Weaving my way through the past, I am uncovering all these seemingly disparate connectors between memories. Flipping through The ZOOM Catalog and seeing the lyrics to “The Cat Came Back” jolted me from my toddler years and my sister to my late teens and my girlfriend Pam. You see, our first official date was to the Animation Festival at the Akron Civic Theatre in February 1989. For whatever reason, I kept the flyer from that event. And, while looking at the single images for each of the shorts on the back of the flyer stir flickers of recognition, it’s “The Cat Came Back” that has always stuck with me most vividly. I know the song to this day. It conjures a jumble of ZOOM, my parents listening to folk music on WKSU, The Muppet Show, and being at the Civic with Pam.
I’ve written about Pam before (particularly scattered throughout the End of the Eighties posts), she’s the one who really helped unlock my creative side. “The Cat Came Back” evokes all those same emotions associated with a dramatic end-of-adolescence love. It’s a song that is as tied to my remembrances of that relationship and that era as any song by Depeche Mode or Peter Murphy.
Bonus Artifact: Tucked in with the Animation Festival handbill was this mimeograph-type upcoming events flyer for March 1989. Man, what an incredible line-up of shows! I think we only saw Hairspray and Holy Grail, but I would love to have seen all of these offerings in the grand theatre.
One of Loew’s atmospheric movie houses, the Akron Civic was a lady in decay after years of neglect, like Miss Havisham in Great Expectations. Downtown Akron was struggling and hollow and empty too, and a convenient gathering place for the all the punks from Akron, Cuyahoga Falls, Richfield, Bath, and farther afield (like my little town between Akron and Canton). I know this was a universal hangout because not only did I hang out in places like the old and deserted parking deck behind the Civic, but so did my future wife Tracy with her friends (although we didn’t know each other at the time).
Rick Springfield 04 September 2011: Akron Civic Theatre, Akron, Ohio
Let’s get this out of the way up front: I love Rick Springfield’s music. Love it. It’s of a time, but I’m ok with that. And, as I have said before, “Jessie’s Girl” might be the single greatest Power Pop song ever recorded.
Without having an older sister, I doubt I would have ever gotten into Rick Springfield. She was getting out of high school as I was just starting middle school, so the age difference was always a factor between us, but there are certain artists and songs that remind me of her. I remember her going to see Springfield in concert back in the day at least a couple of times (and thinking it was cool that Corey Hart was the opening act for one of those shows). When I told my sister that Tracy and I were going to the show, her reaction was first, “He’s still touring?” And second, “Does he have enough songs to fill an entire set?”
Maybe my expectations were too high, but, I mean, come on! It’s Rick fucking Springfield! All he has to do is come out, play his greatest hits collection, and everyone leaves satisfied. How do you screw that up?!
I guess the answer is by opening with a 2007 non-album track that only the die-hards will know. Hello, ironically named “Who Killed Rock N’ Roll”! You follow that up with a couple of decent tracks off 1983’s Living in Oz (“Affair of the Heart” and the title track), then play a cover song (I dig Paul McCartney, but if I want to hear “Jet” I’ll listen to a Wings album), and a track off his 2008 album called “What’s Victoria’s Secret?” (seriously).
But then came Mr. Springfield’s most egregious error of the night: the mid-set MegaMix™. Five songs into the show, he rips through the choruses of eight of his hits in a horrible, giant mashup. “I Get Excited”, “Bop ‘Til You Drop”, “Celebrate Youth”, “Calling All Girls”, “Jessie’s Girl” (just a one line teaser), “Don’t Walk Away”, “State of the Heart”, and “What Kind of Fool Am I?” were all represented. Tracy and I were dumbfounded, and rightfully worried we weren’t going to hear those songs again that night in anywhere close to their complete form.
Coming out of this bizarre A.D.D. warp, he played “I’ve Done Everything for You” (yea), “Venus in Overdrive” (which I’m pretty sure is about his sexual addiction – meh), “Rock of Life” and “Love Is Alright Tonight” (almost back on track), and some unknown Blues tune (which I’ve since realized was Jimi Hendrix’s “Red House” – but, another cover? really?!).
On paper, looking at how he wrapped up the main set might make you think he finished strong, but you’d be mistaken. I get that he has a shtick, and that he does it every show, but going into the crowd and passing the mic among very drunk women in their late 40s to badly sing “Don’t Talk to Strangers” is just a really bad idea.
“Love Somebody” was good, and “Human Touch” was... um, interesting as he waded into the first ten or so rows of the main floor seating area. “Jessie’s Girl” closed the main set, but by then we were almost too disillusioned by the previous 75 minutes of music to even enjoy it. And the distraction of the myriad drunken women hoisting themselves on stage and onto Springfield got old quick. (This coming from someone who’s seen Tom Jones in concert. Twice!)
The band returned for an encore. Unfortunately, we have no idea what the first song even was, and the second song was an album cut from Success Hasn’t Spoiled Me Yet that neither Tracy nor I recognized until we looked it up.
