I agree with Mike and Tom. Perhaps someone could tell me: How does the festival in it's current incarnation reflect/celebrate the city and culture it is/was supposed to represent?
If the current idea is just to fill up the place, then these bookings make plenty of sense. If they are actually trying to be "true to the spirit" for lack of a better phrase, then this is a cruel joke. This is an important distinction. I think a lot of people on the list would be much happier with a smaller festival of good music, building on a reputation of quality, than a capacity crowd of fluff acts. That's obviously not what's happening, though, as we've been seeing over the last few years. The idea that this festival should be "bringing in more people" as a bottom line, is really problematic. I think it's a terrible idea to appeal to the lowest common denominator musically. This isn't trance-cracker raver fest, it's DEMF. There is no lack of alternative music festivals featuring a wide range of -other- electronic music. If people are upset, it's because this thing looks more run-of-the-mill every single year. And I'm not saying this should be 'techno only;' I've heard exceptional live house, jazz, freestyle rappers in impromptu circles, the whole spectrum over the years in the plaza. What I see lately are generic tents filled with flavor of the month artists and flavor of the month styles. I don't think anyone can make a valid case that the quality has gone UP year after year. If you disagree I'd love to hear so, but please keep it civil. -Arturo p.s. Sorry if this starts a new thread, working out email kinks at work...
