10 Years of Rocking Cleveland
The Beachland Ballroom & Tavern celebrates its tenth anniversary this weekend. I'm pleased to see it; it's by far my favorite venue in Cleveland (especially the Tavern) and I've seen a ridiculous number of good shows there. In fact, due to my slightly obsessive nature, I can tell you exactly how many shows I've seen there. Without further ado, here's the complete of shows I've seen at the Beachland.
Note: I didn't write down individual dates for the first three years of the list.
2001 - 2 Shows (Ballroom 2, Tavern 0), 2 bands (2/0)
Deborah Coleman - Ballroom
Long John Hunter with Maurice John Vaughn & the Nutbreakers - Ballroom
2002 - 3 shows (Ballroom 3, Tavern 0), 5 bands (5/0)
Gaelic Storm - Ballroom
Martin Sexton w/Chris Trapper - Ballroom
Red Elvises w/Cowslingers - Ballroom
2003 - 9 shows (Ballroom 6, Tavern 3), 15 bands (10/5)
Dirty Dozen Brass Band w/DJ Logic - Ballroom
Eddie From Ohio - Ballroom
Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra - Ballroom
Jesse Sykes & the Sweet Hereafter w/Dreadful Yawns - Tavern
The New Pornographers w/the Lonesome Organist - Ballroom
Bastard Sons of Johnny Cash w/Amy Allison - Tavern
Shonen Knife w/Modey Lemon - Ballroom
Fred Eaglesmith - Tavern
Donna the Buffalo w/Jim Lauderdale - Ballroom
2004 - 8 shows (Ballroom 6, Tavern 2), 12 bands (9/3)
Eddie From Ohio - Ballroom - 1/9
Antibalas @ Ballroom 6/8
Derailers w/Lords of the Highway - Ballroom - 8/6
Deke Dickerson & the Ecco-Phonics - Tavern - 9/17
The Black Keys w/The Cuts - Ballroom - 10/9
The Stone Coyotes w/Saul Glennon Trio - Tavern - 10/16
Laibach w/Bonfire Madigan - Ballroom - 11/11
Reverend Horton Heat - Ballroom 12/15
2005 - 11 shows (Ballroom 9, Tavern 2), 19 bands (14/5)
Neko Case w/The Sadies & Kelly Hogan - Ballroom, 1/15
Lucy Kaplansky - Ballroom 2/5
Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings - Ballroom, 2/20
Clem Snide w/Archer Prewitt - Tavern, 3/9
Rhonda Vincent & the Rage w/Jim Lauderdale - Ballroom, 3/15
Ray Wylie Hubbard, Slaid Cleaves, Hayes Carll - Ballroom, 5/6
The Decemberists - Ballroom, 5/19
The Headhunters w/the Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey @ Ballroom, 6/14
Los Straitjackets Summer Twist Party w/the World Famous Pontani Sisters & Kaiser George @ Ballroom, 7/12
Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings @ Ballroom, 10/2
High Dials w/Boatzzz, Volta Sound @ Tavern, 12/9
2006 - 15 shows (Ballroom 7, Tavern 8), 22 bands (11/11)
The Greencards - S 3/18 - Tavern
Trampled by Turtles - S 4/15 - Tavern
Josh Ritter - W 4/19 - Ballroom
Fred Eaglesmith - F 5/19 - Ballroom
Southern Culture on the Skids w/Uncle Scratch's Gospel Revival - R 6/1 - Ballroom
The Constantines - F 6/23 - Tavern
Dressy Bessy w/Immaculate Machine - T 7/11 - Tavern
The Black Angels w/The Volta Sound - T 8/01 - Tavern
Wayne The Train Hancock - M 8/07 - Tavern
"Little Steven's Underground Garage" The Zombies w/Mooney Suzuki - F 9/15 - Ballroom
Cibelle w/blktygr - T 9/19 - Tavern
Kaki King - T 10/17 - Ballroom
Joanna Newsome w/Bobby Birdman - F 11/10 - Ballroom
The Derailers - S 11/11 - Tavern
Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings w/The Budos Band - F 12/29 - Ballroom
2007 - 15 shows (Ballroom 11, Tavern 4), 23 bands (17/6)
Jello Biafra (spoken word) - F 2/23 - Ballroom
