For now, check out this cool recap of the weekend featuring a little intro from Middlewest’s founder and self-appointed dictator, John Ugolini.

And thus concludes the 2nd annual Middlewest Music and Arts Festival. We will definitely be seeing you next year, bigger and badder than ever. Until then, keep the faith, Middlewesterners.

Middlewest Fest 2011 is now officially open for business! There is so much to be excited about this year that you can practically feel the palpable electricity in the air. It’s like an Edward Norton endorsed fight club… without the fighting or soap explosions.

There are still plenty of walk-up tickets available at the box office, so feel free to come on out and share in the warmth of the best Midwestern music and culture we could wrangle together. We will be doing our best to entertain you, come rain or shine. Technically, we guess it could snow too… this is the Midwest.

Peruse through our schedule and plan out your Middlewest adventure accordingly. If you have any questions at all, feel free to stop someone and ask them if they have anything to do with the festival. Chances are you’ll either find someone at some point or just forget what you needed all together. Have fun and be safe, Middlewesterners!

WHO’S READY FOR SOME FOOTBALLLLL!?!?!!?

Well, I guess that’s what’s happening tonight… but then TOMORROW is the 2ND ANNUAL MIDDLEWEST FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS AND MAGIC (new working title).

We are so unbelievably stoked that we can’t even contain it. Honestly, it feels like we’re all hoped up on magic markers and Fresh Prince reruns. We hope this year is everything you want it to be and more. We’re constantly working to make this the best festival around and representative of our beloved midwest, and we hope that you’ll continue to build it with us. So, load up on energy drinks, douse yourself in your antiperspirant of choice, check out the schedule and start planning your Middlewest adventure. It’s almost upon us.

Unfortunately, La Dispute has no choice but to cancel their performance at this year’s Middlewest. The band expressed their condolences to those who were planning on seeing them this weekend. Be sure to still check out their new album Wildlife on No Sleep Records this October.

In honor of the new academic year, we here at Team Middlewest are offering DISCOUNTS on ALL single and two-day passes to the fest! Act fast, this is a limited time offer! All tickets will revert to their normal prices, Friday Aug. 27th at 10pm!

Don’t stop, get it get it!!!

The Middlewest Megaticket

Good for both Friday & Saturday!
Two-Day Megaticket – $40 – Limited Time Offer! $20 Savings! Includes a cool limited edition silk-screened poster!

Single Day Megatickets

(One Day Passes)
FRIDAY PASS- $25 Limited Time Offer! Originally $30
Performing Friday: Murder By Death, Gene Ween, Maps & Atlases, Brian Posehn, Flatfoot 56, The Tossers, Native, Empires, The Reptillian, Loose Lips Sink Ships & More!

SATURDAY PASS- $25 Limited Time Offer! Originally $30
Performing Saturday: Tokyo Police Club, Cornmeal, The Wonder Years, mc chris, Owen, Company Of Thieves, Future Rock, Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, Gold Motel, AM Taxi, MC Lars, The Felix Culpa, The Giving Tree Band, Pianos Become The Teeth, This Must Be The Band, Mixtapes, Xerxes, Former Thieves & More!

We are sad to announce that our good friends, The Felix Culpa have not only recently decided to part ways, but ultimately will no longer be performing at this year’s Middlewest Fest. Fortunately, frontman Marky Hladish will be doing a special solo show to hopefully make up for their absence.

Conversely, in the realm of incredibly good news, we are pleased as punch to announce the addition of indie rock staples, Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin from Springfield, MO. Always good to have another good old Midwestern band added to the lineup.

We also let loose another few local acts, including Bogota Orkestar, The Sky We Scrape and returning for their 2nd Middlewest, indie-folkists Emblems. There is absolutely nothing (short of the uprising of SkyNet) that should prevent you from attending in September, so you might as well get your tickets now!

Without the contributions and support of these amazing businesses, Middlewest Fest would look a heck of a lot more like a guy playing Madden on his couch listening to all these bands on CD. Which, I mean… sounds ok, I guess. But we like it a whole lot more our way, with stages and lights and so on. So say thanks to them and patronize their fine establishments and/or websites.

We are thrilled to have two of our favorite artists from the inaugural Middlewest Fest, GOLD MOTEL and Chicago’s own OWEN back with us. Also on this year’s Middlewest will be heavy-hitters AM TAXI, MIXTAPES and Cali’s infamous MC LARS.

We also unleashed a slew of new locals including An Aesthetic Anesthetic, Mark Rose, Elephant Gun, Super Happy Fun Club and tons more. Check the Artists page for the full list.

The stage is set for this to be one of the greatest single events in the history of humanity. Now all it needs is for you to be there to witness it.

The Middlewest Megaticket

Good for both Friday & Saturday!
Two-Day Megaticket – $50 – A $10 Savings, plus you get a cool limited edition silk-screened poster!

Single Day Megatickets / Passes

Friday Pass- $30
Saturday Pass- $30

Select Single Show Tickets On-Sale Now

9/9 – Murder By Death / Maps & Atlases / The Tossers @ The Van Buer Plaza – buy tickets
9/9 – Gene Ween / Brian Posehn @ Ottos Nightclub – buy tickets
9/9 – Flatfoot 56 / Sleeping Under 47 @ The House Cafe buy tickets
9/9 – Native / Loose Lips Sink Ships / The Reptillian @ The House Cafe – buy tickets
9/10 – Cornmeal / The Giving Tree Band @ The Van Buer Plaza – buy tickets
9/10 – Tokyo Police Club / Company Of Thieves / The Wonder Years / mc chris
La Dispute / Pianos Become The Teeth / The Felix Culpa @ The Egyptian Theatre – buy tickets

Some other good friends added to the line-up include local heroes Geronimo!, Inspector Owl and, recently knighted by her majesty the Queen for excessive use of punctuation in a band name, Kid, You’ll Move Mountains! Heck yes.