote for you. On the East Side? Are you targeting Tariq Shabazz voters, given his performance in the primary against Ronayne? I will say this: I was shocked at how well Tariq did and how poorly Chris did, especially when you think that Chris spent $300,000 and Tariq spent $700 and that Chris had the endorsement of the Democratic Party and Justin Bibb. The fact

that he lost just about every East Side ward, including the three that comprise University Circle [6, 7 and 9], and East Cleveland, which abuts University Circle, tells me that those who knew him best supported him least. I got to know Tariq really well on the trail, and I think my ideas and his ideas are much more similar than his and Chris’s.

why on earth should Black voters pick the Republican? Your party has shown these voters nothing but contempt and is increasingly full of Looney Tunes on the fringe. What do you say to that?

Which ones specifically? Take a look at the jail. Chris has been mum on the size of the jail, the cost of the jail and the location of the jail. He appears to be fine with a $600 million jail with more than 1,200 inmates on a contaminated site. Tariq and I are very clear. I say no more than 1,200 capacity, certainly not on a contaminated site, and no more than $300 million. On the Global Center, we both agree that spending $46 million on that facility is ridiculous. You’d like to sell the Global Center, correct? I would sell the Medical Mart and the Hilton Hotel. Even if you couldn’t fetch anywhere near what the public paid for them? According to who, Jeff Applebaum? He’s the only one who’s ever quoted! I say let’s bring in an outside party to determine how best to sell it. Look at Calfee Halter – that’s the old post office downtown that they turned into their law firm. If you can reconfigure that into a law firm, why can’t you reconfigure the Global Center into something else? Someone smarter than the local consultants can figure this out and get it off our books. We pay $50 million per year on debt service for the Global Center and Hilton Hotel. Meanwhile, we don’t have resources for children at risk, seniors in crisis, families who need counseling, people who are addicted. I presume that $50 million doesn’t include the additional Hilton bailout during the pandemic. It does not. That hotel has never made money. Never. And the notion that the Medical Mart breaks even is ridiculous. But they get away with it. There’s nobody to call the bluff. There is a conspiracy of nonprofits downtown and nobody ever calls their bluffs. When I’m county executive, I’m not going to let these guys pull the wool over my eyes. Who do you mean here? Which nonprofits?

Lee Weingart

Courtesy photo

What I mean is, there are no checks and balances in the system right now. Whenever someone has an idea, they all get together and say, “This is a great idea,” and no one ever challenges it. I agree! But who are you talking about? Well, like, for example, JumpStart gets a ton of money. I was on a phone call recently, and [CEO] Ray Leach said they’d invested $71 million since they started JumpStart. Well, I know for a fact they’ve gotten at least $200 million in public funding. So where’s the other $130 million? The Hilton is another one. When they said, let’s build it, there was no one to say, this is a bad idea, it’s too expensive, it’ll never make the money back. Same with the Medical Mart. The city and county were hand in hand, convinced that this would be some economic catalyst for downtown. Ronayne agrees with organizations like Destination Cleveland that the convention business is good for Cleveland, and he has no interest in selling the facility. You’ve really amplified this distinction between you. Why? Because of why he feels that way. He agrees with Destination Cleveland because he is an insider. The people on these boards are his friends. If there’s an idea that he’s got, they’re going to support it, and he’s going to support their ideas. This is what I’m saying. There’s no control on these out-of-control ideas. Somebody somewhere needs to say, hold on a second, let’s take a sanity check. The purpose of government is not to be the developer of last resort, which is what we’ve become. When I was commissioner, on my way out in 1997, the county’s total debt was $100 million. Today it’s $1.2 billion, largely because of the Convention Center, the Global Center and the Hilton Hotel. The choice for County Executive is between two older white guys, so

You realize that the party’s historic roots bear like zero resemblance to the GOP today, especially the wing I mentioned, the MAGA branch or whatever. Doesn’t that bother you?

What I say, first of all, is that this is a local race, and we don’t deal with the national issues that have separated this country so much, particularly on social issues. And then, to voters, I just outline my vision for county government, which is getting back to the basic nuts and bolts. Smaller government that’s less expensive but is more active in the urban core. I hear you, but– Look, when I talk about that message to Black voters, they tell me, if you do that, I would vote for you. I say, I’m gonna do it! The outer suburbs in the county are in pretty good shape. The challenges we have are in the urban core. And local government’s function should be to help those who have not, not those who have. If we do that, we can ultimately shrink the social services budget of Cuyahoga County and lower taxes for everybody. We should all be invested in this. What’s your position on January 6? Do you believe the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump? I believe that Joe Biden won the race, that January 6 was an insurrection, and that those who participated should be punished. I am against insurrections of any kind, and it doesn’t matter which party is leading them. I abhor violence, and that includes violent protest. How would you define your personal Conservative values? I was raised in a Republican family. My parents are Republicans. And this was in Cleveland Heights. Go figure that one out. I’ve always been a believer in the Republican Party, the older Republican Party. I’m a student of history. The party was formed in 1854 with a single purpose in mind, which was to end slavery. And for the next 100 years, it was the party of Civil Rights. Then in the 1980s, the party made the decision to pursue white votes to the exclusion of Black votes everywhere. I’d like to see the party get back to its historic roots, getting back to supporting civil rights for all people. Teddy Roosevelt. Dwight Eisenhower. Bob Taft. George Voinovich. Those are Republicans that I admire.

I’m not connected to that wing at all, first of all, but I see both parties as extreme these days. You have the Squad on the Left and then Super MAGA on the Right, and I think that most people are somewhere in the middle. I think they’d like to have a little more moderation in trying to solve problems. Right now, we’re so partisan as a country that we can’t even talk about solving problems. Maybe, but at the Ohio Statehouse the issue is not Leftwing Democrats. It’s Republicans, who have shown a total disregard for Ohio voters and who are passing increasingly unhinged legislation on wedge issues like guns and abortion. Doesn’t Cuyahoga County, the state’s socalled Democratic stronghold, have a responsibility to be a countervailing force in this climate? I think if you look at polling on the issues you mentioned – guns and abortion specifically – you’ll find that most Americans, again, are somehwere in the middle. The legislature is clearly much further to the Right than the average Ohioan. I don’t think you’d see popular support for unlicensed concealed carry, for example. And as Republicans, we’re supposed to be sympathetic to the plight of the police, and very few police are in support of unlicensed concealed carry. Since we’re on the subject, you’d identify as “pro-police”? I am pro-police and pro-police reform. I think we need to have a strong police force that respects and treats people with dignity, which is why I go back to the [University Circle] policing issues. I know you’ve hammered Ronayne on that, but it’s not like he sat on his hands after those stats on traffic stops came out, right? He formed a civilian review board, mandated bias training, and ordered body cameras. You can tell me how effective that was, since the [percentage of black motorists stopped by UCI police] went up from 88% to 94% after the reporting came out. Bias training? I’ve seen the certificates. It’s like a kindergarten graduation. Congrats, you’ve graduated from a two-day seminar. I would’ve been sitting down with the police chief every month and

June 15-28, 2022 | clevescene.com |

| clevescene.com | June 15-28, 2022

demanding to see the numbers on the tickets they were issuing. And if every month, it was 90% Black drivers, I’d say, ‘What is going on here?” Chris should have known before the reporting came out, but the fact that 11 months later, the numbers went up? That leads me to believe he was sitting on his hands. Leadership is about leaning in, not making statements about how horrified you are. Walk me through what you have done in 2018, as deaths were piling up at the county jail. I never would have got there in the first place. I never would have used the jail as a profit center. I never would have overcrowded it, never would have encouraged the suburbs to ship their defendants downtown, never would have understaffed it, never would have under-resourced it. It just never would have happened with me.

