The Sundresses and Wussy
Thanks to the weekend-friendly way Christmas falls this year (thanks, Jesus!), Saturday night looks like it might well take over alleged “biggest bar day of the year” (a.k.a. Thanksgiving Eve) honors. If you’re a fan of original local music, your choices for Christmas Steve — the customary name for “day after Christmas,” and by customary…
Heartless Bastards and J. Dorsey Blues Band
The Heartless Bastards had fans stacked on top of each other last Christmastime at Northside Tavern (or so legend has it, since I couldn't get in) when they played a free two-night stand. You’ll have to pony up some dough this year, but the Bastards will again be home for the holidays (from their current…
Dan Karlsberg Group
The holidays are a good time to be a music fan who lives in a town that's harvested a lot of talented musicians. Many of the ones who have moved away come back home for a visit and want to play a show. Bands that live around here and tour a lot might offer local…
Nine (Review)
Contemporary sensibilities mire any attempt to translate a stage musical into a feature film. Beyond the logistics of opening up the confined world of the stage for a more dynamic and complex filmed setting, we, as a general audience, might be less attuned to the stage as opposed to film. But we’re also overexposed to…
Boom Bip with DJ Mowgli
The holidays are a good time to be a music fan who lives in a town that's harvested a lot of talented musicians. Many of the ones who have moved away come back home for a visit and want to play a show. Bands that live around here and tour a lot might offer local…
Cheer Up: MPMF.10 Submission Process Now Open
Is it really that time again? It seems like just yesterday that we were jumping from one packed MPMF venue to another, checking out everyone from local favorites to national and international gems to local favorites turned (inter)national gems. Yes, bands and artists the world over can now register to take part in the 2010…
‘Strings for Strays’ Featuring Rumpke Mountain Boys and Jerry’s Little Band
So you got a little extra “walking around money” from Grandma for Christmas, eh? Maybe you’d like to donate a little so the puppy doesn’t get it? Oh, sorry, let me explain. Saturday at The Redmoor in Mount Lookout, the “Strings for Strays” benefit concert featuring local Newgrass kings Rumpke Mountain Boys (pictured) and Jam…
Week 16 – Kelly Vogt
You were under a lot of pressure tonight. What advice would you give other athletes who want to keep cool in extreme sports such as Bengals Football Bolo Toss? Take your time and focus. Is there anyone who you would like to thank who may have played a small role in your victory tonight? My…
All the Day Holiday, Pomegranates and More
The holidays are a good time to be a music fan who lives in a town that's harvested a lot of talented musicians. Many of the ones who have moved away come back home for a visit and want to play a show. Bands that live around here and tour a lot might offer local…
Noah Hunt and Jason Dennie
The holidays are a good time to be a music fan who lives in a town that's harvested a lot of talented musicians. Many of the ones who have moved away come back home for a visit and want to play a show. Bands that live around here and tour a lot might offer local…
Sherlock Holmes (Review)
Bromance is alive and well in Guy Ritchie’s rather popular adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s beloved detective Sherlock Holmes. This is a big, slick studio production with its mind on franchise potential, and Ritchie (Snatch) remains one of the few head-banging hipsters in the Quentin Tarantino mold still skulking around the dark alleys of…
Homeless Memorial Day Marked
People who died during the past year and didn’t have a home will be remembered today during a ceremony at Washington Park in Over-the-Rhine. Homeless Memorial Day is an annual event usually held on the day of the year with the longest amount of nighttime hours. A national day of mourning, the local ceremony is…
The Enquirer Does Less With Less, Loses Circulation
Life can be tough at the top of the Enquirer food chain. Circulation (printed papers sold) continues to decline. The paper has retired, bought out and fired just about everyone it can to cut costs. More unpaid furloughs are likely, according to the recent blog post by CityBeat News Editor Kevin Osborne. I’m not gloating.…
Events: A Rollerskating Jam Called Christmas
