Moogfest: Your Complete Guide to 2016's Programming

Now that the doldrums of tax day have passed, a glittering blip of promise has come into focus on the horizon. It's Moogfest 2016, heralding the start of summer festival season! The legendary event has just released their full programming and lineup information and it reads as a compelling reminder of what we love most about the iconic Moog brand. Although Moogfest's inaugural year in Durham was dealt a major blow by the passage of some truly horrific anti-LGBT legislature, the organizers were not deterred. Rather, following their eloquent responses, Moogfest 2016 can be seen as an active protest of the new laws. CEO Adam Katz has been outspoken about the festival's attempts to create safe, inclusive spaces for true collaboration throughout the event.

Here's a complete breakdown of what you need to know to get involved in this cutting edge festival!

PASSES

Festival passes are still available at $249 with VIP passes going for $499. A limited number of single day passes were released today with Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at $129 and Sunday passes at $69. All ticketing and hotel deals can be found here.

THE LINEUPS

Sure, Moogfest has a slew of hot names like Grimes, Miike Snow, ODESZA, and Explosions in the Sky but that's just the start. Legends like GZA and Skepta are slated to perform as well over a period of nights. Electronic music pioneer Gary Numan will have a three night residency, playing his first three classic albums in full.

In addition to amazing musical talent, Moogfest will celebrate the legacy of Bob Moog by hosting a variety of panels by the likes of transhumanist visionary Dr. Martine Rothblatt and virtual reality pioneer Jaron Lanier. Throughout the festival, art and technology centric happenings will unfold at an eclectic array of venues in downtown Durham. Moogfest will occupy intimate galleries and grand theaters alike and organizers have paid careful attention to the unique acoustics and style of each venue. A full schedule can be found here.

THE VENUES

Motorco 

The indoor portion of the club will host Gary Numan and Mykki Blanco alongside a distinguished hip hop lineup that includes GZA, Skepta, Torey Lanez, and Lunice.

Motorco Amphitheatre

Moogfests largest venue will be Motorco Park, an ampitheatre where a future forward mix of electro-pop and R&B performances will play out. Names like ODESZA, Blood Orange, Miike Snow, and DAWN will grace the venue over the festival's three nights.

Carolina Theatre

The historic Carolina Theatre will host architects of sound and avant-garde artists with radical production techniques like sunn O))), Explosions in the Sky, Oneohtrix Point Never, Laurie Anderson (special matinee show), Alessandro Cortini, Daniel Lanois, Tim Hecker, Arthur Russell Instrumentals, Rival Consoles, and Dawn of Midi.

This venue will also host the "Future Thought" programming series with Transhumanist thought-leader Dr. Martine Rothblatt and virtual reality pioneer Jaron Lanier who will both deliver daytime keynotes on ‘The Future of Creativity.’

Laurie Anderson and Lower Dens' Jana Hunter will host "Future Cities," a town hall style conversation exploring the 'tomorrowlands' of today hosted by Research Triangle Park. "Time Traveling with Hip Hop" will feature GZA and Duke Professor Mark Anthony Neal in conversation. Other highlights here are a panel on women in Afrofuturism and a panel discussion with cyborg artist Neil Harbisson.

The Moogfest film program will also be presented at the Carolina Theatre including an experimental shorts program, live film scores and conversations with artists and composers working in film.

The Armory

Durham's Armory will host the best of the underground in electronic music. Organizers have promised to transform the space into a dark, intoxicating disco that will host DJ Harvey, Bicep, Ryan Hemsworth, and The Black Madonna. 

By day, this expansive venue will host Moogfest’s masterclasses including Ben Frost & Tim Hecker, Daniel Lanois & The Orb, and a Daniel Lanois solo in-the-round performance, as well as conversations on ‘Reggae Soundsystem and Dub Production’ and Chuck Lightning’s Afrofuturism program, ‘Can You Remember the Future’?

Pinhook

Local hangout Pinhook will host a wide range of avant garde sounds from Kyle Hall's heavy techno to the experimental doom metal of The Body. 

21c

The gallery floor of 21c Museum Hotel will be the festivals central hub for workshops. The festival's immersive workshop experiences are entirely interactive. Must see events include Church of Space's self hypnotism "Hypnotique Sceance" and a youth theremin workship. IBM Watson's "Cognitive Tech for Developers" is sure to stun alonside Patter's generative music device. Each presenter here will host "office hours," giving attendees the unbelievable opportunity for one on one conversation.

21c’s main ballroom will host daily durational performance series (long-form musical artworks) that include Greg Fox, EMA and Jana Hunter, Richard Devine, and Suzanne Ciani, all co-presented by visual collective Undervolt & Co, along with a remarkable 8-hour Robert Rich sleep concert presented by 21c.

Durham Arts Council

The Durham Arts Council’s black box theatre will see innovative talks that mix performance and presentation. Especially explorative sessions and performances including ‘Arts & Smarts’ with Google Doodle’s Ryan Germick, Michael Garfield’s ‘Technoshamanism: A Very Psychedelic Century' and virtual reality demonstrations.

The council will also host daytime performances and coding workshops with hand-on sequencing and synthesizer building sessions.

Duke Innovation & Entrepreneurship

Duke I&E hosts NC-local / Durham future-forward conversations including Exit Event’s ‘Founding The Future of’ and ‘The Future of Music Labels’ with RIAA and A2IM.

The American Underground

Home to a large percentage of Durham’s startup community, this location serves as a hub for pioneering conversations and panel discussion from presenters including Kickstarter, NEW INC, Megapolis Audio Festival, Gray Area’s creative code meetup, and IBM Watson’s ‘Design Ideation Sessions’.

The Durham Hotel

The Durham Hotel plays host to daily morning yoga set to Moog music on its open rooftop, and a Sunday Moogfest Disco Brunch with a four-hour long DJ set from Hieroglyphic Being.

Full Frame Theater

Situated within Moogfest’s Modular Marketplace, Full Frame is home to music and technology-based programming like the daily ‘Synth Design Icon’ series with presentations by Cyril Lance(Moog), David Friend (ARP), Tatsuya Takahashi (KORG), David Van Koevering (the Van Koevering piano).

American Tobacco Campus

The American Tobacco Campus (ATC) is the heart of the free community programming including the Modular Marketplace, Pop-up Moog Factory and several art installations including the Pollinator Synthesizer with Burt’s Bees and Ranjit Bhatangar, and Moog’s collaboration with Yuri Suzuki called the Global Synthesizer Project.

It's hard to believe this is just the beginning, but the Moogfest lineup features more than 300 world class events. Stay tuned for more coverage of the festival's nuanced programming. For now, more information about the festival and it's various undertaking can be found at the Moogfest website.

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