It should have been a five-alarm fire. When I was county commissioner, we had one child die in the foster care system, and it was all hands on deck. The fact that eight people died before Budish even set foot in the jail is unthinkable, and then he goes to Akram Boutros to fire the whistleblower. You want to go back to an elected sheriff. Why? When I was county commissioner, we had an elected Sheriff, Gerald McFaul, who, as we all know near the end of his career, had some issues. But Gerry had to run every four years. And if somebody died while he was sheriff, he had to explain that to voters. So he hired the best people he could, and as a result, people didn’t die very often in the county jail. The current sheriff reports to the county executive or the county council, depending on the day of the week. It’s a reporting structure that creates confusion and leads to chaos.

You’ve also proposed expanding the sheriff’s deputies. What’s your rationale? I want to add 100 deputies, yes. The primary role of the sheriff is to investigate major crimes: child trafficking, human trafficking, murder. If we could have more deputies helping the City of Cleveland and other suburban departments solve those crimes – literally putting the deputies in those departments – that puts more of their officers in the streets. That’s a way to stop crime at the source, and have more officers getting to know residents better. You’ve called for 12 debates across the county with Chris Ronayne. What do you expect that level of engagement would show voters? What are the key distinctions you’re trying to make?

And Ronayne, as the Plain Dealer has said, is a mush mouth. Just like at his City Club speech, he doesn’t say anything. I want to showcase my vision against whatever Ronayne’s is. Maybe he can explain what Healthy Cuyahoga means. So you think he’s all talk? From what I’ve seen, yes. I don’t see any numbers behind his proposals. He strikes me as a relationship guy. People really like him. You don’t think there’s value in the sort of Justin Bibb leadership style, convening experts and all that? Let me go back to where we started: That’s the last thing we need in a county executive. What is?

They’re going to show that I have a real vision for Cuyahoga County.

A convener. An insider. We need somebody who calls it straight.

WE MET RONAYNE at his campaign headquarters in Lakewood, in the repurposed Detroit Avenue frontage of an auto body shop. After chatting briefly with his campaign staff, we walked over to Propaganda Coffee – no pun intended – and began by discussing the personnel working for his campaign.

between economics, race and voting patterns in those areas. And I see great opportunity to win those votes over to our side.

SAM ALLARD: I recognize a few faces from the Bibb team.

One of the policy fault lines between you and Lee right now is the Global Center. You’ve said you’d do anything but sell it in a fire sale. Can you clarify your position?

Yes, and let me state this for the record. I do not think we need to spend $46 million on the Global Center. What we have to do is take a serious look at what we need. I was down there the other day at 8:30 in the morning. There were four elevators servicing four floors, and there wasn’t a big traffic jam. I’m not sure that godawful expensive escalators are the solution.

Okay, but for the purposes of this thought experiment.

CHRIS RONAYNE: Yeah, it’s frankly an honor to work with some of these younger campaign volunteers and paid staff. They see a better world than what they’ve experienced these past six years, and I’m channeling that. They’re a kinder generation that’s driving for real equity and real justice. The same issues are always going to be with us: jobs, safety, schools. But there’s a higher level of expectation now.

Chris Ronayne

Talk to me about the primary. Were you surprised by how well Tariq Shabazz performed?

areas, of course. The general election is now between two white guys. So what’s your pitch to Black voters?

I felt good. To pick up 66% of the county was a significant achievement, particularly for an individual who’s never been on a countywide ballot – that being me. I think that we did well, and what our intel tells us is that we’ve got a ceiling to grow. With respect to the other third that voted for Tariq, I’m looking to gain those votes back. We want to make up ground in the eastern wards of the city of Cleveland and the near eastern suburbs. I think the turnout in those communities for Tariq Shabazz is not a surprise, given historical voting patterns.

My pitch is to remember our core values as Democrats. We are the party of justice, equity, women’s rights, the party of going against gun violence and unfettered gun possession. In Ohio, we are the party that believes in fair districting. My message is to remember our values, to remember that we are the party that unifies.

These are predominantly Black

No. Again, there are correlations

Photo: City Club screenshot

Were you discouraged by the outcome in the areas directly around University Circle? Should that be read as a referendum on your leadership at UCI?

The building of the Global Center is, just matter-of-factly, connected to the rest of the Convention District. It’s the front door from St. Clair and it’s integrally connected to the whole. I think we would lose our shirts selling that building. This is a public asset, just like Public Auditorium is an asset. The future of the space I believe has value as a leasable asset. And I underline leasable. This could be private commercial space, nonprofit space. Some of the building should go toward what the overall district is about, which is destination management and development, i.e. travel and tourism. That’s a top-5 industry in Cleveland, and what I said at the City Club I stand by: The jobs in the hospitality industry depend on driving visitors to Cleveland. Many of these workers come from our most disadvantaged communities. If you start going down the road of selling it in a fire sale, you’re cutting off local jobs. You realize, though, that voters overwhelmingly oppose spending any more public money on the facility?

Yet Armond Budish and county council are charging full steam ahead with a plan that literally everyone hates. It’s outrageous. What I keep coming back to is management. That’s what this county executive job is all about. My management instincts are: don’t sell the building, drive leasehold improvements, which is to say, drive tenants to make capital repairs on what they need. I don’t see that being popularly discussed at the county. We need to have conversations about what is the program, what are the repairs, rather than flood the building with $46 million to add different ways to access the same space. We’re putting the cart before the horse. At the City Club, you said you needed more information on the new county jail before staking out a position. Where do you stand now? For me, it’s a fix-it first mentality. Fix what we’ve got, because there are triaging needs that need to be

June 15-28, 2022 | clevescene.com |

The Zombies

Hard Day’s Night Beatles Tribute

Cordovas

with special guests TRIAL BY FIRE

Tue. June 28

Fri. July 1

Jordan Rudess

Dave Mason

Todd Rundgren

Sat. July 9

Sun. July 10

Tue. July 12

Sun. July 3

ALSO COMING IN 2022

ABC Brett Dennan Jon Anderson The voice of YES Keillor and Company Tinsley Ellis The High Kings The Abrams Steep Canyon Rangers Al Stewart The Wallflowers BeauSoleil avec Michael Doucet Al DiMeola Hayes Carll Duane Betts feat. Johnny Stachela & Berry Duane Oakley "Dog Daze Acoustic Tour" NEW! Friday, Sept. 9 | The Fixx with Jill Sobule Friday, Oct. 7 | Marcc Nutter

Wednesday, July 13 Saturday, July 16 NEW! Friday July 22 Friday, July 28 Saturday, July 30 Wednesday, Aug. 3 Thursday, Aug. 4 Saturday, Aug. 13 Wednesday, Aug. 17 Sunday, Aug. 21 Saturday, Aug. 27 NEW! Thursday, Sept. 1 Saturday, Sept. 3 NEW! Thursday, Sept. 8

| | | | | | | | | | | | | |

AT THE GOODYEAR THEATER Get tix at goodyeartheater.com or ticketmaster.com

Foghat

Don McLean

with special guest PAT TRAVERS

American Pie 50th Anniversary Tour

Thurs., Aug. 11

Fri., Sept. 2

| clevescene.com | June 15-28, 2022

addressed. I’ve talked with a broad coalition of workers and leaders who touch that jail, and none who actually work inside said the first priority should be to build a new one. They’ve said there are immediate issues: ranging from overcrowding to the basics of daily living –broken faucets, rotten food. These are immediate needs. And it’s not like a new jail would open tomorrow. The current issues would persist for the duration of any construction process. Correct. We’ve got to deal with that stuff right now. But on the new jail, once again, I believe the cart is before the horse. I’ve seen the consultants and I’ve participated in Zoom meetings, and we’re talking about the physical building before we’re talking about systems. Why are we talking about more beds instead of diversion and prevention? Everyone loves to talk about shiny objects in this town. But my M.O. on this is: slow down. This is a 50-100-year decision and we’ve got to get it right. How would a Ronayne administration have responded to the jail deaths in 2018? I would have appointed a crisis team. When you look at national averages across metros like ours, there are unfortunately some deaths that occur, maybe 2-4 deaths a year. But when you double that number, triple that number, you’ve got a problem. My instincts are: overcrowding is the problem. The common refrain here in Cuyahoga County is to spend big dollars on big new objects, when the crisis is management overload. I had a roundtable with corrections officers and expected hostility, but they were some of the strongest advocates for the prison population. They were telling me that overpopulation is critical, and we just don’t have enough manpower. Let’s work with them. I would have had a CO on that committee, I would have had a former incarcerated person on it, and other experts in the field. At the beginning of the pandemic, judges came together and reduced the jail population by half. It was under 1,000 at one point. Why not force them to sustain those numbers? In so many ways, we saw the best of humanity during the pandemic. Management of the jail population and diversion were at unparalleled levels. We probably handled emergency homelessness better than

