When Facts Get in the Way of a Good Story
One of our least edifying quadrennial rites is the news media’s gleeful pounce on some defamatory rumors about a candidate. That a given rumor wasn’t verified before publishing is moot; too many facts can sink a good story. Usually, these prurient enterprises are accompanied by journalistic and legal ass-covering: The rumors we’re spreading probably aren’t…
Critic’s Pick: Cincy Shakes brings Anne Frank’s moving words to life
Anne Frank, age 13, started a diary while she and her family became refugees from the Nazi regime in a cramped Amsterdam attic. Silence was the rule of life between 1942 and 1944 at 263 Prinsengracht, a serious challenge for the sweet, talkative girl who was teased as “Miss Quack-Quack” by her school classmates. Instead,…
Sound Advice: Haley Bonar with The Hiders (Sept. 16)
Haley Bonar isn’t exactly a household name, but it’s not from lack of effort on her part. Since 2001, Bonar has compiled a catalog of 12 full-lengths/EPs/singles as a solo act, plus two more with her band, Gramma’s Boyfriend. The connecting threads in Bonar’s work are drawn from an incredible breadth of musical history, including…
Sound Advice: Patty Larkin with Iain Matthews (Sept. 15)
It’s been an incomprehensible 31 years since Patty Larkin’s debut album, 1985’s Step Into the Light, but the real focus should be placed on everything she has accomplished in the interim and not merely on the first step of her incredible adventure. Larkin’s musical path began with Classical piano lessons at age 7, followed by…
Sound Advice: Andrew Bird with Gabriel Kahane (Sept. 14)
It seems like Andrew Bird has been around forever. Sure, he’s been on the cultural radar for 20 years now — first as a contributor to the Squirrel Nut Zippers, then through his current run as a prolific solo artist — but it probably has more to do with the timeless nature of his music,…
R.I.P. Ed Moss, 1940-2016
Cincinnati Jazz icon Ed Moss passed away on Sept. 9. He was 75. The pianist was a West Virginia native who began playing in Cincinnati while commuting between Huntington and Indiana University, where, at 20, he was serving a fellowship. Moss eventually settled in Cincinnati and opened several clubs and restaurants (he also had a…
Morning News: Can 500,000 people fit in two streetcars? Let’s try it!; Duke sizes down pipeline plan; Sharonville fire chief caught with sex worker, still getting paid by city
Hello Cincy. It’s morning news time. Well, you’ve probably heard by now, but more than 50,000 people rode the streetcar its inaugural weekend. The rides were free, of course, and the number probably isn’t a reliable forecast for future performance, but it’s still a measure of the excitement the transit project has drummed up. The…
The Kills remain as committed as ever to their version of classic Rock & Roll
Jamie Hince and Alison Mosshart, the long-running creative duo behind The Kills, remain as committed as ever to their version of classic Rock & Roll. The band’s latest album, Ash & Ice, again hinges on Mosshart’s impassioned, upfront vocals and Hince’s elemental guitar lines, a melding that’s as recognizable as it is timeless. Yet in…
St. Vincent de Paul looks to expand to better serve clients, but concerns linger about more social services in the West End
Plans to expand a major facility operated by one of Cincinnati’s oldest and largest social service agencies in the West End could mean better care for some of the city’s lowest-income residents. But they’ve also awakened old controversies in a neighborhood with a long history of hosting such services as it plans for its future.…
U.S. Supreme Court: No Golden Week Voting in Ohio
The U.S. Supreme Court today rebuffed an appeal by Ohio Democrats seeking to restore the state’s Golden Week provisions, which allowed opportunities for same-day registration and voting for Ohioans. That means opponents have exhausted legal avenues for challenging the Ohio legislature’s removal of the voting opportunities. The court did not comment on the ruling, and…
