Boomtown 2018

[Tommy101]

1 hour ago, mr flow said:

I think it's safe to say that's a curve ball!

Was this what you'd heard? 

 

Great news for me. I saw them on a small date earlier in the year and they were phenomenal. 

[eFestivals]

25 minutes ago, bennyhana22 said:

How does that compare with ticket sales in a typical early December, Neil? Is the ‘fallow factor’ showing itself?

Ben

I've no real idea how they normally sell, but the way it's being mentioned now suggests they're selling much faster than normal.

Interest in festivals about doubles in January, which could see another spurt of sales.

[mr flow]

9 minutes ago, Tommy101 said:

Was this what you'd heard? 

 

Great news for me. I saw them on a small date earlier in the year and they were phenomenal. 

Yep. 

Great booking, but a huge step away from the usual line ups and certainly not one anyone would have predicted. I'll see if i can do some digging on some of the other acts

[eFestivals]

31 minutes ago, mr flow said:

a huge step away from the usual line ups

they're going mainstream.

in all seriousness, I reckon they would have had to broaden things sooner or later, if for no other reasons than they've already had the big reggae acts. I was surprised they kept it up as long as they did, for quite a few years beyond them telling me there were too few acts to keep them doing reggae.

Doing it on a non-Glasto year is quite a smart move, as there's more media space to get it wider attention, as well as a heightened demand to ensure a sell out (not that it had problems there anyway).

Edited December 6, 2017 by eFestivals

[man next door]

22 hours ago, BlackHole2006 said:

Would be absolutely made up if it were Manu Chao. He pulled off a blinder at Glastonbury '08. If there's anyone on here who hasn't listened to his live albums particularly, do it! He brings some serious energy. 

This is spot on. Amazing live sets.  That radio bemba one is, in my opinion, one of the best live sets I've ever heard.

But, it's not, it's the gorillaz. oh. 

[mr flow]

46 minutes ago, eFestivals said:

they're going mainstream.

in all seriousness, I reckon they would have had to broaden things sooner or later, if for no other reasons than they've already had the big reggae acts. I was surprised they kept it up as long as they did, for quite a few years beyond them telling me there were too few acts to keep them doing reggae.

Doing it on a non-Glasto year is quite a smart move, as there's more media space to get it wider attention, as well as a heightened demand to ensure a sell out (not that it had problems there anyway).

Totally agree with you on the non-Glasto year thing too. Means it'll sell out earlier too, which will give it the whole Glastonbury mystique thing of people missing out, meaning they have to go the following year.

 

[eFestivals]

1 hour ago, mr flow said:

Means it'll sell out earlier too, which will give it the whole Glastonbury mystique thing of people missing out, meaning they have to go the following year.

Yep.

All they've got to do now is to keep it looking and feeling chaotic, but not actually be chaotic.

I can't really see it happening unless they've had a big staff turnover as ways of doing things get embedded, but you never know I suppose.

NOTE: it's not really that bad. 'Normal' festivals 20+ years ago were worse.

Edited December 6, 2017 by eFestivals

[mr flow]

58 minutes ago, eFestivals said:

Yep.

All they've got to do now is to keep it looking and feeling chaotic, but not actually be chaotic.

I can't really see it happening unless they've had a big staff turnover, but you never know I suppose.

NOTE: it's not really that bad. 'Normal' festivals 20+ years ago were worse.

Yeah agreed.

The organised chaos element is part of the charm for me, but they need to make sure it's closer to the organised than the chaos. Big year for Boomtown though. If they nail it, it'll propel them up to a much higher level.

[eFestivals]

20 minutes ago, mr flow said:

The organised chaos element is part of the charm for me, but they need to make sure it's closer to the organised than the chaos. Big year for Boomtown though. If they nail it, it'll propel them up to a much higher level.

Yeah, agree with all that.

Booking Gorillaz is a good shot at attracting some of the people that might have gone 'meh' about the line-up in the past. It'll be interesting to see if more of the music is broadened a little, or if they've just gone for it with the main headline act.

 

[Mattymooz]

Gorillaz has definitely gotten me interested so we'll see. Boomtown is so close to where I live and I've always heard it's an experience. It has just always seemed to expensive for me when the acts aren't really anyone special, but this year maybe I'll give it a go

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

Looks like I got lucky;

(1) I've not only heard of Gorillaz, but I have actually heard some of their stuff, and like it.

(2) I have now informed the misses that I bought tickets for this festival a few weeks ago. She took the news well, in my opinion - as I class disinterest as a result. She could well have gone Radio Rental, but didn't. Bless her cotton (surgical support) socks. 

That last sentence - it was a joke right. One between me and you. What goes on on efests, stays on efests, right? lol

Anyway, any advice from BoomTown stalwarts on any pitfalls to do with the place would be appreciated. I'd like to be pre-prepared on this one. We'll be in a campervan, and it would be good to know, for example, which areas / fields to avoid when entering. I guess the rest will just be like the approach to any other festival? 

 

[eFestivals]

7 hours ago, Yoghurt on a Stick said:

We'll be in a campervan, and it would be good to know, for example, which areas / fields to avoid when entering.

you take your luck. Hampshire old bill are the most active at festivals of any old bill, and they've got a big collections of pets that are supposedly able to help them.

[zahidf]

im interested in this

Hopefully the queues reported this year were a one off!

Whats the mud situation like?

Good food options?

[eFestivals]

20 minutes ago, zahidf said:

Hopefully the queues reported this year were a one off!

yeah, they should be - at least, as bad as they were.

But do expect queuing for a few hours, depending when you arrive.

 

Quote

Whats the mud situation like?

not too bad. The top soil can get very bad on that site - and DO NOT camp in the dip around the edge of the bowl (it becomes a river if the weather is bad enough), but it doesn't get deep mud.

