Netflix Saved Our Bluths
The Arrested Development story is a TV nerd’s dream come true. A smart, quirky, new kind of comedy struggles to attract an audience. Despite being critically acclaimed, the series fails to draw in enough viewers (and playfully mocks its own demise) and gets canned after the third season. Like any movie or show that develops…
Back Again: Figurative Painting
We’ve been here before, but it wasn’t quite the same. The frequently sun-struck paintings in the engaging exhibition, Continuity and Change: The Return to Figurative Painting, now at Cincinnati Art Galleries, are the work of seven area artists — Emil Robinson, Rob Anderson, Linda E. Anderson, Aidan Schapera, Brian Burt, Tim Kennedy and Eve Mansdorf…
Handing Out Awards
The League of Cincinnati Theatres (LCT) presented awards for the 2012-2013 theater season on May 20 at Know Theatre, too late to report the results in this issue of CityBeat. So I want to offer some thoughts and my own choices. Life kept me busy this season, so I missed a few of LCT’s nominees.…
Beer Pairing Dinners
I’ve been to wine pairing and cocktail pairing dinners, but I just hit my first beer pairing dinner. I guess I’d never considered that with the variety of styles and flavor profiles available in beers now, there are enough subtle nuances to intrigue chefs and to bring out the best in their dishes. KungFood Chu’s…
Local Job Numbers Continue Positive Trend
Local joblessness fell sharply in April, continuing a positive trend as Cincinnati’s economy recovers from the Great Recession, according to new data from the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS). “We’re continuing to see the same positive trend at both the local level and the state level,” says Michael Jones, research director at…
I Just Can’t Get Enough
Happy YouTube Comedy Week! Celebs, comedians, YouTube sensations and other funny people have created a ton of content to unfurl daily through May 25. As if the Internet doesn’t provide enough distractions to laugh at throughout the workday. I recently watched Parks and Recreation in its entirety over the past two weeks, so if I…
Music: Summer Music Series on Fountain Square
Fountain Square’s multiple weekly summer music series kick-off Tuesday with the first American Roots show, featuring local performers who play everything from Bluegrass and Folk to Honky Tonk and Rockabilly. Every Tuesday through Aug. 27, starting at 7 p.m., catch a free show from the likes of Magnolia Mountain, the Kentucky Struts, The Tillers and more. …
Event: Betts Longworth Historic District Walking Tour
Architreks, a volunteer program of the Architectural Foundation of Greater Cincinnati and the Cincinnati Preservation Association, is leading a guided walking tour of the West End’s Betts Longworth Historic District. This narrow street of Italianate homes, 19th century farmhouses and early 20th century structures was once a quiet refuge from the bustle of the city…
Event: Taste of Cincinnati
Start summer off scrumptiously. The 35th annual Taste of Cincinnati will consume six blocks of Fifth Street on Memorial Day Weekend. The nation’s longest running culinary arts festival will feature eats from dozens of local signature restaurants in addition to continuous live entertainment. North Broadway transforms into Food Truck Alley; head over to try tantalizing…
Event: Memorial Day Weekend Salute
Celebrate and commemorate those who have served our country with a weekend of activities at the Arlington Memorial Gardens in Finneytown. Remembrances start Friday and go through the weekend with a daily moment of silence at 3 p.m., followed by the playing of “Taps,” including an observation of a national moment of remembrance at 3…
Music: Reggae Culture Splash 2013
The annual food/music fest Taste of Cincinnati — Cincy’s unofficial “start of the summer” — doesn’t begin until Saturday, but Friday you can get an outdoor music fix that couldn’t be more “summery.” Reggae Culture Splash 2013 goes down 7-10:30 p.m. Friday at Washington Park (1230 Elm St., Over-the-Rhine). The event features a stellar lineup…
Art: Brunch & Brilliant Brains at AEC
Your final opportunity to see photographer Peiter Griga’s QR-coded portraits of local entrepreneurs happens Friday at a closing reception for his exhibition QRtifacts at the Artisan Enterprise Center. Griga created alternative process photographs of area innovators from 10 tech startup companies including A Voice for the Innocent and We Have Become Vikings, that, when scanned from…
