bunbury music festival | Kate's Queen City Notes

February 27, 2015
by allthenamesaretakensothisisreallyreallylong Leave a comment

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

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!

July 17, 2014
by allthenamesaretakensothisisreallyreallylong 1 Comment

Bunbury 2014: The Day I Learn Why Music Fests Are Three Days

Sunday at Bunbury started sideways. The skies opened up in the middle of Brick + Mortar’s set, which was also the first act of the day. They said that they would pick-up after the rain let up. After some time spent in the VIP tent throwing back a couple of beers, music resumed. The delay was probably about and hour and fifteen minutes. I was expecting them to just start where they were in the original schedule, but instead they issued a new schedule ensuring that all the bands that were booked that day would in fact play.

The main victim of this new schedule was Young the Giant. I had originally planned on seeing them, but after the reschedule, I couldn’t get across the park to hear more than one and a half songs from them. I feel happy that one of the songs happened to be “My Body”.

The first band up after the reschedule was The Lighthouse and the Whaler. They sounded good, but I was distracted by the threatening sky and my need to keep my very expensive camera gear from getting soaked. I wanted to stay for more than three songs, but the rain chased me away.

I trotted back to the VIP tent to see a short performance by The Kopecky Family Band. It was covered, so that was the only location to retreat to. They sounded great. They were really engaged with the people in the audience. They wanted to do an acoustic song in the center of the tent with everyone crowded around them, but they got shot down by the sound guys. I’m a little bummed that didn’t happen, but I think they were concerned that the music was starting on the main stage.

I checked out ZZ Ward at The Main Stage. Her backing band is pretty spectacular. Her vocals were great. But her music felt wrong for a festival. I want to see her in a dark club. If she comes back to The Madison Theater, or The Southgate House revival, I would gladly see her again.

I checked out The Kopecky Family Band at The River Stage. Man, they are just really great. There was a trombone war. There was some dancing. If they come around Cincinnati again, I will be going to see them. This was my favorite performance of the day.

I saw a bit of Robert DeLong. I like his music. I’m not so fond of watching one or two dudes with a bunch of technology. Robert DeLong does a great job of trying to make that entertaining, but it’s just not my thing. I saw Baths at Midpoint Music Festival last fall, and had a similar experience. It was two dudes with technology. I loved the record, but I didn’t enjoy the concert experience.

I headed off to The Warsteiner Stage for Bear Hands. Their stage presence wasn’t anything special. But they sounded fantastic. I had an excellent conversation with Alex, someone who works on Midpoint Music Festival. I’ve talked about that fest, here, here, and here. It’s the best music festival in the city. It’s an adventure in exploring downtown, and an adventure in seeing new music. I love the way downtown hums with bicycles and music fanatics. We talked about the fest for a bit, and it was super cool to hear about how it’s managed.

After hearing just a bit of Young the Giant, I headed to Holy Ghost! at The River Stage. I was pretty excited about an 80’s throwback dance party. Can that’s what happened. There was a conga line. Then the audience made of their own line dance, and coordinated everyone up front to dance together. The band sounded just like the recording. Their stage presence was ok, but the audience participation made it a really fun show.

Last up was The Flaming Lips on The Main Stage. Spectacle is a good word for their show. It was very visually stimulating. They sounded good, and provided plenty of entertainment. The thing that really struck me about them was how much fun Wayne Coyne seemed to be having. Playing on that stage seemed to be the only thing he wanted to be doing at that moment in this world. It made for such a great concert experience. Oh, and yeah, he got in his hamster ball and rolled/walked around the crowd.

Sometime in the next week, I will post another blog where I talk about my VIP experience and me experience with a media pass. I will also reflect on the experience as a whole. What I can say now is that in spite of my exhaustion, I was so bummed it was over.

The Flaming Lips on stage.

The Lighthouse and the Whaler

The Kopecky Family Band

The VIP stage. This is where all the VIP performances took place.

ZZ Ward

Robert DeLong

Airborne Robert Delong

Bear Hands

Holy Ghost!

That’s a woman dressed as a mountain. There were a couple of mushrooms and a rainbow on the stage too.

Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips. You may ask yourself if he’s wearing a body suit. Why yes, he is.

July 13, 2014
by allthenamesaretakensothisisreallyreallylong 1 Comment

Bunbury 2014: Sweat and Joy

The day started a little rough because I forgot my most important successory. Ear Plugs. I stopped in to just a bit of Miner, but then I had to run back to my place to get the cilia-saving foam devices.

After an additional trip to and from my apartment, I turned up to Big Fresh complete with a sweat-soaked shirt. Big Fresh was fun. They had a couple of brass players on stage. In the venn diagram of bands with horns and bands that I like, the circles are nearly on top of each other. If you aren’t a nerd, that just means that I almost always like live bands with horns. Of the lyrics that I could understand I got, “you’re such a hotty totty, I want to touch your body”. So, lyrics might not be their strong suit.

Bronze Radio Return wins for having my favorite song of Bunbury with “Shake, Shake, Shake”. These guys sounded great. They took a little time in their third to last song to jam and feature solos from the harmonica, guitar, and piano players. They are all great musicians. When they played “Shake, Shake, Shake”, it was clear from the crowd’s participation that they were already familiar with their music. Anytime you come around here, Bronze Radio Return, I will be coming to see you.

I peeked in on the Bonesetters before I headed to The River Stage for Kishi Bashi. I’ve been waiting to see Kishi Bashi since I missed him at Midpoint Music Festival last fall. Of all the Bunbury acts, I know his music best. It was worth the wait. He was spectacular. He did a solo version of “Manchester” with live sampling and looping. It was gorgeous. He covered “Live and Let Die” during which he dove into the crowd. After being passed around for a bit he was returned to the stage to close out the song. He’s travelling with a bassist, a drummer, and a banjo player. They all brought creativity to how they used their instruments. The banjo player was playing with a bow at one moment and then using mallets on his banjo for percussion. We got an excellent surprise at the end of the show. Kishi Bashi is coming back in late August to The 20th Century Theater. There’s no way I will miss that.

I stopped in for a moment to see Modoc. They sounded excellent, but I needed to cross the park to see part of Cults. Modoc is booked for Midpoint Music Festival, and assuming no critical conflicts I will see them there. I was expecting to like Cults more than I did. They sounded good. Their performance felt impersonal. That might be partially due to the fact that I was pretty far away, given that I arrived late. I would give them another go because I really like their music.

I headed back across the park to The Warsteiner Stage to see a few songs by Little Daylight. Then I continued on to Paramore. I actually didn’t intend on covering them. But I figured it would be the only time I would see that band, so why not see a song or two. I feel the same way about Paramore as I did about all my ex-boyfriends. I’m just not that into them. A couple of live songs didn’t change my mind.

The Pass and Andrew W. K. were next on my list, so I hiked across the park for the 4th time. The Pass got a tough billing. They were up against Andrew W. K. and Paramore. They deserved better than the sparse attendance they got. They sounded excellent.

Andrew W. K. was big dumb fun. His fans were engaged and very energetic. There was crowd surfing. Even the stoic photographers in the pit couldn’t help but smile. Is his music my thing? No. But it’s impossible to watch him and not smile. Andrew W. K. you win. I would totally see you again.

Foxy Shazam was excellent. Does that even need to be said out loud? Those guys have such a unique and big energy on stage. They packed The River Stage. No surprises there. It’s interesting to note that the other musicians came to see Foxy. Kishi Bashi and Patrick from Fall Out Boy were spotted in the back stage area watching their show. Seriously, if you live in Cincinnati and you love live shows, you must see Foxy Shazam.

Then Fall Out Boy happened. Their music isn’t my thing. I saw almost all of their show, and their music still isn’t my thing. I got some good pictures though.

*Note: I will have to edit this a little later. Sorry for the spelling and grammar problems. Cranking these out on a daily basis is challenging.

Miner.

Big Fresh. I know I said they had a horn section. I promise they are there. The shots that I have of them didn’t make my favorites. I will post them at some point in the future.

Big Fresh

Bronze Radio Return

The Bonesetters.

Kishi Bashi

I want those sunglasses. Banjo player from Kishi Bashi.

Kishi Bashi

Cults.

Little Daylight.

Paramore rocking out.

Yep. Boxing shorts.

The Pass

Andrew W. K. is getting ready to party.

Andrew W. K.

Foxy Shazam

Foxy Shazam needs water.

This is how Fall Out Boy entered the stage.

Fall Out Boy’s Pete Wentz.

Fall Out Boy.

Fall Out Boy

July 12, 2014
by allthenamesaretakensothisisreallyreallylong 2 Comments

Bunbury 2014: Friday Review

It’s a nice feeling when things go according to plan. It’s a wonderful feeling when things go even better than planned. At work, I was assigned a project that was running off the rails the day before the weekend of the 4th of July. Practically, I had 5 business days to get the project back under control and re-plan it.

I had planned to take yesterday off, so I could have a leisurely morning getting ready for Bunbury. Once I got this flaming project tossed in my lap, taking the day off was out of the question. After roughly 40 meetings and what felt like a zillion emails, and hundreds of problems solved this week, I was able to get a half-day off.

By some miracle, I was able to close out all of my pending work, and keep my four meetings of the morning on schedule. By noon, I was headed to Sawyer Point to get my press credentials. This task went quickly, and I had enough time to change out of work clothes and head back to the fest.

I bought my VIP passes at the fest last year. I had a good enough time that I felt confident about the purchase without knowing the line-up. I had since lost that email receipt. At will call they looked me up, and printed my tickets in less than 5 minutes. Then I headed to the media tent to get my camera sticker. This also took about five minutes. Getting into the fest on time: Success!

I headed to the River Stage to see Royal Teeth. They were just as adorable as I was expecting. They were shiny pop goodness with a dash of hipster. They sounded great, seemed happy to be there, and were really chatty with the crowd.

After a brief stop in the VIP tent for a 2 dollar beer, I headed to The Main Stage to see X Ambassadors. They’re music isn’t exactly my bag. But, my spidey sense told me that they would put up a solid performance. Plus, they have been regularly selling out their shows on this tour, so that’s got to count for something. They didn’t disappoint.

I wasn’t feeling particularly drawn to any of the bands in the time slot following X Ambassadors. I checked in on a couple of songs by Let It Be and Panama Wedding. Let It Be made me think of every pop punk show that I saw in the late 90’s. I think that could be interpreted as an insult, but that’s not what I intend. I like pop punk. I really like it when it’s tight, as they were. I was drawn off because I had to get back to The Main Stage, but I would happily go see them again.

Wild Cub was just as excellent as I expected. They were great the other two times I saw them, so there were no surprises there. The singer said that Ohio was special to them because a dj in Columbus was the first to play their song on the radio. This spawned a conversation later about how Ohio radio stations are less tightly controlled and thus makes Ohio a bit of a trend setter. I have never heard this before. When I have 5 minutes to blow this will be googled.

I stopped by at J Roddy Walston and the Business and Family and Friends. J Roddy was rocking. I will be seeing them again. Like X Ambassadors, their music isn’t my bag, but I always love a stellar performance.

I heard great things about Cage the Elephant. That great lip service is justified. At this point I thought, ah this will be the best performamce of the day. That turned out completely wrong.

I missed Bad Suns, but my friends that made it said they were great. Next up was Fitz and the Tantrums. I saw them this past fall. They have been touring for more than 7 months. They are great performers, but I have to say their vocals were a little worse for the wear. Fitz was clearly struggling. Their only option would have been to cancel, and I commend them for powering through it. Regardless of sounding a little rough, they were just as engaged with the crowd as they were early in the tour. The band sounded excellent. Net, not the best I’ve seen from them, but they get big ups for not disappointing their fans with a cancellation.

I am sure it’s nostalgia that makes so happy to see Heartless Bastards play in Cincinnati. I think of the many times I saw a then slightly different lineup playing the claustrophobic basement of the CAC, the original Southgate House, and Northside Tavern. It was around their inception and early shows that I started engaging in the local music scene. Zero regrets there. Erika Wennerstrom said it was good to be home, and it made me feel sappy and thankful for how good Cincinnati has been to me.

Last up for the evening was Empire of the Sun. When they were booked, I had thoughts. Thoughts like, what idiot booked this? I kept these thoughts to myself, because I wasn’t familiar with the band. I did some listening. I liked their sound. For the most part, feedback on social media was similar to my first thought. But there were sporadic dissenters suggesting that this booking was a huge win. “They never tour in the states”, they said. “They have an amazing live show”, they said. I skipped checking out any YouTube videos because, I do most of my listening via Spotify and can’t stream video at work.

The photography pit was packed. Empire of the Sun hit the stage. My mouth was agape. It took minutes for me to recover my wits from the awe I was experiencing. My words just aren’t good enough to describe what happened there. The pictures aren’t really either. But they’re all I have. I will say this, their show blew my expectations out of the water. If you can see them, MY GOD YOU MUST DO IT. I DON”T CARE IF YOU DON”T LIKE THEIR MUSIC.

In summary, Bunbury day one, you win. I freely admit, I wasn’t feeling your line-up this year. But, damn, if Saturday and Sunday are even half as good as yesterday, I am calling this fest a massive success.