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This is the first message board I've ever been on, the only reason I joined is because I love Bonnaroo and wanted to read and talk about it all year long.
The past 10 years I’ve sworn off big multi-genre multi-day camping festivals and in lieu replaced them with more carefully crafted tailored festivals with a smaller footprint and more my taste in what I listen to.
Sure, I’m missing out on the Dua Lipa’s and Billie Eilish‘s but there’s something to be said about immersing yourself in 3 days of Psych or Folk or weird or Jazz or metal or whatever.
Just because you give up Bonnaroo doesn’t mean you won’t see good festivals. With a hot take, you’ll see better ones and in a few occasions, how a festival should run.
what I've been trying to do is Coachella + a new fest every year. Coachella has really become my absolute favorite and the one that is always worth planning before the lineup come out due to the exclusives, rare artists, reunions, and general eclectic booking choices you can't really find at other fests at least in the US. but it's also been really cool to try completely new festivals to me like Camp Flog Gnaw, Primavera, soon Outside Lands. as well as mini fests like the Four Tet & Friends thing. camping at a festival has never really appealed to me honestly and I enjoy when I can do hotel or airbnb. I definitely want to check out more of the highly curated electronic fests as well like Portola, iii Points etc and also branch into more international fests
Roo or Okee next year will probably be our last camping fest for a couple years. Like others, we are getting older and want to diversify how we spend our free time and money. Kids will also obviously change the paradigm permanently, and fests for those first couple years may not happen at all.
But there are plenty of other fests that offer a different experience and less of a time/energy commitment than Roo does. Maybe I’m a little naive to think we will get to have our cake and eat it too, but I’m hopeful we will still get to sprinkle in some fests along with normal travel and other adulting activities.
Personally, I love these experiences so much that I almost need them to be fully actualized in life. I’m blessed to have a partner that also loves these (not to the extent as myself tbf). Life is all about balance. I’ve learned that you have to let go of some things, but the beauty of the ride is that you get new things introduced on the journey.
Roo or Okee next year will probably be our last camping fest for a couple years. Like others, we are getting older and want to diversify how we spend our free time and money. Kids will also obviously change the paradigm permanently, and fests for those first couple years may not happen at all.
But there are plenty of other fests that offer a different experience and less of a time/energy commitment than Roo does. Maybe I’m a little naive to think we will get to have our cake and eat it too, but I’m hopeful we will still get to sprinkle in some fests along with normal travel and other adulting activities.
Personally, I love these experiences so much that I almost need them to be fully actualized in life. I’m blessed to have a partner that also loves these (not to the extent as myself tbf). Life is all about balance. I’ve learned that you have to let go of some things, but the beauty of the ride is that you get new things introduced on the journey.
Your post made me want to caveat that this isn’t just about my wife. Its just like caffeine. After a while it takes 3 redbulls to get you what 1 redbull used to do. Last year I checked so much shit off the list with Coachella, then MMJ at Roo was like my second favorite show ever. Finally saw my favorite song ever live and full cried for the first time ever to live music (Montezuma). Saw a great Cure show right after Roo. Just feel like “I get it” for now. I dont drive up to Roo or get on a plane to Coachella with any sort of wonder or boyish amazement in the air at this point. Dont get me wrong I still have a fucking awesome time. And I know id have a great time if I went next year. I kinda just want to lay off the caffeine for a bit until Im ready to be swept away again. That in addition to what I already mentioned. And to clarify I like Roo and Coachella more than niche fests and think they are the best by far.
Roo 24 was probably my Black Album retirement, but it does feel like it’ll be longer than that (3 years).
Also did anyone else see Kasablanca? Shit was hard. Saturday was so damn lit. Friday ended up being the real down day for me this year.
