Why does Coachella and other US festivals have such awful, moody vibes compared to UK festivals?
Posted by BlundeRuss@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 783 comments
You see clips of Glastonbury and other UK festivals and overall it just seems people having fun and enjoying the music. The people all look a bit scruffy and a bit drunk, but overall just a happy bunch. Then you see Coachella and it all seems so serious and just a dark vibe. So many posers and influencer types too. What’s that all about? Even the acts at Coachella always seem depressed to be there.
thricedice88@reddit
Everything they do culturally is just an inferior copy of stuff from other countries, their cuisine is a great example of this.
oscarx-ray@reddit
Jazz and pro wrestling would like to have a word, buddy!
thricedice88@reddit
Jazz came from slaves and thus is of African origin, only an American of low social and economic standing would consider pro wrestling a significant cultural achievement, mate.
ILoveToph4Eva@reddit
Jazz has roots in African musical traditions, but as a distinct genre it developed in the US. Having influences from elsewhere doesn’t change where something originates. Cultural origin and cultural roots aren't the same thing.
It's like saying Cinema originates in Greece and not France because it has its roots in theatre which did originate in Greece.
thricedice88@reddit
Your comment (probably unintentionally)subtly implies that slavery is a great cultural feature of America lol.
Oven_Either@reddit
Well I guess that makes Jazz the one good thing that came from slavery, at least.
thricedice88@reddit
"we beat them so good, they came up with jazz music!" - American tier cultural achievement.
Oven_Either@reddit
Don't worry, it was your cultural achievement as well, seeing how it was Britain who brought the slaves to the new world.
thricedice88@reddit
Arguably the bigger achievement, was our outlawing of the slave trade in iirc 1807, which in turn was the main driver behind your country eventually following suit and outlawing the practice of slavery, in the 1860s, I believe.
Oven_Either@reddit
The USA outlawed the slave trade in 1808. It was only a certain region of the country that held onto slavery until the 1860s.
Lacking a culture of its own? Of course. It's a country of immigrants. Immigrants who brought their own cultures to it and mixed together. It's why it's called a melting pot.
thricedice88@reddit
Oven_Either@reddit
Yep, exactly.
thricedice88@reddit
Not quite, but whatever serves your ego best 👍
Oven_Either@reddit
Yes it is what I said, more or less. Since you cut and pasted a section from the Wikipedia article "End of Slavery in the United States", I'm guessing you didn't even know the U.S. abolished the slave trade in 1808 until I mentioned it. But let's take a look at the map in that article. As you'll see, many northern states abolished slavery shortly after the revolutionary war. Others gradually phased it out later. In 1808, the U.S. abolished the Atlantic slave trade, which prevented further slaves from being imported to the U.S. The domestic trade, on the other hand, was the trading of slaves between regions of the American South. Which is why I said in my previous post that it was only a certain part of the country (the south) that held on to slavery until the 1860s.
oreo_oreo217@reddit
That's just not true at all. The United States has many unique cultural things. The NFL, basketball, plenty of music genres: Rock music, hip-hop, dance music to name but a few.
FlatoutGently@reddit
Funny how you just list a bunch of inferior things that other countries do better.
oreo_oreo217@reddit
Not really about the quality of the things, the point I'm making is that suggesting that the United States has no culture at all is frankly ridiculous
FlatoutGently@reddit
So why did you reply to the comment you did then? No where did they state what your asserting.
thricedice88@reddit
Americans are so sensitive about their lack of culture, if it was us, we'd have a good laugh about it.
thricedice88@reddit
Basketball was invented by a Canadian in 1891. American "football" is derived from English rugby league or union (cant remember which). I will concede rock n roll music and dance music, hip hop has roots in African folk music and spoken word.
The USA was never going to have much of it's own culture, given that it has only existed for 250 years it barely has a history lol.
marsman@reddit
That and the mild issues around native populations and their much longer histories and culture of course.
thricedice88@reddit
And of course the yanks have done their best to erase those people, their histories and their cultures.
G0rdon-Bennet@reddit
school shootings, bankrupting medical care.
No-Particular-2894@reddit
Cringe
JamesHowell89@reddit
People still say this?
oscarx-ray@reddit
"Rugby with pads" and "netball with bouncing"? Ooooh the culture!
Lynex_Lineker_Smith@reddit
Looooool
Ok_Scientist_987@reddit
Wow, that's one hell of a take. I get the Anti-US sentiment that is soooooo popular in the UK, but, this is a bit much
thricedice88@reddit
I'm not anti USA, my brother lives there and is married to an American.
It was supposed to be a playful observation/banter, some other Americans are just very easily offended, apparently. They lack the thick skin of the British.
maturin23@reddit
Blues, Jazz? I'm not a Cadillac driving line dancer, but that's a bit of a strong opinion.
thricedice88@reddit
Jazz music was pioneered by african slaves, not sure about blues.
fastcarly@reddit
I went to Coachella years ago, Snoop 2pac year and as a Brit was shocked to find that no drinks were allowed across the festival site only in designated bar areas. This is totally why. Everyone was just smoking weed.
Individual_End_9004@reddit
British festivals gets shit on a lot by Americans, but give the me the choice of coachella or Oasis anywhere in the UK and there is no debate whatsoever.
Coachella is literally the definition of a soulless corporate sellout devout of any heart or real meaning. 30 dollars for some fucking fries. A festival full of influencers? Can’t imagine anything worse.
Peace, love and most importantly Capatalism…..
Physical_Heart2766@reddit
Even a metal festival like Reading knocks American festivals out cold.
The vibes are just infinitely superior.
mckjerral@reddit
Reading is a metal festival??
Physical_Heart2766@reddit
Yes, Reading contains a large number of metal bands. I mean, it's not Bloodstock - don't get me wrong.
mckjerral@reddit
A large number? One of the days of Reading and Leeds used to be a heavy rock/metal day on the main stage, and even the rest of the weekend was well populated. That hasn't been the case for a long time. I am old and out of touch but I don't recognise a single artist on the lineup for this year as being even rock let alone metal
beesarie@reddit
Ironically, Coachella was in part created due to a dispute Pearl Jam had with Ticketmaster, because of the band disagreeing with ticket fees
Individual_End_9004@reddit
I think all festivals now are just created to rinse their customers.
Remember the reincarnation of woodstock 😂😂
27106_4life@reddit
When do Americans shit on British Festivals?
Virtual-Target9733@reddit
When they have rap music? Americans shit on British rap and hip hop cuz they can’t compete in Rock 🤘
Mopperty@reddit
If its Oasis or Coachella, can I stay at home? ;)
Ok_Impact9745@reddit
I always think for a country that harps on about freedom they all seem to be very obedient
If that was in the UK people would be doing everything in their power to sneak booze in.
JWBails@reddit
I've seen a few examples of people burying alcohol in the festival site a couple weeks before setup begins so that they could dig it up after they got through security..
PotentialTheory7178@reddit
What a move. Love that.
Scared-Card-6181@reddit
My uni used to have a massive music festival every year and I saw this guy climb a tree to duct tape drugs onto a branch a week beforehand. Life finds a way.
Virtual-Target9733@reddit
And then a bird got into the bag
No-Name6082@reddit
Top tip!
Tired_2295@reddit
If you go to UK festivals, find the small stage where there isn't a crowd barrier, guarantee you there are bottles under it
sirhowy@reddit
WanderlustZero@reddit
Thanks for not calling it 'Molly' 🤮
macrowe777@reddit
If you had Americans in France during the revolution, they'd have made a chair out of the guillotine and lay on the floor anyway.
dhoshima@reddit
Californians don’t drink that much in general. Especially the ones that can afford Coachella.
Elruoy@reddit
No sneaking required.
TheSonicKind@reddit
when i went I got to see Dave and it was like a small gathering of the British folk. it was a very welcome change, i didn’t like the vibes of Coachella in general, so much aggro and posturing
fastcarly@reddit
Ps to get in bar areas you had to have an age ID band on as drinking age there 21, today changes the vibe. Very strict on any drinkers entering the site even from camp. Was wild.
FlummoxedFlumage@reddit
Is the site big? At Glastonbury, I’ll pretty consistently walk 30k steps a day, so the drugs and alcohol are all medicinal.
Training_Swimming_76@reddit
Coachella is tiny compared to Glastonbury. I’ve been to both and coachella feels super corporate. To the point the machines at the bar have the 20% 22% 24% tip option. Really didn’t enjoy it. Glastonbury actually feels like a proper festival
sheffieldpud@reddit
Glastonbury is far, far bigger than Coachella. Check this out: Glastonbury Festival Map Overlay - Compare Worthy Farm to anywhere in the world
You can put Glasto map over anywhere you want and see the size. Link will take you to where Coachella is located. Area between Monroe and Madison Streets and Ave 52 and Ave 49 is roughly size of it.
I also did many, many miles daily at Glasto going from one stage to other and seeing everything. Place is magical isn't it.
birdstrike_hazard@reddit
I love this!!
DarkAngelAz@reddit
Yes - Glastonbury is massive. I routinely walk 30 to 40k steps each day there.
watchingonsidelines@reddit
Surely that cultural too though, I’ve been to festivals in other places where it’s predominantly weed and the crowd was lively still.
justhereforthecrac@reddit
I don't even drink and this sounds so whack at a festival!
mallgirl2002@reddit
It is often way way too hot at american music festivals
ArtofcletuS@reddit
Hang on, you can only drink in designated areas? Honestly that sounds fucking dogshit NGL. No wonder it's just full of posers.
FREE THE BEERS!
Minimum-Praline-2457@reddit
Americas not had a festival which can define a generation in over two decades
Suddendeath777@reddit
Coachella seems like an event you go to just to show people you are there.
It looks pretty soulless to me, people have their little photoshoot for social media and then scoot off back to their RV for the night.
GaryGump@reddit
Am I right in saying Vanessa Carlton played A Thousand Miles on stage and the video showed no one singing along? What’s that about? In the UK, you wouldn’t be able to hear her because the crowd would be so loud.
Broccoli--Enthusiast@reddit
Americans are just weird like that
Legitimate_Corgi_981@reddit
"We came here to see the act sing, not us sing the chorus back to them!"
JFJF48@reddit
Maybe they cancelled the song because it featured in white chicks?
gingerisla@reddit
It's hyper capitalism. You aren't allowed to just have fun anymore, it has to serve a higher purpose i.e. brand-creation. Everything these attendees do serves their brand. Their jobs, their morning routine, their food, their clothes, their "content" - everything's fake. It's soul destroying.
ToastedCrumpet@reddit
It feels like an influencer’s festival more than a music or drugs fan festival
Smart-Delay-7237@reddit
Yes its a badge of rich kids honor
iain_1986@reddit
But that's also like Glastonbury, but that's somehow not turned into what Coachella is
MidgarDreaming@reddit
That's not like Glastonbury at all. Glastonbury is a festival and celebration of people, the music is a small part of the overall experience.
Fine-State8014@reddit
Glastonbury is about flags and telling people you went to Glastonbury.
Hulla_Sarsaparilla@reddit
Have you actually been to Glastonbury?
Fine-State8014@reddit
Nope, despite my love of live music Glastonbury doesn't interest me at all. Maybe because I don't like flags.
Hulla_Sarsaparilla@reddit
I’ve been many times, I promise you it’s not all about flags, it’s not even all about the main stages or headliners especially if you just love live music
Fine-State8014@reddit
So same as every other festival but with more middle class flag wavers? I'll happily give it a miss.
1voice92@reddit
Stop trying so hard. It’s coming off beggy
MidgarDreaming@reddit
I took a giant flag and told all my mates who were also going about the giant flag so maybe you're right.
giantturtleseyes@reddit
Not sure which glastonbury you went to but every time I've been people have absolutely been getting involved
MrReadilyUnready@reddit
Have you been to Coachella to reasonably make the comparison? Basing your opinion off of what you see on social media is odd.
shpeb@reddit
Look at videos of crowds at Glastonbury, now compare that to Coachella crowds.
Coachella is extremely popular for influencers and rich people, Glastonbury is just popular amongst music fans.
blizeH@reddit
Idk man, this looks fun and definitely not soulless https://youtu.be/odnNryDfs9c
BBDominoes@reddit
Yea, it bugs me.
But how good were The Strokes this year? Chefs kiss😘
Legitimate_Corgi_981@reddit
I remember seeing The Strokes at Leeds Festival in 2001, they were incredibly polished to the point where I wasn't entirely sure they weren't just playing a backing track. Fair play to them for actually getting the sound perfect, I've seen plenty of touring acts struggle to get the balance right for either several songs or their entire set. As I've got older I prefer a little more uniqueness in performances at a live gig with some crowd interaction mind you.
RuMcG@reddit
Glastonbury is a cultural institution with its roots in counter culture, run and volunteered at by people who genuinely care about the atmosphere, experience and legacy.
Coachella is just a commercial entity.
There are festivals in Europe and the UK with similar vibes to what your seeing at Coachella, where it’s far more about clout and status and people aren’t particularly concerned about the actual experience itself.
Elements of Glastonbury have almost certainly become a little bit more like this over time but by all accounts it’s seems to retain some of its essence
Legitimate_Corgi_981@reddit
I remember finishing my GCSE maths exam as early as possible to rush and catch a train for Glasto 98. Good old days of being able to jump the fence, incredibly thankful that I'd brought along a bunch of waterproof gear as it was a proper muddy swamp that year.
HerrFerret@reddit
I went to a Buddhist festival for a week, and was warned by the organisers I might want to consider clearing off before the weekend when all the Londoners arrive.
Woke up Saturday morning and looked out of my tent to see some influencer crosslegged in a wicker bower, meditating in front of a small film crew. They were everywhere!
Packed up and left in under 30 minutes.
TysonTK@reddit
As a Brit who’s been to both, albeit weekend 2 of coachella which is actually a repeat of weekend 1.
There are plenty of people who are at the festival and living the moment but you’re not seeing their experience plastered on social media. Same as anything really.
There is a lot less alcohol at coachella during the day because it’s so hot and you can only drink in designated areas inside the festival grounds. There is loads of after hours parties and drinking in the camping grounds.
On the camping, I love both British festival camping and coachella camping. The grunge of Brit festivals is unlike anything but coachella gives you designated space and what this does is let people book loads of space next to each other and they make party zones. When I was there, on one side were 2 chill stoners and on the side was a group who’d booked several spots next to each other and came with a inflatable hot tub, huge speakers and a little dj set up. Quite literally partied with them until the sun started to rise.
Genuinely think coachella gets a bad rep because it’s such an influencer magnet but I would bet anyone who’s has a good time at any festival in England would have a great time at coachella too.
british_heretic@reddit
It’s nice to hear from someone that’s actually been and has some genuine insight. Most of the rest of the responses seem to be outright xenophobia.
TysonTK@reddit
It’s probably the worst thing I could say in a thread like this but gun to my head I’d say coachella is the best festival I’ve been to. It’s hard to put into words why without sounding like a right cunt though haha!
Steppy20@reddit
(I'll caveat this by saying I've only been to a few festivals)
My best one so far has been Graspop over in Belgium. I've done a few UK festivals and they're just not as good. The vibe, the level of organisation, the absolutely batshit insane campers.
Admittedly it was hot and dry rather than wet and muddy so I don't know if they'd hold up as well in poorer weather, however they did still have a few issues with long queues for water refills.
ManicTonic22@reddit
Have you been to Glastonbury?
Steppy20@reddit
Far too many people for my liking so no. I've done Download a few times, Bloodstock once and a couple of bike/music rallies in various places.
