Tonight, Tonight….Get down to Thursday’s Lounge for their Halloween Party/80’s/Indie Night.  It is sure to be an awesome time.  Dress Up, Get Drunk, and Dance Around.  The party starts at 8pm with DJ Mario Nemr spinning all your indie faves and goes till the lights go on, the music stops, and you’re pushed out the door.  Don’t worry, it usually continues out front, then carries on to Taco Bell or White Castle (if you want to go home, that’s entirely up to you).

What will Akron’s coolest kids be dressing up as for Halloween?  Get creative, as there are prizes for the best costumes!  Look for me tonight, I’ll be Juno complete with a Bleecker and a hamburger phone.

Thursday’s Lounge…306 East Exchange St, Akron.

This will be my roommate and I

Our lovely chalkboard sign

With Halloween creepily creeping up on us, RCC has decided to get into the spirit of this week with a li’l decorating.  I mean, this place is usually a ghost town as it is (insert cheesy bad joke drum sound).  Here’s some very amateur coverage of Halloween thus far…..

Here’s a rainy/cloudy day picture of our current windows, quite horrifying.  In case you haven’t been in our store in the last couple of weeks, we now have the Akron Survival of the Fittest in a white short-sleeve with black print.  They’ve been selling so well, it’s scary.  But then again, it is Halloween.  The other shirt in the window is the AKRON SCREAMS Horror Fest t-shirt.

This shirt is available at RCC, www.RubberCityClothing.com, and at the fest

If you’re a horror movie fan, love things to do downtown, or just plain don’t have any plans for this Halloweekend, go down to The Civic for the AKRON SCREAMS Horror Movie & Music Festival.  This hair-raising, two-day horror-fest features outrageous independent films, ghoulish guest appearances, scary vendors and live music groups- including Among Ruin (10/31) and Nightmare: A Tribute to Alice Cooper (11/1)- to set just the right frightful mood.  Grab someone’s hand and hold on tight!  Tickets are $25 for the Weekend Pass, $15 each night, or $5 for the Saturday matinee.  Call The Civic box office 330.253.2488, Ticketmaster 330.945.9400, or go to www.akroncivic.com for tickets.

And aside from the Scream fest, we’ve got our own ghoulish display of fall pumpkins and adorable little bales of hay.  Verrrrrry scarrrrrryyy, I know.

Creepy 'Survival' skull and a picture of Margaret. If you've driven in her, you know how scary it can be!

Come in on Halloween for tricks, treats, and t-shirts.  If you come in costume, we’ll give you 50% off of one t-shirt when you buy one at regular price.  It’ll be spook-tacular!  (That’s right, bring on the drum.)

Equals 4

Isn’t it funny how sometimes a routine activity can turn into something potentially big and definitely cool? This past weekend as I did my usual rocking of t-shirt sales, I was asked about music in the store by one of the customers. She asked me if we ever sell stuff by local bands in the store. Without a thought, I said “well, not really, but we can now.” Turns out the customer was Dee Taylor, lead singer and guitarist for the band Equals Four, which just came out with a new album, Believe. And with that, she handed me a stack of their new album and a promotional poster (which is now prominently displayed behind the counter). Believe is on rotation in the RCC playlist, and is really good. The songs are fun & rockin’, and it’s the kind of music you know would be great to see live (sorry no upcoming shows listed on their site).

So it was definitely cool to meet Dee and find out about Equals Four, but then it got me thinking…. We’re an Akron store, with Akron Pride (on t-shirts), we blog about Akron, Akron, Akron, Akron. Why not Akron music too? So much of what we’ve done lately has been related to music, thanks to Chrissie Hynde, The Black Keys, and Devo. Why not promote Akron music in the store? We’re already working with places like Frank’s Place, The Barley House, 91.3 The Summit, and The Toy Marble Museum selling their swag.

So let it be known throughout Akron, Summit County, and lands beyond……while Rubber City Clothing is in fact a clothing store, we are also SOOOOOOOOO much more. We are Akron. We are the Rubber City. If you have a band, a bar, a restaurant, something that IS Akron, we want to be a part of it. We would love to have your CDs, t-shirts, etc. in the store. Sadly, I don’t think I’ll be able to realize my dream of hawking Swenson’s hamburgers out of here (let’s be honest…I’d eat them all).

Come into RCC to pickup Equals Four’s new album, Believe, and look for more local bands to come!

If you’re interested in taking part in this Akron swag community, give us call!

330.434.4722 or email Sarah G- sgorring@rubbercityclothing.com.

The latest addition to the Survival of the Fittest family is this ultra cool black t-shirt with pink print, sold exclusively at The Beauty Lounge in downtown Akron.  If you haven’t been down to this super groovy salon yet, you need to check it out.  Recently revamped  by new owner, Melissa Lisuch-Vesely, The Beauty Lounge is far more than just a salon.  It is a great place to hear good tunes, score some the latest and greatest beauty products, check out local artwork, and of course get a cutting edge hairstyle.

