Riverbend
Riverbend 2013 has come and gone, yet my semi-famous Riverbend Report Card is anxiously awaited by those that care about humanity, world peace, and the posi-traction rear axle. It’s the 6th annual report card on the 32nd annual Riverbend. Here it is!
We’ll start with the music, since that is what it is all about. It’s hard to grade the music of a festival, since everyone has different tastes. I’ll break it down into three sections, local music, side stage acts, and Coke Stage acts. I give the local folks that played Riverbend an A+. And before you say, “Of course you do,” let me explain. I heard such good quality music from the local bands this year; it is obvious that they brought their A-game. Lots of practice, good quality musicianship, and the desire to play good for the hometown crowd on great stages with great equipment and sound technicians, makes for the best grade possible. The A+ grade has absolutely nothing to do with me. I won’t name them all, but standouts like Drew Sterchi, Jimmy Tawater, Dennis Brown, The Beaters, Slim Pickens, Michael Martin Band, Roger Alan Wade & Sparkle Motion, Kelsey’s Woods, The Malemen Band, and my annual contribution– The Chattanooga All-Star Band.
The side stages “B” acts were once again stellar, with Jeff Styles working his magic, as always. Just consider this – Larry Carlton, Steel Pulse, Jack Pearson & Johnny Neel, the Monophonics, the Railers, 10,000 Maniacs, Rosco Bandana, and Florida Georgia Line – those alone make a good festival, well worth in excess of the $32 pin price. Forget the Coke Stage acts. A+ again.
The Coke Stage. This is where things get a bit weird. Not weird like a Bigfoot sighting on Signal Mountain, but still weird. Needless to say, Jake Owen’s show was a success by any measurement. CeeLo, had he decided to grace us with his presence and not his rear end, was a good act that drew well. I would have him back, with the caveat that he would be hogtied, tazered, and thrown in the river if he was late. Yes he cussed, but that was just him breaking a gentlemen’s agreement, and I don’t see it as a big deal – folks should have expected some of that, based on his song titles and reputation. Brandy, while putting on a good show and having a number one hit just a few months ago, was a weak Coke act, I thought. However, there are about 12 members of the artist selection committee and I don’t recall any of them (including me) jumping up and screaming that it was a bad choice. It was just an OK choice.
Since all Riverbend does for the Strut is provide the music and stages, there isn’t much to comment on except to say the music and stages were great. Riverbend doesn’t manage the Strut, set the prices, or get the revenue from the gate.
Tuesday night’s Faith & Family night was superior in every way, with the Voices of Lee and the Newsboys raising the bar a few notches. My only thought would be that perhaps the Coke Stage could start at 9 p.m. on that night, since there are so many families at the festival.
Dierks Bentley is basically the same as Brandy, in my opinion – a tad weak. He was ok, but certainly not a huge draw. Skynyrd, on the other hand, was huge. They performed very well, and started at the time they were told to start, after opener Drake White. I think the festival should re-think the opener idea, too. It puts the headliner on too late.
Now for Gavin DeGraw and O.A.R. Not bad acts, skews a bit toward the younger crowd, not country, and kind of hip. DeGraw was another with an opener, so he would go on later, plus he had an equipment failure and that made it even worse. At least he was here to start on time. O.A.R. and DeGraw make great acts in a Bonnaroo type setting, where a $300 ticket also gets you some really big, big acts like Paul McCartney to compliment them. In a Riverbend setting, I don’t think it works as well.
All that being said, I give Riverbend a B- on the Coke Stage acts. Combine the A+ scores from the local acts and side stages, and Riverbend squeaks out an A- or B+. Factor in the fact that the pin price is but $32, and then Riverbend gets the highest A+ possible, though. Skynyrd alone gets an average of $50 per ticket at their concerts, according to Pollstar’s concert ticket price tracking.
The Weather – (B) For the most part, the weather cooperated pretty well this year. On Wednesday it got hot – Riverbend hot. It rained a few late afternoons, but pretty much cleared up in the evenings. The temperatures were pretty mild by 9:30 p.m. each night.
