Over the Fourth of July weekend hundreds of Chicagoans partied along the Chicago river for Riverwest Music Festival’s inaugural year. While many were hoping Riverwest would fill the void of Wavefront Music Festival, a popular music festival previously hosted on Montrose Beach, many left Riverwest full of complaints and even more empty house hearts. Chicago hosts an array of three day music festivals and expectations are high when production companies try to throw a new party into the market. The lineup for Riverwest exceeded all expectations but some things were little to be desired. But, first years are meant to be bumpy. They are meant to test the waters so things can improve for future years. We see Riverwest Music Festival’s potential! We complied a list of things we wish to see fixed next year so we can keep the party going and better than ever.
1. Lose The Bailing Artists
Nothing hurts more than paying money to see one of your favorite artists and finding out that they won’t be playing. It’s kinda like a punch in the stomach. Erick Morillo, who was initially on the lineup, had been posting on his social media that he would really be in Brazil on the way to Ibiza over the weekend. One of the remaining headliners, Rusko, bailed as well. Ouch. Be up front with who is and isn’t going to be there. If an artist pulls out, remove their name from the lineup immediately and spread the word on social media. We would rather hear it from you than the artist.
2. Make An All-Ages Event….All Ages….
Riverwest was promoted as an all ages event but the festival attracted the 21+ crowd the majority of the weekend. Which isn’t a problem until one out of three stages is only accessible for those 21+. That denies half of the line-up to some of your younger ticket buyers. The Belevedere Stage was hosted on Estate Ultra Bar’s rooftop and additional fees were charged for those wishing to access the stage. Tickets for Riverwest ran from $100-169 for three days and $50-69 for single days. To charge ANOTHER fee so music lovers can catch some major headliners isn’t fair to those expecting to see everyone that was originally scheduled on the line-up. On top of the prices, festival-goers waited around 30-40 minutes to reach the rooftop. Some were denied access because of “capacity” as well.
3. Listen To Your Fans
Many angry ticket buyers took to Facebook to vent and voice their concerns but many comments on Riverwest’s Facebook page were deleted…leaving fans even more angry. Word of mouth is everything for events in Chicago. When a large group is screaming “shady,” others will dismiss the event immediately. Listen to what your festival goers are telling you. Sometimes it’s harsh but you can rise up from the ashes and prove them wrong!
Overall, the negatives didn’t stop the crowd from dancing and raging all night to crowd favorites such as Vaski, Sharam, Dubfire, Deep Dish, and Excision. The official after parties were also able to keep the party going and make some fans forget about their previous woes. We look forward to watching Riverwest grow as a music festival in the heart of Chicago. Cheers to more years!
Connect with Riverwest Music Festival:
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
[Photo credit: Riverwest Music Festival]
Share On
