Alt-J in Cincinnati

When: September 21, 2015
Where: PNC Pavilion at Riverbend in Cincinnati, OH

The Show:
Alt-J came to Cincinnati late last month and I knew it was a show that I could not miss. The concert was one of my relatively few group outings for live music. A friend of mine had gotten tickets for herself, her boyfriend, me, and Adrian, my boyfriend. The experience was definitely enhanced by being there with companions.

Brooklyn-based baroque-inspired band San Fermin has been touring with the band. Adrian and I got to the venue about halfway through the opening act's set. We weren't sure what to expect from them, but were impressed by their high energy show. I, for one, am also always a big fan of bands who use brass and woodwind instruments and this band used them extremely well (though I'm still a bit disappointed in their lack of trombone). Safe to say, that band won some new fans that night, though we were still anticipating the main act.

Our friends arrived towards the end of the first set. We patiently waited, while listening to tUnE-yArDs played through overblown speakers, for the headlining act to begin. Alt-J came out with an impressive set that seemed to reflect the success that they've gained over past couple of years. Their unique mix of rock, choral chants, and electronica was punctuated by an impressive light show behind them consisting of a couple dozen TVs. They played primarily from their first album, An Awesome Wave, though sprinkled in a few of the better tracks from the follow-up, This Is All Yours.

On a Monday, two strong bands and some great friends made for a great beginning to the week!

Mini setlist:
San Fermin - "Jackrabbit"
Alt-J - "Tessellate"
Alt-J - "Left Hand Free"

Vince Staples & Earl Sweatshirt in Cincinnati

When: April 3, 2015
Where: Bogart's in Cincinnati, OH

The Show:

Aside from sets at music festivals, live hip hop is not something that I've had much of an opportunity to experience over the past few years. It's been somewhat infrequent that an artist that I really wanted to see was coming around this way. So, when it was announced that Earl Sweatshirt, who has been a favorite of late, was playing in Cincinnati, I bought my ticket right away.

Remy Banks, a young rapper out of New York was the opening act of the night, backed by DJ Black Noi$e. While he had good energy and rapport with the crowd, he was my least favorite of the three artists that night. I was not surprised to find that he's not yet released any studio albums or EPs as nothing he performed felt like a fully fledged out thought. I'm sure he's very talented, but I couldn't get a handle on anything he performed that night. He had a, thankfully, short set and it was just a few minutes of transition before Vince Staples came out.

I am not as familiar with Staples as I would like to be, but have been keeping an eye on him ever since his extremely well-received 2014 EP, Hell Can Wait. Perhaps because he's been a rising name over the past year and has studio recorded material out, he commanded the crowd much better than Remy. He performed several songs from that EP and with each one, the excitement in the crowd swelled; especially with the tracks "Hands Up" and "Blue Suede."

There was no wait time in the transition between Staples and Earl Sweatshirt. Sweatshirt came out the end of Staples' set to perform a few tracks with him, including a personal favorite, "Hive." After those few songs, Staples left Sweatshirt to do his thing. The young rapper easily showed why he was the headliner of the show. He interacted with the audience extremely well and even had the entire crowd singing along with some of his songs' repeated refrains, though some were questionable (such as informing the mostly white audience that during the show and only while singing along, they were allowed to use the n-word).

Aside from some of those *awkward* moments, it was one of the most enjoyable shows that I have been to; credit to both the musicians and the audience for that.

Mini Setlist:

Remy Banks - "rem."
Vince Staples - "65 Hunnid"
Vince Staples - "Blue Suede"
Earl Sweatshirt - "Hive"
Earl Sweatshirt - "Grief"

MidPoint Music Festival

The MidPoint Music Festival was held this past weekend throughout the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood of Cincinnati. The festival has been running for more than a decade and has consistently drawn a wide variety of both local and national artists. This year was no different, boasting a wide variety of live shows over a course of three days.

