Warped Tour Preview: Sum 41
We love all things Canadian. Free health care, weather that doesn't resemble hell, all of it. The country's musical traditions may not grab headlines. Celine Dion's voice induces vomiting for most of the staff, not pleasant but cheaper than a stomach pump when you're in a pinch. But Canadian band Sum 41 is currently enduring…
Music: Gene Walker
Jazz saxophonist Gene Walker has played with some of the most important musical figures over the past half century, Hall of Fame names like Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, Brook Benton, Sam Cooke, Jackie Wilson, Neil Diamond, Brenda Lee, Elvin Jones, The Isley Brothers and dozens of others. The 72-year-old Columbus native has been a critical…
Pones Inc. Offers Food for Thought
Food and art have interesting commonalities in the way they are carefully prepared, the way they affect our senses and, perhaps most of all, the attention we pay to them when we find them strikingly beautiful. So it makes sense that artists can use food in their work to celebrate aspects of community, to comment…
Yo La Tengo
The Hoboken-based Yo La Tengo — which formed back in 1984 and whose first album came out two years later — named itself after what New York Mets outfielder Richie Ashburn (in the expansion team’s first season) would yell to Spanish-speaking teammate (and former Red) Elio Chacon to call him away from fly balls. It…
Events: Handmade Nation Screening
Cincinnati’s biggest, baddest indie craft show is having another event! To kick off the opening of applications for their holiday show, Crafty Supermarket will be showing a free screening of Handmade Nation at Red Polly (4016 Hamilton Ave., Cincinnati, OH). This is the debut film of director, author, artist and curator Faythe Levine. Through her…
Dan Korman [Park and Vine]
Meet Dan Korman. You might have seen him at his general store on Vine Street in Over-the-Rhine, at the Northside Farmer’s Market or on his weekly Friday hikes. His store, Park and Vine (1109 Vine St., Over-the-Rhine; 513-721-7275), focuses on green living: vegan food staples, green cleaning products and environmentally mindful apparel and furniture. Dan…
Music: The Beach Boys
When discussing the greatest rock bands of all-time, The Beach Boys are often mistakenly dismissed as a mere vocal group. “There are some bands that have a lead singer and maybe some harmonies that are iffy,” explains Mike Love, The Beach Boys lead singer. “The thing that distinguishes The Beach Boys from any other rock…
Yo La Tengo Still Has It
My interview with Ira Kaplan of the defining indie-rock trio Yo La Tengo begins with me stammering about the momentous cultural significance — the astute and poetic American symbolism — of the band’s name. The Hoboken-based group — which formed back in 1984 and whose first album came out two years later — named itself…
Art: Paradise at 1305 Gallery
Many in Cincinnati probably don’t realize the number of multi-taskers in our corner of the art world that keep things interesting. One such local hero is Bill Ross, who opens Paradise, a survey exhibition at 1305 Gallery on this Final Friday. In Ross’ confectionary paintings, animals play out enigmatic or even twisted dramas. Often cute…
Ed Kowalczyk, Magnolia Mountain, Jimmie Vaughan, Walter Trout and More
I’m still playing from the catch-up position and at the time of this writing, there’s no telling if I’ll be current by vacation time. I’m burning through the work stacked up on my calendar with such speed that it barely registers when I’ve finished one piece and moved onto another. I actually woke up the…
ForkHeartKnife (Review)
Critic's Pick If there were ever a perfect vantage point to watch the kind of moments that make city life so fascinating, it’s at ForkHeartKnife, the tiny kitchen at Main and Liberty that’s owned and operated by some of the friendliest and most creative women in Over-the-Rhine. After two visits to ForkHeartKnife, I’m a big…
Events: Kunzel Lager Party
In honor of Cincinnati’s love for an excuse to listen to good beer and drink good—er…well anyways, the Cincinnati Pops and the Christian Moerlein Brewing Co. are teaming up to turn out a limited edition lager. The Kunzel Lager, a golden Helles lager has been brewed so to honor the life of Cincinnati Pops Founder,…
Events: Barker’s Blackberry Hill Winery Tour
When you go to a regular grocery store, you can pick up an eight ounce carton of blackberries for about $2.79. That's a lot for about 20 berries. Why pay that much when you can pick the amount you want? Barker's Blackberry Hill Winery is offering $1.75 for a pound of "juicy, plump" blackberries at…
Music: Yo La Tengo
