Music: The Guitars
Once the presents are open and your family members become unbearable, there aren’t a lot of “going out” options for revelers on Christmas night. Local Rock/R&B/Pop crew The Guitars remedied that situation when they began hosting a free Christmas show. Thursday marks The Guitars’ fifth annual Christmas performance at MOTR Pub. The band has a…
Best Bites of 2014
CityBeat’s crack team of dining writers have the difficult job of getting paid to eat and imbibe at Cincinnati’s newest restaurants and dining concepts, engage with talented local chefs and spot booze and food trends — from street eats and fried chicken to any new-brew coffee variation and bars with arcades. After chewing over (ha)…
New Year’s Eve: Tweens at The Comet
In the past couple years Trash Pop trio Tweens went from just-formed to national sweethearts with tours supporting the likes of The Breeders, an official full-length debut for indie label Frenchkiss and best of 2014 nods from Nerdist, Impose, the Cincinnati Entertainment Awards and more. Catch them in an intimate setting while you can: They’re…
New Year’s Eve: Wussy at the Woodward
If you haven’t had a chance to check out the newly revamped Woodward Theater, now’s your chance. The 100-year-old theater is playing host to a New Year’s Eve bash with live music from Wussy and Bobby Bare Jr. Wrap up your 2014 with one of Cincinnati’s best Indie exports, who had an excellent 2014 of…
Unbroken
This lovingly rendered World War II-era biopic of Louis Zamperini (Jack O’Connell), an Olympic runner and member of a bombardier crew who survived a disastrous plane crash, 47 days in a life raft with a pair of fellow survivors and the final days of the war in a prisoner of war camp, captures the extreme…
New Year’s Eve: NYE Celebration at Rhinegeist
Big space, lots of booze — a perfect place to ring in the New Year drinking and dancing. Rhinegeist will be serving up all their normal taproom offerings in addition to cocktails and champagne. 8 p.m. Wednesday. $10. Rhinegeist, 1910 Elm St., Over-the-Rhine, rhinegeist.com.
Into the Woods
Right off the bat, I should note that I’m not a fan of musicals (either on stage or as movie adaptations), and Rob Marshall (Chicago and Nine) may be a huge reason why. So I went into his take on Stephen Sondheim’s fairy tale reimagining with much trepidation, but I walked out slightly amused, thanks…
New Year’s Eve: New Year’s Eve Blast on Fountain Square
Ring in the New Year on Fountain Square. This giant outdoor party has it all: DJ Tweet, wacky games, prizes, dance contests, free ice skating, a fireworks display at midnight and full bar service. 8 p.m.-1 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 31. Free; $4 skate rental. Fountain Square, Fifth and Vine streets, Downtown, myfountainsquare.com.
New Year’s Eve: Taken By Storm at Music Hall
Multi-hyphenate singer/songwriter/actor Storm Large (a former contestant on Rock Star: Supernova) partners with John Morris Russell and the Cincinnati Pops for an evening of music and dancing for New Year’s Eve. Start the night off with a special sultry concert with Large and the Pops, followed by a party in Music Hall’s Ballroom, complete with…
New Year’s Eve: Know Theatre/CityBeat Speakeasy Party
Step back in time to celebrate the New Year with CityBeat and the Know Theatre. Our seventh annual swinging speakeasy celebration is all flappers and fedoras, with enough back-room games, appetizers and giggle juice — aka martinis, sidecars and manhattans — to keep you doing the Charleston all night long. A special champagne toast at…
Sports: The Harlem Globetrotters
If you like your basketball with a side of slapstick and impressive balancing tricks, head to U.S. Bank Arena on Tuesday for the Harlem Globetrotters Washington Generals’ Revenge Tour. The star-studded cast of comic athletes — including Big Easy Lofton, Ant Atkinson, Hi-Lite Bruton and more — take on the Generals for the first time…
The Imitation Game
Morten Tyldum’s new biopic, The Imitation Game, was a crowd-pleaser at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival; one of an onslaught of true lifers (along with Foxcatcher, The Theory of Everything and Wild) that left me feeling less than energized as a whole. I was a huge fan of Tyldum’s Headhunters, his furiously skewed take…
The Gambler
Now this is the kind of film I dream about but that rarely gets made. The Gambler is based on James Toback’s 1974 film, inspired by his own experiences as a Harvard-educated teacher who suffered from a severe gambling addiction that caused far more trouble than anyone would imagine for a man with his background.…
Big Eyes
Artful oddballs are certainly in Tim Burton’s wheelhouse, so it comes as no surprise that he would be intrigued by the story of painter Margaret Keane (Amy Adams), a single mother in the 1950s with a unique vision who enjoyed amazing success, only to have to fight to hold onto her claim on her work…
