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Many talented acts heading to town, including Christian rock band MercyMe performing at Akron Civic on Sunday night
By Malcolm X Abram
Beacon Journal music writer
POSTED: 07:13 a.m. EDT, Oct 15, 2009
Akron has quite a few good shows coming to town in the next few months.
Live Nation in particular has been showing the AK-Rowdy considerable love with upcoming appearances by Rob Zombie and country hunk Gary Allan at the Civic, two nights of Steely Dan and an evening with Cheech & Chong (what a bizarre interview that was), both at the University of Akron's E.J. Thomas Hall, and a blast-from-the-past show called the English Beat at Musica. And, let us not forget the recent sell-out shows by Dwele, Morris Day & the Time and Todd Rundgren.
Heck, while we're in a happy mood, let's throw in Bob Dylan's upcoming show at the Canton Memorial Civic Center (Nov. 5) and popular jazz/jam trio Medeski, Martin & Wood at the Kent Stage on Nov. 17.
The parade of national acts continues this week with contemporary Christian rock band MercyMe at the Akron Civic Theatre happening (appropriately) on Sunday night. The Texas sextet, which has sold more than 5 million records, is touring behind the compilation 10 — named for the decade that has passed since lead singer/songwriter Brad Millard wrote the band's most important song, I Can Only Imagine, about the death of his father.
The tune garnered three 2001 Dove Awards for pop song, song of the year and songwriter of the year.
10, a double-disc set, contains 15 of the band's biggest hits including recent No. 1 single Finally Home and two takes on I Can Only Imagine — an acoustic version and another recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra. It also has a DVD compilation of videos, live footage and two documentaries called Faith and Fame: MercyMe and The Song.
Opening for MercyMe will be worship band FEE and up-and-coming artist Jonny Diaz.
Stuff to see and hear
With another season of Downtown@Dusk concerts done, the Akron Art Museum has moved on to its fall/winter series Third Thursdays, which begins tonight with Masquerade Mash featuring local rock bands playing dress up and paying tribute to classic rock bands.
The Shivering Timbers will (possibly) don sparkly bell-bottomed jumpsuits to pay homage to Neil Diamond, while Crystal Visions will (maybe) break out some scarfs and platform boots to regale listeners with music from Fleetwood Mac.
The free show is from 6:30 to 9 p.m. There will be a cash bar featuring local beer maker Thirsty Dog Brewing Co.
There will be a combination hip-hop show and political fundraiser on Friday at Musica for Mexie J. Wilson, a longtime supporter/promoter of Akron and Cleveland hip-hop who is running for a seat on the Akron public school board.
The show will feature a gaggle of local hip-hoppers including Honeypot, Dreday, Inspiration X, Cap C & Random X, B-Boy crew Illstyle Rockers and a special appearance by Ace & Dee aka the Twins.
Longtime local hip-hop fans may remember that back in the '90s, Ace Boogie and his brother, Dee, were popular performers in the area. While Dee quit performing years ago, Ace Boogie has been performing, recording, producing and promoting hip-hop and spoken word/poetry for grown folks as a solo artist for more than a decade.
Well, this show will not only be a rare chance to see the Twins perform together, it will also be the last time that Ace Boogie — last seen opening for Big Daddy Kane and KRS-One at Lock 3 Park in the summer — will grace a stage as he is officially retiring.
The 39-year-old father of four kids ages 7 to 20 had a recent health scare that has him reassessing his priorities. He has decided that the stress of trying to maintain a career as an independent rapper, poet and local promoter is not as important as remaining alive and spending time with his family.
''Going to Iowa or Denver for the whole weekend for a couple hundred dollars was just a lot on me and I don't think I can perform the way I normally do. So I figured I'd just hang it up period,'' he said.
Ace said he'll definitely miss performing and meeting people who enjoy his music.
''I love being able to make a song and have people know the lyrics; that's the bomb,'' he said. ''I'm in Minnesota standing in Walmart and some guy is reciting my stuff, not a rhyme but one of the poems? I'm always going to miss that.''
Though he's retiring from the stage, Ace said he will remain creative by keeping a promise to his late mother to resume painting. He is working with a few local acts including a female duo called Diamond Crooks, which he describes as ''two Aaliyahs.''
I've seen Ace Boogie perform several times over the past eight years and he always delivers a good time, generating positive vibes with positive rhymes. So let me pour out a little bit of metaphorical Thirsty Dog Stud Service Stout for the end of his rap career and raise a toast to the next phase (and continuation) of his life.
