Leyla at Lolla: Lollapalooza 2011 Day 1
EDITOR'S NOTE: This year's 20th anniversary edition of Lollapalooza in Chicago's Grant Park was once again a live, breathing, three-day mixtape featuring star artists (Coldplay, Eminem, Foo Fighters), established performers, cult heroes and up-and-comers. Local writer Leyla Shokoohe attended her very first Lollapalooza this past weekend and agreed to write about the experience for CityBeat.…
Morning News and Stuff
The residents of six Wisconsin state Senate districts are today voting in the nation’s largest ever group of recall elections in what has become a query into the conservative policies of Republican Gov. Scott Walker. "I think it's really important for people to show that what is going on in Madison and Governor Walker's leadership…
Maritime
When Maritime emerged in 2003, the quartet faced an almost crippling level of expectation. Davey von Bohlen had been the charismatic frontman for The Promise Ring, widely regarded as one of the most important bands in the nascent Emo movement. Drummer Dan Didier had been the velvet hammer that propelled The Promise Ring’s beautifully irregular…
Onstage: The Art of Murder
Two of my favorite plays in the 1990s were the clever comedy Over the River and Through the Woods and the sketch musical I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change. Both came from the pen of Joe DiPietro, a very funny writer. His 2000 play The Art of Murder takes place in the world of…
Comedy: John Morgan
You can be forgiven if you’re not quite sure which comedian named John Morgan is coming to the Funny Bone on the Levee. It’s certainly not the former Royal Canadian Air Farce cast member who passed away a few years ago. Nor is it the political comic from Orlando, Fla., who found fame doing a…
Sports: Western & Southern Open
The tennis tournament now known as the Western & Southern Open has existed in Cincinnati in one form or another for 112 years, which (arguably) makes it the oldest in the United States still played in its original city. The tournament regularly features the best the players in the world — look for defending champion…
Music: Maritime
When Maritime emerged in 2003, the quartet faced an almost crippling level of expectation. Davey von Bohlen had been the charismatic frontman for The Promise Ring, widely regarded as one of the most important bands in the nascent Emo movement. Drummer Dan Didier had been the velvet hammer that propelled The Promise Ring’s beautifully irregular…
Music: The WEBN Project Reunion Show
In fall 1983, I did publicity/promotion for Bogart’s, which necessitated distributing posters and flyers around Short Vine. I was on my rounds when Raisins guitarist Rob Fetters turned the corner at Charlton at a full gallop, wild eyed and hair flying. The Raisins’ debut album, produced by future bandmate Adrian Belew, had just dropped and…
Dance: Gala of International Dance Stars
Looking to see red-hot dance this summer? Thanks to arts innovation movement: aim cincinnati, you don’t need to wait for the fall season to get your dance fix, whether you like ballet, contemporary, aerial or even tap dance. It’s time for aim cincinnati’s (formerly known as ballet tech cincinnati) annual Gala of International Dance Stars…
Art: Islands at PAC Gallery
Emily Hanako Momohara opens a new exhibition Islands, this Friday at PAC Gallery in East Walnut Hills. These works are based in the artist’s recent trip to Okinawa, Japan, to research her family history, where she discovered that many of the stories passed among her relatives were shaped and embellished by the teller. They aren’t…
Cheyenne Marie Mize
Singer/songwriter Cheyenne Marie Mize has become a name to know in the Indie world thanks to her gauzy, twilight-twinkle music and, especially, her enchanting vocals. She has also benefited from being a member of the supportive and fertile Louisville music scene, the source of many collaborations and relationships that have helped in Mize’s development and…
Events: 2011 Great Inland Seafood Festival
Do you have a soft spot for seafood but find yourself unwilling or unable to travel hundreds of miles to the nearest ocean? Are you tired of paying inland prices for delicious fish, crabs and shrimp? Have no fear, landlubbers! This Thursday through Sunday, the Newport riverside will be transformed into an oceanside Mecca as…
Art: Cincinnati Modern Architecture– A Retrospective
If you automatically think historic architecture must be 19th century or earlier, think again. At the Betts House, itself built in 1804, the exhibition Cincinnati Modern Architecture – A Retrospective opens Saturday to run through September 15. Reflecting such different philosophical bents as the Terrace Plaza Hotel and Greenhills model village, the exhibition will also…
