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No. But it set records. Recommend you get VIP or above for viewing area alone. That was sold out. Big ass area in front of both stages which are side by side plus shade in the afternoon. It was 90’s and hot as fuck last year in the sun, and there isn’t much shade on the grounds.
By far the best VIP value I have ever gotten - the up front area is insane
No. But it set records. Recommend you get VIP or above for viewing area alone. That was sold out. Big ass area in front of both stages which are side by side plus shade in the afternoon. It was 90’s and hot as fuck last year in the sun, and there isn’t much shade on the grounds.
By far the best VIP value I have ever gotten - the up front area is insane
We split one Mint and one Beyond so someone could get free drinks (which were Angel's Envy Rye) all weekend and someone else could go get them. I felt like the $1,500 for the beyond was a little high for what you got. But they always had snacks like freshwater mozzarella/cherry tomato salad things, popcorn, a meal thrown in here or there. And it was cool to not have to pay for drinks all weekend unless you wanted something special. I remember from my review that I felt like they oversold some of the installations for what they actually were. None of it was bad, but most are just little canopy areas serving "x" liquor in "y" drink or maybe having something special or unique like the Metallica sound-wave whiskey and shit. Voodoo all in was the best value at $1,400 because it was all you could drink, all you could eat actual meals, front of all stages and golf cart rides to the stages where you could hop around the festival all day and not waste time walking from stage to stage. So I didn't think it compared with that per se, but I'm not complaining. We had a shit ton of fun doing some of the distilleries in the morning before the festival opened and just generally tooling around Louisville. Also for those who go, the festival grounds are adjacent to an amusement park with semi-decent rides. So that's an option Sunday morning too. The main thing I would warn any first timers is that you have to walk pretty far into the festival grounds to get to the entrance. At night, all exits look the same. It's the only festival besides ACL I ever went the wrong way out of, and both times I did, it was a different way. By night 3, I knew to go out a certain exit point and take that road to the main road rather than just walking it. :/
Sounds like a lot of neat additions since we did VIP in 2019. Glad the stages are in the same spot- like you said, they provide shade (mid-afternoon on) starting up front. The 20-minute performances were for Mint VIP or Beyond (Super) VIP?
I would not last until nighttime if I had unlimited bourbon in 90 degree weather. Is there good beer?
They had beer but I don’t remember what kinds since I wasn’t drinking it. It was above swill level. I think they had a saloon area serving more beer (plus at bars) and they also had a wine thing that I didn't get to. Also randomly they’ll announce a free cocktail for the next 50 people to visit Chris’s Picks bar that comes up from time to time at the Food & Whiskey stage.
Sounds like a lot of neat additions since we did VIP in 2019. Glad the stages are in the same spot- like you said, they provide shade (mid-afternoon on) starting up front. The 20-minute performances were for Mint VIP or Beyond (Super) VIP?
Neither necessarily. It was a special thing they did with Zelle where you could activate it on line and use Zelle a few times the weeks before the festival and they’d line you up for a performance. It was in its own canopy area.
1 Zelle payment: Expedited entry to the festival 4 Zelle payments: Fred Minnick bourbon tasting experience 6 Zelle payments: Access to the Rocks Room for a 4-course dining experience from Chef Anthony Lamas 8 Zelle payments: One exclusive performance with Shakey Graves, Courtney Barnett, St. Vincent or Caamp
One of us from Inforoo went to St. Vincent’s one and told me it was awesome. They had chicken wings and margaritas which you could have as much of as you wanted.
Post by readyforfestseason91 on Mar 8, 2023 22:31:13 GMT -5
I really like this lineup a lot but still kind of wanted to wait on Louder Than Life for my first time of either both were on my radar to try and make a trip out of this year or either just go back to LIB for 10 years. Had anyone done both B&B and LTL that has an opinion on which fest was best for music and a vacation.
I really like this lineup a lot but still kind of wanted to wait on Louder Than Life for my first time of either both were on my radar to try and make a trip out of this year or either just go back to LIB for 10 years. Had anyone done both B&B and LTL that has an opinion on which fest was best for music and a vacation.
If you can swing VIP it’s unlike any other festival because the VIP takes the entire front sections on both stages and since the music doesn’t overlap it’s like you are at a club or arena floor show for every act.
