A Guide to CincyPunk VIII, from founder Adam Rosing

My brother Nate was kind enough to lend me some space on his blog to hawk my upcoming charity musical festival and for that I am thankful. I check the blog on a daily basis and anticipate reading new blog entries, because of his passion for music. He shows me bands and presents info in a fresh light.

Let me introduce myself... My name is Adam Rosing. I'm a 26-year-old former journalist who spends his days at a local emergency communications center trying to bring in that cash. In my spare time I freelance for local papers and run the local music web site http://www.cincypunk.org/

Active since February 2002, the site was started by a friend as a way to get in touch with Cincinnati's music community. It features a message board, music reviews, show calendar, along with the rest of the basics such as photos and venue listings. After starting the site and booking Cincypunk Fest and Cincypunk Fest II he burned himself and I swooped in to pick up the pieces.

Cincypunk Fest III was my first foray into booking shows and fuck me if it wasn't the most intense thing I had ever experienced. The show, which occurred in January 2005, at Southgate House featured 15 bands on 3 stages. Proceeds benefited Lighthouse Youth Services. The show was insane... so much so that we've never looked back. Since then we have done festivals at Sudsy Malone's, Poison Room, and Southgate House ranging from 2 nights, 30 bands to a colossus 5 nights and 75 bands (I know! Seriously, what were we thinking!)

Anyways, every second has been a blast and along the way we've raised $18,500 for Lighthouse Youth Services, Women's Crisis Center, Mental Health Association, Camp Ernst YMCA's Core Character Values scholarship program for disadvantaged youth and lastly, we were able to give $6,000 to a local drummer suffering from testicular cancer, so he could take care of some medical bills.

With no further ado, below is the official guide to Cincypunk Fest VIII.

The music presented at Cincypunk Fest VIII may be a bit different than what you've come to expect the coverage of this blog to portray, but I feel as music lovers we can all get behind original, DIY music from people who are into having fun and maybe making a dream come true along the way.

Night One
Friday, April 10 at The Southgate House
$7 for 21 /$10 for 18

Ballroom:
8:00-8:30 MAD ANTHONY
http://madanthonyband.com/
A four-piece rock and roll outfit with an ever-evolving sound, Mad Anthony has found its way through the failures of their past band Black Scabs. This time, the band is doing it right led by Ringo their lead singer. Their sound is guitar driven and characterized by Ringo's distant voice. City Beat said it best about the band when they said "...the right feeling with Mad Anthony resulted in a sound that suggested a jittery, psychedelicized New Wave spin on the Toadies, with flecks of the Misfits, Fugazi and Electric Six thrown in for color and texture." Their recent deal with local label Phratry Records signals their ascent as one of Cincinnati's upcoming bands.

8:45-9:15 KOALA FIRES
http://www.myspace.com/thekoalafires
From the ashes of Super 77 and Fizzgig, the oddly named Koala Fires came together. This band reminds me of Weezer if Rivers Cuomo never took himself too seriously... Led by Matt Mooney and his perfect voice the band lists a handful of mid-90s band as influences including Dinosaur Jr, Superchunk, and Sonic Youth. Suiting to say the least since their sound is reminiscent of 90's indie rock.

9:30-10:00 TURNBULL AC'S
http://www.myspace.com/turnbullacs
Dark pop done right.

10:15-10:45 THISTLE
http://www.myspace.com/thistlewired
15 years into their rule as scene heroes, Thistle must be doing something right because locals are still clamoring for their tunage and the band tours on a semi-regular basis to dive bars and basements across the country. Some advice, bring ear plugs if you plan on getting near the stage. The band's live show is often described as a wall of sound. I'd let you know what their new record sounds like but my ear drums are still recovering from the last time I saw them live.

11:00-11:30 WHITE GIRLS
http://www.myspace.com/musicalwhitegirls
The video speaks for itself...
(Link to music video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsiyrV3H1x8)

11:45-12:15 SEEDY SEEDS
http://www.myspace.com/thelionsrampant
Seedy Seeds are fresh off multiple showcases at Austin's South by Southwest Music Festival. Newsflash, they remain one of my favorite Cincinnati bands because of their simple, head bobbing songs and endearing live show in which they encourage the crowd to dance, bring out guest musicians, and often break out an unsuspecting cover song. To me, this band epitomizes the innocence that is Cincinnati, OH.

12:30-1:00 THE LIONS RAMPANT
http://www.myspace.com/thelionsrampant
In your face rock and roll infused with sweat, beer, and attitude. Their live set is the most adventurous in the city.

1:15-2:00 ALONE AT 3am
http://www.myspace.com/aloneat3am
Whiskey raising, head bobbing Americana/indie rock with lyrics about heartbreak and people struggling to make it, while battling their demons. Pure sing-a-long fun.

Lounge:
9:30-10:00 RIVERSIDE REVIVAL
http://www.myspace.com/theriversiderevival
Front man Sam Banta, formerly of Black Tie Bombers and Riverside Revival, brings honesty to his stripped down project. A heartfelt voice adds clarity to songs he truly believes in.

10:15-10:45 TUCK ME IN
http://www.myspace.com/tuckmeinmusic
Two friends having a good time covering bands from their youth including Alkaline Trio, Social Distortion, and The Clash

11:00-11:30 WAKE THE BEAR
http://www.myspace.com/wakethebear
Self-described as melodic layers of indie guitars, keys, rhythms and scotch-soaked vocals with an occasional dog bark.

