LAST WEEK MusicfestNW officially announced a drastic overhaul for 2014’s upcoming festival. In 2013, the Portland music festival was spread out across 16 venues throughout town, with roughly 170 bands performing over six days. This year’s event will be a two-day affair at Tom McCall Waterfront Park featuring 18 bands, to take place during the weekend of August 16-17. We talked to MFNW’s executive director, Trevor Solomon, about the significant changes.
MERCURY: Was it your decision to move MusicfestNW to the Waterfront this year?
TREVOR SOLOMON: It was a group decision. There’s a team that works on the festival, and it’s something that we had internally discussed over the years, because the Waterfront is such a beautiful part of Portland. The opportunity became available this year via the city, and it was perfect timing. There were some issues with Pioneer Courthouse Square last year—doing the shows there didn’t work as well as we had hoped.
Were neighbor complaints the crux of the issue?
Yeah. Neighbor complaints, and sound issues. Last year, it just felt like we had capacity issues, and people standing in line, and the wristbands were an issue. It’s interesting. I know people are complaining online now that we’re switching the festival. I see it. I read the Facebook, but I also have read the emails for years: “I bought a wristband and I can’t get into my favorite show.” I know what frustrates people, and I knew that it was a huge frustration for years and that I needed to fix it. When this presented itself, I thought it was a good thing. Yes, we’re going to be like a lot of other festivals in a lot of other cities, but Portland doesn’t have a festival like this. We have Pickathon, which is cool, but that has camping; it’s not an urban festival (not that I’m trying to tell Pickathon what they are). So I thought this was a good thing for Portland, and a way to try something new.
Was there a financial impetus to make the change?
It was tough, because on the financial level, I think we did fine. It was something that we were continuing to try to do—we weren’t making money doing it, but there was a passion to it and we were trying our best. But I don’t think it was really financially based. I really think it was the model of what it was wasn’t working, and we needed to try something new.
Is there an opportunity for more of a profit margin with this condensed setup?
Sure. We’re going to one space. There are opportunities, sure—but there are also opportunities for disaster. It goes either way.
The Oregonian reported there will be 18 bands this year. Is that what you’re looking at now?
Absolutely. Nine bands a day. No overlap.
And there was some talk of afterparties?
Yeah. Nothing’s set in stone. We have sponsors that we’re talking to—Nike and Heineken have been discussed. We might do a couple secret shows, we might not. It really, honestly, is so up in the air right now that nothing has been set in stone.
Are you booking bands that will appeal to a broader crowd?
Looking at the lineup that I’m trying to wrap my head around, I think it’s going to appeal to a vast array of people in this town. You can’t make everybody happy, but I do feel like it’s going to have a good audience and we’ll have some buzzy bands. And we’ll try to have some local bands, also. It’s not easy with 18 bands, but we’ll do our best.
Knowing you personally, you’ve always booked MFNW based on your own tastes, in addition to having a well-rounded festival. Will you have to set your favorite bands by the wayside this year?
No. I feel pretty good about it. I’m able to enjoy booking this without making it feel like a job. I have to appeal to what people are gonna like, and yeah, there are some things I probably won’t book that I’ll be really kicking myself about that I wish I could, and in previous years I probably would have. I don’t know how much punk rock we’re going to have, and I don’t know if I’m going to book Against Me!, but that’s my favorite record right now. And it’s somewhat of a bummer. But we had them in 2012. So I think the first year it’s gonna be rough, but throughout time it will figure itself out.
It also sounds like this will be an all-inclusive festival, with food carts?
Yeah. We’re trying to make it an experience. We want people to show up and have an experience of Portland. Maybe that’s food carts, maybe it’s coffee, or whatever. There are a lot of things within the city that people are interested in. And we have a huge space to cover.
What part of the park will it take place in?
In between Morrison and Hawthorne.
Will there be a stage on the south end and one on the north end?
Most likely. We’re still figuring out the exact logistics. I like what Blues Fest does [in the south bowl], but logistically it was a little bit easier for us to be in the space we’re in now.
Was there any talk of changing the name?
No, that never came up. This probably speaks more to Mark and Richard, the owners of the paper [Willamette Week, which runs MFNW], because they owned the festival back when it was North by Northwest, and before I ever came along it became MusicfestNW. The name is something that they believe in. It’s just a bit of a change, but they’re proud of what they’ve done and they want to continue.
How will TechfestNW be incorporated into it?
Techfest will be the same weekend. How it’s incorporated is to be determined. We’re gonna try to find ways, maybe it’s a band that will cross over, or a speaker at Techfest who will speak to the people who want to go to Musicfest as well. We’re still figuring it out.
Are any of the venues upset about the change?
