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Can you elaborate on the vibes you didn't like? From other posts it sounds like lots of youngins n bros, but I need some clarification.
(GF and I have contemplated FireFly for the past 3 years and were sure we'd do it in 2016 but with the logistical problems I've read about, if the crowd and vibes are cruddy too we might pass yet again.)
Proximity to the Jersey Shore is evident.
I think you're overstating the Jersey Shore factor here. While it's true that a lot of obnoxious people both live in New Jersey (could have just as easily said the United States) and attend Firefly, the demographic that stood out to me was college students who viewed the festival as an opportunity to get shitfaced for a long weekend in an unregulated environment and trash the place without facing any repercussions. I'm not saying it was solely due to large numbers of college students, but what I witnessed this weekend is very similar to the kind of behavior I've experienced as a student and an employee at a university. This behavior was quite prevalent in the campgrounds, and many of them were not from New Jersey. To the folks here who are college students, I doubt this applies to you. Based on the way you interact with each other on this board, you all seem like pretty responsible, considerate, and civilized human beings.
That being said, there is a larger underlying attendee issue that isn't necessarily tied to any specific demographic (geography, age, etc.), and it's becoming more and more apparent at all music festivals. Festivals are the "popular" thing to do these days, and for whatever reason (most likely the ease with which people can trash the place and not have to worry about being considerate to others), they are attracting a very undesirable audience. I think this will continue to be the case until the festival bubble bursts and festivals are no longer the "it" thing to do. I don't have an issue with people wanting to party, but I get the impression that some people almost view the music as secondary and the partying as their first priority.
Morrissey sounded great. The band was phenomenal, and he still has great pipes.
Agreed. I was there with my two friends, and I really enjoyed myself. I appreciate that he ran through almost all of his most recognizable solo material. My only gripe was not hearing "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out" or "This Charming Man". Plus, getting close for Morrissey put us in excellent position for Paul (eight rows back, right of center). I was initially intending on leaving Morrissey early to catch some of Modest Mouse, but decided that missing a partial set of Modest Mouse was well worth it to get a great spot for Paul.
You must have been near us. I was right in the middle, but just behind the muddy madness. I may have been behind you. I thought about sticking around for Paul, but the heat just about wiped this old man out. I was happy watching from the back for him.
Post by Swedish Chef on Jun 22, 2015 19:30:12 GMT -5
In all, I saw 13 full sets and 8 partial sets. Top 5 for me were: 1) Paul, 2) The Killers, 3) Twin Peaks, 4) Cage the Elephant, and 5) Spoon. Morrissey and BRONCHO were also great sets. I went to Paul with a good idea of what to expect, but as someone who has loved the Beatles for many years, it was still an incredibly surreal experience. Say what you will about the Killers not having the chops to headline, but they put on a terrific show. And while I think he should keep his mouth shut more often, Brandon Flowers has great showmanship. I only saw about 30 minutes of Twin Peaks due to a conflict with Jungle, but they absolutely slayed. These guys have so much raw energy, but they do it without being sloppy.
In all, I saw 13 full sets and 8 partial sets. Top 5 for me were: 1) Paul, 2) The Killers, 3) Twin Peaks, 4) Cage the Elephant, and 5) Spoon. Morrissey and BRONCHO were also great sets. I went to Paul with a good idea of what to expect, but as someone who has loved the Beatles for many years, it was still an incredibly surreal experience. Say what you will about the Killers not having the chops to headline, but they put on a terrific show. And while I think he should keep his mouth shut more often, Brandon Flowers has great showmanship. I only saw about 30 minutes of Twin Peaks due to a conflict with Jungle, but they absolutely slayed. These guys have so much raw energy, but they do it without being sloppy.
I should have added Twin Peaks to my list. They were a great surprise for me on Thursday night. Every song they literally played so aggressively they fell down.
In all, I saw 13 full sets and 8 partial sets. Top 5 for me were: 1) Paul, 2) The Killers, 3) Twin Peaks, 4) Cage the Elephant, and 5) Spoon. Morrissey and BRONCHO were also great sets. I went to Paul with a good idea of what to expect, but as someone who has loved the Beatles for many years, it was still an incredibly surreal experience. Say what you will about the Killers not having the chops to headline, but they put on a terrific show. And while I think he should keep his mouth shut more often, Brandon Flowers has great showmanship. I only saw about 30 minutes of Twin Peaks due to a conflict with Jungle, but they absolutely slayed. These guys have so much raw energy, but they do it without being sloppy.
Yooo Broncho was great I was rockin out on the left side of the stage with some random dude killing it on the air guitar
I finally have caught up on sleep and wanted to chime in on Firefly. I had a fun weekend and that was solely based on the music I saw and the friends I brought with me. As far as the Festival goes, the only way I will be back is if the headliners are out of this world!
Pros: MUSIC!! Thursday was a fun night minus the mud. Panama Wedding was fun. Ryn Weaver was just as good the 2nd time around and Jungle was fantastic.Walked through the mud and caught X Ambassadors and finished the night with Tycho. Friday was a good day that ended with a RTJ 30 mins and Paul was just as amazing the 2nd time around. Cage put on a great show with so much energy. Awol (I know I will catch shit) was a good show. Their sound is so much harder live. Saturday the rains came but the day overall was good. Andrew mcMahon was great and Gary Clark was good. 3rd row for Night Terrors of 1927. They put on a fun and intimate show. Next was Matt and Kim and that was a shitshow. I understand the people up front had a fun time but god they were awful. I now understand what people who hate Twenty One Pilots must feel like. The stage antics and schtick were horrible and I couldnt believe these people made money. We decided to skip KOL to rest up for Sunday and my 5 year in the making date with the Killers. We were at the gates when they made the call about evacuation so no harm no foul on that one. Sunday was good. Caught Falls and a little bit of Cold War Kids. Watched Hozier and he was just a great as he was at Roo. Skipped Snoop to catch Tove Lo as to be closer to the Killers. Loved every minute of the Killers and they rocked and I was happy.
