Photo by Matt Ellis.

Over thirty bands distributed across three stages and over twenty vendors composed Columbus’ first PromoWest Fest from July 15th to 17th. With popular artists such as Snoop Dogg and Ryan Adams and well-known bands like Modest Mouse, Brand New, and The Flaming Lips, the sounds of these varieties of genres echoed through McFerson Commons that entire weekend.

PromoWest Productions, one of the largest entertainment companies on this side of the United States has been servicing music-lovers for over thirty years. And PromoWest Marketing Director Marissa Luther, expressed her satisfaction for the success of festival.

“Being a first year fest we are extremely happy with the weekend overall,” she stated. “We will be doing the fest again next year for sure.”

Luther added that among the many different musicians, LL Cool J, Snoop Dogg, Modest Mouse, and Fitz and the Tantrums were the most popular artists from the lineup, and out of the many vendors, Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams, Island Noodles and Mikey’s Late Night Slice were the most popular during the course of the weekend.

While the event got a lot of praise from attendees, some individuals wouldn’t claim it as much of a successful event.

Robert Wilson, a concert goer this year, expressed his opinion about different aspects of the fest such as the “no re-entry” and the “cashless” system in a comment on the Columbus Underground Facebook page.

“Usually PromoWest does a great job putting on shows and it makes for a seamless enjoyable experience but PromoWest Fest experience was a failure,” he stated.

Another PromoWest Fest attendee spoke quite negatively about his experience in a comment on Columbus Underground, stating: “Standing in line for over a half hour just to exchange ticket for a wristband. No signage explaining that had to be done, only one person handing out wristbands at box office entrance on Friday evening. Doesn’t sound like much of a success to me.”

Despite some first-year issues, Luther said that most of the logistical systems of the festival will return rather than being removed.

“The cashless system worked well, and it will be returning next year,” she stated. “There are always a few hiccups when adjusting to a new technology but we already have ideas for improving upon it for next year.”

Some attendees also complained that one of the stages (stage three) was shut down, and scheduled bands didn’t perform, but Luther addressed that issue.

“The third stage was not shut down, it was moved to A&R Music Bar and turned into an after party stage which was awesome — and in fact, worked better for the layout because there were no band conflicts,” she said.

Dates for next year’s event have not yet been announced, but the lineup announcement can likely be expected sometime in March.

For more information, visit www.promowestfest.com.

CLICK HERE for photos from Day One of PromoWest Fest.

CLICK HERE for photos from Day Two of PromoWest Fest.

CLICK HERE for photos from Day Three of PromoWest Fest.