rock ness 2009

[jabbo]

cheers Tommy...can see the sense now.

[BLEEP2009]

Any1 know why soulwax only played for like 45 mins rather then hour and half as scheduled??

also brodinski cancelled (GUTTED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Dubfire cancelled (GUTTED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Ed banger crew rocked the bollywood on sat!!

WELLDONE TO MA BOYS! KEV & DAVE (we are not robots) who rocked the v.i.p area on saturday aswell!

can some1 tell me why the volumes were sooooooooo f**kin shite aswell!

tryin to wake the beast not keep her hiding!

was this my least favorite rockness so far...?

no but next year try and focus on the dance acts more as much as shitty indy bands plz! keep rockness as it was born to be!

much love!

see ya'll next year!

SLAM TENT HERE I COME!!

tiga & boys noize back to back on the sunday! woop woop

[Jeebs]

Luvved Rockness!! No Major compalints at all!

Missed the ROCKNESS sign on the hill and felt like there was less toilets??

not sure if there was though! Apart from that no problemsits an amzing festival, the cash at the bars was great also

Would prefer strongbow to blackthorn as the cider also!

Woop Woop!

P.s Can we get groove armada next year??

SOULWAX ROCKED!! XX

[Tommy]

Soulwax were only due to play 50 mins according to the official timings press got given, hence us putting 2+2 together and getting 'oh, so that must mean a 2ManyDJs set too!!'...

[Jeebs]

Hi Jim,

This was our first Rock Ness, as we are usually at the less dancey festivals, but the draw of the Flaming Lips was too strong.

In comparison to the other festivals, Rock Ness is very good.

I am sure that you wont mind some constructive criticism, mind.

A few things slightly annoyed us.

Only one entrance lane to the main arena. A festival like REading may have twice the capacity, but will have at least 6 times as many lanes. You cant ignore those figures. Although, I had no issues with the stewards here, if bottles of water were being confiscated then I agree thats pretty off.

The stewards between the campsites and the car parks seemed a bit lost. I like to keep some of my stuff in the car as its secure and dry, but the stewarding here was really inconsistent. At one point, we werent allowed to leave the campsite. Thats is strictly not on. Im also not entirely sure I need a ticket stub for another festival if I have a wrist band on. What exactly were the instructions at the car park gates because it seemed to annoy a lot of people.

You really ought to think about letting people camp up on Thursday afternoon and populating the Friday bill. People sitting arounf waiting for 8 hours in a field is no way to start a festival.

We did VIP and an extra couple of points.

The VIP area was behind the barriers to the main stage, which meant it couldnt be used until this area was opened (e.g. 630 on Friday)

The amount of toilets was surprisingly low.

But aside from these points, the festival was excellant and better in atmosphere than most festivals. The line up was a bit skinny though, wasnt it?

[tlc01]

Jim,

What an amazing weekend!!! Have been to all 4 Rockness events and it gets better every year. Have also been to TITP and Glastonbury and have to say Rockness is right up there and way better than TITP.

PROS:- cash bars - never had to wait more than a few mins to get served, great food (isle of arran burgers, thai stall all got top marks from me and boyf). Good choice of booze as well with the mixer stalls as well as the usual stuff. Love the fact that it is so easy to get from each stage unlike the big festivals. Line up was great too! Faves were Erol Alkan, Prodigy, Alabama3 and Orbital

CONS:- Dubfire and Zane Low not turning up - I didn't see the message boards about the changes to the timetable. What about giving out programmes with the ticket price rather than charging extra for them?

[onelasttime]

I agree with the first bit about getting it going on the Thursday, but the sitting around is brilliant man. That's what I like about T, an extra day to head up, get camped, then just sit and get as f**ked as you can all day. It's great having that relaxation time where you can just get to know your neighbours and wander around the campsite getting a bevvy.