To get your own Beauty Lounge Exclusive Survival of the Fittest in Black with pink, you need to get down to The Beauty Lounge!  Visit their shop at 70 E Mill St on the corner of South High St in downtown Akron; call 330.253.6300 for days/times; or visit their website www.thebeautylounge.net.  This style is not available at the Rubber City Clothing store, but is available to order at www.RubberCityClothing.com.

‘Dolemite’ actor Rudy Ray Moore dies

AKRON, Ohio (AP) — Rudy Ray Moore, a raunchy 1970s comedian who played the title role of a flashy pimp in the movie “Dolemite” and influenced a generation of rappers, has died. He was 81.

Moore died Sunday evening at an Akron nursing home from complications of diabetes, said his brother, Gerald Moore.

Services will be held in Akron and Spokane, Wash., where his mother and other family members live, he said.

Rudy Ray Moore was part of the heyday of black “party records.” His stage personality featured blunt sex routines but, unlike contemporaries Redd Foxx and Richard Pryor, he never crossed over to mainstream white audiences.

The Washington Post said in a 1992 profile that Moore was “an astounding renderer of ‘toasts,’ — elaborately boastful, profane and scatological tales of life in the old-style urban subculture of pimps, prostitutes, gamblers and badmen. His husky, down-home voice is ideal for it.”

Moore said he developed the style, later a feature of rap music, by listening to men sitting outside joints “drinking beer and lying and talking (expletive).”

Moore played the fast-talking pimp and title character in the 1975 film Dolemite. In later years Moore collaborated with 2 Live Crew, Big Daddy Kane and Snoop Dogg.

Moore’s other acting credits during the Blaxploitation era of black action films included The Human Tornado in 1976 and Disco Godfather in 1979.

Copyright
2008 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be
published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

The RCC booth at Duty Now for the Future.

With very little notice and prep time, RCC was able to be a part of Friday night’s BaROCK bonanza, Duty Now for the Future, at the Civic.  We had a really great time at the show.  Our booth was in a prime location, right outside the entrance to the theater on the lower level, special thanks to the Civic for getting us into the event.  It was great to meet a lot of different people, many who were interested in RCC, many just looking for the Devo energy hats or Black Keys t-shirts.  We passed out a lot of cards and sold a lot of shirts, so all in all it was a successful night.

Afterwards we snuck into the VIP party and hob-nobbed it with some of Akron’s finest, while enjoying some tasty treats and much needed drinks.

After a hectic, yet awesome Friday night watching DEVO, The Black Keys, Chrissie Hynde, and Rachel Roberts (how AMAZING was that show?), I took a much needed weekend off (well sort of) to leave the Rubber City and head down to Cincinnati to visit an old friend.

While down there, I met & talked to different people; talked about Akron and RCC.  They asked why it was called “The Rubber City” and I gave the whole schpeel of Goodyear, Firestone, tires, etc.  Then I asked about Cincinnati’s nicknames.  A common one is “The ‘Nati” which seems like our “AK-Rowdy” (Which b-t-dubs, people always come in the store and ask what “Ack-Rowdy” is.  Don’t get me started on the “What’s 3-30?”).  But from ‘Nati, evolves “Nasty ‘Nati” which is catchy, but not really pleasant.  Someone else told me it was also called “The Queen City,” but couldn’t really give me a good reason.

An homage to Cincinnati's Pork roots: The Flying Pigs

So today, out of lingering curiosity and minor boredom, I Googled “Cincinnati, Queen City”.  One of the top matches was a wonderful Wikipedia article on Ohio city nicknames.  I later read somewhere else that some overly proud citizens of Cinci that gave it the “Queen City” moniker- no actual Queens have been there.  But now I was fascinated by this “nicknames” article.  I don’t know about you guys, but I could click “Random Article” on Wikipedia  all day long.  Back to the nicknames- we Akronites should be thrilled that we aren’t any of the following: “Porkopolis“- another Cinci name- while we were making tires, they were makin’ bacon; “The Bratwurst Capital of the World”- Bucyrus, Ohio (that would be an awesome moniker to hold, but I highly doubt li’l ol’ Bucyrus beats any town in Germany when it comes to being best of the wurst); one of Cleveland’s is “The Best Location in the Nation” (clean up Euclid Avenue and we’ll consider taking that one seriously); Columbus can be known as “Cowtown” or “Somaliwood”- because there is a budding Somali film industry there (???); Xenia is “The Twine City” or “Bicycle Capitol of the Midwest”; and Valley City is “The Frog Jump Capitol of Ohio”- not the world, just Ohio.

Akron: “The City of Invention,” “The Summit City,” “The Tire City,” “The Rubber Capitol of the World,” “The Rubber City.”  We simply just sound cooler.  “Porkopolis Clothing” wouldn’t seem as attractive as RCC.  That’s why we should be thankful for rubber.