The Charms w/Boatzzz - R 3/1 - Tavern
Of Montreal - M 3/19 - Ballroom
Neko Case w/John Rauhouse - Su 4/01 - Ballroom
Yo La Tengo - T 4/17 - Ballroom
Antibalas w/Chin Chin - W 5/02 - Ballroom
Fred Eaglesmith w/GS Harper - T 5/08 - Ballroom
Peter Mulvey w/Jim Gill - R 5/17 - Tavern
Mirah w/Laura Veirs - R 7/19 - Ballroom
They Might Be Giants w/Corn Mo - S 7/21 - Ballroom
The Budos Band - Su 8/19 - Tavern
Heartless Bastards - F 9/07 - Tavern
The Charlie Hunter Trio - M 10/01 - Ballroom
Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings w/The Ultimate Ovation - Ballroom - T 11/20
Peter, Bjorn & John - Ballroom - R 11/29
2008 - 12 shows (Ballroom 5, Tavern 7), 20 bands (8/12)
Fred Eaglesmith w/Kathy Moffat & Andrew Hardin - F 1/11 - Ballroom
Expecting Rain (CD Release Party) w/Afternoon Naps - S 1/12 - Tavern
Diana Jones - R 2/14 - Tavern
They Might Be Giants w/Oppenheimer - W 2/27 - Ballroom
Mike Doughty's Band - T 3/18 - Ballroom
Haale - F 3/28 - Tavern
Casiotone For the Painfully Alone w/Clue To Kalo - Su 4/20 - Tavern
Firewater w/Unsparing Sea - F 5/28 - Tavern
Sam Phillips - R 9/11 - Ballroom
Jessica Lea Mayfield w/The Magpies - T 9/16 - Tavern
Alejandro Escovedo - Su 10/19 - Ballroom
Beatnik Termites w/Elephant Bones - S 11/29 - Tavern
2009 - 5 shows (Ballroom 5, Tavern 0), 8 bands (8/0)
Dan Auerbach - R 3/5 - Ballroom
The Sadies w/The Waco Brothers - S 3/7 - Ballroom
Fred Eaglesmith - Su 4/26 - Ballroom
They Might Be Giants - R 10/15 - Ballroom
Drummer w/Other Girls, The Royal Bangs - Ballroom
2010 - 4 shows (Ballroom 1, Tavern 3), 9 bands (1/8)
Alejandro Escovedo w/The Lighthouse & the Whaler - W 1/13 - Ballroom
The Rural Alberta Advantage w/The Buried Wires, The Octagon - Su 1/17 - Tavern
Jemina Pearl w/Spacer Ace - W 2/10 - Tavern
Daphne Willis w/Corissa Bragg - Su 2/28 - Tavern
TOTALS
84 shows (55 Ballroom, 29 Tavern)
135 bands (85 Ballroom, 50 Tavern)
YEARLY AVERAGES:
8.4 shows (5.5/2.9),
13.5 bands (8.5/5.0)
Picking a favorite show, or even a few favorites, is nigh impossible. There's only pme headliner I've clean forgotten (I was there to see an opener) and while I've forgotten a few of the openers, given the generally low expectations the amount forgotten is less than I would have thought. If pressed, though, there are a few shows that I remember as being particularly awesome. Here are the dirty dozen, in no particular order:
1. Deborah Coleman - April 2001 - Ballroom. This was the very first show I saw at the Beachland, a scant month after they opened. Back then they were trying to have blues shows every Sunday, and had recently become obsessed with Coleman, who is one of the finest blue guitarists working today. I was hooked on the venue from day one.
2. Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings w/The Budos Band - F 12/29/2006 - Ballroom. Probably the best performance I've seen from both bands, it was completely and totally awesome. Many of my friends were there, including my sister. This is the show that Sara wrote up in glowing terms.
3. Bastard Sons of Johnny Cash w/Amy Allison - approximately September 15, 2003 - Tavern. The Bastard Sons got permission to use their name from the Man In Black himself. I saw them a scant two days after Johnny went on to rejoin June. It was BSoJC's first show since his death, and they tore the roof off.
