2018 Festival & Comfest Preview

Tim Fulton 0:08Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Confluence Cast presented by Columbus Underground. We are a weekly Columbus-centric podcast focusing on the civics, lifestyle, entertainment, and people of our city. I'm your host, Tim Fulton. This week, I sat down with Anne Evans, the co-creator and co-founder of Columbus Underground, to do a quick preview of the festivals coming up in Columbus this year. After that, you'll get an in-depth musical preview of my favorite festival of the year, ComFest, which is coming up this weekend. You'll hear tracks from a few of the bands at the festival this year after my interview with Anne. You can get more information on what we discussed today in the show notes for this episode at theconfluencecast.com. Also, the Confluence Cast is on Patreon. Find out how to support this podcast on our website, theconfluencecast.com, or at patreon.com/confluence. This week's episode of the Confluence Cast is sponsored by the Upper Arlington Labor Day Arts Festival. The Upper Arlington Labor Day Arts Festival hosts 25,000 visitors participating in interactive performances and activities, purchasing art from more than 100 artists working in a wide range of media, and enjoying refreshments from a wide variety of vendors. It all happens because of their great volunteers. 2018 marks the 52nd Upper Arlington Labor Day Arts Festival, as well as the centennial celebration for the city of Upper Arlington. Visit uaoh.net for more information. Enjoy the interview. Sitting down here with Anne Evans, the co-owner and co-founder of Columbus Underground. Anne, how are you?

Anne Evans 1:57Hi, Tim. I'm doing good. Thanks for having me.

Tim Fulton 1:58Good to have you back for our biannual sit-down. This time, given the time of year, we're talking about the festivals coming up in Columbus, Ohio. We are a little late to the game this year. Some of the festivals have already passed. We've just experienced the Arts Festival. There was a myriad of music festivals a couple of weeks ago. At the time that you're hearing this, ComFest is coming up. Anne, tell us what are the looming differences, the big changes that have happened this year in the, in the festival scene?

Anne Evans 2:30Well, we still have probably around 600 festivals that happen, and we ch- usually track those from May till the end of the year.

Tim Fulton 2:38Mm-hmm.

Anne Evans 2:38There's been a few cool new things. Um, usually in this list I try to just keep it around the Columbus or the Columbus region.

Tim Fulton 2:46Mm-hmm.

Anne Evans 2:47Maybe you're traveling, like, hour, hour and a half away, but there's some really fun sounding stuff.

Tim Fulton 2:53Okay.

Anne Evans 2:54Cool new thing happening up at Mansfield at the Ohio Reformatory. They have the INKcarceration Festival, which is a big tattoo music fest.

Tim Fulton 3:03Mm-hmm.

Anne Evans 3:04So that's new this year. Holler, that's expanding into a festival. Last year it was done by Scott Woods. He put on a month-

Tim Fulton 3:13Yeah, the 30-day-

Anne Evans 3:15Mm-hmm

Tim Fulton 3:15... and we'll link to that, uh, episode with Scott in the show notes for this. When is he doing it this time?

Anne Evans 3:21It was announced for some time in August, so we don't have a solid date yet.

Tim Fulton 3:24Okay.

Anne Evans 3:24So I hope it's still happening because that would be cool.

Tim Fulton 3:26Mm-hmm.

Anne Evans 3:27There's been some new stuff by Maroon Arts Group over on the Near East Side with their shipping container building.

Tim Fulton 3:34Okay.

Anne Evans 3:34So maybe they'll be doing some more stuff there through the summer and just other programming. Another new comedy festival, the Midwest Queer Comedy Festival is happening in August. That's August 22nd through 26th.

Tim Fulton 3:47Mm-hmm.

Anne Evans 3:47So that's kinda cool. We have a couple other comedy festivals that happen, so it's nice to see some more going on on the Columbus comedy scene. If you are looking for a new way to celebrate the summer solstice this year, in Hocking Hills, the new John Glenn Astronomy Park is opening on June 21st, so that's gonna be pretty cool.

Tim Fulton 4:09Mm-hmm.

