Smitherman Reelected NAACP Prez
Christopher Smitherman was elected this evening to another two-year term as president of the NAACP's Cincinnati chapter. The former Cincinnati City councilman will focus on increasing the chapter's visibility on issues of health, education and youth violence during his next term, according to a statement he released.—- He was first elected as the chapter's president…
Hello, Kenwood Theatre!
More than a year after the Showcase Cinemas inside Kenwood Towne Centre closed suddenly (which was preceded by the unfortunate shuttering of the plush, old-school Kenwood Twin across the street back in 1995), the local movie landscape gets a shot in the arm with the opening of the Kenwood Theatre (7815 Kenwood Road) on Friday.…
Archdiocese Cancels 912 Event
A speech sponsored by the Cincinnati 912 Project at a local Catholic high school has been canceled because it violates the Archdiocese's policy prohibiting partisan events. The 912 Project, a group inspired by right-wing talk show host and self-professed “rodeo clown” Glenn Beck, had rented space at Purcell Marian High School in East Walnut Hills…
Events: Balluminaria
Warm up by the fire this Saturday as over a dozen hot air balloons set Eden Park ablaze at this year’s Balluminaria Festival! Gather around Mirror Lake and watch the glow from the balloons reflection ignite the water as carolers and other musical entertainment bring the holiday season to your ears. Santa Claus will even…
Art: Free Parking at CAM
In the past two months the Cincinnati Art Museum (953 Eden Park Dr., Eden Park) set a record in attendance with 42,849 visitors from the beginning of September to the beginning of November (compared to 32,272 last year). Out of acknowledgement and gratitude, the CAM is offering a day of free parking this Sunday. Paired…
Carlisle Floyd’s Iconic Composer Exposure
When CCM staged Carlisle Floyd’s opera Of Mice and Men last May, the composer was on hand for opening night. He was so impressed that when opera department head Robin Guarino asked him to return to work with students he immediately accepted. The dean of American opera composers arrived in Cincinnati Nov. 10 to begin…
Events: Tribal Night at Leapin’ Lizard
Leapin Lizard’s Tribal Night is like a mini-carnival celebrating Tribal music and art. Expect traditional Indian rhythms, drinks (for sale) and a drum circle. Bring a dish to share for a potluck meal. Tribal Night is every third Thursday of each month. This month’s party has a holiday theme. There is a $1 discount at…
Music: Pomegranates
When Pomegranates drummer Jacob Merritt describes the band’s mindset during the writing of One of Us (the Cincinnati band’s third and perhaps best album) as “patient,” it seems like an odd state for the Cincinnati quartet. Patience has not been a particular concern for the Pomegranates since they assembled a mere four years ago. After…
Just Like Sticks and Stones
In early September, news reports told the tragic tale of 15-year-old Billy Lucas in Indiana, a floppy-haired boy who liked to show horses and lambs at fairs. After daily torment and harassment from bullies who perceived he was gay, Lucas was so broken, so depressed and felt so alone that he couldn't stand living one…
Let Us Praise
The idea for the Cincinnati Entertainment Awards (CEAs) was essentially born when CityBeat came into being in 1994. It was on the paper’s “Things Altweeklies Are Supposed to Do” list from the start, as was the dedication to making local music coverage a cornerstone of the paper. On Sunday evening at Covington’s Madison Theater, the…
Music: Cincinnati Entertainment Awards
The idea for the Cincinnati Entertainment Awards (CEAs) was essentially born when CityBeat came into being in 1994. It was on the paper’s “Things Altweeklies Are Supposed to Do” list from the start, as was the dedication to making local music coverage a cornerstone of the paper. On Sunday at Covington’s Madison Theater, the CEAs…
