SoundProof - Event Preview: Rogers Picnic

Remember waiting in line to buy tickets to a show? In truth, it wasn't that long ago. It used to be you'd stand in line on a crotch-hot afternoon outside some dive record shop, sweating like sows, the lot of you, elbows jarring for space, begrudgingly awaiting the trample to the counter. Cash was exchanged for a ticket, and with the transaction came a vague sense of accomplishment.

"Dude, what'd you do today?"

"Got tickets to the Warrant show, broski." And that was it — ticket stub as memorabilia, on the fridge, wall, in the shoe box, wherever.

As Rogers Wireless unveils the lineup for its inaugural Rogers Picnic, there are a predictable slew of digital accoutrements with which to contend. Digital tickets can be sent via SMS to your phone, and you can use the same feature to request songs for a band's encore. Along with acronyms displacing the use of verbs, two things are clear in this medium shift:

First off, with a lineup that includes The Roots, The New Pornographers (pictured), Bedouin Soundclash, Bad Brains, Little Brother and Apostle of Hustle, the event is likely to attract people in droves. Strange as it is, the grounds at Fort York, typically reserved for fundraisers involving croquet and cocktails, will play host to a day's worth of vibes of the sort Toronto rarely hears.

Secondly, to date the promotional bent has been far-reaching, as you might expect when a company like Rogers dips into its coffers. Media partners include The Source, Edge 102.1 and Flow 93.5. Yet Fort York only boasts a capacity of 7,500, and this, combined with the digital ease of acquiring tickets, might make spots within the grounds as hard to come-by as ants' teeth.

Incidentally, should Black Thought et al. jump into a rendition of Do You Want More!?!?!?!, organisers would do well to heed the response: more tickets, a larger venue — sure; corporate effrontery, cell phone mania — perhaps a little less.

For the staunch Luddite, tickets can still be found through Ticketmaster. As for there being more tents serving beer than those hocking Rogers swag, one can only hope.