Festival Review ~ Frosty Moon Midwest Summit Rocks Emens

Local and regional bands lit up John R. Emens Auditorium Saturday night for its first indoor music festival. The Frosty Moon Midwest Summit featured more than 10 bands, including Catch Curtis, Embryonic Fluid, MC Sparkplug and The Waldemere Revival. It also included vendors, contests and alcoholic beverages in the balcony lobby.

The lobby stage also showcased many of the talented local bands. The entrance where the fans and students came in offered food and drinks, and the venues were emphasized with lights and decorations.

Emens collaborated with Hidden Relic and TheHippieSeed.com to present an all-ages event to bring awareness to the local music scene.

“These local bands are just as talented musicians as the bands you hear on the radio,” said TheHippieSeed.com owner Jason Montgomery. “These events are for the people to have a good time and exposure for the bands, which is important to help the scene grow.”

The bands also enjoyed participating in the collaborative event.

“This event is a big coming together of people who enjoy music, and people who want to express themselves through music, and people who enjoy life, it is a beautiful thing,” bass guitarist of the Waldemere Revival, Blain Crawford, said. “I feel like any great piece of music, as in any great painting, or sculpture comes to you influenced by anything or any feeling that you need to let out.”

Lead vocalist of the Waldemere Revival, Steve Martin, said he loved being a part of the event, and enjoyed expressing his music with his band.

“I try to keep everything I do as emotional as possible. And try to make it real, soulful, and touch people. I try to keep it as real as possible, and that is where my musical inspiration comes into play,” Martin said.

The bands transformed Emens into their own music venue, but also shared the stage with artists who could be seen painting on stage.

“It is a beautiful venue to showcase local talent. It is nice to be able to showcase that outside of regular rock clubs and bars,” drummer and percussionist for the Waldemere Revival, Justin Atkins, said. “It is a beautiful facility that we are on stage and sharing the same stage with amazing artists, who have came through and shared here, so its nice, and it means a lot.”