Tag Archives: bunbury music festival

Thursday: Bo and the Locomotive, Netherfriends perform @ Carabar

Missouri’s Bo and the Locomotive return to Columbus, where they shot one of the best videos I’ve seen since the decline of MTV (watch “Give Me Something” after the jump), on Thursday night to perform at Carabar along with their friend, Netherfriends.

We caught the band, named by Paste Magazine as THE band from Missouri that you should know about, at the Bunbury Music Festival in Cincinnati last month and Connie and Olivia (from the soon-to-launch KidsInterviewBands.com) chatted with them. Of course, dad forgot to turn on the microphone for the first few minutes but the last two questions and answers were the best anyway :)

Bo and the Locomotive and Netherfriends perform at Carabar (115 Parsons Ave.) Thursday night. There is, as always, no cover charge so no excuses not to check them out. Music starts around 10pm.
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Bunbury Music Festival announces 2013 dates (July 12-14)

Well, that didn’t take too long. About two weeks after Death Cab for Cutie closed out the inaugural Bunbury Music Festival in Cincinnati, festival organizers have announced that the festival will return next year. The dates for the festival are July 12 – 14. Because it’s still a year away, there, of course, is not much additional information as to who might be performing but per the festival’s Facebook page: Tickets will go on sale after Labor Day and will be the same price as Bunbury 2012. Prices will increase when we announce the headliners in February.

Having attended the 3-day festival, I strongly recommend that you pencil this in for next year and take advantage of the early low ticket prices ($93 for a 3-day pass).

Kids interview A Silent Film; band unveils new Sycamore Tapes videos

For the most part, I’ve given up on terrestrial radio, opting instead for the variety XM provides. UK-based A Silent Film have been getting loads of exposure on satellite’s Alt-Nation station which has their song “Danny, Dakota & The Wishing Well” in heavy rotation.

The band had a late-afternoon slot at the Bunbury Music Festival on July 14 where they played to a thousand or so fans who – much to my surprise – seemed to be intimately familiar with the band’s Coldplay-meets-The-Killers-sounding songs. Later that afternoon, while waiting for Grouplove to perform, I spied A Silent Film’s lead singer Robert Stevenson sitting by his lonesome so I approached him and asked if he – or anybody from the band – would be willing to answer a few questions from our now-expert 11-year-old reporters, Olivia and Connie. He gave me drummer Spencer Walker’s cell phone number and said, “Give Spencer a call or text and he’ll work out all the details.”

The following afternoon we hooked up with Spencer who informed us he was the only member of the band at the park at the time but, “The drummer’s always the best person to interview because we have so many interesting things to say!”


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Kids interview Ume; band on tour with The Toadies and Helmet

Can’t believe a week ago at this time we were hopping into the car and headed to Cincinnati for the Bunbury Festival. Over the course of 3 days we saw a lot of really great acts; it seemed like whichever band we saw most recently was the one we tagged with “best set at Bunbury” tag. When I think back about the act that truly stood out for me, without a doubt it was Austin, Texas trio Ume.

While I had heard the band’s 2011 release Phantoms on Spotify, I was unprepared for the HEAVINESS that was unleashed on a steamy Sunday afternoon. Describing Ume’s sound to fellow festivalgoers, before seeing the band, I said, “It’s like The Joy Formidable if they were influenced by Black Sabbath instead of ’80s and ’90s British rock.” That description was right on the mark. Singer/guitarist Lauren Larson was the fiercest guitar player I witnessed over the course of the festival, playing heavy riffs and bouncing around the stage as if possessed by a demon. This type of performance will serve the band well on the tour they are kicking off with The Toadies and Helmet (dates after the jump). Before seeing them, I wondered if they would be able to hold their own with those two bands. After seeing them, I have little doubt.

Connie and Olivia, our two 11-year-old budding rock journalists, were able to snag a few minutes with the trio following their blistering performance.


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Kids interview Quiet Corral; band opening for Gomez on July 22 at The Newport

Fresh off their first ever interview with a rock band (Alberta Cross), Connie and Olivia hit up the Bunbury Music Festival this past weekend where they had the opportunity to grab a few minutes of time from 8 different performing artists. One of those artists was Quiet Corral, a 6-six piece from Lawrence, Kansas that put on a great, folk-inspired set on Friday afternoon.

Quiet Corral has a few upcoming tour dates, opening for Gomez, including a stop at The Newport Music Hall on Sunday, July 22. Tickets are $20 in advance, $25 day of show.

Bunbury Festival featured artist: Bo and the Locomotive

We’re just a day away from the Bunbury Festival kick-off. I hope that, if you’re going to the festival, you’ve found the artist features we’ve been posting during the last week to be helpful as you try to navigate the schedule and decide which bands you want to see.

