Mark your calendars for these upcoming concerts
By Greg Cielec
As there is every holiday season, Northeast Ohio’s clubs and smaller concert venues have a wide range of great shows featuring both national and local talents… the Beachland Ballroom features Cleveland punk legends Rockets from the Tombs on Fri 12/9; their annual old home night will be on Thu 12/22 and will feature Home & Garden [pictured; photo by Janet Macoska] and Cats on Holiday; Dan Miraldi and the Albino Winos will have a holiday show on Thu 12/22; and Sun 12/25 Christmas night will again feature the annual Latke Party and Matzah Ball with Blue Lunch. New Year’s Eve at the Beachland will be a Grateful Dead Revival Night. As always, for more info on these shows and everything else going on at the Beachland, from Sunday brunches to record swaps, click here.
Nighttown will be featuring more than just jazz this December with the return of singer/songwriter J.D. Souther on Fri 12/9 and Sat 12/10; and Bill Rudman’s annual “A Christmas Cabaret” on Sun 12/18, Mon 12/19, and Tue 12/20. As I write this they still have posted their home for the holidays shows for Christmas week, check their website here for information. Even if you are too busy to see a show at Nighttown this month, still just stop in and have a drink and soak up the holiday atmosphere.
Amongst the highlights at The Kent Stage this holiday season are Donna the Buffalo on Sat 12/10, and local legends Marti Jones and Don Dixon on Sat 12/17. Fans of the Kent Stage should take note that their Tenth Anniversary Show will be Sun 1/29 featuring Glen Campbell; tickets are already on sale and will go fast. Check it out here.
The Winchester in Lakewood has Afterglow, the Genesis cover band on Sat 12/10; a reunion of Motter Flynn on Fri 12/16 before lead guitarist/vocalist Mike Pappas moves to Los Angeles; and a jam night on Fri 12/23 with Pilgrim and the Echo Players. New Year’s Eve on Sat 12/31 will feature singer/songwriter Latie Curtis from Boston. Click here for more info on all this and more.
The House of Blues will kick off the holidays with the Annual Michael Stanley and the Resonators show on Sat 12/17; local reggae favorite Carlos Jones on Mon 12/26; and on New Year’s Eve Sat 12/31 local power trio Gypsy Relic will be in the Cambridge Room and Springsteen cover band Bruce in the USA will be in the ballroom. Great stuff on tap at the HOB in January includes the return of the High School Rock Off on Sat 1/14; Paul Fayrewether’s annual show on Fri 1/13; and an unplugged show by classic rock icons Foreigner on Tue 1/24. Click here for info about all the great stuff at the House of Blues.
Now, make plans to get out and hear some music!
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.