Friday, July 29, 2005

Bele Chere-Event or Billboard?

Today begins a 3-day music festival, Bele Chere. 80 musical acts perform on 6 different stages for the duration of the event. With a couple exceptions, the entire event is free to the general public. Most locals avoid Bele Chere. Personally, I would be more attracted to the event if the musical lineup were a bit more diverse. Mountain Xpress provided a band listing revealing a lot of jam bands, folk musicians, singer/songwriter acts and blues artists. It appears that the Bele Chere organizers aren't really offering a music event for Ashevillians as they are branding this city as a jam/folk/singer/songwriter/blues center to non-locals.

So, my fellow Asheville citizens, does Bele Chere represent your musical taste or do you think Bele Chere is nothing but a billboard with a misleading message?

6 comments:

arratik said...

there's one performer this year who i would love to see (john hiatt), but aside from that i really don't care. it's not my taste in music isn't reflected; i just don't care for derivative, substandard, watered-down garbage. plenty of that can be found locally, yet the organizers have to go to all the trouble of importing it from other cities and from the national summerstage/county fair circuit? there's only, what, fifteen local performers this year? it just sickens me that this town doesn't have that much confidence in its own music.

remember the "under the influence" festival a few years back? we need another one of those, showcasing some of the more adventurous local performers.

Edgy Mama said...

Yeah, looking at the schedule, I find most of the bands I'm interested in are local--those whom I typically see at other times during the year. I think LEAF has a more diverse, interesting lineup than Bele Chere--at least this year.

1000 black lines said...

Syntax, I'm like you... there's only one act I'd be interested in seeing (Blues Traveler or maybe Susan Tedeschi), but overall nothing really draws me to Bele Chere. I'm not familiar with the "under the inluence" festival.

Edgy Mama, you're right... my local favs (Menage and Stephanie's Id) I can see any given month. So, I'll probably attend their gigs as a show of support. I've never made it to LEAF (I can't get past the price tag).

Gordon Smith said...

LEAF is the best festival around (and the price tag, Matt, you can avoid altogether by volunteering your time).

I blush when I say it, but I love Bele Chere. There's nothing quite like seeing the train wreck of cultural backgrounds packed into downtown Asheville. I plan to put a good buzz on and get sociological as hell.

See you guys tonight at Tomato Cosina Latina!

arratik said...

"under the influence" was a festival celebrating the legacy and influence of black mountain college. it was a lot of fun.

modpez said...

i guess i'll saunter downtown in a few minutes and see if there are any surprises. a few years back i caught the goodies playing in an obscure intersection. they were in rockabilly mode and i thought the guitar work was great, eccentric. another time my old friend david olney who i hadn't seen since our collage days. i like the small non-branded acts. i was a little curious about alvin youngblood hart altho i've never heard him.