"Hey, Fred!" Nights Out 08/25-08/31/2014

This title disclaimer will run until I’m sick of it.

This is a look at things coming through town (mostly music, but look for more theater and visual art as fall gets underway) I’m excited about this week. Title is inspired by A making a joke to a great friend of ours: “Rick’s going to start a blog letting you know what’s coming to town called ‘Hey, Fred! Guess what?’” Appearance here does not constitute an endorsement by the real Fred. Big inspirations are Steve Smith’s Agenda posts in Night After Night and amigo Andrew Patton’s weekly column for Mark Subel’s JazzColumbus.

This is not intended to be comprehensive. For that, Joel Treadway’s Cringe does a great job and has for 20+ years. If someone knows an equally good guide to theater and visual art, let me know and I’ll link that too.

I don’t intend for this to cover every local band I like every time they play. If I wrote up every time two of my friends played a show together, the things I want to highlight would get lost and it would be more hassle and stress than it’s worth to me. I want to note something that strikes my interest as special: a record release, a rare reunion, something new I worry will get lost in the shuffle, but obviously that’s going to be capricious and not follow a strict guideline.

Normally holiday weekends and the weeks around them are just times for entertaining at your own home. And there’s nothing wrong with that. But this Labor Day is stacked with stuff that looks great, most of it under the umbrella of Femme Fest , who with less than a month of lead time put together 11 shows with lineups so strong it cut right through the massive festival fatigue this city has been suffering from. A good cause with a cross-section of great music.

August 28, 2014

Tom Burckhardt Artist’s Talk; Canzani Center at the Columbus College of Art and Design, 60 Cleveland Avenue. The opening salvo in a packed Fall lineup of great artists talks at CCAD. Burckhardt’s an abstract painter whose work I’m not as familiar with as I should be but I always come away from these inspired to do something.Starts at 6:30, free.

August 29, 2014

FemmeFest

• Bossy Grrl, 2598 N High – Kicking the festival off with a matinee show starting at 5:00pm, our burlesque-themed honky-tonk has an appropriately rough around the edges lineup with Beth Hunter's blues-rock band The Time Lords headlining and also featuring a solo set from haunting punk siren Eleanor Sinacola of Dead Girlfriends, power-pop act Sweet S, and folk chanteuse Za Unitt. Starts at 5:00pm, donations encouarged.

• Café Bourbon Street/The Summit (2210 and 2216 Summit St) – These connected venues are combining forces (one cover for admission to both) for the fest’s Friday night iteration which might be the show I’m looking forward to most from the entire festival. Starting at 9:30 on the Bourbon Street side, highlights for me include: The Something Somethings, a resurrection of one of my favorite rhythm sections in town ever (Mike O'Shaugnessy on drums and Sarah Yetter on bass, from El Jesus De Magico); The Ipps, the even more art-damaged, angular side project of Bo Davis and Emily Davis of Necropolis; Sex Tide, who have refined their shaky, barbed whirlwind over the years into a white-hot blast of fuzz, marvelous to see; The Ferals, the sexy, snarling blues-punk of Lara Yazvac (of Ill Fits and The Tough and Lovely) and Lou Poster (Grafton) on vocals and guitars and Victoria Mahnke on drums; and WV White breathing new life into the Cure/Slowdive mold. Starts at 9:30, $6 cover

August 30, 2014

FemmeFest

• Used Kids, 1980 N High St - A matinee show and a great chance to expose yourself and your family to some great bands still finding their footing and their audience in town and buy some terrific records (and maybe drink a daytime BOYB beer). Grrrrl Cheese, a teenage band who formed during Girls Rock Columbus, open, followed by three back to back pop-punk sets by Pretty Pretty, Dead Set Ready, and Two Years Later, and capped off by the grimy classic punk stylings of Senor Citizen and the Border Patrol. 3-7:30pm, donations encouraged.

• Little Rock, 944 4th St. - The second matinee show today veers rootsier and weirder in all the right ways. Sets by Americana singer-songwriter Lydia Brownfield who's growing leaps and bounds every time I see her, Jeff Kleinman from Nervosas and Jenny Cosmos's floating goth side project Cosmic Moon who I haven't seen live yet but can't wait to, and very popular Americana band Salty Caramels. 6-9:00pm, dance party to follow; donations encouraged.

• Ace of Cups, 2619 N High St. - A stacked lineup with Laura Bernazzoli's raw as an open wound rock band Bloody Show, ferocious rapper Dominque Larue who this year made a stunning record, Grand, and show-stealing appearances on Blueprint's newer record, the return to the stage of The Girls! maybe my favorite Columbus band, and the return of a Runaways cover band you couldn't have cast better including Mickey Marie (Estee Louder, Nervosas) and Sarah Yetter (Frostiva, El Jesus de Magico) on guitars, Emily Allen (The Means, Monster Island Zero, Estee Louder) on bass. If these four add up to anything less than an earth-shattering party I'll be very surprised. Starts at 10:00pm, $6 cover.

