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2016 had porter/tame/luda(moved I forget who took his spot), m83/asap rocky/tchami, and 1975/earth, wind and fire/mo
2018 had cold war kids/logic/cheat codes, PtM/Mike D/san holo, and sza/alt-j/weathen
since ff can't really pull rare and unique headliners, I'd rather they focus resources on lines 2-4 instead.
I think this is true for all of us but I always wonder how much people are sold on the headliners compared to the rest of the lineup
i think in general, headliners sell. 2015 sold out because of sir paul, but then you have 2016 which had relatively weak headliners, but still sold really well.
I think this is true for all of us but I always wonder how much people are sold on the headliners compared to the rest of the lineup
i think in general, headliners sell. 2015 sold out because of sir paul, but then you have 2016 which had relatively weak headliners, but still sold really well.
I think a lot of that is the "relatively weak headliners" werent all that weak for the festival's demographic at the time. That was before Kings of Leon became super played out, and Mumford was a really big draw at the time
The Firefly subreddit is full of people bitching about the amount of douchebros, particularly on the campground. Was it really that bad?
My car had an egg thrown on it Friday morning which hasn't happened in the last 5 years if that counts for anything. I really didn't notice much of a difference between the amount of bros this year though and previous years, there are always tons of them.
11/19: Caribou 11/22: Ranger Trucco 11/29: Armand Van Helden* 1/16: L'Impératrice 1/30: Jamie xx 2/1: DJ Seinfeld 2/7: Mild Minds* 3/1: Father John Misty* 3/19: Confidence Man 3/23: DARKSIDE 5/8: Rüfüs Du Sol
Has Red Frog given an official statement on attendance this year? I'm thinking it was probably 60,000-65,000 tops from what I could see on Sunday, but supposedly Saturday was much better attended than Sunday. Even a couple of my friends who had weekend passes passed on Sunday to go to that whack-ass radio station festival in Camden, NJ. And I would say there couldn't have been more than 10,000 people at the festival before 5pm on Sunday; maybe more like 5,000. Which is ridiculous, it was just as hot (if not less hot) than any other year (except the inaugural year) that I've been, and there was always a sea of people walking over that overpass early in the afternoon every year I went. This is clearly an "experience" based festival at this point, instead of a legitimate music based festival like it used to be.
03/14 - Thievery Corporation 04/25 - Black Country, New Road 05/04 - In Flames, Gatecreeper 05/10 - Modern Life is War 05/21 - Spite, Bodysnatcher, Thrown 05/29 - Knocked Loose, Loathe, Show me the Body, Speed 06/02 - Bush 06/22 - George Thorogood 06/23 - Dillinger Escape Plan, Deadguy, Candy, Carbomb
Has Red Frog given an official statement on attendance this year? I'm thinking it was probably 60,000-65,000 tops from what I could see on Sunday, but supposedly Saturday was much better attended than Sunday. Even a couple of my friends who had weekend passes passed on Sunday to go to that whack-ass radio station festival in Camden, NJ. And I would say there couldn't have been more than 10,000 people at the festival before 5pm on Sunday; maybe more like 5,000. Which is ridiculous, it was just as hot (if not less hot) than any other year (except the inaugural year) that I've been, and there was always a sea of people walking over that overpass early in the afternoon every year I went. This is a clearly an "experience" based festival at this point, instead of a legitimate music based festival like it used to be.
claims they sold 15k saturday day passes alone, which I would believe, the line the get in the fest saturday started on the path before the line even started, but it was still easy as fuck to get close to every set, it felt like last year attendance-wise for thurs/fri/sun
Has Red Frog given an official statement on attendance this year? I'm thinking it was probably 60,000-65,000 tops from what I could see on Sunday, but supposedly Saturday was much better attended than Sunday. Even a couple of my friends who had weekend passes passed on Sunday to go to that whack-ass radio station festival in Camden, NJ. And I would say there couldn't have been more than 10,000 people at the festival before 5pm on Sunday; maybe more like 5,000. Which is ridiculous, it was just as hot (if not less hot) than any other year (except the inaugural year) that I've been, and there was always a sea of people walking over that overpass early in the afternoon every year I went. This is a clearly an "experience" based festival at this point, instead of a legitimate music based festival like it used to be.
claims they sold 15k saturday day passes alone, which I would believe, the line the get in the fest saturday started on the path before the line even started, but it was still easy as fuck to get close to every set, it felt like last year attendance-wise for thurs/fri/sun
Yeah, it was pretty depressing.. I guess it's a double edged sword since I got to be on the rail with no fuss to see my favorite artists, but if decent acts continue to be underattended then this festival is just going to turn into Pop/Hip-Hop/EDM garbage. I'm only 31 but I feel like an old curmudgeon, talking 'bout "back in my day.."
