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One last thought. I was not there for his set but biggest possible respect for Hozier for publicly calling for a free palestine during it. the genocide that zionists, the us and israel are committing on the people of gaza is fucking disgusting and evil. shame on every artist in the industry staying silent
I can't help but feel like the heavy Americana direction of Saturday was due to misreading the appeal of Saturday in 2023. That day sold well and they assumed that it was because Americana, in general terms, would perform strongly for them. In actuality, it was the meteoric rise of Noah Kahan last year that moved tickets. When thinking about whom to book for the top six spots on the poster which appear in that more prominent font, there are ultimately three sweet spots. You can book someone who's on the rise in a major way, and that probably involves utilizing data analytics to look for the early signs that a Noah Kahan or Chappell Roan is going to be a big deal in 8-10 months or that a Hozier is going to step up from moving four figures worth of tickets in a market to five figures, and get his first Billboard #1 single.
The second sweet spot is a legacy act that, for an urban festival, hasn't played right in town in a long (or very long) while. I'm thinking about the sort of artist who releases new albums that only their most devoted fans care about, yet are a bucket list act for many or "haven't seen them in years" artist, and haven't played inside the Rt. 128 beltway in a long time, even if they have played Mansfield, Worcester, NH, etc. For me, the three that spring to mind as perfect for Boston Calling are The Strokes, System Of A Down, and The Cure (who haven't played in Boston proper since 2017, although they played Mansfield last year.)
The third sweet spot is the reunion tour. As long as it's their first show in a given market since reuniting, it's can't miss. Should the Fleetwood Mac rhythm section, Lindsey, and Stevie reunite, you book it. Even moreso for Talking Heads, Outkast, Oasis, R.E.M., and The Smiths.
For Boston Calling, it almost makes sense to disregard genre entirely and just focus upon that artist and whether they check off any of the above boxes. (Also, since Boston Calling is the only big festival in town, and it's not like every artist on the festival circuit is going to be scooped up every year in the market like they are collectively by Chicago and L.A. festivals, they should really make an effort to bring in artists who've never played the festival before or haven't played in at least 8 or 9 years. Run The Jewels, The National, and Weezer all feel like Boston Calling leftovers by now. How can we miss you if you won't go away?)
Last Edit: May 27, 2024 23:07:57 GMT -5 by tw12 - Back to Top
One last thought. I was not there for his set but biggest possible respect for Hozier for publicly calling for a free palestine during it. the genocide that zionists, the us and israel are committing on the people of gaza is fucking disgusting and evil. shame on every artist in the industry staying silent
Hozier's music is a big "eh" for me but when it comes to social justice stuff he tends to be - quite vocally - on the right side of history.
I can't help but feel like the heavy Americana direction of Saturday was due to misreading the appeal of Saturday in 2023. That day sold well and they assumed that it was because Americana, in general terms, would perform strongly for them. In actuality, it was the meteoric rise of Noah Kahan last year that moved tickets. When thinking about whom to book for the top six spots on the poster which appear in that more prominent font, there are ultimately three sweet spots. You can book someone who's on the rise in a major way, and that probably involves utilizing data analytics to look for the early signs that a Noah Kahan or Chappell Roan is going to be a big deal in 8-10 months or that a Hozier is going to step up from moving four figures worth of tickets in a market to five figures, and get his first Billboard #1 single.
The second sweet spot is a legacy act that, for an urban festival, hasn't played right in town in a long (or very long) while. I'm thinking about the sort of artist who releases new albums that only their most devoted fans care about, yet are a bucket list act for many or "haven't seen them in years" artist, and haven't played inside the Rt. 128 beltway in a long time, even if they have played Mansfield, Worcester, NH, etc. For me, the three that spring to mind as perfect for Boston Calling are The Strokes, System Of A Down, and The Cure (who haven't played in Boston proper since 2017, although they played Mansfield last year.)
The third sweet spot is the reunion tour. As long as it's their first show in a given market since reuniting, it's can't miss. Should the Fleetwood Mac rhythm section, Lindsey, and Stevie reunite, you book it. Even moreso for Talking Heads, Outkast, Oasis, R.E.M., and The Smiths.
