City Stages
Encyclopedia
City Stages was a three-day, family-friendly, arts and music festival in downtown Birmingham, Alabama
that took place in and around Linn Park from 1989 to 2009. City Stages featured 150 to 200 acts from hip hop to country on 9 to 11 stages. Many of the world's renowned performers and musicians made appearances at City Stages during the festival's 20-year history. After losses in 2009 amounted to nearly half a million dollars, the organization running City Stages announced on June 25, 2009 that the event would not return the next year.
Lieutenant Governor George McMillan
and a group of civic leaders who wanted to start a downtown music festival that would promote Birmingham's City Center as part of that year's Alabama Reunion. By all accounts those goals were met, as the festival's early success is credited with reestablishing the downtown area as a vibrant and pleasant district. In the years since City Stages began, several other festivals have been launched downtown. McMillan's firm, McMillan Associates managed and promoted the festival.
City Stages grew rapidly in its first five years from a small regional festival to a world-renowned music event. At its peak, the festival featured 13 stages and performance areas over a 13 block area.
In 2001, organizers of the festival moved the festival to May to have more flexibility in booking acts that normally have their own summer tour plans. Unfortunately, rainstorms drowned out the failed three-year experiment, and the festival racked up nearly a half million dollars in debt. The organizers have since moved the festival back to Father's Day weekend, the third weekend of June, and scaled down the number of acts, focusing on bigger-name headliners. 2004's festival was a success, allowing the organizers to retire some of its debt. As of February 2005, City Stages signed the Vines & Waldrep law firm as the festival's first title sponsor, changing the official name to Vines & Waldrep City Stages. However in 2006, the name changed again to "Waldrep Stewart & Kendricks, LLC City Stages Presented by Lanny Vines & Associates, LLC".
, one of the co-producers for the successful Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival, to help produce the Birmingham festival and will advise them for the next three years.
The partnership was to help aid the festival of eliminating a debt of $230,000 and to bring bigger acts - many who had forged relationships with Bonnaroo organizers - to the annual event. (Both Bonnaroo and City Stages were held on the same weekend.)
The final City Stages was held on June 13–15, 2009 on Father's Day Weekend. Tickets sales were hampered by inclement weather, the struggling economy, and a poor lineup. Many speculate McMillan purposely put on a sub-par festival that year to declare bankruptcy and seek protection from creditors. After the event, organizers announced that the total debt had surpassed $1 million, and that no further City Stages would be produced.
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
that took place in and around Linn Park from 1989 to 2009. City Stages featured 150 to 200 acts from hip hop to country on 9 to 11 stages. Many of the world's renowned performers and musicians made appearances at City Stages during the festival's 20-year history. After losses in 2009 amounted to nearly half a million dollars, the organization running City Stages announced on June 25, 2009 that the event would not return the next year.
History
City Stages was started in 1989 by former AlabamaAlabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
Lieutenant Governor George McMillan
George McMillan
George Duncan Hastie McMillan, Jr. is an American Democratic politician who served as the 23rd Lieutenant Governor of Alabama from 1979 to 1983. In 1989 he founded the City Stages music festival in downtown Birmingham, Alabama....
and a group of civic leaders who wanted to start a downtown music festival that would promote Birmingham's City Center as part of that year's Alabama Reunion. By all accounts those goals were met, as the festival's early success is credited with reestablishing the downtown area as a vibrant and pleasant district. In the years since City Stages began, several other festivals have been launched downtown. McMillan's firm, McMillan Associates managed and promoted the festival.
City Stages grew rapidly in its first five years from a small regional festival to a world-renowned music event. At its peak, the festival featured 13 stages and performance areas over a 13 block area.
In 2001, organizers of the festival moved the festival to May to have more flexibility in booking acts that normally have their own summer tour plans. Unfortunately, rainstorms drowned out the failed three-year experiment, and the festival racked up nearly a half million dollars in debt. The organizers have since moved the festival back to Father's Day weekend, the third weekend of June, and scaled down the number of acts, focusing on bigger-name headliners. 2004's festival was a success, allowing the organizers to retire some of its debt. As of February 2005, City Stages signed the Vines & Waldrep law firm as the festival's first title sponsor, changing the official name to Vines & Waldrep City Stages. However in 2006, the name changed again to "Waldrep Stewart & Kendricks, LLC City Stages Presented by Lanny Vines & Associates, LLC".
2008
City Stages' organizers announced in November 2007 that they hired AC EntertainmentAC Entertainment
AC Entertainment is a music promotion company based in Knoxville, Tennessee, the co-producers of the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival and Vegoose, both with Superfly Productions, and talent-buyers for the Orange Peel...
, one of the co-producers for the successful Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival, to help produce the Birmingham festival and will advise them for the next three years.
