Surfing the Fringe
There are just a few days left for the 2013 Cincinnati Fringe, our annual celebration of weirdness and creativity, produced by Know Theatre. It’s over on Saturday evening (the final party is at 10:30 p.m. at the Jackson Street theater’s Underground Bar), but there’s still time to catch several productions. CityBeat writers, 10 in all,…
Death Grips
Death Grips is a primal force of nature that seems built to subvert. Entering the world of this Sacramento-based experimental Hip Hop trio — frontman Stefan “MC Ride” Burnett, keyboardist/programming guru Andy “Flatlander” Morin and drummer Zach Hill — is akin to being trapped in a demented, all-immersive video game designed and conceived by Harmony Korine and…
Holtman’s Donuts (Profile)
C ertain pastries may come and go in popularity (we’re looking at you, cupcake), but the donut will outlast every food trend in the history of the world. No one understands this more than the Loveland, Ohio-based Holtman’s Donuts. Charles Holtman opened his first donut shop in 1960 and at one point had 13 active…
Selling Short Vine
T ony Dotson, outsider artist, and Janet Berberich, owner of Eye Candy Design agency, are making long-range plans on Short Vine. This Friday, Dotson will debut 71 Gallery, a space for artists and up-and-coming graphic designers. The opening also will kick off Artbeat on Short Vine, a monthly event to encourage people to rediscover a…
Pure Bathing Culture
One of the most remarkable things about music — really, any artistic medium — is the way styles can coalesce and mutate into new ideas and then mutate again (and so on) until the end of infinity. In a recent niche example, take the merging of Indie Pop with New Age. Upstart two-piece (and, when…
Father John Misty
Josh Tillman is a funny, hyper-articulate guy with an absurdist streak that makes itself readily apparent in interviews and between-song live-show banter. Yet you wouldn’t know it by listening to the seven solo albums he put out as J. Tillman from 2004 to 2010, all of which were pretty serious-minded, sonically straightforward affairs in the…
Patterson Hood & The Downtown Rumblers
Patterson Hood, one of the most prolific and literate rockers of the last decade, rolls into Newport next week with his eclectic solo band, The Downtown Rumblers. The longtime Drive-By Truckers’ frontman brings his earthy blend of Southern storytelling and Roots Rock to Newport’s Southgate House Revival. Hood’s vintage musical lineage traces way back; his…
MidPoint Indie Summer with We Were Promised Jetpacks
It is both easy and hard to define the music of We Were Promised Jetpacks. At times Big Beat Rock and other times resembling energetic Euro Alternative Pop, the one thing the Jetpacks are not is minimalist. With guitars relentlessly in barrage mode, though layered and mercifully not too repetitive, the quartet makes full use…
Mayoral Candidate to Hand Out Marijuana Plants
Update (June 5, 11:20 p.m.): Libertarian mayoral candidate Jim Berns didn't hand out marijuana plants at a campaign event Wednesday, instead admitting to multiple media outlets that he was misleading the public to raise awareness of his campaign and marijuana legalization platform. Berns handed out tomato plants instead, which look similar to marijuana plants. In…
‘Esquire’ Names Arnold’s One of the Best Bars in America
You know when someone pays you a compliment and they're all, "You look really pretty today." And you feel great and say thanks but then start to wonder how shitty you look on every other day? Esquire Magazine (the actually fantastic national mens magazine) recently did something similar to us in their June/July 2013 issue. They…
I Just Can’t Get Enough
The Real World is in its 28th season (!), which got me thinking about how the show has degenerated over the past 20-plus years from a truly groundbreaking docu-series to just another pseudo-reality shitshow with weird green-light PG-13 sex scenes. But remember Season Three with Pedro? That season, filmed in San Francisco, dealt with AIDS…
Morning News and Stuff
Got questions for CityBeat about, well, anything? Submit them here , and we’ll try to get back to you in our first Answers Issue. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved a Mill Creek sewer overhaul plan that includes bringing back a long-buried creek in the area. The unconventional strategy is the Metropolitan Sewer District’s…
Art: Jim Swill and Screenage Wasteland
On Monday, in the gallery housing The Living Room group show, the Contemporary Arts Center begins a summer series spotlighting local performance artists and organizations. Inaugurating the program is spoken-word artist Jim Swill, who will provide his entrancing narration to Screenage Wasteland, a video piece he created using cellphone cameras and free editing software that…