Louder than Life is all open in the front I believe.
So I think this presents a very unique opportunity to see some of these acts up close without waiting for it.
I really like this lineup a lot but still kind of wanted to wait on Louder Than Life for my first time of either both were on my radar to try and make a trip out of this year or either just go back to LIB for 10 years. Had anyone done both B&B and LTL that has an opinion on which fest was best for music and a vacation.
If you can swing VIP it’s unlike any other festival because the VIP takes the entire front sections on both stages and since the music doesn’t overlap it’s like you are at a club or arena floor show for every act.
Louder than Life is all open in the front I believe.
So I think this presents a very unique opportunity to see some of these acts up close without waiting for it.
Appreciate that info a lot that could be a huge draw for my wife who isn’t as big into music fest for the crowds. But she loves a ton of these artist too.
Has anyone ever camped? I grabbed a camping pass this year after the lyft/Uber mess last year but was wondering how many showers they have and whether it’s hard to get ice etc there?
Has anyone ever camped? I grabbed a camping pass this year after the lyft/Uber mess last year but was wondering how many showers they have and whether it’s hard to get ice etc there?
We got a hotel a half mile up the road. Camping looked okay for RV's, but there wasn't much shade or anything. It was fenced, so we just walked past it. I'm sure there were tents and shit. Sorry I can't help with that. Some chance I'm being roped into going back to Louisville for the first two days of Louder than Life.
Has anyone ever camped? I grabbed a camping pass this year after the lyft/Uber mess last year but was wondering how many showers they have and whether it’s hard to get ice etc there?
We got a hotel a half mile up the road. Camping looked okay for RV's, but there wasn't much shade or anything. It was fenced, so we just walked past it. I'm sure there were tents and shit. Sorry I can't help with that. Some chance I'm being roped into going back to Louisville for the first two days of Louder than Life.
I camped B&B in 2019. Showers were surprisingly good. I didn't have to wait long and water was hot Wasn't to difficult to get ice if I remember right. There was a general store for the camping area... again that was a while ago. If camping is the same place it was in 2019, here's what I did remember...it is directly under the approach for the Louisville airport. UPS had a hub there. Planes were screaming overhead every 40 something seconds well after the stages had shutdown. Bring earplugs and comfortable over the ear hearing protection - yes, both.
Post by macaronijon on Sept 12, 2023 18:09:59 GMT -5
Making a last minute trip to Louisville. I got a VIP wristband today at a good discount. Big fan of fests with side by side stages + continuous music, especially when it is as well curated as this lineup. Pretty stoked
Just about packed for the trip to Louisville! Looking forward to four days of music that spans 7 decades, by my count.
Any other Inforoo’ers going?
Haha. I wish. We were trying to work in a couple days of Louder than Life the weekend after but it didn’t work out with everyone’s schedules. Have fun and let us know how everything was. There was a good Kentucky bbq place and a very good wood oven pizza vendor we enjoyed. Except Train, I think I like Thursday the best. Bomb ass lineup of celebrity chefs again.
Amanda Freitag Brian Klemm Chris Santos Christian Petroni Claudette Zepeda Danny Lee Darnell Ferguson Edward Lee Maneet Chauhan* Pappy & Company Pig Beach Sara Bradley Tom Jackson (Kamado Joe)
* definitely need to try some of her cuisine if I’m ever actually in Nashville.
