Music | Kate's Queen City Notes

June 13, 2014
by allthenamesaretakensothisisreallyreallylong 1 Comment

Bunbury 2014: Must See Bands Kishi Bashi and Wild Cub

I got so engrossed in listening to new music that I forgot to mention the bands that I loved prior to knowing that they would be a part of the Bunbury 2014 line-up. It’s time to fix that. I was already familiar with Kishi Bashi, Fitz and the Trantrums, Wild Cub, Young the Giant, Flaming Lips, Varuca Salt, Red Wanting Blue, Andrew W. K., Ropert DeLong, Dead Sara, Foxy Shazam, Heartless Bastards, Young Heirlooms, Black Owls (I saw them at MOTR recently and blogged about it), The Yugos, and 500 Miles to Memphis.

I know some of these bands because they are or were local, and hence they play or did play around here often. Foxy Shazam, Heartless Bastards, Young Heirlooms, Black Owls, The Yugos, Heartless Bastards, and 500 Miles to Memphis are in that category. The other bands I have just run across in my indie music listening adventure. I saw Wild Cub at 2013 Midpoint Music Festival. I like them so well, that I saw them open for American Authors this winter. I saw Capital Cities and Fitz and the Tantrums this winter at The Madison. I saw Young the Giant when Walk the Moon opened for them a couple of years back. I know Kishi Bashi from his old band, Jupiter One. I saw them a couple of times, and I am excited to see K in his current project.

Speaking of Kishi Bashi, his music is great. He played 2013 Midpoint Music Festival. He packed the basement of the CAC. Even my VIP pass failed to get me in the door in a timely fashion, and I had to abandon seeing him to make Murder by Death. Given that I missed my last chance to see him, he is on my do-not-miss list for Bunbury. K plays a mean violin and has a bright pop sensibility, and I think his live shows feature some looping and live sampling. I love his cover of “This is the Place.”

2013 Midpoint Music Fest put out line-up that was a really diverse sampling of high quality indie lable artists. Wild Cub stood out to me for how 80’s retro their sound is. Turns out that most of the indie pop coming out of New York is decidedly 80’s washed, as evidenced by this year’s Bunbury line-up. Wild Cub was slated to play MOTR, which is a pretty small and poorly-laid out venue. They can’t help it. The built-in antique bar, that lends so to the aestetic also makes the performance space a bit awkward. I got to the bar early, anticipating a crowd. Once Wild Cub went on, the crowd was so packed in that I couldn’t stand more than three or four songs. But the bit I saw was excellent and kept me listening. I’m pretty excited about awkward hipster dancing to their set at Bunbury.

June 11, 2014
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Governor’s Ball in New York City: Music and Too Many People

I tried to get tickets to see Bastille at The 20th Century Theater here, in Cincinnati. That show sold out the day it went on sale. I missed out.

In the meantime, friends of ours suggested that we attend Friday of Governor’s Ball. Frontier was running a deal on a flight to Trenton, New Jersey. Once in Trenton, it’s a 90 minute train ride to Penn Station. The tickets were 150 bucks a seat, and the train ride was 30 bucks. Net, with a little extra time and hassle, you get to New York for under two hundred bucks. Since we had a place to crash, we only needed to find the cash to pony up for the Governor’s Ball ticket. In hindsight, leaving town after three days at home after eight days in Europe was a bit much. But off we went.

The bands that most interested me at Governor’s Ball were Phoenix and TV on the Radio. Both of which haven’t been to Cincinnati in recent memory. I’m pretty sure Phoenix has never been here. Bastille, Jenny Lewis, and Neko Case were just side benefits. I know I should have been exited about Outkast, but I’m not that passionate about their music. Sorry to everyone who feels indignant at that.

Here’s what I saw.
Haerts
Little Daylight
Jason Isbell
Kurt Vile and the Violators
The 1975
Bastille
Jenny Lewis
Neko Case
Phoenix
TV on the Radio
Outkast

What I liked: Jenny Lewis is a spectacular performer. She sounded great. She looked great. I will see her again, no question.

Check out Jenny Lewis' awesome threads.

