An Interview with The Worsties
The Worsties are a Nashville based rock band. The Worsties are: Anna “Madame Worsty” Worstell on vocals, Jesse “Worsty” Worstell on guitar and bgv’s, Jairo “El Guapo” Ruiz on bass, Nathan “Four to the Floor” Shelton on Drums.They are gaining steam across the South and the Midwest with a very energetic live performance style and…
Beastie Boys and Lil B
[HOT] Re-Licensed to Ill As they seem to do every five years or so, The Beastie Boys have returned to the music world, just in time to provide a lesson to next-generation Pop tarts on how to have a long, successful career in music without sacrificing creative progress or integrity. In advance of the forthcoming…
Comedy: Tom Wilson
Don’t feel badly if you’re in the minority of folks who don’t recognize Tom Wilson from the film Back to the Future or the cult TV series Freaks and Geeks. Throughout his TV and film career, Wilson has been a headlining stand-up comic. “The weird thing is people come to my shows and say ‘I…
Music: Hester Prynne with Nighshade
When Nathaniel Hawthorne conceived Hester Prynne, the Puritan good-girl-gone-bad who serves as the protagonist of The Scarlet Letter, his 1850 romantic morality play, he cast her as a perfectly dichotomous example of humanity. Prynne was chaste yet sexual, virtuous yet lusty, liberated yet chained to cultural expectation, flawed but redeemable. It very well could be…
Music: Kinky Friedman
It has been said about outlandishly larger-than-life characters that if they didn’t exist, someone would have to invent them. Texas singer/songwriter/author/raconteur/politician/animal activist/cigar aficionado Kinky Friedman finds himself at the crux of a fascinating paradox: If he didn’t exist, his exploits are so incredible that only he could imagine someone as improbable as himself. And he…
Events: Royal Wedding Events
You know how everyone's Irish on St. Patrick's Day? Well, everyone is royalty this Friday as people around the globe prepare for the British Invasion — Prince William and Kate Middleton's royal wedding. Polish that tiara and practice your pinkie-out stance for the Royal Wedding Charity Tea at The Iron Horse (40 Village Square, Glendale).…
Events: Final Friday OTR Skate
Knock the dust off those inline skates and four-wheeled legends because Friday night, Disco’s alive and so are you, baby. Hosted by the Over-the-Rhine Recreation Center (a few blocks from Findlay Market at 1715 Republic St., Over-the-Rhine), the Final Friday OTR Skate party offers roller-disco heroes the opportunity to rock their gold booty shorts all…
Onstage: Infamous Love Songs
Cross-pollinating arts audiences is paramount in today's economically uncertain times. Case in point: Cincinnati Ballet and storied Cincinnati band Over the Rhine (both beloved cultural icons locally and beyond) will share the stage this weekend at the Aronoff Center for three performances designed to draw fans of each. For artistic magic to happen, the right…
Music: Bert Jansch with Neil Young
Considering the level of reverence Bert Jansch elicits from Boomer Rock icons like Neil Young (currently touring with Jansch as his opening act) and Jimmy Page, it’s surprising to learn that the 67-year-old Scottish guitarist/singer/songwriter is their contemporary rather than their elder. But by 1965, when Young, Page (and Donovan, another Jansch acolyte) were still…
Art: Shape Shift: Recent Works
Martha MacLeish of Indiana University's Fine Arts faculty allows her work to break exuberantly into three dimensions in Shape Shift: Recent Works, at Manifest Gallery through May 13. MacLeish's art, whether two- or three-dimensional, is concerned with “aspects that raise questions and create tension,” her artist's statement says. The thing she doesn't mention is the…
Onstage: Beehive
I’m no expert on pop culture, but I was a teenager in the 1960s. So the 40 or so tunes by “girl groups” and women singers that constitute Beehive are front and center in my mental jukebox. Watching the show at the Cincinnati Playhouse, I knew the words to most of the songs. It feels…
Art: Video Sculpture
Because of keen public interest, the Reed Gallery at UC's College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning (DAAP) has extended its fine current show, Video Sculpture, through May 13. Be sure to get there to see the wonderful installation from 2009 by Amy Jenkins called “From the Same Water,” in which the image of a naked man and a woman floating…
Literary: Nicholson Baker
The Mercantile Library continues its impressive track record of guests by inviting Nicholson Baker to read and discuss his work. The 54-year-old New York City native has tackled a number of topics and genres — from nonfiction to fiction, from books about phone sex and bottle feeding babies to historical investigations about about the insidious…
Music: Shilpa Ray and Her Happy Hookers
It's not often that someone sketches out his or her life path as a 13-year-old and sees the results materialize in adulthood, but Shilpa Ray is an exception. At that age, the New Jersey-bred, Brooklyn-based musician heard The Velvet Underground for the first time, an event that had a massive impact on her. “I just…
