Cleveland Scene - November 22, 2023 by Chava Communications

| clevescene.com | November 22 - December 5, 2023

supporters

Hey, you must love local journalism if you’re seeing this.

Do us a favor and sign on today via the QR code below and become a member. As a Scene Supporter, you aren’t just our reader, you make it so we can continue to keep Cleveland up to date on the latest local news with independent journalism. Plus, perks. • • •

Community Engagement and Connection to The Scene Team Our newsletter and stories straight to your inbox Member Discounts to our events, merch, and services

Empower us to empower you… and Cleveland. With your membership, you have a direct effect on strengthening the role of local and independent journalism in our community.

BECOME A SCENE SUPPORTER TODAY FOR AS LITTLE AS $7/MO

Are You a Business Owner and a Scene Reader? We spotlight important Cleveland events and businesses like yours.

We’ve been a champion of Cleveland for more than FIVE decades, and continue to provide free local coverage for hundreds of thousands of readers each year. To remain Cleveland’s trusted weekly independent news source, we need your help. If you agree, and if you think the local landscape needs Scene as much as we do, we humbly ask you to become a Scene Business Supporter. In exchange, you’ll receive the benefits that correspond to the level of Business Support you select, not to mention our never-ending gratitude.

FOR MORE ABOUT THE SCENE BUSINESS MEMBERSHIP OPTIONS, EMAIL US TO DISCUSS. 3

| clevescene.com | November 22 - December 5, 2023

CONTENTS

NOVEMBER 22 - DECEMBER 05, 2023 • VOL. 54 No 10 Upfront .......................................6 Eat ............................................19 Feature .....................................10

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

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

Livewire....................................25

Movies ...................................... 17

Savage Love..............................26

Dedicated to Free Times founder Richard H. Siegel (1935-1993) and Scene founder Richard Kabat Publisher Andrew Zelman Editor Vince Grzegorek Editorial Music Editor Jeff Niesel Staff Writer Mark Oprea Staff Writer Maria Elena Scott Staff Writer Brett Zelman Dining Editor Douglas Trattner Stage Editor Christine Howey Membership & Marketing Manager Kelsey Jae Burke Email Kelsey - kelsey@clevescene.com - to join membership club.

Chava Communications Founder, Chief Executive Officer Michael Wagner Co-Founder, Chief Marketing Officer Cassandra Yardeni Operations Director Hollie Mahadeo Director of Agency Services Mindi Overman Social Media Director Meradith Garcia Director of Digital Content Strategy Colin Wolf Art Director David Loyola Digital Operations Coordinator Jaime Monzon chavagroup.com National Advertising Voice Media Group 1-800-278-9866, vmgadvertising.com

Advertising

Cleveland Scene P.O.Box 14070

Senior Multimedia Account Executive

Cleveland, OH 44114

Shayne Rose

www.clevescene.com Phone 216-505-8199

Creative Services Creative Services Manager Samantha Serna

Cleveland Scene Magazine is published every other week by Chava Communications .

Staff Photographer Emanuel Wallace

Verified Audit Member

Business

Cleveland Distribution Scene is available free of charge,

Circulation

limited to one copy per reader Subscriptions - $150 (1 yr); $80 (6 mos.)

Circulation Director Burt Sender

Email Megan - MStimac@CleveScene.com - to subscribe.

Copyright The entire contents of Cleveland Scene Magazine are copyright 2023 by Chava Communications . Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission of the publisher is prohibited. Publisher does not assume any liability for unsolicited manuscripts, materials, or other content. Any submission must include a stamped, self-addressed

envelope. All editorial, advertising, and business correspondence should be mailed to the address listed above. Subscriptions $150 (1 yr); $80 (6 mos.) Send name, address and zip code with check or money order to the address listed above with the title ‘Attn: Subscription Department’

...The story continues at clevescene.com

In Scene’s second year, we teamed up with the Agora for an “orgy of giving” for Thanksgiving, and that sounds about right.

E-mail scene@clevescene.com

Creative Team Jack Spatafora, Joe Frontel, Pedro Macias, Ana Paula Gutierrez

Business & Sales Support Specialist Megan Stimac

REWIND: 1971

| clevescene.com | November 22 - December 5, 2023

Take SCENE with you with the Issuu app!

“Cleveland Scene Magazine” COVER PHOTO BY MARK OPREA, DESIGN BY JOE FRONTEL

| clevescene.com | November 22 - December 5, 2023

UPFRONT FORMER OHIO SUPREME COURT CHIEF JUSTICE MAUREEN O’CONNOR ON THE FIGHT AGAINST GERRYMANDERING IN 2022, THEN-OHIO Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor sided with the court’s three Democratic justices in striking down gerrymandered congressional redistricting maps, leading some Republican legislators to call for her impeachment. Unable to run again in 2023 due to age limits, O’Connor left the bench as the longest-serving woman in Ohio elected office in state history. Now working with Citizens Not Politicians, a coalition dedicated to ending gerrymandering through a state constitutional amendment, O’Connor spoke with Scene about the group’s petition, political theater and fair congressional districts. Scene: Clearly you’re still very involved in Ohio politics, but you did recently retire from the bench. How has that been? O’Connor: I’m no longer a member of the Judiciary after 20 years on the Supreme Court and that allows me to be much more involved in things like redistricting and other initiatives that I’ve been involved with. I’m busier now, I think, than when I was on the bench, timewise, commitment-wise, I’ve got a lot going on, and it’s good. It’s an opportunity to remain engaged but in a different way, and I say, right now, what I’m involved with, redistricting, if we can get this constitutional amendment passed, it will probably be the most important thing that I’ve done in my career is to be helpful in getting this amendment passed because it will put an end to gerrymandering, and gerrymandering is at the heart of what I think is problematic in the governance of Ohio and the country because we can’t forget that the constitutional amendment will affect not only the maps in Ohio for our general assembly, but also our congressional seats that we send to Washington. The margins are often razor-thin and that determines control of the House of Representatives, and

Photo courtesy Ohio Supreme Court

with fair districts, we will strike a different balance. Scene: Gerrymandering and the practice of manipulating congressional districts has a very long and sometimes absurd history in this country with both major political parties. In your career from an attorney to a magistrate to elected office, when did you become involved with the push for redistricting reform? Well, I became involved, freely involved, I think the first meeting I had was January 5 of this year to get the constitutional amendment on, but I’ve been involved from the point of being on the court and either approving or not approving the maps that was just part of my job, just like the six other members of the Supreme Court. So that was a different involvement. It was dispassionate. It was not political and it required not reflecting just my personal feelings or my personal views. It

| clevescene.com | November 22 - December 5, 2023

had to be grounded and supported legally so, again, I’ve been involved because it was my job and now I’m involved because it’s my vision to have this constitutional amendment and, when I say my vision, it’s not only my vision, but it’s a vision that I’m pursuing here to have this constitutional amendment on the ballot, which will be and to get it passed and implemented. It will change Ohio in ways that we don’t even know yet, but for the good. Scene: You mentioned those district maps that had gone before the court that you had sided with Democratic justices on and then, towards the end of your tenure, some of your fellow Republicans called for your impeachment. Was that surprising to you? I think I described it as a political theater. It was surprising that people in the legislature don’t know the constitution of the state that they’re in the third branch

of or one of the three branches of government. It’s disheartening to think that this effort was even discussed. I understand that articles were drawn and it would have been embarrassing, more embarrassing, for them to have gone through with it because there were absolutely no grounds for impeachment. What are they going to say? “We don’t like your vote, waaah.” That’s not grounds for impeachment and, again, like my vote there were three others that voted right along with me and you’re not talking about them so clearly, this is just a political stunt. And that’s what it was. Scene: A lot of that contention was, again, around these congressional districting maps, which has now kind of become your signature issue. Why is fair districting sort of what you’ve made a priority? Well, it’s necessary. I mean, there’s no two ways about it. The timing and the need and my freedom,

my ability to be involved here, all coincide, and so, that’s why I’m working on it now. That’s why it’s become something prominent and that’s why it will continue to be prominent until election day, November of ‘24. Scene: You mentioned some state politicians not really being familiar with the actual Ohio Constitution, which does already prohibit redistricting plans that would, “Unduly favor or disfavor a political party or its incumbents.” And yet, these maps were brought before the court and you ruled against them. What makes the current language in the state constitution, not sufficient enough to stop partisan gerrymandering? And how will making it unconstitutional to draw voting districts that discriminate against or favor political parties or individuals change it? Why is it not working now? Because the redistricting commission is made up of politicians. How will it change with the new amendment? The redistricting commission will not be made up of elected politicians. So therein lies the huge difference of the constitutional limits. We have right now in the Constitution two amendments, one from 2015 one from 2018, one dealing with the legislature of Ohio one dealing with congressional elections. But the fingerprints all over it, the consequences are the redistricting commission which by the Constitution has the governor, an elected official; the Secretary of State, again, an elected official; the state auditor; and then four members of legislature, two from the majority party and two from the minority party. And this is not it’s not bad because it’s an “R” thing. It’s bad because it’s both an “R” and a “D” [thing], Republican and Democrat, because both parties, both memberships, were motivated to get the best deal for their party so, for their interests, their jurisdictions, maintaining their jurisdictions, for the election and for the statewide, “Let’s make sure that our party is in control.” For the speaker and the president of the Senate, “Let’s make sure that we have maps that are going to give us a super majority so that we are invincible.” And that’s not the right motivation for how you draw maps.

