Middle of the Map Fest a first-year success

Daniel Johnston at the Beaumont Club on Saturday, getting some help from Capybary. Photos by Allison Long/The Star

By all empirical measures, the inaugural Middle of the Map Fest was a big success. Over the course of two days – Friday evening and all day Saturday – roughly 3,000 music fans attended more than four dozen shows in six venues in and near Westport.

The signs of success were early and immediate. Friday night, an hour before sundown, the Nashville band Paper Route opened the festival at the Beaumont Club, the festival’s only all-ages venue. For an out-of-town band that is relatively unknown (though on a major label, Universal Motown, it drew a decent-sized crowd, especially given its early starting time. By the end of its set, more than 150 people were in place, giving the band some earnest attention, and dozens more were in line outside, waiting to get in.

It was a sign of things to come. Granted, many were there to see the evening’s headliner, Two Door Cinema Club. But people arrived early, watched the supporting acts and gave them a generous response. It was that way elsewhere, both days, down to Thee Water Mocassins’ final song during the final set at the Union.

Throughout the weekend, fans filled venues. The Riot Room was packed for the Appleseed Cast’s set on Friday. Saturday Ravonettes’ solid set at the RecordBar drew a full house at the same time the Riot Room was at capacity for Cursive.

At the Beaumont on Saturday night, Margot & the Nuclear So & So’s drew about 700 fans. Not all of them stayed through the ensuing set by Daniel Johnston, the festival’s marquee name for a lot of fans. Those who left the Beaumont before Capybara joined Johnston for the second half of his set missed one of the weekend’s brightest highlights.

So the headliners did their jobs – draw big crowds – but there was more than that going on at all of the venues all weekend. The schedule was loaded with bands from Kansas City and Lawrence, including several bands I had either not seen yet or not heard of. Yet people showed up to watch and listen, to give a chance to a band they’d never seen and knew little, if anything, about.

I had several discussions about four or five local bands – including Cowboy Indian Bear, Capybara, Making Movies - with people who had just seen those bands for the first time. Not all the reactions were wildly enthusiastic, but most were positive. Some were along the lines of: I had no idea there were bands around here making that kind of music.

My two local discoveries: Spirit is the Spirit, a Lawrence band with a cosmic hippie vibe plus horns (trumpet, trombone), lots of percussion and supernal vocal harmonies; and Minden, a hard, bright pop band from Kansas City. I’ll also give a nod to Believers, a Columbia band that was most appealing when it tapped into a Talking Heads “Naked”-era vibe.

It’s common for local acts to open for bigger regional or national bands, but typically those bands don’t get much attention from crowds that either arrive during or after their sets or don’t pay much attention while the bands are playing. For the most part, that wasn’t the case this weekend. At least where I was, the audiences were attentive and polite – appreciative and in the mood for discovery.

The Raveonettes drew a capacity crowd at the RecordBar on Saturday night.

So Soft Reeds fit in nicely on the Ravonettes bill; State Bird and Cowboy Indian Bear were good lead-ins to Margot & the Nuclear So & So’s; and Life and Times -- we’ll still claim them as a Kansas City band -– were the ideal set up for Cursive.

No show better illustrated this meshing of local with national better than Capybara’s set with Johnston, the mad-genius songwriter whose battle with mental illness was documented in the award-winning film “The Devil and Daniel Johnston.”

After doing the solo/acoustic thing for more than a half-dozen songs – an act that, admittedly, started to get a little tiresome - Johnston announced he would take a break so the guys in Capybara could set up. They then backed him superbly on some of his best-known songs, like “Put My Love Out the Door,” Worried Shoes,” “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Your Grievances,” “Rock and Roll/EGA” and the closer, “True Love Will Find You In the End” an uplifting, child-like hymn that cast a palpable spell on the room. A few people told me later it brought them to tears.

The organizers of this first-time event deserve some hearty congratulations for how smoothly things went: Steve Tulipana of the RecordBar; Neil Smith of the Riot Room and the Union; Nathan Reusch and Mike Russo of the Record Machine; and Chris Haghirian of Ink magazine. None of the shows I attended were much more than 20 minutes behind schedule. You’d have never guessed this was a first-time event.

Already there is talk about next year. Certainly word will get out about how successful the first installment went, from how it was organized and executed to how many people showed up and gave it enthusiastic support. That could mean a lineup that is even more studded with big names. Here’s to that, but here’s also to sustaining what felt like the spirit of this event: showing off what grows and flourishes close to home.

| Timothy Finn, The Star

Comments

[Ian]

Two Door Cinema Club started forty minutes late, but I was also really happy with the festival. Already looking forward to next year.

[gonzo]

Thanks for the great review Tim. I had a blast. Can't wait for next year.
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=daniel+johnston+true+love+will+find+you+in+ponder69&aq=f

[gonzo]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWGM5-0pc-c

[Green]

Seems as though the festival is well timed being just shortly after SXSW, maybe some of the bands will venture this way for another festival. It would be pretty cool to get more venues involved, more music and street performances, turn this thing into a all out party, Westport could use the love too, seems like everyone heads to the P&L now and Westport is yesterdays news.

[Professor]

"...seems like everyone heads to the P&L now..."

Shhhhh....that's ok. Let P&L have the D'bags. Westport has become a civilized place to be on a weekend again. There are a number of independent restaurants that have sprung up amidst this ruin as well. Besides the clientele at P&L aren't after live music.

[Sideshow Bob]

Gonzo, is there anyway I could get the video of the person behind you so that I could see you recording a video of a person recording a video of an artist. My brain hurts thinking about this house of mirrors, let alone witnessing it.

[gonzo]

Your wish is my command.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lhuIYdV7VE

[דלתות יוקרה לבית]

It's Really like will discover in the end an impressive, child-like hymn that throw a palpable cause on the area. A few individuals informed me later it introduced them to holes.