Lysten Festival, Ottawa, Sept 25-26

[Northern Wish]

I should also note that there have been some minor mentions of organizers with deep pockets- so who knows about grant money; maybe these guys just needed to spend some of their Lotto Max winnings or had an uncle named Vanderbilt.

Maybe it wasn't grants? Does anyone know either of those guys or have any experience working with them?

From Chris' facebook- it would appear he at least has incredible taste in music:

Sun Kil Moon, Red House Painters, Mark Kozelek, Swell season, Belle & Sebastian, The Stars, My Dad vs Yours, Ryan Adams, Whiskeytown, The Decemberists, Wolf Parade, The Clogs, Okkervil River, Wilco, Neko Case, Joel Plaskett, Hey Rosetta!, Glen Hansard, The New Pornographers,

[Northern Wish]

We'll see if this thing pops up again next year I suppose....

Edited September 27, 2010 by Guest

[phorbesie]

i'm not familiar with bankruptcy laws. i can't see how the government could collect if the grant recipient declared bankruptcy.

[AD]

i'd guess (any maybe someone in the know can back me up or shoot me down on this) that first-time events held with grant money are examined closer than events that have a history of success?

I'd be really curious to hear something from the organizers after this event.

I know I probably won't make a dime on the festival, but I get to sit back and watch Paramedics and My Dad vs Yours play, and that's kind of the best part for me.

If he really meant that, perhaps we're all talking out of our asses and he had the best weekend ever. Maybe this festival is only a failure to us looking in from the outside. ($$$ can do wonderful things if you aren't worried about it...)

[Booche]

i'd guess (any maybe someone in the know can back me up or shoot me down on this) that first-time events held with grant money are examined closer than events that have a history of success?

I know someone and this is their job, to a fuckingT. I guarantee he sends me an email about this fest if grants/money were made available to them. He's gotten my take before, probably thanks to this board.

::saves thread::

[Northern Wish]

LMF - A Post Mortum

Wed, 2010-10-13 09:17 by admin

It's been a few weeks now since THE festival and I'm still trying to get my head around the whole thing. When people ask me how it went I tend to stutter and stammer...I mean, on so many levels it was a massive success. It IS kind of hard to ignore the fact however that we took a huge financial hit. The stage, sound, lights, facility and the talent level were top notch bordering on world class. The attendance was...well...thank God we had to pay five cops to be there. At least the bands had SOMEONE to play to. About the bands. Amazing. Every single one of them went up there and were true pros, wether they played to one or one thousand, you'd not be able to tell the difference. I'm very proud of all those local acts that came out to support us and help out.

I couldn't write this though and not address some of the fall out that's come from this however. I won't waste much time on this, but let me get it on the record now.

1. Lysten was acting as the Artistic Director and in exchange we received the naming rights.

2. The festival DID NOT receive one dime from anyone with any sort of government connection. Rumors that it got grants that were funneled away make me want to vomit.

3. There was never an expectation to fill a 10 000 seat stadium, we had a modest goal of 1000 a day

4. Ownership did their best in a very limited timeline that had been thrust upon them. The desire was to have the festival in 2011, but there was pressure to get it done in three months.

5. We aren't arrogant, we are foolishly naive and idealistic.

ANYONE who wants to talk to me about this is welcome to. I have NOTHING to hide and will discuss any aspect of it. Email me Chris@lysten.ca and I'll answer anything honestly.

I won't apologize for what we tried to do, and we damn well are going to do it again. We accomplished all that in three months, imagine what we can do with a year. I stand for supporting the tremendous talent in this city and won't back down from this challenge of promoting it on a world class level.

Chris

[bouche]

I mean, on so many levels it was a massive success

This blogpost should explain the definition for a massive success. I mean, you need to not only attain a goal, but also MASSIVELY crush it.

1000 people/day was the goal. No one showed.

We accomplished all that in three months

What exactly did they accomplish in 3 months? Completely destroying the credibility of everyone involved? That seems like an accomplishment.

Edited November 16, 2010 by Guest

[Hartamophone]

I won't apologize for what we tried to do, and we damn well are going to do it again. We accomplished all that in three months, imagine what we can do with a year. I stand for supporting the tremendous talent in this city and won't back down from this challenge of promoting it on a world class level.

Wow. It's like he sees himself as some sort of martyr for the cause of poorly non-attended festivals.

Edit to add: props, though, for wanting to stick it out and give 'er again even after taking a bath.

Edited November 16, 2010 by Guest