Cons: The Festival atmosphere. Maybe I am now a Bonnaroo snob but this festival is just shit. The overall atmosphere is of a college weekend. Saying that no one in particular was a douchbag directly to me. The campgrounds are just filled with bros and college girls who just drink and play drinking games and looking for their flower crowns and mom shorts (Which they just bought to wear for the weekend). The people around us be it from New Jersey or Pennsylvania or wherever were funny and pleasant. I just didnt get the campground vibe I get at Roo. No one really introduced themselves or asked if we needed help with anything. They didnt have to its just fun to learn about your neighbors and where they are from and who they are excited to see. Insiode the festival I will say they did the best they could with the evac and the mud situatuion so I will give them that. The water situation is the worst as everyone is saying. I have never counted but Bonnaroo has at least 8-12 water stations and the flow is great. Longest wait this year for water was maybe 2 mins. we waited less than 5 mins once in three days. This is unacceptable from this festival! It is a health hazard on the hot days and is just plain ignorant on the festivals part. Someone mentioned the cleanliness and the lack of recycling. They have recycling trash bins but they could use a lot more! The attendees at the festival were just taking water and Gatorade bottles and just throwing them on the ground when a receptacle was a mere 15 feet further away. Just plain lazyness, rudeness and complete apathy. The vibe for this festival just didnt seem to be there this year. I didnt pay $300 to listen to bros and people talk through entire sets. Hozier was good but everyone around us just wanted to talk all the time except Take Me to Church as its the only song they know. I may be in the minority there but I go to music festivals to see and hear music not you talking. The people walking through the crowds were also annoying and happen everywhere but the overall demographic didnt seem to care if you had been in a spot for hours or not before just trying to barge through you in groups of 8 to get closer to the front. At least at Roo they say excuse me.
Thats the end of my rant. Like I said I had a good time but thats cause of the artist and my friends. If they get like Mumford, Muse, and Springsteen I will reconsider.
I think you're overstating the Jersey Shore factor here. While it's true that a lot of obnoxious people both live in New Jersey (could have just as easily said the United States) and attend Firefly, the demographic that stood out to me was college students who viewed the festival as an opportunity to get shitfaced for a long weekend in an unregulated environment and trash the place without facing any repercussions. I'm not saying it was solely due to large numbers of college students, but what I witnessed this weekend is very similar to the kind of behavior I've experienced as a student and an employee at a university. This behavior was quite prevalent in the campgrounds, and many of them were not from New Jersey. To the folks here who are college students, I doubt this applies to you. Based on the way you interact with each other on this board, you all seem like pretty responsible, considerate, and civilized human beings.
That being said, there is a larger underlying attendee issue that isn't necessarily tied to any specific demographic (geography, age, etc.), and it's becoming more and more apparent at all music festivals. Festivals are the "popular" thing to do these days, and for whatever reason (most likely the ease with which people can trash the place and not have to worry about being considerate to others), they are attracting a very undesirable audience. I think this will continue to be the case until the festival bubble bursts and festivals are no longer the "it" thing to do. I don't have an issue with people wanting to party, but I get the impression that some people almost view the music as secondary and the partying as their first priority.
This is spot on I think. This was my 3rd year at Firefly, and each year I've seen more and more 'kids' who are there for no other real purpose than to get completely shitfaced. Seeing good music is not the goal. It's all about getting fucked up. I couldn't even count the number of people I saw this year barfing in the lawn, passed out along the fence lines (not just sleeping), being helplessly dragged around by their friends; all before 3 PM.
And trust me I don't begrudge anyone getting their party on with whatever their drink/drug of choice is. But I do feel like there's been a significant increase in the amount of people that attend the fest simply to get fucked up, with no real interest in the music itself.
I think you're overstating the Jersey Shore factor here. While it's true that a lot of obnoxious people both live in New Jersey (could have just as easily said the United States) and attend Firefly, the demographic that stood out to me was college students who viewed the festival as an opportunity to get shitfaced for a long weekend in an unregulated environment and trash the place without facing any repercussions. I'm not saying it was solely due to large numbers of college students, but what I witnessed this weekend is very similar to the kind of behavior I've experienced as a student and an employee at a university. This behavior was quite prevalent in the campgrounds, and many of them were not from New Jersey. To the folks here who are college students, I doubt this applies to you. Based on the way you interact with each other on this board, you all seem like pretty responsible, considerate, and civilized human beings.
That being said, there is a larger underlying attendee issue that isn't necessarily tied to any specific demographic (geography, age, etc.), and it's becoming more and more apparent at all music festivals. Festivals are the "popular" thing to do these days, and for whatever reason (most likely the ease with which people can trash the place and not have to worry about being considerate to others), they are attracting a very undesirable audience. I think this will continue to be the case until the festival bubble bursts and festivals are no longer the "it" thing to do. I don't have an issue with people wanting to party, but I get the impression that some people almost view the music as secondary and the partying as their first priority.
