I don't know if Sub Pop has ever organized a festival before, which may be why the up-and-coming Sub Pop music and comedy festival is shaping up to be the worst festival ever announced. Titled the SP20 Festival, they've already missed the mark, because titling it SPF 20 would have been much wittier. Indeed, SP20 Festival isn't witty at all and thus fails to market itself by name and name alone.
Then comes the issue of music... and comedy. Granted, the general theme of "so and so art and music festival" is getting old and rarely has anything to do with art beyond a couple large-scale sculptures put in the middle of the festival ground featuring misting hoses to be utilized by sweaty freak-fans on the verge of heatstroke, but comedy seems an unlikely coupling for a music festival. Nevertheless, Sub Pop will give it a go, featuring label unknowns Eugene Mirman, Patton Oswalt, and label friend and fan Todd Barry. Where's Chris Rock? Where's Jon Stewart?
While past Sub Pop artists are the things of legend, a few mainstay individuals such as Kurt Cobain and Jeremy Enigk could not be secured for the SP20 lineup -- a disappointment to be sure -- but this has not left SP high and dry. With more cataloged artists than you can shake a stick at (what the hell does that mean anyway?), the lineup appears to be weak and growing weaker, with Beachwood Sparks, Comets on Fire, Fleet Foxes, Flight of the Conchords, The Fluid, Foals, Grand Archives, Green River, The Helio Sequence, Iron & Wine, Kinski, Low, Mudhoney, No Age, Pissed Jeans, Red Red Meat, The Ruby Suns, Seaweed, and Wolf Parade, with more to be announced in the coming months.
Inside the offices, SP will be arranging a series of re-releases, starting with Mudhoney's Superfuzz Bigmuff: Deluxe Edition (May 22) and a limited run of the Sub Pop Singles Club.
Ticket information (bear with me): Discounted $30 single-day or $50 two-day passes to the SP20 Festival go on sale Saturday April 26, at noon, if you feel the need to be anal-retentively prompt. Otherwise, ticket prices will increase to $35 single-day or $60 two-day passes on May 10. Tickets for the SP20 Comedy Show are $20 and go on sale April 26 at noon. All ticket proceeds will go toward an assortment of "beneficiaries" deemed worthy by Sub Pop and participating festival artists -- don't ask.
SP20 Festival:
