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it's absolutely ridiculous to argue that the Bonnaroo Lineup in 2017 was a great lineup. It's just not. Nothing that happens in the future with bands blowing up or whatever is going to change the atrocity that was the lineup and scheduling of 2017.
I loved it - 2nd best roo I've been to yet. Sorry you didn't enjoy it.
For me: 2014 >>>>> 2017 >>> 2016 > 2015
I mean the reasons the 2017 lineup was bad have been discussed ad nauseam here, but you're new so how about we break down the top 20.
U2 - smart booking and I'm sure seeing them on the farm was a pretty amazing experience RHCP - once a great band, but now a sad shell of what they once were and missing their best member. The Weeknd - his last album seemed to just disappear into the ether. Also he's just not really anything special. Chance - great, no issues here. Major Lazer - shit. Flume - I mean as far as big name EDM goes you could do worse. Lorde - also great. The xx - cool band Travis Scott - shit. not the shittiest but still shit. Cage the Elephant - I mean they're fine, and put on an entertaining show, but seeing them at Bonnaroo is really no different than seeing them anywhere else and they play every festival under the sun Marshmello - SHIT. The Head and the Heart - Have gotten progressively worse in every aspect the longer they've existed. Also missing their best member. Big Gigantic - fine I guess? Glass Animals - fine I guess? Future Islands - great Tory Lanez - shit. Tove Lo - generic post-Lorde pop, promoting an unremarkable album. Was just there in 2015 and had already lost relevance. Crystal Castles - Solid, but ALSO missing their best member. Idk what their shows are like these days. Duos shouldn't continue if one member leaves... Umphrey's McGee - one of the better jam bands around these days Portugal. the Man - Great band, but not really exciting anymore. Maybe their shows are still cool though, haven't seen them in a couple years.
Really not all that great. Not a single exciting electronic or hip-hop booking besides Chance. And that's without factoring in all the shit that comes further down, plus the bad scheduling, reduced late nights and set times, etc. Sorry bud, I know music's subjective and all but this lineup is objectively the worst Bonnaroo has ever had.
Yeah but take a look back through history at the lineups that preceded them...if you still think that lineup holds up, then that's just always going to be a stark difference in opinion.
Not a hater, I wish I loved every Bonnaroo lineup and spent every June sweating my balls over in Tennessee
Yup, I'm aware there are some incredible years predating my time at Bonnaroo, most notably 2012 and 2013 for my tastes. I consider those lineups legendary.
I don't think 2017 was legendary by any means, but I do think it was a great lineup that I enjoyed a ton. It was certainly my favorite since 2014.
Surprising that you like it more than 2015.. I think this year had better headliners than 2015. But the undercard that year was really solid.
Yup, I'm aware there are some incredible years predating my time at Bonnaroo, most notably 2012 and 2013 for my tastes. I consider those lineups legendary.
I don't think 2017 was legendary by any means, but I do think it was a great lineup that I enjoyed a ton. It was certainly my favorite since 2014.
Surprising that you like it more than 2015.. I think this year had better headliners than 2015. But the undercard that year was really solid.
oh yeah, a LOT more than 2015. On paper that has been my least favorite by far... and in person it wasn't much different. In the 4 years I've been going, Billy Joel & Deadmau5 are easily the two worst headliners I've seen.
Surprising that you like it more than 2015.. I think this year had better headliners than 2015. But the undercard that year was really solid.
oh yeah, a LOT more than 2015. On paper that has been my least favorite by far... and in person it wasn't much different. In the 4 years I've been going, Billy Joel & Deadmau5 are easily the two worst headliners I've seen.
Sure, but there was also some great indie/rock and electronic and interesting bookings like Atomic Bomb and Earth Wind and Fire. Not to mention Kendrick soon after releasing the best album of the decade
I loved it - 2nd best roo I've been to yet. Sorry you didn't enjoy it.
