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Akron, Babble Blog, Cleveland, Good Times, Personal Entry, The Awesome, The Suck

“Ohio I’m leaving, Ohio I’m gone …”

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Never thought I would actually be able to sing the following Avett Brothers lyrics and have them actually hold true to my heart:

“Cleveland, I ain’t never felt nothing so strong
Been believing the words to my songs
Ohio I’m leaving, Ohio I’m gone”

For those of you who may not have heard yet, I have taken a job promotion within my company and will be relocating from Cleveland to Las Cruces, New Mexico, within the next 3 weeks.  This decision was the most difficult thing I have ever made in my life and it just killed me to come to a decision with such little time.

I weighed all the pros and the cons over and over and realized that I needed this adventure even if it meant leaving everything I love behind.  I feel terrible about moving on, but I do not want to not go on with life and one day wonder  “what if”.  I want to just take that huge risk and see what happens and say that I did it.

For 35 years, Cleveland and Akron have been my life.  Raised in a suburb in the middle of both cities, I was privileged enough to meet a ton of people who I have the pleasure of calling friend.  From the days of sitting curbside at a Dunkin Donuts to the warm nights in the Coventry courtyard, I really was lucky to be surrounded by such cool and remarkable people.  I loved going to the Metros daily and will never forget the times I had at “The Office”.  I could not have had a better childhood.

Throughout the years, we all grew up, some  of us took our own journeys and risks, but I stayed put and called Cleveland and Akron home.  To be honest, I was so ok with that.  I am Cleveland blood, this is my town.

As I continued growing up, I met more people and became involved in the ever important Cleveland / Akron music scene, not as a band performer, but as someone who fully appreciated it.  I loved my involvement with everything I did and cherished all of the memories that were created on a nightly basis.  I am so lucky to say that I had that.

Without going into too much detail, I will just say this: The Cleveland/Akron music scene rules right now and is it better than ever was.  I am so sad to leave it all behind, but you all know you I will be doing all I can to stick around, even if I need to do it via the Internet.  No way in hell am I going to not keep updated, some of these local bands are too important to not continue to keep tabs on.

The people…my friends.  Cleveland and Akron are full of the greatest people I will ever meet.  I know you will all welcome me back with open arms if and when I make it back on Ohio soil.  Trust me on this, I will be thinking about Ohio on a daily basis for the rest of my life.  Thank you to everyone out there who I have met for being so damn cool.

Obviously I am going to miss the locally owned shops and restaurants.  I just hit up Square Records last night and know nothing like that store will exist where I am moving to.  Music Saves and Blue Arrow, I seriously am going to miss the shit out of as well as the greatest comfort food on Earth, Melt.  Pizza will never even compare to Luigi’s.  I drool at the thought of one of their salads right now…  There are so many other places I can talk about, but I am getting sad just thinking about it.  I just hope I can score some Great Lakes beers out in the desert.

Sure, there will be plenty of new places for me to experience in my move to a new city, but it will not be the same.  Anyone from Cleveland and Akron who reads this knows exactly what I am talking about.  Cleveland and Akron are not that bad and I question why so many people hate it and say they are stuck in it.  I’m glad I was born and raised here.

Do I even dare get into Cleveland sports???  I will miss that so much and you can bet your ass I will remain a fan of Cleveland teams until the day I die.  That is a promise.  Browns for life.

I really should wrap this thing up.  Before I finish though, I just wanted to take a moment to thank each and every one of you out there who has spoken to me one way or another, shared a beer or a smile, rocked out along with, or just stopped here on this blog to see what was on my mind.  Without you all, I know I would not be the man I am today, and this site would not be going on 4 years.  Being surrounded in so many amazing people just adds fuel to my amazing life.

Special love to my greatest friends ever who rock out in bands like The Facials, Worship This!, Signals Midwest, Beat Kids, Harvey Pekar, Annabel, All Dinosaurs, Sidekicks, and of course Narcoleptics X5 (RIP).  These bands that I surrounded me around with are full of some of the most amazing people I will ever know in my life and I will miss the shit out of all of you.

