Jan 13-20, 2016
Best New Bands 2016: Greater Cincinnati’s top musical acts to keep an eye on this year
If You’re So Inclined
Even though we’ve just passed the halfway point of the 2015-2016 theater season, the over-achievers at Cincinnati Landmark Productions just announced plans for future productions at the Covedale Center for the Performing Arts and the Warsaw Federal Incline Theater for 2016-2017. Tim Perrino, CLP’s executive artistic director, says, “With our two venues, Cincinnati Landmark Productions…
Dance: Body Against Body
E ight members of the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company appear this weekend in Body Against Body at the Aronoff Center. The company was founded in 1982 by Bill T. Jones and his partner Arnie Zane, who died in 1988. Cincinnati audiences will see three illuminating pieces that return to company roots: Duet X…
Lecture: Museums as Vehicles for Social Change
When Ruth Abram speaks Friday at the Mercantile Library about how she founded New York’s successful Lower East Side Tenement Museum, many in attendance will be wondering if they can do here what she did there. There is an active local nonprofit group trying to start the Over-the-Rhine Museum, modeled on the Tenement Museum but…
Music: Brian Newman
There aren’t many career paths that include studying at the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music and working for a boss in a meat dress. Trumpeter Brian Newman has traveled that stretch over the past decade and a half, from his truncated CCM history to sessioning and performing with Lady Gaga, Tony Bennett and many…
Onstage: Pink Martini with Special Guest The von Trapps
Place yourself smack-dab in the middle of a Rio de Janeiro Samba parade — just a little closer to home than Brazil. Twelve-piece “little orchestra” Pink Martini joins the Cincinnati Pops for a multi-lingual concert that showcases a mix of Cabaret, Samba and Jazz. Also onstage is special guest The von Trapps, decedents of the Trapp…
Event: A Moveable Feast
Whether you are a theatergoer, symphony lover or tech junkie, the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music’s most popular fundraiser has something for you. Enjoy cocktails and gourmet hors d’oeuvres in between lively performances that sample the best of CCM, including musical theater, dance, drama, opera, choral music, chamber music, wind symphony, piano, backstage tours…
Event: Tuscan Wine Tasting at Rhinegeist
Seven wines will be featured at this casual tasting at Rhinegeist brewery. Winemaker Michael Schmelzer, owner of Monte Bernardi Italian winery in Panzano in the Chianti Classico region of Tuscany, kicks off the tasting with a seminar on his process. He and his sister Jennifer have a passion for creating biodynamically farmed wines, aged in…
Event: Cincy Brunch Bus
Take Sunday Funday to a new level with Cincy Brew Bus’ Brunch Bus. The party starts at Taft’s Ale House with the brewhouse brunch menu, followed by a full-size beer tasting starting at 11:15 a.m. Then hop on the bus for stops at Rhinegiest and MadTree, with behind-the-scenes tours, informative history lessons, fun and more…
Onstage: Dancing with the Stars Live! Dancing All Night Tour
Live music, flamboyant and glittery costumes, a partially shirted Valentin Chmerkovskiy… If you enjoy watching this dancing competition on TV, you’ll love seeing it in your own backyard at the Taft Theatre. The new production of Dancing With the Stars Live! follows previous back-to-back, sold-out tours. Fans can expect to see special guests alongside the…
Event: The Dinner Detective Murder Mystery
The Dinner Detective Murder Mystery dinner show is a four-course meal and interactive comedic murder mystery play set in the modern age. The show takes place throughout the dining room at the Millennium Hotel — performers might actually be seated at your table. There’s a prize package for the Top Sleuth who comes closest to…
Event: 2016 Karneval Maskenball
Glücklicher Karneval! The annual Rheinische celebration of Karneval, or German Mardi Gras, begins every year on Nov. 11 (specifically at 11:11 a.m.) and continues through Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. Join in the festivities during the Germania Society of Cincinnati’s 2016 Maskenball, an eccentric and colorful dance that culminates with a costume contest…
Event: Fandom: Downton Abbey