4. The Black Keys w/The Cuts - Ballroom - 10/9/2004. This by far the smallest venue that I've been privileged to see the Black Keys in, and it was probably the finest performance I saw them put on in Ohio. Not as good as the Australia show though :-)
5. Neko Case w/The Sadies & Kelly Hogan - Ballroom, 1/15/2005. This was the tour that yielded the phenomenal live album The Tigers Have Spoken. None of it ended up being recorded in Cleveland, but it was still an amazing show.
6. Laibach w/Bonfire Madigan - Ballroom - 11/11/2004. Went with Micah. Laibach is the epitome of Teutonic perfection. It's kind of frightening and really really impressive.
7. Fred Eaglesmith - Summer 2003 - Tavern. This is the best Fred show I've ever seen. It's also the one that got Watson hooked on him.
8. They Might Be Giants w/Oppenheimer - W 2/27/2008 - Ballroom. Pretty easily the best TMBG show I've been to. Any time a conga line breaks out, things are going well.
9. The Rural Alberta Advantage w/The Buried Wires, The Octagon - Su 1/17/2010 - Tavern. Take an up and coming band with a nearly sold out crowd in a small room. Make that audience super dedicated, and make the band deliver. Wow!
10. Firewater w/Unsparing Sea - F 5/28/2008 - Tavern. This is what you get when the band is completely and utterly insane and doesn't stop or slow down for anything. Combined with top notch material (the album they were touring for, The Golden Hour, is one of the best I own) and a full house, this led to unstoppable dancing.
11. The Constantines - F 6/23/2006 - Tavern. The best Tavern show I've ever been to. It was hot, sticky, loud and the utter epitome of rock & roll.
12. Dressy Bessy w/Immaculate Machine - T 7/11/2006 - Tavern. The headliner was ok, but Immaculate Machine was and remains one of the best if not the best opener I have ever seen.
You know, I don't think that this list is fully complete. I could swear I saw Betty Lavette there in 2005 when she was touring for her comeback album. Hrm. Oh well. Memory is a tricky thing. That's why I've got the lists. It kind of disturbs me to think that I made a mistake in them.
EDIT - When I was writing my retroactive 2001 concert year in review many, many years later I realized that the Dirty Dozen Brass Band w/DJ Logic show was in 2003, not 2002, as confirmed in multiple other lists. Oops.
Note: I didn't write down individual dates for the first three years of the list.
2001 - 2 Shows (Ballroom 2, Tavern 0), 2 bands (2/0)
Deborah Coleman - Ballroom
Long John Hunter with Maurice John Vaughn & the Nutbreakers - Ballroom
2002 - 3 shows (Ballroom 3, Tavern 0), 5 bands (5/0)
Gaelic Storm - Ballroom
Martin Sexton w/Chris Trapper - Ballroom
Red Elvises w/Cowslingers - Ballroom
2003 - 9 shows (Ballroom 6, Tavern 3), 15 bands (10/5)
Dirty Dozen Brass Band w/DJ Logic - Ballroom
Eddie From Ohio - Ballroom
Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra - Ballroom
Jesse Sykes & the Sweet Hereafter w/Dreadful Yawns - Tavern
The New Pornographers w/the Lonesome Organist - Ballroom
Bastard Sons of Johnny Cash w/Amy Allison - Tavern
Shonen Knife w/Modey Lemon - Ballroom
Fred Eaglesmith - Tavern
Donna the Buffalo w/Jim Lauderdale - Ballroom
2004 - 8 shows (Ballroom 6, Tavern 2), 12 bands (9/3)
Eddie From Ohio - Ballroom - 1/9
Antibalas @ Ballroom 6/8
Derailers w/Lords of the Highway - Ballroom - 8/6
Deke Dickerson & the Ecco-Phonics - Tavern - 9/17
The Black Keys w/The Cuts - Ballroom - 10/9
The Stone Coyotes w/Saul Glennon Trio - Tavern - 10/16
Laibach w/Bonfire Madigan - Ballroom - 11/11
Reverend Horton Heat - Ballroom 12/15
2005 - 11 shows (Ballroom 9, Tavern 2), 19 bands (14/5)
