The War on Drugs

It’s snowtime… with an occasional flurry of showtime!

Concert Listings, Music

Last night’s Country Westerns gig at MOTR was scuttled by the freezing rain, sleet, and snow. Mmm, wintry mix! (Special message to all those “if it’s going to be cold, I wish it would snow” types: bite me!)

But you can love The Ultimate Doors tribute two times, babe…

OK, technically one time. And probably tonight, because they are riders on the storm.

At press time, Brother Moses and Tom the Torpedoes are still on for Saturday (Southgate and Redmoor, respectively).

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday… it’s The War on Drugs at Ovation in Newport. List member Mighty Joe Sampson and I will be there with bells on (but we will only shake them between songs).

Are you less of a Drugs person and more of a jazzer-person?

Admit it, you can’t look away…

Then you can catch the Blue Wisp Big Band’s 40th Anniversary CD Release party at The Redmoor on Sunday starting at 6 p.m.

On Tuesday, Anaïs Mitchell and Bonny Light Horseman trot into Memorial Hall. Bonny Light Horseman is Anaïs Mitchell with Eric D. Johnson (of Fruit Bats fame) and Josh Kaufman (a multi-instrumentalist and producer known for his work with Craig Finn, Hiss Golden Messenger, Josh Ritter, The National and Bob Weir). Should be a really cool show.

Washout Wednesday

Sleigh Bells were supposed to play Taft on Wednesday… but they moved their entire tour back several months.

And the Wailing Jennys were supposed to play Memorial Hall on Hump Day, but they moved that show back an entire year!

Oh, and I hate to pile on, but here’s more breaking news:

Speaking of non-music, The Moth Mainstage will be at Memorial Hall on Thursday, and comedian Whitney Cummings is appearing at the Taft.

But there IS music on Thursday: you can catch list member John Sandman’s Tye Dye Band at Eli’s BBQ in the East End. They’ll be playing (inside the heated/tented barn-like structure) from 6-8 p.m.

Next Friday, Lucy Dacus plays Ovation, with Indigo De Souza as the opener. Once again, list member Mighty Joe Sampson and I will be there. I’m assuming our bells will have been confiscated by Ovation staff earlier in the week, but we’re really pumped up for this show.

Lucy’s most recent album, Home Video, was one of our faves from 2021, and she has a new one-off single out that’s pretty tasty too.

Also next Friday, Ben Levin plays Wiedemann Brewing.

Tickets on sale today…

Manchester Orchestra is playing Ovation on Wednesday, March 16th, and Tori Amos will be at the Taft Theatre on Tuesday, May 24th. Tickets for both shows go on sale this morning. I wonder if Tori will play “Oil Spill”…

If you love me, you’ll buy this for me

Just a gentle reminder that VD is right around the corner. That’s Valentine’s Day – get your mind out of the gutter! And if you’re looking for the perfect gift for your favorite This Week in Live Music correspondent, you can get me this:

The pro model will suffice, no need to splurge on the premium or limited edition… it’s a mere $7K – you probably have that in your couch cushions. Better “rush” out and buy it soon though!

Magazine Cover of the Week

Now that’s an unfortunate sticker placement. Or not, depending on how phreaky Mike Gordon is.

Album Cover of the Week

The road to hell is paved with good intentions. And the Pathway to Heaven is peppered with polyester.

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.)

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.”

TobyMac… no, wait…

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:

  • Goes on by 10
  • Goes up to 11

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…

Gig Pics

What a fabulous show by the Cereal Killers at MadTree last Friday — including a special guest appearance by our neighbor Amy Hueneman doing vocals on a Pretenders song! Great crowd too, including list members Dave Tellmann, Whit & Barb Gardner, Bruce Roy, Todd Butler, and Dan Bockrath (who brought several of his high school buddies – do NOT attempt to keep pace with them on drinking).

On Sunday morning, I joined Dave & Mindy Tellmann at the Hard Rock Casino for the Ben Levin brunch show with Chicago blues legend Bob Stroger (I misspelled his name last week – sorry Bob!). Bob is 90 years young… amazing voice and great stage presence. Noah Wotherspoon was on guitar too!

Dave, Mindy and I were joined by Dave’s son Joe (of This Pine Box), Joe’s friend Liam and none other than one of Joe’s non-traditional CCM classmates: John Curley of the Afghan Whigs! When you go to live shows, good things happen.

Two feet from stardom. I had the French toast… John had an Impossible Burger.

Dave and I interviewed John Curley on our 97X podcast in April of 2020. Just sayin’.

Words of wisdom

And in case you missed it (I sure did), apparently the Mountain Goats song “No Children” went viral on TikTok. (Read more here.) Lead singer John Darnielle has the right perspective on it:

But when people do find it, it affirms for those of us who make indie music that when the broader public is exposed to it, there’s more people who would like it if they get a chance to hear it. The consolidation of radio and the diffuse nature of the media landscape means that there’s lots of good stuff that people don’t generally hear unless it gets a viral moment…

…Our childish dreams of how these things work have value. So when something like this happens in my life, well, that’s a dream come true. We did not tell people, “Check out ‘No Children,’ you’re gonna love it.” No. they took it and they ran with it, and it’s beautiful. If there was more stuff like that in the world, the world’s a better place. Not just for me, but for whoever, because there’s a million fun songs out there for people to find that people do not need to be told by the influencer factory which one to listen to.

John Darnielle of the Mountain Goats in this Variety interview

Watch this

The War on Drugs live in a studio… amazing.

You can see all three songs that The War on Drugs performed on CBS Saturday Morning via the embedded videos in this article.

Random Album Cover of the Week

I don’t need a gym membership, I just need a turntable. Upper arms, waistline and hips don’t lie.

Have a great week!