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the fourth of july marks the130th anniversaryof the city’s stunning centennial exposition BY FELIX WINTERNITZ AND MAIJA ZUMMO

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Read us on your phone instead of talking to your friends at brunch. THE ALL-NEW

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The majority of works are from the collection of Michael Mattis and Judith Hochberg, with selections from the Cleveland Museum of Art and the collection of Connie and Jack Sullivan. This exhibition is organized by art2art Circulating Exhibitions, LLC, and the Taft Museum of Art. IMAGE: Denali and Wonder Lake, Denali National Park, Alaska, 1947. Photograph by Ansel Adams. Image courtesy of Collection Center for Creative Photography, University of Arizona. ©The Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust

NEWS

Fiscal Therapy Mayoral vetoes. Marathon meetings. Drake quotes. Here’s what to know about this year’s wild Cincinnati budget ride. BY N I C K SWA R T S EL L

Budget negotiations: The only thing more dramatic than this sunset over Cincinnati City Hall PH OTO: NIC K SWARTSELL

capital side, the city committed some $7 million in unreserved funds from its sale of the Blue Ash airport to pay for infrastructure and site preparation for FC Cincinnati’s stadium in the West End. It also committed $1.5 million a year for 30 years in its proceeds from Hamilton County’s hotel tax to pay for debt service on bonds for that infrastructure. That could cost the city $45 million in the long run. The new and increased revenue sources council passed with its new budget will address some, but likely not all, of the shortfalls. There were numerous flashpoints along the way to passing the spending plan, of course, mostly between council’s six Democrats and Mayor Cranley. Cranley vetoed an ordinance giving $550,000 to the Center for Closing the Health Gap, a group that works on racial disparities in health outcomes, but council overrode that veto. The group, led by former Cranley ally and one-time

Cincinnati mayor Dwight Tillery, has weathered media scrutiny about its spending practices and an audit that found less-than-ideal billing practices, though reviewers placed some of the blame on lax city oversight. During Cranley’s tenure, the city manager’s office had cut the Health Gap a bigger and bigger slice of city funding outside the United Way-administered human services funding process. Under previous mayor Mark Mallory, the Health Gap received $200,000. Under Cranley, it saw an ever-increasing level of city funding, up to $1 million in fiscal year 2017. But Cranley and Tillery have been feuding since last year’s mayoral election and the mayor had cut the center out of the budget entirely this year. But in the end, council’s six Democrats prevailed. Councilmembers Greg Landsman and Tamaya Dennard pushed especially hard for the Health Gap funding. Landsman decried continued disparities in life

expectancy and other health outcomes experienced by minority Cincinnatians, calling them “despicable.” But Cranley argued the Cincinnati Health Department is better equipped to address those issues. “The center does not deliver services to anybody,” Cranley said. “I think the money would be better spent in our health department delivering services to people who don’t have them.” The tug-of-war over spending didn’t end there by a longshot. Council’s proposals raised fees on parking, building and inspections permits, storm water services and garbage collection for residents of apartment and condo buildings with more than five units and created a tax for billboard owners. In addition, council moved to put a charter amendment on the November ballot that, if voters approve, would raise the city’s ticket tax from 3 percent to 5 percent CONTINUES ON PAGE 07

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t only took about a dozen hours of meetings last week, a mayoral veto and tangles over the name of a councilmember’s puppy, but Cincinnati City Council June 27 approved the city’s final fiscal year 2019 budget. The city’s $407 million operating budget boosts funds for human services organizations and basic services like the city’s 911 call center and litter pickup and cuts $10 million in spending. But it also raises a half-a-dozen fees and taxes to close a $32 million deficit. Council made some of those moves to provide more than $3 million in funding for human services in coming years. Acting City Manager Patrick Duhaney’s budget proposal cut that money — which goes through a process overseen by the United Way to fund organizations mitigating homelessness, unemployment and poverty — down to .69 percent of the budget this year. Mayor John Cranley’s budget had those services funded at .93 percent of the budget. The budget comes as larger structural issues loom. According to the proposal delivered by Duhaney, the city spent more than it took in over the past two years. What’s more, future forecasts in Duhaney’s budget showed that, given current trends, the city is set to continue down that path over coming years — spending at least $6.7 million more than it brings in by FY 2020, at least $11 million by FY 2021 and more than $15 million by FY 2022. With those trends, the city’s general fund will be in the red to the tune of $2.7 million by 2020 and by $34 million in 2022. The deficit the city faced this year comes from an $8.6 million shortfall in projected income tax receipts as well as an annual $25 million reduction in funding from the state, the city manager says. Ohio lawmakers have whittled down the state’s contributions to local government funding over the past few years. Other factors also play in, however, including a pay boost for some city workers pushed for by Cranley and approved by city council two years ago. The boost came outside the usual collective bargaining process and will cost the city more than $7 million next year. On the

CITY DESK

Trans Bill Not Cincinnati Lawmaker’s First Controversial Move BY N I C K SWA R T S E L L

State Rep. Tom Brinkman, a Republican representing Mount Lookout and Cincinnati’s eastern suburbs, stirred up ire from LGBTQ advocates recently when he proposed legislation that would require teachers and other “government agents” to notify parents when their students appear to be showing preferences for different gender identities. That law would also make administering gender dysphoria therapy to minors a felony without the consent of both parents. But this isn’t the first time Brinkman has raised eyebrows in the General Assembly. He’s been a reliably staunch conservative during his stints in the Ohio State House — one seemingly unafraid of offending. One of his most unpopular stands: being the sole vote against Ohio’s belated ratification of the 14th Amendment, which extended citizenship to freed slaves and guaranteed all Americans equal protection under the law. Ohio lawmakers initially approved the 14th Amendment, authored by Ohio’s U.S. Rep. John A. Bingham, in 1867. But white Ohio voters rejected a ballot referendum awarding blacks the right to vote, and the General Assembly reversed the ratification of the amendment in 1868. The 14th Amendment has been integral to the judicial reasoning behind a number of landmark U.S. Supreme Court cases, including the federal school desegregation order in 1954’s Brown v. The Board of Education; Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling legalizing abortion; and Obergefell v. Hodges, the 2015 decision extending same-sex

marriage rights across all 50 states. University of Cincinnati law professor Gabriel Chin and his students dredged up the fact that the state never ratified the 14th Amendment while reviewing state code in 2003. Chin and other advocates, including now-Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley, argued the state should ratify the amendment quickly. Then-state Sen. Mark Mallory sponsored a bill to rectify the situation. Though there was some back-and-forth about the legislation (including another Republican lawmaker implying that Mallory was illiterate), it eventually passed both houses almost unanimously on March 19 that year. The only holdout: Brinkman. Brinkman didn’t say much during House proceedings, but the Mount Lookout Republican took a states’ rights tack in explaining his vote afterward. “It’s misapplied constantly by the country to get states to do things they don’t want to do,” he said of the 14th Amendment. “Most importantly to me, 45 million babies have been murdered since judges forced Roe v. Wade down the throats of citizens.” Brinkman also mentioned E-Check, the emissions screening for automobiles that was designed to cut down on pollution. Why not share those thoughts during the legislative proceedings? Brinkman said he didn’t want to stir up controversy around the subject. At the time, conservative lawmakers, including then-State Rep. Bill Seitz, argued that the ratification should be amended to note that Ohio rejects judicial

interpretations of the law that uphold abortion and other issues conservatives have fought against. But for Chin, the UC professor, the issue was far simpler. “This resolution is about the basics,” he said at the time. “The basics are that every member of the General Assembly and every Ohioan who thinks about it agrees that people born or naturalized in the United States should be citizens regardless of race, everyone is entitled to equal protections under law, and should not be deprived of life, liberty and property under the law. Within that framework, there are a lot of details we can disagree on. But it’s very important for us to acknowledge the basic things we agree upon as Americans and Ohioans.” Brinkman took his lumps that year, eventually getting voted “worst legislator” in a Columbus Magazine poll of his colleagues, aides, lobbyists, journalists and state administration officials. “I’d be embarrassed to compromise as much as these others do,” Brinkman told The Cincinnati Enquirer at the time. “I wouldn’t be able to look myself in the mirror,” Of course, things change. Take it as a sign of our shifting political climate, or of Brinkman’s evolved legislative chops, but he was nowhere to be found in the “worst legislator” rankings when Columbus Magazine redid their survey in 2016. In fact, Brinkman ranked second in the “most principled lawmaker” category.

FC Cincinnati Announces Firms for Design, Construction of West End Stadium

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BY N I C K SWA R T S E L L

FC Cincinnati June 29 announced the team that will design and construct its roughly $200 million soccer stadium in the West End. The stadium’s lead architect will be MEIS, a New York and Los Angeles-based firm that also designed Paul Brown Stadium. The firm has also designed a number of other Major League Soccer stadiums, including Toyota Park in Chicago and StubHub Center in Los Angeles among others. MEIS will partner with local firm Elevar Group on some architectural elements of the project. International firm Turner Construction will be the lead

builder for the stadium. The company has helped build more than 450 sports facilities, including almost half of all Major League Soccer stadiums across the country. The firm will partner with local group Jostin Construction, a minority-owned business that has worked with Turner on other local projects including Great American Tower and the residential tower and new Kroger at Walnut Street and Central Parkway. Jostin’s CEO and owner is Albert Smitherman, who is related to Cincinnati Vice Mayor Christopher Smitherman. CEO Smitherman says the company will make efforts to

engage minority-owned subcontractors on the project. “As Cincinnati’s leading downtown community builder, we are thrilled and grateful to be a part of this transformative project,” Turner Vice President and General Manager David Spaulding said. “Our efforts will be focused on not only constructing a state-of-theart stadium for this incredible team and their fans, but also creating opportunities and an environment that is driven toward community engagement and involvement.” Machete Group will manage the project, including master and site planning, budgeting and scheduling,

among other tasks. U.S. Bank will provide financing for the stadium. FC Cincinnati President Jeff Berding said the team will start from scratch on its design to make sure it fits specifically with the West End location. “We are prepared to build the top soccer stadium in the country right here in the Queen City.” Berding said. “We have two of the world’s top sports design and construction firms ready to design an iconic facility for our club and our community, and world-class management and financing partners on board to help us through the process.”

Greater Cincinnati Native Accused in Death at White Nationalist Rally Faces Federal Hate Crime Charges BY N I C K SWA R T S EL L

A federal grand jury returned an indictment with more than 30 hate crime charges against James Alex Fields Jr., who is accused of driving his car into a group of protesters at last August’s white nationalist “Unite the Right” event, killing anti-racism protester Heather Heyer. Fields, who attended high school in Northern Kentucky and lived in Florence, Ky. before moving to Maumee, Ohio, allegedly attended the rally protesting the removal of a Confederate monument in Charlottesville, Va. on Aug. 12, 2017. While there, authorities say he engaged in white supremacist chants at the city’s Emancipation Park, where he was photographed holding a shield with a logo for a hate group. After authorities cleared that crowd, Fields slowly drove his car through a crowd of people protesting against white nationalists on Fourth Street. He then reversed his car back up the street, the Federal Bureau of Investigation says, before accelerating down the hill and plowing into the large crowd, killing Heyer and injuring dozens of others. After hitting another car, Fields reversed again and fled the scene. Fields is already facing state murder charges in Virginia, but the U.S. Department of Justice and the FBI say Fields’ alleged actions also constitute hate crimes. Fields is charged with one count of a hate crime act causing the death of Heyer, 28 counts of causing injury to others and one count for driving his car into a protest. Fields had a tumultuous adolescence. His mother called 911 multiple times when Fields lived with her in Florence to report his threats of violence against her. Teachers and fellow students at schools Fields attended recalled his keen interest in Nazism to news media following his alleged acts at the Unite the Right rally. “Hatred and violence have no place in our communities,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a statement. “The investigation of hate crimes is a top priority of the FBI, and we will continue to work with our partners to ensure those who perpetrate such despicable acts are held accountable.” The rally also saw the brutal beating of anti-racism protester DeAndre Harris by four white nationalist rally attendees, including former Mason resident Daniel Borden, who later pleaded guilty to felonious wounding.

FROM PAGE 05

to permanently fund human services organizations at 1.5 percent of the city’s budget. The extra fees raised howls from conservatives on council. Councilmembers Amy Murray, Christopher Smitherman and Jeff Pastor all voted against them. Pastor gave an impassioned, if unusual, speech during voting against the tax increases, saying they would impact low-income people the most. “We’re raising taxes on the people who can’t afford it,” he said. “This is a travesty.” Some of Pastor’s points had some weight: Many low-income tenants of apartment buildings will likely see the garbage removal fees transferred to them by landlords. Others, however, including a claim that the ticket tax would harm poor Cincinnatians, were more of a stretch. The tax will cost an extra dollar on a $50 ticket if passed by voters and the money would be used to fund myriad human services organizations that have been chronically under-funded by the city for years. Dennard, who came from a low-income background, debated Pastor, pointing out that Pastor supported tax abatements for developers that she claimed contributed to pricing people out of neighborhoods. “We’re not going to address concentrated

poverty until we address concentrated wealth,” she said. “We have two different views on what poverty is, councilmember Dennard,” Pastor responded. “We have two different solutions.” Council’s billboard tax also took some heat, with owners of Norton billboards saying it could eat 10 percent of their revenue a year. “I’m beyond frustrated,” Tom Norton, one of the owners of the company, told council. “You want to raise $700,000 from two companies.” Norton suggested the city’s tax could be illegal, and that he may fight it in court. At times, discussion took some digressions. During his speech about poverty, Pastor repeated the phrase, “started from the bottom, now we’re here,” a reference to a popular song by the rapper Drake. Councilman Chris Seelbach mangled the name of Pastor’s puppy (Winnie The Boo Pastor) during a back-and-forth about a missed meeting. But the sideshows were minimal and, for the most part, council labored trying to fit together a financial puzzle fragmented by continued deep cuts from the state’s local government fund, less-than-expected tax revenues and mounting expenses. There were lots of twists and turns in where the money would come from. Council at first proposed a $200,000 cut to police

overtime pay and a delay in the Cincinnati Police Department’s next recruit class, but later backed off the former cut while keeping the latter in place. Councilmembers nixed a program proposed by Mayor Cranley that would have created $400,000 in extra revenue by booting the cars of repeat parking offenders. Councilman P.G. Sittenfeld floated the idea of eliminating funding for state lobbyists — $88,000 a year — as a way to fund multiple other programs, which was shot down by other council members. Sittenfeld’s final pitch for that money was to provide roughly $70,000 more to tech groups CincyTech and Cintrifuse. Council restored $177,000 to each from Cranley and Acting Cincinnati City Manager Patrick Duhaney’s budgets, which both cut out the groups entirely. Council also upped funding to the Greater Cincinnati Redevelopment Authority — which will get the standard $700,000 — and REDI Cincinnati, which will receive its customary $250,000. Drama wasn’t isolated to the budget’s operating side. Council won one battle with the mayor outright, restoring $125,000 to match potential grants the city could get from the federal government to complete the Central Parkway bike lane. Cranley has long opposed on-street bike infrastructure. Council also approved another $200,000 for an expansion of

JULY 11 5:30 PM - 8:30 PM LIVE MUSIC FROM THE BAND WASHINGTON FOOD SAMPLES FROM: FLIPDADDY’S, KEYSTONE, THE PUB, AND BISCUITS TO BURGERS

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KICK OFF PARTY

Cincinnati Red Bike, including funding for an e-bike program. The streetcar caused friction, as it tends to do. Council passed the transit project’s $4.4 million budget, though, as Cranley was quick to point out, future years look grim for the project if ridership and revenue don’t increase. Councilman Landsman says he has a plan for that, which includes hiring a manager for the streetcar at $150,000 a year. That salary would come from cuts to other expenditures within the streetcar’s budget, including payments to the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority. Another gambit by Landsman to improve the streetcar’s performance is a no-go, at least for now. Cranley vetoed a move by Landsman that would have spent an undetermined amount up to $600,000 to move a bus stop downtown that has been the top obstruction for Cincinnati’s streetcar. That money would have come out of the streetcar’s capital budget, which currently sits about $1 million. Council, which approved Landsman’s idea 5-3, may have the votes to override Cranley’s veto — councilwoman Dennard was absent during the vote, and, if she supports the proposal, the mayor would be overruled. That vote likely won’t come until August, however, when council returns from its summer recess.

