Better Than Ezra will always draw.

Blue October will always draw.

Burden Brothers will always draw.

Is Zak Maloy Band still around? I always enjoy hearing them.

The Burden Brothers also headlined last year. Zak Maloy is still around. I'd love to get a Nixons show planned.

so again...what happened this year? most of the listed headliners would have a hard time drawing a good crowd at a venue in their hometown. i can't imagine it will be any better in college station.

Why would it matter if a band headlined last year or could they just not get the bands to come?

We wanted to stay away from repeat headliners, which was a problem in some of the earlier festivals. There's nothing wrong with having a band perform on consecutive years, but the festival got alot of criticism when it was pushmonkey and vallejo playing every year (even though I think each only headlined twice).

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what happened this year?

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New owners.

could we ever get O.A.R. or Nickel Creek to come?

Not sure about Nickel Creek, but I looked at OAR for last year's festival and I decided we couldn't afford it for their uncertain draw in CS.

My former band played 3 or so years ago, didn't get treated poorly at all, in fact, we were treated very well.

However, that lineup doesn't get me excited. Being from the metroplex I can't see how either Black Tie Dynasty, Goodwin or Confusatron aren't on it.

i really think a lot of people would come for O.A.R and Nickel Creek. I saw Nickel Creek in a small venue this past December and they were absolutely incredible. It was the best concert I have ever, ever been to. Also, what about the Yonder Mountain String Band? They are a lot of fun. Flogging Molly?

jwag, what band were you in?

Juan, i'm confused

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Diggity, I wish I could give you more info than BigAg just did, however I left the music festival last summer.

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I was going to excuse the craptastic lineup this year on the fact that it was changing reigns, but now you seem to be taking the credit/blame for it. Are you involved as a consultant or something?

Also, where are you guys gonna have the headliners play, will you still be able to use the old Shadow venue like last year?

I would be very interested to see some of the hurdles y'all had this year. I know losing Richard must have been tough...but his daughter is very supportive and I know that staff will still help. Is it the Ganter girls that are giving you trouble now?

I was just very impressed with the festival last year and am worried that it's taken a huge step back (Bob Schneider played at a tiny venue last year and would have been the best act on the ticket this year for example).

I wasn't involved with any of the planning for this year's festival. I'm just being very supportive of this year's committee because I know what hurdles they've been faced with. Before anyone really knocks this year's lineup, the bands Jeff listed off will more than likely be some of the bigger names in the future. The festival has always been a good stepping stone for bands to jump to the next level. Flyleaf got signed to Octone Records less than a year after they played the festival and are currently getting massive radio support from the Edge in Dallas, Los Lonely Boys were headlining the ACL festival in Austin 6 months after playing for us in 2003, Blue October first played the festival at Fitzwilly's years ago and got signed to Universal Records (twice). Better Than Ezra are having solid success from their new album (Juicy is being used for a Desperate Housewives ad campaign). It's something that myself and past organizers have been pretty proud of. Of this group, Ethan Durelle, Greatness in Tragedy, and Fair to Midland have good shots at becoming solid regional draws. I don't know if they'll become famous national draws, but they're solid acts that are worth checking out.

That being said, this is still a crappy lineup. Other than the people that will go just to go, who's going to be the draw? Nobody.

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Pushmonkey have actually applied to be in the festival the last couple of years. It's been the festival's decision not to include them, mainly because they don't have a draw anymore.

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Oh yes, b/c every venue is just absolutely packed at NXNG..Not buying this excuse

Guess you didn't come to last year's festival

Juan, I don't want you to think I'm knocking anything you guys did in the past. I'm sure there were many hurdles this year. I've certainly seen first hand how much you care about this event and its success so I wish y'all the best of luck. I just think they're going to have a tough draw with out at least a (somewhat) well-known headliner.

That being said, best of luck to everyone on the committee!

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Oh yes, b/c every venue is just absolutely packed at NXNG.

