Bonnaroo vs. Coachella
I think there are a lot of plusses and minuses to Bonnaroo. Will I go back to Bonnaroo? I’m not sure, but if I don’t, it certainly won’t be because of a lack of great people.
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Setting: Coachella is beautiful. It has a beautiful skyline, which is something that Bonnaroo does not have. However, there is a tradeoff because Coachella is isolated in the desert. This makes it a bit difficult of a location for traveling. Many fly into an airport two hours away (minimum), but of course, with Bonnaroo you have to fly into Nashville, about an hour away from Manchester.
Traffic: About equal, though could be a bit better at Coachella. I believe there are more routes to get into Coachella and I discovered a way where I was consistently stuck in traffic for no more than five or ten minutes.
Climate: It is hot at Coachella during the day, but I prefer the climate to that of Bonnaroo. Personally, the worst thing for me is humidity. With either festival, you are going to have to deal with heat, but I would take dry heat any day over humidity. I just can’t deal with wet heat, which is impossible to get away from. Even in the shade, sweating is unavoidable. At Coachella, I love how at nighttime, it gets all nice and cool. Of course, if you hate carrying extra stuff with you, then ‘Roo would be better.
Scheduling: It depends. If you are going for the reason that I go, Coachella is better. The schedule is spread out more efficiently. If you like getting samples of many artists, you will probably like Coachella more. In addition, Coachella is certainly better if you are looking to check out and discover new musicians. Bonnaroo has long set times, so if you are going for one of the major acts, it is probably nice to have an opportunity to see them perform for three hours and you will get more bang for your buck. ‘Roo goes all night and some people obviously love that, but I much prefer having a real chance to sleep and refresh.
Stage Names: Which, What, This, That – you can’t do worse than ‘Roo.
Setup: I like the way Coachella sets up the stages. I think it is faster from one end to the other. On the other hand, I loved Centeroo and I think the market is great. There is nothing really like that at Coachella.
Camping: I have never camped at Coachella, so I don’t know which is a better experience. However, based on my experience, I can say that you probably will not sleep much at either. At Bonnaroo, music goes later, which is a real nuisance to sleeping. Coachella, you probably will sleep more, but I’d imagine with the crazy climate, the heat would wake you up awfully early.
Environment/Scene: Despite what you may have heard, there is a vast distinction between the two festivals. If you are looking for a party, I would assume that you are not going to be able to beat Bonnaroo. Personally, I go for the music and I feel like the music scene at Coachella is better. Of course, the ‘Roo is a special music festival in its own right. In my four days in Manchester, I witnessed a ton of musical collaboration. While you are bound to find them at times during Coachella, I’ve never seen anything to the extent that I did at Bonnaroo. On the other hand, while I’ve been in Indio at Coachella, I felt a real vibe that I was witnessing something special. There is a sense of being an insider into the industry and having a sneak peak into what is going to be new and hip in music over the next year or two, a feeling I didn’t really get at Bonnaroo. Part of the absence of the feeling at the ‘Roo may be that there are different types of acts, but more likely it goes back to the fact that there are so many attendees that are there to party. In fact, many of the people at Bonnaroo did not seem to know any of the artists besides the headliners and a few of the bigger second tier acts. There is just a very different feeling overall, despite the fact that there are super long sets and those special collaborations at Bonnaroo.
People: The people at Bonnaroo are so cool and it is extremely easy to meet people. In fact, I think you would really have to go out of your way not to meet some new friends. I did not get the same vibe while at Coachella. I know people do meet and get to know new people at Coachella, but I’ve attended twice and I did not get farther than a good conversation. To be fair, I did not camp either time I visited Indio, but I did go to Coachella by myself once, giving me more of a chance to meet people.
Diversity of Music: Coachella had a much more diverse lineup for many years. It is possible that it still does, but even if this is the case, it is extremely tight at this point (not to mention the overlap of bands playing both.)
Extras: Bonnaroo has some great extras, including a comedy and movie tent. There is also a karaoke tent, featuring a live band that allows festival attendees an opportunity to pick a song to sing in front of a cheering crowd. There are tons of things to do if you need a break at the ‘Roo, which are nice to have.
coachella ftw
I go to both every year…..
Coachella: Rare musical acts, hot chicks, celebrities, clean environment.
Bonnaroo: longer set times, midnight shows, camping parties, more about individual musicians as opposed to ‘the next big things’, and more drugs than you can shake a stick at.
You just have to save the $$$ and do both.
Lollapalooza
I’ve got a BA Honours in Communication. AKA a degree in bullspit. I see you do to? Take it easy, I kid. Sort of. First of all I resent your misinformation in how people are and what they think. I personally do not think you can make such bold statements as: “In fact, many of the people at Bonnaroo did not seem to know any of the artists besides the headliners and a few of the bigger second tier acts.” How did you collect your data? Did you use a process of radomization and an appropriate sample size. ‘Surveying’ people who you meet on accident is by no means representative of the general population and thus not generalizable by any means. I met (and talked to) many people, and would you believe that a very few came to see the headliners. Ah, perhaps its because I usually ran into these people at smaller shows…? Anyway. Subjective. Your experience and what you find is subjective and until the B-Community puts out a proper survey asking who people came to see… until then… just a mini rant for now
Whoa, Magdalena! Sample sizes, randomization? Really? This is obviously about Matt’s experience, and I think he does a great job of giving people who are looking for the differences between the two fests an overview of the major differences/similarities (in his opinion). If you’re looking for an official, peer-reviewed study on the subject, perhaps you should look elsewhere. This is a music site for music fans. As a music fan, I think this series of ‘Roo articles is awesome. Even if you don’t agree with every single word in it, you can appreciate the author’s very successful attempt to capture the essence of ‘Roo (which he clearly enjoyed, by the way).
Ha ha…thanks Lizzie!
Stephen: I agree! You can’t go wrong with either choice and, if you can afford to do both every year, go for it. I would love to attend both (as well as Bumbershoot, Sasquatch, ACL, etc.) annually.
Magdalena B: I do not have a BA in Communications (though I did minor in Media Studies - BA in economics and earned a JD, as in law). In no way, was this supposed to be an end all discussion and I never claimed to use surveys at all (let alone mentioned sample size). This was just my attempt to compare the overall feelings between Coachella and Bonnaroo (before I attended my first festival, I found it helpful to scour message boards, looking for people’s opinions on the subject). If you read the longer piece (”Gator Tails…”), you know that I too attended mostly smaller shows. Of course, there are plenty of hardcore music fans at Bonnaroo. However, I do not think that you can deny that there are many more individuals who spend the entire day at the shows at Bonnaroo, who are not as familiar with the non-headliners. Sure, this is somewhat resulting from the fact that everyone camps at Bonnaroo, so people generally do not show up late night for “their concert” as they can at Coachella. At the same time, I met a large number people and I think there is an overall vibe that more people come to Bonnaroo for the scene and/or to party. Further, I do not think I need a scientific method for collecting data or backing up my points when I use the word “many”, as in “…many of the people at Bonnaroo did not seem to know any of the artists besides the headliners and a few of the bigger second tier acts.” I apologize if I offended you. I can assure you that I was in no way trying to say that the “majority of people at Bonnaroo did not seem to know their music.”
Jul 7th, 2008 at 6:06 pm
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