This past weekend was the annual MidPoint Music Festival that takes place in various bars and venues around downtown Cincinnati and Over-the-Rhine. As I did last year, I only made it down for two of the three nights. I started off with a strong Thursday night and followed it up with a late Friday night. When Saturday night rolled around I was a little too tired to attempt to do it once more.

Backstage at Cody ChesnuTT

Thursday was awesome since a good friend of mine had an extra VIP bracelet that he let me use for the evening. We started with free beers and food behind the main stage in Washington Park while Cody ChesnuTT brought the funk and soul to the good sized crowd. Throughout the night I managed to see at least seven different bands.

Goodbye June at Mr. Pitiful’s

My personal highlights were Nashville’s Goodbye June who rocked everyone’s faces off at Mr. Pitiful’s along with Vandaveer from Washington, D.C. whose mellow folk sound was the perfect ending for my night. Other bands I saw included Mad Anthony, Ha Ha Tonka, and River Whyless.

Ha Ha Tonka on the Midway

Friday night I got a late start, but arrived at Washington Park just in time to see The Head and the Heart play. I was probably most excited to see this band play after seeing them once before a couple of years ago when they opened up for The Decemberists. Their latest single “Shake” can be streamed right on their website and is a good representation of their sound. Their sophomore release Let’s Be Still will be released in a couple of weeks on October 15.

The Head and the Heart

After their awesome performance I moved over to Mr. Pitiful’s to meet some friends and catch the funk rock band The Almighty Get Down followed up by hip-hop group Eclipse Movement. Both bands featured horn sections, are local to Cincinnati, and are full of energy when performing live.

Eclipse Movement at Mr. Pitiful’s

When your night ends with a keytar solo you know it was a good one.

Keytar Solo!