Spin has a ton of interviews from backstage and some clips:
http://www.spin.com/festivals/virgin-mobile-festival
http://www.spin.com/festivals/virgin-mobile-festival
so how did we like the V Fest
I went both days. Had planned to only go Sunday but was convinced to buy a 2-day ticket late in the game and ended up spending the weekend @ Pimlico. Honestly, there wasn't a single "gotta-see-them" act on either bill this year but there were enough "they'd-be-pretty-good-to-see" acts to make it worth my $175.
The good:
The bands sounded great. Everything was well-balanced and nobody was too loud or too soft, though my ears did ring a little Saturday night. MUCH appreciated.
Getting in and out went very well. Aside from one instance on Sunday - just before STP's set - the concession lines were never too long. And prices were fair.
Vendors were somewhat interesting but for some reason I wasn't as compelled to see them this year. Was sad that El Jefe didn't have the print I wanted but that's a personal problem.
The bad:
The South Stage running late on Sunday.
Not staggering acts so we could pretty much see everybody. I caught parts of a lot of acts.
Glad to have seen Chuck Berry in person but I still don't think he was a good lead-in for the evening headliner. Momentum killer. Not at all surprised to hear he he bailed on the Silver Beats.
Toilet paper was in very short supply on Sunday.
Was unable to get those off-white festival shirts that sold out on Saturday. Was told there would be more on Sunday so I held off….only to find out that there wouldn't be any more of them.
Might be just me but it seemed the VIP areas were under-utilized. I realize the idea was to keep them from getting too crowded but it seemed mostly like a waste of space.
Overall: I had a really good time. Will look forward to seeing next year's line-up and hopefully see everyone back at the racetrack.
The good:
The bands sounded great. Everything was well-balanced and nobody was too loud or too soft, though my ears did ring a little Saturday night. MUCH appreciated.
Getting in and out went very well. Aside from one instance on Sunday - just before STP's set - the concession lines were never too long. And prices were fair.
Vendors were somewhat interesting but for some reason I wasn't as compelled to see them this year. Was sad that El Jefe didn't have the print I wanted but that's a personal problem.
The bad:
The South Stage running late on Sunday.
Not staggering acts so we could pretty much see everybody. I caught parts of a lot of acts.
Glad to have seen Chuck Berry in person but I still don't think he was a good lead-in for the evening headliner. Momentum killer. Not at all surprised to hear he he bailed on the Silver Beats.
Toilet paper was in very short supply on Sunday.
Was unable to get those off-white festival shirts that sold out on Saturday. Was told there would be more on Sunday so I held off….only to find out that there wouldn't be any more of them.
Might be just me but it seemed the VIP areas were under-utilized. I realize the idea was to keep them from getting too crowded but it seemed mostly like a waste of space.
Overall: I had a really good time. Will look forward to seeing next year's line-up and hopefully see everyone back at the racetrack.
I was expecting to go this year, but to my surprise I had won tickets from a local radio station at the last minute, so my best friend and I went for both days. I had won my tickets from 94.7 The Globe in case you're wondering. To be quite honest, I had a blast. I went to Sunday last year and had a lot of fun, but I think I had more fun this year. So here is my critique…
I thought the line up was pretty great. The whole entire weekend allowed me to check out more bands than I would even at an hfstival or a warped tour. The distance between the North and South Stages was pretty great by the way. I didn't feel like I walked all day just to see a band or two. By the way, I really loved the overall layout of the festival and I loved the free bike taxi dudes, they were a great help.
I saw the following on Saturday: Catpower, KT Tungstall, Duffy, Rodreigo y Gabriela, Gogol Bordello, The Swell Season, Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, The Offspring, The Silver Beats (who were totally refreshing! and surprising), Chuck Berry and the Foo Fighters. I only wished I could've seen Lupe Fiasco, Wilco, and Underworld. Reason I didn't was because of scheduling conflicts.
I thought the diversity of Saturday was pretty great. Fantastic mix of indie, hip hop, main stream alternative stuff, and some other things.
