The fast-food experience often means a burger, a side of fries and some pop. But for the past year, pop has meant something very different at certain Cleveland West Side restaurants: pop-up concerts. And the organizers are beginning to branch out.
House sound on the Red Line
It was an early May afternoon on the Greater Cleveland RTA. The Brook Park Red Line station riders on this Sunday were buying their tickets to head downtown. Some were wearing Guardians ball caps, others were sporting Cavs jerseys.
Some were carrying audio gear.
Michael Smith from Cleveland was getting on board for a pop-up DJ set.
“This is the first train one," Smith said. "I'm hoping it's going to be as cool as it sounds, and I have all the faith in the world that it will be.”
He wasn't alone.
“My name is Kyle Keller. I just set this up just to be silly."
Keller carried a table with a battery-powered speaker and digital turntable. His expectations for the show?
“Like, literally, no idea," said Keller. "I put an ad up on Instagram, and I don't know how many of those people are actually going to show up.”
Kyle and seven others headed to the rear car to avoid detection by the crew. They did not ask the RTA ahead of time for permission. Once the doors closed, they set up a table, plugged in a turntable and the show began.
Most riders were bewildered. Each station brought a different group of commuters, some tried to ignore the music and others danced in the aisles.
This was not what Raquel from Lorain expected for her ride Downtown.
"I don't take the train so much. It's been years," Raquel said. "It's pretty cool. Different. Better than sitting on a quiet train ride."
Novelty, danger and excitement
This event was advertised on Instagram as Train Traxxx Vol. 1, one of many such shows that Mitch Freire and Patric Pariano put together. They started doing pop-up shows last year including two outside a Taco Bell.
"With the first Taco Bell one, we realized that there was a demand for something that has the novelty to it," Pariano said. "And I think there's danger and excitement in it as well."
Pariano said the music is usually a mix of punk and metal genres, specifically death metal and grindcore.
"It lights up every sense of survival instinct," Pariano said. "It goes into the realm of sometimes terror, sometimes horror, sometimes, being offended."
Typically, Pariano said, they try to get permission ahead of time. Their chosen venue might not give them an outright endorsement to do the show, but they tend to look the other way, he said.
Punk and metal fireworks
Their most recent backline gig was Memorial Day weekend on the Cleveland-Lakewood border in the parking lot of an Adultmart.
The crowd was a mix of young and old, donned in mostly black, though there were showgoers wearing chain mail and another wearing a witch’s hat.
Thomas Keller from Lakewood found out about this event via Instagram.
Keller said of his show expectations, "Dude, I hope it's crazy!"
Another concertgoer who said he goes by Grim sat on a hill overlooking the parking lot.
"I'm expecting chaos," Grim said. "Some heavy music...give me some fast snare, and I'll be happy."
The first act up to play that night called themselves Graveyard Demons. Bandmember Kevin Kozak said they are a trap-metal band that mostly raps.
"It's very influenced by, like, horror movies," Kozak said. "And I was a film student, so it's very influenced by, like, storytelling elements of movies and like how music, can evoke that."
The show began around 11 pm. An impromptu mosh pit formed in front of the stage.
Members of the crowd started tossing firecrackers into the pit. Smoke and cinders filled the air as the music played on. It’s not a scene you would expect on a Saturday night outside an Adultmart.
But then Cleveland police show up, the crowd dispersed. The fun was over.
Organizer Patric Pariano said he was happy with how the show went until it got shut down. As for what comes next?
"I'd love to play an amusement park or water park," Pariano said. "I'd love to do anything that would add that extra element of excitement and uncertainty and fun."
