Over the Rhine

‘Tis the season (for songs)

97X, Concert Listings, Concert review, Music, podcast, woxy.com

It’s a December to remember. Especially with 0% aper.

Unfortunately for music lovers like you (and me!), the ol’ Koncert Keeper tends to be mostly holiday shows. But there are a few nuggets worth digging for in the music mix. Let’s peek at our presents:

This Wednesday is Ween Wednesday at The Columbia in the East End. They’ll be spinning the live At The Cat’s Cradle album from 6-10 p.m. BYOB.

On Thursday, the Liberty Theater in Lawrenceburg, Indiana hosts a free Songwriters in the Round show featuring Anne Bangert, Steve Covington, and Charlie Overman.

Friday shows:

  • The Raisins (the Cincinnati ones, not the California ones) kick off a two-night stand at the Woodward
  • MOTR hosts a free Indie Rock Extravagant-za with Girl Gordon, Kind Skies (Lexington), and Pout
  • Moviola, the Wussy Duo, and Nervous Verbs play The Comet
  • Damien Escobar is at Ludlow Garage. (If you go, tell him he spells his first name incorrectly.)
  • Old Crow Medicine Show has a “Holiday Hootenanny” at the Taft Theatre
  • Monday Night Big Band Holiday Show at the Redmoor
  • Yung Gravy (not a Thanksgiving leftover) is at Ovation

Saturday:

  • The Raisins are back at the Woodward. I have a ticket for this show but can no longer use it – if you want it (free!), hit me up via text, or the comments, or passenger pigeon.
  • Dead Centric plays Stanley’s
  • Noah Smith’s Crooner Circus (songwriter showcase) at Southgate
  • Ludlow Garage has Aja, a tribute to Steely Dan

On Sunday, December 7:

  • Soul Coughing plays the Madison Theater
  • Steel Panther plays Bogart’s

Heart plays the Carol Brady on Monday, December 8.

(Carol had too much of Alice’s favorite dish: “Sam The Butcher’s Sausage Stuffing.”)

Thievery Corporation plays Bogart’s on Tuesday, December 9. (Fun fact: “Thievery Corporation” is the official LLC name for Ticketmaster.)

Oh, and the Phil DeGreg Trio plays “A Charlie Brown Christmas” at Memorial Hall on 12/8 and 12/9.

The Taft Theatre hosts back-to-back holiday shows:

  • Straight No Chaser “Holiday Road” on Wednesday, 12/10
  • Preservation Hall Jazz Band “Creole Christmas” on Thursday, 12/11

Gigs on Friday, 12/12:

  • Eric Gales at Ludlow Garage
  • Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder do a Christmas show at Memorial Hall
  • The New Royals (funk revival) play two sets at MOTR

Saturday, 12/13:

  • Samantha Fish, Cedric Burnside and Jon Spencer at the Ludlow Garage
  • A Very Motherfolk Christmas at Bogart’s
  • Cinci Folk Festival (Maria Carrelli, The Montvales, Jolly Old Hawk, et al.) at Southgate
  • Crown Watts performs the music of Rush at the Madison Theater

Ludlow has Irish Christmas in America on Wednesday, 12/17.

Shows on Thursday, 12/18:

  • Liberty Theater has another free Songwriters in the Round show with Rachel Holt and Naomi Carman
  • Jess Lamb & Friends do a jam session at MOTR
  • The SunBurners and Queen City Silver Stars play an Island Christmas show at The Redmoor (they do the same show on Friday 12/19 also)

Friday, 12/19:

  • Erika Wennerstrom plays a sold-out solo show at The Columbia on Eastern Avenue. Didn’t get tickets? You can’t say I didn’t warn you:

That same evening, Over the Rhine kicks off their three-night “Acoustic Christmas” stand at Memorial Hall, and Chris Isaak plays the Hard Rock Casino

Saturday, 12/20:

  • The Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band at Southgate
  • Over the Rhine at Memorial Hall
  • “An Olde English Christmas” with Peter Noone of Herman’s Hermits at Ludlow – there’s a matinee show and an evening gig. BYOB.

Then, the Xmas lull kicks in. But there’s still time to get the perfect gift for someone special.

On Boxing Day (Friday, 12/26), Ludlow has ESC4P3 (a Journey tribute band).

On Saturday, 12/27:

  • Bershy plays Madison Live, with Multimagic and Phanta
  • The Woodward Theater hosts a “Holiday Hangover” show with Sylmar and Mosant

And finally, the year will wrap up with a bait-and-switch bang as the Hot Red Chili Peppers host a Red Hot countdown to 2026 at the Ludlow Garage on New Year’s Eve.

That same day (Lord willin’), your humble scribe will be celebrating yet another birthday.

We love it live!

