The Celestia Theater

Wadsworth OH

Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026

By Rob McCune

About halfway in to a set at The Celestia Theater, about 40 miles south of Cleveland, The Verve Pipe’s Brian Vander Ark exorcised “the ghost of a 1950s principal” from the former high school auditorium, urging the properly seated crowd to thumb their noses at the aura of authority, get on their feet and rush the stage.

The Verve Pipe then tore the figurative roof off the place.

Vander Ark, who with his brother Brad founded the band in 1992, professed that he was “having the time of his life in Wadsworth, Ohio,” and it was evident in the show that these alt-rock veterans put on.

Van Arlo, an Ohio-based band led by Ben Marthey, warmed up the crowd on a frigid January night, supported by a full band, including a four-piece string orchestra that added an ethereal ambience, especially on a cover of The Smashing Pumpkins’ “Tonight.” The opener closed with some crowd participation on an original, “Slow It Down.”

With 10 albums, including a “Reconciled,” released in 2025, and two children’s albums, two EPs and a trio of compilations, The Verve Pipe could have easily packed a 90-minute set on their own. Instead, the band played for nearly two hours, cut Samurai-like with several surprising snippets.

Starting with “Ark of the Envious,” off the band’s “I’ve Suffered a Head Injury” EP that dropped in 1992, and then “Photograph,” off their breakout ’96 album “Villains,” the set weaved wondrously through 30 years of Verve, deftly withholding the biggest hits for later while keeping the crowd on their toes.

Vander Ark early on played with a couple of verses of Kansas’s “Dust in the Wind,” reminiscing about the music he grew up with. A little later, as his band abandoned the stage briefly, he stood solo in blue spotlight and played a riff that rang familiar with the audience, teasing: “You know this one?” Wielding his guitar like a lighting bolt, he roused Mount Olympus itself with a stirring rendition of Soundgarden’s “Black Hole Sun” that would’ve made Chris Cornell proud.

As the crowd rallied around the stage, The Verve Pipe rocked out on “Villains,” the title track off the ’96 record and “Tattoo,” a favorite track off of the new album that is likely to imprint on both faithful and new fans.

Face-melting solos center-stage by guitarist Lou Musa, who joined the band in 2008, and the thunderous assault of original drummer Daine Hammerle punctuated a performance unprecedented for this old-made-new venue.

Meanwhile, the band’s newest member Channing Lee, joining in 2014, was sensational on backing vocals, keys, tambourine, her own solo – an echo-pedal-powered acapella on “Bridges Are Burning” – and in a penultimate take-no-prisoners mashup of “Happiness Is,” and Alanis Morissette’s “You Oughta Know.”

The night ended with a 20-minute, full-out jam on Fleetwood Mac’s “The Chain,” that left hearts pumping and feet stomping, proving that The Verve Pipe has never lost its verve.

Rob McCune is Every_Thing_After_Photo on Instagram, where he shares his concert photography and reviews, as well as clips from his “Every.Thing.After” podcast, with interviews with musicians and bands.

Website | Facebook | YouTube |Instagram |TikTok |

Columbus, OH

By Drew Latshaw
On a bitterly cold Monday night in Columbus, during one of the harshest winter stretches Ohio has seen in recent memory, Ghost arrived at Nationwide Arena to deliver a ritual for their devoted congregation.

I was granted a photo pass for the evening, though not a ticket to remain for the full performance. That meant my time inside was focused entirely on capturing the band in the brief window allotted to photographers, rather than absorbing the elaborate theatrics and spectacle Ghost is known for. My attention was fixed through a lens, chasing light, movement, and moments before they disappeared.

Still, one unexpected moment from the crowd left a lasting impression.

As I stood near the soundboard waiting for the show to begin, a young couple walked past me toward their seats. Both were clearly fans, but the young woman stood out immediately. She was dressed in a costume inspired by Papa V Perpetua, frontman Tobias Forge, and clutched a plush version of him in her arms.

She was visibly trembling. Over and over, she exclaimed in disbelief, “Are you serious?! OMG! Are you for real?!” Her excitement was uncontrollable. When they reached their seats, she wrapped her partner in a hug so intense it looked like he might need medical attention afterward. Through tears, she thanked him again and again.

It was a raw, unfiltered display of joy. Watching that moment stopped me in my tracks.
Over the years, I’ve been incredibly fortunate. I’ve photographed countless shows, stood in countless pits, and met artists I once only knew through headphones and album covers. Access becomes routine. Backstage hallways start to feel familiar. The extraordinary risks becoming ordinary.

