Music: Javier Mendoza
Javier Mendoza has become a pretty big deal at home in St. Louis. He’s built a loyal fan base that packs his club appearances to capacity, and local media have taken notice, showering him with deserved acclaim and appropriate accolades. Well, almost appropriate. “I’ve had this stereotype because of my name, so I’ve gotten ‘Latin’…
Events: Newport Gangster Tour
Newport’s kings of crime are back with the 2010 installment of the Newport Gangster Tour. Learn about the sordid history of Cincinnati’s south-of-the-border playground on this 90-minute, six-block walking tour. It’s an offer you can’t refuse. Admission is $15. Tours are 1 and 5 p.m. Saturdays through October. Get event details here.
A Nightmare on Elm Street (Review)
If you’re going to remake a classic of the teen-slasher genre, especially one with a villain sporting a broadly wicked tongue-in-cheek sense of humor, Jackie Earle Haley seems like a razor-sharp choice as Freddy Krueger, the ultimate dream warrior. But you should make sure you cue him in to the notion that you want him…
Arts: Works from the Gallery Collection at Carl Solway Gallery
I have my special reasons for liking the current show at Carl Solway Gallery, Works from the Gallery Collection. I discovered there that I owned a print by the late Bob Stanley, a pop artist who used images of contemporary music stars decades before Shepard Fairey. I had picked up the print at a deaccession…
Music: Frightened Rabbit
There's much anticipation about Scottish Indie Rock band Frightened Rabbit’s first-ever Cincinnati-area concert Thursday at the Southgate House. Since their first U.S. tour in 2007 — and especially since the recent release of their third studio album, The Winter of Mixed Drinks — the five-piece band has been earning lots of mentions as the next…
Comedy: Greg Warren
Performing in Cincinnati is a sort of homecoming for comedian Greg Warren, a St. Louis native. “It’s one of the three or four towns I’ve lived in,” he says. “I know where everything is, where to go, I have friends there. It’s like another home to me.” The former P&G employee came here from Houston…
Events: Appalachian Festival
Celebrate Mother’s Day weekend with this annual family-friendly festival. The 41st annual Appalachian Festival brings the cultural traditions of Appalachia to Coney Island with down-home crafts, storytelling performances, traditional dance performances, home-cookin’ and live music from bands like Joe Mullins & the Radio Ramblers, Calamity Rain, Wild Carrot & The Roots Bands, Rabbit Hash String…
Dance: Cincinnati Ballet’s The Sammy Project!
Cincinnati Ballet tops off its 2009-10 season with The Sammy Project!, a lively mixed bill that promises to please. Spanning a repertoire of wildly diverse styles, the trio of works showcases the dancers’ ever-expanding, far-reaching talents. Legendary choreographer Twyla Tharp’s much-lauded In the Upper Room (the third Tharp piece the Ballet has presented) brings hyperkinetic…
Events: Bike Plan Open House
May is Bike Month! This week you can check out the future of riding in Cincinnati and give your two cents at the City of Cincinnati Bike Plan Open House 6:30-8:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Clifton Cultural Arts Center. Get event details here. Read about the development of the city's bike plan here.
Art: Coming Home Late or Not At All at Museum Gallery/Gallery Museum
Museum Gallery/Gallery Museum, the newish collective-run gallery space in Over-the-Rhine's Pendleton District, is operated by seven or so artists who are or have been connected to the MFA program of UC's DAAP. One of the space’s curators, photographer Amanda Aton, is hosting an exhibition of her own recent photographs at the gallery this Friday. Coming…
Music: Leon Russell
Words like “icon” and “legend” get thrown around much too liberally regarding musicians, but the terms fit Leon Russell like a well-tailored suit. With his Oklahoma drawl, rollicking barrelhouse/Delta Blues piano-style and inspired songwriting talent, he was custom built for Rock success in the ’60s and ’70s. This could wind up being a big year…
Art: max at The Mockbee
If you like the photos you see in the pages of CityBeat, then you’ll probably like max, a one-night photography exhibit from 7 p.m.-midnight Friday at The Mockbee featuring more than a handful of CityBeat photographers (Scott Beseler, Cameron Knight, Joe Lamb, Brian Leckrone and Jesse Reed) working in both traditional and digital formats. The…
Onstage: The Eyes of Oedipus
Poor Oedipus, so twisted up that his name became a label for some very bad behavior. But he started out as royalty and was the subject of plays by Sophocles some 2,500 years ago in ancient Greece. The primal and compelling tale of his rise and fall has fascinated theatergoers for millennia and it’s kept…
