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Wednesday, September 11, 2019
Storm Area 51 Founder Cancels AlienStock Festival
Consequence of Sound: The man behind the viral Storm Area 51 raid that spawned the AlienStock Festival has unexpectedly canceled the event. The festival was scheduled to take place September 20-22nd in Rachel, Nevada.
This is an incredibly difficult position to be in, and I admire Roberts's willingness to eat the cost (and perhaps reputation damage) in the interest of his attendees' safety. I think, as a theatre technician, time crunches and problems and a "we're not ready yet!" can occur as late as 2 minutes before the house opens, and though things may not always worked out, never has anyone been put in danger. I am sure that if the possibility of that was a pressing concern, we would be pushing back or cancelling opening night. Again, that is a difficult decision to make, but ultimately, the people's safety is priority #1.
The Fyre Festival was a great lesson to be learned for everyone, I believe. Being too ambitious about the 4 essential resources (time, money, people, and space!) had very grave consequences for all parties involved. There is actually quite a frightening, surreal Netflix documentary that I think is important for everyone to watch. There were so many opportunities to cancel the event, but McFarland had an unrealistic "We can still pull it off" attitude until it was too late. I believe this same thing happened to a popular YouTuber who tried to create her own version of VidCon.
I applaud Roberts's decision; it proves that money and fame and reputation is less important to him than safety, which it should always be.
It’s interesting that this was the outcome of the Area 51 raid/AlienStock Festival because, months ago, I was in a discussion with friends who noted that it was probably going to be a second iteration of FYREFEST. That Matty Roberts was able to not only be aware of but admit that there was not a reliable infrastructure (both physically and in the planning of AlienStock) to support the number of people and type of event being held is simply phenomenal. I’ve personally been in situations [in technical theatre] where something hasn’t been completely finished, but has still been sent on stage. Now, this isn’t always a question of safety (sometimes just of aesthetics) but in the case of AlienStock, I think it was. Absolute, total props to Roberts for admitting faults (even though it seems that they didn’t have much to do with him) and for pulling the project at his own expense.
This whole Area 51 craze that has risen out of the internet in the past months is one of the most mind boggling things I have seen spring forth from the dark recesses of the web. It is crazy to me that a meme was able to propel itself into reality like this. This article is the first I have heard of the actual festival that was going to take place. I thought it was just a bunch of random internet people planning to storm the base. I still think there will be a big turn out to the area regardless of what festivals are or are not happening and definitely regardless of the Air Force’s claims. I do not think it would be advisable for anyone to try to join in on the storming, but I am interested in seeing the result. It is weird to me that so many people could get behind the same goal like this. I mean imagine if three million people said they were going to storm the detention centers on the border right now. Now that is a meme that I think could actually have an impact on the world. It will be interesting to see how memes continue to grow and influence our world in the coming years...
I, for one, had absolutely no clue there was going to be a music festival based on this Area 51 raid meme, but I cannot say I am surprised. I personally think cancelling the festival for lack of preparation is an incredibly smart idea. Sure, it may be disappointing, but even Matty Roberts referenced the infamous Fyre Festival as an example to cancel. Fyre Festival put lives at risk, hospitalized and angered people due to a lack of competence. If this music festival was to fail, the possible raid may not be the only event remembered on that day. It’s a fun idea, but music festivals need more time to prepare the logistics before capitalizing on what’s popular in the moment. It may be pointless anyways, since the joke is already starting to die down (which also might be a reason for cancelation). The meme may be funny and it’s a perfect way to make lots of money, but it is not worth it for the possible risks failure implies.
I remember when the whole “Area 51 Raid” was the viral sensation that everyone was fawning over. This idea was supposed to just be a funny joke by Matty Roberts, but it quickly went viral, taking over the internet with millions of people claiming to be interested in attending. The festival Roberts was planning was risky, but he changed it from an actual raid to a festival for people to enjoy live music and other entertainment with an Area 51 theme to it. It must have been a difficult decision for Roberts to make, but his actions were valid. The fact that the permit holder refused to provide him with any paperwork or proof of anything must’ve raised many red flags for him, and in the wake of the disastrous FyreFest, pulling the plug on the festival was probably the right move. Granted, a similar, safer event was planned in Las Vegas by Roberts, which is a nice substitute so people who genuinely just wanted some fun and entertainment can still experience it. In addition, there are a handful of other events which will be happening closer to Area 51 that have a similar vibe to the cancelled AlienStock festival. Now, as for if the cancelling was actually genuine, or if it’s all just a big government conspiracy… that is for you to decide. As some may say, AlienStock was genuinely cancelled by Roberts for safety concerns… but that’s what the government wants you to think.
