Last night, the third annual Vinyl Music Festival kicked off in downtown Sarasota at Ivory Lounge. The VIP/Press party last night was just the beginning to a weekend where more than 40 DJs will be playing throughout SRQ.
Event organizer Matt Orr said each year Vinyl has grown and this year is no different. By moving from the summer to April this year, VMF has been able to collaborate with the Sarasota Film Festival.
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The two festivals run separately but operate with the same idea in mind, bring people to Sarasota.
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“Leveraging each other’s strengths, we can make something even better,” Orr said. “You’ll see a crowd we haven’t seen at Vinyl before.”
Traditionally the film fest hosts a massive after party on the first night and this year it is doing it in conjunction with Vinyl for a party at Michael’s on East called “Hollywood and Vinyl”.
“This expands what we are trying to do,” Orr said.
One thing that is evidence of the growth is the popularity of DJs the festival has been able to bring in.
In the first year, Orr said VMF focused on a middle-east theme. In the second year they brought in DJs Scooter and Lavelle, which Orr said are well known to people who follow electronic music closely but not many other people.
This year, Orr said, Vinyl took a big step by bringing in an internationally known artist, Darude, to be the Saturday night headliner. While the name might not sound familiar, his No. 1 hit, “Sandstorm”, might.
Orr said bringing in bigger names only expands the reach of the festival and the audience. He says having Darude here also helps explain to people what Vinyl is because of the familiarity of “Sandstorm”. "It's hard to explain what Vinyl is and then if you play them 'Sandstorm' and they are like 'Oh, I get it now.'"
“The performance aspect of it is what’s hard [for people unfamiliar with the Vinyl music] to understand,” Orr said. “Being able to send a YouTube video to show off that song. It helps open the door even further. It says a lot to start to attracting that type of name,” he added. “We have achieved a level of appreciation in [the DJ] community.”
FRIDAY LINEUP:
Michael's on East: 9pm - 2am
Honorebel
Drager
Anthony Martin Infect
K.SO
Chris Meadows
Brett Soll
Netics
Ivory Lounge - 9pm - 2am
Marc DeLain
HausTrap
Luna
Chris Dezz
Sarasota Opera 9 - 11pm
SATURDAY LINEUP
Michael's on East 9pm - 2am
Darude
Randy Boyer
Drager
Sharaz
Breakfixx
Superfly & Shakka
Jollero
DJ Stone
Sin Diesel
Ductape
Matt Majik
DJake Lysick
UH-Oh
Ivory Lounge - 9pm - 2am
Subdriven
Fonik
Obey
Mighty Mike
Evies Downtown - 9pm - 2am
DJ Syte