CLEVELAND, Ohio - Rock, jazz and bluegrass are on this week's menu for Also Playing.
21st annual Tri-C High School Rock Off Third Round, 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 18, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. The last three slots for the Final Exam - set for Saturday, Feb. 25 - are up for grabs. Scheduled to perform are Assault, from Highland, Normandy and North Ridgeville high schools; Borderline Oblivious, North Royalton, St. Ignatius and Strongsville high schools; Bucyrus High School Xband, Bucyrus; Jake Wheeler, Fairland; No Expectations, Archbishop Hoban and Woodridge; Stillness in Motion with Nick Kokensparger, Twinsburg; Time Out, Hilliard Darby; Under the Influence, Brecksville-Broadview Heights and Independence; Vollstin, Jackson, McKinley and St. Thomas Aquinas; and W.U.V.A.L., Arts & College Preparatory Academy and Upper Arlington. Three bands will get a chance to go against two-time champion First to Eleven in the Final Exam. Also in the Final Exam are Last Minute, Marion Steele High School; Man Cried Wolf, Brecksville-Broadview Heights; Funeral Proposals, Copley Elleet and Mogodore; No Good Solutions, Lake Catholic, Orange and Riverside; the Frats, Avon Lake; the Waves, Archbishop Hoban and Woodridge; Montage, Cleveland School of the Arts; and Lonely Pirate Committee, Lake Catholic, Shaker Heights and University School. Tickets, $10, are available from any participating band, at the Rock Hall box office and online at rockhall.com/rockoff.
Rumpke Mountain Boys, 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Feb. 17 and 18, Beachland Ballroom. A bluegrass band revered as one of Ohio's best will be recording live sets each night for an album release. The guys play a brand of bluegrass they've dubbed "trashgrass,'' and press materials note that it's characterized "by fiery-fast mandolin, banjo, acoustic guitar and upright bass [and] creates a sound that has been described as foot-stompin' whiskey-spillin' old-timey psychedelic folk music!" Dave Katz opens on Friday, Chris Dollar on Saturday. Tickets are $10 in advance, $12 day of show for each gig, or both nights for $20, at the box office, online at beachlandballroom.com or by phone at 26-383-1124.
Al Di Meola, 8 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 22, Kent Stage. Jazz fusion guitarist Di Meola, now 62, is dedicating this tour to the 40th anniversary of his gold album, "Elegant Gypsy.'' The complex, syncopated rhythms of the 1977 album, his second as a composer, showed the direction he was to go. Here's what reviewer Scott Yanow said of the album on allmusic.com: "He was still a member of Return to Forever at the time and was a stronger guitarist than composer, but Di Meola did put a lot of thought into this music. The brief 'Lady of Rome, Sister of Brazil' (an acoustic guitar solo) and 'Mediterranean Sundance' (an acoustic duet with fellow guitarist Paco de Lucia) hints at Di Meola's future directions. A near classic in the fusion vein.'' Tickets, $48 to $125, plus fees, are available the box office, online at thekentstage.com and by phone at 330-677-5005.
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