I have an abusive relationship with Neko Case. She’s cantankerous. She’s grumpy, and her stage presence is a mess. But I really love her. I had every intention of leaving her show early to catch “Bulletproof” by La Roux. La Roux has one hit, and there’s no way she closes with anything other than that. Just as I was about to tear myself away from Neko, she started playing “Man” and there was no way I was leaving during that song. I love it. I heard “Bulletproof” from the far off stage and was still sucked into the inexplicable Neko Case vortex.

Neko Case wearing skeleton pants.

Little Daylight was a surprise find. I fully intended to walk by them, but got sucked into their fun sound. I will be listening to them.

Everything else: Here’s what you need to know about me. I don’t like experiencing music in enormous venues. Governor’s Ball had a reasonable crowd until sometime between Bastille and Phoenix. When I made my way to Phoenix, I realized that movement from stage to stage had become full on warfare. Lines to the bathroom went from ten people to 100. Food became inaccessible due to the lines. In short, shit got real. While Bastille, Phoenix, TV on the Radio and Outkast all sounded great, I was a little too distracted by the masses to fully engage with their performances. I really wanted to be into Phoenix and TV on the Radio. I’ve listened to those bands for years now. I just couldn’t get there. They did nothing wrong; I just had some barriers to my enjoyment.

Haerts and The 1975 were fine, but there was nothing in their performance to grab me. I’m pretty sure the singer for The 1975 was high. I was busy watching his sloppy movement on stage rather than listening to their music. They sounded fine, but his careening was distracting. Jason Isbell sounded good, but I’m not into country. I got to see Kurt Vile and the Violators up close at Midpoint Music Festival last year, so although he sounded good, I preferred my more intimate experience with that band.

Would I go to Governor’s Ball again? No, I wouldn’t make it a priority. Like I said, I like more intimate settings for music. Governor’s Ball just isn’t the place for that. If you dig rocking arenas then this event is for you. Governor’s Ball, like Lollapalooza attracts swarms of people. That’s cool, but it’s just not my thing.

June 10, 2014
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Polica and Reputante at The Southgate House Revival: A Palate Cleanser

I was at Governor’s Ball this weekend. I don’t enjoy music in large crowds. Seeing Polica and Reputante at The Southgate House Revival couldn’t have been a better palate cleanser. The sanctuary is small and quirky. Since it was a school night, and Monday at that, the front of the stage was approachable.

I had no experience with Reputante going into their show. Their stage presence was disaffected and sarcastic. I can’t tell if they were just genuinely over their tour and/or that location and crowd, or that’s part of their schtick. That attitude leaves me a little put out. Regardless, I enjoyed their sound, and will do some listening in the future. It seems like all the new bands that I hear coming out of New York all sound like 80’s throwbacks, not that I have any problem with that. I’m happy to hear melody and synths back in music.

One other thing of note is that they have a lady drummer playing to a click track. I always love lady drummers. It seems to me that playing to a click track is Olympic level drumming. There’s no wiggle room there; you’re either dead on the electronic effects or a total mess. So cheers to lady drummer and her Olympic level drumming.

I have listened to Polica a bit. I knew virtually nothing about them, but with tickets at 15 bucks, there wasn’t much to lose. The band consists of a producer, a bassist, two drummers, and a singer and mixer. I was suspect of the dueling drummer stage set-up.

But it was spectacular. The drummers worked off each other, and were perfectly in sync. They brought more drama to the intense parts of their songs. I thought that much noise would drown out the vocalist. I know you can’t turn waif-y into an adverb, but I’m doing it. If singing can sound waif-y, it was so. The fact that the vocalist and the drummers were balanced was probably due to the great sound guy at The Soughtgate House Revival, and the band’s careful set-up. For all the electronics that they had on the stage, everything felt really well balances on my side of the stage.

This show was so close. It was a really great experience. It was exactly the antidote that I needed to resolve my festival experience. Long live thriving local music in my mid-sized city.

Beautiful atmosphere for this music.

Polica at The Southgate House Revival.

The Southgate House Revival balanced the sound really well. Two drum kits didn’t overwhelm the delicate vocals.

