Categories
Arts & Entertainment News

MPMF Is Here

By this point, everyone is aware that the 9th annual MidPoint Music Festival hits downtown Cincy this Thursday, September 24 through Saturday, September 26. Instead of giving you something you could get elsewhere, we thought we’d provide you links to a few pages that may help narrow down the 270 bands there are to choose from.

When was the last time you had 270 choices as to how to spend three evenings? Well, since 270 is a lot to choose from, we give you the MPMF homepage at CityBeat as a jumping off point. Check out the CityBeat homepage and go through the bands alphabetically; stop and listen to a few bands there but make sure to explore some on MySpace. If you do nothing else, our recommendation is that you pay special attention to the DIG lines in the description as CityBeat does their best job to point you in the right direction.

Still too much work? There are some recommendations out there, including some from our friends at EachNoteSecure here, here, here, and my very own preview here. There will be a ton more MPMF news posted in the coming days, so make sure you keep an eye on their homepage.

As you can tell there is a ton to choose from and the $29 wristband is quite a deal for three nights of music. What does $29 get you? The wristband allows you to jump in any one of the sixteen Scion Streetcars to get around town all weekend. It also allows you to go from venue to venue as many times as you want without additional charge. Truly at a cost of less than $10 a night, the wristband provides flexibility and value that are well worth the price if you plan on going all weekend or even just two of the three nights. However, there are plenty of other options including paying at the door of each venue or even free shows on Fountain Square each night over the course of the weekend. (Fountain Square shows feature bands that are playing throughout the rest of the weekend and are a true steal!)

Texts to 4632 from Cincinnati Bell Wireless accounts, and tweets using the #MPMF hash tag on Twitter or messages posted on the site will be displayed on Web-enabled monitors in festival venues, on a projection of the site on the facade of Grammer’s and on the Fountain Square video board. If you want to get a steady stream of updates be sure to follow @MidPointMusic, @MetromixCincy, and @CincyBlog on Twitter to get festival updates throughout the weekend.

Looking forward to seeing you around town this weekend. Enjoy the music! We are all lucky and better off to have it all right here in front of us for the taking!

Photo by Flickr user thadd…read his blog here.

Categories
Arts & Entertainment News Politics Transportation

Cincinnati PARK(ing) Day

Today is National PARK(ing) Day. In 2005, San Francisco art collaborative REBAR decided to take over a metered parking space for a day and turn it into a public space. The ratio of public space to parking space in San Francisco is heavily skewed toward parking. In 2006 it went public, and now PARK(ing) Day is celebrated all over the world.

Various individuals and business in the Cincinnati area have come together to make spaces for the public to enjoy. You can check out the map of individual locations here. There are currently several spaces taken up on Vine Street near Central Parkway, outside the Segway store and Park+Vine. Check back later for updates of other PARK(ing) spots around the city!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Categories
Arts & Entertainment Business News

Tour new condos in OTR this weekend

From noon to 5pm on Sunday, September 13, the public is invited to tour some of Over-the-Rhine’s newest condos and lofts. The free OTR Tour of Living will take guests through 11 buildings in historic Over-the-Rhine; seven of which have opened within the past year.

In all, there are 115 units priced from the low $100’s to the mid $200’s within the 11 buildings (full list below). More than 40 percent of these units have already been sold or are currently under contract, but all of the buildings on the tour still have some units available according to Gateway Quarter realtors.

The OTR Tour of Living will take place during the monthly Second Sunday on Main street festival which features local vendors, live music, beer, food, cooking demonstrations and more. September’s Second Sunday on Main festival is the last one of the 2009 season, so be sure to get out there.

Those going on the tour can pick up a map and “OTR Gateway Quarter Tour of Living” information at tents located at 12th and Main and 12th and Vine streets. Event organizers will also be providing free Gateway Quarter water bottles to tour participants, and will also offer the opportunity to register for door prizes from the Gateway Quarter shopping district.

Parking is available a the corner of 12th and Vine as well as street parking along Vine, Walnut and 12th streets. The Gateway Quarter and Main Street through OTR is also well-served by a host of Queen City Metro routes. To see which route is most convenient for you, and to plan your trip now, use Metro’s Trip Planner.

OTR Tour of Living Loft Condos:

  • 14th & Vine, 1331-35 Vine St.
  • Belmain Lofts, 1202 Main St.
  • Centennial Row, 12th and Race streets
  • City Home, 14th and Pleasant streets
  • Duveneck Flats, 1214-20 Vine St.
  • Falling Wall, 1417-21 Main St.
  • Gateway Condos, 1128 Vine St.
  • Good Fellows Hall, 1306 Main St.
  • Lackman Lofts, 1237 Vine St.
  • Mottainai, 1222-24 Republic St.
  • Trideca Lofts, 1232 Vine St.
Categories
Arts & Entertainment News

Cincinnati Beer Festival on Fountain Square – 9/11

The Cincinnati Beer Festival takes place this Friday, September 11 at 5pm and will last though the night in the heart of Downtown on Fountain Square. The festival will bring a variety of local distributors and brewers for a beer tasting and sampling event perfect for any beer connoisseur.

Event organizers say that you will be able to drink all of your favorite national and local brews, while also being introduced to some you probably have never heard of (always a fun treat). For those lesser known beers there will be staff on hand to help guests learn about the beers they’re tasting. Food will be provided by Abuelo’s and Washington Platform; and live, “low-key,” music will start at 5pm with the last band taking the stage at 9:40pm.

Guests can purchase tickets for 3-oz tastes in batches of 10 for $10. If you really enjoy one of the beers you taste then you can purchase a full 12-oz pour for 4 tickets.

Music Lineup
5:00pm | Wonky Tonk
6:20pm | The Atriums
7:50pm | Mike Fair & the Adventure Seekers
9:40pm | Straw Boss
Categories
Arts & Entertainment Business News

Free Wave Riot celebrates 20 years for Media Bridges

Cincinnati is fortunate to have a community media center, Media Bridges, which makes it easy for our citizens to have their voices heard. The organization operates our city’s public access television channels and will soon launch an FM radio station, Radio Free Queen City.

You can support independent media in Cincinnati, and help raise the money needed to launch the new station, by attending the Free Wave Riot this Saturday, September 5 at the Know Theater. The event, celebrating the 20th anniversary of Media Bridges, will help feature live music from local bands IsWhat?, the Tigerlilies, Fourth Letter Gang, Culture Queer, J. Dorsey Blues Revival, Losanti, and the Frankl Project. Spoken word performances, dancing, and video installations will also be part of the art presented at the event.

A raffle will be held with lots of great prizes, including an Enjoy the Arts membership, Media Bridges merchandise, and gift certificates to Coffee Emporium, Total Juice, Enzo’s, Chez Nora, and more.

Tickets are available at the door and at WVQC.org. The suggested ticket price is $9.57 (since the new station will be at 95.7 FM), but donations of any amount will be accepted at the door.