03/14 - Thievery Corporation 04/25 - Black Country, New Road 05/04 - In Flames, Gatecreeper 05/10 - Modern Life is War 05/21 - Spite, Bodysnatcher, Thrown 05/29 - Knocked Loose, Loathe, Show me the Body, Speed 06/02 - Bush 06/22 - George Thorogood 06/23 - Dillinger Escape Plan, Deadguy, Candy, Carbomb
claims they sold 15k saturday day passes alone, which I would believe, the line the get in the fest saturday started on the path before the line even started, but it was still easy as fuck to get close to every set, it felt like last year attendance-wise for thurs/fri/sun
Yeah, it was pretty depressing.. I guess it's a double edged sword since I got to be on the rail with no fuss to see my favorite artists, but if decent acts continue to be underattended then this festival is just going to turn into Pop/Hip-Hop/EDM garbage. I'm only 31 but I feel like an old curmudgeon, talking 'bout "back in my day.."
the only "shitty" act I saw was the last 20 minutes of ookay and I was able to get about even or in front of the soundbooth on the far left side.
stayed all of AM and got in front of the speakers stacks for big g easily. same thing for odesza.
i think the lineup was too top heavy, the mid card sucked, so people didn't wanna come all 4 days, so people picked the easiest day to go to.
In my opinion firefly had a lot of ups AND a lot of downs this year. For reference I was there all weekend and camping in the Wednesday lot.
Searches:
guess I’ll start here. I figured it was only a matter of time before firefly started searching cars. These searches were just as much of a joke as the ones at roo. When we pulled up the people literally said “get out so we can pretend to search you”. My only complaint is that it seemed that only Wednesday campers got searched. Fuck us for spending more money on camping I guess.
Camping:
I did not have an enjoyable camping experience this year. For starters they didnt put a centerline in my row so we didn’t know where the campsites started or ended. I asked a volunteer if our campsite was fine and they said it was. Then when the people camping behind us came they DEMANDED we move our tent back because they’ve “been to firefly for years and never had a campsite this small”. Well this has been my third firefly and I could tell she was full of shit. My brother and I moved our tent back though just to avoid any issues.
Secondly, our neighbors right next to us were a group of 6 recent high school grads. Apparently they had just came from something called senior week and weren’t prepared at all (expect for an insane amount of alcohol). One of the first things they said was their goal was to black every night. They were some of the most annoying and rude neighbors I’ve ever met. I don’t want to drone on about it so here are some notable quotes from them so you can understand how terrible it was. Some of you might not believe these but I can assure you they’re 100% real.
“We gotta finish all our liquor so our parents don’t catch us”
“Concerts aren’t made for people to sit. Like move bitch”
“Should we do Molly with this girl who snuck into the festival?”
“You can’t have any of my gateraid. I could care less if you’re dehydrated. (Spits in bottle so friend doesn’t want to drink it - I gave the other girl one of my gateraids)”
“We pushed to the front of chromeo”
“Fuck this lets find a hotel”
Thank god the people on our other side were really cool. It really is a shame that firefly is turning into just a place for partying. Not that there’s anything bad about partying, but it seems like this crowd only cares about themselves and doesn’t give a shit about how they are to others. More on that when I talk about the crowd in general.
Food:
If any of you read my post last year, you know food was one of my biggest complaints. This year they stepped it up big time. I particularly loved shake shack and spicy pie.
Venue/logistics:
For the most part the crowd control was fine. The only time I felt too crowded was at Odesza but even then I just moved back a little and was perfectly fine. I didn’t really like the new placement of the porch stage. I thought the crowds were bigger near the lawn which meant more exposure for the smaller artists that play the stage.
I also wish there was more shade inside of the venue.
Crowd:
Definitely my biggest complaint of the entire festival. This year was easily to worst of the three times I’ve been to firefly, and a huge step down from last year. There were too many talkers, too many people pushing up to the front, and too many people who were out of it during shows needing medical attention. I know I’m complaining a lot but it wasn’t extremely unbearable- just way worse than previous years. I DID meet a lot of crazy cool people inside of the venue. It seems like firefly is transitioning from what I want in a festival to a party destination. Nothing wrong with that - just not my scene. A group in Wednesday camping were doing lines of coke and throwing a bowling ball into their windshield. It was pretty funny but kinda out of place.
