An Open Letter to the Folks at American Eagle

“Be good to each other, enjoy yourselves and I’ll see you next year.” – Anthony Kiedis, Curator, New American Music Union Festival, Saturday, August 9, 2008

Given that parting quote from Lord Kiedis, the “What band would you like to see next year” entry blank on the official AE Website, and the fact that it just wouldn’t make sense to go so big, make something so promising one year and then abandon it the next, you’ve got to figure that we’ll see the return of “AE-Fest” in 2009 right?

Let’s hope so. But here-to-now, we have no indication that there will be a repeat engagement. It’s not terribly surprising that the AE powers that be, entrenched in their South Side Works fortress, haven’t made an announcement regarding ‘09 yet.

After all, one of the big gripes with the ’08 affair was a lack of publicity. Even within a month of the festival, untold numbers of supposedly ‘plugged in’ friends were shocked to hear that “the guy from the Chili Peppers (was) putting on a show that featured those guys who sang ‘Crazy’, and that dude from the White Stripes’ other band, and Dylan, and the Roots, and a bunch of college bands dahn on Sahthside.”

Regardless, those who heard about it soon enough, were wise enough to plunk down the absurdly-low ticket cost and came with a thirst for great music in a strange, asphalt setting – were treated to one of the real high-points of Pittsburgh’s 250th year.

The Roots killed it, the Black Keys did their blues-rockiest, the Raconteurs validated every bit of high-praise I’d been wondering if they deserved (and more - see below vid.), Gnarls Barkley did their darndest to rock a sleepy, mid-afternoon August squelcher, and just about every facet of the festival - save for a practically comatose Bob Dylan - did not disappoint.

Which brings me to the open letter part of this post:

Dear, American Eagle “New American Music Union” Festival Director.

I know times are tough in the retail biz, but please, please, please bring back NAMU in 2009.

Somehow, perhaps in spite of yourselves, you put together a beautiful event last year. Kiedis was an inspired choice to curate. Tickets were dirt-cheap. The parking lot behind Anne Taylor Loft somehow felt like the right place for a summer rockshow. Security kept the place secure, but didn’t make festival-goers feel like they were at a middle-school dance. You managed to put your name on every damn thing in sight, but it didn’t feel overly corporate. In fact, for a first-time event, it seemed to be pretty flawlessly managed.

All of that amounts to why you need to find the dough to make it work again this year: you have a terrific foundation to build off of. The Pittsburgh scene actually garnered some national merit. You built the type of event where bands want to play their best show, not just another tourstop between Chicago and Philadelphia. It’s exactly what people have been saying couldn’t be done here for years and you pulled it off.

Do it again. I dare you. In fact, I triple-dog dare you. And if you or Kiedis want some ideas for improvements or suggestions for acts, don’t hesitate to holler.

Be good to each other, enjoy yourselves and hopefully, we’ll see you this year.

Henry Kleber

p.s. I loved the bike valets and the water bottle handouts, too.



UPDATE: The festival will not be happening in 2009: http://post-gazette.com/pg/09059/952167-388.stm