AKRON ROCK ICONS DO CIVIC DUTY

Devo’s benefit concert whips up vote

Chrissie Hynde, Black Keys join other local acts in raising money for Summit County Democrats

By Malcolm X Abram
Beacon Journal music writer

Published on Saturday, Oct 18, 2008

It had been 30 years since Devo performed in Akron, and it took a cause important to the band to bring the group back home.

Friday night, the band returned to the same venue — the Akron Civic Theatre — where it had performed in 1978. Back then, it was a triumphant homecoming for a band that was about to move to California. Friday night, the reason was a benefit concert for the Summit County Democratic Party, which inadvertently became a celebration of some of Akron’s most popular groups, with both the Black Keys and Chrissie Hynde performing.

Before the show, Richard Evans and Jeff Hancock of Pittsburgh, who were enjoying a beer across the street at the Lockview, were excited about the program and the cause.

Evans, 38, a Devo fan club member, said he found out about the show a few days before tickets were available and quickly snapped up a pair.

While the men were excited to see Devo and the Black Keys, they were also interested in the reason for the show.

”The music is the main reason, but I’m also for [Barack] Obama,” said Evans, a confessed lifelong Democrat.

”I was really undecided until I saw the debate the other night. Obama pretty much blew [McCain] away,” Han
cock said. ”That made the decision much easier for me.”

Before the show, the crowd mingled at the Civic. In the lobby, concertgoers could purchase special Obama ‘08 Duty Now for the Future T-shirts and Devo’s signature red energy domes, for $20 and $30, respectively, with all proceeds going to the Democratic Party.

The evening’s hosts were Summit County Executive Russ Pry and City Council President Marco Sommerville, who between acts stumped not only for Obama but also for seemingly every Democratic candidate in the state. Other dignitaries included U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Niles, and Ohio Treasurer Richard Cordray, the party’s candidate for Ohio attorney general.

The show began with local singer-songwriter Chris Allen, who performed a few of his originals and a cover of Bob Dylan’s I Shall Be Released. Next, Akron blues rock duo, the Black Keys, who performed a sold-out show last week at E.J. Thomas Hall, played a loud and wild eight-song, half-hour set.

”We don’t feel special. We’re honored to be here. We’re just average Joe Plumbers,” Black Keys guitarist-singer Dan Auerbach said, mocking John McCain’s debate topic.

Another local singer, Rachel Roberts, performed a quick pair of songs. Then Akron’s Chrissie Hynde played a quiet set of three new songs from the Pretenders’ latest album Break Up the Concrete, which she described as ”being written about Akron.”

Hynde’s voice was in fine form, though she did fling a few expletives when she couldn’t recall the words to Almost Perfect.

Sommerville and Pry returned to the stage wearing energy domes, with Pry adding the band’s yellow Devo lab coat, to introduce Devo.

Devo’s Bob and Mark Mothersbaugh, Gerald and Bob Casale and longtime drummer Josh Freese filled out their yellow jump suits more than they did 30 years ago, but they performed a taut, energetic 70-minute set of hits and fan favorites, including Girl U Want and Uncontrollable Urge. Before Whip It, Gerald Casale talked about the ”eight-year nightmare” of the current administration and asked the crowd, ”Are we gonna whip it on Nov. 4?” The answer was a resounding yes.

The show ended with all of the night’s performers joining in a ramshackle and fun version of the Pretenders’ Break Up the Concrete that had the crowd dancing in the aisles.

On top of tonight’s AMAZING Akron rock bonanza of DEVO, Chrissie Hynde, and The Black Keys- Akron’s local folk rock darling Rachel Roberts will be performing with Chrissie.  Many of you have probably seen Rachel play at Musica or every Monday at the Northside.  She is very talented and has fun with her audience.  One time I saw her she made up a song on the spot about a guy in the audience with a fantastic mustache.  That is true talent.

Come out tonight and support Akron and Akron music.  Even if you’re not a fan of Barack Obama or the Summit County Democrats, this is one show that cannot be missed! Enjoy Akron!

Tickets are still available for this once in a lifetime show at the Civic!  Pick ‘em up at the box office or go to www.ticketmaster.com.

Just announced: Chrissie Hynde will be joining DEVO and the Black Keys at tomorrow night’s show at the Civic Theater! This is the first and probably only time that you’ll ever get to see all 3 great AKRON acts doing a Rubber City show together!

Opening for these three awesome bands will be yours truly, Rubber City Clothing. Okay, we’re not getting on stage, but we will be hawking t-shirts in the lobby before/during/after the show. Make sure you pic up some Rubber City Swag! A portion of the proceeds will benefit the Summit County Democratic Party. As a result, the store will be closing around 4:30pm. Get your RCC fix in earlier kids!