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We've had years where absolutely EVERY stage was packed, including the singer/songwriter stage. The numbers probably won't be as good this year, but trust us, they've been dealt a VERY difficult hand. IMO, this will likely be the last year the festival will exist as Nate originally conceived it.

Honestly I couldn't give a **** about headliners, all I want to see are bands I have never heard of. That's what I did last year and I was exposed to a ton of great bands.

Diggity, thanks for the support. Hopefully there will be a decent turnout this year since this is an event that raises money for charity, which is the big picture.

exactly vander...you should be going to see new up&coming bands. If you want to see one band, go see em in concert somewhere.

Don't listen to Diggity -- he's single-handedly the reason Soviet Space broke up and won't be returning to the music festival.

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but I looked at OAR for last year's festival and I decided we couldn't afford it for their uncertain draw in CS.

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Uncertain draw? The quintessential "college" band that is getting decent airplay?

Burden Brothers was packed last year... OAR has much more appeal, exposure, and airtime than Burden Brothers.

Any college band like OAR or Widespread Panic is going to have all the draw you need in a town like CS.

You underestimate College Station's ability to be a musical black hole. People there don't know who OAR is.

BS. If Bob Schneider sold out and had a line out the door then the musical "know-nothings" of College Station would have an idea of who OAR is.

You know who they don't know?

Greatness In Tragedy
The Feds
Fair To Midland
Junior
SouthFM
Ethan Durelle
Wide Awake
Space Cadet
Ludo
Astoria Arms

Damn, hayden. Don't be a dick to the organizers. I think I'm a little more aware of that market than you are, and in my opinion, the price of OAR wasn't worth it. That's the bottom line. They aren't going to cost the same as Bob Schneider, they aren't even going to cost the same as Better Than Ezra.


Put on your business cap here for a second. If you can book a band for $2k that will fill up your biggest venue, then why would you want to book a band in that same venue for $20k? It eventually gets to the point where the break even doesn't exist. Trust me, not booking OAR last year was a good choice.

Not being a dick to anyone. I know if I put this thing together it would have a couple of my buddy's garage bands and a guy on a unicycle.

I just too exception to your comment that the people around College Station wouldn't know who OAR was enough to pack the venue.

Regarding my "business cap" -- you didn't say your didn't book OAR because they were too expensive (a perfectly valid excuse), you said you didn't book OAR because it was uncertain what their draw would be in CS. There should have been no uncertainty about that -- OAR has more "college appeal" than Bob Schneider, Burden Brothers, Jackopearce and a number of the other headliners that have packed the venues.

Obviously a price discrepancy would exist, but I'd feel a lot more confident booking OAR as a headliner and knowing the venue would sell out then booking Los Lonely Boys and hoping the venue would sell out.

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Not sure about Nickel Creek, but I looked at OAR for last year's festival and I decided we couldn't afford it for their uncertain draw in CS.

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Thats what I said about OAR. I understand that they're a college band, but when I was doing some research as who would be a good headliner last year, not very many people I asked were aware of their work. That on top of the guarantee that they were asking for was too much of a risk for me, whereas I know Better Than Ezra would be a cash cow.

Los Lonely Boys were actually a low risk booking back in 2003 when we got them. There's no way I would book them for the festival now, since their price is outrageous. It's really amazing how much the price of some bands can go up quickly. Last year I was in talks with The Killers and almost landed them, now there'd be no chance in hell of NGMF affording them.

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Widespread Panic is going to have all the draw you need in a town like CS

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yeah, that's why WP cancelled their show in CS a few years back due to lack of ticket sales. I'm not trying to get "high and mighty" on anyone, but some of us do have a little more of a grasp on what an actual draw in CS is or would be, just from the fact that we've booked A LOT of shows in town.

although OAR probably would have a decent draw, i don't think the draw vs what the ticket price would have to be to bring them in would be worth it either. even if people have heard of them, the ticket price is even more of a factor in CS than it is elsewhere (for the most part, unless you are talking texas country).

