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Here you'll find info about artists, rumors, camping tips, and the infamous Roo Clues. Have a look around then create an account and join in the fun. See you at Bonnaroo!!
Post by trimalchio on Apr 28, 2015 15:22:14 GMT -5
I would also imagine this will in the long run produce more thorough searches and restrictions on what you can bring in. Not so much to prevent illegal things, though that will certainly get stricter as well, but moreso anything that will cut into profit margin. Not sure how they'll pull it off, but you can bet there'll be carrots and sticks aplenty to get you to SPEND.
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!
I would also imagine this will in the long run produce more thorough searches and restrictions on what you can bring in. Not so much to prevent illegal things, though that will certainly get stricter as well, but moreso anything that will cut into profit margin. Not sure how they'll pull it off, but you can bet there'll be carrots and sticks aplenty to get you to SPEND.
Oh god.....I didn't even think of this. We're going to be flooded even more than usual with threads about tighter security/searches and all that junk now that Livenation is involved. Great.....I can't wait.
Post by trimalchio on Apr 28, 2015 15:27:13 GMT -5
Honestly, I can see staggered camping before too long. It's already going that way with Groop Camping and nerfing tent only. You can buy a pass to be in one of the closer camp grounds, or maybe for tent only, as opposed to getting put in "general camping" which would be BFE areas. They may justify it by having those camp grounds have permanent facilities and showers. Or you'll have to buy a pass to use the permanent facilities. That is almost a no brainer since they already charge for showers.
Wednesday night may require an early pass. Wakarsua already does that. Wakarusa also has separate camping passes for the various camp grounds. So these ideas are not out of the question.
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!
Really, I'm not too worried about it. They saw Bonnaroo as a money making opportunity. The festival has been operating for a decade and a half, have their systems in place and are making money. They are not going to come in and mess with things, I don't think. They'll let AC/Superfly do their things, provide assistance where there are opportunities (such as booking some of their marquee acts, routing a tour in a way that is conducive to the festival, delaying tour announcements till after the Bonnaroo lineup drop, etc.) and take their majority-share of the profit.
For me, the festival isn't as magical as it once was. I have nothing to empirically back it up but it feels like there are less collaborations outside of superjams and less memorable sets. Part of that is me knocking so many bucket list artists off over the years. I also may just be getting old and jaded. My hope is that this partnership brings an influx of talent for next year because this year's festival is maybe the least appealing one for me.
That said, I'm still going. It may not be all that it was to me but it's still a pretty special weekend.
I would also imagine this will in the long run produce more thorough searches and restrictions on what you can bring in. Not so much to prevent illegal things, though that will certainly get stricter as well, but moreso anything that will cut into profit margin. Not sure how they'll pull it off, but you can bet there'll be carrots and sticks aplenty to get you to SPEND.
Oh god.....I didn't even think of this. We're going to be flooded even more than usual with threads about tighter security/searches and all that junk now that Livenation is involved. Great.....I can't wait.
Ha, I wasn't try to rabble rouse or fear monger. But I think that there is going to be much more of an incentive to SQUEEZE. It's not going to be the end of the world, but there are going to be MBA/Lawyer/Accountant shitheads who are going to be looking on paper for options to SQUEEZE. And you can usually only pull each trick once. Then you've got to find new ways to SQUEEZE even more. It won't happen overnight but Live Nation is certainly going to justify that investment.
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!
Thanks. Here's the text for anyone who wants to read:
AC Entertainment founder Ashley Capps and Superfly co-founder Rick Farman talk to Billboard about a monumental move.
In yet another aggressive move into the North American festival space, Live Nation has acquired a controlling interest in the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival in Manchester, Tenn., as well as an interest in the 750-acre site it sits on known as The Farm, for an undisclosed amount. Founded by Superfly and AC Entertainment (and significantly financed in the beginning by Red Light Management founder Coran Capshaw), Bonnaroo was, until this morning, the largest independent music festival in the U.S., and the Live Nation acquisition of the fest follows similarly structured deals with Lollapalooza/ACL producer C3 Presents, and Electric Daisy Carnival producer Insomniac.
