Music Festivals: Hate 'em or love 'em?
 

Do you fancy the more varied approach I.e multiple days with multiple bands or the singular gig at a venue? Spend more and maybe make that money back figuratively, or dish out $30 to see one of your favorite bands at a rad venue with an equal minded crowd.

I feel at music festivals people are subjected to artists they'd otherwise not see while waiting for their favorite act at the end of the night, desperately trying to make it further up in the crowd when people leave after seeing one of their favorite bands end. Which isn't terrible. But a gig at a venue you get equal minded individuals all thinking the same thing: that one band. That's why at festivals, especially, theirs sometimes that disconnection between the artists and the crowd.

For example: I went to Bonnaroo this year (as all of you I'm sure know, I hype the shit out of that place) and the first day I was their The Growlers, Iceage, Courtney Barnett, and Mac Demarco are all playing back to back at the same stage. I'm thinking shit can't get any better. (And it actually did because I got a rail spot) But I know people are mainly in this crowd waiting for Mac Demarco, as was I, but I was waiting for Iceage above all. And during their set I was maybe the only hardcore Iceage fan. That's not true, but it sure felt like it. They aren't the usual festival circuit band, but they destroyed me, and the few others that enjoy their music. All the while the typical suburban kids that go to these things have never heard an Iceage song in their life and it's obvious standing in a crowd full of them.

All that being said, I prefer music festivals. Where else can you go and see The Flaming Lips, then Jack White? Or Vampire Weekend, then Kanye West, then Skrillex? Or My Morning Jacket, then Slayer, then D'Angelo? And the exercise you get hopping around all damn day making absolute fucking sureness that once mastodon ends, you're heading to the next stage for Ice Cube.

Why would someone detest these types of events?

Having seen the Flaming Lips and White Stripes on tour together, this made me chuckle.

Anyway…

Detest is a strong word, but I'm not really a fan of them. For one thing, I hate seeing bands in large venues—I want to actually see the bands, you know. Since a lot of the time festivals have bands that normally play smaller venues, I'd rather see those bands in those smaller venues. Another thing is that festivals tend to be in the summer, so it's hot, which makes it hard for me to enjoy the experience. Also the crowd is huge, which tends to make everything—from getting a drink to using the bathroom to just finding the people you're with—a pain in the ass. And lastly, most of the time, you have drive to and from festivals, which is a hassle. I'd rather go to a show that I can walk or take public transportation to and not have to worry about how much I've had to drink.

I've never been to one of those type of festivals. I do though, as Janszoon said, enjoy seeing bands in smaller more intimate settings. For instance, seeing Todd Snider last weekend in a smaller venue that had maybe 120 people MAX in it was extremely enjoyable for me. Just feels more personal and enjoyable.

I dislike having to endure huge crowds of people for an extended period of time.
I've been to some smaller rock/punk/metal festivals (not really my genres of choice nowadays anyway) in my teens and it was fun. They were all near where I live, so it was possible to just be there for a day and a night, two days at the most, and then go back home again.

I'd love to go to some free improv or AvantProg festival some day, but I can't afford it at the moment. I imagine them to be full of stuffy snobs anyway, so there'll hardly be real festival atmosphere.

You saw the Flaming Lips live?! That sounds amazing actually. I don't like crowds but that's a show I'd love to see. Are they good live???

Edit: okay guess I got a little giddy and overzealous there, hehe... Just read the rest of your post. Moot question

I dislike the (often) disorganized crowds. Plus I'm too short to see very well if I'm not near the stage.

But, I haven't been to very many, so I'll avoid judging.

Music festivals are great, because you usually find one or two artists that you would've never heard. Most of the festivals in my area are like roots and blues/bluegrass/whatever, but I recently got out to capital hill in Seattle to see The Kills, Toro Y Moi and some others.

I've seen them twice and they were great both times. The time I saw them with the White Stripes was especially awesome because it was a New Year's Eve show.

I'll also add that I have can't get into most bands based on just a live performance. For me to enjoy a show, I need to know the music.

The exceptions are classical and jazz--I can enjoy them no matter what.

Jazz is really great live because of its improvisational tendencies.