TV Trends for 2014
Television and the Internet are in a relationship and it’s complicated. Like all forms of media and entertainment, TV is still adapting to the ever-changing technological landscape. Obviously, “watching TV” doesn’t even mean what it did 10 years ago. With Wi-Fi access and enough subscriptions, one could stay caught up on most if not all…
A Year When Film Tested the Courage of Our Convictions
The most apropos summation of 2014 came to me as I was prepping my final lecture of the semester for my University of Cincinnati Journalism course (Writing About Film). I was one day removed from the Eric Garner grand jury announcement out of New York and a troubling evening of seemingly perpetual replays of that…
Morning News and Stuff
Hello all! I’m here to give you one more news roundup before the holidays start in earnest. It’s pretty much the only reason I’m working today. Well, that and our holiday party. But that’s later. News is now. It’s always rough when the authority figures in your life fight during the holidays. So it’s good…
Visual Arts 2014: Big Changes and Best Shows
Overall, it was an eventful year for the visual arts in Cincinnati —good shows, a stimulating citywide festival devoted to photography, and newsworthy changes at two of our major museums. That photography festival, FotoFocus Biennial 2014, had enough going on to merit a separate column that will run next week. But for the other subjects,…
Cincinnati Theater Offered Stories of All Shapes and Sizes in 2014
In early 2014 countless friends told me, “I couldn’t believe I was laughing at the things they were saying.” They were describing their reactions to the touring production of the Tony Award-winning musical, The Book of Mormon, by Broadway in Cincinnati (Jan. 7-26). The tongue-in-cheek comedy about belief takes a no-holds-barred approach to making fun…
Music: Man Halen
Local gonzo Van Halen cover group Man Halen plays the Woodward Theater in a special post-holiday spectacular. Expect to dance the night away or jump or get hot for teacher, etc., with the super-group rockers — who are also members of other local bands Ohio Knife and Old City. Buffalo Killers open. 9 p.m. Saturday,…
Music: Torche
During the 10 years since forming, Florida foursome Torche has become one of the best acts to come out of the so-called “Stoner Rock” scene, due in large part to the members’ willingness to go beyond the genre’s expectations and clichés. The group’s most recent full-length, 2012’s Harmonicraft, wonderfully showcased Torche’s consistently heavy bluster and…
Comedy: Gabe Kea and Mike Cody
It’s another great chance to see some nationally acclaimed, homegrown comedy talent at Go Banana’s this week. Following last week’s combination of headliner Dave Waite (Latonia, Ky., native now living in L.A.) and Mark Chalifoux, comes Gabe Kea and Mike Cody. The former is Atlanta-born to Canadian parents and St. Louis-raised. Kea relocated to Cincinnati…
Art: 21c Docent-Led Tours
This is the time of year when families are in town looking for things to do as a group or you want to show your ex-pat friends what amazing things Cincinnati has been up to. Luckily, there are cutting-edge cultural institutions like the 21c Museum Hotel that are open 365 days of the year for…
Event: Latkapalooza
Calling all Jewish singles and YPs: The Jewish Federation of Cincinnati and the Mayerson JCC are hosting their annual Christmas Eve mixer, Latkapalooza, at Obscura. No cover, no crappy Christmas music and no ugly sweaters, plus drink specials and door prizes. Open to ages 21 to 45. Before you go, indulge in some traditional Christmas…
Film: Fiddler on the Roof Sing-Along
Because not everyone has stuff to do on Christmas Eve (and pretty much everywhere is closed), the Kenwood Theatre is launching a new holiday tradition: a Fiddler on the Roof sing-along. This interactive experience screens the 1971 Academy Award-winner and invites viewers to sing along to their favorite songs, like “If I were a Rich…
Digging Deep
It’s been another busy year in the world of Cincinnati news. The city started the year off with a new mayor and City Council, then got busy in earnest laying down streetcar tracks without fear of the new administration digging them back up. The twists and turns in the Music Hall/Union Terminal saga eventually concluded…
Cincinnati vs. The World 12.23.14
Gaslight Property has plans to develop a $16.5 million, 117-unit luxury apartment complex on Whitfield Avenue in Clifton. The development, dubbed Gaslight Manor, is Clifton’s first new apartment project in more than 35 years, according to the Cincinnati Business Courier. Construction is expected to start first quarter 2015. Cincinnati +1 A 29-year-old Sumatran orangutan held…
Year in Review: Worst Year Ever!