But Bonnaroo is a different animal entirely. With annual attendance of more than 80,000 and an estimated gross in the $25 million range, and the overwhelming majority of attendees staying onsite for the festival’s entire four-day run, Bonnaroo is the most immersive of the major U.S. music festivals, a four-day city with nearly constant entertainment, its own post office, newspaper, cinema, and acres of campsites. Launched in 2002 at the height of the neo-jam band movement, Bonnaroo years ago transcended its hippie roots, presenting such artists as Metallica, Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen, Kanye West, Elton John and 2015 headliners Billy Joel, Mumford & Sons and Deadmau5. In an exclusive interview, Billboard spoke with Bonnaroo co-producers Rick Farman, co-founder of Superfly (with partners Rich Goodstone, Jonathan Mayers, and Kerry Black), and Ashley Capps, president of AC Entertainment, about the future of Bonnaroo, why Live Nation, and why now.
Billboard: What influenced the decision to partner with Live Nation on Bonnaroo?
Ashley Capps: The conversations built organically from discussions about partnering with Live Nation on some other festival concepts that might take place on The Farm. We started talking about potential infrastructure development and, really, one conversation led to another. As these discussions went forward, internally we felt like this was a strategic alliance that could really help us take Bonnaroo to the next level and strengthen the festival for years to come.
Rick Farman: That’s certainly the history of how it unfolded. As we got into these discussions, [Live Nation CEO] Michael Rapino did a fantastic job, as he did with other entrepreneurs, of creating a dynamic where we’ll be empowered to go, as their partner, take this thing to the next level. We feel like having a partner that brings to the table all of the knowledge, scale and assets that they do puts Bonnaroo in an amazing position to continue to be one of the leaders in the space and provide the best fan experience possible. We love partnerships, this business was founded on great partnerships -- between Superfly, AC and Coran [Capshaw], and this is another step in building the best team to continue to have the most amazing festival possible.
You’re already one of the most important rock festivals in the world, with one of the highest attendences and grosses, and beloved by fans. So what’s the next level?
Farman: Well, for starters, part of this arrangement is to make some significant site improvements. We’re basically going to get right to work at bringing The Farm to an even greater level of fan experience. We’re not ready to talk about details yet, as we have a lot of work to do, but now we have the resources and the partner to help us bring the facility to a whole new level. That’s a huge element of this, for sure. And then, in general, being able to not only access the vast resources and dollars that Live Nation as a company has, but also to engage in dialogue with some of the other festival partnerships and entrepreneurs they’ve brought into the fold. We’re going to be looking to collaborate and share ideas and resources to have that knowledgebase for us.
Capps: The key words are "enhance” and “evolve.” It’s not like there’s going to be any sudden transformation, at all. The team that has been working on The Farm and producing the Bonnaroo experience from the very first year to the present day is the same team, it’s going to remain the same team. This will simply give us the access to resources and knowledge that will enable us to evolve the festival experience in a really compelling way.
Formally or informally, did you guys talk with the [Insomniac founder] Pasquale Rotella or the C3 guys, who made similar moves with their own very distinctive festival brands, and did that play a role in your decision?
Farman: Those guys are all contemporaries and people we respect greatly and, informally, we followed their history, and we’ve had dialogue over the years about how their businesses have evolved. And a lot of the things we’ve heard over the years about how Michael [Rapino] and the team that he has, how they do business, how they support entrepreneurialism and people in our positions, how they’re good partners, all of that. As we were getting into forming this partnership, all of what we’d heard in the past really shined through.
I’m sure there have been other offers in the past, and you sell out the festival every year, so why now?
Capps: Yes, there have been discussions, off and on, for years, but timing is everything, and we felt this was the right time in the history of this festival to make this move. It was right for us, it was right for the festival, it was right for the environment out there. It was time to strike this type of strategic alliance.
In some ways is it a validation of what you guys have built?
Farman: Absolutely. As I said before, we built this business on partnerships, and having a company like Live Nation come to the table and want to be part of that partnership in the way that they are here, and making the commitment to taking Bonnaroo to the next level, is an extremely gratifying, humbling validation of the hard work that not only my team and Ashley’s team have put in, but certainly all the people part of the Bonnaroo family that helped this thing become what it is. We couldn’t be more excited to move forward with our team in the new partnership in this regard.
