You don’t have to be the super fan to enjoy a Red Wanting Blue show. Their electric live shows and constant touring began to wear down a terminally jaded Ohio audience. Over the last year, Red Wanting Blue signed and re-released their eighth album and embarked on tour. Red Wanting Blue with Down the Line and Tom Evanchuck will be at the House of Blues, Cleveland, November 27, doors at 7:30, show at 8:30pm. Red Wanting Blue has playing Athens since 1995 and the rustbelt rockers take a simple, cut and dried approach to their craft. They’re style has been compared to a wilder Tom Petty...
Boston is SO hot right now. It’s the newest place for hip hop artists to rep. The latest installment of Cambridge hip hop talent is Sam Adams, the self proclaimed “Boston’s Boy”. Two parts Malcolm in the Middle one part pop/rap, Sam Adams is making a sensational entrance. Sam Adams headlines with opener DJ E-V at hitting the House of Blues in Cleveland, November 24th, doors at 7, show at 8. Perhaps, on paper, Sam Adams doesn’t have the stereotypical hip hop pedigree. He is allegedly a descendant of President John Adams and he plays soccer at Trinity College. If you’re having...
For many people, Hinder picks up where Nickelback leaves off: bad girls are awesome songs, and one-night stands are great territory. Add in some raspy gravel vocals, and you’re listening to Hinder. The Oklahoma rockers had barely unpacked from their Motley Crue tour, they hopped on with Nickelback and now they’re touring on their yet to be released new album All American Nightmare. Hinder will be at the Cleveland House of Blues, with Darkest Days and Default on Nov 17th, doors at 7, show at 8pm. If you are a fan, cool, no hard feelings. In the world of mod rock, Hinder is surfing a ...
True Cannibal Corpse fans love both cannibals and corpses, the Florida via Buffalo death metal band plays only the most vicious and dynamic metal. The fast, sometimes grotesque mutilation/necrophilia obsessed tunes are catchy. Not for the faint of heart, so stop clutching your pearls and enjoy some seriously shredding death metal. Cannibal Corpse with Dying Fetus, Vital Remains and Devourment at Peabody’s, Nov 18th, doors at 7pm. Newest work Evisceration Plague has been out for quite a while, yet Cannibal Corpse had no really given the album its undivided touring attention. Well, the ...
The third-wave ska revival of the mid-1990’s introduced Reel Big Fish to an adoring public. Although they fit in better with a punk rock audience, Reel Big Fish offers a killer live show. Unlike most bands of that era, they are still touring. Reel Big Fish and The Aquabats play the House of Blues, opening acts The Suburban Legends and Koo Koo Kanga Roo, doors at 6:30pm, show at 7:30pm. Reel Big Fish continued touring and releasing albums even though the ska craze has quieted. An album of ten cover songs, Fame, Fortune and Fornication was released in ’09. Most recently, they have bee...
Before putting out its most current, fourth album, "Nothing," the dance-beat trio dubbed N.E.R.D. was toe to toe with the record label heads. Interscope was looking for a “club” concept and N.E.R.D. was more concerned with the overall vibe. What was ultimately unleashed was a Frankenstein of both visions. If you thought that N.E.R.D. had “jumped the shark” with their last album, Nothing will come as a well deserved surprise. The album starts “Party People” and it will turn you into a veritable dance floor zombie, the up-tempo will move your ass and the chorus will knock around i...
Luckily I have been relatively insulated when it comes to “the Biebs”, as he’s known around my apartment. I’m aware of him, his fans, and his phenomenon. Upon some research, I have found that Justin Bieber is actually a solid musician; he taught himself to play drums, guitar, piano and trumpet. Let’s also state for the record that he’s a pretty ok singer, mediocre dancer and full-time tween heartthrob. All of which, I’m sure, adds up to a whole lot of disposable income up for grabs. That said, you could not pay me to get close to Cleveland’s Wolstein Center even 48 hour...
Liz Phair’s latest offering is the self-released “Funstyle” was her first album in almost five years. The entire 11 song album is available for download on her website for about $5.99. The first sample for download was the terrifically bizarre “Bollywood”. Against her backbeat of weird, broad-stroking and stereotypical Indian pop, Phair…raps about the time she got talked into penning music for cable television. If it sounds weird and uncomfortable….it was. It felt like a desperate play for relevance in the post M.I.A. pop world. I consider myself a fan of Phair’s whole ca...
Strapping Young Lad’s “Heavy Devy” Devin Townsend has begun his first headlining tour as a solo act. Townsend’s trademark production style is unique, as it showcases his multitracked wall of sound, comparable to Frank Zappa. The show is being billed as a special evening with the artist; he will be covering material from his entire fifteen-year musical career, which is somewhat of a roller coaster. Devin Townsend’s tour is making its way through Cleveland’s Peabody’s, Friday, November 5th, Pitch Black Forecast and Garmonbozia open, doors at 7:00pm. Townsend has gathered fan...
Less than a year ago, Rihanna was collecting praise for her fourth smash album “Rated R”. Now, the edgy departure from her early work, “Loud” is poised to break records. The title alone was the catalyst of the tone—Rihanna wants fans to get loud, get pumped. If the “Love the Way You Lie” popularity is any indication, Rihanna fans are rabid for more. Rihanna had MJ’s “Thriller” in mind when she was laying out concepts for the material, meaning that only the cream of the crop would make it through. What materialized was an album of songs that were customized to Rihanna’s...
