It's finally music festival season and The What podcasters have lots of twists and turns to discuss. Are we all ready for this? Are they ready for this?
Lollapalooza begins now, and Brad and Barry are just as curious about how everything is going to work as you are. Pooling their years of experience plus insider information, they discuss the reality of returning to music festivals in a world that is still not entirely recovered from 2020.
Topic: Lollapalooza
Something strange is in the air. On the eve of Lollapalooza 2021, we have cancellations, additions, confusion, all reign supreme. It's usually which bands this year that matter, but in 2021, it's more like which fests this year that make it. We promise it won't be a Doomsday episode. Barry Courter, Brad Steiner, The What Podcast starts right now. I'm gonna go grape ate. I'm reaching through the microphone. I'm gonna stomp your motherfucking ass. What did I do? Nothing. You just got me out of bed. Okay. There. It is seven o'clock at night. It's eight o'clock. Okay. I've had a bad day. I've had a bad weekend. What's the trouble, bubble? Oh, my computer. You don't even want to know. That's it. That's bothering dad is his computers. He's a VCR down to what else is broken? Can you not get the humidified dehumidifier on? I got a they shut down the early bird buffet. We got there. The shrimp with the crab meat was gone. All of the crab meat was gone. And the steak tasted like your mother. That steak had been sitting out in the heat lamps for ever tasted like your mother. Tastes like your mother. I wish. I wish it tasted like your mother. What does the what is everything okay in your world? I think so. I mean, it's you know, all in all, I should tell you, I should tell you. I literally I got a call from a guy who's a living rock star who wanted to move 6700 vinyl records tomorrow in the heat. And he needed a couple of teenagers. And so I'm like, now I'm pimping. I'm pimping teenage boys. Cut that. Get that somebody get that. Grab that one forever. I'm pimping teenage boys. Now I'm pimping teenage boys. Welcome to the 2022 what podcast t shirt. I'm pimping teenage boys. I need you to help me schlep some records around. You think I'm kidding. I'm pimping teenage boys. This was a two hour part of my day. What did you get the records moved? It's tomorrow. Yeah, I think I did actually. I know people. Are these records any good or are they just all one record? It's actually Kings of Leon. It's their new record. They need somebody to help get them out to their fans. And well, the way that the it's selling I don't think you're gonna need to worry about 60. No, these are sold. These are sold. These are stunning. So what is it? What are you doing? I'm doing a little bit of a run up of the record. There are already a bunch of them already out there. So these are sold. These are sold. These are stunning. So what is that? What are you doing with Kings of Leon records? They're there. There is the question. Why am I involved? I don't and I'm, I'm glad to be because you know, they reached out to me. They're friends of mine. But are they on? No, are you holding out friends for the show? Are you holding on? I'm not going Kings of Leon new record I don't I'm so confused If you gave me a thousand choices to try and figure out what I would guess some sort of like really, you know Yeah, KTEL run run what the old ones the run from the 70s and 80s. Hey, it's the whatever No, these are legitimate fan club records King of Leon that have to be processed and I'm now involved you're the guy for me I was just I was thinking just about you Barry I thought about what I who can move this product Well, I mean you you are the Swiss Army knife of everything in my life So if the most random thing has let's be honest if something were to happen in a very large long Vegetable found itself lodged in my body. You'd be the guy I call Yeah, I know I know yeah, yeah, I have this thing I have a thing I have a thing I have a thing I have a thing I need you to come over with a bucket and a screwdriver And I would and my answer would be I got a guy. I got a guy. I'm on my way. I Got a guy I got a phone number call this guy You know, you're also like the one thing you does all these things that you have at your disposal and yet not one time Have you been able to you know, carry out a hit on another life? No, don't do hits as far as you know, you're like you're like the good mob bars as far as you know I guess but I mean, I don't know maybe that's even that'd be the beautiful part, right? Maybe that's why you keep building the pool over and over and over and over Maybe I got a I got a I got a whole Yeah parking lot full of hits. You don't know aside from your life, B You don't know aside from your life being strange. Do you feel something strange? By the way, have you hit record on this because I'm not seeing it. Yeah, it's it's good All right. I just want make good. This is good stuff. Great stuff. Yeah, I mean I'm pimping teenage boys If your life is weird, do you feel anything strange happening in the air right now I feel a ton Yeah, something feels very odd. Now. I'm the only information that I have I'm gonna say this straight up I've put out there on on Twitter the Lollapalooza people are very Very nervous. They're ringing hands nervous There was a feeling earlier in the week The mayor was going to put a mask mandate on the festival that looks like that is not going to happen they of course are demanding you Have a 20 or 72 hour test which means a test 72 hours previous before you get into the festival Which means if you got a test on say Wednesday You need a test before you go back in on Sunday This was described to me Originally when they put the line out line about was Nobody's