For me: 2014 >>>>> 2017 >>> 2016 > 2015
I mean the reasons the 2017 lineup was bad have been discussed ad nauseam here, but you're new so how about we break down the top 20.
U2 - smart booking and I'm sure seeing them on the farm was a pretty amazing experience RHCP - once a great band, but now a sad shell of what they once were and missing their best member. The Weeknd - his last album seemed to just disappear into the ether. Also he's just not really anything special. Chance - great, no issues here. Major Lazer - shit. Flume - I mean as far as big name EDM goes you could do worse. Lorde - also great. The xx - cool band Travis Scott - shit. not the shittiest but still shit. Cage the Elephant - I mean they're fine, and put on an entertaining show, but seeing them at Bonnaroo is really no different than seeing them anywhere else and they play every festival under the sun Marshmello - SHIT. The Head and the Heart - Have gotten progressively worse in every aspect the longer they've existed. Also missing their best member. Big Gigantic - fine I guess? Glass Animals - fine I guess? Future Islands - great Tory Lanez - shit. Tove Lo - generic post-Lorde pop, promoting an unremarkable album. Was just there in 2015 and had already lost relevance. Crystal Castles - Solid, but ALSO missing their best member. Idk what their shows are like these days. Duos shouldn't continue if one member leaves... Umphrey's McGee - one of the better jam bands around these days Portugal. the Man - Great band, but not really exciting anymore. Maybe their shows are still cool though, haven't seen them in a couple years.
Really not all that great. Not a single exciting electronic or hip-hop booking besides Chance. And that's without factoring in all the shit that comes further down, plus the bad scheduling, reduced late nights and set times, etc. Sorry bud, I know music's subjective and all but this lineup is objectively the worst Bonnaroo has ever had.
How To Fix 2017 Bonnaroo, quasi-realistically. I'm only going to use artists pulled from other major 2017 festivals. I'm not even going to use any supercool Coachella only acts:
U2 - no change RHCP Kendrick Lamar - fuck it, lets have two black people at the top of the bill The Weeknd - no change, he's still a big artist with big draw Chance - no change Major Lazer Armin van Buuren Flume Eric Prdyz Lorde - no change The xx - no change Travis Scott - no change. he might be shit but he has some hits. Cage the Elephant A Tribe Called Quest Marshmello Dillon Francis The Head and the Heart Dolly Parton Big Gigantic Excision Glass Animals - no change Future Islands - no change Tory Lanez Schoolboy Q Tove Lo Margo Price Crystal Castles Rae Sremmurd Umphrey's McGee - no change Portugal. the Man - no change
Eh still doesn't look that great. But I would have at least been tempted.
I loved it - 2nd best roo I've been to yet. Sorry you didn't enjoy it.
For me: 2014 >>>>> 2017 >>> 2016 > 2015
I mean the reasons the 2017 lineup was bad have been discussed ad nauseam here, but you're new so how about we break down the top 20.
U2 - smart booking and I'm sure seeing them on the farm was a pretty amazing experience RHCP - once a great band, but now a sad shell of what they once were and missing their best member. The Weeknd - his last album seemed to just disappear into the ether. Also he's just not really anything special. Chance - great, no issues here. Major Lazer - shit. Flume - I mean as far as big name EDM goes you could do worse. Lorde - also great. The xx - cool band Travis Scott - shit. not the shittiest but still shit. Cage the Elephant - I mean they're fine, and put on an entertaining show, but seeing them at Bonnaroo is really no different than seeing them anywhere else and they play every festival under the sun Marshmello - SHIT. The Head and the Heart - Have gotten progressively worse in every aspect the longer they've existed. Also missing their best member. Big Gigantic - fine I guess? Glass Animals - fine I guess? Future Islands - great Tory Lanez - shit. Tove Lo - generic post-Lorde pop, promoting an unremarkable album. Was just there in 2015 and had already lost relevance. Crystal Castles - Solid, but ALSO missing their best member. Idk what their shows are like these days. Duos shouldn't continue if one member leaves... Umphrey's McGee - one of the better jam bands around these days Portugal. the Man - Great band, but not really exciting anymore. Maybe their shows are still cool though, haven't seen them in a couple years.