If you happen to be a fan of Downton Abbey or a superfan of the costumes and witty one-liners of the Dowager Countess — and who isn’t? — head to the Cincinnati Art Museum for “Fandom: Downton Abbey,” part of the museum’s new monthly gallery conversation series that brings together art and pop culture through…
Comedy: Sarah Colonna
“When I was 5, I was like, ‘I’m going to be comedian and an actress and I’m going to be on TV.’ My mom was like, ‘OK,’ ” says comedian Sarah Colonna. After she moved to Los Angeles, her mom continued to be her biggest cheerleader, even when times were rough. That belief and Colonna’s…
Onstage: Chapter Two
For years, Neil Simon wrote hilarious comedies — Barefoot in the Park and The Odd Couple. But in 1977, he began to mine his own life for material. Chapter Two, a play about a widowed writer trying to start over while still grieving for his late wife, was rooted in his own experience. Simon’s trademarked…
Event: Experimental Music at the Library
Nate May premieres what the Cincinnati Main Library is describing as a “piece for Fender Rhodes (piano) and conference call” during their Experimental Music at the Library event. It will feature the live participation of people affected by the Elk River chemical spill in West Virginia in January 2014, who will be in their homes…
Music: Bear Medicine
Lexington, Ky.’s Bear Medicine is a four-piece group that creates a mesmerizing swirl of Indie Folk with guitar, cello, piano, flute, gentle percussion and captivating vocal melodies. The soulful quartet released its debut album, The Moon Has Been All My Life, late last year to critical praise, including a glowing review from modern Roots music…
Music: Those Darlins
The latest Those Darlins tour should have been the celebratory launch of the band’s 10th anniversary, but, in light of their “indefinite hiatus/time to move in different directions” announcement last month on Facebook, this circuit will be Those Darlins’ victory lap before dismantling one of the best bands to come out of Nashville, Tenn., in…
Anomalisa
This Academy Award nominee for Best Animated Feature bears the idiosyncratic stamp of its co-creator Charlie Kaufman (Oscar-winning screenwriter of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) who, along with animator Duke Johnson (Mary Shelley’s Frankenhole), lives to explore the vast and esoteric reaches of the human condition. Who else would use stop-motion animation to capture…
Music: X_X
If you draw a blank at the mention of the Cleveland Art-Experimental-Noise-Proto-Punk band X_X, that’s what its founder, John D. Morton, wants. That’s because the band’s name is pronounced “X-blank-X,” and it has been known to insert some other name into that blank space to fit the mood or project of the moment. It’s the…
Music: Luke Wade
Unlike a lot of contestants on The Voice, NBC’s vocal talent show, Luke Wade wasn’t looking to get a record deal out of the experience. He had already released his sophomore album, The River, the spring before he successfully navigated the competition’s audition process and secured a spot on Pharrell Williams’ team until his eventual elimination in…
Music: Steve Forbert
It’s been 40 years since Steve Forbert lost his job as a truck driver in his hometown of Meridian, Miss., and blew into New York City with an ass-pocket full of Folk/Rock songs and a dream to make a living from them. In relatively short order, Forbert went from subway busking and opening for Talking…
Morning News and Stuff
Good morning all. It’s snowing. Did you notice? OK. I’ve done my apparent journalistic duty to point out to you that it is precipitating, but that the atmosphere above Cincinnati is cold enough that said precipitation is coming down as a solid, not a liquid. Thought experiment: Are there more snowflakes coming down or pictures…
Encounters of ‘The 4th’ Kind
Andre Hyland boasts a substantial online following through his sketch-comedy character Jesse Miller — dude loves Monster Energy drinks and button-up shirts with tribal flame designs — but that’s not what has people buzzing about the Cincinnati native nowadays. Last year, Hyland showed a more grounded comic presence with his Sundance Film Festival selected short…
Primary Cheat Sheet: Donald Trump
Donald Trump (Republican) Fun Fact: This isn’t Trump’s first time running for president. The real-estate tycoon has been gunning for the presidency for 16 years. In 2000, he was seeking the nomination for the Reform Party and qualified for the Michigan and California ballot. Trump won both states. He also used to identify as a…
