Tag Archives: Peabody’s

Atari Teenage Riot Return To Cleveland!

I may very will lose my hearing at this show and I am perfectly fine with that…

The last time I saw Atari Teenage Riot live was in 1998 when they opened up for Wu Tang Clan and Rage Against the Machine. I only caught a couple songs from them but loved it. I was a fan already but just could not get into Blossom that quickly. I also missed them when they played with Beck at the J.A.R.

This time I don’t plan on missing them. This show is going to be insane.

Monday Sept. 26th @ Peabody’s – Tickets $17 / $20 d.o.s.

Concert Review: Face To Face / Strung Out – Peabody’s – Cleveland, OH – 05/10/2011

Last night was a blast to the past, specifically 1996, thanks to punk legends Face To Face and Strung Out who made a stop in Cleveland at Peabody’s.  The fact that the show landed on a Tuesday night meant nothing to all who filled up the venue to almost sold out proportions.  Fans generally were a little older at the show seeing how the main bands playing ruled the punk scene in the mid-nineties.  It was actually refreshing to be surrounded by such a crowd as I was in their company 15-years ago at random shows.  There were so many familiar faces, it was like a punk rock reunion of sorts.

The Artist Life opened the show but I did not get into the venue in time to see them.  My friends really did not have much to say about them, but after checking out their MySpace profile, I would not have mind to have taken them in.  The Toronto foursome kind of reminds me of a mix of some of the newer punk acts I have been digging recently like Menzingers mixed with AM Taxi.

Long Beach, CA’s The Darlings took the stage to a full crowd and did their best to impress.  The crowd was just not into them at all.  They did not heckle the band or anything, but there was not that much cheering or crowd response at all.  In fact, the old time the band got the crowd riled up was not when they played a Misfits cover, but when they played “Cruel World”

Strung Out, on the other hand, had no problem what so ever getting the crowd going.  Taking the stage, the band dropped into “Too Close To See” and  basically just hammered through an impressive set.  Fans went wild when they played “Firecracker” followed by “Mind Of My Own” with Jason Cruz sounding better than ever on vocals.

During “In Harms Way” the band decided to reline the 90s a little more and did a nice little breakdown of Pantera’s “Walk” to which the fans all sang along to.  Even though they were all hard at work, Strung Out also decided to do a live audition for a new guitarist for all to see and invited Jim Blowers from Pulley to fill in on a “Speedball”.  Needless to say, Blowers proved he has what it takes to play in Strung Out.

My pal Chewy said it best about Strung Out’s set when he turned to me while we both took in the show and said that “this is one of those bands you listen to on CD thinking – wow, I wonder if they sound this awesome live?”  He paused, turned his head to watch the show for a couple more seconds and looked back at me with a huge grin on his face and happily said “yup.”

He was right.  Strung Out is one of the more technical punk rock acts out there and even though the band is going on 20 years, they sounded amazing if not better since the last time I saw them.  Rocking through tracks old and new, the band finally thanked Cleveland for allowing them to play for them and finished off their set with “Bring Out Your Dead” and “Matchbook”.  The crowd of course wanted more, and I am sure the band wanted to play more, but everyone knew they would have to wait till the next time they rolled through town.

The headliners of the night, Face To Face, finally took the stage to an adoring crowd.  The band was all smiles as they broke into “You Lied”, a punk rock classic followed by “You’ve Done Nothing”.  About four songs into the set, Trevor Keith announced that his voice was finally coming back and without hesitation started throwing out snark remarks to the crowd in good fun.  The crowd took it well and realizing that he had everyone’s attention, Keith announced that the band would be playing a new track titled “It’s Not All About You”.

I am not sure the crowd really was into the new track played, but I can tell you that the following three songs the band played including “Ordinary”, “I Won’t Lie Down”, and “Blind” was a whole different story.   Everyone, including myself, had their eyes on the stage and sang along every single lyric to those songs.  Keith and company looked impressed and Keith even mentioned hoe he was feeling an “old school punk rock vibe” in the venue and liked how there was not a line of bouncers in front of the stage.

He continued how he wanted everyone to have a fun time and wished for no one to get hurt.  He invited fans on stage one to two people at a time as they played and told them to do their thing and jump back in the crowd, just like the good old days.  Keith also warned that anyone acting like an ass would have to face the bouncers located on both sides of the stage.  After noticing some of the smaller folk in the crowd he even went so far as to inviting a handful of girls to watch the show on the side of the stage.  Keith was looking out for the fans last night, that is for sure.

After laying down the rules, the band continued with “Pastel”, another new track titled “All For Nothing”, and one of my favorites “A-OK”.  Honestly this might have been the best performance I have ever seen by Face To Face.  They looked so happy to be playing on stage again after being on hiatus for about 8 years (minus last year’s 30 minute Warped Tour set).

With minimal breaks between songs, the bad kept moving on with “Velocity” and “Complicated”, perhaps my favorite Face To Face track ever.  Hearing it live just made me love it even more.

When fans threw beers towards the stage, Keith avoided acting like a Weasel and laughed saying “I Don’t Want That!”  He was having a good time and that made the show that much more entertaining.  Just for kicks, the band decided to play a country song, more specifically “Keep Your Hands To Yourself” by the Georgia Satellites.  Keith was amazed when the entire crowd sang the chorus in unison and admitted that he thought Cleveland was amazing.