I loved how the Foo Fighters played for a solid 2 hours and just killed it. I also loved how they were a lot of fun. It felt like a festival gig, but at the same time, they made their set feel like a good concert.
By the way, I thought it was pretty awesome how you got on stage and played drums with Chuck Berry. Now about the Silver Beats, I thought they were a cool twist to the whole evening. I never thought in a million years I would see a tribute band, let alone a really good tribute band. It was so cool how everyone in the crowd was singing along and it reminded me why I loved the Beatles so much as a kid.
My biggest complaint about Saturday was that the dance music tent was really loud, so loud that it bled into the swell season's set, which was a bit sad because they were fantastic. I'm not sure what you could do about that for next year, but I think something should happen for bands that might be all accoustic like that. Now that I think of it, I think the same thing that happened to the swell season, also happened during Rodrigo Y Gabriela's set too.
Aside from the sound overload from the dance tent, I honestly felt the sound on the main stages were fantastic. My kid sister made me promise to her that I would see Paramore and call her during the set. I was up front during their set and she could hear them loud and clear on my little old virgin mobile phone (yeah I use v-mobile from time to time). It impressed how good the sound was, so major kudos to your stage sound dudes.
As for Sunday, I saw BRMC, Shudder to Think, Andrew Bird, Paramore, She & Him, Taking Back Sunday, Iggy and the Stooges, STP, Bob Dylan and NIN. I also saw like a minute or two of Kanye, because my friend wanted to leave early. I thought Sunday was a lot of fun, and had some really great music. It too was an electic line-up. I have to applaud you for getting NIN and Kanye. It was great seeing bands who had incredible light shows and had some headlining command.
My complaints about Sunday is about the scheduling I suppose. First of all, I thought Hollywood Undead were awful. How they beat We Are Scientists is a bit beyond me. I'm saying this because the contest winnners didn't seem to match what I think the actual concert goers would've liked to have seen. Maybe I'm wrong, but I just think that contest is a bit off. Okay second thing, it was really difficult trying to figure out who to see when it came to Bob Dylan, STP and Moby. That was for me the sophie's choice of the weekend, but I managed to catch most STP's set and a little bit of Bob Dylan's set. Also, I really don't get why you booked Lil Wayne and had him on right after She & Him. During She & Him's set, all the kids were being rude and trying to get good spots for Lil Wayne. I understand why they wanted a good spot, but it almost ruined my experience of watching She & Him, who I was really there to go see. I even explained to this one kid that most of the people watching the band would probably leave. I also saw something similar to this effect during Bob Dylan, because all these kids wanted to get up close for Kanye. It kinda hurt to see these kids complain about Bob Dylan. (By the way, is it true Kanye was late for his own set becuase he was watching Nine Inch Nails?)
As for other things… I loved the circus family with the trapeeze acts, the sword swallowing, magic shows and other side show acts. My friend and I watched them whenever they were performing and we were passing by. It was a great thing to see in between all of the bands. I really enjoyed the whole carnival feel to the festival with the different foods, booths, the skate park demos (which were really great) and other attractions.
The cooling and refreshing domes were good. I thought it was cool that there was a dome where people could get different hair styles done and even get their phones charged! The shade tents were a blessing, but I think the one near the North Stage could've been much much bigger or there could've been more shade tents! More picnic tables is a good idea too. As for the port-a-poties, a lot of them were disgusting after a while. Also, a lot of them were understocked with toliet paper. I remember Saturday morning using one right after the festival had just opened the gates and the port-a-pot was out of TP already or it didn't have any in there to begin with. So that's totally an area for improvement for next year.
As for the food, I thought most of it was reasonably priced and really good. (Ice cream for 6 bucks is a bit much, especially for good humor stuff so maybe that could change) I grew up with HFStivals and the terrible over priced food that they would have, so please know that the food overall was much better than that. On a similar subject, I do think the non-alcholic beverages such as the raspberry tea, lemonaide and soda could've been a little bit more cheaper like by a buck or two. Also, thank you for allowing water bottles to be taken in. The water spickets were once again a great idea again, but they were harder to find this year. Oh I almost forgot, the lines for food weren't too shabby. I think the one thing that would be great for next year is to be allowed to take in snack type items like crackers and chips and granola bars.