gonna enforce this. They're not even gonna they're not even gonna bother So it's all for show literally the quote was it was all for show. It ain't for show anymore They I cannot I'm gonna be I'm leaving for Lollapalooza if I don't know when you're listening to this But I'm leaving for Lollapalooza on Wednesday morning and by Thursday when I get to the gate, I hope to find The longest line that you could ever imagine because if the longer the line is Barry the more that they're actually Checking these things and then putting a wristband on you that says that you are cleared and and tested negative or shown a Vaccine card you and I talk how often Every day. Well, I didn't know that you were schlepping teenage boy. I didn't know either at the three Yeah, I don't admit that to a lot of people But we talk what every two days three days maybe and This conversation not listening right now Okay, so we're very randomly and and we do it's usually because you owe me money Does that help? so We I mean this conversation changed how quickly a week ago, yeah two weeks ago at most and Man, like I told you earlier today. I don't want to be I Don't know. I'll be doing gloom. I know I don't want to be doing the glue. I don't want to be chicken little I don't want to be it's the end is nigh and all that. I don't want to be that guy but your question three minutes ago And how does it feel something feels strange something feels strange? Look the the thing I've done this I've done radio for 21 years And in the capacity that I'm in now, I've been for I guess 12 years now I've never felt You know how like you just feel the calmness before the hurricane. I guess I know this now living in New Orleans There's just this weird docile Calmness across the city before the storm hits That's what it feels like and now granted. I'm Making this clear the Lollapalooza information that I shared is completely independent than anything else I have no information about anything other than that and that's what's really scary That's what's weird and maybe not scary, but it's bizarre. It surely is bizarre The reason why you know this show in by itself is a little late on our schedule is because we've been waiting for a schedule To drop me exactly the schedule by all accounts, you know should have come out by now That's strange Not unheard of maybe we're reading too much into it, but man something just doesn't feel right Yeah, and then part of it is because we got Olympics going on with people getting sick. I mean we got golfers We've got stars. We've got people I Feel creepy even talking about it because like I said, I don't want to be that guy So so Lollapalooza I think if I had to guess Whatever happens this weekend at Lollapalooza is going to be I think it's gonna be huge Yeah, I hate to use this analogy again But it's gonna be a major domino if if you see this thing a complete You know clusterfuck as far as an organizational thing getting people in and out 120,000 people in and out of a festival grounds with vaccine cards Positive COVID negative COVID tests, etc On a daily basis and then the aftermath the next three weeks after if there's a super spreader event that happened to happen in Grant Park You're gonna I just don't I don't feel good about any of this, you know We I've been very I've been told very clearly if the mayor of New Orleans does not want Jazz Fest to happen she doesn't feel as though she's got the the Bandwidth with the police department. She doesn't feel as though it's a it's a public health concern You know, there's some some political things in there and that she may just not like Jazz Fest so, you know Lord knows that's kind of woman that she is but It's been pretty open that she wants them to cancel Jazz Fest. So what does Jazz Fest do goes and add it's another day with with I've never heard of this band. Who was it? They added I've never heard of the strolling drones Yeah, some teeny tiny little nobody I want to get to that here in a bit. I know we'll come back to that but no, I think I think you raised an unbelievable point that I Think kind of gets lost in the mix us even with me I won't say you I'll say me It's not just about the the Vaccine and the card and the whatever, you know, are do we feel safe and all that that which is huge? I don't know. I don't mean to miss that dismiss that but the reality of it the And our guys at RooHamm, you know, and I and you sent me a text giving them full credit What a great show that they they touched on some stuff that you and I Because we don't go that route. We don't do general admission Never thought of but the reality of it And I think you mentioned it earlier The how do you get 80,000 people? In and out of a festival site And do you do that comfortably? You know We all just want to think about being inside Having a good time shoulder to shoulder watching the foo fighters We don't You and I've talked about it, but we haven't really focused on it How do you make that work? Well, I did please to play devil's advocate from all of this Yeah, this could all be very very bad Come Lollapalooza weekend and the aftermath from it But the thing the difference between Lollapalooza ACL and then Bonnaroo is that Bonnaroo is self-contained and if you still gotta get them inside, that's my point Right, but what I'm saying? Oh, yeah true, but but you're not Let me put it this way what I'm saying is Let me put it this way once you're inside though at Bonnaroo It's self-contained true now now if if there is a world where all of the sudden Bonnaroo says You have to be vaccinated to show up I mean Yeah, the time is the time the clock is ticking on making that a reality because you can't say that two weeks before the festival Yeah, you gotta get somebody that takes four