Living Large

Tony Bennett
29 October 2011: State Theatre at Playhouse Square, Cleveland, Ohio

So for the third time in ten days, I found myself at the State Theatre in Playhouse Square Sunday night. Playhouse Square is made up of five primary theatres: the Allen, Hanna, Ohio, Palace, and State. Combine those venues with all the other options in Northeast Ohio, like the Akron Civic, House of Blues, and EJ Thomas, and it’s pretty remarkable that I would end up at the same place for all three shows.

While not the quite the 3 Shows In 3 Nights endurance marathon Tracy and I embarked on in early 2010, the events I attended this month were certainly as varied. Duran Duran the previous Wednesday with Tracy kicked things off, continuing with the Kathy Griffin show Sunday night with my buddy Alan, and concluding with Tony Bennett Saturday night.

The night began, fittingly, in Little Italy at the Trattoria on the Hill, an institution in the neighborhood that Tracy and I have been to numerous times over the years, just not often enough because of proximity. Located east of downtown Cleveland near University Circle and Case Western Reserve University, Little Italy is a great place to stroll and dine and soak in atmosphere. Unfortunately, it’s not really close enough to be convenient enough to just pop over for an afternoon. It is a destination location for us when we have a show or special night out, and we had both Saturday night. The Tony Bennett tickets were a gift to my in-laws for my father-in-law’s birthday.

The in-laws had never been to the Trattoria, so it was fun to share this unique bit of Cleveland with them before heading down Euclid Avenue to Playhouse Square. Bennett’s show was scheduled to start at 8, and a few minutes after the hour the house announcer welcomed us to The Tony Bennett Show and asked us to first greet Antonia Bennett. I don’t think Antonia would be singing professionally if she weren’t opening for her dad. Her short set was disappointing in that it was unexpected and because she clearly did not inherit her Father’s vocal chops. Unremarkable is the nicest way to describe Antonia’s voice. Thankfully, she worked her way quickly through a half-dozen or so standards and brought her dad on stage without an intermission.

Bennett, the elder, has not missed a beat. He perfectly nailed every song through the nearly hour-and-a-half long set. His rendition of “Maybe This Time” from Cabaret was simply stellar, probably my favorite of the night. But matching his song selection was Bennett’s easy banter with the audience. Following his run through of “Cold, Cold Heart”, he told the story of songwriter Hank Williams calling to give him a hard time for “ruining” his song. And Bennett introduced an amazing rendition of Charlie Chaplin’s classic “Smile” by talking about the handwritten note he received from the songwriter thanking him when he recorded the cover.

There was a dedication to Lady Gaga, who performs with Bennett on his Duets II album, and at one point Bennett’s daughter returned to perform a duet with her dad. There were age-appropriate jokes about how the 85-year-old crooner and Rosemary Clooney were the first American idols, and pop music trivia history lessons delivered through tales of his being discovered by Pearl Bailey and how (Clevelander) Bob Hope came up with his professional name.

The crown jewel of the evening, however, was Bennett’s show closing “Fly Me to the Moon”, performed without a microphone while his band quietly backed him. I have extolled the virtues of Playhouse Square’s SmartSeats in the past. Most shows at all of the Playhouse Square venues tend to offer the $10 cheap seats tickets for the last row or two of the theatre, and Tracy and I take advantage of the offer anytime it’s available for a show we want to see. The Tony Bennett Show was no different. You get what you pay for, and we were appropriately seated in the very last row of the auditorium. However, as testament to both Bennett’s vocal ability and the amazing acoustics of the venue, we heard every word, every note, perfectly. The man can sing. Period.

Orienteering

I recently reread Uncanny X-Men: The Dark Phoenix Saga. If you’ve read my book, Deus ex Comica: The Rebirth of a Comic Book Fan, then you know this was the trade paperback that jumpstarted my long-dormant love of comics. Reading this classic X-Men tale again was a real treat, and I find that each run through of the material yields something new to me. This time, what really struck me was the brilliance of writer Chris Claremont and penciller & co-plotter John Byrne’s work, specifically, the recap on page two of issue #134. It’s preceded by the expected splash page, but by itself the second page is impeccable. The simplicity of it belies the complexity of where we are in the story. It’s both a visual feast of color and a descriptive bit of storytelling to orient the reader. Perfect.