11:45-12:30 STICK FIGURES
http://www.myspace.com/twostickfigures
What began as a side project for Alone at 3am front man Max Fender has turned into a full blown band featuring Sarah Davis, Tim Colina, and Jasmine Poole. Their various demos is a collection of songs I want lulling me to sleep as I drive down fog soaked country roads after a long night of coffee and cigarettes.

12:45-1:30 WONKY TONK
http://www.myspace.com/wonkytonkmusic
A mix of fiddle, mandolin, xylophone, and more... To truly appreciate it visit their myspace and listen to why they are becoming a pleasure to see live.

Parlour:
9:15-9:45 DUPPY A JAMBA
http://www.myspace.com/duppyjamba
A seven-piece reggae outfit bent on getting the crowd to move their feet and have a good time. Their sound also mixes elements of punk and ska...

10:00:10:30 KNIFE THE SYMPHONY
http://www.myspace.com/knifethesymphony
Dark, indie rock on Phratry Records

10:45-11:15 WE ARE HEX (Indianapolis)
http://www.myspace.com/wearehex
Self-described as one big mess... the band is currently on a 50 date, 13 state tour that will carry them from New York to Iowa and everywhere in between.

11:30-12:00 CATERPILLAR TRACKS
http://www.myspace.com/caterpillartracks
Guitar driven indie rock bent on changing the state of affairs

12:15-1:00 GUITARS
http://www.myspace.com/wearetheguitars
This will be the band's first public performance and at this time they remain a mystery. Made up of former Death in Graceland and Crybaby members, the band has a pedigree in the local music scene, but so far they have been hush hush about what this project entails. Possibly an instrumental band who uses an unknown amount of instruments to create a sound never before heard in Cincinnati? That is the direction I'm leaning...

Night Two
Saturday, April 11 at The Southgate House
$7 for 21 /$10 for 18

Ballroom:
8:00-8:30 ECHO TO VOLTRON
http://www.myspace.com/echotovoltron
Faith driven music whose sound harkens to the glory days of Blink 182, Homegrown, and west coast punk from the late 1990s.

8:45-9:15 LOUDMOUTH
http://www.myspace.com/theloudestmouth
Intense, fast punk similar to Pennywise, Dropkick Murphys, and Face to Face.

9:30-10:00 SLOW CLAW
http://www.myspace.com/slowclaw
Heart on its sleeve pop music carried by the vocals of Rob Barnes (former Lightweight Holiday and Rescue Effort)

10:15-10:45 STATE SONG
http://www.myspace.com/statesong
Indie rock with a dark aura and vocals reminiscent to that of Radiohead. One of my favorite new bands in Cincinnati... Appearing on WAIF 88.3 FM on Thursday, April 9th from 8-10 p.m. to spin tunes and talk about themselves.

11:00-11:30 ARMS EXPLODING
http://www.myspace.com/armsexploding
Rock and roll with a punk rock intensity. Guitar tones similar to late 90s AFI, but with a sense of purpose like East Arcadia.

11:45-12:15 PINCUSHION (reunion show)
http://www.myspace.com/werenopunks
From Ryan Thomas, owner of former Cincinnati venue The Void: "There has been no pop-punk band that has come anywhere even close to Pincushion in this city until just recently with The Dopamines." Their first show since 2002!!!

12:30-1:00 SPODIE (reunion show)
http://www.myspace.com/spodierocks
From Ryan Thomas, owner of former Cincinnati venue The Void: "Their live show would grab you and wouldn't let you go till they were packed up and gone." Their first show since 1999!!!

1:15-2:00 SATURDAY SUPERCADE (reunion show)
http://www.myspace.com/supercade
Their album "A Study In Adult Contemporary Punk Rock" is one of my top 10 albums even to this day. Their first show since 2003!!!

Lounge:
9:00-9:30 THE VIPS

9:45-10:15 MOXY MONSTER
http://www.myspace.com/moxyHip-hop

10:30-11:00 MATT STANTON
http://www.myspace.com/mattstantoncomedy
Cincinnati comedian currently living in Minnesota. The must not miss show of the festival.

11:15-11:45 SMALL TIME CROOKS
Hip-hop with a backing band of instrumentalists and backup singers

12:00-12:30 EATAFETUS TRIO (acoustic)
http://www.myspace.com/theprohibitionists
Sick and twisted acoustic humor rock

12:45-1:30 THE PROHIBITIONISTS
http://www.myspace.com/theprohibitionists
Basement party fun!

Parlour:
8:30-9:00 UKRAINE CRANE (reunion show)

9:15-9:45 THE FRANKL PROJECT
http://www.myspace.com/thefranklproject
Punk with flavor and conscience... The three-piece recently signed with Riot Records out out Chicago.

10:00:10:30 DOPAMINES
From Ryan Thomas, owner of former Cincinnati venue The Void: "When I am at a Dopamines show it feels like I am back in the Parker St. basement having fun with people having fun while good music is being played by people who enjoy every second of playing it. I have not had that total immersion while at any other local pop punk band's show."

10:45-11:15 JOHN WALSH
http://www.myspace.com/americasmostpositive
The high-fivingest band you will ever meet. You'll leave with a smile on your face!

11:30-12:00 MINT 6 TEN
http://www.myspace.com/mint6ten

12:15-1:00 SHOTGUN ON BLONDE
http://www.myspace.com/shotgunonblonde
Booze fueled rock and roll. Think of the movie Roadhouse and you'll be on the right track.

Set times are subject to change...

http://www.myspace.com/cincypunkfest