Rockin’ In Virgin’s Free World
05:01 PM,
Friday 9/4/09
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Conventional wisdom says that nothing beats free. Unless, perhaps, it’s free with benefits. While tickets to the fourth Virgin Mobile Music Festival at Merriweather Post Pavilion on Aug. 30 were, in fact, free, a few hundred music fans got serious benefits.
Poses with a few friends at the Virgin Mobile FreeFest.
August 30, 2009
(Virgin Mobile USA)
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As part of what was dubbed the “Free I.P.” program, volunteers could give 13 hours of work at youth homeless shelters, put together 13 “survival packs” or perform other public service in exchange for the VIP treatment in addition to the free tickets.
Why 13? It’s the average age of displaced youth in the United States, a Virgin Mobile USA spokesman told me. But for a group of volunteers, it was also their lucky number.
With an eye toward making the volunteer effort a national event, Megabus donated tricked-out charters from Boston, Philadelphia and New York City to ferry civic-minded music fans to Columbia, Md., for the festival.
If that weren’t enough, Virgin America donated a jet to transport volunteers from the West Coast for a truly nationwide program. And I was lucky enough to be invited along for the ride.
August 30, 2009
(Deborah Speer)
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About 75 volunteers, media and Virgin Mobile staffers boarded the jet for Washington, D.C., about 9 a.m. Aug. 29 and the party began in earnest as soon as the “buckle your seat belts” light went off.
Goodie bags including Sony PlayStation Portable entertainment packs were handed out, and the First Class section was turned into a game room. There was a fierce competition for backstage passes and other VIP perks going to the passenger with the highest “Rock Band” score.
If it all sounds extravagant, it was. The idea, a Virgin spokesman told me, was to give at least a few people a break from a lousy summer, what with the recession and near-record unemployment. The free concert provided a getaway for music fans to escape the crappy headlines for a day or two.
And for some people, it was a chance to earn the trip of a lifetime and give back to their local communities in a way they hadn’t before.
Even after a couple of hours in the air, there was definitely a sense that people were still pinching themselves to make sure they weren’t dreaming. I know I was.
Playing the Virgin Mobile FreeFest.
August 30, 2009
(AP Photo)
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After landing in Washington, D.C., the quickly bonding group was shuttled to a Sheraton hotel adjacent to the Merriweather Post Pavilion to await the next day’s festival with Blink-182, Weezer, Franz Ferdinand, Public Enemy and about a dozen other bands and DJs.
But first, the group gathered for a photo op with the ubiquitous Richard Branson (that’s “Sir” for subjects of the Queen), the Virgin Group’s mercurial entrepreneur/adventurer/rock star.
And that guy was everywhere. None of that VIP, backstage-only, away from the unwashed masses stuff, either, for this bad boy billionaire.
From the early morning meet-and-greet, to the “Lucky Layoff Lounge” where he gave interview and resume tips to the Karma Bar where he, along with Flavor Flav and Blink-182’s Tom DeLonge served up free drinks, Branson mingled with the crowd all day.
He even took to the pavilion roof to welcome a skydiver who landed perilously close to the edge before he – and a swath of audience members – got a champagne shower from the party’s genial host.
August 30, 2009
(Merriweather Post Pavilion)
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After three years at Baltimore’s Pimlico Race Track, the Virgin Mobile fest made the move to Merriweather Post, which was a fortunate choice given that the forecast for rain was so off the mark and the sun was blazing.
The grounds are dotted with lawn sculptures that concertgoers climbed for better views, and there was plenty of room for the estimated 35,000 fans and dozens of food, merch and information booths.
And there were plenty of distractions for concertgoers walking between the three stages, or between sets. The heavy sponsorship of the Virgin Mobile FreeFest could have been oppressive in terms of signage and sales pitches, but I didn’t hear anyone complaining. And again, it’s tough to complain about free.
In addition to the Layoff Lounge and Karma Bar, the fest’s numerous sponsors provided lots of free goodies and exhibits including a Prius test drive, Kyocera cell phone giveaways and a charging station, bumper cars and a jet engine robot.
The Bindlestiff Family Cirkus and burlesque performers Trixie Little and the Evil Hate Monkey made the rounds all day, fans tortured each other at the karaoke booth and a parade of hopefuls took to the Buskers Stage for unusual sideshow performances.
And of course, there was the music.
After Flava Flav finished sloshing beer all over fans at the Karma Bar, he headed over to the West Stage to join the rest of Public Enemy in one of the highlights of the day. Weezer and Franz Ferdinand put on epic sets while headliner Blink-182 closed the show with a barrage of F-bombs, blow job jokes and belches to satisfy the frat boy set.
(left to right) Virgin Mobile CEO Dan Schulman, Flavor Flav of Public Enemy and Sir Richard Branson.
August 30, 2009
(Merriweather Post Pavilion)
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Girl Talk stuck to the script, bringing about 100 mashup fans onstage for a well-received set on the opposite end of the venue from the DJ stage where practitioners of the electronic arts Holy Fuck, Lee Burridge, Danny Howells and Pete Tong kept things thumping under a natural canopy of trees.
On the main Pavilion stage, the day opened with Mates of State, with additional performances from Taking Back Sunday, Jet and The Bravery. On the West Stage, Sunday's Roulette, featuring promoter Seth Hurwitz’s son Joe on drums, opened and was followed by “Book the Band” winner The Birthday Massacre.
St. Vincent, also known as Annie Clark, charmed with a set punctuated by a solo electric cover of The Beatles’ “Dig A Pony” on the West Stage, followed by local favorite Wale who seemed to name-check every high school in Baltimore.
Other performers on the West Stage were The Hold Steady and The National.
August 30, 2009
(AP Photo)
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The festivities finally concluded about 12 hours after that early morning photo op with Branson, and a tired but happy group made its way back to the hotel with the hardiest keeping the party going.
And it was a well-earned bash for the group of California do-gooders who were still stunned that not only did they get a great concert for free, but were flown cross-country and treated like royalty just for helping out some kids with problems back home.
The hotel finally quieted down around 2 a.m., thanks to a generously late departure time back to Dulles airport in D.C. the next afternoon. As the plane approached Los Angeles International Airport, many had their faces pressed against the windows, looking down on the massive wildfire that exploded in the San Gabriel Mountains while they were gone.
The free concert provided a getaway for music fans to escape the crappy headlines for a day.
August 30, 2009
(Deborah Speer)
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Reality was coming back into focus but, at least for one weekend, the live concert experience took a lot of minds off a troubled world. And did it in grand style – for free, with benefits.
--Deborah Speer