Looks like April 27th is going to be an interesting day in Cleveland thanks to Kevin Smith. The filmmaker / actor is bringing his SModcast to Peabody’s for two shows in one evening.
So what is a SModcast you ask? It’s a podcast featuring Kevin Smith and his long time friend Scott Mosier. Normally the pair records the show on Sunday nights or Monday mornings where fans can later download them via iTunes or a RSS feed. This time though they decided to take it on the road and make it a little more personable with their fans.
Tickets are $24 a pop for seats and standing room. Not sure how this will go down but I can tell you that it is going to be hilarious.
The Police @ The House Of Blues (no, not that Police)
Now I was not at the House of Blues last night to see Bone-Thugs-N-Harmony(BTNH) play to a sold out crowd but rest assured if I was, I would not be thinking too highly on what happened that essentally put a halt to the show.
According to Fox8.com, Cleveland Police came into the venue and arrested Flesh-N-Bone who had 2 outstanding warrents.
Flesh-N-Bone had not been to Cleveland in over 10 years. Some homecoming he had… This was to be a reunion show for the band and the fans.
Why am I posting this? Well because I am a fan of BTNH. I got to see them years ago at the Odeon and had a blast. I’m also not a fan of concerts being shut down or ending early. I guess I feel bad for all the folk who payed good money last night to see the 90’s Cleveland rap sensations only to have to be shunt a performance thanks to the manor the arrest was handled.
According to Cleveland.Com, 50 Cleveland police officers and Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s deputies entered the venue to make the arrest around midnight.
50 officers & deputies to take in one man? Seriously? I get that the venue was sold out at the 1000+ capacity venue but why do it in the middle of the show? I really think there could have been a better way to have handled this.
Flesh-N-Bone obviously has been having his own problems but why exactly did the arrest have to go down at midnight? Oh wait, it gets even better…
Police say that Howse [Flesh-N-Bone] recognized that deputies were watching him while he was on stage, and then called the crowd up on to the stage. He then attempted to make an exit off the side under cover. Unfortunately, that tactic did not work. Howse was restrained by a deputy while other deputies and Cleveland police assisted.
Somehow I am not buying that… Oh well. I hope things work out for him and I hope the fans at least got to enjoy the hour and a half that BTNH did get to play before the cops shut it down. There were no injuries reported and no riots started so that proves that the Cleveland fans can keep their cool during a really ridiculous situation.
The band will be releasing their 3rd full length release June 15th on Side One Dummy Records. Expect a tour to follow in support of this highly anticipated release.
Track Listing:
1. American Slang
2. Stay Lucky
3. Bring It On
4. The Diamond Church Street Choir
5. The Queen of Lower Chelsea
6. Orphans
7. Boxer
8. Old Haunts
9. The Spirit Of Jazz
10. We Did It When We Were Young
Many fans of indie rock know who The Weakerthans are and what exactly they do. For years now the Canadian four (and sometimes up to six) some have been creating amazing albums that are heavy on the indie but also incorporate folk and twang into their material. They are a band that I label as an “accident band”. What I mean by that is I became a fan of them by accident.
Back in the days of slinging coffees at the café at the Borders Books & Music I worked at I came across a Weakerthans’ album at a listening station one day while on break. This was at a time and age when the internet was still ruled by AOL and MySpace was just an idea waiting to be hatched out. I remember clearly putting the headphones on at the listening station and checking out a couple tracks from Left and Leaving. Liking what I heard, I recall reading a bio about the band while listening to more tracks and taking a double look at the card when it mentioned one time Propagandhi member John Samson. Seriously, my mouth dropped open.
I was maybe 23 at the time and was slowly opening my musical tastes more. Being a punk rocker at heart I was in awe that the bassist of one of my favorite punk rock bands was fronting such a melodic and low-key band. I heard enough, grabbed the CD, and took it to the register for purchase. Needless to say my musical appreciation was given a boost thanks to the Weakerthans and to this day I am still an avid fan though I have yet to see them live.
