White nationalist Richard Spencer’s supporters drop lawsuit against University of Cincinnati
Supporters of white nationalist Richard Spencer have dropped their lawsuit against the University of Cincinnati, UC announced today, and he won't make a planned appearance at the school. Georgia State University student Cameron Padgett, the Spencer supporter who initially requested space for the speaking engagement on UC’s campus and who threatened to sue the school…
Cincinnati Derby Day Parties
The 144th-annual Kentucky Derby takes place on May 5, which also happens to be Cinco de Mayo, so it's gonna be a big day for parties. Dubbed the "most exciting two minutes in sports," the race features about 20 horses competing for a $2 million purse. It's also the first in the Triple Crown series…
Is Over-the-Rhine’s Rhinegeist getting a dinosaur?
Brews and prehistoric Jurassic artifcts: an unlikely combination, but a pairing that’s coming to Rhinegeist’s Over-the-Rhine taproom May 15 thanks to the Cincinnati Museum Center’s Curate My Community initiative. To celebrate National Dinosaur Day, the Museum Center will unveil a never-before-seen, epic specimen from its collection — a preview of what’s to come from Union…
Watch: Cincinnati Hip Hop duo unveils video for eponymous track “Sons of Silverton”
Sons of Silverton, one of the best Hip Hop acts in Cincinnati right now, released its debut full-length, Or Forever Hold Your Peace, last spring. The lyrical brilliance and dexterous flows of veteran Cincinnati MCs KyleDavid (Five Deez) and Citoak (Watusi Tribe) work incredibly well together. Combined with New Orleans native Prospek’s imaginative production, which…
Federal judge swats down Trump attempt to end DACA; more news
Hello Cincy. Ready to talk about some news? Let’s do it. City Manager Harry Black may be gone, but the drama around his ouster continues. An email released yesterday from Mayor John Cranley’s private email account to the private accounts of Cincinnati City Council members Amy Murray, Greg Landsman, David Mann and Vice Mayor Christopher…
Cincinnati Zoo adopts orphaned female Florida manatee after mother is killed by a boat
The Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden welcomed the latest addition to its Manatee Springs habitat: a 250-pound orphaned female manatee named Daphne. Daphne, approximately 1 year old, will join the habitat’s three orphaned males in rehabilitation. She and her mother were rescued from Florida waters on April 9, when her mother was struck by a…
Here’s a potential layout for FC Cincinnati’s West End stadium
FC Cincinnati yesterday released schematics for its proposed West End stadium, a day after the plans were presented to the Hamilton County Commission. The team will construct the roughly $200 million stadium should it win a Major League Soccer expansion franchise. FCC has been waiting for months to hear from the league whether it will…
Cincinnati-bred Grammy winners The National come home to host Homecoming and MusicNOW festivals
Aaron Dessner of The National succinctly explains what’s so unusual about the concurrent Homecoming and MusicNOW festivals occurring in Cincinnati this weekend. “I can’t think of anything like this, with sister festivals co-existing like this,” he says. “It’s an interesting idea to have a larger capacity festival (Homecoming) serving to support and house this smaller…
New Music Group Eighth Blackbird and Will Oldham Perform Powerful, Political “Coming Together” Sunday at MusicNow Festival
You may not have heard of Frederic Rzewski, the American-born New Music composer and pianist whose work often has a strong political bent. He’s 80 and hardly a household name. But, if you attend Eighth Blackbird’s and Will Oldham’s MusicNOW performance of Rzewski’s “Coming Together” at 2 p.m. Sunday, you won’t soon forget it. Spare…
UPDATE: Fountain Square showcases Cincinnati music and more with free springtime concerts in May
This summer, Fountain Square’s free weekend music series returns every Friday and Saturday, along with the weekly Reggae Wednesdays showcases. But, while we know who’s playing throughout the every-Thursday Salsa on the Square music and dance series (which gets an early start, kicking off May 3; click here for details), the rest of the popular…
Cincinnati Theater Companies Are Cultivating Young Audiences
The first full-fledged theater production I ever attended was a community theater staging of Lerner and Loewe’s Brigadoon, the story of a magical town in Scotland that appears from the mists just once each century. My grandfather, a British immigrant, took me to see the show in a school auditorium in my northeast Ohio hometown.…
High School Poetry Teams Grow in Popularity, Thanks to ‘Louder than a Bomb’
Like time, poetry doesn’t stand still. Influenced by changes in music, literature, dance and performance art, poetry slams — theatrical readings of participants’ work — came along in the 1980s. And they have since become part of every city’s cultural scene, especially popular among students. The finals for Cincinnati’s Louder Than A Bomb spoken word…
Worst Week Ever: April 18-24
Cranley Drops Phone in Hot Tub (NOT TOILET) Most people have been there — just doing your business in the morning, catching up on Instagram stories when suddenly the cell phone — keeper of passwords and storer of nudes and incriminating text messages — slips from one’s grasp and splashes into the toilet bowl. A…
Cincy brewers release seasonal spring and summer brews
