Jazz Fest going downhill?

[peestandingup]

Did anyone get the feeling that Jazz Fest this last weekend was kinda meh? I went Fri & Sat nights & the crowds didn't seem nearly as high as previous years. Plus, it seemed like the acts weren't as quality as they had been, no big headliners, etc. Word of mouth or promotion in general was low too I thought. Its almost like no one knew about it.

And I know its been mentioned before, but WTF are they thinking taking up THAT much space in front of the stage for a VIP section?? Seriously, its almost laughable at this point. I saw exactly 4 people in that entire area Fri night, while everyone else had to sit/stand pretty far away from the stage. It makes it completely lame, not to mention its unnecessary.

[tufsu1]

There clearly have been budget cuts (just like everything else) the last 2 years....there were fewer acts as a result, but I don't think the quality suffered....attendance was estimated at 150,000 for the weekend....and because of how the big names were spaced out, there were good crowds at all 3 stages.

As for the VIP section, the Landing and Hemming stages only had a few rows....but the Main St stage included a dining area....if you're mad about having to sit too far back, buy a pass.

[dv8]

I was surprised at the quality, also having assumed 'no big names' = meh.  I agree that the VIP seating (at least 50% empty Saturday night at Main) is ridiculously oversized.  but then again, don't the HAVES always take more than they really need?  At least the weather was reasonable.  I still regret the move from Metro Park.  Putting thousands on blacktop during a day in May is lethal most years.  despite silly city changes, the BEST part of this festival is watching the beautiful people sitting in the back.

[peestandingup]

As for the VIP section, the Landing and Hemming stages only had a few rows....but the Main St stage included a dining area....if you're mad about having to sit too far back, buy a pass.

Don't be rude just for the sake of being a rude. Thats clearly not what I meant & I'm personally not "mad" at anything. I don't care enough about it to be mad at it. As a casual observer, its just down right silly to have that much space dedicated to a VIP section at something like this. Especially when no one is buying the passes anyway & you've got 4 people taking up an entire closed off swath in front of the stage that everyone could be enjoying. I'm not the first person to mention this & you'd think they would, I dunno, retool some of this stuff. But apparently not.

Seems like nickel & diming to me, that benefits no one & has more of a negative effect than anything else. But hey, what do I know.

[peestandingup]

Thank you, Stephen. I stopped short on bringing up the taxes thing but I'm glad you did. Since we all paid for it, you'd really think they'd simply let us enjoy it. As it was, it was more like listening to background music & approaching the stage was pointless since you couldn't get anywhere near it for the ropped off (and near empty) VIP section. Plus, just beyond that was a sitting area for (mostly older) people who had brought their own chairs, so standing in front of them would be pretty rude.

So this setup REALLY dulls the entire experience & I just wish they would understand that (esp since they couldn't be making much money off of that section at all anyway). The stage area should be treated like every other concert on Earth that has a pulse, which is for standing room, people who want to really feel the music, dance, etc. There was none of that, so at a "Jazz Fest" thats quite odd. And you gotta know that the performers probably don't like that lack of energy either. Who would want to play with a bunch of empty seats staring back at you?

Makes sense about the advertising now & the what looked like a lower turnout. I knew there was something up when I didn't notice any billboards, signs around town, radio spots, etc like in the previous years. Hell, I wouldn't have known about it at all unless I was consciously checking their website for it a couple weeks ago. I honestly thought it might have been cancelled or pushed back. Nope, right on time. Just no word at all.

[nagrom73]

Went to main stage fri and sat. Big bad voodoo daddies are pretty big and trombone shorty is well known locally and super entertaining. I actually thought the talent was a few steps up from that "smooth" crap they've been pushing for years. The main stage was a horrible location, though, and there was no good way to see the band outside the vip except for a small grainy screen against the library. The whole configuration was just plain awkward. You just sat in the middle of the street and heard music coming from somewhere close by. Liked thatsmall venues participated with their own line-ups, 1904 and underbelly, especially.

[tufsu1]

Thank you, Stephen. I stopped short on bringing up the taxes thing but I'm glad you did. Since we all paid for it, you'd really think they'd simply let us enjoy it.

here's the problem with the taxes argument....the City has been bringing in less revenue every year, and costs have gone up....if we aren't even willing to entertain raising tax rates,  things like Jazz Festival will need more $ from corporate sponsors, vendors, VIP ticket sales, etc. every year just to survive.

[tufsu1]

here's the problem with the taxes argument....the City has been bringing in less revenue every year, and costs have gone up....if we aren't even willing to entertain raising tax rates,  things like Jazz Festival will need more $ from corporate sponsors, vendors, VIP ticket sales, etc. every year just to survive.

Huh?  So the Free Public Jazz Festival of the City of Jacksonville wasnt paid for with taxes? 

Dont you think thats a little ridiculous, even for you?

nice spin on what I said, but guess that is par for the course...

my reponse - I'm not sure how much taxpayer money went to pay for the costs of the festival...and how that compares (in real $ and %) with Jazz festivals of years past

[tufsu1]

Stephen....I'm all for funding the Jazz Festival with 100% public dollars....I'm just saying that hasn't been the trend over the past few years....and since Mayor Brown refuses to even consider the roll-up rate for property taxes, there will likely be less revenue in the budget next year too!

btw, attendance estimates for this year appear to have been an all-time high....now whether the numbers were cooked or not, I do not know

[Charles Hunter]

The VIP sections at the Main stage (as noted, there were two areas, the closer one more expensive than the other one) seemed pretty full Sunday night for Trombone Shorty (excellent show, by the way). 

The Jazz Fest web presence was lousy, too.  The regular schedule wasn't posted until within the week before the event.  The After Dark line-up didn't appear until Friday, or maybe late Thursday.  Checking the site on Sunday, to see who was playing when and where ... the schedule wasn't there, but the list of downtown street closings was.  Not useful.  I am already downtown among the closed streets.

It would have been nice if the Skyway ran late enough to serve After Dark patrons.  As it was, I moved my car from a skyway station downtown after Shorty was done.

According to the posters at various venues, there were a lot of corporate sponsors.  I, too, would like to see a breakdown of City, Corporate, and VIP ticket revenues.

[triclops i]

Jazz Fest was awesome for us for sure. Trombone Shorty and BBVD absolutely slayed it. Burro Bar did wonderful, Al Letson did his first full set of spoken word in many years, since before his NPR gig, and we were packed past capacity. I was bar tending and made mucho mucho tips I was at Underbelly and 1904 too, packed to capacity. The initial Jazz Fest After Dark was a great success, big up to Special Events and Jason Lewis (promoter supreme) for putting it together...its only going to get better every year. Mark my words- more "progressive, non traditional" jazz acts on the main stages and Jazz Fest After Dark in the bars and venues will be the future of Jazz Fest