This is spot on I think. This was my 3rd year at Firefly, and each year I've seen more and more 'kids' who are there for no other real purpose than to get completely shitfaced. Seeing good music is not the goal. It's all about getting fucked up. I couldn't even count the number of people I saw this year barfing in the lawn, passed out along the fence lines (not just sleeping), being helplessly dragged around by their friends; all before 3 PM.
And trust me I don't begrudge anyone getting their party on with whatever their drink/drug of choice is. But I do feel like there's been a significant increase in the amount of people that attend the fest simply to get fucked up, with no real interest in the music itself.
I think you're overstating the Jersey Shore factor here. While it's true that a lot of obnoxious people both live in New Jersey (could have just as easily said the United States) and attend Firefly, the demographic that stood out to me was college students who viewed the festival as an opportunity to get shitfaced for a long weekend in an unregulated environment and trash the place without facing any repercussions. I'm not saying it was solely due to large numbers of college students, but what I witnessed this weekend is very similar to the kind of behavior I've experienced as a student and an employee at a university. This behavior was quite prevalent in the campgrounds, and many of them were not from New Jersey. To the folks here who are college students, I doubt this applies to you. Based on the way you interact with each other on this board, you all seem like pretty responsible, considerate, and civilized human beings.
That being said, there is a larger underlying attendee issue that isn't necessarily tied to any specific demographic (geography, age, etc.), and it's becoming more and more apparent at all music festivals. Festivals are the "popular" thing to do these days, and for whatever reason (most likely the ease with which people can trash the place and not have to worry about being considerate to others), they are attracting a very undesirable audience. I think this will continue to be the case until the festival bubble bursts and festivals are no longer the "it" thing to do. I don't have an issue with people wanting to party, but I get the impression that some people almost view the music as secondary and the partying as their first priority.
I couldn't even count the number of people I saw this year barfing in the lawn, passed out along the fence lines (not just sleeping), being helplessly dragged around by their friends; all before 3 PM.
Gonna post a full review tomorrow of the music (wait, what, music? who goes to music festivals for that?), but I just have to say that this was so true and disconcerting. On Sunday I saw some kid face down on the ground near the port-a-potties around 3 pm, maaaaybe 4, just vomiting all over the place and his friend/gf/whoever he was with looked only mildly concerned. Fast forward an HOUR later, after I left Phox, I walked by that same spot and he was still there, but at this point completely passed out and the chick with him hadn't done anything about it!! I wanted to go up and like ask to pick him up and take him somewhere but luckily at that point a security guard was finally making his way over.
That was just one example. Kids partied way too hard way too early in the heat of the day, and I just don't understand why you'd pay ~$300 to go do that at a music festival and inadvertently miss the actual music by way of being too fucked up. Each to their own, to some degree, but it was really unsettling to see everywhere I turned.
Considering you've found the need to respond to my threads as if you are threatened by me I offer you some peace my confused counterpart. May you find peace in your restless soul.
I couldn't even count the number of people I saw this year barfing in the lawn, passed out along the fence lines (not just sleeping), being helplessly dragged around by their friends; all before 3 PM.
Gonna post a full review tomorrow of the music (wait, what, music? who goes to music festivals for that?), but I just have to say that this was so true and disconcerting. On Sunday I saw some kid face down on the ground near the port-a-potties around 3 pm, maaaaybe 4, just vomiting all over the place and his friend/gf/whoever he was with looked only mildly concerned. Fast forward an HOUR later, after I left Phox, I walked by that same spot and he was still there, but at this point completely passed out and the chick with him hadn't done anything about it!! I wanted to go up and like ask to pick him up and take him somewhere but luckily at that point a security guard was finally making his way over.
That was just one example. Kids partied way too hard way too early in the heat of the day, and I just don't understand why you'd pay ~$300 to go do that at a music festival and inadvertently miss the actual music by way of being too fucked up. Each to their own, to some degree, but it was really unsettling to see everywhere I turned.
Yup. A perfect example of what unfortunately was happening all over the place, all weekend. I will say that I personally had no poor experiences with anyone at the festival. No one was rude or did anything fucked up to my wife or I, so it wasn't a direct effect. It was just unfortunate to see so many people having such a rough go of it, albeit by their own doing.
Post by tapdancingtonydanza on Jun 22, 2015 23:10:33 GMT -5
Man if kids wanna get super drunk and pass out and miss the music, thats not bugging me... Less people in the crowd and when i walk by and see it. its not like its affecting me in an way. They gotta just keep on livin yano L I V I N
Had a different experience of course because I stayed at a hotel, but the lack of water refills are greatly concerning as everyone has said. I bought so many Gatorades and Waters. The evacuation was surprisingly handled well, though I was stuck in the backyard shortcut for a while and getting the cars out of the parking lot was atrocious. But other than that, it was pretty easy to park and get out every other day, especially on Sunday.
Friday was definitely the best for me. I thought Modest Mouse were really good and was happy they played Ocean Breathes Salty second. Left two songs early and got a surprisingly strong spot for Paul. I've seen Paul 5 times now, but with 90,000 backup singers, this has to be not only my favorite Paul concert but possibly my favorite one ever. Heard so many people walking back say "best experience of my life"/"that was amazing." Killers and Spoon were two other favorites of mine, especially Spoon because I was quite close. My only disappointment artist-wise was Borns, just because I went to the coffee-house thinking he'd at least play his four songs on his EP, but he only played 2 and 2 covers and left with over 10 minutes left. Don't know why--other coffeehouse performers used all 30 minutes and did a great job. Oh, and I wasn't impressed with Matt and Kim--seeing them once was enough. They put on an entertaining show I guess, but the talking and random beats thrown in between songs is annoying.
