Official logo for MidPoint Music Festival |
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| Location(s) | Cincinnati, Ohio |
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| Years active | 2002–present |
| Date(s) | September 22–24, 2011 |
| Genre | Alternative Rock, Indie Rock |
| Website | www.mpmf.com |
MidPoint Music Festival (MPMF) launched in 2002 in Cincinnati, Ohio, as an independent music festival and industry conference. The annual three-day event occurs each September in the city's downtown and historic Over-the-Rhine entertainment district. Founded by Cincinnati musicians Bill Donabedian, of Crosley, and Sean Rhiney, of Clabbergirl, the festival was acquired in 2008 by Cincinnati CityBeat, a weekly alternative newspaper.
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The tenth annual MidPoint Music Festival will take place from Thursday, September 22 to Saturday, September 24. This year the focus has returned to Over-the-Rhine with majority of venues located in the historic neighborhood where the festival saw its roots. Several venues in the central business district are still used, but The Southgate House in Newport, Kentucky just across the Ohio River has been removed to keep all shows within walking distance.
Several details about the festival have been released. Busken Bakery will be supplying 10,000 donuts for music lovers to mark the tenth anniversary.
Bioré is sponsoring a strip of three stages along Jackson Street featuring female-centered acts.
Artworks is sponsoring MidPoint Midway, a fleet of box trucks on 12th street between Vine Street and Walnut Street. The stretch will be closed to traffic and 8-10 artists will be selected to create unique, interactive exhibits, venues, and lounges for patrons inside of 24 foot long box trucks.
MidPoint is starting VIP tickets that run for $125 for the entire weekend. The VIP tickets give special access to the VIP Sanctuary Room, first entry to venues, VIP parties, free food and drinks, and more. Only 100 VIP tickets will be sold.
All ages shows will be featured at the School for Creative and Performing Arts. Students from the school will also be able to help sound, lights, and interacting with the acts playing at the venue.
MidPoint Poster Expo will continue from last year. Newport, Kentucky based Powerhouse Factories will design and print posters for the festival as well as other local concerts from Cincinnati.
Topic Design is bringing back the Tweet/Text Visualizer System. Tweeting to #mpmf will automatically put your message on screens at various MidPoint venues in real time.
Advanced tickets are on sale for $39 at the MidPoint Indie Summer Series. They are also available for $49 at various locations and online.
Arnold's Bar and Grill
Thursday: Joshua P. James and the Paper Planes, Adam Arcuragi & The Lupine Choral Society, Josh Eagle and the Harvest City, Two Man Gentleman Band
Friday: Shiny and the Spoon, Jones Street Station, Hickory Robot, The Bears of Blue River
Saturday: The Tadcasters, Geoff Davin, Tallahassee, Black Owls
Artworks on the Bioré Strip
Thursday: The Western, Slothpop, We Are Hex, The Worsties
Friday: The Spruce Campbells, Hedgehog, Kindest Lines, Xiu Xiu
Saturday: Culture Queer, Pet Lions, Fists of Love, My Gold Mask
Below Zero Lounge
Thursday: A Lull, YAWN, The Town Monster, The Pass
Friday: Shortwave Society, Soapland, White Birds, Asobi Seksu
Saturday: Bear Hands, Wolf Ram Heart, Kry Kids, NewVillager
Blue Wisp King Records Room
Thursday: Kentucky Struts, The Madison Square Gardeners, Tara Priya, Skeetones
Friday: TBA, Goose, The Pinstripes, Izzy & The Catastrophics
Saturday: Bronze Radio Return, The Tillers, The Right Now, The Bright Light Social Hour
Cincinnati Club Room
Thursday: The Ridges, The Sundresses, Those Darlins
Friday: Cincy Brass, The Prohibitionists, Booker T. Jones
Saturday: Magnolia Mountain, Robert Ellis, The Felice Brothers
Courtyard Cafe
Thursday: Kentucky Knife Fight, Banderas, Timatim Fitfit, The Moaners
Friday: TBA, Sparrow Bellows, Us, Today, Total Babes
Saturday: John L. Sullivan, State Song, TBA, Zachary Burns Band
Dewey's Pizza Main Stage at Grammer's
Thursday: July for Kings, U.S. Royalty, The Joy Formidable
Friday: The Parson Red Heads, Viva Voce, Okkervil River
Saturday: Midnight Magic, Washed Out, Cut Copy
Know Theatre on the Bioré Strip
Main Stage
Thursday: The Watson Twins, Tristen, Jessica Lea Mayfield
Friday: Cheyenne Marie Mize, Fairmount Girls, Deerhoof
Saturday: blueVenus, Fort Wilson Riot, Bachelorette
Second Stage
Thursday: Paper Bird, Lydia Loveless
Friday: Kelly Fine, Lora-Faye
Saturday: Pezzetino, Carole Walker
