Tag Archives: Cincinnati

Wednesday: Belle Histoire @ Rumba Cafe

Imagine if the Phantods had grown up on the Warped Tour instead of Faith No More and you might get Belle Histoire. The Cincinnati band released their debut full length, Dreamers, in July, the same month they performed at the Bunbury Festival.

Belle Histoire and Tallhart perform at the Rumba Cafe on Wednesday. Doors open at 8pm. Tickets are $10.

Wednesday: Pomegranates @ Kobo

You know how there are local bands that sound local and then there are local bands that make you say, “No way can these guys be from here!” Pomegranates are one of those bands. Actually, they AREN’T from here (Columbus), they are based in Cincinnati, but they have that Austin/Silverlake/Brooklyn chic.

The band’s fourth album – the first for the Austin-based Modern Outsider (also home to Ume, Bad Veins, etc) – is called Heaven and if you think rock journalists haven’t described it as such, well, you’d be mistaken. Dual vocalists allow the band to avoid conventional trappings; there’s a variety of sounds and influences spread throughout, much of it straddling the line between underground rock and loft party dance pop.

Download: “Pass Away”

Pomegranates, She Bears and Cliffs will share the Kobo stage Wednesday night. Doors open at 8.

Bunbury Festival featured artist: She Does is Magic

She Does is Magic performs on the Landor stage at 2:15pm on Friday, July 13

She Does Is Magic is an Indianapolis trio with a midwest garage-pop-punk aesthetic.

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

Hmm…Bunbury–sounds like a breakfast pastry. And we love those!

What are 3 facts that you know about Cincinnati?

Chili parlors are everywhere. It is closely tied to pigs (flying pig marathon). The Cincinnati airport is in Kentucky!

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Bunbury Music Festival happening July 13-15 in Cincinnati

We’re a mere 11 days away from the inaugural Bunbury Music Festival taking place at Sawyer’s Point in Cincinnati. The 3-day festival features over 100 bands (ranging from internationally-known headlining acts like Jane’s Addiction, Weezer and Death Cab for Cutie a 15-year-old Cincinnati singer/songwriter, Jake Kolesar, whose set will be a mix of originals and covers) as well as a number of DJs.

We’ve spent the last month interviewing many of the bands performing so that we can present to those of you going somewhat of a “festival guide” and we’re going to start publishing these features, a few each day, starting today. Next week we’ll give you our picks as to the “must see” acts at the festival and then we’ll be providing coverage from the event itself.

Jane’s Addiction, Weezer, Death Cab for Cutie to headline Bunbury Music Festival in Cincinnati (July 13-15)

Wow, Cincinnati steps up the game this summer with a 3-day music festival featuring some big name headliners. The Bunbury Music Festival is being put together by Bill Donabedian, a co-founder of the successful MidPoint Music Festival. And as you can see, Bill’s scored some major talent with more bands to be announced.

Tickets are already on sale and are very reasonably priced. One-day tickets are $46. Three-day tickets are $93.

As we hear about more acts added to the bills, we’ll let you know.

Saturday: Wussy @ Ace of Cups + mp3 premiere

MP3: “Grand Champion Steer”

Between the Ass Ponys and Wussy, Chuck Cleaver’s got 11 or so full-lengths and countless EPs and singles under his belt. One wouldn’t expect 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 with, in my opinion, the best release coming of out Ohio in 2011. To be fair, Cleaver’s not the sole songwriter in Wussy, it’s a collective effort with Lisa Walker (guitar, vocals), Mark Messerly (bass, keys) and Joe Klug (drums) contributing their fair share.

While I’ve been a fan of Cleaver’s since first hearing the quirky-twang of “Earth to Grandma” coming through the speakers at Used Kids in the mid-90s (and later seeing the Meat Puppet’s-ish “Little Bastard” on MTV! Oh, what a glorious day that was!), the new Wussy release, Strawberry (listen to – and buy – on Bandcamp), is something I’ve returned to over and over on the iPod in the last 2 or so weeks – the passion between Cleaver and Walker (as ex-lovers, as current songwriting partners) so natural, the voices playing off each other so beautifully.

Fortunately, with Wussy headquartered about 120 miles southwest on 71, we’re luckier than most and get somewhat regular shows in Columbus though Saturday night’s show at Ace of Cups is somewhat special, serving as a CD release party, of sorts. Wussy will be joined by Columbus counterparts Moviola and Birds of Hair (featuring Scrawl’s Marcy Mays).

Photos: Thursday Farewell Tour @ 20th Century

Thursday’s Full Collapse tour was one of my first concerts. So when the New Brunswick post-hardcore band announced they were breaking up after 13 years, I was pretty bummed. Their short farewell tour came through Cincinnati last week.

Thursday
December 1, 2011
20th Century Cincinnati

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Cincinnati’s MusicNOW Festival to feature Joanna Newsom, St. Vincent, Justin Vernon

musicnow

2010 is the fifth anniversary of this festival founded by The National’s Bryce Dessner, who still serves as the artistic director. Pretty solid lineup this year. Here’s the details from the website:

The festival opens Tuesday, March 30th with arresting harpist and songwriter Joanna Newsom. Wednesday, March 31st, St. Vincent, led by composer, singer and guitar virtuoso Annie Clark, will present works from their widely acclaimed latest release, Actor, as well as new works venturing deeper into chamber arranging and composition. The same evening yMusic, will premiere the festival commission written by Clark. Inventive vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Justin Vernon, best known for his work with Bon Iver, presents a rare solo concert to close the festival April 1st. All concerts will be held at the beautiful and historic Memorial Hall. Tickets are on-sale now, via the web and by phone 1-800-838-3600. Single concert tickets are $20; a festival pass for all three concerts is $50.