Morning News and Stuff
Hey hey, all. I hope yesterday’s Martin Luther King Jr. holiday was both uplifting and motivating for you and that you got out to some of the commemorative and educational events that were going on all over town. Now, let’s talk news real quick. An influential multi-faith organization that has been inactive for years is…
Five Takeaways from the Fourth Democratic Debate
Hillary Clinton, facing the unexpected challenge from her left flank in the form of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders Sunday, fought furiously to hold her ground as the Democratic frontrunner. With the two candidates virtually tied in Iowa and Sanders leading Clinton in New Hampshire, the former Secretary of State might be having flashbacks to 2008…
Review: Madonna in Louisville
Madonna performed in Louisville, Ky., on Saturday for the first time ever. "The Material Girl" took the stage at the KFC Yum! Center around 10:30 p.m., but fans didn’t seem surprised, since the tour has had late starts each night. The tour stop is one of 64 cities on her Rebel Heart Tour. Madonna has…
Morning News and Stuff
Good morning, Cincinnati! Here are your Monday morning headlines. • The family of Samuel DuBose and the University of Cincinnati have reached a settlement for the July 19 death of DuBose by UC police officer Ray Tensing. The university will pay the family $4,850,000 as well as pay the tuition and fees for DuBose's 12…
UC, DuBose Family Reach Settlement
The University of Cincinnati and the family of Samuel DuBose today reached a settlement in DuBose’s shooting death July 19 by UC police officer Ray Tensing. That settlement calls for the university to pay $4,850,000 to the family, as well as tuition-free undergraduate education for DuBose’s 12 children. That part of the settlement is worth…
Four Takeaways From the Sixth Republican Debate
The battle for Iowa and New Hampshire kicked into high gear at Thursday’s Republican debate, featuring a smaller cast of candidates. Donald Trump, Ben Carson, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, John Kasich, Chris Christie and Jeb Bush took the stage and engaged in one of the debate’s bloodiest battles as the Feb. 1 Iowa caucus looms.…
Raising the Bars: Foodie Fever
Do prefer to fill your stomach before a night out? Love loading up on artisanal appetizers, fancy finger foods and awesome hors d’oeuvres? Calling all foodies: these bars are for you. Hofbrauhaus – Newport If German food is your cup of tea, the Hofbrauhaus in Newport is the place to be. It’s hard to go…
Fact Checking Kasich’s Debate
Last night’s sixth GOP presidential primary debate was crunch time for Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who is looking to bolster his chances in early primary states Iowa and New Hampshire in a last-ditch effort to keep his campaign viable. Reviews of his performance from pundits were mixed, though he did have a few good moments…
Your Weekend To Do List (1/15-1/17)
FRIDAY ONSTAGE: KINKY BOOTS Encountering a show title that uses the word “kinky,” you might think that the so-named play could push the boundaries of taste. That’s certainly not the case with Kinky Boots, despite the images the title suggests. In fact, the touring production of this Broadway hit (winner of several Tony Awards), at…
Stage Door
Right now we’re about equidistant from the 2015 and the 2016 Fringe festivals. So let’s thanks the folks at Know Theatre, who are presenting a double-bill of “Fringe Encores” to keep us stoked. This weekend actually offers one encore plus a graduate from Know’s Serials! series. Occupational Hazards is about an office fling that becomes…
Morning News and Stuff
• Good morning, Cincinnati! Here are your morning headlines. • Ohio released the first part of its state report card Thursday, and so far not so good for Cincinnati Public Schools. CPS earned two Fs for its graduation rates and a D in kindergarten through third grade literacy. This is the second year in a…
Morning News and Stuff
Good morning all. Here’s what I have today in terms of news. Let’s start with Cincinnati City Council, where a lot of things went down yesterday. Perhaps one of the more interesting moments yesterday involved a brief comment by Vice Mayor David Mann, who remarked on a recently-uncovered letter regarding police body cameras City Manager…
Jillian Bell: From ‘Workaholics’ to House Arrest
