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wow. now i know how you guys feel when me or other people biznatch about things about bonnaroo while you all have the time of your lives. now the tables seem to have turned. we had a near perfect weekend. this fest is awesome. sure there were tons of people, but it wasn't near as bad as roo. we had no problems with any of these things, no long lines, no crazy searches (they did make us dump 5 unopened water bottles once), but other than that no major issues at all. sounds like if you get a condo close to the fest and don't have to have NO NO WORD!!! to have fun at a festival this is the festival for you. but even if you do NO NO WORD!!! it is definitely possible to still have a great time, i saw tons of people doing it. i feel bad for all of you that couldn't enjoy it or don't want to go back. we had a great time and will definitely be going back.
Post by problem dog on May 24, 2011 11:56:19 GMT -5
Just keep in mind that they listened to feedback last year. The shuttle should be an easy fix - either sell less shuttle passes, or rent more buses. Easy fix for the Friday gates issue - open gates earlier and expand the entrances. These are easily fixable problems that they are surely aware of by now.
The sound on the Surf Style stage might be more complicated. If they add a second row of speakers like they had for the main stage, sound should be fine. Raising the video monitors would be nice, too. That VIP area was obtrusive, but most people seemed to figure that out by the end of Friday and position themselves accordingly.
The substance/cops issue is being blown way out of proportion. Look at those linked mugshots. It's not a bunch of kids who were smoking Js on the beach. It looks like mostly dealers got arrested, and I don't have the same "compassion" for dealers that I do for users. If you were smart about smoking up, you probably didn't have any trouble. Keep in mind that the one poster in this thread that got grabbed by the cops was thrown out of the Hangout restaurant the night before for smoking during the kick off show. That's not what I would call discrete. If you're looking for a festival where you can smoke a J literally anywhere and everywhere, this is not your festival. If you're cool with moving through the sand until you find a spot that's away from families and near like-minded people, you can light up without hassle.
Post by macmusicjunkie on May 24, 2011 13:25:50 GMT -5
I just gave my positives and negatives earlier, but I didn't mention any of my amazing festival moments...and just like any fest, I had a lot of great ones
1.) Foo Fighters filling in for Cee Lo being late. Their cover of Tom Petty's Breakdown was just perfect
2.) Seeing My Morning Jacket end on One Big Holiday...enough said
3.) I knew most shows were going to be fantastic and I had high expectations for many, but two shows I thought were just going to be good and ended up being incredible. That would be Beats Antique and Xavier Rudd. Fantastic!
4.) My hangout morning tradition of playing mortal combat in the air conditioned playstation trailer with my friend (he kicked my @$$ most of the time)
5.) Seeing Civil Twilight do covers of Massive Attack - Teardrop and Led Zeppelin - Immigrant Song.
6.) Watching Paul Simon and Foo Fighters up close. We got there a bit early for both shows and had an amazing view.
7.) Seeing the 1st half of STS9 at sunset in the front. I'm still glad I split it with MMJ.
8.) Getting a hammock with my girl at the end of Paul Simon and watching the firework show in it.
9.) Even though we had a awful experience with the shuttle the 1st 2 nights, the 3rd night was quite different. It was a five min. line, and we got on the our bus, our laidback driver had the local rock station blaring. It was playing Elton John's Rocket Man, and by the time everyone was on the bus, we were all yelling " it's going to be a long long time." It was magical moment for me because everyone was just so happy at that moment. Plus, he actually remembered our stop, unlike the other nights.
Hey JoeyT, do me a favor and suck on it. In a good part of this country, smoking a joint is a ticketable offense. In a lot of places it is as close to legal as you can get without making it straight up legal. But at a festival, where those who are likely to smoke will naturally congregate, and those very same people are bringing all sorts of money to the community and generally being peaceful and chill, they take them away from the festival, lock them up and give them $1000 bail for a joint? That is wrong, illegal or not. Jay-walking is illegal too, but do people that get caught jay-walking get a night in jail and a $1000 fine? Of course not. So get over yourself, ass.
Hey man, I don't have any problem with people smoking. But don't you think it's a little silly to be whining about being arrested for something that is an arrestable offense in Alabama?
I don't know if you were there, but there was plenty of open usage. There were two dudes smoking on the soundboard at Girl Talk standing above everyone...I think it's being overblown.
Hey man, I don't have any problem with people smoking. But don't you think it's a little silly to be whining about being arrested for something that is an arrestable offense in Alabama?
I don't know if you were there, but there was plenty of open usage. There were two dudes smoking on the soundboard at Girl Talk standing above everyone...I think it's being overblown.