weeks. Yeah You gotta get somebody the full four to five weeks to make this work and they're they're out of time when it comes to that And our friend, uh, oh, I can't think of his name. I I will uh from Canada Our friend Stevie Wonder from Canada has already said Canada's closing their borders. He can't make it Um, he's been a guest on the show. I haven't heard that. Oh, I saw that. Oh, really? You know me i'm terrible with his name is bill or or jesse. I don't know You know me i'll think of it in a minute. I didn't I hadn't heard madison madison madison from canada. Seriously madison Yeah, he said I can't make it because they closed the borders again Uh, so that's that's another one um You know he Your point is exactly right. We're We're 34 days something like that away. So if you haven't been vaccinated it takes Depending on your vaccine some or four weeks Yeah, you're running out of days um so okay, so I don't think that they are going to Force you to be vaccinated because I don't think they have the kind of time But they could force you to show a negative test before you get there Sure, um that would be new and maybe that's something they're trying to work out again would At least I would I think I would feel more safe in bonnaroo space if everyone that walked in for the most part was honest about their their either vaccination status or their Negative covid test. I don't necessarily feel that safe with chicago and london palooza when you can Intermix you can you know in and out in and out switching wristbands new people coming in every day day Pass after day pass, you know with bonnaroo once your people are there those people are going to be there the entire time You're not going to be there's not that many Randomly new people showing up fair point. That's that's a good point. And if you got in we would assume yeah. All right I get that I'll go with that So that's why I think that like there's a there's some sort of difference between bonnaroo and lala plooza So me so again, this is all to play devil's advocate at the same time though The whole point that i'm trying to make is There is eerie silence here uh, and yes, yes and There's not just eerie early eerie silence from from bonnaroo. There's eerie silence from everybody everybody In in a way that I like I feel it across the entire Industry, I don't feel it just from bonnaroo. No, that's that's what I was saying earlier. That's why I brought up Olympics uh, I mean Lala which you leave, you know this week for depending on when people are hearing Yeah, no, I I get it. That's I totally agree. The silence is I mean, it's terrible cliche, but the silence is pretty deafening because we're not hearing it from a lot of people and um, and then on top of it all for Put the silence in one basket and then in the other basket is the total confusion About so much that happen is happening uh this year not only is Our facts changing on the fly and they're obviously having to You know rearrange things as they go and and i'm sure every day comes a new argument for this and the new argument That completely is the opposite of that. So I can't even imagine the to untangle all of that. But then You're asking you're putting new policies in place. You're putting new organizational Things in place the the way to get in and out of bonnaroo is going to be completely different I What in the I hate to be like baffled about this, but i'm i'm baffled Who's running the place right now the word I got that from some of our insiders and that sounds so Like i'm you know My guy inside told me I don't mean to sound like that inside ian we call him inside ian inside ian But that's what it sounds like and I don't mean it to be like that But what the word I got was the people who were making the changes are making changes So what was there yesterday is already changed so they're they're making it up and and I don't mean it to sound like You know, they don't know what they're doing But everything keeps changing um And and in a normal year that would be startling but it would be exactly in this year. It's understandable But at the same time like I still haven't figured out you know frankly C3 is a major entity and they know what they're doing when it comes to running lala pelusa but sometimes even with them it feels like They're walking around without any sort of direction whatsoever And just hoping to god this thing doesn't go bad and maybe frankly barry Maybe that's the best that we could have hoped for well Well, i'll put it this way if you were in charge, what would you be doing? I mean that would be freaking the fuck out. Yeah you I mean Let's be honest. You think you know what you're doing you Let's right in what in what department do you think everything? Everything I mean, I don't know that's true. You you put events on i've been involved in putting events on We'd like to think we know what we're doing Then nobody knows what go Nobody knows how to do this because it's never been done before. I hope that anybody who is You know you do i'll put it this way. I hope that nobody thinks that we're saying this as a negative No, i'm not pointing it out though. Thank you. No pointing it out is is not the same thing as criticizing it I am not Thank you that i'm glad you brought that up. I am absolutely not my point is Nobody's ever done this before and you know it The only comparison I can put to it is my industry newspapers We did it for 200 and something years and we printed money I mean we literally printed money and you were there the day that started I was there when when we ran the first dollar bill off the printing press And uh, and then the internet happened and it was like we don't know what we're doing And that's what it feels like And honestly every day since exactly