Comedy: The Midnight Swinger
It’s not often you get to see a comic who holds a world record. The Midnight Swinger, Dave Scott, recently broke the record for longest stand-up set: 40 hours and eight minutes. “I was celebrating my 20th year in the business,” he says, “and my manager and I were trying to figure out what we…
Literary: Sam Avery
The Keystone XL pipeline, which would run from Canada to Texas, has been a controversial proposition. Some believe it will add thousands of jobs and create a needed source of fuel. Others believe it will be an environmental hazard and provide far fewer jobs than would justify its downsides. Count Sam Avery among the latter. …
Attractions: Zoo Babies
Visit the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden through the end of May for a wholesome and family-friendly peek at the zoo’s newest (and youngest) arrivals. You’ll find these little ones throughout the park, indicated by large pink and blue stork statues near their individual habitats. Babies include Gladys the gorilla, Lulu the giraffe, Charlemagne the…
Morning News and Stuff
A tornado ravaged Oklahoma City suburbs yesterday, leaving dozens dead and more injured. Two of the buildings destroyed in the tornado’s path, which was one mile wide and 20 miles long, were elementary schools — one of which had children that may be trapped under the rubble. Public safety officials are still on the scene.…
WATCH: The National Does Letterman
Trouble Will Find Me, the new album from Cincinnati natives (now New York-based) Indie Rock crew The National, was released today in the U.S. on the 4AD label (it came out overseas yesterday). The band has already been busy with pre-promotion (profiles and reviews can be found from just about every major music press outlet),…
Seelbach Wins White House’s Champion of Change Award
The White House announced today that Councilman Chris Seelbach has won the Harvey Milk Champion of Change award, which recognizes 10 community leaders around the nation each year for a commitment to equality and public service. Seelbach, Cincinnati's first openly gay council member, won the award after he was nominated by the the Gay, Lesbian…
Andrew W.K.
In 2002, I interviewed Andrew W.K. about his debut full length, I Get Wet, famous for its cover shot of his hemorrhaging nose and ubiquitous hit single, "Party Hard." Back then, AWK was trying to bridge the gap between his slavishly loyal fans and the numerous critics who dismissed him as a mildly talented yet…
Simo
A good overzealous band bio can make for quite the unintentional treat. Take what Simo and/or its management cooked up when someone decided to go off the rails with the hard sell. According to the bio as it appears on the Southgate House Revival's page, Simo is “the new breed of modern Rock,” frontman and…
New Found Glory
New Found Glory is a rarity in contemporary music; a band that attains iconic status without succumbing to compromise or internal fracturing. The Florida quintet coalesced in 1997 when vocalist Jordan Pundik and guitarist Stephen Klein, high school pals at the time, paired up to write songs, with bassist Ian Grushka, drummer Joe Marino and…
Col. Bruce Hampton
About 10 years ago, Col. Bruce Hampton played the now-defunct Barrelhouse here in Cincy. After spending the afternoon with the Colonel, I attempted to get a message to local politician and entrepreneur Jim Tarbell, trying to get him to the show so he could reunite with the visiting guitarist and singer. In between Hampton’s first…
Research Group: U.S. Driving Boom Is Over
Americans are driving less, and fewer Americans are driving, according to a May 14 report from the U.S. Public Interest Research Groups (PIRG), an advocacy organization. For Cincinnati, the trend might justify a recent shift in public policy that embraces more transportation options, including more bike lanes and a streetcar. “Americans drive fewer total miles…
Morning News and Stuff
State Rep. Connie Pillich announced today that she will run for state treasurer , putting the Greater Cincinnati Democrat on a collision course with current Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel, a Republican who ran for U.S. Senate last year. Before becoming state representative, Pillich was in the Air Force, a lawyer and a small business owner.…
Your Weekend To Do List: 5/17-5/19
