(Editor’s Note — A few days ago, news hit of a two-day music festival happening this weekend. If it seems like the event came out of nowhere, well, you’d be right. Amid the flurry of activity, Vini Tre of 716gigs was nice enough to take some time to tell us how ‘AMYSPALOOZA’ came to be. We thank him for his time.)
1120 Press: Thanks for the taking the time to speak with us. So, ‘AMYSPALOOZA’ — this sounds like it’s going to be a banger. The announcement also seems to have come out of nowhere. Take us behind the scenes if you can — how long was this event in the works and what went into making it a reality?
Vini Tre-716gigs: A banger indeed, and out of nowhere is an understatement. Haha. Amy’s Place had posted on Wednesday 9/20 that they needed to fill those two dates (Friday Sept. 29 and Saturday Sept. 30).
I came across it around 8PM, texted Greg, the proprietor, and told him not to worry about it, that I would figure something out. I know how their operation works, that a huge part of their weekly income is generated through their weekend events, so of course, I’d work tirelessly to book two last minute shows for them. They’re some of the most wonderful people in this entire town, as everyone who knows them will attest; anything I can do to give back, I’m there.
So, I began sending messages. Must’ve messaged 60 artists by 10:30 pm. As responses began pouring in, it just hit me: Why throw two shows when we can do something totally unique?!
I’ve got two dates back to back… Fuck it, let’s do a mini-fest. And AMYSPALOOZA was born.
By Thursday night, I had almost the entire thing booked. 22 bands in 24 hours!
1120: The cool thing too is not every band is from the same genre, and the festival even includes a DJ set. Was there a deliberate approach to ensure the talent would be varied and if so, why?
716gigs: I’m a fan of MUSIC. I enjoy a bit of everything and I feel like most other people do as well, so why not throw shows that way? Who wants to hear four bands that all sound relatively similar when you can hear four totally different styles all at the same gig?!
Life’s about experience, right? Well… EXPERIENCE IT!
And the number of bands is actually up to 26 now as we’ve just added (for Saturday) BOZO in the main room and Kent Wood as an acoustic artist to accompany the outdoor vendor area. DJ G-NoX is a new addition as well, crushing Night Two’s after party with a deep house set.
1120: We’re not asking for you to get ahead of yourself here, but do you believe ‘AMYSPALOOZA’ has the potential to be an annual event?
716gigs: I don’t wanna jinx us, but I feel like this is gonna be wildly successful. If that’s the case, absolutely. I know for certain that this experience has granted me a whole new level of confidence in my networking abilities, so perhaps next year we can make it even bigger and better given more than two days to book it! Hahaha.
1120: You have to be pretty stoked and we’ve seen on social media some bands making the rounds throughout Buffalo posting flyers, etc. Heading into the event, is there anything you want to add that we haven’t asked.
716gigs: I just want everyone to know that this is for all of us. Everything 716gigs does is for Buffalo. We love this place and we love Amy’s Place.
As for anyone looking to attend the event, passes are only available at the door day of. Cash or Cashapp only, and be sure to bring extra loot for vendors. We love you guys!