Thanks for stopping by, appreciate your comment, truly I do. I respect what you do as a volunteer for this and your commitment to it, I really do, so don’t hear my arguments about Midpoint directed at those who work to make it happen.

It’s one of those things that if I did not care, I would not write about. So, do know that what I want, and what I said from the start, was I wanted Midpoint to be all that it can be.

Funding Issues – Total agreement

Downtown issues – Already stated (not an easy solution here)

Lineup Issues – Already stated, stand firm in my stance here that a “better” lineup, not just for me but as a whole, would improve the overall digestion of the festival.

MMS vs. Midpoint- I stand firm on this one too. My argument was not based on the fact that MMS took the year off and its organizer did a different festival. But rather that when MMS is going it is head and shoulders a better event than Midpoint and Midpoint should aspire to be like that. I know you don’t agree with this, and may even look down on MMS, but as a person working in the music industry, I can honestly say that I am not alone in my opinion here.

Finally Dale, as for hiding behind a computer? Well, I have never been one to do that. I am more than willing to discuss these issues and opinions with Midpoint and its organizers if approached. And I am not one to criticize without at least giving some alternative ideas, which I have done.

Like Brian, I volunteer on the MPMF staff. Remember that lack of funding you mentioned? The entire staff of MPMF is unpaid- volunteering their time to bring some great indie artists (local, regional, national, and international) to downtown Cincinnati. Our so-called arrogance is not arrogance- it’s pride of ownership. We make this happen with very little money, very little support from the community and very few accolades.

Thanks for your speculation on whether we should form an alliance. If you think of anyone who we can align ourselves with, call me.

Your suggestion that we should take a page from MMS baffles me. We should take a year off, and our founders should leave their jobs and the city they love so they can organize a music festival thousands of miles away (South by Southwest, maybe?). I would rather have MPMF here- where I can go to it. I’m sure the people of Indy are thrilled that they only have to pop over to Denver to see a great music festival.

The overall lineup- the only comment I’ll make here is that music’s greatness is subjective. Feel free to not go, but don’t degrade the bands that will be coming to MPMF by saying the standard has been lowered.

I won’t comment on funding- you MUST realize how difficult it is to fund something like this.

The downtown location is the best part of this festival. When everyone else in the city is giving up on downtown and over-the-rhine, MPMF is devoted to making sure people come down there that one weekend they have control over. Would you recommend we have it at the Levee and let OTR disintegrate? Or should people take a note from MPMF and Second Sundays on Main and bring people to OTR and let them experience the struggling small businesses that are surviving the harshest of climates?

Joe, I blog myself- I know all too well how easy it is to criticize from behind a computer. If you wanted to get involved with MPMF, you could. Instead of finding every negative aspect of MPMF 2007, why not celebrate the fact that someone in Cincinnati is trying to make it more fun, more lively, and sound just a bit better?

So, which bars are installing the huge sound systems for Midpoint? Just curious.

Also, do they plan to book a full schedule of local, regional and national acts after Midpoint to try and regain their investment?

And to be fair, my shining turd comment was aimed at downtown overall, some of the blame falls on the bars, but it is the overall enviroment that has folks turned off, “urban inclined, or suburban”…

As for your lineup comments, in the end, it comes down to whatever works for Midpoint as a whole. If what you have is working great, then keep at it, for sure. I am still of the opinion though that this is not an isolated complaint and lots can be done to improve the lineup.

Thanks again for stopping by and engaging in the discussion Brian, I really wish I could be at the meeting today, stop back and give us a full report…..

A few points of clarification while I’m here…

Indeed, some downtown business owners are merely shining turds…but others are installing new 6-figure sound systems in their turds…building new kitchens, erecting new stages, and adding billiard tables…all in an effort to transform their turds into something more palatable to the urban-inclined entertainment-seeking public.

