By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
Jean Geist, of Bowling Green, was happy to answer a question about Porchfest, but the interview had to be conducted on the move.
Geist, and her husband, Chris, are strong supporters of local music. If there’s a band playing in BG, people expect to see the couple there, and if they’re not it’s because their grandchildren are up to something.
Now, Jean is hoofing it down Eberly Avenue having caught the beginning of the set by Illegal Smiles to a veranda on the corner of Eberly and West Wooster, to listen to Corduroy Road.
And she’s asked: What makes Porchfest so special?
“It’s the music, music, music. It’s local music,” she said. “It’s where you can see all the fabulous local bands, and some you haven’t seen, all in one place. And everybody’s in good spirits.”
There’s so much music that she and Chris split up for the day as they try to catch as many of the 19 acts participating.
Later in the day, Chris Geist weighs in, saying it’s not just music, but the variety of music. At that point the Black Swamp Polka Collective, an ensemble made up of BGSU students, is performing on a porch on Gorrell.
And just around the corner the Brass City Funk band was blasting away over a foundation of snappy soul grooves and driving Sousaphone.
Both are new acts at Porchfest.
The fifth Porchfest was staged Saturday on Eberly Avenue and environs. The event drew hundreds of music lovers for the five-hour mini-fest.
After the close of the show organizer Brian Young, munching on a cookie and sipping a beer, thought the festival could have drawn 1,000 people. But it’s hard to calculate with folks shifting from porch to veranda to lawns and garages, and people coming and going throughout the day.
The stages each consistently attracted 200-300 listeners.
The festival opened with BGSU Falcon Samba Bateria. Marching along with them was Blazey Rose waving the Porchfest colors.
As the story goes, during the pandemic folks on Eberly would hang out on their porches, and one of those neighbors, Mary Cassidy asked Rose to come and perform her flag routine on the street. Rose did so, on roller blades.
With the spark struck, neighbors booked a several more performances.
Young who knew about the Porchfest concept from his time in Dayton, decided to give it a try here. They’ve also managed to control the sound of one act bleeding into the sound of another.
Porchfest is the rare good reminder of the days of COVID-19.
Rose has been back each year to open the show with the samba band. She’s impressed with how the event has grown. “It seems every year it gets more and more of a crowd,” Rose said. “I’ll be talking to people outside of Porchfest and they’ve already heard about it. It’s crazy how much of a reach it has now.”
Now in its fifth year, Young said, he believes that Porchfest has now established itself on BG’s cultural scene. “Yes, at last.”
The event has grown and has adjusted to the larger attendance with more Porta potties and food trucks.
The festival came off well, and on schedule, he said. Volunteers were diligent about keeping listeners off the street, so it remained open throughout the event except during the time when the samba band was performing.
The event took 30 volunteers on the day to run with 14 working throughout the year.
Bob Midden, one of the founders whose band Toraigh played in previous years, seemed to be everywhere. He noted that even for established acts such as Tom Gorman, the festival exposes them to new listeners.
That’s the experience of Flan Murnen of Freight Street, a Porchfest regular. The BG-based quintet closed this year’s festival.
Porchfest, Murnen said, draws people from out of town.
It’s one of the band’s favorite shows, they said. “I love that it’s community built, and community oriented. And, honestly, so family friendly. We love to play family friendly shows.”
Gorman playing in a backyard on Gorrell looked over the folks gathered to listen. “We see all our friends out there, and it’s wonderful.”
The festival was a place to reconnect with folks — to hear about career updates, retirement plans, and new grandchildren.
But mostly it’s about the music, varied, yet with strains that knit it together. Where else could you hear back to back to back different versions of John Prine’s “Angel from Montgomery.”
Fittingly Prine casts a shadow on the festival. As in the past three festivals Illegal Smiles, a Prine-tribute band helmed by Greg Rich, opened the porch festivities — and played one of those versions of “Angel.” (Gorman and Corduroy Road assayed the others.)
Prine’s homespun genius and poetic reflections on everyday life fit well with the spirit of Porchfest. And, ironically, for a festival that sprouted from the dark days of the pandemic, he died in April 2020 of COVID-19.
