Odd Musings About ‘the Odd Couple’
Maybe Christopher Smitherman, the Cincinnati NAACP’s president, is cagier than most people think.—- Smitherman spent much of late March defending his selection of an anti-gay rights activist as the legal advisor to the NAACP’s local chapter against a barrage of criticism and national publicity. The appointment came at about the same time as the national…
Shoe-Thrower Gets Sentence Cut
In this case, one out of three ain’t so bad.—- Muntazer al-Zaidi, an Iraqi TV news reporter, was sentenced last month to three years in prison on a charge of assaulting a foreign leader on an official visit, a penalty that enraged many of his fellow citizens. The sentence was handed down after al-Zaidi threw…
Attention Musicians: MidPoint Music Fest Deadline Looms
If you're a musician interested in performing at this year's MidPoint Music Festival and you haven't submitted your materials for consideration, time is running out. Next Friday, April 17, is the "early deadline" for submissions.—- If you're feeling lazy, you can submit until May 1, but it'll cost you a little more and, unless you're…
Events: Project Northside Fashion Show
In times of economic struggle it’s important for people to come together at some place they can call the heart of their community. And what better place to organize than the neighborhood tavern? Known for its homey atmosphere, Northside Tavern has been hailed one of Cincinnati’s best supporters of local music, featuring some of the…
Music: Napalm Death
"It’s not for everyone,” says Mark “Barney” Greenway about the music made by Napalm Death, the stalwart English quartet that he’s been fronting since 1990. Greenway’s refreshing flatness is absolutely on target: Napalm Death’s brand of Extreme Metal is morbid, disobedient, and unrelentingly abrasive, exactly the kind of material for which “Parental Advisory” stickers were…
Onstage: The Comedy of Errors
The Z-movie nonsense that director Matt Johnson packaged in and around The Comedy of Errors at Cincinnati Shakespeare Company (CSC) is little if any more nonsensical than Mr. William Shakespeare’s own loopy script. That’s good news. Johnson’s spaceships, aliens, tinfoil hats among other bizarre costumes, zany sound and light effects combine with first-rate farcing from…
Sports: ICF Breakout
Ultimate Fighting is the fastest-growing sport in the world. That’s because it is pretty wild to watch dudes trained in numerous different fighting styles — from boxing to jiu jitsu to wrestling to straight up face-punching — go at it with very few rules. Saturday’s “ICF: Breakout” card includes seven amateur matches and eight pro…
Music: CincyPunk Fest
CincyPunk Fest organizer Adam Rosing has a number of reasons for booking what has become one of the area’s most anticipated Punk-and-whatever events. “I think the crowd will be pretty energized to see bands you can’t see every Friday night,” he says. For CincyPunk Fest VIII, the audience will also have the opportunity to catch…
Onstage: Vigils
Know Theatre of Cincinnati recently presented a show that dealt in a heartfelt way with the emotions of loss and grief. That was Sarah Ruhl’s Eurydice. Those themes are back for another production, this time a more humorous piece by playwright Noah Haidle. It’s called Vigils, and Know is offering the show’s regional premiere. Vigils…
Art: The Outdoor Museum
ArtWorks, the region’s masters of public art, employed 12 high school and college students (called “apprentices” because they’re paid) to work with local design and advertising firms to create 30 large pieces of art around the theme of “Green.” The artwork has been transferred to canvas and is being displayed at Mount Airy Forest. Cincinnati…
Comedy: Bob Biggerstaff
Bob Biggerstaff knew he wanted to be a comedian but he didn’t know how to go about it. Then he got the notion to become a doorman at a comedy club in his hometown of Houston. There he met comics like Dave Attell, Tom Rhodes and the late Mitch Hedberg. He finally got up the…
Art: Michael Wilson at Weston Art Gallery
