Concert review

June’s tunes

Concert Listings, Concert review, Music

It’s June!

June is chock-full o’ live tunes. And that’s no jive!

Let’s get into it.

Tonight, American Aquarium plays the Southgate, with Justin Wells as the opener. I’ll be at that gig.

Eric Johanson is at Ludlow Garage… not Eric Johnson as listed in my last post. Can’t believe I confused those two guitarists… it’s like that time I called Jim Hagar Jon Hagar at the Hee Haw convention.

On Tuesday, Alison Krauss & Union Station (featuring Jerry Douglas) will be at the PNC Pavilion.

This Wednesday is WEENsday at The Columbia (4311 Eastern Avenue). They’ll be spinning The Mollusk and it’s BYOB. But they supply crayons.

Wednesday shows include Kids that Fly and Belle Blue at the Woodward, and CFG & Family at the Fountain Square “Fountain Blues” free series. (The full summer lineup is here.)

Thursday:

  • Brent Cobb plays Southgate, with Chloe Kimes opening
  • Los Lonely Boys are at Ludlow Garage
  • Ray Vietti & Jeremy Short play the freebie “Roots Revival” show at Washington Park (6-9 p.m.) The full series lineup is here.
  • The Liberty Theater has a free Songwriters in the Round with Andrew Hibbard, Anthony Ray Wright and Emilie Clepper
  • The Turkeys play a free show at the Behringer Crawford Museum in Devou Park

There are a slew o’ shows this Friday:

  • Blonde Redhead plays the Woodward with Squirrel Flower
  • The Secret Sisters are at Memorial Hall
  • Clay Street Unit and Bronwyn Keith-Hynes play a free show at RiversEDGE in Hamilton
  • Jake Speed & the Freddies play a freebie at Sawyer Point
  • The Levitt Pavilion in Dayton has a freebie show with the REO Classics Band (featuring Terry Luttrell, the original lead singer for REO Speedwagon)
  • Ludlow Garage features a Van Morrison tribute show (not a Jim Morrison tribute show… )

Please note: Friday is June 6th… during the dark of the moon, anyone over the age of 60 is required to fire up their CB radio and alert Rubber Duck and Pigpen about any police presence.

On Saturday, the Ludlow Garage has the Hot Red Chili Peppers… NOT the Red Hot Chili Peppers (or the Red Hot Chili Pipers)

Other Saturday shows:

  • Teddy Swims plays the outdoor stage at the Marsha Brady
  • My Brother’s Keeper has an album release show at the Liberty Theater
  • Joe’s Truck Stop, The Local Honeys, The Montvales and several other bands play the “Gemini Jam” at Southgate
  • Soul Pocket plays the Fountain Square freebie gig
  • Gavin DeGraw and Colbie Caillat are at the Fraze
  • The Levitt hosts the Dayton Pride Afterparty featuring Molly Grace

Also, on Saturday and Sunday, the Woodward Theater screens Pavements, the weird and wild movie about Pavement.

Oh, and Saturday also is the grand opening of Jukebox in the Deerfield Towne Center.

Jukebox is America’s first custom sparkling beverage studio, where creativity meets refreshment. We mix premium ingredients, fresh flavors, and endless customization options to craft beverages that are as unique as you.

The dude behind Jukebox is list member Jay Scherger, who left his gig in corporate America to add more flavor to your life with a “quirky cocktail bar without the cocktails.” Read more in Cincinnati Magazine and and CityBeat. Check it out… you may hear a familiar voice doing some promo breaks between songs on the in-house sound system.

On Sunday, Avril Lavigne plays her Greatest Hits tour with Simple Plan and We The Kings supporting, Valley Maker is at MOTR, and David Spade does standup at the Taft.

On Tuesday, June 10:

  • Barenaked Ladies, Guster, and Fastball play the PNC Pavilion
  • Buddy Guy plays the Taft with Eric Gales opening
  • Taj Mahal and Keb’ Mo’ are at the Rose in Dayton

Shows on Wednesday, June 11:

  • Counting Crows and Gaslight Anthem at the Fraze
  • Honey Island Swamp Band at the Ludlow Garage
  • Leroy Ellington plays the Fountain Square freebie

Thursday, June 12:

  • Mt. Joy plays the outdoor stage at the Ovation in Newport
  • Sunny Sweeney and Cam Pierce are at Southgate
  • The Lost Bridge Beverage Co. in North Bend hosts the 2nd Thursday live broadcast of BlackFork Radio
  • Ludlow Garage has Close Enemies, featuring Aerosmith bassist Tom Hamilton
  • Washington Park has another Roots Revival show… performers are TBD (that’s not a band…)
  • Travis Tritt plays the old Annie’s

Friday, June 13 has a full slate:

  • Band of Horses plays the Lawrenceburg Event Center
  • The Dave Matthews Band will make their annual stop at Riverbend
  • Motherfolk and Moonbeau play the Woodward
  • Augustana is at Ludlow Garage
  • Thee Sinseers and The Altons (retro soul/R&B) play a free concert at RiversEDGE in Hamilton
  • Kyle Eldridge & the Kentucky Cowhands play the freebie at the Levitt in Dayton

On Saturday, June 14, an enterprising young band called The Collies plays the back patio at the Anderson Township Pub from 7-10 p.m. I’ve heard their music (mostly rock covers, with a few originals) many, many times… because they practice in my son Gabriel’s room. (He’s the drummer.)

Stop by and check ’em out. I’ll buy you a beer.

Then tell your friends, because right now my retirement plan consists of hoping The Collies make it big.

Other shows on 6/14:

  • Tab Benoit plays the Taft
  • Buddy Guy is at the Rose
  • Houndmouth will be at the Ovation
  • Coastal Club, Mosant, and Deaf Andrews are at the Madison Theater
  • Boney James plays Ludlow Garage

On Sunday, June 15:

  • The Wallflowers play Bogart’s
  • Laurelview Ramblers are at the Lost Bridge Beverage Co.
  • Lynyrd Skynyrd (featuring ZERO original members) plays the Rose

We love it live!

The bad news: Wild Pink was a late scratch from the IndieCraft festival lineup in Springfield, Ohio.

The good news: No dogs or cats were eaten during the festival.

The better news: Aaron Lee Tasjan did two sets to cover for Wild Pink, and Snarls absolutely crushed it during their outdoor set.

Thanks to a ticket from Ken “The Lobby Boy” Laube (catch him on Inhailer Radio Fridays from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m.) I caught Night 2 of The Magnetic Fields doing 69 Love Songs at Memorial Hall. I’m pretty sure it’s the first show I’ve seen where all the band members were seated, but the set was stellar.

The Cereal Killers killed it at Big Ash Brewing. It was great to see so many list members in attendance for that gig: Whit, Barb, Dan R., Dan B., Mike, John, Dave, Phil, Aron… A great evening of music – here’s hoping for another CK gig soon!

It was great hanging out with the Inhailer Radio crew (and list members Amy, Ken, and David) at Hi-Wire Brewing on Memorial Day during their Indie 500 countdown.

This past Wednesday, I went up to Cleveland to catch The Tubs opening up for The Wedding Present at The Grog Shop. I’m so glad I made the long drive – both bands were outstanding!

Hot ticket alert

Emma Swift is playing an Undertow show in Cincinnati on Tuesday, August 5th. You can get your tickets here. I can neither CONFIRM nor deny that the venue will be The Columbia (home of WEENsdays).

At least one D2 has talent!

Congrats to list member Dale Doyle (the OG D2) for his fantastic design work on Matt Berninger’s new solo album, which came out Friday.

At least one (former) Foo Fighter has a sense of humor

Josh Freese was relieved of his drummer duties, but he seems to be taking it in stride. Here’s his IG post from the next day:

Take me to the RiversEDGE… and you’ll Levitt in Dayton

Hamilton’s free summer concert lineup is below. And the outdoor stage is just a stone’s throw an empty beer can’s throw from Municipal Brew Works too!

And here’s the lineup for the free concerts at the Levitt Pavilion in Dayton – highlights include Chuck Prophet, Robbie Fulks, Carlene Carter, Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band, Say She She, Eilen Jewel, and Sinkane. You can BYOB (cans) too!

Out with the old (music), in with the new

Music historian Ted Gioia talks about the challenges of today’s music biz (accent on the “biz” part) in The Atlantic:

But there’s hope for the future:

The full article is here.

Punk’s not dead, it just moved to Tennessee

Article is here.

Album Cover(s) of the Week(s)

Glenn is trying to hoodwink us. That woman doesn’t want to “share his life” – she has been abducted by Glenn and taken out to international waters.

The Devil IS real, and his name is Glenn Yarbrough, the kidnapper.

Tunes in bloom

97X, Concert Listings, Concert review, Music, podcast

Those April showers are a distant memory. They’ve been replaced by May pollen.

But plenty of live tunes are in bloom too, including a rare Cereal Killers show. Let’s get into it!

Tonight, you can catch Cockburn at Memorial Hall.

Oops, my bad, the video above is Frank Cockburn. It’s Bruce Cockburn who is playing Memorial Hall this evening.

