mcpost
Junior Member
Posts: 22
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Post by mcpost on Aug 1, 2010 23:16:21 GMT
So its not a secret that music festivals are the key to great summer weekends across the globe. The question is, which is the best to attend on an annual basis (not based on lineups of course).
My experience would be Lollapalooza up at the top. Downtown Chicago, typically good weather (although can be extremely hot), open drinking, and easy access to most of the stages.
Others I've been include Coachella and Virgin Festival in Toronto when Oasis was there (yep, the famous Noel incident). Coachella includes too many hippies that spend more time in hot box tents than enjoying the banter of those around you, and V Fest logistics were terrible. Also, both of those sites require you to drink in fenced in cages away from the stages! What's the point if you can't drink freely?
Anywho, this only comes up since Lolla is next weekend and of course bet welching prick and I will be attending once again.
So that being said, what are the positives/negatives to the others people have been?
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Post by themex on Aug 1, 2010 23:26:13 GMT
the best festival in the United States is not Lolla or Coachella, it is without a doubt in my mind SXSW. free lager, small venues, 4 days of 14 hrs of non spot music, free food, free shows for 8 straight hours each day, random celebrity sightings (ive met or have seen walking on the street kirsten dunst, chris martin, iggy pop, gwyneth paltrow, mani, carl barat, zooey deschanel, the guy from 3rd rock from the sun and inception) and of course theres the free liquor and random parties like rachael ray and perez hilton.
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Post by bet welching prick on Aug 1, 2010 23:28:47 GMT
the best festival in the United States is not Lolla or Coachella, it is without a doubt in my mind SXSW. free lager, small venues, 4 days of 14 hrs of non spot music, free food, free shows for 8 straight hours each day, random celebrity sightings (ive met or have seen walking on the street kirsten dunst, chris martin, iggy pop, gwyneth paltrow, mani, carl barat, zooey deschanel, the guy from 3rd rock from the sun and inception) and of course theres the free liquor and random parties like rachael ray and perez hilton. THANKS FOR THE WRISTBAND!   |
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Post by themex on Aug 1, 2010 23:29:54 GMT
the best festival in the United States is not Lolla or Coachella, it is without a doubt in my mind SXSW. free lager, small venues, 4 days of 14 hrs of non spot music, free food, free shows for 8 straight hours each day, random celebrity sightings (ive met or have seen walking on the street kirsten dunst, chris martin, iggy pop, gwyneth paltrow, mani, carl barat, zooey deschanel, the guy from 3rd rock from the sun and inception) and of course theres the free liquor and random parties like rachael ray and perez hilton. THANKS FOR THE WRISTBAND! i told you, ill find people who can hook u up |
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mcpost
Junior Member
Posts: 22
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Post by mcpost on Aug 1, 2010 23:29:16 GMT
I would agree it does sound pretty freaking amazing down there. The thing about SXSW is in my mind, its a very unique, almost not festival -festival. Clearly its a ton of shows in the Austin area over a four day period, but it doesn't really compare I'd say to the Lolla's, ACL's, Coach's etc.
That being said, its on the list of a must attend. Hopefully next year in fact.
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Post by bet welching prick on Aug 1, 2010 23:30:47 GMT
THANKS FOR THE WRISTBAND! i told you, ill find people who can hook u up was just kidding tbf.  |
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Post by themex on Aug 1, 2010 23:34:28 GMT
I would agree it does sound pretty freaking amazing down there. The thing about SXSW is in my mind, its a very unique, almost not festival -festival. Clearly its a ton of shows in the Austin area over a four day period, but it doesn't really compare I'd say to the Lolla's, ACL's, Coach's etc. That being said, its on the list of a must attend. Hopefully next year in fact. it definitely is very different to the other festivals and its supposed to be for the industry people and locals so yuh, it doesnt compare... ill be in australia but if you guys come ill find people who can buy extra wristbands (locals can only buy one extra wristband for $135...sweet deal) even if you guys dont buy wristbands you still have the 8 free hours of music and goodies a day in fact, SXSW is not a festival its a showcase... but fuck me its fun. |
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Post by abs on Aug 1, 2010 23:37:12 GMT
The Austin festivals excluded (which tbf sound like a totally different beast to our summer festivals here and so hard to compare), festivals stateside don't sound a patch on the festivals we have in UK/Europe.
I know it's obvious but I can't see how anything can top Glasto.
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mcpost
Junior Member
Posts: 22
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Post by mcpost on Aug 1, 2010 23:42:10 GMT
I would agree it does sound pretty freaking amazing down there. The thing about SXSW is in my mind, its a very unique, almost not festival -festival. Clearly its a ton of shows in the Austin area over a four day period, but it doesn't really compare I'd say to the Lolla's, ACL's, Coach's etc. That being said, its on the list of a must attend. Hopefully next year in fact. it definitely is very different to the other festivals and its supposed to be for the industry people and locals so yuh, it doesnt compare... ill be in australia but if you guys come ill find people who can buy extra wristbands (locals can only buy one extra wristband for $135...sweet deal) even if you guys dont buy wristbands you still have the 8 free hours of music and goodies a day in fact, SXSW is not a festival its a showcase... but fuck me its fun. Sounds like an awesome long weekend to me. As I said, I'm hoping to make it happen this year for sure. And with that deal, how can you pass it up! It reminds me of the $60 golden tickets for lolla that I was able to snag two of the past three years... 5 days of sitting online hitting refresh just to save $150, oh man I have too much time on my hands at work. |
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mcpost
Junior Member
Posts: 22
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Post by mcpost on Aug 1, 2010 23:43:35 GMT
And yeah, Glasto seems to be the deal, through and through. Only problem for those stateside trying to get there is the camping requirement and the hauling of all that crap over there... frankly prefer a nice shower at the end of the day myself...
