Music: Matisyahu
Offering up one of the most unique performances you might ever hear is Matisyahu, an American Hasidic Jewish Reggae musician. His words roll fast off the tongue with one rhyme masterfully wrapped in another and gilded with Hebrew and Yiddish twang. He plays cultures like a slide guitar, blending and bending influences such as Phish,…
Matisyahu
Offering up one of the most unique performances you might ever hear is Matisyahu, an American Hasidic Jewish Reggae musician. His words roll fast off the tongue with one rhyme masterfully wrapped in another and gilded with Hebrew and Yiddish twang. He plays cultures like a slide guitar, blending and bending influences such as Phish,…
2001 Theater Nominees and Winners
Local Actress In A Leading RoleSue Breving as Mabel Tidings in Pride’s Crossing, The Drama WorkshopAnnie Fitzpatrick as Karen in Dinner with Friends, Ensemble Theatre of CincinnatiDiane Danzi as Mrs. Snelgrave in One Flea Spare, Women’s Theatre InitiativeSherman Fracher as Nan/Lina in Three Days of Rain, Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati Local Actor In A Leading…
Music: Emilie Autumn
Crossbreed Sinead O’Connor and Marilyn Manson, raise their female spawn in a combination Victorian insane asylum/circus and then put a violin in her hands at age 4, and you get an idea of what you’re in for during an evening with Emilie Autumn. The California-born violinist was inspired by wildman violinist Nigel Kennedy and played…
Events/Lectures: Talk and Quaff
Aeqai, a free, online journal of art criticism that looks at contemporary art in and near Cincinnati (and to which this writer has contributed) is celebrating its one-year anniversary this Friday from 5:30-8 p.m. with “Talk and Quaff,” a benefit mixer at the Weston Gallery in downtown’s Aronoff Center for the Arts with food and…
Comedy: Lewis Black
There is much going on in America that’s well-suited to Lewis Black’s comedic style of jaw-clenching exasperation. When he strolls into Cincinnati this week, the main topics on his mind will be health care reform and Sarah Palin. Black happily labels himself a “socialist” (that straightforward dialogue thing again), which, he notes, has recently replaced…
2002 Music Nominees and Winners
Country/BluegrassLen's LoungeEd Cunningham and the New Radio CowboysComet Bluegrass All-StarsDallas Moore FolkJake SpeedTracy WalkerMark CormicanChris Collier World/Ethnic/ReggaeSalsa CalienteTropicosoMohenjo DaroChris Dunnett RockThee ShamsHomunculusThe GreenhornesClabbergirl Hard Rock/MetalSemi-AutomaticJackassV-MobLevelnine Singer/SongwriterJake SpeedBrian LovelyKim TaylorSwarthy Alternative/IndieAmplineBuckraReadymaidRuby Vileos PunkBottom Line16 Piece BucketDeceiving RalphSaturday Supercade Blues/Funk/R&BFreekbassKeith LittleWorldwideRicky Nye Hip HopBoom BipIswhat?!Animal CrackersAbiyah JazzMike WadePhil DeGreg TrioBlue Wisp Big BandDW Project New Artist Of…
Holiday: Victorian Christmas Tour
Get swept back in time this holiday season with Victorian Christmas Tours of Newport’s East Row. The East Row tour will showcase “seven private historic homes — six of which have never opened to the public — and the beautifully restored Gen. James Taylor Mansion, originally built in 1815.” After touring this mansion, explore the…
2002 Theater Nominees and Winners
Local Actress In A Leading RoleDeborah Brock-Blanks as Miss K in Praying for Rain, Ensemble Theatre of CincinnatiSherman Fracher as Irene Delford in Chagrin Falls (Cincinnati Shakespeare FestivalA. Beth Harris as Anna in Syncopation, Ensemble Theatre of CincinnatiCorinne Mohlenhoff as Babe in Crimes of the Heart, Ovation Theatre Company Local Actor In A Leading RoleBruce…
Art: It’s Been a Rough Year for Ginger at U-Turn
