Moogfest was a music and technology festival held in Durham, North Carolina, that honored engineer Robert Moog and his inventions. It was first held in New York City, and after a hiatus took place in Asheville, North Carolina, for five years before moving to Durham.
The multi-day event features performances by artists who use Moog instruments as well as others whose work is influenced by Bob Moog. It also includes interactive experiences, visual art exhibitions, installations, film screenings, panel discussions, and workshops..
Festival history Background and origins
Robert Moog, born on May 23, 1934, in New York City and died on August 21, 2005, in Asheville, North Carolina, developed his first commercial voltage-controlled analog synthesizer with American composer, inventor, and educator Herbert Deutsch in 1964. At the time, other synthesizers were already on the market, but Moog synthesizer began to gain wider attention in the music industry after it was demonstrated at the Monterey International Pop Festival in 1967. The Beatles, Mick Jagger and Sun Ra were among the first customers, but the commercial breakthrough of a Moog recording was made by Wendy Carlos in the 1968 record Switched-On Bach, which became one of the highest-selling classical music recordings of its era. Keith Emerson first discovered the Moog when he heard Switched-On Bach, and one year later in 1970, he wanted to take it on the road with him. Robert Moog replied that there was no chance because the machine was too fragile and required extensive training to operate properly, but Emerson finally convinced Moog and the Minimoog was released.
Keith Emerson was the first musician to tour with a Minimoog during Emerson, Lake & Palmer's Pictures at an Exhibition shows. The Minimoog became the most popular monophonic synthesizer of the 1970s, and it was quickly taken up by leading rock and electronic music groups such as Yes, Tangerine Dream, Parliament-Funkadelic, Pink Floyd, Devo, Yellow Magic Orchestra, Gary Numan, and Rush, and musicians such as Pete Townshend, George Harrison, Ray Manzarek, Stevie Wonder, Joe Zawinul, Chick Corea, Isao Tomita, and Herbie Hancock. In 1974 the German electronic group Kraftwerk further popularized the sound of the synthesizer with their landmark album Autobahn, which used several types of synthesizer including a Minimoog. Italian producer and composer Giorgio Moroder helped to shape the development of disco music. The Minimoog was highly popular in the 1970s and 1980s, and has been used by many artists. The Moog also became synonymous with funk and West Coast hip hop, techno, sci-fi sounds, and the instrument figured in the most classic of classic rock albums such as Abbey Road and Who's Next.
David Borden, former director of the Cornell University Digital Music Program, who worked alongside Robert Moog in his Trumansburg studios and later founded the first live synthesizer ensemble, Mother Mallard's Portable Masterpiece Company, in 2000 performed at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., with his Mother Mallard and Keith Emerson, in an event honoring Moog called The Keyboard Meets Modern Technology. This event, somehow, came just four years before the first Moogfest was held in New York City.
The New York years (2004–2008)
Moog Music, David Olivier, Moog Music's New York area representative, contacted Charles Carlini, a New York-based music and concert promoter, about producing an event to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the company and its involvement in electronic music. The first event, presented by Clinic Crafters Workshop and Sam Ash Music, entitled Manny's Music Presents MoogFest!: A Free Moog Clinic Featuring Keith Emerson and Bob Moog, was held at Manny's Music store on May 17, 2004, just one day before the official date for the Festival. The first Moogfest was held at B.B. King Blues Club & Grill in Times Square on Tuesday, May 18. Randy Fuchs, the artist relations director for Moog, contacted Keith Emerson, Rick Wakeman, Jordan Rudess, Bernie Worrell and other well-known Moog users and put them in touch with Charles Carlini. It was a sold-out, one-night, one-time, four-hour gala that saw Keith Emerson, Rick Wakeman of Yes on the day of his birthday, Bernie Worrell of Parliament-Funkadelic, and jazz fusion guitarist Stanley Jordan among those who played in front of an audience of around 600. The Moogfest 2005 at B.B. King's on May 31, was a great success and saw the participation of Edgar Winter, Will Calhoun of Living Colour, Brazilian Girls, Jordan Rudess of Dream Theater, Frank Zappa's keyboardist Don Preston, Miles Davis' keyboardist Adam Holzman, Money Mark of the Beastie Boys, Steve Molitz of Particle and DJ Logic, but not Bob Moog, who was sick and died from brain cancer on August 21, 2005.
Carlini continued to cultivate Moogfest as a tribute to Bob Moog. He said that "[m]y vision was to work with musicians who defined the instrument and had a very tight relationship with Bob; most were actual friends who would call him on the phone. I wanted to keep it pure." The Moogfest 2006 at B.B. King on Thursday, June 22, saw Keith Emerson returning to headline, together with Jan Hammer, Roger O'Donnell of The Cure, Jordan Rudess of Dream Theater, The Mahavishnu Project with Miles Davis' keyboardist Adam Holzman, The School of Rock, and DJ Logic. Part of the event was filmed and then released in DVD format by MVD in June 2007. Keith Emerson and Jan Hammer were the recipients of the first ever Bob Moog Legacy Award. Mike Adams, president of Moog Music announced the inception of the award and called on the stage Roger O'Donnell and Jordan Rudess to present them. On the evening of Thursday September 20, 2007, Moogfest, in conjunction with the Bob Moog Foundation, presented the first annual Moogfest Symposium. Herbert Deutsch, Gershon Kingsley, Joel Chadabe, John Eaton, David Borden, and Trevor Pinch attended the symposium arranged by Bob's daughter Michelle at the Music Department of the Columbia University, an afternoon of lectures and talks to discuss how the Moog synthesizer has affected their own work. The Moogfest 2007, once again at B.B. King on Saturday, September 22, included Thomas Dolby, after a 15-year hiatus from the music business, Jordan Rudess of Dream Theater, Miles Davis' keyboardist Adam Holzman, Spiraling, Frank Zappa's keyboardist Don Preston, Gershon Kingsley, Herbert Deutsch, and Erik Norlander, among others. Thereminist Shueh-li Ong with Xenovibes; reportedly the second thereminist who has performed at a Moogfest so far, opened. Herbert Deutsch and Gershon Kingsley were the recipients of the Bob Moog Legacy Award for their unique, lasting artistry as expressed through Moog instruments. This was the last time that B.B. King held the festival.
