The Clifton institution Murphy’s Pub celebrates the 30th Anniversary of opening their doors to quench the thirst for generations of U.C. students, working class heroes, and itinerant rockers. On the weekend of October 18 – 19, 2019, the Murphy’s Pub ‘Dirty Thirty’ - two nights of rock ’n’ roll in the storied and historic back room, celebrating 30 years since a couple of visionary Cincinnati music promoters and a situationist bar manager crossed paths with this gritty Clifton Heights neighborhood bar.
Cool music happened here. Loudly.
As the late 1980’s gave way to the 1990’s, Murphy’s Pub in Cincinnati became a vital venue for local and regional underground bands, and a regular tour stop for cutting edge national and international acts at the height of the D.I.Y. era. Among the legendary artists to perform in its tiny back room – before the grunge explosion brought adventurous music to the mainstream – were Nirvana, L7, the Afghan Whigs, the Jesus Lizard, the Laughing Hyenas, the Velvet Underground’s Mo Tucker, Half Japanese, the Cynics, Unsane, and many, many others.
Murphy’s Pub ‘Dirty Thirty’ celebrates the legacy and ongoing cultural impact of this influential Ohio nightclub with two evenings of performances featuring Murphy’s veterans and fellow travelers alike:
The Dummy Ups (members of the Customs, the Auburnaires, the Malcontent), 11,000 Switches, IdleAires, Tweens, Harambe’s Heroes (an all-star band playing songs from the new anthology We Were Living in Cincinnati and including prominent early local punk scene figures), Smoothy (members of BPA), The Mudlarks, Chalk Eye, Tiger Sex, Stallone N’Roses, The Tigerlilies, and a number of special guests.
Grab tickets at Murphy’s Pub, Shake it Records, or Herzog Music!
Additionally, on Sunday, October 20, from 6:30-9pm, Herzog Music will host WE WERE LIVING IN CINCINNATI: A PUNK PANEL. Moderated by musician, author, and former Murphy’s Pub booking agent Peter Aaron, the free event will focus on the era of local underground music chronicled on We Were Living in Cincinnati: Punk and Underground Sounds from Ohio’s Queen City (1975-1982), a new compilation album curated by Aaron and jointly released by the HoZac and Shake It! record labels.
Present on the panel to discuss the early Cincinnati punk scene and their roles in it will be local luminaries Mike Enright (the Ed Davis Band), Jim Cole (the Customs), David Lewis (11,000 Switches), Robert Beatty (Beef), Vivien Rusche (the Dents, Alterior Motives), Forest Bivens (the Customs, Beef, the Verbs), Doug Hallet (Dream 286, the Dents, Latex Theatre), and John Schmidt (the Erector Set, the Malcontent). A brief solo performance by David Lewis will follow the talk. The event is free and open to the public with limited seating. Coffee and beverages will be available, with all proceeds from their sales benefitting the non-profit Cincinnati USA Music Heritage Foundation.
Aaron will also sign and sell copies of his latest book, Richie Ramone’s autobiography I Know Better Now.
