Going ape for April tunes

Concert Listings, Concert review, Music, podcast

Howdy, I hope you’re staying warm and dry. Aw, who am I kidding? This monsoon season weather has been for the birds – as long as they’re aquatic and like cold weather.

But even Canada geese are probably boycotting our country. Can’t say I blame them.

Maybe the live music schedule will heat things up a bit. I can feel it, coming in the air tonight… when The Phil Collins Experience plays Ludlow Garage.

On Tuesday, ZZ Top plays the Mike Brady. Their longtime guitar tech Elwood Francis has replaced the late great Dusty Hill on bass. He certainly fits the hirsute profile:

Whenever I hear the name “ZZ Top” I’m reminded of the time my high school friend Mauricio Sanchez and I drove from Morrilton, Arkansas (the original “Mo-town”) to Little Rock to see them in concert back in ’83, during their Eliminator tour. Somehow* I convinced myself that spending $25** of my hard-earned*** cash on the sleeveless tour t-shirt was a good idea, even though I had zero muscles. When I put that shirt on in the harsh light of day, it was a sobering experience.

Needless to say, the Top top was “eliminated” from my wardrobe immediately. $25 down the drain.

*it was the beer

**today’s value: $1,500

***Lifeguard at the Morrilton city pool… it was tough twirling a whistle in the sun

The Tallest Man on Earth will be at the Taft on Thursday. (To clarify, it’s the band called The Tallest Man on Earth, not 8′ 11″ Robert Wadlow, that guy from the Guinness Book of World Records.)

Also on Thursday, Jeffrey Martin plays Southgate’s Revival Room, with Lou Hazel opening. And the Cincinnati Zoo’s April “Tunes & Blooms” series features Gina & Johnny plus Linus Tate.

Shows on Friday:

Heavy Hinges, Easy Mark and Veronica Grimm at Northside Tavern
Midwinter’s Dream and Agents of the Apocalypse at Liberty Theater
Kashmir: the Led Zeppelin Show at Madison Theater (it’s “the” Zep show but not the “ultimate” – that’s on Saturday… )
Blue Note in Harrison has a hair band extravaganza with Trixter, Enuff Z Nuff, Pretty Boy Floyd

(The answer is Harrison, Ohio…)

The Southgate House presents a real Sophie’s Choice on Saturday. Alejandro Escovedo plays the main room, with Kevn Kinney (Drivin N Cryin) as the opener. I’ll be at that show, along with Dave “the Magnum P.I. of Modern Rock” Tellmann and Steve “El Blanco” White (“the White Shadow of Modern Rock”). But were it not for that gig, I’d be upstairs in the Revival Room for Brett Newski with The Dreaded Laramie and Tooth Lures a Fang.

Other Saturday shows:

Jay Ashton’s Gene Loves Jezebel (they have to be billed that way, for legal reasons) at Ludlow Garage
Smoke Healer at Liberty Theater
Lunar Ticks at Stanley’s
ZOSO: The Ultimate Led Zeppelin Experience at Ovation
Signs of Life: The American Pink Floyd at Madison Theater

Next Sunday (4/13):

Asleep at the Wheel at Memorial Hall
The Queers with The Usuals and The Raging Nathans at Madison Live
Jason Eady at Southgate

And, if you often find yourself saying “Boy, I really wish I could hear a ukulele orchestra”:

Better change your meds.
Taft Theatre has The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain.

Tuesday, April 15 is IRS tax deadline day… assuming we still have an IRS by then. We may not need it if those penguins from the Heard and McDonald Islands quit pillaging us.

Lanky local troubadour Todd Lipscomb plays Arnold’s that evening, and Ben Folds will be rockin’ the ~~suburbs~~ woodwinds live with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra at Music Hall.

Victor Wooten & the Wooten Brothers play Memorial Hall on Wednesday, April 16, and British blues-rocker Joanne Taylor Shaw will be there on Thursday, April 17.

Other 4/17 shows include The Yardbirds (drummer) [they don’t have to be billed that way legally, but my conscience won’t let me type it any other way] at Ludlow Garage, and Tunes & Blooms at the Zoo features Cecil Jackson & Dry Ridge on one stage and The Laurelys on the other.

Friday 4/18 is a busy evening for gigs:

Grayson Jenkins at Liberty Theater
Remi Wolf plays Ovation
Mol Sullivan with Namby Pamby and Sappha at Northside Tavern
Memorial Hall hosts Live Dead & Brothers (music of the Grateful Dead and the Allman Bros.)
Sqwerv (jam band from Denver) plays Stanley’s

Shows on Saturday, 4/19:

The Bright Light Social Hour at Liberty Theater
Blackjack: a Neil Young tribute band at Big Ash Brewing
Saturday’s Children (Grateful Dead tribute band) at Stanley’s
Bircus Brewing in Ludlow, KY has Pirate’s Creed.

Please note that Pirate’s Creed isn’t taking a page from the Dread Zeppelin playbook. They are NOT a Creed cover band with members dressed in pirate regalia. But it would be pretty cool to hear “Arrrrrrrrrrms Wide Open” and “High-arrrrrrr,” dontchathink?

Looking ahead a bit further, here are the live concerts on Wednesday, April 23:

Bright Eyes plays the Ovation, with Cursive as the opener
The Fixx and Jill Sobule are at Ludlow Garage
Bluegrass band Never Come Down is at the Woodward
The Ben Levin Trio plays the rooftop at the Phelps Hotel

We love it live

The Yo La Tengo show at the Woodward Theater was phenomenal. Great to see a whole slew of list members there (Frank, Matt, Pam, Jay, Alyssa, Dave R, Kevin S, Rico, Lobby Boy, et al.)

And I’m really glad I hydroplaned over to Lawrenceburg, Indiana last Sunday for the Sarah Shook & the Disarmers show. They were making it rain more than the thunderstorms were.

Sarah Shook & the Disarmers’ leader goes by River these days, and here’s what they had to say about the music vs. business equation:

It shows! Quote above is from this Brooklyn Vegan article.

Listen here!

Lisa Walker and Chuck Cleaver from Wussy were at the Yo La Tengo show, naturally. If you haven’t checked out their Forever Sounds radio show on WAIF-FM, you can catch the replays here. Come for the great tunes, stay for the playful banter.

Columbus legends Scrawl got a lot of love from Chicago music critics Greg Kot and Jim DeRogatis on this seven-minute bonus episode of their Sound Opinions podcast.

The new release from Craig Finn — produced by Adam Granduciel of The War on Drugs and featuring a few WoD band members as well as Kathleen Edwards — is really good.

We should’ve heeded the warning Signal

Album Cover(s) of the Week(s)

“We’ve traced the source of the trumpet player… it’s coming from inside the house!”

Oh snap, the Reverend Cleophus… I heard about him from Cab Calloway!

July, she will fly…

Concert Listings, Music

Oh, Hello!

Where does the summertime time go? Seems like the ol’ globe’s spinning a bit faster these days. Or maybe I’ve just been day-drinking again. Either way (or both), it’s time for a fresh batch of live tunes. Let’s go to Ye Olde Koncert Keeper:

Tonight:

Ruby Vileos has an album release show at The Loon in Northside, with special guest Tyler Ramsey (formerly of Band of Horses). This show is sold-out.
Fall Out Boy plays Riverbend
George Thorogood & the Destroyers are at Fraze Pavilion
Blood, Sweat & Tears drop into Ludlow Garage
The Cincy Blues Fest happens in Fairfield
Abby Holiday plays an album release show at Madison Live

On Sunday, JD Souther plays an “all the hits, some of the stories” show at Memorial Hall.

Tuesday, the Tedeschi Trucks Band plays PNC Pavilion with Ziggy Marley as the opener. I’ll be at that gig, courtesy of list members Whit & Barb Gardner, who have had the misfortune of living across the street from me for more than two decades.

