In the course of a year, Weaver Bay offers a wide selection of festivals, fairs, celebrations, and the occasional human sacrifice to appease the volcano god that lives underneath the township of Upper Weaver (165 years and still no sign of him … *knock wood). There’s “Bay Days” on the Boardwalk, the Quad Cove Cup for our fans of high-speed yacht racing, and the ever popular Hobo Festival for people that are looking to unload an extra kid for some quick cash. This year, another tradition will be joining that proud family when Weavermore Music Festival launches its inaugural three-day event at the Quad Cove Fairgrounds next month.
Borrowing its name from a lyric in an obscure 1962 hit single by the Norwegan folk duo “Pip and Joe” called “Balladen Av Aldri Mer” the festival will feature over 50 local acts, three nationally revered headlining acts (currently TBD), local food trucks, regional art exhibits, comedians, celebrities, mimes, and a petting zoo. Event organizers are targeting the heavy cruise ship season and appeal to a wide range of tourists and locals alike. General admission tickets run $250 per day, with a three-day pass going for $600. More well-to-do patrons can upgrade to the VIP level for a mere $1000, which includes access to a bathroom, which at the $2500 Super VIP level includes towels.
This will be the first multi-day music festival in the tri-city area since 1968’s ill-fated “Weavestock” during which four people suffered permanent vision loss after eating a bad batch of Seafood Jello Salad that was being handed out in the audience. During the decade that followed, town elders continually opposed efforts to start another rock and roll based festival, but quickly lost favor during the early 80’s, when Weaver Bay became a gathering place for homeless, transient and bankrupt former yacht rock stars of the 1970’s.
“I think this festival is great thing, man,” said Bob “The Bulge” Higgins, lead singer of the local act Steely Fran, which is comprised almost entirely of cast-off Steely Dan session players who found there way to the quad cove area during the exodus. “We play almost every night, but it turned out we had that weekend open, so it’s like we really ARE playing every night. It’s heavy, man.”
Local rastapunk darlings, The Diabeatniks, will be the first band to appear at 10AM on Friday morning. “We’re so jazzed we probably won’t even go to bed on Thursday. I mean, we’re playing up the street for tips the night before, but the Weavermore dudes said they’ll guarantee us fifty bucks and give us free admission to the festival, which, when you count our eight-piece horn section – oh, don’t tell those guys, but we’re gonna pass our girlfriends off as part of the horn section so they can get in free too – is something like three grand worth of tickets. So, it really feels like we’re finally hitting the big time.”
At the other end of the schedule, the last act on Sunday night before the final headliner is local EDM artist Lapsang Topolovski, know professionally as “DJ Laptop.” He is thrilled with the high-profile 9PM Sunday night slot. “The event organizers have been exceptionally accommodating to artists such as myself. I have a very extensive rider for my backstage preparation and a meticulous and exacting standard for audio equipment when I perform, and they took no issue with anything I demanded. I even changed the rider afterward to include two boxes of goldfish crackers, just as a test of the patience and resolve, but they didn’t even flinch at that. Totally professional.” When asked if he though the compensation was fair, considering bands with instruments were making upwards of $8 to $10 more for their performances, Laptop replied, “Well, obviously it’s not fair, I am certainly an artist on par or beyond any of them, but because my instrument is a laptop and mouse they seem to think less of me. However, because this is a landmark event, I’m more than happy to capitulate because of the exposure I’ll be getting. You can’t put a price on exposure.”
Tickets to Weavermore are available on this website, as are special souvenir t-shirts that will not be available at the event itself. Proceeds from those t-shirt sales go towards event experiences and incidentals. Discount tickets are available at all area IGA supermarkets up to the day before the event.