That couple reminded me how rare and meaningful these experiences truly are. To her, this wasn’t just another concert. It was a dream realized. A memory she would carry for life. And in that instant, I was reminded why music matters so deeply, and why documenting it still feels like a privilege.

When the house music finally faded and the tattered curtain dropped, the arena erupted. The roar of the crowd was deafening, a collective exhale of anticipation. Ghost had arrived.
Unfortunately, I didn’t have the luxury of losing myself in the performance. My focus remained on framing shots, adjusting settings, and making every second count. There was little time to absorb the music or the elaborate stage narrative unfolding in front of me.

While it was disappointing not to stay for the full show, the night still felt like a long awaited win.
In 2019, as Ghost was going astronomical on the global stage, I was offered the chance to cover them and declined. A conflicting commitment on the other side of the country made the decision unavoidable, but I regretted it immediately.

Since then, I’ve applied for eight different Ghost shows in various cities, hoping for another opportunity. This Columbus date was that opportunity.

Every mile traveled, every email sent, every application submitted was worth it. Standing there, camera in hand, finally capturing a band I’d waited years to photograph, felt like closing a long-open chapter.

Even from behind the lens, even in a limited window of time, Ghost delivered something powerful: not just spectacle, but connection. Between the roaring crowd, the devoted fans, and fleeting human moments that happen in the shadows of the stage, the night served as a reminder that live music is still one of the most emotionally charged spaces we have.

And sometimes, the most unforgettable moments don’t happen up on the stage and under the spotlight. They happen in the crowd, between two people, holding onto a memory they’ll never let go.

Website | Facebook | YouTube | TikTok | Instagram | X

KiaCenter

Orlando Florida  

Maya McKeefery

THE BAND GHOST formerly a Swedish rock band has taken over the US in a tour. Orlando Florida at the KiaCenter held over 20,000 fans covered in face paint to look like skeletons, hats like bishops, and clothing like you just left a goth party.  The show was very close to the fans as they did not allow any phones, they had to be locked in a pouch so they could have a personal one of a kind concert for every venue. At the Kia Center there was nothing less of loud drums, shredding of guitars and lots of acting out scenes following their personas.

GHOST is not shy with pyrotechnics and smoke as the arena filled with it, the heat from the fire you could feel from your seat. PAPA the lead singer controlled most of the floor with his vulgar comedic comments towards the crowd which they loved you could tell was a relationship they had formed over the years. Behind the band was a mural of stained glass they had made in software and played behind them. It broke as the sounds got stronger and the meaning got tougher in the songs.

The next song played it would build back up and a new set of graphics would show. Some meaning such as eat the rich and satan came up plenty of times. The band Ghost is known for  being a jokingly group where they are a satanic clergy Spreading anti religious messages, and deeper human themes. This show is not one you would take a beginner concert goer but someone that loves rock and metal mixed. The band was a well portrait version of if KISS and SLEEP TOKEN were mixed  for all the fellow theater kids out there

Website | Facebook | YouTube | TikTok | Instagram | X

There are nights in Chicago that feel larger than the room they happen in, and Saturday, January 20th at Thalia Hall was undeniably one of them. The Bears were facing the Packers in the first round of the playoffs, a rivalry already baked into the city’s identity, now raised to postseason intensity. Before a single note was played, the energy inside Thalia Hall was electric. Bill Murray and his Blood Brothers made it clear that the game mattered, insisting it be broadcast on the large screen behind the stage, transforming the venue into something between a historic concert hall and the ultimate Chicago watch party.

When the final seconds ran out and the Bears eliminated Green Bay, the room exploded. Cheers echoed, strangers embraced, and the release felt almost overwhelming. Without hesitation, the band took the stage, the timing so perfect it felt intentional. Bill Murray opened the set with the Chicago Bears Fight Song, and the crowd roared in approval. Murray, long a symbol of Chicago’s cultural DNA, did not feel like a celebrity dropping in, he felt like a fellow fan riding the same high as everyone else in the room.

What followed was a blues performance that more than lived up to the moment. The Blood Brothers, built around the powerful guitar pairing of Mike Zito and Albert Castiglia, delivered a soulful, driving set steeped in grit and tradition. They were joined by an expanded lineup that included two drummers, and Jimmy Vivino, the veteran musician and longtime musical director for Conan O’Brien, whose presence added even more depth and fire to the sound. Murray, who has toured with the group for years, blended seamlessly into the band, singing the blues and adding percussion on bongos and maracas, fully engaged in the music rather than positioned as a novelty frontman.

