What Makes Bonnaroo Worth Saving?

Parker (00:00)
I would say that the future is extremely questionable right now. The the website as of right now says they're taking a year off in twenty-seven, which implies a twenty-eight, but like there's no verbiage saying that there will be a twenty-eight.

Jake (00:12)
Even if Bonnaroo is to come back, you know, it what does that actually look like? You know, is it a completely different festival? Is it a different different accept? They're booking different you know, budgets. I I don't know.

Barry (00:26)
Welcome back to another special edition of The What Podcast.. I uh I got to thinking last week that I haven't heard anything from the RooHamm guys. And I thought, what can I do to fix that? And I thought, maybe I'll just ask them to come on the show. And so I did.

Russ (00:44)
You

Barry (00:45)
And they said yes. And here they are. Guys, I'm Barry. That's Russ. That's Parker. That's Michael. That's Jake. How are you guys?

Parker (00:56)
We're good, yeah. I'm walking the dog just last week and uh get the call from Barry and I said, We are so back. Like uh you know, i you know, it's like getting a call from the president almost. You know, you gotta pick it up.

Russ (01:11)
Yeah.

Jake (01:12)
And and we

Barry (01:12)
That's fair.

Jake (01:13)
as a as three have not actually chatted on an episode in a while either, so it it feels good to be back on the mic in in any form.

Michael (01:20)
In a way both nostalgic and also felt necessary. So glad to be

Barry (01:25)
Thank you.

Michael (01:25)
here in this medium.

Russ (01:26)
Thank

you. Yeah. Yeah. And I, you know, it's been so long since we've talked Bonnaroo. I kind of forgot this was a Bonnaroo podcast originally. We've talked about so much bluegrass and stuff that, uh, you know, I was like, what are we, what are we going to talk about this week? What, you know, what's happening in bluegrass? But, uh, this is good.

Barry (01:41)
Maybe that's

what it was. I've had I've talked enough bluegrass, I said I need something else. I need some RooHamm.

Russ (01:47)
Yeah,

Barry (01:48)
When did you guys start doing the RooHamm podcast?

Jake (01:53)
gosh. I mean it's literally on our logo and I can't remember what the established date was. Was it twenty nineteen, Parker?

Russ (01:58)
I think it's 2019, yeah.

Jake (02:01)
Yeah, yeah.

Parker (02:00)
Yeah, probably like December nineteen.

Jake (02:03)
And I I you know, at this point it's so fuzzy in terms of what the catalyst was. I mean, I think it's just you know, I I feel like it's similar to your origin story a bit of Parker and I talk about Bonnaroo so much in our daily lives, both in and out of the festival season, and it got to the point of, you know, not only do our

Our loved ones and our friends are kinda like, okay, we've heard about Bonnaroo enough from you guys, you know. So t w the next logical step was to I I guess kinda create a podcast to where we can at least throw our ramblings out into the into the internet. And I think m you know, most of it was kind of a joke to start with me and Parker, but um

Barry (02:39)
Absolutely.

Jake (02:40)
I I I think, you know, and and you probably feel the same way, but the the Bonnaroo community they're very sticky, you know, once they once they latch on they're there and they're very um die hard and so

I don't know, we we kinda got an audience I guess a little bit and we just we

Barry (02:55)
Yeah.

Jake (02:56)
just kept going. Yeah, and then we and then we added Michael, our our community liaison and and and the rest of his history, I guess.

Barry (03:02)
Brilliant addition. Michael,

Russ (03:03)
Yeah.

Barry (03:05)
tell tell us about your origin story, as it were.

Michael (03:08)
Yeah, I I mean, as far as I mean, with Roo, I've I've said it a million times, but I was not a camping person. I wasn't really like I like, Lolla sounds cool, Bonnaroo doesn't, Parker does great job of convincing people, whether or not he likes to admit it, came and I fell in love just about as much as they did and truly any time I saw him or Jake, we would try to talk about other things in our lives and then Bonnaroo would happen, right? And then we just start talking.

you know, staying till bar closed on accident because we just keep talking about the next next lineup or whatnot. And so they asked me to come on a couple episodes here and there and I always had fun and I just never really said no. Like I said, I didn't expect anything of it, but it's like it's fun to yap, if nothing else.

Barry (03:54)
Yeah.

Russ (03:55)
Yeah.

Barry (03:56)
Now what I love about you that you bring is you end up at those two AM places where they don't

Parker (04:01)
Ha

ha ha. uh

Russ (04:03)
Yeah.

Michael (04:03)
Yep.

Barry (04:06)
And you know, sometimes it's asleep. ah And I'm like, I love that. I get that. And then you wake

Michael (04:12)
Ha ha ha.

Barry (04:12)
up and you're alive and you're going again. Yeah.

Michael (04:15)
yeah.

Barry (04:16)
Everybody brings something different.

Parker (04:18)
You know, to that point, just uh I for maybe we said this we probably said this in our episode like review for Roo this year, but soda about Wednesday night this year. Um, it's funny you mentioned that, Barry. Was that

Michael (04:29)
my god.

Parker (04:30)
Wednesday this year, Jake, Michael and I and a bunch of other people kinda got separated and I think all of us were having individual FOMO of like, I wonder where like everyone is, like, I'm by myself, like, what am I missing? You know, like this sucks. I should be out having fun. And then the next morning we were all like

We learned that none of us left group camp Wednesday night and we were all within like a hundred yards of each other doing different things.

Russ (04:50)
Hahahaha uh

Barry (04:53)
Ha ha.

Michael (04:55)
R it was so funny because I truly like Parker and Jake I thought they had left to go somewhere at about like nine something and normally Wednesday we we try to see the rest of camp, try to see what's going on in on the festival grounds and I just find myself sidetracked talking to friend of RooHamm, Shaina, from Loophole, and we're just talking for a few hours. Parker's off somewhere else with like the Roo Report boys or someone and I don't even know where Jake is and I'm just assuming

Jake (05:24)
Fell asleep at nine.

Russ (05:24)
Hehehehe...

Hehehehe...

Michael (05:28)
So but it it was really funny this year.

Barry (05:32)
See, and I I think our story this year, Russ, is the complete opposite. I think you and I were attached at the hip this year more than certainly ever before.

Russ (05:39)
I think so,

Yeah, definitely for me this year, I spent more time at camp than I did any other year. not that it was on purpose, but it just kind of ended up that way and I loved it. I loved it. Yeah. Mm-hmm.

Barry (05:52)
And then when yeah, if we did go in, we went together, which is atypical for our group.

Um yeah, that's always been sort of the unwritten, unspoken rule. Go do what you want to do. And if we go together, great. If we don't, then cool. Parker, you said something that I think is the key and and maybe the really the reason that I I f I find what you guys do so interesting and I find Bonnaroo so interesting and the fact that we have multiple podcasts. Obviously this one

um uh Sharla and Daniel who have created an entire foundation, uh, which is crazy to think about. the culture. And that's that's kind of I guess maybe what I wanted to focus a little bit on, in addition to just hanging with you guys tonight because I want to. I don't know too many things that have created a culture and and cultures within cultures, within cultures, within cultures, like Bonnaroo.

