Vexfest IV

lets not get in over our heads by saying that vexfest was sweet. it was the farthest thing from. rafidi needs to get his head out of his ass when it comes to booking bands. none of the actual good local bands did not play. i could name a few but vexfest wasted enough of my time and i wasnt even there.

Just to recap on the previous comment-how can you know if it was any good unless you actually decided to show up for the event-ignorance is bliss eh? For one-all of the bands and perfomances did include some of the greatest local music this area has to offer... From my personal favorites of 5 Elements,Finding Mike Vegas, Jones for Revival, Trevor Quillan, and Mystic Whip to the Zou, Kitchen knife conspiracy to Danielle Lyn.... They all pushed the bar as far as local music.... They came and they rocked downtown, why else would close to 6,000 people come to Vexfest? It was a fantastic job well done and event that hopefully will continue. Maybe the previous commentor can get his head outta his ass and let loose next year and see what its really all about.

Everybody click on jmpt37's name, as you can view all of his past comments on this site. Every single one of them is completely negative with absolutely no constructive criticism.

Chances are he's either just got some personal issue with the rafidi's and is using vex fest as a vehicle for his animosity, or he's in a band that was not featured in this years vex fest for some reason and is pissy about that.

I thought the lineup was more than appropriate. Like the bands or not, names such as the Zou, Tilt360, Via Sahara, The Kellys, Asleep, Mystic Whip, and Kitchen Knife have been on the tips of a lot of people's tongues in the last 5+ years. They might not be the "best bands in Youngstown" (whatever that means) but I think they have more than paid their dues in contributing to the local music scene. I think all the bands who played "earned" to be where they were. Obviously some bands played and sounded better than others, but from what bands I saw, everyone did a good job.

I personally was disappointed that the bands posture coach, a voice like rhetoric, and the rydells didn't play. The band "drift" would have been a cool addition too. It would have been constructive if jmpt would have thrown out some names as well, so you know, we can finally find out what "real" Youngstown music sounds like.

I think it would be amusing to find out what jmpt's Sunday night (or anti-vexfest as he calls it) consisted of. Until then I'll have to leave it up to my imagination.

"Drake Lenz, 26, from Youngstown has been to all four VexFests. He said early turnout was weaker than previous years, but he said he thinks it’s because they’ve had a big headliner in years past"

This is exactly what I meant. It is not that the local music scene doesn't have any talent. Some of the bands on Vexfest are pretty damn good. Now the following is only my guess at the reason but I think there was no headliner because you can't get any national band worth its salt to play for free. If I am not mistaken, which I may very well be, all the bands played for free right?

“This is something for Youngstown,” Rafidi said. “People here tonight saw what we did for Youngstown.” Ok I understand that an event like this has operating cost and one would hope to break even. That being said. If Rafidi did indeed break even and this event was something for the city of Youngstown then I think a donation of some of the profits is in order. lol right? Or at least pay the top ten bands or acts that drew in people.

Anyway I hope that the bands that did play made the most of the event ( got peeps on their mailing lists, sold cds, an in turn will have a bigger turn out at their next shows)

p.s anyone know or want to sing for a local cover band? Songs are pretty much what you hear on rock 104 and some classic rock. Email me at overself76@yahoo.com if you are interested. thanks :)

Couldn't break away from prior obligations to see this event, but it's great to see Valley24 include a ton of pics to show me what I missed out on! Kudos!

My years of entertaining in rock bands has taught me one very important thing...networking can exceed any monetary value. More importantly, this is an example of alternative measures to preserving live band performances...above all original material bands.

I don’t see anything here that justifies negativity except for maybe the unpredictable weather in Ohio and even that cooperated!

well said Burke

This was my first Vexfest..I thought it was great...there is alot of talent in this area..you could walk from one end to the other or go inside the core & barleys & there was always a good band or performer on stage...Great Job to all involved!

I'm not sure when jumpt37 was at VexFest, but the only "light" crowd was from noon to maybe 3 when the whole thing was just getting started.

Then again, I not even sure jumpt37 was even there.

Good time for all and thousands of people attended.

I know.

I was actually there.

sounds like most people had fun and enjoyed the day. It's good to see any kind of music getting support, whether its orignal or just some guys in a local bar playing your favorite song(s) anyway, cheers to valley 24 and all the other people who did something positive for Downtown and the music scene.

everyone is totally entitled to their own opinion thats the American way. but this so called fest was terrible yea i was there for about an hour and i couldn't take it anymore so i guess i am a jerk for hating it thats ok im sure all of you are posture coach fans anyway.

jmpt37
Nah..I don't hate you. I just think you're terribly conflicted.

In your first post in this thread, you said you didn't even go to VexFest. In your second post, you claim you were there for an hour. And in all your posts in the other VexFest threads, you have nothing to say but bad things, which is the contrary of every other post about it.

So, c'mon buddy, what's your real issue?

his real issue seems to be with posture coach ..

intentionally going out of his way to make people hate them.

..regardless -- i had fun. I liked a lot of the bands that played.

hey a man is entitled to his own opinion. just like everyone else in this thread. but i just dont agree with the whole vexfest thing. you cant book bands that no one has heard of and expect it to be a smash hit. the one thing that i found very interesting was the fact that "you are the war that i want" got a prime time spot. g i wonder y? could it be the rafidi relation or what. you see its trash like that ticks me off the most im not gonna sit here and go along with all the hype when it was in fact terrible. on that day god flushed his toilet and out came vexfest.

