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 in 2013!!
Post by Launchpad McQuack on Dec 27, 2011 5:23:45 GMT -5
Well in my opinion Lolla is just a better run festival.. Cooler climate, more shade, better water filling stations, better vendors, easier crowd flow (getting out of the What stage after Arcade Fire last year was a nightmare.. I never had a problem at all getting from one stage to the next at Lolla no matter who was playing), ect.... But I do prefer roo more for two very big reasons; camping and all night sets.. Having to leave the party at 11 is a real bummer and paying for a hotel hurts like hell.
5/11/13: Sweetlife Festival
5/16/13: The Flaming Lips
5/20/13: Fitz and the Tantrums
6/7-6/9: Governors Ball
6/13-6/16: Bonnaroo
6/21-23: Firefly (???)
7/11-13 Camp Bisco
8/31-9/1: Made In America
9/27-29 Tomorrowworld (???)
Some of it has to do with how it is run by management, but to be fair lollapalooza just has a better festival grounds to work with. Grant park is bigger than the farm, which means there's more room to spread out the stages, and more space for traffic flow Plus it's a frickin PARK. It has tons of trees and shade. And it's on the lake, in the windy city, in Aug- so the weather is just exponentially better.
Also they manage to keep the porta potties clean, and the entire grounds for that matter. But you also need to keep in mind the cleaning crews only have to worry about that 10 hours each day, rather than almost 24 hours each day like bonnaroo
Post by thisismyname on Dec 27, 2011 14:42:04 GMT -5
Yeah, Laggy raises a good point, a lot of the things you brought up were about the fest setting/location, rather than how it was run, but I digress.
I find it interesting you mention crowd control. I guess they made some big improvements last year, because in 08 and 10, trying to leave grant park at the very end of the fest with 80,000 other people created some of the worst clusterquacks I've seen at a festival, especially on the north field. Didn't go this year though, so maybe they made some imporvements.
Post by Chris Major on Dec 27, 2011 18:53:36 GMT -5
The end is always hell, every year, including this one. However it is generally easier to move from one end of Lolla to the other than it is to move around the stages at Bonnaroo. Centeroo is set up almost like a circle while Lollapalooza is set up like a very long rectangle due to the shape of the park. Instead of everyone clustering in the middle with all the stages facing in the same general directions ala Bonnaroo, the crowd is instead walking from one end of the park all the way to the other. I definitely move around a lot more and a lot faster at Lollapalooza especially with how it was set up this year.
However, I do hang out in Grant Park regularly and know downtown Chicago like the back of my hand so I'm sure that has something to do with it as well.
Well in my opinion Lolla is just a better run festival.. Cooler climate, more shade, better water filling stations, better vendors, easier crowd flow (getting out of the What stage after Arcade Fire last year was a nightmare.. I never had a problem at all getting from one stage to the next at Lolla no matter who was playing), ect.... But I do prefer roo more for two very big reasons; camping and all night sets.. Having to leave the party at 11 is a real bummer and paying for a hotel hurts like hell.
I don't think you're fully correct with cooler climate. Yes the past two years have been cooler, but I remember a couple years ago when Lolla was just as hot, if not hotter than 'roo. Yes there are more shadded areas, however up until they expanded west of Columbus, there wasn't much room at all. As far as foot traffic Lolla has been a NIGHTMARE up until this year when they added on even more land. It was ridiculous the year that Rage, Radiohead and NIN headlined. The main difference is that Lolla shuts down at 10pm, and gives the clean up crew a good twelve hours to clean the entire park to be ready for the next day.
Speaking of vendors, it really is in the eye of the customer on what is better. At Lolla you don't have a "sakedown" per se with people selling hand made merchandise, it is all corporate companies. Hell the F&B Director for Lolla is celebrity chef Graham Elliott.
The main reason why Lolla is so successful is because it is in a big city and can pool from the resources within the city. Lolla has an excellent working relationship with the city. Furthermore even after this year when it rained all day Sunday and Grant Park got destroy, C3 decided to pick the tab for any repairs that needed to be made to the park from Lolla, which I think is outstanding.
I'm not saying that one is better than the other, rather I am just pointing out that it is like comparing apples and oranges. IT's two completely different beasts.
Post by Alberto Balsalm on Jan 19, 2012 16:15:14 GMT -5
I think I'm doing Lolla this year. At least one day, maybe the whole thing. I'll decide when the lineup comes out. Which brings me to a couple questions
1. When does the lineup usually come out? 2. How big is this place? How long does it take to walk from the the one main stage to the other one? Ive seen a map of the layout just don't know how big we're talking. Is it like Roo where you can get from any one stage/tent to another one in 5-10 minutes?
I think I'm doing Lolla this year. At least one day, maybe the whole thing. I'll decide when the lineup comes out. Which brings me to a couple questions
1. When does the lineup usually come out? 2. How big is this place? How long does it take to walk from the the one main stage to the other one? Ive seen a map of the layout just don't know how big we're talking. Is it like Roo where you can get from any one stage/tent to another one in 5-10 minutes?
1. Last year the lineup came out at the end of April. Three of the headliners and a few acts were leaked by the Tribune music critic in early February, which has happened the last two years.
2. Grant Park is big - I believe roughly a half mile. From main stage to the other main stage takes about 10-15 minutes. They've closed off Columbus Drive which has really helped spread out the foot traffic. Each main stage has another medium-sized stage in the same field which is nice because as one show ends, the other starts and you don't have to walk at all. If you're looking to bounce back and forth across the park all day, that doesn't really work unless you're willing to leave shows early/arrive late. That said, last year there were 4 stages north of buckingham fountain that were 5-10 minutes apart and same for the 3 (including perrys tent) south of the fountain. It really just depends on where they schedule the bands you want to see.
5/24-5/26 - EDC Chicago
6/18 - Giraffage
6/28 - Richie Hawtin
7/5-7/7 - Wavefront Music Festival
7/19 - Pearl Jam @ Wrigley
7/22 - Jay-Z & JT
8/2-8/4 - Lollapalooza
8/30 - 9/1 - North Coast Music Festival
2. Grant Park is big - I believe roughly a half mile. From main stage to the other main stage takes about 10-15 minutes.
I was curious about this so I consulted google maps. 0.8 mile from the south stage to the north stage. It was quite a walk At least I could walk briskly over even jog between stages if i were in a rush, and wouldn't get backed up by massive crowds
Post by almostcrimes on Jan 21, 2012 13:00:02 GMT -5
The Cure are a perpetual Lolla rumor (sort of like Daft Punk at Coachella), so if they actually end up playing, it would be crazy. Hopefully they'll repeat what they did at Coachella '09 and play until the organizers pull the plug. That was so awesome.
5/24-5/26 - EDC Chicago
6/18 - Giraffage
6/28 - Richie Hawtin
7/5-7/7 - Wavefront Music Festival
7/19 - Pearl Jam @ Wrigley
7/22 - Jay-Z & JT
8/2-8/4 - Lollapalooza
8/30 - 9/1 - North Coast Music Festival
"In the darkness hundreds of glowsticks streaked the air like tracer shots in war. Giant inflatables bounced over dozens of light sabers pointed skyward. Stuffed animals impaled on sticks danced above the hot crowds, puppeted by someone just given ecstasy by a friend made seconds before."
