New Band Considerations
Since the beginning of the
festivals, I have received promo packages weekly
from bands wanting to be considered for inclusion in
the festivals. Depending on the
dates there are some years where a larger number
of bands can be used than others, i.e. if July 4th
falls
on
Monday or Tuesday there are more days to have bands play than if it falls on
Thursday through Saturday. As with every festival
there is a limited number of positions to fill.
As I
decide which bands I am going to use I have several
criteria that I already have in place. First and
foremost are the bands who
have played for me since I began the festivals,
particularly, since I have moved to my permanent location
at the campgrounds. These bands
have helped me grow, participate in the festival,
not just their two forty five minute
sets, have proven
they are crowd pleasers, have showmanship, and quite frankly are some of
my all time favorite performers. They will always have
a place
to play at least once a year as long as I do these
festivals
and they want to play them.
The second criteria I use for new bands
is seeing them perform in person. I
receive a promo package from a new band almost
weekly, but
obviously, I do not have enough spots for
every band to perform. I encourage a band to provide a live demo tape,
such as at a festival or concert while they perform.
I
receive CD’s that sound great because of the talents
of guest musicians that add to the performance, the
quality
of the equipment used to record the tapes and
the talents of those doing the production of the tapes, but the band unfortunately,
when performing live does not put their personalities
into the show. The crowd does not get excited
about their show.
On the other hand, I can get a CD
that is not of great quality in the performance
on tape,
but can knock the socks off of the audience and make them want more. In
the past I have hired both types of bands, but am
narrowing
down my lists to the crowd pleasers. They are
the bands
that the audience comes back to me over and over again with “please have
them back, they
were great!”
Since the rosters are overflowing already
with those bands, I am aware that there are other bands
who want to play. Since I do not
get to travel
to other
festivals
as much as I would
like to in order to catch some of the newer acts, I have decided to add
the new bands with “OPEN STAGE”.
If you are a new band, or an established
band, who has never played one of my festivals
and desire to do so, you need to schedule a date for “open stage”.
Open Stage will be held during the spring, summer and fall festivals,
on Saturday.
If
you are interested in having a date for
the following year, send the promo package to me, schedule a date for
open stage and get the crowd involved. I can allot up to 45 minutes
for your
show, depending
on the number of bands
who perform. There is no compensation for open stage, other than a
guarantee for a future date at one of the shows within the following
year. This
would then be your second appearance and
your opportunity to get on board for rotations every twelve to eighteen
months.
This is a growing festival and the numbers
in attendance quadrupled from
2005 this
year. I am determined to make it the premier festival on the east
coast, and I do that with exceptional performers. If
you feel you can fill
that billing,
then make a date to show the crowd
what you can do.
Thank you for your interest in the festivals
and I look forward to meeting each of you
who are interested in becoming part of the Laurel Lakes Team Players.
Nancy
Canady
