I love the fall.  All the leaves turning colors, your favorite frat boys return to campus, the heat bill starts to get so outrageous you have to resort to eating white bread and Milwaukee's Best three times a day, etc. etc.  Fall is also the season for all the best tours, especially around college town, and this year is no exception in Cincinnati.  October has been a great month for live shows.

Poster Children
The Poster Children arrived just in time to climax the fall tour season October 25th at Sudsy's.  The Poster Kids played a brilliant, high energy set of deafening rock and roll.  The place was absolutely packed on a Saturday night; their was crowd surfing, classic beer dancing (that's where you jump up and down in the same spot and push the people in front of you, creating a chain reaction), and the fan friendly Poster Kids played an hour and a half set full of old and new material.  The band put in overtime as well, hanging around after the show to sign autographs, sell T-shirts and chat with all the die-hards.  Two of our cities finest opened the show, the up and coming Autumn Rising and local legends Ditchweed.  They were all bitchin' this night, nothing could have been better.

Mike Watt
Earlier the same week, Mike Watt came to Sudsy's toting his new band (that guy from the Geraldine Fibbers plays guitar, he's awesome) and songs from his new record.  I think the pressure of being the lone lead singer (a first for Mike) affected him though, because the music was not as together as one might expect.  The band kind of went off on some hard to follow tangents that probably sounded good in rehearsal, but the grind of forty-two shows in forty-five days may have taken something out of it.  But it was Mike Watt, the legend on stage!  Anyway, the songs were pretty cool, they have that aquatic theme to them, sort of like the new Ween album, all about sailors out at sea and what not.  This was another huge show, and Heeva Hava opened, but they're pretty long winded.  I didn't really understand the grouping of the bands.  David Byrne played the very same night over at Bogarts.  I kind of wish I'd gone to see that instead.

Dambuilders
Perhaps the least noticed of the great underground shows this month was the Dambuilders concert.  What a fantastic set-up they've got.  They play this really dynamic indie rock music with this gorgeous Pat Benatar looking girl singing back-up and playing electric violin.  The band does that wall of noise thing sometimes with the violin screeching over top, it's absolute bliss to the ears.  I know they've been around for a while and have put out a few records, but nothing near as great as this new disc and tour.  Go buy something of theirs today!

Those are the best tours so far this season (along with Ween last month), but Wesley Willis is yet to come and more next month.

LOCAL INTEREST:
On the local front, some things have really been taking off.  Art Attacks went off really well at the Southgate House (read more about it and hear a live recording right here on Cincinnati-Atlas).  That concert featured a ton of local bands, as well as performance art and all kinds of other stuff.

Little Billy Catfish Trio
As usual, the Little Billy Catfish Trio played every club, every night, finding newer and bigger audiences of converts to the blues sound everywhere they go (the band even found time to play live on WAIF this month and record a seven-inch at Backstage Studio's).

300 Watts
300 Watts played an awesome show at Sudsy's earlier in the month with minor league ska band, Short Millie.  300 Watts is one of the best new things happening in this city with their short, tight little post punk sound.  Unfortunately the band is continually torn be their other group (the red-headed step child) Stich.  Stich is constantly touring out of town, leaving little time for the new group to develop, but some day soon.

Clifford Nevernew
Clifford Nevernew and Lazy was another show of particular interest.  Clifford Nevernew is quickly becoming a hot item around here and its little wonder why.  Their energetic live shows are full of back to basics, power-trio shit, very reminiscent of early 80's bands like the Jam or even the more punk side of the Police.  Aggressive yet bouncy, I think they'll go far.

Other shows of note that just weren't in the budget this month:  Ass Ponys 10/3; Magnet/Gogomach 10/7; Trans Am 10/20; Chevy Heston 10/21; Throneberry 10/23:  Also,

• Wesley Willis/Fudgie and Fufu 10/29-Sudsy's
• Radiolaria CD Release 10/31-Sudsy's
• Aquarium Rescue Unit 11/16-Sycamore Gardens