Literary: Jon Katz
There are many good things about growing up in a family with several children: There's usually someone available for companionship, to offer advice or commiserate with about life's ups and downs. But it can also suck for some kids if their siblings shine in an obvious way — perhaps in sports or playing the piano…
Events: Vogue 4U Gay Expo/Fashion Weekend
If you have a thing for feather boas and fetish finds, head to downtown this weekend for the Vogue 4U Gay Fashion Expo, an event showcasing local gay-owned businesses and fabulous fashion. The fun begins Friday with a fashion show at Roxy’s Restaurant & Lounge (900 Vine St., Downtown, in the former Hamburger Mary’s space)…
Perfect Pairings: Over the Rhine and the Cincinnati Ballet Collaborate
Cross-pollinating arts audiences is paramount in today's economically uncertain times. Case in point: Cincinnati Ballet and storied Cincinnati band Over the Rhine (both beloved cultural icons locally and beyond) will share the stage this weekend at the Aronoff Center for three performances designed to draw fans of each. For artistic magic to happen, the right…
Soapland Releases Debut
• Friday night at MOTR Pub in Over-the-Rhine, local Indie/Electronic band Soapland will celebrate the release of its first recording effort, Inflatable Real. DJ Mowgli will also be on hand to spin some tunes to dance to. Though only four tracks, the enticing EP is an excellent introduction to the crafty group’s electronic-tinged soundscapes, engaging…
Royal Wedding Live Chat!
You know how everyone's Irish on St. Patrick's Day? Well, everyone is royalty this Friday as people around the globe prepare for the British Invasion — Prince William and Kate Middleton's royal wedding. And much like St. Patrick's Day, the most hardcore fans will be waking up early to celebrate, since live coverage begins at…
Soft Funny Underbelly
Every job is somewhat unpleasant; that’s why you’re paid to do it. But keep this in mind — no matter what crap end of the stick you drew at the office this week, whatever chore you were assigned as some corporate version of waterboarding, at least you didn’t have to interview 11 comedians in a…
Art: Together We Are More Than One Person
Springtime brings new flowers, baby animals and spry young artists bursting onto the local scene with their Fine Arts degrees and senior thesis exhibitions at schools all over the city. The Art Academy of Cincinnati has been rotating through group shows on a weekly basis and this week it opens Together We Are More Than…
New Kids On the Rock
There’s considerably more to a Kry Kids gig than you would expect from a Rock-centric Electronic band. When the local group began as a duo conceived by ex-Chalk multi-instrumentalist Dave Rohs and Culture Queer’s Jeremy Lesniak in 2009, it was probably exactly what you’d expect. “There were a lot of wires,” Rohs says while chatting…
Music: Kry Kids
There’s considerably more to a Kry Kids gig than you would expect from a Rock-centric Electronic band. When the local group began as a duo conceived by ex-Chalk multi-instrumentalist Dave Rohs and Culture Queer’s Jeremy Lesniak in 2009, it was probably exactly what you’d expect. “There were a lot of wires,” Rohs says while chatting…
Events: Rabbit Hash Wine Festival
Rabbit Hash, Ky., — the small town 35 south of Cincy that elects dogs as mayors and is named for the rumored use of the local rabbit population as food — holds its first-ever wine festival this weekend. Sponsored by Elk Creek Vineyard, the town will be filled with booths from various wineries featuring plenty…
Comedy: Underbelly Second Anniversary
Every job is somewhat unpleasant; that’s why you’re paid to do it. But keep this in mind — no matter what crap end of the stick you drew at the office this week, whatever chore you were assigned as some corporate version of waterboarding, at least you didn’t have to interview 11 comedians in a…
Ensemble Theatre’s Big 2-5
Turning 25 might not seem like a big accomplishment — unless you’re doing theater in Over-the-Rhine. Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati (ETC) is drawing its first quarter-century to a close with 25 The Musical (May 4-22), a medley of tunes representing the company’s musical offerings since 1986. Producing Artistic Director D. Lynn Meyers and Music Director…
Shifting Perspectives
Martha MacLeish of Indiana University's Fine Arts faculty allows her work to break exuberantly into three dimensions in Shape Shift: Recent Works, at Manifest Gallery through May 13. MacLeish's art, whether two- or three-dimensional, is concerned with “aspects that raise questions and create tension,” her artist's statement says. The thing she doesn't mention is the…
Wild at Heart
It's not often that someone sketches out his or her life path as a 13-year-old and sees the results materialize in adulthood, but Shilpa Ray is an exception. At that age, the New Jersey-bred, Brooklyn-based musician heard The Velvet Underground for the first time, an event that had a massive impact on her. “I just…
Will the Real Jay Bruce Please Stand Up?
