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Kentucky natives Black Stone Cherry led a trifecta of bands at the Globe Iron on Tuesday night. Starting off the evening was Seattle native Ayron Jones, fronting a trio of hard-rocking Blues/Grunge musicians.
Up next was the Alabama-bred Them Dirty Roses, a kinetic Southern-fried Rock quartet who sport a Skynyrd-style sound.
Rounding out the night was Black Stone Cherry, playing a solid ninety minutes of frenetic hard rock. The quartet ran through their set list in a set best described as high octane. Lamenting that they don’t play Cleveland often enough, they promised to return more frequently.
Here’s all the action we caught.
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Brian Lumley
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Kronk Gym is back.
The legendary home of the late Emanuel Steward, who trained a number of World Champions and Olympic medalists, has officially reopened in the historic Brewster Wheeler Recreation Center at 670 Wilkins St.
The gym is now open for new members and has even introduced new Kronk-branded merch.
The original Kronk Gym operated at the city-owned Kronk Recreation Center at 5555 McGraw Ave., where Steward became head coach in 1971 and trained champs like Thomas Hearns, Hilmer Kenty, Lennox Lewis, Gerald McClellan, and Wladimir Klitschko. The building closed in 2006 due to city cuts, however, and was later destroyed in a fire.
Kronk reopened on Warren Avenue but closed when Steward died in 2012. In 2015, Steward’s wife Marie opened another location at 9520 Mettetal St. but it too closed in 2020 due to flooding.
The new version of Kronk is under new ownership, though Marie Steward and daughter Sylvia Steward-Williams remain involved, in addition to boxing greats like Hilmer Kenty, Kronk’s first World Champion. Mary Jo Sanders, a 2025 International Boxing Hall of Famer and Kronk alum, is also one of Kronk’s trainers.
“Kronk shaped boxing around the world, and my father dedicated his life to Detroit,” Steward-Williams said in a statement. “We are proud to see this legacy enter a new era with this amazing team leading the way.”
The Brewster Wheeler Recreation Center holds special significance to boxing, too. Not only was it where Steward trained, but it was home to other boxing greats including Sugar Ray Robinson, Eddie Futch, and the mighty Joe Louis.
The 3,500-square-foot building will offer community mentorship, youth programming, and other training opportunities for all skill levels.
“This is not just the return of a gym, it’s the return of a Detroit franchise,” Kronk CEO Paul Bhatti said. “KRONK will once again be a home for opportunity, mentorship, and champions.”More information is available at kronk.com.
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Lee DeVito
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The City Beautiful’s restaurant landscape is changing every day, but what stays the same is the very loud voices of Orlando foodies (both out loud and on Yelp). This year’s seen the openings of brand-new spots representing plenty of cuisines — Asian food halls, inexpensive tacos, Hawaiian diners, steakhouses and more. Here’s a list of the 20 highest Yelp-rated new Orlando restaurants.
“I’ve spent…20-30 years looking for a large wing ever since. And now I have found it.
“And my gosh were these great and tasty too. Just amazing bbq sauce with a great crisp to the wings, seriously so delicious and such friendly staff.” — Jordan O. Credit: Southern Fowl/Facebook
“We came for lunch on a weekend and were promptly sat at a table. They also have a good bit of bar-style seating that I believe is first come first serve as well as an actual small cocktail bar area in the back.
“I ordered the garlic butter shrimp with rice and macaroni salad. Everything was delicious and the portion was so generous that I took half home for lunch the next day.” — Tom M. Credit: Matt Keller Lehman
“If you like Birria, this is your spot! Tacos, pizzas, quesadillas and more! They have beer bot not liquor although they have wine based margaritas and lots of other non alcoholic drinks.
“The staff is always super friendly and you can also order online.
“If you like good Mexican, especially Birria, definitely check out Quesa Loco.” — Todd S. Credit: Google Maps
“I got a quesadilla with vegan mozzarella and a broccoli crust (never seen that before!) and it came out hot and fresh. The cheese was super melty with a good pull, and the plant-based sausage was actually really good. They gave four big pieces, and I could barely finish it. The crust was more like a flatbread, really crunchy and seasoned well.
“Prices were reasonable too and service was quick. Definitely a great spot if you’re trying to eat something clean but still want it to taste good.” — Helen N. Credit: Google Maps
“Also Pedro our server was excellent, friendly and went above and beyond for us.
