Indie music | Kate's Queen City Notes

September 6, 2014
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Midpoint Music Fest 2014 Must-See: Wussy

Months ago I agreed to take a weekend road trip to Nashville. I’m sure it will be fun. But Cincinnati seems to be at her best in the month of September, and any weekend away means missing some fun events. I just realized that I will be missing Wussy’s show at Motr on Sept. 12th. Balls.

While I have been listening to my Midpoint Music Fest playlist, I’ve really connected with one of their songs of Strawberry. Connecting with music for me usually starts with the sound, a good melody. At some point after listen number 10? Maybe it’s 12? I don’t know the exact number. I notice a turn of phrase in the lyrics that piques my interest. At the end of this rabbit hole, sometimes I find beautiful writing. It’s that beautiful writing that brings me to buying album after album. When a Death Cab for Cutie or National album drops, I purchase those without a single prior listen. I want the writing. It’s the writing that I come back for.

The line that caught my attention in “Waiting Room” was as follows.

Stand for the silent bride
Maidens in crimson drapes
Bottle it up inside til it explodes and washes over rows of everyone attending
Sad Midwestern baptist girl writes sorry on the mirror
Crying in the bathroom on the first night of the honeymoon
It numbs you like the colors in the waiting room

Then later I found this.

Out on a great crusade
Under a million stars
Focusing on your face with the lines increases coming on like US Grant to Richmond
Bona fide but trapped inside a shell that says to hell with you
You pour it out and hope that someone notices before it’s through
It rides you like the silence in the waiting room

Beautiful. Note that I couldn’t find any of their lyrics online, so you are reading what my ears could pick out. I could have made a mistake in there. What a gorgeous song about the quiet desperation in ordinary lives.

Under different circumstances I would be standing right in front at Motr watching these guys play on September 12th. Since that can’t happen I will be standing in front seeing them play at Washington Park on September 26th, as part of the Friday line-up of Midpoint Music Festival. If you are a Cincinnati native and you like experiencing new music, you won’t find a better event in the city. GO. If I ever move away, I will gladly come back every year for this weekend. You can read about my experience last year here, here and here.

September 4, 2014
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Kishi Bashi and The Ridges

After enjoying Kishi Bashi at Bunbury, it wasn’t a difficult decision to get tickets to see him play at The 20th Century Theater. That venue is a nice intimate space. As an added bonus The Ridges opened for him. I haven’t seen them in about a year. Shame on me for that, as they have played numerous times around here. They’ve really amped up the energy in their live show since the last time I saw them. If their purpose was to get the crowed excited for Kishi Bashi, I say job well done.

Just before Kishi Bashi came out, the merch guy came out to quote what I think was Shakespeare. I don’t know why this felt completely appropriate, but it did. One of the band members handed over a remote control to girls to my left. It controlled the lighting in the body of the banjo. I enjoyed this little bit of audience participation.

The band looked great, and put in an energetic performance. It was standing at a place in the theater that made it difficult to judge what the sound was like. I was hearing quite a bit from the monitors on stage and even the acoustic sound from the instruments themselves. I do know that it was hot. There was dancing, and I had fun.

Violas. It’s a thing.

The Ridges

Everyone sing along. Or should I say, everyone in the back shut yer pie holes.

That some stuff, stuff that I don’t understand.

Tattooed banjo?

Kishi Bashi. It was hot as satan’s taint in there. That jacket came off quickly.

Because you never know when you need to banjo while straddling someone doing push-ups.

Big finish with The Ridges on stage for “Bright Whites”

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 10, 2014
by allthenamesaretakensothisisreallyreallylong Leave a comment

Bunbury 2014: IT’S ALMOST HERE!!

This has been one hell of a week at work, which makes me extra excited about all the live music that I’m seeing this weekend. I’ve been blogging about my not-to-miss bands for the past few months. Check out those blogs if you like.

Fitz and the Trantrums and Young the Giant
Kishi Bashi and Wild Cub
Bronze Radio Return and Bad Suns
Cults and Holy Ghost!

Plus, I’m super excited that I got a press pass this year. I have a pretty spiffy camera, and I was hoping I could get clearance to bring it in. Success!! I’m thrilled about all the amazing pictures that I’m going to share in the coming days.

Here’s my agenda for the weekend. Agenda. It’s so corporate. Regardless, here it is.

Friday:

2-245 Divided between Royal Teeth and Snowmine – Both these bands sound great, so it looks like I start the fest by sprinting across Sawyer Point.
245-330 X Ambassadors – These guys are regularly selling out their venues on this tour. Their horizon is looking pretty bright.
330-415 Let It Happen
415-5 Wild Cub Seen them twice, love them. 500 Miles to Memphis gets an honorable mention. This Cincinnati-based band puts on a great show, but I’ve seen them quite a few times. Oh, the burden of being a local at this fest.
5-545 Divided between J Roddy Walston and the Business and Family and Friends – I enjoy the sound of both of these bands. More sprinting.
545-645 Cage the Elephant
645-730 Bad Suns – If I have it in me, I might try and catch a song or two by Meg Myers and Lydia Loveless between Cage and Bad Suns.
745-9 Fitz and the Tantrums
915-1015 Heartless Bastards – Erika Wennerstrom’s voice is just spectacular.
1015-1115 Empire of the Sun

Saturday:

2-245 Miner
245-330 Big Fresh
330-415 Bronze Radio Return
415-5 Bonesetters
5-545 Kishi Bashi – I would have gotten tix to this fest just for this show.
545-645 Cults – Their songs sound straight out of the sixties and have lyrics about, well, cults. What’s not to like?
630-730 Little Daylight – This band drew me away from my original agenda at Governor’s Ball with their sweet, sweet sounds.
730-815 Molly Sullivan – Formerly the lead singer of the Know Know Nots, she’s got stellar vocals. I’m excited to see what she’s working on now.
815-915 Divided between The Pass and Andrew W. K. – Oh god, why are so many good things happening in this time slot.
9-10 Foxy Shazam – Their music isn’t really in my wheelhouse, but they are super performers.
10-1115 Fall Out Boy – They aren’t really my thing, but they have no competition. So, thks fr th mrms in advance.

Sunday:

2-245 Brick + Mortar
245-330 The Lighthouse and the Whaler – So much pop goodness. It’s marshmallow fluff for your ears.
330-415 The Easthills
415-5 Kopecky Family Band – Are they sure they aren’t a subset of Cults?
5-6 ZZ Ward
6-7 Robert Delong – This is dance-your-pants-off hour.
630-730 Bear Hands
7-8 Young the Giant
8-9 Holy Ghost! – They are so 80’s, and I love it so much.
9-1015 Flaming Lips – Thank Jeebus this thing ends at 1015. I will be beat-down by that point in the weekend.

Bring it Bunbury! I’m ready!

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.

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!.

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.

July 26, 2013
by allthenamesaretakensothisisreallyreallylong 2 Comments

A Break from Books: Bunbury Music Festival in Review

I’m taking a break from books for this post. Bunbury happened a little over a week ago. I went. I had the most rock and roll experience in recent memory. Here’s what happened.

I live within walking distance of the park in which Bunbury takes place. I have been to other music festivals, Lollapalooza and multiple Warped Tours. I jumped at the chance to attend a festival that wouldn’t require travel and lodging, even with a line-up that wasn’t wholly in line with my tastes.

Bunbury distinguished itself from other fests by supplying free water and misting stations as well as abundant beer booths-including craft beers, local food vendors, shady napping spots, porta johns, and cell charging stations. In addition, the organizers had the forethought to issue color coaded wrist bands that indicated both what type of pass you purchased, but also your over/under 21 status, allowing you to leave your id at home once you’ve picked up your wrist band.

Bunbury 2012 was so enjoyable that I purchased VIP tickets for Bunbury 2013 without a single band announced and zero information on the VIP amenities. The VIP three day pass was $295 as opposed to $90 for the standard three day pass, so it felt like a risky decision at the time. I was not disappointed.

Before I get into the specifics of the shows, the VIP tickets were well worth it. First, there was a generous area sectioned off in front of the main stage, enabling me to walk to the front of any of the headliner shows. In addition, there were intimate shows in the air-conditioned VIP tent, after which the band members chatted, took photos, and signed autographs. The drink specials in the VIP tent included dollar water and sodas, 2 dollar beers and malt beverages, and 3 dollar wine and mixed drinks as well as free Street Pops (yum!) and free food around dinner time. Considering beers outside the VIP tent were 6 or 7 dollars, I estimate that the VIP tix saved me 100 or 150 dollars in food and drink for the weekend. To top it all off, the musicans cycled in and out of the VIP area, Brent Dressner from The National for example. This is where I ran into one of the guys from CAKE, who complemented by tattoo. Oh, and Peeta from the Hunger Games movies was back there.

Now then, these are the bands that I saw, followed by my abbreviated highlights and, in some cases, lowlights.

Friday: The Features, American Authors, Delta Rae, Tegan and Sara, Sky Ferreira, Walk the Moon, DeVotchKa, fun.
My thoughts: stand out shows were Walk the Moon for being adorably proud to be playing to their home town and DeVotchKa for being one of the best performance bands ever. Random discovery: Tegan and Sara are tiny women. If there was such a thing as pocket lesbians, they would be it.

Seriously. They are tiny, tiny women.

Saturday: Margaret Darling, Vacationer, Bears of Blue River, Taylor Alexander, Chairlift, Twenty One Pilots, Black Owls, We Are Scientists, CAKE, Atlas Genius, MGMT
My thoughts: Atlas Genius sounded excellent. Their show sounded almost exactly like their record; not a single note was missed plus loads of energy. Without question I will be getting tickets to see them when they come back in the fall. The Black Owls and CAKE sounded incredible. The guys in those bands appeared to be in their 40’s or 50’s and have the confidence and skills of seasoned professionals. Bears of Blue River get the award for sounding awful. They were a sloppy, out-of-tune mess. MGMT gets the award for being insufferable pricks for refusing to play “Kids”. Only Radiohead can get away with that crap.

Sunday: A Silent Film, Camera Obscura, Belle and Sebastian, Yo La Tengo, The National
My thoughts: A Silent Film was a wonderful surprise. They were great to watch and sounded like a pleasing combination of U2, “Where The Streets Have No Name” era, and Coldplay divided by Keane. Belle and Sebastian had adorable banter with the crowd. Yo La Tengo redeemed themselves for the abysmal performance they delivered the last time I saw them. Finally, The National melted my face off with rock and roll. Matt Berninger jumped off the stage for “Mr. November” and wandered through the crowd, all the while people patiently passed the microphone cord between them to enable Matt’s wandering. He walked right past me on his way back up to the stage. I have never seen a crowd simultaneously keyed-up and controlled. I was able to solve a longstanding mystery. How can he perform in a vest and button down shirt without melting? The answer is he sweats though all his layers of clothing. They finished with “Terrible Love” Matt wandered back into the crowd to dole out set lists, his half-finished bottle of wine, and improbably his microphone stand. I am curious to know who made it out of the gates with that last item.

Over-all, Bunbury was great. I was truly sad when it was over. I can’t wait until next year.

Matt Berninger sweat on me. That could be a command or a statement of fact.

Kate's Queen City Notes

Blundering through Cincinnati, laughing all the way

Tag Archives: Indie music