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Post by bboy2112 on Jun 2, 2019 23:05:11 GMT -5
Since we did this last year.
Pros:
-Minus the headliners, you could walk around and still get good seats easily.
-Surprisigly great undercard, with The Aces being a particularly fun highlight.
-All of the headliners (minus girl talk) really got the crowd going (especially The 1975).
Cons:
-The lack of spread out of artists (especially sunday) had the main stage packed all day.
-My buddy had his phone swiped during RTJ's set. Anyone else lose their phones?
-A couple groups of fans for The 1975 thought it was a good idea to push past people who had been waiting at the stage all day. I almost saw a fight break out.
Overall, I surprisingly had a lot of fun this year and can not wait for 2020!
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Post by ordealbyfire on Jun 3, 2019 0:15:11 GMT -5
I think I enjoyed this year more than last. Maybe that was because I had VIP. The air conditioned bathrooms were really nice, but they ran out of TP a few times in the women’s evidently. How does that even happen?
The line up was actually decent from the start IMO, and the acts I saw were all a lot of fun. Nothing disappointed me as far as I can tell musically — at least off the top of my head.
Byfar the biggest bummer was like I bitched about in another thread —
why the hell should I get VIP again if it’s evidently easy as hell to sneak in? so few people had a VIP wrist band in there for headliners and co-heads. There were some people who had single day VIP wristbands too somehow — when did those become a thing?
And, same as usual, the bad were the food locations. Having pretty much all the food by the “not main stage” is a stupid idea.
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Post by whitneyhouston on Jun 3, 2019 7:35:15 GMT -5
So I ended up coming down Saturday and Sunday because my ENTIRE group got free 3 Day passes from a friend who got them from a local radio station. Yes, 12 FREE 3 Day passes. I think it was some kind of radio contest?
Anyway, this year was a whole new beast compared to the last few years but not necessarily in a bad way. We kinda just relaxed by a stage and chatted while listening to the music in the background since we weren't huge fans of anyone playing. We were able to toss down a blanket pretty close to the stage as the grounds were pretty damn empty. It was honestly I a little depressing until around 7pm when people started to flock in.
Definitely was not much of a bottleneck by the beer garden like it was last year but my biggest complaint was the crowd. It seemed this year most were only there to see a small handful of artists are were camping at stages with their back turned to artists that they didn't like. Way too many times the video screen would flash to the crowd and people were literally sitting down at the rail. This is just so weird to see as last year literally every stage all day was a damn party.
I was hoping some of you would've seen me down there as I was wearing a shirt with Whitney Houston's face on both side that said "come chat on thebeesknees board".
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Post by ordealbyfire on Jun 3, 2019 7:59:36 GMT -5
I left main stage VIP rail very few times all weekend. I think I only saw The Orphan The Poet and Stone Temple Pilots at Sawyer Point and PPPP at CVG. Other than that, I only left for food. I was on front rail or side rail within four rows in VIP all day all weekend except parts of Friday.
Seriously disappointed with the whole VIP thing though. Met some cool people in VIP and chatted with some staff/volunteers though. Managed setlists from Streetlight Manifesto, Awolnation, Run the Jewels, and Greta van Fleet too. Plus picks from Dashboard, Greta van Fleet, and The Aces.
I’ll probably get VIP again next year possibly maybe, but I’d love to get a free upgrade or something. It’s also just nice to be up front and showing support for so many acts when a lot of people up front couldn’t give a shit and seem so disinterested.
Plus my girlfriend got so many pictures of her (as well as screen time) — that’s probably worth a couple pieces of fancy wrist fabric, wouldn’t you say, Bunbury? Hook a dude and his out-of-his-league girlfriend up!
Random note: the singer dude from Lovelytheband I feel like is never NOT making eye contact with me. A lot of the acoustic set and when I saw them at MoPop last year — it’s constant. I swear he somehow finds me. It’s like he recognizes me. But I don’t know how or why he would.
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Post by ordealbyfire on Jun 3, 2019 8:16:32 GMT -5
Another thing...
Bunbury seemed one of few fests to go swimmingly. Great weather, no helicopter instances... super grateful for that.