Other shows tonight include:

  • The Arcadian Wild w/ River & Rail at the Woodward
  • Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass at the Taft
  • Ovation is hosting a Clown show. I hear there will be lots of jugglers there. Oops, my bad. Juggalos.

Tomorrow night, the Smoking Popes will be at Madison Live. They’re from Chicago, just like the white smoke Pope!

Also, Lettuce and GZA from the Wu-Tang Clan will be co-headlining a show at the Taft.

And Dave Mason brings his “Let it Flow 2025 Tour” to Memorial Hall. It sounds a little something like this:

On Thursday, you can choose Furious Bongos (Ludlow Garage) or Napalm Death (Bogarts, with The Melvins).

Or you can chill out with the Farm Jam at Lost Bridge Beverage Company (North Bend, OH), featuring Sean Geil of the Tillers. And Liberty Theater has the Tray Wellington Band with Adam Gilliam.

Tray Wellington Band is a high energy progressive bluegrass band, led by IBMA award winner Tray Wellington. This band continues to push themselves musically to draw on the influences that continue to shape their musical mold.

Oh, and Jim Gaffigan kicks off six shows over the course of four days at the Taft.

This Friday and Saturday, Springfield will be the center of the musical universe.

Springfield, Ohio is hosting a FREE music festival called IndieCraft. Here’s the lineup:

Wild Pink and Aaron Lee Tasjan for free? You’re damn right I’ll be there Saturday!

(I like what I’ve heard from Snarls too. And I’ll be there in time for The Back Alley – the ticket price is right.)

Shows a bit closer to home (unless you live in Springfield) Friday evening:

  • Tommy Prine plays Southgate with Conrad Moore and Jordan Lee King
  • Rachel Baiman is at Liberty Theater with Maggie Noëlle of Magnolia Boulevard
  • Ben Levin plays Arnold’s
  • Alex Salcido (of The Harmed Brothers) plays Lost Bridge Beverage Co. in North Bend
  • Ludlow Garage has FJ: a tribute to Foreigner AND Journey featuring Constantine Maroulis (“sixth-place finalist on American Idol season 4!”)

For some strange reason, you see a lot of FJ band fans on the golf course.

And the Madison Theater has Kid Kentucky and the American Badass Band… yes, that’s a Kid Rock Tribute. Or you can go to the waste treatment plant on Kellogg Avenue near Lunken Airport for free. Potato/Po-tah-toe.

Speaking of punchable faces, Truist Arena (NKU) has Gutfield Live on Saturday.

And here’s the list of shows that actually will be entertaining on Saturday:

  • The aforementioned freebie Wild Pink, Aaron Lee Tasjan, Snarls show in Springfield
  • JJ Grey & Mofro w/ The Marshall Tucker Band on the lawn outside the Hard Rock Casino
  • Jeffrey Osborne at Ludlow Garage
  • Plazmatic album release show with Electric Indigo and Cousins at the Woodward
  • Hyryder (Grateful Dead tribute) at the Madison Theater

On Sunday, The String Cheese Incident and The Wood Brothers play the Rose Music Center, and Travis Talbert will be at the Lost Bridge Beverage Co.

On Monday and/or Tuesday, you can be part of a massive 69 at Memorial Hall.

The Magnetic Fields will be performing their 1999 triple album masterpiece 69 Love Songs in its entirety over those two nights.

Also on Monday:

  • A Place to Bury Strangers, The Serfs, and The Mall play Northside Tavern
  • The Toasters play Southgate

Next Wednesday, May 21, the always progressive, cutting edge lineup of shows at Riverbend kicks off with… (checks list)… Billy Idol and Joan Jett & the Blackhearts. Who needs the Bill & Ted phone booth when you can just buy a ticket to a Riverbend show?

Next Friday, Dark Star Jubilee weekend kicks off in Legend Valley (nee Buckeye Lake):

Other shows on Friday, May 23:

  • Blues singer Carolyn Wonderland plays Southgate’s main room with Scotty Bratcher opening
  • Angela Perley and Hello June are upstairs in the Southgate Revival Room
  • Ricky Nye Inc. plays the Southgate Lounge for free
  • Hunter Root plays the Liberty Theater in Lawrenceburg, Indiana
  • The Ben Levin Quartet plays The 1931 (at the Hilton Netherland downtown)

On Saturday, May 24, it’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for: The Cereal Killers play Big Ash Brewing!

Regular readers* of this…uh, whatever the heck this is… know that I’m cuckoo for CK and their amazing repertoire of classic punk, new wave, power pop, and just plain damn fine songs. It’s like a 97X Modern Rock 500 come to life!

*all 3 of them

Cereal Killers gigs have been as rare as hen’s teeth over the past several months. They are the local band equivalent of a century plant:

Some flowers are so rare and extraordinary that they bloom just once in a lifetime—or even once in a century! These plants may require decades of patience, but when they finally burst into bloom, the display is nothing short of spectacular.**

Rare and extraordinary? Check. Decades of patience? Well, maybe just months, but it feels like decades. “The display is nothing short of spectacular” is 100% accurate!

As usual, I’ll be offering my “first beer’s on me” guarantee that this show will be time well spent. Just present this voucher (which I totally did NOT steal from some unsuspecting artist on the interwebs) on your phone and I will buy your first beer.  

**it should be noted that although I compared the Cereal Killers to a plant that blooms only rarely, I am NOT comparing them to the corpse plant, whose unique aroma when it blooms every 7-10 years has been described as “smelling like cheese, garlic, smelly feet, diapers, or rotten fish.”

Other Saturday shows that you won’t be attending because you’ll be at Big Ash drinking free beer and rocking out to great tunes:

  • North by Northside kicks off a two-night run at the Northside Tavern
  • Carriers have an album release show at the Woodward with Gardener and Dyan
  • Maria, etc. has an album release show at the Liberty Theater with Anna Applegate
  • Brit Floyd “Wish You Were Here” 50th anniversary show at the Rose – it’s sold out, but fear not, you can catch the same band on the same tour at the same venue in August…

On Sunday, 5/25, Kinda Grassy plays Lost Bridge (Carriage House Farm).

Monday, May 26 is Memorial Day, a day when we pay tribute to fallen soldiers… typically by grilling hot dogs at the pool.

The Garcia Project (Jerry Garcia Band tribute) plays the Woodward on Tuesday, May 27.

On Wednesday, May 28, I’ll be motoring up to Cleveland to catch The Wedding Present and The Tubs at the Grog Shop.

Peelander-Z and Penfold’s Revenge play Southgate that evening too.

Young Widows play the Woodward on Thursday, May 29 with Kowloon Walled City and Fotocrime on the undercard. And Stanley Clarke kicks off a two-night stand at Ludlow Garage.

Midwest Fest kicks off on Friday, May 30.

Other shows on Friday, May 30:

  • Casey Campbell plays Lost Bridge Beverage Co.
  • Nikka Costa is at the Woodward
  • Dallas Moore w/ Pure Grain at the Liberty Theater
  • Taft Theatre has An Evening with Jon Stewart… it’s sold out

Wrapping up the month, Italian guitar phenom Matteo Mancusco plays Ludlow Garage on Saturday, May 31.  

American Aquarium plays the Southgate House on Sunday, June 1, with Justin Wells opening. I plan to hit that show. Eric Johnson is at Ludlow Garage that same night.

We love it live!

Ken “Lobby Boy” Laube, his friend Suzanne and I went up to Columbus to see Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds on 5/2. What a show! Our seats were pretty far back on the main floor, but we bum-rushed the stage during the 2nd song and stayed there for the duration of the gig. Nick’s a live wire!

List member couples Rico & Ashley and Jay & Alyssa also were in attendance. Nick loves us all.

“When I tell the audience that I love them, the sentiment is entirely true. I feel an emotional transaction with the crowd that is powerful and profoundly intimate. I stand before you all – strangers – witnessing you both individually and collectively, and sense an unbounded love. This love is true. It is not symbolic, metaphorical, or platitudinous. I see before me a group of human beings, precarious and vulnerable, granted a brief time on this earth, each filled with a shocking potential for beauty and terror, good and evil, and with the extraordinary capacity to give and receive love. At that moment, love is the appropriate response.”

From Nick’s Red Hand Files: https://www.theredhandfiles.com/how-can-you-love-a-total-stranger/

True to his word, “Disco Dan” Lewis was at the Son Volt show, along with his friends John W. (also a list member) and Steve (the voice of “The Oasis” – the station that is now on 97.7 FM… I remember that frequency!).

Other list members in attendance: Dan Bockrath, Gene Dow, Mark Morse, Tim Morse, Andy B., Tom W. and Jamie. Dan Bockrath summed up the show quite nicely:

Fantastic show from Son Volt at The Ludlow Garage. Bumped into many longtime music friends at the gig. Up close and personal for a career spanning set. Amazing!

Meanwhile, list member Kevin Sullivan snuck down to Nashville to catch Lucy Dacus at the Ryman:

An updated version of the 97X Modern Rock 500… with a new spin!

Inhailer Radio (catch Ken “Lobby Boy” Laube Fridays 11a-3p!) is doing an updated version of the old 97X Modern Rock 500, counting down the top 500 indie songs over Memorial Day Weekend.

