Whether it's your first Bonnaroo or you’re a music festival veteran, we welcome you to Inforoo.
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Post by NotMitchelBade on Apr 28, 2015 11:13:53 GMT -5
None of us really know what this means for the future of the festival, but this speculation is pretty entertaining. We can make some guesses based on other festivals they've acquired, but Bonnaroo isn't really like other festivals. That is both what makes it my favorite festival as well as one of the main things that makes it profitable, so that is probably somewhat unlikely to change. AC/SF are still handling day-to-day operations, so that also means that the spirit of the festival is unlikely to change.
At the end of the day, it's my hope that we can trust the people who have put on such a great festival for so many years to make a good business decision regarding LiveNation, too. I suppose we'll find out, but I seriously doubt much changes because of this deal. I don't think AC/SF would have made the deal if they thought they would lose too much control.
(It does suck to not be able to boast indie-cred for my hometown AC Entertainment folks to as large of an extent anymore, but that's not actually important in the end)
I can understand a disappointing lineup from time to time. I had assumed the price hike was because they thought they were goin get The Dead. Of course inflation happens, so between those two factors, I wasn't really surprised at the hike.
Then the schedule dropped. I know crowd control has a hand in this, but the schedule absolutely blows. 90 min MMJ, 45 min RTJ?
Someone did the math and it was something in the ballpark of a 14% ticket increase for 18% less amount of music being played.
The lineup really can't get much worse, but who says the schedule is going to improve in the few years? Who wouldn't want 65k people trying to waste an hour while surrounded by vendors?
Bottom line: Capital money is nice, but the more you have to answer to a corporation, the less you can stay true to the fans.
Given the amount of naked people on the farm each year, I feel like they'd run out of Tazers.
I don't think I've ever seen a fully starkers person at Bonnaroo before. A few topless people each year, but that's about it. Though perhaps I'm just jaded from this a few weeks ago:
Post by coanbread751 on Apr 28, 2015 11:30:38 GMT -5
I think FuzzyWarbles nailed it in the comment about the festival changing from what I want it to be. I totally understand that the festival is more successful and obviously appealing to more folks now than ever. I remember that the first year that I went to Roo, no one in my small town had ever heard of it before. Within five years it had practically became a rite of passage for recent graduates.
Bonnaroo is always going to have great shows. Someone mentioned Jack White's set and the D'angelo superjam, which are both shows that I am truly jealous at missing. I didn't intend my "flavor of the week" comment to apply to Sir Paul or most of the headliners in general. You can also see that there have always been "flavor of the week" bands at Bonnaroo (Matisyah anyone?). I just feel that at one point in time, I was able to fill out a weekend schedule full of bands that I wanted to check out....I just can't do that anymore. I really don't believe that this is because I am out of touch with modern music. I am only 27 years old and keep up pretty well. But will a band that I have never heard of really have a chance to blow my mind with a 40 minute set? Will Run The Jewels bring it like they could with a longer set time? I don't know the answers. But it seems to me like the longer set times acted as a true showcase. Bands were encouraged to give it all they had, try new things, and collaborate with other artists. I just don't know how much of that you get with 40 minute sets.
EDIT: The Coachella East comment was meant to compare the scheduling and effect that this has on the music and performances. Not at all about the bands, genres, or "vibes" of the festival.
At least one year....I think MLB or something similar (maybe a video game) was sponsoring it. They had a batting cage set up and some other things to do/watch.
But will a band that I have never heard of really have a chance to blow my mind with a 40 minute set?
Sure, why not?
Granted, I prefer the hour long (and hour + 15 minute) sets and that has introduced me to some of my favorite bands of all time. But it's really only another two or three songs (less if they play long songs). So for bands that will one day be the future Portugal. The Man or Vampire Weekend they can still hook people on Thursday night with a 45 minute set and then be invited back for a longer one in the future.
The one thing I'd like to see more of is giving a band (not DJ/EDM) a 3 hour late night slot again. MMJ, Flaming Lips, and Gov't Mule all had pretty epic late nights that were great because the shows would feature unique guests and they went on long enough that you could leave and come back and still catch a bunch of good music
Bonnaroo "sold out" a long time ago. I didn't even go until 2013, and I realized it wasn't the peace, love, and vibez place that they were advertising. I do feel spoiled by the year I went - 2013 was a perfect year for me as far as the lineup goes. I'm just hoping the shorter set times/fewer bands thing isn't going to continue in the future.