Eric Tepe Band Album Release Party
Earlier this year, singer/songwriter Eric Tepe released the EP Singapore (under the name Eric Matthew Tepe and the Reeds) that showcased his impressive songwriting and an AltPop sound strong enough to garner industry attention. Saturday at downtown’s Mainstay Rock Bar, Tepe and his top-shelf backing group — now called the Eric Tepe Band — celebrate…
Jockey Club Reunion Show
In 2008, local independent publisher Aurore Press (which releases chapbooks featuring local writing on everything from politics to the glory of thrift stores) presented a “reunion” concert at the Southgate House that featured bands (and many fans) that were a part of the scene at famed Punk Rock palace/dump The Jockey Club in Newport. The…
Praying for Immigration Reform
Local clergy, civic leaders and residents will participate Tuesday in the National Day of Fasting and Prayer for Immigration Reform. Cincinnati's prayer vigil will be held at the Su Casa Hispanic Center in Carthage.—- Organizers want participants to “unite in prayer for a common purpose: To pray for an end to family separation due to…
Best Quote About Dubya’s Book
Much has been written about George W. Bush's new memoir, Decision Points. Among the revelations in the tome are that Sen. Mitch McConnell secretly pushed for a partial troop withdrawal from Iraq in 2006, Bush's admission he personally approved the use of waterboarding on detainees and that Bush allegedly formed his anti-abortion stance after his…
Events: An Evening Under the Tsars
Waltz into winter this Saturday, courtesy of Cincinnati Opera’s annual Opera Ball, “An Evening Under the Tsars,” a Russian-themed gala inspired by Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, scheduled for July 2011. The annual fundraiser is always a lavish extravaganza and this year, the festivities move to the Netherland Plaza’s iconic Hall of Mirrors, transformed into the royal…
Art: Bestiary at Manifest Gallery
Bestiary sweeps through all three rooms of Manifest Gallery in a lively embodiment of the kind of show the East Walnut Hills gallery has to a degree pioneered and does well. An idea (in this case “animals”) is thrown out worldwide, thanks to the Internet, and a stringent jury/curatorial process sifts the keepers from what…
Comedy: Jon Dore
Aficionados of Canadian television will no doubt recognize Jon Dore (no kin to America’s Jimmy Dore), from his many stints up north on the small screen. From co-hosting a daytime talk show aptly named Daytime to being a correspondent on Canadian Idol, his quick wit and surprise punchlines are now winning him fans in The…
Onstage: The Music Man
Team spirit — that’s what Professor Harold Hill is really selling to the people of River City, Iowa. Not a Sousa march or a “think system” or moral uplift for the town’s pool-hall-imperiled youth. And The Music Man, now at the Aronoff’s Jarson-Kaplan Theater thanks to Cincinnati Music Theatre (CMT), has more esprit de corps…
Art: Tom Schiff at the Architecture Foundation
Cincinnati photographer Thomas
Events: Crafty Supermarket Holiday Show
This ain't Granny's church basement arts and craft show. With the rise of indie craft shows across the country, local crafters Grace Dobush, Alisha Budkie and Chris Salley wanted to see the trend make it to Cincy.
Onstage: Evita at CCM
“Don’t cry for me, Argentina.” You probably know the melody, and if you’ve seen the show, you know the iconic pose with upraised forearms struck by actress after actress playing Eva Duarte Peron, the beloved leader of the Argentine masses during her brief life. Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice made her story one of…
Events: Latin American Culture Fest
Celebrate places much different than the typical Cincinnatian experiences every day via Passport to the World, a program put on by
Tooth and Nail
Follow Chris Bennett as he make the transition from amateur fighter to professional. Bennett fights Saturday, November 20 at Turfway Park.
