The Festival Thread

[NotAMagpieBogan]

Every now and then a festival gets its own thread, but with all the summer festivals coming up, I thought I’d make a discussion thread to round them all up.

So those lineups are a bit s**t hey. Beyond The Valley is an absolute cesspool so I wasn’t even excited for that lineup, but I was hoping for more from Falls. Anderson Paak is fantastic, but he’s not at the headline level for a Falls sized festival. Catfish and the Bottlemen are back for the third time in two years, and now are supposedly at headline level, god they’re bland.

Origin Fields and Field Day both have nothing for me at all, but I am impressed that they pulled out Cardi B and Migos. Same goes for FOMO, Nicki Minaj and Lil Pump (eugh) are big grabs. Kali Uchis and Sophie are great though.

I’m hoping Laneway backs up last years ripper lineup. Looking back, Laneway 2018 is one of the strongest lineups Australia has had for a while. This morning they announced a new location for Melbourne, changing to Footscray Park. While the old location fit the whole ‘Laneway’ aesthetic real well, it was awful for functionality. The main stage being an absolute hike away from everywhere else.

 

[class78]

laneway lineup this year is pretty s**t

 

[Richard Cranium]

laneway lineup this year is pretty s**t

I wasn't expecting much from it, but even then...

 

[PVF]

Download lineup is amazing.

 

[GroggSquad]

Shocking Laneway lineup. We seriously need to put the breaks on our obsession with homegrown talent.

 

[Lums23]

Feels like splendour lite. Really disappointing. I did wonder if they'd go down this route after they sold so few tickets last year

 

[MelbourneCrow]

Got my Download tickets. Well happy with that.

 

[revival_mode]

dont want to go to download.. fingers crossed some of ghost, code orange & fever 333 do some sideshows

 

[NotAMagpieBogan]

I was super hyped for the Laneway lineup leading up to it, but then about a day or two out from the announcement, I suddenly had a feeling that maybe it will be a bit s**t. A bit s**t indeed.

I still haven’t seen Courtney Barnett live yet, and I do really want to. But I don’t want to be seeing her as the headliner of Laneway. Parquet Courts and Denzel Curry would be fun as s**t. But there’s not a whole lot else. The lineup is fairly strong for other sorts of people’s though. Clairo and Rex Orange County are both big bets for the Tumblr crowd and it’s heavy on up and coming Hip Hop and RNB acts. But the. You’ve then got turds like Ruby Fields and Skegss who really go against Laneway’s sort of ideology (that sounds wanky I know).

I reckon this year their hand has been forced a fair bit this year though. Last year’s ticket sales were pretty bad, even though I thought the lineup was fantastic. Australia’s Triple J culture is different to the Pitchfork style of lineup that last year had, and it just doesn’t sell tickets. They needed the likes of Gang of Youths, What So Not and Skegss to get the average Triple J listeners attention.

 

[SELFCONFESDAFLNERD]

Download lineup is amazing.

Terrific lineup! I've seen 9/23 of the bands playing but am super keen to see some of those again as well as Ozzy, AIC, Behemoth & Converge for the first time. Still 13 bands to be announced so the lineup can only get better. Clashes will probably be brutal but for me its well worth the trip down to Melbourne

 

[Magus]

Terrific lineup! I've seen 9/23 of the bands playing but am super keen to see some of those again as well as Ozzy, AIC, Behemoth & Converge for the first time. Still 13 bands to be announced so the lineup can only get better. Clashes will probably be brutal but for me its well worth the trip down to Melbourne

Any idea on when the next announcement might be?

 

[SELFCONFESDAFLNERD]

Any idea on when the next announcement might be?

No idea to be honest. I'm not sure whether the date will depend on how ticket sales are going or whether they have a set date in mind and are yet to communicate it. I'm hoping we hear something soon

 

[Silent Alarm]

My issue is there's way too many festivals now and it's too homogenous. Splendour and Falls offer the same music and demographic and Laneway completely does now. If you ask me there needs to be a shrinking of what's on offer because it's completely dulled down now, and that's without interrogating the lineups and seeing the regurgitation.

If you ask me Falls should stick back to the Lorne and Tasmanian legs (maybe Freo) with bands sorting themselves out for stuff like Field Day on New Year's in Sydney. GTM should be arseholed or massively downsized. I'd rather see Falls/Listen Out/Laneway/FOMO as having a distinct vibe but being smaller festivals, with two mega ones.

Reckon a one city mega-festival in Sydney/Melbourne would work here, sort of like Lolla/Austin City Limits. No camping, just walk in and have a wide variety of acts. They're always fun for people watching because you get a varied demographic, and because of that you can sort of flee any homogenous vibe. Bunch of 20-year old chicks from Monash Uni in I Am Gia and sunglasses chains in Docs at Falls doesn't appeal to me, nor does a bunch of scaly 37-year old's microdosing at Meredith.

Funny tho, the Golden Plains lineup is tidy enough. Beach House, Four Tet would be greeeat and Jesus and Mary Chain are dece too.

