Jam Session w/Lionel and Lead Guitarist
The Fool in Love Festival, located at the grounds of SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, CA, which is the neighboring county of CSUSB’s San Bernardino County, is a collection of artists contained within Soul, R&B, Funk, and many other oldies but goodies. This event occurred on August 31st; this collection of artists had never been together. However, for this particular day, they were aligned for a one-day-only festival that brought out crowds of enormous sizes. This festival brought fans of all ages together to fall in love with the artistry and celebrate music through the ages; the festival was an all-day affair from 11 am through 11 pm. The event brought out music icons in the public eye together, such as Lionel Richie and Diana Ross, and even upcoming acts, such as Thee Sacred Souls and Durand Jones and the Indications. Although the stacked lineup for the event was not without fault. When reflecting upon this event, many people criticized the event, calling the planning for the scheduled time and layout unthought-out and unorganized, resulting in long lines and bottlenecking when entering or leaving certain stages. The event consisted of 4 stages: Fool, Love, Crusin, and Bounce. To gain access to the event was reckless and improvised, having two entrances, North and South, while having a monstrous queue lineup to check tickets while there were still lines to gain entry for security purposes, eventually announcing another entryway at Gate 10 because many attendees were frustrated that the festival was starting and half of the festival was still located outside the venue. While the sun was bearing down, the spirit of attendees was very high. This could be felt from Monica Rivera’s answers in the interview.
Q: How did the performances of legendary artists like Lionel Richie and Diana Ross impact your experience at the festival?
A: “Being able to see the legendary Lionel Richie and Diana Ross was mindblowing. They sang and performed incredibly. It was surreal to be able to witness the performances, definitely a once in a lifetime opportunity and a bucket list item.”
Q: What aspects of the festival’s setting at Sofi Stadium and the surrounding areas enhanced or detract from your overall experience
A:” The setting at the Sofi Stadium was poorly organized, and the amount of people was a big distraction for our safety concerns. There was not enough space provided for the different stages. Either more stages needed to be provided and divided among the singers or less people needed to be admitted into this festival. At times, there was so much chaos due to the poor organization.”
Q: Why did you decide to attend this inaugural festival, and what were your expectations before coming
A: “I decided to attend because some of the headliners like Lionel Richie and Diana Ross were going to be there. It brought back a lot of nostallgic memories. This gave me an opportunity to share the music that I grew up with my children. It was a great family event, but poorly organized. The number of food vendors were way too few for the amount of people attending.”
Another attendee I interviewed which discussed her experience with the festival
Q: How did the performances of legendary artists like Lionel Richie and Diana Ross impact your experience at the festival?
A: “I only caught a bit of Lionel Richie’s set, but seeing legends like him Kools & the Gang, and Mary Jane Girls are artists which I grew up with made this festival worth it. I’m not usually into concerts or festivals, but this experiences made me appreciate the music and the artists even more, especially knowing I might not get another chance to see them live.”
Q: What aspects of the festival’s setting at Sofi Stadium and the surrounding areas enhanced or detract from your overall experience
A: “The SoFi Stadium setting didn’t add much since the festival was held in the parking lot, which felt overcrowded. However, parking was easy, and the temperatures were a plus. Overall, the environment didn’t greatly impact my experience.”
Q: Why did you decide to attend this inaugural festival, and what were your expectations before coming
A: “I attended because I wanted to see my favorite Motown artists many of whom are aging, so this might have been my last chance to see them in person. Although I am not a fan of festivals, and the organization wasn’t great my expectations were mostly met, but it didn’t lave me eager to attend another one.”
