City Stages 2006: Coda

City Stages 2006 is over, done, packed up and torn down. How did the annual music fest do in its 18th outing?

Despite daily ticket sales off by 30 percent from projections, the festival had its share of victories big and small.

Sales

Winner: Beverage vendors. Hot, dry weather in the upper 80s and low 90s made for some thirsty customers. The first festival in recent memory without a single drop of rain.

Loser: Rain gear vendors. For obvious reasons.

Promotions

Winner: Fox 6. The TV station is already a sponsor of the festival, but kudos to whoever wrangled huge Fox 6 banners into can’t-miss positions on the Coca-Cola Classic and Miller Lite Stages.

Losers: Miller Lite and Coca-Cola. Their thousands of dollars spent on being stage sponsors went down the drain when those TV banners went up. We’re surprised they didn’t raise a bigger fuss.

Split decision: Birmingham News. Its banners were on fences throughout the site — but virtually invisible at its own Homegrown Stage, the first stage sponsorship in years. That’s because they were positioned below the front edge of the platform. At least a few fans stopped us to ask if it was, in fact, the News’ Homegrown Stage.

Viewing

Winner: Miller Lite Stage. Smart move by festival officials to push that stage one block north. The projection screens were well placed and provided optimal viewing all around. The VIP platform was kept off to the side to minimize blocked views. And the parking lot to the left was an oasis while the middle remained shoulder to shoulder. Bonus: no radio station booths drowning out the actual performances.

Loser: Birmingham News/al.com Homegrown Stage. Divorced from its Miller Lite counterpart, the stage drew few takers, even during headlining acts. At least performers weren’t subjected to humiliating mid-set cutoffs because the Miller stage was ready to go.

Split decision: Coca-Cola Classic Stage. What is up with that monster two-story mixing table/spotlight nest, complete with giant blue tarp? The view from the fountain, usually standing room only, was ruined, forcing even more crowding in the already limited lawn areas. Thank goodness for that screen …

Mypeople.com Stage

Winner: Brandi Carlile. Fantastic performance, maybe best of the festival. A winsome gal with a strong voice and a knack for rock and ballad. Glad she came back to Birmingham a second time this year.

Loser: Los Lonely Boys. Despite a great set, many fans filed out during the performance to catch either Hank Williams Jr. or Snoop Dogg.

Miller Lite Stage

Winner: The headliners. Shinedown, Snoop and the Allman Brothers Band benefited from good buzz and huge crowds, not to mention those nice projection screens. Snoop and the Allmans even had backup harmonica provided by American Idol Taylor Hicks.

Loser: Matchbook Romance. Good band, bad timing. Looked like the audience was mostly indifferent waiting for Yellowcard or Snoop to take the stage later.

Coverage

Winner: Fox 6. Doesn’t hurt to be a sponsor, especially when that gives you open access to cover acts. The station may have been late to the streaming video bandwagon, but dang if it hasn’t made up for it by posting its segments and mostly uncensored performance videos.

Winner: Flickr. The 400-plus photo contributions to the City Stages photo pool are already double that of 2005. An amazing example of digital media done right: easy to see, easy to update, easy to share. Woe be to festivals when professional digital video cameras fit into wi-fi cell phones …

Loser: Bloggers. Still not quite there in providing much in the way of real-time (or even close to real-time) coverage, but we are getting a kick out of reading after-the-fact postings of how the Ackleys were bombarded with loud Soul Patrol fans or just how many of you nabbed VIP or media passes.

Split decision: Birmingham News. Better use of its al.com site, especially in getting photos up in a timely fashion. The blog posts were mostly entertaining — more than 30 in a three-day period — though we’re still scratching our heads over this scintillating bulletin:

Wind a problem: Everyone knew it was going to be hot, but the wind became a small problem at City Stages on Saturday afternoon. Brisk breezes forced vendors and others to use bricks, bottles, weighted cups … anything they could find to hold down stuff that might otherwise float away.

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Complete City Stages 2006 coverage.

Posted: Monday, June 19, 2006, 5:55 pm, in B'ham, Bama, Culture.
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