For Boston Calling, it almost makes sense to disregard genre entirely and just focus upon that artist and whether they check off any of the above boxes. (Also, since Boston Calling is the only big festival in town, and it's not like every artist on the festival circuit is going to be scooped up every year in the market like they are collectively by Chicago and L.A. festivals, they should really make an effort to bring in artists who've never played the festival before or haven't played in at least 8 or 9 years. Run The Jewels, The National, and Weezer all feel like Boston Calling leftovers by now. How can we miss you if you won't go away?)
One last thought. I was not there for his set but biggest possible respect for Hozier for publicly calling for a free palestine during it. the genocide that zionists, the us and israel are committing on the people of gaza is fucking disgusting and evil. shame on every artist in the industry staying silent
They probably stay silent because it's a horrifying yet complex war and it's best to keep some distance from terrorists and mentally ill anarchists
One last thought. I was not there for his set but biggest possible respect for Hozier for publicly calling for a free palestine during it. the genocide that zionists, the us and israel are committing on the people of gaza is fucking disgusting and evil. shame on every artist in the industry staying silent
They probably stay silent because it's a horrifying yet complex war and it's best to keep some distance from terrorists and mentally ill anarchists
i was legitimately surprised to see the internet freaking out about "unsafe overcrowding" on sunday. it was sold out, everything had a line, there were bottlenecks... just like any other sold out day of this thing in the past. i do think in this case more people were in the main red/green area and less near blue than prior sold out days (that blue lineup sunday was badddd). like, say 95% of the crowd was at green/red compared to probably 85% on other sold out days, so yeah it was even more crowded than it's been before. i mean, sure, i wish every day was as chill as the crowds were on saturday, but then the festival wouldn't make any money and they would've canceled it. sold out festivals are kinda annoying. what did people expect?
i was legitimately surprised to see the internet freaking out about "unsafe overcrowding" on sunday. it was sold out, everything had a line, there were bottlenecks... just like any other sold out day of this thing in the past. i do think in this case more people were in the main red/green area and less near blue than prior sold out days (that blue lineup sunday was badddd). like, say 95% of the crowd was at green/red compared to probably 85% on other sold out days, so yeah it was even more crowded than it's been before. i mean, sure, i wish every day was as chill as the crowds were on saturday, but then the festival wouldn't make any money and they would've canceled it. sold out festivals are kinda annoying. what did people expect?
This is kinda my assessment too after parsing all the comments. Having been to a couple of these things at both old and new locations it would not surprise me at all if they were just ill equipped to handle this scenario. Which unfortunately is a common theme with this festival.
i was legitimately surprised to see the internet freaking out about "unsafe overcrowding" on sunday. it was sold out, everything had a line, there were bottlenecks... just like any other sold out day of this thing in the past. i do think in this case more people were in the main red/green area and less near blue than prior sold out days (that blue lineup sunday was badddd). like, say 95% of the crowd was at green/red compared to probably 85% on other sold out days, so yeah it was even more crowded than it's been before. i mean, sure, i wish every day was as chill as the crowds were on saturday, but then the festival wouldn't make any money and they would've canceled it. sold out festivals are kinda annoying. what did people expect?
As I mentioned up thread, Friday was a perfect crowd volume. You could have even gone up a few thousand. It was busy, but not Sunday overwhelming busy. But that had to do with lineup logistics.
You are spot on about blue, but stop with the themed days. Make this truly multi-genre each day and spread the acts across the 3 main stages. Done right and you have better crowd spread and control.
Looking forward to Green River Festival where even Saturday at BC will look overcrowded.
One last thought. I was not there for his set but biggest possible respect for Hozier for publicly calling for a free palestine during it. the genocide that zionists, the us and israel are committing on the people of gaza is fucking disgusting and evil. shame on every artist in the industry staying silent
One last thought. I was not there for his set but biggest possible respect for Hozier for publicly calling for a free palestine during it. the genocide that zionists, the us and israel are committing on the people of gaza is fucking disgusting and evil. shame on every artist in the industry staying silent
Fuck off you Hamas loving asshole.
lol who’s dupe is this? Surely someone didn’t create an account just to tell Tofu to fuck off.
One last thought. I was not there for his set but biggest possible respect for Hozier for publicly calling for a free palestine during it. the genocide that zionists, the us and israel are committing on the people of gaza is fucking disgusting and evil. shame on every artist in the industry staying silent
Fuck off you Hamas loving asshole.
Guys, let’s get back to the real issue plaguing the western civilization…the fact that festivals insist on overcrowding when they book pop acts., and the asshole crowds that come along with it.
There's probably not much they can say without leaving themselves exposed but I just don't know how many chances people will give to this festival. For whatever reason it's just consistently poorly executed.
So they deleted a ton of complaints and now think theyll be ok? Suuuure
If they claim they were under their capacity then was the cap 50k? It wouldve literally been a crush if they had sold those tickets.
They could have been under capacity, including the VIP/Platinum areas, but when you can't spread the crowds across the grounds because you don't have a compelling counter act for blue, you end up with what you had on Sunday. Add to that the fact that all non-main artery food options are still near red/green, you are creating more bottlenecks. Move some food options to near blue, add more water stations, and put better acts on blue to spread the crowds.
Post by setlistvulture on May 28, 2024 15:48:42 GMT -5
The red stage is AWFUL. It has never worked since they moved. The sound is abysmal, and its way too close to green. I would swap it and Orange or move it to the Ferris Wheel location. This is not a new critique, and I'm sure a lot of the Meggy crowd aren't super festival experienced aka young kids who just went for her. Sorry folks experienced this, but its not a new phenomenon.
he/they '12 - Firefly '13 - Firefly, Made In America '14 - Firefly, Made In America '15 - Mountain Jam (Sunday), Firefly, Pitchfork, Made In America '16 - Boston Calling, Firefly, Osheaga, Made In America, Roots Picnic NYC '17 - Boston Calling, Gov Ball, Firefly (Sunday), Pitchfork, Day For Night '18 - Boston Calling, Mountain Jam, Osheaga '19 - Form, Firefly (Sunday) '22 - Boston Calling, Firefly '24 - Solid Sound, Soundside
So they deleted a ton of complaints and now think theyll be ok? Suuuure
If they claim they were under their capacity then was the cap 50k? It wouldve literally been a crush if they had sold those tickets.
They could have been under capacity, including the VIP/Platinum areas, but when you can't spread the crowds across the grounds because you don't have a compelling counter act for blue, you end up with what you had on Sunday. Add to that the fact that all non-main artery food options are still near red/green, you are creating more bottlenecks. Move some food options to near blue, add more water stations, and put better acts on blue to spread the crowds.
Right. Add to the fact you stacked the bill on Sunday and you couldnt put Chappell against Hozier for example then you get this type of deal. Live Nation enjoys slowly killing off their festivals in all the wrong ways.
One last thought. I was not there for his set but biggest possible respect for Hozier for publicly calling for a free palestine during it. the genocide that zionists, the us and israel are committing on the people of gaza is fucking disgusting and evil. shame on every artist in the industry staying silent
They could have been under capacity, including the VIP/Platinum areas, but when you can't spread the crowds across the grounds because you don't have a compelling counter act for blue, you end up with what you had on Sunday. Add to that the fact that all non-main artery food options are still near red/green, you are creating more bottlenecks. Move some food options to near blue, add more water stations, and put better acts on blue to spread the crowds.
Right. Add to the fact you stacked the bill on Sunday and you couldnt put Chappell against Hozier for example then you get this type of deal. Live Nation enjoys slowly killing off their festivals in all the wrong ways.
