bunbury 2015 | Kate's Queen City Notes

June 8, 2015
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Bunbury 2015 Sunday Pictures

Airports aren’t ideal for writing under any circumstances, but particularly so for describing the sun-baked joy of a music festival. The recycled air drives all sensory memories down the memory hole. Even the coffee is rendered ineffective in stimulating the creative process. As friendly reminders about TSA regulation filter in yesterday might be an echo from a past life.

With a fifty percent chance of rain yesterday, day three of Bunbury Music Festival, all scheduling felt tentative. Sawyer Point looked as exhausted as many of the fest attendees. Grass laid down under the weight of so many stomping feet. Evaporated beer, among other unmentionables, warmed on the concrete. No amount of trash management can erase the days past.

500 Hundred Miles to Memphis started the day, as the crowd was chasing the sleep from their eyes and booze from their livers. This would be the only moment for regrouping with The Front Bottoms taking Yeatman’s Cove stage in thirty minutes. Shakey Graves, Jessica Hernandez & the Deltas, Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band, Atmosphere, and Manchester Orchestra all packed in the following three hours. This left the last couple hours of the fest with just Twenty-one Pilots and Snoop Dogg.

Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band overflowed with charisma and bombast. If Reverend Peyton’s was the Labrador of performances, Shakey Graves was the Greyhound, delicate, graceful, and beautiful. Twenty-one Pilots are incredible performers, and yesterday was no exception.

All the great music culminated with Snoop Dogg’s closing performance. He was late. He was late by forty-five minutes. He was backed by a couple of DJ’s, a vocalist, and a dancing human in a dog costume. He covered many songs. It was a disappointment, especially considering all the musicianship that was on display earlier in the weekend. Check this one off the bucket list.

Snoop Dogg

Twenty-one Pilots

Atmosphere

Shakey Graves

Jessica Hernandez and The Deltas

Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band

The Front Bottoms

500 Miles to Memphis

June 7, 2015
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Bunbury 2015 Saturday Pictures

Wow. I am exhausted. Yesterday was all about will power. The highlights were excellent performances by The Avett Brothers, Reverend Horton Heat, The Devil Makes Three, and The Decemberists. Here’s my shots.

The Zack Longoria Project

Playing to Vapors

Bummers

The Devil Makes Three

The Decemberists

Reverend Horton Heat

Old Crow Medicine Show

Avett Brothers

June 6, 2015
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Bunbury 2015 Friday Pictures

After day one, I had over seven hundred pictures to sift through. Here’s a sampling of what I got. Admittedly, my editing was a bit slapdash. Here’s the highlights of what happened.

Father John Misty was shockingly great to watch. Bleachers and Matt & Kim couldn’t have been more fun. I missed the meet-up to go up front for Bleachers, so I had to make do with not so great crowd shots for their show. I had a little regret that I was running around taking pictures for their sets, because I really wanted to dance my pants off. I had my very expensive gear out when it started to rain in the second song of Tame Impala’s set. I was disappointed to leave them and find cover for my gear. The Black Keys sounded great, as they have every time I have seen them.

Black Keys

Tame Impala

Walk the Moon

Matt & Kim

Bleachers

Catfish and the Bottlemen

Father John Misty

Multimagic

Machineheart

Markham

June 2, 2015
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Bunbury 2015 Must See: Atmosphere

I hate the phrase, “get up in your guts.” My physical revulsion upon encountering that phrase makes the hair in the back of my neck stand on end. I struggle to keep my face from a grimace.

Get up in your guts where among the first lyrics I heard from Atmosphere. My first thought was, “This does not bode well.” There are benefits to starting out in the basement, and persistence can pay out.

After several more songs, I liked the hooks. I liked the words. Now, I am pretty thrilled to see these guys. Atmosphere plays at Bunbury on Sunday at 6pm.

Check Atmosphere out here.

May 30, 2015
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Bunbury 2015 Must See: Mini Mansions

I am writing this while on a plane. As I roar over the the Appalachian Mountains, the energetic little boy behind me is beating his tray table into submission. I don’t know what infractions incited this tiny human’s rage; I do know that my seat has been jostling in a way that very old wooden roller coasters aim to shake one’s teeth out of their sockets. Who knew I would regret leaving the sports bra at home?

