Band Interview Fieldnotes from Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo

I looked through interviews of bands on various websites, including the Bonnaroo site, Youtube, and Google Video. I basically wanted to see what the bands thought of large-scale festivals, whether they were at home in front of the large crowds or overwhelmed. Also, I found some great information about what makes some bands stand out at festivals, and others flop.

One idea that came up a lot is that many bands like to play at festivals because they get many different types of people who had not known them before the festival. Chris Cornell talks of being turned onto something you may not expect. These events can be great publicity, depending on where you are on the schedule. However, while one may think that playing right before a headliner would be the best publicity there is, since many people will be waiting for them to come onstage, this can backfire if the genres of music are different; as was the case with Pavement and Sinead O'Connor. Sinead fans simply did not want to see the likes of Pavement, and the results were disastrous. Furthermore, if two great bands are scheduled at the same time, fans must choose between them, which can cause a competition.

Another point brought up many times was the disparity between the acts currently at rock festivals. There are hip-hop acts, blue-grass groups, DJ sets, and of course, alt-rock bands, among many others. Nick from Death Cab for Cutie says that the reason they can all play together is because the people who come are here for the "live music experience", not just one act. Furthermore, Talib Kweli brings up the point that "genre lines are blurring". A band is not necessarily confined to one specific type of music anymore, as Lars Ulrich from Metallica also mentions.

I really liked the ideas that Talib Kweli brought up in response to playing at festivals. He believes that the people who "spend money, get muddy, [are] uncomfortable" are the "REAL fans. You get the people who really love music. Cause everybody else who listens casually, they aren’t doing this. And they’re missing out." The fact that most of the people coming are such music fans creates an environment not found at regular shows. Many aren't just coming for one band; they're coming for many types of music.

Some bands flourish at these festivals. Several mentioned the ability of the Flaming Lips to put on great outdoor shows. Indeed, both Death Cab for Cutie and My Morning Jacket referenced this band's spectacular performances; Nick even saying he would never want to play after them because "that’s the best birthday party everyone went to all in the same moment and that’s it."

The interview of Nick from Death Cab for Cutie answered many of the questions that I had been looking into. When asked about the set one would play at a festival vs. a normal concert, he talks about playing more of the old material, and the crowd-pleasers, for both the comfort of the audience, but also for the band.

The interview with My Morning Jacket reveals the fact that sound checks are almost always unavailable during these large festivals. Bands have to simply go out there and play the best they can, perhaps not even able to hear their own vocals or drums. Furthermore, they are not able to perhaps create the "experience" they personally want the fans to enjoy at one of their own individual tours. If people only want to see a specific band, they may be missing out, since the bands have to take away certain aspects of their shows in order to fit both the timing and physical constraints of the festival.

The weather can factor in to be a positive or negative aspect of festivals. It can be over 100 degrees at many of these festivals, especially those in the South, since these festivals occur in the late spring and summer months. Some bands mentioned that, but Against Me! cited a positive view of the weather, talking about a nice breeze coming off the water at Lollapalooza.

Here are some quotes and ideas that I noted from each interview. I've linked to the videos wherever possible.

Kings of Leon

Always try and go to lollapalooza “the crowd didn’t know who we were, so they didn’t necessarily show up.” all the other bands supported them.
Other viewpoint: “putting bands UP against each other”
they have to go up against Iggy.
Band Competition:
Interpol vs muse
Amy Winehouse vs. lupe fiasco
Mmj and modest mouse
“we’re all about competition. We’re family. We can roll.”

Perry Farrell

“can’t see them all. There’s excellence going on at all times.”
“a very do –it –yourself feel. Alternative. Might be the only one out there that isn’t put on by some “conglomerate”
(Note: Obviously, Perry is going to push for his own festival.)

Pavement
Pavement - interview on lollapalooza

Sinead o connor played before them. they were “out of our element and she was in hers.”
Role in the “demise of the lollapalooza” only 20% of the crowd knew who they were.
Didn’t work out. “misplaced band on a failing bill”
if you see video he mooned the whole audience. Everyone was screaming at them.


Against Me!

Interviewer: “Playing out today, how was it out in the blazing sun?”
Against Me!: “I had a great time, breeze coming off the water, we were in the shade. It was great.”

