Milk: Summer Underground

Ari of Milk: Summer Underground, Cincinnati's weekly party that focuses on the music rather than the party, has been asking me to say something about the even since it began, and, though I started off posting announcements, I have done little else to support it. I went tonight, the first time all summer I've had a chance to, and had a great time.

Milk has had a bit of drama in the last few weeks. It moved its location from Below Zero to Little Bit, and I was sure that it would die. However, word had it that last week's event was huge and made for a packed house at Little Bit's. Once upon a time, Little Bit's was one of my favorite bars in the world, though I have not had the opportunity to enjoy as much as I should have, though it's the only LGBTQ bar I could feasibly walk home from. And it is the only LGBTQ bar left in Clifton -- sigh.

I will say this: for everything else I might criticize, Ari plays some great music. It's an unexpected break from the usual. Jazz, a little bit of pop, some hip-hop. It's both unexpected and delicious. In the two hours I spent there, I heard everything from Billie Holliday to Madonna... and who couldn't appreciate that kind of diversity? The crowd was distinctly smaller than the

week before. but still busy. I didn't see Irene -- one of the three owners and recently returned to the bar full time (a fact I am very grateful for) -- stop moving behind the bar except for a few brief moments the entire time I was there. A handful of cute gay boys even made an appearance, as well as some of the cast of Cincinnati Opera's Carmen.

The only true complaint is that the music, for the size of the crowd, was too loud. However, had there been more people, it would have been the perfect volume.

Milk: Summer Underground occurs every Thursday night at Little Bit's Bar on Vine Street.