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Independence Festival is what a rock concert is supposed to be about: fair prices, good times and plenty of music. In 2004, the festival was only a party that one of the original members had to bring his friends and their bands together. Over the next three years it grew to be an important mark on the Columbus, Ohio music scene. The thought of the festival was to bring together independent artists and showcase them for them to feel part of the scene and possibly get some recognition. After the festival in 2007, Steve (Rock Ohio Productions) fell on some hard times and had to regroup to begin this masterpiece again.
So now, Steve has regrouped and with some good friends, more like family already, is beginning his festival again. This year, B & N Entertainment LLC and Rock Ohio Productions have come together to put on Independence Festival. It has been uprooted from Columbus, Ohio and is now going to take place in Muncie, Indiana at the Water Bowl, June 25 – 27. This family of promoters is taking all the right steps to make this years’ festival worthwhile for everyone. To begin with, the price is $30 presale from the bands and $ 40 at the gate for three days, three stages and over 50 bands. Currently the headliners, this is still not finished, are Mushroomhead, Ventana, Texas Hippie Coalition, Mobile Deathcamp, Sleeper Cell, . The majority of the bands still are smaller regional and local bands that would like to be seen. Check out the myspace page, myspace.com/independence-festival, for the constantly being updated list.
So how has this event come together thus far? It has been quite a ride. The location for the event was a headache to get anchored down. It took the crew working together and going through 5 different possible sites, that all seemed to have problems, to get one that is going to be perfect. The Water Bowl is close to 200 acres of land; with two large ponds on it (sorry these will not be open to the public during the event) and will host camping for all the patrons of the festival.
The booking of this event is another matter. We have only spent a couple of solid weeks working to get the right compilation of bands, underground and nationally renowned acts. Our backbone of this operation has included Steve (Rock Ohio Productions), Gabriel (B & N Entertainment), Chopper (B & N Entertainment) and Amanda (World of Shit Productions) to get us to where we are today. The four of them have been working non-stop to talk to bands, network appropriately, and secure everyone thus far. The booking is still happening day in and day out to continue to get acts all the way up to the week of the show, if we still have room.
From what has been told to B & N Entertainment LLC and Rock Ohio Productions, nothing, on the scale that we are doing, has ever seen the light of day in Indiana. Most of the media contacts that we have discussed this event with and people in general, are telling us that we can expect a sellout crowd (20,000) and that this is rock history for Indiana. Since Steve has come to work with his new family, he is confident that the festival will continue to grow and follow the true meaning of Independence. In his words, “the fest started out as a dream, ended in a nightmare, went back to sleep to my dream to wake up to realize I not only have grown (one of) Americas biggest festival. I have gained and brought together a brother hood that is stronger than any war or any country can dream of.” So why doesn’t everyone come out and be part of the dream and the future of rock in this country?
