They've done superb work keeping it going for 12 years.

This is really scary ... regardless of which show, to only have around 300 people is down right bad, and a serious issue to consider, and then you get into the problem that half the bands can't get paid because the money went to the details in having to put on the event itself ... this reminds me of the producer of the 1999 show in SF (SFPMFestival) at what would have been a very expensive location and after the 2 days, it was clear that the "named" bands did not pull the fans in as much as they should ... only one show was "full", and it was Porcupine Tree, but the bad side of things? That producer took a bath in a loss that probably passed 50K or more for those 2 nights, and there is no way that anyone can survive that at all ... and even if the R.I.O. had the support of public finances, the disparity in the level would be something that any authority group would have said ... what? ... and call it a night.

But, it really shows how fractious and "separate" all this "progressive" music has become, that in a "regular" progressive" show these bands might not be watched or appreciated, and a different and more rock oriented band might not be a welcome sight at this venture, either, and this was an issue with the show in SF in 1999, when even Buckethead, only had a handful of folks in front of the stage ... who the heck is that everyone asked!!! ... and Lana Lane and the Rocket Scientists opened the show with the most professional and clean show of all bands, except MAGMA, and their audience only measure a couple of hundred as people were not even arriving in the theater and/or were outside!

In my mind, there is a very bad lack of respect ... we are so much into the "preference" thing, to the point that we are hurting the very process/program that we love and wish to see it make it better in the long run, but it can't as long as we play the selfish fan ... instead of the appreciator of magic music!

I saw all the acts and photographed them all, except PT when SW immediately told me that no pictures were to be taken lest I would dismantle his idea for visuals and movie for his stuff! It was bad, when he did that, because hew showed exactly the same attitude as the fans that were nowhere to be found for at leat 5 other bands in the show on those two days.

I can't imagine that we will EVER grow up and appreciate these things, but most of them, you can tell, are fly by night operations and the only way they could have a chance to recover some of the loot, would be to ensure they could do a DVD and sell it, which probably half the fans in the show would have bought, and it would have meant ... twice the number of fans ... and helped the whole thing along better ... but the ideas around these things ... are usually closed ...

One last item ... in the SF show, for two days a video crew shot the whole thing, and none of it has even been shown or appeared anywhere ... and worse ... the folks on the cameras did not know any of the music, and they did not know what a "performance" is all about ... just to give you an idea, there was a bit where Daevid Allen started the lyrics in the song, by looking at the camera and before he got to the 2nd line of his acting bit, the camera moved away ... he looked at the ceiling, made a gesture ... what do I gotta do ... and continued ... but you KNEW RIGHT AWAY ... that things like this would kill the show and its appeal on many bands ... because of the lack of respect and the wasted money on shooting something with a crew that belonged in high school, and worse ... probably did not care ... I wouldn't have paid them a dime! 

So, sometimes, you have to do better than just imagine that the music is enough ... I'm not saying that you have to dress people up in drag, or pull off the costumes from the local theater group, or have to include a far out audio-visual thing for the audience to be entertained with their lollipop ... which in the end, is all we did and wanted ... many of us didn't care about this or that, and the dismissal, is scary and ugly in regards to the music!

What the hell are you doing going on such a rant. We should be celebrating the success of the festival and the wonderful work the organizers did to bring it to life every year.

2. There is always separatism and elitism in every scene. RIO honestly had the least amount of it that I've ever seen. (Not always with the fans, but def with the creators.) The creators of this music are some of the most inclusive and responsive and enthusiastic music lovers I've ever talked to.

3. The preference is there because people don't want Hinder playing at RIO. It is a platform for creative and weird people to play. Usually the bands playing are already connected with other bands playing, organizers, or engineers that work through the scene. It isn't about separation, it's just a scene of people that know each other that want to be weird and do their thing.

4. This was almost all funded with arts grants and never did anything but lose money. It wasn't going to ever be funded by attendance. I don't think 'marketing' and expansion was really a major goal or a focus of the funding. Don't know how French art grants work.


Long story short, I know that you're saying you wish more people could appreciate this stuff and I agree, but I don't think your approach to what you're saying aligns with what I believe the mission to be.

Anyone is welcome to correct me.

I have cried so much today :( :( :(

Emme Phyzema, my best friend, told me so much about it and how magical it was. I guess rarities and magic never lasts.

You are not reading what I wrote correctly ... I would have loved to see any of those shows and spend thousands of dollars to go from here in the West coast, all the way to where you did your shows to see a few bands.

I was hoping, for the most part, that it was not a bad situation that did not improve from one day to the next, or from one year to the next. Were I a millionaire, I would gladly have funded the next show or two or three, just to show you my love for the music ... and I would not care if I lost ... but seeing this, yet another "progressive" music thing go down ... is very sad for me ... we've come NOW to the age where we can no longer exhibit the art we love ... and this is a very sad moment for any art!

And, you should know, by now, that I love the music, and would not put it down like you did me ... which is grossly disrespectful and reckless in regards to my history with all of the music that is considered "progressive".

It makes me feel like there was something else that caused this end ... 

A great festival that I regrettably never was able to attend (being poor and in America made it impossible). But this was always the festival that was closest to my musical heart and it not existing anymore makes the world a worse place. 

Long live RIO.

^^^^^  hahahhaha...