Down to Earth

Concert Listings, Concert review, Music

I come to you with cap in hand, asking your forgiveness for my disparaging comments about the local nine (technically 10 now that there’s a DH) last week. As a wise man once said:

“How about everybody just settle down and celebrate and cheer for the team.”
The guy whose dad bought the team

I was so very wrong last week when I said that this year’s Cincinnati Reds roster consists mostly of players from the Reds’ minor league affiliate Chattanooga Lookouts, only now they’re wearing uniforms with less of a “Mr. Potato Head eyes” vibe.

In reality, the team is more like players from the Reds’ low-A minor league affiliate Daytona Tortugas, only with a logo that has less of a juice pouch vibe:

But, as a wise man once said, “be careful what you ask for.”

OK, enough yapping about baseball. Let’s get to the gigs.

Moon Tooth is at Top Cats on Monday. List member Ken Laube once lost a tooth at Top Cats, in a fight with Chris Knight. (I’m kidding… although singer Chris Knight did get into a fight there…) Wait, breaking news: the Moon Tooth show has been cancelled. But Chris Knight is OK. So’s Ken.

On Tuesday, Justin Bieber is at the Coliseum. I’ve already incurred the wrath of Phil Castellini, so I don’t dare risk pissing off the Beliebers. But I will say I liked his music better when he was in NSYNC.

Wednesday night, Dylan is at Southgate House! (That’s Dylan LeBlanc.) And Candlebox plays an unplugged show at Memorial Hall.

Thursday, James McMurtry plays a solo show at Memorial Hall. List members John Sandman, Michael Orzali and I will be there. You should be too – Mr. McMurtry’s last album was one of the best of 2021.

Or you can check out local reggae band The Cliftones at the Cincinnati Zoo’s Tunes & Blooms. Admission is free after 5 p.m., music starts at 6, and you just might run into list member/Cereal Killers frontman Howard Cohen at the Great Lakes Brewing table. (More on the Cereal Killers later.)

Other Thursday shows:

Stick Men (featuring Tony Levin and Pat Mastelotto from King Crimson plus eight-string touch guitarist Markus Reuter) is at Ludlow Garage.
Ashley Cooke plays Top Cats (list member Ken Laube used to cook at Zino’s, just down the street…) Breaking news: the Ashley Cooke show has been cancelled… but Ken can still make you a Zinover.
Ben Levin plays Shire’s Garden.
Comedian Lewis Black will be ranting at the Taft.

Friday is Earth Day. Hug a tree…

… or better yet, plant one.

On Friday evening, Olivia Rodrigo plays a sold-out show at the Alice the Cook Brady Music Center.

Olivia is so hot right now… but so was Alice back in the day!

A whole slew of shows is slated for Saturday:

Jimmy Webb plays “The Glen Campbell Years” at Memorial Hall.
The Quebe Sisters play Southgate House’s main room, and Addison Johnson teams up with Mic Harrison (of the late great V-Roys) for an acoustic duo set in the upstairs Revival Room.
Aly & AJ are at Bogart’s
Kenny Loggins plays the Hard Rock Casino

Ludlow Garage hosts Lotus Land – A Tribute to Rush.

You’ve gotta have a monster pair of brass balls to try to fill Neil Peart’s drum stool. (Oh, you’ll also need a metric ton of drums and cymbals, some wind chimes, maybe a gong…)

On Sunday, the always-entertaining Robyn Hitchcock plays the Southgate House… and Journey plays the Coliseum.

Looks like the “new” Journey has removed the Steve Perry Journey literal video of “Separate Ways” from YouTube… (ironic when you think about how they discovered their current lead singer) so you’ll have to go here to enjoy it.

The following week is rather light on gigs, so let’s cover those here:

Suzanne Vega plays ~~Tom’s Diner~~ Ludlow Garage on Wednesday, April 27th.

On Thursday, April 28th:

Leo Kottke plays Ludlow Garage
Chuck Mead (of BR-549) is at Southgate
Restless Leg String Band plays the Zoo’s Tunes & Blooms
Steve Hackett is at the Taft

On Friday, April 29th:

Sierra Ferrell plays Southgate (list members Dave Green and Michael Orzali are big fans)
Khruangbin and Toro y Moi are at the Brady
Gavin DeGraw plays the Hard Rock Casino
Brit Floyd is at Taft
Ben Levin plays BrewRiver

Comedian Brian Regan plays the Brady on Saturday, April 30th, and NRBQ will be at Southgate on Sunday, May 1st.

