Lover and friends festival 2022 fake

There is a ton of buzz going around on social media right now about this upcoming music festival called Lovers and Friends Fest. You’ve probably seen the flyer floating around on your timeline, and it sounds amazing, right? There’s a little something for everyone: girl groups, 90’s R&B, rappers. The bright pink, blinged-out design draws back memories of the early 2000s — a simpler time. Blending legendary, old school acts, like TLC and Ginuwine, while also bringing in modern performers, like Megan thee Stallion and Summer Walker, seems like a genius way to bring about audiences of all ages. It’s nostalgia marketing at its finest. Traveling to LA in May to see a bunch of legendary R&B and hip-hop acts sounds like a blast, but is it too good to be true? It could be.

It’s not super unusual for fake concert flyers to make their way around the web, and after the Fyre Festival, concertgoers are (and should be) extra cautious when these larger-than-life events pop up out of thin air. This isn’t an established festival like Coachella or Lollapalooza.

So is it too good to be true? Are Usher, Jon, and Luda actually going to do it again, or is this a scam? Let’s investigate.

Lovers And Friends Fest

The Twitter account for Lovers and Friends Fest was just created this month. At the time of writing this, the account barely has 2,000 followers. Pretty much none of them have blue checks. Jumping over to Instagram, the story is a little bit different. They already have 35,000 followers with lots of engagement from verified accounts. That seems legit, but who’s behind this?

The event is being put on by a company called Goldenvoice. Goldenvoice is a concert promotions company based in California and a source for a wide variety of concerts across different genres, connecting fans with live experiences in Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Francisco. Digging into their company origin shows that they are a subsidiary of AEG, one of the world’s most prominent live entertainment companies. That’s a good sign.

Despite their legitimate background, the lineup of the festival is what stands out to most people as seeming fishy. I found it odd how some of the more mainstream acts got buried in the list. Communication Design 101: you put the most important stuff at the top in a bigger font and the less important information at the bottom. This flyer doesn’t do that. Lil Kim is plopped down at the bottom, where usually a bunch of smaller, lesser-known artists would be listed, and Usher, Lil Jon, and Ludacris are all squeezed together at the top of the page as if they’re one act with a hot ticket. And the notoriously tardy Ms. Lauryn Hill headlining? It’s confusing.

The most suspicious thing about the flyer is how many of the acts are double-booked that day. May 7th is also the Rolling Loud festival in Miami and the Broccoli Festival in DC — both much more established festivals. T-Pain and Megan thee Stallion are both booked at those shows, and they have been for a while; how are they going to get across the country for two separate music festivals? Teleportation? Is Scotty going to beam them up?

Someone went ahead and asked this question on Instagram, and the festival’s account replied by saying, “Both artists are appearing at both events. Private jetting ✈️.”

Okay…I guess Lovers and Friends aren’t concerned about their carbon footprint. Understandable, but then it got even more complicated when Lil Kim posted on her Instagram story a pretty damning accusation, saying that she isn’t a part of the festival. But then, Usher shared it on his Instagram, saying that it is real? Who do we believe, Lil Kim or Usher?

Another thing that seems odd about the flyer is that JaRule is on it. Are we just going to forget that JaRule played a pivotal role in the Fyre Fest?

THE FINAL CONCLUSION 🔎

After following the corporate trail, Lovers and Friends Fest does seem legit, but I would approach it with extreme caution. Festivals take a ton of work to pull off. There are so many logistical pieces — equipment, security, vendors, talent, and the list goes on and on. It takes months and months of planning to pull off a successful festival, and the quick turnaround time between their announcement for the festival and the actual event is alarming.

Even established festivals can fall off the rails if the funding isn’t right or if there isn’t strong organizational leadership and planning. Don’t believe me? Read about LouFest 2018. It was canceled just days before the festival gates were scheduled to open, despite thousands of ticketholders and top-tier talent like Kasey Musgraves and Robert Plant slated to perform.

If you think that you want to risk heading to Los Angeles this May for the all-star lineup at Lovers and Friends Fest, take the following steps to protect yourself and your coins.

• Make sure that you purchase directly from their website. Be leary of third-party sales, and avoid VIP add-ons unless they come straight from the organizer.
• Buy your tickets with a credit card. Don’t use your debit card. Credit cards have stronger protections against fraud, and it will be easier to dispute the charge with your credit card if for some reason it comes to that.
• Don’t buy any non-refundable accommodations. You don’t want to be stuck with a useless hotel room if the event gets canceled last minute.

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