You draw maps to be fair. You draw maps, ideally, that you’re not electing the extremes in either party, that people feel that they have a choice, that it’s competitive, that I’m gonna listen to both candidates and I’m going to make a decision and I know that my vote will matter, that whomever I vote for, even if I’m voting for someone who loses, they lost fairly to the opponent based on, again, competitive districts. And that, I think, that’s vitally important to how we shouldn’t be running the state. That would encourage citizen participation in our government, encourage citizen participation in voting and I think that voting becomes a generational thing. You see your grandparents and your parents vote, it’s unheard of that you won’t vote, you won’t get to the polls. I couldn’t not get to the polls any more than I could chop off my hand. You just vote and it seems conceivable to me that people would say, “No, I’m not going to vote,” especially when we have really important issues. But I don’t think there’s any such thing as an off-year or election. There are things to vote for. People say, “Well, there’s nothing to vote for.” Yeah, there is. There always is. Scene: It sounds like you would connect fair districting to voter participation and participation in democracy as a whole. When reading about the 2018 amendment, I saw that 70% of the people that voted did vote in support of it and then I saw in a statement for Citizens Not Politicians, that you’d called it, “Doomed to fail.” Is that, again, coming back to the fact that it’s politicians, and people with backgrounds with money in politics, on the committee or is there more to it than that? No, it’s basic. You put politicians in, they’re going to do what politicians do. And the public officials are also politicians. You can do your job as a public official and you can do it without regard to your political party. And that’s when you’re wearing your public servant hat. That’s when you’re a public official. But, there’s also the component that you are a politician and a politician brings in the concept of a party and participation by your party and you with the party. And so, if you’re on something like the redistricting commission, if that’s one one of your duties, constitutionally, you’re identified.

| clevescene.com | November 22 - December 5, 2023

The theory is that you’re going to be wearing your public servant hat, that you’re going to be fair and impartial in how you do your responsibilities. That’s a lot to ask for and the politician comes out, rather than the public servant officeholder, and the politician is what governs how the folks act and the work product that comes out of the redistricting commission. It’s political. It’s self interest. It’s party interest, and not when you wear your hat as a public servant as someone who is making decisions for the overall good of democracy. You don’t see that in the makeup of our redistricting commission. The new amendment that we’re talking about is a citizen-populated, constitutional body redistricting commission. Five people who are registered Democrats, five registered Republicans and five who are registered with neither party. And there’s a whole list of folks who are ineligible to be on the commission. The commission’s work is intense. It’s expansive. It recognizes the importance of citizen input. Because they travel around the state in all four quadrants and then in central Ohio and receive evidence as to concerns that people have about their districts. Should their district be split? Is there a reason why they’re a community of interest and they should be retained, even though they’re not a geographically defined area? These are all considerations that have to be conclusions made by the redistricting commission, and then those conclusions are given to the map drawers. And those are kind of the parameters, the guidepost for how they want to see maps drawn. And then that work product will be passed upon and implemented. And I think it’s very good. It’s well thought out, smart people worked on this amendment and I think it hits all the right notes. Scene: Not specifically just this amendment, but with any attempt to reform gerrymandering, you have people opposing that say, “Well, no individual, no committee is unbiased.” Given that the constitutional amendment wouldn’t have elected members, what recourse do Ohioans have if a member fails to act in a fair, nonpartisan way? Well, there’s 15 members of this commission, so there’s balance. When you say, “Is there somebody

who’s not acting in a fair way?” I don’t know exactly what you mean by that. They’ll take an oath that here’s the only things that they’re going to consider and, if it comes out that they’re taking into consideration things that they shouldn’t be, they there won’t be a majority because the commission will be well vetted and be populated by people who are motivated to do the right thing, regardless of their politics. For example, there’s a provision in there that if you’re on the redistricting commission, and someone approaches you and wants to influence your vote, you’ve got to call that out, you’ve got to identify it, you’ve got to record it and so there’s that transparency element. And that’s the other thing that is so beautiful about this amendment is everything will be done with a camera looking at it and live and so people can log on, they can watch what’s going on: the discussions, the testimony, the evidence has been put before the commission. And, again, they’re going around the entire state and the requirements are that they do that frequently, but in the evidence gathering, it will be done in a way that is citizen-friendly. This last go around for drawing the maps, [The Ohio Redistricting Commission] went to some state park in the middle of the day. Our state parks are lovely. I’m not saying, “Don’t utilize state parks,” but let’s not do it when people are working and there’s no ability to have meaningful input. And things like that, I think, were done purposefully to minimize voter participation in those discussions. So, again, I think this amendment corrects all of the flaws that were in the other two amendments that I point to when I say they were doomed to fail from the beginning. And here’s just one small example: there was a concentration on where current legislators lived. And so, you’ve got to take that into consideration, where they live now. Well, we’re going to take that into consideration. You want to preserve their district, you want to make sure that they’re not going to be in competition with another member who might, by happenstance, end up in the same district. God forbid we have something like that because we want incumbent A and incumbent B to continue to be incumbents and not have an election where their competitors. This new amendment won’t even

| clevescene.com | November 22 - December 5, 2023

consider the residences of current members. That’s not relevant because they’re there by virtue of gerrymandered maps and you can’t have the fruit of those maps control what the new constitutional amendment will do. Given that, in this past election, we saw considerable support for Issue One and Issue Two, which then, after election night, a swath of politicians came out against Issue One and said, basically, “We’re going to keep fighting this. We’re going to take action.” Do you feel like that is indicative of where Ohio is as far as representation? You mean as far as disregard of the public will and directives and its, “We don’t work for the public, they work for us mentality”? Yeah, I think it is. I think that’s kind of what that meant. I think that there was a lot of emotion and I don’t know that some of the some of the schemes that have been put forth, like removing the ability to have review of anything having to do with the Issue One constitutional amendment, removing the courts. That was something that was put up and I understand leadership in the legislature has said, “We’re not interested in doing that.” That was somebody saying that, again, in the heat of the moment, although I think they put pen to paper on that, but it can’t go anywhere. Citizens Not Politicians Spokesperson Chris Davey: There was an interesting tweet today, if neither of you saw it, that I found quite surprising from David Yost, where he quoted the Ohio Constitution provision that says all powers are reserved to the people and basically said, “Any questions?” It was a repudiation from Dave Yost to these folks that are saying, “No, we’re not going to undo this.” I was surprised by that. Well, I think that the handwriting is on the wall. This was 57% or 58% of the folks that voted for Issue One, the same margin in [the August special election], pretty much. And if you look at local elections, and I was just talking to some judges last night who were talking about conservative, Republican areas up north, outside of Cleveland communities for their city council, and others, went Democrat. In city councils where they never had Democrats before, Democrats got elected. Now, what that means, I don’t know. Is it something that is indicative that they rode the

coattails of voter turnout for Issue One, and that’s what happened? I don’t know. I think there’s a lot of political analysis that’s going to have to go into that, but that is pretty interesting. When you see the offices that are closest to the people–their city councils, their school boards, all of those–when you see that kind of a gravitational pull, it makes me wonder what’s going to happen next year in ‘24. Are people not aware, the pundits, are they not aware of what happens in these kinds of elections? And if it’s happening, why is it happening? I don’t know. Scene: So, assuming that Citizens Not Politicians can get the 413,000 signatures to get on the ballot in November, how do you see that election going? Well, I don’t have a crystal ball but from how people reacted to the August election, how they came out and voted this November, I think we’re seeing a momentum. I hope that that momentum–I think that that will last and I think that there’s discussions that will be more prominent as we get closer to the election. I think that it’s going to pass. I think it’ll pass overwhelmingly. You’d be hard pressed to have an argument against it, saying, “No, we want to keep politicians. We want to keep people who have a political bias to them, and we think that’s a good thing.” You can’t make that argument. There’s only one argument that I can think of, that we’ve heard: “This is an unaccountable bureaucracy that we don’t know which way it’s going to go,” and etcetera. But the Constitution, if you read it, there’s builtin ceilings, for funding, for example. This isn’t going to be a runaway train with unaccountable actions by this group or a fiscal repercussion. It’s tied to how much money the redistricting commission spent in ‘22 So, we’ve kind of, I think, thought of everything and what kind of argument could be made and how we can make the constitutional amendment better in anticipation so that those arguments can’t be made, and I think that I think that it’s going to be a common sense response. I really do. – Maria Elena Scott

scene@clevescene.com t@clevelandscene

| clevescene.com | November 22 - December 5, 2023

Line dancers at BLK Punx Press

Slime House’s AdultMart show brought out hundreds.

| clevescene.com | November 22 - December 5, 2023

An October show on a Downtown bridge.

All photos by Mark Oprea

IN CLEVELAND’S POST-COVID DIY REVIVAL, QUEER BLACK DRAG IN MIDTOWN AND HARDCORE IN TACO BELL PARKING LOTS New spaces and voices are guiding Cleveland’s homegrown music scene into interesting places By Mark Oprea

Performers at BLK Punx’s Juneteenth festival.

| clevescene.com | November 22 - December 5, 2023

IT’S TWO IN THE AFTERNOON outside a warehouse in the quiet center of Midtown, and Onya Nurve, a drag queen dressed in colorful kente cloth and white boots, needs a working microphone. It’s Juneteenth, and a particularly sunny day. As a train car roared over the bridge shadowing the trucking port where queens ready their afros or wigs, Onya Nurve asked a scattered crowd of 50, now with that working mic, “Are y’all ready to hear some lovely chocolate performers?” In the building itself, sitting at a bar decorated with Hindu tapestries and a West Coast mural, is DeNavya Tolbert, the organizer of the event and the head of BLK Punx Press, a DIY performance space. This Juneteenth, the third BLK Punx’s celebrated since opening in 2019, marked a sort of symbolic point for Tolbert and her post-industrial warehouse venue off Perkins Avenue: a sea change in Cleveland DIY in an arts world still seeking normalcy post-pandemic. The reasoning lies in Tolbert’s guiding ethos: to create an inclusive-but-niche, bare-bones arts haven for, and by, Black queer musicians and their fans. “A lot of Black queer folks, they see that they have to choose who they want to be when they go somewhere. They’re like, ‘Okay, am I going to be Black or I’m going to be queer?” Tolbert, 30, said. “In this space, it’s different. A lot of people don’t have those opportunities to be both of those.” Three years of the pandemic

brought an almost ironic roadblock to the global DIY community: You had to stay home, but you couldn’t amass a crowd, especially one yearning shoulder-to-shoulder communion. While several local houses took things virtual, like Stream Space and McFarland Manor, the remainder of Cleveland’s scene endured a long pause from all it wanted to do: experience live music together. But, in DIY’s reentrance in the past year or so, something peculiar has happened. Long dominated by a somewhat homogenous crowd of ambitious white males, DIY resurfaced with more diverse forms and identities. Newcomers, like Tolbert, came ready to promote a space for the marginalized. Some venues honed their reach on Instagram, while others ensured their neighbors had their cell phone numbers. (To preempt calls to the police.) Blighted Downtown bridges and the parking lots of Taco Bells and adult stores became more enlivening stages than the typical unfinished basement. “Since Covid, I guess we’ve been more organized,” Quinn, 28, the founder of The Birdhouse on Quail St. in Lakewood, said standing in his basement at a recent Saturday show. Upstairs, his girlfriend Allie collected ten-dollar bills for the show’s cover and sold T-shirts emblazoned with their house mascot, Kitty. “We don’t book as many bands in a line-up. We usually end at 11. People just don’t have the attention span anymore.” Some of the trends witnessed

