Kate's Queen City Notes

Blundering through Cincinnati, laughing all the way

Tag Archives: bunbury 2015


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Bunbury 2015 Must See: The Front Bottoms

“When ever I am alone or feeling lonely I pretend I can play the drums inside my head… I am alone only half of the time and the other half I am only hiding.” – “Legit Tattoo Gun” – The Front Bottoms

Words fail when expressing why music resonates. My initial attraction to The Front Bottoms was due to the vocalist’s similarities to the lead vocalist in The Thermals. The Thermals sound is more traditionally punk than The Front Bottoms, but the sincerity in the lyrics crosses the differences in sound.

There’s a thread that runs between The Front Bottoms and the early 2000’s emo bands like The Get Up Kids and Saves the Day. It seems that the only appropriate way to enjoy this band is screaming the lyrics to the songs along with them. And that’s exactly how I intend on enjoying them.

The Front Bottoms play on Sunday at Bunbury 2015.


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Bunbury 2015 Must See: The Black Keys

I love The Black Keys. I love that they are died in the wool Akron boys. I love their raw blues sound.

I saw them at the Madison some years back. The venue is small and sweaty and remains nicotine stained despite years of being smoke free. It was my ideal setting to see them. I was doubtful I would enjoy seeing them two years following at US Bank Arena. I couldn’t conceive of their sound translating well to that cavernous venue. I was surprised.

I also saw The Black Keys at Lollapalooza years and years ago. They were unknown at the time, and played bright and early. The crowd was patiently staking out their spots for Nine Inch Nails, and barely engaged. The sound was awful.

I am ready to have that unfortunate fest experience erased from my mind. This context will be different simply because The Keys are successful enough to headline a fest. Here’s to my second experience with the Black Keys.

Black Keys “Lonely Boy”


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Bunbury 2015 Must See: Temples

There’s no plausible explanation for why at twenty years old in 1996 we were listening to The Mama’s and The Papa’s constantly. Mama Cass’s sweet harmonies would emanate from the boom box in the living room of our house in Clifton. AM Radio blared in our kitchen for all of my first 18 years of life. All of this primed me to fall in love with Temples.

Temples bring all of the things that I love about 60’s pop without the acid-soaked lyrics. I love them. Check out the visuals in this video; they say it all. The Mamas & Papas would dig it. Temples play on Friday at Bunbury.


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Bunbury 2015 Must See: Royal Blood

I find it difficult to write about anything when I am going through personal upheaval. It squelches my creativity. And although my random musings might appear off-hand and thoughtless, they require quite a bit of work on my part. Trust me when I say no one would want to read what comes off the top of my head.

This is the context for my delay in producing my posts describing my favorite Bunbury 2015 acts. I have been listening plenty. I just haven’t been able to formulate words about it. Yet, I am running out of time. I must accept that creativity probably won’t come back to me in a timely fashion and power through some posts. Power through it: my mantra for 2015.

Royal Blood. Holy two-piece-band-that-rips-my-face-off-with-gutwrenching-rock-and-roll Batman!! That was awkward, but let’s power through it. If the sexy, crunchy guitars of The Black Keys were layered under Muse’s bombast you would have Royal Blood. These guys have enormous buzz behind them, and I can’t wait to check them out.


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Talk, Talk, Talk, About It: Bunbury 2015 Line-up

True story: I have been disappointed by the Bunbury line-up in the past. Last year’s line-up was lackluster. Of the headliners, I was unpassionate about Empire Of the Sun and Flaming Lips and don’t enjoy Fall Out Boy and Paramore. Turned out, Empire Of The Sun was one of the best live performances I have ever seen. And the Flaming Lips, although not my thing, put up a really fun show. All in all I was satisfied with my experience regardless of what was, IMHO, a bummer booking in Fall Out Boy and Paramore. I am rarely at the fest for the headliners, and there were plenty of mid-tier acts that I enjoyed. Kopecky Family Band, Kishi Bashi, Wild Cub, Cage the Elephant, Holy Ghost!, The Lighthouse and the Whaler, Bronze Radio Return and more, made my ticket well worth it. For my past Bunbury thoughts check these out.

This year? I was concerned when the fest was sold to Promowest. The line-up was anyone’s guess. Given that I purchased my VIP tickets right after Bunbury last year (pro tip: they are cheapest then, but clearly it’s a risk as there’s no line-up announced), I had some skin in this game.

I am thrilled that Promowest put a line-up together that is better than my highest hopes for this fest. Granted the bar was a bit low, given that last year’s line-up was not my favorite.  Check out the full announcement here.

Bunbury 2015 Line-up image

Bunbury 2015 Line-up

I haven’t checked out the Avett Brothers, Tame Impala, Atmosphere, and Matt & Kim, so I am excited to see them. I’ve seen The Black Keys, The Decemberists, Twenty One Pilots, Walk The Moon, and Manchester Orchestra, and I am trilled to give all of them another go. While Twenty One Pilots aren’t exactly my bag, their show was really fun to watch. And while Walk The Moon’s fans are little rambunctious for this 38 year-old, the band is so thrilled to play their hometown and with their sound reminiscent of The Talking Heads (if you know me, you know 80’s pop is my catnip), combines to me enjoying their shows. What’s not to love about The Black Keys and The Decemberists? Top it all off with ticking Snoop Dogg off my bucket list, and I am a happy, happy ticket holder. So, cheers to you Promowest!

One other wonkish thing to note, Promowest “leaked” the line-up to Cincinnati local media early. Nice marketing move there. My Facebook feed exploded when that happened. I was a little concerned that a Columbus company might misread the Cincinnati market in terms of line-up and media. This is one of those rare circumstances in which I am happy to be wrong. In a couple months, I will start my Bunbury music reviews, so check back in April. Happy listening!