Can Phoenix support 2 music fests on the same weekend? M3F wishes it hadn't come to that
To say that RJ Largay was not thrilled to learn that Innings Festival would expand in 2024 with back-to-back weekends at Tempe Beach Park & Arts Park would be an understatement.
Innings Festival 2024 is Feb. 23-24; the new event, Extra Innings, is March 1-2.
March 1-2 are the same days the 20th annual M3F Festival will take place at Steele Indian School Park in central Phoenix.
Largay is the talent and marketing manager at M3F, a nonprofit festival launched in 2004 by his father, John Largay. Originally called McDowell Mountain Music Festival, M3F donates 100% of its proceeds to charity, with $2 million donated since 2022 and $5.2 million raised since its inception in 2004.
M3F and Innings Festival have been on back-to-back weekends
Innings Festival is produced by C3 Presents, the team behind Lollapalooza; Austin City Limits Music Festival and Austin Food + Wine Festival in Texas; Bonnaroo Music + Arts Festival in Manchester, Tennessee; Shaky Knees in Atlanta; and more. The inaugural Innings Festival in Tempe was in 2018.
The two festivals had been coexisting on back-to-back weekends for several years, with M3F drawing a much younger crowd interested in EDM and Innings aggressively targeting baseball fans who travel to the Valley for spring training with a Gen X-friendly lineup.
“And we were succeeding,” Largay says.
He felt there was room for both events to grow on separate weekends.
“But then to just come on top of the same weekend, I mean, look, you're gonna end up making these fans have to make a decision,” Largay says.
“And I don't think that that's right. Why wouldn't we just have a conversation and try to find a way to make it all work or just figure it out? To me, that's where it gets, like, a little personal."
Innings Festival has declined to comment on Largay's complaints.
Who's playing M3F and Innings Festival in 2024
Largay says he’s heard the arguments that M3F and Innings Fest are aimed at completely different demographics, with M3F drawing a younger demo since it started ramping up the EDM component.
But he isn’t buying it.
“Music fans like a lot of different types of music,” Largay says. “That's what our festival is about. We have electronic music, indie music, pop. You can listen to Zach Bryan and also listen to Lane 8 or Dominic Fike. There's nothing wrong with that. Music is eclectic.”
Lane 8 and Dominic Fike are the 2024 headliners at M3F, which also features Arlo Parks and Gorgon City.
The Extra Innings bill that weekend will be topped by the Dave Matthews Band and country star Chris Stapleton, with sets by Sheryl Crow, Elle King and Gin Blossoms, to name a few.
If M3F is targeting a younger demographic than it used to, Largay says, it’s been more “out of trying to stay afloat” than anything.
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“We booked older-leaning artists in the past,” he says. “We want to cater to everybody. But when Innings originally came and put their festival right on top of ours, they booked Lord Huron, Local Natives, a lot of artists that we had booked in the past.”
David Crosby headlined the inaugural McDowell Mountain Music Festival at WestWorld of Scottsdale alongside Taj Mahal, Keb’ Mo’, Little Feat and Derek Trucks.
Innings Festival's first lineup in 2018 included Stapleton, Counting Crows, Queens of the Stone Age, the Avett Brothers, Gin Blossoms and more.
Innings eventually moved to the weekend before M3F. But even then, the festivals often found themselves competing for the same acts and fans.
“And there's nothing wrong with that,” Largay says. “I've respected it. I understand that they need to run their business the way that they see fit. I have nothing but respect for C3. I've looked up to those guys as talent buyers and festival producers.”
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Organizer is 'very confident' in M3F
Largay believes the Innings team has crossed a line with Extra Innings.
“To not acknowledge what it is that we've done within the community, I think, is very distasteful,” Largay says.
“It would be one thing if we were a for-profit festival that wasn't around for 20 years and didn't give all their proceeds back to the community. Last year, we gave $1.2 million to the community. This year, we're giving $800,000 to the community.”
Largay says he’s “very confident” in M3F’s abilities to succeed despite the direct competition that weekend.
“But I just feel I have to ask that question,” he says. “What's going on there? What was the purpose of that? They know we go the weekend after them."
Reach the reporter at [email protected] or 602-444-4495. Follow him on Twitter @EdMasley.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Can Innings Festival and M3F coexist on the same weekend?