Crowdsurfing at the Lakewood AdultMart show.

locally reflect those happening on a national, if not global, level. In Northampton, Mass., bands now play the front lawns of public libraries. In Denver, queer punks protest Nazi sympathizers—and the Denver scene’s capitalistic “Pay to Play” model—in homes lathered with Pride flags and Black Lives Matter stickers. And in Savannah, Georgia, house shows are now headlined, or completely run, by tranicore bands. “We’re all aware of more genres of music, more genres of art, more genres of literature,” Jim Ruland, an author of six books on underground music and a DIY expert living in San Diego, told Scene. “And with the Internet and social media, people can specialize like never before— which is awesome, so that the people who are into it can find it. But if you’re not looking for it, you may not find out about it.” But new trends don’t negate old necessities. Either due to lack of liquor licenses, or fears of landlord shutdowns, many venue owners still evade publicity or only release addresses to RSVP’d attendees. After all, DIY’s inclusivity often attracts underage crowds, which could spell all sorts of legal quagmires. This strange paradox—being relaxed and open and being legally vigilant—worried Tolbert as she prepared to host BLK Punx’s first

string of shows. (One of them an “Anti-Valentine’s” all-girls concert.) She had heard a woman overdosed at a show a block over on East 40th and St. Clair, and wanted bases to be covered. She read all there was to read about California’s Ghost Ship tragedy, the fire at the Oakland warehouse spot that killed 36 people. “I don’t want to be on trial for murdering people, because essentially the people who own that space all went down for that,” she said, referring to Ghost Ship. “And I was like, first of all, I’m not going to put myself in that position.” It’s also why BLK Punx hires armed security, Tolbert said. In late August, four bands played the north end of a blighted bridge in front of the Downtown skyline. Hardcore and punk groups Daunting Nightmare and Fugitive Level played off generator power to roughly 150 people in their twenties and thirties, as a Guardians game roared in the distance. Embedded in the bridge crowd, one smiles at the originality of the space, or muses on what a space is primarily: This is a bridge; it’s also not a bridge, but a host for punk music. It’s an attempt, one realizes, at reclaiming ownership, ownership over parts and pieces and grass and concrete run by the powers, you might say, that prefer capital over

| clevescene.com | November 22 - December 5, 2023

DeNavya Tolbert, founder of BLK Punx Press, in June.

art. “After Covid, the mosh pits just seemed better,” a man in his thirties calling himself Furface said, wearing a triangular beard and cowboy hat. “We haven’t been shut down, yet—not that I know of.” His hand comes up for emphasis. “Actually, fuck that. We do what we want.” Near the second hour of the show, a security guard working for Bedrock drives up to tell the show organizer, a 35-year-old living in Lakewood, that what they’re doing is on private property. It’s illegal, pretty much. “In the future, we’ll call CPD,” the security guard warned before he walked away. “They come here and will park under the bridge, and whatever,” the 35-year-old told Scene as the guard retreated to his truck. “But they’ve never done anything.” He nodded to a series of people lounging on rusted arches. “They just don’t want people clinging to the top of the bridge.” He took the microphone. “Fuckin’ thanks for coming out to this, we appreciate it,” he said, as people in the crowd wooed back. “But we’re sad to say this’ll be the last show here. We were just told they’re tearing down this bridge next year.” Such is the DIY life, with house managers growing up and moving out, properties being sold off for

future leasing to tenants who won’t host late-night shows, and locations almost always enjoying a short shelf-life. It’s a transiency and impermanence both rued and revered, in terms of physical spots. (See: Speak in Tongues.) These are moments impossible to recreate. You had to be there. A few weeks later, in early November, the heads of the Slime House, a sort of esoteric DIY space off West 101st St., hosted a fourband hardcore show in the parking lot of the AdultMart on Berea Rd. The Slime guys had veered off the beaten path before. In July, they invited a hundred-plus people over Instagram to a hardcore show in a nearby Taco Bell parking lot, video of which, in its aftermath, quickly dominated social media in Cleveland. The whole experience— save for a few disgruntled cooks— opened up a new high for the Slime guys: host shows outside of their tiny basement with its random rug “stage.” “AdultMart told us, ‘No property damage, or we’ll have a problem,’” tenant Brendan Sonnenberg, 22, told Scene, as Abraded’s singer Hellghillies shouted into the microphone nearby. “I mean, at Taco Bell, there were managers out of uniform freaking out. But here, they were cooler. As long as we didn’t fuck things up.”

All photos by Mark Oprea

Bassist Eddy Marflak playing with Jason Kaminski.

“Are you ready for Drug Abuse?” Hellghillies asked the crowd. The crowd returned: “Drug Abuse! Drug Abuse! Drug Abuse!” As Drug Abuse went into their set, a mosh circle quickly formed below the AdultMart sign, as teenagers inside the pit began two-stepping or floor punching. Two kids climbed the rooftop and proceeded to leap off shoulder-first into the crowd. Nearby, a 32-year-old in all black was asked if DIY metal was better outside, at this avant garde stage, than it was in Sonnenberg’s basement. “No,” he told Scene, grinning, “because I’m usually drunk at Slime.” What is the ultimate telos of today’s DIY? Many talked to for this article, whether in kitchens or in parking lots, either felt a political ethos behind today’s venues was vital, or felt it was an intrusion on the bareness of underground music. Some even felt any mention of the political signified, god forbid, gatekeeping. It’s the former why, ironic as it sounds, Tolbert shut down BLK Punx in September. New tenants at the Perkins Building, émigrés from the defunct ArtCraft Building, she said, had started complaining to her landlord after the Juneteenth show about trivial matters: garbage left over, the “noise.” Tolbert whiffed tension

at odds with her politics. By August, her and management were at loggerheads. “Were we pushed out?” Tolbert said. “Yes, 100 percent. Absolutely.” At least for now. Tolbert is busy, juggling a day job in sales and her life as a working DJ. The whole reality of running a proper venue again, of contracting bands, of keeping good accounting, of making some money, seems daunting. It’s all why, she learned, DIY operators opt to stay under the radar. “It’s not that, ‘Oh, my space will get raided,’ or anything like that,” Tolbert said. “It’s more so, ‘Damn, it’s actually hard to run a business.’” So, for the time being, Tolbert is experiencing the scene as a bystander. At a recent show in October, a punk event hosted somewhat near to where BLK Punx used to run, Tolbert looked around and saw something encouraging. “Seventy percent of people moshing were Black and queer women,” she said. When asked the house’s address, or what it’s called, Tolbert gently deflected. “I don’t know if I could release the name,” she said. “I mean, it was just someone’s basement.”

scene@clevescene.com t@clevelandscene

| clevescene.com | November 22 - December 5, 2023

GET OUT

Everything to do in Cleveland for the next two weeks

Winterland returns to downtown Cleveland. See: Saturday, Nov. 25. | Emanuel Wallace

WED

11/22 THU

Cavaliers vs. Miami Heat Led by the dynamic duo of Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo, last year’s Eastern Conference champs come to Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse to play the Cavs at 7:30 p.m. 1 Center Court, 216-420-2000, rocketmortgagefieldhouse.com.

Magic of Lights A drive-through holiday lights experience featuring holiday scenes and characters of the season using the latest LED technology and digital animations, Magic of Lights returns to the Cuyahoga County Fairgrounds for the holidays. Hours are 5:30 through 10 p.m. daily through Dec. 31. Check the website for ticket prices. 19201 East Bagley Rd., Middleburg Heights, 440-243-0090, magicoflights. com/events/northeastohio/.

11/23

Pass Me the Mic: Thanksgiving Open Jam and Mic Nite Hosted by Mikey Silas On a night when most bars and restaurants are closed, the Grog Shop in Cleveland Heights comes through with a special open mic show hosted by local musician Mikey Silas. The session begins at 8 p.m. Admission is free. 2785 Euclid Heights Blvd., Cleveland Heights, 216-321-5588, grogshop.gs.

FRI

11/24

Sean Blair-Flannery: Places I Can’t Return to LIVE This show based on comedian/writer Sean Blair-Flannery’s book offers a collection of stories that mostly take place in Northeast Ohio, where BlairFlannery grew up. Fellow comic Adam Burke joins Blair-Flannery for the gig. It starts tonight at 8 at Mercury Music Lounge in Lakewood.

| clevescene.com | November 22 - December 5, 2023

18206 Detroit Ave., Lakewood, mercurymusiclounge.com.

A Christmas Carol Charles Dickens was a hell of a writer, but he could be a tad verbose. So it’s convenient that there have been so many great stage and screen versions of his classic ghost story. One of them — required viewing for anyone with a Netflix membership — is the 1951 movie starring Alastair Sim as a Scrooge for all eternity. And the other is this Great Lakes Shakespeare Festival production, which never fails to engage and delight. Tonight’s performance takes place at 7:30 at the Mimi Ohio Theatre. 1501 Euclid Ave., 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org.

Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto Violinist Augustin Hadelich joins the Cleveland Orchestra for tonight’s concert, dubbed Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto. It takes place at 7:30 at Mandel Concert Hall, where

performances repeat tomorrow and Sunday. 11001 Euclid Ave., 216-231-1111, clevelandorchestra.com.

