He Can Go To The Hoop with Either Hand.

Can you?

For Real Fest

What a weekend!

The 'thank you's start with Ray (the man who put on the fest and was seen repping a RIGHT IDEA shirt on Friday) and gave all these amazing bands a chance to play at a rad venue, and round out with a who's who of dudes (and ladies) we appreciate:

5 Coss, 9 Morris, Alex, Annie, Anthony, Antonio, Ariel, the Cathcart brothers, Cheap Tragedies, Ed, Erin T, Hamiltoe, Jeff Grey, Joe Bennett and Christina, Joel Run Riot, Lucas with a K, Nick, Mad Minds, Marcus, the artists formerly known as My Revenge!, Oh, Betty!, the Parkersburg, WV edge men (and their not-so-edge lady friends), Russa, Taylor, Todd Insurrect, Triceratops, The Union Staff (particularly the door girl with the penchant for short skirts -- not that I noticed), and everyone else I prolly forgot already (please don't take offense -- we were all totally drunk on the edge, so forgetting should be expected).

Oh yeah, the biggest thanks goes to Ge-off, who made the show possible (since he filled in for Chuck, who was MIA in the super-model jungles).

Expect some of them photos as we find 'em (if you have some, please send/post links). And updates galore.

Edit note: For those of you too lazy to watch the Chuck video -- here's the only part that matters:



We Love you Chuck!

SAMPLER CD

We're gonna have, among other things, a CD sampler for distribution at this year's Youngblood Fest. These are going to be EXCLUSIVE to the YB Fest and very LIMITED (less than 200), and our intention is to only hand them out with a purchase of a T shirt or long-sleeve (we're hoping not to sell them individually). We hate CDs as much as the next guy does, but I guess we can't stave this digital age off on our own.

Here's the track listing:

1. Our World
2. Right Idea
3. Glue

Of course, "Glue" is the classic SSD song, and it's been recorded a million times by a million bands -- but it's been captured here in our own unique RIGHT IDEA funkee style. This will also be your first chance to hear an entire song from the upcoming REACT! RECORDS release OUR WORLD (the song "Our World" posted here is only the first verse and chorus -- there's more words, I swear).

So get there early, stage dive often, and make sure you pick one up.

Word.

Where's Waldo?

I'm sure it'll be hard to spot, but there's a RIGHT IDEA t-shirt lurking about at this show:



See if you can find it.

Solve a Rubik's Cube in 6 Seconds

I stole this from Gizmodo. It's funny, though.

Old friends, new records...

So, Meltdown of Boston/Providence has a new record that's up for pre-order on the deathwish site. Their new drummer is an old friend who happens to be a podcast superstar and former Physical Challenge/Sinking Ships time keeper, Mr. A. Rice.

You can hear him talk shit here.

You can pre-order Meltdown's self-titled ep here.

If you happen to talk to Andy when booking Trash Talk, Blacklisted, Reign Supreme or anyone else on the DW roster, be sure to say what's up and ask him about Newberg, Oregon and Mexican food. Just don't ask him about "couch surfing" with "birds."

Cleveland Hardcore History

Check out the above link to get a little bit of knowledge on the old Cleveland hardcore scene. Project X played Cleveland, most likely you cannot say that about your hometown unless you are from NYC or Europe of course. Some interesting reads, rad pics, flyers and the idea of being at that pool party/ show is insane. Gus Pena singing a set consisting of SBS, SSD and CY covers on top of doing Discipline's 'Truth, Facts, or Lies' would have anyone diving into the pool. The second best place to dive into, the first being a crowd of people of course!

A who's who of old Cleveland...


More Cleveland Flyers here.

The Block "C," The Other Cliff Lee, and You.

I've waited long enough for my first Indians post of the year -- those who expect these little golden nuggets: forgive me for the latency, those who hate sports because it isn't "punk:" forgive me as well. I assure you we'll return to our regular scheduled "hard core" updates very soon. I promise.

Anyway -- whouda thunk it, but Cliff Lee is back and strong as ever -- at least judging by his 2 quality starts on travel days against injury ravaged teams (sarcasm fully intentional). Those who may forget, Lee was 3rd in Cy Young voting a full year before CC stole his from Fausto in 2007, and it's no coincidence that all 3 are flame throwing Lefties who, when able to keep the ball down, are un-fuk-witable. I'd love to say I have confidence in Lee stepping up over the long haul, and other than that one incident with him and his wife and their failure brood disrupting my dinner at Ginza last winter, I really have no reason to not like him. I mean, he did shave that god-awful facial monstrosity he was sporting last year -- so there's something. Plus his name is strikingly similar to a certain 4-string maestro. I'm betting there's more than just a small coincidence on both counts.

Tonight's game is really an important one -- if ever an early April game could be considered important. We're battling the Boston Red Sox, in one of their 2 games at Progressive Field this year (there's another blog altogether -- mid market teams getting screwed by the MLB for ESPN viewing schedules -- arggghhhh). After sitting Ortiz (slumping), Man-Ram (crazy), and Lowell (old) last night against the Yankees, Boston expects to come into the North Coast well rested and ready for a rematch of last years ALCS. You know, minus K-Lo, Nixon, Schilling, etc. But hey, now fan favorite Sean Casey plays first base in Boston -- you're welcome, Theo!

So I'll be there -- like every other night, dressed a little warmer than usual -- but making some serious noise and complaining to fan services about the Prog's lack of vegetarian friendly cuisine (again -- another blog entry altogether) . . .

If you're in town, come out and wave a "Let's Go Tribe" towel with me . . .

Go Tribe!