we ever had. And that was because people put their heads together. I’m seeing, unfortunately, judges are kept at arm’s length by the administration, and judges have a hell of a lot of stake in the outcomes here. My campaign right now is basically a preface to the job – meet with community partners about what’s possible. What’s possible is reducing the jail population by half! That would certainly solve the overcrowding problem. You’re hitting on the high notes of where I’m going with the campaign, and that is asking: When have we been best, and what are the best practices? And when have we failed and why? We should not be sheepish about asking why and how we’ve failed. Are you in support of the city of Cleveland’s recent tax abatement policy? I support the mayor. This is a home-rule state. The mayor went in the direction he went, taking a fairly measured approach. I think leadership needs to be about civic innovation, and if he finds that there’s a drop in income tax, he may have to pivot, but the mayor led this, the mayor is going to implement this, and I support him. On the broader question of housing affordability, what are your policy plans for Cuyahoga County? I would like to support CHN Partners’ idea for an affordable housing fund. I will initiate a housing department or division at the county. There’s enough need, from senior housing to affordable housing, to justify it. This is actually one of three major initiatives that I’d like to bring forth, in terms of departmental changes: Housing, Transportation and an Ombudsman’s Office. But you’ve got to walk the talk in terms of funding. Where do you anticipate that funding coming from? It could come from ARPA, to seed it. The operative for county government in the future needs to be about common sense. That’s why I’m trying to be deliberative about not throwing money at large-scale projects and focusing more on systems that lead to reform. Beyond mandating an increase in minority contracting, which you’ve mentioned, what does equity look

like in a Ronayne administration?

all. They simply ratify the deals presented to them.

First of all, we need to target our investments. There is a diversity of communities in Cuyahoga County and there’s a range of needs and reasons why these communities draw upon the county’s resources. I think that in infrastructure and economic development, every community needs to be a part of that. We need to tackle our challenges by investing in places that have been disinvested in. More broadly, my lens is a Cuyahoga Works lens. When we look at how to help those who are work-eligible, where have the barriers been? How do we create communities that are vibrant and safe that get people ready to work? The issue isn’t the lack of jobs out there. The issue is the skills gap. Cuyahoga County needs to address everything that goes into that, from infant mortality to literacy. How do you envision working with county council and repairing what has been a vindictive, fraught relationship with the executive in recent years? Partnership is everything. My background as Chief of Staff, as Chief Development Director, as City Planning Director and then at University Circle, working with 40 institutions, is partnerships. Why are we making this so difficult? What I’ve seen too often is the element of surprise. I would never spring departmental cuts on directors at a budget hearing. Let’s talk about challenges in the budget, and if we have to make cuts, we wear that jacket together. This can’t be a jack-in-the-box administration. How do you respond to charges that your extensive background with leaders in town make you too much of an insider? I was looked at as the outsider in the race for county executive in the Democratic Party. I ran with that, and what we found were like-minded people who wanted to see change happen. In the community sense, I’m a church basements and a boardroom guy. I can be comfortable in both places, and I think that’s what you want in a leader. You want a person who’s going to be a partner with the corporate sector when it makes sense, but who isn’t going to be pushed around. That’ll equate to better deals for the public. Part of the problem with these deals is that we have inexperienced leaders crafting deals. I’d actually argue that our leaders haven’t been crafting deals at

I couldn’t agree more. It’s been a oneway street. And it can’t be anymore. The art of the deal has been lost, and we need leaders who are crafting them on behalf of the public. What do you see as the big distinctions between you and Lee? On the trail, I have not paid much attention to Lee Weingart. He lost me at Hello. I tried to talk to him early last summer, just to get a baseline understanding, and he wouldn’t speak with me. Then he goes on the attack, and makes what I believe are false claims about his record. Saying he saved the Browns is an interesting claim. Saying he started the Land Bank is an interesting claim. Saying that the Medical Mart is folly while having lobbied for it is interesting. And when I say interesting, I mean I’m suspect. I think the tale of two candidates is: Who’s been about the work? Who has the experience? Who has engaged the public and been doing community development for 25 years? My question to Lee is, where have you been? I mean, at his consulting firm? Right, lobbying for fracking contracts and medical bill collectors. You called him a “pretender” after Cleveland.com reported his Medical Mart lobbying. I think he is! And I think he’s dividing this community. I think he’s race-baiting. I think when he says, “I need to get 22% of the Black vote,” that’s offensive. Isn’t that offensive? I want 100% of the Black vote, and I plan to work for it. The way he’s playing this campaign is pure gamesmanship, and it’s typical of the way we’ve seen his party operate. Divide the community. Distort the facts. Claim what you want. Some of the policies he’s proposed I think are pretty good. In fact, even though he’s a Republican, he seems to be running politically to your left. Look, I am a believer in building up, not tearing down. And I think some of Lee’s policies, and his leadership orientation, are about burning it down. My response is, if you burn it all down, what do you have left?

sallard@clevescene.com @SceneSallard June 15-28, 2022 | clevescene.com |

GET OUT

Everything to do in Cleveland for the next two weeks series will take place rain or shine with live music from 4 to 7 p.m. Music Box will also offer food and drink specials exclusive to the series. Continues through Sept. 4. 1148 Main Ave., 216-242-1250, musicboxcle.com.

MON 06/20 Movie Mondays

Nitro Circus comes to Classic Park. See: Saturday, June 25.

Photo courtesy of Nitro Circus

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

TUE 06/21 Waitress

WED 06/15 Wade Oval Wednesdays A summer tradition continues tonight from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Wade Oval in University Circle. It’s Wade Oval Wednesday, and there will be local food vendors, a beer and wine tent, a farmers market and free kids’ activities — all laid out on the Wade Oval lawn, adjacent to Cleveland Botanical Garden, the Cleveland Art Museum, and the Cleveland Natural History Museum. Some museums will stay open late too. Details are on the website. universitycircle.org.

THU 06/16 Chris Rock A former SNL cast member who’s dabbled in acting in addition to comedy over the years, Chris Rock, aka the comedian who famously

made Will Smith lose his shit at the Oscars, comes to Connor Palace for performances that take place at 8:30 tonight and tomorrow night. Note that the event will be a phonefree experience, and phones will be secured in individual Yondr pouches that will be opened at the end of the event. Consult the venue’s website for more info. 1615 Euclid Ave., 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org.

FRI

06/17

Front Porch Concert Series Each Friday through July 29, the Lakewood Public Library hosts a “front porch concert” featuring a local musician. The 2022 edition will include everything from reggae to rock to soul and pop. All concerts start at 7 p.m. and will be performed on the front steps of Lakewood Public Library. Admission is free. Continues

| clevescene.com | June 15-28, 2022

through July 29. 15425 Detroit Ave., Lakewood, 216226-8275, lakewoodalive.org.

SAT 06/18 Juneteenth Celebration Today from 2 to 9 p.m. on its plaza, the Rock Hall hosts a special Juneteenth celebration. The event will feature 10K Movement Dance, Charity Barnes, Rainey Institute, Jul Big Green, and the Djapo Cultural Arts Institute with Weedie Braimah & the Hands of Time. Admission is free. 1100 Rock and Roll Blvd., 216-5158444, rockhall.com.

