Day for Night 2017 – Yup’s and Nah’s

Day for Night 2017 was dope.  Transforming an old post office into an innovative, creative space that the world has taken notice of is Houston at it’s best.  I’ve been all three years, and was happy to see that the this year was another big step forward.

There are people that are much more skilled writing about music and art, but I wanted to share my Swashbucklers (Yup’s) and Jesters (Nah’s)…

Rezz has swagger.  Rezz feels different.  Rezz is fun af.  I left the weekend wanting more Rezz.

Watch this video from the 2:15 mark on.  Rezz is sipping beer, bouncing up and down, waving her finger around like she’s the conductor of the next world’s robot orchestra while alien seal footage ramp you up.  How could you not buy stock?

And all this at 4pm in the afternoon.  The only Rezz-gret (GET IT?) is that she wasn’t on later in the evening.  The energy she brought would have been 10x with a bigger crowd and brighter visuals.  Rezz agrees- she made several swaggy comments about her start date, including “Thanks for coming to my SUPER EARLY set.”  Well thanks for coming to H-Town, Rezz.  You definitely picked up more fans.

Rezz has the best finger wag since Dikembe.

This art installation showcased “digital fluids based on Hurricane Harvey data crash against a wall of #HoustonStrong”.  It was a beautiful reminder that despite the odds,  Houston strangled out Harvey…not the other way around.

I think this is the type of installation that sets Day for Night apart from other festivals.  This was a thought-provoking, emtional experience.  It was a jazz performance which repeats the Star-Strangled Banner 15 times each time removing notes every time the song is played.

The effect is eery, especially as the peformance takes place in a dark room on the second floor of the historic Barbara Jones Post Office in downtown Houston as lights flickered on and off.  I was wearing a hat, but after the second time thru the song, taking it off felt like the right thing to do.  By the 3rd time through the song, I became annoyed when people on the other side of the room wouldn’t shut up. By the 5th time through the song, I started to think about how I my perception of America had changed over the years.  During the 7th rendition, I noticed that a man near me was deeply sobbing.

It was a really memorable installation, and I’m glad to have experienced it.

Man, NIN just brings it.  Trent Reznor gives you every ounce he has.  The pouring rain made the concert more memorable, so it was a bummer when it was cut short.  Still, it doesn’t get much better than an hour with NIN. The video doesn’t do it justice…

She was 40 minutes late to a 60 minute set.  She came out, said “I’m sorry Houston but I’m going to have to make this quick, it’s too cold” before half-heartedly lauching into a song.  Yeah, great.  We stayed literally 20 seconds before leaving.

I searched “Cardi B Day for Night” on YouTube so I could post something here, and there were zero videos.  In a world where 45,000+ videos when you search for “pigeon thoughts”, today’s hottest female rapper performing in the country’s 4th largest city produced ZERO CONTENT.  Why?  Cardi B-oring.

Let me start by staying the entire Day for Night team has a lot to be proud off- they pulled off a beautiful event. Day for Night marketers have a lot of strengths- incredible branding, great use of video, modern voice on social media, etc.  I’m in event marketing, however, so I have some “room for improvement” suggestions.

• I kinda feel like a sucker for paying full price for the concert.  There were SO MANY OFFERS for 40% & 50% off tickets in the weeks leading up to the show.  Every Houston media company was advertising discounted prices.  Even my tiny yoga studio was selling 50% off tickets.  I get it…you have to do what you have to do to hit revenue goals, but it felt a little despeate down the stretch.  If I’m them, I’m worried it’ll impact revenue in the years to come.  For example- I’m going to go to Day for Night next year, but I’m not going to buy my ticket as early as I did this year.  Might as well wait out a discount.  If enough people do the same, their revenue flow could get wonky and that’s when businesses run into issues.
• Just a hunch, but I feel like the Day for Night mobile app launched later than anticipated.  Or, if it didn’t, it wasn’t promoted properly.  I’ve been following Day for Night on all social media platforms for 3 years now and didn’t a mobile app reference until Sunday.  It’s a big planning tool; they should have done better there.
• Get the info out there.  When heavy rain interrupted the NIN set, there was no news about if they’d eventually continue or not.  This shortly after tweeting “Rain on Saturday night at @dayfornightfest is part of the production.”  Cool tweet, but when you’re soaking wet, freezing, and trying to to make a decision about sticking around or not, the logistics matter.  Same with the major set time change that took place on Saturday.  Your big acts had time changes- get the info out there – aka, send more than 1 tweet.

Oh wait, that was me.  Thanks, Day for Night.  See you in 2018.

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