Um, Parker, you and Michael are in Des Moines, Iowa. Jake, you're in Minneapolis. You guys went to what? Iowa State together. what what's it been now? Twelve, ten years ago? I don't know how

Parker (07:03)
Twenty

twenty, but yes. no.

Jake (07:05)
Ha ha.

Russ (07:06)
20?

Barry (07:08)
Probably

seems like it.

Jake (07:09)
we are approaching ten, yeah.

Barry (07:11)
Talk about that a little bit. The the ha this culture thing. I'm not wrong. I'm 63. I'm a I'm way older than all of you, probably combined. But I've never seen anything like this. Uh where where we just literally talk about Bonnaroo. year-round.

Jake (07:29)
That's it.

Parker (07:30)
Yeah, I mean, to that point, like I mean, I think it the most emblematic thing is like three of the other shows that are um beside Rooham, like are still dedicated to a weekly format, you know? Like and people want that. There is an audience for that.

Jake (07:46)
Mm-hmm. Yeah, was gonna bring up the same point 'cause like, um, you know, I mean, transparently when Bonnaroo, uh, you know, said they weren't coming back for a year, I mean, our show is really only about Bonnaroo.. We we go to other festivals, we go to other shows, but you know, when we're I think we had kind of a conversation of like, okay, well what do we do after this? Yeah, you know, if we're gonna do anything. Um and just thinking about we thought about every other festival we go to, you Lollapalooza,, we've to Hinterland, we've been to when we were young, you know, Michael's gonna go to Coachilla next year and

I I I think we all came to the same uh consensus that like this thing, you know, this podcast, this community talking about it all the time really doesn't occur in any other space. You know, there's not there's not a dedicated Lollapalooza audience that is rabid about this thing. You know, there's not even Coachella, which is the biggest festival maybe in the world, does not have a community that is this diehard. Um so I think that kind of speaks to, you know, d the culture as a whole.

Barry (08:46)
Yeah, same question, Michael. Um, talk about the culture. I mean, it's um and and again it kinda seriously, I I love that all three of you bring completely uh different things, different viewpoints, not only musically, but what you do. And I think we do too. I mean, r we all know Russ loves to camp. I you know, I like to be comfortable. I don't you know, I don't I wouldn't consider myself a camper, but uh

I know that I talk about this stupid thing year round. Uh have you ever seen anything like it, Michael?

Michael (09:21)
No, it's it's fascinating because like like Jake said, we we all go to God knows how many other festivals within a year. And it's something that like, you know, you go to your first or second bond or especially even post pandemic. And I feel like every other festival I've tried to go to, I've tried to see if is there a world where we can recreate that? is there a world where like a a community even close to that can exist? And it's it's shockingly rare. And I'm not sure what it is. I'm not sure if it's like the mix of southern hospitality or

Just like the mix of just so many different genres and good uh sort of ethos and vibes that are pushed by the festival and by its goers that kind of create that that almost perfection of community and euphoria. It's it's very rare, I feel like, to to have something like that. I'm not I'm not even sure what really competes out after it. And I think it helps that while it has all of that, it also

is an extremely relevant festival. Like there are a lot of like acts that are of the now that are booked that, you know, like acts like Parker and Jake and I love and and just message each other day by day over. Like I think the group chat just completely was floored when Olivia Rodrigo got booked last year, for example.

Russ (10:37)
Ha ha ha.

Michael (10:38)
But it's it's like the the things like that, but also having something like like Porter Robinson being booked just as an example off the top of my head. Or

something like justice last year and just the absolute combination of it all with with our interests and the fact that it's such a twenty four hour festival and event. It's it's an amazing thing that is it's so hard to describe, which is why for so long you're just like, you kind of have to go to figure it out, right?

Barry (11:06)
When you are, and when we are, I'll put it that way, because we all are doing it, when you find yourself talking at work or at a restaurant or in a crowd or whatever about Bonnaroo. and those annoying moments, what are s what are the is there one thing that you find yourself talking about the most or or like what is the one thing, you know, that for that that person who's looking at you with their mouth open, like, will you please shut?

What the hell up about this, but you're still

Russ (11:37)
Hehehehehe

Barry (11:39)
trying to convince them why this is the coolest thing on earth. Is there one thing that comes to mind? Is there one thing that you find you're consistently talking about?

Michael (11:47)
this sounds so dumb. Um, Boom Cup. But I mean okay, I guess what I mean by that, it's sort of like I what made me fall in love with it a lot is obviously the people you go with is such a huge difference. And with our group, there's enough of like a almost a nostalgic community and party vibe that comes with it because it's it is vacation i in a way while you're kind of experiencing everything and

And we talk about the little things that we're doing in camp and we talk about all the different things we're planning and and let it be like the stupid stuff like, okay, so we're gonna do a pong tournament and here's how we're gonna set it up and here's what's gonna happen and if this person plays then that like that's the annoying stuff that it's hard to really describe, but it's sort of like the just pretend you're at like sleepaway camp for a week and then you kind of get it, right?

Jake (12:41)
Yeah, think for me, uh, you know, culture is definitely a big one, but I do think that's sometimes hard to conceptualize to someone who's never been to Bonnaroo, or especially in like at least in my case, 'cause the people that I've brought to Bonnaroo most recently have never been to a festival really ever. Um, so I guess the one thing I always go back to really is the value of the ticket, um, you know, monetarily. I think especially as festivals continue to get more and more expensive. I mean, concerts get more and more expensive. all three of us have been to

Festivals that are great, but then you kinda look back and you think of the the value of that. Like for example, all three of us have been to when we were young in Las Vegas, which I think we all have a amazing time. Uh, but when you think about how much money we spent for what was a single day of concerts, of which, you know, there's sixty acts, but we can maybe only can see, you know, five or six, just given, you know, you can only do so much a day and there's no camping, there's nothing like that. Um

It's a lot. And so to think about Bonnaroo, not only how much music you're getting, how diverse that music is, the fact they're getting an entire camping experience and and other festivals can offer a camping experience, but they can't offer, you know, the around the clock entertainment kinda like Michael said of, you know, i y if you wanted to go to Bonnaroo and and really just go to the headliner and that's it, there's still so much that you could do

Barry (13:59)
Right.

Jake (13:59)
throughout the day. And so the fact that you can get all of that for you know

I forget exactly how much tickets were, you know, last year, but under five hundred dollars to me is still crazy. I feel like Bonnaroo could charge a lot more than they are. and that to me is like just a massive point that I always bring out to people.

Parker (14:15)
Yeah, and you know, if I can just acknowledge like the elephant in the room of it all is um, you know, uh there will not be a Bonnaroo in twenty twenty seven. Uh,

Barry (14:27)
Right.

Parker (14:27)
and so I feel like n with that information it really like recontextualizes a lot of this and like it almost makes me think about like you know, with that information and you say like what makes us stand apart or whatever, it's like, well what

thing immediately comes to my mind like that I'm gonna regret not having in 27. And like Soda said, I mean, group camp is such like and really just camping in general, but you know, most people know that group camp is like an outlier. like I feel like the last two years specifically, we really caught our groove in terms of like, like I Jake and Michael mentioned it, like you know, campsite activities. You know, we had multiple daily activities, daily trivia with prizes, we had daily drinks, we had

Pong tournament with, you know, we all announ you know, helped announce it. And I, you know, it's just such a make of it as you will, as opposed to like most other places, which, you know, um I had a great time at Kilby Block Party last year. Um, I've had a great time at Boston Calling a couple years, but that's just something that you like kind of you know, you get what you are given. Whereas at something like Aru, you um you don't really have the opportunity to make of it as you want.

