Some details about the 2010 MidPoint Music Festival were unveiled last night at the Contemporary Arts Center, where Indie bands Aloha and Pomegranates performed at the MPMF10 "Reveal Showcase." Several artists already booked for the big September fest were announced, as were some of the bigger acts lined up for the free summer-long MidPoint Indie Summer shows every Friday on Fountain Square.

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If you're looking for something cool to do tonight — and especially if you're a huge fan of the falltime MidPoint Music Festival — head to the Contemporary Arts Center at 8 p.m. for a MidPoint "Reveal" showcase featuring the stellar, textural Indie Rock of local faves Pomegranates, nationally-acclaimed foursome Aloha (pictured) and Cleveland's The Buried Wires.

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Is it really that time again? It seems like just yesterday that we were jumping from one packed MPMF venue to another, checking out everyone from local favorites to national and international gems to local favorites turned (inter)national gems.

Yes, bands and artists the world over can now register to take part in the 2010 MidPoint Music Festival, a three-day (Sept. 23-25) downtown Cincinnati party that is rapidly becoming a highlight of the region’s musical landscape.

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[Further Saturday coverage: 217 photos here and multimedia show here.]

Hello. First stop, Blue Wisp, where I got carded. I was so excited to get carded, really. When you start getting older, you're easily amused.

I saw Cincinnati’s Syd Natanists here. Bring on the funk. Swarthy from the Swarthy Band was kicking ass, sitting in on bass, and the amazing Marvin Hawkins was hitting skins. Elliott Ruther rocked on guitar and vocals, and we had keys — someone tell me who was on keys — sorry brother, you were awesome. I got distracted by CityBeat Big Dog John Fox, who was standing tall next to me, looming over my shoulder and watching my every move. Actually, he was drinking a beer and grooving out, smiling. Yo, this band was tight. Play on players, you got my vote.

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[Further Saturday coverage: 217 photos here and multimedia show here.]

After shooting the rapids of downtown’s Friday night to get to the Sundresses’ affair (in which I played the part of the kayak), it was my fervent hope that the skies would clear and remain free of precipitation for MidPoint’s final slate of shows on Saturday. It certainly looked good at 7:30 p.m. as I sat in the car going over my schedule before hitting the sidewalk. Who knew then that the metaphorical storm clouds generated by Cadillac Ranch would be bigger than the literal batch that Mother Nature whipped up for us midway to the end of MidPoint?

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[Further Friday coverage: 235 photos here and multimedia show here.]

Other than an intermittent and often heavy rainfall and a cancelled show or five, Thursday was a very good opening night. The lessening rain upon arrival in downtown Friday night boded well for a drier and less drippy MidPoint experience, and so it was. For the most part.

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[Further Friday coverage: 235 photos here and multimedia show here.]

Dear Diary: Friday Midpoint. Wearing my green Noctaluca T-shirt, my super cool non-leather jacket that looks like leather and my faded black jeans that are too big and too long — with my distracting, cool clothes choice, I was trying super hard to steer people away from the fact that I hadn’t had time to shower. Seemed to work. Yes.

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What a night for music and for Cincinnati last night at the MidPoint Music Festival. As expected, the Heartless Bastards packed the huge Topic Design Tent at Grammer's and played a fantastic set. Erika and the boys were clearly blown away by the quantity and quality of support from their friends and ex-neighbors.

Look for reports later today on this blog from Mike Breen, Brian Baker and C.A. MacConnell, but for now enjoy 235 photos from 12 CityBeat photographers who were prowling the streets last night, plus Cameron Knight's multimedia show set to Pomegranates music (they drew a huge crowd at Know Theatre).

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[Further Thursday coverage: 172 photos here and multimedia show here.]

I wanted to chime in on two fun events from the opening night of the 2009 MidPoint Music Festival that not many people saw: the kick-off shows on Fountain Square and Deke Dickerson at the Southgate House.

The Young Republic at the Blue Wisp after playing Fountain Square

Rain kept the Fountain Square crowd down, obviously, but the two bands who performed (Shanya Zaid & the Catch from New York and The Young Republic from Nashville) were energetic, happy to be in Cincinnati and ready for their regular club showcases later in the evening. The sound, provided by ICB Audio, was excellent.

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[Further Thursday coverage: 172 photos here and multimedia show here.]

After months of planning and judging and selecting and scheduling and designing and implementing, the big night has arrived at last. The first night of MidPoint 2009. You can almost smell the impending disaster in the air.

The Elms

Well, perhaps disaster is a bit strong. It’s been a long time — well, a couple of years anyway — since MidPoint has been baptized by a significant rainfall, and right out of the chute last night’s precipitation claimed its first victim for me. As much as I wanted to see The Elms, I wasn’t prepared to walk up to Grammer’s in the pouring rain and then watch them while outside soaking wet. I hear the tent is nice and, as it turned out, I probably would have been better off to take the wet walk.

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