Boomtown Chapter Three: Revolution of Imagination

[orangeisacop_]

@mr flow Any info on this Bicep rumour? Allegedly booked for the Saturday night on Grand Central (I was hearing that before the lineup dropped) but pulled out last minute hence the early finish on the timetable atm - apparently they’re trying to fill the slot still?

 

Heard anything? Not sure if it’s just facebook chatter.

[On The Blend]

I'm normally skeptical of 'there's secretly more to come guys!' type rumours, but Grand Central ending an hour earlier on Saturday than on Friday is definitely weird. 

[mjfromthelane]

8 hours ago, orangeisacop_ said:

@mr flow Any info on this Bicep rumour? Allegedly booked for the Saturday night on Grand Central (I was hearing that before the lineup dropped) but pulled out last minute hence the early finish on the timetable atm - apparently they’re trying to fill the slot still?

 

Heard anything? Not sure if it’s just facebook chatter.

Would totally make sense with the run of Chroma shows they are doing at the moment.

[mr flow]

9 hours ago, orangeisacop_ said:

@mr flow Any info on this Bicep rumour? Allegedly booked for the Saturday night on Grand Central (I was hearing that before the lineup dropped) but pulled out last minute hence the early finish on the timetable atm - apparently they’re trying to fill the slot still?

 

Heard anything? Not sure if it’s just facebook chatter.

 

I've heard nothing other than the rumours circulating on social media. Early finish times on Grand Central are a little odd though, so will do some digging and see what I can find out.

[jordanachu]

Grand Central is baffling, it's like they just haven't bothered to book 2 big late night slots on both Friday and Saturday. Folamour on Sunday is a stinker of a booking too.

Definitely don't feel like the lineup is worth the ticket price this year.

[northernangel]

Really can't see me ever getting to this, for me it just looks incredible weak, by the stands of having seen Limp Bizkit pkay

[orangeisacop_]

28 minutes ago, jordanachu said:

Grand Central is baffling, it's like they just haven't bothered to book 2 big late night slots on both Friday and Saturday. Folamour on Sunday is a stinker of a booking too.

Definitely don't feel like the lineup is worth the ticket price this year.

Need to stop myself having another big moan, ended up writing a bit of an essay on the subreddit about my feelings with this year's lineup outside of jungle/drum and bass. I hope the organisers see it honestly, always feel like there's a big crowd of people on the FB group that will defend any and everything Boomtown do.

 

Zenith: There's nothing comparable to Sarah Story/Eats Everything/Slipmatt on the Thursday. No idea why they've got half the afternoon every day as what I can only picture as being holiday park entertainment (?) - acts starting later and finishing earlier every night feels pretty cheeky.

 

GC: Feels like a big step down from even 2022 which I thought was meant to be the skint year (Overmono live, Prospa live, DJ Tennis, Partiboy69, Mall Grab, Four Tet!). I worry Pendulum (..also a DJ set) vs Folamour might even be a crowd control issue, they're just not on balance at all. When I saw he self-confirmed I imagined he'd be on in the mid/early afternoon on Zenith, not closing the festival on GC - part of me wonders if he was even booked for Zenith (suspiciously a 10pm finish there) but they had someone else pull out of GC and just shifted him over? One step further, maybe they did have The Prodigy after all. Too much conspiracy maybe haha.

 

I know I'm being a bit cynical. I'm still excited, I just hope there's a missing piece still to come, because I'm certainly feeling it, seems like a pretty big step down in terms of calibre and genre diversity to me, and I just don't understand it.

[jordanachu]

35 minutes ago, orangeisacop_ said:

Need to stop myself having another big moan, ended up writing a bit of an essay on the subreddit about my feelings with this year's lineup outside of jungle/drum and bass. I hope the organisers see it honestly, always feel like there's a big crowd of people on the FB group that will defend any and everything Boomtown do.

 

Zenith: There's nothing comparable to Sarah Story/Eats Everything/Slipmatt on the Thursday. No idea why they've got half the afternoon every day as what I can only picture as being holiday park entertainment (?) - acts starting later and finishing earlier every night feels pretty cheeky.