5 / 03 / 2008

Can we start again

Go back to what it meant back then

Open minds and open hearts

The things that set us apart

Was it more than words

And do they still apply

And do you still believe

Well so do I

I was a 15 year old kid

With nowhere to fit in

I just wanted to skate

Listen to my Suicidal tape

When someone told me about a place

Where the strange were accepted

And judged by what's inside

A scene of truly open minds

Somewhere, somehow, everything has changed

Look at what we've gotten ourselves caught up in

The same mindless clicks

The same high school shit

All the walls you scream about breaking down

I've watched you build brick by brick

Do you still believe-I do

Look beyond the 3 chords that fill your lives

Look beyond the gossip and the lies

Beyond the dullest of outsides

Look beyond

Try harder

See what's inside this burning in my heart

Born under the same songs that you know

But our blood will never blend 

Until you let those doors go

More info to come as we get it!

Suma this, Suma that.

Jeff and I got the pleasure of watching our vinyl being cut/ etched / whatever-the-fucked last night at Suma Studios in Painesville. If you can imagine the most beautiful place you can think of that can still come off as really creepy -- then you can imagine Suma Studios. Less than 5 minutes from the highway, and a stone's throw from the Grand River, Suma looks a lot like an old Elk's lodge or a run down ski chateau. Minus the dudes on little cars and the fezzes. Well, at least minus the little cars.

The place looks like it is straight out of a 50's sci-fi or horror epic, complete with homemade computers and Nitris Oxide canisters at the ready (at least they're a Coke family):
As archaic as it all looked, Paul was the man with the ear (and the eye -- he was able to describe the drum mic set up just from the grooves that were cut in the lacquer -- crazy), ensuring us we were in good hands for the mastering and cutting of the masters for plating.

Jeff was stoked (and also drinking a Cherry Coke):
The actual factual lathe:

We're a 1/4 of the way there now, just waiting on plating, then tests, then PRE-ORDERS, then viola!

Be the change..

Saturday I attended my district caucus as a precinct delegate for Barack Obama. The turnout was 1,300 strong, plus 800 alternates. Participatory democracy is very much like a large hardcore fest, except instead of sitting around between bands, you sit around between delegate tallies and shoot the breeze. Sometimes you second a motion, which is kind of like stage-diving, but more like being the cool guy standing behind the band nodding.

Bold didn't play, but Jim Mc Dermott stopped by to rev up the crowd. He did not play any Chain covers.

Washington State Senator Ed Murray played a Gandhi cover, "Be the change that you want..."

in endorsing Chicago's B. Obama. While I'm not one to get wet in the pants over political sound bytes, I liked the line he copped and was really feelin' it. I didn't dive, but I thought about it...

Things may change incrementally over time, but only we, the every day joe and jane can really affect the quality of our own day-to-day and interactions amongst ourselves. Part of the hardcore lifestyle, the straight edge lifestyle, is doing things for yourself, trying to make the changes we want to see in ourselves and the world around us. Now, political figures may not be hardcore, but Gandhi, motivation for Ian Mackaye's haircut, has some cred.

Other notable events include Sean Astin, the dude from the Lord of the Rings movies endorsing Hillary Clinton--weird.

Until next time, For Real Fest that is, I'm gonna think positively like our boy Sean over to the left. Go Memphis, go Tribe and....well...

Go!!!!!!!!!!!

Too late for a recap? Too early to reminisce?

Last weekend Right Idea had the pleasure of hanging out and playing with Mindset, The First Step, My Rulez and Our Times. Friday was a great night in Lakewood, Ohio with tons of young edgemen and women spitting back the words of youth crew jams new and old. The Hi-Fi was a great recovery since the Brothel was shut down prematurely. Merch on pool tables reminded me of the ol' Euclid Tavern's smoke-filled back room where I purchased many a late-90's band t-shirt in my youth.

Speaking of the 90's, one guy who has been around forever who I got to see at the Hi-Fi was Rye Kennedy. You may know of his former bands, Caligula, Holyfuckingcrap, Iron Teeth, or Memories lost at midnight. I personally remember him blasting 6' launch ramp lien airs when the Willoughby public skatepark opened up in like '97 or '98. He is still a top dude, hosting the get a life dood website with fellow dood, Joe. Dana Murray was also there, keepin' it right and proper.

Saturday we rented a seatless cargo van and filled it with top dudes and gear for a double-header in Dearborn, MI and Bowling Green, OH. The resulting events were, food at red star (vegan Chinese served with soul), hanging at refuge skateshop, playing two sets in one night (oddly, the second set we played was orders of magnitude better than the first--thanks for knowing your Wide Awake, AF and SSD, Bowling Green!), and kicking it with homies new and old.

Eric from Refuge is a top-flight individual who has been hosting shows for a long-long time.He rules and throws a mean slash. The proof is right here.

It was a great time with some great bands and we even met the big boy, who reminded us why we don't drink.

We do this all over again in three short weeks at Ray Houska's DIY jamboree in the Ohio foothills, otherwise known as For Real Fest--see you there!

Grand Funk, Black Keys and RIGHT IDEA

The Our World record (on React! Records -- tentative release date: May 28, 2008)is getting mastered and plated by Paul Hamann at Suma Studios on Cleveland's east side. Paul and his father Ken are best known for being behind the knobs of some epic releases by Pere Ubu, Grand Funk Railroad, Ben Folds Five, and most recently, the Black Keys' Attack and Release.

If you want to get a good idea of how Suma looks -- check out this "live in studio" (is that a contradiction in terms or what?) video from the Black Keys:



Fucking-a right?

Egg-zactly.