WHICH FEST IS BEST?

Release of Pemberton music lineup sets up battle of bands for concertgoers.

The Pemberton Music Festival’s promoters unveiled their lineup of acts Wednesday, firming up the ground for what could be a battle of the summer music festivals — with the Squamish Valley Music Festival — on the Sea to Sky corridor.

Both have come out with highpowered acts — groups such as Nine Inch Nails, Outkast, Deadmau5 and Soundgarden will headline Pemberton — and each will be counting on attracting fans willing to pay big ticket prices for the weekend-long events separated by just 18 days and 91 kilometres.

“At this point, we’ve given birth, so it’s up to the market,” said A.J. Niland, CEO of HUKA Entertainment, the New Orleans-based promoter that resurrected the Pemberton bash after a five-year hiatus.

“My concern is not so much that there’s another festival in the market, I really hope that we can coexist,” Niland said. He added that promoters “generally know who the other is booking,” so HUKA has tried to take its lineup on a different course. Comedy is a differentiating feature for Pemberton with acts such as Norm Macdonald, Tom Green and the Trail er Park Boys booked, along with familiar musical acts such as Blondie, Metric, Modest Mouse and Snoop Dogg.

The Pemberton event, July 18-20, precedes the Squamish festival, set for Aug. 8-10, but was the last to reveal its lineup. Niland said it took a little bit longer than expected, but HUKA wanted to “make certain we put the best experience together.”

That experience, which will cost festivalgoers ticket prices ranging from $279 to $1,199 for the weekend, will include other amenities and activities in a “cohesive program” that the company will roll out over the next few months, according to Niland. Competing promoter Live Nation put on the Pemberton festival in 2008 and has since taken up residence at Squamish. It has already sold out some of its weekend-pass categories. Attendees are being asked to pay prices ranging from $325 to $799 (singleday passes are $149), and executive Paul Haagenson wouldn’t betray concerns over competition with HUKA, if he has any.

“There’s lots of room for (music) festivals,” said Haagenson, chief operating officer for Live Nation Canada. “There are festivals all summer long; there’s lots of room in (the B.C. market).”

Headliners for the Squamish festival are Eminem, Bruno Mars, Arcade Fire and the Arctic Monkeys, and Haagenson said those kinds of acts, which will only play a handful of dates in Canada, help draw from a wider audience, which they’ve seen in previous versions with ticket sales in the U.S. and across the country.

He added that Live Nation’s focus isn’t on what its competitors are doing, it is on “securing the best, world-class talent,” and to put on an event that exceeds the expectations of the ticket buyers.

However, what each festival is doing is different enough for them to peacefully coexist, even so close together on the calendar and map, according to industry veteran Terry McBride.

“Everyone’s laying on top-end talent,” said McBride, CEO of Nettwerk Music Group, but “Pemberton is pulling a bit younger, and Squamish is pulling a bit more mainstream.”

The Pemberton line up looks “harder edged,” he added, and Squamish’s top acts are a bit more mainstream, “as much as some (acts) might not like to be put in that bracket.”

And though they each have top draws, McBride said he doesn’t see a big enough crossover market within Metro Vancouver for one event to cannibalize ticket sales from the other, though there will be fans torn over which event to attend. “It’s not like in Los Angeles where there are 15 to 20 music events per year,” he said.

Tamara Stanners, program direc tor at 102.7 The Peak radio, said there was a buzz on Facebook Wednesday among fans lamenting the tough choice, but she is hopeful both can compete for audiences.

Stanners added that the Okanagan hosts a couple of significant festivals — Boonstock in Penticton and Keloha in Kelowna — that aren’t too far away and also compete.

“I think it really remains to be seen (how well they coexist), and we’re all really curious,” she said.

However, Stanners will be pulling for all of them, with a considerable payoff for each of the Sea to Sky events, if they go well.