My interview with Ira Kaplan of the defining indie-rock trio Yo La Tengo begins with me stammering about the momentous cultural significance — the astute and poetic American symbolism — of the band’s name. The Hoboken-based group, which formed back in 1984 and whose first album came out two years later, named itself after what…
Comedy: Sebastian Maniscalco
“My act is primarily based on the disgust of human behavior,” says comedian Sebastian Maniscalco. “I saw that a lot while waiting tables. I worked at a big end hotel…in Beverly Hills and I would get a very snooty type of clientele. I never really brought that on stage, but I did have an angst…
A Full Spectrum of Art
Full Art Spectrum wants to bring mash-up techniques to the fine arts. This Friday at the Downtown Coffee Emporium the group will hold its first public collaborative event in which musicians and writers respond to visual arts on display there. (It’s also a salute to Macy’s Music Festival weekend.) Among the art works on view…
Music: Bob Log III
Bob Log III — opening for Sugar Friday on Fountain Square as a part of the free MidPoint Indie Summer series — is a Delta Blues mash-up of Hasil Adkins and Super Dave Osborne. He’s a hyperkinetic one-man band who uses his hands to scorch through razor-sharp slide-guitar licks like the second coming of Mississippi…
The Beach Boys
When discussing the greatest Rock bands of all time, The Beach Boys are often mistakenly dismissed as a mere vocal group. “There are some bands that have a lead singer and maybe some harmonies that are iffy,” explains Mike Love, The Beach Boys lead singer. “The thing that distinguishes The Beach Boys from any other…
Events: Cincinnati Salsa Festival
Looking for a way to spice up your weekend? Come to the Cincinnati Salsa Festival for a family friendly and fun filled three days of Latin dance, music and food. Don’t know how to dance? Not a problem! Workshops will be held all weekend for anyone who’d like to try something new, or salsa enthusiasts…
Music: Freedy Johnston with Misty Perholtz
Most of Freedy Johnston’s songs are populated with characters that either seem blithely unaware of their terminal shortcomings or are keenly aware of them and lack the conviction or strength to do anything about them. But the opening line of “Trying to Tell You I Don’t Know” from Johnston’s 1992 sophomore album Can You Fly…
Jimmy Webb: Just Across the River
In some respects, the careers of John Hiatt and Jimmy Webb are slightly parallel. Both found more success as songwriters than performers early on and their songwriting successes were ultimately big enough to subsidize their sometimes erratic performing careers. The most pronounced difference is that Hiatt is actually an engaging entertainer and sometimes the best…
Onstage: Shakespeare in the Park
People in New York City brag about the chance to see works by Shakespeare in free outdoor settings (this summer in Central Park it's The Winter's Tale and The Merchant of Venice). But thanks to our own Cincinnati Shakespeare Company, you don’t need to travel all the way to the East Coast to enjoy the…
Art: Truth/Beauty
Because one thinks of downtown's Taft Museum of Art as a traditional place, a historic home containing art collected by the last family to live there (Charles and Anna Taft, who bequeathed the home and its art to the city in 1927), one forgets how relevant to today's art trends its changing exhibitions can be. The current one, which…
Alejandro Escovedo: Street Songs of Love
Effusive praise and predictions of imminently wild success have greeted just about every Alejandro Escovedo release for the past 20 years, and it’s hard to pinpoint why the Austin-based singer/songwriter still languishes in the realm of cult adoration. Clearly he would never have been more than the George Harrison of Rank and File had he…
Freedy Johnston
Most of Freedy Johnston’s songs are populated with characters that either seem blithely unaware of their terminal shortcomings or are keenly aware of them and lack the conviction or strength to do anything about them. But the opening line of “Trying to Tell You I Don’t Know” from Johnston’s 1992 sophomore album Can You Fly…
Gene Walker
Jazz saxophonist Gene Walker has played with some of the most important musical figures over the past half century, Hall of Fame names like Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, Brook Benton, Sam Cooke, Jackie Wilson, Neil Diamond, Brenda Lee, Elvin Jones, The Isley Brothers and dozens of others. The 72-year-old Columbus native has been a critical…
MidPoint Indie Summer Series Featuring Bob Log III, Eat Sugar and More
Bob Log III, performing Friday on Fountain Square as a part of the free MidPoint Indie Summer Series, is a Delta Blues mash-up of Hasil Adkins and Super Dave Osborne. He’s a hyperkinetic one-man band who uses his hands to scorch through razor-sharp slide-guitar licks like the second coming of Mississippi Fred McDowell, his feet…