The Mynabirds (a.k.a. Laura Burhenn) put on a great show at The Columbia last night. Laura is super-nice, she had high praise for woxy.com, and she brought her dog along on tour.

The Cereal Killers masquerading as The Distractions were note-perfect on their Elvis Costello set, and Dot.Dot.Dot. did justice to their R.E.M. covers at The Village Theater in Covington.

Foxy John loves it live too!

Speaking o’ R.E.M., here’s a shot of list member John Fox (2nd from right) hanging out with Mike Mills and Steve Gorman (Black Crowes) after the Howl Owl Howl show in Indy. Steve and his brother (at right) went to WKU with John’s brother and sister.

Live on tape is pretty cool as well!

MJ Lenderman & The Wind on Austin City Limits is well worth the watch – go to the 26:37 mark for the start of their set.

Two thumbs up for new Crooked Fingers

Eric Bachmann and friends with a new tune called “Cold Waves” – so hot right now!

The “97X Rumblings from the Big Bush” podcast gets Freek-y

Dave and I chatted with Freekbass. Check it out here or wherever you get your podcasts, and check out the post on the 97Xbam website for some bonus content, including a throwback Sleep Theater show on video.

Letters to the editor

List member Bruce Frasure shared this bit of musical lore via Jason Narducy’s Instagram:

Nearly seven years ago, I did a blog post about the sudden disappearance of the band Sons of Bill featuring brothers James, Sam, and Abe Wilson. Just this week, 1/3 of the mystery was solved via this comment:

And list member and official Old People Fall Headguard Hat Spokesmodel Dan Lewis aired yet another grievance after we published this photo in our last post:

You’re right, Dan, I am the worst. Speaking of Python, you might want to spend some of your retirement time tutoring the youth of America.

Album Cover(s) of the Week(s)

Yes, needlepoint rocks!

Uh, the photo perspective really highlights Steve’s pants, which are so tight we can tell what religion he is. Somebody please cover that with a Dawn throw pillow!

Ah, yes, a balm for sore eyes. But wait, is that Steve Gibbons in the back? Is he wearing pants?

2 responses to “‘Tis the season (for songs)”

  1. Lisa+Collins Avatar
    Lisa+Collins

    Hey Damian! Thought of you today when I was at Plaid Room Records getting nostalgic! I was perusing The Smiths section when a young man – couldn’t have been twenty yet – told me they have the really good albums “in the back”. He was looking for the same albums – my faith in the youth of America was restored!

    Reply
    1. Damian Avatar
      Damian

      That’s great, thanks for sharing, Lisa! (P.S. you told him Morrissey was a wanker now, right?)

      Reply

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The dreaded holiday lull

Concert Listings, Music

We’re approaching the dreaded holiday lull, where live shows of the non-Rockettes/Trans-Siberian variety are few and far between. (Actually for me, we’re approaching the dreaded holidays: I hate cold weather in general, snow in particular, shopping, hearing the same 13 crappy holiday songs for days on end, fruitcake… and I don’t know what figgy pudding is, but you can shove it right up yer chimney!)

There are a few shows that haven’t been crowded out by the fat old man with a giant sack… er, Satan… I mean, Santa. Let’s take a gander:

Tonight:

  • Erika Wennerstrom (Heartless Bastards) plays a sold-out solo show at The Loon Wine Bar in Northside (I’ll be there, along with list member Tom Woeber)
  • J. Roddy Walston & The Business headline an Xmas show at Northside Tavern just up the street from The Loon. And thanks to the cajoling (but not caroling) of aforementioned list member Tom Woeber, I’ll be at that show too*.
  • John Waters Christmas at Ludlow Garage
  • A Very Motherfolk Christmas at Bogart’s
  • A Traumatic Christmas Show at Madison Live: Trauma Illinois, Millie Oliver, Cut to the Chase, and Wendigo

*if you’re keeping score at home the Erika Wennerstrom/J. Roddy Walston doubleheader will be shows #42 and #43 for me in 2024.

Sunday:

  • Erika Wennerstrom wraps up her three-night stand of sold-out shows at The Loon with a 6 p.m. gig
  • Ben Sollee plays MOTR, with Eva Rose King as the opener of the 7:30 show

[INSERT CONCERT LULL #1 HERE]

If you’re into Irish folk from Irish folks, Ludlow Garage has “Irish Christmas in America” on Thursday, 12/19.

Friday, December 20th:

  • Over the Rhine kicks off their three-night “Acoustic Christmas” stand at Memorial Hall
  • Tony Holt & The Wildwood Valley Boys play the Liberty Theater in historic downtown Lawrenceburg
  • The Wonderfool and Carriers are in the Revival Room at Southgate
  • Dallas Moore Band plays a “Honky Tonk Holidaze” show in Southgate’s Sanctuary
  • Bogart’s hosts The Prince Experience… pancakes sold separately.