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CINCINNATI’S

BY FELIX WINTERNITZ AND MAIJA ZUMMO hey called it the “World’s Fair of Cincinnati.” When the Centennial Exposition of the Ohio Valley and Central States first began to enthrall onlookers 130 years ago, way back in 1888, it was nominally slated to celebrate the anniversary of the City of Cincinnati’s founding. More to the truth, this incredibly lavish yearlong exposition gave cause to spotlight the growing metro’s industry, commerce and rampant technological progress. Unheard-of electric lights were seen everywhere; exhibit halls could be open — and illuminated — late into the night. Gondolas were imported from Venice, Italy, along with the necessary gondoliers to provide voyages along the Erie Canal (what’s now Central Parkway). For laughs, they even hauled in President Ulysses S. Grant’s Point Pleasant home. Really. The ostentatious festival dominated city life for most of the year in 1888: planning, execution, excitement, crowds, tear-downs. It ran for more than 100 days, from July 4 to Nov. 8, open 9 a.m.-10 p.m. every day except Sunday. Cincinnatians subscribed for tickets in excess of $1 million, a tidy sum in that era; season CONTINUES ON PAGE 11 tickets cost a whopping $5, and adult daily admission was 25 cents.

the fourth of july marks the 130th anniversary of the city’s stunning Centennial Exposition

IMAGE: THE OFFICIAL GUIDE OF THE CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION OF THE O H I O V A L L E Y A N D C E N T R A L S TAT E S , 1 8 8 8

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Machinery Hall

Clockwise from left: Bridge over Elm Street; fair overview illustration; poster from the official exposition guide; photo of the canal in Machinery Hall. Opposite page: Gondola illustration.

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I M A G E S : C I N C I N N AT I H I S T O R I C A L S O C I E T Y ; T H E S O C I E T Y F O R T H E P R E S E R V AT I O N O F M U S I C H A L L ; T H E O F F I C I A L G U I D E O F T H E C E N T E N N I A L E X H I B I T I O N O F T H E O H I O V A L L E Y A N D C E N T R A L S TAT E S , 1 8 8 8 ; C I N C I N N AT I H I S T O R I C A L S O C I E T Y. O P P O S I T E P A G E : H A R P E R ’ S W E E K L Y

FROM PAGE 08

DISPATCHES FROM THE EXPO

he Cincinnati Enquirer had a ball reporting on the gossipy, bizarre and incredibly non-PC daily happenings at the expo, which provided newspaper fodder from July through the beginning of November 1888. July 18, 1888 / Big News: “Some of the pretty girls at the various exhibits will flirt.” July 27, 1888 / Mr. Steer Goes For a Swim: “The usually placid waters of the canal were somewhat disturbed yesterday morning by the advent into the Centennial buildings of an unexpected visitor. A large steer which was being driven through the streets in the lower part of the city jumped into the canal, and being of a somewhat inquisitive turn of mind, swam toward the Exposition Building. His curiosity led him into the Machinery Hall and the gondoliers and people riding around in boats were very much astonished to see him. Mr. Steer didn’t seem at all excited or disturbed by the noise of the machinery or the peculiarity of his surroundings. Commodore Schmidt, of the gondola fleet, happened to see the entrance of the inquisitive animal, which was evidently preparing to have a good time since he had escaped from the clutches of those who were conducting him to the butcher shop.” July 7, 1888 / Beer Drama: “An incipient row was kicked up because the lemonade people sold beer, and vice versa.” Aug. 1, 1888 / Pole Dance: “In honor of Brewer’s Day, Commodore Schmidt will give an exciting race on the canal and in addition there will be a greased poleclimbing contest. The contests who (can’t) climb the pole, will fall into the canal.” Sept. 26, 1888 / Getting Lucky: “Pretty Kentucky girls were abundant yesterday.” Oct. 3, 1888 / Nope: “Ahwanetunk’s tribe of tame Indians gave performances in Music Hall yesterday. When you civilize an Indian you take all the Indian out of him.” July 6, 1888 / Gum Theft: “Scattered through the building are hundreds of little boxes containing chewing gum. The visitor is invited to drop a nickel in the slot, pull out a little drawer, and help himself to a piece of gum which drops into the box. It was discovered yesterday that some unknown parties have been robbing the boxes of gum in an ingenious manner. They have made pieces of lead the same size, weight and shape as a nickel.” Oct. 21, 1888 / The Danger of Being a Barber: “An amusing sequel to the Barbers’ Day celebration at the Centennial has just leaked out. Jake Rudolf, a tonsorial artist whose place of business is opposite the St. Clair Hotel on Sixth Street, was the victim of a rather ghastly practical joke. Jake is a jolly barber with lots of friends, and he told all his customers what a good time he intended to have on Barbers’ Day. He was one of the leading spirits of the occasion and did the Exposition for all it was worth. William Lawson, son of F.H. Lawson of West Sixth Street, is one of Rudolf’s customers. He knew all about the shop being closed and he determined to have some fun at his barber’s expense. When Jake and his men left the shop, Lawson produced a liberal supply of black crepe and just as the shades of night were falling, he tied it on the knob of the shop door. Pasted on the window in explanation of the crepe were the mournful words: ‘Closed on account of the sudden death of the proprietor, Jake Rudolf.’ Hundreds of people on their way home from work stopped and read the inscription. Some of the barber’s friends were astounded at the news. Not realizing that the skillful hand of a practical joker had been at work. The prospective Mrs. Rudolf…almost went into hysterics.” Aug. 5, 1888 / You Might Be a Redneck… : “A country visitor sat in one of the front seats in Music Hall yesterday in his stocking feet. He said

his shoes hurt him.” July 19, 1888 / Infant Banditti: “The arrest by Officer William Carey of three little ragamuffins at the Centennial Exposition Buildings yesterday morning was the means of giving the police authorities the longsought for information regarding the persons who have been keeping the people in the West End in constant dread of being robbed. The oldest of the lads was but eleven years of age, but in point of smartness they are equal to almost any thirty-year-old crook.” July 22, 1888 / A Centennial Babe: “There was a sensation at the Centennial last night which very few people heard about. A baby was born in Music Hall about seven o’clock. …The lady was not expecting to be confined for another month, but the doctor said the boy is a strong, healthy fellow. Several of the Commissioners have suggested the idea that the infant be called James Allison Crawford, in honor of the president of the Centennial.” Aug. 4, 1888 / Disappearing Wife: “An old farmer was very much distressed yesterday because he had lost his wife somewhere in the building. Several cases of the same character have occurred since the Centennial opened.” Aug. 5, 1888 / Heat Wave: “It was not as hot in the buildings as on the street.” Sept. 1, 1888 / Little Invalids: “More than twenty of the little invalids from the Episcopal Hospital for Children on Mount Auburn attended the Centennial yesterday in the charge of Dr. Frank Caldwell. Some of the little sufferers were taken around in the wheel-chairs.” Sept. 3, 1888 / Runaway Horse: “Elm Street, north of the Exposition Buildings, was the scene of an exciting runaway yesterday afternoon about three o’clock. The streets and sidewalks were crowded at the time by a host of people who had come out to witness the parade of the Catholic Knights. The runaway horse was attached to a buggy, in which were seated two women of the town — Mollie Shinkle and Stella Busch — inmates of Madame Wessel’s Charles-street house of illfame. Taking fright at some object on Elm Street, near Fifteenth, the horse wheeled and dashed southwardly at a frightful rate of speed. …Directly in front of the Exposition Buildings, the horse swerved from its course and went crashing against one of the iron columns supporting the arches of gas-jets that line the street. The shock was most terrific, and dozens of globes came down to be splintered on the street below.” July 7, 1888 / Damn Good Democrat: “A curious incident happened yesterday at the Government State Department exhibit. A stranger approached Mr. Howe and said: ‘Young man, are you in charge of this exhibit?’ The answer was in the affirmative and the stranger continued: ‘I’m a d—n good Democrat and I don’t like the frame surrounding (President) Cleveland’s picture. If you’re willing, I’ll go out and buy the finest frame to be found in Cincinnati.’ The unknown departed, and, true to his word, returned in about two hours with a magnificent frame and a man, who changed the picture of the President from the old frame to the new one.” Aug. 2, 1888 / Long Ride: “The Centennial was visited yesterday by Bennett Jones, a young man thirty-two years of age, who came all the way from Colorado, California on a bicycle. He left there on the 8th of June and departed on his wheel for his home, in Delaware, Ohio, last night. He averaged over forty miles a day on his trip.” — COMPILED BY MORGAN ZUMBIEL AND MAIJA ZUMMO

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This was Cincinnati in all its heady glory. The city was just beginning to enjoy the fresh trappings of civilization: The light bulb — unavailable for Philadelphia’s Centennial Exposition in 1876 — had made its way west; amazing wax cylinders belted out Classical music favorites; and the fi rst modern drinking straw appeared. The automobile had yet to arrive; the Kodak camera was just around the corner. Even some geek named Thomas Edison had just fi led a patent for his “optical phonograph” (the very fi rst movie). Locally, E.W. Scripps had acquired the Penny Paper, changing its name to the Cincinnati Post. Barney Kroger had just painted his fi rst storefront in fi re-engine red. The fi rst electric streetcar appeared in June 1888, on the Mount Adams-Eden Park line. And Cincinnatians were consuming 40 gallons of beer per capita annually (and distilling two million gallons of whiskey per year). The Centennial Exposition, officially commemorating the settlement of the Ohio Valley, Northwest Territory, state of Ohio and city of Cincinnati, was created to attract tourists by providing entertainment while showcasing Cincinnati’s ingenuity with the newest machines being produced here and to demonstrate the progress the area had made in the past century. All in all, the fest featured 47 acres of unbridled play and 950,000-square-feet of exhibition space. The expo commenced on the Fourth of July in 1888 with a grand parade and dedication. At noon, a brass gong sounded in Music Hall, indicating it was time to press the button to bring the driving engines of the expo to life — an honor given to “Miss Mary Allison, the little daughter of the President of the Board of Commissioners.” She pressed the button and electricity whizzed through the hall, illuminating a cadre of lights, much to the joy of spectators. The lavish parade that followed, witnessed by a crowd of 500,000 people, wound its way through the streets of Cincinnati. “The crowded streets were gay with flags and bunting, and the houses in every part of the city were elaborately decorated,” boasts the Report of the Centennial Exposition. “While the history of local parades tells of many wonderful ones, they all pale before that of yesterday.” There were whistles and bells and float after float of officials in fancy dress, pretty girls and local business. Moerlein Brewing Co. presented a large wagon, drawn by 12 horses, with ornamental beer kegs and the Queen of Beers waving from the top. A tobacco company float featured girls rolling cigars and throwing them into the crowd. There were also historical floats with representations of characters like Daniel Boone, fur trappers and more than a few offensive portrayals of American Indians. At the expo itself, the center of activities revolved around the recently constructed Music Hall. It was completed in 1878 in part to house this and other expositions, along with choral festivals. The giant auditorium served as the anchor for the temporary buildings erected in and around Washington Park — Machinery Hall and Park Hall — to create the largest connected covered area ever used for an exposition on the continent. In a city known for its previous agricultural and mechanical expositions — we were nicknamed the “Mother of Expositions” at the time — Music Hall was transformed. “Music Hall has never been decorated as it was for this Exposition,” wrote J.M. Blair, chairman of the expo’s special committee on buildings on lighting. “Maroon colored plush drapery hid the curving front of the balconies. From pillar to post in the balconies were strung long rows of incandescent electric lamps, enclosed in globes of red, white, blue, opal, amber, yellow and green.” Chairs were removed and more than 2,500 yards of Brussels carpet was laid on the main floor, making it home to

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the largest carpet in America. Along with the exhibits of more traditional goods and services, there was Music Hall’s auditorium, used for regular vocal and orchestral performances during the event, and Art Hall, with “the finest collection of paintings ever seen in this country,” according to the Official Guide of the Centennial Exhibition of the Ohio Valley and Central States. Music Hall was also home to Horticulture Hall, full of “nooks and grottoes, trellised walks, rare plants, (and) hanging fountains, all lit up with parti-colored electric lights.” In the grottoes, you could have ice cream or soda served to you by “young girls handsomely uniformed.”

An iron rainbow adorned with different colored flashing and twinkling glass lights was set up above a waterfall “thirty feet in height, which was studded with 100 or more colored electric lamps, which glowed like a bed of electric fire among the rocks,” according to the Report. Suspended glass orbs full of colored water cast a pale glow over the scene and wonders of artful illumination fascinated expo-goers, complete with gardens of electric flowers and ferns, automated horned owls with blinking eyes and hanging Japanese parasols with flashing lights that appeared to rotate. Behind Music Hall, on Plum Street, was Machinery Hall, an exhibition space for the latest Industrial Revolution machines. Machinery Hall was a 1,300-foot-long

building with twin towers constructed over the Miami-Erie Canal (where Central Parkway is today) from 12th to 15th streets. It was 150-feet wide in the center where it connected with Music Hall and the aisles on both sides of the canal, which ran down the center of the building, were devoted to machinery and factory technology exhibits; in fact, the several hundred exhibits produced the power necessary to light and operate the other exhibition halls. A total of four incredibly ornate bridges crossed the canal — “not unlike those at Venice,” states the Report — and the building itself was three blocks long. The structure formed a domed roof, 40 feet above the water, and was illuminated at night by “innumerable jets of gas and electric lights,” according to its architect,

Cincinnati’s James W. McLaughlin. Daily performances were staged on ships on the covered waterway, as were canal races and gondola rides. Other major events included a typing contest, in what’s called the birthday of the “touch typing method”; Frank McGurrin from Salt Lake City won decisive victory over Louis Traub in a contest held here that momentous year. According to the official expo report, “The scene in this building at night, with its brilliant light effects and decorations, its gorgeous pageants and gaily decorated gondolas reflected in the water, was quite bewildering and afforded no end of delight to visitors.” The final building — Park Hall, the main expo building in Washington Park — was a

two-story cruciform creation: 600-feet-by110-feet one way and 400-feet-by-110-feet the other, with a giant dome and “a fi ne view of the city” from the upper balconies. It was connected to Music Hall by a covered bridge over Elm Street. Park Hall housed restaurants and cafés, a hospital, a government display and minerals on loan from Ontario, Canada. Even the Smithsonian Institution contributed a pavilion to Park Hall, coordinating all of the U.S. government exhibits and preparing a display on its own activities and collections. For the “Section of Mammals,” the Smithsonian installed a 140-foot-long case showing the stuffed or skeletal remains of every mammal known to science. They even suspended a 45-foot-long Finback whale skeleton over the hall’s main aisle. Along with gigantic Cetaceans, Park Hall boasted one of the largest fountains constructed in the country — 89 feet long and 68 feet wide with a jet that rose 65 feet in the air. Nicknamed the “Fairy Fountain,” when the orchestra in the gallery played Strauss waltzes, the fountain illuminated in time with the music and “giant Japanese fish fi lled with lamps looked like they were swimming into (it).” Down the hall was a rotating 40-foot-high Christmas tree that flashed the years “1788-1888” at the base. Park Hall also had popcorn and candy stands, a thrilling 60-foot display of Singer Sewing machines, clothing and wares from Mabley & Carew department store, pianos, petrified wood, dental devices, billiards tables, furs, ladies shoes and a children’s department overseen by William Howard Taft’s mother. A “monster Edison lamp” on display was 30-feet high and made up of 15,000 individual electric lights. Outside, according to the expo report, “The principal facades of the main buildings were also covered with highly wrought artistic and emblematic designs, and at the intersection of the principal street crossings, great triumphal arches were erected