August 31, 2014

Reigning Sound; Ace of Cups, 2619 N High St. If there's only one thing you go to this weekend, this should be it. If I were you, I'd hit the FemmeFest day shows beforehand and I'd damn sure hit some of it on Friday and Saturday, but when they're on the Reigning Sound has been one of the greatest live rock bands I've seen over the last 15 years. Leader Greg Cartwright writes songs that are the closest thing to belonging in the classic rock canon since Dave Alvin's golden days,as much in debt to the Shirelles as the Dead Boys and Nolan Strong as X. Their new record, Shattered, does the best job of synthesizing all of their disparate influences and enthusiasms of any of their recorded work with backing band The Jay Vons finally roughed up just enough that they feel like a unit. A record that flits from Arthur Alexander and Eddie Hinton-styled Southern soul to Nashville Skyline-era Dylan and still has a little Mekons motor oil on its dancing shoes. Kiss the summer goodbye and set the motherfucker on fire in high style. Dark country band Drift Mouth and Cincy punk band Black Planet open. Doors at 9:00pm, $14 tickets at Ticketleap. 

FemmeFest

• Kafe Kerouac, 2250 N High St. - A fascinating lineup with world-music gypsies Maza Blaska; Miller-Kelton, who grow into themselves a little more from a (damn fine) Tom Waits and The National riff all the time; Reverbalines, the new project of David Banbury and Eva Owen from the ashes of terrific band Nom Tchotchkes; and Sally Cooperider of whom I know naught so far.6-10:00pm, donations encouraged.

• Little Rock, 944 4th St. - Maybe the most full-on fun show of the festival - headlined by surreal dance-punk act Damn the Witch Siren and ably supported by Moxy Martinez, Bella Ruse, and the Columbus Burlesque Collective. Stop by for some last call dancing. Starts at 9:30, $5 cover.

• Strongwater, 401 W Town St. -  A pretty stacked lineup headlined by Saintseneca who are reaping well-deserved praise for their first record on Anti-, the moody and gripping Dark Arc, along with Counterfeit Madison, Psychic Wheels, and Katherine. Starts at 10:00pm, $10 cover

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"Hey, Fred!" Nights Out 08/18-08/24/14

This title disclaimer will run until I’m sick of it.

This is a look at things coming through town (mostly music, but look for more theater and visual art as fall gets underway) I’m excited about this week. Title is inspired by A making a joke to a great friend of ours: “Rick’s going to start a blog letting you know what’s coming to town called ‘Hey, Fred! Guess what?’” Appearance here does not constitute an endorsement by the real Fred. Big inspirations are Steve Smith’s Agenda posts in Night After Night and amigo Andrew Patton’s weekly column for Mark Subel’s JazzColumbus.

This is not intended to be comprehensive. For that, Joel Treadway’s Cringe does a great job and has for 20+ years. If someone knows an equally good guide to theater and visual art, let me know and I’ll link that too.

I don’t intend for this to cover every local band I like every time they play. If I wrote up every time two of my friends played a show together, the things I want to highlight would get lost and it would be more hassle and stress than it’s worth to me. I want to note something that strikes my interest as special: a record release, a rare reunion, something new I worry will get lost in the shuffle, but obviously that’s going to be capricious and not follow a strict guideline.

A much lighter week than last time but that’s no bad thing.

Theatre

August 23, 2014

Feed Your Soul ’14; Riffe Center, 77 S High St.  I don’t go to a lot of galas/fundraisers partly because of lack of funds but mostly because they’re usually significantly less fun than another three options that night.  But Feed Your Soul is one of my favorite events in any year, drawing some of my favorite people and a wide range of fascinating people I didn’t already know, with a well-chosen spread of food and an interesting lineup in the silent auction. But the real draw for me is the performances: there are always some highlights from the past year, a preview of what’s being worked on for the upcoming season, and a handful of things built for one night only (last year’s terrific multi-voice adaptation of Artistic D irector Matt Slaybaugh’s monologue “The Absurdity of Writing Poetry” comes to mind).  I’ve only missed this once in the last few years (for the out of state wedding of one of my best friends) and I have my ticket for this year.  Starts at 6:00pm, $50 tickets available here.

Music

August 20, 2014

Joe Hunter Trio; Dick’s Den, 2417 N High St. This week’s installment of bass player Roger Hines’ residency (the definitive writeup is on Jazz Columbus) features pianist Joe Hunter, currently of Cleveland, and drummer Joe Ong doing some sets of standards.  These three have been a rhythm section for a long time and they play with dexterity and empathy.  I expect this to be a wholly satisfying show.  Starts at 9pm, $4 cover.

August 21, 2014

Bob Log III; Rumba Café, 2419 Summit St. If you think a blues-punk one man band would be an arduous exercise to sit through, you haven’t met Bob Log III. A barbed wire and neon tumbleweed of sound and antics, it’s been too long since he’s come through town.  The Washington Beach Bums are the perfect openers, a good-time frat rock tent revival show wrapped around a dark, complicated heart. Starts at 9:00pm, $10 tickets available at Ticketweb..

August 22, 2014

Mavis Staples; Scioto Mile. Columbus Parks and Recreation’s free Rhythm on the River series peaks with one of the greatest living American voices – Mavis Staples. Not only has she never stopped, she’s made the most out of her comeback records starting with the Ry Cooder-produced We’ll Never Turn Back and continuing through two collaborations with Jeff Tweedy. I’ve seen her in the last couple years, she still sings like everything depends on her, like she can still save a life – and sometimes she can. Funk-jazz juggernaut fo/mo/deep open. Starts at 7:30pm, free.

