Festivals no longer cool?

[fnmore]

the music industry is changing

more festivals are popping up

so we get to see short sets by our favorite bands.............not real sets, but short ones

am I the only one who thinks that festivals have lost their edge because of this?

I mean, there was a day not long ago when bands played festivals because they were good - but now it seems like every band I know is playing at some festival somewhere.

Well I say fuck it........festivals are officially not cool anymore.

Who is with me?

[guedita]

You've got to be god damned kidding me.

[TeamCoachellaHellYeah]

[koryp]

Who is with me?

you stand alone.

[seandlr]

It sounds like the music is the blame. I say it is the type of people that go to festivals now. Regardless, they will always be cool.

[tigermilkboy]

Eerrr well there is a slight problem in your argument. Bands are not playing shorter sets at festivals...it has been the case for the last 20 years, that bands down the festival order got about 25 minutes and headliners got 90 minutes. If anything the trend of the last 5 years has been headline sets closer to 2 hours.
From most of the festivals I attended in the 1990's, line-ups ran late due to technical problems. So sets frequently got cut short. Now there is better time management and technical expertise than is making for a better experience.

The main problems you have of festivals is that you have 70,000 people all in one place and getting a good spot is difficult. But the most uncool thing about festivals is portapotties-nothing cool about looking at other peoples shit.

[TomAz]

the music industry is changing

more festivals are popping up

so we get to see short sets by our favorite bands.............not real sets, but short ones

am I the only one who thinks that festivals have lost their edge because of this?

I mean, there was a day not long ago when bands played festivals because they were good - but now it seems like every band I know is playing at some festival somewhere.

Well I say fuck it........festivals are officially not cool anymore.

Who is with me?

I was going to ridicule this but I think it may have some merit, actually.

Festivals used to be special events. There were only a few. They were well done, for the most part.

Now every fucking town in Kansas has their own festival. (note to the anal retentive: that last sentence was not meant literally). Many are not run well. Many have to scrape for bands to book. Some of those bands are Not Very Good.

So taken as a whole, festivals have become watered down, with too many pale imitations wallowing in mediocrity. I guess that means they are less cool, on the whole.

Coachella, despite its many problems last month, still remains cool, however. It remains inventive and clever and influential. Overcrowded, yes, but also important.

[daftmonkey64]

you stand alone.

[koryp]

This video won't load on my phone so I can only pray to an almighty Diety that this is not a godsmack clip.

[marooko]

Your almighty deity has failed you. It in fact is a Godsmack clip. And you know which one it is...

[koryp]

Fuck! I should have called him unsung instead.

[chairmenmeow47]

I was going to ridicule this but I think it may have some merit, actually.

Festivals used to be special events. There were only a few. They were well done, for the most part.

Now every fucking town in Kansas has their own festival. (note to the anal retentive: that last sentence was not meant literally). Many are not run well. Many have to scrape for bands to book. Some of those bands are Not Very Good.

So taken as a whole, festivals have become watered down, with too many pale imitations wallowing in mediocrity. I guess that means they are less cool, on the whole.

Coachella, despite its many problems last month, still remains cool, however. It remains inventive and clever and influential. Overcrowded, yes, but also important.

i agree with all of this. i have no idea why my city thinks charging like $90 to see sublime sans bradley and other almost good bands near a fake lake is "special".

[CellarOwl]

I was going to ridicule this but I think it may have some merit, actually.

Festivals used to be special events. There were only a few. They were well done, for the most part.

Now every fucking town in Kansas has their own festival. (note to the anal retentive: that last sentence was not meant literally). Many are not run well. Many have to scrape for bands to book. Some of those bands are Not Very Good.

So taken as a whole, festivals have become watered down, with too many pale imitations wallowing in mediocrity. I guess that means they are less cool, on the whole.

Coachella, despite its many problems last month, still remains cool, however. It remains inventive and clever and influential. Overcrowded, yes, but also important.

