Fyre Festival II is finally happening, says music festival founder
April 12, 2023 4:43 AM Subscribe
Fyre Festival II is finally happening, says music festival founder after release from prison. After his 2017 music festival collapsed on its opening weekend, leaving attendees stranded and starving on a remote island with no musical performances, Billy McFarland says he wants to have another go at running the event.
Sounds like fun. Too bad I have other plans that week.
posted by TedW at 5:02 AM on April 12, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by TedW at 5:02 AM on April 12, 2023 [5 favorites]
I only watched a small part of one of the Fyre documentaries (just wasn't very interested) but the nuttiest part I saw was that they had no plan or contingency for rain. In the Bahamas. Where it rains all the time. They left all the tents and mattresses (!!!) out in the open and they all got rained on before the first attendees showed up. Oops.
posted by SoberHighland at 5:03 AM on April 12, 2023 [7 favorites]
posted by SoberHighland at 5:03 AM on April 12, 2023 [7 favorites]
"Catered" cold cheese sandwiches but on the deluxe paper plates this time.
posted by tommasz at 5:04 AM on April 12, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by tommasz at 5:04 AM on April 12, 2023 [4 favorites]
I only watched a small part of one of the Fyre documentaries (just wasn't very interested) but the nuttiest part I saw was that they had no plan or contingency for rain. In the Bahamas. Where it rains all the time. They left all the tents and mattresses (!!!) out in the open and they all got rained on before the first attendees showed up. Oops.
They also scheduled their festival for the same calendar dates as a massive yachting event that has been going on on that island for decades, and monopolising all the hotel rooms/restaurants/taxis on that island on that week for decades. Something just calling the Bahamas tourist board and asking could have avoided.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 5:06 AM on April 12, 2023 [7 favorites]
They also scheduled their festival for the same calendar dates as a massive yachting event that has been going on on that island for decades, and monopolising all the hotel rooms/restaurants/taxis on that island on that week for decades. Something just calling the Bahamas tourist board and asking could have avoided.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 5:06 AM on April 12, 2023 [7 favorites]
Maybe Billy McFarland could be jailed again for the crime of saying “Fyre Festival II.” Just to be on the safe side.
posted by GenjiandProust at 5:09 AM on April 12, 2023 [40 favorites]
posted by GenjiandProust at 5:09 AM on April 12, 2023 [40 favorites]
Sponsored by BAYC (jk, but all this shytshow needs is a cryptocurrency tie-in to really but the icing on it).
posted by The Vice Admiral of the Narrow Seas at 5:12 AM on April 12, 2023 [6 favorites]
posted by The Vice Admiral of the Narrow Seas at 5:12 AM on April 12, 2023 [6 favorites]
I hope it goes as well as the first, couldn't happen to nicer people.
posted by SaltySalticid at 5:32 AM on April 12, 2023 [12 favorites]
posted by SaltySalticid at 5:32 AM on April 12, 2023 [12 favorites]
"Ok, I've gone to prison and learned from my mistakes - now I know how to run a scam and not get caught!"
posted by soundguy99 at 5:33 AM on April 12, 2023 [6 favorites]
posted by soundguy99 at 5:33 AM on April 12, 2023 [6 favorites]
the mailing list of people who actually buy tickets to this would be rolled gold. You could sell those dipshits anything
posted by Merus at 5:34 AM on April 12, 2023 [71 favorites]
posted by Merus at 5:34 AM on April 12, 2023 [71 favorites]
This is amazing because if musical acts book and tickets are sold, then no one learned anything at all.