Pavilion was cool but did bleed into main stage if too far back.
If I choose to go again, I'll have to consider VIP--seems too ideal with the shortcuts, extra space, water, etc. Worth the money.
Oh and for one final lol firefly moment of 2015, those tons of shirts sold with "Walk the Mood" on the back.
P.S. Yes, please if someone has AXS videos, post them. I did hear some SiriusXM streams driving back and forth, which was cool but I'd love to see the ones on TV. (don't have it on my cable)
I found it hilarious how no one I talked to complained that Kings of Leon cancelled cause of the storm. This is my 3th Firefly and I have to say that the people have been noticeably getting worse unfortunately. I mean Saturday night I thought there was gonna be a riot some guys even climbed the sound towers in the middle of a thunderstorm. Still, a lot of negative people thankfully evens out with a lot of awesome people, ive determined that this experience is heavily influenced by who you camp next to. We got lucky and all our surroundings neighbors were incredible! Honestly had a great time as always but after expriencing Roo, damn did the lack of water refill station bug the heck out of me! I must have spent $50 on random people who were severely dehydrated and rolling. It's ridiculous that each line would take 40 minutes! Had a blast all 4 days, even with the crappy weather. Honestly Paul McCartney alone was unbelievable. I must have been 7 rows back from him(sears well worth over $700) and I cried and sometimes just became enamoured by the fact I was 20 ft from a Beatle. He is simply the greatest performer and musician icon ever. There is no comparison. Hearing artists like Andy Hall of Man Or, Cage the Elephant, and The Killers the next day talking about him like the legend he is just made me go woah. His performance kind of reminds of an episode of Mr Rogers Neighborhood. Like an experience we have together with a beginning, middle, and end, giving anecdotes throughout and treating you like a genuine friend. I'll never forget it. Other than Paul, nothing stood out too much Manchester Orchestra, Spoon, Gary Clark Jr, The Killers and Jungle were fantastic. Honestly very surprised by The Killers, cause I saw them the day before Firefly 2012 in a 1500 person venue and they didn't engage the crowd at all, just played song after song like a warmup or something. I think Brandon talked maybe twice. Here though he was fully engaging thiviing off the crowd! Not to mention the CCR cover was awesome! Hozier also was also really good which was not expected watching his Coachella set and seeing him play in a club setting just didn't leave me with high hopes for a festival setting but it was a great afternoon set. Snoop Dogg was a big surprise, probably the most fun time you could have with the crowd. Morrissey was actually really good and unexpected for me(figuring I was only camping out Paul). I was actually a little pissed at the crowd for booing him, I'm like he didn't go on any political rants he just showed you how your meat is made. I'm a carnivore myself, but i feel like you can get through 3 minutes of a PETA video and let him exercise his right of freedom of speech without booing it because you don't wanna see how your food is made - random annoyance. A bit of a bummer was Cage the Elephant, whom seemed lackluster on the main stage as opposed to the Backyard last year. But I'll forgive em' because they are normally quite awesome. Bahamas was really great but the crowd was terrible, constantly talking over him. Honestly every performance was fine, even the popish indie rock bands. The only downright terrible performance was Chiddy Bang (BAGGAGE - CLAIM!) what the heck kind of chant was that. And Kid Cudi was lackluster, the storm hupla was more entertaining that the rest of that night could have been. Singing and chanting once everyone figured out traffic was a blast! Depending on how the job sitch looks, I'll be back next year cause of proxImity. But as I explore other fests, I'm definitely gonna have to start choosing between Roo and firefly as 2 weekends In a row is pretty exhausting. I'm just hoping the festival popularity bubble burst so the attendees can be more music focus and less focused on beer bonging PBR's out of a boot and popping a few pills they got from their dads medicine cabinet as they walk through a festival in 90 degree heat. Just crossin my fingers that Red Frogs method of putting Firefly on the map by getting Sir Paul works out and we have a solid balance of headliners/under cards and awesome vibe next year.
I'm pleasantly surprised that they gave Chainsmokers the closing spot over Aoki...I'm going to pretend it was intentional and had nothing to do with Aoki needing to leave early or something.
On a completely random note are you also on beeradvocate as abagofit? I was just reading something on treehouse and saw that username pop up.
For those of you who saw Paul both here and at Roo, how did his performance at FF compare?
Very similar. Roo was longer. Firefly did not get "All Together Now" or -- believe it or not -- "Yesterday." But, he's been telling the same jokes, stories, etc for a few years now. His timing is impeccable on the jokes now.
HUGE crowd, most of whom had never seen him. The excitement in that group was palpable, and really made the moment enjoyable for me, too. I was fairly close for Roo, so I went to the back this time knowing I could enjoy the stage exploding in fireworks from there.
The whole thing with young people getting too drunk and missing acts is honestly not surprising. When you run a 18+ fest (loosely, I've never seen one of the many people there who look under 18 carded), you draw a crowd of people who don't have the ability to freely drink very often and aren't used to being able to get as belligerent as they want. I can attest, my first year I went as a fresh high school graduate and missed almost all of Sunday because I was too busy trying to "impress" people by being the most drunk. We've all been through that stage, and you can't realistically go to a festival like this and expect otherwise. Eventually the kids doing it will grow up and stop paying $300 to black out in the middle of the woods or decide to put the music first (I chose the latter obviously) It's close to a lot of major cities and generally more affordable than other big fests, and until that isn't the case it'll keep attracting the young, irresponsible crowd.
