Fri 1/9 – Thu 7/16/2026
NEO Rewind Series
Presented by Thomas Mulready and Vanity Crash celebrating the musical legacy of Northeast Ohio
10 events in 2026 offer 4 different shows in 5 venues
Tickets & info: https://VanityCrash.com
*David Bowie in NEO
is the backstory of how David Bowie chose Cleveland to kick off his first-ever US tour, creating an international superstar. Bowieologist Thomas Mulready, in collaboration with glam punk heroes Vanity Crash, traces the rise of David Bowie in Northeast Ohio, from the local Space Oddity-era fan club, to WMMS radio jocks Billy Bass and Denny Sanders pushing Hunky Dory in heavy rotation, to his US debut at Music Hall photographed by Anastasia Pantsios, to his later visits to Cleveland and collaborations with Iggy Pop and Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails. This multi-media event includes special guests discussing and performing seminal music from one of the most creative and influential artists of the past century.
*Queue Up Reunion
Queue Up formed in the early 1990’s when “Goth punk princess from hell” Ali Garrigan joined Dennis Van Crash from the Cleveland New Wave scene, releasing songs like “I Hate You Mr. Einstein” that found radio airplay in Japan, England, France and Germany. They toured nationally and performed at Lollapalooza. Later, Garrigan and Yurich collaborated on Hedwig and the Angry Inch and in 2025 staged a successful reunion. Vanity Crash serves as the musical backup for the reunion of Ali Garrigan and Dennis Van Crash, including new member, Julia Jules on bad ass bass.
*Our Day Will Come: NEO Women Rock
It’s no secret that Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductee Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders hails from Akron, Ohio. Fewer people are aware that Clevelander Tracy Chapman’s hit song “Fast Car” reached #6 in 1988 and #1 on the Country charts in 2023. And there’s more to the story of rock & roll women from Cleveland and Akron. The Poni-Tails, an all-girl trio from Cleveland hit #7 in 1958, and in 1963, Ruby and The Romantics, an all-black R&B group from Akron, Ohio hit #1 with “Our Day Will Come,” later covered by Amy Winehouse. This original presentation hosted by Thomas Mulready and Vanity Crash features live original music and historic covers by area female artists and women-led bands.
*The Birth of Punk in CLE, AKR & Kent
honors Northeast Ohio as a key breeding ground for Punk and post-Punk, following the trail of Peter Laughner, Rocket From The Tombs, Pere Ubu, Dead Boys, DEVO, The Waitresses, Chrissie Hynde, Bizarros The Pagans, and others contributing to our region’s seminal role in the most significant shake up of rock & roll since its founding. Presented by Thomas Mulready with live music by Vanity Crash and special musical guests, the show features exclusive video interviews with musicians and those on the scene why and this powerful music rose from the post-industrial ashes of this most unlikely Midwestern megalopolis.
All the above live shows will feature special guests. Legends such as Billy Bass (1/9), Anastasia Pantsios (1/10) and Denny Sanders (1/11) will appear in conversation with Mulready, including audience Q&A. Medusa will be featured as special musical guest at the Queue Up show. Special Musical Guests TBA will perform at Our Day Will Come and The Birth of Punk shows. Each performance in the NEO Rewind Series will feature live original music by musical hosts, Cleveland’s glam punk superstars Vanity Crash.
Anastasia Pantsios exhibits her photos for sale at all shows, featuring shots taken at David Bowie’s US debut on 09.22.72, plus subsequent shows in the region.