After a hot start, the Reds have lost eight of 11 and each of the last three series. It's not a good time to be falling flat — the surging Milwaukee Brewers host the Reds tonight, opening what could be a key, pysche-altering three-game series. —- The Reds' recent struggles have been the result of…
All Ashore! Nunsensations is Washed Up
The Showboat Majestic's opening comedy musical, Nunsensations – The Nunsense Las Vegas Revue, might be over the top, but it won't be under water. That's because Cincinnati Landmark Productions will move Showboat's season opener — running May 4-22 — to dry land, staging it at the Covedale Center for the Performing Arts on Cincinnati's West…
Hester Prynne
When Nathaniel Hawthorne conceived Hester Prynne, the Puritan good-girl-gone-bad who serves as the protagonist of The Scarlet Letter, his 1850 romantic morality play, he cast her as a perfectly dichotomous example of humanity. Prynne was chaste yet sexual, virtuous yet lusty, liberated yet chained to cultural expectation, flawed but redeemable. It very well could be…
Bert Jansch with Neil Young
Considering the level of reverence Bert Jansch elicits from Boomer Rock icons like Neil Young (currently touring with Jansch as his opening act) and Jimmy Page, it’s surprising to learn that the 67-year-old Scottish guitarist/singer/songwriter is their contemporary rather than their elder. But by 1965, when Young, Page (and Donovan, another Jansch acolyte) were still…
Water for Elephants (Review)
Seeking to prove he had the chops for more dramatic fare, Francis Lawrence (I Am Legend) directed this adaptation of Sara Gruen’s novel by noted screenwriter Richard LaGravenese (The Fisher King), but he ended up hedging his bets a bit with the casting of Twilight heartthrob Robert Pattinson as the dreamy veterinarian lead opposite Oscar…
Madea’s Big Happy Family (Review)
The Tyler Perry brandwagon began when the down-on-his-luck multi-hyphenate sat down and started churning out plays for urban theatres that spoke to churchgoing folks and those who would recognize the broad, sketchy stereotypes prancing around onstage because they looked and sounded like friends and family from around the way. Perry’s built-in audience transitioned into the…
Atlas Shrugged: Part 1 (Review)
Ayn Rand comes across like the fairy godmother of the Tea Party as her sociopolitical screed gets updated. Atlas Shrugged, her fourth and final novel, preached the philosophy of Objectivism, built around notions of reason, individualism, trusting the market economy and freedom from government coercion. One Tree Hill actor-director Paul Johansson’s adaptation sets the story…
Kinky Friedman
It has been said about outlandishly larger-than-life characters that if they didn’t exist, someone would have to invent them. Texas singer/songwriter/author/raconteur/politician/animal activist/cigar aficionado Kinky Friedman finds himself at the crux of a fascinating paradox: If he didn’t exist, his exploits are so incredible that only he could imagine someone as improbable as himself. And he…
African Cats (Review)
Just as there have been too many animated movies crowding the screens, there appears to be a mad flood of nature films rising. Following too closely on the heels of Born to Be Wild, Disneynature unveils African Cats. Samuel L. Jackson narrates this seasonal journey through a Kenyan reserve that spotlights a mother lion raising…
Morning News and Stuff
While states all across the country are looking for ways to save money, Michigan Republican State Senator Bruce Caswell made the news this weekend for saying foster children should only be allowed to purchase clothes at thrift stores. Foster families are given state money to buy clothes for their children and Caswell wants to make…
48 Hours In Nashville: Part Deux
Go here to read part one. Somehow Saturday morning Jeff and I woke up bright and early. Flavor Flav must have sprinkled some magic dust on us the night before, because we weren't our usual hungover pieces of shit, writhing under covers 'til noon. For this special occasion, we headed to the famous Loveless Motel…
Friday Movie Roundup: Digital Revolution Edition
Once upon a time people would go to grandiose, darkened theaters to watch images projected on large screens via illuminated strips of film. Those days are all but over. Initially altered by the late-’70s advent of platter projection — not to mention that same era's movie-magic-eroding advent of cable TV and home-video players — film culture…
