Scene August 23, 2023

REWIND: 1970

Five decades ago, the Cleveland Orchestra ended its strike and returned to the stage, and Scene was there.

UPFRONT

COULD A CLEVELAND MUSIC COMMISSION LIFT THE LOCAL SCENE?

IT MIGHT BE THE most surprising, at least to those in his circle, that Jacob Boarman’s decision to flee Cleveland for New York is rooted in anger.

Boarman, a 24-year-old musician from the west side, has fashioned a friend-to-all persona in his past eight years of gigging, just as much as he has a headdown, laboring guitarist. Known to show up to gigs in black leather bodysuits or jean coveralls, Boarman performs his upbeat guitar pop with a kind-guy smile, full of appreciation. “I don’t want to be a burden of you,” he sings in a recent single. “Just give me a chance.”

Yet, in March, a month after producing “Burden of You,” Boarman gave up on Cleveland’s scene. He and his colleagues at Impossible Art, a gallery he booked shows for in Ohio City’s Hingetown neighborhood, had enough.

By the end of September, he would relocate to New York.

“We put so much effort towards putting those shows on,” Boarman said recently outside a coffee shop in Hingetown, wearing Sambas and light-blue coveralls. “It showed me that I personally, right now, can’t make money as a communal thing, or money off my music in thiscommunity, and still focus on music.”

The faraway lure of the oft-noted Music Cities—Austin, Nashville, New York, Seattle—has long been been a thorn in the side of Cleveland industry heads striving to prevent brain drain. Today, with independent venues nearing a full post-pandemic rebound, outside resources are being eyed for assistance in keeping local talent local. And paying them a fair wage.

And the apogee of that wishlist seems to be in the form of a Cleveland Music Commission. Just like Nashville’s Music, Film and Entertainment Commission, or Austin’s Music Commission, a similarly-structured body here in Cleveland, potential backers say, could replicate fruits seen in other cities. Namely by giving gigging artists and indie venues true

political credence, and financial help, from City Hall.

“At its core, we want to make music sustainable, performance sustainable for the people involved,” Sean Watterson, the owner of the Happy Dog, told Scene. “And that’s the venues, the promoters and the performers.”

Watterson, along with the Beachland’s Cindy Barber and the Grog Shop’s Kathy Blackman, is part head of the Commission’s proto form, the Cleveland Music Club Coalition. Springing to life in 2010 to fight to lower the city’s 8% admissions tax on venues, the Coalition morphed into a Zoombased roundtable for the who’s who of the non-corporate circuit. (It succeeded in lowering the tax.)

How, the Coalition asks frequently, should Cleveland actualize its Birthplace of Rock label and regain some of the luster it seems to have lost in the past five, six decades?

This summer, following Mayor Justin Bibb’s appointment of Rhonda Brown as Cleveland’s first arts czar, the coalition made its bullet point wishlist: Create

an online directory of “what already exists,” every venue, artist, promoter, et cetera; fund an exhaustive one-stop calendar of “every single” music event in the city (like DC Music Live); and ensure Cleveland’s reality meets the expectations of incoming tourists and locals. (Mostly by hiring more local bands.)

These ideas, some more lofty than others, were debated in a recent coalition meeting in the middle of July. The accomplishments of other cities’ commissions—music tax rebates for producers, or the late-night perks of an Office of Nighttime Economy—were discussed as if they were easily transferable to Cleveland.

The conversation seems to be bifurcated, in a way: Bigger venues, the Live Nation-backed behemoths, the FieldHouses and Agoras, appear to have more cultural precedence than the clubs that bolster artists in nearby zip codes. A commission, they said, especially with a city budget, could redirect that spotlight.

“We’re the street vendors,” Nick

Kostis, the owner of Pickwick and Frolic, said in the call. “Whereas the higher profile arts and cultural offerings that visit our city, or that are somehow presented in our city, seem to hold a status that is above and beyond.”

“The problem here is audience development,” Cindy Barber said. It’s why she founded Cleveland Rocks Shop in 2012: as a “past, present, future” epicenter for local music, a sort of grassroots Rock Hall. “Sure, we have venues that play local bands. But oftentimes those shows are, like, half full or less than half full for those bands.”

As for refitting tourist havens— Flats East Bank, East 4th—to be more comfy for up-and-comers, Kathy Blackman scoffed.

“Cleveland is not Nashville!” she said. “We’re just a different city. Our venues are all spread out.” Blackman brings to mind Nashville’s Broadway Ave., the dense street with Vegas implications, now populated with bro country and bachelorette caravans. “I don’t think it makes any sense to try to reinvent the entertainment district and negate what we’ve all built.”

If the demands of the coalition seemed to be reverberated from a past era, it may be because they kind of are.

In 2011, Cleveland State’s Center for Economic Development published the Remix Report, a 222-page, in-depth examination of Cleveland’s music industry, with a secondary goal of determining how to best direct it.

Surveying over 900 musicians and industry professionals, the research team determined that the cons of Cleveland’s scene imitated the faults of its design: the industry was “scattered,” “disjointed,” and “lacked unification.” Musicians interviewed “believed that, while the region is filled with talented individuals,” the report reads, “they are not organized or united in a meaningful way, and face challenges in connecting with others.”

Moreover, as Watterson and Barber may talk about today, necessary resources to foster work

Photo by Geoffrey Baptiste

Braxton Taylor, 29, in his apartment in New York. Last October, Taylor left Cleveland to pursue Brooklyn’s scene.

as a professional were scarce, or hard to reach. Artists, just as they do today, wanted links to agents. They needed help crafting electronic press kits. They wanted “booking agencies, investment capital firms, entertainment lawyers”—and a unified body to aid them in the search process. (And, yes, a Music Czar to help bankroll their albums. And a “comprehensive website.”)

As for leaning into the Rock and Roll City perception, the report was a bit skeptical.

“Many people feel Cleveland needs to be (re)branded as a Music City to be counted with the likes of Austin, Memphis, Nashville, and Portland,” the report reads. “However, merely launching an expensive branding campaign that has little impact on the way people experience a place will fail quickly.”

Instead, Remix hinted at politics. The scene, the authors determined, “should unite around a common goal or cause and strategic vision for its future.”

For Braxton Taylor, 29, the “stifling” reality of Cleveland’s club scene had stymied his creativity come last October. Taylor had played guitar and sang for years with soul-rock outfit SamFox until going solo, under the moniker Smith Taylor, in 2019. In late 2022, while hosting routine jams at The

DIGIT WIDGET

Hodge on St. Clair Ave., and “broke as shit,” Taylor lost interest in climbing the venue hierarchy.

“I felt I wasn’t going to be able to sustain myself much longer unless I settled and compromised,” Taylor said in a phone call. “If I could do this here, I could do this anywhere. Why not do it in an international city?”

He moved to Brooklyn late last year, mostly to surround himself with “more like minds.”

“In Cleveland, you’re a big fish in a small pond,” Taylor said. “Go, leave, come here—now you’re a small fish in a fucking ocean.”

In early August, a week after Boarman’s final Cleveland show for now, at BLK Punk Press in Midtown, he and his friend Andy Schumann meet Scene for coffee in Hingetown, a block south of Impossible Art. It’s clear just minutes in that Schumann, 26, who works in labor rights and books bands for Sofar Sounds, backs Boarman’s choice to relocate from a wholly economical standpoint. “I almost turned down the job,” Schumann said about his Sofar gig. “They were offering bands $100. I mean, that sucks.”

But are rent hells like Nashville and New York, which average upwards of $1,787 and $3,250 respectively, equate the worth of their perceived creative utopias?

For now, Boarman is unwavering. He nods towards NYC Noise, a show aggregator that could rival Washington, D.C.’s, or act as a fitting lodestar for the object of the possible Cleveland Music Commission.

“They’re getting publicized, and people are going to the show because there’s a community for it, and it’s getting broadcast and it’s getting shown,” Boarman said. “So that’s why I’m going there. I want to see the community.” – Mark Oprea

Councilman Harsh Will Debate PB Advocates Before November Vote

Ward 13 Councilman Kris Harsh and a partner yet to be named will debate representatives from People’s Budget Cleveland (PB CLE) on Tuesday, September 26 at 6 p.m. ahead of the November vote.

