Emily Real

I have no idea what a Monster Jam is.

I know its a touring show of monster trucks, which are huge, decorated, souped-up pickup trucks that are loud and have names like, “Grave Digger” and “Maximum Destruction.” On the internet, you can see videos of these trucks doing flips and jumping over cars and through flaming hoops.

It reminds me of a documentary on demolition derbys that I saw last semester, crossed with the Nascar race in Indiana that my dad dragged me to when I was 12… Show more

I have no idea what a Monster Jam is.

I know its a touring show of monster trucks, which are huge, decorated, souped-up pickup trucks that are loud and have names like, “Grave Digger” and “Maximum Destruction.” On the internet, you can see videos of these trucks doing flips and jumping over cars and through flaming hoops.

It reminds me of a documentary on demolition derbys that I saw last semester, crossed with the Nascar race in Indiana that my dad dragged me to when I was 12. I’m expecting a lot of drunk middle-aged white men with hairy beer guts. I’m expecting a lot of sweat. I’m expecting congealed nacho cheese and hot dog relish on the ground. I’m expecting to hear some country metal over the loudspeakers.

I imagine the vibe to be that of a Nascar race mixed with a tractor pull mixed with a metal concert. Show less

At first thought, the idea of having a resource officer in a high school may elicit notions of someone watching students closely, waiting to bust them for mischievousness

At least, that’s what some of the students, parents and staff at Upper Arlington High School thought when resource officer Jon Rice first took the job.

With Bridge Park making such a big splash in Dublin, organizations throughout the Historic Dublin and Bridge Park areas had to figure out how best to promote and market the new development in a way that would attract folks to the area.

After she graduates this spring, Pickerington High School North senior Breanna Wigington will be heading down to Ohio University with one heck of a résumé.

Over the course of her high school career, Wigington has immersed herself in a wide variety of programs, clubs, activities and interests, ranging from philanthropy, to science, to mathematics, to sign language, to theater.

Orchestra performances, even jazz orchestra performances, perhaps don’t immediately bring to mind loosened ties, dancing, drinking and jamming out in hotel lobbies.But with the Columbus Jazz Orchestra, not only do audiences get to hear a more structured and rehearsed onstage performance, as expected, they also get a chance to dance and jam with the players after the show.

Looking for a way to extend the evening and keep the party going after its Friday night performances, the orchestra… Show more

Orchestra performances, even jazz orchestra performances, perhaps don’t immediately bring to mind loosened ties, dancing, drinking and jamming out in hotel lobbies.But with the Columbus Jazz Orchestra, not only do audiences get to hear a more structured and rehearsed onstage performance, as expected, they also get a chance to dance and jam with the players after the show.

Looking for a way to extend the evening and keep the party going after its Friday night performances, the orchestra started putting on Friday night after-show jam sessions as a way to loosen up and play out the night with the audience. Show less

LEGO may be marketed primarily to a younger audience, but it’s definitely not just for kids anymore.

In fact, there’s a network of groups for adult LEGO builders that spans across the globe. One of those groups is located right here in central Ohio, and one of its most active members is a Dublin resident.

Eric Cacioppo is a husband, a father of three – son Sam and daughters Ellie and Annabella – and an art teacher at Robert Frost Elementary School in Westerville. He’s also the… Show more

LEGO may be marketed primarily to a younger audience, but it’s definitely not just for kids anymore.

In fact, there’s a network of groups for adult LEGO builders that spans across the globe. One of those groups is located right here in central Ohio, and one of its most active members is a Dublin resident.

Eric Cacioppo is a husband, a father of three – son Sam and daughters Ellie and Annabella – and an art teacher at Robert Frost Elementary School in Westerville. He’s also the ambassador and former president of Ohio LEGO Users Group, better known as OhioLUG. Show less

Shot photos and wrote captions for a concert review written by Matt Dorsey, another reporter for The Lantern.

During the week, the four men who make up Matter of Planets, a local progressive-metal band, look like pretty regular guys. Aside from a few piercings and gaping holes left behind from ear gauges, they work day jobs, have families and live normal lives.

But once Friday rolls around, the men of Matter of Planets transform into a touring metal band, making music and playing shows not just in Columbus, but also up and down the East Coast and Midwest.

A play about social justice and traditional holiday musical performances close out fall and usher in winter at Grandview Heights High School.

The Laramie Project, a play originally by Moisés Kaufman and members of the Tectonic Theater Project, depicts the reactions of the people of Laramie to the brutal murder of Matthew Shepard, a gay college student at the University of Wyoming. The play is a direct portrayal of real interviews that the production company held with members of the… Show more

A play about social justice and traditional holiday musical performances close out fall and usher in winter at Grandview Heights High School.

The Laramie Project, a play originally by Moisés Kaufman and members of the Tectonic Theater Project, depicts the reactions of the people of Laramie to the brutal murder of Matthew Shepard, a gay college student at the University of Wyoming. The play is a direct portrayal of real interviews that the production company held with members of the Laramie community in the wake of Shepard’s 1998 murder. Show less

We’re well into fall, and that means we’re well into prime time for warm beverages – and one type of warm beverage in particular. Perhaps no other modern-day drink is more ubiquitous in the fall season than Starbucks’ famous Pumpkin Spice Latte. But there are more exciting pumpkin drinks out there in central Ohio.

