Cincinnati and Music News       

I had a really awkward conversation with a friend on the phone last night because I kept yelling, “What? What’d you say?!” He was convinced I was getting increasingly angrier at whatever he was saying, but it’s actually because I forgot earplugs 2 out of the 3 days of …

 Cincinnati and midpoint music festival       

The first time I ever saw Holy Fuck was by accident. A few years ago, arriving early at the Southgate House to see !!!, I was pleasantly surprised by the sounds of the opening band. They ran at breakneck speed through songs of warbling electronics, distorted vocals, frantic …

 Cincinnati, MP3s and Videos       

And now, a quick break from our normal coverage to congratulate the Cincinnati Reds! Being big fans of the club, we can’t be more excited for the team. Just in case you are living under a rock here in Cincinnati, the Reds clinched their first playoff berth in 15 years last night, and the partying was at an all-time high afterwards.

 Cincinnati and Music News       

The Greenhornes are back and ready to release their first LP in 8 years! The Cincinnati trio played a reunited show late this summer at the Comet and now are ready to let the details about their new album out. The band already has ties to Jack …

 Cincinnati, Live Reviews and midpoint music festival       

Midpoint is one of the most unique music festivals in the country because of its ability to book music legends. This year alone, the festival brought Tom Tom Club, Van Dyke Parks and Japanese pop-punk band Shonen Knife. Hundreds of fans turned out to the Contemporary Arts Center on Thursday to catch the female trio from Osaka, who have been around for close to 30 years.

 Cincinnati, Live Reviews and midpoint music festival       

At first glance, it might be easy to reduce Tristen to a typical female singer songwriter, which for better or worse (okay, always worse) tends to mean a solo warbling girl with an acoustic guitar. But Tristen’s got a voice that’s one part Janis Joplin and one part Chrissie Hynde, with an effortless melodic sensibility tying them together.

 Cincinnati, Live Reviews and midpoint music festival       

I love guitar rock, but the worst thing about it can often be guitar players. Being a snob about equipment, memorizing modes and harmonic scales, learning Eric Clapton solos note-for-note; a lot of people are able to squeeze so much overwrought pretension out of what should be the most expressive and fun instrument to play.

 Cincinnati and midpoint music festival       

After Surfer Blood performed at the Cincinnati Club on Saturday, reactions were pretty varied. Some were positive, some were pretty scathing, but a good portion of them had nothing to do with the band’s performance. The Florida natives’ first visit to Cincinnati was marred by a couple hang-ups. First, fans were forced out of the venue so the band could sound check (a decision unknown to be made by either the venue or the band). Second, once people were allowed in, priority was given to wristband holders, meaning many fans who bought one-day tickets with the sole intention of Surfer Blood, were turned away.

 Cincinnati, midpoint music festival and Videos       

After the scheduling and technical problem-riddled Friday night, I went into MidPoint Music Festival’s Saturday night hoping to see how festival organizers and club show runners would learn from the previous night’s mistakes. Happily, everything I saw went more or less smoothly, and it all amounted to a solid …

 Cincinnati and midpoint music festival       

It’s a funny thing, night two of MPMF. It’s the middle child of our annual music festival but in no way should night number two get any less respect than the first or third. Sure some of us were a bit spent after kickoff night, but there were no reasons to shy away because MidPoint Friday had nothing but potential written all over it.