The Mistake by the Lake

The Paul Green School of Rock All Stars featuring Jon Anderson
Mr. Smalls Theatre
Millvale (Pittsburgh), PA
Saturday, March 8th, 2008
General Admission
$28

So here Roy and I were in Cleveland in the middle of the biggest snowstorm in decades. And Jon Anderson was playing in Pittsburgh the next night. The highways had not even been salted, let alone plowed.

I did think we'd be able to make the 130 mile trip in under 10 hours and actually arrive at the show, but would it be worth it? Of course, it would be Jon Anderson. But we'd be stressed by the drive. And it was a true general admission, all standing show. I only like those things when I can get in line early and be in the front row. Otherwise, I'm surrounded by people taller than me and can't see. I feel very closed in and distracted from the music in situations like that. The sticking point for me was driving back into Cleveland for our flight home on Sunday. I didn't think we'd be able to make that flight if we drove away. That would lead to an expensive last minute flight home from Pittsburgh or losing precious vacation days. Roy didn't think we'd be able to make it to Pittsburgh in time anyway.

I convinced myself the show would be canceled. The School of Rock had canceled shows due to snow the previous two years. Pittsburgh was the westernmost show - the band didn't need to travel out there to get to the next show. It seemed logical. Then, I was able to tell myself that the roads were awful and we'd be in better shape staying in Cleveland. Theoretical sour grapes. We prepared for it. Our hotel was sold out on Saturday night, but there was another Holiday Inn in town with rooms available. I visited my hotel's business center to get on-line. I made back-up reservations at the other hotel and looked up some phone numbers.

Roy and I watched the Weather Channel. Cleveland had already gotten a foot of snow, and they were predicting another 5-8 inches. There was snow from Cleveland to about the halfway point to Pittsburgh, and then an ice storm. Nice driving conditions! I reached someone at the Mr. Smalls club and confirmed that the show was absolutely still on, and Pittsburgh was only getting a predicted 1-3 inches of snow. We watched more Weather Channel and local news about the roads.

After breakfast, we saw Adrian Belew's roadies loading their van. They were driving to Buffalo - right along with the storm. Looking at their itinerary, they had to try. The night after that was a show in Massachusetts. Skipping one show would cause a domino effect. Apparently they made it. We didn't have to take that risk. Cleveland was our home base for flights and we were already there.

Intellectually, it made sense to stay in Cleveland. Roy and I had a lot of fun that day, probably more than we would have had making that dangerous drive and getting ourselves to a bad spot in the concert venue. But it hurt to give up a chance to see Jon. Once we got home, I read of one guy at the Belew show who drove back on the same route we would have taken to Pennsylvania. His car got stuck on the interstate and he had to get it plowed out the next day. After hearing that, I am more convinced we made the right decision.

We left our car in the parking lot and took the hotel shuttle to their sister inn. We were staying at a Holiday Inn "Select" and the new one was an "Express", but it was a lot nicer. Rehabbed older building, cool ceilings and angled elevators, a large corner room with big windows. Lots of character. The woman at registration even gave us a "blizzard" rate, $30 less than we were quoted. We crashed for a little while.

Sometimes things just work out nicely. OK, the weather was miserable, we were missing Jon Anderson - the whole reason we went on this trip - but the 32nd annual Cleveland International Film Festival was taking place, not too far from our new hotel. And while the airport and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame closed that day because of the snow, the movies went on.

The new hotel didn't have a restaurant, so we went searching. Nothing was open in The Arcade building across the street, but a friendly security guard walked us out the other way and pointed out a sports bar and grill. I love that Ohio is non-smoking! I'd probably never walk into this place in St. Louis, but I could breathe easy. We had a nice lunch. The film festival was being held at Tower City, an indoor mall a few blocks away. There was a basketball game that actually took place that day. It let out around the time we finished eating. The restaurant was packed and the roads were jammed too. All these cars moving very slowly in the snow.

It was bitterly cold and windy. I was wearing two coats, but my hands were feeling it. We found the Hard Rock Cafe and decided to warm up in there. Roy was really impressed with its layout. No Yes stuff. It seemed trippy looking at all this memoribilia so soon after seeing the Hall of Fame. We found that the Hard Rock connected right to Tower City at their other entrance. No more outdoors for us!

Tower City was a weird mix of upscale and not-so-upscale mall. The connected hotel was a Ritz Carlton and there were some high end food chains like Morton's Steakhouse. But most of the stores were of the Dollar Store variety. Something for everyone, I guess. All the restaurants were open to accomodate the film festival people, so this one mall was populated while the rest of the city had a snow day.

We saw two films, one was a documentary on the Cuyahoga River fire in 1969. It talked about the river's history, the fire's cultural signifigance (including the nickname "The Mistake by the Lake"), and what the city has done to protect it since. It was interesting and "Cleveland-y" but not a must-see.

The second film was called Jump! It's in that genre of feel-good competitive kid documentaries, like Spellbound and the ballroom dancing movie. These kids compete by jumping rope, both in speed and style. Some of the examples look like gymnastics involving a rope. This is a sport, and they talk about the upsides and downsides of its expansion as well as showing off their moves and their background stories. The general goal is for it to grow enough to get it into the Olympics. It's amazing to see these young people so focused on a sport with no professional opportunities or even scholarships available.

Two of the girls in the movie, one being a world champion speed jumper, gave a demonstration. They, along with the director, answered questions from the audience. It wasn't as good as seeing Jon Anderson in concert, but it was a charming movie and a really fun night. It's like they invited us into their world for the day.

Roy and I got dinner at the upscale Italian restaurant in the mall called Bice. Every meal I ate in Cleveland was at a chain. Bad Rhea! It was hard to travel to places given the weather. It was the best meal of the trip. Afterwards, we headed into the Ritz Carlton to ask them to call a cab for us. We'd been inside since mid-afternoon and it was now 11pm. It had stopped snowing! The cabbie couldn't get closer than a half block from the hotel. He tried to drop us off on the sidewalk, but with the snow banks it was easier to walk in the street. The wind had died down, so it was actually kind of pleasant and pretty outside.

The next morning, things were getting back to normal. We printed out our boarding passes at the hotel and gave ourselves a long time to pick up the car and get to the airport. I expected it to be so busy, with people from canceled flights the previous two days, but it wasn't bad. Bad weather at another city caused our flight crew to be late, so the flight left about an hour late. But the travel home was uneventful. It was a bittersweet trip, because I so wanted to see Jon Anderson, but we had fun with our improvised plans.

Cleveland Rocks! (and so does Adrian!)

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Cleveland, OH
$22

Adrian Belew Power Trio
Beachland Ballroom
Cleveland, OH
Friday, March 7th, 2008
General Admission
$20

I booked another fun concert trip. Jon Anderson scheduled a short tour with the School of Rock. The only show that would really work for us was Pittsburgh on a Saturday night. Even that was iffy - Pittsburgh is expensive to fly into and we didn't want all that expense for just one show. Roy had the brilliant idea that Adrian Belew was also on tour, and saw that his power trio was playing Cleveland the night before the Pittsburgh show. This was working into a repeat of last year, when we got to see our favorite musicians multiple times. The plan was to take a vacation day and fly into Cleveland on Friday, drive to Pittsburgh on Saturday, and return to Cleveland for our flight home Sunday afternoon. Flying into Cleveland was hundreds of dollars cheaper and only a two hour drive away...

...except in the middle of a blizzard. The worst snowstorm in decades.

Even a few days before the show, the forecast looked good. The day before, we read about the snow. I don't even like driving in snow to work and back, where I at least know the roads. What would the roads be like? Would the shows be canceled? The trip was non-refundable, so we packed for the snow and hoped for the best. The flight got in on time and it had just started to snow.

The venue for the Belew show, the Beachland Ballroom, did something so helpful. They partnered with a hotel and got a really good discount rate. We stayed at a Holiday Inn by Lake Erie just two blocks from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for just $55 a night. I wish more clubs would make arrangements like this. Roy and I figured that meant the band was likely staying there too. We saw the roadies in the lobby Saturday morning, but no sign of the musicians.