On the subject of tiny humans, the infant to my left has very powerful lungs. I understand how air pressure works, but I still find the pops and cracks in my head unpleasant. The tiny screaming human has more of my sympathy than the tray table marauder behind me.

Praise be to the gods of air travel that I could mute the tiny human sounds with noise cancelling ear buds and the sweet, sweet sounds of Mini Mansions. On first listen, I heard a strong Beatles influence. But I am wondering if I am responding to the relative complexity of their songs, rather than similarities in vocals and melodic choices. Plus, it seems a lofty thing to compare almost any band to such venerable rock and roll icons.

Mini Mansions play at Bunbury on Friday at 530.

Check out their video link to mini mansions video.

May 28, 2015
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Bunbury 2015 Must See – Matt and Kim

There are a number of ways I connect with music, and specifically live performances. Sometimes I connect to the biting truth of melancholy lyrics. Sometimes I connect with the powerful energy that the feel of the music gives off. And sometimes, it’s just big dumb fun to listen to; think outrageous 80’s hits here. As much as I love my pensive Death Cab for Cutie lyrics, I also can’t help cranking up “Beat It” when it comes on the radio. It’s impossible to frown and listen to that sweet, sweet guitar lick.

Matt and Kim qualify as big dumb fun. This is gonna be the labrador retriever of Bunbury performances. Matt and Kim play Friday at 645 at Bunbury 2015.

May 27, 2015
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Bunbury 2015 Must See: Jamestown Revival

Well this is just lovely. I want to be in that tent. I want to be on that shore.

True story, these guys play 630 to 715 on Saturday at Bunbury 2015. A time that completely overlaps with The Decemberists. As much as I enjoy this, in the battle between Jamestown Revival and The Decemberists, The Decemberists are clear front runners. If for some reason that show doesn’t grab me, Jamestown Revival it is.

And while I am thinking about it, the scheduling is one of the things that I don’t appreciate about Bunbury 2015. Matt & Kim have zero schedule competition, while Walk the Moon and Royal Blood overlap completely. Lucky for me, I’ve seen Walk the Moon numerous times, so I feel ok about putting that time to Royal Blood.

I also suspect that concentrating the entire Bunbury audience at one stage for in multiple time-slots is going to drive the feeling of the fest toward over-crowding. In previous years, only the headliners (the last show of each day) had no competition. For those final shows, the crowds were pretty unreasonable. I am curious to see how this works out.

May 26, 2015
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Bunbury 2015 Must See: Jessica Hernandez and The Deltas

Blues + sassy lady singer + horns = dancing magic at Bunbury. Check out their performance on KEXP.

This band reminds me of Amy Winehouse (backed up by the Dap Kings) sans the slick production work of Mark Ronson. And while I give credit to Ronson, that over-polished pop isn’t exactly my thing. I like a little quirk in my music, and Jessica Hernandez and The Deltas deliver. This show will be a great excuse to dance your pants off. They play at 415 on Sunday at Bunbury 2015.

May 25, 2015
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Bunbury 2015 Must See: Multimagic

Huzzah for local music! I checked out Multimagic at MOTR pub this past winter. In the dark, packed bar they hammered out their indie pop tunes. Here’s a link to my blog about this event. That night ran off the rails, but that was independent from how great Multimagic sounded. The Cincinnati local music scene has those of us who are out many evenings of the week checking out shows. It also attracts weekend warriors who are just looking for lots of drinks and a good time. This latter group was out in full force that night, and rowdy is an appropriate word to describe their behavior.

I’ve already covered Wussy and Walk the Moon. If you preferred the pop sounds of Walk the Moon over Wussy, Multimagic is the show for you. They have just as much pop goodness, and less of a young and rambunctious following. They don’t have anything up for sharing on Youtube, so this Spotify link to one of their songs will need to suffice. They play at 3 on Friday of Bunbury 2015.

May 24, 2015
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Bunbury 2015 Must See: Bleachers

This is fun. One of the band members is part of FUN.

It’s pop in “Walking on Sunshine” way. It’s big and dramatic. This might not be the sort of thing I will listen to obsessively, but I will dance my pants off at this show none the less. Bleachers play at 545 on Friday at Bunbury 2015.

Kate's Queen City Notes

Blundering through Cincinnati, laughing all the way

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