Whether it's your first Bonnaroo or you’re a music festival veteran, we welcome you to Inforoo.
Here you'll find info about artists, rumors, camping tips, and the infamous Roo Clues. Have a look around then create an account and join in the fun. See you at Bonnaroo!!
Post by xsoftxnxelegantx on Jun 15, 2010 16:47:39 GMT -5
I'll be the 1st person to admit I'm a hipster. I went for the music though, and although I dont like "jambands" I felt the bands I went for had put on amazing shows. I don't think any band had the same high energy crowd as the Dropkick Murphys had. They were the main reason I went, I love them. They even jumped out into the crowd for a song. I also went for Rise Against, Against Me, Weezer, Coco, Tenacious D, Phenoix, Norah Jones, She & Him....and I can go on.
Where else can someone see all those bands and artists over the course of 4 days for only $275???
Also as someone that looks like I hipster. I found a lot of people to be rather rude to me(except at the Murphys show, which I went to alone because my friends went to They Might be Giants). I like to think I'm a fairly interesting and complex person.
Say hey johnny boy, the battle call United we stand, divided we fall Together we are what we can't be alone We came to this country you made it our home
I really don't understand what you guys are complaining about. The reason i decided to go to Bonnaroo is the diversity of music and people i heard so much about on these forums. I went for electronic/rap/indie/alternative all in the same festival.
I was not disappointed in the diversity or level of energy at every show i attended. If you choose to not go next year its all on you, not Bonnaroo imo.
Let me say this first before the viral attack on my post begins, I'm sure the roo this years was the best one yet if you went, not all people who listens to jambands makes the cool, or sweet, or just cause your a frat guy and listen to DMB that Does NOT make you a duchbag. I judge people how they treat me and how they treat other people, it sounds like there were plenty of good to great people at roo, and it only takes a couple of leno heads to ruin somebodies roo. the fact of the matter is your just more likely to get into fights and violence where the music condones that type of behavior, nor am i saying that jamband fans never get into fights. I listen bluegrass my favorite to metal and electronic such as gwar and crystal method and have seen many a fight break out at a gwar concert but never at and jamband concert, Phish, the Dead, SCI,ect. There seem to me an ever growing number of people who have there festival ruined, i in no way blame Bonnaroo, but the number of people 75,000 your just bound to get at least 10,000 leno head just on the math alone.
So here is the thing man, I have been going to Jam Band shows since I started with the Grateful Dead back in '94. I saw Phish multiple times -1999, and did most of Summer tour twice. So when I say you have no idea what you are talking about I want it to be well qualified. I have seen beat downs, a stabbing, and the infamous gatecrashing at Deer Creek in 95. I have seen people get crapped on, and folks lose teeth to an elbow from harmless looking balloon vendors. Hell there was a stabbing at the Phish festival at Coachella last year.
This is not to say there are not cool great people on the scene, I have met tons of good people and made some life long friends. However if you think the whole scene is like that you are living in a dream world. Go to AllGood and watch people get puddled, or literally crapped on when passed out on shakedown, then tell me how great the jam band crowd is. It is a great time, but roo is a freakin country club in comparison. If you just drop your preconceived notions about people and just go to have a good time and make friends, I have a feeling you will be able to, it has never failed me.
I felt a little out of place on Thursday and Friday for some reason. I, too, had to pass the frat boys on top of their RV all weekend getting drunk and listening to awful music 90% of the time. The trash they left there was ridiculous.
I recall this exact same scenario as I strolled through the campgrounds................................................in 2003. They've always been there. Maybe a few more this year, fewer the next year (it all depends on the lineup) but just about every "undesireable" described in this thread has been there from almost the beginning.
The only year you could possibly say the "jambandfan/wook" crowd was 2002 when bands one could loosly define as "jambands" made up 90% of the lineup because they were about the only bands playing festivals in the US in 2002. The only reason I went that year was because some friends of mine who were part of the Dead/Phish/festival culture at that time told me Ween (one of the few non-jam-bands on the bill that year) was playing. I had no experience with that scene myself, had never heard of most of the bands topping the bill, and would never have gone back had they not divirsified the lineup. I guess I've been ruining Bonnaroo from the very beginning.
And Jess, it was cool hanging with you as well, and everyone at the camp that afternoon. Sorry I couldn't make it back for the brunch.
John: We don't even understand our own music Spider: It doesn't, does it matter whether we understand it? At least it'll give us . . . strength John: I know but maybe we could get into it more if we understood it
Bonnaroo is not a jam band festival it is a Bonnaroo.