While I didn't like the t-shirts much this year, I really wanted a charcoal shirt because it was different looking than last year's tshirt. Wearing a V-fest shirt at my school (University of MD) is like bragging rights and plus, I collect concert and music festival tshirts that I have attended. Well, last year I was able to get my shirt (which I really loved the design for that actually) on Sunday afternoon. Well, for this year I figured I could do the same. So here I am Sunday afternoon, trying to get a shirt and I couldn't. I went to both merch booths. They had sold out of all the festival tshirts by noon or something like that on Sunday, which was super disappointing. I also thought it was a pain in the butt that I had to walk to both booths to get merch from different bands. I think all the merch should've been at just one big booth in the middle of the festival or something. It would've made finding the different bands' shirts and merch much easier. I really would like to get a tshirt, are any more going to be made? Please let me know!
About traffic…Traffic was really good. Didn't have any problems getting there or getting out, aside from Saturday night this one police officer almost got my friend and I lost with the traffic directions.
As for parking, I do have a question…Why 25 bucks for parking? I'm just curious. Over all, I thought parking was great though. I felt some of the staff could've been more helpful with parking because I have handicap tags, but there was one guy who did an awesome job. Both days we parked in the lot near the south stage, this guy drove around the lot in a golf cart and both days found us really great parking for our needs. I have asthma and can't walk too far of distances in the heat, and his knowledge of handicap parking spots was a great help.
Overall, I can't wait for next year. I'm really tempted into getting VIP tickets for 2009 actually, especially if AC/DC is a possible headliner (wishful thinking I know haha). But seriously, I loved the overall atmosphere. It wasn't a total party like the hfstival used to be. It's more like a musical carnival or a music geek's paradise to quote a friend of mine. Keep up the great work and I look foward to next year! Also, have more tshirts made for next year so I can buy some!
I thought the line up was pretty great. The whole entire weekend allowed me to check out more bands than I would even at an hfstival or a warped tour. The distance between the North and South Stages was pretty great by the way. I didn't feel like I walked all day just to see a band or two. By the way, I really loved the overall layout of the festival and I loved the free bike taxi dudes, they were a great help.
I saw the following on Saturday: Catpower, KT Tungstall, Duffy, Rodreigo y Gabriela, Gogol Bordello, The Swell Season, Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, The Offspring, The Silver Beats (who were totally refreshing! and surprising), Chuck Berry and the Foo Fighters. I only wished I could've seen Lupe Fiasco, Wilco, and Underworld. Reason I didn't was because of scheduling conflicts.
I thought the diversity of Saturday was pretty great. Fantastic mix of indie, hip hop, main stream alternative stuff, and some other things.
I loved how the Foo Fighters played for a solid 2 hours and just killed it. I also loved how they were a lot of fun. It felt like a festival gig, but at the same time, they made their set feel like a good concert.
By the way, I thought it was pretty awesome how you got on stage and played drums with Chuck Berry. Now about the Silver Beats, I thought they were a cool twist to the whole evening. I never thought in a million years I would see a tribute band, let alone a really good tribute band. It was so cool how everyone in the crowd was singing along and it reminded me why I loved the Beatles so much as a kid.
My biggest complaint about Saturday was that the dance music tent was really loud, so loud that it bled into the swell season's set, which was a bit sad because they were fantastic. I'm not sure what you could do about that for next year, but I think something should happen for bands that might be all accoustic like that. Now that I think of it, I think the same thing that happened to the swell season, also happened during Rodrigo Y Gabriela's set too.
Aside from the sound overload from the dance tent, I honestly felt the sound on the main stages were fantastic. My kid sister made me promise to her that I would see Paramore and call her during the set. I was up front during their set and she could hear them loud and clear on my little old virgin mobile phone (yeah I use v-mobile from time to time). It impressed how good the sound was, so major kudos to your stage sound dudes.