Having missed them the couple times they did roll though Cleveland one could say I was excited to see that they had released a live DVD/CD titled Live At The Burton Cummings Theatre on Epitaph Records/ANTI- Records. Performed in their hometown of Winnipeg, Canada in April of 2009, the band recorded the performance at the Burton Cumming’s Theatre (yes, the sweet mustached Burton Cummings of The Guess Who). Just to clarify I believe the theatre was named after the classic rock musician and that he has nothing to do with it.
The DVD/CD captures the perfect evening of a show with the talented indie rockers as well as their dedicated fans who filled the venue up the night it was recorded. With no fancy light shows or theatrics the band hit the stage and played a very fun and great sounding show. Their sound, I should add, almost sounds studio and one could be fooled until the fans started hooting and hollering after every song.
Playing songs old and new the band just sounded amazing and looked ever so comfortable on the stage. Hearing them open with “Everything Must Go” really reminded me why I have been a fan for so long but seeing how happy they were performing the song brought a whole new appreciation from me for them. With the crowd cheering and the band just having fun it was apparent that this show was going to be a good one. Speeding things up they broke into “Tournament Of Hearts” immediately after. With five members on stage it appeared as if Samson’s wife Christine Fellows was hiding in the shadows offering vocals as well.
The band’s (and the crowd’s) friend Julie played on some songs as well including “Night Windows” where she offered some violin. Keeping the show rolling the band broke into “Reconstruction Site” a twangy delight of a song to listen to as well. The band completely rocked out during “Aside” all while Samson smiled big while singing. “Bigfoot” was another track I really got a kick out of with all the instrument playing.
Hearing perhaps my favorite Weakerthans song of all time, “Plea From A Cat Named Virtue”, put the biggest smile on my face even if I was watching a recording of the show. The song revolving around a wise feline carried on perfectly, even the trumpet playing at the close of the song. Samson also offered a simple impromptu guitar solo that was cut short on the CD but the DVD shows the humorous moment.
During “Wellington’s Wednesdays” Samson pulled up a fan on stage named Ernesto who had the pleasure of filling in a guitar solo in the key of E. I must say after a nervous start Ernesto started jamming hard with the rest of the band as Samson took the honorary member’s place in the crowd for a short moment. The band then followed up “The Reasons” as well as “Sun In An Empty Room”. I swear if it were not for the fans cheering at times my mind tried to argue with me that I was not listening to a live album.
Overall the show was a fun time full of a great set by an outstanding band. The DVD featured shots of the band throughout the 75 plus minute performance with good angles as well as occasionally would focus in on a true fan singing along. Capturing The Weakerthans in their hometown was one hell of an idea and even if I have not seen them live in the flesh, I am glad I had the opportunity to have this performance in my possession.
The DVD/CD ranks high with my all time favorite live albums and I have listened to it multiple times now and I am not just saying that. Great music by a bunch guys made even more entertaining by the simple fact that they were having a blast while doing their job. If you are a fan of indie rock or just want to spend the evening with some great music do yourself a favor and grab a copy of Live At The Burton Cummings Theatre.
Track Listing (DVD/CD):
01. Everything Must Go
02. Tournament of Hearts
03. Our Retired Explorer (Dines with Michel Foucault in Paris in 1969)
04. Night Windows
05. Reconstruction Site
06. Aside
07. Civil Twilight
08. Bigfoot
09. Plea From A Cat Named Virtute
10. The Reasons
11. Sun In An Empty Room
12. Left and Leaving
13. Wellington’s Wednesdays
14. Benediction
15. Manifest
16. One Great City!
17. This Is A Fire Door Never Leave Open
18. Virtute the Cat Explains Her Departure
Saturday night I conquered new territory, saw a show, and got to hang out with old friends. It was a very quick and triumphant evening full of laughter, new faces, and 80’s/90’s sitcom references sung in the key of The Electric Grandmother (TEG).
Let me explain because I am sure you are scratching your head right now…
TEG, aka my great friends Pete and his awesome wife Mary Alice (MA), decided to grace the city of Canton, OH with their presence and play a show at a place called Old Glory (more on OG in a moment).