This annual holiday skating jam is putting the mass back in Christmas. “Mass” as in a large group of people, not a church service, because this party is huge. A lot of people go — Facebook has 280 attendees confirmed so far — and that’s because after nine years of parties this Rollerskating Jam has…
Events: Latkapalooza
Need a break from all the Christmas Muzak and freaks in red and green sweaters? (Those colors look really bad together anyway.) Well, the Young Adult Division of the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati invites you to mix and mingle with the chosen ones on Christmas Eve at FB’s without all the Christian bell jingling. From…
Holiday: Duke Energy Train Display
Duke Energy has created their 64th annual display in the lobby of the Duke Energy building. What started in 1946 with one model train designed by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad has expanded to include 300 train cars and 50 locomotives on 1,000 feet of track, attracting more than nine million visitors since its inception.…
Holiday: Holiday Junction
Holiday Junction returns to Cincinnati's famous train terminal at the Cincinnati Museum Center for the 16th year. View the elaborate mini model train display, or climb aboard the Cincinnatian train for a ride through the display. Santa Claus will be stopping by on and off, so call ahead for his schedule. Free for members; otherwise…
Holiday: Kwanzaa Family Service
The New Thought Unity Center celebrates the holidays with a variety of events with a multicultural spin, including a Kwanzaa Family Service. The Kwanzaa family service celebrates the seven days of Kwanzaa with music, dance, storytelling and symbols of the holiday, such as candle lighting and pouring of libations. Along with these events, there will…
Holiday: Toys through Time
The Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal boasts another holiday attraction in addition to Holiday Junction with the display Toys through Time. This exhibit takes a look at, well, toys throughout time, many of which were manufactured right here in Cincinnati by the Kenner Toy Company in the 19th and 20th centuries. There will be…
The Fabulous Poodles, Kicksville, Richard Lloyd and More
My mailbox is always a little sparse this time of year, and what little I’m finding there in this typical season of wither are releases that won’t be seeing daylight until early 2010 — I’ve already received some March releases and e-mails regarding April titles. As I’ve alluded to previously, with the bulimically thin release…
Holiday: Scuba Santa
If you haven’t checked out the jolly, wet-suited Scuba Santa at the Newport Aquarium, you only have until Jan. 3 to do so. Sure, Santa’s supposed to fly through the sky with eight reindeer, but who can blame this hardworking, hefty dude for taking some R&R by the water (or underneath it). Dressed in his…
Comedy: Ryan Singer
Being a teacher in the Dayton City Schools, however briefly, taught Ryan Singer at least one valuable skill that he took into his stand-up comedy career. “I think more than anything it taught me room control,” he says. “These were just 10- and 11-year-olds, and they weren’t listening to anything. It taught me crowd control…
Art: Antique Christmas at the Taft Museum of Art
The Taft's regular galleries — once rooms in a mansion — have been decorated with German feather trees bearing imaginative antique ornaments. And the home's old dining room has been set for the season with appropriate china and silverware. The Antique Christmas display is up through Jan. 10, and it's the perfect place to escape…
Friday Movie Roundup: Awards Season Mania
The movie awards season kicked into overdrive Dec. 15 with the announcement of the 67th annual Golden Globe Awards nominations. I’m typically the first one to criticize the Globes’ often banal, stars-and-studio-influenced nominations, but this year’s crop seems more discerning than usual. —- A quick glance at the list reveals that Jason Reitman’s Up in…
Stage Door: Sideways Stories a Hot Ticket
Audience response can be a good indicator of which holiday shows are hitting the mark. While I found the humor in Know Theatre's Sideways Stories from Wayside School to be a tad forced (you can read my full review here), the theater’s box office phone (513-300-5669) has been ringing steadily, so they've added a performance…
Cops Making Deployment Changes
With a current budget proposal pending before Cincinnati City Council calling for laying off up to 112 police officers, police supervisors are working on a new plan for responding to calls for service. The plan, dubbed the Police Differential Response Program, is an attempt to reduce the number of calls for service that the department…