August 23, 2014

Candye Kane with Th’ Flyin’ Saucers and Sean Carney; Woodlands Tavern, 1200 W 3^rd St.  If Feed Your Soul is over in time and I’ve still got the energy to venture that far from High Street it’s very possible you’ll find me dancing like a moron over at Woodlands. I’ve seen Candye Kane twice, most recently with the much-missed Columbus band The Sovines at Skully’s in 2002, and both shows stand as some of the best fun I’ve ever had seeing music. After starting in LA’s country scene, appearing on the holy grail compilation A Town South of Bakersfield alongside Rosie Flores, Dwight Yoakam, Albert Lee, and Lucinda Williams, she reinvented herself as a bawdy blues belter in the style of Bessie Smith.  Over the years, she’s battled cancer and thrown off some of the schtick that was distracting audiences from the fact that she’s one of the best jump blues/boogie woogie vocalists in the business fronting a blistering band and from accounts I trust is playing and singing better than ever.  A sampler of Columbus’s always-strong retro warhorses open, Th’ Flyin’ Saucers still bringing their big-energy show and Sean Carney who is a walking blues encyclopedia.  Make room for dancing, don’t let the seated crowd take up the good spots.  Starts at 9:30, $12 tickets available at Ticketweb..

Karl Hendricks Tribute; Little Rock, 944 N 4^th St. And this is the other show I’m very likely to appear at after Feed Your Soul. While I don’t know Karl Hendricks personally, he’s definitely enriched my life through his band, The Karl Hendricks Trio, and running my favorite record store in Pittsburgh, Sound Cat, and this stacked tribute show lineup is a testament to the love people have for him in Columbus and beyond. Kyle Sowash, who also organized the show, is joined by Marcy Mays and Sue Harshe from Scrawl, Chicago’s Andy Cohen and Tim Midyett from Silkworm, Lizard McGee of Earwig, Ron House, and Lou Poster from Grafton and Drift Mouth. A great cause at a great bar with some of the best songwriters in town. Starts at 9:00pm, $7 donation.

August 24, 2014

Nick Tolford and Company; Goodale Park. The last show of this year’s Goodale Park Music Series and they’re going out with a bang. Nick Tolford’s assemblage has been firing on all cylinders lately since the release of his fantastic new record in January and they seem particularly well-suited for an outdoor Sunday show. That big voice, stinging guitar, swirling Wurlitzer and a pulsing, swinging rhythm section even better since Bobby Silver took over the bass chair are the prime delivery method for some of the best NRBQ-style bar room stomps and waltzes anyone in town is writing. 12:30-2:00pm.

The Fairfield Four; Natalie’s Coal Fired Pizza, 5601 N High St. The perfect Sunday show. A little later than usual and rare ticketed brunch show at Natalie’s but if this isn’t magical I’ll eat my hat. The Fairfield Four are a multi-generational gospel group who started in the ‘40s as a peer of the Dixie Hummingbirds and the Five Blind Boys of Alabama and Mississippi, recording phenomenal sides for the Dot label through the ‘50s. They broke through to a higher secular profile in the late ‘90s accompanying John Fogerty and Steve Earle and an appearance in O Brother Where Are Thou, and though members have come and gone – Bobby Hebb and Isaa'60s c Freeman both passed in the last few years – it’s the highest standard of gospel harmony you’re going to find. Starts at 2:30pm, $15 Tickets available here..

Miss Tess and the Talkbacks Natalie’s Coal Fired Pizza, 5601 N High St. One of my favorite newer voices out of NYC’s perennial retro scene, Miss Tess and the Talkbacks are writing pitch-perfect torch songs flecked with shadings of rockabilly and honky-tonk ably played by her crisp, tight band. If you’ve still got energy after this weekend you can’t go wrong with some dinner, a glass of wine, and this. Starts at 8:00pm, $15 tickets available here..

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Thicker than Water by Red Herring Productions

“The bias of the father runs on through the son
And leaves him bothered and bewildered”

-Lou Reed, “Endless Cycle”

“To be torched is not ironic, but it hurts
It hurt her flesh. It hurts me to think about it.
And not precious I am to think about it, to give it time”
-Dorothea Lasky, “I Hate Irony”

Red Herring continues their hot streak with the original play Thicker Than Water, created using an adaptation of the Mike Leigh method of building a story up using a combination of improvisation and what each person brings to the table. I have a couple quibbles but I think anyone interested in theater in this town should make haste and go see this because it’s original work like we don’t get enough of, it’s a serious piece grappling with life which we don’t get enough of, and it’s some of the finest acting I’ve seen this year – on par with Tony Shaloub in Act One or Adrian Lester in Red Velvet to say nothing of Ian Short in Leaving the Atocha Station or Kayla Jackmon in How We Got On – of which we can never have too much.  I’m going to try to avoid “plot spoilers” for whatever that means for this kind of work but I don’t think I’ll completely succeed.  So I’m leading off with the recommendation that you go see this while it runs for another week.

It starts with a knock on the door and a son (Nick Lingnofski) come home to visit his dying father (Michael Herring) and finally settle some long-untalked-about scores.  The next 70 or so minutes are a white knuckle pas de deux, circling like fighters  with a shabby living room for a ring and a handful of props that, even before they’re reacted to or with, seem weighted with an uncanny gravity. The stakes are laid out early, you know everything’s going to be used before this is over, and the clock is running in real time. 

