Memorializing with Permanent Marker

0 Comments

Tags:

At the Nov. 21 Cincinnati Entertainment Awards ceremony, Elliott Ruther from the Cincinnati USA Music Heritage Foundation announced one of the organization’s latest missions. While CUMHF has worked for the past couple of years trying to illuminate Cincinnati’s illustrious yet unheralded musical history (leading to historical markers being placed at the sites of groundbreaking King Records and Herzog recording studios), the latest venture to garner the org’s attention isn’t out to celebrate a magical homegrown institution that gave the world great music. But the Foundation’s declaration of support for the recently formed Who Concert Tragedy Memorial Committee (WCTMC) is in perfect line with CUMHF’s aims because the stampede before a 1979 concert by The Who that resulted in 11 fans being crushed to death remains one of the American concert industry’s darkest moments. It also had a huge impact on the industry, leading to a shift in how concerts are presented in the U.S. by bringing to light the need for more careful security and crowd control methods, particularly for non-ticketed “festival seating” events.

Headed up by Rick Schweitzer (who was at the concert), the WCTMC’s goal is to memorialize the 11 young victims with a permanent marker placed at the plaza level of US Bank Arena (then known as Riverfront Coliseum), where the horrible events of Dec. 3, 1979, unfolded. This Friday — the 31st anniversary of the tragedy — the Committee presents two events and will unveil plans for the marker.

Tweet
Share

PRINT COMMENT FONT SIZE RATE

At 7 p.m., 11 “Lanterns of Remembrance” will be lit at the site (between the arena and the baseball stadium) to honor the victims. At 8 p.m. inside the nearby Longworth Hall (700 W Pete Rose Way, Downtown), WNKU’s Craig Kopp (then with concert sponsor WEBN) discusses the night he covered the concert and ensuing mayhem; others will also share their experiences and thoughts on the new memorial.

Both events are free and open to the public. Look for the “Who Concert Tragedy Memorial” page on Facebook for the latest updates.

Blazing Comeback Trails Collide

Friday at the Northside Tavern is your chance to witness the latest phases of evolution in the rebirth of two bands with Cincinnati ties. The Long Gones reunited a couple of years ago for their first show in a decade. The powerful Garage Punk crew — which released a single and full-length on Shake It Records before folding in 1998 (a Long Gones compilation was issued by the label in 2008) — promised new music following the reunion and Friday the band issues its first new material in over a decade. The Tear You Apart 7-inch single — featuring recording help from members of The Greenhornes, Pearlene and Cut in the Hill Gang — contains three tracks and is being issued on limited-edition colored vinyl.

The Long Gones’ return two years ago put the band onstage with The Customs, the ahead-of-its-time group that laid the groundwork for a local Punk scene in the late ’70s and was also reuniting to celebrate a new re-issue. (The group’s most famous song, “Long Gone,” gave the younger band its name.) Fittingly, Peter Greenberg — guitarist for The Customs, as well as Boston pioneers DMZ and The Lyres — is playing Friday’s show with another reconstituted band from his past, the Soul Funk ensemble Barrence Whitfield and the Savages, which formed in Boston in the early ’80s. The modern Savages incarnation — featuring local musicians Jim Cole (also formerly of The Customs, as well as the like-minded Auburnaires) and Andy Jody (The Long Gones, Oxford Cotton) — is recording a new album in Covington for an overseas release in March with probable tour dates to follow. Between sessions, Greenberg (who also plays on the new Long Gones single) and the gang perform again on Dec. 11, doing two sets at The Comet in Northside.

CONTACT MIKE BREEN: mbreen@citybeat.com