If you know Jillian Bell, it’s probably as her similarly named character Jillian Belk from popular slacker comedy Workaholics. Bell serves as the crew’s coworker/honorary female member, eager to join in the bros’ stoner shenanigans. And as the show’s three stars gain attention individually (Blake Anderson in Dope, Adam DeVine in The Intern and Anders…
Waking Up to ‘Good Morning Karachi’
There’s a funny thing about social and cultural issues in modern society; actually, the debate starts with the whole idea of what it means to be modern. Dr. Cornel West, contemporary philosopher and cultural critic/activist, defines being modern as having “the courage to use one’s critical intelligence to question and challenge the prevailing authorities, powers…
MamLuft&Co. Explores Cultural Divisions
Cincinnati’s resident modern dance company MamLuft&Co. Dance, now in its ninth season, opens 2016 with Double|Sided, an eye-opening world premiere. It’s been co-choreographed for the company, known for conceptual nuance and athleticism, by company members Elena Rodriguez and Steven P. Evans, who also dance in the piece. The full-length work is performed in an intimate…
David Bowie 1947-2016
David Bowie 1947-2016 We don’t often do “R.I.P.” shout-outs in this space, but if any musician deserves one, it's David Bowie, who passed away Jan. 10 (two days after his 69th birthday). It’s impossible to overstate the hugeness of Bowie’s impact — outside of perhaps Paul McCartney and Bob Dylan, he was the last living…
Cincinnati Has Fun Putting on ‘Kinky Boots’
Encountering a show title that uses the word “kinky,” you might think that the so-named play could push the boundaries of taste. That’s certainly not the case with Kinky Boots, despite the images the title suggests. In fact, the touring production of this Broadway hit (winner of several Tony Awards), at the Aronoff for a…
Museums, Galleries Have Big 2016 Plans
Here is a look at 10 promising shows/art events that will open in the first half (or just after) of 2016: Noah Purifoy: Junk Dada, The Ohio State University’s Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, Jan. 30-April 10: The Wexner is the only venue other than the Los Angeles County Museum of Art to present…
Piqued Interest
A new gallery and “open-ended art experiment” known simply as Pique, where guests can view and even temporarily lodge with artwork, opened this past fall out of a two-unit storefront space in Covington, Ky., a little sooner than the two co-organizers and “instigators” Lindsey Whittle and Annie Brown initially planned. The two artists, however, seem…
A Surprise at Live
As a Cliftonite, I can think of no better development for which to devoutly wish than a thriving business on Ludlow Avenue, preferably one that includes food. Whether the forthcoming Clifton Market will provide the anchor the neighborhood needs is an open question. But with the late-2015 opening of music venue and restaurant Live! at…
Ch-Ch-Changes
David Bowie’s self-appointed alien status was nothing, a mere indulgence, compared to the Alien Nation we relegated him to.“We” being black pre-teens of 1975 (actually, I was 10 years old) who discovered Bowie’s music, his visage, bisexuality and general white European weirdness in the dark bedroom record collections of older “play cousins” — even if…
Worst Week Ever! Jan. 06-12
Maine Gov. Debuts Plan to Combat Heroin Epidemic with Old-Fashioned Racism Maine is a beautiful state with lots of great seafood and outdoor activities to offer visitors. The ocean air and uninterrupted scenery are amazing. So is the fact that the good folks of that state elected Paul LePage governor, because that dude is a…
Building Scrutiny
It was still dark the morning of Nov. 6 when a persistent, pounding rain caused a portion of the roof to collapse at the Burton Apartments in Avondale. The failure sent water streaming all the way down to the first floor of the three-story building, caused the collapse of internal ceilings and forced the evacuation…
Sound Advice: Dan Bern
You might think, if you’re unfamiliar with Dan Bern and hearing the song “Merle, Hank & Johnny” on his new album Hoody, that he’s just another Americana nostalgist singing about Country icons who used to get played on the radio before the dreaded brats with hats took over Modern Country. That would be wrong. Bern,…
Sound Advice: Wildhoney
