how dare you!

i'll say i had a great time. the three venues are close enough together that it was easy to move and see whatever band you want. and, i didn't even really feel like i had to make too many tough choices between bands.

i was impressed by the diverse crowds, and it seemed like people were even checking out bands that they normally wouldn't think of hearing.

I had a blast. I wish I had to make decisions about which great live music I wanted to hear more often.

Already can't wait for next year.

It was a great time to be had by all. It is great that the three performance venues are near each other enough that it was simple to see all the bands that you wanted to see. Luckily enough, there weren't too many instances where I had to see one bad at the expense of missing another play.

What was really noteworthy were the crowds which had a wide range of people from young adults to old. It is great that people came with an open mind to see bands that maybe they wouldn't normally be interested in, but gave them a shot anyways. My favorite was Angel Y Khriz.

What Ed said.

Also, it was so cool seeing new people on the Fulton Mall, walking around. Good job Creative Fresno. I hope to one day be going to a version of FUSE with big multi-stages, outdoors on the Fulton. But this is a great start for the festival.

As I said in the other FUSE thread, BIG success for the first year, and now they have reason to hold it from now on.

Actual people actually came downtown. To see bands.

And Ed was right, much diversity, and lotsa folks staying to see other bands they might not have caught.

The only ick part for me was Chuck Dimes' not making his milk money music for the FUSE folks, as several came out just to hear him...but hey, Chuck? No worries, as the Supressors started early during your set-time and won over new fans.

Next year? Better venue lighting. Otherwise, I thought it ran really well, and folks will know where the venues are next year (most asked question was 'where are the other venues?').

CONGRATS to the organizers!

*shout out to HMac, who I got to see and speak with for exactly 28 seconds. Then I got to watch her walk away. :::sigh::: Best 28 seconds of my entire year.

We went and enjoyed the Loveseats at cafe corazon and ventured over to the smokehouse to see brian kenney fresno. good job by the organizers. the venues were close together and it was a nice evening to stroll around. it was good to see people out enjoying themselves and talking about and hearing good local music. hope to see it around next year and the years to come.

i had a good time. i'm with stephen, i wish chuck dimes made it. i was there to see him, but did enjoy the suppressors. those buffalo wings at the smokehouse were bomb, as well as the smokehouse tea. the milano is a tight place. i'll have to go back over there for pizza and beer.

Great job everybody! A well-attended event, and great vibes all around!

Seeing as that caption could of gone in so many directions, I applaud your ability to keep it clean. Twas a great time, the FUSE festival, and I look forward to the next one!

@brodiemash & ed: I kid. I kid because I love.

@mdub420: I was in the same room as mdub and didn't know it? Why didn't you come say hello?

I feel bad for those of you that weren't able to make down to Cafe Corazon, it had a great vibe going on and was the perfect venue for the laid back sound's of the artists featured there.

You might think that moshing in flip flops is a bad idea. But, It'll Grow Back.

I haven't done that in years. I had a great time.

Thanks to everyone who partied with FUSE folks on Saturday...It was a hootenanny of a good time.

Saw a lot of cool peeps and even make it on Heather's blog (I have arrived). See there in evidence that she is my friend.

The vibe was pretty cool (That is lower case vibe. Not to be confused with the Vibe events the City of Fresno put on). All the venues were great. Now I just want people to keep going back: Grab a coffee at Corazon, slice at Milano, and "Tea" at Smokehouse. Help keep these businesses alive. Ask them to keep bringing you music on the weekends.

It can be like this more often...we just have to make it happen.

BTW, there were approximately 250 who participated in the event...GREAT SHOWING!!!

I apologize for not going up to introduce myself Heather. At the next event, I'll try not to be so shy, haha.

You know, mdub, I said that assuming you would know what I look like, but I doubt the pink picture on these posts help.

I'm in the 15th picture down - the one without the hat. It's not quite an accurate picture -- I usually have a scowl on my face, not a smile.

