Scene March 8, 2023

UPFRONT

a guard stop the cars that came in. I mean, you could walk around here at night. There used to be fences over there, but [there were] so many crashes, they never rebuilt the fence.”

In a statement, Matt Zone, WRLC’s senior vice president, reiterated a stance made in the February 9th meeting, that a soonto-be-formed steering committee— comprised of members from 10 regional organizations—will work to best respond to the “unique” needs of each resident.

Moreover, since January 2022, when WRLC accumulated the property, proper upkeep has been done, Zone said, from new security cameras installed around the park’s office to a $90,000 upgrade of each resident’s sub-water meters.

“Our first priority is fair and equitable treatment of the residents of the Euclid Beach Mobile Home Community,” Zone said in the statement. “We recognize how disruptive this entire process is and are doing our best to manage the property and respond to any tenant concerns.”

EUCLID BEACH MOBILE HOME RESIDENTS FRET ABOUT FUTURE AFTER PLANS ANNOUNCED TO BOOT THEM, TURN LAND INTO PARK

IT WAS 2008 WHEN CONNIE

Fredericy and her husband David moved into the Euclid Beach Mobile Home Park, drawn both by the community and the proximity to the water.

Fredericy had been living in a home on Wendell Avenue, on Cleveland’s east side, and cleaning offices for a living. Then, around the mid-2000s, their neighborhood went downhill, ravaged by drug dealers and crime.

In 2008, Fredericy said their home was forced into eminent domain by the city. She fought back, but in the end left with $60,000 in compensation.

“I gave up,” she said, standing outside her mobile home in the Euclid Beach park. “And then, well, we found this neighborhood here.”

Now, 15 years later, Fredericy is about to be forced out of her home again.

On February 9, members of the Western Reserve Land Conservancy announced at the Collinwood Rec

Center across the street from Euclid Beach that they were accepting the recommendation of the Metroparks to turn the land over the park system to create a larger and more unified green space. Meaning that, in anywhere from 12 to 15 months, the 139 residents of the park must vacate.

The decision, which dozens of residents say was privately known by WRLC when they bought the park from out-of-state landlords for $5.8 million in 2022, has sparked an incoming legal battle between residents and WRLC and stakeholders in the Metroparks’ vision.

Last Monday afternoon, in front of the vacant guardhouse, a group of them gathered to call out their landlord for negligence and to announce what could be a lengthy legal battle in the year ahead.

Or, if WRLC succeeds in its attempts for what housing advocates are labeling a mass displacement, a trying test for residents who have

no desire—or disposable moving funds—to get up and leave.

“These homes, though they’re often referred to as mobile homes,” Josiah Quarles, an organizing director at the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless, said. “Most of them are not actually mobile.”

Besides the $500 to $600 a month most residents said they paid in rent or mortgage, added costs have ramped up over the years. Some, like Cheryl Elswick, said water bills have skyrocketed along with the yearly rent increase — $20/month recently, which the conservancy said was necessary to offset financial losses on the property.

Elswick, who works full time while caring for her mother and uncle, is quick to point her finger at WRLC. Especially witnessing the crime spike in the past few years.

“It’s been worse in the past couple of years, but since they’ve gotten it, since they bought it, it’s been terrible,” she said. “They always had

At the rec center meeting, Zone said the organization was committed to “mak[ing] sure housing justice is served.’’ As Cleveland.com reported, “The conservancy will start meeting privately with residents next week to begin planning relocations over the next year and a half. The goal is to make sure that no one would be worse off financially.”

The coalition has argued that the creation of the green space and addition to the Euclid Beach Reservation will not only improve access to the waterfront but build momentum for future affordable development in Collinwood.

The tenants aren’t buying it, and feel like not enough consideration is being given to their immediate situation.

Brochelle Baker, a mother of one, was one of the first members of the United Residents in Euclid Beach, a tenant organization created, Baker said, in response to WRLC’s neglect. Baker, along with other residents present, said she suspects that WRLC intended to not include tenants in the greenification process on purpose.

“We believe that the engagement process for the Neighborhood Plan was biased and dishonest from the very beginning,” Baker said to the crowd. “This process never included us and never presented the destruction of our neighborhood as a possible outcome to the Greater Collinwood community.”

For Fredericy, what-ifs routinely

Mike Russell, an attorney for Legal Aid, speaks at the entrance of the Euclid Beach Mobile Home Community on Monday. He’s vowing to, he said, “fight to save homes and preserve the dignity of residents.” |

Photo by Mark Oprea

collide with the present concerns. Ever since 2012, when she suffered a massive stroke, she’s been unable to work consistently, and relies on, along with her husband David, $1,800 from Social Security every month. Then, there’s mobile home maintenance, cell phone bills, the collective $5,000 in window upgrades. Now that David’s in need of a kidney transplant, they’ll need to start thinking of making their home wheelchair-accessible.

And if they’ll have to start contemplating a move by next winter?

“It’ll cost us anywhere from $3,000 to $5,000 just to move,” Fredericy said in her front yard, organizing her garden and feeding birds. “And where are we going to go anyway?”

She held back frustration, as she added, “They want to make the whole area green. They’re just not thinking of how it’s like being in our shoes.” – Mark Oprea

DIGIT WIDGET

$3 million

Price the Cleveland Metroparks will pay to purchase the Ironwood Golf Course in Hinckley, which it will agree to operate as a golf course for ten years.

160 Jobs in distribution and printing at the Buffalo News that will be cut after the outlet announced it will have the Plain Dealer begin printing the paper later this year.

$300,000

Amount RTA will spend on a microtransit pilot program in Solon that will provide first-mile, last-mile service with a shuttle dropping riders off at select employers.

3,000 pounds

East Cleveland to End Traffic Camera Ticketing, Finally

East Cleveland city council last Tuesday passed a resolution to end the city’s traffic camera ticketing operation. The resolution comes in the aftermath of an Ohio Supreme Court that unanimously upheld a state law for “spending setoffs”.

The law requires “a police officer to be present when traffic cameras are in use”, essentially ending camera ticketing. The “setoffs”, as laid out in the law, reduce state funding by the amount of money a municipality bills drivers through violations caught through traffic cameras.

As the city doesn’t always collect money from traffic citations — many drivers simply ignored citations, meaning cities would have to make a small claim suit in muni court in an attempt to collect — the law potentially means a city could lose money. So while East Cleveland issued $2,200,597 in traffic camera fines in 2020, for instance, it collected less than that.

In response to the city’s resolution, councilwoman Patricia Blochowiak commented that camera ticketing isn’t East Cleveland’s biggest priority.

“It’s true that we won’t be losing money on our traffic camera system any more,” but that, “Dealing with corruption in government is the number one priority.” –

Maria Elena Scott

Here’s What Happened to the Plan to Open a Constantino’s in Tremont

Near the end of 2015, as renters continued to swell into Tremont and demand rose for new townhomes and condos, Tremont West Development Corporation announced exciting news for residents who had a wealth of options when it came to restaurants and bars, but nowhere to shop for food.

It had “received a $742,699 Health and Human Services grant to bring a grocer to the neighborhood,” Tremont West announced in a newsletter. “Expected opening early summer 2017.”

The chosen location, an empty mansion on West 14th Street and Fairfield Avenue owned by Grace Hospital, would, developers hoped, address Tremont’s food-desert status.

In the years following, TWDC worked with Constantino’s towards, as Cory Riordan, TWDC’s director, told Scene, “the realization of the project.” That meant “project-ready drawings, mechanical design, engineering, consulting fees,” in a total sum of $202,000. As those renderings evolved, build-out costs rose far above the initial estimate of $2.5 million, Riordan said. The hope of a 2017 opening, and maybe any opening date at all, evaporated.

“There was every intention of Tremont West to produce a grocery store,” Riordan explained in a phone call. But, “because of spiraling cost, we were unable to complete that in the way that we imagined.”

The problem seems to be that, according to TWDC meeting minute notes over the years, $444,000 of that federal grant loaned to Constantino’s for the purpose of expanding in Tremont was never paid back to TWDC, which had handed over the sum to an LLC for the Constantino’s Tremont location. (Multiple calls and text messages to Constantino’s owners seeking comment went unanswered. A lawyer for the company also didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.)

In March 2019, the staff at TWDC appeared to be looking at second chances, according to meeting minutes. Riordan and two others acknowledged the “stalemate” the grocery plan had come to, and vowed to reassess possible second steps with grant managers come June of that year. While both sides wanted the project to happen, a lack of progress on the building itself, owned by Grace Hospital, along with the rising build-out costs, hamstrung most discussions.