Shows on Saturday, Dec. 21:

  • The Newbees play a 20th anniversary celebration show at Southgate , with Bad Ass Brass and Kevin Ashba.
  • Moonshine Drive plays Arnold’s
  • Harbour, Sylmar, Mosant, and Fat Sal are at the Madison Theater
  • Over the Rhine does Night #2 of Acoustic Christmas at Memorial Hall
  • Ludlow Garage has two shows (3:30 and 8:30) of “An Olde English Christmas with Herman’s Hermits starring Peter Noone.” Olde English 800 malt liquor sold separately.

Over the Rhine wraps up their Memorial Hall Xmas X-travaganza on Sunday, Dec. 22.

[INSERT CONCERT LULL #2 HERE]

Oh, and insert inclusive holiday greeting here:

Jess Lamb and Siri Imani play MOTR on Friday, Dec. 27th, and Ludlow Garage has E5C4P3 (it’s listed a Journey tribute, but it could also be a droid from Star Wars). Oh, that reminds me: Happy Life Day!

You really must watch the entire ’78 TV Christmas special… Bea Arthur + Harvey Korman = pure gold!

Shows on Saturday, December 28th:

  • Marcus King plays the Hard Rock Casino
  • Halfway Hammered plays the Liberty Theater, with Wes Shipp opening
  • The Wonderlands and Coastal Club have a holiday show within the decidedly un-festive confines of Bogart’s
  • Abiyah plays Southgate with Radar (we’re assuming it’s not the guy from M*A*S*H)

Tinfoil Hat Cowboys play two sets at MOTR on Sunday, December 29th.

The dreaded new release lull… with one notable exception

New albums of the non-“Holiday favorites” variety are few and far between this month too, but yesterday marked the release of The National’s new live album Rome, which was designed by list member Dale Doyle (the original D2!)

Enough already with the crappy holiday tunes

Put Mariah and Brenda and Burl and Bing out to pasture, and put these on the playlist instead:

Who’s on your 2024 favorites list?

I totally agree with Steven Hyden:

His list is here. Drop your faves in the comments. This guy had better be on your list, though:

Listen up!

Kim Deal’s interview on the Broken Record podcast is insightful and fun (despite her wisecrack about Dayton, Kentucky… I love that town!). Her new album is nice too.

Cold weather, blistering hot take

I’ve long said that I could go the rest of my life without hearing another Beatles song. Because they’ve been played ad infinitum for 60 friggin’ years. Basta!

Not even the dulcet tones of Lucinda Williams, whom I adore, could overcome the I’m-so-tired-of-hearing-Beatles-songs weariness on Lu’s new release Lucinda Williams Sings the Beatles from Abbey Road.

If that makes you feel like Paul right now, so be it.

Ken Jennings rocks!

And not just because he’s a much better host than Blossom. His music senses are always working overtime. Check out this clip from a recent episode of “Jeopardy”:

Album Covers of the Weeks

When did Jon Bon Jovi take up ice hockey?

And for the love of Yahweh, who signed off on the cover art that makes these kids look like blow-up dolls?

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.

Bah! Humbug!

Concert Listings, Music

December strikes another devastating blow to the hearts of Cincinnati music lovers, stealing Dan Hamilton of the Spookfloaters:

Kinda hard to go on with this silly little post now. But Dan loved music, and lived music. Next gig you go to, send some positive vibes to his family.

This Friday:

  • Ian Noe plays Southgate
  • Over The Rhine kicks off a three-day run at Memorial Hall (Sunday’s gig is a 4 p.m. matinee)
  • Ricky Nye plays a free gig at The Orbit Room near Findlay Market
  • Plush Machine and Fairmount Girls rock Northside Tavern
  • Herman’s Hermits/Peter Noone have an Xmas show at Ludlow Garage
  • The 1975 has a sold-out gig at the Marsha Brady
The 1971… “how about the flip side?”

Saturday night, it’s the Big Show… the Royal Crescent Mob reunion show at Madison Theater. It’s a fundraiser for the Tri-State Cancer Research Fund. Dan “Danny Crash” Reed (97X, WVXU Nightwaves, WNKU, WXPN) will be spinning some old school funk to open up the gig. Hat tip to Jon Calderas for a great interview with David Ellison on CincyMusic.com. Nice to see some coverage in CityBeat and Cincinnati.com as well. Hope to see you there!

Less hair now, but still just as cool.