Russ (15:40)
Yeah, I mean, think, uh well, you know, whether we face it or not, like you said, there is no Bonnaroo next year. um It's probably more important than ever, like for shows like ours and these handful of shows that talk about Bonnaroo every year, it's kind of up to us to keep Bonnaroo alive going to the next year. And uh so, you know, I don't know. I don't think when it comes to like, what's the big draw? I would...

I would put music as maybe like fourth or fifth down the list. I can think of plenty of other stuff that makes me excited to go to Bonnaroo that's not just headliner or, you lineup related.

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Barry (16:31)
Michael, I'm so glad you said Boon Cup. Um, you

Michael (16:34)
Okay.

Barry (16:35)
guys, and I r I r highly recommend you guys go back and listen to the episode uh that the RooHamm RooHamm guys did. what did you call well, it was it was basically the NCAA brackets. It was modeled after the brackets, right? What'd you have?

Parker (16:49)
Yeah.

Barry (16:50)
Sixty four

Jake (16:50)
Yep.

Barry (16:51)
categories?

Jake (16:53)
Yeah, that was our draft of I think the top Bonnaroo moments overall. Uh and then we

Russ (16:59)
Yes.

Jake (17:00)
we uh paired them head to head to ultimately get a winner, yes.

Barry (17:03)
Paired them head to head

Russ (17:04)
That's right.

Barry (17:05)
and I love, love and I told you there, I told you on site that I would have picked exactly what you guys picked. Which w what was it? Do you remember?

Jake (17:16)
I I mean I just remember like in the end it was stuff and like it kinda goes to your point actually of what you're talking about. A lot of it's stuff that either A has very little to do with the festival or has nothing to do with the music. I mean it is like you know, like like Michael said the Pong tournament going to Waffle House. Uh, you know, i yeah. That was the winner, yeah.

Barry (17:30)
That was it. That was the winner Waffle House was the winner.

Michael (17:31)
Yep. Yeah, we'll have

Russ (17:31)
Yeah, Waffle House was the winner, yeah.

Jake (17:35)
And it's funny to like it try to explain that to someone 'cause I mean, especially to Southerners. we have Southerners in our um in our camp that, you know, to them that's like, well, it's just like going to McDonald's down the street, but

You know, to us it's more it's I mean, the Waffle House we we do in actually enjoy the food at Waffle House, but I think more of it is that you know, Bonnaroo represents for us, especially 'cause our camp is comprised of people from really coast to coast, uh and and friends that we've had for a long time, new friends. Um, and so it it's kind of a culmination of getting to to be able to see everyone. And so something like Waffle House represents, you know, a a bit of a tradition for us and something that we can always look forward to every year of like I know

Russ (18:14)
Mm-hmm.

Jake (18:15)
Every single year in June, you know, I'm gonna have that morning, you know, with my best friends that I've known for forever and we can reminisce and and think about the week we're gonna have. And so it's those little moments that you have over the course of a week at Bonnaroo that I think are really hard to get at other places, frankly, because, you know, being in the city, everything is just so curated for you versus like Parker said, you know, kind of making your own fun.

Barry (18:37)
I'm gonna put words in your mouth. Cause for me, here's what I heard. What and I I thought about this even before you guys did that. So I mean, I I for Russ and I, we've talked about, you know, we live fifty-six miles away. So for us, going, leaving Chattanooga, packing was always great. We were finally on the road, had whatever forty five minutes of road, and then we hit Monteagle Mountain, and then you hit the top and then you come down. And in the beginning

They had Bonnaroo. radio and so you could dial it in and all of a sudden your windows are down, you're down on the you're going through the farmland and you're listening to fish or whatever, and you're you're, you know, you get in line and then you pull into your campsite and all of a sudden your brain is somewhere else. So you guys are traveling what, thirteen, fourteen hours, some of you? And so that

Jake (19:32)
huh.

Barry (19:32)
idea of getting up in the morning, you've made it.

You're all together, you go to Waffle House. To me that just I don't know. I feel it. I I I absolutely feel it. That just feels like I'm here, I'm ready, the week has begun.

Jake (19:48)
It's the perfect way to start.

Barry (19:49)
Yeah. I love it.

Parker (19:50)
Well and

I mean, yeah, that's part of it, 'cause you know, like thirteen hours one way in a car with someone, like I've you know, feel like I've you know really gotten to know some people, like outside of these two, like in, you know, car rides that you know, that's an extra twenty four to twenty s si six, seven hours, like that uh you get to know someone a little more. So it's definitely part of it. I mean the the way back is always like

very challenging, you know, every year. Like uh but the way there the way there

Michael (20:19)
Very challenging. It's a humbling experience.

Barry (20:21)
Can't even imagine.

Parker (20:24)
is yeah, the way there's the best.

Barry (20:26)
Yeah. Michael, what are those other moments? I I I joked a little bit about the you always find yourself two AM out and you've discovered some DJ or some show. W I I and I love those moments because they seem so con totally different than the rest of the crew. what are the other ones that come to your mind? The the

Michael (20:51)
No, I

Barry (20:51)
bonar the Bonnaroo moments? And they don't even have to be music.

Michael (20:55)
No, well it it's funny because I think a lot of that stems at least for me, like I kind of allowed Bonnaroo. to even expand my like tastes in music and interests in life a little bit further. Um, at least just kind of like seeing like the type of person I was, the type of music listener I was, like before I went, like in twenty eighteen, seventeen. Like our like our friendship, my friendship with Jake and Parker spone from music that frankly Bonnaroo never booked until twenty twenty two.

Um and sort of watching that journey myself, right? Like it's the idea of like walking around and like we're in the woods and I am someone who never really thought I'd be taken aback by just like a visual scape of, you know, lights on trees and hammocks. Um meanwhile some DJ I've never heard of before in my life is playing some remix of something that I wouldn't understand and and it I don't know, it's it's the little things of just like

Kind of watching what happens if I just kind of say yes to everything and seeing how far I can go and seeing what I can do. It's it's been a really I I say humbling, but it's been a cool and humbling experience just kind of like learning learning about myself. Like the culture of just like that is what so many people are doing, right? Like I I think back a lot to the canceled night of twenty five and that night sucked for a lot of reasons for

For most people, understandably. And one of the things that I kind of just get stuck in my head is like even through all the the muck of it and just like the the sadness of it, it's it's you're walking around and it's wet and it's muddy and you're seeing so many people like kind of try to push through that Bonero spirit, right? Throwing afters everywhere, like pop up DJ sets anywhere you can think of, to the point where it's just like this almost turned itself into another mini festival because of

the the situation that we're in that is frankly shitty. So and it it's sort it's such a I think it's stuff like that that I find so cool that I'm I'm happy to have immersed myself in, right? And like that was such a a heartwarming experience like when you're walking around this year and so many people are like giving trinkets like were you here last year? Yeah, were you? Yeah. And then like, you know, you have this like shared trauma bonding moment while also

Also like gifting each other super like cool things and whatnot and I don't know, it's it's it's the stuff like that like always makes me wanna come back.

