Stellan Hinz

On the 1st of August, in Old North Columbus, along the roughly 450 ft. of North High Street between Hudson and Duncan Streets, the city of Columbus put on a crash course in its local music scene. Blockout Bash, a music festival/ bar crawl, in its fourth year of operation consisted of 43 performances by 43 acts across 7 venues and 10 and a half hours.

It would have been geographically and temporally impossible for me to experience the event in its entirety, but I do want to share my Blockout Bash experience and highlight, for anyone who missed it, some of the excellent musicians it had on offer.

Records Per Minute – 4:45 PM – NBF Mike

My first stop was at Records Per Minute, a record store, where there was no stage for the performers, just an alcove in the back with an audio set up. I hadn’t been to this event before and I didn’t know what to expect so the intimate energy of thumbing through records with a small crowd and listening to NBF Mike was my first impression.

I was struck by a slightly nervous energy during the performance. At one point NBF Mike said, in a conversational and charismatic tone, that it was his first performance in a while. Despite this admission there was a practiced fluidity to his dense and lyrical Hip-Hop songs. Due to the small scale venue it felt like when you’re out with our friends at a Karaoke bar, someone goes up, and about half way though their song you hear someone near you say “This guy is too good for this place, he should be on a real stage.”

I think NBF Mike would fill a stage quite well, and hopefully soon. Listen to NBF Mike’s single She Said or watch the music video for Lowkey.

Proof by the Alibi – 5:00 PM – Troy Kunkler (with Nick Huffer)

Next I walked to Proof by the Alibi, a narrow bar that placed its performer in the corner by the window. I was treated to a Vibraphone and Bass Jazz duo comprised of Troy Kunkler and Nick Huffer.

For those who aren’t familiar, the Vibes are a keyboard percussion instrument with metal bars, and under the deft touch of Kunkler’s mallets, the sound could evoke either the warm buzz of an organ or the forward singing quality of an electric guitar.

The duo played a bluesy and approachable set of Jazz pieces that, if I had to categorize them, I would say were mostly modal or hard bop in style. The two players were tight knit and both gave excellent solos. There was a resolution to one of Huffer’s lyrical and earnest solos which literally brought a smile to my face. The two musicians communicated well and played well in the sonic space that a small brick walled bar has to offer.

Listen to Troy Kunkler on Bandcamp.

Dirty Dungarees – 6:08 PM – Wyrmpit

Amid the idle washers and dryers of Dirty Dungarees patrons gathered into a back corner that looked nothing like a laundromat. It was more a basement movie set. There I found Wyrmpit, a rock band casting moody guitar riffs into the laundry scented air. Listening to them felt like being in Highschool, but only the part where rage gave you the fuel to burn down the nothing little town you were stuck in with all your friends.

Wyrmpit is only in its first year as a band, but is already performing all around town including on the Columbus City Center stage for Pridefest. I caught up with the lead singer Lydia after their set and she wants you to know:

“We fucking rock. Girls can fucking rock. We are angry.”

Dirty Dungarees – 6:45 PM – Forever Strange

Still in the laundromat, Forever Strange provided a blood pumping energy from the first moment of bouncy skater punk guitar riffs. Of all the acts I heard that day I think this band sounded the most like I was listening to studio album live. That might be a lucky combination of band and venue or the great work of their sound engineer, but they shined as a cohesive soundscape. The cohesion was important as it helped their music bring me to an aesthetic contemplation akin to headbanging zen.

Find music and more from Forever Strange using their linktree

The Space Bar – 7:19 – Dos Gravediggers

Dos Gravediggers, another duo this time an acoustic guitar and an electric guitar, provided a more country rock sound. Their vocals and guitar playing reminded me of Bowling for Soup. I was scribbling down in my legal pad by the light of Space Bar’s disco ball a note about their song Stepping Stone reminded me of No Children by The Mountain Goats when the lead singer introduced their next song by saying:

“If anyone’s been divorced this is probably your song”

I would grant Dos Gravediggers my award for most distinct sound among the acts I saw. It was wistful and angry in all the right ways.

The Space Bar – 7:45 – Server

This band, who describe their genre affiliation as “Shrug Gaze” made an impression from their first moments on stage. With an ambiently pissed off energy reminiscent of Billie Joel Armstrong the lead singer read out a form letter which thanked the venue (The Space Bar), the sound technicians, the bartender, and the audience.

The heavy metal sound had some aesthetic tension with the colored lights and retro-futurist posters, but the amp set up fit the venue like a glove. The band was so overwhelmingly loud during much of the set if I so much as lifted my toe the entire sole of my shoe would start to vibrate along with the bassline. I would say that the overwhelming sound profile was a positive. It highlighted the sometimes conversational and creepy vocals which clawed out at you from the dark catacombs of sound the rest of the band so masterfully built.

Listen to a live performance of theirs from last year on their Youtube

The Space Bar – Lunar Transvisions – 8:30

This wasn’t a band, apparently the artist that was going to fill this slot had canceled, I was instead treated to an improv comedy music TV show. The boots on the ground, which included a camera operator and two hosts, stated their mission.

“Going where MTV wouldn’t”

I got to see them call members of Server up to the stage and interview them about funny tour stories and the like. Further details about said interview I will leave omitted as to not scoop them on their own interview. The hosts were funny and were able to effectively engage with the audience to create an impromptu comedy hour vibe.

Proof by the Alibi – Andew Hoehnen – 8:45

I was only able to catch the end of Hoehnen’s set, but I was a big fan of what I heard. Florid and lyrical finger-style guitar playing paired well with the blue evening outside and the cozy yellow lights in the bar. I enjoyed all of the bluesy new age guitar numbers he played but I want to make sure to mention his Michael Hedges tribute song, The Nomad, as a stand out.

Talking to Michael after the performance he primarily described his music as “emotive” and has stated online that his music “brings out deep emotions and stimulates the soul.”

Proof by the Alibi – Devi – 9:15

After the sun had fully set on High Street the solo violinist Devin Copfer began to play. Fluent with a looper pedal, performing alone she was able to create intricate musical textures. I would describe her use of a looper pedal to cover John Lennon numbers as minimalist in the classical music sense, and her performance of Philip Glass’s minimalist piece Mishima as highly effective in the emotive sense. Everyone in the bar was visibly moved.

After the instrumental pieces Devi played some tracks from her band Small Songs in which she is both violinist and vocalist. These contemplative and feelings drenched songs reminded me of Mitski. I consider that high praise; I love Mitski. Delicate and off kilter each song was memorable in its own way, but my favorite was In Theory.

Listen to Small Songs on Band Camp

Ace of Cups – Unholy Swarm – 10:15

The Ace of Cups was the most music venue shaped music venue of the night. I heard in that place the Metal band Unholy Swarm. I would characterize their sound as a cousin to Californian Thrash Metal of the early 80’s, a subgenre which I have a lot of love for. Discussions of Metal subgenre can be divisive so I want to tread lightly. Another example of the impression I got from the band comes from the way the frontman described a song:

“This song is about hating yourself just enough to change”

The song contained dizzying guitar solos, unrelenting walls of sound, and vocals which ripped through the air like a battle cry carried aloft by the galloping rhythm guitar. In other words, high quality moshing material.

Check out Unholy Swarm’s more recent album Exterminator on Bandcamp

Out on the street – 11:10

Although there were a few more shows that night at this point I had to catch the bus home. The next Blockout Bash is sometime next summer, but the acts that made it great are around all year and deserve your attention. You, dear reader, may not live in Ohio, many people don’t, but I hope I have provided you ample resources to enjoy interesting, unique, independent music regardless.