The Fireworks – (A+++) As always, they were great. I particularly liked the waterfall, of course, but the Jaws music with the line of colored lights in the water was pretty darn cool, too.
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 in East Ridge to see “42” and two cokes and a popcorn were $19.00. At Riverbend, they would be almost half of that amount. Parking continues to be a great deal, too – free. If you followed my suggestion, just park at Finley Stadium for free and ride the $1 shuttle.
Operational Stuff – (B) I’ll just reprint what I wrote last year, since my suggestion didn’t make it out of the cull pile. Perhaps it is time they step into the 21st century and go with a weeklong armband instead of the pin. These armbands come encoded with a chip in them so you can better track movements, time of entry and such. They can be scanned from 3-5 feet away. They could get a band that is waterproof and only allows the user a one-time wear, which would eliminate “pin-sharing”, or get a removable armband that allows “pin-sharing”. The RFID chip encoded pins could provide valuable information to Riverbend that may make the festival even better.
While we are entering the 21st century, they could do away with tokens, too. Just sell refillable “gift cards” in increments of $10-$25-$50-$100. They are much easier to carry, and are easy to hook up to a fast accounting system. A short-term investment for a long-term goal is what they call that, I think. Keep taking the tokens, but don’t issue any more. You could still go to the token sponsor’s store and get the cards validated and get the 10% discount. No more cleaning, counting, rolling, and carrying all those tokens by festival workers. The “token” booths at the festival would just become 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.
I would also be remiss in not thanking the IATSE Stage Hands that do such 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. The stage managers, Ray, Bob, Bob, Hayes, and Warren are the bomb – they rock.
Overall (B+) I would give Riverbend a B+ overall grade this year, if for no other reason that it represents a great value. Could it be better? Yep. Could it be worse? Darn tootin’. Is it better than Bonnaroo? Is an apple better than an ink pen? They are two different animals.
Rumors during Riverbend range from sad to funny. The festival opened with the “CeeLo isn’t coming rumor”. Everyone got a kick out of that one. Then, an Arkansas based “local” paper said CeeLo was banned, which was false, too. The statement from Dixie Fuller, “I doubt he will be back, as we very rarely have Coke Stage artists back,” was translated to “CeeLo is banned”. The rumor that Riverbend had no police there was a good one, as CPD and Hamilton County were both present in force, as were a few private security personnel. One lady wrote in and asked if all Saturday night acts had been cancelled and Miranda Lambert was coming back. One guy took a picture of the Krystal Hamburger menu and complained that everything was soooo expensive. Somehow he managed to leave off the fact the prices were in tokens, not dollars and all of sudden they weren’t that bad. My friend Hayes Taylor, stage manager at VW, tried to start a rumor that rapper T-Rex would be on the Coke Stage every night of the festival, but that never grew wings. One of my favorite, that Riverbend is nothing but country music, seems hard to believe, since only two nights featured country artists. I’m not sure how those folks explained Brandy, CeeLo, Gavin DeGraw, Hot Chelle Rae, O.A.R. and the Newsboys.
Parting Thoughts – The city of Chattanooga is lucky to have Riverbend. Most cities would kill to have an established festival that puts over a half a million people in the downtown area over a 9-day period. Many people that complain don’t even go to the festival. Some even say that nobody goes – because it is too crowded…lol.
Riverbend does things they don’t talk about enough, like sending musicians out to local restaurants and attractions to help boost their business. Riverbend Rewards, a free card that gets you discounts from merchants and restaurants all year long, is bigger and better than ever. Musicians on Riverbend’s dime go out to nursing homes and perform for folks that can’t attend. Charities throughout the area benefit from Riverbend. Hundreds of workers, from electricians, carpenters, truck drivers, and stagehands all look forward to the income from Riverbend week. Concession owners, many of which return year after year, hire local workers to staff the food stands.
Perhaps the best part happened when the festival ended, as I watched many of the wonderful volunteers hug friends they made while volunteering at Riverbend – many for more than 25 years. It was quite a sight, and that is just one reason why they call it Tennessee Valley’s Family Reunion.
See you at Riverbend 2014 in about 51 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.
Bob Payne