SUN 06/19 Reggae Sundays This special Reggae Sunday Happy Hour Concert series is a summertime tradition at the Music Box Supper Club. The indoor/outdoor concert

Grammy nominee Sara Bareilles contributes the songs to Waitress, a musical based on a book by acclaimed screenwriter Jessie Nelson (I Am Sam) and directed by Tony-winner Diane Paulus (Pippin, Finding Neverland). The action centers on Jenna, a waitress and piemaker who aspires to find a way out of the small town where she lives with her unloving husband. She finds just that when she participates in a baking contest and meets the town’s new doctor. Tonight’s performance takes place at 7:30 at the Hanna Theatre. The play runs through June 26. 2067 East 14th St., 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org.

WED 06/22 My Fair Lady Featuring classic songs as “I Could Have Danced All Night,” “The Rain in Spain,” “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly” and “On the Street Where You Live,” My Fair Lady, a musical about a young flower seller and a linguistics professor arrives in town for an extended run at Playhouse Square. Tonight’s performance takes place at 7:30 at the State Theatre, where performances continue through June 26. 1519 Euclid Ave., 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org.

THU 06/23 Tri-C JazzFest Anthony Hamilton will show off his vocal chops tonight at 8 at Music Hall as he kicks off the weekendlong Tri-C JazzFest with a special opening night concert tonight at Cleveland Public Auditorium’s Music Hall dedicated to retiring Tri-C President Alex Johnson. Trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and activist Sean Jones, who grew up in Warren, brings his quartet to Allen Theatre tomorrow. Joe Lovano and Dave Douglas will present their Sound Prints program tomorrow at the Mimi Ohio Theatre, and multiinstrumentalist, songwriter and producer Brian Culbertson also performs tomorrow at Connor Palace. On Saturday, French singer Cyrille Aimée and Dominick Farinacci will perform at the Allen Theatre, and guitarist Raul Midón will play the Mimi Ohio Theatre. Pianist Eddie Palmieri performs that night at Mimi Ohio Theatre. Festival passes offer VIP seating to all the ticketed concerts. JazzFest will also include free outdoor concerts on the plaza at Playhouse Square from 3 p.m. to midnight tomorrow and Saturday. Check the website for more info. tri-c.edu/jazzfest/.

FRI

06/24

Golden Hour A rooftop happy hour concert series for artists, entrepreneurs and other creative endeavoring people moves to various private rooftops around the city, feature pop-up dinner features, artisan makers, designers and local craft makers as well as curated live music performances and twilight DJ sets. Tickets cost $20 in advance, $25 at the door. Check the website for more info, including location and times. thatsgreyt.com/golden-hour.

SAT 06/25 Nitro Circus’s Good, Bad & Rad Tour Led by NBC America’s Got Talent: Extreme competitors Ryan “R Willy” Williams and the Contraption Kings plus Aaron “Wheelz” Fotheringham, Nitro Circus features a mix of “tricks, bone-crushing fails and comedic moments,” as it’s put in a press release. The group of daredevils will bring their new live show: Good, Bad & Rad, to Classic Park today at 7 p.m. In addition to Williams, the Contraption Kings and Fotheringham, the all-new show features all-around stunt master

Dusty Wygle, decorated BMX athlete Kurtis Downs (also a TBS Go-Big Show finalist), BMX pro Todd Meyn, freestyle motocross legend Adam Jones, Australian FMX stars Blake “Bilko” Williams and Jarryd McNeil, female FMX athlete Kassie Boone and skateboarding pro Beaver Fleming. 35300 Vine St., Eastlake, 440-9758085, nitrocircus.com.

SUN 06/26 Yiddishe Pirat Featuring Jack Stratton Vulfpeck bandleader Jack Stratton brings Yiddishe Pirat — a new allstar klezmer band to town tonight for a free concert that takes place at 7 at Cain Park.Stratton, who grew up in Cleveland Heights and lives in Los Angeles, is an alumnus of the Cain Park Tennis Camp. Stratton, who grew up playing klezmer music in his father’s band, Yiddishe Cup, put together Yiddishe Pirat especially for the Cain Park show. Yiddishe Pirat (which means “Jewish pirate” in Yiddish) features Stratton on drums, Josh “Socalled” Dolgin on piano, accordion and vocals, and Michael Winograd on clarinet. 14591 Superior Rd., Cleveland Heights, 216-371-3000, cainpark.com.

MON 06/27 Guardians vs. Minnesota Twins The Guardians face off against division foes the Minnesota Twins tonight at 7:10 at Progressive Field in a pivotal series. The Guardians need to beat the Twins to keep pace in their division, and this homestand, which includes a total of five games, should give them a good opportunity to do just that. Check the team’s website for more info. 2401 Ontario St., 216-420-4487, mlb. com/guardians.

TUE 06/28 Lyrical Rhythms Open Mic and Chill This long-running open mic night at the B Side allows some of the city’s best rappers and poets to strut their stuff. The event begins at 8 with a comedy session dubbed 2 Drinks & a Joke with host Ant Morrow. The open mic performances begin at 10 p.m. Tickets cost $5 in advance, $10 at the door. 2785 Euclid Heights Blvd., Cleveland Heights, 216-932-1966, bsideliquorlounge.com.

scene@clevescene.com t@clevelandscene June 15-28, 2022 | clevescene.com |

| clevescene.com | June 15-28, 2022

June 15-28, 2022 | clevescene.com |

Photo courtesy Martha On The Fly

EAT

HIP TO BE SQUARE

Newly opened breakfast joint Martha on the Fly is just nailing it in Tremont By Douglas Trattner IT’S NOT EASY TO MAKE A splash in Tremont, long considered Cleveland’s big league for chefs and restaurants. But if you drive down Professor Avenue on any given morning, you’re likely to see high praise for Martha on the Fly in the form of the loose gathering that forms daily just outside the door. If the past month and a half is any barometer, this “micro-diner” concept is destined for a long, happy existence. I never managed to make it down to Good Company for any of Martha’s weekend pop-ups, but it’s clear that chef and owner Ryan Beck took full advantage of the experience. Despite the restaurant’s youth, everything from the menu and food to the physical space and systems seem totally dialed in. Having been to the three previous businesses that called this cubbyhole of a storefront home, I am amazed by the transformation. What had long been little more than a glorified pick-up counter is now a gorgeous café in miniature – a diner diorama, if you will. The shimmering space is tricked out with chrome, mirror, neon and good vibes. The crew even

managed to carve out some space for a dine-in counter with a few stools, though most customers are content to grab and go. Every December, I go back through my notebooks and reviews to round up the Best Things I Ate All Year. The year might only be half over, but I can assure you that

MARTHA ON THE FLY 2173 PROFESSOR AVE., CLEVELAND (844) 4-PIE-LOVE MARTHAONTHEFLY.COM

Martha’s cornmeal fries ($6) will be on the list. If the heavenly cornscented aroma doesn’t win you over, the matchless texture assuredly will. A crispy exterior gives way to a creamy center that rivals the most comforting bowl of soft polenta. The fries come with a side of the house Sunshine Sauce – a bright and sunny dipper – but fork over an extra $3 for the indulgent black pepper gravy. The core of Martha’s menu is devoted to breakfast sandwiches and at the center of most of them is the egg patty. Reminiscent of a Japanese omelet, the thick, square,

| clevescene.com | June 15-28, 2022

steamed patties are faintly sweet and custardy. The mildly seasoned eggs get paired with zesty sausage and American cheese in the Doris, thickcut baloney and caramelized onions in the Shirley, and hickory-smoked bacon and cheese in the Betty. All sandwiches are slicked with Martha’s Sunshine Sauce and everything from the buns to the meats are made from scratch in-house. Diners can swap a fried egg for the patty and customize their sandwiches with various cheeses, veggies and sauces. These are by no means breakfast sliders; the Doris ($11) barely fit in my hands thanks to that fluffy egg patty, poofy bun and sausage disc that hung over the sides like an awning. We also ordered the Fly By ($15) – Martha’s term for the daily special – which included a fat slice of grilled mortadella, also made on premises, along with the rest of the standard fixings. Another section of the menu belongs to the “potato crispies,” skillet-size hash browns topped with various combinations like lox tartare, cream cheese and celery salad or the vegan mushroom sausage with pepita butter and mole. Ours ($10) was capped with fried cabbage, paprikash gravy and a chubby kielbasa (yep, made right here). The potato nest below is uber crispy, even after soaking up some gravy. There doesn’t appear to be any missteps or afterthoughts on the