“Our only critic is the music was way too loud meaning it was hard to hear the hosts. And that was a little awkward.” — Andy J. Credit: Google Maps
“The first time here we basically did a Dim Sum by ordering the small plates on the back of the menu. Everything was outstanding. Unfortunately I don’t have the photos but man it was all so good.
“The second time my wife got a salt and pepper tofu that is unlike anything we’ve ever had. Fried so light and airy with incredible seasoning. Sweet and sour shrimp probably the best version of that I’ve ever had.
“If you are a fan of Asian cuisine, Hong Kong Kitchen is worth a visit.” — Walter B. Credit: Google Maps
“We ordered 2 of their seasonal beverages — the lemon meringue iced latte and the dreamsicle matcha latte. Both drinks were amazing and perfect for summer! I especially loved the meringue cold foam with lemon zest – so refreshing.” — Anna L. Credit: Deeply/Instagram
“The restaurant section offer a wide variety as well. I recommend going during the week to avoid the crowed of people which makes it difficult to find a seat.
“I tried the bulgogi Ramen and Udon Stir Fry at U Chun and it was a 5/5.” — Austin C. Credit: H Mart
“This southern-style eatery has TONS of flavorful options on their menu. Everything I’ve tried has been delicious – the Mac&cheese, chicken sando, whipped feta… it’s all delish! The only thing I want a fan of were the wings, but seriously everything else is incredible.
“Now the drinks?! Top notch. They really put a lot of effort into curating their cocktail menu! Completely underrated in my humble opinion.” — Brittany M. Credit: Google Maps
The holidays are here and despite Florida’s fiery temperatures, there are still many ways to feel the holiday spirit and catch some holiday twinkle. Here are 20 ways to see some over-the-top Christmas lights in Orlando this year, including holiday festivals, light shows, parades, illuminated walks and more.
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It seems like every time The Beths hit Cleveland, the band comes with more to offer.
Now, that may just be the arc of a talented group expanding its repertoire one album at a time, but in this case it’s laudable. Over four albums and endless touring, the Auckland, New Zealand indie quartet has refined and broadened its harmony-laden power-pop stylings, incorporating both harsher and more delicate tones to what began as deceptively simple but incredibly catchy songs. The sound never veers far from where it originated but the tweaks show that the band, with each successive record, is willing to grow.
That growth continued on this year’s “Straight Line Was a Lie” and was on display Tuesday during a 90-minute show at the 1,200-capacity Globe Iron. From the feedback-drenched “Silence Is Golden” to the spare “Mother, Pray for Me” played solo by lead singer and guitarist Elizabeth Stokes, the show was another solid outing from a band with considerable strengths as a live unit.
The Beths have stopped in Northeast Ohio multiple times since releasing its debut album in 2018, and its last appearance was a sold-out 2023 show at the Beachland Ballroom. At the time, I wondered if the band would ever play a venue that small again.
Well, I can’t tell the future, but it filled a venue twice that size on Tuesday night, and with good reason.
Starting out with the title track of its new album, the highlights were many. The band blasted through 17 songs, from the R.E.M.-inspired flourishes on “Metal” to the zippy “I’m Not Getting Excited” to moody show closer “Take.”
The interplay between the musicians was tight, and save for a few flourishes by guitarist Jonathan Pearce and drummer Tristan Deck, nothing about the concert was overly showy. The stage setup was minimal, except for a banner behind the musicians and six strategically-placed, color-changing lamps.
Less than a decade into its career, the band’s sound became even more dynamic. That was on full display on new songs “Mosquitoes” and “Best Laid Plans,” which blew away their studio counterparts as they crescendoed to powerful finishes.
The band has proved itself on record and in the studio, knows its strengths and when to tweak. Its growth has been steady, and if it keeps it up, there’s no telling what heights are in reach.
The Beths’ city mates, Phoebe Rings, opened with a 30-minute set of pleasant and inoffensive tunes with bits of 1960s French pop and R&B thrown in the mix. Lead singer Crystal Choi, positioned behind her Korg synthesizer, has an ethereal voice that blended well with the rest of the quartet’s music, even if there weren’t any melodies memorable enough to remember once a song finished.
More shots of the action are below following the setlist.