As for Sunday, I saw BRMC, Shudder to Think, Andrew Bird, Paramore, She & Him, Taking Back Sunday, Iggy and the Stooges, STP, Bob Dylan and NIN. I also saw like a minute or two of Kanye, because my friend wanted to leave early. I thought Sunday was a lot of fun, and had some really great music. It too was an electic line-up. I have to applaud you for getting NIN and Kanye. It was great seeing bands who had incredible light shows and had some headlining command.
My complaints about Sunday is about the scheduling I suppose. First of all, I thought Hollywood Undead were awful. How they beat We Are Scientists is a bit beyond me. I'm saying this because the contest winnners didn't seem to match what I think the actual concert goers would've liked to have seen. Maybe I'm wrong, but I just think that contest is a bit off. Okay second thing, it was really difficult trying to figure out who to see when it came to Bob Dylan, STP and Moby. That was for me the sophie's choice of the weekend, but I managed to catch most STP's set and a little bit of Bob Dylan's set. Also, I really don't get why you booked Lil Wayne and had him on right after She & Him. During She & Him's set, all the kids were being rude and trying to get good spots for Lil Wayne. I understand why they wanted a good spot, but it almost ruined my experience of watching She & Him, who I was really there to go see. I even explained to this one kid that most of the people watching the band would probably leave. I also saw something similar to this effect during Bob Dylan, because all these kids wanted to get up close for Kanye. It kinda hurt to see these kids complain about Bob Dylan. (By the way, is it true Kanye was late for his own set becuase he was watching Nine Inch Nails?)
As for other things… I loved the circus family with the trapeeze acts, the sword swallowing, magic shows and other side show acts. My friend and I watched them whenever they were performing and we were passing by. It was a great thing to see in between all of the bands. I really enjoyed the whole carnival feel to the festival with the different foods, booths, the skate park demos (which were really great) and other attractions.
The cooling and refreshing domes were good. I thought it was cool that there was a dome where people could get different hair styles done and even get their phones charged! The shade tents were a blessing, but I think the one near the North Stage could've been much much bigger or there could've been more shade tents! More picnic tables is a good idea too. As for the port-a-poties, a lot of them were disgusting after a while. Also, a lot of them were understocked with toliet paper. I remember Saturday morning using one right after the festival had just opened the gates and the port-a-pot was out of TP already or it didn't have any in there to begin with. So that's totally an area for improvement for next year.
As for the food, I thought most of it was reasonably priced and really good. (Ice cream for 6 bucks is a bit much, especially for good humor stuff so maybe that could change) I grew up with HFStivals and the terrible over priced food that they would have, so please know that the food overall was much better than that. On a similar subject, I do think the non-alcholic beverages such as the raspberry tea, lemonaide and soda could've been a little bit more cheaper like by a buck or two. Also, thank you for allowing water bottles to be taken in. The water spickets were once again a great idea again, but they were harder to find this year. Oh I almost forgot, the lines for food weren't too shabby. I think the one thing that would be great for next year is to be allowed to take in snack type items like crackers and chips and granola bars.
While I didn't like the t-shirts much this year, I really wanted a charcoal shirt because it was different looking than last year's tshirt. Wearing a V-fest shirt at my school (University of MD) is like bragging rights and plus, I collect concert and music festival tshirts that I have attended. Well, last year I was able to get my shirt (which I really loved the design for that actually) on Sunday afternoon. Well, for this year I figured I could do the same. So here I am Sunday afternoon, trying to get a shirt and I couldn't. I went to both merch booths. They had sold out of all the festival tshirts by noon or something like that on Sunday, which was super disappointing. I also thought it was a pain in the butt that I had to walk to both booths to get merch from different bands. I think all the merch should've been at just one big booth in the middle of the festival or something. It would've made finding the different bands' shirts and merch much easier. I really would like to get a tshirt, are any more going to be made? Please let me know!
About traffic…Traffic was really good. Didn't have any problems getting there or getting out, aside from Saturday night this one police officer almost got my friend and I lost with the traffic directions.
As for parking, I do have a question…Why 25 bucks for parking? I'm just curious. Over all, I thought parking was great though. I felt some of the staff could've been more helpful with parking because I have handicap tags, but there was one guy who did an awesome job. Both days we parked in the lot near the south stage, this guy drove around the lot in a golf cart and both days found us really great parking for our needs. I have asthma and can't walk too far of distances in the heat, and his knowledge of handicap parking spots was a great help.
