Formed on Long Island in 1979, Stray Cats were a bit of an enigma: Punk-era kids emulating mid-’50s Rockabilly, the music made famous by Eddie Cochran, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins.  When disco was in full swing and stadium rock was the thing, the trio of Brian Setzer on lead guitar and vocals, “Slim Jim” Phantom on the skins, and Lee Rocker rocking a standup bass, were throwing back to a much different time in our modern history.

The band really broke open after a move to England, where the Punk scene was more accepting of such a unique Rockabilly/Punk hybrid. Repackaging themselves and finding a record label, the Cats came back to the U.S. in the early ’80s with hits such as “Rock This Town,” and “(She’s) Sexy and 17.” 

After a few successful albums and heavy rotation on MTV for several years, Setzer grew bored and disbanded the outfit.  Over the years the trio has gotten together again to record some new music, re-release the old hits, and tour on occasion.  Setzer has said that he regretted breaking up the band at the height of their fame, even though they all went on to successful side projects since the band’s dissolution.

Wednesday night saw the Stray Cats’ return to Northeast Ohio from a show that was rescheduled from last year due to a debilitating illness from which Setzer had been suffering.

Whatever neurological issues that sidelined the lead guitarist last year must be cured, as he and his bandmates were in fine form for the Northfield Park Racino show. Attendees were dressed in their finest Teddy Boy duds, anticipating the first time that the full band has played Northeast Ohio.  In the trio’s heyday they played Blossom once; the Cleveland area wasn’t a stop they made on any tour of theirs, despite the 216’s popularity during the 170s and ’80s.

What’s not to like about a Stray Cats concert?  Their music is non-political, and any sexual innuendo is squarely set in the innocence of the McCarthy-era lyrics. Each tune is a toe-tapper of the sing-along variety, awash in a gentle sea of nostalgia.  Which here is double: a late-1970s-era trio harking back to the early days of Rock-n-Roll.

The only drawback, sadly, was the length of the show: it barely rang in at ninety minutes and, whether that’s due to the shorter nature of older rock tunes, the crowd was clearly clamoring for more.  

The band offered a twenty-two song set, giving the audience everything they could ask for, including an early-set “Runaway Boys,” a mid-set “Stray Cat Strut,” and of course, “Rock This Town” towards the end of the night.  Noticeably absent, and for cause, was one of their biggest hits, “(She’s) Sexy and 17,” which doesn’t play too well in a post-Epstein world.

They closed the night out with a mashup of Rockabilly classics “Jailhouse Rock” and “Hound Dog,” and then wrapped it up with “Built For Speed,” which as Setzer and company are approaching their late 60s, is an apt metaphor for this still-going-hard group of musicians.

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The Agora hosted another sold-out show Tuesday night as the hyphenate rapper-singer-songwriter-performance artist Qveen Herby brought her stylings to Cleveland.

Born in Seward, Nebraska in 1986, the performer also known as Amy Renee Heidemann adopted her nom de guerre after a stint in a pop duet.  Her unique stylings developed soon after the dissolution of Karmin, the duo that she had formed with her musical partner and now-husband.

She’s on tour to promote her second solo album, Isle of Qveen.

Opening act Thot Squad put on a half-hour attention-getting set prior to the Qveen taking the stage. Here’s all the action we caught:

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Ashton Nicole Casey, known to her legion of fans as Ashnikko, played the Agora on Saturday night to an eclectic sold-out crowd.  Much of the audience donned vibrant homemade costumes, making the whole affair look like an anime convention.

The rapper/performer played a ninety-minute set of her music, defined by many attendees as empowering, feminist, or as one twenty-year old proudly exclaimed, simply “lesbian.”  

Performing with two backup dancers against a pre-recorded track, the ingenue addressed the crowd several times throughout the performance, thanking them for coming out and supporting the rising artist and her music. 

While her staying power may be up for debate, the legion of attendees packed the rafters of the midtown venue, proving that for the foreseeable future, this young North Carolina-bred phenom isn’t going anywhere. Except up.