Me and Orson Welles (Review)
Richard Linklater’s lighthearted rendering of an imagined relationship between Orson Welles and a young would-be actor during Welles' famed 1937 New York production of Julius Caesar soars whenever Christian McKay takes the screen (as the great maestro). But the film backslides whenever McKay is absent, largely due to a severe case of miscasting. Zac Efron…
Up in the Air (Review)
Don’t over-think this one, folks. As awards season kicks into high gear, commentators of all stripes are going to talk about Up in the Air in terms of its zeitgeist relevance, its timely attention to economic instability and the corporations that feast on the carrion of the down-sized and dispossessed. And in so doing, they…
Avatar (Review)
Do you really care how much it cost to make and/or market James Cameron’s Avatar? The entertainment media sure seems convinced that we do. Of course, we’ve heard this all before — and, curiously enough, most memorably we heard it a decade ago when Cameron’s Titanic was on the way. Everyone thought they knew the…
Music: Over the Rhine Homecoming Holiday Show
Like fine wine, local legends Over the Rhine have gotten better with age. From their first show at Sudsy Malone’s (about 20 folks showed up to see it) to their various record deals (I.R.S. and Virgin/Backporch) and back to their DIY roots (which has given them some of their biggest successes yet), OtR is marking…
Podcast All-Star: Homeless in Cincinnati
We're on hiatus this week and taking a look back at some of the engaging stories from 2009. Episode 6: Homeless in Cincinnati is one of our favorites. This episode of the CityBeat Podcast features voices from the Drop Inn Center in Over-the-Rhine. Staff members Pat Clifford and Kenny Havens discuss their work, providing shelter…
Chris Henry: A Young Man Mourned
The story of Chris Henry had only recently become one of redemption. The oft-troubled wide receiver had by all accounts taken advantage of his last chance at a successful NFL career and become a responsible individual off the field. Henry died this morning due to injuries suffered during a car accident yesterday. The details of…
Week 15 – Roy Browne
You were under a lot of pressure tonight. What advice would you give other athletes who want to keep cool in extreme sports such as Bengals Football Bolo Toss? Keep your focus, take your vitamins, sometimes when things are at there worst, your goals may be within reach. Is there anyone who you would like…
New Year’s Eve Parties
The 20th Century Theater hosts the Cincinnati Sports League’s New Year’s Eve Party with live music by the Paul Otten Band. Includes bar tickets, champagne toast, a buffet and more. $70. 9 p.m.-2 a.m. 3021 Madison Road, Oakley, 513-731-8000. Arnie’s on the Levee presents its Glamorous New Years Eve Gala. Appetizers, dancing and a champagne…
New Year’s Eve Special Events
BB Riverboats presents its New Year’s Eve Cruise. Ring in the New Year on the river! Cincinnati’s sparkling skyline provides a spectacular view. Includes a three-entree buffet, entertainment, a split of champagne at midnight, late night snack buffet and party favors. $80 per person. 9 p.m. 101 Riverboat Row, Newport, 859- 261-8500. Celebrate NYE at…
State Group Opposes Deters
Apparently, some Republicans across Ohio disagree with their GOP colleague, Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters. In a motion filed Wednesday with the Ohio Supreme Court, the County Commissioners Association of Ohio (CCAO) seeks to intervene in the complaint that Hamilton County commissioners filed against Deters. The CCAO, which is a bipartisan group that has numerous…
Seitz: Cigarette Tax Is DOA
Here we go again. This week’s Porkopolis column in the CityBeat issue that hit the streets today details how a recent plan by two Hamilton County commissioners to close a deficit in the county’s stadium account by delaying a payment to Cincinnati Public Schools was pushed despite knowing school officials wouldn’t agree, thus scuttling the…
Mayberry (Review)
Usually a new restaurant isn’t ready for reviewing during its first month. But due to scheduling vagaries, we hit downtown’s Mayberry on its opening night and were practically the first people in the door. Then we turned around and walked right back out, as I realized I’d forgotten to bring wine along to the not-yet-licensed…
Animal Collective, Snoop Dogg, Bob Seger and More