Also, suck it, ass, etc.
Basically what he said. The comparison to jaywalking is absurd. That's not something that's enforced anywhere, while people face drug charges everyday. This festival didn't take place out in the middle of nowhere, it took place in an Alabama beach town. People were smoking without issue all weekend long, they were just doing it discretely. The one person in this thread who actually got busted was kicked out of a restaurant/bar the night before for lighting up inside. That's not discrete. This issue is being blown way out of proportion.
Post by grizzlepickle on May 24, 2011 17:22:30 GMT -5
My Experience:
Shuttles - Horrible the first night due to lack of organization/too many people. FLIPPING AWESOME the rest of the weekend.
Water - Only one free water fill-up station and the placement of it was semi-suspect. During big shows on the grooveshark stage it could get difficult to get over there to fill up. However, those guys were on-point all weekend.
Porta-Potties - Not enough for the size of the crowd and difficult to get to due to their placement in relation to the stages (they were hidden behind and on the sides of stages with limited accessibility during shows). I call for more next year, with better placement. Also, their decision to close the block next to the grooveshark stage while Paul Simon was playing screamed FAIL. Never went into one that was EXTREMELY disgusting all weekend though.
Lines - It's a festival, I expect this, and don't mind it.
Food - It was a dream to be able to get Spicy Pie! I usually expect to get my yearly fix at Bonnaroo (multiple slices per day)... Now I can get it twice!
Beer - meh... Festie prices suck, and that's why I limit my "inside festival grounds" consumption... Plus, more $ for Spicy Pie!
Crowd - Lots of frat-taculars, douchers, inconsiderate kids, etc. etc. etc. ... These types had absolutely NO respect for the beach or the Clean-Vibes peeps. Left trash everywhere. My gf and I tried to set an example to those people by letting them watch us pick up their mess. Didn't work. However, we were able to meet tons of friendly and respectful folks while there.
Stages - As previously mentioned... they need a second row of speakers at the surf-style stage... Boom Boom Tent should be opened up more to allow more people to see and hear the music. ESPECIALLY if they are going to insist on putting such big names in there.
Music - A-MA-ZING... Couldn't have asked for a better pre-Roo musical experience.
Lodging - We were a bit late on the jump to get a condo so we camped at the State Park. Wonderful facilities. Wonderful neighbors. The only problem was the staff not knowing how to speed people through the line during registration.
Cops - Yep. They were there. Only saw one person get arrested and it was an obviously drunk and belligerent person.
Late-night shows - Didn't go. Cost wasn't worth it to me.
Overall - As far as festivals go = Good not great. Work out the logistics w/ H2O, porta-potties, shuttles, sound, and festival layout. The littering is something the crowds must take upon themselves to remedy. However, the music selection and diversity was TOP NOTCH.
^ OMG, I forgot about the Spicy Pie!!! It was just as tasty there as on the Farm. Om nom nom!!!
Grizzlepickle - dude, you walked right by me in front of the ferris wheel at one point! But in my less-than-sober state, I couldn't conjure your S/N, so I just stood there going, "hey, I think I know that guy!" (This was followed by me muttering, "Thanks for failing me, brain cells. You did me a real solid.")
Post by Funky Munky on May 24, 2011 18:02:16 GMT -5
I would definitely go back, I had a great weekend. Maybe my expectations were lower.
The Good:
The Foo Fighters: They were fucking great, it was one of the best shows I've ever seen. They started off the day covering Ce-late's ass, he was basically 45 minutes late. They came out and played some great covers, it was the first time I'd ever seen them live and it was pretty good. I thought it was really cool they were willing to jump out there and entertain us. The show they put on that night was amazing. I felt like they just kicked the shit out of me for 2 1/2 hours. 35,000 people could file assault charges on that band. They were super tight, sounded great and just killed it in my opinion. I don't know how it sounded further back but I was about twenty yards in front of the soundboard and off to the right a bit. I walked right up there ten minutes before the show.
Portugal. The Man - They put on a great show. It was way to early and hot as hell but they sounded great, it was also my first time seeing them and in my top five shows of the weekend.
Galactic - The show they played Sunday night was great, Corey Glover from Living Colour and Corey Henry from the Rebirth Brass Band sat in and both sounded great. If you've seen them on tour since November it is essentially the same show though. Some friends of mine went to the Black Keys show and said it was packed and the sound was crap. I think they were about where we were for the Lips show and the sound wasn't great although I'm sure with a little effort we could have made our way up.