Must-see May gigs

The Cereal Killers are back with their inimitable combination of songs from late ’70’s British & American punk, with a dash of the New Wave, a dollop of garage rock, a heaping helping of hijinks, and a side of shenanigans. It’s like 97X is still on the air, but better because it’s live! If you’re on this list and you’re in the house for this gig, the first beer’s on me!

And if you can’t make that raucous evening gig due to your advancing years, fear not, Cereal Killers have a matinee show (3-5 p.m.) at MadTree on Saturday, May 14th!

Then you can take a quick nap — or enjoy the early bird special at Bob Evans — before catching a fantastic blues lineup at 20th Century Theatre:

Mark the calendar in your Day Runner now, and put it in your PalmPilot too!

Concert reviews

The Waxahatchee show at Woodward was stellar – and it was great to see list members Bruce Frasure (and his lovely bride), Taylor Fox (of Inhailer Radio), Kevin Sullivan, Dave Roberto and Joe Sampson in 3-D. (Mark Messerly of Wussy also was there and said a new album from Wussy is forthcoming!)

Katie Crutchfield’s beau Kevin Morby joined her on stage (in a stunning jacket from the Fess Parker collection, no less!) for a few songs, including covers of Magnolia Electric Co. and Dylan (Bob, not LeBlanc).

Meanwhile, list member David Reid thoroughly enjoyed the Jack White gig at the Carol Brady Music Center that same evening:

Just got home from the Jack White show. So good! Dude is the complete package: Nasty-great guitar, empassioned, from-the-gut vocals, good songs and dynamic stage presence. Left knowing I’d seen something pretty special.

My new favorite podcast

OMG, Valley Heat is hilarious! It’s like A Confederacy of Dunces meets Arrested Development meets Fernwood 2 Night. Doug’s deadpan delivery, a wacky cast of characters, fun music references, the bogus promo spots, and great theater-of-the-mind audio all combine to create a perfect storm of humor. I binged every episode this weekend and was laughing the entire time.

It’s a Small (Woody) World…

Last week’s wacky album cover:

Prompted this comment from list member Lisa Collins, whose mom (Carol Jean) lives in Florida:

Just an FYI, Woody Woodbury is an acquaintance/friend of Carol Jean. He is 98 years old and lives in Fort Lauderdale. He goes every Sunday to breakfast at the same place Mom goes. They’ve become breakfast buddies – haha.

And list member/Cereal Killers frontman/online detective Howard Cohen tracked down a lovely archival photo of the spot where the album was “taped, unexpurgated and unrehearsed from the night club floor of the Bahama Hotel in Ft. Lauderdale”:

Album Cover of the Week

Remember Dionne Warwick? Remember Pricing Charts? Remember K-Mart? (This album is in pretty good shape for being 50 years old.)

Singin’ the blues

Concert Listings, Concert review, Music

Well, the Orange & Black made a valiant effort, but in the end they were edged out by the Blue & Yellow.

Wait, I’m talking about leftover Halloween candy. What did you think I meant?

Oh yeah, the Bengals lost too. But as the people on this boat said upon further reflection* “that sure was a heck of a ride!”

*i.e. after they recovered from their concussions

OK, let’s move on to the tunes. Great news: as part of the This Week in Live Music President’s Day Weekend Sale, you can buy one week of concert listings and get one week free!

Speaking of furniture, let’s give it up for Lucy Dacus, who played a great show at the Ovation while lying on a couch for most of the gig due to two herniated discs in her back. What a trooper.

Looking heavenward with the voice of an angel

New release Friday

Today, Jacob Strom (son of list members Jen and Tim Strom) has a new track called “Charger” dropping on all the major streaming sites. It’s a song he co-wrote for an artist named JVKE, who apparently is quite the TikTok-er. Check it out. And by “it” I mean the song, not TikTok. OK, go ahead and do both, you impetuous youth!

Tickets on sale today

Bonnie Raitt and Mavis Staples at the Greg “Johnny Bravo” Brady Center on July 19th.

Gig time

Tonight, John Scofield plays Ludlow Garage.

Saturday, Beth Hart is at the Taft, Madison Live hosts a Weezer and Smashing Pumpkins tribute, and the Icon has a sold-out show: Louis Tomlinson. (Never heard of him? Same here, my friend with discriminate taste in musical artists… apparently he was a member of One Direction.)

On Monday, Superwolves (a band featuring Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy*) plays Southgate.

*no relation to Prince

Tuesday, Drew & Ellie Holcomb play Memorial Hall, and The Thing with Feathers lands in Southgate’s Revival Room.

