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THE YEAR IN PHOTOS

A spread of food and drinks from Oakley Wines | Photo: Hailey Bollinger

Terry Cole of Plaid Room Records | Photo: Hailey Bollinger

Wodka Bar | Photo: Hailey Bollinger

Roebling Bridge during BLINK | Photo: Hailey Bollinger

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Cocktail at Other Room | Photo: Hailey Bollinger

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Newport DIY skatepark | Photo: Hailey Bollinger

Octopus dish from Social OTR | Photo: Hailey Bollinger

Second Sunday on Main’s Pride on Main Photo: Brittany Thornton

View from Devou Park | Photo: Hailey Bollinger

Richard Stewart at Carriage House Farm Photo: Hailey Bollinger

Boomtown Biscuits & Whiskey | Photo: Hailey Bollinger

Bla’sze performing at the Cincinnati Entertainment Awards | Photo: Brittany Thornton

Kim Taylor | Photo: Hailey Bollinger

Basilica of the Assumption | Photo: Hailey Bollinger

Weekly butcher cut from Lonely Pine Steakhouse Photo: Hailey Bollinger

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Installation at the Cincinnati Museum Center’s Holocaust & Humanity Center | Photo: Hailey Bollinger

Cincinnati Art Museum’s ‘No Spectators: The Art of Burning Man’ exhibit | Photo: Hailey Bollinger

Chilled tomato gazpacho from Fausto Photo: Hailey Bollinger

Pendleton’s Danger Wheel race | Photo: Holden Mathis

THE YEAR IN NEWS

Here are some of the biggest news stories from an especially wild year, plus deep dives CityBeat undertook on the region’s big issues BY NICK SWARTSELL

f you expected 2019 to be anything else other than a wild ride news-wise, well, you haven’t been paying attention. But several stories in the national and local news landscapes were enough to surprise even the most jaded news junkie. Here are some of the major ones in no particular order — plus some of the in-depth, longterm news projects CityBeat published this year.

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EIGHTY YEARS AFTER A UNIQUE FEDERAL EXPERIMENT, GREENHILLS’ COMPLEX LEGACY IS IN FLUX

In one of the more radical experiments the United States government has undertaken, federal planners embarked in the depths of the Great Depression on the wholesale creation of entire self-sufficient (and racially-segregated) “greenbelt” towns ringed by forests and farmland and built around collectivist principles. The government built one of those towns, called Greenhills, on a flat sweep of farmland 15 miles north of Cincinnati. These New Deal towns were meant to provide work and housing for those struggling under the harshest economic calamity the country had ever seen. But they also aimed to provide a new way of living together for the white residents lucky enough to be selected as “pioneers” to settle there. CityBeat conducted in-depth interviews with original residents, historians, those who experienced integration efforts in Greenhills and others to try and understand the legacy of the federal government’s experiment at a time when the historic village faces demolition of some of its original structures. For many original residents, the New Deal-era effort at Greenhills was a success. But the legacy — and future — of the Ohio town born out of this radical experiment is cloudier today. The march of time and social conventions shed harsh light on the town’s segregated origins. And recent demolitions have leveled some of the town’s original buildings. In some ways, the greenbelt towns — Greenhills; Greenbelt, Maryland outside Washington, D.C.; and Greendale, Wisconsin, outside Milwaukee — would presage the rapid suburbanization of many predominantly white, middle-class Americans in the coming decades. That development was privately undertaken, of course, but was also encouraged and in some cases subsidized by the federal government. But in other ways, the towns exist in their own strange moment in time; one in

which, for a brief few years, federal authorities flirted with openly collectivist goals even as they dictated that their futuristic utopias be racially exclusive. Eight decades removed, the lessons of the greenbelt towns may still have some relevance as contemporary America rediscovers a love for walkability and urban green space in its cities and struggles with housing affordability, residential segregation and its fraught, complicated relationship with collectivist ideas and policies.

U.S. REP. STEVE CHABOT’S TREASURER FINDS OUT HE IS… U.S. REP. STEVE CHABOT’S TREASURER

One of the biggest local political stories this year was the saga around more than $123,000 missing from U.S. Rep. Steve Chabot’s campaign, which first came to light when the FEC flagged discrepancies in the campaign’s financial filings this summer. Jamie Schwartz, who has served as Chabot’s campaign manager and in his congressional office, shuttered two political consultancies he ran and effectively disappeared as the inquiry heated up. But there were more surprises coming. His father, Jim Schwartz, had been listed as the Chabot campaign’s treasurer for years. But the elder Schwartz issued a statement saying he had no idea he was named on FEC forms as treasurer for the campaign. “I am not now, nor have I ever been, the treasurer of the Steve Chabot for Congress campaign,” the Sept. 9 statement from Schwartz attorney Daniel J. McCarthy reads. “I have never served the campaign in any official capacity, including as treasurer, at any time. I played no role in the campaign other than as an occasional volunteer. I had no knowledge of the use of my name on any campaign documents or filings until recent reports.” Mark Braden, an attorney for Chabot’s campaign, said it appeared as though the campaign had been the victim of “financial malfeasance.” “Unfortunately, the misappropriation of funds by some campaign treasurers has been far too common an occurrence over the years,” he said. Braden said in the statement that the campaign is cooperating with a federal investigation into the missing money and is conducting an audit of the campaign’s finances. Chabot, serving his 12th term in Congress, handily beat Democratic challenger Hamilton County Clerk of Courts Aftab Pureval in 2018, netting 51 percent of the vote in a district that includes both

Greenhills Community Building PH OTO: NIC K SWARTSELL

blue-ing Hamilton County and deep-red Warren County. One of the more dramatic issues in that campaign hinged on questions around Pureval’s use of money from his Clerk of Courts campaign account for his congressional run. The Ohio Elections Commission eventually dropped most of the charges against Pureval, who was fined $100 for paying a photographer who captured his congressional bid announcement with Clerk of Courts money. Two Democrats — former military pilot Nikki Foster and healthcare executive Kate Schroder — are vying to challenge Chabot in 2020.

AS WORK ON THE WEST END SOCCER STADIUM INTENSIFIES, SOME RESIDENTS FACE RELOCATION

As FC Cincinnati’s $250 million stadium began taking shape in the West End this year, CityBeat took to the streets around the massive project to learn how it was impacting the historically low-income African-American neighborhood. There have been some positives — construction jobs and contracts for minorityowned businesses. But there are big downsides for some residents and businesses. A popular soul food restaurant, Just Cookin’, left the neighborhood late last year, as did a neighborhood barbershop and its proprietor, who lived above it. And they weren’t the only ones. In April, CityBeat met a resident in a building just north of the stadium who told a reporter that about a dozen residents on Wade Street and Central Avenue had been asked to leave their buildings by their landlord due to the coming soccer facility. After doing some research and talking to those involved, CityBeat reported the residents’ plight and a day later discovered

paperwork from the Hamilton County Auditor’s website suggesting the team had purchased the properties. A flurry of activity followed, with tumultuous government meetings, Cincinnati City Council motions and feverish negotiations between the team and the residents. Some have since found housing. Others are still looking as of press time — with a Jan. 31 deadline to vacate the premises. The plight of the residents illustrates the scarcity of affordable housing in Cincinnati, the precarious balance between development and displacement in the city’s revitalizing neighborhoods and the impacts massive developments can have on communities that have seen sustained disinvestment over time. How those issues resolve — both for some of the residents at Wade and Central and for the city as a whole — remains to be seen.

BATTLE AT THE BANKS

Stop us if you’ve heard this one: a music venue, a concrete facility, the Hamilton County Commission, a proposed neighborhood park and a professional football team walk into City Hall… All jokes aside, the wrangling over Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra concert promotion arm MEMI’s music venue proposed for The Banks riverfront development was likely one of the city’s most convoluted development debates ever. After initially pushing for Columbus’ PromoWest to take on the project, Mayor John Cranley didn’t like the location Hamilton County wanted and Cincinnati City Council agreed upon. Building the venue there meant relocating a long-standing building materials company called Hilltop Basic Resources to make more parking for the Cincinnati Bengals, who have veto power over the music venue’s location.

NEWS But moving Hilltop to Queensgate was politically fraught due to fears about pollution in nearby west side neighborhoods and displacing another business on the potential site. Did you get all that? Eventually Hamilton County Commission member Todd Portune and Cranley got together on a Saturday and hammered out a complex compromise that will allow the venue to go forward… just in time, hopefully, to compete with a similar venue (created with PromoWest) going in across the river in Newport. Who said getting things done was easy?

ZERO-TOLERANCE IMMIGRATION POLICY LEAVES SOME GREATER CINCINNATIANS AS PEOPLE WITHOUT A COUNTRY

KENTUCKY GETS A NEW GOVERNOR

Aissata, a Greater Cincinnati resident from Mauritania who fears deportation

After a bitter, bitter camPH OTO: NIC K SWARTSELL paign, Kentucky Attorney General Andy Beshear defeated incumbent Gov. Matt Bevin by the slimmest of margins in the state’s gubernatorial contest. Beshear, a big attention, it was a bruising contest Democrat, scored a narrow 4,650-vote lead between the two focusing on tough quesover Republican Bevin. tions around the region’s aging Brent Bevin, however, said at first he would not Spence Bridge, the state’s ailing pension concede the race, indicating he would ask fund, related “sick-outs” by the state’s election officials to check voting machines public school teachers, health care policy, throughout the state. It was a week before abortion and other big issues. the outgoing governor admitted defeat. In amassing his slim lead, Beshear WHAT’S BEHIND DISPARITIES IN flipped some suburban Northern Kentucky HOMEOWNERSHIP IN CINCINNATI? counties that Bevin handily won in 2015 Buying a home is often framed as a quintand that fellow Republican President Donessential part of the American dream. ald Trump took in the presidential election But data shows that the dream doesn’t the next year. manifest itself equally for everyone in Beshear narrowly won Kenton County Cincinnati. About 24 percent of black and turned in a somewhat more robust households in the city owned a home in performance in Campbell County. Bevin 2017, for example. Meanwhile, roughly 50 won both of those counties handily in 2015, percent of white households in Cincingrabbing 57 percent of the vote in Kenton nati lived in a home they owned that year, County. according to an aggregate of five years of Beshear’s victory came despite — or, American Community Survey results from depending on who you talk to, partly the U.S. Census Bureau. because of — Bevin’s alignment with CityBeat took a deep dive into why vastly Trump. The president, who won Kentucky fewer black residents in Cincinnati — like overall by 30 points in 2016, swooped elsewhere across the country — own their through the Bluegrass State to campaign own homes. The reasons for the disparfor Bevin. ity are complex, and some are linked to “You’re sending that big message to the decades of past discrimination. rest of the country,” Trump said at one For a number of reasons, the difficulties rally. “It’s so important — you have to get of home buying are often compounded for your friends, you have to vote. If you lose, it people of color. sends a really bad message… you can’t let A pervasive wealth gap and paucity of that happen to me.” financial services in low-income and many Despite Kentucky being one of five black communities contributes to the states to hold its gubernatorial elections home ownership chasm, experts say. Plus, on years without federal elections to draw

a lack of loans under $50,000 often block prospective homebuyers from buying property in lower-income neighborhoods. And getting a home isn’t the end of the struggle. Sometimes, less-ideal means of securing homeownership via nontraditional sales like land contracts translate into difficulties down the road. Studies show that properties in predominantly black areas in Cincinnati don’t gain equity at the same rate properties in other neighborhoods do — if they gain any at all — leaving black homeowners with less wealth accumulated over time and less ability to move into more desirable neighborhoods. “Starting with racism, starting with an economic deficit for moderate-income people and then oversight (by the federal government) that does not take equity into consideration, all of those things are challenges for homeownership,” says Rick Williams, president and CEO of the Home Ownership Center of Greater Cincinnati, a nonprofit that provides guidance for prospective home buyers. “It can make the American dream of homeownership fake for minorities and moderate-income people, because what is supposed to come with it after the closing doesn’t.” Williams is quick to point out that not all African Americans are also low-income, but says that a number of difficulties with the home-buying process can follow CONTINUES ON PAGE 08

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Ohio has the densest population of people from the West African country of Mauritania in the United States — roughly 6,000, by some estimates, including 3,000 in Columbus and another large population on the suburban fringes of Cincinnati. Many didn’t know each other when they came here, but they have knitted together a community, attending local mosques and sometimes celebrating at barbecues and evening get-togethers. They married, had children, started businesses, bought houses. Many who saw brutal violence as part of a crackdown on black Mauritanians by an Arab ruling class called Beydanes in the late 1980s tended mental and physical wounds, slowly finding some equilibrium and normalcy here. But those who did not get their asylum claims granted by federal judges are slowly disappearing, seized by Immigration and Customs Enforcement under recent zero tolerance immigration policies ushered in by the Trump administration. Once picked up, they are subject to long stays in places like the Butler County Jail and federal holding facilities and, eventually, deportation back to Mauritania. There, they face imprisonment — or worse. Officially, the Mauritanian government declared slavery abolished in 1981, making Mauritania the last country to do so. The practice of owning other people, however, wasn’t made actually illegal until 2007, and since then, the government has successfully prosecuted only one slave owner. However, officials there maintain that slavery is a thing of the past. But the United Nations estimates that between 10 and 20 percent of the country’s population — between 340,000 and 680,000 people — are enslaved. CityBeat spoke to members of the Mauritanian community, including activists, those in hiding fearing deportation and a former Greater Cincinnati resident deported back to Mauritania

who immediately fled to neighboring Senegal due to persecution. In effect, those detained and deported become people without a country, since Mauritania often does not recognize them as citizens. That puts them in grave danger, activists say — and leaves gaping holes in the communities they’ve helped establish here in Greater Cincinnati. Those who can have sold their businesses or houses, cashed in retirement plans and fled to Canada, advocates say. Those who cannot hold their breath.

FROM PAGE 07

higher-income black homebuyers as well. There are places like the Home Ownership Center where potential homebuyers can find help, as well as city programs that offer down payment assistance and other aid. There are also nonprofits like Housing Opportunities Made Equal Cincinnati (HOME), which advocates for changes that could boost equity for minority and lowincome home buyers in the long term. Despite those efforts, though, many black residents of Cincinnati still face a tough time buying a home — a dynamic borne out by the statistics showing the gaps between minority and white homeownership rates.

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THE UNABATED FIGHT OVER TAX ABATEMENTS

For the entirety of this year, the City of Cincinnati and Cincinnati Public Schools have been locked in debate about the replacement for a once-obscure 20-year-old deal between the two. That agreement let the city create more generous property tax abatements and tax increment financing districts that city planners say are necessary to incentivize development. In return, the city paid a lump-sum payment to the district every year and developers paid part of their tax incentive back to the school district to make up for lost revenue. Property tax abatements allow developers to forego increased property taxes on improvements they make to properties via renovation or new construction. Tax increment financing — or TIF — takes revenue from increased property values and applies it to public infrastructure projects or to a particular development. CPS, which is supported primarily by property tax revenue, says that agreement has cost it many millions of dollars over the past two decades as development has heated up in some Cincinnati neighborhoods. The city, however, says that due to a complex state funding formula, the district actually comes out ahead due to the abatements. The fight between the city and the district has opened up a larger debate about the proper role of tax incentives as the city looks to increase development while struggling with an affordable housing shortage and other big issues. At press time, the city and school district could not agree on a new arrangement — and the current deal struck in 1999 ends Dec. 31.

A DEEP DIVE INTO JUVENILE JUSTICE

The Hamilton County juvenile justice system has been in the background of local conversations about crime, justice and race this year. In the midst of a sweltering summer during which gun violence claimed the lives of multiple minors as young as 14, the saga of Democratic former Hamilton County Juvenile Court Judge Tracie Hunter reached a furious coda when she was dragged out of a Hamilton County courtroom to serve a six-month sentence.

Hunter ran on promises to reform the county’s juvenile system, and, her supporters say, paid a political price for trying to do so. Others, however, say Hunter fell behind on her job, didn’t work with other judges and broke the law. Whether or not Hunter was treated justly, the racial disparities she campaigned on fixing are real, viewable in black and white in the form of Hamilton County Juvenile Court data and Cincinnati Police arrest records. In a county where Census data says 30.3 percent of people under 18 are African American, 81 percent of the more than 2,000 minors issued warrants through the Hamilton County Juvenile Court last year were black, according to data CityBeat obtained from the court — up from 75 percent in 2015. And 75 percent of the 930 young people admitted to the county’s youth detention center in 2018 were black — though that’s down from 80 percent in 2015. Those disparities also exist on the front lines of the juvenile justice system: select streets and schools in Cincinnati and its poorer suburbs, most predominantly black, where police make the most juvenile arrests. In Cincinnati, which is about 43 percent black, 85 to 90 percent of juveniles arrested by Cincinnati Police have been black in recent years, arrest data from the city shows. Few dispute the clear over-representation of black youth in the county’s juvenile justice system. And those disparities certainly aren’t unique to Hamilton County — they’re part of national trends involving race and the justice system in a country where the prison population ballooned from 500,000 in 1980 to more than 2 million by 2015 and in which black citizens are incarcerated at five times the rate whites citizens are. Those trends extend to juveniles. While roughly 14 percent of the U.S. population under the age of 18 is black, 42 percent of children detained in juvenile justice systems across the country are black. But that is just the start of a vast, complicated conversation. Why are so many more black youth arrested in Hamilton County, either in schools or in neighborhoods? What happens to them when they enter the juvenile system? What roles do racial bias, socioeconomic factors and the trauma that can come with growing up without resources play? Pushing against these questions are

President Donald Trump at a campaign rally in West Chester PH OTO: NIC K SWARTSELL

still more numbers: police are arresting far fewer youth than they used to — part of a national trend in falling crime rates — and Hamilton County Juvenile Court is locking up or sending away far fewer of them to state juvenile detention centers thanks in part to a series of diversion programs, court officials say. In the last five years, the number of youth detained in Hamilton County has dropped nearly 20 percent. CityBeat dug into all that data and conducted more than two-dozen interviews with youth in the justice system, adults who came out the other side, public defenders, attorneys, activists, Cincinnati police, judges and court employees as part of a four-part series on juvenile justice attempting to get nuanced answers to some of the toughest questions facing young people in our region.

