Jun 6-13, 2018
The Summer Guide: Public pools + rooftop bars + creamy whips + musics fests + 264 things to do
It was a very good year for the just-concluded 2018 Cincy Fringe Festival
The dust of weirdness left behind by the 15th-annual Cincinnati Fringe Festival is still settling, and many fans are continuing to talk about being entertained, challenged, moved and educated by the two-week event’s multi-faceted offerings. Although Fringe Producer Chris Wesselman had at first said he expected to see an increase in total attendance, final numbers…
A milestone in the revival of a famous Cincinnati name
Rookwood Pottery has a storied place in Cincinnati lore, as well as in the Cincinnati Art Museum — it owns over 400 examples of Rookwood works, with 100 of them on permanent display in the Cincinnati Wing and elsewhere. Yet all that seemed part of history: The ceramic company, which began in 1880, had struggled…
A bold wall of vintage ads recalls Walnut Hills’ history of black-owned businesses
The slogan of the Andrew Hardin grocery in Walnut Hills was “The path that leads to satisfaction.” That was truth in advertising for African-Americans living in Cincinnati in the early and mid-20th century. Whether black families needed food, a florist, photographer or funeral planning, all roads led to Walnut Hills during the age of segregation.…
93 Cincinnati bars and boozy destinations for every vibe
It’s 5 o’clock somewhere — that means it’s time for a drink. Whether you’re looking for a nightlife destination to mix and mingle or some place to spend happy hour before heading home to Netflix, there’s a bar for every vibe in Cincinnati. The Drinking Issue has divided up a smattering of these boozy destinations…
Cincinnati FOP president pushes back on “politics” in Plush death investigations; more news
Hello all! I’m coming to you live from CityBeat’s exclusive staff writer sauna, aka my desk, aka our air conditioner is out. The only thing hotter than this room right now is the news, so let’s get to it. Cincinnati City Council’s Budget and Finance Committee moved forward on approving a developer for a new…
Cincinnati Afrobeat/Funk/Jazz crew Ernie Johnson From Detroit releases self-titled LP
Friday at MOTR Pub, the powerhouse nine-member ensemble known as Ernie Johnson From Detroit celebrates the release of its new self-titled full-length album. The tight, funky Cincinnati crew, which features a bevy of talented local musicians (including a full horn section), will play two sets. The free show kicks off at 10 p.m. (Click here…
Sound Advice: Japanese Breakfast at Taft Theatre Ballroom (June 15)
Michelle Zauner started Japanese Breakfast as a creative outlet away from Little Big League, an Indie Rock band that, in hindsight, catered more to Zauner’s punkier bandmates than it did her own vision. It then came as no surprise that the solo project took on a life of its own, resulting in 2016’s Psychopomp, an…
Cincinnati moves step closer to music venue at The Banks
Cincinnati City Council moved toward approval of a developer for a new concert venue at riverfront development The Banks yesterday — sort of. After Hamilton County Commissioners voted to recommend a bid by MEMI, a subsidiary of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, to construct a $19 million, 4,000-seat venue there, Council’s Budget and Finance Committee, which…
Sound Advice: Black Moth Super Rainbow at Urban Artifact (June 14)
Black Moth Super Rainbow’s sixth LP, Panic Blooms, is the band’s first full-length effort in five years, yet the Pennsylvania ElectroPop project shows no signs of aging. Revisiting the distortion-clogged sound of its early material, BMSR’s latest output exists in an alternate reality in which the entire latter half of the 20th century exists as…
OTR’s Zundo to Serve ‘Soulful’ Ramen and Donburi
Cincinnati’s Han Lin, the chef behind Montgomery’s traditional Japanese sushi restaurant Mei, is taking his talents to Over-the-Rhine in an effort to captivate the district’s foodies with ramen done the soulful way. Ramen, a traditional Japanese dish consisting of a meat- or fish-based broth, noodles and a range of vegetables and protein, has grown in…
Minimum Gauge: If you count his fake Tony, Bruce Springsteen is an Emmy away from EGOT
HOT: Sucking Up to The Boss Bruce Springsteen is an Emmy away from the EGOT, having already scored an Oscar, many Grammys and, now, a Tony. Kinda. In a very obvious effort to have Springsteen show up and perform at the ceremony, Billy Joel presented The Boss with what was only described as a “Special…
Nicki Minaj and Future to co-headline U.S. Bank Arena this September
Hip Hop superstars Nicki Minaj and Future today announced their NICKIHNDRXX tour, a worldwide jaunt that kicks off Sept. 21 in Baltimore. The tour comes to Cincinnati's U.S. Bank Arena on Sept. 29. Minaj and Future (the "HNDRXX" in the tour title is a reference to Future's 2017 album and his "Future Henndrxx" alter ego)…
Hamilton County Democratic Party elects female chairs for the first time ever; more news
Hello Cincy! Let’s talk news. Hamilton County’s Democratic Party will be led by women for the first time ever after a Saturday morning vote to elect new leadership. The county’s 258 Democratic Party precinct chairs chose to make former state Rep. Connie Pillich and Springfield Township Trustee Gwen McFarlin co-chairs of the party. The two…
U.S. Supreme Court upholds Ohio’s voter purge practices
A contentious Ohio election law that removes inactive voters from registration rolls is not against federal law, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled today. The 1993 state law, which was used to remove thousands from its voter registration rolls in recent elections, instructs the Ohio Secretary of State to remove voters if they have not voted…
Are these the best Cincinnati neighborhoods for millennials?
