Running Behind Schedule
Day Two of the MidPoint Music Festival started much later for me than I had planned, and the entire night involved a lot of running back and forth between downtown Cincinnati and Newport, Kentucky to the Southgate House. Because I was running behind schedule, I had missed some bands on my must-see list, like the insane Lions Rampant show I had heard about that involved a staged attack and fake blood, followed by the Wildbirds at Grammer’s. 9 pm was drawing close as I found my parking spot at 5th and Race, so I decided it would be best if I bolted to the Blue Wisp on East 8th Street.
Music That Gets You Stoned
Locals mallory, would be the first band I would see tonight, and I can’t think of a better venue for them to be in than the Blue Wisp. The city’s finest Jazz club welcomes indie rock bands one weekend a year, which would be the weekend of MidPoint. Their music certainly sets the mood inside the club, with dark blue walls and curtains and the band’s tripped-out red glowing ball lights. The band has been a staple here on the local scene for much of this decade, despite an extended hiatus, and they’re back and better than ever with their first release in seven years slated to come out next month. With their highly-toxic sonic soundscapes bringing the worlds of darkness and beauty together, they bring a sense of what Explosions in the Sky may sound like if they had vocals. This band is the legal way to get high.
Grammer’s or the Southgate House
I left the Blue Wisp during mallory’s last song, in hopes of making it to Grammer’s to catch the most hyped up show of the evening in Cincinnati – the Heartless Bastards. After waving down a Scion Streetcar driver, I basically let him make my decision for me. He told me the place was already packed and there was a huge line extending well out onto Liberty Street. Come to find out, the Heartless Bastards had the biggest draw yet of the festival (which was expected), bringing in an estimated 1,000 people. So I had the driver drop me off on 5th Street and it was time I make my way over to the Southgate House.
Not So Much Folk
My timing couldn’t have been more perfect; I found the last parking spot in the side lot near the Southgate House and hurried upstairs for another local band, Frontier Folk Nebraska. I made my way to the front of the crowded parlour room just as they were about to begin. Don’t let the folk in the name fool you. I guess at times there may be a little bit of folk in their music; not so much the quiet side of it unless you’re seeing Michael Hensley and Travis Talbert play acoustically, but tonight you were getting the full package: good-ole’ fashioned, loud American rock and roll, drenched in reverb, feedback, pounding drums and the stellar solo work of Travis Talbert on both lead and slide guitar. One of my favorite discoveries in the local music scene this year, they released Pearls very early on in the year, and I stand by it that it may be the best local album of the year. They often remind me of what it may be like if Ryan Adams fronted My Morning Jacket playing electric Neil Young covers.
Should I Stay or Should I Go?
After Frontier Folk, I made my way down to the ballroom because Charles Walker and the Dynamites were scheduled to take the stage at 11 pm. When I got down there, one of the finer blues bands in town, the Jon Justice Band, were still jamming away, so I thought that maybe I’d have time to run back over to Cincinnati, see a band, and make it back to the Southgate House to catch some of the Dynamites.
A Hurricane in the Baltic Sea
I made it back downtown in what appeared to be no time at all. I arrived at the Contemporary Arts Center just as locals johnnytwentythree were finishing up a loud, experimental set complete with a large blank movie screen behind them that hoisted their silhouettes. I checked the time on my phone and the schedule, and the one thing that has been clear about MidPoint 2009 thus far, is that everyone is running a little bit behind schedule.
I had more time to kill than I had hoped, but I was going to stick around for Maine’s the Baltic Sea, as it wouldn’t make sense to go back to the Southgate House already. I had never heard the music of these guys, so all I could really expect was the things that I have read about them, which was just enough to make me want to check them out. They reminded me kind of like mallory or Explosions in the Sky; the type of band that plays atmospheric and instrumental-heavy rock, switching from dark, ugly and loud to quiet, beautiful and mellow within the blink of an eye. This was a larger band too; four or five guitarists and a drummer who sounded like he was playing two drum sets. One of the guitarists also played keys, while another handled some type of instrument that played pre-recorded vocals of someone speaking. They had more pedals than I’ve ever seen; it seemed like each guitarist was switching back and forth between twenty or so pedals. The large movie screen behind the stage also played a vital part in their performance, going along with the music and showing some psychedelic visuals. I caught most of their set, but started to feel like I may regret it if I didn’t catch a little bit of Charles Walker and the Dynamites. So it was time to head back to Newport.
The Name Says It All
By the time I had arrived again at the side parking lot of the Southgate House, I feared the Dynamites had already finished because the lot was nearly empty. As I was walking up the side of the building, I could hear them jamming away in the ballroom. The second I got through the ballroom doors, my eyes lit up and a grin covered my face as the shaky dance moves and soul power of the legendary Charles Walker hit me like a freight train. With a name like the Dynamites and an album called Kaboom!, that is a perfect representation of how this band sounds and will make you feel. I’ve never been that into Soul, R&B and Funk, but after hearing this band, they can convert nearly any type of music fan.
The 60-something year old Walker has been performing for nearly half a century, but his voice and moves would have you believe he’s somewhere around thirty. The near two-hour set from Charles Walker and the Dynamites went well into the night, finally letting up somewhere around 1:30 pm. This band was by far the best band I’d seen at MidPoint yet, and I’d go as far to even say they were the best band to ever play the eight-year old festival. This show was like a dynamite explosion of powerful soul and good vibes. What the band did onstage, spread well throughout a funky, dancing crowd and blew the walls and roof off of the Southgate House. This was a show for the books. I believe when James Brown left this world in 2006, he passed the “Godfather of Soul” torch on to Charles Walker.
Aside from running back and forth, I’d say this was definitely a much better day than the first day. I caught some of my favorites in the local scene in mallory and Frontier Folk Nebraska, discovered a new interest in the Baltic Sea, and witnessed one of the best performances I’d seen all year long in the Dynamites. I’m not sure how, but today is looking even more promising. It’s sure as hell going to be hard to top that Dynamites performance last night, but I have a lot of faith in a band like Chairlift. Tonight I’ll be making my first trip to Grammer’s. Almost time to get ready and go.