People really delight in things made out of food that don't look like food, for example, when a butcher molds all of the ground beef together to look like a cow or when those Xtreme cake shows turn mild-mannered confections into cake robots or motorcycles. U-turn Art Space has taken hold of this cultural phenomena…
Onstage: The Taming of the Shrew
Plays by Shakespeare can suffer when modernized (translating Julius Caesar into a contemporary politician, for instance). But the only suffering during Cincinnati Shakespeare’s production of The Taming of the Shrew will be your sides from continuous laughter. Director Matt Johnson has set the battle of the sexes in a “mythical Hollywood studio” of the 1930s.…
2001 Music Nominees and Winners
BluegrassEd CunninghamLa-Z BoysMa CrowThe Comet Bluegrass All-Stars Folk/Roots/CountryJake SpeedLen's LoungeStar DevilsPike 27 World/Ethnic/ReggaeLucky Spaulding and the ZionitesTropicosoMohenjo DaroAdmiral Walker RockThe Ass PonysThe StapletonsHomunculusThe Greenhornes Singer/SongwriterChuck CleaverRyan AdcockEric DiedrichsJanet Pressley Alternative/IndieReadymaidThistleRuby VileosThe Fairmount Girls Punk/SkaNo Good HerosThe ScrubsSaturday SupercadeDeceiving Ralph Blues/R&B/FunkRicky NyeKeith LittleBill CaffieSonny Moorman Hip HopIswhat?!MoodPhammilly InpulzeHi Tek JazzDW ProjectScotty AndersonCal CollinsMike Wade Album Of…
2000 Music Nominees and Winners
Country/BluegrassEd CunninghamTaylor Farley Jr. and Blue RockTanner HillDallas Moore FolkWild CarrotJanet PressleyTracy WalkerGinny Frazier World/Ethnic/ReggaeLucky and the ZionitesLatin X-posureMohenjo DaroAdmiral Walker Adult Alternative/Adult ContemporaryBromwell/Diehl BandMesserly and EwingMonkDavid Wolfenberger RockThe StapletonsAss PonysBig in IowaThe Simpletons Singer/SongwriterJanet PressleyGreg MahanMaurice MatteiEric Diedrichs Alternative/IndiePromenadeFairmount GirlsThistleBagg Blues/R&B/FunkGreg Schaber & High StreetRicky NyeBlack Magic Rhythm All StarsSonny Moorman Group Hip HopIswhat?!Five…
Lit: Milk Money Release Party
They say print is dead. But who are “they” to say such a thing? The editors of Milk Money Magazine think otherwise, and they can back it up with the very real existence of their mechanical duplicator. It’s not alive – it’s a machine – but the quarterly literary magazines it mass-produces are evidence of…
BM Linx
When you read a review of a live show by New York City trio BM Linx, there's a common opinion: The band rocks … surprisingly hard. The “surprise” isn’t meant as a slight; it’s not that the band’s somewhat trippy, Electro-flourished Riff Rock isn’t highly crafty, catchy and enjoyable on its two albums (2006’s more…
Flobots Are in It Together
The latest Chuck Klosterman book, Eating the Dinosaur, serves as a veritable literary Thunderdome for the cult-fave alt-journalist. I’m both giddy and obstreperous about his newly-divined method of mangling the conventional structure of the non-fiction essay. I’m similarly piqued by his topic choices, which range from David Koresh and Kurt Cobain as buddy-cult heroes, Ira…
2003 Theater Nominees and Winners
Local Actress In A Leading RoleChristine Dye as Shirley Valentine in Shirley Valentine, Mariemont PlayersTaylore Mahogany Scott as Alexis in The Gimmick, Cincinnati Shakespeare FestivalCorinne Mohlenhoff as Alex in In Flame, Women’s Theatre InitiativeAmy Warner as Joan in The Guys, Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati Local Actor In A Leading RoleBruce Cromer as the Librarian in…
Omni Works Music All Star Fundraiser
It should be crystal-clear to anyone paying attention that music education in public schools ain’t what it used to be. Thanks to budget constraints and selfish child-less people who vote down school levies so they can keep paying for their extravagant satellite TV subscriptions, arts and music studies have been increasingly lessened or cut. Not…
Comedy: Roy Wood Jr.
