Cleveland this week: Small Brown Bike, The Menzingers and a punk-heavy week

Two Grog Shop nights, a Menzingers bill with Hot Water Music, Journey downtown and a Sunday split between Lakewood rooms.

If you only see one Cleveland show this week, make it one where the crowd shouts the words back. There are plenty of those. Wednesday alone has three shows worth leaving the house for, and by Friday, House of Blues has a punk triple bill that could have come from a 2000s mixtape.

Here's how the week lays out.

Wednesday, Nov 11 — Small Brown Bike with The Casket Lottery, Grog Shop, Cleveland Heights, 7pm. This is the pick of the week if you came up on Midwest emo, and the Grog is the right room for it. The club has been at 2785 Euclid Heights Blvd. since it lost its old Coventry Road lease. Owner Kathy Blackman also runs B Side Liquor Lounge, and the place has been a Heights fixture for more than three decades.

Wednesday, Nov 11 — Palace, House of Blues, 7pm, $42–$159.30. This is the moody, spacious option downtown on the same night.

Wednesday, Nov 11 — Grayscale, Treelawn Music Hall, 7pm. The pop-punk alternative on the West Side, at the same time.

Thursday, Nov 12 — Journey, Rocket Arena, 7:30pm. The arena singalong of the week. You know which song closes the night.

Thursday, Nov 12 — The Slackers, Grog Shop, 8pm, $31.87. It's the Grog's second strong night in a row. Ska in a sweaty club on a Thursday is hard to beat.

Friday, Nov 13 — The Menzingers with Hot Water Music and Weakened Friends, House of Blues, 6pm. The early start is real, so don't miss Hot Water Music. The Philadelphia band is touring *Everything I Ever Saw*, its eighth album, out in July on Epitaph, and the run goes through clubs and theaters across the U.S. and Canada this fall.

Sunday, Nov 15 — Hellripper, Mercury Music Lounge, Lakewood, 7pm. It's on a bill the ticket page lists with Havok, Slackjaw and Xoth. Speed metal to close out the weekend.

Sunday, Nov 15 — Sunday Cruise with Arcadia Grey and Friend, Mahall's 20 Lanes, Lakewood, 7pm. The gentler Lakewood option the same night. Bowling optional.

It's a punk-and-emo week more than anything, and that's a good fit for a city whose clubs have always looked after that crowd. The Menzingers bill is the big one. The Small Brown Bike and Casket Lottery double bill is the one longtime fans will spend the next month telling you they went to.

Wednesday alone has three shows worth leaving the house for.

Pace yourself. The Grog has you two nights running, Friday starts at six, and Sunday has you in Lakewood deciding between a thrash pit and a bowling alley. That's not a bad week to have.

Sources: The Menzingers release ‘Everything I Ever Saw’ — WHYY (whyy.org); The Menzingers announce tour with Hot Water Music, Weakened Friends — BrooklynVegan (brooklynvegan.com); The Menzingers just announced a 2026 North American tour — Vice (vice.com); Grog Shop — Cleveland Historical (mail.clevelandhistorical.org); Grog Shop interview with Kathy Blackman — The Vindi (thevindi.com); Grog Shop celebrates 28 years of live music — Cleveland 19 (cleveland19.com); Havok, Hellripper, Slackjaw, Xoth at The Mercury Music Lounge — TicketWeb (ticketweb.com)