Despite opposition from both City Council and Mayor Justin Bibb, PB CLE delivered more than 10,00 signatures from registered Cleveland voters last month to put the participatory budgeting charter amendment on the ballot in November.

Harsh, an outspoken opponent

of the proposal, wrote an op-ed entitled “Why Clevelanders should reject participatory budgeting” published in The Plain Dealer and cleveland.com in which he criticized the amendment as a waste of taxpayers’ money and challenged PB CLE to a debate.

“The theory behind PB is that it engages citizens who feel left out of the political process by giving them a new route to civic involvement,” Harsh wrote. “In reality, in nearly every city in America where it’s been tried, less than 5% of residents are involved. In fact, in many cities, it becomes a vehicle for gentrification as residents with the most social capital take advantage of their free time to participate, while those without the luxury of time are left out of the process.”

Council president Blaine Griffin and other members have been vocal in their opposition to the movement, arguing, without evidence, that participatory budgeting would drain money from the city’s public safety budget.

If voters pass the amendment, the way that roughly $14 million dollars of the city’s general fund — about 2% of Cleveland’s annual budget — will be spent will be decided by the participatory budgeting process.

The amendment would establish an 11-member committee–five of whom would be chosen by City Council, five who would be selected by the mayor and one person hired as a city employee. The committee would be responsible for gathering ideas and organizing voting, which would be open to all residents older than 13.

The debate will feature two representatives from PB CLE, who haven’t yet been named, on one side and Harsh and an undetermined partner on the other. The exact “debatable resolution,” or statement serving as the topic

of the debate is also yet to be established.

Rhodes High School head speech and debate coach and Hathaway Brown School assistant coach Carrie Cofer will serve as moderator and timekeeper. Cofer has taught and coached speech and debate in CMSD for 24 years and is both the chair and a hall of fame member of the Cleveland District of the Ohio Speech and Debate Association.

PB CLE organizers say they are excited to participate.

“Admittedly, PB CLE is reluctant to give airtime to a member of City Council who insults our coalition of largely grassroots Black- and people of color-led groups doing civil and human rights work with the idea that we are a, ‘Trojan horse that hides the true intentions of its promoters-to guarantee themselves a paycheck on the public dime without having to justify their worth,’” said PB CLE campaign manager Molly Martin in a statement.

“However, we agreed to debate the merits of the People’s Budget charter amendment because we know that when people hear about it, they love it,” Martin said. “That’s why 184 people collected more than 10,500 signatures and registered 900 voters in six weeks. And that’s why, despite personal attacks from status quo politicians, we’re going to fight hard with our allies to win a People’s Budget in November.”

The debate will take place in Public Hall’s Little Theater, which seats up to 600 people. Entrance will be free and seating will be first-come-first-served. Doors will open at 5:30 p.m. before the debate starts at 6 p.m. – Maria Elena Scott

3

Remaining live iguanas at Winking Lizard locations, which like the others, will be rehoused by the end of the year.

3,100

Vehicles stolen in Cleveland in the past year. 10

Number of cities for which Forbes produced a unique ‘30 Under 30’ package, including Cleveland, which will host the national summit in October.

14

Number of Ohio counties that will be maternity-care deserts after UH closes its maternity department in Ashland soon.

Photo by Maria Elena Scott

PB organizers at City Hall earlier this year

EXCERPTED FROM DREAM TOWN: SHAKER HEIGHTS AND THE QUEST FOR RACIAL EQUITY, BY LAURA MECKLER.

Published by Henry Holt & Co. Copyright © 2023 by Laura Meckler. All rights reserved.

KATHLEEN FITZSIMONS

LOGGED OFF her antiracism book club feeling despair. She was also confused.

That day, a mob of Donald Trump supporters had stormed the U.S. Capitol in a deadly and terrifying attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. So FitzSimons, who is white, was already shaken when she joined the Zoom call that evening to consider another gutting topic. The group, co-led by her daughter Molly, was discussing The New Jim Crow, by Michelle Alexander, about the devastating impact of the criminal justice system on Black men.

During the conversation, Molly recalled one of their Black neighbors from when she was growing up in the Lomond neighborhood of Shaker Heights and his later experience with police. Kathleen couldn’t remember what her daughter was talking about, and it bothered her. She went to sleep and then, in the middle of the night, woke up suddenly and started remembering.

Kathleen had tuned in to the conversation about race in America, about Black Lives Matter, about antiracism. She was trying to figure out what it meant to be an antiracist, and how that was different from simply not being racist. For her, this book club was helping in her hunt for answers. The idea for the book club had come to Molly when she was helping her mom clean out her apartment and found notes from conversations on race Kathleen had held with friends in the 1970s, after moving to Shaker Heights. “It was very moving to me to see she had been making that effort way back then and we were still in the same spot,” Molly said.

Indeed, for decades, Kathleen had considered herself a small part of

the solution to America’s troubling relationship with race. Now she wondered if it was enough.

Similar antiracism groups had been organized all over Shaker Heights, all over progressive America, really. Lisa Vahey, who had helped lead an Equity Task Force for the Shaker Heights City School District, began a series of Waking Up White discussion groups in Shaker. She kept a public Google document updated with racial equity events and opportunities in and around the community. She regularly emailed several hundred people with information about pending legislation and communitybuilding events around town. She helped distribute 550 Black Lives Matter yard signs, and with each sign, she signed up the recipient for a weekly email guiding them on “how to learn and act.”

“I continued to notice not enough white women were striving to be actively antiracist,” Vahey said. Too many, she said, “had bought into the promise of Shaker” and thought that it was all good because their kid had a Black friend in the fourth grade.

Kathleen and Dan FitzSimons very much bought into the promise of Shaker. She had been raised on the west side of Cleveland, which was almost entirely white and Christian, to parents who cared about social justice, though race was rarely mentioned. After college, Kathleen worked as a probation officer for the juvenile court and saw racial issues up close. Together, she and her husband were drawn to the

idea of a racially diverse community.

They bought a home in Shaker Heights in the 1960s as the city was beginning to embrace and encourage racially integrated housing. Shaker was battling the real estate industry, banks and social pressures that all encouraged white flight as soon as Black residents arrived. The FitzSimons family moved into the Lomond neighborhood, looking to be part of something different.

In the middle of the night after that January 6, 2021, book club meeting, FitzSimons woke up recalling the incident her daughter had referred to involving their neighbor and the police and found herself overcome with memories about her relationships with her Black neighbors. Suddenly, she saw her decades in Shaker in a completely different light. In

an email to the book group the next morning, she detailed her newly remembered experience.

Across the street lived a young Black boy, just a little younger than Molly. FitzSimons remembered, as her daughter had said, that he would later be caught up in the criminal justice system. (In fact, he’d been sentenced to ten years in prison after pleading guilty to voluntary manslaughter, though she didn’t know that.)

Other stories that filled FitzSimons’s mind that night weren’t about crime. They were about everyday life. Living next door was another Black family, the Rushins. The mom was a teacher, and FitzSimons remembered that she had had to fight with teachers at Lomond because they kept putting her sons into the lowestlevel learning groups. Yet all three

Courtesy Henry Holt & Co.

of FitzSimons’s kids had been placed in upper-level groups without her having to ask.

“She had a hell of a time convincing the school that her boys deserved better, and was ultimately unsuccessful,” she wrote in her email. It never occurred to FitzSimons to advocate on her behalf, to say to the school, “What are we doing here?”

One of these boys struggled as he went on in school, a situation FitzSimons attributed to how he was treated at Lomond. Down the street was her babysitter. She was bright and caring and had such a hard time. Her dad was in jail and she had to give her babysitting money to her mom, who was ill and struggling to keep the household together.

“I am flooded with shame when I think now of how little I did to support these families,” FitzSimons wrote on the morning of January 7. “Not that I was so sophisticated or had it all together myself, but what is clear to me now is how little recourse or few resources they had to effectively navigate within the system. Ingrained attitudes, assumptions, and biases among teachers, community members and all the rest of us well-intentioned liberals, made up the invisible barriers that actually prevented their full inclusion.”

