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WITW replaced that for late night. Personally I much prefer Kalliope. It was killer to be able to wind down the day chilling in the grass. Music and production were okay, but it was a great opportunity to reconvene with the crew and reflect on the day.
WITW has some cool features, but if you aren’t camped on that side of grounds it’s a hike. Plus it’s mainly gravel inside.
One critique that I do have for the current Roo Administration is that I feel they play it way too safe on a lot of things in recent years.
Our lineups are slowly morphing into being indistinguishable to Lolla or ACL, we don't have things like Walter Productions anymore, fewer surprise shows, etc.
I realize some of that is a necessary evil to stay solvent and keep things running well, but it does sting quite a bit for much of the character of Roo to be slowly bleeding away.
One critique that I do have for the current Roo Administration is that I feel they play it way too safe on a lot of things in recent years.
Our lineups are slowly morphing into being indistinguishable to Lolla or ACL, we don't have things like Walter Productions anymore, fewer surprise shows, etc.
I realize some of that is a necessary evil to stay solvent and keep things running well, but it does sting quite a bit for much of the character of Roo to be slowly bleeding away.
One critique that I do have for the current Roo Administration is that I feel they play it way too safe on a lot of things in recent years.
Our lineups are slowly morphing into being indistinguishable to Lolla or ACL, we don't have things like Walter Productions anymore, fewer surprise shows, etc.
I realize some of that is a necessary evil to stay solvent and keep things running well, but it does sting quite a bit for much of the character of Roo to be slowly bleeding away.
One critique that I do have for the current Roo Administration is that I feel they play it way too safe on a lot of things in recent years.
Our lineups are slowly morphing into being indistinguishable to Lolla or ACL, we don't have things like Walter Productions anymore, fewer surprise shows, etc.
I realize some of that is a necessary evil to stay solvent and keep things running well, but it does sting quite a bit for much of the character of Roo to be slowly bleeding away.
Have you interviewed those guys for your podcast yet?
One critique that I do have for the current Roo Administration is that I feel they play it way too safe on a lot of things in recent years.
Our lineups are slowly morphing into being indistinguishable to Lolla or ACL, we don't have things like Walter Productions anymore, fewer surprise shows, etc.
I realize some of that is a necessary evil to stay solvent and keep things running well, but it does sting quite a bit for much of the character of Roo to be slowly bleeding away.
Have you interviewed those guys for your podcast yet?
Not to answer for him, but it’s been scheduled, so soon
One critique that I do have for the current Roo Administration is that I feel they play it way too safe on a lot of things in recent years.
Our lineups are slowly morphing into being indistinguishable to Lolla or ACL, we don't have things like Walter Productions anymore, fewer surprise shows, etc.
I realize some of that is a necessary evil to stay solvent and keep things running well, but it does sting quite a bit for much of the character of Roo to be slowly bleeding away.
agree, i hate to sound like the old guy, but part of the charm of early bonnaroos is the gov't mule set starting late because warren haynes is over on the what with les claypool's flying frog brigade ripping through a jam out of "Thela Hun Ginjeet" and doesn't want to leave. there was just a looseness to the whole experience that was exciting. random sit-ins, having no idea how long late night sets were going. waking up early and walking into centeroo and some band is playing in a tent and i'm like "holy shit is that the Particle set from last night still going?"
but that loosy goosiness i'm nostalgic about dripped into the logistics. crazy ass long wait times to get into centeroo. less safety in general, like MMJ playing during a storm. touring bands are a business, so festivals have to be professional, no artist wants to show up to a festival that is a total shitshow.
and obviously most of the types of acts in those early bonnaroos had no issue filling whatever set time. you want to give us 90 minutes? 2 hours? fuck it yeah we'll play that. these days most acts have their little 30-45 minute festival set planned out and ready to go. that's what they are getting paid for and that's what they are going to do.
feel like i type up this same post about once a year, forgive me for waxing nostalgic.
One critique that I do have for the current Roo Administration is that I feel they play it way too safe on a lot of things in recent years.
Our lineups are slowly morphing into being indistinguishable to Lolla or ACL, we don't have things like Walter Productions anymore, fewer surprise shows, etc.
I realize some of that is a necessary evil to stay solvent and keep things running well, but it does sting quite a bit for much of the character of Roo to be slowly bleeding away.
agree, i hate to sound like the old guy, but part of the charm of early bonnaroos is the gov't mule set starting late because warren haynes is over on the what with les claypool's flying frog brigade ripping through a jam out of "Thela Hun Ginjeet" and doesn't want to leave. there was just a looseness to the whole experience that was exciting. random sit-ins, having no idea how long late night sets were going. waking up early and walking into centeroo and some band is playing in a tent and i'm like "holy shit is that the Particle set from last night still going?"
but that loosy goosiness i'm nostalgic about dripped into the logistics. crazy ass long wait times to get into centeroo. less safety in general, like MMJ playing during a storm. touring bands are a business, so festivals have to be professional, no artist wants to show up to a festival that is a total shitshow.
and obviously most of the types of acts in those early bonnaroos had no issue filling whatever set time. you want to give us 90 minutes? 2 hours? fuck it yeah we'll play that. these days most acts have their little 30-45 minute festival set planned out and ready to go. that's what they are getting paid for and that's what they are going to do.
feel like i type up this same post about once a year, forgive me for waxing nostalgic.
as a young and a post-Covid rookie I really love it when y’all get in your rocking chairs and spin tales of old, even if it’s masked in complaints about how things are now. Never stop!
Have you interviewed those guys for your podcast yet?