Lingnofski’s character is a Vietnam vet and writer of some success, still single, who is also a committed atheist, currently living in New York. His father is a WWII veteran who has committed to a Christian faith, lost his second wife and has a small child he’s going to leave behind in (according to his doctor’s estimates) four or five months. In a longish one-act there’s an amazing amount of density of detail expressed and retained by the audience because it’s all used – from the wife/mother leaving the family to become a Nun to the second wife dying in childbirth creating a second round of single parenthood for someone at an age where that’s an even greater source of stress. That this much detail is put across without feeling shoehorned in is a testament to both the acting and the writing, and the fact that both points of view are given dignity and close to equal weight is a marvel, especially for something that’s built out of improvisation. 

However, my biggest gripe with the piece is that the level of specificity makes the handful of gaps really apparent. The example that stood out the most to me (here there be the spoilers discussed above): there’s discussion that the father character didn't get treatment the first time he got his cancer diagnosis but also discussion about how horrible his treatments were, leading us to surmise he tried to get treatment this time but long enough ago for his hair to have grown back. For the son character to not needle him about that or at least badger him for specifics seemed contrary to the way the character acted both before and after. Moments like this feel like the piece backs off from more dramatic complications to keep restating the basic question, hammering the struggle home. And the struggle - about how we find grace and how we betray ourselves and the people we love and what we tell ourselves to get through the day - is important and is well-stated but this little falling short keeps the piece very good instead of great The other, smaller, gripe with the material is that it follows Chekhov's maxim a little too closely, every single thing that appears is used, making it seem a little less surprising than it might be with a little misdirection.

That said, the only reason I noticed those failings was because of how strong everything else is. Nick Lingnofski owns a kind of simmering melancholy that you never know at any moment will bubble over into rage or uproarious laughter, running under and through a surfeit of charm, better than any actor working and this might be the best showcase for it I've yet seen. Michael Herring who I hadn't seen act in many years - yes, I regrettably missed Krapp's Last Tape - is pitch perfect, there isn't a motion or a gesture or a facial expression wasted. And beyond the masterclass in acting, everything else is spot on. John Dranshack's direction is perfectly taut, there's enough space to breathe and to let the beats land but he never lets the play get slack. Rich Stadler's set grounds the play in the appropriate time but isn't full of underlining. And Topher Dick's lighting with Dave Wallingford's sound are almost invisible but perfectly evocative. 

All told, a show I was very, very glad I saw.  

Runs Thursday-Sunday through August 16th at 8:00pm. Tickets available at 614-723-9116 or Pay What You Want at the door. 

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"Hey, Fred!" Nights Out 08/11-08/17/14

This title disclaimer will run until I’m sick of it.

This is a look at things coming through town (mostly music, but look for more theater and visual art as fall gets underway) I’m excited about this week. Title is inspired by A making a joke to a great friend of ours: “Rick’s going to start a blog letting you know what’s coming to town called ‘Hey, Fred! Guess what?’” Appearance here does not constitute an endorsement by the real Fred. Big inspirations are Steve Smith’s Agenda posts in Night After Night and amigo Andrew Patton’s weekly column for Mark Subel’s JazzColumbus.

This is not intended to be comprehensive. For that, Joel Treadway’s Cringe does a great job and has for 20+ years. If someone knows an equally good guide to theater and visual art, let me know and I’ll link that too.

I don’t intend for this to cover every local band I like every time they play. If I wrote up every time two of my friends played a show together, the things I want to highlight would get lost and it would be more hassle and stress than it’s worth to me. I want to note something that strikes my interest as special: a record release, a rare reunion, something new I worry will get lost in the shuffle, but obviously that’s going to be capricious and not follow a strict guideline.

Theatre

Thicker than Water by John Dranshack, Michael Garrett Herring, and Nick Lingnofski, presented by Red Herring Theater; Riffe Center, Studio Two Theater.  The resurrected Red Herring continues their winning streak with an original work, a two-hander (Herring and Lingnofski) playing a father and a son who served in different wars dealing with how each shapes the other. This is developed using the great Mike Leigh's process, with both performers and the director, John Dranshack, collaborating on the script. I saw this last weekend and a full review is forthcoming (probably tomorrow, no later than Wednesday) but suffice it to say this is heartily recommended.  8pm Thurs-Sat, through August 16. $20 tickets available by calling 614-723-9116 or Pay-What-You-Want at the door.

Misc

August 15, 2014

It's Boob Thirty; Ace of Cups, 2619 N High. Stephanie Lady Monster's monthly burlesque happy hour is always a good time but this month's edition is special for a couple of reasons.  First, it's the last installment in its current form as Steph is setting out for Portland this fall.  And if that's not reason enough - though it should be - this is a special promotional edition for Beth B's new movie Exposed (more on the movie the week of its September 12th Wexner Center screening) with the Wex's Kellie Morgan both discussing the film and screening the trailer. Performances by Stephanie and other Columbus Burlesque Collective members. Starts at 7:30, no cover.

August 16, 2014

Fall Exhibits Opening; Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum, Sullivant Hall, 1813 N High St.  Anything following the blockbuster Bill Watterson exhibition (and the very fine Richard Thompson show that ran concurrently with it) has a big shadow to get out from under but, at least for the heads, I think curators Caitlin McGurk and Jenny Robb have built something that’s up to the challenge.  The Long March: Civil Rights in Cartoons and Comics coincides with the 50^th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act and given the depth and breadth of their archive promises to be an illuminating look on one of the most important moments in American history and almost the last era when cartooning was still a way of feeling the pulse of a nation.  The other exhibit opening, Will Eisner: 75 Years of Graphic Storytelling is a look at possibly the single most important figure in post-war American comics from The Spirit’s transference of cutting edge film techniques onto a comic page to arguably inventing the graphic novel form to many years of being a mentor and confidant to generations of cartoonists.  I saw Eisner speak at one of the triennial Festivals of Cartoon Art when I was a senior in High School and I still remember it like it was yesterday, one of the best moments in my art-appreciating life of any medium.  Starts at 1:00pm, free of charge.