Bonnaroo "sold out" a long time ago. I didn't even go until 2013, and I realized it wasn't the peace, love, and vibez place that they were advertising. I do feel spoiled by the year I went - 2013 was a perfect year for me as far as the lineup goes. I'm just hoping the shorter set times/fewer bands thing isn't going to continue in the future.
There have always been good vibes there and a ton of music lovers sharing a great time. The annoying thing is when people try to act like there are NO bad vibes and there aren't any assholes that go to Bonnaroo. The way people use "radiate positivity" as a defense against certain points or arguments becomes mind-numbing.
But yea, if you're trying to have a good time you'll be able to at Roo. Just don't act like it's a magical land where everything is amazing all the time.
My first thoughts were "NOOOOOOOO" and "R.I.P. Bonnaroo", but I've calmed down a bit. My biggest fear really is more LiveNationy type bands, but Bonnaroo has always booked a few of those (by always I mean in the past few years I've attended). As long as the music cultivation team still gets us their rare and off-the-wall type acts and doesn't become another generic fest, I think we'll be fine. I'm not too worried about price hikes, because let's face it - for the folks on here who love Roo the way we do, we'll pay more to go because it's important to us. It's kinda shitty to exploit and capitalize on that, but it's true. We'd bitch about it plenty, but if the ticket price went up another $50 next year, a lot of the people on here would still go, assuming they're able to.
My hope against hope is that even though they have a controlling share in the fest, LiveNation will take a back seat on most things and are just considering Bonnaroo an investment instead of something they want to actively participate in and control. They'll offer up their money to AC/Superfly for booking and site improvements, and hopefully it will pay dividends. As long as they don't fuck around too much with the type of bands we get or the vendors available - as long as the magic and uniqueness of Bonnaroo doesn't die - I think we'll be fine.
Oh neat. Google tells me that is from Thurston Moore. He has played Bonnaroo with Sonic Youth. I bet he'll play there again in the future.
Yea, but almost every huge band that holds anti-capitalist or 'fuck the man' views play at corporate sponsored events; otherwise, they wouldn't be very successful at getting their message out or getting popular by playing small no name festivals nobody has ever heard of. Pretty sure Rage Against the Machine has played Lollapalooza and Muse has played several big name fests. This isn't really uncommon.
Bonnaroo "sold out" a long time ago. I didn't even go until 2013, and I realized it wasn't the peace, love, and vibez place that they were advertising. I do feel spoiled by the year I went - 2013 was a perfect year for me as far as the lineup goes. I'm just hoping the shorter set times/fewer bands thing isn't going to continue in the future.
There have always been good vibes there and a ton of music lovers sharing a great time. The annoying thing is when people try to act like there are NO bad vibes and there aren't any assholes that go to Bonnaroo. The way people use "radiate positivity" as a defense against certain points or arguments becomes mind-numbing.
But yea, if you're trying to have a good time you'll be able to at Roo. Just don't act like it's a magical land where everything is amazing all the time.
You pretty much just phrased word for word how I feel about Bonnaroo. It's a great place, where there are generally much fewer assholes than out in the real world and you get to see some cool bands and eat dank food.
Oh neat. Google tells me that is from Thurston Moore. He has played Bonnaroo with Sonic Youth. I bet he'll play there again in the future.
Yea, but almost every huge band that holds anti-capitalist or 'fuck the man' views play at corporate sponsored events; otherwise, they wouldn't be very successful at getting their message out or getting popular by playing small no name festivals nobody has ever heard of. Pretty sure Rage Against the Machine has played Lollapalooza and Muse has played several big name fests. This isn't really uncommon.
"Fuck the man.....but make sure I get paid by the man so I can keep telling other people that they should say 'fuck the man'"
I just found it funny that someone was using a quote against Bonnaroo/corporations by someone who has played Bonnaroo and works with those corporations.
Post by itrainmonkeys on Apr 28, 2015 11:56:21 GMT -5
Is there a list of "Live Nation Bands" anywhere? Like are they bands that Live Nation represents and books them for tours? I am a bit ignorant on this one so any info is appreciated.
Who makes guacamole happen!?!? Does a tabloid like the University of Oklahoma student paper make guacamole happen or do ME AND YOU make it exist? Just cause they write about it doesn't make guacamole exist - ME AND YOU MAKE IT EXIST!
Yea, but almost every huge band that holds anti-capitalist or 'fuck the man' views play at corporate sponsored events; otherwise, they wouldn't be very successful at getting their message out or getting popular by playing small no name festivals nobody has ever heard of. Pretty sure Rage Against the Machine has played Lollapalooza and Muse has played several big name fests. This isn't really uncommon.
