This past Saturday August 25th, 2007, a bunch of bands from Ohio played The Hook in the Red Hook section of Brooklyn, and they called it ClevelandFest. Nate from The Apiary (who happens to be from Cleveland) was there.....

"You better watch out with that shirt around these parts, you could get yourself hurt," the big galoot of a doorman at The Hook lazily slurred. You mean here? At ClevelandFest? I am wearing a Cleveland Indians tee (Grady Sizemore). "It's you who better watch out, you dildo," I say internally. For tonight, the spirit of Ohio shimmers like the golden sands of a Lake Erie beach on one of the 40 days a year they're not issued biohazardous swimming advisories. Midwestern ex-pats from across NYC have assembled into this desolate and grey strip of Red Hook to see the first ever ClevelandFest, a rock show celebration/mill-about featuring 15 bands, all from Cleveland, Ohio.

I slink into the bar expecting to see Big Chuck and Lil' John mosh dancing to Mushroomhead while a perky Romona Robinson works the merch booth, pushing hoodies, Terminal Tower trinkets, and Malley's chocolates. Maybe there'd be an area where we can take virtual reality tours of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame? Or get free copies of The Plain Dealer? There wasn't any of that. I was however greeted warmly by two ticket-takers who looked like somebody's mom and dad. These people turned out to be the parents of the dude who organized this thing: Alex Lombardo - an upbeat former Cleveland native and current designer at Rolling Stone. I grabbed a beer, checked to see if Derek Hess was lingering about, then watched Roger Hoover and the Whiskyhounds' boot stomping set before I ventured into the venue's courtyard....

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