And this year, they’re expanding the list of songs and extending the listening window with “qualifying laps”:

If you tune in to the 500, you might just catch your ol’ pals Dave and Damian doing a few breaks.

Shameless Self-Promotion (while also promoting the Indie 500)

Dave and I also interviewed Inhailer’s Music Director, Nils Illokken, about the station and this year’s countdown for a “very special episode” of our “97X Rumblings from the Big Bush” podcast. You can catch that episode on 97Xbam.com here, or on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Podbean, or any other podcast platform that hasn’t banned us yet.

Hot Ticket Alert

X and Los Lobos play the Rose Music Center on Sunday, September 21. They’re calling it the “99 Years of Rock ‘n Roll” tour.

I already have my ticket, courtesy of Steve “El Blanco” White.

The Sad Section

A heartfelt FB post from list member “The Lovely & Talented Elizabeth Cannon”:

Follow-up single “Spirit of ’76” — which Peters co-wrote, as he did for most of the band’s songs — recounted his early days of discovering punk rock and name-checks the likes of Johnny Rotter and Siouxsie Sioux.

“The song is about the most important time in my life,” Peters wrote in the program for the Strength tour. “I had my whole life mapped out before me and life seemed pretty unexciting. Then I saw bands like The Jam and The Buzzcocks and U2, and things and they really had an impact on my life. It gave me the courage to leave something behind and go out and try to build a new life for myself.”

From this article.

Here’s a shot of Mike Peters with Mr. K and Jetson from 97X, along with some fans (not pictured: The Lovely & Talented Elizabeth Cannon):

And R.I.P to singer/songwriter Jill Sobule, who died in a house fire.

Sobule was known for taking control of her career by fundraising so she could make her next album. In 2008, after two major record companies dumped her and two indie labels went bankrupt beneath her, she raised tens of thousands of dollars from fans so she could make a new album.

“The old kind of paradigm, where you’ve always waited for other people to do things, you’d have your manager and your agent,” she said at the time. “You’d wait for the big record company to give you money to do things and they tell you what to do. This is so great. I want to do everything like this.”

From this article.

Shortly before her death, Sobule had written and recorded a provocative song titled “J.D. Vance Is a C***” in collaboration with friends Michelle Lewis and Kay Hanley under the name Sugar Tits. The song, filled with biting satire and rhymes, quickly went viral on social media, thrusting Sobule back into the spotlight in her final days. It’s not radio-friendly. It’s not my best song, but it does get to the point.”

From this article. Her JD song is here.

Public Service Reminder for hipster parents of teens

Album Cover(s) of the Week(s)

There’s so much to love in this one. The outfits, of course. The amazing hairdo on the woman… or is that a beaver pelt? And best of all, the band name that’s illegible on that busy background. But we don’t need to read that! Everybody who is anybody knows that’s Johnny & Nadine Rexroat (and the Gospel Travelers).

“Great day for a hike! Let’s put on our best dresses and our white high heels and start ‘going through the land.’”

One response to “Tunes in bloom”

  1. Fred Avatar
    Fred

    “And the Madison Theater has Kid Kentucky and the American Badass Band… yes, that’s a Kid Rock Tribute. Or you can go to the waste treatment plant on Kellogg Avenue near Lunken Airport for free. Potato/Po-tah-toe. ”
    I was eating and almost spit out my food LOL

    Reply

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You MAY be entertained

Concert Listings, Concert review, Music

Geez, I was so busy going through my Signal chats that time got away from me and I missed a couple of days of Ye Olde Koncert Keeper. Well, they weren’t MY Signal chats, per se, but somehow I got included on them.

Maybe it’s a signal that I should stick to concert listings. Let’s take a look.

Saturday night:

  • Los Honchos play a free show in the Southgate House lounge
  • The Laurelys play at the Lost Bridge Beverage Co. (Carriage House Farm)
  • The Aristocrats are at Ludlow Garage
  • Madison Theater hosts Greggie & the Jets: A Tribute to Elton John

On Sunday, Joseph Huber and Sean Geil (The Tillers) play Southgate

Tuesday gigs:

  • Blues rocker Beth Hart plays the Bobby Brady
  • Memorial Hall hosts “Our House: The Music of CSNY”
  • Woodward Theater has Season to Risk, Sofa King, and Old City*

*Old City was the original name of Del Boca Vista

Thursday is May Day!

That evening:

  • The Mystery Lights (garage/psych band from Brooklyn) play the Woodward, with M. Ross Perkins and General Baxter also on the bill.
  • Tinfoil Hat Cowboys play a free gig in Southgate’s Lounge
  • Liberty Theater has a free Songwriters in the Round show with Dave Lacy and Jaden Decker
  • Lissie is at Ludlow Garage.

Lissie fun facts: Lissie has recently appeared in TV shows Twin Peaks and Loudermilk, as well as co-owns the music genre-themed popcorn company Otts Pops Indie Pop and is involved with land conservation.

Next Friday (May 2), you get Five for Fighting.

Uh, it’s the band Five for Fighting, not the hockey penalty. They’re at Ludlow Garage. Other shows that evening:

  • Mosant at Liberty Theater
  • Brie Salmena at Southgate
  • Runaway Gin (a band “inspired by Phish”) at the old Annie’s
  • Madison Theater has Jump: “America’s Van Halen Experience”

(I thought Van Halen was “America’s Van Halen Experience”… )

Shows next Saturday (May 3):

  • Camp Springs Tavern hosts “Jam on the Creek” with Ralph Martin, Dave Webster, South of Sin, and Northern Kentucky Derby
  • Michelle Robinson has an album release show at Liberty Theater
  • Noah Wotherspoon plays Fretboard in Blue Ash
  • Dead Centric and Plazmatic are in Southgate’s main Sanctuary
  • Carrie Nation & the Speakeasy, Dead Man String Band, and Run Rabbit Run play upstairs in the Southgate Revival Room
  • Spyro Gyra at Ludlow

Next Sunday is May the Fourth!

That evening, Jackie Venson will set her guitar phasers to “stun” as she plays Southgate’s Revival Room.

The band Knotts will open for Jackie. Some people claim that the band members are half-siblings fathered by Mr. Furley with Cindy Snow and Terri Alden.

Monday, May 5 is Cinco de Mayo!

That evening, The Dirty Grass Players and Mama Said String Band will play the Liberty Theater

On Tuesday, May 6, Nashville indie-pop artist Genevieve Hayward plays a free show in the Southgate House Lounge.

Shows on Wednesday, May 7:

  • Anvil plays Southgate (main room) – don’t tell Wile E. Coyote
  • Matthew & the Atlas and Foreign Fields are in the Revival Room
  • Matisyahu plays Ludlow Garage
  • The Columbia in the East End hosts their first Wednesday “WEENsday” playing Ween’s Golden Country Greats album. (I went this month – it’s a fun hang!)

Thursday, May 8:

  • Son Volt plays Trace and pays tribute to Doug Sahm at Ludlow Garage (I’ll be there!)
  • Rhiannon Giddens & The Old-Time Revue at Memorial Hall
  • Carriage House Farm in North Bend hosts the second Thursday live broadcast of BlackFork Radio

On Friday, May 9:

  • Rumpke Mountain Boys are at the old Annie’s
  • ekoostik hookah plays the Liberty Theater
  • Josh Radnor plays the Woodward
  • Bendigo Fletcher is on the Madison Theater rooftop, with Producing a Kind Generation
  • Ludlow has Live at the Filmore (Allman Bros. tribute) and Broken Arrow (Neil Young tribute)

Saturday, May 10 is action-packed:

  • Kaleta & the Super Yamba Band at Liberty Theater
  • Mason Jennings with Lydia Shae at Southgate
  • The old Annie’s has Fillmore On The River, with an Allman Brothers tribute band (Nathan Jenkins Band) and a Grateful Dead tribute band (I Dig Pig)
  • Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons play a “The Last Encores” show on the lawn at the Hard Rock Casino

Phillip-Michael Scales plays the Liberty Theater on Sunday, May 11. Can’t wait to see ol’ Tubbs!

Wait, my bad, that’s Philip Michael Thomas. But my mistake gives me a convenient excuse to subject your eyeballs to this:

Shows on Tuesday, May 13:

  • Bruce Cockburn plays Memorial Hall (when I worked at 97X, his albums had a sticker on them with “it’s pronounced ‘Coe-burn'”… I appreciated the help.)
  • The Arcadian Wild plays The Woodward Theater with River & Rail opening
  • Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass play the Taft – that show is BYOWC (Bring your own whipped cream)
  • Insane Clown Posse plays the Ovation – that show is BYOF (Bring your own Faygo)

We love it live!

There’s no way Alejandro Escovedo is 74… he tore it up at Southgate, even coming into the audience to do a couple of unplugged tunes. Great songs, great stories!

It was fun hanging with Steve “El Blanco” White too, but we missed our friend Dave Tellmann, who is on injured reserve for a bit. Get well soon, my friend!

Kevn Kinney, the opener for Alejandro, did a fine job too!

And list member John Kennedy was in the house too. But our former co-worker Dan “Reds in 2025” Lewis was nowhere to be found. Rumor has it that since he retired from the Reds, “Disco Dan” spends most evenings cutting a dashing figure on the dance floor and showcasing his killer moves at the hottest nightclubs.