I spent most of the time between Chappell and The Killers on the Blue side of the festival… it was a ghost town. Could walk to the rail or within 5 people from the front center for Blondshell and Alvvays (they had a monster of a set) throughout their full respective sets. The festival overall was probably not over capacity… just a confluence of factors made the Red side overwhelmingly packed, and much earlier than most of the other days I’ve been to over the years. Frankly, I’m not sure I’ve seen too many days that crowded that early at any festival I’ve ever attended.
Over half of the medical attention sitiations and hospitalizions occurred on Sunday.
Saturday had an estimated 16k people, Sunday was "40k"
When they mentioned capacity in their statement today, that was most likely general capacity for the entire grounds, assuming (as mentioned by someone a few posts back) that a fair number of people are going to be at Blue and elsewhere on the grounds. It's probably a good idea to book a Red closer whose local ticket demand equals one night at MGM or the pavilion, with their 5K capacity (which is probably where you'd slot the Fri and Sat Red closers.)
Hozier sold 10K tickets to two pavilion shows last Sept. They would have been better off having him headline Green (and not booked The Killers), because the layout of the grounds (and positioning of PA stacks) is designed to accommodate people watching/listening to Green practically all the way back to the archway near the grounds entry,
The angle of the Red stage along with the Platinum lounge across from it, makes it a likely flashpoint for overcrowding and bottlenecks when you put someone on that stage whose popularity has outgrown the limited space in front of the stage.
(If they switched the ferris wheel and the bleachers back to their original positions, Blue still wouldn't be big enough to handle a true arena headliner, but it would more comfortably handle a larger number of people within sight/earshot of the stage than can Red. After making that change, Blue closer could/should be the default booking for the second biggest act of the day.)
Last Edit: May 28, 2024 21:22:30 GMT -5 by tw12 - Back to Top
Post by Jeremy Jamm on May 28, 2024 21:27:56 GMT -5
I only went one year, in 2022. I wouldn't say "crowding" was a problem but just extremely inconvenient bottlenecks. Maybe they have changed it since then. On that Sunday when Metallica played, I literally gave up trying to get back to VIP for Metallica because it was so crowded there was zero chance I'd ever make it through the crowd there.
2011 where Mumfords played the Which and had like 50k people there. That crowd was so huge, I just gave up on it and went over to !!!. There was maybe a few hundred people there, and it was a fun time.
2012 when Skrillex had the LN slot and ran up against stuff that'd normally be mid afternoon sets - it got way overcrowded at Which. You could get super close at any of the tent sets. Pedrito Martinez played at like 1 pm the week before at Mountain Jam, then got 1 am at Roo.
Megan should have closed Blue. Chappell should of been in Megan's spot. Probably could have gotten away with flipping Royal Otis to Blue against the Revivalists.
If music festivals are the all-you-can-eat buffets of the live music industry, Sunday evening was 20,000 people fighting over the last lobster tail at the buffet, which by the time you actually got it was cold and not nearly as good as the last time you had it at the same buffet.
Megan should have closed Blue. Chappell should of been in Megan's spot. Probably could have gotten away with flipping Royal Otis to Blue against the Revivalists.
I'm sure there were contractual reasons why they didn't have Megan close blue, but you're right, they should have.
Not sure if it's a LN thing or just the bad festival year, but looking back at 2018 & 2019:
2018 The National closed red and Paramore closed Blue Queens of the Stone Age closed red and Tyler the Creator closed Blue Khalid closed red and Fleet Foxes closed Blue
2019 Greta Van Fleet closed red and Chvrches closed Blue Odesza closed red and Hozier closed Blue Logic closed red and Brandi Carlile closed Blue
Similar sized artists, at the time, to spread the crowd. Also, with the exception of The National and Paramore conflict, very minimal genre/fan overlap.
I pretty much assumed Meg would close the Blue from the lineup release, was pretty surprised when that wasn't the case. I think the big issue/difference between 2024 Sun and 2023 Sat was Chappell essentially locked up the Green back through the vendors like 2 sets before that kinda happened with Noah. That size crowd, that early, with minimal counter programing is always going to be tough to manage.
I know the Blue is kinda a smaller situation, but I do wish they booked it with the #2 artist of the day which was somewhat counter programing to the headliner
