Author: Dave Rolfes

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Arts & Entertainment News

Venue 222 to host free showing of Casablanca – 5/16

Venue 222 will be hosting a unique neighborhood event in historic Over-the-Rhine this Sunday, May 16 from 6:30pm to 10pm complete with a classic movie, food and more.

The event space will be showing the 1942 movie classic Casablanca starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman. Directed by Michael Curtiz, this all-time great is the story of Rick Blaine who runs a nightclub in Casablanca during the early part of World War II. Over time, the film has been praised for including all types of stereotypes in early 1940s pop culture while mixing in romance and intrigue.

Event organizers state that the event is BYOBB – bring your own blanket and booze. Food will be available for purchase by Cafe de Wheels which will be serving up their famous burgers and other great sandwiches. In a recent CityBeat article, Cafe de Wheels was featured as “The Best Thing I Ever Ate in Cincinnati” by downtown resident Bob Schwartz.

The event at Venue 222 (map) is free and open to the public. There is bicycle parking available nearby, free on- and off-street automobile parking, and Metro bus service is also available (plan your trip).

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Arts & Entertainment News

WNKU celebrates 25th Anniversary, plans for bright future

Thursday, April 29 marked the official 25th anniversary for local radio station 89.7 WNKU. WNKU serves as a strong force in the local community and will be engaging in some terrific things they have planned to celebrate this special milestone.

First though, a little perspective on the station and my experiences with it might be useful. In the early 1990s, my brother-in-law started telling me about WNKU and I would tune in on occasion. Things were much different then at the station than they are today. While they did play good music, it was secondary to the news offering and it was hard to even know when music was going to be played. Oh, and the signal, the major complaint for years, was awful which made it hard to pick up the station.

Around 2000, I started to listen to the station more as I had moved back into Cincinnati from college and things had become a little more musical. From that point I have had an ongoing and interactive relationship with the station. This involvement included volunteering for fund drives (they are a public station, you know, which means you can become a member here), helping at events, and even recycling my Christmas Tree with them. Needless to say, the station holds a special place in my heart. Forget Clear Channel, WNKU even with its warts, is the one radio station for me in Cincinnati. As for that signal? Well it is significantly better now than it was two decades ago, though it is still imperfect. Oh, and did I mention that I won the contest for the Top 89 of 2006 (yes that is me in the picture)?

Aside from community involvement such as presenting this weekend’s Spring Pottery Fair, WNKU does play some great and diverse music. Just a few of the artists played earlier this week in a one hour stretch on Michael Grayson’s Morning Music include Widespread Panic, Bruce Springsteen, Joni Mitchell, Brazilian Girls, The Avett Brothers and Norah Jones. There is a little something for everyone, and WNKU is bound to introduce some new artists to us as well.

To celebrate their 25th anniversary WNKU will be hosting a concert series of course! In talking through plans with Director of Development Aaron Sharpe earlier this week, there is palpable excitement over some of the shows they are helping to bring to town. It all starts tonight with a special show featuring Ben Sollee and Daniel Martin Moore. Tickets can be purchased at the door for $20, or in advance online or by calling (859) 572-6700 – $15 for members and $18 for non-members.

If you are unable to make it to the show tonight at Highlands High School (map), there will be plenty of other shows in the series for you to attend. Most of these are in the traditional venues around town, but Aaron did say that the station is hoping to organize a special blowout concert towards the end of the summer as the grand finale, so stay tuned for details.

The anniversary party they hosted was at last night’s final Tunes & Blooms show which featured a live broadcast and had about 3,200 people show up to catch Jake Speed as well as The Turkeys.

As WNKU embarks on the next 25 years, I asked Aaron what the future held. There were a few things he mentioned including offering a second station on their HD broadcast, and acquiring other frequencies to help with distribution as they recently did with 94.5FM in West Chester. Additionally, the station just hired its first full time sales position as things continue to grow and change.

Whatever the future may hold, we do not know. But what we do know is how great a community partner WNKU is today. Happy anniversary WNKU! You have risen from humble beginnings to places that nobody dreamed of, and we all look forward to seeing what is up your sleeve for the next 25 years.

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Arts & Entertainment News

2010 MPMF Reveal Showcase at the CAC this Friday

This Friday night marks the return of all things MidPoint to Cincinnati’s urban core. It seems hard to believe that the 2009 version of MidPoint Music Festival is already seven months behind us, but it is. It also seems like just yesterday that bands like The Heartless Bastards and Chairlift were filling the tent in the parking lot at Grammer’s, and that acts were packing smaller venues like the Havana Martini Club and Mainstay throughout the course of a rainy September weekend. In any case, while the 2010 version of MPMF is a full five months away, MidPoint organizer Dan McCabe and his team have been very busy getting everything organized.

One such event upcoming is the 2010 Reveal Showcase being held at the Black Box at the Contemporary Arts Center in downtown Cincinnati. Tickets to the showcase starting at 8pm will cost $10 (tickets also available at the door). The event will feature three up-and-coming bands: The Buried Wires, Cincinnati’s own Pomegranates, and Aloha which will be headlining the event.

McCabe has been most proud about how MPMF has brought such a positive music experience to all of the attendees. Since 2008 attendance has increased at the music festival a whopping 27%. And while last year’s festival was widely publicized for the programming debacle at Cadillac Ranch, at the end of the festival, McCabe pointed out how in the year that historic Over-the-Rhine was dubiously listed as America’s most dangerous neighborhood, MPMF went off without incident. He attributed this to a close relationship with businesses, a great crowd that is there to experience the music and a strong working relationship with District One of the Cincinnati Police Department.

