Strider Posted March 15, 2013 Share Posted March 15, 2013 SXSW is happening, the weather is getting warmer and Spring is around the corner...and a young man's fancy turns to rock festivals. The Brits have a long-standing tradition of this... Glastonbury, Reading, Castle Donnington, et al have been happening for decades. But it's only been in the past decade that Americans have had their own festival circuit to follow. For years, there was only the Lollapalooza tour(inaugural tour in 1991) for a quality festival. With the Woodstock disaster of 1999, the good guys at Goldenvoice decided to start a more people-friendly festival and the Coachella Festival was born. A few fits and starts working out the bugs the first couple years regarding time of the year and other issues, but by 2002, it had already established itself as THE music event of the year in the U.S. Other promoters also saw how you could put on a good festival and make money. Bonnaroo was cooking and Perry Farrell resuscitated Lollapalooza, this time as a site-specific festival in Chicago. These three festivals - Coachella, Bonnaroo, and Lollapalooza - spread out through the Spring and Summer, now represent the tent poles of the music festival circuit, of which there are other smaller regional festivals dotted around the country. Coachella is now so huge that it runs two consecutive weekends...six days with the same line-up playing both weekends. Then, for the country/blue-grass/Americana fans, Stagecoach takes over the Polo Grounds the following weekend after Coachella ends. In fact, Coachella has gotten too big for me...I'd rather see many of these bands on their own in a smaller venue and most of the reunions smack of too little too late, if not outright desperation. The Stone Roses? Meh, maybe 10 or 15 years ago. Anyhoo, here is the link for info: http://www.coachella.com and here is the 2013 Coachella line-up: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Virginia Posted March 15, 2013 Share Posted March 15, 2013 This makes me feel really old; I am familiar with maybe 5-6 of those bands. Still think it would be great to develop a festival for the older Gen X/Baby Boomer generation. I'll help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strider Posted March 15, 2013 Author Share Posted March 15, 2013 This makes me feel really old; I am familiar with maybe 5-6 of those bands. Still think it would be great to develop a festival for the older Gen X/Baby Boomer generation. I'll help! Sorry to make you feel that way, Virginia. Don't they still have Woodstock reunions every 5 years or so, featuring acts from that era? I think there's a baby-boomer type fest that happens up in Topanga Canyon every so often, too, that features people from the 60s and 70s. I think most promoters see festivals as a younger-demographic crowd and don't think to cater to the older baby-boomers. You're probably right in that there is a vacuum in the market that isn't being filled. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badgeholder Posted March 16, 2013 Share Posted March 16, 2013 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Virginia Posted March 16, 2013 Share Posted March 16, 2013 Sorry to make you feel that way, Virginia. Don't they still have Woodstock reunions every 5 years or so, featuring acts from that era? I think there's a baby-boomer type fest that happens up in Topanga Canyon every so often, too, that features people from the 60s and 70s. I think most promoters see festivals as a younger-demographic crowd and don't think to cater to the older baby-boomers. You're probably right in that there is a vacuum in the market that isn't being filled. Oh no, I don't feel bad; it's just weird to no longer know who all the bands on the list are! I do think it's an untapped market though, with the potential for some very interesting corporate sponsorships! Since I'm volunteering my event planning skills, I'll make sure the 40s are represented too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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