Gone but not forgotten

R.I.P. Clem Burke

And R.I.P. David Thomas (Rocket From the Tombs, Pere Ubu). Choice quote from the Guardian tribute:

We’ll leave you with his own words, which sums up who he was better than we can: ‘My name is David Fucking Thomas… and I’m the lead singer of the best fucking rock and roll band in the world.’”

Best Commencement Speaker Ever!

Album Cover(s) of the Week(s)

The woman on this album cover – model Dolores Erickson – is the same woman who appeared on the cover of the Herb Alpert Whipped Cream & Other Delights album.

Erickson, who wore a bikini with the shoulder straps pushed down and hidden, was for the most part surrounded by cotton batting and many cans’ worth of shaving cream because actual whipped cream turned runny and smelly under hot lights. The real thing was used only on her head and on the index finger she touched to her lips.  Adding to the not-really-very-sexy-at-all atmosphere was the fact that Erickson was three months pregnant with her son, Brett.

Who needs mariachi when you’ve got marinara?

2 responses to “You MAY be entertained”

  1. Dan “Vincent Vega” Lewis Avatar
    Dan “Vincent Vega” Lewis

    Disco Dan will be at the Son Volt show cutting the rug.

    Reply
    1. Damian Avatar
      Damian

      Nice! See you there!

      Reply

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Going ape for April tunes

Concert Listings, Concert review, Music, podcast

Howdy, I hope you’re staying warm and dry. Aw, who am I kidding? This monsoon season weather has been for the birds – as long as they’re aquatic and like cold weather.

But even Canada geese are probably boycotting our country. Can’t say I blame them.

Maybe the live music schedule will heat things up a bit. I can feel it, coming in the air tonight… when The Phil Collins Experience plays Ludlow Garage.

On Tuesday, ZZ Top plays the Mike Brady. Their longtime guitar tech Elwood Francis has replaced the late great Dusty Hill on bass. He certainly fits the hirsute profile:

Whenever I hear the name “ZZ Top” I’m reminded of the time my high school friend Mauricio Sanchez and I drove from Morrilton, Arkansas (the original “Mo-town”) to Little Rock to see them in concert back in ’83, during their Eliminator tour. Somehow* I convinced myself that spending $25** of my hard-earned*** cash on the sleeveless tour t-shirt was a good idea, even though I had zero muscles. When I put that shirt on in the harsh light of day, it was a sobering experience.

Needless to say, the Top top was “eliminated” from my wardrobe immediately. $25 down the drain.

*it was the beer

**today’s value: $1,500

***Lifeguard at the Morrilton city pool… it was tough twirling a whistle in the sun

The Tallest Man on Earth will be at the Taft on Thursday. (To clarify, it’s the band called The Tallest Man on Earth, not 8′ 11″ Robert Wadlow, that guy from the Guinness Book of World Records.)

Also on Thursday, Jeffrey Martin plays Southgate’s Revival Room, with Lou Hazel opening. And the Cincinnati Zoo’s April “Tunes & Blooms” series features Gina & Johnny plus Linus Tate.

Shows on Friday:

  • Heavy Hinges, Easy Mark and Veronica Grimm at Northside Tavern
  • Midwinter’s Dream and Agents of the Apocalypse at Liberty Theater
  • Kashmir: the Led Zeppelin Show at Madison Theater (it’s “the” Zep show but not the “ultimate” – that’s on Saturday… )
  • Blue Note in Harrison has a hair band extravaganza with Trixter, Enuff Z Nuff, Pretty Boy Floyd

(The answer is Harrison, Ohio…)

The Southgate House presents a real Sophie’s Choice on Saturday. Alejandro Escovedo plays the main room, with Kevn Kinney (Drivin N Cryin) as the opener. I’ll be at that show, along with Dave “the Magnum P.I. of Modern Rock” Tellmann and Steve “El Blanco” White (“the White Shadow of Modern Rock”). But were it not for that gig, I’d be upstairs in the Revival Room for Brett Newski with The Dreaded Laramie and Tooth Lures a Fang.

Other Saturday shows:

  • Jay Ashton’s Gene Loves Jezebel (they have to be billed that way, for legal reasons) at Ludlow Garage
  • Smoke Healer at Liberty Theater
  • Lunar Ticks at Stanley’s
  • ZOSO: The Ultimate Led Zeppelin Experience at Ovation
  • Signs of Life: The American Pink Floyd at Madison Theater

Next Sunday (4/13):

  • Asleep at the Wheel at Memorial Hall
  • The Queers with The Usuals and The Raging Nathans at Madison Live
  • Jason Eady at Southgate

And, if you often find yourself saying “Boy, I really wish I could hear a ukulele orchestra”:

  1. Better change your meds.
  2. Taft Theatre has The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain.

Tuesday, April 15 is IRS tax deadline day… assuming we still have an IRS by then. We may not need it if those penguins from the Heard and McDonald Islands quit pillaging us.

Lanky local troubadour Todd Lipscomb plays Arnold’s that evening, and Ben Folds will be rockin’ the suburbs woodwinds live with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra at Music Hall.

Victor Wooten & the Wooten Brothers play Memorial Hall on Wednesday, April 16, and British blues-rocker Joanne Taylor Shaw will be there on Thursday, April 17.

Other 4/17 shows include The Yardbirds (drummer) [they don’t have to be billed that way legally, but my conscience won’t let me type it any other way] at Ludlow Garage, and Tunes & Blooms at the Zoo features Cecil Jackson & Dry Ridge on one stage and The Laurelys on the other.

Friday 4/18 is a busy evening for gigs:

  • Grayson Jenkins at Liberty Theater
  • Remi Wolf plays Ovation
  • Mol Sullivan with Namby Pamby and Sappha at Northside Tavern
  • Memorial Hall hosts Live Dead & Brothers (music of the Grateful Dead and the Allman Bros.)
  • Sqwerv (jam band from Denver) plays Stanley’s

Shows on Saturday, 4/19:

  • The Bright Light Social Hour at Liberty Theater
  • Blackjack: a Neil Young tribute band at Big Ash Brewing
  • Saturday’s Children (Grateful Dead tribute band) at Stanley’s
  • Bircus Brewing in Ludlow, KY has Pirate’s Creed.

Please note that Pirate’s Creed isn’t taking a page from the Dread Zeppelin playbook. They are NOT a Creed cover band with members dressed in pirate regalia. But it would be pretty cool to hear “Arrrrrrrrrrms Wide Open” and “High-arrrrrrr,” dontchathink?

Looking ahead a bit further, here are the live concerts on Wednesday, April 23:

  • Bright Eyes plays the Ovation, with Cursive as the opener
  • The Fixx and Jill Sobule are at Ludlow Garage
  • Bluegrass band Never Come Down is at the Woodward
  • The Ben Levin Trio plays the rooftop at the Phelps Hotel

We love it live

The Yo La Tengo show at the Woodward Theater was phenomenal. Great to see a whole slew of list members there (Frank, Matt, Pam, Jay, Alyssa, Dave R, Kevin S, Rico, Lobby Boy, et al.)

And I’m really glad I hydroplaned over to Lawrenceburg, Indiana last Sunday for the Sarah Shook & the Disarmers show. They were making it rain more than the thunderstorms were.

Sarah Shook & the Disarmers’ leader goes by River these days, and here’s what they had to say about the music vs. business equation:

It shows! Quote above is from this Brooklyn Vegan article.

Listen here!

Lisa Walker and Chuck Cleaver from Wussy were at the Yo La Tengo show, naturally. If you haven’t checked out their Forever Sounds radio show on WAIF-FM, you can catch the replays here. Come for the great tunes, stay for the playful banter.

Columbus legends Scrawl got a lot of love from Chicago music critics Greg Kot and Jim DeRogatis on this seven-minute bonus episode of their Sound Opinions podcast.

The new release from Craig Finn — produced by Adam Granduciel of The War on Drugs and featuring a few WoD band members as well as Kathleen Edwards — is really good.

We should’ve heeded the warning Signal

Album Cover(s) of the Week(s)

“We’ve traced the source of the trumpet player… it’s coming from inside the house!”

Oh snap, the Reverend Cleophus… I heard about him from Cab Calloway!

Spring Music Flings

Concert Listings, Concert review, Music

Like an agitated monkey, I’m about to fling some poop at you.

But you should be used to it by now – I do it every few weeks! If you can navigate around the verbal shite, you’ll find some cool concerts to check out.

Shows on tap for tonight:

  • Henhouse Prowlers and Moonshine Drive at the Liberty Theater in Lawrenceburg
  • William Elliott Whitmore and Dave Hause at the Woodward, with Micah Schnabel opening
  • The Screaming Orphans at Ludlow Garage
  • Comedian Sebastian Maniscalco is at the Coliseum

Saturday shows:

  • Sylmar does two sets at MOTR
  • Buffalo Nichols plays the Liberty Theater
  • Southgate hosts the Newport Music Roots Festival (doors 3 p.m.) – details below
  • Woodward Theater has “Play for L.A.” – a benefit for fire-impacted musicians. The lineup includes Rae Fisher, The Montvales, Jess Lamb, Siri Imani and more.
  • Mike Detmer and Adam Gilliam play the Lost Bridge Beverage Co. in North Bend
  • Christine Harvilla Duo with Colleen Clark plus Sami Riggs at the Boone County Courthouse
  • Annie’s hosts Grateful River III (a benefit for Down Syndrome) – details below

On Sunday, Ben Levin Blues Band is doing the Rabbit Hash Music Behind the Stove Series at 2 p.m., and the band Lawrence plays Bogart’s in the evening.