Putting an end to the night, the bad played “Big Choice” and treated everyone to “Disconnected”, perhaps the band’s most commercially friendly song.  Popular or not, I loved hearing it live and practically lost my voice singing along with.  The band thanked everyone for coming out and exited the stage only to return for a two song encore, one new track, and one old track.

Seeing Face To Face and Strung Out play live together in one night was a dream come true.  I felt like a kid all over again seeing both of the 90s acts take the stage.  I was impressed with how both bands sounded live and how excited they were to be performing to the crowd.  They were both top notch throughout and I could not ask for a better punk rock show.

Kevin Smith Bringing The SMod(cast) To Cleveland

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.

Empty Wallet: New stuff to keep me entertained.

So the holidays are over, the presents were unwrapped, and even though I was happily satisfied with all the J-Day gifts I received I felt as if I lacked items for entertainment purposes.

I was a good boy, I done no wrong, in fact this was the first New Years since I was 12 I was completely sober so I think that means presents for me from me.  I am just looking for some excuses to buy crap…

Now it is show and tell time.  Lookie what I got/have/own…

First up is something I hesitated to buy because it was not something that I needed at all.  Hell, none of the items I recently purchased were things I needed…  Anyways, I am currently the proud owner of a MC Chris action figure.  The thing is poorly made, can’t stand up on it’s own, does not move, and was not designed to do anything.  It just lays there motionless, with no desire to entertain; but here is the kicker… it is awesome.  It is so awesome that it now is one of my favorite non-animate objects that I own.

The only thing this thing could do it hurt someone if you threw it at their head.
The only thing this thing could do is hurt someone if you chucked it at their head.
It came packaged with styrofoam in a brown box.  Classic.
It came packaged with styrofoam in a brown box.

Why would I dare say something so poorly made is awesome?  Well it reminds me of a toy you would find from the early 1900’s at your grandparent’s house, something you would look at and scratch your head at.  I really think I have a piece of treasure here and to prove it I bought it for $25 from the MC Chris website and now it is on the very same site for $75 (they are claiming to have 3 left).  Why the price increase?  Well it seems as if there are only 50 in existence as the 450 others were lost in the order according to a bulletin that MC Chris had posted on MySpace.

Derek Hess "Noose Proof"
Noose Halo

Next up is a Derek Hess print I have had my eyes on for a while.  Last year I interviewed the Cleveland rock artist and remember questioning his affordable prices.  He wanted to make sure he sold his work at prices that people without a lot of money could afford.  Well I am without a lot of money and I love his work.  I was actually buying a print for my good friend for a belated J-Day gift and could not help myself in getting one for my own house.

This is my third Derek Hess print I now own and I know I have many more to acquire in the future.  I have already framed it and will place it accordingly in my dwelling so that all can see.  One day I hope to have an original piece in my collection…baby steps for now.

If you would like a print for yourself you might want to act fast as this offset print is limited to 300 and I scored numbers 204 and 205 for myself and said friend.  Once 300 is reached it will be sold out and very difficult to find.

For my media pleasure I picked up a copy of the hilarious DVD Pineapple Express. If you have not seen the movie yet I promise you some foul mouthed stupid humor plus a little bit of action.  The duo of Seth Rogen and James Franco are perfect for this derranged adventure involving two stoners.

Watching the movie last night had me rolling.  I enjoyed it a lot more than originally when I saw the movie in the theaters seeing how it was ruined by two jackasses in front of me who clearly pregamed before the movie.  The other benefit of DVD over going to the movies are having extra content.  The deleted scenes were not too entertaining but the gag reel was hilarious.

Today I ventured to the Borders book store I used to work at a few years back.  I went there looking for a vegan cupcake book. I know, what the hell was I thinking right?  Well have you ever had a vegan cupcake?  Exactly.  Once you have you will want to know how it was made.

Let’s get back to why I went to Borders.  Well that vegan cupcake book was nowhere to be found so I kept looking around and found something that I have been wanting for a while, a copy of Anthony Bourdain‘s A Cook’s Tour: Global Adventures in Extreme Cuisines.  The book captures Anthony Bourdain and his travels for food.  I can not wait to find some free time to sink my eyes into it.

My wife also found a book she knew I would have interest in called Punk: The Whole Story that usually retails for about $25.  It was sitting there in the budget section with the attractive price of $4.99 so I grabbed it seeing how I never pass on a good punk rock deal.  Full color hardbound book full of punk rock history, a great find if you ask me.

As I finish up this bragging of a blog I keep telling myself there was one more thing that I purchased…something very recent.

Oh yeah.  I bought an album on iTunes today.  Dirty south punk meets crunk act Whole Wheat Bread recently released their third CD on iTunes before it hits shelves and I could not wait.  The Afro Punk rockers have been favorites of mine since they first released their material in 2005.  The album Hearts of Hoodlums will  be released in stores on January 20th.  Inauguration coincidence?  Perhaps.  That also happens to be the day back in 1977 that I started kicking ass and taking names or however you say that (hint, hint).

Well I guess my show and tell time is over and I should go sit back down on the magic carpet and see what the next little kid out there had…until next time.

Here’s a Whole Wheat Bread video just for the heck of it:

Whole Wheat Bread covering Rancid‘s “Roots Radicals” featuring Chris from Stretch Armstrong at Peabody’s in tropical Cleveland, Ohio

You want another? Ok, I can do that:

“Old Man Samson”

Finally a contest of sorts:

Whole Wheat Bread chicken eating contest (mild cussing)