Summer doesn’t officially begin for another month and Memorial Day, the unofficial seasonal kick-off, is next weekend. But looking at this weekend's — the first round of church festivals, the opening of The Beach Waterpark, food fests abound — and it’s clear: Summer is upon us. Legendary musician and artist Patti Smith is in town…
Music at Saturday’s OTR Summer Celebration
Tomorrow (Saturday) is the seventh annual OTR (that's "Over-the-Rhine," if you don't get the hip lingo) 5K Run and Summer Celebration, featuring a fine art show, food, drink and other vendors, the 5K Run and a strong lineup of local, original music in OTR's Washington Park. The festivities kick off with the 10 a.m. OTR…
Rock on the Range Q&A: Jacoby Shaddix of Papa Roach
Rockers Papa Roach hit the scene in 2000 with their most successful studio album, Infest. Six albums later, they are still headlining tours and festivals across the country including this weekend’s Rock on the Range in Columbus. I was able to catch up with the man behind the music, Jacoby Shaddix, the lead vocalist. The…
Morning News and Stuff
Council members Roxanne Qualls and Chris Seelbach proposed a motion yesterday that would reduce the amount of police layoffs to 25 and eliminate all firefighter layoffs previously proposed in budget plans for fiscal year 2014. The huge layoff reduction comes despite months of warning from the city administration that the city would have to carry…
Stage Door: Choices, Choices
As the 2012-2013 theater season winds down, there are still several good productions worth seeing: You can still be entertained by the froth of The Marvelous Wonderettes: Caps and Gowns at Ensemble Theatre (which runs through June 1), intrigued by the dark comedy Measure for Measure at Cincinnati Shakespeare Company (through May 26; CityBeat review…
Homophobic Boy Scouts Supporters to Protest Inclusion
While the rest of the world is dealing with problems like gun violence, poverty, hunger, terrorist attacks and natural disasters, hoards of people all across the country tomorrow will dedicate their time, energy and voices to another important cause. That cause, of course, is protesting the Boy Scouts of America's proposal to change its homophobic…
Motion to Eliminate Fire Layoffs, Reduce Police Layoffs to 25
A budget plan proposed by two council members today would eliminate layoffs at the fire department and reduce the amount of police layoffs to 25, down from 49, by making cuts elsewhere, particularly by forcing city employees to take 10 furlough days in fiscal year 2014. Council members Roxanne Qualls and Chris Seelbach are co-sponsoring…
Rock on the Range Q&A: Dan Maines of Clutch
Dynamic, Maryland-based Rock band Clutch has been grinding across the world for over 20 years. In that time, the band has seen great success across 10 studio albums and has had songs featured across different forms of media, from television to movies to video games. Clutch is performing at Columbus, Ohio's Rock on the Range…
I Just Can’t Get Enough
98 Degrees appeared on Bravo’s late night show, Watch What Happens Live, last week and, shockingly, Justin Jeffre didn’t wear a fedora! But seriously, on the after-show, Nick played “Plead the Fifth” (without pleading the fifth!), a regular game in which host Andy Cohen asks a guest three personal questions, and they can only decline…
Morning News and Stuff
The Ohio Rights Group could be asking voters to legalize medical marijuana and industrial hemp statewide in 2013 or 2014. The Coalition for a Drug-Free Greater Cincinnati says drug approval should be up to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), but that may not matter because polls so far shows medical marijuana getting widespread approval…
Ohioans Fucking Swear a Lot
Did you know there's such a thing as National Etiquette Week? And that it's happening right fucking now? Of course there is. This is America, motherfuckers. Well, while the rest of the country is practicing their table manners and shit, we in Ohio apparently don't give a damn, according to a recent study conducted by…
Support Independent Restaurants with Eat Local Cincy
This week, more than 15 local restaurants are participating in Eat Local Cincy’s Restaurant Week, showcasing special menus with local ingredients through Sunday, May 19. From Northern Kentucky to Lebanon, local restaurants are offering the Restaurant Week special of three courses for $33.13. Customers create their own combination of an appetizer, salad and one entrée…
Rock on the Range Q&A: Lzzy Hale of Halestorm