On Thursday:

Allison Russell plays Memorial Hall. (Allison is from Birds of Chicago, and her solo album from 2021 got rave reviews.)
Zachary Williams (of The Lone Bellow) will be at Ludlow Garage, with local band The Hiders opening the show.
Ovation has Zoso: The Ultimate Led Zeppelin Experience. That show is BYOG (Bring Your Own Groupies)

Next Friday evening, Lily Hiatt plays Southgate, with the Harmaleighs opening, and Jack Russell’s Great White (essentially Jack Russell minus all the other members of Great White… it’s complicated when that much hair is involved) plays the Blue Note in Harrison.

“What can I say? I threw a band together because I needed the money.”

On Saturday, Feb. 26th:

Anderson East plays Bogart’s
Local artists Physco and Christian Nicholas Gough play the Woodward
Alex Williams is in Southgate’s Sanctuary
Letterkenny Live is at the Taft.

Sunday, 2/27, British blues-rocker Joanne Shaw Taylor is at Southgate and Gaelic Storm hits the Taft.

The four members of the band called We Banjo Three have two shows at Memorial Hall, on Tuesday, March 1st and Wednesday, March 2nd.

Also on Wednesday (3/2), Beach House will be on the river… at the Ovation in Newport. And Wishbone Ash plays Ludlow Garage.

Goats will march forth when Bockfest kicks off on Friday, March 4th. That same evening the Devon Allman Project (featuring Luther Dickinson of North Mississippi Allstars) plays Annie’s with the Samantha Fish Band, and The Well and Howling Giant play Northside Yacht Club. If you’re into tributes, Bogart’s has The Prince Experience (no relation to Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy) and Taft hosts The Fab Four Ultimate Tribute. (I’m assuming it’s a tribute to the Rutles.)

Shows on Saturday, March 5th:

Ministry, the Melvins and Corrosion of Conformity are at the Madison Theater
Mat Kearney plays the Taft
Local artist David McGlynn has an album release show at the Woodward, with Ric Hordinski and Moonshine
Aja – A tribute to Steely Dan is at Ludlow Garage (I’m assuming it’s a tribute to the BAND Steely Dan, not the… um… toy.)

Coheed & Cambria plays Ovation on Sunday, March 6th, and the husband and wife duo called Ordinary Elephant plays Southgate, with Rachael Kilgour as the opener.

Vote early, vote often

I’m with AC Newman…

Album Covers of the Week

I spend a lot of time crate-digging at the local thrift stores, trying to add to my vinyl collection on the cheap. Usually it’s a colossal waste of time, as the bins are filled with nothing but albums from Andy Williams, Engelbert ~~Hump-or-death~~ Humperdinck and the Ray Conniff Singers. But this past Sunday, I scored big:

Not a bad haul for the princely* sum of $4.63.

*no relation to Prince

Have a great fortnight!

Super. Love. Music.

Concert Listings, Concert review, Music

What a great time to be in the Cincinnati area. This Sunday, the local NFL team, owned by the Browns (in more ways than one), has a chance to take home the ultimate prize: a trip to Disney World!

(Oh, and a shiny trophy too.) This town is going bonkers for their Bengals!

Then on Monday, it’s VD for everyone! Let me wish you a Happy Valentine’s Day!

Always remember that I love you, even if I forgot to get you something… wait, sorry, that’s the note for my wife. Although sometimes I DO get her a gift and she’s still upset.

I have no idea why…

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Before we get to the Super Bowl and the Super Love, we have an action-packed weekend of hard-hitting rock and/or roll.

Tonight, Lucy Dacus plays the Ovation, with Indigo De Souza as the opener. Should be a stellar show – hope to see you there.

This just in… if Lucy has back-to-back back pain, she might be crooning from a couch, like she did last night in the Motor City:

Saturday, Foxy Shazam plays the Peter Brady Icon Music Center.

That same evening, Manor House in Mason hosts The Cincy Winter Blues Experience, Rob Fetters kicks off Season #6 of his “Fetters is Cheap” live streams, and the Tri-State’s smelly hippies find themselves with a tough choice:

Local jam band Spookfloaters (feat. my wife’s cousin Mike on guitar and vocals) plays the event center at Little Miami Brewing Co. AND
Runaway Gin (a tribute to Phish) is at Annie’s.

I guess they’ll have to take two trips that night.

The Peter Brady mustache really makes the outfit.

On Super Sunday, Stay Outside and Leland Blue play Southgate.