19th, threatening that TWDC “will pursue any unpaid balance through legal means.” Constantino’s responded, the minutes show, by lawyering up.

It was another year later, in February 2022, when Riordan looked to the state to solve what he knew was a complicated legal process, both with HHS and their loan recipient grocer. He petitioned Sen. Sherrod Brown for insight on possible “federal prosecution.” Though the CDC requested repayment “immediately,” Constantino’s did not budge. Instead, they countered with an eight-year payback plan proposal.

Riordan looked for guidance from the Feds, but didn’t receive any.

“As we have not heard back from the grant administrators,” he said, via meeting minutes in February 2022, “we have not been in a position to negotiate if we would like to accept these terms or take legal action, criminal or civil, to recoup costs.”

Which is the current status today. In an email, Riordan said that Constanino’s and TWDC have “not finalized an agreement” due “to timing and attempting to understand our obligations/ responsibilities.” It’s uncertain whether or not Constantino’s will face any repercussions, as the CDC minutes last April suggested, or whether TWDC will move to have the grocer labeled “a non-trusted business entity for public funds,” which is another option.

As for when resolution will come, “I’m hoping in three months,” Riordan said, “and if we don’t have it in six months, I’m going to be hiding under my desktop.”

Currently in Tremont, residents have no medium or large-sized grocery within walking distance. If what they’re seeking isn’t at smaller convenience stores, like the Professor and Tremont Markets, residents have to travel to the nearby Steelyard Commons, Dave’s in Ohio City or to downtown’s Heinen’s for a suitable selection of produce and household goods. The Tremont General Store on Professor Avenue operated for some years, but closed due to the inability to turn a profit.

Tremont West quickly settled on Constantino’s as the grocer, which seemed like a good fit for the neighborhood, bringing both a solid reputation as a family-run company along with praise for its operation in Warehouse District, which opened in 2005. (Its University Circle location opened in 2012 and closed in 2020.)

By October of 2020, after the pandemic pushed back Constantino’s talks yet again, the teamat TWDC started to, it seemed, question the loan in a legal light. An audit of Constantino’s transactions was ordered. Riordan sent a letter to the grocery chain alleging that TWDC “reserved the right to review receipts from the project to confirm that amount that Constantino’s did spend on the project and, therefore, did not owe back on the loan.”

They did not hear back.

Weight of the Loren Naji sculpture outside of the RTA Red Line station that disappeared last year. Naji has sued INTRO developer Harbor Bay and Panzica Construction, alleging they trashed the public art during construction. scene@clevescene.com

Six months later, in February 2021, TWDC hired an attorney who requested by letter a full repayment of the $444,000 loan by February

Hub 27, a residential complex planned for a western section of Tremont, is rumored to come with an on-site grocery, yet those plans have not yet been confirmed. – Mark Oprea

@clevelandscene

Far From Home

By Maria Elena Scott

MOHAMED HAMEID AND HIS family began seeking asylum to the United States from Sudan in 2014.

“We had trouble in Sudan because our government was very bad, very corrupt,” Mohamed said.

Since its liberation from colonial rule in 1956, Sudan endured two civil wars before the establishment of South Sudan in 2011. Through the two wars, citizens were victims of famine, disease, enslavement and child soldiering. Roughly 2.5 million people died and millions more were displaced as civil unrest enveloped the country..

Much of that happened under the rule of now-deposed leader Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir, who was indicted by the International Criminal Court for allegedly overseeing genocide and human rights violations. Al-Bashir rose to

power in a 1989 military coup and led Sudan for 30 years before being deposed in 2019 following massive protests.

Living in Sudan under al-Bashir’s rule was brutal and Mohamed said he was arrested four times.

“Sometimes people protested and my shop was on the main street, so I’d just bring them some water and [the police] caught me because I helped [the protesters],” Mohamed said. “I just helped people and gave them some water. [The police] covered my eyes and took me somewhere with no indication of where I [was].”

Another time, Mohamed said he filmed protests on his phone and was, once again, blindfolded and taken to an undisclosed location.

By 2014, the family – his wife Tagreed and daughter Tala – decided

to leave, applying for asylum in the States. But it would be years before they were interviewed by the U.S. Embassy. So long that by the time Tagreed’s interview was scheduled, their family had grown, as Mohamed and Tagreed welcomed a new daughter, Renad, in 2017.

Understaffing at the Embassy due to civil unrest, a bureaucratic gap, and wrong advice from U.S. officials then conspired to separate the family for years, with Renad remaining in Sudan as the family, by that point settled in Northeast Ohio, fought to be reunited.

“It’s a really hard, hard situation,” said Mohamed. “I prayed every day and asked God to help me.”

When Tagreed attended her interview at the American embassy in Khartoum, she said she was incorrectly told it was impossible

to bring Renad to the United States with her because Mohamed had not yet received his green card.

“Instead of being told at the interview, ‘We need to add your daughter to this application because she has since been born and therefore this is the only way to bring her to the United States’, [Tagreed] was informed that there had to be a separate petition filed from the U.S. on [Renad’s] behalf,” said Columbus-based immigration attorney Jana Al-Akhras, who has represented the family in their legal fight against the government. “She shouldn’t have been separated from them to begin with.”

But the family didn’t know any better.

And so, believing it to be the only way to bring her daughter to the United States, Tagreed reluctantly

A bureaucratic mistake separated a Cleveland family of immigrants from their daughter in Sudan. It took a three-year fight against the government to reunite

left Renad in Sudan in 2019 with the child’s aging grandmother, who suffers from diabetes and struggled to care for the child.

“I felt excited that I would come, but when I spent more time without her, I noticed that I wasn’t with my sister anymore,” said Tala, now 11, of her move to Ohio in 2019. “My life started changing without her.”

In addition to the stress of moving to a new country and starting at a school where she didn’t speak the language, Tala struggled with her younger sister’s absence, crying often and having difficulty focusing on schoolwork.

Mohamed said the stress of the family’s separation from Renad caused everyone untold stress.

“How can I live without my

family?” said Mohamed, who runs a non-emergency medical transport business in Stow. “I just wanted my kids to grow up better than my life because Sudan was horrible at that time, still Sudan is very bad.”

The application process essentially restarted for Renad. Mohamed said that they had no trouble with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services office, but when the application reached the National Visa Center, it was stuck for years.

“When you start a whole new application separately for a child from anybody from the United States, it kind of resets the clock,” Al-Akhras said. There were additional complications.

Crucially, in the United States, President Trump’s ‘Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States</a>’ executive orders–commonly critiqued as de facto ‘Muslim bans’ – were enacted in 2017 and served as backdrops to the Hameid family’s migration troubles.

The orders lowered the refugee admission ceiling–the annual number of refugees allowed to enter the United States –and sought to suspend the entry of people migrating from Iran, Iraq (though it was later removed), Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

In 2020, the explosion of the Covid pandemic further complicated international travel and migration. Through all of this, Renad remained thousands of miles away from her

family while the Embassy in Sudan trimmed visa processing and staff in response to unrest.

After years of trying and failing to reunite with Renad and seeking help from their Congressman without success, the family finally enlisted lawyers in the battle.

“If you were to tell anybody else in the world at any point in time that there is a 5-year-old without her parents stuck in a country where the embassy’s having issues because of the civil unrest then the question would be: ‘Why are we not doing more to make sure that these families are reunited?’” said Al-Akhras.

In July 2022, Al-Akhras helped Mohamed file a lawsuit against Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, hoping that drawing attention to Renad’s case would compel the government to finally schedule an interview for Renad.

“Since the case [was] already at the embassy, we just need it to be scheduled,” said Al-Akhras. “That’s all that needed to happen.”

Instead, a government attorney responded with a motion to dismiss. However, the suit ultimately proved helpful, as once a government attorney was appointed, Al-Akhras had someone with whom to negotiate.

The government attorney working with Al-Akhras in Northeast Ohio was willing to expedite the case, signaling the first breakthrough in Renad’s case in years.

“Part of what we were trying to do was just ensure that the child had an interview, which is kind of a silly thing to say seeing as she’s not even six years old,” Al-Akhras said. “But everyone who comes to the United States needs to have at least a 10-minute interview appointment, do a medical exam, things like that.”

Then, on Thursday, December 15, 2022, the Hameid family was informed that Renad had an interview scheduled for that Sunday, December 18. Finally, on January 3, Renad was finally issued a visa after three years of separation from her family.