Anne Evans 4:09A new way to look at the sun and moon and stars. Maybe have a party down there if you want.

Tim Fulton 4:14Yeah, and that'll be open all summer, so definitely something to check out.

Anne Evans 4:18Mm-hmm. Summer Jam West on July 14th. They have been pretty pumped this year about their new artist sculpture done by Andrew Lundberg.

Tim Fulton 4:28Mm-hmm.

Anne Evans 4:28He did a Hilltop Rising, which is a phoenix shape that's coming out of the ground. It's got some interactive... You can, I think, run around beside it.

Tim Fulton 4:40Take your picture with it.

Anne Evans 4:41Yeah.

Tim Fulton 4:41It's public art.

Anne Evans 4:42It's out by the casino.

Tim Fulton 4:43And it's good. Well, and they're very proud of it. And I mean, the Hilltop Bean Dinner will be coming up here June 30th as well, so I think the neighborhood is focused a lot on the momentum that they have right now-

Anne Evans 4:56Mm-hmm

Tim Fulton 4:56... and trying to sort of basically get to a critical mass in terms of the stuff that they have going on. We did an interview with some of their neighborhood leaders last year. We'll link that in the show notes as well. What else is coming up?

Anne Evans 5:09Pelotonia is celebrating 10 years, so if you enjoy doing that bike race or just supporting it-

Tim Fulton 5:14Mm-hmm

Anne Evans 5:15... that's a pretty big deal. And I thought they just launched a new kind of app to help people fundraise too.

Tim Fulton 5:20Mm-hmm, which that's always the tall order it seems. I rode it in the first two years, and, you know, the second year I did 100 miles, and you're expected to raise $2,000. And it's great. I, it's awesome that all the money goes to cancer research, but I feel like-

Anne Evans 5:36Mm-hmm

Tim Fulton 5:36... sometimes that's sort of a, a tall order. Um-

Anne Evans 5:40Yeah

Tim Fulton 5:40... especially for an individual.

Anne Evans 5:42That is a lot. How was the race for you, Tim?

Tim Fulton 5:44It was awesome. I rode it on a single speed bicycle-

Anne Evans 5:48Whoa

Tim Fulton 5:48... 100 miles, and this was back when it was the difficult route all the way down to Athens.

Anne Evans 5:52Yeah.

Tim Fulton 5:52I feel like everybody now is just, you know.

Anne Evans 5:55Easy route?

Tim Fulton 5:55It's just a pleasure ride. Yeah. Excited to see some of the festivals that grew this year. While they've already happened, the Flyover Festival expanded the timeframe for their festival. And also the number of venues that they had. The Strawberry Jam, which was a collaboration between Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams and Land Grant Brewing, uh, was great. It's great to see that Land Grant's sort of stake their claim to the adjacent parking lot to their brewery so that they're able to have sort of a year-long larger expanded patio area. And then also coming up, the expanded Melon and Collie Festival in September, which includes artists and musicians of color. That's occurring in my former neighborhood, Milo Grogan.

Anne Evans 6:45Yeah, it's really great to see a lot of investment happening over there and new things going on. The community, the rec center over there, they have a lot of activities just for kids and also, well, also for adults. But then also the 934 Gallery's having a 934 Fest.

Tim Fulton 7:02Mm-hmm.

Anne Evans 7:02So that's pretty cool, too.

Tim Fulton 7:04Yeah, good to see that they've sort of been able to continue their programming over in that area. Full disclosure, uh, produced by Columbus Underground coming up at the end of September, the expanded Coffee Festival.

Anne Evans 7:16Right.

Tim Fulton 7:16Uh, tell us about that. It's been how many years now?

Anne Evans 7:19Uh, this will be the third year.

Tim Fulton 7:22Okay.

Anne Evans 7:22We are expanding to have more guests this year, so if you have missed out in the past because it's a pretty popular event-

Tim Fulton 7:31Mm-hmm

Anne Evans 7:31... we'll have more opportunity for you to come.

Tim Fulton 7:33Mm-hmm.

