Austin Music Source

By Echo

July 7, 2008 3:37 PM | Link to this

Will’s a former Longhorn football player, which helped get him interviewed and promoting the festival on at least one local TV station, so there was some publicity there. Sounds like he had a tough time with this show, though.

By chirp chirp chirp

July 7, 2008 7:11 PM | Link to this

We went in at 2pm to see Gary Clark Jr and found out he had canceled. Then we heard there was no beer, then we heard South Austin Jug Band canceled. Then we laughed and then we left. Oh and they said we could come in or out and all we needed was the “E” they drew with a bic pen on our wrist. Which anyone could have done on their own had anyone actually wanted to get in…Should have save our money for the Bush Retirement Party at Austin Music Hall. www.bushretires.com

By Thedude Willwin

July 7, 2008 7:30 PM | Link to this

ROTFL. Stick to football Will.

By Sarah Douglas

July 7, 2008 7:52 PM | Link to this

Will has a rep for not paying the bands. Stay away.

By Tom

July 7, 2008 9:06 PM | Link to this

I would liberally estimate total attendance at about 200. High points:

10:30 AM - Folks handling the band entrance do not seem to know which stage is which, and what the actual set times are, due to some “last minute changes”

12:00 PM - None of the bands had any water. Someone had been dispatched to a grocery store to get some (at least that was the word)

12:30 PM - No beer is in site. A passing fan mentions that they “heard it was BYOB”

01:00 PM - Park still empty.

Addressing the publicity concerns….there was little to no publicity done appropriately for this show. Ticket prices were too high and not enough planning was put into the event to make it even remotely successful - if folks HAD showed up, I doubt they would have had the staff or equipment to deal with them.

All in all it was a waste of time for every band involved and every fan who spent good money for what they thought was a day of fun.

By joeshmoe

July 8, 2008 1:58 AM | Link to this

planning a music festival the day after 4th of july = bad idea

we’re all saving up for our acl 3 day passes, since we know it keeps getting more expensive. beisdes the poor timing, its a shame, but local austinites don’t want to come out and support a bunch of local bands if its going to cost them more then $10. why do you think acl books so little local bands?

By Sosa

July 8, 2008 8:24 AM | Link to this

Hey Will, stick to football.

By john

July 8, 2008 8:32 AM | Link to this

This show had trainwreck written all over it, starting with the total lack of publicity for the festival. Did they even bother to place ads detailing the lineup in the local papers in the weeks leading up to the event? Getting a smattering of press 2 days beforehand isn’t going to cut it.

By Ana

July 8, 2008 8:40 AM | Link to this

Aside from some blog/web promotion I didn’t hear anything about this festival. No radio ads, no TV spots. Seems like it suffered from lack of promotion.

By Waterloo Walt

July 8, 2008 10:33 AM | Link to this

Red Courtesy phone for Will Matthews. Please pick up the red courtesy phone.

Message: Everyone would still like to be paid.

Thank you.

www.yourcareerasaconcertpromotorhascometoanend.com

By Waterloo Walt

July 8, 2008 12:35 PM | Link to this

Can someone please post some setlists?

By Lefton Lunar

July 8, 2008 3:10 PM | Link to this

Will was told to push the show by the originally contracted production firm that knew the financial situation and lack of promotion would spell disaster. After agreeing to push the show until later in the year, he all but ignored the advice and began trying to find artists, sound, lighting, and stage vendors a la carte who would not require advance deposits. Somehow he did and the rest is history. He grossly exaggerated the number of tickets pre-sold through Frontgate to get some of these people on board. He was warned again one week prior to the event, pleaded with, not to follow through with the current plan. He refused to consider it. Bands and vendors were then called and warned. No one listened. This failure was a team effort.

By Lara

July 9, 2008 12:35 AM | Link to this

Someone was handing out flyers about this festival to people that were leaving Auditorium Shores after the fireworks on Friday. We actually thought about going - it looked cool - but now that I hear this, I’m glad that we were so tired after Friday’s festivities that we ending up not making it out there to Waterloo. This just sounds like a mess.

By Mike

July 9, 2008 12:52 PM | Link to this

Will was on 6th street numerous nights passing out fliers. You know it’s a bad sign when the festival organizer himself is downtown on a Wednesday night passing out fliers.

This event had disaster written on it from the start. Why he didnt cancel this entire event when the presale numbers were so low completely blows my mind.

Tom made an excellent point in noting that even if walk-up sales had been high, the event did not have the staff or concessions to handle any sort of crowd.

By Adrian

July 12, 2008 11:57 PM | Link to this

Oh… there was beer. The Shut Up and Sing guys were smart enough to bring plenty for the bands that played on their stage. They even had bottle water and were giving it out freely. The best thing about the fest hands down. Good job guys.

By Jonathan D.

July 18, 2008 8:13 PM | Link to this

I completely agree with the comment above mine. The Shut Up & Sing guys were the only people involved with the showcase with any sort of organization: Will, give those guys a call for a few pointers.

The Exit Fest had great bands all around but I spent most of my day at the Shut Up & Sing stage. I was particularly impressed with the four-part harmonies of the Ricky Risch Jr. band, the unique sound of Shy One Horse, and the passionate performances of solo artists such as Douglas Jay Boyd, Aly Tadros, Sideshow Rob, etc…

With all of the talent on four stages, it’s a shame that more promotion and advertising wasn’t done to make this festival the success it could have been.