The partnership was to help aid the festival of eliminating a debt of $230,000 and to bring bigger acts - many who had forged relationships with Bonnaroo organizers - to the annual event. (Both Bonnaroo and City Stages were held on the same weekend.)
The final City Stages was held on June 13–15, 2009 on Father's Day Weekend. Tickets sales were hampered by inclement weather, the struggling economy, and a poor lineup. Many speculate McMillan purposely put on a sub-par festival that year to declare bankruptcy and seek protection from creditors. After the event, organizers announced that the total debt had surpassed $1 million, and that no further City Stages would be produced.
The Junior Board and City Stages Battle of the Bands
During the last few years of City Stages, a group of volunteers organized the City Stages Battles of the Bands. These volunteers were selected as candidates and chosen by Betsy Henle. The chosen were mostly articulate young adults in high school around the Birmingham area and a few unique and talented UAB students. They were named the Junior Board, in relation to the Associates Board and Directors Board. They had the privilege to observe City Stages official meetings, held on the last Thursday of every month from Octobers until the month leading up to the main event.Lineup
- Beyond Me
- Diana RossDiana RossDiana Ernestine Earle Ross is an American singer, record producer, and actress. Ross was lead singer of the Motown group The Supremes during the 1960s. After leaving the group in 1970, Ross began a solo career that included successful ventures into film and Broadway...
- The Flaming LipsThe Flaming LipsThe Flaming Lips are an American alternative rock band, formed in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma in 1983.Melodically, their sound contains lush, multi-layered, psychedelic rock arrangements, but lyrically their compositions show elements of space rock, including unusual song and album titles—such as "What...
- Al GreenAl GreenAlbert Greene , better known as Al Green, is an American gospel and soul music singer. He reached the peak of his popularity in the 1970s, with hit singles such as "You Oughta Be With Me", "I'm Still In Love With You", "Love and Happiness", and "Let's Stay Together"...
- The RootsThe RootsThe Roots is an American hip hop/neo soul band formed in 1987 by Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter and Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are famed for beginning with a jazzy, eclectic approach to hip hop which still includes live instrumentals...
- Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals
- The WailersWailers BandThe Wailers Band are a reggae band formed by the remaining members of Bob Marley & The Wailers, following the death of Bob Marley in 1981.-Previous Wailers' incarnations:The Wailers started as Bob Marley, Bunny Wailer and Peter Tosh...
- Buddy GuyBuddy GuyGeorge "Buddy" Guy is an American blues and jazz guitarist and singer. He is a critically acclaimed artist who has established himself as a pioneer of the Chicago blues sound, and has served as an influence to some of the most notable musicians of his generation...
- Israel & New Breed
- Anthony HamiltonAnthony Hamilton (musician)Anthony Hamilton is an American R&B, and soul singer-songwriter, and record producer who rose to fame with his platinum-selling second studio album Comin' from Where I'm From , which featured the singles "Comin' from Where I'm From" and "Charlene."-Life and career:Hamilton was born in Charlotte,...
- LedisiLedisiLedisi Anibade Young is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Her first name means "to bring forth" or "to come here" in Yoruba. Ledisi is known for her jazz influenced vocals. In 1995, Ledisi formed the group known as Anibade. After unsuccessfully trying to get the group signed to a major...
- GalacticGalacticGalactic is a funk and jazz jam band from New Orleans, Louisiana, United States.-Origins and background:Originally formed in 1994 as an octet and including singer Chris Lane and guitarist Rob Gowen, the group was soon pared down to a sextet of: guitarist Jeff Raines, bassist Robert Mercurio,...
& Chalin 2na (of Jurassic Five) - Citizen CopeCitizen CopeClarence Greenwood is an American songwriter and producer. His eclectic mix of blues, laid-back rock, soul, and folk has a large and profoundly dedicated following, built over the past decade of touring due to solid word of mouth....
- Blind MelonBlind MelonBlind Melon is an American rock band active from 1989 to 1999, and from 2006 onward.Best remembered for their 1993 single "No Rain", the group enjoyed critical and commercial success in the early 1990s with their neo-psychedelic take on alternative rock...
- Moon Taxi
- Martha MunizziMartha Munizzi-Award wins:-Award nominations:Munizzi has been nominated for Grammy, Dove, Stellar and Soul Train Awards as both a performer and songwriter. In 2006, Munizzi was nominated for a Grammy for Best Traditional Soul Gospel Album...
- Sean KingstonSean KingstonSean Kingston is a Jamaican-American singer. He pursued a music career and debuted in 2007 with the album Sean Kingston.-Early life:...
- MazeMaze (band)Maze a soul / quiet storm band, also known alternately as Maze featuring Frankie Beverly and Frankie Beverly and Maze, was established in San Francisco, California in the early 1970s.-Career:...
featuring Frankie BeverlyFrankie BeverlyFrankie Beverly is an American singer, musician, songwriter, and producer, known primarily for his recordings with the soul and funk band, Maze.-Early life and career:... - Canton JonesCanton JonesCanton Jones, born in Deerfield Beach, Florida, is an American Christian musician and Christian hip-hop artist.-Early years:Canton Jones began singing at the age of 5 in a vocal group founded by his father...
