Neil Young

Groundhog Day… or Groundhog Month?

97X, Concert Listings, Music, podcast

February is just around the corner… and if you look around that corner you might see a few band vans headed your way. Maybe even a tour bus or three.

I loved Your Logo Here’s first EP, but they’ve sucked since they signed with a major label.

You might even spot a tour Winnebago.

Charles Napier ruled!

We covered this weekend’s shows in last week’s post, but just in case you were stricken with a serious case of Bengal Fever and missed it, here’s a recap:

Tonight:

  • Ana Popovic plays Ludlow Garage
  • Hyryder plays Annie’s
  • Knotts are at MOTR
  • Ben Levin is at BrewRiver
  • Alice Cooper plays the Icon.

Saturday:

  • The Wombats play Ovation
  • .38 Special plays the Hard Rock
  • Buckcherry and The Lacs are at Annie’s
  • String Theory plays Wiedemann’s
  • Ben Levin is at Japp’s
  • [The Big Mountain show at Ludlow Garage has been postponed. Which just goes to show that you can move a Big Mountain if you put your mind to it.]

Sunday:

  • Railroad Earth plays the Madison Theater.
  • The Cincinnati Bengals play the Kansas City Chiefs. Playoff football, NBD.
But there might be a QB who can beat him in 13 seconds or less.

The week ahead is kinda desolate. Julia Jacklin was slated to play Madison Live on Monday, but that gig has been cancelled. It’s like a pre-Groundhog Day Groundhog Day.

Speaking of our ol’ pal Punxsutawney Phil and his special day, Ben Levin plays the Hard Rock Cafe on Wednesday. And in true Groundhog Day fashion, he’s got a few other gigs this week… just like he does every week. You can see the entire list on Ben’s website. (No word on whether he’ll play a cover of “I Got You Babe.”)

The mighty fine band called Country Westerns will be at MOTR on Thursday. (Hey, do they drive a Winnebago too?) The Hiders duo opens the show. I hope to make that gig, but it’ll be a game day decision, given the late set time and my advanced age. (I might be too tired from playing pickleball and/or shooing kids off my lawn and/or yelling at a cloud.)

Next Friday you can watch Garage Doors…

Wait, check that, it’s actually a Doors tribute at the Ludlow Garage.

You’ll believe that Gym is him…

Next Saturday, Brother Moses (a rock band from… Arkansas!) plays the Southgate House’s Revival Room, and The Fighting Side and Wonky Tonk play a free show in the Southgate Lounge. Over on the Ohio side of the river, Tom the Torpedoes, a Tom Petty tribute band, is at the Redmoor.

Big show next Sunday: The War on Drugs at Ovation in Newport. List member Mighty Joe Sampson and I will be there. You should be too.

Their first EP was pretty good…

Watch This

Superchunk’s video for their new song “This Night” is a homage to the Replacements’ videos of yore.

Read This

Longtime Cincinnati arts journalist Steven Rosen has a new book called Lost Cincinnati Concert Venues of the ’50s and ’60s : From the Surf Club to Ludlow Garage. Read more here and order the book on Steven’s website. (Thanks to list member Jay Stowe for the story.)

The Words of the (Chuck) Prophet

And even if there’s a lot of political noise out there, and people who have strong opinions about things like science and religion, the stage remains my church and my job is to bring a group of strangers together and make them into a community for 90 minutes or so. If they don’t agree with every word that comes out of my mouth, that’s cool. Hell, if they don’t like every chord, that’s okay too. All I know is that they all left the house and had to find a place to park and they have to decide how much alcohol it’s okay to drink to be a responsible citizen or just not to get a DUI and have to sit in traffic school and endure the jokes of failed comedians. It’s because of those folks that I’m not one of those guys teaching at traffic school myself.

(Sign up for Chuck’s always entertaining and often enlightening newsletter on his website.)

The Words of the Podcast

The latest episode of the “97X Rumblings from the Big Bush” podcast features an interview with former 97X weekend DJ Jeff Rohrs, who talks about polka music, mispronouncing an artist’s name, bands he loved, and that time it rained on stage at Bogart’s during a Violent Femmes show.

You can listen to every episode of the podcast on pretty much every major podcasting platform (Spotify, Apple podcasts, Podbean, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, etc.) I don’t like to brag, but in 2021, “97X Rumblings from the Big Bush” was the 27th-fastest growing podcast about defunct radio stations. Take that, Joe Rogan! Oh, and take this too! (not a link to ivermectin)

Album Cover of the Week

Look at that track list! (Hat tip to list member Howard Cohen for sharing the Dick.)

New Year, Same Old Song & Dance

Concert Listings, Music

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:
“Make a wish!”

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

Hellö Lawrencebürg!

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.

Who’s on first? Nope.

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!