What do you think of the Basilica lineup?
Posted on May 13th, 2008 – 1:24 AMBy Jon Bream
I said it in the paper and I’ll repeat it here: This is the weakest Basilica Block Party lineup in memory. The headliners for July 11-12 are OneRepublic and Gavin Rossdale. Other announced acts include the Gin Blossoms, Missy Higgins, Augustana and Dave Barnes (who is he?).
What do you think of this year’s Basilica lineup? Will you go this year? Please post your comments here:
17 Responses to "What do you think of the Basilica lineup?"
I think that you are very right.
God is very disappointed.
The rest of the bands are terrible but I will be there for Gavin Rossdale. My world is so much brighter now. mmmm..Gavin Rossdale.
I thought last year’s show got a bad rap (there were some legitimately good fun bands there, specifically Robert Randolph and The Cat Empire), but this is definitely a depressing line-up. The Gin Blossoms? Was the Dakota County Fair already booked up that weekend?
Yep, pretty lame. The most ridiculous thing besides the lineup is that this is the BEST that Cities 97 could do. Personally I think that the quality has gone down in the past few years and this may be on purpose. Think about it, lower quality bands cost less to book (in theory) thus more money on the bottom line. Cities probably has the “if you book it they will come” mentality thinking regardless of the bands it will be a sellout…..I’m not so sure about that this year.
I’ll probably still go but maybe only one night this year, $50 for that lineup is just plain outrageous…so very disappointed.
C’mon, kj. Do you know how expensive it is to book popular bands nowadays? If anything was done “on purpose,” it was Clear Channel telling Cities 97 that there was to be no increase in the Basilica band budget this year compared to last year. It also just goes to show you that your $50 in 2008 dollars is not worth as much as $50 was worth a year ago. Consider it an abject lesson in economics.
Oh Man, Gavin Rossdale… what a hunk.
The Current has definitely de-throned Cities 97… maybe they can do the block party next year instead?
I mean, look at Rock The Garden, for shissakes!
One Republic? Isn’t that some sort of manufactured band assembled for teenage girls? What an odd choice. Gavin Rossdale and Gin Blossoms could invoke a few sweet memories of ‘95.
noodleman…yeah, I’ll have to agree with you on that Clear Channel comment, man they are evil.
I guess it just sucks that Gavin Rosedale is popular based on who he’s married to, I mean he JUST put out a solo album that will of course get played constantly on the radio to make people like it.
And One (hit) Republic, popular? I guess like Vaan says, if yo’re into the whole “manufactured for teenage girls” thing…(I guess Cities is going to try and take some listeners from KDWB to make up for those lost to the Current)
I will 100% be there for Missy Higgins… other than that, the lineup blows. I suppose I’d rather see Gavin Rossdale over OneRepublic and Augustana wouldn’t be the worst. Good to know that I’ll only have to show up on one day.
Josh
Basilica Block Part is falling down the same wretched sinkhole as the Taste of MN. This is by far the worst lineup i have seen. They are going to have to do some major league terd polishing to sell this thing out. I think the Basilica should drop Cities 97 and hook up with The Current, they can at least get some decent acts.
And how about THE LOCAL SCENE?!?! Dan Wilson new great CD out last year….where is he?? How about Romantica?? They are on the sampler this year!! Chris Koza or Jeremy Messersmith? Cities listeners would appreciate them if they opened one of the nights. They should be ashamed of themselves for not supporting the local music scene. Instead of having a silly battle of the bands for an opening act, get a good established local act that will be a draw.
And when has Onerepublic been the headliner of any festival? That is when you know you are in trouble.
BUT………when Gavin Rossdale sings Glycerine to close the show, that will be worth every penny of Basilica 2008!!!
The Basilica lineup has sucked almost every one of the ten years i’ve lived here in all honesty, but yeah, this one is quite bad
The Basilica Block Party was a GREAT Event for many years. Now 14 years old. The 1st event started in 1995 and featured the Bodeans as headliner; along with Sister Hazel, Freddy Jones Band and several others. I think it was a one day event. The band lineup continued to be solid. I’ve seen personal faves like: John Hiatt, Del Amitri, Los Lobos, Semisonic, the Wallflowers (twice), Midnight Oil, Soul Asylum and Guster.
The last 5 years started the fall into the mediocrity we see in 2008. The shift has been away from national bands and more towards local groups including bar bands (via Battle of the Bands competition). Don’t get me wrong; I love local bands and we have some talented groups in MN. But when you charge $30 bucks a night plus food and beer! I expect some decent national headliners. One recent exception: 2006. They scored BIG; booking Guster (great college oriented rockers)and The Fray (who were instantly HOT with the teen crowd). This resulted in a complete sellout Friday night. Which I paid scalper prices (for the 1st time) because my 13 year old daughter wanted see The Fray and Guster.
The 14th annual Basilica Block Party along with the 20th annual Bayfront Bluesfest - Duluth (in August) have abandoned the formula that made them successful. Originally a bargain ticket and FUN weekend to see many GREAT bands. Has degenerated into: book a bunch of has beens, Cities 97 radio faves and too many local bands (you can see in a bar for free)! Bayfront books a few national acts , old blues and unknown artists plus a heavy pack of locals was well. They’ll pack the place and ocassionally sell out. But die hard fans have become disgruntled. We remember the good old days!
Assume a Basilica 2 night advance ticket: $50.00 X 12,000 fans = $600,000 at the gate plus food and beer!
Assume Bayfront Blues 4 day advance: $89.00 X 12,000 fans = $1.068 million at the gate plus food and beer!
Where are the BIG Name bands from the BIG ticket gate fees?
Don
[…] (Minneapolis): The Basilica Block Party lineup. Editorial: There are a lot of negative people in the world. Also, the Star Tribune sucks ass. […]
Do people really still listen to Cities 97? Man, that’s the station I turn to when I want to sleep through my alarm clock in the morning.
Hey…I heard they just added Ziggy Marley to the line-up. He’ll be cool and worth the dough. Seems pretty edgy for the church! Hey does anyone know if the Minnesota Music deal is happening again in St. Paul? That event was awesome!
OneRepublic & Gavin Rossdale don’t really make sense to me, to headline Basilica… wasn’t last year Brandi Carlile and Jonny Lang? I’d rather see either one of them live over this year’s “headliners.” And I wouldn’t pay to see Augustana…
I personally would ONLY go to see Dave Barnes… I’ve been listening to him for about 4 years now. Really quite talented & down-to-earth dude. Plus, he’s hilarious on stage!! Give him a chance.