Mr_Willkins@reddit
Oh in that case I can totally see why you rate Coachella so highly.
Steppy20@reddit
Do you think I'm someone else?
I have never been to Coachella, nor have I commented on what it's like (since I have never been...)
The only one I've rated highly here is Graspop. But I caveated that by saying that the weather was quite good for them so I haven't seen how they manage and deal with a mudfest yet.
Mr_Willkins@reddit
Ah sorry, my bad!
Steppy20@reddit
No worries. I just realised the OP of this thread also has a yellow profile picture so that was probably the source of your confusion.
british_heretic@reddit
Your experience is your experience, and it's absolutely ok to have enjoyed it 😅 - but yeah I'd keep your head down!
omniwrench-@reddit
I would caution against using words like ‘xenophobia’ in such casual conversation - doing so only lessens the impact when such terms are called for.
We’re talking about different cultures of music festivals after all, not apartheid.
Efficient_Hyena_7476@reddit
"...you can only drink in designated areas inside the festival grounds" Oh, fuck that. That sounds like a shopping centre, not a festival.
Siggi_Starduust@reddit
That was essentially what the now-defunct Big Day Out in Australia was like.
It had some great line-ups but having to rush to the bar between sets then skull your beer as quickly as possible rather than just enjoying it while watching a band at the same time, was awful. I don’t miss it.
TheShakyHandsMan@reddit
You can’t take alcohol out of those areas just in case you pass a beer to a 20 year old.
ManicTonic22@reddit
That’s ridiculous, UK festivals like Glastonbury or Reading have attendees under 18 and we don’t have silly rules like that
TheShakyHandsMan@reddit
That’s the USAs ridiculous relationship with alcohol. I’ve seen posts on here where an American has described their problems with drink and what they were consuming would barely even class as pre drinks for us seasoned drinkers.
boywiththedogtattoo@reddit
It’s strictly a Coachella policy. Other rock festivals in the US don’t have this policy.
BuddyLegsBailey@reddit
I always chuckle when American TV shows have a character turn up at a friend's house with 6 bottles of beer for them to share and get drunk on
CaveJohnson82@reddit
Honestly, from your description I'd rather go to Coachella. But then, maybe that's your lack of toilet description lol!
TysonTK@reddit
It’s all the small things you don’t mention until someone asks… toilets in the festival grounds are like any other festival but I’d say “cleaner” simply because barely anyone is absolutely fucked when using them.
The camping grounds are a whole other level… multiple showering stations that were free to use and well maintained. You’d want slides on still but it doesn’t feel dirty haha!
There some really shite things about coachella too though. Dust is everywhere cus it’s dry so you need a mask or bandana or face covering. It’s so hot that it can be hard to sleep, imagine 30+ degrees in a tent at 6am, it’s horrible. Food and drink in the festival grounds is crazy expensive and that’s knowing how expensive it is at uk festivals too. We would eat and drink back at camp throughout the day. Get a buzz on drinking straight vodka and then go back to the festival with bottles of water!
If you want to see good examples of real people at coachella, just head over to the coachella subreddit. Leading up to the event there is loads of discussions about minor acts etc and much closer to the events there all sorts of people offering up rides/food/places to stay. I got all my travelling and camping tips from that sub.
Mr_Willkins@reddit
Toilets and showers? Your values are not my values 😀
Mr_Willkins@reddit
I mean cool and all but I'd fucking hate it if my campsite neighbours set up a sound system and partied all night. When I stumble back to my tent after getting really messy all day I just want to get a few hours kip so I can do it all again the next day.
TysonTK@reddit
This is where you have the experience a bit backwards. The after party scene is very much a part of coachella. It’s probably where 75% of the drinking happens.
While it’s not impossible, you just don’t get incredibly messy during the day at the festival. You’d probably end up with heat stroke or some other dehydration issues!
With that said they do have “quiet” camp areas so if it’s not your bag you can opt out.
Mr_Willkins@reddit
Are there not after-party areas within the festival? The naughty corner at Glastonbury runs until sun-up, you don't need your own sound system.
trichcomehii@reddit
Have you been to burning man? If so what's your take.
TysonTK@reddit
No I haven’t. My coachella was back in 2018 and was a part of a 3 week trip spent in LA, San Diego, vegas and san fran.
It started as can we even get tickets and turned in to fuck it, let’s hire a car and make the most of it.
mrschef04@reddit
Coachella doesn’t look like it’s for the love of music. It’s just looks mainstream af and the people are more interested in what they look like rather than having a good time. When you see UK festival goers, they are dressed for fun and partying. Lots of wellies, hoodies and huge backpacks. You choose a festival based on line up that you know is going to suit your vibe. I didn’t mind Reading Festival, but I went to a great lineup and it was such a mixed crowd. I don’t think anyone around me at a UK festival gave two f*cks about what they looked like. Capitalism killed creativity in the states. When I was there in the 90s, it was raves, Lollapalooza, small festivals. The corporations took over and now American festivals are “Diet Coke” of festivals.
EcoNorfolk@reddit
Most mericans are pretty uptight and not that bright.
Pangaeabeliever@reddit
"Most [A]mericans are pretty uptight and not that bright." Except we lead the world in innovation, wealth creation, scientific breakthroughs (425 Nobel science awards, most in the world), and military dominance. I guess America is doing something right.
EcoNorfolk@reddit
Yes your military dominance has managed to lose every war (that you start or escalate) over the last 40 yrs. well done you. Money well spent.
MissionFig5582@reddit
You can drink anywhere at UK festivals. At Coachella, you're only able to get a beer at a penned-off bar area where you can't even see a stage. At least it was like this when J went about fifteen years ago. Was a joke of a place.
Drugs (I mean non-THC) are probably more prevalent at UK festivals too.
Frap_Gadz@reddit
In the UK it's often not so much drugs at the music festival as it is music at the drugs festival
Solid-Version@reddit
I’ve ever done as much drugs in my life as I did at Glastonbury. I was barely standing by the time Kendrick Lamar played his set on the Sunday.
Looking back I don’t know how I made it out alive lol
(Been sober three years now)
excecutivedeadass@reddit
That is the question i'm asking my self for years now (43yo). I think my daughter saved my life, when she was born 7 years ago i stoped with everything, now i just drink in moderation. But still when i go alone to my home town on summer vacation, usually 4-5days it's a binge.
Admirable-One3888@reddit
I find it self destructive and pitiful instead of LOL but one of my colleagues loves it and looks forward to this week off her head all year. Sounds like a nightmare to me.
Realistic_Pizza_4057@reddit
I was tripping balls when he put the thorn crown on his head and had blood dripping down his face. That did happen right?
Solid-Version@reddit
Yeah it did 😂 I was tripping as well but my friend assured me it was real
oceanicitl@reddit
Yes but no but yes. As a woman pushing 60 I’ve been to music gigs, raves & festivals forever. I think the drug use now isn’t as prevalent as it used to be but it depends on the music & the festival. But what the hell is with those gas things & balloons? Give me some weed & alcohol & I’m there all night. This stuff seems more comatose. Fill me in if I’m missing something
Joe_Kinincha@reddit
I think maybe you haven’t been to a big gig / festival for a while? You are right, for ages nitrous oxide (the gas in the balloons, which comes in the tiny little silver canisters) was everywhere and every few seconds you’d hear the “whoosh” of a ballon being filled. but there was a legal crackdown a few years back so you don’t see it as much these days, which is good because dead NOZ bottles used to be everywhere at festivals. These days for the youth it’s all about little bags of powders that I’ve never heard of.
oceanicitl@reddit
I go to festivals and gigs every year
Joe_Kinincha@reddit
Fair enough. Are you in the UK? Should have specified that’s where I meant, I don’t go to many gigs or festivals outside the UK. And I’m sure it is also definitely event dependent. You’d expect a lot more weed at a dub or drum and bass night and pills and powders at a techno event.
oceanicitl@reddit
Yes I'm in London. I used to rave in Kings Cross, Farringdon and Brixton in the 90s so I have seen it all. The last rave I went to seemed very lame in comparison... or maybe I'm just old now lol
Chemical_Sandwich_30@reddit
wouldn’t have it any other way
Frap_Gadz@reddit
I too love it when they play music at the drugs festival 😎
(Although not so much now, old man dad life mode)
Falloffingolfin@reddit
Look, some of us actually want to go because we enjoy drugs and want to take them without dickheads playing indie rock and DJs making my clothes stink.
Virtual-Target9733@reddit
You know you can take drugs at home?
featurenotabug@reddit
Some of those drugs just make you want to get up in front of everyone and play some indie rock
cyberllama@reddit
You know you're old when the young uns ask if it's ok to smoke near you 🤣
Shriven@reddit
Hugely respect that tbh. Wish people would have that same attitude out in the street tbh
GKMCity@reddit
Very thoughtful question tbf. Game's still alive
fozziwoo@reddit
fr fr,
oceanicitl@reddit
You can still knock back some drinks & have a spliff though sometimes yeah? 😂
crankgirl@reddit
Username checks out!
Joe_Kinincha@reddit
I’ve not heard that before! You just described boomtown to a t.
(Not necessarily a criticism)
RubADubDubILuvGrub@reddit
My Son has been to Boomtown, I know a lot of people who go & a few who help with the build, it's looks amazing from the pics I have seen
The_39th_Step@reddit
It’s brilliant but, bloody hell, it’s the druggiest place on earth
dekker87@reddit
Lol - you shoulda been around in the early 90s.
The_39th_Step@reddit
Boomtown would give that a run for its money. Every single person there is on drugs. It’s at least 95%+
dekker87@reddit
Back then it was more like 100%.. people just walking thru crowds shouting out what they had 'Es Whizz, 3 lighters for a pound!'
Joe_Kinincha@reddit
Boomtown has an updated version. People put a scrolling banner app on their phone, tell it to say “anyone got ket?” And hold it up in the crowd. At any given point after roughly mid afternoon there will be dozens of these visible
dekker87@reddit
lol! nice! i like that...
The_39th_Step@reddit
People still do that. It sounds very similar
RubADubDubILuvGrub@reddit
I prefer the smaller alternative festivals/boutique festivals..family friendly
Joe_Kinincha@reddit
Me too.
I can’t make it this year, but bearded theory is just the most wonderful, chill, gentle, tiny festival. And the lineup this year is insane! (If you happen to be a child of the ‘90s).
https://beardedtheory.co.uk
RubADubDubILuvGrub@reddit
I've heard of it. il have a wee look thatnks
ProjectMassive9836@reddit
Never went to balter then haha
Hard_Dave@reddit
I went about 10 years ago. My gawd I did so many drugs it took a week to recover.
Dyalikedagz@reddit
I came back from Boomtown so dehydrated I was pissing a sticky brown liquid.
Would recommend
JFJF48@reddit
It was the early starts for me. Was like weed to help eating in the morning, then it's a nice day crack a beer open at 10. But then you're tired from eating, weed and alcohol (and lack of sleep) soooo time to crack open the ****...
I saw a green screen whenever I closed my eyes for a week afterward and thought I was permanently "changed", just fully off for a week. When I woke up the following Saturday with a regular hangover I was so happy.
Hard_Dave@reddit
The scariest bit was the drive home. Had to make the guy driving pull over, I could see his eyes in the rear view mirror. Drugs not worn off, or just too tired.
CakeOnly1513@reddit
Same! The legendary festival where the next week, I spelled my own name wrong... I saw a lady pissing on some guys chest(he invited her to do it) good times....
redeyejedibrah@reddit
Username checks out
Joe_Kinincha@reddit
Boomtown people are a breed apart. I see loads of boomtown crew at other festivals. You can usually spot them as they tend to have a tattoo of the logo. Excellent conversation starter.
Boomtown is incredible. I’ve never been to a festival where there is so much going on, where there is so much thought, time and effort put into all the different areas and arenas and where there is so much to explore in the mythology they construct each year.
RubADubDubILuvGrub@reddit
I thought I had seen a lot until I seen pictures from this
TotalWasteman@reddit
Think you mean to a K mate 👀
Joe_Kinincha@reddit
True dat.
I am very old and very old school. Weed is my drug. The look of horror on the young people’s faces when I offered them a toke was hilarious. Then they would hoover up Christ knows what from a dirty little bag they’d just bought from Christ knows whom.
TotalWasteman@reddit
Really interesting point you make actually. I love smoking weed and always have, but for the couple of years I was heavy on K I hardly smoked. Something about ketamine amplifies the psychosis effects of the weed 100x. If I’d had K, a few tokes on a joint would spiral me right out for hours. No K involved and I can smoke from dawn to dusk with no ill effects. Drugs are so interesting 🤷♂️
Joe_Kinincha@reddit
Boomtown always used to have a booth where you could go and get your pills and powders tested, until Hampshire county council banned it because….?
Anyway, whilst they couldn’t test pills they had this mad table on a huge display showing the interactions between dozens and dozens of drugs, many of which I hadn’t even heard of.
Turns on my go to (jazz cabbage plus alcohol) are good buddies.
TotalWasteman@reddit
Fucking hell I read that as Jizz Cabbage for a sec 😕 Yeah I remember when the council made everyone less safe yet again.
Joe_Kinincha@reddit
I’ve not tried jizz cabbage, but the names my plug comes up with for the stuff he doles out, I’m sure it’s only a matter of time.
jaminbob@reddit
Boomtown was... Too much for me lol
fgspq@reddit
We used to refer to WOMAD as World of Music and Drugs.
Thai-Girl69@reddit
I went to a UK festival once and did a bump of amphetamine off my hand in the car park then walked in with a bag taped to my balls. They had police dogs at the entrance and they immediately indicated I had drugs so the police guy said he will do a drugs swab on my hands and if it's positive I will have to go in a tent for a strip search. They swabbed the hand I had just taken a bump off and it came back negative. The dog literally put its nose in my crotch as I could smell the drugs easily but the swab didn't work. So I was allowed to do in and do my drugs.
WhiteComaBlack@reddit
Thai-Girl...with balls. Checks out
BriennesBitch@reddit
Went to one in the Uk last year and we found 5 bags of drugs that have been dropped within the first hour. One was a massive bag of ket. It was a messy weekend!
CrabbyGremlin@reddit
Ah a good old mystery bag
Ivelearnednuffink@reddit
Mate of mine went to reading once, ate a huge red pill he found in a baggie on the Friday, passed out and woke up on the Sunday!
lesterbottomley@reddit
Someone gave me a mixed batch where they didn't know what was in it.
Had 6 I couldn't identify. Took 2 on a NY Eve. Nothing, so took another 2.
Woke up 23 hours later after taking you many sleeping tablets.
RobertHellier@reddit
Oooh mystery treats… you have a bump first! No you go first!
Ivelearnednuffink@reddit
Always pop a bit on the gums first. Pulp Fiction left me with a life long fear of putting mystery powders up my nose haha.
Which-Island6011@reddit
Great advice! Several people unfortunately died in Amsterdam a few years back, after white heroin was getting sold instead of coke. Tourists were buying it and taking it in their hotel rooms and dying, instead of 1 person in a group rub a small bit on their gums to check for numbness. Such a waste of life.
Polryn@reddit
Luj⁰p
Simba-xiv@reddit
Haha pills & powders keep the festival jumping
oceanicitl@reddit
You forgot the booze & weed
pajamakitten@reddit
And that is just the bands.
Master-Leopard-7830@reddit
🤣 100%
KhanMichael@reddit
Stealing this
MasterpieceAlone8552@reddit
Also (and maybe it's a California thing) they just don't seem to dance at gigs. Me and my Mrs went to see Dry Cleaning in LA and were the only ones having a noticeable good time.
spicyzsurviving@reddit
UK crowds at concerts are noticeably more energetic and responsive (and more fun!) in videos, too.