Apparently, this is the age of musicians using the word ‘honey’ in their band name. There is Oh Honey from Brooklyn, N.Y., Moon Honey from Baton Rouge, La., HoneyHoney from Los Angeles, The Locust Honey String Band from Nashville, Tenn., The Honey Chasers from Johnson City, Tenn., The Honeycutters from Asheville, N.C. and many more.…
Sound Advice: Gill Landry with Noah Smith
As an erstwhile member of Old Crow Medicine Show, Gill Landry has been a vital component of one of the most expansively creative American Bluegrass outfits of the past two decades. As a solo artist, Landry has applied a modern veneer to traditional Country and Folk, crafting songs that combine the melancholy perspective of a…
Sound Advice: Anna Nalick with Kathryn Dean
In 2005, Anna Nalick was poised to take her rightful place within the rich tradition of emotion-laden X-chromosome Pop Rock balladeers, including forebears like Sarah McLachlan and Tori Amos and contemporaries like Sara Bareilles and Colbie Caillat. Just two years before, Nalick had put her college career on hold to explore her childhood dream of…
Royal Holland, Leggy and Evening Redness Unveil New Releases
Royal Holland, the exhilarating alter-ego project from Cincinnati singer/songwriter Matt Mooney, is concluding the “Unfolded” trilogy of EP releases this Friday with Vol. 3 Program. To celebrate, Royal Holland (which has expanded to a full band for live shows) is performing at Northside Yacht Club (4227 Spring Grove Ave., Northside, northsideyachtclub.com) Friday with special guest…
Instruments of Mass Construction
When Noble County, Ohio native Zac Little was in high school, he heard Led Zeppelin make its musical point with a mandolin, and that led him to the conclusion that if banging on four instruments was interesting, three times that many would be exponentially incredible. When Little entered Ohio State, he began collecting the musical…
Who Let the Dawgs In?
Although Dawg Yawp’s Cincinnati Entertainment Award nomination for New Artist of Year accurately reflects its freshly minted band status, nearly everything else about Rob Keenan and Tyler Randall dates back several years. Their friendship began as Turpin High School classmates more than a decade ago, corresponding to Randall’s interest in the sitar, setting the stage…
The Milk of Human Coconuts
Coconut Milk’s Alex Baker may be the most unassuming frontman in Cincinnati music history. At 6 feet 6 inches tall, he’s an imposing stage presence, but he exhibits the same quiet reserve in conversation as he does when he’s presenting his exuberantly melancholy Indie Pop songs in the live context. When offered the supposition that…
Letting the Magic Happen
Calling music “infectious” is a music-critic cliché of the highest order. But when watching Cincinnati Indie Pop band Multimagic perform at last year’s big Bunbury Music Festival, there was no other word to accurately describe the band’s effect. As the group’s synth-laden, hyper-melodic songs washed over the audience, more and more people walking by became…
Ready, Set, Go Go
With a progressive and heavy sound that meshes together elements of Hard Rock, Punk, AltRock, Post Punk and beyond, Cincinnati-based foursome Go Go Buffalo made waves in 2015 by bringing its dynamic, somewhat psychedelic music to many different audiences. The band presented its wild-eyed live show to a diverse range of local venues, playing house-party…
JSPH and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcareer
Joseph Nevels has followed a tangled Google map of life paths in his brief existence. But through all those disparate experiences, Nevels never abandoned music, and that tenacity resulted in two indescribably cool R&B/Soul/Pop EPs, 2015’s Rest and Rule and his Cincinnati Entertainment Awards New Artist of the Year nomination under the artistic reimagining of…
Bang Your Skulx
When Cincinnati rockers Foxy Shazam went on an extended and possibly permanent hiatus late in 2014, trumpeter Alex Nauth considered his next steps. Bandless, jobless and aimless, Nauth battled melancholy and the reality of his situation until his salvation appeared unexpectedly. “I was pretty depressed for months, and you get to a point where you’ve…
Best New Bands 2016
For more on the 2016 Cincinnati Entertainment Awards, visit citybeat.com's CEA page. The Cincinnati area seems to be producing more and more musical talent lately that is drawing national (and international) attention. Though they may all sound completely different, there is one thing each of those artists has in common — they were all “new”…
