Bunbury 2017 Day #1

I’m attending Bunbury Music Festival in Cincinnati this weekend. It’s a three day music event.  … And it’s like having a full-time job from noon-ish till 11 pm each day.

I’ll have a lot to say and show.

You might see a good picture:

I’m just a couple people back for the early afternoon set of July Talk…Best show of the day, btw.

I’ll also be showing off my stellar photography skills with shots like this from Wiz Kalifa’s set:

Where in the world is Wiz Kalifa?

Updates to follow…

As noted, July Talk was my favorite show from day one. The Toronto-based band has played Cincinnati before on the very small stage at MOTR, so it was nice to see them cut loose physically on a larger stage. Lead singing duties are shared between Peter Dreimanis and Leah Fay. She’s very playful with both Peter and the crowd and has a nice rock voice. Peter is probably sick of hearing that he sounds like an upbeat Tom Waits, but, he sounds like an upbeat Tom Waits. Great set and great band.

This year Bunbury brought back a smaller stage in the shade of Sawyer Point. I’ve gone to every Bunbury since it started in 2012. Before the event got bought out by a large concert promoter, there were several small stages throughout the grounds where audiences and artists got to interact. As the event shifted toward drawing bigger headliners, the smaller artists and venues were virtually eliminated. The Cordial Sins out of Columbus reworked several of their songs for the low-key format, allowing lead singer Liz Fisher a chance to play her electric violin.

On that same stage, Jared Mahone talked his way through his 45 minute set. I saw him with his band last year at Bunbury, and the show was a pleasant surprise. The band’s music was soulful and upbeat, and Jared’s stage presence kept the show moving along.

On Friday, Jared talked about singing soul music, but solo he was singing indi-pop no matter what he was hearing in his head. He wanted to, and did, share the behind-the-scenes stories of writing each song he performed. It just got to be tedious. But worst of all, he gave a mini dissertation on the good music that unites people, and the fake music that corporations buy. Luckily, Jared noted standing on the Southwest Airlines stages, his music falls in the first and more honest category.

Here’s an impromptu post-performance mini-concert from Upset Victory.

 

Mutemath, a band I’d not heard of, put on a high energy show as Bunbury Day 1 headed into the final stretch.

G-Eazy was terrible.

The Shins have lots of songs I like, but their sound mix was horrible. The just didn’t sound that good.

Death Cab for Cutie, though, put on a great set of their hits with one cut from the new album. We were sitting pretty far back for both the Shins and Death Cab For Cutie, just chilling on a blanket. Here’s my view of Death Cab:

This is from one of their first songs. It’s freaky that it’s light in Cincinnati till almost 10 pm, so the better part of this second to last act was done in day light.

Wiz Kalifa got all darkness, and as is a tradition at the last show on Friday night, the fireworks from the Reds stadium provide a backdrop to the Bunbury stage for about 20 minutes. Based on his big hit “It’s Been a Long Time” from the last Fast and Furious Movie, I wasn’t expecting anything special from Wiz Kalifa. He totally proved me wrong by turning out to be an engaging stage performer, and his songs were interesting even though they mostly focused on smoking weed. I get it man, smoking weed is fun.”

Most importantly, we left before he sang the big hit so we left on a positive note.

 

Bunbury Day 2 update coming soon…