It was a blizzard outside, no doubt. I made Roy wear a scarf over his face and we both used umbrellas as wind-shields. Walking in the snow wasn't too bad that way. We got to the hotel by noon, grabbed lunch at a mall nearby on Rock and Roll Boulevard. Even the mall had album art display - it included The Yes Album. We had all day to view the Hall of Fame. I know the Hall is controversial among music fans - a lot of progressive artists like Yes and the Moody Blues have not been inducted, even though they were certainly influential. I sent a note out to some friends with my itinerary to see if anyone could join us. Jerry wrote back, "Please DO NOT go to the Rock Hall of Fame. I'd like to urge everyone to boycott it until and unless they induct Yes." While it would be nice, I can't get worked up about it.

The Hall of Fame was a nice facility. Beautiful building with prominent glass walls. We got good views of the bad weather that way. There were seven floors - 6 with exhibits and a main floor with performance space and a souvenir store. It was very empty and it felt like we had the place to ourselves. We spent the most time on the main floor with exhibits on the roots of rock and highlights of some of the major cities and scenes. They had individual stuff on Jimi Hendrix Experience, Cream, and David Bowie, but no other mention of British psychedelic or progressive/arty music. Big display on the Beach Boys. I have newfound interest in them after seeing Brian Wilson's SMiLE tour. We spent so much time on the main floor, we had to decide what else to see. (The upstairs floors are much smaller.) Really fun exhibit on The Beatles' movie Help. They had scripts, clothing, all sorts of memorabilia.

We counted all the references to Yes.
1. Roundabout is in the 500 "Songs that changed the World"
2. Yes is mentioned in a display for Atlantic Records, along with Led Zeppelin and other rock bands signed in the late 60s.
3. Tony Kaye's name on a David Bowie display program. (No mention of Wakeman, Fripp, or Belew, who also played with Bowie.)
4. A film on music videos' impact called Video Killed the Radio Star showed clips of, duh, Video Killed the Radio Star with Trevor Horn and Geoff Downes.
5. The store had framed album artwork on display, including Fragile.
6. The store had a decent selection of Yes CDs.

Ironically, another band that I love, Traffic, was inducted into the Hall of Fame a couple years back. I saw no reference of them, or Steve Winwood, until I got to the store. They even had classic Rolling Stone Magazine covers display featuring inducted bands, but didn't have the one with Winwood on it from 1969. It's not that hard to find - I have a copy.

We spent about four hours in the museum. I could see spending more time or going back. We didn't see much of the films and the exhibits change around. Definitely worth seeing once. I behaved myself in the store, other than moving the Fragile artwork up front. We only bought a postcard to send to my niece Lauren.

We took a hotel shuttle back to the hotel and got dinner. Time was getting tight, and we had some decisions to make. How early to get to the venue and to drive or take a cab. I called the venue to make sure the show was still on. I didn't know if we'd be able to wait indoors or have to wait outside until the doors opened. At the hotel, we overheard people talking about how long it took them to get there, bad roads and bad traffic. We had the hotel call us a cab - I figured a cabbie would know alternate routes if there was a snow problem and in case it got worse while we were at the show, our car wouldn't get stuck. We had trouble getting a cab - the one the hotel called didn't show up. Thankfully, someone took a cab to the hotel, so we took that one a half hour after we wanted to leave.

The interstate was completely unplowed and unsalted. We got there 15-20 minutes before the doors opened. There were about a dozen people already waiting in the lobby, but all spread out, not in a line. I'm sad to admit I used that to my advantage. I didn't really mean to. We were picking up our tickets at will-call, so when the will-call line opened and the doors opened, I got there as soon as I could. I didn't realize there was just one line - everyone got their hands stamped at the will-call table and then went in. There was a group of eight people that were first in, and then us. No one said anything about people butting in line, so we just went in and grabbed seats.

This is going to sound funny, but I think this was the first time in a dozen shows and since 2001 that I haven't seen Adrian Belew from the front row. Usually, standing right in front of his microphone. It's just so easy to show up a little early and be first in line. It just wasn't easy this time depending on cabs in snowstorms. And it's so much fun to be right up front and be a part of all that energy on stage and make eye contact throughout the show with the band. I was sitting in the second row, on the center aisle. I had a fine view, but I definitely noticed a difference. No eye contact. I was having fun watching the band have fun rather than being part of it. I was also nervous about the next day - if it was so bad now that we didn't want to drive, how would we make it to Pittsburgh to see Jon?