Neko Case w/The Sadies & Kelly Hogan - Ballroom, 1/15
Lucy Kaplansky - Ballroom 2/5
Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings - Ballroom, 2/20
Clem Snide w/Archer Prewitt - Tavern, 3/9
Rhonda Vincent & the Rage w/Jim Lauderdale - Ballroom, 3/15
Ray Wylie Hubbard, Slaid Cleaves, Hayes Carll - Ballroom, 5/6
The Decemberists - Ballroom, 5/19
The Headhunters w/the Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey @ Ballroom, 6/14
Los Straitjackets Summer Twist Party w/the World Famous Pontani Sisters & Kaiser George @ Ballroom, 7/12
Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings @ Ballroom, 10/2
High Dials w/Boatzzz, Volta Sound @ Tavern, 12/9
2006 - 15 shows (Ballroom 7, Tavern 8), 22 bands (11/11)
The Greencards - S 3/18 - Tavern
Trampled by Turtles - S 4/15 - Tavern
Josh Ritter - W 4/19 - Ballroom
Fred Eaglesmith - F 5/19 - Ballroom
Southern Culture on the Skids w/Uncle Scratch's Gospel Revival - R 6/1 - Ballroom
The Constantines - F 6/23 - Tavern
Dressy Bessy w/Immaculate Machine - T 7/11 - Tavern
The Black Angels w/The Volta Sound - T 8/01 - Tavern
Wayne The Train Hancock - M 8/07 - Tavern
"Little Steven's Underground Garage" The Zombies w/Mooney Suzuki - F 9/15 - Ballroom
Cibelle w/blktygr - T 9/19 - Tavern
Kaki King - T 10/17 - Ballroom
Joanna Newsome w/Bobby Birdman - F 11/10 - Ballroom
The Derailers - S 11/11 - Tavern
Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings w/The Budos Band - F 12/29 - Ballroom
2007 - 15 shows (Ballroom 11, Tavern 4), 23 bands (17/6)
Jello Biafra (spoken word) - F 2/23 - Ballroom
The Charms w/Boatzzz - R 3/1 - Tavern
Of Montreal - M 3/19 - Ballroom
Neko Case w/John Rauhouse - Su 4/01 - Ballroom
Yo La Tengo - T 4/17 - Ballroom
Antibalas w/Chin Chin - W 5/02 - Ballroom
Fred Eaglesmith w/GS Harper - T 5/08 - Ballroom
Peter Mulvey w/Jim Gill - R 5/17 - Tavern
Mirah w/Laura Veirs - R 7/19 - Ballroom
They Might Be Giants w/Corn Mo - S 7/21 - Ballroom
The Budos Band - Su 8/19 - Tavern
Heartless Bastards - F 9/07 - Tavern
The Charlie Hunter Trio - M 10/01 - Ballroom
Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings w/The Ultimate Ovation - Ballroom - T 11/20
Peter, Bjorn & John - Ballroom - R 11/29
2008 - 12 shows (Ballroom 5, Tavern 7), 20 bands (8/12)
Fred Eaglesmith w/Kathy Moffat & Andrew Hardin - F 1/11 - Ballroom
Expecting Rain (CD Release Party) w/Afternoon Naps - S 1/12 - Tavern
Diana Jones - R 2/14 - Tavern
They Might Be Giants w/Oppenheimer - W 2/27 - Ballroom
Mike Doughty's Band - T 3/18 - Ballroom
Haale - F 3/28 - Tavern
Casiotone For the Painfully Alone w/Clue To Kalo - Su 4/20 - Tavern
Firewater w/Unsparing Sea - F 5/28 - Tavern
Sam Phillips - R 9/11 - Ballroom
Jessica Lea Mayfield w/The Magpies - T 9/16 - Tavern
Alejandro Escovedo - Su 10/19 - Ballroom
Beatnik Termites w/Elephant Bones - S 11/29 - Tavern
2009 - 5 shows (Ballroom 5, Tavern 0), 8 bands (8/0)
Dan Auerbach - R 3/5 - Ballroom
The Sadies w/The Waco Brothers - S 3/7 - Ballroom
Fred Eaglesmith - Su 4/26 - Ballroom
They Might Be Giants - R 10/15 - Ballroom
Drummer w/Other Girls, The Royal Bangs - Ballroom
2010 - 4 shows (Ballroom 1, Tavern 3), 9 bands (1/8)
Alejandro Escovedo w/The Lighthouse & the Whaler - W 1/13 - Ballroom
The Rural Alberta Advantage w/The Buried Wires, The Octagon - Su 1/17 - Tavern
Jemina Pearl w/Spacer Ace - W 2/10 - Tavern
Daphne Willis w/Corissa Bragg - Su 2/28 - Tavern
TOTALS
84 shows (55 Ballroom, 29 Tavern)
135 bands (85 Ballroom, 50 Tavern)
YEARLY AVERAGES:
8.4 shows (5.5/2.9),
13.5 bands (8.5/5.0)