Woodward has An Evening with Yo La Tengo on Tuesday. I’ll be at that gig, along with several other list members. Because Georgia, James and Ira are badasses!

Shannon McNally plays Southgate on Wednesday.

Thursday gigs:

  • Shadowgrass in Southgate’s main room, and Jake Blocker in the Revival Room
  • “Sons of Cream” (Kofi Baker, Malcolm Bruce and Rob Johnson) play Ludlow Garage. (Maybe they should call themselves “Half & Half”?)
  • Liberty Theater has a Comedy Night featuring Adam Minnick

Concerts next Friday, March 28:

  • The Blind Boys of Alabama with Shemekia Copeland at Taft Theatre
  • Chicago Farmer & the Fieldnotes at Southgate
  • The Outlaws at Ludlow Garage
  • Cody Ikerd & the Sidewinders Album release show w/Joe Clark at Liberty Theater
  • Little Miami Brewing’s event center has “Night Moves: The Ultimate Bob Seger Experience”
  • Blue Note in Harrison hosts The Prince Experience (pancakes not included)

The slate on Saturday, March 29:

  • Liberty Theater has a Rebel Whiskey tasting (4 FREE tasting!) from 5-7, followed by the Lowdown Brass Band
  • Blackhawk at Ludlow Garage
  • Lily Rose at Bogart’s
  • Bumpin’ Uglies at Madison Theater
  • Willi Carlisle at Southgate in the Revival Room
  • Annie’s has the all-female Led Zeppelin tribute band Zepparella
  • Blue Note features “Midnight Blue” (Foreigner Tribute) with One Way to Rock (Sammy Hagar tribute)

Shows on Sunday, March 30:

  • The Star Devils play Rabbit Hash in the afternoon
  • Sarah Shook & the Disarmers are at Liberty Theater (I plan to go to that show)
  • JD Simo and Luther Dickinson (of North Mississippi Allstars) at Southgate

Ricky Nye will be tickling the ivories as only Ricky can on Monday, March 31 at Memorial Hall, and Taft has The Faint with Plack Blague.

Shows on April Fools’ Day:

  • The Surfrajettes with Black Widow at Madison Theater
  • Al Stewart & Livingston Taylor at Memorial Hall
  • The Righteous Brothers “Loving Feeling Farewell Tour” makes a stop at Taft. (If you’ve lost that loving feeling, see your urologist!)

Wednesday, April 2 is another WEENsday at The Columbia in the East End (4311 Eastern Ave.) and this month’s featured WEEN album is Chocolate and Cheese… so they’ll have some chocolate-covered cheese to share.

I plan to attend that event. You should too – The Columbia is a very cool space (with a vintage jukebox in the basement), and WEENsdays are free and you can BYOB!

Tunes & Blooms kicks off at the Cincinnati Zoo on Thursday, April 3. Moonshine Drive and Pickin’ Pear will be on the T&B stages. The full April lineup is here. That same evening, right down the street, you can catch The Seven Wonders (yes, yet another Fleetwood Mac tribute band) at Ludlow Garage.

The Liberty Theater in Lawrenceburg has a Record Fair April 4-5.

Shows on Friday 4/4 include Judah & the Lion* at Bogart’s and Eaglemania “The World’s Greatest Eagles Tribute”** at Ludlow Garage.

* If Bogart’s says their bathrooms are clean, they’re lion… er, lyin’.

**Pretty sure the world’s greatest Eagles Tribute is playing the Sphere in Las Vegas.

On Saturday, April 5:

  • The Young Dubliners play Ludlow Garage
  • John Waite is at the Taft
  • Queensrÿche plays Belterra Casino in Florence, Indiana
  • Patterson Hood is at the Whirling Tiger in Louisville, with Lydia Loveless as the opener

Sunday, April 6, Ludlow Garage has The Phil Collins Experience (warning: contains no Phil Collins).

We love it live!

MJ Lenderman and Wild Pink at the Green Lantern Bar in Lexington KY was off-the-charts amazing (set list is here). A Top 5 all-time show for me, thanks to list member Frank B.

This GQ profile of MJ is nice too. Money quote:

“Once music and work and money all become the same thing, it gets hard to do it casually. But that was the reason I was able to do anything meaningful in the first place,” he admits. “You can see that through my whole life, just being able to go to a friend’s house and make something and not worry about what it is.”

Now hear this!

The new album from The Tubs is top-notch. Richard Thompson meets Hüsker Dü.

Speaking of Richard Thompson, Bandcamp has a great feature about his influence on younger artists. Sayeth Mary Timony:

“His tone is always amazing, but here’s the thing—most importantly—his songwriting is great. He’s kind of the total package, in that he does both songwriting and playing guitar very well.”

Neil Young to The Cure: Why can’t I be you?

Neil is following Robert Smith’s lead on ticket prices. Could Neil wearing guyliner be next?

Ohio All The Time

New songs from Mommy and Sun Kil Moon reference the Buckeye State.

Of course it’s not Sun Kil Moon’s first Ohio rodeo:

The Best Video Ever

Today is the greatest… actually, 30 years ago was better

Fake Album Cover of the Week

This one (which came our way courtesy of Cereal Killers frontman Howard Cohen) has been doctored, but it should have been real:

Here’s the original album cover:

Speaking o’ our friends Cereal Killers, their drummer Chris Glen recently had surgery for prostate cancer. Here’s an update and his PSA P.S.A.

Album Cover(s) of the Week(s)

Yet another PSA P.S.A.

The Clarion Trio was waaay ahead of the curve on “throuples.”

March Radness

97X, Concert Listings, Concert review, Music, podcast

The concerts coming to our area this month are radical, Dude! Almost as radical as this thrift store Tony Hawk display:

What could be more radical than a Handsome Dick? And tonight, Handsome Dick Manitoba sings Dictators songs and other punk classics in the Sanctuary at the Southgate House. Other totally tubular gigs include Chloe Kimes at Liberty Theater and Paul McDonald upstairs in the Southgate Revival Room.

On Friday night, I’m going to see MJ Lenderman — with Wild Pink as the opener! — at a small club show in Lexington, KY. For free!

My ticket is courtesy of list member Frank B., who snatched up a couple o’ tix before MJ blew up. Smart man (other than inviting his boorish neighbor to a show when he could sell his other ticket for $500)!

Shows closer to home on Friday night:

  • Marty Stuart & His Fabulous Superlatives are at Memorial Hall
  • Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country plays Taft
  • ekoostik hookah will be at the Liberty Theater
  • Twain and Esther Rose play Southgate

Bockfest also kicks off Friday. It’s the one time of year you can hang out with a goat and not get arrested.

On Saturday, Ace Frehley lands his spaceship at Belterra Casino in Florence, Indiana. Seems fitting.

That same evening, Armchair Boogie and The Montvales play the Liberty Theater, July For Kings plays MOTR, and Southgate House hosts the “Rockn’ Revival” fundraiser with a slew of local bands:

On Sunday:

  • Anthony Ray Wright has the afternoon gig at Rabbit Hash
  • Clem Snide plays Southgate’s Revival Room
  • The Steel Wheels roll into Ludlow Garage
  • The Turkeys play two sets at MOTR as part of Bockfest – 8 p.m. free show

On Tuesday, Marc Broussard plays Memorial Hall and the Taft Theatre has the “Experience Hendrix” Tour featuring Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Eric Johnson, Devon Allman and Christone “Kingfish” Ingram.

Rain: A Tribute to the Beatles will be at the Aronoff on Wednesday… or you can catch “The Fab Four (USA Meets The Beatles) next Friday (3/14) at the Taft.

Other, less derivative shows on Friday, March 14:

  • Town Mountain plays Memorial Hall
  • Frontier Folk Nebraska and Lee Bains play MOTR
  • Scotty Bratcher plays Liberty Theater with CFG & the Family
  • Kyle Eldridge and the Honky Tonk Wrangers are at Southgate
  • Agnostic Front rocks Madison Live
  • Simply Queen (a tribute to… you guessed it… Queen) at the Little Miami Brewing Events Center
  • Jeremy Short plays Southgate – kudos to Jeremy’s publicist, who penned these lines:

“With an orange mustache, golden voice and cherry red Gibson ES-335, Eastern Kentucky Space Funk artist Jeremy Short has quickly risen to the top shelf of must-hear players on the scene.”

When I grow up, I want to be a Space Funk artist.