May 1, 2014
by allthenamesaretakensothisisreallyreallylong 1 Comment

Bunbury 2014: Must See Bands Bronze Radio Return and Bad Suns

I have two more must see bands to add to my Bunbury agenda. I love seeing live music. Descriptions of this love don’t fit in my less than skilled command of the English language, but these song lyrics by Bronze Radio Return come close to capturing it. I am super excited to see these guys in July.

We’ve talked about my weakness for 80’s pop before. Then this pick should surprise you in no way. The vocalist for Bad Suns would be the result of a union between Roland Orzabal from Tears for Fears and Dave Gahan from Depeche Mode. Given that Depeche mode is among my favorite bands of the 80’s this was a love at first listen. Side note: when you type Tears for Fears into Google, one of the top three auto-prompts is Tears for Fears gay. Heh.

One other note for any Bunbury fanatics like me, thanks to my friend Kat for bringing this to my attention. Currently, Lydia Loveless and Meg Myers are scheduled for the same time slot at Bunbury on Friday June 11 . I like the sound of both of them, but had panned on having to skip one or the other. Turns out Lydia Loveless is headlining Paddlefest, here in Cincinnati, June 21st. I’m pleased to scratch that conflict off my list. Plus, I would like to see Loveless in a longer time slot. Win/Win!

April 23, 2014
by allthenamesaretakensothisisreallyreallylong 3 Comments

The Black Owls and The Sundresses Rocked my Socks Off

This weekend was full of live music. After Sidewalk Chalk and The Almighty Get Down on Friday, I headed back to Motr for The Black Owls and The Sundresses. I’ve seen both these bands before. They play regularly around Cincinnati given that they are both Ohio bands with The Sundresses based in Cincinnati.

I digress. I’ve been listening to my 2014 Bunbury playlist for the last few weeks. Every time Fall Out Boy comes on (which seems to happen with disproportionate frequency), I am fumbling for the skip button. That very thing just happened. Perhaps it’s time I just purchased some of my favorites to get away from this abusive Spotify relationship with Fall Out Boy. That’s settled. I will make up for missing record store day with a trip to buy a bunch of my favorite bands’ records at Shake It.

Back to the topic at hand, The Black Owls came prepared mic swinging and all. They sounded really great on the new sound system at Motr. I am still marveling at how much better the sound is in there. I could understand most of the lyrics, which is a feat at most live shows let alone ones with so much crunchy guitar sounds. Mic swinging might have caused a bit of a microphone crisis, but all was handled gracefully.

Before their set.

The Black Owls killing it.

While I was writing the caption to this song The Black Owls came on. Coincidence?

Digging the green lights in this shot.

The Sundresses added a drummer a couple of years ago. I feel like this really added some punch to their live shows. The past arrangement was that Jeremy and Brad would alternate on percussion duty. That inevitably meant a bit of a lull between songs. Granted they situated themselves damn fast, but still. The addition of a drummer lets them pound though one song leaving barely time to catch your breath before the next tears out. It’s gratifying.

And gratifying it was. They sounded really great. The only hiccup was with one of the mics delivering at random intervals a shock to Jeremy’s mouth. I don’t know what that would feel like, but by the looks of it, it was quite painful. This situation was tolerated until the end of the show, which is more than what I would have endured had I been getting zapped in the mouth.

I had to include a picture with the drummer in it, now that I blabbed about him in the post.

The Sundresses doing their thing.

Jeremy trying to not get zapped in the kisser.

Brad rocking out.

Cincinnati, you are getting out of control with all the local music. This weekend is looking like more of the same… I can’t wait.

April 20, 2014
by allthenamesaretakensothisisreallyreallylong 3 Comments

James Brown Would be Proud: The Almight Get Down and Sidewalk Chalk

Spring has arrived. Unlike most other northern cities, Cincinnatians hide away in the winter. The first whispers of spring brings everyone out of their hibernation. People turn up to the places they will be from once again.

This was the context for the show last night. The Almighty Get Down opened for Sidewalk Chalk. I knew what I was in for with Sidewalk Chalk. I saw them at Midpoint Music Festival last year. They got a bit of an unfortunate time slot, at 5pm before many of the festival goers were out and about. They sounded great, so when I saw them slated to return to the Queen City, I made note.