U.S. HOUSE IMPEACHES PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP

Here’s a story from this year that will almost certainly continue dominating headlines in the next. President Donald Trump faces impeachment hearings in the U.S. Senate brought by Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives over a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in which Trump appeared to offer the release of U.S. aid to Ukraine in exchange for an investigation into Democratic Party presidential primary hopeful and former Vice President Joe Biden. The president’s critics — including Democrats but also U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney, a Republican — say the president broke the law with those statements and subsequent

public statements asking Ukraine and China to investigate Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, who served on the board of an energy company in Ukraine. During his time as vice president, Biden pushed Ukraine to remove Viktor Shokin, a prosecutor there long-thought to be corrupt. Trump alleges that the elder Biden did so because that prosecutor was investigating his son. Thus far, there is no evidence that this was the case — and a number of statements from officials both in the U.S. and Ukraine, including U.S. Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio, show that the prosecutor who was removed was indeed suspected of corruption. Looking for more of a quasi-local angle? Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky has called the impeachment efforts against Trump “laughable” but said he will have little choice but to take up the articles of impeachment when they come to the Senate. That body’s constitutional responsibility will then be to consider the allegations against the president in a trial. But McConnell, never one to shy away from controversy or rally his base, isn’t exactly sitting quietly waiting for the chips to fall where they may. He’s indicated he’ll fight the impeachment effort every step of the way.

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free Party New year’s eve TUES DEC 31 8PM –1AM GRANDSTAND LINE DANCING 8-9PM! Featuring

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Big Daddy Walker

DANCING. BALLOON DROPS. HATS. BEADS. CONFETTI CANNONS. DRINK SPECIALS. PHOTO BOOTH AND… ROZZI FIREWORKS!

JUST OFF I–75 EXIT 29

Must be 21 or older to gamble. Ohio Problem Gambling Helpline (1-800-589-9966) or visit www.org.ohio.gov

Ongoing Shows WinterFest Kings Island (through Dec. 31) Festival of Lights Cincinnati Zoo (through Jan. 4) Jan. 4) Antique Christmas Taft Museum of Art, Downtown (through Jan. 5) A Zinzinnati Holiday Krohn Conservatory, Mount Adams (through Jan. 5)

THURSDAY 26

MUSIC: Mannheim Steamroller Christmas Mannheim Steamroller is a Christmas music machine. And that well-oiled machine is currently on its 35thannual holiday tour, which, according to a press release, makes it the “longest running consecutive tour in the entertainment industry.” The project first came together in the mid-’70s when composer Chip Davis needed an alias under which to release his synth-driven, Classicalesque New Age instrumental music (Davis also needed a

record label, so he formed American Gramaphone, which would piggyback the Steamroller’s success to become a huge indie imprint). After the popular Fresh Aire series of releases, Mannheim Steamroller’s first holiday album came out in the mid-’80s; along with the nearly dozen Christmas LPs since, the collections have sold tens of millions of copies, making Mannheim one of the best-selling holiday acts of all time. In honor of its 35th anniversary, this year’s tour will spotlight material from the classic 1984 Mannheim Steamroller Christmas album. 7 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 26. $38.75$78.75. Aronoff Center, 650 Walnut St., Downtown, cincinnatiarts.org. — MIKE BREEN ONSTAGE: The Frog Princess at Ensemble Theatre Look past the quirks (and warts) and you might just find love. And, more importantly, kindness. At least, that’s the moral center of Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati’s whimsical production of The Frog Princess. No, it’s not a take on that Disney princess tale. With music/ lyrics by David Kisor and a book by Joseph McDonough, this Russian fairytale first premiered at ETC in 1997. It tells the story of Princess Vasilisa (played sweetly by Brooke Steele), who hails from a faraway land shrouded in mystery. Once selfish, she has been cursed to live as a frog unless she is able to bring kindness into her heart. As can be expected, all ends happily and goodness prevails. Though not a traditional holiday story, this whimsical fairytale will likely entertain the whole family. Times vary. Runs through Jan. 4. $27-$49. Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati, 1127 Vine St., Over-the-Rhine, ensemblecincinnati.org. — MACKENZIE MANLEY

FRIDAY 27

FILM: British Arrow Awards at Cincinnati World Cinema As silly or simple as they may be, tireless campaigns

The Frog Princess P H O T O : R YA N K U R T Z

often have us counting the seconds until the “Skip Ad” button appears at the bottom of a video, but we Americans still consider the commercials one of the best parts of the Super Bowl. (Dilly dilly, anyone?) Our neighbors across the pond are no different, it seems, and they celebrate the best of the best in U.K. commercial advertising with the annual British Arrow Awards. Like a mini film fest for British commercials, Cincinnati World Cinema is screening the Gold, Silver and Bronze winners of the 2019 Arrow Awards over the holidays. From ads for streaming services to menstrual products to chocolate bars, the winners are comprised of “an eclectic mix of riveting mini-dramas, high-tech extravaganzas, wacky comedy, and vital public service announcements.” The CWC is offering six chances to catch some of the most imaginative, humorous and striking commercials from the year in U.K. advertising

on the silver screen. 7 and 9 p.m. Friday, Dec. 27; 6 and 8 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 28; 4 and 6 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 29. $15; $12 student. The Garfield Theatre, 719 Race St., Downtown. cincyworldcinema.org. — MORGAN ZUMBIEL

SATURDAY 28

EVENT: The Harlem Globetrotters The basketball acrobats and magicians in the Harlem Globetrotters may trot the globe, but the team is a uniquely American entertainment phenomenon, from their red, white and blue color scheme to the entrepreneurial ingenuity that spawned them. The Globetrotters’ origins stretch back to 1926, when a team was created to play exhibition basketball games before dances in Chicago to drum up attendance (fun fact: the Harlem Globetrotters didn’t play in Harlem until 1968; the name was chosen mostly for mystique). Between ever-expanding tours, at tournaments, the

team turned heads with their depth and talent. When NBA teams began signing African-American players in the ’50s, many turned to the Globetrotters to enhance their rosters. None other than the legendary Wilt Chamberlain cut his teeth as a Globetrotter in the late ’50s. Thrilling “children of all ages” all over the world, the Globetrotters have also been an integral part of American pop culture. For decades, they’ve appeared in movies and television, including several of their own children’s shows and cartoons. In 1981 they famously co-starred in The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan’s Island and have appeared on everything from The Love Boat, Scooby Doo and Sesame Street to The Simpsons, American Dad and The Goldbergs. The roster has rotated regularly over the years (obviously); current players have included Big Easy Lofton, Ant Atkinson, TNT Lister and Swish Sutton. 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 28. $31-$133. Heritage

Bank Center, 100 Broadway St., Downtown, heritagebankcenter.com. — MIKE BREEN

SUNDAY 29

SPORTS: Cincinnati Bengals Season Finale If you are a Bengals fan, what did you wish for more going into the holiday season? Winning every game before the end of the year to possibly avoid having worst record in the NFL? Or losing every game and ensuring the team would get the top pick in the NFL draft? No matter how it all ends, getting that No. 1 pick is the only positive spin fans will be able to put on a fully miserable season in which it took the hometown squad 13 games to notch its first win. They’re closing out the lowly 2019 campaign with the “Battle of Ohio Part 2,” taking on a Cleveland Browns team that has had a far more respectable (if topsy-turvy) year with young gun Baker Mayfield behind center. The CONTINUES ON PAGE 12

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EVENT: WWE Live Holiday Tour ’Twas the night after Christmas and all through downtown, several creatures were stirring and ready to pound. Each other, that is. Several of the WWE’s biggest stars are spending the holidays on the road, performing for fans from New York’s Madison Square Garden to L.A.’s Staples Center. The postChristmas Cincinnati show will be headlined by a “triple threat” match featuring The Miz, Daniel Bryan and “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt. Other matches include Roman Reigns vs. King Corbin (with new manager Drake Maverick), Braun Strowman vs. Shinsuke Nakamura and Bayley vs. Lacey Evans. 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 26. $15-$110. Heritage Bank Center, 100 Broadway St., Downtown, heritagebankcenter.com. — MIKE BREEN

STUFF TO DO

TUESDAY 31

EVENT: First Midnight: Glow Vision New Year’s Eve Party One of Cincinnati’s most popular New Year’s Eve parties, “First Midnight,” returns to Pendleton’s 3 Points Urban Brewery — and this year, they’re bringing a black light. Hosted by Cincy Music, 3 Points and CityBeat, the Glow Vision-themed event will kick off at 9 p.m. and features live entertainment, unlimited craft beer and cocktails, a champagne toast, appetizers and midnight party favors. Complimentary UV light face painters will be present to transform guest’s faces into glowing masterpieces when the brewery goes black at midnight. When the lights go out and the black lights turn on, the invisible face paint will begin to glow and the space will transform into a wild neon celebration. Guests are encouraged to wear vibrant or white clothing; the event is not a formal affair. 9 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 31. $100. 3 Points Urban Brewery, 331 E. 13th St., Pendleton, firstmidnight.com. — HAILEY BOLLINGER

Vine St., Avondale, cincinnatizoo.org. — MORGAN ZUMBIEL

PHOTO: HAILEY BOLLINGER

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FROM PAGE 11

Browns won handily in their first matchup in Cleveland in early December. If recent history is any indication, the Bengals will win this final game, die-hards will exclaim, “They showed a lot of spark at the end of the year!” and just enough fans will return with high hopes at the start of next season that ownership will continue its tradition of relative complacency. But with the top draft pick, fans will have sufficient reason to be excited for 2020. Quarterback and recent Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow of LSU is projected to go first in the draft, and he appears to be a superstar in the making. Perhaps the most dramatic storyline of the Bengals’ 2019 was when the team benched veteran Andy Dalton and put backup QB Ryan Finley in for a few games to see if he might show the kind of stuff it would take to be the team’s future leader. He did not. Dalton returned to help the team win its first game of the year — followed by short-lived good vibes all around, then a quick fall back to reality by the next game — but with Burrow on the team’s radar, there’s a decent chance that the 2019 season finale will be the Red Rifle’s final game as a Bengal. 1 p.m. Sunday, Dec.

29. $64-$160. Paul Brown Stadium, One Paul Brown Stadium, Downtown, bengals.com. — MIKE BREEN MUSIC: The Nth Power Funk/R&B juggernaut The Nth Power is a force to be reckoned with in concert, creating a tsunami of groove and soul each time they step on stage. The group came together in New Orleans in 2012, after the founding musicians — all seasoned veterans — bonded musically during a late-night jam at the city’s famed Jazz & Heritage Festival. The nowtrio is anchored by drummer/ vocalist Nikki Glaspie, who has toured extensively with Beyoncé and worked with N’awlins legend Ivan Neville in his band Dumpstaphunk. Nate Edgar (Groovechild, John Brown’s Body) is her brother in rhythm, an intuitive bassist who alternates between tornadic grooves and more nuanced playing. Dazzling guitarist and singer Nick Cassarino rounds out The Nth Power, bringing a perfect glaze of soulfulness to the proceedings. The band has released a pair of engaging studio efforts, including 2015’s full-length debut, Abundance, but their most recent releases have been live recordings — 2016’s Live to Be Free and 2018’s tribute to Bob Marley, Rebel Music. The

live releases nicely capture the power the musicians bring to the stage and a quick sample should be more than enough to lure you into checking them out on the final Sunday of 2019 — fitting, because The Nth Power’s spirited, spiritual sound has a Gospel-like sense of uplift. 9 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 29. $12; $18 day of show. Fretboard Brewing Company, 5800 Creek Road, Blue Ash, fretboardbrewing. com. — MIKE BREEN

MONDAY 30

MUSIC: Rumpke Mountain Boys As usual, “Trashgrass” heroes the Rumpke Mountain Boys spent a lot of their year on the road in 2019, playing coast to coast to their loyal fanbase (and surely picking up lots of new followers along the way), including dates at several music festivals. For the past few years, the Rumpkes have been giving hometown fans a year-end thrill with a two-night stand at Oakley’s 20th Century Theater — on New Year’s Eve, as well as New Year’s Eve Eve. The tradition continues this year and once again the group is bringing along a bevy of special guests to join them each night. Opening on Dec. 30 will be Indiana jam act the Joe Marcinek Band

— with guests Scott Jackson and Blair Ping of Hyryder and Eric Lanese of Ekoostik Hookah — and West Virginia “Appalachian Rock” quintet Fletcher’s Grove. Then, Lexington, Kentucky’s Restless String Band, Kansas City’s Grassfed and “Folk ’n Roll” duo the Pickin’ Pear will help RMB ring in 2020 on NYE. 8 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, Dec. 30 and 31. $15; $20 day of show for Dec. 30; $25; $30 day of show for Dec. 31. Two-day passes are $35. 20th Century Theater, 3021 Madison Road, Oakley, the20thcenturytheatre.com. — MIKE BREEN

TUESDAY 31

EVENT: Happy Zoo Year Calling all party animals: End the decade with a beastly bang at the 10th Annual Happy Zoo Year celebration. Wander through a winter wonderland at the PNC Festival of Lights (recently voted the best holiday zoo light show in the country for the second consecutive year by USA Today readers) and celebrate with performances from MadCap Puppets, party favors and costumed characters before an early New Year’s countdown and a shimmering finale from Rozzi Fireworks. 5-9 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 31. Free. Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden, 3400

EVENT: Bootlegger’s Bash As we step into 2020, wind back the clock a century with Queen City Radio and party like it’s 1920. And while the Queen City may have a rich history with Prohibition, booze — ahem, giggle water — will be a-flowing all night long. DJ Patrick will lend the music and Framester will document the shenanigans. Sounds like berries to me. Costumes are encouraged, but not required. 4 p.m.-2 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 31. Free. Queen City Radio, 22 W. 12th St., Over-the-Rhine, qcrbar.com. — MACKENZIE MANLEY MUSIC: GWAR This New Year’s Eve will have the best novelty NYE eyeglasses ever, perfectly designed for human eyeholes. So why waste your “2020” eyewear at an average Dec. 31 get-together, with champagne and some weakass sparklers or balloons or some shit? This New Year’s Eve, Cincinnatians will be blessed with the ultimate intergalactic New Year’s Eve party —Metal space monsters GWAR are bringing their “Use Your Collusion” holiday tour to town on the last night of 2019. Openers Unearth and Savage Master will also be on hand to help you ring in 2020 in (gloriously campy and gory) style. Cincinnati is the finale of the holiday tour and we’re one of only five dates on the mini-jaunt. “Merry Xmas Human Scum!” starts a press release from the alien Metal gods regarding the tour. “So you’ve finally wiped

your chin clean of Santa’s jolly old ‘elf gravy’ and finished shoveling your faces full of baked goods. Well, your Lords and Masters GWAR are set to bring their very special brand of holiday cheer to your shit hole town!” 8 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 31. $25. Bogart’s, 2621 Vine St., Corryville, bogarts.com. — MIKE BREEN COMEDY: Ralph Harris Stand-up comedy and acting were not Ralph Harris’s first show business goals. “I wanted to be a clown, quite honestly,” he says. “I wanted to be in the circus.” After seeing Eddie Murphy on Saturday Night Live in the mid-’80s, however, Harris decided he wanted to be a comedian. Like Murphy, he has also done a fair bit of acting, in both comedic and dramatic roles. Stand-up, though, is his true calling. “I’ve never tried to be a comic that reads the newspaper and tries to outwit you or show you how smart I am,” Harris says. To that end, Harris mixes observational comedy with impressions and characters. It’s this approach, he feels, that has kept him a headlining comedian for so many years. “I figure if I talk to you about the things that I think about on a daily basis and keep it simple,” he says, “more than likely, you’ll get it.” 10 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 31. $25-$55. Liberty Funny Bone, 7518 Bales St., Liberty Township, liberty.funnybone.com. — P.F. WILSON EVENT: Midnight in Munich Raise a toast to 2020 the German way with Mecklenburg Gardens’ annual Midnight in Munich New

Year’s Eve bash. The feast begins at 4 p.m. with authentic German fare, beer specials, hors d’oeuvres and live music via local band Everything’s Jake. At 6 p.m. Cincinnati time — aka midnight in Munich — they’ll celebrate the decade’s end with a champagne toast and live stream of the Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate fireworks. A buffet dinner of roasted pig, Oktoberfest chicken, baked salmon, grilled veggies, mashed potatoes, German hot slaw, sauerkraut, dinner rolls and more will then be served. Kid-friendly grub will also be available. 4-9 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 31. $17-$43. Mecklenburg Gardens, 302 E. University Ave., Corryville, mecklenburgs.com. — MACKENZIE MANLEY EVENT: Voodoo Masquerade March First Brewing and Distilling is ringing in the new year NOLA-style with a Voodoo Masquerade, transforming their taprooms into a Bourbon Street experience and dark voodoo lounge, respectively. Specialty cocktails will flow, live Jazz will play and a cajun dinner will be served. 8 p.m.-1 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 31. $25-$100. March First Brewing and Distilling, 7885 East Kemper Road, Sycamore, marchfirstbrewing.com. — MACKENZIE MANLEY

MUSIC: Moonbeau This year, Cincinnati Synth Pop act Moonbeau did some regional touring to capitalize on their amazing 2018 debut album and also released a single featuring the new tracks “Think Fast and “Lay Down.” In November they scored another Cincinnati Entertainment Award for their mantel, taking home the Electronic trophy. Most importantly, in the big picture, the love story at the heart of the band entered a new phase. Frontpeople Christian Gough and Claire Muenchen got married in September. That’s a pretty big year for one of Cincinnati’s most exciting and promising original acts and you can help them celebrate it in style and ring out the year on New Year’s Eve at MOTR Pub — which means there is no cover charge… which means you can afford to drink more, if you’re into that kind of thing. Toledo Synth Pop duo Bliss Nova and fellow Cincy act Passeport will also perform. 10 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 31. Free. MOTR Pub, 1345 Main St., Over-the-Rhine, motrpub. com. — MIKE BREEN EVENT: Weird Years Eve 20/20 Let’s end the decade like we started it: Unabashedly weird. Ascend into 2020 getting lost (or found?) in the

noise with eclectic music by Funk/Afrobeat group Ernie Johnson From Detroit, Avant Garde band Dana, Eugenius X DJ Limited Liability and DJ PK. Bunk News, Matthew Dayler, Channel 77 and Jim Swill will lend their design talents to make for this New Year’s Eve an extra special brand of offbeat. 9 p.m.-2 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 31. $10. The Mockbee, 2260 Central Parkway, Over-the-Rhine, facebook.com/themockbee. — MACKENZIE MANLEY EVENT: NYE 2020 at Rhinegeist Rhinegeist’s taproom will transform into, in their words, “a futuristic dancea-thon” to ring in 2020. DJs Matt Joy and SKG will spin tunes into the new year, guests can capture 2019’s final moments via a photo booth and when the clock strikes midnight, balloons will descend in celebration. Upgrade to VIP for more music with DJ Vinylmatic, plus a complementary coat check, professional photography, five drink tokens (with special access to a full bar) and more. 9 p.m.-3 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 31. $20- $100. Rhinegeist Taproom, 1910 Elm St., Over-the-Rhine, facebook.com/rhinegeist. — MACKENZIE MANLEY EVENT: International New Year’s Eve at Union Terminal CONTINUES ON PAGE 14