Emilie’s Diary

of gas pipe, studded with many colored globes. The scene at night under this bright array of color reminded one of the enchanted scenes in the Arabian nights.” In the end, all this fanfare resulted in a total financial gain for the expo of $363.21 — about $9,000 today. It rained 49 out of the 110 days of the fest. And historians generally question its overall success — an industrial expo was never held in the city again. But locally, the pomp and circumstance helped prove Cincinnati’s place as a thriving metropolis. History records Washington Park in 1888 as the epicenter of the city’s cultural scene. Its two blocks of Over-the-Rhine were the pulsating heart of a city center buzzing with the energy of innovation and modernity, acknowledging the positive progress of the past and looking ahead to the expansive potential of the future in technology, architecture, design, the arts and industry. In that particular moment in the 19th century, the neighborhood must have felt exceptionally alive and of-the-moment. Cincinnati’s status as one of America’s leading boomtowns would gradually give way to other Midwestern cities and its cultural core became more scattered. But a 21st-century renaissance has brought a fresh, rejuvenated spirit back to downtown and Over-the-Rhine, which now bustles with more forward-thinking development. Among the creative-minded start-ups and arts-fueled attractions, one of the biggest moments of OTR’s resurrection was BLINK, the 2017 event that featured stunning, imaginative light projections on buildings throughout the city’s urban center and drew massive, record-setting crowds to the area. Leading-edge optimism and a dazzling light show? Perhaps it is just as the old idiom says: “What goes around comes around.”

IMAGES: THE OFFICIAL GUIDE OF THE CENTENNIAL E X H I B I T I O N O F T H E O H I O V A L L E Y A N D C E N T R A L S TAT E S , 1 8 8 8

“A delegation of 10 Cincinnati ladies called at the White House on Mrs. (Grover) Cleveland and the President to invite them to our Centennial.” On opening day of the Expo, she writes a parade showed off “60 floats representing epochs of the city’s history and its industries.” On June 10, 1888, Stegemeyer writes: “The house in which Gen. Grant was born came down the Ohio River yesterday and last night it was taken to Race and Canal streets, pulled by 16 horses, 4 abreast. There it will be exhibited during the Centennial.” On July 26, 1888 (“the temperature reaching 90 at noon”), Stegemeyer writes that, high above the 12th Street entrance tower, the exotic figure of the automaton Ajeeb, “the automatic chess player,” caught her eye. “The figure is dressed like a Turk and sits Turk fashion on a large cushion, placed partly on a table extending back of what looks more like a money safe than anything I can think of. On this ‘safe’ rests Ajeeb’s feet, and above them, leaving a space between, is placed the game board. …When it is Ajeeb’s turn to play, he will raise up his hand

and move his man, and when he captures one, he also removes it to one side, then drops the arm down to his side again.” In reality, inside “Ajeeb,” translated from Arabic for “marvelous,” was a gentleman named Charles Moehle, who would place as a fi nalist in the prestigious American Chess Association Tournament, hosted in Cincinnati the same year. On Sept. 1, she wrote: “Passing by the large beer hall of the Foss Schneider Brewing Company we came down into the east side of machinery hall. Here is stationed the Fire Patrol Boat, with everything in readiness if fi re should break out. I hear they have hose to reach any part of the great building. “Next we pass Moerlein’s display of bottle beer and stop to watch the railroad trains, street cars, wagons, bicycles, steamboats and so forth pass, back and forth before the picture of their brewery. We see soap put through several processes before it comes out in nice toilet cakes and is boxed, ready for sale.”

— COMPILED BY FELIX WINTERNITZ

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A young woman named Emilie Louise Stegemeyer played eyewitness to the festivities of the Centennial Exposition. She was single, 33, and living with her parents (her father worked as an East End grocer). Her meticulously penciled diary, preserved by the Cincinnati Historical Society, details her frequent visits to the fair. In early 1888, to preview the construction, she writes: “I dressed for a trip to the city. Went down on the 1 o’clock train. Walked up Race St. and saw the Garfield statute for the fi rst time, continued up Race to see how the Centennial buildings were progressing at Washington Park. The buildings are far enough advanced to show their shape. Carpenters were nailing on the weather boarding at the sides. I was covered with snow which had commenced falling before I left Race St. Afterwards (it) hailed and rained hard. The streets were slushy, streetcar windows were covered with ice.” An entry a few months later, in warmer weather, reads:

Opposite page: Illustration of “Fairy Fountain” at Park Hall, Horticulture Hall and a piano demonstration. This page: View of the dome and fountain in Park Hall.

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STUFF TO DO

Ongoing Shows ONSTAGE: Shakespeare in the Park Various parks and public venues (through September 1)

WEDNESDAY 04

EVENT: Red, White & Blue Ash Celebrating the Fourth of July follows a certain schedule. The mornings are for parades, barbecues last into the evening and the night is for one thing and one thing only: fireworks. Once all the hamburgers have been eaten and the grills are cold, head up I-71 to Red, White & Blue Ash for the biggest

Northside Fourth of July Parade PHOTO: HAILEY BOLLINGER

fireworks show in the TriState. The event kicks off at 4 p.m. with carnival games and rides for the whole family. Grab a food truck snack and listen to live music from John Waite at 6 p.m., followed by Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo at 8:15 p.m. Stay past sunset to watch the annual fireworks show at 10 p.m., which draws thousands of people every year. 4-10:35 p.m. Wednesday. Free. Summit Park, 4335 Glendale Milford Road, Blue Ash, blueashevents.com. — MORGAN ZUMBIEL EVENT: Patriotic Pops The Cincinnati Pops salute the red, white and blue with a Patriotic Pops performance at Riverbend. The US Army Chorus will join

John Morris Russell and the orchestra to perform a series of American classics, including “America the Beautiful” and “The Stars and Stripes Forever.” Along with a musical salute to every branch of the military, the evening includes a Rozzi’s Famous Fireworks display after the show at 10 p.m. Guests are invited to pack a picnic to eat on the lawn. 6:30 p.m. gates; 8 p.m. show Wednesday. Tickets start at $15 presale and $20 day-of; $5 tickets for active/retired military. Riverbend Music Center, 6295 Kellogg Ave., California, cincinnatisymphony.org. — MAIJA ZUMMO EVENT: Summer Cinema Series: Independence Day Welcome to Earth — and

welcome to Washington Park for the Fourth of July screening of the 1996 sci-fi blockbuster Independence Day. After a worldwide alien attack on human civilization, a rag-tag group of people including Jeff Goldblum, Randy Quaid and Will Smith launch a counter-attack on the extraterrestrials on the Fourth of July. Bring a lawn chair or blanket to the park’s civic lawn and watch the film for free. Concessions will be open and selling beer, wine, liquor, Coca-Cola products and snacks. Or bring your own snacks; you just can’t BYOB. 9-11 p.m. Free. Washington Park, 1230 Elm St., Over-the-Rhine, washingtonpark.org. — MAIJA ZUMMO

THURSDAY 05

MUSIC: Chuck Prophet & the Mission Express play the Southgate House Revival. See Sound Advice on page 31. EVENT: Cincinnati Opera’s The Flying Dutchman Whether or not you’ve heard of the Flying Dutchman legend, this opera tells the tale of one of the high-seas’ most legendary ships while also bringing drama and romance to the stage. The old folklore is brought to life with stunning visual projections and the beautiful voices of the Cincinnati Opera cast. Cursed to spend eternity on a ghost ship until he finds true love,

the haunted Dutchman becomes the obsession of a sailor’s daughter who is willing to risk it all to save his soul. Richard Wagner’s take on this eerie classic is sung in German, with projected translations. Read an interview with Jay Hunter Morris, who plays Erik — spurned by his lover so she can be with the Dutchman — on page 21. 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Saturday. $45-$180. Music hall, 1241 Elm St., Over-the-Rhine, cincinnatiopera.org. — LIZZY SCHMITT COMEDY: One Man Stranger Things: A Parody Charles Ross is ambitiously taking on every role in CONTINUES ON PAGE 16

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EVENT: Northside Fourth of July Parade The most colorful parade in Cincinnati kicks off at noon on Wednesday. The annual Northside Fourth of July Parade — happening every year since 1970 — is an all-out celebration of independence, community, small business and individuality. Expect to see creative handmade floats from vintage stores, bars and community organizations; local marching bands; drill teams; every politician you’ve ever heard of; ladies dancing with lawn chairs; guys dancing with power tools; and other unexpected and delightful displays of pride and spirit. The parade culminates with the second day of the Northside Rock N’ Roll Carnival in Hoffner Park (4101 Hamilton Ave., Northside). Live music starts directly after the parade ends — or you can get to the park early to fuel up for the parade with kegs and eggs at 10 a.m. The fest continues into the night with more live music, food trucks, a beer garden serving MadTree and Urban Artifact, vendors and kids activities. Noon-2 p.m. parade; 10 a.m.-midnight carnival Wednesday. Free. Hamilton Avenue, Northside, northsidejuly4.com, northsiderocks.com. — MAIJA ZUMMO

P H O T O : PA M E L A S T R I C K E R

WEDNESDAY 04

EVENT: Stricker’s Grove Fourth of July Celebration Stricker’s Grove is closed to the public for most of the year, save for a few special days in the summer and fall. Today is one of those days. Spend Independence Day at this old-fashioned family-owned private amusement park for games and classic rides all afternoon long. Play minigolf and arcade games or take a ride on the Ferris wheel or swinging pirate ship. If it’s thrills you seek, hop on one of their two roller coasters: the Teddy Bear or Tornado. Finish the night on a high note with, you guessed it, a fireworks display. 2-11 p.m. Wednesday. Free admission; $5 parking; prices for games and rides vary. Stricker’s Grove, 11490 Hamilton-Cleves Road, Hamilton, strickersgrove. com. — MORGAN ZUMBIEL

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the Netflix smash series, Stranger Things — from Eleven’s telekinetic nosebleeds to Chief Hopper’s inability to finish a single cigarette in the name of cinematic drama. Relive every morsel of suspense, puppy love and teenage angst that the award-winning throwback thriller has to offer. Come see Ross morph from character to character without breaking his own. Read an interview with Ross on page 22. 8-10 p.m. Thursday. $20-32. Memorial Hall, 1225 Elm St., Over-theRhine, memorialhallotr.com. — SAMI STEWART

FRIDAY 06

MUSIC: Carbon Leaf brings “Brazilian Polka Metal” to the Ludlow Garage. See Sound Advice on page 31.

COMEDY: Pablo Francisco “I’m working on a new hour,” says Pablo Francisco. “I think I did my last one about five years ago, so it’s time for a new one — my fourth.”

Francisco is probably best known for his run on Mad TV, as well as his stable of impressions that includes everyone from Aaron Neville to Mark Wahlberg and, most famously, the late Don LaFontaine, aka the movie voiceover guy. Francisco is also delving into his heritage. “My parents would only speak in Spanish, but my dad only wanted my brother and me to speak English,” he says. “When we’d talk to our relatives from Chile and Mexico, we’d sound like 6-year-olds.” Onstage he’ll talk about a wide range of things. “I’m going to talk about everything: YouTube, drinking, the good and bad of Pablo, and how Mark Wahlberg is in every movie.” 7:30 and 10 p.m. Friday; 7 and 10 p.m. Saturday; 7 p.m. Sunday. $20-$50. Funny Bone Liberty, 7518 Bales St., Liberty Township, liberty.funnybone. com. — P.F. WILSON

SATURDAY 07

EVENT: Fifty West’s Punch Out: Round 3 Breweries and boxing: What could go wrong? Fifty West

Brewing Company is hosting their third-annual Punch Out, where local breweries go full on Rocky in amateur boxing matches that display the city’s bravest brewery employees fighting each other for their brewery’s honor. Watch eight breweryon-brewery matches while listening to live music and enjoying a selection of over 80 craft beers, including the release of Fifty West’s Punch You in the EyePA in cans. It’s sure to be a knockout. 4-11:30 p.m. Saturday. $20 advance; $25 day-of; $45 ringside seating. Fifty West Production Works, 7668 Wooster Pike, Columbia Township, fiftywestbrew. com. — LIZZY SCHMITT EVENT: 12th Street Shuffle Pendleton is exploding with news bars and businesses and the 12th Street Shuffle wants you to explore them all. Participating bars and restaurants along the route will be offering $4 drink specials from partner breweries including 3 Points Urban Brewery, MadTree, West Side Brewing and Streetside. And where will you be drinking these beers, you might ask? Answer: 3 Points, Nation Kitchen + Bar, Boomtown Biscuits, Lucius Q, Rhinehaus, Taste of Belgium, Vestry at the Transept and Queen City Radio. Tickets include a commemorative cup and a raffle entry to win prizes like baskets from the breweries, four FC Cincinnati tickets and a gift card to Richter & Phillips Jewelers. Proceeds benefit Give Back Cincinnati. 2-6 p.m. Saturday. $10. 3 Points Urban Brewery, 331 E. 13th St., Pendleton, facebook. com/3pointsbeer. — MAIJA ZUMMO

SUNDAY 08

EVENT: Second Sunday on Main Give your taste buds a whirlwind world tour, buy a cactus, slurp down some bubble tea and support local artisans selling anything and everything at Second Sunday on Main, Over-the-Rhine’s second Sunday street festival. July’s rendition will celebrate Pride, so if you missed the parade, don’t fret! Grab your rainbow spandex and shake down three blocks of good food with great company.

This year’s musical lineup features performances from the Queen City Kings, Ernie Johnson from Detroit, The Hot Magnolias and plenty more to keep your ears tickled and your toes tapping. Noon-5 p.m. Sunday. Free. Main Street, Over-the-Rhine, secondsundayonmain.org. — SAMI STEWART EVENT: July Tea Dance The group It’s Time for Another Tea Dance hosts a Sunday afternoon dance spectacular at The Phoenix to celebrate and strengthen the local LGBTQ+ community and its allies. Held in the top-floor ballroom, the event features music from DJ Thaddeus and tasty cocktails. Afternoon Tea Dances became an important part of LGBTQ+ culture in the 1950s and ’60s, when gay and lesbian couples weren’t allowed to dance together (or sometimes even purchase alcohol at drinking establishments), so they embraced the classic Victorian-style afternoon dance and tea party. The dances continued to be popular into the 1980s until they no longer seemed necessary, but It’s Time for Another Tea Dance is a local effort to bring this tradition of dance-filled Sunday afternoons back. 4-7 p.m. Free admission. The Phoenix, 812 Race St., Downtown, facebook.com/teadancecinci. — MAIJA ZUMMO

TUESDAY 10

MUSIC: Janelle Monáe brings her Dirty Computer tour to the Taft Theatre. See Sound Advice on page 32.