Friday Movie Roundup: Something from Nothing
The antithesis to the bloated, big-budget commercial fare that dominates the summer multiplex, the annual 48 Hour Film Project has done exactly what its creators envisioned when they founded it in 2001: empower filmmakers of every stripe and experience level to get off their asses and create something from nothing.—- The brainchild of a pair…
HullabaLOU to Cincy: Train’s Jimmy Stafford
Train is playing this weekend in Louisville at the HullabaLOU festival and will be in Cincinnati opening up for John Mayer Tuesday at Riverbend Music Center. The band currently comprises a core trio of Patrick Monahan (lead vocalist), Jimmy Stafford (guitar) and Scott Underwood (drummer). —- The Grammy-winning trio re-united and released their latest album,…
Chaparral Prairie Hike
Key At-A-Glance Information Length: 1 mile plus firebreaksConfiguration: LoopDifficulty: Very easyScenery: Buffalo beat, prairie, forest, and old fieldExposure: Open except in older wooded areasTraffic: LightTrail Surface: DirtHiking Time: 1 hourDriving Distance: Less than 10 minutes from West UnionAccess: Open from half hour before sunrise to half hour after sunsetMaps: USGS West Union; on-site at kiosk…
Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work (Review)
Can we talk? Let’s discuss what a startlingly honest and spellbinding film Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work is. And this, frankly, is a surprise. Who would have thought Rivers — 75 when this film was made and now 77 — was still so interesting? It wasn’t long ago that Rivers was regarded as a…
The Girl Who Played With Fire (Review)
The second installment in the film adaptation of the late Stieg Larsson's large-scale crime trilogy Millennium pales in comparison to The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. The compelling Noomi Rapace returns as the series' bisexual goth-girl computer hacker heroine Lisbeth Salander. Lisbeth has taken the money she appropriated at the end of the first film…
Salt (Review)
Director Philip Noyce keeps the action red hot for a laughably implausible espionage story about Angelina Jolie's Russian double-spy character Evelyn Salt. The movie kicks off in a North Korean prison cell where "Salt" is beaten bloody in her filthy white underwear by her sadistic captors. This is torture porn light. Good thing that Evelyn's…
I Am Love (Review)
Tilda Swinton is oddly alluring in some roles (Orlando) and just plain odd in others (Michael Clayton). She's a chameleon whose lanky, androgynous physical features and nuanced emotive talents are comfortable in both high-profile Hollywood studio pictures (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) and smaller-scale foreign films (Julia). Italian filmmaker Luca Guadagnino takes advantage of…
Goodbye, Thom Shaw
It was sad news to hear that Thom Shaw, a well-known local printmaker and artist, passed away July 6 from complications due to diabetes. Unfortunately, I heard the news too late to write something in time for the memorial service that took place July 17. —- Shaw had not been well for a number of…
Tony’s (Review)
Critic's Pick O n a surprisingly crowded Wednesday, the buzz begins as we’re seated with a perfect view of the table where Nick Lachey is dining. Our 11-year-old, Eliot, and her friend, Katie, seem excited … but a little confused. “Who?” they ask repeatedly. “The dude in the Cincinnati Bell commercials,” we explain. Oh! That…
Born in Anger, Tea Party Starts Turning on Itself
L ess than 18 months into its existence, the Tea Party movement is in the throes of an identity crisis. It began when the NAACP announced it would consider a resolution at its annual meeting that asked the Tea Party to condemn and expel its racist elements, calling them “a threat to democracy.” Among other…
First Call for Al’Kuhul
Chatting with the Lebanese owner of a halal grocery, I casually mentioned Chateau Musar, a highly respected winery in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley. A smile spread across his face as he waxed poetic about the quality of their unique, beguiling wines. “But I cannot sell them, of course,” he said. “I should not even be talking…
Jack Conway and Convergys
[WINNER] JACK CONWAY: The Kentucky attorney general who is challenging Republican Rand Paul for the U.S. Senate seat this fall has more money in his campaign war chest than his better-known, Tea Party-loving rival. Democrat Conway has almost $4 million on hand, compared to Dr. Paul’s $3.8 million. Some GOPers quickly point out the figures…
July 14-20: Worst Week Ever!
