Ace Scene photographer Walter Novak has been shooting concerts for years. So present Part I in what we hope will be a never-ending series of the Best of Novak Slideshows.
...In which the Scene music writers let a band speak for itself (because they're busy watching Operation Kitten Calendar on Acceptable TV.)
Band: Drop Notion
Hometown: Cleveland
Sounds like: “A funky drum-and-bass-driven hard-rock explosion with money-maker-shakin' groove guitar and vocals that don't stop to breathe -- over rye bread.”
Fun fact: “Drummer Joe and bassist Jared auditioned 27 guitar players before aquiring present guitarist Andy. Vocalist Chris used to play with local band Sly Natives."
Playing: Opening for Fishbone 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 9th, at the Agora, 5000 Euclid Ave.
Why you should see them: “A new experience in live music that demands attention different from the everyday rock show. Also, tickets are $14 and should be bought directly through Drop Notion. For tix contact us at dropnotion@yahoo.com. We must sell at least 75 tickets, so contact us ASAP.” -- Joe Stefano, drums
This week’s top arts and entertainment picks around town, from the guy who’s paid to pick them:
Monday: Unless you scored a ticket to tonight’s game in Washington D.C., the best place to see the Cavs in game four of the NBA Playoffs is at the Official Cavaliers Watch Party at Johnny Malloy’s. The bar’s big-ass screens bring LeBron and crew in your face. Plus, the Cavalier Girls will be there to help cheer on the sweep. Tipoff is 7 p.m. The party starts at 6.
Tuesday: Dirty Dancing celebrates its 20th anniversary tonight and tomorrow with special screenings of the movie that somehow made Patrick Swayze a star. More than 300 theaters will show the film and a new making-of documentary at 7:30 p.m. Seven local theaters – including Crocker Park, Middleburg Town Square, and Willoughby Commons -- have the time of their lives.
Wednesday: Cleveland Cinematheque unspools all five movies that were nominated for a Live-Action Short at this year’s Academy Awards. The 98-minute program features films from Spain, Denmark, and Australia. The U.S.’s West Bank Story, which snagged the Oscar, also screens, giving viewers a much-needed break from funny accents.
Thursday: You wouldn’t know it by listening to their latest album, but Canton’s Relient K play Christian rock. That’s because the super-catchy Five Score and Seven Years Ago is loaded with pop-punk hooks and devotional anthems that really aren’t that different from most of their emo peers’. Plus, they don’t whine as much. They’re at House of Blues tonight.
Friday: El-P not only founded hip underground-rap label Definitive Jux, he’s also its flagship artist. On his latest album, I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead, the rapper-producer gets a little help from famous friends the Mars Volta, Nine Inch Nails, and Cat Power. Cool stuff. He plays the Beachland Ballroom tonight. --Michael Gallucci
The Internet is, for once, a happy place for Browns fans this morning. ESPN’s Jon Clayton’s grades the weekend’s draft and puts the Browns at the head of the class. Sports Illustrated’s Peter King relays the story of how Phil Savage pulled off his Draft Day double, landing two of the team’s top-six prospects. The guys at Deadspin.com have plenty of Brady Quinn for you to feast on. And if that doesn’t satiate you, know that your football team now has a quarterback with his very own fan site. Yipee! – Joe P. Tone
In 2003, Scene chronicled the nightmare tale of how Bob Gondor and Randy Resh were convicted of a rape and murder they didn’t commit.
Last week, the two men finally found justice after spending the past 17 years in prison. On April 27, a judge threw out Gondor’s case just after Resh won his retrial.
As they adjust to their new lives outside of prison, their innocence now unquestioned, there will still be more challenges ahead of Gondor and Resh. They will wonder why Troy Busta, the state’s star witness, continued to pin the crime on them for the past two decades. They will likely ask themselves why they lost almost 20 years of their lives and who, in fact, they served those years for.
But one of the biggest questions Gondor and Resh say they can’t answer yet is whether or not they are going to seek damages for their wrongful imprisonment. According to a story in Saturday’s Akron Beacon Journal, both men are eligible to receive $40,000 for every year they were wrongly incarcerated.
The problem is that they must now prove that they, in fact, didn’t kill Connie Nardi in 1988. Despite their recent victories in Portage County, it won’t be an easy task without any conclusive DNA evidence exonerating them from the murder. But they do have patience on their side. After all these years of fighting to prove their innocence, what’s one last battle for a combined total of $1,360,000? – Denise Grollmus
It might have been a shock to most of the country when Sanjaya, the American Idol contestant everyone loved to hate, was kicked off the show last week. But Jim Hellriegel wasn’t surprised. The IT tech from Mentor had predicted Sanjaya’s outing the night before.
Hellriegel is the creator of dialidol.com, a free, downloadable program, that allows users to continuously dial their favorite American Idol contestant’s phone number via computer modem. It allows constant dialing until it gets through, helping viewers avoid busy signals.
Dialidol is the closest thing to a crystal ball watchers have to see who’ll get kicked off each week. Hellriegel uses data retrieved by his program determine which contestant’s lines are the hardest to get through. His logic: Contestants with the least amount of busy signals get the least votes.