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TUESDAY 31

EVENT: Cincinnati Cyclones Indoor Fireworks Say goodbye to 2019 with the whole family and the Cincinnati Cyclones, as the hometown hockey heroes go up against Greenville’s Swamp Rabbits. There’s an early start time (puck drops at 6 p.m.) and the game will be followed by a dazzling indoor fireworks show to get you ready for further NYE celebrating. 6 p.m. Dec. 31. $19-$22. Heritage Bank Center, 100 Broadway St., Downtown, cycloneshockey.com. — MACKENZIE MANLEY

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TUESDAY 31

EVENT: New Year’s Eve Blast on Fountain Square Head to the heart of downtown to usher in the new year among thousands of fellow Cincinnatians. Dance. Eat grub. Play goofy games. Skate on Fountain Sqaure’s UC Health ice rink all night long and stick around for Rozzi’s fireworks at midnight. Mix 94.9 Cincinnati’s Jay Kruz will host the evening. 8 p.m.-1 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 31. Free (ice rink admission: $6; skate rental: $4). Fountain Square, 520 Vine Street, Downtown, myfountainsquare.com. — MACKENZIE MANLEY

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For every passing hour between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m., Cincinnati Museum Center will celebrate a different culture — from China, Thailand, Bangladesh and Pakistan to the United Arab Emirates, Russia and Israel — as they ring in 2020 across the globe. Cultural music, activities and crafts will add to the festivities. St. George’s Russian Orthodox Church will entertain with a folk dance at 3:30 p.m. and the Mayerson JCC will be featured during Israel’s spotlight. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 31. Free. Union Terminal, 1301 Western Ave., Queensgate, facebook.com/cincymuseum. — MACKENZIE MANLEY EVENT: New Year’s Eve: Frank and Ella with the Cincinnati Pops Come fly with the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra into 2020 with the classic music of legends Ella Fitzegerald and Frank Sinatra, all backdropped by the historical and beautiful Music Hall. The Pops will be joined by guest artists Capathia Jenkins and Tony DeSare. The concert bows out at 10 p.m., giving guests enough time to head out to other parties — or get snug on their couch at home — before the ball drops. 8-10 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 31.

$25-$115. Music Hall, 1241 Elm St., Over-the-Rhine, cincinnatisymphony.org. — MACKENZIE MANLEY EVENT: Roaring 2020s NYE The roaring 2020s are upon us. So dip the bill and celebrate the 1920s way via Below Zero Lounge’s mighty keen party. Dance till your dogs are barking as DJ Perpetual Ritual spins tunes sure to be the cat’s meow. Party favors, drink specials, a photo booth and a balloon drop at midnight are among the night’s festivities. Plus, the upstairs Cabaret will have two drag shows — one at 8 p.m., the other at 11 p.m. 9 p.m.-2 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 31. Free. Below Zero Lounge, 1120 Walnut St., Over-the-Rhine, belowzerolounge.com. — MACKENZIE MANLEY

WEDNESDAY 01

EVENT: Listermann AllDay Pajama Party Listermann gets it. Give into post-NYE tiredness (or hungoverness) with an all-day pajama party. Maybe you can even get use out of cozy threads you were gifted over the holidays? Stop by wearing your fave onesie and they’ll shave 10 percent off your tab. Noon-6 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 1.

Free. Listermann Brewing Company, 1621 Dana Ave., Norwood, listermannbrewing.com.— MACKENZIE MANLEY

FRIDAY 03

EVENT: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban in Concert with the Cincinnati Pops The third installment of Harry Potter is, in my humble opinion, the best both on screen and on page. Not only does the mystery of Sirius Black unravel, other beloved characters are introduced (cough, Remus Lupin aka Moony). Watch Hermione become the ultimate overachiever via time turner, dementors search for a kiss and Ron’s pet rat get… weird. Conducted by Justin Freer, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra will play John Williams’ nostalgia-inducing score. 7 p.m Friday and Saturday, Jan. 3 and 4; 2 p.m. Sunday Jan. 5. $25$115. Music Hall, 1241 Elm St., Over-the-Rhine, cincinnatisymphony.org/pops. — MACKENZIE MANLEY COMEDY: Bruce Bruce “I was class clown, church clown, barber shop clown,” respected comedian Bruce Bruce explains from his home in Atlanta. “I got beat up daily in school for talking

P H O T O : F A C E B O O K / B R O A D W AY I N C I N C I N N AT I

WEDNESDAY 08

ONSTAGE: The Lion King Feel the love tonight with the Broadway-adaptation of Disney’s ever-popular animated (and, now, live action) film The Lion King. More than 100 million people around the globe have viewed the six-time Tony-Award-winning musical. Now the hit musical returns to Cincinnati’s Aronoff Center. Vibrant and lush with life, fans of the movie will recognize the music from Elton John and Tim Rice that made it a classic. The show might just leave you feeling worryfree. Or, as Timon and Pumba might say, “Hakuna Matata.” Times vary. Jan. 8-Feb. 2. Ticket prices start at $29. Aronoff Center’s Procter and Gamble Hall, 650 Walnut St., Downtown, cincinnatiarts.org. — MACKENZIE MANLEY

SATURDAY 04

EVENT: Wendy’s Bridal Show Getting hitched anytime soon? Get the scoop on photographers, bakers, DJs,

venues and everything in between at Wendy’s Bridal Show, the largest and longest-running event of its kind in the Queen City. Come to check over 150 wedding pros and stay for the fashion show — models will walk the runway sporting the latest bridal fashions from Wendy’s Bridal and tuxedos from Peppe Ramundo Menswear & Black Tie at noon and 3 p.m. on Saturday and 2 p.m. on Sunday. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 4; 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 5. $10. Duke Energy Convention Center, 525 Elm St., wendysbridalshow.com. — MACKENZIE MANLEY EVENT: The Boar’s Head And Yule Log Festival This medieval pageant comes to Christ Church Cathedral for the 80th year. The performances feature characters in costume — lords, ladies, hunters, cooks, knights and more — with ceremonial mince pie, plum pudding and a roasted boar’s head. 2 and 5 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 4; 2:30 and 5 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 5. Free. Christ Church Cathedral, 318 E. Fourth St., Downtown, boarsheadfestival.com. — MAIJA ZUMMO

TUESDAY 07

EVENT: Weston Art Gallery Talk with Joomi Chung The overarching concept of Downtown Weston Art Gallery’s current exhibition Image Space/Memory Space fields physical place as it intersects with our own understanding. Joomi Chung of Oxford, Ohio will give an artist talk on her work, which, according to its description, unfolds as “an abstract landscape-map in an immersive installation combing objective representation and subjective experiences of places and moments.” Rendered through multiple mediums — acetate drawings, videos and installations — Chung works with the concept of fading (and altogether forgotten) memories. Also on display at Weston is Emily Moores’s Felt Embrace and John Humphries’s Rules, Recipes, and Mythology — Works on Paper. The exhibitions will be on display through Feb. 2. 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 7. Free. Weston Art Gallery, 650 Walnut St., Downtown, cincinnatiarts.org. — MACKENZIE MANLEY

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about people. Then I was in the restaurant business, I was telling jokes. I decided just to pursue it.” Before that, Bruce Bruce was a salesman. “I used to work for Frito-Lay and we had corporate meetings,” he recalls. “I would imitate everyone in the meeting afterwards. And all the guys would laugh. One guy told me, ‘I watch comedy all the time. You need to go on stage.’ And I did. And I knew right then I should have been there all my life.” But before you start thinking maybe you should quit your job and hit the stand-up circuit, know that not every workplace cut-up is suited for the stage. “I think it’s something that’s got to be in you,” Bruce Bruce says. “I can be anywhere and make anybody laugh — I don’t care if it’s a child or an older person.” 8 and 10:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 3; 7 and 10 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 4; 7 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 5. $12-$45. Liberty Funny Bone, 7518 Bales St., Liberty Township, liberty.funnybone.com. — P.F. WILSON

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T H E AT R E W E LOVED IN 2019

ARTS & CULTURE The company of Hamilton PHOTO: JOAN MARCUS

Here are the shows across Cincinnati stages that CityBeat critics gave high praises to in 2019 BY CITYBEAT STAFF

incinnati saw its fair share of impactful theatre this year. Here are a few excerpts from reviews CityBeat writers sealed with a critic’s pick in 2019.

IN THE HEIGHTS AT CINCINNATI PLAYHOUSE IN THE PARK

Sun up on a hot, early July morning. Usnavi (Ryan Alvarado) opens his bodega, a stop-and-shop that deals mostly in café con leche, fueling the energy of the struggling but generally happy residents of Washington Heights, a Hispanic community at the northern tip of Manhattan. Yes, it’s the opening scene of In the Heights, the frenetic, energetic first work by Lin-Manuel Miranda, the guy behind the megahit Hamilton. In the Heights is a joyous tribute to Miranda’s roots, both the Manhattan borough where he grew up (and still lives) and the original homes of its residents: the Dominican Republic, Cuba and Puerto Rico. The show might be criticized for being overly sentimental and a tad cleansed of the serious issues of urban blight, but who cares? It’s his fond recreation of community, imbued with non-stop motion and caring that is expressed physically and verbally, in a constant stream of Rap, Hip Hop and Salsa rhythms. (Rick Pender)

HAMILTON AT THE ARONOFF CENTER

MACBETH AT CINCINNATI SHAKESPEARE COMPANY

Cincinnati Shakespeare Company’s production of Macbeth is not for the faint of heart. And that is wonderful. With abundant use of stage blood, unnerving sound design and gruesome props, Cincy Shakes’ goes all in. Centered on the titular

YOU’RE A GOOD MAN, CHARLIE BROWN AT CINCINNATI PLAYHOUSE IN THE PARK

The Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park’s new production of You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown is unlike anything you’ve ever seen before. And that’s a good thing. Co-conceived by Nick Cearley and Lauren Molina, who play Linus and Lucy, respectively, Charlie Brown is a musical fantasia that features beloved “Peanuts” characters in a series of vignettes about the joys and frustrations of childhood. From the first seamless lighting cue to the very last, shivers-down-your-spine blackout, Charlie Brown plunges into the timeless space of Charles Schulz’s comic strip “Peanuts.” Hosting the familiar favorites — Charlie Brown, Linus, Lucy, Schroeder, Snoopy and Patty — this production doesn’t shy away from the innocence of childhood. At the same time, it doesn’t ignore the astute nature with which children form their values, either. Because of this concept, Charlie Brown never feels like an insincere take on childhood but rather a celebration of it. (Jackie Mulay)

MISS HOLMES AT CINCINNATI SHAKESPEARE COMPANY

Based on iconic characters by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and directed by Jemma Alix Levy, (Cincinnati Shakespeare Company’s) production of Miss Holmes is a twist on a classic story that also challenges perceptions of the role of women in Victorian society. CSC regulars Kelly Mengelkoch and Sara Clark, as Miss Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Dorothy Watson, respectively, shine brightly as a fierce dynamic duo racing against time to solve the case of a newlywed who believes her influential and highranking investigator husband murdered his former wives and that she too will face the same fate. (Jennifer Moore)

AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY AT CINCINNATI SHAKESPEARE COMPANY

Tracy Letts’ August: Osage County has already successfully solidified itself into the theatrical canon as a modern classic, acting as a poignant window into the violence — both physical and emotional — that family members can commit against one another. The Cincinnati Shakespeare Company’s nearly three-and-a-half-hour production of Letts’ Pulitzer Prize-winning play bares it all. August: Osage County follows the tenuous reunion of the Weston family as they rally around matriarch, Violet, in the wake of their father Beverly’s disappearance. This ensemble show, directed by producing artistic director Brian Isaac Phillips, never drags and certainly never falls prey to the propensity the subject matter has for pure despair. Instead, each cast member shines in their own neurotic, damaged way. (Jackie Mulay)

THE ABSENTEE AT KNOW THEATRE

The Absentee creates a universe that cleverly integrates the familiar technology of today with extraordinary imagination of how that tech could expand beyond our experiences on Earth. But instead of honing in on the new technology or expanded fantasy universe, (playwright Julia Doolittle) focuses on the deeply human aspects of relationships. She examines how technology augments the human experience rather than eclipsing it. This is the key to what makes the work so prescient and touching, even as it is set entirely in space. (Jackie Mulay)

FUN HOME AT ENSEMBLE THEATRE CINCINNATI

Based on Alison Bechdel’s graphic tragicomic memoir, Fun Home was a surprise hit on Broadway in 2015, winning five Tony

Awards, including Best Musical. ETC’s D. Lynn Meyers writes in her director’s notes, “It’s possible to say I have been in rehearsal for Fun Home for four years.” She began considering Fun Home with Scot Woolley, her longtime friend and music director. They were eager to present the show’s powerful message of inclusion and understanding. Woolley passed away unexpectedly last year, but the momentum and passion of their conversation is evident in this production. (RP)

ONCE ON THIS ISLAND AT CINCINNATI PLAYHOUSE IN THE PARK Love, power and community reign supreme in the Tony Award-winning musical Once on This Island. Set in the present-day Caribbean French Antilles, the production spins the enchanting story of a young peasant girl, Ti Moune, on a quest for love as four competing gods use their forces to determine her fate. (Jennifer Moore)

PUFFS AT KNOW THEATRE

Magic is real and growing up is just as awkward for teenage wizards as it is for muggles: that’s what we learn in the hilarious play Puffs, or seven increasingly eventful years at a certain school of magic and magic. Fans of a particular British boy wizard whose adventures first captivated international readers and moviegoers around the turn of the 21st century would do well to catch Know Theatre’s next performance of this delightfully farcical comedy. Puffs simultaneously celebrates and lampoons its source material with the “wink wink, nudge nudge” kind of amicable confrontation reserved for a childhood friend with whom you affectionately trade beratements. There are many, many jokes packed into this play, each executed with machine gun rapidity. (Sean M. Peters)

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The touring production of Hamilton is no modest knock-off of the Broadway original. The talent is top-notch and the production values are on a par with the show’s New York staging. The performers’ passionate commitment to the material is obvious. Performances are supported by a 13-musician orchestra with six string players, as well as a drummer and a percussionist who maintain the score’s throbbing pulse and infectious rhythms. On a scale of 1 to 5, I’d give this one a 10 — the rare production that can “Blow Us All Away.” (RP)

character, Macbeth explores prophecy, the supernatural and how far one will go to hold and maintain power. (Jackie Mulay)

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TOP 10 FILM S O F 2 019 BY T T STER N - ENZI

very year-end review is another mixtape of scenes, themes and performances. The films that endure become moving snapshot memories of the year, an age already old and begging to not be forgotten. Right now, I say (and mean), not a chance.

10. THE NIGHTINGALE (JENNIFER KENT)

With the twitchy shocks of The Babadook in mind, audiences were not ready for the latest release from Australian writer/ director Jennifer Kent. Not exactly leaving behind the horror genre, The Nightingale sharpens the focus by thrilling us with a tale about an Irish convict (Aisling Franciosi) seeking revenge on the British officer (Sam Claflin) and his underlings who took all that was precious from her. The proceedings are what happen to a restless and vengeful spirit in the toll of such dogged pursuit.

9. THE FAREWELL (LULU WANG)

Who’s deceiving whom is the question at the heart of writer/director Lulu Wang’s marvelously intimate family drama about a Chinese-American woman (Awkwafina) who must return to China under the pretext of a faked wedding. She’s returning to say goodbye to her grandmother (Shuzhen Zhao), who has been diagnosed with only a short time left — a fact kept from her by her family. The specificity of the love shared between granddaughter and grandmother settles in the heart’s raw pocket.

8. LITTLE WOMEN (GRETA GERWIG)

7. LES MISÉRABLES (LADJ LY)

Set in the impoverished suburb of Montfermeil — where Victor Hugo wrote the novel that gives this film its name — writer-director Ladj Ly teasingly blends the tensions of that narrative with decidedly contemporary concerns of police/ community relations as a trio of officers face off against competing neighborhood

6. ONCE UPON A TIME… IN HOLLYWOOD (QUENTIN TARANTINO)

A Hidden Life

From the moment the lights PHOTO: T WENTIETH came up after my screening CENTURY FOX / REINER BAJO of Quentin Tarantino’s latest film, I felt a curious ownership and connection with his alternative history; it was less of a lesson and more of a sad dream that should have been real. As much as I enjoyed want to experience it and would go to great the stories of fading actor Rick Dalton lengths, right? (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his stunt-buddy sidekick Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt), I wanted to 2. WAVES (TREY EDWARD SHULTS) live in the aftermath of the failed Manson Onscreen, suburban striving has never Family killings, where maybe Roman achieved the level of urgency Trey Edward Polanski (and Bill Cosby and a host of other Shults captures here, which makes the unsettling figures) might not have turned fight to hold on, the burn as it slips through into the men we need to hate. the family’s fingers and its haunted (and haunting) aftermath just that much more 5. MARRIAGE STORY (NOAH powerful. But families find ways to escape the undertow. BAUMBACH) While breaking up is certainly hard to do, it is just as complicated attempting to 1. A HIDDEN LIFE (TERRENCE relive a split that goes from amicable to MALICK) acrimonious in the blink of an eye. Noah Terrence Malick, much like Martin ScorsBaumbach presents Charlie (Adam Driver) ese, is one of the most spiritual filmmakers and Nicole (Scarlett Johansson) as good working today. A Hidden Life follows Franz people, achingly human, seeking to move Jägerstätter (August Diehl), a man who past their loving marriage to a new state. lived and died based on a principle from on high (refusing to fight for the Nazis in 4. PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE World War II), but this film celebrates how much each moment of that life truly mat(CÉLINE SCIAMMA) tered to him and his family. It is a glorious The look of love is on full display throughreturn to form for Malick, absolving everyout writer/director Céline Sciamma’s thing he has done since Days of Heaven. feature. Operating like a painter using the subtlest of emotional palates, she employs her leads — Noémie Merlant as the young COMING IN 2020 portrait painter Marianne and Adèle HaeThe new horizon offers Bad Boys for Life, nel as the bride-to-be Héloïse — as impresa reboot of The Invisible Man, a scary sionistic tools. Rarely does desire come to Fantasy Island and a host of comic book life as stirringly as it does here. adaptations. But the real intriguing question is: What might claim a spot on Top 10 lists for 2020? 3. PARASITE (BONG JOON-HO) Here are a few intriguing Sundance Class warfare has never been distilled to titles: its core quite so deliciously as it is here. We can damn near smell the desperation and SHIRLEY (JOSEPHINE DECKER) hunger of the Kim family as they huddle Josephine Decker heads off into Who’s together in their ground-level alley hovel, Afraid of Virginia Woolf territory with while the decadence of the Parks is as this story about a young couple (Logan casually rendered as privilege has ever Lerman and Odessa Young) that moves been in a film. Of course, we would all

in with horror/mystery author Shirley Jackson (Elizabeth Moss) and her husband (Michael Stuhlbarg) only to find themselves in what could be the dramatic makings of Shirley’s next novel.