Barry (23:27)
Are you typically sort of a loner? I mean, at other festivals or other events, do you do you wander off by yourself and explore? Or is it both Okay.

Michael (23:36)
I usually usually I would say

I I tried my best to dedicate like I don't know, like if I'm a f at a festival of say like thirty hours throughout a weekend, I try to dedicate like at least three to five hours of just like I'm gonna go look at everything because I don't know what there is and I wanna find out. Um so m I it's been a while since I've gone to a show or or festival like that by myself. So usually someone's always at least latching on or there's something we're going to do, but

Generally I try I try to.

Barry (24:07)
You've always sort of been that way, haven't you, Russ?

Russ (24:10)
Yeah, pretty much. mean... uh

Barry (24:12)
Yeah, you're

nothing for you to get in the van by yourself and go somewhere.

Russ (24:17)
Yeah, yeah, almost prefer it sometimes, yeah.

Barry (24:20)
Yeah. How about you other guys?

Jake (24:22)
I mean I think for me it's i i it's similar to Michael. It it's like individual small moments. Um I mean I think a lot of it comes down to like little uh little times of like almost like collective effervescence between people i in the crowd, you know, when like uh Bonnaroo has a way of really getting crowds to lock in for me and and be really invested in the music. you know, I've been to other festivals and and they really range from

the audience seemingly does not care at all. Uh I I remember when I went to Lapalooza, that's kinda how it felt like. Is a lot of people that are you know, they're there for the music, sure, but it it is a lot of, you know, just kind of waiting around for a specific actors. I feel like Bonnaroo, the people that go to Bonnaroo. are invested and interested in seeing music either that they you know they don't know before or or is new to them. but i it's just those little moments. I remember like uh this last Bonnaroo, I think we were leaving Kesha with a group and

I we were leaving to go to the what stage, I believe to go to the headliner, and Mount Joy was playing and they're ending their set in the witch field, and I think they started playing Astro Van. And I don't remember who I was with in our group, but I was like, All right guys, I'll catch up with you. I gotta I gotta hear Astro Van. So I I went by myself, I found a tree just in the middle of the witch field, and I sat down next to some random person or met my life, it's just me and him under this tree, and we both just sat and and watched the whole thing and I started crying. And I I mean it's still like one of the most beautiful moments I've ever had at Bonroo of like

Just a small moment. And I'm sure you get that at other places, but I feel like I get those moments all the time at at Bonnaroo of just like whether they're connections you make with people intentionally or unintentionally. I never talked to this person. I never, you know, talked about that. But you know, in that moment, me and him, you know, had something together just in that one moment. And, you know, it's those little things that you remember. Um, I I think that I and that's what makes me miss, you know, not having Bonnaroo next year 'cause it's hard to get other places.

Parker (26:14)
I mean, Jake really like put it succinctly like

You know, the the weirdos come to Roo in the most uh in the most complimentary way. And even like if you don't consider yourself one, like outside of that, like you kind of are there, like, you know, some of these other places, like, um I I've I forgot I forget if I told this story, but yeah, Jake, I've had a similar thing. Like if Florence and the Machine, uh, Bonnaroo was dared to like go sit in someone's hammock with them at the back of the what field.

And so I was like really carefully selecting who like would berate me the least or like think I was the least weird. And so I was like this guy, and I went up and I said, Hey, can I sit in your hammock with you? Hoping he would say no so I could just leave. And he was like, Yeah, absolutely. And he kinda like is like, absolutely.

Michael (27:01)
So,

Russ (27:02)
Hahaha!

Parker (27:05)
And he like he was

Michael (27:05)
Yeah.

Parker (27:07)
he was laying down, he sat up, slid over, and I sat down and we watched some of Florence and the machine and we were like I was like so

Are you here by yourself? He's like, No, I'm actually with like a group of my close friends and I'm actually moving to Europe after this, and so this is my last time that I'll ever, you know, I may ever see them. Like, who knows if things will be the same. And I was like, Damn. Trying to even think of like other places that have like that kind of standout aspect. Like Roo just has that X factor of almost ev every show. Like even our friend who admitted the only reason he came back in twenty six is because he didn't get a full twenty-five.

He's just not really about that camping life. He was like every show at Roo was like, you know, a a step above from the average set.

Barry (27:51)
All right, do I dare bring it down a bit? How how do how are we feeling about I guess twenty eight?

Parker (27:58)
Yeah, so I have been thinking about I think Russ, I think you mentioned um, just to like kick it off, I think Russ mentioned like and I hadn't r actually thought of it this way, so props to to y'all for that, but saying like

Like it's debatably as important as ever for like voices like these to exist, 'cause I would say that the future is extremely questionable right now. Like you know, like you said, like if that's a downer, don't mean it to be, but like the the the website as of right now says they're taking a year off in twenty seven, which implies a twenty eight, but like there's no verbiage saying that there will be a twenty eight. Uh

Barry (28:40)
I'm looking at that

as there's not a hard no. And and

Parker (28:43)
Yeah.

Jake (28:43)
Mm-hmm.

Barry (28:44)
quite honestly, so far everything we've heard is planning, but it's been quiet here for the last month or two. So, you know, I don't

Russ (28:51)
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, there's

uh nothing to be concerned about, I don't think, but yeah, it's not like they've put a hard, um 28, you know, is happening kind of statement out at all. So, yeah. And unfortunately we've seen where a lot of festivals might say, you know, they're pause to take it a break and then just never come back. mean, you know, we could sit here and name a bunch of those that are technically still on hiatus, but you just, you just know they're not coming back. But,

Jake (29:20)
Yeah, I mean we we always keep it real uh on our show and I feel like, you know, uh personally I don't I don't feel great, you know. It it like you said, um a lot of it just is we've seen a lot of festivals that say they're gonna come back and they don't. I also feel like, for me at least, uh one of the issues is that what Bonnaroo was maybe five to ten years ago, even if it were to come back, there's no saying it's gonna continue to be what

I guess we expect from Bonnaroo. You know, I mean, I and I've been going since twenty eighteen, but you know, I consider, you know, ten years ago, if I if I was to think of like what are the big festivals in America or even, you know, in the world, you know, I'm thinking La Palooza, you know, ACL, uh, Bonnaroo and Coachella, those are kind of the big ones. And and generally, especially, you know, ten years ago, f even, you know, for the um before COVID, Bonnaroos in terms of a lineup, I would say was always competing with those big festivals. They were always, you know, punching up

or or or around the same, you know,

Russ (30:21)
Mm-hmm.