Film: 48 Hour Film Project Screenings
Recent weeks have confirmed two things: 1) Amanda Bynes has a sketchy handle on reality, and 2) Hollywood movies are creatively bankrupt products in which box office-friendly sequels trump everything else. Enter the 48 Hour Film Project, a crafty, DIY extravaganza that celebrates creativity over commerce. Cincinnati is again part of a worldwide endeavor —…
Event: Brothels, Bootleggers and Booze Tour
Explore the 19th century mayhem of Cincinnati vice, corruption and crime during Queen City History’s tour of saloons and subterranean cellars that kept alcohol sales booming straight through Prohibition. Starting at Arnold’s, Cincinnati’s oldest continuously operating saloon (originally built in 1838 as a brothel), guests will learn a detailed history of the establishment leading all…
Event: Date Night Movies at the Park
Whether you’re a broke-ass college kid looking for a place to take your summer fling on the cheap or dying for an excuse to get out of the house with your partner, Washington Park has your answer to date night: a free movie at the park. Every Saturday this summer, Queen City couples are invited…
Onstage: MUSE 30th Anniversary Concert
In the 30 years since Dr. Catherine Roma founded MUSE, Cincinnati’s Women’s Choir, she’s become an iconic figure in choral music and a tireless advocate for social justice. So has MUSE, acknowledged as one of the best women’s choirs in the country and known for its diverse membership, unique repertoire and compelling performances. Roma is…
Event: The DCCH Music and Arts Festival
Food, handmade crafts and games galore comprise the first annual DCCH Music and Arts Festival. Stop by for two days of fun for an excellent cause; 100 percent of net proceeds benefit children living at the DCCH Center for Children and Families, which helps rebuild the lives of children with traumatic, behavioral and emotional difficulties.…
Art: Ghost Empire Collective Exhibit Opening
When Anthony “Tank” Mansfield first thought up the idea for Ghost Empire Collective (GEC) in 2011, his aim was to “make quality artwork accessible to all,” not just the cultural elite. To that end, Mansfield and his cadre of visual artists, which includes illustrators, poster artists and photographers, exhibit their work at non-traditional art spaces…
Onstage: The Hound of the Baskervilles
If you missed Cincinnati Shakespeare Company’s nutty, through-the-looking-glass rendition of the Sherlock Holmes tale last summer in a sold-out run, you have another chance to laugh yourself silly, since it’s receiving an encore staging this month. Three of Cincy Shakes’ best actors — Jeremy Dubin, Nick Rose and Brent Vimtrup — are reprising their manic…
Comedy: Eddie Gossling
Eddie Gossling has the best of both worlds, it seems. He has steady work as a writer for the Comedy Central show Tosh.0, but still has the opportunity to do stand-up when he isn’t in production. And working on the show offers him the chance to flex different comedy muscles, particularly the sillier and more…
Music: Charlie Mars
Mississippi native Charlie Mars makes emotive Pop Rock with (usually) an acoustic base. If that forms an image and sound in your head as, “just another dude with an acoustic guitar,” don’t judge before you hear Mars’ deep, atmospheric sound. Mars himself says, “What I really want is to say to (pigeonholers is), ‘Not so…
Disney World’s ‘Star Wars’ Weekends: A Mega-Fan’s View
When our summer interns go on family vacation, we can’t send them off without an assignment. So our resident Star Wars buff, Kenneth, gave us a rundown of Star Wars Weekend at Disney World. At the age when most children began watching Aladdin, Hercules and Beauty and the Beast, I was lost in a galaxy…
Morning News and Stuff
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ed FitzGerald called on Republican Gov. John Kasich, who’s running for re-election in 2014, to veto a bill that will prevent a full audit on JobsOhio , but Kasich spokesperson Rob Nichols says the governor will sign the bill. The bill will define JobsOhio’s liquor profits, which the agency gets from a…
Park Board Accepting Design Ideas for Riverfront Carousel
Construction is underway for a 1,661-square-foot glass-enclosed carousel to sit at the foot of Vine Street overlooking the Ohio River, and ArtWorks is currently working with Cincinnati Parks and the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County to gather input from Cincinnati residents for possible design ideas. The Carol Ann’s Carousel was named to honor…
Loon (Review – Critic’s Pick)
Critic's Pick There’s good news and bad news about Loon, the Cincinnati Fringe’s 2013 production from Wonderheads. The Portland-based group uses larger-than-life masks to tell stories without spoken words (although they use evocative soundtracks from movies, nature and music). Last year’s charming Grim and Fischer was one of the “Pick of the Fringe” winners and…
