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Post by itrainmonkeys on May 28, 2008 10:35:09 GMT -5
Anyone else experience this? Either from friends or former Roo goers?
I mentioned the schedule coming out and Phil's late night set to a couple of my friends and instead of being happy and asking who else i'd be seeing they jump right away on the "BASH BONNAROO" bandwagon.
They both went in 05 and 06 with me and had great times. A run-in with the law in 06 lead them to having a bad time on the ride back from Roo.
So they've gone before......but they insist on bashing Roo. Stating things like "You know Fuse is doing a t.v. show on it?" and "It's so mainstream.......the music is bad" stuff like that. They would even just exclaim "Come on.....Kanye West???? Metallica?!?!".
Now I was so excited for Roo but this just brought me down and made me annoyed. First of all......fuse doing a t.v. show won't have much effect because there's always cameras around at Roo. Also the mainstream stuff.......I know Roo has advanced from it's roots but I hardly call it mainstream. You've got Jam bands, Classic Rock bands, modern rock bands, electronic acts, psychedelic acts, new orleans artists, DJs, country, Rap, Comedy, and many other types of music. I felt like saying "Okay.....even if people didn't like Kanye West and Metallica......there's 150+ other amazing acts to choose from".
They also went on to complain about "all the sponsors" and stuff like that. To me it was just a bunch of uninformed bitching about a festival they think is bad now. It made me mad cuz they didn't say it as an opinion but rather a fact.
So my question is (besides can anyone boost my spirit) has anyone else encountered any negativity towards Roo? People complaining about it being more well known or about the headliner selections or anything?
Acyually - our friend who told us about it and went in 2004, 2006 and 2007 is acting that way also - I don't know if it is real negativity or just bashing because he does not have the money to go and is jealous - I don't know - but I know what you mean
If there's one thing I don't care for, it's the negativity related to the variety of bands playing there. Sure for fans of the Jam band scene, it's really cool to have a boatload of those genre-playing bands. However, for people who love all forms of solid good music, regardless of genre, this couldn't be any better. I recently went to Progressive Nation 2008 (which was amazing BTW) and by the end of the day, I was close to worn out of hearing Prog-Rock. I can't imagine going from seeing Mastodon, to Zappa in a 15 min span anywhere else. It is my first roo, and probably not my last, but I think it's shaping up to be the most diverse roo ever. If there is one hour that you are bored there, it's most likely only because your missing out on a band your not familiar with. There is so much stuff to do, it blows my mind just thinking about it. The fest may cost bundles of cash, but once that's aside, you've got something so great, that no one else can touch.
It's just sour grapes. They're jealous because they're not going.
Plain and simple.
I agree, this and some people can't handle the outdoors for a few days. And there's the "good ole days" syndrome, everything was better 5/10/years/the first time ago
Post by Fishing Maniac on May 28, 2008 11:00:22 GMT -5
I've heard there is a lot of that. I've never gone and can't say that I feel negative about it. If I did I wouldn't go. I don't like anything that Metallica has done for the last oh...20 years probably, but I'm psycked to see them because I wouldn't see them in any other scenario and I think they will be a lot of fun when they do some old songs that bring me back to Jr. H.S. My friend with whom I am going has been a few times and he's not negative. The only thing that bothers me is that I can't stand dirty, smelly, godless, commie hippies.
I don't like anything that Metallica has done for the last oh...20 years probably, but I'm psycked to see them because I wouldn't see them in any other scenario and I think they will be a lot of fun when they do some old songs that bring me back to Jr. H.S.
The hating has been an annual thing for the past few years -- no big deal! Just about everything, whether it's a festival like Roo, a band, a sports team, a clothing brand, et cetera, that gets BIG, is going to feel backlash. There are the "It was better when..." people, the "They sold out" people, the "I'm over that" people, and the list goes on. It's really the same argument, twisted in a different manner. Everyone has an angle.
You learn to cope with it. It's easy to forget when you get there.
Post by itrainmonkeys on May 28, 2008 11:10:24 GMT -5
It's not so much that they are jealous...........just a combination of
a.) getting arrested on the way back leaves a sour taste in your mouth b.) just reading the headliners and deciding that Roo sux c.) uninformed about a lot of the lesser known bands (back door slam, grand ole party, battles, vampire weekend, raconteurs etc.)
then they just talk about how good mountain jam will be meanwhile bashing Roo and telling me how sh!tty the festival i want to go to is getting.
Bonnaroo is for music lovers plain and simple - you just don't get this diversity anywhere else.
If your friends want Bonnaroo to be ONLY Jam Bands, or ONLY Indie Music for example, or they only like ONE type of music, then they aren't music fans - they're music snobs. I don't like Metallica all that much either, but I won't fault anyone else for liking them. And I certainly wouldn't rain on anyone's parade, especially a friend of mine.
Plus the B.S. about the sponsors - that's a necessary evil. If they didn't have sponsors the ticket prices would go through the roof. So what that I may have to walk by the "Xbox Tent" or the "Budweiser Music Lounge", who the hell cares. If those companies want to give Superfly more money so that Superfly can in turn book more amazing acts, then bring on the sponsors.
And to Bonnaroo's credit, you don't see them renaming the "What Stage" the "Verizon Wireless Stage" or turning the Comedy Tent into the "Tampax Presents Comedy Tent". They could milk this thing for a lot more, but obviously their heart is still in the right place. Festies need money. If your friends think they could pull something like Bonnaroo off without sponsors, tell them to go ahead. Until they do that, tell them to shut up and stop bringing you down.
mountain jam sucks, but to play devils advocate for a lil I dont think its the fact that roo has sponsors that bothers some people I think its certain sponsors that bother people, like garneir , gillette, fuse, and I dont know the other because I don't care. I do still find that bonnaroo gillette email really funny tho.
Post by bamadancer on May 28, 2008 12:17:43 GMT -5
My friends (who went in 2006 and 2007 with me) keep harassing me because Bonnaroo is "so horrible now". They think they are soooo much better because they're going to ROTHBURY and ROTHBURY is going to be SO AWESOME AND WAY BETTER.
Yeah. I'm sick of hearing about Rothbury. It's a first year festival--they don't know anything about it yet!
too funny tarae...let's not forget you are a girl...probably daddy's girl. the first camping trip I took with my friends when I was 12 years old, my dad asked me if I was gonna have girls in my tent...like he expected it. it just different for you gals
"Love need not be a command nor faith a dictum. I am my own god. We are here to unlearn the teachings of the church, state, and our educational system. We are here to drink beer. We are here to kill war. We are here to laugh at the odds and live our lives so well that Death will tremble to take us." — Charles Bukowski
I hear "Dude, I can't believe you guys (3 of us) are going. Aren't you a little old?"
I'm 37, man, not 87....I actually think to myself aren't you a little young to be such an old fart?
People gotta lighten up. It ain't my scene, but if someone told me they were gonna go to "ScrabbleFest", or"TrekkieFest USA", it'd be no skin off my nose. Whatever floats your boat....
;D 
