Feb 28 – Mar 7, 2018
Good Dog: Local nonprofit Circle Tail is changing lives with its service canines, all at no cost to the individual
New Winners of $100,000 Haile Fellowships
The Haile Fellowship awards, given annually by the non-profit philanthropic laboratory People’s Liberty, are among the most highly sought-after project grants in Cincinnati. They provide $100,000 for two recipients to realize their proposed ideas that could change the community’s future. This year’s winners have just been announced. They are Elisa Hoffman, a former Cincinnati Public…
Who is in charge as the streetcar struggles?
As Cincinnati’s streetcar ridership drops and its financial future appears murky, the transit project is struggling in a tangle of groups responsible for its operation, Cincinnati Assistant City Manager John Juech told a Cincinnati City Council committee today. That probably won’t improve until a single leader emerges to make tough decisions, he said. “I don’t…
‘Heathers’ and our Mass-Shooting Era
News of a modern Heathers TV reboot — based on the cult classic 1989 film — garnered mixed reactions to say the least. Fans of the original lamented Hollywood messing with yet another classic, wherein Winona Ryder and Christian Slater take down members of their school’s cruel clique. While remakes are often criticized for missing…
From Kennedy Heights to Bed-Stuy
Brandon Harris describes himself as a “high yellow Negro,” the light-skinned offspring of a middle-class family from Kennedy Heights who attended Seven Hills School, a private K-12 institution that educates the children of the city’s wealthiest families. That unique set of circumstances informs much of Harris’ Making Rent in Bed-Stuy: A Memoir of Trying to…
‘Kill Move Paradise’ Is Intensely Real
CRITIC'S CHOICE Know Theatre’s Kill Move Paradise opens abruptly. The first character to greet the stage is Isa (Darnell Pierre Benjamin), who makes his entrance with a thunderclap and instant deep emotion. Performed in thrust, Kill Move Paradise ensures the audience is there to watch every moment, hear every breath and feel every experience as…
Sound Advice: Miguel (March 8)
Miguel — recently seen performing Best Original Song winner “Remember Me" (from Coco) at the Oscars — makes it all look so easy. The 32-year old singer/songwriter has dropped four full-length albums since 2010, each a deft mix of electro-laced R&B, Rock and Funk — the type of genre crosspollination that made Prince a multi-hyphenate…
Sound Advice: Mipso with Ben Sollee & Kentucky Native (March 8)
The first track on Edges Run, Mipso’s album slated for release in April, is called “Take Your Records Home,” and it chronicles the end of a love affair punctuated with the titular request, a plea to remove the music that now represents something lost and missed. It has the sweet, dusty ache of classic ’70s…
Amidst work with her Dreamgaze band Soften, Cincinnati’s Brianna Kelly releases new Ambient Folk project
Winter is finally loosening its cold grip on Northside, and as the temperature flirts with the mid-50s, the weather’s agreeable enough for Hoffner Park to be populated by grade-schoolers tossing a baseball back and forth and a crust-punk couple with cappuccinos in tow. Also enjoying the relative warmth are the members of Cincinnati Shoegaze quartet…
What the city, county would have ponied up for Amazon HQ2; CPD captain alleges gender discrimination; more news
Hello Cincy. Here’s some quick news for you today. How much did Cincinnati and Hamilton County want Amazon’s HQ2 in the Greater Cincinnati area? Oh, to the tune of about $3.1 billion in incentives, according to emails between city and county officials and business leaders released to the Cincinnati Business Courier yesterday. The effort was…
Minimum Gauge: Mike Huckabee forced to resign Country Music Association Foundation board
HOT: More Like “Suckabee” Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee was recently forced to resign from the Country Music Association Foundation board of directors. Among other things, Sarah Sanders’ dad’s bigoted stance on LGBTQ+ issues (he once said legalizing gay marriage was like legalizing incest) led to such outrage from artists and industry leaders, he quit…
Popping Bottles with La Boîte
John Keller and Andrew Middleton are the minds and makers behind La Boîte, a new winery in Mount Healthy that crafts natural wines and alcoholic ciders with minimal intervention — they leave the juice well enough alone to ferment at its own innate pace, using only natural yeasts found on the fruit itself. “We’re just…
Wednesday Nights Get Cheesy at Share: Cheesebar’s Fondue for Two in Pleasant Ridge
Share: Cheesebar in Pleasant Ridge is helmed by Emily Frank, a human one might lovingly refer to as a “cheese freak.” Frank owned C’est Cheese gourmet grilled cheese food truck for years before deciding to expand her passion into a cheese-focused brick-and-mortar in her own neighborhood. As she told us when the shop opened last…
Head of Walnut Hills Redevelopment Foundation leaving; Cranley promotes potential FCC West End stadium; more news
Good morning, all. Hope you had a good time with the glorious weather this weekend. I got a lil tipsy and found a goat at Bockfest. Fun times. But now it’s Monday and it’s time to get some news going. Walnut Hills Redevelopment Foundation Executive Director Kevin Wright will step down April 6, according to…
All Bow Down Before Neil Gaiman
Several years ago, I was freelancing for the New Haven Advocate under the able editorship of former CityBeat minion John Stoehr. John emailed me one afternoon with an intriguing query: Would it be possible to get an interview with Lady Gaga to preview her upcoming concert? After several incapacitated moments of convulsive laughter, I responded…
