As usual, I disagree with most of your views. Riverbend will never be everything to everybody. While you may not like all of the music at Riverbend, I bet they will still have tens of thousands in attendance each night that do like some of the music. On one hand, you chastise Riverbend for the artists selected to play, then you name off some you like. The Riverbend pin costs $28. Bonnaroo, a concert series that may offer a few more artists you like, costs 10 times that for admission. Where the money goes is public information, as Friends Of The Festival is a non-profit. Look it up.

Many of the local/regional artists selected this year have never played Riverbend. They are excited and happy to be there. They are getting paid, about what they get in many of the clubs in town, but most would have played for free just for the chance. For most, it is a real honor to play in one of the nation’s largest festivals.

I do agree with you that the Strut could end in a much cooler way by having a big marching band signal the night’s end. Put the police behind the marching band, if necessary.

Riverbend puts 50,000 people downtown within blocks of our local venues. All these venues need to do is to figure a way to capture a small percentage of these music fans to come by before or after the festival. There are some that have done this successfully.

I for one love the Riverbend experience. I tend to hang out at the smaller stages, where I can see some pretty cool acts that I am not familiar with.

While I often disagree with your views, I would still be your friend, even though you are not currently taking applications for them.