Does this deal impact your other interests, like Outside Lands in San Francisco for Superfly and Forecastle in Louiville for AC?
Capps: It doesn’t impact them in a structural way at all, Live Nation is not buying AC or Superfly. But I think we all are looking forward to developing this relationship, and I know we all look forward to exploring what the future may hold. But there are no discussions or plans along those lines, this is strictly a Bonnaroo deal.
In what ways would fans notice this year or in coming years that there has been a change in the structure of the ownership of Bonnaroo?
Farman: I don’t think you’ll see anything this year. The major change people will notice over the coming years is in how we improve the Farm and the things we’re able to do in that regard. Otherwise, it’s kind of business as usual for Superfly and AC. We’re the operators going forward, and the team that has been producing it is going to continue producing it, and that’s what we’re empowered to do here, use the resources and support that the Live Nation network provides and to go on and do that great job we’ve been doing for many years. Ultimately, if you’re a fan of Bonnaroo, you’re going to see us be able to do things that the community has always asked for. Other than that, I don’t think there will be any significant or meaningful impact that fans of Bonnaroo, people that are part of our community, the people in the local community, will see. The only adjunct to that is we’re going to put a greater emphasis on bringing some other events to the Farm, which I think will be beneficial to everyone involved, the Bonnaroo community and the local and regional community, as well.
I imagine that more than a few Bonnaroo fans will be a little leery of this announcement. What will you do to address fan concerns that things might change at Bonnaroo?
Capps: The experience of the festival itself will address the fans’ concerns. The values of Bonnaroo, the vibe of Bonnaroo, no one wants to see that change, it’s not going to change. This alliance with Live Nation is only going to give us the resources to continue to improve that experience perhaps a little more quickly than we’ve been able to do before, in terms of just basic infrastructure that enables us to do what we do better.
In the deeply immersive festival game in the U.S., Bonnaroo is at the top of food chain, and it’s not really Live Nation’s expertise in North America. So it would seem they have more to learn in operating this type of festival than vice versa, would you agree?
Farman: I think we’ll add something significant in terms of our knowledge and creativity and vision to that organization, absolutely, and we’re looking forward to the opportunity this affords us to be connected to other festival promoters globally. Certainly, we have deep respect for our contemporaries over here [in the U.S.], but we’ve also been inspired by many of the partners that they have over in Europe. That knowledge of what makes a great long-term festival exists there, and we’re going to be adding to it.
What does this deal say about the maturation of the U.S. festival business?
Farman: I think that it’s more indication that this industry is here to stay for the long term, that the value that we create for fans, the experience, the relationships we have with artists, the ability for us to really create something important culturally, is further cemented by the support that us and others are getting from the industry at large. It’s amazing for us to look back, with our contemporaries who started this a decade-and-a-half or more ago in America, to be really proud of where we’ve taken it, and to be in a position where there’s nothing in our way from taking it beyond what we created, evolving it, and keeping it going for a really, really long time. This stuff isn’t going anywhere, it’s here for the long haul.
Post by itrainmonkeys on Apr 28, 2015 15:55:02 GMT -5
In the future there will be no concerts. Only festivals. And our grandkids will look back at the past and think it's weird that people went to concerts for just two or three bands.
I imagine that more than a few Bonnaroo fans will be a little leery of this announcement. What will you do to address fan concerns that things might change at Bonnaroo?
Capps: The experience of the festival itself will address the fans’ concerns. The values of Bonnaroo, the vibe of Bonnaroo, no one wants to see that change, it’s not going to change. This alliance with Live Nation is only going to give us the resources to continue to improve that experience perhaps a little more quickly than we’ve been able to do before, in terms of just basic infrastructure that enables us to do what we do better.
"I’m sure there have been other offers in the past, and you sell out the festival every year, so why now?
Capps: Yes, there have been discussions, off and on, for years, but timing is everything, and we felt this was the right time in the history of this festival to make this move. It was right for us, it was right for the festival, it was right for the environment out there. It was time to strike this type of strategic alliance."