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Post by whitneyhouston on Jun 3, 2019 8:35:48 GMT -5
Another thing... Bunbury seemed one of few fests to go swimmingly. Great weather, no helicopter instances... super grateful for that. I think we were all surprised that no storms came. The good weather might have been the saving grace of the festival |
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Post by here on Jun 3, 2019 9:04:09 GMT -5
-All of the headliners (minus girl talk) really got the crowd going (especially The 1975). Wait, what? Girl Talk had the crowd going hard. |
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Post by whitneyhouston on Jun 3, 2019 9:08:29 GMT -5
-All of the headliners (minus girl talk) really got the crowd going (especially The 1975). Wait, what? Girl Talk had the crowd going hard. I was pretty far back during Girl Talk, but it looked like up close was having fun but after about 1/3 of the way back it was pretty dead |
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Post by here on Jun 3, 2019 9:30:33 GMT -5
Honestly, I think the worst thing this year was the 1975 fangirls sitting down or just staring impatiently at RTJ in the very front. Or the ones who desperately shoved their way forward as some of the RTJ crowd started leaving.
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Post by ordealbyfire on Jun 3, 2019 9:35:00 GMT -5
Honestly, I think the worst thing this year was the 1975 fangirls sitting down or just staring impatiently at RTJ in the very front. Or the ones who desperately shoved their way forward as some of the RTJ crowd started leaving. Bigger acts with younger fanbases bring that crowd. Can’t imagine what it’d be like if Billie Eilish is here next year. Shit. To be fair, I have no interest in her so I’d just sit back. |
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Post by here on Jun 3, 2019 9:36:03 GMT -5
It wasn't nearly that bad with GVF or FOB.
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Post by cincinnatisound on Jun 3, 2019 9:36:05 GMT -5
Seriously disappointed with the whole VIP thing though. It’s also just nice to be up front and showing support for so many acts when a lot of people up front couldn’t give a shit and seem so disinterested. This right here is why the wife and I abandoned the VIP thing. We hated the people in there for the most part. Most were overall disinterested in the bands and were quite distracting and rude. And spending most of the weekend in a fenced in space made me miss being among the people and really experiencing the festival. It would have to be a lineup of my most favorite bands of all time for me to do VIP again. I saw you ask about single-day VIP in a different post...I noticed that before as well. They aren't available to the public. I think it's for friends/family of bands or promoters/sponsors. |
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Post by ordealbyfire on Jun 3, 2019 9:41:39 GMT -5
Ah, I got you. Unfortunately it really didn’t seem to matter a lot of the time just because there were hoards of people without VIP bands in there.
There were two guys screaming for setlists after GvF and each got one. What blew my mind is they had NOTHING on their wrists. How in the what in the hell? Did they swim into the fest? They were total douche bros too, so I’m shocked they got one setlist, let alone two.
Love or hate GvF, it’s their first headlined festival, and a setlist from it is going to be somewhat of a relic at some point I feel like. I feel like they had no business getting one, but maybe that’s just me. Maybe if they actually paid to get in. That was a bit irrelevant. But anyway..
There was also a guy next to me in VIP saying some worker gets a few dozen VIP wrist bands every year and sells them for like $150 each the day before the festival. The things I’d do if I could swing that. I’d even pay $200.
I just don’t want to be paying $450 for VIP when so many people in GA can seamlessly walk into the area. That’s the last I’ll complain about that.