Not to answer for him, but it’s been scheduled, so soon
Yeah I had to schedule it for Veteran's Day on the 11th since it's a federal holiday and we had to do it during work hours.
I've been doing my homework asking around for things that I know Barry won't ask them on the What. He'll always be way more knowledgable than me on back of house stuff, but there's just a ton that's not within his world when it comes to the GA and customer facing experience that we'll focus on.
Not to answer for him, but it’s been scheduled, so soon
Yeah I had to schedule it for Veteran's Day on the 11th since it's a federal holiday and we had to do it during work hours.
I've been doing my homework asking around for things that I know Barry won't ask them on the What. He'll always be way more knowledgable than me on back of house stuff, but there's just a ton that's not within his world when it comes to the GA and customer facing experience that we'll focus on.
Ask them if there are any plans to expand the late night since it keeps getting hotter and hotter during the day. The late night acts are part of Roo's appeal anyway, why not lean into it more?
Yeah I had to schedule it for Veteran's Day on the 11th since it's a federal holiday and we had to do it during work hours.
I've been doing my homework asking around for things that I know Barry won't ask them on the What. He'll always be way more knowledgable than me on back of house stuff, but there's just a ton that's not within his world when it comes to the GA and customer facing experience that we'll focus on.
Ask them if there are any plans to expand the late night since it keeps getting hotter and hotter during the day. The late night acts are part of Roo's appeal anyway, why not lean into it more?
I've been thinking that the reason why Bonnaroo doesn't go as late as it used to is to appeal to the people who don't camp. Yeah driving back after midnight sucks but 2:30 am is better than 4:30 am i guess.
I can answer at least one part of that because I've talked with a number of them offline about that. A big factor is the security and production costs. They've gone up a lot in recent years, and it's kind of a cost equation in terms of spending a ton on something that a smaller portion of the crowd takes advantage of.
Ruston Kelly > Hippo Campus > UMO > MEMBA > Quinn XCII > Kacey Musgraves > ODESZA > The National > Post Malone > The Lonely Island > Grammatik > ZHU > Kalliope
In addition to the music, the weather this day was literal perfection. Ruston set the tone for what would become one of my favorite days on this planet. It was early so we were able to get pretty close in the tent. Mockingbird brought tears to my eyes. For HC, my now wife and I laid in the grass at Which and soaked in the clouds as things kicked off for us. Their sound was a great soundtrack for that moment, Bambi in particular I vividly remember.
After HC we headed to UMO. Didn’t have the best spot at the back of the tent but damn if they didn’t shred. Loved how they smoothly alternated between shredding and their more indie sound. From UMO we stumbled into the end of MEMBA at the other. At this point the chacos are clipped to my hydration pack and my feet are enjoying the sand in the Oasis. Had never heard of MEMBA prior, but hearing some Porter & Flume mixed in was a pleasant surprise.
After MEMBA, we met a lady that lived locally and had attended every year since inception. She mentioned that the weather that day was probably the best she had ever experienced at Roo. From there, we met up with some friends at Quinn. We partook with some green, which in the moment was NOT the right decision and could have derailed things for me. Thankfully, we stepped away from the show and went to the fountain and I was able to pivot back to the blissful track that I was previously on.
Now to my favorite show of the day and one my most anticipated acts: Kacey Musgraves. It was pure euphoria from the moment that first kick drum dropped in Slow Burn to her closing with a cover of “Do you realize?” Gorgeous production, an angelic voice, and all of it occurring during golden hour as she performed songs from her album, Golden Hour. I teared up multiple times during this set. Hollywood couldn’t write a better script.
From Kacey we made our way to ODESZA. At one point in my life (circa 2015) they were my favorite artist and were responsible for opening up so many our musical doors for me. By 2019, they were suffering from a bit of overexposure on my part. We didn’t stay for all that long, but what I heard felt like I putting on a well fitting t-shirt that you hadn’t worn in a while. We caught a couple songs of Jim James, including Here in Spirit which is one of my favs from his solo work.
After Jim, we got some spicy pie and sat in the grass at Which for some of The National. I hadn’t had much exposure to them prior but we loved this set. Perfect vibe switch. We randomly ran in one of our friends and got to watch the show with him as well.
We headed back to camp to level set for LN. We went back in and caught the back half of Post’s set. I had zero expectations for this but he was such a pleasant surprise. Additionally, it was great to see how much his show has grown from that when we saw him at LL this year. After Post we split our time 50/50 between LL and Grammatik. LL was really great and unique. I feel blessed to have seen them at Roo of all places. Grammatik was fun, I really enjoyed their visuals.
After Grammatik, we stayed at The Other and met up with many of our friends for a great spot at ZHU. This show was a special capstone for a special day. The entire day was euphoric moment after euphoric moment, and for this show we were able to enhance that euphoria 10 fold. ZHU is one of my favorite shows to experience this type of euphoria, and he did not let us down. Incredible vibe and hit after hit. At one point his guitarist and sax player were dueling against an all red backdrop. Closing with My Life was the perfect encapsulation of everything I had felt that day. Just a beautiful and priceless experience all around.
We finished the day laying in the grass at Kalliope. There wasn’t many people there so we had a great view of stage as everyone recapped the days adventures.
I can answer at least one part of that because I've talked with a number of them offline about that. A big factor is the security and production costs. They've gone up a lot in recent years, and it's kind of a cost equation in terms of spending a ton on something that a smaller portion of the crowd takes advantage of.
But I imagine even less of the crowd goes to those 1-2 pm shows? Maybe I'm wrong about that.
