AmeriServ Flood City Music Festival
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dayzichick
- Gold Member
- Posts: 151
- Joined: Saturday Dec 14, 2002
- Location: Johnstown
AmeriServ Flood City Music Festival
Did anyone attend the festival this year, I know I saw JP there, Duane and a few others . . .what did everyone think of the festival as a whole. I work for AmeriServ and I know there was controversy surrounding the name change, date change etc. Just wondering what everyone else thinks now that it's over. I know I had a great time!
Ribbon Grass
The Future's uncertain and The End is always near.
The Future's uncertain and The End is always near.
I think the date change was a very wise move because there were 7 different festivals within a small geographic region all competing previously over Labor Day weekend and they were all suffering because the crowds could not be everywhere nor do they have money to spend everywhere. I am closely connected with several of the area festival directors and they all thought this was a great move to also free up more people to attend the other festivals over the holiday weekend.
The new name change "Flood City Music Festival" provides a better reflection of the festival image and music than having just a "folk" music connotation.
While the overall festival area was slightly smaller than in recent years, all the stages and vendors were within a very short and convenient walking distance. I spoke to one of the festival executives and he said they are going to make some major positive and permanent improvements to the festival park and event in the years to come.
The only negative comment I heard at all was that the Train Station stage should have been covered and under a tent as in past years just in case of rain and to shade people in the afternoon. That would be easy to do again next year.
It takes much work to do a festival of this size and the festival committee did a job well done once again. The region needs to support this type of live music event to keep it in Johnstown in the future.
I look forward to the festival every year and had a great time yesterday.
Duaine Detrick
The new name change "Flood City Music Festival" provides a better reflection of the festival image and music than having just a "folk" music connotation.
While the overall festival area was slightly smaller than in recent years, all the stages and vendors were within a very short and convenient walking distance. I spoke to one of the festival executives and he said they are going to make some major positive and permanent improvements to the festival park and event in the years to come.
The only negative comment I heard at all was that the Train Station stage should have been covered and under a tent as in past years just in case of rain and to shade people in the afternoon. That would be easy to do again next year.
It takes much work to do a festival of this size and the festival committee did a job well done once again. The region needs to support this type of live music event to keep it in Johnstown in the future.
I look forward to the festival every year and had a great time yesterday.
Duaine Detrick
I enjoyed it, especially Sunday. Just about every performer I saw on Sunday was great, especially Ruthie Foster, Bill Kirchen and the Derek Trucks Band.
I thought the attendance wasn't the greatest, but I sort of expected it given the circumstances. I figured a lot of people who were used to Folkfest being free admission before wouldn't be cool with the idea of now paying a donation to get in the gate. But if you think about it, a lot of large caliber music festivals nationwide charge admission, whether it be something huge-scale like Bonaroo or even regional bluegrass festivals. Area fans were fortunate that Folkfest was able to keep it free for as long as they did. When sponsorship money disappeared due to the economic downturn (especially Dodge), something had to be done to keep it going.
And although I sort of liked walking back and forth between the two festivals and hiking that footpath along the river, I like it better that I could concentrate on Flood City Music Festival this past weekend, and then be able to spend the whole Labor Day weekend at Cambria City Ethnic Festival.
One complaint I heard from one visitor I ran into from Warrior's Mark; he said there was little or no signage along the main roads (Route 219, Johnstown Expressway) indicating the Festival or how to get there. He wasn't all that familiar with driving around Johnstown, and had to ask directions to find his way there.
I'm sure the organizers will assess and tweak things between this year and next to make it better. This festival did seem to draw a lot of out-of-town interest (a lot of Pittsburgh folks, even some from the eastern part of the state, and one couple all the way from Australia), so as long as they provide quality-caliber entertainment and a marquee name or two, I think they can continue to grow it. I'm sure I'll be back next year.
I thought the attendance wasn't the greatest, but I sort of expected it given the circumstances. I figured a lot of people who were used to Folkfest being free admission before wouldn't be cool with the idea of now paying a donation to get in the gate. But if you think about it, a lot of large caliber music festivals nationwide charge admission, whether it be something huge-scale like Bonaroo or even regional bluegrass festivals. Area fans were fortunate that Folkfest was able to keep it free for as long as they did. When sponsorship money disappeared due to the economic downturn (especially Dodge), something had to be done to keep it going.
And although I sort of liked walking back and forth between the two festivals and hiking that footpath along the river, I like it better that I could concentrate on Flood City Music Festival this past weekend, and then be able to spend the whole Labor Day weekend at Cambria City Ethnic Festival.
