It had been a topic of discussion for some time in the OMD fan group on Facebook, but many were skeptical. A CD box set, it was rumored, was coming … Read More
Concert Review: Brian Wilson with Special Guests The Zombies, Cincinnati, OH
Fun fact: you’ll see more actual Beach Boys on stage during a Brian Wilson concert than you will by the group that tours as The Beach Boys. The latter, of … Read More
Concert Review: Stray Cats, Rose Music Center, Huber Hts., OH
It’s been 40 years since Brian Setzer, Lee Rocker, and “Slim Jim” Phantom formed Stray Cats. You wouldn’t know it by seeing them today, as rock & roll as certainly … Read More
Concert Review: The Regrettes, Cincinnati, Oh
“I’ve never thought of us as a full punk band,” says The Regrette’s Lydia Knight, “because that felt wrong, and poser-ish to me. We wrote some punk songs.” Of course, … Read More
Concert Review: Drake Bell, Cincinnati, Ohio
Drake Bell I didn’t grow up with Nickelodeon’s Drake & Josh, but my kids did, especially my youngest who discovered it after it ceased production. Of even more interest to … Read More
Bunbury Music Festival 2018 Review
If you’re a proper music festival goer and you haven’t attended Bunbury yet, you need to mark your 2019 calendar now. Arguably the most underrated festival in America, it has … Read More
Concert Review: Brian Setzer Orchestra, Cincinnati, Ohio
My Pop Culture Beast colleague Pat Francis has often said, and he’s not the only one, that certain guitarists have their own sound. When Brian May of Queen plays, you … Read More
CD Review – The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, “The Echo of Pleasure”
The biggest thing that leaps out immediately about The Pains of Being Pure at Heart’s fourth album, The Echo of Pleasure, is how crisp it sounds. Previous efforts have taken … Read More
CD Review – Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, “The Punishment of Luxury”
In the very fine book Mad World: An Oral History of New Wave Artists and Songs That Defined the 1980s by Jonathan Bernstein and Lori Majewski we learned, among other … Read More
Concert review: Retro Futura Tour, Dayton, Ohio
It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what made this year’s Retro Futura Tour so great, as there were many factors working in the show’s favor, starting with how good everyone looked … Read More
Bunbury Music Festival 2017 Review
The summer got off to great start in Cincinnati with the sixth edition of the Bunbury Music Festival on the banks of the Ohio River. A sure sign that … Read More
The 1975, Live in Cincinnati (BB&T Arena, Highland Heights, Kentucky)
The most astonishing thing about The 1975’s performance at BB&T Arena, on the campus of Northern Kentucky University, is the song they didn’t play. The group first gained national exposure … Read More
Summer Concert Roundup: Bunbury Music Festival, Cincinnati
Sure, Lollapalooza, Bonaroo, and Coachella get a lot of ink and social media attention from music fans both casual and hardcore, but the festival you should have on your itinerary … Read More
Hall & Oates, Live in Cincinnati
Unlike many ‘70s-era groups, Hall & Oates very much moved with the times. Even before there was any place to show them, they were making videos. And while never fully … Read More