Props to places like It’s A Kling Thing House, Dag House, Now That’s Class, Grog Shop, Agora (I hope you make a sweet come back), Odeon (you too), and all the other places I have seen a show at.

AddictedToVinyl.com, aka Matt, and his amazing new fiancé Annie (congrats!!!!), thank you for everything you have ever done for me.  The same love goes to all the good people who used to slave away at 92.3 including Patt The Producer and Nard.

I plan on continuing my blog, that is for sure, but it will never be the same.  I will be sure to try and visit and who knows, maybe one day I will plant my feet back in northeastern Ohio.  Only time can tell.

I leave June 8th and hope I get to see many of you before I pack up and drive cross county.  I know Las Cruces will be good to me, but nothing like the cities I grew up in.

I am scared as hell but excited to see what happens in the next chapter of my life.  Thank you people of Cleveland for all you have done for me.  I can not help but say “Cleveland Rocks” and mean it with all of my heart.  Akron, you rule too.

Babble Blog, Cleveland, Good Times, Indie, Music, Music Video, Photography, Punk, Road Trip, The Awesome

Remember Me???

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Many apologies for not updating this site as much as I want to.  Happy belated Thanksgiving.

As many of you know, I was quite the traveling body this past month.  Sometimes “me” time is a good thing.

Last weekend, I got to check out a new city that I  hope to return to one day soon – Asheville, NC.  I did way more than I had expected to while stumbling around that town (literally at times).  I took in a parade, cheered on a local flat track roller derby bout, drank way too much micro-brewed beers (oyster stout is where it’s at!), ate amazing Himalayan food, tried a wasabi chocolate truffle, climbed a mountain and sat atop of Chimney Rock (see pics below),  and best of all, I did so in great company.  That right there is what I am thankful for: Making amazing memories.

I hope everyone has enjoyed their holiday and did not spend their entire net-worth on stupid Black Friday.  I’m sorry, I could care less about deals.  You work retail for 10+ years and you despise that day after Thanksgiving.  People are rude, inconsiderate, and just plain ol’ insane.

I missed my chance last night to see an amazing band I got into earlier this year.  Seahaven made a stop at Now That’s Class in Cleveland and I made a decision to not attend.  I regret that decision a lot.  Have you heard of this band yet?  Check it:

They are pop punk indie rock and I can not get enough of them.  From what my friends told me, they were incredible last night too.  I will be talking about them some more very soon.

So why would I skip out on seeing such a great act?  No, it was not because I had to work ass early this morning.  It was because my pals at Eulogy Tattoo were having their third annual Black Friday sale. 

Wait?  Did I just say Black Friday?

Yes, I just stated I endulged in a Black Friday event after I just had so many nice things to say about it.  Boo hoo.  This was different as it is not technically retail…  They were selling select $20 tattoos. 

I know you have already look at the pic to the left and asked yourself what in the hell is that?  That’s my Black Friday deal and I did not have to fight one person getting it.

<— This, my friends, is a Cliff Owl.  Who is Cliff?  He’s the man behind Eulogy Tattoos in Canton and a pretty swell fellow. 

Why did I get such a thing?  I think the question should be, why have you NOT gotten one?

It was more than just tattoos for me though, it was about seeing a group of friends for a few hours after a hectic day at work.  That right there made my holiday much more meaningful than standing in a Wal-Mart with a mob of people Thanksgiving night at 10pm surrounding a shrunk-wrapped pallet of DVDs ready to shank someone so you can save $2.47 on a shitty DVD.  I am just not into that.

I am, however, all about hanging out with a bunch of good people and getting a tattoo that many people out there would probably regret.

00's, 70's, 80's, 90's, Alt Rock, Austin, Babble Blog, Fun Fun Fun Fest, Good Times, Grindcore, Hardcore, Hip Hop, Indie, Live Shows, Metal, Music, Personal Entry, Pop, Pop Rock, Post-Hardcore, Punk, Road Trip, Rock, The Awesome

Dearest Danzig…Fun Fun Fun Fest 2011 Still Ruled.