Main Event ICB Stage
Thursday: The Van Allen Belt, Hunter Valentine, Sick of Sarah, Vanity Theft
Friday: TBA, Amanda Lucas & Audrey Cecil, Paper Thick Walls, Gold Motel
Saturday: Mike Golden & Friends, Milano, Fort Frances, Buckra
Media Bridges
Thursday: TBA, Spruce Leaves, The Record Summer, Santah
Friday: Astro Fang, Saturn Batteries, Hospital Garden, for algernon
Saturday: Oui Si Yes, Maza Blaska, Pictures of Then, TBA
MOTR Pub
Thursday: The Color Pharmacy, In Tall Buildings, Beat Connection, Mansions on the Moon
Friday: Tammar, SpiderFriends, Eat Sugar, STRFKR
Saturday: Vandaveer, Chamberlin, The Chocolate Horse, Youth Lagoon
Mr. Pitiful's
Thursday: Pokey LaFarge & The South City Three, Jake Speed & The Freddies, Aunt Martha, 500 Miles to Memphis
Friday: Blue Cut, Browngrass and Wildflowers, Coralee and the Townies, The Headlocks
Saturday: Mack West, Jesse Torrisi & the Please, Please Me, Eric Tepe Band, The Giving Tree Band
School for Creative and Performing Arts
Mayerson Theater Stage
Thursday: Ben Lapps, Kim Taylor, Kaki King
Friday: TBA, Sleepy Sun, The Low Anthem
Saturday: Wing & Tusk, Bella Ruse, Ivan & Alyosha
Corbet Theater Stage
Thursday: The Seedy Seeds, Suckers, Mates of State
Friday: Ava Luna, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Toro y Moi
Saturday: Delicate Steve, Sister Crayon, The Album Leaf
The Drinkery
Thursday: The Aviation Orange, The Ready Stance, Julie The Band, Brass Bed
Friday: The Capstan Shafts, Okay Lindon, Scattered Trees, Babe
Saturday: Milktooth, Two Headed Dog, Empires, Prussia
Vitamin Water Room at the Hanke Building
Thursday: Henry Wolfe, The Lions Rampant, The Luyas, The Dodos
Friday: Darlene, Pop Empire, TBA, Gang Gang Dance
Saturday: The Dukes, The Harlequins, Conspiracy of Owls, Man or Astro-Man?
MidPoint Music Festival's 2010 schedule (abbreviated MPMF.10) began to be disclosed at the reveal showcase hosted by the Contemporary Arts Center on April 24, 2010 with bands Aloha, Pomegranates, and The Buried Wires. Several bands were confirmed for MPMF.10 including A Place to Bury Strangers and Caribou. The full lineup was announced in late August and includes Holy F*ck, Wussy, Best Coast, Pomegranates, Margot and the Nuclear So and So's, Shonen Knife, Justin Townes Earle, Van Dyke Parks, Babe the Blue Ox, Surfer Blood, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, Fang Island, O'Brother, Tom Tom Club, Cults, Phantogram, Elf Power, and Male Bonding among many more local and national acts.
Every Friday night over the Summer, MPMF hosts a special concert at Fountain Square called the MidPoint Indie Summer Series. During the reveal showcase it was also revealed that 2010 headliners for this event would include Camera Obscura, Why?, Neon Indian, Dawes, Jason Isbell, Buffalo Killers, and Smoking Popes. Headliners from 2009 included Bad Veins, Pomegranates, and Wussy. The Summer Series for 2010 begins June 4 and ends in September.
MidPoint Music Festival has grown rapidly since the first event was held in September 2002.
2002: 150 national and regional bands; 10,000 fans
2005: 300 international, national and regional bands; 50,000 fans
2008: 185 international, national and regional bands including Robert Pollard's Boston Spaceships, Mates of State, The Sadies, Headlights, God Made Me Funky, Radio 4, Spectrum, Why?, Backyard Tire Fire, and Jukebox the Ghost. It was the first year MidPoint included label showcases into the lineup.
2009: 270 international, national and regional bands including Heartless Bastards, Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit, Chairlift, Micachu and the Shapes, God Made Me Funky, The Rosewood Thieves, The Dynamites featuring Charles Walker, and Extra Golden. A new interactive feature presented real-time Twitter tweets and Cincinnati Bell texts from fans throughout the festival online at live.mpmf.com, in turn broadcast to the world and on screens setup in venues.
2010: 250 international, national and regional bands including Tom Tom Club, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, Jason and the Scorchers, Margot and the Nuclear So and So's, Caribou, Best Coast, Surfer Blood, Holy F*ck, A Place to Bury Strangers, Fang Island, Shonen Knife and a secret, unannounced show from Spacehog. Several acts withdrew just prior to the festival, including Justin Townes Earle, Jessica Lea Mayfield, Villagers and The Broken Lyre. MidPoint continued on by broadcasting the real-time Twitter tweets and label showcases, as well as introducing a new method of transportation, hybrid Metro buses, that could transport more concert-goers throughout downtown and Over the Rhine.