September’s MidPoint Music Festival got some pre-event guff from longtime fans after it was taken over by local production giant MEMI (it was formerly owned and operated by CityBeat) and moved from a dozen or so indoor music venues (and a couple of outdoor spaces, including Washington Park) to a large parking area in Over-the-Rhine. But the move and new ownership had its perks. With the event’s four stages being so close together, fans no longer had to run — or bike or take a cab or drive — a mile after one showcase to see another band at the other end of the festival “grounds.” And the event stepped up its booking to include big headliners like Band of Horses, Reggie Watts and Future Islands, while also still featuring cutting-edge and/or on-the-verge local acts and national artists like Lucy Dacus, Car Seat Headrest and Kamasi Washington. MidPoint Music Festival, mpmf.com.
2. Molly Wellmann (Japp’s)
3. Nonta Perkins (MOTR Pub)
2. Justin Simmons (Sundry and Vice)
3. Bennett Cooper (16-Bit Bar+Arcade)
Popular Northside brewery/venue Urban Artifact attracts a crowd with fresh beer and mostly free live music — it even has a Swing dance night on certain Sunday afternoons, and longtime local favorites the Blue Wisp Big Band perform every Wednesday. Its appeal also expands beyond the expected age range for a “bar.” The brewery has a huge selection of board games and allows kids in with accompanying adults, so some evenings can turn into genuine family affairs, especially on warmer nights, with parents letting their kids run around in the yard between the converted church and the rectory buildings. And you thought the only options for “beer-assisted family game night” were at home or at an overcrowded Dave and Buster’s. Urban Artifact, 1660 Blue Rock St., Northside, 513-620-4729, artifactbeer.com.
Shopping locally is a great way to avoid those nightmarish day-after-Thanksgiving (aka “Black Friday”) sales at the mall or chain retail outlet stores. And if the person you’re buying a present for is a big music fan, Cincinnati musicians are now regularly providing some cool Black Friday options for your gift list. Timed to Record Store Day’s nationwide Black Friday alternative, local record shops in 2016 offered exclusives from local artists like Country singer/songwriter Jeremy Pinnell (who reissued an expanded vinyl version of his stellar OH/KY album) and Wussy (which put out the rare Funeral Dress II acoustic album on vinyl for the first time). Legendary downtown bar Arnold’s Bar and Grill and Neltner Small Batch Records also teamed up for a great local-music holiday compilation (issued on vinyl), featuring Christmas-themed songs by Honey and Houston, The Part-Time Gentlemen, The Tillers and many other superb Roots/Americana acts.