WEDNESDAY JULY 14 It’s easy to accept that notion that former New York Yankee owner George Steinbrenner was smarter than CBS, which sold Steinbrenner sports’ most prized franchise for $8.7 million in 1973. U.S. Sen. Jim Bunning today argued that Steinbrenner, who died today as the owner a franchise worth $1.6 billion, is not only…
Building Awareness for Cincinnati’s Modern Design
Although Cincinnati Form Follows Function — an organization for enthusiasts of Modern design and architecture called CF3 for short — has only been in existence since 2004, it already has come up with a potentially famous photograph of the city. It’s a panorama taken from Bellevue Hill Park in Clifton Heights. And the success of…
Greg Hardman [Christian Moerlein]
When the thermometer hovers in the mid-’90s for nearly a week straight, you might expect to find the CEO of one of Cincinnati’s oldest brewing names escaping the heat by cooling off with a frosty beer at the oldest continually operated bar in the city. You might not expect him to be engaged in a…
Gibson, Telecasters and Jesus Freaks
[HOT] Beyond Thunderdome If you’ve peeked at the Internet in the past few weeks, you’ll know Mel Gibson’s blockbuster movie career is in trouble after recordings of his caustic, racist and sexist phone calls to his baby mama made it to the public. Instead of doing dinner theater, Mel might want to consider a career…
‘Cuss’ Words
Post Punk crew Swear Jar celebrates the release of its new long-player Cuss Saturday at the Southgate House Parlour with Pincushion and Mala In Se. Phratry Records is giving away Cuss CDs at the door with the price of admission ($5; $8 for those 18-20). Though the press release for Cuss states “most people won’t…
Visual Acoustics: The Modernism of Julius Shulman
I was fortunate enough to meet Julius Shulman, the architectural photographer whose luminously otherworldly black-and-white work chronicling the buildings of Richard Neutra, John Lautner, Richard Schindler and other Southern California Modernists did as much to make their work accepted as art as their buildings, themselves. His own house was on a Modernist Los Angeles tour…
Alejandro Escovedo, Scissor Sisters, Jimmy Webb and Jackie Greene
Effusive praise and predictions of imminently wild success have greeted just about every Alejandro Escovedo release for the past 20 years, and it’s hard to pinpoint why the Austin-based singer/songwriter still languishes in the realm of cult adoration. Clearly he would never have been more than the George Harrison of Rank and File had he…
Give Your Vote to Local Theater
Votes are rolling in for the 2009-2010 Cincinnati Entertainment Awards. Already more than 1,000 local theater fans have checked off their favorite local theatrical performances. Results will be announced during the CEA event at Know Theatre on Aug. 29. [Click here for all the nominees, photos from last year's CEA event and an archive of…
Renovation or Gentrification?
H umidity is nothing new in Cincinnati. At this time of year, a short stroll down the street can feel like a sweat lodge cleansing ritual and the threat of global warming seems a little bit more real. While some people can take shelter in their air-conditioned strongholds for the summer, many others — especially…
Left and Right or Right and Left
There’s this gas station at the corner of Werk Road and Glenmore Avenue that I walk up to sometimes to purchase my worst vice. We’re talking cigarettes here. I don’t go there very often because they’re a little high on their prices, but on that morning I was almost out of smokes and found it…