we don't know what we're we're reacting. We're not acting um, and this feels like Actually, I hadn't thought about it, but that's That's exactly what it feels like When we come out of this with festivals they we don't know And I think I said that to you a week or so ago. I it feels like It feels like it's a great opportunity for a restart For a lot of these festivals things that they thought they should have fixed that they don't like whatever This is a great opportunity for them to fix And I think they're going to do that and I don't blame them But can I sit here and predict to you what those are? No, but maybe i'm thinking about this all wrong. No You know, Lollapalooza is happening in 48 hours 48 hours is about the time around about panic time in probably any festival. You don't really know You have a good idea and you have a good handle on most things But you don't know how everything's going to go you're worried about weather you're worried about crowds You're you know worried about you know, a random guy from the top of a building shooting you You know, you got security measures and things like there's real concerns that you're you're panicked about um, so maybe if you're bonnaroo or Any of these other festivals that are still holding on to the fall and hoping to god that it works. Maybe you're just Taking your time Maybe this is much to do and more Thought about from us. Maybe we think about this much more than they think about it Maybe they see the the world happening in front of them. They see the calendar They've got some time and there's no rush They've got a sold out festival. They don't need to put out, you know the schedule they don't need to do Anything they don't need to put out press releases. They don't need to talk to us They don't have to do any of this stuff So they could be sitting here for the next, you know, three weeks and still be fine Let's see how it plays out. Let's not panic and figure it out. You know this time You know three weeks from now That's I I would have agreed with you a while ago the different A while ago the difference to me is and and I we're making this up We are completely making this up and so are they I think you can count on the fans I think in in a weird way The difference is this year you can count on the fans because the fans are ready to come I think in the past that would have been your number one concern. Are we going to get the numbers and maybe i'm wrong I think the fans are coming Um, I think what's different? Is the other side it's the artist's hesitation the artist's hesitation. Yeah, I don't think that has ever been I told I don't think that has ever been an element. I just I think this year it's like oh my god the artist Maybe they don't come I just heard a story today And um, I I can't believe I I didn't lead with this. So I heard a story today about a major artist Playing lala blues. I will not say who it is because it will anyway, a major artist playing lala blues that the mayor of Chicago lori lightfoot asked to meet And this artist said no Yeah, not politically. It wasn't a political thing. They're on the same side. They believe all the same things and She got a big no Yeah, why because this person has said nobody gets in my bubble Except for my closest my my touring staff and my management and my band I think that's nuts to me. I mean if you went one two three You know artists used to be three because the money was there and then if you were super Superstar you raised at the top, but otherwise It was one two three and now I think artist is one and I think Uh promoters and attorneys and all that becomes two and I think three is way down And I could be wrong, but that's the way it feels to me All of a sudden we know that the fans are going to come But the artists are questionable and becoming more and more questionable and now it feels like You know the other becomes You know like you said Remember when the do you remember when major league baseball went on strike in the 90s in like 1996? And all you heard from the top guys like we're going on strike for the little guy We're going on strike for the minor league players You know it sometimes I feel like these these artists are are coming to these festivals and performing just so the little guys Can still get a paycheck? You know, what does the what do the foo fighters need to do this for? You know, they've had co they they've had covid break out in their uh, the group already They had to cancel shows in la. Yeah for one guy for one guy They don't have to do this, right? But you know, they're they're putting themselves out there because they really hope that you know uh Cannons makes a you know, 1500 I don't know maybe they are maybe I don't know, but it it's not about the fans And that's not ugly. I'm just saying now the fan we know the fans are coming. I'm just saying the pyramid is flipped um, and it feels like it's Flipping even more and more every day Yeah, this uh What's happening with the numbers in new orleans just yesterday? There were 700 cases Of of covid and I know there are breakthrough cases. I just want I just want to say this one thing This is the the paradox of our time is that everything becomes political and the things that shouldn't be political have been politicized And you know then who politicized the politicization becomes politicized. You can't even associate blame correctly anymore So I actually I actually heard somebody say it's flipped now That the people who refuse to get the vaccine because they're getting sick are now the ones Getting it because the gop is losing voters because they're dying. Yeah, and I'm not trying to throw politics I just thought wow didn't see that coming I mean, it's just it's just nuts because the right will say the