 

GC: Feels like a big step down from even 2022 which I thought was meant to be the skint year (Overmono live, Prospa live, DJ Tennis, Partiboy69, Mall Grab, Four Tet!). I worry Pendulum (..also a DJ set) vs Folamour might even be a crowd control issue, they're just not on balance at all. When I saw he self-confirmed I imagined he'd be on in the mid/early afternoon on Zenith, not closing the festival on GC - part of me wonders if he was even booked for Zenith (suspiciously a 10pm finish there) but they had someone else pull out of GC and just shifted him over? One step further, maybe they did have The Prodigy after all. Too much conspiracy maybe haha.

 

I know I'm being a bit cynical. I'm still excited, I just hope there's a missing piece still to come, because I'm certainly feeling it, seems like a pretty big step down in terms of calibre and genre diversity to me, and I just don't understand it.

 

Your essay on reddit is great.

 

I'm actually really pissed off about this, it seems they've just settled for booking loads of dnb djs this year and not bothered with any diversity at all.

 

They've completely hidden behind the secret line up thing, it's so incredibly weak. No way I would have bought a ticket if they had announced in advance, and I'm normally one of Boomtowns biggest defenders.

[mr flow]

51 minutes ago, jordanachu said:

 

Your essay on reddit is great.

 

I'm actually really pissed off about this, it seems they've just settled for booking loads of dnb djs this year and not bothered with any diversity at all.

 

They've completely hidden behind the secret line up thing, it's so incredibly weak. No way I would have bought a ticket if they had announced in advance, and I'm normally one of Boomtowns biggest defenders.

It's strange isn't it, as I thought it was a fairly varied line up. I'm not particularly a fan of drum and bass, but I've got 29 highlighted on my to watch list, and that's only after a first glance. 

[Metal Monkey]

I’ve got 24 things listed to watch, but pretty much all of it I could see elsewhere at local festivals for a third of the price, or it’s stuff I’ll watch but I’m not too fussed about. I definitely don’t think this is good value even considering how awesome the site is. 
Having said that, I don’t go for the big dance stages so I’ve no idea if they are big names. Maybe that’s what it’s aimed at now. 

[orangeisacop_]

On 7/25/2024 at 1:52 PM, mr flow said:

It's strange isn't it, as I thought it was a fairly varied line up. I'm not particularly a fan of drum and bass, but I've got 29 highlighted on my to watch list, and that's only after a first glance. 

 

Yeah, I mean my point isn’t really that there’s no other genres at all, Zenith Friday/Saturday night looks great! but that there’s not really any dance on the 2nd biggest stage (GC), the only thing that comes close to rivalling Origin - which, bar one or two acts, seems even more bass heavy than before.

 

Does just unfortunately mean that most of the bigger dance names are drum and bass DJs. Bit sad it's not the full Pendulum (who by the way, DJ set is £13 on the door in Brighton), and Folamour being the big GC headliner just feels a bit naff - I actually quite like the guy I just don’t think he’s got the weight or energy to be the closer!

 

Just feels like a bit of a letdown and a step backwards, they got rid of Sector 6 for a reason!

Might be naive of me but I’m still hopeful for that Saturday night slot, just not a clue who it would be, when they would announce it, or if it’s at all realistic. Fingers crossed is all.

[mr flow]

On 7/28/2024 at 1:24 PM, orangeisacop_ said:

 

Yeah, I mean my point isn’t really that there’s no other genres at all, Zenith Friday/Saturday night looks great! but that there’s not really any dance on the 2nd biggest stage (GC), the only thing that comes close to rivalling Origin - which, bar one or two acts, seems even more bass heavy than before.

 

Does just unfortunately mean that most of the bigger dance names are drum and bass DJs. Bit sad it's not the full Pendulum (who by the way, DJ set is £13 on the door in Brighton), and Folamour being the big GC headliner just feels a bit naff - I actually quite like the guy I just don’t think he’s got the weight or energy to be the closer!

 

Just feels like a bit of a letdown and a step backwards, they got rid of Sector 6 for a reason!

Might be naive of me but I’m still hopeful for that Saturday night slot, just not a clue who it would be, when they would announce it, or if it’s at all realistic. Fingers crossed is all.

All valid points, but it's worth pointing out that GC is a direct replacement for what used to be The Town Centre, and this didn't always have a huge amount of dance music acts on it. The bookers would probably argue that SBTRKT are this years dance act on that stage, even if they probably aren't the same level as Leftfield or the current popularity of Overmono.