Minimum Gauge: Lady Gaga fans set up “soccer mom” accounts to game new single airplay
HOT: Soccer Monsters A Lady Gaga fan site devised a curious tactic to help their favorite singer’s new single get radio play. To give the appearance that the song “Perfect Illusion” was thrilling more than just Gaga die-hards, the site told fans to create fake Twitter accounts with “soccer mom selfie” avatars and bios that…
Concerts and Clubs Listings (Sept. 14-20)
Wednesday 14 Arnold’s Bar and Grill – Todd Hepburn. 7 p.m. Blues/Jazz/Various. Free. Bella Luna – RMS Band. 7 p.m. Soft Rock/Jazz. Free. Blind Lemon – Brian Goins. 8 p.m. Acoustic. Free. *Bogart’s – GWAR with Crowbar and Mutoid Man. 8 p.m. Rock/Metal. $20. Century Inn Restaurant – Paul Lake. 7 p.m. Pop/Rock/Jazz/Oldies/Various. Free. Jag’s…
Nuns Rally Against Voter Purges in Hamilton County
Accompanied by a brass band and singing “Joshua Fought the Battle of Jericho,” a group of Cincinnati nuns gathered outside the Hamilton County Board of Elections Sept. 13 to protest Ohio policies that have purged hundreds of thousands of voters from its voter registration rolls. The nuns, members of Cincinnati’s Nuns on the Bus chapter,…
Morning News: Judge rules in Mahogany’s case; Kaine visits Cincy; Bevin talks bloodshed
Hey Cincy. Here’s a quick rundown of the news today. Former Mahogany’s owner Liz Rogers owes the city $108,000, a Hamilton County Common Pleas Court judge has ruled. Like some other restaurants, Rogers received a $300,000 loan and a $684,000 grant from the city to open her soul food restaurant at The Banks. But the…
Theatrical Freaks and Geeks
Call them what you will — misfits, oddballs, even freaks and geeks — but characters who operate beyond the norms of everyday society make for compelling stories. Amusing or thought provoking, such tales are opportunities to explore alternative visions of how life could (and perhaps should) be lived. Two examples, both of which are Critic’s…
Hamilton County Democratic chairman calls for an end to county prosecutor’s part-time status
Tim Burke, chairman of the Hamilton County Democratic Party, is calling for the end of Joe Deters’ rein as a part-time prosecutor who has boosted his compensation immensely as a private attorney since 2009. Burke issued the statement in response to the CityBeat article, “Hamilton County’s part-time prosecutor,” that ran Sept. 7. The article detailed…
Miller Lite Who Dey Deck
CityBeat is giving away Bengals tickets to the Miller Lite Who Dey Deck! Join us at the following locations where you can enter for your chance to win. Tickets will be given away that night on location. Tickets include entry into the game on the Miller Lite Who Dey Deck as well as complimentary beverages…
Morning News: Flynn floats non-rail streetcar expansion idea; officer involved in alleged CPD DUI coverup dismissed; Hartmann’s change of heart on Trump
Hey all. Here’s a brief rundown of your news today. So, did you ride the streetcar? I hopped on Friday for the media preview after hearing 15 speakers, including streetcar opponent Mayor John Cranley, give speeches for its official launch. Cranley mostly played nice, spending his time on stage touting the city’s wider revitalization. Many…
Stage Door: All Aboard for Theater
Think about it: With the streetcar (now officially and corporately dubbed the Cincinnati Bell Connector) making a stop at Vine and 12th streets in Over-the-Rhine, you have an easy ride to Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati from anywhere else along the 3.6 mile-loop. For example, you can park in a Riverfront garage, have dinner at the Moerlein…
Morning News: Council passes raises, now what?; Streetcar launches; Trump woos the ladies
Good morning all. It’s Friday. But it’s also grey and rainy, so really it’s like the equivalent of a sunny Wednesday. Eh, I’ll take it. Let’s talk news while we wait for it to dry up, shall we? It’s been a long, strange ride, but here we are. The official launch of the Cincinnati streetcar……
Morning News: Strickland stumps in Cincy; Lytle Park plans scaled back; what is Aleppo?