Music:
Everything everything - pretty much the same show as roo but still really good.
Knox fortune - meh. It was ok. His music sounds really generic.
Chicano Batman - they really have upped their live performance since I saw them a year ago. The set list was also very good. I hope they continue to get more popular.
Chromeo - they killed it. Start to finish I was dancing. They also played a lot of older stuff which brought back some high school nostalgia. Glad they got the Thursday headliner slot.
Regrettes - really fun set to start off the day. Gotta listen to more of these girls’ work.
Ron gallo - pretty fun set. I was sitting in the back but thought the group was talented. The lead singer is also a funny dude.
Foster the people - this set was interesting. Whenever he played the old stuff I was really into it, but the new stuff fell really flat.
Cold War kids - better than I thought it would be. I forgot how many of their songs I knew.
Arctic monkeys - I thought the set was good but it didn’t wow me by any means. I was expecting more but I can’t be super disappointed.
Big gigantic - fun way to end the day. I’ve always loved the late night edm on the backyard.
Royal blood - they always put on a good show.
Rag n bone - didn’t really listen much because I was talking with Jaz and his girl. It was really good meeting you two!
The killers - each time I see them the worse it gets. Everything just feels scripted and forced.
Portugal. The man - they kill it every time. Was really happy we got sleep forever. Easily one of my favorite bands. The crowd chanted one more song for a solid 10 minutes before they told us to get out.
Eminem - he puts on the same show as in Boston but I still enjoyed it. The oldies are always a hit.
Martin garrix - I may get some shit for this but he was fucking dumb lit. I got into a dance circle with some random dudes and it was a great time. It was also raining glowsticks during his set.
Kamasi - fantastic. The crowd was small but he still gave it everything he got. It was also awesome that he brought out his father.
MGMT - a pretty hit or miss set to be honest. I didn’t think it was awful though. It was clear most of the crowd was only there for kids.
Alt j - snooze fest.
Kendrick - killed it but only played for a little more than an hour. Was definitely expecting more.
Odesza - it was good but I enjoyed their set in 2015 a lot better. They’ve definitely gotten more generic.
Overall: I definitely will not be attending firefly again unless the lineup is coachella level good. It seems to be drifting away from what I liked about it and the crowds have been getting worse. I don’t think it’ll be long until this is hangout level bad. Especially since roo is closer, its a no brainer.
I did still have fun though, met a lot of cool people, and saw a lot of good acts.
6/10
Top sets: 1. Portugal 2. Kamasi 3. Garrix 4. Chromeo 5. Kendrick
Post by The Foot Fuckin' Master on Jun 20, 2018 13:10:38 GMT -5
Thanks for the detailed review; basically confirms all my worst fears and makes it easy to not even consider this for next year (despite it being two hours away).
Over four days, I saw 50 total sets, 44 individual acts, and 38 full sets.
My top 5 acts were: Kendrick Lamar, Lucy Dacus, Kamasi Washington, Alex Lahey, and Jade Bird.
I've attended every Firefly in full so far and thought this iteration ranked in the middle of the pack. Crowds weren't nearly as large as during Firefly's 2014-16 heyday and it was very empty on Sunday (likely due to people's prolonged sun exposure). The crowd appears to be getting younger every year- and it seems like the large pack of high schools students treat Firefly as though its an amusement park as opposed to a music festival. A lot of them appeared more interested in getting free Toyota bandanas and Instagramming their food purchases than listening to music. While annoying, it's not enough to likely deter me from going again next year. I do hope Firefly books less EDM and pop-rap in the future, but I know it's unlikely.
Post by festivalfurby on Jun 20, 2018 16:22:39 GMT -5
If I'm sitting in a Red Frog/Goldenvoice boardroom today discussing learnings for next year, my main takeaway sadly is to not worry about lineup depth next year. The majority of people are at their campsites drinking until 5pm, so focus on the following areas:
1. Big Name Alt-Rock and Hip-Hop Headliners (ex. Green Day, Kanye, Jay-Z, The Strokes, Foo Fighters, PJ) 2. Book 3 Big EDM Names for Backyard: (Kygo, Marshmello, etc) 3. Book Well-Known Indie-Rock with hits for Lines 2-5 (Haim, Chvrches, Two Door, etc) 4. Book some solid nostalgia acts
Patch together the rest with straws and twigs because it doesn't matter.