Paul Simon - I thought the set started out a bit slow but finished strong. I was wiped out by Sunday night and was a bit further back, the sound wasn't as good as it is further back at Roo or Coachella, but it was decent. I won't get to many more shots at Paul and I'm glad I hung around.
MMJ - I thought they sounded great, it was an amazing time of day and it's been almost a year since I've seen them. JJ sounded great and everyone near me was really into it. I'll certainly be checking them out at Roo over Primus even though their set may be similar, it would still be worth it.
The Avett Brothers - They put on a great show, they have every time I've seen them though. We were right up front on the right side of the stage and there was shade almost the entire show. Closing with Talk on Indolence is a rowdy way to end a show too.
Lot's of other great shows: I saw Widespread Panic, The Flaming Lips, Matisyahu, Miachael Franti, Grace Potter, Trombone Shorty, Umphrey's McGee - all of these shows were decent or better with the exception of the Lips show. They put out a pretty high quality product when they want to and they just didn't have the atmosphere or sound to do justice to their show at this venue.
The Venue: It's the beach. The breeze is great. The actual Hangout resturaunt was unveleivable. Great service, good food and music right off the deck. The prices were also good. Imagine a Bahama Breeze at Roo with a kick ass wait staff, salads, sandwiches, shrimp, air conditioning, fans and bathrooms. In the middle of the day a snack and drink here make partying late into the night a breeze even while watching music all day. I also got to sleep in a bed with AC overlooking the local marina, that didn't suck either.
The Bad:
The Shuttle: This was a joke. I bought a shuttle pass, we all did, and it was useless. We rode it in one day and saw how worthless it was. Parking around the festival was $20 per day and worth it.
The line the first day: It was ridiculous. I found an alternative way in and didn't have to pick up my stuff will call but I had a buddy that did and his experience Friday morning was not enjoyable.
The Ugly:
The Cops: I saw quite a few people being screwed with and it got worse as the festival went on. Friday there was essentially no police presence and by Sunday they were helping inspect bags and being very thorough. Depending on the infraction you were either arrested on the spot or had your band cut off your wrist and were escorted off. They sat in some spots in the festival and just picked off person after person smoking weed. Like always a little discretion, observing your surroundings and not being a douche go along way. There was still lots of whatever you wanted available by the way.
The Portos: Every festival seems to manage to screw this up. You're going to have a lot of people. You are going to sell them food and beer, it has to go somewhere. Plan for that and execute it. There was essentially no effort to restock or clean the portos during the day that I saw. They were fresh each day but that might have been it.
The Boom Boom Stage: I tried to go to the OCMS show here. I got there a bit late and it was pointless. No room anywhere and the sound outside the tent is non-existent. It was also hot as an oven in that tent according to my buddy who sucked it up in there for three or four songs.
Actually I found at least three water fill stations, however only one was on the map. Those guys were great though handing out free bottles as well all weekend. Directly in front of the entrance on the boardwalk there was a shower style fill up (that I also doused off in), there was also a small one over by the boom boom. Also I do not want to imply I did not have fun I really had a blast. It is really just not a raging festival like Roo or AllGood, not that it matters much to me the kids all ready want to go back next year. Also please please get RFID wristbands once I started looking at least one in 10 did not have a wristband.
Thanks for stopping by and hanging with me and the kids Chris while my son dug out the hippie hot tub. Later we stopped by and some dude was getting buried vertically he may well still be there.
Post by grizzlepickle on May 24, 2011 19:33:59 GMT -5
holls - lol. that inebriated state plagued me as well this weekend... looked for a friend at a designated meet up point for about 30mins before realizing they were standing 10 feet away the entire time. Don't know if you'll be at Roo or not, but if you see me there, just come smack me across the head and say hey! haha
Post by sweetmelissa on May 24, 2011 20:08:46 GMT -5
Shuttles were horrible! We stayed at Gulf State Park... got picked up at the pool, but the drivers that brought us back refused to go into the park.... also we should have been the first stop going east, but they all skipped the state park and we had to ride to almost Florida and turn around to get dropped off..... the lines for the shuttle were shitty too.... all of the lines were shitty.... too many people.... probably won't go back.
