MidPoint is, for all intents and purposes, a veritable candy shop of a music festival experience. For every confection you might have heard of, or tried, there’s something on the shelf that catches your attention and piques your curiosity. Whether it’s something middle of the road - the filled candy bar of your choice, or something a bit more adventurous - say, a bug-filled lollipop or chocolate covered ants - there’s going to be something worth trying out.
With a band like Miniature Tigers, the candy shop metaphor is actually not that far off. With a sound that started in the Indie Quirk realm and covered topics like caring for pet dinosaurs and sacrificing loved ones to volcanoes, then ventured off into a fuzz-soaked purple haze, Miniature Tigers has now laid claim to a syncopated, synth heavy, electro-dance pop fusion that sounds just as at home on the radio as it does on your too-cool friend’s iPhone. The experience of listening to their current radio against their back catalog is a lot less jarring that you might think, but it’s no less intriguing - or divisive - to fans who have enjoyed their sonic explorations.
Their latest, Cruel Runnings, is a decidedly summer affair - as is evidenced by lead single, “Swimming Pool Blues” - and is filled with the kind of windows-down, aggressively poppy tracks necessary to make those pool, house, or boat parties just that much more enjoyable. For fans, it’s more Mia Pharoah and a lot less Fortress, but ultimately forgoes the hysteric imagery of Tell It To The Volcano in lieu of more straightforward, shake your ass exhibitions. And for those who have never heard them before - it doesn’t matter. If you show up, you’re going to dance.
To end up where they are - musically and in their career - their inclusion as a headlining act at MidPoint doesn’t just make sense, it’s almost a foregone conclusion. Cincinnati has, as far as I’m aware, always been good to them. I imagine that on Friday at Mainstay Rock Bar (at 12:30a), the kindness will most assuredly be returned.
