Group grows basement party into full-fledged music festival

On July 29, 2015, rock band Tourist Trap played its first show in the bowels of a basement near the Ohio State University campus.

Tourist Trap members invited Canton band Weird Fishes and zany locals Zoo Trippin’ to play in their cream-colored home on 9th Avenue.

Former Tourist Trap guitarist Nathan Weirich flipped burgers in the backyard as artist Danielle Wells sold her works in the living room.

By all accounts, it was a casual affair.

They dubbed the event “Gnarbeque” and agreed to do it again the next year, albeit in the backyard instead of a damp basement.

Five Gnarbeques later, this year’s iteration will move off the 9th Avenue property and into Woodland's Backyard, a bar and event space in Grandview Heights.

Organizers Zach Barnes, Korah Mitchell, Dustin Vance and Michael Larkin

have worked for months to update and expand the festival, which runs Saturday and Sunday.

Barnes, a Tourist

Trap member and chief Gnarbeque promoter, has learned a whole new set of skills, including how to apply for temporary event permits, set ticket prices (past Gnarbeques have been free) and book bands, DJS, comedians, visual artists, performing artists and food vendors.

“It’s a huge learning opportunity for us,” Barnes, 25, said. “We’re still learning things a week out from the festival.”

The festival’s gears were fully greased until February, when they suddenly jammed.

Gnarbeque was supposed to be at Actual Brewing’s new bar in Clintonville. After Columbus Alive released an investigative piece in which multiple women accused Actual owner Fred Lee of sexual harassment and assault, the festival dropped Actual as its venue within four hours.

At the time, Barnes was out to lunch with his Gnarbeque planning team and didn’t have his phone. As soon as he got home, he found 20 messages from friends sending him the story.

“I was sick to my stomach after reading the article,” he said. “I couldn’t even finish the complete article. I was in shock.”

They considered the Big Room Bar, the venue inside CD 102.5’s Brewery District headquarters, but the space was too small.

Tony Casa, lead singer in Zoo Trippin’, talked to his friend Nic Kabealo, event coordinator for Woodland's Backyard, who offered up the space.

“Now it’s going to be even bigger and better than it was with Actual,” Casa said. “There’s more parking; it’s closer. There are more bells and whistles on the inside, and they’ve got a full liquor bar.”

Casa will come full circle on Saturday, when Zoo Trippin’ will headline. Other Saturday performers include Asadi, Snarls and Rockhead, while Sunday’s headliners are Joe Hertler & the Rainbow Seekers, Peanutbutter Williams, Risik and OG Vern.

He believes the lineup — with metal to hip-hop and everything in between — is among the most diverse in the city, comparing it to the eclectic Independents’ Day Festival, which ended in 2017.

Larkin said that the close community makes a wide range of music possible.

“The people involved are the people who come out and support,” he said, pointing to the fact that Weed Demon is on the Gnarbeque bill but wasn’t allowed to perform at Comfest due to insurance issues.

Barnes eventually would like to run his own large-scale music festival, but for now, he

is content to incubate Gnarbeque.

“It’s something that five years ago I didn’t think I’d be where I’m at now,” he said. “Every year, I see the progress and see how the following stays, how the local community supports and helps us out. It bonds me with my friends, working with them on a project we all care about. It’s a passion at this point.”