The Djs of paper moon share their dream festival line-ups
Foreword by Hank Ramaikas
Is this the best biscuit I’ve ever had? No, not even close. It’s a tense conversation topic at the breakfast table of Millie’s Cafe in (insert specific location) where I find myself among friends one toasty Sunday morning. The biscuit was passable by my standards, though certainly helped along by butter and jam.
We payed our check, sorted our finances out through Venmo, and walked to our respective carpools. Along the walk, I make some forgettable and uninspired comment about how there are too many music festivals now in the world. Jordan, a relatively new pal and paper moon radio station alumni, then throws a question my way.
“If you could pick 10 artists to play in a festival you’re organizing, who would they be?”
Without giving the question too much thought (the premise already overwhelming to me) I ask the same question right back to her. Hesitation was a foreign concept to her, at least in this instance. She immediately rattled off 10 artists of varying levels of fame and notoriety.
And after Jordan’s list, Ahva (with the exact same credentials as Jordan, both new-ish pal and PMRS alum) announces her dream festival.
Ahva’s list had a specificity to it, particularly featuring Madonna in her Ray of Light era.
How far could this be taken? The idea of making my own festival lineup still haunted me. Albums and songs repeatedly fought their way to the front of my conscience, each a reminder that I certainly couldn’t forget them when considering my 10 empty spots.
We said our goodbyes, and went our own ways.
The question of the ideal festival lingered throughout the day. Should it be a well balanced festival? Does it have to be all living artists?
Later in the evening, over drinks at the Lucky Tiki (insert location here), speculation would continue with renewed vigor. Mr. Bug, current Tuesday evening papermoon radio station DJ, and Mrs. Bug, the jack-of-all trades station assistant, DJ Space Cadette, station owner and founder, and myself spent close to an hour running through our favorite concert experiences, lineup candidates, etc.
It’s hard to say if there was a name we didn’t mention. So many “what ifs”, so many instances of “how cool would it be”. It took me finishing close to 4 drinks before I could come up with a list I was even remotely confident about. Sinead O’ Connor came so quickly to me. To have her spiritually sharing the same stage as the devilish, raunchy, and outspoken CHRISTEENE (a well documented Sinead devotee), would probably blow my fucking head off.
To have spent this much time over such a fantastical concept only emphasized the importance of broaching this question to the rest of Papermoon radio station. Here are submissions from a few of our DJs:
