Holiday Liquor Bar offers drinks like Malört and food like hot dogs. In a separate area next to the bar is the fun center, featuring pool tables and Skee-Ball. But in the bar area lies possibly Cincinnati’s only Zoltar machine. If you recall, in the movie Big, Tom Hanks wishes on a Zoltar machine to be a 30-year-old man, and his wish comes true. Instead of making wishes come true, the machine spouts out a horoscope-like card predicting your future. Take the master’s wisdom to heart. holidayliquorbar.com.
It’s a little off the beaten path, even for the West Side, but that’s part of what makes 13 Below Brewery a great spot to slip away to during the week – even when it’s not so much drinking that’s on your mind, but checking off some to-dos. You won’t be competing for a table in the large comfortable space, especially during the week. On-site food truck, the Incline Smoke Shack, will keep you fed Thursday through Sunday and on other days you can keep from getting hangry with pretzels and beer cheese from the bar. But, best of all, there’s plenty of cold house-brewed beer on hand when it’s time to call it quits. 13belowbrewery.com.
Alanis Morrissette has never shied away from making a statement. Accompanied by Joan Jett and Morgan Wade, last summer’s “Triple Moon Tour” that paid a visit to Cincinnati’s Riverbend Music Center was an embodiment of powerful female rage and power. Apart from powerful musical performances from Morissette and others, the show also included powerful visuals, including several montages of Black Lives Matter and pro-abortion protests. During a time of political turmoil and the possibility of a female president leading the nation, Morissette did not waver in her commitment to female empowerment.
In December, The National released a live album, Rome, recorded in Rome that previous June and dubbed the “definitive live document of The National.” The band also released a compilation of fan footage from over 25 years of touring to accompany the album. This marks the second time the band has released a live album. On this same tour that led to the live album recording in Rome, The National also performed at Louisville’s Bourbon and Beyond Festival in September to rave reviews. Longtime a Cincinnati staple, the band continues to make the city proud. americanmary.com.
Largely rooted in folk rock, Michael Marcagi's debut American Romance is centered around experiencing love and loss growing up in Cincinnati and the Midwest. After experiencing success with local band The Heavy Hours, Marcagi began gaining a large following on TikTok, where he posted several videos of himself performing his original music in the months before the release of his EP. Now, with over 8.7 million monthly listeners on Spotify, the local musician sticks to his roots with the recent release of single “Midwest Kid.” “I want people to feel like they know me…I don’t want to hide,” Marcagi said in a recent press release. michaelmarcagimusic.com.
Caffè Vivace is that remarkable rarity: an intimate venue featuring outstanding jazz all week long. And you’re expected to listen. The audience rarely exceeds 40 and the bar service is efficient and unobtrusive. In a given month, you can hear The Blue Wisp Big Band, Camille Saba Smith, Paul Patterson and Phil DeGreg’s ensembles or catch touring acts like Emmet Cohen, Art Gore, Christian McBride, Craig Bailey and Phillip Tipton. Don’t gripe about paying a bar minimum above your ticket price. It’s a fraction of what you pay in larger cities. You’ll never be this close and personal with jazz acts again. caffevivace.com.
Bershy (AKA Brea Shay) didn’t always want to be a pop star. Bershy started off her musical journey admiring more folksy musicians like Joni Mitchell and Joan Baez, but she was later entranced by the campy, ‘80s sounds of Bjork and Kate Bush that inspired her to create pop music. Releasing queer love song “4U” in March of last year, Bershy strives to promote queer joy through her songs and live performances. “Music gives us an opportunity to create these spaces wherever we go, and I feel very determined to make all of my shows feel like that – a giant celebration of sexuality and queer joy,” Bershy told CityBeat.