While the reunion has been joyous, it’s also been difficult, as the separation at such an early age from her family has led Renad to struggle to adjust.

“Renad has not lived a normal life, she’s lived a hard life,” said Mohamed. In Sudan Renad refused to go to school. “She was crying all the time and asking for her mom.”

Now in the United States, Renad continues to struggle after her years without her family, and is struggling to recognize her family as her family.

Mohamed, Renad and Tagreed sit in their Stow home. | MARK OPREA

She’s unable to trust people and refuses to be alone with her father, who she doesn’t identify as her father.

“Right now, Renad, she doesn’t know me. Sometimes she wakes up at night and asks, ‘Who is this?’” Mohamed said. “She still doesn’t trust me… she cannot go with me in the car alone.”

At night, Renad is plagued with nightmares. She won’t let her parents turn out the lights and calls for Tagreed in the middle of the night.

But the family is optimistic that, with time, Renad will grow more comfortable and secure.

“She is very excited to be here, she’d never seen the snow,” Mohamed said. “These days I’m always trying to keep her inside, she wants to play with the snow.”

Tala is trying to teach Renad English, and Renad enjoys playing with Tala and the Hameid’s youngest, 1-year-old Basil, their “Ohio boy,” as they call him, who was born in 2021.

“It’s like a feeling I can’t trust,” said Tala of finally reuniting with her sister. “I got really excited. I cried when I saw her.”

Besides the excitement of playing in the snow, Renad, who turned five in September, has taken to all the usual allures of American childhood, mastering her neighbors’ hoverboard in an hour. She especially likes making videos and says she wants to be a YouTuber.

But although the Hameids are together again at last, they recognize that their situation is not unique.

“Family separation is a real issue,” Al-Akhras said. “Most of the time when we request things like expedited requests from an embassy in a case where there’s a minor separated from their parent, that should be cause for concern and should warrant an expedite and that shouldn’t really take as long as it has in this case in particular.”

Legal immigration to the United States is a complicated, often convoluted process. Most legal migrants to the United States come either through family (61%) or employment (26%), according to data from 2021. Immigrants coming on employment visas are subject to numerical caps but, unlike refugees, the ceilings remain the same every year.

In total, no more than 140,000 of employment-based immigrants are granted green cards annually. That number includes the spouses and children of the person being sponsored by an employer. Within that 140,000, no more than 7%

can come from the same country, regardless of population.

For the 61% of immigrants coming through family, their relationship to their sponsor determines whether they face a numerical cap. For spouses, unmarried children under the age of 21 and parents of citizens over the age of 21, there are no limits. For all others, the combined limit is 226,000 and is subject to the same 7% country cap as employment-based immigration.

Because of these country caps, immigrants coming from populous countries can face prohibitively long waits.

Without a close family member or an employer to sponsor, most people looking to immigrate to the United States have no viable pathway to do so. If a person comes from a country where fewer than 50,000 foreign nationals were granted legal permanent resident status through family and employmentbased migration in the previous five years, they are eligible for America’s diversity lottery. However, in 2021, the number of diversity visas was limited to just 54,850 and, once again, is rarely a viable option for people coming from populous countries.

For people like the Hameids, living in dangerous situations without family or employer sponsors, the only practical ways to come to the United States are as refugees or asylees.

Asylum seekers like the Hameid family made up just 2.8% of green card recipients in 2021. Although there are no technical limits for the number of asylees granted green cards annually, the president sets an annual limit for the number of refugees accepted as permanent legal immigrants.

In 2020, President Trump set that number at just 18,000, the lowest ever. In practice, that number was even lower, with just 11,814 refugees being admitted that year. In 2022, President Biden increased the ceiling to 125,000, but only 25,465 refugees were admitted that year.

“I know many people in [a Sudanese immigration Facebook group] that are stuck in my same situation,” said Mohamed. “It’s not me alone...they talk all the time about, ‘We are short-staffed at the embassy in Sudan.’ I hope the government or someone will fix this problem. Family must live together, especially the kids.”

scene@clevescene.com

@clevelandscene

GET OUT Everything to do in Cleveland for the next two weeks

WED 02/22

Sense & Sensibility

The Great Lakes Theater’s adaptation of the Jane Austen novel comes to the Hanna Theatre tonight at 7:30. Performances continue through March 5. 2067 East 14th St., 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org.

Neil deGrasse Tyson

Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson presents his lecture, “An Astrophysicist Goes to the Movies,” tonight at 8 at the State Theatre. Tyson will draw from 30 films that range from Star Wars to Frozen and Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure during his lecture. 1519 Euclid Avenue, 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org.

THU 02/23

Cavaliers vs. Denver Nuggets

Nikola Jokić, the NBA’s reigning MVP, brings his Denver Nuggets, one of the best teams in the NBA this year, to Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse tonight at 7 for the Nuggets only visit to town during the regular season.

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

History on Tap: A Celebration of Black Culture

The Cleveland History Center (CHC) examines black culture at this event that takes place from 5 to 8 p.m. The event will feature fashion designer and sewing educator, Dru Christine, as well as photography from Scene’s Emanuel Wallace, Derin Fletcher and Mychal Lilly. The Cleveland Photo Fest will share its remarkable photography collection, and several more artists will be present. DJ 8 Bit will be the MC. A variety of small bites and beverages will be available for purchase. This event will feature several interactive art stations, including an art therapy station run by Mickie McGraw Fellow Starr. Artists will have their art available for purchase too. 10825 East Blvd., 216-721-5722, wrhs.org.

The Skin of Our Teeth

Cleveland State University presents this Thornton Wilder play that depicts an Everyman family as it narrowly escapes one end-of-the-world disaster after another. Tonight’s

performance take place at 7:30 at the Outcalt Theatre, where performances continue through March 5. 1407 Euclid Ave, 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org.

FRI 02/24

Cleveland Auto Show

Featuring concept, pre-production and production vehicles from many of the world’s top auto manufacturers, the Cleveland Auto Show returns to the I-X Center. The massive event occupies nearly 1.2-million square feet and features exhibits, vehicle giveaways and a classic car competition. Today’s hours are 5 to 10 p.m., and the show continues through March 5. Consult the website for a complete schedule and for ticket prices. Parking is free.

1 I-X Center Dr., 216-676-6000, ixcenter.com.

SAT 02/25

22nd Annual High School Rock Off Final Exam

When the annual High School Rock

Off launched some 20 years ago at the Odeon, the promoters at the local Belkin Productions (now Live Nation) saw it as a way to reach out to area high schools and provide the kind of outlet that students might not have. Two decades later, the event, held this year at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, continues to thrive. A panel of music

industry judges has picked three bands from each round to move on to today’s Final Exam, which begins at 6 p.m.

1100 Rock and Roll Blvd., 216-5158444, rockhall.com.

SUN 02/26

Cavaliers vs. Toronto Raptors

Even though the Raptors have struggled compete this year, they’ve given the Cavs a hard time when the teams met earlier this season. Assuming the Cavs are healthy, expect them to be up to the task when the Raptors come to Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse tonight at 6. One Center Court, 216-420-2000, rocketmortgagefieldhouse.com.

Penn and Teller’s the Foolers

Curated by magician masterminds

Penn and Teller, this show features magicians who’ve impressed the pair with their routines — no easy task since the two are so discriminating. The show begins at 7:30 p.m. at the Goodyear Theater in Akron. Tickets start at $25.

1201 East Market St., Akron, goodyeartheater.com.

Mitsuko Uchida In Recital: Beethoven

Known as a “peerless” interpreter of Beethoven, Mitsuko Uchida will play the composer’s final three piano sonatas, one of music’s great spiritual journeys, today at 3 p.m. at Mandel Concert Hall.

Severance Music Center, 11001 Euclid Ave., 216-231-1111, clevelandorchestra.com.

TUE 02/28

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., $5.

B-Side Lounge, 2785 Euclid Hts. Blvd., Heights, 216-932-1966, bsideliquorlounge.com.

WED 03/01

Shitshow Karaoke

Local rapper/promoter Dirty Jones and Scene’s own Manny Wallace host Shit Show Karaoke, a weekly event at the B-Side Liquor Lounge wherein patrons choose from “an unlimited selection of jams from hip-hop to hard rock,” and are encouraged to “be as bad as you want.” Fueled by drink and shot specials, it all goes down tonight at 10 p.m. Admission is free.

2785 Euclid Heights Blvd., Cleveland Heights, 216-932-1966, bsideliquorlounge.com.

THU 03/02

Jeff Allen

With humor that centers on marriage and living with teenagers, Jeff Allen is regarded as one of the best clean comedians out there. Full of familyfriendly laughs, Allen’s clean-cut humor is a breath of fresh air. Appearing alongside other comedians in the film Apostles of Comedy, a profile of established funny folks, Allen demonstrates that you don’t need to be vulgar to make someone laugh. You can catch him at 7 tonight at Hilarities. Check the Hilarities website for ticket prices.

2035 East Fourth St., 216-241-7425, pickwickandfrolic.com.

Pictures at an Exhibition

Franz Welser-Möst conducts the Cleveland Orchestra tonight at 7:30 at Mandel Concert Hall as it performs Mussorgsky’s piano suite

Mitsuko Uchida performs at Mandel Concert Hall. See: Sunday, Feb. 26. Credit: Geoffrey Schied

Pictures at an Exhibition. Performances continue through Sunday at the venue.

11001 Euclid Ave., 216-231-1111, clevelandorchestra.com.

FRI 03/03

Fortune Feimster

The affable comedian brings her Live Laugh Love tour to Connor Palace tonight at 7. Her specific brand of confessional comedy strikes a chord with audiences of all ages and backgrounds. Tickets start at $29.50.

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

Glamgore: World of Slaycraft

Inspired by Dungeons & Dragons, World of Warcraft and Dota, this edition of GlamGore features performances by Dr. Lady J Martinez, Maja Jera, Riley Poppyseed, Akashia and Koco Caine. Doors open at 9 p.m. at the Grog Shop.

2785 Euclid Heights Blvd., Cleveland Heights, 216-321-5588, grogshop.gs.

MIX: Extended Play

Tonight’s MIX celebrates the legacy of vinyl records. For this special occasion, DJ Red-I, owner of Brittany’s Record Shop and founder of Beat Freak, has curated multiple sets of her favorite dance music, and DJ and percussionist Zrojazs will be a featured special guest. The event takes place from 6 to 9 tonight at the Cleveland Museum of Art. 11150 East Blvd., 216-421-7350, clevelandart.org.

Riverdance

Twenty-five years on, composer Bill Whelan has rerecorded his soundtrack and producer Moya Doherty and director John McColgan have reimagined this show with “innovative and spectacular” lighting, projection, stage and costume designs. Tonight’s performance takes place at 7:30 at the State Theatre, where performances continue through Sunday.

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

SAT 03/04

The Rocky Horror Picture Show

The Rocky Horror Picture Show, the 1975 film that still draws an exuberant, costumed crowd that likes to

throw rice and dry toast and sing along to the songs in the movie, still draws big crowds to local showings. Expect a throng to show up for tonight’s screening that takes place at 9:30 p.m. at the Cedar Lee Theatre. Tickets cost $12.

2163 Lee Rd., Cleveland Heights, 440-528-0355, clevelandcinemas.com.

SUN 03/05

The 2023 Mac ’N’ Cheese Throwdown

Today from 12 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. at The Madison, the annual Mac N Cheese Throwdown will bring together a who’s-who of the area’s top chefs for the tastiest food fight in CLE. This year’s judging panel includes WKYC’s Monica Robins, Scene’s Andrew Zelman, “Cheese King” Michael Januska and Cleveland.com’s Paris Wolfe. VIP tickets are $50 per individual and include expedited entry throughout the event, all-you-can-eat tastes from all of the participating vendors, a private VIP open bar, one Mac Caddy, and access to a VIP private seating and bar area. General admission tickets are $35 and include entry into the fest, all-you-can-eat tastes from all of the participating vendors, one Mac Caddy and one nonboozy beverage ticket.

4601 Payne Ave., macncheesethrowdown.com

MON 03/06

Cavaliers vs. Boston Celtics

The Cavaliers beat the Boston Celtics, perhaps the best team in the NBA this year, twice last year at the season’s start, so you can expect the Celtics will have a chip on their shoulders as they come to Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse tonight at 7. One Center Court, 216-420-2000, rocketmortgagefieldhouse.com.

TUE 03/07

Monsters vs. Grand Rapids Griffins

The Monsters take on the Grand Rapids Griffins tonight at 7 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse during a rare Tuesday game.

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

scene@clevescene.com

t@clevelandscene

SIMPLY DELI-GHTFUL

Corky & Lenny’s remains a Cleveland classic for any occasion

By Douglas Trattner

I WAS HALFWAY THROUGH putting this piece together when news of Lenny Kaden’s passing arrived via the Jewish grapevine. Kaden, who died at the enviable age of 92, was the Lenny in Corky & Lenny’s. Alongside co-founder Corky Kurland, who died a little more than 10 years ago, the pair gave Northeast Ohio one its most cherished and enduring classics.

For many Cleveland families, a week wouldn’t pass without a visit to places like Sokolowski’s, Nate’s Deli or Sterle’s Slovenian Country House. For our family and countless others living on the east side of town, that home away from home was “Corky’s.” It was where we went as a family when mom didn’t feel like cooking; it was where we went in search of French fries and gravy after high school football games; it was where we laid low while ditching Sunday school.

It’s shocking to think that it’s been 30 years since the original location at Cedar Center, which opened in 1956, was shuttered. That spot and the current one at Village Square in Woodmere, which opened in 1973, operated in tandem for a good 20 years. But despite the delicatessen’s success and longevity, the restaurant is facing the same economic pressures that confront its brethren – perhaps more so given the deli’s size, complexity and mean age of its most loyal clientele.

The good news is that Kurland’s son Kenny, who assumed ownership approximately 30 years ago, says the brisket biz remains brisk.

“When they say delis are dying, that’s not totally true,” he says. “People still love a great deli.”

Clevelanders have it pretty good when it comes to “great delis” thanks to places like Jack’s, Davis Bakery, Slyman’s and Larder. But Corky & Lenny’s is that rare breed of place that qualifies both as a community mainstay and destination restaurant that brings in fans from far and wide to experience a best-in-class legend.

To adolescent visitors, those cold cases filled with “exotic foods” like knishes, potato pancakes, whole smoked fish and boiled beef

tongues left an indelible mark on our memories. Behind the counter, the sandwich guys wrestled with the endless task of slicing hot pastrami and corned beef by the pound. When seated, it was the bottomless silver bucket of kosher dills and pickled green tomatoes that consumed one’s attention.

Those Don Hermann pickles are still here – though on a plate and by request – as are the rest of the Jewish comfort food staples. The matzo balls are large and soft, but not to the point of falling apart. Order the “Mish Mosh” ($10.95) and you’ll get a big bowl of chicken soup with rice, noodles, kreplach (a meatfilled dumpling) and a matzo ball.

If I had to pick one quintessential Corky’s dish it would be the beef and latkas, a true guilty pleasure. Picture a standard-issue mile-high corned beef sandwich, but in place

of the customary rye bread, the kitchen mounds the beef between a pair of crispy potato pancakes. For the longest time, my go-to was the adorably named Three Little Tootsies, a trio of mini sandwiches starring corned beef, pastrami and chopped liver. If you’ve never tried beef tongue, this is the place to do so. The lean, buttery meat arrives in hot or cold sandwiches ($14.95) or scrambled with eggs at breakfast.

Corky’s serves exceptional corned beef sandwiches, but I often opt for the salty, smoky pastrami ($14.50.) The Rueben ($16.95), like every deli sandwich at Corky’s, is enough for two meals. This one is an ideal composition of melt-in-your-mouth corned beef, tangy sauerkraut and swiss cheese on rye, all griddled to golden-brown perfection. Old-timers know to wash it all down with a fizzy chocolate phosphate, a fountain

drink that is all but extinct.

Breakfast is big both during the week and on weekends thanks to a great lineup of deli-style diner dishes like scrambled eggs with corned beef or pastrami ($12.95), lox, onions and eggs, or corned beef hash topped with a poached egg. Lighter fare includes Bialy’s bagels topped with lox, cream cheese, tomato and onion ($16.95) or luscious cheese blintzes.

On your way out, make sure to grab some airy coconut bars, flaky rugelach or jam-filled Russian tea biscuits, all made by an 80-year-old local bakery.

We often joke that Corky’s gets customers both coming into life and departing because their ample deli platters are found at every one of life’s milestones, including the Jewish bereavement period called shiva. The good news is that you don’t need to be celebrating or mourning to enjoy this Cleveland classic.