Make some popcorn, y'all, because this is gonna be good.
posted by Kitteh at 5:34 AM on April 12, 2023 [4 favorites]
Make some popcorn, y'all, because this is gonna be good.
posted by Kitteh at 5:34 AM on April 12, 2023 [4 favorites]
“And I will call her Titanic II !”
posted by Ishbadiddle at 5:43 AM on April 12, 2023 [17 favorites]
posted by Ishbadiddle at 5:43 AM on April 12, 2023 [17 favorites]
the mailing list of people who actually buy tickets to this would be rolled gold. You could sell those dipshits anything
Starting by letting the suckers self-select is the bedrock of every good scam, it's how cryptocurrencies and NFTs work, it's how Nigerian Prince scams work, all of them.
posted by mhoye at 6:00 AM on April 12, 2023 [11 favorites]
Starting by letting the suckers self-select is the bedrock of every good scam, it's how cryptocurrencies and NFTs work, it's how Nigerian Prince scams work, all of them.
posted by mhoye at 6:00 AM on April 12, 2023 [11 favorites]
Would have been a good time to pull out the Traveling Wilburys’ trick and go straight to Frye Festival III.
Opportunity missed.
posted by MorgansAmoebas at 6:00 AM on April 12, 2023 [9 favorites]
Opportunity missed.
posted by MorgansAmoebas at 6:00 AM on April 12, 2023 [9 favorites]
This is exactly the state of celebrity, crime, and politics right now. The ruse, uncovered, continues naked.
posted by es_de_bah at 6:03 AM on April 12, 2023 [18 favorites]
posted by es_de_bah at 6:03 AM on April 12, 2023 [18 favorites]
So how can a second Fyre Festival happen when, if you think about it, the first Fyre Festival didn't?
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:05 AM on April 12, 2023 [22 favorites]
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:05 AM on April 12, 2023 [22 favorites]
If I was a wanna-b-list celeb I'd be like, sure, pay me half up front, I'll be there. I mean that's the great thing about this grift, it's just about transferring money from willing chumps with cash to burn to slightly desperate artists and if it goes off everyone's happy, and if it doesn't, well, the chumps should have known better. I can totally smell this as going ahead because everyone wants to watch the disaster unfold and not caring whether it is actually a disaster or a good time. Because it's a story you'll tell later, long after that velveeta-on-white-bread sandwich has mouldered away (decades).
posted by seanmpuckett at 6:09 AM on April 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by seanmpuckett at 6:09 AM on April 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
His purported Twitter account has a blue check mark. Just in any case anyone doubted the value that mark now carries (not directly linking him but @pyrtbilly if you are curious). It also has a link to book him for 15 minutes of consulting for $600.
Favourite quote on his Twitter timeline.
It's going to be intense. But trust me, it won't be IN TENTS...⛺️
Fyre Festival II: The Hurt in the Yurt.
posted by inflatablekiwi at 6:12 AM on April 12, 2023 [64 favorites]
Favourite quote on his Twitter timeline.
It's going to be intense. But trust me, it won't be IN TENTS...⛺️
Fyre Festival II: The Hurt in the Yurt.
posted by inflatablekiwi at 6:12 AM on April 12, 2023 [64 favorites]
I watched both of the FF documentaries, and the impression I got is that this guy is literally addicted to committing fraud. The first time he got out of prison on bail, he immediately and enthusiastically started committing new and different frauds. After the better part of four years in jail he must really be jonesing for a fraud fix.
posted by The Card Cheat at 6:13 AM on April 12, 2023 [21 favorites]
posted by The Card Cheat at 6:13 AM on April 12, 2023 [21 favorites]
Are we sure that Netflix didn't put him up to this?
posted by Optamystic at 6:21 AM on April 12, 2023 [20 favorites]
posted by Optamystic at 6:21 AM on April 12, 2023 [20 favorites]
I'd like to suggest that they start by making sure all of the marks, I mean people, have enough water to drink.
posted by mcstayinskool at 6:43 AM on April 12, 2023
posted by mcstayinskool at 6:43 AM on April 12, 2023
I wish that I could say that it was a surprise, but I immediately thought about how the "organizers" of the infamous DashCon announced the one that they were planning to hold the following year, before the ball pit meme had really peaked.
So how can a second Fyre Festival happen when, if you think about it, the first Fyre Festival didn't?