left politicized it The left will say the donald trump politicized it. So even the politicization is getting politicized It's become so it's such a mind screw but here like at the end of the day You have I was in a text thread where somebody sent an article that said 27 People died that have were vaccinated Died of covid in tennessee 27 people the exact same Thing that was linked right in that news article. It was all from the same story. I found a link that said 98 percent of all covid cases are from unvaccinated people Those are the two headlines and if you if you if you dug down deep the the headline that read 27 cases in tennessee of breakthrough deaths Was by sinclair broadcasting which was owned by a republican And the article that I found was written by scripts, which is the left version of sinclair broadcasting We can't even get the fucking story right, you know, we're telling the same story But we've got the completely wrong head. Everybody's got their own headline Everybody's got their own different version of what they're looking at at the end of the day We're trying to look out for each other Pointed this is like we're looking out for each other at this. I've gotten to the point Barry that I I did this I got the shot because of other people now. I'm feeling like I got that shot from me Yeah So I could go to Bonnaroo. Well, yeah. Well now I've now I'm just like screw these people. They're not even trying Yeah, well when you know when the governor of Alabama is calling you out something's wrong Yeah, you know it's nice to see some people show up and discover a spine But you know, but point better late than ever I suppose point being I mean, it's I Don't know it Back to your original question. It feels weird. There's no question the the Electricity the buzz the whatever in the air Feels weird. I know but if if they if they were delaying the schedule and having a little bit of like, you know Miss steps along the way with new procedures in any other year Would we be this worried about it? Wait, I'm gonna have to think about that. Okay, because as I've told you we're Forty two days out or something like that. Whatever the you know, you're hearing this I'm always worried about it at this point. I mean at this point. I know you're We're convinced it's gonna be the worst show ever You guys do this every oh stop stops We have a group of people in our in our campsite. Don't even act like you're not the leader of the the puckered up the puckered up party you are the absolute leader That's just not true. You guys get so worried that the time the moment that you show up They're gonna look at you like you what are you doing here? What are you doing here? Yeah, that's what I'm worried about. But you're the one you're the one You're the one that showed up two years ago with your finger pointed at the guy who was trying to park us This will never do this is awful. And I'm like Brad who this guy is who won that conversation, by the way I did because he was a friend from Chattanooga We had already figured it out and you showed up like grandpa. No, no, no, no This is the worst no and we all do that but but anyway, this is To your point. Yes We always do it. I always do it And I'm like I said at the beginning I am trying not to be you know Things are bad because every year we do it and we show up and it's it's great It's never not great is our friend Kane Weinstein said And I mean it really is it'll be fine if it happens, but it I just I just I know there's gonna be changes and You know, what's your percentage of it happening? Oh Oh, that's a great question What is today today is July 27th 27th, you I'm gonna say I'm gonna say it's a solid 88 90% Wow, okay, that's much more optimistic than I thought you'd go. I'm going 75 But it's it's gonna change you think it's gonna change. I really I think ask me again on Sunday I think Lollapalooza is huge. Yeah. Yeah, I think Lollapalooza is a Tell I'll be honest with you know, I'll go I'll kind of repeat this, you know, the the people inside of Lollapalooza are Panicked there. Well, maybe I shouldn't say panic. They are stressed out their hand. They're wringing their hands They're very concerned about this. I I I'm less Put it this way the outcome of what happens with all the other festivals in the country I think has more to do with the with watching how Lollapalooza organizes the entry and how they manage Dealing with all the tests and the cards and the whatever Versus the super spreader event. I totally and I I think I Tried to allude to that ten minutes ago and probably did poorly, but that's exactly I agree I don't think it's as much about the numbers though. Those will be key as The organization of it. That's if it's a if it's a shit show Organizationally, yeah because of Because of kovat then it's gonna be tough to do any of if you don't think that if one of the the top guys in C3 Sees the mess that this could be they might do a magical a great job at this They might do an incredible job that makes everybody look around and say we need to do it like them possible They're very capable people at doing this no matter what the best think about them as the best Yeah as a lineup producer either way, they're very good at this But if if it goes bad I can imagine one of the C's Calling insert festival organizer here or live nation and say let me tell you this is damn near impossible Yeah, I agree. I don't I don't think it will be canceled necessarily Because you know 20% 30% whatever I think it will be the logistics And and as related to that it could be the bands that should say We're not you know We're out what I'm gonna do is is we're gonna have a special show later this week when I get to Lollapalooza I'm gonna try and put my eyes on as much as I can