Halestorm shows everybody out there that a female can rock with the guys. Lzzy Hale, Revolver Magazine’s reining “Hottest Chick in Hard Rock,” along with her brother Arejay, started the band back in 1999 and they have been on an upward trajectory ever since. This past February, the band received its first Grammy for Best…
Mayor’s Budget Plan Reduces Public Safety Layoffs
Mayor Mark Mallory announced revisions to the city manager’s budget plan today that will reduce the amount of layoffs by making several additional cuts, particularly in funding that goes to outside agencies, and using recently discovered revenue. Mallory’s changes will restore 18 firefighter positions, 17 police positions, three inspector positions at the Health Department and…
Bar-Crawl Bingo
Bar-Crawl Bingo, similar to real Bingo, is a game of chance, but instead of sitting in a Bingo hall while someone calls out random letter and number combinations, you take your Bar-Crawl Bingo card with you as you travel from bar to bar, observing and marking off occurrences as you go. There are 25 illustrated…
Working 9 to 5
I’d always scoffed at the notion of a “happy hour” at a bar. Aren’t most hours spent in a location with free-flowing booze “happy”? Then I got a big-girl job, working 9 to 5 for an arts nonprofit. I love my job and find a level of personal and professional satisfaction in helping further the…
Morning News and Stuff
Mayor Mark Mallory will deliver his operating budget proposal to City Council today after making changes to the city manager’s proposal , which hikes property taxes and lays off 201 city employees, including cops and firefighters. City Council will then be able to change and give final approval to the budget plan before June 1.…
Brunch (with a Side of Booze)
A s the saying goes, sometimes the best cure for a hangover is the “hair of the dog.” Got too drunk? Feel bad? Have a bloody mary. And while the idea of a cocktail for breakfast lunch brunch may make you want to barf (or literally throw up), the remedy has been a bit of…
City Council Scrutinizes Streetcar Budget Fixes
At a Budget and Finance Committee meeting on May 13, City Council members grilled City Manager Milton Dohoney Jr. on how the city will fix the streetcar project’s $17.4 million budget gap and whether paying for the cost overrun to save the project is worth it. Supporters of the streetcar pushed questions and comments that…
Cincinnati Police Chief to Leave for Detroit
Cincinnati Police Chief James Craig will be leaving Cincinnati to take a job in Detroit, city officials announced on May 14. Craig’s decision to return to his hometown comes after months of rumors and pressure from elected officials to keep him in Cincinnati. During Craig’s two-year tenure, Cincinnati has experienced a significant drop in crime,…
Western & Southern to Buy Anna Louise Inn
Western & Southern on May 13 announced an agreement with Cincinnati Union Bethel (CUB) that will sell the Anna Louise Inn in Lytle Park to Western & Southern for $4 million, ending years of entanglements over how the property, which is in need of millions of dollars in renovations, should be used. As part of…
Healthy Hits
W hile two states have successfully legalized marijuana, Ohio is beginning to move forward with ballot initiatives that could legalize cannabis for medicinal purposes and to produce industrial hemp. The effort, which is being pushed by the Ohio Rights Group, a medical marijuana advocacy organization, could be on the ballot as soon as November 2013…
Music: Violent Affair
Formed in the late ’00s, the Oklahoma City Street Punk quintet Violent Affair has happily reaffirmed its ties to the genre in any way possible, whether by covering the fantastic Blitz or noting that they cribbed their name's inspiration from a song by an obscure Massachusetts group named Self Destruct. Violent Affair reportedly came together…
Streams Count, Metal College and Heathen Bowie
HOT Streaming with Pride As Apple and Google continue to pursue launching music streaming services and sites like Spotify and Pandora continue to justify their tiny payouts to artists, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) gave the pro-streaming side some ammo when it announced that audio and video streaming numbers would now factor into…
Music: Danny Schmidt
With the constant influx of talent into Austin, Texas over the past few decades, the true rarity is the singer/songwriter that actually hails from the city. Danny Schmidt is a member of that fairly exclusive club. Born and raised in Austin, Schmidt picked up guitar at 12, traced back the Blues roots of Jimi Hendrix…