With the biggest stage right in the heart of OTR at Grammer’s, many music lovers walked from the historic neighborhood to the Central Business District and vice versa. Without question, MPMF has had a positive impact on the community and the perception many concert goers may have had about OTR prior to visiting. Instead of reading the headlines and being scared away, everyone enjoyed themselves safely even if they had to dodge a few raindrops over the course of the weekend.

Instrument [LEFT] and The Sleeping Sea [RIGHT] perform at the 2009 Midpoint Music Festival – photos by Dave Rolfes.

While some businesses stayed open longer hours during 2009, the hope from MPMF organizers is that all of downtown will benefit from the music lovers roaming the streets for three consecutive days and even more businesses will find a way to partake this year through extended hours, specials or by partnering with the music festival in some way.

This year’s festival will include even more bands than last year’s record of 270. The success of last year’s expansion has given MPMF increased credibility which McCabe has described as being “embraced by the industry.”

2010 is currently shaping up to be the biggest year in the festival’s history with a hope of bringing in 350 acts. So far this year, submissions are about on pace with last year’s where roughly 1,000 different acts submitted material for consideration. It is fully expected that 2010 will also push, if not exceed, the same number by the time the deadline comes around Friday, May 14.

For the immediate future though, this Friday’s Reveal Showcase will offer up an opportunity for those interested to learn more about all things MidPoint. Aside from the show, there will be announcements regarding some of the acts already confirmed for MPMF 2010, an unveiling of the venues for the festival this fall, the new MPMF website will be launched and the full line-up will be revealed for the PNC MidPoint Indie Summer Series on Fountain Square.

Contemporary Arts Center photography by Jeremy Mosher.

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Arts & Entertainment News

2010 Party in the Park series gets started – 4/21

Over the last few weeks spring has begun to take root in Cincinnati. Among others, the Reds Opening Day had a huge turnout as usual, trees are blooming and the Genius of Water began flowing again as the ceremonial start to the spring season in Cincinnati. This Wednesday marks yet another seasonal rite of passage as Party in the Park returns to the banks of the Ohio River in downtown Cincinnati at Yeatman’s Cove.

Party in the Park is one of the old standbys for many Cincinnatians as it embarks on its 34th season this year. Festivities kick off at 5:30pm every other Wednesday, with the exception of the back-to-back Wednesdays in April. $2 off drink prices greet party goers for the first 90 minutes making it a favorite after work destination. Historically crowds range anywhere from 5,000 to 8,000, depending on the week and weather, which turns the park into the largest watering hole in town.

The presenting sponsors and the 2010 slogan tell you all you need to know about the music you will find at Party in the Park. With 96ROCK and Bud Light leading the way and the slogan “The Original Social Network” you should expect cover songs so that folks can sing along all evening long. While it may not be ideal for someone seeking out original music, this weekly party definitely makes for a great social setting to hang out with old friends and meet new ones in the shadows of Cincinnati’s growing skyline and on the banks of the mighty Ohio River.

Party in the Park (map) starts at 5:30pm and lasts until 10:30pm. The festivities will run through Wednesday, August 8. There are several parking options available nearby, but it often coincides with Reds or Cyclones games that will make parking more difficult. There is bicycle parking and bus service to the park, and it is within walking distance to many of Cincinnati’s major employers in the center city.

Cincinnati has several great live music offerings during the summer months that include both original and cover music. In its 3rd year, Fountain Square played host to the 2009 PNC MidPoint Indie Summer Series and saw record crowds show up to enjoy the live music in the heart of downtown Cincinnati every Friday night. Midpoint Music Festival will fill Cincinnati’s center city with all sorts of live music again this summer (stay tuned for more details later this week). And there are still two shows left at the Cincinnati Zoo Tunes & Blooms which takes place each Thursday evening in April.

Party in the Park photo by 5chw4r7z.

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Arts & Entertainment News

Newport Gangster Tours return, complimentary Cincinnati tours announced

Last August UrbanCincy reported on the Newport Gangster Tours which take people on a walking tour through the heart of Newport sharing stories of the city’s infamous past of gambling, gangsters and girls. The idea sprang up as a way to raise funds for Global Service Learning Inc. and really took hold as the guys landed on an idea that many people gravitated towards. Last fall, the group ran tours every Saturday, and now with the weather changing for the better, they are back for a full season of fun.

Picked by Cincinnati Magazine as the “Best Historic Walking Tour of 2009”, the Newport Gangster Tour will be starting back up on May 1 with two tours each Saturday. The success has extended beyond the tour itself as Newport’s infamous past seems to be catching on as a theme. Late last year the Gangsters Dueling Piano Bar opened on 5th Street. While not officially affiliated with the tour, the new watering hole provides a perfect spot to wrap up the tour and have a few beverages while staying with the gangster theme.

Most of the tours will be on Saturdays, but the group decided to kick off the season in style with a “Gangsters & Grub” night on Thursday, April 29. Two separate tours will go out that night stopping at various restaurants around Newport for a progressive dinner. Group One will depart at 6pm and make stops at York Street Cafe, The Green Derby and Detroit Joe’s. Group Two will depart at 7:30pm and make stops at Pompilio’s, Gangster’s Piano Bar and Mokka. Tickets include the tour, dinner, non-alcoholic beverages, gratuity at each stop, cost $35 per person and can be purchased online. These tickets have nearly sold out already, but event organizers say that there will be a “Haunted Progressive Dinner” in October and possibly more sooner due to the extreme popularity.

Those looking to learn a little bit about the northern side of the river there will be a new tour called Queen City Underground which is scheduled to launch on May 31. The tours will meet on Saturday mornings in the Gateway Quarter and travel through historic Over-the-Rhine for a 90 minute walking tour. Stay tuned to UrbanCincy for more details on the Queen City Underground tours as they develop including a review.