Monday, in addition to the aforementioned hug fest that is Valentine’s Day, Langhorne Slim plays Southgate.

Southgate House has two shows on Tuesday:

The Pine Hill Haints play the main room (Sanctuary)
In the upstairs Revival Room, you can enjoy An Evening with Clem Snide – I may hit this show, could be really cool.

Wednesday, Dream Theater plays the Marsha Brady Icon Music Center.

Iconic football scene.

On Thursday, Cary Morin plays Southgate’s Revival Room.

Next Friday, John Scofield will be at Ludlow Garage.

Tickets on sale today

The Who at TQL Stadium on May 15th… yes, Quadrophenia fans, that’s 5:15…
Idles at Ovation on September 12th
“Mickey Dolenz celebrates the Monkees” at Icon on April 9th
Engelbert Humperdinck at Taft on May 6th.

Trick question

Live shot

The War on Drugs put on a stellar show at Ovation this past Sunday. The venue is similar to the Mike Brady Icon Music Center, although it only has a single wraparound balcony instead of two. The sound was very good, sightlines were decent, I just wish they had more exits for post-show egress.

Album Cover of the Week

Your collection of the best Soul music isn’t complete unless you have Hutch in your hutch.

I promised you Superlove music, so here it is:

Ass Ponys covering the Afghan Whigs… it doesn’t get any better than this.

Bill Janovitz saved my life last night.

Concert review, Music

This post originally appeared on my personal blog, but I’m re-posting here because it’s about music… and music posts are pretty scarce these days..

Back in my Catholic grade school days, the nuns talked about the Corporal Works of Mercy, one of which is “feed the hungry.”

William Shakespeare said “if music be the food of love, play on!”

Bill Janovitz, the lead singer of my favorite band, Buffalo Tom, hosted a “Virtual Happy Hour” this past Saturday afternoon, via the band’s Facebook page. After mixing himself a martini in his kitchen, he headed down to the basement to play songs from throughout his career, usually on acoustic guitar, occasionally on piano. It was like manna from heaven. A feast for the music-starved masses.

I’ve seen Buffalo Tom several times — in Cincinnati, in New York, L.A., Chicago — and have loved every second of every show. But last night’s solo gig was not just something I wanted to see, it something I desperately needed after a long, long week of work and worry and weirdness. And it wasn’t just me that needed this catharsis — a thousand folks tuned in from around the world. Australia, Italy, England, Abu Dhabi…

I’m not big on the FaceGrams and the InstaTweet and the other social mediums, but yesterday, it sure came in handy as a way to bond with like-minded fans. It provided a true sense of close connection in a social distancing world.

Bill was in his basement, sipping a martini and playing his songs. 800 miles away, I was in my basement, singing along at the top of my lungs (something I’d never do at a regular Buffalo Tom concert – I respect the other fans too much to torture them with my off-key warbling) and crying in my beer at the sad songs. It was more than music, it was magic.

Fancy suit. Sensible footwear.

In addition to being a fabulous songwriter and performer, Bill is also a caring dude. He’s heavily involved in the Hot Stove Cool Music fundraisers that provide scholarships for kids and families in disadvantaged neighborhoods in Boston. Yesterday’s gig raised more than $4,000 (via Venmo and PayPal “tip jars”) for local venues, promoters and musicians who are out of work during the coronavirus lockdown.

Bill’s already booked another “Virtual Happy Hour” gig for this Saturday, March 28th, at 4:30 EDT. Grab a beverage and belly up to the basement bar for some musical salvation. This go-round, the donations go to Bill, because he was originally scheduled for a gig that evening. So tip generously.

Until then, why not use a bit of your “house arrest” free time to check out Buffalo Tom’s most recent album Quiet and Peace. It’ll be good for what ails you.

This Week in Live Music: January 13-19

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

First and foremost, R.I.P. Neil Peart.

This NPR tribute by Annie Zaleski is very nice. Love this quote:

“He was in many ways like an outsider — the guy who was often different from everyone else,” Halper says. “But that was okay with him. He didn’t want to be like everyone else. He just wanted to be Neil. He loved being a rock drummer, but he also loved literature. He loved poetry. He loved the outdoors. He didn’t care what society thought a rock star was ‘supposed to be’ — he wasn’t afraid to be himself, and he didn’t really care about fame. He just wanted to be good at what he did — and he was! — and he just wanted to share his music with the fans.”

I can totally relate to that… well, other than the musical talent part.

It’s a slow week for nationally touring band gigs, so this week I’m going to highlight a few more local artists than usual.