Anne Evans 7:34It's at Ohio Village, and we kind of dub it as Coffee Village for the weekend.

Tim Fulton 7:38Okay.

Anne Evans 7:38And we are adding a coffee beer night the night before, so the September 29th, and that's gonna feature local beers that have a coffee infusion.

Tim Fulton 7:50Okay. Cool.

Anne Evans 7:52Mm-hmm.

Tim Fulton 7:52We should talk about those things that we, uh, lost this year. Maybe we'll include some sad music under this. The Buckeye Country Superfest is no longer. You know, we don't know that it's never gonna come back, but the 4th and 4th Music Festival, which occurred at 4th Avenue and 4th Street right there by Seventh Son. Zombie Walk didn't seem to happen this year.

Anne Evans 8:15No.

Tim Fulton 8:16Uh, with the continued development of Park Street, the Park Street Festival doesn't seem to be occurring. This is the first year with no Independence Day. It's, um, it should be noted that some of those organizers are certainly involved in, in other things, specifically Alley Islands down by Block Fort.

Anne Evans 8:35Mm-hmm.

Tim Fulton 8:36Um, and then I think sort of one of the biggest surprises is that the New Albany Classic isn't happening this year.

Anne Evans 8:42Right. They celebrated 20 years and then that's it.

Tim Fulton 8:46Well, that's, uh, I don't mean to make a terrible comparison, but it's similar to Independence Day, where, you know-

Anne Evans 8:54Big anniversary

Tim Fulton 8:55... big anniversary and that's it.

Anne Evans 8:57Yeah. We also saw Pin take a year off, so hopefully that'll come back-

Tim Fulton 9:01Mm-hmm

Anne Evans 9:01... 'cause that's a pretty cool motorcycle themed event. Usually happened at the Rice Paddy, I think, and that's getting a transformation.

Tim Fulton 9:08Yeah. So I would imagine that sometimes it's venue. I think that there's a lot of... I talked about this in the episode last year, that it's a lot of work to put on a festival.

Anne Evans 9:19Mm-hmm.

Tim Fulton 9:19And it's also difficult to sort of explain to people that, like, "Hey, we intend on making money on this thing."

Anne Evans 9:28Right.

Tim Fulton 9:29You know? That led to the decision for Independence Day to sort of stop, regroup, sort of diversify their talents and monies in order to do things that they could actually make money on rather than fall within that nonprofit structure. Which, to be clear, pro tip, you can make money and get paid as a nonprofit. Everybody has to know that you're doing it, so.

Anne Evans 9:51Right. We also, hopefully the weather's gonna hold out and be good for us in May. It's been pretty rocky.

Tim Fulton 9:57Mm-hmm.

Anne Evans 9:58We had some festivals that weren't able to see their potential m- because of rainstorms, and that's been sad. Um, Moonlight Market has had a bit of a tough year so far-

Tim Fulton 10:11Okay

Anne Evans 10:12... due to rain and major thunderstorms. Uh, hopefully Comfest will see sun.

Tim Fulton 10:18But in my head it wouldn't be Comfest if there wasn't, like, a rain out. It being, uh, evacuated- ... is the primary concern for me. But yeah, it looks to be another super strong festival season, a lot going on. And thank you so much for your time.

Anne Evans 10:34Yeah, thanks for having me.

Tim Fulton 10:35Mm-hmm. I hope you marked your calendars for some of those festivals this year. Now on to the music. First up, performing Friday at Comfest this year are Zoo Trippin and Doc Robinson. Both are pretty well-established within the Columbus music scene, and Doc Robinson has spent some time on the CD1025 playlist. The first track you'll hear is Zoo Trippin's song Aw Shit, and we'll go right into Doc Robinson's Golden Days. You'll hear from more bands at Comfest after those two tracks.

Zoo Trippin' (musical performance) 11:13Aw, shit! Aw, shit! At the firehouse and we left the base, Sam. Now we're sharing ramen noodles like Lady and the Tramp. Internet is down, can I borrow a stamp? Breathing deep all the mold, man, your house is so damp. Swallow so much blood, man, it's 'bout to be ill. Stomp upon my bleeding heart till it finally stays still. My girl went and told me that she won't take a pills. Sister fishes throwing rocks up at Capitol Hill. Aw, shit! Aw, shit!