So what kind of music do they play? The answer is Sitcom-core. Take one part 80’s & 90’s sitcom love and add it to freaky beats and a roller-coaster of vocals that are pure raunchy yet hilarious. That is Sitcom-core. I should also add TEG has been doing their thing before Nerd-core was even fathomed – so no haters please, they are pros at this and honestly, it is way more entertaining.
The two person team is musically and visually entertaining with Pete belting out the singing and creating the beats while MA takes care of a slide show like no other that coincides with the music. It is like nothing you have ever seen or heard and you need to have an appreciation for cheesy ass television to even remotely have a clue. It’s fun and meant to be fun and they are also my friends so I guess that makes it even more special to me every time I get to see them.
Photo by Allison Edwards
Aside from them making what TEG is, I have known Pete for half my life now and he along with Mary Alice are two of the most genuine people I know. Sadly I do not get to see them as much as I would like to as they reside in Columbus but we still communicate quite often. Needless to say when they told me they were going to be performing at a venue in Canton I was most than pleased and canceled all zero plans I had that evening to go and see them.
Now I am not familiar with Canton at all but thanks to my trusty GPS I was able to find Old Glory, at least I thought I did. The sign on the building said Old Glory Tattoos and for a quick moment thought I found the wrong place and was about to give the bird to my GPS. You see, I have a bad history of GPS’s taking me through the ghetto of different cities. I have driven through the projects of Baltimore once on account of a GPS thinking it knew the quickest route to a venue so once I learned that Old Glory Tattoos is now Old Glory I just laughed.
Old Glory is basically a DIY house. They are working on getting a liquor license so they can sell beer during shows and turn into a business but until then they open their doors to all who want to attend free of charge. Until that happens the venue is BYOB and smoking is welcomed (not a fan) since technically they are not a business. The owners of the place were super awesome and I wish I was able to remember their names but to make a long story short the place was a tattoo shop in a not-so-good part of town so he decided to close the shop up and open up something fun – a place where bands could play music.
Photo By Allison Edwards
There was no cover for the show as mentioned before but donations to the venue and the bands was accepted. Supposedly there were to be 5 bands all together that were to play that night but only 3 showed up and stayed. I guess one band showed up called Hollywood Lies (no link necessary, I am not going to promote them) and said they would be back but never came back. Apparently they played the Warped Tour and they were too good for OG. Kinda of a douche move if you ask me… It’s ok though because I did not want to see them play if they were going to have that type of mentality.
The neat thing about DIY houses is that there are loyal attendees that will always come out and see what is going on. Rather than have TEG play just to a handful of folk the owner of OG kept asking them to hold off and kept making phone calls. By 10:30pm there was a nice collection of music and beer lovers in the house.
TEG took the stage and immediately wowed everyone in the place with “The Day I Pretended To Watch Airwolf”. Those in the crowd who were there to see TEG knew what to expect but for all of the people that just came in unknowingly they were all very accepting of Sitcom-core to their virgin ears.
I admit I get nervous for my friend’s bands sometimes when they get on stage to a new crowd but I don’t ever need to worry about Pete. He is one of the punkest kids I know in life and he could really care less what you think about his music. He is there to have a good time and just do his thing. The folk in OG Saturday night really did get a kick out of TEG as they played though the night with”England-man American”,”New Coke Rap”, and also fan favorites “Car Phone” as well as a song dedicated to The Golden Girls. Throughout the songs MA kept the projections moving along with hilarious pictures that reminded all how corny yet memorable television and culture was in the 80’s and 90’s.
By set’s end the place was having fun and that is exactly with TEG came there to do. Giving away free CDs and making fun of the bands that did not show up to OG that night TEG was all about having a good time. TEG is not a gimmick by any means and what they do is for the love of performance, gratitude, and plain old generosity.
How generous? Well TEG is offering all of his synth heavy albums for free download. Yes, free. The following are a couple links to download his most recent albums. Check them out and honestly if you don’t like them delete them but I can guarantee that at least a couple of the songs will crack you up and who knows, you might just become a fan of The Electric Grandmother. It’s ok, I won’t tell your friends…but you should because it’s ok to like them.
