As of this writing, attendance figures haven't been released for Summerfest's inaugural Verge Music Festival, though it's safe to guess from the spotty crowds this weekend that they probably weren't nearly what organizers were hoping for. Of course, turnout wasn't helped any by the bleak weather forecast. The threat of rain hung over Friday evening's bill, and that threat was realized Saturday, when an innocuous drizzle during The Raveonettes' 5 p.m. set gave way to chilly showers. As the rain fell and the sun set, Saturday's temperatures dropped cruelly into the 50snot exactly the type of weather that encourages walk-up ticket sales.
Verge's attendance may have been modest compared to Summerfest's draw (an unfair comparison, but one inevitably invited by the Henry Maier Festival grounds), but it was by no means embarrassing, especially considering how many people the weather scared off. The turnout was still high enough to demonstrate that there is a demand in Milwaukee for this kind of music festival, enough even to make the event profitable next year given a few tweaks. Here's a look at what worked for Verge in its first year, and what didn't.
What worked: The promotions. Ample giveaways and a $10.21 advance ticket promotion helped create an early awareness for the upstart event.
What didn't: The day-of pricing. Forty dollars in advance for two-day admission was a good deal, as was the $25 single-day pass, especially since those advance ticket purchases included Summerfest tickets. The $35 day-of tickets, however, may have been too steep for the festival's young target audience, and weren't such a bargain considering that Summerfest proper offers a much larger lineup at just $15 a ticket.
What worked: Local acts. The inclusion of many local bands, often in prime slots, helped the festival feel like a true Milwaukee celebration, and these cost-effective local bookings often upstaged the national headliners. Verge offered great exposure to deserving local bands, allowing groups like Jaill and Invade Rome to perform to some of the largest crowds of their careers.
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What worked: The headliners. She & Him, AFI, Three Days Grace and Weezer all proved themselves to be magnet headliners. The promise of Weezer in particular helped the crowd endure Saturday's downpours, and indeed, the band's wildly gregarious closing set made the four hours of dreary weather that proceeded it seem like a distant memory. Though still damp, fans left the Summerfest grounds beaming on Saturday night.
What didn't: A patchy lineup. Though Verge offered two main stages and a third, smaller one for non-marquee acts, the schedule often felt thinner than it read on paper, leaving long patches between performers of interest for many concertgoers. Likewise, the headliners weren't always backed up with fitting supporting acts. Most egregiously, She & Him was the only band of their breed on Friday's bill, but AFI fans certainly would have enjoyed at a second punk band on Saturday's bill. As the heaviest band on the lineup, even Three Days Grace felt a little unsupported. In trying to offer a little something for everybody, the Verge lineup too often offered only one of each something. A fuller lineup and more complementary bookings would have helped fence-sitters justify the $35, day-of ticket price.
These are small concerns. There's no reason organizers shouldn't be able to iron out these scheduling kinks in the festival's second year, should it be granted one. Verge organizers were tasked with booking a modern-rock and indie-rock festival at a time when those two genres are growing increasingly irreconcilable, so they can be forgiven if the lineup sometimes felt a little schizophrenic, especially considering how little time they had to book it.
Here's hoping they get a chance to let the festival grow into its own next year.