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Post by bookah on Jun 3, 2019 9:42:18 GMT -5
Honestly, I think the worst thing this year was the 1975 fangirls sitting down or just staring impatiently at RTJ in the very front. Or the ones who desperately shoved their way forward as some of the RTJ crowd started leaving. Bigger acts with younger fanbases bring that crowd. Can’t imagine what it’d be like if Billie Eilish is here next year. Shit. To be fair, I have no interest in her so I’d just sit back. The 1975 fans were this years post Malone fans. Last year they ruined the crowd for Coheed and Cambria. This year they ruined the crowd for streetlight manifesto. |
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Post by whitneyhouston on Jun 3, 2019 9:46:31 GMT -5
Bigger acts with younger fanbases bring that crowd. Can’t imagine what it’d be like if Billie Eilish is here next year. Shit. To be fair, I have no interest in her so I’d just sit back. The 1975 fans were this years post Malone fans. Last year they ruined the crowd for Coheed and Cambria. This year they ruined the crowd for streetlight manifesto. I didn't see the bum rushes for 1975 but 2 years ago, their crowd was well behaved. I think it just comes with the territory of becoming a super popular band mainly targeted towards younger females. But I won't lie, some of their songs are bangers |
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Post by cincinnatisound on Jun 3, 2019 9:55:00 GMT -5
Ah, I got you. Unfortunately it really didn’t seem to matter a lot of the time just because there were hoards of people without VIP bands in there. There were two guys screaming for setlists after GvF and each got one. What blew my mind is they had NOTHING on their wrists. How in the what in the hell? Did they swim into the fest? They were total douche bros too, so I’m shocked they got one setlist, let alone two. Love or hate GvF, it’s their first headlined festival, and a setlist from it is going to be somewhat of a relic at some point I feel like. I feel like they had no business getting one, but maybe that’s just me. Maybe if they actually paid to get in. That was a bit irrelevant. But anyway.. There was also a guy next to me in VIP saying some worker gets a few dozen VIP wrist bands every year and sells them for like $150 each the day before the festival. The things I’d do if I could swing that. I’d even pay $200. I just don’t want to be paying $450 for VIP when so many people in GA can seamlessly walk into the area. That’s the last I’ll complain about that. I will say this...there was a TON of wristband swapping going on this year. A few friends of mine collected wristbands for GA and walked out the gates and passed them off to their friends so they could get in. It wouldn't surprise me if people were collecting VIP wristbands inside and sneaking people in. The two years I did VIP, they would do small sweeps between sets and kick out those without the bands. Probably got lazy this year. |
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Post by bboy2112 on Jun 3, 2019 10:01:36 GMT -5
Bigger acts with younger fanbases bring that crowd. Can’t imagine what it’d be like if Billie Eilish is here next year. Shit. To be fair, I have no interest in her so I’d just sit back. The 1975 fans were this years post Malone fans. Last year they ruined the crowd for Coheed and Cambria. This year they ruined the crowd for streetlight manifesto. i love streetlight manifesto, but dear god that set was stale. they should've stopped whenever or whatever that fire broke out. any idea what that was? |
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Post by bboy2112 on Jun 3, 2019 10:02:23 GMT -5
i feel the people's anger about gov ball, but i'd be pissed if they canceled the strokes as well.
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Post by bboy2112 on Jun 3, 2019 10:04:25 GMT -5
So I ended up coming down Saturday and Sunday because my ENTIRE group got free 3 Day passes from a friend who got them from a local radio station. Yes, 12 FREE 3 Day passes. I think it was some kind of radio contest? Anyway, this year was a whole new beast compared to the last few years but not necessarily in a bad way. We kinda just relaxed by a stage and chatted while listening to the music in the background since we weren't huge fans of anyone playing. We were able to toss down a blanket pretty close to the stage as the grounds were pretty damn empty. It was honestly I a little depressing until around 7pm when people started to flock in. Definitely was not much of a bottleneck by the beer garden like it was last year but my biggest complaint was the crowd. It seemed this year most were only there to see a small handful of artists are were camping at stages with their back turned to artists that they didn't like. Way too many times the video screen would flash to the crowd and people were literally sitting down at the rail. This is just so weird to see as last year literally every stage all day was a damn party. I was hoping some of you would've seen me down there as I was wearing a shirt with Whitney Houston's face on both side that said "come chat on thebeesknees board". oh shit i think i saw you in that shirt |
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Post by whitneyhouston on Jun 3, 2019 10:08:20 GMT -5
