CityBeat | May 22, 2019 by Chava Communications

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NEWS Greater Cincinnati’s Changing Demographic Map

A map showing where concentrated poverty and potential displacement have taken place in Greater Cincinnati PHOTO: UNIVERSIT Y OF M I N N E S O TA L A W S C H O O L

Recent research looks at patterns of displacement and concentrated poverty in Census tracts across the country. Here’s what it shows us — and what it misses — locally BY N I C K SWA R T S EL L

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oncentrated poverty is increasing in a number of areas in Greater Cincinnati, new research suggests, while a few Cincinnati neighborhoods have seen a significant outflow of lowincome residents, many of them people of color, and an influx of wealthier residents. Those changes are complex, but roughly seem to follow a pattern: There are increasing concentrations of poverty in outlying neighborhoods and suburbs. A recent study from the University of Minnesota Law School’s Institute on Metropolitan Opportunity looks at patterns of displacement and concentrated poverty in Census tracts across the country from 2000 to 2016. It shows some broad patterns by using data from the U.S Census Bureau — but there are some big caveats to think about when looking through its findings. The research shows that in many neighborhoods and suburbs outside central Cincinnati, poverty has grown dramatically in the past decade and a half. For example, one Census tract in Mt. Airy saw more than 1,000 higher-income people move out and more than 3,500 low-income residents move in, raising its percentage of low income residents from 26 percent to 55 percent. The study defines low-income as someone making less than 200 percent of the federal poverty level — about $23,760 for a single person in 2016. Another tract in West Price Hill that was hit hard by the 2008 financial crisis saw more than 1,600 higher-income residents leave between 2000 and 2016. Meanwhile,

almost 3,000 low-income residents moved in. Neighboring tracts, including the tract just to the west, also saw a big increase in low-income residents and a significant exodus of higher-income ones. That pattern repeats in some places outside the city. One tract in Sharonville saw 1,050 more low-income residents move into the neighborhood and more than 500 middle-to-high-income residents move out. Its share of low-income population went from 17 percent to almost 38 percent. The neighboring tract to the west saw an even more dramatic change — low-income residents went from about 28 percent of the population to 51 percent. Even though geographic patterns are changing, some underlying racial inequities are not. While suburbs that are high-performing economically saw an influx of about 1,400 new black residents across the region, most black residents moving to suburbs (almost 26,000) went to places that the study categorized as experiencing strong economic decline. Residents of Hispanic origin saw a similar trend. About 1,600 went to highperforming suburbs, while 17,000 went to suburbs in strong economic decline. Those economically high-performing suburbs saw about 11,000 new white residents, while the suburbs that are seeing strong economic decline saw an incredible 78,000 white residents leave. Those demographic shifts can have a number of consequences, experts say, some of which CityBeat has explored in past stories.

Meanwhile, a few Cincinnati neighborhoods have seen another dynamic entirely: loss of a significant number of low-income residents and an influx of higher-income newcomers. The four Census tracts that make up Over-the-Rhine saw 635 more middle-tohigh-income residents move in between 2000 and 2016, while as many as 3,000 lowincome residents moved out over time. The neighborhood is still predominantly low income, though by a much lower margin. Another tract encompassing downtown lost 361 low-income people while gaining 418 middle-to-high-income residents. And a tract encompassing a popular part of Northside saw roughly 1,500 low-income people leave as 199 higher-income people moved in. The authors of the study calls tracts like this “displacement tracts.” But it isn’t entirely possible to know why residents left a neighborhood. OTR is a good example. The study considers data from 2000 and compares it to data from 2016, but a number of events happened in between those years, including the 2001 civil unrest and the 2008 financial crisis, that could have compelled residents to move elsewhere. The neighborhood’s total population dropped somewhat during the years considered. The study doesn’t consider trends in median rents in Census tracts or other data, so it’s hard, looking at its results alone, to know why population change happened. That said, the study’s findings are consistent with a 2017 analysis by CityBeat finding that a number of low-income,

predominantly black residents left the neighborhood during a more specific time period between 2010 and 2016, as rents rose and development of higher-end business and residential projects boomed in the neighborhood. A study by Xavier’s Community Building Institute using Census data and real estate listings found that even as middle and high-income housing has increased, the most affordable housing — units costing about $400 for a one bedroom — in OTR decreased by 73 percent from 2000 to 2015, going from 3,235 units to just 869. OTR has also seen a decrease in residents living in the neighborhood who receive rental help from HUD attached to Section 8 vouchers. With vouchers, HUD picks up the cost of rent above 30 percent of a recipient’s income for any private residence that accepts them. At its peak, in 2004, 545 voucher holders lived in OTR. By 2015, that number had dropped to 326, according to HUD data. The neighborhood saw 405 mortgages between 2013 and 2017, federal data shows. Of those, only 12 went to black home buyers. In 2017, the median income of borrowers seeking loans in the neighborhood was $147,000 — up from $80,000 in 2013 in a neighborhood with a median household income of about $15,000 a year as of the 2010 Census. There are other areas where the research isn’t fine-grained enough to capture displacement that is in fact happening for economic reasons. Because the study only CONTINUES ON PAGE 09

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CITY DESK

Abortion Providers Sue over Ohio’s ‘Heartbeat’ Law BY N I C K SWA R T S EL L

Ohio Planned Parenthood clinics and operators of other women’s health clinics that provide abortions in the state May 15 asked the U.S. District Court in Columbus to issue a stay on the enforcement of Ohio’s “heartbeat” law, which prohibits abortions as soon as six weeks after conception, and to strike it down as unconstitutional. That law, one of the most restrictive in the country, was signed by Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine April 11 and goes into effect July 11. The legislation would make it a fifthdegree felony punishable by a year in prison for a physician to perform an abortion after a fetal heartbeat is detected. The law contains no exceptions for rape or incest, though it does allow abortions when a mother’s life is in danger due to her pregnancy. Opponents of the legislation operating clinics in Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton and Toledo say the law violates women’s constitutional right to abortion

BY N I C K SWA R T S EL L

access under 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade. Supporters of the law, however, say it is about preserving life and also see it as a means to possibly overturn Roe before a more conservative Supreme Court. “This near-total ban on abortion is part of a constant barrage of restrictions and unnecessary policing of women’s bodies from lawmakers,” Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio President and CEO Iris Harvey said in a statement. Middletown State Rep. Candice Keller sponsored the bill in the Ohio House. She says the aim of the legislation is simple: demonstrate that the laws can withstand legal scrutiny and protect the lives of the unborn. “After nine years of waiting, it is time,” she told the House Health Committee, of which she is a member, in February. DeWine’s predecessor John Kasich vetoed the heartbeat bill twice, last in 2018, saying it likely violated the U.S.

Constitution under Roe v. Wade. Instead, Kasich signed a law banning abortions after 20 weeks. Courts have struck down similar heartbeat laws in other states, including North Dakota and Iowa, as recently as January. Federal courts have declared the laws violate the constitution. But supporters of the law say it could be part of a wave of legislation that succeeds before the new Supreme Court and its two new conservative justices. “Ultimately, this will work its way up to the United States Supreme Court,” DeWine told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt last month. “And they’ll make that decision.” The law is just one of a wave of bills recently passed in Ohio and other states designed to challenge Supreme Court precedent. In Alabama, lawmakers recently passed a total ban on abortions — a move sure to see legal challenge.

Cincinnati Projects Get Affordable Housing Tax Credits BY N I C K SWA R T S EL L Cincinnati will get millions in federal tax credits to preserve and build new affordable housing, the Ohio Housing Finance Agency announced May 15. A new affordable housing effort in Overthe-Rhine, permanent supportive housing in Roselawn and two apartment buildings in Millvale will receive the credits, which can be leveraged for private investment in projects that are required to remain affordable for at least 30 years.

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In total, OHFA will disburse more than $28 million in credits in the coming year to 34 projects across the state creating roughly 2,200 units of housing. Seven projects in Franklin County and three projects in Cuyahoga County also scored funding.

The agency received a total of 10 applications for the housing credits from developers in Hamilton County — an increase from recent years, when applications from Cincinnati developers lagged behind those in other parts of the state. The agency received 92 applications for a total of more than $80 million statewide, including 16 applications from Franklin County and 11 from Cuyahoga County. The credits generally cover about 70 percent of the costs of housing construction. The city can sometimes help developers cover part of that gap with funds it doles out through the Notice of Funding Application process twice yearly.

Mayor Releases City Budget Proposal

In addition, OHFA also issued $6.75 million in separate federal HOME grants to some projects that will help close funding gaps. Two of the Cincinnati projects will receive that funding. A 32-unit project by Over-the-Rhine Community Housing and the Cincinnati Center City Development Corporation (3CDC) at 1505-1517 Vine Street just south of Liberty Street in OTR will receive $576,000 in credits for family-centered affordable housing and another $600,000 in HOME funding. The project will include renovation of three historic buildings and construction of a new building on a currently vacant lot next door. The neighborhood has lost 73 percent of its affordable housing options since 2000, according to a report by Xavier’s Community Building Institute. Another project creating 58 units of permanent supportive housing in a former school building at 1579 Summit Ave. in Roselawn by Talbert Services will receive $870,000 in credits and $300,000 in HOME funds. Permanent supportive housing combines long-term affordable housing with social services including addiction treatment and medical care to address homelessness and struggles with disability and other health issues. Two apartment buildings at 1990 and 2000 Westwood Northern Boulevard — including Shelton Gardens, a building once involved in a city lawsuit over its deteriorating conditions and charges of poor management — will

receive $800,000 each in credits for renovation work by American Community Developers, Inc. that will preserve their status as affordable housing. The City of Cincinnati sued New Jersey-based PF Holdings over conditions at a number of its buildings in Cincinnati, including Shelton Gardens and The Alms in Walnut Hills. Courts later ordered those buildings put into a receivership. They are now under new ownership. A number of other Hamilton County projects did not receive funding this round, including ones in Lower Price Hill, Bond Hill, Walnut Hills, Pendleton and Mount Auburn among other neighborhoods. “Our proposal to complete a substantial rehabilitation of the Property will address all of its urgent physical and social needs, modernize it, stabilize operations and vastly improve the residents’ quality of life,” the developer’s application for tax credits states. Hamilton County faces a roughly 40,000-unit gap in available housing units affordable at 30 percent of income for low-income residents, according to a report by the Greater Cincinnati Local Initiatives Support Corporation. “Nearly half of all renters pay more than a third of their income on housing,” OHFA Acting Executive Director Holly Holtzen said in a statement May 15. “Today’s award announcement is an important step toward tackling the growing affordability problem for Ohio’s renter households.”

Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley May 16 rolled out his proposals for the city’s $1.6 billion biennial budget. As anticipated, the mayor’s spending plan mostly reverses funding cuts in City Manager Patrick Duhaney’s budget to outside social service, neighborhood and business groups. Cranley’s proposal also adds $350,000 to convert the Shelterhouse winter shelter for those in need to a year-round operation and $800,000 for a $5 million public-private partnership designed to support those experiencing poverty called Project LIFT. Cranley’s proposal reinstates support for a needle exchange program, the Center for Addiction Treatment, COMPASS (an immigration welcoming service through the city’s chamber of commerce), the African American Chamber of Commerce, tech and business incubators, Cincinnati Neighborhood Games, Invest in Neighborhoods, Neighborhood Business Districts, a summer youth jobs initiative, a violence prevention plan overseen by United Way and a small sum for the Corporation for Findlay Market, which were all zeroed out in Duhaney’s budget proposal, among others. One notable exception to the funding reversal: The Center for Closing the Health Gap, a nonprofit run by onetime Cranley ally and former Cincinnati mayor Dwight Tillery. Duhaney and Cranley suggested cutting the Health Gap last year, but council voted later to add $692,000 in funding for the minority health organization. Cranley’s proposal also does not restore eight of nine city positions Duhaney recommended eliminating, including Department of Environment and Sustainability Director Larry Falkin’s position. Some members of Cincinnati City Council may propose preserving Falkin’s job as they introduce their amendments to the budget. Duhaney has said that employees whose jobs are eliminated will be moved to other positions, though pay cuts would be involved in some cases. Cranley says the money for the additions in his budget proposal will come from a few sources on the operating side of the budget: • Moving $600,000 in the city’s recently created affordable housing trust fund from the operating to capital budget, freeing up money to spend on the operations side. • A $1.9 million boost in funding from Ohio’s local government fund, which is CONTINUES ON PAGE 09