I did not attend but I can imagine how hectic it would be without camping. This why I think Roo runs smooth outside traffic coming in but it is like that at every festival. Free camping and lighter secruity would help a lot of festivals. Security meaning let some minor stuff slide and not hassling patrons
Just FYI...I had to cancel due to a family illness so I didn't get to go and do my Press thing. BUT...got an email this am that basically stated that ANY photos that were taken of Foo Fighters covering or with Cee Lo were NOT TO BE PUBLISHED! Apparently that was NOT part of the Foo Fighters seperate Photo Release...and those mid-day set photos are ONLY for use by Foo Fighters and Hangout. Just a heads up. since I missed it all.
ok now time for my horror story from the fest. has to be one right? so we booked a condo through kaiser realty. jade, her boyfriend and 2 of their friends stayed with us. we all paid our part for the condo, jade even called in and paid hers over the phone. we also bought tickets through them and jade called in and paid for her own. so when we get to check in they give us 2 tickets and tell us that jade has to come pick hers up because they are in her name. so we come with her the next day when she goes to pick them up. they tell us that there are none there for her to pick up. then they tell us that we already picked them up. we even signed for them. sure enough what my wife had signed said we were getting 4 tickets, but we did not. turns out the stuff about her picking them up was complete bullshit . only the person that booked the room was supposed to pick them up and that was my wife. so basically they were not going to give jade the tickets that she bought. after waiting for a while they called jade into a room and told her that we had the tickets and had sold them or something. they were telling her that we stole her tickets basically. they said some tickets had been "canceled" and they "normally wouldn't do this" and they gave her 2 tickets. lucky thing that they did because we were all pissed off. her boyfriend was ready to wreck some shit and had already called a friend to tell him he might have to bail him out of jail. it was a fucked up situation. we definitely did not ever receive those tickets. i believe someone there pocketed them, probably the girl that told us that jade has to pick them up. we will never book anything through them again, that's for sure.
Best Full Set: Foo Fighters Show Stealer: Galactic (The Black Keys were one of the reasons I bought a ticket, but Galactic was so good I couldn't leave) Best Partial Set: STS9 (never should have left to see MMJ) Best Song: Keller William's "Mama Tooted" Best Random Moment: Post Foo Fighters sing-a-long
Honorable Mentions: Bassnectar (from what I can remember lol), Trombone Shorty, Michael Franti & Spearhead, Slightly Stoopid, Motorhead, Umphrey's Mcgee, Primus all kicked ass. I'm sure I'm forgetting other sets I really enjoyed.
My only complaints are that it ended at 11 unless you had late night tickets. I understand that's most likely because of the city, but there was really only 1 full set each day that was played completely under the night sky. Also hated the Boom Boom Stage/Surf Style setup. It was awful and waaaaaaaaaaaaay too packed for almost every set. Walking in that area was just a giant hassle and even worse trying to get a good spot.
ok now time for my horror story from the fest. has to be one right? so we booked a condo through kaiser realty. jade, her boyfriend and 2 of their friends stayed with us. we all paid our part for the condo, jade even called in and paid hers over the phone. we also bought tickets through them and jade called in and paid for her own. so when we get to check in they give us 2 tickets and tell us that jade has to come pick hers up because they are in her name. so we come with her the next day when she goes to pick them up. they tell us that there are none there for her to pick up. then they tell us that we already picked them up. we even signed for them. sure enough what my wife had signed said we were getting 4 tickets, but we did not. turns out the stuff about her picking them up was complete bullshit . only the person that booked the room was supposed to pick them up and that was my wife. so basically they were not going to give jade the tickets that she bought. after waiting for a while they called jade into a room and told her that we had the tickets and had sold them or something. they were telling her that we stole her tickets basically. they said some tickets had been "canceled" and they "normally wouldn't do this" and they gave her 2 tickets. lucky thing that they did because we were all pissed off. her boyfriend was ready to wreck some shit and had already called a friend to tell him he might have to bail him out of jail. it was a fucked up situation. we definitely did not ever receive those tickets. i believe someone there pocketed them, probably the girl that told us that jade has to pick them up. we will never book anything through them again, that's for sure.
Man that is extra skechy! Those fuckers were going to keep your tickets and when push came to shove, they made it seem like you took her tickets and then they surprisingly "find" two extra tickets! I would have raised some hell! Maybe you should write a letter to the right people and explain how non-trustworthy these A-Holes were.
We had a great time at the Hangout this year, but it was not the same festival as last year. The crowd this year was almost overwhelming for the space. I have younger kids (6&8) and last year was much better environment for them. I knew the crowds were going to be bigger but I guess I couldn't visualize what that meant exactly. When the smoke bomb went off on Friday I wondered if I made a bad decision bringing them back. I don't have any problems with it but we just couldn't find a space that wasn't hazy. Saturday and Sunday, however, we were able to pick our spots better and people began to use more discretion. The kids had a great time though and are already talking about wanting to go back next year. At that this point, I'm not sure if we will go back again though.