It was very weird having Friday be my weak day. I just had too much downtime and moments where I was genuinely bored. Thursday was more fun for me than Friday this year. On Saturday I didn't go in until Brittany Howard but it was back to back great music after that. Sunday was almost GOATED until Four Tet got cut off and wasn't allowed to come back on. I just had to have a talk with myself Saturday morning that "Bonnaroo doesn't suck this year, Friday is just your weakest day".
Roo or Okee next year will probably be our last camping fest for a couple years. Like others, we are getting older and want to diversify how we spend our free time and money. Kids will also obviously change the paradigm permanently, and fests for those first couple years may not happen at all.
But there are plenty of other fests that offer a different experience and less of a time/energy commitment than Roo does. Maybe I’m a little naive to think we will get to have our cake and eat it too, but I’m hopeful we will still get to sprinkle in some fests along with normal travel and other adulting activities.
Personally, I love these experiences so much that I almost need them to be fully actualized in life. I’m blessed to have a partner that also loves these (not to the extent as myself tbf). Life is all about balance. I’ve learned that you have to let go of some things, but the beauty of the ride is that you get new things introduced on the journey.
Your post made me want to caveat that this isn’t just about my wife. Its just like caffeine. After a while it takes 3 redbulls to get you what 1 redbull used to do. Last year I checked so much shit off the list with Coachella, then MMJ at Roo was like my second favorite show ever. Finally saw my favorite song ever live and full cried for the first time ever to live music (Montezuma). Saw a great Cure show right after Roo. Just feel like “I get it” for now. I dont drive up to Roo or get on a plane to Coachella with any sort of wonder or boyish amazement in the air at this point. Dont get me wrong I still have a fucking awesome time. And I know id have a great time if I went next year. I kinda just want to lay off the caffeine for a bit until Im ready to be swept away again. That in addition to what I already mentioned. And to clarify I like Roo and Coachella more than niche fests and think they are the best by far.
Roo 24 was probably my Black Album retirement, but it does feel like it’ll be longer than that (3 years).
i related strongly to this post. i can't pinpoint exactly when it happened, but at some point probably several years ago the excitement to attend festivals and shows in general started to fade. don't get me wrong, i still love it and have a great time seeing live music, and still consider myself a "live music person", but you put it well when you said the "wonder or boyish amazement", like that sheer pure rush isn't quite what it once was.
part of it might be age and how it's changed my brain, part of it is certainly the crazy amount of awesome shows i've seen. again you put it well with your red bull metaphor, once i've experienced so many peak live music moments the endorphins just don't hit as hard as they used to when i encounter another one. for someone in the thick of that awe/wonder feeling, the thought of it fading may sound scary, but it isn't. i definitely attend less live music than i used to, but when i do it's less sheer adrenaline and more a strange sense of almost total comfort. whether i'm in concert traffic for an arena show or getting through a tollbooth at bonnaroo or thanking the person at MSG scanning my ticket as i enter, my brain starts pouring calming feel good chemicals that tell me this is where i belong. i never feel weird, or out of place, or any mental or emotional discomfort at all at a show anymore.
to me, this new experience is a better experience. but it wouldn't be possible without all the old experiences. and what's cool about it is when i'm just chilling in my comfortable feeling, and something amazing DOES happen at the show, it hits me so much harder because i'm not expecting it to happen anymore, if that makes sense. like i'm like "ok maybe i won't have peak live music experiences anymore but it's OK because i'm just happy being at the show", but then i'm seeing dead and company at the sphere and they open with "alabama getaway" and i'm like "ooohhh fuck", or i'm at phish and they play gamehenge in it's entirety, or i'm seeing tool for the billionth time and they play "pneuma" and i knew they were going to play it because they always do but i completely lose myself in it anyway and have my eyes closed and then it builds back up to that last chorus and maynard sings "PNEUMA" and i'm singing "WAKE UP REMEMBER" and my whole body is vibrating.
anyway i know i have a few years on you, maybe this post will give you a little preview of what's around the corner for maturing live music fanatic. something different, and in my opinion something better. there are also of course people who never slow down at all attending live music, but those people are lunatics like esteban.
