Funk Babblings

I've been trying to pay more attention to what bands are coming to the Cleveland-Akron area (forget Canton, nobody comes here), and my calendar has taken an unexpected shape. Three weeks in a row there are shows that interest me on Wednesday nights. Then a Thursday.

I happened to recall this fact around 8 last night, just in time to check the calendar and see that in fact the series started last night with The Reputation playing at the Beachland Tavern. The show was scheduled to start at 9, with two opening bands, so I figured if I got there by 11 I'd be fine, and I'd probably be home a bit after 1. I was right, amazingly enough.

I got there at about a quarter till 11, and the second band was still playing. Soon Elizabeth from the Reputation saw me and came over to chat a bit, but I couldn't hear most of what she was saying. (This is a big reason I don't have any close friends in the indie rock world even though I sorta know a lot of people -- it's always too loud for a conversation. It's also one of many reasons that trying to meet people in bars isn't a good thing.) The Reputation went on shortly after 11, and I noticed that Elizabeth hadn't set up a keyboard; unusually for this band, it was to be an all-rocking set with no slow piano-driven songs. (I like the fast songs best.) Along with my favorites from their two CDs, I counted four great new songs; the last of them took me until the chorus to get into, but after that I was totally hooked. There were only about two dozen people in the place, most of which were at the bar instead of in front of the stage, so it was quite the intimate show.

Afterward I hung around a bit, waiting for a chance to talk to Elizabeth without a band playing, but of course everyone wanted to talk to her. Eventually she actually told people she needed to go talk to me. She was marveling that I was the person there that had been going to see her play the longest, since I was a fan of her old band, Sarge, and saw them play a couple times in Columbus in the mid-late 90s. Of course, there still wasn't time for much of a conversation, since I had to get home to bed and she had lots of others to talk to (not to mention packing up the gear).


Next Wednesday is The Sounds at the House of Blues. I've never been to the House of Blues, and I'm not that familiar with the Sounds, so I'm not sure if I'll go to this one, but when I heard them I liked them.

The following Wednesday is Watershed, a favorite Columbus band I've been going to see since 1993, playing at the Beachland. This is pretty much a must for me.

And then the following Thursday, again at the Beachland, is Kathy Valentine & The Impossible. Kathy Valentine was the bassist for the Go-Gos, which is why this one interests me.

Usually on Wednesday nights I veg out in front of TV, since most of the few shows I watch are on then -- Lost, Alias, and possibly Smallville (fitting all three in can make things interesting). But this week there's a lot more going on.

I could drive an hour to the Grog Shop in Cleveland to see The Reputation play around 9:00.

Or I could drive two hours to Skambo's (at Gay & High) in Columbus to see a Midwest Poetry Slam at 7:00, which will include an old friend coming from Michigan to participate.

Unfortunately I have to go to work Thursday morning, so Columbus is probably out of the question as usual. (Hmm, I wonder if I could persuade Kate to detour through Canton on the way home.) But since The Reputation are on early, I could go there and maybe be back by 11 or so.... though if the slam could be only two hours long then I could go there (half an hour late) and still be back by 11 or so.

Update: Yet another option -- Watershed is playing near Youngstown, opening(?) for the Clarks. They're also playing in Columbus at the Newport on Friday. Oh, but they'll be in Akron at AMP on the 28th, so that makes my life easier.

If I were going to be in Columbus Saturday night (not Friday as I first said), I'd be at Skully's for the Third Annual Joe Strummer Memorial Clash Benefit Marathon. It starts a 6:30 with a showing of the film Rude Boy, followed by 16 bands performing three Clash or Joe Strummer songs each. I'd especially want to see The Secret Sound Of The NSA and Red Dahlia (whose music is much better than their web site design).

You say you're not in Columbus? Are you west of Ohio? Well, The Reputation may be coming to your town soon. For example:

• Sun Mar 13 - Lawrence, Kansas
• Thu Mar 17 (my anniversary!) - Austin, Texas (SXSW, which I want to go to someday)
• Sat Mar 26 - San Francisco

Say hi for me. :-)

Update: A bit closer to home, the Beachland Ballroom in Cleveland has a couple notable shows this weekend.
Tonight (Friday) is a(nother) reunion of Columbus punk legends the New Bomb Turks. (I doubt I'll make it; besides being exhausted from work this week and not likely up for NBT punk, tonight is also the Canton Drum Circle Meetup, which I haven't been able to get to yet.) Tomorrow night (Saturday) is Alex Chilton, who I first knew only through the Replacements' great song about him, but later through his Big Star songs like "September Gurls", "Don't Lie To Me", and "In The Street" (which became the basis for the theme to "That 70s Show").

Well, I'd been hoping to head up to the Beachland in Cleveland tonight to see The Reputation, but since we're heading to Pennsic tomorrow and haven't done anything to prepare for it yet, that Cleveland excursion is looking doubtful at this point.

Oh yeah, and for those in Columbus, The Secret Sound Of The NSA is playing at Skully's tonight.