I received an email today from the Rochester International Jazz Fest regarding their club passes going on sale soon and the price of those passes. I don't know what possessed me, but I wrote a return email about the price increase. (The Club Pass has risen another $6.00.) I never thought anyone would read my email, let alone respond. But respond they did. And quickly, too. Here it is:
"There is a $6 increase this year due to Increased number of artists (over 100 groups), increased number of venues (an additional 18 performance), increase in the cost of artist fees. In the end it's still a reduced overall cost per show. We would suggest you don't buy a pass of you go to less than 6 sets of music, just pay a single entry charge. It's a VALUE pass and perhaps the cheapest pass ticket in the world."
I don't know how to format this here, but the word "value" that you see in CAPS was not only in caps, but bold and underlined. I think the writer thought I was some kind of an idiot who didn't understand the definition of the word "value." That pissed me off.
So I responded.
"I've done the Club Pass for three years, and I understand the concept of VALUE; but it's only a value if you can get into at least five to seven shows (depending on the artist) that you want to see. And it's not a value if you stand in line for an hour+ and then don't get into a performance that you wanted to see. Then, having missed that one, you might have also missed another, second and/or third, choice. This was my experience, multiple times, last year. It was extremely frustrating. I will probably not buy a pass this year based on that. If there is a show I want to see, I'll just "pay as I go" and get there more than two hours early because two hours early was not enough at Max at Eastman Place. Not only did I wait, no one bothered to tell all of us waiting in that line that we didn't have a shot at getting in. If they had, we would have at least had a slim chance to find another show to see. I was two hours early for Eldar, and was not told the place was at SRO. By the time I went up to the volunteer table to ask what was going on, I was too late for a second choice at Kilbourn. That is not value.
It is also not a value if the sound system sucks (Harro East). That needs to be addressed.
This is a good festival. It is cost-prohibitive for many people. It has also become a "scene" more than a place to appreciate good music. And, sadly, the thousands of people in the streets for those nine days do not translate to lots of people at the other excellent music shows all over the city the rest of the year."
This time, there was no response.
I do believe that this is a good festival, but I also believe that it is cost-prohibitive to many people. And it is difficult for people who can't take the week off of work to get to the venues in time to be first in line to get in to see the shows that they want to.
I do also wonder why none of these thousands of people populate the little venues we have all over this city for jazz artists (and other excellent musical talent) over the course of the other 356 days of the year. Maybe these festival promoters should be promoting the available music throught our city all year long instead of just for the nine days of their own festival.
Okay, I think my rant is over.
yours in music,
tracy
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3 comments:
well, given how I remember your frustration - AS WELL AS OTHERS... you'd think they could have responded to your email. Obviously they don't care. I would elevate... see if someone else is listening.
by the way - sorry it took me so long to post to your blog! I'm a little s-l-o-w on some things... I'll do better, I promise. :)
well, heres my 2 cents. this year was my first jazzfest experience, having bought a very discounted club pass from someone for 60$. think id be happy, right?... well, first off i went to see the ukelele guy at his early show. same frustrarions as everyone else, long lines that go nowhere, no organization. then the line stops with my friend and i at the front. we asked what the holdup was, they said they were 20 from fire capacity, the line was on 3 streets at this point and well dressed people started ignoring the line. then the montage began letting press people bring in "friends" with out media passes, so i guess being a friend of a media person is the way to go. once we got in, long after the show began but long after the lie was loud with complaints, and then they just decide to say screw the fire capacity after the fire marshal popped his head in. so now theres a full room in the back of the montage, jazz fest volunteer staff carrying loud conversations about picking up their kids for the weekend and weather, i didnt see one volunteer being considerate once. all i saw was ticket holders giving them dirty looks until i asked the one lady to shut up. a group of people thanked me. i dont like having to call people out but comeon the kids playing a quiet string instrument with no bow and you thing we care that your baby daddy blahblahblah, comeon. nextyear use some volunteers that arent on welfare, or maybe ever some welfare recipiants that enjoy music would be even better! but you all just chose doorstoppers and i think thats a waste and contributes to the image ppl got of this 2bit festival scam. rijf is garbage and i wouldnt but a club pass again unless it was under 50$ and there would need to be better scheduling and managment. im greatful i saw a few select artists but for the most part the fest was saaad. all rain, crappy tiny venues not equipped for the crowds, next time get more tent shows , better scheduling and some volunteers that care about jazz and rochesters image , and less about gettin out the house coz they kids dont shut up. seriously, act like youve been to a real event in a real city, then come back and try. you people!
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