Coachella Vs. Bonnaroo

ScReaMing LunGs

Which Festival would you rather go to? Which lineup do you feel is stronger? Does anyone know the attendance at these festivals? I went to Lollapalooza last year in Chicago and there were about 70,000 people there each day. Great festival. I'm heading out to Coachella this year, anyone else going?

clayton12

ive been to both bonnaroo and coachella and i have to give the edge to bonnaroo. i just think bonnaroo is more about the music while coachella is all about hipster people wanting to be seen and put in vice magazine. both festivals get great lineups but bonnaroo tends to be more artist friendly giving them MUCH longer sets and what not.

wickedmonkeyz

clayton12 wrote:

ive been to both bonnaroo and coachella and i have to give the edge to bonnaroo. i just think bonnaroo is more about the music while coachella is all about hipster people wanting to be seen and put in vice magazine. both festivals get great lineups but bonnaroo tends to be more artist friendly giving them MUCH longer sets and what not.

music aside these two fesivals are completely different, but like you said, and this is a fact... the artists at bonnaroo play full sets (2006- radiohead 2.5 hours, mmj- 3.5 hours) just to give you an idea

binauralonthecape

i think so far, that coachella has a better lineup, im pretty sure more bands will be added to bonnaroo but id only want to see about 5 bands on that list...

clayton12

i expected to sit on the worlds largest traffic jams last year but it was very smooth last year at bonnaroo. i was quite impressed.

ScReaMing LunGs

clayton12 wrote:

ive been to both bonnaroo and coachella and i have to give the edge to bonnaroo. i just think bonnaroo is more about the music while coachella is all about hipster people wanting to be seen and put in vice magazine. both festivals get great lineups but bonnaroo tends to be more artist friendly giving them MUCH longer sets and what not.

i kinda pictured coachella to be like that. bonnaro on the other hand seems more like one of the festivals from the late 60's, very hippie-ish atmosphere. i'm pumped because coachella is in cali and i cant wait to go there. i'm freezing my balls off up here in canada.

soulsinging

lollapalooza was awesome. being in downtown chicago in the middle of a huge city is so cool... rocking out to the headliner with the skyline in the background was awesome. but i do have to admit, full sets would be awesome... id have loved to see that mmj set, the 45 min they got at lolla last year wasnt nearly enough.

Brainofdz

You really can't go wrong with either. A few years back, I would have said Coachella easily. However, the increasing diversity of the lineup, coupled with my incresing acceptance of jam music has certainly narrowed the gap. I would love to go to either. I'm probably gonna go to Bonaroo, because it's closer to me.

I'd like to give South by Southwest an honorable mention, another awesome festival.
and some hometown love to the CMJ music marathon

Red Lukin

I haven't been to either, so I can't really say, but with the jam bands and bands playing full sets I'd have to give the edge to Bonnaroo.

I'm actually going there for my first time this year!

Manstis1604

Sawyer wrote:

be honest....how much of a pain in the ass factor is bonnaroo, getting there i mean.

Not much of one, I drove ten hours from Cleveland to go to Bonnaroo 2005, and it was absolutely 100% worth it. From what I hear its much better than Coachella because the bands get long sets and there's music scheduled until like 4 in the morning, and bands still play after that. Coachella has a midnight curfew if I remember correctly. Plus, Bonnaroo's starting to become much more eclectic, the headliners this year are Tool and the Police...that's fucking crazy, especially for what was once nothing but a jam band festival.

bharQ

I've decided on Bonnaroo this year.. with audioslave gone..i think rage will do more dates.. and i'd rather see them at a less hyped show.. Arcade fire are amazing live.. but ive seen em a couple times and they'll do another canadian tour im sure.. Bonnaroo's lineup this year is amazing.. Police, Tool, WEEN!!!!, Kings Of Leon, Black Keys, and my fav comedian is even there.. David Cross

Never been to Nashville either.. gonna be a cool trip!

wickedmonkeyz

Sawyer wrote:

be honest....how much of a pain in the ass factor is bonnaroo, getting there i mean.