The collaboration itself traces back to a moment of pure spontaneity. Zito and Castiglia’s band had been booked for the Murray Brothers’ Caddyshack Golf Tournament by Bill’s brother, John. During their set, Murray unexpectedly joined them onstage for a song by The Rascals, a moment that sparked an ongoing musical partnership that continues to evolve. That same sense of unplanned magic defined the night at Thalia Hall. It was not just that Bill Murray was performing, or that the Bears beat the Packers in the playoffs, but that both happened together, in Chicago, without pretense. Watching Murray front a soulful blues band in the immediate aftermath of such a massive rivalry win felt like a reward for the city, and a reminder that some nights simply belong to Chicago.

Bill Murray & His Blood Brothers – OFFICIAL WEBSITE
Thalia Hall – OFFICIAL WEBSITE
Chicago Bears – OFFICIAL WEBSITE

They Might Be Giants’ John Flasnburgh and John Linnell brought dorky dad energy, in the best sense, to Cleveland’s The Agora for a “Black Friday” special the week before Thanksgiving, serving up a feast of more than 30 songs in a two-set show.

And because even that was not enough, the Giants did it again across town at the Globe Iron the very next night.

Two concerts, four sets, 60 songs, including six songs in four encores.
Numbers to make your head spin and your feet tap.

The band with 23 studio albums, five of them children’s music including “Here Come the 123s,” could write a song about it, and it would very likely be a smash hit.
That’s because TMBG fans know exactly what they are getting and want, and yet, a TMBG concert is also full of surprises.

They Might Be Giants have sold more than 4 million albums in the 40+ years since forming, starting as a college radio sensation and then honing a style of alt-rock that is remarkably unique in how it appeals to nerds of all ages.

Face it, we’re all nerds for something. And TMBG are nerds for everyone and everything – from prehistoric to futuristic.

The Cleveland shows featured not just the backing band of Dan Miller on guitar, Danny Weinkauf on bass, and Marty Beller on drums, but also a trio on horns (sax, trumpet and trombone).

The Johns, jubilantly chatty as usual, showing off a friendship that dates back to their teen years, bantered between songs and generally had a blast engaging with the audience.

The crowd also had an unmistakenly uproarious evening, singing along and at one point fully illuminating the venue with their swaying cellphone flashlights, from balcony to front row. At the Agora show, a group of fans got a real treat as guitarist Miller popped into one of the opera boxes, followed by the spotlight, for a solo.

At the Agora show, TMBG highlighted their fifth album, “John Henry,” in the first set, with eight songs including “Dirt Bike” and “Snail Shell,” while at Globe Iron, on night two of this Cleveland tour stop, the first set emphasized album number 4, “Apollo 18,” with 10 tracks including “Dinner Bell” and “The Guitar.”

Other songs met with exuberance from the fans each night included tracks off the third and best-selling album, the platinum “Flood,” with “Birdhouse in Your Soul,” “Particle Man,” and “Istanbul (Not Constantinople),” the latter of which got considerable buzz among a young audience when animated for Warner Brothers’ “Tiny Toon Adventures.”

They might be giants, and they might be in their 60s, but they haven’t grown up and, thankfully, aren’t likely to.

Rob McCune is Every_Thing_After_Photo on Instagram, where he shares his concert photography and reviews, as well as clips from his “Every.Thing.After” podcast, with interviews with musicians and bands.

Website | Facebook | YouTube | TikTok | Instagram | X |

The ’shrooms might’ve been optional, but the trippy vibes were not as Australia’s Psychedelic Porn Crumpets lit up Cleveland’s Globe Iron stage.

That vibe was elevated by a light and projection show that gave the impression that this concert was taking place inside a high-end kaleidoscope. The myriad mystical montages of pictures and patterns scattered across not just the stage, backdrop and performers, but also bounced off the walls and the heads and shoulders of the crowd.

Setting the trip in motion was opener Ghost Funk Orchestra, an 8-piece psychedelic soul-disco-funk ensemble out of New York that blends raw guitar power with sax sizzle, trumpet and bone-rattling percussion. The brainchild of multi-instrumentalist Seth Applebaum, the band is fronted by a fierce female duet, shaking more than just tambourines. GFC’s set sparked palpable excitement, drawing from the band’s two albums, “A Trip to the Moon” and “A New Kind of Love.”