After making a big deal out of dipping into the 2009 archive to find titles that didn’t make the listening stack the first time around, I actually have a week of all new reviews. That won’t happen again until sometime in January, though; for the remainder of the month, the release sheets are thinner than…
Oliver! (Review)
A stolen locket. In the end, this bagatelle is all that stands between Oliver Twist’s miserable workhouse childhood and the warm, loving home to which he should have been born. The Carnegie Arts Center’s Oliver! has a fine pedigree of its own — a first-class pit, a sweet-voiced young star, a seasoned pro in the…
Living with Rheumatoid Arthritis
One highlight of living with rheumatoid arthritis is watching a syringe puncture my flesh to extract blood or inject medication. No, I’m not a masochist, but those thrilling moments have increased my threshold for physical pain. Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disorder that causes the immune system to treat the body’s own joint cells as…
The One That Got Away
One of the most famous and important paintings in Cincinnati is Joan Miro’s 1947 “Mural for the Terrace Plaza Hotel,” now at Cincinnati Art Museum. With its brilliant colors and abstracted yet mysteriously, organically symbolic forms, it has become a local — and national — icon of Modernism. But as important as Miro’s mural —…
Reversal of Fortune
It takes a special human being to be a Cincinnati sports fan. Unless you’re a masochist, the better part of the last two decades has not only been disappointing but also profoundly embarrassing. The demise of hometown hero Pete Rose was just the opening salvo in a decline that is only now beginning to show…
Lilith Fair, Cougar Jr. and Corgan Goes Slummin’
[HOT] Lilith ResurrectionHuh, women apparently still have music careers. Who knew? Word leaked a few weeks ago that one of the biggest touring festivals of the ’90s, the Lilith Fair, was planning a comeback run. Now tour stops have been booked and initial participants have been announced. In a show of similar nostalgic spirit, here’s…
The Anthologist by Nicolson Baker
Nicholson Baker is a word nut, in a good way. In The Anthologist his narrator and perhaps alter ego, poet Paul Chowder, muses on “divulge” in the very first paragraph — “What a juicy word. Truth opening its petals. Truth smells like Chinese food and sweat” — and you’re off on a tear through Paul’s…
Ellery (Profile)
The husband/wife duo Ellery is known for busting out emotionally charged, piano-driven Folk/Indie/Pop, but Tasha Golden (piano, keys, lead vocals) says, “Someone called it ‘lush Pop,’ and that felt accurate.” Both Justin Golden (guitar, sounds, backing vocals) and Tasha grew up in Akron. Seems that Tasha was playing piano in the womb. Justin says, “Tasha’s…
Getting a Second Chance
Liz Mellon, a struggling high school senior, dropped out of school just a couple of credits shy of graduation. “I just gave up, I said forget it,” Mellon, now 21, says. She may have never finished her studies and could have been left behind by her diploma- and degree-seeking peers. Then a life-changing event motivated…
Gym Class Heroes
I’ve got to hand it to the guys in Gym Class Heroes. They accomplished something that I might never have even dreamed of attempting for the sheer improbability of it. Gym Class Heroes made my teenaged daughter sing a Supertramp song. Right in the middle of her 12-year-old obsession with Pink and Britney Spears and…
The Road (Review)
The end of the world on film comes — some would say expertly tailored — in many respects to particular audiences. Southland Tales, from Richard Kelly of Donnie Darko fame, exploded with surreal and ironic touches. And if, as advertised, the end was to come with a bang rather than a whimper, think of it…
New Year’s Eve Dinner Parties
Enjoy a five-course dinner, party favors, champagne toast at midnight and music by Magnolia Mountain at Arnold’s Bar and Grill. $40 per person. Call for reservations. 210 E. Eighth St., Downtown, 513-421-6234. Apsara Asian Cuisine and Sushi Bar has a threecourse dinner with champagne. Reservations preferred. $34.95. 4785 E. Lake Forest Dr., Blue Ash, 513-554-1040.…
County Should Bite the Rebate Bullet
Once again, Hamilton County commissioners are tossing the ball down the line to avoid dealing with a serious issue. Well, at least two of the three commissioners are. After years of warnings, the county’s stadium account finally is about to run a deficit beginning next year. If you live within Hamilton County, that dire state…
Corryville and C.I.R.V.
