I’m back! Back in the Cleveland groove!

Oh my goodness, dear readers. I apologize. From the depths of my soul and the soles of my feet, I sincerely apologize for my unofficial two-week hiatus. You see, things had gotten a little hectic. Working in a kennel is tough. It is exhausting, physically and mentally, and I was exhausted. Any free moment = sleepy time for Abbie.

But I’m not here to make excuses! I’m here to get back on the wagon, to put my fingers to the keyboard and regale you with tales of my time in Cleveland! As you shark enthusiasts probably know, Discovery Channel’s Shark Week was recently upon us. The Greater Cleveland Aquarium pounced on the week as a convenient marketing opportunity and took to social media to spread some fishy love!

The GCA implemented Twitter to host a scavenger hunt throughout Cleveland during Shark Week; we called it #SharkWeekGCA. The hunt was simple–our mascot, Sandy the shark, would be lingering in one famous Cleveland location at noon, Monday to Friday. Clues about the location were tweeted throughout each morning of Shark Week and the first person to solve the clues and find Sandy was given two free admission tickets to the aquarium.

The hunt was very successful. Within 30 minutes of 12 o’clock, Clevelanders were approaching the GCA Aqua Squad member accompanying Sandy and asking, “Do you still have tickets?” Only one day was not a thriving success, and of course it was the day I was stuck in the shark costume. Hindsight showed our mistake–we chose a location that did not receive tons of foot traffic in comparison to other places downtown. This article actually has a slew of great tips for virtual scavenger hunts, and we followed the guidelines closely: we over-communicated the clues and made ourselves very visible.  I danced my shark fins off for an hour before admitting defeat and slinking back into Lake Erie.

Aside from the one day, though, the scavenger hunt was great! I will certainly remember this strategy of interacting with your audience when I’m back on Ohio University’s campus, doing my best to get people excited about ACRN Media. There are countless opportunities for ACRN Media to utilize social media platforms in order to increase our outreach, and I can’t wait to employ them!

Aside from the scavenger hunt, in these post-less two weeks I also became acquainted with another great Cleve record store! This one is called Music Saves, and it’s located on Waterloo Road. Like many pockets of Cleveland, Waterloo is undergoing a makeover and is in the process of emerging shiny and new. One of its shiny spots is its entertainment district, which is where you can find Music Saves! The store’s selection is awesome; its intended audience is undoubtedly 18 to 30-year-olds who keep up with new releases. I was able to snag Alvvway‘s self-titled while I was there, which is something I’ve been looking for since that record came out last summer.

Photo via Yelp

Music Saves also has a cat that chills big inside the store. She talks a lot and has an expression that reads “Please get the hell out of my face.” Truly great feline.

Meow!

Located just down the street from Music Saves is Beachland Ballroom & Tavern, which hosts plenty of great musicians. For example! Waxahatchee performed there just last night! Jake and I were in attendance because we both love Ivy Tripp and the tickets were super cheap. The opening act, Pinkwash, is home to a very obviously talented guitarist, Joey Doubek, with a flair for doom and heavy math rock. I will admit, the noises he created made me want to smash some things. However, a performance can get a little tiring when it’s repeatedly the same power chords; the shrieking, C- quality vocals were also quickly growing old.

Pinkwash’s set was brought to an abrupt end when Joey broke a guitar string. Then it was time for Waxahatchee! Pinkwash’s drummer, Ashley Arnwine, also drummed for Waxahatchee and the drumming was, frankly, impeccable.

Look how stinkin’ cute she is. Photo via WaxahatcheeMusic

I did not realize the creative force behind Waxahatchee, Katie Crutchfield, is a twin until I saw two identical persons on stage last night. Not only do Katie and Allison look exactly alike (tattoos not withstanding), but they sound exactly alike and they sound good. I can’t get over how awesome the set was. Ivy Tripp was played practically in its entirely and the three-song encore was exactly what the crowd demanded. It was also Waxahatchee’s first time ever playing in Cleveland! I’m glad I got to be there, and I know for a fact Cerulean Salt will be added to the record collection very soon. I connected with Waxahatchee’s live set more than I have with their recorded material, and I am genuinely very pumped I attended the show. It honestly may have totally changed my relationship with that music.