[onelasttime]

Jim King has already said he doesn't want to expand much more on the Friday. It's fine as it is I think, maybe one or two more bands. Don't want a full Friday, as it's nice to just relax instead of getting there, setting up, and then hitting the arena.

VIP area is also part of the arena, therefore should it really be opened earlier, for the sake of paying more money?

Plus, you probably found the line up a bit thin because you go to "less dancey" festivals. I don't see as many actual bands at Rockness as i have done other festivals, but thats because i'm in and out and all about the dance tents.

[Jeebs]

I asked about the line up rather than stated it as fact as Im in interested in opinions like yours. I would guess that increasing the line up would involve increasing the capacity, and I dont see that increasing the capacity would benefit the festival. I would much rather keep the line up as is, rather than open the doors to another 35K of people.

However, I did notice there was a certain amount of 'doubling up' by acts (SFA and Beta Band/Aliens spring to mind) and the addition of half a dozen 'Indie' bands to the line up seemed a bit puzzling (was Fat Sams open on the Friday?).How would you say this year's line up compared to last year's, btw?

As for the VIP area. There are a few advantages to the ticket, but these were far less pronounced at this festival than the bigger festivals, such as Reading / Leeds, so I can see why they may be considered a bit of a waste at this festival. However, if you are going to advertise the benefits of the VIP ticket, one of which is the VIP area, it seems a bit strange that one of those advertised benefits was closed for a good part of the festival. It also closed early - though looking at the state of the main arena after the Jaxx concert, Im guessing that is so cleaning can take place.

[andrewandrew]

Pro's -

1) Campsite felt safer than last year, just saw more stewards and police, just felt more secure

2) Didn't have to cue for booze at any time, so please keep money bars as it was a good idea

3) Carling cold beer amnesty was a f**king treat, i spent alot of time in there so please get that back

4) There seemed to be alot of free stuff going about, i woke up on the sunday with 3 free pot noodles a hat and a pair of sunglasses? yass

5) The sound at all the stages i was at was Very good, especially during crookers and prodigy ( in my opinion)

Cons' -

1) I dont know why but it did feel more expensive, mabe thats just the credit crunch biting my arse?

2) I found that i was sitting around waiting alot of the time for someone decent to come on

3) I know its the first year of having the friday on but the vibes were better last year when no main stage or that was open ( in my opinion)

4) I had a fantastic time this year in terms of campsite banter and good times wai my mates but the line up this year left me desiring more! I felt a few sing alongey indie bands like last year would be good. I appreciate that you took it right back to the roots this year going all out dance but it would be nice to have more lax gtar music for when the bass is too much and your legs feel like theyre gonna fall off!

Anyway, was a pretty good weekend had a good laugh, over did it on the sunday ended up throwing up down the buss stairs on the monday, those traffic jams were seriously rotten!

Probably see you next year Jim!

[//ross]

I was a little bit gutted at the food choices. Didn't see any veggie stalls at all, which i thought was kinda weird for a festival.

As a vegan, i had to live off the fizzy laces i brought for the weekend.

Edited June 16, 2009 by ross410

[ayrshirechick]

Anyway, was a pretty good weekend had a good laugh, over did it on the sunday ended up throwing up down the buss stairs on the monday, those traffic jams were seriously rotten!

Probably see you next year Jim!

[Wishfull]

Well Jim you did it again. It was brill mate!!!

Bands were good. Shame about some of the no shows but to be honest me and mates where having such a laugh never really seen any bands lol.

Food stalls were GREAT. Loved the buffalo burgers.

Toilets were really good mate. Much much better than Tintp.

Very glad about the drop in tent thefts. Last year was really bad for it. So good work for making the campsite more secure. Think its really positive to have more stewards in the campsite when everyone is in the arena.

This was my third rockness and not my last.

Thanks again mate for an amazing weekend.

Roll on next year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

P.s no matter what ANYONE says Rockness is 100% better than Tintp.

[Tommy]

P.s no matter what ANYONE says Rockness is 100% better than Tintp.