It’s not that FitzSimons had it easy. She and her husband had divorced, and she was a single mom with stretched finances. But looking back, she saw that she was better situated than these neighbors, simply because she was white.

It wasn’t just about money. She had been friendly “across the fence,” but never thought to include these neighbors in her wide social circle based on Lomond Boulevard and nearby streets. “We were committed to integration. We thought that was enough,” she said later. “It didn’t occur to me you have to go the next step, you have to invite them over.”

She remembered one experience more fondly. One day she went next door to Janice Rushin’s house to see some new furniture she had just bought. Rushin asked FitzSimons if she had ever heard the Black national anthem. She hadn’t. So Rushin sat down at her piano and played “Lift Every Voice and Sing.” The pair sat together, tears streaming. The music was beautiful, hauntingly so. “It makes me cry to imagine what maybe we could have done together,” FitzSimons said, decades later. “I didn’t know how to go further.”

JANICE RUSHIN DIED IN 2017. Her two sons confirmed most of the basic facts of FitzSimons’s memories, and yet they saw things in a different light.

Michael Rushin, the younger of the two, said he was put into lower-level reading classes because that’s where he belonged. He didn’t love academics and didn’t want to do homework. It wasn’t until he was older that he found his calling: flying. His mom paid for flight lessons, the one thing he wanted to learn. And after college, he became a pilot.

The story was different for his older brother, Mark, who was also placed into the lowest group in kindergarten even though he was academically advanced. The teacher, he said, “had all the Black kids in the lowest group.” His mom had to fight to get him into the middle-level group, and then fight again to get him into the top group, he said.

As he made his way through the Shaker schools, he encountered racism periodically—like the time he took a typing class in summer school and ran into the vice principal, who delivered a lecture about how this was his chance to make up for his bad performance during the year. The vice principal had clearly assumed that Mark had failed a class, even though he had never come close to failing a class. “I said to him, ‘Umm, I’m here taking typing. I don’t need that speech.’ ”

But both Rushin kids had warm memories of Kathleen FitzSimons and her children.

Mark remembered a big party she hosted for all the neighborhood kids. He and her son, Danny, played together all the time. Once, he said, her ex-husband, who was in advertising, took them to an event where they met Mike Phipps, the starting quarterback for the Cleveland Browns Mark also remembered a time when he was in about fourth grade and had to leave school because he was sick with the stomach flu. FitzSimons picked him up and took him home with her, where he proceeded to puke all over her bed. “She can’t say she never did anything [to help]!” Mark said.

Michael said his mom thought of Kathleen FitzSimons as a friend. “My mother loved her,” he said.

Without doubt, Shaker launched both Rushins successfully into the world. Their mom’s battle to get Mark onto a higher academic track paid off. He graduated from Duke University, then the University of

Michigan law school.

Michael, a successful pilot, looks back on his time in Shaker as a sort of bubble, in a good way. “Other places are so segregated,” he said. “That’s the gift Shaker Heights gave me—that diversity. It kind of spoiled me.” Now he is comfortable around other cultures. “I know the Jewish holidays. I know a good corned beef sandwich when I see one,” he said. “I wouldn’t want to have grown up anyplace else.”

Their mother died after years of living with Alzheimer’s disease. At the end, Michael said, when she could no longer remember anyone around her, she still played the piano.

Laura Meckler: In Conversation

Scene: There’s never not an interesting or vital time to talk about race in America, and you’re from Shaker. Setting those two obvious points aside, why this book, this topic, at this moment?

Shaker Heights has an extraordinary history that’s never been told in this way before. The topic was ripe for the longform exploration that good books do so well. But it’s not just history. The challenges for Shaker have changed over time, particularly as the economic divides in the city have grown. And Shaker Heights, and particularly the Shaker schools, are currently working through what it means to serve a racially and economically diverse community and how they can ensure excellence for all. For example, during the course of my reporting, the schools embarked on an ambitious and controversial merging of honors and regular-level courses, and a new facilities plan was debated. But the book was worth writing even without those particular current events because the Shaker story is so rich, complex and ever-evolving. You begin the story with the founding of Shaker Heights. How does that early story relate to what followed?

Shaker Heights was founded as a community for wealthy white Clevelanders looking to escape the city for the promise of exclusivity and the finest things money could buy. That reputation as an uppercrust, elite enclave persisted for many years. Yet the story that has unfolded in more recent years is about whether that suburban dream of comfort can co-exist with the dreams of racial equity and diversity

that Shaker residents have long said they value.

You describe how Shaker developed a national reputation for racial integration. But what prompted Shaker to embrace this identity?

The first Black families moved into the Ludlow neighborhood in the late 1950s. Soon, white and Black people in that area joined together to promote integration—to get to know each other, to promote integrated living and, crucially, to recruit white people in an effort to maintain racial balance. It was not a given that this same approach would spread to the rest of the city. As Black families moved into other neighborhoods, the city was for a time paralyzed. But some key figures pushed city leaders to recognize the reality of what was unfolding. Ultimately the community decided it was better to be seen as a place embracing diversity than fighting it, and that set the course for the decades to come.

How successful has the Shaker schools racial integration program been?

It’s been incredibly successful in getting students of different races into the same school buildings. Schools have been racially balanced for 35 years. It was far less successful in putting students of different races into the same classrooms, with white students much more likely to be enrolled in honors and advanced classes than Black students. A “de-tracking” initiative, begun in 2020, is changing that, with positive and negative results.

Shaker is an incredibly engaged community. Cleveland, meanwhile, struggles to turn out 20% of the voters for elections. What interplay is there between residents who have been beaten down and ignored and the sort of engagement that allows places like Shaker to succeed on the other side?

I think people engage in public debate when they feel like their voice counts and when they have the confidence and agency to demand that the powers that be listen to them. In Shaker Heights there are a lot of residents who fit that description. There are others— and they tend to be lower-income and are more likely to be Black— who don’t feel the same sense of empowerment and are less likely to voice their opinions on questions around the schools and the city.

During a recent planning process for school facilities, residents from lower-income parts of the city were far less likely to weigh in during a feedback gathering process. So I think some of the same challenges that Cleveland experiences are also present in Shaker Heights, though perhaps less acute.

How has it differed from its surrounding neighbors?

When you look at the other innerring suburbs near Shaker Heights, you see how the integration Shaker has embraced was far from inevitable. Warrensville Heights and East Cleveland, to name two, were both once all-white. Today Warrensville Heights is 93 percent Black and East Cleveland is 89 percent Black. That’s not to say there’s anything wrong with a majority or a super-majority Black community, but I believe there’s also real value in living in a diverse community, and those are much harder to find. Cleveland Heights, right next to Shaker Heights, has also had a long track record of racial integration in housing, though the schools are not as racially balanced today as Shaker’s are.

What’s the biggest challenge the Shaker schools face today? Shaker Heights’ top challenge is the same as it ever was: increase achievement and academic excellence levels of kids who are struggling while also delivering a top-notch education for highachieving families of all races who expect and demand it. Shaker cannot ignore either of these imperatives.

What lessons do you draw from Shaker’s experience? Is there

anything here that is applicable to other communities?

The work of sharing community and educating a racially and economically diverse group of students is hard. It takes constant commitment—not just year in and year out, but decade in and decade out. It’s also important that leaders who are trying to do hard things have extraordinary communication abilities—to listen to what people are saying and to speak clearly about their goals and how they plan to reach them. I’ve seen examples of this being done well in Shaker—and examples of it being done poorly.

How does the ultra conservative politicization of school boards and city councils in recent years factor into the possibility of others mirroring Shaker?

The divisions in this country are stark and growing wider. You have school districts like Shaker Heights asking whether they are doing enough to promote racial equity and leaders elsewhere who consider any such efforts not just unnecessary but actively harmful and offensive. I think there are lots of places that hold the same values you find in a place like Shaker, and that’s where you see similar work going on. But that’s much more likely to happen in very liberal or very progressive parts of the country. Because people in communities that are politically mixed need to consider that any initiative seen as “woke” or obsessed with race is probably going to come under scrutiny. And we’ve seen that sometimes that scrutiny can be quite harsh.

scene@clevescene.com

t@clevelandscene

Students at Moreland in 1970 following the adoption of a voluntary busing program.

