A pic I snuck on my phone of Lupe Fiasco closing out the night
B.o.m.b. Fest was held this past Sunday (5/30/10) in historic Durham, CT on their fairground site.
Headlining artists were Lupe Fiasco, 30 Seconds to Mars, Of Montreal, Girl Talk, Mute Math, Ra Ra Riot, Jay Electronica, and the Cool Kids.
Being from Connecticut, close to the Durham area, I can confidently say that there is one thing we can all agree on in relation to the event- that nobody really knew much about it. Anytime it was brought up in conversation, there was an emphasis on the size of the bands playing and a confusion on what the actual details were.
Seeing as we've never held this event before, the first misunderstanding floating around was that the bands were going to be playing at the actual Durham Fair....you know, with the farm animals and award winning vegetables. They always have a musical act, so it was plausible. But how in the world were they going to have time for that many artists, and with what budget???
Another popular rumor was that the band Brand New would be playing. In the end, they weren't at the festival- but I think it's definitely still worth mentioning. When I heard that they were going to be there, I was ecstatic. Brand New always draws a massive crowd on their own, and they've personally been one of my favorite bands for a long time. But turns out it wasn't actually a rumor; the band posted a blog on their myspace saying that they were no longer able to attend for family reasons. Although we probably lost a few attendees, it would be naive to ignore the fact that their name really helped to spread word of the event. For those of you disappointed, family comes first! And they've never been shy about playing in Connecticut, so I'm sure we'll catch them again soon.
The closer we got to the event, everything started to come together. No, it wasn't at the fair- just the fairgrounds. Yeah you only heard about it from a friend or two, but now your Facebook minifeed was starting to blow up with "BOMB FEST!!!" statuses- it was really starting to feel like something not to miss. You learned of the acronym, being "Bring Our Music Back". Sounds cool, but what does it mean? What was this thing, and where did it come from?
From the About section of the festivals website, "B.O.M.B. Fest is just one of the events produced by BRING OUR MUSIC BACK INC., a non-profit organization dedicated to the enrichment of life and healing through music." Well that's freaking cool- music to support the survival and creation of more music, almost like some kind of living species trying to last throughout the generations. B.O.M.B. INC. states that their mission, specifically, is "to support talent, programs and services in our communities to help preserve an art form." They take 70% of the net proceeds from events like this one and donate it to local and national charities. But the great thing is that it really connects to YOU- they proudly fund on the personal level of "music scholarships, artistic mentorships and high school enrichment programs".
So the day of the show. To be honest, I didn't really know what to expect. I've personally enjoyed keeping up with the local music scene since I was a freshman in highschool. I've been to Bamboozle, Warped tour, and countless shows in PA, NJ, NY, MA, CT, and RI. Seeing so many different types of 'atmospheres', you kind of know what to expect in different places.
For example, the Wallingford American Legion is a small room that although doesn't usually hold shows for large tours, has had many bands play that have been on the cusp of explosion. I find shows like this to be pretty consistent in being the best; the intimate environment of such a small place makes it feel like the experience belongs to you. The handful of people there are as passionate about the artists as you are; those shows don't have the budgets to be advertised like something at the Webster, so you'll usually only know it's happening if you're an avid follower of the acts.
Festivals are the opposite of that. Mass amounts of people. Big bands, small bands, bands you don't like, bands you love, bands you decide ahead of time that you would like to see- but then a local band you've never heard of blows you away and you ending up ditching your initial commitments to stay and watch. There are die-hard fans that get to the front row and wait there for possibly hours for their band to go on. And then you get the ticket winners, people who tag along with friends, and everyone else that doesn't care too much about being there but has either money to blow or got their ticket for free.
Sound stressful? Yeah not only for you, but the people who put these things together- I mean with all those people and all that money spent comes super-high expectations. And speaking of money, tickets were $50 advance, $60 at the door. Parking ran from $5-$10. I got mine for $5, right across the street.
Seeing as this was the first thing of its kind for the area, I really didn't expect much. And I don't mean that I expected it to suck- but, I didn't think it was going to be as big as it was. And let me tell you, I was impressed. They had professional stages set up- they were big, they had lights, they looked good, and there were FOUR! Honestly, the way they had the main stages grouped together looked just like something outta 'boozle. They also had:
- merch booths (with national AND local goodies)
- all kinds of food, including your carnival favorites
- a couple rides
- millions of port-o-potties (AND AN ACTUAL INSIDE RESTROOM FACILITY!)
- a large cozy VIP tent (not really 'exclusive', which was cool, just a more expensive ticket)
- arts and crafts stations
- temporary tattoo booths
- t-shirt give-aways
- they allowed people to bring beach chairs
- and re-entry! they made you pay for the ticket and parking, but if you were super low on cash you could've gone to the car to eat and drink whatever you brought with you, which was probably less expensive.
Now it was impossible to see every single band play, and I did get there a little after it started anyway, but the bands I saw looked and sounded great. Of Montreal got really theatrical on stage, and it was really creepy at some times...but I thought it was awesome (some people were obviously put off). They had characters in gas masks and priest-like robes doing these slow religious-like dances, but then they changed outfits and did some more weird stuff. Another scene was a girl fighting off some phantom looking things. I don't know, I'm at a loss for words describing what I saw because it was that strange. Girl Talk got everyone dancing; I actually had to go back to the car around the end of the set to get some water and sit down for a bit- the sun was brutal. I didn't see 30 Seconds to Mars because the people I came with wanted to stay and relax for a bit, as did I. And then we made it back for Lupe Fiasco and everyone at Bomb Fest was having a good time singing and dancing. It was an awesome end to the night.
The town of Durham, police officers, medical staff, bus companies/drivers, BOMB INC, the bomb squad, all the bands, the towns-people setting up cheap parking at their houses, the people running all the different kinds of booths, and anyone else involved in organizing the event did an amazing job- kudos to them. I'd say it was a huge success, and I really hope they bring it back next year.
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