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ive read some people speculating that they would cancel future Roos if the attendance wasnt huge this year. of course if Bonnaroo reached devistatingly low numbers, than yes maybe it would, but i feel that is unlikely due to its stellar track record along with the growing festival fanbase. i dont think Bonnaroo is going anywhere for a while. heres why:
1. although 80k tickets are available, i think if they sold 60k it would still be a huge success. just a hunch.
2. Coffee County benefits greatly from the event. If i remember correctly, Manchester is a town of approx 14k. when Bonnaroo comes to town, their population boosts 5 fold. thats HUGE for a small town. supplies, food, and lodging get purchased at an alarming rate. its 5 times bigger than Christmas.
3. artists booked years in advance - its a major operation to run Bonnaroo and to coordinate all those bands. one small example is that they have been trying to get Radiohead for a few years now. my guess is that Radiohead agreed after BOnnaroo "proved itslf worthy" by being so successful and extraordinary. so, my point is that there is far more work being done to continue Bonaroo than to cancel it.
Post by futurecowboy on May 12, 2006 8:59:45 GMT -5
I agree, kemo. In terms of the county, I don't think it would collapse w/o 'roo, but I don't think the business-owners would be happy going back to a pre-roo situation now that they're used to it. I think a lot of people do 25% of their yearly business in those 5 days, possibly more. Not to mention charitable donations built into the ticket prices, other donations from AC & Superfly, etc.
Post by ronburgandy? on May 12, 2006 9:00:55 GMT -5
i read somewhere (probably here), that this is the last year of a 5 year contract..i have not heard of a new contract yet..not sure what that means.
also i am not sure how far in advance they can sign acts, i mean not many bands have a schedule for 6 months form now, let alone years. I am sure they talk to bands about future roos, and if they cant get them to play the current one, the promoters have at least "planted the seed" for later years (i.e. radiohead). but it would probably be difficult to sign acts years in advance
i have heard about the 5 year contract with the farm as well. i dont see any reason why they would not renew the contract. if they did have to relocate, i hope they move it further north. it would be the same great fest except a bit cooler and much less prone to thunderstorms.
Post by futurecowboy on May 12, 2006 9:52:27 GMT -5
I think it's in everyone's best interest to renew. Coffee County keeps all the benefits, the trust is already there, AC & Superfly have PLENTY of room to keep the festival gigantic, they are from the southeast so they stay near their roots, etc., etc.
I think the good folks of Manchester and Coffee County would just as soon have this be the last year. The locals actually get very little business, save for the run-down local motels, Kwik-e-marts and the beer shops -- not Xmas x 5. (WallyMart get the brunt, I'd wager). As friendly as the locals are, the general consensus is that drug-crazed hippies are invading the town. For the thousand that had interaction with us and saw we were normal, the other 13,000 is picturing fornicating, dosed, red-eyed freaks. The traffic hassles for them and long-haul truckers are bitched about year-round. Their economy is booming with automobile manufacturing (Nissan has two humongous plants nearby) and that just-off-24 location would be rezoned from agricultural to industrial/commercial in no time flat. I'm not so optimistic about '07, but hey; what do I know?
I'd be interested to hear Teine's opine on this, being as he's local.
Post by futurecowboy on May 12, 2006 10:41:27 GMT -5
I didn't realize the town thought of the festival in that way (as far as the drug-crazed hippie invasion). Is this really the consensus?