SAT

11/25

Cavaliers vs. Los Angeles Lakers LeBron James and a new and improved Los Angeles Lakers team arrive at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse today to take on the Cavs. Tipoff is at 7:30. The homestand continues tomorrow as the Cavs take on the Toronto Raptors at 7:30. 1 Center Court, 216-420-2000, rocketmortgagefieldhouse.com.

Tomáseen Foley’s a Celtic Christmas This program aims to recreate the “joy and innocence” that would’ve typified the night before Christmas in a remote Irish farmhouse. Performances take place at 3:30 and 7:30 p.m. today at the Hanna Theatre. 2067 East 14th St., 216-241-6000,

playhousesquare.org.

Music & Friends Garage Sale Today at 11 a.m., Music Box Supper Club will showcase a wide variety of holiday gift ideas all related to music. More than 25 vendors will sell concert photography, vinyl, music memorabilia, biographies, vintage concert tees, music icon fridge magnets, cassettes, tour programs, concert posters and 45inch records. 1148 Main Ave., 216-242-1250, musicboxcle.com.

WinterLand Tree Lighting Ceremony This annual event that takes place at Public Square will feature the lighting of the Public Square Christmas tree. There will be food, entertainment and holiday activities. It all begins at 4 p.m. winterlandcle.com.

SUN

11/26

Cleveland Pops Orchestra Holiday Cheer Cleveland Pops and Pops Chorus present this special holiday show at 2 p.m. today at Connor Palace. Santa Claus will be stationed in the lobby, and area shelters will have adoptable puppies and kittens on hand as well. 1501 Euclid Ave., 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org. Cleveland a Livable City

Sister’s Christmas Catechism The author of Late Nite Catechism is the brains behind this holiday mystery that attempts to discover whatever happened to the Magi’s gold. The event begins at 3 p.m. at the Hanna Theatre. 2067 East 14th St., 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org.

TUE

11/28

11/30

Mahler’s Fourth Symphony Guest conductor Daniel Harding leads the Cleveland Orchestra tonight as it takes on Mahler’s Fourth Symphony, a piece that imagines what the afterlife might be like. The concert begins at 7:30 at Mandel Concert Hall, where performances continue tomorrow and Saturday. Severance Music Center, 11001 Euclid Ave., 216-231-1111, clevelandorchestra. com.

FRI

12/01

Black Nativity Cleveland’s Karamu House presents this retelling of retelling of the traditional New Testament account of the Nativity story. Expect gospel music and dramatic dance in addition to the biblical narrative. Tonight’s performance takes place at 7:30 at the Allen Theatre, where performances continue through Dec.16. 1407 Euclid Ave., 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org.

SAT

12/02

Hasan Minhaj Press materials promise that this comedian will discuss politics, parenting and therapy at tonight’s show, which takes place at 7 at Connor Palace. Since the comedian has been known to embellish stories he maintains are true, you just won’t know if he’s telling the truth or simply making a statement. 1615 Euclid Ave., 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org.

Cavaliers vs. Atlanta Hawks

Student Holiday Sale/100 Show + Sale

The Cavs take on the always-tough Atlanta Hawks, a playoff-caliber team led by sharp-shooting guard Trae Young, tonight at 7:30 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. 1 Center Court, 216-420-2000, rocketmortgagefieldhouse.com.

Nearly 80 students will have items available for sale at Cleveland Institute of Art’s Student Holiday Sale, which is paired with the 100 Show + Sale, which offers works of art by CIA faculty, students and alumni that will be sold for $100 each (or in denominations of $100). All proceeds go toward the annual spring break student trip to visit galleries and museums in New York (or other cities). Both sales take place from 5 to 9 p.m. today and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. tomorrow at the Cleveland Institute of Art. 11610 Euclid Ave., 216-421-7461, cia. edu.

WED

11/29

CelloBello Celebrates the Cleveland Quartet This event that takes place tonight at 7:30 at Reinberger Chamber Hall features a screening of the documentary Notes from Behind the Iron Curtain: the Cleveland Quartet’s 1990 Soviet Tour and live performances from the Weilerstein Trio and Cleveland Orchestra cellists. 11001 Euclid Ave., 216-231-1111, clevelandorchestra.com.

THU

scene@clevescene.com t@clevelandscene

| clevescene.com | November 22 - December 5, 2023

11/24

KARAOKE

8pm-11pm

Sat. 11/25

KARAOKE

9pm-12am

12/01

BREAKAWAZE

8pm-11pm

Sat. 12/02

LEES BROTHERS

9pm-12am

Fri.

MY FRIEND JACK

8pm-11pm

KARAOKE

9pm-12am

Fri.

12/08

Sat. 12/09

P O H S G THE GRO

ND HTS , CLEVELA D LV B S T H HOP.GS S ID 2785 EUCL 216.321.5588 GROG

FRI 11/24

BRUJERIA

PIÑATA PROTEST • NO/MAS

SAT 11/25

SIGNALS MIDWEST 15 YEAR ANNIVERSARY WITH SUN RUN • HONEYBEE •JOY CEILING

THU 11/23 PASS ME THE MIC

FRI 12/1

GLAMGORE GALACTIC GHOULS

HOSTED BY ANHEDONIA DELIGHT

WED 12/13

NOLAN TAYLOR

LOGAN HALSTEAD • THE MORNING BIRD

ALOWSPOT WILHELM SCREAM

WED 1/17

LOW MORALE

TORRES AISHA BURNS

SUN 11/26

THU 12/14 ALBUM RELEASE SHOW

SUN 1/21

RRRIOT! • TALL GRASS

JOSEPH MAXWELL

VOLUME 10: POPCORN CLASSICS

FRI 12/15

SAT 1/27

THANKSGIVING NIGHT JAM & OPEN MIC HOSTED BY MIKEY SILAS

GIRL COLOGNE COE • RILEY BURKE TUE 11/28

RADIO DUMMIES DISHWASHER POSSUM JET STAR

SUGARDEER DEAD LINKS • FRUITFLY

SAT 12/16

DOME TEST • AKAFAYAVEN

DELEON/WARREN SEXTET DJ NEIL CHASTAIN

SUN 12/3

SUN 12/17 A CLEVELAND STORY W/

IMMOLATION CASTRATOR ATOMIC WITCH

THU 12/7

TEENAGE HALLOWEEN GRIEVANCE CLUB • BIITCHSEAT FRI 12/8

TOTAL DOWNER WISH QUEEN CHARITY CUNNINGHAM ANYA VAN ROSE

MAC SATURN HARD TO SELL TOUR SUN 1/28

WEDNESDAY HOTLINE TNT SAT 2/3

KXVIN TYLXR • ZUP LIL JESSE • KAMAKAZI KENJI

THE RECORD COMPANY JESSE AHERN

AND MORE

SUN 2/4

DETENTION • LILIEAE QUICK MYSTERY

PEEZY FRI 4/12

AXIOMA INOCULATION • PARADOX RIFT

MANNEQUIN PUSSY SOUL GLO

UNVOW

OVER 40 VENDORS ON TWO FLOORS AT GROG SHOP AND B-SIDE!

DIVE BOMBS

GIRL AND GIRL

FRI 12/29

LEA MARRA & THE RIVER BOYS BLUE HOUR AUSTIN HAMILTON

TUE 12/12

LOCAL H DEATH POSE

MON 11/27 WED 11/29 TUE 11/28

MAKE ‘EM LAUGH MONDAY hosted by KEVIN FORD HOOKS FOR FEET • Night Medicine • Johnny Locomotive MELLADRAMATICS • Fat Daddye • Sha Ku Se • Prithee

GROG SHOP PRESENTS:

JON SPENCER SAT 11/25 @ HAPPY DOG OREFICE ROTH • UNO LADY CUPCAKKE SAT 12/16 @ AGORA PERFECT PALS • JACOB BOARMAN PORTUGAL THE MAN SAT 2/17 @ AGORA OTOBOKE BEAVER FRI 3/15 @ HOB SAT 12/30 7PM

DAVE HILL MIKE POLK

CALL 216.321.5588 TO BUY TICKETS DIRECTLY WITH FEWER FEES! | clevescene.com | November 22 - December 5, 2023

ROYEL OTIS PRATTS AND PAINS TOUR

THE MODERN ELECTRIC PAPI & THE SMEARS

SUN 12/10 FOLKSY CHRISTMAS WITH

SMOKER’S EXPO

DEALS & DISCOUNTS ON BONGS. PIPES,TRAYS,APPAREL +MORE

SAT 11/25 10PM

BASEMENT: R&B EXPERIENCE SUN 11/26 6:30PM

JOE HUNTER TIM MATSON LIVE JAZZ!

WED 11/29 7:30PM

WITH PEACH FUZZ & ANHEDONIA DELIGHT

THU 11/30 9PM

TIS THE DAMN SEASON:

A TAYLOR SWIFT DANCE PARTY FRI 12/1 10PM

FRI 12/22

MUAMIN COLLECTIVE • MALIK X

DRUM+BASS MONTHLY

DAUBER DIVA BINGO

THU 12/21

FRANC WEST & FRIENDS

HABITAT:

W/KING LOU +DJ STROKE

SUN 4/28

OBNOX RECORD RELEASE SHOW THIS MOMENT IN BLACK HISTORY

FRI 11/24 10PM

SHWAY PAPERS PRESENTS

HELLO!3D

MON 12/25 XMAS NIGHT W/

EVERY WEDNESDAY

SHIT SHOW KARAOKE

SAT 11/25 12PM

SAT 12/23 NORTHCOAST XMAS W/

SAT 12/9 8:30PM

OPEN MIC JAZZ/SPOKEN WORD

WITH WALLACE, MANNY AND WHIP

SAT 12/9 11AM

JINGLE BELL HOLIDAY SHOP

EVERY TUESDAY

LYRICAL RHYTHMS

FOUND FOOTAGE FESTIVAL

THE FLATLINERS PET SYMMETRY • HEART & LUNG

THU 11/30

NOISE CTRL THIS SUMMER

SAT 12/2

2875 EUCLID HEIGHTS BLVD CLEVELAND HEIGHTS WWW.BSIDELIQUORLOUNGE.COM

GROG SHOP EVENT INFO AND TICKETS AVAILABLE ONLINE @

www.grogshop.gs TWITTER/INSTA: @THEGROGSHOP

RENEGADE RE-UP: HOUSE & TECHNO SUN 12/3 7PM LIVE SALSA NIGHT!

SAMMY DELEON/ JACKIE WARREN QUARTET

FEATURING KIP REED AND CHRIS BURGE +SALSA DANCE LESSONS W/DJ FABRIZIO

FRI 12/8 9PM

CLEVELAND GOTHIC EAST PRESENTS

GOTH NIGHT

w DJ WAR + DJ DARKWAVE SAT 12/9 9PM

UGLY SWEATER SILENT DISCO DJ RED-I DJ MIMI DROMETTE DJ WHITE RIMS

THU 12/14 8PM BASSMENT WAVES PSYCHEDELIC SERIES

SLAG GENIE SOLON FUNGITS FRI 12/15 9PM

JUKEBOX BREAKDOWN AKA EMO NIGHT

MOVIES NOTES FROM A SCANDAL

In May December, Todd Haynes turns an old tabloid tale into a first-rate sexual thriller, just like they used to make By Kayla McCulloch “YOU DO IT NICELY, ‘CAUSE it really does matter how it looks.” So says Gracie (Julianne Moore) to Elizabeth (Natalie Portman) in Todd Haynes’ May December. Ostensibly, she’s talking about arranging the maraschino cherries in a pineapple upside-down cake. But, spoken from the lips of a registered sex offender to the ears of a famous Hollywood actress in a sunny Savannah, Georgia, kitchen, there’s bound to be something deeper underneath this basic baking tip. They’re too peculiar a pairing in too abnormal a circumstance for her remark to be anywhere near surface level. You see, they’re making a movie out of a local woman’s headlinegrabbing affair with a middle school student, and Elizabeth is starring as the lead. Gracie is the inspiration for that role. This unassuming middleaged mother with strawberry blonde hair plastered the covers of pulpy grocery store tabloids in the early 1990s. The cause of all the hubbub? Her criminal relationship with a seventh grader (and, later, the birth of her children with him). The couple — now married — has carved out a cozy niche amidst the antebellum homes and Spanish moss, away from

the harsh spotlight of media frenzy. Now, in the opinions of those who’d rather not dwell on it, some uppity Hollyweird celeb has come to tear down the facade. It’s not surprising that Elizabeth’s arrival has people nervous. It’s been decades since what happened… happened. Why dig it all up again? While she’d never admit it to anyone but herself, this is undoubtedly Gracie’s position. She and her husband Joe (Charles Melton) have established as much normalcy and security as possible for their family in the wake of such a controversy. Alas, as is the duty of any good (albeit kooky) housewife in the Hostess City of the South, Gracie welcomes her guest with open arms, tight lips and a guarded attitude. Whether it comes from the film’s unsettling score, its jarring interludes with creepy-crawly close-ups or all those backhanded pleasantries being exchanged, there’s an energy that feels volatile in the world of May December. It was hard for me to shake the feeling that, at any moment, someone or something was going to blow. To some extent, this may be what daily life feels like in wealthy suburbs.

It’s beyond a small inkling, though. Past all the polite conversations, the fake smiles and the please-andthank-yous, Elizabeth’s investigative digging into Gracie’s troubled past starts to feel worse than bad manners. It feels dangerous. As Elizabeth searches for the most honest angle to embody the role of Gracie, Gracie works to make sure it’s never found. With not-so-subtle shades of David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive and Ingmar Bergman’s Persona — not to mention the urtext for this type of film, Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo — May December takes what we know about the trope of the blonde/ brunette doppelgänger and uses it to tell a story about telling a story. While Haynes’s interests here are decidedly not as nightmarish as Lynch’s or Bergman’s (and far less twisty than Hitchcock’s), he still explores the age-old idea of dark doubles through the visual motif of hair color (plus plenty of reflections, twins and mimicry to drive the point home). Haynes also toyed with this hair color thing in his 2015 Carol. The age gap romance, too. And yet, if ever there was an anti- Carol, it would be May December. Haynes traverses similar themes across both films, but the approach is

Movie star Elizabeth (Natalie Portman) asks convicted sex offender Gracie (Julianne Moore) uncomfortable questions. | © MAY DECEMBER PRODUCTIONS 2022 LLC

| clevescene.com | November 22 - December 5, 2023

much more lurid than languid this go-round. Forget about the gentle, literary aesthetic Haynes so beautifully brought to the pair of star-crossed lovers in midcentury New York. His latest offers the kind of outrageously brash take on sexual promiscuity more often found in a Lifetime movie. I don’t mean to use that Lifetime label as an insult, either. Until recently, the network was one of the only places I could find shamelessly sensual, hilariously campy melodramas en masse. The tides are turning, however — and it’s not just Haynes’s doing. From film historian Karina Longworth’s recent deep-dive into the erotic thrillers of the ‘80s and ‘90s on her podcast You Must Remember This to the return of genre greats like Adrian Lyne and his underrated (and, I must say, unceremoniously dropped) Hulu release Deep Water, May December fits snugly into a growing trend. Right when I feared the subgenre dead, Haynes has used his auteur status to bolster the erotic thriller — and, in doing so, quenches modern audiences’ very real thirst for sinister, seedy, seductive fare. It’s one of his strongest, most intoxicating works to date. To be clear, Haynes is not some provocateur hoping to resuscitate a sordid style of film for shock value alone. May December is more complex, more layered, more intelligent than that. Above all else, it’s a titillating exploration of the nuances of truth. Elizabeth and Gracie, the film’s doubles, can be seen as the two sides of the scandalous story. There’s the version Gracie tells — her truth, no matter how honest or dishonest that may be — and there’s the objective truth that Elizabeth seeks. The story being told and the reality of what actually went down are not the same. Cover-ups, threats, deception, bottled emotions … all come with the price of protecting some form of truth or another. Remember: when telling a life story, you do it nicely, ‘cause it really does matter how it looks.

scene@clevescene.com t@clevelandscene

| clevescene.com | November 22 - December 5, 2023

EAT NEW DAY

At Solstice in Lakewood, the neighborhood gastropub lives on with some welcome updates By Douglas Trattner

THE WAY ERIC HO explained it, the transition from Deagan’s Kitchen to Solstice would be largely uneventful, with the new restaurant essentially picking up right where the outgoing one left off. As a longtime patron of Deagan’s himself, Ho identified the qualities that helped make that restaurant a Lakewood staple for nearly 15 years and sought to replicate but update them. Deagan’s prospered because it tastefully plugged the gap between fast-casual and fine dining, offering many guests their first true gastropub experience. At Solstice, Ho and his partners aim to fill the same approachable niche, one that seems to be getting squeezed out of existence from all sides. It all feels very familiar, right down to the menu that divvies dishes into categories of small plates, greens and big plates. One of the most apparent updates is the proliferation of vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free items. On a recent Friday night, the enormous wraparound bar that gobbles up much of the front room was nearly full. Happy hour was always a big deal at Deagan’s and it’s nice to see the tradition carry over. From 4 to 6 p.m. on weekdays, the restaurant offers discounted beer, wine, cocktails and snacks to guests regardless of where they are sitting. To better keep pace with the demand for drinks, half of Deagan’s 28 beer taps have been appropriated for draft cocktails like negronis ($14), palomas ($14) and Hemingways ($15). Most of the batched cocktails taste freshly mixed, but some finish on the sweet side. Even greatly reduced, the craft beer list is stocked with solid picks from around the state and beyond. Solstice gives small-plate fans a dozen reasons to snack the night away. Like most starters, the calamari ($14) arrives on a black, smooth and lipless rectangular plate. The crispy rings and tentacles are garnished with some greens and served with a tarragon-scented aioli. Crisp, airy gougeres serve as the buns in a trio of sliders ($15)

filled with sliced speck, gruyere and pickled spinach. The challenge lies in biting through the ham without obliterating the delicate pastry. Meat-free starters include light, fresh and summery crostini ($12) topped with diced mango, tomato, cucumber and red onion, which is affixed to the thin toast with a slick of creamy avocado mousse. Blistered and split jalapeno peppers are filled with a warm blend of barley, corn, black beans and fresh herbs. They arrive atop a pool of kicky mojo verde. At Solstice, executive chef Cory Miess gets to flex his culinary skills in ways that he can’t at LBM, his other gig. His cassoulet ($24) manages to squeeze all the flavors and textures of the French classic into a budget bistro version. A braised airline chicken breast sits atop a hearty, smoky and creamy stew loaded with kale, white beans and lardons of bacon. Heat seekers will likely pine for more spice in the Trinidad curry ($22), an otherwise appealing vegetarian stew with chickpeas, potatoes, tomatoes and basmati rice. With LBM, Ho and his chummy coalition of bar and restaurant pals decided to open a cocktail bar. With Solstice, he upped the ante by rounding up six other industry vets with a combined 120 years of experience, including a longtime Deagan’s staffer. The predominantly female faction includes executive pastry chef Annabella Andricks, also of Dramatic Snax. Pastry chefs seem to be vanishing quicker than independent restaurants, so we should support them at all costs. That’s easy to do here thanks to sweet finishes like sweet potato creme brulee with shortbread, s’more tarts with bourbon marshmallow, and a silky-smooth dark chocolate chili panna cotta ($10) capped with a cloud of cream and served with salt-garnished chocolate sable cookies. Andricks also offers vegan ice cream and vegetarian sorbet. Just as Ho and his handy mates had done with LBM, this crew took on the bulk of the renovation tasks

| clevescene.com | November 22 - December 5, 2023

Natalie Renee Photography

SOLSTICE 14810 DETROIT AVE., LAKEWOOD 216-767-5775 SOLSTICELKWD.COM

themselves. Over the course of a couple months, the team refinished the floors, painted the ceiling, hung drywall, resurfaced the dining room tables, rebuilt the backbar and commissioned a festive mural. The space feels like Deagan’s after a day at the spa. It’s no secret that restaurant employees loathe brunch service, which requires them to get up early on the weekend to serve sticky

drinks to lousy tippers. Despite that immutable truth, Solstice recently launched Saturday and Sunday brunch, proof that when you’re working for yourself as opposed to an absentee owner, even the weekend morning shift is bearable.