Really not all that great. Not a single exciting electronic or hip-hop booking besides Chance. And that's without factoring in all the shit that comes further down, plus the bad scheduling, reduced late nights and set times, etc. Sorry bud, I know music's subjective and all but this lineup is objectively the worst Bonnaroo has ever had.
Generally speaking, I agree with a lot of your commentary. The only notable differences are (1) that I liked all 3 headliner bookings and (2) I was fine/neutral with the EDM bookings clearly geared towards youngins'.
Looking back, I think Bonnaroo got sorta lost in 2015 and 2016 when indie rock started to shift to become more poppy/electronic. Instead of going more electronic like Coachella, they stayed pat and fell in this weird middle-ground where 30 year old indie rock fans felt alienated, yet they weren't appealing towards young blood because they didn't go electronic/pop.
I personally think 2016 is the worst lineup (by Bonnaroo standards) they've put out since 2005... with 2015 not being far behind. I consider 2017 a really strong step in the right direction... yet admittedly still a good distance away from the legendary lineups of 2012-2014. For me, that somewhere in between is a 'great' lineup that produced my second favorite roo.
Yup, I'm aware there are some incredible years predating my time at Bonnaroo, most notably 2012 and 2013 for my tastes. I consider those lineups legendary.
I don't think 2017 was legendary by any means, but I do think it was a great lineup that I enjoyed a ton. It was certainly my favorite since 2014.
Surprising that you like it more than 2015.. I think this year had better headliners than 2015. But the undercard that year was really solid.
At least for me, that's a big chunk of it - IMO the top 4 is of equal importance (if not more) than everyone else combined.
At least for me, that's a big chunk of it - IMO the top 4 is of equal importance (if not more) than everyone else combined.
Gotcha. That is true for a ton of people (just not many who post on here ha)
Oh absolutely - and I can understand the opinion for both variants and the spectrum in between.
I personally get to a really special place during those massive What Stage shows... and regardless of lineup, those still happen each and every year (although 2015 did it's best try not to). I love higher-billed undercard acts too, especially post-headliner late night and subheadliners. But outside of 9pm-2am, I really don't care as much if I am seeing an all-time favorite or just a fun band to drink a beer to. So it's fair to say I don't really put much stock into a lineup beyond the top ~20-25.
Gotcha. That is true for a ton of people (just not many who post on here ha)
Oh absolutely - and I can understand the opinion for both variants and the spectrum in between.
I personally get to a really special place during those massive What Stage shows... and regardless of lineup, those still happen each and every year (although 2015 did it's best try not to). I love higher-billed undercard acts too, especially post-headliner late night and subheadliners. But outside of 9pm-2am, I really don't care as much if I am seeing an all-time favorite or just a fun band to drink a beer to. So it's fair to say I don't really put much stock into a lineup beyond the top ~20-25.
I hear ya on all points.
Headliners from the What Stage pit are also pretty big for me. Stevie/Jay Z, Radiohead 2012, and McCartney 2013 were insane.
I bet U2 this year was incredible too.
That 2013 run of Wu Tang Clan into McCartney into The xx into Pretty Lights till the sun came up is still my favorite day of music ever.
Oh absolutely - and I can understand the opinion for both variants and the spectrum in between.
I personally get to a really special place during those massive What Stage shows... and regardless of lineup, those still happen each and every year (although 2015 did it's best try not to). I love higher-billed undercard acts too, especially post-headliner late night and subheadliners. But outside of 9pm-2am, I really don't care as much if I am seeing an all-time favorite or just a fun band to drink a beer to. So it's fair to say I don't really put much stock into a lineup beyond the top ~20-25.
I hear ya on all points.