ZOLA (JANICZA BRAVO)

Inspired by a series of tweets, Janicza Bravo’s feature hits the road with a stripper (Taylour Paige) who goes on a wild trip from Detroit to Florida. Now that’s a logline just waiting to be read and repeated during awards season next year, right?

BE WATER (BAO NGUYEN)

Biographical documentaries reflect the value of certain lives in our cultural consciousness; in Be Water, I’m hoping we gain perspective on Bruce Lee as Bao Nguyen traces his path in 1971, from Hollywood rejection to his return to Hong Kong for a series of new film projects. We’ve never fully understood his epic struggle bridging these two worlds, only marveled at the furious fights presented to us onscreen.

CRIP CAMP (NICOLE NEWNHAM, JIM LEBRECHT)

Woodstock presented a celebrated cultural moment with a rocking soundtrack, but at that time in the same community a summer camp for disabled teens was setting the stage for a movement with lasting impact that continues to be overlooked in today’s discussions of diversity and inclusion.

JUMBO (ZOÉ WITTOCK)

Noémie Merlant from Portrait of a Lady on Fire slips into the unassuming world of an amusement park worker who lives with her mother, until she meets the park’s new attraction (a carousel named Jumbo) and has her life turned upside down.

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Much will be made about how director Greta Gerwig might have just made this generation’s adaptation of this classic story, but I’m hyperbolically going a giant leap ahead of that claim. I believe this version of Little Women is the definitive take. Honestly, I can’t imagine anyone capturing the spirit of Jo March better than Saoirse Ronan and Gerwig’s crafty parallel storyline approach deftly moves us through the present and past like a writer telling their own story.

factions while attempting to apprehend a young boy (Issa Perica). Civil unrest will leap from the pages of Hugo and the screen into the consciousness of audiences everywhere.

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DOUBLE VISION: AN AWARDS SEASON SPOTLIGHT BY T T STER N - ENZI

During film festivals, usually opportuniThis year, LaBeouf has found a path of ties emerge to catch performers in multiple least resistance, in small part by mining films, granting audiences the thrill of his own life story. His current project, watching said performers displaying mulAlma Har’el’s Honey Boy, is the story of a tifaceted, chameleon-like abilities in the young actor’s tumultuous childhood and service of truly diverse filmmaking visions. early adulthood, shared from the vantage It can be a wonder to behold such point of viewers observing a troubled recognizable faces blend and morph into father/son dynamic. As the screenwriter, divergent characters and narratives with not only does LaBeouf use his own history, the greatest of ease. This awards season but he also portrays the father, offering a features a few instances of these kinds of truly meaningful chance to find grace and double features, with the added benefit forgiveness. of the distinct possibility of major award If that wasn’t enough, LaBeouf also nominations on the line as well. gifted audiences with his open-hearted No discussion of award-worthy perforwork in The Peanut Butter Falcon, a smart mances in 2019 should start without menand quite funny road trip dramedy about a tioning Toronto International Film Festival young man (Zack Gottsagen) with Down’s Rising Star Kelvin Harrison Jr., who kicked Syndrome who attempts to follow his off the year with his much-lauded role dream of becoming a wrestler by hookin director Julius Onah’s Luce. It’s the ing up with a well-meaning opportunist story of a young man saved from war-torn (LaBeouf). Maybe he really is the second Eritrea by his adoptive parents (Naomi coming of Tom Hanks… Watts and Tim Roth) who navigates his way through high school while being thought by an obsessive teacher (Octavia Spencer) to be an insidious threat. Harrison exudes charm and steely resolve when reacting to perceived slights, setting up just the right amount of ambiguity capable of fueling endless post-screening debates. Harrison followed up Luce with another family drama: director Trey Scarlett Johansson (left) and Adam Driver in Marriage Story Edward Shults’ Waves. PHOTO: NETFLIX / WILSON WEBB This time Harrison faces off against the high expectations of a domineering father (Sterling The true player to watch out for though K. Brown) as yet another son struggling to is Adam Driver, which should come as no figure out how to become his own person. surprise. Last year he snagged a Best SupIn each film, Harrison’s flawed humanity porting Actor nomination for his work in makes it clear that striving for perfection BlacKkKlansman and he has been stealing leads to the greatest fall. scenes since his days on HBO’s Girls. When it comes to human failings, we It is actually difficult to define just how sometimes yearn to connect what we know special 2019 has been/will be for Driver — of a performer’s life offscreen with efforts to focus on his leading roles in The Report captured on film. And recently no one has and Marriage Story sets up a situation illustrated this more than Shia LaBeouf. I where Driver will be competing with himstill remember watching the initial season self to claim a round of Best Actor nominaof Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s Project tions from the various guilds and critics Greenlight as would-be filmmakers Efram groups. The smart money would be on his Potelle and Kyle Rankin cast a young heartbreaking turn opposite an equally LaBeouf who, to my mind, had the presdevastating Scarlett Johansson – who ence of early Tom Hanks — that uncanny has her own awards season two-fer reel mixture of humor, charm and honesty, if you also consider her supporting work which signaled a seemingly bright future. in Jojo Rabbit – in writer/director Noah The Battle of Shaker Heights didn’t prove Baumbach’s divorce drama Marriage Story. to be a breakout for anyone involved, but Breaking up, as seen through the experiLaBeouf definitely kept shaking things up. ences of this creative family, is torture, and He graduated to leading roles (Disturbia) Driver makes sure we see all of the damage in smaller films, then hit the blockbuster from inside his character’s soul. track in the Transformers franchise and Driver presents a special case because later Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of thehis awards season two-fer is, in fact, a holiCrystal Skull. But LaBeouf succumbed to day trifecta — he ends 2019 in Star Wars: the noxious effects of fame, which seemed The Rise of Skywalker. The sky, for Driver, to derail him at every turn. is definitely the floor, not the ceiling.

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HAZE AND CONFUSED BY JAC K IE M U L AY

It’s 7:30 p.m. Or 8. Or 2:30. I don’t know what theater you’re going to, OK? This is a company-and-city-agnostic essay and you’re reading this at work anyway, so suspend your disbelief this one time, I’m begging you. OK, so… it’s 8 p.m. on a Saturday night and you’ve walked into the theater, ready to be surprised and delighted by the production that’s about to unfold. The set is clean and bright. A lovely palette of bright blues and reds and all of the other primary colors dance across your eyes, welcoming you to another evening of entertainment and art. The house is abuzz and you’re precariously balancing a drink in your hand, along with your coat, program and maybe a li’l snack. It’s the start of a great night.

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And then it hits you. That sickly-sweet, maple syrupy smell oozes out in a cloud of haze from somewhere off stage. Permeating the house, it beckons to you with a cartoony “come hither” finger motion, seeping into your very core, threatening to cross the blood-brain barrier, leaving you hopelessly addicted to its soothing familiarity and simultaneously amped for what’s to come. Haze. It’s been a staple of almost every theatre production for the past 10 years. And, in the spirit of resolutions and new beginnings, it’s time for a reset. For the non-technical theatre geek, hazers are machines that many scenic and lighting designers use to produce atmospheric effects on stage. Similar to fog machines, hazers use either oil or waterbased fluids, though the latter is more common, that dissipate to create a fine mist within the theater. Unlike fog machines, hazers disperse the mist more finely and evenly throughout a space. When used properly, hazers should be imperceptible to the audience, until light is shone through it. Used mainly as a tool to enhance lighting in a production, they can also be used more densely to

create an intentionally foggier atmosphere. The problem with hazers is that, since we’ve discovered how amazing they are at creating atmospheric effects without setting off smoke alarms or causing the audience or actors discomfort, we’ve gone overboard. Haze is now a staple of nearly every theatre production today and more often than not, without a real purpose to serve. Using a hazer without regard to the visual or artistic effect just adds another layer to a production and can send thematic signals the director may not have intended to send. There are, of course, still many great reasons to use a hazer. Haze is wonderful at showcasing pinprick isolation in the lighting design of a show, an effect that, when used correctly, can be stunning and impactful. The stumble that occurs with this scenic design trick happens when the house is too close to the proscenium (aka the part of the stage just before the curtain) or even the stage itself, especially if the stage is in thrust (wherein the audience surrounds the stage on three sides). These situations essentially make the isolation effect disappear, muddying the lighting plot on stage until each beam half-heartedly blends into one another. That’s not to say that these blended effects used in tandem with a hazer are not an artistic choice as well. But so often productions don’t use haze to the advantage of the lighting design, and instead of creating beautiful blends and atmospheric wonder, the palette dissipates into a bland void. Haze also adds texture and fills spaces on set. Additionally, it’s a wonderful way to set the tone of the production and can help solidify a new and perhaps unique take on a classic work. A hazy, spooky set works wonderfully for Hamlet, for instance, but for a production of a more farcical work, like Rumors or Noises Off, the same effect may put a fun, dark twist on a classically light and boisterous show. The key to using a hazer to your advantage is that, in most cases, it shouldn’t be perceptible to the average attendee. And if it is, there should be a clear, thematic reason behind the choice. So here’s to 2020. Theaters everywhere, as we roll into a new decade let’s resolve to be more intentional when it comes to hazy houses and striking lighting choices.

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THE BEST TELEVISION OF 2019 BY JAC K ER N

In a year with so much new and notable TV, a top-10 list just won’t suffice. So here is a sampling that still doesn’t cover everything from 2019 worth watching. Whether you savor or binge, stream or stick to cable, there’s more content than ever to tune into.

INTERTWINED WITH THE INTERNET

Kit Harington (left) and Emilia Clarke in Game of Thrones Some of the best series of the PHOTO: HBO/HELEN SLOANE year enjoyed a second life online, in memes, on discusthe life of a modern Muslim in the U.S. And sion boards or via Twitter rants. Danny McBride unleashed his third HBO Two words: Baby Yoda. The Disney+ comedy, skewering televangelism in The Star Wars series The Mandalorian has Righteous Gemstones. much to be buzzed about, from its lineup of directors to its unexpected cameos and ‘TRUE’ CRIME AND REAL FEARS an interesting setting five years after the On the flip side, serious miniseries either events of Return of the Jedi. But the heartexplicitly or implicitly based on real melting, big eared, glassy-eyed Baby Yoda horrors kept viewers tense and terrified. trumps all, and we can’t escape it. After a maligned second installment, the Satirical one-percenter family dramedy third season of True Detective spanned Succession found its stride in season two, 35 years and captured everything from easily becoming one of the year’s most the satanic panic of the ’80s, the devastaunexpectedly entertaining shows. From tion of memory loss and the popularity Greg’s story arc to Kendall’s rap, Twitter of true crime. Chernobyl humanized the had a field day, and seeing all the in-jokes horrific nuclear disaster while Unbelievultimately convinced me to give the series able exposed the failures of the U.S. justice a shot. system, particularly pertaining to victims And then there was Euphoria, a new of sexual assault. series devoted to Gen-Z kids raised on the internet. Who would have expected a IN MEMORIAM high school drama with an ex-Disney star We bid farewell to a number of popular (Zendaya) to be so beautiful, heartbreakshows this year — Veep, Mr. Robot, Silicon ing and thought provoking? And I know Valley, Broad City — but Game of Thrones I’m not the only person who looked up glitis certainly at the top of the list. Love or tery Euphoria-inspired makeup tutorials. hate the ending, Thrones changed TV forever and made fantasy fans out of even QUEEN PWB the most finicky viewers. I don’t think As the Emmys indicated, 2019 was Phoebe anything on the TV horizon compares in Waller-Bridges’ year. The British multihyterms of scope or mythology, but that’s OK. phenate racked up awards and adoring We don’t need a “next Game of Thrones” — fans this past year with the second seasons we just need great ideas to keep flowing of sexy-smart spy series Killing Eve (which and eventually the next collective obsesshe created and executive produced sion will rise to the top. Thankfully, with after writing Season 1) and pitch-black infinite options and two new heavy-hitting comedy Fleabag (which she created, wrote, platforms — Apple TV+ and Disney+ — we executive produced and starred in). And don’t never have to wait for compelling while the end of Fleabag means no more content. Hot Priest, PWB isn’t slowing down any time soon. In 2020, we can expect from COMING IN 2020 her a new season of Killing Eve, new HBO Westworld is certainly poised to take the comedy-thriller Run (executive producer, throne as premium cable’s top larger-thanactor) and a new James Bond flick, No Time life epic, and next season it will unleash to Die (writer). its characters and viewers from the titular park into a whole new world. I’ m also NEW COMEDIES ABOUND looking forward to the TV adaptation of It was quite a year for brand-new comedic Snowpiercer (a sci-fi ice-pocalyptic train offerings with a bevy of breakout stars. ride), Jordan Peele’s first series, Hunters Created by former Saturday Night Live (about a band of Nazi-snuffing vigilantes head writers, The Other Two followed the — a popular theme now with the excelmediocre adult siblings of a Bieberesque lent Watchmen series), the latest season tween YouTube sensation. PEN15 was a of Atlanta and Impeachment: American Millennial nostalgia-fest, throwing it back Crime Story. to early 2000s middle school with a sweet story of friendship at the center. Ramy Contact Jac Kern: @jackern offered a refreshing and humorous look at

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2020

REDISCOVER YOUR LOVE FOR THE CLASSIC SPIRIT

THE YEAR IN REVIEWS

Excerpts and highlights from CityBeat’s 2019 dining coverage — plus what to order at each restaurant BY CITYBEAT STAFF

THE BAKER’S TABLE

This cozy brunch spot on Monmouth Street has been serving local, seasonal cuisine to the masses since December 2018. Chef and co-owner David Willocks aims to make everything in-house, including the bread, and calls it the canvas upon which the food appears. As such, the menu reads like a love letter to biscuits and brioche and sourdough sandwiches. Options run the gamut from biscuits and gravy with Eckerlin pork sausage to pumpkin French toast. Willocks runs The Baker’s Table with his wife, Wendy Braun, a designer. There’s a bar at the entrance with a hardwood mantelpiece behind it; nearby, a bright yellow velvet couch and vintage chairs serve as a café-like spot or a waiting area during a busy brunch rush. The main seating area extends almost back to the kitchen, but right in the back is the namesake of the eatery: a 25-year-old table from the kitchen of Jean Paul’s Paradiso bakery in Anderson Township that seats 16. Food and culture website Eater named The Baker’s Table one of 2019’s best new restaurants in America. The Baker’s Table also recently launched dinner service. What to order: The ricotta donuts are little balls of fluffy joy with a thinly fried exterior and a generous sugar dusting. They come with strawberry lemon curd and are a perfect appetizer before your eggs or pancakes. 1004 Monmouth St., Newport, bakerstablenewport. com. — LAURA LEAVITT

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BRANCH

Littlefield Restaurant Group rehabbed a historic Art Deco bank building over a two-year period and opened the aptly named restaurant, Branch, and adjacent downstairs bar Night Drop. Branch is a much more ambitious venture in food, service and ambiance than their original eatery, Northside’s Littlefield, although we can thank chef Shoshannah Anderson for creating the delicious menus in both places. Dinner choices are presented in two columns, “Shares” and “Stocks,” a play on the building’s history. It was the shares — or smaller plates — that knocked me out. Over the course of two visits, I and my companions tried almost all the smaller plates, and we were delighted by the variety of savory dishes among the starter choices. What to order: Our favorites included a pork belly and vegetable dumpling — a few tender but chewy crescent-shaped pasta pillows covered lightly in an umami-rich miso broth. Two other hits were roasted sunchokes and curry roasted cauliflower. 1535 Madison Road, East Walnut Hills, eatatbranch.com. — PAMA MITCHELL

BREWRIVER CREOLE KITCHEN

Hearing a Boogie-Woogie tune on the piano

while sipping a craft cocktail on a brightly furnished patio with a magnolia tree in view — you wouldn’t even have to squint to think you were in New Orleans. The atmosphere and cuisine at BrewRiver Creole Kitchen brings the spirit of the Crescent City to Cincinnati in a stately 150-year-old building on Eastern Avenue. From 2011 until 2018, owner Joby Bowman and chef Michael Shields ran BrewRiver GastroPub on nearby Riverside Drive before deciding to branch out to a 200-seat restaurant with a 35-seat patio. Shields, who earned his chops under Emeril Lagasse, has added new items to the menu — broiled oysters, fried green tomatoes with a pecan cornmeal crust and bread pudding for dessert — but kept his focus on Creole cuisine. What to order: Pasta Monica. Pasta Monica is inspired by the wildly popular Crawfish Monica from New Orleans Jazz Fest. The plump shrimp are generously coated in a Creole cream sauce, which manages to pack a major flavor punch without burning one’s tongue off. 4632 Eastern Ave., East End, brewrivercreolekitchen.com.— LL

