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Editor's note: My Ex-Boyfriend's Band is a reoccurring column that features the opinions and insight of the author, not necessarily reflective of the Ist network as a whole. Thank you for reading!
For the times they are a-changin'. And the music festivals are a-changin' with them. Even Dylan, who declined to take the stage at Woodstock in 1969, evolved into the 2007 Austin City Limits headliner. With SXSW, Fun Fun Fun and the C3 headquarters, our little Texas town has emerged as the leader in modern music fests.
The Plug cartel agrees. The tastemakers and shakers in charge of the independent music awards tapped ACL, SXSW and Fun Fun Fun for the Festival of the Year category. More impressive than the volume and quality of our festivals is their diversity. Each one is based on a unique mission and distinct model. They don’t just survive, they thrive, they flourish, they make Austin a true music destination.
Things look a little different on the national stage. Vineland Music Festival will make its debut in summer 2008. A joint production with Glastonbury genius Melvin Benn, the New Jersey event will join Lollapalooza and ACL as C3's third three-day festival. Apparently the rural setting will give this one a uniquely European campy feel, though that sounds a lot like Bonaroo.
For that matter, it sounds a lot like ACL Fest and Lollapalooza. The only major difference between these events will be location. Coachella for the West Coast, Lolla for Midwesterners, ACL in the Republic of Texas, Bonaroo below the Mason Dixon, and now Vineland on the East Coast. Almost every fan with festival money to spend can now do so with maximum convenience.
And there is nothing wrong with that. The beauty of national festivals is that they are for all fans, not just the geeks and freaks variety drawn to Pitchfork and Fun Fun Fun. Big festivals can afford the big names that make it on MTV. The majority of music lovers get their daily fix through pop radio. Though it is bordering on blasphemy to admit it, they deserve the chance to see their favorite artists ripping it up on stage.
Mass media music is a commodity and massive music fests are an industry. The nearly half a million hippies that flocked to Woodstock were participating in a counter-cultural movement, but the crowd of 65,000 at ACL wanted to be entertained. It makes sense to offer a new event like Vineland for fans that are geographically excluded from the current big four. If festivals don’t have a societal or political purpose, why sacrifice convenience for community?
Austin festivals are so special because they do preserve this flavor from the past. Our events each revolve around a specific community. SXSW, ACL and Fun Fun Fun were created for the industry professionals, the everyday fan and the obsessive fanatics respectively. Their collective individuality is what keeps Austin on the cutting edge. So you should not feel so all alone. Everybody must get stoned.
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