As national music festivals Coachella and South by Southwest drew thousands of fans westward, downtown Phoenix became a natural pit stop for touring bands. This has led to a major addition to downtown music culture: a music festival season, from mid-March to early April.
In the past five years alone, at least seven recurring music festivals entered downtown Phoenix. From the 2014 introduction of Viva PHX to this year’s Phoenix Lights, live performances are increasingly being grouped together for large-scale events.
“It’s a natural spot to have events go on, in the city center — and I think downtown Phoenix is finally becoming the hub or the center of the valley — from sporting to cultural events to music festivals,” said Charlie Levy, owner of the Crescent Ballroom and Stateside Presents.
This cultural shift is sprouting numerous changes, leading to questions about where downtown will stand in the future.
Effects of downtown music festivals
As music festivals attract more downtown visitors, a major effect will be the rise of new commercial ventures, said Kimber Lanning, founder of Local First Arizona and local record store Stinkweeds.
Though some failures may be inevitable, Lanning said she predicts the overall outcome of local traffic to be positive for all companies.
“Any time you have more people in a vicinity, you’re going to have increased sales, whether it’s local businesses or nonlocal businesses,” Lanning said. “It’s just going to increase traffic and increase the number of transactions happening in a certain area.”
In addition to aiding downtown businesses, music festivals help local bands gain exposure and expand their fan bases.
“This year, I’ve gotten to be involved in a couple of the bigger festivals,” said Robbie Pfeffer, vocalist of Playboy Manbaby and co-owner of Rubber Brother Records. “I think that was great because (of) the fact that we got to play for a bunch of people that would never have known about our band.”
Pfeffer said these sizable events bring larger crowds to local bands, regardless of the fact that most flock toward downtown music festivals to see bigger bands.
The introduction of more diverse audiences to local musicians may indicate growth for Phoenix overall.
“Any time you can start getting more and more people out to try bands they’ve never heard of, or they just show up because they know something cool is going on, all of those are really good signs,” Lanning said. “It shows we’re maturing as a city.”
Potential struggles
As new music festivals are introduced each year, increased ticket prices are seen as well.
In the case of the McDowell Mountain Music Festival, the cost of three-day passes has risen from $120 to $165 since the festival moved downtown in 2013 — a nearly 40 percent increase. For Viva PHX, this year’s $4 rise in ticket cost still represents a 20 percent increase.
This rise reflects the growing cost of booking bands internationally.
According to an article from The Sydney Morning Herald, heightened expenses to book in-demand bands led to increased ticket prices and 30 cancelled summer festivals in Britain in 2011. Australia is facing a similar situation, after low ticket sales 2014 cancelled part of one of its biggest festivals, Big Day Out.
While the costs of downtown Phoenix’s biggest music festivals have not yet led to extensive competition for acts or the inability to sustain audiences, these are potential dangers.
According to information from MMMF, the greatest portion of attendee incomes (21 percent) landed between $100,000 and $149,000, demonstrating the need to attract large numbers from a relatively small population, which census data displayed as only about 10 percent of Arizona’s population.
Another issue music festivals may face is a possible contribution to physical changes downtown, linked to their attracting of visitors.
“You’re going to see some old buildings get torn down because the city lacks a vision,” Lanning said. “You’re going to see big, huge developments come in from people who don’t understand contextually what works best and what’s walkable.”
Shaping Phoenix’s identity
Even with some negative potential, Pfeffer said he believes the good of music festivals immensely outweighs the bad.
“I think it helps Phoenix’s identity,” he said. “I don’t know if we’ll ever be like Austin, but I think this is a good start. It makes Phoenix better, in my opinion.”
According to MMMF, 30 percent of attendees (4,800 to 5,400 people) were out-of-state visitors. This demonstrates the role of music festivals in raising national interest for Phoenix’s music scene.
“It brings all kinds of people together,” Lanning said. “It brings international musicians to our town. It puts our culture on a map.”
Similarly, Levy said, “Any time that people see live music and enjoy themselves and want to see more is a good thing for anyone associated with music, downtown, or arts and culture.”
Contact the columnist at Emily.Liu@asu.edu