Got home late yesterday from 4 great days in Louisville. My festival report card:
Logistics: B+ Entry, security and water stations were a breeze. No wait, ever. This outfit knows what they're doing. Weather: A You couldn't ask for a better 4-day stretch. One light sprinkle didn't bother anyone. 32% humidity on Friday- does that EVER happen in the south? Access: A The facilities are well-suited to a festival. There are many hotels within about 15 minutes' walk- no parking fee, no Uber. Expect to pay $350-400 a night, though. Food/Beverages: B Good variety, some satisfying, some not. Expect to pay (after tax and $1-2 tip) about $20 per drink or meal. If you're picky about how your bourbon drinks are prepared, lower your expectations- some were good, some sucked. Overall expensive, but good variety and lines were not too bad. Sound: B Most sets were good, but a few- like Brittany Howard and Michelle Branch- were ruined by inaudible vocals. Other sets had the bass/ subwoofers so loud they drowned out the rest of the band. I'm no techie- is it the band's mikes or the festival's amplification at fault? Lineup: No sense in grading (musical tastes are subjective), except to say that some of us who have been enjoying music for many decades appreciated seeing stuff we couldn't get to when we were younger, as well as big current acts and some legacy acts. We enjoyed: Newcomers: Inhaler, Danielle Ponder, Jon Batiste (sort of) and Joy Oladokun. Classics: Duran Duran, Blondie, Black Crowes, Train. Ancient American treasures: Mavis Staples, Buddy Guy. Current festival draws: Brandi Carlile (passionate, flawless performace as usual), The Killers (top-notch showmanship and effects- no wonder they move tickets), Hozier, Black Keys, Spoon, Billy Strings, Old Crow Medicine Show and Bruno Mars (not our usual jam, but KILLER live show). Our first chance to see First Aid Kit, and they were great.
Weirdest attraction: Wayne. Fucking. Newton. You know how when there's a highway crash and everyone slows down to get a look? We couldn't resist- then we couldn't look away- it was pure entertainment. This dude's career literally spans the history of televised live music, as we learned in the video for the last song. Started the day with a Vegas act, ended with another- the Killers. It got me thinking- with the latest trend in artist residencies- which of our current favorites will end up as a Vegas act in 20-30 years?
VIP Snob Alert: The following is based on Mint VIP, which we chose because: Stagefront access: the entire first 100' or so was for VIP and "Beyond VIP". For around $200 a day, you get up close (or railing, if you work for it) for up to 11 acts per day including headliners. You may pay that much or more for any good seat to big acts in the NY-Philly market where we live. The music is why we fest. Restrooms: A (male), B- (female, due to long lines) VIP restrooms were clean, always had paper, and even supplied toiletries (like those dental floss pick things- really handy for pulled pork between the molars). I'm a guy, but c'mon BnB and EVERY festival promoter- DO. THE. MATH.- males and females are different in this regard. Change the M/F restroom balance to at least 60% female.
VIP was worth it for us for the above two reasons. The rest of VIP was PACKED. The Astroturf lawn was nice, but covered in blankets and chairs from early in the day. VIP tent was OK Thursday/Friday- people shared seating- but Saturday/Sunday we could barely find one square foot to sit on, as crowds arrived early and claimed all the seating for their group for the day. Not my idea of fun, but whatever. Promoters can't really control people pigging out like that. When we took a break from the pit we'd go to the vast GA area where there was breathing room, the Bourbon Bar, Bluegrass tent, Distiller tents, and better food/bourbon options.
Overall, the lineup and up-front viewing made VIP worth the trip. We saw lots of stuff we wouldn't otherwise see at individual shows, and enjoyed music outside our usual wheelhouse.
Seems like we just got home from this, but September ‘24 lineup coming next week! Their lineups have been solid top to bottom for rock/Americana/bluegrass tastes. Can’t beat walking 15” from hotel to festival grounds.
Seems like we just got home from this, but September ‘24 lineup coming next week! Their lineups have been solid top to bottom for rock/Americana/bluegrass tastes. Can’t beat walking 15” from hotel to festival grounds.
Still haven’t made this but still on my list to make. I haven’t really liked many lineups so far so this could be in play. Usually has a great lineup for my taste.
Post by readyforfestseason91 on Jan 23, 2024 10:52:29 GMT -5
Anyone have any leaks or ideas on this?
I do feel like some Headliners this year could be a range of Zach Bryan, Noah Kahan, Foo Fighters, DMB, and maybe Post Malone since he’s popping up randomly on some fest in that Bruno Mars spot.
Undercard wise maybe Tyler Childers, Weezer, Maggie Rogers, Modest Mouse, Pixies, The Red Clay Strays, Tanner Ursey
I do feel like some Headliners this year could be a range of Zach Bryan, Noah Kahan, Foo Fighters, DMB, and maybe Post Malone since he’s popping up randomly on some fest in that Bruno Mars spot.