I wasn’t disappointed. They sounded stellar and just as tight as I remembered. I admit that I often don’t like hip hop. The lyrics are lacking, and some producer has just nicked hooks from other musicians and packaged them up in predictable ways. But this. This is something else. It’s melodic and thoughtful. There’s a reference to To Kill a Mocking Bird in this song. In the words of Capital Cities, it’s good shit.

The surprise was The Almighty Get Down. They tore down the house with funk that James Brown would approve of. Really fantastic show. Their stage presence coupled with their tight sound just rolled over the audience in shimmering waves. It’s as though they brought all their energy to bear on this one tiny stage in OTR for just an hour or so. Really, that show was just fantastic to watch.

It was a great night for live music. It was a great night for photography. It was a great night.

The Almighty Get Down packed Motr.

Preach

The stage at Motr is tiny. I don’t know how they packed so many horns on there.

I’m afraid I didn’t get as close to Sidewalk Chalk. But they sounded excellent.

The weather was splendid. Everyone was out. The patio outside was just as packed as this bar room. Even the basement had full tables.

April 13, 2014
by allthenamesaretakensothisisreallyreallylong 5 Comments

Bunbury 2014: Must See Bands Cults and Holy Ghost!

I’ll admit it. I considered trying to sell my VIP Bunbury passes once the headliners were announced. With Forecastle snagging Beck, Outkast, The Replacements, and Jack White as headliners, that line-up is more appealing as far as headliners go. When I dig a little deeper in the Forecastle line-up there’s other gems like Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings and Band of Horses. Regarding Bunbury’s headliners, I’m not terribly excited about Empire of the Sun or The Flaming Lips, and I dislike Fall Out Boy and Paramore. Bunbury’s second tier acts are typically my thing, and there are some bright spots there for sure. Kishi Bashi, Wild Cub, Fitz and the Tantrums are all solid. While Young the Giant and Foxy Shazaam aren’t in my wheelhouse my past experiences at their shows prove that their performances will be excellent.

Line-ups aside, there’s the pricing difference. Forecastle VIP passes are about 500 bucks each. Because I bought my Bunbury VIP passes so early, I paid 295 for each of them. The question that I have to ask myself is thus, Do I want to see Beck, The Replacements, Outkast, and Jack White enough to sell my tickets to Bunbury and fork over an additional 400 bucks for a couple of Forecastle VIP passes? I will need to factor in money to stay in Louisville, so that will probably drive the additional cost up to 700 bucks.

This is the context in which I started listening to the second and third tier bands in the Bunbury line-up. I spent a couple of weeks listening to this handy Spotify playlist. And all I can say is wow. The second and third tier stuff is great. In the interests of keeping this post to a manageable length I’m only going to talk about a couple of my finds. But, I’ve found enough good stuff that my Bunbury agenda is already packed. Needless to say, there is no way I am selling my passes. Here’s a couple of my favorites.

What happens when you combine 60’s pop sensibility with Best Coast and a sense of ominous darkness? You get Cults. I know I shouldn’t have been surprised that their video boasts footage of Jim Jones. But I was. It’s such a sunny sounding song against such a dark event. Given that I have a sweet tooth for cathartic art and music, of course I love it. I’ve listened to both of their releases, and I am excited to see them at Bunbury.

I don’t know if I’ve mentioned my love of 80’s pop in the blog before. Let it be known that when “Africa” by Toto comes on my car stereo I am that lunatic enthusiastically singing along with the harmonies; 80’s pop is my cat nip. This admission will actually explain a number of my Bunbury favs. Given that I lived through the 90’s when indie rock was all guitar and little melody, and NEVER keyboards, I can tell you how happy I am that melody and the love of synth is back in new music. This brings me to Holy Ghost!. Seriously, I will take roughly 10 seconds of this video before my love of this band will be explained. Oh 80’s influence, I welcome you back. And clearly so does Holy Ghost!.

February 23, 2014
by allthenamesaretakensothisisreallyreallylong 2 Comments

Whiskey Gentry and Flirty McDrunkerson

I saw a great band yesterday. I had random encounters with strangers. I discovered I can go back to MOTR without perforating my eardrums. It’s all here.

