Mateel Meeting Looks at Reasons Why Reggae Was Cancelled, Possible Alternative Event, and Free Youth Program
On June 18th, the Mateel Community Center Board of Directors shared some reasons why the annual Reggae on the River festival has been cancelled by the 2019 event sponsor, High Times magazine and explored some possible options.
At the meeting, former Mateel board member Casandra Taliaferro said, “They [High Times representatives] rolled in really heavy, claimed to have lost $1.6 million dollars on the show last year, because they double paid and double rented…I don’t know, is baby Reggae at Benbow totally out of the question?”
Megan Gomes, Mateel Board President, said, “What that means for us is that we won’t be participating in a Reggae this year. It doesn’t mean we can’t have an event at this hall on that weekend and preserve the weekend and enjoy each other’s company like we always do.”
Mateel Vice President Dusty Hughston said that the Board would like to “avoid any off-site production” but sounded certain the Mateel will hold a two-day event on the first weekend of August.
Board member Nate Miller as well as Hughston and Snodgrass had spoken with the President of High Times. Miller explained, “They’re not trying in any way to block us from doing our own show. Obviously, we cannot call it Reggae on the River at this juncture…They feel badly about canceling the show… They’re being helpful and they are understanding of the situation for the Mateel….The reality was they were facing some heavy losses…low ticket sales, low interest…”
Snodgrass said “I think they misjudged how important it is to have the support of the regional community.”
Garth Epling, former Mateel Board President, announced, on behalf of Laura Lasseter of the Southern Humboldt Business and Visitor’s Bureau, and the Humboldt Lodging Alliance, that hotels in Southern Humboldt would offer financial backing collaborate and possibly find funds or resources to assist the Mateel with holding an alternative festival.*
Also note that today will be the first free Youth Night held at the Mateel Community Center! From 3 p.m. on into the evening, the Mateel opens its doors to any and all kids over the age of seven. Chaperones will be present, yet Mateel Director Bruce Champie asked the public, “Can people come out and help organize?”
There will be further announcements about the cancelled Reggae on the River, and whatever will take its place on the first weekend of August, within the next two weeks, according to Mateel Board President Megan Gomes.
*Note: Garth Epling, former Board president, clarified that SHBVB did not offer to fiscally back the event but instead offered “collaboration and [to] possibly find funds and or resources.” The article has been updated to reflect that.
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“They shoot horses,don’t they”?
I hate to say it but I think this one is already DEAD!!!
The MATEEL horse wears blinders.
Snodgrass’s opinion is too true the mateel community center lost most of the local support by cutting down on the local nonprofit’s overcharging Booth prices. And suing people’s Productions which split the community in half remember what happened now they have to be their own production company and they’ve lost large amounts of money it’s my opinion that a community center should not be a production company but when they got rid of a very good production company what is there to do now that the center of our community is so fractured we can’t stand up to fucked up legislation from our County Supervisors are even help stop the slaughter of our environment rainbow Ridge one of the only large Douglas fir Old growth stands it’s not over yet thanks to the forest protectors but it should be so much more stronger if we truly had a community. Next thing that might happen the national guard could be doing military actions in Humboldt County
TY JD, The.. Whole fiesco was really a disaster. I suppose that is what happens when people can’t come to a common ground. Everyone losses..TY for speaking to people’s productions in that way, I don’t think that was an angle on People’s that really reached the broader community as people painted each other as the bad guy.. but I still hope the Mateel can pull through this mess…
Yes we will need the community center in the future and it is good that they’re doing something for the children
Without addressing all of your other rambling, People Productions was fired for not keeping costs under control and taking an excessive amount for themselves, negating the nonprofit fundraising mission of ROTR. Then that greedy, venal crew put Tom Dimmick deep into debt with another nasty hustle.
The MCC board bore some responsibility for letting People Productions get so far out of control, when they decided that scratching the backs of their cronies at PP was more important than good management. How many managers were run off from MCC when they tried to do something about that mess?
you are expressing the very negativity that Joe Dirt calls out. Whatever happened. Whoever did what wrong, there is a need to come together. to find a way to work together through our differences.
otherwise the hall remains empty. and you can thank yourself and your blaming.
Yea ..TE, that’s not cool either. It’s sad things turned out the way they did. Personally, I don’t think what your saying is negative. It’s your perspective. And I appreciate that as well. I think there is a need to find a way to work thru difference… sometimes that can be very difficult.. Sometimes impossible.. I am thankful that Reggae was a pillar of the community for so long despite its down turn. I hope the Mateel can hang on thru this next bout of turbulence. And hope the hall will be full in the future..
The horse is dead, get off…
They tried to bury us.. they didn’t realize we were seeds..
Nobody cares eddie! Stay in lake county
oh no the horse lives, and for you to ride Ed.
in 2020 if high times doesnt produce the show, the mateel will have it at your park they say.
they say youll be given all access passes and prominent placement on the sponsorship banner.