Headliners from the What Stage pit are also pretty big for me. Stevie/Jay Z, Radiohead 2012, and McCartney 2013 were insane.
I bet U2 this year was incredible too.
That 2013 run of Wu Tang Clan into McCartney into The xx into Pretty Lights till the sun came up is still my favorite day of music ever.
U2 was really really good - I enjoyed it a ton.
Those runs of incredible music on the farm are awesome - I wish I could've been at that 2013 run w/ McCartney. If I could go back and do one day at Roo that I've missed, it's probably that day.
I think my favorite yet was 2014 Damon Albarn -> Chromeo -> Lionel -> Jack White -> Flaming Lips ... though 2016's M83 > LCD > Tame > Bob Moses is right up there too.
Thanks a lot Launchpad - now I'm going to be missing roo all day
Where's all this 2015 hate coming from? That undercard was thoroughly bitchin'
2015 was my least favorite year of Bonnaroo, even less so than 2016. I had a great time at 2015, and the undercard was indeed fantastic, but it was my least favorite year for two main reasons:
1. Weak headliners. Don't care about Mumford. Billy Joel was the bottom of the "Sunday classic act" barrel. The combination of Kendrick/deadmau5 as dual Friday headliners was the only exciting part of the top 4. Having said that, if you recall Kendrick mostly played the same pre-TPAB set he'd been playing, with a couple TPAB tracks tacked on at the end, complete with "which side of the crowd is best or whatever" thing he does. I enjoyed deadmau5's set, but we all know the cube was a 10x better stage setup than the cages or whatever he had on that tour. Compare this to 2016, which clearly had a worse undercard but had 3 excellent headliners that all put on good sets.
2. Scheduling. This point has been discussed ad nauseam, but the scheduling this year was unusually atrocious, even for Bonnaroo. Friday evening/LN scheduling included various conflicts between 9pm and 3am, during which time Kendrick, Ben Harper, deadmau5, EWF, RTJ, MSMW, Odesza, STS9, Flying Lotus all performed. Really an embarrassment of riches all crammed into one evening. I've been going to festivals for a minute, and typically try to be realistic about scheduling, but that Friday was really, really bad. Those were all artists I was excited to see, and I was only able to catch a handful of them. Then Saturday evening between 7pm and 10:30pm you had Belle & Sebastian, Gary Clark Jr., MMJ, Atomic Bomb, SBTRKT, and Childish Gambino all overlapping or directly conflicting in various ways. Then Sunday was a weak ass day. Let's say the scheduling was tweaked in a way I was able to see 40% more of all those artists listed, I think I would have a more positive impression of 2015.
Personally 2015 was the first year when I began admitting to myself that maybe Bonnaroo wasn't for me anymore. I ended up having an incredible time at 2016, but walking out after Dead & Company I was pretty sure I'd never be back.
Where's all this 2015 hate coming from? That undercard was thoroughly bitchin'
Just for some perspective, this schedule would work out pretty well for this board right now.
2015
Thu: Strand of Oaks - Raury - Temples - Growlers - Glass Animals - Tove Lo, Courtney Barnett, or Benjamin Booker - Jungle, Mac Demarco, or Gramatik
Fri: The Districts - Pallbearer - King Gizzard - Royal Blood - UMO or Against Me - Dawes, Mini Mansions, Rustie, or Moon Taxi - Sylvan Esso - Alabama Shakes, Atmosphere, or Kacey Musgraves - Tears for Fears - Kendrick Lamar or Ben Harper - RTJ, Earth Wind and Fire, or MSMW - Flylo, Deadmau5, Odesza, or STS9
Sat: Woods - SZA - War on Drugs - Jamie xx or Sturgill Simpson - Atomic Bomb, SBTRKT, or MMJ - Childish Gambino or Slayer - Mumsons or Tycho - D'Angelo or Bassnectar
Sun: De Lux, Hiss Golden Messenger, Shabazz Palaces, Bela Fleck, or 21P - MO or the Very Best - Spoon - Freddie Gibbs - Robert Plant or Caribou - Billy Joel
vs.
