Kate's Queen City Notes

Blundering through Cincinnati, laughing all the way

Tag Archives: music festival


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MPMF16: Saturday in Pictures

Pictures for now. Words for later.

The Mountain Goats at MPMF16
Oh Pep! at MPMF16
Lucky Chops at MPMF16
Reggie Watts at MPMF16
Wolf Parade at MPMF16
Wolf Parade at MPMF16
Wolf Parade at MPMF16
By Light We Loom at MPMF16
Lucky Chops at MPMF16
MULTIMAGIC at MPMF16
Lucky Chops at MPMF16
Bob Mould at MPMF16
Dancer at Wolf Parade at MPMF16
Frightened Rabbit at MPMF16
Kasami Washington at MPMF16
Kasami Washington at MPMF16
Reggie Watts at MPMF16
Orchards at MPMF16
Wolf Parade at MPMF16
JJ Grey & the Mofros at MPMF16
Lucy Dacus at MPMF16
Oh Pep! at MPMF16
MULTIMAGIC at MPMF16
Lucky Chops at MPMF16
Lucy Dacus at MPMF16
MULTIMAGIC at MPMF16
Car Seat Headrest at MPMF16
Lucky Chops at MPMF16
Bob Mould at MPMF16
The Mountain Goats at MPMF16
Wolf Parade at MPMF16
Baby Money & The Down Payments at MPMF16
MULTIMAGIC at MPMF16
JJ Grey & the Mofros at MPMF16
Reggie Watts at MPMF16
Bob Mould at MPMF16
Orchards at MPMF16
Frightened Rabbit at MPMF16
Baby Money & The Down Payments at MPMF16
JJ Grey & the Mofros at MPMF16
Bob Mould at MPMF16
Frightened Rabbit at MPMF16
Lucky Chops at MPMF16
Lucky Chops at MPMF16

 


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MPMF16: Sunday Schedule

There is one more day. One more day running on coffee and no sleep. One more day filled with music.

115-145 Us, Today – Eli’s BBQ Stage
230-300 Kepi Ghoulie – Central Parkway YMCA Stage
315-345 Coconut Milk – Eli’s BBQ Stage
415-445 The Easthills – Eli’s BBQ Stage
430-500 AJJ – Central Parkway YMCA Stage
515-600 Vandaveer – WNKU Stage
615-700 Nada Surf – Skyline Stage
700-745 Frank Turner – Central Parkway YMCA Stage
730-815 Joan of Arc – Eli’s BBQ Stage
815-915 The Wood Brothers – WNKU Stage
930-1100 Band of Horses


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MPMF16: Friday in Pictures

Friday’s visuals. No time for the wordy words now. I will return at some point and comment on who is who in here. Off to Saturday fun!

Future Islands at MPMF16
Antibalas at MPMF16
Molly Sullivan braving the sun at MPMF16
Tokyo Police Club at MPMF16
PUBLIC at MPMF16
Ona at MPMF16
It was 87 degrees. This man is committed to his outfit.
Tokyo Police Club at MPMF16
PUBLIC at MPMF16
Future Islands at MPMF16
Future Islands at MPMF16
Julia Jacklin at MPMF16
SMUT at MPMF16
Ona at MPMF16
The James Hunter Six at MPMF16
Antibalas at MPMF16
The James Hunter Six at MPMF16
HOOPS at MPMF16
Ona at MPMF16
Injecting Strangers at MPMF16
Antibalas at MPMF16
Leggy at MPMF16
Injecting Strangers at MPMF16
Ona at MPMF16
Leggy at MPMF16
Future Islands at MPMF16
Ona at MPMF16
Leggy at MPMF16
Antibalas at MPMF16
Royal Holland at MPMF16
Future Islands at MPMF16
Future Islands at MPMF16
SMUT at MPMF16
Future Islands at MPMF16
Antibalas at MPMF16
Future Islands at MPMF16
Royal Holland at MPMF16
PUBLIC at MPMF16
Leggy at MPMF16
Molly Sullivan braving the sun at MPMF16
Tokyo Police Club at MPMF16
Antibalas at MPMF16
Leggy at MPMF16
Antibalas at MPMF16
The James Hunter Six at MPMF16
PUBLIC at MPMF16
Tokyo Police Club at MPMF16
Injecting Strangers at MPMF16
Darla at MPMF16


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MPMF15 Must See – K. Flay

I like Hip Hop. The hostility toward women and glorification of our consumer culture that is often present in the lyrics turns my stomach sour, and I find I can’t continue to listen even when I like the groove and vibe. So, when I find a Hip Hop artist I can get behind, it makes me happy. I give you K. Flay.

I am a sucker for urban environments and their associated visuals, so I loved this video. There’s something barren and beautiful about the concrete landscape that I have learned to love. Maybe it’s just that it stands in contrast to the suburbs I grew-up in, and the rural areas I played and worked in?

Check out K. Flay at MPMF at The Taft Ballroom Sunday Sept. 27 at 11:00.


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MPMF2015 Must See – Pure Bathing Culture

OHHHHH SPANDAU BALLET AND COCTEAU TWINS HAVE BEEN REVIVED! Their new incarnation is called Pure Bathing Culture, and seeing them live will enable me to live out a dream… almost. This is horseshoes, so almost counts.

Uncomfortable admission, if I could wave a magic wand and live out a decade as an adult that I am not currently living in it would be the 80’s. Not, you know, the roaring 20’s with stylish flappers and rich in history. Not the 40’s, with all the strife of war, but the US’s unified response to it, plus FDR (while not my favs, as Teddy has that honor, still a very inspiring man). Nope, nope, nope, none of that.

Give me Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher, neon clothing, asymmetrical hair cuts that look good on no one, unchecked glorification of consumerism, AIDS, and those hideous straight-leg, high-waist revolting excuses for pants. And now that I got all that out there, I know I am a crazy person. WHO WANTS TO RELIVE RONALD REAGAN? And mind you, as a gay homosexual AIDS was perhaps the worst thing to happen to the gay community (aside from years of institutionalized bigotry and unchecked violence), yet I am still claiming RONALD REAGAN as the worst part of that decade.

Why? Why am I subjecting myself to this? Because music. 80’s pop is my cat nip. I roll around in it irrational and wild-eyed. I was old enough to be aware of what I was missing in that decade. Born in 1976, the early 80’s are fuzzy, but by 1984 I was with it enough to observe the culture, but from a kid’s perspective. And I think that’s the key here. It’s that the 80’s I can conceive of in a way that I can’t decades that I wasn’t alive for, even if as a child.

Which brings me to my dream. I wish I could have been in my late teens or early 20’s in 1980. I want to know what the clubs were like with all the absurd fashion choices and music. I want to see what this music was like when it was played in all the clubs and bars.

Clearly as I have no time machine that won’t happen, but Pure Bathing Culture will get me close. Their stuff drips with neon colors and Flock-Of-Seagulls hair, and I love it. And the fact that they quote Benny Mardones in this song… Cherry meet top of sundae.


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MPMF15 Must See – Sphynx

It would be reasonable to think that I am clustering my recommendations by music genre, but I am not doing so intentionally. This is another electro-pop indie band. Um, it’s worth checking out their YouTube uploads to get a visual on them. They look like what would happen if Lynyrd Skynyrd and Poison had rocker babies.

And they sooo covered this song. And they sooo made this video. I have to see this happen at MPMF Saturday Sept 26, at 12:30 at The Drinkery.


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MPMF15 Must See – Kid Runner

One would think I have had enough indie synth pop; there has been a lot of it for some years now. One would also think that facial tattoos are a bad idea, but that didn’t stop Mike Tyson. Somethings just don’t have an explanation.

These folks are out of Columbus. (Ahem, Ohio against the world!) And this song that’s currently getting all the Spotify love reminds me just a bit of Fitz and The Tantrums. It’s my first intro to them, but I will be looking for them in The Queen City from this point forward, hint hint, Kid Runner.

Will there be dancing at The Drinkery, Sunday Sept. 27 at 9:00. Giddy-up!


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MPMF15 Must See – Matthew E. White

Is it an accident, that Matthew E. White shares his last name with Barry White? Maybe, but I am going to continue thinking that it’s a natural inheritance of funk and soul passing across generations from a large furry black man to a large furry white man. Is this concurrence a thing? Maybe not, but it comforts me, so I am going to continue thinking it exists.

There’s a solid representation of Americana and Soul in this year’s MPMF line-up. My next pick (spoiler alert?) is another soul act, The Eagle Rock Gospel Singers. Who can resist gospel/soul backing vocals? And I have to concur that “rock and roll don’t have no soul… and everybody likes to talk shit…”

Warning: I can’t find him on the schedule so this could be a recent drop from the fest. The only weird thing is his tour stuff still says he’s coming. So, I dunno. I know that if he turns up, I am seeing him.


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MPMF15 Must See – Zola Jesus

Shimmering, rich vocals backed by dark expansive synth beats and lyrics to burn; this is what Zola Jesus brings. The kid in me that was captivated by Bauhaus, Souxie and the Banshees, and Kate Bush is crushing hard on this music. The fact that I still return to these artists more than twenty years later speaks to the void that they left.

Put on your black eyeliner and black boots. Moody goth dancing is going to happen at 1215 in the Taft Ballroom on Sept 26 at Midpoint Music Festival. See you there.


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Bunbury 2015 Must See: Wussy

Wussy is a great local band. I often miss our local acts at fests because I have many opportunities to see them outside fests, and when I must choose between something I love but have regular access to and something unknown that I don’t have regular access to, I pick novelty. Wussy kicks off the fest on Friday at 2, and has no competition for the first half of their set, so I am guaranteed to catch part of their performance. I can’t think of a better start to a great weekend.

If you are traveling for Bunbury, here’s what you need to know. Wussy has been praised by Rolling Stone and SPIN. Their albums have achieved critical success in spite of Wussy’s sparse touring. The band members all have day jobs, and getting out of town for tours is a challenge. But here in Cincinnati, we’re lucky. We have them all to ourselves. If you want a little taste of the Cincinnati indie music scene, don’t miss this band.

Check out their performance on KEXP:

All the feels that I have about discovering music lives in this song. A voice comes through the speakers and grabs hold of your soul whispering that you aren’t alone. This unexpected connection wrenches hope and joy out of what can otherwise feel a mundane existence. NOTE: this is a subset of the video above.

Wussy – Teenage Wasteland:

(Verse)
Do you remember the moment? You finally did something about it.
When the kick of the drum lined up with the beat of your heart
Stuck in the corn with only a transistor radio
Making paths with the soundwaves and echoing Oh Babyloh-oh-oh-on(Chorus)
Yeah, we heard your beat real loud and clear on the last one
And we were pulling for you a thousand times a day
And it don’t take much to sound like a sleeping prophet
When your misery sounds so much like oh, so far away
Too far away, too far away

(Verse)
Do you remember the night you finally heard something about it?
When the kick of the drum went off like artillary fire
And if you’re wondering, man, oh yeah, say that it got to us
The shackles nd the (???) would scream like ohr, yeah yeah yeah

(Chorus)
Yeah, we heard you clear, real loud and clear on the last one
I must have listened to you a thousand times a day
And for one short breath, it sounds like the world is ending
It’s floating in space, but then it (???) so far aways
So far away, so far away

(Chorus)
Heard you loud and clear on the last one
We were potting for you a thousand times in a day
And it don’t take much to sound like a sleeping prophet
When your misery sounds so much like oh, so far away
Too far away, too far away

Wussy plays at Bunbury 2015 at 2pm on Friday.
If you wanna see my past experiences at Wussy’s shows check my past blogs out:
Wussy on NYE
Wussy at MPMF