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considers displacement as an aggregate outflow of low-income residents in relation to a net gain of higher-income residents, it misses neighborhoods where more complex dynamics are happening. For example, CityBeat in 2018 documented the displacement of several households whose rental homes were being redeveloped in an increasinglypopular corner of Walnut Hills. Many of the residents in those homes were unable to find affordable housing in the neighborhood and ended up in Northern Kentucky or West Side neighborhoods experiencing concentrating poverty. During the scope of the study, however, that tract in Walnut Hills lost both lowand high-income residents, meaning it was not considered to be experiencing displacement. The study also likely doesn’t capture other kinds of displacement that can occur due to the expansion of major institutions like universities and hospitals, which sometimes cause loss of low- and moderate-income housing without adding permanent higher-income residents. College students, for example, often count as low-income residents in Census counts, even though they often aren’t permanent residents of a neighborhood and may sometimes have economic realities

different than other low-income individuals and families. The University of Minnesota study counts Census tracts in Corryville, Fairview and University Heights as experiencing concentrated poverty, but much of that is likely related to students. In Walnut Hills and other neighborhoods, coming demographic change may be too early in the process to show up in the study. That, too, may be accelerated by contexts unique to those neighborhoods. The West End Census tract that will host FC Cincinnati’s coming stadium, for example, saw the loss of more than 700 low-income people during the study’s timeframe and a loss of more than 400 black residents. During the same time, a handful of higher-income residents moved in. The neighborhood is still predominantly low-income, and there isn’t any evidence those two numbers are related. But the coming stadium is sure to heat up a real estate market that was already on the upswing. In 2012, there were 16 home improvement or mortgage loans written in the three full Census tracts that make up the West End, according to federal data. In a neighborhood that is 85 percent black with a median household income of about $13,000 a year, the $2,124,000 in loans went to applicants with a median income of

$58,000 a year. Only three of the recipients were black. By 2017, the last year for which federal data is available, there were 41 such loans worth $5,554,000 sold to applicants with a median income of $80,000 a year. Thirteen of the recipients of those loans — about 30 percent — were black. Meanwhile, funding for new affordable housing projects in the West End has lagged. The neighborhood’s last allocation of Low Income Housing Tax Credits — which fund the development of much of America’s low-income, non-Section 8 housing — was $972,000 for the Sands Senior Apartments in 2014. Overall, the University of Minnesota study shows a demographic change happening in the city limits. Black residents left many of the city’s neighborhoods, regardless of economic performance. Neighborhoods in the city experiencing any level of economic expansion lost more than 6,000 black residents during the years the study considers, while lowerperforming neighborhoods lost about a third of that. Meanwhile, whites left those lower-performing neighborhoods in large numbers — but more than 2,000 moved into highperforming city neighborhoods.

in the state’s budget the General Assembly is negotiating now. It’s a relatively small increase — as recently as 2011, the city was receiving more than $40 million from the state. • $400,000 gleaned by eliminating more vacant positions in various city departments. • At least $250,000 in revenue gained by leasing out city-owned land along I-71 and I-75 to billboard companies. Cranley said proceeds from those leases could climb to as much as $500,000 a year. On the capital side of the budget, Cranley would cut: • $250,000 the city would spend to boost commercial and retail opportunities. • $186,000 earmarked for developing neighborhood transportation strategies. • $325,000 for traffic signal infrastructure. Cranley touted the budget as structurally balanced and highlighted the $4.8 million going to the city’s United Way-administered Human Services Fund — up from $4 million last year. He also praised Duhaney’s efforts in adding employees and funding to the city’s Public Services Department, which is responsible for trash pickup, road maintenance and other services.

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Ci c Frin e is h per e t intro t t eat r as an t ere are ur t ps t ake t e st ut h e pe i e

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Ne l rthur a es

he Cincinnati Fringe Festival enters its 16th iteration on Friday, May 31 and runs through June 15. Cincy Fringe hosts a wide range of new and established local, national and international productions in a dozen venues across Over-the-Rhine, including onstage at Fringe producer Know Theatre, as well as The Mini Microcinema, Art Academy of Cincinnati, OTR Community Church and Gabriel’s Corner. As any regular Cincinnati theatergoer will tell you, Fringe is a long-established and much beloved extravaganza of new, extraordinary and downright weird theater and arts productions. More than 100 applicants submitted work for consideration; of those, 34 hour-long productions were selected by a jury of local theater professionals, educators and journalists to be performed as part of Cincy Fringe’s Primary Lineup. (Fringe also includes additional visual and fi lm events, bar afterparties, family-friendly shows and Fringe Next productions written and performed by high school students.) But for those of you who may not have seen a proper theatrical performance since your eighth-grade class trip to Romeo and Juliet, Cincy Fringe offers an accessible and esculent way to consume theater in a manner you’ve likely never experienced before. That sentiment fits with Fringe’s long-standing tagline: “Kinda WEIRD. Like YOU!” And though many of the fest’s shows live up to the weirdness in a deeply committed fashion, others tend to be more straightforward stories told in a simple format. But what makes Fringe shows so palatable for both the lifelong and new-to-the-scene theatergoer? Perhaps it’s the 60-minute format? Or maybe it’s the multiple performance times and venues — there are 220 showtimes in total — which fit around busy schedules and encourage new experiences? Regardless of the reason, Fringe shows are all about exploration — be it exploration of new and unusual production types or of disciplines, themes, influences and cultural representations. One could argue that, because of this, Fringe offers the perfect opportunity to see theater at its best. But art is subjective, and for that reason, festival producer Chris Wesselman says Cincy Fringe tries to take a more nuanced and balanced look at the shows that are submitted. “Our goal is never to judge on the base of quality,” he says. The biggest question they ask when accepting a work is: “Is this thing representing itself well?” This question is at the core of how the Cincy Fringe jury creates a well-balanced line up. Mental health and LGBTQ+ representation are just two common themes that emerge throughout several Fringe shows. However, any themes that form throughout the fest happen via what Wesselman calls “pure dark magic.” Though many submissions and selected works are shows that have already appeared in other Fringe festivals throughout the country, Cincy Fringe takes careful steps to ensure that both new and established works are considered equal contenders. “We’d be violating our existence if new works aren’t given equal footing,” Wesselman says.

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But what is it that makes Fringe live up to its own tagline? Wesselman describes the festival as “artists unleashed” — a major contributing factor to its tendency to lean toward the weird or the macabre. The weirdness can also simply be due to the nature of the performance space and timeline. With over 30 performances in a dozen spaces, Fringe shows tend to be more sparsely staged. That, coupled with the celebration of new ideas and experimental concepts, can easily transform Fringe into a collection of works that deviate sharply from the norm. Despite this, Wesselman presses that there are universal elements to stories. “Just because it might be presented in an unusual way, doesn’t mean (a show is) not relatable,” he says. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. “Fringe shows are often an opportunity for people to burst out of their shells,” he says. As this year’s Cincy Fringe bursts out of its shell and onto the stage, we offer a few of the following tips to help optimize your festival experience, whether you’re new to the art form or not. For more help on personalizing your festival experience, check out the official Cincy Fringe Festival Guide, which ran in last week’s issue of CityBeat and is available online (CityBeat is a Fringe media partner) and includes additional insights and moviestyle ratings — PG, PG-13, R, etc. — for language and themes. For more information on dates, times, tickets and venue locations, visit cincyfringe.com.

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When it comes to the Primary Lineup performances, the shows can be difficult to categorize. Broadly, Fringe shows can be sorted into the following categories:

17 solo performances 10 plays 3 interdisciplinary performances 2 dance/physical theater performances 2 musicals

But that’s not to say that various shows won’t play with categorization, or even blend various elements like music, puppetry or improv all at once. And although Fringe shows may be challenging to categorize, the following sections sort this year’s Primary Lineup by overarching theme, to help festgoers get an idea of what to expect.

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Sometimes, there is no better way to experience what Fringe is all about than by attending a show that requires your full attention and participation. In Meatball Séance (John Michael, Chicago) six audience members are selected to be a boyfriend, best friend or “a vessel to be possessed by my mother’s spirit.” The goal? To help John Michael summon his dead mother so she can meet his boyfriend — all while whipping up a batch of her meatballs. And Between 3 and 5 (Pones, Cincinnati) is an immersive, multisensory dance performance that experiments with a series of interdisciplinary vignettes.

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L A I T N E EXIST NGE FRI Any time a group of actors and writers get together, there’s bound to be existential dread at some point, as in the Vegetables! (Old, Old, Very Old, Man Productions, Cincinnati), a musical about people in a vegetative state. Or discover what it means to face your adopted persona in front of a Grand Jury with Knifeslingin'! (Paper Soul, Minneapolis). The Vicious Hillbilly or Dating in the Deep South (Dawn Larsen, Florence, South Carolina) takes some time to laugh at love with a musical about the woes of online dating. And in Marriage: a Work in Progress (ED, New York/Los Angeles/ Granville, Ohio) two people improvise onstage to create new and different characters with each performance, while only the relationship between the two stays the same.

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In a unique solo performance for Dave Maher Coma Show (Dave Maher, Chicago), comedian Dave Maher recounts what happened when he unexpectedly woke up from a coma after being declared dead and read all of his Facebook eulogies. There’s also Stow Your Baggage (Alexx Rouse, Cincinnati), which describes itself as a “Flight Attendant School Dropout Comedy,” and seXmas Cards (Kate Mock Elliott, Cincinnati), in which a Fringe artist and mother of two speaks frankly about desire and masturbation. Or settle into SUFFER Fools (Homegrown Theater, Cincinnati), a dark comedy that flips the script on the typical profile of the happy, unassuming fool.

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JULY 12-14, 2019 • LOUISVILLE, KY

FRIDAY JULY 12

THE KILLERS

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As Wesselman previously discussed, Fringe Festival shows have a propensity to explore new ideas and shed a light on social issues like mental health, LGBTQ+ representation and more. Walking While Black in Moscow (The Adventures of Les Kurkendaal, Los Angeles) explores race and sexuality through writer and performer Les Kurkendaal-Barrett, who recounts his experience traveling as a black gay man in Russia. And Martha (Autumn Kaleidoscope, Cincinnati) tackles environmental issues in the form of the very last passenger pigeon, who died at the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden in 1914. Or take Borderline A**hole (Julie Gieseke, San Francisco), which combines social themes around mental health and dating as an LGBTQ+-identifying person to dig deep into past relationships to find new wisdom and even laughter.

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If you have a propensity for the eerie or the macabre, this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Fringe definitely has you covered. This House Will Never Let Us Go (Gideon Productions, Astoria, New York) is a horror play that follows a housesitter who discovers she is sharing her summer digs with an eerie roommate. Packing on the scares is The Consciousness (Stage & Key Productions, Columbus, Ohio), a sci-fi drama that follows a musician who steals from the digitally stored consciousness of a littleknown, dead composer. Some Fringe shows blend the spooky and the funny together. The Devil On the Wall or, That Time I Got Kidnapped (Jamie Campbell, Kansas City, Missouri), weaves the real-life story of a childhood kidnapping into a stand-up comedy set. Or take ZOINKS! (Queen City Flash, Cincinnati), a blend of camp and horror in the form of a teen sleuth caper comedy. Child of Friday (All That Ish Productions, Cincinnati) is a dramedy about an unfortunate child born on Friday the 13th. If horror with a musical twist is more your speed, check out Kill You with My Love (Muwhahaha Productions, Cincinnati), which features skipping records and eerie love stories, or Descent: a Murder Ballad (Hannah Gregory, Cincinnati), a Folk musical about marriage, miscarriage and murder.

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Another major topic of discussion in recent years has centered on health care. Diagnose This! Tales of a Medical Actor (Donna Kay Speaks, Portland, Oregon) blends improv comedy and storytelling to illuminate a new perspective on the American health care system. My Geriatric Uterus (Aggressive Curl Pattern Productions, Cincinnati) is a great distillation of a Fringe show, blending unconventional puppetry — one of the characters is a uterus puppet — and music to speak about the expectations around women and childbearing. Mental health is also an oft-explored topic in theater, particularly in Fringe shows, and this year is no different. In a series of vignettes, Tales From the Cuckoo Club (Caldera Studios, Cincinnati) describes itself as a “story about autism” and tells a tale of depression and hope. And though not directly related to mental health, The Origins of My Magic (Cody Clark Magic, Louisville) explores the autism spectrum and how it affects solo performer and magician Cody Clark.

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Several Fringe shows this year shed a light on the #MeToo movement, and explore challenges and issues close to many women’s hearts. For example, take Body Language 2019: #metoo (True Body Project, Cincinnati), which features a collection of stories that seek to deepen the collective understanding of sexual assault. The MILF Also Rises (Jen Joplin, Cincinnati) also tackles the difficulties of navigating a post-#MeToo atmosphere through the lens of a middle-aged mother. Or Kumferted (Performance Gallery, Cincinnati), an uncomfortable comedy that examines why women have often been considered creatures meant to offer comfort, but not receive it in return. But social commentary doesn’t always stem from present events. Some Fringe shows draw upon historical influences in order to present new ideas. Nellie Bly: A Menace to Propriety (InBocca Performance, Cincinnati), for example, is based on the true story of American journalist Nellie Bly — who was committed to an asylum to write an exposé for the New York World but became trapped — and gives new voice to women throughout the ages.

