CityBeat May 10, 2017

CINCINNATI’S NEWS AND ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY • MAY 10 – 16, 2017 • free

A Different Drum

Ben Sloan Brings his Percussion Park to a Progressive Price Hill

BY STEVEN ROSEN • PAGE 10

VOL. 23 ISSUE 24 ON THE COVER: BEN SLOAN // PHOTO: HAILEY BOLLINGer

VOICES 04 NEWS 08 CITY DESK 09

COVER STORY 10 STUFF TO DO 15 ONGOING SHOWS 17

ARTS & CULTURE 18 TV AND FILM 22

FOOD & DRINK 25 EVENTS AND CLASSES 27

MUSIC 28

SOUND ADVICE 30

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VOICES your voice LETTERS BOTHER US Shame, Shame GOP

email letters@citybeat.com

Jocelynne Jason: What I worry about is that these men will not suffer consequences because this House bill will never become law, so people will never feel the negative effects of the legislation and realize how careless their representatives are with the lives of constituents.

ONLINE citybeat.com

Alice Browne Eberhard: Thank you Mark Painter for speaking up and out — speaking truth to power against a party that you once identified with. Please keep using your influential voice!

FACEBOOK Facebook.com/ CincinnatiCityBeat

Comments posted at Facebook.com/CincinnatiCityBeat in response to May 8 post, “To Reps. Chabot, Wenstrup and Davidson: AHCA Vote Will Follow You to the Grave”

TWITTER @CityBeatCincy @CityBeat_Eats @CityBeatMusic

Bikes + Brews + Findlay Market

INSTAGRAM @CityBeatCincy

Debbie Knueven Gannaway: And on Wednesdays all summer long, you can grab dinner at Findlay Market until 8 p.m. We’ve also got a Red Bike station in the south parking lot.

Comment posted at Facebook.com/CincinnatiCityBeat in response to May 8 post, “If you’re up for it, you can hit half a dozen (or more) local breweries on your bike.”

SNAPCHAT

Lunch Hour Cultural Enrichment

CityBeatCincy VOICEMAIL 513-665-4700 SNAIL MAIL 811 Race St, Fifth Floor Cincinnati, OH 45202

dayre1: @lesuzandleroy @wheresteddy We need to check this place out!!!

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billieholiday75: That looks delicious!

½ OFF

ENROLLMENT FEE

Comments posted at Instagram.com/CityBeatCincy in response to May 8 post, “The second location of the popular Over-theRhine carryout @bottleandbasket_cincinnati recently opened in the lobby of the @cincycac in the former Collective Espresso space.” Photo: @haaailstormm

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JULY 17–23

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VOICES

What a Week!

BY T.C. Britton

WEDNESDAY MAY 03

We all remember the depressing image from Inauguration Day — not the SAD attendance or subsequent lies about crowds, or even the sight of a former Domino’s spokesperson becoming president of the United States. It was the moment when Donald Trump turned to face his smiling wife onstage, said an unintelligible word or two and turned back around, leaving Melania scowling like a disciplined child. It has circulated online in GIF form for the past few months, but recently FLOTUS — or, as we like to call her, FLOTUGH — might have liked a tweet (which was later deleted) featuring that image with the caption, “Seems the only #Wall @realDonaldTrump’s built is the one between him and @FLOTUS.” What does it all mean? Was her account hacked? Did her finger accidentally slip while creeping on Twitter? (We’ve all been there.) Was this her signal for us to finally rescue her?

THURSDAY MAY 04

Musician riders are a personal guilty pleasure. The outlines of items superstars request backstage on tour are just endlessly entertaining, and demands have famously ranged from having a Bob Hope impersonator at every show (Iggy Pop) and McDonald’s cheeseburgers without the buns (Britney Spears) to 20 white kittens (Mariah Carey) and M&Ms minus the brown ones (Van Halen, and yes, that’s racist). Justin Bieber’s alleged rider leaked this week and it includes everything from almond milk and a PlayStation to a Jacuzzi and an “Indian yoga casket.” If you felt bad for the poor intern who has to pick out brown M&Ms from a candy dish, just think of the person who has to figure out what a yoga casket is and how to get it backstage.

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FRIDAY MAY 05

Friday was Cinco de Mayo, a holiday most of us gringos in the U.S. should probably just STFU about. We clearly don’t appreciate its cultural history and just want an excuse to drink dollar margs. Some might offer the comparison: What if Mexicans celebrated the Fourth of July by wearing obnoxious red, white and blue attire, lighting up bottle rockets and getting wasted on Bud Light? Unfortunately that’s how we celebrate most holidays, so really we know no other way. But these actual headlines from Friday really sum it up best:

CNN: “In break with tradition, Trump won’t host Cinco de Mayo celebration at White House” ABC: “Mexican-Americans torn about Cinco de Mayo in Trump era”

NBC: “Will High Avocado Prices Make Cinco de Mayo Muy Depressing?”

SATURDAY MAY 06

From south of the border to south of the river, Derby Day brought celebrities, gamblers, big hats and ugly suits to Kentucky this weekend.

Tom Brady, Jeff Bridges, Larry David and dozens of D-list reality show humans partied at Churchill Downs Saturday. The best local derby tradition? The Ludlow Derby, Northern Kentucky’s rat races (more like mice maze, actually). Not only is the Ludlow rodent derby a real thing, but it celebrated its 40th year. Fans bet on rats as they’re dumped into a wooden maze. The fastest rat to make it through the maze wins. But are there really any winners in this?

SUNDAY MAY 07

The MTV Movie and TV Awards aired Sunday and they were… confusing? Hosted

by Adam Devine, the thirstiest dude from Workaholics, the show flopped back and forth between being woke (Moonlight won Best Kiss!) and wack (Beauty and the Beast won Movie of the Year?!). The show did away with gendered acting categories, which is pretty cool even though this wasn’t the first time MTV did so. But damn did they beat us over the head about it. Billions actor Asia Kate Dillon — the first nonbinary actor to play a non-binary character on TV, a designation repeated no less than 74 times — presented the award for Best Actor in a Movie, which included men and women (Emma Watson won for B and the B). But soon after, Devine joked about how he prefers to call the Disney remake Multidimensional Woman with Her Own Dynamic Traits and the Beast, which is kind of like praising Millennials for being an empathetic generation and then calling them snowflakes. But the best part of the night didn’t happen onstage: it was the announcement of a new show a la Latina Beach and The Hills, set in the glamorous locale of… Sarasota, Fla.?! Seriously can’t wait for Siesta Key.

MONDAY MAY 08

In case you missed it: France elected a new president on Sunday. Beret-clad voters dodged the Trumpish Marine Le Pen and elected Emmanuel Macron, the youngestever French prez, probably because France doesn’t have an electoral college to eff it all up. And while Macron might not be as nationalistic as Le Pen, his name is very close to that of the most delicious little French cookie, which is quite patriotic. But can you imagine if Americans had to vote on a Sunday? We can’t be bothered to put

real pants on, never mind trekking to the polls! Turnout would be at an all-time low, something like 11 percent. Just kidding, that was the literal turnout for last Tuesday’s mayoral primaries. Good job, Cincinnati!

TUESDAY MAY 09

R.I.P. Pepe the Frog: 2005-2017. That’s right, the cartoon frog that evolved from a comic book character to internet meme to white supremacist symbol has officially been laid to rest. Its creator, artist Matt Furie,

apparently pulled the plug on old Pep for Free Comic Book Day this week. A new Pepe comic shows the frog in a casket at a funeral surrounded by friends (noticeably absent is Richard Spencer), so all signs point to this being the end of the road for Pepe. The frog was just a harmless meme until somehow it became the face of the alt-right movement, much to Furie and the world’s surprise and eternal confusion. Now if only Steve Bannon could just be written off comic-style…

CONTACT T.C. BRITTON: letters@ citybeat.com

TO REPS. CHABOT, WENSTRUP AND DAVIDSON: A NOTE FROM MARK PAINTER

Your vote for the so-called American Health Care Act will live in infamy. The Act should be called the No-Care Act. Those who voted for it do not care about the American people except for the wealthiest.

You voted to remove health insurance from up to 24 million of your fellow citizens, not to mention your constituents.

You voted to take reliable health care from the poor and give a trillion-dollar tax cut to the richest 2 percent of Americans, and to insurance companies and the pharmaceutical industry.

You voted to allow rating for pre-existing conditions, again making obtaining health care coverage expensive and difficult for many people.

You voted to give billions to insurance companies and the obscenely wealthy by taking it from the poor and helpless. You voted, as you have consistently, to make America more unequal — to make the rich richer and the poor poorer.

You voted against the interests of your constituents — that is, except for your large contributors.

You voted for the U.S. to continue as the only developed nation in the whole world not to have universal health care. Where we spend twice as much as Britain, Canada, Australia or Sweden and have worse outcomes.

You voted to replace a flawed system with a more flawed system.

You voted for a bill without reading it and without waiting for the Congressional Budget Office to assess its impact. Why the emergency when you have had seven years to come up with a bill?

Your party voted, then celebrated, at the White House. I can’t tell from the picture whether all or some of you attended the kegger, but it was certainly a large collection of white guys. Usually when you get that many white people together they break out in the Chicken Dance.

Your party celebrated taking health care from poor people. You celebrated making pregnancy, acne, asthma and who knows what else pre-existing conditions.

Your vote will live in infamy. It will follow you to your grave. But you will most likely be preceded in death by many of the poor from whom you removed obtainable health insurance.

As congressional representatives, you enjoy gold-plated healthcare, so you may well live longer than most ordinary Americans. But every day will be a reminder of the damage you inflicted on May 3, 2017.

And to Rep. Massie — your vote against the revolting bill does not redeem you, as you voted “nay” only because the proposed formula wasn’t cruel enough.

Cincinnati native MARK PAINTER served as a judge for 30 years and as an adjunct law professor at the University of Cincinnati for 20 years. Contact Mark: letters@ citybeat.com

VOICES ON SECOND THOUGHT

Regrettable Rupert Murdoch

WANTS YOU TO

WIN STUFF!

BY BEN L. KAUFMAN

With the same straight face he offered parliament in the wake of the News of the World scandal, Murdoch offered false contrition for the sexually hostile environment at Fox News.

It is beyond belief that Murdoch did not know or suspect what was happening at his properties. He’s not an absentee owner, regardless of his sons’ growing roles.

Hacking brought criminal investigations and demands that Murdoch and son James appear before parliamentary hearings. and what the New York Times called “the final humiliation”: a call from Prime Minister David Cameron, Rupert Murdoch’s political beneficiary, to drop the Sky bid, which he did.

Six years later, the New York Times continued, “Murdoch is, if anything, at the height of his political power, given his special relationship with President Trump and the architects of the successful Leave campaign in Britain.”

Murdoch founded the U.K.’s dominant, rich Sky satellite and cable network. His 20th Century Fox owns 39 percent. Murdoch sees the moment as propitious and he’s trying to persuade British regulators that he should be able to buy all of Sky. Standing in Murdoch’s way is the quaint requirement that anyone aspiring to win a British broadcast/cable/satellite license should be “fit and proper.”

As the New York Times reported, that standard is “based on the premise that those who control news, information and entertainment options on television and radio should be held to high ethical standards, and that doing so determines ‘the kind of country we are,’ as Jane BonhamCarter, a member of Parliament, recently put it.

Regulators at the Office of Communi­ cations here, known as Ofcom, will make the decision.

Last week’s revelation in Murdoch’s Wall Street Journal won’t help the cause with Ofcom because of the lingering stink of the News of the World hacking.

In the WSJ, Bo Dietl, a former Fox News contributor close to Ailes, said Fox News hired him to dig up dirt on women suing him: former Fox anchor Gretchen Carlson and former producer Andrea Mackris.

The women settled their sexual harassment claims for a total of $29 million.

And late last week, the WSJ reported that federal investigators are looking into

those settlements and whether they were accurately reported to investors.

Rupert Murdoch isn’t alone in this. Sons James and Lachlan reportedly played a role in dumping Ailes and O’Reilly from Fox News and they are involved in Sky. James has his own “fit and proper” baggage. He claimed that he did not know the extent of the hacking inside the newspaper division that fell under his purview at the time.

But “an email unearthed by investigators showed that a top editor had informed him that the hacking was more widespread than the company had acknowledged. He

“As a dog returns to its vomit, so fools repeat their folly.”

— Prov. 26:11 said he had not read the email in full,” the New York Times said.

“But much of the judicial inquiry that followed centered on whether the Sky bid he led at the time had too aggressively sought to trade on the company’s political sway. As he pursued the Sky deal, James Murdoch appeared to be an adept student of his father’s use of power and influence.”

When the conservatives promised to emasculate Ofcom, Murdoch’s mass circulation daily Sun flipped its support from Labour to the conservatives.

Cameron and the Murdochs denied Labour charges that there had been a quid pro quo; a judicial investigation did not find one and Sky passed that initial regulatory scrutiny.

But, the New York Times added, the judicial inquiry reported inappropriately close contact between the Murdochs’ lobbyist and the key conservative cabinet minister overseeing the process. The judicial inquiry added that it was “regrettable” that James Murdoch had not sought to halt it.

That judicial finding was in line with the findings of Ofcom, which cleared the younger Murdoch of any wrongdoing related to hacking but said he “repeatedly fell short of the exercise of responsibility to be expected of him as CEO and chairman.”

CONTACT BEN L. KAUFMAN: letters@citybeat.com

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Proverbs is a treasure house of maxims.

My current favorite is Prov. 26:11: “As a dog returns to its vomit, so fools repeat their folly.”

It came to mind reading about Rupert Murdoch’s $14 billion bid for Britain’s Sky satellite TV. His last attempt was scuttled by outrage over phone hacking by his British reporters and editors.

Then, Murdoch’s journalists elevated illegal phone hacking and related bribery of public officials to an art. Seemingly contrite, he was less than candid when challenged by parliament and closed his profitable Sunday tabloid News of the World as penance.

Sky is a big deal in Europe but this is also a very American media story. Murdoch is boss of Fox News, 20th Century Fox, the Wall Street Journal, etc.

He ignored or failed to close the brothel at Fox News where other aging, wrinkled white men required attractive younger female employees to accede to demands for sex or sexual harassment.

The promised or imagined payoff for women who submitted was a job or a better job. Refusal could be career-killing at Fox News.

Murdoch — whose sanctimony is rivaled only by his willful blindness or complicity in phone hacking, police bribery, office sex and sexual harassment — denies knowledge of what his buds were doing.

Cornered, his responses recall Vichy Capt. Renault’s famous line from Casablanca (the movie) when he saw gambling in Rick’s Café: “I’m shocked, shocked…”

Murdoch is the major player in American popular media, as he aspires to be in the U.K. He’s never been a hands-off owner. Murdoch is courted for his support and feared for his opposition. His London dailies boosted Britain’s “Brexit” from the European Union and Fox News shamelessly was Trump’s campaign cable network.

What’s ironic is his failure to control his subordinates and the troubles they’ve caused him in his global empire.

We don’t know how many tens of millions Murdoch has paid to female victims of his cronies at Fox News in confidential settlements. The New York Times blew the top off this scandal with its accounting of a few of the women’s complaints.

Along the way, Fox lost its top female personality — Megyn Kelly to NBC — and money-spinning talk show host/commentator Bill O’Reilly.

By then, Roger Ailes, who created Fox News with Murdoch, had been forced out under accusations of sexual harassment. Ailes, O’Reilly and others deny any wrongdoing.

news

Readying for Retrial

Court maneuvers ahead of the Ray Tensing retrial could mean a new jury won’t see the same evidence

BY NICK SWARTSELL

PHOTO : HAILE Y BOLLINGER

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C

incinnati will once again see national attention for a racially charged police shooting when the retrial of a white University of Cincinnati police officer who shot a black unarmed motorist begins later this month.

As former UCPD officer Ray Tensing faces murder and manslaughter charges a second time for shooting Avondale resident Samuel DuBose July 19, 2015 after a traffic stop in Mount Auburn, his attorneys, Hamilton County prosecutors and racial justice activists here are all gearing up for the controversial case.

Hanging over the run-up to the proceedings, which will begin May 25, are questions about whether a jury will see the same evidence presented during Tensing’s first trial in November 2016.

