All of my favorite venues have some special events and shows lined up for the holiday season. If you are looking for a special music night out over the holidays you have plenty to choose from…
At Nighttown in Cleveland Heights it is their Eighth Annual Home For The Holidays series with shows featuring national jazz artists who are from Cleveland starting with The Lewins on Thu 12/16; The Joe McBride Trio on Fri 12/17; The Musical Theater Project’s “A Christmas Cabaret” featuring Jared Leal, Nancy Maier, Bill Rudman & Sandra Simon on Sun 12/19, Mon 12/20, and Tue 12/21; Vanessa Rubin on Mon 12/27; Joe Lovano and Family & Friends featuring a whole bunch of special guests on Tue 12/28; Jamey Haddad on Wed 12/29 and Thu 12/30; and New Year’s Eve with Dominick Farinacci. Most of these shows will have a high demand so check out http://NighttownCleveland.com for more information or to make reservations.
Things will be jumping at the Beachland Ballroom in December also. Amongst the highlights are Bill Kirchen’s Honky Tonk Holiday on Sun 12/12; on Thu 12/23 the Annual Home for the Holidays show featuring music from 8PM until closing in both the Tavern and the Ballroom with the Bears and Harriet the Spy amongst many others; on Christmas Day the Blue Lunch Annual Christmas Nite Latke Party & Matzoh Ball Show with special guests Mississippi Reese & Blues Boy Lonnie to Benefit Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America; on Sun 12/26, the 8th Annual “Old Home” Night with Home & Garden (w/ Tony Maimone), the Kidney Brothers, The Heathers, and Alejandro Escovedo & Miss Melvis; and on New Year’s Eve Tropidelic’s New Years Eve East Side Bash featuring Echo Movement, The Royaltons, Mr. 101, and Wanyama Price in the Ballroom and Oliver Buck & The New Madrids in the Tavern.
The House of Blues is featuring two nights of Michael Stanley and the Resonators doing their annual holiday shows on Sat 12/11 and Sat 12/18; Joe Satriani on Fri 12/17; and the Journey cover band Frontiers on New Years Eve. For more info check out http://HOB.com.
The holiday highlights at the Winchester in Lakewood include Alex Bevan on Fri 12/17; a Christmas Eve show with Anne E. Dechant and Band; and New Years Eve with Into the Blue: The Grateful Dead Revival. For more info go to http://TheWinchester.net.
The Kent Stage closes out the year with shows by Donna the Buffalo on Sun 12/12; the New Riders of the Purple Sage on Sat 12/18; and a Frank Sinatra Tribute featuring Michael Sonata and the Dave Banks Big Band on Sun 12/19. For more information on those shows go to http://KentStage.org.
Greg Cielec is a local writer who covers mostly music and sports for a variety of publications and websites. He is also a full time English and creative writing teacher at Streetsboro High School; an adjunct professor at BGSU Firelands College and Lakeland Community College; and a football coach at John Carroll University. He has published two books of fiction, My Cleveland Story (1998) and Home and Away Games (2006), and the Cleveland Plain Dealer’s Michael Heaton has called him “the Mark Twain of Cleveland.” Check out his website and blog at http://www.GregCielec.com.