Driving home from the show, Tracy and I continued to marvel over our disappointment. Tracy said the show wasn’t as bad as the one we saw Huey Lewis put on in Maui this Spring (a show we didn’t pay to see, or particularly want to see, but that I probably need to write about sometime), but it also wasn’t as good as the one the Limousines’ put on as an opening act back on Memorial Day weekend.
I told Tracy that there’s just no reason for him to put on a bad show, but he somehow managed to do it. And maybe that’s why his star didn’t continue to burn as brightly as it once did in the ’80s and why he’s not a superstar now.
And the MegaMix™ really honked me off more than it probably should, but, damn. Just play the songs, Rick.
Pretenders 14 February 2009: Akron Civic Theatre, Akron, Ohio
I didn’t spend Valentine’s Day evening with my wife. I would have loved to have her join me, but she decided she didn’t want to see the Pretenders, so instead we went out to dinner Thursday night, and I went to the Pretenders show with my buddy Dennis Saturday night.
I have wanted to see the Pretenders live for years. I almost saw them in the fall of 2007, also at the Akron Civic Theatre. I even had tickets for that show, but I ended up having to back out of that one because of another commitment that came up. So when we found out the Pretenders would be playing the Civic again, my wife knew there was no way I was going to miss it.
Friends since high school, Dennis is one of my reliable concert-going companions. It was at the Civic Theatre that Dennis and I saw Chrissie Hynde perform a three-song acoustic set back in October at the Summit County Democrats fundraiser with the Black Keys on the bill and headlined by Devo. That was all the appetite-whetting I needed to know that no matter when she came back around with the full band I was going to see them.
As is always the case for concerts at the Civic, pre- and post-show drinks were to be had at The Lockview (once the Lime Spider and before that the old Mr. Bilbo’s) across the street. And as seems to always be the case for my concert going in general these days, we ran into David and Gina there before the show.
(I was also glad to finally meet Dave and Amy, who I know through our blogs, in person at the show between American Bangs’ opening set and the Pretenders, and have a chance to chat briefly with Dave back at Lockview after the show as well. I’m looking forward to getting together with them more down the road.)
Courtesy of the 91.3 The Summit presale, we had incredibly good seats – front row of balcony two, just left of center stage, and a perfect unobstructed view to witness a rock legend on her hometown stage. And Chrissie Hynde delivered on all counts.
Hynde is an incredible, raw-power rocker, but all woman. I was floored by the energy, vitality, and sexuality she was projecting from this classic stage. New songs like “Boots of Chinese Plastic” and the killer title track from the support album, “Break up the Concrete”, were fantastic. The high points for me, though, were “Thumbelina”, "Tequila", "Rosalee", and “Brass in Pocket”. “Thumbelina” and “Tequila” are Learning to Crawl era tunes that fit perfectly in the reinvented rockabilly sound of the current band. “Rosalee”, off the new album and written by Bob Kidney of Akron's 15 60 75 - the Numbers Band, and “Brass in Pocket” were the perfectly rendered as well.
The crowd was an interesting mix that skewed decidedly older (as expected), but seemed strangely subdued to me throughout most of the night (not expected). The crowd came alive and out of their seats a number of times, but it wasn’t quite like the David Byrne show up at the Allen Theatre where folks were outright dancing in the aisles by the final encore.
My only real disappointment, though, was the absence of “My City was Gone” from the set list, but that is outweighed by the brilliance of the overall song selection and thrill of seeing this legend in the perfect venue. I can add another artist to my list of Rock Hall inductees I’ve seen live, but this night was about more than that: this was a chance to glimpse a rock goddess in the temple.
When I was growing up in the '70s and '80s, It's a Wonderful Life wasn't on TV as often as it is now. VCRs were just starting to creep into households, and cable didn't come to our little town until the mid-'80s. So the closest thing I had seen to It's a Wonderful Life was the gender-reversal Marlo Thomas made-for-TV remake, It Happened One Christmas. I haven't seen that in years, but it debuted in 1977 on ABC and costarred Orson Wells (who was selling no wine before its time), Wayne Rogers (Trapper John!), Cloris Leachman (who received an Emmy nomination for her role as angel Clara Oddbody), Doris Roberts (long before Remington Steele and Everybody Loves Raymond), C. Thomas Howell (Ponyboy!), and Christopher Guest ("These go to eleven.").
I have seen snippets of the original Jimmy Steward-Donna Reed classic over the years here and there, but never the whole thing. Until now. Now I can say I've finally seen It's a Wonderful Life. I mean the whole movie, start-to-finish in one sitting. And, just to up the ante, I saw it on the big screen.
We met my parents at the Akron Civic Theatre on a bitter cold Sunday afternoon, and took in a holiday classic. What a great movie. I suppose I shouldn't have been shocked at just how fantastic this movie is. After all, it's directed by the legendary Frank Capra -- who was behind two of my all-time favorite movies: It Happened One Night (1934) and Lost Horizon (1937). I can't count how many times I've watched those two movies over the years. But somehow It's a Wonderful Life got by me.
And Jimmy Stewart. Good lord. I have loved him in everything from The Philadelphia Story ("C. K. Dexter Haven you have unsuspected depth!") to Harvey to all of his fantastic work with Hitchcock... Rope, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Vertigo, and the genius turn as L. B. Jefferies in Rear Window. And he is mesmerizing in his "everyman" persona here as George Bailey.
