While Cleveland is hailed worldwide as the undisputed 'Heart Of Rock and Roll', the City of Cleveland has done little to nothing to support this legendary moniker, short of unceremoniously depositing the futuristic looking pyramid shaped building that is the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in an isolated (thus, unsupported) spot along it's downtown coastline.
Cleveland would be doing well to observe the bustling tourist industries that other music cities, such as Nashville, Chicago, and Austin, have developed and maintained by creating and sustaining a 'music row' in their downtown areas. These 'music rows' are conveniently located withing walking or short cab ride from the downtown hotels, and provide travellers and locals alike with a vibrantly colorful musical experience that keeps them coming back for more.
Whether you are from out of town, or perhaps just don't get out much, and have 'lost touch' with what's hip in music these days, the options can seem dizzying, confusing, and endless, or completely non existent. Despite the fact that Cleveland is positively vibrating with world class live music on any given night of the week, there is no immediately apparent guide to help point one in the proper direction, while seperating the 'chaff from the grain', so to speak.... Or is there? Below, you will find two Cleveland owned and operated websites that will provide the reader with a lifeline to some of the best live music that Cleveland has to offer, and where to find it on any given evening.
Founded in 2006 by Ann Sulak Thompson, the 'After The Gig' website (www.afterthegig.com) is an amazingly comprehensive, multi feature guide to the best live music and venues that Cleveland and the surrounding areas have to offer. Thompson, the site's creator, recognized the need for a better organized directory of N.E. Ohio's musical entertainment offerings than larger and non entertainment specific websites, such as 'The Scene Magazine' and The Plain Dealer's online arm, 'cleveland.com', had to offer.
One look at the 'After The Gig' website clearly displays Thompson's passion for all things live music, with painstakingly created pages that are designed to point the site's visitors to 'who's who', 'what's what', and 'where's where' at a glance, while still allowing the reader to make his/her own decision. The 'After The Gig' website has become a vital artery in the Cleveland music scene to music lovers, artists, and venues alike, and serves as one of N.E. Ohio's most informative, accurate, and up to date directories for the musical entertainment industry. Visitors to the site will find concert calendar listings, photos, featured artists, music samples of Cleveland bands, links to the websites of some of the finest bands in the N.E. Ohio area, and a comprehensive listing of venues in the N.E. Ohio area, including addresses, phone numbers, and websites.
'After The Gig' is provided as a free service to the musical community, is financially maintained via ad space and donations, and is a high traffic/visibility N.E. Ohio option, for those looking for a great place to advertise within the entertainment industry. For more information, please visit www.afterthegig.com.
This website takes an entirely different approach than the 'After The Gig' website listed above. Operated by a longtime Cleveland music writer known as 'Mr. Peanuts', aka 'The Host Of The North Coast', this website features the 'weekend picks' of this veteran of the Cleveland music scene. In addition to the Host's weekend music picks, one can also find a madcap assortment of various chat room threads, where visitors may join in the discussions, or just read other peoples' commentary, along with the oft-times humorous 'racy photo of the day'.
While Mr. Peanuts frequently and freely directs seekers of music of all sorts to visit the 'After The Gig' website for concert calander style listings, and/or venue/artist links, The Host Of The North Coast's site, which he calls 'The Host's Bulletin Board', certainly provides a slimmed down 'hot list' of choices by one of Cleveland's most well respected music writers, as well as an entertaining foray through various chat room discussions about various Cleveland rockers.
It is worth noting to the first time visitor to this site that this website is intended for adults, and may contain content that could be considered somewhat offensive to some visitors. In addition, the 'Host's Bulletin Board' is literally laid out in a 'bulletin board' format, with daily/weekly updates, and is intended to be scrolled down all the way to the bottom- most of the underlined posts are not actually links, although the hyperlinks are clearly featured in a different color text.
Please visit 'The Host's Bulletin Board' at the following web address: http://www.eboards4all.com/61392/.
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