So, pretty much what I take from this is the festival bubble is gonna burst soon and partnering with Live Nation is kinda like insurance.
Last Edit: Apr 28, 2015 16:08:10 GMT -5 by ゴジラ - Back to Top
Oh god.....I didn't even think of this. We're going to be flooded even more than usual with threads about tighter security/searches and all that junk now that Livenation is involved. Great.....I can't wait.
Ha, I wasn't try to rabble rouse or fear monger. But I think that there is going to be much more of an incentive to SQUEEZE. It's not going to be the end of the world, but there are going to be MBA/Lawyer/Accountant shitheads who are going to be looking on paper for options to SQUEEZE. And you can usually only pull each trick once. Then you've got to find new ways to SQUEEZE even more. It won't happen overnight but Live Nation is certainly going to justify that investment.
ehhh I dunno, there is only so many ways you can squeeze that directly shit on the fans.
If you squeeze by booking shitty artists, nobody will buy a ticket. If you squeeze by cutting amenities, like toilets/shade/access to water, people won't want to return to the festival, and they will take to the internet to tell all their friends not to go either. It's important that if nothing else fans leave with the perception that the festival gives a shit about them, otherwise we start fires during the red hot chili peppers show.
As we talk about a lot its a precarious market right now for festivals. A lot of people travel long distances for major festivals, and its just as easy to get on a plane to nashville as it is to LA or Chicago or Austin or New Orleans or NYC. If Bonnaroo fucks with fans comfort levels too much the whole thing could go in the shitter.
If more revenue is desired its much more likely ticket prices will go up. I could definitely see VIP ticket prices going up, they routinely sell out at their current price.
But its also totally possible LN looked at the books, saw Bonnaroo makes great revenue, and decided to buy in. Why spend manhours trying to improve something that's already profitable, and that already has a pretty damn loyal fanbase that returns year after year, even when you book billy joel?
Post by billybaroo on Apr 28, 2015 17:12:51 GMT -5
I knew I would see a lot of brilliance in here today but I wasn't expecting the "I like smelling like shit for a week and if there's good music then even better" argument.
Oh, you mean like the Estrella vendors at Primavera?
I don't know what that means. Please elaborate
But vendor implies that I have to buy something. And I don't pay for things.
They go around and fill your cup with beer while you watch music for like 2 euros or something. But yeah, if Bonnaroo wants a One Big Holiday style all-inclusive option, that'd be cool too.
I used the Live Nation information about artist and looked. Anyone realize that the Headliners for the last three (Including this one) Bonnaroos were all LN artist?
I think more good can come out of this as long as we don't get that damn batting cage they used to have. Maybe this means bringing back the Art if Such & Such since they will have deeper pockets!
What's your problem with the batting cage? I didn't use it but thought that's a cool activity to have.
screw the batting cage, bring back the playground set.
Thanks. Here's the text for anyone who wants to read:
AC Entertainment founder Ashley Capps and Superfly co-founder Rick Farman talk to Billboard about a monumental move.
In yet another aggressive move into the North American festival space, Live Nation has acquired a controlling interest in the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival in Manchester, Tenn., as well as an interest in the 750-acre site it sits on known as The Farm, for an undisclosed amount. Founded by Superfly and AC Entertainment (and significantly financed in the beginning by Red Light Management founder Coran Capshaw), Bonnaroo was, until this morning, the largest independent music festival in the U.S., and the Live Nation acquisition of the fest follows similarly structured deals with Lollapalooza/ACL producer C3 Presents, and Electric Daisy Carnival producer Insomniac.
But Bonnaroo is a different animal entirely. With annual attendance of more than 80,000 and an estimated gross in the $25 million range, and the overwhelming majority of attendees staying onsite for the festival’s entire four-day run, Bonnaroo is the most immersive of the major U.S. music festivals, a four-day city with nearly constant entertainment, its own post office, newspaper, cinema, and acres of campsites. Launched in 2002 at the height of the neo-jam band movement, Bonnaroo years ago transcended its hippie roots, presenting such artists as Metallica, Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen, Kanye West, Elton John and 2015 headliners Billy Joel, Mumford & Sons and Deadmau5. In an exclusive interview, Billboard spoke with Bonnaroo co-producers Rick Farman, co-founder of Superfly (with partners Rich Goodstone, Jonathan Mayers, and Kerry Black), and Ashley Capps, president of AC Entertainment, about the future of Bonnaroo, why Live Nation, and why now.
