"10 Minutes in Cincy" Music for the Weekend

Saturday December 3rd:
Saturday Night Music:
alchemize: Jeff Timmons, The Trojan Rabbit
Northside Tavern: The Spectacular Fantastic, Woody Whatever, The 13s
Comet: (in) camera, The Unicorns
Copper's on Main: 500 Miles to Memphis, Dingo Brown
Viper Room: Giant Wow, The Lab Rats, Sohio, and Phearus
Mad Hatter: ???? It's a Mystery.
Mad Frog: Served
Southgate House: Ballroom: Steven Gregory, The Hinges, Terravada, Hierophant, Gregory Morris Group; Parlour: The Freddies

10 Min in Cincy 10:12-10:22pm, Music Hall
I'd always suspected that there was a secret speakeasy somewhere in Music Hall. I mean, how do you have world class musicians without a secret bar tucked away?

After the Thursday night performance, we took our secret passes and headed for the entrance.

"Can I help you get somewhere?" asked the gentleman in the black suit who was gate-keeping. He was polite, but underneath that politeness was a person who was guarding an underground cult of classical music and trivia knowledge.

Once we showed off our VIP status, he waved us in. The bar room was exactly how you'd picture a hideout within Music Hall. The bar was an ornate, wood-carving. Tables and chairs everywhere. And a nice spread of post-performance appetizers. The group was small and intimate. Everyone seemed interested in how we came to infiltrate the gathering (Cincinnati Advance is always good for that).

While there, we had the opportunity to meet some of the musicians from the concert, mostly string musicians. And believe me, if you've ever had a heated game of Texas Hold 'em with string musicians, you know never to turn your back on one.

There would be no poker, thankfully. But there would be other shady activities. "Okay, if you'd all like to take your seats, we'll begin our music trivia game." And with that, the projection screen lit up with questions and music to match.

Our table put in a valiant effort. But beyond the "Potent Potable" category, about the only contribution I could make to the game were a couple of answers from the "random knowledge" quadrant of my intellect: I happened to recognize the poster from Ben-Hur, and I happened to know Sting's real name.

The conductor, Paavo Jarvi, popped into the bar during the heated game. Try as we did, we could not get him to help our table with answers to symphonic obscurities- not even with a bribe. Table Six and Table Two were running with the game.

But of course, while competing, I kept a weary eye on the string musicians. Never turn your back on a string musician hell-bent on winning.(DM)

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