Doc Robinson (musical performance) 12:19The carnival is over, tell the rat and the mouse But the dogs ate all the poison that we left 'round the house Chug all the peroxide, how can I clean these wounds? Living out all my days wasting away in my room Gun to your face and you forgot your clip Can't stand to be a part of anybody's clique Sly wrote us all tickets, so we hate that bitch You're walking like a boss, but you're just as shit Ahh Your first mistake was thinking you were the one When all our lives are just a pig to the sons Ahh, shit Oh, I thought I saw you working on the night shift Talking to a one-way radio Laughing at the dancers jumping out the spaceships Out into a fake white studio Back when we were hot shit, used to play with matches We were living like a couple criminals Remember when you broke in running through the tall grass Thought that you could always be an animal Pulling from an apple core, nothing mattered more Fazed out, driving with the brakes out Slipping through the deep end, you're waking up on the shore No doubt stepping out with the wrong crowd Now we twist, now we shout It's easy living in a glass house No more down, no more out But we can never go back there But we can never go back there To the golden days, to the golden days Looking through a fishbowl, back into the deep blue Like you're on a blurred out video Always got the best view leaning out the window Falling back into your stereo Listening to Crossroads, talking in our own codes Feeling like the kings of the carnival Shook it up and tossed it, caught it then we lost it We were missing fundamental particles Now we twist, now we shout It's easy living in a glass house No more down, no more out But we can never go back there But we can never go back there To the golden days, to the golden days Crash on the highway shoulder When you left, had the party on hold Cut the lights, kill the tune Crash from a point-and-shoot camera Silence in the night getting louder Woke then I'm coming for you We can never go, we can never go We can never go, we can never go We can never go, we can never go We can never go But we can never go back there But we can never go back there To the golden days, to the golden days To the golden days, to the golden days

Tim Fulton 17:15Again, that was Aw Shit from Zoo Trippin' and Golden Days by Doc Robinson. Next up, one of the highlights on Friday night will be The Worn Flints at Comfest. Their music's great. They are an absolute blast, though, to see live. They've toured the country and worked with some pretty well-known acts, so it's a rare treat to be able to see them for free in the middle of Goodale Park. Do check them out on Friday night at Comfest. Here is The Worn Flints song Burn.

The Worn Flints / Hugs and Kisses (musical performance) 18:29I'm a catchy, so I'll carry on my way. And I've seen the dark, and I've seen the light. Ooh, let me be the one who takes you home tonight. And I burn, and you burn. And I burn. Yes, I do. Yes, I do. I see those shoes on your feet. I can't fall in love with every girl I meet. And I see your face, so make your move. Either way, I know I'll be the one you choose. And I burn, and you burn. And I burn. Yes, I do. This fire will burn us whole. This fire will burn us whole. This fire will burn us whole. This fire will burn us whole. If I close my hands, it means nothing. If I close my hands, it means nothing. I came from underground. I came from underground. I came from underground. I came from underground! And I burn, and you burn. And I burn. Yes, I do. Yes, I do.

Tim Fulton 21:13Moving on to Saturday at Comfest, Hugs and Kisses will be playing. They are part live music, part theater, but they're able to put together some wonderful harmonies and a pretty unique performance. Here is the song Too Much from Hugs and Kisses.