Events: Second Sunday in OTR
Downtown’s popular Second Sunday on Main events have changed their name to “Second Sunday in OTR” in order to include Main, Vine and other surrounding areas between 12th and 14th streets. It will still remain the “hip, eclectic neighborhood event” it’s always been with a couple changes: The beer Garden and live music will move…
Full Lineup for MidPoint Indie Summer
Several of the national/international acts booked for the upcoming MidPoint Indie Summer concert series (where three bands play for free on Fountain Square every Friday throughout the summer) were announced recently at the MidPoint “Reveal Showcase” at the Contemporary Arts Center. Now we can unveil the full lineup of Indie Summer headliners, a great batch…
Music: Shiny and the Spoon
The Southgate House’s “Artist in Residence” series — featuring a local band performing a free show each Wednesday of the month in the venue’s Juney’s Lounge — spotlights ukulele-lovin’ Roots/Folk/Pop duo Shiny and the Spoon for the month of May. Amber Nash and Jordan Neff will team with a different artist each Wednesday this month.…
Events: Bike and Plant Sale
If you need a new (to you) set of wheels or some greenery, head to the Mobo Bicycle Cooperative’s used bike sale and Village Green plant sale Saturday, running 10 a.m.-4 p.m. at the Village Green in Northside. Get event and venue details here.
Music: Harlem
Harlem answers the unasked question of what Vampire Weekend would sound like if they’d been obsessed with ’60s Brit Garage Pop, Buddy Holly and The Modern Lovers instead of a preppy vision of Pavement, or maybe The Strokes if they’d come from urban roots in an environment with actual garages. In fact, even though they’ve…
Lit: The Ohio Festival of the Short Story
A festival of the short story? That’s the best idea I’ve heard in a long time. Seriously. Better than the iPad. Organized by some grad students in the University of Cincinnati’s English department, this impressively curated two-day smorgasbord kicks off 2 p.m. Friday with a panel discussion and readings by four UC grads with freshly…
Otto-matic for the People
Molly Thompson is originally from Paris, Ky. She started waiting tables at Otto’s, a wonderful bistro in MainStrasse owned and operated by Paul Weckman and Emily Wolff, and worked her way into the kitchen in 2008. She graduated from the Midwest Culinary Institute at Cincinnati State in April. CityBeat: Are you glad to be out…
Babies (Review)
Thomas Balmes’ documentary Babies takes viewers on a global cross-cultural journey inside the experiences of four newborns from Namibia to Mongolia to Tokyo to San Francisco. Trailers for the film have focused on the humorous interplay between one of the titular babies, Ponijao from Namibia (pictured), who sits next to a slightly older baby banging…
Events: Click*
The Cincinnati Art Museum’s current exhibit, Starburst: Color Photography in America 1970-1980, is coming to a close. In honor of its departure, CAM is hosting Click*, a young professionals party, from 8-11 p.m. Friday to celebrate the amazing works. The party will showcase the photographs and feature live music, entertainment, food and drink. A special…
Digging and Dogging: Election Day
Digging Ohio's primary election today. Everyone's expecting low turn-out, which only makes your vote even more valuable. If you're not sure what's on the ballot, check out CityBeat's roundup of election coverage for background on the U.S. Senate Democratic primary, the Democratic and Republican primaries for Hamilton County Commissioner, Issue 1 and more. Dogging David…
Mr. Creosote Judges the Best of Taste
Have you ever felt like Monty Python’s Mr. Creosote, the bloated epicurean who explodes in a gory mess when he surrenders to the inducements of an evil maitre d’ offering him a “wafer-thin mint” after a laughably enormous feast? Well, that’s how I feel right now. Don’t move me; I might burst. Why? Well, let…
Between a Rock and a Latin Place
Javier Mendoza has become a pretty big deal at home in St. Louis. He’s built a loyal fan base that packs his club appearances to capacity, and local media have taken notice, showering him with deserved acclaim and appropriate accolades. Well, almost appropriate. “I’ve had this stereotype because of my name, so I’ve gotten ‘Latin’…
Angelic Doubleheader
Considering Know Theatre of Cincinnati’s 10-year track record of bold moves and departures, their doubleheader staging of Tony Kushner’s Angels in America: Millennium Approaches and Angels in America: Perestroika should come as no surprise. Who else? Who better? Recall, please, Know’s Corpus Christi (Jesus and the Apostles as gay men in Texas), Thrill Me (an…