dtrattner@clevescene.com t@dougtrattner

CLEVELAND’S HISTORIC MUSIC & EVENTS VENUE

�OR S��N �S! �I�KE

FRIDAY 2-FOR-1 TICKETS! Hellzapoppin 11/25

Steel Panther 12/1

Versa 12/1

Heather Land 12/2

Liz Phair 12/9

Sexyy Red 12/15

American Girl 12/17

Styles P 2/10

The Dead South 2/12

Jo Dee Messina 2/16

Sabai 2/29

Gideon 3/2

Kaivon 3/7

William Black 3/22

SHOWS ONLY | 11/24 FROM 10AM10PM LOCAL OR WHILE SUPPLIES LAST. 3615 EUCLID AVE. CLEVELAND | TICKETS FOR ALL SHOWS AT*SELECT TEMPLELIVE.COM

| clevescene.com | November 22 - December 5, 2023

EAT BITES

Eugene Kitchen heading to BottleHouse Brewery in Cleveland Hts. By Douglas Trattner

ONE OF THE BEST THINGS to come out of the Ohio City Galley is the Tinman Burger, a drippy double smash burger with American cheese, special sauce, and sweet and spicy pickles on a brioche bun. The burger was so good, in fact, that it helped ignite a smash burger goldrush throughout The Land. After leaving the Galley, chef Michael Schoen took his talents to Lakewood, where he opened Eugene Kitchen at BottleHouse Brewery (13368 Madison Ave., 216-401-9473). Originally, he says, the plan was to open a second shop at the Cleveland Heights BottleHouse as well, but the pandemic threw a monkey wrench in those plans. Now, three years later, Schoen will follow through with those plans to open a second location on the east side. Eugene Kitchen will open at the Cleveland Heights BottleHouse on November 30. Saroj & Carlos will be departing after nearly a year. Schoen says that in hindsight, he’s glad to have had the past three years to prepare for expansion. “We could have opened in both places, we could have had a brickand-mortar, but we really wanted to make sure that what we were doing was consistent,” he explains. “Now we’re ready. We have an awesome staff that has been with me for a couple years, so the consistency is there – making sure that it’s the same.” Schoen says that in addition to the “cult-like following” there is for the Tinman burger, Eugene has built a solid reputation in Lakewood for its entire operation. The menu, which will be largely the same as in Lakewood, will offer a vegan burger, fried chicken sandwich, Buffalo chicken sandwich, crispy tenders, hand-cut fries and a few other sides. Eugene at BottleHouse will be open for dinner seven days a week and lunch on the weekends.

Stone Mad Pub To Change Hands. Guests Should Expect No Major Changes 21

In 2008, Pete Leneghan unveiled his “legacy bar,” Stone Mad Pub (1306 West 65th St., 216-2816500) in the Detroit-Shoreway neighborhood. Leneghan and his partner Eileen Sammon spent nearly four years converting a 100-year-old tavern into a welcoming Irish pub and restaurant. From the woodwork to the tilework to the cobblestone lot to the sandstone patio with towering fireplace, everything was a labor of love. Leneghan passed away in 2020 and recently the pub and some adjoining properties were put up for sale. Fortunately for fans of the charming watering hole, Stone Mad fell into caring hands. “I lived on 67th Street when I used to bartend at the Treehouse for Pete and Tommy Leneghan,” says new owner John Staunton. “I’ve known those guys all my life, so it is kind of coming full circle.” Staunton and his partners don’t have big plans for the 15-yearold pub, which helped fuel the neighborhood’s revival. In fact, if Staunton has his way, guests won’t even realize that there’s new ownership. “This is the nicest bar between New York and Chicago in my opinion,” he says. “I just hope we can keep it the super-classy pub that it is, with really good food, amazing service… all that stuff that it is now. It would be a shame if it changed.” Much of the staff is staying on, he adds. The property officially changes hands next month.

Head Hunter IPA From Fat Head’s Brewery Named Top-20 Beer in America It’s been a banner year for Matt Cole, the master brewer and cofounder of Fat Head’s Brewery in Middleburg Hts. In May of this year, Fat Head’s snagged a gold medal for its flagship beer, Head Hunter IPA, at the World Beer Cup in Nashville,

| clevescene.com | November 22 - December 5, 2023

Eugene Kitchen

dubbed “the Most Prestigious Beer Competition in the World.” On its way to the winner’s circle, the beer had to beat out 411 other Americanstyle IPAs. A few months later, the same beer took top honors at the Great American Beer Festival (GABF) in Denver, leaving 205 other Americanstyle IPAs in the dust. It was a backto-back honor that no other brewery could claim. “Nobody has ever won gold medals for American-style IPA within the same year at the Great American Beer Festival and the World Beer Cup, so it does set a bit of a precedent,” Cole explains. If that was the end of the industry buzz for Fat Head’s in 2023, Cole would be more than content. But two days ago he woke to another honor, this time coming from Craft Beer & Brewing Magazine, an industry leader when it comes to reviews, news and insider knowhow. The magazine just released its latest roundup of the “Best 20 Beers in America,” a list that began with more than 1,000 entries before getting whittled down by multiple rounds of blind tasting. The wild thing about Head Hunter landing on the list is that the judges pretty much confessed to having no room at the proverbial inn for another IPA.

“Listen, we didn’t have to put this beer here,” the entry reads. “It’s won its share of accolades, including several medals at the World Beer Cup and the Great American Beer Festival going back to 2010. Its most recent was GABF gold, just a few days before it appeared before us in a blind tasting. We already had top-scoring nominees from our Spring IPA issue. This beer had almost no chance.” But all it took was a fresh sip for the editors to reach their hoppy consensus: “Its profile is classic, but it feels bright and fresh for today’s drinkers: Luminescent gold with robust foam and lace, the aroma offers Sunkist orange candies, lemon drops, candied citrus peels, and drops of pear. On the palate, that round juiciness gets a fleeting moment in the sun—the clean malt sweetness provides the picnic blanket—before it all quickly morphs into nostalgic, shady-pines bitterness.” Cole, of course, was beaming like a proud papa. “It’s kind of a big deal, you know,” he says. “There are 1,000 beers that get judged and Head Hunter fell in the top 20. It’s a pretty big feat.”

dtrattner@clevescene.com t@dougtrattner

INDEPENDENTLY OWNED & OPERATED SINCE 2000

15711 WATERLOO RD CLEVELAND OH 44110 CHARGE BY PHONE 216.383.1124 ONLINE TICKETS & COMPLETE SCHEDULE BEACHLANDBALLROOM.COM

NEW ANNOUNCES

12.16 STAY GONE•SECONDS OF SILENCE LIGHTS OUT•JOSEPH MERLITTI BAND 12.17 ABREPASO FLAMENCO PRESENTS NAVIDAD FLAMENCA 12.17 AIN’T IT FUN GRAPHIC NOVEL BOOK RELEASE WITH AARON LANG & JAKE KELLY 12.21 LUNG•HONEYLAND•THE BRAKES 12.22 NEW! RADIO DUMMIES•BIG LEAGUES 12.22 INTO THE BLUE GRATEFUL DEAD REVIVAL

12.28 NEW! AUSTIN STAMBAUGH’S ELECTRIC WEEPERS 3.5 MARY TIMONY•YOUBET THE MERRY GO ROUNDERS 3.14 TOPHOUSE•GOOD MORNING BEDLAM 1.6 THE FM PROJECT STEELY DAN TRIBUTE 3.26 NEW! POST SEX NACHOS 1.20 BEARLY DEAD GRATEFUL DEAD TRIBUTE 3.27 NEW! PACIFIC DUB 1.27 SOIREE OF THE STALLIONS CHARITY CONCERT 4.5 STEVE FORBERT 2.22 JILL ANDREWS THE MODERN AGE TOUR 4.14 CAROLINE ROSE 2.27 TYLER RAMSEY 4.17 RUEN BROTHERS 3.2 MADDIE ZAHM LOW TICKETS! 5.5 TY SEGALL 3.3 LILLY HIATT 5.17 NEW! PSYCHEDELIC PORN CRUMPETS

| clevescene.com | November 22 - December 5, 2023

MUSIC LEAN AND MEAN

Hard rockers Baroness bring their attachedto-reality live show to the Agora By Jeff Niesel THE SONGWRITING process for Stone, the latest effort from the veteran hard rock act Baroness, began nearly three years ago. Singer-guitarist John Baizley tracked time via the magnolia tree that grows in his front yard. “When I started writing the song ‘Magnolia,’ the tree in my front yard was blooming,” he says via phone from a tour stop in Santa Ana, CA. Baroness performs with Soul Glo, Spotlights and Cloud Rat at 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 24, at the Agora Theatre. “Nearly a year later, when the tree was blooming again, we recorded the guitars for that song. And then, a year beyond that is when we were rolling out the album. [The tree’s life cycle] ties into the amount of time it took to make the record.” At the start of the recording process with only a vague idea of what songs the band would include on the album, the group retreated to Barryville, NY and holed up in a vacation rental that became an impromptu recording space. Its vaulted ceilings, hardwood floors and brick/glass walls perfectly suited the band’s expansive sound. After the group finished tracking drums, guitars, and bass in Barryville, it took everything back to Baizley’s basement studio to record vocals before handing the album to Joe Barresi (Kyuss, Tool) and Bob Ludwig (Led Zeppelin, Nirvana), who handled mixing and mastering respectively. “For some bands, it’s fine to have a clear goal and sound and intent,” says Baizley. “For us, the more rewarding experience tends to be that we have a very loose idea of where the songs will go. I think that’s what we do. That’s kind of the gold standard. We didn’t really try to write anything in particular. What you hear is what we did write.” The difference this time around is that the band lineup didn’t change after the recording of its last studio album, 2019’s Gold & Grey, and Baizley says the band’s chemistry contributed to recording