And you have to factor in the charity w/ the business boom (while I agree that the business you listed are probably where most of the sales go). The 2005 #s broke down like this: :: 2005 CHARITY UPDATE ::
Continuing its endeavors to thank the community of Coffee County for its gracious welcome each year, the Bonnaroo Music Festival announces the recipients of charitable donations generated by the 2005 event. Amounts going to programs in Coffee County and surrounding areas are:
• $10,000 to Partners in Healing, a program for indigent healthcare • $10,000 to Project Graduation • $10,000 to Manchester Parks and Recreation, the third installment for a city skate park • $5,000 to Manchester Police Department’s Christmas Charity • $5,000 to Coffee County Sheriff’s Department’s Christmas Charity • $5,000 to Alliance for Community Outreach • $1,000 to Road Home Animal Rescue in Crossville
National charities receiving donations this year are: • $ 5,621 to Doctors without Borders • $ 5,621 to Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation • $ 5,621 to MusiCares
We express our gratitude to Coffee County, the community that has graciously hosted Bonnaroo each June since 2001, through donations to a variety of charitable causes and community groups.
In addition to these donations, a portion of proceeds from a special series of prints of artist Andrew Saftel’s painting, “Together,” will benefit the Manchester Arts Center. Saftel’s collage/painting incorporates artifacts contributed by Bonnaroo attendees in a colorful tribute to the festival’s community spirit and musical camaraderie. The 100 signed and numbered prints will be available for purchase online at www.bonnaroo.com.
If they were to move the site of the festival I think they would try to keep it pretty close to the original site. They wanted it there in the first place because of it's central location to a lot of the country. We also have to realize that even though a lot of them don't mind all of us coming in every year it does completely disrupt there lives for 4 or 5 days. I'm thankful they have been so nice in years past but if I were to live there and I was someone who wasn't going to the festival then I would absolutely hate it.
i read from a local that the town absolutely loves the fact that Bonnaroo is held there. they benefit from it greatly. i dont remember where i read it, but its true. you can believe me or not, i really dont care. but the truth is that a local that was connected to the town council said that the town loves Bonnaroo. plain and simple.
Post by bohemianboy on May 12, 2006 15:27:46 GMT -5
kemosabe said:
i read from a local that the town absolutely loves the fact that Bonnaroo is held there. they benefit from it greatly. i dont remember where i read it, but its true. you can believe me or not, i really dont care. but the truth is that a local that was connected to the town council said that the town loves Bonnaroo. plain and simple.
I DONT BELIEVE YOU, YOU LIAR. YOU DIDNT READ THAT ANYWHERE
.. Just kidding.
Its probably one of those "oh yeah we love the festival being here" about 360 days a year, but for five days im sure everyone is like "friggin hippie kids and their gosh darn tie die shirts and loud hippie music" or something to that effect
I don't see where the big deal would be anyway.. we are all INSIDE THE FESTIVAL. how does that mess everything up for 4 or 5 days? maybe 1 or 2, but not 4 or 5. Personally, I'd think the people love it. ... do you really seeing people wanting to turn away all that money? "I hate the fact that 70,000 people come into my town and spend a lot of their money here. it's absolutly rediculous" I don't think so.
Wow, so much "I heard," "someone told me," "I happen to know," type sh*t floating around in here. Unfortunately, besides FutureCowboy's figures, there isn't a whole lot of fact to balance it out. After all this crazy pontificating, it really would be good to hear from Teine on this one, as Jellyfish suggested.
One reason I think 'roo will not move far (if it moves at all) is because Ashley Capps (the AC in AC Entertainment) lives/works in Knoxville. He's been involved w/ the K-town music scene for ever (owns a club, used to host a jazz show on the NPR station here, runs the summer free concert series, etc.). From what I've heard, he's involved w/ a lot of the day-to-day 'roo planning. So chances are it wouldn't stray too far from his home base.
BTW, aquariumdrunk, WTF is up w/ your karma? -883? And here I thought keith got hit hard...
Last Edit: May 12, 2006 22:21:53 GMT -5 by Leo - Back to Top
I never meant to say they hate it but it does mess stuff up for a lot of days. Everyone isn't in the festival the whole time. Traffic steadily streams in until late Friday and early Saturday and people start getting in line real early too. Then there is tons of traffic when people are leaving too. It's not like it messes everything up but when you double the size of a town for a few days things are going to be stressful. It's not always about how much money the towns making but it seems like Superfly takes good care of them.
yeah, it messes alot of stuff up for the locals, that's for damn sure, but it's only 5 days out of the year.. personally, if I was a local, I'd just stock up on groceries and supplies and relax in my house all weekend.