Billboard: What influenced the decision to partner with Live Nation on Bonnaroo?
Ashley Capps: The conversations built organically from discussions about partnering with Live Nation on some other festival concepts that might take place on The Farm. We started talking about potential infrastructure development and, really, one conversation led to another. As these discussions went forward, internally we felt like this was a strategic alliance that could really help us take Bonnaroo to the next level and strengthen the festival for years to come.
Rick Farman: That’s certainly the history of how it unfolded. As we got into these discussions, [Live Nation CEO] Michael Rapino did a fantastic job, as he did with other entrepreneurs, of creating a dynamic where we’ll be empowered to go, as their partner, take this thing to the next level. We feel like having a partner that brings to the table all of the knowledge, scale and assets that they do puts Bonnaroo in an amazing position to continue to be one of the leaders in the space and provide the best fan experience possible. We love partnerships, this business was founded on great partnerships -- between Superfly, AC and Coran [Capshaw], and this is another step in building the best team to continue to have the most amazing festival possible.
You’re already one of the most important rock festivals in the world, with one of the highest attendences and grosses, and beloved by fans. So what’s the next level?
Farman: Well, for starters, part of this arrangement is to make some significant site improvements. We’re basically going to get right to work at bringing The Farm to an even greater level of fan experience. We’re not ready to talk about details yet, as we have a lot of work to do, but now we have the resources and the partner to help us bring the facility to a whole new level. That’s a huge element of this, for sure. And then, in general, being able to not only access the vast resources and dollars that Live Nation as a company has, but also to engage in dialogue with some of the other festival partnerships and entrepreneurs they’ve brought into the fold. We’re going to be looking to collaborate and share ideas and resources to have that knowledgebase for us.
Capps: The key words are "enhance” and “evolve.” It’s not like there’s going to be any sudden transformation, at all. The team that has been working on The Farm and producing the Bonnaroo experience from the very first year to the present day is the same team, it’s going to remain the same team. This will simply give us the access to resources and knowledge that will enable us to evolve the festival experience in a really compelling way.
Formally or informally, did you guys talk with the [Insomniac founder] Pasquale Rotella or the C3 guys, who made similar moves with their own very distinctive festival brands, and did that play a role in your decision?
Farman: Those guys are all contemporaries and people we respect greatly and, informally, we followed their history, and we’ve had dialogue over the years about how their businesses have evolved. And a lot of the things we’ve heard over the years about how Michael [Rapino] and the team that he has, how they do business, how they support entrepreneurialism and people in our positions, how they’re good partners, all of that. As we were getting into forming this partnership, all of what we’d heard in the past really shined through.
I’m sure there have been other offers in the past, and you sell out the festival every year, so why now?
Capps: Yes, there have been discussions, off and on, for years, but timing is everything, and we felt this was the right time in the history of this festival to make this move. It was right for us, it was right for the festival, it was right for the environment out there. It was time to strike this type of strategic alliance.
In some ways is it a validation of what you guys have built?
Farman: Absolutely. As I said before, we built this business on partnerships, and having a company like Live Nation come to the table and want to be part of that partnership in the way that they are here, and making the commitment to taking Bonnaroo to the next level, is an extremely gratifying, humbling validation of the hard work that not only my team and Ashley’s team have put in, but certainly all the people part of the Bonnaroo family that helped this thing become what it is. We couldn’t be more excited to move forward with our team in the new partnership in this regard.
Does this deal impact your other interests, like Outside Lands in San Francisco for Superfly and Forecastle in Louiville for AC?
Capps: It doesn’t impact them in a structural way at all, Live Nation is not buying AC or Superfly. But I think we all are looking forward to developing this relationship, and I know we all look forward to exploring what the future may hold. But there are no discussions or plans along those lines, this is strictly a Bonnaroo deal.