Michael Wilson, a photographer with a considerable career, has his solo exhibition The Day of Small Things opening at the Weston Art Gallery. He's exhibited his photographs of major musicians like Over the Rhine, Lyle Lovett, Phillip Glass and B.B. King. He’s so humble about his work it’s almost unnerving. “See, at the Weston, they’re…
Events: Easter Egg Hunt
On the Saturday before Easter, Fountain Square will be overrun with eager area kids filling their baskets with as many plastic eggs as they can get their paws on. The annual free event, which is sponsored by Graeter’s and Bigg’s, starts at the plaza at 11 a.m. Volunteers will help children separate into age groups,…
Music: Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head
One of the most common difficulties that a band encounters is coming up with a name that somehow conveys their sound and, perhaps more importantly, their attitude. In fact, it’s a safe bet that crafting the sound is probably easier than christening the band. So how does Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head fit the model? First…
Music: Hour of the Wolf
In 2009, who is left to carry the dwindling flame for the provocative sub-genre called Horror Punk? The prime candidate appears to be Hour of the Wolf. Steeped in the no-bullshit fervor of Black Flag and the ominous imagery that the ‘Fits crafted so well, HotW’s material violently barrel forward without a pause in sight.…
Music: Signs of Life
Although the amount of money they could generate on a full-scale tour makes it hard to “never say never,” the chances of David Gilmour and Roger Waters touring again as Pink Floyd are about as good as the Bengals’ chances of winning the next Super Bowl. Friday, a new 10-piece local band is making its…
Music: Todd Rundgren
Just seeing the name stirs the ganglia of any self-respecting music fan, and for good reason. His accomplishments over the past 40-plus years are almost beyond comprehension — hits the charts with the Nazz in 1966; becomes a Pop sensation with his solo work in 1971; crafts his largely one-man masterwork Something/Anything in 1972; and…
Sunshine Cleaning (Review)
Sunshine Cleaning is known snidely in some quarters as “Sundance Sunshine 2,” a reference to the fact that, like Little Miss Sunshine, it debuted at Sundance (in 2008), mixes drama without offbeat comedy and is about a dysfunctional family from Albuquerque. Oh yes, it also features Alan Arkin as a crotchety grandpa. But, really, for…
Sports: Cincinnati Rollergirls
Did you miss the Rollergirls’ home season opener last month? Fear not. The skirted derby babes are back and they’re defending their turf from the Windy City Wannabee’s and the Burning River Roller Girls at the Cincinnati Gardens. The all-star/travel team the Black Sheep face off against Chicago’s Wannabee’s at 7 p.m. and then the…
Art: Antonio Adams at Country Club
Antonio Adams, a Cincinnati self-taught artist whose flair for populating his colorful paintings with a fascinating narrative sensibility replete with vividly developed real and imaginary characters, has an impressive show of new work underway at Country Club through May 16. His paintings work as storytelling — part fantasy, part autobiography, part recognizable urban landscape, as…
ER Finale
It’s over, well as I’m writing this its not, but by the time you read this it will be over. The final episode of ER is airing tonight … perhaps I'll write this as if it’s Friday. —- Wow what an episode! (I hope it lives up to my expectations.) I can’t believe what George…
![Provident Camera Closes Its Shutters [Photos]](https://i0.wp.com/www.citybeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/empty-1077.gif?fit=1%2C1&ssl=1)
Provident Camera Closes Its Shutters [Photos]
I went to high school in West Chester and, once I got a car, I discovered that I was a city mouse. I fell in love with Cincinnati around the time I fell in love with photography. Coming to Provident Camera was a pilgrimage for me. It was the first place I drove to in…
Photos from GRASS
Click the photo above to see Scott Beseler's images from this weekend's GRASS event.