The real festivals are the memes we made along the way.
posted by Halloween Jack at 6:44 AM on April 12, 2023 [17 favorites]
So how can a second Fyre Festival happen when, if you think about it, the first Fyre Festival didn't?
The real festivals are the memes we made along the way.
posted by Halloween Jack at 6:44 AM on April 12, 2023 [17 favorites]
My prediction: Fyre Festival II will be attended exclusively by crews attempting to make a documentary about it, and accidentally becomes a documentary film festival.
posted by graymouser at 6:45 AM on April 12, 2023 [100 favorites]
posted by graymouser at 6:45 AM on April 12, 2023 [100 favorites]
He could probably sell whatever IP he has in it to an actual organizer for a few bucks, the way that the owners of Cracked and the Weekly World News sold their names off. Then they could have a Fyre Fest Fest, an ironic celebration that would suck in a way that wasn't legally actionable or genuinely dangerous, at least any more than any other music festival.
I wonder what Andy what's-his-name is doing these days; I felt terrible for him. I hope he's got a good job with somebody who appreciates a truly dedicated employee.
posted by Countess Elena at 6:54 AM on April 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
I wonder what Andy what's-his-name is doing these days; I felt terrible for him. I hope he's got a good job with somebody who appreciates a truly dedicated employee.
posted by Countess Elena at 6:54 AM on April 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
I remember at one point the government auctioned off all the Fyre Festival swag they'd confiscated, and I was halfway tempted to get a t-shirt or a cap or something, because I figured it would be kind of ironically cool. I was dissuaded when I saw how much people were bidding for that stuff. Apparently there were a lot of people thinking much as I did, but like more so, I guess.
So on one level at least, the Fyre Festival was a raging success, just not for the people who bought tickets, or the guy who organized it. I mean there was some success to be had there. He was in the ballpark. If I was him, I would get a bunch of t-shirts and sweat pants and shit made for the new festival, transfer it all to a trust or something so the government can't get it, have the new festival crash and burn even more epically than the first one, and then have the trust sell off all the swag so I reap the profits instead of the US Marshals Service.
A relative of mine is in the US Marshals Service. They're doing okay. They don't need it.
posted by Naberius at 7:07 AM on April 12, 2023 [5 favorites]
So on one level at least, the Fyre Festival was a raging success, just not for the people who bought tickets, or the guy who organized it. I mean there was some success to be had there. He was in the ballpark. If I was him, I would get a bunch of t-shirts and sweat pants and shit made for the new festival, transfer it all to a trust or something so the government can't get it, have the new festival crash and burn even more epically than the first one, and then have the trust sell off all the swag so I reap the profits instead of the US Marshals Service.
A relative of mine is in the US Marshals Service. They're doing okay. They don't need it.
posted by Naberius at 7:07 AM on April 12, 2023 [5 favorites]
They could have a Fyre "Fest" in which the participants get sent to some random location that's just incredibly depressing, dull, and bleak; the participants get to fill up their Instas with photos of how awful it was, the locals get to gawk at the dumb aristos and sell them $5 bottles of water, and the organizers get to package the inevitable docco. Win/win/win.
posted by Halloween Jack at 7:18 AM on April 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by Halloween Jack at 7:18 AM on April 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
Winners never quit, quitters never win, but sometimes you just need to quit to not lose.
posted by sid at 7:22 AM on April 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by sid at 7:22 AM on April 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
the mailing list of people who actually buy tickets to this would be rolled gold. You could sell those dipshits anything
When the 11-part Netflix series about this trainwreck comes out in five years, my money is on "this was a long con by the guys selling gold bullion to terrified senior citizens on Fox News."
Or possibly "real-life re-enactment of Brewster's Millions, except with a script treatment by a malevolent AI".
posted by Mayor West at 7:25 AM on April 12, 2023
When the 11-part Netflix series about this trainwreck comes out in five years, my money is on "this was a long con by the guys selling gold bullion to terrified senior citizens on Fox News."