On Wednesday, Say She She is at the Woodward Theater with Abby Jean, and the Jan Brady has the “Sad Summer Fest” featuring Taking Back Sunday, The Maine, Motion City Soundtrack, PVRIS, Hot Mulligan, Stand Atlantic, Sincere Engineer and Mom Jeans. (Mom Jeans – I’m a big fan!)

Speaking of articles of clothing, or a lack thereof, Nelly plays the Fraze on Thursday.

Keep your clothes on Rose, the Nelly gig is sold-out. But you can catch Ludacris, Flo Rida and Ashanti at the Hard Rock Casino… or see the Crash Test Dummies for free at Village Green Park in Fairfield. Yes, Fairfield.

On Friday, Cracker plays the old Annie’s. A Cracker show is always good.

I’ll be at that gig, along with list member/Cereal Killers front man Howard Cohen, who also would like to remind you of this upcoming event:

The old Annie’s also has a show next Saturday, 7/22: Stephen Marley and Subatomic Sound System. And Joey McIntyre of NKOTB fame will be at Ludlow Garage. Other 7/22 gigs:

Moonbeau plays Madison Live
Mecklenberg Gardens in Clifton has an interesting “Two for the Show” gig featuring local duos:

On Sunday, 7/23, Vanilla Fudge will be in the Ludlow Garage.

If you’re into album artwork, you might want to check out a movie called Squaring the Circle (The Story of Hipgnosis) – it’s playing the Woodward Theater on Monday, July 24th:

Lyle Lovett brings his large hair and his Large Band to Rose Music Center on Wednesday, July 26th… meanwhile across town, the always-perfectly-coiffed Donny Osmond plays the Fraze. And speaking of amazing hair, Soul Glo plays Woodward Theater.

That same evening, Pink plays Great American Ball Park with Brandi Carlile, Grouplove and DJ Kid Cut Up (which may or not be list member Dan Lewis in disguise).

Shows on Thursday, 7/27:

500 Miles to Memphis plays a free show at Smale
Buffalo Wabs & The Price Hill Hustle do a freebie at Washington Park
The Red Hot Chili Pipers (not Peppers) play Ludlow Garage. IMHO, this is the hottest Piper:

On Friday, July 28th, The Regrettes headline the free show at Fountain Square. I just saw this band in Milwaukee (photos below – more on the Milwaukee trip later) and they are a lot of fun. The lead singer is a force of nature. Well worth checking out.

Other gigs that evening include The Temptations and The Four Tops at Rose and Ramble On Bros (yes, a Grateful Dead tribute band) play the “Music Under the Moon” series at Cincinnati Nature Center. More info here.

I’ll be out of town the first week in August. In case we don’t chat before then, here are the gigs for that week:

(Oh, and Culture Club/Howard Jones/Berlin play Riverbend on 8/5 too.)

“Mil-e-wau-kay… the good land”

As mentioned previously in this rambling post, I was in Milwaukee recently. I went with list member Dave “Deuce” Richmond and his buddy Matt “no nickname that sounds like going to the bathroom” Voss.

Last Thursday, we hit Summerfest and saw Horsegirl, Jenny Lewis, The Regrettes, The War on Drugs, and caught the very tail end of Dinosaur Jr’s set… all for a mere $26. Such a deal!

I also saw Milwaukee’s Brett Newski (who played a house show at the home of list members Dave & Jacqui Killen a few years back) in the crowd at one of the stages.

On Friday, we hit the Reds-Brewers game. I was bummed to miss Japanese Breakfast, Brett Newski, and Built to Spill at Summerfest (free admission!)… but on Saturday morning at the Milwaukee Airport, I chatted briefly with Doug Martsch of Built to Spill. Turns out that in addition to being an amazing singer/guitarist/songwriter, he’s also a very nice guy!

Riding like the wind… if the wind is going about 6 m.p.h.

Friends, I’ve signed up to ride my bike 24 miles (in a row… crazy, I know) in the Ride Cincinnati event on 9/17 to raise funds for the UC Cancer Center and the Barrett Cancer Center. If you could see it in your heart (and find it in your wallet) to support me, I’d greatly appreciate your tax-deductible donation. 100% will go directly to life-saving cancer research and care right here in our community.

