Actually, April showers bring May flowers. And Mayflowers bring Pilgrims. And Pilgrims bring smallpox. But that’s not why we’re here. (Actually, it IS why we’re here here.)
Man, this turned dark quickly… let’s make like Plymouth and Rock this month!
But first, before the strong rains come and wash all the crops away (shout-out Clarence Carter’s “Patches”), some non-broken breaking news: my son took a hard tumble in his backyard (the perils of homeownership) and messed up his elbow. Thankfully no bones are broken, but his band The Collies had to cancel their gig Friday night at The Vault. (Despite our pleas to channel his inner Rick Allen.)
Instead of the Collies, you can catch the Funky Ducks, Eastwood, and Dilly & the Doves at MOTR or Organized Gentlemen (featuring my co-worker George Simon) at Ghost Baby.
Here’s hoping our son recovers quickly — and that he doesn’t become the Wally Pipp of the Collies.
There’s more animal action on Saturday: Gorilla Biscuits and the Circle Jerks at Bogart’s. (BTW, Circle Jerks are the official band of April.)
That same evening, Southgate House hosts a Jimmy D Celebration of Life.
Here’s the full lineup:
And Ludlow Garage has Sabbath: Long Live Ozzy. (Do you want to tell them or should I?)
Patterson Hood (of the Drive-by Truckers) and John Moreland play Ludlow on Sunday. I’ll be in the house Garage for that one. Over at the (Southgate) House, it’s Handsome Dick Manitoba, The Strains, and Rat Trap. And the Comet Bluegrass All-Stars play the venue that gave them their name.
Mirah plays the Woodward on Tuesday to wrap up March. Oh, and Good Flying Birds, Touch Girl Apple Blossom, and Personality Hire play an in-store gig at Feel It Records on Ludlow in Clifton.
This coming Wednesday isn’t just Ween Wednesday at The Columbia. It’s also April Fool’s Day.
For people of a certain age who grew up in the Cincinnati area, it’s the annual reminder that WEBN used to not suck.
On April Fool’s Day, my slightly less sarcastic brother-from-another-mother Daniel Tosh will celebrate at the Peter Brady.
Meanwhile, Mammoth (Wolfie Van Halen’s band) will be at Bogart’s. The Aronoff hosts The Simon & Garfunkel Story. And Memorial Hall has “Seals & Crofts 2” (Brady Seals, cousin of Jim and former co-lead singer of Little Texas, and Lua Crofts, daughter of Dash Crofts).
True story: Dash Crofts (at right in the photo above) was the real inspiration for the middle child in The Incredibles.
Uh, they took some artistic liberties.
On Thursday, April 2, it’s a double dose of Jo(h)nny and Nicole. Tunes & Blooms kicks off at the Cincinnati Zoo (6-8 p.m. – free admission after 5) with Jonny Estep on the main stage, and Nicole Polara in the Grove. Meanwhile, Danielle Nicole plays Ludlow with Gina & Johnny.
Friday, April 3:
- Nick Hexum (311) plays Ludlow Garage
- The Redmoor has “Fins Up!” (a Jimmy Buffett tribute show)
- Ludlow has “Rick Nelson Remembered (starring Matthew and Gunnar Nelson).” I don’t really remember Rick, but I remember Matthew & Gunnar had — and perhaps still have — luscious manes of hair.
(Are we sure they’re Rick Nelson’s kids, and not Fabio’s?)
On Saturday, April 4:
- The Tillers and Harlot play Southgate
- Avery*Sunshine plays Ludlow
- Rachel Holt and Brooks Werner are at the Liberty Theater.
Jeffrey Lewis & the Voltage play Southgate on Sunday, April 5.
On Tuesday April 7, “platinum-selling* indie superstar” Ben Rector plays “Songs from America” with the Cincinnati Pops at the Aronoff, and Our Lady Peace rocks Bogart’s.
*Let’s call Ben Rector on April Fool’s and say “I would like to purchase some platinum from you.”
On Wednesday the 8th, Madison Cunningham plays Memorial Hall with special guest Sam Weber, list member John S. and his TyeDye band play Arnold’s from 6-8 p.m., and The Emo Orchestra featuring The Spill Canvas is at the Taft.
“Known for transforming emo and alternative hits into cinematic arrangements alongside a popular band from the genre, Emo Orchestra and The Spill Canvas bring a unique show that merges nostalgia, emotional storytelling, and orchestral grandeur. Together, on stage, they will perform a curated mix of their own fan-favorite songs alongside reimagined classics from across the emo genre—backed by the full orchestra. Fans will hear songs by My Chemical Romance, New Found Glory, A Day To Remember and more in a way they never have before.” [Guyliner sold separately – Ed.]
Shows on Thursday April 9:
- Jim Lauderdale & the Game Changers play Southgate House with Krystal Peterson opening – I’ll be there!