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

WED 08/23

Six

The six wives of Henry VIII take the mic to remix five hundred years of historical heartbreak into what press materials describe as “an exuberant celebration of 21stcentury girl power.” Tonight’s performance takes place at 7:30 at Connor Palace, where performances continue through Sept. 10. 1615 Euclid Ave., 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org.

THU 08/24

Fun Home

Adapted from Alison Bechdel’s graphic novel memoir, this play explores the “haunting pull of memory and its power to shape one’s identity,” as it’s put in a press release. Cain Park Artistic Director Joanna May Cullinan directs the Cleveland premiere of the play at Cain Park in Cleveland Heights. Performances take place at 7 tonight, tomorrow night and Saturday. A 2 p.m. performance takes place on Sunday. 14591 Superior Rd., Cleveland Heights, 216-371-3000, cainpark. com.

Guardians vs. Los Angeles Dodgers

The Los Angeles Dodgers conclude their one-and-only regular season visit to Progressive Field this year with today’s day game. First pitch is at 1:10 p.m. 2401 Ontario St., 216-420-4487, mlb. com/guardians.

FRI 08/25

The Bald Brothers Tour Featuring Tony Baker and Kevonstage

Standup comics Tony Baker and Kevin Fredericks (aka KevOnStage) bring their co-headlining tour to the Ohio Theatre tonight at 7:30. 1501 Euclid Ave., 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org.

Atsuko Okatsuka: Full Grown Tour

Born in Taiwan, L.A.-based comedian, actress and writer Atsuko Okatsuka won a number of awards for The Intruder, her comedy special debut that aired last year on HBO. She performs at 7 and 9:45 tonight and tomorrow night at Hilarities. 2035 East Fourth St., 216-241-7425,

pickwickandfrolic.com.

Hasu Patel: Mystical Ragas Coinciding with the Cleveland Museum of Art exhibition A Splendid Land: Paintings from Royal Udaipur, Cleveland-based Hasu Patel will present an evening of ragas inspired by India’s monsoon season. Trained in Gujarat, a region bordering the kingdom of Mewar, Patel is one of the few contemporary world-class female artists performing classical music on sitar, specializing in a style known as gayaki ang, where the sitar “replicates the fluidity and subtle nuances of the human voice.” Tonight’s performance at the Cleveland Museum of Art begins at 7:30.

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

SAT 08/26

Impressions of France and Spain

Expect to hear music from the French Impressionistic period when violinist Simone Lamsma joined the Cleveland Orchestra for this concert at Blossom. It begins at 7 p.m.

1145 W Steels Corners Rd., Cuyahoga Falls, clevelandorchestra. com.

Queer Print + Zine Fair & Queer Letterpress Exhibition

Local, regional and national queer printmakers and zinesters will set up booths in Zygote Press’s parking lot for this event. You can also expect Queer-owned food trucks, free printmaking demos and other activities for the whole family. Zygote’s Gallery will be filled floor-to-ceiling with the work of Queer-identifing printmakers for the group show We’re Here, We’re Queer. Co-Organizers Brittany

M. Hudak and Brittany Gorelick have brought together works from across the country (and Canada) that specifically address views of the Queer experience via the art form of Letterpress. The event takes place from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. 1410 East 30th St., 216-621-2900, zygotepress.com.

SUN 08/27

Jokes on You

Inspired by crowd work clinicians like Dave Attell, Ian Bagg, and Big Jay Oakerson, Jokes On You

makes the audience the center of the show by “pushing comics to avoid prepared material or written jokes and instead focus on organic interaction with the audience,” as it’s put in a press release about this event, which takes place tonight at 7 at Hilarities. John Bruton and Jimmie Graham host the event. 2035 East Fourth St., 216-241-7425, pickwickandfrolic.com.

MON 08/28

Memorial Monday

Every Monday through Sept.25, Fort Huntington Park, hosts food tracks and live music between 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. for this special event. Admission is free, but the food will cost you.

West 3rd St. and West Lakeside Ave., downtowncleveland.com.

TUE 08/29

Lyrical Rhythms Open Mic and Chill

This long-running open mic night at the B Side in Cleveland Heights 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.

WED 08/30

Walnut Wednesday

Walnut Wednesday is one of summer’s great traditions. Today from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Perk Plaza at Chester Commons — at East 12th and Walnut streets — food trucks gather to serve up lunch to area residents and employees. Follow the Downtown Cleveland Alliance on Facebook for weekly updates on vendors, entertainment offerings and more. The series continues through Sept. 7. Admission is free, but the food will cost you. downtowncleveland.com.

THU 08/31

East Shore Park Club Free Summer Concert Series

This annual summer concert series featuring local bands bills itself as a family friendly event that welcomes “well-behaved dogs on leashes.” You can bring a picnic or purchase food from the vendors on site. The event runs from 7 to 9:30 p.m. at the East Shore Park

Hasu Patel performs at the Cleveland Museum of Art. See: Friday, Aug. 25. | Courtesy of Hasu Patel

Club. Admission is free.

17213 Dorchester Road, 216-3830445, facebook.com/ESPCmusic/.

FRI 09/01

Chico Bean

Fast-talking diminutive comedian Chico Bean likes to joke that he “can’t tolerate a taller woman” because she might superglue his keys to the ceiling fan to make sure that he can’t retrieve them. Bean started his comedy career in Greensboro, North Carolina, and became a founding member of the Freestyle Funny Comedy Show along with fellow cast members B-Daht and Darren Brand. Bean is also part of the podcast 85 South Show with fellow cast members

Karlous Miller, DC Young Fly and Clayton English. He performs tonight at 7:30 and 10 at the Improv, where he has shows scheduled through Sunday. Consult the club’s website for more info.

1148 Main Ave., 216-696-IMPROV, clevelandimprov.com.

Cleveland Oktoberfest

The annual Paulaner Cleveland Oktoberfest kicks off today at Cuyahoga County Fairgrounds. The fest features more than 15 different types of Oktoberfeststyle beers, German and European restaurants, bands from all over the world, vendors and local artisans, a daily beer stein-holding contest, the largest glockenspiel in the country, wiener dog races, a Miss Oktoberfest contest, a 5-K race and entertainment for all ages. More than 100,000 people are expected to attend the event. Festivities continue through Sunday, and the festival will also take place on Sept. 8 and 9 at the fairgrounds. Consult the website for a schedule and hours of operation.

19201 East Bagley Rd., Middleburg Heights, 440- 243-0090, clevelandoktoberfest.com.

Disney: The Sound of Magic Celebrating 100 Years of Animation

The Cleveland Orchestra celebrates 100 years of Disney with this concert that takes place tonight at 7 at Blossom. “Performed live by a symphony orchestra, this new concert takes you on a magic carpet ride through the most memorable song, score, and movie moments of the first 100 years of the Walt Disney Company,” reads a press release about the event.

1145 W Steels Corners Rd., Cuyahoga Falls, clevelandorchestra. com.

Guardians vs. Tampa Bay Rays

The Tampa Bay Rays, one of the best teams in all of Major League Baseball, come to Progressive Field this week for a three-game series. First pitch is at 7:10 p.m., and there is a Free Shirt Friday giveaway happening as well.

2401 Ontario St., 216-420-4487, mlb. com/guardians.

Tommy Ryman

A semifinalist on the NBC comedy show Last Comic Standing, Tommy Ryman has been on Nickelodeon’s NickMom Night Out and has had a full comedy special on Dry Bar Comedy. His act is reportedly “absurdist and clever.” He performs tonight at 7 at Cain Park in Cleveland Heights.

14591 Superior Rd., Cleveland Heights, 216-371-3000, cainpark. com.

SAT 09/02

Cleveland National Air Show

The U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds will be part of this year’s annual Cleveland National Air Show that takes place today, tomorrow and Monday at Burke Airport. Note that tickets will only be sold online in advance of the event and not at the gate. Find more info on the website. 2301 N. Marginal Rd., clevelandairshow.com.

