Some great news has come my way.
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After many months of fantasies, lies, delusions, local and ordinances in place the festival is now a party. This is because of the potential fines and legal issues with not having the permits in place. The tickets sold for this event are now being considered donations to the party. David also was encouraging partygoers to use the state park facilities to shower. The blame for the chaos around this should be solely on Jason Delzell and David Simon. Jason should never have been the point person and talking head for this. Many people, including myself, think David was taken advantage of. Thing is, I believe this less and less now. He continued to let Jason speak on this. He had others defending the festival and answering questions who had no idea what was being blamed. He turned way help. There were people with professional experience to help promote and organize something closer to their original plan. Where David was taken advantage of was from one local business owner who took advantage of this situation to better his business. The blame shifted as the bands bailed due to lack of communication, lack of planning, lack of professionalism, and the insults. It was the local township officials, then it was on the bands. David claimed there was a schedule with time and dates. I believe there was, but it was not out long, and many bands who submitted to play never got a formal confirmation and invitation via email. There are posts from Jason saying they were still confirming bands and the lineup would be out in June, but David contradicted that by saying the confirmations were made when the bands signed up. The bands submitted their info to play, that is not confirmation. Even when David made the comment all bands signed up were playing (part of one of the first concerns of the festival). There are still claims of multiple stages at the farm, but when I visited a few weeks back, the original two stages were built with no progress other than that. I saw the two original stages, one porta-potty, and a stacked pile of logging pads sitting near the road. While visiting I noticed out in front of the stage was a pile of fill that was grass covered. It would make it tough for a few hundred people watching. As the months of insults, lack of communication, lies, multiple confusing answers from multiple people the blame at the end was put on the bands. It was the bands' fault for the festival being downgraded to a party. But, since those of us who questioned the organization of this festival were banned from their Facebook page, it is now more of a cult like yes man page with everyone pretty much calling what was said by the questioners as being negative. Negative? No, but more of concerned for the safety of the bands, vendors, and fans who were planning to attend. I'd like to a moment and say thank you to all who questioned and spoke out on this to shine the light on the potential dangers: Local government officials, the township, neighbors, potential bands, and fans who thought of joining. I truly believe this could have been something cool. Lack of planning and lack of leadership from the organizers lead to this, not the bands. Don't believe me, go back and listen to the podcasts: The 5/3 one was great. You can hear the six different levels of changing slurred speech with Jason and him texting. The Lakeland Area Music Festival Promotional Networking 03/30 by Macs Musings | Movies (blogtalkradio.com) Lamfest, with David Simons 04/07 by Macs Musings | Movies (blogtalkradio.com) Lakeland Area Music Festival, Linesville, PA 05/03 by Macs Musings | Movies (blogtalkradio.com) LAMFest Questions 05/17 by Macs Musings | Movies (blogtalkradio.com) Go look at the change.org petition: Petition · ALLOW LAMFEST Multi-Genre Music Festival in Linesville, PA 700+ BANDS - United States · Change.org Go look at the remaining website: Lakeland Area Music Festival 2024 (godaddysites.com) The documentary on this will be great. A definite Spinal Tap feel, but with the reality that this was not scripted. Happy Independence Day!  Since my last blog post (Lakeland Area Music Festival? - Dan Stonerook), I have had lots of views, comments, attacks, and threats. I have been threatened with a lawsuit for my last blog. So, this is where we will get into it again. I'm not telling anyone what to do regarding their involvement of the Lakeland Area Music Festival. I only laid out the facts for you to decide yourself. The website is there. The ticket website is there. The podcasts are there. Now, the Change.org page is there. There are screenshots too! So, here is what is known as of 6/10/24: There is still no lineup, though Jason Delzell said it would be announced at the end of May. There is no list of vendors. There is no update on stages. They are expecting bands to still bring their own lights and sound equipment. They are getting some of the required permits. Jason has taken to Change.org in hopes of getting some of Conneaut Township's requirements overturned. Self-Sabotage: So now the claim is Conneaut Township is asking for $2 per ticket sold, saying they can't pay that without knowing the how many tickets they have sold. This is where you would set your attendance and the number of tickets you want to sell and pay that amount to an affordable number. Jason is claiming they need $2000 (1000 tickets at $50 each). Again, this wouldn't be an issue if you go on claiming to have a record setting number of bands, scaring the township and the festival site's neighbors to pass their ordinance, and still shooting for 1000 tickets sold. Do I like the ordinance? Not all of it, but when you're claiming all these people and all these bands, you can understand the cause for concern. My opinion, I'm thinking some are seeing the realization of putting on a festival and this gives them an out to blame those who questioned things and now Conneaut Township. Contradictions: "So David Started this beginning of 2024 and my dear friend Ian Hemi linked me up with him because he knew this is what I was born to do is help with event planner,preparation,contacting everyone involved with this Epic festival..." "This catch-22 situation is preventing us from moving forward after a year of hard work building this festival." Petition · ALLOW LAMFEST Multi-Genre Music Festival in Linesville, PA 700+ BANDS - United States · Change.org So, is it a year or 6 months? Planning? What planning?