Local musician defends Iceberg Alley after lineup receives online backlash
Nick Earle says St. John's is lucky to have big musical acts
Music festivals have started releasing their lineups for the summer season in St. John's, but not everyone is happy about it.
It's prompting one local musician to speak out about the negativity.
When the popular Iceberg Alley concert series announced its 10-day lineup for June, local musician Nick Earle said the response from the public was overwhelmingly opposed. Nick Earle and the Reckless Hearts is just one local band, among many more, that will get to share the bill with big-name headliners on big stages this year.
"There's a lot of people being super negative on social media, just about the acts that were coming here saying 'I wouldn't pay $40 to go see this show,'" Earle told CBC News. "That's OK if the show is not for you, but don't take it away from somebody else."
But while some comments online were negative, others stepped in to defend the festival and acknowledge the work that goes into the event.
"Shout out to the crew who put this event together! These events require a lot of time, effort and money to make it all work," one person wrote.
Earle made his own post, disavowing the negative feedback.
"We're lucky that it's 2025, and we have enough ambitious promoters to attempt to put off concerts in a — sometimes — really ungrateful environment," he wrote.
Earle said he took it upon himself to tell people they shouldn't complain, given the logistical challenges in running a festival on an island.
"A few years ago I would have to travel pretty far to see a premier act," he said.
"But being able to in the summer in Newfoundland, to go check out some pretty amazing concerts at relatively affordable costs compared to other festivals, it's a pretty amazing thing to have here."
Others also complained about the lack of diversity, including the lack of certain genres and lack of women — a longtime criticism of the festival.
Earle said he understands the argument, but lineups depend on who is available, and if the promoter can afford them.
"I don't think it's really based on anything, like we need to have 10 rock shows in a row or something," he said.
Festival planning
Shawn Basha, the lead producer for Iceberg Alley, says it's hard to "please everybody."
"People are going to say 'this person has been here too many times,'" said Basha. "We're doing our best to … try to make something that's good for everybody."
Basha says part of the planning involves bringing in emerging artists and introducing them to a new audience. For example, he said the Arkells played at the Rock House in St. John's 10 years ago, and are now a regular headlining act on the province's biggest stages.
Last year, St. John's saw some big acts in Shania Twain and Nickelback at the Churchill Park Music Festival, and Bush and Billy Talent at Iceberg Alley.
Basha says 2024 was "the most incredible summer for live music ever in St. John's," considering the remoteness of Newfoundland and Labrador, which can make it difficult to bring in bands.
He said it takes some convincing to book artists to play in the province, some of whom often have to add an extra day to their tour schedule to travel to St. John's.
"It's kind of more like a tourism pitch sometimes than it is just a pitch to have the band play at the festival," Basha said.
Basha says he tries to cater to different demographics across the 10-day festival.
"Trying to get those nights together, to have three bands per night that complement each other on that particular genre each night, it's kind of like a chess game," he said.
And booking the acts is a long process that involves long negotiations with agents and days of waiting for confirmation, he said.
But even with the initial negativity online, Basha said ticket sales are going well so far.
"We're going to have a great festival this year and we're going to have lots of sellout nights again."
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