Gig Review: Martin Sexton

From our friends at dsm vibe:

Martin Sexton at People’s – Photos & Recap

Posted on October 8, 2012

Word by T. Hays
Photos by Kerri Photography

Martin Sexton was in town a week or so ago, and DSMvibe was there to cover the show. Brothers McCann opened the show with their blend of acoustic soul, and sweet harmonies. Just when I thought they were leaning a bit too far towards pop for my preferences, they busted out a sweet cover of The Band’s Ophelia, and reeled me back in.

Martin took the stage a while later, and played a fantastic (though a bit subdued) set. In typical Sexton fashion, he let his versatility shine throughout the set. Whether it was a heartfelt acoustic ballad, or a soulful blues tune, he seemed to make it sound amazing. Highlights for me were Angeline, Women & Wine, Gypsy Woman, and Golden Road (with a little help on the harmonies from Brothers McCann).

Overall, it wasn’t the best Sexton show I’ve seen, though still very good. I think part of what ruined it for me were the 3 guys in the back of the bar, talking VERY loudly throughout most of the show. Martin even made light of the situation at one point by stopping mid song to call the 3 out, and essentially tell them to be quiet because they were ruining it for everyone else. Sitting near the back of People’s, we also started to hear a noticeable thump of the music from Liar’s Club towards the end of the show. I’m sure it wasn’t something most people noticed, but it was annoying for those of us near the back.

Special thanks to Kerri Photography for taking the rad photos below, and to Midwestix for helping to make the show possible.

By the way, for all of our Eastern Iowa vibers, Martin Sexton and Brothers McCann will in Davenport this coming Thursday 10/11 at the Redstone Room. Tickets can be purchased at Midwestix.

10 Years of Roots

Ten years ago MIDWESTIX Founding Partners, Kathryn Dickel and Heather Hansen, started a ticketing company with a simple vision; change ticketing and change our corner of the world. That may sound like a crazy concept now, but back in 2002 there weren’t any options that organizations could embrace that would give them the power of professional ticketing at an affordable price to the consumer. 10 years later we’ve put down some deep roots and we’re saying THANK YOU to the fans that’ve helped us grow!

We’ve come up with a couple of ways to celebrate and say
THANK YOU! One of these is aNO FEES on the 10th for the next 10 months. We’ll be providing ticketing without fees, to you the fans, on the days listed from 10 am-10pm.

MIDWESTIX is also celebrating with the following programs:

• Ticket 4 Community
We’re ticketing a community event pro-bono. Application and information available here.

• MWT Chill Lounge at 80/35
For all of you who bought tickets in advance for 80/35 through MIDWESTIX, come join us in the Chill Chamber! MWT will taking over Proof for the weekend, creating a relaxing space to cool down and fuel up with Proof’s exciting festival menu.

• Ticket give-a-ways to fabulous events all year long.

More 10 Year Celebration Events will be announced as the year progresses. Stay Tuned!

NO FEES on the 10th for the next 10 months!

Sunday, June 10:
Big Red Dog Productions
and 711 Theater Project
Tuesday, July 10:
Redstone Room
and Englert Theater
Friday, August 10:
Maximum Ames Festival
Monday, September 10:
Des Moines Social Club
and The Maintenance Shop
Wednesday, October 10:
The Mill, DG’s, and
LIVE Live Music Productions
Saturday, November 10:
The HUB and House of Bricks
Monday, December 10:
Flying Mango and People’s
Thursday, January 10:
Civic Music Association and
Repertory Theater of Iowa
Sunday, February 10:
Central Performing Arts Center
and State Historical Museum
Sunday March 10th:
Camp Euforia and Zeke’s

Thank you for all your years of loyalty and support. We look forward to the
next 10 years of collaboration and great entertainment!

Des Moines Social Club:Still Together After All These Years!

We just signed a new contract to provide ticketing services for the Des Moines Social Club, which means you can continue to purchase tickets for Subjective Circus, Locust Productions, the Bash and many other assorted events at Social Club through MIDWESTIX. This happy occasion brought to mind the following memory. I think you’ll find it more entertaining than a press release.

Several years ago I was invited by my dear friend Max to have lunch with a guy who’d just moved to town with an ambitious idea. Believe or not, this was not the first time Max had taken me to lunch under these circumstances and I love lunches like this because I love ambitious ideas. The guy I met was Zach Mannheimer and the idea was the Des Moines Social Club. Most of us became enchanted with Zach and the audacity of his idea because Zach is charming and the idea, behind The Idea, was radical.

The idea for the Social Club wasn’t exactly new. There had been several proposals for a performing arts building that would serve both the artist and community tossed around over the years.  The radical part was that Zach (a New Yorker no less) had chosen Des Moines, over many other places in country, to build a dream. The fact that he was able to talk Matt McIver and Julie Betts (who was very pregnant at the time) into moving from New York to build the dream was even more impressive to me.  It was this choosing that captured those of us from the land formerly known as Dead Moines. We were flattered, we were ‘hell yah,’ we were finally backed up by someone who didn’t have any roots in Des Moines. We were, well  . . . choose-able.

This faith in our town and this challenge to Des Moines to live up to their faith is a drama still in the making. It is my view that it is yet undecided as whether their open arms are ultimately going to be met with an embrace or a punch in the gut. An embrace would be a permanent home with funding and participation that will support it. A punch in the gut would be another round of priorities (otherwise called excuses in my book) trumping the dream of a physical space dedicated to art, music, theater, dance, food and sharing. And these of course, are all the things that make a place so choose-able, aren’t they?