- Letting every band sign up play? Having a Christian rock band and satanic band play the same day? They're still claiming 650 bands are on the lineup in the writeup, but it says 700 bands in the title. There is still no lineup to announce. And they're expecting 650 or 700 bands to set up their own sound. They're claiming needing to pay $2000 for the tickets but have the money to take me to court. Fibs: After months of claims (or is it a year?), organizers backing out, and other drama, this to me and others just screams disorganization and potential disaster. I only got involved in voicing my concerns because I didn't want any musicians or fans to get hurt either financially, bodily, or reputationally. Some other backers are calling the township's ordinance extortion if they don't pay by mid-June. Jason published a GoFundMe without David Simon's knowledge. Who knows if anyone would have donated to it if the funds would have actually made it to David. Jason admitted this. 850 bands. Print and sell your own tickets. Livestream. Pay per View. VIP packages. Commemorative DVD. Lineups will be announced at the end of May. 88 acres. 850 bands, thousands of people. They don't want sponsors. Lots of dreams, but no reality. If real planning were done, this could actually be something. Lakeland Area Music Festival 2024 (godaddysites.com) Buy tickets – Lakeland area music festival (tickettailor.com) Petition · ALLOW LAMFEST Multi-Genre Music Festival in Linesville, PA 700+ BANDS - United States · Change.org In early February, David Simons posted on Pittsburgh music groups on Facebook looking for music for a festival he was planning at his farm in Linesville, PA in the summer. As many others did, I inquired about it. It seemed like a cool intimate event and signed up. After this initial sign up and conversation, in the next month, things started to get fishy. Some of the people associated and helping promote the festival started letting their dreams overtake reality. It was decided they were going to break the Guinness Book Record for most bands to play a music festival and were looking for 850 bands to play and were claiming 40,000 people were going to attend over the course of every weekend in July. They started taking anyone who signed up to be on the lineup. They took to a local podcast and started proclaiming all these big promises and experience putting on festivals, which were just unrealistic. This is where my first red flag went up. David stated he was going to use the honor system and have bands print and sell their own tickets. Some questions were asked and no real answers were given. Some people who signed up to play offered to help organize and build a plan. Many of these people having experience putting on and running festivals. Their advice was turned away and, in some cases, were insulted by David. This was the start of people pulling out of the festival. There was a website, but the ones running the website decided they were no longer going to be affiliated. This is when questions started getting asked by many people. Even a few people visited the site and their firsthand accounts were concerning. They did not feel comfortable there. They felt it was cult like They were made to wait in a house that was rundown and didn't seem to have running water or electricity. They toured the grounds and said it looked like a junkyard with scrap metal and things everywhere. This lead to more questions: What are the stage setups? (They claimed they were going to have 25 stages) Who is running sound? Medical staff? Security? Vendors? Insurance? Porta Potty's? Pay? Are the food vendors licensed? It also lead people to look up the property. David and his team claimed it was 88 acres when it was around 55 acres and half of that is wooded and about one third of the open land full of scrap. Most of the questions were answered it is taken care of. No need to worry. Trust us. Of course, some of the organizers involved who did answer did so with insults towards the musicians, including a family member of David's telling the musicians to get a real job. It continued to get worse. There were bands dropping out. The bands still on the lineup not knowing when they were playing. Someone offered to do a TV interview with David and he turned it down. There were people involved who dropped off as admins on their Facebook page. New people were added. They would try answering questions but were just relaying 2nd and 3rd hand accounts from David and his members. No one had definite answers to put anyone at ease. The concern over the festival stirred enough people locally in the township to pass an ordinance to try to reel it in. (https://www.meadvilletribune.com/news/public-entertainment-ordinance-now-in-effect-in-conneaut-township/article_afd08232-07ff-11ef-8d56-d7751b89e108.html?