Superchunk

Tricks and Treats

97X, Concert Listings, Concert review, Music, podcast

It’s Spooky Season!

It’s also Mookie Season!

Do the Right Thing and support live music. Here are your options over the next couple of weeks:

This Wednesday, Richard Lloyd (of Television* fame) plays the Woodward Theater with a full band. Static Falls also is on the bill.

*Television the band, not the medium. But here’s Television on (Spanish) Television:

Also on Wednesday, Judy Collins plays Memorial Hall. Speaking o’ Spooky Season, ol’ “Sweet Judy Blue Eyes” is looking more like a Hocus Pocus witch these days:

Alice Peacock plays the Southgate House on Thursday. She’ll be in the Revival Room, with a lead pipe.

Wait, wrong Peacock!

Friday shows:

  • The Steep Canyon Rangers play Memorial Hall
  • Buffalo Wabs & the Price Hill Hustle are at Southgate (maybe the ghost of Pete Rose will show up)
  • America plays the Taft (they won’t have a headless horseman, but they will have a horse with no name)
  • Ludlow Garage has Dead Letter Office, a tribute to R.E.M.

This Saturday, Cereal Killers play Big Ash Brewing!

(Continuing my string of ill-timed trips, and jeopardizing my status as a Cereal Killers superfan, I once again will be out of town for their gig. Our whole fam-damily is going to Bloomington, Indiana to see the perennial football powerhouse Hoosiers take on their longstanding Big 10 27 rival, the Washington Huskies.)

Other Saturday shows include the sold-out “BEAT” show at Taft

Former King Crimson members ADRIAN BELEW and TONY LEVIN band together with guitar virtuoso STEVE VAI and explosive Tool drummer DANNY CAREY for the first time to create BEAT, a creative reinterpretation of the three iconic 80s KING CRIMSON albums – Discipline, Beat, and Three Of A Perfect Pair. 

  • ekoostic hookah plays the Liberty Theater
  • Blues Traveler brings their “30 years of Four” tour to… Turfway Park
  • Pappy’s Jam Band plays Neltner’s Farm Fall Fest (1:30-4:30)
  • Lotus Land (a tribute to Rush) plays Ludlow Garage

On Sunday, the Casey Campbell Project plays Neltner’s Farm, Pink Martini plays Memorial Hall, and Taft has Mania, the ABBA tribute.

Next Tuesday (10/29), the Buena Vista Social Orchestra is at Bogart’s.

Next Wednesday:

  • KMFDM and the Morlocks play the Ovation
  • The Woodward hosts two showings (7:30 and 10:30) of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, with a shadow cast
  • Daphne Eckman plays Southgate’s Revival Room
  • Disco Biscuits (hold the Yung Gravy) play the Madison Theater

Next Thursday is Halloween.

That’s “hallow”-een not “hollow”-een… Hollow is for Easter.

“Rollvember” kicks off a week from Friday. There are several shows slated for Friday, 11/1:

  • Los Honchos play Southgate
  • Anthony Ray Wright and Andrew Hibbard are at Liberty Theater
  • Stacy Mitchhart plays an album release gig at Ludlow Garage
  • The Jacksons (R.I.P. Tito) play the Hard Rock Casino

I’ll be up in Boston that weekend for the Please Come to Boston festival. My favoritest band Buffalo Tom will be doing three concerts in three days (including an old-person-friendly “matinee” show on Sunday). They’re playing a different album from their 90s oeuvre each show, and the festival also features comedy sets from Eugene Mirman and Dave Hill, and something called “Punk Rock Aerobics”… I’m sure it’s quite the workout!

On Saturday, Nov. 2nd,

  • Gipsy Kings play the Hard Rock
  • The Peter Brady hosts “Life is a Carnival – The Last Waltz Tour ’24” with Ryan Bingham, Mike Campbell, Benmont Tench, Jamey Johnson and more.
  • Trippin’ Billies (Dave Matthews Band tribute) are at Ludlow Garage.

Here’s some Trippin’ Beverly Hillbillies:

The Drive-by Truckers play a Southern Rock Opera Revisited show at Bogart’s on Sunday, 11/3. Shut your mouth and get your ass on that plane into that show!

On Thursday, Nov. 7th, “Turn to Stone: A Tribute to ELO” will be at Memorial Hall, and Yngwie Malmsteen plays the Madison Theater.

