CMJ Rock Hall Music Fest 2006

Last year around this time, I put together a feature for Cool Cleveland called “A Festivus for the Rest of Us,” about the inaugural CMJ Rock Hall Music Fest. You might remember my celebratory rant—somewhere between beguiled teen fanboy, proud papa Clevelander and a hungry rock consumer trapped by menu indecision. If you didn’t get a chance to read it, I’m shameless: here it is.

The joint venture between the legendary College Music Journal and our very own Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum still has me intrigued. When I think back to discussions with CMJ publication founder Bobby Haber and Rock Hall exec Terry Stewart… well, I kept thinking, “What’s the catch?” They both talked about it becoming an annual event, without so much as a nervous tick, snicker or stutter. “There is more firepower on this bill than one music journalist could possibly aspire to attend,” I told them both last year. “It’s disconcerting to have so many choices.”

“Good,” Haber said with a smile. “Then we’ve done what we had hoped to do.”

Well, this year’s here. And the CMJ Rock Hall event has just as many spectacular choices just as it manages to budget-friendly. The only thing that stands between you and the five-day parade of marquee performers like Matisyahu, Ben Kweller, Alejandro Escovado, Aquabats, Chimaira and Mushroomhead and the others, is Ulysses S. Grant. That’s right. Five days for fifty bones. A Hamilton a day. If you haven’t acted, well, you had better get on it. Passes have been available for the past few months; you can get them here. The artists performing at the CMJ Rock Hall Music Fest (subject to change) are listed here: http://www.cmj.com/musicfest/artists.php.

So, who to see and what to do? We’ll, after tonight’s must-see opening celebration at the Rock Hall with DJ legend Prince Paul and “Peretz” (a.k.a. CMJ keynote speaker/Jane’s Addiction founder Perry Ferrell), the sky’s the limit. There’s the Goldmine record show to consider and a wealth of local talent to catch. The Alternative Press-sponsored party @ the Grog looks to be a killer; the Tri-C "Crooked River" series at Wilbert's does, too. As for me, I’ll be aiming for those... as well as these fine gigs. Call it my Top Five, if you will:

5. David Bazan, vocalist for Pedro the Lion performs a suppertime solo set of tunes at the Grog Shop on Coventry. Moody, melancholy. Just my speed. And you get The Stills AND Rogue Wave in the same club later on.

4. The Fray/Brandi Carlile double-bill at the House of Blues. Jangly, melodic pop. And Carlile has been here so many times, she might as well be from Cleveland. (And no Teddy Geiger/John Mayer comments from the peanut gallery, please.)

3. The Festival Village Stages. Amped up this year, more central to the action. Fantastic local talent that includes the blissful Infinite Number of Sounds, New Lou Reeds, noise rockers roué and others. (Also, be sure to take in the Bellrays, who opened for the Pixies last year. They are red-hot and set to appear there.)

2. The ENTIRE Beachland schedule on 6/15, which includes the sounds of Machine Go Boom, Good Morning Valentine, Blanche and others. This is another night that shows you what’s happening locally.

1. The Aquabats! Surf-ska with horns busting out all over at the Agora... performed by musicians dressed up as a superhero team. They’re not exactly Peelander-Z or the Fantastic Four, but they’ll scratch that itch. And I hear they put on a fun show.

I still don’t get Hasidic reggae artist Matisyahu, but I might have to get over there to see how this rasta man gets down anyway. I digress, there’s something for everyone.

Just like last year, I will be tackling the entire event and blogging about it here. This year, I’m thankful (and fortunate) to be joined by Francis Bova, culture editor at the CSU Cauldron student newspaper, who is fairly opinionated and up to the task. And I encourage all of you Cool Cleveland readers to share your feelings/experiences about the CMJ Rock Hall Music Fest there as well. We’ll all debrief in cyberspace.

From Cool Cleveland contributor Peter Chakerian peterATcoolcleveland.com (:divend:)