Last Weekend for July 27-29: O'Jays, Morris Day & the Time, Ohio Players
It had been a solid month since I went to a concert and more than two years since I caught a show at Cain Park. Naturally, I went to two shows in one weekend at what is my favorite outdoor venue.
On Friday night I had a free ticket to see The O'Jays from the lawn. The current O'Jays lineup features two original surviving members (Eddie Levert and Walter Williams) and a third man who has been in the band for 23 of the 59 years it has existed. Along with a 14-piece band (two percussionists, two keyboardists, guitar, bass, two backup vocalists and a big horn section) they proceeded to put on a great nostalgia show. They played all the hits, and had so many of those that they had to pull out the "medley of all our greatest songs that we don't have time to play." They did all of this in some fabulous bright green 1970's era suits and with some pretty damn good dance moves for two men who are substantially older than my father. Love Train was great live, as was pretty much everything else they did. The show wasn't sold out, but the people who were there really got into it. I'm glad I saw them. A local guitarist named Austin "Walking" Cane opened, but he wasn't very good and he was completely misplaced as an opener for The O'Jays.
Two weekends ago I joined gieves when her husband wasn't able to use tickets for the museum. This past weekend she returned the favor when M wasn't able to be in town to see Morris Day and The Time at Cain Park. We first had dinner at Anatolia Cafe in the Cedar Lee district, where the lamb chop once again was fantastic but the service was actively bad, to the point of where we only tipped 15% and had a conversation about going lower than that.
After a pleasant walk down to Cain Park we were camped out on the lawn for another great 70s band, the Ohio Players. The Players acted as if they were a headliner in every way. I had fun watching them, but they certainly could have done a tighter set and played more songs instead of doing a long wavery band introduction or telling meandering stories. I also got a kick out of them thanking Jesus Christ; all I could think about was their ridiculous soft core porn album covers from the 1970s, some of which are closer to porn than anything Hef was putting on Playboy covers back then. Anyway, I digress. The Ohio Players did a nice long set (gieves tells me it was a few minutes longer than the Time), and I'm glad I saw them.
Morris Day & the Time did not hide that they were out on tour in part to capitalize on their connection to Prince. Heck, they teased 1999 at several points in the show, ultimately playing portions of D.M.S.R. off that album. Most of the show was their own stuff, though. Morris Day is still a pretty, pretty man, and hilariously he had a band member hold up a mirror for him to inspect his hair on multiple occasions. The same band member would mirror his moves during most of the songs, like a demented shadow (Morris Day wore white, the band member wore black) or reflection. The band only had a few original members at this point (Jellybean, Monte Moir), but they still cooked through every song they played. From the opening "clock entrance" where the band played like an overclocked grandfather clock to the final number, The Time kept it moving. I didn't recognize many (ok, most) of the songs that they played, but I had a good time.
On a side note, this weekend brings my concert total on the year to 15 shows and 21 bands. Also, the Ohio Players plus the Time had as many people on stage as The O'Jays did by themselves (17).
Sunday morning, Joe & Kristen (hosts of the Super Bowl party I attend yearly) were in town. I, Danita and John joined them for brunch at Cafe Avalaun in Warrensville Heights. This is a little hole-in-the-wall (only two tables could have held our group, fortunately we were there early) with lots of locally sourced food, the kind of place where the menu not only has vegan and vegetarian items marked but gluten-free and nut-free items too. I had the brisket crepe special, which was delicious, plus some quinoa toast with homemade jam and a big hot chocolate. We had a lovely brunch.
My radio show was heavily based on a ticket giveaway for an upcoming Joan Osborne and Lisa Loeb show.
I also knocked off two comics over the weekend. On Saturday, I read volume 1 of Jimmy's Bastards by Garth Ennis, which imagines that unknown to him, a James Bond type has several hundred bastard children out there, and they hold a grudge. At the same time Ennis punctures a number of political stances on both sides of the aisle. Sunday, I read a comic version of A Study in Emerald, wherein Neil Gaiman takes us to a Victorian England where Lovecraftian monsters have taken over the countries of men. Now one has been assassinated, and the world's greatest detective and his companion are called into action. It's not special, but it was a fun light read.