Pomegranates
When Pomegranates drummer Jacob Merritt describes the band’s mindset during the writing of One of Us (the Cincinnati band’s third and perhaps best album) as “patient,” it seems like an odd state for the popular quartet. Patience has not been a particular concern for the Pomegranates since they assembled a mere four years ago. After…
Skyline (Review)
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Longtime visual-effects specialists turned directors Colin and Greg Strause (Aliens vs Predators: Requiem) present yet another familiar alien invasion that owes huge debts to Independence Day, Signs and, to a lesser extent, the found-footage feel of Cloverfield. But once all these elements get shoved into the juicer, all of the…
Pomegranates (Profile)
When Pomegranates drummer Jacob Merritt describes the band’s mindset during the writing of One of Us (the Cincinnati band’s third and perhaps best album) as “patient,” it seems like an odd state for the popular quartet. Patience has not been a particular concern for the Pomegranates since they assembled a mere four years ago. After…
Events: Cincinnati Unchained
Shopping. Some love it, some hate it and some just get on Amazon and do it in their underwear. But if there was ever a reason to put on your sweat pants and roll out of the house, Cincinnati Unchained would be it. This Saturday, more than 50 local stores and websites will be hosting…
Art: Peter Max at Malton Gallery
Peter Max become a famous name in the pop culture of the late 1960s for his trippy, colorful posters and prints — the playfully psychedelized look of his work influenced commercial graphic design and movies like Yellow Submarine. He even created postage stamps (remember them?) commemorating the 1974 Seattle Expo. While times and trends have…
Onstage: An Evening with Carlisle Floyd
When CCM staged Carlisle Floyd’s opera Of Mice and Men last May, the composer was on hand for opening night. He was so impressed that when opera department head Robin Guarino asked him to return to work with students he immediately accepted. The dean of American opera composers arrived in Cincinnati Nov. 10 to begin…
Cincinnati Entertainment Awards for Music
The local music scene's big night out is the annual Cincinnati Entertainment Awards, which allow old friends to hang out and celebrate new albums and band members and tell funny stories about touring in rented vans. Anyone who loves music made in Greater Cincinnati and/or Cincinnati musicians will feel right at home at the CEAs.…
The Music Man (Review)
Critic's Pick Team spirit — that’s what Professor Harold Hill is really selling to the people of River City, Iowa. Not a Sousa march or a “think system” or moral uplift for the town’s pool-hall-imperiled youth. And The Music Man, now at the Aronoff’s Jarson-Kaplan Theater thanks to Cincinnati Music Theatre (CMT), has more esprit…
What Happened to Bengals and Bearcats?
OK, maybe we were wrong. Last December, as both the Bengals and Bearcats were riding high via uncommonly strong seasons, Danny Cross and I wrote cover-story essays about why each team's success wouldn't be just a one-year anomaly. I took the Bengals, he took the ’Cats. Flash forward 11 months: The Bengals have lost six…
Discover Local Music … at the Library?
There are plenty of easy ways to explore what Cincinnati's local music scene has to offer. The best ways, of course, involve hitting the clubs and actually purchasing releases put out by local artists. Then there's the new-fangled modern route — thanks to the Net, you can find free streams and downloads of music by…
Charting Cincinnati Playhouse’s Future
Edward Stern, producing artistic director of Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park since 1992, announced in August his plan to leave the Playhouse at the end of the 2011-2012 season. The Playhouse invites you to attend one of two input sessions regarding its search for new artistic leadership. The sessions, which are open to the general…
CEA Music Voting Ends Today
Voting in the Cincinnati Entertainment Awards' 16 public categories ends at 5 p.m. today, so if you haven't chimed in yet you're running out of time. Find all the nominees here, including the three critical achievement categories of Artist of the Year, Album of the Year and New Artist of the Year. There's a link…
Second City Does Cincinnati: Pride and Porkopolis (Review)
Critic's Pick If it’s laughter you’re seeking for the holidays, you’ll find plenty at the Cincinnati Playhouse in the comedy revue Second City Does Cincinnati: Pride and Porkopolis from the legendary Chicago-based improv company. It’s full of our familiar foibles as well as a cast of local crackpots and characters. About a third of the…
BRINK’s 10th Year of New Music Revelations
It’s hard to believe that the BRINK New Music Showcase will celebrate a decade of spotlighting up-and-coming local music with this Saturday’s event. This year, BRINK becomes a free event and, for the first time, moves from the three stages of the Southgate House to five stages at four venues in Northside (Mayday, Shake It…
CCV Gloats About Election, Seeks Funds