"Fuck the man.....but make sure I get paid by the man so I can keep telling other people that they should say 'fuck the man'"
I just found it funny that someone was using a quote against Bonnaroo/corporations by someone who has played Bonnaroo and works with those corporations.
Hah, exactly. I've always found it odd that so many "fuck the man" bands are involved with the man. It's an interesting topic for me because I can see both sides of the argument and the criticism/rationale of it. I think RATM expressed their views on it...let me see if I can find it.
"When you live in a capitalistic society, the currency of the dissemination of information goes through capitalistic channels. Would Noam Chomsky object to his works being sold at Barnes & Noble? No, because that's where people buy their books. We're not interested in preaching to just the converted. It's great to play abandoned squats run by anarchists, but it's also great to be able to reach people with a revolutionary message, people from Granada Hills to Stuttgart." - Tom Morello
"Yeah, to get as many people as possible to join the political debate, to get the dialogue going. I was wondering today, why would anyone climb to the roof of the American Embassy with a banner that says "Free Mumia Abu-Jamal", why do you do that? That's to get the international press' attention. The international network that Sony has available, is to me the perfect tool you know, it can get even more people to join a revolutionary awareness and fight." - Zack de la Rocha
Is there a list of "Live Nation Bands" anywhere? Like are they bands that Live Nation represents and books them for tours? I am a bit ignorant on this one so any info is appreciated.
So I just want to follow up on what 3post1jack1 said about LiveNation acquiring Voodoo last year. The 2014 year was the first voodoo after the LiveNation purchase and in all actuality the lineup was stronger for 2014 than 2013 or 2011. We did lose the Toyota stage, got a smaller LOA pit and they rearranged the fest grounds, but that was mostly due to Voodoo being in the new location for only the second year and them trying to rectify issues for the first year on that location. I will admit that I was butt-hurt about a bunch of shit with Voodoo, but not the lineup. Ticket prices didn't up last year, but the did go up on presale for 2015, about $50 on LOA only. Idk know the affect is going to be on Bonnaroo, but LiveNation has a shit-ton of money behind it and I think that they are going to drive artist that are touring at the time to Bonnaroo instead of a show in the area. But you know what? I am seeing a bunch of LiveNation artists playing at Champion Square instead of Voodoo 2015, so what the fuck do I know.
EDIT: Also, everyone I know was bitching about the LiveNation Voodoo buyout last year.
Is there a list of "Live Nation Bands" anywhere? Like are they bands that Live Nation represents and books them for tours? I am a bit ignorant on this one so any info is appreciated.
coanbread751 may very well be a Jamband fan. I'm sure he enjoys those acts. The main aspect he highlighted about his Roo experiences that he couldn't get at another festival were things like Radiohead's 2007 set, MMJ playing for four hours after midnight in the rain, the epic collaborations a SuperJam can bring, and discovering a band like Mars Volta at 2 am. I think his concern was More about Bonnaroo losing its uniqueness and not about it moving away from a jam scene.
Yeah, it's almost like the last few years haven't featured the consensus best superjams ever (Jim James and D'Angel0), or what many consider to be Jack White's best show ever, or rare festival appearances from the legendary Nick Cave during LN, or Paul McCartney, or Bjork, or Bobby Womack's last show. Now that Bonnaroo is Coachella East none of those things happen anymore.
None of the things you just mentioned are a festival rarity, and while both the superjams you mentioned were good, they certainly were not the "consensus" best unless people only started going in 2010. 2004 was certainly better, (and to my mind 2008 was as well), 2006 was the two front men from Phish with Phil Lesh, and 2007 was Ben Harper and Questlove doing Zeppelin with guests. Bonnaroo has moved to a more pop formulaic lineup from 2012 on, and this is just likely to continue to push them in that direction for good or bad. Certainly though there has been a decline in the art part of the festival, the truly unique acts like Ornette Coleman, Oysterhead, Steve Earle with Bonnie Rait, and the other really unique acts have been on the decline. These days we get very little that is truly unique, D'Angelo was, and so was the secret DJ Jazzy Jeff show, but there are not really many acts I can not see, or I could not have see prior to or after Bonnaroo, and almost none of the spur of the moment collaborations that used to be amazing.
They tell us "Rock'n'roll is the devil's music." Well, let's say we know that rock is the devil's music, and we know that it is, for sure … At least he fuckin' jams! If it's a choice between eternal Hell and good tunes, and eternal Heaven and New Kids on the fuckin' Block … I'm gonna be surfin' on the lake of fire, rockin' out.