I love good jam bands, but the folks that follow them bring too many drugs. I've been doing Roo for 6, missing only the Police two years ago. For the first time I didn't see a fight, or a guy tripped out shaking getting help or wooks smashing into people's camps or really any wooks at all.
I even created the w00ks thread specifically to talk about their menace and they weren't even around this year! Good riddance to that horrendous scene and blitz of drugs it brings. I'm happy to see jam move quietly to other festivals than Bonnaroo. I felt Rothbury was a great new home for them last year, and it is shame it couldn't happen this time around.
I think two of the best shows all weekend. Also, I felt that the crowd was great. I never met anyone who seemed like a bad person. My neighbors were fantastic. And the crowd for me, is what half-makes the festival. One of my fondest moments from this year was sitting under the tree during Blitzen Trapper. I had a great high (I'm just a smoker, weedz, not krack. It's too hot to drink, I don't know how people do it.) and I was just sitting there listening to a great mellow set, on beautiful summer night, people watching. The glowsticks, and the costumes, and just the different characters in general are great. The only thing I was a little sad to see, were the lack of glowsticks being tossed during the headliners. Pearl Jam in 08, and the Phish shows last year come to mind.
I'll be the 1st person to admit I'm a hipster. I went for the music though, and although I dont like "jambands" I felt the bands I went for had put on amazing shows. I don't think any band had the same high energy crowd as the Dropkick Murphys had. They were the main reason I went, I love them. They even jumped out into the crowd for a song. I also went for Rise Against, Against Me, Weezer, Coco, Tenacious D, Phenoix, Norah Jones, She & Him....and I can go on.
Where else can someone see all those bands and artists over the course of 4 days for only $275???
Also as someone that looks like I hipster. I found a lot of people to be rather rude to me(except at the Murphys show, which I went to alone because my friends went to They Might be Giants). I like to think I'm a fairly interesting and complex person.
Post by ilovefestys on Jun 15, 2010 19:18:16 GMT -5
Heres the thing about the whole jam band scene, it is dying in general and this isn't a guess this is the facts. I have become friends with the promoter of windstorm productions and he is good friends with Ashely Capps, the promoter of Windstorm runs the variety playhouse in atlanta ga and has for over 20 years, he see's all the numbers for most of the bands that we go see in concert including all the jambands and every time i go to a show we have this argument how the scene is dying. He tells me even Phish's numbers are way down. When they hit a market they sell out when they come back to that market a year later they lose about 1/3 in ticket sales from the year before. During the summer tour before they broke up there numbers were way down more than they had ever seen before that was part of the reason for leaving not most of the reason just part of it, once they annouced they were breaking up they sold out ever show right away. Moe when they came through atlanta had its number of attendes cut in half from the year before. The scene will never die its just the bands are getting a little old and once you have seen so many shows they aren't as exciting as when it was the first few times you saw them.
I have been on the scene for over 10 years and seen so many shows that only certain bands keep wowing me and that is, Phish, My Morning Jacket, Black Keys, Ghostland Observatory, Flaming Lips, and Radiohead (even though they aren't on the scene) All other shows like Moe, STS9, Disco Biscuits, Umphreys, MMW, Galactic they are all super talented and great but they don't do it for me anymore. Any younger jambands don't ever wow me even though they are talented like Perpetual groove, and Tea Leaf Green. However there is one thing i keep noticing is that there are a lot younger crowds, if you go to a perpetual groove show it is practically sophmore year in highschool there are so many kids, but that used to be me and everyone else on this board we are just getting older and the scene isn't adapting. Bonnaroo is a business and must do everything they can to maximize profit. Yes they sellout in certain ways with corporate sponsors but they have a obligation to make money or else we won't have more Roo's. There are ways of selling out and not selling out. Take Lollapalooza they have the Bud light stage, we have the which and what stage. But we have the Ford Fiesta. Just start to ignore it or pass on it, go to the shows you love and enjoy yourself you have to understand that they are a business and if they don't make money we won't get to have our roo and I want my roo so if they want to do more and more corporate sponsorships as long as it doesn't get to the extreme of commercials on the mainstage screens and stuff that I'm cool with it and just ignore it.
