Langerado Fest Cancelled

Portent of things to come this festival season?

By Fred Mills

This year's Langerado bash down in Florida, March 6-8, has been cancelled. "Sluggish ticket sales" was cited as the reason, according to a post at the Langerado site. Read the full post, below.

It's a shame, as the lineup - which included among the headliners Death Cab For Cutie Snoop Dogg and Ryan Adams And The Cardinals - was pretty solid, if not quite as amazing as in previous years. But the writing, perhaps, was on the wall beginning last year when a number of major festivals failed to sell out as they had previously; a number of industry watchers had predicted we'd soon reach festival saturation point, and that's what appeared to be happening in 2008.

So it will be interesting to see whether or not this is an anomaly or the start of a trend as the festival season gets underway. As one wag put it last summer, "How many times can you go to a festival and sit through a Jack Johnson set anyway?"

It's worth noting, too, that prefacing the moving forth with a festival solely on the basis of advance ticket sales is a serious case of building a house made out of cards. I realize that often the early ticket revenue helps pay bills, artist advance fees, and more, but years ago, most concerts were walk-up events where the bulk of sales took place on day-of-show, and promoters did just fine (while taking the occasional bath). Of course, if you can rake in a zillion advance dollars and bank that to draw some interest, if only for a brief time... well... you can see the additional motivation for the emphasis on advance sales. Like I said, a house of cards....

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Feb 3, 2009

The 2009 Langerado Music Festival has been cancelled due to sluggish ticket sales.

Langerado's independent local promoters, faced with a very tough decision in a dismal economy, cancelled the 2009 event only after every possible option was exhausted.

As Langerado Co-Promoter Ethan Schwartz explains, "Langerado has always put the fan experience first. Unfortunately, during these difficult economic times, and facing a first year in a new venue, it's become apparent that we cannot execute a production that lives up to the high standards of our past events. Putting Langerado on hold was the toughest decision we have ever had to make. We are very grateful for the support of the greater-Miami community and the music community during this difficult time."

All tickets purchased will be refunded. Please look for ticket refunds to be processed in the next 5-7 business days. Each order will be refunded to the credit card in full, minus the included order processing fees. Shipping fees will also be credited for those orders that did not select the free shipping promotion. For information on ticket refunds please contact Music Today www.musictoday.com