Upstream Music Fest + Summit was recently hosted in Seattle for the first time ever. I heard a few mixed opinions going into the festival and nothing but praise leaving. Upstream Music Festival was a success and there is a huge upside in the future potential for the event. Within that potential, there are some things that I believe should be changed and some that need to remain.
The platform created by Paul Allen’s Vulcan company is an incredible opportunity for the local music scene. Local’s have criticized this very fact, claiming Allen and company simply want to “spice up” their Real Estate investments in Seattle. Of course, a company investing in a city has an interest in adding entertainment, art, and culture value within the same area. Why would this even be a bad thing? God forbid, a rich man uses his riches to build a local platform.
Check out our Upstream Music Fest Playlist
Going into the event, I was very critical of a number of local artists on the festival’s line-up. I know what you’re thinking. “A local music blog…criticizing an abundance of local music?” At the end of the day, I’m a businessman. “Discovering local music” doesn’t sell tickets. Especially in the hip-hop realm. I feel a few more mainstream artists could have pulled in more community members ultimately increasing the discovery of local musicians.
Upstream was gracious enough to grant me a press pass and I attended the festival Friday night from 8pm-1am. I did speak with numerous attendees, photographers, and press about their experiences as well.
Upstream Music Festival: The Good
Local Music – Over 300 local artists performed at Upstream Music Fest. Venues at every corner ran day and night. Nightclubs, music venues, stores, bars, and sidewalks were converted into individual music venues housing different artists on the hour. I’ve never witnessed an event of this magnitude focus solely on local artists.
The App – This thing was awesome! Vulcan provided the ability to search lineups by day or venue. Festival attendees could discover new music and even tip artists digitally. The map showed your position in real time which was super helpful in finding the next venue you wanted to attend. I do wish the music discovery was available by genre and the search functions were easier to access on the map page.
The Setup (minus main stage) – Pioneer square felt like a rainy Austin, TX. Square blocks closed to auto traffic and filled with life music. The festival colors clearly marked establishments as “Upstream Music Fest Venues.” Blue, yellow, and purple aren’t regularly on the same poster so any venue flying the Upstream Music fest banner was easy to spot.
The Platform – Having this type of infrastructure and money put into our local scene is incredible. Seriously, I don’t think a lot of our audience fully grasp the potential for an event like this. People fly to Austin for SXSW just to hustle tee shirts and CD’s outside of venues. That’s how big of a deal this festival could grow into.
Upstream Music Festival: The Bad
Local Music – I’m strictly speaking from the “hip-hop world.” The lack of bigger names stunted the ability for our region to discover new artists. When you advertise a local music festival, fans of local music will be the first to purchase tickets. These fans already are in tune with our scene, in my eyes, the real magic happens in converting “music fans” into “local music fans.” While I tip my hat repeatedly to the love shown for local music, a few more big names could have brought in more people!
The Price – I didn’t pay for my pass. To be honest, I understand not wanting to pay $65 to see a gang of artists you can regularly watch for $15. It’s an incredibly fair entrance fee for this festival, but I’ve heard enough people complain to admit that it wasn’t a “plus” for the event.
The Mainstage/C-Link – I’ve seen some bashing of the acoustics, but the snares were sounding super wet on Flying Lotus’s set. This was an incredible scene visually. Never the less, it was so far from the rest of the event! Walking through the entire event was seamless until you went down a few blocks without a venue in site until you reached Century Link.
Hate From Local Artists – There were plenty of deserving local artists omitted from the bill. I saw a lot of hate that stemmed from the sourness behind that exclusion. I dig it, RMR was excluded from curation, I was sour about that. But I saw a lot of hate from local artists that were unwarranted. These actions are poison to the growth of our scene. We need to build together, that means showing love to other artists. If one of us shines, we all shine. Most of our audience complains about the lack of a scene but turns around and knocks the next man any chance they can get. Let’s build together!
Lack of late night food – The festival ran late and there were no food spots open in sight. After strolling out of Stage’s venue numerous times during Black Umbrella’s slot, I wandered around looking for a food truck. Preferably of cajun decent. To my surprise, no food vendors took advantage of being the only late night option. I had to wait to hit Dicks on 45th on my way home. My appetite for local music was well fed but my stomach was not a fan.
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