In Memory of John Crawford
2015 ushered in a new era for Riverbend, as the Coke Stage saw two acts every night except Tuesday. The little experiment worked well. With a 6:30 p.m. show on the Coke stage, crowds arrived earlier and stayed longer. The vendors I spoke with said business was up for them, and I queried several downtown restaurants and they all said business was great during Riverbend. I figured a lot people came for the 6:30 p.m. show on the Coke Stage, then went in to town to grab a bite and came back for the 9:30 p.m. show.
The 6:30 p.m. show did more than help out the vendors and the downtown restaurants, however. It gave Riverbend some real flexibility and diversity in choosing acts. With 15 slots to fill instead of 8, Dixie Fuller was able to stretch out and get some acts that might have been skipped under the old way of doing things. The 6:30 p.m. act was designed to be a Coke headliner, but would include those that previously were too big for the Bud Light Stage but not strong enough to carry the Coke Stage by themselves. Consequently, Riverbend was able to get acts like Slick Rick/Doug E. Fresh, Little River Band, Leon Russell, and War. They were all well received and probably could never have been booked previously because they were too much money for the Bud Light stage, but not prime-time headline material for the Coke Stage.
One other thing helped this year – not allowing folks to come in early and set up their tarps and chairs. It evened the playing field for all and was also safer. Who’s to say a person wandering in at noon with a bagged up chair didn’t really have one of those Boston Marathon bombs in the bag? There were some that got though the gates, but the staff “swept” the area in the afternoon and stacked up the offender chairs in a pile, as advertised. As the week progressed, there were less and less attempts at circumventing the system.
All in all, I give Riverbend a grade of “A” for the Coke Stage acts this year. All of the acts did a great job, had huge crowds, and the diversity of Coke acts was the best I have seen. My favorites, you ask? I liked War, Martina McBride, Leon Russell, Gregg Allman, and Here Come The Mummies. I left Merle Haggard off the list because I liked him best and he deserves a special mention. The current touring act with the most number one hits in the world had never been to Riverbend. I pushed for him for 6 or 7 years and I finally got my way. He filled the place and had the best Sunday night in Riverbend history and one of the best overall. He even matched the number of one-day wristbands sold with the all-time winner – Widespread Panic. And, Merle did it on a Sunday. Grade A+ for Merle.
The side stages were stellar, as well. Jeff Styles, in what he says was his last year at Riverbend, once again did a great job booking the regional and national touring acts. Dixie Fuller added in a few homeruns, as well. I even got to help pick one winner with Yacht Rock Revue. Our local bands were stellar, offering a diverse selection of original acts and cover bands. I realized shortly before Riverbend just how much I enjoy seeing local bands proudly display their Riverbend credentials on Facebook. They were proud to be playing the festival and I was proud to have had a small part in getting them there. My grade for the side stages this year moves up from an A- to an A. My favorites, you again ask? Cowboy Mouth, Ozomatli, and Yacht Rock Revue were my faves. Oh, and all the local acts, too.
The Weather – (A-) What can you say when it only rains for 10 minutes during the entire 8 days of Riverbend and the temperatures are below 90 degrees? The only possible way to get a better grade would be to have a constant temperature of 82 degrees. It was very pleasant in the first half of the week, but it warmed up a bit in the second half. This week, the post-Riverbend week, was miserable at nearly 100 degrees and it made me thankful we didn’t have those temperatures during the festival. Our only big rain came on the Bessie Smith Strut day, which was a terrible shame. The new folks running the Strut are wonderful people and worked very hard to put on a great show. I feel badly for the organizers, as it was a complete washout. That is a chance you take with outdoor music and there isn’t much one can do about it.
Concessions – (A) Beer and food at Riverbend is a great deal, relatively speaking. A 16oz beer costs less at Riverbend than at 31 of the 32 major league ballparks, and even less than a Coke at some movie theaters. I went to the theater to see a movie and two Cokes and a popcorn was $19.00. At Riverbend, they would be almost half of that amount. I went to the Rolling Stones concert Wednesday in Nashville. The same beer that Riverbend sells for $5 was $9 in Nashville. Water and Cokes were $5. It made me thankful for Riverbend.
Operational Stuff – (A-) Riverbend entered the 21st Century and went to wristbands last year. The program went fairly well. There were no counterfeits and when snapped together properly, they don’t fall off. Pins were still available as collector items only. The Chattanooga Police Department and Hamilton County Sheriff’s Department did an excellent job at Riverbend, as usual. I would like to see a more aggressive recycling program, but Riverbend did form a “Green Team” to help with the program and recycling bins were everywhere.
I continue to suggest that Riverbend could do away with tokens. Just sell refillable “gift cards”. They are much easier to carry, and are easy to hook up to an accounting system. A short-term investment for a long-term goal is what they call that, I think. Keep taking the tokens, but just don’t issue any more. The “token” booths at the festival would just become gift card issuers and validation points. The festival could then track the sales by time-of-day and see which acts really bring in the concession sales and which ones just bring in the people. Maybe next year!
The IATSE Local 140 stagehands do a wonderful job at Riverbend, as do the volunteers, staff, and other workers. They are the hardest working crews in the business and nobody does it better. Period. End of story. The stage managers, Ray, Bob, Bob, Hayes, and Warren are the bomb – they rock. Did I mention the IATSE Local 140 stagehands? Well, they are worth mentioning twice. You could find a crew for less per hour, but they wouldn’t do half the work in the time frame as our guys and gals. They are true professionals – well trained, safe, and easy-going.
Overall (A) I would give Riverbend an “A” overall grade this year. For $4.88 per night, the music was great and all the facets of the festival went very well. I am proud to be associated with them. I continue to say they have the “best staff in the business.”
Also, thanks to the Chattanoogan.com for their excellent coverage of the festival. Our coverage rocked, especially with the contributions from professional photographer Mark A. Herndon. I would love to see more regional and national coverage, like from Rolling Stone Magazine, CMT, and others.
This was the first year in many, many years that the Riverbend Festival went on without John Crawford. Dixie Fuller’s trusty assistant passed away earlier this year and was missed by more people than anyone would ever believe. Everyone loved John and he did such wonderful work at Riverbend throughout the years. I took over some of his duties and made it my mission to do my very best in his memory. Nobody can replace John, but anytime things got tough, I thought of him and tried a bit harder. I dedicate this 2015 final Riverbend report to John Crawford and his memory. When I was thinking about which picture to use for the headline, only one came to mind – John Crawford. That is John at the top of this article.
See you at Riverbend 2016 in about 49 weeks!
In the meantime, send me your thoughts on Riverbend. What would you do, specifically, to make it a better festival? What would you change? What do you like about it? Email Bob Payne at davrik2000@yahoo.com or www.facebook.com/davrik2000.