by Stavi Tennenbaum
DESPITE THE WEEKEND’S continual downpour, the third annual Live on Washington, a free outdoor music and arts festival organized by teens of the Ann Arbor Neutral Zone, continued its tradition of local dancing and jamming on Sat., May 30. The Live on Washington Planning Committee, composed of teens from different schools throughout Ann Arbor, met Mondays at the Neutral Zone beginning Sept. 2014 to organize the event and puzzle out how to raise $19,000 for the event.
Organizers decided to use fundraising strategies including an indiegogo.com campaign, BTB sponsorship, Frontback app sponsorship, a $1,000 Neutral Zone grant and contributions from individual donors. Thanks to year-long fundraising efforts, the event not only broke even, but brought in additional profits the day of the festival. Isaac Scobey-Thal, one of L.O.W’s co-lead curators, says the event went off without a hitch.
“Given that the weather was less than preferable, we still got a wonderful turnout this year. Hundreds and hundreds of people have been out here, our first headliner rocked the stage at 6 p.m., and we’re about to have the two biggest acts, The Euphorics and The Black Opera, go on. Overall I think it’s a total success and there’s a really great energy about it; people have just been enjoying themselves and being at the Neutral Zone today. San Cristobal, which is a teen band in our lineup, did a set in the pouring rain today, but we had close to a hundred people stay and dance for the whole thing.”
Live on Washington’s efforts to highlight the music of local bands and show off the work of individual artists to new youth and adult listeners brought together a variety of genres and musical styles. Musician and DJ Andrew Ames of the band Creal said:
“I was blown away by the first headliner, Joe Hertler and the Rainbow Seekers. I never really listened to them before, but they were fantastic. Really tight and together, incredible stage presence and incredible compositions. It’s all been really impressive.”
Local food vendors lined Washington Street, including Hello! Ice Cream, San Street Asian Food cart and Bearclaw Coffee. Listeners huddled beneath white tents in between acts as well as inside the Neutral Zone space itself. The Neutral Zone’s Board also hosted a VIP lounge in the upstairs of the facility for select donors.
Curator Julia Hale, who helped plan and organize the event last year as well, said the group was anxious about the predicted thunderstorms throughout the day, but the date of the event had been selected early in the year and couldn’t be moved.
“We were really nervous about the rain at first, but people still came and stayed despite it, and it was almost more fun that way, with everyone just singing and dancing in the rain. Joe Hertler and the Rainbow Seekers were so much fun, and I’m really excited for the Black Opera, which is our second headliner playing at 9 p.m.”
Live on Washington’s large and diverse turnout made it the Neutral Zone’s lead event of the year, and the work put into making it happen is all driven by teens’ commitment to spreading free music and art to Ann Arbor’s youth and public. Since the festival’s first year, L.O.W has been a smashing success, according to organizers, and they believe the future only holds more promising prospects for the annual event.