By ANDREW SPIESS
BG Independent News
Without being washed away by unstoppable rain, last Saturday’s eighth annual Oliver Hazard Day went swimmingly.
The festival was held in downtown Waterville and organized by Oliver Hazard, an indie-folk band consisting of Michael Belazis (vocals, guitar), Devin East (electric guitar), and Nate Miner (keys), all of whom are from the small town.
Started in 2018, Oliver Hazard Day was essentially an Oliver Hazard concert until they realized they could expand the show and invite the musicians they met while touring the country and overseas. Still, Oliver Hazard Day remains a modest effort.
“Ever since it started, it’s kind of been like a DIY operation,” said Belazis. “We do everything ourselves, everything from ordering all the trash cans to the toilets, to the stage, to the fencing, and booking all the artists that come and visit Waterville. We’re playing music on the back of a box truck in a small town of 5,000 people in the middle of the road.”
Concerning typical tour routes for musicians, a significant element of the festival involved bringing in musical acts that have been unfamiliar to the lesser-explored northwest Ohio area.
“It’s kind of like a mixture of that and also giving back to the place where we started,” Belazis stated. “What we’re trying to do is cultivate a community rather than just cultivate a ticket-selling event.”
There’s a sense of humbleness to what they’re doing. It’s not necessarily for the sake of putting together a corporate-style festival. Instead, it’s a way of solidifying the community and allowing people to enjoy live homegrown music.
“We love Oliver Hazard. We all get behind them,” said attendee Aaron Cromly regarding how committed the local community is to show their support for the indie-folk band.
Oliver Hazard Day included several tents where shops and artists from the Greater Toledo area offered their wares, including clothing from Stumble Upon Vintage and hand-painted pennants from Wild North Land. Buffalo Rock Brewing Co. provided their craft beers, including a custom session IPA called OLi in collaboration with Oliver Hazard.
John Amato, who runs a screenprinting company called Jūpmode, worked next to the merch tent, making live screenprinted bandanas. Based in Toledo, Jūpmode makes all of Oliver Hazard’s clothing merchandise.
“A lot of people are surprised when they see this. They don’t know about this kind of work,” mused Amato about the subtle disconnect between consumers and the work involved in creating clothing.
Additionally, Muralist Tayler Meinen, who worked on the Glass City River Wall, painted a mural live on one side of the stage, while DJ Jon Zenz was set up on the other side, providing music between sets.
Indie-folk singer-songwriter Olive Klug opened the festival with a sense of charm that came from her relatability as she joked about honeysuckle and her ex, chose a favorite audience member, played a guess-the-song game, and casually asked the crowd if they’ve experienced unrequited love as she has. Amazed, Klug excitedly remarked about the sprinkle of rain that fell when she played a song about summertime rain. Klug had an easygoing way of directly engaging with the audience, ensuring that the crowd stayed in the moment with her.
Briscoe, from Austin, Texas, played next. A multi-instrumental duo of singer-songwriters, Briscoe harmonized flawlessly, trading guitar, banjo, and lead vocal duties between each other, as well as incorporating harmonica and saxophone into their songs.
From England, Tors followed, energizing the audience with pounding folk-rock rhythms and jokes about American culture vs. British culture. The band consists of two brothers, one with an electric guitar and one with an acoustic. Some audience members let their fandom of Tors show by how passionately they mouthed the words to their songs. At this point, more people were standing, dancing, and clapping, as if the oncoming night decreased inhibitions.
Rain continued to lightly threaten until close to 9 p.m. when it came down hard. Volunteers draped tarps over the speakers to protect them from water damage. The only thing the rain didn’t dampen was the audience’s energy as everyone rose to their feet.
The crowd persisted through the rain as Mayor Tim Pedro introduced the much-anticipated performance of Oliver Hazard, starting their show with their most popular song, “Vampire,” over a canopy of umbrellas. Emotions creased Belazis’s face as he belted out melodies known to everyone. East’s guitar and lap steel solos were equally intense. Fiddle Phil, a friend of Oliver Hazard, joined the band for several songs, adding resounding texture to their passionate indie-folk compositions. In the crowd, women carried their kids in ponchos and took selfies with them, and more people danced and clapped as the night grew darker and more beer was consumed.
At the end of each musician’s set, Belazis jumped on stage to take a photo with them, camera facing the audience, and most of the crowd put their hands in the air to cheer, some making peace signs with their fingers, an undeniable display of communal support.
Oliver Hazard’s new EP, “Waterville,” recorded in town, is available for purchase on their website and to listen to on all streaming services.