The Porn Crumpets kept the psychedelic train on track with a bass beat that at times felt primal, ala Primus’ Les Claypool. Their 16-track set pulled punches from eight studio albums with trippy titles such as “Found God in a Tomato,” “Hymn for a Droid,” “Lava Lamp Pisco” and “Cornflake.” A two-song encore closed with “Hot! Heat! Wow! Hot!” and “Cubensis Lenses.”

The cavernous concert hall reverberated and rippled, not just with color but also gyrating, moshing, crowd-surfing crowd energy.

It was enough to make the straightest arrow dizzy with delight.

Rob McCune is Every_Thing_After_Photo on Instagram, where he shares his concert photography and reviews, as well as clips from his “Every.Thing.After” podcast, with interviews with musicians and bands.

Website | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram | X |

Charter One Pavilion

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

By Tamara Jenkins

The world’s best selling rap artist, Jay-Z, captivated fans with his legendary lyrical skills Tuesday night at the Charter One Pavilion.  The “only rapper to re-write history without a pen” took to the stage dressed in black including black shades, performing his latest anthem, “D.O.A.” (Death of Auto-Tune) in which he declares a moratorium on the practice and calls out rappers on their dependence and excessive used of it.

“You rappers singin’ too much, get back to rap you T-Pain’n too much.”  I’m a multi-millionaire so how is it I’m still the hardest n—a here? I don’t be in the project hallway talkin’ bout how I be in the project all day that sounds stupid to me, if you a gangsta, this is how you prove it to me”

Accompanied by a full band that included drummers, a keyboardist and a horn section and with occasional help from protégé Memphis Bleek, the rap icon performed hit after hit with a jumbo screen serving as the backdrop displaying images to coincide with songs.

The magnitude of is status was apparent as he was besieged with chants of HOVA, HOVA, HOVA during small breaks throughout the show.  Hardcore fan sang along and watched in awe, and men and young boys mimicked him, keeping their sunglasses on.

He paid tribute to Michael Jackson displaying images of him and playing the Jackson Five’s “I Want You Back” and told the crowd to sing along if they knew the words and said he his philosophy is not to mourn death, but to celebrate life.

Near the end of the show, gave the crowd a preview of the Blueprint 3, performing the intro-

“I ain’t talking about gossip, I ain’t talk about Game, I ain’t talking about Jimmy, I ain’t talking about Dame. I’m talking about real shi*.”

As far as street guys, we was dealing crack / that’s how the game goes, I don’t owe nobody jack / grown men want me to sit ’em on my lap / but I don’t have a beard and Santa Claus ain’t black.”

He concluded the show performing “99 Problems”, “Give it to Me”, “Hard Knock Life” and the finale “Encore”.

Fabolous and Ciara were the opening acts. Fabolous’s performance kept with the standard hip hop show formula, consisting of himself, a hype man and DJ on stage as he performed old tracks “Breathe”, “Baby”, “Make Me Better”, “Baby Don’t Go” and his latest single “Throw it in the Bag”. He also threw in his verses from the remixes of NeYo’s “She Got Her Own” and the Dream’s “Rockin That Thang”; nothing too difficult and the more entertaining of the two acts.

Reminiscent of Janet Jackson in appearance wearing ripped blue jeans, black leather vest over a cropped white tee and knee-high boots, Ciara arrived on stage surrounded by four female dancers and artificial smoke blowing she performed her first song “Like a Boy” followed by her debut hit single “Goodies” and then her latest “Love, Sex, Magic”.

Her vocals were descent, but she was lacking creativity. She was also inconsistent-in the middle of the performance she tells the crowd “I heard Chicago knows how to party” and then proceeded to dance to random songs played- Snoop Dog’s “What’s My Name”, Gin and Juice”, Method Man and Mary J. Blige’s “All I Need”, 50 Cent’s “I Get Money” and Lil Wayne’s “Get Money”.

Most shocking was the disappointing choreography as she is more known for her dancing than singing, the moves consisted of pelvic and hip thrusts and leg wiggling more than actual dancing.  And her backup dancers looked like amateurs. During most of the performance they were out of sync and seemed to be trying to keep up with each routine. Overall, her performance was weak.

Website | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram | X |

Jazz Showcase

Chicago, IL

March 7, 2010

by Dan Locke

Hiromi didn’t just walk onto the Jazz Showcase stage — she hit it like a power surge. One second the room was murmuring over cocktails, the next it felt like someone had plugged the entire South Loop into a live wire. The piano wasn’t an instrument tonight. It was a detonation device, and Hiromi had her finger on the trigger.