Your post made me want to caveat that this isn’t just about my wife. Its just like caffeine. After a while it takes 3 redbulls to get you what 1 redbull used to do. Last year I checked so much shit off the list with Coachella, then MMJ at Roo was like my second favorite show ever. Finally saw my favorite song ever live and full cried for the first time ever to live music (Montezuma). Saw a great Cure show right after Roo. Just feel like “I get it” for now. I dont drive up to Roo or get on a plane to Coachella with any sort of wonder or boyish amazement in the air at this point. Dont get me wrong I still have a fucking awesome time. And I know id have a great time if I went next year. I kinda just want to lay off the caffeine for a bit until Im ready to be swept away again. That in addition to what I already mentioned. And to clarify I like Roo and Coachella more than niche fests and think they are the best by far.
Roo 24 was probably my Black Album retirement, but it does feel like it’ll be longer than that (3 years).
i related strongly to this post. i can't pinpoint exactly when it happened, but at some point probably several years ago the excitement to attend festivals and shows in general started to fade. don't get me wrong, i still love it and have a great time seeing live music, and still consider myself a "live music person", but you put it well when you said the "wonder or boyish amazement", like that sheer pure rush isn't quite what it once was.
part of it might be age and how it's changed my brain, part of it is certainly the crazy amount of awesome shows i've seen. again you put it well with your red bull metaphor, once i've experienced so many peak live music moments the endorphins just don't hit as hard as they used to when i encounter another one. for someone in the thick of that awe/wonder feeling, the thought of it fading may sound scary, but it isn't. i definitely attend less live music than i used to, but when i do it's less sheer adrenaline and more a strange sense of almost total comfort. whether i'm in concert traffic for an arena show or getting through a tollbooth at bonnaroo or thanking the person at MSG scanning my ticket as i enter, my brain starts pouring calming feel good chemicals that tell me this is where i belong. i never feel weird, or out of place, or any mental or emotional discomfort at all at a show anymore.
to me, this new experience is a better experience. but it wouldn't be possible without all the old experiences. and what's cool about it is when i'm just chilling in my comfortable feeling, and something amazing DOES happen at the show, it hits me so much harder because i'm not expecting it to happen anymore, if that makes sense. like i'm like "ok maybe i won't have peak live music experiences anymore but it's OK because i'm just happy being at the show", but then i'm seeing dead and company at the sphere and they open with "alabama getaway" and i'm like "ooohhh fuck", or i'm at phish and they play gamehenge in it's entirety, or i'm seeing tool for the billionth time and they play "pneuma" and i knew they were going to play it because they always do but i completely lose myself in it anyway and have my eyes closed and then it builds back up to that last chorus and maynard sings "PNEUMA" and i'm singing "WAKE UP REMEMBER" and my whole body is vibrating.
anyway i know i have a few years on you, maybe this post will give you a little preview of what's around the corner for maturing live music fanatic. something different, and in my opinion something better. there are also of course people who never slow down at all attending live music, but those people are lunatics like esteban.
I cant remember if I wrote the post here or just texted some friends, but I started discovering this “comfort” that you are referring to last year at Roo 23 and it was a pretty transformative moment for me. Its not just about live music its about enjoyment of life in general once you’ve kinda done it all. Still retiring.
...anyway i know i have a few years on you, maybe this post will give you a little preview of what's around the corner for maturing live music fanatic. something different, and in my opinion something better. there are also of course people who never slow down at all attending live music, but those people are lunatics like esteban .