Bill Nye Vs. Crazy Guy There are plenty of good reasons to visit the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky — maybe you like animatronic dinosaurs (most people do) or your home-schooled kid is acting like a real dick in class and needs to take a field trip. Whatever the case, you can strike Feb. 4…
Lachey’s Bar to Open Jan. 1
The Lachey brothers are officially in the bar business. Cincinnati natives and boy band superstars Nick and Drew Lachey held a preview night for their bar, Lachey’s Bar, Dec. 19. It opens to the public on Jan. 1. 2015. Mayor John Cranley, 3CDC and 4EG/Lachey’s Bar partner Bob Deck were on hand to help the…
Before 2015, Animal Circles Go to ‘Summer Camp’
Dynamic Indie rockers Animal Circles appear to have the final Cincinnati-spawned release of 2014, dropping their new eight-song effort, Summer Camp, in conjunction with a release party this Saturday. The 10 p.m. show at MOTR Pub (1345 Main St., Over-the-Rhine, motrpub.com) also features a performance by excellent locals Mardou. The show is free. Summer Camp…
The Year in Local Recordings
Sleep – Branded: The Damon Winton StoryWith some exceptions, the “album as art” concept has long been dwindling thanks largely to how the masses consume and purchase music in bite-size bits these days. So it was beyond refreshing to hear the 2014 album release from Cincinnati MC Sleep, Branded: The Damon Winton Story, a collection…
Morning News and Stuff
Good morning y’all! Let’s get down to business so we can get through this short holiday week and arrive as quickly and painlessly as possible at the moment when we open our presents. If you park in Over-the-Rhine, be prepared for change. Or, well, not needing change. The city has installed new “smart” parking meters…
Call Board: Theater News
More Directing Talent at the Playhouse. Last Wednesday the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park announced that Obie Award-winning director Eric Ting will join the theater as an Associate Artist for the 2015-2016 season. Playhouse Artistic Director Blake Robison said, "I've known Eric for nearly 15 years, when he began his career as a student at…
Chef Ryan Santos and Please Looking for a Permanent Home
After four successful years as a pop-up dining experience in the downtown area and beyond, Please is looking for a permanent home. And chef and founder Ryan Santos has launched a Kickstarter campaign to help fund the next step: a brick-and-mortar restaurant. Santos has been honing his culinary skills for nearly 10 years, having…
Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb
The magic that brings the museum experience to life is on the verge of fading, and it is up to Larry (Ben Stiller) to drag his collection of animated historic wax figures around the world (well, to Rebel Wilson in England) to reboot the mojo and see if everyone can enjoy this latest Night at…
Voting for the 2015 Cincinnati Entertainment Awards Starts Now
The nominations for the 2015 Cincinnati Entertainment Awards, honoring Greater Cincinnati’s fantastic music scene, were announced Wednesday and now it’s your turn to weigh in. Click here to go to the CEA ballot and vote now. The 18th annual Cincinnati Entertainment Awards ceremony/party, where the winners for each category will be announced and several acts…
Your Weekend To Do List (12/19-12/21)
Since Christmas is next week (Thursday), there's a ton of holiday stuff to do this weekend — everything from plays and other onstage events to train displays and elves doing things. Onstage: Every Christmas Story Ever Told (and then some) (through Dec. 28 at Cincy Shakes): For seven seasons this mash-up of holiday tales has played to…
Stage Door: Tears or Laughs
It's unusual that we get a chance during the holidays to see a world premiere of a new play, but it's happening at Northern Kentucky University's Corbett Theatre, where New Edgecliff Theatre and Actor & Playwrights Collaborative are producing Phil Paradis's new script, Soldier's Christmas, through Sunday. The show commemorates the centennial of the memorable…