Setlist:
1. Straight Line Was a Lie
2. No Joy
3. Silence Is Golden
4. Future Me Hates Me
5. Metal
6. Til My Heart Stops
7. Mother, Pray for Me
8. River Run: Lvl 1
9. Your Side
10. Mosquitoes
11. Ark of the Covenant
12. Jump Rope Gazers
13. Best Laid Plans
14. Little Death
15. I’m Not Getting Excited
16. Expert in a Dying Field
Encore:
17. Take
Eric Heisig is a freelance writer in Cleveland. He can be reached at eheisig@gmail.com.
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Eric Heisig
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Spending is at the forefront of a lot of people’s minds these days, and that probably won’t let up any time soon. Grocery prices are skyrocketing, while restaurants are raising costs as well. Thankfully, Orlando is still home to a slate of locally owned eateries that are dishing out hearty plates that won’t strain any wallets.
Here are 24 Orlando spots offering cheap eats like hot dogs, Pakistani barbecue, Mediterranean meals, burgers, tacos and more for $15 or much less.
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More than four decades after forming, They Might Be Giants remain at the peak of its powers.
At least that’s the case when the eccentric mainstay takes the stage, like it did near the end of its tour Friday night at the Agora Theatre in Cleveland. Playing 32 songs over two sets and more than two hours, the Brooklyn, New York band boasted an eight-piece lineup with a three-piece horn section. The sound was full and playful, more so than on the band’s already massive studio repertoire, as the group veered from rock to pop to polka to 1920s jazz.
And all the while, the group, led by guitarist John Flansburgh and keyboardist John Linnell, is full of consummate showmen who know how to play a crowd as well as their instruments. Yes, the subject matter may be geeky, funny and weird (who else writes songs about time traveling to kill a future version of yourself?), but it’s clear the band takes the music incredibly seriously.
They Might Be Giants was making its first appearance in Cleveland since a perpetually-rescheduled two-night stand at the Beachland Ballroom in 2022. It appears the band is having a bit of a moment, even if it’s long had a devoted fan base. Linnell noted that the song “Stuff Is Way” gained some popularity on TikTok in the past few years.
“We’re just being led around by the fans at this point,” Linnell joked during one of many breaks for between-song banter. “We used to be in charge.”
Perhaps as a result, the venues are bigger this time around. The Agora holds 2,000 people (and judging by how crammed the floor, it was close to if not completely sold out). Saturday’s show is at the 1,200 capacity Globe Iron, where the band will play a completely different set.
The first set on Friday was heavy on selections from the 1994 album John Henry, which were often expanded with solos and interludes. That included a loop of a segment of the Eagles’ schlocky “Take It to the Limit” on the song “Spy.”
But some tunes were just quirky and fun, like the Xenia-referencing “Out of Jail” and the best-ever tune about an obscure Belgian painter, “Meet James Ensor.” There was also “stelluB,” where the band played 1990’s “Sapphire Bullets of Pure Love” backwards so it could later show a video of that version in reverse (aka the song being played the proper way).
The show really opened up during the second set. There was the singalong of “Dead,” Flansburgh’s use of a big stick to keep time in “Lie Still, Little Bottle” and the jazzy stylings of “Let Me Tell You About My Operation.” There was guitarist Dan Miller’s foray onto the stage right balcony for some soloing on “Damn Good Times.”
Tunes that sound small and chintzy on record were supersized onstage, especially with the horns. Saxophonist Stan Harrison, trumpeter Mark Pender and trombonist Dan Levine transformed “Birdhouse in Your Soul” into a cacophonous symphony and also powered “When Will You Die,” “The Darlings of Lumberland” and show closer “Doctor Worm.”
Even if the group repeated Friday night’s sets on Saturday, it’d still contain enough variety to warrant seeing the show again. They Might Be Giants is tight, and watching the members interact with each other was alone worth attending.
All the action we caught with more photos from George Michaels below the setlists.