small but thoughtful menu. Beck had previously run a social mediapropelled pie business, so diners can bank on solid slices, but donut lovers can look forward to bags of pipinghot, just-fried cake donuts ($5). Tying it all together is the slick, stylized branding and packaging that extends from the sandwich wrappers and boxes to the clothing and swag. As with the food, no detail seems too small or insignificant to have been overlooked. With origins as a pandemicera pop-up, you’d expect Martha to utilize an online pre-order and payment system – and it does – but only to a point, says Beck. “When we first opened, we were taking all the preorders we could get,” he says. “But that turned out to be detrimental to our in-house service. We want to be able to serve walk-ups in the neighborhood, so we actually cut down our pre-order allotment by half.” At present, Martha is open Thursday through Sunday, but Beck envisions adding another day at some point in the future. He also hopes to roll out new menu items, experiment with breakfast-for-dinner service and open his doors and kitchen to other would-be business owners, just like Brett Sawyer did for him at Good Company.

dtrattner@clevescene.com t@dougtrattner

EAT BITES

Now open: Pins & Needles, a `70s-style lounge and bar at Mahall’s By Douglas Trattner SINCE TAKING OVER operations at Mahall’s (13200 Madison Ave., 216-521-3280), the hip bowling alley, music venue, restaurant and bar in Lakewood, Cory Hajde has been making numerous but measured improvements to all aspects of the multi-faceted business. That’s no small job when you’re dealing with a 100-year-old property that spans more than 20,000 square feet. “One of the things we’ve been trying to do is to balance preservation with making use of underutilized spaces in the building, because there is quite a bit of it,” Hajde says. One of the recent changes he and partner Dennis Tvrdik made involved relocating one of the smaller music venues, the former Locker Room, to a new area now dubbed the Apartment. That smaller spot joins the main music room when it comes to live music spaces at Mahall’s. After the move, Hajde had some freed-up space with which to do as he pleased. The owners were tossing around a bunch of ideas and one suggested opening a `70s-era lounge that felt like stepping into a time capsule. “I was fortunate to come up in a house where that was the music I listened to throughout my childhood – and that’s what my grandparent’s basement looked like,” Hajde explains. “I’ve always been a big supporter of bright, weird-colored everything and throwing it together and seeing what it looks like.” There was nothing random or thoughtless in the planning and construction of Pins & Needles, however. The intimate bar and lounge does indeed look ripped from 1970s suburbia, right down to the wood paneling, cushy furniture, and even the glassware. There’s room for about 35 guests in the retro-chic lounge and bar. When it comes to the beverages, those, too, were worm-holed straight from another era. “We did a little bit of research to find out what some of the best-selling beers and cocktails were from that

era,” adds Hajde. “We took mainstays like Painkillers, Mai Tais, Blue Hawaiians and Golden Cadillacs. And of course White Russians, because we’re a bowling alley and we have to do that.” But unlike most of the versions whipped up 50 years ago, these cocktails are made with freshsqueezed juices, handmade mixers and other top-quality ingredients. While there, guests can also order food from the restaurant. Pins & Needles is open Thursdays through Sundays for now, but look for additional days to be added in the future.

Yard on 3rd, Geraci’s Slice Shop, Now Open in Downtown Willoughby For years, Lure Bistro was home to one of the best patios in Downtown Willoughby. As of last week, that space is an outdoor destination once again after The Yard on 3rd (18042 3rd St.) opened. Billed as the town’s “first food truck yard,” the venue promises to bring energy and excitement back to that location. “As a lifelong Eastside resident, I am confident that [downtown Willoughby] is the perfect area for this concept,” says co-owner Anna Dey. “Bringing a fun and outdoor food truck yard to downtown Willoughby will create synergy with the existing vibrant restaurant and bar scene.” The casual dog-friendly spot features an outdoor bar, plenty of seating, televisions and familyfriendly games. The main attraction — apart from the bar — will be the rotating roster of food trucks. But equally compelling is the Geraci’s Slice Shop, a first for the beloved pizzeria. The shop will be a yearround operation that serves both The Yard guests but also take-out and delivery for Willoughby and the surrounding area.

dtrattner@clevescene.com t@dougtrattner June 15-28, 2022 | clevescene.com |

| clevescene.com | June 15-28, 2022

Flogging Molly.

Photo: Katie Hovland

MUSIC

SIGN OF THE TIMES

Flogging Molly comes to town with a rousing new pandemic-era drinking ballad By Jeff Niesel FLOGGING MOLLY FRONTMAN Dave King has often spoken of the squalid conditions of Beggars Bush, the Irish housing project he once called home. For him, music helped him get through a particularly tough period in his life. “[Beggars Bush] was really dismal,” he says via phone from Ireland. Flogging Molly brings its co-headlining tour with the Interrupters to Jacobs Pavilion at Nautica on Sunday, June 19. “My mother was really into people like David Bowie. I kind of got into people like him, T. Rex, Thin Lizzy and Horselips. This was in the early ’70s. The Horselips were the first rock band to mix traditional music with the music of the day. I used to see them all the time. They would blow your head off. One minute, you would have fiddle and mandolin and next thing you are into a full-blown rock song. That always stuck with me, that kid of energy.” When the Clash and Sex Pistols and Ramones came out, King says he loved them as well. After moving out of Ireland, King joined the hard rock band Fastway, but he kept listening to a wide mix of music. “I would be listening to the Clash and the Sex Pistols and Depeche Mode, and the other guys [in Fastway] would be like, ‘What the

fuck are you listening to?’” he recalls. “They just couldn’t understand it. I could listen to David Bowie and then listen to Dubliners, no sweat. I truly feel that Irish music was always punk rock music to me. It might not have had the electric guitars and drums and bass, but it had the emotion.” King says he didn’t know how to marry his disparate influences until he met fiddle player Bridget Regan and heard her perform.

FLOGGING MOLLY, THE INTERRUPTERS, TIGER ARMY, THE SKINTS 6:30 P.M., SUNDAY, JUNE 19, JACOBS PAVILION AT NAUTICA, 2014 SYCAMORE. TICKETS: $37+, JACOBSPAVILION.COM.

“I said, ‘Hang on a minute. This could turn into something,’” he says of hearing Regan play for the first time. “Things started to become clearer. There was a vision there. When I heard her playing fiddle, it was a whole new thing.” In the ’90s, the two started jamming together at an L.A. club called Molly Malone’s Irish Pub, and Flogging Molly came to fruition. “There wasn’t a game plan of where we were going or who was going to be in the band,” says King. “You heard the stories of the Stones

and how they met at a blues club. That’s how Flogging Molly got together, pretty much. We just met organically. There were no ads in newspapers. It just all fell together.” Initially, the band released Alive Behind the Green Door in 1997, but King says that was merely to finance what would become the group›s fulllength debut, 2000’s Swagger. “[Swagger] was quite a feat for us at the time,” he says. “To now look back on it, it is amazing. Bands these days don’t have the opportunity to be around for 20-odd years. Touring was hard enough before the pandemic, and it’s harder now. It’s especially hard that for the younger bands. We’re one of the lucky ones. That’s why we do a co-headlining tour every summer. We bring other bands out. It’s like our cruise. We have bands from all over the world come and play. On our last cruise we just did in March, we had a band that features two twin brothers. I saw them busking five years ago. They’re called the Ocelots. Everybody just adored them.” For its new album due out in the fall, Flogging Molly reunited with producer Steve Albini (Nirvana, PJ Harvey), the guy who helped the band record Swagger along with its follow-up, Drunken Lullabies. The new album came about really quickly. It was written in 14 days and pretty much recorded in 14 days. “When you go to record with Steve [Albini], you know what you’re going to get,” he says. “You get what you sound like at that moment. For us, that was really important. When bands do well early in their career, it’s easy for outside people