Opener Jordan Patterson sat behind a table with a DJ for an uninspired set of tunes.  Her facial expression didn’t change much and she never once stood up to engage the crowd. While she has an entrancing voice, she didn’t connect too much with the crowd. Stage fright? It’s difficult to say, but acts like that tend to remain marginal.  Stand up; look at the crowd and engage them with your music. 

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A trifecta of ’90s bands played Blossom last night on a beautiful midsummer’s evening.  Bay area outfit Train headlined while singer/songwriter Matt Nathanson opened with a forty-minute set of originals.  Canadian poprock Barenaked Ladies came in next with an hour set of hits and a few new cuts from their upcoming record.

Pat Monahan, the only consistent member of Train, told the audience of his roots in Erie, PA and how he spent much of his teen years at Blossom, making the trek from Erie to see his favorite artists.

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Idobi Radio brought its 2026 edition of their Summer School Tour to the House of Blues on Saturday night.  Showcasing five up and coming pop-punk bands (four of the five bands were fronted by women, a point that the publicist pointed out), the gig lasted almost five hours; starting with local openers Truss, each band played about a half hour each with a short stage reset between acts. 

Long Beach natives Chase Petra took the stage first, playing a mix of emo and power pop.  The duo was fronted by Brooke Dickson, with drummer Evan Schaid taking duties behind the kit.

Next up was Los Angeles-based Games We Play.  The trio, fronted by vocalist Emmyn Calleiro, offered more pop punk ditties.

Interestingly-monikered Nashville trio Winona Fighter was up next.  Kinetic frontwoman Coco Kinnon led her bandmates through a half hour of energetic punk.

British quartet South Arcade, formed in Oxford in 2021, played a very lively set. Lead vocalist Harmony Covelle exclaimed early in the set that they were the “foreign exchange students” in this summer school.  Their alternative rock stylings kept the energy going into the third hour of the evening.

Lastly, headliners Honey Revenge played a forty-five minute set. The duo were joined by a bassist and drummer for the gig.  Frontwoman Devin Papadol was joined by guitarist Donny Lloyd for a spirited, upbeat set.

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Metal icon Lzzy Hale and her guitarist/paramour Joe Hottinger came to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on Friday, July 10^th to dedicate the opening of the Hall’s new exhibit “Women in Metal.” The exhibit, showcasing the women who head bang, is now open to the public.  Hale, the frontwoman of Halestorm, gave a short speech prior to a short set of six tunes, accompanied by Hottinger on acoustic guitar. She spoke of the overlooked people, the women who eventually picked up a guitar or a microphone and found their voice in a genre that’s typically been reserved for men.  Decrying the fact that she’s the only woman ever awarded a Grammy in the Metal category, she asked for more representation and a fairness that seems to elude others in her field, such as Doro Pesch, Alissa White_Gluz, and Tatiana Shmayluk.

She and Hottinger then played six tunes during a thirty-minute set.  Afterwards, three other local Metal bands took the stage. Storms Within, Maxilla, and Reign of Z played until well after sundown.

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The Beachland Ballroom has a sign plastered on both sides of their stage saying in a bright proclamation, “NO STAGEDIVING.”

That wasn’t an issue last night at the sold-out Lucinda Williams show.  While it was packed from front to back and side-to-side (other than a small seated area at stage right), the majority of the audience skewed towards the AARP side of life. Shouts of “Cleveland loves you, Lucinda!” rang out during the ninety-minute gig, to which she would smile and humbly thank the audience.  The venue was chilly; the air conditioning must have been set at about sixty degrees, but as the attendees mustered in and filled the cavities of the spacious venue, the heat rose.

Playing a nineteen-tune set, she graced the stage about a half-hour after the advertised starting time of the show. She was helped to the microphone, still showing signs of the stroke that she suffered several years ago.  Grasping the mic stand, she started the night with “Car Wheels on a Gravel Road,” perhaps her best-known tune.  A few songs later, she debuted a tribute to her friend Tomy Petty.  Entitled “Stolen Moments,” it was a glimpse into aging and how life catches up with us, whether we’re ready for it or not.

Offering a few covers along the way, her maturing voice gave up “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” and “Rockin’ In The free World” at the very end of the night.

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Ah, the 1980s. 