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Rounding out the Primary Lineup are some shows that likely defy a simple description or distilled theme. Let's Prank Call Each Other (zach dorn, Los Angeles) christens itself “a darkly funny and fast-paced live-action comic book.” And Puppets Should Speak (Schedule C Productions, Anderson, Indiana) wants you to “get drunk, take a bullet and make sweet puppet love.” For those looking for a blend of stories and songs, 90 Lies an Hour (Paul Strickland, Cincinnati) is the fourth installment of return local Fringe artist Paul Strickland’s Tall-Tale Trailer Park trilogy. It promises, “new never-beforedisbelieved Tall-Tales and songs!” And if you want to dive even deeper into the weird and indescribable, check out Live Nukes! (The Central Scrutinizers, Chicago), which describes itself as a “transdimensional physical comedy” about two people who accidentally launch a nuke and try to stop it. Oh, and it all unfolds without the use of any words. If you’re looking to get a little more intense, NIGHTMARE FUEL (Sarah Knittel, Philadelphia) promises to bring the edge in a show about teen slumber parties and demonic exorcisms. Or find satire and horror in Dandy Darkly's All Aboard! (Dandy Darkly, Brooklyn) — a show that assures that “the less you know, the better.”

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Fringe doesn’t stop there. The festival includes a number of different shows and events that complement the Primary Lineup, including a Bar Series that offers Fringegoers a chance to mix and mingle for nightly afterparties in the Know Theatre space. There are also Fringe Next works, created and performed by high school students, two of which are included in the Primary Lineup: Child of Friday and Tales from the Cuckoo Nest.. Fringe Development includes workshops, staged readings and artist-led master classes; while Visual Fringe highlights visual art — from photography to painting — in venues across the city. Presented by Cindependent Film Festival, Film Fringe boasts a series of “Riff Traxinspired” comedy screenings, all of which will be shown at Cincinnati World Cinema; two other projects from local fi lmmakers will be screened at The Mini Microcinema. Bring the kids to Family-Friendly Fringe with shows like Storytime with Sparkle and Alice in Wonderland. At the end of Cincy Fringe, six shows will be awarded Pick of the Fringe honors. The categories are as follows: Audience Pick, Critics’ Pick, the Dr. Robert J. Thierauf Producer’s Pick (picked by Cincy Fringe staff ), Fringe Next Audience Pick (awarded to one of the Fringe high school productions), the Linda Bowen Full Frontal Pick (selected by Full Frontal passholders) and the David C. Herriman Artists’ Pick (selected by Fringe artists). These six shows will be given special encore performances and presented with awards on June 15. It’s important to note that, at its core, the Fringe Festival is a celebration of art that pushes boundaries and tries new things. Not all shows appeal perfectly to all audiencegoers, but that’s part of the magic! As with any Fringe festival, the best way to experience the magic is to see the broadest variety of shows possible. And always expect the unexpected. Sometimes the shows that end up staying with you are the ones you least expect. Tickets are available for single shows ($15) and passes range from the Full Frontal All-Access Pass ($250) to the Voyeur Pass ($75 for six shows) and Encore Pass ($75); tickets are available online, at the Know Theatre box office or at the individual venues.

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The Cincinnati Fringe Festival,, produced by Know Theatre, runs May 31-June 15 at various venues across Over-theRhine. For more information on specific performances, showtimes and locations, visit cincyfringe.com.

SATU RDAY, JUNE 22, 2019 THE PHOENIX

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VENDORS

MORE TO BE ANNOUNCED

T IC KE TS ON S A LE NOW AT WWW.B R U N C H E D C I N CY .C O M

STUFF TO DO Ongoing Shows ART: No Spectators: The Art of Burning Man Cincinnati Art Museum, Eden Park (through Sept. 2)

WEDNESDAY 22

ART: Creatures: When Species Meet at the CAC enlists animals as art collaborators. See feature on page 29. MUSIC: Canadian Punk quartet PUP heads to Bogart’s. See Sound Advice on page 42. MUSIC: mewithoutYou plays the Woodward Theater with Cursive and The Appleseed Cast. See Sound Advice on page 42.

THURSDAY 23

Windy City to headline a run of shows at Go Bananas this weekend. He’s lived in Chicago for the past few years and when he’s not on the road headlining a club or featuring for the likes of Tom Segura, he runs a comedy night at a bar across from Wrigley Field. “I’m gearing up to record a second album,” he says. It will be a follow up to his 2015 debut Hot for Too Long. “It will have more family stuff and a lot of relationship stuff, as well as some traveling and living in Chicago bits. And farts, as always.” Indeed, family is a constant source of material for Cronin. “My mom is the exact opposite of my dad — she’s very techsavvy, almost to an inappropriate degree,” he tells an audience. “She’s told me two of my grandparents have died through text messages, which is so inappropriate. Why don’t you just tweet it to me at that point mom?” 8 p.m. Thursday; 7:30 and 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 8 p.m. Sunday. $8-$14. Go

Bananas, 8410 Market Place Lane, Montgomery, gobananascomedy.com. — P.F. WILSON EVENT: Margarita Madness Attention margarita lovers: CityBeat and Milagro Tequila present Margarita Madness, an evening of tequila, food, live music and lively competition on the Purple People Bridge. Participating restaurants include Bakersfield, Keystone Bar & Grill, Condado Tacos and other favorites — each of which will be competing in a margarita throwdown. Guests will vote for their favorite marg to win the People’s Choice award alongside local judges, who will be bestowing honors on the Best and Most Creative margaritas. Don’t miss the Guac-Off competition to inaugurate the Queen City’s guacamole master, either. Live music will be provided by The SunBurners. Tickets include 10 drinks, food samples and one token to vote for your favorite margarita.

5:30-8:30 p.m. Thursday. $40. Purple People Bridge, 1 Levee Way, Newport, margaritamadnesscincy.com. — ELIZABETH DAVIS EVENT: Spring Grove Memorial Day Weekend Spring Grove Cemetery hosts a series of events this Memorial Day weekend in tribute to veterans. Running Thursday through Monday, the weekend kicks off with a concert courtesy of the Ohio Military Band. After walking tours of Norman Chapel and the cemetery grounds, a customary scattering of petals over soldiers’ graves, a Civil War music performance by Steve Ball and a presentation by a President Lincoln impersonator, the weekend will conclude with a walking tour detailing the site’s Civil War history. Various events through Monday. Free admission. Spring Grove Cemetery & Arboretum, 4521 Spring Grove Ave., Spring Grove Village, springgrove.org. — NICK SULLIVAN

FRIDAY 24

MUSIC: Over the Rhine hosts their fourth Nowhere Else Festival, a microWoodstock the band presents annually at their Clinton County farm. See feature on page 39. MUSIC: Heavy Metal Christian band Stryper heads to Bogart’s. See Sound Advice on page 43. EVENT: The World of Clogging Dance Workshops and Competition Big news if you’re into clogging: The World of Clogging championships take place this weekend in Cincinnati, and the competition comes with several days’ worth of fun and fanfare. The Holiday Inn Eastgate will feature workshops, seminars, fun dances (including a lightsout laser clog dance party) and more with a lineup of top international, regional and local clogging instructors. Championship competitions start Saturday with choreographed solos, duos and duets followed by solo

and team events on Sunday, with all cloggers vying for trophies and cash prizes. 8 a.m.-10:30 p.m. Friday; 8 a.m.-10 p.m. Saturday; 8 a.m.-11 p.m. Sunday. Workshops $10-$40; $5 spectator for competitions. Holiday Inn Eastgate, 4501 Eastgate Blvd., Eastgate, worldofclogging.com. — MAIJA ZUMMO EVENT: Pre PRIDE in Northside Cincinnati PRIDE takes place June 22 at Sawyer Point, but Northside is getting in the spirit early with a Pre PRIDE party. Head to the neighborhood this weekend for a ton of events including the free, all-ages North by Northside Music Festival Friday and Saturday featuring more than 50 artists and performers spread across seven family-friendly venues, ranging from the Northside Tavern and Urban Artifact to Tillie’s Lounge and Happen, Inc. In addition to NXNS, catch a screening CONTINUES ON PAGE 26

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COMEDY: Mike Cronin Cincinnati native Mike Cronin blows in from the

PHOTO: HAILEY BOLLINGER

ONSTAGE: Cincinnati Shakespeare Company’s A Flea in Her Ear is a ribald and rollicking sex farce. See review on page 30.

Margarita Madness

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ART: Magic & Melodrama: Cincinnati Posters from the Gilded Age The Taft Museum has mounted an exhibit featuring seven theatrical posters from the collection of the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County advertising turn of the 20th century productions. According to the museum, “Traveling actors, illusionists and theatrical producers promoted live performances with brilliantly colored printed outdoor advertisements.” Created in Cincinnati by the Strobridge Lithographing Company, these posters will transport viewers to The Wizard of Oz and Peter Pan via bits of entertaining magic, melodrama and fantasy. Through August 18. $12 adults; $10 seniors; free youth and members. Taft Museum of Art, 316 Pike St., Downtown, taftmuseum.org. — ERIN GARDNER

27 Years of Live Stand-Up Comedy in Cincinnati!

Show Times

Wed / Thur / Sun 8:00 - 18+ Friday 7:30 & 10:00 - 18+ Saturday 7:30 & 10:00 - 21+ Just 15 minutes from downtown in Mongtomery! Mike Cronin May 23 - 26

Greg Hahn

May 30 - June 2

FROM PAGE 25

of Call Me By Your Name Friday night at New Spirit Metropolitan Community Church; a neighborhoodwide pub crawl and silent auction Saturday to benefit Caracole; Hoffner Pride in the Park family fest on Sunday; a variety show and contest at Mixwells Sunday; and a wrap-up Tiki party Monday at Tillie’s. Events take place Friday-Monday. For full details, search “Pre PRIDE Northside” on Facebook or check out facebook. com/northbynorthsidefest. — MAIJA ZUMMO

SATURDAY 25

Raanan Hershberg June 6 - 9

Tom Simmons June 13 - 16

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FRIDAY 24

EVENT: Furry Friends Festival Celebrate Memorial Day weekend with man’s best friend. Washington Park is hosting a pet-friendly, kidfriendly festival complete with vendors offering dog food, pet toys and photography services. With live Bluegrass music from acts including Black Mountain Throwdown, The Vims and Ohio Valley Salvage, plus food and a full bar featuring brews from Fifty West, Rhinegeist, Taft’s and more, this two-day festival is sure to be doggone fun. 6-10 p.m. Friday; noon-6 p.m. Saturday. Free admission. Washington Park, 1230 Elm St., Over-the-Rhine, washingtonpark.org. — ERIN GARDNER

EVENT: Family Festival: Animal House The Contemporary Arts Center is hosting a free family-friendly fest themed around the new exhibit Creatures: When Species Meet. The museum will host special, pettable animal guests from Sunrock Farm and the Cincinnati Museum Center will have artifacts for visitors to view and interact with. Families can also make their own masks to match the animal theme and become one with

their newfound furry friends. Noon-3 p.m. Saturday. Free. Contemporary Arts Center, 44 E. Sixth St., Downtown, contemporaryartscenter.org. — NICK SULLIVAN EVENT: Coney Island Opening Day Kick off summer with Coney Island as it opens its doors for 2019. Attractions include rides for kids and adults and the Sunlite Water Adventure water park, which features the world’s largest recirculating pool. The event will also include a WWII-style Swing dance and USO show to honor veterans, featuring the Tom Daugherty Orchestra, which will recreate Glenn Miller’s Army Air Force Band. Held in Moonlight Pavilion (6-10 p.m.; $17-$20), the event will also include Cincinnati Lindy Society Swing dancers, prizes for period-authentic outfits and a cash bar. Park opens 10 a.m. Saturday. $21.95; $19.95 seniors; $12.95 ages 2-7; other prices vary. Coney Island, 6201 Kellogg Ave., California, coneyislandpark. com. — EMMA STIEFEL GET INVOLVED: InVasive Temple Building Project In 2000, David Best and Jack Haye built a Temple at Burning Man in Nevada to honor the death of a friend, and the tradition stuck. Ever since, a new Temple is constructed each year at the event in the center of the Black Rock Desert playa. Thousands of attendees visit

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8410 Market Place Ln.

