V Fest

Had an awesome time this weekend first time ive been to a festival this big.

highlights:
Ben Harper was great really surprised me because i have only listend to a few of his songs.
Beastie Boys was easily the best band of the weekend for me IMO.
Bad brains was the band i really came the weekend for and they were insane my favorite band on the fest and i caught H.R. hat.
Velvet Revolver was awesome and to see slash live was just amazing.
Smashing pumpkins was a great with a intense set and which made it better was i finally crowd surfed me bein a 270 pound guy never thought i would ever do that but i did.

low lights:
missing cheap trick due to the traffice back up
and leaving early during the police set i felt like shit.

I will be back next year no matter what bands are playing but i really really hope Pearl Jam will play v fest next year.

okie. i got all my photos from saturday up… which means FOW, Fratellis, Paulo, PB&J, LCD, TVOTR, MM and a few crowd shots.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/newspapers... enjoy!

upping sunday's photos now… then passing out.

How was the crowd at TVOTR? I found it too hard to pass on the Beastie Boys but I love TVOTR and really wanted to see them.

Originally posted by biga0u812:
i finally crowd surfed me bein a 270 pound guy never thought i would ever do that but i did.

speaking on behalf of all people who catch crowd surfers for a living: please don't ever do that again.

Originally posted by thatguy:

Originally posted by biga0u812:
i finally crowd surfed me bein a 270 pound guy never thought i would ever do that but i did.

speaking on behalf of all people who catch crowd surfers for a living: please don't ever do that again.

Speaking on behalf of someone who got plowed in the head by easily 30 crowdsurfers during Pumpkins alone, I second that statement.

ok ok. so now all the photos are up.

the virgin festival flickr set.

Originally posted by miss pretentious:
ok ok. so now all the photos are up.

the virgin festival flickr set.

Very nice photos. A lot of them too. Did you have a press pass of some kind?? Even with the smaller stage, I never got that close to anyone. 20 feet at best. Once again, great work.

Originally posted by PigIron:

Originally posted by miss pretentious:
ok ok. so now all the photos are up.

the virgin festival flickr set.

Very nice photos. A lot of them too. Did you have a press pass of some kind?? Even with the smaller stage, I never got that close to anyone. 20 feet at best. Once again, great work.

thanks! nope, no press pass… just a lil fuji point-and-shoot digital camera. my day one photos at the south stage turned out so well because i was on the rail the entire day.

nearly as bad as my music addiction is my obsession with written/photo documentation… i don't leave the house without a camera/notepad/pen.

For the guy who wanted to know about Wu's setlist, I remember them playing Ice Cream, Duel of the Iron Mics, Liquid Swords, Bring the Pain, Da Rockwilder, one or two other solo songs, all the big songs off 36 chambers, and a few other excellent songs.

Highlights were:
Fratellis
Incubus
Ben Harper: Never heard him before but he was amazing
Beastie Boys: BEST ACT OF DAY 1
GIRL TALK!!!!
Matisyahu: That dude went crazy
WU-TANG CLAN
And of course, the best act of the whole festival, THE SMASHING PUMPKINS

What sucked:
THE POLICE SUCKED. I found them boring, bland, and sucky. Really sucky.
Bad Brains.
Hearing even the faintest echo of Amy Winehouse.

So what was Seth's evaluation of the fest?

With all over the overwhelming love being express for The Police's set haha I'm glad I saw them at the Garden instead, from reviews of the tour it appears that their sets are not as good when playing to stadium sized crowds as opposed to arena sized ones.

I was surprised at how terrible Incubus was. They have really gone downhill.

I had a wonderful time at the festival on Sunday. Unfortunately, I only went to day 2, but I'm really happy that I had the chance to attend.

I really want to say that the 2 for 1 deal for people who live in the neighborhood of the festival was quite genius! It was a killer way of doing community relations.

As for the performances, I checked out the follow:
-Girl Talk (he's such an unbelievably good dj. I just wish his set was longer.)
-Regina Specktor (she was pretty decent. Never been really into her music, but it was cool.)
-Spoon (but I only saw them for a few moments)
-Explosions in the Sky (they totally took my breath away)
-Panic at the Disco (I only saw them for a song because I was looking for my friends. I honestly felt they were way out of place at the show. To me, they aren't rock'n roll.)
-Bad Brains (my friends and I had fun watching them)
-Yeah Yeah Yeahs (I loved their performance. Karen O is sheer electricity)
-Interpol (Though it was my 4th time seeing them, they still manage to amaze me. I will say though, it was really really hard chosing between them and VR. Now was it just me or did Interpol leave the stage earlier than they were suppose to?)
-The Smashing Pumpkins (They were the major reason my friends and I came out to the festival. They seriously amazed me. My only compliant is that they didn't do an encoure, but I'm sure there were reasons for that)

As for the set up, I really liked the two different stages. It was at times tough though to decide who to go see. I would've checked out Velvet Revolver if I knew I could've gotten a good spot for the Pumpkins, but I was too nervous to leave the one stage in fear of losing my spot for the Pumpkins.

Another thing, I did like how close things were. I didn't feel like I was walking forever to go to the different tents, stands and attractions.

One more thing I really liked was how environmentally geared the festival was. I think having stuff set up for recycling was quite clever. I hope that the stuff that is being picked up off the ground is also recycled.

As for something to improve, in between the different bands' sets, how about showing what is going on the other stage on the big screens. For instance, when one band was finished on the North stage there's like a 30 minute wait for the next act, well during that time, why not show who's playing on the other stage or in the dance tent.