2017
Thu: The Orwells The Lemon Twigs - ?
Fri: Klangstof - Khruangbin - Kevin Morby - CSH or Francis & the Lights - The xx or Gallant - Glass Animals or Prez Hall - U2 - Major Lazer, CVS, or PTM - Big Gigantic
Sat: The Front Bottoms - Deap Vally - Belly - Tegan & Sara - Future Islands - The Head and the Heart - Chance the Rapper or Warpaint - Cage the Elephant or Louis the Child - RHCP - Flume or Shpongle - Marshmello
Sun: White Reaper or Noname - Royal Blood - Ump - Skepta - Crystal Castles or Flatbush Zombies - Lorde - BBNG - The Weeknd
Looking back at last year, the run on friday is probably my favorite, but falls flat after the xx (outside of U2 at least). Saturday isn't really for me and def not something I would travel/camp for. Sunday has its moments, but I would honestly just rather have a day with Caribou at this point. For those who rely on headliners though, a year Billy Joel played should always rank worst.
I watched the GoT screening rather than Billy Joel that year. No regrets.
2015 HL's were definitely weaker than 2016, no question. But 2015 had an undercard I could get behind. But like mentioned, the scheduling that year was horrible, even for Bonnaroo standards.
The last minute changes to Slayer's set time definitely resulted in some missing their show. And they bounced All Them Witches around too, but thankfully I was able to relax to them after the Slayer pit.
That 2015 LN Flying Lotus set though...whoa baby, now that was a show. By far the best FlyLo show I've seen yet. I had a white knuckle grip on the soundboard railing, trying to stay tethered to this mortal existence lest FlyLo take my soul.
Sometime around sunrise after FlyLo: /usr/bin/simp stumbles into camp and asks Dave Maynar "Did you see Flying Lotus?" "No." "You fucked up."
10 minutes later I stumble into camp and ask Dave, "Did you see Flying Lotus?" "No." "You fucked up."
That 2015 LN Flying Lotus set though...whoa baby, now that was a show. By far the best FlyLo show I've seen yet. I had a white knuckle grip on the soundboard railing, trying to stay tethered to this mortal existence lest FlyLo take my soul.
Sometime around sunrise after FlyLo: /usr/bin/simp stumbles into camp and asks Dave Maynar "Did you see Flying Lotus?" "No." "You fucked up."
10 minutes later I stumble into camp and ask Dave, "Did you see Flying Lotus?" "No." "You fucked up."
So pumped for the 3D Flying Lotus Halloween show
The first and only time I've seen him and holy fuck that set is still giving me goosebumps. I've missed a couple chances to see him since then so I too am pumped for this 3D tour. Seeing him on halloween would be nuts, I'm jealous
The first and only time I've seen him and holy fuck that set is still giving me goosebumps. I've missed a couple chances to see him since then so I too am pumped for this 3D tour. Seeing him on halloween would be nuts, I'm jealous
That's definitely up there in my all time favorite shows, probably top 10. I love that FlyLo had to finally shoo us all away after the 2nd or 3rd encore, telling us we were crazy.
Getting nostalgic thinking back to some of the great late night shows I've seen at Bonnaroo. Shows between midnight and sunrise always seem to have a special quality about them, things just have a tendency to get weird.
I have found that his sets have become less bouncy over time, unfortunately. The 3D show is cool none the less.
Was there lots of new music in the FYF set? I read that his movie Kuso has a significant portion of his upcoming album as the soundtrack. Still need to check the movie out. Curious what direction he's heading with the new album.
I think my favorite yet was 2014 Damon Albarn -> Chromeo -> Lionel -> Jack White -> Flaming Lips ... though 2016's M83 > LCD > Tame > Bob Moses is right up there too.