From the Copy Desk
Good late morning readers! It's time to take another look at the Words Nobody Uses or Knows in this week's issue and the general absurdities of the English language. I once spent a lot of time in Columbus teaching largely illiterate adults how to read and write English. (Most were recent immigrants from India.) And…
Morning News and Stuff
Hey y’all. Here’s a brief rundown of the news this morning before I have to fly out the door to cover a few things. • City Council yesterday voted to approve a number of property tax-related items we’ve already reported on. But here are the cliff notes. Among the bigger ones was a controversial move…
The Enquirer’s Fine Line Between Advertising and Journalism
Holiday joy must be tinged with renewed survivors’ guilt at the Cincinnati Enquirer. Some good people survived the latest cull of experienced reporters, photographers and editors and new bylines are appearing. I wish them well. It won’t be easy. Enquirer credibility is being undermined by editor Carolyn Washburn’s decision to scrap the historic — if…
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
All throughout Peter Jackson’s retelling of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit, I have mildly complained about the notion that it took three filmed installments to present what amounts to the shortest book in the whole Middle Earth saga. But I should emphasize that my objections have been quite mild because, despite my assertion that these three…
Musc: Tab Benoit
David Bowie and Neil Young will reinvent themselves at the drop of a press release and without the slightest provocation, but Tab Benoit is as reliable as the sun and just as warm and welcome. While the Louisiana-born guitarist/vocalist has a unique ability to find fascinating deviations under the Blues umbrella, from Delta fire and…
Foxcatcher
Bennett Miller (Capote) achieves a rather dubious distinction with Foxcatcher, the strangely tragic story of John E. du Pont’s efforts to sponsor an Olympic wrestling team, featuring gold medal brothers Mark (Channing Tatum) and David (Mark Ruffalo) Schultz. The reclusive multimillionaire (remarkably channeled by Steve Carell hiding behind a prosthetic nose and an impervious cloak…
Music: Steelism
If you were among the multitude of this year’s MidPoint Music Festival patrons that crammed themselves ass-to-elbow at Mr. Pitiful’s on the festival’s first night to witness the Cincinnati debut of Steelism, you were treated to a sweat-drenched show of hair-raising proportions. You’re not going to find a more unlikely success story than this infinitely…
Music: Adrian Belew
Word is that Erlanger, Ky., native Adrian Belew’s latest tour draws from his entire musical output, a nearly four-decade career that started as a guitar ace for a who’s who of Rock royalty — from Frank Zappa, who “discovered” him, to David Bowie, who once called him a “promising young Kentuckian” — through an ever-evolving…
Annie
The sun will come out tomorrow in this Will Gluck-directed musical reboot of Annie, which he penned with Aline Brosh McKenna from the Thomas Meehan stage book and Harold Gray’s comic strip. But the real question here is whether or not the contemporary updates — Warbucks is now Will Stacks (Jamie Foxx), a billionaire tycoon…
Art: Sofa King Good at NVISION
A few readers may need the title of the exhibition now at NVISION in Northside explained. If you lag in current verbal by-play and are puzzled by Sofa King Good, try saying it aloud starting with “so” and running the rest together, fast. Got it? Yep. Good stuff here. Arynn and Joel Blazer, the husband-and-wife duo whose…
Onstage: Every Christmas Story Every Told (and then some)
