Chuck Berry will play the Virgin Mobile Festival in Baltimore in August. – AP
“I start at the top — who do I want to headline on what stage? Who’s the embodiment of cool in a given class?”
Recommended Stories
So says Seth Hurwitz when we asked him how he goes about assembling the lineup for the two-day Virgin Mobile Festival, which takes place Aug. 9 and 10 at the Pimlico Raceway in Baltimore.
“Then I think, ‘Who would be great right before that?’ I book from the top down. It’s kind of like how a DJ does a set. I like segues.”
Of course, there are other, more logistical concerns, too. Which bandsare currently touring? And which will be on the East Coast in early August?
“We’re absolutely enslaved to that,” Hurwitz says.
Plus, as regional summer music festivals continue to metastasize around the country, competition heats up to land the top acts.
“The idea of a festival was more attractive to bands when there were fewer of them,” Hurwitz tells us.
So who is he most proud of booking this year? “I like anyone that’s real,” says the owner of the 9:30 Club and the founder of I.M.P., which promotes shows all over the metro area, from Merriweather Post Pavilion to George Mason’s Patriot Center.
He says he’s particularly proud of the Silverbeats, a Japanese Beatles tribute act, “because it’s completely different and it pleases people.”
Moreover, they’re backing up Chuck Berry. “Chuck Berry was going to play the [9:30] Club,” he says. “Then I thought, ‘What if we give him the Silverbeats as a backup band?’
“Last year, I thought Velvet Revolver stole the show,” he adds, “and now Scott Weiland is coming back” with his original band, Stone Temple Pilots.
“It’s going to be interesting to see what Bob Dylan does, [and] Kanye [West] is doing his full show with his full set.”
Not that Hurwitz will get to see most of them. On the days of the show, he says, he’s typically driving around in a golf cart “making sure people are having a great time.”