In two years of operating, Hellriegel has more than an 80 percent accuracy rate in predicting the week’s loser.
As a result, Hellriegel is no longer a supporter of American Idol conspiracy theories. “I’d have loved to be the one to find out that American Idol had lied to the public [about the voting numbers], but instead I’ve found they’ve been nothing but truthful,” he says. Every time Hellriegel’s predictions didn’t match with the week’s results, he’d find a problem with his program – not American Idol’s.
Hellriegel created the program two years ago after spending a frustrating night trying to cast a vote for Bo Brice. The next weekend, he arrived at a solution.
After Hellriegel’s site exploded last year, Fox sent him a cease-and-desist letter. Hellriegel and his lawyer fought the order, and he hasn’t heard from the network since.
He says his program can’t predict the eventual winner, since each week there’s a different tally. But he does have his own personal forecasts. “I kind of feel like Jordan and Blake may shock everyone,” he says. “Though they’re also my two favorites, so maybe that’s biased.” – Rebecca Meiser
Between spins of JT and Nelly Furtado, the folks at 96.5 KISS FM are finding time to take up another important initiative: crowning Cleveland’s hottest mom.
This is no small task. Ranking women’s hotness is an exhausting exercise. Just last weekend I spent all of Saturday ranking the girls from Sex in the City. At times I was incapacitated by the indecision between picking sexpot Samantha and wordsmith Carrie Bradshaw. (Bradshaw wins by a press-on!) Ranking women’s hotness can be so time-consuming, I sometimes wonder if it’s interfering with my dating prospects, which have been temporarily suspended since 1996.
But the folks at KISS seem dedicated to the task. They’ve started a website where you can view pictures and vote. They’ve arranged a photo shoot for the finalists, and come up with some prizes – cash, a spa treatment, etc. – for the winners. (The winner of my Sex and the City contest only got the honor of having their poster above my bed).
For now, I plan on voting for finalist No. 15, Christy, because she played on my football team last summer and will surely kick my ass if I vote for someone else (like, say, No. 18). But just to be sure of my decision, I’ve carved out my Friday night for deliberations.
Oddly, I don’t have anything else to do. – Joe P. Tone
Bad news for the gang at Don’t Draft Brady Quinn.com: Sports Illustrated’s Don Banks reported late yesterday the Browns “are locked in” on Quinn with Saturday’s third pick. Banks says owner Randy Lerner has long favored the Notre Dame quarterback, and that Phil Savage and Romeo Crennel will listen, if only because it’ll help them keep their jobs.
Still, the news hasn’t deterred yet another online petition from joining the debate. Draft Troy.com aims to “Help Put Troy Smith in Cleveland and Stop the Bleeding in BrownsTown.” More than 1,800 signatures have been posted, though not all of them are dying, exactly, to see Smith in a Browns uniform. “No,” reads one post. “Troy deserves better.” – Jason Nedley
“They would become the All Saved Freak Band,” wrote Thomas Francis in “Lord of the Strings,” a 2004 cover story detailing the turbulent career of local guitar god Glenn Schwartz. “A true grassroots operation compared to what Glenn was used to, the band traveled the country in a van, setting up on the sidewalk outside rock concerts or music festivals. Hill sang and preached, accompanied by the sweet voices of two sisters, Pam and Kim Massman. Glenn played his usual brilliant guitar, next to Markko's rhythm guitar.
“It was a persuasive formula. Those who liked the band and pledged their Christianity were invited to live with the group at a commune near the town of Orwell in Ashtabula County.”
For a good chunk of the ’70s, Schwartz, who plays every Thursday night at Hoopples in the Flats, played guitar for the All Saved Freak Band, a Christian pop-rock group and commune (some call it a cult).
Rare rock records from the hippie era are some of the most sought after platters among collector-nerds. And over the past several years, this obsession has spilled over into underground Christian rock from that era. Self-produced records by longhaired missionaries like Agape, Concrete Rubber Band, and First Revelation command seriously big bucks. The All Saved Freak band is no exception: A copy of the ASFB’s My Poor Generation LP from 1973 is currently up for auction on eBay. Starting bid: $225.
Hidden Vision Records, out of Arizona, began reissuing remastered CDs from many of these groups, including four titles from the ASFB, who don’t sound all that different from the Mamas & the Papas, Cream, and the Doors. The same can be said of most of these bands, in fact.
“Our mission,” reads the label’s ever-growing website, “is to spread the Gospel of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ through the ongoing influence of the contemporary Christian music of the late 1960s and early 1970s. The music of these early pioneers proved to be one of the primary vehicles for what was later identified as the Jesus Movement.”
If you want to learn more about one of Cleveland’s rock stranger chapters then check out Hidden Visions. – Justin F. Farrar
For years feminists have complained about how the media exploits women. Cameramen are more than happy to ogle over women in bikinis and slinky dresses, and producers are happy to broadcast these images.