The Baker’s Table | Photo: Hailey Bollinger

Fausto, in the lobby of the Contemporary Arts Center, is the latest offering from the Ferrari brothers — Tony and Austin — and their expanding local food service empire. The menu is contemporary and upbeat and honestly feels like the culinary equivalent of the light that streams into Fausto’s seating area through the CAC’s massive panes of glass. A heightened brunch, lunch or dinner experience, for sure — not many places are serving trout roe on potatoes — but one that safely resists pretension. Tony describes Fausto’s food as “California cuisine” with splashes of citrus and extra-virgin olive oil, not full of fat or butter. Breakfast features several egg and toast options, yogurt and granola and that aforementioned trout roe, which is served on the cleverly named “potatoes and eggs.” The lunch menu has plenty of light and crisp salads and sandwiches. But dinner offerings feel more involved. There is a three-course selection, or several individual entrées, appetizers, pasta and dessert. What to order: The chicken salad is perhaps the best of the salads and sandwiches, at least in my pragmatic mind, because it marries the two in one great offering. 44 E. Sixth St., Downtown, faustoatthecac.com. — LEYLA SHOKOOHE

mixing original terrazzo with contemporary furniture and plenty of outlets for charging electronics. Fairfield operates around a fast-casual concept, offering bites, which are ordered at the bar, alongside drinks, starting with coffee service in the morning and lunch, followed by beer, wine, cocktails and snacks in the evening. There’s also Sunday brunch. What to order: Definitely a cocktail. The streamlined drink menu is fiercely seasonal and offers fresh twists on classics. Grab Fausto | Photo: Hailey Bollinger an old fashioned if you’re feeling traditional or a bright and debuted Clifton’s first rooftop patio. Chef/ and peppery creation while you snack on a General Manager Kevin Worthington and his build-your-own charcuterie board. 700 Fairteam have put together the dinner, lunch and field Ave., Bellevue, thefairfieldbellevue.com. drinks menus toward what I would character— SAMI STEWART ize as straight-ahead American comfort food with a few high-end flourishes. You can get soups, salads and sandwiches or try pricier Helmed by Dan Wright and his wife Lana (of pasta entrées or meat/seafood dishes. Dinner Senate, Abigail Street and Pontiac), Holiday is Gaslight’s strong suit, along with giving the Spirits and its in-house eatery Forty Thieves neighborhood the best bar it’s had over my evoke the vibe of a dive bar and serve a 20-year time as a resident. Two of the three menu of Middle Eastern street food. You can apps met with everyone’s approval: the excelorder your falafel or shawarma either from a lent fried oysters and what the menu listed walk-up window facing Liberty Street or inside as a “beet plate” — very thinly sliced red and Holiday Spirits itself. What to order: Go for yellow beets with a large-ish serving of mild the falafel over hummus, which is worthy of an creamy cheese and balsamic drizzle. What to entire article dedicated to its deliciousness. order: The Greek spaghetti, nicely al dente The falafel — crisp with a pillowy center — is and boasting hearty flavors of tomato, olives, served with charred tomato and shishito peponion and feta. We took a staffer’s advice pers, red onion and pickled radish. Pair it with when choosing dessert: He said the bread the tomato soup. 1538 Race St., Over-thepudding was the bomb. This one surpassed Rhine, facebook.com/fortythievesgang. — my expectations. 351 Ludlow Ave., Clifton, SEAN M. PETERS gaslightbarandgrillclifton.com. — PM

FAIRFIELD MARKET

GASLIGHT BAR & GRILL

FAUSTO

Appealing to residents on either side of the Ohio River, Fairfield Market brings coffee, cocktails, locally sourced snacks on pretty plates and a sun-dappled workspace to Bellevue’s main drag. The decor blends Midcentury Modern with a Palm Desert vibe,

FORTY THIEVES

The owners of Ludlow Garage, Dave and Claudia Taylor, have renovated a historic building across the street and opened the Gaslight Bar & Grill in the old Clifton branch of the public library. It serves lunch and dinner, includes an expansive bar with a dozen seats

GOOSE & ELDER

Goose & Elder is quite different from chef Jose Salazar’s first two restaurants — Salazar and Mita’s — which serve up rather elevated, somewhat pricey fare that makes them oncein-awhile treats for most of us. And yet as

executive chef, his creativity comes across just as clearly at Goose & Elder as his team works with less rarified ingredients. (Sydney Fisher is chef but Salazar himself greets patrons and puts finishing touches on just about every plate coming out of the kitchen.) Memorable, signature dishes have become a Salazar trademark. A savory, fall-off-the-bone duck leg confit over grits was the first dish I tried within days of Goose & Elder’s opening and it was marvelous. The last time I tried it, however, the meat was tough — but it still has the potential to be my go-to meal here. My dining companions and I enjoyed most of the other food we tried, from an appetizer of bone marrow with grilled bread — rich and delicious — to an entrée of chicken schnitzel with perfectly-cooked, buttered noodles and a special dessert, cherry bread pudding. What to order: Duck leg confit. The duck rests in a pool of buttery grits alongside a generous portion of bacon-braised Southern greens — flavors that complement each other beautifully. 1800 Race St., Over-the-Rhine/Findlay Market, gooseandelder.com. — PM

JOE’S PIZZA NAPOLI

KARRIKIN SPIRITS CO.

Karrikin combines a distillery, brewery, bar and restaurant in a gigantic former warehouse located in Fairfax. The executive chef, Jared Bennett, served for six years as sous chef and then chef de cuisine at Metropole, one of my absolute favorite restaurants in town — you can safely expect delicious food to come out of Bennett’s kitchen. Once we settled in, the first order of business at a distillery and brewery — quite naturally — was to decide what to drink. The three-page beverage menu starts with a description of the spirits made in-house. Below

KIKI COLLEGE HILL

Kiki owners Hideki and Yuko Harada have created their dream restaurant in an old corner bank on Hamilton Avenue. While they built out the space, Hideki and his two sous chefs, Jordan Ellerhorst and Alex Brackett, spent a-year-and-a-half hosting pop-up ramen nights at the Northside Yacht Club. Hideki, Ellerhorst and Brackett are all veterans of Over-the-Rhine’s Kaze; Hideki was the former owner/chef of the Japanese gastropub. There are nine appetizers and two varieties of ramen on the current Kiki menu — that’s it. But it isn’t lacking. Veg-heads and meat lovers can dine in harmony here, and there’s an option for gluten-free noodles. The two ramen choices are shio ramen, a chicken broth with pork belly, negi (a Japanese green onion), a tea-marinated egg and rayu (chili oil); and kimchi ramen, featuring housemade kimchi, tofu, negi and a tea-marinated egg. To warm up your pre-ramen palate, try the shishito peppers crowned with fluffy shreds of parmesan cheese or the edamame that comes piled high and deep and tossed in sea salt or tare. Don’t expect to have ramen leftovers for tomorrow’s lunch. You likely won’t need a to-go container after a meal here, but you can plan on leaving comfortably full. What to order: The curry pan, a sort of fried bread or dumpling which Hideki has described as a “curry donut,” with potato, onion and carrot. 5932 Hamilton Ave., College Hill, kikicincinnati.com.— SS

LIBBY’S SOUTHERN COMFORT

There’s no denying that the folks behind Libby’s Southern Comfort have impressive bona fides in the poultry arts. The owners of this entry into Covington’s flourishing restaurant scene claim not just a family history of chicken expertise but a professional one to boot, with a lineage going back decades. Butch Wainscott owns the Greyhound Tavern in Fort Mitchell, which has maintained a reputation for exceptional chicken dinners throughout the 30-plus years that he’s been at the helm. This year, his son, Brad, fired up the fat in Covington and opened Libby’s, which pays tribute Southern classics with a Charleston slant. Appetizers include fried green tomatoes and goetta hush puppies and mains range from an oyster po’ boy and a pork belly

Libby’s Southern Comfort | Photo: Hailey Bollinger

BLT to a plate of fried oysters, a decadent open-faced sandwich called Charlie Brown, meatloaf and shrimp and grits. Look for a full menu of bourbon drinks and desserts like oatmeal cream pies. What to order: Chicken dinners keep tradition alive here. You must try the fried chicken. 35 W. Eighth St., Covington, libbyssoutherncomfort.com. — PM

THE LITTLEFIELD

While this place has become a Northside mainstay since opening about five years ago, a new chef and menu made me think it’s a good time to delve into what’s changed and what hasn’t in recent months. When chef Shoshannah Anderson took over the Littlefield Group’s Branch in East Walnut Hills, they hired Joe Stalf to oversee food service at the Littlefield and neighboring bar Second Place. When I asked him how his cooking differs from Anderson’s, he said that while they share many values, his tastes lean toward combining elements of both Southern and Asian cuisines. For instance, the Littlefield’s new brunch menu abounds with Southern dishes such as fried-chicken biscuits and shrimp

and grits, a hickory-smoked pork tostada with Memphis-style barbecue sauce at lunch, and for dinner, the chicken and corn chowder with cornbread feels about as down-home as you can get. As for the Asian influences, I think that’s where Stalf’s cooking really shines. What to order: The Smoked Pork Katsu might be one of the best things I’ve eaten all year. He smokes a whole loin with a crust of togarashi, a Japanese spice blend. Next, he cuts the loin into half-inch slices, coats the slices with panko and pan-fries them for crispness. It’s topped with katsu — a Japanese curry sauce — blended with a housemade barbecue sauce. The plate is finished with a cooling slaw made from thinly sliced veggies — local Napa cabbage, red cabbage and carrots — and dressed with a ginger/basil/lime vinaigrette enriched with sesame oil. Spectacular. 3934 Spring Grove Ave., Northside, littlefieldsns.com. — PM

LONELY PINE STEAKHOUSE

The casual dining destination takes a simple concept — quality food at an affordable price — and elevates it with Southwestern flair and CONTINUES ON PAGE 27

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Tucked away in the Cincinnati suburbs, Joe’s Pizza Napoli is a worth-the-drive dining destination no matter where you live in the city. Owner Joe Nunner wanted to go about this whole pizza business the right way, so he was certified by Vera Pizza Napoletana, a group of Italian pizza makers who ensure anyone that claims they’re making Neapolitan-style pizza is doing so authentically. Even the tap list has a taste of Italy. Moretti Beer is a light pilsner with a fresh, clean taste that pairs well with everything on the menu. Especially pizza. One 12-inch pizza yields eight slices. In addition to the pizza, we ordered a caprese salad: the cherry tomatoes were perfectly dressed in olive oil and sliced basil and the kitchen was generous with the mozzarella balls. Along with masterful pizzas (both red and white varieties), there are green salads, calzones, meatballs and cannelloni. What to order: On our table was a Roma pizza with sausage and pepperoni from Columbusbased Ezzo Sausage Co. The pepperoni cup and char perfectly on Joe’s pizza after their time in the oven. The dough was thin, but not overly crisp despite the beautiful coloration from the fire, and the cheese was flavorful and held a wonderful texture. 507 Chamber Drive, Milford, joespizzanapoli.com. — SMP

FOOD & DRINK

that are house cocktails and a few mocktails featuring housemade non-alcoholic sodas and shrubs. If none of that suits your mood or taste, page two covers Karrikin’s own draft beers and hard pop, and after that a short list of wine offerings. We tried items from up and down the menu — everything from beef heart pastrami with sauerkraut fritters to shaved Brussels sprouts and apple salad and sliced pork shoulder with polenta and kohlrabi. What to order: My hands-down favorite combined creamy, roasted cauliflower with crunchy grains — not sure if it was rice or quinoa — in a savory sauce. I’m all about texture contrasts and appreciate something crunchy in almost any dish, sweet or savory. 3717 Jonlen Drive, Fairfax, karrikinspirits.com. — PM

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FROM PAGE 25

retro decor. From Gorilla Cinema Presents, Lonely Pine is the first foray into food service for the company and is less focused on blatantly paying homage to a film, though there are clues for those on the hunt for Easter eggs. There are nods to Back to the Future hidden throughout. Steaks are dry-aged with shareable sides like au gratin potatoes. For those with a sweet tooth, there’s options like kettle corn creme brulee and a pecan brownie. What to order: The New York strip, dry-aged in house for 30 days. An aggressive sear yields a perfectly cooked medium-rare center. You can order a pad of garlic butter on the side, but the seasoning on the beef is so well applied that it’s unnecessary. 6085 Montgomery Road, Pleasant Ridge, lonelypinesteakhouse.com. — SMP

LOSANTI

Billing itself as a “boutique steakhouse,” Losanti — from the team behind Crown Republic Gastropub — has revamped the space near Washington Park that used to be The AnchorOTR and given the area a meat-centric menu unlike anything in Cincinnati’s hottest neighborhood. As you would expect, the menu is heavy on meat choices, from steaks to chops, a burger and a chicken entrée. The three types of steak — filet, New York strip and ribeye — are priced by the ounce. We tried two cuts of steak — the smallest filet they had that night and a strip — each served with a head of roasted garlic and half a lemon. The filet was almost fork-tender, but the strip packed more flavor thanks to its higher fat content. The 12-ounce frenched pork chop tasted great, too, and I liked the fact that it came with braised kale, carrots and a few tablespoons of mostarda — a fruit compote in a mustard-flavored syrup. What to order: Among appetizers and sides, the creamed kale stands out as an improvement on most steakhouse creamed spinach sides; the sauce was creamy without being heavy and the baby kale was tender and flavorful. 1401 Race St., Over-the-Rhine, losantiotr.com.— PM

MAZUNTE CENTRO

Main St., Downtown, centro.mazuntetacos. com. — SS

METROPOLE

As a hotel restaurant, Metropole serves breakfast, lunch and dinner, and most of my experiences here have been at dinner. The restaurant has gone through some upheaval recently after executive chef Jared Bennett left to help open Karrikin Spirits Co. in Fairfax, taking a few Metropole staffers with him. I’ll have to admit that I was a little worried that the quality might decline after Bennett’s departure. On board since early this year, new executive chef David Kelsey has been with the 21c company for several years and brings continuity rather than change, which is a good thing when what you’ve got is mighty fine to start with. A few signature items remain prominent on the dinner menu, such as the charcuterie option and the burnt carrot salad (our server said that one would never go away). You still finish your meal with a complimentary bowl of lemony cotton candy, even if you’ve already scarfed down the famous house dessert, the Metropole candy bar. What to order: Roasted Brussels sprouts. They were rich and cooked to a creamy consistency and accented with some of Metropole’s unforgettable smoked butter, which also comes with the complimentary Blue Oven bread basket. 609 Walnut St., Downtown, metropoleonwalnut.com. — PM

MIKEY’S LATE NIGHT SLICE

One side of the shared space at 2014 Elm St. offers glowing neon signs, ’80s music videos and pizza by the slice via Mikey’s Late Night Slice, while the other side houses an old-school bar, classic cocktails and walls full of antique finds at Oddfellows Liquor Bar, all perfectly curated for guests’ Instagram feeds. Mikey’s Late Night Slice serves a blend of Ohio/New York-style pizza and “unpretentious classic cocktails.” The Columbus-based pizzeria marries Ohio’s love of toppings, crispy edges and a good mozzarella-provolone blend with New York’s iconic adulthuman-face-sized triangle-shaped slices, thinner crust and tangy, slightly spicy tomato sauce. Late Night Slice strives to serve all people: vegetarians, vegans and gluten-free diners are welcome here. What to order: With the “late night” nod in the name, Mikey’s offers classic “drunk food.” Order one of the Sacraments — a list of outrageous pizza bastardizations. The Pizza Dawg is a butterflied hot dog stuffed with pepperoni and cheese and served with a pizza as the bun. The Cheezus Crust and the Baby Cheezus are grilled cheese sandwiches with pizza instead of bread; the Baby Cheezus is slightly less overwhelming in size but “every bit as blasphemalicious.” 2014 Elm St., Over-theRhine, latenightslice.com. — SS

MOM ‘N ‘EM

Mom ‘n ‘em is a passion project four years in the making for the Ferrari brothers, Tony

and Austin and a tribute to mom Theresa. Located in a former 1890s home, Mom ‘n ‘em acts as a third place, with a diverse offering of wines and coffee, tinned fish varieties, cheeses, cured meats, pastries from North South Baking, the “Dirty Nati” Egg Samich and more, including toasties. Mom ‘n ‘em also has a full liquor license with cocktails like a classic negroni and Manhattan, and a smart selection of beer in their cooler. They were recently named one of the best coffeeshops in the country by Food & Wine magazine. What to order: The anchovy toastie comes on thick slices of local Allez country loaf, generously swiped with homemade salsa verde, atop which rest silver strips of previously-tinned anchovies, drizzled with extra virgin olive oil and doused with a sprinkling of Aleppo chili. 3128 Colerain Ave., Camp Washington, momnemcoffee.com. — LS

MONEY CHICKEN

The brainchild from the team behind Pleasantry OTR occupies its own space in the local Venn diagram of chicken, fast-casual and heat factor. Separating Money Chicken from the easy assignation of “hot chicken” joint is their signature spice rub they employ on all of their chicken dishes, which include The Money Chicken sandwich, tenders and wings. Their chicken comes from Joyce Farms in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and is hormone, steroid and antibiotic-free, and definitely tasted juicier than any fast-chicken CONTINUES ON PAGE 29

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Inspired by the vibrancy of Mexico City, Centro still serves the classics — tacos and tostadas, tequila and Topo Chico. But a handful of dishes exclusive to this Mazunte location were added to the menu, namely tortas and tlayudas (imagine a love child between a Mexican pizza and a giant loaded nacho). Out-the-door-tacos for those on their lunch break and lingering evenings sipping tequila are both served with the same warm hospitality. Although folks in Mexico indulge in a leisurely meal and siesta midday and grab street tacos at night, Americans are more accustomed to working through lunch and partying after dark. Mazunte serves Mexico City food on a Cincinnati schedule. What to order: The impressive chicharron de queso. Literally translated to “cheese cracklings,” it’s a disc of shredded cheese wrapped around a wine bottle and fried. Don’t be alarmed when a foot-tall cheese tube arrives at your table; be amazed. It’s an excellent two-for-one deal — snap some off and dip it in salsa roja or salsa verde (both if you’re bold) or crumble it over the tlayuda for an added crunch factor. 611

Metropole | Photo: Hailey Bollinger

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RIPPLE WINE BAR

Ripple Wine Bar is one of those sweet little spots that hits all the right notes: good wine, lots of it, paired with good food. The bar offers 40 varietals by the glass or half glass, bottle or half bottle and also does a half-bottle happy hour for gun-shy consumers or folks dining solo. The menu’s overall vibe is laid-back — a true “California kitchen,” with wine-friendly food that is seasonally inspired. Look for items like choose-your-own charcuterie with Urban Stead cheese. What to order: The beef wellington popovers. The juicy little pastry packets are stuffed with beef and surrounded by a mushroom duxelle, with a pert tarragon aioli to balance the meatiness. Chef Will Smith goes through about 25 pounds of short rib a week to create the popovers, braising “the crap out of it” in red wine, garlic and shallots until it’s fork tender. 4 W. Pike St., Covington, ripplewinebar.com. — LS