getting into bonnaroo depends on two things... first, which raods you take in, or rather which exit off of the highway... i think they built a new exit for last year, but im not sure, i'll never forget my first year, we were just about to hit nashville and we turned on the local radio to see what they were saying about bonnaroo, sure enough they were reporting a 30 mile back up on the 24 leading into manchester, so we pulled oer and looked at the map and decided to take another route to manchester, so we drove along interstate 40 for a while towards knoxville, and then cut south onto what we expected to be another big highway, but it totally wasn't, we ended up on the winding country road with a 25 mph speed limit for about two hours, but there was no traffic... ha ha good times

second, what day and time you arrive, in 2005 we got there thursday night around 8 pm and we we in line waiting to get in to the farm for well over four hours, i think we clocked 2 miles on the odometer, but last year we got there at like 6 am thursday morning (drove through the night from buffalo, 12 hours) and we were setting up our tent within a half hour or so, so if you can manage it arrive nice and early and things will go smooth

also, not positive on this one but in my experience when you arrive has an impact on where you camp, 2005 we got there about 15 hours after the gates opened and we ended up camping a good mile or so from the main grounds, 2006 we got there two hours before the gates opened and we were literally a couple hundred feet from the entrance, or the big bonnaroo arch for all you veterans

bharQ

so would bonnaroo start during the day of june 14th? we would need to fly in the night before and probably stay in nashville?

also when do they normally post the schedule?

Tek Money

I am going to Bonnaroo. I am not usually a festival person but I love this lineup and I always love camping. We are driving down the night before and staying in Nashville. I am excited about Nashville too.

bharQ

Tek Money wrote:

I am going to Bonnaroo. I am not usually a festival person but I love this lineup and I always love camping. We are driving down the night before and staying in Nashville. I am excited about Nashville too.

yup.. we are pretty pumped for this too.. sasquatch will announce their lineup in a couple days I believe.. but it looks like it wont have anything on bonnaroo or coachella according to the rumours....

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=50961765

Red Lukin

Tek Money wrote:

I am going to Bonnaroo. I am not usually a festival person but I love this lineup and I always love camping. We are driving down the night before and staying in Nashville. I am excited about Nashville too.

Looks like we're doing the same from Toronto. Leaving early Wednesday, staying in a hotel close by Manchester, waking up early on Thursday, and getting there in plenty of time to set up the tent and see Sam Roberts at 1pm!

Red Lukin

bharQ wrote:

so would bonnaroo start during the day of june 14th? we would need to fly in the night before and probably stay in nashville?

also when do they normally post the schedule?

From the looks of things the festival is likely gonna start around noon on Thursday...nothing confirmed though

Tek Money

Red Lukin wrote:

Looks like we're doing the same from Toronto. Leaving early Wednesday, staying in a hotel close by Manchester, waking up early on Thursday, and getting there in plenty of time to set up the tent and see Sam Roberts at 1pm!

Where are you seeing this schedule?

Are you driving?

bharQ

Tek Money wrote:

Where are you seeing this schedule?

Are you driving?

yeah I'm looking everywhere.. where did you see a time posted for when bands go on?

wickedmonkeyz

they have not announced yet when the festival actually starts,in previous years the main area (centeroo) opens sometime during the day on thursday, with some of the smaller bands playing at night.... BUT this year is the first time they have officially included the thursday in the official dates, the bigger groups may or may not play thursday, i wouldn't count on thursday being a full day of music until it is clarified by bonnaroo

red lukin, i wouldn't make any definite plans for sam roberts at 1pm on thursday, it still sounds like a good plan for driving down, but so far it seems that bands are putting the first day of the fest down on their sites/myspace's, for instance both ween and widespread panic are listed for 8pm thursday, which would not happen as widespread is a guaranteed headliner, and all of the other stages are shut down during the headlining slot

here's last years schedule if you want to get a feel for what it looks like

http://www.jambase.com/festivals/bonnaroo/printable.asp?ID=12&un=&showID=&pass=324320

wickedmonkeyz

bharQ wrote:

yeah I'm looking everywhere.. where did you see a time posted for when bands go on?

