As a veteran of comedy and music festivals, talk\/game show\/podcast host and comedian Chris Hardwick has participated in and attended many of these gatherings. But there hasn't been one yet that brings together the many interests he has as an omnivorous pop-culture enthusiast. So he created the ID10T Music Festival + Comic Conival, which debuts Saturday and Sunday (June 24-25) at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View. <\/p>\n
With Hardwick credited as its creator and host, ID10T has been marketed as a combination of \"music, comics, gaming, comedy, technology and pop culture.\" Headliners include alternative rock favorites Weezer, electronic musician Girl Talk, Michael Che of \"Saturday Night Live,\" musical comedy duo Garfunkel & Oates, Dan Harmon (\"Rick & Morty,\" \"Community\"), Wil Wheaton (\"Big Bang Theory,\" \"Star Trek: The Next Generation\"), writer Brenden Fletcher (\"Gotham Academy\") and comic-book artist Babs Tarr (\"Batgirl of Burnside\"), with a plethora of other famous names and faces on the bill. <\/p>\n
\"Bonnaroo is great. Outside Lands is great. SF Sketchfest is, I think, my favorite comedy festival in the country,\" Hardwick said, by phone from Southern California. \"I like Bumbershoot, which was the first music festival I ever did comedy at. And a handful of years ago I did standup at Coachella, which is also great. But when I go to these festivals, I don't see a lot of stuff when I'm walking around the exhibitor booths that really resonates with me,\" he went on to admit. No souvenir \"friendship bracelets, tie-dyed sweatshirts\" or flower crowns for the host of the new game show \"The Wall\" and the AMC post-\"Walking Dead\" wrap-up talk show \"Talking Dead.\" <\/p>\n
\"I always wondered, 'What would I want to be able to walk around and see?' That was the hypothesis: You could see panels early in the day, and you could walk around the exhibitor booths and see a lot of great local makers and artists and comic book people,\" he said. <\/p>\n
\"And then you could go see the comedy tent and the music,\" he continued. \"There's also EDM and cosplay.\" <\/p>\n
ID10T is being co-produced by SGE (which has presented the Oddball Comedy & Curiosity Festival and The Cure's Curiosa festival) and Live Nation, with input from SF Sketchfest. <\/p>\n
\"Everyone specializes in different areas and I don't think I would have just done a festival by myself if SGE hadn't come to me and said, 'Hey, we'll provide the infrastructure to make this happen,'\" he said. <\/p>\n
\"I know that they can do it because I know how many tours they produce. And I actually did the Oddball Comedy tour with them,\" he recalled. \"You see what happens when you're all passion and no infrastructure: You become the Fyre Festival\" -- the ill-fated upstart event that infamously left patrons stranded on the Bahamian island of Great Exuma in April. <\/p>\n
As for why this considerable undertaking is debuting in Mountain View and not somewhere in Los Angeles, Hardwick revealed that it was a question of demographics and both internal and external infrastructure. <\/p>\n
The Entertainment Capital of the World has so much going on at any given point that it can be difficult for fans to come out to events (even the famed San Diego Comic-Con is out of town.) SoCal's traffic issues still eclipse greater Silicon Valley's, too, making it tricky at times to draw huge audiences, he observed. <\/p>\n
\"People in L.A. are spoiled, because there are just so many options,\" he said. \"And the Bay Area is great. I come up and perform as often as possible. I mean, I shot my comedy special (2016's \"Funcomfortable\") in San Francisco. <\/p>\n
\"It has a good vibe, and it's a good area. People are literate and articulate and, I feel, like-minded,\" he said with a chuckle. \"'Sure, why wouldn't you do a festival of this nature in Google's parking lot?'\" <\/p>\n
Hardwick has performed at the Shoreline (which is probably more in Google's back yard) and raves about its accommodations. The massive south parking lot will house a majority of the attractions, from the Comedy Tent and ID10T Festival Tent\/Mad Decent Dance Stage to the Artists' Alley and Artisan Marketplace. Music on the main amphitheatre stage is scheduled to start at 3:40 p.m. on Saturday and 3:30 p.m. on Sunday. <\/p>\n
\"It just felt like the right place for the thing that I wanted to create,\" he said. \"The Shoreline had all of the things that we needed parking, a big stage for music, a place for the comedy tent and ample room for the exhibitor booths -- the Comic-Con element.\" <\/p>\n
Looking back at Hardwick's career, it's easy to see why he's the perfect person to conceive of and launch the ID10T festival. The \"@midnight\" comedy\/game-show host was a chess champion in junior high school and a comedian before being a DJ on \"the World Famous KROQ\" alternative station in Los Angeles, acting in films and the musical \"Rock of Ages\" and writing for San Francisco-based \"Wired\" magazine <\/p>\n
\"It used to be you could only be defined by one thing. It's not like that anymore,\" he noted. \"We're in an era where everyone's defined by a lot of things. People who like comic books are people who like 'Harmontown' and 'Mystery Science Theater 3000,'\" he said, referencing two of the festival's live events. \"They also like music and, obviously, comedy.\" <\/p>\n
With social media providing bridges between members of once-niche communities, ID10T has the potential to become the real-life extension of those connections. <\/p>\n
\"I just really wanted to create a community. This festival represents a hodgepodge of all the different things I'm into,\" Hardwick concluded. \"And I hope other people will also be into those things, too, and come out to enjoy themselves.\" <\/p>\n
Freelance writer Yoshi Kato can be emailed at yoshiyoungblood@earthlink.net<\/a> <\/p>\n What: ID10T Music Festival + Comic Conival <\/p>\n Where: Shoreline Amphitheatre, 1 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View <\/p>\n When: June 24-25 <\/p>\n Cost: $65-$99.50; two-day general admission lawn for $110; children 10 and under free with paid adult admission <\/p>\n Info: Go to ID10T Festival. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Read more: <\/p>\n Pop-culture-palooza - Mountain View Voice<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As a veteran of comedy and music festivals, talk\/game show\/podcast host and comedian Chris Hardwick has participated in and attended many of these gatherings. But there hasn't been one yet that brings together the many interests he has as an omnivorous pop-culture enthusiast. So he created the ID10T Music Festival + Comic Conival, which debuts Saturday and Sunday (June 24-25) at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View Continue reading