*THIS IS NOT FINISHED*
My name is Alex Wilkerson, and today I want to discuss Music Festivals.
My initial plan for this article was to help people decide what Summer Music Festival would be right for them, with a specific focus on Southeastern Festivals.
I did not expect to write a eulogy.
Let’s start with some back-ground on myself. I have been a musician for many years and a music fan for most of my life. My Mom introduced me to the Beatles when I was young and that really opened my eyes to what music could be. I started playing guitar in the fifth grade, and I sang in Show Choir and theatre productions at Prattville High School; where I graduated in 2014.
Growing up I went to many concerts with my family or my church, but I would say my first concert I decided to attend independently was Fun. I attended the show my senior year and this would ultimately lead to the first festival I attended, Hangout 2014.
Hangout Music Festival is a music festival that is put on every year by the Hangout Restaurant in Gulf Shores, AL. Streets close and many stages go up, but the main business happens right on the beach, overlooking the Gulf of Mexico. Hangout 2014 was a special year for the Festival. The headliners were The Black Keys, Outkast, The Killers, and Jack Johnson. Other musicians that attended were Modest Mouse, Childish Gambino, Wiz Khalifa, and Gary Clark Jr. Altogether, I considered it a great lineup, so so went.
Hangout was a great first festival experience that effectively got me in to the Music Festival scene. I later went to Music Midtown 2014, which is a festival held in the heart of Atlanta.
As 2015 began to roll around I found myself dreaming of the perfect Hangout lineup. With two of my favorite bands, Mumford and Sons and Alabama Shakes releasing albums in the new year, I couldn’t wait. The lineup for Hangout 2015 came out and I was hugely disappointed. Only one artist I was interested in would be there. I turned my attention to other festivals.
I became infatuated with a festival called Bonnaroo.
Bonnaroo is a music festival held on former farm land in Manchester Tennessee every July. Festival attendees camp in tents and RV’s surrounding the center of the festival, a place where the stages sit, called Centeroo. The lineup came out, and I was floored. Mumford and Sons, Billy Joel, Alabama Shakes, Kendrick Lamar, Hozier, Dawes, Bleachers, 21 Pilots, Glass Animals, and many others were scheduled to attend the festival.
I bought my tickets in the first round of ticket sales for $300 which included my camping spot. I got together with several friends and drove to Manchester that July. Bonarroo was worth every penny. I say without hesitation that Bonnaroo 2015 was the best festival I ever went to. Between the atmosphere captured in the festival’s catchphrase “radiate positivity,” the music, and like minded and friendly attendees, I was in love.
I knew at the time that I would be returning to Bonnaroo in 2016. No longer was I content with the beach vibes of Hangout.
This year they announced the lineup on Conan O’Brien’s talk show.
Things were different for Bonnaroo 2016.
“Roo” fans across the board were dissapointed with the headliners, including Pearl Jam. A festival that had in the past hosted headliners like Elton John, Kanye West, Jack White, and even a Beatle, Paul McCartney, were now featuring Pearl Jam.
Other headliners include Dead and Company, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, and Ellie Goulding.
While I wasn’t excited for many of the headliners, I still planned to go to the festival for supporting acts like Tyler the Creator, Death Cab for Cutie, Band of Horses, Father John Misty, Nathaniel Rateliff and the Nightsweats, as well as Mavis Staples.
But after looking at the Festivals’s new prices I’m not so sure. The first tier ticket price was listed on the festival’s site as $324.50, plus fees totaling $34.90. The price has since gone up to $349.50 with the same fees. Not very different from last year’s prices, until you look at a new cost not included in past festivals.
For Bonnaroo 2016 you have to pay extra for camping. It costs $59.75 for you to camp with your car plus fees, and $39.75 to park your car with no camping included. For years the camping was included in your ticket price.
I feel as if Roo has betrayed our trust. In the Groupme from last year’s festival many of my friends are unsure if they are going. Why should we pay extra money for what many agree is a subpar lineup? How could Bonnaroo had turned around so fast?
What I didn’t know is that in 2015 Bonnaroo was purchased by LiveNation.
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