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Been to 3 roo's. My first year I saw 18 or 19 bands, mostly full sets, a few half sets. Third year I counted 26 but that included wandering around latenight and staying for 3 songs or so per band til I found something that struck my fancy. The way I see it, you will realistically go to maybe 10-15 full sets and another 10 or so half sets due to conflicts. You have to realize that you will not really have much of an idea until you see the schedule though.
Yeah you will not be able to catch 35 full sets. Conflicts make it so you may have to bounce around stages durin' sets, so you won't see everythin'. Plus while walkin' by one stage you may catch somethin' new to your ears and you may wanna stay there. When the schedule comes out I try and make a basic outline of my plans, but I know they will change once I am on The Farm!
Post by klimfactor on Feb 22, 2011 16:54:00 GMT -5
I've been to five 'roos, and I have to agree with the other posters. Last year I saw 25-plus acts, but I moved around a lot during the late nights. At one point, I caught 45 minutes of Jay Z, walked over to Thievery for a while and then ended up at Dan Deacon. They were all playing at the same time so conflicts were unavoidable. Unless you're lucky when the lineup comes out, that is 'roo in a nutshell. As for your list of 35, it's attainable, especially if you have the energy to do early afternoon sets AND late night sets, and you're willing to compromise and watch partial sets when conflicts arise. Getting to the farm early enough to see the Thursday sets also would add to your list. For me, Thursday's are a must - and a perfect time to hop around and check out different acts.
It's almost entirely about stamina and how well you intend on pacing yourself! Balancing out the party, the intentions, and the truckload of x-factors, isn't an easy feat, but can definitely be done.
Post by Laggy.RETURNS on Feb 22, 2011 22:21:33 GMT -5
^what they all said.
But keep in mind, even if none of your bands are conflicting, it's still hard physically to make it though t hat many sets. I saw 30+ sets last year, although most were partials. I saw at least a couple songs from each and every band I wanted to check out. Remember bonnaroo is an endurance contest. Pace yourself. Don't drink much or do any hardcore partying early in the day. Eat some protein bars, whole grains, nuts, etc to sustain energy. Take any and all downtime to rest in the shade and/or nap.
Post by billypilgrim on Feb 22, 2011 22:31:05 GMT -5
Keep in mind that there's no prize for the person who sees the most bands. You'll probably catch more music if you see 5 or so full sets in a day than if you're running around between stages to catch twice that many. Also, when you get to a set late, it's a lot harder to get a good spot.
Post by imragegrrr on Feb 23, 2011 18:04:21 GMT -5
last year I saw probably over 40 bands. Although for some I may have only stayed for one or two songs, it was still worth it. Like laggy said, pace yourself during the day, because as soon as the sun goes down, bonnaroo becomes a completely different animal!
Post by plasticpepper on Feb 23, 2011 20:14:59 GMT -5
Firstly - if you're counting shows or going into this with a "must-see" list that's longer than like...4 acts...you're kinda doing it wrong. ESPECIALLY when there's no schedule out yet. Really, you're much better off with a more "go with the flow" kinda attitude. You want to be able to go "whoa, this show is more awesome than I expected, I am going to sit here for as long as those dudes keep making that sound" or "oh man, I was just walking past this show on my way to something else, but this music sounds swell! I believe I will stay here for a spell!"
That said, there's nothing wrong with planning out what you want to see when, just try to be open minded about it and be willing to just see what sounds good. And, well, don't do it yet! I mean, if you're already at 35 must-sees, there is no way in HELL those shows will all be at separate times. Don't get so caught up in wanting to see every artist on the lineup that you end up guaranteed to be disappointed when the schedule comes out, y'know?
As for numbers...as far as I can tell, I've seen a little over 20 shows each year. That tends to be a mixture of mostly seeing entire shows but occasionally just stopping in for a little bit of something, so if you only see entire shows or constantly hop around and see NO entire shows it'd be different. And it seems like each year there's at least SOME time when I just go back to camp to rest or a night that I don't bother to go out for late night or whatever.
The way the schedule is set up, looking at last year's for reference, you could fit in 28 full shows on average if you wanted to be at some show constantly, 33 if you crammed in as many as you possibly could. (Counting just main stages/tents, not the smaller stuff.) Which means you could do WAY more than that if you weren't staying for full shows. Of course, you'd be pretty damn exhausted if you tried to be constantly going like that.
Basically...you could definitely see part or all of 35 shows, but having 35 shows on your must-see list before you see the schedule is still sort of setting yourself up for disappointment.
Post by captmonkey on Feb 24, 2011 12:15:12 GMT -5
Honestly, I saw 40 acts last year (including two comedy tent acts). However, I'm not the normal Roo goer, I get there as soon as the music starts every day and don't leave Centeroo until very late. I don't sleep much during those days.