It seems the consensus was:
*the three venues close to one another was part of the charm
*there was a general positive vibe in the air
(and this had nothing to do with people having 'tea' at the 'smokehouse'...unfortunate juxtapositions of phrases there Sheridan!)

[I *would* like to inflate your numbers just a bit....ok, by about 1/3 -----with 20something bands plus volunteers getting in free...I'm betting the number should jump up another hundred to about 350.]

Also, it seemed the BANDS were smiling and happy----that's an important point.
Also, the gracious and numerous volunteers who manned the doors and such were a HUGE factor in making this possible
Also, the venues themselves seemed happy (we can't do it, unless they open their doors for us)

Congrats to Creative Fresno and our whole community for pulling together and building another cool event!

It was a really cool experience. We went into it with no expectations and we were stoked to see new faces enjoying our music. I especially liked the fact that The Milano was a short stumbling distance away. Hats off to everyone who made this work.

Sadly, we were not made aware of Hmac making herself available for photo shmoozing... the only disappointment of the night....

I have a feeling this will go down as the start of something big for the musicians, downtown and Fresno as a whole.

Many thanks to all who put this together. I think this could easily be a monthly thing for downtown. Easily.

Much love and thank yous from Café Corazón,
Leo and Liz

I just had a glimpse of what the fulton mall/downtown could become. Local music, local establishments, cool people, good food, and barhoppin via foot (which can be hard in the rest of sprawlsville). It was much more fun getting my drink on at the Fulton Mall this way than the usual tallie with a brown bag jacket.

Sorry for being selfish, but I NEED the Mall to transform more than just once a year. Why not try doing this at least once a month. Maybe have local music added to arthop (not just a post-party).

Lastly, it sure was great seeing Leo and Liz swamped with orders.

What a great job by Josh, Blake, Abe and all the rest. 20 or so acts in 4 venues and all done with volunteers. I don't know who dropped a dime on Chuck Dimes but the Suppressors did a great job coming in early. And props to my new favorite band, The Neptunes, at Milano. The only thing more enjoyable was finally meeting HMac.

Ray Arthur

This event was like totally tubular dude. Rock on. Ten four over and out.

re: Arthur discovering that the Neptunes are pistol hot:

This is another cool thing that FUSE did, and can do more of in the future, have folks happen upon bands that they normaly might not go out and see.---either because they didn't know, or they didn't get the chance.

Cool.

As for the 'once a month' and even 'once a week' comments....I think we all believe that that's how the Fulton Mall should be...every Friday and Saturday night...
this might be a first step.
How fast we get to the end goal? I really don't know.
Any ideas on how to get there?

Heather, was that you I talked to? I've only seen your lil red icon...

Tom from the Neptunes.

No TomfromtheNeptunes. That was me you talked to. Heather is thinner and prettier, but I'm more fun if you wanna talk old Fender amps or spring reverb vs. plate reverb...that sort of thing.

I don't know Chuck Dimes personally but he seems pretty driven and serious about his music from what little we have talked. AND... I don't know exactly why he couldn't be there BUT I was privvy to a few e-mails a couple of days before the gig and I THINK he was having a hard time getting off work early enough to hit his set time.

Talking about early set times, I sure wasn't mentally prepared for being sloshy drunk at 7pm. Good times.

Yeah. The Chuck Dimes bit was unfortunate. There were scheduling conflicts and unfortunately he got the crap end of the stick. He was actually one of the guys who contacted us about playing the show, so I know he wanted to be there. So, if you want to throw blame for not seeing Chuck, you can throw it our way.

A HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to Everyone involved in the Fuse! This includes the organizers, musicians, venues and the audience. May it become another great event in our fair city.

My one sliver of advice is to take a couple of weeks off (yes, pats on the back all around) then start pulling together details for the next one. Perhaps NIKE had a point with that "just do it" slogan, huh?