Jake (30:21)
big headliners, big legacy acts. Um and I and I do think, you know, and we talked about it this year that um, you know, this year's lineup, while we didn't think it was like bad, definitely maybe isn't on the same level um as as we've come to expect or even with other fests. And so I do wonder, you know, whether it's budget or, you know, losing

maybe faith in i the consumers that who have been going to Bonnaroo just because of the cancellations, because of the weather, you know, it's hard to build up that trust again. So that combined with, and again, I'm not going to speculate on a budget. I don't know what it is, but um i even if Bonnaroo is to come back, you know, it what does that actually look like? You know, is it a completely different festival? Is it a different uh you know, uh

Barry (31:03)
Yeah.

Jake (31:04)
different acts that they're booking different you know, budgets. I I don't know.

Barry (31:08)
That's gonna be my next question. But Michael, I wanna hear your your y your s sort of thoughts on I I I don't know what the question is really, is it's like how did you feel at the end when this thing happened? Yeah.

Michael (31:17)
Yeah, like like the the twenty eight. Yeah.

It's it's it's tough because, you know, like both Parker and Jake said, it's like it it's true. Like voices like like you guys like us, like GRoo Bus, like like all even the the new podcasts and and all of that that are that are coming out, they're so important because I think it's sort of like it allows a baseline and establishes sort of like a like a psyche that something like this isn't dead, it's not gone, and there are people that are still

Going to be reliant on it, you would hope and think, where it's like, I desperately want this back. I'm gonna miss this, right? Like, I I think to myself, I part of me, it kind of hit hard, but we were all we were ironically, we were all together just away from our phones like when the news dropped. But um, it's one of those things where I don't know if it's really gonna hit as hard as it will, say, in like three weeks, when it's Thanksgiving and Black Friday, and guess what I'm not gonna do? But by

Barry (32:13)
Right. Right.

Russ (32:15)
Uh, yeah.

Michael (32:16)
By Black Ride ticket.

Um, but to yeah, to that to that extent, it's it's I wanna remain hopeful. the obvious constraints of that is that you don't know because a year is a long time until you get to that like re roll out phase and and letting everyone know that we're back and seeing if there's interest and it is interest gauging. Do people still want to camp? Because that was sort of like the the question mark. Like, do people still want to do the outdoor camping thing because of the

The reality that central Tennessee in June is hot and humid and

Barry (32:47)
And wet now.

Michael (32:48)
and wet now.

Russ (32:49)
And yeah.

Michael (32:50)
So it's there's a lot like sort of in its way that you kind of hope that the good of it and it's it's really good, can kind of get it to continue. I'm I'm hopeful, but obviously we don't know. I guess is where I'm at.

Barry (33:04)
What were you gonna say, Jack? You looked like you were gonna say something.

Jake (33:07)
I mean, I just kinda agreeing with Michael. I think a lot of things unfortunately have just kind of been out of Bonnaroo's control. You know, I I think you know, I guess if you're maybe more critical of Bonnaroo, you could you could look at at the lineup or or the music and say, well, you know, it's not as good as it once was or something like that. But I think a lot of it just does come down to that uh to put on a camping festival at the scale of Bonnaroo just with the way frankly weather is now, i i

Barry (33:33)
Yeah.

Jake (33:33)
I'm not saying it's impossible,

Russ (33:34)
Mm-hmm.

Jake (33:34)
but it's just kinda the point of maybe it's just not

viable anymore. I mean, I think back to like when I first went with Parker and and it would be cold at night. We would have to have, I mean, jackets on. And the highest it would get would be maybe, you know, low eighties. And and that was it. And every year it feels like it gets hotter, you know, more unbearable. And, like you said, and now it's even more wet. And I feel like, you know, Bonnaroo can do as much as they want in terms of

figuring the land out, adding new um, you know, ways to drain water, but there's only so much that you can do.

Barry (34:11)
Yeah.

Jake (34:11)
And I think especially for, you

Russ (34:12)
Yeah.

Jake (34:13)
know, people our age, I don't want to speak for all Zoomers, but I I do think it can be harder to get people to say like and that's always been a hard thing of recruiting people is I always say it's the best week of your life and it is also the worst week of your life. And that worst week of your like part is hard, you know, to get people online.

Barry (34:28)
I've always said it's

a little bit of heaven right inside hell. Um Yeah.

Jake (34:34)
Yeah, absolutely.

Barry (34:35)
Yeah, that's I mean, r Russ and I were so lucky last year we got to ride around with Dale and and see all that infrastructure and then on Sunday, of course, we got to see all the mud. And I mean, I get it. You couple and you guys again, we you travel thirteen hours. If I traveled thirteen hours and had it canceled in twenty five and then had last year happen, I'd be skeptical.

especially if it was my first or second time. Um so there is no answer, right answer, but I will put it out there and see if you just even have thoughts. What do you think it might take for twenty twenty eight? Let's assume that it's us. Let's assume we're in the room with Corey and Shelby and and uh Tuba. all right guys, what's twenty eight gonna look like

Is it lineup? How do we sell this community thing that the five of us just spent 40 minutes talking about? Do we do we focus on that? Do we try to focus on we need to get Paul McCartney or the Rolling Stones? Or, you know, pick, I don't know whoever you pick an act. I'm old, so I'm I'm going with the old guys, the legacy

Russ (35:47)
Hehehehehe

Barry (35:49)
acts. Um, and I'm curious about the EDM thing too. And and

Because it's gotten so big and I think it was a super smart move on their part, but now I wonder did that did it did they'd go too much spreading it over too many acts, or is it just a confluence of so many things and just bad luck for two years?

Jake (36:17)
I mean, the way that I look at it is like you can go one of two directions. The the first being you reduce the ticket cost and you reduce the overall scale of Bonnaroo. You know, it it's less people. Uh maybe the acts aren't quite as um high profile. Or you just gotta get a a really good lineup. I think I think it sucks to just say book a good lineup because that sounds so easy, but it's kind of true.

Barry (36:43)
Yeah.

Jake (36:43)
I mean, we saw what happened with the Olivia Rodrigo year.

A a a year that I still say is like that's that's one of the best f festival lineups I've ever seen and you know, and it was selling well and and I I think that's kind of what they have to do because again, like we just talked about, if you're gonna deal with the heat, if you're gonna deal with the uncertainty of weather, also having to camp, you know, you have to drive, you know, if you're gonna fly in, you gotta figure out how to get your camping stuff in there. If you're gonna do all of that, you have to have a really good lineup and I think it's just so hard. I I I've seen a lot of criticism on Bonnaroo's end of like

They don't do enough to market the camping aspect. They don't do enough to market kind of the the more um, you know, I guess abstract vibes of Bonnaroo. And and I guess I get that, but it's also that's tough to sell to someone because it you really don't get it until you're there. I mean, you could show videos

Barry (37:31)
Yeah.

Jake (37:31)
of us at camp kind of dicking around, but it's not really gonna make a whole lot of sense until you're there. So I I hate to say it, but I I think they just need like, especially coming back after an off year and a bunch of cancellations. I mean, if if it's not

a killer lineup, I just don't I I really don't see how they're gonna be able to get back to those older numbers.

Russ (37:53)
Yeah, I think that's the reality. mean, it's the lineup that sells tickets, period. And without a killer lineup and without that base, mean, everything else kind of just falls apart after that, because that's what gets people interested, that's what gets people clicking, and that's what gets people spending money, is the lineup.

