Tommy Castro

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.

April showers bring live music

Concert Listings, podcast

Welp, list member Dale Doyle didn’t win a Grammy today. Then again, I’m pretty sure he was the only list member who was nominated. And you know what they say:

Congrats, D2 on your stunning work.

And if you’re wondering who did get the Grammy for best package design, it was:

Other Grammy winners include… I have no idea. You think I’m going to watch an awards show? Well, other than this one:

But unless it’s the Bono Awards, I’d much rather see a live concert!

Body parts — and the lack thereof — will be on display Tuesday. The Flaming Lips play the Bobby Brady Icon Music Center, with Heartless Bastards as the opener.

Bobby needed ice cream to cool his flaming lips
Heart surgically removed. Bastard intact.

Wednesday, The Minks plays Southgate House. This show is highly recommended by list member Jim Siegert, who has attended a gazillion concerts (conservative estimate), so he really knows shows like no one else. Here’s what he said about The Minks:

I saw them twice at AmericanaFest last September, and they’re awesome. Check out their YT channel when you have a chance. https://youtube.com/c/TheMinksss

Tommy Castro & the Painkillers play the Taft on Thursday. [These are over-the-counter Painkillers (active ingredient: killer chops) so no prescription is required. Side effects may include head-bobbing, toe-tapping, rockin’ pneumonia and boogie-woogie flu.]

The weekend will bring a deluge of shows.

Friday:

  • alt-J and Portugal. The Man and Cherry Glazerr play Ovation (I think it’s called “The weird punctuation and spelling tour.”)
  • The Louisiana Swamp Stomp, featuring The Iguanas and Kevin Gordon, rolls into Southgate’s main room (Sanctuary).
  • Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Experience deals the tunes at the Hard Rock Casino.
  • Mike Farris and the Fortunate Few play Ludlow Garage.
  • Christian Nicholas Gough has a show in Southgate’s upstairs Revival Room, with Miranova and Closest Relative also on the bill. True story: my friend Art’s son Sam (who also is a member of the Cleveland Guardians roller derby team and a world-ranked pinball player) is playing bass with Miranova.

Saturday shows:

  • Jess Lamb headlines the Fountain Square Spring Music Series free show at… you guessed it… Fountain Square.
  • Baroness plays Southgate’s Revival Room.
  • Suzanne Santo plays the Taft Ballroom.
  • John Cafferty & the Beaver Brown Band plays Ludlow Garage (the Esquire Theater should do a matinee showing of Eddie and the Cruisers that day).

Next Sunday (April 10), Rise Against plays Ovation, and Ludlow Garage hosts Progject: The Ultimate Prog Rock Musical Experience. From the press bio:

ProgJect Features:

Michael Sadler (Saga) – Lead Vocals, Keys, Bass & Percussion
Ryo Okumoto (Spock’s Beard, Asia, Phil Collins, Chris Squire) – Keys & Vocals
Mike Keneally  (Frank Zappa, Dweezil Zappa, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, The Zappa Band) – Guitar
Matt Dorsey (Sound of Contact, In Continuum) – Bass, Pedals, Guitar, Keys & Vocals
Jonathan Mover (GTR, Marillion, Satriani, The Tubes) – Drums, Percussion & Vocals

With a two-plus hour set that includes “Squonk”, “Firth Of Fifth”, “Cinema Show”, “Siberian Khatru”, “Roundabout”, “Heart Of The Sunrise”, “From The Beginning”, “Karn Evil 9 – 1st Impression”, “21st Century Schizoid Man”, “Lark’s Tongues In Aspic”, “Xanadu”, “Solsbury Hill”, “Money”, “Living In The Past”, “Rendezvous 6:02” and more… ProgJect is going to drop your jaw and blow your mind.

Hmm, didn’t know the guy from Saga had it in him.

But Series-ously, Folks

We mentioned a Fountain Square Spring Music Series gig – the full series lineup is here on CincyMusic.com.

And speaking of music series, Parlor & Patio is back! List members Jacqui and Dave Killen will once again be hosting shows in their Ft. Thomas home. Huzzah!

Their first two announced shows:

  • Friday, May 13: Ritt & Wilder Deitz (tickets on sale here)
  • Saturday, June 18: Jesse Taylor

Funny Business

This Uproxx article by Steven Hyden, wherein he ranks all the Red Hot Chili Peppers albums, is filled with hilarious snark. An excerpt:

The album overall has the feel of a late-period U2 album. Which doesn’t sound like a compliment, though I am genuinely impressed that they could make a record this unhorny. In that respect, The Getaway is genuinely subversive, a Chili Peppers record without a cucumber in its trousers.

Speaking of trouser cucumbers, Jason Isbell cracked me up with his comment on a poorly worded Stereogum headline:

Shameless self-promotion

List member Dave Tellmann and I continue to crank out top-quality slapdash episodes of the “97X Rumblings from the Big Bush” podcast, garnering worldwide acclaim comments of “oh, that’s nice” from our spouses. (We’re currently #27 on the list of “Top Podcasts to Fold Laundry to.”) The most recent episodes are a two-parter (like a “very special episode” of Punky Brewster, only with less pigtails) with former station manager Jay Batista, who, along with Steve Stenken, helped flip the format of WOXY to modern rock. Part 1 of our chat with Jay is here, and Part Deux is here.

Album Cover of the Week

The unpicturesque field… the uncomfortable pose… the lack of a tight focus on the subject… but all is forgiven because the Cousin Eddie shoes match the fence.

Tucker Carlson Album Cover of the Week