Harlem
Harlem answers the unasked question of what Vampire Weekend would sound like if they’d been obsessed with ’60s Brit Garage Pop, Buddy Holly and The Modern Lovers instead of a preppy vision of Pavement, or maybe The Strokes if they’d come from urban roots in an environment with actual garages. In fact, even though they’ve…
Shiny and the Spoon
The Southgate House’s “Artist in Residence” series — featuring a local band performing a free show each Wednesday of the month in the venue’s Juney’s Lounge — spotlights ukulele-lovin’ Roots/Folk/Pop duo Shiny and the Spoon for the month of May. Amber Nash and Jordan Neff will team with a different artist each Wednesday this month.…
Buzz Bunny
Those with long memories might remember the April date in 1981 when a young Irish band called U2 played Bogart’s in Corryville in support of their debut album, Boy. There was already a developing buzz about this group, which had risen from the New Wave of Alternative Rock then sweeping Great Britain and Ireland, and…
Leon Russell
Words like “icon” and “legend” get thrown around much too liberally regarding musicians, but the terms fit Leon Russell like a well-tailored suit. With his Oklahoma drawl, rollicking barrelhouse/Delta Blues piano-style and inspired songwriting talent, he was custom built for Rock success in the ’60s and ’70s. Russell began playing Tulsa nightclubs when he was…
Appalachian Festival Featuring Joe Mullins & the Radio Ramblers, Calamity Rain, Wild Carrot & The Roots Bands and More
Celebrate Mother’s Day weekend with this annual family-friendly festival. The 41st annual Appalachian Festival brings the cultural traditions of Appalachia to Coney Island with down-home crafts, storytelling performances, traditional dance performances, homecookin’ and live music from bands like Joe Mullins & the Radio Ramblers (pictured), Calamity Rain, Wild Carrot & The Roots Bands, Rabbit Hash…
Lessons from Bold Fusion
The Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber embraced the YP concept several years ago in the wake of Richard Florida’s “creative class” discussion, which really hit home here because it crystallized the problem Cincinnati and other “uncool” cities face in stemming the brain drain of talented young people leaving to advance their careers elsewhere. The Chamber created…
Friday Movie Roundup: Good, Bad & Ugly
A “re-imagining” of A Nightmare on Elm Street opens this week. Really? The original Freddy movie, which is now best known as Johnny Depp’s first big-screen role, not to mention its endless (and endlessly lame) sequels? —- And onetime Bad News Bear Jackie Earle Haley, recently resurgent via memorable turns in Little Children and Watchmen,…
Brunner Makes Local Stops
With just five days left until the primary election, Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner is touring the state in her converted school bus, “the Courage Express,” for some last-minute campaigning in her U.S. Senate bid. Brunner made local stops at Take the Cake in Northside, Keller’s IGA in Clifton and Fountain Square downtown.—- Although…
Furry Vengeance (Review)
Movies in which animals with computer-manipulated faces get involved in slapstick, groin-crushing, scatological mischief are grueling enough; throw in pretentious and hypocritical moralizing, and they become utterly insufferable. And this is family filmmaking! Brendan Fraser plays Dan Sanders, a real-estate executive who moves his wife (Brooke Shields) and teenage son (Matt Prokop) from Chicago to…
Cirque du Soleil: Alegria (Review)
Critic's Pick Going to a Cirque du Soleil show is an opportunity to enter an alternate universe, a place skillfully and imaginatively conceived that resembles a dream more than waking reality. And yet it’s also rooted in an everyday world that’s not hard to connect to: clowns, music and acrobats. Alegria, the 16-year-old touring show…
Celtics vs. Cavaliers: The Sequel
The NBA Finals might be weeks away, but a rematch of last year’s NBA semifinals matches familiar faces. Here are four things to ponder during the Celtics-Cavs series before — presumably — one team continues its advancement to the Finals. Celtics vs. LeBron JamesThe most current concern in the city of Cleveland is if the…
MidPoint Indie Summer Lineup Coming Soon
Several of the national/international acts booked for the upcoming MidPoint Indie Summer concert series (where an average of three bands team play for free on Fountain Square every Friday throughout the summer) were announced a week ago at the MidPoint "Reveal Showcase" at the Contemporary Arts Center. Check out a review of the Reveal concert…
Stage Door: Cirque Dazzles in Northern Ky.
