It has been a long 18 months without concerts. Music lovers around the country are hungry for live music and now that venues and festivals are slowly opening back up, fans are jumping at any opportunity to see their favorite artists perform live. Things have been difficult for so many people over the last year and a half. We have felt the strain financially, emotionally, and physically. Live music was a way to stay mentally healthy or even make a living and its absence was truly felt.
So, you can imagine the excitement felt by music fans in the D.C. area upon hearing the announcement of the Darn Good Music Festival, which was to take place over two days, August 7-8. Many, like myself, jumped at the opportunity to attend an outdoor festival showcasing an amazing two-day line up!
Over the course of the last few years, I have had the pleasure of photographing many of the artists on Darn Good Music Festival line up, including Dreamers, Revivalists, American Authors, and Third Eye Blind. I was equally excited to photograph the live performances of bands like Joywave, RDGLDGRN, and Quiet Hounds. During the two-day festival, attendees would get to enjoy a total of 14 live performances, access to campgrounds, and plenty of food vendors to keep everyone happy!
For myself, I was excited to see Third Eye Blind. I had tickets to see them in March of 2020 at the 930 Club, but that show was canceled due to Covid. As soon as I found out they were coming back to D.C., I didn’t hesitate to purchase tickets. Ticket prices were what you would expect from a two-day festival: $149 for general admission and $249 for the V.I.P. experience. The timing was perfect for my daughter’s 21st birthday and given the fact this would be my first festival since the summer of 2019, I went ahead and purchased four V.I.P. tickets. I figured, we’d have more space and comfort. After not purchasing tickets in what feels like forever, I figured this was a good deal.
Mary, a Third Eye Blind fan from Minneapolis, also purchased V.I.P tickets so she could fly in and enjoy the festival with her son who lives in Arlington, VA. “We both love Third Eye Blind, and they don’t have many shows on their schedule this summer, so this seemed like a perfect opportunity”, Mary shared. She also felt the V.I.P. tickets were a reasonable price to pay to see a favorite band. Katherine, another Third Eye Blind fan from the D.C. area couldn’t wait to see her favorite band perform live! “Third Eye Blind posted on social media about the festival and that is how I found out about it”, Katherine explained. “So, I went all in and purchased the V.I.P. package”.
Then, the morning of July 17th, just a few weeks before the festival, I woke up to a post on Facebook that indicated the festival would be canceled. The post said that due to a few recently identified safety concerns that were unable to be fixed, they would have to cancel. The Facebook post also indicated that they have “begun the process of automatically refunding all of the tickets that were purchased”. Then, on July 21st, we received the official email from Darn Good Music Festival stating that refunds would take place over the next two weeks and would be finalized by August 4th. Needless to say, my daughter and I were pretty disappointed.
We had hotel rooms booked since it was a two-night festival, so we figured we’d make the best of it. Mary had her airline ticket and still flew in from Minneapolis. She and her son spent the weekend visiting wineries in the area. Katherine was surprised that “structural issues” were preventing the festival from taking place, but at least the tickets were being refunded.
After August 4th rolled around and my credit card had not been refunded, I reached out to Monica, my personal contact for my V.I.P. tickets. No response. I reached out to the ticketing information email. No response. Finally, I reached out to the Darn Good Music Festival Facebook account and received a response. The response included the request to be patient because refunds were being handled by hand, and they asked for my email address so they could “look into it”. Over the course of 10 days, conversations between me and the Darn Good Music Facebook account exchanged back and forth with various reasons as to why there was a delay on the refund. Then I stumbled upon their Twitter account and discovered multiple ticket holders had yet to receive a refund. Katherine, likewise, reached out via email and did not receive a response. Mary did a little digging on the internet about “structural problems at Bull Run Park” and found nothing. “Fyre Festival came to mind more than once”, she shared, explaining the sudden red flags that were going up as a result of the last-minute cancelation.
With the year we’ve had, this is the last experience any music fan would want to go through. This was not a $25 ticket event. Ticket holders were spending hundreds to attend this festival and we were left feeling like we had just been scammed. I called my credit card company and disputed the charge, explaining that I had documentation that the festival intended to refund me by a given date but had not done so. Then, I made a post on the These Subtle Sounds Facebook page about the situation, asking for ticket holders to reach out if they were also awaiting a refund. I was flooded with responses.
Finally, this morning, we received the email from Darn Good Music Festival stating, “it is with great sadness and regret that we inform you that Darn Good Music Festival is insolvent and has ceased operations”. The email then went on to blame Covid and “bad timing to launch a new concert venture” as contributing to the costs and complications. Could Mary’s fear of suspecting another Fyre Festival be warranted?
Who does this to music lovers? Especially THIS year.
Music fans, my advice to you – be wary of any new festivals. Stick to those tried-and-true event organizers who deliver. And shame on you, Darn Good Music Festival, for not only disappointing fans with the cancelation and failing to refund their money, but for casting a dark shadow on D.C. area festivals.
We won’t forget.
