A sampling of spring concerts
There are so many great shows scheduled for this spring at area venues, a music lover could find something to do almost any night of the week. Nighttown has a full schedule mixed with local-born artists returning home and national touring jazz acts including two shows on St. Patrick’s Day Thu 3/17 from The New Barleycorn; saxophonist and smooth jazz star Walter Beasley and his band play Fri 3/18 & Sat 3/19; and Cleveland-raised, Reno-based vocalist CeCe Gable performs on Sun 3/20 for a matinee show.
On Fri 3/25 versatile singer/actress from NYC and the soap opera All My Children Joan Crowe performs; Tue 4/5 finds the 22-piece senior big band TOPS Swingband under the direction of Arranger, Composer and Trombonist Dick Wooley doing a show; from Austin, Texas, The Hot Club of Austin performs on Mon 4/11; the legendary vocal group The Four Freshmen return to Nighttown on Fri 4/15 & Sat 4/16; Fri 4/22 is the return of the Sammy DeLeon/Jackie Warren Latin Jazz Sextet; and Thu 4/21 is the return of Jen Chapin, daughter of Harry and a fine talent in her own right. For information on these shows and all the other great things going on at Nighttown visit http://NighttownCleveland.com.
The Winchester will be hosting a diverse lineup of shows over the next few months including indie rockers the Trashcan Sinatras [pictured] on Fri 3/18; Michael Jackson’s former lead guitarist Jennifer Batten on Fri 3/25; Columbus, Ohio country rock legends McGuffey Lane on Sat 4/2; Jefferson Airplane founder Marty Balin on Thu 4/7; and original member of England’s the Faces Ian McLagan on Tue 6/7. Check out http://TheWinchester.net for more information on this great Lakewood venue and their shows.
The Kent Stage hosts the quietly legendary David Linley on Sun 3/27; local guitar virtuoso Neil Zaza performing his new CD 212 on Fri 4/15; and the lovely and ageless folk diva Judy Collins on Fri 5/6. For more info go to http://KentStage.org.
Downtown at the House of Blues there is a full slate of shows including the Saw Doctors on Fri 3/18; a pretty good version of Yes on Tue 3/22; the ageless Willie Nelson and Family on Fri 3/25; and Scottish hipsters the Average White Band on Wed 4/13. Go to http://HOB.com/Cleveland for more information.
The Beachland Ballroom gets its twelfth year off to a good start with the Blasters appearing on Fri 3/18; local legends Pere Ubu come in on Sat 3/19; Paperboy Reed plays on Thu 3/24; there is a Big Band Brunch on Sun 3/27 featuring Ernie Krivda and the Fat Tuesday Band; on Wed 4/6 Kent’s Jessica Lea Mayfield makes an appearance; blues women extraordinaire Candye Kane will play on Wed 4/20; Terri Clarke appears on Wed 4/27; Youngstown’s favorite trio Glass Harp does a show on Sat 5/7; Dan Hicks and the Hot Licks return on Fri 5/13; and on Sun 5/15 is the lovely and terrific blues pianist and vocalist Marcia Ball and her band. Go to http://BeachlandBallroom.com for information on these shows and a whole lot more.
[Photo by Izumi Kumazawa]
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.
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3 Responses to “March Music Madness: A sampling of spring concerts”
joel eric geiser
greg,
on behalf of lo-watt radio, i’d like to invite you to come see our band perform live. we play prosperity social club and brothers lounge in april. check our webpage for all upcoming shows.
our music can be heard on our myspace page and can be downloaded on itunes and amazon.
thanks for your consideration!
joel eric geiser
Matt
Great picks, Greg.
I hear this all the time: “Cleveland is boring. Nothing is going on.”
To anyone who says there is nothing happening in Cleveland, first pull your head out of our gravelly Lake Erie beach sand, then read Greg’s list, and then go out and have some fun!
Billy Clarksville
Greg,
Keep doing a good job of keeping us informed as to what new music out there is cool and what cool music is coming to in this cool and underrated city that I know we both love. Stay cool. Peace,
bc