Overall, I can't wait for next year. I'm really tempted into getting VIP tickets for 2009 actually, especially if AC/DC is a possible headliner (wishful thinking I know haha). But seriously, I loved the overall atmosphere. It wasn't a total party like the hfstival used to be. It's more like a musical carnival or a music geek's paradise to quote a friend of mine. Keep up the great work and I look foward to next year! Also, have more tshirts made for next year so I can buy some!
good job on drums for chuck seth. this is my second vfest and i really enjoyed myself. please post the lineup and schedule sooner next year.
good:
- i initiall complained about brmc going on first, but i'm glad they did now.
- doesnt take long to get there from dc
- the staff i met were nice
- variety of things to do when not hearing a band. i missed a good deal of it since i spent most of my time at one of the stages though.
- fair amount of shade/cool off tents (loved the vfest towels)
- decent variety of food
- Parking â?? although expensive, it was easy to get in
- Distance between north/south stage. to not hear the other stage is a good thing
- Sound was good for both stages
- Lots of trash cans
- booking brmc, nin, swell season, iggy, foos and rodrigo y gabriela
- didnt stop by the vendors/booths much (not interest), but i did appreciate the free carbonated juice :D
Bad:
- That darn dance tent. We listening to glenâ??s set and kept hearing that darn thump thump from the dance tent. he even mentioned it.
- Port o potties were gross and ran out of toilet paper very early on
- cops not knowing how to directing traffic. i know you cant do much about it, but it was a pain trying to get out of there on saturday. they seemed a bit better about things sunday night.
- not knowing the south stage was behind. we left iggy to go over to the south stage just to have to turn around and go back b/c lil wayne was behind schedule. maybe next year it could be announced on the screen where text messages go?
- Not being allowed to keep the top when buying water. most people buy water and drink it during the course of an hour or two, it's hard to do when you cant put a top on it and put it in your pocket or bag.
- running out of festival t-shirts
- having everyone exit by the south gate takes ages. if we park by the north stage, we should be able to enter there.
question: why doesnt vip have better sight lines closer to the stage? i've always wanted to know why they are soo far away. if i pay that much money i want to be closer to the stage.
good:
- i initiall complained about brmc going on first, but i'm glad they did now.
- doesnt take long to get there from dc
- the staff i met were nice
- variety of things to do when not hearing a band. i missed a good deal of it since i spent most of my time at one of the stages though.
- fair amount of shade/cool off tents (loved the vfest towels)
- decent variety of food
- Parking â?? although expensive, it was easy to get in
- Distance between north/south stage. to not hear the other stage is a good thing
- Sound was good for both stages
- Lots of trash cans
- booking brmc, nin, swell season, iggy, foos and rodrigo y gabriela
- didnt stop by the vendors/booths much (not interest), but i did appreciate the free carbonated juice :D
Bad:
- That darn dance tent. We listening to glenâ??s set and kept hearing that darn thump thump from the dance tent. he even mentioned it.
- Port o potties were gross and ran out of toilet paper very early on
- cops not knowing how to directing traffic. i know you cant do much about it, but it was a pain trying to get out of there on saturday. they seemed a bit better about things sunday night.
- not knowing the south stage was behind. we left iggy to go over to the south stage just to have to turn around and go back b/c lil wayne was behind schedule. maybe next year it could be announced on the screen where text messages go?
- Not being allowed to keep the top when buying water. most people buy water and drink it during the course of an hour or two, it's hard to do when you cant put a top on it and put it in your pocket or bag.
- running out of festival t-shirts
- having everyone exit by the south gate takes ages. if we park by the north stage, we should be able to enter there.
question: why doesnt vip have better sight lines closer to the stage? i've always wanted to know why they are soo far away. if i pay that much money i want to be closer to the stage.