There are tons of choices this weekend if you're looking for onstage entertainment. And there's not a bad choice to be made. But if you want something quite different from the usual theatrical offerings, take I-471 to Northern Kentucky University and see Cirque du Soleil's Alegria, a well-established arena show that's traveled to five continents…
Fine Arts Fund Scores Big
The Fine Arts Fund announced Thursday night that donors gave $11 million for the arts in its annual fundraising campaign, an amount equal to 100 percent of the contributions in 2009. That met the goal set for this year and is more than any other such campaign in the nation, according to the FAF.—- Further,…
Chabot Does Care, At Least Once
CityBeat stands corrected. In this week’s Porkopolis column, which examines political fallout from the health care reform vote last month by U.S. Rep. Steve Driehaus (D-Price Hill), we said Steve Chabot — Driehaus’ predecessor and current opponent — hadn’t done much during his 14 years in Washington to improve access to affordable health care.—- Specifically,…
Live Review: Angels & Airwaves at Bogart’s
So this is how the music industry works in the 21st Century: Without a hint of radio support, Angels and Airwaves (AVA) with opening act Say Anything got 1,500 faithful fans to show up for a Rock & Roll show here in Cincinnati. Thank you, Mr. Internet.—- About a half a dozen songs into their…
Morton’s Dogfish Head Hoppy Hour
When Sam Calagione opened Dogfish Head in 1995, it was the smallest commercial brewery in America, making just 10 gallons of beer at a time. Today, Dogfish Head is among the fastest growing breweries in the country and known for their strong, exotic beers. On Friday, May 7, at 6 p.m., Morton’s (441 Vine Street…
Jeffre Files Ethics Complaint
That didn’t take long. Less than 48 hours after it was revealed that the Ohio Ethics Commission issued an advisory opinion last year stating Cincinnati City Councilman Chris Bortz shouldn’t take part in decisions about a proposed streetcar project, a formal complaint has been filed with the commission.—- Justin Jeffre, a local progressive activist and…
Ohio’s May 4 Primary Election
Ohio's primary election is Tuesday, May 4. Polls are open 6:30 a.m.-7:30 p.m. Have voting questions? Check out the Hamilton County Board of Elections. Get ready to cast your vote by following the links to CityBeat's coverage of key races and issues you'll see on the ballot: • Democratic primary for U.S. Senate between Ohio…
Music: WKNU Turns 25
Northern Kentucky’s all-music public radio station WNKU (89.7 FM) is celebrating its 25th anniversary in style with a series of concerts throughout the spring and summer. The station’s official birthday is Thursday, and the crew will all be on hand at the Cincinnati Zoo’s “Tunes & Blooms” show featuring Jake Speed & The Freddies and…
Lit: James Greer
James Greer has led a curious life. He first surfaced as an editor and writer at Spin during the magazine’s early-’90s apex, a period that coincided with the so-called “Alternative Rock” revolution. Greer then pulled off many a music journalist’s wet dream: He dated Dayton native/ Indie Rock heroine Kim Deal around the same time…
Music: Jason Wells and Sleepybird
Jason Wells of For Algernon is one of the finest young, subtle songwriters in our area thanks to his emotive, honest approach, which always reveals the edges of the human condition in a way that leaves you wondering if Wells has been reading your diary. Inspired by collaborations with one of Dayton’s finest bands, Sleepybird,…
Music: Josh Eagle
Local singer/songwriter Josh Eagle is preparing to release his latest album (and first with his excellent band The Harvest City, which features Tommy Cappel, Jeremy Smart and Mark Becknell) Sunday with an unique, early-start CD release party at the 20th Century Theater in Oakley. The band’s rootsy, rockin’ Show Your Teeth — which showcases Eagle’s…
Music: Hands Across Basements
The third annual "Hand Across Basements" fest — which features numerous local and national bands, mostly of the Punk/Hardcore/Post Punk variety, performing “basement shows” at various “unofficial” venues — returns this week. Locals performing at the Thursday-Saturday fest include The Dopamines, Paralyzer, Knife the Symphony, Realicide, Defective Males, Loudmouth, Fucked for Life and The Buster League.…
Bortz and the Letter
As anyone who viewed The Enquirer’s Web site Tuesday night or read the newspaper this morning knows, Cincinnati City Councilman Chris Bortz received an advisory opinion from Ohio ethics officials last year indicating he shouldn’t participate in any decisions about the proposed streetcar project. Although CityBeat asked Bortz last week about any potential conflicts of…
Immersion Methods