Me on a training ride:

Mailbag

A blog post comment from The Lovely & Talented Elizabeth Cannon, a longtime friend and the former marketing maven at Riverbend:

The bigger question might be “Who is more of a prima donna – TayTay or Noel?”

Album Covers of the Fortnight

Joe Stampley is a dead ringer for Cousin Eddie in National Lampoon’s Vacation.

James Brown may be Soul Brother #1, but Soul Brother #2 has to be Hansel Vibbert. He’s just oozing charisma and raw sex appeal.

Go-vember

Concert Listings, Music

It’s time to GO to a gig.

And you’ll have several opportunities this week. Tonight, Gary Clark Jr. plays the Icon, The Wild Feathers play Madison Theater, and Spyro Gyra plays Ludlow Garage.

Saturday, you can head to Memorial Hall for the North Mississippi All-stars with the Rebirth Brass Band and Cedric Burnside. The show sounds pretty cool:

For one special night, these three artists will be playing their own favorite selections as well as collaborating throughout the show on an array of great songs, exploring the musical connection between the Mississippi Delta and Bourbon Street… right down Highway 61.
From the Memorial Hall website

If you fancy a bit of a road trip, you can catch Hamilton Leithauser and Kevin Morby at Headliner’s in Louisville. If you’d rather stay home, Rob Fetters is streaming another house show on the YouTubes.

Sunday has a few gigs of note:

Ben Levin & Friends are doing the boogie-woogie brunch at Hard Rock Casino
Tab Benoit is at the Taft with Alastair Green
Carl Palmer plays Ludlow Garage
Sebastian Bach will be at Bogart’s for a tour celebrating the 30th anniversary of Skid Row’s Slave to the Grind. Maybe 20 years from now he’ll do an anniversary tour of the time he sang “Hollaback Girl” on Gilmore Girls.

On Monday I’ll probably be at MOTR Pub enjoying the sweet song stylings of Lydia Loveless, with Amber Nash as the opener. It’s a rare ticketed show for MOTR (most are free), but $15 is cheap for that gig. Doors at 7, show at 8.

Tuesday Southgate House has Alice Peacock with Tim Grimm and the Family Band: A Concert to Benefit The Music Resource Center.

Hayes Carll plays Southgate on Wednesday with the splendid Caroline Spence as the opener, and David Cross will be at Bogart’s. No word on whether any other members of Dr. Fünke’s 100% Natural Good-Time Family Band Solution will be there.

Ben Folds (hold the Five) is playing Taft on Thursday. That same evening, Olivia Jean and Leggy are at Southgate, and Edwin McCain plays Ludlow Garage.

Ludlow will be hosting Shovels & Rope next Friday, November 19th.

Dr. Shovels, with the Rope, in the Garage

Hot Ticket Alert!

Lucy Dacus (her latest album is one of my 2021 faves), will be playing Ovation (the PromoWest venue in Newport) on Friday, February 11th, 2022. Tickets go on sale today at noon (and yes, the “convenience fees” are redonk). Ovation also recently announced a Bon Iver show on June 21, 2022, with Bonny Light Horseman as the opener. The PromoWest lineup of shows had been rather underwhelming thus far, but these tasty gigs give us hope that, as list member Ken Laube put it, “maybe we’re finally getting out of concert jail.”

Gig Pics

Brett Newski and the No Tomorrow played a thoroughly entertaining set at MOTR on Wednesday. Then the band stayed at the home of list members Dave and Jacqui Killen – the same place where Brett played a Parlor & Patio gig pre-pandemic. Now that’s hospitality!

Brett had a “virtual tip jar” set up at his merch booth – take a page from the book of list member John Sandman: if you’ve been listening to a band’s music on Spotify, why not Venmo them some $ (or give them some cold hard cash… that’s still a thing) to make up for what you would’ve spent on an album? That little bit of extra moolah — and the occasional free “bed & breakfast” from friendly hosts — goes a long way for up and coming bands.