Or possibly "real-life re-enactment of Brewster's Millions, except with a script treatment by a malevolent AI".
posted by Mayor West at 7:25 AM on April 12, 2023
There is no shame left in America. Fuck up big time, scam people, go to prison? Just go out and do it again! See also US politics.
His purported Twitter account has a blue check mark
It's one of the fake ones; dumbass paid $8 to tweet. (Found via the excellent Eight Dollars extension.)
posted by Nelson at 7:30 AM on April 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
His purported Twitter account has a blue check mark
It's one of the fake ones; dumbass paid $8 to tweet. (Found via the excellent Eight Dollars extension.)
posted by Nelson at 7:30 AM on April 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
There’s a category of effective scams that depend on tying the decision “is this too good to be true?” to the decision “am I willing to question who I am as a person?”. In the music festival example, this scam was a brilliant execution of that point: It was sold as the festival to end all festivals, to say for the rest of your life “I was there and this is my t-shirt of authentic identity as a festival goer”, and anyone who considered whether it was too good to be true would then have confront their self-identity, their fears of growing old and of missing out, etc. and that’s when the rationalizations start to creep in.
So of course there’ll be a second festival: the grift doesn’t stop working just because people know it’s a scam. When you leverage someone’s identity for a lottery ticket’s odds at being cool forever, they’re entering into the scam on the odds that this time it isn’t a scam, because if it isn’t, how could they live with themselves afterwards if they didn’t take that bet?
It’s a terrible thing and I’m sad to see that the organizer correctly predicted the free press their tweet would earn.
posted by Callisto Prime at 7:52 AM on April 12, 2023 [5 favorites]
So of course there’ll be a second festival: the grift doesn’t stop working just because people know it’s a scam. When you leverage someone’s identity for a lottery ticket’s odds at being cool forever, they’re entering into the scam on the odds that this time it isn’t a scam, because if it isn’t, how could they live with themselves afterwards if they didn’t take that bet?
It’s a terrible thing and I’m sad to see that the organizer correctly predicted the free press their tweet would earn.
posted by Callisto Prime at 7:52 AM on April 12, 2023 [5 favorites]
I hope he keeps doing this and keeps going to jail. It will be like "White Lotus" but instead of Four Seasons resorts it will be different storm battered beaches, FEMA tents and d-list influencers, and every season it will feature a different flavor of processed cheese product on the sandwiches.
posted by thivaia at 7:56 AM on April 12, 2023 [8 favorites]
posted by thivaia at 7:56 AM on April 12, 2023 [8 favorites]
Mod note: Comment removed. Please engage with the post constructively. If you don’t like the post, flag it and move on.
posted by Brandon Blatcher (staff) at 7:57 AM on April 12, 2023
posted by Brandon Blatcher (staff) at 7:57 AM on April 12, 2023
Hickory Farms Presents Fyre Fest II
posted by Stonestock Relentless at 8:03 AM on April 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by Stonestock Relentless at 8:03 AM on April 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
Given he is apparently getting into MMA and "Going to take an MMA or Muay Thai fight this summer." my actual guess is he is going to *try* the Logan Paul route. I mean I'm sure there will be some money from people wanting to see him getting beaten up on pay per view.
That Fyre Festival in the Bahamas didn't intersect with FTX 's crypto shenanigan's in the Bahamas is almost disappointing (the writers missed an opportunity there). That would have been a wild rodeo (Fyre Festival chaos plus NFTs plus crypto disaster). Sam Bankman-Fried + Billy McFarland would have been off the charts in terms of chaos. But I wouldn't wish it on the Bahamian people.
posted by inflatablekiwi at 8:20 AM on April 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
That Fyre Festival in the Bahamas didn't intersect with FTX 's crypto shenanigan's in the Bahamas is almost disappointing (the writers missed an opportunity there). That would have been a wild rodeo (Fyre Festival chaos plus NFTs plus crypto disaster). Sam Bankman-Fried + Billy McFarland would have been off the charts in terms of chaos. But I wouldn't wish it on the Bahamian people.