We need an Independent Body Of Pingin' & Festivals imo.

 

[class78]

My issue is there's way too many festivals now and it's too homogenous. Splendour and Falls offer the same music and demographic and Laneway completely does now. If you ask me there needs to be a shrinking of what's on offer because it's completely dulled down now, and that's without interrogating the lineups and seeing the regurgitation.

If you ask me Falls should stick back to the Lorne and Tasmanian legs (maybe Freo) with bands sorting themselves out for stuff like Field Day on New Year's in Sydney. GTM should be arseholed or massively downsized. I'd rather see Falls/Listen Out/Laneway/FOMO as having a distinct vibe but being smaller festivals, with two mega ones.

Reckon a one city mega-festival in Sydney/Melbourne would work here, sort of like Lolla/Austin City Limits. No camping, just walk in and have a wide variety of acts. They're always fun for people watching because you get a varied demographic, and because of that you can sort of flee any homogenous vibe. Bunch of 20-year old chicks from Monash Uni in I Am Gia and sunglasses chains in Docs at Falls doesn't appeal to me, nor does a bunch of scaly 37-year old's microdosing at Meredith.

Funny tho, the Golden Plains lineup is tidy enough. Beach House, Four Tet would be greeeat and Jesus and Mary Chain are dece too.

We need an Independent Body Of Pingin' & Festivals imo.

this is literally the only thing that does appeal to you, you disgusting pervert

 

[Silent Alarm]

this is literally the only thing that does appeal to you, you disgusting pervert

Guilty as charged.

 

[GroggSquad]

I reckon this year their hand has been forced a fair bit this year though. Last year’s ticket sales were pretty bad, even though I thought the lineup was fantastic. Australia’s Triple J culture is different to the Pitchfork style of lineup that last year had, and it just doesn’t sell tickets. They needed the likes of Gang of Youths, What So Not and Skegss to get the average Triple J listeners attention.

And yet Melbourne still felt way overcrowded. It was impossible to get anywhere remotely close for Anderson Paak.

Quite staggering to think the organisers were disappointed with the turnout like you are implying - the day would be borderline unenjoyable with more people there.

 

[GroggSquad]

They're always fun for people watching because you get a varied demographic, and because of that you can sort of flee any homogenous vibe. Bunch of 20-year old chicks from Monash Uni in I Am Gia and sunglasses chains in Docs at Falls doesn't appeal to me, nor does a bunch of scaly 37-year old's microdosing at Meredith

It is truly a shame Falls has that homogeneous vibe. I went a few times when I was 18-22 with a huge group of my mates and had the greatest time. Now I am 24 though and none of my mates are interested anymore because it's "full of 20 year olds". I noticed this every year I attended too - the majority of people there are in their late teens/early 20s.

Since when was 24+ "too old" to enjoy a few days camping with your mates and watching the likes of Interpol, Anderson .Paak, Cut Copy, Chvrches, First Aid Kit, Dizzee Rascal, King Gizzard, Flight Facilities etc. over a few beers though? It certainly seems much more exciting than hanging out in a mate's cramped backyard in Fitzroy for NYE instead...

 

[Silent Alarm]

It is truly a shame Falls has that homogeneous vibe. I went a few times when I was 18-22 with a huge group of my mates and had the greatest time. Now I am 24 though and none of my mates are interested anymore because it's "full of 20 year olds". I noticed this every year I attended too - the majority of people there are in their late teens/early 20s.

Since when was 24+ "too old" to enjoy a few days camping with your mates and watching the likes of Interpol, Anderson .Paak, Cut Copy, Chvrches, First Aid Kit, Dizzee Rascal, King Gizzard, Flight Facilities etc. over a few beers though? It certainly seems much more exciting than hanging out in a mate's cramped backyard in Fitzroy for NYE instead...

This sort is starting to infest Meredith and Golden Plains now too, all chicks in Docs and fluffy jackets.

 

[NotAMagpieBogan]

And yet Melbourne still felt way overcrowded. It was impossible to get anywhere remotely close for Anderson Paak.

Quite staggering to think the organisers were disappointed with the turnout like you are implying - the day would be borderline unenjoyable with more people there.

It’s because of how crap that stage was. It was far too narrow, and while it looked good in photos, it made for a shithouse time while seeing anyone there. At that stage, if you were slightly late, you’d struggle to get within 50 metres of the stage. If it was a typical festival stage, the width would mean you’d be fine getting to about 20 metres of the stage. The road that it’s on didn’t make it much easier as well. I was there from about halfway through The Internet, to The War On Drugs, my feet were stuffed.


Has anyone heard if Sydney City Limits is happening again next year? It was held in February this year, so you’d imagine they would’ve started to announce the lineup, or at least if it’s actually happening. The website is still all 2018. The lineup wasn’t entirely my thing, but had strong internationals.

 

[class78]

This sort is starting to infest Meredith and Golden Plains now too, all chicks in Docs and fluffy jackets.

Grr! they should give it back to 45 year old accountants that listen to Double J and microdose LSD!