Remarkably, no. I think some are disappointed. I think some are realistic when I’ve explained it to them… We’ve been doing this for years with them, and it’s been a huge success. To be bummed is cool. To be pissed would be a little… I hope that they would realize we’ve made an effort for a long time to do this. For the most part, everybody was pretty cool. We told them late December, early January. And we decided that we were going to wait a little bit to announce it publicly.
What contributed to the decision to change the dates from early September to mid-August?
Those were the days that were available at the Waterfront. And why not do it in the middle of the summer? We had some rain last year, and these are the dates that are available. And now I won’t be affected by the first week of football. I get to watch the first Dolphins game. I haven’t done that in years.
I’ll tell you why you shouldn’t do it in the middle of summer: despite our reputation for rain, the middle of August is hot. It’s why I gave up going to The Bite for many years, and now make it a point to attend in the evening only.
Also, what made the festival special was the fact that it wasn’t the same as what other cities have. Who cares if Portland didn’t have a Coachella or Bumbershoot? I was always proud of the fact that we bucked that trend. Plus, you’re reducing the number of bands by 90%. Part of the fun of MFNW was trying to figure out how to squeeze in the bands you wanted, and if you missed a show, all you had to do was go to another that – chances are – would be just as good. I’m guessing there’s about a 0% chance Holcombe Waller, for instance, is going to be one of those 18 featured acts – and that’s the problem. Don’t focus on what we can hear on the radio. Give us something new, different, unexpected, and (especially) LOCAL.
I’m passionate about music and the local northwest scene, and think this is a step in the wrong direction.
This sucks all around, but if they have another year where the only beer you can get is fucking Heineken or Bass, it’s over!
@Mark
MFNW was almost an exact replica of SXSW. Not exactly an original idea. Notice the original name was NXNW? That’s because the folks in Austin were trying to recreate what they did down there up here. They pulled out and the WWeek stepped up to continue it. The only difference between then and now is you can’t get into any of the good shows with a wristband unless you stand in line for hours to do so and even that isn’t a guarantee.
Austin also used Keep Austin Weird first so there’s that too. You are not a delicate snowflake.
This is terrible news. This is going to homogenize the experience. The best part of MFNW, beyond trying to cram all the bands I wanted to see — often making it to different venues to catch parts of 3 or 4 bands playing during the same time slot — was seeing bands in venue-appropriate settings.
What I mean by that if a band the size of The Pixies or Portishead are playing, that would be at the Roseland or the Crystal, but if Team Dresh or Bleached are playing, it’ll be at Backspace or Dantes and if The Pains of Being Pure at Heart or Allo Darlin’ are playing, then it’d be at the Doug or Mississippi Studios. I don’t want to have to fight hordes while paying for overpriced festival beer, and be stuck seeing some alt-folk Americana group that I have no interest in, or worse, seeing some band I love and would mesmerize a reasonably-sized club play to a few people in front of the stage while the swirling mass of people just there to take part in some kind of event spectacle talk over the music because the band playing isn’t one of the big headliners that everyone’s heard on the radio. There are enough places to hear bands on the radio. There’s far more exciting things happening in music than what’s on the radio. Yeah, MFNF would bring in radio bands like Beirut and Portugal the Man, but you’d also get to see Hausu and Vice Device.
This was the best music festival in the country, because it took place all over the city, had bands of all size, yet wasn’t so massive that people from all over descended en masse onto the city, and that going to all the events you wanted to go to became impossible, such as with SXSW. I remember when this was NXNW, and even though the focus was more on local music then, I was open to the more mainstream changes that the change to MFNW entailed. This new festival-approach, however, is a catastrophic mistake. What it does do is make PDX POP NOW the best festival in Portland. BRING MFNW BACK!
@Michael
I’m interested in what festival you’ve been attending for the last few years? As far as I remember over the last 4-5 years a wristband was worthless as you had to wait in line for hours to get into the show you wanted (mostly you didn’t get in) and it was a giant waste of money for anyone without the gold pass (or whatever they called it) or a press pass. Not exactly the best festival in the country.
MFNW had its time. It was really great the first few years. It was awesome walking across from Dantes seeing The Thermals to see The Decemberists wrap the whole thing up and not having to worry about lines without a press pass. Now it just sucks. As a regular joe I won’t go because it will probably be insanely overpriced but its better than wasted $40 on a wristband that means I get to stand in line for a weekend and not see much of anything worth seeing.
@BlackedOut
I don’t think that’s a good faith question, but I’ll answer as if it were, in case I’m mistaken.
The MFNW festivals I’ve been going to for the last 4-5 years I’ve not had problems with. They’ve been well-curated and organized, so the type of music I’m most drawn to (indiepop, post-punk, garage, C-86, shoegaze etc.,) all tend to be at the same venue or nearby, with infrequent exception. If a band is more “big ticket” than the venue, I know to get there early (e.g., Ty Segall when he played Dante’s, where there was a line around the block. He wasn’t playing his best stuff, so I left a few songs in to give some other people a chance and to head to another show I wanted to see. That said, the bands on before him were all bands I was very glad to see.). As a result, I’ve *never* been locked out of a MFNF show that I wanted to see, and I’ve seen a *lot* of MFNW (and NXNW) shows.