So I ended up coming down Saturday and Sunday because my ENTIRE group got free 3 Day passes from a friend who got them from a local radio station. Yes, 12 FREE 3 Day passes. I think it was some kind of radio contest? Anyway, this year was a whole new beast compared to the last few years but not necessarily in a bad way. We kinda just relaxed by a stage and chatted while listening to the music in the background since we weren't huge fans of anyone playing. We were able to toss down a blanket pretty close to the stage as the grounds were pretty damn empty. It was honestly I a little depressing until around 7pm when people started to flock in. Definitely was not much of a bottleneck by the beer garden like it was last year but my biggest complaint was the crowd. It seemed this year most were only there to see a small handful of artists are were camping at stages with their back turned to artists that they didn't like. Way too many times the video screen would flash to the crowd and people were literally sitting down at the rail. This is just so weird to see as last year literally every stage all day was a damn party. I was hoping some of you would've seen me down there as I was wearing a shirt with Whitney Houston's face on both side that said "come chat on thebeesknees board". oh shit i think i saw you in that shirt Should've come over to say hi. My source was with us for a decent period of the time. You could've grilled them with any question you wanted |
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Post by ordealbyfire on Jun 3, 2019 11:04:50 GMT -5
Ah, I got you. Unfortunately it really didn’t seem to matter a lot of the time just because there were hoards of people without VIP bands in there. There were two guys screaming for setlists after GvF and each got one. What blew my mind is they had NOTHING on their wrists. How in the what in the hell? Did they swim into the fest? They were total douche bros too, so I’m shocked they got one setlist, let alone two. Love or hate GvF, it’s their first headlined festival, and a setlist from it is going to be somewhat of a relic at some point I feel like. I feel like they had no business getting one, but maybe that’s just me. Maybe if they actually paid to get in. That was a bit irrelevant. But anyway.. There was also a guy next to me in VIP saying some worker gets a few dozen VIP wrist bands every year and sells them for like $150 each the day before the festival. The things I’d do if I could swing that. I’d even pay $200. I just don’t want to be paying $450 for VIP when so many people in GA can seamlessly walk into the area. That’s the last I’ll complain about that. I will say this...there was a TON of wristband swapping going on this year. A few friends of mine collected wristbands for GA and walked out the gates and passed them off to their friends so they could get in. It wouldn't surprise me if people were collecting VIP wristbands inside and sneaking people in. The two years I did VIP, they would do small sweeps between sets and kick out those without the bands. Probably got lazy this year. I won’tforget. On Friday when I got my wristband the person who put it on said verbatim — and I have no idea why — “I’ll leave it loose so you can take it off if you need to.” ...uh, wat. |
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Post by notaguest on Jun 4, 2019 10:45:45 GMT -5
Good:
1. This was my and my group's first VIP, we've been GA for the past 6 years. We totally get the allure now. Arriving at headliners 5 minutes late and still being 20 rows back is a huge plus for us. It'll be hard attending in the future and not snagging VIP. People that say the dedicated stage area is worth the price alone aren't kidding. The one drag of VIP is the people care less, a little more of a corporate feel.
2. No bottlenecks. The one plus of a meh lineup. The only time it was hard to walk around was when the river stage had a big act playing (lovelytheband).
3. Speaking of, flooding was the best thing that happened to the river stage. Lovelytheband, like everyone knew, drew headliner type crowds for their show. This would have been a very sour point for so many if the stage was where they wanted it to be.
4. The weather was pitch perfect for almost the entire weekend. Crazy how something the organizers cant account for makes such a huge impact on the enjoyment of your event.
5. The people. Save for some overly enthused teenagers, this festival has the nicest crowd of people of the festivals I've been to. There's a mentality of "protecting your spot" at other festivals that I don't get here.
Cons:
1. Lack of female artists. I cant think of a female lead playing after 5pm. Even as a guy, you gotta have more diversity in your sound than that. Also, Reignwolf was hot trash.
2. Headliners. I thought FOB sounded JV after seeing STP, GvF were just fine. 1975 felt like the only worthy headliner, and thats still a bit of a stretch. This was nothing I didn't know going into the weekend, it just left a sour taste in my mouth 2/3 of the nights I left.
3. Inconsistency. Sometimes our water bottles were okay to bring in, until they weren't. Day 1 our bag was searched for 3 minutes, every other time it was 20 seconds. VIP was full of people that didn't have the VIP wristbands, which whatever Im not a narc, but those people also had better spots during acts than we did. Fairly certain they were letting people in VIP Sat & Sun because of how barren it was that first day.
4. Not sure if it's just me, but Sawyer Point stage felt empty all weekend. Outside the last acts (STP, Sublime, Girl Talk) I didn't see a crowd build much if at all. You can't have that for a festival as our pretty great food selections dry up real quick when half of the park is abandoned. I'd also like to hear how the craft beer village was, because it felt empty each time I passed through.
All in all, I hated the lineup, but was able to find a few new artists (The aces were absolutely fantastic) and was able to hang with friends outside for 3 days drinking and listening to music. How can you not have a good time with that?
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