SUN 09/03

Reggae Sundays

This special Reggae Sunday Happy Hour Concert series at the Music Box Supper Club takes place rain or shine with live music from 4 to 7:30 p.m. Music Box will also offer food and drink specials exclusive to the series and will serve up island cocktails at its outdoor Tiki bar. 1148 Main Ave., 216-242-1250, musicboxcle.com.

MON 09/04

Guardians vs. Minnesota Twins

The Guardians and the Minnesota Twins have fought for first place in the AL Central for most of the season, so tonight’s game between the two teams should be a good one. The series concludes on Wednesday. First pitch is at 6:10.

2401 Ontario St., 216-420-4487, mlb.

scene@clevescene.com

t@clevelandscene

MOVIES

RIGHT ON TRACK

Gran Turismo tells the thrilling (true!) story of a video gamer who became a race car sensation

By Craig D. Lindsey

AS WE WIND DOWN this very crazy summer of movies, where the two biggest hits were a gonzo, feminist manifesto starring an iconic toy doll and a time-twisting biopic about the guy who invented the atomic bomb (that is, when he wasn’t getting butt-bald-nekkid with Florence Pugh), I think it’s best we close things out with some good ol’ earnest, energetic entertainment.

Thankfully, Gran Turismo, which was originally scheduled to come out a couple weeks ago (the Barbenheimer blitz made Sony push it to the end of the month), is here to provide some high-speed melodrama during these dog days of summer.

Yes, it’s based on the racing simulation video game, but it’s mainly about Jann Mardenborough (played by Archie Madekwe), a Welsh teen who actually became a professional racer thanks to years of playing the game. He wins a spot in the GT Academy, a competition set up by a Nissan marketing executive (Orlando Bloom) who takes sim racers and gives them the chance to get on the track for real and probably turn pro. In the film, the whole thing is overseen by Jack Salter (David Harbour), a hard-onthe-balls, American engineer whose racing days are long behind him.

As we follow Mardenborough’s journey from ridiculed gamer to legit racer, Gran Turismo becomes another fact-based tale of a nobody proving to everyone — from stuckup racing rivals to his own family — that he’s not a lazy bum. Our protagonist mainly goes on this journey to show his disapproving, working-class, ex-footballer dad (Djimon Hounsou) that he didn’t spend his entire youth in his room figuratively and literally jerking off. (BTW, his mom is played by Geri Halliwell Horner — Ginger Spice herself!)

Once he’s at the academy, he puts up with prima donna contenders and Salter’s rigorous regimen of backbreaking training, racetrack-driving lessons and condescending taunts. Eventually, he perseveres and works his way through various global races, where he attempts to use his

sim-racing skills and tries not to kill himself or others in the process.

This underdog story has been kicking around Tinseltown for a decade; Top Gun: Maverick’s Joseph Kosinski was even once attached to direct. Eventually District 9 director Neill Blomkamp took a break from doing dystopian sci-fi flicks and went into director-forhire mode for this one. He took the script Alex Tse ( Watchmen) wrote — later rewritten and polished by Jason Hall (American Spider) & Zach Baylin (King Richard) — and made the sort of high-octane, feel-good movie that’s perfect to watch with your dad.

The drama is enveloping both on and off the track. Along with cinematographer Jacques Jouffret and editors Colby Parker, Jr. and Austyn Daines, Blomkamp serves up adrenaline-pumping racing sequences that keep us enthralled,

mostly because they feel authentic and not CGIed all to hell. (As Tom Cruise now proves every summer, people still like it when actors look like they are actually doing realistic, dangerous shit in movies.)

When he’s not speeding all over the gotdamn place, Madekwe plays his real-life character with just the right amount of charismatic humility. He’s such an eccentric, baby-faced go-getter (before every race, he gets in the zone by listening to Enya and Kenny G — two artists who are on Mardenborough’s actual playlist), you can’t help but

be with him every step of the way. Even Harbour’s crabby cynic takes a shine to the kid, pushing him to become the best while Bloom’s publicity-minded exec — yeah, Katy Perry’s boo is more self-absorbed than studly in this — works to make the boy a sports sensation.

Basically, Gran Turismo is the type of crowd-pleasing, fact-based sports movie Disney used to make before the uber-studio shifted its attention to Marvel, Star Wars and other IP it can’t stop milking for all it’s worth. Although its story of a regular kid who overcomes unbeatable odds to become a competitive star has been told oodles of times before, thanks to Blomkamp and company, Gran Turismo makes all the right turns.

GRAN TURISMO

DIRECTED BY NEILL BLOMKAMP.

WRITTEN BY JASON HALL AND ZACH BAYLIN, BASED ON A STORY BY JASON HALL AND ALEX TSE. OPENS AUGUST 25.

David Harbour (right) teaches Archie Madekwe how to take his talents from sim racing to the real deal. COURTESY SONY PICTURES CLASSICS / GRANTURISMOSONYPICTURES

PLANTING A FLAG

At Tita Flora’s, a taste of home for some and an introduction to authentic Filipino food for the rest of Cleveland

By Douglas Trattner

LIKE MOST CUISINES,

Filipino food is being redefined by the modern-day chefs who are preparing it. In cities like Chicago, New York and even Columbus, Filipino-American chefs are taking traditional recipes and updating them to appeal to contemporary diners. To find conventional preparations of the classics, a diner likely would have better luck inveigling an invitation to a family feast than by securing a restaurant reservation.

That’s not the case at Tita Flora’s, a new Filipino restaurant in Independence. Chef and owner Flora Grk believes that her mission is best served by sticking to tradition. In a market like Cleveland, where commercially available Filipino food is still very much a rarity, Grk wants to provide first-timers with an authentic baseline experience.

“We never had a Filipino restaurant, so not everyone knows what it tastes like,” she explains. “I would like them to try authentic Filipino dishes that I will serve and hopefully the people will love it.”

After working “every job in the restaurant industry” for 25 years, Manila-born Grk struck out on her own this summer. Propelled by her passion to share her culture through food, she opened a modest but cheery 60-seat restaurant in a brick-clad strip mall. For newbies, Tita Flora’s is a great place to go to explore Filipino food. For FilipinoAmericans, Tito Flora’s is a great place to go to get out of cooking dinner. As such, Grk sees a 50/50 mix of those types of customers on most days.

Filipino food is accessible but exciting, boldly flavored dishes redolent of soy, garlic and vinegar. Most offer up a compelling interplay of sweet, sour and salty. Adobo, arguably the national dish of the Philippines, is a mouthwatering stew of tender meat and tangy sauce. Flora uses whole bone-in chicken to maximize flavor. We ordered the pork adobo ($14), which featured large chunks of both lean and fatty meat that have been braised into submission.

I’ve had sisig ($15), another celebrated Filipino dish, a handful of times, but I don’t recall it being this electric. Served on a sizzling platter, the small-diced pork belly continues to sear in the pan until the edges are crisp and golden. The meat is cooked with onions and garlic and enough bird’s eye chile to make it prickly but not oppressive. It is garnished with a raw egg and drizzle of mayo, which get stirred in at the table for added richness. Most dishes come with white rice, but for an extra $2 you can upgrade to garlic rice, white rice seasoned with enough garlic oil to keep the vampires at bay.

If adobo and sisig are the flashy leads, pancit ($13) is the humble costar. Springy rice noodles are stirfried in a mild but umami-rich sauce with julienned veggies and a choice

of proteins such as tofu, chicken and shrimp.

Grk twists up exceptional lumpia ($6), slender and crunchy spring rolls filled with pork and vegetables. They are served with a sweet chili dipping sauce. In another starter, marinated pork ($8) is skewered and grilled until well-browned and savory. Those are served with a bright and bracing vinegar and onion-based sauce. Tita Flora

Tita Flora’s also offers a variety of silog, comforting all-day breakfast dishes comprised of meat, garlic rice and a fried egg. Grk sprinkles in the occasional special, like dinuguan, a stew made with pork and pork blood.

“This is a very traditional Filipino dish that not a lot of people can make at home, so I try and do it as a special,” says Grk. “It has pork blood, but it’s really good.”

