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Remember Verge, the upstart alt-rock music festival that was hindered last spring by cold, rainy weather and a patchy, possibly rushed lineup? It won't be returning this year, Summerfest's John Boler announced in an email this afternoon, but it may return in 2012.
The complete email is below (bold emphasis mine):
The complete email is below (bold emphasis mine):
Verge Music Festival will not be produced this year, however festival producer, Milwaukee World Festival, Inc., is committed to try again next year. Milwaukee World Festival, Inc., intended to continue the Verge Music Festival in 2011 and had been working on date and talent combination options throughout winter, spring and this summer. We looked at spring dates and fall date options, navigating around the other existing festivals currently booked at Henry Maier Festival Park. Ultimately, we simply could not find and secure the right combination of alternative and modern rock bands on the necessary available dates we needed in order to make the event a success and stay true to the vision of the festival. This is a constant challenge when planning and producing successful live music events, and with an event like Verge that is somewhat specialized, celebrating alternative and modern rock genres, that challenge only increases. So, we will not produce Verge this year (2011), but are committed to trying again next year because we believe in the vision for the event and how it complements the collection of festivals at Henry Maier Festival Park.
I'm disappointed to see the festival go, at least for now—I thought it showed a lot of promise and filled a real need—but the logic bolded above is hard to argue with; there's no point having a music festival if you can't actually fill it with good music. I'd much rather see Summerfest put the festival on the back burner until they can retool it and make it work than try to work around a lackluster lineup.
