Roadburn

[kiehozero]

Anyone there this weekend? Can't wait for Imperial Triumphant and Laster, don't reckon I'll make it through four hours of Sleep though.

[Corrupted]

10 years ago there would have been a 20 page thread on MI about Roadburn. I don't get enthused about much new music so the festival is never likely to appeal to me now. But it's interesting how things have changed. I do know a few people going this year again.

[stevie-0]

.

[Thanatos]

I think at this stage its popularity has outstripped the capacity of the 013 venue and surrounding satellite venues. Last time I was there was 2017 and most of the shows in the Het Patronaat venue were impossible to get into due to massive queues into the venue - Pretty shitty when you take the ticket price into account.  The smaller of the two venues in the 013 was also rammed all the time and near impossible to get out of once it had filled up.

A sizeable chunk of the crowd also seemed to be there for the sole purpose of having a backdrop for their instagram pics.

I know part of it appeal is that it's in Tilburg, with is a really nice little college town. But a venue like the Tivoli in Utrecht would probably be a much more suitable location when it comes to accommodating a larger crowd. Events like Le Guess Who? use it as the central venue(s) but have other events scattered thought the city.

[StoutAndAle]

I think at this stage its popularity has outstripped the capacity of the 013 venue and surrounding satellite venues. Last time I was there was 2017 and most of the shows in the Het Patronaat venue were impossible to get into due to massive queues into the venue - Pretty shitty when you take the ticket price into account.  The smaller of the two venues in the 013 was also rammed all the time and near impossible to get out of once it had filled up.

A sizeable chunk of the crowd also seemed to be there for the sole purpose of having a backdrop for their instagram pics.

I know part of it appeal is that it's in Tilburg, with is a really nice little college town. But a venue like the Tivoli in Utrecht would probably be a much more suitable location when it comes to accommodating a larger crowd. Events like Le Guess Who? use it as the central venue(s) but have other events scattered thought the city.

I've always wanted to go to Roadburn but never had the opportunity. Things always conspired against me. This year I had the chance and it would have been ideal seeing as Sleep are doing two nights but after reading a lot of reports on the old MI and elsewhere I decided against it.

Same thing has happened to Desertfest Berlin. It was in a really nice venue - the Astra Kulturhaus - a series of Cold War era train repair warehouses/sheds/social club. But it got to be way too big.

The final year it was at the Astra, in 2017, Sleep were one of the headliners. They had definitely way-oversold it. The crush and panic when they opened the main venue for Sleep was nuts - exacerbated by the fact that the door to the main venue has a lobby which was also a venue where a band were just finishing up. I ended up having to miss certain sets in order to see other bands even though the organizers had, in fairness, planned the schedule with little crossover.

It's in the Berlin Arena now which is much bigger but soulless. And as mentioned above, the festival became populated by walking haircuts wearing those Fjallraven backpacks taking selfies down the front at Sleep and Clutch. I didn't think that stoner/doom fests would become hipster event-junkie territory but I guess that I was wrong.

I went to Keep It Low in Munich last year and it was a fucking blast. Way more chilled with nearly everyone into the music and the vibe rather than updating their Instagram every 3 minutes.