Every meal ends with a dish of halo-halo ($10), a kitchen-sink dessert that combines ice cream, evaporated milk, crushed ice, tapioca pearls, coconut and candy.

“That’s why they name it halohalo, it’s a mix of everything,” explains Grk. “Halo-halo means mixmix in English.”

Grk says that she’s still ramping up staff so that she can expand her hours of operation, open all day on weekends, and increase carry out capacity. Going forward, she plans to change up the menu every couple of months by incorporating new items, eliminating slow movers and continuing to feature specials. In the coming weeks, Grk hopes to open for lunch.

For diners hungry to experience something new – or those in search of a long-lost taste of home – Tita Flora is eager to feed you.

Photo by Doug Trattner

BITES

Luna Bakery and Cafe now open downtown

By Douglas Trattner

BRIDGET THIBEAULT JUST

put the finishing touches on a project she started one and half years ago, when Joe Kubic recruited her to open a café on the ground floor of the Western Reserve Building, home to his marketing firm Adcom.

“I never would have come down here without Joe pushing me,” says Thibeault.

This newest location for Luna Bakery and Café (1468 W. Ninth St.), which launched in Cleveland Heights a dozen years ago and added a Moreland Hills café in 2018, opened this week. The 2,500-squarefoot space seats about 55 indoors, with room for more out front and in the attractive hallway.

Like the other two locations, downtown Luna will offer madefrom-scratch options that run the gamut from sweet treats to healthy bowls. This area of downtown was starved for a high-quality, locally owned breakfast and lunch place.

Since opening in 2012, Luna has evolved from a bakery to a fullfledged café. In addition to flaky croissants – including the heavenly cream cheese-stuffed everything croissant – scones, cookies, muffins and sticky buns, Luna is the place to go for fresh salads, wholesome grain bowls and panini sandwiches. Don’t skip the made-to-order crepes, available in both sweet (Nutella, lemon sugar, chocolate and fruit) and savory (ham and egg, mozzarella and spinach, smoked turkey) varieties.

For now, the downtown store will be open only Monday through Friday.

Now Open: Edacious Kitchen + Bar in Avon Lake

Chef Andrew Gorski, formerly of Parker’s Downtown, was in search of his next project. It happened to be in his hometown of Avon Lake.

When Dennis and Andrea Luke decided to close their five-yearold restaurant The Caslon, Gorski jumped at the chance to take over the property. In less than two months, he refreshed the entire

space and reopened it in late July as Edacious Kitchen + Bar (33451 Lake Rd., 440-653-5995).

The elevated neighborhood tavern seats 45 in the bar and dining room and another 34 outside on a newly added patio.

Gorski describes the food as “American rustic.”

“It’s American food that people know but done in a rustic way,” he explains. “Nothing pretentious, nothing high-end, no crazy plating, just well executed and technique driven.”

Most tables kick off their meals with the bread service, which pairs warm focaccia with smoked olive oil. Orecchiette pasta, grilled corn and maitake mushrooms are tossed in a lobster tarragon cream sauce. Seared scallops are topped with cashew butter and crispy quinoa. The two biggest sellers, says Gorski, are the Hatch chile smash burgers and the lobster and brie, an indulgent mix of poached lobster and triple-cream brie.

Gorski says the plan is to keep the menu concise – it sits at 17 items total right now – but to swap it out every two months.

“Being a smaller menu and locally driven restaurant, I’ve been seeing the same people in here two or three times a week, so I want to keep them from getting bored from seeing the same things,” he says.

Edacious has a full bar and is dinner-only for now. Sunday brunch will be added by mid-September, according to the chef.

Tricky Tortoise to Open in Former Willoughby Brewing Company Spot

Willoughby Brewing Company, launched in 1998 by T.J. Reagan, helped spur the revitalization of downtown Willoughby while simultaneously making some damn fine craft beer. The award-winning brewpub, set in a 120-year-old railcar repair depot, enjoyed a remarkable run under a handful of owners until January 2020, when the landlord locked out the last owners for nonpayment of rent.

Since then, the hulking

property has sat fallow. But as luck would have it, entrepreneur Bobby Ehasz was looking for his next craft beer project. Ehasz, a career military guy, is a partner in Pompatus Brewing, a nano brewery in Bainbridge. While scouting locations for possible expansion, he was pointed in the direction of downtown Willoughby. While the former brewpub was not a good fit for Pompatus, it was too good of an opportunity to pass up, he says.

“In `96, `98 when they were building this place out, they had some real vision,” he explains. “Whoever did that was brilliant; they really did a beautiful job getting this place built.”

Already work has begun to convert the former Willoughby Brewing into Tricky Tortoise (4057 Erie St.). It’s a hefty undertaking considering the building’s current state of affairs, but Ehasz is already knee-deep into the venture.

In terms of interior renovations, Ehasz says the goal is to strike a balance between the building’s rich history and classic architecture and the desire to create something more modern, crisp and bright.

“There’s a lot of history here, and it’s a beautiful, gorgeous, historic building,” he says. “It just feels heavy.”

Ehasz intends to preserve the artfully painted classic beer labels that adorn the brick walls. And that elevated model train that circles above? It’s non negotiable, he says.

“My father-in-law is a train engineer, so when we walked in the place my wife is like, ‘We’re keeping the train,’” he says.

In terms of food service, Ehasz says the emphasis will be on “brew” rather than “pub.” After all, the dining scene has exploded all around the brewery in recent years.

“I don’t want to be a restaurant that serves beer, I want to be a brewery that will feed you,” he explains. “My intent is to strip the kitchen and really cut it back. I’m not going to stand there and sauté people’s green beans. That’s not what we need to be doing.”

He envisions a simple pub menu with items like wings, pizza,

pierogies and pie, but that could change once he hires a kitchen manager.

Ehasz’ first major hire was Caleb Brown, a brewer who worked at Platform/AB and Thirsty Dog. Brown is inheriting a storied brewhouse – one that turned out award-winners like Peanut Butter Cup Coffee Porter and Railway Razz – but guests can expect Brown to start with mainly classic styles, albeit with his own twist.

“It will be fun to see what the equipment and space creates,” he explains. “You know, a lot of times a brewery has a house flavor, so to say, and we’ll see how that’s changed and what trajectory it takes.”

Brown has been on the job for months and he’s excited to fire up the brewhouse, get the beer flowing and become a member of this closeknit community.

“Willoughby is such a unique place and Willoughby Brewing was such a cornerstone to the whole city, especially that downtown area, that getting it back up and running is more than just the brewery, it’s part of the essence of that community up there,” he says.

Ehasz has set an ambitious goal for himself when it comes to opening the doors.

“We are trying to figure out a way to get through all the paperwork and all the processes and all the health departments and all the licenses and everything else to have some sort of soft opening party for Halloween,” he says. dtrattner@clevescene.com t

Photo by Doug Trattner

MUSIC

FIRST WAVE RIDERS

X will play its classic punk tracks and new material at House of Blues

By Jeff Niesel

FORMED IN 1977, X quickly established itself as one of the best bands in the first wave of L.A.’s punk scene. Featuring singer Exene Cervenka, singer-bassist John Doe, guitarist Billy Zoom and drummer DJ Bonebrake, the band released its debut single, “Adult Books”/”We’re Desperate,” and then steadily toured and recorded. Rolling Stone rightly ranks X’s first two studio albums, Los Angeles and Wild Gift, among the top 500 greatest albums of all time.

The band continues to tour with the original line-up fully intact, and X’s current trek brings it to House of Blues on Tuesday, Aug. 29.

In 2020, X celebrated the 40th Anniversary of Los Angeles and then delivered a surprise release of Alphabetland, its first new studio album featuring the original line-up in 35 years. The group is currently working on more new material.

In this recent conference call, Cervenka and Doe discuss the band’s remarkable career and their ability to keep producing compelling new music.

You’ve been working on new music. Talk about when you started developing the new material?