New Stage Collective to Close After Seven Seasons
New Stage Collective has announced it's shutting down operations after presenting Stephen Sondheim’s A Little Night Music April 30-May 8. Producing Artistic Director Alan Patrick Kenny says the musical will be staged at Know Theatre of Cincinnati instead of the company's Main Street space. In a press release, New Stage trustees are quoted as saying,…
The Comedy of Errors (Review)
Critic's Pick The Z-movie nonsense that director Matt Johnson packaged in and around The Comedy of Errors at Cincinnati Shakespeare Company (CSC) is little if any more nonsensical than Mr. William Shakespeare’s own loopy script. That’s good news. Johnson’s spaceships, aliens, tinfoil hats (among other bizarre costumes), zany sound and light effects combine with first-rate…
It’s No Joke
It’s early yet but so far this year, Cincinnati’s mayoral race has been pretty boring. That should change soon as a local blogger has jumped into the race, and the Republican Party nears its decision on a candidate. Officially, only incumbent Mayor Mark Mallory, a Democrat from Mount Airy, has announced he’s seeking re-election. And…
Bloggicus Hungovericus
Ugh. Residual White Castle carnage on the coffee table. Never a good sign. A lot of unprotected texts last night. My friend Kelly has informed me that 1 out of every 4 people have a textually transmitted disease. I need a phone chaperone in the after hours. And a helmet! —- If I had an…
Friday Movie Roundup: Cinema in Color
This week’s new releases are a curious hodgepodge ranging from a big-budget studio retread (Fast & Furious) to an experimental feature by a 79-year-old enfant terrible (Pere Portabella's The Silence Before Bach, which opened in New York City more than a year ago). Lodged in-between is a pair of movies that debuted to mixed responses…
Tweet-apalooza Continues
After CityBeat was criticized for “factual errors” in an article about The Cincinnati Enquirer’s new social media strategy by one of that newspaper’s editors, we offered her the opportunity early Thursday to elaborate and she responded today.—- In reviewing Social Media Editor Mandy Jenkins’ complaint about the article, it’s clear CityBeat did make one error…
CityBeat’s American League Preview
Do we really care what happens in the American League outside of individual players’ impact on our fantasy baseball teams? Probably not. But in the name of being thorough, the following is CityBeat’s prediction of the entire softball-style AL. We even looked up a couple guys who play for the Royals, just to be fair.—-…
Events: Fountain Day
The second annual Fountain Day is Cincinnati's tribute to the start of spring. After cleaning the Tyler Davidson fountain and waiting for warmer temperatures, water will again flow from the hands of the "Lady," the Genius of the Water. The events start at 6 p.m. when Bob Herzog welcomes the crowd with a dance party…
Bruce Cockburn, Steve Forbert, Gomez, John Scofield, The Decembrists and More
Tuesdays get crazier as the year moves on. The next couple of weeks are looking to make me busier than a one-legged extra in a Jackie Chan movie. Lots to review, little time to work it all in; to quote the ever ebullient David Lee Roth, might as well jump… Bruce Cockburn might not be…
On the Road with The Seedy Seeds: Part Deux
[Editor’s Note: Cincy’s Indie/Pop/Americana/Electro band The Seedy Seeds recently ventured to Austin, Tex., for their first performances at the big, annual South By Southwest music festival/conference. We asked them to keep a journal of their adventures for us and they graciously obliged. We’ll be rolling the journal entries out in slices over the next few…
33rd Humana New Play Festival Shines in Louisville
For its 33rd iteration, the Humana Festival of New American Plays offered as many works that were based on ensemble and imagery as it did traditional dramatic plays. By the luck of the schedule during the weekend I recently attended at Actors Theatre of Louisville (ATL), I saw three works (Wild Blessings, a selection of…
Tweet Happens
[UPDATE AT BOTTOM] Some Cincinnati Enquirer editors apparently are upset at this week’s CityBeat article about that newspaper’s new “social media strategy” and have flocked to its savior du jour — Twitter — to complain. The article outlined how the strategy calls for The Enquirer to rely on unpaid labor to fill gaps in its…
Who ‘Evoked’ First?
