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Post by manchesterman19 on Feb 29, 2012 23:10:09 GMT -5
I'm hoping to add a second festival to my summer plans this year. Any thoughts on which fest is better? Both look pretty comparable in price, and both are within 3 hours from where I live.
Any benefits/disadvantages to either that I might not pick up from skimming through either fest's thread?
I've done Forecastle and I did Hookahville once (which was where All Good is being held). I think ultimately it comes down to, well the lineup of course, but whether or not you wanna camp and sort of be away from it all or be in a big city and stay in a hotel. There are campsites available for Forecastle but I wouldn't recommend them, seeing that they're not within walking distance of the festival grounds.
Not sure how you feel about police presence but you're definitely gonna see more of it at Forecastle. Louisville's beautiful, as is Waterfront Park, and All Good will be like a very mini Bonnaroo without all of the activities and other stuff going on.
Despite wherever anyone has ever seen MMJ, I'd imagine this is going to be one of their sickest shows ever, no matter how long they play (which may only be 2 hrs max), seeing that they've never played Forecastle and the possibilities for guest appearances are, well not literally endless, but there's a chance for quite a few people to join them. It is their hometown, so you know they're going all out.
You can also expect to see much different crowds at both. Forecastle you're gonna run into a lot of college kids, professionals and even families with their kids. You might see a bit of that at All Good too but you probably won't really notice.
Fortunately for me I'm probably doing both. It'll actually depend on the rest of the Bunbury lineup though. I'm not excited about Forecastle's Friday bands and I'm not really impressed yet with what Bunbury's announced. I would like to see Jane's Addiction and Airborne Toxic Event, and luckily both of those are playing Friday at Bunbury.
People involved with Bunbury keep assuring me that it'll blow Forecastle out of the water, but I'm having a damn hard time believing them. Of course they're gonna say that because they'd prefer to have me cover their fest for my blog as opposed to the competition. And actually one of the guys doing the booking for Bunbury has a past connection to booking for Forecastle. There's also the main guy behind Bunbury who started MidPoint, which is a good fest, but the majority of bands that have played MidPoint I don't think are big enough for the outdoor kind of festival.
Post by manchesterman19 on Mar 1, 2012 0:32:35 GMT -5
Very helpful. Thanks natedogg. I'd love to do another camping fest (cheaper and I have a better idea what to expect), but I think it'd also be nice to have the city backdrop and the comfort of a hotel room. Any idea how many stages they have at forecastle or how much the late night shows usually run?
The city backdrop (buildings and such) is nice but the way it was set up in 2010, you always had your backs to it when watching bands and you were facing the Ohio River. Still a nice view. And I should mention that right over top of the entrance into the festival is the expressway overpass, so it's kind of distracting.
I can't really say what the setup will be for Forecastle this year but I think in 2010 they probably had 5 or 6 stages, only 1 of which was really big. Forecastle's main stage took up maybe half the room that Bonnaroo's Which Stage takes up. The rest of the stages and surrounding area there is tiny and I mean tiny. The second largest stage at Forecastle in 2010 (as far as the surrounding grassy area goes) wasn't a whole lot bigger than probably the Sonic Stage area at Bonnaroo - and that's if you took away all the surrounding vendor tents at Bonnaroo.
As for late nights, I wasn't even aware they had late nights. The only times I went to Forecastle I went on Sunday nights (2009 and 2010). Those were just the only days I could attend because of finances. Apparently these late night shows are on a riverboat or something. So I'd imagine even getting into the late night shows is difficult. Wish I could help you out there.
Here's kind of an aerial shot of the main stage area in 2010
It feels like there is an undercover cop to every 10 people at Forecastle. It sucks. They even raided the campsites in 2010.
I'll just say, if you want to "party" at all, then this is not the fest for you. But if you can deal with only drinking really overpriced beer all day, it can still be a party I suppose.
People complained about the police presence at Hangout this year, but I feel like Forecastle takes the cake for that.
No, I'm not one of those guys that can't enjoy music without smoking green, but it seems crappy to have Widespread Panic and The Flaming Lips headline your fest and then yank people out of the crowd by their hair and slam them to the ground before cuffing them and dragging them out for something stupid like smoking a jay. They were the dickiest cops I've ever been around.
But Umphrey's McGee and the DBTs put on pretty sick shows in 2010, so it wasn't all bad.
I hear ya. I stuck with only drinking at Forecastle 2010 (because I was with an older cousin who isn't at all into the other kind of "partying"). Not that I have to do that stuff but it would've been nice because that Lips show was the 2nd greatest show I've ever seen, even with everything I've seen at Bonnaroo. Ya know what really helped? The smaller crowd. Enjoyed it so much more than the overwhelming crowds of Bonnaroo. And as it turns out I didn't really need to drink that much, of course what I had been drinking was something like rum and cokes. I spent all of "Yoshimi" in the port-o-potties underneath the expressway overpass puking my guts out. That kinda sucked but still the 2nd best show I've been to.
I'm going to All Good - and I'm excited about it being in my backyard, so to speak, - but I wouldn't be surprised if there was a greater police presence at All Good this year than in previous years at MM. At Hookahville, which is held at LV, you see state troopers pulling over cars as they exit the interstate. And those cars get tossed, too. They go through everything. The local sheriff's department also maintains a presence within the 'ville, both a plain-clothed and uniformed one, and I don't see how that will be different at AG. I also think area police already know about AG and its jam-centric lineup. I had a friend, who I went to college with and who happens to be a local police officer, post an AG link on my facebook page. The fact the festival's not on Labor Day or Memorial Day, like Hookahville, means they can devote more manpower to it, as opposed to worrying about both Hookahville and the holiday traffic on the roads. Still, it goes without saying: If you don't do anything wrong, you have nothing to worry about, both on the road into the fest and within the fest grounds itself. And by the way, LV is a nice spot to see a show. The concert area is a natural amphitheater, with a hillside - with trees on both sides - stretching back from the stage area, which stands on flat ground. There's also a nice pond and fountain on the grounds that you'll likely be able to see while standing on the hill.