On Tuesday, The Dead South (Canadian folk-bluegrass) hits Bogart’s. And Jerry Springer is doing a live taping (sounds like an oxymoron, I know) of two podcast episodes at Folk School Coffee Parlor in Ludlow, KY, from 7-8 p.m. This isn’t the crazy TV version of Jerry, it’s the politically astute Jerry, along with some live music and a bit of shtick. I’ve been before and it’s fun.

Shiny Old Soul plays the Northside Tavern on Wednesday, and the Blue Wisp Big Band is at Caffè Vivace.

On Thursday, Fuel will make a pit stop at the Ludlow Garage. In addition, the Philip Paul Trio plays Arnold’s, and the Mt. Pleasant String Band plays Southgate’s Lounge — both of those are free shows.

Friday, We Banjo 3 plays a sold-out gig at Memorial Hall. In the cherished tradition of “Wrong Number” bands like the Thompson Twins and Ben Folds Five, We Banjo 3 actually has 4 members… and they play more instruments than banjo, too!

Also on Friday:

Ghost Man on Second plays Lucius Q
Stanley’s hosts an evening with Terrapin Moon
The Ben Levin Trio plays Wiedemann’s Tap Room
This Pine Box has a single release party at MOTR, with Sugadaisy and a great White Stripes/Black Keys type band from Lexington called Johnny Conqueroo (video below).

On Saturday, The Levin Brothers Band plays Ludlow Garage.

Other Saturday shows:

Ben Levin (he’s a Levin brother too!) plays Smoke Justis
Stanley’s hosts the Winter Blues Revival
Nicholas Clay and Kelly Fine (Young Heirlooms) play Camp Springs Tavern (check out this nugget from Nicholas Clay’s music FB page:

On Sunday:

Stef Chura plays MOTR with Leggy
The Boston band called Ripe (“part jam band, part funk, part jazz and part soul”) plays the Madison Theater
The Comet Bluegrass All-Stars do their weekly residency at the bar that gave them their name.

Musical musings

The Parlor & Patio house concert last night was great. Chelsea Nolan has a wonderful voice, and is a fun storyteller. Her TED talk is well worth checking out for inspiration (embedded at the end of this week’s post). If you’ve yet to attend a Parlor & Patio show, you really should check one out. Great songwriters in an intimate setting with a super-friendly and casual vibe… and free pie from Piebird at intermission! The current 2020 bookings are listed here. You can check out the artists on this Spotify playlist. Get tickets early because the shows will sell out.

Hot Ticket Alert

Wussy is playing the Woodward Theater on Friday, March 6th. Tickets here.

Hot No-Ticket-Required Alert

The Cereal Killers are playing MadTree Brewing on Saturday, February 15th, from 4:30-6:30 p.m. Perfect set time for an old fart like me… like a Bob Evans early-bird special, only with beer instead of meatloaf!

2019 tunes worth checking out

Hat tip to list member Michael “Rico” Carrico for directing us to a guy from Finland who has being doing a blog (“One Chord to Another”) covering Americana/folk/etc. for more than a decade. His 2019 favorites list is here and he also does a weekly playlist that’s very cool.

Tweet of the Week

Videos

This Week in Live Music: January 6-12

Concert Listings, Concert review, Music

Hey gang, Happy New Year! America’s Least Beloved Blog* is back to inflict weekly pain and suffering upon you. (Better call 444-4444.) Let’s see… I forgot how this works… oh, that’s right, I provide an admittedly incomplete list of the gigs in the Tri-State area and you, gentle reader, proceed to pay incomplete attention to said list, just like that one kid in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off…

*Source: WordPress stats

My 2020 Resolution is to go see 20 live music performances. We’re talking band gigs, not the church organist. Who’s with me?

There ain’t much wattage in the live music cottage this week. Legendary guitarist Albert Lee plays Southgate on Wednesday.

On Thursday, you have several fine options for your live-music listening pleasure… get one of the 20 gigs under your belt by attending any of these:

Jason Ringenberg (of Jason & The Scorchers fame) is at Southgate
Ben Levin will be at BrewRiver
The Ricky Nye duo (featuring Matt McCoy) plays at Big Ash Brewing
The TyeDye Band plays The Lounge in Anderson (I’ll be there… 2020 Gig #1)

Friday gigs:

Ben Levin is at Lucius Q
Orleans plays Ludlow Garage
Leroy Ellington’s Sacred Heart is at Big Ash Brewing
The Harmless Varmints (great name!) play Camp Springs Tavern
Peter Asher plays “a musical memoir of the 60s” at 20th Century. I’m not sure how you can do a memoir of the 60s…

On Saturday, the talented youngster Chelsea Nolan plays the first Parlor & Patio gig of 2020 at the home of Dave & Jacqui Killen. I’ll be there (if you’re keeping score at home, that’s Gig #2 of 2020). This show is sold out… check out the video below and you’ll hear why.

