BIZFEST II
Heartcore Productions organized a music festival called BizFest ll featuring 21 local bands and vendors. This isn't the first time they throw a sold out music festival but it’s definitely their best yet. Their line up included D.I.Y favorites such as The Red Pears, The High Curbs, Ariel View, Gold Vine, Espresso, and had The Buttertones as their headliner.
How did a D.I.Y production company host 21 bands plus vendors in one day? Let me tell you.
The festival was held at an American Legion in the city of Paramount. This was only after the location had been changed twice. Two days before BizFest II the venue Heartcore booked to host the festival cancelled on them, again. Regardless, they made it happen.
Heartcore sold BizFest ll pre-sale tickets online, offered VIP packages and had merchandise made for their one-day festival.
On the day of the festival there was a line forming outside waiting to be let in at 3p.m. They had three stages (two that they built themselves) with organized set times that began at 4p.m and ended at midnight. Two stages were outside in the parking lot and one was inside the Legion. Heartcore staff stuck to their D.I.Y roots and put up their own chain link fence outside to help control the crowd. They had their own security, portable potties and even a Snapchat geotag for people to use throughout the night.
The Buttertones, in case you don't know, are an up-and-coming indie band from LA. The five piece is made up of guitarist/singer Richard Araiza, bassist Sean Redman, drummer Modesto ‘Cobi’ Cobiån, guitarist Dakota Boettcher and saxophonist London Guzman. They recently released their third album “Gravedigging”.
Having The Buttertones headline their sold out festival was a big step for Heartcore. The crowd was full of fans wearing merch and holding up vinyl restlessly as they waited for The Buttertones to start their set. They played their songs “Bad Girl”, “Sadie Is A Sadist” (off their new album) and ended the night with their most popular hit off their sophomore album “Orpheus Under the Influence”.
The full lineup for the festival included Caterwall, Wild Wing, Astronaut Samurais, SHIDU, Foliage, Indigo State, The Bizcuits, FRY, The Naacals, Three, HITD, Bloom Cycle, The Boulevards, Shallow Halls, and Layla Farahani.
Patrick Moreno, Gold Vine
Vendors included The Venus Collective, Melodius Din Records, and Unmodern Industries.
Regardless of some major setbacks the Heartcore team was able to pull through and throw a really great festival.
As of now, Heartcore has eleven official staff members that help put together shows each month. The staff include different roles such as booking, sound, visual arts, reception, and security. It takes a great deal of teamwork to organize an event like BizFest and even more to make sure everything goes smoothly the day of.
Music festivals and other shows put together by this creative community is a perfect example of what hard work, dedication and teamwork looks like. Having a well known and loved band like The Buttertones was an exciting milestone for Heartcore. It’s only going to get bigger and better from here on out.