Petunia and Chicken (Review – Critic’s Pick)
Critic's Pick Sick of cynicism? Sarcasm overload? Impatient with imps and people who cut in line? You need a love-laden dose of Petunia and Chicken! Starring two multi-tiered actors from the Animal Engine Theatre in New York City, you will be transported via ship and train to the American prairie (and even to Alaska) through…
Mater Facit (Review)
Performance Gallery’s Mater Facit begins with a nursery rhyme-like song of over-pronounced gibberish, immediately calling to mind the troupe’s powerhouse Fringe piece back in 2008, Fricative. Is the group mining familiar territory again this year? In a word, no. You have to give full credit to Performance Gallery, the only company to produce a show…
Lolita: A Three Man Show (Review – Critic’s Pick)
Critic's Pick I was pretty jazzed when I read that Four Humors Theater from Minneapolis was returning to Cincinnati Fringe for the sixth time. I was even more excited to read that they would be presenting Lolita as “a one hour stage play, based on the two and a half hour movie by Stanley Kubrick,…
Butcher Holler Here We Come (Review)
There were more than 120,000 coal miners working in West Virginia in 1968. With the recent mountaintop removal process, when huge dragline machines have scraped away 500 mountains from the top down throughout Appalachia, only 20,000 miners remain employed in West Virginia. These miners focus on veins of coal, literally hollowing out the mountain, leaving…
Telephone: A Prequel to a Love Story (Review – Critic’s Pick)
Critic's Pick How much of our lives do we spend on the telephone? Which is worse: living life or talking about it? Telephone: A Prequel to a Love Story is a smart, quick-moving, three-person show that pulls in video to advance the plot and underline what's going on and frequently makes sly fun of theatrical…
Ain’t True and Uncle False (Review)
Myths go back to the dawn of man. The first time a human being asked “Why am I here?” was the genesis of storytelling. The United States, however, is a young nation, and the Midwest, as a region, is an even younger concept. While the U.S. might lack mythological figures like Hercules and Thor, it…
Choose Your Own Adventure (Review)
“What if?” is a question that plagues the adult mind. When you’re a child, however, that question is a springboard into infinite possibility. This is at the heart of “Choose Your Own Adventure”, the 50-minute 2012 Fringe show by Pones Inc. at 1211 Jackson. Although the production has a definite DIY feel, there’s a sense…
Questions of the Heart: Gay Mormons and the Search For Identity (Review)
Before I saw Questions of the Heart I had in mind some sort of low-budget rip-off of the Broadway smash hit The Book of Mormon. Alien experience has always been fodder for cheap jokes, and what is more alien than a gay Mormon? What Ben Abbott has created with his one-man play, however, is something altogether…
The Elephant in My Closet (Review – Critic’s Pick)
Critic's Pick David Lee Nelson says he knew what it would take. From his days of studying theater in college, he had known enough gay friends who had come out to their parents. That allowed him to muster up the courage to say three very difficult words to his father: “I’m a Democrat.” The Elephant…
Vortex of the Great Unknown (Review)
Vortex of the Great Unknown, the newest play from creative team Serenity Fisher and Robin O’Neal Kissel, is a whirlwind of new vocabulary words (say zoetropic five times fast); new professions (flavor listener) and new problems (an entire galaxy is about to be devoured/obliterated by a scary instellar storm, aka the vortex). Collaborators Fisher and…
Proposal to Prevent JobsOhio Audit
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ed FitzGerald is calling on Republican Gov. John Kasich to veto a bill that would prevent State Auditor Dave Yost, a Republican, from fully auditing JobsOhio, following months of controversy surrounding the private nonprofit entity. "I further encourage the Governor to return to negotiations with Auditor Yost, with the explicit goal of…
Free MidPoint Indie Summer Concert Kick-Off Tonight
The first day of summer isn't for three more weeks, but MidPoint Indie Summer begins this evening. The free, every-Friday concert event — sponsored by CityBeat's MidPoint Music Festival (which recently announced another stack of performers for this September's fest) — is part of Fountain Square's PNC Summer Music Series, which kicked off earlier this…
Cincinnati “Lucky 13” in Fittest U.S. City Ranking