For seven seasons this mash-up of holiday tales has played to sold-out Cincinnati Shakespeare audiences. It starts as an annual performance of A Christmas Carol but goes off the tracks almost immediately to poke fun at the season and the stories we all remember — Rudolph, Frosty the Snowman, The Island of Lost Toys, The…
Late Night Goodbyes
As the year comes to a close, Stephen Colbert and Craig Ferguson prepare to step down from their respective longtime late-night spots. The Colbert Report (Series Finale, 11:30 p.m. Thursday, Comedy Central) comes to a bittersweet end this week as Colbert prepares for next year’s big gig. While we hate to see him retire his…
‘Into the Woods’ Turns the Spotlight on Recent Musical Adaptations
The highly anticipated film adaptation of Into the Woods begins exactly as anyone familiar with the stage musical would expect: with the simple narrated words, “Once upon a time.” Musical theater geeks — purists, we’ll call them lovingly, seeing as this author is one of them — expected composer Stephen Sondheim’s signature orchestra stinger to…
Finding Order in “Much-ness” at NVISION
A few readers may need the title of the exhibition now at NVISION in Northside explained. If you lag in current verbal by-play and are puzzled by Sofa King Good, try saying it aloud starting with “so” and running the rest together, fast. Got it? Yep. Good stuff here. Arynn and Joel Blazer, the husband-and-wife…
The Future of Contemporary at Cincinnati Art Museum
In my September interview with new Cincinnati Art Museum Director Cameron Kitchin, he discussed the role of that institution in collecting and displaying Contemporary art in addition to other issues. I saved that topic for this second Big Picture column devoted to that interview. It’s an important one because the museum has been low profile…
Pressing Imperfections
B rian Stuparyk is the owner of Steam Whistle Letterpress, a shop located in historic Over-the-Rhine that’s been pumping out hand-pressed cards, posters, flyers and more since opening in 2011. The shop uses a vintage letterpress, a type of relief printing machine that was used from its invention by Johannes Gutenberg in the 15th century…
Urbana Café: Italian Espresso from a Vintage Vespa
Urbana Café owner Daniel Noguera grew up in the coffee-rich city of Caracas, Venezuela. He moved to Cincinnati in 2001 for a textbook-publishing job but left the position last year after he decided to search for something more personally fulfilling. “It had to be something that I believe in, that is fun, that doesn’t feel…
Adrian Belew Power Trio with Saul Zonana
Word is that Erlanger, Ky., native Adrian Belew’s latest tour draws from his entire musical output, a nearly four-decade career that started as a guitar ace for a who’s who of Rock royalty — from Frank Zappa, who “discovered” him, to David Bowie, who once called him a “promising young Kentuckian” — through an ever-evolving…
Steelism
If you were among the multitude of this year’s MidPoint Music Festival patrons that crammed themselves ass-to-elbow at Mr. Pitiful’s on the festival’s first night to witness the Cincinnati debut of Steelism, you were treated to a sweat-drenched show of hair-raising proportions. You’re not going to find a more unlikely success story than this infinitely…
Tab Benoit with Samantha Fish and The Sonny Moorman Group
David Bowie and Neil Young will reinvent themselves at the drop of a press release and without the slightest provocation, but Tab Benoit is as reliable as the sun and just as warm and welcome. While the Louisiana-born guitarist/vocalist has a unique ability to find fascinating deviations under the Blues umbrella, from Delta fire and…
Lagartha with Kate Wakefield
A quick Google search of Lagartha will reveal a wealth of information about the Viking shield-maiden Lagertha. That’s because Google, in its benevolent artificial wisdom, assumes endlessly flawed humans are too witless to work a computer keyboard and would mindlessly transpose an “a” for an “e.” They are nearly neighbors, after all. The problem is…
“…And Justice for All?”