As a first timer this past year I was extremely satisfied by the whole experience. I have done roo the past 2 years and wasn't expecting Firefly to even match the magic that the farm has. I was wrong. Even though Firefly doesn't have the artistic style that Bonnaroo has, this festival had enough attractions and good music to keep me happy the whole time.
I may be a little biased though because I went with two of my friends who had never been to a festival before, so I was basically double excited just because of that.
THE GREAT:
Sound Quality & Stage Layout - The sound quality from every stage I encountered was excellent (besides the Porch). I also liked how the only tent was the Pavilion stage. Sometimes at Bonnaroo I felt isolated from the music due to how quickly packed the tents get, so this was a major pro for me.
Beercade - This thing was so much fun and the A/C was refreshing on the hot days. All of the free games really made that place a crazy good time.
Paul McCartney - I saw him at roo in 2013 and nothing can ever top that performance, however the show was just as magical.
Jungle - They really did their thing up there.
The Lines - I honestly didn't find myself waiting longer than 10 minutes for anything (food, water, etc.). However I did not use any water refill stations as I just purchased bottled water the whole time or snuck it in my bag (the security didn't check my bag one time upon entering the festival).
Snoop - My first Snoop show and he didn't disappoint. The whole set was a party, and aside from all the frat bros, it was a really good time.
Companion Car - My friends got a parking pass and every day we were able to leave the festival and hit up the dinner/Wal-Mart which was really nice. The only way to do this festival right is to have a companion car.
THE NOT SO GREAT:
Chiddy Bang - Probably up there with one of the worst things I have ever seen. Yeah he had technical difficulties, but even if there weren't any, it would have still be awful.
The Mud - No explanation needed.
Lack of Direction - When I arrived late Wednesday night, I had no idea where I was going and it didn't help that there wasn't anybody to direct me. I finally drove through a series of zig zags in a random field and arrived at two people who saw my parking pass and sent me in. No checks, no anything. Luckily I got into pod 7 and was close to an entrance.
The Food - I actually thought the food was decent, however a better variety would haven been nice.
Prices - I know festivals are all expensive, however for some reason I felt this was the priciest festival I have ever been to.
Staff - The staff didn't seem to know anything about the festival. My friend lost their wallet and we looked for an info booth for what seemed like forever. When we finally found one, the staff told us they had no idea where it was.
All in all, I had a great time and would seriously consider coming back next year if the lineup is good, however the lack of organization was disheartening.
Thursday night (really Friday morning), I was awakened around 4:00 AM by a disturbance in my tent. Our tent has two entrances, and one is a screened-in area where you can escape the bugs, if needed. My cot sits directly inside this "door" which we never really use. The flaps were open, so my cot was sitting in a window, essentially.
Around 4:00, there is some commotion in the "porch" and I hear my cooking stuff getting rustled around. I was sharing my tent with my son, so I assumed it was him, but it continued. I rolled over, hoping to see a raccoon, but there was someone there, struggling big-time with removing their boots. I am blind without my glasses, so I had no idea who this was. I resumed my vision, and realized this was an individual completely out of their mind, with no clue as to where he was. He finally got his boots off while I was telling him he was in the wrong place. He insisted he was at his tent and unzipped the door. I re-zipped. He unzipped. I re-zipped. This went on for a while. Eventually, I asked him why I would be in HIS tent. This may have caused brain damage because he went silent and motionless for a while.
Then he waved, and walked away.
I wondered the next morning if this was a dream. My son heard NONE of it. But, one of my neighbors asked if someone had tried to get into our tent, I was decided it was real. Then I saw the guy when I walked to the portos. Still wearing his UMD Terrapin shorts and wandering in the mud with a single boot, he still looked lost. I was going to introduce myself, but decided against making him think.
I'm glad he stopped, or you may have read about me in the news.
Last Edit: Jun 23, 2015 8:39:51 GMT -5 by roro - Back to Top
Thursday night (really Friday morning), I was awakened around 4:00 AM by a disturbance in my tent. Our tent has two entrances, and one is a screened-in area where you can escape the bugs, if needed. My cot sits directly inside this "door" which we never really use. The flaps were open, so my cot was sitting in a window, essentially.
Around 4:00, there is some commotion in the "porch" and I hear my cooking stuff getting rustled around. I was sharing my tent with my son, so I assumed it was him, but it continued. I rolled over, hoping to see a raccoon, but there was someone there, struggling big-time with removing their boots. I am blind without my glasses, so I had no idea who this was. I resumed my vision, and realized this was an individual completely out of their mind, with no clue as to where he was. He finally got his boots off while I was telling him he was in the wrong place. He insisted he was at his tent and unzipped the door. I re-zipped. He unzipped. I re-zipped. This went on for a while. Eventually, I asked him why I would be in HIS tent. This may have caused brain damage because he went silent and motionless for a while.
Then he waved, and walked away.
I wondered the next morning if this was a dream. My son heard NONE of it. But, one of my neighbors asked if someone had tried to get into our tent, I was decided it was real. Then I saw the guy when I walked to the portos. Still wearing his UMD Terrapin shorts and wandering in the mud with a single boot, he still looked lost. I was going to introduce myself, but decided against making him think.
I'm glad he stopped, or you may have read about me in the news.
