That big annual rite of passage into autumn, the Cincinnati Bell/WEBN Fireworks (a.k.a. "The Fireworks"), goes down this Sunday on the Ohio River. To get people warmed up for the big booms, a full slate of live music has once again been booked for the P&G Pavilion stage at Sawyer Point. Impressively, the bands booked for the stage all play original music, mostly in the vein of the Hard Rock/Metal/Modern Rock the FM station plays regularly. The lineup is localcentric, featuring area rockers like Cincinnati Sinners, Eyes On Tomorrow and Cinema Sleep, plus Dayton's Black Cloud Syndrome. (Click here for the schedule.)
But the most unusual choice for the lineup has to be the Pop/Rock/Punk foursome Mixtapes. Not that the nationally-acclaimed band (slated to perform at 1:45 p.m.) will get pelted with eggs or anything … their sound's just not as WEBN-friendly as the other groups playing. It's kind of like having Superchunk open for Papa Roach.
After showering fireworks fans with their punchy, melodic stylings, Mixtapes gets ready for a busy fall. At the end of this month, they kick off a string of dates with Aficionado that'll take them coast-to-coast over the course of about three weeks. Right after that, they'll hop onto another tour, this time with Such Gold, that will have them traveling throughout the South and hitting even more East Coast and Midwest cities.
Near the end of the announced tour dates (on Oct. 30, to be exact), Mixtapes' label — Anaheim, Calif.-based Animal Style Records — has announced it will be releasing a mostly acoustic nine-track EP titled How to Throw a Successful Party. The release was originally put out as a free digital bonus for fans pre-ordering Mixtapes' 2011 LP, Maps & Companions. The official release of Party will be available digitally or on vinyl. Animal Style is releasing just 500 one-sided 12-inch versions, available on yellow, blue and green wax.
Here's a great press release quote from singer/guitarist Ryan Rockwell (formerly of local groups like Small Time Crooks and Black Tie Bombers) about How to Throw a Successful Party: "So we originally recorded this to come out for free alongside Maps & Companions and we were really stoked on it. It was 9 acoustic (mostly) songs and we're really happy with them. People have been asking for a while about it being on vinyl and now the time seems right, so the great Matt Medina is putting it out on Animal Style Records! It's gonna come out at Fest and be limited to 500. If you are reading this on a blog or news website I look forward to reading about how much we suck."
He ends with, "We are happy this is coming out on vinyl and you should buy it on all 3 colors because that's what ICP does and they are rich."
Read more about Mixtapes in CityBeat's July feature story on the band here. Here's the cover art for the forthcoming release.
