September 16, 2009
Wristband Exchange:
For those of you who have purchased festival wristbands in advance, we thank you profusely.
Wristbands for the festival can be picked up Thursday, Sept 17th through Saturday, Sept 19th at the Lobby of the Overture Center, located at 201 State St. (on the corner of State and Dayton). Forward Fest will have a table in the Overture Center Lobby staffed during the following times:
Thursday, Sept 17: 3pm – midnight
Friday, Sept 18: 9am – midnight
Saturday, Sept 19: 9am – midnight
Two important things: festival wristbands will NOT be available for pickup at any other location, including participating FMF venues. Apologies for this inconvenience. You absolutely must bring a valid ID with you when picking up your wristbands. Presenting us with a print-out of your email purchase confirmation without also presenting a valid ID will not get you your festival wristband.
For Andrew Bird ticket buyers: please bring your voucher from the Overture Center Box Office. For those of you that purchased a weekend pass upgrade, we will be confirming whether you have purchased an Andrew Bird ticket before giving you your weekend wristband.
September 14, 2009
Good morning….
We’ve been hearing buzz– on forums, via our email inbox, and in person– that it would be great if FMF 2009 could offer just a few tickets in advance solely for the specific showcase of one’s choosing.
We at Forward Music Fest are real people, and true music fans. We talked it over and decided, hey, why not?
We know how it is. Whether it’s due to lack of funds, your cousin’s wedding out of town on Saturday, or simply your desire to be guaranteed admission to that one showcase you really want to see, we wanted to offer the option. We’re opening up a very limited amount of tickets to the select showcases we’ve heard people buzzing about, available here.
Please pass this information along to your friends and fellow fans if you think they’d prefer to see one show this weekend instead of awesomely infinite other options. Check out our full schedule here at the site. And feel free to let us know if you have any other feedback.
See you this weekend!
September 3, 2009
Dane101 just posted a fun video preview of the Friday the 18th Wongz Walk Showcase in the Orpheum’s lobby.
The showcase will include sets from YACHT, Rory Kane, Das Racist, Baaad Boiz, Purple Crush, French Horn Rebellion, Problem Child, Terrior Bute, The New Loud, and Pezzetino. For more info, check out the Facebook event page for the show.
Dane101’s video preview
August 11, 2009
Flatbear is a four-pc indie folk/rock band based in Madison, WI. The ensemble, formerly known as Jentri Colello, has garnered local praise from all corners including Muzzle of Bees, The Onion’s AV Club, ISTHMUS, and the Madison Area Music Awards.
Find out more about them on their MySpace page and read about why they changed their name on Local Sounds.
July 7, 2009
Musicians from across the U.S. to celebrate Midwestern music and culture in Madison Sept. 17-19
We’re pleased to announce a second year of Midwest-centric music at venues that include the Overture Center, High Noon Saloon, Majestic Theatre, Frequency, Inferno, Corral Room, Project Lodge, and Orpheum Theatre Stage Door and Lobby, as well as additional spaces throughout the city.
Chicago’s own Andrew Bird will headline this year’s festival with a Sept. 19 concert at Madison’s Overture Hall. Madison-based chamber-pop act Pale Young Gentlemen will open the show.
Forward Music Festival 2009 will also feature local and regional bands at each of its showcases, plus more than two dozen national touring acts–many with Midwestern roots. Current touring acts confirmed include Low, Cougar, Dan Wilson (of Semisonic), Margot & the Nuclear So and So’s, YACHT, Ra Ra Riot, Fruit Bats, Iran, Richard Buckner, Garaj Mahal, Pronto, Punchline, Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe, Action Item, Kevin Barker, Between the Trees, Farewell, Davila 666, Savoir Adore, Rock Plaza Central, Princeton, Wavves, and BLK JKS.
Madison bands confirmed for FMF09 at press time include Jeremiah Nelson & The Achilles Heel, Daniel and the Lion, Blueheels, Cartwalkers, Flatbear, Homeownered, Nuclear Woods, All Tiny Creatures, Terrior Bute, Start from Scratch, This Bright Apocalypse, Icarus Himself, This Bright Apocalypse, Peaking Lights, Sleeping in the Aviary, and Little Red Wolf.
Regionally based acts include Collections of Colonies of Bees, Cedarwell, Maps and Atlases, Solid Gold, Denison Witmer, Joe Pug, Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band, Occidental Brothers Dance Band Intl., Ghetto Division, The Hue, Decibully, French Horn Rebellion, Zach Vinson, The Chairs, Pezzetino, and Pomegranates. Countless additional artists will be announced in the weeks and months leading up to Forward Music Fest 2009.
Amble Down Records, an Eau Claire-based independent record label and management firm started in 2007 by young musician Kyle Frenette, will hold a showcase at this year’s Forward Music Fest featuring most of its current and active roster: The Cloud Hymn, We Are The Willows, Meridene, The Wars of 1812, and The Daredevil Christopher Wright. The entire Amble Down catalog will be available for sale (all nine releases from 2007 and 2008) at the showcase.
In addition, the Forward Collaborative has partnered with local promoters Wongz Walk, local music blog JustSayinIsAll.com, and Reverence Fest organizer Matt Fanale to curate FMF09 showcases, which will be unveiled in the near future.
General Admission badges go on sale July 11 at noon and will be available through the Forward Music Festival website and at the Overture Center box office.
June 30, 2009
Madison’s Own Pale Young Gentlemen to Open
Indie-pop phenomenon Andrew Bird will bring his eclectic style to Overture Hall at Overture Center for the Arts, 201 State Street, on Saturday, September 19, 2009 at 8 pm as the featured performance of the second annual Forward Music Festival.
Chicago-based Bird is a multi-instrumentalist, lyricist, and whistler. He woos both the young at heart and old souls by adding depth and grace to folk rock. The New York Times notes, “Mr. Bird spins existential doubts into elegant confections,” singing quirky melodies about falling planes, ancient empires, and dancing bears.
Forward Music Festival shattered expectations in 2008 when its inaugural effort brought over 2000 fans to see more than 70 bands, including Neko Case, Killdozer, Dan Deacon, Monotonix, Detroit Cobras, Dillinger Four and Bob Mould.
In keeping with Forward Music Festival’s mission to showcase local acts alongside Midwestern based national talent, Madison band Pale Young Gentlemen will make their Overture Hall debut supporting Andrew Bird.
Tickets for the Andrew Bird show will be available for $25 and $35 at the Overture Center ticket office, by phone at 608.258.4141 or online at overturecenter.com beginning at 10 am on July 11, 2009. Andrew Bird ticket buyers will also be able to purchase a pass for the rest of Forward Music Festival for an additional $10.
Full lineup posted on the website July 8. [over 60 bands already confirmed including showcases from Matt Fanale of Reverence, JustSayinIsAll.com, and Wongz Walk.]
June 28, 2009
The early lineup announcement party is happening at 8pm CST today. Check out @forwardmadison on twitter.com for more info…
There will be an early schedule posted here on Tuesday and a quick list of the bands playing added too.
June 22, 2009
We’ve been busy scheming and plotting behind the scenes of Madison’s dimly lit underground since, oh, around September 21st, 2008 for this year’s festival and boy is it a doozie. So far, a few performers have been leaked (so maybe not that many leaks), but no where near the whole lineup (with early bookings being announced in late June) or the headliner (June 23rd delayed, now the 30th).
We’ve still got bands in the works that won’t be announced on either of those days, too, so check back often. There will be updates galore.
Oh, and one more thing… If you have photos from last year’s festival that you would like to see on fmf09.com, send them our way (info@forwardmusicfest.com) and we’ll get them posted.