CINCINNATI, Ohio (October 2, 2008)―CityBeat’s annual MidPoint Music Festival, held last Thursday through Saturday (Sept.25-27), has established itself as the Midwest’s premier indoor music festival, according to executive producer Dan McCabe.
The 2008 festival drew over 12,000 attendees to hear more than 180 bands at 49 showcases throughout Downtown, Over-the-Rhine and at the Southgate House in Newport. In a year when concert and club attendance is struggling all over the country due to the sluggish economy, many of the MidPoint venues enjoyed near capacity, if not full capacity crowds, all three nights.
Downtown nightclubs were alive and buzzing throughout the weekend. Veteran MPMF venues Arnold’s and The Blue Wisp spoke highly of this year’s festival experience.
“Absolutely incredible! Blew it off the charts…MidPoint is a gift.” – Ronda Androski, Owner/Operator Arnolds
“We had a great time. The Blue Wisp is all about expanding musical horizons and MidPoint did exactly that.” – Ed Felson, Blue Wisp Jazz Lounge Owner
A popular new feature at this year’s festival was the addition of 20 Scion streetcars deployed to shuttle festival-goers between venues. The shuttle route mirrored part of the proposed Cincinnati streetcar route and many riders hopped on board in order to catch as much live music as possible. According to Scion representative Gregory Stevenson more than 2,500 festival-goers rode the streetcars throughout the weekend. “Cincinnati’s MidPoint Music Festival is a great success. Let’s do it again!” he said.
Local music message boards were filled with comments praising the convenience of the shuttle service.
“The Scions Rocked” – WOXY.com message board
“The Scion Streetcars were about the coolest idea yet…so easy to get from place to place” – Cincymusic.com
“This festival was built with the minds and muscle of Cincinnati musicians and music fans making MidPoint a truly authentic product of a real music town. Expect an even bigger MPMF in 2009,” McCabe said.
Performers at the festival included Mates of State, Why?, The Felice Brothers, Spectrum, God Made Me Funky, Flow, Robert Pollard’s Boston Spaceships, The Sadies and a surprise show by New York’s Radio 4.
He festival also drew significant local, regional and national media coverage. CityBeat, which organized MPMF this year, provides its own take online at www.citybeat.com