Despite inclement weather sabotaging attempts to patio-drink so far this spring, local breweries have been reintroducing their seasonal beers. Streetside brought back the sexy and colorful Raspberry Beret Berliner weisse, and Urban Artifact resurrected the summery Keypunch, a gose brewed with tart key limes. Brink revamped their Tropical Wheat by adding blackberries, mangos and pineapples.…
Review: They Might Be Giants give Greater Cincinnati fans a rare treat, playing ‘Flood’ in its entirety
They Might Be Giants have aged well, musically and physically. John Linnell (skinny John) looks exactly the same as when the band started. Save for a touch of gray, John Flansburgh has also hardly aged. Perhaps it’s because they have always been old souls in a way, and only now is time catching up with…
Sound Advice: Erykah Badu with Talib Kweli, Yasiin Bey and more (April 27)
Erykah Badu established herself as the Queen of Neo Soul with her 1997 debut, Baduizm. Though she’s retained the crown, in the last eight years, the singer has released only one new collection of music, a mixtape dubbed But You Caint Use My Phone. The title is a riff on Drake’s “Hotline Bling,” an ear-wormy…
Homecoming: Schedule and preview of The National’s music festival on Cincinnati’s riverfront
This Saturday and Sunday, Smale Riverfront Park will come alive with a collection of unique music makers, as The National hosts the Homecoming music festival (with guitarist Bryce Dessner's long-running MusicNOW festival happening concurrently at the National Underground Freedom Center and other venues around town). Most of the artists share an exploratory and experimental approach…
Cincinnati officials push to hire new 911 staff in aftermath of teen’s death; more news
Good morning, all. Here are some quick news updates to get your day started (or finished, or during lunch, or whenever you happen to read this). Cincinnati officials, including Mayor John Cranley, acting City Manager Patrick Duhaney and several members of Cincinnati City Council yesterday toured the city’s Emergency Communications Center and announced staffing increases…
Lineup for this Year’s Cincinnati Fringe Festival Is Announced
You might think that a theater and arts festival that bills itself as “kinda WEIRD. like YOU” could well be a flaky, fly-by-night event that might last for a year or two. Well, flaky it is, and funky and fabled — and (to keep this alliterative stream flowing) it’s FIFTEEN. That’s right, coming soon is…
Sound Advice: Vinyl Theatre (April 27)
In the first two years of their existence, Vinyl Theatre went from being influenced by Twenty One Pilots to being their labelmates and opening for them. That’s a pretty steep career ascent by any yardstick, but not surprising given the band’s determination from the very start. Vocalist/guitarist Keegan Calmes and keyboardist Chris Senner met at…
Sound Advice: David Dondero with John Hays and Sarah Gail Davis (April 26)
A dozen years ago, NPR’s popular All Songs Considered cited David Dondero as one of the greatest living songwriters, a list that also included Bob Dylan, Tom Waits and Paul McCartney. A lot of artists might be more than a little intimidated with an accolade like that, but Dondero did what he has always done…
Minimum Gauge: Will a chocolate-cereal boy-band record be remembered as the moment the vinyl revival started to nosedive?
HOT: Co-Opting the Vinyl Revival One of The Flaming Lips’ offerings for this year’s Record Store Day was a limited edition 7-inch with beer pressed into the vinyl. Those who scored one of the 100 copies could conceivably consume the liquid, but it seems like a lot of work for a very small, questionable payoff. For…
Wildly eclectic Northern Kentucky band Common Center readies new EP
This Friday, Covington, Ky. band Common Center releases a five-track effort titled To Swallow Something Half Your Size, the group’s follow-up to its 2015 full-length debut, Gypsy River. Friday night at 8 p.m., Common Center hosts a release party for the EP at Octave (611 Madison Ave., Covington, theoctavebar.com) with guests Triiibe and Mr. Pointy.…
Unearth a Legacy at Cincinnati Art Museum
Hou-mei Sung, curator of Asian art at the Cincinnati Art Museum, knows what the big draw is for the next four months: Ten legendary earthenware warriors from ancient China are on display in our city for the first time. The life-size figures are the undeniable stars of Terracotta Army: Legacy of the First Emperor of…
Violence and discrimination against Muslims up, new report says; more news
Good morning all. Here are some quick news updates to get your week started. Cincinnati City Manager Harry Black resigned Saturday just before City Council took a vote to remove him from office. You can read all the details in our story here. Assistant City Manager Patrick Duhaney is now acting city manager until a…
Shake It Records Offers Sneak Peak at its Upcoming ‘Sound of Cincinnati’ Permanent Exhibit of our Music History
Shake It Records in Northside unveiled plans during Saturday's Record Store Day for a Sounds of Cincinnati permanent exhibit to be built in a portion of its lower-level, now home to its vinyl records selection. Some vinyl has been moved upstairs to create space. While the area showed renderings and explained the the exhibit, which…
City Manager Harry Black resigns
Cincinnati City Manager Harry Black resigned effective noon today, just before a Cincinnati City Council vote to remove him from the job. Black, who has been locked in a bitter battle with Mayor John Cranley since the mayor asked him to resign March 9, released a brief memo outlining his resignation moments before the vote.…
Young love, environmentalism, immigration and apocalyptic concerns informed the latest album from Calexico