Check the Parlor & Patio shows page to find out about other shows this year, and get your tickets early!

The Sunday gig isn’t a house concert, but it’s close: Chris Carpenter and Kevin Stokley play the Downtowne Listening Room. Here’s a description of the venue from their website:

We support a true, music lover’s listening vibe with no crowd noise so you can enjoy the music. When the show starts, we ask everyone to refrain from talking, turn off cell phones, and turn on to the music. Our performers appreciate your respect for their craft and put on an intimate and inviting show. Social time with friends and the artists occurs before and after each performance.

More gigs at that venue can be found here.

Hot Ticket Alerts

Guster plays an acoustic show at Memorial Hall on March 14th, and “they’ll also be inviting a rotating cast of improv friends to join them on stage for some on the spot songwriting and comedy.”

The Bottle Rockets have an April 1st gig at Southgate. No foolin’!

Cold Ticket Alerts

You might wanna steer clear of downtown Cincy on Saturday, May 16th. Garth Brooks will be at Paul Brown Stadium, and Michael Buble will be at the Coliseum. I’m calling it “A Night of Historic Histrionics.”

Tweets/posts about local legends

Here’s Craig Finn of The Hold Steady talking about one of their recent NYC shows:

(I do too, Craig!)

And here’s what Jason Narducy (Bob Mould/Superchunk touring bassist – he also has a new solo effort out) tweeted about Bob Pollard:

If our boy Bobby can play a gazillion songs at age 62, surely you can get off your couch and go see a show or 20 (leg kicks not required). Let list member Dan Bockrath be your inspiration…

Dan Bockrath’s 2019 Music in Review

Holy crap – after a quiet start, it was another year of epic concerts. The live music experience is like no other…and I have a newfound passion and appreciation for the intimacy of house concerts thanks to Jacqui and Dave‘s Parlor & Patio series. (You must see Rob Fetters if you have the opportunity – “small is the new big”). I attended even more shows this year out of the need for my spirit to be lifted and transported…even for just a few meaningful hours.

Highlights:
– Best Discoveries: Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever (at the legendary Great American Music Hall in SF), Charly Bliss, Jinjer (thanks Gene) and Black Mountain.
– A double dose of Guided By Voices. They were in top form this year. Three records (all highly recommended) and a killer 50+ song, 3-hour set at The Woodward Theater left the sold-out crowd exhausted with joy. Robert Pollard is a master performer!
– The reincarnation of The Ludlow Garage. Their goal is to be the premier listening room in the region. No argument here. In a span of two weeks, I experienced next level shows from Dweezil Zappa, Frank Gambale, Jimmy Herring and local legend Adrian Belew.
– Most Fun: Beck and Cage The Elephant with my daughter and her friends.
– Top Show: No question – King Crimson at the mecca of music venues…the Ryman Auditorium. Nearly 50 years to the day of the release of their epic debut, In the Court of the Crimson King, Robert Fripp and his stellar cast are dedicated to bringing their music to new audiences.

Crimson was one of several 50th anniversary shows I attended in 2019. Proof once again that you’re never too old to rock and roll.
Long live rock – I need it every night!!
Peace and love to you and yours in 2020.