NoticeSeparate9963@reddit
I think that is too general statement. I went to see Sum 41 once when I was in Florida and it is still one of the best gigs I have been to. The crowd were incredible.
Virtual-Target9733@reddit
Was that when they were at their peak? Cuz the world was more fun in general in the early 2000s
fickle_tartan@reddit
Less barriers at punk/hardcore shows over there too which always adds to the fun.
ChelseaGem@reddit
I saw Megadeth and Suicidal Tendencies in Noo Yoyk. It was mad. I broke my collarbone. Stay out of mosh pits, kids!
filbert94@reddit
Can only imagine seeing an old school NYHC band there would be brutal
d00000med@reddit
I've done a fair bit of travelling, whenever hanging around with Americans they don't tend to dance. Often staring in shock at brits dancing enthusiastically (and often poorly)
RubADubDubILuvGrub@reddit
It's like Karaoke as in you don't have to be good at it to enjoy it
TheMechanicusBob@reddit
Arguably, it's more fun if you're bad at it
AdaptedMix@reddit
Seems to be increasingly a thing on this side of the pond, unfortunately, at least based on my experiences at a few gigs of late (and quite a few articles reporting the same trend). I found it utterly weird to be the only one dancing at a gig recently.
AtLeastOneCat@reddit
I think this is more the case for big stadium shows. There's still definitely a lot of head-banging and dancing at smaller gigs. Then again, I'm mostly doing metal shows so maybe it's different in other genres.
AdaptedMix@reddit
Perhaps, but I've only been to small-to-medium scale shows - never a stadium - so my experience is that it's happening at smaller venues, too. The last gig I went to was fairly heavy rock music, and I was surrounded by nothing but Terracotta Warriors, stood staring (or filming), feet glued to the floor. People were cheering enthusiastically between songs, but frozen in place during. It was a mood killer.
AtLeastOneCat@reddit
That's absolutely grim. Must be weird for the bands too.
Happily-Incorrect@reddit
Feels like it's more about being seen there than being there.
mrb2409@reddit
This is a California thing. It’s the same at basketball and baseball. People turn up half way through games.
tomelwoody@reddit
I mean, to be fair they’re some of the most boring sports.
cyberllama@reddit
To be fair, it's in the desert, it's hot and water is 500 bucks a bottle
positivenergyforever@reddit
Only being able to drink in certain areas has always blown my mind, it’s fucking mental.
I know brits have a tendency to go a bit overboard with drink at festivals but i’ll take that 100% of the time over the little fenced off approved beer areas they have at Coachella. Looks like they’re at a Christmas market when you see them there, surely defeats the entire point of a massive open air music festival?
OldGodsAndNew@reddit
The inverse is true for sports though. No beer in view of the pitch in England, no beer in stadiums period in Scotland
Ok_Comfortable_3880@reddit
That’s just the football though. Plenty beer available at other sporting events.
tstowe77@reddit
Non league is where the beer is.
hraun@reddit
That’s not a bad idea though for the Scottish. They’re already fucking livid enough!
OldGodsAndNew@reddit
Should be licensed on a per-team/game basis, since 95% of the trouble is old firm
Can't have a pint at Ross County vs Arbroath because of a bunch of wee neds in Glasgow
Trebus@reddit
Cricket says otherwise.
BeerElf@reddit
Yeah, it's compulsory at Rugby Union. Probably the same at league.
pree_unit@reddit
At most festivals in the UK, apart from Glasto, you’re not allowed to bring in and drink your own booze everywhere. Are you saying that at Coachella you can’t drink in certain areas at all, even if you’ve bought that drink on-site??
ManicTonic22@reddit
Yea that’s what they’re saying! They have roped off designated areas to drink.
DiplomaticCaper@reddit
This feels pretty Coachella-specific. I’ve been to other smaller festivals in the U.S. and while you can’t bring outside beverages, you can bring the purchased drink with you anywhere on the grounds.
BertBlenkinsop@reddit
How dare you cast aspersion on the British character. I for one only drink until unconscious then I stop.😇
rachelm791@reddit
BertBlenkinsop knows his limits. Pay attention kids.
sixsik6@reddit
Calmed down a bit, have you?
BertBlenkinsop@reddit
Yeh, I was alright after I'd had a drink😵
BeanoMc2000@reddit
Americans just don't appreciate the responsible drinking culture on this side of the pond.
Embarrassed_Put_7892@reddit
That sounds horrible. We used to make a gin and bitter lemon, or gin and ginger beer mix in a big plastic bottle and just keep nicely topped up drunk all day. I love a small chill music festival like end of the road or green man. Coachella looks like some Fashion victim, American end stage capitalism nightmare of what a music festival should be.
summ190@reddit
I remember a friend telling me the same, he was stopped trying to leave that area and could t get over the idea that at a festival, you can’t drink a beer and watch a band. That’s pretty much our definition of a festival.
neek909@reddit
You can drink anywhere on the Coachella grounds as of a few years ago
jafarthecat@reddit
The alcohol is stupidly expensive as well. I mean it is at a lot of UK festivals now as well, but it's a different league over there.
doctorace@reddit
Just different drugs, not less
Cocovenus35@reddit
Thats not true anymore about the segregated areas for drinking. They changed it a few years back thankfully. It was weird but made the festival really clean, no walking over hundreds of crushed plastic glasses after a set. The view from the VIP area to the stage is great too but obviously costs more.
I've been to loads of festivals in the UK plus Lollapalooza in Paris twice, and next week will be my third time at Coachella. I last went in 2013. The festivals I've been to all have their own merits and vibes. Personally I think Coachella is visually stunning and the weather is a huge bonus. I didn't find it had dark or moody vibes, Reading was much worse for that, but again it will be different for everyone.
It does annoy me when people who have never been just randomly shit all over Coachella though (not you obviously as you have experienced it). Everyone likes different things but I don't get the hate from people who seem to have just watched a few videos of the week 1 influencers and made an unempirical judgement.
NuclearMaterial@reddit
What the fuck
DampFlange@reddit
They’ve changed that rule now, but when I first went it was the same as you described and it blew my mind and not in a good way!
Savanarola79@reddit
Who is J?
MissionFig5582@reddit
Your mum
Savanarola79@reddit
Eh?
PmMeLowCarbRecipes@reddit
WHAT
ilikeCRUNCHYturtles@reddit
That’s not true about Coachella since 2-3 years ago, you can drink anywhere now
tinned_peaches@reddit
I saw some clips on tiktok and everyone was stood holding their phones up, I did wonder why no one was holding a drink.
SnooMacarons4225@reddit
Plus have you seen the prices? I’d be miserable after buying a round too
Emotional_Doughnut77@reddit
Coachella was hijacked, it was supposed to be an anti-festival supporting alternative acts sort of banned or not allowed to play in other venues. You can see since COVID they've taken advantage of this, now it's all chart pop crap.
starrynight237@reddit
so I’m from Los Angeles moving to the UK actually. literally in 48 hours. Honestly I could talk about this for a long time!! lol. I feel like festival culture here in the States is very much different compared to the UK. I will say Coachella is a weird thing. It ironically began because Pearl Jam was fighting Ticketmaster’s horrible fees and didn’t want to play any venues that were owned by corporations. So Coachella started independently and it was very much an alternative festival in the middle of the desert as a huge “f you” to the corporations. Then around the 00s it started booking a lot of iconic artists and bands but still kinda had an underground vibe. My older sisters drove to the desert from LA one day, showed up, found a ticket for less than $50 and then drove back the next morning. This could only happen in 2001 though lol. Coachella around the time social media platforms went viral with celebrities being photographed in the mid 2010s is when it started to shift towards it being an a influencer event and now corporations pretty much own Coachella. Personally I think making it a fashion event makes it fun! I can’t speak for UK festivals but it’s such a nice fun thing to talk with friends about what outfits to wear at any festival we go to. I however grew up going to Warped Tour and holy shit was I never suppose to be there but I’m so glad I did. Warped Tour in the 00s truly was a crazy experience yet less corporate driven and it was very much for the kids. The bands playing on stage weren't much younger than their audience aka me included lol. Warped Tour brought every single alternative/emo scene into the mainstream. It literally brought the bands from playing garages and all ages venues to now a nationwide festival. Also since the country is insanely big you pretty much do have to commit to a festival as an entire holiday / road trip/ call off work for a few days. I might try and go to Outbreak and any other festivals ppl recommend.
Zu1u1875@reddit
Coachella is totally sanitised “fun”, but that’s good because Americans need it dialling down. I have to say, though, the general standard of attractiveness was leagues above anywhere in the UK.
starrynight237@reddit
This! Lol. There’s also a huge culture of not wanting to get sued by any means necessary because of all the crazy liability and drinking rules. I also personally think as someone who grew up in the US that people here don't know how to drink.
Frequent_Bag9260@reddit
Instagram.
Boudicat@reddit
Because Americans can’t drink?
Fit_Jackfruit_9834@reddit
They can't drink like Brits when there is rhe.extreme USA summer and spring heat. Coachella will be low 90s in the daytime during the festival.
If you transported Glasto to this location people would calm it down because it would be too damn hot. But yeah Coachella is still pretty soulless but it's only fair to point this out.
Boudicat@reddit
I take your point, but I reckon Glasto + 90 degree temps would probably just be the same level of drinking but with more casualties.
InformationUsed300@reddit
FACTS
jajwhite@reddit
You know - I imagine if the 18-20 year olds in the USA can't drink that might actually make a vibe difference. 18-20 year olds make up a large part of the demographic for these kind of things. Remove alcohol and you improve health and levels of idiocy and violence, but perhaps also you lose some of the joy and revelry.
Boudicat@reddit
We (Brits) are a nation of binge drinkers. And we’re all very excited by a sunny day. You can’t beat a festival here, under the right conditions.
ProfileBest2034@reddit
Americans are deeply insecure people.
canticle6104103@reddit
This is so ironic after reading through this thread that I have to comment.
Adorable-Pass9045@reddit
Coachella just feels really superficial. It's actually painful watching some fantastic artists try to get the crowd going, but it's not even worth the energy at Coachella. People are more focused on saying they're having a good time than actually just enjoying themselves. It's like capitalism if it were a festival. Pretty sure they're really strict on alcohol, too. It just feels like forced fun, that you pay a lot for, y'know?
Crafty_Jello_3662@reddit
Scruffy drunks are usually a lot more fun than vain posers
Quinn_XXVII@reddit
Because it’s the USA - any place that “Active Shooter” is a common phrase should be seen as a bit “Moody”
VehicleWonderful6586@reddit
Someone said Coachella is the only festival where the phones are pointed at the audience not the bands
blizeH@reddit
Isn’t that pretty standard for mosh pits though? https://youtu.be/odnNryDfs9c
VehicleWonderful6586@reddit
This is not a mosh pit thing. And no / the standard in a mosh pit is to give all your stuff to a mate before you dive in, not wave a phone around like some American
Steppy20@reddit
I'm just trying to imagine someone filming a mosh pit they're in and immediately having their phone:
I don't tend to go into mosh pits but I enjoy being on the edge of them keeping people contained and bumping back into them unless they want to leave.
thricedice88@reddit
This.
I used to love going into a mosh pit.
But one does not simply take one's phone into a mosh pit. American mosh pits must be tame af lol.
PulpHouseHorror@reddit
I once thought I’d broke a rib in a mosh pit. Went to hospital and everything. Turned out to be trapped wind, maybe from downing beer too fast. Farted constantly for days. Thank you for listening.
Quinn_XXVII@reddit
This is the way!
VehicleWonderful6586@reddit
Thank you for your service
thricedice88@reddit
This made my morning 😆
blizeH@reddit
Using this as an example because I saw them recently, but this is probably about as 'dangerous' as any pit I've seen and there are still people on the edge filming https://www.reddit.com/r/Hardcore/comments/1r4qibz/sunamis_first_show_in_2019/
But despite my original post being on -67, people absolutely do film moshpits ;/
AdventurousPlan9964@reddit
I've seen a bigger moshpit at a Christian music festival
Steppy20@reddit
There's only like 3 people in it? And that's not moshing it was just borderline fistfighting.
The last time I was a moshpit gatekeeper (not sure on the actual term) there were like 15 people in it, doing halfway between a circle pit and a wall of death.
blizeH@reddit
Haha yep there’s only a handful of people at a time. But I’d argue it’s much more dangerous than a circle pit or a wall of death (or at least, I get hurt a lot more often and a lot harder at these kind of shows)
thricedice88@reddit
Yeah, that was tame AF you need to come here and experience a real mosh pit lol.
blizeH@reddit
Got a link so I can see a video of one please?
blizeH@reddit
Using this as an example because I saw them recently, but this is probably about as 'dangerous' as any pit I've seen and there are still people on the edge filming https://www.reddit.com/r/Hardcore/comments/1r4qibz/sunamis_first_show_in_2019/
But despite my original post being on -67, people absolutely do film at metal/hardcore shows, although I did get messed up myself a few weeks ago when I put my phone down to try to get a video for my friend who didn't believe how crazy it was 😬
Khaleesix87@reddit
Mate or girlfriend who understands the mosh pit but won’t join (me 🤣🤣)
Rat-Soup-Eating-MF@reddit
As a long standing exponent of the mosh and fond memories of moshing to Nuclear Assault , Elton Hippies and others throughout the 80s&90s going to see James Addiction for the 20th anniversary of Nothings shocking and my now mid 40s mate losing his glasses so 1/2dozen meddle age men incorporated looking for his glasses into the rolling swirling mess in the puddle still makes me laugh - his glasses were found in scathed
BenidormBarry@reddit
I went in 2015 to a festival in LA (not Coachella) and behind some bushes I got one of the best heads I’ve received in my life, ngl.
Mood in the crowd was very rowdy, it was electronic music, not a big fan..
You just need to find the right non-mainstream festivals I guess..
Ambitious_Hunter5393@reddit
Having been to festivals all over the world and coming from the UK I can honestly say that Coachella and Glastonbury are completely different experiences and that is not a bad thing at all. Personally I loved the desert setting, the heat and the landscape suited me perfectly as I am not someone who thrives in the classic or at least potential British rain and mud so it was a welcome change. There is always a lot of noise about Coachella being full of influencers but in reality that is such a small minority and just the loudest voices online as my experience could not have been further from that. I camped in a cheap twenty dollar Walmart tent, smuggled in alcohol decanted into Fanta bottles and ended up meeting some of the nicest and most down to earth people, and travelling solo from London I was welcomed into every group I spent time with as everyone was open friendly and genuinely excited to connect. Like any festival it is what you make of it and for me it was unforgettable as I saw artists who rarely if ever perform elsewhere which made it even more special. That said one thing that really stood out was the crowd energy because even for major US acts UK and European crowds are on another level and it is not even close as we bring an energy that is hard to match, different vibes and different strengths but both incredible in their own way.
Thenedslittlegirl@reddit
Coachella is now incredibly expensive, most “normal” people are priced out. It’s basically become a place nepo babies and influencers go to for instagram moments.
MysoreMa@reddit
but glasto is horrendously expensive and being rich and well connected will get you in
Thenedslittlegirl@reddit
Oh it’s definitely expensive, but nothing compared with the cost of Coachella. You’re looking at $580 basic ticket with the cost of camping on top which is $200 for basic camping or another $500 for car camping. Plus the food and drink is Astronomical and they don’t even allow you to bring food and drink into the camp site - they search your car on the way in. It’s an absolute scam.