Tensing’s attorneys, Stew Mathews and Gwen Callender, filed motions May 1 asking Hamilton County Common Pleas Court Judge Leslie Ghiz to bar testimony from an expert witness for the prosecution. They also introduced a new expert witness and animated recreations of the incident less than a month ago — a move Hamilton County prosecutors are protesting.

Video expert Grant Fredericks analyzed footage of the shooting from Tensing’s body camera for the prosecution during the first trial. His testimony was pivotal to the prosecution’s assertions that Tensing was not in danger when he shot DuBose. The officer initially claimed he was dragged by DuBose’s car before he shot the motorist once in the head.

“I was thinking, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m being dragged by this guy’s car,’ ” Tensing said in a videotaped statement made to Cincinnati police after the shooting.

But Frederick’s frame-by-frame analysis of the body camera footage seemed to show that Tensing was not in danger, was not being dragged and that he drew and pointed his weapon less than two seconds before DuBose’s car began moving.

Fredericks says his time leading the video forensics unit at the Vancouver Police Department and his work as an instructor at the Federal Bureau of Investigation Academy qualify him as an expert in video forensics. Those assertions went unchallenged in the first trial.

Now, however, Tensing’s attorneys say they’ve “been made aware of the existence of some information calling into question” Fredericks’ expertise, according to their filings.

Matthews and Callender are also asking Ghiz to bar from evidence presented to the jury a T-shirt featuring a Confederate flag Tensing was wearing when he shot DuBose.

The revelation of that shirt was a bombshell

in Tensing’s previous trial, calling forth condemnation from the DuBose family, Black Lives Matter Cincinnati, State Sen. Cecil Thomas and other leaders in the black community. While supporters of the flag say it simply represents Southern heritage, it’s also associated with slavery and has been taken up by white supremacist groups.

Tensing’s attorneys argue that the T-shirt, which promotes the Great Smoky Mountains, is irrelevant to the case and will only prejudice the jurors against their client.

“It contains nothing of evidentiary value, is irrelevant and highly inflammatory, and the danger of prejudicial impact substantially outweighs any probative value, if any, that it may have,” Tensing’s attorneys wrote in their court filing. “If the court finds that the T-shirt does have some probative value, that value is outweighed by its prejudicial effect, and therefore, in order to preserve defendant’s constitutionally guaranteed rights of due process, a fair trial and an impartial jury, any evidence related to the T-shirt should be excluded.”

Assistant Hamilton County Prosecutors Seth Tieger and Stacey Degraffenreid, meanwhile, are challenging a defense witness introduced last month who Tensing’s attorneys would like to weigh in on the body camera footage. Tieger and Degraffenreid

Hearings on requests from Tensing’s attorneys to bar certain pieces of evidence will begin May 26 at the Hamilton County Courthouse. took on the case after Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters demurred from handling the retrial. Deters says he’ll be busy with the sentencing trial of convicted serial killer Anthony Kirkland, which will also take place this month.

Prosecutors are asking for a hearing on Scott Roder, who defense attorneys introduced to the court April 14 this year. That’s not enough time to vet the witness and examine his credentials and the relevance of his testimony, prosecutors say.

“The state would object to him testifying in any way before the jury in a retrial,” Tieger and Degraffenreid’s filing reads.

But Ghiz has already ruled out a delay in the trial and has set a hearing on the defense and prosecution’s filings for May 26, the day after jury selection begins.

“I’m going to make it very clear today, and I’ve made it clear to you in chambers, this trial is going forward on the 25th,” Ghiz told Tieger at a May 3 hearing after he asked for more time should the court approve Roder.

Tensing’s first trial ended Nov. 12 when a jury deadlocked on murder and manslaughter charges. The murder charges carry a penalty of 15 years to life in prison, and the manslaughter charge carries a penalty of

up to 11 years in prison. After five days of testimony and about 25 hours of deliberating, eight jurors wanted Tensing convicted on manslaughter charges.

Three of those jurors originally wanted a murder conviction. Tensing’s jury was made up of six white men, four white women and two black women. The mistrial announcement sparked an organized march through downtown and Over-the-Rhine that included hundreds of protesters. That march was organized in part by Black Lives Matter Cincinnati. Organizers with the racial justice group say they’re watching the trial and will be outside the courthouse as it proceeds.

About 50 people gathered for a May 7 cookout in memory of Sam DuBose, including his mother Audrey DuBose. Activists there questioned developments in the trial.

“A man can kill a man in cold blood with a Confederate flag T-shirt on, and it can be said it’s not a racial issue,” Black Lives Matter organizer Brian Taylor said at the event.

“Even with the video — when it was slowed down frame by frame to show that the car wasn’t moving and that it wasn’t a weapon being used against Tensing — now they’re trying to dismiss the testimony of the video expert. It’s just thing after thing.” ©

news city desk BY cit ybeat staff

Louisville Public Media: NKU Rejected $5 Million Offer for WNKU

City Council Poised to Give Go-Ahead to Controversial OTR Development A major development at the gateway to northern Over-the-Rhine moved toward approval May 8 as it passed out of Cincinnati City Council’s Budget and Finance Committee.

The committee, which includes all members of Council, voted to move forward with the consideration of two tax abatements and the sale of two city alleys, clearing the way for Council to take a final vote as soon as May 10.

Source 3’s proposed $26 million Freeport Row development at the northwest corner of Liberty and Elm streets has been the subject of back and forth between the developer and neighborhood groups for more than a year.

The Over-the-Rhine Community Council, OTR Foundation and a number of other community groups have voted multiple times to oppose the project due to its height, its lack of affordable housing and the lack of a parking garage included in the original project designs, among other concerns.

“At this moment, there is not agreement,” Over-the-Rhine Community Council member and former president Peter Hames told City Council May 8. “There is no movement on the project. We’re still optimistic about making important changes to the project, but it doesn’t seem to be in the cards.”

The project would include 110 units of market-rate housing costing about $1,000 a month per unit.

Not everyone on Council seemed entirely convinced about the project at the May 8 meeting — council members Yvette Simpson, Wendell Young, David Mann and Chris Seelbach initially abstained from voting,

saying they wanted more meetings between resident groups and Source 3.

Seelbach reversed his abstention and voted yes to allow the ordinances approving two LEED tax abatements and the sale of city-owned Freeport Alley and Campbell Street to be added to Council’s May 10 agenda.

The city already approved a zoning change necessary to construct the building last year.

Council members Kevin Flynn, Amy Murray, Charlie Winburn and P.G. Sittenfeld voted yes.

Community groups and Source 3 held meetings last week to try and reach an agreement on five community demands around the development, but could not.

Seelbach highlighted concerns with the building’s design as a reason he wanted more discussion about the project and said he would work to facilitate another meeting.

Simpson wanted commitments in writing that Source 3 would work to put local businesses in the development’s 4,000 square feet of retail space and work to meet other community demands.

“I’d love to have something where the two parties can come together and say ‘We’re conditionally supporting this based on an agreement that you’ll make the effort’ ” to meet community demands, Simpson said.

“If we could get there, I think we could get a ‘yes’ on this development.”

Michael Heekin, development director for the group, says that’s the goal but that the developer has to remain flexible and can’t make a hard commitment. Simpson also said she’d like to work with city administration to find funds to subsidize some affordable units in the building.

Source 3 says it has worked with the groups, taking a story off the building and redesigning several aspects of the project.

The developer also points out that some residents, including a minority of the OTR Community Council, support the project.

“I’m in support of the project,” Kevin Hassey, a resident near the development, told Council May 8. “We need more population in the area.”

Councilman Flynn, who has indicated he’ll vote yes for the final approval of the alley sales and tax abatements, pointed to letters from supporters, including a few residents of OTR and some merchants at Findlay Market. The packet of about 30 letters also includes missives from developers, realtors and business owners in and outside OTR along with the Cincinnati Reds and other groups who approve of the project.

Council’s May 10 vote is the final stop for opponents of the project, as the abatements and city-owned alleys are the last piece of the puzzle for Source 3 before it can break ground. (Nick Swartsell)

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Northern Kentucky University’s board of trustees recently rejected a $5 million offer from Louisville Public Media for the Middletown transmitter and 105.9 FM frequency that provides WNKU programming to Greater Cincinnati and Dayton, according to a letter published at Louisville’s 91.9 WFPK website May 3.

The offer could be the final chance to keep the 32-year-old station on the air after the university agreed to sell WNKU to Bible Broadcasting Corp. in February.

“We are deeply disappointed by Northern Kentucky University’s decision and the likely loss of WNKU’s proud tradition of serving the region’s music and cultural community,” Louisville Public Media President Michael Skoler wrote. “We offered a fiscally responsible way for the board to protect university resources and still preserve the important service it had created and nurtured for 32 years.”

Louisville Public Media’s offer included a pledge to continue support of local musicians and local music events and to hire local on-air radio hosts. LPM operates WFPK in Louisville, one of the best independent radio stations in the country and promoter of the wildly successful (and free) Waterfront Wednesday concerts on the Louisville riverfront.

In a statement given to CityBeat May 4, NKU did not comment on LPM’s assertion that the college rejected the $5 million offer.

“NKU is in the middle of an active process to sell WNKN-Middletown that is ongoing until the Board of Regents votes on it, which will be a matter of public record,” says the statement provided by NKU Public Relations Director Anna Wright. “Until that time, we will continue to entertain all proposals.

Given these challenging economic times for public education, we will choose the best option that supports our mission of delivering an affordable, quality education that our students deserve.”

NKU agreed in February to sell the WNKU license and transmitter site — but not its call letters — to Bible Broadcasting for $1.9 million. The deal awaits approval by the Federal Communications Commission.

It sold the WNKE repeater station in New Boston, Ohio, for $700,000 to Educational Media Foundation, which runs the nationally distributed K-Love and Air 1 contemporary Christian programming.

WNKU has remained on the air since the sale was announced in February.

Fans of the station tried to persuade NKU to consider options to save WNKU even before the sale announcement.

Twenty-six members of Cincinnati’s music,

arts and business communities — including CityBeat Publisher Tony Frank — signed an open letter in January urging NKU to consider a sale to WFPK and describing the Louisville station as one of the best Triple-A stations — Adult Album Alternative — in the country. The letter garnered 8,765 signatures in support.

Louisville Public Media’s Skoler said it is critical for regions to have local stations that serve and promote independent musicians and cultural organizations.

“I was confident that Louisville Public Media’s expertise, back-office systems and programming experience would have allowed us to expand WNKU’s service,” wrote Skoler. “More than 8,700 WNKU fans signed a petition to save the station. Their support, along with support expressed by community businesses and cultural groups, would have enabled us to pay off the loan needed to acquire the station and run the station in the black.” (Danny Cross)

Ben Sloan Brings his Percussion Park to a Progressive Price Hill WORDS BY STE VEN ROSEN // PHOTOS BY HAILE Y BOLLINGER

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A Different Drum

J

ust as there have been such recreational innovations as skateparks and bike trails in recent years, there are now “outdoor musical instrument” parks — places that encourage people to come and play music for awhile.

Some are “percussion parks” with such built-in instruments as marimbas, chimes, cymbals, tuned drums and vertically arranged pagoda bells. One company, Colorado’s Freenotes Harmony Park, claims to have provided such “perfectly tuned sound sculptures” in all 50 states and on five continents.

One thing that makes Cincinnati’s new Percussion Park so special is its neighborhood location in a previously vacant lot at the corner of Warsaw and McPherson avenues in Price Hill. It serves as a notable sign that the low-income neighborhood, with its history of West Side conservatism, now is embracing progressive ideas about the arts. That comes as a nonprofit community development corporation, Price Hill Will, works to improve the quality of life for its residents, many of whom are minorities, including families from Central America and Mexico.

Equally impressive is the fact that Percussion Park is the idea of a local 28-year-old Cincinnati musician, Ben Sloan, who created it in true labor-of-love DIY style by making the instruments. A Northside resident, Sloan is a drummer with a degree in Jazz Studies from the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music. He has toured with the band WHY? and also teaches percussion to students preparing to join Price Hill Will’s innovative MYCincinnati free youth orchestra, begun in 2011 and the subject of citywide acclaim.

During Percussion Park’s recent dedication ceremony, Sloan told the assembled crowd, which included members of the

“This is so fresh, so new to the neighborhood. Who knows what the lifespan is? I hope it’s forever.”

response with Sloan, their teacher. A talented 10-year-old, Rhianna Turner, played the bass marimba. Sloan, himself, played a short set with close friend Adam Petersen and vocalist Sheldon Belcher.

And musician Jennifer Simone built an ecstatic groove through first recording herself playing the percussion instruments, then looping that sample while she still played live. The crowd danced, took pictures and joined in playing.

“I think it’s really cool to have a place to go outside and still play instruments,” says Rhianna, who plays violin in the youth orchestra. “Ben has tried really hard to get Price Hill to have music.”

Another youth orchestra violinist, 17-year-old Kalla Ervin, says, “I think it’s a brave idea to put something new in this area. You’re waiting for the neighborhood to have a spark creatively, for people to express themselves musically.”

Sloan’s idea for this park had humble origins. “The mom of a very close friend sent me this video featuring an 8- or 9-year-old boy playing a 5-gallon bucket with his foot,” Sloan recalls during a subsequent interview. “And he had a kick-drum pedal so he could play it like a normal bass drum. A couple of paint cans were mounted, as if they were toms, and it really resembled a drum set.”

Sloan got a kick out of watching it. But he also had a revelation. “The formation of it allowed for you to be playing a drum set that was outside,” he says. “So I had an idea for a percussion park that was essentially an outdoor drum set. But through a lot of research, I realized that getting parts for the mechanical things just wasn’t feasible. They were too delicate and that kind of metal would rust. So I started thinking how I could build something outside for kids to play.”

L-R: At Percussion Park’s opening, children try out the new instruments; Ben Sloan leads the Percussionistas in a performance.

C I T Y B E A T . C O M • M A Y 1 0 – 1 6 • 1 1

MYCincinnati-affiliated Percussionistas group and their families, “This is so fresh, so new to the neighborhood. Who knows what the lifespan is? I hope it’s forever.”

That opening day was one of inclusion and celebration. The colorful instruments beckoned to passersby. They included a wooden bass marimba, with blue-capped yellow PVC-resonators and attached mallets donated by a British manufacturer of outdoor musical instruments, Percussion Play; several drums repurposed from propane tanks and with cut-out “tongues” for pitch control, plus one larger piece adapted from an old bronze water heater; a vertical vibraphone, or hanging chimes, consisting of gleaming stainless steel tubes; and a large stainless steel mixing bowl,

suspended upside-down from a purple repurposed bike rack, that functions as a low-pitched gong. All were affixed onto a concrete pad; some were underneath a pergola. A cedar-chip pathway had been created to lead to the instruments from the sidewalk.

Children from the Percussionistas, part of MYCincinnati’s preorchestra training, sat on their plastic orange buckets and banged out rhythms with their drumsticks. They engaged in call-and-

Actually, that revelation didn’t come in isolation. There’s been a larger cultural and academic awakening to the importance of percussion instruments. Classical music ensembles — groups like So Percussion, Bang on a Can, nief-norf and CCM’s own Percussion Group Cincinnati — have developed sizeable followings. (Percussion Group Cincinnati’s Russell Burge was one of Sloan’s teachers at CCM.) And the movie Whiplash popularized drumming.

“I think it’s happening because rhythm is really awesome, really exciting,” Sloan says. “I want percussion to be at the forefront. The first thing MYCincinnati students get is percussion, before they start playing violin or viola or cello. Partially that’s to instill some rhythmic sensibility in them. Rhythm as a tool is really valuable.”

Sloan adds that percussion musicians also have a long DIY tradition. “Indigenous cultures all over the world have used whatever is around,” he says.

In early 2016, Sloan set out to make Percussion Park a reality. He first thought of Price Hill as a location, since he knew the families of students he taught.

“This neighborhood could have some more vibrancy, so I thought it would be nice to plant it here,” he says. (Locally, there are already

Making Price Hill’s Library an Avant-Arts Center Just three weeks into his job, Steve Kemple doesn’t fit the traditional image of a library manager. He sees and does things differently. For instance, confronted with the new task of interviewing a job applicant for a staff position at his Price Hill branch of the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, he sent out a Facebook message seeking advice: “How many ties should I wear?”