If I'm sitting in a Red Frog/Goldenvoice boardroom today discussing learnings for next year, my main takeaway sadly is to not worry about lineup depth next year. The majority of people are at their campsites drinking until 5pm, so focus on the following areas:
1. Big Name Alt-Rock and Hip-Hop Headliners (ex. Green Day, Kanye, Jay-Z, The Strokes, Foo Fighters, PJ) 2. Book 3 Big EDM Names for Backyard: (Kygo, Marshmello, etc) 3. Book Well-Known Indie-Rock with hits for Lines 2-5 (Haim, Chvrches, Two Door, etc) 4. Book some solid nostalgia acts
Patch together the rest with straws and twigs because it doesn't matter.
Yea sadly true about the lack of depth not really mattering. That said, it’s not as if 5PM is when the true big artists start up. As much as I love Cold War Kids, they should never be closing down the lawn stage at 9PM or whatever on a Friday night. 3 years ago they played at like 3:15.
I think the first priority should be the underage drinking... I’m honestly surprised it took this long for a teenager to die at the festival. Since they are actually checking vehicles now, they should at least make sure someone in the vehicle is 21 if there is alcohol. It wouldn’t hold things up any more than it did this year without doing it. That may not be much but it’s at least something. Every single year I have had a group of teenagers nearby that were completely unprepared for the elements as it relates to drinking/whatever. It’s sad really... last year the group of kids couldn’t figure out how to put up an EZ up. A group of 5 people couldn’t figure it out, not even kidding.
If I'm sitting in a Red Frog/Goldenvoice boardroom today discussing learnings for next year, my main takeaway sadly is to not worry about lineup depth next year. The majority of people are at their campsites drinking until 5pm, so focus on the following areas:
1. Big Name Alt-Rock and Hip-Hop Headliners (ex. Green Day, Kanye, Jay-Z, The Strokes, Foo Fighters, PJ) 2. Book 3 Big EDM Names for Backyard: (Kygo, Marshmello, etc) 3. Book Well-Known Indie-Rock with hits for Lines 2-5 (Haim, Chvrches, Two Door, etc) 4. Book some solid nostalgia acts
Patch together the rest with straws and twigs because it doesn't matter.
Yea sadly true about the lack of depth not really mattering. That said, it’s not as if 5PM is when the true big artists start up. As much as I love Cold War Kids, they should never be closing down the lawn stage at 9PM or whatever on a Friday night. 3 years ago they played at like 3:15.
I think the first priority should be the underage drinking... I’m honestly surprised it took this long for a teenager to die at the festival. Since they are actually checking vehicles now, they should at least make sure someone in the vehicle is 21 if there is alcohol. It wouldn’t hold things up any more than it did this year without doing it. That may not be much but it’s at least something. Every single year I have had a group of teenagers nearby that were completely unprepared for the elements as it relates to drinking/whatever. It’s sad really... last year the group of kids couldn’t figure out how to put up an EZ up. A group of 5 people couldn’t figure it out, not even kidding.
Yeah it’s honestly sad the direction the crowd is going. Firefly was my first festival so it breaks my heart to see what it’s becoming.
If I'm sitting in a Red Frog/Goldenvoice boardroom today discussing learnings for next year, my main takeaway sadly is to not worry about lineup depth next year. The majority of people are at their campsites drinking until 5pm, so focus on the following areas:
1. Big Name Alt-Rock and Hip-Hop Headliners (ex. Green Day, Kanye, Jay-Z, The Strokes, Foo Fighters, PJ) 2. Book 3 Big EDM Names for Backyard: (Kygo, Marshmello, etc) 3. Book Well-Known Indie-Rock with hits for Lines 2-5 (Haim, Chvrches, Two Door, etc) 4. Book some solid nostalgia acts
Patch together the rest with straws and twigs because it doesn't matter.
Yea sadly true about the lack of depth not really mattering. That said, it’s not as if 5PM is when the true big artists start up. As much as I love Cold War Kids, they should never be closing down the lawn stage at 9PM or whatever on a Friday night. 3 years ago they played at like 3:15.
I think the first priority should be the underage drinking... I’m honestly surprised it took this long for a teenager to die at the festival. Since they are actually checking vehicles now, they should at least make sure someone in the vehicle is 21 if there is alcohol. It wouldn’t hold things up any more than it did this year without doing it. That may not be much but it’s at least something. Every single year I have had a group of teenagers nearby that were completely unprepared for the elements as it relates to drinking/whatever. It’s sad really... last year the group of kids couldn’t figure out how to put up an EZ up. A group of 5 people couldn’t figure it out, not even kidding.
That checking vehicles thing must have been a Wednesday thing. I came in one Thursday with a packed car and they gave me 10 camping wristbands and waved me through.