Originally posted by Cash is King:I think I take issue to the "sucked" statement, even in comparison to last year or the year before. Maybe it wasn't as strong to your personal taste, but there were solid acts across the board. Since I was working I didn't get to catch much of it, but from what I saw I was very impressed with the following:
Lineup sucked this year compared to the previous 2 years, so i only went to Sunday. I must say, compared to that first year, you guys have mastered the art of transportation. Getting in and out of the event is flawlessssssss. I think of any festival i have ever been to, you guys are the easiest to get in and out of.
The Black Keys
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
Gogol Bordelo
Chromeo
Bloc Party
Foo Fighters
Soulwax
Stone Temple Pilots
She & Him
Chuck Berry
As you can tell I didn't make it over to the North stage much, but I heard that NIN were amazing. I mean to see 10 great performances in 2 days would have been worth it for me to shell out a couple hundred bucks. No suckitude from my perspective.
I only went on Sunday and only went to see BRMC, but I quite enjoyed myself. I hate festivals and I was incredibly lazy while there so I can't give much feedback, but for a festival I was pleasantly surprised. I got lost quite a bit, but the only time I had a problem was when I first got there, I couldn't figure out where to go and when I asked for directions a few times, nobody knew where to direct me. Otherwise it did seem very well organised, and the crowd itself was decent for a festival in my experience. My friend and I commented on the lack of people having sex on the lawn. Pleasantly surprised indeed, I must say. One thing that would have been nice would be more places to sit in the VIP lounge, as we all want to take advantage of the AC.
And I very much thank you for the chance to see Nine Inch Nails, because I never would have thought to spend the money to see them on their own. Now I am eager to see them again.
And I very much thank you for the chance to see Nine Inch Nails, because I never would have thought to spend the money to see them on their own. Now I am eager to see them again.
although I do take all of the criticism into consideration, and welcome it…I do have to say it gives me great pleasure to hear about what a great time some of you had
and you deserve all the credit for making the effort and investment
thanks
and you deserve all the credit for making the effort and investment
thanks
Hey Seth:
I am one of the few who went to Saturday rather than Sunday. Only bands on Sunday I would've wanted to see were BRMC, Black Keys and Dylan. Saturday, I was there for Foos, Offspring, Chuck, Wilco and Citizen Cope.
The artist are personal taste of course so some people will always complain. I love Pimlico as a venue, easy in and out. Staff were great, port-o-potties other than the two by the North Stage were decent. The two by themselves were gross and I couldn't use them.
Keep up the good work and looking forward to next year.
I am one of the few who went to Saturday rather than Sunday. Only bands on Sunday I would've wanted to see were BRMC, Black Keys and Dylan. Saturday, I was there for Foos, Offspring, Chuck, Wilco and Citizen Cope.
The artist are personal taste of course so some people will always complain. I love Pimlico as a venue, easy in and out. Staff were great, port-o-potties other than the two by the North Stage were decent. The two by themselves were gross and I couldn't use them.
Keep up the good work and looking forward to next year.
The Good:
- Getting STP, Chuck Berry, and The Silver Beats to play
- Getting NIN to also headline
- Food being priced fairly
- Free water re-fills
- Not seeing Lil' Wayne
- Getting lucky w/ the weather
- Preferred parking passes
The Bad:
- It seemed like the earlier bands seemed weaker then those of later years. Outside of Iggy Pop and BRMC I had no interest in any other bands
- Exiting the parking lot on day 1 by the south stage, thank god Kayne ran late on day 2.
Overall, bring the V-Fest back to Pimlico for Year 4 PLEEAASSEE!
- Getting STP, Chuck Berry, and The Silver Beats to play
- Getting NIN to also headline
- Food being priced fairly
- Free water re-fills
- Not seeing Lil' Wayne
- Getting lucky w/ the weather
- Preferred parking passes
The Bad:
- It seemed like the earlier bands seemed weaker then those of later years. Outside of Iggy Pop and BRMC I had no interest in any other bands
- Exiting the parking lot on day 1 by the south stage, thank god Kayne ran late on day 2.
Overall, bring the V-Fest back to Pimlico for Year 4 PLEEAASSEE!
oh 1 idea…have the other stage on the TV between acts. It would have been great to see STP on the screen as i was holding my spot for dylan.
