When the lineups for the every-Friday MidPoint Indie Summer concerts on Fountain Square were announced, showcasing a solid lineup of local and touring Indie Rock acts, a colleague in Charlotte, N.C., Jeff Hahne, bemoaned his own city’s lackluster “outdoor free music” offerings. Writing on the blog of the city’s Creative Loafing weekly, he said he was increasingly disappointed by the cover bands and “’90s alt-rock” acts that populate two of Charlotte’s free outdoor music series.
“Charlotte may have twice the population and enjoy warmer weather,” Hahne wrote, “but as far as a summer music series goes, Cincinnati clearly wins.”
It was a good reminder of how good things are for live music fans in Cincinnati. And Hahne wrote this about only one small part of the overall free, outdoor, live music offerings the city provides. There are events for fans of cover bands, too, like the every-Wednesday Party in the Park shows at Yeatman’s Cove on the riverfront, but, besides Indie Summer, downtown’s Fountain Square and Over-the-Rhine’s Washington Park present a wide variety of styles of music every year once the warmer weather rolls around. And every series draws respectable-to-blockbuster crowds, showing that our city has more than enough music lovers to support the multitude of musical events each summer. (Even these two spaces’ series only represent a portion of the overall outdoor, live music action downtown; there are also events like next weekend’s Taste of Cincinnati that have a wide variety of local musicians performing.)
The lineups for the musical performances at Washington Park and Fountain Square (officially known as the PNC Summer Music Series and presented by 3CDC and a wide range of different sponsors) have leaked out gradually over the past few weeks. Now that most of the artists booked for the various series have been announced, we’ve collected them below for you to marvel at the quantity and quality of what our city core has in store this summer for music fans. (Visit Fountain Square’s site here and Washington Park’s site here for more info and some links to check out some of the artists ahead of time.)
Washington Park (SHOWS 7-10 P.M. WEEKLY UNLESS NOTED)
WEDNESDAYS: CROWN JEWELS OF JAZZ
May 28: Rashon Murph & Randy Villars
June 4: Marc Fields
June 11: Tropicoso
June 18: Patricia & Chris Berg
June 25: Siobhan and the Situation
July 2: Rick Van Matre
July 9: NKU Faculty Band
July 16: Anne Stephens
July 23: Art Gore featuring Delfeayo Marsalis
July 30: No concert
Aug. 6: Sylvain Archer
Aug. 13: Fo/Mo/Deep
Aug. 20: Dick Sisto
Aug. 27: Mike Wade
THURSDAYS: BANDSTAND BLUEGRASS
May 29: Jake Speed & The Freddies andThe Red Cedars
June 5: The Comet Bluegrass Allstars
June 12: Wild Carrot & the Roots Band
June 19: Ma Crow & The Lady Slippers
June 26: The Downtown County Band
July 3: Northern Kentucky Bluegrass Band and Woody Pines
July 10: Steve Bonafel & One Iota
July 17: Buffalo Wabs & The Price Hill Hustle
July 24: The Rattlesnakin’ Daddies
July 31: No concert
Aug. 7: The Tillers
Aug. 14: Hickory Robot
Aug. 21: Bulletville
Aug. 28th: Whiskey Bent Valley and Al Scorch
FRIDAYS: FRIDAY FLOW
(Note: Local DJ crew Selectas Choice spins between sets)
May 30: EU, Jameze and performers from Elementz
June 6: Natural Progression and Collective Peace
June 13: Hotsauce, Tyshawn Colquitt and more TBA
June 20: Carpe Diem, Ron C and more TBA
June 27: L’ Renee and performers from Elementz
July 4: Playa (featuring Smoke & Black), Deuces and more TBA
July 11: Carl Moore, Marwan (Soul Flow)
July 18: 2nd Wind, The Ingrid Rachel Project
July 25: (3 p.m. start) Sei High, 432, performers from Elementz and more TBA
Aug. 1: No Friday Flow; LumenoCity returns
Aug. 8: Flawless and Keenan West
Aug. 15: Big Jim and Erica P
Aug. 22: Gregory Porter and Mandy Gaines
Aug. 29: Tiara Purifoy (American Idol), performers from Elementz and more TBA
Fountain Square (SHOWS 7-10 P.M. WEEKLY UNLESS NOTED)
TUESDAYS: AMERICAN ROOTS
May 27: Jeremy Pinnell & the 55s and Ben Knight & the Welldiggers
June 3: Kim Taylor and Peter Mulvey
June 10: The Black Lillies and The Kentucky Struts
June 17: Buffalo Wabs and the Price Hill Shuffle and Arlo McKinley
June 24: Dallas Moore Band
July 1: The Tillers and Red Cedars