But that trait might be just what the branch needs. It’s a gorgeous 108-year-old Carnegie Library that sits as the centerpiece of a park-like setting at 3215 Warsaw Ave. And that could also be what Price Hill, a low-income neighborhood that’s home to many minority children, needs to thrive in America.

He sees the library as more than a repository for books and computer access or merely as a place for kids to shelter after school. He sees it as a potential arts institution — one that can work with Price Hill Will’s MYCincinnati youth orchestra and the new Percussion Park.

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“I want the Price Hill branch to be a hub for the arts,” he says. “All these kids coming into the library after school with all this energy — what if I can turn them into performance artists?”

He’s already at work turning a basement space into a high-tech meeting room. But beyond that, his ideas get really creative and involve area artists. He’d like to project video art off the interior spaces of the building, which features a square ceiling with a skylight above the main desk and a series of rooms to the sides. “Maybe the kids could make video art or could curate video art,” Kemple says.

Kemple was featured in CityBeat’s 2013 Cool Issue — wearing a gorilla suit — because of his innovations as the Main Library’s music librarian. He started a CD of the Month Club, a bi-monthly “Listen to This!” themed recorded-music listening session and a series of live-music/performance-art events under the banner Experimental Music at the Library. He intends to continue the latter in Price Hill with after-hours concerts — the first is slated for June 21.

Kemple sees his activities as part of the overall community-building going on in the neighborhood. “I don’t want the library to go it alone,” he says. “Everything we do will be with another partner. I want the library to be part of the infrastructure of arts organizations in Price Hill.”

some musical instruments in Washington Park’s children’s area, and Smale Riverfront Park’s foot piano is an attention-getter.)

He contacted Laura Jekel, Price Hill Will’s director of creativeplacemaking and community arts initiatives. She is also a classically trained cellist who personally started the MYCincinnati orchestra.

Using a two-year grant from the Local Initiatives Support Corporation, she had been trying to integrate the support of arts and culture into her organization’s structure. In Price Hill Will’s comprehensive vision for neighborhood revival, art activities are considered a good use.

“Price Hill Will tries to approach community development in a holistic way, realizing that it doesn’t happen in a bubble just by doing housing,” Jekel says.

So when Sloan presented his idea, she was immediately supportive. “We like supporting great things that are happening in the neighborhood,” she says. “When people come to us with great ideas, we want to do anything we can on our end to have something amazing like that in our neighborhood.”

Sloan wrote a proposal to People’s Liberty and received a $10,000 grant.

Ben Sloan with welder Anna Petersen

“Juries of community members decide what People’s Liberty funds (and) we’re glad they chose Ben’s project,” says Eric Avner, People’s Liberty’s CEO, by email. “We saw the same potential as the jury, that Ben wanted to share his passion and expertise in percussion with the community. He created strong relationships with the neighborhood, specifically through Price Hill Will and MYCincinnati, so he’d have some help implementing his bold plans.”

There was available space, too, because Hamilton County’s land bank was holding a spot that Price Hill Will thought crucial because it was in the business district, according to its executive director Ken Smith. Keep Cincinnati Beautiful, working with students at UC’s College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning and with Human

and anything that involved the welding was all mine as well. But he helped with the grinding, the taking away of rust and old paint.”

Sloan also had support from his stepfather, Matt Kotlarczyk, a rehabber and noted Cincinnati sculptor. He used Kotlarsczyk’s Northside studio to store and assemble his percussion creations.

Kotlarczyk himself had been a drummer in a band when he first met Sloan’s mother after she and her son returned to Cincinnati from Virginia. (Sloan’s mother is Tamara Harkavy, founding director of ArtWorks.) Sloane credits Kotlarczyk with getting him interested in drumming in the first place, and at the Percussion Park opening he dedicated his accomplishment to his father and stepfather.

“I’m so glad he’s constructed this combo of visual and performing art,” Kotlarczyk says. “To be standing there and seeing what he was dedicating to me and his dad, this extraordinary body of work that he feels such a connection to — I couldn’t ask for more.”

Now that Percussion Park has been open a couple weeks, there is more work to be done. Two wooden tongue drums were damaged, possibly intentionally, shortly after the opening and Sloan has removed them for repair. That doesn’t perturb him.

“My expectation going in was these have a limited lifespan,” he says. “But somebody’s going to love it while it’s there and have a good time playing it.”

“When people come to us with great ideas, we want to do anything we can on our end to have something amazing like that in our neighborhood.”

L-R: MYCincinnati’s Khalana Kelly plays bass marimba; People’s Liberty’s Jake Hodesh (right)holds mallets as his daughter Naomi plays.

And he’s planning how to keep Percussion Park vibrant and exciting. Quite a bit of space is still vacant in the lot, and he can see some kind of amphitheater there for percussion performances.

“Maybe there will be commissioned work from some older artists working in Cincinnati to utilize that set of instruments and we’ll tie it in with my class,” Sloan says. “But my first goal is just to have a presence there. My plan is to be there a lot. I want to be there on Saturdays for a few hours — just set up my drum set and play with people, give lessons if they want, or just have conversations.”

Quite literally, he will be beating a drum for the role of arts in Price Hill’s future.

To learn more about PERCUSSION PARK, visit facebook.com/percussionpark.

C I T Y B E A T . C O M • M A Y 1 0 – 1 6 • 1 3

Nature, a landscape architecture firm, was caring for the large, sloping lot through a program called Vacant Lots: Occupied.

With the groundwork in place, Sloan turned to a network of family and friends for help. Although his parents divorced when he was very young, he visited his father, Stephen Sloan, in Virginia regularly.

The elder Sloan had extensive woodworking experience and available lumber, so father helped son with the wooden instruments.

Yet Sloan knew he needed metal instruments, too. But he didn’t know much about making those. His $10,000 budget precluded buying manufactured ones; he wanted to be eco-conscious and reuse and adapt existing objects. Fortunately, a friend was ceramist Mauri Moskowitz, whose family has owned a scrapyard in Saint Bernard for 116 years. And that company is artist-friendly — Moskowitz keeps her studio there.

She invited Sloan to tour and take what he wanted. “He was really blown away — he saw a bunch of shapes and was full of ideas for how all this metal material and recycled stuff would make sounds,” Moskowitz says. “He’s definitely the kind of person that walks around with beats on his fingers all the time. He just taps everything and is looking for a new sound.”

Since he had never actually worked metal, he turned to the sister of his closest friend and fellow percussionist, Adam Petersen, for help. Anna Petersen is an artist specializing in metal sculpture who knows welding well — her thesis project at Columbus College of Art & Design involved found scrap metal.

“Any of the fine tuning, making things sound the way they should, was up to him,” Anna says. “For me, the work was structural — I had a heavy hand in the bases made for each of the instruments,

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to do

Staff Recommendations

photo : provided by the ne wport aquarium

WEDNESDAY 10

ONSTAGE: BEAUTIFUL: THE CAROLE KING MUSICAL elevates the jukebox musical to a fine piece of theater.

See review on page 20.

THURSDAY 11

ONSTAGE: The Playhouse in the Park’s ERMA BOMBECK: AT WIT’S END celebrates the life and legacy of columnist Erma Bombeck. See feature on page 18.

ONSTAGE: OVO See the world through the compound eyes of insects and arachnids in Cirque du Soleil’s OVO. Watch as red ants juggle their food and each other, fleas create acrobatic art, crickets reach impressive heights and spiders balance gracefully on their webs. OVO combines Cirque du Soleil’s strengths: colorful costuming; transportive set design; a live band playing Bossa Nova, Samba and Funk; and jugglers, contortionists, acrobats and dancers. Develop a new appreciation for the talented bugs in the ecosystem beneath us.

Read more in Curtain Call on page 19. 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday; 4 and 7:30 p.m.

Saturday; 1:30 and 5 p.m. Sunday. Tickets start at $46 adults; $25 children. U.S. Bank Arena, 100 Broadway St., Downtown, usbankarena.com. — GRACE HILL

FRIDAY 12

MUSIC: Folk/Americana troubadour SEAN ROWE plays the Southgate House Revival. See Sound Advice on page 30.

COMEDY: JAY PHAROAH Comedian Jay Pharoah was first inspired to do voices and impressions as a child by Iago, the parrot from the Disney film Aladdin, voiced by comic Gilbert Gottfried. Over the

WEDNESDAY 10

ATTRACTION: STINGRAY HIDEAWAY Will stingrays actually sting you? Find out at the Newport Aquarium’s new Stingray Hideaway exhibit, which features a 17,000-gallon pool where adults and kids can touch three different species of stingray. These cartilaginous fish, kind of related to sharks, have long tails — some of which will sting in self-defense, but the ones you can touch here do not. The tropically inspired exhibit also includes colorful fish, reptiles and more than 15 different playful species of rays, plus a 30-foot underwater tunnel with a special viewing tube that allows guests to get face-to-face with flat fish. Open daily. Free with admission: $24.99 adults; $16.99 children. Newport Aquarium, Newport on the Levee, Newport, Ky., newportaquarium.com. — MAIJA ZUMMO

years, he’s built an impressive impression repertoire that includes Eddie Murphy, Jay-Z, Chris Rock, Tracy Morgan and President Barack Obama. After a video of Pharoah as Obama went viral in 2010, Lorne Michaels plucked him out of the comedy clubs and put him on Saturday Night Live. Pharoah began as a featured player but was quickly promoted to full cast member. He left the show last year but has since appeared in films Get a Job and Sing. 7:30 and 10 p.m. Friday; 7 and 10 p.m. Saturday. $25. Liberty Funny Bone, 7518 Bales Ave., Liberty Township, liberty.funnybone.com. — P.F. WILSON ONSTAGE: IL MATRIMONIO SEGRETO If it’s Italian comic opera, there’s always a wedding involved, usually one that’s opposed by everyone except the lovers. Domenico Cimarosa’s frothy Il Matrimonio Segreto

(The Secret Marriage) has the distinction of being the only opera to be completely encored following its premiere performance — and for good reason. Cincinnati Chamber Opera presents this breezy tale of an alreadywed couple trying to hide their marriage from the bride’s father and a perspective suitor. The score is delightful and the cast is made up of promising young singers, many of them UC College-Conservatory of Music students. Yael Front conducts. 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday. $25 adult; $10 student. Hoffner Lodge, 4120 Hamilton Ave., Northside, cincinnatichamberopera. org. — ANNE ARENSTEIN EVENT: APPALACHIAN FESTIVAL In a celebration of mountain culture, the Appalachian Festival presents storytellers, artists and craftspeople who will provide an authentic exploration of the place they call

home. Visit a school marm, cook on an open fire, churn butter and experience the art of mountain music with festival demonstrators.

Guests can shop with crafters selling homemade wares and sample down-home cooking.

And a nearly full schedule of musicians will give a taste of Bluegrass, Gospel and Big Band. 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Friday; 10 a.m.-9 p.m.

Saturday; 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday. $10; $5 seniors; $2 children; free 2 and under; “Frugal Friday” tickets available. Coney Island, 6201 Kellogg Ave., California, appalachianfestival.org. — GRACE HILL EVENT: CRAFTS & CRAFTS Butterflies and beer collide at this adultsonly event, which coincides both with the Krohn’s Majestic Monarch butterfly show (through June 18) and Krohn Marketplace Weekend. Local vendors and artists will CONTINUES ON PAGE 16

C I T Y B E A T . C O M • M A Y 1 0 – 1 6 • 1 5

EVENT: ART DECO ARCHITECTURE TOUR The Cincinnati Museum Center’s Heritage Programs offer docent-led tours around Cincinnati. Thursday’s program features a tour of local iconic Art Deco buildings, including the Art Moderne Union Terminal itself. The Art Deco movement combined the geometry of Cubism with Egyptian and exotic influences and high craft design intended to reflect the glamor, industry and modernity of the age. After exploring Union Terminal, visit the Dalton Avenue post office, Cincinnati Bell telephone building, Carew Tower’s arcade, the Netherland Plaza, the Times Star Building and the Coca-Cola building on Dana Avenue. 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

Thursday. $80 member; $90 non-member.

Cincinnati Museum Center, 1301 Western Ave., Queensgate, cincymuseum.org/programs/heritage. — MAIJA ZUMMO

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THURSDAY 11

ART: THE POWER OF US AT C-LINK GALLERY Brazee Street’s C-LINK Gallery hosts an opening reception for a group show curated by local artist Pam Kravetz that celebrates female power. Featuring a wide range of artists and media, The Power of Us is “an exploration of the changing conception of female strength in a new political era.” The show will bring together the work of artists including Lizzy DuQuette, Jennifer Edwards, Peter Van Hyning, Karen Saunders and Jennifer Ustick, among many others. The opening is held in conjunction with Open Studios, a free community event showcasing Brazee’s 30-plus professional artist studios. Opening reception 6-8 p.m. Thursday. Through June 2. Free. Brazee Street Studios, 4426 Brazee St., Oakley, c-linklocal.com. — MARIA SEDA-REEDER

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FROM PAGE 15

be onsite selling a variety of Earth-friendly products all day Saturday and Sunday, but this after-hours bash comes with a few special bonuses, i.e. live music and copious samples of craft beer. Includes entry to The Majestic Monarch, which revolves around attracting butterflies and other pollinators to your home garden by using specific plant colors, shapes and scents.

The showroom is filled with vibrant marigolds, celosia, hydrangeas and butterflies.

Crafts & Crafts 5:30-7:30 p.m. Friday. $15. Krohn Conservatory, 1501 Eden Park Drive, Eden Park, butterflyshow. com. — EMILY BEGLEY ONSTAGE: SHREK THE MUSICAL Think theater productions have to be performed by professionals to be entertaining? Year after year, Cincinnati Music Theatre, one of our best local community theaters, produces ambitious musicals with just volunteer actors and stagehands. Shrek the Musical, based on the Oscar-winning

animated film, is a fairy tale adventure featuring all new songs from Tony Awardwinning composer Jeanine Tesori. It’s the story of an unlikely hero on a life-changing journey with a smart-aleck donkey and a feisty princess. It’s great show for the entire family. Through May 20. $20-$24. Aronoff Center, 650 Walnut St., Downtown, cincinntimusictheatre.org. — RICK PENDER

SATURDAY 13

LIT: TIMOTHY SNYDER discusses On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century at the Main Library.

See interview on page 21.

MUSIC: Phoenix Metalcore band EYES SET TO KILL plays the Thompson House. See Sound Advice on page 30.

EVENT: ASIAN FOOD FEST Thirty food vendors descend on Washington Park this weekend for the largest installment of Asian Food Fest to date, celebrating the culture and cuisine of Asian countries from India to Vietnam. Grab small plates and local

photo : jimmy hubbard

IT’S ON LIKE DONKEY KONG...

LITERALLY! SUNDAY 14

MUSIC: MASTODON Atlanta’s Mastodon has been consistently honing its sound since forming in 2000, and the Hard Rock/Metal group’s hard work has been paying off big time. The band’s latest album, Emperor of Sand, continued the trend of each Mastodon album topping the last in terms of sales and chart positions. Besides entering Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart at No. 1, Emperor’s dominance of various other charts in its first week of release demonstrates Mastodon’s widespread appeal and dynamic musical approach. Emperor of Sand is the pinnacle of the band’s move toward more song-oriented material and features the most melodically ear-grabbing tracks in the band’s eight-album discography. But Mastodon isn’t pandering — the group’s Prog tendencies and dazzling technical proficiency are just more concisely distilled into the song’s framework. The music is smartly constructed and still rings with Mastodon’s sublime mix of classic Metal, Sabbath-inspired Hard Rock and AltMetal (think Queens of the Stone Age on a vintage Thrash bender). Eagles of Death Metal and Russian Circles join Mastodon for its tour stop at the Taft. 7:30 p.m. Sunday. $42.25$77.50. Taft Theatre, 317 E. Fifth St., Downtown, tafttheatre.org. — MIKE BREEN

craft beers from the likes of Pho Lang Thang, Indi-Go and Red Sesame Korean Barbecue before swinging by a “Secret Menu” booth for unique Asian recipes from home chefs and aspiring food entrepreneurs. The event also features live performances on the park’s main stage and gazebo. Catch Chinese cultural dances by the Confucius Institute, a Tai Chi demonstration by Sato and a presentation by the University of Cincinnati Korean Culture and Dance Club. Noon-9 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Free admission. Washington Park, 1230 Elm St., Over-the-Rhine, washingtonpark.org. — EMILY BEGLEY

SUNDAY 14

MUSIC: Metal elite Devin Townsend’s DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT plays Bogart’s. See Sound Advice on page 31.