Words of wisdom

“Punk taught me that music didn’t have to express consensus. You could use music as a way to set yourself apart from the world, or at least some of the world. You could find something to love and something—perhaps lots of somethings—to reject. You could have an opinion, and an identity.”
Kelefa Sanneh in his new book Major Labels: A History of Popular Music in Seven Genres (Hat tip to list member Cullen Lewis for the reco)

Watch this

The Sparks Brothers, the new documentary about the band Sparks (streaming now on Netflix) is delightfully entertaining. Well worth a watch.

As they point out in the doc, Sparks really invented the “Molly Ringwald” Breakfast Club style of dance. It’s merely one of many examples of the ways that Sparks blazed the trail for others musically and stylistically.

Random Album Cover of the Week

The John Denver-meets-Miami-Vice vibe is entertaining enough (as advertised), but the inscription really seals the deal:

I think ol’ Jim might be confused about how the whole brother-sister thing works. It’s not like she had a choice.

Have a great week… GO to a gig!

Roll-vember

Concert Listings, Music

Let’s get rolling with the concert rundown…

First, the Melvin Seals & the Jerry Garcia Band show that was supposed to happen tonight at Ludlow Garage has been postponed. But the Del McCoury Band gig at Memorial Hall is still a go, and the Ben Levin Trio plays Dead Low Brewing with special guest Noah Wotherspoon.

It’s gigs galore on Saturday:

The Steeldrivers play the old Annie’s
Silversun Pickups are at Ovation in Newport
Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Evening rock and rolls into the Icon (see what we did there?)
The Yugos play Bircus Brewing in Ludlow
Last but certainly not least, Styx will be rockin’ the ~~Paradise~~ Hard Rock Casino. No Dennis DeYoung, but Tommy Shaw, James Young and the living Panozzo brother (Chuck).

Oh, and Rob Fetters kicks off another round of “Fetters is Cheap” – streaming live shows from his home. He promises “crowd faves plus more debuts of rarities.” You can tune in via Rob’s website.

Early on Sunday, Ben Levin & Friends will again be playing the Hard Rock Casino from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. Davy Knowles and the Noah Wotherspoon Band play the Southgate House, and there’s a Play It Forward benefit concert at the Madison Theater, with my old radio boss Gary Burbank listed as a “speaker”… makes sense, as he was a Pioneer in radio (see what we did there?).

Tuesday is an evening for music legends. Bob Dylan plays the Aronoff, and John Hiatt & the Jerry Douglas Band will be at Memorial Hall.

If he were really “me” he’d still go by Robert Zimmerman

That same evening, someone named TobyMac has a sold out show at Taft. I thought TobyMac was a menu item at Keystone Bar & Grill, but apparently he’s an “American Christian hip hop rapper and singer.”

On Wednesday, I’ll be at MOTR Pub, along with list members Jacqui and Dave Killen (remember their Parlor & Patio house shows? I miss them…). Former Parlor & Patio performer (say that three times fast) Brett Newski and his full band (“The No Tomorrow”… they’re from Milwaukee, you do the math) will be playing at 9 p.m., followed by Adam Flaig (of Mad Anthony). Brett’s a very entertaining dude, and you can’t beat the MOTR ticket price. Join us, won’t you?

Also on Wednesday, The Lone Bellow plays Taft, and the Hooten Hallers are at Southgate.

Thursday, GWAR plays Bogart’s and Dennis Quaid plays Ludlow Garage. Yes, that Dennis Quaid, the actor. Guess he got tired of punching the clock with his fellow actors on movie sets.

Bogart’s and Ludlow Garage are pretty close to each other – fingers crossed that GWAR sits in with Dennis for his encore. Or vice versa… although that might not end well for DQ. Also on Thursday, Neal Francis plays Taft. I don’t know much about Neal’s music, but I know his promo photo makes him a dead ringer for Nigel Tufnel:

Next Friday, November 12th, Gary Clark Jr. plays the Icon, The Wild Feathers play Madison Theater, and Spyro Gyra plays Ludlow Garage. When I was younger, I used to love Spyro Gyra…

Spyro Gyra… no, wait…