“The last time I was through Cincinnati, I was probably a much happier soul,” reports comedian Roy Wood Jr. “(My act now) is more about things that make me want to punch walls. It could be something as simple as paying for extra sauce when I order chicken nuggets. I still consider that to be…
2000 Theater Nominees and Winners
Local Actress In A Leading RoleSherman Fracher as Lisa in Private Eyes, Ensemble Theatre of CincinnatiDale Hodges as Vivian Bearing Ph.D. in Wit, Cincinnati PlayhouseBoo Friedman as a young Jewish woman in Whisperings, Ensemble Theatre of CincinnatiMarni Penning as Myra/Myrna in The Mineola Twins, Human Race Theatre Company Local Actor In A Leading RoleGiles Davies…
Men at Dirty Work
Ask Mark Sultan how he’s doing, and small talk threatens to turn scatological. As The King Khan & BBQ Show cruise past Oregonian woodlands en route to its Portland date, the singer/guitarist responds with a bill of clean health and quickly reports that the highlight of his drive has been a deer adorned with “a…
Music: King Khan & BBQ Show
Knowing the reputations of Arish “King” Khan and Sultan (aka “BBQ”), it’s tough to be legitimately offended by the smut they unapologetically spew. In the ’90s the pair served in the feisty Spaceshits. Today, the Montreal/Berlin-based troublemakers use the Show as an outlet to revel in a time-tripping goulash of Doo Wop and Garage Rock.…
Art: New Voices at Miami University Center for Community Engagement
When the School for Creative and Performing Arts students look around their soon-to-be neighborhood, what do they see? Twenty-one SCPA students participating in Prairie Gallery-sponsored opening 6 -8 p.m. Tuesday, held at the Miami University Center for Community Engagement, will show you. After basic photography instruction at Prairie, the group collaborated with InkTank’s creative writing…
Music: BM Linx
When you read a review of a live show by New York City trio BM Linx, there's a common opinion: The band rocks … surprisingly hard. The “surprise” isn’t meant as a slight; it’s not that the band’s somewhat trippy, Electro-flourished Riff Rock isn’t highly crafty, catchy and enjoyable on its two albums (2006’s more…
Music: David Wilcox with Ric Hordinski
From his first album 22 years ago, David Wilcox has transcended traditional Folk/Pop singer/songwriter status by crafting compelling short stories of everyday life and love set to an infectiously engaging soundtrack. Above it all is his expressive and mellow baritone and fluid guitar style, translating word and melody in tales of hope, sorrow, heartbreak and…
Scenarios Abound for Undefeated Bearcats
You know what’s funny? If you put UC’s skill players behind the Cleveland Browns’ offensive line, I guarantee they would score more than 7 points against the Bengals. That might not mean much about how crappy Cleveland is, but it means a lot that a collegiate defense will have to try to stop the Bearcats’…
David Wilcox with Ric Hordinski
From his first album 22 years ago, David Wilcox has transcended traditional Folk/Pop singer/songwriter status by crafting compelling short stories of everyday life and love set to an infectiously engaging soundtrack. Above it all is his expressive and mellow baritone and fluid guitar style, translating word and melody in tales of hope, sorrow, heartbreak and…
Emilie Autumn
Crossbreed Sinead O’Connor and Marilyn Manson, raise their female spawn in a combination Victorian insane asylum/circus and then put a violin in her hands at age 4, and you get an idea of what you’re in for during an evening with Emilie Autumn. The California-born violinist was inspired by wildman violinist Nigel Kennedy and played…
Art: Drawn by New York at the Taft Museum of Art
One of the best institutional “attics” belongs to the New-York Historical Society, judging from the new Drawn by New York show at the Taft Museum of Art, running now through Jan. 17. (The Society itself, established 205 years ago, dates from a time when “New” and “York” were hyphenated.) For this show, around 80 pieces…
Holiday: Holiday Floral Show at Krohn
The Krohn Conservatory is doing their holiday floral show Swedish style. “Lucia’s Garden,” as it’s called, fills the conservatory with colorful poinsettias and cyclamen, accented by a traditional train display chugging along Cincinnati landmarks. Candles representative of the winter solstice in Sweden will be plentiful, as will the decorative holiday displays to give you that…
