The post-festival capacity thread

[killyourtv]

well said -r-, particularly the tosser-free bit. Though, of course, as first-timers we can't compare 2011 with the previous utopia, I've also struggled to compare the reality with a lot of the complaints I've been reading.

Oh, and frankly, that modest walk to the entrance wouldn't have been half as bad if folk left the mountain of cans of CHEAP LAGER at home.

[perfectpassion]

Try carrying them in these shoes

[_r_]

I honestly didn't see a single person all weekend who I thought should damn well sod off to V Festival - I think it was populated entirely by people there for the music/festival atmosphere rather than the crowd who go to festivals because it's cool and shell out £150 to sit in the campsite getting pissed all weekend. Seriously, which bands were the tossers watching? Certainly none of the ones I saw...

As for security, the only point I noticed it was the guy shining the laser pointer at people during Brakes and I couldn't really work out what he was trying to achieve with that - at first I just thought it was someone pissing about. Last year Latitude was blighted by endless lengthy queues to get into the arena because of the aforementioned Checkpoint Charlie, where they were checking every single bag because all you were allowed to take into the arena were empty or sealed bottles of water or soft drinks. What did EOTR have? A few stewards sitting down at each gate vaguely making sure you looked like the sort of person who might have a wristband, and that weird one-way system installed at the entrance to the Garden on Sunday which inconvenienced me once for about 3 seconds. I can honestly say that EOTR was everything I could want from a festival, with the possible exception of someone else playing instead of Joanna Newsom but that's irrelevant...

[RedRockRick]

What GeordieMartin said, with p.p.'s shoes on.

[Maoster]

What our friend from Newcastle said - really don't think snobbery comes into it (well I hope not), more a little sadness - guess we were spoiled rotten for 5 years!

[Nigey_boy]

What our friend from Newcastle said - really don't think snobbery comes into it (well I hope not), more a little sadness - guess we were spoiled rotten for 5 years!

[shoebox]

Put me firmly in the EOTR old-timers who remain un-phased and pleasantly surprised by the changes that have been implemented. The "magic" may have gone, but the quality remains for me.

[sadwitch]

No-one's saying it's not a good festival anymore just that it used to be unbelievable and while things have changed each year this is the first year where the changes haven't felt like a huge improvement.

They ask for feedback so the feedback is: still great, lots of things improved (again), a few things not as good any more.

Don't feel like if this was your first year, and you loved it, that people are spoiling it for you. You'd have liked it even more before.

[killyourtv]

Sadwitch - As a first-timer, those are fair points well made, and I can only regret not going to EOTR before (an aversion to normal festival behaviour).

Out of interest, what did EOTR-regulars make of the 2011 line-up compared to previously e.g. more populist/established/diverse ?

[Maoster]

Sadwithch - well put. I think the key question is whether EOTR retains the hard won loyalty of it's core audience, so that it continues to be successful and sell out, regardless of who is headlining. That definitely was the case and I think it probably still is, although that loyalty has been stretched a little thin recently IMO. I'm sure the last thing the organisers want is to be at the fickle mercy of the type of festivalgoers who change festivals at the drop of a hat, depending on how trendy the main bands are. Although I have moaned about the increased numbers, will almost certainly go again (partly cos my kids will make me, regardles of what I think!, partly cos still a great weekend). I just hope that Simon and Sofia take some action on some of the constructive criticism on here (e.g. Road of Doom etc) and don't increase numbers further. Cos I really hope to still be going to EOTR for many Years to come.

[Infinite Jest]

The more I think about this, the more I agree with Shoebox. And I think that maybe any loss of magic is more to do with familiarity on my part than a decline in the festival. (Metaphor: my first-time friend exclaiming excitedly when she saw a peacock; I'd just walked past it without much attention, because you know, of course there are peacocks).

The capacity, in terms of numbers, was fine. The site wasn't too big.

They sorted the issue with the comedy stage being too small, which was great.

On the other hand, the path to the site wasn't so good, but I'm sure they'll fix that next time. There weren't enough showers and I queued for a long time, but honestly, what else am I going to do at 9am anyway?