Setlist:
Set 1:
1. Subliminal
2. Snail Shell
3. Out of Jail
4. Unrelated Thing
5. Meet James Ensor
6. The Famous Polka
7. Stuff Is Way
8. Synopsis for Latecomers
9. No One Knows My Plan
10. Spy
11. Dirt Bike
12. You Probably Get That a Lot
13. stelluB
14. Istanbul (Not Constantinople)
Set 2:
15. Dead
16. Memo to Human Resources
17. Can’t Keep Johnny Down
18. Shoehorn with Teeth
19. Brontosaurus
20. Lie Still, Little Bottle
21. Let Me Tell You About My Operation
22. The Darlings of Lumberland
23. Where Your Eyes Don’t Go
24. Moonbeam Rays
25. 2082
26. Damn Good Times
27. Particle Man
28. Birdhouse in Your Soul
Encore 1:
29. Twisting
30. When Will You Die
Encore 2:
31. Doctor Worm
Eric Heisig is a freelance writer in Cleveland. He can be reached at eheisig@gmail.com.
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Eric Heisig
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Blue Oyster Cult roared into town last night with a fantastic show at the Agora Theater. Started in 1967, the outfit has stayed alive for almost seven decades. Perhaps best-known for a handful of tunes that defined rock in the 1970s and early ’80s (with their songs used in a variety of movies, TV shows, and commercials), their longevity can be attributed to the live shows that leave nothing on the table.
Co-lead vocalist and guitar master Eric Bloom (all of 80 years old) and founding member Donald “Buck Dharma” Roeser led their quintet through a hundred minutes of nostalgic tunes and solid musicianship. By the time they got to the encore, the crowd was on its feet; and, in many cases, that was no easy feat. The audience skewed to the older side, and by that I mean that there were very few attendees that weren’t of AARP age.
Offering up “Godzilla” and “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper” at the tail-end of the set, the guitar work alone on “Reaper” blew the roof off the place.
Younger bands need to see a BOC show early in their careers; this band brings it, in spades, to their concerts. And what a sight it was.
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Brian Lumley
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The world-famous Agora Theater hosted a trifecta of bands showcasing some incredible guitar work last night.
Starting with Return To Dust, the quartet played a head-banging set of hair-swirling tunes, prepping the crowd for Alter Bridge’s frontman Myles Kennedy, doing a solo gig with his touring outfit. A man who could be mistaken for Kevin Bacon’s long-lost twin, Kennedy offered a twelve-tune set.
The offspring of Rock royalty and a phenomenal axe-slinger himself, Wolfgang Van Halen has made his famous father Eddie proud. Leading his band Mammoth (they dropped the suffix “WVH” earlier this year), Wolfie showed off the chops his famous family has made, well, famous. He shreds like his old man; talent has been passed down to the younger VH.
Here’s all the action we caught.
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Brian Lumley
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After a years-long hiatus, Vans Warped Tour came back to life to celebrate 30 years, and Orlando received the reanimated fest with open arms and plugged ears.
The once summer-only touring fest is largely credited with changing the music festival landscape. It started as an alt-rock and punk fest that grew into a musical cottage-industry, helping to launch artists and serve as a model of what a community-forward fest could look like.
It’s been three decades since, and a 2025 Warped Tour brought with it much of what it used to be — this time, wrapped up in shiny new checkerboard-print packaging.
Despite its new size and inflated dollar signs, the fest honored tradition: guests crowded the central setlist blowup as soon as the gates opened, artists poured out their gratitude for fans, an attendee crowdsurfed while in a wheelchair. It touched on the past while welcoming plenty of new fans.
Crowds were littered with not only seasoned Warped-goers returning again, but also with a new generation of little ones perched on parents’ shoulders, heads bobbing to whatever they could hear through padded headphones.
Across eight main stages and additional smaller showcases, the Orlando event featured big-name headliners (A Day to Remember, GWAR, Bowling For Soup, Falling in Reverse, Less Than Jake, The Wonder Years), newer alt acts and hardcore heavyweights (MGK, Julia Wolf, Angel Du$t, Winona Fighter) and local Orlando bands (mode., Gilt, Watts).
Tens of thousands of fans packed into Camping World Stadium to sing along, no less impassioned than in years past. The 2025 consensus was clear: $17.50 beer was a small price to pay for some sonic nostalgia.
The Milk District’s Festival Park was taken over by brews, bevs and plenty of smiling faces this weekend with the 10th anniversary of Orlando Beer Fest.
We celebrated with scores of drinks, interactive activities, games, local food trucks, plenty of vendors, DJs, sports and live music courtesy headliner Cat Ridgeway, joined by Beemo.
Here’s all the fun we saw at this year’s event.
All photos by Jake Molina.