The opening act was a guy named Saul Zonana. He has collaborated with Adrian. He played solo guitar with backing tapes. For one song, he explained it first. It was about a blowup doll. I noticed I listened to the lyrics more closely. I wish he had talked more about the songs. It helped pull me in to the material. It was good for an opening act, but I didn't buy any of his albums.

I wrote about seeing the Power Trio last June and I had some issues with the choice of material. This setlist was mostly the same, with one new song and Neurotica added and no Elephant Talk. But I liked it much more this time. I think I listened to the live album Side Four enough that it's familiar to me. I like so much of Adrian's work that no wonder it's growing on me. The crowd seemed smaller than the other recent Belew shows we'd seen, but that could be due to the weather. Two hundred people, maybe? I said I had a fine view, but the drummer's head was obscured by a cymbal, so I couldn't see his face.

I remember that Dinosaur's false ending went really long. Adrian even talked to the bass player, Julie Slick, while other people applauded, before they went back into it. I know when the song ends and I didn't applaud at the pause. It makes me wonder - I have a Yes bootleg where the audience applauds before And You And I is over and it's so strong and goes on for so long, that the band can't finish the song. If I had been there, would I be caught up in the moment or looking at all those people thinking "The song isn't over yet. Don't you know this?" missing the point? That always comes to mind at concerts now.

Three of the songs started out with mini-drum solos. I'm not a fan of drum solos unless it's Bill Bruford, but at least they were short and tied in with the songs. I remember it specifically for Young Lions. I noticed the bands' interactions more - maybe after reading other reviews of the tour. At one point, I wished the stage was larger so they could all move around more. Adrian's gear took up all the middle part of the stage, so Julie was on stage right and her brother Eric was on drums on the left. Julie had to walk to the back part of her section of stage to make eye contact with Eric at one part - at least I think so, because I couldn't see much of Eric. I wonder if it's constricting to have the equipment dictate where you have to stand during a concert. At one point during a quiet part between songs, some guy walked up to the stage and told Julie, "You're gonna be an effing star!" I'm not censoring; he pronounced the word "effing". The band seemed amused.

I got the words wrong singing along to Big Electric Cat. The chorus is just those words repeated a few times, and I went one time too many. Roy caught me, and we ended up giggling through the rest of the song.

My favorite performances of the night were - surprise surprise - all King Crimson songs - Dinosaur, Three of a Perfect Pair, and Thela Hun Ginjeet. Thela was the encore, so we got to stand up and dance to that. The woman sitting next to Roy was interesting. She was older, and I would have guessed she was there with her husband or that someone dragged her along. But she was bopping around in her seat just like I was. Roy mentioned Neurotica in particular as a favorite of the night. The Side Four live album is fun to listen to, great sound quality and performance, but Roy and I were talking later, and we're ready for some of the "Side" material to be dropped and for Adrian to do more song-based music again.

I brought my Side Four along to get autographed. The band came out after a while. We were waiting in the lobby by the merchandise table, but it was a little disorganized. They started hanging out in the performance room, so we all filed into there, and then we all moved out to the lobby again. Adrian did not look surprised to see us. I wonder if he recognized us from on stage. We were way back in the second row, you know. No great conversation this time. Adrian thanked us for coming out here to see him. I mentioned him not playing St. Louis. He replied that some cities won't book him too often. Roy reminded him that we saw him with the School of Rock in Philly a couple years ago when it was also snowing, and that he shouldn't tour in this bad weather anymore.

We also got autographs from Eric and Julie. This was my first time talking to them. I was thinking about telling them I was also from Philly, but it seemed kind of random. Roy did confirm with them that we did not see them at that School of Rock show a couple years back. They joined Adrian in the New York show for City of Tiny Lights, but not the one in Philly.

Time to get back to the hotel. We had the phone number of the dispatcher of the taxi who drove us out there, but it was going straight to voicemail. One of the club employees gave us the number of another taxi company and let us stay inside until it arrived. It had been a full, exciting day, but we still had to figure out what to do about Saturday and Pittsburgh.