Well June is here, meaning Memorial Day has passed and many good times were had at Mayfair. This year saw quite a lower attendance from last year, something I can only attribute to the lesser-known headlining acts this year. Last year saw Jason Derulo, We the Kings, and Matisyahu headlining while the only well-known headliner this year was The Ready Set. In a Morning Call article organizers tried blaming a short period of rain on a Thursday night and things like the casino and the Iron Pigs for the shortfalls, both of which were around last year.
Their attendance at one point was over 400,000 people before it turned into a paid festival. Now they’re averaging anywhere from 30-50,000 per year. It seems some aspects of the festival also shrunk this year. What was a decent-size collective inside Mayfair last year, the Germanic-heritage Sommerfest was seriously lacking. In 2010 they had a German-only beer tent, various tents with German heritage posters and info, many different kinds of German food, etc. This year it was but a few tables set up together in the middle of a big grassy area. I thought the Sommerfest addition was pretty neat last year, however with how downsized and paltry it’s become it might be better off not being present at all.
This year also saw the main stage moved from the asphalt over to a grassy area. No qualms there…the tent seemed to be smaller than last year but I couldn’t tell for sure. The location was just fine for the bigger shows, however. I attended the headlining shows at B104 night on Friday, catching Sandlot Heroes, Shontelle, and The Ready Set. Local/regional band Sandlot Heroes was easily the best of the three and it seemed like the crowd was very into them as well, and marginally moreso for The Ready Set.
The food was generally the same as in years past. Take-a-Taco, Aw Shucks, and rootbeer floats were all consumed in bliss. The only thing happened upon that wasn’t that great this year was bacon-wrapped filet mignon on a stick from Made in Brazil. The meat was too fatty, bland, and overpriced. Was a shame too, because it smelled and looked heavenly. There was also the requisite destroying of the taste buds with the Stupid Hot Jose Madrid Salsa and free sangria-slushie samplers. There wasn’t very much decent beer on tap, with the only palatable options being Magic Hat #9, Spaten, Blue Moon, and Blue Moon Summer Honey Wheat. All told it’s pretty much on-par with previous years except for the discrepancies mentioned previously. Hopefully next year they’ll kick things back up to the 2010 standards and get the crowds back.
The Ready Set performing at Mayfair 2011
Peacekeeper performing one of the smaller stages at Mayfair
Shontelle singing inbetween Sandlot Heroes and The Ready Set at the main stage