This is a really interesting concept that I think is incredibly relevant to us. While I don't think many of us will be coordinating alien-themed musical festivals in the future, I think this reminds us to remember our limits. Out limits as artists, technicians, and just human beings. I believe the vast majority of us hate to quit. We begin a project and we can not envision any situation in which we will not finish it. We never want to give up, even when there is no time, or money, or resources to make it happen in the way our vision desires it to. This festival was actually incredibly brave for cancelling, because they understood and accepted their limits. They knew people would be disappointed, and they had hundreds of thousands of eyes on them and their festival, and they still made the informed and executive decision to quit before anyone got hurt. Right now, our projects maybe only have a dozen or so eyes on them. We need to remember to take ourselves less seriously sometimes and to take care of ourselves before we compromise our own work with poor execution.
Based on the article title, under no circumstances could a possibly avoid reading it at the very least. The first, and most constant parallels I was drawing as I read this article were to the Fyre Festival, with which we are all familiar at this point. Because truly I do not understand how the entire country spent months circling this major discussion about storming Area 51, which led to the creation of “AlienStock Festival”, similarly to how I don’t understand how the Fyre Festival reached the point of anyone actually showing up. I do have to appreciate that we have reached the point in which people are able to see that, as excited as we may be with the promise of an event like Alienstock or FYREFEST, that excitement cannot allow us to disregard things like safety of attendants, risk management, lack of infrastructure, lack of proper permitting, etc. Calling this a possible humanitarian disaster felt extreme, but, honestly, when you isolate people in a random location without the resources to keep them safe and well, that is kind of what you are allowing. All of this said, I look forward to sitting back and enjoying any and all versions of this event to come.
7 comments:
This is an incredibly difficult position to be in, and I admire Roberts's willingness to eat the cost (and perhaps reputation damage) in the interest of his attendees' safety. I think, as a theatre technician, time crunches and problems and a "we're not ready yet!" can occur as late as 2 minutes before the house opens, and though things may not always worked out, never has anyone been put in danger. I am sure that if the possibility of that was a pressing concern, we would be pushing back or cancelling opening night. Again, that is a difficult decision to make, but ultimately, the people's safety is priority #1.
The Fyre Festival was a great lesson to be learned for everyone, I believe. Being too ambitious about the 4 essential resources (time, money, people, and space!) had very grave consequences for all parties involved. There is actually quite a frightening, surreal Netflix documentary that I think is important for everyone to watch. There were so many opportunities to cancel the event, but McFarland had an unrealistic "We can still pull it off" attitude until it was too late. I believe this same thing happened to a popular YouTuber who tried to create her own version of VidCon.
I applaud Roberts's decision; it proves that money and fame and reputation is less important to him than safety, which it should always be.
It’s interesting that this was the outcome of the Area 51 raid/AlienStock Festival because, months ago, I was in a discussion with friends who noted that it was probably going to be a second iteration of FYREFEST. That Matty Roberts was able to not only be aware of but admit that there was not a reliable infrastructure (both physically and in the planning of AlienStock) to support the number of people and type of event being held is simply phenomenal. I’ve personally been in situations [in technical theatre] where something hasn’t been completely finished, but has still been sent on stage. Now, this isn’t always a question of safety (sometimes just of aesthetics) but in the case of AlienStock, I think it was. Absolute, total props to Roberts for admitting faults (even though it seems that they didn’t have much to do with him) and for pulling the project at his own expense.