Thanks for making this V-Fest really enjoyable, Seth! Like everyone else, I had a blast.
Before my "good/bad" split, I have to admit that I was wrong about questioning the choices to bring some of the bands (The Offspring drew a huge crowd, as did Paramore and Lil Wayne). You know best.
And you rocked the drums.
—
THE GOOD:
- Cat Power, BRMC, NIN, Bloc Party, Iggy Pop, and Rodrigo y Gabriela all killed it. Amazing.
- I loved the fact that there were so many female-fronted bands!
- The stage setups were excellent this year. Never felt too crowded, unsafe, or unable to see the band.
- Great headliners (especially NIN) with nice choices for all people.
- No problems with parking or traffic.
- Tons of recycling options.
- Scheduling was actually very effective on both days, I thought. Kudos!
- Very courteous staff throughout the venue.
- Prices were OK, except $5 for ice cream.
- Your marketing for the festival was quite effective. Every DC 101 listener was well aware of the festival, and all the billboards on buses and bus stops caught my attention.
- Just about everything about the show was great.
THE BAD:
- Chuck Berry was AWFUL. He missed so many notes; it was sad. Why couldn't he figure out how to replug his guitar? Good god.
- Bob Dylan is a legend and he sounded good, but he just didn't fit this festival. The "classic" acts this year weren't up to par to The Police, The Who, Cheap Trick, etc. Sorry.
- LIL WAYNE!!!. He was 40 minutes late. Everyone was booing. His entourage pranced on stage for at least 15 minutes. His DJ was awful. It was a wreck. It definitely sold a hell of a lot of tickets, though.
- The placement of She & Him before Lil Wayne led to A LOT of rude people talking, shouting, chanting and disrupting Zooey and Matt Ward's set. It ruined what was an otherwise enjoyable mid-day set.
- The Black Keys not getting a 1-hour set as promised by the schedule.
- There were no recycling options in the VIP Grandstand. Why not? It was perfect everywhere else.
- The Dance tent bled into just about every North stage set on Saturday.
- I didn't see any water fountains.
- Bring back the FYE tent.
- A LOT of people were smoking weed all throughout the venue. Was there no security?
- Could've used more ROCK. I appreciate the diversity of music, but it was spread too thin at times.
- Hollywood Undead was beyond awful. What the fuck?
- Not enough British acts. That's what made the past 2 years really special.
Before my "good/bad" split, I have to admit that I was wrong about questioning the choices to bring some of the bands (The Offspring drew a huge crowd, as did Paramore and Lil Wayne). You know best.
And you rocked the drums.
—
THE GOOD:
- Cat Power, BRMC, NIN, Bloc Party, Iggy Pop, and Rodrigo y Gabriela all killed it. Amazing.
- I loved the fact that there were so many female-fronted bands!
- The stage setups were excellent this year. Never felt too crowded, unsafe, or unable to see the band.
- Great headliners (especially NIN) with nice choices for all people.
- No problems with parking or traffic.
- Tons of recycling options.
- Scheduling was actually very effective on both days, I thought. Kudos!
- Very courteous staff throughout the venue.
- Prices were OK, except $5 for ice cream.
- Your marketing for the festival was quite effective. Every DC 101 listener was well aware of the festival, and all the billboards on buses and bus stops caught my attention.
- Just about everything about the show was great.
THE BAD:
- Chuck Berry was AWFUL. He missed so many notes; it was sad. Why couldn't he figure out how to replug his guitar? Good god.
- Bob Dylan is a legend and he sounded good, but he just didn't fit this festival. The "classic" acts this year weren't up to par to The Police, The Who, Cheap Trick, etc. Sorry.
- LIL WAYNE!!!. He was 40 minutes late. Everyone was booing. His entourage pranced on stage for at least 15 minutes. His DJ was awful. It was a wreck. It definitely sold a hell of a lot of tickets, though.
- The placement of She & Him before Lil Wayne led to A LOT of rude people talking, shouting, chanting and disrupting Zooey and Matt Ward's set. It ruined what was an otherwise enjoyable mid-day set.
