Yet again the headliners are playing Washington Park at obscenely early hours.  Last year the sun was still up when they had to shut it down.  Also the sound system at the park last year was terribly underpowered.  Also yet again almost all of these bands have totally dumb names.  I'm really sick of bands that either have "trees" or "leaves" in their name. 

Google search for tree and leaves band lol: http://treenoleaves.com/

Google search for tree and leaves band lol: http://treenoleaves.com/

 

I saw this band (guy?) about two years ago:

http://www.talltalltrees.com

 

There are also a lot of bird and/or owl bands.  This started in the early 2000s with a band called The Birds of Avalon, and started getting totally ridiculous around 2010, when there were multiple owl bands in Columbus.  I think there was both The Pink Owl and The Black Owls, two completely different acts.  The solo artist known as The Pink Owl went on to form The Red Feathers.  Sure enough, there is also now a band just called RedFeather. 

 

Here is RedFeather:

 

Here is The Red Feathers, featuring The Pink Owl on vocals:

 

Yet another owl band, Conspiracy of Owls:

Here is a band just called Owl:

 

And now the first Owl Band of them, the Florida Atlantic Marching Owls:

The point of the early headliners is so that you can go see other bands for the next several hours. The headliners get people out and at Midpoint while the night shows are supposed to be the meat of the weekend. It's not a complicated idea. If you put the headliners last, there are going to be a substantial number of people who don't leave their home until 20 minutes before the headliner starts and that doesn't work well for this type of festival. If I could I would have the headliners play even earlier so that I could see more bands after them.

Yeah except people are going to get sick of listening to lousy bands and are going to leave anyway.

Yeah except people are going to get sick of listening to lousy bands and are going to leave anyway.

 

My favorite thing to do after seeing some lousy bands is to have a nice sit-down pizza dinner.

Yeah except people are going to get sick of listening to lousy bands and are going to leave anyway.

 

My favorite thing to do after seeing some lousy bands is to have a nice sit-down pizza dinner.

 

You could steal their guitars and drum sticks and throw them in Fireside's oven.

 

Not sure if anyone is going, but it looks like for Friday the Midpoint Midway stage is free - is that right?  I am going to pay for the Whigs and Wussy in Washington Park,(but might be skipping the full pass) and I would not mind seeing some bands on that stage.  It seems surprising that Real Estate, Knox Hamilton, and Colony House would have no charge. 

 

Aside from Cincy, Brooklyn and Nashville are pretty well represented. 

Tonight should be really good. Chromeo, Frontier Folk Nebraska, Barrence Whitfield and The Savages, and St. Paul and the Broken Bones are all playing (and don't conflict much).

 

 

 

 

 

The Midpoint Midway stage is free every night! I think P&G is sponsoring the stage, so they got some popular bands to go on for free (like Real Estate)

I am going to pay for the Whigs and Wussy in Washington Park,(but might be skipping the full pass) and I would not mind seeing some bands on that stage.

 

Washington Park is $27. One Full Day is $40. All weekend pass is $79. If there is another show you want to go to on Friday outside of the Midway and Washington Park, I would recommend getting a one day pass.

Thanks - I went ahead and got the one day pass (Friday is the only day I can go) - at first I was thinking I would cut out after Washington Park but figured I would want to check out some other venues.  I like that someone like P&G is sponsoring a free stage, and that was good work by whoever got that done. 

I'm nervous that the mild-mannered outdoor setting will dull the furious sounds of The Afghan Whigs.  Last year the outdoor PA was appropriate for a backyard bar mitzvah.  So you'll have a bunch of people walk away saying they aren't such a great band.  That's the whole problem with outdoor festivals -- it's almost impossible for the bands to sound good. 

^Making excuses already?

Chromeo rocked last night in Washington Park and it seems like they have more sound than last year. They were not near as good as St. Paul and the Broken Bones in the Taft ballroom though, they absolutely killed it. My only complaint so far is the outdoor stage behind the shell station (across the street from Moerlein) with ugly metal-halide parking lights and abandoned buildings with barbed wire around it. The outdoor tent at Grammar's was much, much better.

St. Paul and the Broken Bones were incredible. I doubt another band is going to have a better set than them all weekend. Even with the sound issues early on. Also, I've never been to a show at the Taft that didn't have noticeable sound problems.