There were a few jerks there, but did they affect my enjoyment of the festival at all? Not really, to be honest. It would be disappointing if the festival followed the same path as Latitude (mentioned above) but hopefully S&S are switched on enough that it won't.

killyourtv: I thought the lineup was more diverse, and a bit more populist. I was surprised (pleasantly) to see bands like Best Coast and CYHSY on the lineup. Laura Marling is arguable populist as well, but she's a funny example because she's a real EoTR artist (she used to attend as a punter). We're definitely seeing different types of bands being added, from the post rock of EITS in 2009 to electronica (Caribou) in 2010 and then more well-known indiepop artists. I'm pretty neutral on this: I love the alt-country/Americana focus of the festival, but I've enjoyed most of the diverse bands. Basically I think S&S are excellent judges of music . In particular, I thought this year's lineup had the greatest depth. There was almost never a point at which I didn't have a band that I wanted to see, even though I wasn't particularly fussed by the headliners. That's why I've booked my earlybird - whoever's on the bill, I'm sure they'll be good.

[Yokel Again]

Line up was def a tad more indie and a tad more mainstream in my opinion. Perhaps abit less folky. I guess this is what was meant by 'increased band budget'? It did (on the whole) remind me of the earlier years of Latitude abit more. It could just be the new big stage though? The line up was still brilliant, so this comment still is in keeping with my general feeling of 'it is still the best, but maybe not quite as amazing as of previous'.

Please please please please please (etc) don't increase the capacity by even one more person! I beg!

Would love to hear some feedback from S&S, in time I hope there is some.

Edited September 13, 2011 by Yokel Again

[paulwa]

I've been to the last four EOTR's and from my perspective the range of the musical offering was at its best this year (though like others, I'm no fan of any of the headliners). Some of the smaller early EOTR's did have a special "it's our magic club in the woods and nobody else knows about it" feel to them, which was nice at the time, but they also had a large proportion of very earnest and rather boring "the next Bob Dylan/Neil Young" types playing at them - both of whom I like, but the imitators weren't up to much.

For me, the psych rock and electronic music strands of EOTR are very welcome. You get your folk and alt.country chillout in the daytime and an increasing ability to wig out in the evenings (as I believe the cool kids call it).

Edited September 13, 2011 by paulwa

[Maoster]

Responding to killyourtv's point on musical changes, would echo the points above, a little more mainstream, a little less folky but not hugely, and still (IMO) a fantastic diversity and quality of acts. Would like to see a bit more Americana/Blues back again (e.g. last Year had Charlie Parr, CW Stoneking etc).

On the plus side for our family, my (young) teenage boys think the music has got a lot better recently, in their words, "less boring beardy folky stuff". Just shows you can't satisfy all the people.....................................

[sadwitch]

In terms of music I saw far fewer banjos this year.

[RedRockRick]

Personally, I'd have preferred a stronger americana bias; from this point of view, 2009 was pretty fine. This year, I found plenty of interesting bands to get to know and investigate, but not that many that set off a real buzz. A number will undoubtedly be rather better to see in a few years time. Nothing I saw this year really hit the spot for me 100% apart from Allo Darlin', though this was tempered by the fact that seeing them meant missing This Is The Kit, who were on at the same time. There was no cider-happy saturday afternoon this year such as I experienced with The Acorn/Broken Family Band in 2009 or Phosphorescent last year. No blinder like Wilco last year. Nevertheless, comparing line-up against line-up, EOTR for me was consistently better in depth than any other festival. I have no interest in this or next years flavour of dance, hip-hop or whatever. I don't like electronica and I hate synthesisers and I love banjos. I generally don't like non-American bands. I enjoyed Midlake more than I expected because there weren't those annoying home movies; on the other hand, I've seen Okkervil River enough times to the extent that now I just find Will Sheff irritating. So if ultimately this year didn't hit the heights, there was always comfort in a chicken bourek or the Late Red. So long as EOTR remains basically true to its ethos, whilst I will of course continue to complain, really I'll be happy enough.

[killyourtv]

Good to hear that EOTR regulars enjoyed the quality and diversity in 2011 as much as I did; I'd be disappointed if EOTR/NDH didn't offer the chance to hear that range of music again.

And RedRockRick - with you on the surprising powers of the Late Red; it even had the power to convert me to Okkervil River and Will Sheff's clapalong, at least for 20 minutes.