FRIDAY 06

MUSIC: Weezer and Pixies Though operating on different timelines, Weezer and Pixies each had a massive, crucial impact on “Alternative Rock,” helping to inspire and shape its sound for decades to come. Pixies emerged in the latter half of the ’80s and, though their eccentric and innovative music was beloved by a loyal core of fans that included David Bowie and Bono, it didn’t earn them enough success to overlook the internal friction that ultimately pulled them apart. Still, albums like Surfer Rosa and Doolittle inspired ensuing Alt/Indie bands on a Sex Pistols- or Velvet Underground-like level. By the time some of those groups so foundationally influenced by Pixies broke “Alternative” into the mainstream, Frank Black and Co. were bringing its initial run to an end, not returning until over a decade later to reap what they’d sown with world tours, a few different bassists and occasional new music. One of the many groups that took inspiration from Pixies was Weezer, which exploded with its classic quadruple-platinum “Blue Album” in 1994, a year after the Pixies split. Weezer got to experience massive success and witness the emergence of an unending stream of new artists influenced by its hyper-melodic, classics-informed sound. Inspiring a kind of new Power Pop scene in the wake of its debut, Weezer’s lasting impact can be heard in Pop Punk and Emo, as well innumerable songs by other artists who live on unabashedly huge Pop hooks. Weezer parlayed its early success into a consistent career, with regular, well-selling albums and tours, the occasional radio hit and other strange moments of relevancy, like when they achieved meme infamy by recording Toto’s “Africa” in response to a grassroots Twitter campaign. Between the artists influenced by them and the subsequent musicians inspired by those disciples (and so on), the legacies of Pixies and Weezer are among the most important of any late 20th century Rock band, responsible for billions of hours of music. 7:30 p.m. Friday. $25-$79.50. Riverbend Music Center, 6295 Kellogg Ave., California, riverbend. org. — MIKE BREEN

YOUR WEEKEND TO DO LIST: LOCAL.CITYBEAT.COM

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MUSIC: Jimmy Buffett Calling all Parrotheads and people who enjoy wearing Hawaiian shirts: Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band are making their annual stop in Cincinnati on Tuesday as part of the Son Of A Son Of A Sailor Tour — a celebration of Buffett’s 1978 Son Of A Son Of A Sailor LP. Soak in the sounds of Margaritaville from inside the arena (there are still tickets available) or just make a pilgrimage to the parking lot for some serious tailgating. 6:30 p.m. doors; 8 p.m. show Tuesday. Tickets start at $36. Riverbend Music Center, 6295 Kellogg Ave., California, riverbend. org. — MAIJA ZUMMO

PI X I E S // P H OTO : T R AV I S S H I N N

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ARTS & CULTURE Appreciating Blue Ash While High The Cincy suburb is opening a new 150-foot observation tower to showcase Summit Park BY K AT I E G R I FFI T H

The view from the park’s new observation tower PHOTO: HAILEY BOLLINGER

A leisurely stroll up 200-plus stairs could land you at the tower’s observation deck in approximately five minutes. A more ambitious traveler in search of some serious exercise could summit in half the time. A just-as-ambitious but afraid-of-heights explorer could ride up the glass-sided elevator in a matter of moments. And those who need time to acclimate to the elevation gain can settle on the first observation deck, at 26 feet up. But all of that effort has got to amount to something. What do you get out of it besides being up really high in the center of Blue Ash? After the hard work of the ascent, whether for exercise or leisure, you will be rewarded with a view of the regional skyline and other local landmarks like Kings Island’s Eiffel Tower. Bring binoculars, sunglasses and an extra set of nerves because it’s a bit more of a thrill than it might seem. The observation tower’s glass barriers allow for an on-the-edge experience all the way up. As you top the structure on a sunny day (maybe stopping every other set of stairs to catch your breath), the sun gets warmer and the breeze gets stronger. Leaning against the transparent barrier, you’ll realize it’s not just about being at the top, but also about seeing the development below. Along with a dog park and wooded area, directly below the tower are storm water collection ponds, which will attempt to

recycle 100 percent of rainwater for irrigation. Also at the foot of the tower are two rentable rooms and a Riverbend-sized stage, Kruse says. “We wanted it to have the same capabilities as a national-level stage,” he says. “However, we wanted it to blend in with the site and we didn’t want anything with a big massive canopy or anything to look uncomfortable when it wasn’t in use. We wanted to build something, like everything in Summit, multifunctional.” The stage — or the “front porch” of the tower, as Kruse likes to call it — will enhance annual events like the Fourth of July’s Red, White & Blue Ash or the Country-music SummitFest on July 9, which hosts Country music stars. “These (new) parks are unlike what you typically see; The Banks (Smale Riverfront Park in downtown Cincinnati) is an incredible example,” Kruse says. “These parks are big enough they actually stimulate the economy around them. And they have enough amenities in them that are in fact stimulating the economy, like restaurants that are bringing in large events.” In the case of Summit Park, it not only hosts events that utilize its 19,000-personcapacity lawn, but also has such other features as four restaurants and a seasonal ice rink. It has sparked development right next door — visible from atop the tower is Neyer Properties’ 100-acre construction zone, which will be home to residential,

commercial and retail spaces, Kruse says. According to the Economic Impact of Local Parks study by the National Recreation and Parks Association, America’s local public park and recreation agencies generated more than $154 billion in economic activity, and their operations and capital spending supported more than 1.1 million jobs in 2015. Summit Park, a $70 million-plus project, has been funded by a small increase in taxes. (The city bought the land from Cincinnati.) From community surveys, it was clear that residents wanted something done with the land; thus the eventual transformation into Summit Park. “Blue Ash is landlocked,” Kruse says. “And these were acres that sat in the middle. I don’t want to say it was unused, because it had a great purpose before (as an airport). But we had a chance to develop the land into something that is more utilized now than it was before by our general population.” The numbers prove it: Last year, approximately 865,000 people visited Summit Park. Kruse attributes the park’s popularity partly to its year-round functionality and activities, but also to its one-of-a-kind attractions. And it now has a very tall new one. Summit Park is located at 4335 GlendaleMilford Road, Blue Ash. More information: summitparkblueash.com

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hough not the most notable ascent around town, the commute up Interstate 71 from Cincinnati is a gradual incline toward one of the highest points in Hamilton County: Blue Ash. And it has now gotten a lot higher. The city has topped its 850-foot natural elevation by more than 150 feet with the installation of an observation tower. It had a soft opening last Wednesday through Sunday and is closed July 4 and 5 because the space is needed for Fourth of July events, but it returns to a seven-day noon-9 p.m. schedule on July 6 (barring special events). In the future, the hours of daily operation may expand. The 130-acre park itself is relatively new — it’s on the site of the old Cincinnati-Blue Ash Airport — and its third development phase is still in progress. But the opening of the observation tower is a landmark event. “We knew we wanted to have something iconic in the park,” says Brian Kruse, parks and golf maintenance superintendent. “Similar to Chicago’s Millennium Park, (which) has the Bean, but we wanted something that also serves a function. So it wasn’t too long after the master plan of the park was in place that the tower started coming into conversation. The concept of something iconic was always there.” The tower quite literally sticks out amid its surroundings, which include neighboring business parks. Its sleek design and soaring glass siding complement the other aspects of the park. Its colorful glass canopy throws green- and blue-tinted shade below, joining such other features as a vast lawn edged by a walking trail and “Cincinnati’s most creative playground” (as noted by Summit Park’s website). Yet the tower also stands alone in its appeal and function. “It’s one of those things you’ll never forget because it’s something you can actually utilize,” Kruse says. “(And) you wouldn’t expect it; it’s not a typical feature of a park.”

VISUAL ARTS

A Pulitzer for a Cincinnati Family BY S T E V EN R O S EN

C I T Y B E AT. C O M

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Impressively, one Cincinnati family has played a role in the creation of two progressive American art museums, one here and one in St. Louis. I recently visited the St. Louis museum, the Pulitzer Arts Foundation, which few here know about at all and probably even fewer are aware of its local connection. Aesthetically, it is one of the best small museums I’ve seen — worth a trip to St. Louis in itself. But first, a look back. In August 1939, Peggy Frank Crawford, Betty Pollak Rauh and Rita Rentschler Cushman raised $5,000 to create the Modern Art Society in Cincinnati. They wanted to show the new art of their times, and were able to present exhibits by such artists as Paul Gauguin, Pablo Picasso, Max Beckmann and Paul Klee in a space offered by the Cincinnati Art Museum. The organization managed to stay and even grow, becoming the Contemporary Arts Center in 1952. It acquired its own downtown location in 1964, and in 2003 moved to its own building, the Zaha Hadid-designed Lois & Richard Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art. It’s hailed internationally for its design, and you’ve probably been there. The last of the three women alive, Crawford, died in 2015 in Santa Fe. However, her and Rauh’s niece, Emily Rauh, has similar interests and she pursues them actively. Crawford was Emily’s mother’s younger sister; Rauh was married to her father’s brother. Emily’s father, Frederick Rauh, was a Cincinnati insurance executive. She studied art in Paris, Cincinnati and at Harvard, and took a job at the St. Louis Art Museum in 1964. She met Joseph Pulitzer Jr., editor and publisher of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and an art collector, and they married in Cincinnati in 1973. He died in 1993. According to its website, the idea for the Pulitzer Arts Foundation took shape in the early 1990s. The couple commissioned Japanese architect Tadao Ando to design the building in 1991, and it opened a decade

later. This was Ando’s first freestanding building in the U.S.; the CAC was the first U.S. building for the Iraqi-British Hadid, who died in 2016. They both are Pritzker Prize-winning architects. I find what Ando built at least as rewarding as Hadid’s CAC. Tucked away in St. Louis’ Grand Center Arts District, this lovely concrete building has a very comfortable and comforting Minimalist feel. It is not exclusively a Contemporary museum, but Contemporary art looks very becoming here. The floors on the upper level galleries are concrete; two lower-level galleries have wooden floors. When I went, much of the museum was devoted to a terrific exhibit, Terra Infirma, of more than 30 sculptural works by Mona Hatoum, the Lebanese-born (to a Palestinian family) British artist. This is her first major U.S. show in 20 years, and I had the feeling I would be seeing some of these pieces again as more museums realize she needs retrospectives. Her work can simultaneously be playful and serious, such as one piece where rotating wipers rake and smooth a circular base of sand — you can see perfection achieved and erased over and over. The building’s interior grayness is broken up by use of natural lighting. One dramatic example is a slot-like opening where wall and ceiling meet in a gallery that holds an Ellsworth Kelly sculpture — a solid blue aluminum panel placed above a black one on that wall. Depending on the time of day, that slot lets in rays of intense light that I at first thought was a Dan Flavin fluorescent light sculpture. It injects an extra, ephemeral sense of wonder to the space and makes you think about the relationship of inside to outside. But the most dramatic use of light is the way windows overlook an outside infinity pool-like court of virtually still water that just seems to float suspended between building walls. Ando used water similarly in his 2002 Fort Worth Contemporary Art Museum, and it’s wonderful, too. But this

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seems special, like a secret surprise. Emily Rauh Pulitzer is a major philanthropist who has supported other arts and cultural institutions. In fact, in Cincinnati she financed the extensive restoration — I once called it a reinvention — of her family home in Woodlawn, which Modernist

architect John W. Becker had designed in 1938. It is now privately owned, but Cincinnati Preservation has a preservation easement on it, protecting it for the future. For more information on the Pulitzer Arts Foundation, visit pulitzerarts.org

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CLASSICAL

Jay Hunter Morris Is a Tenacious Tenor BY A N N E A R E N S T EI N

OPERA

In 1995, Morris landed a part in the original production of Terrence McNally’s play Master Class — about a class the great opera singer Maria Callas gives late in her career. Gigs in Australia and Seattle followed. But by 2003, the calls had evaporated and Morris contemplated giving up. Two compassionate voice teachers provided free lessons, meals and reassurance. The phone started ringing again. By 2007, Morris had made his New York Metropoli-

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Jay Hunter Morris PHOTO: JEFF ROFFMAN

tan Opera debut. In 2011, Morris gained an international following when he took over the key role of Siegfried in Wagner’s massive Ring Cycle, after two other tenors stepped down due to illness. Morris says the timing of that was perfect in terms of his vocal readiness. “I wouldn’t have been able to do it a year earlier,” he says. A tenor who can handle Wagner’s dramatic and exhausting demands is considered a heldentenor, meaning heroic tenor, but Morris doesn’t see himself in that rarified group — and his modest demurral echoes his honesty about himself and his abilities. “The best thing about Siegfried was that I got to sing with the best orchestra in the world, and with singers I’m in awe of,”he says. Morris’ conversation is punctuated with expressions of gratitude and humility, and with an unrelenting awareness that you’re only as good as your next gig. “I wrestle with demons as much as anyone,” he sighs, then immediately brightens. “But most of the time, I win. I’m unspeakably blessed.” Cincinnati Opera presents The Flying Dutchman at 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Saturday at Music Hall (1241 Elm St., Overthe-Rhine). Tickets: cincinnatiopera.org

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The tenor is not the featured role in Richard Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman — and that’s OK with Jay Hunter Morris, the tenor performing in Cincinnati Opera’s production of it on Thursday and Saturday at Music Hall. Wagner’s 1843 German opera is the tale of the Dutchman, who is doomed to sail a ghost ship forever but can come ashore once every seven years to search for true love. Senta, a sailor’s daughter attracted to him, tries to help rescue him from his cursed existence. In Cincinnati Opera’s production, soprano Marcy Stonikas and bass-baritone Nathan Berg are the stars as Senta and the Dutchman, respectively. By comparison, Morris’ role is a “short sing” — he makes his Cincinnati Opera debut as Erik, who loses his Senta to the Dutchman. It’s also a short sing in comparison to the other demanding Wagner roles in Morris’ repertoire. But it’s far from easy. And, besides, it’s a role that Morris loves. “Erik’s a boy who wants a girl who doesn’t love him, and I have been that boy so many times,” he says. “I want him to be 18 or 19, trying to talk sense into this girl.” He goes on to explain that the role encompasses two very different voices in each of Erik’s scenes. “One is the plea Erik makes in the second act, begging Senta not to leave him,” he says. “In the third act, the aria is very Italianate — very high and very tricky. Plus, I’m singing with other big voices, including Senta and the Dutchman.” “It’s short and the singing is really challenging,” he continues. “Even if Erik is a boy, you can’t sing this (unless you’re) an adult with some experience.” That would define Morris, who has been singing opera for almost 25 years, including leading roles and world premieres throughout the world. Total immersion defines Morris’ work, especially his best-known role: Captain Ahab in Jake Heggie’s 2010 opera MobyDick. It’s an astonishing, gripping performance, one that can be seen on a DVD of him with the San Francisco Opera. Morris appeared as Erik when this same production of The Flying Dutchman premiered last year at the Atlanta Opera. He has high praise for his colleagues Stonikas and Berg, and for Tomer Zvulun’s original staging. When asked about the production, which utilizes graphic and cinematic projections, Morris grins and replies, “I was so in the moment that I didn’t pay attention. But everyone who saw it loved it.” Tall, with a linebacker’s physique and blonde/white hair, Morris grew up in Paris, Texas and headed to Nashville to seek a singing career in Gospel and Country. But once he heard La Traviata in Dallas, he pursued opera singing at Southern Methodist University there and then two years at Juilliard School in New York.