Although I hear tale that the festival was once more spread out through OTR, downtown and northern Kentucky, It has been confined to the area of OTR between Central Parkway and Liberty Avenue since I've started attending. This was the first year since in about three years that the festival spread beyond those boundaries, with sets at the Taft Ballroom and Memorial Hall in downtown and reaching a bit further north for some newer venues in OTR. Gone, however, was the outdoor stage at the old Grammar's bar, which seemed to have been replaced by the Christian Moerlein tap room.

Thursday

The festival kicked off Thursday night. I first headed to Washington Park to catch the night's headliners, Chromeo. Their set was a huge dance party; their modern brand of disco inspired just about everyone in the crowd to bust a move. I enjoyed getting my dance on, but headed out early to I could head over to the Christian Moerlein tap room for Panda Bear.

His set was considerably calmer, since he tends towards an ambient sound. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of his set were the background visuals, which ranged from kaleidoscopic dancing naked women to a painted figure vomiting pudding (at least that's what it looked like). That's not to say that his performance was not good, he's a great musician, but the images were definitely a little distracting.

Before that set had started, I ran into a friend from college who performs in several bands around the city. Turns out, he was also playing at the tap room (inside) after Panda Bear's set was through. I went to check out the band, Molly Sullivan, for a couple of songs, then headed home to rest up for the next day.

I had wanted to see Sun Kil Moon later that night, but was a little put off by how late his set was scheduled to start...11:30 PM! While he seems to have been doing some interesting things live lately, I had to get to bed and miss his set.

Thursday setlist:

Chromeo - "Jealous"
Panda Bear - "Come to Your Senses"

Friday

I had a companion with me Friday in the form of my boyfriend Adrian, who wanted to catch that evening's headlining act, but we'll get to them later! We first headed down to the MidPoint Midway to catch a free show from Real Estate. Their breezy, jangly guitar pop made them an ideal band to play while the sun was still shining. The set was predictably amazing.

Following dinner at a restaurant in OTR, we went to Washington Park for the Afghan Whigs, who were headlining that evening. As one of the Cincinnati-based bands that made it (relatively) big, they just about packed the park. They put on what may be the best show of the MidPoint weekend.

I was again put off by an overly late show at the festival, this time, it was Jessica Lea Mayfield. I would have really liked to have seen her, but since it started nearly two hours after the end of the Afghan Whigs, I knew I wouldn't be able to stay awake and upright for that amount of time.

Friday setlist:

Real Estate - "Green Aisles"
Afghan Whigs - "Algiers"

Saturday

Saturday was a last night of the festival and got off to a slightly later start, which had a benefit in allowing me to see even the later shows of the evening. I started back at the tap room for The Raveonettes. I had seen this band once before, nearly three years ago, and had not been overly impressed with their stage presence at the time (they barely spoke any words to the audience). This time, was much better. While they still didn't say much, they seemed more engaged with the crowd. They performed tracks primarily from their surprise July album, Pe'ahi.

From there, I headed to the Know Theatre for the final to shows (for myself, anyways) of the festival. First was Speedy Ortiz, who put out a kind of irreverent, female-led noise pop. They were good; better than expected, actually. After them was another festival highlight in EMA. She primarily performed songs from her 2011 sophomore album Past Life Martyred Saints, which was slightly disappointing. I do love the record, but wanted to hear some of her newer work, as well... she did put out an album this year. Despite this, she was incredible and put on a great show.

Saturday setlist:

Speedy Ortiz - "Bigger Party"
EMA - "The Grey Ship"

It was another great festival experience. A better line of, perhaps, than 2013, but still not quite living up the magic of 2011 and 2012. Still, it's great to have something like this in my adoptive home city and I will look forward to this festival for years to come!

El Ten Eleven in Newport

When: September 4, 2013
Where: Southgate House Revival (Newport, KY)

The Show:

It's not often that I head out to see a band that I'm wholly unfamiliar with, as I was with El Ten Eleven. However, a good (and similarly music-obsessed) friend of mine invited me along to this show and convinced me that this would be a good one to catch. I listened to some of the band's stuff before-hand and, while I'm not always as into music without vocals, I really liked what they did.

El Ten Eleven is an experimental rock band out of LA. They've put out five records; the most recent, Transitions, was released in 2012. They produced the music for some of Gary Hustwit's documentaries, including Helvetica, so I had heard some of their music before (because I watch weird documentaries about font types).

