Update:
This show has been postponed to May 22. Tickets will be honored from original date.
Sat 3/14 @ 8PM
It’s going to be a big year for Kent’s Numbers Band — their 50th anniversary. Back in 1970, the year the Beatles broke up after ten years together, few people could have wrapped their minds around the idea that a rock & roll band might last that long. In that era, most bands (especially those without that level of success) were ephemeral: they came, gave it their shot and evaporated within two or three years.
But guitarist/vocalist/songwriter Robert Kidney and company have persevered, creating their elusive hybrid rock/blues/jazz that’s not quite like anything else out there, fueled by Kidney’s intense performances. And they’ve done so playing all-original music and not making much of a wave beyond northeast Ohio. Sure, they have fans scattered around the world, including Pere Ubu’s David Thomas, who has championed them and released some of their music. But those folks make up a small band of insiders.
Obviously in that time, many musicians have come and gone, although Robert’s multi-instrumentalist brother Jack and sax player Terry Hynde have been along for most of the ride. Currently, they’re joined by bassist Bill Watson and drummer Clint Alguire.
So expect to see a lot of celebrations this year, with tributes of all kinds. This week, the Beachland Ballroom will be hosting a 50th anniversary party that features a screening of the trailer to the upcoming documentary about the band by Kent music scene documentarian Jason Prufer, called Out of Obscurity, Into Oblivion. (The 90-minute film screens at the CIA Cinematheque Sat 3/21.)
Former Numbers Band member Michael Stacey and Chris Butler of Akron’s Tin Huey and the Waitresses will be on hand, and the show will be recorded. It will also mark the release of a new Numbers Band CD Endure: Outliers on Water Street, their first new recorded music in nearly a decade.
Admission is $10.
beachlandballroom.com/e/the-numbers-band
Cleveland, OH 44110