What to Do in Cincinnati This Weekend: Aug. 31-Sept. 3

Friday 31

WHY? with Lala Lala and Ben Sloan
On March 11, 2008, Cincinnati-native and Bay Area transplant Yoni Wolf and fellow Cincy musical brothers Josiah Wolf (also Yoni’s actual brother) and Doug McDiarmid saw the album on which they’d spent months working, Alopecia, released into the wild. Issued by experimental Hip Hop label Anticon (which Yoni co-founded), the album would prove to be a landmark moment in WHY?’s history, marking a pronounced evolutionary sonic shift and the true beginnings of Wolf & Co.’s imminent global success as a recording and touring band. Friday in their hometown, WHY? kicks off an extensive run of dates that will have them playing Alopecia in full all over the world. Anticipation is high — the late-November tour stop in New York sold out in mid-August.
8 p.m. Friday. $16 advance; $20 day of. Woodward Theater, 1404 Main St., Over-the-Rhine, woodwardtheater.com.
Photo: WHY?

Friday 31

Art After Dark: Art After Ducklings
Celebrate the Cincinnati Art Museum’s exhibit of Hamilton children’s book illustrator Robert McCloskey’s Make Way for Ducklings, a collection of his Caldecott Medal-winning artwork from the mid-20th century. At this Art After Dark event, there will be a bounce house, live music from Jake Speed & the Freddies, meet-and-greets with FC Cincinnati players and Cincinnati Reds mascots and food for purchase from Mazunte and Graeter’s.
5-9 p.m. Friday. Free admission. Cincinnati Art Museum, 953 Eden Park Drive, Mount Adams, cincinnatiartmuseum.org.
Photo: Provided

Friday 31

AGAR Block Party featuring Pomegranates
Friday's AGAR Block Party is a free outdoor celebration of the 10th anniversary of Cincinnati marketing/events company AGAR, the engine behind (among many other things) BLINK Cincinnati and the Ubahn Music Festival. AGAR is shutting down the block in front of its headquarters for a night of live music and DJs including The Hood Internet, Pomegranates, Passeport, Knotts Music and DJ HD. Cincinnati Indie Pop group Pomegranates returns to the concert stage for the first time in since 2015.
6 p.m. Friday. Free. The stage will be in front of AGAR’s offices at 1205 Walnut St., between 12th and 13th streets Over-the-Rhine. More info: facebook.com/agaragency.
Photo: Pomegranates by Michael Newsted

Friday 31-Sunday 02

Jay Phillips at the Liberty Funny Bone
“My son, who is 15, was asking me for advice on women,” comedian jay Phillips tells an audience. “I don’t know what to tell him. Technology has messed everything up. eHarmony is a big lie. They say, ‘We asked people 350 questions to make sure we find the perfect match for you.’ I’m a college-educated man; I’ve never taken a test with 350 questions in my life.” Phillips, a native of Washington, D.C., began his career in radio, co-hosting the morning show on a popular Baltimore, Md. radio station.
Through Sunday. $15-$45. Funny Bone Liberty, 7518 Bales St., Liberty Township, liberty.funnybone.com.
Photo: Provided

Friday 31

Overcast Hip Hop Fest
This weekend marks the debut of a new Cincinnati Hip Hop festival, Overcast, which goes down Friday and Saturday at Northside’s Urban Artifact. One of the top-of-the-poster performers at Overcast is Cincinnati Hip Hop legend Mr. Dibbs. Along with Eyenine and Dope KNife, Dibbs is joined at the top of the Overcast poster by Columbus, Ohio’s Blueprint. The rest of the Overcast lineup is heavy on local Hip Hop artists. Greater Cincinnati performers include Raised x Wolves, Sons of Silverton, Eugenius, Audley, Xzela & Luna Bruja, Haskell, Trademark Aaron, Devin Burgess, Evolve and Triiibe, among many others. The fest will also feature plenty of non-locals, like Nashville’s Spoken Nerd, Milwaukee’s Taiyamo Denku, Philly’s ialive and Columbus’ Hafrican and Happy Tooth & Dug.
8 p.m. Friday; 3 p.m. Saturday. $20 single day; $30 two-day. Urban Artifact, 1660 Blue Rock St., Northside, facebook.com/overcastfest.
Photo: Blueprint (left) and Mr. Dibbs