Music: Todd Rundgren
Todd Rundgren first got the attention of the wider music world when he released the syrupy-yet-addicting Soft Rock hit “Hello It’s Me” in 1972. However, to his credit, once achieving stardom, Rundgren did not sit still with his newfound Pop success. Instead he cranked up the synthesizers and electric guitars and came forth with his…
Music: The Killers
After close to six solid years of touring and a quintet of best selling albums (including a B-sides/rarities collection and a live CD/DVD set), The Killers began 2010 with the announcement that they would be taking a well-deserved break. But the need to create doesn't take convenient vacations. After dealing with the trauma of his…
Bar Guide
* This is not a comprehensive list of every single bar in each featured neighborhood, nor is it a list of every bar we’ve ever enjoyed a drink in each neighborhood. As far as comprehensivity is concerned, this can’t even be considered a full list of the events, specials, amount of TVs or bar games…
Music: Wild Moccasins with of Montreal
Since taking shape circa 2007 as a duo hinged on the talents of Swann and vocalist Zahira Gutierrez (more personnel would be recruited from shows and house parties in Houston), Wild Moccasins have swiftly gone on to make good on their architect's sense of big ambition. The group’s 2010 debut full-length, Skin Collision Past (re-released…
How Alcohol Works
A lcohol comes in several forms, at least in terms of a physical carbon-hydrogen-hydroxyl compound. There’s rubbing alcohol, methanol, assorted fuels and solvents, but the alcohol that’s most relevant (for a drinking issue) is ethyl alcohol or ethanol, the less toxic, ingestible psychoactive chemical found in booze. Ethanol is a simple molecule, produced by fermenting…
Event: ReUse-Apalooza
Re-purposing materials and fixtures intended for landfills has become de rigueur for on-trend designers and architects who wish to give their clients opportunities to utilize second-hand objects in new and unique ways. Antiques and vintage furniture aside, the use of recycled elements within home and commercial interiors is often employed to surprising and one-of-a-kind results.…
The Drinking Issue
This year, CityBeat’s annual “Drinking Issue” goes where no drinking issue has gone before: ’til morning. Spanning the hours from happy hour to hangover, this handy guide takes you from after-work cocktails and nighttime bar-crawls to late-night munchies and mid-morning brunch remedies. Get the party started by finding out how the party literally starts ……
Art: The Coral Sea
Patti Smith's Contemporary Arts Center exhibition and concert, The Coral Sea, opens May 18 — also the date of her Memorial Hall performance. It is a remembrance of and tribute to her close companion, the late photographer Robert Mapplethorpe. (Their relationship as young people in the New York of the late 1960s/1970s, looking for their…
Music: IsWhat?!
Long gaps between albums aren’t unusual for IsWhat?! In fact, it took Napoleon Maddox and his Cincinnati-based genre-defying Hip Hop/Jazz/Rock/Soul collective three years after their 1996 formation to drop their auspicious debut, Landmines. Nearly everyone who contributes to IsWhat?! is also engaged in other creative projects, as well as day jobs and family commitments —…
Onstage: Sunset Boulevard
Andrew Lloyd Webber's Sunset Boulevard, created in the mid-1990s was his last big show to have some measure of success, including a two-year run on Broadway. Even at that, however, the musical version of Billy Wilder’s 1950 film had a troubled stage history, opening in London in 1993 and the following year on Broadway. It…
Star Trek Into Darkness
Known for projects like Lost and Super 8, JJ Abrams enjoys the reputation of being a fan of the mythology behind the bright and brilliant surfaces that attract our attention. He lives to invest the fantastic with the human elements that audiences need. His first take at rebooting Star Trek didn’t quite reach the level…
Monthly Hip Hop Night Comes to The Comet
Local artist Abiyah — a poet, Hip Hop MC and Reggae DJ with Queen City Imperial SoundSystem — is stepping up her “promoter” persona with a new monthly Hip Hop night at Northside’s The Comet . After presenting shows in other local venues by various touring Indie Hip Hop artists, this Wednesday sees the launch…