I’ve been confused for someone else at least six times in the last eighteen months. I know who my doppelganger is. She bartends at The Lackman. Strangers approach me, and after a short awkward exchange, ask if I work at The Lackman. At my negative response, the stranger suddenly understands why I was looking at them blankly while he/she was greeting me as a friend. I do bear a slight resemblance to this woman. We have big blue eyes and sandy brown hair. That’s where the similarities end. I have a few inches on her; she has a few years on me. Our hair styles are considerably different. There is one other commonality, that I think is at the root of most people’s confusion. We are both obvious lesbians.

I ran into her yesterday having drink, and decided to have a chat with my not-so-much double. When I relayed my experiences, she laughed and said she experiences similar things. Lesbian confusion. I’m pretty sure it’s a thing, and it’s happening to me. At least my doppelganger is pleasant. A really great conversation ensued, clearly, since I was talking to myself.

After a stellar chicken sandwich at The Eagle, I headed to MOTR to see Whiskey Gentry. I haven’t been to MOTR in a few months. While I love that they book great music seven days a week, the volume in there is at a 12,345 of 10. The noise level is high enough that my ears feel raped with ear plugs in. There is zero possibility of speaking to any human unless you want to shout centimeters away from their ear, and even then you will need to repeat yourself several times. Since it already feels like years of your hearing are vanishing by the minute, I usually resort to texting the person I am standing next to.

Last night, I had a most welcome surprise. MOTR got a new sound system. They got new lights. AND PRAISE BE TO THE GODS OF THE CILIA OF MY INNER EAR, the volume was at a reasonable level. It was loud, but not intolerably so. I was thrilled to discover this as Whiskey Gentry did their sound check.

I wanted to see these guys at Midpoint this fall, but they cancelled the day of their show. See blog post about that here. I would call them folk or alt country. There’s a little 50’s country, bluegrass, and folk in there. And unlike pop country, their lyrics are about more than trucks, tractors and women. Plus, there’s pedal steel, the fiddle, and banjo in their recordings. I’m a sucker for some pleasant banjo. The lead vocalist has a warm buttery voice; weirdness aside, I want her to sing me lullabies. Check ’em out.

They were worth the wait. The vocalist sounded spectacular. I was disappointed that the banjo player wasn’t out with them. It gave their performance a little more of a rock edge. Apart from this tiny bummer, they sounded tight. The guitarist and fiddler were full of energy, while the vocalist had a cool reserve. It created an interesting dynamic. The cool collected woman at the center of a couple of guys nearly off the rails.

Between the pleasant sound level, the great performance, and the excellent people watching, I had a super night. My partner wasn’t feeling well, so she took a pass on seeing the show. I like going out by myself. I enjoy keeping to my thoughts in a crowd. However, I’ve noticed that strangers, especially drunk strangers, like to talk to me. This rarely happens when I am out with friends, but when I’m alone I am often approached. Last night was no exception.

I sat outside after the show to enjoy a rare smoke. A pretty young woman teetered out of the bar and headed my way. She had hipster glasses and skinny jeans, coupled with a spectacularly ugly 80’s hand bag. She tilted her head, slow smiled and asked, “are you lonely?” It was cute. But I am taken, and I was thinking of how to respond politely to Flirty McDrunkerson while still communicating my lack of interest. I settled on, “actually, no, but you are welcome to join me.” That seemed to do the trick. We chatted a bit, before I headed inside.

I ordered one more beer and closed out my tab. After scanning the bar, I found a seat open in the corner where I could relax, and watch the drunken mess that was forming. Quiet time lasted exactly three minutes. A woman approached, and I was relieved when I realized her friends were sitting just ahead of me. After a few seconds of chatting with them, she abruptly turned to me and talked as though we had just left off a few minutes before. I got over my annoyance quickly, because this woman knows her local music. We had a great talk about the Bunbury line-up. Turns out she knows the person responsible for booking, and we debated the merits of this years line-up vs past line-ups. Our thirty minute talk was nice, but it earned me a stink-eye from her boyfriend. It probably didn’t help that she failed to noticed he called her 3 times while we were yammering on and on about Kishi Bashi and X Ambassadors. Hopefully, that didn’t result in too much discord.

So that was my day. I saw great music. I had random conversations with strangers. I took some pictures. It was a wonderful 18 hours.

