The Week Ahead: 10/4-10/10 (CB Unpacking Week Edition)

Ladies and gentlemen,

The Cleveland Bachelor is, once again, officially the CLEVELAND Bachelor - no more of that parenthetical Heights nonsense. An ill-advised geographic experiment, that chapter of my life is over and I'm back to looking down my nose at those of you living in the suburbs. (I find ways to make judgments on people in no time flat.)

While two weeks ago was all about packing and last week was all about moving, this week is about unpacking and settling (or 'nesting' as a friend referred to it recently, though I thought that had something to do with relationships or something). This week is also about catching up, though, on all the stuff that has slipped. So expect a few more posts than you've been seeing the last couple weeks and a BUNCH more album reviews, both here and on Citizen Dick.

You'll also see me out a bit more this week - or, at least, read about me being out a bit more. Want to know where? When? Why? All the other j-school basics that don't get done anymore? Read on and use your best judgment. Instead of the allegedly divine WWJD, think of it more along the lines of WWCBKI? That is, Where Would Cleveland Bachelor Kick It? Your options are discussed in slightly greater detail below.

Sunday, 10/4 - Like your indie rock seminal and "important," do you? Well, I guess you'll be at tonight's Built to Spill show at the Grog Shop. Don't know who Built to Spill is? Guess you aren't 40 then. Or from Idaho. Don't worry - these guys are still well-known among indie rockers for a reason, and that reason is that they are pretty darn good at what they do. Perfect From Now On is one of the greatest indie albums you could ever own, and Doug Martsch is the right kind of rocker - more concerned with making a big, guitar-forward noise than being clever or indie-awkward-on-purpose. These dudes rule, they're just getting up there. Same with Dinosaur Jr, though, and you won't catch me shitting on them for that reason, so don't let me do it here, either. Prove me wrong, readers, and go see this show!



Monday, 10/5 - While you are out and about supporting the pending retirements of essential indie rock acts, you might want to make plans to catch Yo La Tengo at the Beachland on Monday. These guys are like Built to Spill's rocker grandparents, which would make them like 89 years old in rock years. Think of them as the cool, fluent, ornery old bastard at the family reunion that is still smoking cigarettes (even with oxygen tubes going into their nostrils) and cussing at his niece to stop taking the skin off the fried chicken, but then doesn't get to actually eating any of it because he's too busy regaling you about the time he spent editing film for Godard and Remy during his Parisian ex-pat days. And they are from Hoboken. How about that? Two nights in a row, two historic acts, and they hail from places like Boise and Hoboken. Put that in your pipe and smoke it, Seattle/Austin/Portland/New York/Chicago/San Francisco/etc. Let's hear it for small big cities!



Tuesday, 10/6 - By no means an elder statesman-type group like Yo La Tengo and Built to Spill, your hard-fought recession dollars would be well spent at Tuesday's Mofro gig at the Beachland. As some of you might know, I've been doing some "Show of the Week" write-ups for Addicted to Vinyl, and this show made this week's cut. Here's what I sent to ATV Matt earlier today for him to put up on his site. (Note: It isn't plagiarism if you are simply copying yourself.)

My sonic pick to click surprises even me. For the last few weeks, I figured it'd be Japandroids all the way, and that one will still be a good one. But when I woke up this morning and started thinking about it, Mofro was the band that made me smile. Perhaps it is the idea of just being able to walk down the block to see the band play the Beachland - something I've looked forward to since I decided to make the move to Collinwood and now, post-move, finally can do. Perhaps it is because after weeks of moving and stress, the last thing I want to look forward to is loud, somewhat punky music. Perhaps, and most likely, it is because I got to thinking about discovery, and unlike Japandroids - which the big-blogs had been bleating about since well before anything had been recorded or distributed and loooong before I'd actually heard anything by them - I found Mofro myself, and quite on accident. It was at a music festival in Austin several years ago, and I was walking from one end of huge Zilker Park to the other, catching two different bands I was going to write about for the local weekly where I lived down there.

