Black Keys is a great headliner. Hope this turns out. The organizer got a little over the top comparing this to Coachella and it's estimated 250 mil economic impact, but glad to have a festival back in Forest Park.
A bit surprised that both The Black Keys and The Black Crowes are headliners together. Seems like some confusion just waiting to happen. Though I suppose Brandi Carlile and BHIC are a better fit together. (Go see BHIC - great show)
It's just as I predicted in another thread on this topic - it is some bougie middle brow rock for the most part. Nothing truly offensive or challenging. I will be there. I'll walk there. It's great to have something like this back in St. Louis after 7 years off. While there's nothing at all existing around the lineup, but it will be a good weekend hanging outside and doing some day drinking.
On the other hand, this lineup is random as sh*t, which is its primary strength.
Also, LouFest COULD have been a nationally recognized fest at the level of a Forecastle, Governor's Ball, or Boston Calling... possibly even Shaky Knees, but they f*cked that up.
I'd say positively that this is a local production company partnership which is a plus. The branding felt very out of town/travel. But also agree that the meandering format of acts just feels like it's trying to appeal to a pretty wide swath for a successful first run.
I think this is by Langenburg Field. I think the worst part about some events in Forest Park (Fair St. Louis, Heritage Brewers Festival) is that there's literally zero shade in large swaths of the park grounds. Maybe this is late enough in summer for things to cool off a bit.
All this together, sounds like a huge amount of heavy lifting. Hope it's successful and hope for an even better return next year. I know my wife wants to see at least a few of the acts so we'll probably end up going.
Maybe this is late enough in summer for things to cool off a bit.
Oh sweet, sweet angel.
Agree with the above points, it's a safe lineup. It's just enough that I want to go but not enough to get me hyped. Nice lazy day in the park listening to good music with some friends.
Maybe this is late enough in summer for things to cool off a bit.
Oh sweet, sweet angel.
Agree with the above points, it's a safe lineup. It's just enough that I want to go but not enough to get me hyped. Nice lazy day in the park listening to good music with some friends.
Nothing like being surrounded by 12,000 people to cool down a still August night.
Wash. U’s fall semester starts on Aug. 28th, and SLU starts on the 23rd, so timing is good in that regard. As a vendor at every Loufest, I agree that having shade would go a long way to mitigate the sweltering summer heat.
I don't think the heat will be too much of a deterrent. If people can tolerate festivals in ATL and Orange Beach, they can handle this I think. That being said, it's gonna be hot as hell.
Pretty mid lineup for what I personally look for in a festival, but I will definitely be there both days if I can. Still need to dive a bit deeper into the undercard. Michigander has been a good little find for me.
I'm curious how the bourbon aspect of the festival would be run.
PS: Kind of annoying that they don't mention metrolink or public transportation at all in the "how to get here" FAQ
^ Definitely annoying regarding MetroLink, especially since this part of the park is so proximal to the Forest Park-DeBaliviere station, in addition to the fact that the promotors "STRONGLY encourage the use of rideshare apps and taxis" due to limited parking.
also these things are setup to avoid shade trees so that it doesn't obstruct the view of the stage. timing is key though Late August is a gamble but it probably close to the best shot you have for good weather. St. Louis August/September can be oppressively hot or it can be rainy or when the weather is cooperates it can be the best place on earth to be.
re: Lack of shade in Forest Park--there is literally one tree in the park where Austin City Limits Festival is held.
It was 108 degrees at ACL in late September 2005. They've since moved it to October.
I was there that year. We were also on the dry side of Hurricane Rita, so the extremely dry winds whipping across the fields were sucking all the moisture out of the ground, turning it into a dust bowl. I was also at Lollapalooza in 2005, and the high temperature that year was 102, with a heat index of 110.
So here is my brief review and is essentially the consensus of my friends that went. We are basically the target market (bougie mid 40s, professional, lots of disposable income, love music, bourbon and BBQ), with one exception (we are definitely music snobs, and this festival definitely did not cater to us on that front, as their stated purpose was to be a big tent for people 30-60, with relatively non-challenging music).
The view was this: "Very happy to have a weekend music festival back in Forest Park. Overall it was fine, FINE." (say that last part in your best Tom Pappa voice).
The Good:
- The layout, love the smaller footprint. Felt cozy and had a sense of place.
- Crowds were manageable
- Super friendly people working there
The less-good:
- A lot of the super friendly people had no idea what was going on
- Communication on the Saturday delay could have been communicated better; they have all of our emails and phone numbers! Even a message on the stage screens would have been great!
- Layout was good BUT the 4 Hands stand was in a horrible location and created a bottleneck coming out of the Lindenwood stage.
- They didn't let you bike through the internal road that goes past the entrance to the tennis center because it was for "VIP Parking". They didn't appreciate my response of "well, I'm not in a car, so you have nothing to worry about". They didn't seem to mind me riding my bike in the grass directly next to the road, though. Talk about malicious compliance.
The Bad:
- No bike parking!! What a miss! Truly astounding that that company didn't even ADDRESS biking on the website or any social media.
- VIP was not remotely worth it. There was not a separate entrance for it (as advertised), and it wasn't crowded enough to make the reserved VIP viewing area any better than GA. The nice bathrooms were the only upside. The "VIP Island" over by the Boat House was a pain to get to (again, the whole footprint was pretty small, so not really a big deal, but why go over there when there were plenty of places to get food and drinks out in the main area?) and removed from all of the music.
Another overall consensus was to just drop the "elevated experience" bulls#it, as it is all just marketing. It was a music festival! That had bourbon (and gin and tequila). And BBQ. LIKE EVERY OTHER MUSIC FESTIVAL IN 2023. The "elevated" part was nothing better than every other big festival out there. I guess some people paid $1k+ for the platinum package and really loved the BBQ demo and Bourbon tasting, but if you can afford that ticket, you can afford an actual bourbon tasting or a private meal with a chef. That whole element of it was just confusing.
Again, I LOVE that we have this, I had a great time, and I will go back. IT WAS FINE!
Favorite performances were, in approximate order: Black Crowes, Ice Cube, Sugar Hill Gang, Michigander. (I am sure Nude Party and Brandi would have been up there, but I volunteered to be on kid bedtime duty last night so my wife could see her, so I left at 7).
I would love for St. Louis to have a music festival for music creators, performers, and songwriters centered around Chuck Berry - style original rock and roll. It could be called something like Rollover St. Louis. Or, St. Louis Be Good. It could be the start of a SXSW type of midwest arts festival.
It should include a song contest where bands, songwriters, and performers are judged on best NEW song that is Chuck Berry - style original rock and roll. It's generally acknowledged that real rock and roll was invented by Chuck Berry and Johnnie Johnson across the river at the Cosmo Club. It would be for original rock purists -- not general all-inclusive rock including Seattle grunge, Austin folk-rock, or Nashville country that now frequently includes guitars with Berry licks in them, etc. Just Berry-style new fun rock and roll.
As Nashville has taken over as the the capital of Country Music, St. Louis, with this festival, should become the capital of Chuck Berry - style, meaning fun, dance ready, rock and roll. I think a lot of today's rock is too introspective, indy-sad, & boring. Folks are spring-loaded for a new re-infusion of fun rock.
