Arts, Beats & Eats is moving to Royal Oak

**EastsideAl** · December-10-09, 01:41 AM

Never been to this thing, nor do I really have any real desire to go from the the sounds of it. But then I always spend my Labor Day weekends at the jazz festival, which is one of the great events we have in this area, and truly one of the best free music festivals in the country. But it is a real shame that Pontiac, a city that I'm sure could really use this festival, would lose it to a place like Royal Oak that doesn't need it anywhere near as much.

**Fury13** · December-10-09, 06:37 AM

Originally Posted by EastsideAl

Never been to this thing, nor do I really have any real desire to go from the the sounds of it. But then I always spend my Labor Day weekends at the jazz festival, which is one of the great events we have in this area, and truly one of the best free music festivals in the country. But it is a real shame that Pontiac, a city that I'm sure could really use this festival, would lose it to a place like Royal Oak that doesn't need it anywhere near as much.

CityFest is the best of the three events. It offers a wide variety of music... not just "cover bands." ABE's problem is with the entertainment... as has been alluded to, it's usually fairly lame. They need someone new to book the bands and get away from the "usual suspects" we see year after year. I did see Marshall Crenshaw one year at ABE, though, and that was great.

As for the Jazz Fest, I like it. It's fun. There are a lot of non-music-related booths I could do without [[shea butter, scarves, junky sunglasses), but it is a nice free show. The only problem with the Jazz Fest is... well, it's... jazz.