EVENT: Hello Kitty Café Truck If you ever thought Sanrio’s Hello Kitty was just so dang cute you could eat her, now you can... kind of. The two

Hello Kitty Cafe Trucks are touring the U.S. and one of them is making a stop in Cincinnati. The truck will be at the Kenwood Towne Centre near the Cheesecake Factory with treats and merchandise on Saturday. Launched in 2014 at Hello Kitty Con, this mobile cafe offers sugary snacks to kitty fans across America with a menu featuring minicakes, macarons, cookies, pocket pies and a “giant chef cookie,” plus a signature bow-adorned bottle of water. Of course, the truck also peddles plenty of Hello Kitty and Hello Kitty Cafe merch. 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Saturday. Free admission. Kenwood Towne Centre, 7875 Montgomery Road, Kenwood, facebook.com/ hellokittycafetruck. — MAIJA ZUMMO

26 PHOTO: PROVIDED BY 3CDC

P H O T O : P R O V I D E D B Y TA S T E O F C I N C I N N AT I

MAY 30 MAY 31 JUNE 1 B L O O M I N G T O N ,

MARIA BAMFORD PRESENTED BY

SATURDAY 25

EVENT: Taste of Cincinnati The Taste of Cincinnati food festival is back for the 41st year. Over 50 of Cincinnati’s best restaurants will set up booths along Fifth Street downtown for the nation’s longest-running free culinary festival. More great eats can be found at the Taste of Findlay Market, where market vendors and “foodpreneurs” will serve fresh mini meals along the Fifth Street ramp to I-71. Or at the Rhinegeist Food Truck Alley along the Columbia Parkway Ramp. Visitors can savor food while listening to 45 musical acts spread across five stages and three days, or try their hand at building vegetable vehicles at the GoVibrant! Veggie Races Friday at noon. This year’s event will also feature the first-ever Eat & Run 5K on Sunday. 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Saturday and Sunday; 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday. Free admission; food prices range from $3-$6. Fifth Street between Main and Sentinel street, Downtown, tasteofcincinnati.com. — EMMA STIEFEL

SUNDAY 26

COOK MEDICAL

BLOOMINGTON PRIDE

STEWART HUFF PRESENTED BY

THE COMEDY ATTIC

PL US OVER 60 OF THE N ATIONʼS BES T COMEDIANS

MONDAY 27

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EVENT: Hunger Walk & 5K Run The 16th annual Memorial Day Hunger Walk & 5K Run raises funds for the Freestore Foodbank. Since it began in 2004, the event has raised more than $1,800,000 — or 5,400,000 meals — for those in need in counties across Greater Cincinnati. Each race registration is a donation to assist the Freestore and its 450 partner food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters and community centers, which, according to the Hunger Walk website, provide 27.3 million meals each year to children and families in Southwest Ohio, Southeast Indiana and Northern Kentucky. The race/walk route takes participants from West Pete Rose Way, into Covington and back to Smale Riverfront Park with the goal of fighting hunger with every step. 9 a.m. Monday. $25 with T-shirt; $20 without; $100 suggested fundraising goal. Race leaves from The Banks, Downtown, cincinnatihungerwalk.org. — MAIJA ZUMMO

EVENT: Bike Month Preservation Ride May is National Preservation Month and National Bike Month. Celebrate both on Sunday with a slow, steady guided bike ride through the city while learning about Cincinnati’s rich history, various landmarks and ongoing preservation projects with the Cincinnati Preservation Collective. The collective is a group aimed at being “positive and proactive stewards of Cincinnati’s historic infrastructure.” Don’t have

your own bike? Cincy Red Bike rental stations are available along the way. This tour is for all ages and all levels on a primarily flat route. 1-3 p.m. Sunday. Free. Bike route is TBA. More info at queencitybike.org. — ELIZABETH DAVIS

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to leave letters and offerings to loved ones who have passed, only for the structure to be ceremoniously burned on the last night of Burning Man. To coincide with the No Spectators: The Art of Burning Man exhibit at the Cincinnati Art Museum, Samantha Krukowski, a University of Cincinnati College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning associate professor, is leading volunteers in the building of a sacred structure of Cincinnati’s own. The museum states on its website that the strictly outdoor structure “will be a place of refuge, reflection, remembrance — but it will

be designed to reflect the context of its Cincinnati location.” Krukowski is utilizing invasive species like honeysuckle to create the Temple. To aid in the effort, sign a waiver online or at the DeWitt museum entrance and come prepared with work gloves and tools like pruners, loppers and hand saws. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday. Cincinnati Art Museum, 953 Eden Park Drive, Eden Park, cincinnatiartmuseum. org. — MORGAN ZUMBIEL

THE BUDDY COLE MONOLOGUES PRESENTED BY

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ARTS & CULTURE Navigating HumanAnimal Relationships in ‘Creatures’ The Contemporary Arts Center’s newest exhibition — Creatures: When Species Meet — marks former head curator Steven Matijcio’s last show

Still from video “Landlocked” P H O T O : C O U R T E S Y O F T H E A R T I S T, MIGUEL ANGEL RÍOS, AND GALLERY WENDI NORRIS

BY M O R G A N Z U M B I EL

Matijcio expresses that he was mindful of how Creatures might be perceived. Art involving animals can easily delve into extremism: Consider Damien Hirst’s controversial use of animal cadavers in works like his 1991 “The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living,” which featured a dead tiger shark eerily suspended in a tank of formaldehyde. A lonely ode to the shark — who never lived to see its infamy — the work wouldn’t belong in a collaborative exhibition like Creatures, wherein the CAC has instead erected a shrine to the beauty of animals’ life and agency. “I think work in the past has grabbed the headlines for all the wrong reasons when artists work with animals,” Matijcio says. “I wanted to show that there could be a more complex dynamic and negotiation that’s happening with the work showcased at the CAC.” “When I wade into terrain that is unwieldy, yet thought-provoking and inspiring, that’s what I want to pursue,” he continues. “And the CAC gave me that platform to do so. And yes, this exhibition is going to be one that could potentially cause controversy, but I felt like it could inspire passions and conversation. And so to have that be kind of my final gesture at the Contemporary Arts Center, I couldn’t think of anything better.” Creatures: When Species Meet runs through Aug. 18 at the Contemporary Arts Center. For more info, visit contemporaryartscenter.org.

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industry to paint by outfitting them with aprons, giving them paintbrushes to hold with their trunks and encouraging them to make strokes on a sheet of paper or canvas. Four of these paintings can be seen on display at the CAC. Created by elephants Lukkop, Ramona and Renee, the vibrant Abstractionist works employ the use of color as well as any human artist. Still operating as a charity, the AEACP auctions off most of these paintings. The most expensive was painted by Ruby, a female elephant at the Phoenix Zoo, and was sold for $25,000. The exhibition stays away from work where animals are employed merely as subjects, instead favoring pieces where they are active participants in the process of art making. “I really wanted to highlight work where there was some capacity for change, where the animal — the other — had this possibility of affecting the outcome of the artwork,” Matijcio says. In one instance, the act of creation called for the presence of live animals. Brian Jungen’s geometric “Plaza 19,” a plywood and carpet-square model of the famous Terrace Plaza Hotel on Sixth and Vine streets downtown, is the palace of a housecat’s dreams. Adoptable cats and kittens from the SPCA lounge in its cubbyholes, supervised by SPCA employees. (In the past, Jungen had cats living in similar structures 24/7, but these cats will only be at the CAC 1-4 p.m. every Saturday.) There was consideration of how to navigate such an exhibition within the context of animal rights — and

the 49-second clip “Spelling Lesson” Man Ray sits at a table after presumably completing a spelling quiz. He whines and tilts his head attentively as Wegman grades his work, offering praise for correctly spelled words and reviewing incorrect ones. It’s a familiar scene to anyone who’s ever spoken to their pet as if they were a person; the video acts as an endearing reminder of the tight-knit, sometimes silly bond between humans and animals. Dozens more stories delving into complex human-animal relationships unfold at the CAC. In Duke Riley’s luminous “Fly By Night” series, a flock of trained pigeons follows the sound of a whistle as they swoop through the night air above the East River in New York City, carrying LED lights in tiny bands attached to their legs. The use of leg bands — which historically had been used to deliver messages — harkens back to a time when the Brooklyn Navy Yard was home to the country’s largest naval fleet of carrier pigeons. (The last known carrier pigeon, a 29-year-old female named Martha, died at the Cincinnati Zoo in 1914.) In two chromogenic prints, the birds create mesmerizing swirls of blue that appear like shocks of lightning through an otherwise dark sky. Another collection of work opens a window into animal art therapy. In 1998, Russian-born, U.S.-based artists Vitaly Komar and Alexander Melamid founded the Asian Elephant Art and Conservation Project. Through the AEACP — now a 501c3 organization — they “taught” elephants rescued from Thailand’s logging

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plaque on the wall at the Contemporary Arts Center’s newly opened Creatures: When Species Meet informs visitors of the etymology of the word “animal.” It comes from the Latin animalis, meaning “having breath” or “soul.” It’s a perfect introduction for an exhibition that celebrates the artistic relationships between human and animal. After five years as head curator, it also marks Steven Matijcio’s last exhibition with the CAC. In March, he began a new position as director and chief curator at the Blaffer Art Museum on the University of Houston’s campus. “The genesis of the exhibition happened over five years ago,” he says over the phone from his new office in Texas. It all began when he saw Miguel Calderón’s “The Steps of the Enemy,” which is now featured in Creatures. In a small and dark room, a panther — projected on a screen — paces under a blacklight. Only a pair of glowing blue eyes and a mouthful of pointed canines identifies it. What begins in the panther as a low, guttural growl gives way to the gnashing of teeth and a roar that can be heard across the gallery. As a sense of intrusion sinks in, it’s hard not to jump back. If the panther could talk, it’d probably snarl, “Get out.” “That piece just hit me in the chest,” Matijcio says. “It resonated with me so deeply in that it was this negotiation of who is the enemy, who is the intruder, who is the aggressor, and trying to find a place of orientation that never quite happens.” Among the gallery’s many video installations is a more lighthearted feature courtesy of artist William Wegman and one of his famous weimaraner dogs, Man Ray. In

ONSTAGE

Scratching a Comic Itch: ‘A Flea in Her Ear’ R E V I E W BY R I C K PEN D ER

C I T Y B E AT. C O M

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CRITIC’S PICK

You’ve probably never had a flea in your ear, while the characters are oblivious.) but you can imagine that it would bug you The guest room where Raymonde and considerably and perhaps inspire bizarre bachelor Tournel intersect features a behavior. That’s what happens in Georges revolving bed that quickly rotates should Feydeau’s 1907 classic French sex farce A a jealous husband show up. When turned, Flea in Her Ear. Not a real flea, mind you, it’s occupied by the elderly Baptiste but a spark of annoying suspicion is what (Joneal Joplin). When Tournel slips in with sets comic pandemonium in motion at Baptiste, expecting Raymonde, it’s one of Cincinnati Shakespeare Company’s final many startling — and laugh-out-loud — production of its 25th season. moments. When Poche enters the room, Raymonde Chandebise (Kelly Raymonde and Tournel think he’s her Mengelkoch) thinks her husband Victor husband, which ramps up the dismay and (Billy Chace) is having an affair because silliness several more notches. his ardor for her has diminished. (In reality, he’s been having problems with his manhood and has sought medical attention.) Raymonde discusses this with her friend Lucienne (Sara Clark), and they concoct a plan to catch Victor being unfaithful at the Frisky Puss Hotel. Lucienne pens a letter from an anonymous admirer offering an assignation; Raymonde expects to confront him when he turns up. Of course, nothing unfolds as planned. Victor, a stuffy insurance agent, is not tempted. He passes the note to his eager and rather silly A Flea in Her Ear at the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company bachelor friend Romain Tournel PHOTO: MIKKI SCHAFFNER PHOTOGRAPHY (Justin McCombs), who happens to be someone Raymonde has eyed for her own affair. She is shocked when he All gets sorted out in the third act, but turns up at the hotel and is scandalized by not before Poche turns up at the Chandehis zeal to romance her, since her notion of bise home. Everyone believes Victor has an affair appears to be holding hands and lost his mind, and Poche is bewildered by whispering sweet nothings. their behavior. Don Carlos brandishes a But that’s only the beginning. Victor’s pistol until he’s set straight in high-speed nephew Camille (Brandon Joseph Burton) Spanish, delivered by Clark’s Lucienne. has a serious speech impediment: Unable Successful farce depends mightily on to pronounce consonants, he is almost concise timing and delivery, and Cincy impossible to understand. But that Shakes’ 14 actors are in their element in doesn’t stop him from trying to speak this production. They’re aided in no small unintelligibly and animatedly. It also manner by two glorious sets designed by doesn’t impede his pursuit of the maid Will Turbyne, who provided scenic design Antoinette (Maggie Lou Rader) despite for seven past seasons at the company’s her jealous husband, the butler Etienne Race Street location. His sedate urban (Geoffrey Warren Barnes). There’s also parlor and the hot-pink hotel are picture Lucienne’s fiery-tempered Spaniard perfect for the raucous proceedings, husband, Don Carlos (Matthew Lewis replete with multiple doors for jack-in-theJohnson), who discovers the letter his wife box entries and slamming departures. It’s has written for Raymonde and believes she worth remaining in the theater during one is preparing to cheat on him. of the two intermissions to watch the set That’s all in the first of three acts. We changes. move from the Chandebises’ posh Belle The insanity of A Flea in Her Ear (preÉpoque home in Paris to the tawdry Frisky sented in a recent adaptation by David Ives, Puss Hotel, managed by the officious Ferthe playwright of the Broadway hit Venus raillon (Phil Fiorini) and his wife Olympia in Fur) has been impeccably orchestrated (Miranda McGee), a onetime courtesan. by director Jeremy Dubin. The program There’s also Rugby (Josh Katawick), an includes a loving essay by him about angry British guest, who no one underfarce, in which he comments about the stands since he speaks furious English. form’s relentless pursuit of laughter. He’s And then there’s Poche, a hapless serachieved it thoroughly. Now pardon me vant constantly bullied by Ferraillon. But while I scratch this flea in my ear. he’s also a dead ringer for Victor ChandeA Flea in Her Ear, presented by Cincinnati bise. Billy Chace takes on the double role Shakespeare Company, continues through with quirky physical humor and delighted June 2. Tickets and more info: dismay. (Chace’s quick costume changes cincyshakes.com. keep the audience breathless — all the more fun, since we are in on the device

LIT

Cincy’s New Bookstore on Wheels BY SA M I S T E WA R T

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Everyone should grow up with a book in their hands. Not a tablet or an iPad, but a physical book with pages full of wildly imaginative stories. At least that’s what Melanie Moore believes. After 25 years of teaching in various schools across the country, she rerouted her career to focus on inspiring a passion for reading by delivering the joy of books to cafés, flea markets and nonprofit events all from the bed Melanie Moore and her Book Bus of a vintage Volkswagen PH OTO: SA MI STE WART pickup truck. An intensive five-day “Amazon will always be there,” she says. bootcamp for booksellers taught her every“But bookstores can provide an experience thing she needed to know about opening that will pull you off the couch, to want to her dream bookstore, from finances and come talk books and get the feel of them.” ordering to store layout and staffing. Once On days she’s not popping up at cafés she conquered training, she drew up a and markets, she’s pulling into yard sales business plan and started looking for and shuffling through cardboard boxes or spaces to house her dream. meticulously scanning each shelf in any At first, Moore was teetering on the edge store that sells books. She won’t pick up of signing a lease in Oakley Square — the just anything — they’ve got to be unique space that once housed the blue manatee and in good shape to make the cut. bookstore. “I think the quality shines through “I woke up in the middle of the night and enough that people aren’t expecting thought, ‘What am I doing?’ ” she says. garage-sale prices,” she says. “It’s not a Disenchanted with the startup costs and garage-sale bus.” putting in hours behind the scenes to keep Keeping her bus stocked requires her dream alive, she realized that in order extensive research. She tries to read all the to reach her goal of becoming a bookseller, books she carries to be able to honestly she needed to refine her plan. “talk books” with her customers instead of That realization came in spring 2017 just pushing product. But reading through while sitting at her kitchen table: She every item in her inventory is impossible. glanced out the window to see her husAs Moore says, there’s “too many books, band’s blue truck; there was a way to have too little time.” the bookstore she’s always wanted without And though reading is her passion, she being tethered to a storefront. “I said, says she’s not a speed reader. She enjoys ‘Honey, can I have your truck?’” she says, pausing on the words, breathing them in. laughing. “And he said, ‘Sure!’” Though she stepped out of the educaThus the idea for the Cincy Book Bus was tion system two years ago, she still stays born. But it wasn’t until winter 2018 that involved, helping schools in the area Moore held her first official pop-up. stock their libraries and participating in Moore and her husband, Tony, origicommunity literacy programs. She turned nally bought the truck from a cherry farm her bus into a water station during Ride in Colorado and picked it up with cherry for Reading’s Cincinnati stop a few weeks pits and juice stains still in the bed. It’s a ago — a nationwide program based out manual and a little rickety, so Moore leaves of Nashville that delivers books to lowthe driving to Tony, who has an affinity for income schools in need of materials for vintage vehicles. He’s happy to show off its classrooms and libraries via a fleet of the book-mobile by welcoming customers cyclists. Moore was able to donate $500 into the driver’s seat or snapping photos of worth of books to this year’s event, which them with their newly purchased books in supported South Avondale schools. front of the bus. While she uses her cherry-truck-turnedTony frequently travels for work. With a book-mobile to benefit schools in dire need mobile bookstore, Moore is now free to go of reading materials, she also serves the with him. “It helps the bus, actually,” she folks just looking for a good read. Moore says. “When he goes to Europe, I take a hopes that her rickety rolling library will suitcase with me and buy books that you inspire people to enthusiastically partake can’t get locally and bring them back.” in the joys books have to offer. Moore offers a unique, beautifully “I think the book bus does just that,” she bound selection along with a personable says. “It brings smiles to people’s faces.” book-buying experience in a time where To follow Melanie Moore’s Book Bus, the internet offers instant gratification and check out facebook.com/cincybookbus. two-day delivery.

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Comedies based on the lives of their respective creator/star are nothing new. From Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm to 30 Rock and Girls, we’ve all seen comic performers play slightly different versions of themselves onscreen. So we know how the premise behind Hulu’s Ramy works: Comedian Ramy Youssef pulls from his own experience as a first-generation American, New Jersey native and Muslim to create Ramy Youssef and Steve Way in Ramy something authentic for viewers to laugh at. But it PHOTO: BARBARA NITKE also breaks new ground Calamawy and Hiam Abbass, respectively) as it’s considered to be the each get an episode devoted to their worlds first Muslim-American sitcom. that shed light on the ways families and Ramy will initially draw comparisons to society can hold men and women, and Aziz Ansari’s excellent Netflix series Master people of different generations, in such of None: Both are semi-autobiographical varying regard. stories by comedians of color that Ramy is full of flawed, messy humans explore first-gen Muslim families and and diverse characters that are often not the reconciliation of their religious and portrayed on TV even still today. Yet, it cultural roots with that of modern America. does not force-feed virtue or handle any Both are centered on millennial men subjects with bubble-wrapped sensitivity. trying to find their purpose and passion. At first glance, a show featuring a But whereas in Master of None, Ansari’s Muslim Egyptian-American man and his Dev is decidedly not a practicing Muslim friend (Steve Way), who has muscular dys— to his parents’ chagrin — religion takes a trophy and uses a wheelchair, may seem front seat here. Ramy’s titular character is a like a ’90s math textbook interpretation of devout believer who grasps onto traditions “diversity.” But the inclusivity throughout in an ever evolving landscape — and finds Ramy is genuine. In fact, Youssef and Way a lot of humor along the way. have been friends since 2001, just like in Ramy is by all measures a nice, normal the show. It’s a pretty refreshing represenguy in a textbook 20-something funk. He tation. While there are lessons learned by works at an ill-fated startup, lives at home Ramy and teachable moments for audiwith his parents and sister, has a hilarious ences, particularly those unfamiliar with group of friends and dates but would like to the contemporary Muslim-American expesettle down. He takes his religion seriously, rience, Ramy isn’t preachy or pandering. believing if he follows (almost) every single Through 10 episodes, we follow Ramy rule, he’ll reach some level of clarity. If he’s from the mosque to house parties, from set up with the perfect Muslim woman, New Jersey to Cairo. Similarly, the uberhe’ll get married, have kids and be happy. cool soundtrack takes audiences across Ramy’s mostly squeaky-clean persona the globe, featuring artists from Egypt, doesn’t necessarily make him the most Australia, Morocco, Ireland and more. likable character — and it certainly doesn’t While very specific to Youssef’s life, the mean that he isn’t problematic. He doesn’t story has so many facets that are relatable always practice what he preaches — he to many, particularly the quarter-life crisis abstains from drugs and alcohol but of wondering what, where and who you’re does have sex — and he can sometimes supposed to be. Add conflicting input from be judgmental and hypocritical, like the happy-go-lucky friends and meddling way he treats the non-Muslim women he family and you’re bound to feel even more sleeps with differently than the Muslim lost. women he might marry. He’s so caught up Recently renewed for a second season in this idea of what he’s supposed to do and (alongside fellow Hulu 30-minute comedy be — based on this image in his own mind, PEN15 — yay!), Ramy is an unexpected shaped by his family, friends and culture — treat that leads viewers into uncharted — that he doesn’t seem to even know what he and sometimes taboo — territory, all while wants out of life. showcasing diverse talent while never Amid watching Ramy stumble through missing a comedic beat. And with one hell life, a few one-off episodes magnify some of a cliffhanger, I’m eagerly awaiting the of the experiences and people who have next installment. shaped his world, such as facing 9/11 as a Middle Eastern middle schooler. His Contact Jac Kern: @jackern sister and mother (expertly played by May

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Chicken and Tradition

FOOD & DRINK

Libby’s Southern Comfort is a fried chicken and Southern staple hot spot in Covington R E V I E W BY PA M A M I TC H EL L

Libby’s fried chicken and a couple of cocktails PHOTO: HAILEY BOLLINGER

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are super inexpensive, so they ought to pile more on the plate. I’d like to see a few more “side” options along with the standard potatoes, mac and cheese, french fries, coleslaw and (for a Southern meal) appropriately overcooked green beans. There’s a chilled black-eyed pea salad that my companion liked, but they didn’t have a veggie of the day, despite what the menu listed. Thus, the green beans were the only cooked green and nutritious vegetable you could get. The small biscuits served with most entrées were disappointingly dense, either a baker’s lapse that day or something that needs improvement. Desserts for the most part were substantial and rich, which I find hard to enjoy after chicken, potatoes and gravy. I got the “oatmeal cream pie,” actually two small oatmeal cookies with a cream filling that came in a little paper bag. I ate one at the table and had its companion for breakfast the next morning. They were yummy. I might never encounter a chicken dinner to match those in my memory’s eye from grandma and mom. But I’m glad this Kentucky family is keeping the tradition alive.

pork belly lardons and bourbon onion jam — that you almost couldn’t taste the tomatoes. The hush puppies were fine but not that different from ordinary pups; in other words, the goetta didn’t seem like it made a significant contribution to the taste. We did like the two dipping sauces: a remoulade and a citrus honey cream. If I hadn’t been determined to try the chicken, I might have ordered an Oyster Po’ Boy ($12.95) — I love fried oysters. Libby’s comes on a Blue Oven potato bun, something else I’m fond of, and is one of five items on the menu’s sandwich section. A Pork belly BLT and shrimp roll also looked enticing. There are also a couple of salads and a daily soup offering. Entrées include chicken dinners (two, four or eight pieces), a plate of fried oysters, a decadent open-faced sandwich called Charlie Brown, meatloaf and shrimp and grits. You get either two sides or a salad, depending on the dish. My companions tried meatloaf and shrimp and grits, with mixed results. The meatloaf ($16.95), made in-house, was the better of the two. Accompanied with garlic mashed potatoes and excellent gravy, it made for a satisfying meal. My friend liked her shrimp and grits ($15.95) well enough, but the portion was small and there were hardly any grits on the plate. I’ve been a fan of the now-staple Southern dish for quite a while, and nothing about Libby’s version stood out for me. And really, grits

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f I were ever to write an autobiography, one theme might well involve fried chicken. My maternal grandmother, who birthed nine babies, worked a family farm in rural Georgia, northwest of Savannah. They raised chickens, along with crops, and she could fry up those birds to perfection. Milk gravy from the drippings, rice (not potatoes in Georgia), a pot of green beans and pillowy biscuits rounded out the meal. As the oldest girl among siblings, my mother learned how to produce the same delectable feast by the time she was 7 or 8 years old. In her later years, mom got tired of the work involved in that Libby’s meal, and I’ve never attempted to deep-fry anything — it’s just Southern Comfort too messy. But those wonderful 35 W. Eighth St., Covington, Southern dinners at grandma’s libbyssoutherncomfort.com and my childhood home made me a picky customer for restaurants specializing in fried chicken. There’s no denying that the folks behind Libby’s Southern Comfort opened up. I liked the layout of the place. have impressive bona fides in the poultry To the left is a medium-sized dining room arts. The owners of this entry into Covingand on the right is a dozen-seat bar with ton’s flourishing restaurant scene claim not a couple of high-top tables. Exposed brick just a family history of chicken expertise walls accented by windows on three sides but a professional one to boot, with a linmake it more spacious, and a large patio on eage going back decades. Butch Wainscott one side of the building expands capacity owns the Greyhound Tavern in Fort Mitchwhen weather allows. ell, which has maintained a reputation for Although Libby’s is by no means all exceptional chicken dinners throughout about the chicken, that’s definitely the the 30-plus years that he’s been at the helm. main food attraction. This summer, his son, Brad, fired up the fat For excellent fried chicken, you need in Covington and opened Libby’s. to start with primo poultry and cook it in As far as ambience and décor, Brad’s very hot fat until it’s golden brown on the place — co-owned with his wife, outside and moist throughout. Two out Michelle — bears little resemblance to the of my party of four ordered the two-piece Greyhound, which features wood paneling, chicken dinner ($14.25), including me. The white tablecloths and tables spaced far meat itself was high quality, and the prep enough apart for quiet conversation. may not have been quite the same as my Libby’s isn’t any of those things. General childhood chickens, but we had no commanager Tevin Buffin told me they’re plaints. My folks used to fry it at a higher going for a “cozy, comfort feel” at Libby’s, temp, I think, because the final skin color but I’d call the vibe high-energy, highcame out darker and just a bit crispier. But decibel and hip. At least, that describes I quibble: This was good chicken. the bustling scene we encountered at Before we even got there, though, we dinnertime on Derby Day this month. had cocktails and beer and shared a We arrived without reservations — couple of appetizers: goetta hush puppies because they don’t take them — and were ($10.25) and fried green tomatoes ($11.95). told we’d have a 20- to 30-minute wait. Both dishes pleased us, especially the Happily, it was much shorter; we had just tomatoes. They came piled with so many gotten a drink from the bar when a table tasty toppings — pimento cheese mousse,