Tom Waits, Ike Reilly, Aaron Jentzen and Collin Herring
With any luck, by the time you read these words, my left kidney will be blissfully unstoned. I’m currently on an overnight food-and-water fast — have you ever noticed you never want to eat or drink something so badly as those times when you absolutely can’t have them? — in preparation for what's known as…
Hitting the Right Marx
“I hope this doesn’t fuck up your day.” That’s comedian Lewis Black’s apologetic postscript after telling me our interview would be delayed about 15 minutes — just in case there’s any lingering doubt over Black’s reputation for straightforward dialogue. Needless to say, there is much going on in America that’s well-suited to Black’s comedic style…
Holiday: Holiday in Lights and Santaland
For all you warm-blooded holiday observers, Holiday in Lights is back for the 18th year at Sharon Woods, along with Santaland in the Sharon Centre. Holiday in Lights is the easiest way to make your girlfriend or kids holiday-happy because you don’t even have to get out of the car. The show is built over…
Onstage: Sleeping Beauty
Ensemble Theatre has established a wonderful annual holiday tradition for families with their musical renditions of fairytales by playwright Joe McDonough and composer David Kisor. The shows are swift and engaging for the kids, with lots of bright colors and simple humor. But they also come with simple moral lessons about love and kindness and…
The Taming of the Shrew (Review)
Critic's Pick Plays by Shakespeare can suffer when modernized (translating Julius Caesar into a contemporary politician, for instance). But the only suffering during Cincinnati Shakespeare’s production of The Taming of the Shrew will be your sides from continuous laughter. Director Matt Johnson has set the battle of the sexes in a “mythical Hollywood studio” of…
Planet 51 (Review)
Many of the comparisons that will be made about this animated tale will focus primarily on the space-age science-fiction variety because it's packed to the gills with references to everything from The Day the Earth Stood Still to Aliens to Wall-E to Star Wars and ET. But at its rather sweet core, Planet 51, despite…
2003 Music Nominees and Winners
[Winners noted in red] Artist of the YearBuckra Five Deez Messerly and Ewing Over the Rhine PearleneShesus Album of the YearJason Ludwig: Pell Mell Buckra: So Many Weapons Pearlene: Murder, Blues and Prayer Mallory: The First One Hundred YearsOver the Rhine: Ohio Various Artists: Hidden Treasures New Artist of the YearThe SundressesCari ClaraMorals GaloreThe Light…
Yoo Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg (Review)
Aviva Kempner follows up her extremely popular documentary The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg with another one about a Jewish-American whose impact on American popular culture was vast and deep in her lifetime but has since faded from popular consciousness. Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg recounts — with amazing access to hard-to-find archival material — the…
Old Dogs (Review)
It could be argued, I suppose, that the dog reference in the title of John Travolta’s latest mindless mainstream movie stands in higher regard than the pigs in Wild Hogs, yet another abysmally bad broad comedy the dancing fool attached himself to recently. There’s a baseline degree to the humor that dwells far below the…
Pledge to Shop Local: Feel Good, Win Prizes
CityBeat is urging Cincinnatians to “shop local” this holiday season and support Greater Cincinnati’s economy by supporting locally owned independent businesses. Everyone who pledges to spend at least $100 of their holiday gift purchases to “shop local” will be entered into a drawing for a prize package from participating businesses.—- More than 25 independent businesses…
Behind the (Holiday) Music
Despite the fact that we pretty much hear the same songs every holiday season, to many people classic Christmas tunes are transcendent, spreading enough nostalgia and good cheer that they never tire of them. Like commercial radio hits (corporate radio plays that Taylor Swift song every 15 minutes because you will like it, dammit), holiday…
Artistic Abundance