One complaint I heard from one visitor I ran into from Warrior's Mark; he said there was little or no signage along the main roads (Route 219, Johnstown Expressway) indicating the Festival or how to get there. He wasn't all that familiar with driving around Johnstown, and had to ask directions to find his way there.
I'm sure the organizers will assess and tweak things between this year and next to make it better. This festival did seem to draw a lot of out-of-town interest (a lot of Pittsburgh folks, even some from the eastern part of the state, and one couple all the way from Australia), so as long as they provide quality-caliber entertainment and a marquee name or two, I think they can continue to grow it. I'm sure I'll be back next year.
Maybe I'm a holdout, bitter or othwerwise, but I think the festival has continually deteriorated since moving it to "Festival Park."
There is a video on the Tribune Democrate website:
http://www.tribune-democrat.com/local/l ... 30524.html
They talk about improvements to the festival including better sound, stages, and a more professional festival. I noticed zero improvements. What I did notice was a smaller festival, with very poor attendance, and food vendors with similar signs from the sole consessionare Mom's Consessions of NJ. No local food, served by Volunteers. Why are we letting some food company out of NJ make money off of our festival while using local volunteer labor to serve food??? That's B.S.
The sound quality of the speaker systems used is just horendous. Anyone who knows anything about sound reinforcement just has to chuckle at how things are done there. The stages are small, and not what I would consider professional quality either. The lighting is paltry.
Full disclosure, I have in the past *tried* to bid to do sound for the festival but was not allowed to do so. Call me bitter, but I no longer care to provide sound for a festival that has so carelessly let it's image and quality decline as this one has. I can remember some amazing folk fest performances when the festival was over in Cambria City and great sound.
IIRC, the sound providers back then were out of Pittsburgh. The sad thing is we not only have some local sound guys in Johnstown, but some from Altoona, Tyrone, and State College area that are more than capable of providing quality sound for these stages.
If they really want to grow the festival to be competative with the likes of Bonaroo, Rothbury, South by Southwest, etc. they will need to bring their A game, and step up the production about 10 fold to attract big name acts.
There is a video on the Tribune Democrate website:
http://www.tribune-democrat.com/local/l ... 30524.html
They talk about improvements to the festival including better sound, stages, and a more professional festival. I noticed zero improvements. What I did notice was a smaller festival, with very poor attendance, and food vendors with similar signs from the sole consessionare Mom's Consessions of NJ. No local food, served by Volunteers. Why are we letting some food company out of NJ make money off of our festival while using local volunteer labor to serve food??? That's B.S.
The sound quality of the speaker systems used is just horendous. Anyone who knows anything about sound reinforcement just has to chuckle at how things are done there. The stages are small, and not what I would consider professional quality either. The lighting is paltry.
Full disclosure, I have in the past *tried* to bid to do sound for the festival but was not allowed to do so. Call me bitter, but I no longer care to provide sound for a festival that has so carelessly let it's image and quality decline as this one has. I can remember some amazing folk fest performances when the festival was over in Cambria City and great sound.
IIRC, the sound providers back then were out of Pittsburgh. The sad thing is we not only have some local sound guys in Johnstown, but some from Altoona, Tyrone, and State College area that are more than capable of providing quality sound for these stages.
If they really want to grow the festival to be competative with the likes of Bonaroo, Rothbury, South by Southwest, etc. they will need to bring their A game, and step up the production about 10 fold to attract big name acts.
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ZappasXWife
- Senior Member
- Posts: 1035
- Joined: Thursday Apr 10, 2003
- Location: Altoona
I do agree that the food concession situation could be handled a lot better. And I have heard the festival was 'better' (not sure what that meant) when held in Cambria City. But, I have to say, standing right in front of Derek Trucks last night blew my mind and the sound was simply fantastic. Also, with respect LHSL, I do not think Johnstown wants a Bonnaroo or South by Southwest in their town. I really don't think thats even the volume of people they want let alone the druggy problems that scene brings. Not saying I wouldn't jump at a chance to go to any of those festivals myself!
If music be the food of love, then play on...
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
Well I suggest you watch the video I linked to. Mr. Carnevali, the JAHA Music fest chairman says otherwise. I for one think that vision is a great thing, but poor decisions on the part of the rest of the festival put them a long way off from ever achieving even a fraction of the success for those festivals.ZappasXWife wrote:Also, with respect LHSL, I do not think Johnstown wants a Bonnaroo or South by Southwest in their town. I really don't think thats even the volume of people they want let alone the druggy problems that scene brings. Not saying I wouldn't jump at a chance to go to any of those festivals myself!
