i probably get more defensive about this stuff too because i volunteer to organize community festivals, but it constantly amazes how quick people are to criticize people who donate hours and hours of their free time in order to plan cool stuff for the greater community.

sorry. personal pet peeve.

aw, see? So much going on. Everyone's covered. Everyone's happy.
Madlab Volatility thingy is always pretty damn entertaining.

Okay, either my point is being lost, or I'm terrible at explaining myself. Also, Scion fest is brand freakin' new. Let's see if it happens a few times before calling it a great festival in this city. BUT, it is a step in the right direction. Especially for music which doesn't really have access to a large audience in Columbus.
Though I support several of those festivals because friend's bands play in them... they are the exact "smaller niche fests" I'm talking about. There's nothing wrong with that. I'm just saying for a decently sized city, in a central location, with a ton of awesome bands... well, where's our SXSW? Hell, cincy is hardly any bigger (if at all?) and they have something at least similar. You know what I mean? Not something to make ME famous, but something capable of propelling any one of the great bands around town to a new level. Hell, I could apply to this magical opportunity and not make it, and STILL be happy to go, because I'm supporting someone who is really trying to do something for our local music.
Out of that list of fests, Comfest is very easily one of the more attended ones. I'm saying, for bands, comfest is one of the best things we have (in the sense I just described), and it's practically useless for that.

I'm not trying to tell everyone they'll have a shitty time, that the volunteers aren't doing something valuable for their community. I'm just saying that it's very obvious that music is only included in that community as a sidenote. Something to fill the air, so people don't get bored. That's fine. All I was saying is that it seems there are other places that seem to have their shit together when it comes to blowing the town up for a huge musically-centric festival. These places don't even have to be Chicago or New York. But everyone's just kinda happy to sit on the grass and eat hotdogs and have a great time. No one is saying, hey we have great bands here... let's do something about that on a grand level. Once a year, comfest rolls around and reminds me of that, and I get pissy. But it's festival season everywhere, and it's discouraging to see so many other cities doing something, when we should be just as capable.
I'll just save it for another topic.

if someone could start a festival that would help me finish my masters degree so that I could make more money at a new job in portland, that would be totally rad. I'd even pick up trash for that one.

oops

bump

RaWKe On DA RahnGe BRA!!!!!!!!

Lackluster. Am I reading you right? Are you looking for a festival that concentrates on catapulting Columbus' fine artists toward stardom and fame and markets their awesomeness to a mass audience? All of that sounds like bunk, to me.

If there's a common thread among great Ohio bands that I've recognized, it's their honesty; their unique pursuit of their own good time and their form of expression. Everyone's invited but they're not waving a flag and begging for your attention or acceptance. The sort of fanfare you seem to be proposing just doesn't hit me as working, here.

Maybe I'm just not following you.