Two adages are colliding as I write this week’s column: “Don’t jump to conclusions” and “There are no coincidences.”
The Faster Horses music festival wrapped up Sunday at Michigan International Speedway, and it appeared to be the same 40,000-person music-and-boozefest that it has been since 2013.
I say “appeared to be” because MLive was not allowed inside the festival grounds. And that denial of a media credential came months after our journalists uncovered a dark side to the festival – scores of assaults, including dozens of sexual assaults and nine deaths since it began.
A couple things: No one is buying the explanation from concert promoter Live Nation that it simply couldn’t accommodate all of the requests it received for media credentials.
“We ran this big investigative piece and then, for the first time since the festivals start, they deny our credentials. I don't think it's a coincidence,” said Danielle Salisbury, a reporter on our statewide reporting team who participated in that investigative coverage.
“I think people cared, but the powers involved in the festival didn't seem like they cared,” said Salisbury. “But then the festival rolls around and they deny our credentials and I was like – ‘Wait a second, maybe they DID notice.’”
We also noticed and reported that Live Nation quietly instituted a series of significant safety initiatives for concertgoers this year. Those included a text help-line, “Aware Care” ambassadors traversing the grounds, tents with first aid, water and snacks, and a zero-tolerance policy for harassment of any kind.
The festival also increased the size of some campsites and issued safety tips for carbon monoxide safety. I assume that was in response to the tragic deaths in 2021 of three young campers.
But again, I have to assume, because Live Nation has refused to talk to us since our reporting team pointed out the prevailing culture of over-served and over-sexualized partying – characterized by one former security as “a sexual predator’s paradise.”
“The best-case scenario is Live Nation and Faster Horses is making safety changes and cultural changes to make it safer while people can still have fun, be with their friends, go camping, drink and see all these country bands for a good price,” said Taylor DesOrmeau, another reporter from the team that investigated the festival.
“It seems like that's the path that we're on, so that's encouraging to see.”
It’s too early to know how incidents at the festival stack up to past years’ events; MLive will continue to seek police reports from law-enforcement agencies that serve nearby communities.
Early indications are the event was tamer and that the increased emphasis on safety may have played a role. So far, there is one recorded death (police said there is no indication of foul play or that substances were a factor). Also, police said there were two reports of sexual assaults, but neither was substantiated.
Two things were the same this year. The party definitely went on, and MLive still covered it comprehensively, despite being denied entry into the festival grounds and most of the campgrounds. Salisbury and other MLive news reporters staked out the roads leading into the venue, areas not affiliated with the festival and nearby stores and restaurants.
“I do think people were more aware” of MLive’s reporting on the darker side of the festival, said Salisbury. “But people also were like, ‘Yeah, we heard about that, but we've had 13 beers today. I've been drinking since 7 a.m.’ So yeah, there's awareness but also, ‘I'm here for the party.’”
MLive may not have been invited to the party, but it’s gratifying to know shortcomings we pointed out last year were addressed. Faster Horses’ actions spoke much louder than their snub.
🎧 On this episode of our Behind the Headlines podcast, John Hiner and Eric Hultgren talk with Taylor DesOrmeau and Danielle Salisbury about our coverage from The Faster Horses Festival last year and why that might be why we didn't not get media credentials this year and perhaps how the impact of those stories made the festival better. Listen here on Spotify.
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John Hiner is the vice president of content for MLive Media Group. If you have questions you’d like him to answer, or topics to explore, share your thoughts at editor@mlive.com.