I think they should build a midsized outdoor, covered amphitheater down there (say 4-5000) seats and have concerts all summer. Something simalar to the pavilion at Star Lake without the lawn. It could also serve as a main stage for a big music festival once a year.
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dayzichick
- Gold Member
- Posts: 151
- Joined: Saturday Dec 14, 2002
- Location: Johnstown
Here's some things I noticed. Almost every musician I know was there so the festival is really finally about music more than ethnic, that's why they changed the name to Music Festival instead of FolkFest. I was there from 2:30-10:30 yesterday and I saw very very very few people eating so the vendors . . .I'd be surprised if they broke even. There was one small area called The Community Kitchen where you could get the homemade church food. I'm not sure how they did.
As far as sound, I thought the middle stage had the better sound guy. I'll agree the lighting was laughable and I thought Derek Trucks was not loud enough, the band as a whole. Once all of the people filled in, it was tough to hear at least from where I was standing. People talking were louder than the band and I thought they should have blown the roof off the place since they were the headliner and the last thing to see. We actually went backstage then and listened from there so we could hear.
I was initially against some of the changes but I do understand why they made them. I think they should have a stage just for local bands now because even though they have local music, it's an afterthought and they give the local people the worst spots in the schedule, like noon. People would argue you can see local bands anytime but you can't. Some people don't go to bars. But it's just like Thunder, pay too much for out of town acts and throw peanuts at the local people you hire. So the same thing for sound. They should at least take bids and give other people a chance. These big events in Johnstown do not cater to the locals. The music festival yesterday markets outside of Johnstown to give people a reason to come here and spend money and that's great if you look at it that way. When they interviewed all the out of towners they thought it was great. But really Thunder or the Music Festival do nothing for the people that live here. That's sort of the way I see it. Although I will say again I had a great time yesterday and Ruthie Foster was awesome! I did not buy a $10 gyro or consume any food from the vendors. The prices are just crazy for subpar food. We went to the Roxbury Bandshell and ate there and then went back to the music festival.
As far as sound, I thought the middle stage had the better sound guy. I'll agree the lighting was laughable and I thought Derek Trucks was not loud enough, the band as a whole. Once all of the people filled in, it was tough to hear at least from where I was standing. People talking were louder than the band and I thought they should have blown the roof off the place since they were the headliner and the last thing to see. We actually went backstage then and listened from there so we could hear.
I was initially against some of the changes but I do understand why they made them. I think they should have a stage just for local bands now because even though they have local music, it's an afterthought and they give the local people the worst spots in the schedule, like noon. People would argue you can see local bands anytime but you can't. Some people don't go to bars. But it's just like Thunder, pay too much for out of town acts and throw peanuts at the local people you hire. So the same thing for sound. They should at least take bids and give other people a chance. These big events in Johnstown do not cater to the locals. The music festival yesterday markets outside of Johnstown to give people a reason to come here and spend money and that's great if you look at it that way. When they interviewed all the out of towners they thought it was great. But really Thunder or the Music Festival do nothing for the people that live here. That's sort of the way I see it. Although I will say again I had a great time yesterday and Ruthie Foster was awesome! I did not buy a $10 gyro or consume any food from the vendors. The prices are just crazy for subpar food. We went to the Roxbury Bandshell and ate there and then went back to the music festival.
Ribbon Grass
The Future's uncertain and The End is always near.
The Future's uncertain and The End is always near.
Terri,dayzichick wrote:I think they should have a stage just for local bands now because even though they have local music, it's an afterthought and they give the local people the worst spots in the schedule, like noon. People would argue you can see local bands anytime but you can't. Some people don't go to bars. But it's just like Thunder, pay too much for out of town acts and throw peanuts at the local people you hire.
I totally agree with you and I have been saying for many years that the festival should have a 4th stage dedicated to featuring and highlighting the many very talented musicians within the region. I know that would attrract many local people to go and support the bands in the area. It would give people from inside and outside the region a chance to see how many great bands are located here. It would also add a local flavor to the event especially since it is now called the Flood City Music Festival but there were not many musicians from the flood city performing there.
My band does quite a few festivals and we see a large amount of people who will never come see us in a bar but come to the festivals.