Haha I was going to say. Hipsters also never say they're hipsters.
actually they do now with the post-irony trend where sarcasm denotes truth in what they're saying. so a true hipster now might say something like, "oh yeah, i'm a TOTAL hipster" and roll their eyes after being called out on their hipsterness, which means they're acknowledging the fact that they are hipsters while giving you the impression that they're still denying what they are. then there's post-post-irony, which i don't totally understand at the moment.
I hate when guys like the aforementioned music-blaring fraternities give the rest of us a bad name. I realize that frats have a pretty established reputation and that I am in the minority, but over the course of my three Roos myself and 21 of my brothers have made the excursion and the loudest noise we've made was from an acoustic guitar. We also don't drink very much (at least at Roo) and are 100% there to see the music. We probably go to more shows and dance more joyfully than 80% of the Roo population.
I guess I really just wanted to defend my lifestyle since it gets bashed to bits on this board and let everyone know that there are frats like mine that arent disruptive. Every last one of my friends who has come with me thinking they might not be cut out for it has turned into a devoted Bonnaroo fan and even more devoted music fan. I guess we are an outlier (PlasticPepper can attest that we went to a dorky college and the frat boys aren't necessarily jocks). I just had to say something bc everytime i see frat boy, wook or hipster typed I cringe
Last Edit: Jun 16, 2010 0:32:33 GMT -5 by king - Back to Top
I forgot to mention this story. I've seen a few other chapters of my fraternity at Bonnaroo and this year a kid saw my letters and ran over to say Hi. He looked exactly like Hurley from LOST and when he ran at me I thought I was being chosen to get stranded on the island...
Post by awolfatthedoor on Jun 16, 2010 1:00:36 GMT -5
Hahaha king. "Frat boys" get a bad rep because some are douches, but there are all sorts of douches. I've never met someone at Bonnaroo that was there for the music, no matter what type of music, that was a douche.
I forgot to mention this story. I've seen a few other chapters of my fraternity at Bonnaroo and this year a kid saw my letters and ran over to say Hi. He looked exactly like Hurley from LOST and when he ran at me I thought I was being chosen to get stranded on the island...
Bahaha my boyfriend pulled this with one of his fraternity brothers at Roo last year...saw a tat of their symbol and literally chased the dude through the crowd...he was a little weirded out. Haha.
Anyway. I agree with others in this thread...I believe that it's not about a lack of "jamband" fans so much as it is a lack of music fans in general. TRUST ME when I say there are many, many people now who think "OH BONNAROO LETS GO GET F*CKED UP IN A FIELD FOR 4 DAYS"...it's the truth. And I believe THAT is the problem that Roo has. But the kind of bands Bonnaroo books doesn't really change that...
Post by nodepression on Jun 16, 2010 13:28:25 GMT -5
There's a contingent of those people at Bonnaroo, but it can't be everyone, especially when there's 75,000 people and it's so established. But there's also going to be a big group of people who go there for the party who also become big music fans in the process.
Although, if you want an all music nerd crowd go to ATP.
Post by onesweetla83 on Jun 16, 2010 14:25:56 GMT -5
I say who cares who's a wook and who cares who's a frat boy as long as the people are cool to one another. Do we all have to live up to our stereotypes?
I worry only about the decline of the jamband community because part of what I love about Bonnaroo is the diversity of the people that go there and get along in the happiest place on earth.
Personally, I don't know everything there is to know about music and I don't think that is necessary in order to enjoy a festival like this. My boyfriend and his friend (who I went with this year; I went with just my boyfriend last year) are super knowledgeable about music, which inspires me and got me interested in coming to Bonnaroo in the first place, but that's just not me. A lot of times I listen to pop radio because I'm too lazy to put something else on. But that doesn't mean I don't appreciate "good music." Besides, a lot of that is subjective.
Regardless, I've been more gung-ho about coming to Bonnaroo than they have the past 3 years. For me, Bonnaroo is a place to experience music I might not be familiar with, so yes, I go for the shows (in fact, I don't do any druqs or drink anything but water, lemonade and Gatorade down there so I can see as many shows as humanly possible).
Every year when the lineup comes out I check out a couple of the bands so I have an idea of who I'd like to see. Others I'm familiar with because of my boyfriend. Sometimes, though, I find the best surprises are when you veer from the plan and show up at a show you knew nothing about.
It sucks that everything has a brand these days and it sucks that they're trying to make money these days but who isn't? Even a jam-based festival is going to make money off the "jamband" crowd that attends.