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COMEDY

Charles Ross’ Strange One-Man Show BY M AC K EN ZI E M A N L E Y

Born in 1974, Charles Ross grew up in the places that exist in Stranger Things, like same (maybe not so) idyllic rose-hued subthe Upside Down. So he loves the way the urban landscape in which the kids in the series elevates its setting, a sleepy town, Netflix hit Stranger Things find themselves. into something magical for a kid. He’s tryMinus the demogorgons. ing to do the same. So it’s fitting that the Canadian-based “That’s what (these one-man shows) actor would take it upon himself to perare,” Ross says. “It’s essentially revisiting form the entire series solo in his One Man the 8-year-old kid that I was and that a lot Stranger Things show. of other people recognize in themselves. The Netflix original is set in Indiana in That’s the style of my performance. As far 1983; essentially, it’s a callback to a Steven as the average audience-goer, it’s observaSpielberg-brand of science fiction that tional humor.” mixes the fantastical with keen observaStranger Things is the first time he’s tions of small-town and suburban life (e.g. attempting a one-man performance based Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T.). on a television series. It will also be his When 12-year-old Will goes missing, his first time performing a show in Cincinmother, Joyce, searches for him, and the supernatural underbelly of the town begins to unravel. An adjacent X-Files-esque plotline explores secret (and unethical) government experiments on kids. Ross has previously created and performed one-man shows, dipping into the geek-infused universes of Lord of the Rings and Star Wars. A One Man Stranger Things seemed like a natural fit for his next endeavor. Though the show is a parody, it’s also meant to act as homage. Ross pokes fun, but he does so with an evident fondness. On Thursday at 8 p.m., he’ll perform his own reworked, reduced Charles Ross will perform One Man Stranger Things here. script at Over-the-Rhine’s Memorial Hall, taking on the role of each PHOTO: PROVIDED character in Stranger Things. “It really is written from my kind of perspective,” Ross says in a phone internati. (He’s performed in four continents.) view. “It’s so derivative of so many things He collaborated on rewriting the original that I loved. I lived in a small town. I just series script of Stranger Things with TJ think that in its hugely imaginative world, Dawe, who has directed other Ross one(it’s what) you wish your little small town man shows. could be. It just makes sense.” “I’ve never reduced television down, so I Ross adds that the fantasy worlds of think a little hand-holding artistically is a Spielberg, Stephen King and George Lucas, good thing because you’ll write something which influenced Stranger Things, also by yourself and think, ‘God, nobody’s inspire him. going to get this. This isn’t funny.’ And you His nostalgia-laced memories of childkill it,” Ross says. “Whereas if you share it hood mirror the world which the kids almost immediately with another person, — Eleven, Dustin, Lucas, Will and Mike they go, ‘No! It’s totally going to work.’ So — inhabit in Stranger Things. A native of little tiny babies you might’ve gotten rid of, British Columbia, he recalls riding around you end up keeping.” his childhood suburban block on his bike, When asked what he’s looking forward joined by a fleet of pals. to the most on his tour of his Stranger In the series, scenes of the kids riding Things adaptation, he replies that it’s the around are swollen with ’80s New Wave whole production. tracks, like the Psychedelic Furs’ “The “I’m not trying to dodge the answer,” Ghost in You,” while the sky is awash in he says. “Really, it’s so fresh and new to purplish hues that signify both teenage me right now that I’m tingly hoping that emotions running rampant and the prespeople like it. I’m hoping that they love it, ence of a weird alternate universe called that they get it and that they can remember the Upside Down. Onstage, Ross commuwhat I’m doing. It’s a very now show for me nicates such supernatural elements solely and it’s going to be electric.” through imagination, switching back and One Man Stranger Things occurs 8 p.m. forth between speaking and exaggerated Thursday at Memorial Hall (1225 Elm body comedy. At times, he even vocalizes St., Over-the-Rhine). Tickets/more info: sound effects. memorialhallotr.com. As a boy, he would dream of the kind of

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Truth, no matter how much we disagree, has always been about perception. Two people view the same incident, but from their different vantage points (even if the two people happen to be standing side-by-side), can we truly say they are seeing the same event, the same elements taking place at that exact moment? This question is one of many explored in writer-director Bart Layton’s American The heist crew in American Animals Animals. The film is based on an PHOTO: PROVIDED actual crime that happened in nearby Lexington, Ky. In 2004, four college students stole rare behind this dubious and completely books worth millions from the Special Colmisguided heist. Is it enough to present lections department of the Transylvania the idea in the first place, or does control University Library, assaulting a librarian in evolve through the process of developing a the process. They were eventually caught plan? The further along we travel down the and given prison sentences. story’s somewhat humorous byways, a sly American Animals appreciates the darkness creeps into the frames, leading dynamic of reality television, and exploits us to wonder if the rising ruthlessness is it to perfection. There is meta-level prewhat tips one character into control. sentation of dramatizing events, allowing At the end of the day, because we’re the commentary from the real-life thieves operating in a criminal sphere, it would to stand in proximity to that of the actors seem that success might matter more essaying the same roles. Evan Peters than anything else, and we come to the (Quicksilver from the X-Men prequels) and realization that these “animals” are clearly Barry Keoghan (the deliriously creepy kid stereotypical American fools. from Killing of a Sacred Deer) respectively But director Layton guides us to that bring to life Warren Lipka and Spencer point with assurance belying his relative Reinhard, two of the four college students inexperience within the feature filmmakinvolved in the crime. ing realm. Yet, it’s worth noting that he The heist begins almost on a dare, as helmed The Imposter, a 2012 documentary the pair discuss the lack of security and about a young man living abroad in Spain the preposterous value of the books and who reaches out to a Texas family claimartifacts on display. The genius of the naring to be their missing teenage son. That rative emerges as Layton shows the two film and this one share the same level of characters describing the same moments supreme confidence necessary to make — side-by-side — with blatantly obvious people believe things other than the precontradictions that might seem minor at sented facts. first. But later on, we see that the discrepNone of the actual men involved in the ancies reveal a potentially deeper con job seems worthy of such lofty appellabeing perpetrated by these players on one tions as “professional criminal” or “con another. Who can you believe when facts artist.” They all seem more like a collechave been exposed as fictions throughout? tion of eager tools who might simply have Film has always reveled in this teaswatched too many movies and dreamed ing unreliability. After all, we watched of stepping into celebrated roles on the big (for some, multiple times) as Verbal Kint screen. And now they have — their story (Kevin Spacey) relayed that engrossingly earns this distinction for them. preposterous story about several heists Layton knows just how to make us executed by The Usual Suspects of Bryan believe a small-time scam could become Singer’s modern neo-noir classic, only to the stuff of legend. More than mere truth have the wool pulled over our eyes at the or fiction, fact or fakery, American Animals very end. The debate continues to rage, is a repackaging of modern cultural in fact, over the identity of the criminal mythology. mastermind Keyser Söze — was he the Storytellers, at the end of the day, are smooth-talking Kint or the ultra-suave the greatest con artists, because the best of Dean Keaton (Gabriel Byrne)? them know which strings to pull to make As the events unfold in American Anius believe. That’s the work of the devil. mals, and as we ping-pong between the Now playing at the Esquire Theatre. (R) two primary points of view, it becomes difGrade: Aficult to determine who is the mastermind

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Bird in the Hand Blackbird Eatery is an undiscovered lunch and dinner nook in O’Bryonville BY PA M A M I TC H E L L

Inside Blackbird Eatery PHOTO: HAILEY BOLLINGER

Grilled lamb tenderloins over green lentils PHOTO: HAILEY BOLLINGER

rid of the booths and added a bar. My only reservation about the décor is that if the room gets full it could be quite noisy with all the hard surfaces. But that didn’t happen on my visits.

In fact, my first visit — for dinner — turned out surprisingly quiet, even though we went on a Saturday night. No more than half the tables filled up during the evening, which did make conversation easy. My

friends and I each started with one of the house cocktails ($11), taking suggestions from our server who steered us toward the Blackbird Mules (choice of vodka or rye with housemade ginger beer) and Summer Bourbon Smash (based on rye, triple sec and raspberry liqueur). The drinks came with lots of crushed ice — nice for a summer refreshment but with the downside of making the drinks watery very fast. We put some of the ice in our water glasses and sipped and chatted merrily. A couple shareable starters came next, including a generous bowl of maple bacon roasted almonds ($4) and a plate of red beet hummus ($9) garnished with smoked yogurt and fried chickpeas. The baked flatbread triangles that came with the hummus were cooked just right: a little crispy, warm and tender. The proportion of hummus to all the bread was a little off, though. More hummus or less bread would have been better. I also tried the Birdhouse Salad ($8) — mixed greens with dried tomatoes and pickled shallots — but found it lackluster and didn’t come close to finishing it. One of my pet peeves is when restaurants serve too many greens and not enough of the tastier ingredients, which is what happened here. Perhaps the kitchen might reconsider the proportion of various elements of some CONTINUES ON PAGE 26

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fter my two visits to the new Blackbird Eatery in O’Bryonville, it seems that the place hasn’t been discovered yet. In business for about two months, Blackbird was sparsely populated during both a Friday lunch and a weekend dinner. It sits around the corner from busy Madison Road between two other well-known dining destinations — The BonBonerie Bakery & Café and Eighth & English — and it’s hard to see the Blackbird sign from Madison. But they’re serving two meals every day except Monday and Tuesday, and giving the area a welcome addition for good eats. Blackbird is the latest venture by longtime Cincinnati restaurateurs Blackbird Mary and Mark Eatery Swortword, who 3009 O’Bryon closed their St., O’Bryonville, Columbia Tuscu513-321-0413 lum restaurants blackbirdeatery. Green Dog Café com; Hours: 11 and Buz to focus a.m.-1:30 p.m.; on the new project 5-9 p.m. Wednesin a more central day-Saturday; neighborhood. 10 a.m.-2:30 p.m. (The Swortwords brunch; 4-8 p.m. were also the supper Sunday original owners of Blue Ash’s Brown Dog Café.) Formerly a chicken joint called Son of a Preacher Man, the building had been vacant for over a year when the Swortwords began extensive renovations in January. While they were able to use a lot of kitchen equipment from their previous restaurants, Mark told me they completely gutted the dining room and started from scratch to transform the single room into a more intimate, inviting space where guests might linger over drinks and dinner or Sunday brunch. I remember Preacher Man as a brightly lit, somewhat cramped room with booths and tables — not at all incongruous with chicken and biscuits, but not necessarily what you’d want for a more upscale restaurant. Blackbird has toned down the lighting, muted the color scheme to a soothing pale green/beige palette, gotten

FROM PAGE 25

of the dishes. As the meal progressed, I also noticed a trend of under-seasoning the entrées, resulting in blandness where there ought to be a savory pop of flavor. Case in point was the Nori Pesto Salmon ($17) with zucchini, pea shoots and green couscous, which sounded so good we almost fought over who would get to order it. Not only was it lacking in taste, but the dish also arrived lukewarm. We had better luck with the grilled lamb tenderloins ($29), consisting of slices of medium-rare lamb over green lentils with pickled golden raisins and a yogurt sauce. Maybe that sounds strange, but it worked well, with the sweet raisins and the creamy/tangy yogurt blending nicely with the lentils. They served a healthy portion of lamb, more than we could finish, in fact. We accompanied the main courses

with a couple glasses of wine from a list of almost two dozen choices. I noticed that the bottles-only list was fairly priced with minimal markup, which is a nice thing to see. Also noteworthy in the wine department is the glass pours are half-price on Wednesdays. Our dinner had been fairly light so we decided to try all three of the dessert offerings, and I’m so glad we did. Dessert was the star of the meal, thanks to the delicious work of pastry chef Chris Roswog, who also bakes all the restaurant’s bread and rolls. We enjoyed the ginger cake, a chocolate mousse creation and something called milk and cookies ($8-$9 each). It was the last of those that knocked me out: vanilla panna cotta with cherry jam and pecan shortbread on the side. A few days later I returned with another friend to try lunch and found a couple of dishes that we liked. She ordered the Chicken Paillard Salad ($16) after we saw

our server deliver it to someone at another table. The chicken had been breaded and oven-baked or fried and the salad included plenty of sliced avocado, nicely sweet charred carrots and a sprinkling of pumpkin seeds for crunch. Taking our server’s recommendation, I had the Chili Tofu Burger ($13) on a housemade bun. It was too fat and messy to pick up and eat, so I had to resort to knife and fork. But the flavors were pleasing and included chili jam, pickled carrots, baby spinach and avocado. Overall, while I think the cooking needs a few tweaks, there’s enough good stuff coming out of the kitchen to satisfy most diners who find their way to this little restaurant row on O’Bryon Street.

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Save room for dessert at Blackbird PHOTO: HAILEY BOLLINGER

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THE DISH

Fat Ben’s Bakery Opens OTR Pastry Window BY M O R G A N Z U M B I EL

A baker’s life is that of an early riser. “Fat Ben” Arington’s alarm goes off at 2:45 a.m., long before the rest of us start hitting our snooze buttons. Shortly after, he’s out the door to head downtown from his home in Mason. Once at work, on go the lights, followed by the ovens and it’s time to get to work. You’d think that after hours of baking he’d be bound to lose some momentum, but further into the morning he’s still energetic as ever. At 7 a.m., he’s open for business. Leaning out of the Fat Ben’s Bakery window at the newly opened Crown Republic Gastropub at Sycamore and East Eighth streets in Over-the-Rhine, the pastry chef smiles with that contagious, morning-person kind of smile that leaves you in a good mood for the rest of the day — a mood amplified once you have one of his freshlybaked goodies in hand. Fat Ben’s Bakery (Arington says he used to be overweight) is licensed as a home bakery, so before setting up shop downtown, he’d been baking out of his house and selling wholesale to local spots like Landlocked Social House in Walnut Hills and Brick Coffee Co. in Norwood, as well as filling private orders for everything from cakes to edible cookie dough and s’mores by the dozen. He’s especially known for his Pastry Pockets — think Pop Tarts with flavors like strawberry cheesecake and chocolate peanut butter fudge. The move to a brick-and-mortar shop was a natural progression for Arington. Haley Nutter-Sitek, who is the managing partner at Crown Republic, happens to be Arington’s best friend. She is married to Crown Republic’s co-owner and chef

L to R: Ben Arington at his bakery window; a selection of assorted Fat Ben’s pastries PHOTO: HAILEY BOLLINGER

Anthony Sitek. Arington would frequently come to the Siteks’ place for Sunday family dinners, when Haley would cook the meal and Arington would supply dessert, bringing things like cakes and chocolate chip cookie brittle. “My mom taught me to never show up empty handed,” he says. Mom’s advice paid off. When the Siteks decided to open a restaurant with partner Mike Casari, they asked Arington to come aboard as the pastry chef. “I think once they knew how well I was really doing just out of my little kitchen, they thought, ‘I wonder what he can do with a whole window?’,” Arington says. “So now I have a window.” When visiting Fat Ben’s Bakery, Arington’s got an arsenal of sweet stuff to send you into a sugar coma. There’s a cookiesand-cream flavored cookie that’s big enough to share (although you won’t want to), the ever-popular Pastry Pockets (get the raspberry PB&J for a delicious twist on a childhood classic) and scones galore (the birthday cake flavor with pink icing and Funfetti-style batter is already a big

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kitchen returning to a “real” kitchen, as he puts it, was a welcomed change. “I’m obsessed with the amount of space I have now,” he says. Arington’s passion has blossomed into business in more ways than one, and not without notice. “I’m just so appreciative of how Cincinnati has taken to my little business,” he says. “I actually had a customer come up to the window and say that she was my biggest fan and has been following me for years now. I asked her what it is about me that makes me so special, or cause her to ‘fan girl out,’ as she put it. She looked at me and smiled and just claimed that it was everything I was, from who I am as a person to how I run my Instagram to how I just bring happiness through food to others. I actually had to ask her to leave so I wouldn’t cry in front of her.” Fat Ben’s Bakery window is located at 720 Sycamore St., Over-the-Rhine. For more info on Fat Ben, visit fatbensbakery. com. For more info on Crown Republic, visit facebook.com/crownrepublicgastropub.

