The best and worst of Another Music Festival

Hopes, doubts and general curiousity swirled ever since McAllen first announced it was going to throw a live music event downtown. Now that it's come and gone, Festiva takes a look at what went right --- and not so right --- at Another Music Festival. Was it a success? Did the city pull it off? Did the bands? And was it good enough for there to be another Another Music Festival?

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>>> THE 3 BEST THINGS ABOUT AMF

1. THE END RESULT
Despite the thin crowds, the grumbling or the technical snafus, Another Music Festival showed great things can happen when the city and its community of musicians work together. Some naysayers called the idea of McAllen throwing a music festival overambitious. When all is said and done, putting on Another Music Festival was a brave stride in the right direction for McAllen and local music. We predict next year's event is going to make good on that early promise. Real good.

2. THE CAMARADERIE
When one band needed, say, a drummer, another band's drummer stepped in. When one venue lacked a piece of equipment, another venue lent it to them. The mutual goal of putting on a great festival brought out the spirit of fraternity in many of the musicians, the venue owners and the organizers. Audiences saw it, and they'll remember it when they're debating whether to buy a ticket to AMF 2010. Attitude is everything, after all.

3. THE MUSIC
No Coldplay? No Radiohead? Who cares? In the end, Another Music Festival compiled a sterling lineup of musicians from a stunning array of genres --- everything from country and heavy metal to jazz and Top 40 pop/rock. If you passed on going to Another Music Festival because you didn't know any of the bands, it's your loss. A great many festival-goers left as fans of bands they'd never heard of before.

>>> THE 3 LAMEST THINGS ABOUT AMF

1. THE DRAMA
The text message that claimed the city was pocketing $20,000 and called for a boycott of the festival. Rumors that X band had been paid when bands Y and Z weren't. Mistakes were definitely made, but anyone who thought Another Music Festival would go on without a hitch is a fool. Nobody walked away any richer or more famous than they started. But the bands who rolled with the punches, the venue owners who pitched in even when there was little to gain and the crowd members who were willing to overlook the screw-ups left with a lot more than those who did nothing but play the blame game.

2. THE TECHNICAL FUMBLES
DJ Rapid Ric reportedly had to change venues because the sound equipment wasn't sufficient. Stillborne said they couldn't play their set because Club Flesh wasn't equipped with a PA. Monitors were almost nowhere to be found, and drummers had to bring their own drum sets. Tech issues like these added a lot of pointless stress and severely hindered the flow of the festival.

3. THE RAIN
We hate to complain, especially with drought and wildfires all around ... but really, Mother Nature, couldn't you have waited until Monday?

>>> 3 THINGS WE'D FIX NEXT YEAR

1. THE MAIN STAGE
The rain Saturday and Sunday weren't the only things that put a damper on this set up. The south end of 17th Street was not ideal for an outdoor mainstage. A grassy knoll would have been nice, but organizers could have made their concrete work if they'd provided some optional seating. It was clear the audience preferred sitting and drinking inside air-conditioned venues while enjoying the acts.

2. THE PRICE
Sure, day passes for under $20 are a steal compared to the entrance costs of bigger festivals like Austin City Limits or Coachella. Still, ticket prices were too steep to wrangle in crowds who don't normally go out of their way to see local bands or even big names from Austin and San Antonio. Next year, the festival needs to pin down a headliner whom frugal music fans will consider worthy of their cash - or start slashing prices.

3. THE POLICE STATE
For every 10 festival-goers, there was one yellow-clad policeman on a bicycle ... or at least is seemed that way. What was McAllen PD expecting? Woodstock '94? Let's hope they consider the task at hand next year instead of just overestimating, i.e. squandering our tax dollars.