Update! Devils Tower: No Frigging Lasers

No doubt it would have been a cool concert, but ICM Partners was recently denied the chance to produce a massive show near an area considered sacred by Native American tribes.

The agency approached the National Park Service with the idea of a festival on private land next to Devil’s Tower – the natural rock tower in Wyoming prominently featured in Steven Spielberg’s “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.” The show would have incorporated lighting elements that would illuminate the nation’s first national monument.

That’s the gist of it, although for 48 hours it had an entirely different theme based on a story in the Rapid City Journal.

Reed Robinson, superintendent for Devils Tower National Monument, told the paper the park was approached with the idea by Daft Punk’s agency last fall. The park officially denied the request Jan. 31.

That’s where everything got confusing, with Daft Punk represented worldwide by CAA and denying it had anything to do with a show at Devil’s Tower, and ICM Partners equally confused by the article. It was finally clarified with the following statement:

“ICM Partners approached the National Park Service regarding an event which would be held on private property but would include proposed lighting elements at Devils Tower,” ICM Partners said. “The agency submitted more than a dozen suggested performers, including Daft Punk, as a sample lineup to the National Park Service.  As is the usual case with a music festival, the acts proposed were simply performers and not involved with the planning of this event.”

Robinson said the park consulted with six Native American tribes about the proposal to illuminate the tower, and all thought it to be a disrespectful use of one of the country’s most sacred Native America sites.

“No event is going to be occurring in Devils Tower,” Robinson said. “Anything that was proposed is a nonstarter, is considered an adverse action according to the National Historic Preservation Act, and goes against the Park Service management approach.”

Rock climbing is allowed on Devils Tower, and there is a golf course nearby.