- The Black Keys not getting a 1-hour set as promised by the schedule.
- There were no recycling options in the VIP Grandstand. Why not? It was perfect everywhere else.
- The Dance tent bled into just about every North stage set on Saturday.
- I didn't see any water fountains.
- Bring back the FYE tent.
- A LOT of people were smoking weed all throughout the venue. Was there no security?
- Could've used more ROCK. I appreciate the diversity of music, but it was spread too thin at times.
- Hollywood Undead was beyond awful. What the fuck?
- Not enough British acts. That's what made the past 2 years really special.
Originally posted by Seth Hurwitz:How is that possible?
Believe it, or not…the Black Keys set was not cut short…that was it
The schedule said 1 hour. They played for 30 minutes (I think I counted 7 songs) and explicitly pointed out that they were cut short due to Lil Wayne.
My brother spoke to Dan and Patrick before Kanye came on stage, and although they were gracious and in high spirits, they confirmed that they had to cut out a lot from their set.
"- A LOT of people were smoking weed all throughout the venue. Was there no security?"
Weed and music festivals have gone hand-in-hand (or joint-in-mouth, if you will) for the last fifty or so years.
Weed and music festivals have gone hand-in-hand (or joint-in-mouth, if you will) for the last fifty or so years.
I didn't go but The Director said….
That the Foos cover of "Young Man Blues" was smackie worthy and that STP put on the best show of the year.
I'm not allowed to share the rest of what The Director said, so don't shoot the messenger.
That the Foos cover of "Young Man Blues" was smackie worthy and that STP put on the best show of the year.
I'm not allowed to share the rest of what The Director said, so don't shoot the messenger.
i'm curious here:
how big of a crowd watched Hollywood Undead? and what kind of reception did they get?
how big of a crowd watched Hollywood Undead? and what kind of reception did they get?
Originally posted by azaghal1981:that, and security staff have other concerns… like, you know, security. someone smoking a joint isn't a threat. if anything, it'll make you safer - folks that are high tend to be pretty mellow and non-threatening.
"- A LOT of people were smoking weed all throughout the venue. Was there no security?"
Weed and music festivals have gone hand-in-hand (or joint-in-mouth, if you will) for the last fifty or so years.
imagine that, someone smoking pot at a rock concert. what will those crazy kids come up with next?!?
Originally posted by lancha:me too. a few people have mentioned they were horrible. how horrible? why horrible? i like me a good trainwreck every now and then.
i'm curious here:
how big of a crowd watched Hollywood Undead? and what kind of reception did they get?
Originally posted by vansmack:My video of Foo Fighters. Dave was funny all night.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSqWcoaCquc
I didn't go but The Director said….
That the Foos cover of "Young Man Blues" was smackie worthy and that STP put on the best show of the year.
I'm not allowed to share the rest of what The Director said, so don't shoot the messenger.
whoops here it is
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSqWcoaCquc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSqWcoaCquc
My video of Seth and Chuck Berry playing Tuti Fruity
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QgCWGmswxU
Oh yeah great festival.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QgCWGmswxU
Oh yeah great festival.
positives
-Kanye West and Foo Fighters both put on great shows.
-Good mix of hip hop and rock
-The crowds at the two stages were much more balanced this year.
-Great weather!
criticisms
-The Offspring should have led into Foo Fighters. Chuck Berry and Wilco kind of killed the momentum…more so Chuck Berry.
- No lineup additions like the original press release seemed to indicate!
I enjoyed the lineup although I felt like it could have been a little stronger, especially compared to last year. Still had a great time either way and I will surly be back next year! (Please bring it back!)
-Kanye West and Foo Fighters both put on great shows.
-Good mix of hip hop and rock
-The crowds at the two stages were much more balanced this year.
-Great weather!
criticisms
-The Offspring should have led into Foo Fighters. Chuck Berry and Wilco kind of killed the momentum…more so Chuck Berry.
- No lineup additions like the original press release seemed to indicate!
I enjoyed the lineup although I felt like it could have been a little stronger, especially compared to last year. Still had a great time either way and I will surly be back next year! (Please bring it back!)