By Natalie Bieser
July 18, 2012

If you were one of the 50,000 music fans that attended the inaugural Bunbury Music Festival this past weekend, then you are probably still suffering from a case of the Mondays. After three full days of rocking out, I’d venture a guess that listening to Pandora at work just isn’t cutting it. I feel your pain.

From Friday afternoon to Sunday night, 100 artists performed on six stages along Cincinnati’s riverfront at

Manchester the Orchestra

Yeatman’s Cove and Sawyer Point. While Bunbury was headlined by Jane’s Addiction (Friday), Weezer (Saturday) and Death Cab for Cutie (Sunday), there were a plethora of other indie, up-and-coming and local bands who performed to satisfy any and all music tastes. My only regret is I didn’t have a body double.

Bunbury had high expectations as YahooMusic listed it as one of the eleven “essential summer festivals.” It did not disappoint. Founded by Mid-Point Music Festival co-founder, Bill Donabedian, Bunbury organizers were prepared for everything — from phone charging stations, to misting booths, to tons of merchandise, to the Toyota EcoMarket (featuring eco-friendly products). Heck, Christian Moerlein even developed a new beer, Hudepohl Summer Pils for the three-day event.

The main Globili stage had all the headliners, but they also featured a number of other bands including Jukebox the Ghost, Manchester Orchestra, Maps & Atlases, Lights, City and Colour and Neon Trees.

Jukebox the Ghost performing, one of my faves

The Landor stage located on the Serpentine Wall was scenic,  breezy, and swagarific. Friday night they gave away hundreds of glow sticks for the Foxy Shazam concert, and when the rain fell on Saturday during the Graffiti6 performance, huge yellow Landor umbrellas were given out. Oversized beach balls were passed through the crowd during GROUPLOVE’s high-octane performance, and on Sunday one hundred lucky folks received a Landor Unleash guitar!

The Bud Light Stage hosted acts such as Tristen, Ra Ra Riot, Minus the Bear, Dan Deacon, RJD2 and local group, The Seedy Seeds, among others.

The Red Bull Stage pumped out hot beats all day and night keeping music festival go-ers energized as they traveled between stages. The CMC and AliveOne stages located in Sawyer Point East hosted up-and-coming bands such as local favorites the Pomegranates, The Sundresses, 500 Miles to Memphis, Tracey Walker, The Lions Rampant and Bad Veins.

Yeah, about that body double — I’ll be working on one for next year. And I know from the enthusiastic crowd we can’t wait to see what 2013 has in store. A final shout out to Bill Donabedian: thank you for creating Bunbury and bringing even more great music to the Queen City. I’m always looking for an excuse to get out of doing something boring. Thank you for supplying one.

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