Ambitious_Hunter5393@reddit
You can take food and drink in as long as it’s not glass your fine.
lucynobz@reddit
There's something really special about the camping experience at British festivals. At festivals elsewhere in the world - especially if it's in warmer climates, the only option people have is to rent a room in a hotel/airbnb.
Part of the magic is the wonderous slum of basecamp. Beans for breakfast. Taking a 4pm nap back at camp whilst everyone else is having a bev and a chat. Maybe this contributes to the classic brit festival look of being absolutely filthy/disheveled - unlike Coachella where everyone is camera ready.
It's only authentic once you've been covered in 3 days worth of festival grime
Ambitious_Hunter5393@reddit
You do know a huge portion of Coachella camps , not majority but like 30-40k
AutomaticInitiative@reddit
Dust if its a hot year, mud if its a wet one lmao
NrthnLd75@reddit
Cuz Americans are literally the uncoolest people on the planet?
Ok-Cap-8136@reddit
Yet the whole world is obsessed with America, we have all been watching their culture since birth
Hick-ford@reddit
It used to be optimistic and now it's a really sad reality drama.
Infamous_Tough_7320@reddit
You’re only seeing Coachella through the lens of the very people you hate (influencers). I’m sure there are normal people having a great time.
CyclingBrit@reddit
tbh, at this point I default to detesting most people from the US
Infamous_Tough_7320@reddit
You do you. I couldn’t ever just write off a whole population of people. Their politicians on the other hand? Very different story. I detest almost every one of them
CyclingBrit@reddit
I forgot, politicians just appear in power without people doing anything
Tony_Roiland@reddit
Festivals are about community, America is about individuals.
PenguinBunnies@reddit
Perfect analysis
Klingon_War_Nog@reddit
Looks like a poser-fest and most of them are probably on nose candy also = fucking shite.
Jorumble@reddit
Have you been? Or are you just basing that off of videos?
earthtomanda@reddit
Nothing will ever beat T in the Park the year I turned 18. I don't need to go into specifics, just know it was one of the best weekends of my life and I can only remember it in flashbacks 😂
benitoaramando@reddit
I'm sure that's just a coincidence 😄
Gold-Mine-5698@reddit
ah T...i used to work at it. it was feral. a friend of mine was a camera op, they were doing backstage stuff with a presenter on the back of a land rover. half way through the link - 'can i just stop you there mate, there's a girl over your shoulder taking a shit on a pizza'
Greedy-Nature-826@reddit
I went to TITP in 2010 and the atmosphere was amazing. Easily the best festival I've ever been to.
Wicksy1994@reddit
Their drugs are less fun
BamberGasgroin@reddit
Too much in one direction and not enough in the other?
Wicksy1994@reddit
Either tons of weed and no drink, so everyone just ends up monged, or it’s the drugs that fuck you up so same result. No dancey dancey drugs
benitoaramando@reddit
They do talk about "Molly" a fair bit
n1keym1key@reddit
Glasto and the like are for people who wanna party and get pissed/stoned. Coachella is just a parade of cunts, performing to a desert full of of other cunts and wannabe cunts. Simple really.
FadedAlligator@reddit
Yeah I get what you mean, and I’d probably agree to an extent having done both Glasto and Coachella. The energy is just different.
Glastonbury feels way more about the music and the shared experience. People are a bit rough round the edges, bit worse for wear, but everyone’s there for a good time and you can chat to anyone. There’s less self-awareness about how you look and more just being in the moment.
Coachella felt a lot more curated. Not bad, just different. More people there for the whole “being at Coachella” thing rather than just the bands. It can come across a bit performative at times.
That said, I did notice when I went to see some of the British acts over there, the crowd shifted a bit. I caught Freak Slug and it felt way more relaxed and into it, less about posing and more about actually enjoying the set. You could tell the crowd she pulled was a bit different from the main Coachella vibe. ``So yeah, I don’t think it’s that US festivals are inherently worse, just a different culture around them. But if you’re used to Glasto energy, Coachella can feel a bit off.
Bumble072@reddit
You can even pick holes in Glasto if you wanted. It has become this overpriced, riddled with affluent white middle class folk who can afford a hotel for the weekend .... reality is often different to perception. Didnt used to be like that say 30 years ago though.
Visible_Bar_623@reddit
Why people feel the need to mention "white" in a vast majority white country always pisses me off. There is more nuance than skin color, and you have absolutely no argument here
mediumlove@reddit
the whole thing is a shit show.
first off, you can't even bring water in with you. all alcohol has to be consumed in 'zones' - fenced in areas away from music. most people drive in every day, there no sense of community. its in an otherwise barren wasteland.
On top of all this its stupidly expensive, all food is ridiculously priced, the whole thing feels like a scam.
i went to one of the early ones that was in the middle of the summer and spent 95$ on water alone, and nearly broke up with my partner.
british festivals are heaven compared to this hell.
gingerisla@reddit
They had a fucking Nobu set up at Coachella.
mediumlove@reddit
Exactly.
I got to go for free a few years back and they put me up and a stupidly fancy resort as well, and it was actually just depressing, how corporate it all has become.
AutomaticInitiative@reddit
Not being able to bring water in with you in the desert is insane and should be criminal. Was there no free water either??
mediumlove@reddit
nope. it was criminal.
ManicTonic22@reddit
WTF! That should be illegal to not supply tap water in the desert and heat like that
EatStatic@reddit
I think it is literally illegal in a lot of places but the US is fucked up.
After-Leg-3781@reddit
Its a similar reason as to why a football match in america doesnt compare to a prem match, the culture is just different and expectations for events are just simply different. Many baseball matches in the USA are forced to have music playing and to try and stir energy but the UK there is no need, the people can generate that energy for themsleves, perhaps its a commordoriy/community thing i dont konw or perhaps its becasue there isn't a need to have a mask on at all times but just enjoy the event you paid to go to. Passion is lost when money plays a big hand, rich people feel like they have to be refined and lose alot of that passion, most of the people going to coachella are far richer than people attending glastonbury (granted prices have risen). Drinks are also significanly more epxenissve at coachella as well so people can't get as drunk either and USA has the 21 rule too so i guess that plays a factor. Many reasons one can argue as to why
chadgalaxy@reddit
Because Americans take themselves way too seriously.
acripaul@reddit
I think many Brits don't actually appreciate how different yanks are to us western Europeans.
The tidal wave of us media the last few generations have experienced has a tole in this. They talk the same language and seem similar but under the surface we have many differences.
Horror-Kumquat@reddit
I spent two years working with a bunch of people from around Western Europe and our equivalents in the organisation from the US (think European head of tech, US head of tech; European head of marketing, US head of marketing, etc.) That experience was enough to convince me that we in the UK have so much more in common with our fellow Europeans (especially north Europeans) than with people from the US. We are fooled by the common language thing into thinking we're closer to Americans, but that is so untrue.
JamesHowell89@reddit
Sometimes it feels the UK subreddits are 90% whingeing about America. Comes off as deeply insecure.
Jip_Jaap_Stam@reddit
This isn't whinging. It's slagging them off
JamesHowell89@reddit
When it’s this constant it’s just whingeing, I’m afraid.
Jip_Jaap_Stam@reddit
Frequency doesn't affect the definition of the word. Denigrating something doesn't become complaining about it the more often it happens.
JamesHowell89@reddit
Annoyingness and persistency are part of what defines whingeing, alas. In this case, the frequency demonstrates why your initial description was incorrect.
Jip_Jaap_Stam@reddit
Whinge means complain. When people complain about something, the implication is that they want it to change, usually for their benefit. Typically, that would be the reason they're complaining; they're highlighting a problem they want to be fixed. If you mock, deride or denigrate something, there's no such implication. When football fans call their local rivals shit every single week, they're not complaining or whingeing. They're just slagging them off.
BlundeRuss@reddit (OP)
Useful-Risk-4340@reddit
Then why amplify the phenomenon by discussing the US incessantly? I am speaking generally. I don't know you, obviously. I too hate how much the US is shoved down our throats which is why (with the exception of this post because I was genuinely interested) I ignore content about the US. That poster isn't incorrect, UK and EU subs are utterly obsessed with anything US-related and it makes it all the more inescapable. I wish you all had a containment thread haha.
No_Height_2408@reddit
Yah you are really fighting the good fight by making up weird nonsense about a festival.
BlundeRuss@reddit (OP)
I’m not fighting any fight, I’m saying we don’t whinge about America through insecurity, we do it because there’s a lot of valid reason to whinge about it. Americans getting sensitive about that is pathetic.
TroublesomeFox@reddit
"It’s called punching up"
I wouldn't be so sure about that, they've had a rather steep decline in recent years for unknown orange reasons 👀👀
America feels like the cousin that had so much potential but got addicted to meth.
lfenio@reddit
For anyone looking for a non judgmental and carefree vibe which has nothing to do with social media… might i suggest Bonnaroo in Tennessee! It’s been kind of a shit show in recent years due to weather but when it hits…. ohhh it hits! I’ve never felt so free and relaxed as I do at Bonnaroo.
Equal-Significance86@reddit
Because Americans don’t have it and NEVER will…
winter-2@reddit
Less affordable, so you get more annoying influencers who just want Instagram photos rather than people who want a good time
plongeronimo@reddit
Calling Glastonbury 'affordable' is pushing it a bit..
leenoc@reddit
I lost my wallet and all my cash/cards at Glasto 05 and still had an amazing time.
The hare krishnas will feed anyone for free. I ate so much dhal and still had all my drugs so it was a cheap weekend.
plongeronimo@reddit
The Glastonbury way!
plongeronimo@reddit
The Glastonbury way!
AutomaticInitiative@reddit
Glastonbury costs less than buying any new videogame console and people are happy to buy those.
plongeronimo@reddit
If a game console stopped after one weekend you'd want your money back.
AutomaticInitiative@reddit
Glastonbury also doesn't cost me anything else after the festival is over, while a console generally has you buying games so it's not a perfect similie
AcrobaticAuthor6539@reddit
Winter said "less affordable." And it's true. Music festivals in the US are only for the wealthy.
plongeronimo@reddit
That's very sad. Are there no smaller, fun, festivals?
winter-2@reddit
Compared to Coachella and other American festivals it is
KezaBoo@reddit
The difference is that the UK has a Reddit thread discoursing on an American festival and the Americans do not even know or care what Glastonbury is.
xerojupiter@reddit
You’re so wrong. Coachella has an immaculate vibe. Sorry you’ve never experienced it in person.
ObviousOrca@reddit
omg. Is this Russell Brand’s Reddit account?
_-_-_Mimps_-_-_@reddit
I wouldn't be surprised lol. This guy is one of those Brits who is obsessed with America and American culture for some weird reason. I've run into him on Reddit several times before, and he's a delusional weirdo.
txteva@reddit
Immaculate is definitely not a word linked to the muddy UK festival vibe.
GlastoKhole@reddit
How to say you’ve never been to a good festival, without saying you’ve never been to a good festival, “coachella has immaculate vibes”
fieldhog@reddit
What’s an “immaculate vibe”? What does that mean?
xerojupiter@reddit
Try to think. Do you know what those words mean? It’s like saying a great vibe. Or do you need it even simpler to understand? Is English not your first language?
Leonichol@reddit
!dick
fieldhog@reddit
I can see why something so wankily gentrified, and so lacking in soul and community as coachella is, is your jam.
xerojupiter@reddit
So did you figure out what immaculate vibe meant yet?
fieldhog@reddit
That’s the point you missed. Of course I know what both “immaculate” and “vibes” means - and I can, believe it or not, put both of those words together to make a meaningful sentence. I was taking the piss out of you. I’m sorry that you needed me to spell that out.
xerojupiter@reddit
Yeah you see. I knew you did. And I was taking the piss out of you too. But lol that you didn’t pick up on that
fieldhog@reddit
Good grief 🙄
DampFlange@reddit
I’ve been. I’m not entirely sure what immaculate vibe means, but I would describe it as pristine, soulless, corporate and overall, a bit dull.
BlundeRuss@reddit (OP)
I’ve seen plenty of footage from it and it always looks depressing as fuck.
Think_Money_6919@reddit
Exactly. I was actually going to say isn’t it the other way round?
xerojupiter@reddit
They just wanna pretend it’s shit to feel better they can’t afford to go lol
tiorzol@reddit
Yea that sounds like a great vibe mate
Jim_Broadbean@reddit
“Immaculate vibe” says it all hahahaha
xerojupiter@reddit
Don’t worry you won’t ever go so you can pretend it’s bad to feel better about it :)
Jim_Broadbean@reddit
Feel better about what, you cringelord?
xerojupiter@reddit
“Cringelord” say it’s all hahahaha
Jim_Broadbean@reddit
Ah, comment history. You’re in school, and have never been either
xerojupiter@reddit
lol. Again. Whatever you need to cope :)
GrahamGreed@reddit
"immaculate vibe" yuck
xerojupiter@reddit
Hate to break it to you.
ShroomTopsInTheSun@reddit
Ticket access is the main difference. Glastonbury is a very hard ticket to secure and only available from one source and no touts can get involved to any great extent. From what I've read money will guarantee you a Coachella ticket. Also, UK festivals are camping and allowed to bring alcohol into camp areas. The brits love to drink.
Limp_League_2745@reddit
Even more political agenda pushes in US festivals than the UK. Festivals in the UK feel moody now because of it, gone are the vibes of just enjoying music and having a good time.
Different_Counter113@reddit
Glastonbury is hippy vibe, no posers at all really, just cool people. Coawhatever looks like a bunch of selfy wankers there so they can say they went to coawank.
Bugaloo77@reddit
Coachella looks so boring compared to UK festivals. It’s like it’s all about what people wear and making TikToks about what they are wearing. I haven’t seen anything about the performers other than Sabrina Carpenter moaning about something.
Fun-Brush5136@reddit
I've been to both. When I went to coachella you couldn't even take a beer anywhere near a stage, you had to drink it in a special zone. I think they've relaxed that now but the general anti fun vibe probably stuck.
Lmao45454@reddit
The original spirit of Coachella is gone, capitalism has absolutely killed it. Ironically it started as a anti capitalist/cheap festival and now you have $4000 tickets with only influencers attending
It will be dead in 10-15 years
q808909@reddit
Coachella is not really a festival, it’s a talking shop for rich LA douche bags
Lake_Swimmer_78@reddit
The desert doesn't strike me as the best place to have a music festival. I could be wrong.
BleepingBleeper@reddit
A major part of Glastonbury in '97 was the one person with a mobile phone communicating with the person in the other group who had a mobile phone. Photos were taken on actual cameras. Meeting up with mates and getting to know mates of mates as we all got off our tits were the goals.
New-Process-52@reddit
Dude festivals are for posh people in america
gingerisla@reddit
Americans are being priced out of concerts, sports events, festivals, Vegas trips. They have become status symbols, that's why no one enjoys them anymore and everyone has become busy sharing them on social media.
brinz1@reddit
American Festivals are where you go to be seen.
British Festivals are where you go for fun. Most british festival goers would be mortified if footage of their festival antics went viral like Coachella pics.
Arguably. its the same way always on social media and live streaming ruined clubbing
vrrtvrrt@reddit
I think that could be said of ours.
AutomaticInitiative@reddit
£385 for Glastonbury last year, for 5 days of music, idk I think that's a bargain?
reverandglass@reddit
Coachella and Burning Man: the reality doesn't live up to the hype. It's hot, dirty, can't easily charge my phone, been on my feet since dawn and it's still an hour before the band whose-shirt-I'm-wearing-but-have-never-heard are on.