In chronological order:
1/11 Rob Fetters house show – Parlor & Patio
1/27 Dave Davis memorial show – Woodward Theatre
2/10 John Mellencamp – Aronoff Center
3/8 Tracy Walker house show – Parlor & Patio
5/2 Welshly Arms – Bogart’s
6/10 Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever – GAMH-SF
6/14 Charly Bliss – Top Cat’s
6/18 Howard Jones – Bogart’s
6/28 Guided By Voices – Woodward Theatre
6/30 Bela Fleck & The Flecktones – Taft Theatre
7/1 Courtney Barnett – Madison Theatre
7/3 Built To Spill – Woodward Theatre
7/3 Warbly Jets – MOTR Pub (after BTS show)
7/4 Kansas – Red, White & Blue Ash
7/12 Peter Frampton / Jason Bonham – Riverbend
7/13 The Right Now – Levitt Pavilion-Dayton
7/19 Tedeschi Trucks – PNC Pavilion
7/27 Heart / Elle King – Riverbend
8/1 Eric Bachmann (Archers of Loaf) house concert
8/2 Beck / Cage The Elephant / Spoon – Riverbend
8/8 JJ Grey & Mofro / Jonny Lang – PNC Pavilion
8/10 Bellwether Fest (STRFKR, Sego, GBV, Beach House)
8/21 Get The Led Out – Fraze Pavilion
9/4 Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark – Bogart’s
9/11 Adam Ant – Taft Theatre
9/19 Dweezil Zappa – Ludlow Garage (50th – Hot Rats)
9/21 Frank Gambale – Ludlow Garage
9/22 Jimmy Herring – Ludlow Garage
9/27 King Crimson – Ryman Auditorium (50th – Court)
10/2 Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers – Fountain Square
10/4 Adrian Belew – Ludlow Garage
10/12 Jinjer – Riverfront Live
10/22 UFO – Bogart’s (50th anniversary)
11/16 Daniel Martin Moore house show – Parlor & Patio
11/19 Elvis Costello & The Imposters – Taft Theatre
11/22 Black Mountain – Headliners-Louisville
11/26 Cloud Nothings – Woodward Theatre

This Week (and a Day) in Live Music: August 26-September 2

Concert Listings, Concert review

Yes, that’s right, for this edition of TWILM we’re throwing in a bonus day absolutely free. That’s nearly 15% more than our regular TWILM at no cost! How do we do it? We buy in volume and pass the savings on to you!

Before we get into this week’s gigs, I need to apologize for not letting you know that Stevie Wonder and Chance the Rapper were playing in Dayton yesterday. My bad.

I was so close to Stevie wonder 😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/i62vPBTRnx
— queef master flex (@chloembucher) August 26, 2019

OK, moving on to this week. Wow, can you believe it’s almost Labor Day? Thanks to WEBN, the station that plays four AC/DC songs every hour, summer in Cincinnati always ends with a bang. Also thanks to WEBN, summer ends with the country’s largest outdoor display of mullets, jorts and prison ink.

Kentucky side or Ohio side? Yes, that’s correct.

It’s a relatively quiet week for live music, and a few of the gigs have a novelty flair to them. Knotts plays MOTR on Monday, with Circadian Clocks also on the bill. Tuesday, Roots of Creation plays Top Cats. Their website bills them as “electronic dance music, jam, reggae, rock, ska, world group from New Hampshire.” Their new album is Grateful Dub: A Reggae-Infused Tribute to the Grateful Dead.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2W33u-2J1c

Columbus reggae band Quasi Kings opens. Your dreadlocks must be at least one foot long to enter the show.

Zapruder Point plays The Listing Loon on Wednesday.

On Thursday…

Yes, KISS will be playing Riverbend, as part of an alleged farewell tour. Gene Simmons turned 70 yesterday, so perhaps instead of spitting blood he’ll be spitting Geritol.

In a KISS-related story, Ace Frehley will be playing a Dodge dealership in East Hanover, NJ next month.

On Friday, Macy Gray was supposed to play Ludlow Garage, but that gig has been rescheduled to October 15th. But here are the gigs that are on: Dailey & Vincent play Memorial Hall; Will Payne Harrison, Chelsea Ford & The Trouble and My Brother’s Keeper are in Southgate’s Revival Room; Lagniappe is playing Bircus Brewing in Ludlow, Kentucky, with circus acrobats also working the room (really!); the Nick Netherton Band and Noah Smith play the free show at Sawyer Point; Ben Levin and Noah Wotherspoon play Mansion Hill Tavern; The Doors of Chicago are at Bogart’s; and This Pine Box plays Blind Bob’s in Dayton’s Oregon District, a venue and district that both could use some positive vibes.

Saturday, Steve ‘n’ Seagulls, a Finnish band that plays bluegrass versions of metal songs (seriously, I couldn’t even make that up), is on Southgate’s main stage, with ClusterPluck as the opener.

Meanwhile, the Steepwater Band plays Southgate’s Revival Room, Lagniappe (and tightrope walkers) are back at Bircus, and Pearl Crush is at Northside Tavern along with Britt and Brooklynn Rae.

Sunday, Judah & The Lion, Steven Puth and Public play Sawyer Point as part of the fireworks festivities, starting at 5 p.m. Mike & The Moonpies are at Southgate, and rockabilly band Lara Hope & The Ark-Tones are at MOTR.