Cervenka: We put out Alphabetland during the height of the pandemic. We couldn’t tour, and we waited so long to do a record, and then, everybody’s life got postponed. If that pandemic wouldn’t have happened, the record would have come out in a more timely fashion, and we would have toured more behind it. We could have just said, “Ok. We made a new record, and that’s that.” Because we couldn’t really say that, we have to make another record. We

are working on songs, and they’re going very well. We did four of them live at the last set of shows. Everyone liked them a lot. I had people telling me they really liked them and that they fit in. I We have more confidence now that we did that last album and can write songs all day and come up with good ideas. We’re not worried or inhibited or thinking they won’t be as good.

Doe: At first, I was daunted. I thought, “Why? What? Who cares?” But that is what all artists go through even if you’re at the top and did the best record ever. I thought nobody would want to hear a new album. Once we started writing songs together, I thought oddly enough that they’re very catchy. This group of songs is much catchier than Alphabetland That’s unexpected. I don’t know what happened. The choruses came together in a better way. It’s exciting to have new material. Then, you don’t feel like you’re just an oldies act, which we have never been. We haven’t had the luxury of playing casinos and county fairs.

Cervenka: But that would be my dream come true! They’re my favorite things in the world.

Doe: To do that, we’d have to go back to 1981 to make “White Girl” an actual radio hit in order to do that. It’s probably a mixed blessing for Joan Jett or Blondie or other people from our era. They can play any time they want and get good money at those kinds of places. Then, you’re at some odd place in Wisconsin playing a country fair and thinking, “Holy shit!”

On a personal level, how have

you evolved as an artist since X’s conception in 1977.

Cervenka: Maybe a college student could do a term paper on that, but I can’t talk about that. Are you kidding? That would be a really long answer. I was always more of a visual artist than a poet, but I don’t know. In some ways, [my approach to music] is the same, and in some ways, it’s totally different. I don’t analyze the reasons why. Doe: Maybe I should say how Exene has changed, and she could say how I have changed. If anything, I’ve just become a lot more direct and economical. I’m also surprised at how little I knew but how convinced I was of what I thought I knew [back then]. That can be very humbling and sort of embarrassing, but that’s what you’re like when you’re 25 to 35 years old. You have a lot of views. I’m always amazed at how Exene continues to write as much as she does and how consistently great it all is. There are plenty of people who have a rush of the Romantic poet in them and then kind of rehash things, or it dries up and is not as good. The funny thing on this new stuff is that it’s easy for me to find music to it because the rhythm is so good.

What made you initially decide to share lead vocals duties?

Cervenka: You used the “d” word. You said “decide.” There were no

decisions made. You showed up and did whatever you felt like doing. John was such a great singer, and I had never sung in my life. I thought, “Why I am even here?” So, it was better to take turns. [In hindsight,] it’s so smart. We didn’t realize we would live a long time. But now, I’m 67, and I wouldn’t want to sing the entire 90-minute set myself. It would kill me. I get to hang out half the time. When it’s my turn, I’m ready to go. We can switch back and forth and keep going forever that way.

Doe: I agree with that. There was ever anything premeditated or calculated about what we did.

Cervenka: People think we had an agenda or plan. That wasn’t at all what we were doing. That’s true for all those bands. It was minute-tominute.

Doe: That’s true. It wasn’t so much that I didn’t think that I could sing everything all the time. I just didn’t want to. I would rather have a partner. Once it got going, we all realized it was unique. It also deflects a lot of that that ego/ attention. You’re not the main attraction. There is more. We’re very fortunate in that we all have unique personalities and hold up an end of the table. That’s what a good band is about.

X.

DEAD ROCK WEST, 7 P.M. TUESDAY, AUG. 29, HOUSE OF BLUES, 308 EUCLID AVE., 216-523-2583. TICKETS: $29, HOUSEOFBLUES.COM.

X. | Gary Leonard

LIVEWIRE Real music in the real world

step-dancing, drum-banging and bagpipe fusion music.” The concert begins at 8 p.m. at Cain Park in Cleveland Heights. Another Celtic act, the Tartan Terrors open the show.

14591 Superior Rd., Cleveland Heights, 216-371-3000, cainpark. com.

FRI 08/25

The 5 Seconds of Summer Show

THU 08/24

The Baseball Project

This indie rock supergroup featuring Peter Buck, Scott McCaughey, Mike Mills, Linda Pitmon and Steve Wynn performs tonight at 7 at the Beachland Ballroom. The group will perform two seats featuring twangy tunes about players such as Mark Fydrich and Shohei Ohtani.

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

Barry Manilow: Live in Cleveland! Crooner Barry Manilow might not possess the pipes he had in the 1970s, but he’s still go the songs. And that makes sense. After all, he’s the guy who “writes the songs,” as he puts it in one of his biggest hits. Expect to hear “Mandy,” “I Write the Songs,” “Can’t Smile Without You” and “Copacabana (at the Copa)” when the veteran singer-songwriter comes to Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse tonight at 7. 1 Center Court, 216-420-2000, rocketmortgagefieldhouse.com.

Parliament Funkadelic Featuring George Clinton

George Clinton’s influence on music is exhaustive as acts such as Outkast, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg and De La Soul all cite him as an influence. His storied group Parliament Funkadelic brings its farewell tour to town tonight for a show that takes place at 7:30 at MGM Northfield Park —Center Stage.

10705 Northfield Rd., Northfield, 330-908-7793, mgmnorthfieldpark. mgmresorts.com/en.html.

The Red Hot Chilli Pipers & the Tartan Terrors

These two musical acts team up for what a press releases promises will be “a rip-roaring night of energetic

On the heels of the release of The Feeling of Falling Upwards – Live from the Royal Albert Hall, the pop group 5 Seconds of Summer hit the road for a summer trek that brings it to Blossom tonight. The new album includes reimagined versions of songs from the group’s 11-year catalog including brand-new songs from the band’s fifth studio album, 5SOS5. The group performs tonight at 7 at Blossom.

1145 W. Steels Corners Rd., Cuyahoga Falls, 216-231-1111, livenation.com.

Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Evening

For several years now, drummer Jason Bonham, the son of the late Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham, has paid tribute to his father’s legacy with rock icons Led Zeppelin with a touring tribute show. Bonham plays tunes from Zeppelin albums such as Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin II, Led Zeppelin IV and Physical Graffiti. The show returns to MGM Northfield Park — Center Stage tonight at 8. 10705 Northfield Rd., Northfield, 330-908-7793, mgmnorthfieldpark.mgmresorts. com/en.html.

An Evening with George Benson

This jazz/pop/R&B singer has released 36 studio albums and eight live albums over the course of a career that dates back to the 1970s. In 2009, he received the NEA Jazz Masters Fellowship, one of the highest honors an American jazz artist could receive. He performs tonight at 8 at Cain Park in Cleveland Heights.

14591 Superior Rd., Cleveland Heights, 216-371-3000, cainpark. com.

King Buffalo

This self-proclaimed heavy psych band has toured with the likes

of Clutch, Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats, All Them Witches, and the Sword and Elder. It comes to the Rock Hall tonight at 8. DANA opens. Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, 1100 Rock and Roll Blvd., 216-5158444, rockhall.com.

SAT 08/26

Cereal Banter Release Show

The experimental local band Cereal Banter celebrates the release of its new album, Kinder Blips, with tonight’s show at the Happy Dog. The album features the “Crypsis Crisis” single that the band issued last year, and includes “Nice World,” a nod to electronic music groundbreaker Dan Deacon. MagneticWest and Nothing Phase open. The music starts at 9. 5801 Detroit Ave., 216-651-9474, happydogcleveland.com.

Don Felder

Former Eagles guitarist Don Felder recruited the likes of Slash, Sammy Hagar, Peter Frampton, Mick Fleetwood, Joe Satriani, Orianthi, Richie Sambora and Alex Lifeson to play on his latest solo effort, American Rock ’N’ Roll. Expect to hear songs from it as well as “Hotel California,” the Eagles track he famously co-wrote with Don Henley and Glenn Frey. The classic rock guitarist performs tonight at 8 at MGM Northfield Park — Center Stage.