- North Mississippi AllstarsNorth Mississippi AllstarsNorth Mississippi Allstars is a Southern rock/blues jam band from Hernando, Mississippi, founded in 1996. The band is composed of brothers Luther Dickinson and Cody Dickinson , and Chris Chew...
- Michael Franti & Spearhead
- Joe BonamassaJoe BonamassaJoe Bonamassa is an American blues rock guitarist and singer.-Early life:Bonamassa was born and raised in New Hartford, United States. His parents owned and ran a guitar shop. He is a fourth-generation musician...
- Hackensaw Boys
- Elizabeth CookElizabeth CookElizabeth Cook is an American country music singer who made her debut on the Grand Ole Opry on March 17, 2000. She has released five albums to date. Balls was produced by Rodney Crowell, and nine of the album's 11 tracks were written or co-written by Elizabeth – including the single "Sometimes It...
- Toubab KreweToubab KreweToubab Krewe is an American instrumental band which fuses the music of Mali with American musical styles . The group's instrumentation includes kora , kamelengoni , soku , two electric guitars, electric bass guitar, drum set, and African percussion...
- Rosie Ledet & the Zydeco Playboys
- Marc BroussardMarc BroussardMarc Broussard is an American singer/songwriter. His style is best described as "Bayou Soul," a mix of funk, blues, R&B, rock, and pop, matched with distinct Southern roots...
- Will HogeWill HogeWill Hoge is an American singer, songwriter and musician from Nashville, Tennessee.-Early life:Will Hoge grew up in Franklin, Tennessee, a rural suburb south of Nashville...
- Dave BarnesDave BarnesDave Barnes is an American rock-R&B-contemporary Christian singer-songwriter from Nashville, Tennessee.-Early life:...
- William Murphy
- Landon PiggLandon PiggLandon Pigg is a singer-songwriter, musician, and actor from Nashville, Tennessee.- Early years :Pigg was born in Nashville, Tennessee. When Pigg was a child, his family moved to Oak Park, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, and he and two of his siblings, Cari-Ann and Gabriel, sang commercial jingles...
- Monte MontgomeryMonte MontgomeryMonte Montgomery is an American guitarist and singer-songwriter.-Career:Montgomery appeared on PBS's Austin City Limits program on April 17, 1999....
- Michael Warren
- Shooter JenningsShooter JenningsWaylon Albright "Shooter" Jennings is an American singer-songwriter active in the country music and Southern rock genres as well as making his first foray into psychedelic rock in 2009...
- Jason IsbellJason IsbellJason Isbell is a singer, songwriter, and guitarist from Greenhill, Alabama, near Muscle Shoals.-Background:Almost all of Isbell's family, except his parents, were musicians, and his father was an avid music listener...
& the 400 Unit - Robert Earl KeenRobert Earl KeenRobert Earl Keen, Junior is an American Texas Country singer-songwriter. He is popular with fans of traditional country music, folk music, college radio, and alt-country. Keen currently resides in Kerrville, Texas and maintains a ranch in Medina, Texas.-Early life:Growing up in Houston, Texas,...
- Andrew BirdAndrew BirdAndrew Bird is an American musician, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist.- Early life and the Bowl of Fire :...
- Old Crow Medicine ShowOld Crow Medicine ShowOld Crow Medicine Show is an old-time string band based in Nashville, Tennessee. Their music has been called bluegrass, Americana, and alt-country, in addition to old-time. Along with original songs, the band performs many pre-World War II blues and folk songs...
- Ingrid MichaelsonIngrid MichaelsonIngrid Ellen Egbert Michaelson is a New York-based indie-pop singer-songwriter. Her music has been featured in episodes of several popular television shows, including Scrubs, Bones, Grey's Anatomy The Big C and One Tree Hill, as well as in Old Navy's Fall 2007 Fair Isle and Opel's/Vauxhall's...
- The Basement
- Birmingham Community Mass Choir
- The Shame Idols
- Alice In ThunderlandAlice In ThunderlandAlice in Thunderland is a rock band, based in Birmingham, Alabama.The band consists of Jaclyn Wint vocals, Phillip Blevins , Zac Head , and Austin Blevins . In 2009, the band played in the final round of a band contest at the Workplay entertainment center in downtown Birmingham, Alabama...
- Lynyrd SkynyrdLynyrd SkynyrdLynyrd Skynyrd is an American rock band prominent in spreading Southern Rock during the 1970s.Originally formed as the "Noble Five" in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1964, the band rose to worldwide recognition on the basis of its driving live performances and signature tune, Freebird...
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