Cleveland Rock

The teacher from Pink Floyd's The Wall, nearly 20' tall straddled one side of the brick facade, his enormous buttocks on one side, his immense head on the other, fourth floor, Cleveland's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Above us was a video tribute to live concerts, Janis Joplin, U2, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, below us three other floors of dense, incredibly interesting rock and roll paraphernalia, from Johnny Cash, Elvis, Elmore James, Professor Longhair, Woody Guthrie, to Blondie, even Grandmaster Funk and the Furious Five, Nirvana, Stone Temple Pilots, the touring bus, a rusted panel van, from Rage Against the Machine, all housed within the narrowing structure created by world-renowned architect, I.M. Pei. This was Cleveland, no longer just a joke about its professional teams, but a thriving area, one of the fastest-growing, newly gentrified areas in the country, including a new theatre district unlike anything to be seen in the central U.S. I was privy to this from Glenn Knific, my city host, who showed me around from east side with the burgeoning river constructs of the Flats to west side, with its culinary market, and we shared in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and later a couple of pints and a downright tasty burger at the local brewery, seventy degrees of sun shine and fresh air, and welcome respite from the previous two days of rain.

Cleveland, who knew?

Those who know us know that music is central to who Melissa and I are, our house filled with paintings of music from the San Jose Jazzfest, three guitars, black-and-white, oils on canvas on our main living room wall, my electric guitar and stand in the corner of my office. This was the reason I decided to spend a couple of days in Cleveland and as I walked towards the front doors and the music of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers flowed across the front courtyard, I had goosebumps, very cool indeed.

Tomorrow, maybe the day after, I'm not sure yet as it is the holiday weekend, I'll trundle over to Madison, Wisconsin but today, today was a wonderful day to be on the shores of Lake Erie, enjoying the sights, tastes and smells of Cleveland.