I think Vexfest was a great way to bring local acts together and showcase material for people who might not have had the chance to see them otherwise. I don't see any reason why anyone would have something bad to say about it at all, unless for some reason their own band didn't play. . . Actually there were a few bands who didn't play that I saw roaming the festival, and they had nothing bad to say about it even then, they just enjoyed the idea of something like this happening in Youngstown again.

My band went on at 4, we did an acoustic set with a sit in vocalist and we had a blast. Its all about having a good time. I also watched 90% of the acts that played. And I felt everyone did a great job.

my new favorite local band- Lady Fantastic

pac

Hey jmpt37. Why don’t you put on a FREE ALL AGES show in Youngstown for all of us to come see? YOU book the bands, get the drinks, hire a crew, advertise and everything else. If you pull in more people and get the local music scene more exposure than VexFest your point will be proven and I would think that each of us here would get off your case.

Okay jmpt. Answer these questions.

1. What bands should have played? Name some. Go ahead, put your money where your mouth is.

2. What made Vex Fest so terrible? Because you didn't like any of the bands?

3. Why are you so damn obsessed with the rafidi's? Its really rather pathetic.

I thought Vex Fest was a success. Thousands of people came, most seemed to be having a pretty good time. For me it was a unique chance to hang out with some old friends and drink relatively inexpensive alcohol while listening to music. Plus the event was free. Did I mention FREE? No bands got paid a dime for performing.

Jmpt, having a dissenting opinion is valid, and I respect your right to do so. However I think you have taken things too far. You are acting like a victim more than anything else. What exactly did you lose because of Vex Fest, other than maybe gas money to drive downtown? You definitely cannot say "time" as it seems like you have spend more of that bitching on this website then you have at local shows.

answer to you q;s

#1. first in space, johnny 3, gil mantera, beau basement, just to name a few.

#2. i like one of the bands that was the kellys. what made it so terrible for me was that im my opinion it could have been done and booked better. im not saying i could have done a better job.

#3. as for the rafidis there is bad blood there just dont agree with the practices.

now ive been to a hell of alot of local shows here and everywhere. im not originally from this area i grew up in pittsburgh and moved here i guess my problem is that i came from a city with one hell of a local scene and alot of venues. you can say it spoiled me and i would agree with that. but like i said before i just didnt agree with the bands that were booked i dont think i would have had such a problem with the event if in fact they could have gotten a major act like in the past. i was there when mushroomhead headlined and to tell you the truth i enjoyed that year but this year just seemed a waste to me. i thought there was a lot of bands that should have played but got ignored, for what reasons i dont know and couldnt even give an educated guess as to why they were ignored. there are bands around here that have played all over and have released 1 or more albums and they got the axe. if this was supposed to showcase the musical talent of youngstown then y were they excluded. i guess ive been a real jerk on here and i apoligize for that ill try to keep civilized from here on in. everyone has there own taste in music and i respect that but again i will say that it could have been done better.

Yeah, it would have been cool to see first in space, johnny 3, or gil mantera. I like all three. I am not familiar with beau basement on the other hand. Also, I am not sure if any of those acts were given the ax or ignored. I know for a fact that most of the bands had to take the initial step themselves and submit an application to play the event. If the bands didn't take that initiative, you can't necessarily blame the promoters. The festival was what it was and all we can do now is move on and try to improve on similar events in the future.

I didn't get a chance to make it out ot Vexfest, but it seems that the popular opinion is while the bands that performed did a great job, a headliner was still lacking. I would of liked to see some of my favorite local bands, Phallus, The Helium Explosion, the soulful Biscuits and Gravy, and hip hop act Shoestrings.

You forgot Jesus Chrysler(death metal), Chevy Bossa Nova(rock-a-billy), Robin' Da Hood (rap/polka crossover),DJ Burnt Spamwhich (jazz virtuoso) The Double Door Duo (William Shatner and Don Johnson) and as a headliner the greatest band of all time... (drum roll here) Debbie Gibson and her electric light youth orchestra followed by a fabulous display of paper fireworks and Rosie O’Donnell clones covered in Crisco....yeah
I think even Anne Frank would cringe..

jmpt is so sassy. he was probably beaten up by a rafidi in 5th grade.

LOVED VEXFEST! It was a great show, I can't wait until next year! There was a ton of people there I haven't seen out in years, Great Success!

sassy yes. but not beaten up a rafidi in 5th grade. i would like to thank will for that amazing debbie gibson reference. there should be at least one of those a day. now i know for a fact that those bands that i mentioned did in fact take the initiative in promoting themselves for the event and yes they were basically ignored. but like i said before im going to try and be civil, dont get me wrong its gonna be tough, but im gonna try.

It was great to see a variety of bands and styles there this year. Not just rock but jam bands and rap (lucky penny with a band backing him up!) Sure everyones favorite local bands didn't get to play but I hope that they took to opportunity to flier the even for their upcoming shows. I noticed fliers for Asleep, Danielle Lyn, and even a techno party. :-o I say all in all it was a good day for downtown youngstown and will hopefully inspire more events similar to it.

ELP meets Debbie Gibson = Debbie Gibson Electric Youth Orchestra. I believe they played with the Kelly's at the Rukus fest. :P -jk Now, given for some weird reason I can log on the forums I will ask here, (lots o' traffic on this post :) )
We need a singer for a *gasp cover band. We would like to do RHCP, Buck Cherry, Shinedown, Everlast, Foo Fighters, etc. Stuff you here on rock 104 and some classic 90's STP, Soundgarden, etc, of course the set will be dependent on the singer too. Cant really do Soundgarden if the range is to high. But if you are interested in have some fun and making some $$ playing tunes email me at overself76@yahoo.com Thanks

:)

On behalf of the entire Distinctive Sound and Entertainment Family, VEXFEST IV ROCKED!