We all like what we like. I came up on seeing live shit (mostly heavily musical acts), then the hardcore scene hit and some of my best friends were in bands. So we were going out at least 2-3 nights a week to see shows that came through. Kids came along, and my wife was a night nurse. So there were only limited things we could go see. 2006 I had to move outside of New Orleans for a few years, and I missed just doing musical shit like French Quarter Fest and some of Jazz Fest or an occasional night show. Where we lived swamp pop was king, and I don't like that shit much. I swore whenever I got back to New Orleans (summer of 2009), I'd try to get in at least one show a week somewhere. I never made a conscious decision to see less music or have less musical experiences, because I'd rather be at a show I want to be at than anything else. But just due to circumstances (cancellation of Buku, hiatus of Voodoo, changing demographics and musical tours), I've seen a lot less stuff in 2023 and 2024 than I was seeing before the pandemic. OTOH, I'm way less broke. So that definitely counts for something if and where money is a factor. I'll still go broke to buy tickets to some shit I want to see, but since I've seen most things I want to see already, that doesn't happen very often. But I'd kick myself in the ass if I was trying to be on some life trajectory that excluded live music experiences, because then I would have found my own lunacy. Also, all 3 of my kids found that they really love live music as well. So they all work in that industry. It's not hard for any of us to twist anyone else's arm to go out and see something.
Your post made me want to caveat that this isn’t just about my wife. Its just like caffeine. After a while it takes 3 redbulls to get you what 1 redbull used to do. Last year I checked so much shit off the list with Coachella, then MMJ at Roo was like my second favorite show ever. Finally saw my favorite song ever live and full cried for the first time ever to live music (Montezuma). Saw a great Cure show right after Roo. Just feel like “I get it” for now. I dont drive up to Roo or get on a plane to Coachella with any sort of wonder or boyish amazement in the air at this point. Dont get me wrong I still have a fucking awesome time. And I know id have a great time if I went next year. I kinda just want to lay off the caffeine for a bit until Im ready to be swept away again. That in addition to what I already mentioned. And to clarify I like Roo and Coachella more than niche fests and think they are the best by far.
Roo 24 was probably my Black Album retirement, but it does feel like it’ll be longer than that (3 years).
there are also of course people who never slow down at all attending live music, but those people are lunatics like esteban .
Yeah, it's a blessing and a curse. I still have the bug even as I near 50. But it's getting harder. Life really fights to tell you that you can't or shouldn't be doing it any more. And a lot of my friends who were die-hard live music fans, and even my wife, who talked me into going to my first festival early in our dating days, are all a lot less interested in it, these days, whereas I'm still fiending.
...anyway i know i have a few years on you, maybe this post will give you a little preview of what's around the corner for maturing live music fanatic. something different, and in my opinion something better. there are also of course people who never slow down at all attending live music, but those people are lunatics like esteban .
We all like what we like. I came up on seeing live shit (mostly heavily musical acts), then the hardcore scene hit and some of my best friends were in bands. So we were going out at least 2-3 nights a week to see shows that came through. Kids came along, and my wife was a night nurse. So there were only limited things we could go see. 2006 I had to move outside of New Orleans for a few years, and I missed just doing musical shit like French Quarter Fest and some of Jazz Fest or an occasional night show. Where we lived swamp pop was king, and I don't like that shit much. I swore whenever I got back to New Orleans (summer of 2009), I'd try to get in at least one show a week somewhere. I never made a conscious decision to see less music or have less musical experiences, because I'd rather be at a show I want to be at than anything else. But just due to circumstances (cancellation of Buku, hiatus of Voodoo, changing demographics and musical tours), I've seen a lot less stuff in 2023 and 2024 than I was seeing before the pandemic. OTOH, I'm way less broke. So that definitely counts for something if and where money is a factor. I'll still go broke to buy tickets to some shit I want to see, but since I've seen most things I want to see already, that doesn't happen very often. But I'd kick myself in the ass if I was trying to be on some life trajectory that excluded live music experiences, because then I would have found my own lunacy. Also, all 3 of my kids found that they really love live music as well. So they all work in that industry. It's not hard for any of us to twist anyone else's arm to go out and see something.
i know you know this but i kid of course. i think it's super cool you and your kids get to share these experiences.
there are also of course people who never slow down at all attending live music, but those people are lunatics like esteban .