MusicNOW mini-reunion at the Academy Awards
Last night’s broadcast of the 90th Academy Awards featured a performance of “Mystery of Love” by Indie hero Sufjan Stevens that had many comparing it to Elliott Smith’s unlikely fish-out-of-water appearance at the Oscars 20 years ago. Stevens played an abbreviated version of the Best Original Song nominee from Call Me By Your Name with…
The Oscars: The End of the Road for 2017
We’ve come to the end of the road, and unlike Boyz II Men, I’m so ready to let go. It happens around the same time every year as the prestige film season coverage comes to a close with the Academy Awards, and we seem to have been talking about the same set of films and…
Sound Advice: Iron Chic with Propagandhi and La Armada (March 7)
Iron Chic’s technically a Pop Punk band, but it’d be doing the Long Island, NY quintet a disservice to box the group into a genre that evokes teenage romanticism and sloppily-played blast beats. While its scuzzy songcraft packs enough gruff melodicism and hooks to flesh out at least a pair of mid-’90s Fat Wreck Chords…
Community groups ask for responsible bidder pause; Mill Creek environmental groups merge; middle class shrinking fast in Ohio; more news
Hello, Cincy. Are you Bockin’ out tonight or sometime this weekend? I will be, as the core idea of Bock Fest — seas of malty, beery goodness with few hopped-up IPAs in sight —sounds like paradise to me. Read our guide here, then go forth and get your goat on. You should also take a…
LISTEN: Frontier Folk Nebraska’s new “Fill Up My Cup”
Next Thursday (March 8), Cincinnati rockers Frontier Folk Nebraska will host a combo release party/send-off show at Southgate House Revival. The free show (in the venue’s Lounge) will also feature acclaimed singer/songwriter William Matheny, who the band will be touring with on their way to and from South By Southwest festival showcases in mid-March. The…
Happy Zip Dip Opening Day
Creamy whip Zip Dip is opening its doors for the season on March 2, which means warmer weather, little league games and balmy evening ice cream runs can't be too far off… right? A West Side family tradition, Zip Dip's old-school neon sign, featuring a lightning bolt striking an ice cream cone, is instantly recognizable…
Lineup for Vans Warped Tour cross-country finale announced
The Vans Warped Tour stood tall for nearly a quarter of a century, as every other big “traveling music festival” (Lollapalooza, Lilith Fair, H.O.R.D.E., OzFest, etc.) either reconfigured to become "destination" fests or collapsed completely. With low-cost tickets and an egalitarian philosophy that de-emphasized the power and prowess typically allotted a festival headliner — set…
Lauded Filmmaker’s New Documentary about Library System to Screen Here
The latest film by America's greatest documentarian, Frederick Wiseman, will be getting a special screening at the Mercantile Library — presented by the non-profit Mini Microcinema — on April 25. The subject fits the location — Ex Libris — The New York Public Library takes a long (197 minutes) careful look at how the nation's…
Southbound: Cincinnati acts heading to SXSW
Cincinnati music has always had some sort of presence at South by Southwest, the seminal festival/conference/showcase in Austin, Texas that has been a prime destination for music business folks and aficionados for 32 years now. Though it has grown in scope dramatically and now features many established performers, the event is still a reliable platform…
Noah Smith gives hometown fans first crack at his new ‘Long Cut’
Exceptionally talented Greater Cincinnati based Country singer/songwriter Noah Smith has seemed ready to take his career up a big notch for a while now. On March 9, Smith takes another giant step in that direction with the release of his latest studio effort, Long Cut. The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music grad (who scored a Cincinnati Entertainment…
Seelbach proposes LLC campaign donation limits; Ohio could extend protective orders to domestic partners; more news
Good morning, Cincy! Did you know today is Ohio’s 215th birthday? Old hoss doesn’t look a day over 200 if you ask me. On this day in 1803, the Ohio General Assembly met for the very first, magical time. They’ve been bickering ever since. Anyway, on to more contemporary news. Cincinnati City Council yesterday also…
Adam Sandler and Rob Schneider stop at the Taft Theatre in April
If you like buddy comedies, stand-up and miss early-'90s SNL, mark your calendar for April 21. Adam Sandler and BFF Rob Schneider are coming to the Taft Theatre for an evening of comedy. If you don't know who Sandler is — or Schneider — there's a chance you didn't watch TV or movies from like…
This Week’s Recommended Concerts and Shows (Feb. 28-March 6)
WEDNESDAY 28 Bogart’s – The Borderline Something. 8 p.m. Rock. $10. MOTR Pub – The Lovers with Kat Barnette. 9:30 p.m. Americana/Soul/Rock/Various. Free. Southgate House Revival (Lounge) – Adam Lee. 9:30 p.m. Pop/Rock/Various. Free. THURSDAY 01 Memorial Hall – Ladysmith Black Mambazo. 8 p.m. World/African. $26-$42. FRIDAY 02 Madison Live – Daniel In Stereo with…
UC settles lawsuit over wage disparity; Kentucky state lawmakers introduce gun control legislation; more news
Good morning all. Did you enjoy the amazing weather yesterday? I hope we all soaked it up, because just as the river is starting to go down after its biggest flood in 20 years, it’s supposed to rain… again… today. The river is at 56 feet now, down from its crest of over 60 feet.…