I live in Mooresville, NC, which is deemd by the race communiy as "Race City, USA".. come NASCAR season, this place becomes a madhouse... there is a surgence of probably about 25,000 over the course of a weekend when a NASCAR race comes to Charlotte.. yeah, sure, it's not 90,000, but it still causes major traffic problems all weekend long for locals.. you just deal with it. you take lesser known ways to work, you buy all your groceries at the beggining of the week, etc... life goes on, and when it's over, life goes back to normal..then another race comes to town and it starts all over again..
Manchester might have to deal with 90,000 hippies for 5 days out of the year, but I have to deal with about 100,000 drunk rednecks about 4 months out of the year... Manchester's got it easy if you ask me.
ive read newspaper articles that have resturant workers, gas station attendants, and ever a barbershop worker; and they are all quoted as saying they make bank off of Bonnaroo crowds. There was a quote from a Waffle House employe who said the store got tons of money from the weekends crowds. They love it! The tips, cash, buisness... Its great to them.
I mean you see all the signs at gas stations and hotels from Antoich down to m-chester that say "welcome Bonnaroo fans".... Translated those signs read "welcome Bonnaroo fans money"
And I think they got a new hotel and new propriatorships popping up all over the area...
I think the good folks of Manchester and Coffee County would just as soon have this be the last year. The locals actually get very little business, save for the run-down local motels, Kwik-e-marts and the beer shops -- not Xmas x 5. (WallyMart get the brunt, I'd wager). As friendly as the locals are, the general consensus is that drug-crazed hippies are invading the town. For the thousand that had interaction with us and saw we were normal, the other 13,000 is picturing fornicating, dosed, red-eyed freaks. The traffic hassles for them and long-haul truckers are bitched about year-round. Their economy is booming with automobile manufacturing (Nissan has two humongous plants nearby) and that just-off-24 location would be rezoned from agricultural to industrial/commercial in no time flat. I'm not so optimistic about '07, but hey; what do I know?
I'd be interested to hear Teine's opine on this, being as he's local.
Let me preface this by saying im not 100% in 'the know'. I don't have any group affiliations, gossip circles, or attend a church in Manchester. The ideas stated below are my opinions based on what I've experienced and it may not be the consensus of a majority in Manchester.
I believe many people don't mind the annual Bonnaroo population boom. I think the biggest concern for most residents/parents is the potential for illegal drug use. The majority of residents I'd wager are conservative, and if the churchs every few hunder yards don't tell you anything, you're in the bible belt.
Concerning buisnesses, a little more buisness is better than no improvement right? Manchester has gas stations, fast food, restaurants, liquor stores... beyond food and alchohol sales can you think of any other commerce that's brought when thousands of cars come through town? Car repair! My neighbor owns a tire & brake shop in town and a while back I asked him how Bonnaroo affected his buisness. He wasn't overwhelmed with work from people visiting for the roo, but it gave him work that he otherwise wouldn't of had. I've also talked to a shopkeep at a package store in Manchester about roo. She said she wished the people would stay and teach the local young folks of Manchester some manners. I can't say all, but most I'm sure do a little better that weekend than normal.
Far as the lands concerned, my opinion is that it won't be turned into commercial or industrial development (Manchester has an Industrial Park on the outskirts of town)... sadly, I picture it being a subdivision one day... five, maybe ten, years. Who knows? Not me.
I'd love to see it come back to Manchester again, but it may be my turn to make the trek to Bonnaroo next year. We'll see.