SOCIAL OTR Pho Lang Thang | Photo: Hailey Bollinger

“multi-cultural experience where you can eat French, Italian and German-inspired dishes,” paired with Oakley’s glass or bottle list. What to order: Stephanie has a few favorites despite discovering constant novelty and seasonality in Jackman’s cooking. “The mushroom toast is so good, it has so much umami, so meaty and filling and savory,” she says. “It’s like you’d think there was meat, but it’s vegan.” 4011 Allston St., Oakley, oakleywines.com. — LL Wodka Bar | Photo: Hailey Bollinger FROM PAGE 27

OAKLEY WINES

Oakley Wines started as a boutique bottle shop just off the main drag. And then it became more than a neighborhood hang when upward of 100 people started stopping in for Friday-night wine tastings. Recently taken over by the owners of The Rhined cheese shop — Dave and Stephanie Webster — the bar has been featuring a new food menu overseen by chef Lydia Jackman. Oakley Wines had featured a small plates menu since before the ownership change but putting food front-and-center at the wine bar was one of the Websters’ new priorities. Jackman focuses on creating a seasonal

This fall, brothers Bao and Duy Nguyen got the chance to move their original Pho Lang Thang restaurant from the cramped, Findlay Market location to a newly renovated building a stone’s throw away on Race Street. The new space is stunning, and such an upgrade from the original Pho Lang Thang that you feel like you’re almost in a different universe. The market location served only soft drinks and strong, sweet Vietnamese coffee, still available here, but now you can select from a dozen draft beers, many more suds in cans and bottles and a short but carefully selected list of wines by the glass or bottle. Don’t overlook their playful, Asian-accented cocktail list, either. The food is conveniently adaptable for meat lovers, flexitarians, vegetarians and vegans — not to mention those who avoid gluten or lactose. What to order: Banh mi bo, a sandwich with strips of tender beef, crunchy fresh vegetable strips such as carrots and zucchini. I’ve always loved those sandwiches and that’s what I invariably ordered at the original Pho Lang Thang location. The spectacularly fresh, yeasty baguette that surrounds those ingredients harkens back to the French colonial influence in Southeast Asia and is a perfectly delicious combination of cultures. 1828 Race St., Over-the-Rhine, pholangthang.com. — PM

TORTILLERIA GARCIA

Omar Garcia grew up on a family farm in Michoacan, Mexico and learned how to make corn tortillas the old-fashioned way from his mother and grandmother. Garcia has committed to honoring his family’s culinary history and his restaurants uncompromisingly follow the family recipe for fresh tortillas — never using flour or preservatives. Garcia’s menu consists of straightforward Mexican classics like tamales, burritos, housemade salsas and rotisserie chicken, in addition to tacos, plus his classic tortilla shells are available in two-pound packs so you can make your own inspired creations at home. What to order: Tamales. Made with the same masa as the tortillas and wrapped in corn husks, tamales are extremely portable and make an excellent take-out option. The spicy carnitas tamales with hot salsa are a perfect marriage of flavor and texture (just make sure your body is ready for some serious heat), while the pollo tamales with verde salsa are ideal for picky eaters — simple, straightforward. 5917 Hamilton Ave., College Hill; 11774 Springfield Pike, Springdale, tortilleriagarcia.us. — SMP

WODKA BAR

Owner Sarah Dworak pays tribute to her Ukrainian heritage not only with the decor but also through her drink and food menus. Vodka — the “w” is simply an Eastern European

YUM YUM

Open since Mother’s Day 1975, Yum Yum was Cincinnati’s first Sichuan-Hunan style restaurant. (Sichuan- or Szechuan-style cuisine comes from southwestern China and incorporates a lot of heat and garlic.) Dining here is best enjoyed slowly — and with patience — to allot enough time to relish every quirky piece of history. The dishes that were typewritten into the menu decades ago are still served for dinner — Yum Yum Mein, Sichuan Pepper Steak, and Ding Dong Chicken are crowd favorites, and prix fixe dinners haven’t gone out of style just yet. Yum Yum is only open from 6-9 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and the business hours are regarded more as a suggestion than a rule. The restaurant is also cash only. What to order: A prix fixe for two runs just over $40 and starts off with hot and sour soup with its mélange of textures ranging from soft tofu to crunchy scallions and an order of egg rolls fresh from the fryer. Next comes the Yum Yum Jumbo Shrimp and an order of Ding Dong Chicken, both served in silver platters accompanied by a cup of perfectly domed steamed rice. 909 Race St., Downtown, 513-721-7705. — SS

ZUNDO RAMEN & DONBURI

You’ve probably been eating ramen the wrong way as long as you’ve been eating it. But before you panic, it’s OK. Ramen is fast food in Japan and embodying the concept of swift satisfaction is something at which Zundo excels. Zundo, which means “big pot” in Japanese, has a small but fierce menu comprising four ramens with different broths, 10 donburis, a thoughtful smattering of appetizers and a few desserts. Zundo’s traditional tonkatsu broth takes 14 hours; they also offer miso pork broth and a vegetarian version. What to order: The piece de resistance of the ramen menu is the insider’s version: order the vegetarian miso ramen, request it spicy and add an egg and pork belly. It’s a Frankenstein’s monster of all the other ramens, dragging in each of the best bits of the others and leaving your stomach in a state of near-bliss. 220 W. 12th St., Over-the-Rhine, zundootr.com. — LS

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I’ve had to date. Also available on the menu are two salads, a vegetarian sandwich and two kids’ meals. What to order: The Money Chicken Sandwich is served with large, crisp pickle rounds and a dollop of mayo hiding underneath a sturdy potato bun. The spicy honey pleasantly enhances all elements of the sandwich — spice factor, texture — and I recommend getting it every time. I also want to applaud the sturdy potato bun choice (from Klosterman) that didn’t disintegrate halfway through the meal. 300 E. Seventh St., Downtown, moneychicken.co. — LS

PHO LANG THANG

A nonprofit venture owned by the Corporation for Findlay Market, Social OTR not only nails its ambitious New American menu but also aims to fill a multitude of societal and business needs in our community. Social OTR “teaches people looking for employment the necessary skills to get restaurant jobs” in partnership with CityLink, a faith-based nonprofit organization that works on multiple fronts to combat poverty. The restaurant actually is a two-in-one, with a front eatery and back bar featuring different decor and service styles but the same menu of snacks and shareables. And libations shine brightly. Whether you prefer tequila, rye, gin or any other spirit, the house cocktail list has you covered. What to order: A piping-hot and generous portion of pappardelle pasta. 1819 Elm St., Over-theRhine, socialotr.com. — PM

spelling and is pronounced like an English “v” — represents the iconic spirit of that part of the world, and Dworak wants to enlighten people who don’t appreciate its complexities. Before opening Wodka Bar, Dworak had already developed a following for her pierogies — palm-sized steamed potato-based turnovers with various fillings — at Babushka Pierogies. You can try them, along with a several other items on the bar’s food menu, while sipping spirits and cocktails. The drink menu includes a rotating selection of infused vodkas as well as a couple of vodka flights with either an infusion theme or four different types of “plain” vodkas. Bar snacks are mandatory, of course, but forget about french fries and beer cheese. Instead, you can chase your shots with caviar in puff pastry, a kielbasa bowl or smoked trout in cream sauce. What to order: One of the current charcuterie-style platters featuring options like smoked kielbasa, farmers cheese, house pickles, dill butter and rye bread from nearby Allez bakery. 1200 Main St., Over-the-Rhine, wodkabarotr.com. — PM

THE YEAR IN LOCAL RECORDINGS Singles haven’t taken over music just yet — 2019 saw plenty of great album and EP projects from Greater Cincinnati’s finest musical acts BY MIKE BREEN

ncreasingly, it feels like artists are releasing music in smaller bites, an effort to capitalize on consumers’ short attention spans and instant-gratification needs. But plenty of musicians were still releasing EPs and full-album projects in 2019, including some of Greater Cincinnati’s finest. This year did see a wealth of great singles as well, some of which you can hear on our “Cincinnati Music 2019” playlist, featuring more than 50 songs by local artists released in the past 365 days. Visit citybeat. com to check it out. Here’s a rewind overview of some of the longer recording projects that captured our attention in 2019.

• KIM TAYLOR – SONGS OF INSTRUCTION

Like the rest of her quietly impressive catalog, Songs of Instruction is a work of incredible consistency within Taylor’s established canon that has resulted from sizable shifts in her professional and personal life. It’s an evocative set of her patented short stories-cloaked-as-Folk/Pop songs, inspired by the ceaseless nature of change and the enormity of irreconcilable loss. Ultimately, as the title hints, Songs of Instruction is a tribute to learning — from other people, through experiences and via the general wisdom one gathers over a lifetime. (Brian Baker)

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• SOFTEN – SOFTEN FOREVER

Soften Forever is a captivating and immersive listening experience. Hypnotic but never sleepy, ethereal but never lightweight, Soften separates itself from other Shoegaze acts (past and present) with the strength of the underlying songwriting. There’s an almost symphonic quality to the song arrangements, largely eschewing cookie-cutter verse/chorus repetition to create a dreamy, stream-of-conscious slipstream of sound, anchored by Brianna Kelly’s enthralling vocals and melodies, which are transcendentally soulful. The music also rises and falls tonally, heartbursting guitars alternating with mesmeric atmospherics. (Mike Breen)

• LEGGY – LET ME KNOW YOUR MOON

Let Me Know Your Moon is an enchanting and engaging collection of Leggy’s intimate, emotive, slanted and noisy Indie Pop songs. Serpentine, often ethereal melodies slink through Veronique Allaer’s crunchy, sometimes dissonant guitars and the impressively dynamic and creative rhythms of bassist Kerstin Bladh and Chris Campbell (who’ve developed a noticeably

tight and telepathic chemistry), as the songs move between an intoxicated punchiness and more woozilypaced soundscapes to create a thoroughly enjoyable, occasionally dizzying experience. (MB)

• MARIA CARRELLI – STRINGS ON MY GUITAR

Soften’s Soften Forever

A Ludlow, KenPHOTO: PROVIDED tucky native, Maria Carrelli has built a big local following with her endearing sound, which combines Bluegrass, Folk and vintage Country influences with engaging songwriting. And that fanbase — also enlarged through shows with artists like Del McCoury, The Tillers and Billy Strings, among others — is destined to grow with the release of Strings on My Guitar, Carrelli’s debut solo album. Carrelli’s sound hits similar sweets spots to classic Country revivalists like Margo Price, Joshua Hedley and Nikki Lane. (MB)

• HISSING TILES – BOYCHOIR

In the works since 2016, Boychoir is an act of maturity and refinement from a band able to retain their earlier work’s rawness of feeling without making something that could be crafted in just any basement by just any group. The trio makes thrilling use of the exploratory realm of Post Punk, adding vibraphone, choral vocals, birdsong samples and even a washing machine as percussion, without any of it ever coming across as ostentatious. (Brody Kenny)

• CARRIERS – NOW IS THE TIME FOR LOVING ME, YOURSELF AND EVERYONE ELSE

Over the past two years, Cincinnati’s Curt Kiser, formerly of Indie Pop faves Pomegranates and Enlou, released a string of singles by his current band project, Carriers. Kiser finally experienced the planetary alignment necessary to release his debut album as Carriers this year. The extensively titled Now is the Time for Loving Me, Yourself and Everyone Else came out via Brooklyn label Good Eye Records and would go on to win the 2019 Cincinnati

Kim Taylor PHOTO: HAILEY BOLLINGER

Entertainment Award for Album of the Year. “These songs help me and I hope they can help other people and carry them into a place of healing and safety,” Kiser says of the album’s widespread acclaim. (BB)

• CHUCK CLEAVER – SEND AID

It’s fair to say that Ass Ponys Chuck Cleaver is not startlingly different from Wussy Chuck Cleaver, and solo Chuck Cleaver follows that same general pattern — lightly twangy, fairly slanted and penetratingly offbeat Indie Rock that leaves a mark. The veteran Cincinnati musician understands the qualities that link all of those creative personas, but he also understands what differentiates them from one another: an elevation in his guitar technique; his improvement as a singer; his constant pursuit of a higher standard of songwriting. But in some ways, Send Aid — his very first solo album — represents Cleaver rolling back the clock to a time when he did whatever he wanted musically. “If you take the stranger aspects of Wussy and ramp them up to 100, you’ve got my solo record,” he says. (BB)

• 500 MILES TO MEMPHIS – BLESSED BE THE DAMNED

The only lifelong member of 500 Miles to Memphis, Ryan Malott formed the band in 2003. The group’s mix of Country/Americana twang with spunky Modern Rock/ Punk spiritedness has always been an alluring aspect of 500MTM, giving it a multidimensional colorfulness. But it would be far less compelling without Malott’s

Leggy’s Let Me Know Your Moon PHOTO: PROVIDED

exceptional songwriting, which has brought an emotive soulfulness and a barrage of ear-latching hooks to each album. Despite the genre-specific touchstones, Malott’s songs have always had a sense of timelessness and Blessed Be The Damned is no different, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with 500MTM’s best work. (MB)

• SHANNON GARCIA AND THE TAKEN – FNEXISTS A sense of heartbreak and vulnerability imbues fnExists with a melancholic aura throughout, even when the tempo runs upbeat and the melodies are lilting and catchy, as on the Chamber Pop leadoff

track “Question.” Newcomer Shannon Garcia’s enchanting voice has an irresistibly haunted quality that adds a cinematic dimension to tracks like “Seventeen” and “Reminders,” both of which sway like ethereal ’50s girl-group ballads as heard on a dusty old jukebox in a decimated ancient diner that’s been rediscovered after the apocalypse. (MB)

• HICKORY ROBOT – HICKORY ROBOT

Adventurous Bluegrass/Americana quartet Hickory Robot’s self-titled album opens with the rumbling Bluegrass rave-up “Barn Burnin’ Down,” which, to the uninitiated, sets certain expectations. But Hickory Robot shifts gears consistently throughout the album’s 15 tracks, borrowing from a variety of genres and rotating lead vocalists (with the others layering pitch-perfect harmonies). (MB)

• HARBOUR – THOUGHTS ON LETTING GO

Cincinnati AltPop/Rock band Harbour’s Thoughts on Letting Go is the third fulllength from the group, which formed in Lebanon, Ohio in 2014 and has since built a fervent local/regional fanbase with its hyper-catchy sound — think Vampire Weekend meets Walk the Moon meets Bad Suns. (MB)

• BLACK SIGNAL – PARALLELS

Parallels is a masterful five-track Synthwave EP that builds on Matt Ogden and his longtime Electronic project Black Signal’s diverse previous output. Joined now by Joe Thompson of Cincinnati Noise Rock crew Mala In Se on guitar, the EP features reworkings of some older material, with ElectroPop singer Von Claire and Hip Hop artist Eugenius lending vocals. For the initial physical release, Parallels was made available as a download code with a handmade bottle of hot sauce. (Nick Grever)

• POP EMPIRE – NOVENA

• CULTURE QUEER – FANTASY FARM

Longtime Cincinnati Indie Pop/Rock band Culture Queer added another great entry to their spectacular discography in 2019. Named for a bizarre former amusement park in the Middletown area, Fantasy Farm once again showcases the group’s many strengths — expertly- and artfullycrafted Pop arrangements, an engaging (but never overbearing) quirkiness and a non-stop flood of ear-grabbing melodies.

• WAR CURSE – ERADICATION

You can’t fake a good Thrash Metal album. As one of the first, most venerated genres of Metal, fans have been picking apart every aspect of Thrash releases since Metallica’s Kill ’Em All in 1983. Every riff, drum blast and solo is analyzed with ruthless precision and slackers are immediately ousted. It’s a cutthroat world to perform in, but Cincinnati-based thrashers War Curse instantly defied critics by unleashing a very, very good Thrash album — Eradication. (NG)

• NOW HEAR THIS – NOW HEAR THIS

Trumpeter John Zappa’s career in the Cincinnati Jazz scene bears at least a passing resemblance to the life of Woody Allen’s title character in 1983’s Zelig. He’s played with some of the area’s biggest musical icons and he’s been a presence in the background from an early age. Zappa’s relatively new band project, Now Hear This, released its eponymous debut album in 2019, a swirling fusion of groove and beat that both respects and refracts Jazz traditions, offering something for every musical taste. (BB)

• FRIDAY GIANTS - SOMETHING WORTH SAVING

There’s a notable melodic proficiency on display on Post Hardcore band Friday Giants’ Something Worth Saving EP. The band’s previous music was full of Pop Punk-like hooks and paired with guttural Hardcore vocals to create Friday Giants’ hodge-podge sound. In their current, pared-down state, there’s still the scream/ sung dynamic, but there’s more consistency — it doesn’t sound as much like two different bands cut and pasted together. Similarly, the group’s mesh of Metal, Punk and Pop Rock has become much more fluid and less schizophrenic. (MB)

• OVER THE RHINE – LOVE & REVELATION

As part of Cincinnati music legends Over the Rhine’s 30th anniversary, the duo self-released the shiver-inducing Love & Revelation, their first album of new music in six years. The album retains the 2013 double-album Meet Me at the Edge of the World’s quiet elegance, but bristles with a decidedly different tone. “To me, Love & Revelation has a lot to do with not recognizing the place you thought was home,” OTR’s Linford Detweiler says. “I think a lot of Americans, including us, are feeling off balance and we’re re-asking the questions we thought had been answered… we were surprised when we realized there was a lot of grief on the record. The songs made that clear to us.” (BB)

• DARK COLOUR – OBSERVER

MUSIC

Cincinnatibased Indie/ Electro Pop act Dark Colour’s Observer is both a visual and audio album. The visuals are a shadowy, neon trip, based around live performances of the songs that are spliced with glowing, glitchy graphics and edits. Musically, Observer is throbbing SynthPop of the highest order, hypnotic, evocative, melodic and highly addictive. You’ll Culture Queer’s Fantasy Farm dig it if you have PHOTO: CREDIT M83, Empire of the Sun, Hot Chip and MGMT’s Oracular Spectacular in your heavy rotation. (MB)