TUESDAY 16

MUSIC: BOYZ II MEN plays U.S. Bank Arena with New Kids on the Block. See feature on page 28.

ONGOING shows ONSTAGE The Tempest Cincinnati Shakespeare Company, Downtown (through May 20) Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery Playhouse in the Park, Mount Adams (through May 20)

Over-the-Rhine + 16-BitBar.com

C I T Y B E A T . C O M • M A Y 1 0 – 1 6 • 1 7

EVENT: BILL & TED SCAVENGER CRAWL Keep Your Shirt On Covington presents an excellent adventure in the form of a hybrid scavenger hunt and bar crawl. In a quest to pass a “totally bogus history class,” crawlers will journey into both the past and future, completing challenges like taking selfies with Socrates and battling Death at Battleshots. You’ll also be asked to seek out local landmarks and art all while enjoying some bodacious drink specials along the way. Bonus: All players will receive

a limited-edition “Be Excellent to Each Other” fannie pack. 1-4 p.m. Saturday. $30.

Begins at 16-Bit Bar+Arcade, 1331 Walnut St., Over-the-Rhine, keepyourshirtoncovington.com. — EMILY BEGLEY

arts & culture

Honesty and Domesticity

One-woman show reveals how humorous columnist Erma Bombeck made the ordinary extraordinary

BY RICK PENDER

P H O T O : c . s ta n l e y photo g r a ph y

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E

rma Bombeck was a journalist whose three-times-weekly columns evoked chuckles from 30 million readers across America for more than three decades. And she was from this region —born in Bellbrook, Ohio, she eventually made her home in Centerville, south of Dayton.

Despite the fact that she was read by millions, appeared regularly on national television and wrote for magazines including Good Housekeeping, Redbook and McCall’s, she’s not remembered today as a serious journalist. (Bombeck died of cancer at age 69 in 1996.) That generates a feisty observation from Barbara Chisholm, the actress portraying the legendary humorist in a new one-woman show, Erma Bombeck: At Wit’s End, on the Shelterhouse Theatre stage at the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park.

“She was the widest-distributed columnist in American history,” Chisholm says. “Erma was part of that generation of white women who were relegated to domesticity in the suburbs as stay-at-home moms. They were supposed to be completely fulfilled by this domestic-goddess environment that had allegedly been set up for them.”

But Bombeck perceived things differently.

“She saw the value in being a mother, in caring for a home,” Chisholm says. “But she also saw that it wasn’t the paradise that advertising led it to be. So she wrote about it very honestly.”

Bombeck began writing her column in 1964 when she was 37, having just sent the youngest of her three children to kindergarten. She described with candor the messiness of raising children and the differences between the American Dream as portrayed in magazines of the time and the reality of suburbia. She never shied away from discussing the indignities of getting older as a woman.

Nevertheless, Bombeck’s writing was broadly appreciated because she adeptly used humor.

“What made her so appealing and approachable is that she was unbelievably funny,” Chisholm says. “Some of her contemporaries in the Women’s Movement were viewed as more strident, so their message was harder to hear. Erma struck such a nice balance of honoring it but pointing out how ridiculous it was.”

Her columns were collected and published in more than a dozen books. The titles reflected Bombeck’s wry wit and clever way with words: The Grass Is Always Greener Over the Septic Tank (1976) and If Life Is a Bowl of Cherries, What Am I Doing in the Pits? (1978) are typical examples.

Barbara Chisholm stars as Erma Bombeck in the Playhouse’s At Wit’s End. Chisholm played Bombeck in the play’s 2015 world premiere at Washington, D.C.’s Arena Stage theater. The Playhouse production is the show’s second full staging. She says many people remember Bombeck with deep affection and nostalgia. “It’s touching to hear people say, ‘My mom always had Erma’s column on the refrigerator’ or, ‘My mom always read Erma’s books.’ ” But many are surprised at other aspects of Bombeck’s life that Chisholm portrays. In 1978, Bombeck was appointed to the Presidential Advisory Committee for Women, a set of high-profile opinion leaders who sought approval of the Equal Rights Amendment.

For two years, Bombeck devoted considerable time and effort to national advocacy on behalf of the amendment’s ratification. When the ERA failed to gain sufficient state legislative approval by 1982, it was one of the most devastating moments in her life.

Bombeck’s writing impressed playwrights Allison and Margaret Engel — identical twin sisters who are also mothers and journalists.

“As we researched Erma’s life, we were struck by the sustained quality of her writing, especially when she was turning out three columns per week for decades,” they commented in a Playhouse news release. “We were amazed by her discipline in finishing deadlines before her children came home

(from school) each afternoon. Although she was a favorite guest of Johnny Carson’s on The Tonight Show, was a contributor for years on Good Morning America and was one of the most recognized and beloved women in America, she was not seduced by fame, money or Hollywood. She managed to be extraordinary by being ordinary.”

The Engel sisters and director David Esbjornson, who staged the world premiere, spent time in Cincinnati with Chisholm to prepare for the Playhouse production.

“We’re still working on the play although it’s been published,” Chisholm says. “You might think that this is a remount, but it’s like totally fresh eyes. We’ve made changes, and it’s better.”

Chisholm performed in a previous play by the Engels: Red Hot Patriot, about Molly Ivins, the outspoken Texas political columnist, that debuted in 2010. She’s grateful for these opportunities given the limited acting opportunities available for middleaged women. The Engels say that audiences “immediately are taken in” by Chisholm.

Of the playwrights, Chisholm says, “They’re professional women. I think they really admired (Erma’s) work. They were struck by the fact that Erma’s not taught in journalism schools. Which she should

be! That’s shocking for the most successful columnist ever. Why isn’t she taught? Why wasn’t she ever nominated for a Pulitzer Prize? I am personally affronted by that. I want her to get a Pulitzer posthumously.

(I guess it’s because) she wrote about domesticity and she was a woman. There is affection for her, but there is a kind of trivialization, I think. I’m so pleased that (the Engels’) play gives her the respect that’s eluded her.

“For those who love and remember Erma, I think they’ll be moved and touched to learn how much grit and depth there was to her,” Chisholm continues. “She overcame and worked through tremendous personal challenges. She used her celebrity to work passionately for passage of the ERA. This play gives her a measure of respect and gravitas to add to the deep affection in which she’s held. There’s nothing trivial about the world Erma inhabited and wrote.

Those who are not familiar with her will be astonished and amazed and appreciative of a formidable trailblazing woman.”

ERMA BOMBECK: AT WIT’S END opens Thursday (after previews) and runs through June 18 in the Shelterhouse Theatre at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park. Tickets/more info: cincyplay.com.

a&c curtain call

Run Away and Join the Cirque?

BY RICK PENDER

C I T Y B E A T . C O M • M A Y 1 0 – 1 6 • 1 9

Perhaps you’ve heard that Ringling Bros. shows and played keyboards for several and Barnum & Bailey Circus is shutting down.

Broadway productions and tours. He joined I suppose it’s outlived its popularity, but it Cirque in 1998 as a conductor to help create surely entertained people for years. Does this Dralion, a touring show. The first American mean the phenomenon of the circus is over? musician hired by Cirque, he oversaw the Not really. There’s a singular counter-examshow’s music for three years. He left for the ple in town this week: Cirque du Soleil. orchestra pit of Lion King on Broadway.

Its arena show OVO performs at U.S. Bank Cirque lured Oberacker back for the Arena Thursday through Sunday. creation of KÀ, no easy task since he loved A prior version of OVO was here in March working on the big Broadway hit. But KÀ 2011, a “Big Top” production using a tent was proposed as an incredibly spectacular as its venue. Set up at Old Coney, several production — Cirque’s first narratively performances were canceled due to the Ohio River flooding. Despite all our recent rain, that won’t happen this year in the downtown arena.

OVO, the Portuguese word for “egg,” puts audiences into a colorful ecosystem teeming with life in an imaginary Brazilian rain forest.

Performers portray insects that work, eat, crawl, flutter, play, fight and look for love in a nonstop riot of energy and movement. One reviewer called the show “A Bug’s Life meets Ziggy Stardust.” When OVO has been called “A Bug’s Life meets Ziggy Stardust.” a mysterious egg appears in PHOTO : courtesy of cirque du soleil their midst, the insects are awestruck and curious about the iconic object that represents the cycles driven show conceived by the Canadian of their lives. playwright and director Robert Lepage.

The story provides architecture for OVO’s Oberacker got in as KÀ’s musical director 50 dazzling performers from a dozen counwhen it opened in 2004. “I thought if they tries — acrobats, gymnasts, athletes and can pull off half of (what they claimed), I clowns — who tell a sweet story about love, would be stupid to turn this down,” he says. energy and movement. One of the wonders “This show is a massive leap forward in engiof Cirque shows is their universal appeal to neering, in imagination, in video concept both the young and old, as well as to people and humans interacting with video.” from many cultures. It’s a remarkable forThirteen years later, Oberacker continues mula for success. to be engaged and stimulated by KÀ. But There’s no reason to fret that circuses are Cirque has also given him the flexibility to dying off. In fact, Cirque du Soleil continues pursue his own creations as the composer to grow. I spent several days in Las Vegas of musicals staged at top regional theaters, in February, where I saw three of the seven including Ace at the Cincinnati Playhouse in Cirque shows permanently installed there: 2006. His biggest theatrical break yet is hapLove (using music by the Beatles), O (a pening in New York right now: Bandstand, mind-boggling production employing a his first musical on Broadway. A comedygiant onstage pool) and KÀ (more on that drama set after the end of World War II, it in a moment). After four decades, Cirque features Oberacker’s Swing-infused score. today produces 21 shows, many in revolving, The production, directed by another Cintouring repertoire, using 1,300 performing cinnatian, Andy Blankenbuehler (Hamilartists from nearly 50 different countries on ton’s Tony-winning choreographer), opened six continents. They’ve entertained more April 26 and it’s been nominated for two than 160 million spectators.

Tony Awards, including for the orchestraAmong Cirque’s nearly 4,000 employees is tions of music that Oberacker composed. one with strong ties to Cincinnati: Richard “Doing this is something I’ve been working Oberacker. I talked to him during my trip for since I was very, very young,” he says. to Vegas. He grew up here, graduating from Running away to join the circus might Turpin High School and the University not be such a far-fetched idea. of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Cirque du Soleil’s OVO runs Thursday-Sunday at Music. A musical phenomenon as a teen, U.S. Bank Arena. More info: usbankarena.com. he studied acting at CCM, performed in

a&c onstage

Carole King Is ‘Beautiful’ REVIEW BY RICK PENDER

Does 1958 strike you as “So Far Away”?

We watch King, Goffin, Weil and Mann That’s a trick question: As soon as you grow up. Their stories elevate Beautiful hear the familiar melody of that hit song from an average jukebox musical and make

by Carole King, time melts away. Watching it a fine piece of theater. Beautiful’s first act the touring production of Beautiful: The shows them cranking out hit after hit, the two Carole King Musical onstage at the Aronoff, couples vying for No. 1 on the charts. It’s quite you’ll quickly discover that she was a precoastonishing that these iconic songs were the cious 16-year-old when she began writing creative output of such young artists.

Pop tunes. That’s right: Many of the great But then, just as they begin to mature, the hits from the late ’50s and early ’60s were music world turns a corner. In the mid-1960s, composed by a teenage Jewish girl from Pop evolved with the rise of the Beatles and Brooklyn who became an acclaimed singerother groups who wrote and performed songwriter in the 1970s.

The show cleverly draws you into the life of this young H woman who had great selfCRITIC’S assurance about her talent but less about her life. She H was an average teen in many ways, not confident about her appearance or her sex appeal.

But she met Gerry Goffin, a handsome, serious-minded guy a few years older who had a way with words. He aspired to be a playwright, and he could craft perfect lyrics for formulaic tunes that rose to the top of the charts. They fell Julia Knitel (seated at piano) as the gifted rock composer King in love and married.

PHOTO : joan marcus This touring production features Julia Knitel as King and Liam Tobin as Goffin, and they’re their own music. Goffin’s aspirations to be a exactly right for their roles. She’s gangly serious artist, coupled with his struggles to and teenaged cute, initially sporting a perky write songs in the new style, led him to seriponytail that was the style in the late ’50s; ous dissatisfaction and seriously depressive he has a James Dean-like bad boy appeal, behavior that ultimately crashed his marintense and good-looking. They both have riage with King, making “Will You Still Love the pipes to bring these songs to life; before Me Tomorrow?” a poignant closing number this tour, Knitel played King for a year in the to the show’s first act.

Broadway production that continues to run What comes after intermission is a chroniin New York City. They’re believable as a pair cle of King’s growth into a more self-assured of too-young teens who marry and have a artist, combining her skills as composer, lyrichild, all the while pumping out hit tunes. cist and performer. Her hairstyle had earlier The way Beautiful handles those tunes changed from the ponytail to a coiffed bob of is great fun. We watch King and Goffin (and ’50s housewives, but in Act II it blossoms into their friendly competitors Cynthia Weil and a naturally curly mop. And music pours forth Barry Mann, played by Erika Olson and Ben from her, culminating in her legendary 1971 Fankhauser) noodle away at melodies and recording, Tapestry. Virtually every song she words. They begin to form a song — Knitel produced is familiar today, even if younger and Fankhauser both play an upright piano audiences don’t know King’s story. (the same one that wheels from King’s The song “Beautiful” tells that story: mother’s apartment to record producer Don “You’ve got to wake up every morning with Kirshner’s music offices at 1650 Broada smile on your face/And show the world way), and then there’s a magical transition all the love in your heart.” It captures the to recreations by other cast members of essence of King’s triumphant soul, new and the hits they became, as recorded by The confident. The song is the show’s finale: Drifters (“Some Kind of Wonderful,” “Up on “You’re gonna find, yes you will/That you’re the Roof”), The Shirelles (“Will You Love beautiful as you feel.” King is, and so is the Me Tomorrow”), Little Eva (who happened show that tells her story. to be King and Goffin’s babysitter until she BEAUTIFUL: THE CAROLE KING MUSICAL, hit it big with “The Loco-Motion”) and the presented by Broadway in Cincinnati, continues Righteous Brothers (“You’ve Lost that Lovin’ at the Aronoff Center for the Arts through Sunday.

Feeling”). With each revelation the audiMore info and tickets: cincinnatiarts.org. ence’s awe for the talent ramps up.

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a&c LIT

Timothy Snyder’s Quest to Prevent Tyranny

BY JUDY GEORGE

APRIL 22 – MAY 20

C I T Y B E A T . C O M • M A Y 1 0 – 1 6 • 2 1

When he visited his hometown near DayTS: All major attempts to undermine ton, Ohio last year, Yale history professor democratic systems like ours — whether a Timothy Snyder realized the 2016 election century ago or now — depend, first, upon was like no other. “Coming to Ohio made getting us to not believe the truth. The me see, for the first time, that we were sinkTrump campaign ran on this idea. Pretty ing into a world where talking about politics much daily, (he) said the real media are with someone who had different views was fake so we’d lose the notion that people becoming weird,” he says. “The new normal who are working to find facts are any was to sit in front of your screen and get different than people who just sit around your views affirmed.” and make things up. The history of this is A week after the election, Snyder penned really profound. When you don’t know the a Facebook essay that began: “Americans difference between the truth and are no wiser than the Europeans who saw democracy yield to fascism, Nazism or communism. Our one advantage is that we might learn from their experience. Now is a good time to do so.”

His post, which reached more than a million viewers, is the basis for his new book, On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century. With clarity and urgency, Snyder offers 20 ways to recognize and fight tyranny, ranging from “Do not obey in advance” to “LisSnyder believes Trump has tried to get people to reject truth.

PHOTO : ine gundersveen ten for dangerous words.”