You claim that your experience is indicative of everyone else’s experience and I say heartily, “No it is not!”. You then use your anecdotal evidence as if it were some sort of universal proof to refute my enthusiasm for the event, saying, “not exactly the best festival in the country”, as if that somehow lays it to rest. It does not.
I have written about music for many years in many different cities. I’ve been to big festivals and small festivals and everything in between, and other than some of the tiny niche genre festivals that cater to specific types of music nerds like myself (and are attended by 200 people tops) Musicfest NW was my favorite music event. Several (though not all) of my peers agree.
I got the same bracelet everyone else did and I didn’t receive any special treatment at MFNW, and I never missed a show that I wanted to see. In addition, unlike just about any other festival I’ve been to, at MFNW, I’ve gotten to see bands that I haven’t heard of before blow me away (like Bleeding Rainbow this most recent MFNW), bands that I had given up on impress me live (The Thermals, Moon Duo) and bands that I’d never thought I’d see again (Team Dresch, Hazel). There’s something special about those early September evenings, as everyone is making their way through the city, figuring out what their day’s musical “Choose Your Own Adventure” is gonna be. This is going to be replaced by a saccharine festival in a dull location, where familiarity has bred contempt.
The entire city was the venue for MFNW. Now it will be at the same uninspired location as the Blues Festival and the Rose Festival, in the sweltering dog days of August where spectacle will trump music.
From 118 bands to 18? No. Just…no.
For me, I enjoyed the walking from one venue to the next, making my list of places and trying o see as many as possible, never had an issue with being turned away or waiting in line! I went to 12 events in one day thanks to the early shows (which you needed to do more of!) the only problem for me was most of the shows started at the same time, you could have booked some of the lesser acts earlier in the evening or later so more could be seen and the venues could make a little more money through out the day! that said I will be avoiding this festival this year and every year this format persists! I have been going for 4 years and won’t be for a fifth! Too bad because overall I enjoyed the eclectic group of bands presented, now with only 18 to choose it is becoming a pop radio station that only plays a dozen popular songs over &
over & over…….
So sad – another item that made Portland…Portland goes by the wayside. I went to this festival religiously every year, taking off of work Thursday and Friday, going to the free daytime shows and listening to every band in the festival that I could find online at Bandcamp, Reverbnation, YouTube… starting in June. I compared notes with all of my friends attending the festival during the summer determining what bands we found interesting from listening to them online and kept honing our schedules week by week. As conflicts arose from bands with conflicting schedules, I veered towards out of town bands, but I put the local bands that I missed into my schedule for the next year whenever they played – I stored up a year of future shows to see. I may be unusual but I am not alone – the Portland music scene will suffer as people will not find interesting bands (to the specific individual) that they never would have searched out otherwise and individually commit to seeing newer bands they may never have heard of. I had also learned the tricks many years ago of showing up to the most popular shows by the beginning of the band on at least 1 show before and defined my schedule based on that knowledge – I never did not get into a band that I planned my schedule for. I have no interest in the proposed format – I need to put away time to search out new Portland bands – when there was a schedule, time was necessarily committed…
Ken
I actually like the changes. I will now almost definitely go to the Fest, and I never wanted to because of the reputation for lines, not getting in even with a wristband, and too much overlap. I made some comments about it in my blog if anyone is interested. I also have a prediction of who I think they’ll choose in the lineup. Here’s the link:
http://robinsmusicportal.wordpress.com/2014/02/20/local-spotlight-music-fest-nw-booking-predictions/
Nope, I don’t give a shit about early-2000s college rock bands phoning it in for the grown children-of-boomers. Christ, branch out a little, somewhere, anywhere, in the ten years you’ve been spinning your cultural wheels since losing your virginity to the sound of OK Computer at age 23.5.
MFNW will always be a snoozefest. Now it’s just refactored for the boring new generation– call it a changing of the guard. You old square idiots thought going to see the guy from Animal Collective pass wet farts onto a microphone at Dante’s was cool? Well now your little brother can hear him man-queef on the waterfront just like at Coachella 2002. You can tell him all your MFNW “war stories”– like waiting in line for an IPA and totally making eye contact with Lou Barlow. Wow!!
No big loss, I’ll be ignoring / avoiding MFNW per usual. Though I do enjoy seeing all you weekend warriors piss your pants about the format change. That’s precious. I suggest you read the writing on the wall and buy a lifetime pass for Edgefield before they run out of shitty microbrews and bro-golf.
Lame. Portland continues its death spiral into mediocrity.