Undercard wise maybe Tyler Childers, Weezer, Maggie Rogers, Modest Mouse, Pixies, The Red Clay Strays, Tanner Ursey
I do feel like some Headliners this year could be a range of Zach Bryan, Noah Kahan, Foo Fighters, DMB, and maybe Post Malone since he’s popping up randomly on some fest in that Bruno Mars spot.
Undercard wise maybe Tyler Childers, Weezer, Maggie Rogers, Modest Mouse, Pixies, The Red Clay Strays, Tanner Ursey
No. Here were the two previous to last year.
2019
2022
Really have loved all these lineups hope tomorrows looks just as good Esteban. Haven’t you been once or twice and if so what were your thoughts?
I am looking forward to this lineup. It is my home town and only 3 hours away for me now. Can anyone tell me a little about the vibe of the festival and how it is ran? over all reviews?
Okay I'll say it: it's time for a Coachella cum leak, even if its just a dribble. GV can only give us blue balls so many times before someone blows a load so messy that it scrambles the lineup placements.
Post by Mr.BelgianAmbers on Jan 23, 2024 11:21:36 GMT -5
This has the potential to be one of the better lineups this year based on their previous editions. Would love to see them book The Black Keys, they seem like a perfect fit.
Really have loved all these lineups hope tomorrows looks just as good Esteban. Haven’t you been once or twice and if so what were your thoughts?
I took my oldest in 2022 for his belated xmas present since he couldn't figure out what he wanted to do. We had one Super VIP and one regular VIP. Plan was to swap off wristbands after I got snacks and let him just roll back and forth with the drinks (super was sponsored by Angel's Envy). Let me go to that old thread and grab the review. On a side note, we really loved Louisville and wish it wasn't so far of a drive since there's a lot to do and see in and around there.
Friday I ended up walking shaped like a Z with a left lean. I was laughing at myself because I was completely coherent yet no chance of standing up straight. We saw some pretty incredible shiz yesterday although we got in late afternoon. Lukas & POTR was pretty good again. Isbell was mostly good except also incredible for Last of My Kind which had me close to tears. Whatever song he ended the show with also great. Brandi was dynamite so she’s hit it out of the park 2 out of 2 for shows for me. Kings of Leon was also very good. Brandi’s Covers were Creep and Bowie’s space Oddity and Somewhere Over the Rainbow. I had always skipped Kings and know like 2 songs at most, but they exceeded what I figured to get from them. Today is going to be great - Pearl Jam, St. Vincent, Robert Randolph, Reignwolf if Greta is good that will be a bonus.
Saturday Pearl Jam was awesome. Purple Rain, Elderly Woman, Jeremy, Alive , Do the Evolution, Garden. Quack that was a good show. St. Vincent was awesome but it was a dead crowd which we couldn’t understand because of how good the show was. I got to bs with Douglass about 20 minutes in the afternoon, so that was cool too. I gotta wake up but I’ll post some more later.
Sunday We had a blast today. I didn’t get in until about 4:30 EDT to go get my free Angels Envy Rye. Today wasn’t nothing so much for me but it’s whatever. Marcus King Band* was great. Voodoo Child was up there. He and his fiancé did Hey Now. Doobies was fun as shiz. Black Water into Listen to the Music finale was fun. Stapleton was pretty good too but I didn’t get Metallica covers so I will withhold judgment until the future. Your boy likes Kentucky and met a million hip people. But I got to sign out for annihilated level shiz.
Here was the overall writeup:
Here's the wrap-up, music first. Sound was great for every set I saw except Reignwolf was super scratchy. I didn’t care since he’s usually got the distortion cranked up. They have side by side main stages, so you don’t have to wait long between shows. The food and bourbon stages were also side by side and much smaller. They would get some bleed from the main stages, but that was to be expected. There was also a bar type installation which featured some live bluegrass and then piped in music. I wanted to do a top ten, but I went in late Friday and Sunday so only caught a handful of acts each of those days. It’s chickenshiz, but I came out with a 1A/1B/1C between Pearl Jam, Jack White and Brandi. It's not the best PJ set I ever saw, but I think it was my favorite Jack White. Brandi was Brandi, so these are very close.
1A. Pearl Jam
1B. Jack White
1C. Brandi
4. Jason Isbell & 400 Unit
5. Doobie Brothers
6. Alanis (I got one hand in my pocket…)
? St. Vincent
The rest:
Chris Stapleton was good, but I don’t really listen to country and don’t know any of his songs.
