A Heartfelt Thanks
We cannot thank you enough for attending Merge 25 last week to celebrate our twenty-fifth anniversary. To us, it felt like a big family gathering. Telekinesis backed Eleanor Friedberger on “Roosevelt Island.” Performances from Vertical Scratchers and The Mountain Goats included covers of The Magnetic Fields and American Music Club, respectively. Mikal Cronin invited Christian Peslak from Saint Rich onstage to sing “Am I Wrong.” Many of our artists extended their stays in order to catch up with their labelmates. The crowd was filled with attentive and appreciative people. These are all good things, and we are so grateful.
Merge 25 was an immense undertaking, and we couldn’t have made it happen without the generous help of Squarespace, Pabst Blue Ribbon,Cat’s Cradle, the Town of Carrboro, 300 East Main, MailChimp, Counter Culture Coffee,Classic Graphics, Carolina Brewery, Ticketfly, Duke Performances, Orange County Social Club, C&C Custom Drums, and Carr Amps.
Also, we want to send special shoutouts to Margaret Cho for emceeing our Saturday outdoor show; Tricia and OCSC for hosting our terrific day parties; Motorco for providing a venue for our opening night after-party; The Dinner Party Download for dedicating an entire episode to Merge; Nightlight for hosting the DPD taping; LIGHT Art+Design for exhibiting the Unbelievable Things collection; Bowbarr for the art show opening after-party; Squarespace for creating a comfortable lounge with a fun photo booth and lathe-cut vinyl demonstrations by Wesley Wolfe of Tangible Formats; Crazy/Dancing Tony for organizing the Kicknic (and, along with Saleen, providing much-needed mobile misting services on Saturday); Orange County Solid Waste Management for all recycling services; and the many awesome volunteers who donated their time and energy to help make our festival run as smoothly as possible.
And last but not least, thank you, dear fans, for your love and support over the last quarter-century. You are what keeps us going.
Laura, Mac & all of us at Merge