As I crossed in front of one stage, I heard a dude with a southern accent on stage talking about environmental degradation. It made me pause and listen to the rest of his between-song banter. I stayed for the next song, and then the rest of the set. Today, I can't remember the names of the two bands I was covering, but I still refuse to miss a Mofro show when they visit any place I live. These guys bring a great swampy, jukey energy - a nouveau Lynyrd Skynyrd from the Florida panhandle, but more intimate and with a Masters of Science in Environmental Science. JJ Grey (whose name actually is now officially in the band's name, though I still don't think about them that way) has serious guitar and organ chops, though neither rival his tremendous voice. There are politics in the lyrics, but not like Rage Against the Machine or even Green Day. Instead, this is a man who loves his land and sings about it. Think Marshall Tucker Band singing about walking property lines, but with a nastier drawl and a whole lot of delta grit. You're gonna dig this show, I promise.



Wednesday, 10/7 - After three nights in a row of live music, you must need a rest. Why don't you take a load off and see a good movie in the art museum's basement theater. This Wednesday at 7 PM marks the first and only planned screening of Chris Fuller's acclaimed film, Loren Cass. It tells the story of three south Florida teenagers trying to make sense of the brutal (and real-life) shooting of Tyron Lewis, a black motorist that had been shot and killed by a white cop, and the widespread urban rioting that ensued. Fuller's handling of an obviously emotionally-laden subject without deteriorating into cliche is laudable and the CMA film series, while not on the scale of the CIA's, is worthy of your attention and notice. Plus, Fuller's soundtrack rules, with bands like Husker Du, Stiff Little Fingers, and Billy Bragg.



Thursday, 10/8 - After the somber intensity of Loren Cass, Thursday night you are gonna need something energetic and, maybe, a little loud to get the emotions that have been bottled up since the film ended out. Good thing Vancouver's finest indie rockers, Japandroids, are coming to Now That's Class. I can't think of a better venue for these guys, and since the show will be cheap and on the west side, expect a crowded and high-voltage room filled with an appreciative and hipster-attractive audience. You are gonna get sweaty and drunk at this show, so make plans for a DD and to call Friday morning off.


Friday, 10/9 - Lots going on, as is the case every weekend in our fair city. B.B. King is playing at the House of Blues, Noel Quintana is playing some latin jazz at CSU, and Asterisk is hosting an exhibition of recent art school graduates. Personally, I'll be checking out the latest convergence-continuum product, Finn in the Underworld, at the Liminis Theater in Tremont. If you like theater at all, you must realize what a rich community we have for it here, between the c-c folks, the Bang & Clatter folks, the CPT, the theater ninjas, and many more. If not Finn, check out something one of these days. And soon!

Saturday, 10/10 - There are plenty of things going on all around town tonight (and even somewhat out of town, like the Kurt Vile show at Oberlin), but I'm focusing on what is happening right on my street here in Collinwood. Waterloo Road will be hopping. Low Life is back with its well-received annual Halloween Spooktacular show and Shoparooni, my favorite place in the world to buy gifts, is celebrating its second birthday by throwing a bash for its customers! One of my favorite local acts, Akron's Trouble Books, will be performing some experimental weirdness at Music Saves, and Pink Eye magazine will be having a release party for its newest edition, with a bunch of bands, including another CB fave, Arte Povera. Sound awesome? That's because it will be. See you there.


Other stuff to keep your eye on the following week:

- 10/11 - Asobi Seksu/Loney Dear/Anna Ternheim @ Grog Shop
- 10/11 - Black Angels/Disappears/Pierced Arrows @ Beachland
- 10/11 - Screening of The Way We Get By @ CMA
- 10/12 - Columbus Day!
- 10/14 - Califone @ Beachland
- 10/14 - Poetry event @ Mac's Backs
- 10/15 - They Might Be Giants @ Beachland
- 10/15 - Heelsplitter @ Nemeth's Lounge
- 10/15 - Poetry event @ CSU
- 10/16 - The Mars Volta @ HOB
- 10/16 - Dr. Dog @ Beachland
- 10/16 - Founding Fathers @ Grog Shop
- 10/17 - Screening of A Woman in Berlin @ CIA
- 10/17 - Screening of local vampire flick at Low Life Gallery.