on Thursday Especially early when they first start and then later on in the day and then maybe when the gates open on Friday I'll get a better sense of it, too, and then sometime around Friday night Saturday Maybe we reconvene into a really quick show Maybe we've been do it on on Instagram and do like an Instagram live or something Barry Where you know we just go through some of the the things that that I've seen that are different maybe problems celebrations etc and just see what happens I I don't know what to expect though. I really don't they they have asked us to do certain things That I'm not necessarily able to say yet when it comes to getting on site, so Maybe I'll be able to share those when I actually get there but all I do know is there's a If you think there is there are changes at Bonnaroo happening in GA Backstage in Centauru man the changes that are happening Lollapalooza are just Out unbelievable there out of this world the list is as long as I can I can give you a piece of paper so I'll give you what I can on Thursday and Friday, and then we'll see what happens from there all right I love it, so let's get into this this thing about the the Rolling Stones Rolling Stones are added to Jazz Fest and I Didn't anticipate to spend much time on this but I First thought that stones being added to Jazz Fest was maybe one of the biggest Additions in the history of American festivals and then I remembered that they were already booked to do Jazz Fest So This is just like them doing a make-good essentially and then somebody on Twitter had this Brilliant poll and I had totally freddit prints was a late ad on echo cella Man oh man is that big but the stones going to to Jazz Fest All I know is what the external people say about it and feel about it and what New Orleans feels about it Outside of New Orleans you see Jazz Fest getting the stones, and you say what Barry I? Told you Getting the stones for anything is the biggest ad in the history of whatever I mean they're the biggest band in the world I think Prince trumps it but No, I mean Personally but I'll know the stones are huge the stones are the biggest band in the world and Prince is huge. I love seeing Prince. I love love but okay those that was the only show he did that here, man Yeah, but I saw him at Memorial the auditorium. Oh stop it. Yeah, I did okay, but point point being What if you're feeling about the stones getting added to Jazz Fest was one of? euphoria You thought it was massive huge. Yeah, yeah, no doubt no doubt well. This is what Inside the city there were two reactions one Who cares it's not going to happen because they're going to cancel it anyway and then two oh They created a rich white guy day Because what they did was they put the stones on their very own day with no other band on The lineup but nothing else happening. They put the stones on Wednesday night and for the low low price of $199 for a ticket as an extra. Okay. Wow, you can walk in a jazz fest and have a blast Eat some crawfish mac and cheese, baby Yeah, you know what? Now if you want to upgrade it you can that's going to be an extra three four hundred dollars But they added a day for rich white people Wow, okay, so it didn't go over. Well, is that what you're saying? I just don't think I don't think it I just don't think it was it'll do well I mean, it'll do fine, but it just wasn't as much of an event as you know normal like Festival guys think of it would be Yeah, but I mean i'm starting to kind of Be turned off on the whole jazz fest thing from what you've been telling me It doesn't sound like a whole lot of fun. I actually our type of fun barry. It's a lot of fun I mean, there's not a human being in the city that doesn't adore it and love it with everything they have you just have to reset your Expectations for it. Here's my thing then can I sit on your roof? Without any trouble and watch the rolling stones perform. Well, first off I ain't putting you on my roof Good 50 feet in the air. You're not getting on my roof. Well, then i'm then no if I have to go to any trouble I mean, no, you can't sit on my roof. No, you can't do that. Um, you could get close to no It's a massive fairgrounds. You couldn't even sit on a roof around the fairgrounds and watch it This isn't this isn't the chicago cubs, you know, you can't You don't get outfield seats in an apartment complex Yeah, I don't know i've never seen them i've never seen the stones I haven't either and and maybe we get there but i'm excited to see at least you know a if it happens and then b You know what kind of crowd they do. I get what you're asking me. Does it change? How does it change the festival world? I don't know I don't know Does it change how does it change the festival world? I don't know does it Well, you remember what I said a couple of weeks a couple of months ago when they were putting out these lineups They said why not just put everybody on the fucking lineup. What does it matter? You know if you think if you have this expectation of it not happening, you might as well just book everybody Well, that's that was the other thing you you had said about the lineup the jazz fest I mean did somebody come up with three million dollars just so they could say they have the stones on it I mean, is it purely political or is it an actual? Man, I don't know who's driving that train. I I don't know. It's norland jazz and the jazz heritage foundation Which is just rolling in money this these people just have so much money Uh, they're also kind of goes back to that whole thing doesn't matter because it didn't happen which is funny It is I mean there is a very look the numbers here have just gone. They've just gone through the roof and it's mostly because Louisiana is the worst Vaccined state