UK festival: If it's not ankle deep mud and/or the sun is out and we're already smashing expectations. If music gets played, that's un-beatable.
(also, Americans can't drink like the rest of the world. They don't have the right culture around booze)
Fit_Jackfruit_9834@reddit
I went to the New Oeleans jazz fest and in fairness to US festivals the different levels of Hest in rhe US summer might explain the slightly different behaviour. If people partied at some festivals like they do at Glasto they would he dropping like flies from the heat/exposure to the sun. Brutal.
reverandglass@reddit
It probably attracts a different crowd too. I was, of course, generalising. I bet a lot of smaller US festivals are a blast.
yepthatshim7@reddit
Coachella looks like complete and utter hell on earth.
Darkus185@reddit
Friend of mine is a copper who gets stationed at Glastonbury.
Some of the stories going on in the festival are far worse than a normal night out of the festival apparently. He has never known such a high concentration of awful people. Apparently far worse than football derbies in terms of sketchy and unpredictable elements hanging around.
GlastoKhole@reddit
Of course glasto gets scatty, people are doing obscene amounts of drugs there, people literally wake up have a line of charlie and pill for breakfast and keep that going for the whole festival. I know by Saturday night many people’s minds are just gone, I’ve walked past people holding onto trees for dear life in a full state of psychosis and had to talk them into going the medical tent on more than one occasion
Fit_Jackfruit_9834@reddit
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times:)
Left-Ad-3412@reddit
Drugs and drink... We like to binge here in the UK lol
DNBassist89@reddit
Coachella is a festival for influencers and people who want to be "seen" which happens to have music.
In the UK we have music festivals. I do worry Glasto tends to skew that direction too, to some extent, but not quite as bad
whyilikemuffins@reddit
It's because festivals in the USA are always heavily middle class cringey "look at me" energy.
Festivals in the UK also get that but at least the middle class people are walking kneedeep in mud and pissing rain.
New-Process-52@reddit
Cuz america destroyed their workiny class
avoiddead@reddit
Coachella is a popularity contest and is genuinely a shit show.
People may know the main headliner, but a lot of the people there are from out of state and all you have to do is see them waiting in a line to see the contrast.
It doesn't look like people excited to go in and see whoever they really like perform. It looks like a line of people trying to get the best looking photo to pop off.
I know Coachella Valley and have been there during festival season. Mostly what I see are younger adults in expensive clothing, drunk/high as fuck and just want to party.
Im not saying the same thing doesn't happen at other festivals, but Coachella is underwhelming IMO and the temperature/dust at the venue makes a lackluster event not worth it.
Its pretty clear if you're in the valley during Coachella that there are a lot of people who had their parents pay for everything
Aceman1979@reddit
SxSW blows Glasto out the water.
Turtlestacker@reddit
Drugs?
BlundeRuss@reddit (OP)
Go on then
tdrules@reddit
Weekend 1 is the influencer weekend, weekend 2 is more normal people.
But in general, Brits get a bit feral when weather is good and booze is flowing.
Prof_Hentai@reddit
Brits take considerably more drugs than the yanks, too.
KELVALL@reddit
...Meth enters the chat.
LowerPick7038@reddit
Is there any studies on this?
onionsareawful@reddit
Can't comment on studies, but having lived in both countries (and been to festivals at both), party drugs -- coke, MDMA, ket etc -- seem way more prevalent in the UK.
LowerPick7038@reddit
Yeah i bet theres a huge difference in the festival side but average cities i would have thought US topped the UK big time.
Six_of_Swords-@reddit
USA has opiate epidemics that probably outnumber UK. But as far as recreational drug use, the UK takes a lot of different drugs in a lot more ways in a lot more places. So higher % of people will happily do K, ecstasy, coke, shrooms, weed, nos, in social / party settings. Festivals, house parties, raves, nightclubs, drug use is widespread. We do not have streets and streets of zombies fucked up on Fent.
University_Jazzlike@reddit
Lived in south florida after I graduated college. Never personally saw anyone do coke until I moved to London.
Legitimate_Side5776@reddit
Aw aye, hunners 😂
LowerPick7038@reddit
What the hell does that even mean?
kipperfish@reddit
"oh yes, hundreds"
I have no idea if what he said is true though.
Legitimate_Side5776@reddit
Lol yeah you're the only person who actually got it right. I'm a girl. And it's not true, I was being sarcastic
callmeacow@reddit
"Oh yes, a substantial amount"
nearly_enough_wine@reddit
Yes, dear is a polite take.
Bless your heart, yes is another possible translation.
LowerPick7038@reddit
Thanks
Translation from where?
nearly_enough_wine@reddit
Scotland.
LowerPick7038@reddit
That was the accent I had in my head reading it. Limmy is goat
hpsauce42@reddit
Glesgae
Da_Steeeeeeve@reddit
US has a higher prevailance when it comes to the mess your life up drugs like meth, fent, heroin whereas the UK you find ALOT more party drugs, mdma, acid, coke.
turkeypants@reddit
I googled and got this
https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/drug-use-by-country
It says US usage is more than double the rate of UK usage. Another thing I saw elsewhere was UK does a lot more coke than US and US does a lot more meth than UK. These figures are broad though, covering everyone and everything, and individual scenes like clubs and festivals and pubs could conceivably be distorted out of the shape of the top numbers.
LowerPick7038@reddit
Yeah ive not really encountered meth in the UK but Coke more than US thats mental. I thought they hoovered that stuff down.
turkeypants@reddit
Wait... my own link says US coke usage rate is more than double UK, I'm now seeing. Another site had it the other way. OK I don't know.
fingertipnipples@reddit
I can't see it for certain things like meth and fentanyl, but I could for coke and mdma 🤔 guess it depends which drugs
LowerPick7038@reddit
Yeah it just peaked my interest as ive always thought of the UK as more alcohol consumption and the US as more drug takers.
Prof_Hentai@reddit
Cocaine and beer pair up together like tea and biscuits.
cheesebot@reddit
Cocaine and alcohol together produce Cocaethylene in the Liver. It produces a similar high to cocaine but islonger-lasting. It increases your blood pressure and puts the heart under stress. ~25x greater risk of immediate death compared to using cocaine alone.
:p
LowerPick7038@reddit
Back in my debauchery days I enjoyed mixing all sorts of fun.
tdrules@reddit
Which is wild considering they have far worse issues with dependency, makes u fink
this-guy-@reddit
16 degrees C?
tops off lads, it's a scorcher!
International-Pass22@reddit
We'll settle for just the booze as well
pajamakitten@reddit
They do not call it Drownload for nothing.
NewPumpkin8217@reddit
Right? Even when the weather isn't good we'll go feral. Just look at all the mud puddle diving you see at festivals lol.
Mat19851985@reddit
I’ve done both weekends at Coachella and found it amazing. It’s not all influencers!
hotdish420@reddit
Check our Bonnaroo or Electric Forest if you wanna see an American festival full of people and artists having fun.
Poo-Tee-Weet5@reddit
Bingo. I went to Bonnaroo 3 times when I was younger. The vide was incredible. It always felt like the spiritual successor to the original Woodstock. It was all jam bands and niche acts like harp players, multi-instrumentalists with didgeridoos, etc. It was so remote that almost everyone camped, so there was a very relaxed and hippy attitude about it. I haven't been in almost 20 years, so I don't know what it's like now.
hotdish420@reddit
I went in 2023. The acts were extremely varied, but the same camp ground fun vibes!
Poo-Tee-Weet5@reddit
That's great to hear!
Ok-Yesterday-3238@reddit
Yeah but why do you have to look at specific festivals for the fun? Should that not be the point of every festival?
hotdish420@reddit
Because you mentioned one specific festival that's known for being a lame influencer fest. Coachella just isn't a good example.
HumanzeesAreReal@reddit
Or even Lollapalooza. What a dumb post.
Technical_Ad_440@reddit
its music. as soon as i hear music i dont think oh great music. i think artists doing the bare minimum to make a paycheck. it depends on how much the singers get freedom. music is very much becoming a dead art. in UK they might be more free to do more. when the stage people look miserable they are only their for the paycheck and just want it over and done with.
compare them to music dj stuff. they always look really fun in comparison cause they are mixing and playing music and enjoying it. they even put effort into the stage and such. its sad what mainstream music is. gate kept soul crushing music just for a paycheck thats basically what its become. dont blame any of them for looking miserable they go in thinking yeh musics gonna be great only to learn the reality that is the music industry. going in to be "big" is the biggest mistake in music.
i would even say music is the hardest job in the entertainment industry. you'd be better of writing a book
dexington_dexminster@reddit
People have to wait around in the desert 🏜 for hours and hours on end just to see Nine Inch Noize. As a moody, sun-fearing fan of Nine Inch Nails, I'm glad the camerawork is so good. Worth getting up at 4am on a Sunday morning to watch Trent Reznor, Mariqueen, Atticus Ross and BoyzNoize
fords42@reddit
Their set was fantastic and totally wasted on the Coachella crowd.
rewindanddeny@reddit
Paid well though.
Pad5181@reddit
I think dismissing Coachella as just full of influences is a bit of a cliche, I think gen z in general just prefer music that's more vibes based (which Coachella caters to) so they appreciate in a more chilled out way. To be honest I prefer that to being in a crowd full of drunk punters with main character syndrome.
rewindanddeny@reddit
Being pro-Coachella based on a lack of main character syndrome is the wildest claim i've read on here.
Free-Monkee@reddit
What about Burning Man? It seems to have a Glastonbury-ish edge to it. By the look of it, it kind of reminds me of Mutoid Waste Company's Carhenge back in the day.
Re: the controlled drinking, if you watch Trainwrreck: Woodstock '99 it'll make a lot of sense.
Glittering_Win_5085@reddit
Burning Man seems full of silicon valley chippies
rewindanddeny@reddit
It very much is. And to an extraordinary extent.
rewindanddeny@reddit
I'd have thought this likely until I went. It's cosplay all the way. I had a great time but that was almost entirely down to laughing at how comically lacking in edge it actually was in comparison with what the natives thought they were experiencing.
Hoop66@reddit
I went to every Glastonbury from 1985 to 1998, and had a fantastic time (apart from the last one). It's got too big for me these days but I can see how people would still have fun.
Coachella? I'd rather bang a 6" nail into my ballsack.
rewindanddeny@reddit
Banging a 6" nail into your ballsack is more a Burning Man thing.
Spankety-wank@reddit
I don't know but the biggest thing that comes to mind is the climate, it would be better to compare festivals that have similar temps.
AirconGuyUK@reddit
I'm not sure I would get off my tits on drugs or alcohol if I thought there was a non-zero chance of a mass shooting happening.
Imagine taking bullets because you're in a k-hole and couldn't run away...
basementreality@reddit
Is it really corporate? The more corporate the festival and the more the crowd are chaperoned around by security the bigger the buzz kill as far as I can tell. I hate having to smuggle my own drinks in because a pint costs 8 quid or more.
DampFlange@reddit
Coachella is massively corporate. They have “activations” of all sorts around the site.
It’s extremely expensive and middle class.
bowak@reddit
What are activations?
DampFlange@reddit
Like an American Express booth allowing card holders into a lounge
Basically, brands paying to be there simply to advertise and associate themselves with Coachella
bowak@reddit
Cheers. That sounds very unfun!
Rug-bae@reddit
Minimum it costs $1500pp to go to Coachella for those driving there and that’s doing basic ‘Car’ Camping and using free showers. Loads of content creators have broken down the cost. It’s so expensive yet it was created to be an alternative to expensive and elitist arts festivals which is ridiculous. Up until 2024 you couldn’t even drink alcohol whilst watching a band at the stages… you had to stay in beer gardens when consuming!! A recipe for terrible atmosphere tbh. And those who are saying it compares to changes at Glastonbury are overblowing it. Coachella is a soulless beast of its own
SharmaBee@reddit
I think there are tons of festivals in the US that are more fun and relaxed. They’re maybe more centric to each state.
PresidentPopcorn@reddit
After seeing the response Blur got from the crowd last time, I don’t think Americans like having fun.
hermit_tortoise@reddit
Glastonbury is becoming more and more of a "poser/influencer" festival these days. I've been going since 2009 and the noticeable changes over the last few years are massive, even more so now Vodafone cover the site in masts allowing full 5g coverage, the place is full of people on their phones.
I remember the days when your phone would die 2 days in and you'd lose all your friends and not know what time of day it is or where you are until you went back to your tents and caught up with everyone. I absolutely adored the place for many years, the last 3 have really put me off, you've changed maaaan!
toolprinter@reddit
Ok boomer.
hermit_tortoise@reddit
Born in 1990, but thanks for your input
No-Cherry-6678@reddit
I remember the days before we had phones. The thing is US festivals demand commitment. The weather is not guaranteed-you are as likely to be in a swamp as a sun-drenched field, they are not for the faint hearted so if the sun does shine we really let our hair down and if it doesn't we get the wellies out!
hermit_tortoise@reddit
Would love to have experienced the really early days. A few guys in our group have been going since it began, great stories from them. It's still an incredible place and the best thing is taking someone for the first time and getting to see their face but it's losing its edge.
Albert_Herring@reddit
I went to I think the second Glastonbury, 1979. One stage, tickets cost a fiver. It wasn't really a comparable experience. A bit shambolic, nice vibe. Power failed during the Only Ones say and their drummer played a 15 minute solo unamplified.
Went back in 1995 and it felt really suburban, people building tape fences around their encampments, don't want to have to talk to strangers. But Pulp were great.
bothknees@reddit
Did you mean to type UK?!
nobbybeefcake@reddit
Ah, the good old days, pre mobile phones. I remember being at V festival and we agreed if we got separated we’d meet beside an ice cream van when the band finishes. 20 minutes we waited for one of the lads. We only found him again back at the tents at the end of the night. He’d been at the wrong ice cream van 🤣
Pantisocracy@reddit
They used to sell battery chargers for phones in 2008 all over the place in Glasto. Temporary ones. Not detracting your point. Just saying it hasn’t always been a Bermuda Triangle back then of people logging off.
Was a banging year that. Saw Battles at Park before Tyondai Braxton left the band.
No-Cherry-6678@reddit
There were no mobile phones I. The 70's and early 80's
hermit_tortoise@reddit
Yeah absolutely, it's always been about but it just feels a lot more convenient now.
Did you ever see the 50p tea tent near the Greenfields? Loved it there, secluded and quieter than elsewhere and a 50p cuppa tea! ... No more! They've stopped serving hot drinks/snacks and now charge mobile phones instead, that was the nail in the coffin 😂😭
GlastoKhole@reddit
I’d agree with many comments here but tbh I don’t see phones much after dark, I mean you do by Arcadia etc but if you go to SE corner where things are getting scatty people tend to not be on their phones much, I know with some of the states people get in on psychedelics etc that they’d be problems if people were recording the pretty blatant open drug use that goes on there
ShineAtom@reddit
I remember the days before mobile phones. I went to the first "proper" Glastonbury festival in 1971 ie when it was held at the summer solstice and there was the first Pyramid stage . It was an absolute blast. There are parts that I don't precisely recall; took me and my friend Nigel years to find out that the fantastic Brazilian band that played there was Gilberto Gil. It wasn't particularly well publicised; it was free and by June 1971 I was living about thirty miles or so south of Worthy Farm. So a gang of us found some tents, piled into a couple of cars and drove there quite easily.
I remember there was a meeting in London (at Gandalf's Garden in the Worlds End) the previous autumn when Andrew Kerr, Arabella Churchill and others were discussing the project and looking at a model of the stage and site. Not that I was part of the meeting but I was making teas and snacks there that weekend.