posted by inflatablekiwi at 8:20 AM on April 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
I can't imagine anyone buying a ticket for this thing, or anyone giving him money for anything, or believing anything he says, but so many things happen that make no sense to me, so I'm probably wrong this time too.
posted by freakazoid at 8:44 AM on April 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by freakazoid at 8:44 AM on April 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
Maybe they could cross-brand with the Naked and Afraid folks
posted by gottabefunky at 8:50 AM on April 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by gottabefunky at 8:50 AM on April 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
Imagine being the kind of person who hears there is a Fyre Festival II and thinks "Yes, this is a thing for which I would like to provide payment information."
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:19 AM on April 12, 2023 [8 favorites]
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:19 AM on April 12, 2023 [8 favorites]
Is this going to be like the Star Trek movies, where even numbered festivals will be better than odd numbers?
posted by ocschwar at 9:21 AM on April 12, 2023 [8 favorites]
posted by ocschwar at 9:21 AM on April 12, 2023 [8 favorites]
There’s definitely a market for this. After all, Joe Rogan still has millions of fans.
posted by rikschell at 9:28 AM on April 12, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by rikschell at 9:28 AM on April 12, 2023 [5 favorites]
Sounds like fun. Too bad I have other plans that week.
Me too! I'm going to "Altamont: The Return." Scored a couple of seats right up front!
posted by PlusDistance at 9:28 AM on April 12, 2023 [4 favorites]
Me too! I'm going to "Altamont: The Return." Scored a couple of seats right up front!
posted by PlusDistance at 9:28 AM on April 12, 2023 [4 favorites]
Johnny Cash famously did live concerts in prison. So, maybe McFarland should stage Fyre Festival II at Rykers Island. The attendees are already there! And McFarland will likely be joining them soon after! Efficiency!
posted by SPrintF at 9:32 AM on April 12, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by SPrintF at 9:32 AM on April 12, 2023 [4 favorites]
Winners never quit, quitters never win, but sometimes you just need to quit to not lose.
"The only winning move is not to play."
posted by gtrwolf at 10:09 AM on April 12, 2023
"The only winning move is not to play."
posted by gtrwolf at 10:09 AM on April 12, 2023
Given he is apparently getting into MMA
Multi-level Marketing Arts
posted by star gentle uterus at 10:14 AM on April 12, 2023 [10 favorites]
Multi-level Marketing Arts
posted by star gentle uterus at 10:14 AM on April 12, 2023 [10 favorites]
So, Fyre Festival 0.5 release?
posted by BigHeartedGuy at 10:18 AM on April 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by BigHeartedGuy at 10:18 AM on April 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
Responding to a commenter who replied "Tell me why you shouldn't be in jail", McFarland also alluded to the fact that he still owed creditors $US26 million, saying "It's in the best interest of those I owe for me to be working"
Ugh. I'm sure some of those creditors include vendors he stiffed, who probably didn't get much in the bankruptcy. And he's going to approach them now and ask if they'll just work with him again this time, he'll be able to pay back some of what he owes from the first time. And some of them will be desperate/hopeful enough to take him up on it. What a scumbag.
posted by hovey at 10:23 AM on April 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
Ugh. I'm sure some of those creditors include vendors he stiffed, who probably didn't get much in the bankruptcy. And he's going to approach them now and ask if they'll just work with him again this time, he'll be able to pay back some of what he owes from the first time. And some of them will be desperate/hopeful enough to take him up on it. What a scumbag.
posted by hovey at 10:23 AM on April 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
part of me wants this to actually happen so that any idiot that actually gives this guy money gets everything they deserve... but yeah hovey is likely right that there would be a bunch of desperate vendors that would just get caught up in it....