in the country, right? So they're gonna they're okay So it's if it's two million or three million they take their uh, their percentage and then it doesn't happen because the numbers are up Yeah, I mean we'll have a good move. We'll have you back next year. Mick Mick never even uh, gets a haircut Never got a haircut, you know never left that That's good business the final thing that I wanted to bring up on this uh yet again this quick episode, um This short one again, which is always our longest. Yeah. No, it always happens Um, I watched the woodstock 99 documentary me too. Oh my god God, I I don't want to talk about this because i'll talk about it for another half an hour Yeah, do we need to do another show because I could Um, we really could well look we can do it tonight or we can do it later. I had I had two big take I'll just do I'll just do top top level stuff. So I had a couple of big takeaways one was you know, the misogyny and the the Disgusting it was disgusting right and you know a group of angry white kids screaming the n-word You know It's all awful. Well, we our guy brian stone was there and I told him he was That's there. That's true. I know and he's I told him it's like nothing you don't You're the closest representation of what they said Was there that I could have ever known you are? 20 You've been given everything in your life your upper middle class and you're angry and you don't know why Yeah, because your flannel doesn't fit right and and that was the group of people No, the hundred thousand some odd kids that were there. So yes a the misogyny was was It's just Hard to to deal with a group a hundred thousand people screaming the n-word to a black man was just I Wasn't that was the least offensive? I know I'm just going through the list of stuff that really really bothered me At the same time though, I can talk out of both sides of my mouth that That was sort of the culture at the time and I don't know if we are horrified so much as You know watching it back and saying look at these people what was wrong with them or are we looking back and horrified saying? Look at all of us You know what? Just because limbiscuit sucks, but don't forget they were like the biggest band in the world in 1998 1999 Yeah My my my three quick things Yeah, the misogyny the the way women were treated is unbelievable And what's stunning? well It was stunning the way women were treated but three years later 2002 the first bonnaroo it changed Women rule Bonnaroo. Well, yeah, a lot of people will say that that that was this the the Band-aid being ripped off was woodstock 99 was sort of like the the catalyst that ended all of the aggressive white male I'd start kid rock so I mean I showed up at bonnaroo as a 40 something year old thinking dang these young women got it going on and And that's a whole nother topic we can get into the other thing is The other thing is but stop there for a second. It was it the organizers Being so completely Baffled and then blame. Yeah, he was even even How many years later still blaming the women for it? He was clueless. He is clueless. He's an old guy I mean his i'm not gonna go there but But yeah The nudity still happens at bonnaroo, but nobody's given disrespecting the women It's like if they want to be naked they're naked. That's what I mean. It completely flipped in three years So that's a point the the other point that stood out to me was the the female reporter from washington mtv Who said this generation? the organizers of the this event wanted to wanted to basically base it on a a What did they call it? In 1969 everybody had a Something they were fighting against and they wanted to import it on the 1999 and this generation had nothing they were fighting against that's right because they I thought that was white kids upper middle class giving everything who were angry They didn't know what they're angry about and didn't know what they were angry. I thought that was such a great point But but back to you but the reporter so so this is where this is my other big takeaway the reporters that were there First off, you know, they kept blaming mtv As if a crowd of a hundred thousand kids who had to go to a payphone to make a phone call We're watching mtv in the field right couldn't get water. How could you blame a field? Full of kids who can't even make a phone call or go to an atm and blame mtv on their reaction That is absurd and bizarre to me secondly Revisionist no Barry. They were doing they were doing daily press conferences Yeah these guys were standing up and talking about this festival on a Daily basis which tells me you know There is a chasm between the backstage area and the regular, you know the ga area in every festival Do you think you and I have do we have that issue? They not brad out. Did they not even stand on a stage? Did they not walk out to the crowd? Did they not know anything that was happening in that festival whatsoever that they decided to stand up in front of the press? Every day and answer questions about it talk about how great it was No, I I I know and and you know you and I have to be careful of that too because we're you know Backstage, but I don't I don't well, I don't think we're lost in it like they were I don't think i'm shouting somebody down for telling me that there's enough water I mean the the water basically the journalist the female journalist said these kids don't have water out there and the guy basically Responded with well, we hooked up a hose. Yeah Yeah, no, no, he was he was Look I had forgotten in jail. I had forgotten a lot of that But it's funny somebody's our friend trevin And and david, you know who now are friends of ours been on our show and they go to all kinds of festivals They were like, yeah, you know