Let me be the 127th* person to wish you a Happy New Year!

*EPA city estimate, your actual mileage may vary.

Now that we’ve turned the page on 2021, the pandemic is over – we can toss our masks into the dustbin of history and enjoy wall-to-wall live music with thousands of other fans…

Nope, no such luck. I’m beginning to think Rip Van Winkle had the right idea. Or wait, was that Robbie Van Winkle?

Yep, it’s a new year, but the same “abundance of caution” – the Secret Sisters gig at Memorial Hall in February has been cancelled. Nick Mason’s show at the Aronoff has been postponed. However, Betty White’s 100th Birthday Party is still a go.

Unfortunately, Betty is unable to attend. More cake for Betty’s Hot in Cleveland co-star Valerie Bertinelli, I suppose. Wait, is she still on Jenny Craig?

OK, enough bitching about what we’ve lost (other than Valerie and her 30 pounds)… let’s focus on the positive. There ARE still gigs on the ol’ This Week in Live Music® Koncert Keeper™. Granted, not many, but a few. Caveat: please check the band and/or venue website or FB page for up-to-date info. Out of “an abundance of caution,” natch.

Tonight, the irrepressible Ben Levin plays Arnold’s with his band.

On Saturday, Inhailer Radio presents Physco with Coastal Club at the Woodward Thea…

Whoops, there goes another gig… Alrighty then. Well, the Tom the Torpedoes show at the Crow’s Nest is still a go… even COVID is afraid of the West Side.

Sunday, the indefatigable Ben Levin plays Schwartz’s Point – show starts at 6:30.

On Thursday, the Louisiana Swamp Stomp Tour featuring The Iguanas and Kevin Gordon rolls (or stomps) into the Redmoor in Mt. Lookout.

Next Friday, there are a whole slew of gigs and goings-on (fingers crossed):

• List member Whit Gardner is hosting the BDFM (Beer Drinking Flash Mob) at Big Ash Brewing. Starts at 5 p.m. and This Week in Live Music® list members will get their first beer gratis, courtesy of your humble editor.
• The Fairmount Girls are at MOTR
• Evanescence and Halestorm play the Coliseum
• The intrepid Ben Levin plays at a library… the Hebron Branch of the Boone County Public Library to be exact
• Comedian Nate Bargatze is at the Taft
• Last but certainly not least, Ellis Paul will celebrate his 57th birthday with a gig at the Redmoor. List member John Sandman (who turns 57 tomorrow) and yours truly (I turned 57 on New Year’s Eve) will have to bring him some leftover birthday cake. I still have plenty of mine:

Next Saturday, Vince Neil will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the last time he was relevant with a gig at the Lawrenceburg Event Center.

That same evening (Jan. 15), Oliver Wood of the Wood Brothers is at the Taft, and the Aronoff is hosting an Elvis Tribute Artist Spectacular.

Andy Kaufman won’t be there… or will he? (Andy always played the long game.)

2021 Favorites – straight outta Albuquerque!

List member Dave Purcell, who now lives in New Mexico (and has joined a local band in Albuquerque!) put together a list of his favorite albums and live music events. Check out the lists and get a link to Dave’s Spotify playlist here.

Here’s the story… of a man named Brady

The Icon music venue in downtown Cincinnati, which has only been open since last July, has changed its name. It will now be known as:

Nah, just kidding, they dropped the “Icon” and now it’s just the Andrew J. Brady Music Center. As list member Jay Stowe said, “‘Icon’ sounds like a place you’d see a concert, but ‘Andrew J. Brady Music Center’ sounds like a place where your kid takes trumpet lessons.” In keeping with my hard and fast TWILM “no venue name changes allowed ” rule, I will still call it the Icon (see also: Coliseum and Annie’s).

You know that you’re over the hill…

… when Forecastle announces their 2022 lineup and you’ve only heard of about 18% of the artists, and actually heard the music of about 5% of them.

On a more positive age-related note, my AARP membership not only gets me discounts at Red Roof Inns from coast to coast (take that, Super 8 Motel!), but it also got me exclusive access to Barn, the companion film to Neil Young’s new album of the same name. It’s pretty cool to see not-so-young Neil and the Horse still rockin’ more than a chair.

“When you get to be the age that I am, every day is a gift, and every day should be filled with creativity. That’s what keeps us alive, and if you are not working on something and feeling good about what you did, that’s pretty much death in a handshake right there… Getting love and happiness out of your creation is going to keep everybody on the planet longer.”

Neil Young

Amen, Brother Neil! Let’s all live to play another day!