Jake (38:12)
And I and I don't think you have to have like necessarily a Coachella level of um, you know, sort of barely like you said, like I don't think they have to get a Paul McCartney. I don't think they have to get like the biggest acts in the world, but you have to be able to compete at least, you know, blow for blow at to a certain degree. Um y you know, and and I think for the most part, outside of last year and you know, some people could say like twenty two, I think they've done that every other year. Um and so I think they can get back there. It it's just

You know, it it's a large hill to climb.

Michael (38:44)
Maybe and like I emphatically agree with with the statement. I I think I lean more towards the idea of like I I'm of the opinion that frankly, no matter how good of a or how deep of a lineup that you can do and like Bonnaroo's no stranger to deep lineups every single year, some of my favorite lineups are the ones that people say are awful. Right? Like twenty two, everyone had so many complaints. That's my favorite lineup still to this day, right? Yeah

Barry (39:09)
Yeah, six sixteen. The the

the

Russ (39:11)
Hmm.

Barry (39:11)
the nobody showed up. You know, the half forty five thousand was one of the best festivals I've been to. Yeah. So

Michael (39:17)
Exactly.

But like but even to that, and I I truly do have that belief, headliners sell and those top names are the reason that people come and and no matter what stigma that you might have, like like you look at like twenty three with Foo Fighters, Paramour, um, Kendrick, and how many people came in for that, you look at twenty five with Olivia Rodrigo, you have so many people that came for the first time because of that, and with Tyler the creator, that like

No matter everything that we think of of how good or how bad they do with marketing or selling or whatnot, I think if you if you dedicate the energy to getting those names, I think you do a better job of of like building a base to retain that bad that that that's my opinion. I'm only one person, but that that's truly what I think when it like about that.

Jake (40:04)
To your point, Barry, about the EDM, I think that's an interesting point because one of the again, I don't know if it's like criticisms, but comments that I've seen is like O'Bonnaroo is booking too much electronic music. And I to me at least, and I'd be interested if like Parker has a different opinion, I would double down on that and I would continue to book maybe even more. because

Parker (40:20)
Yeah.

Jake (40:22)
the it feels like that's your base right there. I I think about the people that I meet at Bonnaroo, and most of them are, you know, electronic music heads who are gonna go every year.

Russ (40:30)
If it sells

tickets, book it. Yeah, absolutely.

Barry (40:33)
Yeah, yeah, I'm all

about that. Uh one of the things we heard and and Sean's one of our our commenters that and we want to have him on, but he said it wasn't so much that there was too much, it was that it was spread out over so many stages. It's like cool if you want to put it all on the other, but now you're putting it on all of the stages and so if I'm not into it, you know, y y uh it was an interesting point. Uh

Parker (40:59)
Yeah,

and I mean if I may, like, I might I might even like go as far to say that goes beyond electronic as a genre. Like, let's be honest, like things are as expensive as they're more expensive than they've ever been. And like, as as controversial as it can be when, say, the Who stage gets moved out to the campgrounds or stages get cancelled in general, like

Every stage that you have in operation is just like multiplying the cost of the festival. Like and it's

Barry (41:30)
Yeah.

Parker (41:31)
not just paying the bands, it is paying the staff, it is paying for possibly

Russ (41:36)
Mm-hmm.

Parker (41:37)
their housing, it's paying for their their food, their drink, possibly their transportation, like all these other factors and the power and XYZ. And so

Barry (41:41)
Sure, sure. Security, yep, yep.

Parker (41:46)
I would almost say like I think like we can have it one way or the other. This is like just once again my opinion.

Like and like I don't want it to be conflated like this is what I want. If it was my if it was my version, we would have a thousand stages, the best bands ever booked on each one. The festival's ten days long, but y you know, that that's why I honestly I was not like

I did not think Thursday was a bad idea this year. The four bands. Like, I thought that was a fine compromise. We still got a big act with s act with Skrillix, so like if we want to continue to have big names, I think there's gonna have to be like uh coinciding sacrifices to some extent. Like, does that mean a stage gets nicked? 'Cause like everyone, it's great to say like, we want fish and we want you too and we want that we want these like

Barry (42:39)
Right.

Parker (42:39)
multimillion dollar bands, but like

You know, like clearly like margins are thin enough as it is, so like something's gonna have to be cut. Or we could, like Jake said, like there are those electronic acts and like um, you know, like the Odesas, the Skrillics, or even like um I mean, I'm sure fish is not, you know it's fish is not not expensive, but something I've been saying forever is that people need to get used to like new bands headlining events

Barry (43:08)
Thank you.

Russ (43:08)
Mm-hmm.

Parker (43:09)
like this. Like people

love to be like, I love these new bands. And then the second that someone that you haven't seen on a headliner spot shows up, they're like, well that's not Bruce Springsteen and that's not, you know, Olivia

Barry (43:21)
Yeah. Yeah. There's

Parker (43:23)
Rodrigo and whatever. And it's like, I've been calling for Arctic Monkeys to headline forever. And that's just what and I'm not even a big fan. I'm just like, this just seems like and at this point they're probably huge enough, but you know, like people just need to get used to like new names being on.

Barry (43:37)
Well, and I thought I thought this year was the least uh name act lineup for me in a long, long time, but I thought it was as well curated as any in a long, long time. I felt like I c I could watch something all day long if I wanted to.

Jake (43:54)
the undercard

of Bonnaroo is always extremely well curated. And I think like to Parker's point, you know, you know, maybe one of the ways that you you build an audience, you know, not to throw more praise towards Hinterland, but I think one of the reasons that I've always gravitated towards Hinterland is um, you know, they do a good job of and I and I it's not like Hinterland's booking artists that never get booked in a million years, but they do a good job of curating artists that aren't necessarily on every single lineup. And I think that's something that Bonnaroo's fallen into a trap a bit is

especially top line or top two to three lines tend to look pretty similar to other festivals.

Barry (44:27)
Yeah.

Jake (44:28)
And so when you're looking similar to five other festivals, well, you have to be able to match up to those other festivals. Yeah, exactly. And versus

Barry (44:32)
Yeah, now do I wanna camp. Yeah, and it's close. Now do I wanna Yeah, yeah, yeah, I get that.

Jake (44:37)
like what Parker said, you know, if you can book some stuff that's kind of unique, like and and again, I don't like jam at all. But jam is very Bonnaroo and it's it's very, you know, it's very unique. It's like when uh Thursday when we had pretty lights several years ago.

that really wasn't anywhere else and it brought a lot of people in. So maybe that's a way that you move forward is, you know, still big acts, but y you're going a bit more unique in terms of who you're booking.

Barry (45:04)
Michael, do you feel like twenty-eight? Is that a complete reboot they need to rebuild? Or does it feel like they need to get people like us back and have a great lineup and just keep doing what they were doing? Uh how how much of a shift? What is it? You know what I mean? Does it make is my question make sense?

Michael (45:28)
Yeah. No

I think this is an incredible question. Actually, um, no,

Russ (45:32)
Hahaha.