an incredibly cohesive album. “Stone is, from my perspective, the sound of Baroness writing an entire record based on our interpersonal bandmate chemistry,” he says. “It’s something I always wanted to do but for better or worse has not been the reality. There has always been the absence of an old member or addition of a new member. In fairness, even though I’ve been the only constant for 20 years, we all contribute to the songwriting. It’s not the John Baizley Show. The power of the music intensifies the more we cooperate. Stone is the most cooperative and intuitive and reactive record we’ve made. We spent very little time in between takes talking about what we were doing. The music itself was intuitively felt and directed using the chemistry that’s accrued from hundreds of shows.” The band’s DIY attitude extends to the making of the music videos that accompany the release. Though Nick Jost is credited as the director of the music video for “Last Word,” Baroness was heavily involved in the making of the video. The stop-motion animation perfectly suits the intense song’s stuttering guitars and soaring vocals. “We edited and did the filming,” says Baizley when asked about the video. “We feel that we are at a stage where we advocate for ourselves. Even if it potentially sacrifices some fidelity, the loss in hi-fi won’t be noticeable when contrasted against the improvement we’re making. The process is rewarding. It’s different from having just been a composer or performer. When you’ve been the engineer and producer, you stand behind it in a different way that I think offers a greater sense of accomplishment to the artist.” The music video for “Beneath the Rose,” a song that commences with sporadic drum fills and menacing guitars, is equally compelling. “With each one of the music videos, we were referencing cinema

| clevescene.com | November 22 - December 5, 2023

Ebru Yildiz. | Baroness

BARONESS, SOUL GLO, SPOTLIGHTS, CLOUD RAT, 7 P.M. FRIDAY, NOV. 24, AGORA THEATRE, 5000 EUCLID AVE., 216-881-2221. TICKETS: $29.50 ADV, $35 DOS, AGORACLEVELAND.COM.

and everything from Conan the Barbarian and Dino De Laurentiis movies and classic horror,” says Baizley. “‘Beneath the Rose’ is a nod to Children of the Corn. If you watch the beginning, which is about 45 seconds, it’s as close as Nick [Jost] could make as a shot-by-shot remake of Children of the Corn. The song is angular lyrically, and the inspiration for some of the initial lyrics come from the George Eliot poem, ‘The Choir Invisible,’ which is mentioned in the first lines of the song. The rest of the song becomes a stream-ofconsciousness thing that I was going through.” As much as the videos provide appropriate visuals for the band’s music, Baizley says the current tour is a “lean and mean” with

minimal production. “All of these songs came into being accidentally or intuitively,” he says. “I believe that’s what this record is about for us. As a result, the live show is a little more roots-y and sweatier and attachedto-reality. We don’t operate in a fantastic world but one that is super-real. Given the emotional thrust and weight, when we put too much into production, it takes away from the impact of the music. I wish bigger productions came more naturally to us, but it just feels like it would be disingenuous.”

jniesel@clevescene.com t@jniesel

| clevescene.com | November 22 - December 5, 2023

LIVEWIRE

Real music in the real world

FRI

Part of the popular jamgrass scene, the Rumpke Mountain Boys come to the Beachland Ballroom for a two-night stand. The guys perform tonight at 8 with Dupree’s Dead Band and Whiskey Drinks opening. They’ll perform tomorrow night at 8 with the Stolen Faces and Sugar Mules opening. 15711 Waterloo Rd., 216-383-1124, beachlandballroom.com.

11/24

Toronzo Cannon and the Chicago Way On the hard-driving “Strength to Survive,” one of singer-guitarist Toronzo Cannon’s best tunes, Cannon sings about how “real life” is getting in the way of his dreams. He describes himself as a “broken man” who can’t look at himself in the mirror. It’s heavy, emotional stuff and the riveting guitar solos possess a real weight too from the Chicago City Bus Driver who’s became the latest highly rated blues export from the Windy City. He comes to Music Box Supper Club tonight at 8 in support of his latest effort, The Preacher, the Politician or the Pimp. 1148 Main Ave., 216-242-1250, musicboxcle.com.

Ekoostik Hookah Formed in 1991, this Ohio-based jam band has achieved success and longevity largely without the support of mainstream media, corporate management, or even a record label. Now in its 30th year, the group performs tonight at 6 at House of Blues. 308 Euclid Ave., 216-523-2583, houseofblues.com.

Flock of Moons

This indie rock/stoner/space grunge power trio consisting of former members of Simeon Soul Charger and Time Cat just released a new album earlier this year and has played a few local shows in support of it. The guys perform tonight at 7:30 at Jilly’s Music Room in Akron. The show happens to fall on band member Joe Kidd’s 40th birthday, so you can expect a particularly festive performance. 111 N Main St., Akron, 330-576-3757, jillysmusicroom.com.

Chris Isaak Hard to believe it’s been almost 40 years since pretty boy singersongwriter Chris Isaak made his major-label debut with Silvertone, a disc of roots rock with an eerie enough vibe that movie director David Lynch put two of its songs on his creepy cult hit Blue Velvet. Lynch would return to that musical well for his 1990 film Wild at Heart, which featured “Wicked Game,” the twisted love song for which Isaak is most readily known. Isaak comes to MGM Northfield Park — Center Stage tonight at 8. 10705 Northfield Rd., Northfield, 330-908-7793, mgmnorthfieldpark. mgmresorts.com/en.html.

Rumpke Mountain Boys

SAT

11/25

Bret Michaels What better way to celebrate Thanksgiving weekend than with hair metal holdover Bret Michaels, an American icon who holds that distinction based solely on his ability to keep that distinctly American genre known as hair metal alive? Michaels has released many solo records over the years (even dabbling in country along the way), but you can expect to hear at least a few Poison tunes when he brings his Fall Holiday Parti-Gras tour to MGM Northfield Park — Center Stage. The concert begins at 8 p.m. 10705 Northfield Rd., Northfield, 330-908-7793, mgmnorthfieldpark. mgmresorts.com/en.html.

STRAIGHT NO CHASER COMES TO THE STATE THEATRE. SEE: SATURDAY, DEC. 2. | Courtesy of AEG Presents

returns in person after a four-year hiatus. All proceeds from this year’s Blizzard Bash benefit Cuyahoga County’s largest emergency food provider, the Hunger Network. The lineup consists of Indre, the Marcus Smith band and Apostle Jone’s Mikey Silas & Friends. The event will also be DJ’d by Zachary ‘DJ Z13’ Sinutko, Matt Hribar and others. The event begins tonight at 7 at the Beachland Tavern. 15711 Waterloo Rd., 216-383-1124, beachlandballroom.com.

unadulterated human voices coming together to make extraordinary music that is moving people in a fundamental sense,” as it’s put in a press release, has two RIAA Gold Certified albums, more than 1.5 million concert tickets sold, more than one billion streams on Pandora, and more than one million albums sold worldwide. The male a cappella group’s concert begins tonight at 7:30 at the State Theatre. 1519 Euclid Ave., 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org.

Welshly Arms

Nathan-Paul

Singer-guitarist Sam Getz was a session guy before joining singersongwriter Kate Voegele for her 2006 tour. After four years on the road with her, he then hooked up with indie rockers Stephen Kellogg & the Sixers and toured with them for three years. That band took a hiatus a few years back and Getz put together Welshly Arms. The blues rock act has become a huge success, and the band plays House of Blues tonight at 7. 308 Euclid Ave., 216-523-2583, houseofblues.com.

Local jazz musician Nathan-Paul hosts this special variety show at the Bop Stop that’ll feature two shows. Trumpeter Brandon Woody will join Nathan-Paul and his band the Admirables for one of the performances. The concert begins at 7 p.m. 2920 Detroit Ave., 216-771-6551, themusicsettlement.org.

SUN

THU

11/30

WGAR Winter Wonder Jam Starring Lee Brice Country singer Lee Brice headlines this holiday concert that also features Corey Kent and American Idol alum Chayce Beckham. The concert begins at 7:30 p.m. at Connor Palace. 1615 Euclid Ave., 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org.

FRI

12/01

SAT

12/02

Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness — New Friends Tour 2023 The indie rocker returns to House of Blues tonight at 6. In keeping with his philanthropic approach, McMahon will donate $1 per ticket to the Dear Jack Foundation, which provides impactful programming that directly benefits adolescents and young adults diagnosed with cancer in order to improve their quality of life and create positive health outcomes from treatment to survivorship for patients and their families. 308 Euclid Ave., 216-523-2583, houseofblues.com.

Blizzard Bash

Straight No Chaser

This WJCU charity concert put on by John Carroll University students

Straight No Chaser, a musical group that features the “sound of nine

| clevescene.com | November 22 - December 5, 2023

12/03

Jazz Is Dead This instrumental Grateful Dead cover band formed way back in the late ‘90s but then dissolved when its founder, T. Lavitz, passed away. The group reformed in 2015, and it comes to House of Blues tonight at 7. 5000 Euclid Ave., 216-881-2221, agoracleveland.com.