On Friday, 11/8:

  • Goose opens up a three-night stand at the Carol Brady
  • Billie Eilish plays the Coliseum
  • Noah Wotherspoon plays the Liberty Theater with Noah Pavey

Saturday, 11/9 gigs:

  • Wussy plays a full-band show at the Woodward, with the Chris Brokaw Band as the opener.
  • Jimmy Webb (“America’s Songwriter”) is at Memorial Hall
  • Samantha Fish plays Ludlow Garage, with Mitch Ryder performing as part of Samantha’s band, and Canned Heat as the opener
  • Moonshine Drive plays Arnold’s

City & Colour are at Bogart’s with Pedro the Lion on Monday, 11/11.

We live for live

It’s been quite a fortnight for your music-addicted editor. Charly Bliss at the Exit/In in Nashville was great…

The opener, Pronoun, was cool too. And Marc from the one-hit-wonder band Len came up on stage for the encore to do “Steal My Sunshine” with Charly Bliss.

A week ago, list member Ken “Lobby Boy” Laube (check out his show on Inhailer Radio, Fridays 11a-3p) and I went to Columbus to see Superchunk. They rocked!

(Bassist Jason Narducy’s set list – he gave it to a kid in the front row… classy!)

For the final song of the encore, noted Breeder Kelley Deal and Mike Montgomery of R. Ring came on stage to do their song “Cartoon Heart/Build Me a Question.” (R. Ring drummer Laura King is touring with Superchunk right now.)

The opening band, Quivers, was stellar too.

While Ken was waiting in line to get Mac from Superchunk to sign his poster (yes, Mac was at the merch booth – dude’s top-notch in my book), I chatted with the members of Quivers – Mike, Holly, Bella and Sam. They were super-nice to this old man, and funny as heck. Check out their recent live in-studio set at KEXP and you’ll be hooked by their hooks:

List members Dave Tellmann, Todd Butler, Carl “The Truth” Williams and I caught the Eddie 9V/Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears double bill at the Woodward on Wednesday.

And those shows were just the warm-up for another Chuck Cleaver/Lisa Walker Wussy Duo house show at my place this past weekend.

List members Todd, Regi, Tom, and Jamie were in the house, and they can attest that it was amazing.

I didn’t make the Mountain Goats show at Taft, but their stage setup was interesting:

Malin on the mend

Here’s a nice CBS Saturday Morning sessions interview with Jesse Malin.

Shameless Self-promotion

Dave Tellmann and I got the “97X Rumblings from the Big Bush” podcast out of mothballs to chat with Randy Malloy, who went from unpaid college intern to owner of WWCD-FM in Columbus (nee “CD101″… and later “CD102.5″… and finally “CD92.9” before signing off under duress earlier this year).

The Randy interview is here, and you can catch all the episodes on your favorite podcasting platform.

Album Covers of the Week(s)

Here on earth, I’m a bit disappointed that a band named “Rebels” chose conformity in their outfits.

On the other hand (the one with five fingers), at least Rebels don’t struggle with basic math. Or perhaps the dudes are the Gospel Four and the woman is there because her hair is heavenly.

Super-chunky and Wussy gigs

Concert Listings, Concert review, Music

Howdy, we’re short on time and long on concerts, so let’s get into it!

Tonight, Woodward Theater’s Cinema Series will be screening a movie about Brian Eno. It’s called… wait for it… Eno.

Meanwhile, I’ll be in Nashville for the Charly Bliss show at Exit/In. CB is about the poppiest my musical tastes get, but boy oh boy do they put on a great show! (Hence the long car ride.)

Tomorrow evening, Martin Sexton does an Abbey Road show at Memorial Hall.

Thursday:

  • Chromeo & the Midnight will be at the Ovation in Newport
  • Michigander plays Top Cats
  • Tinfoil Hat Cowboys play the Southgate Lounge (free!)

This Friday and Saturday, Bellevue Park Pavilion in Clifton Heights is hosting Rocktoberfest with several local bands playing three stages.

Other Freaky Fun Friday shows:

  • John Hiatt plays Memorial Hall
  • Keller Williams (yes, sounds like a real estate company) and the Motet are at the old Annie’s
  • Parker Millsap and Nat Myers play Southgate’s Sanctuary
  • Mike Viola will be upstairs in the Southgate Revival Room
  • The Yugos headline the Indie Friday free show at Fountain Square
  • Yung Gravy is at Bogart’s

We kinda wish Yung Gravy would tour with Disco Biscuits and play Cracker Barrels from coast to coast.