Michael (45:34)
because I I think it's the it's the crux of it all, right? I don't know if it was uh an interview that you had done with either Ken Whitey Cena or or whoever years ago, where the reality is like Bonnaroo gets what, fifty percent uh returnees year after year or so. So it's not for as great as a festival as everyone says it is, it's not always as repetitive of a

of a ticket for a lot of people. And it's a really good crux question because you're just kind of like, yeah, where which way do you go? I I'm of the mindset of I understand that you want to get those back, but you know, two years is a lot of time a lot of time for a lot of people and a lot of time where a lot of life changes can happen and different shifts on where you are. So in my opinion, I would I would almost decide kind of like what you want to become in like this

sort of new era of like going after like Zoomers Gen Alpha while also like, you know, trying to take care of the millennials if you can and the Gen Xers and those that come. So I would almost say not to not to disregard what Bonnaroo was, but don't be afraid to embrace newer acts, new headliners, new like names that are big for crowds that are younger, right? Like don't be afraid to for just out of the top of my head, like a top line of like 21 Pilots, Death Tones.

Um, and like throwing like an Olivia Dean or something like that, in my opinion.

Jake (46:56)
Yeah, I I mean I think that's a great point. Not to be not to be cheesy, but like, you know, if you look at Bonnaroo. almost like a Phoenix or something, like it could be in its own ashes right now. And and like Michael said, you know, it it could rise as something new. I just you know, for me for an example, I'm gonna be thirty in December, and two years doesn't sound like a long time, but you know, someone around my age, which I feel like is a demographic that Bonnaroo wants to get.

Two years is is a lot, you know. You you can think about people having kids, people getting a house, you know, new financial endeavors, new jobs, stuff like that and

Barry (47:27)
Yeah. Twenty

Russ (47:29)
Mm-hmm.

Barry (47:29)
five year

old Jake is way different than thirty year old Jake is way different than thirty-five year old Jake. I promise you.

Jake (47:34)
I absolutely. I mean when I was when I'm

Russ (47:34)
Yeah, absolutely.

Jake (47:36)
was twenty three, twenty four, I'm I'm like, yeah, I'll go over here. I don't care. Like it it it i it doesn't matter but

Barry (47:40)
Yeah. I'll stay up all

night. I can walk twenty miles a day. Heck yeah. Yeah.

Jake (47:44)
It Exactly, exactly.

Russ (47:45)
Yeah, exactly.

Jake (47:47)
But you know, when you get to a around that age, basically my point being that just having two years off, you are gonna age out some of your audience, and so I do think this is a good opportunity for them to basically have a new image, you know. Obviously you wanna retain those things that people like about Bonnaroo, but I I I think it would be kind of a waste for them to come back as just the same old, same old but a year off and they've, you know, done a couple improvements to the to the farm. I just don't know if that's really gonna

push them over the edge for a lot of people.

Russ (48:15)
Think about, I mean, like you said, that there's a lot can happen in two years. mean, think about all the people that are coming up to be 18, 19, 20 in the next couple of years. And they're looking at, okay, now they're actually able to go to their first festival. What does Bonnaroo look like for them? Yeah. What's going

Barry (48:27)
Yeah. Yeah.

Russ (48:29)
to draw them?

Barry (48:30)
Yeah. And I promise you, they're looking at you at twenty nine and saying, That old man doesn't have any idea what I like and I know they don't think I have any idea.

Russ (48:37)
Yeah.

Jake (48:39)
I I mean it's true, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Barry (48:41)
Yeah, I get that. What and what I was gonna say is Rick from, you know, church boners, I mean he nailed it, Bonnaroo. and getting old, you are. And

Russ (48:50)
Mm-hmm.

Barry (48:50)
and that's the truth.

Parker (48:52)
Yeah, I mean I think these other two guys like nailed it, um pretty much. I I will follow up like in terms of like I definitely agree that like two years, you know, that's an eternity. Like there's gonna be like probably less follow up. Like everyone on this call will probably be there 'cause we're the sickos, we're the hardcore, you know, and you know, we'll be happy to see whoever, but um Yeah.

Russ (49:16)
Yeah, they don't have to twist our arm to get back, yeah.

Barry (49:19)
Mm mm.

Parker (49:20)
Well, but if they do want to hear something uh no uh

Russ (49:23)
Hahaha

Parker (49:24)
no I'm kidding. Um but I I I do th and this is just an assumption, this you know you know, n by no means gospel or whatever, but I just think the days of like shooting for eighty thousand, like

Barry (49:39)
I think that's gone.

Parker (49:40)
it has to be long gone.

Russ (49:40)
Yeah, it's done.

Parker (49:41)
And maybe even like sixty thousand, like maybe embrace

a forty to in forty to forty five thousand life and you know I guess if they don't deem that as profitable enough then I guess that is what it is. But that's what I mean. Like maybe if instead of being a seven stage festival or whatever it is, it becomes a three, four stage festival. And there's still tons of bands because I do think like you know, I like you said, Jake, I'll shout out, you know, Hinterland. Like people will show up for great curation because I'm not the biggest

you know, ammo and the sniffers uh fan of all time, but there is something to just be in there and you're just like you know, like that is curation as important as ever. Like instead of just throwing everything together, which is kind of what this year felt like, twenty six, um at Bonnaroo, but I will shout out, like I did think it came together like better than I thought it would. Uh there was a lot

Barry (50:35)
Yeah. Yeah.

Parker (50:37)
of good this year. Um probably my second favorite roue since COVID, frankly.

Barry (50:42)
I had a blast. Everything

Parker (50:43)
Uh vibes ice, yeah.

Barry (50:44)
was and it was it's a personal thing. It's 'cause just like everything fell in place. I got to see you guys when I wanted to. I turned the corner and there was somebody else that I wanted to see and then I got to see a fun act and and everything just fell into place. And that's that's what I love about the festival. But that's the how do you sell that? I mean

Parker (51:01)
But like

sure, and like

Russ (51:02)
Mm-hmm.

Parker (51:03)
I think, you know, I think that stage or that tent was an incredibly mixed bag this year. I think you just cut it. Like like

Barry (51:11)
Yeah.

Parker (51:11)
I don't know if that's a controversial statement, but like if it's if it makes their lives significantly easier and it can save you an amount of money. I see Michael making a face, but I'm like, you know, money has to be

Russ (51:21)
You

Parker (51:22)
saved somewhere. And I'm like, if it's gonna be controversial and make things like a stampede over there, it's like maybe that's a good thing to just cut.

And I think like in money saving matters, like also I think they should aim for and you know, it is easier said than done, but make destination bookings. Like that King is three night. I know that's the easiest thing to point at, but like that was such a slam dunk to like, you know and obviously every event ever wants something like that, but you know, just Roo is Roo, like

Barry (51:54)
Yeah.

Parker (51:55)
make it happen.

Barry (51:56)
Go ahead, Michael.

Michael (51:57)
I maybe this is and like I think it's a difference of opinion of on like assuming if say money is the issue and you're looking in ways to cut corners, I'm much more of a fan of like kill the Thursday headliner slot if we're doing that. Just because one of the reasons and this is definitely a self centered version of this, but I I love the sort of like the Thursday curation that it used to be, or like the Thursday discovery that it used to be, where it's like there is no major headliner, there might be

Barry (52:26)
Yep.

