Is Bonnaroo a Second-Tier Fest Now?

Nah.

Dude you would've hated the early lineups, no? I think those lineups are awesome. It's called different tastes. Unfortunately, young people like crappy music now, so we have to put up with some crap. There are some great bands on this lineup.

I think a lot of active members on here wouldn't have loved the early lineups too much because there aren't as many jam band fans that post on here as there were a few years back.

We can debate this by lineup all we want, but in the end, the media is going to determine if Bonnaroo remains a first-tier fest in the casual fest goer's mind. Bonnaroo trended on both social and traditional media at a level that Jazz Fest, with a same day drop and their best lineup in years, didn't. Maybe a couple more years without a splash changes that and Rolling Stone, EW, etc won't spend as much time on it. Or alternately, as I expect will happen, Live Nation could protect its hefty investment, pull some strings with a LN touring band and get something like a U2 fest exclusive that would, while probably not being popular here, immediately put Roo back near the top of the media's festival reporting spotlight. Or this could be what we have, the nature of the fest changes and still sells well to a younger demographic and it continues to be seen as a Tier 1 fest, just with a different demographic served. It's way too early to tell.

I hate this argument but at least it is measurable. You can't really measure the subjective quality of all this if people are still going to buy tickets. But that trending was surely not all positive.... is any press really good press?

Reposting this, as it applies to the "it's just what the kids want these days" arguments. Oh, and I was also at the early Bonnaroos, and they were much different.

I've been having trouble vocalizing what I don't like about this lineup, but this quote set it off for me. It's a lot of radio music, but I actually listen to the radio and I like pop music, so that's not really my problem. It's more that it's radio music for people who would never listen to the radio. It's a bunch of second tier pop acts that most people like, but aren't popular enough to ignite a backlash. Ellie Goulding, for example, is perfectly fine, but she's not a tier 1 pop star, and she's not a critical darling like a Sia, Robyn, Grimes. She's just safe. J Cole is supposed to appeal to Drake fans, but he isn't actually Drake. They got Miguel instead of The Weeknd. Death Cab is the safe indie band that everyone used to like but is clearly on the decline, like seeing Weezer on a lineup 3-4 years ago, or Smashing Pumpkins before that, rather than someone still on the come up like Vampire Weekend or Sufjan Stevens. It's a bunch of mainstream stuff, but nothing risky or terribly interesting.

And when they did book someone interesting at the top of the card, like Tame Impala or LCD or even the Dead, there's not much further down that's similar. They didn't even try to throw electronic music fans a bone beyond LCD Soundsystem. You'd think that if they're spending a (reported) large amount of money for one band, they'd throw a few more things on the lineup to appeal to the fans of that act they're hoping to attract. I'd love to see Bonnaroo do with the Christmas Barn what Okeebochee is doing with the Jungle Stage, but even short of that someone like Todd Terje or Simian Mobile Disco would add a little spark to the middle of the lineup.

And looking back at that 2008 lineup, it definitely lacks that totally bananas "great artists from all sorts of genres" thing they used to do. Bonnaroo used to be the "where else could you see Hall and Oates followed by Rae Sremmurd" type of place, but this lineup is very down the middle.

I may be clinging onto something here out of love for the festival, but bonnaroo still offers longer sets (including full "unopposed" headliner sets) than most mainstream festivals. It's the one thing they've kinda hung on to from the days of being predominantly a jam festival (although sets were noticeably shorter last year)

No, it is not a second tier fest. The overreaction on this board has been mind-numbing. If you're look for a Euro-style camping fest in the US you're options are essentially Bonnaroo...and nothing else. There is no other festival that allows access to their ground 24hrs for the entire duration of the fest. Gov Ball, Hangout, Shaky Knees, (even Coachella to an extent) are all noon-midnight fest where when it's done you enter back out into the real world and prepare for the next day.

Roo still has that ability to completely immerse you for 4/5 days. No other fest will be able to deliver on that, also when you look at the other amenities that Roo offers (that many take for granted) like the Comedy Theater, Cinema, Kalliope, Xmas Barn, Brooers, etc. no other US fest has gone to the extent they have to offer non-music programming during the fest. At Coachella if you don't like what bands are playing at a certain time, you don;t have many other options beyond....ummmm the ferris wheel or go look at some art? While the lineup is dissapointing this year, the setup and idea behind Bonnaroo are what keep me coming back.

What's your scale for this? Personal artist preference, price, attendance, critical reception, etc?

Glastonbury is head and shoulders beyond anything else you've listed here.  It simply dwarfs everything else, and there's zero point in comparing it to anything in the U.S.

I wish Grammy would autocorrect to "bullshit meaningless award"