^Making excuses already?

 

Well for whatever reasons Cincinnatians have never supported the greatest act to come out of this city since the demise of King Records.  I was skeptical in 2012 when they reformed that they would be a nostalgia act but they were the most dominating-sounding band I had heard in 10 years.  I was worried they'd get the ignominious treatment The Breeders received last year with their karaoke DJ sound system.  Chromeo obvious had a pro sound system so hopefully they'll have the same system or something similar. 

 

Worst act so far?  Panda Bear.  Seriously WTF was that?  A dude with a laptop crying in into a mic with a screen saver projected behind him. 

 

Panda Bear was (is?) a member of one of the biggest acts in indie rock in the mid-aughties (i.e. when hipsterism was actually still a thing), Animal Collective.

Here are some photos I took...

 

Chromeo:

 

 

Is this Fathers or Lost in Trees?  Does anyone know?  The singers look exactly the same on their websites, and they played right after one another on the same stage.

 

?

 

Nikki Lane:

 

 

 

Washington Park Stage...the lighting was absolutely terrible for Wussy, so I didn't get any usable photos. 

 

Afghan Whigs:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I recorded one song, "Going to Town" from the encore.

Afghan Whigs sounded great.

 

Memorial Hall was an awesome addition to Midpoint, though it likely won't be a venue again next year because it's undergoing renovations soon.

 

The Christian Moerlein outdoor stage was awesome. The abandoned buildings on either side made it visually a great place to see a band. I only saw the Raveonettes there on Saturday, but it was pretty awesome.

 

The Christian Moerlein indoor stage was terrible. There should never be another show in that room.

^-Memorial hall was amazing.  I love how Gardens and Villa kept making jokes about how they felt like they were General Grant, or that they were giving some speech to Civil War troops.

I found the bad sound in Bockfest Hall to be pretty amusing.  During Bockfest there are so many people in there that the echo gets absorbed but I didn't see enough people in there this past weekend to do that.

 

Memorial Hall was an awesome addition to Midpoint, though it likely won't be a venue again next year because it's undergoing renovations soon.

 

I hope that isn't true. I was blown away by Memorial Hall, mainly because it feels so untouched, unlike Music Hall, which has been tinkered with over the years.  If they're "renovating", I hope it's just repairs and other non-cosmetic work.  If they change those windows or add overhead lighting/sound above the stage, I'm going to be pissed.

^You really haven't heard about the Memorial Hall renovation plan?

 

http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/local/hyde-park/2014/08/20/hyde-park-man-helps-memorial-hall/14334775/

Thanks for the link.  That one snuck by me somehow.  It sounds like they're mindful of preserving the experience of Memorial Hall.  I was worried that they were replacing the original seats and stuff like that.

Next year they need to make Union Terminal's newsreel theater a venue.

Big Changes for Bunbury

 

The Bunbury and Buckle Up music festivals have been sold.

 

Independent concert promoter PromoWest Productions is the new owner and will handle all booking, marketing, sponsorship and production of the festivals. Former owner Bill Donabedian will continue to oversee operations.

 

PromoWest Productions' venues include LC Pavilion, Newport Music Hall, The Basement and A&R Music Bar in Columbus, Ohio and Stage AE in Pittsburgh, Pa.

 

Both festivals are undergoing big changes.

 

The alt-rock Bunbury Music Festival, which draws about 60,000 people, will return to the Ohio River at Sawyer Point and Yeatman's Cove, Downtown, for its fourth year. However, it will feature a modified layout, with two main stages and two side stages verses the previous main stage and five smaller stages. It will also have new dates this year – June 5-7 – partially to avoid the All-Star Game festivities, Donabedian said.

2015 headliners Foghat and Styx. 

I am very surprised that Buckle Up will be moving to a different venue. I thought the whole point was that Buckle Up would use the exact same stages and other infrastructure as Bunbury. That way the organizers can have an entire second festival with very little additional cost. Maybe PromoWest owns their own stages and fencing so the rental cost is no longer an issue.

MusicNOW Festival just posted the lineup for this March.