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Post by rbbrslmn on Aug 1, 2010 23:48:27 GMT
Others I've been include Coachella and Virgin Festival in Toronto when Oasis was there (yep, the famous Noel incident). Coachella includes too many hippies that spend more time in hot box tents than enjoying the banter of those around you, and V Fest logistics were terrible. Also, both of those sites require you to drink in fenced in cages away from the stages! What's the point if you can't drink freely? you are kidding? glastonbury you can take beer they sell there, or stuff you have brought yourself, anywhere you like on the site. theres also an aread where police and security specifically dont go anwhere near so you can buy drugs there, plus more stages than anyone could begin to list. on the downside theres too many people, the site is hugely susceptible to bad weather and theres too many middle class bellends. its fairly pointless listing other festivals in comparison, some are good, some are not. |
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Post by rbbrslmn on Aug 1, 2010 23:48:59 GMT
And yeah, Glasto seems to be the deal, through and through. Only problem for those stateside trying to get there is the camping requirement and the hauling of all that crap over there... frankly prefer a nice shower at the end of the day myself... if you arent camping its not a festival, its a gig in a field. |
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mcpost
Junior Member
Posts: 22
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Post by mcpost on Aug 1, 2010 23:53:37 GMT
Others I've been include Coachella and Virgin Festival in Toronto when Oasis was there (yep, the famous Noel incident). Coachella includes too many hippies that spend more time in hot box tents than enjoying the banter of those around you, and V Fest logistics were terrible. Also, both of those sites require you to drink in fenced in cages away from the stages! What's the point if you can't drink freely? you are kidding? glastonbury you can take beer they sell there, or stuff you have brought yourself, anywhere you like on the site. theres also an aread where police and security specifically dont go anwhere near so you can buy drugs there, plus more stages than anyone could begin to list. on the downside theres too many people, the site is hugely susceptible to bad weather and theres too many middle class bellends. its fairly pointless listing other festivals in comparison, some are good, some are not. Sadly, I'm not kidding. It was the biggest disappointment of both festivals (other then the cribs canceling this year due to the volcano). bet welching prick can verify the V Fest experience... And the camping aspect I can understand as being a requirement for a festival... however, ACL and Lolla are clearly festivals and no one camps at those. Yes, I would agree they have a different feel to those that have camping, but from the music standpoint, its all the same in my mind. |
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Post by rbbrslmn on Aug 1, 2010 23:57:36 GMT
how do those festivals carry on after the 1st year which such absurd restrictions? personally i think not being able to take your own booze in is an unacceptable restriction, let alone not being able to drink at all. do people just not bother and do drugs instead then or what?
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Post by themex on Aug 1, 2010 23:58:15 GMT
I know it's obvious but I can't see how anything can top Glasto. agreed |
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Post by tucker on Aug 2, 2010 0:01:54 GMT
what dyou do about sleeping if you don't camp?
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mcpost
Junior Member
Posts: 22
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Post by mcpost on Aug 2, 2010 0:15:08 GMT
how do those festivals carry on after the 1st year which such absurd restrictions? personally i think not being able to take your own booze in is an unacceptable restriction, let alone not being able to drink at all. do people just not bother and do drugs instead then or what? It's a joke. People attempt sneaking in what they can, and most security don't care, but for the festivals that don't camp, you don't exactly have easy access to everything. So you get charged overpriced beer all day... and its basically a way to limit people from getting completely tanked. But what it does force is binge drinking to the exterme. Basically, if you have to set aside an hour or two of the day to drinking as much as possible as quickly as possible and then run yourself back to a stage... It's insane. |
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mcpost
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Post by mcpost on Aug 2, 2010 0:16:49 GMT
what dyou do about sleeping if you don't camp? Overpriced hotels. This upcoming weekend at Lolla averages $250/night. Of course its split between four guys for four nights so it doesn't end up being that bad... but if your looking to hook up, it makes things slightly difficult.. or very funny when your mates walk in while you have your lady of the night bent over your friends bed. |
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Post by bet welching prick on Aug 2, 2010 0:20:38 GMT
what dyou do about sleeping if you don't camp? Overpriced hotels. This upcoming weekend at Lolla averages $250/night. Of course its split between four guys for four nights so it doesn't end up being that bad dunno what he's talking about tbh, i'm only sleeping with birds this weekend! |
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Post by tucker on Aug 2, 2010 0:22:12 GMT
Sounds horrific tbh...part of the charm of a festival is smelling like shite for 5 days and never being sober. Plus sleeping in a tent in an overcrowded field after spending the night sat boozing around a fire with all your mates is one of the best parts IMO.
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