J U LY 4 – 1 0 , 2 0 18 | C I T Y B E AT. C O M

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fan favorite, as well as Arington’s personal obsession). Vegan and gluten-free pastry options are in the rotation, too, including vegan sticky buns. He doesn’t skimp on savory goodness, either. There’s a scone baked with perfect, bite-sized bits of bacon and a bacon, cheddar and sage breakfast biscuit — Arington recommends going early if you want to snag one of those bad boys before they sell out. His seemingly humble little window is keeping Arington plenty busy. As for any home bakery orders at this point? “That’s just a bonus,” he says. For now, he’s enjoying the day-to-day of his new gig. Once the bakery window closes at 11 a.m., he gets to work on treats that will be served to lucky lunch and dinner customers at Crown Republic later in the day. The dessert menu is just as impressive as his morning pastry selections, too — Arington’s favorites are the coconut-lime pistachio cake and the s’mores brownie sundae with toasted marshmallow and beer caramel. Bringing his talents out of his home

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WEDNESDAY 04

Northside Yacht Club Fourth of July Extravaganza — After the annual Northside Parade, head to NSYC for a Rhinegeist tap takeover, karaoke all day and an all-you-can-eat buffet featuring Jon’s famous Fourth of July burgers (with a build your own burger bar), handmade veggie burgers, Avril-Bleh brats and metts, potato salad, coleslaw, mac and cheese and more. Noon10 p.m. $18 all-you-can-eat buffet. Northside Yacht Club, 4227 Spring Grove Ave., Northside, facebook.com/ northsideyachtclub.

THURSDAY 05

Salsa on the Square Happy Hour with Mita’s — Head to Mita’s for special tapas deals and $20 sangria pitchers before Salsa-ing the night away on Fountain Square during the weekly Salsa on the Square event. 5-7 p.m. Free admission. Mita’s, 501 Race St., Downtown, facebook.com/ mitascincinnati.

FRIDAY 06

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SATURDAY 07

A Deadly Game of Love — The Whodunit Players and Funky’s Catering host a murder mystery dinner at Memorial Hall with a threecourse meal (vegetarian option included) and a killer on the loose. A slimy game show host is murdered right before the taping of You Said What? It’s up to you to decide who done it. 6:25-9 p.m. $55. Memorial Hall, 1225 Elm St., Over-theRhine, memorialhallotr.com.

Oakley

Findlay Eats — Every Friday at noon, Findlay highlights a market vendor via cooking demos and food samples — a perfect way to mix up your lunch routine. This week, it’s Bouchards Pasta. Noon-1 p.m. Free admission. Findlay Market, 1801 Race St., Over-theRhine, findlaymarket.org.

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Most classes and events require registration and classes frequently sell out. restaurants and cool things to do in this part of town. Participating bars along the route — including 3 Points Urban Brewery, Nation and Queen City Radio — will offer $4 drink specials on certain beers. 2-6 p.m. $10. 3 Points Urban Brewery, 331 E. 13th St., Pendleton, facebook.com/3pointsbeer. Ferrari Barbershop 61st Anniversary — Head to Ferrari Barbershop to celebrate Fausto Ferrari Barbershop Day and the 61st anniversary of this local business with coffee, a haircut and Calabrese lasagna. BYOB if you want to drink. Noon-4 p.m. Free admission. Ferrari Barber & Coffee Co., 5 Garfield Place, Downtown, facebook.com/ferraribarberco. NOLA Meets OTR — Enjoy an afternoon of the Big Easy in the Queen City. Follow a five-piece New Orleans-style Jazz band to various venues in a “Second Line Parade” for a specialty cocktail or beer available for purchase. Tickets include live music, a small welcome cocktail and a tasting of a traditional muffuletta sandwich. 1:30-4 p.m. $39. Venues yet to be announced; more info facebook.com/cincysecondlines.

SUNDAY 08

Vinoklet Summer Fair — The second-annual Summer Fair features live music, craft show vendors, fried chicken dinners, grilled options like brats, metts and burgers, plus beer and Vinoklet’s award-winning wine. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Free admission. Vinoklet Winery, 11069 Colerain Ave., Colerain, vinokletwines.com. Fib Farm Workshop: Herbal Tea Blending — Learn how to make tasty and effective herbal teas in this workshop, which covers the basics of blending. Tickets include one Fibonacci craft beer and a tea to take home with you. 12:30 p.m. $25. Fibonacci Brewing Company, 1445 Compton Road, Mount Healthy, facebook. com/fibonaccibrewing. Summer Splash Paint & Sip Party — Eat, drink and

paint at this outdoor painting party on the Southwest Porch at Washington Park. Opt for a ticket that covers an assortment of appetizers, dessert and two drinks while learning how to paint a masterpiece with a painting instructor. Rain or shine. 2-6 p.m. $45; $20 no food or drink. Washington Park, 1230 Elm St., Over-theRhine, eatdrinkpaint.com. July Tea Dance at the Phoenix — It’s Time for Another Tea Dance hosts this LGBTQ+ friendly Sunday dance party in the Phoenix’s ballroom. There will be music from DJ Thaddeus and cocktails from the Phoenix/Presidents Room. 4-7 p.m. Free admission. The Phoenix, 712 Race St., Downtown, facebook.com/ teadancecinci.

MONDAY 09

Northern Kentucky Restaurant Week — Ten NKY restaurants, including Blinker’s Tavern, Colonial Cottage, Green Derby, Pompilios and Fire at River Center, are offering a restaurant week menu for a fixed price. Through July 15. More info at bestofnky.com/NKY/ nky-restaurant-week.aspx.

TUESDAY 10

Taste of Oaxaca — Chef Stephanie leads this culinary exploration of the tastes of Oaxaca, Mexico. Make avocado ice, grilled tomato and poblano salsa, moles, various tamales and more. This class size is limited to maximize hands-on experience. 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m. and 6:30-9 p.m. $80. Turner Farm, 7400 Given Road, Indian Hill, turnerfarm.org. Hands-On Class: Breakfast for Dinner — Ellen Mueller leads this class on making breakfast for dinner. Enjoy a chilled mimosa while learning how to make huevos rancheros, biscuits and sausage gravy, roasted potatoes O’Brien and grilled pineapple with caramel sauce. 6-8:30 p.m. $75. The Cooking School at Jungle Jim’s, 5440 Dixie Highway, Fairfield, junglejims.com.

MUSIC

OK ‘Computant’ Cincinnati Indie/Post Rock instrumentalists Us, Today conjure mindmelting soundscapes with vibraphone, guitar and Moog on their new album BY J U D E N O EL

Us, Today PHOTO: ALIAS IMAGING

textures and sinister harmonies. This evolution stems from an intentional effort to test out more electronic sounds. Agee added pickups to her vibraphone, which allows her to run it through effects pedals. Drummer Jeff Mellott now incorporates a sampling pad in his kit. Most notably, guitarist Joel Griggs now plays a Moog synthesizer, swapping out instruments during sets. “Traditionally, I’ve held down the bass aspect of the group” says Griggs, who previously used an octave pedal on his guitar to simulate the sound of the bass. “As we’ve gone along we’ve wanted to go deeper and fatter. That was kind of the answer. The biggest sound you can get is a Moog synthesizer. It’s super fat.” The band enlisted designer Chris Glass to flesh out Computant’s cybernetic atmosphere, laying out its cover artwork with a blocky typeface and vibrant color scheme that befits an early-’80s personal computer ad. “Chris is the shit. Quote — Us, Today,” Mellott says. Glass has handled Us, Today’s visuals since 2015, when the band released Tenenemies, which features a photo of 10 matchsticks scattered across a solid red backdrop. “He’ll give you the cover you said you wanted, and then he’ll show you the cover that you actually wanted,” Agee says. “We’re always going in a certain direction, and then Chris puts us in our place,”

Mellott says. “He’s so good at what he does that we see it and we’re instantly like, ‘Yup.’ ” Though their penchant for vibraphone and technical prowess might suggest otherwise, Us, Today would rather you avoid using the word “Jazz” to describe them. Listen closely and you’ll understand why. Computant may appropriate some of the genre’s modal cues, but in the end, it’s more indebted to the lofty cohesion of late-’00s Indie Rock. The record is mostly free of improvisation and soloing, instead focusing on the band’s ability to create and arrange immersive, often anthemic compositions. It is loud, arresting and very deliberate. “That was one of our pigeonholes early on,” Griggs says. “We got coined as a Jazz project, and Jazz doesn’t do a lot of (what we do). There’s definitely a split between Rock and Jazz. Jazz is synonymous with quiet rooms now, and it has a very specific feel. When you’re trying to sell what we do, (if you) call it Jazz... people expect this one thing.” Agee says she’s more comfortable describing Us, Today’s music as Experimental Rock. The term is vague enough to include all of the ideas the band crams into its songcraft, but specific enough to give potential listeners an idea of what to expect. On Computant, much of this experimentation takes the form of the band’s studies in controlled chaos — the album finds

the trio exploring the interplay between beauty and cacophony to create gutpunching mood shifts. On “Spellcaster (Dr. Spirit),” for example, Agee’s vibraphone is so busy and encrusted with distortion that it resembles an alarm, jostling a bustling rhythm awake. Later, trickles of delayed guitar leak into the mix like sun through the blinds. Awakened, the full band spends the second half of the track regrouping, laying down spacey rhythm guitar that serves as the foundation for shimmering vibe touches. What was disorder is now comforting familiarity. Though it isn’t always apparent on a first listen, there’s narrative structure woven into each of Us, Today’s tunes, usually consisting of an initial sense of apprehension that builds to a thunderous moment of clarity. The band’s members agree that despite the new material’s theme, it’s abstract enough that the listener can ascribe their own meaning to the music. It’s a work that is open to interpretation. “It’s definitely more cohesive than what we’ve done in the past,” Agee says. “If you play it from start to finish, there are ideas that come back. We did that a bit on Tenenemies, and so we started writing with that in mind. I feel like we’ve created a story — a little world. It’s like watching a movie. You can put it on and live this experience.” For more on Us, Today, visit uscommatoday.com.

J U LY 4 – 1 0 , 2 0 18 | C I T Y B E AT. C O M

pam bots take note: Us, Today is the name of a Cincinnati-based Post Rock trio — not the Gannett Company’s flagship daily newspaper. One letter removed from USA Today, the band’s name attracts a torrent of unwanted email meant for the publication’s editorial staff. On any given day, Us, Today might open their inbox to find around 30 messages, from official press releases to political rants rendered into English via Google Translate. “One of the most common messages we get is from the Illuminati asking us to join,” says vibraphonist Kristin Agee. “And, they’re often saying something like, ‘if you join us, we’ll bring you wealthe (sic) and fame and love and luck.’ ” For many, junk mail exists as a mere annoyance — easily disposed of. For Us, Today, it’s a source of aesthetic inspiration. The trio’s Computant LP, which was released last month, is a loosely conceptual effort centered around digital clutter. Six of its nine track titles are culled from particularly weird emails, and the music that accompanies them is suitably dense and cerebral. The record’s third and most recent single, “Wealthe + Fame + Love + Luck,” even includes lyrics cut and pasted from the Illuminati invitation referenced by the title. It’s Us, Today’s first composition to include “vocals,” which were performed live by Agee and processed through a vocoder, mimicking the sound of text-to-speech software. These spoken-word sections bridge dissonant vibraphone riffs, tinged with raspy distortion and propelled by a hefty rhythm section consisting of live percussion and synth bass. Tension builds, ushering in an explosive refrain that lets triumphant peals of tremolo-picked guitar do battle with ghostly splashes of vibraphone. It’s an adventurous leap forward for the trio. While Us, Today’s 2015 sophomore outing Tenenemies mainly consisted of quirky, chilled-out tunes that recalled Tortoise or Joan of Arc, Computant hints at a more aggressive ethos, loaded with gritty

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TOOTH LURES A FANG W/ PUNCH DRUNK TAGALONGS (CLEVELAND), BRIGHT KID (CHICAGO)

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FREE LIVE MUSIC OPEN FOR LUNCH

The Pop Moods of Tooth Lures a Fang BY M I K E B R EE N

On the heels of releasing its second fullthe band’s appeal and never jarring, the length, Sharon is Karen, Cincinnati Indie album’s finale feels as if Tooth Lures a Fang Pop/Rock duo Tooth Lures a Fang headis tucking the listener in after a long and lines MOTR Pub (1345 Main St., Over-theactive day. Rhine, motrpub.com) this Friday. The free Stream and purchase Sharon is Karen at show begins at 10 p.m. toothluresafang.bandcamp.com. Tooth Lures a Fang’s music revolves around the singing and songwriting of Summertime Blues Prep guitarist Zach Starkie and bassist Nic Pater On June 3, the Cincy Blues Society hosted (Jordan VonWahlde has provided drums its 19th-annual Cincy Blues Challenge, on their last two albums). Sharon is Karen an all-day live “play-off” competition at is TLAF’s first release in conjunction with Germania Park (3529 W. Kemper Road, Lo Fi City Recordings, a Cincinnati label that puts out cassette, CDR and digital releases by local DIY Indie artists (check them out at loficity. bandcamp.com). Tooth Lures a Fang falls in the “lo-fi” category, but on Sharon is Karen (which Pater engineered, mixed and mastered), the raw recording element is mostly only evident when the duo’s loud/ quiet dynamic leans loud via over-driven guitar distortion. Album opener “Last Year” kicks in with a blast of Garage Rock fuzz surrounding Tooth Lures a Fang TLAF’s greatest attribute — high-impact Power Pop PHOTO: PROVIDED melodies and harmonies. The duo’s melody magic is Northgate) that featured more than 20 sometimes akin to the ’90s work of bands area Blues acts. The event determines who steeped in the archetypal Beatles/Beach will perform at the Cincy Blues Fest, with Boys/Big Star Pop stylings, like Superdrag the top winners going on to rep the Cincy and Teenage Fanclub, as well as more Blues Society at the International Blues recent hook-centric rockers like Rozwell Challenge in Memphis the following year. Kid. But just as the sounds shift to softer, The “band” winner at this year’s local more spacious atmospherics, the hooks challenge was Johnny Fink and the Intruare sometimes structured in a breezier, sion, a veteran Cincinnati group that also less compact manner that brings to mind won in 2015. The band’s frontman was the artists like Grandaddy, Pedro The Lion and “solo/duo” winner of 2016’s Cincy Blues acts associated with the Indie Pop collecChallenge and that same year, Johnny Fink tive Elephant 6. and the Intrusion won the Dayton Blues The mix of varying moods and tones Society’s own challenge. The Dayton and with ear-worm melodies makes Sharon is Cincinnati contests allow artists from Karen an engaging front-to-back listening around the region to compete. Case in experience. TLAF moves gracefully from a point: the duo Lil Red & The Rooster, from song spiked with soaring energy and dirty near Columbus, Ohio, won “solo/duo” honguitar glaze like “Ronald Ray Gun” into ors at this year’s Cincy Blues Challenge. the airy sway and low-key tricky rhythms The challenge winners will appear of “Your Kind of Guy,” an album highlight alongside several other Blues acts from that sounds like something Jason Lytle, Greater Cincinnati and beyond at August’s Matthew Caws and Robert Pollard would Cincy Blues Fest. The event returns Aug. come up with on a songwriting retreat. 11 to Sawyer Point, where it has been held “Floated Away” is the best use of the moodsince 1994. For the 2018 edition, the festiswinging fluctuations, as the soundscape val is returning to the single-day format of hovers between a winding, punchy Billy that first year, after 23 years as a two-day Corgan-like grind and dusky, twinkling festival. ethereality. The album glides to an end Tickets for the 2018 Cincy Blues Fest are with a couple of other standouts — “So available now at cincybluesfest.org/tickets. Many Strangers” and “Landscape” eschew the inter-song variation in favor of a more Contact Mike Breen: persistently dreamy, hypnotic ambiance. mbreen@citybeat.com Though the seesawing songs are a part of