[???] BRIAN KELLY: After a stellar season leading the University of Cincinnati football team, Kelly said he fulfilled a personal dream by announcing his departure for Notre Dame. We’re all for following one’s dreams, so we can’t get too angry at Kelly for his lack of commitment, but we also understand the disappointment of UC…
Once Upon a Mattress (Review)
How can a theater company take a charming musical based on a fairy tale and turn it into an evening of charmless showboating? Jersey Productions has done so with Once Upon a Mattress, based on the story of “The Princess and the Pea.” This 1959 show was created with a cheeky attitude: Princess Winnifred the…
Monty Are I with Hawthorne Heights, Just Surrender and more
Willie Shakes said, “What’s in a name?” Monty Are I says right back, “Plenty.” In Lynyrd Skynyrd fashion, the Cranston, R.I., quintet named the band after their high school band instructor Arthur Montanaro. Unlike Skynyrd, the band’s original name — Monty’s Fan Club — reflected their affection for their former teacher. The band eventually shortened…
Dec. 9-15: Worst Week Ever!
WEDNESDAY DEC. 9 The American political system has always strived to make things as fair as possible — that’s why it only took 200 years to get black people all their special rights freedoms. The government today continued living up to its hypothetical intent when it approved legislation aimed at creating a more fair college…
The Elms with The Harlequins
In a game of musical word association, “Seymour, Indiana” would nine times out of 10 trigger the response “John Mellencamp.” But in that tenth round, perhaps the person on the receiving end of the clue would be a savvy music head with a penchant for seeking out obscure but great Americana bands that combine classic…
Winter Whites
In summertime, I prefer lighter, crisper white wines that provide relief from the heat and humidity: New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs, Australian dry Rieslings, Austrian Gruner Veltliner, real (French) Chablis. We drink these wines with utter abandon — especially because they pair so well with the lighter fare served during warmer months. But as the weather…
Moving Toward a King Record Museum
Cincinnati’s King Records had another good year in 2009, even though the pioneering R&B/Soul/Country label for all practical purposes left the city — and ceased having any meaningful impact on popular music — when its founder, Syd Nathan, died in 1968. This year saw two books about King, a photo-oriented Arcadia one from Randy McNutt…
More of This World or Maybe Another by Barb Johnson
For the past 20 years, author Barb Johnson has been a carpenter in New Orleans. Luckily for us, the reader, she’s put down her carpenter tools and has picked up pen and paper. In More of This World or Maybe Another, the Bubble Laundromat in mid-city New Orleans serves as a backdrop for nine astonishing…
Man of the Moment
Jason Reitman’s sleek yet affecting Up in the Air confirms, once and for all, that the 32-year-old filmmaker is more than just Diablo Cody’s Juno bitch or the opportunistic son of a Hollywood insider. Reitman’s deft adaptation of Walter Kirn’s source novel is a darkly humorous look at the life of Ryan Bingham (a never-better…
Gigs of the Week, Holiday Edition
• Local Folk label Blue Jordan Records — which has released some of the finest Cincinnati-based albums of the past decade and a half — presents its annual, seasonal “Winter Show” this Friday at the York Street Café in Newport. Blue Jordan artists Liz Bowater, Brandon Dawson, Mike Helm, The Marshwiggles, Maurice Mattei, Janet Pressley,…
All Anthologies
The economy may have been in its worst recession since The Great Depression, but that didn’t stop record companies from putting out a bumper crop of box sets in 2009. Here’s a look at the best of the bunch, any of which would make great gifts this holiday season. • The Beatles — The Beatles…