On Saturday

  • Tropicoso plays the Liberty Theater in Lawrenceburg, Indiana
  • Moonshine Drive plays Neltner’s Farm Fall Fest (1:30-4:30)
  • Madison Theater has Pink Talking Fish (a fusion of Pink Floyd, Talking Heads and Phish).

On Sunday, The Mountain Goats Trio (John Darnielle, Matt Douglas and Jon Wurster) plays the Taft, with Tift Merritt as the opener. And Justine Cefalu & Mike Oberst play Neltner’s Farm.

Monday, ISWHAT?! plays the Woodward, while list member Ken “Lobby Boy” Laube and I will be road trippin’ to Columbus to see Superchunk at Scully’s. (Catch Ken Fridays 11a-3p on Inhailer radio.) Merge labelmates Quivers open the ‘chunk show. Great double bill!

Next Wednesday, 10/16:

  • Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes play Bogart’s
  • Tommy Castro & the Painkillers plays Southgate
  • Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears play the Woodward, with Eddie 9V as the opener. List member Dave Tellmann and I will be at that gig. (Dave and I have a bonus edition of the old “97X Rumblings from the Big Bush” podcast — the one three people listened to — coming soon!)

Shows next Thursday (10/17):

  • Bluegrass Jam at Camp Springs Tavern
  • Mickey Dolenz, the last Monkee, does a “songs and stories” gig at Ludlow Garage
  • Two indie bands from Chicago, Finom and Moontype, play the Woodward. Jeff Tweedy produced Finom’s latest album at the Wilco Loft.

Madison Theater hosts Puddles Pity Party on Friday, 10/18.

Wussy is playing at my house, again!

On Saturday, October 19th, Chuck Cleaver and Lisa Walker of Wussy will be playing their favorite east side venue, Casa de Damian (my house). The show is sold out, but I DO have my full allotment of five freebies – HMU if you’d like to attend.

Earlier that day, Chelsea Ford & the Trouble play Neltner’s Farm, and that same evening, just down the hill from my house, the California Honeydrops play the old Annie’s. I heard a good report about their live show in Lexington recently.

Wussy has a new album coming out!

We are excited to finally announce our first new record in six years! It’s called Cincinnati Ohio, and features ten tracks that we hope you’ll enjoy. (We were gonna call it The Great Divide, but in the end couldn’t bear to alter this amazing Langford / Calderas cover art).

It features all the regular Wussy folks – me (Lisa), Chuck, Mark, Joe – plus John E. on two songs, and newest member Travis on four songs. Producer and honorary member John Hoffman helmed and steadied the ship (and added some extra flourishes, too). Speaking of honorary members, John Curley recorded some of the basic tracks, and it was nice to have him back on board for those early days, as it was kind of an emotional rollercoaster to start recording again. He helped us navigate those first difficult sessions with a lot of grace and patience. There were many moments where we were all thinking – “is this even gonna work without John E”? We hope this album honors his legacy, as we move forward the best way we know how.

Album artwork is a painting by Jon Langford, based on photo by Jon Calderas. First track:

Listen to the Prophet

Chuck Prophet has a delightful new tune out.

It’s about time the dB’s got some love

Full post on Allmusic is here.

We love it live!

Great show from the Psychedelic Furs a couple weeks back, with Frankie Rose as the opener.

Hat tip to list member Todd Butler and Regi for the ticket. List members David and Amy Groff also were in the house at the old Annie’s

Album Covers of the Weeks

“Julie, you’re 16 now… it’s time for you to start hanging out with much older men in smoke-infested bars.”

Alternate title: Julie’s 50th Birthday.

Rockin’ the ‘tober

Concert Listings, Music

Thank goodness it’s finally Pumpkin Spice Season! (Aw, who am I kidding? It’s been Pumpkin Spice season since July 5th. It’s about commerce, not the calendar.)

Let’s see who’s spicing up the concert calendar…

Matisyahu plays the Taft tomorrow night.

On Wednesday:

  • Agent Orange plays Southgate (orange like a pumpkin)
  • Men I Trust play the Bobby Brady
  • Dark Star Orchestra is at the Ovation
  • GWAR is at Bogart’s
  • Coco Montoya plays Ludlow Garage

On Thursday:

  • Dale Watson plays Southgate, with Matt Hillyer as the opener
  • Easy Honey is at MOTR (lead singer is a 90s Anthony Kiedis lookalike- see video below)
  • Bullet for My Valentine plays the Cindy Brady

Also on Thursday, KISS plays the Coliseum, on their 26th and final (for now) “final” tour.