July 8: Pure Grain and Shoot Out the Lights
July 15: Chuck Mead and Straw Boss
July 22: The Wheeler Brothers and Shiny & the Spoon
July 29: Bulletville and Bucktown Kickback
Aug. 5: Josh Eagle and The Hiders
Aug. 12: The Ragbirds and The Happy Maladies
Aug. 19: Tony Furtado and Rumpke Mountain Boys
Aug. 26: Birds of Chicago
WEDNESDAYS: REGGAE WEDNESDAY
May 28: Super-Massive (Summer Splash Happy Hour DJ: Frankie D)
June 4: Driftaways (Summer Splash Happy Hour DJ group: Avalanche Sound)
June 11: Peach Freedom and Connect (Summer Splash Happy Hour DJ: Frankie D)
June 18: Aaron Kamm and the One Drops (Summer Splash Happy Hour DJ group: Queen City Imperial Sound System)
June 25: Milele Roots (Summer Splash Happy Hour DJ: Frankie D)
July 2: Jah Messengers (Summer Splash Happy Hour DJ group: Avalanche Sound)
July 9: Zvuloon Dub System (Summer Splash Happy Hour DJ: Frankie D)
July 16: Gato’s Gullah Gumbo (Summer Splash Happy Hour DJ: DJ Mowgli)
July 23: Ark Band (Summer Splash Happy Hour DJ: Frankie D)
July 30: 77 Jefferson (Summer Splash Happy Hour DJ group: Avalanche Sound)
Aug. 6: Rashita Astemari (Summer Splash Happy Hour DJ: Frankie D)
Aug. 13: The Drastics (Summer Splash Happy Hour DJ group: Queen City Imperial Sound System)
Aug. 20: Big Wig Mechanics (Summer Splash Happy Hour DJ: Frankie D)
Aug. 27: The Cliftones (Summer Splash Happy Hour DJ: DJ Mowgli)
THURSDAYS: SALSA ON THE SQUARE
(Note: Salsa on the Square kicked off May 1)
May 22: Grupo Tumbao
May 29: Mambo Diablo
June 5: Son Del Caribe
June 12: Tropicoso
June 19: Kandela
June 26: Grupo Tumbao
July 3: Zumba
July 10: Mambo Diablo
July 17: Kandela
July 24: Son Del Caribe
July 31: Tropicoso
Aug. 7: Clave Son
Aug. 14: Grupo Tumbao
Aug. 2: Son Del Caribe
Aug. 28: Kandela
Sept. 4: Clave Son
Sept. 11: Tropicoso
Sept. 18: Latin Beat Project
FRIDAYS: MIDPOINT INDIE SUMMER (7-11 P.M. WEEKLY)
May 30: WHY?, Yip Deceiver, Badboxes, Dark Colour
June 6: Wussy, The Tigerlilies, Honey & Houston, Mason School of Rock
June 13: Betty Who, Vito Emmanuel, Captain Kidd, Pluto Revolts
June 20: Those Darlins, The Harlequins, The Frankl Project, Those Crosstown Rivals
June 27: Moon Taxi, Peridoni, Nevele, Acarya
July 4: Local H, Mad Anthony, New Strange, One Day Steady
July 11: Soledad Brothers, Electric Citizen, Pop Goes the Evil, Grotesque Brooms
July 18: Wesley Bright & the Hi-Lites, DAAP Girls, Mardou, Young Colt
July 25: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Public, Dream Tiger, Danny & His Fantasy
Aug. 1: The Spiders (A tribute to David Bowie), The Honey Spiders, Bad People, To No End
Aug. 8: Man Man, Injecting Strangers, Ohio Knife, Skeleton Hands
Aug. 15: The Nightbeast, more TBA
Aug. 22: psychodots, Lemon Sky, Tonefarmer, Heavy Hinges
Aug. 29: Islands, The Pass, The Yugos, Joey Cook & The Keepers of the Secret
SATURDAYS: BEATS BY SELF-DIPLOMA (7-11 P.M. WEEKLY)
May 31: Cal Scruby, Matt Persin, NJ kknd drummer, Nuk, Federal & Company, TJC with DJ Vizion, Beatboxer Nav & Jake
June 7: Chingy, DJ Diamond, Sleep, Planet Venus, Chestah T & Snowball, Razook, Alexander the Bear
June 14: DJ Clockwork, DJ Etrayn, Buggs Tha Rocka, Jon Schuyler, Ingrid Rachel Project, SSE, DJ RiQ The Professor, Miles Mulligan
June 21: OCD: Moosh & Twist, Puck, Hafrican, Jayme Shaye, Eazy El Loco, A1 & Juice Jones, DJ iGrind
June 28: DJ Bandcamp, Junya Be, Macho Means, Aysia Marie & Ajax Stacks, Nate Paulson, Mad Snipes, EddieO
July 5: The Knocks (DJ set), Millennium Robots, Disco Joe & Friends, Aviators, T3CCHTUNE, Mr. Fantastic, Keyyz
July 12: Mike Stud, James Dapper, The S.A.U.C.E., SkeetR V. Twinkiee, Kid Quill, Blue Society
July 19: DJ D-LO, Joseph Nevels, Oregonia, Spearpoint, Brad Redford, Banducci and the Wheels, Kyle English
July 26: DJ Kid Capri, Khimera Records (8:30 p.m. start)
Aug. 2: Hi-Tek and Friends, Jillian Faith, Suave & Under New Order, Frankly Speaking, B. Soul, Haze
Aug. 9: Dizzy Wright, Trademark Aaron, Young ILL, Jaylee, Odd Fella, MCB, Jameze Latrail
Aug. 16: Trentino, DJ Skills, Ingrid Woode & the Woode Tribe Orchestra, DJ Will Kill, Mark Moore (8 p.m. start)
Aug. 23: Sound Remedy, Bob A Dob, Panzer, Black Signal, Randi Floss, Skyelle, Button Mashers
Aug. 30: Capitol Thrill, Firecat 451, Riot Ten, DJ B-Funk, Reaux, Chris Alarcon, DJ Edge