The show opened with producer Eliot Lipp, who mixed and looped prerecorded tracks live on stage. While it was interesting to see someone do that in action, it got tiresome after a few minutes.

The main act, though, was well worth watching. They use many of the same tools and techniques that Lipp did, mainly looping and distortion, but they were playing traditional instruments along with the modern equipment. They were fascinating to watch live, it's always interesting to see how these types of artists compose their music!

Overall, it was a show worth watching!

Mini Setlist:

"My Only Swerving"
"Transitions"

Jamie Lidell - "Big Love"

What?!?!?!? Jamie Lidell filmed a music video in Cincinnati and NOBODY told me? And he didn't even do a concert while he was here? That's just unacceptable! Whatever, it's still pretty cool that he gave my city some "Big Love!"



Jamie released his self-titled album in February.

Maps & Atlases @ 20th Century Theater

When: January 23, 2013
Where: 20th Century Theater

The Show: I caught Maps & Atlases at the 20th Century Theater in Cincinnati on January 23. Although I'd been listening to the band, I hadn't spent a lot of time with their music, so I was on the fence about going to see them live. I'm glad I made the choice, though, as the precise, mathematical folk sounds that are presented on their albums really come to life in a live setting.

I arrived about 30 minutes after the opening act, a local band named Archer's Paradox, started playing. I caught the end of their set and, as far as local bands go, they weren't too bad, though they weren't doing anything particularly revolutionary with their sound. The real treat, and the reason I was there in the first place, was the main act.

The lead singer is a sight to behold. Dave Davidson has long hair and a beard that almost rivals it in length. In true guitar virtuoso fashion, his nails are grown out long to aid in finger-picking. And he truly is a virtuoso, playing in a way that really separates him from what is typically expected from a guitar god (yes, I'm putting him in that group), with precise melodies in place of riffs and played in a way that is mesmerizing to watch.

That's not to say, of course, that the rest of the band was any less impressive (though Dave's hair wins the whole thing). The bassist, Shiraz Dada, switches between his bass and a bass drum (which may not sound impressive, but you should have seen him playing). OK...so I spent the majority of the time looking at those two, I'm sure the drummer and second guitarist were just as awesome, though!



Mini setlist:

"Old & Gray"
"Winter"
"Remote and Dark Years"

Sharon van Etten at the Taft Theater

I'm a little overdue in posting this, but I went to see Sharon van Etten (for the fourth time, overall) in the Taft Theater basement ballroom about two months ago.

Having already seen her three times, I knew what to expect from her music and her stage presence and I was not disappointed. She was every bit as personable and low-key as she had been every other time I've seen her. I can see her growth, though, she becomes more comfortable and self-assured with every performance.

Through this concert, I was introduced to a new (to me) artist, Damien Jurado. He opened for Sharon and displayed many of the same traits that make the main act such a joy to watch. Like Sharon, his music can be emotional and a bit depressing. But, like Sharon, he displays an ease and good humor that keep the show from being a cry-fest.



In case you can't tell by the four times that I have seen this artist live, she is one of my favorite to catch live. If she's ever in your area, do not skip her show!

Band of Horses at Bogart's

These guys were supposed to come to Cincinnati in August of 2011 to open for the Kings of Leon. Sometime in July, however, KoL frontman Caleb Followill came down with a bad case of "exhaustion" (read: he was an alcoholic) and the remainder of the tour, including the Cincinnati date, was canceled. Band of Horses did their best to reschedule as many of the dates as possible, but Cincinnati was not among that group.

Fast forward more than a year and, finally, Band of Horses come to town! While there are many artists that I do not hesitate to buy tickets for, it seemed my wallet opened even faster for this gig.

The show was well worth the wait. While I haven't been crazy about their last two albums, the band played a good mix from all of their releases and their on-stage energy was strong enough to make all of the songs a treat to hear!

Mini setlist:


"The Great Salt Lake"


"Knock Knock"


"The General Specific"

MidPoint Music Festival 2012

Last weekend, Cincinnati sought again to remind me that it's a pretty awesome place to be. The MidPoint Music Festival was back in town. I had such an amazing time at last year's festival, I knew I had to do it again.