View features by performance day: Friday, Saturday, Sunday

When the schedule was first announced, there were quite a few names I didn’t recognize. I started with the acts that are scheduled to perform on Friday and tried to do some research (watching a video, seeing if the artist had any music on Bandcamp or Soundcloud, visiting Facebook pages, etc.). The first band I came across was Bo and the Locomotive – named by Paste Magazine as THE band that you should know from Missouri. It took me all of 8 seconds to determine that their video for "Give Me Something" was the greatest video I’ve seen since OK GO’s heyday. And, like OK GO, I’m guessing Bo and the Locomotive spent about $15 (for beer and smokes) on the budget to make the video.

These guys have the unenviable task of playing very early on the Bunbury schedule. My experience with festivals like this is that the masses don’t start arriving until early evening so that they can get a decent spot to watch one of the headliners. If you’ve learned nothing else this past week by all the Bunbury Festival featured artist posts, I hope that you’ve learned that there are some really great bands playing early in the day.

I’m not sure where you’ll be 24 hours from now. Me? I’ll be camped out watching Bo and the Locomotive and getting my Bunbury Festival off to a great start!

Bo and the Locomotive performs on the Bud Light stage at 12:45pm
on Friday, July 13

Bo and the Locomotive are a four-piece from St.Louis. Paste Magazine says: "Bo and the Locomotive has a well-crafted indie sound … Each member plays their role seamlessly, creating a record that has a variety of mellow and up-tempo songs."

What does "bunbury" mean? (No cheating; give it your best guess)

We already Googled it up when they asked us to play this festival. I won’t spoil it for everyone else, but it means to avoid your responsibilities by claiming to have a meeting with a fictitious person.

What are 3 things that you know about Cincinnati?

– Might as well be in Kentucky
– We’ve never been there
– Go Cardinals

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Bunbury Festival featured artist: Jake Kolesar

Jake Kolesar performs on the CMC stage at 2:15pm on Sunday, July 15

Jake Kolesar is a 15-year-old indie-folk singer/songwriter from Cincinnati and the youngest performer playing Bunbury.

What does "bunbury" mean? (No cheating; give it your best guess)

I was wondering the same thing…

What are 3 things that you know about Cincinnati?

(1) It is incredibly underrated, (2) Home of Bootsy Collins and Graeters Ice Cream, (3) There is an awesome, but little-known music and acting scene in Cincy

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Bunbury Festival featured artist: Ume

Ume performs on the AliveOne stage at 4:30pm on Sunday, July 15

Ume is a 3-piece from Austin, Texas. Chromewaves.com describes Ume’s music as “Songs that balance sweet pop hooks with snarling heaviness, equal debts to punk, stoner, shoegaze and alt rock, insane guitar abuse/heroics and an audience awestruck and won over.”

What does "bunbury" mean? (No cheating; give it your best guess)

The dissonance created by the mating rituals of bumble bees (noticed the festival’s mascot was a bee, so giving it my best guess ;-)

What are 3 things that you know about Cincinnati?

It is the former home of the amazing WOXY radio station (RIP), known for its chili, and supposedly has a cymbal-only store that our drummer might need to check out.

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Bunbury Festival featured artist: Lauren Mann and the Fairly Odd Folk

Lauren Mann and the Fairly Odd Folk perform on the CMC stage at 4:30pm on Friday, July 13

Lauren Mann and the Fairly Odd Folk are an indie folk-pop 5-piece from Alberta, Canada.

What does "bunbury" mean? (No cheating; give it your best guess)

It sounds like the name of a bush. That’s probably completely wrong.

What are 3 things that you know about Cincinnati?

1. It’s in Ohio
2. It’s known for it’s unique architecture
3. Home to Bunbury Festival

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Bunbury Festival featured artist: Wussy

Wussy performs on the Landor stage at 3:00pm on Sunday,
July 15

Wussy are a four-piece rock band from Cincinnati, Ohio fronted by ex-Ass Ponys frontman Chuck Cleaver and Lisa Walker. From my very own "Best of 2011" list, here’s what I said about Wussy’s Strawberry – "One wouldn’t expect Chuck Cleaver, the heavily tattooed Cincinnati songwriter, to produce his best collection of songs this late in his already highly-prolific career, but that’s exactly what he’s done."

What does "bunbury" mean? (No cheating; give it your best guess)

They make muffins and cookies and shit.

What are 3 things that you know about Cincinnati?

It’s hot as fuck here in the summer. A lot of really good bands by-pass us. We’re really into that god damned chili.

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