Saturday night started out with a trip to the WOXY stage at the Aronoff for the Mocks from Monterrey, Mexico. Although they had a few sound mixing problems to start the set, they were a nice, peppy way to start the night. Citybeat's write-up had a Bjork comparison, which is probably pretty accurate. However, the lead singer also reminded me a bit of the singer for the Brazilian band CSS. With a heavy 80s influence, I am surprised I didn't see more leg warmers in the audience.
With the Koala Fires starting right when the Mocks were ending, I skipped out on the last song to catch the Scion Streetcar over to the Know Theater. It was my only time riding the streetcar, during the festival, and I think its a good start, although it could be drastically improved.
My driver wasn't too familiar with the area, and went a couple blocks past my destination. From what I heard, this wasn't uncommon. The streetcars also stopped going at midnight, although shows were going on until 1 am. We tried to hail one from 6th and Walnut going to Courtyard Cafe just before midnight, and could not find one. So, we walked up Walnut and passed the 20 or so Scions parked in a lot, music still blaring, but not carrying any passengers. Hopefully next year, they will go as long as the music does.
Anyway, the Koala Fires were fantastic. Sure, we're a bit biased as a former BuyCincy writer is the bassist, but it was one of the most enjoyable performances of the festival. I was waiting all weekend for someone to put the rock back in indie rock, and they fit the bill.
From there, I anticipated seeing Wussy and the WOXY stage, but I ended up meeting with some friends who only had one-day passes and therefore could not get in there. So, we ended up bouncing from the Inner Peace Center Stage to see mallory, to the Subway to see the Sundresses (and I use the term "see" very loosely, a large pillar blocked half the stage at this venue), and then back to the Inner Peace Center to see Paper Airplane.
Out attempt to get into Courtyard Cafe to see The Lions Rampant was not fruitful. About 2 of the 8 in my group could fit in the door, and Shanghai Mama's was calling anyway. We hoofed in down to 6th and enjoyed our delicious late night noodles.
The BuyCincy staff had a great time at Midpoint, and we hope you did to. Feel free to let us know who you saw, what you liked, and what you did in the comments. See you next year!
I had a good time and think CityBeat did a generally good job of organizing it this year -- getting new venues involved, spreading it out. But my big issue is limiting some venues to three-day only passes or specialty (media/artist) passes.
We had a big group there Saturday and couldn't go see half the shows we wanted to. Some people can't make it there for three days and couldn't buy the pass -- but they paid their money like everyone else for that night. Why couldn't they get into the WOXY stage, too?