In defending his selection of an anti-gay rights activist to become the Cincinnati NAACP’s legal advisor, Christopher Smitherman scolded critics for daring to invoke the legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.—- Speaking on his WDBZ (AM 1230) radio show last weekend, Smitherman addressed the local LGBT community. He criticized them for mentioning King…
Pearl Jam – Ten Redux (Review)
In 1983 on a cold day in early January, my parents pulled a broken-in LP of Rumours by Fleetwood Mac out of its sleeve and proceeded to get it on. This is how I was conceived or at least it’s the story my mother told me. This act set the course of musical life (the…
Music: Mt. Pleasant String Band
For Bluegrass fans, you don’t get much better than Mt. Pleasant String Band, which celebrates the release of its new CD this Sunday at Molly Malone’s in Covington. The Cincinnati Entertainment Award-nominated five-piece will be joined at the show by The Dirt Daubers, a new “old-timey” project from Colonel JD Wilkes of The Legendary Shack…
Pete Doherty, Dan Hicks, Nils Lofgren and 1990s
As a dichotomous counterpoint to the popular column in our own esteemed pages, I would advance the theory that this is The Best Week Ever, in terms of fascinating and worthy releases. Something for every taste, so don’t crowd, form a line and here we go … Anyone who had “dead before a solo album”…
Meg & Dia on the ‘Take Action Tour’
The story of how Meg and Dia Frampton became Pop/Punk crunchmeisters has more twists and turns than an upside down roller coaster. The first irony was, as kids, guitarist Meg got a karaoke machine for Christmas and vocalist Dia got a guitar. After sorting things out, the Korean- American sisters started their first band in…
Basilico Organic (Review)
Critic's Pick Some say I’m a hopeless romantic, and maybe I am. For instance, I actually believe in the movie Like Water for Chocolate, that the energy you put into the food you cook has a direct affect on your guests. Love breeds love. Fear, hate and discontent breed sickness. Let me explain. Last week…
Kenny Rogers, AC/DC and Boobs
[HOT] KNOWS WHEN TO HOLD THEM, FOLD THEM, HEAL THEM Besides his numerous hit singles over the years, Kenny Rogers has given society a lot. He gave the world great roasted chicken. He made grey hair cool way before Anderson Cooper. And his more recent attempts to warn against the potential ill effects of plastic…
City Campaign Season Heating up
The race for Cincinnati Mayor and City Council inches forward as the calendar turns to April, though we’re far from shifting into full campaign mode. Still, signs of life are peeking up as surely as the crabgrass in my front yard. At least one new face will be on council by December, as Councilman David…
Enquirer All A-Twitter
Just like many daily newspapers across the nation, The Cincinnati Enquirer is having an identity crisis. With increasing numbers of readers choosing to get their information on the Internet and through other electronic devices, The Enquirer finds itself struggling to remain a profitable business. That’s because advertising dollars — the primary revenue source for all…
More Passion Than Profit, but the Fringe Needs a Few Bucks
Two weeks ago I wrote with enthusiasm about the 2009 Cincinnati Fringe Festival, the sixth consecutive year for this vibrant burst of edgy theater, film and visual art. I called it “creative and distracting … in these troubled times” and asked, “Is it May yet?” The festival’s producer, Know Theatre of Cincinnati, plans to get…
Holy Bad PR! Vatican Changes Pope’s Press Remarks About AIDS and Condoms
The Vatican doesn’t get it. I don’t mean condoms, Islam or a Holocaust-denying bishop. I’m talking about the Internet. When Pope Benedict XVI asserted that condoms worsen Africa’s HIV/AIDS plague, bumbling Vatican aides corrected him, either ignoring or unaware that accurate news coverage was everywhere forever on the Internet. The unwitting opera buffa began when…
I Am Legend
Many of you, at least a dozen, know my work as a music journalist for CityBeat and a variety of regional and national publications — some actually still in business — but virtually no one knows I’m also a musician of some discernible skill. I’ve never been in a band nor played out, though. I’ve…