The American College of Sports Medicine just released their annual "American Fitness Index," ranking the health and community fitness levels of the 50 largest metropolitan areas in the United States, as defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget. And Cincinnati is ranked 13, beating out more stereotypically health-conscious cities such as San Diego,…
Pulling off Procreation (Review)
Where to begin? As we are informed in Fringe preview information, this play is indeed about a straight woman and a gay man who shoot their crying infant (point-blank range, I might add) because the baby’s cries were interrupting their loud, spanky coitus. This came shortly after the same couple, backs to the audience for…
Dirk Darrow: NCSSI (Review – Critic’s Pick)
Critic's Pick Tim Motley, from Melbourne, Australia, is Dirk Darrow, a private dick circa 1937. Self-hailed as a “one-man comedy film noir magical mentalist murder mystery,” Dirk Darrow is a winning 60 minutes of stand-up, magic tricks, hard-boiled puns and audience engagement. After successful runs at other Fringe Festivals, including earning a “Pick of the…
Violent as Birth Dramatic as Death (Review)
In this one-man show, Kevin Brown, a lanky young man with a punk-style shaved head and a long blonde forelock a la Rihanna, throws himself into what is billed as “the internal violence and drama that occur when one questions stereotyping, impatience, gender complexities, the nature of living sacrifice and the value of one’s artistry”:…
The Answers Issue: Asking You to Ask Us
You might have heard about CityBeat's first Answers Issue, but in case you haven't, here's a quick and dirty rundown: You submit us questions about life in the Queen City you want answered, but can't solve with the help of Wikipedia, Siri or your mom. That means anything on city politics, arts and culture, food,…
Your Weekend To Do List: 5/31-6/2
Photography’s bad boy, Tyler Shields, returns to Cincinnati for another exhibit at Miller Gallery, kicked off with an opening reception in Over-the-Rhine Friday. Known for his controversial celebrity photos, Shields last exhibited at Miller Gallery in October as part of FotoFocus. Now he’s back showing off his latest collection of photos, Suspense, featuring images of…
Stage Door: Fringe Your Weekend
The 2013 Cincinnati Fringe is at its first weekend with almost two dozen shows available for you to attend over the weekend. Pick a few and take a chance — read the commentaries by CityBeat reviewers posted here, if you want the inside scoop on various productions. This is the 10th annual event, and it's…
Morning News and Stuff
The Ohio Senate sent a bill to Gov. John Kasich that prevents the state auditor from auditing private funds at JobsOhio and other publicly funded private entities. State Auditor Dave Yost has been pursuing a full audit of JobsOhio in the past few months, but state Republicans, led by Kasich, have opposed the audit. Ohio…
We Put the F.U.N. in Funeral (Review)
Teenagers look critically at the grownup world, perhaps because they know they'll be there themselves before long, and they often don't like what they see. The School for Creative and Performing Arts students who put together We Put the F.U.N. in Funeral certainly fall into that number, and interpret their title in the most ironic…
A.J. Raffles: Amateur Cracksman (Review)
Playwright Andrew Hungerford had a solid foundation for his very silly 2013 Fringe show, A. J. Raffles: Amateur Cracksman. It was, in fact, a series of stories in the 1890s and a 1904 play (titled Raffles, The Amateur Cracksman). Victorian writer E. W. Hornung created the character somewhat in response to the work of his…
Poe and Mathews: A Misadventure in the Middle of Nowhere (Review)
It is utterly fitting that Poe and Mathews: A Misadventure in the Middle of Nowhere begins with Hall and Oates’ classic, “You Make My Dreams.” It immediately conjures up images and memories of the great comic montage from the 2008 film Step Brothers (starring Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly) that features the same song.…
Panorama Ephemera (Review)
“Good” is a subjective term. A more effective way to engage with art is to contextualize its intent. In the case of Panorama Ephemera, 60 minutes is spent with context being subverted. Archivist Rick Prelinger’s 2004 film, Panorama Ephemera, is a compilation of old industrial, advertising, educational and amateur films and still photos. For this…
The Space Between My Head and My Body (Review)
Playwright Catie O’Keefe has been a factor on the Cincinnati Theatre scene for several years, working with New Edgecliff Theatre and now her own group, Shark Eat Muffin Theatre Company. Her play Darker was presented during the 2011 Fringe; she’s back for the 2013 Fringe with The Space Between My Head and My Body, a…
Taking It to the Streets