& LENNY’S 27091 CHAGRIN BLVD., WOODMERE 216-464-3838

Photo by Doug Trattner

BITES

Scorpacciata Italian Restaurant to open in former Larchmere Tavern spot

By Douglas Trattner

BACK IN 2021, WE SHARED news that the former Larchmere Tavern, which had closed after nearly 30 years, was being converted into a high-end cocktail lounge and restaurant. Those plans never came to fruition. But that proved to be fortuitous for Peter Reuter, who was in search of a permanent home for Scorpacciata.

In 2018, after graduating from Johnson and Wales culinary school and working for a decade in professional kitchens, Reuter opened Scorpacciata Pasta Company in the Market Hall at Van Aken District. The success of the Market Hall in general and his shop in particular took him a little by surprise, he admits.

“I had little to no hopes,” he says. “Nobody knew what to expect and all of the sudden we needed another location. Nobody expected it to blow up, including me.”

That second location in the Market Hall became home to Scorpacciata Pizza, which also has been drawing rave reviews. The secret to his success is handmade pasta, naturally leavened pizza doughs, quality seasonal ingredients, and a chef’s attention to detail.

Snagging the Larchmere Tavern space, which has been home to a restaurant since at least the 1950s, plays right into Reuter’s well-laid plans.

“We had a five-year plan in 2018 to have a brick-and-mortar and here it is 2023 and we’re right on course,” he says. “To do what we really set out to do a few years ago – to have that full experience. We’ve all worked so hard and we’re ready to stop putting food into disposable bowls.”

The full-service restaurant will offer pizza and pasta, naturally, but Reuter is eager to flex his culinary muscles.

“We’ll have pizza and pasta, but we’ll also have a wider variety of options,” he says. “Appetizers, charcuterie, some steaks, more

handmade pasta dishes, cocktails, a wine list, the whole nine.”

Reuter says that he is completely renovating the property. When it’s done, it will have a pasta-making room on display, a 12-seat bar and seating for approximately 75. The front patio also will be redone, with hopes of connecting it via windows or garage doors to the interior bar. Reuter envisions a wood-fired pizza oven and/or grill on the patio for weekend specials.

When the space is ready, Reuter simply will shift his entire operation over to its new home, he says.

“We’re basically moving everything from Van Aken into the new spot,” he explains. “I have an entire staff ready to rock and roll, except for servers. They’ve all been with me for so long.”

Reuter is thrilled to join a vibrant street that blends exciting new projects with established neighborhood anchors.

“It’s such a fun, up-and-coming spot,” he adds. “I’m so happy that we found this place. It’s kind of a dream come true.”

Look for Scorpacciata to open in July.

Goldie’s Donuts & Bakery Opens This Month in Ohio City

Owners Dustin and Paloma Goldberg promised to spare no expense with respect to the design and buildout of their new Ohio City café Goldie’s Donuts & Bakery. After getting a sneak peek today, it’s obvious that

they followed through on their pledge. Commanding a sunny corner spot at 41 West, a mixed-use development at the corner of Lorain Avenue and W. 41st St., the gorgeous space is trimmed in white marble, brass and glass.

“I’m determined to make it the nicest place in the whole area as far as the buildout is concerned,” Goldberg said last summer when he announced the project. “Even though our product doesn’t cost that, we want to make it feel that.”

After six successful years in Lyndhurst (5211 Mayfield Rd., 440683-4746), the Goldbergs felt the time was right to expand to one of the busiest corridors of the city. Guests seated at the lengthy marble counter can take in all the action from the comfort of a cushy bar stool.

Goldie’s is a family-owned business that makes its donuts, fillings, frostings and glazes from scratch daily using premium ingredients. They are known for their selection of old-fashioned classics like sour cream donuts, maple-glazed cake donuts, honeyglazed crullers, strawberry jam-filled donuts and powdered sugar donuts, but also long johns, apple fritters, croissants, muffins and brownies . The donuts and pastries will be made seven days a week at the main kitchen in Lyndhurst and delivered to the café daily.

This new location on Cleveland’s near-west side offers the company an opportunity to expand the menu, says Dustin. Down the road, the owners hope to add breakfast and lunch items to the mix.

Edison’s Pizza Kitchen to Move to a Larger Home in Tremont This Spring

Karl Nickel opened Edison’s Pizza Kitchen (2363 Professor Ave., 216298-4484) back in 2008, making his popular Tremont pizza shop 15 years old this month. For that entire time, the pizza shop has enjoyed a symbiotic relationship with Edison’s Pub, the next-door saloon of the same name but with a different owner. Nickel purchased the business from Edison’s Pub owner Mark LaGrange, who had been running the pizzeria — or leasing it to others — since 1994.

That relationship will end in about six months, when Nickel’s lease reaches the end of its life. Fortunately, Edison’s Pizza Kitchen has found a new home a short walk from the original. Sometime this spring, the new pizzeria will assume the ground floor of The Pelton (2258 West 10th St.), a mixed-use redevelopment with six apartments.

“We’re excited to stay in Tremont,” says Nickel. “We feel like we’re a part of it and that the community enjoys us sticking around. This is a good opportunity for us and we’re pleased.”

When the new pizzeria opens in May, customers can expect the same food and hours of operation, but a larger, more contemporary space with outdoor seating.

LaGrange reached out to Scene to say that he will once again take over operations at the next-door pizzeria, which will be called… Edison’s Pizza.

Photo via Google Maps

MUSIC

IT TAKES AN 11-PIECE BAND

Jerry Harrison and Adrian Belew revisit a classic Talking Heads album

By Jeff Niesel

WHEN MULTI-INSTRUMEN-

talist Jerry Harrison and guitarist Adrian Belew perform on Monday, Feb. 27, at the Goodyear Theater in Akron, they’ll have a slew of musicians backing them up. According to Belew, who spoke in a recent phone interview, it’s the only way to properly pay tribute to the 1980 Talking Heads album Remain in Light, which is now 40 years old but remains a classic.

Using a 1980 Talking Heads concert in Rome as a template, Harrison and Belew will also revisit Talking Heads classics such as “Psycho Killer” and “Take Me to the River” as well as selections from their respective solo careers.

How did the idea for this tour come together?

I think it was 2017 or 2018, and I was doing a couple of tours. [Harrison] would come to the shows when we were in the San Francisco area where he lives. We kept in contact all this time. We would be backstage talking about things. More than once, we talked about how it would be great to revisit that 1980 ten-piece touring band. I used to tell him that it needed to be done now because the world is in kind of a dark place, and this was just before COVID, which

would make things even worse. We thought it would be great to do a 40th anniversary tour for Remain in Light in 2020, the record that I played on and the one we toured behind. That got derailed. Meanwhile, Jerry produced a band that was called Turkuaz. They’re now called Cool Cool Cool. They were together for ten years, and those Talking Heads albums were their main influence. Jerry called me and said he solved the problem of how to do the tour because he found a band that was perfect for it. I saw them play, and the third song in, I said, “This is perfect.” That is when it started making sense.

I think you were involved with Talking Heads prior to Remain in Light. How did you first get involved with the band?

They came to the David Bowie show that I played at Madison Square Garden and were blown away. Next thing I knew, I was going to their shows. They invited me to three of their shows. On the third show, they said, “We’re doing ‘Psycho Killer’

as the encore and why don’t you come on stage and play it with us?” Of course, I knew the song, but I had never figured out the chords or anything. They said, “That’s okay. Just come out and freak out like you do.” I waited until the end when it came to the craziness and just went crazy on guitar. They loved it, and I loved it. Then, I went to New York at some point to play for some record labels. They were at one of the shows and cornered me at the stairwell and asked me to stay an extra day and play on Remain in Light

Did you really finish your parts for the album in one day? That’s all I had was one day. My band was waiting for me. I got a lot of stuff done quickly. As I was setting up my gear in the room, I was checking my sounds and making something happen, and they were jumping up and down and every excited. Then, one of the first things that happened was they told me to go out into the room and stand around until I think there should be a guitar solo and play one.

I did that, and it went really well. I could see them going crazy. I played a second guitar solo. That became “The Great Curve.” It’s a very unusual record and has so many layered sounds, and that’s why they had to increase the band from four members to ten. When you do that, everything is in one key. Chris and Tina had laid down their bass and drums. There was no signpost whatsoever. As a guitar player, that’s as good as it gets. You don’t have to worry about key changes or modulations or anything else. You just play in that key and have a great time.

What was the tour like?

We went on tour with the expanded band. I was on that tour. There is a video called Talking Heads Live in Rome 1980. Loads and loads of people love that film. Some people claim it to be the best concert films ever, even though it was filmed by someone in the audience. Our show is based on that performance. It’s based on trying to create that same vibe of joy and funky music. We leave out all the slow stuff, so you can just get up and dance.