From the first downbeat, she played with the kind of velocity that makes you wonder if she’s trying to outrun her own ideas. Her hands blurred. Her hair snapped. Her whole body became a kinetic warning sign. This wasn’t jazz for the polite crowd. This was jazz for people who like their music with scorch marks.

Hiromi attacked the keys like a guitarist raised on stadium rock but trapped inside a Steinway. She built riffs like skyscrapers — fast, reckless, and thrillingly unstable — then tore them down with a single chromatic landslide. Her left hand hammered out bass lines with the authority of a steelworker on overtime, while her right hand flickered like neon refusing to burn out.

Her set moved like a freight train switching tracks at full speed. One moment she was spinning out delicate, crystalline lines; the next she was dropping thunderclaps that rattled the glasses behind the bar. Her trio clung to her like a municipal crew trying to keep up with a runaway power grid.

Even the ballads felt dangerous — like someone whispering secrets next to a live transformer.

Hiromi’s March 7 performance wasn’t a show. It was a controlled explosion. A neon riot. A piano turned weapon. A night where jazz remembered it has teeth.

She left the Jazz Showcase smoking, buzzing, and a little stunned — the way a club should feel after someone rewires the room with nothing but ten fingers and a refusal to behave.

Website | Facebook | YouTube | TikTok | Instagram | X |

.

By Rob McCune

For a sit-down show at Cleveland’s The Agora, Swedish indie folk singer-songwriter José González appeared solo on a raised platform against a backdrop of trees silhouetted against a night sky and seemingly lit himself by moonlight.

With just his guitar and soft, sonorous, sometimes haunting vocal, he harmonized on hymns about love, memory, nature, unity, and conflict to a crows that was locked in and loving it.

His set evenly blended tracks from his four albums, and a five-song encore included covers of “Blackbird” (The Beatles), “Heartbeats” (The Knife) and “Teardrop” (Massive Attack).

Particularly resonating was “Line of Fire,” a song released by his band Junip, for which he collaborates with Tobias Winterkorn. The soothing but existential anthem to internal struggle posits a future of unknowable possibility, where each choice might lead to fight or flight, light or darkness.

It’s music on a precipice, like the one we all are on, and it feels vital as ever.

Rob McCune is Every_Thing_After_Photo on Instagram, where he shares his concert photography and reviews, as well as clips from his “Every.Thing.After” podcast, with interviews with musicians and bands.

Lisa Loeb

Music is Art

Buffalo NY

June 06, 2010

by Dan Locke

Buffalo’s Music is Art Festival has always been a beautiful riot — part industrial carnival, part civic ritual, part all‑ages fever dream stitched together with skate ramps, brass bands, and the hum of RiverWorks machinery. Dropping Lisa Loeb into that swirl felt like a cultural experiment: could the queen of ’90s introspective pop cut through a festival that thrives on glorious chaos?

She didn’t just cut through it — she sliced the day clean in half.

Loeb walked onstage with the kind of quiet authority that doesn’t need hype or theatrics. No smoke, no bombast — just her guitar, her voice, and that unmistakable melodic precision that made “Stay” a generational imprint. In a festival built on volume, she became the rare artist who could hush a crowd by simply breathing into the mic.

But Buffalo refused to behave. Kids with melting snow cones wandered through the crowd. A rogue brass ensemble from another stage tried to photobomb her sound. A skateboarder wiped out mid‑verse with the kind of slapstick timing tabloids dream about. Loeb didn’t flinch. She tossed off a dry one‑liner, smirked like she’d been booked to headline a circus, and kept playing — turning the festival’s noise into her own backing track.

That’s where the hybrid tone comes alive: Rolling Stone would call it mastery. The Post would call it a showdown she won without breaking a sweat.

Her setlist moved like a curated memoir — radio staples, deep‑cut gems, and newer material that revealed a songwriter who’s evolved without losing her emotional clarity. The real peak wasn’t “Stay.” It was the quieter, newer songs where she talked about writing, parenting, and the strange endurance of sincerity in a world addicted to spectacle. When she finally did hit “Stay,” the crowd didn’t erupt; they softened. It was less a sing‑along than a communal remembering.

Music is Art is built on access, plurality, and creative collision — punk bands, school choirs, EDM kids, singer‑songwriters, all sharing the same oxygen. Loeb didn’t dominate the space; she harmonized with it. She proved that intimacy can be louder than distortion, and that a well‑aimed lyric can outshine a wall of amps. And I would like to thank Robbie Takac for having me there.

In a day full of noise, she wasn’t the loudest thing. She was the clearest

Lisa Loeb: Website | Facebook | YouTube | TikTok | Instagram | X |