The Book on Next Chapter’s Brunch
You know you’re getting old when you determine where you will eat based on ease of parking. That is precisely why I have not been to Mount Adams in years. Aside from parking, I really don’t have the T&A to get into the hot nightspots anyway. Luckily, for brunch there is a reasonable expectation of…
Shiny New Shiny Old Soul
Friday at Northside Tavern, “Cosmic Roots” band Shiny Old Soul celebrates the release of its first full-length album, Cash Is King. The band is joined by Sassy Molasses and Dante’s Gypsy Circus for the free event. While Shiny Old Soul is relatively new, the core trio of Gregory Morris (vocals, guitar), Katherine Monnig (percussion) and…
Deleted Scenes with The Harlequins
While Washington D.C., quartet Deleted Scenes uses some elements of Chillwave (obscured, gauzy vocals and muffled dance rhythms), the group puts those elements together in exciting, unpredictable new ways, producing a magnetic brand of Art Pop that is simultaneously catchy and experimental. The compelling atmospherics combine creative beats, engulfing, often-sunshiney melodies and an unpredictable mélange…
Kasich, GOP Play Politics with Public Health
R egular readers of this column and CityBeat already know plenty about Gov. John Kasich’s obnoxious, grating personality and autocratic, regressive style of governing from his dismal 12 months in office so far. Whether it’s Kasich’s disastrous overreaching in pushing through restrictions on the collective bargaining rights of public-sector labor unions or the guv’s cancelling…
A Hopeful Look Ahead
Editor’s Note: This is the first in a series of profiles on the four new members elected to Cincinnati City Council. Collaboration, growth, opportunity and progress are the buzzwords that Cincinnati City Councilwoman Yvette Simpson uses to describe what she wants to foster at City Hall during the next two years. “We are at a…
City Hall Considers Domestic Partner Benefits
I n an effort to help attract the brightest young professionals to Cincinnati, a city councilman is proposing that domestic partners of city employees be granted health insurance benefits. Councilman Chris Seelbach has introduced a motion requesting that city administrators research the issue. Seelbach, who is Cincinnati’s first openly gay council member, believes that the…
Cellphones Killed the Rock Star
At the City & Colour concert at Bogart's a couple of months ago, I watched as a woman in the front row texted her way through both of the great opening acts. I glanced around and discovered that she wasn’t the only one. I figured everyone would surely stop when Dallas Green and the rest…
The Opposite of ‘Vanishing’
D uring the past 15 years, Scott Terry, Red Wanting Blue’s frontman and only constant member, has self-released eight albums, welcomed and bid farewell to several members, enjoyed much critical acclaim, toured to within an inch of his sanity and amassed a rabidly dedicated fanbase that obsessively follows his Modern Rock outfit. Given this, Terry…
(The Lack of Real) Carnage
It seems fitting to note that Carnage, the new film from Roman Polanski, is an adaptation based on Yasmina Reza’s play Le Dieu du carnage, which translates in English to God of Carnage. Reza penned the screenplay, and much attention was paid to the omission of the “God of” as Carnage arrived in theaters. As…
Spotify, National Anthem, Blue Ivy
[HOT] If It Seems Too Good to Be True … When Spotify was introduced to the U.S. last year, the streaming music service with a massive library seemed to be the best thing to happen to music fans since P2P file-sharing. It was fairly comprehensive, legal and, most shocking of all, free. But anyone who…
Taste of Belgium Finds a Home
The Gateway Quarter is hopping. Just in the last few months here at CityBeat we’ve given rave reviews to Abigail Street and A Tavola. Senate’s got lines out the door, and there are rumors that Bakersfield, the taco and whiskey bar, is opening any minute. Lavomatic’s menu has changed but looks good, and there’s a…
The Taft Goes Public