i'm sorry, Juan, I don't mean to give you a hard time. You're right that the charities benefitting from the festival are most important. I do think that it would be fun to have a couple of bands that people were excited about seeing. What do you think of My Morning Jacket or The Shins? Would they be too expensive? I have no idea how booking of shows works and only have an inkling of everything you have to work out when booking a band. I'm sure the work involved is tons and we all appreciate the organizers for doing that.

edit: spelling

[This message has been edited by Rev03 (edited 2/16/2006 10:28a).]

the other thing(s) you have to figure is besides just what it costs to book the band are the following:

1. is the band currently on tour? if so, are they even in your area and have an open date. if they are in you area and the routing is already there, then you can get them at the cheapest.
2. if they aren't on tour are they willing to do a one off. many bands won't if the show is not in their immediate area and sometimes even then won't do a one off.. One offs are usually much more expensive. If you can get them to do a one off, now you are more than likely required to pay for their travel (possible plane tickets) plus all the extra cost in shipping their gear, paying for their rooms, food, etc.

granted some of those costs could also be applied to a regular headliner that is out on tour and you managed to pick them up...but what i'm trying to make some people realize is that booking isn't as easy as just picking up the phone and writing a check.

I actually looked at My Morning Jacket last year, I don't think they were available at the time. Never looked into the Shins, I'm not sure why.

The biggest regret I have from booking last year's festival (I did everything I could to get the Killers, they just got a better offer in Japan that they took) was passing up on he Kaiser Chiefs. I could've gotten them really cheap and I didn't think it was worth it. Yeah, I'm a dumbass

By the way, thanks for understanding about the festival. I'm not trying to get on a high horse, I just really care about the event and will continue to support it.

Bands like MMJ, Black Keys, Kings of Leon, Hank III, etc. play bars not any bigger than Shadow in Austin and Houston all the time and tix are typically $20-25. All those bands would draw some interest in CS.

OAR or the above bands (except Hank III) probably would be a tough sell in CS if playing a show one night at Shadow or Harry's, but as part of a festival with 50 other bands those are the kinds of bands you need. Just a couple of them would do the trick.

Last year was successful not because 5,000 people wanted to see BB or BTE, but because you had both of those and a few other bands that had some following (like Flickerstick, Schneider, Canvas). It is the combination that drives people to come out for a festival, not one band.

Hank III is coming through Texas the week of NGMF and playing bars, and his tix are about $15. He would ahve been a great choice to headline Thurs or Fri...

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yeah, that's why WP cancelled their show in CS a few years back due to lack of ticket sales. I'm not trying to get "high and mighty" on anyone, but some of us do have a little more of a grasp on what an actual draw in CS is or would be, just from the fact that we've booked A LOT of shows in town.

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Yes, you've made it quite clear in 99.9% of your posts that you have an amazing grasp on the music industry. To dumb it down to a strictly business angle though, lack of ticket sales for a Widespread concert in CS likely had to do with a number of factors including how it was promoted (has there ever been a well promoted act in College Station? I remember Sponge coming to town and not a soul knew about it), the venue, and the ticket prices.

We're not talking about any of that for Northgate Music Festival. The issue at hand was *DRAW*, and if you think that if Widespread Panic was the headlining band that they wouldn't pack *ANY* venue in College Station then you don't have near the grasp on the CS demographic as you think you do.

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although OAR probably would have a decent draw, i don't think the draw vs what the ticket price would have to be to bring them in would be worth it either. even if people have heard of them, the ticket price is even more of a factor in CS than it is elsewhere (for the most part, unless you are talking texas country).

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And as I said above -- I wasn't debating that they weren't too expensive -- I was just debating that they wouldn't have a draw.

Kaiser Chiefs would have been awesome! But last year's festival was damn good nevertheless...

Why not Blue October this year? They are touring around that time and trying to promote a new album, probaly would have liked to do some radio appearances around CS before the album comes out. I am sure that could have been worked out. It has been a few years since they played NGMF.

From my understanding, Blue October wanted a ton of money to play this year's festival. That's why they weren't booked.

That's interesting about Hank III, let me look a little into that.