Countering 'Point

All of the best big music conferences/festivals have 'em — those rascally counter festivals that pop up either due to some beef with the more prominent fest or a simple desire to provide an alternative. Austin's South By Southwest has several of them and now MidPoint has one of its very own. Downtown club The Poison Room's "Toxic Fest" — featuring mostly local Rock and Punk acts — isn't overtly being billed as the anti-MidPoint, but it's running the exact three days as the now five-year-old showcase (Thursday through Saturday). And the Poison Room was a featured MidPoint venue last year, but was cut out of the loop due to its relative distance away from the bulk of other MPMF clubs. So ... you do the math.

Johnny Sex, singer for explosive local rockers Kill City (which plays Toxic Fest Friday night), says some of the bands playing the Poison Room fest (including his) felt left out of the MidPoint party.

"In my opinion — and granted I come from a much more Rock- and Punk-type background — I believe the lineup for Toxic Fest to be superior to MidPoint this year, and not just because my band is playing," Sex says. "I think it is a much edgier and less safe alternative. These bands are deserving of an equally fair shake even though the festival they are playing isn't quite as high profile."

Toxic Fest — featuring music on both floors of the Poison Room — kicks off Thursday with Black Tie Bombers, Jonuh, Junior Revolution, Death In Graceland, Seven Orchids, Alone At 3am, Black Tie Affair, The Winner's Circle, Indy's Shadeland and Dayton's The Story Changes (Thursday's host is Chris Raab of Jackass and Viva La Bam fame).

Friday's lineup features Kill City, Rumble Club, Blacklight Barbarian, Banderas, Arms Exploding, Lost Hands Found Fingers, Grand Blanc, Michigan's Radio Pirate DJ, Dayton's Rayburn and Columbus rockers Volume Dealer and Miranda Sound. Saturday, you can check out Touchtone, Pulse 8, American Hardcore, Arapyma, Zero 1 Zero, New York's Lourds, Cleveland's Mr. Gnome, Columbus' The Squares and Dayton's Silk Abrasion.

Admission is $5 each night; $12 three-day passes are also available. Music starts at 9 p.m. all three nights. (poisonroom.com)

More Local Notes
· Local singer/songwriter Ric Hickey and his Loose Wrecks are opening for the Terry Adams-Steve Ferguson Quartet this Wednesday at Newport's Southgate House. But that isn't the only local angle for the show. Adams and Ferguson — out promoting their new album, Louisville Sluggers — are the co-founders of cult Rock & Roll faves NRBQ. A recording of the Q's 1970 concert at famed Cincinnati venue the Ludlow Garage (also the source of a similar, much-praised live album by the Allman Brothers from the same era) is due for release Oct. 3.

· Last month in Chicago local turntable crew The Animal Crackers scored a big victory at the U.S. finals of the esteemed "DMC World DJ Championships," as they were crowned "USA DJ Team Champions." The group then got to compete in the world finals in London earlier this month (France's C2C ended up the global victors). This Thursday, the AC's Dirty Ru will be spinning at the opening night of the new Pacific Moon restaurant at Newport on the Levee. The restaurant is to feature late night sushi and live music and DJs (including other members of the Crackers) seven nights a week. (theanimalcrackers.com)