Village is alive with sound of music

The inside of Be Here Now was alive with the throbbing beats of music from a lone jukebox in the corner, but the real entertainment was in the backyard. Local band Apathy Wizards lit up the stage, while fire twirlers performed during this year’s Muncie MusicFest.

This is the first year that Be Here Now, or any of the other four venues of the night — The Cup, D Luxe, Dill Street Bar and Grill and the Chug — hosted Muncie MusicFest.

Neal Soley, employee of Be Here Now, said the reduction in music venues downtown, where the music fest is usually located, spurned the change of locale.

“We’re just trying to spread music to the community, trying to bring more people to the village, and that’s something that Be Here Now is especially about, trying to create a community among the businesses in the Village,” Soley said.

Thor Goodman of the band Apathy Wizards stressed the importance of community and events such as Muncie MusicFest.

“While we care about the success of our band, we also sincerely care about the success of Muncie’s arts community,” Goodman said, “The fact of the matter is we have a thriving arts and culture scene in Muncie, Indiana.”

The Cup and D Luxe also participated, featuring the talents of Dustin Vance.

Vance played an emotional acoustic set, fitting into the atmosphere the Cup and D Luxe already creates.

This was Vance’s first time playing Muncie MusicFest out of the four years he has been performing locally.

Vance said the local music scene means a lot to him.

Patrons of The Chug gathered to the sounds of the percussion-heavy progressive rock band Fossil Generation.

The Chug, unlike music venue Be Here Now, isn't accustom to bands gracing their stage.

Steve Moore, bartender, said subsequently he has seen several new faces and higher attendance.

"We rarely have musical acts here," Moore said. "But we're trying to have more, we're trying to expand ourselves as a concert venue."

The Chug also hosted Stone Messiah, Man With A Gun and Coyote Armada.

"The fest brought more people in," Moore said. "It's good because it gets people into bars they don't normally visit, to see what they have to offer."

"I hope Muncie MusicFest continues, for the last five to 10 years, the Village has gone downhill," Moore said. "Now they're trying to make it more alive."

Dill Street Bar and Grill took a break from the dance music beats and had its first live musical act since recently opening. The Michael Martin Band, a country Americana group, played for the fest Saturday night at Dill.

"We wanted to see what I live band would sounds like at Dill," General Manager Ben Duschesne said. "It's nice to see something different, and bring in a different crowd."

Graham Watson is an organizer of Muncie MusicFest, which he modeled after Indianapolis-wide concert festival Midwest Music Summit.

"It actually went really well," Watson said. "Tonight was experimental, and the experiment was a resounding success."

This year proved challenging, as there was no fundraising team and Watson couldn't pay the bands for their time.

Watson said next year the fest will be as big as they can make it, depending on support, and won't be confined to just one section of Muncie.

"I hope this will lead to us expanding," Watson said. "When the fest began, it was modeled after the Midwest Music Summit, which is spread across all of Indy. That's something that can happen in Muncie. The fest won't just be in the Village — it won't just be in downtown.”

See a photo gallery of the event.