to come in and put their stamp on it. Sometimes, you lose a bit of your identity. We were starting all over again with this one. We wrote a song a day. No questions asked. It’s not rocket science. It’s just rock ’n’ roll and punk rock and emotions. I think the quicker you get through it, the better. The more you labor over Flogging Molly songs in terms of the recording, the more you lose a certain energy that was originally in the song. On this album, everything is pretty much as you hear it.” The group recently released the album’s first single, the anthemic “These Times Have Got Me Drinking/Tripping Up the Stairs,” a song that starts with slow but builds in tempo into something resembling a Social Distortion tune as King defiantly sings, “These times have got me drinking as I’m tripping up the stairs to an empty room that’s haunted.” “These Times Have Got Me Drinking/Tripping Up the Stairs” might reference the desperate times in which we now live, but the song strives to offer a sense of hope too. “I was writing the lyrics up until the very end,” King says of the track. “Lyrically, it’s not a very uplifting song, but when you mix it with that kind of energy that’s in the room, it’s an anthem in the sense that it’s about what we’re going through at the moment. Every time you go to buy some eggs at the store, you buy a bottle of wine or a six-pack. That’s the way we are right now. It’s a sign of our times unfortunately.”

jniesel@clevescene.com t@jniesel

June 15-28, 2022 | clevescene.com |

| clevescene.com | June 15-28, 2022

Jewel.

Photo: Dana Trippe

MUSIC

THE FREEWHEELIN’ JEWEL KILCHER

Singer-songwriter embraces her eclectic musical roots on new album By Jeff Niesel SINGER-SONGWRITER JEWEL Kilcher grew up listening to a wide range of music. “I’m a music fan,” she says in a recent phone interview. Jewel comes to Blossom with Train on Saturday, June 18. “I grew up listening to Johnny Cash and Loretta Lynn and Marvin Gaye and Bill Withers and Joni Mitchell. I think that’s really normal. I found it confusing when I got into the industry to see how rigid everything is. There is a country label and a pop label. There are stations that are only this and that. I think that’s really weird. Every music fan I’ve ever talked to listens to multiple things depending on their mood.” Over the decades, Kilcher has embraced everything from country to electronica. “I was very confused by people’s reactions that my writing style would be influenced by my listening,” she says. “[The musical styles] all feel authentic to me. That’s the key. It has to be authentic to you, or it smells bad. I look at it like my closet. I have sweat pants and yoga pants and business suits and dresses. No one looks at me and says, ‘Jewel is no longer Jewel

TRAIN, JEWEL 6:30 P.M. SATURDAY, JUNE 18, BLOSSOM, 1145 W. STEELS CORNERS RD., 330-920-8040, CUYAHOGA FALLS. TICKETS: $30.50+, LIVENATION.COM.

because she’s wearing yoga pants or a business suit.’ The music is a natural extension of that. Do I want to dress this up in a banjo or programmed drum loop? Who cares. To me, there is a natural consistency because I’m a singer-songwriter.” Though she started out in the folk-pop genre, the singersongwriter that Jewel has become certainly can’t be pigeonholed. Last year, as a contestant on The Masked Singer, she sang a bit of everything, including Édith Piaf’s “La Vie En Rose,” Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way” and Bishop Briggs’s “River.” And she pulled it all off with ease. “Masked Singer was two things,” she says when asked about the show. “I thought it would let me do something artistically, which I’ve never done, which is to just focus on my technical ability as a singer, which was really fun for me. These songs are the ones that taught me to sing. I got to pick them and

arrange them. I love the songs. I think they’re heroic. And the other reason was pure strategy. I had an album coming out, and I’m a mom. I can’t go on the road for a year and do two months of promo like I used to. You just make different choices. It’s such a silly show, but I had a really authentic experience. It was nice being stripped of my identity, and as dumb as it sounds, showing my heart.” For her new album, Freewheelin’ Woman, Kilcher assembled close to 200 songs before whittling them down to the 12 that made the album. “I always have songs in my back catalog, but I didn’t want to do that for this album because I wanted to see who I was now and come up with something new and fresh and interesting to me creatively,” she says. “I don’t like repeating myself, but the album also incorporates all my styles. There’s pop and country and Americana and folk and an

R&B or Muscle Shoals feel to the album as well.” She basically recorded the album live in Santa Monica with producer Butch Walker, a talented singersongwriter in his own right who works out of his home studio. “I love Butch,” she says when asked about Walker. “He’s such a talent. He’s really diverse in his abilities. I’ve worked with producers who are so worried about hits; he’s not like that at all. I feel lucky that he decided to do the record with me.” Driven by spirited horns, the opening track, “Long Way ’Round,” starts the album off with a real bang. Jewel croons evocatively during the album’s soulful intro and sounds sultry as she muses, “Oh I went down the other day/See what the gypsy had to say.” “It started out as a folk or bluegrass song and morphed with time into this version [on the album],” says Kilcher when asked about the track. “That song just happened in the studio. We weren’t ready for a take yet. We were just getting our sound down. I think it was a bassline that started, and I really liked it. I started humming. The drummer came in during a funny place, and I made up that whole first verse on the spot. I hadn’t cracked the code on the first verse yet. I was still writing it, and it just came together all of a sudden. Thank God that the engineer had pressed ‘record.’” The character studies found in fiction by writers such as Flannery O’Connor and John Steinbeck inspired the folk-narrative “Half Life,” and the album features collaborations with Train and with singer-songwriter Darius Rucker. “I just thought it would be fun to have some collaborations on the album,” Kilcher says. “[The collaboration with Rucker] was the first song I wrote for the album. It was one of my favorites, and I thought I would see how it would go with Darius. I was pretty blown away. He gave an incredible performance.” Kilcher says she’s excited to return to Northeast Ohio, where she’s played often during her career. “I played there a bunch and have always done a lot of touring in that area,” she says. “It’ll be great to be back there with Train.”

jniesel@clevescene.com t@jniesel June 15-28, 2022 | clevescene.com |

| clevescene.com | June 15-28, 2022

LIVEWIRE

Real music in the real world

THU 06/16 Spirit of the Bear Blending indie rock, pop, and electronica, Spirit of the Bear utilizes two keyboard players, bringing a unique depth to their sound. The band’s new single “Wires” features crooning vocals and mellow synths but still has enough edge to qualify as indie rock. A new album comes out in July. Expect to hear songs from it when the band plays tonight at 7:30 at House of Blues Cambridge Room. 308 Euclid Ave., 216-523-2583.

FRI

06/17

Coin Formed ten years ago in Nashville, this indie rock band regularly defies categorization by embracing music from a range of different genres. Its latest effort, Uncanny Valley, veers from heavy funk (“Brad Pitt”) to modern pop (“Chaptick”). The band performs tonight at 6 at House of Blues. Check the venue’s website for more info. 308 Euclid Ave., 216-523-2583, houseofblues.com.

Kingdom Tour: Maverick City Music and Kirk Franklin The platinum-selling, multi-racial, multi-cultural and genre-bending collective Maverick City Music and 16-time Grammy-winning artist, songwriter and producer Kirk Franklin have teamed up for this special tour. Tonight’s show starts at 6:45 at Blossom. Consult the venue’s website for more info. 1145 W. Steels Corners Rd., Cuyahoga Falls, 216-231-1111, livenation.com.

