MidPoint offers 270 acts on 23 stages in three districts (downtown, Over-the-Rhine and Newport) over three nights — with so much to see and hear, why waste time standing in line to pay cover charges at each club? Festival-goers in the know pony up for a three-day wristband and guarantee themselves smooth sailing.
The three-day wristband gains you entry to all MidPoint shows, subject to capacity rules, and waives all cover charges. It also allows you to get from venue to venue via the Scion Streetcar Shuttle, which provides free rides each evening along a route on Main Street, Liberty Street, Walnut Street and Fifth Street.
Three-day wristband
Your best bet. This wristband gets you entry to all MidPoint showcases, subject to capacity rules, and waives all cover charges (see notes below about the Southgate House Ballroom). It also allows you to get from venue to venue via the Scion Streetcar Shuttle (see shuttle details below).
Cost: $29
How to buy: Advance online sales at mpmf.com and in-person sales at Coffee Emporium (Over-the-Rhine), College Hill Coffee Co., Everybody’s Records (Pleasant Ridge), Lookout Joe’s (Mount Lookout), Shake It Records (Northside), Sitwell’s (Clifton), Willis Music (Florence), CityBeat (Downtown) The Segway Room (Downtown), Grammer’s (Over-the-Rhine) and the Contemporary Arts Center (Downtown). Wristbands will also be on sale through the first evening of MidPoint (Sept. 25) at venues and at MPMF headquarters at Garfield Suites Hotel (Vine Street and Garfield Place, Downtown).
Southgate House Ballroom
The only way to ensure you see the acts at the Southgate House Ballroom is to purchase advance tickets to the individual concerts. A minimum of 100 slots will be held for three-day wristband holders for each show, but wristband admission is on a first-come first-served basis and subject to venue capacity. Shows in the Southgate House Parlour and Junie’s Lounge are free. Note: This is an 18 and up venue.
Cost: Deke Dickerson and The Modern Sounds (Sept. 24) are $8 advance and $10 at the door; The Dynamites Featuring Charles Walker and Jon Justice Band (Sept. 25) are $12 advance and $15 at the door; Buffalo Killers, J. Dorsey Blues Revival and Oxford Cotton (Sept. 26) are $12 advance and $15 at the door.
How to Buy: Southgate House Web site. Any remaining tickets will be available at the door.
Individual shows
If you’ll be attending just one MidPoint showcase or are commitment-phobic, you can pay the cover charge at each venue each evening if space is available.
Cost: $5-$15 depending on venue (see the Thursday, Friday and Saturday MPMF schedules for details)
How to buy: At the door.
Free shows on Fountain Square
Thursday: The Young Republic and Shanya Zaid & the Catch perform at 5-7 p.m. to kick off the 2009 MidPoint Music Festival.
Friday: The Hotcakes, The Uniphonics, Mavis “Swan” Poole and Mean Tambourines perform 7-11 p.m.
Saturday: The Trouble With Boys, Mia Carruthers & the Retros, Terribly Empty Pockets and The Wildbirds perform 7-11 p.m. MTV will be recording Carruthers’ performance for possible inclusion on the next season of Taking the Stage.
Where: Fountain Square is Downtown’s main public space at the corner of Fifth and Vine streets. Beer, food and soft drinks will be available for sale.
Cost: Free
Free shows at Coffee Emporium
The Willis Music Singer/Songwriter stage at Coffee Emporium hosts three nights of performances by scheduled solo acts as well as “in the round” sessions by MPMF acts sharing their songs with each other and you. See the Thursday, Friday and Saturday MPMF schedules for details.
Where: Coffee Emporium, 110 E. Central Pkwy.
Cost: Free
Lite Brite Film Test
The MidPoint Music Festival also includes film screenings, absorbing the annual Lite Brite festival this year for the first time. The Contemporary Arts Center hosts screenings all three nights in its upstairs lobby and in its black box space downstairs. More info here.
Where: Contemporary Arts Center (CAC), 44 E. Sixth St.
Cost: Free with three-day wristband or one-night cover charge at CAC.Free
Ride the Scion Streetcar Shuttle
Come downtown for the MidPoint music, enjoy the urban experience and move your feet — but save your shoe leather for the dance floors. With so many bands to see each evening in a variety of clubs, festival organizers have brought back last year’s popular shuttle service to get you around quickly.
The Scion Streetcar Shuttle will deploy 16 Scion xB cars to circulate on a route that models Cincinnati’s proposed streetcar line, offering a taste of what the service would bring while lightening the load in your loafers. The crossover vehicles will make stops at eight locations running north on Main Street, west on Liberty Street, south on Walnut Street and east on Fifth Street, picking up and dropping off those wearing three-day wristbands. (Download the shuttle map below.)
The rides are free for everyone with a three-day MidPoint wristband.
Thursday shuttle: 8 p.m.-midnight
Friday and Saturday shuttle: 9 p.m.-1 a.m.
City officials continue to gather financing for the streetcar line that would connect the riverfront, the central business district, Over-the-Rhine and Uptown areas around the University of Cincinnati. MidPoint organizers are pleased to again showcase how a small portion of the line could improve access to downtown’s nightlife and entertainment attractions.
Click here to download a printable PDF of the venue map showing the Scion Streetcar Shuttle route.
