Welcome to a new feature on Addicted to Vinyl – the Cleveland Bachelor Show of the Week!

The Cleveland Bachelor. Those three words strike fear into the hearts of women, men, children, and small farm animals everywhere. But damn, we love to read his blog here at Addicted to Vinyl. What do you mean he’s not already in your RSS reader, or saved in your bookmarked favorite sites? Let’s fix that right now.

I’ve been enjoying CB’s “what to do with your week” posts that he posts on his blog for quite a while now, and had the idea that he might be interested in spotlighting a show (or two) for us here each week.

I was shocked to find out that he thought the idea had legs, and he was up for it. Which brings us to CB’s first post. I’ll highlight additional items of note at the end of each week’s post, followed by a link to CB’s complete rundown of events for the week.

Without further ado, here is CB!

Greetings new ATV friends! I don’t know about you, but I’ve always called Addicted to Vinyl “ATV” in my head, primarily because it makes me think of all-terrain vehicles, and if there is anything we know about our friend Matt, he gets around (and around and around).

In all seriousness, I’m happy and honored to be a new part of the ATV family (choose your own acronym). Each week I’ll be highlighting what I feel is the best live music event of the week in the Cleveland area. Obviously there will be disagreements along the way, which is why God made comment sections.

Besides, we gotta have a little diversity, right? Otherwise, Matt would be suggesting weekly trips to nothing but that Springsteen tribute act that plays Wednesday evenings at that joint down the interstate over near the outlet mall. (Kidding, Matt – I made that up.)

For my inaugural effort, I’d like to throw a little sunshine at this Friday’s show at the Grog Shop.

Seattle’s mid-90s hit machine The Presidents of the United States of America (or PUSA, as they refer to themselves) will be making a triumphant return to the Cleveland stage. Best known for a pair of mega-hits (“Lump” and “Peaches”) off their self-titled 1995 debut album, PUSA might be the only band in the world to share the dual honor of inspiring a Weird Al Yankovic parody cover (1996’s “Gump”) and earning a featured role on a music-themed video game (2008’s Rock Band 2).

Since that magical debut album, the band has traveled the world trying to recapture lightning in the bottle, and while they’ve never quite moved past the sophomore slump, they have had some crazy experiences along the way, from playing live on Mount Rushmore to a short-lived partnership with Sir Mix-a-Lot to recording the theme song “Cleveland Rocks” for The Drew Carey Show (possibly the most meaningful accomplishment on the band’s extensive resume for the hometown readership of this blog).

From all accounts, the band’s infrequent live shows have been fantastic, a combination of running through the hits while stretching things out sonically, as the band continues to experiment with different sounds and styles (including the apparently ever-present temptation of hip hop). Buttressing this particular show is a killer opening act, local multi-media artist Leia Alligator and her Picklefight! puppetry. Ms. Alligator is as hilarious with her scripting as she is talented with her singing, and promises to be a delightful warm-up to any and all PUSA fans who get to the Grog early.

Some more stuff that you don’t want to miss:

Thursday, 7/30 – Check out the BBQ party at Blue Arrow Records! This has gotta be the event I’m looking forward to the most this week, not only because it is free, but because of the featured in-stores by a pair of new and exciting bands, Founding Fathers and Casual Encounters. The party starts at 6 and the music kicks off around 8.

Friday, 7/31 – Local rockers Mystery of Two have an album release show at the Beachland, with support coming from Cleveland’s 21st Century version of Courtney Love and Hole, Hot Cha Cha.

Also on Friday night, Cleveland shredders The Suede Brothers are playing a CD release show for their long awaited new CD called Ill New You. They’ll celebrate the new disc with a pair of shows starting on Friday night at The Matinee in Ohio City, and moving the next night down the road a bit to Akron for a show at Annabell’s. Mark your calendar for October 24th when The Suede Brothers will open a stoner rock dream double bill at Now That’s Class featuring The Suede Bros and stoner legends Karma To Burn!

Saturday, 8/1 – For me (this is Matt speaking here,) the Jehova Waitresses were one of my favorite Cleveland local bands during the 90s. Thanks to local alternative rock station 107.9 The End, the Waitresses even got some regular rotation airplay with “Red Sunsets (Since You’ve Been Gone,) before principal members Kevin and Linda Roy packed their bags and headed for New Jersey in the mid-90s.

They’ve never really called it quits, and have been doing some new recording in recent months. Jehova Waitresses will return home to Cleveland for their first hometown show in ages at the Grog Shop, with the promise of special guests and other surprises. We can’t wait!

P.S. – Post-show, the band will be on Radio 92.3’s Inner Sanctum on Sunday, August 2nd at 10pm, playing live with old friends The Waynes.

Click here to read CB’s complete list of recommended events for the week ahead!

And as mentioned earlier, if you’ve got a noteworthy show to mention, leave it in the comments section below!