Shows on Saturday, March 15:

  • Tower of Power plays the Hard Rock Casino
  • Them Coulee Boys are at the Liberty Theater
  • The Ark Band plays a Bob Marley tribute at Ludlow Garage

Sunday, March 16:

  • TopHouse plays Madison Theater with The Wildwoods
  • My Brother’s Keeper and The Foreign Landers are at Liberty Theater
  • Mike Farris plays Ludlow Garage… I loved him on M*A*S*H!
Oops, my bad, that was Mike Farrell

Monday, March 17 is some sort of holiday… Irish I could remember which one.

Todd Lipscomb plays Arnold’s on Tuesday, March 18.

Gigs on Wednesday, March 19:

  • The Dollyrots at Southgate
  • Dream Theater plays a sold-out show at the Marsha Brady
  • Bogart’s has one of the 27 Fleetwood Mac tribute bands

Thursday, March 20:

  • The Travelin’ McCourys play Ludlow Garage
  • Buckethead is at Bogart’s
  • Liberty Theater has a free Songwriters in the Round show with Adam Gillam and Ryan Brewer
  • The Brant Bjork Trio (no relation to Björk, unless someone stole their umlaut) and Moonbow (no relation to Moonbeau) play Southgate

We love it live!

Kim Deal’s show at the Woodward was fantastic. Horns! Strings! Backing vocalists!

Brent Stroud did a nice profile of Kim in CityBeat prior to the show.

The Cabin Fever Festival in Ludlow, KY is the best off-the-beaten-path festival going, and a great way to see local, regional and national artists in cool settings… like seeing the leader of Carriers in a funeral parlor!

Robyn Hitchcock at Southgate House this past Saturday was absolutely stellar! Two sets (one solo, one featuring vocals from his partner Emma Swift) with a fantastic set list.

My non-fandom of the Beatles is well-documented, but when Robyn strolled through the entire crowd during the encore, strumming his guitar and leading everyone in a singalong to “A Day in the Life” that was pretty damn cool! Great to see list members Dave Tellmann, El Blanco, and Ken “The Lobby Boy” Laube (Fridays 11a-3p on Inhailer) too.

Mailbag

We love the recent comment from Victor Garcia-Rivera about the 97X Rumblings from the Big Bush episodes where we interviewed Dan “Danny Crash” Reed. They were both in Chem-Dyne together. (The pod episodes: Part 1 and Part 2.)

Love the ‘mats story – very on-brand for them!

And here are the two Chem-Dyne songs Victor mentioned in his comment:

The Highwaymen later moved to Austin and became Loose Diamonds… I miss that band. Here’s a cool documentary about them.

Lead singer Troy Campbell gives a shoutout to 97X at the 2:40 mark.

Album Cover(s) of the Week(s)

I believe in America too. I miss it. I also believe that we’ll come back. We just need a plumber to get rid of the orange turd and the DOGE-faced boy that are messing up our system of checks and balances. If it doesn’t happen soon, I’ll be just like Dean Friedman: reading the news, drinking booze, and getting sadder by the minute.

[This would probably be a good time to mention that if you receive this post via an email, you can unsubscribe at any time.]

Turkey with Jam

Concert Listings, Concert review, Music

Wow, it’s nearly Thanksgiving Day!

The concert slate could use a bit more stuffing. That’s fine, it leaves room for family gatherings… or for watching a WKRP in Cincinnati rerun.

But there are a few shows, which is a reason to be thankful.

Skip the can-shaped cranberry sauce, and feast on The Raisins instead.

Bob, Rob, Bam and Ricky have shows on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday at the Woodward Theater. (They also have a documentary movie out that features performances from their March shows – check out the interview on WVXU Cincinnati Edition.) The Saturday gig is sold-out, but tickets remain for the other two shows.

Other Wednesday shows include Northern Kentucky Derby at Southgate House, and State Champs at Bogart’s.

Thursday is Turkey Day! (Or in my house, Tofurkey Day!)

Speaking of expanding waistlines, Bret Michaels is at the Hard Rock Casino on Friday.

Also on Friday:

  • Jeremy Pinnell kicks off a two-night stand at Southgate House with a solo set, along with Justin Wells.
  • Freekbass hosts “Funksgiving” at Radio Artifact, with Tracy Silverman Project.
  • The Raisins are at Woodward

Saturday gigs:

  • Jeremy Pinnell plays a full-band show in Southgate’s main room, with G.W. Garner and The Montvales also on the bill.
  • The Ark Band plays Ludlow Garage on Saturday
  • Memorial Hall hosts Christmas with the Celts
  • The Whiskey Shambles, Veronica Grim, and The Shivers in Southgate’s Revival Room
  • The Raisins at Woodward (sold-out)

Unless you’re going to NYC for the Jesse Malin benefit shows on 12/1 and 12/2 (more on that below), there’s a bit of a lull in the ol’ Koncert Keeper. Maybe you can do some holiday shopping.

Or go see your friend’s band:

On Friday, 12/6, the animals (but not The Animals) are out in full force:

  • Benjamin Tod & Lost Dog Street Band at Bogart’s
  • Spirit of the Bear and Bear the Moon in Southgate’s Revival Room
  • The Surfrajettes and Kyle Eldridge play Southgate’s main Sanctuary – that should be a rollicking good time!
  • Ludlow Garage crams three tributes into one band, when Magical Mystery Doors plays tunes by the Beatles, Led Zep, and The Doors

On Saturday, 12/7, Noah Smith’s Crooner Circus takes over all three Southgate House stages:

Other 12/7 shows include:

  • Tropidelic at Bogart’s
  • Mosant and Ascension Day at the Liberty Theater
  • Siren Suit with Girl Gordon and Marsha at Urban Artifact
  • Ludlow Garage has Aja: A Tribute to the Music of Steely Dan, with shows at 3:30 (when they play The Royal Scam in its entirety) and 7:30 p.m.

Then there’s another lull in the schedule. Maybe you can make sure the Christmas lights are hung.

The English Beat plays Ludlow Garage on Thursday, 12/12.

On Friday the 13th:

  • Erika Wennerstrom (Heartless Bastards) kicks off three nights of solo shows at The Loon Wine Bar in Northside. (Friday and Saturday shows are sold-out, but they added a 6 p.m. Sunday show. Tickets on sale here.)
  • Ludlow Garage has A John Waters Christmas on Friday and Saturday
  • The Tillers have a 10th anniversary vinyl release of Hand on the Plow (with cover artwork by list member Keith Neltner)

Motherfolk has “A Very Motherfolks Christmas” at Bogart’s on Satuday, 12/14.

Tears on our Cheek

R.I.P. Randy Cheek (Libertines, Ass Ponys, The Ready Stance, et al.) Here’s a loving tribute from Chuck Cleaver:

Here’s to you, Randy!

Joy to the Wussy World

Now more than ever, we need the healing words and music of our friends in Wussy, on their new release Cincinnati Ohio.

Check out Jason Cohen’s profile of Wussy in Stereogum. And put your ears on this segment about their new album from NPR’s All Songs Considered:

We live for live

It’s hard to believe that Eric Bachmann’s recent Undertow show was off my radar. Heck, he’s played an Undertow show at my house before (2019):

And I applied to host his show this time around. But somehow I missed the listing – thank goodness an alert list member tipped me off that morning, and I DID catch the show thanks to list member Jeff B.

Eric played a cool venue in South Fairmount called the Lunken Lounge. Hopefully there will be more shows there in the future.

Craig Finn also ditched my living room for the Woodward Theater this go-round on his solo tour. (Can’t blame him.) What a great storyteller!

List member Dave Tellmann and I finally made it over to Dan McCabe’s new venue, Whiskey City’s Liberty Theater, in Lawrenceburg, IN. What an amazing place to see a show! And we saw a fantastic high energy performance from Low Cut Connie.

The opening band, Sweat, from Pittsburgh, was great too!

Dan McCabe has some great shows lined up over the next couple of months… check ’em out here and support a great dude who has spent decades bringing great music to our area.

List members Joyce, Matt, Pam, and I also enjoyed the “Words and Music” event featuring Karin and Linford of Over the Rhine (photo above)… especially because we got a sneak preview of updated/upgraded/expanded Mercantile Library. It officially reopens on 12/2.

We now occupy both the 11th & 12th floors of 414 Walnut Street and have more seating areas, more workspaces, more light, more bathrooms, more bookshelves, and, most importantly, more books.

The Reading Room

Tip o’ the tam to Kevin Sullivan for the link to a Jesse Malin feature in the NYT in advance of Jesse’s return to the stage on Dec. 1 and 2, with dozens of high profile friends.

They’re just trying to return the kindness Jesse has always shown to them:

Jesse still has his PMA – positive mental attitude:

Live Performance Video of the Week Year

Waxahatchee and M.J. Lenderman at the Americana Music Awards, with an all-star backing band that includes Buddy Miller, Don Was, Larry Campbell, and Jen Gunderman. Top notch!

Album Covers of the Weeks

Cornucopia… accent on the corn.

This “little singing band” used the Thanksgiving tablecloth to make skirts and ties (or are those dickies?).

You can throw the albums shown below onto the turntable after Turkey Day to make those pounds melt away – it’s a miracle!

The Music, Man.

Concert Listings, Concert review, Music

Ya got concerts, folks! Right here in the River(front) City. Concerts with a capital “C” and that rhyme with “G” and that stands for “Gee, I should probably go to a show or three.”