MINIMUM GAUGE BY M I K E B R EEN

Vibrating Music Rumor Debunked

With the uptick in lunatic conspiracies theories, you can practically hear the writers’ long, incredulous sighs when reading rumor-debunking website Snopes these days. In one of its recent exasperated and impossibly patient pieces, Snopes tackled the non-political rumor inferring obnoxious wedding-reception staple “Electric Boogie (Electric Slide)” is about a sex toy. The viral fib was given legitimacy after a troll “news site” made up a quote from the songwriter confirming the song was based on a girlfriend who rebuffed him sexually in favor of a vibrator she named “electric slide.” In response, a legit reporter contacted the songwriter (Bob Marley colleague Bunny Wailer, weirdly enough), who vehemently denied the story. Snopes expounded further on the song’s history, yet somehow refrained from clarifying that the lyrics are nonsensical garbage.

Grammys to Get Longer

Producers of the Grammys desperately try to keep its show on schedule, but a recent organizational change promises to add at least as much time as it takes to say 12 additional names and nine corresponding songs/albums. Starting next year, the Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best New Artist categories will feature eight nominees instead of the usual five. The expansion comes after last year’s dudecentric ceremony (only one woman won in categories presented on TV), which caused the Grammys to commission a committee to help smash the nomination patriarchy.

Manilow as Loitering Deterrent

Weaponizing music to deter loitering and crime must be effective because it keeps happening. But it’s not just Classical music. The Rite-Aid drugstore chain is testing a different approach to shoo panhandlers and homeless people sleeping in cars in store parking lots. A Rite-Aid in California put a twist on a tactic used at a nearby 7-Eleven, which blared Country music to break up lot parties — Lite Pop superstar Barry Manilow’s music plays 24/7 over loudspeakers. While not admitting to callously pandering to the lucrative Manilow superfan market, RiteAid did confirm it was testing the method to appease frightened customers.

SOUND ADVICE Chuck Prophet & the Mission Express

Thursday • Southgate House Revival If Chuck Prophet’s impressive credentials translated to actual fame and wealth, Bono would be ringing him up for advice on how to better market his band. Prophet’s career and influence dates back to the early ’80s and the roll call of musical figures he has worked with over the past four decades could fill a wing of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, if that august institution recognized Rock & Roll more than Fame. Prophet’s wild ride began with The Serfers in 1979, which soon morphed into Green on Red. Associated with the Paisley Underground movement, Green on Red’s influence has rippled through Indie Rock over the intervening years, with their Psychedelic early work and their later AltCountry direction guiding two separate but equally passionate camps. Prophet began his solo career in 1990

with the album Brother Aldo. After a decade of highly regarded releases, constant touring and the development of a huge European/U.K. fan base, Prophet signed with New West for 2002’s No Other Love, featuring a rare radio hit, “Summertime Thing.” A chronic collaborator, Prophet has been co-writer and guitarist for both Alejandro Escovedo and AltCountry firebrand Kelly Willis, and his songs have been covered by Bruce Springsteen, Peter Wolf, Kim Richey, Solomon Burke and many others. Prophet released the overtly political ¡Let Freedom Ring! in 2009, and his subsequent solo albums — especially last year’s incredible Bobby Fuller Died For Your Sins — are among the best in his discography. Against all odds, Chuck Prophet is hitting his stride as he approaches Green on Red’s 40th anniversary. For anyone familiar with his body of work, it’s not the least bit surprising. (Brian Baker)

Friday July 6

Friday July 13

Carbon Leaf The Summit

Celebrating

25 Years Together

W/Kris Lager Band

Carbon Leaf

Friday • Ludlow Garage

Chuck Prophet PHOTO: PROVIDED

Multi-instrumentalist Carter Gravatt once identified Carbon Leaf’s genre as Brazilian Polka Metal. He was joking, obviously, but the Virginia quintet’s longstanding and successful melting pot of Indie Rock, Bluegrass, Celtic, Folk and Americana isn’t impossibly far from Gravatt’s fictional description. The band has been attracting an ever-widening circle of slavish fans for over a quarter of a century. Carbon Leaf was born in 1992 on the campus of Ashland, Va.’s Randolph-Macon College and continued after graduation, playing the network of Virginia colleges and clubs along the Eastern seaboard before hitting the studio for its 1995 debut album, Meander. Over the next six years, Carbon Leaf maintained a constant road presence and self-released three more albums before signing with Vanguard

Open For Dinner 4:00 Tuesday-Saturday

LudlowGarageCincinnati.com

342 Ludlow Ave. Cincinnati, OH 45220 513.221.4111 START THE WEEKEND EARLY

FREE

7/7 -INTO THE SKIES “THE COST OF COLOR” RELEASE PARTY FT. NO DICE, THE WORLD I KNEW, GRIZZLY! AND SPECTRVMS, AN EVENING WITH MARVIN AND GENTRY WITH SPECIAL GUEST ANDREW HIBBARD, SHORT & COMPANY, JAKE DUNN & THE BLACKBIRDS 7/11 - THE DEVON ALLMAN PROJECT WITH SPECIAL GUEST DUANE BETTS

C I T Y B E AT. C O M

Presented by:

7/6 - DALLAS MOORE, HELLROYS, CRAIG GERDES, RINGO’S GOING AWAY EXTRAVAGANZA!!, MAD ANTHONY, ADAM FLAIG( OF MAD ANYTHONY), JIMS

Tickets at taftmuseum.org

7/5 - CHUCK PROPHET & THE MISSION EXPRESS, JEREMY AND THE HARLEQUINS, ABE PARTRIDGE

J U LY 4 – 1 0 , 2 0 18

ART • music • COCKTAILS

PHOTO: PROVIDED

111 E 6th St Newport, KY 41071

TICKE TS AVAIL ABLE AT THE SOUTHGATE HOUSE LOUNGE OR TICKE TFLY.COM

CONTINUES ON PAGE 32

THURSDAY, juLY 12 5-8 P.M.

Carbon Leaf

859.431.2201

WWW.SOUTHGATEHOUSE.COM

Media partner:

FROM PAGE 31

Records. The band issued a trio of great albums through the revered Folk label, generating great press and broadening its audience. But by 2010, Carbon Leaf had tired of the label’s regimented approach to marketing and tour support and opted out of its contract to return to independent status with its own label, Constant Ivy. The band announced their Vanguard departure in March 2010 and had multiple new releases out by the end of the year — clear evidence of how quickly the group could work outside of traditional methods. The band just released The Gathering Vol. 1, a fivesong EP containing Carbon Leaf’s first new music in five years. This could signal a fresh volley of material from the avowed masters of Brazilian Polka Metal. (BB)

Janelle Monáe with St. Beauty

Janelle Monáe PHOTO: JUCO

C I T Y B E AT. C O M |

J U LY 4 – 1 0 , 2 0 18

Tuesday • Taft Theatre

tickets on sale now!

Janelle Monáe has become a high-profile star over the course of 10 years. But the type of stardom the singer/ songwriter has achieved is unlike the kind associated with most of her peers who have achieved great career heights and gained a high level of popularity. That’s not to say those peers got to where they are lacking something. It’s just that Monáe is a special talent that doesn’t come around often. Her approach to creativity is visionary. As a result, Monáe’s art doesn’t often align with current trends in the musical mainstream or make concessions in pursuit of a bigger payday. Still, she is embraced by that same mainstream and is certainly a prominent figure in pop culture circa 2018, with tons of people regularly buying her music and tickets to see her in concert. Music history isn’t littered with uncompromising artists who achieve the kind of status Monáe has, but a few legends — think David Bowie, Prince and, in recent years, Beyoncé — have shown a similar determination to follow their vision and instincts no matter how left of center it takes them, all while retaining and growing their audience and upper-echelon reputation. Working with forward-thinking collaborators like Outkast’s Big Boi and of

Montreal’s Kevin Barnes, Monáe’s 2010 album debut, The ArchAndroid, was an amalgam of (among other things) vintage Soul and Funk and more avant-garde and psychedelic Rock and Hip Hop, all filtered through her progressive Art Pop lens. The album revolved around a “dystopian future” storyline that was part Afrofuturism and part classic sci-fi constructs. It’s something that, along with the artful sonic patchwork, has remained a core characteristic of Monáe’s musical personality. In April, Monáe released Dirty Computer, her most potent artistic statement yet. Musically tighter and more focused, collaborators this time around include Grimes, Pharrell Williams, Brian Wilson and Prince, who assisted on the album before his death. The story of the album is tonally similar to her previous tales, but Monáe wraps the narrative around ideals more close to home. She has said Dirty Computer’s lyrics — about identity and empowerment — come from a more directly personal perspective. Not that the sci-fi level has been decreased — the album was released in conjunction with a visually-stunning 45-minute film that features Monáe as an android who develops a sense of justice in a rigid futuristic society. (Mike Breen)

LISTINGS

CityBeat’s music listings are free. Send info to Mike Breen at mbreen@citybeat.com. Listings are subject to change. See CityBeat.com for full music listings and all club locations. H is CityBeat staff’s stamp of approval.

WEDNESDAY 04

ARNOLD’S BAR AND GRILL–Todd Hepburn. 7 p.m. Blues/Jazz/Various. Free.

JACOB HOFFNER PARK–Northside Rock N’ Roll Carnival. 2 p.m. Indie/Alt/Various. Free.

MOTR PUB–Pearl Earl. 10 p.m. AltRock. Free. SONNY’S ALL JAZZ LOUNGE–Karaoke. 7 p.m. Various. Free. STANLEY’S PUB–The Inturns. 9 p.m. Rock. Free.

URBAN ARTIFACT– Northside Rock n’ Roll Sideshow with Go Go Buffalo, Electric Orange Peel, Dead Man String Band and more. noon Various. Free.

VINKOLET WINERY AND RESTAURANT–Vernon McIntyre’s Appalachian Grass. 6:30 p.m. Bluegrass. Free.

THURSDAY 05

ARNOLD’S BAR AND GRILL–Dottie Warner and Wayne Shannon. 7:30 p.m. Jazz. Free. BLIND LEMON–Tom Roll. 7:30 p.m. Acoustic. Free. BROMWELL’S HÄRTH LOUNGE–Todd Hepburn and Friends. 8 p.m. Various. Free. CAFFÈ VIVACE–Andrea Cefalo Trio. 7:30 p.m. Jazz. CROW’S NEST–David Taylor. 10 p.m. Acoustic. Free.

FOUNTAIN SQUARE– Salsa on the Square with Óscar Salamanca & La Fórmula. 7 p.m. Salsa/Latin/ Dance. Free.

HORSE & BARREL–Sonny Moorman. 6 p.m. Blues. Free. KNOTTY PINE–Chalis. 9 p.m. Rock/Various. Free. MOTR PUB–J. Dorsey Blues Band, Caveman and Bam Bam and Stallone N’ Roses. 10 p.m. Blues/Rock/ Various. Free.

SOUTHGATE HOUSE REVIVAL (LOUNGE)–Abe Partridge. 9:30 p.m. Americana. Free.

SOUTHGATE HOUSE REVIVAL (SANCTUARY)–Chuck Prophet & the Mission Express with Jeremy & the Harlequins. 8 p.m. Rock. $20.

STANLEY’S PUB–Martin Kelley Trio. 8:30 p.m. Jazz. Cover. URBAN ARTIFACT–El Dub and Urban Tropic. 9 p.m. Rock/Electronic/Jam/Various. $5.

WASHINGTON PARK– Roots Revival with The Tillers. 7 p.m. Folk/Americana. Free.

FRIDAY 06

ARNOLD’S BAR AND GRILL–Chelsea Ford and the Trouble. 9 p.m. Americana. Free. BLIND LEMON–Connor Knox. 9 p.m. Acoustic. Free. BROMWELL’S HÄRTH LOUNGE–Laura Campisi with The Pat Battstone Trio. 9 p.m. Jazz. Free. CAFFÈ VIVACE–Eugene Goss Trio. 7:30 p.m. Jazz. COLLEGE HILL COFFEE CO.–Ricky Nye. 7:30 p.m. Blues/Boogie Woogie. Free.

COMMON ROOTS– Danbient. 9 p.m. Electronic/Various. Free.

CROW’S NEST–Matthew Douglas Simpson. 10 p.m. Americana. Free. FIBONACCI BREWING COMPANY–Vernon McIntyre’s Appalachian Grass. 7 p.m. Bluegrass. Free. FOUNTAIN SQUARE– Fifth & Vine Live with DJ Diamond. 5 p.m. Dance/DJ/ Various. Free. JAG’S STEAK AND SEAFOOD–Blue Armageddon. 9 p.m. Blues. $5. JEFF RUBY’S STEAKHOUSE–Grace Lincoln

The Pretenders play Taft Theatre on July 6 PHOTO: JILL FURMANOVSK Y

Band. 8 p.m. Soul/R&B. Free. JIM AND JACK’S ON THE RIVER–Danny Frazier. 9 p.m. Country. Free. KNOTTY PINE–Joey Said No. 10 p.m. Rock. Cover.

LUDLOW GARAGE– Carbon Leaf. 8:30 p.m. Americana/Various. $17-$40.

MANSION HILL TAVERN– Jay Jesse Johnson. 9 p.m. Blues. Cover.

MOTR PUB–Tooth Lures a Fang with Punch Drunk Tagalongs and Bright Kid. 10 p.m. Indie Pop/Rock. Free.

NORTHSIDE TAVERN– One Day Steady, The Last Troubadour, Sundae Drives and Rtist. 10 p.m. AltRock. Free. NORTHSIDE YACHT CLUB–Corridor with Crime of Passing and Cross Country. 9 p.m. Indie Pop/

Rock. Free. OCTAVE–Hyryder. 10 p.m. Grateful Dead tribute. $12. PLAIN FOLK CAFE–River Snout. 7:30 p.m. Roots. Free. RADISSON CINCINNATI RIVERFRONT–Basic Truth. 8 p.m. R&B/Soul/Funk. Free. RICK’S TAVERN–Michelle Robinson Band. 10 p.m. Various. Cover.