Mini Marvels Magic

Jack loves Chris Giarrusso’s G-Man books and his Mini Marvels work (which I’m also a fan of)! So having the opportunity to meet the man in-person at Mid-Ohio Con was a pretty big deal. The kiddo took his copy of G-Man for Giarrusso to sign. Walking away Jack looked inside the book to find that not only did Giarrusso sign it, but he also did a little G-Man sketch in it, too! So the kiddo had to run back to the table to thank him again!

When I saw that Giarrusso was doing 8 ½ by 11 sketches for just $20 a pop, Jack and I talked about it and decided we couldn’t pass up the opportunity. I have had Hawkeye on the mind since wrapping up the piece I just wrote for the upcoming spring issue of Back Issue magazine, so I knew right away what I wanted. For Jack, who has always loved the three-legged Iron Spider-Man gag in “The Iron Avengers” Mini Marvels story, it was also a no-brainer. We couldn’t be happier with the results!

Mid-Ohio Con Quick Recap

I have always heard great things about Mid-Ohio Con, but have never had the chance to attend. It’s now a Wizard World show, but that didn’t stop us from heading south for the day to commune with our comic and geek brethren!

Some highlights…

• Being at the show with my wife, kiddo, and Alan!
• Getting to spend time catching up with creator friends like Marc Sumerak and Dean Stahl. (Oh, and Alan picked up a copy of Marc's All-Ghouls School trade paperback, which I read last night. What a fun read that's definitely worth checking out!)
  
• Meeting cool creators like Chris Giarrusso (kiddo got his copy of G-Man signed, and we commissioned a couple of great Mini Marvel sketches!), Beck Seashols (talked Star Wars and dachshunds with the fellow native Northeast Ohioan!), Brian Atkins (Robert’s little brother!), and Bill Sienkiewicz (signed my Elektra Omnibus!), among others.
• Running into so many fellow POP! Comic Culture Club members throughout the day.
• Filling some holes in my ROM run from the back issue bins.
• Watching my wife turn to goo while meeting James Marsters (and getting to meet him myself – he was a really cool guy).

Like a Birthday or a Pretty View

Duran Duran
19 October 2011: State Theatre at Playhouse Square, Cleveland, Ohio

I have had Duran Duran’s new album in heavy rotation for months now. I love All You Need Is Now as much as any of their classic stuff. Completely against the cultural norm, I have been listening to the entire album as opposed to just the singles, whereas, back in the day I focused primarily on their hits. The result is All You Need Is Now has become one of my all-time favorite Duran Duran albums and one that I know every song from top-to-bottom.

Tracy and I have been excited about the show since we bought the tickets, so much so that I even convinced Jeff and Anna to pick up tickets when we got together for some home brewing a few weeks ago. Although we weren’t seated together, they were just in the next section over, so we got to hang out when we arrived, after Neon Trees’ opening set, and immediately following Duran Duran’s show. A good concert experience with good friends is hard to beat, and that’s just what we got as Adam & Jeff’s ’80s Alternative Rewind Adventure rolled on Wednesday night!

The celebrating throng was evenly distributed between men and women, and none of the guys in the audience looked like they were there under duress. The entire crowd was appreciative of the show, rising to their feet when the house lights first dimmed a few minutes after 9, and the only time they sat back down was during the brief mid-set “Tiger Tiger” instrumental off of Seven and the Ragged Tiger, giving lead singer Simon Le Bon’s voice a rest.

It’s hard to find any complaints at all with the song selection. I would call it perfect; Tracy would have liked to have heard “Girls On Film”. Seven of the twenty-song set were pulled from All You Need Is Now, and those cuts really shone. The title track and “Girl Panic!”, my two favorite tracks off of the new album, may not eclipse the classic stuff, but they certainly matched those songs with their hooks, delivery, and energy.