This year is the Taft Museum’s 80th anniversary — it opened in 1932, five years after Charles Phelps Taft and Anna Sinton Taft deeded their historic 1820 mansion and its 690 works of art to Cincinnati. As a house museum and boutique art museum, it’s long been accepted as an integral part of the…
Democratizing Art
I nfrastructure represents opportunity. That was the thinking of “construction clown” Raymond Thunder-Sky, the quiet, self-taught artist and downtown icon who saw possibility for improvement whenever a wrecking ball swung. In his world, police stations gave way to amusement parks. Like a demolition crew working on a building, the artists of Infrastructure at Thunder-Sky Inc.…
Crowd-Sourced Film Seeks Local Music Remixes
At last year’s MidPoint Music Festival, you may have noticed various cryptic murals, posters and superhero mannequins scattered along the fest route. Those were actually clues that were part of a scavenger hunt of sorts, leading to tasks like taking photos and rewards like free music downloads by local bands. The hunt was part of…
Squeeze the Day for 1/10
Music Tonight: Superb local Indie band Sacred Spirits is holding down the every-Tuesday residency at The Comet in Northside for January, performing free sets every week this month at around 10 p.m. on the club's weekly "Bike Night." The Spirits recently announced that their stunning full-length debut, Some Stay, will be released "officially" in June…
Music, Movies and the Not So Mundane
Jay-Z is now the spokesman for Duracell Powermat, the joint venture whose inception came in September of 2011 thanks to Procter and Gamble, Duracell and Powermat Technologies. “I believe in the future of wireless energy and I believe that Duracell Powermat is the company to bring on the revolution,” said Hova. “I’m partnering with Duracell…
Events: Gold Star Chili Cook-Off
Who will be the next Chili Meister of Cincinnati? Chefs and chili enthusiasts alike will gather at Findlay Market for the eighth annual Gold-Star Chili Cook-Off with Christian Moerlein Brewing Company and The Fire Museum of Greater Cincinnati. Once again the members of OTR Engine Co. 5 will be acting as the competition’s panel of…
Music: 1, 2, 3
If you were to tell Pittsburgh-based Indie band 1, 2, 3 that its new EP made you fell asleep, the members would be thrilled. That’s because “slumber” is the main goal of the twosome’s five-track release, Dreamland Pt. 1 (For Daisy), an unexpected collection of Dream Pop lullabies recorded in honor of 1, 2, 3…
Art: Beyond Emancipation
Celebrate the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King with Beyond Emancipation, opening this weekend at the Kennedy Heights Art Center. Organized in partnership with Juneteenth Cincinnati, Beyond Emancipation is a visual exploration of African-American culture and recent history. Curator Barbara Gamboa has put together an impressive exhibit that includes painting, photography and three-dimensional…
Meet the Police Chief
Residents will get a chance to ask Cincinnati Police Chief James Craig some questions at a public meeting this week. Craig, who was sworn in as the city’s 13th police chief in August, will be the featured speaker at the annual meeting of Citizens for Civic Renewal (CCR). The session will be held from 6-8…
Music, Movies and the Not So Mundane
It was announced today that Actor/Director/Humanitarean/Total Heartthrob Jeff Spicoli Sean Penn is receiving the 2012 Joel Siegel Award at the 17th Annual Critics Choice Movie Awards on Jan. 12 for the relief work he has done in Haiti. This will be only the fifth Joel Siegel Award given by the BFCA, and dedicated “to those…
Squeeze the Day for 1/9
Music Tonight: Fantastic local Indie Rock duo Pop Empire has become fantastic local Indie Rock trio Pop Empire, recently adding new member Andy Jody, local super-drummer who has performed with seemingly dozens of acts over the past decade (Thee Shams, Pearlene, Oxford Cotton, Barrence Whitfield and the Savages, etc.). Pop Empire performs a free show…
Food for Thought – Where Do Our Leftovers Go?