I hate when guys like the aforementioned music-blaring fraternities give the rest of us a bad name. I realize that frats have a pretty established reputation and that I am in the minority, but over the course of my three Roos myself and 21 of my brothers have made the excursion and the loudest noise we've made was from an acoustic guitar. We also don't drink very much (at least at Roo) and are 100% there to see the music. We probably go to more shows and dance more joyfully than 80% of the Roo population.
I guess I really just wanted to defend my lifestyle since it gets bashed to bits on this board and let everyone know that there are frats like mine that arent disruptive. Every last one of my friends who has come with me thinking they might not be cut out for it has turned into a devoted Bonnaroo fan and even more devoted music fan. I guess we are an outlier (PlasticPepper can attest that we went to a dorky college and the frat boys aren't necessarily jocks). I just had to say something bc everytime i see frat boy, wook or hipster typed I cringe
Post by xsoftxnxelegantx on Jun 16, 2010 17:31:09 GMT -5
I know hipsters don't call themselves hipsters, and what i saw at Bonnaroo isn't in par with what a hipster would. But I do go to all the hipster shows here in NY, and do tend to dress like one. I don't think or act like one, but most people just judge by what they see then how a person acts or talks.
Like one of our neighbors were a-holes to us the whole weekend calling us yankees and tried to go though our stuff, but our neighbors behind us and on the other side stopped them. I also was walking with my crutches in hand drinking a beer and heard someone bitching about how I was faking my injury, but in reality its nearly impossible to drink or hold a beer while walking on crutches.
Say hey johnny boy, the battle call United we stand, divided we fall Together we are what we can't be alone We came to this country you made it our home
this was my 7th Roo......and possibly my last, due to the frat punks and just all out rude types....I'm a local person and I love going to Roo, but the lineup will have to blow me away next year.....just to put up with the "you owe me something" type people.....RIP. Bonnaroo.
Post by CincyRooJF on Jun 18, 2010 12:23:03 GMT -5
This was my 3rd Roo (07, 08, 2010) and there has been a large amount of "you owe me something" type people every year. I meet some Wooks in 07 in GA and they were the biggest you owe me something types that I have ever meet at Bonnaroo. I think it's just a crap shoot with who you run into over the weekend. This year I talked to some of the nicest people out of any year. Maybe it was due to VIP but in 08 I was in VIP and still didn't meet the same quality people that I did this year.
Ok, my bad people.. you're absolutely right. Judging people on appearance completely goes against what I stand for, I didn't mean to sound like that. I tried NOT to judge people before I spoke to them, but it doesn't take a very long conversation to make a generalized assumption about whether or not you're going to have much in common with a person. I DID NOT have any interest in talking to the people who didn't even know any of the bands that were playing and were just there to spend their parent's money, or that certain kind of frat boy that was only there to get laid, etc. etc. HOWEVER, I did not mean to imply that everyone out of those groups was like that, the same way not every hippie is a pot-smoking tree-hugger. I'm sorry....
It's really nice to see people open their hearts and minds but if you have any kind of generalized assumptions about not getting along with someone you usually won't, even if it is because they have seemingly no common interests with you after talking to them. It's hard not to do that though when people act the fool or rather do things you consider to be foolish/annoying. To each their own, but I'm glad you try to talk to people first instead of judging appearances
Last Edit: Jun 18, 2010 13:33:41 GMT -5 by indigrainbowlove - Back to Top
Post by ChrisIronsArt on Jun 18, 2010 14:07:01 GMT -5
Im in a fraternity, but who cares? I love music and love meeting new people. Bonnaroo is perfect for that. This year though I had to add another festival, Wanee, in addition to roo, because of the lack of Jam-ish bands roo was offering this year. But the few Jam-ish bands roo had this year defiantly delivered. Amazing sets by Lotus, Bisco, Galactic, Umphreys (Should have been Late Night), MMW, JBT. It was very sad though that we were able to dance in the middle of the other tent for galactic with no one around us. By the end only a forth of the tent was full! Galactic was kicking ass and I felt like no one was there to enjoy it with us.
Post by daisychain on Jun 18, 2010 14:34:44 GMT -5
It's inevitable that in a crowd of 75,000+ people there are going to be a few dbags. I met a couple but I met way more totally cool and amazing people than I did jerks. That being said, I do have to admit that there's something weird on the festie circuit this year. The overall crowd has been a bit more unfriendly and litterbuggy which is disappointing. I'm not about to let that stop me from attending festies though. I always have an amazing time and meet amazing people so I'm good to go regardless of what the lineup will be. ;-)