Bob Dylan (Ever heard of him?) plays the Carol Brady on Friday evening. Back in the 90s, my wife was a huge Dylan fan.

That same evening, The Zombies play Ludlow Garage. (We appreciate the Zombies waiting until it was seasonally appropriate to do a tour.) Culture Queer is at Northside Tavern. And the old Annie’s has “Led Zeppelin 2.”

Plenty o’ shows on Saturday:

  • The Laurelys play Neltner’s Farm Fall Fest in the afternoon (1:30-4:30 p.m.), and Sami Riggs plays the Camp Springs Tavern (across the road from the farm) that evening.
  • Tommy Emmanuel plays the Taft
  • Zach Nugent (no relation to the Motor City mouthpiece) plays a Grateful Dead set at Ludlow Garage
  • Comedian Lewis Black will be at the Hard Rock Casino

Chelsea Ford & the Trouble are at Neltner’s Farm on Sunday afternoon, and Bob Mould plays a solo electric show at the 20th Century Theater that evening, with Jason Narducy as the opener.

The Ophelias and Living Hour play MOTR on Monday, October 23rd.

Messa and Maggot Heart are at the Woodward on Tuesday, 10/24.

Soft Machine will be at Ludlow Garage on Wednesday, 10/25. I love a good soft machine!

The Furious Bongos unleash their fury at Ludlow Garage on Thursday, 10/26, and Ke$ha (it’s pronounced “Key-Dolla-Sign-HA!”… or so I assume) plays the Ovation in Newport.

Jethro Tull’s Martin Barre plays “A Brief History of Tull” at Memorial Hall on Friday, 10/27, and Etta May is at Ludlow Garage. Back in the 70s, I was in love with Etta May.

No, wait, that was Elly May. My bad.

Saturday, October 28th is action-packed:

  • Ray Vietti, Ben Knight and Stripmall Ballads play Neltner’s Farm in the afternoon, with Stripmall Ballads also playing Camp Spring Tavern that evening.
  • Donna the Buffalo stampedes into Ludlow Garage
  • Husbands play Madison Live
  • Georgia Middleman and Sami Riggs play a “Downtowne Listening Room” gig at 1628 co-working space at 315 W. Court Street. (I feel like they should’ve picked a different name for the space, given the address…)

On Sunday, October 29th, the Tye Dye Band (featuring list member John Sandman) plays Washington Park at 11 a.m. as part of the Fall Fest weekend (full Saturday/Sunday lineup is here.) And Mike Oberst and Justin Cefalu wrap up the musical lineup at Neltner’s Farm.

Les Claypool’s Fearless Flying Frog Brigade has a gig at the Jan Brady on Monday, 10/30.

Steve Hackett (no relation to Buddy) wraps up Rocktober with a gig at the Taft on Tuesday, 10/31. That evening also is Halloween.

Which means Wednesday 11/1 is the official kickoff of Peppermint Candy Cane flavor season.

Not suitable for work… or Canada

(Full story from Uproxx is here.)

Suitable for any month of the year

Superchunk’s B-side from 2010 still bangs.

The track is from their forthcoming release Misfits & Mistakes: Singles, B-sides & Strays 2007–2023.

Part of this complete Breakfast

Longtime “This Week in Live Music” favorites Japanese Breakfast did a show at Radio City Music Hall recently, and the encore included a cover of Simon & Garfunkel’s “The Only Living Boy in New York.”

Fetters plays like a Mother

Rob Fetters has a new album out. You can order it here.

From Rob’s email: MOTHER is a collection of 11 new slightly-warped guitar-pop meditations on relishing life’s ass-kickings—past, present, & future.

MOTHER features contributions from Matt Malley (Counting Crows), Belinda Lipscomb (Midnight Star), Alice Peacock, Bam Powell, Bob Nyswonger, Noah Fetters, and Swany Fetters .

Album Covers for Halloween

Nothing’s scarier than some stereo dynamics…

Actually, a Barbershop Quartet is scarier…

But this guy’s Bond villain vibes really creep me out. And you should never mess with someone named Thelma.

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.)