Yeah, it's a blessing and a curse. I still have the bug even as I near 50. But it's getting harder. Life really fights to tell you that you can't or shouldn't be doing it any more. And a lot of my friends who were die-hard live music fans, and even my wife, who talked me into going to my first festival early in our dating days, are all a lot less interested in it, these days, whereas I'm still fiending.
seeing your response i realized an enormous factor in my whole story is also where i live. we get a bit of live music in my city but generally speaking i'm looking at driving anywhere from 1 hour to 5 hours to see a show. biloxi or pensacola at 1 hour, but more likely it's going to be new orleans at 2 or even atlanta at 5. you live right outside chicago so you can just hop the elevated train anytime you want to catch a show.
We all like what we like. I came up on seeing live shit (mostly heavily musical acts), then the hardcore scene hit and some of my best friends were in bands. So we were going out at least 2-3 nights a week to see shows that came through. Kids came along, and my wife was a night nurse. So there were only limited things we could go see. 2006 I had to move outside of New Orleans for a few years, and I missed just doing musical shit like French Quarter Fest and some of Jazz Fest or an occasional night show. Where we lived swamp pop was king, and I don't like that shit much. I swore whenever I got back to New Orleans (summer of 2009), I'd try to get in at least one show a week somewhere. I never made a conscious decision to see less music or have less musical experiences, because I'd rather be at a show I want to be at than anything else. But just due to circumstances (cancellation of Buku, hiatus of Voodoo, changing demographics and musical tours), I've seen a lot less stuff in 2023 and 2024 than I was seeing before the pandemic. OTOH, I'm way less broke. So that definitely counts for something if and where money is a factor. I'll still go broke to buy tickets to some shit I want to see, but since I've seen most things I want to see already, that doesn't happen very often. But I'd kick myself in the ass if I was trying to be on some life trajectory that excluded live music experiences, because then I would have found my own lunacy. Also, all 3 of my kids found that they really love live music as well. So they all work in that industry. It's not hard for any of us to twist anyone else's arm to go out and see something.
i know you know this but i kid of course. i think it's super cool you and your kids get to share these experiences.
For sure. I love hanging out with them. Zero offense taken. You know me and know that if I'm interested, I'm probably going for it. We jammed a lot in the car, so each kid has random shit they picked up from that era (E Pearl Jam/AIC/Soundgarden, K Van Halen and Soundgarden, C Brand X, Sigur Ros, old Yes). I wasn't first parent of all the people I came up with, but I had them somewhat earlier in life that most of my friends who became parents. I was a late 20's to mid 40's dad and could relate with them and what they were into rather than being a stick in the mud mfer. I wasn't running back to New Orleans when the boys were in high school coming to see scene shit their friends were into like Parkway Drive or ADTR. But I was still proud of them for making the effort. As you know, music is a major part of who we are in New Orleans. So wanting shit live comes pretty natural.
Post by Capital Cincy on Jun 24, 2024 10:25:16 GMT -5
I'm 29 and feel that I still have at least a few natural feeling years of goin' hard every year (My set count/year since 2021 is 119, 195, 179, and I'm at 112 already this year), however, something I'm trying to do is work shows in to being with my people.
I've been meaning to take an LA trip to see a few friends including my best bud from high school. Nathy Peluso announced 4 North American dates - LA, NYC, Chi, Miami - so I decided I'll go to LA in march "for" her show. But ultimately I'll remember the trip as a wonderful time with friends.
I’m 44 and struggle at some of these shows but I usually recover pretty well. My wife is younger and struggles a lot more than I do. I gotta think pretty soon we’re going to be seeing less shows or at least less outdoor shows for sure. She reached the point where she doesn’t care as much years ago but I still drag her with me most of the time. She always ends up having fun but she’s always saying we should do less.
thanks yall 
incinnati Ohio babeyyyy