The fifth edition of Moogfest in 2008 brought a change of venues, from the B.B King to the more expansive Hammerstein Ballroom in Manhattan Center. Carlini explained this shift: "Mike Adams wanted to see a younger generation learn about Moog and pushed for jam band Umphrey's McGee as headliner." The show was set for October 13, the second Monday of October, an official holiday celebrated as Columbus Day, but it was also during the 2008 financial crisis. The event, featuring Umphrey's McGee, Eric McFadden Trio, Bernie Worrell of P-Funk, Aron Magner of Disco Biscuits, Jamie Shields of The New Deal, Joe Russo and others, had a very poor turnout and Carlini relinquished the Moogfest name to Moog Music. Bernie Worrell was the recipient of the Bob Moog Legacy Award for his groundbreaking use of the synthesizer in the areas of funk, rhythm and blues, and rock and roll.
This was the last time that Moogfest was held in New York City and there was no Moogfest in 2009.
Moogfest in Asheville (2010–2012)
In 2010, Moog Music partnered with AC Entertainment, a music promotion company that co-produces the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, moved Moogfest from New York City to Asheville in North Carolina, and expanded it from a one evening event to a three-day, multi-venue festival during the last weekend of October. The sixth Moogfest, but first in Asheville, took place in five stages at places in downtown Asheville that ranged from clubs to arenas, and drew 7,000 to 7,500 people a day. The festival, from Friday October 29 through to Sunday October 31, 2010, featured more than 60 acts that ranged from rock to hip-hop to electronica, including Massive Attack, Sleigh Bells, Caribou, MGMT, Thievery Corporation, Hot Chip, Disco Biscuits, Big Boi, El-P, Four Tet, Pretty Lights, Bonobo, Jon Hopkins, and Dan Deacon. Devo were the recipient of the Moog Innovator Award, but the band could not perform, because its guitarist, Bob Mothersbaugh, injured his hand. Though Moog instruments, such as the Voyager, Moogerfooger, Etherwave Theremin, and Little Phatty were highly used by the performers participating in the event, the bands requested to play were not chosen by their involvement with Moog, but rather by their overall creativity and likeliness to Bob Moog's creative entity.
The seventh edition, second for both Asheville and AC Entertainment, of the Moogfest was held on October 28–30, 2011, on Halloween weekend with a line-up of popular artists from varied genres, including The Flaming Lips, Terry and Gyan Riley, Moby, Passion Pit, Sound Tribe Sector 9, Tangerine Dream, and TV on the Radio. The 2011 festival also featured "SYNTH: A Group Art Show Inspired by Bob Moog", which is a showcase of handmade limited-edition screen prints by some of the top concert poster artists and graphic designers working today, and 77 Million Paintings, an art exhibit and talk by electronic music pioneer Brian Eno, and moreover panel discussions, question and answer sessions, art exhibitions and installations, film screenings, and workshops. Minimalist composer, Terry Riley, performed a set lasting for almost two straight hours. In 2011, Moogfest updated its festival technologies by releasing a Moogfest iPhone app. The app contained a festival map and schedule, and also sent users real-time updates about festival news and unannounced secret shows.
After the festival weekend, Asheville's local newspaper released that over 30 arrests were made during Moogfest 2011. Most of these were drug- or alcohol-related charges.
The 2012 Moogfest featured Primus's 3D Tour, Orbital, Miike Snow, Santigold, Richie Hawtin, Squarepusher, Explosions in the Sky, The Magnetic Fields, Four Tet, Divine Fits, GZA performing Liquid Swords, Carl Craig, Pantha Du Prince, Shpongle, Thomas Dolby, Black Moth Super Rainbow, Actress, Cold Cave, El-P, Prefuse 73, Bear in Heaven, Killer Mike, Blondes, Julia Holter, Disclosure, Exit Music, Trust, Death Grips, and Wick-it the Instigator.
Moogfest in Asheville (2013–2014) After the 2012 Moogfest, it was announced that AC Entertainment was not renewed as a partner with the Bob Moog Foundation. The Foundation held the rights to the name, and thus there was no official "Moogfest" in 2013. However, AC Entertainment organized a "spiritual successor" for 2013 the Mountain Oasis Electronic Music Summit which again took place on Halloween weekend and utilized largely the same Asheville venues that Moogfest had in prior years.Consequence of Sound. "The Mountain Oasis Electronic Music Summit 2013 lineup wins everything", Consequence of Sound, Online, 30 April 2013. Retrieved on 15 August 2013. Additionally, it was announced in 2013 that Moogfest would officially return to Asheville in 2014 and that it would be run by the Bob Moog Foundation, without AC Entertainment.