Heya Cincy. Let’s talk news. Former Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland, the Democratic contender in the state’s big Senate race, will appear in Cincinnati today as part of a statewide tour discussing his record helping working families, according to a release from Ohio Democratic Party. Strickland will appear at 10 a.m. at Smale Riverfront Park with…
‘Complete Unknown’ is an intimate high-wire act
Who hasn’t considered stepping away from the lives we find ourselves in? The daydream washes over us while we’re at work or waiting in line at a coffee shop. Maybe it comes from seeing someone — an intriguing figure wearing surgical scrubs, perhaps? — who makes us wonder what it would be like to stride…
Cincinnati Improv Festival continues to grow
Cincinnati has had a successful Fringe Festival for experimental theater and performance art since 2003, and now another indie stage festival is finding an audience in Cincinnati: the lesser-known Improv Festival of Cincinnati. Organized by OTRimprov and held at Over-the-Rhine’s Know Theatre, it is in its third year and growing. This year’s IF Cincy event…
Playhouse season opens with ‘Owen Meany’
John Irving is a significant American novelist. He first found recognition with The World According to Garp (1978) and continued with a string of comic but philosophical novels featuring quirky characters, coincidences and twists of fate that have charmed readers. His reputation culminated with 1989’s A Prayer for Owen Meany. Cincinnati Playhouse Artistic Director Blake…
Alan Rath’s groundbreaking art mixes electronics with traditional sculpture
Alan Rath, acclaimed for his art combining sculpture with computer-animated still photographs of body parts, has a provocative view on the barrier between humans and machines. It’s permeable. “Machinery is evolving and becoming more lifelike as it becomes more complex,” he says by phone from his Oakland, Calif. studio. The Cincinnati-born artist, whose work is…
Race, Poverty and 52 Neighborhoods
You know what we don’t talk openly about in this town? The connection between race and poverty. You know what else we don’t talk about? How our 52 neighborhoods and their structure of governance contributes to segregation. You know why we don’t talk about these things? Because they make people uncomfortable. But being uncomfortable is…
Covington’s House of Grill offers an authentic taste of Iran
Back when I was a little half-Persian kid, I would have rather died than bring my immigrant grandmother’s painstakingly prepared, Old Country meals to school. Persian food was weird looking and the names were even weirder — I would rather have had Lunchables and maintained some shred of playground respect. It’s too bad, because maybe…
Bellevue’s new Darkness Brewing will appeal to even the pickiest drinkers
Have you ever walked into a bar and immediately felt like you were a character on How I Met Your Mother? The beer is dark and delicious, everyone is laughing at something hilarious the bartender said and that one song by your favorite band you thought no one else had ever heard of is playing…
Sound Advice: David Shaw’s Big River Get Down with The Revivalists, The Wild Feathers, The Marcus King Band and more (Sept. 10)
Last year, Hamilton, Ohio native and Revivalists frontman David Shaw founded the Big River Get Down, a one-day music festival intended to celebrate the city’s civic pride, display the beautiful RiversEdge Amphitheater and to benefit the city itself. This year’s second-annual BRGD will again feature Shaw’s Revivalists as headliners (and an acoustic set by Shaw…
Local Musicians Hitting the Road
It seems like lately more and more musicians from Greater Cincinnati are hitting the road for extensive tour runs. Here are a few who are either getting ready for big trips or are already in the midst of their travels: • Hard-rockin’ Cincinnati crew Ohio Knife is gearing up for its debut full-length release and,…
‘My Woman’ finds Angel Olsen expanding as an artist and aiming for the unexpected
Angel Olsen’s voice is an uncommonly expressive instrument — subtle and intimate one minute, big and raw the next. Her lyrics are just as distinctive — they’re evocative and personal without being too literal. The Missouri’s native’s full-length debut, 2012’s Half Way Home, featured an impressive array of gothic-tinged Folk songs, which brought to mind…
Joe Deters’ nearly eight years of practicing law on the side has led to ethical wormholes
With elections two months away, Hamilton County prosecutor Joe Deters is again asking voters to renew his hold on a job that he has treated as a part-time gig for almost eight years running. Deters has been the county’s top law enforcement officer on and off since 1992, continuously since 2005. The fact that he’s…