Music that's really physical is also great live. Noise, Hardcore etc.

But yeah, some artists can be a real letdown. Unknown Mortal Orchestra was playing at Capital Hill, and the vocals were mixed way too high, so it was pretty brutal.

Nice. I haven't been on a good FL binder in many fortnights... Feeling inspired...

Coachella were some of the greatest days of my life. I was only 17, and at the time the money I was making was simply for spending, so $300 for the ticket didn't seem like much, was like a $500 weekend which now as a college student is unthinkable, though I may be doing it this year since I can have bevs legally.

I saw Jimmy Cliff, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Refused, DJ Shadow, Explosions in the Sky, Madness, Jeff Mangum, Buzzcocks, The Black Lips, The Growlers, Radiohead, Porter Robinson, Calvin Harris, Dr. Dre & Snoop Dogg, Mazzy Star, and a few more., and looking back now I kick myself for not going to others instead.

I avoided people more than I do now, the crowds are huge, but if you like music you should have no complaints. People of all types, mostly high school and college kids looking to party (Coachella) but they stick to the electronic stages. Honestly though, if I had a good time, there is no reason anyone who remotely likes music wouldn't enjoy it. If it's a halfway decent festival, you shouldn't hear multiple stages, you are bound to meet cool people, and some people have mentioned, it's unique being exposed to the variety of artists in one place. Only negative, which only applies to some festivals, are shorter sets, by about 50%, but they still deliver. (Except GY!BE, it felt like they only played a song

Festivals that are "genre" specific kick ass. No point in saying that the best metal festivals are in Europe, except maybe motivating me to get there, so there is that.

I hated EDM night, it was the third to last night I was there. I was trying to get sleep at my tent (I didn't wanna be anywhere near those ravers) and the bass from what sounded like it was coming from every direction was too damn loud. Couldn't get sleep. Also the one problem I had with it this year was during Slayer and the sound from the bigger stage 100 meters away was bleeding into their set. I seriously didn't wanna hear Childish Gambino during Slayer. And Tom Araya looked a little upset.

I agree with literally every word of this. It's why I haven't been to a festival since I was sixteen. There's just something about paying a twelve dollar cover charge, seeing the bad, leaving, getting drunk at a bar, and taking the subway back home. Festivals, unless they're also in NYC, just suck because I have to drive to get there and basically live the entire day like a homeless person. The various artists is a plus, but I'd rather wait til they come around and see them on their own.

They are good but they depend on the artists and the quality. Each festival is different. I just think that people like myself need to find a way to make sure that we can be able to find the good ones.

For me, it is case by case.

The edm stages get pretty fun, but if it's not even close to being your style than yeah. ****, Childish Gambino getting a bigger stage than Slayer!? Only at music festivals. That would tick me off as well if there was some sound bleed.

Riotfest this year was cool. At one point when Faith No More was playing, in between songs you could hear some other band playing in the distance (not sure who), and Mike Patton says nonchalantly into the microphone: "Who the **** is that? They need to shut the **** up..." as the crowd wholeheartedly agreed. What a great night.

I haven't experienced any yet but plan on attending Riot Fest in Chicago and The Fest in Gainesville at some point in the near-ish future, as well as plenty other wonderful events in my state.

Fun Fun Fun Fest and SxSW also look pretty intriguing, but like you guys said I'm certainly not keen on large-volume concerts.

It depends on the lineup for me. If there are enough bands I want to see, to justify the ticket price & crowd hassles, I'll go to a festival and have a good time even with the drawbacks. SXSW is more fun for me because it's spread out over a week and the 1500+ bands play mostly in clubs/bars & smaller venues all over town, so I get lots of variety and intimacy in the music and venues.

Festivals like that seem really appealing to me. Doesn't get much better than paying discount to see a lot of your favorite bands in a short time period.

For me it's really come down to age. I'm getting to be an old timer and while I liked festivals when I was younger I pretty much only see club shows now. The smaller the venue the better. The whole process is just so much easier.

Now you kids get off my lawn:laughing:

and there's been a lot of talk about the Flaming Lips in this thread. To show my age even further the drummer for Flaming Lips was in one of my favorite local college bands in the the late 80's at the University of Kansas.