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Arts & Entertainment News

NatiGroove music festival

A new music festival will fill that Spring time music festival void in Cincinnati on March 22nd at the Southgate House in Newport, KY.

NatiGroove will feature a diverse collection of some of the best regional artists with two popular local artists headlining the event. Local jamgrass heroes Rumpke Mountain Boys and the innovate, style-mashing band Eclipse will headline the event. This event is staring off strong with a solid & diverse mix of artists and should offer something for everyone.

Tickets are just $12 for the the festival and it will begin at 9:00pm as national DJ Rare Groove kicks things off in Ballroom. The eclectic and soulful band Sexual Disaster will follow along the first headliner, Eclipse. Rumpke Mountain Boys will close the event.

I had a chance to interview Frank Meyer, from FMG Entertainment (organizing the festival), and this is a group that is a homegrown company that is looking to provide, “what we’re missing in Cincinnati” in terms of the music scene. This is their largest endeavor to date and they are extremely focused in the Over-the-Rhine area and would eventually like to move this event to either Downtown or OTR.

Lineup Info:

DJ RARE GROOVE – Known as the Blueprint’s touring DJ, don’t miss Rare Groove as he brings his 1988 hip-hop beats and Blueprint flavor to spin fire back in the Nati just before he kicks off his North American tour with Atmosphere and Abstract Rude. 9:00pm – 9:45pm & in-between all sets Downstairs in the Ballroom

SEXUAL DISASTER QUARTET – Is sex good…disaster bad… or what? With universal consciousness, Sexual Disaster Quartet is bringing their soulful, driving, innovative music to the Nati with a disastrously explosive sound that spontaneously combusts into orgasmic jams moving listeners to aftermath of molten, undeniable wetness. 9:45pm – 10:45pm Downstairs in the Ballroom

ECLIPSE – Those high-energy musical innovators Eclipse are back with their style-mashin grooves. With influences ranging from Led Zeppelin to Ozomatli and Herbie Hancock, Eclipse continuously pushes musical boundaries by incorporating elements of rock, funk, latin, jazz & hip-hop into a tight and complex sound. 11:00pm – 12:15am Downstairs in the Ballroom

RUMPKE MOUNTAIN BOYS – Just the good ol’ boys, Never meanin’ no harm. Call it Newgrass or Jamgrass or Bluegrass — any way you slice it, Rumpke Mountain Boys are one of the Nati’s premiere Bluegrass crews and have built a solid following throughout the city and the Midwest with their lively, jamming sound. 12:30am – 1:45am Downstairs in the Ballroom

RUSTY VAN BAND – Rusty Van Band mixes it up with a blend of jam rock, reggae, bluegrass, and blues. They play mostly original music throughout a range of venues in the Nati. 12:15am – 1:30am Upstairs in the Parlour

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News

New meets old at UrbanCincy

The results of February’s poll are in…and they are decidedly split (sounds familiar). The two run away selections were individuals that have lived in Cincy for less than 5 years and those who have lived here their whole life.

So if you have been here your whole life, what has kept you here? If you are new to the area, what is it that brought you here? What can be better and what is it that makes this region so special? Tell all…we could have some good discussions with this one.

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Arts & Entertainment Business Development News

Louisiana lovin’

As some of you may know, I have been out of town (Atlanta) on business for the past couple of months. For the past two weeks I was shipped off to another area (Baton Rouge) to continue my work, and I thought I would relay my thoughts on Louisiana to the great readers of UrbanCincy.

I spent most of my time in Baton Rouge. I will say that the people are very laid back and easy to get along with, but with that said…Baton Rouge seemed to be lacking any coherent development pattern(s), disposable income, and most importantly it was muggy even in February. The place was alright. Downtown had a few museums, lots of government buildings and some new construction. Overall Baton Rouge was kind of dirty, a little sloppy and somewhat depressing.

I was also able to spend a weekend in New Orleans. I spent the majority of my time there in the French Quarter and loved every minute. There were some other nice areas that I saw (Magazine Street), but overall New Orleans seemed to have many of the same qualities as Baton Rouge but on a larger scale.

The Lower 9th Ward looks as if the hurricane had just recently hit, and the place is almost entirely vacant. The CBD was kind of creepy and not all that comfortable. If you would like to hear more rantings and most importantly see my pictures of the cities…check out my photo threads on UrbanOhio.

The Garden District (Baton Rouge)
Downtown Baton Rouge
New Orleans’ French Quarter

Categories
Arts & Entertainment Business News

It pays to read UrbanCincy

As mentioned before, UrbanCincy has worked out a relationship with the Blue Wisp Jazz Club downtown. Thursday nights offer UrbanCincy readers $3 off of the cover charge. This week includes the talented Rob Allgeyer Organ Trio w/Dan Drees and Ron Enyard.

Additionally, UrbanCincy now also has a deal with the Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati. If you mention UrbanCincy you can get Buy 1, Get 1 half off Adult tickets to any evening performance (not valid on opening night). The next show to start up is Radio Golf (3/19 – 4/6) and you should not miss this show. All you need to do is contact the box office at 513.421.3555 (you can not get this offer online, only by calling). Tickets are going extremely fast to this performance so get ’em while they’re hot.

Get out and take advantage of these UrbanCincy exclusive offers. The more you do, the better the chance more of these pop up in the future.

Categories
News

Ich möchte einen Toast auf Grammer’s ausbringen!

Translation: I’d like to propose a toast to Grammer’s!

I’ll be honest I had never been in Grammer’s before last night. I am a relatively new resident of this great city and had not had the opportunity to enjoy Grammer’s prior to 1992, when it closed. Let me tell you. It seems like the place never closed. There were easily 100-150 people at the opening of Grammer’s last night. You could barely move in the bar area, and many of the tables were full as well. Like I had said in my last post, Beer and Brats… what else do you need? This place is going to do amazingly well. What a GREAT building. It screams its German heritage loud and clear. Old Steins are everywhere, and the basement area is going to be one of my favorite spaces in the city, once the renovations are complete. In general, this could become my NEW favorite hang out. Prost!

No real menu yet, but the management expects a full restaurant in about a year. Other developments should start popping up around Grammer’s at about that same time.