Events: Chicken Lays an Egg Fashion Show
Chicken Lays an Egg is a colorful vintage store in Northside that has everything from men’s, women’s and children’s clothes to artwork, housewares, toys, handmade items and more. To add to the excitement it already offers, CLAE is producing its first official fashion show Saturday at Memorial Hall. MC’d by Ted Clark of Ted Clark…
Events: Northside Pridefest 2011
If you were already planning on stopping by Hoffner Park, The Northside Tavern, Chameleons, The Serpent, Mayday or The Comet this Saturday night, your future just got a little more fabulous. Cincinnati Pride Week might be long gone, but Northside’s still ready to ready to party in the name of all folks gay, lesbian, transgender…
Music: Cheyenne Marie Mize
Singer/songwriter Cheyenne Marie Mize has become a name to know in the Indie world thanks to her gauzy, twilight-twinkle music and, especially, her enchanting vocals. She has also benefited from being a member of the supportive and fertile Louisville music scene, the source of many collaborations and relationships that have helped in Mize’s development and…
Music: Shiny and the Spoon
A teacher from Shelbyville, Ind., Amber Nash — who sings and plays ukulele and guitar with Cincinnati-based Folk Pop duo Shiny and the Spoon — wears a porcupine claw and a white, tooth-shaped piece around her neck. On her left arm, a tattoo peeks out. Her hair, reddish brown curls. Nash, who got her start…
The Duke of Uke and His Novelty Orchestra
The Asylum Street Spankers have retired, the late, great Tiny Tim has had archive material released in the last two years and Eddie Vedder just released an album of songs played on a ukulele. Could there be a better time for the Duke of Uke and His Novelty Orchestra to make their move? Although there…
Music: Atmosphere
The first track of adventurous Minneapolis Hip Hop duo Atmosphere's new album, The Family Sign, opens with the muted, plaintive strains of a piano as frontdude Slug whispers something about his family tree in the background. It's a telling opening salvo, an immediate sign that 2008's When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit…
Events: Second Sunday on Main: Indie ‘Nati
Webster’s Dictionary defines the word “independent” as “not affiliated with a larger controlling unit.” It says “I did it myself, man (with a little help from my friends).” The beauty of indie culture, though, comes from the bit between the parentheses. One might start with intentions of going solo but communal support makes the solo…
Music: The Duke of Uke and His Novelty Orchestra
The Asylum Street Spankers have retired, the late, great Tiny Tim has had archive material released in the last two years and Eddie Vedder just released an album of songs played on a ukulele. Could there be a better time for the Duke of Uke and His Novelty Orchestra to make their move? Although there…
Wisconsin Voters Decide GOP Recalls Today
The state-level political turmoil caused by the Tea Party and its financial backers, the Koch brothers, got its start in Wisconsin under rookie Gov. Scott Walker. Today, Wisconsin voters have the opportunity to oust six Republican state senators in unprecedented recall elections. Follow the action via a live blog set up by Isthmus, the alt…
Squeeze the Day for 8/9
Music Tonight: Popular local Folk trio The Tillers perform at 7 p.m. tonight for Fountain Square’s “Southern Sounds” series, the every-Tuesday showcase of local (and occasionally national) artists within the “Americana” spectrum (Blues, Folk, Country, etc.). The Tillers are set to release a new album this fall in conjunction with a special concert event being…
Walk The Moon Slays at Lollapalooza (VIDEO)
Joining Eminem, Coldplay and Foo Fighters at this past weekend’s huge Lollapalooza concert in Chicago was Cincinnati Indie Dance/Pop band Walk the Moon, whose early afternoon set on Saturday was enthusiastically received by the mass of people who showed up to hear them. It’s the latest triumph for Walk the Moon, whose whirlwind ride over…
City Sets Budget Hearings
Facing a $33 million deficit for next year, Cincinnati officials are facing some tough choices — including the city manager's recommendation to layoff 44 police officers. Now the public may chime in and offer suggestions. City Council's Budget and Finance Committee has scheduled four public hearings this month at different locations throughout Cincinnati, with the…
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