10705 Northfield Rd., Northfield, 330-908-7793, mgmnorthfieldpark. mgmresorts.com/en.html.

Z107.9 Summer Jam

The local hip-hop station’s summer festival comes to Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. MoneyBagg Yo, Nardo Wick, Toosii, Finesse2tymes, Sexxyy Red, Luh Tyler and Superstar Pride are all slated to perform. The music begins at 6 p.m. 1 Center Court, 216-420-2000, rocketmortgagefieldhouse.com.

SUN 08/27

Disturbed: Take Back Your Life Tour

This hard rock band’s Take Back Your Life tour represents its first full tour since 2018 and supports its eighth full-length album, Divisive, which it recorded with producer Drew Fulk (Motionless in White, Lil Peep, Highly Suspect) in

Nashville. “Hey You,” the album’s first single, a song with ‘90s industrial rock undertones, became a big hit, and the current single, “Bad Man” is currently charting. The band returns to Blossom tonight at 6:30. Breaking Benjamin and Jinjer open.

1145 W. Steels Corners Rd., Cuyahoga Falls, 216-231-1111, livenation.com.

TUE 09/02

Ledisi

This New Orleans-born soul singer has racked up a number of prestigious awards (three Soul Train Music, an NAACP Theater Award, six NAACP Image Award nominations) since she started her career in the late 1990s. She performs tonight at 8 at Cain Park. 14591 Superior Rd., Cleveland Heights, 216-371-3000, cainpark. com.

Trippie Redd — Take Me Away Tour

Since delivering his debut mixtape, 2017’s A Love Letter to You, this Ohio native who mixes rap, rock and heavy metal, has become a superstar. He’s collaborated with acts such as Drake, Future, Travis Scott, XXXTENTACION, Juice WRLD, Travis Barker, Illenium and Marshmello. Redd brings his Take Me Away tour in support of his new album, A Love Letter to You 5, to Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse tonight at 7:30. LUCKI opens the show.

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

TUE 09/05

Max Weinberg’s Jukebox

Drummer Max Weinberg, the guy who anchors Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band, performs at 8 tonight at Cain Park in Cleveland Heights. For this special show, Weinberg invites the audience to create the set list in real time. He and his four-piece group, who can play just about any classic R&B/soul or rock/ pop tune, will then play the set. 14591 Superior Rd., Cleveland Heights, 216-600-5338, cainpark. com.

5 Seconds of Summer comes to Blossom. See: Friday, Aug. 25. | Andy Deluca

SAVAGE LOVE

SHE WILL NOT BE IGNORED

By Dan Savage

Dear Readers: I’m off this this week, so please enjoy this evergreen column from February 2011. If you’re wondering whether I’ve gotten any nicer over the past 12 years, this column is proof that I’ve gotten nicer. Way nicer. Enjoy! – Dan

I’ve written before, but I didn’t hear back from you—probably because my e-mail didn’t contain flogging or santorum or whatever. But I won’t be IGNORED, Dan. My question: I’m a 32-year-old female. Second marriage, two kids: one kid with my ex and one with the man I cheated on my ex with (my current husband). My problem: A year ago, I found my “first love” on a social network. I’d been looking for him off and on for more than 16 years. This person was a jerk who left me for one of my friends back in high school. But he was and still is the love of my life. Always has been. Always will be. He is not married, has never been married, and has no children. We began an affair about seven months after finding each other. My marriage, my second marriage, had been rocky before this. My second husband, of three years, stopped having sex with me after I became pregnant, and this continued after our child was born. We tried counseling. It didn’t help. In no way am I using this as an excuse. I know what I’ve done is wrong. But I also have a pretty bad track record and have cheated on every man I’ve ever been with, except for my first love.

This man, my first love, is the worst person in the world for me. Yet I’m in love with him. I have ALWAYS been in love with him. He wants me to leave my white-collar husband for him, a very blue-collar guy. I live in a nice home in the suburbs; my first love lives in a small apartment in the city. Five months after we began having sex with each other, my current husband found out. Instead of leaving me, he has turned into a different man: extremely loving and attentive. He says this experience has made him realize how much he loves me and that he doesn’t want to lose me.

My other problem: I didn’t begin this affair to get my second husband’s attention. I began it because I’m in love with my first love and always have been. My husband knows of my deep feelings for my “first.” I mention divorce often, but it falls on deaf ears. I want to do what is best for my kids—and that would be staying right where I am. But I feel my only chance for “true” love, if there is such a thing, is passing me by. I’ve never felt for anyone as I do for this man. Every man who has come into my life AFTER him knew

about him and knew that if he ever came back for me, I was gone. This includes my current husband. Dan, pull out all the stops on this one, as you famously do, and please tell me what to do.

Serial Cheater In Love

I’ve read what you’ve written before, SCIL, but I didn’t respond because I didn’t have much to say to you and I still don’t. I had the same reaction reading your e-mail today that I had reading all the other e-mails you’ve sent. My reaction is a little selfish, and I’m a little embarrassed to share it with you. But you keep asking, SCIL, and so here it is:

THIS BITCH CAN GET LEGALLY MARRIED AND I CAN’T?!?!

Sorry, sorry, sorry. That was cunty of me — nowhere near the level of compassionate professionalism that people expect of me — and so now I’m going to have to make amends by scrounging up some of that advice shit you’re after. But I’m going to offer you my advice on one condition: You don’t write to me ever again.

Okay!

You say you’ve cheated on every man you’ve ever been with, with the exception of your “first love,” SCIL, and you regard that as a sign your first love was your true love. But I see signs of circular reasoning/ magical thinking — you’ve concluded that he must be the love of your life because

you didn’t cheat on him, and you didn’t cheat on him because he’s the love of your life. No. You didn’t cheat on him, SCIL, because you didn’t get around to it. You two broke up when you were 15 years old. If you’d been with him a little longer — another week, maybe two — you would’ve cheated on him like you’ve cheated on everybody else.

If you leave your current husband and break up your first child’s second home and your second child’s first home and go back to your first love, SCIL, it won’t be long before you get around to cheating on the love of your life, too. Because you’re a cheater. You’re a habitual, serial cheater. You’re precisely the kind of person who shouldn’t make monogamous commitments. Or get married. Or have children.

So, what should you do? Stay? Go? Frankly, SCIL, I don’t give a fuck. Stay or go, it’s not going to make a fuck of a lot of difference. Your personal life is a mess, SCIL, and it always will be. Because, you see, wherever you go, there you are.

That said: If your current husband doesn’t mind being cheated on, if he can put up with your affairs and wants to put your children first, then I think you should stay with him for the sake of your kids. They deserve whatever stability and continuity you can scrounge up for them between infidelities.

Again, if you leave your current husband for the love of your life, SCIL, it won’t be long before you’re cheating on your third husband and preparing to uproot your kids a third/second time. I know it, you know it, everyone out there reading this knows it, even your current husband seems to know it.

So just stay put, okay?

My girlfriend of two years, my first real relationship, broke up with me a month ago. Although I felt like shit for most of that month, we somehow managed to struggle through to a close friendship. I wouldn’t say I’m entirely over her, but I understand why it happened and that we won’t be getting back together. All in all, I’ve felt like we’ve both been pretty mature, and things are going well.

The complication: We still find each other attractive, and we work very well together sexually. So, she proposed an FWB arrangement, and I said yes. We laid down ground rules — we are not together, we are just friends who fuck, so no “I love you,” no commitments, no expectations — and we started having hot sex. Is this foolhardy? We both know that I’d prefer something more. So, the question remains: Should we keep fucking?

Can’t Recall Acronym Procedure

How are you going to feel when your ex-girlfriend/current-fuck-buddy finds a new boyfriend and ends your FWB arrangement? If you can honestly answer, “I’ll be happy for her,” then you can keep fucking her — but don’t forget to ask for your balls back when she dumps you that second time.

If you can’t say that and you decide to keep fucking the ex-girlfriend anyway, CRAP, you wouldn’t be the first lovesick dumpee who agreed an FWB arrangement with an ex in the most-likely-delusionalbut-you-never-know hope of getting back together. If the short-term rewards (all that hot sex) and the potential long-shot payoff (getting back together) make the risk seem worthwhile, then keep fucking. Dear Readers: SCIL held up her end of the bargain — she never sent me another letter again.

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