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR25N0msQZ-S4hlHQL5XncO3Wpmt3HrmMOuM7DNHSC21fd0M-212eAbZKws_aem_AUS6PNRxHI1Q7rf9uvsE4TaH4slj5PYKvt_4Moie9ZemeQA8j1sIrPIcLVzO-eO-HIvba4zz3lXEf5q9grePHuel) The stage is on the grass. It is made of used logging pads from logging trucks and what looks to be untreated thick floor and door trim and maybe wooden siding. The original plans were nothing like has been delivered. There have been multiple 'spokespeople' for this festival. None of them on the same page. Currently as it is Jason Delzell is the mouthpiece for this festival. Every time he speaks, he's contradicting himself. As of Friday 5/17/24, there are still no permits or insurance. It was said that bands would need to bring their own sound and lights, food vendors might not be licensed to sell food, there is supposed to be beer but no one knows who is selling it. Earlier in the day on their original website there was a waiver form for bands and performers basically saying you were playing and attending at your own risk. Their relaunched website is just a jumble of pictures from other national festivals and famous artists' performances. And don't even get me started on the screen shot of a friend of Jason calling him out about telling people they booked Green Day. There is still no band lineups or vendor lineups. I went on Mac's Musings Podcast on 5/17/24 with Dave and Jason. It started off shaky from the start. Supposedly, Mac sent me a text message to give me a 1 hour warning to remind me. She said there was a response back that said 'Mac who?' I never received it. She got her feathers ruffled and messaged me on Facebook to tell me this 15 minutes before the podcast. Obviously, if there was an issue, why not let me know earlier? So, she goes on a rant in Facebook messenger then blocks me right before the podcast. I called into the podcast and tried my best to layout the issues with this festival. Dave and Jason didn't do anything to offer answers to these questions. Then on Saturday 5/18/24, Jason posted a Gofundme account to raise money for the festival after earlier in the week saying they wouldn't ask or accept donations for the festival. Sometime today 5/19/24 I was banned from their Lakeland Area Music Festival Facebook group. This is a risk for all bands and musical acts involved and the fans who attend and a huge slap in the face of the Western Pennsylvania music scene. I have emailed and messaged numerous regional media groups hoping they will investigate and shine a brighter light on this than I can with a blog on his music webpage and through my social media accounts. Judge for yourself. One of the podcasts with Jason it sounds like he lost interest in it and starting texting someone, then became very incoherent. What drug was he lighting up while doing an interview? Lakeland Area Music Festival 2024 (godaddysites.com) The Lakeland Area Music Festival Promotional Networking 03/30 by Macs Musings | Movies (blogtalkradio.com) Lamfest, with David Simons 04/07 by Macs Musings | Movies (blogtalkradio.com) Lakeland Area Music Festival, Linesville, PA 05/03 by Macs Musings | Movies (blogtalkradio.com) LAMFest Questions 05/17 by Macs Musings | Movies (blogtalkradio.com) It's becoming a theme lately. 11. A lot of my gigs have 11 involved. I played in Duncannon, PA last night. Right off US 11. The same US 11 that runs through Abingdon, Va (outside of Bristol) that was where I was inspired and wrote Highway 11. Playing in the eastern part of the state, it seems a lot of the gigs I play are just off US 11 or I travel a significant distance on US 11 to get to them. It's always interesting how the world works, and this is one of those. "I was down Highway 11...We've all been down Highway 11" I'm trying to be more interactive and present on the social media's and on my website. So, I thought a good way would be to give a glimpse of what I'm listening to when I'm driving or lounging around the house. Maybe you can see where I'm coming from or just think my taste of music is horrible. Here is the first playlist. Let's Talk Music! It's been a while since I did an update here.
It's been a long eventful summer and fall. I let the Wounded Moose web address go dormant. That was the final nail in the coffin for that. I went back to playing solo and it took a while to find my groove again, but I did. 2024 is soon approaching and I'm looking to book and be more active online next year. Thoughts on content? I have enough material for a new album and need to get that recorded. I also need to get the cover single recorded along with the video. I was hoping to get the footage shot this summer and fall, but it never happened due to other commitments. I didn't forget, but there's only 24 hours in a day and I can only so much of me to go around. It's something I will work on in 2024. If you would like to help with these projects, please donate to buymeacoffee.com/danstonerook. If you can think of any cool places you'd like to see me at next year, send me an email or a message. It's been a while since I have fully been booking gigs myself. The last few years I focused on bands and had help from managers/agents. Bands have left a bad taste in my mouth (I can't believe I'm working on putting another together). So, I have a regular job, the music job, and a work in progress house remodeling job. I've stretched myself thin the last few years in all facets. Things seem to be changing. I have an album I'm working on. I have some cool gigs coming up (Opening for Wood Belly at the Crafthouse in Pittsburgh 5/8). I'm working on a fall tour too. I need to hit the road again. This summer is going to lead to some fun times. I have a cool cover song I got the rights to for the band to cover. With a music video to boot! Keep posted!
My Sunday morning church service was a nice trip to my favorite wooden hangout on the mountain.
I set the stereo in the car to pick a random playlist. This was the 1st song today. It put me in a good mood.
Sundays I try to mellow out and relax.
I spend my mornings out in the middle of nowhere on top of the mountain taking in the beauty of nature. Today, it was still a bit windy from the storms that came through yesterday. I found a rock and sat there enjoying the sun. I dosed off a bit. I think I finally was at peace. Stress has been getting to me a lot lately. Normally, I have the temperament of a saint, but not lately. The world (around here at least) is ready to bloom. Seeing the trees and plants ready to do their amazing works of nature is making me ready for regular sun and consistent nice weather. This was my church hymnal today. |
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November 2024
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