Like last year, there were a plethora of amazing musical acts. At times, it was hard to choose between acts, but I was ultimately happy with who I decided to catch. Throughout the weekend, I saw Here We Go Magic, Andrew Bird, Lower Dens, Dirty Projectors, Grizzly Bear, Dinosaur Jr., Frankie Rose, The Antlers, Woods, The Walkmen and Julia Holter. There were many other that I wanted to see, like Cloud Nothings and Tennis, but wasn't able to catch.

As expected, it was an amazing experience and a lot of fun. No doubt that it would be worth attending again.

Yeasayer at the 20th Century Theater

I caught Yeasayer here in Cincinnati a couple of weeks ago at the surprisingly charming 20th Century Theater.

I had expected the theater to be a fairly large venue before coming for this show. I was pleasantly surprised to see that it was a pretty small stage. It's smaller than I would have expected a band like Yeasayer to command, but it made for a very intimate show.

The opening act was Delicate Steve, a band I saw open for Akron/Family at MOTR Pub more than a year ago. They were even better this time around. If the titular Steve isn't named a guitar god in Rolling Stones next list, something is wrong with this world; he was definitely one of the best that I've ever seen live. I chatted with the band after the show and they actually recognized me from the other show last year!

I'll be honest; in comparison to their opening act, I found Yeasayer to be a little disappointing. By far, my favorite work from them has been their 2010 album Odd Blood and the three or four songs performed from that album were definitely the stand-outs of their set. I am pretty excited for the new album and they performed a lot of new songs, but I'm not yet convinced that they're going to live up.

Regardless, it was still great to see one of my favorite acts and to revisit a new favorite!

Delicate Steve release a new album, Positive Force, tomorrow and Yeasayer is set to release a new album in August.

Mini setlist:

Delicate Steve - "The Ballad of Speck and Pebble" from Wondervisions

Delicate Steve - "Wally Wilder" from Positive Force

Yeasayer - "I Remember" from Odd Blood

Yeasayer - "Henrietta" from Fragrant World

Santigold at Bogart's

I was on the fence about seeing Santigold in Cincinnati, given that I was going to catch her only a few days earlier at Bonnaroo. As you've probably already seen, though, Santigold was my favorite act of the festival and I knew that I could not pass up the opportunity to see her again!



Mini setlist:

"Go!"

"Creator"

"Big Mouth"

Sharon van Etten at Mayday

The Rundown

I guess it's pretty obvious by now that Sharon van Etten is one of my absolute favorite artists. I went to see her with a friend this past weekend at Mayday bar in Northside and it wasn't the first time I had seem her perform live. I first saw her last year at the MusicNow festival and then a couple of months ago in Columbus. She puts on such a great show that it's always a pleasure to see her live. I'm also starting to get a sense of how she is growing as a musician, which is a reward in itself.

Her opening act Friday night was a band names Flock of Dimes, who I didn't think I had heard of. While performing, I mentioned to my friend that the band sounded a bit like Wye Oak with club beats. Little did I know...that's essentially what they were! Flock of Dimes is Wye Oak lead singer's Jenn Wasner's solo project. Hers is easily one of my favorite voices in indie rock, it works great in this project as well!

Pictures!

Re-use-a-palooza, as seen on the way to the venue...I'm intrigued!

Instruments sitting around waiting for the band.

Hipster disco party!

You know you're going to get something interesting when one band member plays the computer!

Hair band!

Sharon with her omnichord!

Another interesting instrument...the harmonium!

Mini setlist:

Flock of Dimes - "Prison Bride"

Flock of Dimes - "Icy"

Sharon van Etten - "Leonard"

Sharon van Etten - "A Life of His Own"

The Arctic Monkeys and The Black Keys

The Black Keys are currently touring the country (and parts of Canada), opened by the Arctic Monkeys. I've had the chance to see them twice on this tour; once here in Cincinnati and the second time with my mom in Cleveland. Both bands put on an incredible show; which is impressive considering it's a bit of firsts for both of them. This is The Black Keys first headlining arena tour and the Arctic Monkeys first arena tour, at least in the US (they have done an arena tour in the UK).