Caamp was more campy then when I saw them a few years ago. They did get in the first stanza of War Pigs which woke me up, but they should have played the whole song.
Always Sunny Podcast – That was in the bluegrass installation thing, but it was super packed and I couldn’t really understand what was all being said. I caught those guys earlier that day on stage with Chef Tiffani Faison helping her make porchetta and just taking swigs of whiskey and clowning. That was enjoyable
Greta Van Fleet – I couldn’t take this show seriously whatsoever. My middle kid digs them, but I was with my oldest son who does not and was not amused. I had seen them at ACL a while back and a concert at UNO that was actually pretty good. But he was in hater mode throwing an occasional heckle out there and just clowning the whole show. 4 different times he brought me to tears laughing, so even though there were some good rock parts, it was all coming off as a joke to me. The show started with the singer coming out in a one piece tight 70’s style rockstar outfit which outlined his small one which was annoying because 20% of the show was him on the big screens with the weenie sort of the middle of the shot. Between that and endless “what is this shiz?” in my ear, I enjoyed being at the show for its comedy aspects if not the show itself. On the flip side, I had people tell me they liked that show a lot so it hit home for some.
Revivalists – Solid as ever. They’re never a band that I seek out or go to their concerts, but I always have a good time seeing them. I got love love love love love and Wish I Knew You were my highlights, but the whole set was fun. For some reason I saw a ton of people wearing Revivalists t-shirts this weekend.
Elle King was decent if nothing special. I could only ever remember seeing her on a stream. I dug Chainsmoking, Hard Drinking Woman. She also covered Charlie Daniels Band Long Haired Country Boy which was okay but hopefully ironic. Quack him and his stupid shiz, but he’s dead.
Father John Misty was alright. He came out kind of looking like a retro porn star so we weren’t sure if he was pulling schtick or if he’s changed his image. Band was competent though I expected more from the set than I got.
Shakey Graves was pretty good. I didn’t remember giving a shiz last time I walked passed one of his sets, but he was sufficiently entertaining.
Japanese Breakfast was pretty decent. Seemed a little less pop and more jangly than what I’ve seen her do in the past. Nothing was great or very technical, but I appreciated the performance. I met her and her guitarist in the FJM crowd. She said it was her favorite lineup she ever played on and is a giant FJM fan.
Kings of Leon was alright. I stayed for the whole thing. It was a big show and mostly unmemorable for me except it sounded good watching it.
Lukas and POTR was also alright but sort of monotonous. No hate, but I saw him before and don’t probably need to see him again.
Marcus King Band – Energetic, rocked, a good time. I had actually forgot he was playing, so that was a treat when he came on not long after we walked in that afternoon. I had only ever watched him on streams but possibly remember him playing some of the Griz superjam at Bonnaroo.
Reignwolf was scratchy. He said he’s usually sleeping that time of the day. It was him with his guitar and kick drum and his drummer was also on this tour though he played on only about 60% of the songs. As usual, Reignwolf played behind his head, with his teeth, mike stands, while rolling on the stage, the drummer’s back, etc. He dedicated his last song to Pete Townshend ending by leaping onto his drummer, knocking him over with both of them crashing onto the stage together. Solid ending.
Shovels and Rope was kind of boring. I saw them once before so I knew it wasn’t really going to be much for me. It was okay, but they just don’t really ever seem to go anywhere live.
St. Vincent – This is the hardest one to write about. Sound was immaculate. The performance was quacking great but people just stared at her. Not many cheers or applause or anything at all. I know it was a rock crowd that night with Greta and Pearl Jam following her set. And she started off with Digital Witness, Down, Birth in Reverse and New York. So maybe people were thinking it was going to be a soft performance or whatever. She ended up playing a lot of guitar later on and did get some appreciation. But I just wasn’t understanding how more people there didn’t know her or were bewildered or whatever. It would have been my #4 show of the weekend had the crowd even not sucked just a little.