Scotty Anderson (Profile)
The second sentence of Scotty Anderson’s online bio states that he’s still learning the guitar. That might be a hard sell to anyone who’s ever heard Anderson’s fingers fly effortlessly over the frets of his Telecaster, producing a sound that is both gracefully delicate and powerfully mastered. And yet the amazingly accomplished Jazz/Country/Rock guitarist stands…
Adventureland (Review)
Some will hear the first guitar blast during Adventureland’s opening moments and think nothing of it. For others, The Replacements’ “Bastards of Young” is such a touchstone that writer/director Greg Mottola (Superbad) might have you in the palm of his hand before you’ve seen a single frame of the actual movie. Nostalgia is among the…
Cute Force
Life’s too short to remain unnoticed, at least that’s what Dali said. This is the catch-all mantra that many of today’s appreciable artists — including Rock musicians — whisper to themselves at night. In order to make a mark on a place and time, one must do so quickly, earnestly and with great zeal. Or…
Cirque Dreams Jungle Fantasy (Review)
Critic's Pick Don’t let the name of this production lead you to believe you’re going to see a production by Cirque du Soleil. The producers of this touring stage show certainly want audiences to make that connection, and by and large it’s justified. But they are capitalizing on a brand that’s not theirs. Nonetheless, if…
Another Seven Days of Happy YP’s and Sad Astronauts
WEDNESDAY MARCH 25 Cincinnati is a great place to live if you´re an educated young professional who works at Procter & Gamble (they have a gym in the basement!). The Enquirer today reported that many such YPs gathered last week to promote their town to other young people who like to wear collared shirts but…
Dead Dogs and Circuit City
Call it a bad omen. As I traveled along I-71, I saw it, creeping out of the horizon in a butterscotch mass of grizzled fur: a cocker spaniel in its final resting place along the side of the highway. The family dog probably. Surrounded by medians, he must have fallen out of a car. That…
Cheating Death by Fluke
No one really knows what death feels like. If they did, they’d be dead. As a kid I remember looking out the back plate glass window into the backyard and telling my mother that the rays of sunshine poking through the clouds and hitting the valley below were people coming back from heaven after they…
Tragic Beauty
“It’s a paradox — the beauty is so tragic,” Anna VanMatre says of the theme behind her latest series of graphite paintings, DeNatural Disaster. Her work is part of a group exhibition opening Friday at the Carnegie in Covington. Originally from Poland, VanMatre moved to Cincinnati in 1997 and has exhibited throughout Europe, Israel, Africa…
The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death (Review)
Charlie Huston’s latest work of fiction is sort of like Hardcore music and movies that feature martial artists: It reeks of “dude.” Like other would-be noir writers, Huston can’t negotiate the fine line between the genre’s trademark kitsch and overt, meathead drama. The book follows Web Goodhue — a snarky former schoolteacher haunted by a…
The Sleeping Giant of UK Basketball Reawakens
A very large institution, University of Kentucky basketball isn’t one to dwell on bad times, savor them for character building lessons, beg for mercy or just sit there and take it. Ordinary struggle for other programs is trial-by-fire at UK. Anyone else who thinks they have the biggest or baddest program is shamed into silence…
Famed Attorney on Hot Seat
Most ultra-conservatives hate Big Government. Until they use it for their own personal benefit, that is. A case in point is local attorney Chris Finney, a conservative activist who’s railed against the evils of excessive governmental power and wasteful spending for years. As a leader of the Coalition Opposed to Additional Spending and Taxes (COAST),…
Paul Thorn Band with Patrick Sweany
If anyone ever makes a movie of Paul Thorn’s life, they may have to leave out some of the details just to make it believable. Just after his birth in Wisconsin, his Pentecostal preacher father moved the family to Tupelo, Miss., famed birthplace of Elvis Presley. Thorn learned guitar at 12, but before he could…