[perfectpassion]

Ah RRR you mentioned This is the Kit, really really wanted to see her too such a shame she clashed with AD grrrr. I agree with you apart from BANJOs.

On a different subject....boutique babysitting....did anyone use it? They seemed to have a tent to the left of the main stage, it was the most unlikely spot for leaving your small babies/kids

[Yokel Again]

On a different subject....boutique babysitting....did anyone use it? They seemed to have a tent to the left of the main stage, it was the most unlikely spot for leaving your small babies/kids

[clareandguy]

I think the Boutique Babysitting wouldn't take babies under 2 years old - their reasonable point is that up to about that age it's pretty easy to cart a kid around and keep them occupied. We considered using it, but there weren't really any bands on that we were so eager to see uninterrupted that we'd have paid the extra money for the privilege.

This ties in with the question re lineup - personally I found it the weakest of the three EOTRs I've been to - but that's a personal and subjective thing. Previous years had bands that I really loved and wanted to see (e.g. Yo LA Tengo, Wilco, Caribou, Iron and Wine, Mercury Rev, Jeffrey Lewis, Robyn Hitchcock), and loads I stumbled upon without previously knowing (e.g.Django Django, Phosphorescent, Akron/Family, Eliott Brood, Monotonix). This year, there was no-one apart from HEALTH and Tuneyards I really wanted to see (and I missed them due to extreme tiredness), and few of the ones I saw without knowing them previously managed to really impress.

Someone mentioned Phosphorescent last year as being remarkable and I entirely agree - also it's a great example of the small but noticeable change in the character of the crowd - we were sitting at the back of the garden stage near the folly, and you could have heard a pin drop. Any talk was brief and low - everyone was so respectful of a truly excellent performance. And this in the afternoon too. Unfortunately, I just didn't get that at all this year, nearly everything I saw that wasn't LOUD was marred to some degree by gig-chatterers, which undoubtedly contributed to the failure to get into stuff.

Guy.

Edited September 15, 2011 by clareandguy

[perfectpassion]

I like your post Guy, I find myself now having to "camp out" at the front of anything I really wanted to see or hear! Previously I would then have wandered to the back/middle of the crowd for the maybe's on my list. I think that has been increasingly difficult last year and this. And the bigger gaps between bands on the garden stage made loitering less fun.

[riverlodge]

I like your post Guy, I find myself now having to "camp out" at the front of anything I really wanted to see or hear! Previously I would then have wandered to the back/middle of the crowd for the maybe's on my list. I think that has been increasingly difficult last year and this. And the bigger gaps between bands on the garden stage made loitering less fun.

[perfectpassion]

Ah well its probably old age....the only things I go for are the music, the nice people I meet, and the ocassional glimpses of the rolling fields. I don't give a toss about the food, the beer ( I don't drink alcohol and the bloody bars don't serve diet coke, so I end up with water or cups of tea). I am sure that the woods are lovely, the first couple of years I didn't even bother to go round them.....

I guess that makes me a really grumpy old git!

[Maoster]

With the benefit of perspective, have been thinking and discussing with friends how the changes to the site have affected the EOTR experience. Seems to me that it's not the increase in capacity per se that is the issue, but the lack of "headliners" at the Garden Stage. In ther past, one of the real "blown away" experiences of EOTR has been seeing the likes of Wilco, Mercury Rev, SFA etc performing in the magical setting of the garden stage - you know that you couldn't be anywhere else in the world and that seeing such bands in that setting is a rare treat indeed. Whilst there is nothing wrong with the Woods stage in terms of view/sound, it just really could be a stage in a field anywhere and to me, that takes something away from seeing, for example, Tinariwen or Beruit this Year.

People refer to the FF issue a few years ago, but if people really want to see a band they can just get there in plenty of time, especially now chairs are banned after 6 pm.

Could be just me, but would it not be better to retain the Garden as the "main" stage and perhaps have one ot two other more medium sized stages to cope with the increase in numbers?

[killyourtv]

PP - wish there more grumpy old gits who just went to festivals to listen to and explore good music -seemed to be plenty at EoTR though I suspect Woods Stage had a higher proportion than usual of natterers