Being the eternal optimist, I’m holding out for the hug!

-Kathryn Dickel, Founding Partner

Hello Kentucky!

Here’s the press release but we can sum it up in a few words: (Huge) Dream Come True!

The Frazier History Museum, located in Louisville Kentucky, has selected MIDWESTX to provide comprehensive ticket services for its special exhibits, beginning with the blockbuster “Diana: A Celebration” exhibit, which has averaged 100,000 visitors at past venues.

“After conducting extensive research the Frazier History Museum has decided to partner with MIDWESTTIX for upcoming Diana: a celebration exhibition. We ultimately chose MIDWESTTIX because we felt confident with their ability to provide us with an outstanding platform that is simple to use for both our staff and our guests. We look forward to working with MIDWESTTIX with this exhibition and on future exhibits and special events,” said Craig Mooney, CFO, Frazier History Museum.

“Having a client the caliber of the Frazier History Museum is a true honor for us,” said Kathryn Dickel, founding partner of MIDWESTIX. “Being entrusted with an event the magnitude of ‘Diana: A Celebration,’ both in logistics and substance, is really a testament to the strength of our technology and our hands-on commitment to our clients. This opportunity will allow us to bring to bare our ten-plus years of experience. It’s simply a great gift to use what you have to support a client like this.”

“Diana: A Celebration” will take place in over 7,500 square feet of the museum from September 2012 through January 2013. The exhibit, produced by Arts & Exhibitions International (AEI), in association with Diana’s Althorp Estate, features a series of 150 stunning personal objects and multimedia pieces including her resplendent wedding gown, diamond tiaras, precious family heirlooms and home movies.

The world-class Frazier History Museum, located on Louisville’s “Museum Row,” provides a journey through more than 1,000 years of world and American history with ever-changing and interactive exhibits, daily performances by costumed interpreters and engaging special events and programs. Since opening on May 22, 2004 over 1.5 million people have come through its doors (an average of 187,000 per year). The Frazier Museum has three floors of exhibits, an education center, Museum Store and tournament ring. The Frazier Museum is a member of the Smithsonian Affiliate Membership Program and the American Association of Museums (AAM) and participates in a reciprocal membership network through the North American Reciprocal Museum Program (NARM).

Our Affiliate Network

Ten years of ticketing have given us, and more importantly you, a lot of exposure to ticket buyers. We’ve gone a step further with our new platform launched in January. Now your events automatically populate to the following websites so you have more help reaching fans!

 eventful.com

preamped.com

songkick.com

wherevent.com

hotlist.com

fyifly.com

bandsintown.com

jambase.com

zvents.com

superglued.com

We’ll keep adding more and continue to populate your events through our submission serivce to traditional media outlets in all the markets that we ticket. You could do this all by yourself but you don’t have to- you’re ticketing company does it for you.

Want to multiple our efforts, here’s some tips to help spread the word:

1. Stay connected to your local Influence Agents.  Make a contact list of LOCAL influence agents including bloggers, radio reps, media peeps and regulars at your venue. Let them know what you’re doing on a regular basis. technology is great, and can be markedly more effective when coupled with good-old relationship building.

2. Keep an eyeball on your listings (great job for an intern). Most event websites, including ours, will show you who has indicated they are going to the show. This could be a great pool for your next show. Are there additional marketing opportunities there? Check it out and make sure your not missing a new opportunity.

3. List every artist on the bill.Social networking/ event sites will pull available data off your listing and notify users based on their preferences, If you’re not adding the supporting acts you could miss a whole pool of fans to be notified of the event.

If you have a favorite site you don’t see on our list shoot us an email at info@midwestix.com. We’re continually building new partnerships and would be happy to get your suggestion on the list.

NEW DUDE

We’re really excited to introduce you to Shane O’Brien, the new dude at MIDWESTIX. Shane is a true renaissance man with experience in everything from graphic design to baking (he specializes in sweets, duh, why did you think we hired him). Shane has a passion for good music, shoes and technology. You can contact him at shane@midwestix.com.

Shane O'Brien. The New Dude at MIDWESTIX. Love the stach right? We do too.

 

 

New Outlet at the Greatest Store in the World (glad we got in there)!

In case you needed proof of the extremely attractive people at Raygun, here's owner Mike Draper. Credit: Dani Ausen.

MIDWESTIX will open its latest outlet at RAYGUN, in Des Moines’ East Village at 400 East Locust. Tickets for all MIDWESTIX events will be available for sale during store hours. Cash, credit and debit payment will be accepted.

Join us for the grand opening celebration Monday, March 26^th, 2012 beginning at 11am. A special edition t-shirt will be available for ticket buyers while supplies last. This grand opening will coincide with the 80/35 Music Festival public on-sale so if you need tickets for that head down to the opening and get a little schwag too!

Mike, the owner of RAYGUN, and I have been getting together, having one too many, and kicking crazy ideas like this one for several years. We decided to try one out.

Soapbox moment: Outlets are another way we serve all the fans. Some ticketing companies have let go of the model or built their companies without them. But we know, there are a bunch of you fans that like to use outlets because you want to pay cash or have a hard ticket immediately. We think it’s important to meet that need and provide our clients and fans with options when they’d like to purchase their ticket.

Mike wants to remind everyone that the internet can be a scary place and some people may feel more comfortable buying tickets from really attractive people. And the people who work at Raygun are drop-dead gorgeous.

Couldn’t have said it better than Mike, that’s why I let him do the t-shirts.

See you at the party!

Kat.