Did that show stand out?

Yeah, it did. I think no one expected it to be so exciting and wellattended. You expected it in New York but not in other countries. As we learned over the tour, Talking Heads were rising to fame very quickly. I was watching it happen. When we played in Central Park, there were 125,000 people there. It’s not like we weren’t used to that size of an audience, but there’s something about the Rome audience. There’s an electricity there.

The album remains a classic. What’s your sense of why that is?

It’s a very unusual sounding record. There was nothing else like it at the time. I think it’s really because the Talking Heads are such a great band. That was, to some people, the best they ever were. They had reached a point of confidence, and their music was being played at every bookstore and restaurant in the world. It’s because of the Talking Heads and Brian Eno, who had a big part to do with it. I’ll take a little bow, but I’m only a small part.

jniesel@clevescene.com

t @jniesel

JERRY HARRISON AND ADRIAN BELEW: REMAIN IN LIGHT, 7:30 P.M. MONDAY, FEB. 27, GOODYEAR THEATER, 1201 E. MARKET ST., AKRON, 330-535-3179. TICKETS: $37.50-$59.50, GOODYEARTHEATER.COM.

Jerry Harrison and Adrian Belew.

Photo credit: Michael Weintrob

MUSIC

HARD ROCK HOLDOUTS

The Winery Dogs keep the traditional power trio alive

By Jeff Niesel

WHEN REACHED RECENTLY

by phone, Winery Dogs singer-guitarist Richie Kotzen was listening to the hard rock band’s most recent album, III, in preparation for an upcoming tour that brings the band to the Agora on Thursday, March 2.

“I haven’t really listened to the new album since we finished it,” he admits. “It’s always a process to go back and figure out, ‘What did I do?’ But we have a set picked out. It’s been a while — 2019 is the last time we got on stage together so we’re looking forward to it.”

The Winery Dogs formed in 2012 when talk show host Eddie Trunk told Kotzen that drummer Mike Portnoy and bassist Billy Sheehan were looking to form a power trio. They had tried to work with singerguitarist John Sykes, but that band had fizzled. Sheehan knew Kotzen from their Mr. Big days in the late 1990s, so a collaboration certainly had potential.

“We got together at my house in L.A. and talked about the idea

of what we would do, and then, we went into my studio and played for a while,” recalls Kotzen. “I had a couple of songs that would have ended up on a solo record that we used pieces of. From there, it evolved and before we knew it, it had five or six songs we really liked.”

Those tunes would wind up on the band’s self-titled debut, which the band recorded at Kotzen’s home. For the follow-up album, 2015’s Hot Streak, the band recorded drums at a proper studio and then worked on fleshing out the songs at Kotzen’s studio.

“I did not bring in any stuff I had been working on,” says Kotzen. “We did everything from the ground up. It was a little bit of a different approach. There’s some

songs on there that sound a little more produced. I did more layering with the guitars and the vocals and that sort of thing. It was the perfect album to follow up the first one.”

Kotzen wrote a couple of songs for III, an album that he says ties together the self-titled debut and Hot Streak, during the lockdown that took place during the height of the COVID pandemic. The band had originally sought to start writing and recording earlier than that, but the pandemic delayed things.

“We went all the way into 2017 and recorded a live video and record,” says Kotzen. “After that, I went and did a solo album and a large tour that went to Japan and Australia and Europe and the

United States. Shortly after that, we did another leg in 2019. From there, the plan was to go back and work on new music. Everything got derailed, but it was nice that we had a break from writing. When we finally got into the studio, everything felt brand new and exciting.”

The first new tune that Kotzen put lyrics to is the album’s single, “Xanadu.” The track, which opens with a bit of fusion-y guitar before turning into a Soundgarden-like rocker, finds Kotzen adopting a soulful croon.

“I remember going into the studio and working on the song,” says Kotzen. “The next day, I picked up the guys who were staying at a hotel room and played it in the car, and they really dug it. At that point, I thought I was back on track, and we could relax a little bit.” jniesel@clevescene.com

WINERY DOGS, SHAWN PERRY, 7 P.M. THURSDAY, MARCH 2, AGORA THEATRE, 5000 EUCLID AVE., 216-881-2221. TICKETS: $29.50-$55, AGORACLEVELAND.COM.

The Winery Dogs. photo credit: Travis Shinn

AN ORGANIC RELATIONSHIP

On their nuanced new album, Hiram-Maxim again worked with acclaimed producer Martin Bisi

By Jeff Niesel

HIRAM-MAXIM SINGER -

guitarist Dave Taha admits he’s surprised that the local industrial/ indie rock band has lasted as long as it has. After all, the group, which upon forming also included drummer John Panza, singer Fred Gunn and keyboardist Lisa Miralia (since replaced by multi-instrumentalist Balmer) was formed on a whim. It came together for the Lottery League, the festival that randomly places Cleveland musicians in bands with one another, in 2013.

Prior to that, members didn’t really know one another at all.

“I had done a Lottery League or two before that and since, and nothing has stuck like Hiram has stuck,” says Taha via phone. Hiram-Maxim plays a record release party with Orphaned and GRVE on Saturday, Feb. 25, at No Class. “I think it’s a testament to our ability to gel creatively and to find the light in the darkness and seek out new musical avenues and pathways. It’s been a blessing to work with these cats as long as I have.”

Released on Aqualamb Records, the imprint run by graphic designers Eric Palmerlee and Johnathan Swafford, the group’s 2015 self-titled debut came with

a printed, bound, 100-page book designed by local graphic designer Ron Kretsch. Local pressing plant Gotta Groove provided the guys with the vinyl versions of the disc. It took the band only four days to record the LP.

“John Panza was in a band called HILO with Johnathan Swafford, who is the head of the label, and it went from there,” Taha says when asked about how the band signed with Aqualamb. “He started the label up, and he caught wind of what we were doing. He liked it, and it was serendipitous.”

Speaking of serendipity, Taha formed a friendship with underground producer Martin Bisi by happenstance. A few years back, Taha’s band Filmstrip opened for Bisi’s band at the Grog Shop. Acknowledging that Bisi, who’s worked on albums by the likes of Sonic Youth, John Zorn and Swans, is a “fucking legend,” he asked if he’d produce a Filmstrip album. Bisi turned him down. But when he heard a Hiram-Maxim demo, he expressed a desire to work with the group and wound up producing the band’s second record.

He’s worked with the band ever since.

“It’s been an organic relationship,” says Taha of working with Bisi, who produced the band’s forthcoming album. “He fleshes out the whole thing. He’s a wizard. It’s so organic and easy. He turns on the button and gets out of the way. He lets us do our process. He’s recorded some amazing albums. It’s an honor and really humbling to work with him.”

Last year’s EP, Hive Mind, features the addition of keyboardist Balmer and represents a shift in the band’s sound.

“Lisa [Miralia] left the band toward the end of COVID when we were getting ready to get back in the swing of things,” says Taha. “We didn’t see eye-to-eye on the level of involvement in the public sphere and had to move on. I knew Balmer would be good for what we were doing. I knew I could rely on Balmer, and we worked together in the past. I knew they were on the level, and we gelled. We hit the ground running and learned old songs immediately and started writing songs right away and we wrote one of the new songs on the new album the first weekend we got together.”

The EP notably included a cover of David Bowie’s “Ashes to Ashes.”

“Actually, when Bowie died, we

had a show booked at the Beachland just three or four days later, and we learned the song on the fly as a tribute to him,” says Taha. “He’s such a Renaissance man and the quintessential artist’s artist. That was the one we landed on. It really resonated. I think we only rehearsed it two or three times. Now, it’s been a go-to cover for us. There was a cover series through Aqualamb, and that was the one we wanted to do.”

With songs such as “Alpha,” a Joy Division-like tune distinguished by gurgling synths and dissonant guitars, and “Time Lost Time,” a song with a Bauhaus-like vibe, the new album, Colder, shows how the band has expanded its sound.

“With the addition of Balmer, we’re going in a much different direction,” says Taha. “When we played a couple of newer tunes at the [local venue] Little Rose Tavern recently, I was shocked to see people dancing instead of the usual morose head-bopping. I think the core synthesis of the band is there, but Balmer brings a lot more vitality in terms of the live performance. We’re all running around stage together, and it feels more like a live band instead of a studio project. It just feels organic, and it’s really great to be able to take off in these new directions and have ideas about new songs in ways that didn’t really occur to us before.”

Hiram-Maxim.