Cincinnati’s 1 Percent
Rich people get to do whatever the hell they want in this city. Maybe that’s the way it is in every city and anyone surprised by it is a simpleton who clearly grew up on the wrong side of I-75. But the influence that Cincinnati’s rich people have over the direction of this city and…
At Any Price
What do we mean today when we refer to “all-American” ideals? What does it mean to be “all-American” in the new millennium? Auto racing has seemingly snuck into the ranks of heartland sports, possibly supplanting football, and farming, once a rural family venture, is now big business, which is all-American, right? And then there are…
The Ethics of Intrusion
Intruding on strangers’ privacy bothered more undergraduate reporting students than anything else I required of them. Some opted for other trades. The “need to know” of readers, listeners and viewers didn’t salve their bruised ethics. I respect that. Intruding is something reporters do. Intrusions can be personal, professional, financial or commercial. Or more than one…
A Streetcar Named a Failure
A limited-route streetcar line now costing a projected $133 million while the city faces a $35 million 2014 budgetary deficit seems a quaint and expensive distraction from the city’s steady gun violence, the treatment and sheltering of the ever-present indigent and mentally disabled population and the glaring absence of a sufficient urban grocery store in…
Tom+Chee Founders to Swim with the Sharks
Tom+Chee, the local gourmet grilled cheese and tomato soup restaurant, will be featured on this week’s episode of Shark Tank (Season Finale, 9 p.m., ABC). Founders Trew Quackenbush and Corey Ward will pitch their business proposition to a panel of entrepreneur-investors (“The Sharks”) in hope of striking a deal and expanding the franchise. Famous for…
Worst Week Ever!: May 8-14
WEDNESDAY MAY 8 Some people would rather go to jail than have to set foot inside a mall. Thanks to a recently announced event by the Springdale Police Department and several other local agencies, the two experiences will become more alike starting next week. The Law Enforcement Expo slated for later this month will offer…
Quiet Beauty Captured in the Frame
The year is 1915 and France is caught up in World War I. Young men are on the front lines where injuries and death abound, but a sense of duty and responsibility inspires more to join the ranks and, those who can convalesce quickly, to return to the front as soon as possible. That summer,…
Local Designers Participate in Annual Re-Purposing Contest
Re-purposing materials and fixtures intended for landfills has become de rigueur for on-trend designers and architects who wish to give their clients opportunities to utilize second-hand objects in new and unique ways. Antiques and vintage furniture aside, the use of recycled elements within home and commercial interiors is often employed to surprising and one-of-a-kind results.…
Napoleon, Dynamite
Long gaps between albums aren’t unusual for IsWhat?! In fact, it took Napoleon Maddox and his Cincinnati-based genre-defying Hip Hop/Jazz/Rock/Soul collective three years after their 1996 formation to drop their auspicious debut, Landmines. Nearly everyone who contributes to IsWhat?! is also engaged in other creative projects, as well as day jobs and family commitments —…
How Patti Titchener Became Patti Astor and Made Art History
Patti Titchener was one of the most popular and talented members of Walnut Hills High School’s class of 1968. A National Merit Scholar with a high SAT test score, she also had a creative flair and very in-demand social life. Her family was prominent, too — parents James and Antoinette Titchener both were physicians; he…
Yard House (Review)
Y ard House is a restaurant chain purchased last year by Darden Restaurants, the publicly traded corporation that brought us Olive Garden, Red Lobster and Seasons 52. The chain’s 44th location overlooks the Roebling Bridge, a baseball toss from the homegrown and similarly themed Moerlein Lager House. It enjoys a vast beer selection, sweeping river…
Capturing Queen City
T his winter I upgraded my point-and-shoot camera to a mirrorless Sony NEX. Finally having a nice camera to use, I googled “photography contest” and came across a curiously titled site called Capture Cincinnati. I’d never heard of this wondrous website where both amateur and professional shutterbugs could upload their snazzy shots of Greater Cincinnati…
