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Post by Jake Jortles on May 17, 2022 13:47:37 GMT -5
What I am about to say has probably been expressed in the last couple of months in different ways but I want to spit out this thought that just occurred to me.
I think its safe to assume that some portion of Bonnaroo's success in good years, and ability to stay afloat during meh years, is the way the festival becomes a part of people's identity. The way some people, myself being a great example, basically can't live without it after going a couple of times. I went 7 years in a row and planned to go every year until I died barring a very important conflict in real life.
After missing one year (2020), my feeling in 2021 was a little closer to "holy shit I cant miss this shit ever again I can't wait to get back." After all, I did... not much in 2020 and was thinking a lot about the fun things I was missing out on during that year.
After missing last year I feel different. I did a lot of fun stuff / trips last year. Had a really great year overall without my staple Bonnaroo experience. And now its easier for me to comprehend not having Bonnaroo be a part of my routine. I know my life is very fun without it and it is a little harder for me to remember why I always cherished way more than any other festival. It feels less a part of my identity and I feel less compelled to do presale. Because again its not like 2021 where there was going to be this major unleashing experience. I unleashed last year without Roo.
So more than ever... seriously more than any year since I've been going in 2013, I needed some level of convincing to go. And this is the year they whipped up a lineup that sure has some good acts, but the top lines are so crusty and irrelevant to me. Like almost every act is either one or the other.
This isn't totally foreign to Roo, but again, not a great year to fail completely when trying to build hype and keep people's attention post lineup drop. This should have been the most high effort performance from their marketing team in the fest's history, but instead its one of the boring years or maybe the worst ever.
I think they may have lost a noticeable chunk of their regulars while also not attracting many new people due to the combination of 3 years of time passing and the lineup. Really sad.
What I am about to say has probably been expressed in the last couple of months in different ways but I want to spit out this thought that just occurred to me.
I think its safe to assume that some portion of Bonnaroo's success in good years, and ability to stay afloat during meh years, is the way the festival becomes a part of people's identity. The way some people, myself being a great example, basically can't live without it after going a couple of times. I went 7 years in a row and planned to go every year until I died barring a very important conflict in real life.
After missing one year (2020), my feeling in 2021 was a little closer to "holy shit I cant miss this shit ever again I can't wait to get back." After all, I did... not much in 2020 and was thinking a lot about the fun things I was missing out on during that year.
After missing last year I feel different. I did a lot of fun stuff / trips last year. Had a really great year overall without my staple Bonnaroo experience. And now its easier for me to comprehend not having Bonnaroo be a part of my routine. I know my life is very fun without it and it is a little harder for me to remember why I always cherished way more than any other festival. It feels less a part of my identity and I feel less compelled to do presale. Because again its not like 2021 where there was going to be this major unleashing experience. I unleashed last year without Roo.
So more than ever... seriously more than any year since I've been going in 2013, I needed some level of convincing to go. And this is the year they whipped up a lineup that sure has some good acts, but the top lines are so crusty and irrelevant to me. Like almost every act is either one or the other.
This isn't totally foreign to Roo, but again, not a great year to fail completely when trying to build hype and keep people's attention post lineup drop. This should have been the most high effort performance from their marketing team in the fest's history, but instead its one of the boring years or maybe the worst ever.
I think they may have lost a noticeable chunk of their regulars while also not attracting many new people due to the combination of 3 years of time passing and the lineup. Really sad.
^^^great post. just a few hours ago i responded to somebody on reddit doing the "bonnaroo is about more than the music" and complaining about lineup complainers thing. that's not you but i think part of the sentiment of my post still applies to your case.
basically its OK to skip a year or two. i was strangely worried the first year i skipped (2017) i would lose my connection to bonnaroo forever, which is weird right? but it's how i felt at the time. bonnaroo and I go waaaay back, I've had a lot of important experiences there, and it would be sad for that to go away. and wrapped up in that is my connection with inforoo, i didn't want to lose my connection to y'all, which is even sillier because there are a bunch of great posters here who have never even been to bonnaroo.
but then 2019 is a lineup i like, it all works out, i go and have an awesome time. and i would've gone in 2021 and had an awesome time. but when this year's lineup drops and it wasn't that great i felt fine passing on it. i mean it's still a bummer to not go to bonnaroo, but it's not all or nothing, i'll be right here with y'all come 2023 rumor season scrambling around trying to figure out whats what and hoping for a kick ass lineup that'll make me come back.
and as you note not having bonnaroo doesn't mean you are going to sit at home and collect butt honey all summer, you'll get out there and find something awesome to do.
so i'm not going to encourage you either way. but if you pass on a year and 2023 has a great lineup, it'll be that much sweeter being back after an absence.