List member Dave Tellmann, the Detective Phil Fish of Modern Rock, has caught wind of a block party in Mt. Adams called The Annual, featuring tunes from 3 p.m. until midnight, including an Allman Bros. tribute band at 7:30 and the Just Strange Brothers (CCM folks) doing a tribute to Talking Heads at 10 p.m. I’m intrigued. I’m hoping to go, even though I’ll probably have to walk a bit due to the fireworks cluster/closed streets. Who’s with me?

Next Monday is Labor Day. This song is required listening:

Notes from last week

List member Todd Butler and I caught Todd Lipscomb (and friends Brandon and Adam) at Camp Springs Tavern on Saturday night. Camp Springs Tavern is a neat little bar owned by list member Keith Neltner, whose multi-generation family farm is just across the street. If you haven’t been to CST, you really need to check it out, it’s got a great vibe, a nice little outdoor patio, and live “down-home” music most weekends.

Blatant self-promotion

Another episode of the 97X “Rumblings from the Big Bush” podcast, co-hosted by super sleuth Dave Tellmann and yours truly, was recently posted on this website, as well as in iTunes, Spotify and Podbean. In this edition, we chat with John “JJ” Jesser, the original Breakfast Club co-host.

Hot ticket alert

There are only a handful of tickets left for the Brett Newski house concert at Parlor & Patio (the home of list members Jacqui and Dave Killen) in Ft. Thomas on Friday, Sept. 27th. Get yours here with the password Parlor

Mini movie worth watching

Hat tip to list member Joe Sampson for the link to a mini-movie about the making of the Tiny Changes album, an all-star tribute to Frightened Rabbit’s brilliant 2008 release The Midnight Organ Fight.

Band name of the week (NSFW variety)

Album cover of the week

If only they still taught kids in grades K-6 how to do “The Monkey” and “Funky Broadway”… the world would be a better place.

Have a wonderful week and a day!

Concert review: Guided By Voices at Bellwether

Concert review, Music

The Teacher Delivers An Indie Rock Master Class

Guided By Voices perform a blistering set at Bellwether Music Festival

Review: Dan Bockrath Photos: Gene Dow Photography

In the midst of their set, Guided By Voices leader Robert Pollard thanked the Bellwether Music Festival promoters for inviting them to perform a 75-minute show. With a wink and a nod, he then wryly boasted that the band frequently plays 3-hour plus shows on tour. (They played 54 songs in over two and half hours at their late June concert at the Woodward Theatre…and plan on performing a 100 song show at a sold out New Year’s Eve concert in New York City.)

Born, raised and currently living in nearby Dayton, Ohio, the former 4^th grade school teacher and his band ripped through 29 songs in their allotted time. At 61 years old, Pollard maintains the swagger to be one of the best rock and roll frontmen in the business. Confidently strutting the stage, he threw in several Daltryesque microphone swings and managed to sneak in one of his signature high kicks. He has slowed down a bit on the legendary beer chugging, but did take several dips into the cooler throughout the evening.

The band opened with three hard charging songs from their fine 2019 double album Zeppelin Over China before tearing into crowd favorites Cut-Out Witch and Tractor Rape Chain. Pollard then matter-of-factly announced that the band will be releasing their 3^rd record in 2019 in the fall titled Sweating The Plague (the 24-track Warp And Woof was released in April). They then performed the first single, the anthemic “Heavy Like The World”. You can listen to it here.

Sweating the Plague will be the ultra-prolific Guided By Voices 29^th studio album. And Pollard seemed rather proud of his ability to make three records in one year as he wondered aloud why some other bands put out records once every seven years.

Back to the show.

Long-time fans were treated to many favorites from the GBV catalog, including Echos Myron, I Am a Tree, Chasing Heather Crazy, The Best of Jill Hives, My Kind of Soldier, Motor Away and Teenage FBI. Doug Gillard was a beast as always on lead guitar and relative newcomer Bobby Bare, Jr. was windmilling his heart out on rhythm as the dual guitar attack, accompanied by bassist Mark Shue and drummer Kevin March, provided a face full of melodic rock and roll to charge up the relatively mellow sun-kissed crowd. (GBV were sandwiched between STRFKR and headliners Beach House, so many of the younger fans were a little thrown off by ol’ Bob and his band of misfits).

Gene Dow took this photo…
And this one…
Yep, Gene Dow again.

The band was just hitting their stride of greatest hits when they were told they only had three minutes left in their set. With that, Pollard broke into the opening of “Glad Girls” to send the fans off in style.

Setlist link: https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/guided-by-voices/2019/ohio-renaissance-festival-grounds-waynesville-oh-639f9297.html