Rocky-bar@reddit
The first year I went, there was a long queue for The Mobile Phone- a huge brick size thing, probably the only one on the whole site and priced accordingly!
ab00@reddit
I know people who say Glastonbury became poser/influencer around 2000 and refused to go since a couple of years after that. They'd argue 2009 was long past its best.
discographyA@reddit
I don’t man, different cultures just like to have fun in different ways and these are huge places with 600,000+ people. Going to be something for everyone and you aren’t going to see most of it on Instagram.
Weary_Sun534@reddit
Because coachella is a status symbol, something to post on instagram.
The majority of people going have no plan to have a good time, only to score social points.
Heathy94@reddit
Culturally I just don't think the Americans are as wild as Brits at festivals and also Coachella just comes across as a celebrity/influencer dominated crowd, people are there for the occasion first to say they were at Coachella.
In the UK people are there for the music first and foremost, the event is probably the 3rd thing after booze.
Exact_Pipe3187@reddit
Went to punk rock bowling in Las Vegas in 2017 and I couldn’t believe how subdued the crowd was. I grew up going to gigs in Glasgow and Edinburgh in the 80’s and there’s no comparison. Totally lame. I used to think that bands would say you guys are the best crowd every night but after my experience in the USA I firmly believe they meant it, especially at the Barras!
microwavedpeep1@reddit
Because in many of the American ones, it's about being seen and flogging as much corporate stuff as possible. European parties (except a few in the Med) are more about letting loose and are more about the music.
AgreeablePersimmon36@reddit
Because America is a much more violent and narcissistic country with a worse sense of humour.
Present_Air_7694@reddit
This, sadly. Europeans tend to be more focussed on the process (eg enjoying meals together as an analogy) Americans are trained to be ends-focussed (eg eating as fuel) so don't learn how to actually enjoy life. This is of course a generality.
alrks10@reddit
IT's full of Americans.
heyitsed2@reddit
Is it possible... most of what you see of Coachella is influencers and their footage? Where as Glastonbury you probably see a lot more of it on the BBC where they're filming the audiences?
These guys seem to show what it's like at coachella quite authentically https://youtu.be/qXuP9KdQAyk?si=yI8y6yvOPyxEL2g9
BlundeRuss@reddit (OP)
I saw a clip today that showed the entire crowd completely still holding up phones in silence
kelleehh@reddit
You realise British festival goers do this too?
blizeH@reddit
This is also Coachella though https://youtu.be/odnNryDfs9c
KatjaKat01@reddit
That would depend on what was happening on stage. Was it a quiet moment or a serious song? If not, then yeah that sucks a bit.
oscarx-ray@reddit
It was a minute's silence for Dilbert cartoonist Scott Adams. Odd choice for a music festival, I know, but the man had clout.
ab00@reddit
Didn't he get cancelled?
onionsareawful@reddit
Yes, the dying was separate.
cryptus@reddit
dunno why but this comment has absolutely sent me 😂
ab00@reddit
I meant his apparent racist comments that got Dilbert cancelled. I wasn't really a fan, I just remember reading about it on reddit.
oscarx-ray@reddit
That's a rather cold way of saying that he died, but yes, I guess he got "cancelled".
ab00@reddit
I meant his apparent racist comments that got Dilbert cancelled. I wasn't really a fan, I just remember reading about it on reddit.
oscarx-ray@reddit
I know, I'm just being a rascal 😉
MammothSocks@reddit
TPD aren’t exactly the authentic American audience though given that they’re scuzzy Yorkshire lads.
heyitsed2@reddit
I didn't say they were... Their videos are authentic, the real deal you might say.
Physical-Exit-2899@reddit
I went to Coachella in 2018 and it was pretty flat and shit tbh.
Cholmondley_Warner@reddit
A lot of the BBC coverage is totally irrelevant compared to the actual festival, there's a lot more to it than z list celebrities and the Pyramid stage
heyitsed2@reddit
Oh yeah totally, I just mean... If you're not a festival attendee your impression is formed by the media coverage you see of it.
sweatypissflap@reddit
americans
Fickle-Fox-9071@reddit
It's because the American's who go to those places are only going to be seen. They want the snaps on their socials, or if theyre a celebrity, they want their photo out there. It's not Americans as a whole, but that certain crowd. I went to the Warped tour back in the day and it was not that different from somewhere like Slamdunk.
It's a status thing more than a fun thing. Treated more like a job than somewhere to let their hair down.
Ill-Maintenance8986@reddit
Been to plenty of festivals and gigs in both the US and the UK. Completely different vibes.
As a whole, US crowds are tameeee (and lame). Don’t get me wrong - met plenty of lovely yanks having the best time and embracing it, but generally most of them looked like they didn’t care / or only care about documenting the fact that they were there. We’re talking less than half the energy of UK shows - very little by way of proper dancing/moshing/singing/general vibing. Saw the same show for the same band in the US and the UK a few weeks apart - you would not believe the difference. No atmosphere at all in the US (despite them being a US band) - in the UK you could barely hear the band for the first song - pretty much every single person screamed along every word. It was incredible, and you saw that the band’s reaction.
US gets way better lineups, but you’ll never beat the vibe of a UK gig or festival.
Ok_Variation2646@reddit
Because they’re full of Americans…
TheAdmiralDong@reddit
The heat is a huge factor in how people act at Coachella. Coachella is in an unbearably hot desert compared to a UK festival field. Most people just can't be arsed/can't be too enthusiastic when you're battling to just get through the day.
jetjitters@reddit
Doesn't seem like it's that much hotter than it's been at Glasto a few times over the past couple of decades, and people were still dancing around in the heat there. When I went to glasto in 2019 it was absolutely scorching (around 30c) but didn't seem to stop people from getting into it
GlastoKhole@reddit
Agree I’ve been to glasto in heatwaves and had to wrap my tent in reflective tinfoil so as to not die
maximillianmann@reddit
and yet still freezing when you wake up/are up at 5am
GlastoKhole@reddit
Backpack with shorts for the day and trackies for the night, because who can be arsed walking for 2 hours there and back to the tent at 10pm when it starts to cool down
DampFlange@reddit
A UK festival field is slightly underplaying it.
Glastonbury is held on a working dairy farm with lots of hilly terrain and uneven land. Also, the Glastonbury site in orders of magnitude larger than the Coachella site.
From a physical endurance point of view, there is absolutely no comparison between the two.
Wet Glasto’s have been the toughest physical experiences of my life.
I’ve been to both festivals and honestly, they aren’t worthy of comparison. Glastonbury is on a completely different planet.
MaxBulla@reddit
plenty of super hot festivals around Europe don't have that problem.
Elegant-Mission-4470@reddit
If its a feat of physical endurance first and a good time second, maybe host it elsewhere
Daeshea@reddit
I've just been reading that you can be ejected from Coachella for being drunk, wild stuff.
ShoddyConsequence527@reddit
At UK festivals you can be ejected for being sober
Slipsndslops@reddit
Smaller music festivals are super fun. The big ones everyone knows the name of are just there for people to show off.
I go to one every year that's maybe 1000 people. It super great everyone is friendly and we're all just trying to have a good time together. No one's trying to fight for space
StopMakingMeSignIn12@reddit
I think that's the main diff with Engald. We're much smaller both in population and size. So the people who get attracted to festivals are the ones who want to actually see the bands and have a good time.
Plus we're used to festivals not being glamorous due to weather, so we're used to just everyone getting messed up (in all definitions of the word) and having a good time.
VodkaMargarine@reddit
Glastonbury is it's own unique thing. It's so different to all other festivals of that size. The fact you can just rock up with your own alcohol (and yes, drugs) then you never see another security person again for the weekend gives it this atmosphere when the entire site is a fun place.
The camping being mixed in with the stages really adds to this at Glastonbury, and all the hippy stuff, the lack of advertising, the decor, it just generally feels like a totally different world and people let themselves go a lot more. You do still get the influencer type nobheads but it's the largest greenfield festival in the world, they are massively outnumbered by normal people.
brinz1@reddit
One of the best festivals I have been to is 2000 Trees, but its pretty much how you described and more so.
Its messy, its fun. Everyone is clearly there for a good time and off their face
VodkaMargarine@reddit
Last time I went to 2000 Trees the gave everybody headphones on the way in and the entire site had a silent disco running. Everyone queuing for the toilets listening to the same music on headphones was hilarious.
brinz1@reddit
Yup. They did that last year too.
The headsets lit up different colours for different music channels, so you would see different groups rocking out
VodkaMargarine@reddit
Good to hear! 2000 Trees is an amazing festival. It's nowhere on the scale of Glastonbury obvious, you're not gonna get to watch the Rolling Stones or something, but for what it is it's a perfect festival.
GlastoKhole@reddit
My number one favourite thing about glasto is the lack of security, I get that some festivals have violence issues that need taking care of, and I’ve not seen issues like that at glasto, the security have always come across as the fun police at festivals. I think glasto is quite tame in the day, for example you will get pulled for having smartwhips etc in the day time because there’s live broadcasts etc and you could 100% be in bbc primetime with a whip in your hand if you’re not careful, but in the night when the broadcasts shut off ive seen people smoke whips blatantly infront of Stewards etc and nothing has been done about it
VodkaMargarine@reddit
Yeah it really feels like the police at Glastonbury are there for safety not to tell people off. I've seen police officers sledging down the mud on wooden pallets. They seem to enjoy policing it. And the non police "security" are just volunteers who do it to get a free ticket. If the "security" take your drugs off you at Glastonbury it's because they are running out themselves....
Mr_Potato2025@reddit
a) it's full of americans
b) a lot of gen z are borish prigs
Prestigious_Cycle@reddit
American culture is beyond f*cked in a lot of ways. People are always on edge either ready to be a mass shooter or victim of a mass shooter. Bankrupcy and homelessness due to medical issues. Pressure to confirm in artificial and unrealistic ways in an awful economy etc. it's the fall of Babylon or the fall of the Roman empire on repeat.
GarethGore@reddit
but with memes!
RestaurantAntique497@reddit
The level of drugs and alcohol taken at UK festivals probably help
AtLeastOneCat@reddit
I've done a load of European festivals but I have only ever seen an eccied-up woman take a shit right in front of the stage and that was at good old T in the Park in Scotland. There were folk doing lines off each other in front of the stewards. Absolutely mental.
RIP T in the Park.
Joe_Doe1@reddit
I went one year to TITP and it was as if the thin veneer of civilisation was being torn off.
The American secret service has a saying that our society is only ever "nine meals from anarchy" - just this idea that society and its rules isn't really that robust and that you'd only need to deny people food for three days and all hell would break loose.
I never really understood it until I went to TITP.
OldGodsAndNew@reddit
Didn't TITP get shut down cos too many people died
The last year an entire ATM got stolen then turned up in Inverness a few weeks later
RestaurantAntique497@reddit
Titp closed because there was a gas pipeline that ended up being under the original site.
It had more or less ran it's course though and the costs spiralled. The behaviour of people definitely fucked it though as it became a right of passage and people took the piss.
Trnsmt will probably end up the same way seeing as it's in the city centre and the consequences are more visible
Daft_Hector@reddit
I always thought the gas pipeline was a get out and the behaviour was the real reason.
It really was the glory days in the slam tent as a young pup though!
fraggle200@reddit
That was nae a bonk machine.
Darth-__-Maul@reddit
That’s a fence
Pad5181@reddit
I remeber the main sponser (tennants) pulled out because of the bad reputation it was getting, it's a shame as I think a multi stage camping festival in Scotland without the craziness would be great (even something smaller like Green Man or EOTR) but DF seem incapable of doing it while preventing anyone else from trying.
Pink-Thistle@reddit
"Eccied-up" made me laugh.
TroublesomeFox@reddit
I reckon this contributes to it tbh. Brits are some of the moodiest, sarcastic, cynical fucks you'll meet but get some alcohol in us and we transform into utter clowns.
Agitated_Ad_361@reddit
You could pay me to go to Coachella
pharmamess@reddit
I'll give you £178,000 to go to Coachella.
Agitated_Ad_361@reddit
That’s a weirdly specific amount.
pharmamess@reddit
It's all the money I've got.
Agitated_Ad_361@reddit
It’s still a no! My autism and inability to suffer posers would override it the draw of the cash
pharmamess@reddit
What about if I also throw in a packet of pork scratchings and some Hula Hoops (your choice of flavour)?
regalroomba@reddit
I've been to a festival in the US and the crowd was so dead, it was crazy. Still a great time but the atmosphere is far more lively at a UK festival.
Krispykreemi@reddit
Coachella is purely vapid. Not sure about the others. UK festivals are gritty, atmospheric and real. No one cares what you look like or where you went.
arabidopsis@reddit
Well, I would say the Proms very much does care what you look like.
I_always_rated_them@reddit
From what I understand Bonnaroo is the closest they have to a UK/European style festival and i've heard good things about it.
arabidopsis@reddit
US festivals are there to sell everything and make it an experience.
UK festivals are often just about the music with all the commercial stuff just a side-thing.
No-Television-9862@reddit
Self absorbed Americans, take out a loan to go to a festival to say they’ve been and get pictures, British people just go to festivals for an excuse to get fucked up all weekend
jake_folleydavey@reddit
Coachella is the Dubai of music festivals.
Full of influencer types with a white Range Rover, turkey teeth and a greige new build with Astro turf garden.
Specific_Example@reddit
I like your simile 😄
Fun-Atmosphere7885@reddit
Just like if you compare American rave on dance scene to Europe, America is a joke lol.
Any American who likes the rave scene should get there ass to defected this year in Croatia.
It's a four day banger with the best drugs, women, men and DJs.
pigeon_in_a_suit@reddit
What the hell is 14:30am
specofdust@reddit
It's an American who doesn't understand how clocks work.
OpziO@reddit
I think the late 80s/90s rave scene shaped UK festivals. From the outset, organisers wanted to capture that ecstasy spirit, raves in a field, then the crossover of Madchester bands etc. The summer of love lives on. The crowd stumping up a couple of hundred quid for festi tickets now were the kids dancing off their nut for a tenner a few decades back. UK festivals tap into that. While you can find that in the US if you know where to look, there was never the cultural shift the UK went thru.
dekker87@reddit
For a tenner? Never paid a penny at any of the free raves - castlemorton, forest hills, Cassington, Lechlade ete etc etc - and these literally pissed all over any corporate festival ive ever been to.
Rest of that is bang on tho.
Hot-Clerk504@reddit
America is full of wankers
Glastonbury is full of British wankers trying MDMA for the first time in their 40s and being nice for the time they’re on it. There’s not really any difference lol Glastonbury and festivals as a whole no matter where they are are not life changing experiences like people make out they are it’s just a lot of mdma flying around it’s hard to be a wanker on that stuff 😂
prosthetic_memory@reddit
I’ve only been to one UK festival, Lido, and I couldn’t believe how rude, mean, and messy people were. Screaming, shaming people publicly just trying to get their space back, disgusting bathrooms and trash. Very eye opening. And I’ve been to a lot of festivals—in fact I went right after Primavera in Barcelona, which was awesome.
ChilternRailways@reddit
Not heard of Lido but Glastonbury, and Boomtown aren't like that, and they're some of the biggest.
prosthetic_memory@reddit
That’s good to hear. I couldn’t believe how negative Lido was.
Illustrious-Milk6518@reddit
It depends on the type of music too. Drum and bass/house/edm/rap tend to attract the worst types.
burundilapp@reddit
UK festivals targeted at young adults like Leeds, Reading are known for excess drinking, drugs and idiot behaviour as they are frequently a young persons first festival and they seem to go for it.
