Skinny Lister with Flogging Molly and Dave Hause
Ever fantasize about vacationing in the serene English hillside — some innocuous, stone-cobbled, history-filled patch built on tiny mom-and-pop businesses and pubs packed with working-class men who want nothing more than to enjoy pints and camaraderie at night? If the answer is an affirmative, we're happy to introduce you to Skinny Lister, a vibrant, Punk-in-spirit…
Arturo O’Farrill Trio
Pianist Arturo O’Farrill was born to the manor as the son of Latin Jazz giant Chico O’Farrill, a legend whose influence continues to loom large nearly a dozen years after his passing. Born in Mexico and raised in New York City, O’Farrill learned his craft at the Manhattan School of Music, the Brooklyn College Conservatory…
Gringo Star
Calling your band Gringo Star is a surefire way to raise some eyebrows. Throw in the fact that your music immediately conjures the holy trinity of British Invasion bands (Beatles, Kinks and Stones, for those who need more clarity) and you’re doubly damned in the eyes of many purists. But this Atlanta-based trio, led by…
Left Lane Cruiser
The way a band responds to the handy, clichéd interview question of “Who has influenced your sound?” usually says a whole lot about its level of self-awareness. Read enough shout-outs to The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix and U2 by young groups whose music shows only the faintest of resemblance to those heavyweights and you…
Democrats Call for School Board President’s Resignation
Democrats are calling for the resignation of Ohio State Board of Education President Debe Terhar, who compared President Barack Obama to Adolf Hitler in a Facebook post. The Columbus Dispatch reported Terhar posted an image of Adolf Hitler on her personal Facebook page that read, “Never forget what this tyrant said: ‘To conquer a nation,…
Event: Bombs Away! Comedy Open Mic
Open Mic Comedy at Mayday promises to keep “Cincinnati funny.” Taking place every second and fourth Monday of the month, Open Mic Comedy is open to all comics who think they have what it takes to role over the crowds they are performing for. The cost? No big deal, just bringing a friend or two…
Event: Cincinnati Entertainment Awards
Anybody who’s made a trip or two to other midsized cities around the country knows that this town has its fair share of musical variety and originality, so it’s really no surprise that such hardy talents are vying for this year’s entertainment awards. But if the newbies on the block competing for the “New Artist…
Music: Hebrew Union College Holocaust Rememberance Concert
The Nazis nearly succeeded in obliterating what they deemed “degenerate” art and music, but over the past decade many works have been retrieved from the ashes. Hebrew Union College’s Concerts on Clifton series commemorates International Holocaust Remembrance Day with a concert of chamber works by victims of the Nazi and Soviet oppression. Internationally acclaimed pianist…
Music: CCM Goes to the Movies with Randy Edelman
The Oscars are a month away, but you can get in the mood at CCM when distinguished alum Randy Edelman takes the podium to conduct his best-known film scores featuring CCM’s Philharmonia Orchestra and Jazz Ensemble. An award-winning singer, songwriter, arranger and composer, Edelman started out working for James Brown at King Records and moved…
Event: Planned Parenthood Roe v. Wade 40th Anniversary Celebration
Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 Supreme Court case that legalized women’s right to have abortions, is arguably the most defining moment in the arena of women’s reproductive rights that most of us will experience in our lifetime. Thanks to a slew of increasingly loony remarks from the GOP over the past year, the women’s…
Art: 5K House Opening
Taking a cue from Gordon Matta-Clark, artists living in cities like Cincinnati with a surplus of affordable real estate can employ architecture as a legitimate (and provocative) medium — particularly if the artistic process involves not just deconstruction (a la Matta-Clark) but reconstruction. Local artist/builder Mark Dejong has thoughtfully restored one particular house in Camp…
Comedy: Nate Craig
“It’s more interesting when comics talk about their lives, I think,” says comedian Nate Craig. “I love hearing stories, so I try to tell them.” While the Wisconsin native, now based in L.A., has performed several times at Go Bananas, this will be his first time headlining. “The crowds are always great there. They’re true…
Music: Terrapin Flyer with Melvin Seals and Mark Karan
The end of The Grateful Dead, with Jerry Garcia’s 1995 death, didn’t do much to squash the band’s incredible popularity. To satiate some of that Dead thirst, various members from throughout Garcia’s and the Dead’s history have brought the legendary band’s spirit to that huge fan base on a fairly regular basis. Two Dead-affiliated artists…
Onstage: Freud’s Last Session
Ever eavesdropped on a conversation between two super-smart guys? Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati offers that opportunity with Freud’s Last Session. Set in 1939 on the eve of World War II, young theologian C. S. Lewis accepts an invitation to visit with esteemed psychoanalyst Dr. Sigmund Freud. Lewis is a devout Christian (he later authored The Chronicles…
