First annual NORTH BY MIDWEST MUSIC FESTIVAL at the Lowry Theater in downtown St. Paul on Saturday, July 25th 2009.

Willie McManus, a Minnesota musician who once called himself “the poor man’s Slim Dunlap” and counts among his heroes Bootsy Collins, Mojo Nixon and Terry Eason, has assembled the first annual North by Midwest Music Festival which will shake the Lowry Theater in downtown St. Paul on Saturday, July 25^th.

According to a press release, McManus said he conceived the festival for concert-goers who seek the festival environment but aren’t so fond of porta potties, heat, mosquitoes and sleeping bags. Many music festivals, he said, are hundreds of miles away and multi-day events. He was looking to create something less expensive and closer to home.

North by Midwest is a one-day, indoor festival that won’t empty your pockets. Emceed by HowWasTheShow.com founder David de Young, the event features a stellar lineup: The Magnolias, The 757s, Little Man, The Hard Left, Middlestates and Chemistry Set. Ample parking and great bars and cafés are right outside the theater’s walls, and a $10.00 pass gets you in and out the door as often as you like.

It all starts at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday July 25^th at the Lowry Theater, 16 5^th St West, downtown St. Paul. Tickets are available exclusively at The Electric Fetus in Minneapolis and on the day of show at the Lowry Theater, or by phone at 651 263 7992.

Here's the full press release from Willie McManus:

Music festivals spring up this time of year by the dozen. Most are long-established, far-away, days-long extravaganzas, featuring big name stars and big-ticket prices. There are twangy country music festivals, noisy alt. rock showcases, mud-caked jamborees and acoustic folk festivals all over the continent, where music lovers can shell-out hundreds of dollars for days of camping and living on beans for a chance to hear their heroes for an hour. These events work fine for most fans, but what if you’re stuck for time, not made of money, and can’t stand the porta-pottys, heat, mosquitoes and sleeping bags? Said one concert-goer: “I love the rock, but I hate the bugs and the bad food and the long lines at the toilets. It doesn’t work for me anymore. I mean, I’m not twelve years old.”

St. Paul’s Lowry Theater, near the St. Paul Hotel in the heart of that city’s downtown might have the solution. This July they are staging a one-day, INDOOR music festival that won’t empty your pockets, or leave you wishing you could remember what a hot shower was like. Hosted by David de Young, and featuring local greats The Magnolias, the 757s, Little Man, and musicians of rising talent equal to anything at ten times the price and distance, this could be the Woodstock for you. Ample parking and great bars and cafés are right outside the theater’s walls, and a $10.00 pass gets you in and out the door as often as you like.

The First North by Midwest Music Festival kicks off at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday July 25th at the Lowry Theater, 16 5th St West, downtown St. Paul. Tickets are available at The Electric Fetus in Minneapolis and on the day of show at the Lowry Theater, or by phone at 651 263 7992.