Fifty-eight degrees felt amazing.

Everyone was out. We’ve had weeks of abnormally brutal winter weather. I think everyone was stir crazy. I know I was.

The snifter contains Sixpoint Hi-Res. The color and the reflection in the glass was beautiful.

Yes.

The sky. I love winter in Cincinnati because it’s the only time of year we have clear blue skies.

The blue sky reflecting off these blue tinted windows looks surreal.

One of the things that caught my eye while I was walking around downtown.

October 2, 2013
by allthenamesaretakensothisisreallyreallylong 6 Comments

Midpoint Music Festival 2013 Review: Saturday

Welcome to my Midpoint Music Festival 2013 Review, the Saturday edition. If would like an overview of what MPMF is read this blog post and then come back to this one.

Here’s the agenda that I started out with.

12:30 The School of Rock MPMF Midway
2:00 The Cliftones MPMF Midway
3:00 Twin Peaks at Washington Park
4:15 Tweens at Washington Park
5:30 Wussy at Washington Park
7:00 The Breeders
8:00 METZ at Grammer’s
8:00 The Locals at Main Event
9:30 Black Rebel Motorcycle Club at Grammer’s…
10:30 Bad Veins at the Taft
10:45 Wild Cub at Motr
12:00 Daughter at the Taft
12:30 The Wiskey Gentry at Japp’s

Here’s what actually went down. Several weeks prior to MPMF weekend, I agreed to volunteer at the Redwood Center in Kentucky from 9am to 1pm. I couldn’t bail on that commitment, so I planted daffodil bulbs all morning. By the time I had cleaned-up and eaten, it was 3pm. I skipped Twin Peaks to see the FotoFocus photography exhibition at the Art Academy and inadvertently caught the end of The Ridges’ set. This was a happy accident. I like The Ridges; I saw them open for The Seedy Seeds sometime back. The environment was intimate and complementary of The Ridges’ sound. Plus, we saw some great photography from Cincinnati music events, many of which I attended.

My first show was Tweens at Washington Park. They sounded solid, but their live performance was unremarkable. I feel like a day show in the huge park was not the best environment for them. I want to see them play in a smaller, dark venue. I think the vibe would suit them considerably more.

Tweens at Washington Park

Wussy sounded great. As a bonus, they were hanging around the VIP area along with The Breeders and Tween. Although, I regularly run into Lisa from Wussy, so that isn’t terribly remarkable. Kim and Kelley Deal are regularly found in Cincinnati, so that too isn’t terribly remarkable. There was a bit of a surpise when my friend John spotted the drummer for The National. He was gracious and posed for a picture. Turns out he lives in Cincinnati and is also a Breeders fan.

In celebration of Last Spash’s 20th anniversary, The Breeders played the album cover to cover for this show. It was outstanding. They sounded crisp and sassy. I thought hearing them play “Divine Hammer” would be the highlight of my night. Little did I know my night would have lots more awesome in it.

Kim Deal of The Breeders at Washington Park

I headed to Grammer’s for Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. I managed to get really close to the front without too much effort. There is always at least one band at this fest that excels at melting my face-off with rock and roll. BRMC is the undisputed winner. It felt like the sonic blast from the stage could make paint blister. I found myself uncontrollably screaming at the end of every song. I left that show thinking THAT was going to be the pinnacle of my night. I was still wrong.

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club at Grammer’s

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club… and that security guy who offered to let me into the press area in front of the stage. I didn’t take him up on it because I felt like a douche bag.

I headed to Motr for Wild Cub. Motr was a shitshow of humanity. The bar was so packed I couldn’t understand how people were breathing. I squirmed my way past the bar. All hope was lost for getting a drink. I made it to the patio. I suspect I had a conversation with Brian Baker, the guy who covers Cincinnati’s live music scene for City Beat; we didn’t exchange names. We had a pleasant conversation about the fest. Here’s his review of this night. We heard Wild Cub was starting so both my new friend and I shambled into the stage area. Staying in the building until after Wild Cub started proved to be a mistake. It took me 3 songs to make it to the door to get out. Wild Cub sounded good, but it was really too packed for me to enjoy them. I will be on the look out for them to return.

