South by Southwest is less than a month away, which typically means it’ll be Neon Reverb time soon, too. Not so fast. Downtown’s DIY music festival is happening, organizers assure us, but the 2019 edition won’t occupy its usual March position on the calendar. And for good reason, apparently.
“We’ve secured a new presenting sponsor, so we can grow the festival,” Reverb booker Mike Henry says. “We’re pushing it back to accommodate the sponsor and make Neon Reverb even more awesome than it already was.”
Henry says this year’s fest will either take place in late spring or early fall, depending when the new sponsor is ready to go public.
As for Reverb’s traditional March weekend, the festival will be helping to present a big weekend of indie music at the Bunkhouse during those dates, headlined by Better Oblivion Community Center, the new project from Conor Oberst (Bright Eyes, Desaparecidos) and Phoebe Bridgers (boygenius). Henry says that bill, which will feature music on a large outdoor stage as well as inside the Bunkhouse, sold better on its first day than any show at the venue aside from Brandon Flowers’ 2015 stopover.
Henry adds that music fans should expect more of the two-stage configuration when Reverb resumes later in the year. “The goal has always been to do more stuff outside at the Bunkhouse,” he says.
In addition to the Bunkhouse shows, Neon Reverb has been working with Brooklyn Bowl in recent months, to help present and promote shows like The Mountain Goats’ September 18 gig, which will be that band’s first ever Las Vegas performance.
“Neon Reverb isn’t just a festival,” Henry says. “It’s a brand that represents the Downtown music scene year-round. It’s a very community-based, we’re-all-in-this together idea, and that’s rare.”
Note: Las Vegas Weekly is Neon Reverb's media partner.