I’ve lived in Covington, Ky., for nearly two years now and for most of this time, I’ve known Melissa. I’ve written about her here before. She’s a good looking woman, in her mid-40s and has 10 children. We were neighbors for a while — drank coffee together, smoked a few cigarettes, talked about this and…
A Killing Game (Review)
Be prepared to be part of the show when you enter A Killing Game at the Know Theatre. The dog & pony dc theatre troupe from Washington, D.C., uses “audience integration methodology” to transport the audience into the spectacle, and this makes a wild and crazy, improv experience for both the acting ensemble and the…
In Which I Set Myself on Fire (Review)
Hayley Powell’s In Which I Set Myself on Fire is a noble effort to give shape to a complex idea — the collective reality of shared experience, the mental synchronicity that happens among close friends. On Thursday night I experienced a bit of synchronicity of my own. I saw two plays: In addition to In…
The Wave (Review – Critic’s Pick)
Critic's Pick The Wave, by Ron Jones, a Unity Productions presentation, is a theatrical adaptation of Mr. Jones’ short story, “The Third Wave,” a fictionalization of his experience as a college professor teaching a history course on the Vietnam War during the 1960s. The Wave is a one-man play, the single character being Ron, the…
City Budget Slashes Several Programs, Saves Public Safety Jobs
City Council approved an operating budget Thursday that raises taxes and cuts several city services in fiscal year 2014, but the plan avoids laying off cops and firefighters. Democratic council members Roxanne Qualls, Chris Seelbach, Yvette Simpson, Pam Thomas and Wendell Young supported the budget, and Democrats P.G. Sittenfeld and Laure Quinlivan, independent Chris Smitherman…
CityBeat’s 2013 Fringe Festival Online Hub
Welcome to CityBeat’s 2013 Fringe Festival ongoing coverage. We'll be posting content here on our Fringe Fest homepage throughout the fest's 12 days (and even a few days afterward, actually). Look for reviews of early performances and commentary from CityBeat contributing theater editor Rick Pender. There’s even a live Twitter feed where you can check…
Original Cincinnati Music Show Coming to The Project
Over the years, Greater Cincinnati has been lucky to have at least a few radio stations dedicated to giving original, local music some airtime. While WEBN (yes, that WEBN) strongly supported local music in the ’70s/’80s, most substantial local airplay now comes courtesy of community and/or low-powered stations, plus the occasional, short-lived niche show from…
Thou Shall Rot in Hell (Review)
Shock value is naturally attractive to the young artist. These individuals have everything to prove but need to make a name for themselves by getting the audience’s attention. The target audience is key here, as that will determine the impact of the shocking material. While sitting through the 45-minute, one-man show Thou Shall Rot in…
And All the Rest Is Junk Mail (Review)
With so many ways to communicate, how do you come up with a new one? That’s the task at hand for blueDragonfly Productions, which has traveled all the way to Cincinnati from Liverpool, England to perform And All the Rest Is Junk Mail. Oh, and their task was spawned by a chain letter. But we’ll…
Oh Golly, Holly: Secrets of a Stylist
One of our summer interns, Holly, is a stylist and buyer at Clothes Mentor in West Chester who writes about style, DIY and other stories and people that inspire her. Check out her blog, Oh Golly, Holly, to read more. I’ve said it once and I’ll say it a million times: Knowing your personal style…
The Bubble and Other Displays of Moral Turpitude (Review)
This inventive show at the Art Academy is produced by North American New Opera Workshop of Cincinnati, comprised of current or past CCM Opera students. I know this after Googling NANO Workshop because there was no printed program, which is annoying when you have a large unrecognized cast. The Bubble has five short vignettes, all…
Morning News and Stuff
Since Ohio sold the Lake Erie Correctional Institution to the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), prisoner accounts and independent audits have found deteriorating conditions at the minimum- and medium-security facility . In the past few months, prisoners detailed unsanitary conditions and rising violence at the prison, which were later confirmed by official incident reports and…
Catalina (Review)
In Catalina, author Joe Stollenwerk sends up history, sends up theater and gives attention to complaints that surfaced with the women's movement but surely had been festering since, well, since queens chafed as second class citizens. Catalina is a queen, Henry VIII's first, better known to English speakers as Catherine of Aragon. Danielle Muething, as…
MixTape (Review)