The Worn Flints / Hugs and Kisses (musical performance) 21:44Coming in. That's right. Uh-oh, we don't need no money, we just need an excuse. Picking at our stitches 'til we open the wound. Lie to each other for the rest of the night. We can wake up in the morning with a reason to cry. Hold each other shaking like we're freezing to death. Tell each other never, but we do it again. Too much, too much, too much, too much is never enough. Never enough. Too much is never enough. I drill a hole in my head to get you out of my mind, but you're floating around in my bedroom. And I'm trying, yes I'm fighting. I can't help it, baby, look at what you do. Tear up all your pictures and I'm packing your bags. Chase you down the street and say I love you again. Too much, too much, too much, too much is never enough. Never enough. Too much is never enough. Spotless like my daddy, you're just like my mother. Nothing says I love you like killing each other. And there ain't no happy ending, so let's stop pretending. You're not my soulmate, but they're gone in the morning. Tell your dad I'm desperate, tell your dad I'm burned. I love to see you crying 'cause you show me my worth. Too much, too much, too much, too much is never enough. Never enough. Too much is never enough. I keep looking to the bright side, baby, but the truth is maybe we just rot in the ground. I keep looking to the bright side, baby, but the truth is maybe we're all alone. Baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby.

Hugs and Kisses / Willie Phoenix (musical performance) 24:38Beating my bloody fists to the ground. I'm begging. I'm beating my bloody fists to the ground. Too much, too much, too much, too much is never enough. Never enough. Never enough. Never enough. Too much is never enough

Tim Fulton 25:25I hope you enjoyed that. Willie Phoenix is another well-known face that's playing Comfest this year. As they say, it's blues-injected rock. Coming up right after a track from Willie Phoenix is a highlight for Sunday at Comfest, The George Berry Band. George, being a member of Mojo Flow, puts on a nice, summery, upbeat blues show. So here first is Willie Phoenix's Still A Bad Boy, immediately followed by George Berry Band's Do Your Worst.

Hugs and Kisses / Willie Phoenix (musical performance) 26:12I'm still a bad boy. Last night, that's what my baby said. I'm still a bad boy. Last night, that's what my baby said. She sold me the revelation, people, as I lay between her sweet Miami legs. Yeah. I'm still a love rebel. I've been this way since the moon's been around. I'm still a love rebel. I've been this way since the moon's been around. It's so easy to find me wherever good love can be found. Yeah. Yeah. I'm still a bad boy. Just ask the stripper on my credit card. I'm still a bad, bad boy. Just ask the stripper on my credit card. She says, "Relax, bad boy. You got it bad. I got it hard." I'm still a bad, bad boy. Last night, that's what my baby said. She sold me the revelation, people, as I lay between her sweet Miami legs. Between her sweet legs. Uh.

George Berry Band / Cadaver Dogs (musical performance) 30:23All you do is smile, and you tell me you're the one in control. You give a little, but you don't give a lot. Tell you, baby, I want more. It's easy being lonely when your lover is an angel from hell The skin that you're showing is less than enough. The devil's in the church ringing bells. Do your worst, 'cause I know you'll never give me your best, no. Do your worst, 'cause your worst is still better than all the rest. Still better. Still better. Still better. Still better. Still better than all the rest. Listen to your heartbeat, it will tell you when it's lucky to draw. I hear the cars passing, but they don't wanna stop, 'til they know I'm dead for sure. I thought that maybe I could be the one to make you loosen your grip. But you look too damn sexy with that gun in your hand. I'm not sure I can handle it. Do your worst, 'cause I know you'll never give me your best. Never give me your best. Do your worst, girl. 'Cause your worst is still better than all the rest. Do your worst, 'cause I know you'll never give me your best, no. Never give me your best. Do your worst, girl. 'Cause your worst is still better than all the rest. You rip me up, make such a mess. But my heart's still beating from my cold dead chest. Do your worst, 'cause your worst is still better than all the rest. Da-da. Da-da-da-da-da-da. Da-da. Da, da-da. Da-da. Da-da-da-da-da-da. Da-da. Da, da-da. Still better. Still better. Still better. Still better. Still better than all the rest. Do your worst. Still better. 'Cause I know you'll never give me your best. Still better. Never give me your best. Still better. Do your worst, girl. Still better. 'Cause your worst- Still better than all the rest. All the rest. Do your worst. Still better. 'Cause I know you'll never give me your best. Da-da-da-da-da-da. Still better. Never give me your best. Still better. Do your worst, girl. Still better. Da-da. 'Cause your worst- Still better than all the rest. Still better.

