The first annual Vegoose festival, produced by Bonnaroo organizers A.C. Entertainment and Superfly Presents, drew roughly 40,000 people to concerts held Oct. 29-31 at Sam Boyd Stadium, Thomas & Mack Center and other venues in Las Vegas.
The festival wrapped Halloween night with Widespread Panic at Thomas & Mack and Ween at the Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. “It went awesome, a great first-year event,” says Jonathan Mayers, president of Superfly. “We didn’t sell out but we did really well. The event really ran smoothly, the city was happy, the venue was happy. It seemed like all the artits had a great time, the fans definitely had a good time. We’re happy with the foundation we’re building.”
Other acts that appeared at the inaugural Vegoose include Dave Matthews and Friends, Jack Johnson, Phil Lesh and Friends with Ryan Adams, the Meters, Trey Anastasio, Flaming Lips, Ween, Primus, the Shins, String Cheese Incident, moe., Spoon, Gov’t Mule, Digable Planets, the Decemberists, North Mississippi All Stars, Michael Franti and Spearhead, Blackalicious, Atmosphere, Lyrics Born and Magic Numbers.
Mayers says he and the other organizers would like to see the event return to Las Vegas next year. “That’s the goal,” he says. “Hopefully we’ll be back.”
The success of Vegoose is good news for the Bonnaroo producers, who previously tried to extend the concept to a tour, Zooma, that failed to get off the ground due to poor ticket sales. Bonnaroo, on the other hand, has quickly become the top grossing festival in the world, winning Billboard’s Top Festival award at the Roadwork ‘05 touring conference in New York last week. A.C. Entertainment president Ashley Capps accepted the award at the reception. “We’re psyched that we won that,” adds Mayers.