For veteran Fringe goers, the old Media Bridges venue on Central and Race is now Elementz, and rather than a first-floor venue is now a cozy, cool third floor venue (with elevator access and a bonus view via their spectacular roof garden). MixTape, presented by Theatre 3 from Tucson, Ariz., is a charming suite of…
Persephone’s Prerogative (Review)
The FringeNext series of shows, now in its third year as an element of the Cincinnati Fringe, invites performances produced, created and performed by high school students. One of this year’s entries is Persephone’s Prerogative, presented in the black box theater at the School for Creative and Performing Arts. (There was no program or announcement…
Maps (Review)
Jeanne Mam-Luft and Susan Honer have created a dance piece about finding your way. In the program for their Fringe production, Maps, they write, “Maps and the act of mapping are used to help us find and define where we are: but what if we want to get lost?” They add that their piece “explores…
Shut UP, Emily Dickinson! (Review)
The American poet Emily Dickinson wrote several letters between 1858 and 1862 to someone she referred to as “The Master.” She was in her late twenties, already a recluse. (She died at 55 in 1886.) She also wrote an array of poems addressed to this character. Whether he was a real person or a godlike…
Trial Begins for Pregnant Teacher Fired by Archdiocese
The Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati has been mired in quite a bit of trouble over the past several years for its morally outdated (and unjust) policies, and now one of the allegations has reached the courts. Today marked the second day of juror hearings in a schoolteacher's lawsuit against the Archdiocese and the two schools…
Ohio Senate Budget Keeps Conservative Issues at Forefront
Ohio Senate Republicans unveiled a budget plan yesterday that would keep social issues at the forefront and refocus tax reforms on small businesses instead of all Ohioans. The budget plan would potentially allow Ohio's health director to shut down abortion clinics, effectively defund Planned Parenthood, fund anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers and forgo the Medicaid expansion.…
I Just Can’t Get Enough
The new season of Arrested Development has been bestowed upon us, premiering seven years after the last episode has aired, on a platform that hadn’t even been invented when the series first debuted. For those (commies) who haven’t watched yet or somehow were able to resist the urge to watch all 15 episodes during the…
City Budget Set to Pass with No Public Safety Layoffs
City Council approved a budget motion today that will avert all public safety layoffs in the fiscal year 2014 budget. But if the overall operating budget plan is approved by a majority of council tomorrow, many city services will be cut and property taxes and numerous fees will go up. The operating budget plan, which…
Music: Passion Pit with Cults
Passion Pit’s profile has expanded rapidly since forming a few years back, moving from frontman Michael Angelakos’ one-man bedroom project to a major-label five-piece with gigs at massive summer festivals like Coachella. The buzz surrounding the Boston-based band’s ascent took a toll on Angelakos, who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder at age 18 and who…
Commissioners’ Proposed Streetcar Cut Ignores the Basics
On May 22, the two Republicans on the Hamilton County Board of Commissioners sent a letter to the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments (OKI) asking its governing board to pull $4 million in federal funding for Cincinnati’s streetcar project. The only problem: Pulling the funding isn’t contractually allowed, according to the city and federal government.…
Cincinnati vs. The World 05.29.2013
Greek yogurt production — a $2 billion industry that continues to grow — produces acid whey runoff unlike normal yogurt production that is killing mass aquatic life by sucking the oxygen out of streams and rivers. WORLD -2 The Contemporary Arts Center had to layoff four employees and Director/Chief Curator Raphaela Platow took a 20…
Music: The Lumineers with Cold War Kids
Finding the scene competition in their Brooklyn base a bit too bloodthirsty, duo vocalist/guitarist Wesley Schultz and drummer Jeremiah Fraites relocated to Denver, Colo., and recruited cellist Neyla Pekarek, christening themselves The Lumineers. The Lumineers’ upward trajectory began in early 2011, when they secured management after posting a YouTube video of a performance of their future hit…
Event: Mahrajan Summer Festival
The Mahrajan summer festival returns to St. Anthony of Padua church in East Walnut Hills for a day of food, music, games and more — all celebrating Lebanese heritage. Authentic cuisine includes falafel, labneh (fresh cheese), kibbee nayee (minced lamb or beef with spices), grape leaves and more. There will also be Middle Eastern dancers,…
What’s On the Books?
