NCAA THE BIG DANCE CONCERT SERIES WAS THE REAL WINNER IN HOUSTON
I know UConn beat Butler a week ago and that the northeastern school actually holds the NCAA Basketball title for 2011, but Houston put together a three day music festival in the heart of downtown that really stole the show. We needed this. Houston really needed to show itself that we can have full weekend festivals.
In front of the scenes, everything went so smoothly. The crowds were respectful, no drama and overall the vibe was festive. Get it? Festival = festive… Discovery Green and downtown Houston never seemed as beautiful as it did this moment.
(This is where I am going to say the rest of this is my opinion only.)
Not to detract from the Free Press Summer Fest music festival that began last year… I covered that too and it was a fantastic time as well. No, this is to wake up the powers that be that we don’t have to have neither Clear Channel not Live Nation’s monopoly on concerts. This concert was free. The people and families attending this event were able to spend money on food, shirts, and whatever else…including buying the outrageously high gas for their cars to get to the event.
Anyhow, I was able to cover The Hold Steady, Sublime With Rome, Robert Randolph, Panic At The Disco and Kings Of Leon for you! Personally, I thought The Hold Steady nailed their performance and Robert Randolph was a gem. Sublime With Rome was a little subdued, but what the hell! We all danced like fools and were no worse for it. Panic At The Disco wasn’t so family friendly, but my kids have heard all of those words anyhow so it didn’t bother me and the crowd absolutely loved them. From a photographer standpoint, I won’t be purchasing any CD’s from Kings Of Leon. Why? I am going to take the high road on this one, but their sex was NOT on fire to me and there was no Southern charm lost on their handling of media.
Ludacris was also pretty entertaining as a part time host on one of the days! I missed the last day, but had the opportunity to cover Brian “Head” Welch and I wasn’t going to miss that. By the way, ”Head” was in Friendswood, TX and brought in by a local, independent group…
To see the full set of live performance photos (including The Hold Steady, Robert Randolph, Panic At The Disco, Sublime With Rome, and Kings Of Leon), click HERE.
Over all though, the Final Four Expectations predicted from the Greater Houston Partnership, NCAA, and the Texas Comptroller’s Office were 76,500 fans for each of three games, at least $60 million spent overall and $11.7 million was generated in tax revenues for Houston. I would love to be proven wrong, but I don’t think Buzzfest brings in this much to the city…
Category: News, Photo Updates