Were you in premier? I took a walk to the hub and I got several texts at 6AM Friday from my wife saying some weird dude was trying to get in our tent, asked her to charge his cellphone, and then tried to lay down right outside the tent. By the time I got back he was gone.
I also had an odd camping situation in that our neighbors left Thursday morning. 2 20 year old girls who drove from Michigan but then decided they weren't fully prepared, sold their wristbands and took off.
I think you're overstating the Jersey Shore factor here. While it's true that a lot of obnoxious people both live in New Jersey (could have just as easily said the United States) and attend Firefly, the demographic that stood out to me was college students who viewed the festival as an opportunity to get shitfaced for a long weekend in an unregulated environment and trash the place without facing any repercussions. I'm not saying it was solely due to large numbers of college students, but what I witnessed this weekend is very similar to the kind of behavior I've experienced as a student and an employee at a university. This behavior was quite prevalent in the campgrounds, and many of them were not from New Jersey. To the folks here who are college students, I doubt this applies to you. Based on the way you interact with each other on this board, you all seem like pretty responsible, considerate, and civilized human beings.
That being said, there is a larger underlying attendee issue that isn't necessarily tied to any specific demographic (geography, age, etc.), and it's becoming more and more apparent at all music festivals. Festivals are the "popular" thing to do these days, and for whatever reason (most likely the ease with which people can trash the place and not have to worry about being considerate to others), they are attracting a very undesirable audience. I think this will continue to be the case until the festival bubble bursts and festivals are no longer the "it" thing to do. I don't have an issue with people wanting to party, but I get the impression that some people almost view the music as secondary and the partying as their first priority.
It's not the partying that gets me, it's the general lack of self-awareness and their impact on everyone else. I don't begrudge anyone a good time, because god knows I'm drinking and partying too, but I'm always aware of whether or not my good time is ruining someone else's.
Perfect example: You said you were at the back of premier, by 1831 right? So you were on the other side of the massive crew that brought a car port? I was right by 1835 also along the fence. My closer neighbors and I had a nice drinking/bonding session over our mutual hatred of them Sunday morning. This is my only major complaint about the atmosphere in premier - among the awesome things they did - brag repeatedly about how many lines they did the previous day, chug handles of liquor and catcall girls, loudly yell one line from The Kooks - Naive (I KNOW THAT SHE KNOWS) OVER AND OVER AND OVER from about 6 AM to Noon when the campgrounds were actually silent. Then during the evacuation, they didn't take one thing down at their campsite and blasted music all night long. Like feel the bass lines through the ground loud...again I get it, you're at a festival, but you don't have to pretend your campsite is the 8th stage and DJ all night.
Overall for the festival itself - I've posted about logistics and they did try to do things about the mud after Thursday, and there's nothing you can do about the weather. But the terrible staff (my latest favorite was security guards yelling at everyone in VIP to stop sitting on the steps on the fences, then standing there themselves and videoing songs) and worst water station placement ever, most people still think there were only 2 but there were actually 3 - 2 of them were tucked away by the pavilion and coffee house, one was out in the open at the forest. So at your literally 3 biggest stages, there's no access to free water. That's ridiculous.
As for the VIP, it was great at the Lawn and Backyard stages - the AC tent was much needed relief and being able to walk quickly from one side of the festival to the other helped with even beating the rush to the Main stage on one of those many Lawn->Main treks.
However - they ran out of water constantly Friday/Saturday - and when they did restock, it was warm. They certainly had enough to keep selling on ice for $4 a bottle.
Sunday, I guess people were selling/giving away VIP wristbands that they cut off - then someone would walk into VIP with it, pass it back over the fence and then bring in more people from their crew. I only saw one group get busted and that's because they were ridiculously obvious and doing it at Empire of the Sun, where the VIP area was relatively empty.
The Main Stage VIP was great for actual concert-going, but I thought the loft part of it was pretty pointless. They would have been better off with a larger AC tent like the other area.
Friday started off terrible as the rest of my friends got there at 9AM and were expecting a shuttle to premier. After waiting an hour, someone finally said that they weren't running and they had to walk from overnight to premier camping. They got there with all of their stuff at about 11. They were in just got to the festival party mode after that and we drank a little too much. Went to see Manchester Orchestra but then my gf and I had to go back to the car to take a break so we would be all good for RTJ -> Macca
Paul was awesome as expected - would have loved All Together Now and Yesterday - surprised they got cut out. Though I had a slightly beer-fueled lash out at a group of younger kids who stopped behind us and started laughing and talking loudly for a minute at the beginning of Blackbird - I told them they needed to listen and appreciate it. To which they responded, "Yeah man, we know," and then looked dumbfounded when I followed that up with, "Well, then how about you shut the fuck up then." Which made them continue on their merry ignorant way...
Missing 4 bands I wanted to see Saturday after the cancellation put a damper on things because I really was starting to feel good after Andrew McMahon, Sturgill Simpson, Matt and Kim, Foster the People...even when they moved the times around and I missed Sublime, I had an awesome spot lined up in VIP for KOL when the evac notice came through. (They handled the evac pretty flawlessly and communicated via the app excellently - rare move - whomever is in charge of RedFrog disaster planning should be promoted to overall festival planning.)
Andrew McMahon was my surprise awesome set of the festival - someone in my crew is a huge fan - so we all went in for that whole set and it was great.