What I am about to say has probably been expressed in the last couple of months in different ways but I want to spit out this thought that just occurred to me.
I think its safe to assume that some portion of Bonnaroo's success in good years, and ability to stay afloat during meh years, is the way the festival becomes a part of people's identity. The way some people, myself being a great example, basically can't live without it after going a couple of times. I went 7 years in a row and planned to go every year until I died barring a very important conflict in real life.
After missing one year (2020), my feeling in 2021 was a little closer to "holy shit I cant miss this shit ever again I can't wait to get back." After all, I did... not much in 2020 and was thinking a lot about the fun things I was missing out on during that year.
After missing last year I feel different. I did a lot of fun stuff / trips last year. Had a really great year overall without my staple Bonnaroo experience. And now its easier for me to comprehend not having Bonnaroo be a part of my routine. I know my life is very fun without it and it is a little harder for me to remember why I always cherished way more than any other festival. It feels less a part of my identity and I feel less compelled to do presale. Because again its not like 2021 where there was going to be this major unleashing experience. I unleashed last year without Roo.
So more than ever... seriously more than any year since I've been going in 2013, I needed some level of convincing to go. And this is the year they whipped up a lineup that sure has some good acts, but the top lines are so crusty and irrelevant to me. Like almost every act is either one or the other.
This isn't totally foreign to Roo, but again, not a great year to fail completely when trying to build hype and keep people's attention post lineup drop. This should have been the most high effort performance from their marketing team in the fest's history, but instead its one of the boring years or maybe the worst ever.
I think they may have lost a noticeable chunk of their regulars while also not attracting many new people due to the combination of 3 years of time passing and the lineup. Really sad.
I agree with this mostly but imo people continue to give the lineup too much power. Equally as shitty? The marketing overall. ALL the hyping I'm doing around Roo is community based. They've barely talked to us in 2 years. That's got my hype lower than lineup woes, which granted aren't that bad for me anyway
What I am about to say has probably been expressed in the last couple of months in different ways but I want to spit out this thought that just occurred to me.
I think its safe to assume that some portion of Bonnaroo's success in good years, and ability to stay afloat during meh years, is the way the festival becomes a part of people's identity. The way some people, myself being a great example, basically can't live without it after going a couple of times. I went 7 years in a row and planned to go every year until I died barring a very important conflict in real life.
After missing one year (2020), my feeling in 2021 was a little closer to "holy shit I cant miss this shit ever again I can't wait to get back." After all, I did... not much in 2020 and was thinking a lot about the fun things I was missing out on during that year.
After missing last year I feel different. I did a lot of fun stuff / trips last year. Had a really great year overall without my staple Bonnaroo experience. And now its easier for me to comprehend not having Bonnaroo be a part of my routine. I know my life is very fun without it and it is a little harder for me to remember why I always cherished way more than any other festival. It feels less a part of my identity and I feel less compelled to do presale. Because again its not like 2021 where there was going to be this major unleashing experience. I unleashed last year without Roo.
So more than ever... seriously more than any year since I've been going in 2013, I needed some level of convincing to go. And this is the year they whipped up a lineup that sure has some good acts, but the top lines are so crusty and irrelevant to me. Like almost every act is either one or the other.
This isn't totally foreign to Roo, but again, not a great year to fail completely when trying to build hype and keep people's attention post lineup drop. This should have been the most high effort performance from their marketing team in the fest's history, but instead its one of the boring years or maybe the worst ever.
I think they may have lost a noticeable chunk of their regulars while also not attracting many new people due to the combination of 3 years of time passing and the lineup. Really sad.
^^^great post. just a few hours ago i responded to somebody on reddit doing the "bonnaroo is about more than the music" and complaining about lineup complainers thing. that's not you but i think part of the sentiment of my post still applies to your case.
basically its OK to skip a year or two. i was strangely worried the first year i skipped (2017) i would lose my connection to bonnaroo forever, which is weird right? but it's how i felt at the time. bonnaroo and I go waaaay back, I've had a lot of important experiences there, and it would be sad for that to go away. and wrapped up in that is my connection with inforoo, i didn't want to lose my connection to y'all, which is even sillier because there are a bunch of great posters here who have never even been to bonnaroo.
but then 2019 is a lineup i like, it all works out, i go and have an awesome time. and i would've gone in 2021 and had an awesome time. but when this year's lineup drops and it wasn't that great i felt fine passing on it. i mean it's still a bummer to not go to bonnaroo, but it's not all or nothing, i'll be right here with y'all come 2023 rumor season scrambling around trying to figure out whats what and hoping for a kick ass lineup that'll make me come back.
and as you note not having bonnaroo doesn't mean you are going to sit at home and collect butt honey all summer, you'll get out there and find something awesome to do.
so i'm not going to encourage you either way. but if you pass on a year and 2023 has a great lineup, it'll be that much sweeter being back after an absence.
okay but like
a cheap ticket will get you on the farm this year, right??