• MIKE OBERST – SIX FEET OF EARTH

Cincinnati Folk musician Mike Oberst has been keeping busy with regular bouts of touring with The Tillers, but he also found time to squeeze in work on a new solo album, Six Feet of Earth. The album contains a mix of traditional Folk ballads from Scotland, England, Ireland and the U.S., as well as a couple of originals. Described as a blend of “murder ballads, love stories, work songs, traditional instrumentals” and more, Oberst sings and plays banjo and a few other instruments on the album, with some friends helping out on the recording on instruments like cello, uilleann pipes and even sitar. (MB)

• WAKE THE BEAR – BURNING THROUGH THE WONDER YEARS

Lo-fi but lush, Burning Through the Wonder Years often has a whisper-in-your-ear sense of intimacy that draws the listener close, its warm embrace not letting up until the final track. The heart-stirring sound of singer/ songwriter Scott Cunningham’s longtime solo project creates a kind of ironic and playful counterpoint to the project’s name — while one would normally associate waking a bear with a violent attack, Burning Through the Wonder Years is much more like a gentle and reassuring bear hug. (MB)

• WHY? – AOKOHIO

A fully engrossing audio/video album, AOKOHIO might just be the most impressive and engaging artistic statement of WHY? mainman Yoni Wolf’s career. It’s

War Curse’s Eradication PHOTO: PROVIDED

a remarkable effort that brilliantly spins together ear-worm melodies and slanted experimentalism in ways that feel both completely fresh and like a culmination of everything Wolf has done so far. Adding to the allure of the project is the visual element, which, like the music, is an artful collage of styles and tones. The film was directed by Miles Joris-Peyrafitte and James Siewert and features actress Tatiana Maslany from the show Orphan Black. (MB)

• DALLAS MOORE - TRYIN’ TO BE A BLESSING

Cincinnati Outlaw Country music hero Dallas Moore’s latest, Tryin’ to Be a Blessing, was released via Indiana’s Sol Records and, CONTINUES ON PAGE 3 3

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Superb Indie Rock trio Pop Empire’s Novena is the band’s first full-length album since 2014’s excellent Future Blues. Album tracks like “Sister Chaos,” “Black Wine” and “For Maggie” wonderfully showcase the group’s mesmerizing Psych Rock sound, in which you can hear reminders of trippy kindred souls from a variety of eras — from the Velvet Underground, T. Rex and early Pink Floyd through contemporary artists like The Black Angels, Devendra Banhart and beyond. (MB)

While vibrant Pop Rock is the anchor, the band cycles through colors and tones throughout — but never too dramatically, lest they draw attention from the wondrous songwriting. (MB)

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are reminiscent of Mazzy Star and Chris Isaak. (BB)

• FREEKBASS – ALL THE WAY THIS. ALL THE WAY THAT

Veteran Cincinnati Funk musician Freekbass’ first full-length since 2015’s Cincinnati was also the bassist/singer/songwriter’s first to be released via Color Red, a Colorado studio/collective/label. The All the Way This. side of Freekbass’ new album was tracked at Color Red’s inhouse studio in Denver on an analog 8-track machine, which helps the LP seethe with Freekbass’ immersive live energy. (MB)

Black Tractor’s The Wonders of the Invisible World PHOTO: PROVIDED

FROM PAGE 31

just like his last album (2018’s Mr. Honky Tonk), Blessing was produced by Dean Miller, son of the legendary Roger Miller and a fellow Country singer/songwriter. In the lead-up to the album, Moore dropped a few singles, including the touching “Mama & Daddy” (dedicated to his folks, who both passed away last year) and “Lodi,” a hearty cover of the Creedence Clearwater Revival classic that turned 50 years old in 2019. (MB)

• MAURICE MATTEI – VELVET LINED ROOM

• SUNGAZE – LIGHT IN ALL OF IT

Even a cursory listen to Light In All of It, the debut album from Cincinnati band Sungaze, reveals a wealth of influences that have been absorbed, translated and incorporated into the quartet’s sonic miasma — inspirations that include The Beatles, Slowdive, Alice in Chains, Tame Impala and Pink Floyd. Intense sheets of guitar wash hint at ’90s Shoegaze. Bursts of noisy dissonance indicate a love of Grunge. A hallucinatory vibe recalls the glory days of Psychedelia and the band’s ethereal vocals and melancholy melodic textures

The Wonders of The Invisible World is a metallic multimedia affair that includes an accompanying comic book created to look like those religious pamphlets left in public bathrooms to convert lost souls. The pseudonymous band members star in the comic, which, like the tale on the album, unspools a story involving Black Tractor solving their cash-flow problems by signing up to become traveling missionary troubadours. Despite the jokey nature of the powerful Hard Rock band, the musicianship is seriously good — as much as they want to play up their “drunk lunkhead” image, the writing is sharp and smart and the playing is tight and impeccable. (MB)

• SATURN BATTERIES – ANYTHING TO GET BACK

Following a pair of remarkably promising EPs, Cincinnati Indie Rock band Saturn Batteries hadn’t released new music in five years. But that changed in 2019 as the group, led by singer/guitarist Brad Gibson, issued its first full-length, Anything to Get Back. The new album was worth the wait, showcasing an even sharper version of the band’s highly melodic Guitar Rock. (MB)

• ROOT CELLAR XTRACT – LONESOME MILES

Root Cellar Xtract’s Lonesome Miles showcases the group’s spin on the rootsy Rock of the ’70s Laurel Canyon scene (as well as like-minded acts affiliated with it, like Ohio’s Pure Prairie League). The songwriting is superb and the musicianship is especially remarkable, with a murderer’s row of players in the lineup (plus some similarly talented special guests). (MB)

• ACARYA - THE WAY HOME

Self-described “Tribal Rock” group Acarya’s music has an engagingly organic rise-and-fall dynamic full of drama, romance and mystery and that widescreen vision echoes works by everyone from Peter Gabriel to U2 to Imagine

• WILDER – PICK YOUR POISON

Pick Your Poison’s title track is fueled by a classic and rollicking train drumbeat and the smoking guitar leads are certainly twangy. But when the song’s huge chorus hits, the members of the Roots Rock/AltCountry band take things to a different place, untethered by stylistic signifiers. Elsewhere, the moving “Reckless Abandon” is a transcendent ballad with folksy undertones, while “Acts of God” is a driving loud/ soft rocker that serves as a great showcase for singer Kelly Thomas’ formidable vocal talents. (MB)

• HYPERSTATIC – WITNESS

Cincinnati Indie Rock vets Hyperstatic released their first new music in 16 years in 2019. Witness features four great tracks of well-executed, classic-style Indie Rock. If you’re a fan of the fuzzy, highly melodic sounds of iconic bands like Guided By Voices, Superchunk and Sebadoh, Witness is right in your wheelhouse. (MB)

• ON A LIMB – ON A LIMB

Cincinnati Jazz trio On a Limb — featuring pianist Andrew Haug, bassist Noah Simionides and drummer Charlie Schefft — has described its sound as “Umbrella Jazz,” a reflection of the musicians’ broad musical tastes and tendency to interpret music by favorites from Coltrane and Chopin to The Beatles and Sufjan Stevens. The group’s original compositions (largely written by Haug) also reflect those influences and are driven by the musicians’ telepathic improvisational skills. (MB)

• FRONTIER FOLK NEBRASKA – FREAKS

Northern Kentucky rockers Frontier Folk Nebraska’s Freaks is a concept album about becoming who you are without losing who you were. An important part of Freaks as a conceptual piece is framing the songs with the tracks “Freaks Prologue” and “Freaks Epilogue.” Vocalist/guitarist Michael Hensley originally wanted to end the album with a song provisionally titled “Joy,” but ultimately he didn’t like it. Guitarist Travis Talbert had written a brief piece called “Freaks,” with spoken word passages about old times spent hanging out in the basement, watching movies and jamming, which he emailed to Hensley for his consideration. With its vivid details and reflective musings, along with giving the album a title, it ended up setting the tone for Freaks, conceptually. (BB)

• HONEY COMBS + COMBO SLICE – MY MAKEUP IS TOO EXPENSIVE TO CRY

This EP showcases Cincinnati sisters Caitlin and Courtney Combs’ endearing, acoustic-based Indie Pop, which is marked by entrancing melodies and some truly amazing vocal harmonies. Fans of artists like Jenny Lewis and Brandi Carlile will likely dig the EP’s earthy but transcendent

demeanor. There’s an almost haunted quality to some of the songs, but the sisters also exhibit a sharp sense of humor, as evidenced by the EP’s title. (MB)

• OH SO LUMINOUS – YOU HAVE ALWAYS BEEN

Colorful, hyper-catchy melodies abound on You Have Always Been and are given extra oomph by Whitney Szabo’s vibrant vocals. Each of the musicians’ contributions is crucial to the LP’s creative success, though. Kent Meloy’s consistently impressive guitar work moves between sharpedge punchiness and churning expansiveness. On the rhythmic end, Mark Szabo’s bass is high in the mix and for good reason — the bass lines often have a McCartneylike melodic might that makes them operate like another lead guitar. (MB)

• WITCHES MEADOW – AZTEC SEA SNAKES

Aztec Sea Snakes makes for a completely absorbing listening experience, the kind of album that’s easy to get lost in, in an almost meditative way. Ambient, tranquil and evocative, the bewitching tracks are gently layered with guitars and electronic atmospherics, with Rob Hamrick’s distinct, ear-grabbing vocals and airy melodies rolling atop the mesmerizing sonic waves. Sea Snakes feels like a culmination of all of the veteran AltRock players’ past experiences, building on the past while looking to the future. (MB)

• FICKLE HELLCAT – FICKLE HELLCAT

In 2019, singer/songwriter/guitarist Rachel Maxann released her first album with her band Fickle Hellcat. A Cincinnati native, Maxann got her start fronting a Funk/Rock band in Athens, Ohio, then went on to pursue projects while living in places like New Orleans and Los Angeles, before forming Fickle Hellcat upon her return to the Queen City. The band’s debut showcases Maxann’s alluring, emotive vocal style, which adds extra weight and depth to the songs’ strong melodic pull and fluid blend of Pop, Folk, Soul and Rock. (MB)

• SHAWN BELL BLOWIN’ THE DAMN FUSES - RED, WHITE AND HONKY TONK BLUES

Earlier this year, Billboard famously decided to make Lil Nas X’s ubiquitous hit “Old Town Road” ineligible for the Country music charts, saying it didn’t qualify because it didn’t contain enough elements of the genre. It could be argued that most hit Country music today doesn’t contain enough of those vaguely defined elements. But one person who’d never be denied a Billboard chart entry for those foundational reasons is Wilmington, Ohio native Shawn Bell, whose latest album with his group Blowin’ the Damn Fuses is defiantly Country, steeped in the grounded, nobullshit fundamentals of the genre’s pioneers, from early Honky Tonk trailblazers like Hank Williams to Outlaw renegades like Merle Haggard. (MB) Find full local music reviews and features at citybeat.com.

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For veteran singer/songwriter Maurice Mattei’s latest album, Velvet Lined Room, he sat down alone with his acoustic guitar and documented 18 fascinating Folk vignettes. The ostensible double album begins with the Blues-and-Dylan-tinged title track and the chugging, sauntering strut of “Maid’s Day Off,” seemingly the tale of a recently paroled captain of industry. On “Sante Fe,” Mattei channels Robert Earl Keen and other similarly talented Texas troubadours, while “Down to Three” is a loping rundown of the day’s specials at an upscale restaurant, delivered to a discerning customer by a literate and equally discerning waiter. (BB)

• BLACK TRACTOR - THE WONDERS OF THE INVISIBLE WORLD

Dragons throughout The Way Home. The album is a wonderful showcase of Acarya’s expanded lineup of the past couple of years. (MB)

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Singer/Songwriter Elsa Kennedy Releases Captivating Cadmium EP BY MIKE BREEN

can be toxic, produces unusually vibrant colors and also fades quickly, a triumvirate of characteristics Kennedy could relate back to her own life and art. “It speaks to the essence of this small project — Cadmium, a meteor shower that just misses earth,” she wrote recently in an email. “A gorgeous flash of pain and light. The intensely Elsa Kennedy juicy PHOTO: MADELEINE unknown! HORDINSKI It’s putting half and half in coffee, sharing a milkshake with your lover, smoking a clove cigarette when your grandmother dies. A glass of wine. Joyful risks. Loving too hard, breaking. Letting life break and mend and re-break you. It’s all this fucking epic, campy, dramatic, tragic romance. “That is how I think of life. Nothing makes sense, then something makes sense, then everything makes sense, then BAM! That same nothing makes sense. Essence of life, essence of this project.” For more on Elsa Kennedy, visit elsakennedy.net.

New Compilation Explores Cincinnati’s Punk Rock Past

A new compilation album put together by former local musician/club booker/DJ Peter Aaron offers a fascinating glimpse into the earliest days of Punk and “Alternative” music in Greater Cincinnati. Outside of that, it’s an excellent document of how Midwestern outsiders absorbed and translated the new, odd and exciting music of the mid-’70s/early-’80s into their own language. We Were Living in Cincinnati was released recently via Chicago-based HoZac Records in conjunction with the locally-based Shake It Records label. The album features 18 tracks and is available for streaming (minus a few tracks)

on HoZac’s Bandcamp page (hozacrecords.bandcamp.com), but if you’re even remotely interested, you should splurge for the vinyl version. (You can download the full album on the Bandcamp page but, as of right now, it’ll cost you $99; I’m guessing they’re trying to drive vinyl sales.) That vinyl issue of We Were Living in Cincinnati — limited to a run of just 500 — includes a free bonus download of 15 tracks not included on the standalone digital version, as well as a very cool double-sided poster that features a “family tree” of the early Cincinnati scene. You’ll also get Peter Aaron’s liner notes and old photos of the musicians and their show fliers if you pony up the 20 bucks for the vinyl, which is available to order through Bandcamp or at hozacrecords.com and shakeitrecords.com. Or, of course, you can also just grab a copy in person at Shake It Records’ brick-and-mortar store in Northside (4156 Hamilton Ave.), while they last. We Were Living in Cincinnati includes early recordings from The Dents, Bitter Blood, The Customs, Dennis The Menace, Ed Davis Band, 11,000 Switches, Erector Set, BPA and a dozen more bands, all “rescued and remastered” from cassette and (exceptionally rare) 45 releases. The music featured spans from 1975 to

1982 and encompasses everything from the Garage stomp of The Customs and Bitter Blood (whose “Picnic” from 1975 is the earliest cut on the album), the snotty, overdriven Punk of “Nosedive” by BEEF and The Dents’ analog-synth-injected “Sleeping Around” to 11,000 Switches’ evocative, jittery Art Punk on “Drinking Elvis Wine” (which contains the LP’s title phrase) and Qi-Zz’s fantastic Post Punk nugget “New Baby,” which makes them sound like the kind of band that would have played on a bill with Television and Talking Heads at CBGB’s and absolutely held their own. “We all love the incredible music from Ohio’s other more well-known punk spawning grounds, and Ohio is the Mesopotamia of Punk after all, so it’s our great pleasure to release another lesserknown corner of the state’s rich underground music history for you,” the album’s description reads, “and man is it gonna change your mind about Cincinnati.” So far the compilation has drawn write-ups from noted online outlets like Please Kill Me and Dangerous Minds. Visit citybeat.com to check out a video trailer for the album. Contact Mike Breen: mbreen@citybeat.com

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Elsa Kennedy has swooped in at the last moment to provide one of the best music releases of 2019 by a Cincinnati-based artist. The singer/songwriter’s Cadmium is a captivating collection of powerfully poetic and passionate songs, only marred by its brevity. Still, though only four tracks (plus a surprise bonus cut that offers a preview of her forthcoming full-length release due later in 2020), listening to Cadmium is a robust and fulfilling experience. There’s a wonderful diversity from song to song, which made Kennedy’s rollout of the tracks — one a month beginning in September — a great way to get to know and understand her sound and vision. Taken together, Cadmium — which will be available on digital/streaming platforms beginning Dec. 27 — is a knock-out. Kennedy’s opening Cadmium salvo in September was the exquisite, spellbinding “Redwoods.” The goosebump-inducing piano ballad is a perfect introduction to her expressive, stop-you-in-your-tracks vocals and viscerally emotive and mystical writing talents. It’s structurally memorable — within the first few lines, there’s a melodic tick that burrowed into my brain and still gives me a shiver every time I listen — but there’s also something wildly alluring about the aura Kennedy constructs. That kind of dynamic worldbuilding within each song on Cadmium is magnetic. Kennedy’s alchemy is in her ability to create unique atmospheres from track to track in an almost cinematic way, alternating moods, tones and instrumentation with nuance and grace. “Redwoods” features just piano and vocals, while October’s “Cripple Punk” bounces on a dark cabaret vibe (think Tom Waits and The Dresden Dolls jamming at a Parisian speakeasy), with unique soundscaping recorded with renowned local guitarist Ric Hordinski and veteran drummer Joshua Seurkamp. With its flowing, sirenic structure, “Strawberry Hill” strips everything back down to just acoustic guitar and vocals, which are layered to create heavenly textures. “Mayfly,” the final of the four monthly song drops, is also acoustic-based, dreamy and sparse, with an Indian Folk music influence and a guest appearance from Preeti Shastri, a local poet, writer and activist who provides intriguing countermelodies. Kennedy’s artistry goes beyond the enchanting song arrangements. There are thoughtful, compelling stories and ideals behind each of the songs and the release’s overall concept was carefully and deliberately plotted out, down to the evocative artwork Kennedy created and paired with both the EP release and the advance singles. Cadmium isn’t just a four-song EP — it’s an art project. Even the title has a detailed story behind it, one that Kennedy traces back to the works of Vincent Van Gogh, who used paint with cadmium. The element

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 25

BOGART’S - Clutch with The Steel Woods and Damon Johnson. 8 p.m. Rock. $36.50.

CAFFÈ VIVACE - Gary Gorrell Quartet. 8:30 p.m. Jazz. Cover.

KNOTTY PINE - Dallas Moore. 10 p.m. Country. Free.

STANLEY’S PUB - Ben Gourley’s Vest Friends - Xmas Edition. 9 p.m. Bluegrass. Free.

THURSDAY 26

ARONOFF CENTER FOR THE ARTS - Mannheim Steamroller Christmas. 7 p.m. New Age Holiday. $38.75-$78.75.