Aquanet, a burgeoning new trend called “music videos” hosted by “VJs” and a synthesizer, helped to rewrite the music scene.

A trifecta of bands played the recently rechristened Northfield Park Racino last week.  The 1980s produced a ton of British bands, aptly named the Second British Invasion, as they took over MTV’s airwaves for the better part of the decade. Three of those outfits played an almost-four hour concert in the beautifully air-conditioned venue.

Chanteuse Alison Moyet, with her husky alto, opened the night with a forty-minute set of some of her solo work as well as a few tunes from her band Yazoo.  Her voice is still strong, as she offered a Yazoo triple play with “Only You,” “Situation,” and “Don’t Go.” 

The middle slot was held by synth-pop duo Soft Cell.  Known best for their early ’80s mega-hit cover of “Tainted Love,” they toured throughout the mid-aughts. Sadly, keyboardist David Ball passed away in late 2025, leaving vocalist Marc Almond without his musical partner of nearly fifty years.

After a twenty-minute stage reset, headliner The Human League took the stage.  Resembling a Kanamit from the classic Twilght Zone episode “To Serve Man,” frontman Phil Oakley came out wearing white culottes with a matching straight-shouldered jacket.  The look was definitely early ’80s, and he did a few wardrobe changes throughout the evening.  Their seventy-minute set took us through their entire discography, offering their biggest hits “Human,” “Fascination,” and “Don’t You Want Me” towards the end of the set.  Encoring with an interesting tune from a very mediocre 1983 film, “Together in Electric Dreams” ended the night.  

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At 86 years old, Smokey Robinson still has it.  The moxie. The moves. And, perhaps most importantly, the voice.  A marked difference from last week’s Paul Simon concert at Blossom, the Motown legend left nothing on the stage.  

Playing a seventeen-song set, the two-hour concert took us from his early days as the frontman for The Miracles up to his solo peak years in the late 1970s.  An astonishingcareer that started in the mid-1950s, he’s one of a true subset of living legends that still has the ability to hold an audience. Sadly, those ranks are shrinking each year.

The night started off strong with “Being With You” and “I Second That Emotion.”  He offered a medley of Temptations hits that he either wrote for or performed with the legendary Motown outfit.

His newest album, titled, uh, Gasms, was perhaps the only misfire of the night, as the innuendo regarding what forms a “gasm” may take didn’t resonate too well with the crowd.

He then segued into a trio of crowd pleasers such as “Ooo, Baby Baby,” and “Tears of a Clown.” Covering the Sinatra staple, “Fly Me to the Moon” was a nice mid-set reset.

Closing the evening out with “Tracks of My Tears,” he then introduced the eleven-piece band and encored with a rousing singalong of his hit “Cruising.” The last tune was perhaps the best way to sum up the night: “Be Thankful,” released last year as a single.

Indeed. How many years do some of these legends have left? As somber as that may sound, be thankful that their music still resonates with us all.

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It’s almost inconceivable to believe that the Gin Blossoms have been around since 1987. (Or is it the fact that we Gen Xers are just getting old?)  Rising to prominence with the release of their 1992 record New Miserable Experience, they charted with “Hey, Jealousy,” a rousing little pop confection. Their sophomore record Congratulations I’m Sorry was a success, offering the single “As Long As It Matters” and “Follow You Down.”

The Tempe, Arizona-founded outfit has had some personnel changes over the years, but the core has pretty much remained intact since the late 1980s. 

This past weekend, the band played to a large crowd gathered at Akron’s Lock 3 venue, adjacent to the Akron Civic Theater and overlooking restored parts of the 19^th century Ohio Canal.  The weather seemed iffy leading up to the concert, but the evening ended with a spectacular early-summer sunset.

Frontman Robin Wilson greeted the crowd and then dove right into one of their biggest hits, “Follow You Down.” The set comprised sixteen tunes concluding with, of all things, a cover of The Cure’s “Just Like Heaven.” Offering some deeper cuts, peppered with all of the band’s hits, including late-set versions of “As Long As It Matters,” “Allison Road,” and “Hey, Jealousy.”

Here’s all the action we caught:

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