When Boston Calling returned to City Hall Plaza in September, artists like Solange, Lucius, and Bat For Lashes helped represent the female side of current crop of music. Other bands, like Airborne Toxic Event, Royal Teeth, and Boston’s Viva Viva, also featured ladies in their lineups. But that reflects just six of the 20 bands/DJs that performed on stage that weekend (no we won’t count the booty dancers for Major Lazer’s set), and that imbalance echoes a larger issue at music festivals around the world.
Buzzfeed noted that at this year’s Coachella, only 16% of the entire bill were female-led bands. In short, dudes are everywhere.
HARD Events co-founder Gary Richards has taken notice, and recently told WildSpice Magazine that he’s planning an all-female music festival sometime next year in Los Angeles, possibly at the Palladium.
From a report on Consequence of Sound:
Today, Richards revealed plans for an all-female electronic music festival to take place in 2014. In an interview with WildSpice Magazine, Richards admitted that of all the performers that appeared at HARD Events from 2008-2013, only 8% were women.
“I try my hardest to mix it up… I dunno why it ends up being more male-driven,” Richards said. “But I think hopefully it changes. I would love to have 60 female DJs that are all awesome. To me, I always think everything’s better with girls… there’s tons of cool female artists, I wish there were more.”
He continued: “I’ve been asked this question so many times that I feel like we need to develop it more. You know develop a brand or something…to give girls more of a chance I have a concept for a show that’s all girl performers… It’s not a 70,000-person event. But I do see more females coming up and I’m definitely gonna do it 2014.”
Pictured up top: BBC Radio 1 DJ Annie Mac, who we caught at the SXSW Fader Fort a few years ago…