BIG ASH BREWING Chico Converse and Michael McIntire. 7:30 p.m. Gypsy Jazz/Various. Free. BLIND LEMON - Mark Macomber. 8 p.m. Acoustic. Free. BREWRIVER CREOLE KITCHEN - Ricky Nye. 6 p.m. Blues/Boogie Woogie. Free. FRETBOARD BREWING COMPANY - Xander Wells. 6 p.m. Acoustic. Free. HILTON NETHERLAND PALM COURT - Pam Mallory Trio. 6 p.m. Jazz. Free. KNOTTY PINE - Kenny Cowden. 9 p.m. Acoustic. Free.

NORTHSIDE TAVERN - Sexy Time Live Band Karaoke. 8 p.m. Rock/Various. Free.

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

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SCHWARTZ’S POINT - After X-mas Erwin Stuckey Extravaganza. 8:30 p.m. Jazz. Cover.

STANLEY’S PUB - The Qtet. 9 p.m. Jazz/Fusion/Rock/ Funk. Free. URBAN ARTIFACT - Shitfire Shamans, Mara Moon, Ralph and Frownland Jazz Group. 9 p.m. Funk/Rock/ Pop/Various.

FRIDAY 27

BIG ASH BREWING - The Less More Band. 7:30 p.m. Blues/Cajun/Americana. Free. BLIND LEMON - Warren Ulgh. 9 p.m. Acoustic. Free. BLUE NOTE HARRISON - Hinder. 6 p.m. Rock. $20-$28.

THE COMET - Phoul Phill Andt Guill. 10 p.m. Rock. Free. FRETBOARD BREWING COMPANY - Rev:21. 8 p.m. Rock. Free. HILTON NETHERLAND PALM COURT - Ricky Nye Inc. with Bekah Williams. 9 p.m. Blues/Jazz. Free. JAG’S STEAK AND SEAFOOD - The Sly Band. 9:30 p.m. Pop/Dance/Rock/Various. Cover. JIM AND JACK’S ON THE RIVER - Take a Chance. 9 p.m. Country/Rock. Free. KNOTTY PINE - Lt. Dan’s New Legs. 10 p.m. Pop/ Dance/Various. Cover. LUDLOW GARAGE - The Stranger. 8:30 p.m. Billy Joel tribute. $17.50-$35.

THE MAD FROG Arrows of Apocalypse (release party). 7 p.m. Metal. $10. NORTHSIDE TAVERN Disaster Class. 10 p.m. Rock. Free. PLAIN FOLK CAFE - Lars Noble. 7:30 p.m. Acoustic. Free.

THE REDMOOR Almond Butter Band. 7 p.m. Allman Brothers tribute. $15, $18 day of show. RICK’S TAVERN - Whiskey Daze. 9 p.m. Cover.

RIVERFRONT LIVE Tyler Booth and Clark Manson with Derek Alan Band and Alyssa Oeder. 8 p.m. Country. $20, $25 day of show.

SCHWARTZ’S POINT - Ron Enyard Quartet. 8:30 p.m. Jazz. Cover. SOUTHGATE HOUSE REVIVAL (LOUNGE) Southgate House Revival 1st Annual Show & Tell Open Mic. 8 p.m. Various. Free.

STANLEY’S PUB Strange Mechanics and Fox Soxx. 10 p.m. Funk/ Jam. $10. THOMPSON HOUSE - Disciple Takeover featuring Virutal Riot, Barely Alive, Modestep and Bandlez. 9 p.m. EDM. $27.50.

TRINITY GASTRO PUB The Pandora Project. 8 p.m. Rock

URBAN ARTIFACT - Kate Wakefield, Troubadours of Divine Bliss and Anna Applegate. 9 p.m. Alt/ Rock/Various.

SATURDAY 28

BIG ASH BREWING - Missy Werner Band with Todd Murry. 7:30 p.m. Bluegrass. Free. BLIND LEMON - Donna Frost. 9 p.m. Acoustic. Free.

BLUE NOTE HARRISON - The Rock Show. 7 p.m. Journey tribute. $10, $12 day of show. CAFFÈ VIVACE - Mike Wade Quintet. 8:30 p.m. Jazz. Cover. CAMP SPRINGS TAVERN - The Poor Hours. 8:30 p.m. Americana. Free. FRETBOARD BREWING COMPANY - The Flex Crew. 8 p.m. Reggae. Free. HILTON NETHERLAND PALM COURT - Gary Gorrell-Jim Connerley Quartet. 9 p.m. Jazz. Free. JAG’S STEAK AND SEAFOOD - The Whammies. 9:30 p.m. ’80s Pop/Rock/ Dance. Cover. JIM AND JACK’S ON THE RIVER - Kelly & Company. 9 p.m. Rock/Various. Free. KNOTTY PINE - Wayward Son. 10 p.m. Rock. Cover. LUDLOW GARAGE - Terrapin Flyer. 8:30 p.m. Rock/ Jam. $12-$15.

THE MAD FROG - The Radio Broadcast with S.P.R.Y., Defense Mechanism and AndaruGO. 9 p.m. Electronic/Synth Pop/Chiptune/Various. Cover.

MOTR PUB - Mynah Tones with Abiyah and Shannon Garcia & The Taken. 9 p.m. Indie/Alt/Pop/ Various. Free.

NORTHSIDE TAVERN - Justin Cooper’s Junk Punk Jubilee with W8sted Potential, Mike Defendant & Katrina Jo, HLA and Justin Cooper. 10 p.m. Punk. Free.

PLAIN FOLK CAFE - Bill Lykins and Intentional Grass. 7:30 p.m. Bluegrass. Free. RICK’S TAVERN - Top This Band. 9 p.m. R&B/Pop/ Dance. Cover.

RIVERFRONT LIVE Prizoner’s Last Show Ever with Lemon Sky and A Liar’s Eyes. 8 p.m. Hard Rock/Metal. $12.

SCHWARTZ’S POINT Zakk Jones Trio. 8:30 p.m. Jazz. Cover. SOUTHGATE HOUSE REVIVAL (LOUNGE) Hobilly, Judge & Jury and Winslow Flowerfingers. 9:30 p.m. Rock/Roots/Various. Free.

SOUTHGATE HOUSE REVIVAL (SANCTUARY) - The Wooks and Kind Country. 9 p.m. Roots/Jam. $15, $20 day of show. STANLEY’S PUB - Filthy Animals. 10 p.m. Funk. $5.

THE SYMPHONY HOTEL - Ricky Nye and Bekah Williams. 8 p.m. Blues/Jazz. Free. TRINITY GASTRO PUB - Bob Cushing. 8 p.m. Acoustic. Free.

SUNDAY 29

BLIND LEMON - Jeff Henry. 8 p.m. Acoustic. Free.

BOGART’S - Ratt with Harmless Habit and Counting Stars. 7 p.m. Metal. $28.50.

H H

THE COMET - Comet Bluegrass Allstars. 7:30 p.m. Bluegrass. Free. FRETBOARD BREWING COMPANY - The Nth Power. 9 p.m. Soul/Funk. $12, $18 day of show.

HILTON NETHERLAND PALM COURT - Rob Allgeyer. 10:30 a.m. Jazz. Free.

KNOTTY PINE - Randy Peak. 10 p.m. Acoustic/Various. Free. LATITUDES BAR & BISTRO - BlueBirds. 8 p.m. Rock/R&B. Free. MOTR PUB - Mockery, Greer and Caroline Beller. 8 p.m. Alt/Pop/Various. Free. NORTHSIDE TAVERN Dusty Bryant. 9 p.m. Singer/ Songwriter. Free.

SCHWARTZ’S POINT El Ritmo de Manana. 6 p.m. Latin Jazz.

STANLEY’S PUB - Open Jam. 9 p.m. Various. Free. WESTSIDE VENUE - Open Rock and Blues Jam. 7 p.m. Rock/Blues. Free. WIEDEMANN BREWERY AND TAPROOM - Ricky Nye. 5 p.m. Blues/Boogie Woogie. Free.

MONDAY 30

20TH CENTURY THEATER - Rumpke Mountain Boys with Joe Marcinek Band and Fletcher’s Grove. 8 p.m. Bluegrass/Roots/ Jam/Various. $15, $20 day of show. BLIND LEMON - Ben Armstrong. 8 p.m. Acoustic. Free.

BOGART’S - Snails with Rusko, Jayceeoh and Hi I’m Ghost. 8 p.m. EDM. $29.50. CAFFÈ VIVACE - Blue Wisp Big Band. 8 p.m. Jazz. Cover.

HILTON NETHERLAND PALM COURT - Nick Fryer Trio. 6 p.m. Jazz. Free. STANLEY’S PUB - Jazz Jam with The Stanleyband. 9 p.m. Jazz/Improv. Free.

TUESDAY 31

20TH CENTURY THEATER - Rumpke Mountain Boys with Restless Leg String Band, Pickin’ Pear and Grassfed. 8 p.m. Bluegrass/Jam/Various. $15, $20 day of show.

BIG ASH BREWING Erin Coburn with Jesse Black. 7:30 p.m. Blues. Free.

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

BLUE NOTE HARRISON Bad Habit, Under The Sun, Templin Road and Bob Cushing. 7 p.m. Rock/Various. Cover.

BOGART’S - GWAR with Unearth and Savage Master. 8 p.m. Metal. $25. CAFFÈ VIVACE - Mandy Gaines Quartet. 9 p.m. Jazz. Cover.

FRETBOARD BREWING COMPANY - Terrapin Flyer. 9 p.m. Grateful Dead tribute. Free. HILTON NETHERLAND PALM COURT - Yemi Oyeridan Quartet. 9 p.m. Neo Soul. Free.

JAG’S STEAK AND SEAFOOD - My Sister Sarah. 9:30 p.m. Pop/Rock. Cover. JIM AND JACK’S ON THE RIVER - Danny Frazier. 9 p.m. Country. KNOTTY PINE - Final Order. 10 p.m. Rock. Cover.

LUDLOW GARAGE Noah Smith’s Big Ol Family New Year’s Eve with See You In The Funnies and Cheley Tackett. 9 p.m. Country/Rock/Various. $15-$30.

MOTR PUB - Moonbeau with Bliss Nova and Passeport. 10 p.m. Alt/ Electro/Pop. Free.

NEWPORT SYNDICATE The Rusty Griswolds. 6:30 p.m. Rock/Pop/Dance. $85-$150. NORTHSIDE TAVERN - DJ PickMO Throwback Dance Party. 10 p.m. DJ/Dance. Free. RICK’S TAVERN - 3-Day Rule. 9 p.m. Rock. Cover.

RIVERFRONT LIVE Buffalo Wabs & The Price Hill Hustle with Hackensaw Boys and Hickory Robot. 8 p.m. Roots/Folk/ Americana. $15. SCHWARTZ’S POINT - Phil DeGreg Trio. 7:30 p.m. Brazilian Jazz. $40-$45.

SOUTHGATE HOUSE REVIVAL (LOUNGE) The Nailers with Symptoms and JIMS. 9:30 p.m. Rock. Free.

SOUTHGATE HOUSE REVIVAL (REVIVAL ROOM) - Noir: Beat Faction Edition. 10 p.m. Alternative/ Dance/DJ/Various. $5.

KNOTTY PINE - The Amy Sailor Band. 10 p.m. Country. Cover. THE MAD FROG - DirtySnatcha. 9 p.m. Dubstep. Cover.

SOUTHGATE HOUSE REVIVAL (SANCTUARY) - Ward Davis with Josh Morningstar. 9 p.m. Country. $30-$120.

STANLEY’S PUB - Unofficial: Shane Smith and Micheal Chandler. 9 p.m. Country. $10.

MANSION HILL TAVERN - Misterman and the Mojo Band. 8 p.m. Blues. Cover.

THOMPSON HOUSE - New Years Evil with Twiztid and Rittz. 7 p.m. Rap. $25.

MOTR PUB - Resonator with Freak Mythology and The Never Setting Suns. 10 p.m. Rock. Free.

URBAN ARTIFACT Funk Off 2019 with Ouiwey Collins and the Funk Squad and DJ Huggybear. 9 p.m. Funk/Dance. Free.

THE VENUE CINCINNATI New Year’s Eve Glow Party with The Whammies. 9 p.m. Pop/Rock/Dance. $15. WIEDEMANN BREWERY AND TAPROOM - Jet Pack Academy. 8 p.m. Rock/ Disco/Country. Free.

WEDNESDAY 01

KNOTTY PINE - Dallas Moore and Lucky Chucky. 10 p.m. Country. Free. PLAIN FOLK CAFE - Open mic. 7 p.m. Various. Free.

THURSDAY 02

CAFFÈ VIVACE - Kevin McClellan Trio. 7:30 p.m. Jazz. Cover. KNOTTY PINE - Kenny Cowden. 9 p.m. Acoustic. Free.

URBAN ARTIFACT - El Chapo, Evening Redness and Spitwad Angels. 9 p.m. Rock/Various. Free.

FRIDAY 03

CAFFÈ VIVACE - Erwin Stuckey Trio. 8:30 p.m. Jazz. Cover.

JIM AND JACK’S ON THE RIVER - What’s Left. 9 p.m. Rock. Free.

PLAIN FOLK CAFE - Full Moon Ranch. 7:30 p.m. Folk/ Americana. Free. RICK’S TAVERN - 3-Day Rule. 9 p.m. Rock. Cover. SOUTHGATE HOUSE REVIVAL (REVIVAL ROOM) - The Revival with Rosemont Garden and Home Grown Head. 9 p.m. Roots/Rock. $7, $10 day of show.

URBAN ARTIFACT Leopold the Ghost with Feral Friends and Plug. 8 p.m. Alt/Indie/Rock. Free.

SATURDAY 04

ARNOLD’S BAR AND GRILL - Cincinnati Dancing Pigs. 8 p.m. Americana/Jug band. Free. BLUE NOTE HARRISON - Aces High. 8 p.m. Iron Maiden tribute. $10-$15. BOGART’S - Southern Accents with Flying Buffaloes and Seth Canan & The Carriers. 8 p.m. Tom Petty tribute/Rock/Roots. $10. CAFFÈ VIVACE - Art Gore All-Stars. 8:30 p.m. Jazz. Cover. JIM AND JACK’S ON THE RIVER - Slow Burn. 9 p.m. Rock/Blues. Free. KNOTTY PINE - Lt. Dan’s New Legs. 10 p.m. Pop/ Dance/Various. Cover.

MOTR PUB - Sungaze with The Cordial Sins and Fern Murphy. 10 p.m. Indie Rock. Free.

THE PIKE BAR AND GRILL - Misterman and the Mojo Band. 8 p.m. Blues. Cover. PLAIN FOLK CAFE Moonshine Drive. 7:30 p.m. Bluegrass. Free. RICK’S TAVERN - House Party. 9 p.m. Rock. Cover.

RIVERFRONT LIVE 90’s Grunge Night with STP 2, Red Hot Cinci Peppers, Sinful Crow, Life After This and more. 8 p.m. Rock/ Grunge. $10-$100. ROSELAWN LIVE - Rod Wave. 10 p.m. Hip Hop. $30-$75. SOUTHGATE HOUSE REVIVAL (REVIVAL ROOM) - Noah Vonne with Jacob Tippey. 8 p.m. Singer/ Songwriter. $8, $10 day of show.

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THU 26

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THU 2

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FRI 3 S AT 4

SUN 29

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SUN 5

MON 30

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MON 6

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TUE 7

FRI 27 S AT 28

TUE 31

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URBAN ARTIFACT - Drop the Sun with The Electric Indigo and Sovereign Being. 9 p.m. Alt/Rock.

SUNDAY 05

THE COMET - Comet Bluegrass Allstars. 7:30 p.m. Bluegrass. Free. MADISON LIVE - The Unlikely Candidates with The Orphan The Poet. 8 p.m. Rock. $12, $15 day of show.

1404 MAIN ST (513) 345-7981

MOTR PUB - Vacation with Constant Insult. 9 p.m. Rock. Free.

MONDAY 06

MOTR PUB - Sharp Toys with Cold Stereo, Brent Stroud and Cold Heat. 9 p.m. Rock. Free.

1/22

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STANLEY’S PUB - Jazz Jam with The Stanleyband. 9 p.m. Jazz/Improv. Free.

TUESDAY 07

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

CAFFÈ VIVACE - Lynne Scott, Lee Stolar and Lou Lausche. 7:30 p.m. Jazz

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

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D E C . 2 5 , 2 0 19 - J A N . 0 7, 2 0 2 0 | C I T Y B E AT. C O M

MOTR PUB - Beloved Youth with Circle It and Tooth Lures A Fang. 9 p.m. Indie/Alt/Rock/Pop. Free.

MADISON LIVE - Telehope with Golds. 8 p.m. Alt/Pop/Rock. $10, $12 day of show.

NORTHSIDE TAVERN Sexy Time Live Band Karaoke. 8 p.m. Rock/Various. Free.

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32. Enemy 33. One who plays with a yarn ball 34. Water-to-wine miracle locale 35. ___ Ice Arena (University of Michigan hockey arena) 36. 1979 #1 hit for Rod Stewart 39. Gallic existence 40. Meter maid? 41. Its last build was El Capitan

65. It might make a statement

34. Bennies Down 1. One without roots 2. Town where Stephen King lived when he went to college 3. â€œI ___ paying attentionâ€? (â€œMy badâ€?)

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4. Salty approval

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58. â€œYou get the picture...â€? 60. Semicircular bench

18. Little black dress occasion, maybe 22. Excited gift giverâ€™s phrase 25. Ice planet in â€œThe Empire Strikes Backâ€?

61. Coastal birds

27. 500 sheets

62. Tiny drink

28. Likely to pry

63. Liverpoolâ€™s river

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64. Lock changers?

31. Makes bread

35. Beatles classic with the dummy lyrics â€œscrambled eggsâ€? 36. Ohio city where Orville Wright was born 37. Debuts of unicorns, briefly 38. Combustion residue 39. Old name of Tokyo 43. ClickHole article, e.g. 44. 1999 Heisman Trophy winner

INTERIOR CLASSIFIEDS

46. Quad ladies 47. Like some sad goodbyes 48. Really hard puzzle 49. Mollyâ€™s â€œPretty in Pinkâ€? role 50. Absolutely lose it 53. Bug-___ 55. Like â€œblanket,â€? or â€œhouseâ€? in France: Abbr. 56. Wood splitter 57. Boxing ___ (December 26, and hint to this puzzleâ€™s theme) 59. Sucker

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