Morning News and Stuff
Ohio State Board of Education President Debe Terhar posted an image of Adolf Hitler on Facebook that said, “Never forget what this tyrant said: ‘To conquer a nation, first disarm its citizens.’ — Adolf Hitler.” But the Cincinnati Republican, who was referencing President Barack Obama’s gun control proposals, now insists she was not comparing Obama…
Curmudgeon Notes 1.23.2013
• Enquirer reporter Sharon Coolidge’s use of open records law documented Cincinnati’s lax enforcement of lead paint removal orders. She told CityBeat that her coverage included positive impacts in addition to those above in my main column: The day after her story was published, Mayor Mark Mallory ordered health officials to explain why they hadn’t…
Study Finds Cancer Link Among Fernald Hourly Workers
More than 18 years later, Hamilton County’s Fernald Feed Materials Production Center is in the news again. This time, a study found a correlation between higher rates of cancer mortality and hourly workers, with some evidence of radiation causing intestinal cancer. The study from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) found salaried…
Morning News and Stuff
It’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day. On this day, it’s worth re-watching his I Have a Dream speech . Local governments are hopeful they won’t see big budget cuts in Gov. John Kasich’s 2014-2015 budget . Townships, municipalities and counties were economically hit by big cuts in the last budget. The local government cuts added…
Broadway in Cincinnati Announces What’s Coming in 2013-2014
Cincinnati will see the regional premiere of The Book of Mormon a year from now. The winner of nine Tony Awards will be the highlight of Broadway in Cincinnati's 2013-2014 season at downtown's Aronoff Center for the Arts. It's set for a three-week run, Jan. 7-26, 2014. A show described as "the funniest musical of all time" that was created…
Judge Explains Rape Flier Case Sealing in Deposition
If the adverse publicity from pleading guilty to a minor crime — say indecent exposure or public intoxication — is likely to cause you mental anguish, pray that you go before a judge like Robert Lyons in Oxford. Lyons is the Butler County judge who took the guilty plea from the former Miami University student…
Best of Cincinnati 2013
It's that time again! Welcome to the 17th annual Best of Cincinnati® readers choice poll, where your votes determine the area's best restaurants, bars, arts organizations, retail stores, services, parks, media personalities, sports teams, politicians, causes and urban experiences. (There’s so much great stuff in Cincinnati it takes a long time to debate all of…
Your Weekend To Do List: 1/18-1/20
Kick off the weekend with us as we present our New Music Showcase at Bogart’s. The bands nominated for CEA New Artist of the Year will each perform tonight and audience members will get to vote for their favorite. The lineup: Heavy Hinges (7:45-8:15p.m.), The Natives (8:30-9 p.m.), Public (9:15-9:45 p.m.), Jeremy Pinnell and the…
Walk The Moon Leak New EP Track
This coming Tuesday, RCA Records will release a new EP by Cincinnati AltPop quartet Walk The Moon. The Tightrope EP features the title track — WtM's current single from last year's self-titled LP — in its original form (check the music video here) and an acoustic version, plus new recordings of "Tete-A-Tete" and "Drunk in…
Morning News and Stuff
Ohio’s unemployment rate dropped to 6.7 percent in December, down from 6.8 percent in November, according to new numbers from the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. In comparison, the U.S. unemployment rate was at 7.8 percent in December. The amount of unemployed dropped from 391,000 to 388,000. Unfortunately, the amount of employed also…
Stage Door: Options Abound
An avalanche of theater heads our way next week — including the touring Broadway musical Memphis (not Million Dollar Quartet, as mistakenly published in last Sunday's Enquirer), the regional premiere of Freud's Last Session at Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati (not "Freud's Last Stand" as the same Enquirer piece labeled it — doesn't our daily paper employ…
Watch/Listen: CEA New Music Showcase Preview
The polls have closed on voting for the 16th annual Cincinnati Entertainment Awards, the ceremony/party for which returns to Covington's Madison Theater on Jan. 27. Indie Pop greats Culture Queer were added to the CEA performance lineup today, joining Bad Veins, Ricky Nye, Gold Shoes, The Dopamines, Jess Lamb and a special collaboration put together…
Music Tonight: Plume Giant, Happy Maladies and More
• Combining some of the idiosyncrasies of modern Indie Folk with uplifting Pop melodies, Chamber music arrangements and an Americana grab-bag of various other influences, the trio Plume Giant makes a glorious noise that is buoyed by the clever, collaborative songwriting, as well as the trio’s vocal chops, which add a slanted, colorful layer to…