In a fundraising e-mail sent to its supporters Thursday, Citizens for Community Values (CCV) gloated about what it termed were Election Day victories over “the homosexual agenda.” The e-mail, entitled “A Surge of Votes for Traditional Marriage,” implies the issue of equal marriage rights was the deciding factor in numerous races.—- It states, “The national…
Charter Hosts Budget Forum
As Cincinnati officials consider deep budget cuts to avoid a $60 million deficit, one of the early proposals calls for possible layoffs in the Police and Fire departments. The Charter Committee, Cincinnati's de facto third political party, will host a forum Nov. 17 to outline the problems facing the city. Featured speaker will be Lea…
Inside Job (Review)
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } If you only see one movie this year, Charles Ferguson's financial meltdown documentary is the one to see. Matt Damon narrates this essential soup-to-nuts explanation of the Wall Street and government players whose illicit methods brought down the global economy. Candid interviews with such significant names as economist Willem Buiter,…
Wilderness Preserve
Key At-A-Glance Information Length: 2.45 milesConfiguration: LoopDifficulty: ModerateScenery: Woods, cliffs, waterfallsExposure: Shade and some sunTraffic: LightTrail Surface: Gravel and dolomiteHiking Time: 1.5-2 hoursDriving Distance: 20 minutes east of West UnionSeason: Year-roundAccess: Sunrise-sunsetMaps: USGS Brush Creek; Cincinnati Museum of Natural History, The Wilderness Trail MapWheelchair Accessible: NoFacilities: NoneFor More Information: Visit www.appalachiandiscovery.com or The Nature Conservancy…
Unstoppable (Review)
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Cinematically speaking, director Tony Scott (Top Gun, The Taking of Pelham 123) just doesn't know when to shut up. In this fact-based action drama, he has an inherently propulsive premise to work with: A railroad train carrying toxic chemicals, unmanned due to an operator screw-up, is hurtling at more than…
Morning Glory (Review)
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Rachel McAdams has been on the cusp of distinction in Hollywood, a fast-tracking It Girl with that rare combination of charm and chops, enough to have oddly relegated her thus far in career-stage limbo. Those in the know took note of her turn as the…
Liz Phair: Funstyle
In 1993, Liz Phair established a career’s worth of Indie cred and bitch-slapped the often misogyny-streaked Rolling Stones with Exile in Guyville, her swaggering, estrogen-and-profanity-laced manifesto. Unfortunately, Phair’s subsequent pursuit and capture of commercial success assured that no monumental follow-up would be forthcoming. Funstyle doesn’t fit that bill either, but it might be the most…
Friday Movie Roundup: Halloween Hangover
It appears Halloween is leaking into November, as two horror-related film events supplement our weekly roundup of conventional movie-house releases. First up, the annual HorrorHound Weekend is back, armed with another collection of curious “celebrities” — everyone from A Clockwork Orange's Malcolm McDowell and The Exorcist's Linda Blair to lesser-known figures like straight-to-video king Julian Sands…
Local Musician Teams Up with a Breeder
This Saturday’s album release party in the Southgate House’s Parlour for local band Alone at 3am’s new Cut Your Gills (read Brian Baker's interview with the band about the album here) will also mark the debut of a new project called R. Ring, a collaboration between local singer/songwriter/guitarist/engineer Mike Montgomery and Dayton’s Kelley Deal, singer/guitarist…
Criterion Tackles ‘Antichrist’
The Criterion Collection, film geekdom's favorite DVD/Blu-ray distributor, is offering a plush version of Lars von Trier's Antichrist this week. I've yet to procure a copy, but the “special features” — which I usually shun for a variety of reasons — look promising, including an audio commentary track by von Trier and professor Murray Smith; a…
McConnell Stays Mum on Bush Claim
Critics already were blasting U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) for saying the Republican Party's top goal during the next two years should be to ensure President Obama doesn't win a second term. But a recent revelation has some people stating McConnell is guilty of crass politicking and hypocrisy involving American troops.—- In his new memoir,…
Remembering Soldiers on Veterans Day
Today is Veterans Day, which began as Armistice Day on Nov. 11, 1919, the one-year anniversary of the end of World War I. President Eisenhower formally made it Veterans Day in 1954. HBO airs a new documentary film tonight, Wartorn: 1861-2010, focusing on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among U.S. soldiers as well as soldier suicides…
Onstage: Second City Does Cincinnati: Pride and Porkopolis at the Playhouse
The arrival of a chilly January can be rather sobering, but if you’re still hoping for some onstage laughter, the Cincinnati Playhouse is still presenting shenanigans by Second City, Chicago’s legendary skit and improv troupe, in the form of its satire of all things Queen City. It’s subtitled “Pride and Porkopolis,” just to give you…
