Groundhog Day… or Groundhog Month?

February is just around the corner… and if you look around that corner you might see a few band vans headed your way. Maybe even a tour bus or three.

You might even spot a tour Winnebago.

We covered this weekend’s shows in last week’s post, but just in case you were stricken with a serious case of Bengal Fever and missed it, here’s a recap:

Tonight:

• Ana Popovic plays Ludlow Garage
• Hyryder plays Annie’s
• Knotts are at MOTR
• Ben Levin is at BrewRiver
• Alice Cooper plays the Icon.

Saturday:

• The Wombats play Ovation
• .38 Special plays the Hard Rock
• Buckcherry and The Lacs are at Annie’s
• String Theory plays Wiedemann’s
• Ben Levin is at Japp’s
• [The Big Mountain show at Ludlow Garage has been postponed. Which just goes to show that you can move a Big Mountain if you put your mind to it.]

Sunday:

• Railroad Earth plays the Madison Theater.
• The Cincinnati Bengals play the Kansas City Chiefs. Playoff football, NBD.

The week ahead is kinda desolate. Julia Jacklin was slated to play Madison Live on Monday, but that gig has been cancelled. It’s like a pre-Groundhog Day Groundhog Day.

Speaking of our ol’ pal Punxsutawney Phil and his special day, Ben Levin plays the Hard Rock Cafe on Wednesday. And in true Groundhog Day fashion, he’s got a few other gigs this week… just like he does every week. You can see the entire list on Ben’s website. (No word on whether he’ll play a cover of “I Got You Babe.”)

The mighty fine band called Country Westerns will be at MOTR on Thursday. (Hey, do they drive a Winnebago too?) The Hiders duo opens the show. I hope to make that gig, but it’ll be a game day decision, given the late set time and my advanced age. (I might be too tired from playing pickleball and/or shooing kids off my lawn and/or yelling at a cloud.)

Next Friday you can watch Garage Doors…

Wait, check that, it’s actually a Doors tribute at the Ludlow Garage.

Next Saturday, Brother Moses (a rock band from… Arkansas!) plays the Southgate House’s Revival Room, and The Fighting Side and Wonky Tonk play a free show in the Southgate Lounge. Over on the Ohio side of the river, Tom the Torpedoes, a Tom Petty tribute band, is at the Redmoor.

Big show next Sunday: The War on Drugs at Ovation in Newport. List member Mighty Joe Sampson and I will be there. You should be too.

Watch This

Superchunk’s video for their new song “This Night” is a homage to the Replacements’ videos of yore.

Read This

Longtime Cincinnati arts journalist Steven Rosen has a new book called Lost Cincinnati Concert Venues of the ’50s and ’60s : From the Surf Club to Ludlow Garage. Read more here and order the book on Steven’s website. (Thanks to list member Jay Stowe for the story.)

The Words of the (Chuck) Prophet

And even if there’s a lot of political noise out there, and people who have strong opinions about things like science and religion, the stage remains my church and my job is to bring a group of strangers together and make them into a community for 90 minutes or so. If they don’t agree with every word that comes out of my mouth, that’s cool. Hell, if they don’t like every chord, that’s okay too. All I know is that they all left the house and had to find a place to park and they have to decide how much alcohol it’s okay to drink to be a responsible citizen or just not to get a DUI and have to sit in traffic school and endure the jokes of failed comedians. It’s because of those folks that I’m not one of those guys teaching at traffic school myself.

(Sign up for Chuck’s always entertaining and often enlightening newsletter on his website.)

The Words of the Podcast

The latest episode of the “97X Rumblings from the Big Bush” podcast features an interview with former 97X weekend DJ Jeff Rohrs, who talks about polka music, mispronouncing an artist’s name, bands he loved, and that time it rained on stage at Bogart’s during a Violent Femmes show.

You can listen to every episode of the podcast on pretty much every major podcasting platform (Spotify, Apple podcasts, Podbean, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, etc.) I don’t like to brag, but in 2021, “97X Rumblings from the Big Bush” was the 27th-fastest growing podcast about defunct radio stations. Take that, Joe Rogan! Oh, and take this too! (not a link to ivermectin)

Album Cover of the Week