For the first time ever, we took our 18-hour marathon to a live setting. After months of planning, it was truly so amazing to watch this day unfold!
Lil backstory - 4 years ago we joined The Stings Summer Marathon Series, which is typically 18 consecutive hours of one artist. We put our LoCLE spin on it and for two years showcased anywhere from 12-15 artists in ONE day! Last year, we had a last minute relocation due to construction at The Sting, however we were able to host our marathon at The Cambridge Room at the House Of Blues in Cleveland. (You can stream all these episodes anywhere you listen to podcasts!)
Bringing us to this year, where we wanted to do it bigger and better than ever, and bring YOU ALL into this experience as well. While also being self-funded for 4 years now, we toyed around with the idea of somehow being able to raise some funds for the podcast, so we can continue to do this for years to come and keep supporting the local scene with the resources that would help us to do so. Then came the idea of LG LIVE 2023.
While still sticking to our yearly marathon tradition, we decided to host an all day event (basically a mini festival) that would also double as a fundraiser for the podcast, showcasing over 30+ artists in ONE DAY. We needed to give the podcast a foundation, but more importantly, we wanted to make sure that if anyone donated towards this day, they were able to come out and have a wonderful time. With months of planning and hardwork, it was truly amazing to watch this day unfold and raise enough money for our immediate equipment needs and rent for our studio for the next couple of months!
Now, let's talk the good, bad, and surprising.
THE GOOD:
We were able to secure help from many volunteers who specialized in sound engineering, fundraising, and stage hands, which helped immensely. Gerad, Crobar's amazing owner, provided us with bartenders, a couple more sound engineers, and security/ door (shoutout Zoo!). Without these people, the night never would have happened, and we want to specifically call out Domingo Kite, DJ Groovy Hoovy, and Kevin Ballou for being there pretty much the entire day to help out with sound on both stages.
THE BAD:
When we arrived, we planned for some rain and had tents set up, but we were not ready for hail...
It hailed. And it rained. On and off. For too long. There came a point when we had to call it quits with the outdoor stage, which would have cut 6 or 7 artists from our show completely and we were not about to let that happen. By spending some time planning and adjusting, we were able to shorten and shift everyone's set times so everyone can perform. This made the show end about 3 hours later than expected, but shockingly the crowd was there until the end???
THE SURPRISING:
YOU ALL. The people who came were able to come and go throughout the day, but those who came towards the evening STAYED through until 3 in the morning or later and had a great time! We were absolutely amazed and honored to see so many people who have that same passion for supporting local artists that they love at any time of the day or night. It was truly something to behold and will be engrained in our minds forever as this is exactly how we feel, too.
THANK YOU AGAIN to Crobar, the countless musicians who donated their time and talents, the volunteers that donated their entire day to make sure everything went as smooth as possible, the vendors, our listeners, and of course all the attendees! We already cannot wait for next year, and it’s safe to say we will be hosting more events in the near future so keep an eye out. You can see all of our partners on our last blog page and a gallery of photos from the event here.
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