Jonathan Tyler and the Northern Lights
Jonathan Tyler and the Northern Lights is a Dallas-based rock band with a great southern rock sound. The band is made up of frontman Jonathan Tyler, guitarist Brandon Pinckard, bassist Nick Jay, vocalist Emotion Brown and drummer Jordan Cain. They have released one album, Pardon Me, that includes the acclaimed song Gypsy Woman. I caught…
Making Every Vote Count
With just five votes separating them on Election Night, Democrat Connie Pillich and Republican Mike Wilson are both appealing to supporters to help them contact people who cast absentee ballots that have problems. Pillich, the incumbent in the Ohio House 28th District seat, was ahead of Wilson by five votes when ballots were counted on…
Say It Ain’t So
Last night, while flipping through the channels in my overpriced cable TV package, I was distracted by a song from one my favorite bands, Gang of Four. I was initially perplexed as to its source — is it coming from my upstairs neighbor (whose musical taste is thankfully quite admirable), or maybe it's blasting from…
Watching the Market
More good news for hungry people. The long-awaited Vietnamese diner at Findlay Market is up and running. Pho Lang Thang (112 W. Elder St., Over-the-Rhine, 513-665-4839) is offering a limited menu until its anticipated grand opening on Sunday, with loads of excellent dishes to try. I had their Banh Mi Thit Nguoi at last summer’s…
Hey, Kids, It’s Time to Get Off Your Asses
Although they might not want to admit it, I'm betting many people reading this issue of CityBeat have something in common with Bristol Palin. Palin, the 20-year-old daughter of erstwhile Tea Party leader and half-term Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, was too busy learning routines for ABC's Dancing with the Stars and forgot to vote in…
HorrorHound Weekend
Jeffrey Combs hears the same set of questions every time he makes an appearance at a convention. But Combs, best known for his roles in the 1990s, televised incarnations of Star Trek and as Dr. Herbert West of the cult classic Re-Animator, isn’t tired of answering. Combs is in town for HorrorHound Weekend, a huge…
Nov. 3-9: Worst Week Ever!
WEDNESDAY NOV. 3 If there's one thing that we at WWE! hope never happens, it's a high-powered local Republican suing us (seriously, how good could CityBeat's lawyers be if the paper is free?). That's why we have a well-documented history of treating local lawyer Eric Deters with respect, as he has demonstrated a willingness to file…
Money for Nothing
The 2007 documentary No End in Sight is a clear-headed examination of the many reasons why the Bush administration’s post-Saddam U.S. invasion of Iraq was a debacle: the rampant cronyism, the massive miscalculations, the lack of proper planning, the disaster that is Donald Rumsfeld. It’s a haunting, often infuriating eye-opener that also heralded the arrival…
Nollywood Babylon (Review)
Quick. Name the countries with the world’s largest film industries. Easy points for picking the United States as the No. 1 big dog, and kudos for ranking India’s musically glamorous Bollywood in the second position. But who pulls the third spot? You can be excused for guessing cinemaniac France, or perhaps China or Japan. But no…
Jessica Dessner Is Drawing Inspiration
Jessica Dessner, a Brooklyn artist with a familiar last name in these parts, has a show of new drawings on display at Country Club gallery in Oakley. She is the older sister of twin brothers Bryce and Aaron, native-Cincinnatian members of the popular Brooklyn-based Indie band The National. Bryce also founded MusicNow, the boutique music…
Kim Marcus [Mokka/Sunset Bar & Grill]
Mokka and the Sunset Bar & Grill (500 Monmouth, Newport, 859-581-3700) is not just for brunch anymore. They still offer their award-winning breakfast and brunch menu, and now you can go back later for dinner, drinks and live entertainment. One of the fringe benefits of working in a restaurant is grazing for an entire shift.…
Johnny Clegg: Human
Johnny Clegg's mix of African Pop and western Rock provided the template for later genre-blenders like Paul Simon and Peter Gabriel with the formation of the world township band Juluka in the late ’70s. Unlike the Pop dabblers who milked the hybrid for its transitory benefits and moved on, Clegg has remained committed to the…
Streetcar Tours End Today
A sample of the streetcars that will be running on Cincinnati streets soon has been parked at Fountain Square for tours, but this afternoon is your last chance to check it out. The company that built it, United Streetcar of Clackamas, Ore., will be packing it up tonight and shipping it off for similar sightseeing…
Walk the Moon Shines on First LP
Walk the Moon was one of my personal highlights from the recent MidPoint Music Festival, where the band played a high-energy set wonderfully showcasing its dance-friendly beats, New Wave jubilance and Art Pop creativity. As solid as the foursome is live, I was still a bit stunned by how advanced, imaginative and proficient Walk the…