- Memorial Hall has An Evening with Chris Thile
- Bruce Hornsby & the Noisemakers at the Taft
- Tunes & Blooms: Jake Speed & the Freddies (main stage) and Clark Jenkins (Grove)
- Stillhouse Junkies and Stone & Snow play a listening room to be named later in Northside
- The old Annie’s has The Broken Hearts: A Tribute to Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
- Soul Asylum plays an acoustic set at Ludlow Garage with special guest Corey Glover – it says so right on the LG website visual:
Not so fast, my friend! Turns out that it’s not Living Colour lead singer Corey GLOVER.
Instead, it’s Corey CLOVER.
It’s pretty bad when AI is calling YOU a deepfake:
(Good luck searching the interwebs for “Corey Clover” though. Our computer overlords keep trying to give Corey Glover results.)
Gigs on Friday April 10:
- Wayne “The Train” Hancock plays Southgate’s main room, with Kyle Eldridge opening
- Brett Newski plays a free show in the Southgate Lounge — I’ll be at that one
- Ludlow garage has Steely Dead (“a sonic fusion of the Grateful Dead and Steely Dan”)
- AJ and Allie play Bogart’s
- Sami Riggs hosts a “Listening Factory” show at Factory 52 featuring Ryce Mullins and Scott Siefferman
- Beth Stelling
Gigs on Saturday April 11:
- Lee Fields and the Monophonics are at the old Annie’s
- 49 Winchester place the Ovation
- Pat Metheny’s Side Eye III+ is at the Taft
- Jim Trace & the Makers play Plain Folk Café
- Tony Holt and The Wildwood Valley Boys play the Liberty Theater
- Southgate has Back 2 Mac (Fleetwood Mac tribute) with No Good Ponies (music of Linda Ronstadt)
My under the radar gig of the month (UTRGOTM for short) is Sunday April 12 at the Northside Tavern: Gladie headlines with Maura Weaver and Eatt also on the bill. Damn straight I’ll be there- school night be damned! Gladie’s new album absolutely rocks.
Their previous one was great too, and lead singer Augusta was kind enough to include a personal note when vinyl versions were delayed.
That same evening (4/12), Southgate’s Revival Room has “Girls Rock Cinci Remix Showcase” with Girl Gordon, Moonbeau, Swelle, Milque, and Blue Light Room. And Penny and Sparrow played the Ludlow Garage
Lake Street Dive is at the Ovation on Tuesday April 14
The Surfragettes play Southgate on Wednesday the 15th with Bethlehem Shalom as the opener.
Thursday April 16:
- The Del McCoury Band plays Memorial Hall
- Tunes & Blooms features the Shelby Lore Band and Cecil Jackson & Dry Ridge
- Stick Men featuring Tony Levin, Pat Mastelotto and Markus Reuter at Ludlow Garage
- The Liberty Theater in Lawrenceburg, IN has their “Third Thursdays Tribute Series” with “Aja, the Music of Steely Dan.”
On Friday April 17:
- The Silos place Southgate House. I’ll be there along with list members Dave T. (co-host of the 97X Rumblings from the Big Bush podcast) and our friend El Blanco.
- Organized Gentleman (a Cincinnati-based instrumental trio blending guitar, organ, and drums into a groove-forward mix of funk, soul, and jazz, inspired by bands like The Meters, Soulive, and Ghost-Note) play Radio Artifact. You can get tickets here.
- Hard Rock Casino has many temptations but it’s doubtful any of them will be in the band listed as “The Temptations” (actually Otis Williams is still in the mix!). The other band on the bill is The Four Tops (minus all four of the original members).
Dead Centric and The Electric Indigo place Southgate on Saturday April 18 and the Michelle Robinson Band plays the Liberty Theater.
On Sunday the 19th Puscifer (Maynard James Keenan of Tool with some friends) plays the Taft with the amazingly hilarious Dave Hill as the opener.
That same evening Ambrosia plays Memorial Hall, and my son’s other band VanWinkle plays MOTR, with Bugday and Hummingbird.
Chuck Meade from BR549 plays Southgate on Wednesday April 22 with Laid Back Country Picker as the opener.
This guy was a laid back country picker too:
Shows on Thursday April 23:
- Kenny Wayne Shepherd plays a 30th anniversary of his album Ledbetter Heights at the Taft
- Jess Lamb & Friends are at MOTR
- Tunes & Blooms: The Tillers and Stick & Bindle
- Ludlow Garage has Bohemian Queen – which is either a tribute to Freddy Mercury’s old band or to the barefoot, dreadlocked lady who sells grilled cheese sandwiches in the parking lot at Phish shows.
Oh, speaking of barefoot, I’ll be here:
On Friday April 24:
- The Reverend Horton Heat, Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears, and Piñata Protest play Southgate’s big room while in the Revival Room you can catch Portland (Oregon) singer-songwriter Jeffrey Martin
- Ana Popovic plays Ludlow
- Memorial Hall has Genesis ReTouched… which is not nearly as dirty as it sounds.
(It’s actually a tribute to the Genesis concerts of the late 80s through the late aughts.)