This whole Area 51 craze that has risen out of the internet in the past months is one of the most mind boggling things I have seen spring forth from the dark recesses of the web. It is crazy to me that a meme was able to propel itself into reality like this. This article is the first I have heard of the actual festival that was going to take place. I thought it was just a bunch of random internet people planning to storm the base. I still think there will be a big turn out to the area regardless of what festivals are or are not happening and definitely regardless of the Air Force’s claims. I do not think it would be advisable for anyone to try to join in on the storming, but I am interested in seeing the result. It is weird to me that so many people could get behind the same goal like this. I mean imagine if three million people said they were going to storm the detention centers on the border right now. Now that is a meme that I think could actually have an impact on the world. It will be interesting to see how memes continue to grow and influence our world in the coming years...
I, for one, had absolutely no clue there was going to be a music festival based on this Area 51 raid meme, but I cannot say I am surprised. I personally think cancelling the festival for lack of preparation is an incredibly smart idea. Sure, it may be disappointing, but even Matty Roberts referenced the infamous Fyre Festival as an example to cancel. Fyre Festival put lives at risk, hospitalized and angered people due to a lack of competence. If this music festival was to fail, the possible raid may not be the only event remembered on that day. It’s a fun idea, but music festivals need more time to prepare the logistics before capitalizing on what’s popular in the moment. It may be pointless anyways, since the joke is already starting to die down (which also might be a reason for cancelation). The meme may be funny and it’s a perfect way to make lots of money, but it is not worth it for the possible risks failure implies.
I remember when the whole “Area 51 Raid” was the viral sensation that everyone was fawning over. This idea was supposed to just be a funny joke by Matty Roberts, but it quickly went viral, taking over the internet with millions of people claiming to be interested in attending. The festival Roberts was planning was risky, but he changed it from an actual raid to a festival for people to enjoy live music and other entertainment with an Area 51 theme to it. It must have been a difficult decision for Roberts to make, but his actions were valid. The fact that the permit holder refused to provide him with any paperwork or proof of anything must’ve raised many red flags for him, and in the wake of the disastrous FyreFest, pulling the plug on the festival was probably the right move. Granted, a similar, safer event was planned in Las Vegas by Roberts, which is a nice substitute so people who genuinely just wanted some fun and entertainment can still experience it. In addition, there are a handful of other events which will be happening closer to Area 51 that have a similar vibe to the cancelled AlienStock festival. Now, as for if the cancelling was actually genuine, or if it’s all just a big government conspiracy… that is for you to decide. As some may say, AlienStock was genuinely cancelled by Roberts for safety concerns… but that’s what the government wants you to think.
This is a really interesting concept that I think is incredibly relevant to us. While I don't think many of us will be coordinating alien-themed musical festivals in the future, I think this reminds us to remember our limits. Out limits as artists, technicians, and just human beings. I believe the vast majority of us hate to quit. We begin a project and we can not envision any situation in which we will not finish it. We never want to give up, even when there is no time, or money, or resources to make it happen in the way our vision desires it to. This festival was actually incredibly brave for cancelling, because they understood and accepted their limits. They knew people would be disappointed, and they had hundreds of thousands of eyes on them and their festival, and they still made the informed and executive decision to quit before anyone got hurt. Right now, our projects maybe only have a dozen or so eyes on them. We need to remember to take ourselves less seriously sometimes and to take care of ourselves before we compromise our own work with poor execution.
Based on the article title, under no circumstances could a possibly avoid reading it at the very least. The first, and most constant parallels I was drawing as I read this article were to the Fyre Festival, with which we are all familiar at this point. Because truly I do not understand how the entire country spent months circling this major discussion about storming Area 51, which led to the creation of “AlienStock Festival”, similarly to how I don’t understand how the Fyre Festival reached the point of anyone actually showing up. I do have to appreciate that we have reached the point in which people are able to see that, as excited as we may be with the promise of an event like Alienstock or FYREFEST, that excitement cannot allow us to disregard things like safety of attendants, risk management, lack of infrastructure, lack of proper permitting, etc. Calling this a possible humanitarian disaster felt extreme, but, honestly, when you isolate people in a random location without the resources to keep them safe and well, that is kind of what you are allowing. All of this said, I look forward to sitting back and enjoying any and all versions of this event to come.
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