Stuff I saw and heard
While we're on the subject of local hip-hop, I attended the Raw Materials show at Musica last Wednesday. Although the crowd was small (did I mention it was a Wednesday?) they were into it and the performers I saw — Cap C & Random X, Gator and the headliners — all gave good, high-energy performances.
I know many aspiring rap stars believe that posting a few tracks on their MySpace and Facebook pages will do the work for them, but building an audience the old-fashioned way — by getting out in front of the public — is still the best way to become a better performer and to really connect with your potential fanbase.
Assuming you can find a place to perform.
I also attended the sold-out Dwele show at the Stage Door, an intimate venue set on the stage at E.J. Thomas on Saturday. As far as I could tell, the soul singer and his band were good, performing tunes from his four albums and an entertaining impromptu jam built off the beatboxing of an audience member. I'm not entirely sure because the sound was surprisingly subpar.
I missed the (also sold-out) Morris Day & The Time show on Friday but from what I heard, the band, the sound and the audience were all great.
To my untrained ears and eyes it sounded like the Dwele show soundman (for whom I actually felt sorry, because he was frantically working to get a decent mix while enduring dirty and frustrated stares from band members and the audience) had to force a six-piece band including two backup singers through four relatively tiny monitors hanging from the stage ceiling.
By the end of the hourlong set, the beleaguered soundman managed to get a serviceable, if still quite muddy, mix.
Hopefully, going forward, Stage Door officials will work with some area companies to ensure that whoever performs has at least a decent PA system and backline with which to work.
It's a good space and it needs good, consistent sound to keep people wanting to come back.
Malcolm X Abram can be reached at mabram@thebeaconjournal.com or 330-996-3758.
Details
• What: Akron Art Museum Third Thursday Concert: Masquerade Mash with Shivering Timbers and Crystal Visions
• When: 9 tonight
• Where: Akron Art Museum, 1 S. High St.
• Cost: Free
• Information: 330-376-9186, ext. 229.
• What: Akron Hip Hop Showcase sponsored by the Committee to Elect Mexie J.Wilson
• When: 8 p.m. Friday
• Where: Musica, 51 E. Market St., Akron
• Tickets: $10 donation
• Information: 330-903-1717, www.forakronchildrenblogspot.com, http://www.myspace.com/akronmusica
• What: MercyMe with Jonny Diaz and FEE
• When: 6 p.m. Sunday
• Where: Akron Civic Theatre, 182 S. Main St.
• Tickets: $15-$30
• Information: 800-745-3000, http://www.akroncivic.com or http://www.ticketmaster.com
Akron has quite a few good shows coming to town in the next few months.
Live Nation in particular has been showing the AK-Rowdy considerable love with upcoming appearances by Rob Zombie and country hunk Gary Allan at the Civic, two nights of Steely Dan and an evening with Cheech & Chong (what a bizarre interview that was), both at the University of Akron's E.J. Thomas Hall, and a blast-from-the-past show called the English Beat at Musica. And, let us not forget the recent sell-out shows by Dwele, Morris Day & the Time and Todd Rundgren.
Heck, while we're in a happy mood, let's throw in Bob Dylan's upcoming show at the Canton Memorial Civic Center (Nov. 5) and popular jazz/jam trio Medeski, Martin & Wood at the Kent Stage on Nov. 17.
The parade of national acts continues this week with contemporary Christian rock band MercyMe at the Akron Civic Theatre happening (appropriately) on Sunday night. The Texas sextet, which has sold more than 5 million records, is touring behind the compilation 10 — named for the decade that has passed since lead singer/songwriter Brad Millard wrote the band's most important song, I Can Only Imagine, about the death of his father.
The tune garnered three 2001 Dove Awards for pop song, song of the year and songwriter of the year.
10, a double-disc set, contains 15 of the band's biggest hits including recent No. 1 single Finally Home and two takes on I Can Only Imagine — an acoustic version and another recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra. It also has a DVD compilation of videos, live footage and two documentaries called Faith and Fame: MercyMe and The Song.
Opening for MercyMe will be worship band FEE and up-and-coming artist Jonny Diaz.
Stuff to see and hear
With another season of Downtown@Dusk concerts done, the Akron Art Museum has moved on to its fall/winter series Third Thursdays, which begins tonight with Masquerade Mash featuring local rock bands playing dress up and paying tribute to classic rock bands.
The Shivering Timbers will (possibly) don sparkly bell-bottomed jumpsuits to pay homage to Neil Diamond, while Crystal Visions will (maybe) break out some scarfs and platform boots to regale listeners with music from Fleetwood Mac.
The free show is from 6:30 to 9 p.m. There will be a cash bar featuring local beer maker Thirsty Dog Brewing Co.