With the shock of 2016’s presidential election and subsequent spotlight on border and immigration policies in America, the Southwest and its people and culture have been on everyone’s minds more lately. But this focus has always been a major theme in the music of veteran Indie Roots band Calexico. The group’s exceptional ninth studio record, The…
Here’s the perfect jacket for National Marijuana Day
Happy 4/20, or National Marijuana Day, or National Pot Day. To celebrate, we high-light this felt-wool "Cannabis Smoking Coat" by John Bartlett, a Cincinnati native and New York-based award-winning fashion designer. It's part of the Cincinnati Art Museum's collection. When it was on display in the 2013 show What’s New: Fashion and Contemporary Craft, CityBeat named the exhibit…
Your Weekend To Do List: April 20-23
FRIDAY 20 ONSTAGE: The King and I Shall we dance? That’s the question the King of Siam asks Anna Leonowens, a widowed English governess he’s hired to teach his family about Western culture. He wants to modernize his small nation, but he’s not always open to changes. And she’s not quite ready for the feelings…
Cincy ceramic artist’s pot pipe featured in Vogue’s ‘Smoking Accessories That Double as Home Décor’
Cincinnati’s Taylor Carter, owner of Level Up Ceramics, is blazin’ new trails. Yes, we’re talking about marijuana. It is 4/20, after all. The leafy green substance deserves its moment in the sun. As asked by Noel Gallagher (frontman of ’90s Alt-Rock group Oasis), “Where were you while we were getting high?” We were probably shopping…
Shop-hop across Greater Cincinnati Saturday to celebrate Record Store Day 2018
Most record shops across Greater Cincinnati and the surrounding region will participate in Record Store Day, Saturday’s global celebration of independent music retailers. During the annual event, stores sell exclusive releases from a wide array of artists and genres, ranging from archival re-releases to special packages on a variety of formats from major and indie…
How two local universities are navigating LGBTQ+ protections in the age of Trump
On her first day of college three years ago, Nova Grace went to Northern Kentucky University’s LGBTQ center. It was pivotal to the process of coming out as transgender, she says. Through the office, she found security and empowerment. Now, in a time when LGBTQ rights are in question, the center has continued to be…
Terracotta Army Exhibit Opens at Cincinnati Art Museum under Increased Security
One of the guests at Thursday's media/members preview of Cincinnati Art Museum's Terracotta Army: Legacy of the First Emperor of China exhibit — which opens to the public today and is up through Aug. 12 — was China Daily reporter Zhang Ruinan, who is from Beijing but based out of New York. She was here because the…
Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog-eating contest qualifiers will be held May 18 at Great American Ball Park
Can you eat 74 hot dogs in 10 minutes? If ya’ nasty and you think you can, Nathan’s Famous is bringing its hot dog-eating contest to Cincinnati on May 18. The event will be held on the field at Great American Ball Park after the Cincinnati Reds take on the Chicago Cubs. The game starts…
Advocates of Local Natural Burial Preserve in Cincinnati Sponsor Movie at the Esquire about the Growing Movement
A nonprofit organization trying to create a new natural burial ground in Cincinnati for people, pets and cremains is sponsoring a documentary at the Esquire Theatre in Clifton Wednesday (April 25) about changes in America's funeral and burial customs. It's called In the Parlor: The Final Goodbye, and its website says it looks at a…
Cincinnati police arrest, tasing creates controversy on social media
Cellphone video of Cincinnati Police officers arresting a young male Wednesday on West McMillan Street near the University of Cincinnati and dispersing an angry crowd, who were insisting the male had been tased "for no reason," has been shared more than 1,400 times and viewed more than 34,000 times on Facebook. The footage triggered anger…
Mayor John Cranley drops his cell phone in a hot tub; someone stole a butterfly from the Krohn Conservatory; more Cincinnati news
Good morning, all. I’d like to have us all start today with this gif, which is perhaps the most appropriate representation of how you’re going to feel when you read about the latest drama at City Hall (if you haven’t already). Buckle up. There’s some bumpy news ahead. Yesterday, five members of Cincinnati City Council…
Cincinnati City Manager details alleged ethics concerns with Mayor John Cranley
Following a long-running feud with Mayor John Cranley, Cincinnati City Manager Harry Black today released a memo which outlines ethics concerns he has had with the mayor and alleges that the mayor may have taken a campaign donation in exchange for promises about a development deal. The memo provides a few more details about concerns…
What led to Kyle Plush’s death?
Sixteen-year-old Kyle Plush went into his van the afternoon of April 10 to get some sports equipment and never came out alive. His suffocation after the van’s third-row seat tipped over on him has rippled through Cincinnati, sparking a long, anguished Cincinnati City Council meeting last week and seemingly providing the last straw leading to…
‘Female Energy’ celebrates unity between women in Cincinnati music across genres and generations
In September, Cincinnati singer/songwriters Abiyah and Xzela — who each create music inspired by Hip Hop, but in unique, imaginative ways — hosted their first “Female Energy” showcase at Northside’s Urban Artifact. Described as “a non-exclusive gathering (that) welcomes anyone and everyone with open arms,” the live-music project was devised as a means to “showcase…
