Melodic pop music festival coming to Cedars

By John Benson

The 10-year-old tour doesn’t have a headliner.

In the world of gigantic, corporate-fueled touring music festivals such as Lollapalooza, Vans Warped Tour and Projekt Revolution, there’s a successful underground outing that may not generate the same media frenzy but has quietly been traversing America for more than a decade.

It’s called International Pop Overthrow, and what the festival may lack in big-named headliners and large venues, it makes up for with credibility in the melodic pop scene, which also includes subgenres indie pop, folk pop, garage pop, punk pop, psychedelic pop and modern rock. Currently in its 11th year, International Pop Overthrow is coming to Youngstown for shows Friday through Sunday at Cedars Lounge.

“Earlier this year we had the festival in Detroit and one of the bands that played was Youngstown’s own the Deadbeat Poets,” said International Pop Overthrow visionary/promoter David Bash, calling from Sherman Oaks, Calif. “During the festival, Pete Drivere and Frank Secich [of The Deadbeat Poets] started talking to me and they said, ‘You know, you really ought to bring the festival out to Youngstown. We have a great club called Cedars Lounge, there are a lot of great bands in the Ohio area and good crowds.’

“They seemed very passionate about it, and I had been thinking about seeing how it would go in some smaller cities, so the timing just seemed right and I agreed to bring it to Youngstown.”

Among the 23 bands scheduled to perform during the three-day festival are the Deadbeat Poets and two recently reunited Youngstown legends: ’70s sensation Blue Ash and a special one-time reunion show of the Infidels.

While these groups do offer some local appeal, Bash admits the festival doesn’t seem to have a larger band that acts as a mainstream draw. He also said that’s not by accident.

“I don’t ever want to compromise the integrity of the festival,” Bash said. “Even if a big band is offered to me, and they don’t fit within the parameters of the festival, then I just don’t want them there because that’s not really our aim. Some people may argue with that and say that by bringing bands in it might generate more popularity, but I think in the long run it would cause the structure of the festival to collapse.”

He added, “And if you do it once and then you do it more and more and suddenly everything I strived for is gone. And the festival loses its character. I don’t want that to happen. I always want to remain on some level grass roots, and I always want it to remain a pop festival. Sure we’ve had bigger bands play if they happen to be pop bands, but that didn’t occur in Youngstown. Maybe it will someday.”

Among the groups that have played International Pop Overthrow and went on to bigger things are Kara’s Flowers (later renamed Maroon 5), The Click Five and The 88. Bash said the upcoming Youngstown shows are really designed as a love-fest between like-minded pop-based bands and music fans.