Desert Daze 2024 Cancelled and the Hardship of being Independent

 

SASAMI was to play on Saturday

Desert Daze announced on August 30th that their four day festival that was to be held from October 10th - 13th was being cancelled "due to rising production costs and the current volatile festival market." There was also an emphasis in their announcement that Desert Daze is one of the few independent festivals.

I've never gone to Desert Daze. It is just not my type of festival. I like being able to return to my home each night and sleep in my own bed. That said, I'm sad to see this independent festival having to call off their event. There is a special place in my heart for independent festivals. I just recently spent back to back weekends hanging out at Echo Park Rising and Happy Sundays Long Beach. Earlier this summer I attended No Earbuds Fest. 

Since venues re-opened in mid-2021, we've seen Highland Park Bowl and Little Joy shift away from live bands. Oracle Tavern shut down. The Silverlake Lounge was sold to different investors and who knows if live music will be featured when it reopens. Resident and The Goldfish have significantly reduced their nights of live music. The Resident is only doing the twice a month Alphabet Soup and acoustic sets out on their patio (which I'm not necessarily seeing happening during the winter months). As for The Goldfish, I only see one night of live bands for the month of September. 

I shouldn't be all negative about the indie music venue scene. Healing Force of the Universe, a record store and music venue, opened up recently in Pasadena. There is also Scribble that has regularly scheduled music. I visit Hotel Ziggy a few times a month, which is a hotel and music venue. I am potentially missing other venues, as well. But to be honest, those venues don't necessarily replace the previously listed venues. They simply replace the venues that permanently closed during the pandemic such as The Factory, The House of Machines, The Satellite, etc.

At the moment, it seems to me that the Los Angeles indie music scene is at a low. That, hopefully, means that an upswing is about to occur.