Photo & Article: Sarah Locke
October 2012 Issue
Sadly, Jacksonville’s recent Electric SunFest went from an event of epic proportions to flat out pathetic in only a matter of hours. What was supposed to help flourish the city’s emerging EDM scene did nothing but wipe its credibility slate clean, and embarrass the hell out of those of us who proudly represent, promote, and take pride in the growing genre.
Electric SunFest was supposed to span two days, September 1st and 2nd, and feature a slew of international artists, such as Tiesto, 12th Planet, Robbie Rivera, and Cedric Gervais. Instead, a disgustingly stripped down version occurred (and boy do I mean barely) - a single day event with performances by less than half of the original artists scheduled.
David Miclat is an Orlando-based DJ, producer, and Media Director for company, Mondolight. Miclat voices his opinion on the disastrous event.
“Will this hurt Jacksonville? Yes. Will the scene be completely destroyed? No, but it will take some time to rebuild legitimacy before it can do another festival of that size again.”
Redline Entertainment was the entertainment promotions company backing the event, with promoter Matt Richardson at the helm. Richardson is said to have once been a pretty popular promoter- in the 90s that is.
I reached out to Richardson who (shockingly) responded to my initial request, saying that he was willing to chat with me and offer some insight into the whole disaster. Lo and behold though, a few days later when it was time to get down to business, he wouldn’t return my contact attempts. Was I surprised? Not really.
Word on the street, and by street I mean everywhere, is that he owes everyone, pretty much every last dime. It’s been insinuated that he’s holed up in a fancy hotel suite somewhere counting collected funds while soaking in a Cristal-filled tub, eating caviar. Oh dear.
Financial contracts with performers, along with lighting and stage construction companies involved with ESF were never paid. The Morocco Shrine Auditorium supposedly had the same issue, posting Richardson’s actual telephone number on its billboard for ticketholders, some of which spent up to $160, to attempt to get their money back. An unnamed festival attendee and local DJ referred to Mr. Richardson as, “the Bernie Madoff of promoters.”
Ouch.
Proof that there has to be a bit of truth in the current rumor mill? Consider artist, South Rakkas’ Facebook post regarding the event.
He posted on Saturday, September 1st, saying, “2 days ago I saw my name on the flyer. No one contacted me about playing. No surprise it’s falling apart.”
Double ouch.
The attendees at Saturday’s event may not have known the details of what was going on, but one thing was clear- it was falling apart around them with each passing minute. Everything was done, for lack of a better term, in a half-ass fashion.
It was an unfortunate occurrence for everyone involved, including the first-timers, like fellow Ignition staff writer, Seth Lyda.
I was particularly excited to introduce him to the scene, as he knows nothing about it. Maybe it wasn’t so bad for him because he had nothing to compare it to, but regardless, I kept reminding him throughout the day of what a tremendous failure it was and “they’re not all like this, I swear.” Hopefully he trusts my judgment, and hopefully he’ll be willing to attend another EDM event- one that’s credible and successfully run. I briefed him on Orlando’s Electric Daisy Carnival in November, and feel like that would be a good second step for him.
Despite the negativity, despite the mega failure that ESF turned out to be, believe it or not, there was somewhat of a break in the clouds throughout the weekend, a silver lining if you will.
Gabriel and Dresden and Lazy Rich, two artists that had already flown in, still wanted to play somewhere in the city despite the venue crisis. To the rescue came Pure Nightclub, stepping up to the plate and granting everyone with an ESF ticket free entry to the Sunday night show, even keeping it open past the regular business hours to accommodate the artists and their fans.
Throughout the rest of the weekend, last minute events popped up at all available venues, providing a place for the local DJs who were on the ESF bill, to perform and bring their friends, families, and crews.
Jacksonville’s EDM family came together and made our own mini festival spread out around town, and I believe that we all became a bit closer because of it. It was an instance where people who didn’t normally even converse with one another, came together and united purely for the love and sake of EDM music- the first step to rebuilding a better, more successful, more CREDIBLE scene in Jacksonville and its surrounding areas. And why? Well, because we refuse to let a few bad eggs ruin it for the rest of us, that’s why.
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