MGMT
(Embedding Disabled: Go here to watch.)
“we’ve never done a lot of festivals before. And I don’t know.. it’s been quite an experience… it’s one of the best summers of my life so far.. I do miss summer things like being in the countryside, playing with dogs.. but in exchange we’ve got to see a lot of the worlds and meet lots of new people. It’s exciting.”


Audioslave

Chris Cornell: “what’s really good to me is just the diversity of the bands. There’s not too many tours like that.”
“You might end up being turned on to something you didn’t expect.”
Brad: “it’s easy to be creative in an environment where everyone is so supportive of each other and respects each other.”
Tom: Not just about the music, fight for social justice, help the environment, give out alternative information to people.

Tegan and Sara

“politely avoided them. didn’t really like festivals. But it’s been really fun.”

Metallica (Lars Ulrich)

“It’s about the variety. And the fact that’s starting to happen in America is great. A no-brainer. We haven’t really done anything in America recently.”
“brings people from all over the country. That’s so cool”
Interviewer: “what do you see as the unity, the consistency within the range of these bands? No one as hard as you.”
“we exist in our own bubble. We don’t feel part of a scene, or a movement. Considered ourselves to be kind of awkward, kind of the underdogs in school.”

Talib Kweli
Talib Kweli Interview at Bonnaroo '08

Interviewer: “what is like to be here at bonnaroo?”
TK: “its beautiful to see all these artists, and all these people to be here to see these artists. Spend money, get muddy, be uncomfortable. You get the REAL fans. You get the people who really love music. Cause everybody else who listen casually, they aren’t doing this. And they’re missing out.”
“blessed to be with kanye and other hiphop arists here.”
“genre lines are blurring.” Bonnaroo was here for the fans of all the music.
He also mentions the DIY feel of certain festivals.


Death Cab (Nick)
(Embedding Disabled: Link here)
“I think we understand the unspoken contract for playing live. You’ve got to play songs that they know, including the old ones. You can’t just go out there and be like we’ve got a new album, here it is, deal with it.”
“We’ll probably lean, I would say in a festival situation, more on established material, then breaking out the new jam. Not just for comfort for them, but for ourselves.”
Interviewer: “Do you go in with a different battle plan or do you say we’re gonna give em a show?”
“ultimately, that’s how we feel, we just say look we’re gonna play our show, we’re gonna be us, we’re gonna give them the best show we know how. When you’re playing for a crowd that large, or one of the high profile spots, you really want to do something huge and over the top, but then it just doesn’t feel like us. And you can’t really do that.”
“one of the ten commandments: thou shalt not play after the flaming lips. You just don’t at a festival. That’s the best birthday party everyone went to all in the same moment and that’s it. There’s nothing else that can come after that that would ever come close. Hallelujah to the bands that can do that and take it to the next level. There’s part of me that says hey I wish I could to that. But they’ve got it on lockdown.”
Interviewer: “look at the disparity – death cab, metallica, kanye, all of them – whats the common ground?”
“the live music experience.”
“chris walla brought this up: theres an album feel to how a festival unfolds. Theres’ a cinematic build to the end. If bonnaroo is an album, death cab is where you relax a little bit. It’s like a painting, you don’t want too much of one color. When we’re on tour, we miss all the bands who come to our hometown. And now I can check out kanye and my morning jacket. That’s just as exciting, just as much of a reason we’d choose to play here.”

My Morning Jacket

One of the frustrating parts of playing a festival is you don’t have time for a soundcheck . you’ve just got an hour changeover. You’ve got to throw up your gear up there and go. People are like “BLOW 50000 people minds” and you’re like “I can’t hear my vocals! I can’t hear the drums” and everything’s crazy”
“And people are screaming, and sometimes you walk up to the mic and everything sounds great and the crowds great and sometimes its pandemonium and you can’t hear anything, it’s so hot you think you’re gonna die, it’s such a random thing, so much is happening all at once.”
“when we’re playing at our shows in an indoor venue we can manipulate the variables and create our own environment that we see and put on a show that we want. It’s kind of nice to run up on stage and do something spontaneous. Not thought out and calculated.”
“it’s set up like a family picnic. You stay and hang out.”
“the spectacle: the flaming lips are the masters of creating that world.”