An old historic hotel, a rowdy lineup of local artists, and a documentary film being made are all aspects that make up the event, Midwinter Meltdown.
This is an event that was put together by Jeffrey Duloz, from the lineup for the concert to finding professional videographers for the making of the documentary. “The start of this event is the people,” said Duloz, “I just think we have a really good community here and I just like to have fun.”
Duloz started planning this event in September in order to make sure all of the bases were covered for a high quality, successful event.
“The posters alone I spent 22 hours drawing,” said Duloz, “I wanted it to shine, I wanted it to have a stamp and be recognizable for the event.” Around Christmas time Duloz did a geocache in order to give away one of his exclusive posters for the event.
The event will consist of a wide variety of music genres. There will be a total of five bands performing at the Midwinter Meltdown. The bands consist of: Harriman Exit, Angel Adams and the Suits, Libby Creek Original, The Ninjahs, and Duloz’s own band. These artists range from being DJs to playing alternative and bluegrass music and everything in between. Duloz said that there will be a special guest band that has not yet been revealed.
“The big things that happen in Denver at these high quality venue shows, I want to have here,” said Duloz.
As the event draws nearer the bands that will be performing seem to be getting pretty amped up about being a part of an event like this.
“I became a part of this event by Jeffrey’s request,” said Jacob Greenlee, a member of The Ninjahs and graduate student in Molecular Biology. “He told us about a small music festival consisting of local musicians and we couldn’t say no!”
The Ninjahs are a DJ duo consisting of Greenlee and Jim Bob Schell. They remix just about anything and make it into something that anyone could dance to, said Duloz.
The Ninjahs have something special up their sleeves for the Midwinter Meltdown, “There are going to be great bands playing, and we’re going to be doing something a bit different than our customary sets,” said Greenlee. The Ninjahs will have Will Plumb as a guest drummer and will be mixing a wide range of genres.
With an event like the Midwinter Meltdown, there is a strong sense of community.
“I’m excited to be around so many great people from the surrounding area who are all converging for this,” said Seth Leininger, the guitarist of the group Harriman Exit and former University of Wyoming student. Harriman Exit has played several local shows including events like “10 by 10” at the Alibi last year where they were introduced to the individuals that are responsible for organizing events like the Midwinter Meltdown concert.
“I think people should attend this event because of the lineup of all local artists, and because we can have as much fun and crazy times as possible basically in the middle of nowhere,” said Leininger.
Since the event will be held in Medicine Bow, Wyo., there will be rooms offered for people attending to rent so concertgoers do not have to drive home late at night. Duloz said safety is very important to him.
The Midwinter Meltdown concert is being held at the Historic Virginian Hotel on January 31 starting at noon. The concert is open to all ages and will be filled with music of all types played by local artists in order to satisfy all in attendance.
“Go out and see shows and see the energy people put into their art,” said Duloz, “And see if you can come to respect it, enjoy it.” The Midwinter Meltdown is an attempt by local artists for community members to come together to listen to and support local music.
“The lineup is rowdy and the good times to be had, will be too,” said Leininger.