Picking a favorite show, or even a few favorites, is nigh impossible. There's only pme headliner I've clean forgotten (I was there to see an opener) and while I've forgotten a few of the openers, given the generally low expectations the amount forgotten is less than I would have thought. If pressed, though, there are a few shows that I remember as being particularly awesome. Here are the dirty dozen, in no particular order:
1. Deborah Coleman - April 2001 - Ballroom. This was the very first show I saw at the Beachland, a scant month after they opened. Back then they were trying to have blues shows every Sunday, and had recently become obsessed with Coleman, who is one of the finest blue guitarists working today. I was hooked on the venue from day one.
2. Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings w/The Budos Band - F 12/29/2006 - Ballroom. Probably the best performance I've seen from both bands, it was completely and totally awesome. Many of my friends were there, including my sister. This is the show that Sara wrote up in glowing terms.
3. Bastard Sons of Johnny Cash w/Amy Allison - approximately September 15, 2003 - Tavern. The Bastard Sons got permission to use their name from the Man In Black himself. I saw them a scant two days after Johnny went on to rejoin June. It was BSoJC's first show since his death, and they tore the roof off.
4. The Black Keys w/The Cuts - Ballroom - 10/9/2004. This by far the smallest venue that I've been privileged to see the Black Keys in, and it was probably the finest performance I saw them put on in Ohio. Not as good as the Australia show though :-)
5. Neko Case w/The Sadies & Kelly Hogan - Ballroom, 1/15/2005. This was the tour that yielded the phenomenal live album The Tigers Have Spoken. None of it ended up being recorded in Cleveland, but it was still an amazing show.
6. Laibach w/Bonfire Madigan - Ballroom - 11/11/2004. Went with Micah. Laibach is the epitome of Teutonic perfection. It's kind of frightening and really really impressive.
7. Fred Eaglesmith - Summer 2003 - Tavern. This is the best Fred show I've ever seen. It's also the one that got Watson hooked on him.
8. They Might Be Giants w/Oppenheimer - W 2/27/2008 - Ballroom. Pretty easily the best TMBG show I've been to. Any time a conga line breaks out, things are going well.
9. The Rural Alberta Advantage w/The Buried Wires, The Octagon - Su 1/17/2010 - Tavern. Take an up and coming band with a nearly sold out crowd in a small room. Make that audience super dedicated, and make the band deliver. Wow!
10. Firewater w/Unsparing Sea - F 5/28/2008 - Tavern. This is what you get when the band is completely and utterly insane and doesn't stop or slow down for anything. Combined with top notch material (the album they were touring for, The Golden Hour, is one of the best I own) and a full house, this led to unstoppable dancing.
11. The Constantines - F 6/23/2006 - Tavern. The best Tavern show I've ever been to. It was hot, sticky, loud and the utter epitome of rock & roll.
12. Dressy Bessy w/Immaculate Machine - T 7/11/2006 - Tavern. The headliner was ok, but Immaculate Machine was and remains one of the best if not the best opener I have ever seen.
You know, I don't think that this list is fully complete. I could swear I saw Betty Lavette there in 2005 when she was touring for her comeback album. Hrm. Oh well. Memory is a tricky thing. That's why I've got the lists. It kind of disturbs me to think that I made a mistake in them.
EDIT - When I was writing my retroactive 2001 concert year in review many, many years later I realized that the Dirty Dozen Brass Band w/DJ Logic show was in 2003, not 2002, as confirmed in multiple other lists. Oops.