It was a fun time and I saw some great shows. I had lots of family and friends in attendance and there was some crazy times that went down in that circle.
Wow, Im not sure why there are so many negative reviews on this fest, I had absolutly amazing time. The security at the gates never ever touched me and hardly looked in my bag. Once inside, yes there were uniformed police, but i never saw them messing with people, They were always talking to each other.. I never saw anybody get arrested and i went to tons of shows there.. I saw people "having fun" in the front row at several shows right in front of security and they did Nothing. I was very suprised actually. Just play it cool and you were fine.
My only complaints are the shuttles sucked at night, waaay too crowded.. and tons of trash on the beach(i blame the frat guys)
This was my experience too. My buddy got caught w some glass by a security guard, but all he did was take it away and let him be. Searches were brief and half assed. I tried to have everything out of my pockets when up for search and i was searched for 2-3 seconds. We were >1mi from the fest in a condo so we didn't have to deal w the shuttles, but they were def backed up. Great experience overall ... I'd go back.
Actually I found at least three water fill stations, however only one was on the map. Those guys were great though handing out free bottles as well all weekend. Directly in front of the entrance on the boardwalk there was a shower style fill up (that I also doused off in), there was also a small one over by the boom boom. Also I do not want to imply I did not have fun I really had a blast. It is really just not a raging festival like Roo or AllGood, not that it matters much to me the kids all ready want to go back next year. Also please please get RFID wristbands once I started looking at least one in 10 did not have a wristband.
Thanks for stopping by and hanging with me and the kids Chris while my son dug out the hippie hot tub. Later we stopped by and some dude was getting buried vertically he may well still be there.
Yeah, I was worried since there was only one station on the map, but I think I filled up at like 4 different stations all weekend. I usually only waited a few minutes, too. I'm not sure why they left them off of the map.
Meyer Realty had their shit together, by the way. Check in and check out were really quick, and when we told them about an electrical issue in our condo it was fixed within an hour. Sucks to here that Kaiser dropped the ball.
Still in shock that people are bitching incessantly about not being able to smoke herb wherever they want. Go back to Bizarro world (California) if its that big of a deal to you. If you really thought you could come down to ALABAMA and do whatever you wanted with no discretion you deserved to get busted. That said, I live down in southern bama, and we rage it hard, always aware of where we are! Plenty of local friends got popped, so it wasn't a witchhunt for out of towners, and it was really just a "wrong place wrong time" thing for many people. Many friends got their wristbands cut and told to GTFO.
Wish I had watched that Foo Fighters daytime set...heard it and saw a little bit but was more preoccupied with getting a good spot for Primus. After reading about people saying they couldn't even hear them hardly, I think I made the right choice. Primus f'n kicked ass ,and seeing them in that setting is something I'll never forget!
Next year will be BIG. count on it!! Festival dates are May 18-20th 2012- go ahead and book a condo. I know these dates because my condo (island winds east, overlooking mainstage FTW) had a lil poster saying what the dates were and to go ahead and book for next year while you can.
Next year I predict: Paul McCartney Bob Dylan Furthur Dweezil Zappa Of Montreal Butthole Surfers
I'm friends with the HUKA crew, and you better believe I'm gonna beg/plead/threaten/etc to get these bands there next year!!!
My only MAJOR beef was getting my aerosol sunscreen confiscated.
I took a backpack in on Sat/Sun. We wrapped out suncscreen in with our beach towel. On Sun the guard squeezed our towel and ask to see what it was. I told him it was aerosol sunscreen...showed it to him and he let us keep it and go on in.
Friday and Saturday had totally put my guard down, so I came in Sunday night with glass, aerosol, somebody else's prescription, and various more significant contraband hidden poorly. Dude shook me the quack down and found everything. Scared the Leno outta me but he just put everything back and told me to have a good time (luckily no cops close by at the time). Thank you for letting me in for Paul Simon, scary but nice security guy!
There were plenty of negatives about this fest, but the positives outweigh them so hard it's quacking ridiculous. Saw Paul Simon from the ferris wheel and then from the rail - quacking epic!! Also got some rail for MMJ and I was really close middle center for Primus, Ween, and the Lips (had to be kind of a smurf sometimes - apologies to anyone if a Hamburger Helper or inflatable monkey noodle ever had to shove you outta the way). That alone makes an amazing weekend in my book, so the rest was just icing on the cake.
You can't compare Ween to some random in a crowd, asshat. As for things any artist said on stage, Dean Ween clearly is the winner. Gener is 2nd place with "I'm about to go smoke a joint with Paul Simon"