Music

August 11, 2014

Sultan Bathery; Café Bourbon Street, 2216 Summit St. Italy’s Sultan Bathery is one of the long line of international garage rock bands Slovely Records has put out and facilitated touring in the US for and they’re another home run.  Drunk on reverb and high on twang, nothing they do reinvents the wheel but if you’ve got a soft spot for the Pretty Things and the early R&B version of the Who or other Slovenly bands like Los Vigilantes, they won’t disappoint.  Locals Betty Machete and the Angry Cougars, about whose new lineup I heard great things (but, alas, didn’t get there in time to see) at the Hexers/The Singles show the other week, open.  Doors at 10:00pm, $5 cover.

August 12, 2014

Rich Robinson; Park Street Patio, 533 Park St. It’s a good night for good time retro sounds in the Arena DistrictTuesday.  Woodlands and WCBE bring Black Crowes guitarist and co-founder Rich Robinson to town.  Robinson can drift into blooze clichés on occasion but he’s got a gorgeous, warm guitar tone and always picks great players. In an evening expect touches of grimy country blues a la Ry Cooder, rocking explosions redolent of Peter Green-era Fleetwood Mac, country stylings like the Flying Burrito Brothers and even a couple excursions into the land of Fairport Convention, all played and sung very well. If this is your kind of thing, you might want to call off Wednesday because I’d lay money on it sounding fantastic at Park Street Patio and turning into a boozy dancing memory-churn. Heavily buzzed NYC band Hollis Brown, mining a very similar constellation of ‘60s and ‘70s referents if you weren’t tipped off by the name, open. Starts at 7:30pm, $20 tickets available at Ticketweb.

Lyle Lovett and His Large Band; LC Pavilion, 405 Neil Ave.  If you’re flush and not concerned about missing the opener at Park Street, you can probably do both these shows in a night, starting at the LC and walking over to the patio.  Lyle Lovett is one of the finest showmen in my lifetime and if you’ve got any kind of taste for American popular music of the ‘40s-‘60s you can’t go wrong when he’s got his Large Band assembled.  Watching Lovett is a clinic in low key charm and the glory of understatement, he won’t play three notes when one suffices and he won’t waste words or try to do backflips with his voice. There’s a steely confidence in the ability of the songs to do the work and the ability of his audience to come and meet him halfway or more.  He takes lessons from Guy Clark and Townes Van Zandt and his college chum Robert Earl Keen and splits the difference between the Blakean seriousness of the great ‘60s Texas songwriter tradition and the pep rally cheerleading of Keen with more than a little classic hokum and self-deprecating charm straight out of Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown and Bob Wills. And while he’s great in lower-key acoustic settings (probably my favorite record of his is his tribute to earlier Texas songs, Step Inside This House), his Large Band is a finely tuned machine that sends joy over the crowd like a flamethrower with full horn section, steel, keys, and a fiddle or two. They don’t just serve the songs, they explode them.  Maybe the show of the summer. Doors at7:00pm, $32.50 tickets available at Ticketmaster..

August 13, 2014

The Planktones; Used Kids Records, 1980 N High St.  With Mark Wyatt, rocker extraordinaire, leaving town to go rule the Terre Haute scene shortly, his cover band with his brothers  and Gene Brodeur is having one final blowout at Used Kids.  Super energetic covers of everything from Slade to Brian Eno and those familial harmonies make this one of the most fun bands in town and something I’d definitely be sorry to miss. Starts at 7:00pm, no cover, BYOB.

Jack Menkedick and the John Lake Quartet; Brothers Drake, 26 E 5^th Avenue. Brothers Drake has turned itself into one of the better rooms in town for jazz and especially out of town jazz while it seems no one was looking. Wednesday’s bill starts with a solo sax performance by New York-based Menkedick, an OSU alum who was in Naked City-aficionados Alpine Ghost when he was in town, and he’s followed by John Lake playing with the cream of the local crop in a quartet format.  More about this show at JazzColumbus but I don’t intend to miss this.  Starts at 7:00pm, no cover.

Chain and the Gang; Ace of Cups, 2619 N High St.  I’m not sure I’ve ever seen an Ian Svenonius project I haven’t really enjoyed – even a night at Home Sweet Home in Manhattan where he was sitting in DJing with Jonathan Toubin was one of the most fun nights I’ve ever had dancing. He has a knack for distilling whatever brand of rock and roll he’s investigating to its barest essence and finding a way to wrap it around his own idiosyncrasies. With Chain and the Gang, his main project of the last 7 or 8 years he’s playing the dancing skeleton of soul music at least as its been burned through by J. Giles and the Bob Seger System (both of whom I like), launching an attack on audience preconceptions and even the underpinnings of capitalist society but in a way you can still shake your ass to. Locals Bloody Show (featuring Laura Bernazzoli also of the raved-about-in-these-pages Raw Pony and Day Creeper) and Goners open.  Doors at 9:00pm, $7 cover.

