Benicassim (FIB) 2020

[The Toad.]

CrrrrrrrOAK

 

whos coming?

[CJTM]

2019 was a huge cock up, hugely undersold. Feel like they cut corners because it was 25th edition and people would commit on early birds, betrayal really...

Sponsorship money seemed to have gone but surely, surely they'll have to re-evaluate having a Spanish headliner for next year and go back to what sells for their demographic, which is 18-30 Brits & Irish.

They could do with earlier announcements, if it is on next year.

Prediction:

Thursday - Dua Lipa
Friday - Chemical Brothers
Saturday - Kasabian/Courteeners?
Sunday - Biffy Clyro

The Scots always travel well, they would be smart to put Lewis Capaldi, Twin Atlantic, The Snuts etc on the undercards. Same for the Irish and what sells.

All this being said, i'm not ruling it out anyway...

[Ovechkin]

At least there is one less festival (dr music) to compete with, hopefully they bring their shit together next year.

[Jonesy1]

Not sure if the Spanish headliner was a massive mistake, actually seems a bit busier tonight.

[CJTM]

One of these images is quite surprising, one of them is not

[Jancker19]

 

[jj200]

Twenty-one pilots

Kasabian

AM

Coldplay

[Radioactive]

Despite the lineup worries the artists all showed up big time, Sunday was strangely the best despite it being thin on the ground imo. 

My party agree to buying early bird tickets because South Beach alone would be enough for us. 

Cheers whoever suggested the kebab wrap which was next level. 

Also Agreed that they need to cater to the 18-30 BRITS ABROADDDDD. 

The economy must massively benefit from all the people coming internationally which I imagine will pressure the new owners to ensure its a brit friendly lineup. 

Think we are way too early to even guess acts at this stage but all the ones suggested so far would be ideal. 

Thanks to all the party people. 

 

[TheFullShaboo]

Kept saying before i got there that this would be my 8th and final year, but after the week I’ve just had I’ll be doing it again. 

Yes the crowd was non existent at most stages (TEEDs set at 5am literally had 6 people) but as a group of 15 we found this so much easier to meet up at stages and even have a good boogie together near the front. 

Lack of ticket sales also meant we never queued once either inside the festival or the town - something which can really test your patience in 30 degree heat! 

Music wise I thought Kings of Leon were amazing - maybe even one of my favourite headliners I’ve seen at beni! And the electronic acts this year - CC disco, OR:LA etc - filled in the gaps brilliantly. 

Apparently a few of my mates had heard over the weekend that the festival was moving 20 miles south (got this from a taxi driver and a waiter in one of the restaurants) but I can’t see this happening, especially not under the Benicassim title. 

Hoping for early birds in the next couple of weeks and a first solid headliner announced around Christmas! 

[TipToes24]

Was shambolic in places this year, Thursday felt off to me, loved kodaline and fat boy but it just felt flat. That thunder bitch stage seemed like it was a flop And was far too big for the acts that played there! With the sale surely the whole team of bookers/organisers will change too? Also as regards the rumours of a move there was rumours last year of it moving as well, isn’t it to do with a dispute over the land it’s held on? I can’t see the council and local businesses wanting it moving so hopefully it stays where it is! 50/50 about going back, 1000% not risking early birds but might see where we are at near Christmas before I decide! Wouldn’t even want to make a prediction with how wrong I was last year and I have no idea in what direction they are planning on taking the festival! 

[TheFullShaboo]

So what’s everyone’s interpretation of the takeover? Moving location? Change in the type of acts booked? Change to a more domestic focus rather than international?

Personally I feel that there won’t be many drastic changes at all. Beni has ran successfully (minus the odd blip here and there) for 25 years on a model which is aimed at the british and Spanish crowd, on the same festival site, and I feel because of this the new owners will realise it has the foundations to continue long into the future. 

How much of this is wishful thinking (I really don’t want the festival to change sites) I’m not sure. But if it does move, or change it’s target audience, I’m afraid this year was my 8th, and last, Benicassim. 

[Jonesy1]

16 minutes ago, TheFullShaboo said:

So what’s everyone’s interpretation of the takeover? Moving location? Change in the type of acts booked? Change to a more domestic focus rather than international?

Personally I feel that there won’t be many drastic changes at all. Beni has ran successfully (minus the odd blip here and there) for 25 years on a model which is aimed at the british and Spanish crowd, on the same festival site, and I feel because of this the new owners will realise it has the foundations to continue long into the future. 

How much of this is wishful thinking (I really don’t want the festival to change sites) I’m not sure. But if it does move, or change it’s target audience, I’m afraid this year was my 8th, and last, Benicassim. 