The funny thing is that only 5 years ago people were championing Europe's approach to summer festivals. North America is finally moving in a similar direction and people think it's homogenized the festival experience for all the similarities between events. Understandably most of these festivals still suck and it's not going to be as "European" or whatever, but I don't know what anyone expected otherwise.

[Cdubby]

I'm with you.

[canexplain]

I agree with the OP and Tom but I think there is an ebb and flow in the business. Many will fall by the wayside but a new one will pop up.

[shermanoaksyo]

you wanted it cool
but honestly we're not cool
no honestly we're never cool
we fake it, fake it all the time

[digitaldragon03]

Does it even matter if a festival is cool? If you care about festivals becoming less cool, then it implies that a certain part of you went to festivals because it was the cool thing to do. You fucking hipster.

[Starraven]

Does it even matter if a festival is cool? If you care about festivals becoming less cool, then it implies that a certain part of you went to festivals because it was the cool thing to do. You fucking hipster.

Haha yeah guys they're not cool you and all your friends totally should not go anymore.

[beeerplease]

Disagree.

[gaypalmsprings]

[lowfront]

[Cheddar's Cousin]

you stand alone.

I thought I stood alone...

[koryp]

I thought I stood alone...

You stand alone in close proximity to someone else standing alone. Or I was wrong. I'm fine with either option.

[fnmore]

so it seems as though the general opinion around here is that festivals are no longer cool

I'm glad that everyone agrees

now excuse me while I go look for something that is cool

[fnmore]

You stand alone in close proximity to someone else standing alone. Or I was wrong. I'm fine with either option.

I think this guy says it best.......



my generation was cool and we had cool festivals but nowadays the edge is gone and it is more about bands making a quick amount of cash and getting their music out to many people at once and meanwhile kids doing all kinds of fake drugs

[Drinkey McDrinkerstein]

it's pretty freaky seeing a picture of an arm with a severely broken wrist.

[Courtney]

I was going to ridicule this but I think it may have some merit, actually.

Festivals used to be special events. There were only a few. They were well done, for the most part.

Now every fucking town in Kansas has their own festival. (note to the anal retentive: that last sentence was not meant literally). Many are not run well. Many have to scrape for bands to book. Some of those bands are Not Very Good.

So taken as a whole, festivals have become watered down, with too many pale imitations wallowing in mediocrity. I guess that means they are less cool, on the whole.

Coachella, despite its many problems last month, still remains cool, however. It remains inventive and clever and influential. Overcrowded, yes, but also important.

This is interesting to think about, and I actually mostly do agree.

Although, I will say that I think that even those small, not so good festival in nowheresville America have merit. I would like to think that amongst those rosters of washed out decades old bands with only two of their original members, or embarrassing young boy bands with eyeliner and bouffants, there are maybe one or two acts that introduce their audience to something new -- and maybe one or two people out of that audience will go on to explore more good music and learn about stuff they wouldn't have otherwise.

I will also say that competition is a good thing in that with more festivals emerging, more business models are being explored and more possibilities tried out. And even though a lot of the festivals are total crap, maybe one or two will stumble upon something that really works, and as a result the entire industry will learn and grow and it will make all the festival production companies and promoters stronger as a result.

But granted, neither of the above arguments are based on "coolness." And yes, the "coolness" factor does seem to be declining. Even Coachella itself is significantly less cool to me than it used to be. I'm sick of the hoardes of young teens acting disrespectful, the relentless big business sponsorship tie-ins, and the perpetual treating of attendees like cattle. Somewhere along the way, Coachella lost its X factor for me. But maybe that's less about Coachella and more about me becoming older and wiser.

[donkey sex]

[fnmore]

lol.......classic scene!

[TomAz]

I'm sick of the hoardes of young teens acting disrespectful, the relentless big business sponsorship tie-ins, and the perpetual treating of attendees like cattle.

gosh. you didn't even go this year.