August 15, 2014

Golden Donna with Sweet William; Café Bourbon Street, 2216 Summit St.  Joel Shanahan’s solo electronic project, Golden Donna, has recorded for 100% Silk and Not Not Fun records and it’s very much in that handmade-seeming mode.  You can dance to it but you’re better off keying into the music’s throb and riding it like a heartbeat.  Other Wisconsin band Sweet William is also on the bill, along with Columbus’s mad genius, Jacoti Sommes (formerly of much missed Hugs and Kisses). Doors at 10:00pm, $5 cover.

August 16, 2014

Helter Swelter; Ace of Cups, 2619 N High St.  Ace of Cups is resurrecting the Parking Lot Blowout tradition of Marcy Mays’ earlier establishment Surly Girl with a couple twists, including the headliner, legendary New Zealand band The Clean for the first time they’ve played Columbus since I think the early ‘90s (correct me in the comments if I’m wrong there).  And a hand-picked selection of the finest Columbus bands of the same era, including Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments, Moviola and Scrawl, and a few just as fine bands with a more recent pedigree including Washington Beach Bums, Raw Pony, and Unholy 2.  Starts at 3:00pm, $10 tickets available at the bar.

CBG Band; Natalie’s Coal Fired Pizza, 5601 N High St. If you’re more roots-inclined than classic indie rock, this Saturday alternative is a show hard to miss.  This collective is named for its three principals.  Colin Gilmore, son of Jimmie Dale, has been refining his songs and putting out better and better records since he was last in town opening for his Dad at Little Brothers years ago, with last year’s The Wild and the Hollow doing justice to all his influences and earning Sylvie Simmons’ description, “The Texas Nick Lowe”, big hooks and wry, sardonic lyrics nestled into loping rockabilly shuffles played with a light touch.  Bonnie Whitmore’s been playing bass and writing with Hayes Carll and Justin Townes Earle and her more famous sister Eleanor (of The Mastersons and Steve Earle’s current band) and put out a ferocious, sexy record last year There I Go Again I genuinely regret not hearing in time for my best of list last year.  The third letter, Graham Weber, is originally from Ohio and I don’t know his work nearly as well as the other two but his previous record got a really good writeup from Jim Caliguri at the Austin Chronicle who’s never steered me wrong.  Starts at 9:00pm, $15 tickets at the Natalie's website.

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"Hey, Fred!" Nights Out 08/04-08/10/14

This title disclaimer will run until I’m sick of it.

This is a look at things coming through town (mostly music, but look for more theater and visual art as fall gets underway) I’m excited about this week. Title is inspired by A making a joke to a great friend of ours: “Rick’s going to start a blog letting you know what’s coming to town called ‘Hey, Fred! Guess what?’” Appearance here does not constitute an endorsement by the real Fred. Big inspirations are Steve Smith’s Agenda posts in Night After Night and amigo Andrew Patton’s weekly column for Mark Subel’s JazzColumbus.

This is not intended to be comprehensive. For that, Joel Treadway’s Cringe does a great job and has for 20+ years. If someone knows an equally good guide to theater and visual art, let me know and I’ll link that too.

I don’t intend for this to cover every local band I like every time they play. If I wrote up every time two of my friends played a show together, the things I want to highlight would get lost and it would be more hassle and stress than it’s worth to me. I want to note something that strikes my interest as special: a record release, a rare reunion, something new I worry will get lost in the shuffle, but obviously that’s going to be capricious and not follow a strict guideline.

Theatre

Cymbeline by William Shakespeare, presented by Available Light Theatre; Madlab, 227 N. Third St.  Between this and Red Herring's Thicker than Water (see below), August is surprisingly stacked with compelling theater options. Available Light doesn't often deal with classical theatre, and Cymbeline is an overstuffed, trying-to-do-everything-at-once play that's never really gotten a fair shake. So this promises to be an interesting take on a rarely performed Shakespeare (possibly the only Shakespeare I've never seen done), directed by longtime collaborator/fight director Brian Evans with a cast of seven headed up by Acacia Duncan. I didn't get to see this opening weekend but I have my ticket for this week and if you love theater, you should too.  8pm Thurs-Sat, through August 9. Tickets available at http://avltheatre.com/shows/cymbeline/

Thicker than Water by John Dranshack, Michael Garrett Herring, and Nick Lingnofski, presented by Red Herring Theater; Riffe Center, Studio Two Theater.  Speaking of things you should see if you care about theater, don't miss this. Red Herring was the first theater company I ever subscribed to, right out of high school, and since their resurrection a couple years ago they've been on a hot streak, including last year's mind-blowing take on Assassins. This month they're doing an original work, a two-hander (Herring and Lingnofski) playing a father and a son who served in different wars dealing with how each shapes the other. This is developed using the great Mike Leigh's process, with both performers and the director, John Dranshack, collaborating on the script.  8pm Thurs-Sat, through August 16. $20 tickets available by calling 614-723-9116 or Pay-What-You-Want at the door.

