Wow, can you believe Summer’s nearly gone? It’s almost Earth, Wind & Fire month!

Gonna keep this post short and sweet… or at least shorter on the jazz hands and snark. While it’s a labor of love, there’s still labor involved, and I’m heading to Denver later today to see Alvvays and The Beths. Let’s get to it!

Cereal Killers play Big Ash Brewing tonight!

I’m bummed I can’t make it – but you should go (7:30-11pm) to catch all those 97X and 97X-adjacent favorites, performed by a stellar group of upstanding individuals. Oh, and Howard Cohen is in the band too!

Other shows this evening:

• Pat Travers plays the Ludlow Garage
• Speaking of “out go the lights” the Cincinnati Nature Center hosts Music Under the Moon with the bluegrass band Moonshine Drive playing
• Saving Escape has an album release party at MOTR, with Sylmar
• Gable Price & Friends and Coastal Club play the Woodward Theater
• Foreigner (basically Mick Jones and some hired hands), Styx (sans Dennis DeYoung), and John Waite play Riverbend
• “Forever Diamond” (a Neil Diamond tribute) plays a freebie at Blue Ash Towne Square – that seems fitting for a not-so-hot August night.

Saturday shows:

• The Avett Brothers play Ovation, with Sammy Rae & Friends opening
• Marc Cohn will be walking playing six feet off of Beale under Ludlow at the Garage
• Ray’s Music Exchange is back for a reunion show at the Woodward
• The War & Treaty play a free show at the Levitt Pavilion in Dayton
• FireHouse and Nelson (yes, that Nelson) play the “Big F’N Tour” at the old Annie’s

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!

• King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard play the Ovation in Newport
• Blackberry Smoke and 49 Winchester play the old Annie’s
• Glass Animals* are at Riverbend (*not to be confused with Glasses Animals)

• (Hed) P.E. is at Madison Live
• Mac Sabbath (yes, folks dressed like McDonald’s mascots playing Sabbath tunes… nothing weird about that) is at the Woodward Theater

On Tuesday, Built to Spill plays Bogart’s, celebrating the 30th anniversary of There’s Nothing Wrong with Love. I’ll be at that gig with list members Deuce and Matt (no relation to Gunnar and Matthew of Nelson fame).

Also on Tuesday:

• The Gaslight Anthem, Joyce Manor, and Pinkshift play the Carol Brady
• Sammy Hagar, Joe Satriani, Michael Anthony, and Jason Bonham rock Riverbend with Van Hagar tunes. Loverboy is the opener. Mike Reno is still sporting the bandana, but he’s also sporting some extra heft.

The Lauryn Hill & The Fugees show slated for Wednesday at Riverbend has been cancelled.

Thursday features a lot of free (or free-adjacent) shows:

• Bedel & Hibbard play the Roots Revival free show at Washington Park
• Texas Flood (a tribute to Stevie Ray Vaughan) and Bedford play the RiversEDGE freebie
• You can see The Eagles Project at Lawrenceburg Civic Park
• Thomas Rhett plays a concert after the Reds game at GABP

GBV’s Heedfest 12 also kicks off on 8/29 in Dayton, Ohio. Love the promo:

Shows next Friday (8/30):

• Cage the Elephant plays Riverbend, with Young the Giant and Bakar
• O.A.R. is at Ovation, with Ripe, and DJ Logic
• King Buffalo headlines the Fountain Square free show

On Saturday, August 31st, Domecrusher, a band featuring list member Todd Quincy, plays 513 Hamilton. Here’s Todd’s description of the band:

Other 8/31 shows:

• Southgate House hosts MidWest Friends Fest (“21 awesome local, regional, and touring indie, punk, emo, rock, alternative, and power pop bands. 3 super rad stages. 1 awesome venue”)
• Wailing Souls play for free at Levitt Pavilion on Dayton
• Catalina Wine Mixer and The Eagles Project play Ovation
• The Prince Project is at the old Annie’s
• Sungaze has an album release party at the Woodward, with Fern Murphy and Ascension Day also on the bill
• Aja (Steely Dan tribute) plays the Fountain Square freebie
• JBO and Mark Messerly play The Overlook Lodge in P-Ridge
• Tesla is at the Greg Brady

Simple twist of fate fun fact: Greg Brady drove the original Tesla:

On Sunday, September 1st, the corporate-sponsored fireworks display from the corporate radio station will probably feature some Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin on the soundtrack. Just like every other year. That damn frog is soooo tired.

After that, it’s all quite on the concert front until after Labor Day. I’ll holler at you before then.

Speaking of evil corporate radio overlords though:

I just threw up a bit in my mouth. How about a palate cleaner?

Wussy house concert tickets on sale Wednesday at 11 am

Show is Saturday 10/19. If you don’t know the venue, you haven’t been paying attention. (And house concerts are sooo hot right now, per the WaPo.)

Ticket link: https://undertowshows.com/products/cincinnati-oh-october-19

I talked to Chuck and Lisa yesterday – such sweet human beings who also happen to be amazing songwriters/musicians. They should have some new tunes to sell at the show.

A heartfelt message from list member “Rico”

I lost my brother to cancer five years ago, and before he passed, I promised him that I would do anything that I could to help fight the terrible disease that took him from us too early. One of the initiatives that our family has taken up is to help fundraise for the National Collegiate Cancer Foundation, which provides scholarships to young adults who have been diagnosed with cancer.

Our primary fundraiser is a memorial golf outing, which will be held this year at California Golf Course on October 5, 2024. In the first three years of our outing, we have raised funds to award 60 of these scholarships, and we hope to add on a bunch more this year with the help of friends like you. Whether that is getting a team together to play in the scramble, providing sponsorship, or donating items for auction, any and all support is welcome and appreciated.

You can sign up to play or donate here.

The Bottle Rockets deserve a movie

And here it is:

Album Covers of the Week

Hat tip to list member Whit Gardner for these gems:

They’re good at identifying fountains, but not so good at counting.

Gary’s “little black book” appears to be brown. And he appears to be “getting down to business” with it. In a Flight of the Conchords sorta way.