There will be a combination hip-hop show and political fundraiser on Friday at Musica for Mexie J. Wilson, a longtime supporter/promoter of Akron and Cleveland hip-hop who is running for a seat on the Akron public school board.
The show will feature a gaggle of local hip-hoppers including Honeypot, Dreday, Inspiration X, Cap C & Random X, B-Boy crew Illstyle Rockers and a special appearance by Ace & Dee aka the Twins.
Longtime local hip-hop fans may remember that back in the '90s, Ace Boogie and his brother, Dee, were popular performers in the area. While Dee quit performing years ago, Ace Boogie has been performing, recording, producing and promoting hip-hop and spoken word/poetry for grown folks as a solo artist for more than a decade.
Well, this show will not only be a rare chance to see the Twins perform together, it will also be the last time that Ace Boogie — last seen opening for Big Daddy Kane and KRS-One at Lock 3 Park in the summer — will grace a stage as he is officially retiring.
The 39-year-old father of four kids ages 7 to 20 had a recent health scare that has him reassessing his priorities. He has decided that the stress of trying to maintain a career as an independent rapper, poet and local promoter is not as important as remaining alive and spending time with his family.
''Going to Iowa or Denver for the whole weekend for a couple hundred dollars was just a lot on me and I don't think I can perform the way I normally do. So I figured I'd just hang it up period,'' he said.
Ace said he'll definitely miss performing and meeting people who enjoy his music.
''I love being able to make a song and have people know the lyrics; that's the bomb,'' he said. ''I'm in Minnesota standing in Walmart and some guy is reciting my stuff, not a rhyme but one of the poems? I'm always going to miss that.''
Though he's retiring from the stage, Ace said he will remain creative by keeping a promise to his late mother to resume painting. He is working with a few local acts including a female duo called Diamond Crooks, which he describes as ''two Aaliyahs.''
I've seen Ace Boogie perform several times over the past eight years and he always delivers a good time, generating positive vibes with positive rhymes. So let me pour out a little bit of metaphorical Thirsty Dog Stud Service Stout for the end of his rap career and raise a toast to the next phase (and continuation) of his life.
Stuff I saw and heard
While we're on the subject of local hip-hop, I attended the Raw Materials show at Musica last Wednesday. Although the crowd was small (did I mention it was a Wednesday?) they were into it and the performers I saw — Cap C & Random X, Gator and the headliners — all gave good, high-energy performances.
I know many aspiring rap stars believe that posting a few tracks on their MySpace and Facebook pages will do the work for them, but building an audience the old-fashioned way — by getting out in front of the public — is still the best way to become a better performer and to really connect with your potential fanbase.
Assuming you can find a place to perform.
I also attended the sold-out Dwele show at the Stage Door, an intimate venue set on the stage at E.J. Thomas on Saturday. As far as I could tell, the soul singer and his band were good, performing tunes from his four albums and an entertaining impromptu jam built off the beatboxing of an audience member. I'm not entirely sure because the sound was surprisingly subpar.
I missed the (also sold-out) Morris Day & The Time show on Friday but from what I heard, the band, the sound and the audience were all great.
To my untrained ears and eyes it sounded like the Dwele show soundman (for whom I actually felt sorry, because he was frantically working to get a decent mix while enduring dirty and frustrated stares from band members and the audience) had to force a six-piece band including two backup singers through four relatively tiny monitors hanging from the stage ceiling.
By the end of the hourlong set, the beleaguered soundman managed to get a serviceable, if still quite muddy, mix.
Hopefully, going forward, Stage Door officials will work with some area companies to ensure that whoever performs has at least a decent PA system and backline with which to work.
It's a good space and it needs good, consistent sound to keep people wanting to come back.
Malcolm X Abram can be reached at mabram@thebeaconjournal.com or 330-996-3758.
Details
• What: Akron Art Museum Third Thursday Concert: Masquerade Mash with Shivering Timbers and Crystal Visions
• When: 9 tonight
• Where: Akron Art Museum, 1 S. High St.
• Cost: Free
• Information: 330-376-9186, ext. 229.
• What: Akron Hip Hop Showcase sponsored by the Committee to Elect Mexie J.Wilson
• When: 8 p.m. Friday
• Where: Musica, 51 E. Market St., Akron
• Tickets: $10 donation
• Information: 330-903-1717, www.forakronchildrenblogspot.com, http://www.myspace.com/akronmusica
• What: MercyMe with Jonny Diaz and FEE
• When: 6 p.m. Sunday
• Where: Akron Civic Theatre, 182 S. Main St.
• Tickets: $15-$30
• Information: 800-745-3000, http://www.akroncivic.com or http://www.ticketmaster.com
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