If they offered a better line up of musicians maybe ticket sales would be better. Maybe musicians who weren’t racist against Caucasian people since the majority of the people that go are white
FFS “Roots” reggae is about the history of the Jamaican people. People who were kidnapped and enslaved in the west in the name of white people capitalism. Maybe they could book UB40 and make all of the white people more comfortable.
Yes a better line up is a must when they had Alpha Blondy from South Africa you had a world class performer that played a four hour set from midnight to four a.m. Bunny Wailer played in 2000 and that was pretty good to you have to have a really good line up to have a really good and positive crowd the type of musicians is what attracts what type of crowd.
Alpha is from Ivory Coast
“low ticket sales, low interest”
That’s because with 6 wks to go there is still no lineup.
The bottom line is that High Times screwed up. Lineup should’ve been announced in Feb with tickets on sale.
Right? It’s not like they didn’t know they were on to produce it. Pathetic effort.
Haha. If it was so easy why did the Mateel fail so bad they had to sell out? Hahaha
Millennials who are the current concert demographic aren’t into reggae music. Coachella, Bottlerock and Outside Lands are prime examples of successful venues with no reggae. The same three guitar chords played in different progressions gets old fast.
Shhhh, don’t give them any good ideas.
There is *no* concert demographic when there’s no lineup
The actual music seems only a small part of what drove the whole reggae phenomenon. The rasta pose is passe and without it there’s no support for reggae. It generates no interest on its own because it is uninteresting.
No lineup, no ticket sales.
There’s plenty of demand if there is actually an event to promote.
This is true! This show did well this year. There’s still Reggae lovers, old & newbs.
https://californiarootsfestival.com/line-up#/
This is a great opportunity – ego death is good for the soul. This thing got too big, too complicated, with too many dependents. Now it can go back to a grassroots, community-oriented and community-sized event and grow organically from there.
Yes, if you were here during the early Reggae years, it was small, fun, volunteers, and made some money.
Let’s do it again!
lolololol….this IS the “Let’s do it again!” effort. Already had an ego death too. I can’t stop laughing. Y’all kill me.
I think Damian Marley should come perform a benefit for the MATEEL (where he receives 0 dollars) seeing that he’s a big investor in the High Times corporation. Let’s get to the roots of the problem.
Yes! It’s high times fault the Mateel ran a world class reggae festival into the ground through extremely poor management. While spending more time and effort making the show better for themselves (vip viewing stages) while still in debt. And of course Damn you Damian for not paying the debts they Incurred by running a failed show that was somehow always sold out. Lol
Bob is turning over in his grave for being corporatized but then again he was just a misogynistic homophobe. And that’s fact.
Lets get some bands people want to actually see i agree with whoever mentioned coachella etc thats where its at! Reggae is not what me or any of my friends listen to. In my personal opinion reggae is out!
Maybe Reggae music, was a fight for the herb, now it’s legal. Over done. So we must find another rebellious fight to sing about. Weed isn’t even the same now. Legalization is a buzz kill. Reggae is still awesome but legalize it don’t criticize it, came with consequences. Not a surprise. Black market Matters, it made Reggae on the River. Legalization killed it. I gonna smoke a joint that I grew. It sure was good while it lasted. One love
Sure is allot of conjecture and assumption. The best part being the South Fork Eel River water quality and habitat will get a long awaited break from ROTR, hopefully forever.
Here’s just one more wild ass guess why ROTR will not happen, it was issued just after it was publicly announced it was cancelled. How come the MCC doesn’t want to talk about it, since it was addressed and emailed to the MCC Board:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=16ZeC6wa6f4cvGPrtv9GCdHUC291QJWDP
Thanks for the letter. It makes for interesting reading.
There are negotiations yet to be had, Ed. They don’t want to tip their hand or cause/ encourage rancor before then.
Really? What “negotiations” are you talking about, I must have missed the “negotiations” part of the letter? And how would compiling to this permit “tip their hand or cause/ encourage rancor before then”, i.e. “rancor” with whom? Are you speaking for the Whole Mateel Board?
I’ll bet High Times took one look at that letter and said no thank you to the whole mess. They can point fingers anywhere they want, but this is the Board of the Mateel’s fault. They weren’t going to be allowed to put the bridge in anyway.
I’ll bet your right too. Who ever at the MCC sold High Times on the idea they would clean up by leasing and producing ROTR, was only looking for a sucker and a short term solution for the MCC to get $75,000 of quick cash, up front. I’m sure at some point High Times figured out they were sold smoke and mirrors and it only took them a year to figure it out. The Community did not make this secret backroom deal. How can you believe the MCC Board about anything, when they cannot publicly disclose the deal with High Times. Most people forget even the pirate code is a guideline, nothing cast in stone, because there is no honor among thieves…
I thought these two articles were interesting:
https://www.reggaeville.com/dates/festival-details/reggae-on-the-river-2019/news/news/reggae-on-the-river-2019-cancelled/
https://www.reggaeville.com/dates/festival-details/reggae-on-the-river-2019/news/news/reggae-on-the-river-2019-line-up-announcement-sizzla-cancelled/
MCC has apparently done nothing to improve their management if they let that situation happen.
