Electronic/indie-pop band and Cincinnati natives, Moonbeau, helped kick off the start of Bunbury day two at the CVG River Stage with their song, “Get to Know You.” The band consists of Christian Gough from The Yugos on vocals/ guitar, Claire Muenchen on keys/vox and Alex Murphy-White on drums. Moonbeau incorporates much of the 80s synth and reverb sounds similar to Depeche Mode. They are not only bringing back that style of music, but they do mix a bit of modern indie-pop music with their latest track. “Like the Night” was a song that brought many fans near the stage. The fans started dancing and clapping their hands and stayed there throughout the rest of their set. Their fun, catchy, dance tunes really grabbed the ears of new and older fans alike. (Natalya Daoud)
Alternative pop band from Columbus, OH, Vesperteen, tore up the Sawyer Point stage Saturday with their anthem “What We Could Have Been.” Screaming fans from every side knew all of the lyrics to every song performed. The crowd grew bigger as they were performing and ended up filling almost half of the Sawyer Point stage area. Lead singer and drummer, Colin Rigsby, had an immense amount of energy and really knew how to work the crowd. The band performed songs from their self-titled album and introduced their new EP, “The Hype is Dead,” which features Twenty-One Pilots drummer, Josh Dun. Vesperteen really illustrated their musical talent with a cover of “Sweet Child O Mine.” Rather than just covering the rock-n-roll ballad that everyone knows, the band spiced things up by giving it a mixture of a mellow and electronic feel, which added more emphasis to the lyrics of the song. They also performed “Shatter the Night” and “Insane.” Fans left their set with a smile on their faces. (Natalya Daoud)
Zoo Trippin’s insane antic stage performance left the crowd in complete dismay with their multi-genre, multi-instrumental, and nonchalant musical attitude. The Columbus-based band consists of Tony Casa (lead vocals, hand percussion, and harmonica), Lynn Rose III (guitar and vocals), Stephen “Charlie” Hatmaker (drums and vocals), Jim "Bucktooth" Bourne (bass and vocals), and Zachary Pontzer (rhythm guitar and vocals). Zoo Trippin has put out three EPs and one full-length album. Fans cheered as they sang originals like, “Ahh Sh!T,” “Savage,” and “Mr. White and Mr. West”-an ode to their favorite artists Kanye West and Jack White. They also performed covers of “Signed, Sealed, Delivered” by Stevie Wonder and “Paranoid” by Black Sabbath. During the song, “The Color Purple,” Casa striped down to just his boxers and decided to throw their brand of condoms out to the crowd. The crowd responded with screams and the Casa said, “You are the best audience ever!” (Natalya Daoud)
It was a hot Saturday at Bunbury Music Festival but Daniel In Stereo was cool as a cucumber. The lawn at the Acoustic Stage was packed to see this rising star play his home city. Love was in the air as the audience sang and danced along to fan favorite, “Lipstain.” For the song, “Yours,” Daniel schooled us on how to lose our voices, “Because we are at a music festival and it’s acceptable, right?” Yes, you are correct Daniel. Thank you for helping me lose my voice. Let’s do it again soon. (Courtney Phenicie)
California indie-folk band, Magic Giant’s Bohemian fashion sense and their danceable indie-folk tunes captivated the large younger crowd at the CVG River stage. Even though the band performed in jackets and one of the members was wearing a scarf in the 85-degree weather, that did not stop them from playing. The members consist of Austin Bisnow (lead vocals), Zambricki Li (viola, banjo, and harmonica), Zang (acoustic guitar and cello). The crowd were jumping and clapping to songs such as “Let it Burn,” “Celebrate the Reckless,” and “Hideaway.” They showed intimacy to the fans by performing “Great Divide” out in the audience rather than on the stage. The band also performed a song called, “Jade” which is about a fan, Jade, who died at the age of 16. Overall, each one of the members are very skilled at their craft. They know how to work a crowd and captivate the hearts of the younger generation. (Natalya Daoud)
Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness
Andrew McMahon made a stop at Bunbury for his Pen and Pianotour. The former Something Corporate front man was full of energy and laid out everything he had on the Sawyer Point stage. He was so engaging to the crowd and even came down to the crowd to sing for a bit. His latest single “Ohio” was perfect, and Cecilia and the satellite was just beautiful. This was my first time seeing him solo, and it was awesome. His engagement of the crowd during “Synthesia” showed his pure energy. (Ray Dietz)
Arlo McKinley teamed up with David Faul for an emotional acoustic set at Bunbury Music Festival. Surrounded by a large crowd of admirers, Arlo belted out some favorites such as, “Wild Horses” and “Bag of Pills.” I overheard someone in the audience whispering, “You can tell he is singing from his heart.” Raw talent like Arlo McKinley only comes around once in a while. Get on the Arlo bandwagon before it takes off, because it surely will very soon. (Courtney Phenicie)
The 90s alternative rock band, Third Eye Blind, did not disappoint on Saturday at the Nissan stage. Despite having bronchitis, lead singer, Stephen Jenkins, sounded exactly like he did in 1999 with some added metal screams. The band drew a massive crowd that were singing along to their most popular hits like, “Jumper,” “Never Let You Go,” “How’s it Going To Be,” and “Semi-Charmed Kind of Life.” They also performed lesser-known songs like performed “Company of Strangers,” and “Motorcycle Drive By.” The band, who are not on tour, decided that they wanted to come and play at Bunbury and made up the setlist as they played. They announced a new song called, “I Can Feel It” off of their new album coming out within the next few months. The response from the sea of people included screams and bobbing heads. They ended their set leaving fans with a smile on their faces. (Natalya Daoud)
Griz brought his high energy genre crossing music to the Nissan Stage. Mixing live Saxophone with bass hitting beats on “Good times roll,” “Smoke that,” and “Wicked” that kept the crowd dancing and grooving. The Michigan Native showed off his production talents off through his great mixes and kept everyone in a trance of great music. (Ray Dietz)
The indie rock/pop band from Los Angeles, CA, Foster the People, had the biggest crowd in all of day two of Bunbury. It was the first time the band had played in Cincinnati, OH and the lead singer, Mark Foster, illustrated his love to the audience with a smile on his face. With each song that was performed, the album title was illustrated in graphic form on the big screen. They performed songs such as “Pumped Up Kicks,” “Call It What You Want,” “Lotus Eater,” “Sit Next To Me,” and a cover of “Blitzkrieg Bop” by The Ramones. Fans jumped and sang along to each lyric. Foster the People demonstrated that they are musically inclined with the amount of sounds orchestrated from each instrument that was played. Foster even conducted the rest of his band at some points. They, later, got political and talked about the current political divide. “We need to love each other,” said Foster. They then ended their set with “Loyal Like Sid and Nancy.” (Natalya Daoud)
Closing the night out with one of the best performances I’ve seen in a long time was Incubus. Brandon Boyd’s vocal were spot on in “Nice to Know You,” “Anna Molly,” and “Privilege.” Their musicianship was tight, and they provided an awesome light show to back it up. Falling into Pink Floyd’s “Wish you were here” from their song with the same name was very creative and fun, and this set was a great end to Saturday night at Bunbury. (Ray Dietz)