But now comes a new complaint: In a threatening letter sent to producers at ESPN and several Ohio State employees, one unhappy, anonymous viewer called out the sports network for its biased coverage of college cheerleading competitions. The author’s complaint: ESPN does not exploit women enough, since it refuses to showcase cheerleaders in revealing outfits.
''For the last 6 years, Ohio State cheerleaders have received more TV time than any other Division 1A cheer squad on ESPN, because they wear long sleeved red/white outfits,” the writer asserted. “If they wore sleeveless outfits, they would not get ANY TV time. So, we are fed up with this constant exploitation.”
After Ohio State and ESPN received these threatening letters, they were forwarded onto the FBI, which is now investigating. OSU athletic officials say that, despite the threats, there are no plans to dress the school’s cheerleaders in French maid uniforms. – Rebecca Meiser
Drawing inspiration from everything from Cuba’s secret supper clubs to celeb chef Anthony Bourdain, underground dining is hot in spots like San Fran, New York, and Chicago. Now, thanks to a cadre of chefs, the trend has come to Cleveland with the arrival of The Gypsy Gourmet.
Like most of its kin, the Gypsy celebrates food, friendship and culinary creativity by bringing together like-minded strangers to break bread in private dining rooms, backyards, and empty work spaces. Not only does it give hardcore foodies an exclusive alternative to restaurants, but it’s a great way for chefs to flex their creative muscle, cooking up cutting-edge fare they could never sell to a wider audience.
We can’t go into to detail – it’s a secret, all right? – but if we let it slip that the Gypsy held its inaugural dinner last week, probably no one will mind. To see some mouthwatering pics of the offerings (and get a hint of who’s involved) click here. -- Elaine T. Cicora
The tables are set, the wineglasses polished, and staff training is slated to start next week at Velocity, the Clifton Blvd. bistro that barely began running last June before fire shut it down.
With any luck, brothers and co-owners Ken and Gregg Korney hope to reopen for dinner service on May 8. A sneak peak at Chef Gregg’s prototype menu reveals some fascinating possibilities – many of them a sort of tongue-in-cheek riff on county-fair food, others clearly global in their inspiration.
Among the dishes that caught our eye: a shrimp corndog, with chipotle ketchup ($8), fried bologna stromboli ($9), and spinach gnocchi with shrimp meatballs in a tomato-vodka-truffle sauce ($17).
Velocity is at 10427 Clifton Blvd.; call ’em at 216-961-3438. -- Elaine T. Cicora
Last weekend, one of Cleveland's more precious and successful rock acts from the '70s, Molkie Cole, revived its legendary stage show for a two-night engagement at the Winchester. Specializing in a theatrical blend of glam, progressive rock, and Beatles-inspired pop, the Cole performed before sold out audiences both nights.
Action Rock Photographer Wanda Santos-Bray was there to capture the festivities with our latest slideshow. -- Justin Farrar
They’re not Quincy Jones or Clive Davis just yet. But the students in Gene Shelton’s record-promotions class at Kent State are giving it the ol’ college try at making stars out of Northeast Ohio bands.
The class has founded GTB (“Got to Believe) Records . So far, they’ve signed five acts, including Kent folkie Chittlin, Toledo rockers Strike Out Pro, the regally named Cleveland rapper Sir, and alt-rockers Goose and Speedbump, both of Akron.
The labelmates will perform on May 3 at the Kent Stage to showcase tracks off their compilation CD. The show starts at 7 p.m. and tickets cost $5 at the door. -- Cris Glaser
Grand Prix of Cleveland organizers have long been aware that it takes more than cars to rev up ticket sales for the annual Roar by the Shore at Burke Lakefront Airport. Men tend to better appreciate a two-hour race with hotties in skin-tight spandex in their midst.
On Saturday, Grand Prix judges will start a 10-bar model search to find Miss Face of Champ Car Cleveland. The winning beauties from each contest will then compete on June 23 for $10,000 in cash and prizes and the right to represent Cleveland at the race. In November, she’ll fly to Mexico as a member of the Face of Champ Car Dream Team and square off against regional winners from the U.S., Australia, and Canada to be the ambassador of the 2008 Champ Car World Series.
The job apparently shines on a resume: Last year’s winner, Lauren Gardner of Denver, is now a member of the Denver Broncos’ cheerleading squad.
To enter, slip into your choice of a bikini or evening gown to parade before the panel at:
7 p.m. Saturday, April 28: Aces Bar & Grille
9 p.m. Friday, May 4, Heaven & Earth (1059 Old River Rd. on the West Bank of the Flats; 216-771-1966)
8 p.m. Saturday, May 5, Blue Moose Saloon (9387 W. Sprague Rd., N. Royalton; 440-888-9700)
9 p.m. Friday, May 11, Heaven & Earth
9 p.m. Saturday, May 12, Scorchers
9 p.m. Friday, May 18, Heaven & Earth
9 p.m. Saturday, May 19, Saddle Ridge Saloon
9 p.m. Friday, May 25, Heaven & Earth
8 p.m. Saturday, May 26, Roosters (7106 Biddulph Rd., Brooklyn; 216-588-0007)
7 p.m. Saturday, June 9, Aces Bar & Grille