Interview with Shaun McCoy of Bobaflex
On Wednesday night in Columbus, radio station 99.7 The Blitz had a one year anniversary party and invited hundreds of fans to an appreciation party at the LC Pavillion to give feedback on the station and meet the members of the Blitz on-air team. Die hard Blitz fans were surprised with a live performance from…
Stage Door: Classic Home Town
If you need a reminder of what a classic play can achieve, you should stop by UC's College-Conservatory of Music this weekend to see the drama program's production of Thornton Wilder's Our Town. Faculty member Diane Kvapil has directed a sturdy version of the show that leans a little more than I like in the…
Ohio Takeover Tour Diary, Part 1
A few years ago I was invited by CityBeat to share some journal entries I had been jotting down while touring over in Europe. These entries somewhat led to my current side hustle of faux-journalism with the paper. I’m on tour again and CityBeat offered me another crack at documenting our experiences up and down…
Morning News and Stuff
President Obama last night attributed his low approval rating, which has recently dropped down to 41 percent for only the second time, to the high gas prices which are closing in on $4 a gallon nationwide. At the fundraising dinner in Brentwood, Calif., Obama said, "If I wasn't professionally in this, I wouldn't be following…
Beastie Boys’ Crazy-Funny Short Film
My insomnia was richly rewarded (finally!) Wednesday night when I caught the television premiere of Beastie Boys' very own Thriller mini-movie, Fight For Your Right Revisited, which features more top-shelf Hollywood celebrities than Elton John's Oscars party and is stupid-hilarious in that uniquely Beastie way. The creamy center of the film — written and directed…
MidPoint Indie Summer Series 2011 Preview
This week’s CityBeat features the announcement of the first several weeks’ worth of headliners for PNC’s MidPoint Indie Summer Series. The free, every-Friday concert series on Fountain Square again features an interesting array of out-of-town artists and Cincinnati music’s finest. The concerts begin June 3 with local Electronica duo You, You’re Awesome headlining a typically…
Chunk Lives!
Ever wonder what happened to the kid who played Chunk in The Goonies? Wonder no more. —-
Trust (Review)
David Schwimmer's sophomore effort as a director is a tour de force of socially relevant dramatic filmmaking. Clearly a labor of love for Schwimmer and his outstanding ensemble, Trust comes at you from all angles. Gifted newcomer Liana Liberato performance as 14-year-old Annie Cameron is nothing short of astonishing. Annie lives a comfortable life in…
Cirque du Soleil Mother’s Day Promo
If circuses haven't been the same for you since realizing that animals don't actually like trainers who crack the whip, go to Cirque du Soleil. CityBeat staffers were among the folks who attended last night's sneak preview of their new show, OVO, at Coney Island. It was amazing: technically impeccable, delightfully entertaining and 100 percent…
An Interview with Lucinda Williams
Lucinda Williams is a premier female act in Country and American Folk music. She has been blazing the roads since the late ’70s and has not slowed down. She still appears at music festivals all across the country, even gaining international acclaim. Her most recent album, Blessed, is her eleventh studio album. Williams has been…
Morning News and Stuff
Conservative activist and Christian minister David Barton told listeners of his radio show on Tuesday that net neutrality violates the Biblical principle of free markets. "This is what the Pilgrims brought in, the Puritans brought in, this is free market mentality. Net neutrality sounds really good, but it is socialism on the Internet." Barton was…
Free Download: Bootsy’s James Brown Tribute Track
Bootsy Collins spoke with music writer Brian Baker for this week’s CityBeat, revealing the conceptual, philosophical and educational elements behind his new album, Tha Funk Capital of the World (out this Tuesday). The album’s label home, Mascot Records, is giving a sneak peak in the form of tribute track “JB-Still the Man,” Bootsy’s James Brown…
Will We Ever See Malick’s ‘Tree of Life’?
