Plains Of Abraham – That Sounds Awesome!

For those who may be wondering, I took up an offer to go to a festival in Quebec.  It took me five airports to get here and I just dropped and ruined the new camera Pollstar provided. Just kidding. Pollstar didn’t give me a camera; I bought it myself, along with this laptop. And I’m paying for everything while I’m here. I did steal their digital transcriber though. They let me keep it at my desk. (Yes, we all borrow the same transcriber. More on that later.)

There’s a reason why they brought me here, along with others: This festival has been around for nearly 50 years and yet the world doesn’t know about it. Journalists from the U.S. – including those from travel magazines – were brought in to increase its profile. The funds for this come from the government – city, province and country.  Canada is one of the few countries left that apportion funding for arts and culture, although that money is dwindling (enter Bell. More on that below). (Edit: according to the people on the inside, it’s now 15% public funding, 20% private and 65% self sustained revenues)

As you patriotic Americans raise your voices and say “I just want to say this” and “Let me tell you something” consider this: The price for this event is $78.  That’s Canadian money. It’s less in US dollars. Try seeing Lady Gaga for $78.  Add in Billy Joel, Snoop Dogg, The Killers and so many others that it takes 11 stages and 11 days to put it all together. Three stages are within walking distance of the main hotel, the Hilton. There are more and more international visitors arriving for the event. There are so many artists here that I barely noticed that Trombone Shorty was on the list. The brochure goes on forever.

We’ve interrupted the information portion of this terrible blog to give you a travel report. That’s so much easier, and it’s more lucrative. Quebec City is one of the six oldest cities in North America. There is the “old city” and the “young city.” It includes a wall that was built by the French for protection against the British. Or was first built by the French and finished by the British. I don’t know: that’s what my driver said and the publicists could neither confirm nor deny it. It doesn’t matter. It’s, like, really old and it’s a lot taller than the picket fence that lines the Alamo. Man, if the gringos had something like this we wouldn’t have totally lost that fight. Anyway, despite its impressive size, the locals don’t make jokes about “taking the black.” 

But there’s a reason for that. Although Quebec is technically a part of Canada, it’s the French part and the rest of Canada is, like, the American part. They’re outnumbered here and they know it.  But to get a good job in this town, one needs to learn two languages. English is a good idea, but so is an Asian language.  And it’s much obliged, considering how difficult it would be to move through the Montreal airport without signs in English. Those of us in California argue about the influx of Spanish speakers but it’s sure nice when the Frenchies talk English to you. But here’s one for ya: Immigrants to Quebec City need to learn French BY LAW. Score one for the ‘Murica crowd. 

All of the above was told to me by “my” driver, Andre. The dude who picked me up from the airport. I’ll take his word for it. He had a good explanation why everybody has an above-ground pool in their backyards. No, seriously, look . He said it’s because the summer is short and everyone celebrates it any way they can. My God, the irony: I can’t get an invite to go swimming in Fresno (Tim, Lorrie – just kidding. Everybody else – you know who you are and shame on you) but I could totally swim in Quebec.

Anyway, Andre volunteers for the festival. He works in the movies but drives people back and forth from the airport because it’s entertaining. He’s picked up Sting, Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder, and the latter included Andre on a tour of the city.  The other reason why this is brought up is because the car Andre drove was a Ford.

Although Canada funds the event, it is quieting its participation so the festival requires sponsors, not the least of which is Bell (aka, Pacific Bell, Ma Bell, AT&T etc.).  Another is Ford. The festival’s sponsors are completely integrated into the event. You’re picked up in a Ford (sponsor) SUV, driven to the Hilton (sponsor) and immediately robbed by a guy in a dark hoodie (sponsor).  Just kidding: the city hasn’t seen a murder in five years. And, like, you can walk around after dark. God I can’t wait to get back home, which had nine murders in January alone. And is a larger city than this one but can’t even bring in a team from the Lingerie Football League, much less a festival.  (searching for a link to the LFL. Brb)

OK. So a few more things about the festival. The main stage is on the Plains of Abraham, aka the “battlefield park.” It’s where the British defeated the French in 20 minutes in 1759 and then realized they “won” Quebec City, hated the winter and GTFO. But it’s very haunted. Tegan & Sara and Lady Gaga played there last night to 100 million people on the largest stage in North America, built by Unisson.

The crowd was illuminated by flashing little red LED lights that people wore on their shirts. In years past, a brooch was the entrance pass and it had a light on it. But too many people would “share” their passes so it was discontinued. And yet people loved them and continue to wear them. Now, with the help of Bell, they get in with RFID chips on wristbands.

Those doggone RFID chips! Big Brother, etc. But here’s the thing: Pollstar worked with RFID during our last conference in February, using them in our laminates. We used them to see who came to lunch. But we were dipping our toes into the water that others are swimming in.  

This festival was a Guinea pig for RFID years ago. Now, Bell has kiosks set up around the city.

You put your wristband against the sign, and it takes your photo. That photo is then posted on your Facebook page by using a code

(“Joe is here, alone because he couldn’t find a date, in Quebec! Look!”) and some photos are added to the big screens. 

But what about the love of flashing lights? According to a spokeswoman here, they plan to integrate the RFID with the lights so, as early as next year, they’ll be turning lights on and off from stage.  Lady Gaga would come out and automatically the Plains of Abraham would light up with whatever colors are needed for the event.  (In February, Pollstar plans to use RFID for .. something).

Lady Gaga was impressive by the way. It was the only way I could have afforded to see her play. She spoke French fluently in between songs and sometimes sang live.

Meanwhile, Vintage Trouble had a killer show

Anyway, that’s about it. Tonight is Snoop Dogg because people here love rap (they also love classical music –almost 60 percent of all record sales in Canada go to Quebec). But I’m looking forward to A$AP Rocky because Peter Schwartz. That dude, that agent, is the hip-hop whisperer. He signed stupid stuff like some Seattle dude called Macklemore and some wack act called Khalifa something. Let’s see what this ASAP character is about.

Thanks for watching. 

Happy Fourth. Gotta Run!

Planes, Trains and Oh Eff This S***