A Look Back . . .

Part I: MidPoint Music Festival

A five-part series revisiting five 2007 Cincinnati Festivals: MidPoint Music Festival, Fringe Festival, Taste of Cincinnati, Oktoberfest, and Riverfest.

The 2007 Cincinnati Entertainment Awards (CEA) were presented on Sunday, November 18, 2007. A list of the winners can be found on CityBeat’s "Spill It" Music Blog along with an article on the awards ceremony itself. A number of nominees and winners participated in this year’s MidPoint Music Festival.

The 2007 MidPoint Music Festival was held September 27 – 29 and 240 bands and musicians played at seventeen venues Downtown and in Over the Rhine. A Cincinnati Post article indicated about 40,000 people attended. I was one . . .

Photo by Cassie Lewis on Flickr

I was out of town on Thursday the 27th but got back in to Cincinnati on Friday and wanted to make sure I caught at least some of the MidPoint Music Festival action. On Friday I hit Mr. Pitiful's for most of their shows: 9:15pm – John Carter; 10:15pm – Kelly Thomas and The Fabulous Pickups; 11:15pm – The Wrenfields; and 12:15am – Tupelo Honey, 2007 CEA Winner. I unfortunately left during the Tupelo Honey set so I could go to Below Zero and catch about half of the 12:15am – of god and science set and then most of the 1:15am – Ramsey set. I actually ended the night with a drink at Shooters and while there was no "show" associated with MidPoint, there were drag queens in the house.

On Saturday evening I decided to check out Mr. Pitiful's again before going to my usual Saturday night hangout. Caught the 9:15pm – The Off Ramps and 10:15pm – Girls Guns and Glory sets. Oh, and I bought the cool Nati Evolvement MPMF t-shirt that night.

Photo by Jordan Thomas on Flickr

I’m not a music critic (nor very musical), although of course I have opinions, and I actually liked many of the bands I saw. I was impressed with most of the quality all-around and I don’t remember feeling that way last year. Local Kelly Thomas and The Fabulous Pickups was my favorite at Mr. Pitiful’s on Saturday and Girls Guns Glory out of Boston was awesome on Saturday. They were a "City Beat" pick and the show had a great crowd for being at 10:15. Gotta’ love the washboard! I was impressed by both bands at Below Zero on Friday and that is generally not my kind of music. of god and science is from New Mexico and Ramsey is a local band. I guess you would consider both bands Rock or Alternative but just an interesting sound and vibe. And I hadn’t seen Below Zero that crowded before so that too was fun to see.

Photo by playbackstl on Flickr

Street action was great both Friday & Saturday. I was on 'The Strip' in Las Vegas earlier that week and it was so nice to be in a real place. And I say this every year but I must go to more live music during the year . . .

Other 2007 CEA winners (besides Tupelo Honey) that appeared at the 2007 MidPoint Music Festival, where 75% of the bands were from out of town, included 500 Miles to Memphis, The Seedy Seeds, The Sonny Moorman Group, and Wussy.

If you are interested, CityBeat has many reviews of the MPMF bands on their blog. And 5chw4r7z blogged about each night: Day 1, Day 2, and Day 3. He's got some great photos.