I can’t see them making any drastic changes. The festival has just cleared its debt so is probably in its strongest position in a while.

Surely this new mob have got to look at the crowd figures over the years. Read yesterday that 2017 sold 189,000 tickets over the full weekend, and that lineup was brilliant, plenty British bands that obviously sell tickets, as well as a good number of Spanish bands, and a couple of decent DJ’s to round it off. I think that’s what they’ve got to aim for.

Hopefully AM are back touring again next year, Kasabian probably will be, The Libertines are back, LG’s got a new album coming out, also been a few years since Foals, Courteeners, Noel G etc. Next year there should be plenty British acts out there for them to choose from, and I’m sure there’s plenty big Spanish acts out there as well for them to book.

LDR and Vetusta were risks that clearly did not pay off.

Then again, they might move to the other side of Spain, make it a completely Spanish festival and make this whole reply pointless.

[TipToes24]

1 hour ago, TheFullShaboo said:

So what’s everyone’s interpretation of the takeover? Moving location? Change in the type of acts booked? Change to a more domestic focus rather than international?

Personally I feel that there won’t be many drastic changes at all. Beni has ran successfully (minus the odd blip here and there) for 25 years on a model which is aimed at the british and Spanish crowd, on the same festival site, and I feel because of this the new owners will realise it has the foundations to continue long into the future. 

How much of this is wishful thinking (I really don’t want the festival to change sites) I’m not sure. But if it does move, or change it’s target audience, I’m afraid this year was my 8th, and last, Benicassim. 

I’m unsure if they’ll change too much, has massive potential how it is I think, personally think they should just scrap the Thursday and pile the money from that into rest of the weekend! Location change would be the end of it as regards regulars going back I think, they just need to accept the international crowd is the key to making it a goldmine! As it’s their first year and it’s debt free I think they could go absolutely balls out on it and start as they mean to go on! But after this year’s line up the bar isn’t the highest.....but then again they could move and make its all Spanish! Judging a few comments from the Spanish on twitter that Arenal sound isn’t well thought of out there! Would love them to pull it off and I hope they release some statements sometime soon to make it clearer for the fans 

[TheFullShaboo]

3 minutes ago, TipToes24 said:

I’m unsure if they’ll change too much, has massive potential how it is I think, personally think they should just scrap the Thursday and pile the money from that into rest of the weekend! Location change would be the end of it as regards regulars going back I think, they just need to accept the international crowd is the key to making it a goldmine! As it’s their first year and it’s debt free I think they could go absolutely balls out on it and start as they mean to go on! But after this year’s line up the bar isn’t the highest.....but then again they could move and make its all Spanish! Judging a few comments from the Spanish on twitter that Arenal sound isn’t well thought of out there! Would love them to pull it off and I hope they release some statements sometime soon to make it clearer for the fans 

Issue is with making it a 3 days festival is that for a lot of my group the fact it’s 4 days of solid music (excluding this year) is a huge pull! I know the majority of festivals in Europe are 3 days and are all successful, but the fact that we can buy a ticket and camp for a week with 4 days of solid music turns this from your run of the mill festival into a perfect mix of holiday and music! 

Yeah im not having that it’s changing site one bit, especially if the town of Benicàssim has a stake in festival (sure I’ve read this somewhere). Them losing Benicàssim to another town will lose their local economy what I would assume is one of their biggest pay packets of the year. 

[TipToes24]

1 hour ago, TheFullShaboo said:

Issue is with making it a 3 days festival is that for a lot of my group the fact it’s 4 days of solid music (excluding this year) is a huge pull! I know the majority of festivals in Europe are 3 days and are all successful, but the fact that we can buy a ticket and camp for a week with 4 days of solid music turns this from your run of the mill festival into a perfect mix of holiday and music! 

Yeah im not having that it’s changing site one bit, especially if the town of Benicàssim has a stake in festival (sure I’ve read this somewhere). Them losing Benicàssim to another town will lose their local economy what I would assume is one of their biggest pay packets of the year. 