Speaking of Shirley Partridge Marian the Librarian, The Mercantile Library hosts Karin Bergquist and Linford Detweiler of Over the Rhine on Tuesday as part of their “Words and Music” series. The event is sold out – good thing I got my tickets long ago.

Meanwhile at Ludlow Garage, Patty Griffin, Hayes Carll, and Lori McKenna are doing a sold-out “sharing the stage” gig. And Amythyst Kiah plays Southgate.

Here’s an interesting show on Wednesday:

That same evening, the Hackensaw Boys play Southgate (with Mike Oberst & Justine Cefalu opening). And Dawes plays the Taft. Remember when Dawes was called Simon Dawes and they played a gig at the old Alchemize bar in Northside back in 2006 with Chad VanGaalen and Band of Horses? I do, because I was there!

Speaking of cookies with jam, Camp Springs Tavern hosts their bi-weekly Bluegrass Jam on Thursday.

Johnny Delaware goes to Indiana on Friday, to play the Liberty Theater, with The Hiders also on the bill.

Saturday is a big day for shows:

  • Flatland Cavalry plays the Bobby Brady
  • The Paul Thorn Band is at Memorial Hall
  • Jess Williamson (who recently collaborated with Waxahatchee) plays Southgate
  • Madison Theater has Start Making Sense: A Tribute to Talking Heads
  • Everclear and Buckcherry are at the Lawrenceburg Event Center… we’re assuming it’s called “The Compound Words Tour”
  • Warrant and Lita Ford play the Hard Rock Casino (Aqua Net hairspray sold separately)

Last, but certainly not least on the Saturday roster, Ludlow Garage has the tribute show you never knew you needed… “Toast: The Ultimate Bread Experience.”

There must be a lot of folks in the Tristate who said “Baby, I’m-a Want You” to this, as there are not one but two shows (3pm and 8pm).

Personally, I’d rather go for Toast on a Stick.

Low Cut Connie plays the Liberty Theater next Sunday (11/17), with the band Sweat (good luck Googling “Sweat Band”) as the opener. List member Dave Tellmann and I will be at that show. That same evening, Will Hoge plays the Southgate.

Next Monday, 11/18, Woodward Theater screens the Ani DiFranco doc 1-800-On-Her-Own.

Wishbone Ash plays Ludlow Garage on Tuesday, Nov. 19th.

Wishbone Ash: pairs well with Toast!

Craig Finn of The Hold Steady plays the Woodward on Wednesday, November 20th, with Katy Kirby as the opener. List member “Rico” and I will be there. Remember when Craig Finn played that house concert in Cincinnati back in 2017? I do, because it was my house!

That same evening, Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder play Memorial Hall.

Americana power couple Gillian Welch and David Rawlings play the Taft on Thursday, 11/21 and Wayne “The Train” Hancock plays Southgate.

Shows on Friday, 11/22:

  • The Wood Brothers at Taft
  • The Tubes at Ludlow Garage
  • Tiny Moving Parts at Southgate
  • TyeDye Band (featuring list member John Sandman) at Plain Folk Cafe in Pleasant Plain, OH.
  • Liberty Theater hosts a free Singer/Songwriter Night

On Saturday, 11/23:

  • The Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band and Joe’s Truck Stop play Southgate
  • Ric Hordinski and Kim Taylor play the Woodward
  • Hyryder (Grateful Dead tribute) at Madison Theater
  • Mark Gibson and Danni Nicholls play a “Downtowne Listening Room” show at the Hellmann Creative Center in Covington, KY
  • Ludlow has Strangelove: The Depeche Mode Experience… with special guest Electric Duke (tribute to David Bowie)

On Sunday, 11/24, Ballyhoo! and Keep Flying are at the Liberty Theater, Ace Monroe is at Southgate, and Hard Rock Casino has Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Evening.

The Reading Room

Bon Iver interview in The New Yorker. Money quote:

“I believe in the power of the individual — don’t get me wrong — but I’ve always just found that it distracts from the point. Why do we like a song? Is it because of who’s singing it to us? Or is it the song? And I just think it’s the song. For me, it is. For me, it’s about the song and what the music does. It can be very distracting when it becomes, ‘Oh, I love Bon Iver so much. I want more Bon Iver. I want to see Bon Iver. I want to get his autograph.’ I’m sensitive to it, and the attention can be overwhelming. I’m also uncomfortable with it because it distracts from the point that music delivered me to myself.”

We need some “Divine Intervention”

Matthew Sweet recently suffered a debilitating stroke in Canada. There’s a GoFundMe to help pay for his medical bills and ongoing therapy and care.

And you thought 8-tracks were weird

Here’s the live link to the Demastered site.

We live for live

I couldn’t make the Cereal Killers show at Big Ash the weekend before Halloween, but I love their Ramones vibe:

No, I didn’t get tickets for the Jack White show at Bogart’s. But list members Dave Tellmann and Rico did.

I DID, however, catch all three Buffalo Tom shows during their “Please Come to Boston” festival, along with comedy from Eugene Mirman and Dave Hill, book readings from Tom Perrotta, Bill Janovitz, and Dave Hill, and a band Q&A hosted by comedian/actor Mike O’Malley.

Dave Hill is hilarious, btw.

And last night Wussy and the Chris Brokaw Band (feat. Chris Brokaw from Codeine and Come, and Clint Conley from Mission of Burma) were fantastic at the Woodward.

(That’s Brenda Sauter of The Feelies sitting in on bass.)

Todd, Regi, Tom, Jamie, Matt, Pam, Jay, Alyssa, Dave, Ken, Michelle, Dave, Kevin, Dr. David… it’d be easier to cite the list members who weren’t there – great to see such a strong turnout for our friends in Wussy.

Their new album was on sale at the show – the official release date is this Friday.

Album Covers of the Week(s)

These guys can’t count, but they look really slick.

They’ve gotten worse at counting. And/or they found out about their dad’s clandestine second family.

The 1/4 un-lonely is because his belt is off.

If my math is correct, this guy isn’t wearing pants. And/or T.G. Sheppard just walked in on him.

Tricks and Treats

97X, Concert Listings, Concert review, Music, podcast

It’s Spooky Season!

It’s also Mookie Season!

Do the Right Thing and support live music. Here are your options over the next couple of weeks:

This Wednesday, Richard Lloyd (of Television* fame) plays the Woodward Theater with a full band. Static Falls also is on the bill.

*Television the band, not the medium. But here’s Television on (Spanish) Television:

Also on Wednesday, Judy Collins plays Memorial Hall. Speaking o’ Spooky Season, ol’ “Sweet Judy Blue Eyes” is looking more like a Hocus Pocus witch these days:

Alice Peacock plays the Southgate House on Thursday. She’ll be in the Revival Room, with a lead pipe.

Wait, wrong Peacock!

Friday shows:

  • The Steep Canyon Rangers play Memorial Hall
  • Buffalo Wabs & the Price Hill Hustle are at Southgate (maybe the ghost of Pete Rose will show up)
  • America plays the Taft (they won’t have a headless horseman, but they will have a horse with no name)
  • Ludlow Garage has Dead Letter Office, a tribute to R.E.M.

This Saturday, Cereal Killers play Big Ash Brewing!

(Continuing my string of ill-timed trips, and jeopardizing my status as a Cereal Killers superfan, I once again will be out of town for their gig. Our whole fam-damily is going to Bloomington, Indiana to see the perennial football powerhouse Hoosiers take on their longstanding Big 10 27 rival, the Washington Huskies.)

Other Saturday shows include the sold-out “BEAT” show at Taft

Former King Crimson members ADRIAN BELEW and TONY LEVIN band together with guitar virtuoso STEVE VAI and explosive Tool drummer DANNY CAREY for the first time to create BEAT, a creative reinterpretation of the three iconic 80s KING CRIMSON albums – Discipline, Beat, and Three Of A Perfect Pair. 

  • ekoostic hookah plays the Liberty Theater
  • Blues Traveler brings their “30 years of Four” tour to… Turfway Park
  • Pappy’s Jam Band plays Neltner’s Farm Fall Fest (1:30-4:30)
  • Lotus Land (a tribute to Rush) plays Ludlow Garage

On Sunday, the Casey Campbell Project plays Neltner’s Farm, Pink Martini plays Memorial Hall, and Taft has Mania, the ABBA tribute.

Next Tuesday (10/29), the Buena Vista Social Orchestra is at Bogart’s.

Next Wednesday:

  • KMFDM and the Morlocks play the Ovation
  • The Woodward hosts two showings (7:30 and 10:30) of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, with a shadow cast
  • Daphne Eckman plays Southgate’s Revival Room
  • Disco Biscuits (hold the Yung Gravy) play the Madison Theater

Next Thursday is Halloween.

That’s “hallow”-een not “hollow”-een… Hollow is for Easter.

