So last night some Irish Festers including old Uncle Bloggy went to the big Flogging Molly show here in Kansas City. Festival VP Rory O'Connor was there. Irish Fest Answer Dude Jeff Petrie and brother Brian were there. Director Barney Walsh, Site Host boss Sarah Walsh and Sponsor Hospitality co-chair Jen O'Hara were there. It was a great show, though my lumbago is killing me from all the crowd surfing and stage diving I did. We were all reminiscing about the show Flogging Molly did when they either closed or killed the Brookside Irish Fest in 2002, depending on how you look at it.
To refresh your memory, FM headlined on our one and only stage in Brookside that year, after having spent the summer on their first Warped Tour. They drew a huge crowd of energetic and colorful young people, who were well behaved, polite and had the time of their lives, as Flogging Molly fans tend to do. We took in tons of loose change at the gates and sold virtually no beer to the largely under 21 crowd. The show was great. The band, consummate professionals. The week following their performance we were politely asked by neighborhood petition to never return. The decision to merge the Brookside and Westport festivals into the Kansas City Irish Fest soon followed.
Since then every once in awhile the subject comes up, as it did last night. It's invariably a topic of heated discussion at our Irish festival directors' conferences. Do bands like FM and Dropkick Murphys have a place at mainstream Irish Festivals? Do the kind of crowds they attract- mohawks, piercings, tats and in our experience 100% trouble free if not exactly profitable at the beer tents- drive off and alienate other patrons? Or does their brand of Irish music belong in a more specialized setting, like the upcoming Kansas City Punk Irish Fest? I'd be interested to know what you think.
If you're unfamiliar with the band, here's a taste.
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7 comments:
we need this kind of excitement at the 09 fest. THE FIDDLER IS REAL CUTE! colorado
I Love Floggin' Molly
They are the greatest performers to hang out with.
Pump up the volume on the car stereo when I have one of their CD's in.
Want to see them at KCIF? No thank you.
Why ask them to alter the lyrics to their songs? Why ask them to change the dialogue between songs? Why ask them to be who they are not?
KCIF bills themselves as being a family festival. No matter how you package them, Floggin' Molly is far from "Family".
Question for the folks at HQ? What would they charge to perform? How many additional tickets and beers will they sell? Have their fans from the days of Brookside grown up, gotten jobs and don't break the piggy bank and pay at the gate with a stack of quarters>
I too LOVE Flogging Molly, their December 30th show at the Filmore in Denver was my birthday present last year - 2008, last year, when did that happen? - Anyway... I agree with Anonymous 2 (the second post), I don't think they are main stream Festival entertainment. The families would take one look at the mohawks, tats and piercings and run for the Hills... are there hills there around KCMO?
God love 'em I'll see the Molly as many time as I can in a year... but probably not at KCIF. Plus their fees are high, we checked... if you wanna know how high, email me Danny.
p.s. My son is 12, almost 13, and COUNTING the day till he's 16 and can go see FM with his cool Mom :)
Have to agree with Claire, who introduced me to FM a couple of years ago. They put on a great show but it's not really for families which is KCIF's core audience.
Tamara
It is not right to discuss performers fees in a public forum.
-Shaughnessy
That's why she didn't post their fees. She told Danny he could email her privately. I also agree, they are not KCIF compatible.
The cost question was rhetorical not asking for a actual dollar amount, but the question of can you recoup the costs from how much additional sales. That is called ROI (return on investment). A band as popular as FM no doubt would bring a larger price tag to the table. I don't care what any of the bands actually charge just as long as you guys can pay for them. Keep up the good work.
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