FestivALL’s basic schedule was announced yesterday and I’m wondering what people think about it.
Here’s the website. Go, explore.
I tend to fall into the habit of criticizing things like FestivALL. I am easily underwhelmed, but this year it’s hard to get a bead on what I think about the whole thing. The flavor of FestivALL seems different, almost muted.There just ain’t a lot of fanfare.
From what I can see, there is less of a reliance on the music portion of the festival for some kind of sizzle. They just aren’t pushing it. Both Blues, Brews and BBQ and Wine and All That Jazz are only partly scheduled. Their headliners are nice, but not exactly screaming for my attention. “Mountain Stage” seems to be just looking to put together a solid show without a lot of fretting over finding a signature act.
However, FestivALL has some obvious bright spots. I like that a few things like the Pier to Peer art project is back, as well was the wiener dog races and the West Side Ice Cream Social, but my tendency is to gravitate toward the new and the off-beat.This is why I say with complete sincerity that I hope Doug Imbrogno does an updated version of his space opera thing. It wasn’t great, but it was ambitious and weird and I love that.
Anyway, I like that the Charleston Civic Center is getting some use during FestivALL and so far, hasn’t booked a Dental Hygienist Convention or the Jehovah Witnesses for the week as their contribution to the 10 day city arts festival. I like that they have the Chemical Valley Roller Girls (Seriously, “Festibrawl?” I love it. I want a t-shirt). I like that the Barter Theater is coming up to do “Call of the Wild,” where apparently all the actors are portraying dogs. I like that the Carriage Trail is being put to use with music and maybe some kind of theater thing.
I even kind of like what they’re doing with the Mayor’s Concert, which I’ve seldom said much positive about. I think going with Landau Murphy was as close to a slam dunk as you can get and preferable to gambling with the mayor’s money on another antique R&B act only a couple of hundred people are vaguely interested in.
That’s what I think, but what about you?