In other non-local news, True Detective has improved. It took five episodes but now I am actually invested in the plot of this season. There were absolutely some laughably bad lines in Sunday night’s episode, but overall it is leagues better than it’s been. I suppose sitting down to view with an attitude of “Well, how badly is this going to suck?” helped me enjoy it more than I thought it would. So, hope is almost lost, but glimmering. Barely. Just barely.

Sorry again for the delay, folks. With summer winding down and classes about to resume, I should probably get back in the groove of productivity and accomplishing tasks! Oi. It’s gonna be rough.

Local music and a shameless plug

Well gang, I am happy to report that I have acquired an employment position! Not only do I have a source of income, I get to work with dogs! I’m very excited about it, mostly because I’ve been spending money pretty conservatively this whole summer. Unfortunately, doing things in a bustling city and getting to know its nooks and crannies typically requires money, so my options of things to do have been a tad limited.

As such, I have not seen as much local music as I’d like. I’ve definitely learned about it, though! Part of my work with the Greater Cleveland Aquarium involves writing short bios for bands that are playing at Red White & Brew, a fourth of July celebration/music festival hosted by the GCA. There’s a slew of local bands slotted to play the festival, including Welshly Arms, Cities & Coasts, The Moxies and Austin Walkin’ Cane. There’s too many artists to list, so check out this flyer instead!

The age range in the performers is pretty large, which makes me happy. Not only are the youngins out there making names for themselves, older individuals are still pursuing creative endeavors! I always like to see older folks making music because it makes me feel less guilty about having yet to embark on musical endeavors of my own.

Nonetheless, the local bands in Cleveland are really doing work. So are the venues! Not only are there great local scenes like Lakewood’s Front Porch Concert Series and Sofar Sounds Concerts, there are places like Mahall’s and Grog Shop that host a plethora of bands not native to the great city of Cle.

Photo via Grog Shop

For example, this Thursday night I’ll be watching Eskimeaux (New York), Mitski (also New York), Elvis Depressedly (North Carolina) and Small Wood House (Ohio, woo!) perform at Mahall’s. This will be my first time at Mahall’s, which makes me both excited and a little apprehensive. I’m a tad apprehensive because hipsters are very populous in Cleveland, and they flock to shows like this one. I also think I’m going alone, which is fine, but oh man talking to strangers can be weird. Especially when they’re your own age. My own age group freaks me out. Is that normal?

Regardless, I’m expecting to enjoy my trip on Thursday night quite a bit, even if I do get sandwiched in a sea of young, hip kids. Eskimeaux’s album O.K. came out a handful of weeks ago and is great, very emotionally honest and pure. The production quality is excellent, considering it’s released on Double Double Whammy; the indie label likes to produce things at the lowest cost possible, which usually correlates directly to quality. Luckily those boys know what they’re doing, and DDW has a talent for delivering awesome jams.

Bless.

On a different note, it’s orientation time at Ohio University! All the fresh new students are wandering around campus, thinking “How in the $*@! am I going to walk all these hills every day?” and “Man, what organizations should I join once I’m here?” Impressions are already being made upon incoming students, which is why a lot of organizations like to distribute fliers at orientation. I whipped up ACRN Media’s flyer, take a look at the final result!

Pretty convincing, eh?! I’d join! I mean, just look at how dang cute that DJ at the top is (shoutout to our beloved General Manager, Megan Fair). If you’re a student, future or current, of Ohio University and interested in getting involved with ACRN, you can reach out to us on Twitter or Facebook! You can also email me at editorial4acrn@gmail.com, or Megan at gm4acrn@gmail.com. Thanks for reading, catch ya next week!