Q&A with Everclear
Everclear has joined forces with other acts that may be best described as ’90s Rock and Pop groups for the Summerland Tour 2012 to get rid of the stereotype and prove their music still resonates today. Everclear saw its biggest fame with the release of the 1995 album Sparkle and Fade and the chart topper…
Mallory Calls Chabot’s Streetcar Amendment ‘Political Stunt’
Mayor Mark Mallory is working to thwart an effort by Cincinnati’s own U.S. Rep. Steve Chabot (R-OH) to prevent federal funding from being used to construct a streetcar in the city. Chabot offered an amendment on June 27 to the 2013 Transportation and Housing Urban Development spending bill that would bar federal transportation money from…
Event: The City Flea
When most people hear the words “flea market,” chic, vintage and one-of-a-kind aren’t exactly the descriptors that come to mind. It’s that stereotype that The City Flea is shedding — along with the mothballs. Instead of tattered clothing and battered furniture, the Flea provides a common space for artist hands and creative minds to show…
Art: Fly Your Own Freak Flag
If you missed the official Final Friday opening reception for Fly Your Own Freak Flag a few weeks ago —whether because of foul weather conditions, power outage issues, or maybe you were just waiting to see it as part of the annual Northside Parade — the folks at Thunder-Sky are giving you another opportunity. As…
Event: Queen City Sausage Festival
Few places are as proud of their German heritage as Cincinnati (other than perhaps Germany), and in order to let that dignity gleam as bright as it should, a three-day festival devoted to sausage is in order. Any sexual innuendos that can come of this event aside, the Queen City Sausage Festival is bound to…
Music: MidPoint Indie Summer Series with Seabird
Between the Bunbury Music Festival and the winding down of the World Choir Games, this weekend would seem too packed for any more live music in downtown Cincinnati. But the ever-busy Fountain Square will remain ever-busy with its weekly concerts, including Friday’s free MidPoint Indie Summer concert. Headlining this week is Cincinnati’s Seabird, a piano-driven…
Event: Burgers & Beers: Big Dog Beer Tasting
The Party Source is going dog wild with a puppy-themed beer tasting. Participants can lap up samples of Dogfish Head, Flying Dog, Thirsty Dog, Sea Dog and Laughing Dog beers. Bowl not included, but they will give you some disposable cups. If fetching some good beer isn’t enough, there will be some gourmet grub featuring…
Comedy: Sheng Wang
Growing up in Houston, Sheng Wang had very little exposure to stand-up comedy. “We didn’t have cable,” he explains. “I’m still not savvy about what’s going on in pop culture.” At the University of California, Berkeley, he dabbled in talent shows, but never considered himself funny. It was then that a professor turned him on…
Bunbury Sleeper: Nikki Lane
The inaugural Bunbury Music Festival — three days of top-shelf Alternative music at Cincinnati's riverfront Sawyer Point Park — is just three days away. All this week, CityBeat's music blog will be featuring samples from some of our "sleeper picks" for the fest, artists who some may not be as familiar with as they are…
Walter White Explores Meth and Mortality
If you were thought to be terminally ill, with a teen son and pregnant wife, to what lengths would you go in order to provide for your family? When high school chemistry teacher/part-time car washer Walter White was faced with this grim conundrum, he sought out a former student-turned-delinquent and created a new formula of…
Event: Taste the World Food Tour
Satisfy your taste buds’ curiosity for foreign foods this week at the Taste the World Food Tour at Findlay Market. In 90 minutes, you will experience the explosive tastes of six different Findlay Market merchants and hear a bit about their history and products. This week includes Fresh Table, Churchill’s Fine Teas, Mama Lo Hizo,…
Ice Age: Continental Drift
Manny (Ray Romano), Diego (Denis Leary) and Sid (John Leguizamo) are on the road again — well, this is the Ice Age, so it’s really a pre-road time, but these three seem to be laying the pathway out with each new adventure — which means that they are edging closer and closer to drifting into…
Art: Parallels: Work by Melanie Hart and Alice Pixley Young
A quirky little show in the Art Academy’s ground floor Convergys Gallery presents new work by two Academy graduates, both now teachers at the school for Creative and Performing Arts and — as it happens — running companions. Parallels: Work by Melanie Hart and Alice Pixley Young includes Young’s newest, a thought-provoking tableau, “Will you…
Onstage: George M!