 

Wednesday, March 11th

Woodward Theater - 1404 Main St, Cincinnati, OH

Will Butler

 

Thursday, March 12th

Woodward Theater - 1404 Main St, Cincinnati, OH

concert:nova with Jeff Ziegler

 

Friday, March 13th

Cincinnati Music Hall - 1241 Elm St, Cincinnati, OH

Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, The National with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and new commission by Caroline Shaw

 

Saturday, March 14th

Cincinnati Music Hall - 1241 Elm St, Cincinnati, OH

Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Songs from Planetarium featuring Sufjan Stevens, Nico Muhly & Bryce Dessner, new commission by Daníel Bjarnason and So Percussion

 

Sunday, March 15th

Memorial Hall - 1225 Elm Street, Cincinnati, OH

Perfume Genius, The Lone Bellow, Mina Tindle

 

March 11th-20th

Contemporary Arts Center- 404 E. 6th St, Cincinnati, OH

A Lot Of Sorrow – by Ragnar Kjartansson featuring The National

An ongoing installation

What is the MusicNOW festival? Never heard of it before.

An annual event started by Bryce Dessner (of The National). It gets world-renowned artists to collaborate for a weekend. Usually held at Music Hall and Memorial Hall. This year will also feature events at The Woodward Theater. It's been happening since 2006.

 

There's also an art exhibit at the CAC this year.

What is the MusicNOW festival? Never heard of it before.

 

"MusicNOW was founded in 2006 by Bryce Dessner of The National. Through the years, the festival has invited contemporary musicians and risk-taking artists who do not fit neatly into genre defined categories. Past performances have included festival-only collaborations, world premiere compositions, and sold out audiences." http://www.musicnowfestival.org/

 

Essentially, it's a curated music festival focused around modern and contemporary music.

Wow, sounds like a really cool event! Kicking myself for not knowing about this until now...

Will Butler of Arcade Fire is a nice get. Can't say I'm interested in the orchestra stuff, unless it involves Deep Purple or Procol Harum.

Lineup announced. Some more will be added, but this is the meat of it. Big improvement in the size of the acts from when Donabedian was running the show.

 

Yawn.

A few bands I'd like to see. Never would have thought snoop dog would be a headliner for this festival in a million years.

Wow! Awesome. Totally improved from last year. How did that happen?

Definitely more variety and surprised at the amount of "twang".  Personally, I would prefer the all alternative lineup (how about Pixies, Replacements, or even Phoenix or Vampire Weekend?).  I do get the need to freshen up the festival though so I understand what they are doing here.

Oh no!  Not Matt & Kim!!! :|

Oh no!  Not Matt & Kim!!! :|

 

You saw them before they were cool! KimDayMatt

UGH!!!  They were NEVER cool!!!

The latest gimmick in 2-man bands...playing a bass through a guitar effects box and a guitar amp:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBmgY2hV9pM 

Wow! Awesome. Totally improved from last year. How did that happen?

 

PromoWest bought the festival and they have the juice to get bigger names.

MidPoint Indie Summer Series at Fountain Square was announced and the lineup is really good.

 

May 29          Surfer Blood; The Yugos; Automagik; Harbour

Jun 5            The Mowgli's; One Day Steady; Nevele; Beloved Youth

Jun 12          Kopecky; Broncho; Coconut Milk; Near Earth Objects

Jun 19          Buffalo Killers; Ohio Knife; Mad Anthony; Go Go Buffalo

Jun 26          Sloan; Mother Mother; Old City

Jul 3              Red Wanting Blue; Young Heirlooms; Motherfolk; Chris Salyer

Jul 10            Saint Motel (MLB All-Star Weekend)

Jul 17            Q102 welcomes The Ting Tings; Brick + Mortar; Black Signal

Jul 24            Givers; TBD; Prim; Even Titles

Jul 31            The Whigs; Multimagic; Pop Goes the Evil; Never Setting Suns

Aug 7            Tweens; Leggy; Smut; Shark Week

Aug 14          Judah & The Lion; Seabird; Matt Hires; Along the Shore

Aug 21          San Fermin; Lemon Sky

Aug 28          Wussy; Pike 27; The Perfect Children; JetLab

Sep 4            The World is a Beautiful Place and I am No Longer Afraid to Die;                          Injecting Strangers; Moonbeau: Edison

*waits for snarky Jmeck comment about quality of music today*

The only people I've ever heard of on that list is The Ting Tings.