T he contemporary library is not what it used to be. No longer the classical communal book depot, the public library as an institution has evolved along with the digital age, but its elementary function remains untouched: a social and cultural common ground intended to kindle learning, conversation and enlightenment — something most would agree…
Class: Introduction to Mushroom Cultivation
Mycologist Romain B. Picasso leads a workshop on the basics of mushroom cultivation at the Civic Garden Center. Mushrooms grow from spores, not seeds, so this class will teach you how to build a mushroom laboratory, using both sterile and non-sterile inoculant for propagation. You’ll also do hands-on activities including making spore prints, wax-based inoculants…
Music: Kenny Roby
Kenny Roby’s first album in seven years is one of 2013’s best. Roby is philosophical when considering his place in the musical food chain. His big break in the ’90s came when his rootsy Americana band Six String Drag joined Steve Earle’s newly formed E-Squared label, but SSD released just one album with Earle before dissolving. …
Event: Summerfair Cincinnati
Summerfair 2013 — one of the oldest continuous art fairs — returns to Coney Island for its 46th year of celebrating and appreciating art. The event will feature more than 300 fine artists and craftspeople from across the country in addition to gourmet arts, regional performers and a youth arts area for kids. Admire photographs,…
Art: Drunk Music Reviews Exhibition
While there are plenty of artists who imbibe alcohol during their creative process, few are quite as blatant about it as Drunk Music Reviews’ John Sebastian and Caitlin Behle. The premise is to get on the same level as the crowd to really experience the music, which naturally involves drinking. According to their website, “Drunk…
Event: Queen City Mods & Rockers Rally
Motor enthusiasts rejoice: This weekend marks the second annual Queen City Mods & Rockers Rally, a three-day event to unite and build relationships among the regional motorcycle and scooter communities. This year’s schedule includes a pre-registration meet-up Friday at Mainstay Rock Bar (301 W. Fifth St., Downtown) with live music; a family-friendly group ride along…
Literary: Khaled Hosseini
Khaled Hosseini, the best-selling author of The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns, knows he’s led a charmed life compared to what might have been. The 48-year-old native of Afghanistan moved to the United States as a teenager when political turmoil made it impossible for his family to return to his homeland. Hosseini’s just-published…
Comedy: Nate Bargatze
It’s been almost exactly a year since Nate Bargatze recorded his CD Yelled at by a Clown at Go Bananas. The CD went Top 10 on iTunes, Amazon and Billboard. Laughspin magazine rated it one of the best comedy albums of 2012. “One of the reviews talked about how great the crowd was, which is…
Music: Nelsonville Music Festival
Although there are plenty of musical options in Greater Cincinnati this week (and throughout the summer, especially this year), if you’re up for a little road trip, the Nelsonville Music Festival is just about 150 miles away — in Nelsonville, Ohio, at Hocking College — and boasts an excellent lineup of top-notch national acts. This…
From the Inside
On March 10, a building in the privately owned Lake Erie Correctional Institution (LECI) was flooded with toxic fumes after a fresh air supply fan broke, causing most inmates in the building to complain of headaches and nausea. After hearing the complaints from approximately 75 percent of inmates in the building, the prison’s staff evacuated…
Music: Melvins
Everybody Loves Sausages, the 21st (or so) recording in the Melvins’ improbable 30 year existence, features 13 cover songs that, according to founder/frontdude Buzz Osborne, “will give people a peek into the kind of things that influence us musically.” Truth be told, it’s that same kind of influence that has allowed his band to remain…
Music: Nappy Roots with Oreo Jones and Tobotius
Last year, Nappy Roots was reduced to a quartet after the defection of Big V, who also wanted to explore his solo options; the remaining members (Fish Scales, Skinny DeVille, B. Stille and Ron Clutch) released their 10th mixtape, Sh!ts Beautiful, and their anthemic and uplifting new single, “Ain’t Gon Stop,” presumably a teaser for…
Onstage: Shipwrecked!