Edited June 17, 2009 by Tommy

[Kowalski]

There's not even a contest tbh mate. Rockness does about 90% of the stuff exactly right, TITP would struggle with just 10% tbh. T is an awful shitty festival full of abject arseholes, and it's not until you compare the two side by side that you realise just how superior Rockness is right now.

[The Disco Deviant]

Nail. Head.

[Eh Ah Ken]

the only complaint i have jim is that i had to leave. is there anyway we can turn this into a society?

[Tommy]

Seriously mate, that's what I say at the end of every Glastonbury, and you do get a similar-ish vibe at Rockness. You come away wondering why the outside world hasn't cottoned on to this yet???

[Eh Ah Ken]

Seriously mate, that's what I say at the end of every Glastonbury, and you do get a similar-ish vibe at Rockness. You come away wondering why the outside world hasn't cottoned on to this yet???

[stu150]

I really really dont want to go to T after RockNess ..... not cus i hate festiavls - just cus RockNess beats T in the Park hands down!

[Glitter+Vodka]

Would actually die if I lived in a society like that!

Stu, I'm feeling sorta the same, I'm sure I'll have a good time n that but i just am not as excited as I was before.

[stu150]

Would actually die if I lived in a society like that!

Stu, I'm feeling sorta the same, I'm sure I'll have a good time n that but i just am not as excited as I was before.

[original disco dave]

We had a top festival from start till finish, well apart from the rain on Saturday night. Can you please make sure that doesn't happen again next year

We were in the VIP camping and cannot complain about anything, toilets were clean and the food and entertainment areas were varied and not too much of a rip off. Wasn't oo much noise either, apart from me with my toilet roll tube megaphone on Sunday night...apologies neighbours.

Highlights of the festival were The Whip (main stage next year??), Basement Jaxx, The Prodigy, The Cuban Bros and Jazzie B in the Rizla on Friday night.

We had our 14 year old daughter with us and she siad that she felt really safe all weekend, a much smaller proportion of idiots than T, so keep up the good work. No problems with any staff either..fully appreciated that they were doing a hard job.

Well done guys...now the important thing...when do tickets go on sale for next year

[runwiththewolves]

All i have to say is i have an AMAZING weekend!

rockness was my first festival (ex-virgin whey hey!) and i'm already planning to go back. The atmosphere was down right estatic (and friendly, i'm about 5ft 3" something and when the tall people stood infront me, they quickly noticed and moved so i could see, appreciated) and nobody seemed to have problems with the bouncing.

As it was my first, i was obviously a bit concerned on security and thievings but i felt so secure the whole weekend and there was always people around if you needed guidance. The only thieving i seen all weekend was the sunday night when everyone was going round having banter stealing chairs so they could just chilax haha!

The toilets were kept pretty well and the food choice was brilliant, but obviously could be improved for more variety rather than burgers & hot dogs at every stand you go to.

The complaints i have would be that biffy & erol clashing! it was a pain having to half and half it cause i ended up missing the best part of erol and the best part of biffy. Also the sound at prodigy, seemed like it was a million miles away rather than a five minute walk (unless you walked through that crowd it would be).

Another pain would have to be most of my group not even dancing so i looked like i got a crazy eejit dancing about haha

I was gutted about the amount of neds though, but i have a feeling this is just purely down to some people on the line - up that encouraged them like david guetta & dizzee.

really need to get ed banger, soul wax, erol alkan, crookers and rob da bank back next year! EROL FOR MAINSTAGE - with a hint of justice perhaps? 0=]

i just want to say, thanks for an amazing weekend jim & co and you'll be seeing me next year! xx

Edited June 17, 2009 by runwiththewolves

[AmyAmyCuldo]

Anyway, was a pretty good weekend had a good laugh, over did it on the sunday ended up throwing up down the buss stairs on the monday, those traffic jams were seriously rotten!