Quote

Good food options?

Not particularly great a few years ago (it might have improved a bit), tho still decent. The audience was too young and skint as well as taking too many ...erm ... appetite suppressants to make food a big thing there.

Plus at least one trader I know has stopped going cos he got fed up with his staff keep going feral.

Edited December 7, 2017 by eFestivals

[Tommy101]

8 hours ago, Yoghurt on a Stick said:

Anyway, any advice from BoomTown stalwarts on any pitfalls to do with the place would be appreciated. I'd like to be pre-prepared on this one. We'll be in a campervan, and it would be good to know, for example, which areas / fields to avoid when entering. I guess the rest will just be like the approach to any other festival? 

I've only been the once but followed a fantastic bit of advice from here that I will forward on to you: If you see an open door, go through it.

It led to loads of micro-venues that could have so easily been missed (and I'm sure there were plenty more that we didn't see)

[zahidf]

4 hours ago, eFestivals said:

yeah, they should be - at least, as bad as they were.

But do expect queuing for a few hours, depending when you arrive.

 

not too bad. The top soil can get very bad on that site - and DO NOT camp in the dip around the edge of the bowl (it becomes a river if the weather is bad enough), but it doesn't get deep mud.

Not particularly great a few years ago (it might have improved a bit), tho still decent. The audience was too young and skint as well as taking too many ...erm ... appetite suppressants to make food a big thing there.

Plus at least one trader I know has stopped going cos he got fed up with his staff keep going feral.

ah cool cheers. Ill mull it over

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

14 hours ago, eFestivals said:

you take your luck. Hampshire old bill are the most active at festivals of any old bill, and they've got a big collections of pets that are supposedly able to help them.

Yeah, not so worried about the old bill. It really was case of is there anything site wise to be avoided ie big hill if you park your campervan in X position, long walk if you park your campervan in Y position etc. However, point taken - especially about the canines. I've walked past them before and had no bother, but it doesn't pay not to be careful. 

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

12 hours ago, Tommy101 said:

I've only been the once but followed a fantastic bit of advice from here that I will forward on to you: If you see an open door, go through it.

It led to loads of micro-venues that could have so easily been missed (and I'm sure there were plenty more that we didn't see)

Nice one Tommy101. 

[Sku]

Even if the door is closed, it might be worth knocking, or speaking to someone hanging around nearby in character. They might know whats inside and how to get to it....

There are definitely "levels" when it comes to finding the secret micro-venues, and "immersive experiences". Some might be found by 10% of festival goers, some 1%, some 0.1% or less. Now I've been a few times hunting out the new and hidden stuff has become a big highlight for me, and I'm constantly amazed at what I keep finding. I'm never sure if it's new, or I just never found it before.

It's normally very hard to follow the full "immersive maze" they like to advertise now, due to the chaotic nature of the festival. A clue to meet someone in a certain location at 1am for the next part often results in disappointment for example. But it's certainly possible to discover bits and pieces of it here and there, even if you couldn't find it all, and follow the story properly. And it's still good fun as little chunks of festival flavour here and there... most of the punters that find themselves in these places have no idea what on earth is going on either, but that's the madness and fun of it!

There is normally at least one hidden horror maze too, which I totally recommend checking out if you can find. It certainly beats the sanitized "theme park" style horror mazes, when you accidentally stumble upon one in the early hours of the morning in a non compos mentis state of mind...

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

28 minutes ago, Sku said:

Even if the door is closed, it might be worth knocking, or speaking to someone hanging around nearby in character. They might know whats inside and how to get to it....

There are definitely "levels" when it comes to finding the secret micro-venues, and "immersive experiences". Some might be found by 10% of festival goers, some 1%, some 0.1% or less. Now I've been a few times hunting out the new and hidden stuff has become a big highlight for me, and I'm constantly amazed at what I keep finding. I'm never sure if it's new, or I just never found it before.

It's normally very hard to follow the full "immersive maze" they like to advertise now, due to the chaotic nature of the festival. A clue to meet someone in a certain location at 1am for the next part often results in disappointment for example. But it's certainly possible to discover bits and pieces of it here and there, even if you couldn't find it all, and follow the story properly. And it's still good fun as little chunks of festival flavour here and there... most of the punters that find themselves in these places have no idea what on earth is going on either, but that's the madness and fun of it!

There is normally at least one hidden horror maze too, which I totally recommend checking out if you can find. It certainly beats the sanitized "theme park" style horror mazes, when you accidentally stumble upon one in the early hours of the morning in a non compos mentis state of mind...

That all sounds very exciting. It has certainly whet my appetite somewhat. Cheers Sku 

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

Forgot to ask - are there free (with donation) charity lock ups or even commercial ones? I'll most likely not need to use them with the campervan type security, but it would be good to know the score, just in case. If they were cheap enough then putting a spare set of van keys might be prudent. I can already disable the van in anycase, but will not be able to de-rig the security device and start it up if I am without keys.

[Guest]

reckon Jungle could be one of the larger acts to be booked?

[Tommy101]

Jungle would be awesome. 

[dumski]

On 07/12/2017 at 8:38 AM, zahidf said:

Good food options?

I think the selection the past few years has been top notch. 

Yes there's plenty of burger van types but amongst them were some beauties.

Old town I had some amazing jerk chicken and patties. 

Downtown near the woods was an Argentinian steak place. Tasted fantastic and not too bad price wise. 

Our veggie friend was pretty pleased too, I seem to recall she got most of it in the area up by kidztown. (Forget what it's called) 

Only down side would be the prices, standard festival rip off IMHO. Water £2, Chips for a fiver. Joke

[eFestivals]

they're trying to get the licence increased to 76,000 for 2018, and then 80,000 for 2019.