Sled Island Musicfest

[c-towns]

This little festival in Calgary is sure growing up fast.

http://blog.sledisland.com/

[SolarGarlic]

You know what, this festival has never made me too hot and bothered. The Truckers were here a couple years ago (missed it) but I dunno...I'm probably just being a pussy.

They have certainly made it into a pretty big deal and for that they should be given some props. It's hard to make things like this work in Calgary so cheers to that at least!

[Northern Wish]

I was thinking, "wow this is a great little fest" considering many factors....Then I saw the ticket price: $170.

Seriously?!?!

[zero]

I get what you're saying but you know better than most, do the math on some of those bands. I couldn't figure out the programming at first (it veers in a really solid way towards hardcore bands - see Mariachi El Bronx, The Thermals etc.). It's the guest curating for sure, they've obviously created a financial framework in which the guest curators can stretch a bit. The combo of King Khan and Quintron will undoubtedly be devastating.

The first 90 bands out of the bag:

Girl Talk (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)

The Melvins (Los Angeles, California)

Built to Spill (Boise, Idaho)

The Thermals (Portland, Oregon)

Les Savy Fav (Brooklyn, New York)

Hot Water Music (Gainesville, Florida)

WhoMadeWho (Copenhagen, Denmark)

The Black Lips (Atlanta, Georgia)

Ted Leo and The Pharmacists (Bloomfield, New Jersey)

The Almighty Defenders (Berlin, Germany)

The Posies (Seattle, Washington)

Fucked Up (Toronto, Ontario)

Quintron and Miss Pussycat (New Orleans, Louisiana)

(Brooklyn, New York)

The King Khan & BBQ Show (Montreal, Quebec)

Deerhoof (San Francisco, California)

The Bronx (Los Angeles, California)

Big Business (Los Angeles, California)

WHY? (Cincinnati, Ohio)

Mariachi El Bronx (Los Angeles, California)

Cex (Baltimore, Maryland)

The Dutchess and the Duke (Seattle, Washington)

Greg Macpherson (Winnipeg, Manitoba)

Chain and the Gang (Washington, D.C.)

Chuck Ragan (Gold Country, California)

Mr Jonathan Toubin (New York, New York)

Big Frieda (New Orleans, Louisiana)

Georgiana Starlington (New York, New York)

Mark Sultan (Montreal, Quebec)

North of America (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

Panther (Portland, Oregon)

Antipop Consortium (New York, New York)

Babe Rainbow (Vancouver, B.C.)

Boys Who Say No (Toronto, Ontario)

Sleepy Sun (San Francisco, California)

So Cow (Tuam, Ireland)

Angelo Spencer et les Hauts Sommets (Olympia, Washington)

James Husband (Athens, Georgia)

Signals (Los Angeles, California)

C’mon (Toronto, Ontario)

The Nymphets (Montreal, Quebec)

My Gold Mask (Chicago, Illinois)

Turbo Fruits (Nashville, Tennessee)

Jane Vain (Montreal, Quebec)

Valleys (Montreal, Quebec)

Ty Segall (San Francisco, California)

Bloodshot Bill (Montreal, Quebec)

Cave (Chicago, Illinois)

Bart Davenport (Oakland, California)

Past Lives (Seattle, Washington)

Provincial Archive (Edmonton, Alberta)

Azeda Booth (Calgary, Alberta)

Hollerado (Manotick, Ontario)

Slim Cessna’s Auto Club (Denver, Colorado)

Passenger Action (Edmonton, Alberta)

Woodhands (Toronto, Ontario)

Nice Nice (Portland, Oregon)

Beans (New York, New York)

Sugar and Gold (San Francisco, California)

No Means No (Vancouver, B.C.)

Cavaliers! (Newmarket, Ontario)

The Pack A.D. (Vancouver, B.C.)

Champion and his G-Strings (Montreal, Quebec)

SSRIs (Vancouver, B.C.)

Tyvek (Detroit, Michigan)

Odawas (Berkley, California)

Unnatural Helpers (Seattle, Washington)

Women (Calgary, Alberta)

The Donkeys (San Diego, California)

Carpenter (Vancouver, B.C.)

UUVVWWZ (Lincoln, Nebraska)

Mockingbird Wish Me Luck (Kitchener, Ontario)

Party at the Moontower (Vancouver, B.C.)

Box Elders (Omaha, Nebraska)

Spookey Ruben (Toronto, Ontario)

In Medias Res (Vancouver, B.C.)

Southeast Engine (Athens, Ohio)

Copilots (Vancouver, B.C.)

Super Nice Bros (Mobile, Alabama)

Bison B.C. (Vancouver, B.C.)

Cheeseburger (Brooklyn, New York)

DM Stith (Bloomington, Indiana)

Austin Lucas (Bloomington, Indiana)

Northcote (Regina, Saskatchewan)

Silje Nes (Bergen, Norway)

Trigger Effect (Montreal, Quebec)

Barn Burner (Montreal, Quebec)

Golden Triangle (Brooklyn, New York)

You Say Party! We Say Die! (Vancouver, B.C.)

Guest curators for Sled Island 2010 are King Khan, Quintron & Miss Pussycat, Fucked Up and local curators Adam Kamis and Kallen Law.

[Northern Wish]

The top bands on that list command $4,000 to $10,000 (BTS), and the drop off is pretty steep.

I see about 80% of this lineup being booked for between $500 and $1500.

Just a guess though ;-)

The likelihood of me travelling to this fest: absolutely zero. The likelihood of me attending this fest if I lived there: 96%. It all comes down to supply and demand. There is no supply of shows out there, so the demand must be pent up enough to justify that ticket price.

For comparison, its only $215 for Lolla right now ($175 was their early bird price).

[ReDD]

I totally agree with everything you're saying. Not travel worthy maybe if you were in the west, probably definitely if you were in the west and your taste skewed to hardcore, ska, sweaty danceparty bands. Basically what I figured on the programming costs. The economies of scale and being in a major American centre make it alot more cost effective to program bands adventurously.

[zero]

Sorry 'I' totally agree with what you're saying not redd.