And good point about CWK. No disrespect to any acts because there were some good ones, but the only true high profile act that played before 5pm on any day was Royal Blood on Saturday. I can't really complain because I do like having Saturday Night stacked.
Thanks for the detailed review; basically confirms all my worst fears and makes it easy to not even consider this for next year (despite it being two hours away).
I used to think this about Firefly too; I went once in 2014 and more or less decided that I'd never be back because I didn't like the crowd. But contrary to the reports here, I didn't find the crowd as bad this time. That could very well be because I just did a day pass, but there were really no issues that I noticed other than one guy who was just sitting in the middle of the crowd after Eminem started (towards the front where everyone else was standing). He just needed time to be on the ground (either because he was trashed and walking was an issue or because he was otherwise inebriated and that was just what he needed at the time), but we saw several people ask if he was okay. It's usually towards the bottom of my end-of-year lineup rankings, but if there's a day that features a bunch of artists you like or a bucket list act, I wouldn't write FF off because of the crowd. At least not yet.
Cold War Kids in a prime night time slot was so weak, especially considering the only other options were Logic or fucking cheat codes.
I highly doubt this will ever happen, but I wish Firefly would incorporate a tent similar to the Yuma at Coachella. Move the porch stage and coffeehouse stage back to where they were in 2016/2017 and make an electronic tent where the coffeehouse was this year. I can't imagine sound bleed would be too much of an issue in that location. Hell, even if they had something similar to the Heineken Dome from 2013 in that spot it would be awesome.
Cold War Kids in a prime night time slot was so weak, especially considering the only other options were Logic or fucking cheat codes.
I highly doubt this will ever happen, but I wish Firefly would incorporate a tent similar to the Yuma at Coachella. Move the porch stage and coffeehouse stage back to where they were in 2016/2017 and make an electronic tent where the coffeehouse was this year. I can't imagine sound bleed would be too much of an issue in that location. Hell, even if they had something similar to the Heineken Dome from 2013 in that spot it would be awesome.
agreed - or use the space for the silent disco as an actual "stage" for dance acts. I'd get down with some techno there, won't happen tho.
Thanks for the detailed review; basically confirms all my worst fears and makes it easy to not even consider this for next year (despite it being two hours away).
I used to think this about Firefly too; I went once in 2014 and more or less decided that I'd never be back because I didn't like the crowd. But contrary to the reports here, I didn't find the crowd as bad this time. That could very well be because I just did a day pass, but there were really no issues that I noticed other than one guy who was just sitting in the middle of the crowd after Eminem started (towards the front where everyone else was standing). He just needed time to be on the ground (either because he was trashed and walking was an issue or because he was otherwise inebriated and that was just what he needed at the time), but we saw several people ask if he was okay. It's usually towards the bottom of my end-of-year lineup rankings, but if there's a day that features a bunch of artists you like or a bucket list act, I wouldn't write FF off because of the crowd. At least not yet.
That's reassuring to hear, but this year I've been gravitating less to festivals and more to regular shows for a more qualitative experience. Even when that includes traveling to a different city to ensure optimal crowd and venue conditions. Thus far it's worked out really well, so something like Firefly is going to have to offer a kickass headliner that's worth waiting hours in advance at the very front.
It was great meeting you too! If you're ever out in the Philly area for a show or something hit us up!
I used to think this about Firefly too; I went once in 2014 and more or less decided that I'd never be back because I didn't like the crowd. But contrary to the reports here, I didn't find the crowd as bad this time. That could very well be because I just did a day pass, but there were really no issues that I noticed other than one guy who was just sitting in the middle of the crowd after Eminem started (towards the front where everyone else was standing). He just needed time to be on the ground (either because he was trashed and walking was an issue or because he was otherwise inebriated and that was just what he needed at the time), but we saw several people ask if he was okay. It's usually towards the bottom of my end-of-year lineup rankings, but if there's a day that features a bunch of artists you like or a bucket list act, I wouldn't write FF off because of the crowd. At least not yet.
That's reassuring to hear, but this year I've been gravitating less to festivals and more to regular shows for a more qualitative experience. Even when that includes traveling to a different city to ensure optimal crowd and venue conditions. Thus far it's worked out really well, so something like Firefly is going to have to offer a kickass headliner that's worth waiting hours in advance at the very front.
i'm doin this as well. I've been goin to fests for 5 years, at this point, I've seen most of the acts I've wanted to see, so most lineups aren't that enticing. Yea, I'll find some smaller or rarer acts I like on some posters, but it's a big time and money commitment to go just for those acts.
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