Many of those were not full sets. If I'm really enjoying something or it's someone I really want to see, I'll stay for the full set, if not, I move on. Sometimes there are two must-sees on with some overlap, so I'll stay at one until the other goes on, then move to see the other. I try to spend as little time waiting on someone to play and maximize the time that I'm actually watching people play.
So, 35 is possible, however you're going to have overlaps in there, no doubt, so it may not be the 35 you want. Also, I physically have a lot of stamina to be there all day from the first show on Thursday till the last on Sunday. If there's music being played, I'm probably in Centeroo. I run marathons when not at Bonaroo, so it's not that big of a deal for me, but someone who's not as physically fit, it can be taxing, as I learned from the only year where I had someone else with me.
I would say just don't worry about it. I've never even considered how many acts I saw until I read this thread and decided to look at last year's schedule and count them up. Just go see the shows you want to see and if you're not feeling something and someone else is playing at the same time, don't feel the need to stick around, go check out something else.
Even with me seeing 40, there were shows I missed and others where I wished I'd gotten there sooner to get a better spot. Just relax, and see what you want, you won't see everyone, but you'll see a lot.
I have an entirely different philosophy after last year.
Last year I had my list filled out of 25-30 partial or full sets I was going to see. However, when I got into Centeroo each day I stuck very close to the What Stage Fri, Sat, and Sun for various reasons. This kept my stamina up because I wasn't moving around so much, but the downside is you miss partial sets at others stages/tents while you are waiting for long setup times in between What Stage performers. The result: I probably only saw 18-20 acts (not counting walk bys or late night DJ sets), but out of those 14-15 were probably full or near full sets. Still an amazing experience and I, in now way, felt short changed. But I do want to experience more acts this year based on my growing musical tastes.
So this year I have a different mentality. I'm not shooting for a specific number of acts (hell, the schedule isn't even out yet). I'm going to shoot for certain amounts of time spent in Centeroo. For instance:
Thursday: 4:00pm until Last Act (usually 2:00am). This gives me plenty of time for a "good night's sleep" (I'm RV, btw) for energy later in the weekend.
Friday: Noon until 4 or 5am. After a relatively long sleep, I should make it all day and night. I'm a big LN fan.
Saturday: 3pm until 4 or 5am. Enter a bit later to rest after Friday's LN festivities.
Sunday: 3pm until Last Act (usually midnight). Enter a bit later again to regroup.
Will this ensure that I will see more acts? No. But it puts me in Centeroo for well over 40 hours. From there, I can just go with the flow of the festival: see full sets, see half sets, see a bunch of walk bys, eat food, visit vendors, meet people, lay down somewhere, see a comedian, go to the Silent Disco, etc.
I counted 25 bands last year (mostly full sets) and that includes waiting way too long for Conan and being near death on Sunday. Comedy tent will slow you down. Make sure to bring enough supplies from camp to get you thru the day in Centeroo. Trips back and forth will not only waste an hour of your day, it will make the can't miss shows more missable. Conflicts are a killer, but last year schedule minamized the damage. Hopefully they will do the same this year
Post by icantenough on Feb 24, 2011 22:00:50 GMT -5
I think it is ridiculous to even watch partial sets in favor of "being able to say i saw this band".
the only time i will partial anything is if I am shocked at how mediocre it is. If you have a difficult conflict, make a decision one way or the other, because trying to catch 2 shows at once means you didnt catch either.
I think it says a lot about personal taste in music as well. i always see people leave after some lower tiered act plays "that one song" so they can scuttle off to see some other acts "one song". once you get over the grass-is-always-greener mentality of Roo you will find your pace easily set and stamina not a problem.
I think it is ridiculous to even watch partial sets in favor of "being able to say i saw this band".
the only time i will partial anything is if I am shocked at how mediocre it is. If you have a difficult conflict, make a decision one way or the other, because trying to catch 2 shows at once means you didnt catch either.
It's rare to have two completely overlapping shows. If you have a conflict and want to see both why not catch more of the one you want to see more but still see part of both? It seems ridiculous to me to just not even bother if you can't see the whole show.
For example, last year the Avett Brothers played 4:45-6:15, but I wanted to catch the Dead Weather who went on at 6:00, so I watched the first part of the Avett Brothers, then went over to catch all of the Dead Weather. And rather than sit still for an hour before Stevie Wonder came on, I went to go see the last part of Ozomatli. Why sit somewhere waiting for someone to play when there's so much amazing music happening at other stages? Sure, if it's one of my top must-sees where I want up close, I'll wait a while before they go on, but there's only so many of those the whole weekend.
...And rather than sit still for an hour before Stevie Wonder came on, I went to go see the last part of Ozomatli. Why sit somewhere waiting for someone to play when there's so much amazing music happening at other stages? Sure, if it's one of my top must-sees where I want up close, I'll wait a while before they go on, but there's only so many of those the whole weekend.
Good choice catchin' at least some of Ozomatli. I try to never miss them live; always a good show.