I enjoyed Sunday a lot too despite the heat - went in for Cold War Kids, then got a great spot for Hozier, back to the main stage for Bastille, Snoop was so packed even in VIP that I went to Empire of the Sun and thoroughly enjoyed their weirdness, followed up with a great spot again for the Killers who really brought it.
Me actually going back would totally be top of the lineup dependent at this point. They have a great festival area, book a lineup that I enjoy, but the general frustration caused by the ineptitude of their staff would hit at the most inopportune times and pull you out of whatever you were enjoying.
Sunday seemed to be the only frustration free day for me, where I actually sat back at one point and was like, "Yep, that's why I love going to these things."
Last Edit: Jun 23, 2015 8:58:58 GMT -5 by usty - Back to Top
6/5-6/6 - Gentleman of the Road - Seaside
6/17-6/21 - Firefly
7/22 - U2 @ MSG
9/5-9/6 - Made in America - Philly
Thursday night (really Friday morning), I was awakened around 4:00 AM by a disturbance in my tent. Our tent has two entrances, and one is a screened-in area where you can escape the bugs, if needed. My cot sits directly inside this "door" which we never really use. The flaps were open, so my cot was sitting in a window, essentially.
Around 4:00, there is some commotion in the "porch" and I hear my cooking stuff getting rustled around. I was sharing my tent with my son, so I assumed it was him, but it continued. I rolled over, hoping to see a raccoon, but there was someone there, struggling big-time with removing their boots. I am blind without my glasses, so I had no idea who this was. I resumed my vision, and realized this was an individual completely out of their mind, with no clue as to where he was. He finally got his boots off while I was telling him he was in the wrong place. He insisted he was at his tent and unzipped the door. I re-zipped. He unzipped. I re-zipped. This went on for a while. Eventually, I asked him why I would be in HIS tent. This may have caused brain damage because he went silent and motionless for a while.
Then he waved, and walked away.
I wondered the next morning if this was a dream. My son heard NONE of it. But, one of my neighbors asked if someone had tried to get into our tent, I was decided it was real. Then I saw the guy when I walked to the portos. Still wearing his UMD Terrapin shorts and wandering in the mud with a single boot, he still looked lost. I was going to introduce myself, but decided against making him think.
I'm glad he stopped, or you may have read about me in the news.
This reminds me of Woodstock 99. Had a girl unzip my GF and mines tent and just lay down in between us at like 3-4am. I said hi and she was like oh your not Dave? I said no and she said oh sorry and got up out of our tent and went on her merry way.
I think you're overstating the Jersey Shore factor here. While it's true that a lot of obnoxious people both live in New Jersey (could have just as easily said the United States) and attend Firefly, the demographic that stood out to me was college students who viewed the festival as an opportunity to get shitfaced for a long weekend in an unregulated environment and trash the place without facing any repercussions. I'm not saying it was solely due to large numbers of college students, but what I witnessed this weekend is very similar to the kind of behavior I've experienced as a student and an employee at a university. This behavior was quite prevalent in the campgrounds, and many of them were not from New Jersey. To the folks here who are college students, I doubt this applies to you. Based on the way you interact with each other on this board, you all seem like pretty responsible, considerate, and civilized human beings.
That being said, there is a larger underlying attendee issue that isn't necessarily tied to any specific demographic (geography, age, etc.), and it's becoming more and more apparent at all music festivals. Festivals are the "popular" thing to do these days, and for whatever reason (most likely the ease with which people can trash the place and not have to worry about being considerate to others), they are attracting a very undesirable audience. I think this will continue to be the case until the festival bubble bursts and festivals are no longer the "it" thing to do. I don't have an issue with people wanting to party, but I get the impression that some people almost view the music as secondary and the partying as their first priority.
It's not the partying that gets me, it's the general lack of self-awareness and their impact on everyone else. I don't begrudge anyone a good time, because god knows I'm drinking and partying too, but I'm always aware of whether or not my good time is ruining someone else's.
You hit the nail on the head with this comment. A "general lack of self-awareness" is a perfect way to describe the people whose behavior made the festival much less enjoyable. And yes, those douchebags who camped near us were arguably some of the most obnoxious and inconsiderate people I've ever encountered. I kind of wish those storms on Saturday night destroyed their campsite. I would've selfishly enjoyed the karma. On a separate note, is it just me or were there a ridiculous number of people smoking inside the festival? It was especially bad at any well-attended show. Everywhere I looked, people were lighting up their cigarettes and blowing smoke in everyone else's faces. If you want to smoke and give yourself cancer, be my guest, but don't subject me and hundreds of other innocent bystanders to your cancer sticks. Moreover, it's ridiculous that people were permitted to smoke inside the festival, but you couldn't bring in your own snacks. How fucking asinine is that?
Thursday night (really Friday morning), I was awakened around 4:00 AM by a disturbance in my tent. Our tent has two entrances, and one is a screened-in area where you can escape the bugs, if needed. My cot sits directly inside this "door" which we never really use. The flaps were open, so my cot was sitting in a window, essentially.
Around 4:00, there is some commotion in the "porch" and I hear my cooking stuff getting rustled around. I was sharing my tent with my son, so I assumed it was him, but it continued. I rolled over, hoping to see a raccoon, but there was someone there, struggling big-time with removing their boots. I am blind without my glasses, so I had no idea who this was. I resumed my vision, and realized this was an individual completely out of their mind, with no clue as to where he was. He finally got his boots off while I was telling him he was in the wrong place. He insisted he was at his tent and unzipped the door. I re-zipped. He unzipped. I re-zipped. This went on for a while. Eventually, I asked him why I would be in HIS tent. This may have caused brain damage because he went silent and motionless for a while.