Terrence Malick's Tree of Life is coming. Or is it? Like everything the acclaimed 68-year-old filmmaker does, Malick's latest — just his fifth film in 38 years — has gone through a mysterious gestation, changing release dates and distributors numerous times (it was originally slated for a Dec. 25, 2009, release) while simultaneously revealing little about…
Ian Anderson, Catholic Critics and Glenn Beck
[HOT] Fluting for the Stars In 1969, if you’d told Ian Anderson — bug-eyed frontman for Jethro Tull — that one day he would be performing a duet with someone floating 220 miles above the earth … well, he probably would have said, “But, of course” (drugs were pretty popular that year). NASA recently honored…
First MidPoint Indie Summer Acts Announced
With the flood of shows announced for Riverbend and other outdoor arenas in the area, it feels like the full summer concert lineup has already been revealed. But there’s plenty more to come, including the lineups for the free, weekly MidPoint Indie Summer Series, which returns beginning June 3 with national and local bands playing…
The Truth About Taxes
F or three decades the United States has conducted a massive economic experiment, testing a theory known as supply-side economics. The theory goes like this: Lower tax rates will encourage more investment, which in turn will mean more jobs and greater prosperity — so much so that tax revenues will go up, despite lower rates.…
Boehner, CCV on Wrong Side of History
Most readers might think that House Speaker John Boehner (R-West Chester) would be too busy to meet with just anyone during the past few weeks, while he was grappling with a budget impasse and impending shutdown of federal government. But the Orange One took time out of his busy schedule in late February to attend…
‘Laughing Brook’ Might Help Save the Mill Creek
Jackie Brookner, a New York-based artist who creates “biospheres” by using storm runoff and other polluted waters as part of her outdoor, environmental earthworks, spoke at Xavier University this month about the ethical and spiritual dimensions to her work. One of her pieces, “Laughing Brook,” is in Cincinnati, along the struggling Mill Creek at Salway…
Topsy-Turvy (Review)
At first glance, Mike Leigh’s Topsy-Turvy seems the oddball amongst the work of a filmmaker best known for the raw explorations of contemporary lower- and middle-class British life in Life Is Sweet, Secrets and Lies, Naked, Happy-Go-Lucky and more. A period piece set in Victorian London, the film looks at the often contentious relationship between…
Waffles of Freedom!
Did you even know that there was a café at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center? Neither did Jean Francois Flechet until he had a chance to propose opening a satellite site of his Belgian waffle empire there. Well, maybe Taste of Belgium hasn’t reached empire status, but it’s certainly growing in local impact. When…
Rubber (Review)
I t’s tempting to call Rubber an intimate glimpse into the tire condition. But that might seem excessively flippant. True, it’s hard not to describe this new independent film about a killer tire, which can be seen first-run on Time Warner Cable’s video-on-demand platform, without allowing for some humor. It’s just such a weird premise.…
Blinkers Tavern (Review)
W hen it was announced that Chalk Food Wine in Covington was closing its doors this year, it left an empty spot in our stomachs (or hearts, for you sentimental types). But it also left a clean and complete restaurant space ready for a new venture to breathe life into it. Sandy Meyer and Gary…
The Funk Inside
M any adjectives accurately describe Tha Funk Capitol of the World, Bootsy Collins’ first new album in five years. “Commemorative,” “visionary,” “eclectic,” “explosive,” “star-studded.” But just one word embraces everything within Funk Capitol’s 75-minute duration: “conceptual.” “I wanted us to look at ourselves and what we bring to the table,” Collins says from his Cincinnati…
Come Again?
Has The Greatest Story Ever Told ever been remade, rebooted or turned into a series of sequels? That question doesn’t refer directly to the 1965 George Stevens epic, which was a a retelling of the story of Jesus Christ from his birth to the Resurrection, starring Max von Sydow as Jesus, but more to the…
Ginger Rhodes [Principal, Hughes High School]
Hughes High School is a Clifton landmark. Its prodigious tower, complete with gargoyles, has been keeping watch over the city for 100 years and the Rookwood fountains and striking architecture have put it on the must-see list for local history buffs. The building is indeed remarkable, but what is even more impressive are the students…
Shrek The Musical (Review)
M uch to my surprise, I had a great time at Shrek The Musical. I went expecting a silly cartoon and that’s exactly what it is — but it’s a really well-done silly cartoon, perfect fare for an audience full of kids and parents. (At two-and-a-half hours long, I thought it might be too much…
April 13-19: Worst Week Ever!
WEDNESDAY APRIL 13 Successful people understand that sometimes even the smartest individuals need to defer to the expertise of others: President Obama doesn’t ask a bunch of questions about how space shuttles work; just tells the astronauts to blast off and have a good time floating around. That’s why it was pretty annoying today to…
Morning News and Stuff
President Barack Obama on Tuesday said that a budget deal could be reached with the Republicans despite ideological differences between the two sides. "The big question that is going to have to be resolved is: how do we do it?" Obama told students at a community college. "I don't want to lie to you, there…
Kasich Gets an ‘F’ Across the State
If three unscientific, online polls are any indication, Ohio Gov. John Kasich probably shouldn't make plans for a second term. The Columbus Dispatch, The Cleveland Plain Dealer and Dayton's WRGT-TV (Channel 45) have each had polls asking people to rate Kasich's performance during his first 100 days in office and the results are overwhelming and…