I've been to a few different festivals with our kids but we tend towards smaller family festivals like Deershed, Solfest, Galtres and more recently Latitude, they are far more relaxed, less idiots and generally just really fun without being edgy. I think anywhere you get a wider mix of ages tends to be calmer, less excess.
Peach_health@reddit
Because it's for influencers
Guidance-Suspicious@reddit
Oh goodness, I’ve been to both and both are great.
gerard4156@reddit
Too many Americans
interpid_butterfly@reddit
Because they try too hard.
Smart-Delay-7237@reddit
Same reason they all pose these days by frowning as much as possible
ArcticSirenAK@reddit
Not sure if you’ve noticed, but the US a heap of burning trash right now. We’re all miserable these days.
DapperDouble666@reddit
That rule about the phones is so spot on. It feels like the whole experience is designed for content creation first, and actually enjoying the music is a distant second.
YouFoolWarrenIsDead@reddit
I dunno but that Nine Inch Nails set absolutely made up for any negatives of the festival.
baalroo@reddit
I don't know a single actual music fan in my life that has any interest in going to coachella. Pretty much all of those bands come through somewhere relatively close for $20-40 once every year or two, so why spend $500-1000 to travel 1000 miles to stand around in the desert and watch them perform on a big screen from 300 yards away?
Only "influencers" and rich people go to coachella, and they aren't there for the bands.
fords42@reddit
Gig tickets in the US are ridiculously expensive so festivals are better value for money for those guys.
AlexOnDrums@reddit
Heard Coachella referred to once as “the influencer Olympics” and can’t imagine wanting to be within 100 miles of that honestly
GingerBuffalo@reddit
As an American who grew up in the US and later started going to UK festivals in my twenties onwards, it's a culture difference. After going to my first Glasto festivals in the early '00s I realized America will never have a festival atmosphere with the same vibe. People at UK festivals are dedicated to having a great time, people at American festivals are dedicated to looking like they're having a great time.
I've never wanted to go to an American festival again.
erroneousbosh@reddit
I haven't been to Infest since it moved from Bradford to Manchester, but that was more like an industrial music conference than a festival.
It was held in the Bradford University Union, most of the younger folk at it were staying more-or-less on site in the uni halls of residence, and the "elder goths" (my crowd really) were staying in hotels nearby. The whole city filled up with rivettygothies who came to drink all the beer and eat all the curry, and listen to cool bands.
In the venue, you'd be standing at the bar getting a beer beside the guys from the big-name bands that were playing. You couldn't throw a tennis ball without hitting at least one person who was "Bandcamp Famous", or a major producer, or dated back to the earliest days of Ministry.
And then at 9pm outside the venue, the barbecue tent opened up.
Golwux@reddit
Coachella? Never heard of her mate!
SatchSaysPlay@reddit
They have a constant worry about some nutter with a gun showing up, trying to enjoy anything is limited when that's reality.
Even backfiring cars can cause a stampede over there.
HoneyGlazedBadger@reddit
I think it was Glastonbury 1994 where sum nutter actually did start shooting people. Fortunately everyone survived and it didn’t become a trend.
SatchSaysPlay@reddit
Not even comparable, that was a rare occurrence that shocked everyone, in the USA it's almost expected and certainly doesn't shock people.
I'd even go so far as to suggest it's cultural in America
kislips@reddit
Why do we have so many gun deaths? Compared to European, our firearm homicide is 20 times higher. We are living in the Wild West. We are loud, dress like bums in public (men women, children wearing pajamas in public), going lower in our culture everyday.
erroneousbosh@reddit
That's any UK city though, I used to see folk wandering around the big Tesco in Springburn in their jammies at all hours.
stevielfc76@reddit
Capitalism, everything in the US is about money, organiser: want to have a good time? Pay us, influencers: you want me to have a good time? Pay us. Vendors: You want feeding and to get drunk? Tip us.
Best-Replacement-867@reddit
yeh because everything at glastonbury is so cheap...
Rootbeeers@reddit
TPDTV done a review of it and it looked pretty great tbh. Super safe and nice vibes.
Rootbeeers@reddit
If anyone’s interested in some northern lads going and giving it an honest go - https://youtu.be/34CkWT8yWNw?si=HAfxorqcgu_bMeJP
NoizeUK@reddit
If you watch it over the years, you will see it grow into something less of a novelty and more what OP describes. Theyre due to post the next installment this weekend. Which is mental as Rob can manage to edit a whole timeline after a hangover.. in a h/motel.
The first was a masterpiece not only in editing, but just seeing a fresh no filtered British experience. Also, I wish they kept the shopping for gear segments.
Rootbeeers@reddit
I’ll come back after I’ve watched the most recent one with a review!
Fluid_Dragonfruit_98@reddit
Question from an Aussie -do festivals like Glastonbury have pill testing available?
It’s under discussion here every few years but nothing comes of it.
mining-ting@reddit
No there isnt, the loop started to at a few festovals. Boomtown had it once or twice but the idiotic govement put a stop to it.
You can however use a govement funded University project in wales to test called wedinos where you post it to them and view results online.
acripaul@reddit
As in you can get your drugs tested to make sure they're safe?
I'm sure there is something like that at Glastonbury.
Check the Glastonbury thread on the efestivals forum.
Guilty_Berry625@reddit
Coachella is just a place for people to compete on how rich and popular they are. Nothing else.
Occamsfacecloth@reddit
Seen this, highlights your point
bahumat42@reddit
Oh god that looks like such a miserable way to experience live music.
blizeH@reddit
Check out this from the same fewrival though https://youtu.be/odnNryDfs9c
bahumat42@reddit
I mean it's better but it's still not up to crowds I have seen in random download or reading fest sets.
blizeH@reddit
Idk, I’ve never seen stage dives at either of those for example and have been quite a few times
Useful-Risk-4340@reddit
Omg if that is representative then that is indeed awful.
teachbirds2fly@reddit
That's absolutely insane. It's like a skit.
I wonder if it's a generational thing ? I heard genz were more self conscious with rise of social media, camera phones etc.. compared to millennials.
tinned_peaches@reddit
No alcohol
Thi13een@reddit
God they’re so fucking lame aren’t they
ampmz@reddit
Apparently Gen Z think you shouldn’t sing along at gigs.
blinky84@reddit
Oof. I thought some of this was just folk being pretentious but that looked... bizarre. Are they all too afraid to be a bit cringe, or what?
Occamsfacecloth@reddit
Less drinking, or other things?
AutomaticInitiative@reddit
If they can't dance without being drunk, there's something deeply wrong with them.
randomusername123xyz@reddit
Grim.
Final_Remains@reddit
wait.. Coachella is alcohol free??
tinned_peaches@reddit
There is a guy in a striped shirt filming himself and the stage at the same time 🤨
basementreality@reddit
I can defo see one other person dancing with their hands up in the distance trying to get down a bit. Probably another UK raver!
Reminds me of that clip of Taylor Swift standing up and dancing to Harry Styles at some event unknown to me.
zipjet22@reddit
This is what came to my mind, its just vapid LA too cool to dance type. It looks fucking awful.
Makemeup-beforeUgogo@reddit
I didn’t think Glastonbury was far off, it’s certainly not the same as it used to be.
dlrace@reddit
coachella looks performative and franky, stressful. like spring break.
Andries89@reddit
The Euro happy go lucky woodland fairy mindset versus the Bateman aspiring Americuck of Wallstreet for the gram mindset
TMI2020@reddit
In the immortal words of Australian electronic music group The Avalanches, what does that mean?
Low-Background-8446@reddit
You're a nut!
GreenCup3426@reddit
You're crazy in the coconut!!
sl236@reddit
Purely psychosomatic.
ChosenAdam300580@reddit
You're a nut,crazy as a coconut
Andries89@reddit
Fuck if I know just dance your tits off son
Gingerpett@reddit
That's one for r/brandnewsentence surely?!
Dolphin_Spotter@reddit
r/brandnewsentance
ChiefKickAss500@reddit
Coachella is the Influencer Olympics
Gsampson97@reddit
Alcohol and drugs probably.
OddControl2476@reddit
Indeed - I never saw an alcohol or a drug at a UK festival!
gardenfella@reddit
You were too stoned and pissed to see straight, I take it
Dismal-Ladder9388@reddit
There was a post somewhere a few days ago ,r/concerts I think, where someone was discussing their thoughts on VIP tickets at Coachella. As someone who's only festival experience was multiple T in the Park's in the 90s and early 2000s , my only thoughts where what the actually fuck is that
Jim_Broadbean@reddit
Americans don’t know how to do festivals in the same way they don’t know how to do live sport
HumanzeesAreReal@reddit
Says the person who’s almost undoubtedly never been to a college football game.
VodkaMargarine@reddit
To be fair, Michael Eavis was copying Woodstock (and Isle of Wight) when he started Glastonbury. So the USA kinda taught him how to do it. Then forgot themselves.
DeeplyFrippy@reddit
Eavis attended the Bath Festival in June 1970 and that’s what inspired him to start Glastonbury Festival.
Akeshi@reddit
Those brackets are doing a lot of heavy lifting considering the IoW festival started the year before Woodstock
Fun-Somewhere3078@reddit
100% correct
CompleteWhittle@reddit
Or a decent football chant :)
Burning_Ranger@reddit
It's "Why do Coachella and other UK festivals" not "does" BTW as you are referring to 2 or more things.
PerformanceShoddy169@reddit
I’ve never been but American festivals look like soulless commercial shite, with sponsors in your face at every turn.
adept2051@reddit
Money, influence and full of coinceted nepotism. Burning man used to be better, now it’s just expensive and overloaded.
Relative_Sea3386@reddit
Everything is highly commercialised there i guess?
UnhappyAd6499@reddit
Uk festivals are the same in that regard.
This-Turnover-1955@reddit
Festivals are one of the things Brits can still claim to be world leading at (both as promoters and punters).
Gauntlets28@reddit
My understanding is that the festival cultures come from different eras, and are built around the ethos of those times. British music festivals are all based in some way or another around the vibe of Glastonbury. They're designed to emulate the spirit of the hippie era, even as they've become more commercial, so it's a lot more rough and ready, but also a lot more laid back.
Whereas America, a few abortive attempts aside like Woodstock that didn't really lead to regular events, the music festival scene didn't really get started until the 80s and 90s. And when it did, it was much more heavily defined by the commercial attitudes of the time, and by reality tv (especially MTV).
Sufficient-Low5771@reddit
"Whereas America, a few abortive attempts aside like Woodstock that didn't really lead to regular events"
There's this thing called the Grateful Dead, 20+ years of some of the most "hippie" shows to grace the planet... so I would think you are missing out a lot on those assumptions.
Gauntlets28@reddit
One band isn't really the same as a music festival though.
Sufficient-Low5771@reddit
They threw festivals constantly for 30 years...
Ok_Dirt_1306@reddit
you're right but I don't expect people not into that scene to be able to see it (no shade to anyone, it was completely unique). Even then though the Dead got invaded by the "wrong" types, whether that's Altamont, or the frat boys latching onto Touch of Grey. The latter seems like somewhat analagous to how I see UK festivals now. When I was younger (haha) it'd be a certain type (music fans!) going. Nowadays people of my generation who go wouldn't have even considered it when they were young. The normiesation of music...
Thestickleman@reddit
Not enough drugs and alcohol
Higher_Primate3@reddit
Opposite way around
Lauantaina@reddit
Most of the vibe coming out of the US seems like that, doesn't it? Overall, it's very dark and moody and not fun to be around. I've wanted to cleanse my various algorithms of American stuff for a while. The rest of the world, mainly Europe, Australia, NZ, etc, seems so much happier and more positive.
I would be happier not seeing anything at all from the US for a while.
lysning@reddit
coachella is notoriously vapid. most people are there for the pics & parties, not for music. any sort of emo/metal festival here is great though ;)
iffyClyro@reddit
Two different cultures. Simple as that.
RenderSlaver@reddit
The USA not having a culture doesn't help
Odd-Leopard4388@reddit
Honestly UK internet has such a issue with American stuff it almost comes across as an insecurity like we’re still grasping onto the empire or something “yeah well we go so much harder”
woopty do Basil, what does it all mean????
Tall-Display-8219@reddit
Insecure? We mostly feel sorry for you because everything seems worse in the US
Odd-Leopard4388@reddit
I’m english bro!
Tarnished13@reddit
What! The uk criticises itself more than any other country. Self deprecation is our forte
Useful-Risk-4340@reddit
Nah, UK subs humblebrag a lot.
AutomaticInitiative@reddit
At least our biggest music festival doesn't have people buying tickets at resale and having them cancelled by the original buyer last minute.
Margaet_moon@reddit
I couldn’t agree more. Also, I appreciate your Austin Powers reference.
Odd-Leopard4388@reddit
People really didnt like my point of view there haha
Diligent_Explorer717@reddit
I agree with you completely I wrote the same comment on AskBrits
Southern_Drawing7996@reddit
Uk is never allowed to be better at anything and if we are we aren’t allowed to talk about it
ghcfc88@reddit
Classic American insecurity. They’re not allowed to be 2nd best at anything.
onionsareawful@reddit
I've been to a few US and UK ones. It's really just coachella. It's the influencer festival.
Also, though there are plenty of drugs at US festivals, there's even more at UK ones. Everyone looks a little happier with help from their friend molly.
dbxp@reddit
You get the same vibe at some UK festivals. Latitude has a reputation for being very middle class and Glasto has picked up a glamping crowd over the years.
AutomaticInitiative@reddit
Last year was my first Glasto at the age of 36 and I had a bloody brilliant time. The crowds were popping, Prodigy was fully unreal, at Snow Patrol we linked arms and cried and sang to Chasing Cars, at Kaiser Chiefs we bounced and danced and shouted WE ARE THE ANGRY MOB. Coachella doesn't hold one single candle to Glastonbury.
Professional_Elk_489@reddit
I thought coachella was done around 2015. Still going?
Venus_One@reddit
It's the biggest festival in the US to this day, and one of the biggest in the world.
Altruistic-Wing-2715@reddit
America is all marketing and appearances. There is no substance and right now it’s permeated the White House too. So, the world is waking up to their true culture.
RhynoPlays@reddit
Coachella looks like hell on earth. I wouldn’t even go if I had everything given to me.
Whiterose1995@reddit
Cos it’s a fest for people with lots of £ and 0 soul / taste
Individual_End_9004@reddit
American attitudes, the location and in general, American people. A country in decline and they just don’t realise it yet….
Difficult_Yam_8667@reddit
Shit looks demonic
Jollyramb1er@reddit
It's just a gathering of preening twats in tiny clothes and cowboy boots. They're there to get noticed, not to have a good time. It looks like a horrific way to spend a few days imo
Cocomacadamia@reddit
Cause it’s an artificial festival for artificial people, like everything in the US.
IsopodCommercial8299@reddit
It's not just influencers it's influencer culture... you have to stay still if you're filming everything.
EasyTyler@reddit
Coachella is fantastic because you're pretty much assured the weather.
You can't drink AND watch music, it's one or the other. As such, you drink less.
It's one of the slickest operations when it comes to public transport. If you're legless at a UK festival, you're probably getting on the wrong bus. That's impossible at Coachella.
There are plenty of outstanding music festivals, but none more so they South by Southwest.
As a Brit who lived there for a while, the biggest music festival in the world has free food, free booze and free music for a week. They're trying to port SXSW over here to Shoreditch but focusing on the week of digital and media rather than the main event. Over there SXSW also takes place around St Patrick's, so you can soak up that vibe. Quite different to all the influencers trying to get a selfie with Steven Bartlett.