It would be impossible to forget the impact of the Planet of the Apes saga on popular culture, and this franchise reboot prequel from writer-director Rupert Wyatt (The Escapist) certainly doesn’t want audiences to walk in with a completely blank slate. But it is obvious that he’s got his own ideas about the new direction,…
Morning News and Stuff
An election to potentially recall several Republican state senators will take place tomorrow. Tea Party Nation founder Judson Phillips and other conservative leaders appeared in Wisconsin to garner support against the threat of the liberal Nazi stormtroopers.—- Phillips warned his clan of just how dangerous liberalism can be: “I will tell you ladies and gentlemen,…
Squeeze the Day for 8/8
Music Tonight: A Perfect Circle, Tool frontman Maynard James Keenan’s Art Metal too-successful-to-be-a-side-project he co-founded with guitarist Billy Howerdel, has been back on the road after a seven-year break. The band started its hiatus after the release of eMOTIVe, a war-and-peace-themed collection that included several interesting, seriously reworked covers (John Lennon’s “Imagine,” Depeche Mode’s “People…
Ohio Hip Hop’s Fountain Square Takeover TONIGHT
This past spring, the Ohio Takeover Tour brought a sampler platter of Ohio-bred Hip Hop artists to several cities across the state. Headlined by Columbus native/UC graduate J. Rawls, the club tour also featured Buckeye State artists Illogic, L.E. for the Uncool and Ill Poetic, the Dayton/Cincinnati Hip Hop MC/producer who cribs the Hip Hop…
New Music Video from Brian Olive
Cincinnati singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Brian Olive, formerly of The Greenhornes and Soledad Brothers and currently an acclaimed solo artist, has a new music video. The clip is for the song "Left Side Rock," a beaming ray of vintage-inspired Psychedelic Pop off of Olive's second album, Two of Everything. A press release announcing the unusual video calls it…
Tracy Letts’ ‘Superior Donuts’ coming to Cincinnati
Tracy Letts' plays haven't quite caught on in Cincinnati. We're yet to see a production locally of August: Osage County, his 2008 Pulitzer Prize winner. Neither the Cincinnati Playhouse nor Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati
Morning News and Stuff
All five officers on trial for the deadly shootings on a New Orleans bridge after Hurricane Katrina were convicted of charges stemming from the cover-up of the shootings. The four men charged with civil rights violations in the shootings were convicted on all counts, but the jury didn’t find the officers guilty of murder. Former…
Jean Schmidt: Shady or Just Stupid?
So, just who did Jean Schmidt think was paying her mounting legal bills, anyhow? That's the lingering question after the House Ethics Committee ruled today that Schmidt, a Republican congresswoman from Miami Township, did receive an “impermissible gift” by accepting about $500,000 in free legal help since spring 2009, but somehow didn't “knowingly” violate the…
Friday Movie Roundup: The Perils of Technology
Jaws was on TV the other day. Though too young to have caught its initial 1975 theatrical release, I've since watched it at least a half-dozen times, each exposure inevitably sucking me back into its simple but exhilarating story all over again. This time I was struck by how different Jaws is compared to the…
Your Weekend To Do List: 8/5-8/7
Going to the zoo isn't just for kids (though there always a million of them there). Whether you are a child, have 'em or hate 'em this weekend is perfect for a trip to the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Gardens. Friday-Sunday are Visitor Appreciation Days at the zoo, which means half price admission and parking…
Squeeze the Day for 8/5
Music Tonight: At 5 p.m. today at Sawyer Point along the riverfront, the gates open for the 19th annual Cincy Blues Fest, the Cincy Blues Society’s signature event and benefit for the Blues in the Schools musical education/outreach program. The two-day event has earned a reputation in local/regional Blues circles as one of the best…
Chili Peppers Concert Flick Screens Locally
Though their music hasn't changed much at all since they struck on the "Under the Bridge" hit-making formula and began almost exclusively releasing relatively mellow Pop songs designed for chart success, long-standing, occasionally funky veteran band Red Hot Chili Peppers has at least gotten creative in terms of pre-release promotional activities. They'll continue that trend…
Morning News and Stuff