Then he waved, and walked away.
I wondered the next morning if this was a dream. My son heard NONE of it. But, one of my neighbors asked if someone had tried to get into our tent, I was decided it was real. Then I saw the guy when I walked to the portos. Still wearing his UMD Terrapin shorts and wandering in the mud with a single boot, he still looked lost. I was going to introduce myself, but decided against making him think.
I'm glad he stopped, or you may have read about me in the news.
Were you in premier? I took a walk to the hub and I got several texts at 6AM Friday from my wife saying some weird dude was trying to get in our tent, asked her to charge his cellphone, and then tried to lay down right outside the tent. By the time I got back he was gone.
I also had an odd camping situation in that our neighbors left Thursday morning. 2 20 year old girls who drove from Michigan but then decided they weren't fully prepared, sold their wristbands and took off.
I was out among the huddled masses, in Lot 1, almost directly below the red 1 on the map. Not too far from the Home Depot area.
It's not the partying that gets me, it's the general lack of self-awareness and their impact on everyone else. I don't begrudge anyone a good time, because god knows I'm drinking and partying too, but I'm always aware of whether or not my good time is ruining someone else's.
You hit the nail on the head with this comment. A "general lack of self-awareness" is a perfect way to describe the people whose behavior made the festival much less enjoyable. And yes, those douchebags who camped near us were arguably some of the most obnoxious and inconsiderate people I've ever encountered. I kind of wish those storms on Saturday night destroyed their campsite. I would've selfishly enjoyed the karma. On a separate note, is it just me or were there a ridiculous number of people smoking inside the festival? It was especially bad at any well-attended show. Everywhere I looked, people were lighting up their cigarettes and blowing smoke in everyone else's faces. If you want to smoke and give yourself cancer, be my guest, but don't subject me and hundreds of other innocent bystanders to your cancer sticks. Moreover, it's ridiculous that people were permitted to smoke inside the festival, but you couldn't bring in your own snacks. How fucking asinine is that?
I agree with the smoking thing. There was SO MUCH smoking. More than in the past, I feel--who knows. Maybe it was just the hot weather that really made it bother me. But, yes, 95% of smokers--whatever it is that they are smoking don't care where they blow it.
Post by washingtondc on Jun 23, 2015 12:01:42 GMT -5
Overall I'd say I had the best time at this year out of the three years my group has gone. Two years ago was close to as good, but we ended up leaving an entire day early, which was an extreme downer. Last year was also a great time, but this year overall was just on a level slightly higher, I think.
There were a bunch of shows that were absolutely phenomenal. Run the Jewels, Tycho, Odesza, Jungle, Empire of the Sun, and Paul I'd all give at least 9/10's to.
Other great shows/honorable mentions were Sylvan Esso, The Killers (so classy of them to devote some of their set time to a couple Kings covers), Alison Wonderland, and RJD2.
A few shows that surprised me by how enjoyable they were: Eliphant, Dizzy Wright, and the back end of Ryn Weaver's set. Kid Cudi was also a surprisingly good time, as short-lived as it was.
The only real issues my group had were:
The water refills
The shuttle not running at the scheduled times
Losing a friend-finder on the way in when it was initially said that anything under 12 feet was allowed
You can't control the weather. I thought they did a really solid job managing the mud in the instances where it was bad; each day I was surprised at how well the grounds held up and hadn't deteriorated given the fact they the damage started Wednesday/Thursday. The evacuation was handled really well, we had enough time to get back to the campsite and get everything important taken down.
We had a few first-timers, and it seemed like they all really enjoyed themselves. We never ran into any issues with people being obnoxious or belligerent. All in all, things went pretty great, especially given the multiple rainstorms. We've been pretty set on doing Roo next year, but now I'm tempted to try doing both. This year was just a great time.
Post by wufinancial on Jun 23, 2015 12:22:10 GMT -5
For people saying sound quality was great, I don't know what shows you went to see. Paul's sound was good, so was RTJ's. But if you were behind the second set of speakers at Hozier, the left side cut in and out the entire time. Empire of the Sun put on the best show of the weekend probably despite the mic's being to low, even though they were repeatedly asked to be turned up. Modest Mouse's sound was awful. If and when Goldenvoice takes over this thing, it will be so much better off. The location for the fest is amazing so I hope they get there shit together. Not that it matters, if this is what they want the fest to be then it will still succeed. The location is just too perfect and the east coast has nothing else that even compares to the size of this thing as far as any camping fests go.
For people saying sound quality was great, I don't know what shows you went to see. Paul's sound was good, so was RTJ's. But if you were behind the second set of speakers at Hozier, the left side cut in and out the entire time. Empire of the Sun put on the best show of the weekend probably despite the mic's being to low, even though they were repeatedly asked to be turned up. Modest Mouse's sound was awful. If and when Goldenvoice takes over this thing, it will be so much better off. The location for the fest is amazing so I hope they get there shit together. Not that it matters, if this is what they want the fest to be then it will still succeed. The location is just too perfect and the east coast has nothing else that even compares to the size of this thing as far as any camping fests go.
The only sound issues I noticed were on the left side of the Lawn Stage (exactly as you described). My biggest issue with the stages is the layout. I think they should swap the Pavilion and Lawn Stages so that the two biggest stages are close to each other. They can rotate shows to avoid sound bleeding.