Shows on Saturday, April 25:
- Ethel Cain plays the Ovation
- The Hard Rock Casino has Starship featuring Mickey Thomas (I guess the “Jefferson” part of Jefferson Starship moved on up)
- Downtowne Listening Room Sirens of Spring tour: Mama’s Black Sheep + Regina Sayles + Colleen Clark
Vanessa Carlton plays Ludlow garage on Sunday the 26th
On Wednesday April 29:
- Mary Gauthier and Stephen Kellogg are at Ludlow Garage.
- The Toasters celebrate 45 years of reggae with Rat Trap and U.S. Daggers at Southgate House.
- TyeDye plays Wunderbar in Covington
And the month wraps up on Thursday April 30 with a Supertramp tribute at Memorial Hall. (Breakfast in America sold separately.)
Taking a quick sneak peek into May: I’ll be heading to Indy on Friday, May 1 with list members Deuce and Matt for the David Byrne show at the Old National Theater. That same evening, The Outlaws play Ludlow Garage.
We love it live!
The supergroup R.E.M. tribute show at the Bluebird in Bloomington was absolutely amazing. Some dude named Mike Mills sat in on several songs.
And he had great things to say about his experience:
Future house concert performer Jason Narducy was all agog too!
Hat tip to list member John Sandman for the Shawn Colvin ticket – great show at Memorial Hall.
List member Matt Lacefield (catch his “Side Effects” show on Inhailer Radio Saturday evenings 7-9 p.m.) and I I brought up the average age of attendees by about 20 years at the Snõõper, Shrudd, and Pal show at the Woodward. But all three bands brought such great punk energy that we felt decades younger.
Check out Blair from Snõõper getting into the crowd:
The Downtown Listening Room singer-songwriter showcase at The Columbia was a bit twangier than my usual musical adventures but thoroughly enjoyable. Such a great venue!
And last but certainly not least, Wussy rocked the Woodward!
It was great hanging with list members Ken “Lobby Boy” Laube (on Inhailer Fridays 11a-3p) and David & Amy Groff.
We love live poetry too!
Manuel Iris is a treasure, and his readings from his latest book of poetry called The Whole Earth is a Garden of Monsters at the Mercantile Library were powerful and moving. He says he writes poetry as if it’s music – by rhythm.
Manuel’s new book also won the 2025 Ambroggio Prize. The Prize is given annually for a book-length poetry manuscript originally written in Spanish and with an English translation. His English translator is Kevin McHugh, a friend from my ad agency days.
Radio people are happy even when they’re sad
Gary Burbank’s Celebration of Life was a wonderful tribute to a radio legend. It was good to reconnect with my old radio homies too. They’re all crazy, of course, which is what makes them so much fun to be around.
Former WLW superstar salesman Dan Lewis was not in attendance. He had another modeling gig.
Jason Narducy at my place – Thursday, May 14
Jason’s playing a “songs and stories” solo gig at Casa de d2 on May 14th. 8-9:30pm (perfect timing for a school night). You can get tickets here. If you’re not familiar with Mr. Narducy, his first band inspired Dave Grohl to start making music. And he not only organized the R.E.M. tours with Michael Shannon (read more here and here) and assembled a killer band, but he’s also the bassist for Bob Mould, touring bassist for Superchunk, makes solo records as Split Single, and has a new book of road stories out.
Here’s a fun video for a Split Single tune, with the aforementioned funnyman Dave Hill and Anya Marina:
And here’s the full Split Single live set on KEXP:
Don’t let the TicketBastards get you down
Last week I made a box office run to Ovation, Bogart’s, and Ludlow Garage to get tickets for my friends and me. 7 shows. 19 tickets. 1 hour of my time. And we saved $180 in fees.
They don’t make it easy (Ovation box office is only open Tuesday through Friday from 10a-3p… although the woman at the box office said they stay open until 4.) But it’s totally worth it if you know the show won’t sell out. FWIW, the Mike Brady box office is open M-W-F 11a-3p (and you can park right by the box office) and they also sell tickets to Taft and Riverbend/PNC shows there. Ludlow’s box office hours are W-F, 4-9p, and Sa-Su 11a-9p. Bogart’s is noon-5p M-F and also longer hours on show days.
College rockin’
List member Daniel passed along a fun article from Loudwire:
Check it out here and let the debates begin!
Shameless self-promotion
The latest episode of the “97X Rumblings from the Big Bush” podcast features Rob Mason, who interned at 97X and later went on to start Old Flame Records.
Album Cover(s) of the Week(s)
I mostly love your track suit. And your Doug Henning vibes.
Who knew Julia Child had a side hustle?
I’ve never seen someone less excited about love. I think he’s being forced to play guitar against his will, and the Stockholm Syndrome hasn’t fully kicked in yet.
Speaking of kicking in, we can smell what Larry’s smoking with his “High Time” album title and the greenery behind him. But his shirt has made me forget all about Mickey Thomas’ track suit.
