Each Mission Creek Festival has its own flavor that weaves through the nights, the venues, the conversations, the drinks and cigarettes to create an identity more than the sum of its parts. One major shaping influence is the nature of the Mission Creek Festival ethos, which makes it an event that would be impossible to imagine elsewhere — it is one part experimental, one part traditional, one part Iowa City, one part books, one part music, one part conversations. It is a celebration of the Iowa City community as much as it is a celebration of art.
Mission Creek 2019
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Stephanie Burt prepares to see her poetry in motion with Mission Creek’s visual poetry synthesizer
Adulthood is complex. Often, as adults, we leave behind the people we were in childhood, and focus our identities forward to who we think we should be. Dr. Stephanie Burt, poet, literary critic and professor of English at Harvard University, would say “Fuck that.”
Posted inAlbum Reviews
Album Review: Elizabeth Moen — ‘A Million Miles Away’
Months after its initial release, I still feel my ear pleading for another listen of Elizabeth Moen’s third album, A Million Miles Away. While Moen has always possessed a certain sage sound, her junior album ups the stakes
Posted inAlbum Reviews
Album Review: The Only Ion — ‘Roses’
Iowa City’s own The Only Ion recently gave us his newest EP, Roses, in May 2018. It’s such a diverse and articulate album it’s really hard to label
Posted inBook Reviews
Book Review: ‘Spectacle’ by Susan Steinberg
Susan Steinberg’s ‘Spectacle’ collects 12 short stories bound within a slim, 135-page volume. Despite ‘Spectacle’’s brevity, due in no small part to Steinberg’s impressive economy of language, several of the stories are so emotionally weighty, readers may feel the need to rest before moving onto the next.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Jaime Hernandez reflects on 38 years of his influential ‘Love & Rockets’ comics series
Los Bros Hernandez — Jaime, Gilbert and Mario — self-published the first issue of Love and Rockets in 1981. Since then, they (primarily Jaime and Gilbert) have created a substantial body of work. So substantial, in fact, that it can be intimidating to new readers. But don’t ask Jaime Hernandez where to start. “I throw […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Guerilla Toss on their chaotic origin story and psychedelic new album, ahead of Mission Creek
For a band that creates frenetic, rhythm-charged, psychedelic music, Guerilla Toss’s absurd origin story is perfectly on-brand. Back when Kassie Carlson first crossed paths with the group at a DIY basement venue named the Smokey Bear Cave, they initially had a saxophonist instead of a vocalist. Meanwhile, she was singing in a hardcore band
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Must-see acts every day of Mission Creek Festival 2019
I often suffer from option paralysis when attending music festivals. But the wonderful thing about Mission Creek is the way it has been carefully curated by the programmers, ensuring that you can have eye- and ear-opening experiences just blindly walking from venue to venue. Still, it helps to have some kind of exploratory roadmap. With […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Four Iowa City-connected writers to see at Mission Creek Festival
The 2019 Mission Creek Festival includes, as always, a robust literary lineup. Many of the featured authors have a connection to Iowa City. Of these, four have grabbed my attention. Sabrina Orah Mark Visual Poetry Synthesizer Saturday, April 6, 4 p.m. — 7 S Linn St Iowa Writers’ Workshop alum Sabrina Orah Mark pushes the […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Jaimie Branch returns to IC as Artist-in-Residence: Mission Creek second round announcement is out
Mission Creek Festival has just announce the second wave of names for their April event.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Mission Creek Festival to bring Mitski, Jenny Lewis, Kevin Young and more to IC
Mission Creek Festival is back for its 14th year, with a new tagline, new pass options and, as always, a top-notch lineup. Top of the bill is Purchase grad and indie superstar Mitski, whose fifth release, Be the Cowboy, scored the second place slot on NPR’s just announced 50 Best Albums of 2018.