Morning News and Stuff
Is the race for Ohio secretary of state already underway? Ohio Sen. Nina Turner, who is considering a run against Secretary of State Jon Husted in 2014, says she will introduce legislation to protect voters against Republican efforts to limit ballot access . She also criticized Husted for how he handled the 2012 election, which…
Wussy Says ‘Thanks!’ With Free Rarities Album
Cincinnati Rock foursome Wussy had its biggest year by far in 2012, as the band traveled extensively for the first time, securing some great opening slots on tours by The Afghan Whigs and The Heartless Bastards. The band also gained a fan base in the U.K., where the label Damnably Records issued an acclaimed compilation…
Hotter Than Hell’s Heavy Hinges
The New Artist nomination for Heavy Hinges might be the most ironic of this year’s slate of Cincinnati Entertainment Awards candidates. Heavy Hinges is a freshly minted group with a history that dates back to early 2012, making them among the newest of the New Artist nominees. But it’s the Gospelbilly/Blues unit’s veteran genealogy that…
That New Band Smell
A music scene is only as good as its new artists. That’s why covering and exposing new, original music has been a part of CityBeat’s mission since the paper began about 18 years ago. While the CityBeat music section often features articles on more established local acts that continue to do good work and occasionally…
Exploring the Country Side
These days, it’s more and more unusual to see a so-called “Country music band” that features a pedal steel guitar onstage. Or, if you do see a steel guitar in a mainstream Nashville Pop group, it is usually found way in the back where the instrument doesn’t get to cut the crust off the songs…
‘Girls’ Just Want To Have Funk
The band known as the DAAP Girls is made up of all guys, has barely anything to show as far as web-presence and has yet to release any music. Still, they have been chosen as a nominee for the Cincinnati Entertainment Awards’ New Artist of the Year, and rightly so, as the Girls are a…
A Hearty Heartless Return
T he Heartless Bastards were one of the most successful bands to come out of the Southwestern Ohio music scene nearly a decade ago. Signed to the respected Fat Possum label, the band’s albums created a national buzz, with praiseful write-ups and coverage from Rolling Stone, Village Voice and NPR, appearances at festivals like Bonnaroo…
An Unexpected Journey
For a band that started as a “lark,” Kelley Deal and Mike Montgomery’s R. Ring is evolving nicely. The duo — whose stripped-down, Folk-inflected approach is distinguished by Deal’s “iconic” voice — heads to Europe for a brief tour in March, which follows fruitful stops at various festivals in 2012. They’ve also confirmed that more…
Public’s Display of Affection
There’s a broad range of backstories behind the current crop of Cincinnati Entertainment Awards’ New Artist of the Year nominees. There are bands that have been around and have recently raised their profiles, as well as veterans who have been to this rodeo many times but find themselves in fresh circumstances that make them eligible…
Going Natives
Last year was a busy one for The Natives, collectively and individually. The Hip Hop aggregation released two new albums — their song-oriented debut Native America and its mixtape-styled follow-up Coup d’etat — as free downloads, maintained a high profile in the local club scene, produced a handful of videos for their tracks and nabbed…
Hall of Fame Voting Could Get Messy
The shutout in this year’s Baseball Hall of Fame voting was ugly, but the 2013 ballot and beyond could get downright messy. Although some of the game’s biggest names were on this year’s ballot, including the greatest hitter and greatest pitcher of my lifetime, no eligible player reached the 75 percent threshold by eligible voters…
A Knife to Remember
Singer/songwriter/guitarist Jason Snell approaches music and art with an open, collaborative spirit. Sometimes, it’s to his own creative detriment. In the late ’90s/early ’00s, Snell fronted Readymaid, an Indie Rock ensemble that featured six eager-to-contribute players and instrumentation that expanded to include trombone, French horn, various keyboards and seemingly whatever else the musicians could get…
Report: Charter Schools Evade Closure Laws
When an Ohio charter school consistently fails to meet academic standards, the state automatically shuts it down. It’s an aspect of Ohio law that’s touted as one of the toughest standards for charter schools in the nation, but a report from Policy Matters Ohio found some charter schools might be evading the rule altogether. In…
Northern Ohio Lawmaker to State: Intervene at Private Prison
Private prison critics have been proven right once again. Smuggling incidents are on the rise around Lake Erie Correctional Institution, which Ohio sold to the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) in 2011. In a letter to Gov. John Kasich’s northeast Ohio liaison, Conneaut Councilman Neil LaRusch asked Kasich to help after a rise in contraband…
Nickelback: More Popular Than Gonorrhea?
