Going out of the way for a festival show??

AlltheWay23

Is it worth it to spend time, money, and vacation time to go out of my way to see a festival show??

I'm headed over to Europe to Croatia for a week starting July 5th. Debating on going to see the show in Poland on July 3rd.

It would be way out of my way and I've seen festival shows in the US and have been underwhelmed.

Input appreciated....

willc431994

Do it.

Big day out Sydney the best pearl jam show I've ever been to, hands down.

AlltheWay23

willc431994 said:

Do it.

Big day out Sydney the best pearl jam show I've ever been to, hands down.

I've been to Soldier Field, MSG, the Vic, PJ20, Wrigley, and the tour closer in Seattle....I've been spoiled and appreciate spontaneous 2+ hour setlists with random songs am intrigued about seeing PJ in Europe but not sure its worth going way out of my way to someplace in the middle of Poland to see a greatest hits set

unforgiven

AlltheWay23 said:

willc431994 said:

Do it.

Big day out Sydney the best pearl jam show I've ever been to, hands down.

I've been to Soldier Field, MSG, the Vic, PJ20, Wrigley, and the tour closer in Seattle....I've been spoiled and appreciate spontaneous 2+ hour setlists with random songs am intrigued about seeing PJ in Europe but not sure its worth going way out of my way to someplace in the middle of Poland to see a greatest hits set

Did you see the set for the Sydney Big Day Out? it was 2 hrs and 50 mins of Pearl Jams finest work. I was at PJ20 and the only thing that made it better than the Sydney BDO for me was Temple of the Dog.

dtr0624

do it! rail at m.i.a was worth every penny

karmadefect

Well if it would have cut up your vacation to travel from Croatia to Poland then I'd say no.
It seems your plan is to add two days to your vacation. In that case I say go for it.

Suziemay

I vote no give the other shows you have been to. Of course there's always a chance for a festival show to be epic, but the odds aren't good enough for me so I'd much prefer to save my money and vacation time for a non-festival show.

I was at Melbourne BDO because I had already planned a trip there. I was happy I went, but would have been upset if I had gone specifically for the show. Did I have fun? Absolutely. However, the experience didn't even come close to any of the previous PJ shows I have been at.

YLed2

I say 50/50 to more towards no. My best friend and I flew out from Iowa to Atlanta in 2012, and went sttaight from the airport to the park and we were rail right in front Mike. We then flew back home the next day. It was a rather incredible experience, but only because of how we "approached" it. We figured it was going to be a short weekend so went all in going staright from the airport to the venue to get rail in front of Mike in front of 60,000+ people. It was an unforgettable experience, but I will probably not do it again and stick to the normal shows as much as I can. It was an extremely long day, my body was in extreme pain (toward the end and for about 3 days afterward), and I also has to muster through some bands/groups I had no interest in seeing and drank ZERO alcohol in fear of leaving my spot. On the flip side, I did get to see Garbage and Florence and The Machine dominate, I was rail in front of Mike with my best friend in that atmosphere, and the pain went away as soon as PJ took stage and I had unforgettable experience in a cool city like Atlanta and saw an amazing show from that viewpoint. An experience I will remember always, but will probably never do again though because of the time, energy, and expense spent only to see PJ. It really is a double edged sword - it's a great experience depending on how you do it and what you value from it, but can also serve as a letdown and a tremdous amount of money and inconvenience spent. Too much of a gamble.

OceansMagnet

I had a terrible time in Atlanta 2012. Glad you had a great experience YLed2. Alltheway23, I say save your money for Late Summer/Fall tour and hopefully they will continue to throw out some amazing shows like Wrigley and the 3 I saw on Leg 2 last fall. Festival shows are not my scene. I doubt I will ever attend another one.

vant0037

Do it. Go see your favorite band in another country. It will be different people, different everything.

If you're approaching it from a "what kind of set list will I get" approach, in my humble opinion, you're going about it wrong from the start. Not trying to sound like a true believer or anything, but I've never walked away from a PJ show "underwhelmed." It's all in how you approach it.

I was in Budapest in 2007, had an opportunity to go to Nova Rock in Vienna area and didn't. Regret it completely.

Do it.

vant0037

AlltheWay23 said:

...am intrigued about seeing PJ in Europe but not sure its worth going way out of my way to someplace in the middle of Poland to see a greatest hits set

Right there is your answer. PJ in Europe is a whole other thing...

Zod

I can't speak for Euro festivals but I saw PJ play the Virgin Festival in Calgary in 2009. It was an outdoor show. The layout was wierd. It was at the olmypic park used for the 88 olympics. So there's some kind of artificial ski hill with a parking lot at the top. You drive to the top then have to climb down the hill to the stage.

It was a pretty epic show. PJ were the only real band on the entire bill of the 2 day festival. People were arriving in droves when we were (about an hour before PJ's set). It was a killer sunny day on the prairies. The crowd was insanely full of energy and the band played a lot of classics, a few tunes off the new album, and even the odd rarity (brother) and cover (real me). It felt really old school to me, like I was watching the band play in the early 90's or something. I don't know what gave it that vibe, but it was a helluva good show and I enjoyed it a lot.

Festivals have a whole different atmoshphere and tend to be completely GA which creates quite the mix of fans up front.

I'd do it, if it's not too far out of your way.

dr122931

I'm not a big fan of festivals ( though I've been to many). I've seen PJ at several festivals (bonnaroo, ACL, and lolla). I enjoyed every second of all of those shows, but they don't compare to a PJ arena show. I know the festival shows are more geared towards hits, and that's not necessarily what bothers me, I just hate the idea of wasting so much time pissing and getting a beer while it's crowded as fuck. Plus, unless you camp out by the stage early, you'll likely be 100+ yards from the stage. My two cents...

JWPearl

Suziemay said:

I vote no give the other shows you have been to. Of course there's always a chance for a festival show to be epic, but the odds aren't good enough for me so I'd much prefer to save my money and vacation time for a non-festival show.

I was at Melbourne BDO because I had already planned a trip there. I was happy I went, but would have been upset if I had gone specifically for the show. Did I have fun? Absolutely. However, the experience didn't even come close to any of the previous PJ shows I have been at.

Stop lying
)