Michael (52:27)
You know, like a above club size exactly.

Barry (52:28)
Move in. Yep.

Michael (52:30)
Right? You move in, you show up like if you're local, you show up at four. Otherwise you show up Wednesday night and and you just see a bunch of stuff you don't know much about and like it doesn't you know, you kind of go easy because of that. And in my head I imagine the bill for that is still cheaper than, you know, say you putting however much you pay for for a Skrillix and everything else before that. And maybe I'm wrong. I'm I'm not sure.

Parker (52:52)
Yeah, maybe. I

mean, that's one stage versus four, you know, four or five, depending on what's happening. And I I'm making major we're all making major assumptions, I guess. Um and

Michael (53:02)
Yeah.

Parker (53:03)
once again, in my

Russ (53:03)
Hehehe.

Parker (53:04)
ideal world, we have that. And we have the best bands ever. I get rolling blackouts back. It's the best show I've ever seen, but um I just want it to survive more than anything. And so I'm d yeah.

Jake (53:17)
I think looking f if you just look at like what is successful right now in in the festival landscape, it like Parker said, it is curation. There's very few festivals who can hit that, you eighty thousand plus anymore. You know, I think I think ACL, I think Law and Coachell, and that's probably about it. I really don't think anybody else is gonna be to get there. But I think of two, I think of Kilby, and I think of All Things Go, both of which are extremely curated in terms of, you know, Kilby, um, you know, those are acts that I don't necessarily think are like

bands that you can't see anywhere else, but you can't see all of those acts together anywhere else. And then all things go, which I think is much more leaning towards women and you know, and it sells out basically every year because of that. And so I think Bonnaroo could follow suit in that, you know, like Parker said, maybe you get a little bit smaller, but you really lean into one direction. Maybe it's, you know, it it's weird. Maybe it's uh more into a genre. I don't know what that is, but

You know, you have to make yourself

Russ (54:14)
Yeah.

Jake (54:14)
stand out in the landscape, otherwise I just fear it's gonna kinda get, you know, uh stepped on.

Russ (54:20)
Yeah, I'll even point out our own Moon River that they did here in Chattanooga. I mean, it was kind of like that. was highly tightly focused, curated, and it sold out every year and still they couldn't make money. Yeah, but I could definitely see Bonnaroo

Barry (54:29)
And sold out and couldn't make money at thirteen thousand. Yeah. The venue got

Russ (54:35)
getting to something like that where they have to kind of like laser focus on the one thing that's working right now. Yeah.

Barry (54:42)
Well, you I mean, you raise a good point, and I and I was gonna say the reason Bonnaroo won't hit eighty thousand is not because they can't sell eighty thousand, it's because the they've reconfigured the space and the layout. With all of the VIP and the specialty camping, you no longer have the five of us in one car space and a pup tent. It's now R V and Yurtz and with the

recon you know, working around the water issues, they don't have as much land. So the the way it's laid out is smaller. Now, I don't know what that means, whether it's seventy thousand or sixty thousand, but I know they don't they haven't hit eighty thousand in a while and it's because of the way they've reconfigured things.

Russ (55:35)
Yeah, I think they shifted towards instead of selling the most tickets, maybe sort of like maximizing dollar per ticket. You know, if people are willing to pay more for that experience,

Barry (55:44)
There it is. Yeah.

Russ (55:46)
they can sell less tickets, but still recoup more money that, you know, from that group of people.

Barry (55:52)
And they as they were the way they were going before the the storm, you know, the the rain outs, people were buying I mean, I think twenty five or twenty four sold out, right? Um

Russ (56:05)
Yeah, mean,

look at 931. 931 sells out instantly every year. And that's probably, you know, the most money they charge for a space like that.

Barry (56:14)
So

Parker (56:15)
Yeah. And I I'll acknowledge like maybe I'm coming in hot with a couple of these takes and it it just is, you know, because I and we care so much. but I will point out, like, I feel like twenty five gets a lot of scrutiny just 'cause it was, you know, the rained out year, but I think the only reason it gets rained out or the only reason it gets such scrutiny is because of the rain out. Like if that

Barry (56:38)
For sure.

Parker (56:38)
year went on without a hitch, maybe we're like

Barry (56:41)
Yeah,

absolutely. Absolutely.

Parker (56:42)
as big as it's ever been, you know? So

it's a rock and a hard place and I I do trust the leadership to do like the best that um the best possible thing that they're capable of.

Barry (56:53)
All right, you guys uh tiptoed. We tiptoed around Hinterland a little bit. Hopefully you guys will come back and join us when that lineup drops. Um uh I that's the one nearest you guys, that's one uh near and dear to your heart. So I I do want to have you guys back on to talk about that if you're willing to do it. Unless you guys are gonna start doing shows again.

Parker (57:17)
Ha.

Russ (57:18)
Hehehehehe

Jake (57:19)
Yeah, probably eventually. Yeah.

Michael (57:22)
At some point.

Barry (57:23)
Yeah,

Parker knows, man, as soon as you guys drop, I'm usually texting him within about forty five minutes saying, Good episode. Thank you. I I love listening.

Russ (57:31)
Yeah, the whole point

of this was we wanted to listen to a new episode of RooHamm and the only way to do it was to haul you guys onto our show. Yeah.

Jake (57:38)
It's a really big brain move on your end.

Parker (57:38)
Really big grind move on.

Barry (57:40)
No, I

you guys put a lot of work into it. I thought the like I said, the the bracket thing was hilarious and well done in and was it two hours?

Jake (57:51)
All all our episodes are long. Yeah, we we can ramble. I

Russ (57:53)
Yeah, that's kind of the,

I'll take it. Yeah,

Barry (57:56)
Eats up part of my day. I love it.

Russ (57:58)
it's like, it comes out once a month, but you you're listening to that for the next, there's a lot in there to break down for sure.

Barry (58:05)
One of the m big things that I love about Bonnaroo is that I got to meet people like you guys and hang out and become friends and it means a lot to me. Um so that's part of why I wanted to do that. So I appreciate you taking some time to to jump on and talk to us. Um

Jake (58:21)
Absolutely. Thanks you for inviting us.

Barry (58:23)
I think Russ's point that is we need to keep talking about this thing and do everything we can to to make sure we have a Bonnaroo in twenty eight um is important. So

I I guess I'll just leave that leave it at that.

Parker (58:37)
That was definitely like a very insightful comment that I actually hadn't thought about. So can't guarantee, you know, anything next week, but um I mean I'll c the only reason we really didn't do a cancellation episode is because pretty much we didn't have anything new to say. And to be honest, we were at Jake's bachelor party when the news broke, so we were kind of preoccupied. So

Russ (58:59)
Yeah, he had m

other distractions going on.

Parker (59:03)
Yeah.

Russ (59:04)
I do want to shout out to somebody I met this weekend at the block party on Halloween at Bitter Alibi. Jared is a fan of the show. He's emailed us before and uh he's the one that cooks uh 500 hot dogs. So got to talk with him for a while and uh had a great time. of like, kind of this, it kind of rekindled like.

Bonnaroo and like how important it is and the community and just the people you meet. So shout out to Jared. You know, I'd to talk to you again. And yeah, was great.