Looking for a New Narrative
Looking for a New Narrative In his editorial “Bad News and the Media” (issue of March 18), John Fox wrote about a frustration my wife and I have experienced since moving to the city almost two years ago: a lack of positive news from local media. Where we used to live, watching the news was…
Events: Rohs Street Cafe Anniversary
Clifton hangout Rohs Street Café celebrates its sixth anniversary this Saturday with a blowout show featuring a wide range of artists who have played the coffeehouse over the years. Acts slated to appear at the 8 p.m. party include The Atruims, Rhet Hawkins, The Never Setting Suns, MC Till, Sharon Udoh, Elie Fabe, The Bell…
Head Games
While it’s my intention to not give away any crucial plot points about Duplicity in this commentary, you might want to see it before reading. It’s eminently worth the ticket price, too — a relentlessly smart thriller of a con-game movie, certainly the best Hollywood movie of the still-young new year. But is it too…
Music: Bam Powell
Veteran Cincinnati musician Bam Powell has worked with everyone from the raisins to Stagger Lee to The Goshorn Brothers, playing everything from Country to Funk/R&B to Rock. Today, he’s a member of Bucket, The Bluebirds and Tickled Pink, and Powell is also an indemand studio vocalist, singing on jingles for Gold Star Chili, LaRosa´s, Hudepohl…
Music: Burning Star Core
C. Spencer Yeh’s Burning Star Core — still riding the wave of positive reviews for his 2008 CD, Challenger — and experimental Punk/Jazz duo Wasteland Jazz Unit kick off a joint Midwest tour this Thursday at the Art Damage Lodge in Northside. The all-ages show — which also features a collaboration between Taiga Remains and…
Pictures at a Revolution (Review)
The most historic Academy Awards ceremony might well be the one in 1968. The Oscars that year — for the best picture of 1967 — were, in their way, as revealing about the changes sweeping America as the Chicago Democratic Convention. The nominees were two radical takes on American culture, Bonnie and Clyde and The…
Play Ball … and Folk Music
The unofficial local holiday known as Opening Day (referring to Cincinnati’s pro baseball team’s first game, for you non-sporto types) has had its pre-game parade for 90 years. But local folksinger Jake Speed has started what has become a new Opening Day tradition. Speed and his band The Freddies present their annual “baseball show” this…
Easter Brunch, Vegetarian Gold Star and Food Stamps
This month offers chocolate cappuccino Peeps cake with the Easter Bunny, vegetarian Gold Star for Lent and relaxed requirements for food stamps. What more could we ask for? Not all Easter brunches are created equal, but if you go to Mokka, Grand Finale, Greyhound Tavern or Orchids at Palm Court, you know you’ll get a…
Model Citizen
After this month’s NFL Draft, the University of Cincinnati will officially say goodbye to Connor Barwin, a two-sport athlete whose arrival and four-year career spanned the basketball team’s difficult rebuilding process and the unlikely resurgence of the school’s football program. Barwin, who went from plus-type tight end to NFL-talent defensive end during the course of…
CityBeat’s National League Preview
It's the time of year to act like you know what's going to happen in baseball this season, because you are smart. Usually, most of the picks you make will be wrong, but such is life. I doubt I will end up forecasting a Royals vs. Pirates World Series … or that a team will…
A PROJECTMILL Divided. Hot Freaks at SXSW.
Disclaimer: I have, in the time since our trip, been informed that I am not yet a member of the PROJECTMILL and any pretense to belonging I assume over the course of this and/or any of my previous blogs is to be taken with that proverbial grain of salt. A few hours have passed. I’ve…
Green and Healthy Schools as Learning Tools
A healthy environment for learning makes sense, but a school as a green school as “learning tool” – what does that mean? Find out on April 23, 5 – 7:30 p.m. at the Pleasant Ridge Montessori School (5945 Montgomery Rd. – rear entrance) when the Green and Healthy Schools network explains the concept.—- Tours of…