I don't know if anyone has said this but . Every year I hear "MTV bought Bonnaroo" and "This is the last year of Bonnaroo in Manchester"
Every single year since I started going in '03 I've heard this. I'm sure it will come up every year and Bonnaroo will be Bonnaroo and stay in Manchester.
i hear ya. mtv didnt buy roo. roo just let them in the front door. as they shuttled jambands and small time record companies out the backdoor they layed out the red carpet for the mega media
Post by HoodooOperator on May 21, 2006 21:46:30 GMT -5
dudewhersmyinforoo said:
i hear ya. mtv didnt buy roo. roo just let them in the front door. as they shuttled jambands and small time record companies out the backdoor they layed out the red carpet for the mega media
Hi folks, I just joined today and am a Manchester local. As a matter of fact, I live so close to the site that I get free tickets every year. In addition to that I am a member of the Manchester Area Chamber of Commerce and with that said, hopefully I can shed some light on a few of the ???? here:
It is simply not true that the majority of Manchester residents wants the roo gone. that could not be further from the truth. As many have pointed out here, Manchester makes a significant financial boost of the revenues generated from bonnaroo. As a member of the MACC, I get to talk to many area business owners. We are having our monthly lunch meeting in a couple of weeks and Jeff Cuellar, the PR guy will be there. We have a discussion every year about this and it has always been positive.
As far as the local population goes, we are not a town full of backwoods rednecks that all see things the same.
You absolutely have a certain amount of folks that see roo as a druged out, crazed hippy invasion.
You also have certain amount of folks who embrace that which is Bonnaroo (me) and enjoy it for what it is, while it is.
THEN< you have a certain population of folks who coulnd't give less of a shit if it was here or not.
Overall however, the local population is ACCEPTING of Bonnaroo and has a neutral to positive opinion of it.
I would venture to guess that less the 15% of Manchester's population "wants it gone".
It is a fact that the traffic really creates a nightmare, but like one guy here said, that is really only on Thur evening/Fri morn.
the outflow traffic is always a lot smoother because people leave at all different times and days, where, coming in, everyone is trying to get here at the same time.
I can say that each year the traffic has gotten better.
OMFG Bonnaroo I was an absolute NIGHTMARE! I-24 was backed up for 40 miles and there were people who waited in line for like 25 hours.
They had a bit if a burp last year where a large influx of people came and then it slacked off only for an even larger flow to hit late friday afternoon.
When my wife and I left the DMB show Fri night at about 12:00 midnight, there were still people waiting to get in.
One other thing, the "security" search was way more thourough last year than in years past. the cops were searching everyone's car as they came in and if they found drugs, they would either:
a. small amount, not arrest you, but make pay taxes, yes taxes on the amount of drugs found, and confiscate the drugs.
or
b. large amount, arrest you, make you pay taxes and off to jail with you.
TN passed a law early last year that said if a person was found in the possesion of illegal drugs, they have to pay taxes on them just as any other "bought" item. They used that law extensively during the search of bonnaroo folks.
SO: hide your stuff well! because a lot of it still gets in so someone is getting past the "security"
i hear ya. mtv didnt buy roo. roo just let them in the front door. as they shuttled jambands and small time record companies out the backdoor they layed out the red carpet for the mega media
IMO
are you fu cking kidding me? what a joke.
i don't understand what is so outrageous about what he said. every year i look around and things appear to be a little more mainstream.
Post by futurecowboy on May 22, 2006 15:51:41 GMT -5
I'm just not seeing it, skyhigh. If by more "mainstream" you mean better facilities, a more well-run festival, and more legendary musical groups, then yes it is more mainstream.
dudewheresmyroo??? has been bitter about this for a while, and is sad that there isn't enough noodly jammy jams to appease his endless appetite for noodly jammy jams. I on the other hand embrace musical diversity, and am looking forward to broadening my horizons.
its all good. i know how it is. but between tower records, matisyahu, and bright eyes i feel like im getting fired up to go to trl
maybe tower will have celine dion plastered everywhere like sam goody did. they learned that lesson and got cats. now they take a step back in the name of profits
Last Edit: May 22, 2006 16:17:18 GMT -5 by Dude - Back to Top