Tim Fulton 33:41Again, that was Willie Phoenix's Still a Bad Boy, followed by George Berry Band's Do Your Worst. Coming up next, my must-see for the weekend is Cadaver Dogs on the Off Ramp stage. This one could get a little messy. Much like Warren Flints, this is a band that is fantastic live. They're a two-piece sleaze rock outfit that plays loud and sloppy. Please enjoy Cadaver Dogs, Feel the Heat.

George Berry Band / Cadaver Dogs (musical performance) 34:22I, I've been from town to town, and I learned some things about getting around. Start off slow, but what you don't know is I'm looking at you. I get high so I can get real down. Buy some drinks, we'll then go party around. I can't be stopped, you're about to pop, 'cause we're about to groove. Oh, with you. Well, concentrate on breathing, 'cause we still got all evening. Hey, now, child, do you have a plan? For moves like that, girl, yes, I'll be your man. Well, we've been getting down all through the night. Let's not stop this dream. Oh, let's make love in the daylight. Love in the daylight! Well, I used to couldn't have any fun. I was too distracted, I was far too young. Now I take it as I go, and I like your flow. So here's what we do. No need for home when you, uh, got the flow. Can't bleed this stone, but you can sweat some more. Let's pick up the pace, let's burn down this place, and we're about to groove. Oh, with you. Well, concentrate on breathing, 'cause we still got all evening. Hey, now, child, do you have a plan? For moves like that, hell yes, I'll be your man. Yeah, we've been getting down all through the night. Let's not stop this dream. Oh, let's make love in the daylight.

Cadaver Dogs / Southur (musical performance) 36:58Woo! Yalla, yalla, yalla, woo! Ow, ow! Hey now child do you have a plan? For a moonlit night in, oh yes, I'll be your man Yeah, we can dance all through the night But let's not stop to sleep Let's make love in the daylight Love in the daylight

Tim Fulton 37:54All right, we're gonna round out our picks for the weekend with a band that I actually just discovered a month ago at a Campfire Experience event. Southur is another up-and-coming local band that's had some airplay on CD 102.5. They're definitely going to draw a decent crowd as they are the final band at the Off Ramp stage on Sunday at ComFest. Please enjoy "Golden Hour" by Southur.

Cadaver Dogs / Southur (musical performance) 38:18Golden hour, faded leather couch Searching for something else to dream about Spend all my afternoons wishing that I was somewhere Anywhere else It's Temple Chico and pineapple gum Keep you squirming under my thumb Skin sticky in the dust won't settle for nothing Nothing As the summer sun is sinking lower We're only getting older now Everybody's gotta find their own way somehow So why don't we just go? I'll stash my records at my parents' house We'll steal away without a sound Somehow I always find a way to keep from feeling let down Just let 'em down Learning quickly not to misbehave There's any hope of a better day If I want it, God, I want it all come quickly Quickly now As the summer sun is sinking lower We're only getting older now Everybody's gotta find their own way somehow So why don't we just go? Couldn't ask for a tougher sell If we don't show it they can never tell Sleepless sofa panic under patchwork Appalachian dark green As the summer sun is sinking lower We're only getting older now Everybody's gotta find their own way somehow And I've got half of mind telling me hold tight The other side's seen this before It's just another reason I can't stand this old place anymore So why don't we just go? Why don't we just go? Golden hour, faded leather couch Looking for something left to dream about Another afternoon wishing that I was somewhere Anywhere else

Tim Fulton 41:55Thank you for listening to the Confluence Cast presented by Columbus Underground. Again, you can get more information on what we discussed today and all the bands in the show notes for this episode at theconfluencecast.com. Please rate, subscribe, share this episode of the Confluence Cast with your friends, family, contacts, enemies, your favorite festival organizer. If you're interested in sponsoring the Confluence Cast, get in touch with us. We can be reached by email at info at theconfluencecast.com. A big thank you this week goes out to Matt Ellis for his feedback and his ComFest recommendations. Our theme music was composed by Benji Robinson. Our producer is Philip Cogley. I'm your host, Tim Fulton. Have a very happy ComFest.