Yeah the four day is a massive pull for us as well but after this year’s Thursday we just Felt it was flat, but then again it all depends on what floats your boat. I think the fact Sunday’s headliner was so shit I though they coulda saved the money from Thursdays acts to pile into a better headliner but I think Fatboy would have done a grand job of headlining the Sunday. I read in an article that the hotels locally were complaining that some of them were up to 60% down on previous years so I do think all local businesses are in on the festival as well. I do think some changes will be coming I just hope they don’t mess with the formula too much! The phrase if it’s not broken don’t fix it but after this year it’s clear some fixing is needed 

[CJTM]

1 hour ago, TipToes24 said:

Yeah the four day is a massive pull for us as well but after this year’s Thursday we just Felt it was flat, but then again it all depends on what floats your boat. I think the fact Sunday’s headliner was so shit I though they coulda saved the money from Thursdays acts to pile into a better headliner but I think Fatboy would have done a grand job of headlining the Sunday. I read in an article that the hotels locally were complaining that some of them were up to 60% down on previous years so I do think all local businesses are in on the festival as well. I do think some changes will be coming I just hope they don’t mess with the formula too much! The phrase if it’s not broken don’t fix it but after this year it’s clear some fixing is needed 

Can you link this article?

[TipToes24]

4 minutes ago, CJTM said:

Can you link this article?

https://www.elperiodicomediterraneo.com/amp/noticias/espectaculos/arenal-compra-marca-fib-explotarla-proximos-15-anos_1234649.html?__twitter_impression=true

 

 

all in Spanish so google translate is needed unless you can speak the lingo, but with google translate things can get lost in translation 

[Jonesy1]

We asked the receptionist if they were expecting it busy when we checked in, she said no.

Fuck knows what busy would’ve looked like because the pool was mobbed during the day.

[TipToes24]

14 minutes ago, Jonesy1 said:

We asked the receptionist if they were expecting it busy when we checked in, she said no.

Fuck knows what busy would’ve looked like because the pool was mobbed during the day.

Was This hotel orange? I stayed there the last two years and usually they charge the campers £15 a day to use the pool but this year they didn’t! Last year with the £15 charge the pool was twice as busy as this year. But going off the prices before we flew out I thought it was going to be an almost sell out but we had no one in the rooms next to us! 

[Jonesy1]

1 hour ago, TipToes24 said:

Was This hotel orange? I stayed there the last two years and usually they charge the campers £15 a day to use the pool but this year they didn’t! Last year with the £15 charge the pool was twice as busy as this year. But going off the prices before we flew out I thought it was going to be an almost sell out but we had no one in the rooms next to us! 

Yeah Hotel Orange, first time I’ve stayed there right enough. Felt busy enough but never really had to queue at the bar. Made some difference staying in there, don’t think I’d stay anywhere else now.

[Demomdrummer]

As an older guy, I disagree with the age demographic, our group ranges from early 20’s to early 60s. People of all ages live all sorts of music, such a Gerry Cinnamon and Franz Ferdinand, but that aside. The whole site was cut back, not as many food stalls , so that’s lost revenue. Major sponsors such as Visa not there, therefore budget is cut back. Even the south beach didn’t have sand or the pools they have had in the past. All these things have an overall effect on income outwith ticket sales. Our group treat it as a holiday. Have met up with locals and become very good friends and they are seriously considering not going next year. They look forward to seeing international bands as they don’t have venues like we have in UK so don’t get a chance to see the big names when they tour. 

Hopefully the new owners have a major rethink on this years offerings 

[Jonesy1]

Probably made back all the lost revenue on those fucking reusable cups.

[TheFullShaboo]

https://www.thinkspain.com/news-spain/31655/arenal-sound-promoters-buy-benicassim-international-festival

In this article it mentions that the intentions of the new owners is to "keep the 'essence' of Benicàssim Festival, but to 'improve the quality of every detail' overall and keep attracting top global acts for its stages." Not sure how much of this has just been translated, but keeping the essence of Benicassim suggests to me that we wont be seeing many major changes whatsoever - apart from hopefully a stronger lineup!

[TipToes24]

Is anyone expecting a big mission statement from the benicassim accounts any time soon? They’ve been deathly quiet on twitter compared to previous years and no mention on next year’s dates or early birds as of yet, plus add to all that the rumours around the location move and rumblings of it maybe going for a more domestic line up/crowd? Maybe a statement just clearing all the air that may put people at ease? Trust of the festival seems pretty low after the whole 25th anniversary line up episode so I think they should snap into gear and give us all something to go off

[Jonesy1]

7 minutes ago, TipToes24 said:

Is anyone expecting a big mission statement from the benicassim accounts any time soon? They’ve been deathly quiet on twitter compared to previous years and no mention on next year’s dates or early birds as of yet, plus add to all that the rumours around the location move and rumblings of it maybe going for a more domestic line up/crowd? Maybe a statement just clearing all the air that may put people at ease? Trust of the festival seems pretty low after the whole 25th anniversary line up episode so I think they should snap into gear and give us all something to go off

As far as I’m aware the takeover hasn’t actually been finalised so might be a couple of weeks before we hear anything.