RIVERBEND MUSIC CENTER–Weezer and Pixies with The Wombats. 7:30 p.m. AltRock. $25-$79.50.

SCHWARTZ’S POINT JAZZ & ACOUSTIC CLUB–On A Limb. 8:30 p.m. Jazz. Cover.

SOUTHGATE HOUSE REVIVAL (LOUNGE)– Mad Anthony with Adam Flaig, The Hat Madder and JIMS. 9:30 p.m. Rock. Free.

SOUTHGATE HOUSE REVIVAL

(SANCTUARY)–Dallas Moore with Hellroys and Craig Gerdes. 8 p.m. Country. $10. STANLEY’S PUB–Calabash with twig & leaf. 9 p.m. Folk/Roots/Jam. Cover. SYMPHONY HOTEL & RESTAURANT–The Philip Paul Trio. 8 p.m. Jazz. Free.

TAFT THEATRE– Pretenders with The Rails. 7:30 p.m. Rock. $39.50-$99.50.

URBAN ARTIFACT–Shed The Skin with Dismemberment and Faithxtractor. 8 p.m. Metal. $10.

SATURDAY 07

ARNOLD’S BAR AND GRILL–Cincinnati Dancing Pigs. 9 p.m. Americana/Jug band. Free. BLIND LEMON–G. Burton. 9 p.m. Acoustic. Free. BROMWELL’S HÄRTH LOUNGE–Phil DeGreg Trio. 9 p.m. Jazz. Free. CAFFÈ VIVACE–Ron Jones Quartet. 8:30 p.m. Jazz. COMMON ROOTS–Shiny Old Soul. 9 p.m. Roots/ Rock/Various. Free. CROW’S NEST–Mac Dralle. 10 p.m. Americana. Free.

WASHINGTON PARK–Friday Flow with CeCe Peniston. 7 p.m. Dance/Pop/R&B. Free.

FOUNTAIN SQUARE–Fifth & Vine Live with Soul Pocket. 7 p.m. R&B/Pop/Dance. Free.

WASHINGTON PLATFORM SALOON & RESTAURANT– Dan Drees and Rob Allgeyer Trio. 9 p.m. Jazz. $10 (food/ drink minimum).

JAG’S STEAK AND SEAFOOD–String Theory. 9 p.m. Dance/Pop/Various. $5.

J U LY 4 – 1 0 , 2 0 18 | C I T Y B E AT. C O M

FRETBOARD BREWING COMPANY–Ricky Nye. 6 p.m. Blues/Boogie Woogie. Free.

SCHWARTZ’S POINT JAZZ & ACOUSTIC CLUB– Brandon & Carlos. 8 p.m. Jazz. Cover.

PUZZLE KNOTTY PINEâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;Southern Savior. 10 p.m. Country/Rock/Various. Cover. THE MAD FROGâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;Beyond Reality with DUK, EnkOde, FluxKapacitor and more. 9 p.m. EDM. $10. MANSION HILL TAVERNâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;Blues Therapy. 9 p.m. Blues. Cover. MOTR PUBâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;Pop Empire with Slow Glows and Indigo Kidd. 10 p.m. Indie Rock. Free. NORTHSIDE TAVERNâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;Sexy Time Live Band Karaoke. 9 p.m. Various. Free.

SONNYâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S ALL BLUES LOUNGEâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;Blues jam session featuring Sonnyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s All Blues Band. 8 p.m. Blues. Free. SONNYâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S ALL JAZZ LOUNGEâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;The Art of Jazz featuring the music of Art Blakey. 8 p.m. Jazz. Free. STANLEYâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S PUBâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;Stanleyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Open Jam. 8 p.m. Various. Free. VINKOLET WINERY AND RESTAURANTâ&#x20AC;&#x201C; Skallywags. 1 p.m. Various. Free.

MONDAY 09

OCTAVEâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;Hyryder. 10 p.m. Grateful Dead tribute. $12.

BLIND LEMONâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;Ben Armstrong. 7:30 p.m. Acoustic. Free.

THE GREENWICHâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;Baron Von Ohlen & the Flying Circus Big Band. 7:30 p.m. Jazz. $5 donation or 2 canned goods.

PLAIN FOLK CAFEâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;My Brotherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Keeper. 7:30 p.m. Bluegrass/Folk. Free.

PUTTERS SPORTS GRILL (MAINEVILLE)â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Basic Truth. 9:30 p.m. R&B/Soul/Funk. Free. RICKâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S TAVERNâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;Top This Band. 10 p.m. Pop/Dance/Various. Cover. SCHWARTZâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S POINT JAZZ & ACOUSTIC CLUBâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;Laura Campisi with the Pat Battstone Quartet. 8:30 p.m. Jazz. Cover. SOUTHGATE HOUSE REVIVAL (LOUNGE)â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Short & Company with Jake Dunn & The Blackbirds. 9:30 p.m. Roots/Blues/Soul/Rock. Free. SOUTHGATE HOUSE REVIVAL (REVIVAL ROOM)â&#x20AC;&#x201C;Marvin and Gentry with Andrew Hibbard. 7 p.m. Folk/Rock/Various. $10.

SOUTHGATE HOUSE REVIVAL (SANCTUARY)â&#x20AC;&#x201C;Into The Skies with No Dice, The World I Knew, Grizzly! and Spectrvms. 7 p.m. Rock/Pop Punk. $5, $8 day of show.

STANLEYâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S PUBâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;Zoofunkyou with Electric Garden. 9 p.m. Funk. Cover.

THOMPSON HOUSEâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;Framing Hanley and more. 3 p.m. Pop Rock. $15. URBAN ARTIFACTâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;Zoo Trippinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; and Baccano. 9 p.m. Alt/Rock/Various

MANSION HILL TAVERNâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;Acoustic Jam with John Redell and Friends. 8 p.m. Acoustic. Free.

J U LY 4 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 1 0 , 2 0 18 C I T Y B E AT. C O M â&#x20AC;&#x192; |â&#x20AC;&#x192;

SUNDAY 08

BLIND LEMONâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;Jeff Henry. 8:30 p.m. Acoustic. Free.

LATITUDES BAR & BISTROâ&#x20AC;&#x201C; Blue Birds Band. 8 p.m. R&B/ Rock. Free. MANSION HILL TAVERNâ&#x20AC;&#x201C; Open Blues Jam with Deb Olinger. 6 p.m. Blues. Free.

MOTR PUBâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;Tough Customer with Smut. 8 p.m. Indie Rock. Free.

7 Track regular

13 Bit of math homework

15 Breathing tube part 16 Break from the schedule 17 Female grouse 18 Time to act

23 Talk back? 25 It might be a lot to split up 27 Smartphone feature

NORTHSIDE TAVERNâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;The Qtet. 9 p.m. Funk/Jazz/Fusion/Various. Free. PACHINKOâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;Open Mic. 9 p.m. Various. Free.

32 Want something very much

CAFFĂ&#x2C6; VIVACEâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;Lynne Scott & Lee Stolar. 7 p.m. Jazz PACHINKOâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;Acoustic Tuesdays. 9 p.m. Acoustic/Various. Free. RIVERBEND MUSIC CENTERâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;Jimmy Buffett and The Coral Reefer Band with Caroline Jones. 8 p.m. Soft Rock. $36-$146.

TAFT THEATREâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;Janelle MonĂĄe. 7:30 p.m. Alt/Pop/Soul/Funk/Rock/Various. $39.50-$75.

33 Still want it 35 Hammett hound 37 Carpetâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s coverage 39 Composer who said â&#x20AC;&#x153;There is no such thing as an empty space or an empty timeâ&#x20AC;?

Barrence Whitfield & The Savages/The Woggles â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Aug. 30, Woodward Theater Kid Congo Powers/Slim Cessnaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Auto Club â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Aug. 31, MOTR Pub The Yawpers â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Sept. 12, MOTR Pub Alison Krauss â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Sept. 16, Taft Theatre Matt and Kim â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Sept. 19, Madison Theater Face to Face (acoustic) â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Sept. 29, Northside Yacht Club Great Lake Swimmers â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Oct. 11, Southgate House Revival moe. â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Oct. 25, Taft Theatre David Sanborn â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Nov. 3, Ludlow Garage

1 Patriotâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Day mo. 2 Canadaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s prime minister 3 Denounce

7 Judicial obstacles 8 Bit of energy

52 Jump for joy

10 Personally

54 Sherry classification

11 Faux fat brand that caused explosive diarrhea 12 Trulia user 14 Blend together

30 Played with a bow

66 Guatemala president Jimmy

24 Free wifi provider 26 Catch some fly balls 28 â&#x20AC;&#x153;Manhattan Beachâ&#x20AC;? author Jennifer

49 Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s just below E 51 Aspects

36 Medical fluid

53 Surround

38 Backside

55 Makeup first name

40 Soccer commentator White

57 â&#x20AC;&#x153;Little Dark Ageâ&#x20AC;? indie band

41 Frank Sinatra, notably

61 Form W-7 issuer

42 â&#x20AC;&#x153;You Could Be Mineâ&#x20AC;? singer

63 Challenging

44 Fred to George Weasley

65 Alden played him

46 Shakespeare character who drowns

67 Columbus inst. 68 Office park address abbr.

47 Stagecoachâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s setting L AST WEEKâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S ANSWERS:

5 ( $ ' <

20 Simply the best 22 15- or 67-Down: Abbr.

48 G.I. cops

34 Zap with gun

15 Tempe inst.

64 Sotâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s order

Down

72 Computer download ... and a hint to this puzzleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s theme

71 Primps

9 Taking things the wrong way?

70 Autocracy adherent

50 Some

69 Moves to a better table, say

6 Hanoi holiday

62 â&#x20AC;&#x153;That was closeâ&#x20AC;?

45 Rest of the offering

60 Further events

5 â&#x20AC;&#x153;Seasons in the Abyssâ&#x20AC;? thrash band

59 Justify events?

43 Holding companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s offering?

58 Mountain stats

41 Prop for Winston Churchill

56 â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s my cue!â&#x20AC;?

4 Nonsense words in a â&#x20AC;&#x153;White Albumâ&#x20AC;? song

49 Mad scientist who is the archenemy of Action Man

Future Sounds

21 End of the party 22 Pick things out

19 Party without many women

31 Academic basics, briefly

VINKOLET WINERY AND RESTAURANTâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;Top This Band. 7:30 p.m. Dance/Various. $5. WASHINGTON PLATFORM SALOON & RESTAURANTâ&#x20AC;&#x201C; George Simon and Rusty Burge. 9 p.m. Jazz. $10 (food/ drink minimum).

29 Future Basketball Hall of Famer Steve

BLIND LEMONâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;Nick Tuttle. 8:30 p.m. Acoustic. Free.

BY B R EN DA N E M M E T T Q U I G L E Y

AC R O S S

1 With no markup

MEMORIAL HALLâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;Jazz at the Memo featuring Mambo Combo. 7 p.m. Latin Jazz. $8.

TUESDAY 10

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741, Unit 624

CLASSIFIEDS LEGAL NOTICES Extra Space Storage hold a public auction at the location indicated: 2526 Ritchie Ave. Crescent Springs, KY, July 17 th 2018 on or after 11:30AM Unit # 401 Purchases must be made with cash only and paid at the above referenced facility in order to complete the transaction. Extra Space Storage may refuse any bid and may rescind any purchase up until the winning bidder takes possession of the personal property. Extra Space Storage hold a public auction at the location indicated: 2900 Crescent Springs Pike, Erlanger, KY 41018, July 17, 2018 on or after 11:00 a.m. Unit 158, Unit 349, Unit 424, Unit 726, Unit 1010, Unit 1133, Unit 1154 Purchases must be made with cash only and paid at the above referenced facility in order to complete the transaction. Extra Space Storage may refuse any bid and may rescind any purchase

up until the winning bidder takes possession of the personal property. Extra Space Storage hold a public auction at the location indicated: 525 W 35 th St, Covington, KY 41015 on Tuesday July 17, 2018 on or after 12:00 pm Unit 02330, Unit 04124, Unit 03227, Unit 04602, Unit 03402, Unit 03253, Unit 03221, Unit 02121, Unit 03129, Unit 05103, Unit 03101, Unit 03401, Unit 03351, Unit 04610, Unit 03237, Unit 03229, Unit 04417, Unit 06106, Unit 02315, Unit 03115, Unit 03503 Purchases must be made with cash only and paid at the above referenced facility in order to complete the transaction. Extra Space Storage may refuse any bid and may rescind any purchase up until the winning bidder takes possession of the personal property.

182, 1214, 1123, 1219, 212 Purchases must be made with cash only and paid at the above referenced facility in order to complete the transaction. Extra Space Storage may refuse any bid and may rescind any purchase up until the winning bidder takes possession of the personal property. Notice is hereby given that Extra Space Storage will sell at public auction at the storage facility listed below: 5970 Centennial Circle, Florence, KY 41042, July 17, 2018 on or after 10:30 am Unit 312, Unit 904, Unit

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If the following sounds like you, we’d love to speak with you: You are energetic, outgoing and passionate You are fearless and welcome challenges You conduct yourself with professionalism in person, in writing and over the phone Compensation: Base salary + commission + Bonus Paid Vacation/PTO Insurance + 401(k) Spiffs and prizes around special events Visit CityBeat.com/Work-Here to learn more and submit your resume. *Online submissions including resumes only. No other inquiries will be considered*

JIMMY BUFFETT

JULY 10 | RIVERBEND MUSIC CENTER Visit CityBeat.com/win-stuff to enter for a chance to win tickets to this upcoming show!

J U LY 4 – 1 0 , 2 0 18 | C I T Y B E AT. C O M

WE’RE HIRING!

WIN STUFF!

DELIVERY CONTRACTORS NEEDED

CityBeat needs contractors to deliver CityBeat every Wednesday between 9am and 3pm. Qualified candidates must have appropriate vehicle, insurance for that vehicle and understand that they are contracted to deliver that route every Wednesday. CityBeat drivers are paid per stop and make $14.00 to $16.00 per hr. after fuel expense. Please reply by email and leave your day and evening phone numbers. Please reply by email only. Phone calls will not be accepted. sferguson@citybeat.com

NIGHT GARDEN RECORDING STUDIO

Seamless integration of the best digital gear and classics from the analog era including 2” 24 track. Wide variety of classic microphones, mic pre-amps, hardware effects and dynamics, many popular plug-ins and accurate synchronization between DAW and 2” 24 track. Large live room and 3 isolation rooms. All for an unbelievable rate. Event/Show sound, lighting and video production services available as well. Call or email Steve for additional info and gear list; (513) 368-7770 or (513) 729-2786 or sferguson. productions@gmail.com.

DISSOLVE YOUR MARRIAGE

Dissolution: An amicable end to marriage. Easier on your heart. Easier on your wallet. Starting at $500 plus court costs. 12 Hour Turnaround.

810 Sycamore St. 4th Fl, Cincinnati, OH 45202

thelodgeky.com

513.651.9666

C I T Y B E AT. C O M

J U LY 4 – 1 0 , 2 0 18

AN IRISH WHISKEY, SCOTCH ANd cRAFT BEER TASTING EVENT

Save the date

october 3rd, 2018 5:30-8:30 Pm New Riff Distillery

Newport, Ky

hopscotchcincy.com