Music

August 5, 2014

The Iguanas; Natalie’s Coal-Fired Pizza, 5601 N. High St.  Alec Wightman’s Zeppelin Productions has often been the principal supplier of a certain stripe of singer-songwriter in town, and over the last 20 years he’s brought artists I can almost guarantee Columbus wouldn’t have seen headlining if we were lucky enough to get them at all – from Guy Clark to Joe Ely to Suzy Bogguss to Matraca Berg to Dan Penn to Tom Russell many times over. We certainly wouldn’t have had this kind of artist as often and in so intimate an environment. With his partnership with Natalie’s, he’s been branching out into some more rock band focused strains of Americana, like Chuck Prophet and the Mission Express (one of my shows of the year last year), Sarah Borges with Girls Guns and Glory, and now legendary New Orleans  roots-rock outfit The Iguanas. The Iguanas are often compared to a big easy Los Lobos and that’s pretty spot on; a fusion of Texas Latin rhythms like conjunto and norteño with dashes of mambo filtered through the stop and start swing made famous by Allen Toussaint and Wardell Querzegue’s productions and arrangements, and a heavy overlay of Earl Palmer stomp and LA-based chicano rock. In the 25 years they’ve been doing this there have been some ups and downs and some personnel changes, but they keep making great records – that run on Yep Roc a few years ago might be their finest hour so far – and writing great songs, including a co-write with Dave Alvin, “Plastic Silver Nine Volt Heart,” that might be the finest song anyone’s ever written about the power of the radio in somebody’s life.  Starts at 8:00pm, $25 tickets available here.

August 6, 2014

Obnox; Ace of Cups, 2619 N. High St.  Former Columbusite Lamont “Bim” Thomas has never been in a bad band I’ve heard, but over the last handful of years his current Cleveland project, Obnox, has grown into his best band yet and his most defined statement. Garage rock grime, hip-hop bounce, and jaggedly catchy chord progressions that almost remind me of Joy Division, pieced together like a Rauschenberg combine so the juxtapositions and context give each piece heavier weight and give the greater whole more dramatic impact. As good a sweaty rock show as you’re likely to see. Doors at 9:00pm, $5 cover.

Alimañas; Café Bourbon Street, 2216 Summit St.  Columbus often reaps some of the rewards of festivals in other towns, and my pick for the sleeper show of the week is Houston’s Alimañas stopping at Bobo on their way to NYC’s annual Latino Punk Fest. An anarchopunk throwback with shadings of hardcore, I love the tracks I’ve heard so far. In the tiny confines of Bourbon Street, this should be a barn burner. Locals Day Creeper, who also trade in shadings of classic punk but with a rootsier edge, open.  Doors at 10:00pm, $5 cover.

August 7, 2014

Population; Cafe Bourbon Street, 2216 Summit St.  Chicago's Population on HoZac Records are mining a vein of heavy rhythms and slashing guitars threaded with a smoke-throttled rasp. Very much in the vein of early 4AD, done with intensity and vigor and great songs that will get stuck in your head for days, music about life and about grappling with the world, not just a regurgitation of your record collection. Jeff Kleinman's damaged synthscape project Gamma World and newer local band Melted Men open.  Doors at 10:00pm, $5 cover.

August 8, 2014

Night of the Noosenecks with The Gallows, Hot Wet Trash, and The Suicide Ghouls; Bernie's Distillery, 1896 N. High St.  I mentioned in the column a couple weeks ago that Joey Moore died too soon and, in one of the greatest Columbus traditions, many of his friends are setting up tribute shows through fall and they're all special. This one is special in part because it's at Bernie's, where both his earlier band, Joey Blackheart and the Gallows, and his most recent band, The Girls!, did many of their first and most unhinged shows. For this night, there's a reunion of his earlier band The Gallows, and Big Nick (from both bands)'s punk cover outfit, Hot Wet Trash, augmented by the horror punk stylings of The Suicide Ghouls.  Doors at 9:00pm. Donations at the door, all proceeds go to Joey's parents.

Blizzard Babies with Raw Pony and Pretty Pretty; Café Bourbon Street, 2216 Summit St.  Ukulele infused surf garage punk band from Chicago, the Blizzard Babies seem born for a Friday night show, and this is a top to bottom you-can’t-go-wrong bill, with two of Columbus’s finest raw rock bands propping up the triangle. Raw Pony had my favorite set of this year’s Comfest, the only band I saw I just couldn’t wait to see again; Pretty Pretty I haven’t seen in a while but from all accounts they’re on a hot streak. Come out and see the two locals warm up for the following week’s mammoth Ace of Cups party, Helter Swelter, and get some furious dancing in before summer slips out of your grasp.  Doors at 10:00pm, $5 cover.

August 9, 2014

Festival Latino; Bicentennial Park.  One of my favorite local festivals, the food’s second to none and there’s always some music that knocks me for a loop in genres I might know the classics of but don’t do a good job keeping up with. And looking at the schedule (and poking around YouTube), this year is no exception. On Saturday:

• 2:00pm – Herman Olivera.  One of the most legendary salsa soneros working today who’s done time in Eddie Palmieri’s band and Manny Quendo’s, Olivera balances Hector Lavoe’s sinewy, shadowy smoothness with the improvisational fire of Andy Bey. Riding a new record that got a rave review from the New York Times this week, this is a show not to be missed.
• 6:30pm – Joe Veras.  One of the reigning kings of bachata. I know less about Veras, but the songs I’ve heard knock me out and I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say this is one of those shows that will have the crowd going crazy.

