The Austin, Texas-based rock band Spoon will serve as one of the headliners for this summer’s 80/35 Music Festival in downtown Des Moines. Festival organizer Amedeo Rossi says Spoon doesn’t get much radio airplay, but a lot of people are buying their albums and paying to see them live.
“Spoon is a band that’s on a steady accent,” Rossi said. “They played the Aragon (Ballroom) in Chicago, which is probably one of the bigger non-arena venues in America, and sold it out…4,500 people.” Spoon will be the final band on Saturday, July 3. The other headliner, to be announced in a couple weeks, will play on Sunday, July 4. This is the third year for the 80/35 Festival. Rossi is hoping this will be the biggest one yet.
The festival grounds can accommodate around 12,000 people. “I think at the peak last year, we were at 7,500 for the Ben Harper show,” Rossi said. Spoon released their seventh studio album, Transference, earlier this year. It hit number four (#4) on the Billboard Top 200. A few other acts have been announced for this year’s 80/35 Festival. They include jam-reggae group Slightly Stoopid, roots jam band Railroad Earth and Brooklyn’s blues-rock trio Earl Greyhound.