Credit: Bryon Miller

LIVEWIRE Real music in the real world

SAT 02/25

Carlos Jones & The PLUS Band

Local concert promoter and all-around good guy Packy Malley has joined the Peace Corps, and local reggae icon Carlos Jones will perform tonight at 7 at the Beachland to see Malley off. Marty Dread, Jah Messengers, Flex Crew, Shake Ground Band and Roger Steffens (Emcee) share the bill. 15711 Waterloo Rd., 216-383-1124, beachlandballroom.com.

The Vinyl Machine

Collectively, these guys have played more than 30,000 shows in the United States and abroad with the biggest acts of the ’70s, ’80s, ’90s and this millennium. Their show consists of hit after hit with No. 1 selling artists that they either played on or played with the original artists. This show at Music Box Supper Club will also feature humorous anecdotes and road stories of their travels and lives in the fast lane. It gets going at 7:30 p.m. 1148 Main Ave., 216-242-1250, musicboxcle.com.

SUN 02/26

Durand Bernarr

Since the debut of his self-titled album, DUR&, in 2020, Clevelandborn Durand Bernarr’s popularity has soared. He showcased his versatile persona and style in his music video for the soulful, Sade-like “Company,” and he also headlined the 2022 NYC PrideFest that included a live broadcast of his performance of “Stuck.” His latest album, Wanderlust, embodies “an intimate unveiling of Durand’s introspective journey and his arrival to renewed self-awareness.” He brings his Wanderlust tour to House of Blues. Doors open at 7 p.m. 308 Euclid Ave., 216-523-2583, houseofblues.com.

That

1 Guy

That 1 Guy (real name Mike Silverman) is a classically trained double bass player. At one point, he felt that the instrument restricted his musical creativity. Instead of trying to switch to a new instrument, he decided to design his own. Silverman then handcrafted a series of what he calls “magic” instruments, including a giant steel pipe, a cowboy boot, and a hand saw. Silverman’s solo act weaves in and out of jazz, funk, progressive and experimental rock.

On stage, he provides percussion, plays his inventive instruments, sings and cues up samples to fill in the rest. He brings his one-man show to the Beachland Tavern tonight at 8. Tickets cost $15.

15711 Waterloo Rd., 216-383-1124, beachlandballroom.com.

MON 02/27

Elle King

The singer-songwriter with Ohio roots embraces the country side of her sound with her new album, Come Get Your Wife. “Worth A Shot” features Dierks Bentley and “Drunk (And I Don’t Want To Come Home)” pairs her with country star Miranda Lambert. King comes to the Masonic tonight at 8. Red Clay Strings open the show. 3615 Euclid Ave., 216-881-6350, masoniccleveland.com.

WED 03/01

Titus Andronicus

“(I’m) Screwed,” the first single from The Will To Live, the latest effort from conceptual indie rockers Titus Andronicus includes an official music video from director Ray Concepcion that finds the band performing on a flatbed truck during the Independence Day Parade in the band’s hometown of Glen Rock, NJ. The track introduces the narrator of The Will To Live at the moment he realizes the walls are closing in. It’s heady stuff. Expect the group to perform it as well as tunes from a career that dates back nearly 15 years now. The indie rock band performs at 8 p.m. at the Grog Shop in Cleveland Heights.

2785 Euclid Heights Blvd., Cleveland Heights, 216-321-5588, grogshop.gs.

THU 03/02

Toto

This classic rock act played the Agora on its very first tour of the United States as Toto. The Agora show took place in February of 1979, was broadcast on both radio and television locally and eventually was broadcast overseas as well on Japanese television. The group, which reformed in 2010 with former vocalist Joseph Williams and keyboardist Steve Porcaro coming back into the picture, plays at 7:30 tonight at MGM Northfield Park — Center Stage.

10705 Northfield Rd., Northfield,

330-908-7793, mgmnorthfieldpark. mgmresorts.com/en.html.

FRI 03/03

Legendz of the Streetz: Reloaded Tour 2023

Legendz of the Streetz: Reloaded Tour 2023, a concert that features hip-hop acts such as Jeezy, TI and Gucci Mane, comes to Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse tonight at 7. One Center Court, 216-420-2000, rocketmortgagefieldhouse.com.

Skillet and Theory of a Deadman

Skillet, a hard rock act that’s just released its 11th full-length album, Dominion Theory, has teamed up with fellow heard rockers Theory of a Deadman for this co-headlining run dubbed the Rock Resurrection tour. Theory of a Deadman is promoting its latest effort, Dinosaur. The trek comes to the Agora tonight. Doors open at 6 p.m. 5000 Euclid Ave., 216-881-2221, agoracleveland.com.

SAT 03/04

Colony House

Colony House, an indie rock band made up of brothers Will and Caleb Chapman, self-describes itself as “landlocked surf rock.” They’ve said their hometown of Franklin, TN has inspired their new album, The Cannonballers. The title track finds the band delivering a jittery pop gem. The group performs tonight at 7 at House of Blues.

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

Chuck Prophet & the Mission Express

Singer-guitarist Chuck Prophet has put together an incredible career. The guy started out with the garage rock act Green on Red in the ’80s and then spent much of the ’90s working as a songwriter in Nashville where he wrote hits for acts like Heart, Solomon Burke, Kim Richey and Chris Knight. In the 2000s, he put together the Mission Express, a killer band named after the bus line that runs through his neighborhood, and has toured heavily behind a slew of terrific solo efforts. The veteran alt-country singer-songwriter comes to the Beachland Ballroom tonight at 8. Ray Flanagan Trio opens. Tickets cost $25.

15711 Waterloo Rd., 216-383-1124, beachlandballroom.com.

SUN 03/05

Tamir Hendelman

Known for his dynamic and sensitive approach at the piano and his imaginative arrangements for his trio, Pianist/composer/arranger Tamir Hendelman has performed and, recorded with an array of vocalists, from Natalie Cole to Barbra Streisand, Roberta Gambarini and Tierney Sutton. A member of the ClaytonHamilton Jazz Orchestra since, 2001, he has performed, recorded or arranged for artists, ranging from Sean Jones, Benny Golson, Lori Bell, Eddie, Henderson, Houston Person, Richard Galliano, Claudio, Roditi, Graham Dechter, Wycliffe Gordon and Scott Hamilton. He performs tonight at 7 at the Bop Stop. 2920 Detroit Ave., 216-771-6551, themusicsettlement.org.

TUE 03/07

Os Mutantes

One of the leaders of tropicália, the influential, culture-spanning arts movement that took place in Brazil in the 1960s, Os Mutantes never played Cleveland until the Beachland booked the band in 2009. At that show, the group delivered a thrilling two-hour show that touched on its psychrock past. The band returns to the Beachland tonight at 8. Ghost Funk Orchestra opens.

15711 Waterloo Rd., 216-383-1124, beachlandballroom.com.

Elle King comes to the Masonic. See: Monday, Feb. 27.

Photo credit: Matthew Berinato

HELLO! 3D

By Jeff Niesel

MEET THE BAND: Jake Fader (guitar, keyboards), Cutty (keys and guiro), John Galvez (guitar), Ed Sotelo (bass), Joe Tomino (drums), Neil Chastain (percussion)

TRIAL BY FIRE: Back in 2015, Fader made a Latin instrumental rock record with New York-based Ray Lugo. They recorded a double album as a group they called Los Terrificos. Fader says it was at that time that he became interested in psychedelic music from Peru and Colombia. “I really fell I love with that music,” he says via phone from the Cleveland studio where he was working on music for the next Cleveland International Film Festival trailer with Tomino. “I wondered what it would be like to play live, particularly the groovy stuff, like the chicha and cumbia. I also wondered who would be interested in Cleveland.” He first talked to local bassist Sotelo, and then, Hello! 3D played it first show in 2019, opening for Los Mirlos at Now That’s Class. The band even told Fader that the show was its favorite on the tour that year. “It was trial by fire; it was kind of scary,” says Fader. “You had all these people there who were really into the music. Hello!3D wasn’t a studio band at this point; we had really only rehearsed a half-dozen times.”

PSYCH 101: Most of the band members had never heard much of the particular styles of music that Fader embraced, so there was a learning curve involved after the band formed. “[Percussionist]

Neil Chastain is an encyclopedia in Latin music, so he was wellversed,” says Fader. “John Galvez wasn’t familiar with the style at the time but knew and composed other Latin music. Ed Sotelo had heard some of it. Cutty had heard some of it. They weren’t all into super-into cumbia, but they knew. Everyone is coming at from a different perspective, and we all had to learn to play it.”