what if that's what would have been happening. I would never have gone to a festival Well, that's and that's like me too. That's why I didn't go to well 2007 That's what was in my head I know but here's the thing There was a time where kid rock came to chattanooga to a play at a place called the bay and there were 25 people there There was nobody there as before. I think he brought uh, what's mini me? No, mini me was out at sky's it went and 10 years later when kid rock hit it was like the whole city had been At that show. Oh, yeah, I remember seeing kid rock there. Yeah. Yeah, sure No, it was i'm getting guys come out of woodwork that I know All of the sudden have been they went to woodstock 99 now. I'm not going to like deny that they were there very well that they could but There was everybody that i've met that had that has been there or that was there rather. They said they didn't see any of that They knew it was a shit show. They knew it was dirty. They knew they didn't they didn't have any showers And they didn't have any water, but they didn't see any, you know any of the raping, you know They didn't you know, they saw like kids being kids and you know half the audience is on acid So how the hell they're gonna remember most of what anything that happened Okay, I can't disagree with that The other thing is but I the other I mean there were like four or five main points that I took from it one being the nostalgia for 1969 I mean I was six at the time and for For most of my teenage years, I thought man, I would have loved to have been at woodstock. No No, no, no Well, that's the other thing that that they say that I think that you know there's even a documentary I think on hulu that the the majestic nature the the Glorification of six and woodstock is so sick to me You know that that was a that was just big of a shit literally a shit show Literally that mud and all that well that was you know that talking that ain't mud We weren't supposed to get too deep in this but man How much did your stomach turn when you saw those kids jumping into puddles? Next to port-a-bodies. Yeah, and so hello dysentery. No, thank you and uh, so I don't want any part of that and uh, You know the whole hendrix thing people talk about he didn't play till sunday morning You know or monday morning even maybe I think it was monday morning right it was over uh So yeah, there's this whole nostalgia part of it Uh woodstock 99 the same You know the other thing too, by the way, they only had two stages Imagine a music festival surviving today with two stages. They were a mile apart on a concrete concourse Hysterical, I mean hysterical. It's just bad on every level Right. Um, it's a great documentary. It's so good. It is so so good Yeah, and and if you're watching it and you're listening to this podcast and you're thinking why are these two guys still talking? That's not what it's like Well, hey by the way, they figured it out Well, the thing that the thing that the uh, yeah, no kidding. No festival is like that anymore except for you know, the fire festival, but like the um That was written that was written and directed and put together all by bill simmons You know bill simmons started as a guy who just wrote about sports The dude was just writing about the celtics, you know, he was a boston sports writer and then he turns around and it's got a podcast Corporation that's worth billions of dollars. The guy gets a deal with hbo and espn. He's a monster Um, and he's got a whole bunch of other music documentaries coming out over the the rest of the month I think he's doing juice world. He's gonna do dmx. Um, I think he's gonna do The the studio 54 something like that. Maybe it's just disco. I can't remember but it there's a whole series of these documentaries coming He's just so good. He's so so good So if you have any opportunity to watch this, please do because if you like music festivals and you like where you know They have come It started from that shit show Yeah I mean to your point Is it accurate? I mean, it's Always it's always through the lens of the teller I don't know how much of the the misogyny and all that went on. I wasn't there I I just know that i've not seen any of that at bonnaroo Well, if a woman walks by and she's putting her boobs out, what do you expect a guy to do? Oh god, I mean I wanted to punch him right through the stupidity I mean how many times have you seen it and it's like, you know Good go. Bye. See you later How many times have you seen some sort of redneck dude grab boobs at bonnaroo? Never Do you know what else I've never seen at bonnaroo? A fight I've never seen I've said this I haven't seen a fucking bug I haven't seen a bite 17 years I've only seen one crossword And that was two years ago and it was somebody in the Yelling at his wife Outside the festival. That's funny. First time first time. I've never seen a crossword Well, you know this quick show lasted 52 minutes buddy. So we did it. Congratulations It's the shortest show we've had. I could do Woodstock for more. We need to revisit Well, that was our quick update of what's going to happen this week Maybe we'll jump back in here and do an update on Lollapalooza If not, Barry, thank you for your patience And hopefully we get a schedule here soon. Yeah. Yeah, I think we should All right. We have we have a we will have a I know we'll have Jeff Quay or on to talk about details of Bonnaroo coming up soon I'm looking forward to that because we haven't had that one in a long time. Yeah, we haven't It's been a year. All right, buddy. We'll talk to you soon. Bye. Bye. Hey, thanks for listening to what podcast rate review if you can We'll talk to you later this week. Love you. Bye
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