The if you miss the feast of fun, the commercial alternative is ACL, still in the same city and is split over two weekends. Austin deserves it's title as live music capital of the world.
Fun-Atmosphere7885@reddit
Jack_202@reddit
There's no flags allowed in the crowd at Coachella. I'm sure they vibe just as much as the Glastonbury crowd.
Fluid_Dragonfruit_98@reddit
How could anyone relax knowing anyone nearby could have a gun and go psycho any time? That the person next to you is open carrying.
I know some yanks are going to challenge this - but that’s a worry that doesn’t even hide in our unconscious! Aussie here. I’ve heard too many yanks say they’re shocked metal detectors aren’t in place at our schools. That children dont have to learn active shooter drills.
I cannot fathom what subconscious social impact that has on large gatherings. So yeah, while I’m sure there’s specific Coachella culture/vibe - this has to be lurking underneath with its poison seeping out silently.
Ok-Summer1478@reddit
The USA is hell
touchmypenguinagain@reddit
Lived in the UK for nearly 28 years. Lived in Canada for 14. Spent years in the US.
People let loose more at UK gigs and are less concerned about how they appear. I've seen several artists in both the UK and NA and it was night & day. Obviously generalisations, there are exceptions, etc - but I've found the atmosphere at a lot of NA shows to be very disappointing.
Actually-Will@reddit
Feel like American go for the clout and attention. People in the UK go bc they enjoy the music.
pandaaaa26@reddit
People go to UK festivals because they want to go to festivals
People go to Coachella because they want to post it on Instagram
ss89898@reddit
People might see this as a half joke/style post, but realistically I'd say 90% of UK festival go-ers just want to get drunk or listen to the music, whereas if you told Coachella go-ers they weren't allowed to take pictures on phones, I think maybe 40% wouldn't even go.
AutomaticInitiative@reddit
All my photos and videos from Glasto are of art, food, the sign, the views, cool shit I saw around site, too busy enjoying the music to record it.
Repulsive-Lie1@reddit
Because Coachella and the like are bloody expensive, no one’s got money left for drugs.
CaptMerrillStubing@reddit
Because 'murica
Criticada@reddit
What about Lollapalooza in Chicago? Went there and enjoyed it.
Blueblowupcouch2000s@reddit
Because the music and entertainment industry is unwell and evil
Accomplished-Web-488@reddit
Americans ;)
Mcdhibs@reddit
I crossed over from seeing bands to seeing friends after Covid. I realised that I would go to certain festivals no matter who is playing so I can spend time with my Rock family. Influencers have no affiliation or affinity apart from demanding freebie’s or pissing people off so I blame social media for the shite that is happening at festivals
Jimmylegs666@reddit
Americans are the dumbest people in the world and the rich are the greediest of those.
hippiehappos@reddit
I think it’s just Americans …
IntrepidMaybe8579@reddit
Because we dont go because everyone else is going we go to actually have fun and feel like we get lost in the crowds and can dance like no ones watching, non the other way round like those influencers shuffling at raves but dont actually rave just do it for follows
mbaguley88@reddit
I'm from the UK and currently live in North America. Haven't been to festival out here yet generally speaking people in north america are very image conscious and and quite uptight compared to people in the UK who tend to be a lit looser in my experience
Noisesevere@reddit
The success of Glastonbury is in a large part due to the UK free Festival scene in the 80's 90's. Michael Eavis used to let the travelers on for free and they sold really strong drugs. Glastonbury grew from that scene it's always been very hedonistic and edgy it's hard to replicate that.
ImTalkingGibberish@reddit
Brits don’t give a fuck
FireWhiskey5000@reddit
Isn’t Coachella just the influencer Olympics? I thought It’s about being seen to be there in the most number and outrageous outfits possible over having a good time or seeing good music?
newdawnfades123@reddit
Americans love to make a buck and they’ve got so far into the obsession of the man getting richer that it’s overtaken the whole purpose of a music festival, e.g, music. Also Americans in my experience have a sort of fear around alcohol - that somehow bad things are going to happen if drinking isn’t isolated. Whereas obviously with Glasto and the likes, it’s part of the vibe. I also think this is just an American thing as well, culturally. Americans are brash and loud, whereas Brits are more reserved in day to day life. So when we Brits have an opportunity to be brash and loud and it be socially acceptable, we go mad.
Digitalanalogue_@reddit
Late stage capitalism
Dildo_Riding_Twiglet@reddit
Corporate simulacrum
KoontFace@reddit
Coachella is in the middle of the desert. I’d be fucking miserable too.
I’ve been to Palm Springs when the festival is on. The heat is savage
Word_Word4Numbers@reddit
This is it.
Getting drunk in a temperate, slightly muddy pasture in the english countryside is much more fun than getting drunk in a place so dry that the towns are all named after water.
It's also cheaper.
Master-Definition937@reddit
Apparently the dust in coachella is hellish too, really messes people’s noses, throats and eyes up
JimmyBallocks@reddit
Despite the festival being held in the USA, not many people realise that the word "Coachella" is actually a Spanish word. It loosely translates as "pile of cunts"
spriz2@reddit
It's actually what you say to your wife when she asks what mode of transport you're taking to Amsterdam
BamberGasgroin@reddit
From the root word: coochi
travis147@reddit
I remember when Glastonbury was £125 for 5 days of drugs and a little music
bakagir@reddit
Not enough Uptempo
WoodpeckerWoodChuck@reddit
What is a "moody vibe"?
Picklepicklezz@reddit
Smaller gigs are generally great but regarding the crowds I've been to some mad punk gigs in NYC .. Coachella just looks like poser central
Fun-Somewhere3078@reddit
North American crowd culture in general is much more mellow and low energy than the UK and Europe. This is true of both music and sports events. It’s just a cultural difference, European crowds have a much more energetic atmosphere. It is likely because North American events can have more money and marketing behind them there is an expectation that they would also be the best to go to but that is actually the opposite.
HeartyBeast@reddit
That was not my experience of the American fans at the 2012 Olympics
Spiritual_Fall363@reddit
Because it’s in ‘merika
blomba2@reddit
Because their fans are miserable and you cater to your audience
yrddog@reddit
We live in the bad place
johnl1979@reddit
Because Americans are odd. They might look like us but they’re a completely different kettle of fish.
Friendly_Mud_4030@reddit
Yanks seem primarily focused on dressing up and getting pictures. Britons are primarily focused on seeing how many substances they can consume without dying. One of these things is more fun.
codechris@reddit
For yanks they are not there to have fun they are there to have some lifestyle they think they want. It's all show and pretense, it's not about fun. Raves are the same over there for the vast majority (but not all, I've met some decent people but it's a small number)
Responsible-Age8664@reddit
They don’t drink and take drugs as much!!
Educational_Cow111@reddit
Forbidden forest is such a fun festival omg
Appropriate_Farm_840@reddit
Echoing a lot of what other people are saying - having moved to the UK, the atmosphere for festivals is usually more people who actually enjoy the music, versus random influencers who got paid to attend/promote it. Goes for smaller shows as well in my experience.
unhiddenhand@reddit
I have a theory. The UK festivals are a welcome escape from the dreariness of a by and large cold, grey, and largely austere day to day existence. So everyone is on cloud 9. In the US however, they are so used to the weather being nice, a strong economy (to those who can afford a festival) and all the finest things available on their doorstep, that they come to festivals like Coachella with a materialistic entitlement that the festival world will match their expectations of civilisation.
merla_blue@reddit
I think you're confusing social media influences with people's real lives in the US
unhiddenhand@reddit
Coachella may as well be a festival for influencers or those who aspire to be.
posiedon77@reddit
I have lived in both the US and UK, and I don't think this post makes any sense. American life is definitely not what you are thinking it is.
Ok-Onion-780@reddit
I think partly because we are a much more reserved culture as a whole no big hugs or smiles in day to day life, if someone asks how you are its"alright" "not too bad" where as america is "awesome" "killing it"
So when we get the chance to let our hair down and have a few drinks we make the most of it. Same is true for japan and korea as random examples.
Also a culture of group singing/chants at school and in sports helps
basementreality@reddit
Aww, mate! Not sure where you live buy maybe consider moving. I'd give you (and almost anyone) a big hug and a smile any day.
Ok-Onion-780@reddit
Rather not.
basementreality@reddit
You don't like hugs and smiles?
Ok-Onion-780@reddit
It has to be genuine and in the right context.
CompleteWhittle@reddit
Enforced jollity can fuck right off.
riverend180@reddit
Ew
Haurian@reddit
My god the US are terrible at sports songs/chants/heckling.
Ok-Onion-780@reddit
Its just a different culture, all it is.
I went to an nba game last year and people were kicked out for shouting primary school level insults
Junior_Apple2678@reddit
I think you're comparing two very different festivals, which isnt completely fair. There are good festivals in the US, just not coechella. However, people in the UK and Europe are particuarly hedonistic, which makes people more out going and fun.
JudgeStandard9903@reddit
The camping element is so different at a UK festival compared to US festivals like Coachella. UK festival general camping is generally a decent walk from the carpark so you have to carry everything you want to take in with you which limits tent sizes and general luxuries. With US festivals I'm seeing on social media cars and RVs parked right by the camping areas and some set ups fancier than my terrace 2 up 2 down. This surely would change the profile and vibe of the average festival goer and not in a good way!
No_Opposite4067@reddit
Same in Wacken, so that can't be a reason.
Cunthbert@reddit
Just full of influencers who don’t actually care about the music and are just posing and recording themselves
Maccat73@reddit
All I see is c list celebs hanging out, thinking it's a fashion parade.
No_Reflection_3907@reddit
People don’t camp out at Coachella do they? They go straight home afterwards?? And it’s split over 2 weekends. Glastonbury is basically one big long weekend with camping, loads of drinking and no showering.
dbxp@reddit
Only if you're comparing to general camping, lots of festivals have premium pre set tents now
DampFlange@reddit
Yes, people camp at Coachella, but it’s unbelievably sanitised compared to UK festival camping.
FreeAd2458@reddit
I wondered that. I know they have hotels. Seems more like just a day festival
BigSillyDaisy@reddit
It seems to me that people go to Coachella to be seen, whereas people go to Glasto for the music and vibes, while not giving a shit what they look like *disclaimer: I’ve never been to either
GlastoKhole@reddit
As you can probably tell, I regularly go to glasto. And one thing I’ll tell you is you won’t see a phone out after dark, there’s places in glasto where you’ll get absolutely flipped on for pulling your phone out as many people are absolutely getting weird and it’s great. I’ve saw some really weird shit at glasto over the years and it’s all honestly great
scottinderby@reddit
America, full of cunts
fredfoooooo@reddit
There is one culture where people go to see performances, and another where people perform seeing.
dbxp@reddit
Aftershock in the US is pretty good, it's really just a Coachella thing. You see the same types at Glastonbury, the upper middle class glamping types.
goodtitties@reddit
it’s also literally in the desert. it’s hot as fuck, it’s unlikely to be jumping
Mccobsta@reddit
Different expectations people who got a Glastonbury every year no they're gonna be sleeping in a shit tent that caked in mud
People who go to coachella are used to five star hotel experiences
kiddj1@reddit
People go to a UK festival to get fucked up and have a good time
People go to Coachella to flex on Instagram
ambergriswoldo@reddit
Because America
raquille-@reddit
Coachella is full of yanks and as we all know yanks take themselves very seriously. They can’t have a laugh and everything is very surface and vapid. If they had to slog through a festival site that resembles the Somme they wouldn’t do it. Brits however are self deprecating and would happily walk for miles in mud in order to watch their favourite band and drink beer.
blob8543@reddit
Wondering if Coachella is the best US festival to pick for a comparison.
WizardButtholes@reddit
Because for them it's not about the music or having fun, it's about 'how cool can I look for this instagram post'
TheUnSungHero7790@reddit
Honestly I think it's the difference in drinking culture between the two countries that is the biggest factor.
Ambitious_Zombie667@reddit
The lineups don't seem as curated either so I know not every act is everyones thing but seems way more random than some UK festivals
Typical-Offer8860@reddit
Never been to a US one, have always thought it'd just be too hot to properly let my hair down
AnneThisaway@reddit
It's fullmof poseurs
Annual_Profession591@reddit
Did you type this while at a UK festival?
AnneThisaway@reddit
Rcr7cygurzr
Pantisocracy@reddit
They always seem like they are build around one off shows of a singular performance. Rather than the band/act/solo artists doing a really standout set on a peak platform in the UK.
Just for Glasto when you watch even on the setee, you want to see their set with more oomph to push out a reason they deserve to be on that stage. Rather than the American festivals I’ve been too where it’s all about the features or twists that can take place that night to be able to boast you were there now.
potato_face1234@reddit
Americans probably
Various_Extreme_8773@reddit
Maybe it's changed but I went to see New order over in San Francisco and it was fantastic.
ampmz@reddit
I imagine the average age of that gig helped it not be a damp squib.
Wise_Advertising_888@reddit
Americans
massie_le@reddit
Cos we're raw, drunk and cunts
TheRebelPercy@reddit
Woodstock 99 didn’t fuck about.
SpanglySi@reddit
That was 27 years ago though, times have changed....
Away-Activity-469@reddit
I remember going to gigs/festivals in the US 20 years ago. Even then, the real fun was had in the car park outside where you were allowed to drink and carry on. People may be surprised at how cossetted and boring America is.
I'd say its the same difference again between UK and some festivals in Europe, though admittedly I'm a bit out of the loop these days.
Weak-Permission-3373@reddit
I think it's also safe to say it's not just festivals but like, the UK just knows how to go out and have fun in a totally different way to the US!
WayOfTheMandalore@reddit
Mushrooms?
simmyawardwinner@reddit
it seems just so so vapid and hollow. i could be totally wrong as ive never been. but i feel about coachella the way i feel about dubai! no thank you
SirLongShank@reddit
They just don’t get it mannnnn. No where does festivals like uk. Just not the same out there mannnn
Physical_Reality_132@reddit
I’d imagine the second weekend at Coachella has a better atmosphere, but as others have pointed out, it’s just a different culture to the UK and Ireland.
LaurenNotABot@reddit
The need to start doing what they do in some nightclubs and make people put their phones in locked pouches or stickers over the camera so they go to actually .. oh I dunno .. enjoy themselves ?!
Granddukecockwomble@reddit
I would guess it's because the US is full of complete arseholes.
alphacentaurai@reddit
Maybe its just the bands rhat I've seen, but I found this to be the case at live music shows in indoor venues in the US too. Crowds just seem way more reserved in the US than they do in the UK/EU.
Margaet_moon@reddit
It’s also like twice as hot. It’s in the desert pal.
liverpoolfuckingsuck@reddit
Cider black
hide_in_plain_sight_@reddit
You’ve touched on but i’d say 90% are at Coachella to promote themselves, their brand etc. Fuck are they there for the music or experience. They are there to gain followers simple as. Vapid and hollow the whole thing.
SplitOpenAndMelt420@reddit
Coachella is the influencer Olympics. A good percentage of the crowed is not there for the music
SamVimesBootTheory@reddit
Echoing someone else different 'cultures'
Also Coachella seems to have increasingly become more focused on Influencers over the years and people going to it seem to go more to be seen rather than for the music it also just seems to be a festival catering to a more wealthy crowd than most UK festivals
MrReadilyUnready@reddit
I'm not entirely sure where you're seeing that. Also festivals like Glasto are filled with half the same acts and are also full of influencer-types.
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