Shipwrecked! tells the tale of Louis de Rougemont’s life of adventure, tracking him from a sheltered boyhood in Victorian London to a long, eventful sea voyage, shipwreck near Australia; lonely exile on a deserted island; love among the natives; a return to London; media notoriety; and more. It owes a debt to the many tales…
Event: Bikes in Bloom
Sure, you’ve seen the coveted lawn gnomes, deer and flamingos, but Milford might be onto the next trend in lawn décor: the bike. Pick up some landscaping inspiration at this year’s Bikes in Bloom, where two top spring pastimes combine to create garden installations swoon-worthy enough to make even the most gussied up garden gnome…
Onstage: Cincinnati Fringe Festival
Believe it or not, the Cincy Fringe is marking its 10th anniversary as it opens 12 of more than 30 productions at midweek. The titles should be enough to entice you: Shut UP, Emily Dickinson; Mater Facit; Panorama Ephemera; The Bubble and Other Displays of Moral Turpitude; And the Rand played on (aka, The Hell…
MidPoint Music Fest 2013: Round 2 Lineup Announcment
The second round of announcements for this year's MidPoint Music Festival lineup was featured in this week's issue of CityBeat, on streets now. For those outside of Greater Cincinnati (or you lazy folks who don't want to walk to pick up a newspaper), here's the official press release: For Immediate Release Artist Announcement “Round 2”…
The Unjustified Contempt for Watchdog Journalism
I doubt there is much sympathy when reporters complain that government is intruding on our privacy. After all, intruding is what we do, as I noted a couple weeks ago (“The Ethics of Intrusion,” issue of May 15). But the Obama administration’s latest search of reporters’ phone records and emails goes beyond an opportunity for…
Go Behind the Scenes of Cincinnati’s ‘Antiques Roadshow’ Episode
After a three-week run of episodes (April 1-15) taped at the Duke Energy Convention Center last summer, Antiques Roadshow will premiere behind-the-scenes footage from the show’s Cincinnati stop (8 p.m. Monday, CET). When it was announced in February 2012 that Antiques Roadshow would return to Cincinnati to tape another episode of the PBS show (it…
Greta Gerwig Just Wants to Have Fun
Greta Gerwig has gotten into my head; her halting and humorous performance style marries a solid, albeit gangly physicality and a weightless comic presence that is breathtakingly cute. There is something about her that begs for protection. She’s always just a little lost, as if she’s not quite of this world, but she’s not irritating…
Worst Week Ever!: May 22-27
WEDNESDAY MAY 22 The Cincinnati streetcar project hit its latest snag today, if by snag you mean politicians asking a jurisdiction to spend money on something that’s the opposite of what the funding was intended for. Republican Hamilton County Commissioners Chris Monzel and Greg Hartmann are the fearless leaders behind today’s letter to the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana…
Gettin’ Jack’d on Snacks and Gum
A couple of months ago, this column examined the rise of non-drinkable caffeinated products on your local supermarket shelves. It was inspired by news of two forthcoming products coming from a pair of major corporations, but they hadn’t hit local shelves yet, so I sought out other “edible speed” instead. Those two products — Cracker…
A Loss for Words
This is, literally, some awesome, exclusive, breaking news: We, as humans, have words in our lexicon that have lost their meanings and/or garnered brand new, completely different meanings. It is, of course, not a new phenomenon. Definitions often change due to the force of culture. Take the word “gay,” for example. Etymologists believe the word…
Refried Beans/Refried Chicken
It all started, as it always does, with fried chicken. Offenders reducing a black man’s identity to a deflated stereotype — especially one boiling down to food — have usually felt like the oppressed in their own lives because they are losers on some level; they cannot quite reach that elusive gold ring of accomplishment.…
After Earth
Based on a story conceived by Will Smith (the movie’s star), M. Night Shyamalan seeks to reboot his career while exploring the trendy theme of what-ifs involving a post-apocalyptic planet Earth. After Earth strands Cypher Raige (Smith), a no-nonsense military figure of his day, and his recklessly eager son Kitai (Jaden Smith) on our home…
Morning News and Stuff
City Council will vote on a budget plan today that will include no public safety layoffs, but about 60 other public employees will likely be jobless as a result of the plan in a couple weeks. The budget proposal comes after months of city officials claiming public safety layoffs were unavoidable without the city's plan…
CAC’s Platow Explains Cutbacks, Talks of New Mapplethorpe Show
The weekend of May 17-18 was a high point in the Contemporary Arts Center’s almost-75-year history. Not only did the long-planned Patti Smith show organized by Adjunct Curator Justine Ludwig, The Coral Sea, open — a coup for the downtown museum — but a charming, gracious Smith herself was present in the galleries on Friday…
Bourbon Ball
O ver the years, I’ve entertained in my home with just about as many different types of parties as I could find in books or online, and I thought I’d pretty much run the gamut until I came across the idea of hosting a bourbon tasting while attending last month’s Bourbon Classic in Louisville, Ky.,…
Provide, Educate, Grow
E verything is better when you feel like you’re a part of it. That’s Chef Kristen St. Clair’s philosophy. She’s a chef who welcomes the community into her kitchen, where they become a part of growing, harvesting, cooking and understanding fresh, healthy food. St. Clair runs Gabriel’s Place, a sustainable community space in Avondale where…