Kid Cudi seriously needs to stop doing interviews. His new album just dropped and all anyone is talking about is how he bangs rails to get through interviews or how he called Perez a “fuckhead”. In any event, he’s getting a serious wave of attention as he releases a darker, more off the map piece of work. This particular album has had more than a few re-dos. First it was called “Cudder”, then “Cudder and the Revolution of Evolution, until he settled on 'Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager’. Mr. Rager has been hailed as revelation, a whole new era of Kid Cudi. This albu...
Kid Cudi is possibly Cleveland’s most hard-working, yet often prolific export. He told magazines how he regularly used coke to get him through interviews; he punched a fan in the face during a homecoming concert in Cleveland. He was also thrown off Lady GaGa’s Monster Ball Tour. (Exactly what DO you have to do to offend Lady GaGa?) Yet, Kid Cudi has three albums under his belt as well as an HBO series on his resume. His single “Day n Nite” was an instant success. His 2010 tour is in support of this latest work, Man On The Man II: The Legend of Mr. Rager. Kid Cudi is making his way thro...
Their biography bills them as “the rock equivalent of a duty-bound pack of Wild West outlaws who've spent the last 25 years on Mars and are now returning to right the musical wrongs of us puny Earth creatures”. When you think of a clever way to fuse rock and punk, yet stay laid-back and funky…but you need some falsetto disco vocals, it could seem like impossibility. Electric Six says no, it’s really not. See them for yourself at the Grog Shop in Cleveland, November 6th, doors at 8pm. Though Electric Six have such a huge range of styling’s, they tend to reject such ugly genre class...
It’s that time of year again, the leaves are falling, and bonfires are raging. If you’re from Ohio, you know that this is also the season of Mushroomhead’s Halloween bonanza. Well, this year will be bigger than ever, a double-stage spectacle of the most face melting music you can find. Mushroomhead celebrates Halloween every day, but Saturday, October 30th they’re going to be at the Cleveland Agora. The doors are at 6 pm, advance tickets are $28. I’ve never seen a “World Famous” Mushroomhead Halloween show, saying that in Ohio is like saying you’re a Pittsburgh fan, there’...
The holiday feeding frenzy is beginning, as soon as you shake out your Halloween candy bag, it seems like you’re being thrust headlong into a blur of turkey and evergreen. Thanksgiving is a time to be happy about your life, thankful for health and family, ever grateful for all blessings, both large and small. In the spirit of celebrating all of these gifts, we would like to be thankful for the following styles and beauty products and treats. Beauty Products We Are Thankful For Miss OopS is a new line of innovative problem-solving products. The Show Stoppers are tiny lil pasties, stick them...
Mike Ness is pushing 50 and Social Distortion is not even close to retiring. This year alone has the guys working in the studio on new record for a new label (Epitaph), touring through South America (their first), recruited two new drummers (Atom Willard left), and touring the U.S. (Lollapalooza included). In case that wasn’t exhausting just reading it, they just added new Social Distortion tour dates right on through the fall. Social Distortion with Lucero and Frank Turner will play the Cleveland House of Blues, Sunday October 24th, doors at 7pm, show at 8pm. The new record, Pain, D...
My early memories of Helmet are sketchy, but it was always the cooler older kids that were up on Helmet. It wasn’t until I bought my own copy of Strap It On that I realized why. Wednesday, October 13th is going to be a night of “thinking person’s alternative-prog-sludge metal bands”. (Hyphens are fun.) Alternative metal veteran band, Helmet is coming through Cleveland. Post-metal favorites Intronaut and Cleveland stand out, Forged in Flame as opener. Wednesday, October 13th at Peabody’s, doors at 7:00pm. No “Best of the 90’s” music list is complete without the mentio...
...And it's NOT with more cowbell. The Welsh power-metal quartet, Bullet for my Valentine will be gearing up for their Cleveland appearance. This Saturday at Tower City Amphitheater, Bullet for my Valentine and openers, Escape the Fate, Black Tide and Drive A will help you with your mosh pitting skills. The doors are at 6:30 pm, Tower City Amphitheater. The venue is outdoors, the weather is supposed to be 72 and sunny. (Weather report is because I like you. Yeah…you.) Bullet’s European heaviness isn’t supposed to do well in America, however, their latest album “Fever” debuted ...
A new date and a new venue for Thirty Seconds to Mars will impact Cleveland fans. Thirty Seconds to Mars was rescheduled to play at Kent State main campus, this Friday, October 8, Neon Trees opens up. Show begins at 8:00pm. Jared Leto has been on my Sex Bomb Radar since 1994 when he sang “I Wanna Be Sedated” as Jordan Catalano. However, the paparazzi pictures of him with a rat tail threatened to knock him off of my top ten list…yowza. After a solid indie movie career, Leto formed his band to some negative reception. Once Thirty Seconds to Mars proved themselves as a tiny bit mo...
The “Slack” is back, baby! The Slackers are hot and hung-over from their European tour, re-charged with a booze cruise or two, and primed and ready for their mid-America blitz. Come out to the Grog Shop this Friday for a lil ska and rock steady, throw in a pinch of reggae dub soul and top with garage rock, this is the show that is The Slackers, doors at 9pm. Notable punk label Hellcat Records saw the raw fury and released the Slackers’ album “Red Light” in 1996, since then it’s been a whirlwind, they’ve toured to death and back. This hardworking, hard partying approach is on...