THE DISH

Humble Monk Brewing Co. Opens in Northside BY S E A N M . PE T ER S

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Humble Monk is the latest addition to Cincinnati’s lengthening list of locally owned breweries. Specializing in Belgianstyle beers, the Northside taproom — connected to the Bertke Electrical Services & Testing building — pours a mix of traditional Old World recipes with a healthy dose of experimentation. When you walk through the taproom’s front door, you’ll face a modest wooden bar. Church pews serve as seating and industrial cable spools have been repurposed into tables. The tall ceiling twinkles with strings of lightbulbs that are reminiscent of a summer evening; festive and welcoming. “Humble Monk is an everyday celebration. It all morphed from my homebrewing,” says brewmaster Michael Kemp, who claims 37 years of experience. “When I brewed in the garage, I always brewed way more than I could consume. If the garage door was open, that meant my neighbors could come in and pour a beer, take a growler and go home — or hang out. I had a large kegerator in there and it had that block-party feel.” At present, the beer is brewed off site until Michael, who’s also the resident welder, can finish the necessary work to retrofit food-grade vats previously used to store refined vegetable oil into fermentation tanks. This equipment is a holdover from his family’s former venture in biodiesel. While the brewing is done in a different location for the time being, everything is fermented in the facility. Paul Kemp, the brewery’s CEO, is Michael’s son. The two of them can be found working in the taproom together nearly every day. While they’re very satisfied with the building, their landlord and the neighborhood, there’s still a lot of work to be done before their plan reaches its full potential. “Dad and I joked that a lot of the tanks that we used to store the veggie oil after it had been refined would make great fermenters,” Paul says. “We thought it was too capital intensive, (that) there’s no way we’d be able to do that right now, but

dad said for me to just write up a business plan as a joke. But I went on and started looking at it and realized we could actually make it work. From there, we started looking for locations. We had to find a space that fit our existing equipment with a minimum of 16-foot ceilings — hard to find.” The Kemps are self-described “bootstrappers” and have managed to open their taproom using their own funds and those raised by investors. “We’re debt free. We enjoy using recycled equipment for cost, for environmental friendliness,” Paul says. “Our goal is to make excellent beer. Beer’s an experiential thing that brings people together.” Regarding their beer, it’s a welcome addition to Northside. Humble Monk is 30 yards catty-corner to Urban Artifact, a brewery which specializes in tart, sour and gose beers. Humble Humble Monk’s brewery and taproom in Northside Monk, however, makes beers PHOTO: HAILEY BOLLINGER more familiar to traditional palates, finding a way to slightly elevate standard recipes with a barnyard funk and it’s a unique take on the bit of luck and experience. classic farmhouse ale without straying too The Kemps aren’t infringing on their far from what’s expected from such a beer. neighbor’s business and instead believe Humble Monk’s clever logo — an old the two breweries complement each other. man’s face with a hops flower for a beard — Like many Belgian-style beers, expect went through around 150 design iterations Humble Monk’s to have malty flavor, some before designer Darren Vogt came up higher alcohol by volume and positive with something Paul felt confident would esters lingering on the tongue. represent their new business. It was Uncle Gid’s Farmhouse Ale is a saison inspired by Rhinegeist’s skull logo, which named after Michael’s great uncle Gideon, is bold and immediately recognizable a combat veteran of the first World War across the room. who brewed beer in the family barn until The brewery’s name, “Humble Monk,” some over-conditioned bottles exploded was suggested by a friend after the Kemps during fermentation in the cellar, which received a wave of backlash on Facebook got him kicked off the farm. The beer for their first planned name, Rabbit Hash Humble Monk serves in his honor is Brewery. In 2014, the same year they refreshing and slightly spicy, but altogether premiered their upcoming brewery on easily crushable. There’s a slight tinge of social media, the beloved Rabbit Hash

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General Store burned down. “I lived in Boone County for years. People thought we were trying to take advantage of it, but the idea was already (hatched) and it blew up on Facebook,” Michael says. “A friend said, ‘What about Humble Monk?’ He’d been in the garage, saw that I made Belgian-forwards. I scratched my head and go, ‘That kind of matches the humble pie I’m eating.’ ” Other beers currently on tap include an English mild ale, stouts, blonde ale, pale ale and an IPA. Follow Humble Monk on Facebook and Instagram to keep up with the rotating taplist. The taproom is currently open Thursday through Sunday. Humble Monk Brewing, 1641 Blue Rock St., Northside, humblemonkbrewing.com.

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MUSIC

Thirty Years and Change Cincinnati music legends Over the Rhine talk about three decades of music, a new album and the Nowhere Else Festival BY B R I A N B A K ER

Over the Rhine PHOTO: K YLIE WILKERSON

weddings and art exhibits. The interior is rustically modern and has a warm, spacious feel, not to mention outstanding acoustics. Detweiler has likened it to “standing inside a Martin guitar.” “Maybe we should call it the Hump Barn,” Bergquist says. Admittedly, it has a ring to it. All of this ties together as Bergquist muses about Over the Rhine’s incredibly loyal audience, the band’s intentions in writing Love & Revelation and their motivations for starting Nowhere Else. “As we say in one of the songs, which was actually quoted by someone else first, ‘Grief is just love with no place to go,’ ” she says. “We’re keenly aware that people have drawn close to our music and formed this community within itself and have experienced loss in various forms. We didn’t set out to write about these things, but as we were experiencing it ourselves, we realized this was another tether to those people who have been with us for so long. I don’t want to be sad, but if it’s a healing thing...oddly enough, that’s a word some people use when they talk about our music, and other music as well. Maybe that’s meaningful. Our music isn’t a lot of things; it’s not really sexy, or hugely popular, or award-winning. But I’ll take healing. That’s a language I understand and it’s something I need in my own life.” The 2019 Nowhere Else Festival takes place May 24-26 at Over the Rhine’s land in rural Clinton County. For directions, tickets and more info, visit nowhereelsefestival.com.

C I T Y B E AT. C O M

birthday parties and graduations.” “I regret not being closer to the music scene (in Cincinnati), but it was because we were working, we were gone,” Bergquist adds. “I think regret can be a trap, but I think it’s a tool. If you have regrets and you’re self-aware about it, and give yourself a moment of reflection and own it, you say, ‘I did that, I don’t want to do it again,’ and you move on, then it’s a good tool. If you lay down in it like it’s a gutter and you let it stew, then it becomes a trap.” Part of Over the Rhine’s momentous anniversary is the ongoing vinyl reissue of the band’s luminous catalog; the latest to receive the 12-inch vinyl treatment are Good Dog Bad Dog, Drunkard’s Prayer and their magnum opus, 2003’s sprawling Ohio, which was simultaneous to the vinyl release of Love & Revelation. And the Nowhere Festival stands as a potential new direction for Over the Rhine to pursue going forward. This year’s Memorial Day weekend lineup features James McMurtry, Birds of Chicago, John Paul White (ex-Civil Wars), Leigh Nash (exSixpence None the Richer), Joan Shelley, Carrie Newcomer, Over the Rhine guitarist Bradley Meinerding and many others. “We put up a big tent on the grass in one of the natural amphitheaters,” Detweiler says. “Did you see the barn we’re building? We’re hoping to turn that into a music venue with a pub and coffee house and convince people to come to us.” The 140-year-old restored barn has already featured shows, including Loudon Wainwright III, and hosted several

we’re not special. This isn’t something we’ve got figured out, once and for all. Anything alive continues to grow and evolve.” This year’s Love & Revelation — a title borrowed from longtime producer Joe Henry’s standard closing to his correspondences — was originally intended as a protest record; the new album bristles with a decidedly different tone than previous works. “To me, Love & Revelation has a lot to do with not recognizing the place you thought was home,” says Detweiler. “I think a lot of Americans, including us, are feeling off balance and we’re re-asking the questions we thought had been answered. I thought we were going to write a funky little protest record and we had some of those songs in the works, but we were surprised when we realized there was a lot of grief on the record. The songs made that clear to us.” There also seems to be subtle shades of regret woven into the fabric of Love & Revelation, perhaps not by design but by sheer proximity. Both songwriters have theories about its presence. “I don’t have a lot of regrets. I’m incredibly grateful for the gift of being able to make music for 30 years,” Detweiler says. “Making a record that somebody cares about decades later is not something that you consider a record to do. On the other hand, I wonder if some regret is in there, because when you say ‘yes’ to a path, you’re saying ‘no’ to a lot of other paths. Maybe we’re mourning that reality. Life on the road is not a vacation; we’ve missed a lot of family reunions and funerals and

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arin Bergquist and Linford Detweiler have never done anything by half measures and this year is evidence of the couple’s almost pathological desire to pack a lot of experience into a truncated time frame. Perhaps most auspiciously, 2019 represents the 30th anniversary of Over the Rhine, Bergquist and Detweiler’s renowned, Cincinnati-spawned musical collective; their debut album, 1991’s Till We Have Faces, featured tunes that dated to the band’s formation. “We recorded our first handful of songs in March of 1989,” says Detweiler in the dining room of the couple’s Martinsville, Ohio home, about an hour’s drive from the Cincinnati neighborhood for which the band is named. “So, for a brief moment, we were an ’80s band.” As part of Over the Rhine’s 30th anniversary, the duo recently self-released the shiver-inducing Love & Revelation, their first album of new music in six years. Bergquist and Detweiler are also ready to mount their fourth Nowhere Else Festival, a micro-Woodstock they present annually at their Clinton County farm. Two weeks after Nowhere Else, Over the Rhine embarks on Love & Revelation’s summer tour. The success of these ventures is framed by Over the Rhine’s 30-year history and, by necessity, viewed through the prism of Bergquist and Detweiler’s success as a married couple. So what’s the secret of working, living and creating together? “We got lucky in that we both like having a partner,” Bergquist says. “The rest of it is work, it totally is. Sometimes you run out of tools and you’ve got to find resources to get more tools. That works with relationships, with music, with your career. We realize we loaded our camel down. Old Two Hump, we loaded the bugger down, but he’s got a strong back.” “Karin manages to work the word ‘hump’ into our interviews,” says Detweiler. “It’s a cookie that she hides in every interview.” “It’s become a thing,” Bergquist says with a laugh. “As you can see, a sense of humor is key. Linford has a lyric on one of the new songs (‘Betting on the Muse’): ‘The fact that you still make me laugh is what I’m most proud of...’ That helps. The other thing is

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

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SPILL IT

A Toast to Cincinnati Music BY M I K E B R EEN

BY M I K E B R EE N

Gene Does the Pentagon

KISS frontman Gene Simmons is so sleazy and unlikeable, he was banned from Fox News’ headquarters. But apparently he’s perfectly fine for the Pentagon. Following in the footsteps of recent upstanding governmental hobnobbers like Ted Nugent and Kid Rock, Simmons has delivered a Pentagon press briefing. Maybe it’s not surprising considering the current administration’s deep hatred for journalists. What better way to punish the “enemy of the people” than to inflict on them the “enemy of human decency”? Pentagon press briefings are even more rare than ones from the White House — the last time a spokesperson stood at the podium for a Pentagon briefing was almost a year ago and it was delivered by actor Gerard Butler, who was using the appearance to promote a movie.

Break From Drake

Ride-or-die Toronto Raptors superfan Drake won’t be able to hear any of his own music on the radio if he’s following his favorite basketball team to Milwaukee for the Eastern Conference Finals. At least on one radio station. The playlists of 103.7 KISS FM will be Drake-free throughout the Raptors’ playoff series with the hometown Bucks. Apparently it’s an effort to avoid Drake’s voodoo casting a curse the Bucks and the plan appears to have worked so far — Milwaukee won the first two games of the series in their home arena.

Punk Water

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

Not-lost-SNL-sketch alert: In a week that also saw the introduction of the instantly mockable bro-makeup line called War Paint, the world also got its first look at the unnecessarily edgy, unnecessarily packaged new “beverage” called Liquid Death. Emblematic of the faction of startups offering something “new” that basically already exists, Liquid Death is literally just water in a tallboy-beer can. Former Punk and Metal drummer (and onetime Netflix creative director) Mike Cessario created the “beverage,” which he says is being marketed to teens and 20-something fans of the kind of music he used to play who are also hip to irony. The water concept (and some fairly noble attention to environmental concerns; cans are better than plastic bottles and they’ll reportedly donate money to charity) attracted more than $1.5 million from investors.