In what ways would fans notice this year or in coming years that there has been a change in the structure of the ownership of Bonnaroo?
Farman: I don’t think you’ll see anything this year. The major change people will notice over the coming years is in how we improve the Farm and the things we’re able to do in that regard. Otherwise, it’s kind of business as usual for Superfly and AC. We’re the operators going forward, and the team that has been producing it is going to continue producing it, and that’s what we’re empowered to do here, use the resources and support that the Live Nation network provides and to go on and do that great job we’ve been doing for many years. Ultimately, if you’re a fan of Bonnaroo, you’re going to see us be able to do things that the community has always asked for. Other than that, I don’t think there will be any significant or meaningful impact that fans of Bonnaroo, people that are part of our community, the people in the local community, will see. The only adjunct to that is we’re going to put a greater emphasis on bringing some other events to the Farm, which I think will be beneficial to everyone involved, the Bonnaroo community and the local and regional community, as well.
I imagine that more than a few Bonnaroo fans will be a little leery of this announcement. What will you do to address fan concerns that things might change at Bonnaroo?
Capps: The experience of the festival itself will address the fans’ concerns. The values of Bonnaroo, the vibe of Bonnaroo, no one wants to see that change, it’s not going to change. This alliance with Live Nation is only going to give us the resources to continue to improve that experience perhaps a little more quickly than we’ve been able to do before, in terms of just basic infrastructure that enables us to do what we do better.
In the deeply immersive festival game in the U.S., Bonnaroo is at the top of food chain, and it’s not really Live Nation’s expertise in North America. So it would seem they have more to learn in operating this type of festival than vice versa, would you agree?
Farman: I think we’ll add something significant in terms of our knowledge and creativity and vision to that organization, absolutely, and we’re looking forward to the opportunity this affords us to be connected to other festival promoters globally. Certainly, we have deep respect for our contemporaries over here [in the U.S.], but we’ve also been inspired by many of the partners that they have over in Europe. That knowledge of what makes a great long-term festival exists there, and we’re going to be adding to it.
What does this deal say about the maturation of the U.S. festival business?
Farman: I think that it’s more indication that this industry is here to stay for the long term, that the value that we create for fans, the experience, the relationships we have with artists, the ability for us to really create something important culturally, is further cemented by the support that us and others are getting from the industry at large. It’s amazing for us to look back, with our contemporaries who started this a decade-and-a-half or more ago in America, to be really proud of where we’ve taken it, and to be in a position where there’s nothing in our way from taking it beyond what we created, evolving it, and keeping it going for a really, really long time. This stuff isn’t going anywhere, it’s here for the long haul.
As I read this article , which by the way thanks Itrain for posting it, is that this partnership may have to do with the Festival Bubble. With Bonnaroo partnering with LN who is to say that they wont combine to keep artist away from Shaky Knees or Wakarusa or Firefly even? This is a good business model in that sense. With AC/Superfly continuing on as Day to Day operators and the financial backing of LN along with possibly exclusivity clauses it seems like a solid move. Now I know the replacing of food vendors and price hikes and all that shit is scary but it is truly unknown at this time. Bonnaroo had a price increase this year as did Firefly which I also attend. I don't foresee prices topping out over $400-$500 anytime soon. Fees are fees and you pay them anytime and anywhere you see concerts, it just goes with the territory. Yes prices went up this year however Here is a price breakdown for you
DeadMau5- Only at Festivals festival cheapest is $105 Kendrick- Only playing festivals cheapest is $81 Mumford $62 Billy Joel $123 Total-$371 Bonnaroo Tickets including Fees $357.25 meaning I get to see MMJ, Alabama Shakes, Hozier, Childish Gambino, Robert Plant, Atomic Bomb, EWF, Tears for Fears, Jungle, etc for FREE.