Saturday at 7 p.m., Snyder will speak at the Public what you want to hear, you start being Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton Counready for authoritarianism. ty’s Main Library. In a telephone conversaTo be a citizen, you have to be able to tion with CityBeat, he discussed what he get facts and be skeptical of your leadsees as a need for genuine alarm in the U.S. ers. You can’t drop the facts, but you also CityBeat: Why are you talking about can’t drop the skepticism. It takes work tyranny now? to be a citizen. But that’s what democracy Timothy Snyder: I’m trying to persuade demands, precisely. people that things really can go awry. HisCB: You use the Reichstag fire — when tory teaches us that democracies usually fail Hitler seized an opportunity after the Gerand they can fail in pretty spectacular ways. man parliament building was attacked — But what we can learn from history is to show how quickly terrorism can cause that failure needs our consent. Authoritara nation to suspend basic civil rights. ians need our consent to win; they need us Why is this important now? to go along in one way or another. That’s TS: If we think of terrorism as just an why the first lesson in my book talks about exceptional moment, we will not be how you don’t go along. prepared. Terrorism is part of a cycle. It’s The other thing is that time is crucial. You the warp and woof of how you create a need to recognize that you are in a critical modern tyranny. The Reichstag fire was the situation and do little things that will raditemplate to come to power through legal ate outward and matter. means. Through an exceptional event like The bad news is that the possibilities that, you can take away the civil liberties of are much darker than we like to think. The the population. good news is that individual actions matter.

If there’s another event like 9/11, we have For most Americans, their actions matter to do better this time. If we are hit by that more now than they ever did. That’s the pool of fear and grief, we can’t let that blur good part. There’s actually a chance to into vulnerability. Thinking about this in make a difference. advance is the only chance to resist it.

CB: On the Bill Maher show Real Time, TIMOTHY SNYDER will give a free talk 7 p.m. you said that people who are against the Saturday at the Main Library, 800 Vine St., truth are taking a direct line toward killDowntown. More info:cincinnatilibrary.org/news. ing democracy. What did you mean?

a&c film

Evolving Gender Identity in ‘3 Generations’

BY T T STERN-ENZI

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It is such a quaint notion now to refer to a perfect sitcom timing (minus the laugh story as a “TV movie” because the meaning track). We’re supposed to get that Dolly is has dissolved as we’ve become submerged old but still hip. Adding to the sitcom feel is in an ever-evolving stream of content. the conceit that Ray and her mother Maggie We have overcome elitist considerations live with Dolly in a multi-level brownstone about where we watch movies — from the that is, of course, straight out of an upscale big screens of theaters to the small screens, magazine from the late ’90s. which used to refer to televisions but now The saving grace of 3 Generations is include computers, tablets and smartphones Fanning. The title change, just prior to the — and can instead center the discussion on film’s release, centers as much on the spotmovies’ narratives rather than their origins. on casting of Sarandon, Watts and FanYet, an old-head critic like yours truly ning as it does the idea that there is a real slips up occasionally, falling back on such casual categorical tropes as offhandedly comparing a feature film to a TV movie — which is exactly what I’m about to do with director Gaby Dellal’s new release 3 Generations. Dellal co-wrote the script with Nikole Beckwith, and it is worth noting that Beckwith’s upcoming writing credit happens to be the television adaptation/ remake of Beaches, while the London-born Dellal has a history directing shorts (Toy Elle Fanning (left) and Susan Sarandon Boys and Football) as well as P H O T O : n i ko tav e r n i s e / th e w e i n s t e i n c o m pa n y episodes of the British television drama series Leaving. generational shift on display when it comes Certainly we can appreciate the fact that to issues of sexual and gender identity. contemporary production values and the You’ve got an Academy Award-winner in availability of A-list talent for serialized work Sarandon (who downplays the broad “televion premium cable and streaming formats sion” strokes like the pro that she is) and means that “film” and “television” distincan Oscar-nominee in Watts (working nicely tions have far less to do with the aesthetics without succumbing to hysterics in every of storytelling, but I would argue that we still scene). But the real star turn comes from recognize a “TV movie” when we see one.

Fanning. She plays someone whose gawky I caught 3 Generations back in September teen limbs cover an emerging swan-like at the Toronto International Film Festival, grace lurking just beneath the surface. when it was still titled About Ray. It’s about a Here, that awkwardness aligns with the young adult named Ray (Elle Fanning) seeknotion of Ray struggling in the wrong body. ing to transition from female to male despite It is fascinating to watch Fanning as she awkward protests from her gay grandmother moves, always conscious of Ray’s hunched(Susan Sarandon) and ineffective assistance over stride or the gangly way Ray can’t from her aimless mother (Naomi Watts). quite figure out how to cross her legs when Eventually Ray embarks on a journey to seated. The best way to appreciate the pertrack down her biological father (Tate Donoformance might be to ignore all of the talk van) to get his legal consent.

— the politically correct efforts to treat Ray Set in the cinematic cultural melting pot with respect, the mother-daughter bickerthat is New York City, the film exists against ing between Dolly and Maggie and even the the abrasively edgy backdrop of an urban staid white-male intrusions of Ray’s father community that wears its vintage identity into the process later on — and just focus badges with honor, although you could on the physicality of Fanning. argue that not everyone is as progressive We all seek some sense of acceptance, as they believe they are. Take, for instance, coming first from within, and maybe the Ray’s grandma Dolly (Sarandon), a lesbian same is true for a film like 3 Generations. It with a long-time lover (Linda Emond) who can’t quite come to grips with Ray’s decision might look and feel like a “TV movie,” but to undergo gender reassignment. “Why not Fanning wills it toward something richer just be a lesbian?” Dolly constantly asks. and more nuanced — something that matBut Dellal makes sure that Dolly delivers ters. (Opens Friday at the Esquire Theatre.) these queries with wit and tenderness, with (PG-13) Grade: B-

ON SCREEN Is ‘Colossal’ Colossal?

BY T T STERN-ENZI

Colossal, a strange hybrid of domestic drama, romantic comedy and monster movie, has turned out to be one of spring’s most talked-about indies. Much of that talk has centered on figuring out its success with its intentions. Now is a good time to revisit that discussion, since Colossal is close to playing out its theatrical run but will doubtlessly turn up soon on video-on-demand services and as a DVD. If you can’t catch it first-run, definitely see it in the secondary market.

The film from Spanish director Nacho Vigalondo, who helmed one of the segments from the V/H/S Viral horror film, features Anne Hathaway as a down-onher-luck character forced to return to her anonymous American hometown with all of her millennial angst in tow after a devastating breakup and losing her job.

She wallows in self-pity, almost drinking herself into oblivion, until she realizes she’s part of a much bigger problem than she ever could have imagined: She seems somehow able to trigger monster attacks in Korea.

Colossal at first lays out a rather typical setup for a formulaic rom-com. But fortunately, Vigalondo wants nothing whatsoever to do with that tired genre.

In casting Hathaway he blazes a new surreal trail. She puts her skills to good use in Colossal, where on the other side of the world from her character — in Seoul, South Korea — the populace is beset by a rampaging creature, taller than a skyscraper, that appears out of nowhere and lays waste to everything in its wake.

She seems able to manipulate it by the physical steps she takes. Imagine if Godzilla became the gigantic avatar of a broken-hearted binge-drinker, who sets it loose just by dancing alone in the park.

It is not often that female characters take center stage in such stories, especially one so rooted in emotional distress. Vigalondo borrows liberally from “Parallel Monsters,” his V/H/S Viral installment, which tracked a character with divergent lives on either side of an inter-dimensional portal, but adds a degree of difficulty by replacing demonic horror with daft humor. Hathaway takes on the colossal challenge and proves to be a real winner. (R) Grade: B

a&c television

The Handmaid’s Cautionary Tale

BY JAC KERN

Pick of the Week

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C I T Y B E A T . C O M • M A Y 1 0 – 1 6 • 2 3

During a time when futuristic dystopian As Offred reflects on her old life, she stories dominate our screens and pages ponders why she and others didn’t speak — and are, strangely enough, increasingly up and fight back at the first signs of this marketed to the young adult audience — a dark transformation — early on, she and mature interpretation of the genre with femher friend are refused service at a coffee inist literature roots is a welcome change. shop for being “sluts”; later, she and all Halfway through the first season of The her women co-workers are let go because Handmaid’s Tale (Wednesdays, Hulu), of a new law forbidding women from it’s easy to see why the drama was one of working; finally, a bank denies her access the most highly anticipated premieres of to her own account. When she does take 2017. Based on the novel of the same name a stand, attending a rally that at first

by Margaret Atwood, the show takes place feels plucked from the scene of a recent in a near future where the U.S. government has been overthrown by Christian fundamentalists and social classes have been reconfigured. Women bear the brunt of much of these changes — stripped of their right to work, possess money or property, read and vote, women are essentially reduced to baby makers — though we also see men executed for “crimes” like being gay or Catholic and for performing abortions.

While there are many classifications for women, the focus Elisabeth Moss tries to resist a totalitarian U.S. government. here is on the handmaids — PHOTO : Courtesy of hulu fertile women forced to bear children for elite families who women’s march, peaceful protestors are can’t on their own.

Star Elisabeth Moss fights the patriarkilled by the militia. chy once again, after playing badass ad The series is a cautionary tale that at woman Peggy Olson in Mad Men. Here, once feels like a cold warning and a hopeshe’s Offred, a different kind of badass and ful reminder to fight back at the smallest handmaid to Commander Frederick Waterindications of injustice. And while it’s ford. As his property, she’s given the name clearly not a direct response to current Offred (“of Fred”), the way all women in American politics, the issues explored here this role are (her real name is June). Capare all the more relevant in the Trump era. tured trying to escape to Canada with her As Offred attempts to learn and follow family, her life was spared because of her the rules set out for her, she makes quiet, rare ability to conceive. calculated efforts to eventually escape.

Rising infertility and plunging birth But every move forward or new ally leads rates spark much of the hysteria that leads to a heartbreaking loss. In understanding to this new society. Even before the fall of the dynamics of this new society, perhaps the U.S., we see a pregnant June nervous Offred can use those who rule her to help that her child will have critical birth reach freedom and the daughter that’s defects like so many others at the time. been taken from her.

When she gives birth to a healthy girl, a woman attempts to kidnap the baby from the hospital. In no time, what seems like a Master of None (Season Premiere, Friday, gift or miracle for June becomes a curse as Netflix) – The second season of Aziz she’s forced to have ritualistic sex with a Ansari’s fantastic modern romantic comedy stranger in the company of his wife. finds Dev (Ansari) Eat, Pray, Love-ing his The Handmaid’s Tale does not follow a way through Italy before returning to New linear storyline, instead jumping back and York to find his stride as an up-and-coming forth to Offred’s current arrangement with Asian-American actor. As a minority actor/ the Waterfords, her early days as a handwriter and son of Muslim immigrants, maid and “before,” when she was a working Ansari has mastered the art of creating mother and wife in the contemporary U.S. something particular to his personal life, The sometimes chaotic bouncing around yet relatable to all. helps illustrate the uncertainties of this CONTACT JAC KERN: @jackern mysterious new world.

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FOOD & DRINK

Making Waves

Seafood-focused Eighth & English is a welcome successor to O’Bryonville’s Enoteca Emilia REVIEW BY PAMA MITCHELL

E

every one. I’ll admit to an ingrained snobbery against boxed wines, but these went a long way toward altering my attitude.

The menu looks Italian, with sections such as Primi (first course, usually pasta) and Contorni (vegetables and sides). But if you read ingredients and style of prep, clearly there’s a range of influences, such as Middle Eastern (little lamb sandwiches with tzatziki and harissa) and solidly American (grilled hanger steak with hash, egg and arugula). As suggested by the sea-themed art on the walls, there are a lot of seafood offerings in just about every menu category, and yet plenty for landlubbers, too.

We each began with something from the dozen “Start” choices. I’m a fan of octopus and went with the Sardinian baby octopus stew with white wine, chili and tomato ($14). The broth was thin and flavorful — it seemed more like a soup — and the octopi were tiny, whole creatures, tentacles and all. They were tender and quite delicious, as was the tomato-based, slightly spicy base.

My husband, George — who never met a sea creature he didn’t like — scarfed up his large portion of Laughing Bird Shrimp ($14) in Romesco sauce, while our friend Larry enjoyed farro and arugula salad ($8) dotted with chickpeas, olives, roasted peppers and creamy goat cheese. Amy couldn’t finish her bowl of roasted beets with almonds and tarragon vinaigrette ($8), a very filling starter.

For some now unfathomable reason, we all skipped the pasta (Primi) section and picked either an entrée or, in my case, another starter and a side. (Blowers says that the most popular menu item has been spaghetti with poached lobster and pistachio pesto, which I will try on my next visit.)

Larry ordered smoked rainbow trout ($21), Amy had duck ($22) and George continued an all-seafood meal with baked halibut ($26). We all agreed that the halibut was best, served with sticky rice, coconut curry and an array of mildly spiced seasonings.

My main course consisted of swordfish meatballs in tasty gravy atop creamy polenta ($14) and a side of charred broccolini with anchovies, capers and golden raisins ($8). Blowers says “anything with broccolini” has been a hit with customers, and I loved this version with its salty and sweet components.

We tried all four desserts: Two were pudding-like and the others kind of cakey ($10 each). The cakes won out, especially angel food cut into cubes and served with almond crumble, huckleberry jam and vanilla gelato. The contrast in textures with the crunchy almond and slightly toasted cake cubes, creamy gelato and unctuous

8 & E’s menu offers innovative seafood-centric fare, like baked halibut with coconut curry. jam hit all the right notes. Not far behind in our estimation was the chocolate fudge brownie with bourbon caramel and torched marshmallow.

Blowers, 34, says opening this restaurant “was the next logical step in my career path” after a three-year stint as executive chef, general manager and operating partner at National Exemplar in Mariemont. “It’s a cutthroat business, and good restaurants close all the time,” he says.

He invested time and money before opening here, not just in renovations but also by hiring a branding company, which included focus-grouping a name from among dozens of suggestions. Eighth & English, which actually derives from an influential person in his life — his eighth-grade English teacher — emerged as the top choice. Now it’s up to Blowers and his staff to make a go of it.

For sure, we’ll be back — and probably often.

Eighth & English GO: 2038 Madison Road, O’Bryonville; CALL: 513-386-7383; INTERNET: 8thandenglish. com; HOURS: 5-9:30 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday; 5-10:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

C I T Y B E A T . C O M • M A Y 1 0 – 1 6 • 2 5

noteca Emilia, the former restaurant in what is now Eighth & English, filled a dining void for the central neighborhoods of Walnut Hills, O’Bryonville and western Hyde Park, and I was happy when I heard a new tenant was imminent. Now that we’ve sampled the fare, I’m even happier.

This seafood-centric, Italian-flavored eatery — which goes by the nickname 8 & E — is a godsend for those looking for innovative, thoughtfully crafted fare somewhere in the city outside of Over-the-Rhine, downtown or parts of Covington.

Similar to its predecessor, the food at 8 & E skews Italian, a more or less universally beloved cuisine. But there’s more variety to the menu, and this isn’t exactly an Italian restaurant. In fact, chef/owner Chase Blowers says one reason he decided on the name Eighth & English was to preserve his freedom to cook from a broader array of culinary influences. “I didn’t want the name to define the concept,” he says.

For Blowers, after more than a decade leading kitchens in the region, this is his first stab at owning a restaurant. He assembled a management team largely consisting of former colleagues from his past experience at Boca and has sunk tens of thousands of dollars into renovations — mostly in the kitchen. Since opening in late March, he said they’ve had sellout weekends and good crowds on weeknights, too.

The restaurant’s layout includes a main floor dining room, a bar with high-top tables and more seating up a flight of stairs. The high ceiling gives downstairs diners a good view of the loft-like upstairs and makes the room feel bigger than it is. Lots of windows add extra light and enhance the expansive atmosphere. We’ve dined in each of these areas under the previous ownership and my favorite remains the first-floor dining room.

Our first visit to 8 & E came two weeks after it opened, on a Friday night, and they seated our foursome at a big table near the bar. Service was attentive and informative throughout the evening as the service staff and manager Randy Diedling were eager to answer our questions about the menu, artworks, other decor and beverages.

The latter includes a half-dozen house cocktails ($11 each), 15 beers in bottles or cans and an approximately 50-bottle wine list. A smaller list of glass pours had one rosé ($8), five whites ($8-$12) and five reds ($8$14), dominated by choices from France and Italy. Our discovery of the night, drinks-wise, was a line of Italian wines by Fuoristrada, packaged in boxes and offered by the glass.