I occasionally work security at stadium/arena events in the area. My supervisor typically sticks me down on the bottom floor of the stadium. My job's pretty easy – most of the time I either sign people in or sit around making sure people aren't wandering about areas they shouldn't be. It's pretty busy most of…
Driehaus Wants Hearing on Fracking
A Cincinnati-area legislator is calling for an Ohio House committee to hold a public hearing about the alleged link between fracking and ground tremors. State Rep. Denise Driehaus (D-Price Hill) wrote a letter today asking that a public hearing be held during the next meeting of the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee. The meeting…
I Shall Be Released: A New Beginning
Well, we’ve taken down the free SPCA fluffy kitty/puppy day planner from the kitchen door and put up the free World Wildlife Fund animal kingdom mother/cub book of days and that can only mean one thing: We didn’t wait until late February to switch to the new year’s calendar, which is typically par for our…
Music, Movies and the Not So Mundane
It turns out that an alleged old Radiohead demo called “Putting Ketchup in the Fridge” is actually called “Sit Still” and not by Radiohead at all. It’s by Toronto bakery owner Christopher Stopa. “As nice as it is, because I like Radiohead, and on some technical level it means I sang [the song] well, I…
Stage Door: Cline Still Going Strong
While most local theaters are cranking up rehearsals for shows to open later this month, the Cincinnati Playhouse's production of Always, Patsy Cline is still going strong. (It runs until Jan. 22.) That means this weekend is a good time to catch this recreation of the iconic Country singer. Her story is told from the…
Squeeze the Day for 1/6
Music Tonight: Call it the New Wisp Jazz Club — iconic local Jazz venue the Blue Wisp reopens today at its new location at the corner of Race and Seventh streets, following its move over the past week from its old digs on Eighth Street. I’m psyched about the new location for selfish reasons —…
Gorby Tells It Like It Is
Although he will celebrate his 81st birthday in less than two months, former Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev still is an astute observer of the world’s political scene. Unlike his political contemporaries Ronald Reagan (who is dead) and Margaret Thatcher (who is acutely ill), Gorbachev remains sharp and aware, and keeps making headlines. Ever since…
Music, Movies and the Not So Mundane
Deep-sea scientists stationed in the Antarctic have discovered sea creatures that are “almost like a sight from another planet.” "We were absolutely stunned to see the animal communities, because they were so different from the hydrothermal vents seen elsewhere," Alex Rogers, a professor of zoology at Oxford University, told LiveScience.—- Sarah “the Human Barbie” Burge…
Squeeze the Day for 1/5
Music Tonight: Fantastic Blues/Roots singer/guitarist Patrick Sweany (who has collaborated and performed with fellow Northern Ohio quasi-traditionalists The Black Keys) has had an unspecified family emergency pop up so he will not be performing at MOTR Pub tonight as scheduled. (His Facebook page promises rescheduled dates soon for Cincy as well as a trio of…
Music, Movies and the Not So Mundane
Martin Scorsese is being given the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Academy Fellowship at the annual award ceremony next month. BAFTA head honcho Tim Corrie says, "Martin Scorsese is a legend in his lifetime — a true inspiration to all young directors the world over. We are delighted to honor his contribution…
Squeeze the Day for 1/4
Music Tonight: Rockers Of Fortune and Fame perform at Baba Budan's in Clifton Heights tonight, finishing off a leg of winter tour dates as they head back to their Syracuse, NY, homebase. The band released a pair of singles and the EP, Earn It, this year, showcasing its hook-ridden, anthemic Pop Rock and sounding like…
Events: Yoga with the Masters
Yoga embraces many disciplines including physical, mental and spiritual development. Join the Cincinnati Art Museum January 10 as Yogi Werner Hildebrand, an instructor at yogahOMe, explores and instructs participants in the ways of the ancient Indian art of yoga. Enjoy all that yoga has to offer including opening spaces in the body, cultivating mindfulness and…
Art: Pyramid Hill Winter Dialogues
Pyramid Hill, the sculpture park in Hamilton, has sought to add some intellectual heft to its activities programming with a new Winter Dialogue series that brings some of Cincinnati's top visual-arts professionals to its architecturally striking on-grounds residence for discussions. The second in the series of three occurs this Sunday at 4:30 p.m., with Carl Solway, who…
Art: Infrastructure
This Friday, Thunder-Sky Inc. opens Infrastructure, an exhibition of works that investigate abstraction as one of the fundamental building blocks of visual art. Featuring four local artists, this show starts off the New Year with the proverbial "bang." Alex Bartenberger’s large “Pink Oil” is a soothing meditation on form and simplicity; while Bromwell’s gallery director…
Onstage: Love Song
First theater production out of the pipeline this month comes from Untethered Theater Company at the intimate Clifton Performance Theater: John Kolvenbach’s offbeat comedy Love Song (through Jan 15.) The show debuted at Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theater in 2006 and was staged at the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park in 2008. It’s the story of a…
Comedy: Matt Stanton
It’s a widely held belief that most comedians want to be rock musicians and most rock musicians want to be comedians. Matt Stanton has both covered. He started out playing music, and today plays in a band called the Wothmores. “It’s Pop-Punk Ramones-style,” he says. Stand-up comedy though, has become his passion. Having grown-up watching…
