“If you have time to whine and complain about something, then you have the time to do something about it.“ ~Anthony J. D’Angelo, The College Blue Book
Living by the old adage of “if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all” is a nice thought however, if we all abide by that what kind of world will we live in? Perhaps a Pleasantville, settled in uniformity and no fear of the unknown—I’m sure it’d be nice for a day or two of a week to live in a world where everything just fell into place at all times not having to worry about what tomorrow held. Yes, a perfect existence, perfect that is until the misery of the well-known and the same day in and day out routine caught up to us. I much prefer the one that starts with, “If you don’t have anything constructive to say…”
Fortunately for us, we don’t live in a world where what we can do is limited (so long as it is on the right side of the law of course), and we live in a city that more than most facilitates and encourages the left brain thinking as much as that of the right and time and time again presents us with the opportunity to put that thinking into action. So those of us that are creative create and present it to the subjectivity of those that may or may not appreciate it. I have been lucky with many of my endeavors and have a great support system and I give thanks for that, but in turn I am also supportive of those around me not in return or because I feel like I have to as much as because I want to.
I rarely write pieces of this nature. Not because of any uncertainty in where I stand on issues, nor fear of backlash, not even due to my well known diplomatic clear thinking disposition. If I had to pick a reason or two, for the most part it would come down to the fact that I can usually understand and justify the viewpoints and actions of most (so long as they are not being harmful to others in the process) even more often, though it comes down to the fact that I don’t feel compelled enough to voice any opinion at all, at least not via a public platform. Aside from all of that, I am usually too busy with my own projects.
This weekend’s FYF Fest is the cause for this moment of reflection. While there are many who will be quick to point out that it was a disorganized disaster in the operations department and be even quicker to express their disgust at where this event fell short, there are just as many who will be quick to express how blown away by some of the performances by the artists who took the stage in the sweltering downtown heat. Many might voice both sentiments. Some of these performers are not acts that you would typically even want to see in a festival setting, let alone a daytime festival setting. For all of the downfalls of this event, there is no arguing that the line-up was phenomenal and that the organizers are avid music lovers themselves with their finger on the pulse of what this city is listening to, something that many of the other local and neighboring music festivals failed miserably in accomplishing this year.
What was so different about this festival? Having had interaction with the FYF Fest team at various points in my life, I can easily answer that question. However, it doesn’t or shouldn’t take knowing them personally as some of us do to provide the answer. It all comes down to the fact that they are music fans who are trying to provide those that attend their events with an opportunity to catch great bands at a decent price. With the bill the FYF Fest boasted, they easily could’ve charged a higher cover. You would’ve been outraged, but you would’ve paid it. Have you had experience with artists and their guarantees? Do you know how quickly securing permits, city fees, and hiring staffers can add up? Do you know what the cost of promotion is? How about renting stages? A backline? The list goes on and on with all of the costs associated with putting on an event of this size, and the cost is only a very small portion of items on the list to worry about.
Do you know how hard it can be to find the right competent people to work the sound, as well as stage and load-in directors, and people who will stand up to the acts when they (and not to mention their fans) really want to play one more song– but you know that one song could set the stage back by minutes to even hours should something go wrong. Most people don’t, and really unless you’ve put on events and been a promoter yourself none of this would be on your radar.
In this city it’s not as hard as it might be in others to recruit these people, but still finding a team that you can trust to get the job done without being micromanaged can be tough. We live in a great creative city, but only about 10-15 percent of this city’s population actually does what they say they will.
As far as I know with the exception of one stage the acts went on and off fairly close to their start and end times.
As I told my own TRAffIK (www.intraffik.com) team members the main issue I saw with FYF Fest, was nothing more than growing pains (something that was also voiced by the LA Times write-up). Having put on local music nights that required a move from venue to venue due to growth and also other larger-scale events, I can relate. Acting as your own venue is never easy, once you go solo gone are the resources that come with the established venues which for the most part provide their own bars, security guards, door people, tried and true systems, etc. The FYF organizers this year may not have anticipated all of the issues that went down throughout the event in their second year as acting as their own venue, but I for one have faith in Sean Carlson and his team and am willing to bet that this event can and will only continue to get better because the bottom line was that this event was about the music and the live show and bringing this to the community for a reasonable price. From the get go they billed this as seeking “to be a mix tape of bands that would never play with one another but go so well together.”
That area as far as I know did not disappoint. The heart is there, now it’s just a matter of applying the lessons learned from this weekend into future installments.
I didn’t have this compassion for Coachella’s disorganization earlier this year, as they should have it down pat by now as they’ve been holding the same event for years and years now, and have all of the resources in the world to make it happen as seamlessly as possible.
I also didn’t have this compassion for Sunset Junction, because although some enjoyed it there are still too many lingering questions left to answer by the current organizers of what is supposed to be a celebration of the community it occurs in, not the money hungry event it evolved into (albeit a little less than in past years). For a festival of its size, it really should have some shame and perhaps should step aside and allow the Silverlake Jubilee to replace it as that community’s annual music and food celebration as even though it was smaller and also a little lacking in certain areas it was a little more about the local community, reminiscent of what I’ve been told were the early Sunset Junction days. The Fold stage should’ve been brought in long ago if Sunset Junction truly had the local community in mind, we all know Scott Sterling has been just as important as the Echo and Spaceland if not more so in building and propelling the musical community of this area.
I could continue on and on and present to you example after example as to why suffering a little dehydration and heat stroke was better than being put through a lot of b.s. , the general public doesn’t care about the background story as much as the actual event and what goes down during it. This post isn’t necessarily directed at the general public as much as the other creative “tour de forces” of this city who are so quick to tear down their peers. It’s not a matter of being biased, as I know plenty of people who worked on all three of the events and as you may recall the El Cid stage during Sunset Junction was ours (Kiss or Kill) for much of the past few years, it’s just a matter of giving credit where credit is due, and not just focusing on bashing something or trying to kill something that is legitimately trying to bring something good to the community.
We like to complain, I get it. It’s human nature. I myself have been guilty of it many a time and in reading past just one more sentence, you’ll see I’m currently guilty of it.
I would like to think that at some point we’ll all feel compelled by wanting to better something instead of tearing it down so much so that instead of just complaining, maybe we’ll go straight to the source and send a list of what could be improved, not just in this instance but in future or perhaps even offer to help. I know I myself would appreciate that.
Oh, but I’m sorry I forget…if we stop complaining what will we update our Facebook statuses with (in mine, I’m currently complaining about working on Labor Day to prepare for meetings and how busy my September is, so you see I’m not exempt, but I can tell you that I did follow my own advice.)?
With all of this said, I leave you with one of my favorite quotes about music
“My idea is that there is music in the air, music all around us; the world is full of it, and you simply take as much as you require.“ ~Edward Elgar
xoxo,
Siria Contreras
Creator
TRAffIK
www.intraffik.com
