Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Festivals flop

By Sarah Poulton

YOUNGSTOWN — After having a few days to reflect, event organizers are trying to figure out why their festivals flopped.

Saturday’s Mahoning River Bikes and Blues Blast topped out with 132 paid admissions, said Tom Weatherby of North Coast Promotions. The event, held in the Chevy Centre parking lot, was stopped almost three hours early, around 9 p.m., because Weatherby was losing more than $1,000 each hour, he said.

Two bands, Blues Devils and Jang-A-Lang, didn’t get to perform because their sets were scheduled for 10 p.m. and 10:40 p.m., respectively.

“It was my decision. They came and they wanted to perform,” Weatherby said. “I had an empty stage; they weren’t expected to be there [yet]. It cost me an incredible amount of money to keep the staff there and keep them running. I just decided it was time to stop the bleeding. I lost in the vicinity of $10,000.”

Since Blues Devils and Jang-A-Lang didn’t perform, they were not eligible to qualify to go to the International Blues Challenge in Memphis. This year’s winners were The FX Project and JK Blues, and both bands will be competing at the IBC in early 2009.

“It is the largest blues event in the world,” Weatherby said. “To play Beale Street in Memphis is like Nashville is for a country singer.”

Weatherby said Jang-A-Lang won the local qualifier in both 2005 and 2006, and competed in Memphis. Last year’s winners, Willie Phoenix and Christine Jackson also competed in Memphis.

Weatherby said the heat may have been a factor in the poor attendance. Also, someone mentioned to him that the $10 cover charge was a lot to ask, but Weatherby said he had 13 “top notch” bands scheduled and didn’t think the admission fee was bad.

During the planning and execution of the event, he was working with some of the area’s top promoters, he said, declining to mention names, and they were all sure they had their bases covered.

“I just can’t get this out of my head, but back in the ‘70s, there was some sort of public service announcement that was ‘what if you threw a party and nobody came?’ It just happens sometimes," Weatherby said. “We tried to make sure all the i’s were dotted and the t’s were crossed.”

Valley24.com archives show that last year’s Mahoning River Blues Fest drew more than 1,000 people over two days at the B&O Station. Weatherby noted that while this year he had a lot of print and radio promotion, he promoted less on the Internet, including on MySpace. He also planned a poker run to benefit local missions, but it was cancelled at the last minute because of insurance issues.

Weatherby said he thought expanding the event to include motorcycles, complete with multiple performances by the Starboyz would draw a bigger crowd, but said in hindsight, a small event— four or five bands at a local bar­­— may be a better idea in the future.

“I didn’t have that bad of a time, but I knew it was pretty much over with, and it hurt,” Weatherby said. “I’ve lost money every year on the Blues Fest, but came back every year and made it bigger and better because I believe in the event, Youngstown and the Valley. But this year, it fell apart. The people who were there enjoyed a great show. I’ve had nothing but compliments about the show.”

Another festival that same day attracted a larger audience, but event organizers were still disappointed by the attendance.

Jim Villani, owner of Pig Iron Press, said their Community Street Festival’s attendance was consistent with their festival they held two years ago, about 1,500 people, but it was less than they hoped for.

He said this year’s festival had much more publicity and a bigger show. ­

“Everybody had a wonderful time, but attendance was not good,” Villani said. “I’ve been going through my head about what went wrong.”

Villani said his suspicions boil down to the high price of fuel. He said festivals such as his and Weatherby’s will be taking a beating for a while because travel and entertainment are one of the first things to go when you cut back on expenses.

“It’s not the event, it’s getting to it,” Villani said. “We were going for a mature adult and a family audience and that meant people coming from elsewhere.”

Villani said it is too early to tell whether they will hold a similar event next year, but he is not ruling it out.