Hot Rod Hula Hop; Sequoia Bowl, 5501 Sandalwood Blvd.  The premier tiki-themed event in Columbus every year, thrown by the Fraternal Order of the Maoi, is always a swinging combination car show/vintage sale/rock show hang, and this year has possibly the best lineup they've ever had. Featuring Dayton’s premier surf band The D-Rays at 6:00, Indy’s psychobilly ragers The Cryptokats at 8:00, and NYC’s instrumental surf destroyers The Coffin Daggers at 10:00, with burlesque troupe The Ooh-La-Las between all bands, this is a marathon not a sprint. But the icing on this cake is maybe the best party band working in rock and roll for the last 20+ years, the Supersuckers, at midnight. The Supersuckers are one of the most consistent live bands I’ve ever seen, never putting on a bad show, always doing their straightforward rock redolent of ZZ Top and Thin Lizzy but played fast and hard enough you remember they used to tour in the same circles as the New Bomb Turks – with occasional forays into country – with endless charm, humor, and the real joy of understanding how lucky you are to do exactly what you love year in and year out. I haven’t seen the new lineup with a replacement for Ron “Rontrose” Heathman yet, but I can’t imagine frontman Eddie Spaghetti and other guitarist Dan “Thunder” Bolton would let anyone in who can’t deliver.  Doors at noon, $35 tickets here.

Black Mountain Creeper with Sin Nombre and Swarm; Ace of Cups, 2619 N. High St.  One of my favorite local bands during their tenure, Black Mountain Creeper threw southern rock shadings into a swamp of stoner sludge. Fronted by electrifying frontman Fes Minck (Lordburger, Behemoth, Fes and the Black Panthers) with Chris Wood on drums (now known predominantly as the most adventurous metal booker in town), Doug Tinsley on bass, and a couple varying guitarists (I believe the lineup here is the version with David Jones), this reunion should be heavy enough to rattle your fillings with enough sinister groove for a Saturday night. The openers also deserve a little attention – Sin Nombre is my favorite band of Arturo De Leon’s, which given his history is saying something: in the vein of mid ‘80s metal conjuring early Anthrax and Metallica, but also with a heavy debt to the hooks of Judas Priest, killer grooves and great songs. Swarm are a newer band trying to find something new in the gap between Killers-era Iron Maiden and ‘90s rock like Soundgarden and Rage Against the Machine. It doesn’t all work, but when they hit it’s a sight to see.  Doors at 9:00pm, $5 cover.

August 10, 2014

Festival Latino; Bicentennial Park.  See Saturday, August 9.

•  4:30pm, Jose Alberto (“El Canario”) – A salsa superstar with a 30 year track record, it would be a crime to miss something like this at a free show.
•  6:30pm, Los Hermanos Rosario – A 14-piece merengue band founded by the Rosario brothers (hence the name) are a world-renowned touring band for a reason. Phenomenal, swinging, soulful music.

Buckles and Boots Farewell Hootenanny; Lost Weekend Records, 2960 N. High St.  One of my favorite record stores - easily my go-to for anything local - hosts periodic all day hootenannies in its cramped confines. They're always a great time and an interesting cross-section of music that sounds good stripped down enough for that little room. This iteration builds to the headliners, Buckles and Boots, a terrific classic country husband and wife duo (also half of my favorite traditional country band in town, The Songbirds), playing a last Columbus show before leaving town, at 8:00pm. Other highlights include an early set by The Reverbalines (the duo of David Banbury and Eva Owen, formerly of terrific band Nom Tchotchkes) at 1:00pm, Total Foxx (David Holm and Melanie Bleavins-Holm of Bigfoot with a rotating cast of other players) at 2:30pm, and Jessica Wabbit from The Girls! at 5:30pm.  Starts at 1:00pm, no cover.

New Basics Brass Band; Goodale Park.  Joel Treadway (namechecked as a patron saint for this column) helps (with Alexandra Kelley-Fox and a couple other people) arrange the bands for a yearly summer series in Goodale Park's gazebo and it's one of my favorite summertime traditions, even if things like brunch plans and out of town guests and unpredictable weather and hangovers mean I only make it down a couple times in the season. But this week's appearance by Columbus's carriers of the New Orleans tradition, New Basics Brass Band, should be the perfect synthesis of elements - a summer afternoon, a beautiful park and cascading horns. 12:30pm-2:00pm

Daddy (Will Kimbrough and Tommy Womack); Natalie’s Coal-Fired Pizza, 5601 N. High St.  On a slightly smaller scale than the earlier-discussed Alec Wightman, Bob Teague has been presenting some terrific singer-songwriters usually of a more blues-based persuasion, including bringing Will Kimbrough and Tommy Womack here solo more than once, but the band of them together should be pretty special. Tommy Womack’s one of the most energetic and vitriolic acoustic singer-songwriters I’ve ever seen, and on an uphill swing since his declaration of throwing in the towel, There I Said It, and Kimbrough doesn’t often put out records under his own name but his writing, guitar and harmonies have enlivened everyone from Amy Rigby to Josh Rouse to Hayes Carll to Mindy Smith to a long association with Rodney Crowell. Decades of experience between them and both consummate entertainers - if you’ve got any interest in the genre, you can’t go wrong here.  Starts at 8:00pm, $10 tickets available here.

The Humminbird with Mike Shiflet, Pete Fosco, and Meltin’ John; Double Happiness, 482 S. Front St.  Muyassar Kurdi’s gentle psychedelia with a serrated avant-garde edge blows in from Chicago for a Sunday night show that should be an optimal opportunity for clearing your head out for the next week. She plays with a large pool of players in Chicago and this year so far has toured with Matt Schneider on pedal steel and Michael Kendrick on drums; no word on who she’s bringing along on this run. One of the leading lights of Columbus abstract music, Mike Shiflet, opens, along with Cincinnati prepared guitar maestro Pete Fosco and newer Columbus electronics project Meltin’ John.  Starts at 10pm, $7 cover.

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