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Last Troubadour; Mara Moon; Saturn Cincinnati mixologists and musicians MayaLou Banatwala (Heavy Hinges and Batteries; MOIRA; Current Events; Kate Mynah Tones) and Kristen Kreft (The Wakefield; Room for Zero; Soften; Joesph; Perfect Children) have put together a Mynah Tones; Lemon Sky; and Common new edition of their Rocktails book series, Center. which features cocktail recipes created in Music begins at 6 p.m. on Friday honor of various legendary musicians. and 3 p.m. on Saturday. For schedules The new book, Cincinnati Rocktails: and more info, visit facebook.com/ An Amped Up Spin on Mixology, has even NorthByNorthsideFest. more of a focus on musicians with Cincinnati ties, with recipes based on artists like James Brown, Nina Simone, Hank Ballard, Patti Page, Rusty York and Rosemary Clooney. The boozy concoctions are paired with historical insight about the artists’ connections to the city (and the drink). The book’s production also has a lot of Cincinnati ties: Elliott Ruther of the Greater Cincinnati Music Heritage Foundation wrote the forward; Dylan Speeg (also a member of Heavy Hinges) provided drawings; Angie Lipscomb supplied photos; and Jeni JenkinsMoore of locally based print Kristen Kreft and MayaLou Banatwala design studio Renegade Babe did P H O T O : E M I LY M A X W E L L the layout. The book is published by Covington’s Roebling Books. Banatwala and Kreft, who started Chuck Cleaver Going Solo the Rocktails project with in-person Though he has been a consistent presence presentations around town featuring live in the Cincinnati music scene for more music, have been doing several events to than three decades — and one of the more promote the latest edition. widely acclaimed local artists outside of On May 24, Kreft and Banatwala will Cincinnati — Chuck Cleaver has never do some of their own singing at a Findreleased a solo album. That will change lay Market event to promote Cincinnati Rocktails. The pair will each be doing solo this summer when the Ass Ponys and sets of their original music at the Findlay Wussy singer/songwriter/guitarist releases Market Biergarten (1801 Race St., OverSend Aid, his debut under his own name. the-Rhine, findlaymarket.org), along with But Cleaver doesn’t pull a Prince on the a few Cincinnati classics. Music starts at 5 album and play every instrument; scores of p.m. and the event is free. fellow local musicians helped him craft the Visit americanrocktails.com for more recordings. Lending a hand were his fellow info. Wussy bandmates, as well as members of Lung, Vacation and Dawg Yawp. North By Northside Debuts Send Aid is being released by CincinnaThis weekend (May 24-25) sees the debut of a new music festival in Northside that ti’s Shake It Records (the record-releasing features 50 acts from Cincinnati and the branch of the Northside record store gem surrounding areas, as well as several of the same name that has also been home touring artists. North By Northside takes to all of Wussy’s releases) on July 19. place in seven Northside venues and is a Cleaver will be promoting the album on completely free event. the road with periodic spurts of tour dates The venues participating are: Chamethis summer. Fellow Wussy members Lisa leon (4114 Hamilton Ave., chameleonpizza. Walker and Mark Messerly will join him com); Northside Tavern (4163 Hamilton for what’s described as “in-the-round style Ave., northsidetav.com); Tillie’s (4042 shows,” during which they’ll play some Hamilton Ave., tillieslounge.com); Happen Wussy songs as well as music from their Inc. (4201 Hamilton Ave., happeninc.com); solo projects (Walker has recorded as The The Listing Loon (4124 Hamilton Ave., facebook.com/thelistingloon); Mixwells (3935 Magic Words and Messerly released his Spring Grove Ave., mixwellsnorthside. collaborative INERT album last year). The com); and Urban Artifact (1660 Blue Rock tour dates currently wrap up on Aug. 10 St., artifactbeer.com). with a show at Over-the-Rhine’s MOTR Here are just some of the Cincinnati Pub. acts slated to appear: Ernie Johnson Contact Mike Breen: From Detroit; Lo, The Loyal Conscripts; J Dorsey Band; Go Go Buffalo; The mbreen@citybeat.com

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PUP frontman Stefan Babcock makes his lyrical mood known from the get-go on the Toronto quartet’s new album, Morbid Stuff. His snotty vocal delivery on the titular album opener clamors, “I was bored as fuck/Sitting around and thinking all this morbid stuff/Like if everyone I’ve slept with is dead and I got stuck/On death and dying and obsessive thoughts that won’t let up/It makes me feel like I’m about to throw up.” And try this from the very next song, “Kids”: “Just like the kids, I’ve been navigating my way/Through the mind-numbing reality of a godless existence/Which, at this point in my hollow and vapid life/Has erased what little ambition I have left.” It’s pretty clear Babcock and his bandmates — bassist Nestor Chumak, drummer Zack Mykula and guitarist Steve Sladkowski — are not happy with the state of the world and their place in it at this particular moment in history. But you’d never know it based on the jubilant music that surrounds Babcock’s bummed-out lyrics. Sladkowski and Babcock’s knifing guitar lines bob and weave in-between fizzy singalong choruses, while the sneakily subtle rhythm section anchors songs that doesn’t stray too far from the Pop Punk approach that marked PUP’s first two efforts: 2013’s self-titled debut and 2016’s breakthrough follow-up, The Dream Is Over. That’s not to say PUP (which apparently stands for Pathetic Use of Potential) hasn’t evolved. Album closer “City” turns down the volume in a fuzzy ode to loves lost — or is it a commentary aimed at the band’s hometown of Toronto? Or maybe both? “Full Blown Meltdown,” on the other hand, teeters on the edge of oblivion, as Babcock

mewithoutYou PHOTO: CARINA ROMANO

rages about inequality, mental instability and more, culminating in a maelstrom of guitar riffage that wouldn’t be out of place on a hardcore Metal record. Three albums in, PUP has become as reliable as their buddy Jeff Rosenstock — a band that, like Rosenstock, melds DIY Punk aesthetics, Springsteen-esque working-class concerns (and occasional grandiosity) and humor as successfully as any outfit of its ilk. Thus, per Morbid Stuff’s liner notes, this thank you shouldn’t come as a surprise: “(Thanks) Jeff Rosenstock for workshopping some of these dumb songs with us, and more importantly, for being such a positive light in the face of the endless darkness that is existence.” (Jason Gargano)

mewithoutYou with Cursive and The Appleseed Cast

Wednesday • Woodward Theater

If you weren’t clued in by its lack of a title or its tangly and abstract cover art, then let lyrics like “Hiding inside our painting of a house hung up inside that same painted house which implies another

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painted house inside” be your warning: mewithoutYou’s [untitled] 2018 LP is a knotted morass of meaning that demands a read-through of its Genius page. Following 2015’s Pale Horses — the PostHardcore quintet’s attempt at soundtracking the apocalypse — [untitled] attempts (and nobly comes to terms with failing) to make sense of life after frontman Aaron Weiss’ father’s death. Dissonant blasts of fuzz bumps shoulders with shimmery Indie Rock as Weiss’ usual allusions to Abrahamic religion and philosophy orbit themes of madness and mental illness. Lines are written from the perspective of different characters, like a script. Quotes are lifted from other songs or attributed to the late professional wrestler Nikolai Volkoff. The date July 29 is referenced ceaselessly. For both listener and creator, the [untitled] experience is akin to submerging one’s self in white noise. “My ground zero is that nothing that I’m saying matters,” Weiss told Bandcamp Daily, “and nothing that I’m saying needs to be believed or accepted by anybody because that’s just not my responsibility in the world, to teach anybody anything.” Despite its complexity, mewithoutYou’s seventh album is one of its most accessible as a passive listen. Recorded with producer Will Yip (Citizen, Arctic Monkeys, Tigers Jaw), [untitled] hits with clarity whether mewithoutYou weaves Math Rock tapestries or emulates R.E.M. on tracks like “Winter Solstice” and “Tortoises All the Way Down.” For a band that’s aged enough to embark on 15th anniversary tours, mewithoutYou remains as puzzling and adventurous as ever, despite curtailing some of the scorched-earth brutality that marked early works like 2002’s [A-->B Life]. Joined by scene veterans Cursive and The Appleseed Cast, their current tour feels like a throwback to Emo’s pre-web 2.0 incarnation, though revitalized interest in the era’s sub-genres allows its participants to sound as fresh as ever. (Jude Noel)

Thirty-five years ago, a proudly Christian band that filled its albums with songs of faith getting any kind of foothold in the Heavy Metal world seemed an impossible feat. Metal was at the center of the ’80s “Satanic panic,” a time where urban legends about roaming devil worshipers looking for their next sacrifice were commonplace and those heathens were almost always tied back to Hard Rock music. But amid the Satanists and Hair Metal groups of the era, one band did triumphantly climb the ranks to notch several MTV hits with an earnest message and — most importantly — an authentic sound, which is most often the biggest obstacle for Christian acts trying to puncture the mainstream bubble. Led by enigmatic frontman Michael Sweet, Stryper, despite their multiplatinum success, faced a backlash and resistance not only from their peers in the Metal world, but also within the Christian music community, which was equally baffled by the concept of true believers performing in a style most associated with an opposite deity. “Stryper” became an enduring punchline for many. “The secular side, the mainstream, they’ve never accepted us to this day,” Sweet said in an interview last year with CityBeat contributor Alan Sculley. “We’re probably that band that everyone’s going to go to whenever there’s a time to mock. We’ve never really had the full support of the Christian side because we don’t fit into their little club. We’re not wearing suits and ties and going to every church and preaching.” Still, Stryper found enough support on both sides of the aisle to maintain a career that has outlasted most of the acts from that era. One trait Metal and Christian music fans undeniably share is an unwavering loyalty. The band took a hiatus that essentially last the entire ’90s but returned in 2003 (with the bulk of the original lineup intact) and has maintained a fairly consistent run of releases and tours. Their most recent album is 2018’s God Damn Evil, which has ruffled some feathers. Just as some were aghast at the title of their seminal 1986 album To Hell with the Devil (seriously), the new album has similarly caused waves, with Walmart refusing to stock the album due to a (perhaps not entirely unintended) misreading of God Damn Evil. It’s more than three and a half decades since their formation and Stryper is still messing with people of all faiths’ preconceived notions. (Mike Breen)

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LISTINGS

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

WEDNESDAY 22

LUDLOW GARAGE - The Nashville Celts. 8:30 p.m. Irish Folk. $20-$30.

COLLEGE HILL COFFEE CO. - Ricky Nye. 7:30 p.m. Blues/Boogie Woogie. Free.

MOLLY MALONE’S IRISH PUB & RESTAURANT Missy Werner Band. 7:30 p.m. Bluegrass. Free.

BOGART’S - PUP with Ratboys and Casper Skulls. 8 p.m. Alt/Punk/Pop. $20.

MOTR PUB - Honeysuckle with Honey & Houston and Redemptioners. 10 p.m. Country/Roots. Free.

FRETBOARD BREWING COMPANY - Strange Mechanics. 8 p.m. Rock/ Jam/Various. Free.

CAFFÈ VIVACE - Blue Wisp Big Band. 8 p.m. Big Band Jazz. $10.

NEWPORT ON THE LEVEE - Summer Music on the Levee with The Menus. 7 p.m. Rock. Free.

ARNOLD’S BAR AND GRILL - Todd Hepburn. 7 p.m. Piano/Various. Free. BLUE NOTE HARRISON Wayland. 6:30 p.m. Rock. Cover.

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CINCINNATIVE - Basic Bitches with Breaking Glass and Lashes. 7 p.m. Indie Rock/Punk/Various. Free.

HILTON NETHERLAND PALM COURT - Brad Myers Trio. 6 p.m. Jazz. Free. THE LISTING LOON - Ricky Nye. 8:30 p.m. Blues/Boogie Woogie. Free. THE MAD FROG - Hip Hop Open Mic. 9 p.m. Hip Hop NORTHSIDE TAVERN Marmalade Brigade. 9 p.m. Roots/Jazz/Various. Free. SOUTHGATE HOUSE REVIVAL (LOUNGE) - St. Stevns Choir. 9 p.m. Rock/ Various. Free.

NORTHSIDE YACHT CLUB - Worriers with awakebutstillinbed and Pity Party. 9 p.m. Indie/Rock/ Folk. $10 , $12 day of show.

THE PIKE BAR AND GRILL - Ricky Nye. 6 p.m. Blues/ Boogie Woogie. Free. PLAIN FOLK CAFE - Open Mic. 7 p.m. Various. Free.

SOUTHGATE HOUSE REVIVAL (SANCTUARY) - Bobaflex with Dark Sky Choir and Carian. 8 p.m. Rock. $12, $15 day of show.

STANLEY’S PUB Dixon’s Violin with Abby Vice and Ben Porter. 7 p.m. Progressive violin/Various. $12, $15 day of show.

STANLEY’S PUB - Terry Douglas. 9 p.m. Country. Cover.

TOP CATS - The Iceman Special and Peter More. 8:30 p.m. Funk/Rock. $5.

WOODWARD THEATER - mewithoutYou with Cursive and The Appleseed Cast. 8 p.m. Indie Rock. $22, 25 day of show.

THURSDAY 23

ARNOLD’S BAR AND GRILL - Philip Paul Trio. 7:30 p.m. Jazz. Free.

COMMON ROOTS - Open Mic. 8 p.m. Various. Free.

KNOTTY PINE - Mitch Greve. 9 p.m. Acoustic. Free.

BLUE NOTE HARRISON Afroman. 7 p.m. Rap/Rock/ Various. $15.

BOGART’S - Stryper. 8 p.m. Heavy Metal. $25.