Tickets & info: https://VanityCrash.com
Performances will take place on the following dates:
David Bowie in NEO
- *Friday, January 9, 2026 at 8PM at BOP STOP, 2920 Detroit Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44113 with special guest Billy Bass
- *Saturday, January 10, 2026 at 8PM at Jilly’s Music Room, 111 N. Main St, Akron, OH 44308 with special guest Anastasia Pantsios
- *Sunday, January 11, 2026 at 8PM at The Beachland Ballroom, 15711 Waterloo Rd., Cleveland, OH 44110 with special guest Denny Sanders
Queue Up
- *Friday, February 13, 2026 at 7PM at Jilly’s Music Room, 111 N. Main St, Akron, OH 44308 with special guests Medusa
Our Day Will Come
- *Friday, March 13, 2026 at 8PM at The Knight Stage, 182 S. Main St, Akron, OH 44308 with Special Musical Guest TBA
- *Thursday, March 19, 2026 at 7:30PM at The Music Box Supper Club Concert Hall, 1148 Main Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44113 with Special Musical Guest TBA
The Birth of Punk in CLE, AKR & Kent
- *Wednesday, May 13, 2026 at 7:30PM at The Music Box Supper Club Concert Hall, 1148 Main Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44113 with Special Musical Guest TBA
- *Saturday, May 23, 2026 at 8PM at The Knight Stage, 182 S. Main St, Akron, OH 44308 with Special Musical Guest TBA
David Bowie in NEO
*Saturday, July 11, 2026 at 8PM at The Knight Stage, 182 S. Main St, Akron, OH 44308 with Special Musical Guest TBA
- *Thursday, July 16, 2026 at 7:30PM at The Music Box Supper Club Concert Hall, 1148 Main Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44113 with Special Musical Guest TBA
Tickets & info: https://VanityCrash.com
Biographies:
Thomas Mulready is creator of Cool Networks LLC, an influencer-driven multimedia content network utilizing sites, podcasts, videos, and e-blasts to promote economic development, arts, culture and technology in Northeast Ohio. After creating the Performance Art Festival+Archives, he co-founded the Ingenuity Festival of Art and Technology, and has served as Senior Vice President of National City Bank and worked at Management Recruiters International, Richardson-Vicks, and Campbell Soup, presented his performance art in New York and Paris, and served as a Senior Research Consultant in the United Kingdom. His multimedia presentations on Andy Warhol, The Velvet Underground, David Bowie, Glam and The Beatles have been presented at universities, jazz clubs and aquariums.
Vanity Crash was born on stage under hot lights in the crucible of sound and fury as the glam-punk band The Angry Inch in the rock musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Ever since, Vanity Crash has been dressing up and throwing down eye-popping synchronized light shows, outrageous stage costumes and provocative attitude, opening for the likes of the New York Dolls, Poison, the Darkness and Gogol Bordello. Their recent celebrated tributes to pop culture heroes include timeless gems performed live alongside their own incendiary originals. Vanity Crash dropped their 5th original release, Phantasmagoria, which includes an original track featuring David Bowie’s longtime pianist, Mike Garson.
Queue Up formed in the early 1990’s when “Goth punk princess from hell” Ali Garrigan joined Dennis Van Crash from the Cleveland New Wave scene, releasing songs like “I Hate You Mr. Einstein” that found radio airplay in Japan, England, France and Germany. They toured nationally and performed at Lollapalooza. Later, Garrigan and Yurich collaborated on Hedwig and the Angry Inch and in 2025 staged a successful reunion.
Billy Bass is a true legend. A popular DJ at WIXY-1260 who then helped launch progressive rock radio as DJ and program director at the fledgling WMMS, Bass is credited with breaking artists such as David Bowie nationally by playing their music non-stop in Cleveland. He then went on to an epic career in the music industry in New York and Los Angeles, including serving as senior vice president of Chrysalis Records in the 1980’s and as manager of Grammy Award winning R&B star Luther Vandross, who began as backing vocalist and arranger for Bowie. Billy is also credited with coining the phrase, “Cleveland: The Rock & Roll Capital of the World.”
Anastasia Pantsios began photographing rock concerts in 1969, when there were very few women in rock bands and fewer women rock photographers. Name the most popular artists in rock and pop music history – Springsteen, Madonna, Fleetwood Mac, Chrissie Hynde, Michael Jackson, Prince, Queen – Pantsios has shot them at some point, including David Bowie at his US debut in 1972 in Cleveland. Her writing and photos have been published in publications such as Rolling Stone, Spin, The Village Voice, Esquire, Creem, Hit Parader, and The New York Times, and she currently serves as editor of CoolCleveland. Her book, Girls to the Front: Girls: 40 Years of Women in Rock, was published in conjunction with an exhibit of her work at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Denny Sanders is an actor and voice artist who was a popular radio personality from 1968 to 2001, first in Boston, Massachusetts and then a 30 year run in Cleveland, Ohio. He has a rich history in broadcasting, having contributed significantly to the Ohio music scene, especially during a 15-year run at WMMS where he played a key role in breaking artists such as David Bowie in the US, and shaping progressive and independent radio. Later, he programmed WMJI in their rock and roll oldies days, greatly expanding their playlist, which resulted in WMJI setting the record for the highest ratings of any Cleveland station in the 1990s. He has appeared in various documentaries about radio and popular music as well as in director Marc Meyers’ 2017 film My Friend Dahmer.
Tickets & info: https://VanityCrash.com
Additional information, photos and interviews available upon request: VanityCrash.com
All photos by Anastasia Pantsios
Everything is subject to radical change.