Among the four of us we tried the rosé, white and red, a Sangiovese ($8 each), and liked

PHOTO : haile y bollinger

F&D LOOK WHO’s eating

Look Who’s Eating: Kate Cook

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As a produce supplier to dozens of top local chefs, restaurants, bars and markets, Kate Cook knows her stuff. Since 2010, the Carriage House Farm garden manager has overseen the four-acre garden located within the 300-acre Ohio Century Farm, which has been in farm manager Richard Stewart’s family for five generations.

Although small, Cook’s plot packs a mighty punch, this year yielding about 50 different products, including culinary herbs and edible flowers. In its entirety, Carriage House also supplies honey and bee products, wheat, cornmeal and vinegar.

Cook lives in Northside with her husband Dave, daughter Sophia, a handful of laying hens and a couple of Society Finches. We recently met for lunch at Pleasantry — one of Cook’s customers — to find out how she plays a big part in what’s on your plate when you go out to eat and learn about her unique career trajectory.

of the first year as a market gardener, the Findlay Market program wasn’t really working out for me and Carriage House couldn’t keep up with its demand, so that’s how I ended up managing the garden.

CB: How do you decide what to plant at Carriage House Farm?

KC: There are many factors that go into my planting choices. One is how well I know that

CityBeat: Why did you choose Pleasantry for lunch?

Kate Cook: I chose Pleasantry because they are one of my client restaurants. They buy produce, honey and grain from us at Carriage House Farm, and I’m a schmuck because I’ve been selling to them since they opened and this is my first time eating here.

CB: Before you were a farmer, you were a theatrical makeup artist. Interesting transition. What’s up with that?

KC: My senior year we had a project where we had to write a one-act play. The play that I wrote involved some effects makeup — about a mailman that had been attacked by a dog, so his leg had to be all bloody — so I go, “I have to learn how to do this.” I tried it out and it turned out really, really well, like better than any of us could have expected, and I thought, “Hmm. Maybe I should think about doing this for a living.” I ended up going to Ohio University, which is known for having a fantastic theater program.

CB: How did you become a professional gardener?

KC: I worked for a graphic design firm for a little while as their office manager and marketing manager, and they laid me off in 2008, and I got into the Findlay Market chef program called Cultivating a Healthy Environment for Farmers. That was also when I got to know my present business partner, Richard Stewart. …When I was doing the Findlay Market program, I volunteered out at Carriage House to see how a large farm worked. I had no practical experience with large-scale agriculture, and even now Carriage House isn’t large-scale agriculture except in our little microcosm, so it was a great learning experience, and by the end

Kate Cook provides produce to local restaurants.

PHOTO : Haile y Bollinger

crop will do, not only in our region growthwise — like is the weather right for it? Is it something I feel will sell well, not only to the consumer but also to the restaurants? Half of my product goes to restaurants and retailers, and I also pay attention to what other growers in the region are doing and I try to be a little bit different — it might be I’m growing a different radish variety or different greens varieties. And am I doing this crop in a season when other people aren’t growing it right now? Is it beautiful? Is it tasty? Do I want to eat it? That’s a rule I use a lot because I try not to sell anything that I won’t eat.

CB: How closely do you work with our local chefs? Do they make requests?

KC: I use the cold, dark months to try to meet with my chef clients and get feedback.

One of the things I’ve learned with most of the chefs I work with, since they work in independently owned restaurants, they have a lot of creative control over their menus and a lot of time they have visions of what they want to be doing in certain seasons. I try to educate them and say, “Yes, I can have that ready at that time of year,” or “No, you’re not going to have that for another two months.”

Read the full interview with KATE COOK at citybeat.com.

F&D classes & events

Add Something Dramatic To Your Mother’s Day With An Opera Cream Cake

Most classes and events require registration; classes frequently sell out.

WEDNESDAY 10

Herbs in Drinks: The Secret Ingredients Behind Your Refreshment — Learn how to pair herbs and identify them while making cocktails and teas. 6-7:30 p.m. $35.

Civic Garden Center, 2715 Reading Road, Avondale, civicgardencenter.org.

Indi-Go Café with Sue Pai — Indi-Go Café owner Sue Pai leads this class on creating classic Indian dishes, including pakoras, aloo gobi and roti, raita and kheer. 6:30-9 p.m. $40. Cooks’Wares, 11344 Montgomery Road, Harper’s Point, cookswaresonline.com.

Sushi Workshop — Learn to prepare sticky rice and create artful sushi rolls. 6-8 p.m. $75. The Learning Kitchen, 7659 Cox Lane, West Chester, thelearningkitchen.com.

Groceries & Grilling: Mother’s Day — Head to Findlay Market for late-night market hours and special Wednesday grilling parties. Guests will get the recipe and list of ingredients so they can shop and then grill the recipe on-site. 5-8 p.m. Free admission.

Findlay Market, 1801 Race St., Over-theRhine, findlaymarket.org.

THURSDAY 11

Macarons with Taren of Sweet Petite — A French classic made by Taren Kinebrew of Sweet Petit Desserts. 6:30-7:30 p.m. $35.

Artichoke, 1824 Elm St., Over-the-Rhine, artichokeotr.com Cooking 101: Mastering Sauté, Sear and Sauce — Joe Westfall leads this handson class on mastering these techniques.

Noon-1:30 p.m. and 6-7:30 p.m. $25.

Cooks’Wares, 11344 Montgomery Road, Harper’s Point, cookswaresonline.com.

Bottoms Up for Babies — This wine tasting benefits Sweet Cheeks Diaper Bank.

Event features a wine flight, light bits and massages from Woodhouse Spa. 6-9 p.m. $25. Newberry Bros. Coffee & Prohibition Bar, 530 Washington Ave., Newport, Ky., newberrybroscoffee.com.

Flavor-Packed Weeknight Fish — Learn how to properly prepare fish while working at your own cooktop. 6-8 p.m. $75. The Learning Kitchen, 7659 Cox Lane, West Chester, thelearningkitchen.com.

Dinner with Mom — Bring your mom and learn how to make chicken in white wine sauce with asparagus risotto. 6-8 p.m. $75.

The Learning Kitchen, 7659 Cox Lane, West Chester, thelearningkitchen.com.

Streetcar Brewery Tour — Cincy Brew Bus uses the Cincinnati Connector to visit three local breweries, incorporating tastings, tours, history and architecture. 1 p.m.

Friday. $20-$35. Meet at Taft’s Ale House,

Till Death Do Us Part Murder Mystery Dinner — The story? “The birds are chirping, the sun is shining, but the wedding bells aren’t ringing for this not-so-happy couple when a member of the wedding party is murdered!” Solve the mystery while you eat. 7 p.m. $60. The Old Spaghetti Factory, 6320 S. Gilmore Road, Fairfield, grimprov.com.

SATURDAY 13

Carriage House On-Farm Dinner — Chefs visit the farm for a series of dinners using seasonal ingredients prepared on a wood-fired oven and grill. Features chef Mark Bodenstein. 4 p.m. $100. Carriage House Farm, 10251 Miamiview Road, North Bend, carriagehousefarmllc.com.

Fourth-Annual Loveland Food Truck Rally — Features more than 20 food trucks, live entertainment, a children’s area and beer and wine for sale. 3-10 p.m. Free admission.

Loveland, business.lovelandchamber.org.

Cook with Mom for Mother’s Day — Treat your mom to a night in the kitchen working at your own cooktop to prepare an appetizer, chicken and salad. 5-7 p.m. $75.

The Learning Kitchen, 7659 Cox Lane, West Chester, thelearningkitchen.com.

Vegetarian Oasis with Terri Schmitt — Take advantage of local produce with a veggie menu featuring carrot and cashew soup, tabouli loaf and sprouted vegetable salad.

6:30-8:30 p.m. $65. Artichoke, 1824 Elm St., Over-the-Rhine, artichokeotr.com

SUNDAY 14

Mother’s Day at Vinoklet — Choose an entrée to accompany the Vinoklet buffet, featuring salad, potatoes and plenty of desserts. RSVP required. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. $23.36.

Vinoklet Winery, 11069 Colerain Ave., Colerain, vinokletwines.com.

Coney Island Mother’s Day Brunch — A breakfast buffet featuring pastries, an omelet station, dessert station and more.

Cash bar. RSVP required. 10 a.m.-2 p.m. $24.99 adult; $12.99 child. Coney Island, 6201 Kellogg Ave., California, coneyislandpark.com.

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Swad Indian Restaurant

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TUESDAY 16

Small Plates, Big Impact Take 2 — The Rothenberg Rooftop School Garden hosts this second-annual event where local chefs create small plates for guests to sample, including those from Abigail Street, La Soupe and the Presidents Room. Also available: wine, beer and live music. 6:30-9 p.m.

Tickets start at $55. Mercantile Library, 414 Walnut St., Downtown, rothenbergrooftopgarden.com.

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FRIDAY 12

1429 Race St., Over-the-Rhine, cincybrewbus.com.

music

The Road Never Ends

After essentially starting over, Boyz II Men let passion and industry savvy guide the group back to a fulfilling career

BY ALAN SCULLEY

P H O T O : R o n y S hr a m

2 8 • C I T Y B E A T . C O M • M A Y 1 0 – 1 6 , 2 0 1 7

B

oyz II Men may no longer dominate radio, sell albums by the millions or command attention as one of music’s most popular acts, but band member Nathan Morris has no complaints about the group’s current circumstances.

“We call this our second career, which a lot of people don’t really get a chance to have,” he says. “We’re just excited to still be able to do what we love to do after 25 years.”

Boyz II Men’s second career began in 2004 after the vocal group had lost one of its members and took a yearlong hiatus. In returning to music, Morris, Shawn Stockman and Wanya Morris found that the music industry was getting turned upside down by the prevalence of downloading. They also realized that Boyz II Men’s career was pretty close to being back at the starting line, despite all the group had accomplished.

“It definitely wasn’t easy, not by any means,” Morris says, looking back on the task of having to rebuild the group’s career. “You sell 60 million records around the world and then you take a long break and you come back and the industry has changed. (People have) moved on to other newer artists. And the fact that you’ve been off the scene for a while, you have to kind of start over again. It was a little rough. So we pretty much had to put our 1996-97 egos aside and say, ‘Hey, this is what we’ve got to do in order to turn this thing around.’ ” The four original members of Boyz II Men had become accustomed to life at the top during their first decade together.

Formed in 1988 while Nathan and Wanya Morris, Stockman and bass vocalist Michael McCary were students at the Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts, the vocal group got signed to Motown Records and, with their 1991 debut album, Cooleyhighharmony, blasted onto the worldwide scene.

Mixing Hip Hop and New Jack Swing with classic sounding Doo Wop- and R&Binfluenced vocals, the album caught on big time. The singles “Motownphilly” and “It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday” topped charts and Cooleyhighharmony sold more than nine million copies. That momentum ramped up even further when “End of the Road,” a song recorded for the Eddie Murphy movie Boomerang, was released in 1992. The track topped Billboard magazine’s all-genre Hot 100 singles chart and held that slot for a record-setting 13 straight weeks.

When the group’s sophomore album II arrived in 1994, it was an immediate smash and eventually sold 12 million copies. The single “I’ll Make Love to You” went straight

Boyz II Men has adapted well to the changing state of music and likes where it is now. to No. 1 on the singles chart, where it stayed for 14 straight weeks, tying the new record set by Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” after the run of “It’s So Hard.”

The Boyz would help break the record again when their collaboration with Mariah Carey, “One Sweet Day,” held the No. 1 spot for 16 weeks in 1995-96. It’s still the record-holder.

Boyz II Men enjoyed one more tripleplatinum album, 1997’s Evolution, before things started to drop off. Sales declined and, in early 2003, McCary left the group citing health problems (he recently revealed he’d been battling multiple sclerosis). Boyz II Men decided to take a break.

The comeback was gradual and it went essentially from the ground up. The group was reinventing itself as a trio, going back to clubs and working its way back up the ladder. Gradually, the size of the crowds and the venues the group played got larger.

A significant step in the trio’s rebound was its trifecta of cover albums — 2004’s Throwback Vol. 1, which featured R&B classics; 2007’s Motown: A Journey Through Hitsville USA, which included Motown hits; and 2009’s Love, which consisted of covers of romantic songs from outside of the R&B genre.

“Those records were actually key in our survival because we were able to cover

those (songs) and we were able to add those records to our repertoire,” Morris says. “We had a bunch of corporate gigs where those (cover) songs really are needed. So the fact that we had three albums’ worth of remake songs, it allowed us to get back into the corporate game, which really turned some things around.”

Another coup was landing a residency in Las Vegas in 2013, which gave Boyz II Men a string of shows to anchor each touring year and gave tourists from around the world a chance to see the group perform, generating new or renewed fans.

After 2011’s Twenty failed to connect commercially, Boyz II Men was inspired to make one of its boldest albums, 2014’s Collide. The trio worked with a variety of current songwriters/producers and recorded a dozen outside songs that range from ballads and R&B jams to EDM-tinted tunes and even some rockers.

Morris says Boyz II Men made Collide simply because they liked the songs and the singers felt like they could step beyond their signature sound.

“We were doing the remake albums and people were like, ‘Oh, we’re tired of hearing Boyz II Men do remake albums.

You keep redoing other peoples’ songs,’ ”

he says. “So we went in and did Twenty, which is what we call a classic R&B album.

But then the fan base decided, ‘Oh, we don’t like that either.’ So it’s like we had come to the point where we had to go back to what got us started in music anyway.

And that was doing music because we loved it.”

Boyz II Men has lately been focused on its live show and touring, with its current dates with New Kids On The Block keeping them performing in arenas across the country into July. The group has made a few changes to keep its shows fresh and bring some of the showmanship they’ve developed in Las Vegas to the road.

“Obviously, we have to incorporate the classic songs, the songs people pay to hear,” Morris says. “Then we throw a little bit of new stuff in as well. And we also throw in some covers here and there. And (in 2015), we decided to learn how to play a couple of instruments, so we have a little live section that we do now with our band where we play some songs on keyboards, guitars and stuff like that.”

BOYZ II MEN performs at U.S. Bank Arena Tuesday with New Kids on the Block and Paula Abdul. Tickets/more info: usbankarena.com.

music spill it

Hip Hop Duo Sons of Silverton Dazzle on Debut LP

BY MIKE BREEN

1345 main st motrpub.com

BY mike breen

Remember When Presidents Were Cool?

Barack Obama recently announced plans for his “presidential library” in Chicago, and besides the Obama Presidential Center creating jobs and injecting money into the local economy, Obama also made a few special spots for his buddies to come over and jam. OK, the planned recording and film studios in the forthcoming center won’t be a Windy City speakeasy for musicians — the studios are to be used for workshops and other educational purposes, though the former prez did namedrop Chance the Rapper and Bruce Springsteen as possible participants. Meanwhile, our current president doesn’t know why the Civil War was fought and was gleeful about the prospect of stripping health insurance accessibility from millions of citizens.

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Pumped Chumps Speaking of evil (and health insurance), in a GOP meeting before the House of Representatives passed its vicious healthcare law, reports surfaced that the gov-bros got pumped up to screw over sick people by cranking up Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger” and Bachman-Turner Overdrive’s “Takin’ Care of Business.” Do they not know a certain pioneering Punk band with a name they’d love — Dead Kennedys — has a song called “Kill the Poor” just sitting right there?

Don’t Tell Them About the Philly NFL Team Overrated Rock band Eagles must be getting bored because the group has started suing people over lame trademark claims again. The subject of the band’s ire this time seems capable of destroying the Eagles’ name with one bad night’s stay — it’s an 11-room hotel in Mexico. The Baja California Sur hotel is accused of calling itself Hotel California and making it seem as if it was the inspiration for that song by selling merch and subjecting Eagles music on its (mostly U.S.) visitors. Oddly, the hotel’s original name was allegedly Hotel California when it opened in 1950; a Canadian couple bought it in 2001 and decided to play up the Eagles tie-in.