nothing has been announced yet, prolly not for another few months... but some bands have posted their info individually on their websites

Here's whats out there so far...all credit to Inforoo for researching all of this

Friday

The String Cheese Incident
Michael Franti & Spearhead
The Black Keys
DJ Shadow
Hot Chip
RX Bandits
Hot Tuna
STS9 (late night)

Saturday

The Police
The Hold Steady
Keller Williams
Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals
Xavier Rudd
Tortoise
Feist

Sunday

The White Stripes
North Mississippi Allstars
Fountains of Wayne
Mavis Staples
Ralph Stanley & the Clinch Mountain Boys
Wolfmother

bharQ

thanks for the info dood.. i am a huge ween fan and have yet to see them.. my other buddy is too and he realized he can't make it until the friday.. so hopefully they play one of the other days.

clayton12

what better way than on sat. night having the hold steady bring the party for late night.

thats of course if mmj dosent get added

bharQ

MMJ would be wicked.. TV on the radio aswell

both have no shows listed on their website around the time of bonnaroo

Red Lukin

Tek Money wrote:

Where are you seeing this schedule?

Are you driving?

I'm assuming based on a couple things. One is that Bonnaroo announced this as a 4 day festival now, and the other is Sam Roberts Myspace show him going on at 1pm http://www.myspace.com/samrobertsband - who really knows for sure, and I'm not counting on anything until it's confirmed.

Ya I'll be driving down. I've never driven that far south or that far in one shot, so I really hope I can make it : )

Horos

Sawyer wrote:

be honest....how much of a pain in the ass factor is bonnaroo, getting there i mean.

We'll be trekking to Bonnaroo from Oregon seems like a no brainer this year!

Tek Money

Red Lukin wrote:

I'm assuming based on a couple things. One is that Bonnaroo announced this as a 4 day festival now, and the other is Sam Roberts Myspace show him going on at 1pm http://www.myspace.com/samrobertsband - who really knows for sure, and I'm not counting on anything until it's confirmed.

Ya I'll be driving down. I've never driven that far south or that far in one shot, so I really hope I can make it : )

Google map says 11 hours so I figure about 10. We will take shifts.

Red Lukin

Tek Money wrote:

Google map says 11 hours so I figure about 10. We will take shifts.

We will likely take shifts too, although just sitting in the car for that long will be rough. Plus I'm 2 hours east of you, so It'll take me over 13 hours, maybe even 15 with stopping and such.

I'm too excitied...not sure I can wait 115 days : )

JOEJOEJOE

Manstis1604 wrote:

Not much of one, I drove ten hours from Cleveland to go to Bonnaroo 2005, and it was absolutely 100% worth it. From what I hear its much better than Coachella because the bands get long sets and there's music scheduled until like 4 in the morning, and bands still play after that. Coachella has a midnight curfew if I remember correctly. Plus, Bonnaroo's starting to become much more eclectic, the headliners this year are Tool and the Police...that's fucking crazy, especially for what was once nothing but a jam band festival.

I think the fact that Bonnaroo has become more "Eclectic" indicates they are trying to appeal to too many people.

Notice how Bonnaroo has changed to be more like Coachella, whereas Coachella still stays true to its original genres.

wickedmonkeyz

bump for a good read

http://media.www.tuftsdaily.com/media/storage/paper856/news/2007/02/20/Arts/Mikey.Goralnik.Paint.The.Town.Brown-2730189.shtml

Mikey Goralnik | Paint the Town Brown
June 14-17, 2007: Bonnaroo
Mikey Goralnik

Issue date: 2/20/07 Section: Arts

It was slow around Boston's clubs this week (I would've seen the Ataris, but my lawyer thought that hanging around that many 14-year-olds might make me look like a pedophile), so I thought I'd take this opportunity to talk about The Great American Music Festival, which released its initial lineup on Wednesday.

There are two things that you have to keep in mind when talking about the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival. First and foremost, it is miserable, and if you've never been, there is almost no way to convey the back-breaking misery you are almost guaranteed to meet.

