music festival thoughts
I just had one of the best vacation weekends I have experienced. Ever. And I experienced it right here - practically, literally in my backyard. (Yes, I sometimes think of Blackbeards as an extension of my yard. Just two doors down -- it is almost too convenient.)
The music festival was incredible. Kudos to the town and the promo company who pulled this thing off. Many thanks to the local businesses that supported it on so many levels. Muchos gracias to the powers that be for giving us the longest stretch of perfect days weatherwise I can recall in -- maybe years.
The island seemed busy - how much of that can be attributed to the music festival, I don’t know. Were there enough ticket sales for the festival to at least break even? I suspect not but have no way of knowing. Will we do it again next year? I sure hope so!!!
Here are my observations on what I found most appealing about this festival and how it could be made even better. While I was enthused about the level of talent placed on the big stages (at Louie’s & Schlitterbahn) - my favorite shows were at the smaller venues (Blackbeards & Wanna Wanna in particular - they are both really close to my backyard. And Pelican West turned out to be a great nighttime venue.) I thought the big stages were -- too big. The artist was too far away, the sound was muddy and too loud and many acts that performed on them did not draw enough spectators to warrant the space, making it hard to generate the crowd energy that separates a good show from a great one. I first caught Patrice Pike with her sister Joy Davis at ‘Beards and was blown away by her. Saw Patrice again with her band at Louie’s and... meh.
I dunno. Maybe it’s just me, but I would like to see this festival in the future make better use of our most wonderful natural asset -- the beach. Make these music people get some sand in their socks and see firsthand what makes SPI such a special place to perform and listen to great music.
See a small photostream of festival shots here.
The music festival was incredible. Kudos to the town and the promo company who pulled this thing off. Many thanks to the local businesses that supported it on so many levels. Muchos gracias to the powers that be for giving us the longest stretch of perfect days weatherwise I can recall in -- maybe years.
The island seemed busy - how much of that can be attributed to the music festival, I don’t know. Were there enough ticket sales for the festival to at least break even? I suspect not but have no way of knowing. Will we do it again next year? I sure hope so!!!
Here are my observations on what I found most appealing about this festival and how it could be made even better. While I was enthused about the level of talent placed on the big stages (at Louie’s & Schlitterbahn) - my favorite shows were at the smaller venues (Blackbeards & Wanna Wanna in particular - they are both really close to my backyard. And Pelican West turned out to be a great nighttime venue.) I thought the big stages were -- too big. The artist was too far away, the sound was muddy and too loud and many acts that performed on them did not draw enough spectators to warrant the space, making it hard to generate the crowd energy that separates a good show from a great one. I first caught Patrice Pike with her sister Joy Davis at ‘Beards and was blown away by her. Saw Patrice again with her band at Louie’s and... meh.
I dunno. Maybe it’s just me, but I would like to see this festival in the future make better use of our most wonderful natural asset -- the beach. Make these music people get some sand in their socks and see firsthand what makes SPI such a special place to perform and listen to great music.
See a small photostream of festival shots here.
posted by Lucinda at 9:59 AM
1 Comments:
I think the beach places like Wanna and Boomies would be fantastic - the folks who played at Wanna really loved it.
But right on the beach, that's a different thing involving control of wristbands, booze, and so forth. I love the concept myself and have thought about having two semi-trucks for a stage and third truck with auxiliary generator and some lights and gear - you could play anywhere on the beach.
Something tells me that's an uphill battle though - you can't kick people off a public beach if they don't have a freaking ticket. On the flats by the bayside, you can.
Let's think about it. The beach in front of the Sheraton has an almost perfect amphitheater design, and I'm sure more exist. See what I mean?
Garry Mauro told me one time that he didn't hire people to tell him what he couldn't do, but how to make it happen while following all the rules. /sam
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