HOT Sell ’Phones The high-end headphones craze popularized by Dr. Dre’s Beats looks to only be getting bigger in 2013. Several other artists have entered the ’phone business, but it’s mostly hip hoppers like 50 Cent and Ludacris. At the recent Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, according to Billboard, some notable Rock & Roll…
Charges Dropped Against Miami Rape Flier Author
The case of a former Miami University student who pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct for posting a “Top Ten Ways to Get Away with Rape” flier in a dormitory bathroom just keeps getting more controversial. The controversy began Nov. 8, when Butler County Area 1 Court Judge Robert Lyons took the guilty plea and ordered…
(Lack of) Appreciation for the Complexities
I swear there are days when it would be best to turn off the television, stay away from computers, the Internet and smartphones, maybe just remain in bed with the covers firmly clasped over my head to silence the ignorant noise spewing out of the mouths (and from the furiously tweeting thumbs) of politicians, commentators…
Cincinnati vs. The World 01.16.2013
Colorado gun retailer Jax Mercantile has officially halted sales of assault rifles and high-capacity magazines in the wake of several mass shootings over the last several months: Company president Jim Quinlan has “no regrets” about the change, even though it’s angered a good chunk of customers and reduced profits. WORLD +1 The hotly debated unmanned…
Bank On It
J ohn Deatrick calls it the “Oscar” of planning awards. The city-county Banks project executive seems genuinely excited and proud to be part of the riverfront project receiving the American Planning Association’s (APA) 2013 National Planning Excellence Award for Implementation, announced Jan. 9. The award recognizes the project for converting “195 acres of a vast…
Worst Week Ever!: Jan. 9-15
WEDNESDAY JAN. 9 As a sign of growing maturity and responsibility, WWE! is going to refrain from making some sort of poop joke about the proposal to install new public toilets downtown. The solar powered, graffiti-proof units will be open around the clock, with the first to be installed at Findlay Market. According to the…
Mama
Writer-director Andrés Muscietti teams up with co-writer Neil Cross to expand his 2008 short about a pair of young sisters (Megan Charpentier and Isabelle Nélisse) found in a cabin in the woods after five years, who get placed into the custody of an uncle (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) and his wife (Jessica Chastain). The couple begins to…
Morning News and Stuff
City Council wants to do more research before it proceeds with freestanding public restrooms in downtown and Over-the-Rhine. The vote has been delayed. Critics say the restrooms are too expensive at $130,000, but supporters, particularly Councilman Chris Seelbach, insist the restrooms will not be that expensive. A majority of City Council argues the restrooms are…
Broken City
The acting match-up in Broken City feels like an old school heavyweight title fight from back in the day when these things really meant something. The movie pits the over-confident champion (Russell Crowe as an embattled big city mayor) versus the brawling upstart challenger (Mark Wahlberg as a tough cop-turned-investigator) in a city mired in…
Cincinnati Entertainment Awards’ Lineup Announced
The polls have closed, so it’s time to start getting prepped for the 16th annual Cincinnati Entertainment Awards, which will once again honor the best of our local music scene with a shindig at Covington’s Madison Theater on Jan. 27. Actually, there is still one category left that you can vote in — “New Artist…
Girl Talk
People sure are concerned with Girls (9 p.m. Sundays, HBO) for a time when television is full of objectionable content — terrorists, gigolos, Bill O’Reilly, etc. For better or worse, Lena Dunham’s comedy has garnered a ton of attention since its premiere in April 2012. Despite ample criticism, the show has developed a loyal following…
Jacques Audiard’s New Drama Uncovers Wounded Souls in Harsh Conditions
Ali (Matthias Schoenaerts) epitomizes what we, Westernized, sheltered middle-class citizens, imagine when someone references brutes, bruisers or brutish behavior. Hip-Hop has glamourized “thugs” and “the thug life,” but Ali comes from a place where there is no glamour, where this reality is not a lifestyle choice. He works security to make ends meet and has…
The Real History of #yeswecanseco
Jose Canseco owes my friend Jarrett an apology and an audiobook. The former Major League Baseball player/steroid user/reality TV weirdo last March posted a series of tweets aimed at schooling all the “morons” who don’t believe in global warming. It was the beginning of a new era of attention for the former player best known…
‘We Can Fix This’
Seems thugs took “Pause for the Cause,” talk radio host Nathan Iverson’s Jan. 9 anti-violence tête-à-tête with Police Chief James Craig, as a green light and not the intended inward-looking, stop-the-insanity salve this city needs. Just two days later and in broad daylight, 29-year-old Omar Jackson racked up this year’s first homicide statistic by allegedly…