“Chicken! Fingers!” Jen exclaims loudly, her finger jabbing the menu, as she glares up at our server. The server patiently repeats Jen’s order back to her, in Russian, scribbling in beautiful, loping, characteristically Eastern European swirls. This is America, we speak American? No, this is Moscow, 1998. We speak … whatever the hell we want,…
Roky Erickson, Apples in Stereo, Ozomatli, Shelby Lynne and Matt Pond PA
Another week, another teetering pile of releases to consider. I’ve already run seriously short on time again for this posting due to accumulating deadlines and last-minute assignments from a variety of sources. Good for my bottom line, bad for my schedule. But before we get to this week’s reviewage, some quick points. • I had…
Springtime Avalanche of Theater
Actors and stages and shows … oh, my! April has offered Cincinnatians several unparalleled weeks of “We’re off to see the theater.” No matter which yellow brick road you followed, it likely led to a stage with an excellent production. Let me recap…. Know Theatre of Cincinnati led off with Tony Kushner’s Pulitzer Prize and…
New Sensory Lures of Downtown Lunching
I was walking up Vine Street downtown on a beautiful spring day, when I was grabbed and dragged onto Garfield Place. In broad daylight! By barbecue smoke! Oh readers, I’ll tell you, it wasn’t pretty — but it was completely irresistible. Seriously, I was headed north on Vine, almost to the library, when the smell…
Failure Is Always an Option
James Greer has led a curious life. He first surfaced as an editor and writer at Spin during the magazine’s early-’90s apex, a period that coincided with the so-called “Alternative Rock” revolution. Greer then pulled off many a music journalist’s wet dream: He dated Dayton native/ Indie Rock heroine Kim Deal around the same time…
Don & Linda Outterson [Woodstone Creek]
Don Outterson is Cincinnati’s Willy Wonka of distillation. He and his enthusiastic wife, Linda, run Woodstone Creek, an urban winery and tasting room that’s also Ohio’s first mico-distillery. Their excellent vodka is widely available and Woodstone’s small-batch bourbon earned praise from whiskey authority Jim Murray (“Brilliant! What a wonderful whisky! A massive well-done for a…
April 21-27: Worst Week Ever!
WEDNESDAY APRIL 21 Anyone who has ever tried to plan a budget knows how complicated it can be with all the known costs, planned expenditures and bullshit Duke Energy fees unplanned expenses that affect what kind of lifestyle one can live. The Enquirer today reported that in balancing its 2010 budget Cincinnati City Council performed…
They’re All Losers!
[LOSER] SHERIFF RICHARD JONES: It plays well on Fox News and serves as a convenient outlet for some people’s misplaced anger, but the Butler County sheriff’s rigid, anti-immigrant attitude has just cost county taxpayers $100,000. The Sheriff’s Office agreed to pay $100,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by Luis Rodriguez, formerly of Lebanon, Ohio, stemming…
Wendy O Bobble, AC/DC and Joni vs. Bob
[HOT] Heads Will Roll (and Probably Bobble) There are only approximately 439 shopping days left until Christmas (right?), but we here at Minimum Gauge are just about to make your shopping list a little shorter, assuming your grandpa is a huge fan of controversial underground Punk Rock icons. And bobbleheads. Aggronautix, manufacturers of what it…
The Truth About Driehaus and Abortion
I wonder why people who often cite the Bible to justify their opposition to abortion have to knowingly distort or lie when campaigning against politicians they dislike. The latest example involves the Family Research Council and its $500,000 campaign to target 20 Democratic incumbents in Congress who supported the recent health-care reform bill, which was…
WNKU Celebrates the Big 25, a Phil Blank Doc and More New Albums
• Local singer/songwriter Josh Eagle is preparing to release his latest album (and first with his excellent band The Harvest City, which features Tommy Cappel, Jeremy Smart and Mark Becknell) Sunday with an unique, early-start CD release party at the 20th Century Theater in Oakley. The band’s rootsy, rockin’ Show Your Teeth — which showcases…
Suburbia
Penelope Spheeris knows youth culture. From her notorious Punk and Metal docs to big studio successes like Wayne’s World, she has made a mark as a filmmaker with an eye for the looks, tastes and attitudes of America’s young. Her second full-length film, the unjustly overlooked Suburbia, is anchored to this milieu with its spotlight…
Phish 3D
Phish 3D is opening nationwide Friday for an exclusive one-week run. Filmed in October 2009 at the band’s Festival 8, more than 40,000 fans watched as Phish combined two of their most beloved traditions: the multi-day festival and the Halloween album “costume.” The band’s highly anticipated "musical costumes" are concerts involving the performance of an…