During a recent visit to the Cleveland Museum of Art, I noticed that the newest contemporary work is in a gallery dedicated to “post-modern art.” That’s an acknowledgement that the latest art has moved way beyond traditional painting and sculpture — and away from people who use “contemporary” merely as a catchphrase for tradition-minded art…
Conscious Consumer
Holiday shopping can be a trying experience that spans the entire holiday season — from Black Friday through the last-minute deals to the inevitable mess of post- Christmas returns and exchanges, this time of uber-commerce can stress anyone out. But there are two ways to deal with this yearly nuisance: Wake up early on a…
Fantastic Mr. Fox (Review)
Wes Anderson is famous for his quirky sense of absurdist humor. Although he might argue against it, Anderson seems to have finally found his forte — in animation, vis-a-vis Roald Dahl’s 1970 children’s book Fantastic Mr. Fox. Anderson, who co-wrote the script with fellow filmmaker Noah Baumbach, creates a magical stop-motion animation world inhabited by…
Onstage: Sideways Stories from Wayside School
With Thanksgiving coming and going this week, it’s officially time for holiday shows to begin at area theaters. Know Theatre gets the jump this weekend with its regional premiere production of a quirky new script by John Olive, adapted from children’s books by Louis Sachar about the fictional Wayside School. The family-friendly show is about…
‘A Labor of Love’
CityBeat readers are being urged to “shop local” this holiday season and support Greater Cincinnati’s economy by supporting locally owned independent businesses. Everyone who pledges to spend at least $100 of their holiday gift purchases to “shop local” will be entered into a drawing for a prize package from participating businesses. More than 20 independent…
Events: Baby Alpaca Video Premiere
It’s not that the gently, lazy shimmering music of Baby Alpaca does not in itself evoke imagery of a dreamland through atmospheric layering of sounds and descriptive lyricism, but on Monday a fully realized video vision of the music will be premiered at the Contemporary Arts Center. The video takes fans and listeners to the…
12 Days of Christmas
We could call it KwaanaRamaHanuMas. Or just the holidays. This time of year casts a bright, if cold, light on the many traditions that converge in America. This multi-culturally sensitive, have-to-please-the-family, religiously radioactive material bursts chaotically into the mad dash, excessive shopping sprees and tightly-buttoned-to-the-neck shirts, gut-busting buffets or stuffing a massive Douglas Fir into…
The Truth About the Truth About Christmas
Every year CityBeat staffers gather ’round the Festivus Pole to discuss themes for the many fall and winter projects we undertake. From Halloween through New Year’s Eve we are busy gathering information on holidays that appear year after year, decade after decade, each time demanding renewed energy and creativity for people like us to produce…
Blue Christmas
The holidays are a stressful time for everyone, not just moms. Whether you’re freaking out about spending your pizza delivery money on gifts for your relatives at Wal-Mart, putting your hands in a turkey hole or bringing your partner around your uncle who hates gay people, things can get real Christmas Vacation real fast. And…
Comedy: Todd Yohn
As Conan O’Brien and Ronald McDonald have shown, very tall, animated redheads equal comedy gold. But, like O’Brien, comedian Todd Yohn has more than just ginger locks and a major height-advantage over Danny DeVito going for him. Yohn’s mix of physical comedy, stand-up, improv and amusing songs has led to appearances on HBO and Comedy…
Them Crooked Vultures, Paul McCartney, John Mayer, Wingdale Community Singers and We All Have Hooks for Hands
Taking a break from my month-long kidney adventures (and they’re getting more adventurous, believe you me), I ventured out Nov. 14 to experience “Man of Music,” Tebbe Farrell’s lovely tribute to her longtime personal/professional partner Michael Riley at the Clifton Cultural Arts Center. The music portion of the evening was DJ’d by Michael himself —…
Taking Back Christmas
Be forewarned, all ye who dare to enter: It’s time for me to play the role of that crotchety old bastard, Scrooge, in service of finding the truth and reclaiming a good time. It’s a safe bet that anyone reading an issue of CityBeat already is old enough and cynical enough to know there’s no…
God Bless Them Every One!
