Why Do We Get Angry At Bonnaroo?

I think there are a wide variety of factors that have influenced the decline of quality Bonnaroo's lineups over the past several years. But personally, I blame LCD Soundsystem.

I'm not angry because of saturation in the festival market. I'm not angry at all.

I am frustrated that the festival decided that the only way that they could compete was to try and be the exact same as every other festival. They were known for being about the music. About unique experiences. Long sets. Very late nights. Artists jamming together. Now Bonnaroo is really just an expansion of every city's radio station sponsored festival.

Your last paragraph describes my group exactly.

Really there are very few wide variety camping festivals in the US. Roo, literally, was the only majority camping Top-Tier festival with a wide variety of music. Then again, this year Okeechobee's lineup is about equal to Roo.  In europe there are dozens and dozens of camping festivals and quite a few top tier ones. In the US there was only really Sasquatch and Roo. Though I feel this Year's Roo Lineup is more Mid-Tier like Okeechobee.  I have camped at Coachella, but it is only about 10% of the crowd camping (but it is fun). Sasquatch, I believe is a 50-50 type situation (based on talking to one of the camp directors) between camping and not. 

So when you ask why do we get angry at Roo, it is because it is a unique experience in the American Festival Scene.  Live Nation has really screwed it up. I am honestly not sure who this year's line up appeals to. I attend upwards of 7 festivals a year (it all started with Roo in 2006), but Roo can't find it's way onto that list with last year or this year's line up. The undercard is solid, but the headliners do not justify the cost or the effort of camping (and that is from someone that camps at Glasto each year). 

I see the biggest problem this year will be selling out VIP.  That is where the festival profits and I simply can't see others in my age group and general income level paying for this line up. To clarify, I would be in the target audience for VIP, and I have gone VIP previously, but definitely now prefer GA and haven't gone VIP for over 5 years to any festival. 

I won't be surprised if this is the last iteration of Roo as we know it, prior to being replaced by some other Festival Experience. 

--Vae

I'm angry at Bonnaroo because I understand the festival needed to change, but it didn't need to change to what it's become. I love the memories I made at Roo (not the least of which are internet pals on this site) and I'd love to come back. The scene is becoming less saturated as less and less festivals can stand this saturation. I'm worried for Mountain Jam and Lockn' moving forward, too. But that's probably more of a "rock is dead" problem than anything else. What big headliners are touring that are motivating people to get out to festivals?

Of the touring acts we know, what headliners could Bonnaroo have gotten that would have changed your mind? Fleetwood Mac, Foo Fighters, and Arcade Fire? That's very white. Maybe Jay-Z instead of Eminem?

I got old, and started caring about how I invest in my vacations.


*2,500 comments and this is all I've got?

This is why we need to change our name to infopoo

For me it boils down to more money for less music. I get that trends in music change, and the lineup is going to have off years quality-wise. But I just can't get over how much they scaled back on the schedule. I miss full hour sets on Thursdays, sets after 3pm being bumped to 75 minutes, LONG headliner sets, and LATE late nights. The past 2 years I haven't attended because when the schedules finally drops, I find long stretches of time with nothing that interests me (I do plenty of band research beforehand) and established acts only getting an hour to play. That does not make me want to spend ~$400 and drive 9 hours.

This is actually the first year I haven't been mad at Bonnaroo (not counting 2015 and before). The past two years were frustrating because the lineup releases were so messy and unprofessional. With every decision they made it felt like an effort to sabotage the festival. I also felt like they weren't booking artists that should have been no brainers, and could have easily fit into the schedule. But this year I just don't really feel that way. They seem to be making an effort to improve which I appreciate. I've also accepted that the festival market is oversaturated and this is Livenation Bonnaroo now. With almost every festival not looking as great as previous years, I guess I just don't have very high expectations.

Prolly cuz most of the lineups suck

We don't really talk about Shaky Knees that much. 

Also, obviously they are charging way too much for their tickets. Not that I consider Roo a top tier festival anymore, but I am sure Live Nation does. They are, quite literally, the only top tier festival that doesn't sell out. Having a larger captive audience for 4-5 days seems like an better business model. I really don't understand why it is more expensive than the other festivals. There is more bottom tier and EDM acts, but those cost almost nothing. The second tier acts and headliners are not near the expense of previous years. They are vying for a smaller audience (those willing to camp) while giving less product for more money. Roo was a festival that I never felt like it was trying to fleece the consumer. Now it seems like a giant cash grab playing on a name that was built up with good vibes and high fives.

I was wondering the same thing. The festival moving towards kids that get tickets as graduation gifts. Does that mean that less people are going to be the big spenders? Is that why they implemented the camping charge? To make up for the VIP losses?