The summer musical events on Fountain Square are kicking off a little earlier this year. (Blame global warming?) Tonight, local Salsa band Tropicoso kicks off the Salsa on the Square series, which runs each Thursday through Aug. 30 at 7 p.m. As usual, dance instructors will be on hand for tips and pointers. And, like all of the PNC Music Series concerts this summer, it's free. The rest of the PNC Music Series shows — including the Friday "MidPoint Indie Summer" concerts (which are especially strong this year) — begin the week after Memorial Day. Stay tuned for lineup announcements.If it were legal, you could bring a tent and camp out at the Fountain this weekend, because Friday and Saturday also will feature some solid local tunes. Tomorrow (Friday) is "4EG Square," sponsored by the 4EG group that owns nine local clubs (The Pavilion, The Stand, Lackman, etc.). Local Indie sensations Bad Veins is set to perform at the 5-10 p.m. event before taking off for a West Coast tour beginning next Friday. (The band has a live performance on KEXP slated for May 22 at 12:30 p.m. EDT.) DJ Matt Joy will be spinning and there will lots of food and drink specials, plus the promise of 4EG swag. Saturday on the Square you can sip wine and listen to live music from Jazz crews the Chris Comer Trio and Triage, plus Classic Rock/R&B headliners The Bluebirds. The Bella Vite Wine Tasting event offers 24 different wines to sample (at $1 a pop); tasters will then vote for their favorites. The event also runs 5-10 p.m.

Paste magazine's "50 States Project" series singling out some of the best music in all of the states in America today posted its list of Ohio bands. Three Cincinnati acts — Bad Veins (in at No. 1!), Walk the Moon and Pomegranates — made the cut. Here's the rundown of all the bands chosen in Paste's "10 Ohio Bands You Should Listen to Now." 1. Bad Veins (Cincinnati)2. The Black Swans (Columbus)3. Cloud Nothings (Cleveland)4. The Lighthouse and the Whaler (Cleveland)5. Nick Tolford and Company (Columbus)6. Old Hundred (Columbus)7. Phantods (Columbus)8. Pomegranates (Cincinnati)9. Southeast Engine (Athens)10. Walk the Moon (Cincinnati)Listen to a track from each band and read what Paste has to say about Ohio here.

You can get naked and wasted while checking out the music at this weekend's Coachella festival in California and not worry about footage of it being posted on YouTube by — irony alert! — watching the performers live from the festival on YouTube. The webcast kicks off today (in about six hours) through the Coachella channel on YouTube. First up is the reformed British band James; other shows being simulcast today include Neon Indian, Jimmy Cliff and Rancid's Tim Armstrong, Dawes (playing Taft Theatre June 6), Madness, Frank Ocean, Pulp, The Black Keys, Mazzy Star, Refused, Amon Tobin and M83. Broadcast highlights tomorrow include the sets of  tUnE-yArDs (performing at the CAC later this spring), Bad Veins tourmates We Were Promised Jetpacks, The Buzzcocks, Walk the Moon tourmates Kaiser Chiefs, Squeeze, Andrew Bird, St. Vincent (at Bogart's May 9), The Shins, Bon Iver and A$AP Rocky. Sunday's YouTube lineup includes Oberhofer and Santigold (both coming to town soon), as well as Fitz and the Tantrums, Black Flag legend Greg Ginn, The Hives, Justice, Beirut, Gotye and Modeselektor.

I may be imagining it (the eternal optimist that I am), but it seems like ever since the Southgate House locked its doors at the end of 2011, many in the local booking world stepped up their game instantly. Though it's only been just over a month, it certainly doesn't feel as if the Greater Cincinnati concert market has been gutted by the loss of that one great club. And with several spots slated to open later this year (new venues from the brains behind the Southgate and Mad Hatter, plus whatever happens to the actual Southgate House building), it only looks to be getting better. More good news on that front came out at the start of this week. On Feb. 10, an unexpected, big-time venue entered the mix — or rather, increased its presence in it. Downtown’s gorgeous Taft Theatre already this year announced some concerts by more “mid-level” groups like Trampled By Turtles and JJ Grey & Mofro, cult faves and Southgate alumni. Now, the Taft and promoter Music & Events Management Inc. are opening a new venue-within-a-venue that will allow the Taft to book artists who have outgrown small clubs but aren't quite ready for the big room. The Ballroom at the Taft — located in the theater’s lower level — was designed to be, according to the press release, “a showcase style club venue that will play host to a variety of live entertainment events spanning all types of styles and genres.”

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Northside's Chicken Lays an Egg, a gem in Cincinnati's growing collection of excellent vintage shops, hosts a Valentine fashion show featuring their retro-fab clothing, shoes and accessories Saturday at Northside Tavern.NST's back room will transform into a runway where you'll watch some local hottie patotties strut their stuff with hair designs by Northside Chop Shop. Kenneth Wright will DJ the show and ongoing dance party.Spot someone with the best moves you've ever seen? Send them a message via the valentine post office, and pose for pictures in a fabulous Flashbox photo booth. It all starts at 9 p.m., with the fashion show at 10 p.m.Afterward, party with Bad Veins, who perform at 11 p.m. The duo's album The Mess We've Made drops April 24. Get a peek at Chicken's fashion in Bad Veins' new video for "Dancing on TV." Some of the ensembles in the Soul Train-esque shots were provided by the boutique!

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