Van Auken Field will officially open behind Central Intermediate School in Wadsworth at 9 a.m. Saturday.
The field is named for Dan Van Auken, a beloved teacher at the school, avid runner and longtime loyal friend and fan of many area musicians. The 34-year-old died of brain cancer in 2014.
Van Auken’s circle of friends held two fundraising concerts dubbed “Danstravaganza,” featuring a reunion of Van Auken’s favorite local band, Houseguest, along with indie rock band Drummer featuring Black Keys drummer Pat Carney on bass in 2015.
The event raised about $30,000 to help with the construction.
Van Auken’s father Steve said the school made the previously undeveloped land available and some folks from a nearby Lowe’s pitched in time, effort and materials to make the benches.
Dave Rich, a friend of Van Auken’s and a member of Houseguest, said all of his friends are “incredibly excited.”
“For those of us who participated in the Danstravaganza shows, it’s really great to see the results of the concerts produce something tangible to celebrate Dan’s memory,” Rich wrote in an email.
He added Dan “has been in our thoughts a lot lately because he was an enormous Cleveland Indians fan.”
“Seeing them make it to the World Series is thrilling,” he commented. “But I know that, personally, it’s hard for me to enjoy it without constantly thinking I wish Dan was here to see this.”
The timing of the field dedication is not lost on Pat Carney.
“He loved sports and being outside more than anyone else I know,” Carney said. “The fact it is coinciding with the Indians being in the World Series would put a big silly grin on his face.”
The organizers of the Danstravaganza planning crew want to thank the bands for playing and the venues — Tangier and Musica — along with the music fans.
Van Auken Field features a black-top oval track, par-course exercise stations in its center, some benches and a sign bearing Van Auken’s picture.
There will be refreshments and remarks from two of his friends and co-workers who also spearheaded the effort — Central Intermediate Principal Joanne Gahan and school counselor Vicky Albanese.
Pub to prog rock
This weekend, two classic rockers from overlapping eras, but very different scenes and sounds, will be in Akron.
First up is Elvis Costello who is playing Friday night at the Akron Civic Theatre.
The former “angry young man” and pub rocker with a punk attitude and a penchant for rapier-like wordplay and razor-sharp verbal talons in his lyrics has turned into an erudite, jazz- and soul-infused composer, multi-Grammy winner, rock hall inductee, music talk show host, Mr. Diana Krall and author.
Costello, 62, has a new memoir out that he’d like you to purchase and presumably read called Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink.
I haven’t read it, but it claims to explore “the private and emotional foundation of his music, and the influence of three generations of his family’s history upon both the artist and the man.”
OK, heavy stuff.
Also in the book, Costello “provides a unique, incidental survey of modern pop history, as he shares anecdotes about his many illustrious collaborators and reflects on the vagaries of fame.”
It’s always interesting to read backstage musician interactions and because a lot of non-rich-and-famous-folk don’t want to hear that being rich and famous is anything other than completely awesome all the time. Often I find those same non-rich-and-famous folk will harangue any rich-and-famous folk who shares such misgivings as ungrateful whiners (particularly athletes, it seems) who should have absolutely nothing to complain because, they can pay all their bills and people know who they are about which is just dumb.
But I digress.
Costello is still touring with the Imposters, featuring drummer Pete Thomas and keyboardist Steve Nieve, who were members of his original band.
The Attractions’ (plus bassist Davey Faragher) current tour is dubbed “Imperial Bedroom & Other Chambers” and features songs from Costello’s critically acclaimed 1982 album Imperial Bedroom, which found him musically and lyrically branching out from the guitar- and farfisa-driven, angry-young-pub-rocker thing into Bacharach/David influenced song forms and arrangements, and contains a few EC classic tunes including Beyond Belief, Little Savage and the ballads Almost Blue and Kid About It.
In an interesting twist on the “in it’s entirety” trend that took hold a few years ago, Costello is not simply playing the album in order. Rather, he’s playing songs from the album but also songs that, per the news release, “led in and out of that velvet-trimmed playhouse.”
He’s such a silver-tongued devil.
The set list has been varied but consistently 25 songs strong. Besides the Imperial Bedroom tunes, it is peppered with a few of the expected hits such as Watching the Detectives, Alison and Pump It Up.
The other classic rockers ... errr ... rocking through Akron are Anderson, Rabin & Wakeman, who will perform Saturday night at Goodyear Theater. Prog-rock fans will instantly recognize them as three cats who were in Yes.
Joining forces are classic-era singer John Anderson, keyboardist and apparent wizard Rick Wakeman (a buddy of mine saw them a few weeks ago and said the white-bearded Wakeman is still rocking the full cape as he did in the 1970s) and guitarist Trevor Rabin, who was the driving force behind the band’s early 1980s comeback and commercial zenith that produced the reverb-drenched hit Owner of a Lonely Heart.
The three ex-Yes men augmented with two dudes who were never in Yes are primarily playing a bunch of Yes tunes from the ’70s, so old-school fans don’t have to worry about having their prog-rock reverie interrupted by Leave It.
New shows
Anyone still crying into his or her puffy-sleeved shirt about missing the fine Morrissey show at the Akron Civic Theatre last year can wipe off the runny mascara and take heart, because Moz is coming back to Northeast Ohio on Nov. 25 at the State Theatre at Playhouse Square in Cleveland.
Wow, an artist not named Rundgren, Brickman or (smooth jazz saxophonist here) returning two years in a row. It must be part of the New City of Champions Effect. Also coming is former arena-grunge-lords Bush who will perform Jan. 1 at the Hard Rock Rocksino Northfield Park in Northfield.
Remember when they were one of the biggest bands in the world? I’m not just being snide — although Bush did suck mightily even in their “we can play barre chords in Drop D tuning, too!” salad days.
No, it’s just a reminder that every band that once ruled the rock world will eventually compete with slot machines, old ladies with leashes on their purses and cheap well drinks if they stay on the road long enough.
Another case in point, ZZ Top is coming to Hard Rock Rocksino on Feb. 25.
Hey, remember when ZZ Top was one of the biggest bands in the ... oh, never mind.
Tickets for Bush and ZZ Top go on sale Friday.
Go teams!
Go Cleveland Cavaliers!
Go Cleveland Baseballers!
And remember, even if the Baseballers win it all and bring yet another big metal statue covered in random people’s fingerprints and lip prints, we still have the 0-forever Browns to keep us collectively grounded.
Yeah, sports.
Malcolm X Abram can be reached at mabram@thebeaconjournal.com or 330-996-3758. Read his blog, Sound Check Online, at www.ohio.com/blogs/sound-check, like him on Facebook at http://on.fb.me/1lNgxml and/or follow him on Twitter @malcolmabramABJ .