Perhaps fresher is better. I had a great time at both shows and the pictures to prove it!

First, my up-close pictures from Cincinnati.

I spent most of the first set trying to figure out what "H.Y.F.R." stood for. It's apparently a reference to a Drake song.

He's got that rock star swagger!

I didn't realize I was getting a picture of this guy's butt; just wanted a shot of Patrick Carney's awesome drum set!

Oh, how I love this man...

Don't worry, Dan, I love you, too!

Encore!

Next, my Cleveland pictures...a show enjoyed with my lovely mother.

Hi Mom!

His swagger is evident even from this far away!

I loved the videos playing behind the band!

My favorite shot of the night.

Another great shot...encore!

Until next time, Cleveland!

Mini setlist:

Arctic Monkeys - "R U Mine?"

Arctic Monkeys - "Still Take You Home"

The Black Keys - "Gold on the Ceiling"

The Black Keys - "Girl Is on My Mind"

Beirut at Bogart's

The perks of living in a somewhat large city like Cincinnati just keep piling on. This past week, it was in the form of one of my favorite artists coming to town to perform. On 11/11/11, Beirut came to Bogart's a local establishment near the University of Cincinnati.

Beirut is one of those rare bands that manages to maintain the polish of their recorded material when performing live, something I had realized when I saw them at Bonnaroo back in June, and was reaffirmed of in Friday. The band started off the set with songs from the first album, Gulag Orkestar, and the early EPs, before launching into tracks from The Flying Cup Club and The Rip Tide, one of my early contenders for this year's best album list.

While I could have lived without their opener, a band called Ramesh, Beirut's was an amazing set and an interesting view of how excited people can get for the most unexpected forms and aspects of music. Heck, when I was in high school, the band kids were dorks, now one's on stage blaring an beautiful trumpet solo and the crowd goes wild!

I've seen them twice now and do expect that to be the last!

Mini setlist:

"Elephant Gun"

"East Harlem"

"My Night with the Prostitute from Marseilles"

Midpoint Music Festival

Cincinnati just makes me keep loving it more and more. I thought it was good enough that the city is large enough to attract many of my favorite musicians, but the city also hosts an annual music festival bringing to town dozens of acts, almost all indie, and representing local, national and international bands. The festival was held this past weekend (Thursday through Saturday) throughout many venues in Over-the-Rhine. The weekend was incredible and, despite it being a smaller festival, managed to bring in much of the appeal of larger events, while also making it feel like a night out.

Like any good music festival, there was more than just music. A few food trucks were in attendance, serving everything from pretzels, to quesadillas, to pastries. Street food was in abundance, and a little yet-to-open Belgian restaurant held a soft opening just for the festival (best waffles ever!). There were also poster sellers in attendance, I got myself a Washed Out poster. One stand at the festival even had a giant Connect Four game.

The music was the real attraction, though. With only three nights, with most performances between 6:00 PM and 1:00 AM, and 175 acts, it was quite impossible to see everything, but I was able to catch a good mix. The first night, I saw local act The Seedy Seeds (who I first saw opening for Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.), eclectic band Suckers, The Joy Formidable, and, as the highlight of the night, The Dodos. While I think this is true of many many bands and musicians, The Dodos are another one of those that may be best appreciated live.

The second night was a little more subdued for me. I caught Okkervil River at the Dewey Tent, who were another astronomical band. I had planned to stick around to see Xiu Xiu, but the venue was full and they weren't letting people in. I decided to head to the venue where Gang Gang Dance would be later performing, but my tiredness got the better of me and I headed home. Lame...I know.

The final night, however, I knew was going to be another good night. It was back to the Dewey Tent for Washed Out, one of my absolute new favorite bands. After their show, I stuck around for Cut Copy. They perhaps had the best audience reaction of all the bands I saw over the weekend. They stood out more in the festival than they had in several months on my iPod.

An amazing weekend in the Queen City and I'm pretty excited for this event next year!