Mid Summer Music Fest – Menahga MN – July 25th – 27th 2023

Mid Summer Music Fest – Menahga MN – July 25th – 27th 2023

Review and photos by Steven Albright

Tucked away in northwestern Minnesota is the state’s premiere music festival. Mid Summer Music Festival is located just outside of Menahga, Minnesota and has been going strong for the past three years. Thanks to the vision of Trinity Jaymes Junes, we are all invited to be a part of it. Another big thank you goes out to Brad and Brett Carlson and their families for their efforts in making the event run smoothly every year and to Jackie Carlson for providing media passes to myself and my wife to do this review. None of this would be possible without them and all of the staff and security. Now onto the fun!

We all know that a music festival isn’t great without a great lineup of bands, but it is more than that. A festival is about camaraderie, a group of people with a shared interest and getting to know one another. The Carlson’s understand that and came up with some great events to get people engaged with one another. The first day they held a meet and greet at Camp Carlson and fed everyone an awesome lunch, gave away some swag, introduced themselves and the best part; asked everyone to write down requests for the bands they would like to see next year.

Next up they got fans to interact with one another by having activities to participate in everyday. Music Bingo, Karaoke, Open Mic and Bagboard tournaments were just a few things to keep the masses entertained before the bands hit the stage everyday.

The festival organizers weren’t the only ones to get in on the action. Various campsites had their own events and games. Camp Hippy had live entertainment at their site and would happily mix a drink for anyone who would stop by. Margaritaville had Tequila tasting and JelloVille had jello and pudding shots in every flavor imaginable. Carnival Corner had creepy oddities and games to play and so did many others. If you walked around the campgrounds and made it back to your own campsite sober, you definitely didn’t try hard enough.

Inside the festival grounds, there was a good selection of food trucks along with a few vendors selling various products. There were two locations for photo ops to let your friends and families know exactly where you were that weekend. Local artist Nate Luetgers can also be found painting pictures of the bands as they play and are often signed and auctioned off afterwards. If you purchased VIP tickets, you received a meal ticket everyday along with beer, seltzer, pop, water and snacks. You also had access to the double decker lounge and close up stage viewing.

It’s always awesome to hangout with friends and make new ones, but the real reason we were there was to see some great live music. The week started off with a pre-party night with Sugar Buzz. They are a high energy cover band from the MInneapolis area and got the party going. Up next was Audio Throttle from the festival’s hometown of Menahga. The cool thing about this band is that it features the festival founder, Trinity Jaymes Junes. They played a wide variety of old and new hard rock. Closing out the night was Arch Allies. They are best known for having a few different front men and women and have costume changes to look like the artists they are covering. We were treated to the music of Cheap Trick, Pat Benatar, Def Leppard, Queen and Heart to name a few. Looks like it is off to a great start!

Thursday was looking to have a bit heavier feel to the music. KOBB: A Tribute To KORN got the party started with every hard hitting note and even pulled out the bagpipes to add to their authenticity. Any Given Sin and Adema were next up. They both have a fresh take on hard rock, but had a familiar enough sound to peak everyone’s interest. I have come across a few of their songs on Sirius XM radio and was really looking forward to seeing them both and was not disappointed. Powerman 5000 is one of those bands that you can’t help but move to their music. It has a raw energy that is infectious and the crowd felt it as they jumped to every beat. Last up for the night was Pop Evil. I saw them a few years back and loved their hard hitting rock sound. I had not kept up with them and was surprised at the direction they went. They kicked it up a notch and got heavier over time. Not too many bands make changes throughout their lifespan. I think they realized that if they switched things up a little bit, they could fit in and tour with a wider variety of bands. That is definitely a good thing.

Friday was a flashback to the 80’s and leading the charge was Rock Godz hailing from Minneapolis. They played a great variety of music from the hairbands everyone has come to love. Up next was the all female band The Iron Maidens. They dug deep into the Iron Maiden catalog for a couple lesser known songs, but didn’t stray too far from the hits. Continuing with the theme, Guns & Roses original drummer Steven Adler brought along some friends and cranked out the music that put his band on the map. He also found the perfect frontman in Ari Kamin who had the charisma and vocal prowess to pull off the difficult vocals of Axl Rose.

The sleaze from the Sunset Strip was represented by none other than L.A. Guns. They’re sex laden lyrics and leather outfits defined the genre throughout the 80’s. They were on top of their game performing their classic hits Ballad of Jayne, Rip and Tear and Never Enough. They also introduced a couple songs off their new album Black Diamonds released earlier this year. Wrapping up the night was the blues infused rock of Cinderella performed by Tom Keifer and his solo band. They have been performing together for so long, they make it look effortless on stage. They played what seemed like hit after hit after hit for well over an hour and just when you thought you heard it all, they would pull another great song from their proverbial magic hat. It was the perfect way to end a night of great 80’s music.

Saturday night was upon us before we knew it. It seemed like the last three days went by in a flash. At least we had one more night of music and it was a great mashup of bands and their take on what rock music should sound like. Them Pesky Kids got everyone in the mood to party one last night with covers of songs from the 70’s and 80’s. They were a great segway into Britny Fox who continued the 80’s feel with their hits Girlschool and Long Way to Love topping their setlist. Things kept rolling with Blacktop Mojo who came all the way from Texas. They’re a southern hard rock band that spewed infectious energy the whole time on stage. Saliva is becoming a festival favorite and were invited back for their second year. Last year they spotted a woman wearing a “FUCK CANCER” tshirt in the crowd.. Jean was her name and she was invited on stage to sing along with the band’s hit Click Click Boom. Thankfully Jean was able to make it back this year to join her friends onstage for another sing along. She was a shining star and an inspiration to everyone.

Canadian rockers Theory of a Deadman were an awesome choice to finish off this epic weekend. With over twenty years under their belts, they had no problem filling their set with familiar songs to keep the fans entertained. They sprinkled in songs off their new album Dinosaur in between all their hits. Tyler Connelly stepped behind the keyboard and treated everyone to a hauntingly beautiful rendition of Wicked Game with the rest of the band joining in for a climatic finish. They continued to keep the audience engaged with Garth Brooks Friends in Low Places which got everyone singing along loud and proud. They ended the weekend of great live music with Rx (Medicate) and the powerhouse rocker Bad Girlfriend.

If you missed out on this year’s festival, make sure you make it in 2024! Mid Summer Music Festivals rock weekend will take place July 25th-27th and check out www.midsummermusicfest.com for more details! Rock On my friends \m/