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In my meeting of many cool and varied people from across the land at the Roo, I only met one that knew what I was talking about when I said Coachella. Typical conversation went like this (and I was with my girlfriend, Jen):
Random: have you been to Roo before Me: Yep, came in 04 Jen (my girlfriend): No, I have not been here before, it is pretty crazy. Random: So this is your first festival Jen: No, I have been to Coachella the last two years Random: What is Coachella?
This happened about 20ish times, to the point where when someone actually knew what Coachella was then it was like I met my long lost friend and I wanted to give them a hug.
Now I dont think that I am a know it all or anything but I always considered Bonnaroo and Coachella as neck and neck as the most well known and best music festivals in this country, and it all just depended on your music sensibilities and locational characteristics. I just thought it was odd, especially since there was an overlap of about 15 bands (this year alone) that 95% of the people that we had this conversation with did not know what Coachella was.
I guess I just needed to get that off my chest, because it kinda bothered me. I always felt that you met the "music" people at festivals. People that are so into music and the experience that they spend countless hours and untold monies to go to these festivals and become entranced in a aura of sonic happiness. These people I would think would at least know about Coachella or have heard of it. Now, I am not trying to say one is better than the other, and Bonnaroo is probably the better festival operation with the longer sets and late night shows, but I still think that Coachella does a great job picking artists, running their festival, and it is in the most beautiful location, so they both have their pros/cons.
Anyways, I will stop with the rant, just needed to ask this question, and maybe one of you "music" guys/gals will have an answer.
actually, my friend and I originally intended to go to Coachella instead of Bonnaroo. But I wasn't up for lugging around camping equipment on a plane and camping in the desert. Not to mention I was much more excited about the Bonnaroo lineup. I couldn't be happier with our decision!
Post by bohemianboy on Jun 27, 2006 12:59:24 GMT -5
Well...the crowd at bonnaroo (especially this year, from what I heard) is FAR different than the crowd at any other festival. One of my friends pointed it out best when he was saying how when he went to his first 'Roo a few years ago, everyone he talked to was like "Oh, this is your first bonnaroo??? Oh man you're gonna have so much fun, its great, yada yada yada" This year, almost everyone i had talked to had never been to a festival, let alone 'roo. So that's one reason people may not recognize coachella. Also, as an east-coaster, it's not really something that i have noticed a lot of conversation about. It's sort of too far, and too good, to want to talk about. It makes me sad when i can't go to something that cool. I'd say if you went to other, smaller fests you would be with the "music crowd" you were talking about. Literally tens of thousands of people came to see radiohead, and just radiohead. They had probably heard of Beck, Tom Petty, Cypress Hill, and thats it. That's not necessarily a bad thing, it was nice to introduce people into the wonderful world of jam band music, but they certainly were very out of the general festival scene.
Honestly, what I think it boils down to is that the majority of people who go to Bonnaroo are more interested in jam music, and Coachella is more of an indie type festival with very little jam music. The majority of people who go to Bonnaroo are familiar with Dave, Trey, the Dead, SCI, WSP, Umphrey's, Disco Biscuits and are not as familiar with the non-jamband type bands. If one of your favorite bands is palying Bonnaroo, you are going to be more familiar with it. In the case of Coachella, most Bonnaroo attendees are not AS familiar with the bands on the Coachella lineup b/c they just dont' emphasize jam music. Couple that with the fact it's in Palm Springs and it's easy to see why many people who come down from the east coast have never heard of it. Not to mention the fact that Bonnaroo is almost twice the size of Coachella in terms of attendance.
Post by melikecheese on Jun 27, 2006 13:52:49 GMT -5
I dont know how many times I told people I was going on vacation, they ask where, I say down to Bonnaroo and they go. Bonnaroo, what the hell is that. Its really amazing the lack of popular culture knowledge that people have. People in general seem out of touch with things very often....
Post by bohemianboy on Jun 27, 2006 13:54:34 GMT -5
Do you really think that was the case this year? I dont think the majority of people at 'roo this year were jam band folk. In fact, i talked to TONS of people who were leaving before Phil Lesh, because they either didn't know who he was, or didn't care that he was in that hippy band called the grateful dead. I mean, tons of people were there because TOM PETTY was playing. While i do LOVE petty, i can't put him on the list of top 15 people worth seeing there (which is probably why i skipped him)
In my meeting of many cool and varied people from across the land at the Roo, I only met one that knew what I was talking about when I said Coachella.
It is hilarious that you bring this up-- I had a very similar experience...
On Saturday I was dressed as a pirate for the Masquerade - and one of my accessories was a big glow-in-the-dark skeleton... I thought I was being pretty funny by carrying him around with a noose on with the word "Coachella" on him- signaling that I was killing (or keel-hauling) this other music festival.
Few got it. The ones who did, thought it was hilarious. But when I was dancing up on the dragon float near This Tent I had it dangling off the side and I could see people mouthing, "What's Coachella?"
Literally tens of thousands of people came to see radiohead, and just radiohead. They had probably heard of Beck, Tom Petty, Cypress Hill, and thats it. That's not necessarily a bad thing, it was nice to introduce people into the wonderful world of jam band music, but they certainly were very out of the general festival scene.
Radiohead fans tend to be very up to date as far as music goes. I guarantee a good chunk of the Radiohead fans who went there were at Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and (to a lesser extent) Dungen. Most fans of Radiohead tend to be involved in that scene, which is more or less the area in which Coachella focuses on. I definitely see more of the jam-folk not recognizing Coachella, as opposed to the Radiohead hipster-folk.
I dont know how many times I told people I was going on vacation, they ask where, I say down to Bonnaroo and they go. Bonnaroo, what the hell is that.....
Not necessarily a bad thing around the office though!