I was startled by how powerful and moving “Come Undone” was live. The other big surprise was just how damn fun “(Reach Up for the) Sunrise” was. Off of 2004’s Astronaut, it’s a song I’ve never paid much attention to, but it was a raucous main set closer!

My two favorite classic Duran Duran songs – “A View to a Kill” and “The Reflex” – were expected highlights that absolutely delivered, but, honestly, none of their definitive stuff fell short. “Is There Something I Should Know?”, “Careless Memories”, “Notorious”, “Hungry Like the Wolf” were all second half highlights. And the encore was above reproach: “Wild Boys” with a bit of Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s classic “Relax” mixed in, and “Rio”.

My only complaint on the night: We were in the first row of the upper balcony, and the static stage backlights were seemingly aimed right at us. My eyes still hurt the next morning from staring straight into the blinding lights for two hours.

Although Tracy has seen Duran Duran before, 13-year-old her was still squealie and happy, and I had an amazing time. The combination of good friends, an excellent current album of material to work with, raw energy, an in-the-moment crowd, and a perfect song selection made for a great night!

(All photos by Tracy Besenyodi.)

Saving 12-Year-Old Me from the Avengers

Twelve-year-old me is positively beside himself about the Avengers movie coming next spring. And, I have to admit, 41-year-old me is pretty excited about it, too. I have never done an opening night, midnight screening of a movie, but I told Tracy and Jack when we left the theater after seeing Captain America that I am all about it for the Avengers premiere!

The interwebs and Twitterverse were abuzz last week when the first official trailer for Avengers was released. I was so excited when I finally hit the “play” button on my iPad, but, if I’m honest with myself, I was ultimately pretty let down by it.



There were three things that played against it for me...

First, the bulk of the trailer’s action sequences consisted of the explosions filmed in Cleveland this summer. When director Joss Whedon and his crew descended on Northeast Ohio earlier this year the Avengers hype reached a pretty high mark. I was fortunate enough to hear all kinds of cool behind the scenes details about the big budget production from a fellow POP! club member who was an extra during filming, and I don’t think I know anyone who avoided long and short clips of the action filmed here playing on the local news and YouTube months ago.

Second, the use of Nine Inch Nails’ “We’re in this Together” off 1999’s The Fragile felt horribly out of place. It was similar to my reaction rewatching the Ben Affleck Daredevil movie recently: The soundtrack dated the movie horribly. My affection for Nine Inch Nails, though deep, apparently does, in fact, know bounds.

Finally, there’s the thing that really rubbed me completely the wrong way about the trailer: Samuel L. Jackson’s first line in the trailer as Nick Fury is the answer to Agent Coulson’s off screen question, “What do we do?” And instead of a “We kick some ass!” or “We defend Earth!” or any number of bad ass quips you could hope for, you get a completely neutered, “We get ready.”

Wait.

What? We just... get ready?!

Every time I hear that line, it’s delivered in my head in Eddie Murphy’s mocking-the-up-tight-black-cop “You’re not gonna fall for the banana in the tailpipe” voice from Beverly Hills Cop.



Now, I realize this is a “getting the band together” movie, and the overall theme of it probably is actually about, well, getting ready… the heroes we’ve seen in all the other great Marvel movies being gathered by S.H.I.E.L.D. and preparing for battle against this movie’s Big Bad. But, man, I really expected more badassery out of the gate when Nick Fury first opens his mouth.

I guess I need to avoid any more promotional hype for this juggernaut whenever I can, for my sake and the sake of 12-year-old me who really, really wants to love this movie.

Deus ex Comica November Author Visit

Seems like forever since I last did an author visit, but when the North Canton Library reached out to me to do a reading from Deus ex Comica and talk about the writing process, my self-publishing experience, and comics in general, I couldn't pass it up.

What better way to celebrate a new comics Wednesday than by coming out to the North Canton Library, located at 185 North Main Street, on November 2, and supporting a local author and the local library system?

The program will start at 6pm with some prepared thoughts and selected readings from Deus ex Comica, followed by an open discussion. Hope to see you there!