can fresno's rogue festival be described as a tale of two rogues? no, this isn't me lamenting visual artists being secondary. i've mentioned that before. i'm actually wondering about an undercurrent i've felt during the festival: local performers vs nonlocal/"fringe festival" performers.
i'm not trying to start dissent. i'm just commenting on a feeling i've gotten. it seems that the out of towners go see the out of towners. they name check them at the end of their shows. they promote for each other. i don't hear them talking up the local performers. i do hear the local performers talking about and promoting the out of towners as well as the locals.
this isn't me with a chip on my shoulder or an ax to grind. shoot, i've recommended a lot of out of town acts. ryan paulson's i'm uncomfortable is still the best show i've seen this year. but i'll also say travis sheridan's bipolarity of life has moved into second for me. sure, i've only seen 6 shows, two of which i was a part of, but still. the local performers can hold their own with the travelers, the "fringe" set.
i doubt when marcel et al started this thing 8 years ago they meant for it to be this way. but, i don't dare say too much because i would just be making things up. i don't know all of their intentions other than that they wanted to do something like the sf fringe festival here. and, they've succeeded. they've succeeded so much that we draw people from england, canada, new york and everywhere else.
those of you who've been @ rogue this year, what do you think?
3 comments:
Yeah, I've sort of felt that too... for the first time this year especially. I'm guessing it is a symptom of a crack in the "rogue buddy" system. Stalwart out-of-town-rogues like Barry goes cross-promo with some local groups. Hmm... something to blog about.
Cheers!
marcel
i talked to a rogue staffer (off the record) and this person had an interesting take. in this person's opinion local performers suck at promoting their shows and cross promoting with the out of towners.
i think there may be some validity to that, but i also think that a lot of the out of towners play @ the same fringe type festivals and know each other. so, they see each other in all these different places, talk, etc and so it's natural for them to promote for their "friend."
Ed,
Yes, that is valid. I have linked to your post on a blog I'm writing on this and other subjects.
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