What I am about to say has probably been expressed in the last couple of months in different ways but I want to spit out this thought that just occurred to me.
I think its safe to assume that some portion of Bonnaroo's success in good years, and ability to stay afloat during meh years, is the way the festival becomes a part of people's identity. The way some people, myself being a great example, basically can't live without it after going a couple of times. I went 7 years in a row and planned to go every year until I died barring a very important conflict in real life.
After missing one year (2020), my feeling in 2021 was a little closer to "holy shit I cant miss this shit ever again I can't wait to get back." After all, I did... not much in 2020 and was thinking a lot about the fun things I was missing out on during that year.
After missing last year I feel different. I did a lot of fun stuff / trips last year. Had a really great year overall without my staple Bonnaroo experience. And now its easier for me to comprehend not having Bonnaroo be a part of my routine. I know my life is very fun without it and it is a little harder for me to remember why I always cherished way more than any other festival. It feels less a part of my identity and I feel less compelled to do presale. Because again its not like 2021 where there was going to be this major unleashing experience. I unleashed last year without Roo.
So more than ever... seriously more than any year since I've been going in 2013, I needed some level of convincing to go. And this is the year they whipped up a lineup that sure has some good acts, but the top lines are so crusty and irrelevant to me. Like almost every act is either one or the other.
This isn't totally foreign to Roo, but again, not a great year to fail completely when trying to build hype and keep people's attention post lineup drop. This should have been the most high effort performance from their marketing team in the fest's history, but instead its one of the boring years or maybe the worst ever.
I think they may have lost a noticeable chunk of their regulars while also not attracting many new people due to the combination of 3 years of time passing and the lineup. Really sad.
I agree with this mostly but imo people continue to give the lineup too much power. Equally as shitty? The marketing overall. ALL the hyping I'm doing around Roo is community based. They've barely talked to us in 2 years. That's got my hype lower than lineup woes, which granted aren't that bad for me anyway
not saying their marketing is great but if the headliners were Harry Styles - Kendrick Lamar - Phish they could just delete all bonnaroo social media and make ticket printer go brrrrr.
I think just about all my involvement in it and my hobby with it comes from two main sources. The whole community of friends we have made through it, and the fact that it's just 60 miles up the road.
If we didn't have so many friends who go every year and if we didn't turn the bus into this whole fun hobby, I think there's an alternative universe version of my wife and myself that would have done a lot of festival hopping to try out different camping events instead of being so waist-deep in Bonnaroo for a good chunk of the year. In that alternative universe where we didn't drive the bus, I think our streak of Bonnaroo's probably would have stopped after the comparably lackluster year in 2017.
There's fair critique to be made that Bonnaroo's current leadership isn't leaning into the thing that really sets them apart, that whole community. Apart from Burning Man, no other large scale event has that type of networked community. You aren't going to see huge Reddaroo beer exchanges at Coachella, nobody is putting together a Firefly-Chute, there's no tradition of singing Just a Friend at Hangout.
Roo sometimes indicates that they're going in that direction, but to this point they haven't really gone all in. The Roochute still has difficulty getting past Centeroo security, despite the fact that Roo uses pictures of it in tons of their marketing. I know they have some stuff coming up because we've been involved in it, but most in the marketing in the last few years just hasn't stressed that community aspect much of all, and I do think that's a big miss. It shouldn't be something that attendees know about once they've gone, it should be something that prospective ticket buyers know about far ahead of time.
Post by Jake Jortles on May 17, 2022 14:50:37 GMT -5
To clarify, I’m still going much like 60% of bonnaroos hardcore faithful core is probably still going, but I could have VERY easily seen myself not going this year and it makes me think that a lot of people like me are experiencing the same thing but don’t have a brother that is like “dude who gives a fuck we are going even if it’s just the two of us.”
Even if it weren't Bonnaroo specifically, after the last few years and a lot of the personal hard and sad shit that my wife and I have gone through in that time, I am still really craving that epic otherworldly experience. I don't pretend to understand it or how it works, but it does do something for your soul in a very positive way. It didn't hit me until I listened to all of the entries for our giveaway contest how much it means to a lot of people and how much they need that.