The second oldest bar in Cincinnati, O’Malley’s in the Alley is a name commonly seen on lists like this one. However, when O’Malley’s is mentioned, it’s often for the same reasons: the menu, the history, its place as a Cincinnati landmark, etc…What’s often forgotten is how O’Malleys stands as one of the last meeting places for Cincinnatians from all walks of life. Opened in 1892, and built around the classic “Irish pub” theme, countless people have walked through the bar’s doors, and still do so today. O’Malley’s may be a tourist destination, but it’s also one of the few places where regular people off of work may bump into staffers for the mayor’s office and City Hall, or reporters from the city’s legacy media publication. It’s an epicenter of gossip, discussion, debate and camaraderie, as all great bars should be, and maintains its deep cultural ties to the Queen City. omalleyscincy.com.
The folks who produce Matinée Musicale have been doing it for more than 110 years. They scour the world of classical music for rising talent — pianists, violinists, small ensembles, singers and more — and present them in recitals, mostly at OTR’s Memorial Hall. You might not have heard of them now, but Matinée Musicale’s batting average is phenomenal, catching stars on the rise who will be legends before long. matineemusicalecincinnati.org.
Most of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra’s audience for the Oct. 4 and 5 concerts showed up for Bela Fleck but he was almost upstaged by guest conductor Thomas Wilkins, who led a raucous and occasionally tender performance of Aaron Copland’s score for the ballet Rodeo. The CSO clearly relished the opportunity to let loose in the finale, a rip-roaring hoedown that ended with shouts of “Yeehaw!” and a standing ovation. Fleck performed his transcription of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue for banjo but what got the crowd on its feet was his encore: what started as a familiar-sounding meditation that slowly morphed into the theme from the ‘60s sitcom The Beverly Hillbillies. cincinnatisymphony.org.
As good as the Cincinnati Symphony is, it doesn’t sell every seat in Music Hall for every concert. So the CSO this season launched a different kind of subscription, the “Harmony Pass.” For as little as $10.99/monthly, you can get pre-sale access to CSO and Pops concert tickets at no additional expense — a weekly email alerts Harmony Pass holders to what’s available for the next weekend. Tickets often are priced as high as $90, so a year of Harmony Pass membership pays for itself after attending just two concerts. cincinnatisymphony.org.
No one goes to a music venue expecting The Ritz. When a business packs large quantities of people together for an extended period of time — their sweat, spittle and other bodily fluids mingling together for hours on end — a degree of grime is expected by most visitors. Likewise, art lovers don’t often experience spaces that reflect the vitality of the artwork they’re showcasing. Prominent art venues are usually sterile, exclusive and ruthlessly controlled. The Design Collective (DSGN CLLCTV) brings the grime in abundance, with its graffiti and paint-covered exterior in Northside. But DSGN CLLCTV is more than a brand — it’s the epicenter of Cincinnati’s underground art and culture scene and a gateway for the uninitiated into a world of artists and performers operating outside the mainstream. It’s one of the only places in Cincinnati where you can scrape your elbow in a mosh pit one day, and then see an exhibition from local street artists the next; DSGN CLLCTV is a refuge for creators who’ve been ignored or rejected by the city’s tastemakers. dsgncllctv.com.
Snugs has likely accomplished more in his dog years than most of us have in our mortal lifetimes. He's modeled hats, ruthlessly guarded arcade apparatuses and sat behind the wheel of (mini) autonomous vehicles. Yet he hasn’t let the fame get to his head. A stoic little fella, this big-eyed, long-haired chihuahua carries himself like a wee philosopher. He doesn’t say very much, but he doesn’t have to. Maybe Snugs has seen things we petty mortals aren’t yet ready to understand. For now, you can find him hawking Northside Yacht Club staples, from gargantuan corndogs to Claw Night, and being so gosh darn adorable. Ask politely, and owner Stuart MacKenzie just might let you hold him. northsideyachtclub.com.