Lets see, they failed and still owe locals money for services from years ago. Yeah let’s do another show but smaller. SMFH
I wanted to go but I wasn’t buying tickets to a show if I didn’t know who was playing…..Going to Reggae Rise Up in Utah instead this summer. Great line up. There’s actually some great reggae festivals now a days. In Washington state, Utah, Colorado and Central California
Have fun trying to get in the groove by smoking some cannabis in Utah! 😮
Lol, true dat
The Divine Message that Joseph Smith received prohibited alcohol, tobacco, and caffeine, but not cannabis. Mormons should light up and be happy.
Hey, I have had serious devote Mormons tell me that Joseph Smith ate psy mushrooms and saw god.. on the real! Lol Seriously though, my buddies car was ripped apart there because they thought he had a tiny fraction of weed.. Traveling smokers beware!
Lets have a World Music Festival…. with Latin music for our Hispanic Community.
Yeah.. me personally, I never want to see ROTR turn into Coachella.. lol.. Bottle Rock and Outside Lands much better line ups usually.. just my 2cents. I think people still love Reggea, I just think it’s at a point where people are looking to diversify musical interests.. Ziggy played Bottle rock.. I don’t know what will happen here, and I hope this isn’t a terrible hit for the Community Center! I am sure it hurts. I think there are more than a few factors why ticket sales weren’t huge.. It might have been an impact on the River, but it also had a impact on the economy.. and I think the impacts on the river were less then the greater good for the the economy..
Maybe ..Liberation Movement .. will play, at the 2 day event?. They are really awesome.. Dogon lights.. I think they are in the Bay Area.. not Reggae, but Reggea roots.. just thought of them because they are close..
Call it Reggae FOR the Mateel. It’s for our community always had been. Now karma had happened breach of contract!! Step up! Can’t have Frenches empty that week end. Tradition .. people tradition. C’mon.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRdfX7ut8gw
I like that.. Reggae FOR the Mateel!!
So try Reggae Off the River at the Mateel this year. If that smaller event can be a success, then is time to evaluate the chances for reviving ROTR in 2020.
The mateel has proven to be a failure and this And you want them to do it again. Classic lol
ROTR at one time was a weed smoking Mecca for city people. Humboldt is Alternative. People would escape their mundane lives and Exodus to SO-HUM. Now that weed is legal and there’s Tom’s of cannabis cups in the Bay, why would anyone come here to get really dirty for three days?
Change the name to Reggae On The Stream. Or Reggae On The Algae.
Reggae On Your Liver and Reggae on The Rocks, will not fly.
@Lost ..you are half correct. Yes that plays a role . But there was no lineup. No one is gonna drive 4 + hrs with only Toots and Gong announced . Lineups traditionally were made around Feb/Mar, yet nothing was posted until maybe a month ago. Going to this event takes planning and money. People plan their summer out early. Did they think they were gonna be successful by the ROTR name alone ? Another factor is the crowd that supported the festival in the past has aged and the current youth isn’t carrying the torch. All this combined has put this once monstrous cash cow down to its death kneel.
Just in case any are interested – the 1st Youth group meeting went really well! Kids that want to help make this program what they want and adults who want to motivate and assist showed up fired up and ready to make it happen!
Programs like this is why I love being part of the Mateel Community Center!! Thank You! Thank You! To all of the volunteers who have donated countless hours at shows, SAMF, ROTR, work parties, to help raise funds and have fun and Thank You Thank You to ALL the folks who come to the shows and festies to support and keep OUR Community Center alive! MATEEL FORWARD!!! 🙌💓💕
That’s wonderful! Thank you for letting us know. I’m excited about this program.
Here’s the line up. Slayer. Metal. Pinebox boys devil makes 3. Bluegrass. Snoop lion sublime. new reggae Cardi b. Drake teen rap. Then bad religion. Nofx. Poison idea. Punk rock. That will bring ya a crowd. Better hire good security your going to need it😂😂😂😂😂
EARTHQUAKE just shook southern Humboldt
Youre the worst ed voice. The river looks the same above rotr as it does below. Whats your issue? were u not invited?…got stood up?lol get a life. Stop being such a hater. Help lower that blood pressure.
[…] River 2019 was canceled and ticket holders were refunded, leaving the Mateel Community Center to attempt to rebrand in hopes of continuing to host the beloved event. CULTURE Magazine is still being published, but […]