On Friday night I had a free ticket to see The O'Jays from the lawn. The current O'Jays lineup features two original surviving members (Eddie Levert and Walter Williams) and a third man who has been in the band for 23 of the 59 years it has existed. Along with a 14-piece band (two percussionists, two keyboardists, guitar, bass, two backup vocalists and a big horn section) they proceeded to put on a great nostalgia show. They played all the hits, and had so many of those that they had to pull out the "medley of all our greatest songs that we don't have time to play." They did all of this in some fabulous bright green 1970's era suits and with some pretty damn good dance moves for two men who are substantially older than my father. Love Train was great live, as was pretty much everything else they did. The show wasn't sold out, but the people who were there really got into it. I'm glad I saw them. A local guitarist named Austin "Walking" Cane opened, but he wasn't very good and he was completely misplaced as an opener for The O'Jays.
Two weekends ago I joined gieves when her husband wasn't able to use tickets for the museum. This past weekend she returned the favor when M wasn't able to be in town to see Morris Day and The Time at Cain Park. We first had dinner at Anatolia Cafe in the Cedar Lee district, where the lamb chop once again was fantastic but the service was actively bad, to the point of where we only tipped 15% and had a conversation about going lower than that.
After a pleasant walk down to Cain Park we were camped out on the lawn for another great 70s band, the Ohio Players. The Players acted as if they were a headliner in every way. I had fun watching them, but they certainly could have done a tighter set and played more songs instead of doing a long wavery band introduction or telling meandering stories. I also got a kick out of them thanking Jesus Christ; all I could think about was their ridiculous soft core porn album covers from the 1970s, some of which are closer to porn than anything Hef was putting on Playboy covers back then. Anyway, I digress. The Ohio Players did a nice long set (gieves tells me it was a few minutes longer than the Time), and I'm glad I saw them.
Morris Day & the Time did not hide that they were out on tour in part to capitalize on their connection to Prince. Heck, they teased 1999 at several points in the show, ultimately playing portions of D.M.S.R. off that album. Most of the show was their own stuff, though. Morris Day is still a pretty, pretty man, and hilariously he had a band member hold up a mirror for him to inspect his hair on multiple occasions. The same band member would mirror his moves during most of the songs, like a demented shadow (Morris Day wore white, the band member wore black) or reflection. The band only had a few original members at this point (Jellybean, Monte Moir), but they still cooked through every song they played. From the opening "clock entrance" where the band played like an overclocked grandfather clock to the final number, The Time kept it moving. I didn't recognize many (ok, most) of the songs that they played, but I had a good time.
On a side note, this weekend brings my concert total on the year to 15 shows and 21 bands. Also, the Ohio Players plus the Time had as many people on stage as The O'Jays did by themselves (17).
Sunday morning, Joe & Kristen (hosts of the Super Bowl party I attend yearly) were in town. I, Danita and John joined them for brunch at Cafe Avalaun in Warrensville Heights. This is a little hole-in-the-wall (only two tables could have held our group, fortunately we were there early) with lots of locally sourced food, the kind of place where the menu not only has vegan and vegetarian items marked but gluten-free and nut-free items too. I had the brisket crepe special, which was delicious, plus some quinoa toast with homemade jam and a big hot chocolate. We had a lovely brunch.
My radio show was heavily based on a ticket giveaway for an upcoming Joan Osborne and Lisa Loeb show.
I also knocked off two comics over the weekend. On Saturday, I read volume 1 of Jimmy's Bastards by Garth Ennis, which imagines that unknown to him, a James Bond type has several hundred bastard children out there, and they hold a grudge. At the same time Ennis punctures a number of political stances on both sides of the aisle. Sunday, I read a comic version of A Study in Emerald, wherein Neil Gaiman takes us to a Victorian England where Lovecraftian monsters have taken over the countries of men. Now one has been assassinated, and the world's greatest detective and his companion are called into action. It's not special, but it was a fun light read.