When critics and fans talk about post-punk, rarely do American bands come up. Like its predecessor, the post-punk movement has been centered in the U.K., with bands like Idles, Fontaines D.C., Yard Act, Black Country, New Road and others defining the genre. Our understanding of post-punk — how it sounds, its recurring themes, its worldview — almost entirely comes from one sceptered isle. Nonetheless, bands of equal caliber are beginning to emerge in the United States. And one band in particular will soon be joining the ranks of Idles as a group whose music defined the era in which it was created: Cincinnati band No Conscription League. Their album, Demos for your Mom, is a tour de force, with songs ranging from bombastic and spine-tingling — like “Seed Bomb D.C.” or “Meat,” to grungy songs like “The Scimitar.” Never is there a song that the listener may be inclined to skip, or a piece that doesn’t match the quality of the one played before. Some may dismiss the band as a collection of wayward 20-somethings, whose work won’t last past maturity. But the level of talent, skill and unique voice in Conscription League’s work already, at such a young age, proves continued ascent is inevitable. instagram.com/no_conscription_league_.
Overflow delivers an electrifying blend of raw energy, tight musicianship and unapologetic passion that defines the very essence of hardcore. Their latest release, an EP entitled DEMO 2024, is a relentless onslaught of crushing riffs, breakneck tempos and guttural vocals that command attention from the first note to the last. Every track pulses with intensity, embodying the DIY spirit and unfiltered aggression that hardcore fans crave. Beyond the music, their presence on social media radiates the same authenticity and dedication, creating a strong connection with their growing fanbase. Overflow isn’t just a band — it’s a force, carrying the torch for hardcore with unshakable conviction and a sound that demands to be heard. instagram.com/overflowhc.
In November, pop artist Allie X visited Bogart’s on her “Weird World Tour.” Allie X has been releasing music since 2011, first gaining widespread attention for her hit, “Bitch,” off her debut EP CollXtion I. Nearly two decades after her rejection from the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), Allie X had a few choice words for the institution. “Well, they were fucking rude to me!” X responds to the crowd after they cheered for the local mention. It’s clear that CCM missed out on perhaps one of the most creative goth-pop artists out there, but Allie X didn’t need their help to bolster her rise to fame. instagram.com/alliex.
Nightlife in Cincinnati is being revitalized by DJ Boywife (among others, of course), who embodies club glamour and brings a fresh dose of club culture to the Queen City. Growing up in a small town in northern Ohio, DJ Boywife cites discovering the music of queer pop icon SOPHIE as an “epiphany” moment that inspired him to get into music. The DJ’s near-nightly appearances at popular nightclubs and venues such as Alice, Mecca OTR and DSGN CLLCTV have skyrocketed the Ohio native to local fame. “There’s just something about making good times for people and making memories for other people,” DJ Boywife told CityBeat in a previous interview.
It’s hard to think of the Ohio music scene without thinking of Kim Deal. Since the 1980s, the Dayton native has been making music with influential bands The Breeders and The Pixies, and last year, finally released her debut solo album, Nobody Loves You More. In February, Deal played two sold-out hometown shows in Dayton and Cincinnati in support of her new album, which quickly became a favorite among music critics and her fans. kimdealmusic.com.
Mighty Wurlitzer Organs provided soundtracks for silent movies back in the 1920s, including one at the Albee Theatre, which stood on Fifth Street south of Fountain Square (where the Westin Hotel is located today). It’s moved around more than once, but it’s now a cherished feature of the ballroom in Cincinnati Music Hall. Several times annually it’s rolled out for special family-friendly concerts. “Silent Movies Made Musical” presents classic silent films with new original accompaniment. “Happy Holidays with the Might Wurlitzer Organ” offers holiday tunes augmented by singers, dancers and even Santa himself. The organ can produce sound effects and resonant melodies that you not only hear but feel. It’s a unique experience. cincinnatiarts.org.
Are you ever out with your friends and you feel you need a game to spice up the fun? Look no further than Covington Yard with their game of giant Jenga (or Jenga Giant, as it’s officially called). Alongside local food trucks, a fully stocked bar and cornhole, you and your friends can play the classic game of Jenga, too. This is also a great spot to bring your kids for endless hours of entertainment. covingtonyard.com.