I headed to The Taft in hopes of catching the last of Bad Veins. Unfortunately, I just missed them. There were concerns that The Taft would be difficult to get into for Daughter, due to the single venue tickets selling out for The Taft that night. I had no problems getting in. Once inside I ran into the guy that was standing next to me at BRMC. We discussed how mind-blowing that show was and the Cincinnati music scene in general. It was fun.

Daughter was the show that I was most excited about that night. When they took the stage, I was surprised about a couple of things. First, Elena Tonra is so very retiring and self-effacing. She tentatively approached the microphone. When she opened her mouth the sound that came out was just as divine as can be found on the albums. Their live show was every bit as nuanced and gorgeous as their album. The audience was entranced. This was the only show of the weekend in which the crowd was nearly silent aside from their rounds of cheering. The Taft was packed by the time the show started. It quickly got uncomfortably hot. Elena remarked on it and said that she needed 10 showers. She immediately blushed and mumbled, “why do I talk”? I think her shyness endeared her to the audience even more than how spectacular they sounded. I left this show gobsmacked. So, this was the pinnacle of my night.

Elena of Daughter at The Taft

I had considered heading to Bare Mutants after the Daughter show, but I felt too exhausted by awesome. I didn’t even know that could happen. Instead I went to Madonna’s for a beer with a couple of my fellow fest-goers. We had all been at the Daughter show and needed to decompress. We all agreed that this fest had been the best in memory. I was thrilled to be headed to my bed for much-needed rest, but I was forlorn that the fest was over.

This fest was blessed with randoms. All of the people that I randomly met were pleasant and great conversations where had. It seems strangely fitting that when I returned to my apartment a group of 18 year-old girls were in the foyer when I walked up. There was an abundance of twittering, but they were contentious enough to hold the door for me to pass through with my bicycle. One of the girls gushed as I passed, “I’m not saying this just because I’m drunk, but I think you’re really beautiful”. The first part of that statement was obviously false, but I decided not to look for the dark cloud in that silver lining and just accepted the unusual scenario as someone sharing a sweet sentiment and simply said thank you.

This was such a great three days. I just feel so grateful for the experience.

One little add on for the Cincinnati natives… I frequent the local music events. I’ve seen Bad Veins at least 10 times now. I always feel like a bad native at MPMF, because I generally pick acts that I haven’t seen over ones that I’ve seen before, even when I love them. I skipped The Seedy Seeds at many MPMFs because I wanted to see something new. Am I alone in this feeling? I suspect that I’m not.

October 1, 2013
by allthenamesaretakensothisisreallyreallylong 5 Comments

Midpoint Music Festival 2013 in Review: Friday

Welcome to my Midpoint Music Festival 2013 Review, the Friday edition. If you missed my last blog regarding MPMF, and would like an overview of what MPMF is read this blog post and then come back to this one.

Here’s what my agenda was at the beginning of the night. I was particularly excited for Youth Lagoon, Murder By Death, and The Head And The Heart.

5:30 Izzy And The Catastrophics at MPMF Midway
6:00 American Royalty at Washington Park
7:00 Black Owls at Grammer’s
7:15 Youth Lagoon at Washington Park
8:45 The Head And The Heart at Washington Park
9:30 Warpaint at Grammer’s
10:00 Saturday Looks Good To Me at Know Theater
11:30 Kishi Bashi at CAC
12:00 Murder By Death at Taft
12:30 Sugar Baron at Main Event

I turned up to Izzy, but found that that show had been cancelled. They ended up playing at 6:15 at a different venue. They also filled in for The Whiskey Gentry at their 12:30am slot on Saturday at Japp’s Annex. I was bummed about The Whiskey Gentry cancelling. I didn’t end up seeing Izzy at either of those times. I’ve seen Izzy several times; they are good performers. But with so many options, I wanted to see something new, so I skipped them.

American Royalty sounded good, but their performance wasn’t anything worth discussing. I skipped the Black Owls in favor of Youth Lagoon. The Black Owls are excellent, but like Izzy I’ve seen them several times. Plus, they will be playing Northside Tavern in December, and I will see them there.

