Talent, as just about every band can attest, isn't the only thing that secures bookings. In many cases, talent is far less likely to rope a gig for a band than outside factors like predicted draw, promoter ties, venue biases, promotional budget and the like. The music scene can sometimes suffer as a result, with proven entities monopolizing coveted venues as deserving lesser-knowns scratch and claw for a break.
The International Pop Overthrow (IPO) festival, an annual event that takes place in cities across America, Canada and Britain, offers a rare break from the politics of local promoting, since it's booked entirely by one man from outside the city who couldn't care less about a band's status or draw.
"Really, our only criteria is that bands have a strong sense of melody," says Dave Bash, who founded IPO in Los Angeles in 1998 and has been launching chapters in additional cities since 2001. "Beyond that, a sense of harmony is nice, and strong hooks are important. We're really looking for stuff that, while not aping the period, evokes the spirit of what radio was like in the '60s and '70s. Some bands that we have in the festival are very retro, while others are decidedly modern, so while the festival certainly stands for power-pop, we also have indie-rock, garage-rock, folk-rock-as long as it's melodic and it has some relationship to rock music, we're open to it."
Bash discovers most of the bands he books simply by doing MySpace searches for power-pop and related genres, then page-surfing until something catches his ear. That can lead to some pretty unlikely lineups. The schedule at this year's Milwaukee IPO, for instance, pairs longtime Summerfest and RiverSplash staples with young bands that rarely gig outside of corner bars or Riverwest basements. The Pugilists, Bored Games, The Lackloves, The Reckless Hearts, The Nice Outfit, Heathrow, The International Date Lines, Jetty Boys, The LoveMonkeys and Certain Stars are among the groups that will perform over the festival's four days.
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"These days, music scenes are generally pretty fragmented," Bash says. "This festival is great because it's a way that we can bring all these different bands together for a few days. It's really satisfying that some outsider from L.A. can come organize these events that turn all these bands on to different music they might not even have known about in their own city."
Linneman's Riverwest Inn hosts Milwaukee's second annual IPO over four days this weekend, beginning Thursday, April 30, and ending Sunday, May 3.
"The crowds were good last year, and we're creating awareness and hoping for an even bigger turnout this year," Bash says. "It's always difficult, of course, to convey to people that they should come out to a festival to see a bunch of bands they've probably never even heard of, but there's really a lot of talent on this bill."
