Before we forget, welcome to the Magic City Question, the newest addition to The Terminal. We figured we’d get started with a simple question - really a request for more answers. Yesterday’s announcement of a new booking agent for the city’s largest music festival may give folks some new hope. This does not necessarily mean that we can land big acts, nor that we may want to.
Who do you want to see at City Stages 20?
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4 responses so far ↓
1 Dystopos // Nov 19, 2007 at 11:35 pm
Some ideas:
1. Quantity isn’t necessarily quality. If people know they’ll have a great time camped out in the shade for a full day of singer-songwriters, high-caliber jazz, entertaining kids acts, solid chamber groups, or satisfying gospel choirs, then they’ll buy the ticket. If the only draw is one big-shot guaranteed to draw a huge crowd of teenagers and the rest of the weekend is a bunch of retreads, they’ll skip it.
2. Speaking of quality, there’s no reason we couldn’t put together a few stages with a serious slate of talent outside the “classic rock/r&b/modern rock/top 40 country” formats that command the big fees. If City Stages had a world-class blues stage, there’s a market that would fly here from Brussels or Seattle to experience it. It might not be a huge market, but if you put out a quality product, it will be a growing market with a lot of influence.
3. I’d also like to see more “mash-ups” that aren’t just another stop on the tour. The idea of putting Taylor Hicks on stage with Snoop Dogg wasn’t that rewarding, but it generated a lot of buzz. Among die-hard fans of either act, the set became a “must see/must hear” and was widely distributed on the internet. For some, it gave City Stages and Birmingham some recognition and credibility that would otherwise be lacking.
4. If City Stages finds these kinds of ways to generate excitement without breaking the booking budget, and can reduce the scale of the festival some, then why not drop the ticket prices as a show of faith? As recently as 1996 the weekend pass was $20. Now it’s $50 with lesser talent on stage. The cost has turned off a lot of locals who need to feel good about the event. If you have to, work with the hotels so that out of town jetsetters pay premium while Food-World shoppers get a sweet deal by collecting yellow receipts or something.
5. If you do want a couple of big-name, super acts, consider doing like jazzfest does and holding a special concert at the BJCC at extra cost. You get the cross-marketing and the regional draw without sacrificing the festival atmosphere downtown.
2 christina // Nov 20, 2007 at 2:48 am
Voxtrot. Rogue Wave. Nada Surf. Sea Wolf. Really anyone and everyone that plays on Sirius channels Left of Center and Alt Nation. Let’s see some real up-and -omers before they get so big you can’t afford their tickets. Then you can say … “oh, that band. I saw them at City Stages. It’s a really great fest to see the next big thing.”
3 Julie // Nov 21, 2007 at 11:32 pm
We do need some up and comers. but there are old faves that are still big draws: Willy Nelson, Todd Snider, BNL. I’d like to see a world music stage- with all sorts of world music. This type of act is probably reasonably priced, and will be a draw for lots of people. I would love to see a gospel stage (or Christian music stage) back at FirstChurch….
4 Curtis // Dec 13, 2007 at 10:26 pm
Taylor Hicks (again), home-grown Michael Warren, Lenny Kravitz, the Go-Go’s, German rockers Die Happy for some international flavor, Crowded House, and while I’m dreaming… Carlos Santana.
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