After a decade of going to festivals all over the country, from Vegoose to Wakarusa and from Lollapalooza to All Points West, I think I’ve discovered the answer to a question that’s been puzzling me since this past Bonnaroo. I now know why we continue to attend music festivals.
Take a moment to contemplate why we eagerly toss a good chunk of the rent on a chance to spend a sweaty weekend getting sunburned and dehydrated. On the surface it’s a chance to see the bands we love, the bands we hate, and the bands our friends won’t stop talking about. The opportunity to take a vacation from our real lives, while an awesome soundtrack supports the experience, seems to be enough.
However, if you logically break down that experience, the entire notion of attending a festival becomes rather illogical. Think about it; if you attend any of the camping music festivals, you’re basically paying $300 to spend the weekend in a third world country. You sleep among piles of trash and wait in long lines for necessities such as food, water, and ice. Later, you’ll find these necessities in unlimited amounts, although they have already been used and are in a brown pile next to your car. Who’s going to walk 10 minutes to the nearest portable bathroom when they can shit on your tires or piss in gallon jugs?
If you’re in a city, the experience is made only slightly better with the chance for a shower after 12 hours. The baffling part is that we happily accept this. I witnessed a friend of mine willingly wait two hours for a chance to pay for a shower at this year’s Bonnaroo. What did she get for her $20? Cold water in a flimsy trailer. As she told it, a stranger held the shower curtain while she soaped up, then they switched, military style. Either way, camping or not, between the lines to get in, and the variable security, you’re treated like cattle in a feedlot.
Feature photo by Brad Bretz.
Sub-par accommodations aside, there’s another harsh truth about music festivals. People are often injured and some even die. Death is rare, but happens nonetheless. It’s not that surprising, though. With tens of thousands of people gathering in the same small space, something is bound to happen. Festivals from Bonnaroo to Gathering of the Vibes (look up the Nitrous Mafia for a sobering reality) have all fallen victim to these kinds of tragic incidents that kept many early U.S. festivals from taking root in the first place, trapping the idea of a music festival as a one-off event for a long time.
Since 2002, though, there have been huge strides made to axe this reputation of disorder, and it’s been basically proven that 80,000 people can have a good time together in a post Woodstock 1999 world, creating a steadily growing culture of festival attendees. As music festivals continue to become more mainstream, a solid, reliable fan base has culminated into an entire community looking for that festival atmosphere.This is huge. First-time attendees are now going to festivals regardless of how hyped the lineup is, because they want something more; they want the experience they’ve heard so much about. For returning festival attendees, they can trust that year after year their favorite festival will deliver that same amazing experience that drew them there in the first place.
Photo by Brad Bretz
As a result, festivals like Austin City Limits can sell its tickets months before any lineup is dropped, and in its case, sell out the three-day passes long before the festival even happens. Want camping at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival? Get ready to sign up for a lottery come this Thanksgiving. (The festival is in late June!). That’s a remarkable testament to the staying power of any annual event, especially a music festival. Investors pay attention as well, as the top three music festivals (Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, Coachella) are nationally recognized as viable, profitable entities.
But how do the organizers do it when their profit machine, can kill the average paycheck? Going to festivals makes for an expensive vacation, but break down the ticket price on a band to dollar ratio and spending the cash starts to make more sense. It cost just two dollars to see Paul McCartney at Coachella 08’ and just four dollars to see Stevie Wonder opening for Jay-Z at this past Bonnaroo. That literally can’t happen anywhere else but at a music festival. There’s no way Lady Gaga, or even Arcade Fire, would give away tickets for two dollars to a regular show, but if you went to Lollapalooza this year, that’s what you got.
Yet people continue to complain about ticket prices going up. Why are we so greedy when it comes to festivals? I’m looking at you message board hounds. We’re spoiled by the numerous options these events present. Festival hype begins so early, that when all our speculations don’t come true, many of us throw childish tantrums. All I can say is relax! Whether or not you got what you wanted, you got more than you paid for.
The memories created at festivals are priceless. Do you remember your tent flooding during an all-day storm, sure, but it certainly made for a great story, didn’t it? How about waiting all day for the most important band of your life through scorching sun and driving rain, turning your shoulders a nice shade of rouge and your shoes into a swamp in the process. The same result applies. Who cares that you can’t sleep on your back and you’ll probably need new Chucks; that set changed your life.
Photo by Cap Blackard
In the end, it’s the sense of community, the worth of your investment, and most importantly, the individual stories from the millions of festival attendees that will be told for generations. You’ll boast about the amazing music sure, but when it comes down to it, it’ll be more about the timeless stories that surround them. The moments that transcend all the overflowing port-o-potties and water lines and taught us to live life to the fullest like only a music festival can. For me, it’s about watching my girlfriend Hula-hoop around a green field on a warm, sunny day. That’s enough to keep me going every summer.
Yes, that’s why we go, and that’s why we will always go. Long live the music festival.