Tash Sultana This run will see gender fluid multiinstrumentalist, singer-songwriter, producer and engineer Tash Sultana performing their sophomore album, Terra Firma, in North America for the first time. Expect to also hear hits from the Notion EP and Flow State. The concert takes place tonight at 7 at the Agora. John Cashman opens the show. Check the venue’s website for more info. Agora Theatre, 5000 Euclid Ave., 216881-2221, agoracleveland.com.

SAT

the tour in support of its latest album, AM Gold, to Blossom tonight. Grammy-nominated singersongwriter Jewel and the multiplatinum rock band Blues Traveler open the show. The concert begins at 6:30 p.m. at Blossom. Consult the venue’s website for more info. 1145 W. Steels Corners Rd., Cuyahoga Falls, 216-231-1111, livenation.com.

TUE

06/21

The John Doe Folk Trio X singer-guitarist John Doe brings his folk trio to the Music Supper Club tonight at 7:30. The group, which also includes bassist Kevin Smith (Willie Nelson) and drummer Conrad Choucron (NRBQ), just released Fables in a Foreign Land, a collection of mid-tempo folk-rock tunes characterized by Doe’s languid vocals and sparse arrangements. 1148 Main Ave., 216-242-1250, musicboxcle.com.

My Morning Jacket Led by powerhouse singer Jim James, My Morning Jacket brings its tour in support of its latest album, My Morning Jacket, to town tonight. The group performs at Jacobs Pavilion at Nautica at 6:30. Indigo De Souza, who released her acclaimed album, Any Shape You Take, last year, opens the show. Check the venue website for more info. 2014 Sycamore St., 216-861-4080, jacobspavilion.com.

WED 06/22 Rex Orange County Earlier this year, Rex Orange County released his album, Who Cares?, which includes the singles “Open a Window,” “Amazing” and “Keep It Up.” The tour that brings the laid-back indie singer-songwriter to town tonight marks his return to the stage after his 2020 Pony tour which included two sold-out shows in New York City that resulted in his EP Live at Radio City Music Hall. The show starts at 7 tonight at Jacobs Pavilion at Nautica. 2014 Sycamore St., 216-861-4080, jacobspavilion.com.

06/18 THU 06/23

Train

A.J. Croce

The pop/rock band Train brings

The son of the late, great Jim Croce,

singer-songwriter A.J. Croce has released nine albums over the course of a career that now stretches back decades. Last year’s By Request finds Croce taking on a series of covers. Croce lets loose on the piano for his rollicking take on “Nothing from Nothing” and makes “Only Love Can Break Your Heart” sound like Tom Waits singing gospel. Expect to hear at least some of these tunes when Croce performs tonight at 7:30 at Music Box Supper Club. Check the club’s website for more info. 1148 Main Ave., 216-242-1250, musicboxcle.com.

FRI

06/24

Marco Benevento Simply titled Benevento, the latest effort from keyboard whiz Marco Benevento includes 40-minutes of “small-batch psychedelia” from his home studio at the base of the Catskill Mountains in Woodstock, NY. Benevento plays all of the instruments with exception of percussion from Mamadouba “Mimo” Camara and backing vocals by his wife and kids on a handful of songs. He also produced and engineered the recording. Lead single “Marco and Mimi” features spacey synths and ratcheting percussion as it possesses a Talking Heads-like energy. Benevento performs tonight at 8:30 at the Beachland Ballroom. 15711 Waterloo Rd., 216-383-1124, beachlandballroom.com.

SUN 06/26 Cracker Led by singer-songwriter David Lowery, Cracker formed after Lowery’s previous band, Camper van Beethoven, splintered. The band had a few hits in the ‘90s, but its catalog runs deep. Expect the band to dive into it tonight at the Beachland Ballroom. Singer-songwriter Ike Reilly opens the show. Doors open at 7, and tickets cost $22. 15711 Waterloo Rd., 216-383-1124, beachlandballroom.com.

MON 06/27 The Chicks After nearly 14 years, the Chicks released their fifth studio album, Gaslighter, to rave reviews in

2020. The 12-track record was coproduced by award-winning singersongwriter, producer, and close friend Jack Antonoff, who brings out the band’s pop sensibilities. Tonight’s concert begins at 7:30 at Blossom. Consult the venue’s website for more info. 1145 W. Steels Corners Rd., Cuyahoga Falls, 216-231-1111, livenation.com.

TUE

06/28

Jack Johnson Meet the Moonlight, singersongwriter Jack Johnson’s eighth studio album and first full-length release in five years, was produced by Blake Mills (Alabama Shakes, Perfume Genius, Jim James) and recorded both in Los Angeles (at Sound City and EastWest) and the Mango Tree (Johnson’s studio in Hawaii). The album stemmed from one-on-one collaboration with Mills (whose contributions included everything from fretless guitar to Moog synth to steel drums). Expect to hear songs from it at tonight’s show. The concert begins at 7:30 at Blossom. Consult the venue’s website for more info. 1145 W. Steels Corners Rd., Cuyahoga Falls, 216-231-1111, livenation.com.

Umi The neo-soul singer-songwriter brings her Forest in the City tour to House of Blues. The trek supports her just-released full-length debut, Forest in the City. Pensive tunes such as “Sorry” and “Synergy” allow her to show off her soulful vocals and pack a punch despite the downtempo approach. The show begins at 6:30 p.m. 308 Euclid Ave., 216-523-2583, houseofblues.com.

The Zombies After being nominated a few times but never inducted, the Zombies were finally inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2019. The group just finished recording a new album, but it’s not out yet so don’t expect to hear too many tunes from it. Hits from the ‘60s such as “Time of the Season” and “She’s Not There” should make their way into the set. Tonight’s show begins at 7 at the Kent Stage. Consult the club’s website for more info. 175 E. Main St., Kent, 330-677-5005, kentstage.org. June 15-28, 2022 | clevescene.com |

| clevescene.com | June 15-28, 2022

BIG HOKE By Jeff Niesel

MEET THE BAND: Tim Lane (percussion), Tom Perish (bass/ vocals), Anthony Papaleo (guitar/ fiddle), Jim Cirillo (saxophone), Tyler Reymond (trombone), Cutty Banner (tuba), Garret Folger (trumpet), Megan Torok (vocals), Liz Smith (vocals), Justin Gorski (piano/ accordion/vocals) LOVE IS ALL AROUND: Local musician Justin Gorski’s alt-country project Big Hoke dates back more than 20 years. “I just never wanted to use my own name for some reason and came up with the Big Hoke moniker when I was doing solo stuff,” says Gorski. “I wasn’t able to do the original stuff as much as I wanted because I was playing in other bands. After I had some free time, I could do this more. I thought about what band I wanted to get together and put together this version of the band. I’m bringing all the people I love to play with together.” AUSTIN CALLING: Written and performed by Gorski and produced by Gordy Quist at his studio in Austin, Home, an album Big Hoke released in 2020, was mixed by Grammy-winning engineer Tom Schick. “The reason I went down to Austin is nothing against any of the studios in Cleveland,” says Gorski who runs Cleveland Vegan with his wife. “I would record a weekend here, and then three weeks later, I would get another weekend. That was no way to do an album. I had kept in touch with Gordy from Band of Heathens, a group that I met on the road with [local alt-country act] the Magpies. I told him about the album about four years ago, and he said I should come down to Austin to do it. I convinced my wife to give me about a week. It might’ve just been five days. It was not long. We had everything organized. We just nailed it. I hadn’t released anything in about eight years. I was a little gunshy, but it was a great way to get back into the swing of things, and I thought the album turned out great.” WHY YOU SHOULD HEAR THEM: Big Hoke will follow up Home with a new EP, People, which it recorded the album last year at Suma in Painesville. Gorski produced local singer-songwriter Brian Bacon’s album at Suma, and that inspired him to record at the newly refurbished space. “We were out there, and I was helping produce

Big Hoke.

