COVINGTON, Ky. – Now you want an icy cold beverage, right? Chilled gin poured into a metal coupe that’s been in the freezer for the last hour? Now, that’s a libation that’s staying cold.
Tonight’s gin launch event at Juniper’s will serve such cold drinks up in style. And while we can’t guarantee the metal coupe, we can guarantee metal of a different kind this weekend in The Cov, as in the loud, aggressive, guttural, no-mistaking-the-genre kind of music. In fact, there will be a big ol’ festival full of thrashin’ metal.
Other good things to do too (like burlesque!). Scroll down and plot out a good weekend for yourself.
Remember when you first realized that a cocktail involved alchemy? Odds are that epiphany happened nearly 20 years ago right here in Covington as you watched a wizard – her arms veritable works of art themselves, wrapped in exquisite, inked vines and blossoms -- blend intoxicating potions from behind a bar on Greenup Street. Yep, it all started right here in The Cov.
If memory serves, that bar was at the old Scalea’s Ristorante at 320 Greenup. Molly Wellmann, having returned home from her West Coast sojourn with an arsenal of ideas, lined the bar with rows of glasses – veritable beakers – that held lychee, berries, fruits, and fresh herbs, and muddled them into magic and stirred in some spirits. She conjured up cocktail recipes dating back to the 17th Century with homemade syrups, tonics, and elixirs.
Molly turned her magic into an industry: Wellman Brands (think Japp’s, OKBB, Myrtle’s Punch House, and more). Tonight, she’s back on the bold side of the river with a new gin – her very own – that she’s concocted from the beautiful things that grow at the Krohn Conservatory, no less.
Fittingly, the Launch Party for Molly Wellmann’s Cincinnati Gin happens at Juniper’s (because, you know, gin is made from juniper berries). You’ll get to sip Molly’s latest creation, try a special cocktail made with her gin, and enjoy tasty nibbles from Juniper’s menu.
Turns out Scandinavian countries consistently rank as the happiest in the world and have a particular fondness for heavy metal music. Maybe it all began with Vikings jamming on taut goat skin, a skalmejen solo, and lyrics from runic inscriptions.
Whatever the case, that morsel is courtesy of a 2016 bona fide survey by Czech linguist and mathematician Jakub Marian, who found that while the United States has about 72 metal bands for every million citizens, Sweden has more than 428 such bands. Some speculate that this is due to the cathartic impact of metal, allowing otherwise introverted Scandinavians to process feeling they cannot express in public.
We’re not so sure. After all, healthy self-expression is never discouraged in The Cov (Introverts? Us?), and on Saturday the Covington Metal Fest II happens at Madison Live with Obsidian Mind, A Sense of Purpose, Denihilist, The Earth Laid Bare, Daywalker, Wave Painter, Times Up!, Death of a Poet, Encrement, Scab Hag, Lo The Loyal, Conscripts, Goroh, and Dissociated.
Unscientific conclusion: Whether it’s death metal, industrial metal, stoner metal, nu-metal, power metal, doom metal, deathcore, folk metal, shoegaze, black metal, Viking metal (ah ha!), or symphonic metal, just make it metal in The Cov, where happy extroverts like metal too.
If you’re gonna display or wear a piece of art, why not make it local?
On Saturday, Purple Paisley, Local Artisan Shop will hold its outdoor Local Artisan Market
with a wide variety of creative goods for sale, from jewelry to wood block prints to silhouettes, paintings, clay pieces, and more.
And the beauty of it?
The artist is right there ready to tell you all about the genesis of the piece and the technique and time that went into it … which of course will give you fodder with which to wow your party guests while you give them a tour of your house, drinks in hand.
Who doesn’t love a good burlesque variety show?
On Saturday, Creative House of Art and Design hosts its Riot Rose Cabaret: A Variety Burlesque Variety Show featuring performances by: a punk rock queen (Roxie Jean) … an internationally published cover model (Blaze Bell) … a rising burlesque star (Astro Sparks) … a Cincinnati native (Rosemary Morris) … and professional fire and LED flow artists (Elixir The Enigma).
Tonight: Taylor Henry at Juniper’s … Music@BCM: Losing Lucky at Behringer-Crawford Museum … The Missy Werner Band at Molly Malone’s Irish Pub & Restaurant … Matt Waters at Keystone Bar & Grill … Sonny Moorman at Smoke Justis.
Friday: Briz at Smoke Justis … Kevin Sparks Trio at Juniper’s … Kyla at Cock and Bull Public House … Parker Barrow with the Laurelys at Madison Live … Russell Jinkins Band XL at the Rooftop at Madison Theater.
Saturday: The Bluebirds at Smoke Justice … The Newbees at Wunderbar … Brazilian Jazz with Estrada do Sol at Juniper’s … Jam Around: Hills of Kentucky Dulcimers at Kenton County Public Library … Ohio Is For Covers at Strasse Haus.
Tonight: Community Art Show at DBL Law (registration required) … The Art of Fashion: Fay Applegarth Maddux at Behringer-Crawford Museum … Dancing with Nature at Behringer-Crawford Museum … Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill at The Carnegie … Kinky Boots at The Carnegie.
Friday: Dancing with Nature at Behringer-Crawford Museum … The Art of Fashion: Fay Applegarth Maddux at Behringer-Crawford Museum … Devou Night Rides at Devou Park.
Saturday: Covington Farmers Market at 3rd & Court Streets … Dancing with Nature at Behringer-Crawford Museum … MainStrasse Village Food Tour … The Art of Fashion: Fay Applegarth Maddux at Behringer-Crawford Museum … Guys and Dolls at The Carnegie.
Sunday: Dancing with Nature at Behringer-Crawford Museum … The Art of Fashion: Fay Applegarth Maddux … Guys and Dolls at The Carnegie.
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