President Barack Obama turned 50 today and, after nudging his wife, said the only thing that’s lost a little spring in its step is the economy. "By the time I wake up, I'll have an email from AARP asking me to call President Obama and tell him to protect Medicare," Obama joked during a fundraiser…
The Newbees Go Fab for McCartney After Party
Cincinnati Pop band The Newbees will help turn downtown club Mainstay into the perfect destination for anyone looking to keep the fun going after tonight's Paul McCartney concert, just a few blocks away from Mainstay at Great American Ballpark. After a happy hour performance before the concert, featuring The Newbees' own masterful, melodic material, the…
The Change-Up (Review)
Charles Dickens was half right in his imminently quotable introduction to A Tale of Two Cities because The Change Up, the umpteenth cinematic switcheroo comedy, certainly offers compelling evidence for this being “the worst of times.” Director David Dobkin (Fred Claus, Wedding Crashers) dares audiences to assume that Dave (Bateman), a stupendously successful attorney and…
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (Review)
There is something sterile and joyless about the combination of director Wayne Wang (Smoke, Maid in Manhattan) and screenwriter Ron Bass teaming up for the first time since The Joy Luck Club back in 1993, when both were seemingly on the verge of storming the gates of Hollywood. Bass, in particular, was following up Rain…
Q&A with The Decemberists
Popular Indie Folk/Rock group The Decemberists believe that life as a musician means continual evolution and, over the course of a career, any band worth paying attention to will pursue a sound, a direction of great adventure. The Oregon-based group has spread from West Coast bars to packed theater-sized venues throughout the country. The band…
Convention Aims to Reclaim Democracy
A coalition of progressive groups will hold a national convention later this month in Madison, Wis., the site of a hard-fought political battle to protect collective bargaining rights for public-sector labor unions. Democracy Convention 2011 is scheduled for Aug. 24-28, and is envisioned as the inaugural session of what will become an annual event. It…
Squeeze the Day for 8/4
Music Tonight: Unless you cut yourself off from all local media over the past week, you probably know that Paul McCartney is performing at Great American Ball Park tonight at 8 p.m., his first Cincinnati show since playing the Reds’ old Riverfront Stadium in 1993. (Latest hot dog news update for tonight’s concert: There WILL…
Harris, Walker to Lead CHRC
The Cincinnati Human Relations Commission (CHRC), a quasi-independent agency based at City Hall, has a new chairman and vice chairwoman. The CHRC's board of directors has elected Robert Harris to serve as chairman, and Carla Walker to serve as vice chairwoman.—- Harris works with the Center for Independent Living Options in Mount Auburn as a…
10 Songs Paul McCartney WON’T Play Thursday
If you wanted to, you could poke around online for about two minutes and come up with a fairly accurate list of songs Paul McCartney and his band will be playing in Cincinnati Thursday for the first major concert event at the Reds’ young Great American Ballpark. Actually, even the most casual fan could probably…
48 Hour Film Project Is Nearly Here
The latest 48 Hour Film Project: Cincinnati rapidly approach. Founded by in 2001 by a pair of independent film producers in Washington, D.C., the project has now spread to 80 cities — I think this will be the eighth Cincinnati version — on five continents.—- The premise is simple: Filmmaking teams have 48 hours (this…
ICYMI: Chippendales Edition
I like to think I'm always up on the gossip, but some newsworthy items slip under my radar, like 98 Degrees' Jeff Timmons (my childhood fave – sorry, Nick) being a Chippendales performer! Chippendales at The Rio in Las Vegas features the Cincinnati boy as their hunky headliner all summer long, extending his stay (eyebrow…
Morning News and Stuff
The Obama administration last week announced that all health insurers will be required to cover birth control costs and other women’s health services without charging co-pays, and yesterday Fox News’ America’s Newsroom got all hot and bothered about the whole thing. Fox’s anti-birth control “expert,” Family PAC Federal Vice President Sandy Rios, called the policy…
Park It Here
In New York City the Public Theater has just concluded its annual performances of Shakespeare in the Park. This year’s productions at the open-air Delacorte Theater in Central Park were All’s Well That Ends Well and Measure for Measure. Lots of attention is paid to these annual summer offerings, which have recently featured noteworthy stars…
July 27-Aug. 2: Worst Week Ever!