It’s the time of year when theaters hope to strike holiday gold with shows that will deliver lots of ticket revenue — enough to provide the funds needed for the second half of their seasons. The hands-down winner, of course, is Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, the patron saint of balanced theater budgets. Since 1991…
Siam Orchid (Review)
Siam Orchid was one of the most exciting places to dine in Alexandria, patronized by a steady stream of Northern Kentucky University students who longed for something more exotic than the Spare Time Grill. Not that there’s anything wrong with a short stack of pancakes at the Spare Time! But sometimes, you just want to…
Music: psychodots with The Tempers
The amazing local Power Pop trio psychodots hasn’t been a “full-time” band for several years, but Ohio fans always know that, come Thanksgiving, they’ll have a chance or two to catch ‘em. The group’s annual shows (by the band’s account, this will be the 666th) happen Wednesday at Canal Street Tavern in Dayton (canalstreettavern.com) and…
Music: Rosemary Device
On Wednesday night at Covington’s Mad Hatter, local Rock foursome Rosemary Device celebrates the release of its self-titled debut CD. Openers for the Thanksgiving Eve show are The Brothers and The Sisters, Famous Mr. Nobodies, The Lions Rampant and Crashing Plains. Rosemary Device formed when guitarist Brett Scharf — then trying to keep his band…
Music: Chuck Prophet
Chuck Prophet — the Petty-with-an-edge Americana singer/songwriter/guitarist — has a new CD out, Let Freedom Ring!, which features his imagistic, sometimes-gripping and sometimes-humorous impressions of hard living in a recession-gripped America. The songs are given a stripped-down Rock-quartet sound, a result of recording in a Mexico City studio with 1950s-era equipment. Overall, the album plays…
Sensible Season
Feasting with family and friends doesn’t have to mean facing holiday weight gain this year. Planning ahead and including few simple substitutions will make your upcoming celebrations both happy and healthy (without sacrificing flavor) for everyone sharing your season. To lighten up the traditional holiday fare found on most Cincinnati tables, I asked 20-year nutrition…
Music: Tommy Castro
Tommy Castro is one of those guys who's been around so long and has so many incredible affiliations it’s astonishing he’s not a household name. The San Jose, Calif., native began playing guitar at 10 and drew inspiration from every permutation of the Blues (Chicago, electric, Soul, West Coast, as well as classic ’60s Rock),…
Caldwell Park
Key At-A-Glance Information Length: 2.78 milesConfiguration: Series of loopsDifficulty: ModerateScenery: Woods, valleys, and streamsExposure: ShadedTraffic: Moderate-heavyTrail Surface: SoilHiking Time: 1-1.5 hoursDriving Distance: 20 minutes from downtown CincinnatiSeason: Year-roundAccess: 6 a.m. – 10 p.m.Maps: USGS Cincinnati East; Caldwell Park MapWheelchair Accessible: NoFacilities: Nature center when open.For More Information: Caldwell Preserve Nature Center, (513) 761-4313 or www.cincinnati-oh.gov/cityparks…
CityBeat Podcast 37: Horror Films
On this episode we discuss the horror genre and horror films with Michael Gross, Tom Savini, Corbin Bernsen, Jill Whitlow, Tom Atkins and Courtney Gains. Recorded at the HorrorHound convention in Cincinnati on Nov. 22. —- If you like what you hear, please support our podcast by subscribing to our podcast in iTunes or via…