The festival as a whole was really enjoyable. Granted I'm not sure what Saturday was like, I didn't have much issue with people being jerks on Sunday. I was able to have a pretty great time with my two best friends from College. And it seems everyone who was there was there for the music! It was like a party for music geeks :)

Keep up the awesome work, Seth!

ps- Prince would be a fantastic headliner for next year.

I did take some picture at Virgin Fest, but I haven't posted them. I do have a Video Clip from the non-stage activities going on Sunday!

Originally posted by saintangelsin:
As for something to improve, in between the different bands' sets, how about showing what is going on the other stage on the big screens. For instance, when one band was finished on the North stage there's like a 30 minute wait for the next act, well during that time, why not show who's playing on the other stage or in the dance tent.

I thought the Homestar Runner was really cool on the screens. More of that or, as this guy said, showing what else is going on at the other stage would be really cool. Of course, no one would leave the main stage knowing they can see the other stage on the video screen thereby reducing traffic making mainstage backlog horrible. But maybe a song or two wouldn't be awful.

Originally posted by saintangelsin:
-Interpol (Though it was my 4th time seeing them, they still manage to amaze me. I will say though, it was really really hard chosing between them and VR. Now was it just me or did Interpol leave the stage earlier than they were suppose to?)

Yeah, close to 15 minutes early, by my count. I wish SP had started 15 minutes early since they were clearly set up in time to go.

Originally posted by Julian, faux celeb-porn CONNOISSEUR:

Originally posted by saintangelsin:
As for something to improve, in between the different bands' sets, how about showing what is going on the other stage on the big screens. For instance, when one band was finished on the North stage there's like a 30 minute wait for the next act, well during that time, why not show who's playing on the other stage or in the dance tent.

I thought the Homestar Runner was really cool on the screens. More of that or, as this guy said, showing what else is going on at the other stage would be really cool. Of course, no one would leave the main stage knowing they can see the other stage on the video screen thereby reducing traffic making mainstage backlog horrible. But maybe a song or two wouldn't be awful.

It could even just be highlights from earlier or something like that.

RE: VIP worth it. In general yes. But still hard to pay that amount again in return for experience. Good sections for viewing although for the price it should be closer. Bathrooms in VIP area alone almost made the value. North stage especially as far as good area combined with quick access to rest rooms and refreshment. Made it really easy and fun. The Grandstand was a joke though. No food tiny bar and felt abandoned. Water refills should have been available in these areas. The so called after party was a club downtown and the only thing special was no cover???? Big let down.
The best staff ever for me. Everywhere everyone was awesome. Had nothing to do with VIP just really damned great people working hard but having fun and being exceptionally nice in the hottest of conditions.

I loved the festival. Thanks to everyone who set this thing up. It was such a wonderful experience; both my brother and I cannot wait for next year!

RANKINGS (from what I saw):
Fiction Plane 6/10 (only caught last 2 songs)
Cheap Trick 7.5/10 (a lot more fun than I expected)
The Fratellis 8/10 (great way to start the day)
Amy Winehouse 4/10 (boring, no energy)
Paolo Nutini 9/10 (excellent! such a small crowd)
Incubus 5/10 (I love this band, but such a weak setlist; way too hot during their performance)
Ben Harper 8/10 (very solid; quite a nice surprise)
LCD Soundsystem 9/10 (really tight sound; I didn't want to stop dancing)
Beastie Boys 10/10 (can't get any better than this; what a performance!)
TV on the Radio 5.5/10 (just OK; "Wolf Like Me" rocked)
The Police 7.5/10 (way too many reworked songs; "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" was a highlight; Stuart Copeland is the man.)

—

Aiden 2/10 (awful)
CSS 8/10 (very fun; hilarious; great start to the day)
Girl Talk 8.5/10 (I wish I had seen the whole set!)
Regina Spektor 8.5/10 (humble; fantastic voice)
Matisyahu 5/10 (about what I expected)
Spoon 3/10 (terrible)
Explosions in the Sky 7/10 (don't know their stuff; enjoyed them)
Panic! At the Disco 6.5/10 (I hate their radio singles, but man, they weren't so bad. "The Weight" (The Band cover) was a nice surprise)
Bad Brains 6/10 (OK)
Yeah Yeah Yeahs 9/10 (Karen O controlled the stage)
Interpol 10/10 (excellent set; I loved hearing stuff from the new CD)
Velvet Revolver 7/10 (sounded good on the 3-4 songs I heard)
Smashing Pumpkins 10/10 (perfect set, although ending on reworked "Heavy Metal Machine" was weird. I expected a "Cherub Rock" encore)
311 - I wish I had heard more of their set

—

- Everyone was wonderful and nice with the exception of the Virgin Festival signing booth staff.
- The crab cake sandwiches were awesome.
- The set up was perfect. I could hear some bands from one stage while another band was in between songs, but that's OK. No real sound bleeding issues.
- I had no trouble with lines for the bathrooms or food. The water line, on the other hand, was trouble.
- PLEASE BRING PEARL JAM NEXT YEAR. :)

Seth, take a bow. This is hands down the best run festival that I've ever been to. There is no waiting for anything. It's instant gratification. The staff is always helpful and friendly. Even though I preferred last year's bands, there was still plenty to do and see. I am worried though. I know the brand hasn't been built up enough yet, but 32k makes me fear that it won't be back. Also, thanks for throwing the old geezers like me a bone (Cheap Trick this year, The Who last year).

Did anyone else notice that in some of this year's photos (Early in the day) that Branson is wearing the same blue striped button down that he wore last year? Should we pitch in and get this guy a garment?

F##k the Napkin!