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I am sure many of you caught my last post about good ol’ Danzig’s awesome show I caught at Fun Fun Fun Fest this past weekend.  Love it or hate it, Danzig’s set on Friday night had the potential to ruin my weekend.

I knew the plug was going to get pulled the moment he announced to the crowd that they were told they could only play 5 more minutes.  That’s why I grabbed my camera and took that terrible video.  I wanted to capture the moment shit hit the fan, and I did.  I just discovered the Spin.com has used the video in one of their posts.

Prior to that announcement, I was finally starting to get into the set, granted the band just played “Vampira”.  I will not lie, they could have sounded way better.  I am sure there was a multitude of factors that resulted in what I heard.  It was windy as hell out and the equipment was heavily used all day , but there is no doubt in my mind that the band’s techs were not satisfied with their sound check.  Not only did the asshats do an impromptu sound check while the Murder City Devils were still playing (dicks), but they also had that extra 45 minutes before Danzig went on stage.

One of the whole reasons I went to Fun Fun Fun Fest this year was to check out the Danzig Legacy.  I was so hoping to hear “Hybrid Moments” and maybe even “Hollywood Babylon”, but we all know that was not the case.  Instead I heard heard Danzig, including 2 mediocre songs, some not so good sounding Samhain, and you know what happened after…

Plug pulled + Temper tantrum on stage = Me leaving and getting awesome vegan pad thai in downtown Austin.

Danzig make $100k that night and never finished his set.  The fans were all disappointed, and I was too.  Face it, we were all standing in front of the Black Stage to hear Misfits songs and nothing else.  With the time limit, one would think that Danzig could scrap one part of his set and focus on what people really wanted.  I felt worse for Doyle who probably just caked all that make-up on his face before coming out on stage.

Don’t worry, I did not want to tear off my Misfits tattoos and stomp on it after what I saw.  Hell, I am still a fan and always will be.  I was just pissed that Danzig was acting like a diva but also knew that I had 2 more days of Fun Fun to look forward to.  Perhaps the Misfits, the REAL Misfits, were never meant to be resurrected.  I do not care what Danzig has done for the music world, all I know is what I saw was unprofessional and beyond rockstar.  He was given fair warning of the time limit, did not want to even play, and then pulled his shit.  You know what?  I’m done talking about it.  Maybe if the Danzig calamity happened Sunday night I would have a different “Attitude” about the weekend but it was only night one.

I was already in a great mood after seeing Murder City Devils and Russian Circles take the stage Friday night.  Saturday I got to see Hot Snakes and The Damned (both were mind-blowing).  Sunday I saw Eyehategod, Kid Dynamite, Cannibal Corpse, HUM ( amazing) and eff’n Slayer. I also throughout the weekend saw Major Lazer, Diplo, Childish Gambino, Big Freeda, Spoon and Del The Funky Homosapien.

There was one quick performance though that just made me happy to be a part of the entire weekend.  While my friends and I were walking across Auditorium Shores to check out a veggie hot dog eating contest we noticed that there was a band covering Misfits songs on one of the main stages.  We all stopped dead in our tracks and literally ran to see what the hell was going on.  We caught the end of Ted Leo and the Pharmacists’s set where Leo and friends were performing their Misfits cover band TV Casualty.  It was awesome, it was funny, and it sounded awesome.  The four songs that Leo and crew played made up for the bullshit Danzig stirred up Friday night.

I’ve been to a whole bunch of festivals in my time.  This years Fun Fun Fun Fest was the best one I have ever been to and I was only at maybe 1-1/2 of it.  I missed all of the early shows due to other things going on in Austin like eaten grub or getting a sweet tattoo (stay tuned for that).  I was ok with missing a couple of the acts as the main ones were in the evening.  I got to see MCD, Hot Snakes, and HUM all in a weekend.  How cool is that?