Donna Reed's performance as Mary Hatch Bailey is simply gorgeous. The scene where Mary and George first set eyes on each other as young adults at the high school dance... Man! What an amazing scene that the Stewart and Reed telegraph beautifully, then transition perfectly into the comedy of the gym floor opening to the swimming pool! All the way to the final, emotionally moving scene, I was completely sucked in to this movie. And at the end, there was nothing left to do but surrender to the emotion of it all and, yeah, I was more than a little choked up.
It was amazing to see this classic movie on the big screen. And I hope it's memories like these that the kiddo remembers years from now. Among family, entertained by the famed Mighty Wurlitzer theatre organ beforehand while the atmospheric clouds drifted by and the stars twinkled overhead, there was no better way I can imagine being introduced to this film.
Also, be sure to check out Dave Purcell's great comments on both the Devo and David Byrne shows at Radio Free Newport.
AKRON ROCK ICONS DO CIVIC DUTY Devo's benefit concert whips up vote
Chrissie Hynde, Black Keys join other local acts in raising money for Summit County Democrats
By Malcolm X Abram Beacon Journal music writer
Published on Saturday, Oct 18, 2008
It had been 30 years since Devo performed in Akron, and it took a cause important to the band to bring the group back home.
Friday night, the band returned to the same venue -- the Akron Civic Theatre -- where it had performed in 1978. Back then, it was a triumphant homecoming for a band that was about to move to California. Friday night, the reason was a benefit concert for the Summit County Democratic Party, which inadvertently became a celebration of some of Akron's most popular groups, with both the Black Keys and Chrissie Hynde performing.
Before the show, Richard Evans and Jeff Hancock of Pittsburgh, who were enjoying a beer across the street at the Lockview, were excited about the program and the cause.
Evans, 38, a Devo fan club member, said he found out about the show a few days before tickets were available and quickly snapped up a pair.
While the men were excited to see Devo and the Black Keys, they were also interested in the reason for the show.
"The music is the main reason, but I'm also for [Barack] Obama," said Evans, a confessed lifelong Democrat.
"I was really undecided until I saw the debate the other night. Obama pretty much blew [McCain] away," Hancock said. "That made the decision much easier for me."
Before the show, the crowd mingled at the Civic. In the lobby, concertgoers could purchase special Obama '08 Duty Now for the Future T-shirts and Devo's signature red energy domes, for $20 and $30, respectively, with all proceeds going to the Democratic Party.
The evening's hosts were Summit County Executive Russ Pry and City Council President Marco Sommerville, who between acts stumped not only for Obama but also for seemingly every Democratic candidate in the state. Other dignitaries included U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Niles, and Ohio Treasurer Richard Cordray, the party's candidate for Ohio attorney general.
The show began with local singer-songwriter Chris Allen, who performed a few of his originals and a cover of Bob Dylan's I Shall Be Released. Next, Akron blues rock duo, the Black Keys, who performed a sold-out show last week at E.J. Thomas Hall, played a loud and wild eight-song, half-hour set.
"We don't feel special. We're honored to be here. We're just average Joe Plumbers," Black Keys guitarist-singer Dan Auerbach said, mocking John McCain's debate topic.
Another local singer, Rachel Roberts, performed a quick pair of songs. Then Akron's Chrissie Hynde played a quiet set of three new songs from the Pretenders' latest album Break Up the Concrete, which she described as "being written about Akron."
Hynde's voice was in fine form, though she did fling a few expletives when she couldn't recall the words to Almost Perfect.
Sommerville and Pry returned to the stage wearing energy domes, with Pry adding the band's yellow Devo lab coat, to introduce Devo.
Devo's Bob and Mark Mothersbaugh, Gerald and Bob Casale and longtime drummer Josh Freese filled out their yellow jump suits more than they did 30 years ago, but they performed a taut, energetic 70-minute set of hits and fan favorites, including Girl U Want and Uncontrollable Urge. Before Whip It, Gerald Casale talked about the "eight-year nightmare" of the current administration and asked the crowd, "Are we gonna whip it on Nov. 4?" The answer was a resounding yes.
The show ended with all of the night's performers joining in a ramshackle and fun version of the Pretenders' Break Up the Concrete that had the crowd dancing in the aisles.
I’ve written about Pam before (particularly scattered throughout the End of the Eighties posts), she’s the one who really helped unlock my creative side. “The Cat Came Back” evokes all those same emotions associated with a dramatic end-of-adolescence love. It’s a song that is as tied to my remembrances of that relationship and that era as any song by Depeche Mode or Peter Murphy.
One of Loew’s atmospheric movie houses, the Akron Civic was a lady in decay after years of neglect, like Miss Havisham in Great Expectations. Downtown Akron was struggling and hollow and empty too, and a convenient gathering place for the all the punks from Akron, Cuyahoga Falls, Richfield, Bath, and farther afield (like my little town between Akron and Canton). I know this was a universal hangout because not only did I hang out in places like the old and deserted parking deck behind the Civic, but so did my future wife Tracy with her friends (although we didn’t know each other at the time).
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