Cleveland definitely rocked at the illustrious Beachland Ballroom when one of the city’s adopted sons came home to play, and to pay homage to the city to a near-capacity crowd. Ian Hunter, most notably known of-late for the Cleveland Rocks theme song for The Drew Carey Show, trotted out shining classic renditions of rockers and ballads alike from his 35-year career as a thinking man’s rocker—first in the ballsy, British Glam Rock band Mott The Hoople, and then as a fecund solo artist recording over ten releases, amongst them one of the few live albums worth owning, 1981’s Welcome to the Club. Hunter, perpetually-bespectacled in his trademark sunglasses but with his lion-like mane of curly locks trimmed to a fitting length for a man nearing sixty, wore charm and grace with casual rock savvy as he belted out nearly twenty songs, including two encores called forth by the crowd, equally genuine and in-control of the raucous audience whether playing acoustic guitar, piano, or simply singing while his band rocked out. (His black and white Gibson Les Paul electric was sorely missed!) Standout tunes of the night included a gentle rendition of “I Wish I Was Your Mother” from 1973’s Mott album, featuring Ian ala Dylan on guitar and neck-mounted harmonica; a shimmery Britpop version of “Roll Away The Stone” from 1974’s The Hoople release, which has stood up remarkably well to the passage of time; and the obligatory “Cleveland Rocks,” which had old and new fans all singing along in anthemic fashion. Beachland Ballroom co-owner Cindy Barber entered stage-left about half way through Hunter’s set to present him an award given him by the city fathers for his work in popularizing Cleveland, and Hunter, ever the showman, serenaded her with a sweet Vaudevillian version of “Nightingale.” You go, Cindy! Another standout of the night was “All the Young Dudes,” the Bowie song recorded by Mott the Hoople in 1971 that shot the band to international fame. Asked about the song, with it’s sexually ambiguous references celebrating young adulthood and revelry, as well as why he chose to record that song over Bowie’s “Suffragette City,” Hunter responded: “The band needed to sell records. They were in debt; something had to happen. I hear some people say they liked the earlier stuff, but we needed hits or we would have gone under. "Suffragette City" wasn't strong enough for radio - "Dudes" was. "Dudes" is a great song. If you have a cross to bear it might as well be a great one.” Hunter was also asked his advice for musicians in Cleveland, given the rather grave economic nature of things at present, to which he said, “The city seemed OK to me. Music's better than life at the moment. People need it. Hang in.” And, as a musician who put his money where his mouth was and toured in support of Independent Presidential candidate John Anderson in 1984, Hunter had this to say about the present state of affairs in America, where he now resides: “It stinks. Corporations are ruining the world. Irresponsible media. It' a very dangerous time, but they still persist in business as usual. Short term thinking. A man spends $100 million on his daughter's wedding (true!) while half the world starves. Greed and ignorance - what a mixture.” Heavy words to close with, by a heavyweight in the annals of Rock and Roll. A good time was had by all, and Cleveland was definitely honored to have Ian Hunter back and rocking at The Beachland Ballroom. from Cool Cleveland contributor Daiv Whaley (:divend:)