This is not a review.  This is me declaring how much fun I had last weekend.  Great music with the greatest of friends, old and new.  Throw in the sweet motor-boating I did on a healthy rack right before Slayer and, my friends, I may have had one of the best weekends ever, in fact, I know I did.  Thanks Austin.  Thanks Fun Fun Fun Fest.  I wish it was last weekend all over again.

Austin, Babble Blog, Live Shows, Metal, Music, Personal Entry, Punk, Rock, The Awesome

T-Minus Less Than A Week…

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I have been sucking lately when it comes to blogging.  The paying gig has consumed a lot of my energy as has school leaving for little time for this site.  I know, I suck.  Deal.

Anyways…

Next week I am headed back to Austin, TX to check out Fun Fun Fun Fest.  This will be my first FFF experience and second trip to one of the best cities in America. 

Without going into too much detail, I decided to grab a ticket after I discovered that Danzig was bringing his Danzig Legacy set to the show and would be playing Misfits songs with Doyle Von Frankenstein.  It also helped to hear that the Murder City Devils would be playing a show as well.  In fact, after I saw those two bands, I made my decision instantly. 

Granted there are like 16 versions of the Misfits these days, there is only one version I prefer.  After I saw the Misfit(s) in 1996 with Michael Graves taking lead, I told myself that I would never see the Misfits again live unless Danzig himself was behind the mic.  Don’t get me wrong, I had a good time, but I can not stand any Misfits material after Earth A.D. 

Coincidentally I am not the only one with Danzig on my mind…

Recently my pal D.X. Ferris started writing a 4-part series called Defending Danzig on the pro-metal website called MetalSucks.net.  I encourage anyone out there who knows the name Danzig to check it out.  Ferris has been making some valid points on a musician who is way more talented than he gets credited for.  Sure the below picture is a real picture of Danzig in a Danzig shirt buying kittie litter, but he is a person too and apparently has a cat. 

Ferris will wrap up the series on Monday, Halloween to many, and I have to say, I can not wait to see it.  So far it has been a great read.

Back to my upcoming adventure.  This is my site after all right? 

Murder City Devils.  I am going to see them live and I am beyond stoked.  I have been a fan of them for years and missed many a chance to see them live.  I even considered a couple years ago to travel to Chicago to see them play their reunion show but backed out for whatever pathetic reason.  This time though it is happening.

Life is too short to think how good something could be without going for it…  and I have no problem traveling to see a good show.  Thanks in advance to a spacial lady in Austin who is giving her couch up to me for the weekend. 

I am also hoping to meet up with Evan Lovett, a very talented tattoo artist who does work out of Austin as well as Beachwood, NJ.  Should things work out, I will not only interview him, but also add to my personal tattoo collection. 

I’m sure I will be keeping everyone in the loop.  Stay tuned and have a great weekend!!!

Babble Blog

If I’m Lucky…

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…I will have internet when I return home from class tonight.

Yes, I just said class.  I decided to take a summer class to further my education and am honestly regretting it at this very moment.  Such is life.

I feel bad that I am neglecting the hell out of the site, but it is tough for me to work on reviews and whatnot away from home.  Apparently AT&T is going to be at the house today so I will keep my fingers crossed.  I have been without internet for 2 weeks now and apparently am 1 of 2 houses left to have it turned back on.

I owe this to that horrible storm that tore up my neighborhood of course.  Things are definitely back to normal in my hood, just minus some trees.

So once I get the internet back I will try and throw in some updates.  I have a few bands lined up that I plan on talking about as well as an interview in the works with a certain seasoned punk rock act.  That of course will happen after my vacation is over.

That’s right folks.  Vacation.  I am going back to the cabin for up to 10 days.  No internet, no cell phone, no nothing…except for good friends and ice cold beverages – lots of ice cold beverages.  I need an escape.

I’ll be back in a little over a week and will resume regular BHP material, I hope.  This class is going to kick my ass…

Until then enjoy some videos from a few bands I have been getting into lately…