WEDNESDAY JULY 27 As if things could possibly get worse for those already purchasing their sundries at Dollar General, Colorado-based Pilgrim’s Pride today voluntarily recalled 7,000 pounds of chicken nuggets from the retail chain due to fears that some of the poor people chicken was tainted by listeriosis. Senior Vice President Kendra Waldbusser stated that…
Price Hill and Green Township
[WINNER] PRICE HILL: The hillside neighborhood that overlooks downtown to the west is making a rebound after years of suffering due to bad policy decisions by bureaucrats. Crime reported in the East, West and Lower Price Hill areas took a steep 20.2 percent drop in the first six months of 2011 compared to the same…
Deft Valley
Heavy, progressive Hard Rock trio Valley of the Sun celebrates the birth of its new EP, The Sayings of the Seers, at the Southgate House’s Parlour room this Thursday. Cincy Art/Prog/Metal ensemble Atlantic Becoming and Columbus’ heavies Lo-Pan open the 9 p.m. show. The startlingly high quality of the EP — which is being released…
Fighting for the YMCA
A showdown is looming between the YMCA of Greater Cincinnati and a group that wants to keep two YMCA branches open in Walnut Hills and East Walnut Hills. In 21 days the Williams and Melrose branches are scheduled to close despite the opposition of some residents. YMCA leaders heard the complaints against the planned closings…
Anti-Streetcar Measure Is a Trojan Horse
H ere they go again. Just as Far Right conservatives in Congress created a crisis over the federal debt ceiling so they could advance their true goal of nibbling away at Social Security and Medicare, so are fringe factions closer to home using a backdoor maneuver to block Cincinnati’s mass transit options for the next…
A Drag Dream Team
A s early as 1880, drag queens performing in Over-the-Rhine dance halls are mentioned in The Cincinnati Enquirer. It’s auspicious, then, that The Cabaret, a drag performance venue opened earlier this year, revives that OTR history by setting up shop in the same building as Below Zero Lounge on Walnut Street. It’s a new home…
‘Ghost’ in the Machines
I t’s a lazy, scorching Sunday in Northside. At Sidewinder Café, out back, the pet bunny takes a dirt bath in the shade, trying to cool down. Musicians, strangeness, sweat and cut-off jeans shorts are all around. Back inside, Nick Mitchell, singer and synth player for eccentric newcomers Revenge Piñata, leans against a brick wall…
Norwegian Media Remain Calm Amid Killings
Did you notice how little supposition infected reporting from Norway after the downtown bomb explosion and island massacre? From what I could divine from the Norwegian press or translations in English-language news media: •There was no rush to blame Arabs or Muslims nor pogroms against immigrants. •There were questions but little blame-casting about police response…
A Woman Resurrected
H istory has its share of artists whose reputations have declined with time, and one of the most notable examples is Artemisia Gentileschi, an Italian who worked in the early Baroque era of the 17th century and was influenced by one of the Great Masters of painting — Caravaggio. There were other talented, successful artists…
Downtown Cincinnati Restaurant Week Is Here
Amazing opportunity alert! I know you’ve heard that Todd Kelly, the executive chef at Orchids in the Hilton Netherland Plaza, was named Chef of the Year by the American Culinary Federation. This is huge, right? Cincinnati Chef Kelly wowed the judges with his Crispy Snapper dish and was named the best of a national organization…
Burnin’ for Blues?
N ext year, the Cincy Blues Society’s annual summer showcase of local, regional and national Blues talent will celebrate its 20th anniversary. One of the Queen City’s prize music festivals (and one of the best Blues fests in the region), 2012’s Cincy Blues Fest is sure to have many unique features and surprises, but you…
Seven Decades and Counting
Y ou know how people talk about “dog years”? They say that every year in a dog’s life is equivalent to seven human years, so a year-old puppy’s about as mature as a second grader, and a 6-year-old dog is happily middle-aged. There’s got to be a theory like that about the age of restaurants,…
Cobain, Kanye and T-Pain
[HOT] Favorite Son-of-a-Guns This week in the challenging world of getting government-approved public displays erected to honor hometown heroes with dubious personal habits takes us to Aberdeen, Wash., and St. Louis. In Kurt Cobain’s hometown of Aberdeen, city officials decided against naming the bridge under which a young, homeless Kurt slept in honor of Cobain,…
Getting Deep Inside ALEC
W ithin two hours of helping stage a loud protest outside a spring convention of conservative policymakers, Over-the-Rhine resident Aliya Rahman got a telephone call that has now triggered a media groundswell. “I have information about ALEC,” said a voice. Six weeks earlier, 29-year-old Rahman had been a Miami Univeristy Ph.D. student and labor organizer…
Bloodbath Barcelona
Exiled from Main Street XXXX: for M.O. “I still owe money to the money to the money I owe/the floors are falling out from everybody I know” —“Bloodbuzz Ohio,” The National Not long after touching down, the thought occurred to me that perhaps there was a reason most 40 year olds don’t decide to backpack…
Squeeze the Day for 8/3
Music Tonight: Locals Shiny Old Soul, the eclectic, acoustic Folk/Jazz/Rock/Roots band formed by members of the Gregory Morris Group, is the Southgate House’s Artist in Residence for August, performing for free in Juney’s Lounge each Wednesday this month at 9 p.m. SOS will have various local and touring artists playing with them each week of…