Alternatively he could do this on in Antarctica and call it the "Ice Festival" and go to prison for murder instead of fraud...
posted by cirhosis at 10:31 AM on April 12, 2023
Alternatively he could do this on in Antarctica and call it the "Ice Festival" and go to prison for murder instead of fraud...
posted by cirhosis at 10:31 AM on April 12, 2023
I guess he misses prison?
posted by supermedusa at 10:55 AM on April 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by supermedusa at 10:55 AM on April 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
We could put together a Meta-glee-ter gang and get on the performing side of this ...with an outing of Mel Brooks' "Springtime for Hitler." #totallynotascam
posted by k3ninho at 11:09 AM on April 12, 2023
posted by k3ninho at 11:09 AM on April 12, 2023
I wonder if my Mom is catering this one too
posted by lonelid at 11:27 AM on April 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by lonelid at 11:27 AM on April 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
Fool me twice.....
(Won't get fooled again)
posted by Joey Michaels at 11:45 AM on April 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
(Won't get fooled again)
posted by Joey Michaels at 11:45 AM on April 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
Anyone going on about "grift" is drastically missing the point here. 95% of the very many people who would be going to do this are going to feel like they got ripped off if everything goes off without a hitch. People are going to be expecting and demanding an event that requires the UN to mount a humanitarian relief effort immediately afterwards. If it's just a music festival, a substantial amount of the attendees are going to be asking their banks to issue chargebacks.
posted by Back At It Again At Krispy Kreme at 12:10 PM on April 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by Back At It Again At Krispy Kreme at 12:10 PM on April 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
Johnny Cash famously did live concerts in prison.
"I conned a man in Soho, just to watch him cry."
posted by Halloween Jack at 12:32 PM on April 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
"I conned a man in Soho, just to watch him cry."
posted by Halloween Jack at 12:32 PM on April 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
"Hi-diddley-dee!/A Fyre Fest for me!"
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 12:49 PM on April 12, 2023
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 12:49 PM on April 12, 2023
Johnny Cash famously did live concerts in prison.
At a prison might be more accurate, Cash wasn't imprisoned at the time.
posted by Mitheral at 1:25 PM on April 12, 2023 [10 favorites]
At a prison might be more accurate, Cash wasn't imprisoned at the time.
posted by Mitheral at 1:25 PM on April 12, 2023 [10 favorites]
Fyre Festival II: Get Burned Again.
posted by adamrice at 1:33 PM on April 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by adamrice at 1:33 PM on April 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
“And I will call her Titanic II !”
You may laugh, but...
posted by flabdablet at 1:33 PM on April 12, 2023
You may laugh, but...
posted by flabdablet at 1:33 PM on April 12, 2023
y'know, the next time I feel like a failure and like I don't deserve another chance, I'm going to remind myself of the audacity of this douchebag and feel a little better.
posted by daisystomper at 1:54 PM on April 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by daisystomper at 1:54 PM on April 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
Calling it now: His next big scam is either going to have a cryptocurrency angle or is going to be financed by a smaller crypto scam.
posted by belarius at 3:48 PM on April 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by belarius at 3:48 PM on April 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
Metafilter: an ironic celebration that sucks in a way that isn’t legally actionable
posted by dephlogisticated at 4:31 PM on April 12, 2023 [6 favorites]
posted by dephlogisticated at 4:31 PM on April 12, 2023 [6 favorites]
have a cryptocurrency angle
Crypto is so 2022, embrace the AI hustle.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 4:50 PM on April 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
Crypto is so 2022, embrace the AI hustle.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 4:50 PM on April 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
I suspect that those are two great tastes that will go great together.
posted by flabdablet at 2:42 AM on April 13, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by flabdablet at 2:42 AM on April 13, 2023 [4 favorites]
Crypto is so 2022, embrace the AI hustle.
crypderail but 2023 has no shortage of big big win offers... skype spam... really?
posted by sammyo at 7:41 AM on April 13, 2023
crypderail but 2023 has no shortage of big big win offers... skype spam... really?
posted by sammyo at 7:41 AM on April 13, 2023
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