Allen Stone > Kamasi > Vince Staples > M83 > LCD > Tame Impala > Blood Orange
Was there lots of new music in the FYF set? I read that his movie Kuso has a significant portion of his upcoming album as the soundtrack. Still need to check the movie out. Curious what direction he's heading with the new album.
Most of it just felt like straight psych, but I think he only played a couple of tracks from Kuso. One of the characters came out in costume and danced around. He spent more time mixing random shit it felt like. He even remixed one of the boss themes from Sonic the Hedgehog.
Was there lots of new music in the FYF set? I read that his movie Kuso has a significant portion of his upcoming album as the soundtrack. Still need to check the movie out. Curious what direction he's heading with the new album.
Most of it just felt like straight psych, but I think he only played a couple of tracks from Kuso. One of the characters came out in costume and danced around. He spent more time mixing random shit it felt like. He even remixed one of the boss themes from Sonic the Hedgehog.
Played the Persona 5 (might have been 4) theme as well which is a japanese RPG.
Where's all this 2015 hate coming from? That undercard was thoroughly bitchin'
2015 was my least favorite year of Bonnaroo, even less so than 2016. I had a great time at 2015, and the undercard was indeed fantastic, but it was my least favorite year for two main reasons:
1. Weak headliners. Don't care about Mumford. Billy Joel was the bottom of the "Sunday classic act" barrel. The combination of Kendrick/deadmau5 as dual Friday headliners was the only exciting part of the top 4. Having said that, if you recall Kendrick mostly played the same pre-TPAB set he'd been playing, with a couple TPAB tracks tacked on at the end, complete with "which side of the crowd is best or whatever" thing he does. I enjoyed deadmau5's set, but we all know the cube was a 10x better stage setup than the cages or whatever he had on that tour. Compare this to 2016, which clearly had a worse undercard but had 3 excellent headliners that all put on good sets.
2. Scheduling. This point has been discussed ad nauseam, but the scheduling this year was unusually atrocious, even for Bonnaroo. Friday evening/LN scheduling included various conflicts between 9pm and 3am, during which time Kendrick, Ben Harper, deadmau5, EWF, RTJ, MSMW, Odesza, STS9, Flying Lotus all performed. Really an embarrassment of riches all crammed into one evening. I've been going to festivals for a minute, and typically try to be realistic about scheduling, but that Friday was really, really bad. Those were all artists I was excited to see, and I was only able to catch a handful of them. Then Saturday evening between 7pm and 10:30pm you had Belle & Sebastian, Gary Clark Jr., MMJ, Atomic Bomb, SBTRKT, and Childish Gambino all overlapping or directly conflicting in various ways. Then Sunday was a weak ass day. Let's say the scheduling was tweaked in a way I was able to see 40% more of all those artists listed, I think I would have a more positive impression of 2015.
Personally 2015 was the first year when I began admitting to myself that maybe Bonnaroo wasn't for me anymore. I ended up having an incredible time at 2016, but walking out after Dead & Company I was pretty sure I'd never be back.
That Deadmau5 set was so bad that I think they should've refunded everyone $20.
If I remember correctly, they originally had the Friday night schedule very differently spread out... I want to say they had Kendrick & Deadmau5 almost back to back and then everything else starting midway through Deadmau5's set. In retrospect, that probably would have been better. Having everyone exodus after Kendrick and then come back if interested really killed the crowd for Deadmau5.
I thought there was a chance 2015 would be my last too after Billy Joel's mail in. 2016 brought it all back for me and 2017 was another home run.
I enjoyed Deadmau5 a lot. I only stayed for about 45 minutes because so much other stuff was going on. I got what I expected from it and left satisfied. I've seen much worse on the What.
I enjoyed Deadmau5 a lot. I only stayed for about 45 minutes because so much other stuff was going on. I got what I expected from it and left satisfied. I've seen much worse on the What.
What have you seen that was worse?
I saw someone pass out at the What Stage once, that might have been worse - debatable though because they got out okay