Golden April Showers

First and foremost, Happy Wet Day to all who celebrate!

(If you know, you know. And if you don’t, you need to listen to Comedy Bang Bang.)

April is spraying us with a steady stream of solid gold shows. But not these kind:

Let’s get to the calendar!

Tomorrow night, it’s our pick for the best under-the-radar show of the month: John Moreland at Ludlow Garage. His new album Visitor is great… dude’s an amazing songwriter.

I’d attend but I’ll be busy losing money at Keeneland while getting soaked to the bone by thunderstorms. (Not exactly an idyllic vacation day, but it still beats working.)

Also tomorrow night, Brothers Osborne play the Mike Brady.

On Friday:

• Owl City plays Bogart’s
• Todd Lipscomb does the MOTR happy hour (5-7 p.m.)
• Ludlow Garage hosts “Jump: America’s Van Halen Experience”
• Aronoff has “Piano Men: The Music of Billy Joel & Elton John”

Speaking of Van Halen, if you’ve never played with this handy toy, you need to right now. (“I’ll wait…”)

And speaking of Piano Men, this performance is brilliant on so many levels:

Saturday evening is “Pick Your Time Machine” night:

• Ovation has “Wish You Were Here – The Sights and Sounds of Pink Floyd”
• Ludlow Garage hosts “Strangelove: The Depeche Mode Experience.”

Sunday? More time machine action… this time it’s “The Kings of Queen” at Memorial Hall.

Is it just me, or do the non-lead-singer members of the “Kings of Queen” band need to put a bit more effort into their promo photo attire?

It’s like Freddie Mercury stopped by a pawn shop and took a quick photo with the staff.

Things pick up a bit on Monday, when Suzanne Vega plays “Old Songs, New Songs and Other Songs” at Memorial Hall. I have a single ticket to that show, in the very last row of the balcony… I call it my Solitude Standing tribute.

Tuesday gigs:

• Scott H. Biram plays Southgate with Dead Man String Band opening
• Todd Lipscomb is at Arnold’s
• Queensryche rocks Bogart’s

The Bygones play the Woodward Theater next Wednesday, April 17th.

Next Thursday (4/18):

• Southgate has Wonder Women of Country featuring Kelly Willis, Melissa Caper and Brennen Leight
• Memorial Hall hosts Live Dead & Brothers, a tribute to Grateful Dead and Allman Brothers (show description: Les Dudek from The Allman Brothers, original Grateful Dead pianist Tom Constanten, Berry Duane Oakley from The Allman Betts Band, Mark Karan from Bob Weir & Rat Dog, Scott Guberman from Phil Lesh & Friends, and Pete Lavezzoli from Oteil & Friends… skillfully recreate the magic of the Grateful Dead and Allman Brothers Band’s co-billed concerts during the period of 1969 to1973. Their performances capture the raw energy, improvisational prowess, and soul-stirring melodies that defined an era of musical innovation.)
• Busta Rhymes hits the Jan Brady
• “Bust a banjo” might happen at the bi-weekly Bluegrass Jam at Camp Springs Tavern

Next Friday (4/19), it’s the show I always dreamed of — the band Alvvays — at the less-than-dreamy venue of Bogart’s. I love the former so much that I’m willing to put up with the latter.

Other shows on Friday 4/19:

• Carbon Leaf at Ludlow Garage
• Ricky Nye Inc. plays the Southgate Lounge
• Joe Satriani and Steve Vai shred at the Greg Brady
• The old Annie’s hosts An Evening with the Sam Grisman Project
• Big Something plays Madison Theater

Next Saturday is 4/20, dude.

Shows that evening include:

• Los Honchos in the Southgate Lounge
• Todd Lipscomb at Camp Springs Tavern
• Spyro Gyra at Ludlow Garage
• Christine Havrilla & Mama’s Black Sheep play the Downtowne Listening Room
• Aronoff hosts Rain: a Tribute to the Beatles Magical Mystery Tour

The Skatalites play Ludlow Garage on Sunday, April 21st and The Ruen Brothers are at Southgate House.

On Monday, April 22nd, The Toasters celebrate 43 Years of Ska at Southgate. Speaking of toasters, it’s also Earth Day, and our planet might be toast unless we switch to clean energy.

Matthew Sweet plays Ludlow Garage on Tuesday, April 23rd.

Wednesday, April 24th is a busy concert evening:

• Todd Rundgren is at the Carol Brady
• The Robert Cray Band plays Memorial Hall
• The Young Dubliners roll into Ludlow Garage

Friday, April 26th is a big day for all things Ohio:

• Rob Harvilla, music writer for The Ringer (as well as Medina native, proud Ohio U. grad, and Columbus resident) comes to Knox Joseph Distilling in OTR (courtesy of the Mercantile Library) to discuss his book 60 Songs That Explain the ’90s with list member Jay Stowe. The book is a companion piece to Rob’s hilarious podcast of the same name. (Listen to the first 10 minutes of this episode for proof.) I’ll be there (starts at 6 p.m.), but I have to cut out early to make it to:
• Dayton’s own Guided By Voices and Cincinnati’s own Wussy (full band) at the Madison Theater

Other shows that evening include Flock of Seagulls at Ludlow, and Todd Lipscomb with Michael Moeller at Wunderbar in Covington.

Ludlow Garage has Catalina Wine Mixer on Saturday, 4/27. And Howie Day plays there on Sunday, 4/28.

Damning with faint (yet accurate) praise

List member Michael “Rico” Carrico and his lovely bride Ashley recently attended the Josh Ritter show at Memorial Hall, and he said it was “thanks to being alerted by a reputable newsletter published by a questionable character.” Hey, I resemble that remark!

Making Hay while the sun shines

On Opening Day, I loaded up on free food and beer at my company’s lunch celebration during the parade, went to the Reds game courtesy of list member Dave “Deuce” Richmond, and then my lovely bride and I saw Colin Hay at Taft thanks to free tickets from list members Dave and Jacqui Killen. It was, as Jacqui called it, my own Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.

Someone who obviously didn’t scheme as well as Ferris was this person:

If it was a bro-country show, they definitely should’ve been fired.

Math is funky

Here’s your annual reminder to stay on the one, courtesy of Bootsy and list member Todd Butler:

Album Cover(s) of the Week(s)

Swingers and nannies… the perfect combo!

“Stay gold, Ponyboy!”