Picture the hottest, muddiest plot of land in the continental United States, then fill every square inch of it with people ranging from the scummiest acid casualty to the most upstanding live music columnist. Next, imagine what happens when you don't stabilize this environment with enough restrooms, charge too much for food and water and fling open the doors to hordes of young capitalists offering, among other things, "headies," "pharmies" and "boomers." Then let some of the acid casualties bring and lose their mutt dogs, and let these starved beasts rummage through your campsite for food. Then have it rain. This is more or less the Bonnaroo aesthetic.

But, the second thing to remember about Bonnaroo is that it is simply unlike anything you have ever done, and you won't do anything more fun all summer. Anthropologists have to scrounge for funds from all manner of foundations and organizations to make expeditions to non-Western societies so that they can study lifestyles vastly different than their own. All young people who like music have to do is pay $200 and drive to Tennessee to feel like they have permanently moved to a parallel universe.

When you walk on to the grounds it has all the trappings of a normal place. There are cars, metal fences and trees. People's clothing is generally familiar, and occasionally, in the teeming crowds, you may see someone that you think you recognize. But make no mistake - Bonnaroo does not function like mainstream society.

In many ways, despite the torturous environment, the festival grounds are utopian. Unlike every other large-scale American music festival, Bonnaroo takes place on private property. This confines law enforcement to the one paved service road on site, and relegates them to the position of general peacekeeper rather than that of a fascist underage-drinking watch.

Last summer at Wakarusa, a similar festival in Lawrence, Kansas, law enforcement agencies arrested or expelled 144 festival-goers due to heavy patrolling. At Bonnaroo, well, let's just say that didn't happen.

Time also functions better at Bonnaroo than outside its colorful gates. Rigid conditioning has us waking up when the sun is out, doing stuff all day and going to sleep for six to eight hours when it is dark out. At Bonnaroo, the bleeding, naked strangers that stagger into your campsite late at night prevent you from sleeping when it is dark. It is also too loud and your tent too hot to sleep unless you absolutely have to, leaving more time for you to wander around and go to shows.

Which, ultimately, is the single reason Bonnaroo is the ultimate in music experiences. Coachella might boast better bands, but nothing can touch Bonnaroo in terms of performers.

In late April, Coachella fields an impressive lineup, but one full of bands you'd rather listen to than see. Bjork, Jarvis Cocker, Rufus Wainright, Sparklehorse and Grizzly Bear are awesome, but I don't want to be one of 100,000 people standing in a sweltering desert seeing them. While Bonnaroo's initial lineup might seem less exciting than its foe to the west, Superfly Productions has put together the type of bands that are at their best playing to big crowds outside.

As far as I'm concerned, bands that play loud power chords and catchy hooks are the optimal kind of music to see at a festival. Hip-hop acts and solo artists tend to be consumed by the huge stage, and the sonically rich sounds of arty bands never seem to fare well outside. In Franz Ferdinand, The White Stripes, Spoon, The National and The Hold Steady, Bonnaroo has culled together five of the best, purest, guitar-heavy rawk bands making music today. When My Morning Jacket eventually signs on for the festival, Bonnaroo will feature at least six of the most festival-ready bands around. Boo-yah Coachella.

Additionally, this year there are a number of artists that don't play chunky guitars but are able to transcend the inhospitable surroundings to blow the collective socks off more than 80,000 people. In this category, confirmed artists Ween, Keller Williams and Annuals come to mind, but at the top of this list is STS9, who is back for the third year in a coveted 12 to 4 a.m. time slot. Most festivals can't have shows past midnight: in 2005, the livetronica quintet rocked a jam-packed Bonnarooo tent from midnight to dusk, ushering in the sunset with the dark, pummeling samples of "Peoples," (and then going on to play for another 30 minutes).

And herein lies Bonnaroo's uniqueness. Virtually nowhere else in the world can you see a mind-blowing show while the sun comes up. What's more, virtually nowhere else can you do so while high-fiving someone whose distinct raw sewage odor is a product of their actual wallowing in raw sewage. Finally, nowhere else can you be so thoroughly ripped out of your element, forced to grow accustomed to a way of life so foreign to your own and love every second of it.

brain of c

neither