Just about everyone I told outside of my circle of friends, that I was going to Bonnaroo had never heard of it...they were like "whats that" or "where?"
Ditto. It's funny, though, b/c I have a co-worker who is from California, who'd never heard of Bonnaroo. So, in trying to describe it, I told her it was similar to Coachella in that it is a music festival (though that's pretty much where the similarities end). Even though it's probably closer to Woodstock, I didn't really want her to go around thinking I was some damn dirty hippie. . .
At work when I would try and explain Bonnaroo, someone else in the office would pipe up and say, "It's like Woodstock". Considering I work at a very conservative big corporation, I was not too pleased, so when I came back all of the pics I emailed out to my co-workers were of familes with children, the ferris wheel and fountain. Hahaha, they now think it was more like Disney World.
Post by bohemianboy on Jun 28, 2006 8:17:11 GMT -5
ticktrix said:
At work when I would try and explain Bonnaroo, someone else in the office would pipe up and say, "It's like Woodstock". Considering I work at a very conservative big corporation, I was not too pleased, so when I came back all of the pics I emailed out to my co-workers were of familes with children, the ferris wheel and fountain. Hahaha, they now think it was more like Disney World.
Well done! I know what you mean. I didn't really explain Bonnaroo to my coworkers before I went, I simply said it was a "music festival" and thats about it. When I got back I was too excited NOT to talk about it, and i got "Sounds like a hippie thing" MANY times. I work in a fairly relaxed environment, so im not too worried about anything, but I do know that they now probably (correctly) assume certain things about my out-of-work lifestyle now.
I knew what Coachella was and wish I could have gone, but I love all kinds of music and tend to keep up on that kind of stuff.
The only reason my friends and people I work with, knew what Bonnaroo is, because we live in Nashville and lots of them have to deal with the traffic headaches it causes for the locals. They thought I was crazy for going and taking my daughter, and am amazed that I plan on going back
I knew what Coachella was and wish I could have gone, but I love all kinds of music and tend to keep up on that kind of stuff.
The only reason my friends and people I work with, knew what Bonnaroo is, because we live in Nashville and lots of them have to deal with the traffic headaches it causes for the locals. They thought I was crazy for going and taking my daughter, and am amazed that I plan on going back
He He, I know what you mean.
when I tell people I am going to Bonnaroo, they are like, well, so are we. ;D ;D
Post by bohemianboy on Jun 28, 2006 9:55:38 GMT -5
You know, as stupid as this sounds, i was very surprised at the amount of southerner's/locals at Bonnaroo. I guess its because i rarely leave my comfort of the north, but I just didn't expect it. Obviously it makes sense, being in Tennessee and all, but most places I go, even if they are in the south, end up being mostly northerners and stuff. It was a nice change. I even felt like the minority with my way of speaking!
Post by bluevelvet on Jun 28, 2006 10:07:19 GMT -5
bohemianboy said:
You know, as stupid as this sounds, i was very surprised at the amount of southerner's/locals at Bonnaroo. I guess its because i rarely leave my comfort of the north, but I just didn't expect it. Obviously it makes sense, being in Tennessee and all, but most places I go, even if they are in the south, end up being mostly northerners and stuff. It was a nice change. I even felt like the minority with my way of speaking!
Most of the people I know who live in the Nashville area are not actually from here. I am British, born and raised, lived in N. Va for a long time, then moved here. Most of my friends here are from Oregon, Ohio, NJ, not many from the South
Post by bluevelvet on Jun 28, 2006 10:24:58 GMT -5
bohemianboy said:
Where are all the southerners at???
They were all at the CMA Country Music Festival (Fan Fair) in Nashville the week before. My boyfriend is a sound tech and worked it, and has pictures of the crowd - he is from NJ so he was very amused to say the least
I love southern hospitality, but living in the northeast my whole life has made me an impatient person. I work with customers in Florida and Alabama all day, so needless to say talking to them on the phone and getting the answers I want from them can really try my patience, haha.
Post by bluevelvet on Jun 28, 2006 10:30:54 GMT -5
I do love living in the South - compared to N.Va the people are just SO much more friendly, and the cost of living is much cheaper down here. There are disadvantages - like the heat and humidity, and the whole Bible Belt thing but you get used to them.
oohh the bible belt! We had to take pictures of all the crosses and buildings/vehicles with religious sayings on them. I guess if you just keep your mouth shut you can't run into too much trouble.
Post by bohemianboy on Jun 28, 2006 10:57:54 GMT -5
I think my favorite billboard message i saw was not even a religious one....It was a huge sign that just said "METH KILLS." It was sort of scary and funny at the same time. The south defiantely has its advantages of a more relaxed, friendly environment, but i'm not sure if I could do it. I've lived in/around big cities my whole life, and couldn't imagine much else
Post by bluevelvet on Jun 28, 2006 11:45:41 GMT -5
deathreau said:
I saw three of them in about a 10 mile radius somewhere in Tennessee.
Obviously meth is a huge problem in the south. It's creeping in the midwest as well.
It is a huge problem here. We can't even buy Claritin, or Sudafed type drugs (I assume they are used somehow in the making of meth) over the counter. You have to buy it at the pharmacy, have to present ID and they log how many you purchase.
Post by bohemianboy on Jun 28, 2006 11:46:14 GMT -5
I think meth is a big problem EVERYWHERE. Every month or so I hear about a new meth lab busted in Boston. I'm not sure specifically where the one I passed was, since we took quite the detour.
Post by bohemianboy on Jun 28, 2006 11:48:55 GMT -5
I was trying to buy some sudafed the other day and the guy asked for my ID and I was so confused. I actually had to ask him why he was IDing me, because I was buying like $100 worth of crap, but none of it anything that I knew i had to be 18 for. It was very odd. They track how much you buy. Big brother is watching!!