Clay Aiken brings the Rewind tour to Ludlow Garage

His first Cincinnati show since 2023 puts the American Idol alum, and his first new single in 18 years, in Clifton's storied rock room on Friday, March 12.

The last time Clay Aiken played Cincinnati, it was October 2023 in the Anderson Theater at Memorial Hall. Next spring he comes back to a room with a very different pedigree, a Clifton club best known for a 44-minute Allman Brothers jam, and he's bringing new songs.

Clay Aiken plays Ludlow Garage on Friday, March 12, 2027, at 7:30 p.m. The show was announced Oct. 19. The room holds 725, and tickets run $56.75 to $287.35 through Ticketmaster.

What's changed since 2023 is that Aiken is releasing new music. In May, the North Carolina singer returned to the American Idol stage for the season finale and debuted "Rewind," his first new single in 18 years (6abc). The song gives its name to the REWIND 2027 TOUR, which takes the pop career that started on Idol's second season back on the road with new material (International Business Times). Dates so far include The Newton Theatre in New Jersey on Feb. 28 and Baltimore on March 6 (Visit Baltimore), a week before Cincinnati.

Next spring Aiken comes back to a room with a very different pedigree, and new songs.

The room is the other half of the story. Jim Tarbell opened the Ludlow Garage in Clifton on Sept. 19, 1969, a month after Woodstock, with a Grand Funk Railroad show (CityBeat). It closed in early 1971, but in that short run it hosted a long list of rock bands of the era. The Allman Brothers Band played there several times, and *Live at Ludlow Garage: 1970*, released on Polydor in 1990, includes the 44-minute "Mountain Jam" recorded there (Wikipedia). The Garage reopened as a music venue in 2015 (Wikipedia; CityBeat) and now books shows several nights a week.

A pop singer known for ballads isn't the obvious fit for a room with that history. That's what makes it interesting. Memorial Hall is a formal theater. The Garage is a club on Ludlow Avenue, and at 725 capacity it is about as close as you can get to a singer with Aiken's range.

What to know before going: it's a Friday 7:30 start. The price range is wide, from $56.75 to $287.35, so look at what the higher tiers include before you choose. Buy through the Ticketmaster link above rather than a reseller. The show is four months out, so there's time to plan dinner on Ludlow beforehand.

Twenty-some years after Idol, Aiken has a new song called "Rewind." March 12 is a good night to hear what he means by it.

Sources: Ticketmaster: Clay Aiken, Cincinnati, 03-12-2027 (ticketmaster.evyy.net); JamBase: Clay Aiken at Ludlow Garage (jambase.com); 6abc: North Carolina's Clay Aiken returns to 'American Idol' stage for season finale (6abc.com); International Business Times: Clay Aiken announces comeback, new music and 2027 tour (ibtimes.co.uk); Visit Baltimore: Clay Aiken (baltimore.org); CityBeat: Rock history at Ludlow Garage (citybeat.com); Wikipedia: Live at Ludlow Garage: 1970 (en.wikipedia.org); Wikipedia: Ludlow Garage (en.wikipedia.org); CityBeat: Ludlow Garage set to reopen for 50th anniversary (citybeat.com)