Pokey LaFarge An Illinois-born songwriter with a highly individual and eclectic Americana style, Pokey LaFarge draws influence from a broad range of musical genres including jazz, blues, cumbia, reggae, soul, and gospel. His most recent album, In the Blossom of Their Shade, showcases his unique style. He and his four-piece band perform tonight the Beachland Ballroom. Louisa Sancioff opens the show. 15711 Waterloo Rd., 216-383-1124, beachlandballroom.com.

scene@clevescene.com t@clevelandscene

SAVAGE LOVE QUICKIES By Dan Savage 1. I met a man whose wife was very ill. Their relationship was no longer sexual, and he was in a caretaker role, and seeking release. We fell in love, and he promised to marry me when his wife passes. That was five years ago. I know he isn’t lying about his wife’s illness, but I no longer want to wait. The only leverage I have is telling his wife and kids, which I would never do. It would destroy him and destroy us. But I’m drunk right now and I need you tell me I shouldn’t. You absolutely shouldn’t — unless you want stoned CNN viewers to root against the detectives investigating your murder in a future episode of Forensic Files. 2. Straight boy in the big city who sometimes plays the Bull for cuck couples. Went in for a second job interview and the boss was a man whose wife I’d fucked in front of him a year ago. There was lots of verbal abuse that his wife initiated (and I played along with) but their thing was too intense and I politely declined to meet up with them again. I didn’t get the job, and I’m pretty sure why. I still have his wife’s phone number. Do I have any recourse here? You don’t — unless you want stoned CNN viewers to root against the detectives investigating your murder in a future episode of Forensic Files. 3. I have some questions about pronouns. I get he/him, she/her and they/ them but not he/they or she/they. This has been a discussion with friends and family. Personally, I want people to identify with their truth. But I still don’t understand he/ they or she/they. Can you make it make sense? Ours is not to reason why, ours is but to make a good faith effort to remember the unique and sometimes unpredictable pronoun preferences of everyone we meet. We also have the option of training ourselves to never, ever use pronouns at all, in reference to anyone, ever again (She/they, he/they: “I may identify with and present as my natal/ biological/assigned sex BUT I CONTAIN MULTITUDES, bitches!”) 4. Sex with hubs is boring now but I have no new fantasies. How do I get into it again? If the relationship is open, fuck some other people, alone and together. If the relationship is closed, fuck each other someplace you haven’t fucked before — at the office, at a sex club, in the ass, etc. 5. I’m a 50-year-old man. My spouse, 46, is in the process of transitioning from male to female. I want to be sensitive to this experience and don’t want to ask hurtful questions, but there are just things I don’t know. For instance, how do most people in

her position feel about their male appendage? I’m hesitant to initiate any intimacy now. Even if you knew how most MTF folks feel about their male appendages — and even if I knew how most MTF folks feel about their male appendages — neither of us knows how your particular MTF spouse feels about her male appendage. It’s entirely possible your spouse feels the way most trans women feel… or she could hold a minority opinion. So, you’re going to have to ask her. Whatever she feels about her male appendage, broaching the subject is one way of letting her know you’re still attracted to her and still wanna be intimate. 6. I am a woman who has plentiful orgasms very easily and a WAP. I prefer a larger-than average penis, which apparently is common (according to some studies) among women who orgasm a lot, because I need to have my cervix rammed to feel completely satisfied. I don’t want to be this way and I feel a little ashamed since it’s something men can’t change about themselves. What do I do if I meet someone who is otherwise a very compatible partner, however, physically through no fault of his own, can’t give me what I need sexually? I like it to be a big enough dick that it hurts a little. Guys with big dicks are great, but guys — big or small — who are secure enough with their dicks to occasionally strap on a big dildo are even better. Find one of them. 7. What does it mean when a girl looks at you and runs her finger around her lips like in a circle with her lips open? Round the world? I wanna give you a rim job? She did it at me like three times, Dan. I want to interpret this the right way. I’m a straight guy who doesn’t get much, but I think maybe this gal is interested? Yay or nay? If this girl was in your league (be honest), it means she wants it. If this girl was out of your league, it means she takes cash or Venmo… or she was secretly filming you for her prank YouTube channel. Proceed with caution. 8. What are tell-tale signs a relationship is doomed? I wanna be glib POS and say, “Asking yourself — or asking an advice columnist — that particular question is one of the signs,” but that isn’t true. Everyone in truly longterm relationship (5+ years) has wondered at some point whether their relationship was doomed. No, the truly tell-tale signs — the Four Horsemen of Relationship Apocalypse, according to John Gottman and Julie Schwarz Gottman of the Gottman Institute — are criticism, contempt, defensiveness, and stonewalling. Learn more at their website

| clevescene.com | November 22 - December 5, 2023

(www.gottman.com). 9. I’m wanting to get into fisting, but my boyfriend isn’t into it. We are open. How do I go about it? How do I even get started? “Open and honest communication about your needs and your partner’s needs is always the most important thing, whatever you’re into,” said Jazzmatazz, the fisting blogger who cohosts the Such FFun podcast. “Two fisting-specific tips: train with toys first, solo and with partners. And find some experienced fisters in your area — guys you feel you can trust — who are up for showing you the ropes. Then explore and have fun!” 10. Is it safe to mix X-Lube with piss? Since X-Lube is powdered lubricant (just add water) that’s popular with fist fuckers and since I already had Jazzmatazz on the line, I passed your question to him: “Your large intestine has one job: absorbing water,” said Jazzmatazz. “Piss in your butt will get absorbed, with or without X-Lube. If you trust the quality of the piss, go for it.” You can find Jazzmatazz on Twitter @ jazzmatazzoz and the Such FFun podcast — now in its fourth year — on all podcasting platforms and on Twitter @SuchFFun. 11. Is it normal during a foursome (FMFM) for one couple to forbid any kissing? It’s not unheard of for a couple in an open relationship — even a couple who swings together — to hold something back. Some couples only “soft swap,” meaning they only engage in oral and mutual masturbation when they play with others; some couples don’t play with others in the bed they share or their time zone where they live. For this couple, it’s kissing. People are allowed to rule anything in and anything out, and what may seem trivial to you — if you’re fucking other people why not kiss them? — could have deep emotional significance for the couple you played with. 12. How to deal with tears, fissures, and inflamed bowels as a tight gay bottom? Use tons of lube, take things very slowly, stop at any sign of pain or discomfort, play solo (no pressure not to bail), and make sure your sex partners know — in advance — that they’re not guaranteed anal to completion (no one is) and that you won’t tolerate pouting or pressure if you do have to bail. Also remind them that oral or mutual masturbation — the acts you’ll pivot to if you have to bail on anal — are great sex, not sad consolation prizes. 13. Best BJ trick? A gentle bite — just a little pressure applied with the teeth at a moment when the dick isn’t sliding in or out — paired with sustained eye contact. It’s a great way to remind the person whose dick is in your mouth that they don’t have all the power, since you could tear that cock off with your teeth at any moment. So. 14. What other kink-minded dating apps are out there besides Fetlife and Feeld? Any dating app is a kink-minded dating app so long as you’re prepared to be open and honest about your kinks. But no one — not even other kinky people — will want to see a list of fetishes or kinks on a non-kinky dating app. Just drop a hint: “GGG seeking GGG.”

Scene archives

15. Can you fuck university faculty after you’ve graduated? So far as I’m concerned, yes — but I write sex columns, not university conduct codes. 16. I’m a 50+ male. In the past five to ten years, it seems like the skin on my penis has gotten more fragile. Where I used to be able to masturbate for as long as I liked, I have started getting an abrasion where my thumb rubs if I do it too long. I don’t think I have changed anything and have never been a “death grip” guy. I’m sure you are going to suggest lube, but I just don’t like the cleanup afterwards. Is this just an unavoidable byproduct of aging or is there something to be done to toughen it up? As we age, our skin becomes thinner, and our orgasms take a little longer to achieve. So, even if you’re not stroking your aging dick any harder, you are stroking your aging dickskin a little longer than you used to. Pick your poison: beating holes in your dick and bleeding out or using some lube and having to do a little clean up. The choice seems obvious to me. 17. Why do I want to keep sending dirty videos to a guy I know is bad news? Because knowing you shouldn’t makes it ten times hotter. 18. How does your expert gaydar react to Speaker of the House Mike Johnson? When I heard that his wife is a conversion therapist and that he has a phone app to try and keep him accountable for his porn use, I immediately thought, yeah, gay porn for sure. Given his toxic homophobia, I automatically suspect a self-loathing closet case. Is he pinging on your gaydar? Is he ever! With apologies to Little Richard: a ping pong a ling ping a lop pang poom! 19. Does the refractory period get longer as you get older? Indeed, it does. 20. You suck. Indeed, I do. Send your question to mailbox@savage. love Podcasts, columns and more at Savage.Love

mail@savagelove.net t@fakedansavage www.savagelovecast.com

INSUR ANCE

PHONE LINES

SR22 INSURANCE ALSO Call David Young (440)779-9800

MEET TONIGHT! FREE to try! 18+ 216.626.7777 / 440.325.7777 Other Cities: 1.888.257.5757 www.questchat.com

CAR INSURANCE BEST PRICES

PHONE LINES

EXPLICIT CHAT WITH SEXY LOCALS Get your FREE TRIAL! 18+ CALL The Night Exchange NOW! 216.502.4388 / 440.499.6400 www.nightexchange.com HOT LOCAL URBAN SINGLES! Are looking to hook up now! Try it FREE! 18+ 216.367.1010 / 440.424.0303 www.metrovibechatline.com

CALL NOW,

100's OF SEXY LATINO SINGLES Meet Hot Latin Locals! Get your FREE trial! 18+ 216.626.7777 440.325.7777 www.questchat.com MA SSAGE - CERTIFIED CARING MASSAGE Days & Evenings, weekends. Warm candlelight atmosphere. Lakewood/West Suburbs Linda 216-221-5935

| clevescene.com | November 22 - December 5, 2023

MA SSAGE - CERTIFIED BEST MASSAGE JUST $25/ HR Relaxation or deep tissue massage in Lakewood on a heated table. Male massage provider trained at the Cleveland Institute of Medical Massage. Over ten years of experience. Men only. Call Ted at 440-732-1501.

CLEVELAND BAZAAR

2023 HOLIDAY EVENTS LAKE AFFECT

WINTERLAND

78 th STREET STUDIOS

NOVEMBER 25th

WINTERLAND 5th Street Arcades - Sat 10 am–7 pm 530 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland

NOVEMBER 25th & 26th

AKRON BAZAAR R. Shea Brewing - Canal Place & Bounce Innovation Hub Sat 11am–6 pm, Sun 11am–4pm 526 & 540 S. Main Street, Akron

DECEMBER 2nd

LAKE AFFECT

Lake Affect Studios - Sat 10 am–6 pm 1615 East 25th Street, Cleveland

DECEMBER 9th & 10th

78th STREET STUDIOS

78th Street Studios - Sat 10 am–9 pm, Sun 10 am–6 pm 1300 West 78th Street, Cleveland | clevescene.com | November 22 - December 5, 2023

Scan this with your phone or text BAZAAR to 66866 to join the mailing list!