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C I T Y B E A T . C O M • M A Y 1 0 – 1 6 • 2 9

On May 5, dynamic Hip Hop duo Sons a mutual friend to widely respected and of Silverton released its first full-length innovative New Orleans-based producer album, the extraordinary Or Forever Hold prospek, who consistently takes the sonics Your Peace, which is as good of a debut of Or Forever Hold Your Peace in compelalbum as you will ever hear. Sons of Silling directions, from the grinding-beatverton had a little head start though — the meets-Jazz-horns atmospherics of “You project consists of two experienced MCs Don’t Want It” to the live-sounding guitar/ with a long history in the Cincinnati Hip synth/drum-kit groove of “You Know Them Hop community and beyond, so they each As” to the bubbling electronics and strong came into the project with their skills as vocal melody hook (provided by guest rappers and lyricists honed to an extremely Diamond Star Russell) on “Great Escape.” sharpened point. And, yes, both are from Prospek was initially just going to do a few the Cincinnati neighborhood of Silverton. songs with Sons of Silverton for a potential SoS’s CITOAK came up in the ’90s EP, but it’s a testament to the three artists’ with the consistently strong Cincinnati chemistry that it turned into an 11-track collective Watusi Tribe and has maintained a steady solo career, most recently releasing his album Delayed Arrival in 2014. The other half of Sons of Silverton is KyleDavid, a key member of Cincinnati group Five Deez, which formed in the ’90s and built a global following with its releases in the ’00s and its infusion of various genres like EDM and Jazz into its sound. KyleDavid has also kept busy beyond his work with the group that first brought him to public Sons of Silverton’s KyleDavid and CITOAK attention. In 2013, he colP H O T O : S o n so f s i lv e r to n . c o m laborated with producer CJ the Cynic on the album The Field Work. album that is engrossing from the first As a tag-team, KyleDavid and CITOAK notes until the last. are perfectly matched — both are smart, Listening to Or Forever Hold Your imaginative writers who stand well above Peace reminded me of another recent lismost of their peers in the lyrics departtening experience. Not long ago, Chuck D ment, so the fluid effusiveness of their of Public Enemy enthusiastically tweeted deliveries blends together seamlessly. about a new Nas song with DJ Shadow.

Speaking of deliveries, another thing each I immediately listened to it (that’s a artist has in common is a tough, tight heady recommender) and my enthusiasm cadence in their flows; these are skilled instantly matched Chuck’s. The track, craftsmen at the top of their game, and “Systematic,” is a soaring, exhilarating hearing them deftly weave bars around reminder of all of the best elements of Hip each other should be a highly satisfying Hop music. I felt that same surging sense experience for any true student of the of optimism about the music’s current art of Rap. (and future) state while exploring Or Both SoS MCs also appear to share a Forever Hold Your Peace. passion and respect for Hip Hop history.

This Friday, Sons of Silverton joins DJ Or Forever Hold Your Peace isn’t an “oldcrew Selectas Choice for an album release school” record (it definitely has a modern celebration at Northside Yacht Club (4227 verve), but you hear (subtly or perhaps Spring Grove Ave., Northside, northsideyunintentionally) the influence of and revachtclub.com). Showtime is 10 p.m. and erence for the groundbreakers of several there is no cover charge. eras of the genre all over it.

Or Forever Hold Your Peace is availThe production and resultant musical able to purchase and/or stream on most landscapes that hover behind the rhymes major digital platforms, including the and provide fierce, diverse beats also duo’s Bandcamp page (sonsofsilverton1. contribute to the music’s uniqueness and bandcamp.com). For more on Sons of cross-era vibe (which in many ways makes Silverton, visit sonsofsilverton.com. it a rare timeless Hip Hop album). KyleCONTACT MIKE BREEN: mbreen@citybeat.com David and CITOAK were introduced by

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Sean Rowe with Faye Webster Friday • Southgate House Revival Some songs are just so all-around drop-dead gorgeous — in the heartfelt poignancy of their vocals, the gently mournful exquisiteness of their melodies and the poetic specificity of their lyrics — that you stop everything the first time you hear them. And then you want to seek them out again and again.

Sean Rowe’s “Gas Station Rose,” from his latest album New Lore, is like that. A Folk/ Americana troubadour, he’s been carefully, judiciously introducing Pop and Rock elements into his songs for a while, and on this one he’s found his perfect mix.

His acoustic guitar offers the sparest introduction, allowing for short dramatic moments of silence, before Rowe’s resonantly low, gravely voice begins the first couplet, expressing both melancholy Sean Rowe and tenderness: “We PHOTO : Provided can’t have a garden while we’re still on the road/There’s only room on the dash for a gas station rose.”

And just like that, he’s got you, unraveling a tale of two people living on the road and driving through a Nebraska that’s “flat as a sheet” as they both pursue Eyes Set to Kill and escape something.

P H O T O : J i m L o u va u It’s a reasonably short song, not quite four minutes, yet its arrangement incorporates a symphonic sweep as first piano and then strings enter on the chorus. It commands the senses as fully as some movies.

When Rowe was in town in 2013, he was transitioning from a life as a devoted naturalist — he once spent 24 days in the wilderness alone — to a full-time performing songwriter on the taste-making Antilabel. He had a new, highly praised album out then, The Salesman and the Shark.

Since then, Rowe has put out two further albums and an EP while broadening his sonic palette, toured the world and kept what may be the most sumptuous beard in showbiz. He’s a treasure. (Steven Rosen) Eyes Set to Kill with Bad Seed Rising and The Nearly Deads Saturday • Thompson House Since emerging from the Post Hardcore/ Metalcore scene in Phoenix in 2003, Eyes Set to Kill has had a tumultuous history,

enduring over a dozen lineup shifts, including perhaps the most fundamental in the band’s 14-year tenure.

In 2016, the band lost founding bassist Anissa Rodriguez, but more recently enlisted Tiaday Ball (ex-The World Over member) as her replacement. Another key lineup shift was the official addition of longtime touring guitarist and dirty vocalist A.J. Bartholomew. All of this was announced along with the release of the band’s new single “Break” and the news that Eyes Set to Kill’s first new album in four years will arrive before year’s end.

Eyes Set to Kill was originally the brainchild of Phoenix sisters Alexia and Anissa Rodriguez (on lead guitar and bass, respectively) and their friend Lindsey Vogt on lead vocals.

A succession of backing musicians completed the lineup, but the arrival of drummer Caleb Clifton cemented the rhythm section for a decade.

The band released its debut EP, When Silence is Broken, the Night is Torn, in 2006, but a little over a year later, Vogt and guitarist Alex Torres both departed.

Rather than hire a replacement, Alexia became the band’s lead singer and Eyes Set to Kill (with new guitarist Greg Kerwin) recorded its full-length debut, Reach, featuring new material and a handful of re-recorded songs from the Silence EP. The album was followed up quickly by 2009’s darker and more menacing The World Outside.

In 2010, the band released its third album, the acclaimed Broken Frames, and later that same year, Alexia dropped her solo debut, Underground Sounds. Early in 2011, Kerwin left and was replaced by David Molina, just in time for the band’s Alaskan circuit and a stint on that year’s Warped Tour, after which Eyes Set to Kill started its own label and self-released White Lotus. In 2012, the band announced it had signed with noted Metal/ Hard Rock label Century Media for its next album, 2013’s well-received Masks, which led to a relentless touring cycle.

In 2014, Anissa was hospitalized and successfully treated for a blood clot behind her eye, and last year she announced her departure from the band, which sparked

859.431.2201

unfounded breakup rumors. The recent release of “Break” finds the quartet steeped in vintage Screamo/Metalcore with a Black Sabbath underpinning, and Alexia has promised a healthy dose of new songs on the current “Break Into Action” tour. Set excitement to critical. (Brian Baker)

live MusiC no Cover

Wednesday 5/10

Phil DeGreg & Rusty Burge 8-11

Thursday 5/11

Todd Hepburn & Larry Bloomfield 8-12

Friday 5/12

Steve Schmidt Trio feat. Mandy Gaines 8-12

saTurday 5/13

Steve Schmidt Trio feat. Brian Lovely 8-12

CoCktails

fireplaCes

Wed. - Fri. open @ 4pm | Sat. open @ 6pm

FUTURE SOUNDS

125 West Fourth st. | CinCinnati, ohio 45202

www.BromwellsHarthLounge.com

TICKETS AVAILABLE AT THE SOUTHGATE HOUSE LOUNGE OR TICKETFLY.COM

5/10 THE MOUNTAIN MINOR FILM FUNDRAISER CONCERT - THE TILLERS, DAN GELLERT, MA CROW, JERICHO OLD TIME BAND; CALEB GROH, MOLLY PARDEN, CHRISTIE DUPREE, TYLER RANDALL; ARLO MCKINLEY - MAY ARTIST IN RESIDENCE, MAX FENDER 5/11 OLD 97’S, NICOLE ATKINS; THE WHISKEY GENTRY; JOE BUCK YOURSELF 5/12 RONNIE BAKER BROOKS, JOHNNY FINK AND THE INTRUSION; SEAN ROWE, FAYE WEBSTER; MARTINIE’S BOOGIE THREE 5/13 SHAWN JAMES (SOLO), NICK BAKER (OF NICHOLAS & THE PESSIMISTICS); HILLBILLY CASINO, THE KRANK DADDIES, SAINT PICKLE; RICKY NYE INC. 5/14 THE DAVID MAYFIELD PARADE, THE RAILSPLITTERS

WWW.SOUTHGATEHOUSE.COM

ADRIAN BELEW – May 18, 20th Century Theater DEICIDE – May 26, The Mad Frog ward Theater

DIET CIG – May 30, Wood-

LIL UZI VERT – June 7, Madison Theater SARAH JAROSZ – June 9, Memorial Hall THE WEEKND – June 9, U.S. Bank Arena JOE JACKSON – June 13, Taft Theatre BARNS COURTNEY – June 20, 20th Century Theater MY MORNING JACKET – June 22, PNC Pavilion at Bogart’s LE BUTCHERETTES – June 22, Taft Theatre Ballroom MARSHALL CRENSHAW/LOS STRAITJACKETS – June 29, Southgate House Revival AJR – July 8, Madison Live!

VANS WARPED TOUR – July 19, Riverbend Music Center COLIN STETSON – July 20, Woodward Theater TEDESCHI TRUCKS BAND/THE WOOD BROTHERS/HOT TUNA – July 21, PNC Pavilion at Riverbend KESHA – July 22, Lawrenceburg Event Center ANIMAL COLLECTIVE – July 30, Madison Theater KORN – Aug. 1, Riverbend Music Center TEGAN AND SARA – Aug. 2, Madison Theater HANS ZIMMER – Aug. 3, U.S. Bank Arena ROD STEWART/CYNDI LAUPER – Aug. 4, Riverbend Music Center PUNCH BROTHERS – August 12, Taft Theatre GREG HOWE – Aug. 16, Southgate House Revival BETTY WHO/GEOGRAPHER – Aug. 30, Woodward Theater

C I T Y B E A T . C O M • M A Y 1 0 – 1 6 • 3 1

Devin Townsend Project with Thank You Scientist and Oni Sunday • Bogart’s Some people are to the music manor born, and Devin Townsend is certainly among that rarified elite. The British Columbia native played banjo at 5, guitar at 12 and joined a succession of high school Metal bands before recording under the Noisescapes banner in his early 20s.

His demo earned him a Relativity Records contract for his debut, Promise, and an introduction to Steve Vai, who invited Townsend to lend vocals to Vai’s Sex & Religion album. Townsend toured with Vai and subsequently with his opening act, The Wildhearts. He also formed a Thrash Metal trio dubbed IR8 with former Devin Townsend Project Metallica bassist P H O T O : R e b ec c a B l i s s e tt Jason Newsted and Exodus drummer Tom Hunting.

After being dropped by Relativity and rejected by Roadrunner, Townsend played session guitar for Industrial outfit Front Line Assembly, then signed a five-album deal with Century Media under the name Strapping Young Lad (to escape the preconceptions of his Vai association). Townsend’s first Strapping Young Lad album, Heavy as a Really Heavy Thing, was almost completely a one-man project and was followed by the Punk/ Metal parody/concept album Punky Brüster – Cooked on Phonics in 1996.

Townsend formed an actual Strapping Young Lad band with previous musical companions and recorded 1997’s City, which remains an all-time favorite for many Metal connoisseurs.

For the next 11 years, Townsend pingponged between Strapping Young Lad and the Devin Townsend Band, first with separate sets within single shows and then with separate tours to spread out the incredible volume and breadth of material he was recording.

In 2004, Townsend stopped taking his bipolar medication and embarked on a series of Strapping Young Lad/Devin Townsend Band/solo recordings that embraced a broad spectrum of musical styles. But after

2006’s The Hummer, an Ambient album, and 2007’s completely solo Ziltoid the Omniscient, he announced the shuttering of both of his bands to spend time with his family. Townsend gave up smoking and alcohol and concentrated solely on production, then spent two years creating the basis for a proposed four-album series from his newly envisioned Devin Townsend Project.

After completing the album arc in 2012 with the simultaneous releases of Ghost and Deconstruction, Townsend began work on what he described as “haunted Johnny Cash songs” with vocalist Ché Aimee Dorval under the name Casualties of Cool. He also ramped up a massively ambitious sequel to Ziltoid called Z2, which ultimately included the 2014 album, TV and radio components, a graphic novel and a live show. And while he had planned to wrap up the Devin Townsend Project after its initial four-album run, the Project’s acclaimed seventh album, Transcendence, was released last fall. (BB)

111 E 6th St Newport, KY 41071

music listings Wednesday 10 513-671-7433 • 32 W. CRESCENTVILLE, CINCINNATI, OH 45246 • LOCALSKATEPARK.COM

$5 ADMISSION ALL TIMES

MON-THURS 1PM-9PM

FRIDAY 11AM-9PM

SATURDAY* 9AM-11PM

SUNDAY 9AM-9PM

*9AM-11AM for 12 & younger only

BrewRiver GastroPub - Old Green Eyes and BBG. 6 p.m.

Standards. Free.

Bromwell’s Härth Lounge - Phil DeGreg and Rusty Burge. 8 p.m.

Jazz. Free.

Christ Church Glendale - Vernon McIntyre’s Appalachian Grass. 6 p.m. Bluegass. Free.

The Comet - Swim Team, Bugg and Dinge. 10 p.m. Rock/Punk/ Various. Free.

Read us on your phone when you’re at the bar by yourself.

Knotty Pine - Dallas Moore. 10 p.m. Country. Free.

CItYBeat.COM

MOTR Pub - Quiet Hollers with Calumet. 9 p.m. Rock/Roots/ Various. Free.

Plain Folk Cafe - Open Mic with Russ Childers. 7 p.m. Various.

Free.

Southgate House Revival H (Lounge) - The Whiskey Gentry. 9:30 p.m. Country/ Various. Free.

Knotty Pine - Wayward Son. 10 p.m. Classic Rock. Cover.

Live! at the Ludlow Garage Edwin McCain. 8 p.m. Pop. $25-$50.

Madison Live - Total Dudes H (10th-anniversary reunion) with Red Hot Rebellion, V-Twin

Sin and Rhythm & Booze. 8 p.m.

Rock. $7, $10 day of show.

Mansion Hill Tavern - Noah Wotherspoon Band. 9 p.m. Blues. $4.

The Liberty Inn - Stagger Lee. 6:30 p.m. Country/Rock. Free.

Memorial Hall - Robbie H Fulks with Casey Campbell.

8 p.m. Americana/Pop/Rock/

Southgate House Revival H (Sanctuary) - Old 97’s with Nicole Atkins. 8 p.m. Rock/

The Mockbee - ColorDance PreParty featuring Alejo, Comisar, Kashmerik and Vusive. 9 p.m.

Electronic. $7.

The Mockbee - Zach Puls, Boyscott, Blaketheman1000, Peace Attack and Mellow Cactus.

7 p.m. Rock/Folk. Free.

Stanley’s Pub - TreeHouse and Roots of a Rebellion with Quasi Kings. 8 p.m. Reggae/Rock/Jam. $5, $7 day of show.

MOTR Pub - Talk Mouth with H Pluto Revolts and Coup D’eTat. 10 p.m. Alt/Pop/Rock/

MOTR Pub - Xzela and Ethan and Joey. 9 p.m. Acoustic/Various.

Free.

Urban Artifact - John the Revelator, Honey Combs, Combo Slice and MayaLou and a Uke. 8 p.m. Various. Free.

Northside Tavern - Natural Progression. 10 p.m. R&B/Soul.

Free.

Northside Tavern - Bill H Alletzhauser (of The Hiders).

9 p.m. Acoustic/Rock/Roots/ Various. Free.

Southgate House Revival (Lounge) - Arlo McKinley with Max Fender. 8 p.m. Roots/ Americana/Various. Free.