If you’re not acquainted with George M. Cohan, you should be. Right after Independence Day (and during the incredible festival of song all around us in Cincinnati during the World Choir Games) is the perfect moment. Cohan, after all, was a self-described “Yankee Doodle Dandy” who cranked out more than 500 songs. If you know…
TWC On Demand: a Sad and Intimate Dance
A slow week at area theaters will send you scurrying to all corners for any fleeting sign of life, and when you wish for more than just the promise of an escape from the heat, where do you go? This week, stay home. That’s right, your friendly neighborhood critic just told you to grab your…
Wunderbar (Profile)
When stepping foot inside Wunderbar, the new German-themed Covington restaurant and watering hole, be prepared for the Wurst. Their German sausages are the cornerstone for the four-month-old eatery: wholesome, authentic and in most cases house-made, freshly ground from locally sourced meats and free of fillers. Inspired by teachers at Fairview-Clifton German Language School and several…
Battle of the Abstract Expressionists
The Battle of the Abstract Expressionists, as Mary Ran of Ran Gallery playfully calls her current show, could be a draw between the artists, but color rules in the works of each. Two well-known, deeply committed 20th century Cincinnati artists, Jack Meanwell and Paul Chidlaw, both practiced abstract expressionism — as opposed to non-objective art,…
FotoFocus Revisits Rexroth’s Classic Iowa
When FotoFocus — the new citywide celebration of photography and lens-based art — occurs in October, there will be so many artists and venues involved it will be hard to choose which to see and when. Making it even harder to decide among the 500-plus artists and 50-plus venues (according to fotofocuscincinnati.org) is the fact…
Bunbury Sleeper: Ume
The inaugural Bunbury Music Festival — three days of top-shelf Alternative music at Cincinnati's riverfront Sawyer Point Park — is just three days away. All this week, CityBeat's music blog will be featuring samples from some of our "sleeper picks" for the fest, artists who some may not be as familiar with as they are…
Music Tonight: BrownGrass on Fountain Square
Tonight's installment of the free "American Roots" concert series on Fountain Square — which generally hosts weekly Tuesday performances by some of the best of the rich local Americana music scene — serves as a preview of the upcoming third annual BrownGrass Festival in Rabbit Hash, Ky. The benefit is headed up by veteran musician…
Bunbury Sleeper: Alberta Cross
The inaugural Bunbury Music Festival — three days of top-shelf Alternative music at Cincinnati's riverfront Sawyer Point Park — is just three days away. All this week, CityBeat's music blog will be featuring samples from some of our "sleeper picks" for the fest, artists who some may not be as familiar with as they are…
Morning News and Stuff
Local subscribers to Time Warner and Insight cable woke up today without access to WLWT-TV (Channel 5) after the station and companies failed to reach a new retransmission agreement. Instead, the cable companies offered Channel 2 from NBC affiliate Terre Haute, Ind. The Enquirer is all over the story, reporting that Todd Dykes and Lisa…
Digital Watch
A bit of dialogue from James Duesing’s animated short End of Code struck me after viewing the rest of the Built in the Digital World exhibit at the Weston Art Gallery. “The world is a bea-u-ti-ful place,” cyborg rabbit Mr. Aerien tells shape-shifter Mr. Ham, a fellow computer hacker. “How would you know? You sit…
Bunbury Sleeper: Imagine Dragons
The inaugural Bunbury Music Festival — three days of top-shelf Alternative music at Cincinnati's riverfront Sawyer Point Park — is just four days away. All this week, CityBeat's music blog will be featuring samples from some of our "sleeper picks" for the fest, artists who some may not be as familiar with as they are…
Bunbury Sleeper: 1,2,3