What are the best Cincinnati neighborhoods for millennials? The answers that quality of life website Niche.come dug up might surprise you. Researchers with the website crunched some numbers on neighborhoods across the country, measuring the amount of people who have college degrees; the percentage of residents 25-34; the all-important proximity of coffee shops, restaurants and…
Cincinnati Indie/Post Rock instrumentalists Us, Today release dense and cerebral new album, ‘COMPUTANT’
Spam bots take note: Us, Today is the name of a Cincinnati-based Post Rock trio — not the Gannett Company’s flagship daily newspaper. One letter removed from USA Today, the band’s name attracts a torrent of unwanted email meant for the publication’s editorial staff. On any given day, Us, Today might open their inbox to…
Lawsuit alleges Cincinnati police officers withheld DNA evidence in muder case
A man who says Cincinnati Police held him for months without probable cause following a fatal shooting has filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court over the incident. Joshua Maxton filed the suit on May 31 against CPD officers Jeff Gramke and Bill Hilbert, as well as the City of Cincinnati, alleging he was held for seven…
After years behind scaffolding, Over-the-Rhine church unveils its stunning restoration
If you’ve happened upon First Lutheran Church on Race Street any time in the past two years, there’s a chance you never saw the building itself — it’s been hidden behind scaffolding since September 2016, when it was set up to protect passersby from falling pieces of red limestone that had started to break off…
Art Collaborative to Bring Vibrant Colorscape to Cincinnati
Vibrant Minds Colorful Lines multidisciplinary local art project sprung from a chance encounter between the Brooklyn-based KiiK Create (Manoela Madera and Gray Edgerton) and Cincinnati's Jenny Ustick while they were in Argentina for an artist residency. There, they collaborated on a 150-foot mural which publicly engaged the community and "privately responded to each other's aesthetic style," says…
‘Saving Fiona’: Cincinnati’s fave hippo gets her own book
Over the past year, Cincinnati has seen many new zoo babies, but none has gained as much acclaim and love than Fiona, a Nile hippopotamus. And now, there's a book about the Queen City's emblem and social media darling. Through her unexpected entrance into the world and her fight for survival, Fiona may be the…
ArtWorks Announces 2018 Cincinnati Summer Murals and Community Projects
“It’s your thing / do what you wanna do” sums up the spirit of ArtWorks’ public art projects for 2018. Summer youth apprentices, teaching artists and the general public will be creating murals, card packs and capes that celebrate community, plus individual creativity and tenacity, too. “It’s Your Thing,” a mural planned for 311 E.…
REVIEW: Ensemble Theatre’s ‘Hedwig and the Angry Inch’ Is Triumphant, Cathartic
There is, quite possibly, no better way to kick off Pride Month than with Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati’s just-opened production of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, the 1998 Rock musical by John Cameron Mitchell with music and lyrics by Stephen Trask. The most obvious reason is the subject matter. Hedwig is the story of Hedwig Robinson, a genderqueer…
Addicts increasingly seeking out fentanyl; more news
Hello all! Let’s talk about some news in Cincy, shall we? First, it’s budget season. Are you hyped? (Cue Hip Hop party airhorn sound). Earlier this week we got acting City Manager Patrick Duhaney’s budget proposal, and yesterday Mayor John Cranley announced roughly $6.75 million in adjustments. Among Cranley’s changes: restoring cuts to human services…
Cincinnati Zoo to Open New Australia-Themed Area
After receiving a historic donation from local philanthropists Harry and Linda Fath, the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden has big plans for some new exhibits and expansions slated to open at the park in 2020 and beyond. The Faths — whose previous donations have helped fund the indoor gorilla facility and the Africa habitat —…
Closing the Health Gap cut, human services funding restored: Cranley unveils Cincinnati budget suggestions
Mayor John Cranley yesterday released his suggestions for Cincinnati’s fiscal year 2019 budget, outlining about $1.6 million in adjustments to acting City Manager Patrick Duhaney’s operating budget suggestions and $5.25 million in tweaks to the capital side. Among the changes: restorations of proposed cuts to the city’s United Way-managed human services fund, but no city…
Top Five Cincinnati Arts & Culture Events for This Weekend (June 7-11)
We're going to take a very liberal/progressive attitude to the definition of "weekend," because there are some very promising Arts & Culture events happening on Thursday and Monday. So here goes: • How to Get From Here to There, Mini Microcinema, 7:45 p.m. Thursday (June 7): The Fringe Festival primarily is a festival of stage productions,…
‘New York Times’ Travel Columnist Finds Cincinnati is Bursting with Cultural Growth and Excitement
When Jada Yuan, the "52 Places" travel columnist at The New York Times, spoke at Cincinnati Shakespeare Company's theater in Over-the-Rhine recently, she acknowledged she had a dream job. She was to visit each place that made The Times' 52 Places to Go in 2018 list. Cincinnati ranked eighth on the list; it was the…