Youth Lagoon. Words fail me here. I really like their records. I found the vocalist unpleasant live. Both his appearance and singing weren’t what I was expecting. I know full well his appearance shouldn’t matter. The music is the only thing that should matter. But in a live setting what the band looks like is part of the experience. I’m disgusted with myself for feeling this strongly about about his appearance. Even if I set his appearance aside, his warbling was unpleasant, and I suppose this is a good enough reason to pass on any future concerts. I listed to the album again, and I think there were two problems with this show. First, I am certain that Trevor Powers’s voice has so much reverb on it on the albums it takes the shrill edge off his vocals. As an aside, I think I noticed the same problem with Baths’s singer on Thursday. Second, like MGMT at Bunbury, I’m pretty sure the audience really could have been absent and the show wouldn’t have varied in the least. I hate it when artists do this. (I had to look up grammar rules around possessives just now. Writing is hard.)

I saw The Head And The Heart open for The Decemberists. They were stellar then; they were stellar at this festival. They sound great. They are fun performers. According to my less-than-scientific observation, they packed Washington Park more so than any other act in the fest. Since I had seen them before, I had planned on leaving their show for Warpaint after they played “Down in the Valley”. It’s my favorite song on that album. I’m pretty sure the chord progression that’s most attractive to me is used in at least one other song that I know well, and this might explain my immediate attraction to this tune. I’ve been puzzling over where it’s from for weeks. As They wound up their final song, I thought I was out of luck. I was so pleased when they played it as the final song of their encore.

The Head And The Heart at Washington Park. They were very sweet. They said they were excited that it’s still summer in Cincinnati, because it’s apparently already winter in Seattle.

I’ve been seeing live shows for more than 20 years, and this typically gives me a spidey sense of what a band will do live after hearing their record. Some recordings smell like studio creations that don’t fare well live. I suspected as much of Warpaint. I’m please to say I couldn’t have been more wrong. These women sounded excellent. I would absolutely see them again.

Warpaint at Grammer’s Stage.

I literally only saw half a song of Saturday Looks Good To Me, as they finished their set just as I arrived. I was a bit mesmerized by Warpaint and couldn’t pull myself away. Since I was already at the Know Theater I went up stairs to check out San Fermin. It was PACKED. Just getting in the door and out of the stairway was difficult, let alone get a glimpse of the stage. What I saw and heard was great. I’m not sure how much 30 seconds of listening is worth. I headed to Kishi Bashi.

The Contemporary Arts Center is an appropriate venue for this fest, but the room that they put the bands in is tiny. I think this venue is a train wreck of humans for at least one show of this fest consistently from year to year. This year’s train wreck of humans happened at Kishi Bashi. There were lines to get in. The venue was full and on a 1 in 1 out policy. Since I am a veteran of this fest, I’ve come to expect this. To say that the line of people waiting to get in were impatient is being kind. Although, in their defense the people working the venue weren’t communicating with the crowd. And if I were a first-timer I probably would have been frustrated too. Murder By Death was on my must see list, so I left the line at the CAC for the Taft; my friends who remained in line, got in about 5 minutes. Not bad. They also reported that Kishi Bashi said he’s returning to Cincinnati this year. Great! I will see him then.

Turns out I made a great decision in leaving the CAC. Murder By Death started early! These guys are from Bloomington IN, so I have no idea why I have missed them until now. They play Cincinnati regularly. First, the sound at the Taft was outstanding all weekend, so Murder By Death was no exception. Second, Murder By Death sounded great and put on a great performance. My friend Amanda summarized their sound in this way: it’s like Soundgarden and Morphine had a hillbilly baby. That sums them up nicely. I’m looking forward to the next time they turn up in Cincinnati. In the meantime, here’s my favorite song of theirs, which they played at the show.

Murder By Death at The Taft

Finally, I headed to Sugar Baron at the Main Event. This is the only venue that was consistently poor in terms of sound quality. I think Sugar Baron would be great in a different setting. I only caught a few songs, but what I did hear had over-amplified drums and indistinguishable vocals. I would give them another try in a different setting.

I was excited to find my way home. I was exhausted and very happy with my music experience. It was dawning on me that this years line-up might be the best to date in terms of the quality of the bands booked.

Kate's Queen City Notes

Blundering through Cincinnati, laughing all the way

Category Archives: Music