The inaugural Bunbury Music Festival — three days of top-shelf Alternative music at Cincinnati's riverfront Sawyer Point Park — is just four days away. All this week, CityBeat's music blog will be featuring samples from some of our "sleeper picks" for the fest, artists who some may not be as familiar with as they are…
World Choir Games: Around the World
I had a trip around the world on Sunday afternoon, thanks to the World Choir Games. It includes stops in South Africa, the Netherlands, Venezuela, Switzerland, and the Chinese cities of Guangdong, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Hangzhou. The program, playing to a completely sold-out house at the Aronoff Center's Procter & Gamble Hall, was a…
The Foreigner (Review)
Critic's Pick I’ve seen Ken Shue’s 1984 comedy The Foreigner in several good productions. It’s one of the funniest plays I know, a well-oiled laugh machine, but if you anticipate what’s happening, you’d think it would diminish the humor. That might be true with some productions, but as staged by Ed Cohen with a talented…
World Choir Games: ‘Voices of Gold’
Despite the 100-plus heat on Friday evening, on my way to a World Choir Games concert at Over-the-Rhine's School for Creative and Performing Arts (SCPA) I took an extra half-hour to wander through the renovated Washington Park, which officially opened earlier in the day. What an incredible scene! Hundreds of operagoers were streaming through the…
Music Tonight: Lydia Loveless, oOoOO and More
Like every Friday, a great place to start your evening is Fountain Square, as the free MidPoint Indie Summer concert series continues with headliner Lydia Loveless. Loveless is an Ohio native who performed fairly regularly in the Cincinnati area (and elsewhere around the region) before she caught the attention of AltCountry/Modern Roots music institution Bloodshot…
Your Weekend To Do List: 7/6-7/8
The historic Washington Park’s renovations are finally complete and the eight-acre space is now open to the public! The new park features a performance stage, interactive musical fountains, dog park, playground, underground garage and more great additions. Peruse the grounds, grab a free treat from Streetpops or Taste of Belgium, and check out a free…
LISTEN: Extremely New Sounds from Old City
Veteran local Indie musician/songwriter/producer/label operator Sammy McKee, known for projects like Bitter Airplane, view-finder, Hyperstatic, fotos, Embers is Sammy, Kaptain and Charlston Entry, is back with a brand new solo project, Old City. McKee has completed three EPs of new music so far, including Building Blocks, which he literally finished and posted just last night.…
World Choir Games: ‘Global Harmony’
On Thursday evening I slogged through the humid, 100 degree soup of downtown Cincinnati to hear a World Choir Games concert at the Masonic Center on Fourth Street (next door to the Taft Theatre). I've lived in Cincinnati for 32 years and covered lots of arts events, but I've never set foot inside this honeycomb…
Morning News and Stuff
Steve Chabot’s self-righteous attempt to block federal streetcar funding found new criticism yesterday, as The Enquirer spoke to several credible sources who say his amendment is broad enough to affect federal funding for transportation projects beyond the streetcar, including bus lanes or ferries. Mayor Mark Mallory and 3CDC representatives were scheduled to kick off a…
Market Garden in Place for World Choir Games
There are plenty of restaurants downtown, but for the World Choir Games, the city has set up a Market Garden at the corner of Fifth and Race streets to provide additional options that are fast and affordable. It’s a great “Taste of Cincinnati” opportunity — without the crowds and long lines. Eats include local food…
Your Thursday To Do List
Have you ever watched Sons of Anarchy and thought you’d make a mean addition to an MC or a badass old lady? Well, stop because you’re crazy and that’s dangerous. But you can hang out with some real, law-abiding bikers tonight at the Levee. Head out to the Newport Motorcycle Rally from 5-11 p.m. The…
Washington Park To Be Quite Musical
Revitalization group 3CDC's live music programming throughout the past few summers has helped turn Fountain Square into the heart of Cincinnati's increasingly active downtown area, drawing thousands to the Square every week to catch everything from Reggae and Salsa to Hip Hop and Indie Rock. The group will be doing the same thing in Over-the-Rhine…
Cool Centers Offer Extreme Heat Relief
It's really, really hot outside. The kind of hot that justifies a Popsicle-only diet, ruins every attempt at a hairstyle and makes a blanket look repulsive. But It's also the kind of hot with the potential to pose serious, life-threatening health risks to some members of the population. If you're not lucky enough to be…
Music Tonight: Trevor Hall
South Carolina’s Trevor Hall doesn’t make the kind of music you might expect to come from a native of the American south. Instead, Hall’s music has a Reggae streak, similar to the kind of tunes he may have heard growing up in the beach community of Hilton Head or later at the arts school he…
Morning News and Stuff
The World Choir Games kicked off last night with an opening ceremony that CityBeat ’s Anne Arenstein thoroughly enjoyed. Arenstein in a blog described choirs from West Chester, Loveland and Pleasant Ridge mingling with groups from Japan, Colombia, Canada and Australia, along with “ spontaneous singing and dancing .” The event takes place at various…
World Choir Games Underway
It was quite the spectacle and in a good way. As I, along with other members of MUSE, approached Great American Ballpark around 4 p.m., there were already hundreds of World Choir Games participants thronging the entrance, and despite the stifling temperature, the excitement was palpable. All the hype about this being an international event…
Showtime’s Baddest Mom Is in the ‘Weeds’
During the past seven years, audiences have seen Mary-Louise Parker’s Nancy Botwin transform from loveable, suburban pot-dealing widow/mom to arsonist to Mexican cartel queen to prison lesbian and back again in Weeds (10 p.m. Sunday, Showtime). An early-on fan, I found the first few seasons to be leagues superior than the over-the-top latter half; although always…
Crave (Review)
We’ve all been in this situation: trying to decide where to go for dinner with our significant other or a group of friends, and everyone’s in the mood for something different. The deliberation goes round and round until you just want to go live by yourself in the woods forever. But fret no more. Crave,…
(500) Days of Web-Sling
Audiences might not understand why we need another Spider-Man movie. Sam Raimi’s trilogy came to a close in 2007, but it should be noted that Spider-Man 3 felt like its web shooters were empty. I know, I know, Raimi’s films embraced the idea that Spidey’s webbings were a biological mutation that resulted from his radioactive…
The Eternal Absurdity of Woody Allen
What an amazing run Woody Allen has enjoyed over the last decade or so. Actually, during the last 20 years, Allen has reeled off Husbands and Wives, Manhattan Murder Mystery, Bullets Over Broadway, Mighty Aphrodite, Sweet and Lowdown, Melinda and Melinda, Match Point, Cassandra’s Dream, Vicky Cristina Barcelona and Midnight in Paris. Of course, I…
It’s All Just Singing, Right?
Since the age of 7, I’ve been enthralled with musical theater. My grandfather took me to see a production of Brigadoon, and I was a goner. In high school I performed (unmemorably) in several classic musicals (The Music Man, The Sound of Music, My Fair Lady and Annie Get Your Gun); the first LP I…
Katy Perry: Part of Me
Following on the heels of the behind-the-scenes documentary on Justin Bieber, this take on Pop sensation Katy Perry (from directors Dan Cutforth and Jane Lipsitz who served as producers on the Bieb’s Never Say Never) aims to highlight the positive aspects of her rise to fame, in order to inspire her young fans. While I…
Savages
Oliver Stone’s late career filmography lacks the raw controversy of his glorious critical and box office run of the 1980s and 90s. Platoon, Wall Street, JFK and even Natural Born Killers found Stone ripping into our fleshy psyches, drawing blood time and again, but now it seems like the crazy passion of old has been…