Southgate House Revival H (Revival Room) - The Mountain Minor Film Fundraiser

Concert with The Tillers, Dan Gellert, Ma Crow and Jericho Old Time Band. 7 p.m. Americana/ Roots. $10 (suggested donation).

3 2 • C I T Y B E A T . C O M • M A Y 1 0 – 1 6 , 2 0 1 7

Knotty Pine - Chalis. 9 p.m. Pop/ Rock/Blues/Various. Free.

Jim and Jack’s on the River Danny Frazier. 9 p.m. Country.

Free.

Southgate House Revival (Revival Room) - Joe Buck Yourself. 9:30 p.m. Roots/Punk/ Various. $10-$12.

Various. $20-$25.

the all-new

The Hot Spot - Bob Cushing. 7 p.m. Acoustic/Various. Free.

Roots/Pop/Various. $20-$22.

Friday 12

Arnold’s Bar and Grill - River City Roustabout. 9 p.m.

Americana. Free.

Blue Note Harrison - Amy Sailor Band. 10 p.m. Country. Free.

Bogart’s - Sea of Treachery and Denihilist with Saving Shemiah and Third Person Omega. 8 p.m. Metal. $10.

H

Bromwell’s Härth Lounge Steve Schmidt Trio with Mandy Gaines. 8 p.m. Jazz. Free.

Southgate House Revival (Sanctuary) - Caleb Groh, Molly Parden, Christie DuPree and Tyler Randall (of Dawg Yawp). 8 p.m.

Pop/Acoustic/Various. $7.

H

Urban Artifact - Blue Wisp Big Band. 8:30 p.m. Big Band Jazz. $10.

Crow’s Nest - Bob Cushing.

H 10 p.m. Acoustic/Rock/ Various. Free.

Thursday 11

Fountain Square - FSQ H Flashback featuring Big Freedia with Abiyah and DJ

Arnold’s Bar and Grill - Dottie Warner and Ricky Nye. 7:30 p.m.

Jazz/Blues. Free.

Bromwell’s Härth Lounge - Todd Hepburn and Larry Bloomfield. 8 p.m. Various. Free.

Crow’s Nest - The Lovers. 9:30 p.m. Folk/Pop/Various. Free.

Fountain Square - Salsa H on the Square with Grupo Tumbao. 7 p.m. Latin/Salsa/ Dance. Free.

The Greenwich - Now Hear This!.

9 p.m. Jazz/Funk/AfroBeat/ Rock/Reggae. $5.

The Comet - Parts and The Phasmids. 10 p.m.

Electronic/Indie/Rock/Various.

Free.

Spam. 7 p.m. Hip Hop/Bounce/ Various. Free.

The Greenwich - Just Friends Friday with Kathy Wade and the Marc Fields Quartet. 9 p.m. Jazz. $10.

Horse & Barrel - John Ford. 6 p.m. Blues/Roots. Free.

Jag’s Steak and Seafood - 3 Piece Revival. 9 p.m. Dance/ Various. $5.

Japp’s - Burning Caravan. 5:30 p.m. Gypsy Jazz/Swing/Various.

Free.

Marty’s Hops & Vines - Over Easy. 9 p.m. Soft Rock. Free.

Various. Free.

Northside Yacht Club - Sons H of Silverton (album release show) and Selectas Choice. 10 p.m. Hip Hop/Dance/Various.

Free.

Plain Folk Cafe - Mad River Railroad. 7:30 p.m. Bluegrass/ Newgrass. Free.

Rick’s Tavern - 3 Day Rule. 10 p.m. Rock. Cover.

School of Rock Mason - School of Rock Mason’s Hair Metal Show.

7:30 p.m. Hair Metal covers. $6, $8 day of show.

Silverton Cafe - Kings in the Corner. 9 p.m. Rock/Dance. Free.

Southgate House Revival H (Revival Room) - Sean Rowe with Faye Webster. 9 p.m.

Singer/Songwriter. $15.

Southgate House Revival (Sanctuary) - Ronnie Baker Brooks with Johnny Fink and the Intrusion. 8:30 p.m. Blues. $20-$25.

The Underground - Schoolyard, Glass Leopard, Lily Isabelle and Garret Liette. 7 p.m. Rock/ Various. Cover.

Urban Artifact - Electric Orange Peel, Desmond Jones and Partyboob. 8 p.m. Jam/Rock/ Various.

Washington Park - Tiny Deck Concerts featuring April Aloisio.

7 p.m. Bossa Nova/Jazz/Various.

Free.

Washington Platform Saloon & Restaurant - Mambo Combo. 9 p.m. Latin Jazz. $10 (food/drink minimum).

Don & Beth Schott - KoKopelli Stages Presents: CityBeat’s music listings are free. Send info to MIKE BREEN via email 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.

Saturday 13

Arnold’s Bar and Grill - Modern Groove Jazz Band. 9 p.m. Jazz.

Free.

Blue Note Harrison - The Backstreet Band, Almost Famous and Krazy Fly. 8 p.m. Rock/ Various. Cover.

Bogart’s - Departure. 8 p.m.

Journey tribute. $7-$20.

Bromwell’s Härth Lounge Steve Schmidt Trio with Brian Lovely. 8 p.m. Jazz. Free.

College Hill Coffee Co. - Angela Minton. 7:30 p.m. Country. Free.

The Comet - Disaster Class, Static Falls, Hyperstatic and Jared Grabb. 10 p.m. Rock. Free.

MOTR Pub - Coastal Club and The Yugos. 10 p.m. Indie Rock. Free.

H

The Comet - The Comet Bluegrass All-Stars. 7:30 p.m.

Bluegrass. Free.

MVP Bar & Grille - PrizonWood.

9 p.m. Rock.

The Mockbee - Beloved Youth, Far From Fiction, Waveshapes and Bubbleteakitty. 8 p.m.

Various. Free.

Northside Tavern - Brian H Olive with Brianna Kelly, John Hoffman and Vampire Weekend at Bernie’s. 10 p.m. Rock/ Various. Free.

Northside Yacht Club - CVNT STORM, Trophy Dad, US Weekly and Anissa Pulcheon. 10 p.m.

Rock/Pop/Punk/Various. Free.

OTR Live - Marsha Ambrosious and Eric Benet. 8 p.m. R&B/ Soul. $40.

Plain Folk Cafe - Missy Werner Band. 7:30 p.m. Bluegrass. Free.

Crow’s Nest - Morgan Alexander.

10 p.m. Singer/Songwriter. Free.

Rick’s Tavern - Cherry on Top. 10 p.m. Dance/Pop. Cover.

Drew’s on the River - Pam & The Boyz. 8 p.m. Rock/Pop.

School of Rock Mason - School of Rock Mason’s Tribute to The Who. 7:30 p.m. The Who covers. $6, $8 day of show.

Fountain Square - FSQ H Flashback featuring Buffalo Wabs and The Price Hill Hustle and Honey & Houston. 7 p.m.

Americana/Roots/Folk. Free.

The Greenwich - Radio Black. 9 p.m. Various. $10.

Jag’s Steak and Seafood - The Company Band. 9 p.m. Pop/ Dance/Various. $5.

Jim and Jack’s on the River - Bobby McClendon. 9 p.m.

Country.

Knotty Pine - Under the Sun. 10 p.m. Rock. Cover.

Live! at the Ludlow Garage Kory Caudill. 8 p.m. Jazz Pop. $15-$25.

Macadu’s - Basic Truth. 8 p.m.

Funk/R&B/Soul. Free.

Madison Live - Taylor H Shannon & The 2bit Smoke Parade with Sundae Drives and

Nick Dittmeier & the Sawdusters.

8 p.m. Country/Americana/ Rock/Various. $12, $15 day of show.

Mansion Hill Tavern - Johnny Fink & the Intrusion. 9 p.m.

Blues. $4.

Marty’s Hops & Vines - Two Blue.

9 p.m. Acoustic. Free.

Memorial Hall - American Roots Series: Del McCoury with Maria Carrelli. 8 p.m.

Bluegrass/Americana/Roots. $35-$45.

H

The Mockbee - J20 Benefit featuring Rebel Appalachia, Actual Italians, Canadian Waves and more. 8 p.m. Various. $5 (suggested donation).

Southgate House Revival (Lounge) - Ricky Nye Inc. 9:30 p.m. Boogie Woogie/Blues. Free.

Southgate House Revival (Revival Room) - Shawn James with Nick Baker. 8 p.m. Acoustic.

Free.

Southgate House Revival (Sanctuary) - Hillbilly Casino, The Krank Daddies and Saint Pickle. 9 p.m. Rockabilly/Punk/ Horror/Various. $12-$15.

House - Eyes Set HToThompson Kill. 7 p.m. Metal. $10.

Top of the Line - Ambush. 9:30 p.m. Free.

Urban Artifact - Goran Ivanovic Trio, The Clock Reads and Kumasi. 8 p.m. Various. Free.

Washington Platform Saloon & Restaurant - Ron Jones. 9 p.m.

Jazz. $10 (food/drink minimum).

Westside Venue - Ralph and the Rhythm Hounds. 9 p.m. Blues.

Free.

Sunday 14

20th Century Theater School of Rock Mason’s Hair Metal Show (4 p.m.); School of Rock Mason’s Tribute to The Who (7 p.m.). Hair Metal/Who covers. $6, $8 day of show.

H

Bogart’s - Devin Townsend Project with Oni and Thank You Scientist. 9:30 p.m. Prog/ Rock/Various. $20-$22.50.

H

BrewRiver GastroPub - Todd Hepburn. 11 a.m. Blues/Various.

Free.

ROCK THE BOAT

MOTR Pub - Imaginary Tricks. 9 p.m. Indie Rock/Pop. Free.

Northside Tavern - Classical Revolution. 8 p.m. Classical/ Various. Free.

Northside Yacht Club - In the Meantime, The Switzerlands, Tornd Up Dudes and Brilo Boys.

9 p.m. Rock.

Southgate House Revival (Revival Room) - The David Mayfield Parade and The Railsplitters. 8 p.m. Folk/ Americana. $10-$12.

H

Stanley’s Pub - Stanley’s Open Jam. 10 p.m. Various. Free.

Saturday, May 20 at LEGENDS in Cheviot 8PM || 3801 HARRISon AvE. CHEvIoT, oH 45211 || $10

the Lei Men the Madeira (from Indianapolis) the Nicky Kay Orchestra (Dayton) Grateful Surf

Taft Theatre - Mastodon with H Eagles of Death Metal and Russian Circles. 7:30 p.m. Hard Rock. $42.25-$77.50.

Urban Artifact - SondorBlue, Blank State, Levee, WolfCryer and Kelly Hoppenjans. 6 p.m.

Alt/Rock/Various. Free.

Washington Platform Saloon & Restaurant - Holiday Jazz Buffet with the Mike Sharfe Trio. 10 a.m.

Jazz. $10 (food/drink minimum).

Monday 15

Mansion Hill Tavern - Acoustic Jam with John Redell and Friends.

8 p.m. Acoustic/Various. Free.

MOTR Pub - Skyway Man. 9 p.m.

Rock/Various. Free.

Northside Tavern - The Qtet. 10 p.m. Fusion/Funk/Jazz/Various.

Free.

PERSISTENCE OF SURF MUSIC V 5&6

Raiders of the Urban Artifact An Exciting Two Day Mini Surf Music Festival

V5 June 23, 8pm The John Blair Ivan Pongracic Band (California) The Ampfibians (S. Indiana) Grateful Surf V6 June 24, 2pm the Mystery Men? (Atlanta) Team Void Nicky Kay Orchestra (Dayton) The Ampfibians Grateful Surf They Never Came Back!

Stanley’s Pub - Stanley’s Live Jazz Band. 10 p.m. Jazz. Free.

Tuesday 16

Arnold’s Bar and Grill - Cheryl Renée. 7 p.m. Blues. Free.

Bogart’s - The Revolution. 8 Hp.m.

Prince tribute. $35.

Christ Church Cathedral - Music Live@Lunch with Wild Carrot.

12:10 p.m. Folk/Americana. Free.

McCauly’s Pub - Stagger Lee. 7 p.m. Country/Rock. Free.

Urban Artifact - Scarlet Street, Don’t Call Me Punk, Twelve Minute Mile and Spky Drmlnd. 8 p.m. Rock/Pop/Alt/Various. Free.

U.S. Bank Arena - New Kids H on the Block with Boyz II Men and Paula Abdul. 7:30 p.m.

Pop. $20-$230.89.

June 23-24 at Urban Artifact 1660 BluE RoCK ST., CInCInnATI, oH 45223 Tickets available at Shake It Records, Moles Records, Everybody’s Records or online at CincyTicket.com, KokopelliStages.com

C I T Y B E A T . C O M • M A Y 1 0 – 1 6 • 3 3

McCauly’s Pub - Stagger Lee. 9 p.m. Country/Rock. Free.

Silverton Cafe - Disorderly Conduct. 9 p.m. Rock. Free.

PERSISTENCE OF SURF MUSIC V4

Youth with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) What The purpose of this research study is to investigate brain changes in youth who are currently experiencing ADHD symptoms.

Participants will be given mixed amphetamine salts for a 12-week treatment period.

Who Youth 10 to 18 years of age who are experiencing ADHD symptoms or have been diagnosed with ADHD, and who have not taken an ADHD medication in the past year.

3 4 • C I T Y B E A T . C O M • M A Y 1 0 – 1 6 , 2 0 1 7

Pay Participants may receive up to $280 in compensation for their transportation and/ or time for study visits. All study visits, tests, and procedures will be provided at no cost to participants.

Details Participants will have 2 MRI scans. For more information, contact Laura McLaughlin at laura. mclaughlin@uc.edu or call (513)-558-6205.

UC 39-15

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54. Trattoria treat 56. Flying solo 57. “The Winner Takes It All” group 59. Do a spit take 61. Arithmetic homework 62. Annoying, er, tickled Muppet 63. Shit shoveler 65. Secretary of State Tillerson 67. “Pretty Little Liars” star Harding

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C I T Y B E A T . C O M • M A Y 1 0 – 1 6 • 3 5

1. Elephant married to Celeste 6. Putin’s one-time org.

9. It’s sometimes tough to kick one 14. “You beat me” 15. Corner shape 16. Small egg or seed 17. Crisis for the Middle Ages 19. Succinct 20. Shoulder coverings 21. Weightlifter’s powder 23. Pin-up’s leg 24. Billboard entries 26. Brouhaha 28. Change the story, say 32. Donkey Kong projectile 35. Stewpot 36. Money man 38. Condo doc?

39. Sotomayor, Alito, and Thomas, e.g.

41. More modern 43. Ben who plays Benji in the “Pitch Perfect” series 44. Hit the all-youcan-eat buffet 46. Grunting tennis legend 48. Holey t-shirt, perhaps 49. Extreme 51.

Rock-paper-scissors 53. Doing like 55. Class where students go in circles?: Abbr.

56. ___ Mateo 58. Whizzes 60. Slimy sort 64. Sporty Ford 66. Stone with an intense blue color 68. More competent 69. Thai restaurant cup

River City

Gold & Coin

Most Cash Paid for Gold, Silver Jewelry/Coins 513-205-2681 Call for your appointment today! *Meeting to Sell: Can come to you / Meet in any public place* Minimal Overhead=Maximum Pay Outs

“If you sell to anyone else, you are settling for less”

contractors NEEDED to deliver CityBeat

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

513.651.9666

See our exhibit, A Day in the Life: As the Betts Family Lived in the Mid-19th Century, April 1-June 30.

Visit us Wed, Fri, & Sat 12-5.

Special events every Saturday. Visit us at

www.thebettshouse.org or call 513-651-0734 for more information.

PR ES EN TE D BY :

Satur day June 3rd • THE PHOEN IX

3 6 • C I T Y B E A T . C O M • M A Y 1 0 – 1 6 , 2 0 1 7

FeaturING food + drink from:

BLOC Coffee Company, Covington Coffee Company, DRAKE’s, Macaron Bar, McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood & Steaks, Pompilio’s, The Pub Rookwood, Seasons 52, Wellmann’s Brands, Wild Eggs + more to be announced!

SU PPORTING SPONSORS:

TICKETS ON SALE NOW AT CITYBEAT.COM!

pro c eeds b en efit: