We were thrilled to make our first visit to MidPoint Music Festival in Cincinnati last month to be a part of their 11th year. Over 120 bands played on 16 stages throughout the weekend, with headlining sets from Dinosaur JR, Andrew Bird, Grizzly Bear and more. Thanks to everyone involved with the festival and we can’t wait to come back.
By taking one look at the lineup for the recent MidPoint Music Festival, you could easily tell it was one worth making the drive for. You’ve got 100+ bands in the heart of downtown Cincinnati, a city that rarely sleeps and when it does, it’s angry when you wake it up at 6:30am wanting to go to Bob Evans because you need something to soak up the Bourbon Barrel Ale that you drank the night before. Will and I had our Cincinnati festival introduction earlier this year when we drove up to cover the inaugural Bunbury Music Festival, but MidPoint turned out to be an entirely different beast/creature/machine/festival…
On the drive up, Will and I discussed what we were going to have to do in order to see every single band that was playing and quickly came to the conclusion that we didn’t think most of the venues would allow us in if we were wearing rollerblades and so this was technically impossible. I started reading out bands I wanted to see and we begin making our tentative schedule. It should be noted that we started listening to the radio and heard a song by Atlanta-rapper 2-chainz that made us completely lose any faith we had in rap music, and that if Kanye West continues to put his name on songs like “Birthday Song“, bad things might start happening.
After spending most of the day relaxing with the two people we know there, we made our way down to the Washington Park stage to catch the second half of one of my favorite local bands, Pomegranates. We’ve covered them a good bit for the site and their new record, Heaven, is phenomenal. Nice people make nice music. They’ll actually be in Macon on November 10th, so those of you around the state watch out for that. Pomegranates was followed by a quick trip over to see Chattanooga’s Machines Are People Too before heading back to Washington Park to watch Andrew Bird.
Seeing as it was my first time catching him live, I was eager to see how his records transfer over to the real thing, but I’ll have to say that it wasn’t exactly what I was expecting. That’s not to say it was upsetting, as I doubt very few people have ever left one of his sets feeling upset, but it was almost too perfect. He and his band played an incredible set though, highlighting crowd favorites from past records while also throwing in a mix of newer tunes from his upcoming record, Hands of Glory. One of the most interesting aspects of his live show is the prominent feature of his unique Leslie organ (or at least that’s what I think it was). The cabinet towered over his set, with two giant horns whirling throughout their time on stage. It made for quite an impressive sight.
We followed Andrew Bird by making our way around the festival area, stopping in for a few moments at different places. Some tough choices had to be made, but we eventually decided on catching Hospitality and Best Coast, who put on one of the best shows of the weekend. Bethany Cosentino had won over the hearts of everyone in the audience by the time she finished their first song and the dreamy pop set an appropriate tone for what would become the rest of our first night.
We spent the rest of the night hopping from venue to venue and trying to blend in with the Reds fans at a few bars, to no avail, and taking pictures with anyone that would join us.
They didn’t really want to talk much after their set, which was a disappointment, so we made our way over to catch the tail end of The Kingston Springs, an act out of Nashville that’s been on the road with our friends The Weeks. They have a new album that came out last week that’s well worth giving a few spins and they’re doing plenty the rest of the year.
We started our last day at the festival off right with a giant steak dinner at a local Outback. It really set the mood for the day. Will and I decided to stop into the Know Theatre to grab a few drinks and wound up meeting a bartender there who was actually from Macon and graduated a few years behind Will, so we spent a while there trying to see what mutual friends we had and catching him up to speed on the city. 8:30pm rolled around and the first band took the stage while we were still talking, but they immediately had our attention. It took us a few songs to get a name out of them, but it was well worth it. Lead by singer Shanna Delany, Bethesda hails from the Akron area but has spent most of the year touring the country. Back in June, they were featured at Bonnaroo and since then things have been on the rise. The band quickly charmed the crowd that was trickling in and quickly accumulated a responsive group in the front, ready to chime in on melodies and hand claps. Check them out and see for yourself.
A short walk to one of the outdoor stages allowed us to catch the end of Imperial Teen’s set, which was met with great response, before taking a break to regroup, grab a drink and a bite to eat and prepare for Dirty Bourbon River Show, who we both felt was the best bet to close out the festival. Having seen them last year at a small venue in Macon, we had an idea of what to expect but upon getting to the venue we were met by a packed house. Will and I decided to post up at the back of the room to get the best view of their set and it was worth it. The audience loved the New Orleans flair the band had and it seemed fitting for the night. Everyone was celebrating the success of yet another festival, being with friends, and listening to great music all weekend.
All in all, MidPoint was worth the time we spent packed in Will’s car. The curators select a wide variety of genres from locales all around the world, and the festival has helped the Cincinnati downtown flourish. Aside from the few shows we couldn’t get into and being harassed by a few bums, we couldn’t have had a better time. Thanks to everyone involved and we’ll see you next year!