Friday, July 13, 2012

I'll Be Your Mirror Moves to NYC, Loses Performers

A Sad Day for the Jersey Shore

One of the inspirations for starting this blog was the All Tomorrow's Parties:  I'll Be Your Mirror Festival.  Like last year, this year's festival was to be held in Asbury Park.  The format of the festival intrigued me.  The larger acts would play the Convention Hall or the Parmount, while some of the lesser-known bands would play in the bars and smaller venues of the city.  I snapped up a full weekend pass (and got a "full weekend pass" from CoolMom), and planned on seeing as many shows as I could, taking pictures, and writing about it all here.

I started to get nervous when I began reading that ATP had filed for liquidation and would undergo a reorganization.  Not to worry, though, they said, "None of the currently scheduled events or future events will be affected."

Then, earlier this week, Sharon Van Etten canceled her appearance at the festival.  I really love Van Etten's latest album, Tramp, and she was one of the main reasons I bought a ticket.  I started to get more worried.

Today ATP announced that not being affected means relocating the entire festival from Asbury Park, NJ to Pier 36 in New York City.  Oh, and Louis C.K. won't be appearing either.  The organizers cited the difficulty fans faced at finding rooms in and around Asbury Park as a reason for the move, but I don't recall any reviews of the festival from last year mentioning it as an issue.

Anyway, I went ahead and requested a full refund on my ticket.  I love New York City.  I'm going to a show there tonight, as a matter of fact.  But moving the festival from Asbury to New York takes away some of the "summer camp" vibe that they've apparently cultivated over the years.  Also, logistically, it just becomes more difficult for me.

I'm sad.  I was really looking forward to it.  I haven't heard Asbury Park's side of things yet, but I would be surprised if the city were happy about it or agreed with the "unavoidable logistical concerns" cited by the organizers.  The Bamboozle seemed to go off OK, after all.

Here's Sharon Van Etten doing "Give Out" live for WNYC.



No comments :

Post a Comment