BROMWELL’S HÄRTH LOUNGE - Steve Schmidt Trio. 9 p.m. Jazz. Free. CAFFÈ VIVACE - Brian Cashwell Trio. 8:30 p.m. Jazz. Cover.

JAG’S STEAK AND SEAFOOD - Two For Flinching. 9:30 p.m. Pop/Rock/Various. Cover. JIM AND JACK’S ON THE RIVER - Danny Frazier Band. 9 p.m. Country. Free. KNOTTY PINE - 13:30. 10 p.m. Rock. Cover.

LUDLOW GARAGE Junkyard with American Bombshell. 8:30 p.m. Rock. $20-$25.

MADISON LIVE Daniel In Stereo with Judges, Label Me Lecter. 8 p.m. AltRock. $8, $10 day of show. MANHATTAN HARBOUR MARINA - DJ Dave. 8 p.m. DJ/Various. Free.

MANSION HILL TAVERN - Leroy Ellington. 9 p.m. Blues/R&B. Cover. MARTY’S HOPS & VINES - Just Two Howlers. 9 p.m. Classic Rock. Free.

H H

MEMORIAL HALL - Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. 10 p.m. Swing Jazz. $40-$64.

MOTR PUB - Underworld Jazz Festival with IsWhat?!, Lafrae Sci and more. 10 p.m. Hip Hop/Jazz/ Roots/Various. Free.

NORTHSIDE TAVERN - North by Northside Music Festival 2019 with Angela Perely, Go Go Buffalo, J Dorsey Band, Snarls, Saturn Batteries, Beachweek, Cordial Sins, Moira and Mojothunder. 5 p.m. Various. Free.

Hip Hop artist Stevie Stone plays Top Cats Saturday. P H OTO : FAC E B O O K

PLAIN FOLK CAFE - Bill Bynum and Co. 7:30 p.m. Country. Free. RICK’S TAVERN - Bloodline. 10 p.m. Rock. Cover. SOUTHGATE HOUSE REVIVAL (SANCTUARY) Will Kimbrough Full Band. 7:30 p.m. Americana. $22, $25 day of show.

THE SOUTHGATE HOUSE REVIVAL Landslide Fest with Flesh Mother, Ugly Bones, The Voice of God, Death of Self, Slut Bomb, Trash Cat, Sewage Grinder, Lockjaw, Jeffery Donger, Sekrete, Trash Knight and Nithing. 6 p.m. Rock/Punk/Metal/Various. $5. STANLEY’S PUB - The Magnums. 10 p.m. Rock. Cover.

TOP CATS - ClockworkDJ with Speed Walton, Lantana, Midwest Millz, Sir V and Macho Means. 8 p.m. Hip Hop. $10.

URBAN ARTIFACT - North by Northside 2019 with The Last Troubadour, North By North, National Barks, Jojo Stella, Mara Moon, Lo, The Loyal Conscripts and Existentialnaut. 5 p.m. Various. Free.

WASHINGTON PLATFORM - Pamela Mallory with Wayne Yeager Trio. 9 p.m. Jazz. $10 (food/drink minimum).

SATURDAY 25

ARNOLD’S BAR AND GRILL - Moonshine Drive. 8 p.m. Bluegrass. Free. BOGART’S - Cash Unchained: The Ultimate Johnny Cash Experience. 8

p.m. Johnny Cash tribute BROMWELL’S HÄRTH LOUNGE - Ron Jones with The Steve Schmidt Trio. 9 p.m. Jazz. Free. CAFFÈ VIVACE - Marc Fields Quartet. 8:30 p.m. Jazz. Cover.

THE COMET - Hyperstatic with Spitwad Angels and Sleepy Drums. 10 p.m. Indie Rock. Free. FRETBOARD BREWING COMPANY - Jay Jesse Johnson Band. 8 p.m. Blues. Free.

FRONT STREET CAFE - Ma Crow & Co. 7 p.m. Bluegrass. Free.

THE GREENWICH Spear Shakers. 9 p.m. Blues/Rock. $10. HARMONY HILL

C I T Y B E AT. C O M

HILTON NETHERLAND PALM COURT - Braza Trio. 6 p.m. Jazz. Free.

FRIDAY 24

ARNOLD’S BAR AND GRILL - Old Sould String Band. 8 p.m. Americana. Free.

HILTON NETHERLAND PALM COURT - Mike Darrah and Bill Gemmer Band. 9 p.m. Jazz. Free.

FOUNTAIN SQUARE - Salsa on the Square with Amador Sisters and Bembe Cincinnati. 7 p.m. Latin/Salsa/Dance. Free.

URBAN ARTIFACT Maria Carrelli with Matt Hibbard and Sarah Asher. 9 p.m. Roots/Country. $5.

THE GREENWICH - Mike Wade & the Mighty Groovers. 9 p.m. Jazz. $10.

M A Y 2 2 - 2 8 , 2 0 19

CAFFÈ VIVACE - Nancy P Trio. 7:30 p.m. Jazz. Cover.

TAFT THEATRE Apocalyptica. 8 p.m. Metallica tribute. $25-$55.

THE COMET - Droneroom with Sleepcrawler and Sharp Toys. 10 p.m. Rock. Free.

LATITUDES BAR & BISTRO - BlueBirds. 8 p.m. Rock/R&B. Free.

THE MAD FROG Electric Art Benefit for Boy and Girls Club of Cincinnati featuring BRWN BEAR, Gardella, Vice Versa b2b Rvbbish, Organtica, PrettyUgly, Starspecter and more. 8 p.m. EDM. $5. MANHATTAN HARBOUR MARINA - Fitzpatric and Friends. 1 p.m. Acoustic. Free. MANSION HILL TAVERN - Open Jam with Deb Ohlinger. 6 p.m. Blues

MOTR PUB - Melodk Eye and The Jared Presley Experience. 8 p.m. Rock/ Soul/Pop/Reggae/Various. Free. MVP BAR & GRILLE - Eliot Lewis with Kelly Richey and Billy Carri. 7:30 p.m. Rock/ Soul. $5.

Rapper Rich the Kid performs Tuesday at Bogart’s.

PHOTO: PROVIDED

VINEYARDS & WINERY Encore Duo. 2 p.m. Acoustic Classic Rock. Free. HILTON NETHERLAND PALM COURT - Brad Myers Quartet. 9 p.m. Jazz. Free.

M A Y 2 2 - 2 8 , 2 0 19

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

JIM AND JACK’S ON THE RIVER - Michelle Robinson Band. 9 p.m. Country. Free.

NORTHSIDE TAVERN - North by Northside Music Festival 2019 with Bummers, Counterfeit Madison, Oginalli, Lemon Sky, Soften, Runaway Brother, Water Witches, Heavy Sole, Joesph, Brujas del Sol, Doughty Family and Common Center. 5 p.m. Various. Free.

KNOTTY PINE - 13:30. 10 p.m. Rock. Cover.

JAG’S STEAK AND SEAFOOD - The Fun Size. 9:30 p.m. Rock/Pop/Dance/Country. Cover.

NapoleonMaddox and Nasty Nati Brass Band. 9 p.m. Hip Hop/Jazz. Free.

LUDLOW GARAGE - Live at the Fillmore: The Definitive Original Allman Brothers Band Tribute. 8:30 p.m. Allmans tribute. $15-$35. MANHATTAN HARBOUR MARINA - Tyler Moore Band. 8 p.m. Rock/Pop/ Country/Various. Free. MANSION HILL TAVERN - Black Jack. 9 p.m. Blues. Cover. MARTY’S HOPS & VINES - Jim Jones. 9 p.m. Elvis tribute. Free.

MOTR PUB - Underworld Jazz Festival with Sons of Silverton, Sorg &

NORTHSIDE YACHT CLUB - Morning Again with Suffocate Faster, Embrace Today, Battleground and Burn Victim. 7 p.m. Hardcore. $15, $20 day of show. PLAIN FOLK CAFE - Harry Pedigo and the Dreadful Wind and Rain. 7:30 p.m. Bluegrass. Free. RICK’S TAVERN - Them Carls. 10 p.m. Pop/Rock. Cover. SOUTHGATE HOUSE REVIVAL (LOUNGE) Pluck Yeah and Willow Tree Carolers. 9:30 p.m. Americana. Free.

SOUTHGATE HOUSE REVIVAL (REVIVAL ROOM) - GRATiTUD3 Bash with DB33, Dooley, Grizz Gotti, Dooley, Ghost Savage and Cinquè. 7 p.m. Hip Hop. $10.

SOUTHGATE HOUSE REVIVAL (SANCTUARY) - Ronnie Baker Brooks. 9 p.m. Blues. $25, $30 day of show. STANLEY’S PUB - The Spare Change Band and Bourbon Brothers. 10 p.m. Rock. Cover.

THE SYMPHONY HOTEL - Ricky Nye and Bekah Williams. 8 p.m. Blues/Jazz. Free. THOMPSON HOUSE - A Tribute to Alice In Chains and Stone Temple Pilots with Hollow and Creep. 8 p.m. Rock. $5-$20.

H H

TOP CATS - Stevie Stone. 9 p.m. Hip Hop.

$15.

URBAN ARTIFACT North by Northside 2019 with Ernie Johnson From Detroit, Run Rabbit Run, Crocodyle, Current Events Band, Room for Zero,

Kate Wakefield, Venicia & the Shadow People, BeachWeek and Mynah Tones. 3 p.m. Various. Free. WASHINGTON PLATFORM - Retro Nouveau Quartet. 9 p.m. Jazz. $10 (food/drink minimum).

SUNDAY 26

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

FRETBOARD BREWING COMPANY Michael W Bany Music Scholarship Fund Benefit with Sonny Moorman, Ralph and the Rhythm Hounds and Lisa Mann. 8 p.m. Blues. Free.

THE GREENWICH - Radio Black. 8:30 p.m. Dance/ R&B/Pop/Various. $10. HILTON NETHERLAND PALM COURT - Jazz Brunch with Mike Darrah. 10:30 a.m. Jazz. Free. KNOTTY PINE - Randy Peak. 10 p.m. Acoustic/Various. Free.

NORTHSIDE TAVERN - Founding Fathers. 8 p.m. AltRock/Various. Free.

MANSION HILL TAVERN - Open Acoustic Jam with John Redell & Friends. 8 p.m. Acoustic. Free. MCCAULY’S PUB - Open Jam with Sonny Moorman. 7 p.m. Blues/Various. Free. MOLLY MALONE’S IRISH PUB & RESTAURANT Open Bluegrass Jam. 8 p.m. Bluegrass. Free. MOTR PUB - Sundae Drives with Jon Worthy and the Bends. 9 p.m. Soul/Pop/ Rock/Various. Free.

NORTHSIDE TAVERN - Incantation with Hate, Vale Of Pnath and Nithing. 7:30 p.m. Metal. $13-$15. STANLEY’S PUB - Jazz Jam. 9 p.m. Jazz/Improv. Free.

TUESDAY 28

BLIND LEMON - Nick Tuttle. 8:30 p.m. Acoustic. Free.

BOGART’S - Rich The Kid with Quando Rondo and Yung Bino. 8 p.m. Hip Hop. $25.

SOUTHGATE HOUSE REVIVAL (LOUNGE) - Brett Conlin with Jeff Schaller. 10 p.m. Singer/Songwriter. Free.

BREWRIVER CREOLE KITCHEN - The Twirlers. 7 p.m. R&B/Classic Pop/Standards. Free.

SOUTHGATE HOUSE REVIVAL (REVIVAL ROOM) - Austin Lucas with Adam Lee. 8 p.m. Roots/ Rock/Various. $12, $15 day of show.

CAFFÈ VIVACE - Ricky Nye & Bekah Williams. 7:30 p.m. Blues/Jazz. Cover.

STANLEY’S PUB - Open Jam. 9 p.m. Improv/Various. Free.

URBAN ARTIFACT PoC, Landon Wordswell, Raised X Wolves and GrandAce. 9 p.m. Hip Hop. $5.

WESTSIDE VENUE - Blues Jam with Jimmy D. Rodgers and Lil Al Thomas. 7 p.m. Blues. Free.

MONDAY 27

HILTON NETHERLAND PALM COURT - Peter Gemus Trio. 6 p.m. Jazz. Free. KNOTTY PINE - Open Mic. 9 p.m. Various. Free.

CHRIST CHURCH CATHEDRAL - Music Live@Lunch with Ricky Nye. 12:10 p.m. Blues/Boogie Woogie. Free. CROW’S NEST - Open Mic Night. 8 p.m. Various. Free. THE GREENWICH - Daybreaker Trio. 8:30 p.m. Jazz. $5. HILTON NETHERLAND PALM COURT - Patsy Meyer Trio. 6 p.m. Jazz. Free. NORTHSIDE YACHT CLUB - Teenage Halloween with Queer Kevin and Pout. 9 p.m. Punk/Pop/Rock/Various STANLEY’S PUB - Trashgrass Troubadours with Bottlerocket Hurricane. 8 p.m. Bluegrass. Cover.

SEE CITYBEAT.COM FOR FULL MUSIC LISTINGS AND ALL CLUB LOCATIONS.

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