One of our hopes in booking such a large and diverse festival is that we appeal to large and diverse audience. (Recall that we have 230 showcasing bands—80% of whom did not showcase last year—representing more than a dozen genres.) Admittedly, only a select group of performers will be on everyone’s list of “interesting” bands, but we believe that every band will be interesting to somebody…even if it’s not me or you. We think that everyone will find enough personally interesting bands to make the festival well worth their time. Remember: with 230 bands on the bill, it doesn’t take a very large percentage of bands to make for an interesting 3-day personal itinerary!

I’ve started a thread on the WOXY boards where folks can share the bands that they’ve found to be interesting in their pre-MPMF “research.” I’d love to see you participate—as someone heavily involved in independent music—to recommend some of the “quality” bands that you referred to in your post.

Respectfully,
Brian

Thanks for your comments, I respect what you are doing. However, lets get a few things straight. No matter how much you try and shine the turd that is downtown Cincinnati, it is still a turd, and it pains me to say that. Simply changing the names of bars and kicking out smoking does not make people want to be there.

Second, there are some quality bands playing Midpoint, I said that from the start, but the percentage that make people interested in the event does not make up for the huge amount of acts that sadly, are not worth lots of folks time. As for the WOXY connection you mentioned, (which is also minimal) I wrote this piece without that in mind, so lets keep it separate.

And Brian, I know you care about what you do, and I respect that, but lets be honest, the majority of that long winded comment looked like a press release itself.

As for meeting for input, I would love to, this is actually the first time I have heard of the meeting, however, I have to be at work at that time, would love to hear how things turn out though!

We’re excited by the emergence of newcomers and the continued presence of the pioneering businesses of Downtown’s Main Street area. New bars including Jardin (formerly Neon’s), Below Zero (formerly Alchemize), Cue (formerly RBC’s), and Speakeasy (formerly Japp’s) are leading the smoke-free entertainment renaissance while emerging arts organizations like Ink Tank and the New Stage Collective ensure that the area’s cultural roots are maintained. You can find more details about some of these organizations and other MPMF host venues on the MPMF Bar Cards being distributed by our Street Team.

The grass-roots Street Team was formed to give the festival greater exposure among all facets of our community; they’ve recently been sighted at the bars of Northside, the BrewHaHa at Sawyer Point, and the Mt Adams Music Festival, among other events. Keep an eye out for these gospel-spreading volunteers: the Bar Cards that they’re distributing include a $5 off discount on your 3-day all venue wristband!

Thanks for noticing some of the great locals on this year’s bill. Additionally, I see that at least five of our showcasing bands have also performed one of your WOXY Lounge Acts: Wussy, The Turnbull ACs, Miranda Sound, Hotpipes, and The Teenage Prayers. Furthermore, I see that you’ll be hosting The Teenage Prayers and our pre-party band Superdrag (led by John Davis, our Artist Keynote Speaker) for Lounge Acts during the week of MPMF. It seems that we’ve independently arrived at some common bookings!

Our independent judges also seem to share tastes with the CityBeat staff, CEA nominators (i.e. the voting public), and the CEA nominating committee; this year, we’ve highlighted past CityBeat picks and CEA nominees with icons on our Bands page (http://www.mpmf.com/bands.php). Clearly, we’ve got an esteemed group of locals performing alongside some great regional acts and an ever-growing group of national and international acts.

It would be very difficult to see this many great local bands over the course of three days outside of this festival and downright impossible to see such a collection of non-local bands. When you add in the almost palpable energy and comradery that comes with walking from one buzzing venue to the next alongside other music fans from across the city and across the globe, we believe that you’ll find that our volunteers put on a pretty compelling event…and our loyal audience—whose loyalty we continually strive to earn—seems to agree.

As you can imagine, things are pretty hectic this time of year and I don’t have much extra time for my painfully slow typing. I can always find some time to talk, however, and I’d like to invite you and whoever else might like to share their input directly to join me and a handful of our other volunteers as we drink a beer before our annual poster hanging event on Main Street. We’ll be meeting at Courtyard, Thursday September 13th, 6pm. The first Moerlein or Hudy is on me! Cheers.

MidPoint Music Festival (http://www.mpmf.com)
Cincinnati, OH
September 26-29, 2007