“Rollvember” kicks off a week from Friday. There are several shows slated for Friday, 11/1:

  • Los Honchos play Southgate
  • Anthony Ray Wright and Andrew Hibbard are at Liberty Theater
  • Stacy Mitchhart plays an album release gig at Ludlow Garage
  • The Jacksons (R.I.P. Tito) play the Hard Rock Casino

I’ll be up in Boston that weekend for the Please Come to Boston festival. My favoritest band Buffalo Tom will be doing three concerts in three days (including an old-person-friendly “matinee” show on Sunday). They’re playing a different album from their 90s oeuvre each show, and the festival also features comedy sets from Eugene Mirman and Dave Hill, and something called “Punk Rock Aerobics”… I’m sure it’s quite the workout!

On Saturday, Nov. 2nd,

  • Gipsy Kings play the Hard Rock
  • The Peter Brady hosts “Life is a Carnival – The Last Waltz Tour ’24” with Ryan Bingham, Mike Campbell, Benmont Tench, Jamey Johnson and more.
  • Trippin’ Billies (Dave Matthews Band tribute) are at Ludlow Garage.

Here’s some Trippin’ Beverly Hillbillies:

The Drive-by Truckers play a Southern Rock Opera Revisited show at Bogart’s on Sunday, 11/3. Shut your mouth and get your ass on that plane into that show!

On Thursday, Nov. 7th, “Turn to Stone: A Tribute to ELO” will be at Memorial Hall, and Yngwie Malmsteen plays the Madison Theater.

On Friday, 11/8:

  • Goose opens up a three-night stand at the Carol Brady
  • Billie Eilish plays the Coliseum
  • Noah Wotherspoon plays the Liberty Theater with Noah Pavey

Saturday, 11/9 gigs:

  • Wussy plays a full-band show at the Woodward, with the Chris Brokaw Band as the opener.
  • Jimmy Webb (“America’s Songwriter”) is at Memorial Hall
  • Samantha Fish plays Ludlow Garage, with Mitch Ryder performing as part of Samantha’s band, and Canned Heat as the opener
  • Moonshine Drive plays Arnold’s

City & Colour are at Bogart’s with Pedro the Lion on Monday, 11/11.

We live for live

It’s been quite a fortnight for your music-addicted editor. Charly Bliss at the Exit/In in Nashville was great…

The opener, Pronoun, was cool too. And Marc from the one-hit-wonder band Len came up on stage for the encore to do “Steal My Sunshine” with Charly Bliss.

A week ago, list member Ken “Lobby Boy” Laube (check out his show on Inhailer Radio, Fridays 11a-3p) and I went to Columbus to see Superchunk. They rocked!

(Bassist Jason Narducy’s set list – he gave it to a kid in the front row… classy!)

For the final song of the encore, noted Breeder Kelley Deal and Mike Montgomery of R. Ring came on stage to do their song “Cartoon Heart/Build Me a Question.” (R. Ring drummer Laura King is touring with Superchunk right now.)

The opening band, Quivers, was stellar too.

While Ken was waiting in line to get Mac from Superchunk to sign his poster (yes, Mac was at the merch booth – dude’s top-notch in my book), I chatted with the members of Quivers – Mike, Holly, Bella and Sam. They were super-nice to this old man, and funny as heck. Check out their recent live in-studio set at KEXP and you’ll be hooked by their hooks:

List members Dave Tellmann, Todd Butler, Carl “The Truth” Williams and I caught the Eddie 9V/Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears double bill at the Woodward on Wednesday.

And those shows were just the warm-up for another Chuck Cleaver/Lisa Walker Wussy Duo house show at my place this past weekend.

List members Todd, Regi, Tom, and Jamie were in the house, and they can attest that it was amazing.

I didn’t make the Mountain Goats show at Taft, but their stage setup was interesting:

Malin on the mend

Here’s a nice CBS Saturday Morning sessions interview with Jesse Malin.

Shameless Self-promotion

Dave Tellmann and I got the “97X Rumblings from the Big Bush” podcast out of mothballs to chat with Randy Malloy, who went from unpaid college intern to owner of WWCD-FM in Columbus (nee “CD101″… and later “CD102.5″… and finally “CD92.9” before signing off under duress earlier this year).

The Randy interview is here, and you can catch all the episodes on your favorite podcasting platform.

Album Covers of the Week(s)

Here on earth, I’m a bit disappointed that a band named “Rebels” chose conformity in their outfits.

On the other hand (the one with five fingers), at least Rebels don’t struggle with basic math. Or perhaps the dudes are the Gospel Four and the woman is there because her hair is heavenly.

Super-chunky and Wussy gigs

Concert Listings, Concert review, Music

Howdy, we’re short on time and long on concerts, so let’s get into it!

Tonight, Woodward Theater’s Cinema Series will be screening a movie about Brian Eno. It’s called… wait for it… Eno.

Meanwhile, I’ll be in Nashville for the Charly Bliss show at Exit/In. CB is about the poppiest my musical tastes get, but boy oh boy do they put on a great show! (Hence the long car ride.)

Tomorrow evening, Martin Sexton does an Abbey Road show at Memorial Hall.

Thursday:

  • Chromeo & the Midnight will be at the Ovation in Newport
  • Michigander plays Top Cats
  • Tinfoil Hat Cowboys play the Southgate Lounge (free!)

This Friday and Saturday, Bellevue Park Pavilion in Clifton Heights is hosting Rocktoberfest with several local bands playing three stages.

Other Freaky Fun Friday shows:

  • John Hiatt plays Memorial Hall
  • Keller Williams (yes, sounds like a real estate company) and the Motet are at the old Annie’s
  • Parker Millsap and Nat Myers play Southgate’s Sanctuary
  • Mike Viola will be upstairs in the Southgate Revival Room
  • The Yugos headline the Indie Friday free show at Fountain Square
  • Yung Gravy is at Bogart’s

We kinda wish Yung Gravy would tour with Disco Biscuits and play Cracker Barrels from coast to coast.

On Saturday

  • Tropicoso plays the Liberty Theater in Lawrenceburg, Indiana
  • Moonshine Drive plays Neltner’s Farm Fall Fest (1:30-4:30)
  • Madison Theater has Pink Talking Fish (a fusion of Pink Floyd, Talking Heads and Phish).

On Sunday, The Mountain Goats Trio (John Darnielle, Matt Douglas and Jon Wurster) plays the Taft, with Tift Merritt as the opener. And Justine Cefalu & Mike Oberst play Neltner’s Farm.

Monday, ISWHAT?! plays the Woodward, while list member Ken “Lobby Boy” Laube and I will be road trippin’ to Columbus to see Superchunk at Scully’s. (Catch Ken Fridays 11a-3p on Inhailer radio.) Merge labelmates Quivers open the ‘chunk show. Great double bill!

Next Wednesday, 10/16:

  • Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes play Bogart’s
  • Tommy Castro & the Painkillers plays Southgate
  • Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears play the Woodward, with Eddie 9V as the opener. List member Dave Tellmann and I will be at that gig. (Dave and I have a bonus edition of the old “97X Rumblings from the Big Bush” podcast — the one three people listened to — coming soon!)

Shows next Thursday (10/17):

  • Bluegrass Jam at Camp Springs Tavern
  • Mickey Dolenz, the last Monkee, does a “songs and stories” gig at Ludlow Garage
  • Two indie bands from Chicago, Finom and Moontype, play the Woodward. Jeff Tweedy produced Finom’s latest album at the Wilco Loft.

Madison Theater hosts Puddles Pity Party on Friday, 10/18.

Wussy is playing at my house, again!

On Saturday, October 19th, Chuck Cleaver and Lisa Walker of Wussy will be playing their favorite east side venue, Casa de Damian (my house). The show is sold out, but I DO have my full allotment of five freebies – HMU if you’d like to attend.

Earlier that day, Chelsea Ford & the Trouble play Neltner’s Farm, and that same evening, just down the hill from my house, the California Honeydrops play the old Annie’s. I heard a good report about their live show in Lexington recently.

Wussy has a new album coming out!

We are excited to finally announce our first new record in six years! It’s called Cincinnati Ohio, and features ten tracks that we hope you’ll enjoy. (We were gonna call it The Great Divide, but in the end couldn’t bear to alter this amazing Langford / Calderas cover art).

It features all the regular Wussy folks – me (Lisa), Chuck, Mark, Joe – plus John E. on two songs, and newest member Travis on four songs. Producer and honorary member John Hoffman helmed and steadied the ship (and added some extra flourishes, too). Speaking of honorary members, John Curley recorded some of the basic tracks, and it was nice to have him back on board for those early days, as it was kind of an emotional rollercoaster to start recording again. He helped us navigate those first difficult sessions with a lot of grace and patience. There were many moments where we were all thinking – “is this even gonna work without John E”? We hope this album honors his legacy, as we move forward the best way we know how.

Album artwork is a painting by Jon Langford, based on photo by Jon Calderas. First track:

Listen to the Prophet

Chuck Prophet has a delightful new tune out.

It’s about time the dB’s got some love

Full post on Allmusic is here.

We love it live!

Great show from the Psychedelic Furs a couple weeks back, with Frankie Rose as the opener.

Hat tip to list member Todd Butler and Regi for the ticket. List members David and Amy Groff also were in the house at the old Annie’s

Album Covers of the Weeks

“Julie, you’re 16 now… it’s time for you to start hanging out with much older men in smoke-infested bars.”

Alternate title: Julie’s 50th Birthday.