ENTERTAINMENT

MidPoint Music Fest sold, poised to grow

Shauna Steigerwald
ssteigerwald@enquirer.com

MidPoint Music Festival has been sold.

Music and Event Management Inc. (MEMI) bought the festival, which showcases new and emerging bands, from its previous owner, Cincinnati CityBeat. MEMI will take over production of the16th annual festival, set for Sept. 23-25 in Over-the-Rhine.

MEMI is no stranger to the local and national music scenes. A subsidiary of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the company produces more than 250 events at its venues: Riverbend Music Center and PNC Pavilion, Taft Theatre and The Ballroom at the Taft, and The Rose Music Center (located in Huber Heights, Ohio). It has also produced festivals such as Lumenocity, Cincy-Cinco, The Ohio River Throwdown and Tall Stacks.

"We saw a lot of value to the community in the event," MEMI programming coordinator Rick McCarty said of the company's decision to buy MidPoint, which has featured artists such as The Head and The Heart, Purity Ring, Iron and Wine, Grizzly Bear and The Afghan Whigs in the past. "Especially in the last couple of years, we thought it was important to Over-the-Rhine," a community that's of significant interest to the Symphony.

McCarty said MEMI also sees potential to leverage the company's experience and resources to grow the event.

"We have been producing events like this for many, many years in this community, on a much larger scale," he said. "CityBeat did not produce live events every day; they just did it once a year. This is more of what we do on a daily basis."

"While successful under our operation, our resources were limited and we realized that in order for the festival to grow we needed to explore outside partners," said CityBeat Publisher Tony Frank. "MEMI is very engaged with the music community and has the resources needed to take the festival to the next level."

Many of the details about this year's event are "still quite fluid," McCarty said. That includes the lineup, which they've been working on for a while. As in past years, fans can expect everything from "baby bands" on up to established artists, he said.

"But we also hope to have some bigger names that people might not expect to see in a setting like that," he said.

MEMI is also analyzing the festival's past multi-venue format to see if a similar footprint makes sense for this year. Taft Theatre has been a MidPoint venue for the last three years.

One thing that is certain: MidPoint will remain a multi-stage event, and Washington Park will still take center stage.

"It's going to be bigger and better than last year," McCarty said of the park's role in the event. "We're planting our flag firmly in the center of Over-the-Rhine in Washington Park."

More details about MidPoint, including at least a partial lineup announcement, ticketing information and details about local and regional artist submission, are expected to be released on April 13.

CityBeat bought MidPoint in 2008. Under the new agreement, CityBeat will be the presenting media sponsor going forward and will take the lead in promoting the event, McCarty said.

Dan McCabe, who served as executive producer for MidPoint from 2008-2013 and continued booking bands through last year’s event, has been a big proponent of the festival throughout that time. Though he’s disappointed that he’s no longer involved, he hopes to see the festival thrive going forward.

“I’m rooting for it – that’s the position I’m in now, as a cheerleader,” he said.

He also hopes that the event’s new owners will get Over-the-Rhine venues MOTR Pub and the Woodward Theater, which he co-owns, involved in hosting MidPoint shows.

“I think that it’s important that Over-the-Rhine still be epicenter,” McCabe said. “I hope they’d consider Woodward and MOTR an important part of being able to deploy (the festival) in Over-the-Rhine.”