In terms of lack of major headline size acts this year, I do wonder if the expected inclusion of Lions Den again next year has impacted that. To be honest, The Prodigy at Grand Central would be a health and safety nightmare. It was packed for Cypress Hill last year, and The Prodigy would be busier, so wonder if they have parked that booking until they have the natural space of the Lions Den bowl back again. This is just my opinion, and have no inside knowledge on this front, but it kind of makes sense.

 

[mjfromthelane]

Since cutting costs and moving everything to the bowl they have definitely focused on DnB as somewhat of a cost-effective niche to sell tickets, but now it's gone too far and it's a DnB fest with everything else an afterthought.

 

It's hard to knock them as judging by ticket sales and noise on social media it's worked as well - most of the DnB accounts I follow all post about Boomtown as the one to go to with videos from Origin every year.

 

Also, while I agree Boomtown isn't 'all about the line up / big names playing', pre-Covid it really did have it all. Hopefully now the coffers are stocked up again and there's talks of Lions Den coming back, they might bring it back to what it used to be.

 

The Pendulum DJ set is a perfect example of how it's changed in the last 5 years. Imagine them on Lions Den. I'm no expert on fees but I'd hazard a safe guess to say that booking the Pendulum DJ set is probably less than a 1/4 of the cost of a set from the full band, probably even more.

[goldfishboy]

On 7/30/2024 at 4:09 PM, mjfromthelane said:

Since cutting costs and moving everything to the bowl they have definitely focused on DnB as somewhat of a cost-effective niche to sell tickets, but now it's gone too far and it's a DnB fest with everything else an afterthought.

 

It's hard to knock them as judging by ticket sales and noise on social media it's worked as well - most of the DnB accounts I follow all post about Boomtown as the one to go to with videos from Origin every year.

 

Also, while I agree Boomtown isn't 'all about the line up / big names playing', pre-Covid it really did have it all. Hopefully now the coffers are stocked up again and there's talks of Lions Den coming back, they might bring it back to what it used to be.

 

The Pendulum DJ set is a perfect example of how it's changed in the last 5 years. Imagine them on Lions Den. I'm no expert on fees but I'd hazard a safe guess to say that booking the Pendulum DJ set is probably less than a 1/4 of the cost of a set from the full band, probably even more.

But I don't see how cutting costs needs to translate to only having one musical genre. A couple of stages playing DnB is more than enough. And it was selling well even before they established this 'niche'

[mr flow]

Officially sold out. Hope you all have a great festival 🙂

[mr flow]

On 7/25/2024 at 12:33 AM, orangeisacop_ said:

@mr flow Any info on this Bicep rumour? Allegedly booked for the Saturday night on Grand Central (I was hearing that before the lineup dropped) but pulled out last minute hence the early finish on the timetable atm - apparently they’re trying to fill the slot still?

 

Heard anything? Not sure if it’s just facebook chatter.

I've been told that the above is true, but sadly they aren't playing.

[orangeisacop_]

12 minutes ago, mr flow said:

I've been told that the above is true, but sadly they aren't playing.

 

 Ah that’s gutting, must’ve been a letdown for HQ too.

 

What’s the chances of that slot having since been filled and a name dropped mid festival do we think? a la Shy FX.. or I guess d*ck and Dom? 😄

 

Don’t suppose you’d be one to spoil the surprise if you did know. Is there even much of an incentive to do that given they’ve sold out?

[mr flow]

19 minutes ago, orangeisacop_ said:

 

 Ah that’s gutting, must’ve been a letdown for HQ too.

 

What’s the chances of that slot having since been filled and a name dropped mid festival do we think? a la Shy FX.. or I guess d*ck and Dom? 😄

 

Don’t suppose you’d be one to spoil the surprise if you did know. Is there even much of an incentive to do that given they’ve sold out?

I think there will be a few other surprises, but more likely to be drum and bass related. Think they want to try and keep things under wraps in terms of surprises though regardless of selling out as its adds a little extra to the festival.

 

[blutarsky]

What was the face value on campervan passes? 

[dumski]

On 8/5/2024 at 10:22 PM, blutarsky said:

What was the face value on campervan passes? 

£140 I paid