I am race fatigued. I used to joke with a black woman I worked with at Cincinnati Magazine that “racial strife makes me sleepy,” during Barack Obama’s run-up to the Democratic primary when white supremacy was rearing its ugly head for the long haul. But we racially conscious blacks cannot afford to sleep too long.…
Cincinnati vs. The World 12.17.14
A northern white rhinoceros named Angalifu died of old age at the San Diego Zoo on Dec. 14, according to The Washington Post. There are now just five northern white rhinos left worldwide, all in captivity. The species’ last chance at survival lies in “artificial reproductive techniques,” the AP reports. If such techniques fail, the…
Reality for the Holidays
W ith Blood Oranges in the Snow, Over the Rhine treats the Christmas album as a major artistic statement that questions the holiday’s celebratory nature as much as it acknowledges it. The married duo of Linford Detweiler and Karin Bergquist, augmented by other musicians, will perform songs from the new album Saturday at Taft Theatre.…
Worst Week Ever!: Dec. 10-16
Local Dad Gets Pissed at Target for Making Black Barbie Dolls Cost More than White Ones Merry Christmas. Happy holidays. No matter what or how you celebrate this time of year, one binding factor is that every child we are related to is going to expect lots of gifts and they’re going to be expensive…
Morning News and Stuff
All right. Since today is a bit of a slow news day and because I’ve spent the past few days working on this week’s cover story and news feature along with several blogs and the trusty morning news, let’s play catch-up today and go through the week’s stories I didn’t get to earlier. Stop me…
Pileup at the Morgue
H amilton County Coroner Lakshmi Sammarco’s voice is rising as we sit in a windowless conference room in the coroner’s office, the squat brown brick building hunkered down among the gleaming new glass and steel of the University of Cincinnati’s medical campus. Sammarco ticks off a laundry list of problems the office has been struggling…
Local, National Protests Continue over Racial Injustices
Protests in Cincinnati and across the country continue to take place over racially charged shooting deaths of unarmed black citizens and a lack of indictments for the police officers responsible for them. On Dec. 10, more than 70 University of Cincinnati medical and pharmacy students staged a “die in” to protest what they called racial…
Proposal Would Make Violence Against Homeless a Hate Crime
A proposed city ordinance could add homeless people to groups protected by hate crime laws, making Cincinnati one of just three cities to do so. The proposal by City Councilman Chris Seelbach could add up to 180 days in extra jail time for those convicted of crimes against people because they don’t have homes. “This…
Cranley Removes Planning Commission Head
Mayor John Cranley recently announced he is replacing Planning Commission Chair Caleb Faux with former Pleasant Ridge Community Council President Dan Driehaus. The Cincinnati Planning Commission is an independent, seven-member board that approves the city’s planning decisions, including zoning issues and tax deals with developers. Last month, Faux and Cranley got into a tiff after…
Cincinnati Entertainment Award Nominees for 2015 Announced
For the past 18 years, CityBeat has hosted the Cincinnati Entertainment Awards, a celebration of local music. The nominees for this year’s CEAs are another mix of veteran acts and newcomers, collectively exemplifying just how wonderful and eclectic the Greater Cincinnati music scene continues to be. This year the public was invited to offer up…
Change a Comin’
L iving in the eclectic older houses in Clifton Heights alongside well-established homeowners and non-student renters has long been a rite of passage for many University of Cincinnati students, a lifestyle charming enough that some stay on and become deeply invested in the neighborhood. But that’s changing, residents there say. Cincinnati City Council on Dec.…
Cincinnati Entertainment Award Nominees for 2015 Announced
For the past 18 years, CityBeat has hosted the Cincinnati Entertainment Awards, a celebration of local music. The nominees for this year’s CEAs are another mix of veteran acts and newcomers, collectively exemplifying just how wonderful and eclectic the Greater Cincinnati music scene continues to be. This year the public was invited to offer up…
The Littlefield (Review)
A burst of commercial development in Northside over the past year, with more on the horizon, invites comparisons to the city’s other renaissance neighborhood, Over-the-Rhine. At least one feature seems notably different, however: Northside’s changes are happening without many people calling them “gentrification.” It’s more of an organic transformation of the places that have long…
