California gets another fest -- this one with Radiohead

If the summer festival market continues to grow at this rate, in 2009 there will be no tours, only three-day fests that cost $150 or so. The latest: The Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival in San Francisco Aug. 22-24.

The lineup: Only the three headliners have been officially announced thus far: Radiohead, Jack Johnson and Tom Petty. The official announcement is a bit disappointing, as the SF Weekly already broke the news of the headliners.

But five stages are planned, so expect a fest on the scale of Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival in Southern California, and expect plenty of overlap. Johnson, in fact, is essentially playing the festival circuit this summer, and just a few weeks prior to Outside Lands, on Aug. 8-10, Johnson and Radiohead will lead New Jersey's All Points West Festival in Liberty State Park in New Jersey.

Quick take: The influx of summer fests is turning destination events into local events, and quickly bringing the market to a saturation point. One start-up, the VIneland Festival from Lollapalooza promoters C3, has already been postponed, as its weekend conflicted with All Points West. Additionally, lineups are rife with overlap, making it more difficult for fans to see summer tours outside of a festival setting.

Outside Lands jumps into what was already a crowded market in 2007, as Coachella and Vegoose (Las Vegas) were marketed to California residents. But Vegoose is also promoted by Superfly, which is hosting Outside Lands with local promoters Another Planet Entertainment, and information on a 2008 edition has not been announced. If all three are to coexist, all three will need to develop their own identities in terms of artist bookings, and minimize artist overlap, as the fests will need to attract fans outside of their immediate market in order to survive.

Outside Lands, in fact, may bring a sudden, if momentary, halt to Coachella ticket sales, as fans will probably only be picking one summer fest. Additionally, Coachella lacks Radiohead and until the band announces its Los Angeles date, a portion of the band's fans may wait to see the full Outside Lands lineup.

As for Radiohead's Los Angeles show, it's widely expected the band will be playing the Hollywood Bowl since it has played the venue before. The Bowl has a pair of dates open a few days before the band is scheduled to be in San Francisco, but a spokesperson for the Bowl declined to comment. 

Photo: Los Angeles Times

Comments

[johndoom]

radiohead management is conflicted, the last greek shows had to many gate crashers, the hollywood bowl has promised to clamp down harder than the greek, but of course radiohead doesnt want to be seen as a corporate entity.
http://johnnydoom.blogspot.com/2008/02/critics-say-new-jack-johnson-album.html