Festival Itself - Brisket Sliders @ Café 502 were good and the brick oven pizza was also pretty good. Lots of quality bourbon was available, but many of the roostertails were premixed. Luckily in Beyond we could get Angel’s Envy Rye with soda water, so I had my drink most of the weekend. They oversold what the specific installations were, but that didn’t mean they were bad or anything – just many of them overhyped for what was actually there. Like the “arcade” which had only 3 or 4 video game machines in it. Cell service got progressively worse each day as crowds filled in, so that kind of sucked. The grounds were fine and easy enough to navigate. The crowd was a late millennial into Gen X crowd which is on the older side/dad fest territory. If I had to characterize age, it would be halfway between ACL (which is an older crowd than most multi-genre fests) and Jazz Fest. So most of the people maybe between 35-50 with older and younger people there as well. It changed a little each day. Saturday, because Pearl Jam was playing, got packed. I talked to several people who were following them on a 3 night run (Nashville, Louisville, St. Louis). Someone said they were told it was the most sold day of B&B’s history. I have no idea if that’s true, but it was the most packed of the weekend. Sunday had more of a country crowd because of that day’s lineup. Not rednecks, more just older music fans of country. There was a decent sized police presence, but they weren’t really messing with anyone and several of them turned out to be pretty nice. I didn’t see any fights or anyone get arrested though there was one old guy who dropped out in the beer line yesterday and had to be wheeled off and a couple other people attended to – one of those was during Pearl Jam where they stopped the show to let the paramedics get to someone in the crowd. It probably cost us a song, but that’s the right thing to do. So hopefully that individual ended up okay whatever happened. I didn't feel like the fest was unique except for the emphasis on drinking bourbon which is a large plus for me.
Louisville – We came away with a very positive view on the city. Fleur De Lis were everywhere, so I was already happy about that. Most everyone we met was nice there too. We ate at the festival mostly, but we did get over to Grind Burgers. I didn’t realize until later but that was on an old Diners Drive-ins and Dives where the chef roasts her own veggies for vegetable burgers. I remember seeing the episode after the fact and would have gotten one of those if I could have remembered earlier. We tried to go to Mussels and Burgers, but they had a one hour wait. I had a great roostertail at a tasting we went to at Stitzel-Weller. We did a tour at Evan Williams. It was mostly a historical thing with lots of movies. But at the end it’s only Evan Williams. Finally we got to Peerless which was the distillery I enjoyed the most. That’s an actual working bourbon production facility. The tour was great. Upstairs you could see the yeast doing its work in the 6 tanks. Everything smelled of wood and bourbon and I was loving that. Tasting was good there too, so I bought a tshirt and a tin of bourbon smoked coarse black pepper. It smells wonderful, and we can’t wait to cook with it. My only knocks on Louisville are extremely minor. I assumed Uber/Lyft would be super easy. But with the festival in town as well as the people who came up for the FSU-Louisville football game, it was often impossible to get a driver. We saw scooters everywhere and some e-bikes. In hindsight, either having known about those or having checked out the bus service options, we wouldn’t have gotten stuck waiting a few times. There are a couple of spots down by the river where you can tell the sewer pipes are cracked as you’ll get smacked with a sewage smell randomly for like 3 steps walking on a block only to disappear - nothing major just notable. It's possible flow was just slow because it was dry and the river was super low as well. Otherwise, it was clean with trees and flowers everywhere. Also the lack of day eating options on the edge of downtown was kind of a pain. Trying to find an early open bar near the river distilleries was impossible. Not everyone wants a drink at noon, but we walked into Michter’s when it opened and it was already a 1 hour wait. I have no serious complaints and would go back to Louisville any time.
The one comedy aside was trying to figure out how to walk back to the hotel at nighttime. We went 0-2 until we got it right on Saturday. Thursday was insane because we thought we knew exactly where we were going. We ended up getting to what we thought was our hotel only to find one of our drunk friends sitting in the lobby proceeding to tell us, “what’s up? We’re at the wrong hotel.” The chances of both of us making the same exact mistake and ending up at the same wrong hotel on the other side of the grounds and airport was pretty slim. There are a dozen or so of them close by. But we got a laugh out of it. Shout out to LLL for some clutch late night food and alcohol and hanging out this weekend. Yo.
This has the potential to be one of the better lineups this year based on their previous editions. Would love to see them book The Black Keys, they seem like a perfect fit.