Other Saturday shows:

  • Motherfolk plays “A very Motherfolk Christmas” at Bogart’s
  • Afro-Man’s “Merry Spliff-mas” is at the old Annie’s
  • Pam Tillis plays a holiday gig at Ludlow Garage
  • Hard Rock Casino hosts “A Boy Band Christmas” with members of 98 Degrees (but not Nick Lachey… weird), O-Town and All-4-One, plus Ryan Cabrera.

I will Alvvays love you…

After Saturday’s shows, we hit the Xmas lull… not much on the ol’ Koncert Keeper until late in the month. You’ll have to tide yourself over with this great live in-studio set from Alvvays:

Speaking o’ live, Ryan Adams brought his A-game for his 35-song set at the Jan Brady.

We can still have fun on Twitter

Ranking albums is dumb

Steven Hyden has it right in his Favorite Albums of 2022 piece:

If you care to share your faves of the year, you can do so here.

He “Ken” rock you!

List member Ken “Music is my hobby” Laube now has an air shift at Inhailer Radio. Tune in (online, on the app or WGUC HD-3) to his “Welcome to the Weekend” show Fridays from 3-7 p.m.

Album Cover of the Week

He can’t rock you:

I’m pretty sure rock hung up on him.

In the Bleak midwinter

Concert Listings, Music, podcast

The dreaded holiday hiatus from live music is inching closer. There are fewer gigs on the ol’ “This Week in Live Music” Koncert Keeper for the next couple of weeks, so let’s make this a double shot to get us thru 2021 (a.k.a. 2020 Part II). Yes, it’s the famous “year-end double issue” that publications like to roll out at this time of year… because “year-end double issue” sounds so much better than “we’re half-assing our way through the next couple of weeks.”

He can hardly bear to hear more Mariah Carey.

Before we get to this week’s fortnight’s gigs, let’s get a crowd ‘n venue review from Mr. Jason Isbell:

Very kind of Jason to say that about our fair burgh. Let’s hope his Icon plaudits attract the attention of other touring artists.

OK, on with the shows…

Tonight, Over the Rhine kicks off a three-night stand at Memorial Hall, Motherfolk and Sylmar play Bogart’s, Ekoostik Hookah plays the old Annie’s, Ben Levin is at Brewriver with special guest Johnny Burgin, and the Fleetwood Mac tribute (the band, not the mac & cheese dish at Keystone) is at Ludlow.

Saturday, Anderson East plays Bogart’s, Squirrel Nut Zippers are at Ludlow Garage, Phil Vassar & Sister Hazel are playing the Hard Rock Casino, Afroman celebrates “Merry Spliffmas” at the old Annie’s, and Ben Levin and Johnny Burgin will be on stage at Big Ash. The next morning, they’ll be playing the Hard Rock Casino.

Big Bad Voodoo Daddy (no relation to Voodoo Chile) plays the Taft on Tuesday.

Maddie Poppe has an Acoustic Christmas show at Ludlow on Thursday, and Ben Levin plays Shire’s Garden.

Santa Claus is coming to town very late next Friday. You’d better watch out.

Rick “Dr. Noah Drake from General Hospital” Springfield plays the Icon on Wednesday, December 29th.

Not a doctor. Played one on TV.

The Rumpke Mountain Boys kick off a two-night stand at the old Annie’s next Thursday, December 30th. That same evening, Ben Levin will be playing Dead Low Brewing.

Arlo McKinley is at the Madison Theater on New Year’s Eve, while Freekbass will be doing a Funkadelic-KISS mashup called FunKISSdelic at Ludlow Garage. Clutch (the band, not the part I had replaced on my 1976 Datsun B-210 back in ’87) plays the Icon, with Stoner (the band, not the guy in the 2nd balcony with the vape pen) and Native Howl.

Also on New Year’s Eve, this lil’ scamp celebrates another spin around the sun:

Wardrobe by Botany 500.

He plans to celebrate by drinking expired eggnog and staying up until the wee hours (9:45 p.m.).

If he’s feeling extra wacky, he might even have some fruitcake…

Listen Up!

KEXP will be counting down the top albums of the year (as voted on by listeners) today. List member “Rico” recommends this list of the year’s top 100 albums, courtesy of a Finnish music blogger. Luann “Miss Kitty” Gibbs of Inhailer Radio (and the calendar listings queen at the Cincinnati Enquirer) put together a lengthy Spotify playlist of her favorite songs (here), as did Matt “I don’t have a cool nickname like ‘Rico’ or ‘Miss Kitty'” Lacefield (here). Matt also does a music blog/online radio show thang at The Unfamiliar. (Both Luann and Matt have been guests on the 97X Rumblings from the Big Bush podcast… check it out if you have some free time over the holiday break.)

Album Cover of the Week

The person who did the egregious airbrushing work on this cover must’ve already been in “year-end double issue” mode.

Have a great week, and then another great week, and best wishes for a happy 2022!