I think just about all my involvement in it and my hobby with it comes from two main sources. The whole community of friends we have made through it, and the fact that it's just 60 miles up the road.
If we didn't have so many friends who go every year and if we didn't turn the bus into this whole fun hobby, I think there's an alternative universe version of my wife and myself that would have done a lot of festival hopping to try out different camping events instead of being so waist-deep in Bonnaroo for a good chunk of the year. In that alternative universe where we didn't drive the bus, I think our streak of Bonnaroo's probably would have stopped after the comparably lackluster year in 2017.
There's fair critique to be made that Bonnaroo's current leadership isn't leaning into the thing that really sets them apart, that whole community. Apart from Burning Man, no other large scale event has that type of networked community. You aren't going to see huge Reddaroo beer exchanges at Coachella, nobody is putting together a Firefly-Chute, there's no tradition of singing Just a Friend at Hangout.
Roo sometimes indicates that they're going in that direction, but to this point they haven't really gone all in. The Roochute still has difficulty getting past Centeroo security, despite the fact that Roo uses pictures of it in tons of their marketing. I know they have some stuff coming up because we've been involved in it, but most in the marketing in the last few years just hasn't stressed that community aspect much of all, and I do think that's a big miss. It shouldn't be something that attendees know about once they've gone, it should be something that prospective ticket buyers know about far ahead of time.
for sure, proximity can't be denied. when i first went to bonnaroo it was just a few hours away. even now it's just a seven hour drive, definitely not an obstacle to attending one of the best weekends of the year.
the question of how to market bonnaroo's unique culture is interesting.
it led me to think about my other regular festival Movement and how good a job they do promoting their festival. they release some absolutely smashing video montages, both to hype the festival and enforce connections after the festival. Within one of those videos they pause the music for a bit and show all these brief snippets of interviews with people that have been coming to Movement for several years. In a very effective way they communicate that yes, this weekend is obviously a big party with a big, happy, and diverse crowd, but it's also a festival that goes back over two decades with serious roots in the community and people's lives. You really get that feeling from the video. I've probably posted that video two dozen times on inforoo, but it's just so well executed I feel like even somebody who doesn't give a shit about techno music could watch and it still kind of want to go to Movement.
hell bonnaroo could even do a brief interview series with people who have been going to bonnaroo for years and explain why they love it. the people create the culture, go to them and have them explain why it matters. but with all the footage bonnaroo has over 20 years they should be able to cobble together some incredible hype videos.
an unpopular opinion, but I also think bonnaroo should book some of the same artists year over year a la EF. artists will come to see bonnaroo as a homebase for them and will be more inclined to hype it on social media. like i don't know much about Space Jesus but they gave him some prominent spots and people seemed to love it, why not just invite him back every year? why can't les claypool play in a tent every year in whatever act he is touring that year? i'm not saying the same headliners but just some undercard acts, provide some consistency to the vibe.
You kind of hit the nail on the head in more ways than one, we have a promo coming up with them that’s pretty much that storytelling thing you mention.
You kind of hit the nail on the head in more ways than one, we have a promo coming up with them that’s pretty much that storytelling thing you mention.
Post by Capital Cincy on May 17, 2022 15:39:03 GMT -5
Funny that Electric Forest was mentioned because while it's half the size of Roo, it's the only other fest I've been too that has that same energy where people base their personalities and lives around it. Forest HQ has done a really good job keeping people updated and involved over the last few years. I'm doing roo x Forest back to back this year because they're both still those "unmissable" fests that make life meaningful for me
I totally agree with the “bonnaroo should book some of the same artists year after year” thing. I feel like they used to do this way more often back in the day. Les Claypool, Galactic, MMW and even Chance to an extent. I know there’s a bunch more. Riot Fest does this and it works. I’ve been three times and always catch Danzig, GWAR and Andrew W.K. I expect to see these familiar faces on the lineup.
a few artists have been there in different iterations of groups - galactic and bela fleck for sure. Les claypool probably takes the cake for being there with the most bands though: primus, solo, bucket of bernie brains, clayool + gabby lala, claypool-lennon delirium, and a superjam with gogol bordello, oysterhead
I liked the idea of an artist in residence - someone who was at the farm just to collab and guest with people. They only did it in 2005 though with herbie hancock. I don't think anything like that will ever happen again.
I also think they should bring back more artist interaction stuff at the sonic stage. They used to have acoustic sets from artists on the lineup and you could buy CD's or vinyl and get them signed and stuff. usually smaller acts but still a cool thing that has kinda gone to the wayside.
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