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Words & Images by: Andrew
Bruss
Nateva Music & Camping Festival :: 07.02.10-07.04.10 :: Oxford
Fairgrounds :: Oxford,
Maine
The first-ever Nateva
Music & Camping
Festival was an impressive launch for an event that CEO Frank Chandler hopes will
become an annual
institution. Factors ranging from attendance to lack of on-site camping may have caused
the promoters headaches,
but for ticket-holding music lovers, Nateva demonstrated that there was no better place to
spend 4th of July
weekend. Every new event hits a few roadblocks, so below are a list of weekend
highlights, as well as a few thoughts
on how to improve the festival for next year.
Top Highlights
1. The
McLovins
These teens from Connecticut have developed a cult following thanks to their self-made
YouTube videos going viral.
Although they were far from top-bill, anyone who attended their Saturday afternoon
performance will tell you they
dished out the best set of the weekend. If further acknowledgement was needed, Wayne
Coyne of The Flaming Lips had
the acne-clad teens
grace the stage in costume during the Lips' headline set. No other performers had the
crowd wound so tightly
around their finger at any point in the weekend, Wayne Coyne included.
2. The Electronica Acts
Nateva booked psychedelic, reggae, hip-hop, and jam bands galore, but no genre represented
quite like the
electronica acts. Ghostland
Observatory 's laser lights show was Friday's highlight, and the night before
Lotus served up a
solid set of dance-
grooves that let the early birds get the party started. Concluding at 4:20am, EOTO's
performance was by far the
best late-night set of the weekend, and Sound Tribe Sector 9's sundown set was the largest dance-party of
the weekend,
featuring the single best sound quality heard during any of the 50-plus performances on
the roster.
3. Joe Russo of
Furthur
There's not a whole lot left for Phil
Lesh and Bob
Weir to do with the Grateful
Dead catalog that they haven't already done. That's why it was the latest addition to
the Grateful Dead family
that really made the show interesting. Joe Russo has backed Mike Gordon and Trey Anastasio to fill the shoes of Jon Fishman on tour with G.R.A.B., and as half of the Benevento/Russo Duo
he's made a name
for himself as one of the finest drummers of our generation. More than "Help On The Way >
Slipknot! > Franklin's
Tower," a cover of "Dear Mr. Fantasy," Bobby's short-shorts or the 4th of July fireworks,
the highlight of Furthur's set
was hearing how Sir Joe Russo brought new life to decades-old Dead tunes.
4. The Logistics
Nateva offered up the lineup of a national-scale festival with the creature comforts of a
backyard BBQ. For a first-
time event, Nateva aced all of the "details" that can make or break a festival. All on-
site camping was a short
distance to the stage, and Wayne Coyne was spot-on when he commented that the Port-O-
Potties were "clean
enough to eat off of." The sound system was golden, but most the important logistical
factor was the effectiveness
of security. For any festivalgoer whose been up at night in their tent, annoyed or
unsettled by the hissing of a
nitrous tank or overly rowdy neighbors, you would have been well-rested at Nateva. The
events security team
walked the fine line of keeping hands-off while effectively asserting control over the
premises. "Personal use" was
openly engaged in throughout the weekend but the sketchier, more-aggressive elements that
come along with the
drug trade were checked at the door. This played a large part in what made Nateva the
most family friendly festival
around.
3 Tips For Next Year
1. More Sensible Scheduling
On paper, scheduling Umphrey's
McGee and Keller
Williams to go on before moe. is a smart move, but not when you have Jakob Dylan and
Passion Pit in
between. These are
all solid acts that deserve a place at Nateva, but when moe. is the biggest act of the
day, you should orchestrate the
bill around the jam band crowd. Umphrey's played an uninspired afternoon set prior to
Keller Williams' performance,
but after those shows, the overwhelming majority of the attendees went back to camp until
moe. came on. As a
result, Dylan, Passion Pit and Jackie
Greene played to a near-empty field and the rhythm of the day's schedule was
thrown off. The non-
jammy acts should have gone on prior to groups like Umphrey's and Keller. Everyone loves
eclecticism, but if you're
catering to a jam band crowd, be sure to give the actual jam bands priority over the
crooners and indie darlings.
2. Lower Ticket Price
The festival-going masses have proved time and time again that they are willing to pay
$250 for a weekend of music,
if it's worth it. But events charging that much tend to be more like Bonnaroo Music Festival
than Newport Folk Festival.
Nateva caught a
break when the Rothbury
Music
Festival announced they were not holding an event this year, but if they come back
next summer, Nateva will be
in direct competition. If Nateva wants to survive, they'll need to make their product
more competitive by charging
considerably less for admission.
3. Increase On-Site Camping
Increasing on-site camping is the single most important change needed to ensure this
events survival. Nateva had a
15,000-person capacity but only a third of those ticket holders were offered on-site
camping. The rest were
expected to camp 2.5 miles from the event and be shuttled back and forth. Needless to
say, this was not popular
with potential attendees and the empty off-site parking lots testified to that. On-site
camping sold out in advance
and was a major hit, but if Nateva wants to turn a profit and draw in a max-capacity
crowd, they'll need to find a way
to offer everyone in attendance on-site accommodations.
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