Melt Bar and Grilled, with locations in the Short North and Easton Town Center, has a variation that hews particularly close to its inspiration: the Meltbucks Iced Pumpkin… Show more

We’re well into fall, and that means we’re well into prime time for warm beverages – and one type of warm beverage in particular. Perhaps no other modern-day drink is more ubiquitous in the fall season than Starbucks’ famous Pumpkin Spice Latte. But there are more exciting pumpkin drinks out there in central Ohio.

Melt Bar and Grilled, with locations in the Short North and Easton Town Center, has a variation that hews particularly close to its inspiration: the Meltbucks Iced Pumpkin Spice Latte. Show less

When they remodeled the exterior of their home, one of the main things Westerville area residents Jeff and Darlene Kerr wanted was to bring their 1980s home into the 21st century.

New Albany company JetFuel Tech has developed wearable technology that can monitor and track real-time biometric data to help prevent injury, improve performance and provide data for long-term research for athletes, military personnel and others in the workforce who do high-impact jobs.

JetFuel produces wearables such as shirts, pants and sports bras that collect biometric data from a person as he or she plays a sport or does high-impact activities. The biometric clothing can then send… Show more

New Albany company JetFuel Tech has developed wearable technology that can monitor and track real-time biometric data to help prevent injury, improve performance and provide data for long-term research for athletes, military personnel and others in the workforce who do high-impact jobs.

JetFuel produces wearables such as shirts, pants and sports bras that collect biometric data from a person as he or she plays a sport or does high-impact activities. The biometric clothing can then send information straight to the Cloud or a smart device, so the feedback can be monitored. Show less

After a self-described period of spiritual awakening, a return to Columbus after college and a chance to fully focus on making an album, Columbus hip-hop artist Greg Owens has released an LP with a new sound and a newfound sense of vulnerability and empathy.

Owens’ latest LP, “Eclectic Soul,” is much more cohesive than his earlier self-titled project, “The Greg Owens Project.” His previous work, released in 2015 after Owens left Columbia College of Chicago and returned to Columbus,… Show more

After a self-described period of spiritual awakening, a return to Columbus after college and a chance to fully focus on making an album, Columbus hip-hop artist Greg Owens has released an LP with a new sound and a newfound sense of vulnerability and empathy.

Owens’ latest LP, “Eclectic Soul,” is much more cohesive than his earlier self-titled project, “The Greg Owens Project.” His previous work, released in 2015 after Owens left Columbia College of Chicago and returned to Columbus, featured tracks that he had written and recorded in 2011. Show less

Born out of jazz ensembles and a mind-numbing music theory class, newly-local indie rock band Ghost Soul Trio has integrated itself into the Columbus music scene, playing smaller venues across the city like Skully’s, Spacebar and Shrunken Head.

The band originally met in high school in Youngstown, but didn’t start working together as Ghost Soul Trio until 2015. While in high school, Joe Amadio, James Harker and Nate Gelfand played in school music ensembles before separating to go to… Show more

Born out of jazz ensembles and a mind-numbing music theory class, newly-local indie rock band Ghost Soul Trio has integrated itself into the Columbus music scene, playing smaller venues across the city like Skully’s, Spacebar and Shrunken Head.

The band originally met in high school in Youngstown, but didn’t start working together as Ghost Soul Trio until 2015. While in high school, Joe Amadio, James Harker and Nate Gelfand played in school music ensembles before separating to go to college, where Gelfand stayed in Youngstown, Harker went to Capital University and Amadio attended Ohio State. Show less

At 17 years old, Pickerington High School North senior Morgan McDonald has a pretty good idea of what she wants to do when she grows up.

Throughout her high school career, McDonald has immersed herself in art and volunteering in equal parts, doing a great deal of volunteer work with her church, participating in mission work in Cincinnati, working in suicide prevention and education, playing in her school’s touring chamber orchestra, and painting a mural honoring veterans for the American… Show more

At 17 years old, Pickerington High School North senior Morgan McDonald has a pretty good idea of what she wants to do when she grows up.

Throughout her high school career, McDonald has immersed herself in art and volunteering in equal parts, doing a great deal of volunteer work with her church, participating in mission work in Cincinnati, working in suicide prevention and education, playing in her school’s touring chamber orchestra, and painting a mural honoring veterans for the American Legion. Show less

Young the Giant, a five-piece indie band from Irvine, California, stopped off at Express Live on Sunday night as part of its “Home of the Strange” tour.

The band brought openers Joywave, a relatively new electronically influenced, alternative-rock band from Rochester, New York, and indie-rock veterans Cold War Kids, an offbeat, jazzy quintet from Long Beach, California.

Three years ago, a Queen cover band in Columbus was looking for a multi-instrumentalist, and Spacebar owner Ben DeRolph was up for the job.

Things changed, though, when DeRolph had a beer with friend and member of the band, Jacob Wooten, who owned a rock bar named Kobo. Wooten was planning on closing his music venue, but after a conversation with DeRolph, he ended up asking DeRolph if he wanted to buy it.

The owner of Lost Weekend Records in Clintonville is getting ready to release his first solo album at the end of September.

A longtime fan and member of the Columbus music scene, Kyle Siegrist said he was motivated by the chance to work with different local musicians.

After a seven-and-a-half year stint in nursing at Wexner Medical Center, local country artist Troy Alan Thrash left his nursing career in pursuit of his dream of becoming a professional musician.

Thrash started chasing his music career full-time in October. Since then, he has released his first single, “Edge of the World,” and recorded his first six-track EP, which is tentatively set to be released in March.