Courtesy of Big Hoke

and I thought it was fun and all, but it pushed me into writing more stuff,” he says. “Everything fell into place. Since then, it’s been crazy. I have a whole other EP recorded and ready for release.” In advance of the EP’s release, Gorski released the rollicking, Randy Newman-like single “Bill Murray” along with an accompanying music video that finds him wandering around town in a giant Murray mask. “Every morning, I try to wake up and meditate,” Gorski says when asked about the track. “For some reason, I was just sitting there, and the hook came up in my head. I came downstairs and started thinking about it more philosophically. I was wondering what goes through his head and if he is happy as I think he is? It’s all the questions you would want to ask if you were sitting there bullshitting with him.” Gorski initially recorded it as just a demo with just vocals. As weeks went by, he added handclaps and drums and then some organ. “I would get these little sessions going,” Gorski says. “I called Ed [Stephens] to get bass on it. This local trombone player did the arrangement. I played on accordion what I wanted the horn parts to be. He did a great job. The horn players are awesome on it. It’s what I had in my head when I first came up with it.” WHERE YOU CAN HEAR THEM: bighoke.com. WHERE YOU CAN SEE THEM: Big Hoke performs with Abby Rose at 9 p.m. on Friday, June 24, at the Happy Dog.

scene@clevescene.com t@clevelandscene June 15-28, 2022 | clevescene.com |

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| clevescene.com | June 15-28, 2022

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Joe Newton

SAVAGE LOVE BADDY DOM By Dan Savage Hey, Dan: I’m a 29-year-old bisexual woman in a non-monogamous relationship. A few years ago, I wanted to explore my submissive side and met up a with a Dom I connected with on a kink site. We had a few drinks and hit it off. We discussed what we were comfortable with and our limits beforehand. I set a few hard limits. In the middle of our first play session, he tried to renegotiate those limits. I said no a few times, but he kept asking and I eventually gave in. I should have ended it there, but it was my first time in a D/s situation, and I think he took advantage of that. The experience left me feeling terrible, but I didn’t communicate that to him at the time and just ended up ghosting him. I have since found a terrific and loving Dominant partner who has thankfully helped me explore my kinks in a way that makes me feel safe and cared for, and I know now that a good Dom ALWAYS respects limits, especially in the middle of play. Recently, I have seen this bad Dom on a few different dating apps and I’ve been thinking about sending him a message letting him know that what he did was wrong. I also worry that more women are going to have their boundaries violated by this guy. Will anything good come from this or should I just let it go? Bitterly Debating Sending Message You were an inexperienced sub when you played with this guy, BDSM, but you don’t say whether he was similarly inexperienced. But even if we give him the benefit of the doubt—even if he didn’t know that attempting to renegotiate limits during a scene is never okay—you have every right to be angry. “When it comes to D/s dating, the question is almost never about a person’s intentions but rather about the effect,” said Lina Dune, host of the Ask a Sub podcast. “Even if this guy didn’t mean to put BDSM in this awful situation—which, let’s be real, challenging someone’s limits is as fundamentally red-flaggy as it gets— he still did that and BDSM’s feelings matter.” Since you wound up having to ghost this guy, BDSM, I assume that means he continued to contact you expecting to play again. Which

means he either didn’t realize he’d done something wrong, BDSM, or he hoped that you, an inexperienced sub, would continue to submit to his manipulative bullshit, i.e., the consent violations he tried to pass off as consent-seeking “renegotiations” once play had started. “The burden is never on the victim of bad behavior to change the perpetrator,” said Dune. “But if it would make BDSM feel better to dash off a quick message to him about the definition of ‘hard limits’ and explain how destabilizing it can be for a sub for a Dom to switch things up like this mid-scene, or challenge limits in general, I don’t see the harm.” If this guy is a bad Dom—if he’s a truly shitty person who can’t be trusted—hearing from you isn’t going to magically turn him into a safe and trustworthy Dom. But it might make you feel better, BDSM, and who knows? Maybe he’ll start to worry about his reputation. After all, you can do more than talk to him… you can talk about him. Now, if he’s the kind of shitty Dom who preys on inexperienced subs, he may not care what people in the kink scene think of him. But if by sharing the details of your lousy first kink experience— here in my column or elsewhere— you inspire other newbie subs to avoid this guy and/or immediately end a scene if some other shitty Dom pulls the same crap, it’ll have been worth the effort. Lina Dune runs the BDSM meme page @askasub on Instagram, where she gives D/s relationship advice and serves as fairy submother to her 100K followers. She recently released an online course about dating for subs, which is available at www. askasub.com/subsurvivalguide.

Hey, Dan: My husband and I were at a kink event that required pronouns under scene names. My husband is a cross-dresser and wants “he/him” pronouns used when he is presenting as a boy and “she/her” pronouns to be used when he’s presenting as a girl. He does not want to use “they/them.” I suggested he go with “he/she,” but he doesn’t think “he/she” is an appropriate option because he wants people to use the pronouns assigned to what he is presenting as. He

doesn’t want to be insensitive to those whose presentation isn’t obviously binary but feels it is obvious when he’s presenting as either masculine or feminine and that it should be easy for people to use the pronouns he would prefer without having to specify them. How do you opt out and ask people to read your current “presenting gender” and apply traditional pronouns in the moment? Helping Everyone Seeking Help Everywhere Are we talking nametags here? Because if we’re talking nametags, HESHE, then your husband can wear a “he/him” nametag when he’s presenting as a man and “she/her” nametag when he’s presenting as a woman. But if this is a kink event run by anal weirdos who require attendees to preregister their scenes and list the names of all players involved in those scenes and itemize the pronouns those players intend to use during their scenes and stick to those pronouns under threat of expulsion… then your husband will just have to pick a team, i.e., pick the gender he will present as that night and the pronouns that go with it.

Hey, Dan: I am a white American cis-gendered paramilitary-looking heterosexual-seeming guy who happens to be in a polyamorous relationship. In the kink community, I am considered a “service top.” I enjoy group sex with my partner and in a group sex setting I will sometimes play with other men. But I am not interested in playing with men outside of those hyper-sexual situations. How am I supposed to identify? I ask because for those of us who grew up in the 1990s, a person was considered gay if he performed even a single gay act. I am comfortable/confident in myself, and if a guy wants to mess around with me during group sex, I figure it doesn’t hurt me any to make him feel good. I would rate these experiences on the positive side of neutral. I worry that using terms like “heteroflexible” or “mostly straight” contributes to bisexual erasure but calling myself bisexual seems appropriative because I can walk through life with all this heterosexual privilege. I would like to identify as bi because I think it helps

normalize it but somehow don’t feel like I make the cut. If you could help me out, I would really appreciate it. Just Oppressed Enough I think you’re perfectly entitled to identify as bisexual, JOE. But just to be sure, I got a second opinion from Zachary Zane, the bisexual sexadvice columnist for Men’s Health. “I often receive questions from bi folks who don’t feel ‘queer’ enough to claim a bisexual label,” said Zane. “Typically, I hear this from cisgender women married to straight cis men who haven’t experienced the same level of oppression as, say, femme gay men in relationships with nonbinary individuals.” But your own personal experience with oppression—or your lack thereof—doesn’t invalidate your queerness or disqualify you from identifying as bisexual. “How sad is it that our understanding of queer identity is inextricably linked and dependent on having experienced oppression,” said Zane. “That is so wildly fucked up. Being queer and/or bisexual is about your attraction to genders,” and not about being or feeling oppressed. “So I would say yes, JOE can identify as bisexual because he enjoys, in certain situations, playing sexually with men,” said Zane. “At the same time, I think JOE can and should also acknowledge his privilege from how he presents— which he’s already doing, and should continue doing—and hopefully, he will use that privilege to support other bisexuals who don’t experience the same hetero-presenting privileges he does.” Zachary Zane is the co-author of Men’s Health Best. Sex. Ever. Follow him on Twitter @ZacharyZane.

mail@savagelove.net t@fakedansavage www.savagelovecast.com June 15-28, 2022 | clevescene.com |

| clevescene.com | June 15-28, 2022

Scene 06/15/22

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