Monday, October 7, 2013

NY Times Review of Bonnaroo 2012: Understanding one of the largest American music festivals

 I really liked this analysis, and wanted to save a couple relevant quotes.

"Never mind me and my choices: put those acts together, and what’s the message? What does it express? Not newness, really, but something about grooves and songwriting and resonance; perhaps, all together, a desire for longevity. The Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival is not about “authentic” music — beware of that word — but it might be about music that either has had a long life or expects to. Music that isn’t instantly forgettable. Music that you would want to deposit in the correct recycling bin."

"Bonnaroo is mainly a camping festival, sold out this year at 80,000. It’s an experience festival ... because Bonnaroo really is understood as a marker in people’s lives. And experience trumps aesthetic sensibility."

"I have an unrealistic fantasy of a music festival purely of excellence, with no responsibility toward any aesthetic or sound or region, only toward the principles of unity and purpose in sound. Bonnaroo is not that. But it allows you, at least, to dream in those terms."

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