I'm late to this. I hate corporatization as much as anyone unless I guess I was making the money off the deal. Live Nation took over the concert ticket world and became synonymous with d*ick fees. So you know they will find a way to upcharge our festival experiences wherever possible. What they have brought to Voodoo was in keeping Rehage on as EVP (or whatever) was they mostly let him continue to run it. I'm sure most of their other acquisitions will leave the top dogs in place, at least initially, and give them plenty of latitude. They also have ownership or controlling interest in Hard out of L.A. who is a major edm promotion. That's one thing now at Voodoo where some people will make their entire festival around that genre and its dedicated stage. I like a lot of it and dislike a lot of it too. But they brought like 7 or 8 of the top 100 ranked djs (from whatever site has the multi-thousand list). Not that Bonnaroo doesn't have a ton of electronica anyway, but there will probably be a dedicated focus on making that a full time experience possibly coalescing around a dedicated stage or 2.
Shit that worries me is the longer term possibility beyond the lower and midcards, everything gets repeated or recycled, food and beverages become homogenized and festivals end up becoming a traveling circus of the same thing as everywhere else.
Post by Delicious Meatball Sub on Apr 28, 2015 21:07:13 GMT -5
Eric Jurkowlaniec Today at 8:54pm So, now that roo is bought out by live nation, I'm glad I waited to buy tickets. eight years, it's been fun. Good luck, carry on, you don't get my money anymore. Peace
Joe Smith?Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival 2 hrs · Denver, CO · Bonnaroo..... What have you done? I've been scared enough ever since 2007. This is a step, but I doubt it's in the right direction. I work for yall, stand by your decisions this year. BUT I SWEAR, if this starts going south. I WILL BE THE FIRST TO MAKE NATIONAL NOTE OF IT! I'll be damned if the festival I grew up in turns into something completely foreign. PS LOLAPALOOZA FUCKIN SUCKS AND IF OUR BILL MATCHES THEIRS IM GONNA BEGIN TO REALLY CUSS!
Tyler Nevell?Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival 9 hrs · Boulder, CO · If you guys really think you'll still have the same control after LiveNation buys your controlling stake in Bonnaroo, you're fucking retarded.
Bonnaroo Chris Here's my two cents. I hate Ticketmaster and LiveNation because their vested interest is in profit rather than user experience. Of course, the promoters and executors of our beloved festival aren't exactly doing it for charity either. And while this will likely translate into more user experience options and some additional names to the talent list - it also means festival expansion, larger ticket sales and dickheads attending who have no idea of the Bonnaroovian code. The claim was made by festival founders that this a behind the scenes move and LN won't be a part of the process but one wonders how long that will last. I'm weary of this move and what it will eventually entail but ultimately I'm still going to go and have a blast this year.
Post by TacticalTurtleneck on Apr 28, 2015 21:45:50 GMT -5
I'm bummed as much as anyone. We all know TicketMaster/LiveNation sucks (seriously, I paid $50 per ticket after fees to see Alt J and Pixies shows later this year, that's insane), but the fees are nothing new. It's been $26 per wristband since I started going in 2011. I'd hate to see it increase, but I'd also be shocked if it moves up from what it is, especially after the jump this year.
Also, we can all agree on-site improvements will be nothing but a good thing? Permanent bathrooms? Tent screens? More shaded areas? Improvements to the campgrounds? All are on the table, if not already done. And it's not like Bonnaroo has been this last bastion of music festivals untouched by corporations. Between the Olay Ladies' Rooms, Garnier Fructis lounge, Miller Lite Stage, Comedy Tent (sponsored by IFC and ComedyCentral in the past), and general activations from Ford, State Farm, and Microsoft, corporate America has been on the farm for while. For the most part, they've been unobtrusive, so it's been ok. As long as we don't show up in 2016 to hang out at the Coca-Cola mainstage, go crazy with the sponsorships.
I saw in that Billboard article that they're open to hosting more festivals on the grounds. Cool, knock yourselves out. Scale back on the EDM at Roo, and schedule an Ultra knock-off in late August/early September. Host a country festival at some point in the summer. Again, it makes sense. They own Centeroo, why not use it more than 4 days out of the year?
So yeah, in the end of the day, LiveNation could completely butcher the festival we all know and love, but until I see actual signs of that happening (rather than a single down year), I'm still on board. Just don't fuck it up, LN.