WHY YOU SHOULD HEAR

THEM: “Old Bus” equally sounds like it belongs on a the soundtrack to a Western film or a comedy. “That was the first original I wrote for this group,” says Fader. “I had a lot of fun with it. I took a crack at writing something lighter. That was hard for me. I can write something minor or dark, but I struggle with writing something happier. It’s like when they say comedy is the hardest genre.” The careening “Thin Air and Alcohol” has a manic energy to it. “I had this melody that is a little closer to Peruvian Chicha. Having someone like Ed [Sotelo], who is super steeped in punk and Joe [Tomino], who had played harder and faster music can bring something to it. I wanted it sound like it’s always on the edge of breaking. It evolved over time, and those guys made it into that energy. We always have to make sure we play it fast enough. That is normally not a band’s problem.” Fader says the band might not put out an album in its traditional sense. “We have a collection of singles that will probably accumulate into a new record,” he says. The band worked on a bunch of songs last October and has slowly added originals to the live sets. “The live show was 80/20 covers, but it’s tipped to maybe 70/30 in favor of originals now,” says Fader. “I could be really off with the math, but we’re writing more than we’re learning new covers. John is a great writer and Ed writes too.”

WHERE YOU CAN HEAR THEM: hello3d.bandcamp.com.

WHERE YOU CAN SEE THEM: Hello! 3D performs at 7 p.m. on Saturday, March 4, in the House of Blues Foundation Room. Admission is free.on Friday, Jan. 20, at the Beachland Tavern.

jniesel@clevescene.com

Hello! 3D

Photo: Trisha O’Hara

SAVAGE LOVE

PEGGED AS BI

by Dan Savage

Hey Dan: My boyfriend of six months wants to try pegging and I’m down. But he wants “the whole experience,” which means sucking the dildo too. That raises a red flag for me. I know how this sounds before I even ask, so please forgive me if this question is insensitive. But does his desire to suck on the dildo indicate gay or bi tendencies? He says he’s not attracted to men, but he will sometimes make remarks about a “good looking guy” he saw. He also told me he had a threesome in his early 20s with a married couple and that the husband sucked him off. He says he hasn’t done anything like that since and he’s had tons of sex and done a lot of freaky stuff. Is this a kink? Would this leave him wanting the real thing? He wants to get married and all that. Should I be concerned?

Wondering About Sexual Proclivities

I’m gonna crawl out on a limb here and assume your boyfriend has demonstrated — to your satisfaction — that he enjoys straight sex. Or opposite-sex sex, I should say, since not everyone who has “straight” sex is straight. Bisexuals have “straight” sex all the time; sometimes even gays and lesbians have “straight” sex, and not always under the duress of the closet. Just as some straights are heteroflexible, some gays and lesbians are homoflexible.

Anyway, I’m gonna assume your boyfriend has demonstrated again, to your satisfaction that he enjoys having oppositesex with you, WASP. He likes to kiss you, he likes your tits, he eats your pussy, and he fucks you senseless. And I feel confident in making this assumption because if he was only going through the motions when he was having sex with you, if the “straight” sex you were having together was bad or infrequent or both, you surely would’ve mentioned that fact.

So, since the sex you’re having with your newish boyfriend is good and frequent (and trending

freaky), WASP, we can safely strike “gay” from your very short list of concerns. And while some would regard the distinction you’re attempting to make between your boyfriend wanting you to fuck his ass and your boyfriend wanting you to fuck his face as meaningless — most will regard him wanting to have his ass fucked as just as gay or even gayer than him wanting to have his face fucked — there is a difference. A guy can wanna have his ass fucked for the pure physical pleasure of being penetrated, e.g., the stimulation of all those nerve endings, the amazing feeling of being opened up, the pounding of his prostate gland, and the dildo is simply a means to those ends. But sucking on a strap-on dildo… that’s more of a psychological thrill. You won’t feel anything, and your boyfriend doesn’t have a prostate gland on his soft palate.

But even if he’s getting off on the idea of sucking dick… that’s not proof he’s gay or bi. Some women have dicks, as we’ve learned over the last two decades and change, and your boyfriend could be fantasizing about sucking a woman’s dick and there’s nothing gay or bi about a cis man sucking a trans woman’s dick. (Right? Right.) Or your boyfriend could be into the idea of forced bi. Or your boyfriend could be turned on by the transgression against what straight sex is supposed/assumed to be, e.g., males penetrate, females are penetrated.

Zooming out for a second…

At the start of a new relationship people will sometimes hint at their non-normative sexual interests, or desires. A guy might share a little about his past — like having had a threesome with a married couple and getting sucked off by the dude — because he wants to assess his new partner’s reaction before sharing the rest. A guy into bondage might tell a new partner he once “let someone” tie him up when he actually begged that person to tie him up; a woman into spanking might tell a new partner about some spanking porn clip that somehow popped up in her Twitter feed when she actually went looking for it. Your boyfriend could be bisexual, WASP, and told you some married guy sucked his dick when actually he went looking for a guy — married or not — to suck his dick.

So, let’s game out your worstcase scenario: Your boyfriend is bisexual. Would that really be so bad, WASP? If you’re going to

obsess about the downsides of marrying a bisexual guy — he’s going to want to fuck a guy once in a while — you should at least pause to consider the upsides. For instance, you won’t have to be on the receiving end of penetration every time you say yes to sex, WASP, because you’ll get to do the penetrating every once in a while. And the occasional MMF threesome… well, that seems like the best-case scenario to me, WASP, but I’m a little like your boyfriend: here for the freaky stuff.

Hey Dan: I’m a 38-year-old mother of two youngish kids in a 10year hetero relationship that I am destroying. I cheated with a girl at my job at the end of last year and now I have feelings for her. I’ve ended the affair several times, but each time we start back up again. I’ve always known that I’m bisexual but never really explored that side of myself. I don’t know if I never explored this side of myself out of fear, internalized homophobia, or that the right girl never presented herself. Now I need to choose. Do I stay with my long-term partner, a man I love dearly, and tamp down this side of myself? Or do I break up with him and explore my sexuality? If we didn’t have kids, I would choose the latter. We have talked about opening up the relationship but he is way too hurt for that to be an option anymore. I know I majorly fucked up. I betrayed his trust and snuck around with this girl. Am I just a horrible person who needs to get her shit together and somehow patch things up with my partner? Or is exploring my sexuality something that I should prioritize over stability and longterm love?

Confused As Fuck

If you were childless — or childfree — you would leave. But you aren’t childfree, CAF, and you owe it to your kids to at least try to make things work with your long-term partner.

That said, CAF, you aren’t obligated to stay in a relationship you can’t make work. If your actions have irrevocably destroyed your partner’s ability to trust you, and if you can’t come to some sort of accommodation moving forward that allows you to be the person you are (an accommodation that could take many different forms), ending it may ultimately be in the best interests of your kids. Because a bitter, loveless, high-conflict relationship will not only make you

and your partner miserable, but it will also make your kids miserable.

If your relationship never recovers from the blows you’ve inflicted on it — if you can’t get past this — then you’ll have to end it. But at this point you simply don’t know whether or how this relationship can be salvaged. So, give it a chance, do the work, and see where you are in a year. If leaving was ultimately the right thing to do, it’ll still be the right thing to do a year from now. If leaving was the wrong thing to do, you won’t be able to undo it a year from now.

P.S. Bisexual People? Please get out there and suck some dick and/or eat some pussy before you make a monogamous commitment to an opposite-sex partner — or a same-sex partner, for that matter, although I get fewer letters from bisexuals in same-sex relationships who’ve recently “explored” their bisexuality (with disastrous consequences) or begged their same-sex partners for permission to “explore” their bisexuality (and been threatened with disastrous consequences). Yeah, yeah: bisexual people can honor monogamous commitments. But as you may have noticed — as anyone who’s been paying attention should have noticed by now — monogamy isn’t easy for anyone. And while it’s considered bi-phobic to suggest that monogamy might be a little bit harder for bisexual people, most of the people making that argument to me are bisexuals who made monogamous commitments before fully exploring their sexualities. LGBTQ people never tire of pointing out how a particular thing might be harder for gay men and a different particular thing might be harder for lesbians and another particular thing might be a whole lot harder for trans people and a long list of other things might a bazillion times harder for asexuals, demisexuals, sapiosexuals, omnisexuals, etc., etc., etc. And yet it’s somehow taboo to suggest that monogamy — which, again, is pretty damn hard for everyone — might be just a tiny bit harder for bisexuals.

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